EFL.
Some Americans this Fourth of July plan to get a bang out of blowing Osama bin Ladenâs head off. The bin Laden Noggin, a cone-shaped pyrotechnic device with a cartoon of bin Ladenâs face, has been a hot seller at some fireworks stores around the country. When lit, the bin Laden cone erupts in blood-red flames and screeches for 60 seconds. Two shots blow his head off. It is part of an Exploding Terrorists Heads four-pack that also includes Saddam Hussein, Yasser Arafat and Moammar Gadhafi. I gotta get me oneâa dese!
Suzi Hoffman, whose husband returned home in May after spending eight months working as an electrician in Baghdad, got a kick out of the terroristsâ heads while shopping for fireworks in suburban Omaha. "I thought they should have shot Saddam in the head when they found him," she said. "So, this is a great way to get your aggression out." It is. Happy Fourth of July, all.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/03/2004 11:07:29 AM ||
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"Every American needs one of these!" reads the description of the firecracker in the Bobâs Fireworks catalog. "Light up olâ BL and he will cackle not unlike a chicken, erupt in blood red flowers and scream loudly as if his caveâs roof was meeting the floor.
#2
Hmmm... need a Michael Moore firework: light him up and watch him blow smoke out his ass.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/03/2004 12:36 Comments ||
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#3
In Britain we've been doing the same thing with effigies of a cetain terrorist who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, and the King, back in... 1605!
Every November 5th, AKA Bonfire Night, guys (the effigies) are burned and fireworks let off to celebrate Guy Fawkes and his gang having failed. It's a fine tradition, and you guys might be seeing the start of your own...
Remember, Remember
The Fifth of November:
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.
I see no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot!
#4
By the time the WoT is done we may be handing out the Titus Oates treatment to Bad Guys routinely. Our great-grandchildren will no doubt think we were barbaric.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 15:07 Comments ||
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#5
Michael Moore is almost as big as the Wicker Man and likely more flammable.
Naw.... bad thoughts.
This is the eve on one of the most important days in history.... so let like MM spew and do his damndest.
Washington has warned Kuwait, a chief ally in the Gulf, about the suspected links of nine Kuwaitis to Al Qaeda and their alleged involvement in anti-US fighting in Iraq, a newspaper reported Saturday. Quoting security sources, Al-Siyassa said the warning was conveyed during a recent secret visit to the emirate by Frances Townsend, US deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism. Townsend met Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and top security officials and handed over an âofficial document containing the names and photos of the nine suspects who are wanted by US authorities,â the daily claimed. The document charges that the nine are âconnected with acts of violence and were indirectly linkedâ to the October 2000 attack on the US destroyer Cole in Yemenâs Aden port which left 17 US sailors dead. It also detailed the charges against each suspect, which included coordination with Osama bin Ladenâs Al Qaeda terror network to recruit members to fight against US forces in Iraq, the paper said. The daily identified the nine by their initials and said some are serving jail terms in the emirate. Townsend is also reported to have âprotestedâ against a local courtâs acquittal last month of five Kuwaitis, some of whom figure among the nine, who were accused of links to an attack on US troops in the emirate in 2002 in which one marine was killed, it also said. Kuwaiti courts have recently convicted a total of five Kuwaitis and one Egyptian in separate cases of trying to kill American soldiers in Kuwait. Many other suspects have also been released.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 1:23:04 PM ||
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Bahrainâs prime minister says his country is secure and able to protect residents after Washington warned of possible attacks in the Gulf state and issued a mandatory evacuation order for some U.S. citizens. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet and is linked by a causeway to its neighbour Saudi Arabia, which has been hit by a wave of al Qaeda attacks against Westerners. An employee at the U.S. embassy in Manama told Reuters the embassy had cancelled July 4 Independence Day celebrations, which had been scheduled for July 6 at a hotel in the capital, "due to security concerns related to the advisory". "Bahrain has been and still is an oasis of safety, security and stability...and is capable of protecting the interests of all individuals and institutions that it hosts," said Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa. "The countryâs security apparatus is capable of thwarting any attempt to target those under the protection of the state," he said in remarks on Saturday carried on the official news agency BNA.
The U.S. Defense Department issued a mandatory evacuation order on Friday for non-emergency employees and families of American military personnel due to concern about planned attacks by extremists on U.S. and Western targets in Bahrain. "Credible information indicates that extremists remain at large and are planning attacks in Bahrain," the advisory stated. Earlier, American citizens were urged to consider leaving Bahrain, which is the Gulfâs financial and banking hub. It is less than two weeks since Bahrain arrested six men on suspicion of supporting Saudi-born Osama bin Ladenâs al Qaeda network and planning attacks in the Gulf state, but then freed them because of lack of evidence. The U.S. embassy gave no details of the threat in Bahrain, but mentioned the suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, which hit residential compounds.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 1:25:24 PM ||
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#1
Lol! "King" Hamad and PM Khalifa are whistling past the graveyard. A favorite past-time of Arab "leaders" who have coddled and allowed the shitheads to grow and prosper. Bahrain is simply "next" - nothing personal, boys, just common sense. Buh-bye!
Yemenâs interior minister said on Saturday that 86 supporters of an anti-U.S. rebel cleric and 32 government forces have been killed in nearly two weeks of clashes in the mountainous north of the Arab state. Rshad al-Alimi also told parliament 331 supporters of Hussein al-Houthi had been arrested, most of them before military action against the group began on June 20 in Saada province, 240 km (150 miles) north of the capital Sanaa. "Houthi refused all mediation efforts by parliamentarians, Muslim scholars and government officials to surrender peacefully," the minister said, adding that a siege continued. He said 21 rebels and 120 government security and military forces had been injured in the clashes. "Each member of this group receives $200 a month which indicates they may have foreign support," Alimi said but did not elaborate. Sources close to Houthi have put the death toll from the clashes, which began on June 20, at about 200.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 1:31:06 PM ||
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This is hilarious! Terorists were shot back in April and it is now that the Interior Minister is announcing their deaths. But, this is the best part, he cannot find the bodies whose deaths he is making known now, 4 months later!
By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI
The No. 2 and No. 19 figures on Saudi Arabiaâs most-wanted terrorist list have died from gunshot wounds suffered in an April shootout with police, the Interior Ministry said Saturday. The bodies of Rakan Mohsin Mohammed al-Saikhan and Nasser Rashid Nasser al-Rashid have not been found.
Did you look behind the couch?
But investigations indicated they died because they received improper medical care as their comrades moved them from place to place fleeing the April 12 clash in the capital, Riyadh, which also killed one policeman, the Interior Ministry said in a statement read on national television.
And you guys laugh when I pray for sepsis...
Relatives of the militants had been notified of their deaths, according to the statement. The ministry did not reveal how police learned of the deaths. If confirmed, the deaths of al-Saikhan and al-Rashid would mean that at least 14 of the 26 militants on a most-wanted list issued in December are either dead or in custody.
At least we're past the halfway point now...
The Interior Ministry claimed militants moved al-Saikhan, the No. 2 on the list, to three different Riyadh neighborhoods before he died a day after the clash. It did not say when al-Rashid, the No. 19 figure, died. Police raided two places where al-Saikhan had been kept and arrested three people. Five others were arrested in relation to al-Rashidâs death and burial, the statement said. Al-Saikhan suffered severe gunshot wounds to the chest, the statement claimed.
Aaaah! The old sucking chest wound! Makes my heart go pitty-pat!
Al-Rashid received "primitive medical treatment" to a severe leg wound that became infected before it was amputated with an electric saw.
I prayed for sepsis and Allan heard my prayer!
"Nasser, old buddy, that leg's gotta come off!"
"Well, I... Uhhh... What's with the SawsAll?"
Al-Rashid died as a result of the amputation, the statement added.
"He's dead, Mahmoud!"
"Ummmm... Let's not put this on the website, okay?"
The Interior Ministry blamed other militants who whisked the wounded al-Saikhan and al-Rashid from the shootout scene as being "heartless" for "placing their personal interests even above the well-being of those they have misled into following them." A militant who had helped transport the wounded al-Saikhan was Awad bin Mohammed bin Ali al-Awad, who was killed by police Thursday in a gunbattle in Riyadh, the statement said. The statement added that al-Saikhanâs burial was supervised by the leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network in the Arabian peninsula Abdul Aziz al-Moqrin, who was himself killed June 19 in a shootout with security forces. Al-Moqrin was killed a few hours after the terror group posted photographs of the beheading of American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr. on an Internet site.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 09:52 ||
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#1
Well, other than Dhahran Camp itself, there goes the last refuge for Western Expats working for Aramco. There is a community of people who commute across the causeway every day - and I was always jealous because life was so much better "over there"... King Hamad has really stepped on his weenie since taking over - this half-assed shuffle didn't do diddley. He'll feel this mini-exodus because Bahrain is tiny and these are all well-paid well-heeled consumers.
#3
It appears to me that since establishing a constitutional monarchy in 2002, the King is trying hard to keep Bahrain on an even keel but there's an Islamist element no one seems to want to confront.
Bahrain has a lot to lose if the jihadis get their way. A lot. (Next thing ya know they'll be wanting to close down the bars...bye bye Sherlock's and Cactus Flower...then where will the Saudis drink?)
#7
Quana - they've already closed 80%+ of the bars not in hotels. That happened when they had their little elections - and Islamists won control of their little joke democratic exercise. Gone, bro. Where are you? Are you a Bahrain and/or Saudi vet?
#8
Well, it's been a few years since I was in Bahrain...Cactus Flower used to be just across the hallway kinda cattycorner from Sherlock's...never forget that night dragging in jetlagged and weary...climbing the stairs to the main reception area and hearing the bopping strains of the Cotton-Eyed Joe wafting into the foyer...I think the name was "Cactus Flower"...had a country western theme because I remember the waitstaff having trouble keeping their toystore cowboy hats on top of their heads. They were so cute.
We drank at every restaurant we went in, as I recall. In fact, if they didn't serve alcohol, we didn't patronize them. This was not long before the imposition of constitutional monarchy. I am sorry to hear the islamists have had such an impact although no one I know there has said much about it. Guess they drink in the hotel bars.
#13
.com--
Biz, been to Magic Kingdom only by accident. (if I tell you, I'll have to kill you...ha ha ha...ok! just kidding! No, really!)
Generally, when in that part of the world, I tend to go Arabic, their dishes are almost as good as the Indians.
About that Cajun stuff...I was raised down dere amun dem Cajuns in Lapland...whooee...I tel' ya dis, gar-an-teed, dem folks know how to hanl dee kitchun bidness. Laissez le bon temp roulez!
I like Shipman's idea there...a website for restaurant fare in the middle east.
"I ain't dead, dammit!"
"Yeah you are! Now shut up and lay down!"
The two militants were shot in the second gunbattle in as many days with militants in the capital. An Interior Ministry statement, carried by the Saudi Press Agency said the two men were among militants who fled a security raid on militant hide-outs in Riyadh on Wednesday when police killed an Al-Qaeda logistics operative. âA member of the National Guard alerted security forces about the two wanted men. When security forces closed in on them, they opened fire and security forces responded, killing one of them and wounding the other, who was arrested.â
The statement said one security officer, Muslih ibn Saad Al-Qarni was killed and another was wounded. On Wednesday, security forces shot dead Fahd ibn Ali Al-Qabalan, who was in charge of overseeing the smuggling of weapons and explosives into the Kingdom. A number of wounded militants escaped after that gunbattle. A source at the Interior Ministry said the clash between police and the terrorists took place after police spotted a number of wanted suspects while they were leaving a house in the King Fahd district. When police approached them, they opened fire and police fired back killing one and injuring another. Al-Awad was involved in the Al-Fayha district attack on April 22 and was wanted in a number of other security cases. The injured suspect, Al-Abdul Wahab, has been linked to the murder of the German, Jonathan Bengler in the Jarir shopping complex in eastern Riyadh on May 22. The suspect killed in Wednesdayâs shootout had initially been wrongly identified as Abdullah Al-Rashoud, a chief Al-Qaeda ideologue who gave up a teaching post with Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University to go underground and whose name appears on a list of 26 most-wanted suspects issued by the Interior Ministry in November 2003. On Thursday a security source told Arab News police unearthed a large cache of arms in a villa in north Riyadh. However, the occupants of the villa escaped, the source added.
Had 'em surrounded, huh?
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 12:47:09 AM ||
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The dead one was easily distinguishable from the wounded one by the large wooden stake driven into his chest. Saudi Security officials had no comment when asked by Arab News' Chief Investigative Reporter, Aliwadd Al Jizz, if this was evidence that the new bilateral Defense Pact recently signed with Transylvania was already bearing fruit.
Middle Eastern and north African states have agreed to set up a regional body to combat money laundering and terror financing, a senior Bahraini official said Friday. Sheikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa al-Khalifa, an undersecretary at Bahrain's Finance Ministry, said the new body would be based in Bahrain and launched at an inaugural ministerial meeting in November. Al-Khalifa spoke in Paris, where officials from Arab states held talks on the margins of a meeting of the international Financial Action Task Force on money laundering and terror financing. The planned new organization, referred to as the Middle East-North Africa FATF, will be a "regional subdivision" of the global watchdog, al-Khalifa said. It will promote the same standards and best practices for tackling criminal and terror financing, he added. Al-Khalifa said the new organization has received political backing from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have signaled their support without making a final commitment. "All of them have expressed readiness to fund and support this body," he said. A new executive secretary will be appointed at the November meeting to head the regional watchdog, Al-Khalifa added, while its presidency and vice-presidency will rotate annually among the member countries.
The announcement came as the Paris-based FATF urged Saudi Arabia to tighten up laws and controls on financial transfers and speed up cooperation with international investigations. In a report published Friday at the end of a three-day meeting, the global watchdog said Saudi Arabia already complies with "almost" all of the its guidelines but called for improvements in key areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 12:12:30 AM ||
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Turkish authorities received a warning that al-Qaida was planning to use a bomb-laden glider in a suicide attack targeting world leaders at the NATO summit in Istanbul, the cityâs police chief was quoted as saying. In an newspaper interview published yesterday, Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah said the intelligence came from foreign sources and described such a plot as farfetched. "To tell you the truth, we did not find it very realistic," Cerrah told the daily newspaper Hurriyet.
Somebody's been watching too many James Bond movies...
Still, the intelligence was immediately passed on to Turkeyâs military, which was responsible for ensuring the security of airspace over the city during the summit, the police chief said. According to a tip Cerrah said was received by Turkeyâs national intelligence service MIT from unspecified foreign sources, Osama bin Ladenâs terrorist network was planning to use a bomb-laden glider to target a hotel in Istanbul where at least one of NATO leaders was staying during the June 28-29 summit. The aircraft was supposed to take off from a neighbouring country and approach the city by flying over the Black Sea, Cerrah said. The police chief did not say in the interview which hotel was supposedly targeted. But the police official who spoke to the AP yesterday said it was the hotel where US President George W. Bush was staying. "They had chosen a glider because radar would not spot it," Cerrah told the newspaper. "And since it flies without an engine, it would approach the target in silence."
Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder were among the world leaders who attended the summit, which took place amid extremely tight security. More than 23,000 police were mobilised, F-16 warplanes patrolled the skies and AWACS early-warning planes dispatched by NATO helped monitor a no-fly zone over Istanbul. Police spokesman Ramazan Er revealed on Friday that authorities found and defused explosives in a garage at Istanbulâs airport only hours before the arrival of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week. Another police official said a small Marxist group was believed to have been involved. The group, MLKP-FESK, claimed responsibility for a small blast last week in Ankara outside the hotel where Bush had been scheduled to stay.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 1:24:15 PM ||
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With all that coastline, Ol' Erdogan should be worrying about those amphibians...
Dozens of declassified documents were delivered Saturday to Spainâs parliament ahead of hearings on the March 11 train bombings in Madrid. One police document reportedly said Islamic terrorists had been plotting to attack Spain since late 2003, months before the blasts that killed 190 people. A parliamentary commission will begin work Tuesday examining evidence and interviewing officials and witnesses to determine whether the bombings might have been prevented and whether steps taken since have increased Spainâs security. The commission, made up of lawmakers from all parties in parliament, has sparred with the government and security agencies over what classified material it will be allowed to examine. The bombing has been blamed on Islamic militants with possible links to the international terrorist group al-Qaeda. One declassified report delivered Saturday that was prepared by the national police stated Spain was a target of Islamic terrorists by late 2003, months before the train bombings, the news agency Efe reported. That document reportedly mentioned Rabei Osman Ahmed, 33, an Egyptian who was arrested last month in Italy and now is fighting extradition to Spain.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 1:27:44 PM ||
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A day after seven suspects in the Madrid railway attacks blew themselves up to avoid arrest, the government declared the core of the terror cell either dead or behind bars. That assertion now seems hasty. Of 50 people arrested, only 16 remain in jail and only two of them are believed to have actually put backpacks full of dynamite and shrapnel aboard trains on March 11, killing 190 people. The others are believed to have played secondary roles, and even the hands-on duo are seen as foot soldiers for al-Qaida. Key suspects are fugitives. The masterminds remain a mystery, although officials have a few names in mind. "This might take time," the government's counterterrorism chief, Fernando Reinares, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Socialists who unexpectedly took power in elections held three days after the bombings inherited the daunting task of probing sometimes overlapping Islamic cells, including one accused of helping prepare the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Investigators have made advances on how the explosives were obtained and made into bombs and how members of the Madrid cell hooked up with each other, often through relatives or roots in Morocco. Another arrest was announced Friday â an Algerian accused of forging passports for suspects â and the government agreed to release some classified documents sought by lawmakers for their own inquiry. Reinares said most of those involved in on-the-ground planning for the attacks have been arrested. But big question marks remain. "It is still too early to say who were the instigators, the links," Reinares said.
An Egyptian explosives expert described as a mastermind was arrested last month in Italy. Spanish officials have requested his extradition, but are probably months away from interrogating him. Other key suspects, including a Moroccan alleged to be a senior al-Qaida figure in Europe and also indicted in the Sept. 11 attacks, are still at large. And three key suspects who were among the first arrested â and placed by witnesses aboard the trains or at a cottage where the bombs were made â were released from jail on June 17. Several witnesses who had identified them later backtracked and a prosecutor said the evidence against the three Moroccans was therefore too weak to detain them. However, they are still considered mass murder suspects, were forced to surrender their passports and must check in with officials each week. Reinares said suspects who might have served as middlemen between the local cell of mainly North African immigrants and Osama bin Laden's terror network include the Egyptian arrested in Milan, Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, and a fugitive Moroccan, Amer Azizi. Reinares described the al-Qaida network as a nebulous constellation with three main components â al-Qaida itself, 20 to 30 associated groups and cells that pop up across the globe and "take it upon themselves to carry out an attack on their own." "In the case of March 11 it is possible that to a large extent, all three came together," Reinares said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 12:09:16 AM ||
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Lawyers filed petitions in federal court in Washington yesterday on behalf of five men detained for the last two years at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, demanding that the government release them or prove that it has reason to continue their captivity.
The Center for Constitutional Rights called the filings only the first round of habeas corpus petitions it would file on behalf of as many as 53 Guantanamo detainees, some of whom have been held for more than two years without attorneys. "This is just the beginning," said Barbara Orlansky, the organization's deputy legal counsel.
Boundless energy and endless dollars from Soros?
Also yesterday, government attorneys agreed during a telephone conference with lawyers for 12 detained Kuwaitis that the Pentagon would "move as expeditiously as possible" to allow them access to their clients at Guantanamo Bay, said Tom Wilner, one of the attorneys who took part.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly urged the government to move quickly in granting the defense lawyers access. "I'm happy the government is finally acting reasonably, and we're grateful for that," said Wilner, who sued on behalf of the Kuwaitis two years ago.
Maj. Michael Shavers, a Defense Department spokesman, said yesterday the petitions do not alter the government's effort to determine how to comply with the ruling. "The Department of Defense, the Justice Department and the administration are still working together to determine how we're going to comply with the Supreme Court direction," Shavers said. "No decision has been made at this point."
In Rasul v. Bush, the Supreme Court ruled that the 595 alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay have the right to ask a U.S. judge to set them free or justify why they are being detained. Orlansky said her group scurried to file "as many petitions as were humanly possible" after the Supreme Court ruling. She contended that the government cannot make a case against these five detainees or many others. Some were arrested in Bosnia and Gambia, yet were accused of armed conflict in Afghanistan.
Terrorists do tend to be found around the world, and do tend to work together, but no ordinary constitutional lawyer would understand that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2004 12:33:04 AM ||
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I respectfully disagree.
SCOTUS has abdicated, along with much of our legal system, its responsibility to the society which granted them such power.
As I have said elsewhere: To lawyers, 3000 dead Americans is not too steep a price to pay to grant relief to one terrorist.
#2
Boundless energy and endless dollars from Soros?
Doubters. This legal advice to terrorist suspects was probably paid for by their targets ie. US taxpayers. Nice.
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 1:22 Comments ||
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#3
"The Court has made it's decision - now let's see them enforce it."
-- President Andrew Jackson
#4
Relief? So what're we talking 'bout here, 5 Ex Lax choco-cubes and a bottle of Kaopectate? Lawyers, sheesh. Always making simple crap into complicated shit.
Philippine security forces and Muslim rebels agreed on Saturday to "isolate and interdict" Jemaah Islamiah militants and other outlaws hiding in southern Philippines, officials and a rebel spokesman said. The two sides will work together to root out foreign militants and kidnapping syndicates hiding in communities controlled by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao, said Lieutenant General Rodolfo Garcia, the militaryâs vice chief of staff. "This arrangement is very important to move the peace process forward," Garcia told Reuters. "The activities of these lawless groups and terrorists can impede the peace talks."
Garcia said the agreement would be approved when representatives of the two sides meet later this month in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for formal peace talks. The military said it expected MILF rebels to monitor movements and activities of foreign militants and kidnap gangs and help the government arrest them. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the arrangement was temporary and needed approval by the peace panels of both sides. Defence Secretary Eduardo Ermita has said an estimated 30 to 40 militants from Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian group linked to al Qaeda, are hiding in the southern island of Mindanao.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 1:33:07 PM ||
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I love it when hot MILFs chase after me.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
07/03/2004 21:40 Comments ||
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they REALLY have to change their names or wear cocktail pearls and FM shoes
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 21:48 Comments ||
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Check it out. Iranian bloggers etc. organizing demonstrations against the rule of the Mullahs. Petition too! Excerpt:
18 Tir is a symbolic movement against the dictatorial Islamic Clerical Regime in Iran! The 18th of Tir (July 9th) is an eternal epic poem of the freedom-fightersâ brave and righteous movement against the tyrannical Islamic Regime. Nearly four years has passed since the painful and horrifying attack of the Islamic authorities against innocent freedom-demanding students. This attack was seen as so brutal and so violent that it brought back painful memories of the Mongolian invasion of Iran. The 18th of Tir is seen as a remembrance of those who stood up against tyranny and were subjected to brutal and inhumane acts of torture and violence by the hands of the Mullahs. Pretty damn cool if you ask me. Now go sign the petition!
Posted by: Chris W. ||
07/03/2004 1:28:44 PM ||
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The Iraqi official heading the investigation into alleged corruption in the United Nations oil-for-food program was killed in a bomb attack earlier this week, officials familiar with the probe said on Saturday. Ihsan Karim, head of the Board of Supreme Audit, died in hospital after a bomb placed under one of the cars in his convoy exploded on Thursday, the officials said. Iraqâs former U.S. Governor Paul Bremer gave the board independence from the executive branch of government and appointed Karim as its head in April. ...Zaab Sethna, a spokesman for Chalabi, said the audit board was poorly equipped to handle the investigation. "The assassination of Mr Karim is very worrying. Bremer appointed the audit board and left them on their own," Sethna told Reuters. "The investigation was the highest profile probe the board was handling. It is impossible to speculate who killed Mr Karim, but the oil-for-food corruption involved very powerful people inside and outside Iraq," he added. Impossible to speculate who killed Karim?? He, he...perhaps, the hands of Kofi Cup Annan, Jacko Chiraco, irmgard Shroeder, and "old blue eyes" Putin should be checked a.s.a.p. for traces of Semtex...just a thought...
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 4:43:03 PM ||
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I call: $ in the Paypal for Dupes - see the story below
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 21:49 Comments ||
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Law enforcement officials have killed a Saudi citizen, Abu Kutayba, who was suspected of organizing the attack in Ingushetia on June 22, ITAR-TASS reported Friday.
Al-Walid's successor?
Abu Kutayba was killed on Thursday and identified on Friday, spokesman for the regional headquarters of the North Caucasus anti-terrorist operation, Colonel Ilya Shabalkin, was quoted by the agency as saying.
If so, he was a short-lived successor...
The Saudi was a âclose associate of the terrorist Khattab killed in Chechnya, an emissary of international terrorist organizations.â Shabalkin added that the killed man had helped finance rebel groups in Chechnya and neighboring republics. The number of suspects detained since Wednesday has grown to 16, RIA Novosti reported. 10 of them have confessed to having taken part in the attack, presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, Vladimir Yakovlev, was quoted by the agency as saying.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 8:19:54 PM ||
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Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev has denied that his fighters are involved in operations outside Russia, in an interview aired on Saturday on Al Jazeera television. âThere are rumours spread by Russia implicating the mujahedeen in acts of violence recently carried out in France, Turkey and Spain. These are lies propagated by Moscow,â he told the Doha-based satellite channel. âWe donât plan any operation outside Russia, despite our capacity to. Our Chechen people continue Jihad on Russian territory.â He also accused Moscow of âseeking to tarnish the image of the honourable struggle of the Chechen people in propagating such lies. We are not even targeting Russian officials while they are outside ... However, members of the Russian intelligence services have perpetrated an attack in Qatar, killing our former president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev,â in a car bombing on February 13. âThis attack proves it is the real terrorism,â said Basayev, reiterating that Chechen separatists were ânot linked to violent acts recently carried out in Turkey. On the contrary, we thank the Turkish people for their aid and treatment for (our) children, the wounded and Chechen refugees.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 8:16:42 PM ||
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Almost all the militants who took part in the June 21-22 hit-and-run attack on a number of places in Russiaâs North-Caucasian territory of Ingushetia have been identified, the territorial Acting Interior Minister, Bislan Khamkhoyev, told Itar-Tass Friday. âAll of those people are known, catching them is just a matter of time, and none of the malefactors will be able to evade harsh punishment,â he said. Several dozen people involved in the attack have been arrested and are now giving confessionary evidence, Khamkhoyev said. âI will be speaking tough to those criminals, and the measures taken against them will also be tough, although in strict compliance with the law and with observance of all the rights of man,â he indicated. âWeâve confiscated huge amounts of weaponry, munitions, explosives, and uniforms,â Khamkhoyev said. âThe weapons are now kept at the department of investigations and experts are establishing whether they belonged to the Interior Ministry or to the criminalsâ. He believes the attack was prepared somewhere outside Ingushetia. The terrorist action was guided by the field commander Doku Umarov, himself a member of the gang reporting to the infamous warlord Shamil Basayev, and the composition of the grouping was international, Khamkhoyev said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 8:35:31 PM ||
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Three people were killed and three injured in two explosions in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, Interfax news agency reported Friday. One of the explosions took place on a street near a police car, on Thursday. A junior lieutenant and a sergeant were killed. Two other policemen were injured. According to preliminary information, the bomb had been put at the side of the road, the agency reported. On the same day, another blast took the life of an official of the Chechen Emergency Ministry. His colleague was injured and taken to a hospital in grave condition. The bomb exploded near the car when emergency officials were at a road crossing, the agency reported.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 8:18:11 PM ||
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U.S. forces killed about a dozen militants in the past week, the military said Saturday, in efforts to keep Taliban-led rebels on the defensive ahead of Afghanistanâs national elections. Afghan officials said another 12 militants were killed in a clash late Friday, but the U.S. military had no word on that fighting. The dozen deaths announced by the U.S. military occurred in skirmishes across the troubled south in which another dozen militants were detained, U.S. spokesman Maj. Jon Siepmann said. "I believe the figures are roughly a dozen killed and another dozen captured," Siepmann said. Several U.S. and allied troops were wounded, but none fatally, he said.
Those fatalities bring to more than 120, the number of militants that American and Afghan officials have reported killed since U.S. Marines began a series of major operations in Taliban strongholds in late May. According to Ghulam Jailani, the deputy police chief of Zabul province, another 12 Taliban died in a battle with U.S. and Afghan troops late Friday. Jailani said the fighting began when rebels rocketed a checkpoint in Daychopan, a mountainous area of Zabul province 190 miles southwest of Kabul that has seen the fiercest fighting. Twelve militants were killed and four captured in a 10-minute exchange of fire before the rest fled, he said. None of the Americans or Afghans were hurt. U.S. and Afghan forces killed five militants and captured seven in the region on Wednesday, but U.S. spokeswoman Master Sgt. Cindy Beam said Saturday she had no reports of a fresh clash there.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/03/2004 1:29:41 PM ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 13:08 ||
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#1
W, it's time to act. You are either going to find your lost nuggets or you're going to wuss out and let this stand. If there really is a video of this atrocity, then it's time to roll out the big guns.
Do not disappoint me, George.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
07/03/2004 13:31 Comments ||
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#2
What's your plan, Chris? What would you do differently, given the exact circumstances faced by Bush at this moment?
#3
It's time to call a horse-thief a horse-thief:
I have to wonder who in the administration is advising against a firm response to these outrages.
The savages in Fallujah were spared a couple of months ago, and the offensive has not been resumed even in the face of multiple atrocities.
This immunity from consequence looks like victory to the jihad scum and their followers: the Americans are afraid to act even when their people are butchered on television.
The advocates of this policy undoubtedly know this, and are therefore deliberately sabotaging the war effort at the political level.
All Kerry has to do at this point is declare, "you know, the invasion was wrong but we managed to trap a big force of jihadis and foreign terrorists in Fallujah. They are real enemies and we should have killed them. I wouldn't have let them go, and I wouldn't stand for any more of these outrages."
Is it impossible that he would make a statement like this? Not at all, why do you think they call him "Flipper."
#4
Can't speak for Chris, .com, but I would resume the offensive in Fallujah, politics be damned. It is the number one rat's nest in the world right now, a symbol to Islamo-fascists and Euro-media of American failure and weakness. Surround the rats, and kill them to the last man.
#7
Give the Fallugah Brigade 48 hrs,sh#t or get off the pot.48 hrs later cut the Marines loose,
1)suround and cordon the city block by block
2)Give the innocents 30 min to clear the area the go in,no quater no mercy
Do this block by block from 1 end of town to the other.No stopping,no quater
#8
I'd let Allawi take care of Fallujah. He can be MUCH more brutal than we can and it will only increase his stature among Iraqis for cracking down on the criminals. If we do it it's going to be a much harder road and we'll be putting americans in the line of fire for no reason.
From the stories I've read Allawi is cracking down hard.
#10
You guys have to realize that if we want this to work it's time to back off and see if Iraqis can handle it themselves.
Btw, don't get me wrong... if we get specific intelligence on a Zarqawi location I'm all for taking it out. But we're past the point where we can do cordon and searches or it will be a setback.
CAIRO, Egypt - An Iraqi militant group claimed on Internet site Saturday that it beheaded a U.S. Marine of Lebanese descent.
The group, called Jaish Ansar al-Sunna, posted a written statement on an Islamic web site claiming that it had killed Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun.
"We would like to inform you that the Marine of Lebanese descent has been killed, and you will soon see the movie with your own eyes," said the statement, signed in the name of the group's leader, Abu Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud.
The U.S. military in Baghdad said they are aware of the report of Hassoun's death and are checking into it, but they have no comment nor confirmation for the moment.
On June 27, pan-Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape showing Hassoun blindfolded and militants threatening to kill him unless the United States releases all Iraqis in "occupation jails."
Hassoun, from West Jordan, Utah was last seen about a week before the videotape was broadcast, the military said.
U.S. forces initially believed Hassoun may have gone missing, but last month's Al-Jazeera video had led to the military changing his status to "captured."
The New York Times, citing a Marine officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has reported on its Web site that Hassoun had been traumatized after seeing one of his sergeants killed by a mortar, and was trying to make his way back to Lebanon. The officer told the paper that Hassoun sought the help of Iraqis on the base, was betrayed by them, and was handed over the extremists.
Hassoun's eldest brother, Mohammad, who lives in a Salt Lake City suburb, denied the report.
#13
Well, his ROP(ma) and Brotherhood of Muslims didn't help him much, did it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 14:16 Comments ||
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#14
Okay - A/C addressed the key issue of operating within reality with a hard decision: "politics be damned".
We just turned over sovereignty - therefore we are not "free" to operate completely independently. Certainly there must be circumstances where we can, per our agreement with the Interim Gov't, but also certainly it's not a blanket permit. Is retribution for effectively luring, capturing, and killing a US Marine available without concurrence from Allawi / Yawar? If not - and they don't agree with the action - is this what you're saying, A/C? Regardless of what they say? Ink not yet dry, but... ? And toss in the AP rumor (another article today here on RB) that Allawi, our hero last week, is considering an amnesty? WTF?
This is some hardcore shit here, folks. We've agreed to leave when they say - and here we are at a nexus. If we tell them to fuck off - they may publicly demand we leave. Then where are we? We'll see, but I think the box is very very small, now. The odds of making rubble, bouncing rubble, reducing the insurgency via mil action has been reduced dramatically. We have Sadr calling for resistance, again. Same problem.
Reality is a bitch. I want the Fallujah nest cleared, too - all willing to fight us DEAD. I want Sadr DEAD. BUT, we have a maze to negotiate first. Handled perfectly, we might get what we want without becoming the bad guys. But the odds are now against us unless Allawi / Yawar are solid and the stories to the contrary are multiculti LLL BS. Just my $0.02.
#15
DPA, the Iraqis have had 2 months to deal with the rat's nest. Yesterday, Allawi even proposed an amnesty for the scum.
The beheading of Wassef Ali Hassoun was their response. The Fallujah brigade does not have the training, numbers, or firepower to deal with this, and many of its personnel have gone over to the enemy.
Allawi can bring in other Iraqi forces if he likes, and combine them with the remnants of the discredited Fallujah brigade to make it look good, but the Marines and Special Forces must take the offensive and destroy this sanctuary once and for all.
Beyond that, military PR must drop its traditional squeamishness and make an effort to get more images of dead jihadis into the media.
#16
.com, Allawi is dead meat if he throws us out and he knows it.
I think he can be persuaded to take action that is, after all, aimed at eliminating his most dangerous enemies.
#17
.com, I'm not sure whatI would do to be honest with you. What I AM sure of is that our intelligence gathering personnel know a whole heck of a lot more than we civilians do when it comes to identifying hot spots and likely hiding places for the terrorist scum insurgents. I have little doubt that there is a treasure trove of info that has been gathered and not disclosed to the press for obvious reasons. Even some things that HAVE been disclosed to the press have not been reported accurately, for other obvious reasons.
No, I think W. has been quite weak in his responses to these insurgents for quite some time, and his weakness goes all the way back to his Thanksgiving visit to Bahgdad. That's the last time I can remember him doing something "pro-active" in this war, for lack of a better word. Fallujah was a joke, al-Sadr is still breathing and this is looking to be the THIRD American beheaded by these scum and the fourth to be publically executed.
Frankly, I think the last known whereabouts of al-Sadr and al-Zarqawi should be levelled to the ground, "civilians" and all, until these local Iraqis get with the program. Apparently, the "civliians" hate us SO MUCH that the $25 MILLION reqard for al-Zarqawi is not good enough for them to renounce their alliegance with these animals! That makes them the ENEMY, not "civilians", as they were given every chance they could possibly be given to get with the program. Turn their cities to dust, destroy al-Jazerra for their assisting the enemy, and imprison any and all entities who fund al-Jazerra. Didn't W say 2.5 years ago that those who assist terror would be brought to justice? Well, DO IT.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
07/03/2004 14:30 Comments ||
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#18
Beyond that, I am not convinced that Allawi and the new Iraqi government are really the ones counseling restraint.
I see the dead hand of State Department Arabists and appeaseniks behind a lot of the recent events.
#19
So, if I'm hearing you guys right, it seems the hard answer is for a surprise trip by W to meet face-to-face with Allawi and Yawar, read them the riot act (because Zarqi HAS thretened to kill Allawi - there should some serious leverage there), and demand:
1) Arrest or kill Sadr, nothing less is acceptable and we'll do it if they won't
2) Ultimatum to Fallujah et al and follow through, with or without Iraqi participation
#20
Unfortunately, .com, yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Damn it. I hate to say that because it is political suicide for a President who is already hated by far too many voters.
W dropped the ball by not handling these insurgents while we still had official control of Iraq. We are still paying the price in lives and W has indeed painted himself into a corner since he handed over Iraq without CRUSHING these insurgents first.
It's been said before: Does W even want to win a second term? What other explanation can there be for a man who was 85% right during the first year of the WOT to suddenly and without warning loose his marbles and make so many ill-advised decisions since?
Posted by: Chris W. ||
07/03/2004 14:48 Comments ||
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#21
I tend to agree with #14, ie.com's post. We are between a rock and a hard place, now that we have officially handed over sovereignity. We cannot turn around a few days later and say, oops, Fallujah and beheading of our GI's are an exception to Iraqi government calling the shots in their own country.
Unless we are prepared to pull our troops out of Iraq, I cannot see any way we could send the marines in holus bolus to "level" Fallujah. In that regard, I agree with #17. GWB should have okayed tough action against Fallujah months ago. Now it's too late. It's Allawi's call AND he would need to put some Iraqi military leading the charge to show official Iraqi government seal of approvql for this mission.
Maybe I'm wrong on this but as I recall...our GI's can act unilaterally on foreign fighters in Iraq, giving the Iraqi military a heads up on the mission. But with regards to Iraqi fighters,ie Fallujah,the initiative has to come from the Iraqi government/military.
Can anyone remember the agreement with regards to military ventures in Iraq after the sovereignity hand over?My memory fails on the details...rather complex as I recall.
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 14:52 Comments ||
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#22
Iraq's interim heads of government need to be shown a ticking countdown timer. Yes, we want them to take decisive action. No, amnesties are not part of that game plan. The routing out of Fallujah is. It's difficult to see where the Fallujah brigade is going to make even a remote dent in the insurgency.
We need Sadr's head on a platter d@mn soon if there is going to be any hope of squelching the terrorists' burgeoning sense of success. The Shi'ites declaring that Saddam's rule would be preferrable to American liberation is proof enough of their self-delusion.
We do need to maintain some degree of circumspection per the fledgling Iraqi government, but any amnesty nonsense will need to result in some strong corrective measures. Our assistance should rightly carry a price tag of proper cooperation and not be eroded by the usual slough of Arab double-dealing and back-stabbing.
#23
Damn_Proud_American----Good point on Falluhah. We need the Iraqis in on cleaning up this rathole. It will add legitimacy to the govt to take responsibility. I have a feeling that Allawi will do what he needs to, or he will fall. It is rubber-meets-the-road time for Iraq. We cannot fight their battles for them. The Iraqis will have to step up and be counted. Hundreds of Iraqis boomed, killed, and injured by these vermin hurts them, too.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/03/2004 14:57 Comments ||
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#24
Shit, Chris - that's easy: politics. He stopped listening to his own inner voice, the hated neocons, and hardliners -- and started listening to the political nuancers and spinmeisters. You see it in every Prez campaign (and prolly all national campaigns) - some candidate stops doing what he believes in and starts sticking a wet finger in the wind... and loses support in the process. Sigh. Oldest story in the world: you can't please everybody, so don't try. As a Clinical Psyche friend used to joke:
If you're a banana, be the best goddamned banana you can be. Trying to be a plum to please the plum-lovers is stupid. The best plum you can be is half-assed - and when you're doing it neither the banana-lovers nor the plum-lovers will want you. So be a great banana and tell the plum-lovers to piss off.
#25
One thing at a time, .com.
It's unfortunate that Sadr is still running around loose, but the little-publicized destruction of his so-called army has done a lot to reduce his status among Iraqis.
I think Allawi might be eager to play ball on Fallujah, if he can be sure that we will not flinch, and his forces could take action that we cannot.
#26
I'm sure we'll know soon. The idiocy of the amnesty story was just breathtaking - from a Western POV - and so perfectly Arab in nature that it rings as true as the fucking Liberty Bell. Sigh.
But I just wondered if anyone was going to argue this within reality, instead of the fantasy crap that's so common: "We need to do this. And we need to do that. And make no mistake, we should blah, blah, fucking blah." Wotta load of armchair twaddle.
Within reality, what can we reasonably and rationally expect to be the options? Which option makes the most sense, from our perspective? Which from Allawi's / Yawar's perspective? --- It's time for a hardcore dose of reality cuz we may suddenly find ourselves looking at reality (such as the amnesty idea becoming real - or even beginning to draw down troops) and saying, WTF? How did we get HERE?
Easy, we got there by ranting silly shit instead of working it through as Bush and Allawi have to work it through. So much crap confuses the issues. And the nay-saying / back-biting of those who refuse to accept reality is very very old, too. It's simply Western-style seething and hypocrisy.
#27
There are so many places I could step into this conversation...I've written a bit on desertion, soldiers and Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun and the emense sadness of his fate. But leaving that alone for now...and passing on Chris' great question, "Does Bush even want a second term?" (I got off that train at Fallujah, and Gen. Conway's decision to pull back), and leaving aside my general call, like Cato the Elder, "Fallujah Delente Est," I would still like to direct your attention to a good piece of video out of Al Kut from CBS News.
It is understood that Al Kut was never as bad as Fallujah, but it was certainly bad enough with Sadr's men roaming the streets a little while ago...so take a look at this, and maybe have a little hope that Iraq can still be pulled out of the fire.
#30
Hi muck4doo, I just tried the link and it does work, however the story is lower right, (my bad), below the main video on Brando. There is so little good news out of Iraq, that I thought that this video was of some importance...it is visual and interesting and hopefully telling. Like the commander of the 101st (Pontaneus (sp?), good commanders will find a way.
Of course, AC is correct, Al Kut is not Fallujah...but then I would have systematically, patiently squeezed Fallujah for weeks, killing whoever was necessary to kill...whoever bore arms, women, children, whoever.
#31
Yep, Traveller, we had them by the 'nads in Fallujah back in April. The Marines were good progress, methodically reducing the enemy sanctuary to a small section and, more importantly, killing the rats in wholesale numbers.
In the all-important propaganda war, the enemy media, led by the BBC, made a significant tactical blunder by glorifying the Falluhihadis and turning their nest into a supposed center of epic resistance.
In doing so, they played Hitler to Fallujah's Stalingrad, making it impossible for the jihadis to simply skulk away or otherwise retreat. The jihadis were doomed, and the administration's about-face provided a miraculous rescue.
#32
...it was, AC, for the Islamists, almost like the, "Miracle of Dunkirk," was for the British at the beginning of WWII.
And it was something we should not have allowed them. You fault the media and BBC, but I strongly disagree. This was a problem that the Bush Administration had a duty, a moral obligation, to manage, and had they wished, they could have done so. Management of the media is a primary function of the Presidency, and if Bush isn't up to this task, he shouldn't be President, whatever other values he brings to the office.
Regarding Fallujah, he should have, easily could have, for 21 straight days called a news conference asking the people of Fallujah to surrender their arms and obey the lawful orders of the CPA. He could have chided the news media for glorifying the insurgents, and kept insisting that the Islamists were a dire threat to the future of Iraq and all the Iraqi people. Which they were and are.
He could have repeatedly paid homage to the Insurgents as soldiers, but at the same time maintained that they were mistaken in their opposition to the New Iraq. He could have educated the United States, (not to mention the rest of the world), on the true nature of war...it is to kill people that bare arms against the United States...he could have apologized for this terrible truth, but all the while he could have been ordering the further squeezing of Fallujah.
This is what our soldiers do, it is an Honorable occupation and we send them forth to work our will. This is a simple story that people would instinctively understand because it is true. We beg the population of Fallujah to surrender their arms, and if they don't we will take them from them. And then just do it...apologizing all the while.
#33
Well, that's that. A bazillion potential futures at every instant in time. Pick a point, any point, and make a decision. Voila! Another bazillion potential futures from there. But, universus coitus interruptus! The MilCmd's decision to try the Fallujah Brigade Experiment, and everyone in the chain giving them their head, not micro-managing as was done throughout Vietnam - letting them be the Professional Soldiers who know what's happening on the ground and do what they think best, was the uber-nexus of nexii. And who's to blame? Who do you want to skin for it? Wow.
#34
Well, .com, I will let you have the last say. What is done is done, and the bazillion potential different futures you mention do vanish in a puff drifting smoke, and are about as substantial.
But damnit, man, everytime I turn around Fallujah seems to be jumping out again to bite me on the ass. I'm sick of Fallujah, sick of thinking about it, sick of pondering how to manage that rebellious city of some 300k people.
I don't want to see Fallujah become like Cambodia, a sanctuary, a refuge for the insurgents, a place to re-fit, re-fuel, a springboard to re-attack.
I only wish that Fallujah were, "a wrap."
Oh, and if you need someone to blame...blame me...everyone blames me for everything anyhow...lol
But I'm telling 'ya, I didn't go 'n shoot no Archduke Ferdinand, it was that damned Gavrilo Princep's fellow. (smile)
#35
yep - it's Traveller's fault...unless, of course, it's the Joooooos
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 18:47 Comments ||
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#36
a few things:
1) Its not politically feasable for us to go in and clear Fallujah. Not anymore. Bremer and the State Department weenies screwed that one up for us a while back. We would rip what credibility Allawi has away, and inflame all the Muj, Fedayeen, Baathist, and Shia, and generally blow the entire nation into rebellion, opening the doors for all kinds of terrorsts to be supported there. Yeah, you and I may wish we could tear Falluja the new *ssh*le it deserves, but wish in one hand and sh*t in the other and see which one fills up first. Have to face reality.
2) Even if we could level fallujah, how would you do it? Where specifcially are the mooks that are pulling this beheading crap? How will you be sure you got them? FYI: US Intel is apparently *still* weak in the region - look at how many blown opportunities there have been. So dont *overestimate* our capabilities in the region the way you have been. Remember, we cannot recover from over a decade of neglect (starting with Bush I, and really accelerating during Clinton) in only a few years.
3) Give Allawi time to properly frame this for his people. He knows eventually he has to clean out that nest of vipers in Fallujah or else it will end up detroying him and his government. What he needs is a better armed force (why the hell have we not gotten these guys armored vests and proper weapons after over a YEAR?), and breathing space so it looks like he is going in on his own, not as a puppet being yanked there by the US.
4) This also gives Sistani a chance to condemn the wannabe-Muj and set the Iraqi Shia against these Iranian Shia, Saudi Wahabbi, and Syrian Baathists. This way he can reclaim lost ground from Sadr, and distance himself at the same time. And it buys him the middle ground, and makes later actions by Allawi look like they were done at the request/backing of Sistani: which stabilizes Allawi and raises Sistani's influence.
so what do we do?
1) Increase our pressure on the "Fallujah Brigade" - drop weapons support and disband them where possible. Start raids into the city with the regular Iraqi police force and Iraqi national guard, letting them "borrow" our armored HMMV's, body armor and heavy MGs, letting US "Observers" ride with them to call in airpower or artillery. But be sure there are only Iraqi faces on every camera during any and all actions. This has to be their fight. And be damned sure to drag out Iranians, Saudis and Syrians, and parade them (or their corpses) before the cameras as such.
2) Bush has to make Congress invest in more HUMINT and counterintel over there, and has to get them to commit for a decade or more of funding. Add to that an increase in technical intel sources. Pay more money for linguists to train up and hold onto them instead of letting them go every 4 years. Price of freedom - paid in blood or money? Now's the time to choose.
3) Get the damned equipment to Allawi *NOW*. Let him hire some Mercs to train his people. Get him some of those billions to buy equipment from the Egyptians and South Africans and South American countries - hell even let em buy from Germany (small arms and ammo). Just get the stuff NOW and get it int he hands of his troops andpolice.
#4 Get better contacts with Sistani and remind him of where his bread is buttered. Make those useless Diplos get out and ride a camel to see him and open solid lines of communication with him - so we can let him know what bad is coming if he doesnt get his ducks in a row, and what good happens when he does.
Watch for #4 - thats the tipoff. If Sistani is sharp he will realize this is his chance to get into the game again, and if he makes a statement, it changes the whole ballgame for everyone over there.
#43
DUBAI (Reuters) - The Army of Ansar al-Sunna issued a statement on its Web site on Sunday denying reports that it had killed a U.S. soldier abducted in Iraq.
"This statement that claimed to be from us has no basis in truth...and we have an official Web site through which we publish statements," the group said, referring to a statement issued on two Islamist Web sites on Saturday in the name of Ansar which said the militant group had beheaded the Lebanese-born soldier.
U.S. forces uncovered a facility where car and roadside bombs were made, and detained 51 people believed linked to an insurgent cell, U.S. military officials said Saturday. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion 8th Cavalry Regiment discovered four vehicles that were to be potentially used as car bombs and several assembled roadside bombs. Also found were several automatic weapons, ammunition, explosives and $8,750...The detainees are all suspected of being members of an insurgent cell responsible for placing roadside bombs that have killed two U.S. soldiers in the area. Good work guys.
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 2:13:58 AM ||
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#1
Duplicate post to one a few lines below. Please remove this one, Mods. Thanks.
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 15:09 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's new government is considering offering amnesty to Iraqi insurgents who fought the U.S.-led occupation, perhaps even pardoning those who killed Americans. A spokesman for Allawi said fighting with U.S. troops was "justified" as resistance to occupation. "If he (a guerrilla) was in opposition against the Americans, that will be justified because it was an occupation force," spokesman Georges Sada said of the rebels. "We will give them freedom."
And if we get our hands on him, perhaps we'll give him something else.
Choking the brutal 14-month insurgency is the No. 1 priority of Allawi's government, and the prime minister is expected to make a number of security-related policy announcements in coming days. Besides the amnesty plan, those include a new emergency law that sets curfews in Iraq's trouble spots and resurrects of Iraq's death penalty, Sada said.
The amnesty plan is still in the works, and a full pardon for insurgents who killed Americans is not a certainty, Sada said. The main thrust is to "start everything from new" by giving a second chance to rebel fighters who hand in their weapons and swear off the insurgency. "There is still heavy discussion about this," said Sada, interviewed in the prime minister's office. He said the U.S. Embassy has encouraged Allawi to try creative solutions to end the insurgency as long as they don't infringe on human rights.
There appears to be little controversy about pardoning rebels who were not actual killers of U.S. or Iraqi security forces. Sada said it was "no problem" to amnesty rebel financiers and those storing heavy weapons in their homes. The offer appears to be intended to drive a wedge between nationalist Iraqis who fought the U.S.-led occupation and their growing alliance with Islamic fighters who want to drive Westerners and their influence out of Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2004 12:35:11 PM ||
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#1
I hate the wording he used. If they were people who were Iraqi patriots and just didn't believe in our intentions then they are not neccesarily evil. To say that they were "justified" is revolting though.
#2
A spokesman for Allawi said fighting with U.S. troops was "justified" as resistance to occupation. "If he (a guerrilla) was in opposition against the Americans, that will be justified because it was an occupation force," spokesman Georges Sada said of the rebels. "We will give them freedom."
This idea is the ultimate betrayal, the supreme slap in the face. This amnesty proposal legitimizes the notion of the USA as an "invading" and "occuping" force and puts the US into the "bad guy" camp along with the terrorist fighters.
I would like Allawi to personally meet with the parents and wives and children of the GI's who were killed by Iraqi "nationalists" so he could give these American families his sage rationale about why the lives of their loved ones, who were fighting for Iraqis' freedom, are worth ZILCH. What a duplicitious bunch of back-stabbers. The Arab mind...always creating new realities.
There appears to be little controversy about pardoning rebels who were not actual killers of U.S. or Iraqi security forces. Sada said it was "no problem" to amnesty rebel financiers and those storing heavy weapons in their homes.
Say what? Little controversy for pardoning those who were hand maidens to violence? No controversy for forgiving those who made our GI's walk in terroro for 18 months? No controversy for the $90 plus Billion that we American taxpayers have paid to fight this the violence which is fuelled by these Iraqi accessories to death and chaos?
If GWB does not intervene and set this Allawi guy straight about "peace loving people" [ie. our GI's] as opposed to "evil doers" [ie. unlawful Iraqi fighters and generic terrorists], then GWB can kiss the Oval Office good bye. End of story. No ifs, maybes. The majority of Americans last polled now oppose the Iraq invasion.[57% or so???]. If GWB allows Allawi to give amnesty to Iraqis who killed or caused violence to be perpetuated against our GI's, GWB is toast, as he should be if he allows this "proposal" to stand.
But what's worse is, if GWB allows Allawi to implement this nasty amnesty idea, then we Republicans will have a very, very, very hard time to get a Republican in the WH for a long time to come, because a Republican President would be associated with "betrayal."
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 13:24 Comments ||
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#3
This is an AP story, so take it with a grain of salt. The amnesty idea may be reasonable with the more offensive elements added as spin to punch up the story and advance the Kerry agenda. The new Iraqi government hasn't yet learned that the American press is an even more pernicious enemy than the "insurrectionists." Politics are more important than lives (except for those who might vote Democratic).
#4
The amnesty idea may be reasonable
The AP does not have to "punch up" an idea that is a betrayal. You tell me how an amnesty idea can be, in any shape or form, "reasonable."
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 13:34 Comments ||
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#5
Well from the POV of a guy wearing an evil hat, I would offer amnesty.
Yes yes yes, please come forth identify yourself, and turn in your guns. Ho ho ho, amnesty period over, now what was your address again...
#6
rex, it's called double-speak. There is what PM Allawi is saying in English and what he's saying in Arabic -- why didn't you realize that from watching Yasir Arafat? :-P
P.S. Are you one of those "Christ the King" types on the Freeper boards??
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
07/03/2004 13:52 Comments ||
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#7
Rex, I disagree. To end violence you must always provide amnesty to those that fought against you. Otherwise they have no reason to change their ways. The ones that are truly evil need to be killed. The ones that were fighting because they were confused and now want to rejoin Iraqi society should be allowed to. We did it with the Japanese, we did it with the Germans, we are doing it with the Afghans and if we want this to work we'll do it with the Iraqis.
The part that bothers me is he refers to the act of killing americans as justified. He should have said "those that have been tricked into believing the americans are our enemies and now realize the truth will be granted amnesty."
#8
Btw, we WERE an occupying army. Just because the LLL media has made that an evil word doesn't mean it is. We were liberators and then occupiers as was neccesary to bring freedom to the Iraqis. Denying that we occupied the country is exactly what the LLL's want you to do because it means you've bought into their ideology of attacking any occupation as evil. Instead the argument is that we occupied and bled for the Iraqis because of how good we are.
#9
There is what PM Allawi is saying in English and what he's saying in Arabic
Allawi was educated in the USA, didn't you know? He can speak in Arabic as well as English.
Are you one of those "Christ the King" types on the Freeper boards??
No, I don't post on Freeper Boards and I am a non-practising Catholic. Are Catholics bad people in your view, too? Is there a particular faith you want all posters to be so as to meet with your approval?
To end violence you must always provide amnesty to those that fought against you.
Almost 900 GI's were killed in Iraq, mainly by Iraqis, who took up arms against America, along with the foreign fighters. Comparatively speaking, few Iraqis were killed by fellow Iraqis-maybe a couple of hundred, and some by accident. Iraqi insurgents were targeting for the most part American soldiers. ie. Allawi is promising amnesty to Iraqi "nationalists" who hate America and who will go out and kill GI's again because American GI's are still in Iraq and will be there for a long time, as we are told. What will make American GI's less an "occupying force" 2 months from now than 2 months ago? American troop presence is being increased with the hand over of the government, not decreased.
the argument is that we occupied and bled for the Iraqis because of how good we are.
And who do you think should be making that argument to Iraqis??? Perhaps Allawi, perhaps??
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 14:25 Comments ||
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Nope on the Freeper subject, and I'm more pro-Catholic ... well, minus the "Christ the King" ones >_> (I remember one posting a thesis on "monarchy > democracy because democracy = anti-Christian")
I'm aware of Allawi being educated in the US and being bilingual - so is Arafat, but see his double-speak. If it's of the good sort ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
07/03/2004 14:42 Comments ||
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I'm all for "Christ the King." However, I want the real thing. No stand-ins or stooges, please.
#12
By even hinting at amnesty, Allawi has done more to damage American standing in Iraq since Sadr's open rebellion. This positively reeks of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" sort of Arabic horseradish. To attribute even the remotest justification for killing American combatants is flat-out betrayal. Every kind of wrong message is being sent to the Iraqi people loud and clear.
Actively seeking to reel in some of the most violent and subversive elements within Iraq's insurgency simply indicates that Allawi has no intention of purging his nation of its extremists. Seeking any sort of alliance with these cutthroats is tantamount to collaboration.
If no backbone is shown now, what sort of complicity might we expect after exiting the scene? Will international terror once again find a haven in Iraq? All indications are that the answer is yes. Someone should point out to Allawi that if terror operations can be traced back into Iraq, we will return to depose him and possibly turn his entire country into a suzerain and be done with it for once and all.
Iraq's nationhood must not be permitted any foundation upon antipathy towards America. While the populace may not fully concur, if their country's charter implicitly incorporates respect for rebellion against those who liberated it at great cost, such a degree of treachery must not go unpunished.
We would be idiots for allowing Iraq to bite us on the hand after pulling them out from under Saddam's tyranny.
#13
Your powerful passionate statements, #12, are exactly what I had tried to express earlier, albeit not as eloquently. Hear, hear, Zenster!
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 16:23 Comments ||
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Thank you for the kind words, rex. You do a pretty good job of expressing yourself around here as well, I've noticed.
Both Iraq's and Saudi Arabia's amnesty plans are nothing more than naked attempts to co-opt terror elements within their borders back into the fold. This in no way represents even the least acceptable sort of attempts to thwart such a menace. It is nothing short of recruiting these extremists to serve the government's ends instead of their own. How this can ever be interpreted as productive or constructive in any manner whatsoever is a matter that only the Arab mind's infinite capacity for duplicity is able to countenance.
Whether by backchannel or direct diplomatic communication, Allawi must be made to understand that any attempt at amnesty will be regarded as outright betrayal and shall result in direct unilateral military action against those targets that would benefit most from such a boon.
If all of this is true, Allawi might as well have spit in our eye to suggest such a thing.
#15
It is nothing short of recruiting these extremists to serve the government's ends instead of their own.
As long as they don't kill innocent people, let them serve whatever ends they please.
Allawi is bargaining from a position of extreme weakness. Being "sovereign", he will do what he feels is best for stability in his country. And that includes spitting in your eye, if he thinks it likely to improve matters.
And as for the amnesty, what he's talking about is *peace*. Didn't the American civil war also include offers of amnesty? All those extremist Southern rebels, weren't they pardoned?
And if your argument is that you'll invade a sovereign government just because it pardoned people that you didn't want to see pardoned... well, let's just say that you'll have lost any moral right in the war. Allawi so far hasn't proven himself a butchering mass-murderer like Saddam either, so you'll have no humanitarian reasons to invade either.
#16
Rex, I disagree. To end violence you must always provide amnesty to those that fought against you. Otherwise they have no reason to change their ways. The ones that are truly evil need to be killed. The ones that were fighting because they were confused and now want to rejoin Iraqi society should be allowed to. We did it with the Japanese, we did it with the Germans, we are doing it with the Afghans and if we want this to work we'll do it with the Iraqis.
DPA, while history does indeed bear out your point, it seems unwise in the extreme for Iraq's newly formed government to offer such an olive branch without having first actively demonstrated its resolve to seek out and destroy those who continue to thwart their nation's fragile composure.
Doing this without first making a concerted effort, again, reeks of merely hoping to co-opt these terrorist elements back into the fold. The Iraqi government would be far better off to make clear that death awaits those who do not surrender instead of resorting to flat-out bribery so early in the game. I fail to see where this should have the least curative effect upon the true malaise that rots Iraq at its core. Namely, the continued presence of terrorists and their support groups within Iraq's borders.
The threat of these remnant subversives is not only to Iraq. America will suffer soon enough as well if nothing is done to incapacitate terror's grip within Iraq's Shi'ite community. Those who support such evil must be shown the error of their ways and not merely glad-handed back into societal good standing. Much of our work will have been in vain should this not occur.
#17
Aris, like DPA you make some valid points. However, "Allawi is bargaining from a position of extreme weakness" and I find this to be a foolish way of bolstering against one's vulnerability. Such spineless lack of determination will only serve to encourage renegades like Sadr.
Allawi so far hasn't proven himself a butchering mass-murderer like Saddam either, so you'll have no humanitarian reasons to invade either.
I do not agree. Co-opting the Shi'ite terrorist factions back into Iraqi society without penalty represents a substantial threat to regional and American national security. Allowing Iraq's residual terror structure to go unpunished is the same as condoning it. If Allawi is unable or unwilling to make definite inroads towards exterminating this long standing threat, then America has every right to reverse its own stance on Iraqi sovereignty.
July 2, 2004 -- JERUSALEM â Five armed Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in gun battles that lasted for hours yesterday in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians were stopped near the Netzarim junction after they apparently tried to penetrate an army outpost or Jewish settlement there, authorities said.
The shootout came during a violent day in which Israeli forces launched raids in the West Bank town or Jericho and the Gaza refugee camp of Rafah. Col. Roni Belkin, who led the Jericho offensive, said the town had "turned into a terrorist shelter" in recent months.
His men arrested at least 30 wanted Palestinians, including a man the army said killed an Israeli teenager lured to the West Bank in 2001 by romantic e-mails sent to him by a Palestinian girl. that was an old case - nice grab
In Rafah, Palestinian sources said the Israeli army was responsible for the death of a 9-year-old boy, Omar Mohammed Zaran, who was caught in a crossfire.
Also, in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at militants who planted explosives near Israeli ground troops, the army said.
Palestinians said seven people were injured. Hopefully itâs painful, like shrapnel in the gut
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 10:23:01 AM ||
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Jericho used to be jihadi free.... change in local leadership?
President General Pervez Musharraf has ordered a crackdown on almost 30 terrorist groups in Karachi after a report on various dimensions of terrorism in the port city was presented to him. âA comprehensive report covering all aspects of terrorism in Karachi, with particular focus on major terror groups, prepared by the Interior Ministry in collaboration with the provincial government and the law-enforcement agencies, was presented to President Musharraf at a recent high-level meeting. The president has ordered an immediate crackdown against these groups,â sources told Daily Times on Friday. âSo far, around 30 terrorist groups have been identified in Karachi. Of them, 15 are sectarian-related groups whereas 15 are related to terrorism directed against Western interests,â says the report, a copy of which was obtained by the Daily Times. It adds that 184 terrorists belonging to these groups have been arrested, 79 have so far been convicted, including 51 who were awarded death sentences. âIronically, not a single death sentence has been executed. All are pending appeal beyond the 30 days mandatory period,â the report says.
The report adds that 21 top terrorists, including masterminds Amjad Farooqi, Asif Chotoo, Naveedul Hassan, Raza Imran and Saud Memon, are at large and another 19 belonging to the middle planning tier are also wanted by the authorities. âTherefore, the threat of further acts of terrorism looms large,â the report warns. In Karachi, 222 activists are under surveillance under the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. According to the report, preventive measures have been taken to prevent further attacks. âHigh-profile target premises have been divided into 15 security zones with round the clock cordons and checking of vehicles. Intelligence collection is geared up, CID strengthened and sanctuaries are being swooped upon. Mosques and madrassas are being monitored and the donation collection is being checked,â says the report.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/03/2004 9:43:29 AM ||
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Mosques and madrassas are being monitored and the donation collection is being checked,â says the report
ahhh, wish the Saudis caught that nexus
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 9:49 Comments ||
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At least 22 people including seven policemen and three children were killed in fresh violence in Kashmir, police said on Friday. Six policemen including an officer were killed when the motorcade of a Kashmiri member of the Indian parliament, Lal Singh, hit a landmine and then was fired upon in southern Doda district, a police spokesman said. A police spokesman said the politician, Lal Singh, escaped unhurt. Six policemen and civilians were injured in the attack by the militants, who hid behind pine trees and boulders, the spokesman said, adding that the condition of three policemen was critical.
Elsewhere, Indian troops gunned down three militants minutes after they crossed the Line of Control in Kupwara district, police said. Militants killed a policeman and two children aged 10 and 13 died from an abandoned hand grenade in central Srinagar, police said. In two separate clashes between militants and Indian troops in southern Poonch district a militant and a two-year-old Muslim boy were killed, police said. Elsewhere, 8 people were killed in separate shootouts across the region in the 24 hours up to Friday evening.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/03/2004 9:35:28 AM ||
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Half-jesting, half-serious, Benazir Bhutto has told shocked Western capitals that the worldâs most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden, may be securely hidden in the âbasement of the presidency of Pakistanâ, three years after George W Bush set out to hunt him down, The Times of Indiaâs online edition reported on Friday âBut youâll have to ask General Musharraf if it is trueâ, she finished mockingly in what many believe to be the swiftest, single-shot, character assassination in Pakistani politics. Benazirâs mock maliciousness towards Musharraf comes barely 48 hours after she made a humiliating appearance in a Geneva courtroom to deny she siphoned off millions of dollars of Pakistanâs money during her two terms as prime minister.
The seriousness of the link Benazir made between the Pakistani president and the man being hunted down by 10,000 US troops was not entirely lost on Western politicians, pundits and press. Despite Benazirâs disclaimer about the âjokeâs veracityâ, terrorism experts returned to scanning the significance of Bin Ladenâs last known, hand-written communication. Earlier this year, the Saudi militant had told his mother he was âin good health and in a very, very safe place. They will not get me unless Allah wills itâ. Bin Ladenâs cheeriness, despite his debilitating need for regular kidney dialysis, has long been considered odd because he is reliably thought to be within the 150-mile border badlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/03/2004 9:34:17 AM ||
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hmmm ...sounds a lot like "Others have said George Bush was a deserter, I will wait to decide until it's further investigated by the well-trained press". Benazir could run as Kerry's VP
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2004 9:45 Comments ||
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the bitch is crying cuz she's loosing all plundered money.Good thing she and Nawaz are out of pakistan's politics. No1 shud pay attention to these has beens now.
#3
Osama bin Laded has turned into a true bogeyman. The mere mention of his name brings to mind dark images and scares the kids.
Bin Laden has an ego larger than Michael Moores' ass and if he is still among the living, we would have heard something verifiable from him by now.
I think we can find him but, we're going to need cotton swabs and a back hoe to do it.
Posted by: Larry Everett ||
07/03/2004 13:04 Comments ||
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#4
Despite Benazirâs disclaimer about the âjokeâs veracityâ, terrorism experts returned to scanning the significance of Bin Ladenâs last known, hand-written communication...Bin Ladenâs cheeriness, despite his debilitating need for regular kidney dialysis, has long been considered odd because he is reliably thought to be within the 150-mile border badlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
A shrew Bhutto might be, but I think some of you are taking her sentiments too literally. What she meant was that OBL was in "protective custody" in Pakistan with the full knowledge and permission of Musharraf. Why is that not a credible possibility? I wouldn't trust Musharraf to babysit my pet parakeet.
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 13:31 Comments ||
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#5
I wouldn't trust Musharraf to babysit my pet parakeet.
I would, but the little sucker would be wired and stuffed with C4 first.
While we're on topic, what about bin Laden? Weren't his most recent tapes verified to have been in his voice? Didn't they mention relatively current events that happened after we destroyed the Tora Bora complex?
America's war on terror is well enough justified without propagandist spooks conjuring up false voice identifications to scare up continued public support.
Bin Laden does need dialysis and portable units are not too common. I doubt that Osama has been able to get his kidneys draped over one of those, just yet.
So, what's the skinny here? However much Benazir wants to snipe at Musharraf, the man has definitely shown less than forthright intentions. While I type this, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan is probably sipping tea somewhere instead of sitting in a prison cell. If bin Laden is alive, he would very well need the sort of medical support found within a head of government's means.
Just like rex, I cannot trust Musharraf to do anything but protect his own @ss. Keeping bin Laden as some sort of perverted "hole card" fits in perfectly with his sort of game plan.
#6
Zenster :
"Weren't his most recent tapes verified to have been in his voice? Didn't they mention relatively current events that happened after we destroyed the Tora Bora complex?"
As I recall, there was a verified audio recording from him after the initial bombing of Tora Bora. He was complaining about the bombing and said no human being should go through such a thing. The U.S. laid a lot of ordnance on those mountains after the recording was made. As far as I know, he's been silent since then. There have been some voice-over videos using old audio recordings and audio recordings that have been proven fake released after the Tora Bora bombing but none that I know of that have been verified by a reputable laboratory. I'm doing another search on that. If you have any links, please let me know.
Posted by: Larry Everett ||
07/03/2004 15:42 Comments ||
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#7
Thank you, Larry. Any further information would be greatly appreciated. If we have no "current events" voice references by bin Laden, then I would have to vote for him taking the dirt nap too. This @sshole is far too fond of publicity to have avoided making more announcements.
Our fuel air bombs can suck the lungs out of a human body at 100's of meters. I'd love to think that bin Laden died of suffocation with all of his external membranes hemorrhaging. Gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it.
DHAKA â Police in the southern Barguna district town have filed a sedition case against 33 suspected Islamist militants arrested Wednesday at a mosque during a combat training exercise. Officers have asked a magistrate for a 5-day remand order for six of the accused, including the imam of Barguna Police Line Mosque and a teacher at a local madrassa. Police sources said three suspicious persons carrying powerful wireless sets came to the town by ferry Wednesday morning, presumably to train the militants. The imam of Khejurtala Mosque, who helped police make the arrests, said the combat training took place between 1 a.m. and Fajr prayers. Intelligence sources said militants have been active in Barguna for eight years. In the past a number of extremists have been arrested during combat drills, records show. In 1996, police arrested and detained 22 people with dummy rifles at Bhupati Madrassa in the Keora-Bunia area. However, they were later released without charge. Last year, four people were arrested during another training exercise in the Badurtola area of the district. A case filed at the time is still awaiting trial and one of the accused, Abdul Haque Abbasi, who was out on bail, is among the 33 arrested on Wednesday.
Police said they interrogated the 33, who looked relaxed during their court appearance. âWe are not atheists, so we are not worried about being arrested. Allah will save us,â Mostafa, the arrested madrassa teacher, told reporters. US Ambassador to Bangladesh Harry K. Thomas last week expressed regret that the government was soft on the rise of religious militancy in the country. But a police spokesman denied allegations of political influence and said the law would take its own course.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 1:06:51 AM ||
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Aw, crap...when I saw the header on the articles list, I was hoping the FBI had raided the New York Times' offices. Oh, well, what are we without our dreams?
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/03/2004 1:17 Comments ||
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#4
Don't get me blood pressure up on Berkeley Poli-sci! I had to take one of those courses as a freshman in '66. What crap! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! LLL prof and TA flashbacks.
*back to the bathroom to vomit*
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/03/2004 2:10 Comments ||
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How disappointing! I had visions of a gigantic top secret paddy wagon emptying the NYT offices. Damn!
A sermon by a prayer leader in Morocco, who said a womanâs preferred place is in the home, has raised hackles in the media and political circles in the North African kingdom. Imam Redouane Benchekroun, who is also the head of the council of Islamic theologians in Casablanca, made the remarks in a sermon last Friday at the huge Hassan II mosque in the port city. Benchekroun also condemned âthe inter-mingling of sexes in the civil serviceâ and âscantily dressed womenâ who frequent Moroccoâs beaches, contradictory to Islam. All those women have been âmisled into believing they have been liberatedâ and enjoy greater human rights, he said.
Woman lawmaker Zoubida Bouayad, of the ruling Popular Forces of Socialist Union (USFP) party, raised Benchekrounâs sermon in the Senate, calling the imamâs preachings âa dangerous outburst.â âWe refuse to listen to a speech which goes against equality between men and women, which is enshrined in the family code,â Bouyayad said Thursday, referring to the legal code that was enacted in January. Secretary of State for Youth Matters Mohamed Al-Gahs in a television interview slammed âthe obscurantism of some religious circlesâ whose attitudes are aimed at âundermining the values of freedom and tolerance.â LâEconomiste daily business newspaper in its Thursday edition also condemned Benchekrounâs sermon, calling it âa plea against modernity and tolerance.â The newspaper pointed out that Benchekrounâs speech had been broadcast live on state-run television and that leaders of the Hassan II mosque âare supposed to be informed in advance of the content of sermons,â under religious reforms under way in Morocco. The success of those reforms was mere pie in the sky, LâEconomiste added. Benchekrounâs sermon was merely âthe latest stage in a new arrogant campaign orchestrated by the Justice and Development Party,â wrote Liberation newspaper, which is close to the USFP.
Islamic leaders in Morocco recently criticized the government for allowing cultural festivals to be held in the kingdom, saying they incite people to debauchery. Yesterday, Islamic-leaning newspaper Attajdid defended Benchekroun, accusing the imamâs critics of trying to âmuzzle Muslim scholars.â In an editorial, Attajdid denounced âmedia which specialize in undermining the values of Islam.â Benchekrounâs critics were opposed to âMoroccans turning back to religion. Are Quranic verses that call on people not to go around naked backward and inward-looking?â questioned the paper, which also lashed out at âmagazines in the Arab world which publish photos of nude women.â
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 12:55:59 AM ||
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Find the one editorial in this group gathered up by al-Guardian that doesn't condemn Saddam. G'on, guess.
Jordan Times Editorial, July 2
"The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's first day in court marks the start of a tortuous legal and political process that could bring to the surface not only revelations about his alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide, but also how he rose to power and which countries, especially in the west, helped him consolidate his grip on power. The trial of the former Iraqi leader and 11 of his closest aides is ... also about the role some western capitals had in providing the Iraqi regime with the means to wage wars against Iran and Kuwait and use chemical weapons against its own people ...
"In essence, the process will try the entire international community for allowing [these] things ... to happen in the first place ... The trials in Baghdad are a showcase for national, regional and international justice. It is hoped that justice will be served."
Gulf News Editorial, United Arab Emirates, July 2
"[It] got off to a bad start, with the authorities releasing a film of some of the hearing, with the sound erased. Iraqis were expected to lip-read Saddam to find out what was happening. Even more confusing was a change of heart when the authorities started some damage control and eventually allowed the sound to be heard on some sections ...
"What [the] hearing showed was that in the first flush of the handover ... the new rulers of Iraq were continuing the secretive methods of the coalition. A new chapter of the new Iraq should begin with this trial, showing everyone that the new government will conduct a free, fair, transparent trial of Saddam and his henchmen ... Iraq must conduct the rest of this trial in the full glow of publicity. It must set the tone for the future."
Arab News Editorial, Saudi Arabia, July 2
"Nothing about the fallen dictator's defiant behaviour should surprise anyone. Of course he does not admit the right of the court to judge him. He never in his long and wicked political career accepted the rule of law. His contempt for the proceedings was therefore completely predictable. He knows that he is fighting for his life. The man who postured so much on the world stage intends to make the most of the opportunity to grandstand and protest in open court ...
"It is not simply the arrogant and unrepentant Saddam and his cronies who are on trial ... Between now and the end of the judicial process that will lay bare the depravities of Saddam's rule, virtually all Iraqis are likely to say to each other, many times over: 'Never again'. With that conviction must come the clear realisation that it will only be through compromise and tolerance that a strong and decent new Iraq can be built."
Daily News Editorial, New York, July 2
"There he was, back with the same old bluster. Saddam's recovered bravado, to be sure, is directly a result of his American captors having provided him with a warm bed and three squares a day and dental care and whatnot these past seven months ...
"So begins what is bound to be one of the great courtroom carnivals of our time, as newly sovereign Iraq, unfortunately pretty much devoid of a solidly-in-place judicial infrastructure, wrestles with the matter of criminally trying a man who insists that he still runs the country in the first place and who maintains that not himself but George Bush is the one who should be on trial ...
"Saddam and his lawyers manifestly intend to turn this trial into a bully pulpit for loud and long anti-western demonstrations, and never mind the actual charges. But those charges are, in fact, very real ones, and prosecutors must not let the Butcher of Baghdad run away with the show as they seek to make their cases."
Sun Editorial, July 2
"Saddam's defiant and arrogant performance in court ... proved one thing. The British-American coalition was right to depose him. The man is not mad. But he is dangerous. We should all be very thankful that in Tony Blair and George Bush we have two leaders with courage and resolve.
"If it had been left to the likes of President Jacques Chirac, Robin Cook or Charles Kennedy, the west would have done nothing. And the wild-eyed man we saw in court would still be in his golden palaces, torturing the innocent."
Los Angeles Times Editorial, July 2
"Saddam's arrogance and combativeness, if continued throughout a trial, could enhance his popularity among Iraqi dissidents and perhaps encourage more resistance to the country's new government ... Saddam's opponents insisted that he be tried in Iraq, despite its continuing instability. Holding the trial in Baghdad at least has the advantage of making it easier for Saddam's victims to testify. The bigger question is fairness. The presence of respected international jurists on the panel trying Saddam would cut the risk of having the proceedings portrayed as a kangaroo court bent on revenge ...
"Trials, with the possibility of acquittals - however remote - are risky. Iraqis building a justice system mostly from scratch saw on Thursday that they're in for a fight with Saddam. They have a lot to prove and plenty to be frightened about."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2004 12:48:23 AM ||
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Syria engineers Lebanon's ersatz-elections. Iran will engineer Iraq's ersatz-elections. Bush thinks that's "freedom" at work.
#2
Now, now, DBT, if you're going to peddle conspiracy theories, you have to be consistent. You keep telling us that President Bush is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the House of Sa'ud. Well then, wouldn't it be the Wahabbist Saudis "engineering" the "ersatz-elections," and not their bitter, to-the-death Shi'ite blood enemies in Iran? Or is it all a Mossad plot anyway?
Now, go to your room, young man, and don't come out until you have a coherent, internally consistent conspiracy theory to post. Otherwise, you'll flunk Advanced Moonbattery and have to repeat it next semester.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/03/2004 10:54 Comments ||
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Mike- LOL! He might even have to go to Remedial Moonbattery.
Cheered on by a crowd, Palestinian gunmen Friday killed a man for allegedly collaborating with Israel and allegedly sexually abusing his two young daughters.
And remember, death is not an option (except for him): were they angry because he squealed or because he abused his daughters?
Mohammed Rafiq Abdel Razek, 42, was gunned down in a public square in the West Bank village of Qabatiya by militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group loosely affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.
It's Fatah's armed wing. That's not a very loose association...
Jamal Abu al Rob, a local Al Aqsa leader, said Abdel Razek had been abducted by the group from a nearby hospital. During an interrogation, he admitted spying for Israel since 1989 and trying to recruit a Jordanian officer to do the same, al Rob said. He also admitted to abusing his daughters, now 13 and 16, over many years, al Rob said. It was not clear when Abdel Razek had been abducted, but relatives said he had been hospitalized since last month after a relative stabbed him over the alleged abuse. Abdel Razek was paraded into a public square early Friday. The militants announced the charges against him and asked the crowd of some 500 people what they should do. "Kill him immediately!" the crowd chanted. The militants then riddled his body with automatic gunfire. "I feel honor for me and my people," al Rob said. "People like this belong below the ground, not above it."
"Shoot him, then give him a fair trial..."
In the nearby village of Tubas, Abdel Razek's relatives said the charges against him were true. The family refused to pick up the body at the hospital, a sign of contempt in Palestinian society.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 12:44:13 AM ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 00:39 ||
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"Orf wif 'is 'ead!"
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 0:41 Comments ||
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Man, they've quoted some serious nutjobs in that article. Granted, these are the same people we've been fighting, but why quote only them.
From one of Sadr's clerics:
Sheik Raed al-Kazimi said that "the enemies" are deceiving the Iraqi people by trying "the despot Saddam by an illegitimate court."
"It's an outlandish issue, to incite strife," he said, adding that "Saddam is neither a Muslim nor an Iraqi, because he attacked (Shiite) Islamic holy sites and killed Iraqis ... Saddam deserves execution."
Not content with just the Shiites view, let's hear what the guys in Fallujah say:
"Sheik Ahmed al-Issawi told worshippers at the Al-Sadeeq mosque that the Americans humiliated Iraqis by showing Saddam on television before a court.
"We'd rather have Saddam back, as his oppression is better than the Americans' oppression," he said. "Anyone who accepts showing Saddam this way on TV screens, has no zeal for Iraq and Islam."
#3
"'We'd rather have Saddam back, as his oppression is better than the Americans' oppression,' he said. "Anyone who accepts showing Saddam this way on TV screens, has no zeal for Iraq and Islam."
Who would have thought that Michael Moore would go all the way to Fallujah to promote his new film?
But I did hear some crazy stuff today on AM radio, dateline Seatle, live fron Iraq, Lt Brian Suits got his bell rung.
Lt Suits is doing nation building duty, a trained arty guy. Yesterday he was showing around a Westpoint Major on summer sabatical, where else, Iraq man, it's vacation.
Anyways, Brian takes this guy to his area and pulls into their parking lot. Brian braged that his parking spot was the only one that had shade from the only tree there.
As they left their HumV the Major asked "Where's the latrine LT?" LT, a few paces ahead of the Major, turned back to him. In that split second, as he turned around, an 81mm mortar hit ten feet away. The blast, due to it's angle of impact spread it's shrapnel in such a way as to miss the LT. He only got blast waved.
The Major, who was about fourteen feet away, got hit, he's hurt but going to be okay. Some vacation?
Eye witness' said that the LT disapeared behind a cloud of black smoke, they thought all they would find would be hamburger. The LT was knocked out for a short period but was quickly revived and, due to training, began to excavate the impact area to determine the direction of the incoming. " it's personal and if we can find the enemy". Apparently a skilled arty guy can determine, by putting the peices of the puzzle together, the direction that it came from. It's like a science me thinks. What sya you anon929885736366?
Soon his buddies told him that, shit LT, you need to get over to the candystrippers for some tape. Aparently he had most of the parking lot gravel on.
Funny the way he put it. "You know when somebody is telling a combat story they use the preamble, This is no bullshit!
He was able to talk to the Major and stressed that when he gets back to Westpoint that he tells the cadres that you can be ten feet away from an 81mm and live.
He also said that the day after, today, he feels really beat up all over and a little distapated.
A British soldier will face court-martial over the shooting of a 13-year-old Iraqi boy, the government said Friday. Pvt. Alexander Johnston of the King's Own Scottish Borderers will face court-martial for unlawful wounding in a Sept. 15 shooting incident at al-Uzayr, south of Amarah in southern Iraq. He also could face an alternative charge of negligent handling of a weapon, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said. The Ministry of Defense would not give more details about what happened or say how badly the boy was wounded. Military sources said the shooting occurred while the soldier was on guard duty. No date was set for the court-martial, which the government said is likely to be held in Iraq.
Another difference between us and Saddam.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2004 12:22:08 AM ||
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Making a fetish out of avoiding civilian casualties is a sign of moral weakness, not moral superiority, and will ultimately lead to more civilian deaths.
#2
What pompous PC nonsense. Military lawyers micro managing the battlefield and second guessing soldiers' decisions, where there is no apparent malice just accident, effectively puts handcuffs on the military putting soldiers and their troop at risk. Silly.
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 1:30 Comments ||
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From what I've read of this, it seems likely it was a negligent discharge. A hefty book should be thrown for that at any rate, but the fact he appeared to have been pointing the weapon at a kid when it happened makes the offence much worse. Probably an accident, but a direct result of carelessness - and negligent handling of weapons has to be discouraged
#4
A hefty book should be thrown for that at any rate
I think that's fair, but a "court martial for unlawfully wounding" ??? puhleaze that is too severe and reeks of military "solicitor" [ie. UK JAG] PC "B.S."
Posted by: rex ||
07/03/2004 16:27 Comments ||
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Sudan's president promised to send troops to stop militia violence that has forced 1 million people from their homes in the state of Darfur, a Sudanese official said Friday after meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"Okay! Okay! We're goin'!"
The pledge came as the United States raised the possibility of sanctions against Sudan if the government fails to act quickly to end attacks by Arab militias and allow humanitarian aid to reach displaced people. Annan arrived in the capital, Khartoum, after visiting Sudanese refugees at a camp in Chad on a tour aimed at pressing President Omar el-Bashir's government to end the 16-month conflict. In particular, the U.N. chief wanted el-Bashir to make good on promises to disarm the Janjaweed, the militia blamed for attacks on thousands of black African villagers. "My message is simple, violence must stop," Annan told reporters after meeting el-Bashir in Khartoum's heavily guarded military headquarters. "The Janjaweed must be stopped and a cease-fire must be respected by all."
What's the rush, Kofi? It's only been a year and a half...
U.N. officials and human rights groups have accused the Sudanese government of backing the Arab militias, engaged in a campaign to violently expel African farmers from the vast western region. During tours of refugee camps inside Sudan and Chad, Annan said he learned firsthand of many human rights abuses, "including sexual violence against women." But after Friday's talks, Annan said "now we have a commitment from President el-Bashir to remove all obstacles that face humanitarian action in Darfur."
Yup. Yup. He's gonna make it all better. Then he's gonna go find that guy that made it all worse...
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell also visited Sudan this week, and made clear to Khartoum leaders that the United States is only willing to wait a "few weeks" for the government to act, said Andrew Natsios, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, who traveled with Powell. "We're talking days, weeks, not months — not a month — to see whether or not they do what they said they would do," said Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of States for African Affairs Charles Snyder, who joined Natsios on Friday in briefing the U.N. Security Council in New York.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters that 6,000 soldiers and policemen would be deployed in Darfur to improve security, but he did not say when. "The priority now is for security, then the return of the displaced persons, and this is to go hand in hand with the political settlement," Ismail said. U.N. officials have called the situation the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and Annan has said it "is bordering on ethnic cleansing."
I'd have said it went past ethnic cleansing sometime last year, and now we're starting to hit the genocide category. But I guess Kofi has all these gradations of human misery worked out better than I do. No doubt the natives are properly grateful for his tut-tuts.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 12:15:09 AM ||
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One year ago I couldn't even spell Sudan, but I could find it on a map.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Former Indian Foreign Secretary Salman Haidar is the frontrunner to be the new U.N. envoy to Iraq, diplomats said Friday. Haidar, a Muslim, held India's top foreign affairs post from 1995 to 1997. He then served a brief stint as India's high commissioner, or ambassador, to Britain before retiring from the diplomatic service in 1997.
U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he recently met U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss the job and was the top candidate. U.N. officials said Friday that no decision had been made but one was expected soon.
Despite the surge in violence in Iraq, Annan has said he expects the new U.N. envoy to be based in Baghdad. The new U.N. envoy would be the first senior official permanently based in Iraq since October, but Annan has said he won't allow large numbers of U.N. staff back to return until the security situation improves.
The U.N. Security Council has given the United Nations a major political role in helping the new government prepare for elections and draft a constitution, and it would also like the world body to be a major player in Iraq's reconstruction. Annan has had difficulty finding a qualified candidate to go to Baghdad to take on the top U.N. job as his special representative. He said that several candidates initially said "yes" but then called a week later telling him they had to say "no" because their families objected.
"Darling, I have this job offer, the graft pay is sweet, cost-of-living is low, interesting people, but I don't speak the language and, um, there's a small, teensy chance that everyone there will want to kill me. What do you think?"
"Oh honey, don't take the job in France, go to Iraq instead!"
Haidar, now 66, joined the foreign service in 1960 and was long considered one of India's best diplomats. In addition to rising to the top post for a career diplomat in the foreign ministry, he served as director in the prime minister's office and India's ambassador to China. He also led the Indian delegation at the first two rounds of foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan in 1997.
Good news: he isn't Brahimi.
Bad news: he's still a U.N. hack.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2004 12:17:03 AM ||
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"Annan has said he won't allow large numbers of U.N. staff back to return until the security situation improves."
I like this one better:
"Bush has said he won't allow the large U.S. contributions to the U.N. to continue until investigations of U.N. staff corruption are completed."
#2
He's not a UN hack. He is a well respected guy in India, served in London for many years. Might be a bit of a lefty, but much better than the lifetime UN jackasses that could have been nominated.
Hey folks, if you had something in the bullpen this evening waiting to be posted, they kinda disappeared. I couldn't find them, it wasn't there, we(?) had a script(?) error(?) for a short(?) while, but it's fixed. Please re-post, and one of the associate editors will take a look. Dunno what happened.
As always, check the previous day first to make sure your post isn't a duplicate. Edit for length, cut all the crap in the middle, and condense where you can. Pick the right page (1 or 2), the right subject, and don't over-format -- I hate picking bolds outta my teeth at 1 am.
I'll delete this post in the am sometime. T'anks as always,
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2004 12:05:34 AM ||
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Sorry about that. I'm cloning the server and when I reset the directory permissions I deleted everybody but me...
Kinda lonely there for awhile.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 0:16 Comments ||
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Fred,
*BSD/Linux has an immutable directive for files/directories so that even if you, as root make an error, such as a script that deletes files, you will not lose any files.
I lost a whole bunch of server maintenance scripts one time, but having the scripts directory set to immutable could have prevent their deletion.
#6
Well I, for one, am truly disgusted. I wrote this incredible piece which included infallible plans for instantaneous World Peace and solving World Hunger. I even tossed in solutions that would make everyone happy in Palestine, Sudan, India-Pakistan, N. Ireland, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. It was kumbayaa-city, I tell ya. Wiped out. Dropped in the digital bit bucket just like a mee too post. I'm crushed. I'm exhausted. I just can't bring myself to write it again. Worn out. I can't believe this. I think I'll eat Drano.
#7
Fred, I just want to say thanks for all the midnight engineering that keeps this place running. Best wishes for a great holiday weekend for you and yours. Don't forget to fire up the BBQ and crack open a few cold ones. Same goes for the associate editors.
#11
We all have a lot to be thankful for on this 4th of July, and right up there in the top ten is freedom of speech. Hats off to you, Fred, for such a great forum! Check your cookie jar, Fred, for a refill.
Now if the fog up here in the mountains would just go away, I can see what a great place I live in....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/03/2004 14:45 Comments ||
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Mmmmm, beer! Have a couple on me, too, Fred!
-Homer
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2004 00:08 ||
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And the Star-Bellied Sneetches opened fire on the Plain-Bellied Sneetches, killing nine. When asked by reporters to explain the attack, the Star-Bellied Sneetch Leader, Captain Lashdarhimi Shimapoloplayer said, "Did you see them? They're hideous, different, not like us at all. A djin told us they had to die. Y'know, you look a little odd yourself... I think I should check your Belly. The djin told us that we might encounter other..." The reporter stated that he suddenly developed simultaneous audio and video problems, ending the interview abruptly. Just as he had learned to do by watching Tom Brokaw.
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.
