#1
"Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres could not be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and was not wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question."
And besides, he said he was going to MA. Just looking at him, we knew he'd fit right in.
SANAA, Yemen, June 7 (UPI) -- Yemeni authorities arrested a U.S. national in western Yemen after he raised police suspicion by traveling on a motorcycle without a license plate. The opposition Yemeni Tagamoo for Reforms Party said on its Web Site Tuesday that the American traveler was seized in the province of Hadida on the Red Sea last Sunday and handed over to the intelligence department for investigation.
"The American man, who spoke fluent Arabic, was arrested while touring the city of Hadida on the motorcycle on which he traveled all the way from Sanaa," the Web site said.
Hummmmmm. I suppose he could just be an innocent tourist. I hear Yemen is lovely this time of year.
It said the man was transported to the Yemeni capital for further interrogation. There was no comment on the report from the U.S. Embassy.
Like they would know anything
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 08:56 ||
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All the shit going on over there, and they nail this guy for being on a bike without a plate?
Any bets on what this "American's" name is? Joe Smith? John Jones? Achmed El-Jihadi?
It is possible that extremists in Uzbekistan are attempting to take revenge on the U.S.
According to the U.S. Department of State, it has information indicating that supporters of extremist religious groups, such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), al-Qaeda, the Islamic Jihad and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which operate actively in the region, plan to conduct a series of terrorist acts against "the U.S. state and private interests" in Uzbekistan in the near future.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that the threats against the U.S. are coming from religious extremist Islamic organizations. The question is why they are coming from Uzbekistan in particular. Could it be that the Islamic factor in this Central Asian republic is aggressive in its nature? Or may be Tashkent overestimated its role in the recent events in Andijan?
Ever since the 1990s, Uzbekistan has been the focus of attention on the part of Islamic religious organizations operating in Central Asia. The reason is simple. The republic occupies a strategically advantageous position in the region; it possesses developed economic potential and boasts high rates of population growth.
The events of the 1990s, related to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of new independent states, were accompanied in Central Asia not only by a sharp rise of national self-consciousness, but also by a fast development of the religious factor. It was then that such religious groups and movements as Akromiya (named after its founder mullah Akrom), Adolat (Justice), Islam lashkarlari (Warriors of Islam), Tabliqh (Muslim Mission), Tovba (Repentance), and Nur (Ray of Light) emerged in Uzbekistan. They operated mostly in the Fergana Valley, later becoming part of the IMU or another well-known Islamic organization Hizb-ul-Tahrir.
The IMU and the Hizb-ul-Tahrir never attempted to hide their ultimate goal - the creation of the Islamic Caliphate in the region, contrary to the Tajik Islamic opposition, which never spread its interests beyond the borders of the republic. The Fergana Valley, located at the boundary of three republics (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) has always attracted special interest on the part of Islamic organizations. It is quite understandable. If they manage to establish control over the Fergana Valley, the first step toward their coveted dream will be certainly made.
The events in Kyrgyzstan and the ensuing tension in the south of the republic threatened the stability in the Fergana Valley. Even then, there were fears that the religious extremist groups operating at the boundary of the three republics would soon, as early as in May-July, attempt to stage civil disturbances in the form of "public discontent" or "public mutiny." The May events in Andijan confirmed these fears.
The events in Andijan can be regarded from different angles, and that is exactly what is happening around the world. Europe almost unanimously condemned Islam Karimov for "disproportional use of force" by Uzbek special police units against the mutineers. Recently, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly called for the revision of Uzbekistan's participation in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and the Partnership for Peace program, and urged NATO members to stop any assistance to Uzbek armed forces. The U.S. also expressed its traditional concern about the violation of human rights, albeit in a less categorical way.
At the same time, Muslim countries avoided strong criticism of Tashkent, and the imam of the world-famous Muslim center - the Al-Azhar University in Cairo -- Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi announced his full support of "the irreconcilable position of Uzbekistan in the fight against religious extremism and terrorism."
Neighboring republics also abstained from harsh criticism of Tashkent. Apparently, they know better. Bishkek, Dushanbe and especially Tashkent still remember the events the late 1990s in the Batkensky region of Kyrgyzstan, where IMU groups took up arms to proclaim the Islamic state.
According to some Russian experts, Uzbekistan, being a central link in the region, will be the target of attacks on the part of extremist groups. The threats against the U.S. might certainly indicate an attempt to retaliate against the leader of anti-terrorist coalition, which conducts successful operations in the neighboring Afghanistan. However, what is really interesting is whether these threats will force the U.S. and Europe to look at the situation in Uzbekistan from a different perspective?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/07/2005 14:51 ||
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Yeah, yeah, yea, what fundamental islamic dune loon doesn't want to commit violent acts against America?
#2
The IMU is the largest armed militant Islamic group in Central Asia, and we need to be wary of this threat. These are not easily distinguishable arabs, these people are central asian, and most Americans couldn't tell the difference between any other asians and an Uzbek. Thereby increasing their operational ability within the US...I can hear the news now...some Chinese guy walked into the crowd and blew himself up...
I guarantee we will have troops active in Uzbekistan in less than three years,if we don't already... protecting "vital energy infrastructure" aka natural gas pipelines in the area!
There is a shitstorm waiting for us in that part of the world friends, and we're just marching into it!
Read "Jihad, the Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia" if you doubt these people's ability, they will cause us problems no doubt.
Too bad we have been forced into supporting Uzbekistan's asshole dictator and his asshole dictator wannabe daughter. They have one of the most repressive governments in the world, and should never have been labeled "allies" of America. Former soviet Stalin lovin assholes is what they are!
No wonder militant Islam is flourishing there with those jackasses running the show; that father daughter combo make Saddam and Uday look like choir boys at a father son picknick.
Can anyone say Afghanistan, didn't we learn our lesson about supporting dimwit asshole dictators in this part of the world already?
MM
Posted by: Mountain Man ||
06/07/2005 18:18 Comments ||
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The United Nations has imposed sanctions on the Islamic Jihad Group, an organization active in Central Asia that the U.S. government has blamed for bombings last year against the U.S. and Israeli embassies. The U.N. Security Council committee in charge of anti-terrorism sanctions against al-Qaida and remnants of Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers added the group to its sanctions list on June 1, saying it was linked to the al-Qaida terror network, according to an announcement late Friday.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the group coordinated bombing attacks against the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, and the office of the Uzbek prosecutor general that killed at least two people and wounded nine last July. Sanctions require all 191 U.N. member states to impose a travel ban and arms embargo and to freeze the financial assets of all those on the list. With the latest change, the list now includes 325 individuals and 117 groups or "entities." According to Central Asian terrorism experts, the Islamic Jihad Group is believed to have 350 to 400 members, about a quarter of whom have undergone militant training.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2005 00:00 ||
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I SANCTION THEE!
Let that be a lesson to you!
Now...lunch!
#3
after the 3 week planning meeting in Marbella to determine who should be present at the conference held to determine where the conference for the Stern Letter should be written.
JFM, any news about the PSOE's 11M media manipulations and/or possible "Madridgate"?
Newly published exchanges with an informer reveal that police had extensive intelligence on terror cell's activities.
By Lisa Abend | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
MADRID — They had the names. They knew when and where the men met and how they raised money. They even had the cell -phone numbers of the group's leaders. But with all that information, police were still unable to prevent the bombings that killed 191 people in Madrid on March 11, 2004.
Spaniards have known for months that, long before the bombings occurred, police and intelligence forces here were monitoring the individuals who would carry out the attacks. But last week, El Mundo newspaper published 12 notes written by Abdelkader el-Farssaoui, imam of a mosque outside Madrid and informer to the intelligence unit of the national police, that describe with chilling specificity the members and activities of the suspected cell. Since the report, the debate over whether the police could have prevented the bombings has intensified, with the opposition Popular Party voicing demands for more hearings on the attacks.
El Farssaoui, who went by the code name "Cartagena," began providing Spanish police with information in October 2002. He identified Serhane Abdelmajid, who would later kill himself and six associates by setting off explosives when police converged on their apartment, as the leader. In February 2003, he observed that Jamal Zougam, currently awaiting trial as a presumed author of the attacks, had joined the cell. And he recounted how Mohammed Larbi Ben Sellam, suspected of a role in the 2003 Casablanca bombings, had told him that "he didn't understand why most were so obsessed with going to ... Afghanistan to make jihad when the same kind of operation was possible in other countries, like Morocco and Spain."
The national police will not comment on the report. But Isidoro Zamorano, spokesman for the Spanish Confederation of Police, a union group, said he was confident that street-level officers had not withheld information. "My colleagues fulfilled their responsibilities," said Mr. Zamorano. "What happened when that information was passed up [the police hierarchy], I don't know. That's for a judge to decide."
Some suggest that the new evidence proves the police could have stopped the Madrid bombings. In an unsigned editorial, El Mundo stated, "In light of these revelations it is clear that the attacks in Madrid could have been avoided through diligent police action or judicial intervention ... neither of which happened."
Angel Zuriñaga, who was injured in the bombings, agrees. "With this information the police and the Civil Guard should have been able to prevent the disaster. At the very least, they should have put better surveillance on the suspects," he says.
Many terrorism experts, however, are hesitant to blame the police. Rogelio Alonso, political science professor at King Juan Carlos University, says, "You can't just say that the police could have prevented the attacks - it's more complicated than that. There are a lot of reasons why they didn't: a lack of resources, inertia, the fact that they were accustomed to thinking about terrorism in terms of [Basque terrorist group] ETA."
Rafael BardajÃ, director of International Policy at the FAES Foundation, a Spanish think tank, asserts that the police did not knowingly suppress evidence. "Police and intelligence were working under the mental framework that Islamists would never attack Spain," he says. "So we can't say that they knew what was going to happen."
Indeed, BardajÃ, a former Defense Ministry official, explains that Spanish security forces believed that Islamist extremists operating in Spain focused on logistical support for terrorists elsewhere. "It was thought that they would never attack Spain because the support apparatus was so important," he says.
The 9/11 commission in the US identified a similar "failure of imagination" when it sought to understand why security forces could not prevent the Sept. 11th attacks, despite having information about the plotters.
Magnus Ranstorp, director of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at Scotland's University of St. Andrews, testified in the US hearings. He notes that counterterrorism forces have since worked to hire more agents with the same linguistic and ethnic backgrounds as presumed terrorists, and to think more unconventionally about threats. But he notes, "As security measures tighten," he says, "the adversaries get more innovative."
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands gathered at a public rally in Madrid called by terrorist victims groups. The protest was primarily directed against the government's recent offer to negotiate with ETA if the separatist group abandons violence. But protesters also voiced another complaint, repeatedly chanting: "We want to know what happened on March 11."
The 17-year-old Bucks County boy charged with having bomb-making equipment in his bedroom and threatening to blow up his school is a Canadian who hates Americans, prosecutors say.
Travis W. Biehn was ordered held at the county juvenile detention center Friday after Judge Kenneth G. Biehn — no relation — ruled the boy remains a danger to the community.
''He had the explosives in his home and the parents didn't know about it,'' said Assistant District Attorney Robert D. James, who is prosecuting the boy. ''We don't want to send that kid back home.''
Meanwhile, in a second sweep of Central Bucks East High School in Buckingham Township, where Travis Biehn is an 11th-grader and classes were canceled Friday, police using nine bomb-sniffing dogs turned up no explosives, James said.
District Attorney Diane E. Gibbons said police are trying to determine the boy's motive but added, ''He is very unhappy with Americans and would prefer to be in Canada.''
Gibbons said Biehn's family has resided in Buckingham Township since 1999 and that the boy's father, Brant, is an employee of drug manufacturer Merck & Co. The Biehns are living here on a resident visa, she said.
After a juvenile court procedure similar to an arraignment, Judge Biehn declined to release the boy to the custody of his parents. a judge with some sense, it would seem
Instead, he will be held at the county Youth Center in Doylestown Township at least until a hearing is held on the charges, which include possession of explosive devices and terroristic threats. No date has been set for the hearing, but under law it must be held within 10 days.
According to Gibbons, the incident started unfolding May 27 when Travis Biehn scrawled a bomb threat on a bathroom wall in the school, then called a teacher's attention to the threat.
''One of the reasons for a bomb threat is to make it public,'' said Gibbons. ''It doesn't surprise me that he called attention to the threat. One of the reasons people do this is to create fear.''
The threat was reported to the school administration that day, schools Superintendent Robert Laws said, but he did not learn about it until Tuesday morning — the day after the school reopened after the three-day Memorial Day weekend.
Laws said that when he learned of the threat, he asked students at Central Bucks East to provide information on who might be responsible. After school ended Tuesday, Laws said, two students stepped forward and told authorities Biehn had bragged to them that he knew how to make bombs and planned to use them.
Police searched the boy's home Wednesday and made their first search of the school grounds that night. No bombs were found at the school, and classes opened as usual Thursday.
Biehn was arrested Thursday. Later that day, a second bomb threat was found at the school.
''There was a second threat found at the school on a bathroom wall. It said, 'You've got my buddy. The school will blow up on June 3,''' said James. ''There have been bomb threats at schools before. Why this is unique is that in conjunction with an anonymous bomb threat, we find a kid with bomb-making materials in his home. Then, after we find the materials, there is another bomb threat.''
Gibbons said police do not believe the second threat was made by an accomplice of Biehn's, but rather by someone playing a hoax. Still, she said, authorities decided to search the school a second time. That search was done late Thursday and early Friday.
''It seems likely we have a copycat or somebody who did this as a hoax,'' said the district attorney. ''We still want to find out whether [Biehn] has a grudge or any associates to see if they would want to blow up a building.''
Gibbons said Biehn created a Web page on which he posted photos of bomb-making materials displayed in his bedroom.
The Biehns reside at 3395 Gail Circle in Buckingham. During the search of the boy's home, Gibbons said, investigators found between 8 and 10 pounds of potassium nitrate as well as fuses and several small, empty canisters.
Gibbons said Biehn had enough explosive material to level his own home, but if he planned to use one of the canisters to house the bomb, the resulting explosion would have been relatively minor.
Still, she said, ''He was serious. He had everything he needed to make a bomb. It's not a complicated process. If he had used the complete contents of what he had, it would have been a major explosion. He would have leveled the house.''
Gibbons said police found Biehn's parents to be uncooperative during the search. Gibbons said she could not provide the first name of the boy's mother, but the woman harassed investigators as they searched the house.
''The mother was verbally interfering with the police officers. She said her son should not cooperate. The father was also not cooperative,'' the district attorney said.
Travis Biehn was represented by Doylestown attorney William L. Goldman Jr. at the ''intake hearing,'' or arraignment. Goldman did not return phone calls seeking comment. deport the whole family. now.
During the arraignment, Travis Biehn wore a T-shirt that read, ''Proud to be a Canadian.''
Laws, the schools superintendent, said he understands the boy has made anti-American remarks to other students.''I've heard him described as bright, articulate, computer-savvy and a loner.''
He said Biehn was suspended from school in April for misusing a school computer, possibly to hack into Web sites.
Potassium nitrate is commonly used as a fertilizer, but it has incendiary capabilities and can be employed to make a homemade bomb. Gibbons said quantities of the material were found behind a door in the boy's room that leads to an attic crawl space.
The chemicals were contained in FedEx boxes that had been addressed to Biehn, but there was no evidence in the boxes indicating where he obtained the chemicals. Gibbons speculated that the boy purchased the materials on the Internet.
Gibbons said it appears that some of the potassium nitrate and other materials are missing from the containers. Gibbons said police are searching for the missing materials, but she suggested that Biehn made a test bomb and may have set it off in a remote location.
''It could have been that he was practicing and that he went into an isolated area and set it off,'' she said.
Gibbons said it may be possible to prosecute Biehn as an adult. It will be up to the judge to decide whether the seriousness of the offense merits trial in adult criminal court, she said.
If Travis Biehn is found guilty in juvenile court, Gibbons said, he could remain under the jurisdiction of juvenile authorities until he turns 21.
Laws said Central Bucks East would reopen today for about 700 students taking the SAT, and on Monday for all 1,500 students to return to classes.
Posted by: too true ||
06/07/2005 12:46 ||
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Prosecute him as an adult, toss his American-hating carcass in an American prison, and ship his worthless parents back home.
You don't have to love us to live here; neutrality will do just fine. Hate us? Then why are you here?
Hate America and Americans? THEN LEAVE ALREADY! GTFO!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/07/2005 14:03 Comments ||
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The 17-year-old Bucks County boy charged with having bomb-making equipment in his bedroom and threatening to blow up his school is a Canadian who hates Americans, prosecutors say.
So why in the hell is he here? Take him to Niagara Falls and give him a swift and hard kick in the ass into the river and make him swim back home.
#3
Sounds like the lil anklebiter wasn't quite as bright and intelligent as advertised. Did the parents pick out the attire for arraignment? Screw em all I say. Prosecute the anklebiter to the fullest degree and deport the parents. Leave the Merck job for an American. Kick both of the phukin idiot parents in the butt to get them that last inch over the border but not before checking the fedex and credit card info to see if they can't also be charged as conspirators.
#4
Daddy used to works for Merck. No corporation looks kindly on such behaviour by its ex-pats, upon whom it spends so much extra money. It sounds like Mummy and Daddy aren't too fond of America, either.
A man has been arrested on a charge of possessing the deadly poison ricin, but authorities say they do not think he has any connection to terrorism. Casey Cutler, 25, was arrested on Saturday after a man who was hospitalised complained that Cutler might have poisoned him with ricin. Federal prosecutors said Cutler would be formally charged this week.
Police said the man in hospital, whose name was not released, showed no signs of exposure to ricin, but ricin was discovered in Cutler's possession when he was arrested on Saturday in a public place in Mesa.
Officials said he wasn't known to have any connection to terrorism, but gave no details on what or whom he might have been targeting. Keith Bennett, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Phoenix field office, said: "This is an isolated incident."
Thanks Keith, I'll stop worrying now. By the way, how's that anthrax thing coming?
According to the centres for disease control and prevention, as little as 500 micrograms of ricin, roughly the amount that fits on the head of a pin, is enough to kill an adult.
Posted by: too true ||
06/07/2005 11:58 ||
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Here's
some more information. (That's a hyperlink, even if it doesn't show as underlined.)
It appears he's a nutcase. He was going to put in little vials and hang them around his neck. If he was mugged, they would think it's crack and smoke some, or something.
The CIA would be given authority to coordinate all human intelligence activities overseas, including those carried out by Pentagon and FBI personnel, under legislation proposed by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the fiscal 2006 intelligence authorization bill.
At a time when the CIA appears to be losing its preeminence in clandestine operations abroad, the House panel suggested language in the bill that it said was designed to clarify roles of the CIA director and the new director of national intelligence (DNI) regarding the collection of human intelligence outside the United States "by any department, agency or element" of the U.S. government.
In the past, the CIA has exercised similar authority in most cases, but the House panel decided to try to put that into law as a result of increased overseas operations by many government agencies, and reports that several Pentagon teams had been found operating overseas without the knowledge of CIA officials.
Under the House committee proposal, CIA Director Porter J. Goss would develop a process for coordinating clandestine human intelligence activities overseas, but it would be "subject to the approval of the DNI," John D. Negroponte, according to the panel's report, made available yesterday.
The House panel also revived a proposal that would limit Negroponte's authority to transfer Pentagon or other intelligence specialists within the intelligence community. Under the current law, Negroponte must provide prompt notice of any transfer only to the appropriate congressional committees.
Under the proposal, he could not make such a transfer until he had informed the committees with proper jurisdiction, "and received a response."
Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), the ranking minority member on the committee, and other Democrats described the proposal as "a pocket veto" of the DNI's personnel transfer authority in additional views printed in the report. They said they opposed the provision and noted that when the same language was proposed in the Defense Department's fiscal 2006 authorization bill in March, a DNI spokesman opposed it.
Harman and the others warned that if the provision is not changed, they will move to strike it when the bill reaches the House floor, "and we believe we will be successful."
In another action, the House panel said it made "significant" reductions in "expensive technical collection systems," which congressional sources described as new large satellites. Money saved from redirecting satellite spending was aimed at increasing "human intelligence and analysis," the committee said in its report. well we certainly need the latter, but we also need the former
The panel said the intelligence community "has resisted terminating even badly flawed major systems acquisitions," a reference to multibillion-dollar satellites that in the past have been criticized by members of the Senate intelligence committee.
The panel report, which keeps classified the overall amount proposed for next year's intelligence activities -- said to be in excess of $41 billion -- does note authorizing $446 million in an account that is to be the "principal source of funding" for Negroponte's new team. The Congressional Budget Office estimates $268 million in costs next year, according to the House panel report.
Posted by: too true ||
06/07/2005 10:59 ||
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Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
06/07/2005 12:58 Comments ||
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#5
The CIA can't even do what they were set up to do, much less run the whole show. I suspect there is so much power grapling and tattletale bullsh*t that nobody can make a move.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/07/2005 14:52 Comments ||
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Frank G - Yes it is. Before I went to sleep I read of an incident where a US Sturgeon and a Soviet Echo hit each other and for years each captain was convinced the other had sunk.
I'm shocked there weren't shots fired with all the goings on... then again, with so little coming out over the decades there might very well have been a few fights and we haven't heard about it yet.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
06/07/2005 15:49 Comments ||
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#8
Why not the other way around?
The DIA is so much more accurate and efficient ...
Put the DIA in charge of the CIA.
#9
3dc, I never thought of it that way -- and now that you mention it, that doesn't sound like a bad idea in the least!
Strategic Support Branch, run for it before they get you [and infect you with their political hackery]!
(Seriously, read up on them. I'm only citing what was admitted to, and for the love of money Rumsfeld's got the right idea.)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/07/2005 17:55 Comments ||
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I very strongly recommend that you read The Silent War by John Piña Craven. He wrote it largely in response to Blind Man's Bluff. The tale of the CIA taking over underwater espionage has a lot more to it.
I don't know why my links show up in bold.
The Glomar explorer served multiple purposes, some of which Craven only hints at. In many ways I'm reminded of the CIA's subsequent involvement with the NRO and the Space Shuttle.
The federal government has asked the National Academy of Sciences not to publish a research paper that feds describe as a "road map for terrorists" on how to contaminate the nation's milk supply. The research paper on biological terrorism, by Stanford University professor Lawrence M. Wein and graduate student Yifan Liu, provides details on how terrorists might attack the milk supply and offers suggestions on how to safeguard it.
...
The paper "is a road map for terrorists and publication is not in the interests of the United States," HHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Simonson wrote in a letter to the science academy chief Dr. Bruce Alberts. The paper gives "very detailed information on vulnerability nodes" in the milk supply chain and "includes ... very precise information on the dosage of botulinum toxin needed to contaminate the milk supply to kill or injure large numbers of people," Simonson wrote. "It seems clear on its face that publication of this manuscript could have very serious public health and national security consequences." Alberts wrote that acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford was joining him in the request to halt publication.
Officials of HHS and the academy said they are to meet Tuesday to discuss the article. "The academy has been dealing with the issue of scientific openness versus national security since 9/11," said academy spokesman Bill Kearney. "The academy [members] are strong advocates of scientific openness while ensuring that nothing is done to aid terrorists." Well, just keep ensuring that then...and pull the article, or cut out the "un-interesting" bits.
... More at the link.
Posted by: Rafael ||
06/07/2005 00:13 ||
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I'm sure Yifan Liu (who did all the actual work) has passed on the full report to his controller.
#5
The NAS has been pushing for open source availability of all data and results generated by federally funded and other research. They have a lot of supporters on this in the academic science community, with a strong emphasis on the social justice issues involved. For a related topic, watch what is going on re: intellectual property in recent international forums as Brazil and other countries argue (with some justification) that a few western corporations have been allowed to rip them off by patenting traditional knowledge about plants etc. and then charging high fees for the use of those plants in medicines.
So this paper has been written within a larger debate about security vs. free access to scientific research results. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
This trial is one of the critical junctures in the Global War on Terror, and particularly America's ability to roust out the terrorists among us. Sami is a dirty terror enabler terrorist through and through, able to cloak himself in the gossamer shield of Academia and access to the highest decision makers in the land.
If we can convict him, we deny our enemies aid and comfort. Our academies are rotten to the core with paid apologists for militant Islam. Al-Arian took his mandate to the next level. We cannot let him walk.
The most significant terrorism trial since the September 11, 2001, attacks is set to open this morning in federal court here as a jury begins hearing the case of four men accused of running the American wing of a deadly terror group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The most prominent of the defendants is a former computer science professor at the University of South Florida, Sami Al-Arian. Despite long-standing suspicions about his ties to terrorism, the Kuwaiti-born Palestinian Arab enjoyed entree with top American politicians. Mr. Al-Arian, 47, has been in jail since the 53-count indictment was returned in February 2003. Standing trial alongside Mr. Al-Arian are three other Muslim activists: Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatim Fariz, and Ghassan Ballut. All are charged with racketeering, conspiracy, and providing material support to a terrorist organization.
Defense attorneys are bracing for prosecutors to kick off their case with a torrent of gory photographs, videos, and live testimony about Palestinian Islamic Jihad attacks that killed more than 100 people in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, including five Americans. "They are going to spend the first couple of weeks trying to shock this jury. It's going to be shock and awe," said Stephen Crawford, a lawyer for Mr. Hammoudeh, a former University of South Florida graduate student who was born in the West Bank. In preparation for the trial, prosecutors have reportedly flown in from Israel dozens of victims of the terror group's violence. "It's going to be bloody. It's going to be horrible. It's going to scare the hell out of this jury," Mr. Crawford said. Among the more dramatic images likely to be shown to the jury is a prosecution-arranged video shot in the Florida Everglades that depicts the reenactment of two suicide bombings of passenger buses carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
GHASAN BALLUT
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
HATIM FARIZ
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
SAMI AL ARIAN
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
SAMIH HAMUDEH
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Stephen Crawford
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2005 00:00 ||
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isn't he the leader of the Arian Nations group?
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Upcoming joint training exercises will combine military and humanitarian efforts to root out militants from the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, top U.S. and Philippine military commanders said Tuesday. "We note that throughout the region, some of these organizations, such as the JI, draw their support in areas where there is a lack of security ... and they tend to take advantage of those," Adm. William Fallon, head of U.S. forces in the Pacific, told reporters in Manila. He said the degree of U.S. support for Philippine military efforts "will, I think, go a long way to lessening any potential impact of the JI and their activities."
Fallon met with Philippine armed forces chief Gen. Efren Abu to draw up a list of this year's joint exercises and military and humanitarian projects that would help eliminate the threat of terrorism in the restive southern Philippines.
For several years, U.S. troops have been training Filipino soldiers fighting local al-Qaida-linked groups such as the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah, which originated in Indonesia. Philippine security forces have arrested several Indonesian terror suspects in the south this year, and officials say they suspect dozens of militants have graduated from their jungle training camps in recent months.
"As we all know, the JI threat is an emerging one," Abu said. "This is a problem that we will have to address squarely because the JI ... has a long-term plan to expand and we are closely watching this. "If we will deprive them of areas for base operations, it will be difficult for them to establish a foothold here."
A counterterrorism training exercise three years ago was credited with U.S.-backed offensives that dislodged Abu Sayyaf militants from southern Basilan island. U.S. and Philippine troops take part in about 20 exercises each year.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 09:13 ||
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SUNGAI GOLOK (South Thailand), June 6 (Bernama) -- Three Thai policemen, including a senior police officer, who were jogging were among five people injured when a time-bomb placed in a motorcycle exploded at a recreational spot here Monday.
A 63-year-old retired teacher and his 61-year-old wife were also injured in the blast which occurred at 7.15am (local time)... A Thai police source identified the senior police officer as Weat Swanarat, and two corporals as Banchong Chunsuan and the other was only known as "Nikhom". They were hit by shrapnel in various parts of their body.
The victims have been warded at the Sungai Golok Hospital. Sungai Golok Hospital Deputy Director Dr Wichai Wichienwahanachai said their condition was stable. He refused to give further details.
An eye-witness, who declined to be named, said the motorcycle had been at the recreational area for the past two days although motorcycles were not allowed to pass the place. He said the powerful blast caused shrapnel to hit his house located at about 70 metres from the explosion site.
BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 7 (UPI) -- Israeli warplanes entered Lebanese airspace Tuesday, drawing anti-aircraft fire from Lebanese army gunners.
An army statement said eight Israeli planes, including two surveillance drones, crossed into Lebanese and flew over Lebanese territory for more than an hour. The reports could not be independently verified.
The Lebanese army fired surface-to-air rockets at the planes, the statement said, but mentioned no hits. The planes flew over southern Lebanon and then headed northeast toward the Mount Lebanon area and the Bekaa Valley before returning to Israel. The reported incursion comes two days after Hezbollah claimed victory in elections in that region.
Israel has entered Lebanese airspace on numerous occasions despite U.N. calls for Israel to respect the Blue Line border drawn by the United Nations to demark than Lebanon-Israel border.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 09:06 ||
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#1
nice shooting, asshats.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/07/2005 9:10 Comments ||
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#2
I notice the Useless Numbnuts didn't call for Hezbollah Lebanon to respect that same border.
Bzzzzzt. You lose, UN.
But thanks for playing. NOT.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/07/2005 11:34 Comments ||
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#3
Is this about the election?
Hellfire! Pitch one thru the men's room of the Hezz Boy's Club.
Posted by: Curtis L ||
06/07/2005 12:26 Comments ||
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#4
Anyone seen Team America World Police? Funny and excellent. Especially when puppet Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon etc get killed.
Here we have a case of D**s (israel), Pussies (UN) and A*holes(Hezbollah).
Gotta get rid of those A*holes otherwise they're gonna S* all over everyone.
Apologies if the naughty words have caused offence.
Syrian Vice-President Abdul Halim Khaddam has resigned from the government and the ruling Baath party. Mr Khaddam is said to have made his announcement during a meeting of the Baath party on the first day of a conference focusing on reform.
"I'm out of here"
No reason has been given for his resignation and it is not known if the party has accepted it. Mr Khaddam, a veteran hardliner, is seen as an architect of Syrian influence in neighbouring Lebanon. BBC regional analyst Daniel Nassif says Mr Khaddam's influence has grown weaker recently.
So has Syrian influence in Lebanon
International pressure earlier this year forced Syria to withdraw the troops it had sent to Lebanon during the 1975-1990 civil war.
Mr Khaddam was born in 1932 and is one of Syria's oldest leaders, having worked for Hafez al-Assad, father of the current leader, Bashar al-Assad. He was a foreign minister and deputy prime minister in the Baath party before he was promoted to vice-president in the 1980s. For decades, he charted Damascus' policy towards Beirut. He was quoted in 1976 as saying: "Lebanon will either be united or will be returned to Syria."
No explanation has been offered for his resignation, which comes at the start of a Baath party conference that is expected to recommend opening up Syria's economic and political life. A party source told the Reuters news agency that Mr Khaddam expressed his wish to step down "during a meeting of the political committee of the party to which resignations are not normally submitted". "It can neither accept not reject any resignation," the source was quoted as saying.
Forced out or leaving before he could be forced to?
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 08:37 ||
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#1
Perhaps more like "you aren't going to do anything, so I'll do it myself"?
An international human rights group urged Washington to respect the rights of a senior al-Qaida suspect arrested in Pakistan as the American military confirmed he had been transferred to U.S. custody and flown to the United States. Abu Farraj al-Libbi, who is accused of masterminding two assassination attempts against Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was captured after a shootout with Pakistani agents in the country's northwest on May 2. Col. James Yonts, the U.S. military spokesman in neighboring Afghanistan, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that al-Libbi was taken from Pakistan to the United States and was not brought to Afghanistan. He gave no other details.
"I can say no more"
It was unclear what charges, if any, al-Libbi might face in the United States. A Pakistani security official said al-Libbi would be taken to a U.S. detention facility where other al-Qaida suspects are being held. He declined to say whether al-Libbi would be taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where many other suspected al-Qaida members are detained.
Gitmo is for small fry. I still vote for Diego Garcia, unless there's another, more remote camp.
The security official, who was involved in the deportation process, was not authorized to speak on the record. Human Rights Watch called on the United States to respect al-Libbi's rights. "He must be treated in accordance with U.S. and international law, not 'disappeared' or tortured like so many other terror suspects," Reed Brody, legal counsel for the group, said.
Fine, we'll give him his choice as to what he wants for his last meal.
Some officials have described al-Libbi as al-Qaida's No. 3 leader, after Osama bin Laden and Egyptian surgeon Ayman al-Zawahri. However, he does not appear on the FBI list of the world's most-wanted terrorists and his exact role in al-Qaida is murky. Officials have accused Al-Libbi, who is Libyan, of masterminding two bombings that narrowly missed Musharraf in December 2003 and a suicide attack aimed at Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in July 2004. Neither leader was hurt, but 26 people died in the attacks.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 15:04 ||
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#1
He has no rights.
And plenty of wrongs.
All the "international human rights" groups - who NEVER ACTUALLY DID ANYTHING TO SECURE ANYONE'S HUMAN RIGHTS and in any event don't think anyone has any rights if they're (a) black or (b) not in permanent kill-Americans mode - can FOAD.
These clowns give new meaning to the term clueless assholes. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/07/2005 15:43 Comments ||
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yes. respect his rights as much as he respected the rights of others.
#3
These "human rights" ativists care more about < 600
detainees that the whole rest of the U.S, British, and European population. That guy has information inside him that could save many lives, what would you do for 600million people's safety? The good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one.
#5
And if by some chance Mr. Libbi's head did become detached, it would not be placed at the foot of the bed of anyone from Human Rights Watch.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/07/2005 16:04 Comments ||
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#6
HRW has no respect for my "human rights" therefore I have no respect for HRW or it's members, To dumb to be scumb.
al-Libbi gets 3 hots and clean cot and clothing, much more that he and his ilk give anyone they have taken prisoner.
A bullet to the back of the head as soon as we drain his brain of every bit of information we can get is what he has coming. That's not wht he will get however.
#7
Glad to see HRW has Darfur & Cuba all solved, so they can deal with big problems like protecting a guy who plotted to kill a head of state....twice.
Wasn't there supposed to be some prison on an Aleutian island, or did the guvmint decide that was too cruel for the native fauna?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/07/2005 16:51 Comments ||
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I vote we do exactly what HRW wants and follow the Geneva Convention to the letter.
And shoot Mr. Al-Libbi in the head.
He is an unlawful combatant and therefore can be shot indiscriminately.
In fact we almost *must* execute him or no other country will respect the Geneva Convention when it comes to our soldiers who are prisoners -- why should they??
Car bombers struck in Baghdad and northern Iraq on Tuesday, killing at least 19 people and wounding 38.
Four of the attacks were in or near the northern town of Hawija, close to the strategic oil city of Kirkuk.
More than 800 Iraqis have been killed in attacks since the formation of a new government on April 28.
Here is a short chronology of some of the deadliest bomb attacks since the new cabinet was announced:
May 1 — A bombing hits a funeral for a Kurdish official in Tal Afar, near Mosul in northern Iraq, killing at least 30 people.
May 4 — Suicide bomber kills up to 60 people at Kurdistan Democratic Party office in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil. The militant Army of Ansar al-Sunna claims responsibility.
May 6 — A suicide car bomb at a vegetable market in Suwayra, south of Baghdad, kills 31 people. A little known Muslim group, Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba (Soldiers of the Prophet's Companions) claims responsibility.
May 7 — Two suicide car bombs explode close to a foreign civilian security convoy in Baghdad, killing 22 people, including two Americans. Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq claims responsibility.
May 11 — Four suicide bombs kill at least 71 people in Tikrit, Hawija and Baghdad.
May 12 — A suicide car bomb blast at a market in a mostly Shi'ite part of Baghdad kills 14 people.
May 23/24 — At least 56 Iraqis are killed in car bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad and Tal Afar, west of the northern city of Mosul.
May 30 — Two suicide bombers blow themselves up among crowds of Iraqis in Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing 27.
June 2 — At least 24 people are killed in motorcycle and car bombs attacks in Tuz Khurmatu, Baquba, Kirkuk and Mosul.
June 7 — At least 19 people are killed and 38 wounded in four car bomb attacks in or near the northern town of Hawija.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/07/2005 14:47 ||
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Suspected Taliban rebels killed two Pakistani truck drivers supplying fuel to U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Tuesday, police said. The two were returning to Pakistan after delivering fuel to U.S. forces in the southern province of Kandahar when they were ambushed and killed, a provincial police official said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/07/2005 14:46 ||
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An appeals court has overturned the conviction of a Jordanian found guilty of financing Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's insurgent group in Iraq, according to a ruling obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. The Oct. 31 conviction of Bilal Mansur al-Hiyari by the military State Security Court "fell short of adequate justifications and causes," the Court of Cassation said in the March 20 ruling.
The check cleared.
The United States has accused al-Hiyari of financing al-Zarqawi, a fellow Jordanian who leads the most active insurgent group in Iraq. Washington said in April it would freeze any assets al-Hiyari may have in the United States and was asking U.N. members to do likewise. The court demanded a retrial for al-Hiyari, who had already served his six-month jail sentence and has been released. He is believed to be in Jordan, but his whereabouts were not known Tuesday.
Have they checked Damascus? Good moneymen are hard to come by, ya know.
Jordanian security officials declined to say if he was being sought for a retrial, where he could be convicted again and possibly receive a harsher sentence. The U.S. government contends that al-Hiyari became acquainted with al-Zarqawi when they met in Afghanistan in 1989.
"We'll always have Kandahar, Abu my sweet."
It has said al-Hiyari traveled to Iraq in 2003 and sent funds to al-Zarqawi's network through messengers. Jordanian military prosecutors said in their indictment that al-Zarqawi recruited al-Hiyari to "raise funds to finance military operations on the Jordanian and Iraqi arenas." The indictment said U.S. forces in Iraq were specifically targeted.
Outlaws shoot BNP leader
MEHERPUR, June 6: Underground terrorists sprayed bullets on Gangni upazila BNP president Mohammad Abdullah on Sunday night was rushed to the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka, reports UNB. Family sources said three bullets hit Abdullah in the arm, forehead and abdomen. Doctors stated his condition as serious.
"He's not dead yet, Jim"
They said 4 or 5 gunmen entered the house in Gangni town at about 10-30pm and sprayed bullet on Abdulla. They also hurled three homemade bombs when he tried to flee with bullet wounds that missed the target.
Rani Biswas identifying him commander of outlawed PBCP (ML-Janojudda) claimed by phone to newsmen the responsibility of shooting the BNP leader for his role of informer of law enforcing agencies.
"Yeah, we shot that dirty rat. And we're proud of it, see!"
A student leader during college life Abdullah, 45, has business. But he is more in politics than in business.
Soon after the incident angry BNP activists attacked the visiting police and set on fire a motorbike and pickup van. In-charge of Gangni thana Iqbal Hossain injured in the mob attack was undergoing treatment in Meherpur General Hospital. BNP held rally Monday afternoon to protest the attempt on the life of Abdullah where speakers demanded immediate arrest of the gunmen. They also blamed the law enforcing agencies for dereliction of duty in eliminating terrorism.
A small district on the western border with India, Meherpur is heavily infested by underground terrorists. Killing, extortion, mugging, hijack are rampant in and adjoining areas of the district. At least 20 people, including first elected chairman of Gangni pourasava Amirul Islam, were killed in the district during the last one year.
RAB nabs 100 in block raid
KERANIGANJ, June 6 : RAB and police in a joint drive Monday night held about 100 people but none of the known terrorists, reports UNB. Residents said police guided the drive at Amritapur, Charail, Dakpara, Manumiar Dhal, Chhatgaon and adjacent areas from 8pm and picked up 'innocent' people, mostly young and herded them to the thana hajat.
They said known and listed terrorists knowing the impending drive have either taken shelter in different clinics in the guise of patients or gone to Dhaka city. They named Hasnabad clinic, Kalatia clinic, Rohitpur clinic, Shahana clinic and others where the criminals were hiding during the drive. "Possibly police know this but they would not take RAB men there," said a businessman of Amritapur requesting anonymity for fear of reprisal. Police also did not allow anyone to come close to RAB officials, he added.
Similar RAB-police joint drive on May 27 ended in a failure to nab any of the known terrorists who are allegedly thriving under political umbrella. Business community, which is subjected to pay tolls regularly said RAB should have its own intelligence to gather information from the locals about terrorist hideouts and launch midnight drive without informing the police to make it a success.
Keraniganj, a sprawling town on the other side of Buriganga river, is heavily infested by terrorists. Extortion, highjack, mugging, murder, rape are rampant in the area.
Just like the rest of Bangladesh
Rab nabs Shibir cadre Sazzad
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested Chittagong top terror and Islami Chhatra Shibir cadre Sazzad from the capital yesterday evening.
"Evening, Sazzad. Let's go down to the station and talk"
Sazzad is an accused in the sensational eight Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists murder in the port city on July 12, 2000.
Sources said he was the second in command of 'Hazarika Bahini' of Gias Hazarika, notorious cadre of Jamaat-e-Islami's student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir. Hazarika was killed in Rab-claimed 'crossfire' on June 2. The Rab- 3 said Hazarika had supplied firearms to the Shibir cadres to attack and kill the eight BCL leaders and activists.
No doubt they were looking for those firearms when that tragic "crossfire" happened.
Five dacoits held in Feni
FENI, June 6:—Police arrested five alleged dacoits with some booty and 10 bullets from Dhanikunda area under Parshuram upazila in the early hours of today, says BSS. The arrested robbers are: Jalal Ahmed, 40, Nurul Haq, 38, Manik, 42, Sheikh, 28 and Ahsanullah Shipon, 24.
Police said a gang of dacoits barged into the house of Aminullah Master at Shatkucia village and looted valuables. Getting information, police, who were on the way to the place of occurrence, rounded up the five dacoits. Later, police recovered a portion of looted goods, including a television set, and 10 bullets. Two separate cases were filed in this connection.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 09:45 ||
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Actually, there is a lot of news in Bangledash that goes unreported in the summaries posted on Rantburg. Not necessarily good but interesting.
I liked the the one about the ex-president who has gone away to Saudi Arabia to get away from his two timing wife. And then there is the one about the rickshaw puller who gets in an accident with a car. [I was wondering if rickshaws had air bags?]
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/07/2005 15:34 Comments ||
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The RAB got 100? I expect to see a lot of "crossfires" in the coming weeks.
June 7, 2005: The U.S. government is investing a lot of money to develop a search engine that will out-Google Google. The new system detects concepts, rather than just words and phrases, in online (or off-line) material (documents, email, chat room text). Actually, this is an old concept, but it requires lots of computer power to make it work. Someone noticed that the U.S. government now has access to lots and lots of computer power. Someone thought, "we-can-do-this." And it was done. Actually, many outside observers believed that it had been done years ago. Maybe it was, and this is just a new, or simply public, version. No matter.
The new concept search engine (CSE) was developed for counter-terrorism work. The CSE looks for connections between two people that it would normally take a human investigator to figure out. Given the huge mass of data on the Internet (including billions of words of material captured from instant messaging, chat rooms and emails), there's no way humans could comb through it all for anything other than key words and phrases. The CSE makes sense of material, stores those interpretations and constantly compares all that it has found for connections between two or more authors, or members of the same organization (or way of thinking). CSE is expected to be a powerful tool in searching for terrorist activity on the Internet.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 09:24 ||
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One area of intense comp sci research is semantic analysis ... i.e. being able to discern meaning and not just specific terms and phrases, which is what google does today.
My guess is that the systems mentioned here not only do semantic analysis, but also keep track of the specific terminology used for concepts. Feeding both of those into social network analysis would be the ultimate goal ... not only to have the computer be able to interpret WHAT is said, but also discern who is talking to whom about those topics.
#8
We will have to see how well this works out. Excluding some of the military and Spook programs most government software and hardware contracts are boondoggles. Could just be money down the shitter, or even a bit of psyops.
#9
Hi guys, rare post by me i know but seein g as the subject of google was up i was wondering/asking for help.I'm absolutly deperate to get hold of an AVI or MPEG file circulated oh about 1 year ago now on the net,It was of USMC in Iraq - i'll describe, it lasted about 17 minuetes i think ,was from an HMLA or HMM squadron or something and was a compilation of real amzing footage from Iraq, set in 4 parts each set to music ,the first part being the marines deployment set to the tune california dreaming,the i think the second part was set to God Bless America (i think) sung by some guy, then parts 3 and 4 were all mainly combat footage set to some kind of 'devil' rock music.I know this must sound bizaare but after losing the video on old computer i've been googling for it for days but to no avail (prob spent about 15 hours searching in all) If anyone has the video please please message me back at jonjames2526 at hotmail dot com or just post a website where i can grab it. I know its weird me just appearing but i read everyday but am just soo busy. Picture R2D2 displaying the Hologram of a pleading princess leer to Obi one at the start of star wars but imagine im here,sorry but thats how desperate i am. Thanks for any help in advance- I think you guys would absolutly love the video ,its the best production I've ever seen - oh just a thought but it coulnt have been 'taken' off the net could it?
Posted by: Shep UK ||
06/07/2005 14:25 Comments ||
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June 7, 2005: Two weeks of tighter security in and around Baghdad has more than doubled the number of terrorist arrests (to 900) and forced the terrorists to move their attacks to targets outside Baghdad. The disruption of the suicide bomber network has led to poorly executed attacks. For example, four bombings in the northern city of Kirkuk, while taking place within seven minutes, failed to cause many casualties (a total of six dead and ten wounded.) Better security makes it more difficult for the car bombers to get close enough to a target to do much damage.
The large number of arrests has provided a lot more detailed information on the structure of the terrorist support network in the towns surrounding Baghdad. This has led to a lot more raids on bomb workshops, safe houses and weapons storage areas. In some cases, the terrorists had basically taken over small towns, terrorizing the inhabitants into supporting them. When one of these places is found, over a thousand American and Iraqi troops will be quickly organized to surround the place, kill any terrorists who resist (many often do, and are quickly killed because they are not trained soldiers), and search the place. The cell phones, satellite phones and large amounts of cash being found indicates that the counter-terrorism effort is nailing key al Qaeda operators.
However, the terrorists have a lot of depth. The Sunni Arabs that support al Qaeda still have lots of cash, and a desire to keep the violence going. There are still more foreign suicide volunteers than can be used. The current operations have revealed the continued support for the terrorists within the Sunni Arab community. This has prompted the Kurdish and Shia Arab majority to increase pressure on the Sunni Arabs to rein in their own bad apples. The alternative is war on the Sunni Arab community.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 09:16 ||
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BAGHDAD, June 7 (UPI) -- The president of Iraq's Kurdistan province, Massoud Barzani, says he has no objection to establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. "Establishing relations between the Kurds and Israel is not a crime since many Arab countries have ties with the Jewish state," Barzani said in an interview with the Saudi daily al-Hayat. He said when the time comes and an Israeli Embassy is opened in Baghdad he will ask that an Israeli consulate be also established in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan.
Makes perfect sense. The Jews were a stateless people persecuted in every country they were in until they established their own state. The Kurds are the same today.
Barzani, who heads the powerful Kurdistan Democratic Party, said the disputed oil center of Kirkuk in northern Iraq is part of Kurdistan and should be returned to the province, as it was cut out from it by the former Baath regime. He described rampant terrorism in Iraq as "a dangerous illness, which should have been treated radically right from the beginning, while now we fear it has become chronic."
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 09:07 ||
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#1
Establishing relations between the Kurds and Israel is not a crime
doesnt sound like he'll push real hard for it.
"barzani, we can recognize your Israeli friends, or we can give you an extra two blocks in Kirkuk"
#2
Everything on the issue is treated with kid gloves, out of the fear of murder for anyone who calls for anything but the destruction of Israel. However, push has come to shove. The Kurds are in a position to question who their allies really are: Turks, Arabs, Iranians & Syrians or Israelis. On the one hand, the Israelis have never done them harm, and are a prosperous country offering much--unfortunately with no common border. On the other hand, they have a de facto relationship with people they really don't care for, but who, right now, are no longer actively trying to kill them. This is not an easy choice.
#3
Kurds and Israel have a common ennemy: Arabs. Unfortunately Israel has a friend who is ennemy of the Kurds and far more powerful: Turkey. As long as Erdogan doesn't openly join the Arabs Israel will not openly help the Kurds. And I don't think the Kurds are still ready to openly reject Islam as an instrument of foreign domination. Until they don't take this step it will be difficult for a Kurdish politician to go against Islamic solidarity.
#6
Iraq was an arbitrary state created by the British. At the time of its formation, local people didn't think it would work as sunnis shitites and kurds hate each other.
It should have been three states. Why not just divide the freakin country and give the kurds a state of their own?
BAGHDAD, June 7 (UPI) -- U.S.-led Iraqi troops mounted a major offensive against insurgents in northwestern Iraq Tuesday, near the largely unsupervised Syrian border.
That'll give the Syrians something to think about during the Baath party conference
In its first hours, 16 suspects were detained in what CNN described as a major military operation involving tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and helicopters. In the run-up to the campaign, some 4,000 U.S. troops were shipped into the area around the city of Tal Afar. The troops moved door-to-door on narrow streets, backed up by about 100 tanks and armored personnel carriers. There did not appear to be heavy resistance, but scattered gunfire and mortars could be heard, the report said.
Meanwhile in Baghdad, Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops, continued a major crackdown on terrorists called Operation Lightning, which has resulted in hundreds of arrests.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 08:52 ||
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#1
It's beginning to sound like, more areas of the country are being able to be secured by the Iraq's themselves, allowing the US and some Iraq soldiers, to do what needs to be done, kill the bad guys before they kill the soldiers. I suspect this will begin to put a crimp in the terrorist agenda in the long term. I'm hoping the car bombing going on right now was all planed prior to these operations, and they will begin to die out.
#2
I'm hoping the car bombing going on right now was all planed prior to these operations, and they will begin to die out.
As we use to say in SAC - "if you live in hope, you die in shit". The only way to stop the bombings is to do more than randomly hit the ratlines. You need a hammer and an anvil. The only way to do that is to place a blocking point in Syria and hammer them up against it from Iraq or the opposite - unlikely to occur due to the sovereignty issue. But the Iraqi's could get tire of all this horse-shit and start infiltrating and causing some major figure disappearances and disruption of the leadership via selective assainations.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/07/2005 9:55 Comments ||
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#3
Hot pursuit - all the way to the Med!
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/07/2005 10:03 Comments ||
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#4
Border? I didn't see any border!
Where are the signs? The checkpoints? The border guards?
Are you sure the Syrian border is here? My GPS says it's 10 miles west of here. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/07/2005 11:30 Comments ||
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#5
"if you live in hope, you die in shit".
A damn fine sentiment. Hell, I feel like getting up and inspecting Whitman.
Posted by: Curtis L ||
06/07/2005 12:22 Comments ||
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#6
Could just be they heard someone was hanging out in that area and decided to check it out, just to remind the local assclowns who really runs Iraq right now.
Two Palestinians, one of them a local Islamic Jihad leader, have been killed in an Israeli arrest raid in the West Bank village of Qabatiya. Mraweh Kamil, Islamic Jihad's leader from the nearby town of Jenin, died in a gunfight after Israeli troops sealed off the house he was hiding in. A member of the Palestinian security forces was also gunned down.
I love a little good news with my morning coffee.
The raid was carried out despite a four-month truce that had reduced local violence, correspondents say.
In a separate incident, Hamas militants claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that damaged a house in the Israeli city of Sderot near the Gaza Strip. No-one was injured in the attack. Hamas said it acted in retaliation for a visit by Jews on Monday to the Jerusalem site home to the biblical Jewish Temples and to the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine. The Israeli army entered Qabatiya in the middle of the night, looking for an Islamic Jihad fugitive. Soldiers encircled the house where Mraweh Kamil took refuge and there was a gunbattle which grew fiercer as local fighters came to his aid. Kamil and the Palestinian security officer were killed. Eventually, an army bulldozer flattened the house.
Cat D-9, when you care enough to send the very best
The Israeli army says one of its soldiers was lightly wounded.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to go after members of Islamic Jihad, saying there is an active cell in the northern West Bank planning bomb attacks, the BBC's Barbara Plett in Jerusalem says. Palestinian officials say the raids are much wider and that more than 500 men from different factions have been arrested since the truce was agreed. They say this endangers the ceasefire because the wanted men feel they have no protection.
This article starring:
MRAWEH KAMIL
Islamic Jihad
Posted by: Steve ||
06/07/2005 08:43 ||
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The arrest of two young men from Nawashehr in Punjab for alleged involvement in the bombing of the two cinema halls in New Delhi and the recovery of explosives from them has leant credence to suspicions that have been raised over the past three years that Pakistan is trying to resurrect the Khalistan insurgency in Punjab. The appointment of Lt-Gen Javed Nasir (former chief of the Pakistan Army Inter-Services Intelligence who played an important part in creating the Taliban extremist Islamic fundamentalist phalanx for use as Pakistani storm troopers to create "strategic depth" in Afghanistan) as head of the Pakistan Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (PGPC) was seen as calculated State policy to revive Sikh separatism. The former ISI chief also had considerable experience in the training and launching of the Khalistani brand of extremists into Punjab and it was obvious that his new posting was intended to give him a front to be able to interact with the several hundred hardcore Sikh separatists who were left stranded in Pakistan after the Khalistani movement was crushed by a combined Army, Punjab Police, Border Security Force, CRPF and Indo-Tibetan Border Police force deployed in "hammer and anvil" mode in the strife-torn Punjab. Major among these Sikh terrorist remnants who have been given refuge in gurdwaras in Pakistan under control of the PGPC is the Babbar Khalsa Commando Force. There are signs that Lt-Gen (Retd) Javed Nasir has not been able to resist the temptation of indulging his favourite pastime of encouraging terrorism in India. His appointment as chief of the PGPC was clearly intended by President-General Pervez Musharraf to utilize his expertise.
The combination of the barbed wire fence and the operations by the Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir has resulted in a reduction of infiltration into the State and larger loss of personnel among the terrorists though hits against soft targets do occur quite regularly. But terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is bringing diminishing returns for Pakistan.. That is why Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is showing signs of urgency to achieve a settlement on his terms which he can only do till there is still some fervour left in the Kashmiri separatist movement in the teeth of the global antipathy to terrorism of the jehadi type. It is not without reason that the Pakistan military establishment has done its best to shift the training camps and indoctrination centers run by terrorist organisations created by the ISI out of Pakistan. Bangladesh has become the hotbed for Islamic fundamentalist terrorist Organizations even as pressure is being mounted by the international coalition against terrorism on nations in South East Asia to crack down on their own indigenous modules if they are to make a credible contribution to the war against terror.
Also, it makes no sense in feeding and training the Sikh terrorists inside Pakistan when they can be better employed in Punjab to try and retain an element of control over these useful proxies. Many former Khalistani terrorists have returned to India and given themselves up to the police like Zafarwal but there are also many who have tried to borough themselves among the civilian population and, as in the case of at least one of those who had been arrested in the cinema bomb blast case, has acquired a more credible camouflage by marrying local girls. It is these "moles" that are now being activated selectively and with very specific intent. The controversial film provided a rallying point and they were immediately put to use to try and rouse communal passions in a manner that has been the hallmark of the Pakistan ISI. At the same time there is an element of "networking" among several terrorist groups operating in India. At the height of the Khalistan insurgency there was evidence that the ISI had managed to forge linkages between it and the Sri Lanka LTTE and ULFA. It is in this context that the police and paramilitary forces need to forge closer cooperation so that these dormant modules can be detected and penetrated before they can be used to the detriment of the nation-State..The arrest of those wanted for the cinema bombings from Punjab shows that anyone indulging in such activity needs sanctuaries. Only good policing at the very grassroots level can deny them this.
#3
Punjab overlaps both India and Pakistan. In fact it's the bulk of Pakistan. India should call their bluff and start talks about independent Punjab composed of all historical Khalistan. I'd love to see Pakistan freak at the thought of losing the center of their nation.
India would never do so because the ball might start rolling out of everyones control once stopped, but a secret plan released to a known spy might do the trick.
The sectarian war between Pakistan's Shias and Sunnis is bloody and deadly. Available figures indicate that, between January 1989 and May 31, 2005 a total of 1,784 Pakistanis were killed, and another 4,279 injured in 1,866 incidents of sectarian violence and terror across the country. This averages out to over 100 persons per year over the past 17 years, with no end in sight. And there are some indications that the trends may worsen. Thus, 187 persons were killed and another 619 were injured in 19 incidents of sectarian violence in 2004. Within the first five months of 2005, 120 Pakistanis have already lost their lives, and 286 have been injured in 30 incidents of sectarian violenceâŠIn view of the current wave of sectarian violence, it seems that the Government has simply failed to curb the activities of the banned jehadi and sectarian groups, despite repeated claims by General Pervez Musharraf of having adopted strict administrative measures against them. The unfortunate fact remains that most of these groups continue to enjoy a free hand under the very nose of the administration, which is more interested in taking cosmetic steps instead of doing something practical to scotch the evil.
The genie of sectarian violence refuses to be bottled and even as President Musharraf exhorts the people of Pakistan to adopt 'enlightened moderation', the country's tentative quest for a non-discriminatory liberal democracy continues to unravel. Indeed, the ideology of fundamentalist Islam appears to remain at the heart of the Musharraf establishment's strategy of national political mobilisation and consolidation, despite talk of enlightened moderation. Pakistan continues to be caught in the trap of extremist Islamist militancy and terror that its mighty military establishment constructed as part of its Afghan and Kashmir policies. Official support - both explicit and implicit - to Islamist terrorist groups continues, even while the state struggles to cope with the internal fall-out of the burgeoning terrorist community. Since the overall direction of Pakistan's military establishment remains committed to an Islamic ideological state, some of the militant groups that are supported by the regime are often found involved in bloody acts of sectarian violence. The Musharraf administration's support for the jehadis fighting in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Afghanistan - and the growing nexus between the jehadi and sectarian outfits - has indirectly promoted sectarian violence in Pakistan. The linkages between militants active in J&K and Afghanistan, on the one hand, and those within Pakistan, on the other, are not surprising, since these jehadis share the same madrassas (seminaries), training camps and, often, operatives. Thus, though the Pakistani military establishment's support for these groups has kept the Indian Army tied down in J&K, it has created a serious 'principal-agent' problem on the domestic front. By facilitating the actions of irregulars in J&K, Pakistan actually promotes sectarian jehad and terrorism back home.
It is significant that, for decades, the country's Shia and Sunni sects lived side by side without any major problems. The roots of sectarian killing lie not in religious differences, but in political and social developments within Pakistan and the region. They are intimately tied up with the country's wider problem of militant and extremist Islam. With the passage of time, the largely theological differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims of Pakistan have been transformed into a full-fledged political conflict, with broad ramifications for law and order, social cohesion and governmental authority. It was during the Afghan jehad against the Soviet occupation, with dollars coming from the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) promoted the proliferation of a huge number of militant groups and religious seminaries inside PakistanâŠExternal factors other than Kashmir also promoted sectarianism - the foremost being funding of certain Pakistan-based Shia and Sunni sectarian groups by Iran and Saudi Arabia respectively. As successive Governments in Pakistan allowed Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shia-dominated Iran to fight a proxy war on Pakistani soil, the country and the people have had to suffer the devastating consequences.
Once Islamabad decided to put the Kashmir issue on the back burner for the sake of better ties with New Delhi, it no longer had to put up with the jehadi groups operating in J&K, or the sectarian outfits within Pakistan. The first clear sign of a shift in the Pakistan Government's attitude came in a televised speech by Musharraf to the nation on January 12, 2002. While announcing a massive campaign to eradicate the sectarian menace, the General banned three sectarian groups, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan (TJP) and the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) and put the Sunni Tehrik on noticeâŠDespite the Government ban, however, almost all these sectarian groups continue to operate freely under changed names without much difficulty. Contrary to Musharraf's much-trumpeted claims of having dismantled the sectarian mafia in Pakistan, the hard fact remains that his administration has hardly taken any concrete measures to implement the ban in letter and spirit, except in arresting and later releasing some of the cadres of these groups. Enforcement agencies arrest some of these cadres every time there is an escalation in sectarian conflict, but they are released shortly after the wave of violence subsides. The organisational infrastructures of the banned sectarian groups has essentially remained intact, with most of the groups retaining the same office bearers who refused to go underground even after the January 2002 ban. Most of the banned groups continue to operate out of their old office premises, though some have shifted to new premises. They are still bringing out their periodical publications, in most cases under the old names, besides raising funds and holding congregations without any check or fear. And the sectarian tensions refuse to die down, given the fact that the contending groups are well organised and well armed
Sectarian conflict and violence are an unpleasant reality in Pakistan today, and are becoming more and more intense. Administrative measures taken by the Musharraf-led Government have failed to produce results so far. Analysts believe that the sectarian problem cannot be overcome by such administrative measures alone, while the state itself remains in alliance with extremist elements. The problem for General Musharraf is that it is difficult to promote the so-called jehad in J&K without inadvertently promoting many of the Pakistani sectarian outfits. In the process, state authority stands eroded in one way or the other. The increasing militarisation and brutalisation of the conflict shows that there are virtually no sanctuaries left - neither home, nor mosque nor hospital. Not even a jail is safe. And being innocent is not the issue. Just 'being' is enough - being Shia or Sunni, Barelvi or Deobandi. In a situation where different sectarian groups are vying to prove themselves the standard bearers of Islam, one strategy to secure prominence as a representative of 'true Islam' is obviously by displaying extreme hostility and intolerance to those designated as being 'un-Islamic' by virtue of belonging to religious minorities and minority sects.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/07/2005 00:49 ||
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#1
looks like "they" have decided to go for Musharraf's head.
Romania's president said Monday the three Romanian journalists who spent nearly two months in captivity in Iraq were victims of a botched kidnapping plan by their Iraqi-American guide and a Syrian-born businessman. President Traian Basescu, who headed a crisis team that worked to free the journalists, provided the first play-by-play account of the kidnapping at a news conference where he detailed contacts between Romanian negotiators and the kidnappers. The president revealed for the first time one of the tensest moments in the 55-day ordeal — when the captors said they were going to provide a Web site where they would broadcast footage of the hostages being decapitated. He also disclosed a Romanian offer to send humanitarian aid to win the captives' freedom as well as a demand by captors for Romania to try to intervene to win the freedom of some Iraqi prisoners. The president also criticized the three journalists for failing to follow security guidelines during their stay in Iraq.
The kidnapping of Prima TV reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, cameraman Sorin Miscoci and daily Romania Libera reporter Ovidiu Ohanesian shocked the Romanian public. They were freed on May 22 after 55 days in captivity. The president said authorities believe the three were kidnapped initially by a group put together by the Syrian-born businessman Omar Hayssam and his partner Mohammed Monaf, an Iraqi-American guide who organized the journalists' trip and translated for them. Though Monaf is suspected of orchestrating the kidnapping, the former hostages have said he was held with them the entire time.
Romanian prosecutors have said the two men plotted the kidnapping while in Romania and the motivation for the ruse was that Hayssam, one of Romania's wealthiest businessman, was under investigation for financial wrongdoing and banned from leaving Romania. He apparently hoped that "saving" the journalists would help him get clemency, they said. Monaf allegedly carried out the kidnapping with the help of some friends, but lost control of the situation after a few days when a well organized Iraqi insurgent group intervened and took over the hostages, Basescu said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
kidnappers later said they freed the hostages after an appeal by Romania's Muslims and a prominent Saudi preacher.
Does that suggest that several Muslims and a few prominent holy men could stop more kidnappings and killings?
/idealism off
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/07/2005 12:25 Comments ||
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The alleged leader of a gang that killed four journalists covering the collapse of the Taliban in 2001 will probably face the death penalty if convicted, a judge said Monday, a day after the man was captured in a shoot-out with police.
Sounds fair to me, but then, I'm old-fashioned that way...
Zar Jan was accused of heading the group of armed men who stopped the four journalists — three of them foreigners — as they traveled in a convoy from the eastern city of Jalalabad on Nov. 19, 2001 — six days after the Taliban militia abandoned Kabul in the wake of heavy U.S. bombing. Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari, who presided over the trial of another suspect in the killings, said Jan also may be charged with murder once police investigators hand over his case to the courts. He said the alleged gang boss would likely face the death penalty if convicted. "Zar Jan has been wanted for a long time," Bakhtyari told The Associated Press. "He was in charge of the gang. They stopped the car of the journalists, searched them and then took them away from the road and killed them." It was not clear whether Bakhtyari would preside over Jan's trial.
I'll feel better if he does. Zar Jan might not like it...
Jan was caught with five other members of his gang on Sunday as they robbed a house in the town of Sarobi, about 35 miles east of the capital, Kabul, said Jamil Khan, head of the city police's criminal investigation department. Jan was shot and wounded in the gunbattle and brought to a hospital in Kabul, he said.
Gut shot, maybe? Is it very painful? Is there any chance of sepsis?
Those killed in the 2001 attack were Australian television cameraman Harry Burton and Afghan photographer Azizullah Haidari of the Reuters new agency; Maria Grazia Cutuli of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera; and Julio Fuentes of the Spanish daily El Mundo. Two men already have been convicted in connection with the murders. One was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The other, Reza Khan, was sentenced to death on charges of murder and for raping the Italian reporter. Khan has appealed his sentence to Afghanistan's highest court.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Linda, oh Linda... Ms. Foley? Your comment about the targeting of journalists by American forces?
Surely there is enough targeting of journalists to share with the others, mmmmm?
Iraqi reality-TV hit takes fear factor to a another level
By Neil MacDonald, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor This man understand Arab psychology and Arab sensibilities very well.
BAGHDAD - Forget the worm-eating contestants on "Fear Factor." And don't look for teen singers trying to become the next "Iraqi Idol." Here in Iraq, reality TV has a grittier visage. How do I get this channel? I'd love to watch these asshats being treated like the human scum they are.
In one recent opening scene of "Terrorism in the Grip of Justice," viewers see a group of tired, scruffy men sitting on bare ground, squinting in the glare of floodlights and waiting to confess. The camera then pans to Abul Waleed, the mustachioed, red-bereted commander of the elite Wolf Brigade police squad. Waleed is addressing about 30 terrorism suspects hauled in during Operation Lightning, a massive Iraqi-led sweep (now in its second week) aimed at rooting out car bombers and other insurgents in Baghdad. His men look very happy with him. He is a fearless leader.
"Grip of Justice" dominates the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. time slot in Iraq - at least anecdotally. There are no Nielsen ratings here. Almost like "The Lone Ranger" when I was growing up.
It's broadly popular and considered a key tool in fighting the insurgency. But critics say the show violates prisoner rights by publicly humiliating suspects before they are proven guilty. Awwwww. Where is the nano-violin?
As domestic detainees, these men are not covered by Geneva Convention rules for prisoners of war. Heh. Kewler. Continued on Page 49
#2
Anothner ikdiot who don't know what he speaks about. First of all Geneva conventions cease automatically to apply if the opponent violates thelm and second it is foertunate for those "domestic" terrs they are not covered by the Geneva conventions: the penalty for actions like shooting from hospitals/religious buildings, hiding between civilians or fighting out of uniform is DEATH.
#3
Brett I hope we can find Iraqi reality-TV links somewere. In the meantime here's the latest MEMRI
transcript. video there also.
Afghanistan,Syria,Iraq,Jordan. I believe that several of these events took place before 9/11.
Commander of Al-Qaeda Cell in Jordan: Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi Sent Me to Carry Out Attacks
The following are excerpts from an interview with the commander of an Al-Qaeda cell in Jordan, 'Azmi Al-Juyusi, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on May 19, 2005.
Al-Juyusi: In Iraq I began training for Abu Mus'ab (Al-Zarqawi) â I had advanced training in the use of explosives and poisons. After that I took an oath of allegiance to Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, and swore to obey him. Then, Afghanistan fell and I met with Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi once again in Iraq. After returning from Afghanistan to Iraq I met with Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi. He was with Muwafaq 'Adwan, a Jordanian whom I knew in the past in Afghanistan. Abu Mus'ab instructed me to go to Jordan with Muwafaq 'Adwan, to establish the military operations in Jordan. He arranged for me to be smuggled into Jordan. When I arrived in Jordan, I met with one of Abu Mus'ab's people â a Syrian national called Haytham 'Omar Ibrahim, who arranged safe houses for me.
After that, Muwafaq and I began to gather the necessary intelligence on targets. Then we got hold of the chemicals needed for manufacturing explosives. I began to look for these chemicals at all of the companies that sell such chemicals. I managed to buy large quantities from all of these companies. I collected around twenty tons, which would be enough for all of the operations in Jordan. I began to produce explosives.
The cars were all loaded up. I thought of renting warehouses in Biyadir Wadi Al-Sir and bringing the cars there, so that they would be close to the intelligence headquarters, no more than a seven-minute drive. The cars would leave from Biyadir Wadi Al-Sir. There would be two or three people in each car. The Caprice would take the lead, and we thought of having a BMW get-away car, for those who'd stay alive. The men in the Caprice would be armed with RPGs, and their mission was to shoot and kill the guards. Then the big MAN truck, which has a plow attachment, would remove any roadblocks in its way. I took into account that even if there were a wall in its way it could destroy it and continue without stopping, and would reach the center of the headquarters, opposite the command center, the command's main building âthere the truck would blow up. After it blew up there would be no more guards â they would all die. Any survivors would be in shock or wounded, or suffer internal bleeding, and wouldn't be able to fight. The other cars would come in slowly, one after the other, and would each go their way uninterrupted.
I believed that after the operation â and I am an explosives expert â the intelligence headquarters would be totally destroyed. There would be nothing left of it or anything around it. The destruction would even reach distant areas.
We used pre-paid calling cards to communicate. Whenever I had any suspicion, or if the line was too noisy, and I feared someone was tapping it⦠I didn't use it more than ten days. I destroyed it and brought a new one. Another way (of communicating) was messengers and letters from here to Syria and also the other way around. They would bring me messages, money, forged documents and passports, and everything I requested.
/What was that big shot commision called?
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/07/2005 4:19 Comments ||
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#4
More, April 2004
Jordanian authorities said Monday they have broken up an alleged al Qaeda plot that would have unleashed a deadly cloud of chemicals in the heart of Jordan's capital, Amman.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/26/jordan.terror/
/backpeddle> I believe that several of these events *may* have taken place before 9/11.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/07/2005 4:48 Comments ||
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#5
Sounds more like "Cops" (How do you say "BAD boys BAD boys, what you gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come fer yu..." in Iraqi?)
Produced by locals, and it shows. Contrast "Terrorism in the Grip of Justice" with timid Pentagon efforts. http://www.strategypage.com//fyeo/howtomakewar/default.asp?target=HTIW.HTM
Posted by: Dave ||
06/07/2005 6:53 Comments ||
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From Geostrategy-direct, subscription req'd.
WASHINGTON — The United States has developed a robot meant for counter-insurgency missions in Iraq.
The U.S. Marine Corps has helped fund the development of a 4-kilogram robot meant to operate in the line of fire or scout high-risk areas. The robot, called Dragon Runner, was developed to assist U.S. forces in urban warfare. A link to pics of the system is HERE
The Dragon Runner is sufficiently rugged to be hurled through windows, up the stairs, into a cave or around corners. The robot can land on its feet and provide surveillance.
The Dragon Runner, funded by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab and the Office of Naval Research in conjunction with Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, has been used in Afghanistan and Iraq. The robot contains a front-mounted tilting camera that relays video and employs a wireless modem and UHF video transmitter.
"We lost a couple of [robots] to improvised explosive devices, but that's okay," said U.S. Army Col. Bruce Jette, director of the Rapid Equipping Force. "It wasn't soldiers."
The Dragon Runner has been operated by the Rapid Equipping Force and modified after field trials. Officials said the teams were authorized to equip, insert and access the equipment in a 90-day cycle. The Dragon Runner has been tested in Iraq, but officials would not elaborate.
"If the commander says some piece of equipment stinks, it's not going to ruin my program," Jette said. "The question is can we fix it? What can we do to find a valid solution? It's not a tank. It doesn't have to last years. We produce rapid technical solutions to problems that are encountered today."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/07/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
"Johnny Five is alive...and he's pi*sed.."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/07/2005 7:19 Comments ||
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#2
Marines' new robot can be thrown through windows and into harm's way
Dad said they had these years ago. But back then they called them "sailors".
#5
As we communicate, the DoD is sponsoring a $2 million winner take all robot race across the mojave. Close to 40 competitors. Robotics, nanotechnology and decrease in recruitment is all coming together at the tipping point of a new way of winning wars but it will eventually come down to the grunt with a gun and good G2.
Posted by: Robin Moore ||
06/07/2005 15:44 Comments ||
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#6
Throw out that kinda money and flesh and blood wins every time. :>
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.
SANAA, Yemen, June 7 (UPI) -- Yemeni authorities arrested a U.S. national in western Yemen after he raised police suspicion by traveling on a motorcycle without a license plate. The opposition Yemeni Tagamoo for Reforms Party said on its Web Site Tuesday that the American traveler was seized in the province of Hadida on the Red Sea last Sunday and handed over to the intelligence department for investigation.
The United Nations has imposed sanctions on the 
Suspected Taliban rebels killed two Pakistani truck drivers supplying fuel to U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Tuesday, police said. The two were returning to Pakistan after delivering fuel to U.S. forces in the southern province of Kandahar when they were ambushed and killed, a provincial police official said.
Outlaws shoot BNP leader
Two Palestinians, one of them a local 
Romania's president said Monday the three Romanian journalists who spent nearly two months in captivity in Iraq were victims of a botched kidnapping plan by their Iraqi-American guide and a Syrian-born businessman. President 
The alleged leader of a gang that killed four journalists covering the collapse of the Taliban in 2001 will probably face the death penalty if convicted, a judge said Monday, a day after the man was captured in a shoot-out with police.
