Expatriates of all nationalities are entitled to apply for Saudi citizenship and their travels abroad with re-entry visas will not disqualify them, press reports said yesterday quoting senior officials.... Shubaily ibn Majdoue Al-Qarni, chairman of the security committee which supervised amendments to the law, said Saudi citizenship would be open for all nationals working in the Kingdom. "The law does not aim at a particular nationality. On the other hand, it covers all expatriates in the country," he told Al-Madinah. But Al-Watan Arabic daily reported that the naturalization law would not be applicable to Palestinians living in the Kingdom as the Arab League has instructed that Palestinians living in Arab countries should not be given citizenship to avoid dissolution of their identity and protect their right to return to their homeland. The fact that Arab states have been directly responsible for helping create the current "Palestinian" crisis has escaped media attention for far too long.
Diplomatic sources have estimated the number of Palestinians in the Kingdom at about 500,000. There are large concentrations of Palestinians in the country's western, central, eastern and northern provinces.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 8:53:10 AM ||
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Throgh their deeds you shall know them. It is telling that the people who know the Palestinians best want no part of them. The only "right of return" that applies to Palestinians is "from dust to dust."
#2
Palestinians living in the Kingdom as the Arab League has instructed that Palestinians living in Arab countries should not be given citizenship to avoid dissolution of their identity and protect their right to return to their homeland.
"Dissolution of their identity" my hairy western @ss! More like continued and intentional disenfranchising of the Palestinians as a means of further fomenting their violent opposition to Israel's existence. The vicious cynicism of Arab politics makes even the UN look like a bunch of boy scouts.
One can only wonder when the world's remaining population will finally catch on to how a majority of the Middle East wants nothing more than constant turmoil and strife as a way of disguising their own brutally craven hold upon political power.
#3
So if you are a Paleo, you are stuck being a Paleo in SA. What about the UN Declaration of Human Rights, etc etc? A Paleo is just human cannon fodder and that is it, at least from the viewpoint of SA.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 13:00 Comments ||
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Awhhh!!! Nobody want the Paleo's. Cry me a Euphrates River.
I guess it took a whole generation for the Paleo's to realize that, they are NOTHING but a pawn of the Arab states.
They also will have to come to the realization that the only friends they ever had, is ironically, the Jooooos. The Joooos gave them a job, fed them, protected them, gave medical attention, etc...............................Put your money where your mouth is, stopping killing the Jooos, instead kill your real oppressors--your own cousins around you, stupid morons.
It's a U.S. Homeland Security Department nightmare, and Honduras' most outspoken Cabinet member says it's happening: Al-Qaida operatives recruiting Central American gang members to carry out regional attacks and slip terrorists into the United States. Yet U.S. and Central American officials say they have found no evidence supporting Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez's allegations. And human rights groups accuse Alvarez of trumping terrorism reports to justify his crackdown on gangs, who in response have adopted terror-style tactics such as beheadings - 20 so far - and threatened the government.
Romulo Emiliani, a Roman Catholic bishop working closely with gang members in the northern city of San Pedro Sula, called the reports "an attempt to distract the public while the government puts thousands of youths in jail." The U.S. government has long worried terrorists would tap into smuggling networks that move migrants and narcotics across Mexico's porous northern border and into the United States. To combat those fears, Mexico has worked with the United States to keep a close eye on drug and smuggling activity. It also has made it much harder to enter Mexican territory legally if a person comes from a country with terror ties. Alvarez, however, has stoked fears that terrorists are joining migrants crossing illegally into Mexico from Central America, then moving north.
A spokesman for Mexico's National Immigration Institute said officials have caught "a significant number" of people from the Middle East trying to sneak into the United States from Mexico, although he refused to release exact numbers. One smuggler was arrested recently for allegedly moving Iranians and Iraqis into the United States. There has been at least one confirmed report of a suspected terrorist in Central America. U.S. and Panamanian officials say Saudi native and alleged al-Qaida leader Adnan G. El Shukrijumah stayed in Panama for 10 days in April 2001, five months before the Sept. 11 attacks. There also are fears El Salvador could be hit by terrorists for supporting the U.S.-led mission in Iraq.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/23/2004 12:10:04 AM ||
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Gentle readers, I can't vouch for the Honduran situation, but I've spent time reviewing a videotape made by Latin Americans (Brazilians, to be specific) of the military base I was stationed at here in the good old USA. To the untrained it would probably look like a tourist video, but the subject's constant muttering while filming about how much the tape's buyer better appreciate this, how much risk he's taking, how he could go to jail for this--all make it quite clear he knew what he was doing. To anyone who's ever done targeting, it was clear how he was directed to sweep from certain point to certain point, identify certain features, and close in on others. His was a recon mission, and he wouldn't have been caught if he hadn't have gotten lost on a side road. In the end we couldn't hold him, but we kept his tape, the police kept his car, and INS sent him back to Brazil. We never found out who tasked him, by what means, for how much.
Anyone can be paid to perform a mission for the Islamogangsters, even lily white Americans. That the Islamogangsters can tap into existing South American networks for a lot of functions is no surprise. Worse, the South American angle is the least funded portion of the GWOT, because it's been tarred as the Drug War. IF the Islamonazis are seriously attempting to mount another major attack, they could do worse than to come from our southrn front.
The senior law enforcement official in Chechnya announced Friday that the authorities had nearly captured Aslan Maskhadov, one of the best-known leaders of the Chechen resistance, and that Mr. Maskhadov was planning to surrender soon. The announcement, made by the first deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, in Grozny, the Chechen capital, underscored the sense of urgency driving the hunts for senior separatists. It also exposed the tension among the Russian security agencies conducting them. Mr. Kadyrov, the outspoken leader of a paramilitary force that is publicly loyal to Moscow and composed principally of former Chechen rebels, was unequivocal, saying that Mr. Maskhadov had narrowly escaped a recent battle in the Nozhai Yurt district, and "is searching for ways to reach the federal center to hold talks on laying down arms. He will surrender to the authorities in the near future, or we will eliminate him."
The Kremlin has made the capture of insurgent leaders a priority in its effort to quell a guerrilla war that has spilled over Chechnya's border several times this year, including the attack last month at Middle School No. 1 in Beslan. Mr. Kadyrov, son of Akhmad Kadyrov, the Chechen president who was assassinated this spring, is young, unrestrained and violent, and often described as a wild card in Chechen affairs. Even as he spoke of imminent success, security agencies involved in the search distanced themselves from his remarks. Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin, for counterterrorism forces in the North Caucasus, said he had no information that Mr. Maskhadov was contemplating surrender. "Let's talk about realistic topics," he said.
Sergei N. Ignatchenko, the senior spokesman for the Federal Security Service, the domestic successor to the K.G.B., was more circumspect but made clear the agency would not second Mr. Kadyrov's claim. "Kadyrov said this, and we don't comment on what he says," he said. "There can be no justification for terror against innocent citizens, and that acts like this prevent international recognition of the Chechen state," Mr. Maskhadov said, according to a statement posted on a rebel Web site that has been closely identified with him.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/23/2004 12:54:02 AM ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2004 2:05:01 PM ||
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saw that on Captain's Quarters too - good for Powell: A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman told the official KCNA news agency that the United States must drop its hostile policy and be prepared to join a compensation package in return for the North freezing its nuclear programs.
The North also said the United States must accept its proposal to discuss what it called "South Korea's nuclear problem" first at the talks, referring to tests with nuclear materials conducted in the South by scientists in the past that Seoul said were never authorized.
Ummm....no
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 14:21 Comments ||
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Compensation package?
Hahahahahahahahahaha!
You won't get one from the Bush Administration. Maybe you can hold out for Kerry for a long shot attempt at Jimmuh/Halfbright dhimmitude appeasement. Don't hold your breath. And the SKor plutonium thing was small potatoes. It is a red DEAD HERRING, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 15:04 Comments ||
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Democratic nominee John Kerry contends the administration has mishandled the North Korea problem and should have embraced the Clinton-era policy of direct talks with the country.
All Israeli citizens over the age of 18 are legitimate targets for suicide bombers and other attacks by the Palestinian "resistance," the president of the Canadian Islamic Congress says, a view that has outraged other Muslim organizations as well as Jewish groups. Mohamed Elmasry believes that because all Israeli men and women must serve in the country's army, they are fair targets for suicide bombings and other "low-tech" weapons Palestinian militants may deploy. He reiterated his position, first broadcast last Tuesday on The Michael Coren Show, an Ontario weekday current-affairs program on Crossroads Television System, in an interview with The Globe and Mail yesterday. "Israel has a people's army and a draft and therefore they should be considered legitimate targets. They are part of the occupying power, and Palestinians consider them targets for suicide bombers as well as other means," Mr. Elmasry said.
His organization also conducts an annual survey measuring "anti-Islam" bias in Canadian media outlets through their use of anti-Muslim phrases including "Islamic terrorist" and "jihad militant." Mr. Elmasry singled out the National Post as having a pro-Israel bias, but said yesterday this bias extends to most Canadian news organizations, including The Globe and Mail. Does the schlub need a survey to measure"anti-Islam" bias with his pro-Islamic terrorism comments?
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 11:07:08 AM ||
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Ok,I guess this means that every Paleo over 18 is a ligitamet target.
#4
That must mean the 1 million arab-Israeli citizens are also marked for the gas chambers. Include in the Beduin-Israelis, Druze-Israelis, Christian-Israelis, and atheist-Israelis. The Canadian Islamic Congress' ovens are going to be busy.
Posted by: ed ||
10/23/2004 11:42 Comments ||
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#5
#1
You can be much younger than 18 an be a suicide bomber.
#7
When this world finally comes to its senses, those people who spew Islamic hatred, as in maggots like Mohamed Elmasry, will become "legitimate targets."
It is high time to simply begin offing every single sh!thead who spouts this sort of jihadist claptrap. Our world has neither the time nor resources to make any attempt at politely mediating Arabic culture's endless hatred of the Jews and everything else faintly related to human freedom or enjoyment of life in general. It's time for Islam to confine their displeasure over other ways of life or have theirs ended for all time.
Muslims can feel free to voice dissatisfactions about Western culture within their own homes or mosques. If they presume to trot it out of doors for general application, they can feel free to catch a slug for their troubles.
SENATOR CARL LEVIN, the Senate's fiercest and most partisan critic of the Bush administration, released a "report" Thursday challenging the administration's claim that Iraq had a relationship with al Qaeda. The report was produced by the Democratic staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee, with no input from the panel's Republicans. Its release comes 13 days before the presidential election. If those facts alone don't suggest a transparently political maneuver, the contents of the report do. The 45-page Levin report is third-rate partisan hack-work. Its anonymous authors and its namesake should be deeply embarrassed. I say this not only because I disagree strongly with its inherently subjective conclusions. Basic facts are wrong. Congressional testimony is misdated. Quotes are erroneously sourced. Context is nonexistent.
First, some background on Levin. No one in Congress has been as dogged in his efforts to downplay the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda. He has grilled witnesses in Congress, crafted numerous press releases, and sent dozens of letters to the executive branch. He even held a preemptive press conference to challenge the Senate Intelligence Committee's review of pre-Iraq war intelligence. He did this despite the fact that he signed the unanimous, bipartisan report.
Shortly after the end of the Iraq war, Levin faulted the intelligence community for bowing to administration pressure and producing overheated intelligence products. This is how he put it in a June 16, 2003, interview on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. "We were told by the intelligence community that there was a very strong link between al Qaeda and Iraq." Eight months later, Levin reversed himself in an interview on Fox News on February 2, 2004. "The intel didn't say that there is a direct connection between al Qaeda and Iraq. That was not the intel. That's what this administration exaggerated to produce."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/23/2004 12:59:45 AM ||
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Levin is the worst sort of political hack. Right up there with Rangel, Kennedy, and Rockefeller, capable of saying anything, telling any half-truth, misleading anyone - for partisan purposes.
#2
Levin: âOh no, no relationship whatsoever. Sure, they had lunch every now and then, but discussions on how to finish off us infidels once and for all, is that really a crime?â
/Levin
#4
Levin is a self hating jew. What else do you need to know.
Thanks for your insightful diagnosis, SPD.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/23/2004 10:01 Comments ||
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Levin does have one redeeming quality. He has one of the most adventureous hair jobs on earth. As more leaves, the blender gets turned up. Look for nasal and ear hairs to be thrown onto the pate. He and that idiot Graham from Florida are absolute baffoons, not serious people for serious times.
Posted by: Capt America ||
10/23/2004 12:04 Comments ||
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Ooooh, don't forget the Chia Pet - Joe Biden! Just think, he wants to be our next SecState! This is the guy who's stumping for Skeery calling Bush "brain dead" - and SecState is his payoff. Must've put Holbrooke's shorts in a bunch. He'll have to settle for NSA Advisor or go back to UN Amb or Amb-at-large or something. Gotta hurt, y'know?
But anyway, ol' Plagiarism 101 Chia Pet Joe - don't forget him when you think "Adventures in Hair"!
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 12:30 Comments ||
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Levin has had his ass handed to him at "debates" in the Jewish community between him and Kock, and even a Blogger or two who spoke against him. Of course these were all out in NJ and Fla, so not much was heard nationaly about it, nor in his home state.
Porter Goss' initial moves as CIA director appear to herald a post-election purge at the already troubled spy agency, according to current and former top U.S. intelligence officials. Goss, a former Republican congressman, has put at least four former Capitol Hill Republican staffers into top positions in his CIA office and has given them broad authority to make personnel and restructuring decisions, the current and former intelligence officials said. One of the aides, whose identity Knight Ridder is not disclosing because he served under cover, has been "going around telling people they are to fire 80 to 90 people" in the Directorate of Operations, the CIA's covert arm, according to a former official. His account was repeated by several knowledgeable current and former officials who maintain close ties to the agency.
Tensions between an incoming CIA director and the agency's veterans, particularly in the Directorate of Operations, are common, as they are in any large institution resistant to change. Most observers agree the CIA, along with the rest of the U.S. intelligence community, is in need of reform. A Senate Intelligence Committee report issued in July found the CIA's prewar assessment that Iraq had hidden weapons of mass destruction programs was exaggerated, lacked evidence and was driven by "group think." The Directorate of Operations, which oversees clandestine intelligence collection, has been criticized in particular for failing to recruit human spies in Iraq who might have given an accurate picture of Saddam Hussein's regime and WMD programs.
But the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said they were concerned by the partisan affiliation of Goss' team. "If he has brought strongly partisan staff with him - and he has - that seems to call (Goss's pledge) into question," said another top official, who recently left the CIA. A CIA spokesman, who asked to remain unnamed, said Goss has made no decisions on restructuring. "We are not at the structural phase yet," the spokesman said. "These people ought to be given a little time. It's been less than a month since he's (Goss) been sworn in. That goes for some of the people he has brought with him."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/23/2004 12:28:59 AM ||
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I wonder how much of this CIA-White House feud is due to Clinton-era appointments and is a simple Democrat-Republican feud. Then too, a lot of government employees are Democrats simply because the Democrats are the party of government.
Posted by: V is for Victory ||
10/23/2004 7:41 Comments ||
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V,
At least the parts of the gov I am familiar with, the security departments tend Republican while the socal welfare folks tend Democrat. The CIA may be different and has a reputation for being politicized. Didn't the CIA recruit heavily from NE Ivy League schools? And couldn't this early indoctrination be the basis for their political leanings?
Posted by: ed ||
10/23/2004 8:04 Comments ||
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When I was an Ivy League student (Penn, class of '74), I do remember certain of my classmates being recruited.
Posted by: V is for Victory ||
10/23/2004 8:21 Comments ||
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All I can say is...
About
Friggen
Time
!!!!
Some of it is Demo partisan ship, much of it is NE Snobbishness and "empire building" by execs who never did field duty nor analysis, and were "managers" from the late 1980's under Bush-I onward (got worse under Clinton, many things were polticised and got that jsutified because "the cold war is over").
Election officials are beefing up security and taking other precautions at many of the nation's 200,000 polling places amid continuing concern that al-Qaida terrorists are intent on disrupting the U.S. political process. Some officials are increasing police patrols and assigning plainclothes officers to monitor voting sites on Election Day. Others are taking steps to secure ballot boxes, set up emergency communications systems and locate backup polling places in the event of an attack. "We have to prepare for the worst situation," said Brenda Fisher, elections director for Anne Arundel County in Maryland.
FBI and Homeland Security Department officials stress that a steady stream of intelligence indicating the threat of an election-year threat is general in nature, with no specific indications that terrorists might strike polling places. But elections officials say they can't discount the possibility that al-Qaida might be attracted to long lines of voters to make a violent statement against democracy.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 12:19:47 AM ||
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Long lines of voters? Not most places. The turnout is always pathetic given the number of eligible voters.
#2
Sock, I already voted. Some states allow it. For this election the turnout is expected to be larger then the normal low numbers. Since many people are taking advantage of 'early voting' it could reduce long lines in some key urban areas on November 2nd.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 0:39 Comments ||
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And then the extra police presence will be assailed by the LLL as "voter intimidation."
#4
My ballot is waiting for me to open fill out and resend. Hopefully if will get counted this time. There was some kind of rumored scandal in 2002 that kept my absentee ballot and those of others from being counted.
#5
Sock, can you go in person if your state does the 'early voting' bit? Just to make sure your vote is counted properly, and NO paper ballot, if you know what I mean...
I feel this election in terms of Dems pulling all kinds voter fraud stunts will be the worst since the post Civil War era in the South. The Dems have had lots of practice.
Even if the presidental voter tally turns out being something like, 53% Bush, 47% Kerry, the power mad radical Dems will still scream & file countless law suits, demanding a full state by state recount, or worse, another election.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 2:21 Comments ||
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SPD, I voted yesterday and for early voting I had to stand in line for 40 minutes. And the line didn't go down. Others seemed to keep coming in to take their place at the rear of the line to wait their turn. I didn't see anyone come in, survey the line and then decide to come back later or another day. No they weren't illegals, nor did they appear to be party turn outs. The very first day of early voting, a couple days ago, around 270 voted at the centralized location. This is in a low population county in New Mexico. Yeah, all counties in NM are low population, but this is something I haven't seen in 10 years of voting here. Something is happening.
Posted by: Don ||
10/23/2004 10:06 Comments ||
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Announcing the extra security will decrease the likelihood of political idiots creating incidents. And then, the good guys will already be there should an incident occur. Win/win for everyone (except the police families, of course).
#8
Early voting sites here in Texas are reporting record voter turnout as well. I went to one at 4pm last wednesday and there may have been 75 - 100 people in line.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/23/2004 12:28 Comments ||
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Somebody want to explain to me how AQ could disrupt a significant portion of 200,000 polling places? Their better strategy would be another WTC-type spectacular about mid-day just to dusrupt everybody's schedules. Of course that might help give Bush four more years, in which case AQ has screwed themselves again.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/23/2004 12:45 Comments ||
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I don't know about the authorities, but I was thinking Democratic Underground types or AFL-CIO thugs would be more likely to attempt somethng.
#11
I have a gut feeling this election is not going to be as close as the pundits are predicting. I would not be suprised to see either Bush or kerry win by around 10% and the EC go 2 to 1. There's going to be a lot of people who normally don't vote voting this year. its just that it is too hard to get a handle on just how they'll go due to most of them being off of the radar screen
On Sept. 15, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and John E. McLaughlin, then acting director of the CIA, brought a special note of concern to their daily briefing with President Bush. Fresh intelligence had arrived pointing to plans for a mass-casualty terrorist attack before Election Day, bolstering previous indications that such an assault was possible on U.S. soil, according to accounts of the briefing provided to Mueller's and McLaughlin's subordinates. What's more, intelligence officials told Bush, there was reason to believe that the plotters may already have arrived in the United States, according to the accounts. The new information led the FBI and other agencies across the government to launch a well-publicized campaign aimed at foiling potential plots before the elections, including hundreds of interviews in immigrant neighborhoods and aggressive surveillance of suspected terrorist sympathizers.
But five weeks after the effort began, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials say they have found no direct evidence of an election-related terrorist plot. Authorities also say that a key CIA source who had claimed knowledge of such plans has been discredited, casting doubt on one of the earliest pieces of evidence pointing to a possible attack.
Intelligence officials stress that they continue to receive reports indicating that al Qaeda and its allies would like to mount attacks in the United States close to the Nov. 2 elections, and that such reports have been streaming in since terrorists blew up commuter trains in Madrid days before Spanish elections in March. Yet after hundreds of interviews, scores of immigration arrests and other preventive measures, law enforcement officials say they have been unable to detect signs of an ongoing plot in the United States, nor have they identified specific targets, dates or methods that might be used in one.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/23/2004 12:13:40 AM ||
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..Man I wish I'd never seen headlines like this - because if something happens, it'll be used as evidence of another 'intelligence failure'..
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/23/2004 16:10 Comments ||
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No specific evidence of election terrorist plot
apparently they haven't been following the Democrat brownshirts. The enemy within
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 16:24 Comments ||
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The United Nations has rejected an Iraqi request to train about 30 judges and prosecutors to try Saddam Hussein and his close associates. WOW
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Friday said Secretary-General Kofi Annan turned down the request because Baghdad has the death penalty. Dujarric said the request was rejected in part because "serious doubts exist regarding the capability of the Iraqi special tribunal to meet relevant international standards. The secretary-general recently stated that UN officials should not be directly involved in lending assistance to any court or tribunal that is empowered to impose the death penalty." Another reason prompting the rejection was that the UN had no mandate to help train Iraqi judges. Annan's rejection follows a week-long training session in London for Iraqi judges and prosecutors chosen to try Saddam and his key associates. Saddam should demand Kofi be brought to his trial as a witness for the 'defense'
The London courses were organised by American lawyers. After they ended on Monday, both Iraqis and their Western advisers agreed that Iraqis were unprepared to undertake fully fledged trials soon. The UN is, however, assisting in Iraqi elections planned for January by training Iraqi elections workers in Mexico and other places outside the country. (Well, they will be trained properly in the art of the bribe in Old Mexico.)
Dujarric said 6000 Iraqis had completed direct or indirect training and were setting up 585 voter registration stations.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 7:07:49 AM ||
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Does anyone want UN trained judges anywhere? The UN's reputation for blinding corruption and graft precedes them where ever they go. But to throw a bone toward the UN's way, execute Saddam the UN approved way: with machetes and burning tire necklace, or him and his entire family buried in a mass grave, or starvation.
Posted by: ed ||
10/23/2004 8:17 Comments ||
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#2
That's the really funny thing about the UN. When they do stuff like this it just winds up aiding/benefitting the USA and hurting the UN.
PLUS, we have all the entertainment the UN provides.
Anyway, it would probably be better to have the US law schools like those at like Stanford, Texas and University of Chicago train Iraqi judges.
#4
I am a bigger crook, Kofi. No, it's me. I am the bigger crook. I stoled food and medicine from Iraqi children, that makes me the bigger crook, Jacques.
Posted by: Capt America ||
10/23/2004 12:32 Comments ||
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#5
Caption:
Your cut gets put into your account at Zurich, but only after Tayraysuh makes the run, sometime next week. Now, my payment, which was late last month by the way, will be filtered through your account in Zurish to my bank in Bern, Then I will take care of everyone else.
Kofi to Chirac: "You really should get that checked out."
A senior UN official has warned that no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be found without international involvement. In a briefing to the Security Council, Kieran Prendergast spoke of "a palpable sense of drift and foreboding... towards chaos". Palpable? Drifting? Wotta wordsmythe, lol! More than palpable - and ongoing for almost 60 years, Mr UN Dood.
He urged both sides to abandon violence and engage in negotiation and he warned that there would be no peaceful agreement if both sides were left to themselves. It only takes one side to make a hash of everything you bubble-boys spout. And "they" will never stop until one side, or the other, no longer exists. Put that in your pipe and puff it.
Since the start of the latest intifada, or uprising, in September 2000, some 3,839 Palestinians and 979 Israelis had been killed, said Mr Prendergast, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. And, if I may be so bold, who declared the intifada? Who wanted this insanity? Who would've been held accountable for their failure to achieve any of their required milestones under any of the various accords and plans - and lose control of the the money-train - so they sabotaged the best chance they ever had with the intifada?
And an estimated 36,000 Palestinians and 6,297 Israelis had been wounded. Any guess why the Israelis figures are precise - and the Paleo numbers are phantastic phake phantasy?
These "staggering" figures, he said, demanded action. "Are we going to go on like this? Is there not a better way?" he asked. Yes and Yes. But you and your Thugs and Crooks Inc. organization wouldn't entertain an actual solution.
Neither side, he said, was fulfilling its obligations under the international peace plan known as the road map. Oh, really? How cunning of you to notice. News Flash: It's DEAD. The "Road Map" was wadded up and tossed away years ago, you dim-witted apologist. It's DEAD. Just like the UN.
...more...
Drifting toward chaos... Where do they find these people?
Posted by: .com ||
10/23/2004 12:46:32 AM ||
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I think the situation is a little bit closer to the old Far Side cartoon where the Crisis Clinic floats down the river towards the waterfall while its top floors are engulfed in flames...
#2
Wed night we drove past a building that my wife pointed out said "Crisis Pregnancy Center" I said dear it's an abortion clinic. She said "OH! Thats why they have an armed guard out front."
When Israel has a fence up perhaps these stupid Paleos will get their heads out of their ass. Well one can hope. The UN help? Not likely.
#3
I think the Middle East has been drifting toward Chaos for way to long. It's time to pass Chaos and go straight to Hell.
Posted by: ed ||
10/23/2004 8:14 Comments ||
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#4
For once in history, not even the UN can be held responsible for the perpetual havoc being wrought in the Middle East. This cesspit of misery is so exclusively of Arab manufacture as to defy even the remotest attempts at laying blame elsewhere. So long as genocide, violent jihad, theocracy and intolerance reign supreme, all of the Middle East will continue to be a hellhole of human misery. No amount of nuanced discussion or political prestidigitation can ever mask the naked outright evil that Islam has spawned. And it will remain so until all Moslems firmly renouce their dreams of global domination or are simply obliterated, every single one, by a world grown long-tired of their psychotic atrocities.
#5
I like my coffee strong, Zen. That's pretty damned strong stuff you're serving. Melike. The truth is a bitch, sometimes, but it's obvious that the vast majority of the grief present in the ME and elsewhere, particularly where Islam exists or is trying to achieve dominanace, is due to Islam's tenets of hate and blame. Enough, already.
We (the West) have already met them more than halfway - fuck what their whining apologists say for pay or out of dhimmitude. The Israelis have done everything short of letting them win in their loudly declared wars of annihilation. Enough. Enough. Enough. They can either have their 1400 yr overdue reformation - or face the very modern swords of Free Men and Women - and cease to be.
#6
I like the Far Side cartoon where the two fish are standing on the table, looking at their fishbowl, which is on fire. One fish turns to the other and says, "Thank God we got out in time, but now we are doubly screwed!"
The ME has been the pit that it has been for a long time. It is tribal, it is kinship, it is haggling and deals. The big problem is that it is awash in money, and that money, the wealth of the industrialized world, is not being used very wisely for the benefit of all.
So we come to choices for our own security:
1. Drag them kicking and screaming into the modern world,
2. Take out the big troublemakers through the appropriate means,
3. Show them a better way,
4. Deny them their money by getting alternate sources of energy and let them rot on the vine.
5. Combinations of the above.
Nothing is easy, especially with "allies" stabbing you in the back. But one way or another, the ME must be cleaned up. One thing that we must do is to throw the monkey on the back to those that have been benefiting from the US military's heavy lifting all these years.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 13:24 Comments ||
Top||
#7
They can either have their 1400 yr overdue reformation - or face the very modern swords of Free Men and Women - and cease to be.
Precisely, .com. The only amazing aspect of what you're saying is how this concept seems to go completely unnoticed by the majority of Muslims. With continued tacit or overt support of terrorism, all Islam is placing their collective neck in the noose. A few more atrocities will spring the trap door so they can twist gently in the breeze. I'll lay in some fine Champagne to open when that happens.
As to your post, AP. My only reply is "all of the above."
#8
I blame this on Mohammedanism, the Koran and incendiary preachers of Jihad. Today's Arab culture is the direct off spring of Koranic principles. Unfortunately for everyone on this planet, chaos, anarchism, nihilism, authoritarianism, all find happy homes in the Islam of today
#9
A firm grasp of the arm. Check.
Eyes closed. Check.
Lips slightly parted. Check.
Kiss me. Kiss me now Jacques. Kiss me like you and I are the only two firey hearts in this cold, cold world.
Posted by: ed ||
10/23/2004 14:17 Comments ||
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#10
.com, while your comments are usually good, they're exceptional today.
#11
Sadly, when they commit the atrocities - innocents die. It's readily apparent the world's not ready for anything pre-emptive - even the most serious advocates have a personal threshold that must be met. And of those who can't contemplate pre-emption, most seem only vaguely aware that there is a real and identifiable agent that has created a problem. Sigh. So more will fall under the knives and RPG's of these vermin. I can only hope that it isn't necessary for most to lose someone they know and love personally before they get it. As things are, many still blame everyone but the actual perpetrators - as shown in the Dhimmidick ad of the woman who lost her husband on 9/11 and, instead of blaming bin Laden and Islamists, meanders through an amazing maze of illogic to blame Bush. Clinton, I would give a partial, but Bush? Heavy sigh.
#12
Oops, Phitle Jearong2969 (pretty nifty, Fred!) is me.
Thx, RWV - I think there is a higher % of deeper-than-avg, quite serious comments, today - we're all being lifted bodily, I think. I need that, heh, and prolly more than most, sigh. I know I've read several today which have made me stop cold and really think. Lol, I wish I was known for that! :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 14:35 Comments ||
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#14
See? See what I mean, RWV? I try to go straight. I try to rise up to a higher plane of discourse. But they just drag me back down!
- Michael Corleone
#15
back to the cheap-shot snide remark family, amigo...LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 14:46 Comments ||
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#16
Lol! Guilty, as charged. RWV had me feeling like I was improving in my posts... becoming better than I am - thanks for the bitch-slap of reality, Frank, lol! ROFL!!!
#17
Ya know, folks, we are all brilliant. But we do so love the bars and the gutters. We try to walk the straight and narrow, but the gutter is FUN!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 15:19 Comments ||
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#18
UN bureaucracy makes a very good living by extorting money from industrialized countries for, supposed, humanitarian goals in third world. UNWRA is one of the best money-makers among these rackets. Now, itâs going to hell. Canât blame Kofi & Co for getting upset.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/23/2004 19:36 Comments ||
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#20
We try to walk the straight and narrow, but the gutter is FUN!
As if!
However much we might like to occupy whatever hilarious aforementioned gutter, the terrorists have long ago stolen that from us. Gutters, sewers, waste processing plants ... terrorism be thy name.
Cambodia needs international help in erecting defences against terrorism or it could become a safe haven for al Qaeda and similar groups, Chile's U.N. ambassador has warned. "Without that, they will become a breeding ground for terrorism," Heraldo Munoz, the chairman of a Security Council committee that monitors al Qaeda and related organizations, said on Friday after an official visit to Cambodia. The southeast Asian nation has to date adopted no counter-terrorism legislation, set up no financial intelligence unit and signed just four of the 12 international conventions against terrorism and ratified none of them, Munoz said. "Therefore, there is reason for concern, particularly since Cambodia in the south does have a Muslim community that has been discriminated against and there has been violence," he said.
How do you even tell if you've been discriminated against in Cambodia?
A visit to Cambodia by an Indonesian-born preacher named Hambali was another sign the country could become a haven for militants hoping to stage attacks against domestic targets as well as other countries, Munoz said. Hambali, whom authorities believe was Osama bin Laden's key link to Southeast Asia, has been in U.S. custody since his arrest in Thailand last year. He "spent some time in Cambodia. He was not vacationing there, clearly," Munoz said. Cambodia was aware of its need to act but lacked the resources, including international law experts and translators to convert documents into the local language, the envoy said. "With no cooperation, there will be no progress against terrorism," Munoz said. "Otherwise, we will see terrorist actions in these countries. We are very certain of that."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/23/2004 12:21:16 AM ||
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(Top terrorists terrified someone may get a taste of freedom)
Iranian officials have barred Iranian journalist and human rights activist Emadeddin Baghi from traveling to the United States for an awards ceremony in New York. Baghi was scheduled to receive the Civil Courage Prize from the Northcote Parkinson Fund, which honors "steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk." Officials confiscated Baghi's passport and prevented him from boarding a flight out of Tehran on October 4. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that a state security agent informed Baghi that a court order prohibited him from leaving the country. In addition to attending the ceremony in New York, Baghi was planning to meet with human rights experts in the Netherlands and Canada. In 2000, the Iranian government jailed Baghi for publishing articles about the role of the country's intelligence ministry in the 1998 murders of several Iranian intellectuals and dissidents. After his release in February 2003, CPJ says that Baghi has been subjected to ongoing surveillance and court summonses. Baghi, who has authored 20 books, now heads the Committee for Defense of Prisoners Rights.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 6:29:00 AM ||
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#1
We let Micheal Morre spew his crap all over the place and we protect his right to say what he does because it is his right to do so. And the right of free speech is one of the foundations of the Republic. And we're the bad guys. But a theocracy, or is it a thugocracy like Iran/Cuba/NK/Pick one can pull this shit and how much you want to bet the Amnesty Int won't say squat
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 17:54 Comments ||
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#3
Funny how that is, eh? Pubs are called fascists, but it's the LLL socialists who want to shut down free speech when it doesn't serve them. We'll sink or swim based upon the will of the people. We won't like losing to insane people, but the Rule of Law means something to the "right". We won't step over that line unless the Rule of Law breaks down... then we'll frog-march their asses to the border, methinks. ;-)
The Mad Mullahs, well, that's just whatever mood they're in. Totalitarians do whatever they like -- until they're swinging from a lamppost, that is.
Do the mullahs really think they can collect one dime before being overthrown?
Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to add 97.2 billion dollars to its Iraqi debt assessment to cover reparations for the 1980-1988 war between the two states, Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reports in its latest edition. Quoting "authoritative sources," the industry newsletter said the request, made in a letter sent to the IMF last month, "could not have come at a worse time for Iraq" as it negotiates a reduction in its foreign debt. (Where is all of Saddam's U.N. 'Oil-for-Food'(ooops.. Fraud), billions? Hidden in French banks?
According to the IMF, Iraq is saddled with a foreign debt estimated at 120 billion dollars, excluding reparations it owes Kuwait for its 1990 invasion of the emirate and the subsequent Gulf War. Pressure is building among Western creditors to reach an agreement on canceling all or part of the debt by the end of the year. But key creditors in the Group of Seven industrialized nations are at odds over just how much should be forgiven immediately, with France advocating a 50-percent reduction and the United States and Britain urging a cut of 95 percent. Tehran has in the past demanded as much as 1,000 billion dollars in reparations from the regime of ousted president Saddam Hussein. What a bloody joke, plus unbelievable gall! Here are Iran's oil rich Muslim fanatical mullahs paying & training terrorist jihadees to infiltrate into Iraq where they blow up Iraqi oil pipelines & cause general chaos and death. In turn the identical ruling mullahs expect the current Iraqi government, which they are attacking through Iranian trained proxies, to shell out massive amounts of money to Tehran so Tehran can turn around & fund additional terrorists to destroy Iraq's economic infrastructure, using Iraqi money!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 5:54:19 AM ||
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#1
Could be a pretext for invasion. That kind of debt would lead to eventual war anyway. The Mullahs are mad anyway because the Shia muslims in Iraq don't want a theocracy controled from Teran.
#2
Sock, talk about debt, maybe this story has something to do with the mullahs looking for more dough? (link)
You are right on most thinking Iraqi Shia.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 6:37 Comments ||
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#3
Itraq should tabulate all the damage caused by Iranian proxies and send that to mullahs. I am sure it would be quite nice round amount.
Or send an email message to the big mullah with a single glyph:
#6
The international rule is that "if you win, then you can extract 'reparations' from your defeated enemy." Last time I looked, the Iranians fought to a draw and accepted a ceasefire delineated in UN resolution 598, so technically, they are still at war with Iraq. It's strange to ask the UN to extract reparations from a country that was defeated and occupied by the "Great Satan" rather than by either Iran or the UN. All in all, nice try.
#10
Mark---don't get your mind too wrapped up in the MM's demand for Rape-a-nations. These guys are absolutely nuts, so what else is new? The EU negotiating with them is madness, too. The MMs fight their war on many fronts, and we must do the same.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 16:04 Comments ||
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#11
Alaska, we must do the same is correct.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/23/2004 17:53 Comments ||
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#12
Tehran has in the past demanded as much as 1,000 billion dollars in reparations from the regime of ousted president Saddam Hussein.
Then let them sue in international court to get the money from the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein. But -- please clarify, those of you familiar with commercial law -- wouldn't that put them in line behind existing debt holders, such as all those owed salaries by the old regime, all those from whom the old regime made unpaid-for purchases (first domestically, then internationally), and of course Kuwait's war reparatations? I don't suppose there will be much left for the Mullahs even with significant portions of the old debt forgiven.
#13
... with France advocating a 50-percent reduction and the United States and Britain urging a cut of 95 percent.
Let's not allow this little gem to slip underneath our radar. France's indignant refusal to assist in the liberation of Iraq does not seem to be accompanied by a fraternal desire to see any sort of recovery in their fledgling national economy. Chalk up another big win for Gallic hypocrisy.
DEBKAfile's Palestinian sources reports: Arafat is more seriously ill than the bout of flu officially admitted. His health declined sharply in last 24 hours. Three Tunisian doctors are due in Ramallah - with Israeli PM's permission — to determine if immediate surgery indicated. He would then be flown to overseas hospital via Amman.
Perhaps the phat lady should begin warming up? One can only hope.
I believe she's running through her scales even as we speak blog...
Posted by: Mac Suirtain ||
10/23/2004 2:08:14 PM ||
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#1
Debka==Salt to taste.
Arafart is not going anywhere. If he leaves the Koresh compound, Israel is not going to let him back in. Arafart wants to go as a martyr.(snicker>LOL>ROFLMAO) That means the 20-30 terrs holed up in the Koresh compound is going down, toes up.
#2
Oh boy, those Tunisian doctors can work wonders...right. Say hi to hitler and himmler in hell you POS
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 14:34 Comments ||
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#3
Everything reported in this world should be salted to taste, Debka needs no more than the rest.
I've kept a skeptical but steady eye on Debka for the past few years. I'm confident to say I am most comfortable to put at least as much, if not more, stock in their reports compared to most any other of the media sources.
Posted by: Mac Suirtain ||
10/23/2004 14:40 Comments ||
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#4
Don't be so sure: Fred's other posted story from WTOP (AP wire?) has the same info on Tunisian doctors visiting the Fish...over the "flu"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 14:45 Comments ||
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#6
Lastest from Debka, salt as you would any other news dish--
Six Tunisians doctors arrive in Ramallah Saturday to examine Arafat who has broken Ramadan fast.
DEBKAfileâs Palestinian and intelligence sources report Arafat needs gall bladder surgery but his physicians more worried about recurring acute intestinal infection. The old Ramallah compound isn't smelling so good right now with those WMD poops. Definitive diagnosis calls for his removal to overseas hospital. Sharon under American and European pressure to permit not only his departure but also his return to Ramallah.
Go Fat Lady go! Sure he can leave, and sure he can come back.... in a casket! Surely a paleostani arafat funeral would give us some good slogan chanting, seething and ululating for our viewing enjoyment, and expand the IDF's target selection!
Posted by: Mac Suirtain ||
10/23/2004 15:37 Comments ||
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#7
The Arafish has held up in Ramallah the best that he can. He knows that by leaving he will be out of power, so he has stayed on in his little dump. Now he is physically paying the price, and time is running out. My only question is: will the IDF mount a special forces operation to recover the RED FOLDER before someone else gets it??????
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 15:45 Comments ||
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#8
Also, I think that American pressure is just public words to sooth the minds of total idiots. The US has no use for the Arafish.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 15:48 Comments ||
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#9
As a humanitarian gesture, perhaps the IDF could create a sterile surgical area at the Muqata utilizing the Zionist Death Ray�
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/23/2004 15:55 Comments ||
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#10
Six Tunisian doctors are due in Ramallah...
Maybe they could get Suha to come down too. Then they could shrink them all down and inject them. They could call it "Disgusting Voyage"...
#14
Kalle,
You are right. He wants to be buried in Jerusalem. But, Sharon will NOT allow Arafat to be buried in Jerusalem. I think Arafart's burial will look something more like this.
One day in New York City
when the lights they looked so pretty
I was walking down the street in tipsy pride
No one I was distrubing
as I lay down by the curbing
And a pig came by and lay down by my side
As I lay there in the gutter
Thinking thoughts I could not utter
A lady passing by was heard to say
"You can tell a man who boozes
By the company he chooses"
And the pig got up and slowly walked away
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 17:19 Comments ||
Top||
When he croaks, the IDF ought to seal off the Paleos until their civil war is over.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/23/2004 18:24 Comments ||
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#19
Alaska Paul, in the decades that have passed since I learned this bit of doggerel, you are the first I've ever seen to quote it besides myself. Congratulations! My version is a little different and I blame it upon having learned it from "The Rugby Joke Book" that my friend brought back from Europe as a gift to me in the sixties. The second verse is a rough approximation, but the first is true to form.
One evening in October
when I was far from sober
to keep my feet from wandering, I tried.
My legs were all aflutter
so I lay down in the gutter
when a pig came up and lay down by my side.
We sang, "Never mind the weather
just as long as we're together,"
when a lady passing by was heard to say.
"You can tell a man who boozes
by the company he chooses."
And the pig got up and slowly walked away.
Slowly walked away, slowly walked away.
Yes, the pig got up and slowly walked away.
On cattle shows I've centered
in one a pig I entered
being tired I lay down with him by my side.
My rest, disturbed by noises
that turned out to be some voices
I looked up and Greta Garbo caught my eye
She said "What a lof'ley fella."
As she poked me with her umbrella
then she turned and whispered to her friend, "I say,
you don't suppose that other
just might be his brother?"
And the pig got up and slowly walked away.
Slowly walked away, slowly walked away.
Yes, the pig got up and slowly walked away.
#20
Ah, Zenster! We be soul bro's Heh heh! I always admire one such as yourself that appreciates such great literature, **hic***
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2004 19:00 Comments ||
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#21
Zenster! We be soul bro's
Alaska Paul, permit me to consider such an appellation a privilege. Never having been farther than a 100 mile canoe trip through the Bowron lakes, Alaska is on my list of places to visit farther north. I'd be honored to buy the first round should the chance present itself. You've demonstrated a consistently well-thought-out, yet appropriately intolerant attitude towards terrorism and the corruption that spawns it. Would that any of our politicians exhibited such a deft understanding of the situation. Skoal!
#22
I wonder if any other countries have full field hospitals, including sterile surgical suites, similar to those of the US military.
If they do, it's surprising none has been deployed on Arafat's behalf ...
Posted by: too true ||
10/23/2004 19:28 Comments ||
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#23
I wonder if any other countries have full field hospitals, including sterile surgical suites, similar to those of the US military. If they do, it's surprising none has been deployed on Arafat's behalf ...
Sadly, medically indicated euthanasia is still unpopular in the United States.
Interviews with dozens of former and current Iraqi officials by congressional investigators have produced new evidence that Saddam Hussein micro-managed business deals under the U.N. oil-for-food program to maximize political influence with important foreign governments like Russia and neighboring Arab states. The Iraqi officials, who were flown outside of Iraq for their own safety during the interviews, provided a list of foreign companies favored by Saddam and his top lieutenants for import contracts under the U.N. program. They also revealed a parallel blacklist of companies that the then-Iraq leader disqualified from getting deals, investigators told The Associated Press.
The precaution of redoubled secrecy comes after an Iraqi official involved in the oil-for-food investigation of corruption died in a car bombing in late June after speaking with investigators from the House International Relations Committee. The official, Ehsan Karim, who headed the Iraqi Finance Ministry's audit board, was interviewed in Amman, Jordan, on May 21. The Iraqi officials also helped investigators identify Iraqi front companies, which operated abroad to solicit and process alleged bribes from foreign companies and to help facilitate imports for the Iraqi government, including dual-use military goods such as vehicles. The oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003, was created to permit the former Iraqi government to sell limited amounts of oil in exchange for humanitarian goods as an exception to U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. One of the documents, known as "the exempt list" and obtained by AP from congressional investigators at the House International Relations Committee chaired by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., catalogues companies personally approved by Saddam and top lieutenants to circumvent Iraqi regulations to sign deals. The list contains hundreds of names of companies from more than two dozen countries. No French, Chinese or American companies are on the list, but more than 280 Russian and 100 Saudi companies account for well over half of the list. The investigator who provided the document to AP said Congress might not have the full list.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2004 1:59:27 PM ||
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#1
No French, Chinese or American companies are on the list, but more than 280 Russian and 100 Saudi companies account for well over half of the list.
The Swiss company Cotecna must be on the list somewhere. After all, Kojo Annan worked for a consulting firm that did some consulting work for Cotecna.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/23/2004 15:07 Comments ||
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#2
The investigator who provided the document to AP said Congress might not have the full list.
There is no evidence to suggest that Pakistan has made a strategic decision to abandon militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, claims a US think tank. According to the US Institute of Peace Kashmir-focused outfits have enjoyed the extensive and enduring patronage of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Pakistan Army. While the study by the institute accepts that Pakistan appears to have lowered the profiles of various militant organisations and restricted their ability to raise funds, recruit personnel, and launch teams into the Indian side of Kashmir, there is still an international concern about Islamabad's continued support of militant training and operations.
The concern is most apparent in the case of the United States in relation to its security interests in the region, warranting sustained pressure on Islamabad to abandon its support of proxy warfare, reports the Daily Times. The study further goes on to claim that most Pakistanis interviewed are of the view that Al Qaeda is not an asset to the Pakistan Army, but a source of much trouble for Pakistan's Kashmir and Afghanistan strategies. According to the research, "Pakistan, that continues to desire meaningful engagement with the United States, will likely be motivated to continue its current efforts to calibrate the violence that emerges from militant camps."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/23/2004 12:50:01 PM ||
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KABUL (Reuters) - As counting in Afghanistan's presidential election neared its end, a dip in incumbent Hamid Karzai's lead has put more onus on an independent panel to decide if voting irregularities could have upset the result.
Election officials hope the panel that includes a Canadian diplomat and election experts from Britain and Sweden will have its report ready by midweek, shortly after the counting ends. The panel had called for a meeting on Saturday afternoon with candidates. But many remain sceptical about the process. "We do not count on the panel... It is not the solution to our claims," said Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, who was eighth in a field of 18.
Another candidate, destined to be an also-ran, shared the same reservations. "From our side, we will raise and discuss the issue of the violations and frauds, during the meeting with the panel. I doubted from the very beginning that the panel has any power to solve the problems," Abdul Hafiz Mansoor told Reuters.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/23/2004 1:23:26 PM ||
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From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Iraq's disparate Shi'a groups might have reached an agreement to form a single slate of candidates for the elections scheduled for January, the "Financial Times" reported on 21 October. Although senior Shi'a cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has not voiced his approval, his representative in Lebanon Hamid al-Khaffaf said that "a committee has been formed. It already started its work, praised be God," the "Financial Times" reported, citing Lebanese TV. "The committee will try to ensure that all Iraqis -- be they parties, movements, currents, or independents -- will be represented on one list. This list will be open to all," al-Khaffaf said. However, al-Sistani's representative in Dubai, Murtadha al-Kashmiri, contradicted the reports, saying that al-Sistani "will not choose the candidates for the election. That is for the people to decide." A representative for the Al-Dawah party, Jawad al-Maliki, said "there is a preliminary agreement between the various groups," but he did not disclose details. The United States reportedly opposes a single Shi'a list, favoring a "consensus" list that is not sectarian.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/23/2004 10:57:52 AM ||
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#1
We'll know they are really serious when they hire James Carville as a consultant.
Beat me to it, RWV! I was thinking along the same lines, but couldn't remember the names of any of those curly-haired boys who spin for Skeery... I should've thought of old Baldy! Perfect!
#3
"a committee has been formed. It already started its work, praised be God,"
Does anyone else have a problem with this?
Politicians would be well advised to STFU about praising God and attend to their duties of improving the corporeal lives of those they represent. This inextricable intermingling of religion and government is a recipe for disaster.
One need only examine how America's Office of Faith Based Giving is now funneling whatever part of a million dollars to self declared world messiah Sun Myung Moon's organization to understand how poisonous conflating church and state will always be. Again, when do we channel our hard-earned tax dollars to the (fully registered) Church of Satan?
#4
First Stage democracy -- pretty darn cool! After all the practice they'll have working out compromises within the group -- and I rather imagine they will achieve no better than partial success toward their goal -- they will be much better prepared to deal with democracy on the national level. They have a lot of catching up to do to equal the Kurds, who've been working on it for over a decade. On the other hand, the Sunnis won't know what hit them if they don't quickly get up to speed (which they won't be able to do -- they have too long been accustomed to playing cock o'the walk. This will be a salutory experience for them.)
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.
Expatriates of all nationalities are entitled to apply for Saudi citizenship and their travels abroad with re-entry visas will not disqualify them, press reports said yesterday quoting senior officials.... Shubaily ibn Majdoue Al-Qarni, chairman of the security committee which supervised amendments to the law, said Saudi citizenship would be open for all nationals working in the Kingdom. "The law does not aim at a particular nationality. On the other hand, it covers all expatriates in the country," he told Al-Madinah. But Al-Watan Arabic daily reported that the naturalization law would not be applicable to Palestinians living in the Kingdom as the Arab League has instructed that Palestinians living in Arab countries should not be given citizenship to avoid dissolution of their identity and protect their right to return to their homeland.
The United Nations has rejected an Iraqi request to train about 30 judges and prosecutors to try Saddam Hussein and his close associates. 
Interviews with dozens of former and current Iraqi officials by congressional investigators have produced new evidence that Saddam Hussein micro-managed business deals under the U.N. oil-for-food program to maximize political influence with important foreign governments like Russia and neighboring Arab states. The Iraqi officials, who were flown outside of Iraq for their own safety during the interviews, provided a list of foreign companies favored by Saddam and his top lieutenants for import contracts under the U.N. program. They also revealed a parallel blacklist of companies that the then-Iraq leader disqualified from getting deals, investigators told The Associated Press.
There is no evidence to suggest that Pakistan has made a strategic decision to abandon militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, claims a US think tank. According to the US Institute of Peace Kashmir-focused outfits have enjoyed the extensive and enduring patronage of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Pakistan Army. While the study by the institute accepts that Pakistan appears to have lowered the profiles of various militant organisations and restricted their ability to raise funds, recruit personnel, and launch teams into the Indian side of Kashmir, there is still an international concern about Islamabad's continued support of militant training and operations.
