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Sami al-Arian walks
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Scientist: Salamander eats bat droppings
I've often accused some of my colleagues of going completely bats**t, but this is the first literal example I've come across:

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- After two years of study in an isolated northeast Oklahoma cave, Jim Stout has discovered that a rare species of grotto salamander has a diet much different from what was expected.

Stout, the supervisor of the Herpetarium at the Oklahoma City Zoo, has helped write a report published by a leading scholarly journal that documents how a blind cave-dwelling salamander eats bat droppings. The salamander was thought to subsist on bugs and shrimp and this is the first report of a salamander, or any amphibian, living on bat guano.

Most of us will know "Bat Guano" as the Major who tried to save a Coke machine from vandalism in Dr. Strangelove.

His article is in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences. Dante Fenolio collaborated on the research.

"Because bats don't fully digest their food, their guano was pretty nutritious, and actually had more calories than the tiny shrimp," Stout said. "In effect, by eating the bat droppings, the salamanders have cut out the middle man."

New health food fad?

At the time of the study, Fenolio, an expert in salamanders, was working on his master's degree at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Stout said.

Fenolio is now at the University of Miami, Fla., where he is working on his doctorate.

In addition to Stout, Fenolio's co-authors on the journal article are G.O. Graening, a cave biologist with the Nature Conservancy in Arkansas, and Bret A. Collier of Texas A&M University's department of wildlife and fisheries sciences in College Station, Texas.

Stout said the group's original mission was a two-year population ecology study of a federally protected cave in Delaware County.

Buy AP Photo Reprints

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Stout said about 15,000 grey bats live in the cave he studied.

"Except for the bats, the cave is a pretty sterile environment, and the grotto salamander population was larger than we thought the cave could support," Stout said. "Things didn't add up at first."

The researchers also noticed a significant drop in the grotto salamander population when the migrating bats were not there. The bats live in the cave from May to December.

...and go to Florida for the winter.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 12/06/2005 16:06 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Because bats don't fully digest their food, their guano was pretty nutritious, and actually had more calories than the tiny shrimp

Hard to chew properly with fangs.

And yes, Gromky.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 16:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Stout said. "In effect, by eating the bat droppings, the salamanders have cut out the middle man."

..huuum
sounds like an e-Bey oportunity..better git my sh*t together.
Posted by: Red Dog || 12/06/2005 16:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Sounds like Jim needs a girlfriend...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/06/2005 17:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, thanks for killing my appetite for dinner. This is clearly another entry for "Sgt Moms' Diet Plan".
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 12/06/2005 20:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Grotto Salamanders join invertibrates like dung beetles, banana slugs, and the ordinary house fly...
Posted by: BigEd || 12/06/2005 20:56 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Four Afghans killed in suspected Taleban attacks
KHOST, Afghanistan - A policeman, a military driver and two civilians were killed and an Afghan general was wounded in two separate attacks by suspected Taleban rebels in Afghanistan, officials said on Tuesday.
A bomb tore through a military vehicle Monday in Urgun, a troubled district in the eastern province of Paktika, killing the driver and injuring General Zia-Ul Haq of the Afghan National Army and his bodyguard, officials said. “It was the work of the Taleban,” military official Sana-Ul Haq told AFP, adding that the bomb was detonated remotely. He did not say how he knew that the hardline Islamic militia was behind the attack.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 11:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Al-Dailamy sentenced to death
The verdict of Yahia Al-Dailamy and Mohamed Ahmed Miftah cases was issued last Saturday by the Penalty Court upholding the judgment passed by the Primary Court. The two were accused of stirring sectarian tumult and corresponding with a foreign country namely Iran.
Certain people you can have correspondence with, and certain people you can't ...
The court compelled the prosecution to refer the case to the high court. The court also accepted Miftah’s appeal formally and refused it substantially. The two suspects had already refused the appeal petition that was submitted by their lawyer last June, dismissing the court as being illegal.

The Primary Court had sentenced Al-Dailamy to death on the 29th of last May, and sentenced Miftah to eight years in prison for instigating unrest and establishing a group affiliated to the so called terrorist “Faithful Youth Organization” headed by Hussein Badradeen al-Houthi. They were also convicted for illegal correspondence with Iran to destabilize public security.

A number of civil society coalition members organized a peaceful sit-in at the Penalty Court on Saturday, in remonstration against the Al-Dailamy and Miftah convictions. The coalition described the trial as unconstitutional and considered the court itself to be illegal. The civil society coalition expressed their grave concern over the procedures of the court, which deprived defense rights.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Tales from the Crossfire Gazette
Sylhet dacoit killed in ‘crossfire’
Dec 6: A dacoit was killed in crossfire between a squad of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and his accomplices at Vhatpara area in Sylhet yesterday (Monday) midnight. The deceased was identified as Anu (40) son of Majid of Vhatpara area in the city. He was accused in 11 criminal cases including one of murder.

Earlier, a squad of RAB arrested him from his Vhatpara area at about 4 am on Sunday.
"Hands up, Anu. Youse coming wid us"
According to RAB sources, a team of RAB-9 along with Anu went out for Vhatpara area under Sadar police station in Sylhet at around 3am yesterday.
What, no confession? No arms cache?
As they reached the spot the accomplices of Anu fired upon the RAB personnel who also retaliated. Anu was caught in crossfire while he was trying to flee from the scene.
"Ouch, Ouch.....rose..Ouch..bud..."
Then RAB personnel rushed him to Osmani Medical College hospital but the on duty doctors declared in dead.
"He's dead, Jim"
The members of RAB recovered two 9mm pistol and a pipegun with two rounds of bullet from the spot. The body of the victim was sent to Osmani Medical College Hospital for autopsy.
"Another stiff for you, Quincy"

2 criminals held with firearms in Khagrachhari
Dec 6: Security forces arrested two alleged tribal criminals with arms and ammunition from Rumapara area under Mahalchhari upazila here in the early hours of today. Sources said the security forces of Mahalchhari Army Zone, as part of their anti-terrorist drive, conducted the operation in a terrorist hideout at Rumapara and picked up the two terrorists---Sonaranjan Dewan, 40, and Toriranjan Tripura, 28.
Soon to confess and taken to look for more arms, crossfire at 11
They also recovered two SBBL guns along with bullets of different types and some toll collection receipt books from them. The sources said the duo was involved in different terrorist activities, including extortion, in the locality for a long time. Both the arrestees are also the active members of the armed wing of the UPDF, which rejected the Chittagong Hill Tracts peace accord, the sources said. A case was filed with Khagrachhari police.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 16:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  According to RAB sources, a team of RAB-9 along with Anu went out for Vhatpara area under Sadar police station in Sylhet at around 3am yesterday. What, no confession?
No arms cache?

Jeez I hate the Reader Digest Alt F-3 version.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 18:39 Comments || Top||


Bangla: 71 bad guyz rounded up
Law enforcers in separate drives arrested 71 JMB cadres from Cox’s Bazar, Khulna, Sunamganj, Feni, Manikganj, Munshiganj, Nilphamari, Patuakhali and Naogaon.

Our Cox’s Bazar Correspondent reports: Police arrested 5 more JMB members from different police stations of Cox’s Bazar district during the last 24 hours. Cox’s Bazar Sadar Police arrested Jafar Alam (25), son of late Moslem uddin of Kutubdia Para, Islamabad Union, under Cox’s Bazar thana, at about 8pm from his house as a suspected JMB member with some leaflets and booklets. Cox’s Bazar police also arrested two suspected JMB men from Muhuripara of Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila last Sunday evening. They are Ahmed Kabir(34) and Mohammad Ali (17). Police arrested them from their homes under Cox’s Bazar Sadar police station. Ramu Thana police arrested Mohammad Sharif (28) from Ramu Upazila headquarters last night.

Chakoria police arrested suspected JMB men Mohammad Jubaer (35), son of Azizul Hoque, from Yeancha, a bordering area running through Chakoria and Lama of Bandarban district last evening. The district’s Police Super told The Independent that they conducted raids on all the suspected spots including madrassas.

Our Staff Correspondent from Khulna reports: a member of the banned Harkatul Jihad was arrested by police from Badhal village of Rupsha upazila in Khulna early Monday. The arrested was identified as Mahbubur Rahman (26), son of Ali Sheikh of Badhal village. Police also seized some Islamic books and documents from him. Police said that they got a mobile phone number of Mufti Hannan from Mahbub.

Our Sunamganj Correspondent reports: Derai Thana police arrested some 25 suspected JMB members from the different parts of the district Sunday evening. Of the persons arrested during the last 24 hours, 22 are from Kushtia, two from Jhenidah and one from Rajbari.

Our Feni Correspondent reports: Police arrested a suspected JMB member from Hotel Pritam in the town at about 9pm Sunday. The arrested person was identified as Ataullah, a madrassa student, who hails from Langalkot of Comilla.

Our Manikganj Correspondent reports: Police arrested a madrassa teacher on suspicion of having links with the militants in Manikganj Sunday night.The arrestee was identified as Yakub Ali of Peerganj village in Feni.

Our Munshiganj Correspondent reports: A madrassa teacher was arrested on suspicion of being a militant, from Darul Ulum Madrassa in Munshiganj early Monday. The arrestee was identified as Harunur Rashid (25), son of Naushad Ali of Karail in Chuadanga. Police said they arrested him following a wireless message of Gazipur police. The arrestee was handed over to Gazipur police.

Our Nilphamari Correspondent writes: Nilphamari police arrested four people on suspicion of being JMB members from a quarter of the Palashbari Union Health Centre in Sadar Upazila early Monday. They were identified as Hafez Abu Bakkar of Kittania Para in Sadar Upazila, Hafez Nazrul Islam of Dalbari village, Hafez Yunus Ali of Choura Barogachha Kurigram Para and Babul Hossain, night guard of the health centre.

Our Patuakhali Correspondent reports: Patuakhali Sadar Thana police arrested JMB commander Hafez Al Amini alias Abdullah alias Mintu (28), son of Abdul Khaleq Mollah of Islampur village in Barguna, from Kanthaltoli of Mirjaganj upazila.

Our Naogaon Correspondent reports: Members of RAB-5 nabbed a youth from Pirojpur area of Naogaon Municipality at about 1pm Monday. The arrested person was identified as Naosher Ali (24), owner of a drugstore on Dhaka Road in Naogaon. Meanwhile, the law enforcers recovered two powerful bombs from Khulna and one powerful bomb from Chuadanga yesterday.

Our staff correspondent in Khulna adds: a team of RAB members seized two live bombs from Customs Ghat area under Khulna sadar police station this morning. The bomb disposal unit of RAB defused the bombs by "disassembling" the explosive devices, said a RAB press release issued today. The bomb was made by stuffing a "Zarda" container with marbles, stone chips, ball bearings, nails and some chemicals, added the press release. There has been no arrest by the law enforcers till this evening in connection with the recovery of the bombs.

In another incident, unidentified miscreants hurled a bomb, targeting a fuel-selling shop on BL College road at Daulatpur yesterday (Sunday) evening. The bomb burst after hitting a brick-built pillar in front of the shop. None was, however, hurt in the blast, according to police and other sources. Unconfirmed reports said that some outlaws demanded the toll from the owner of the shop Gazi Hafizur Rahman recently. When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner (North) of KMP said that investigation is going on to identify and arrest the bombers and ascertain the motive behind tossing the bomb.

Our Chuadanga correspondent reports: The law enforcers recovered a powerful live-bomb from Hatikata village under Sadar upazila in Chuadanga Monday. Acting on a secret information, the members of Rapid Action Batallion (RAB) and Sadar thana police recovered the 500 kg bomb wrapped with red tape from the premises of Raisuddin's residence. Police later defused the bomb.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I forsee 0200 visits to the brick factory to pick up shutter guns in the near future.
Posted by: N guard || 12/06/2005 9:34 Comments || Top||


Bangla: Planner of Gazipur blasts nabbed
The mastermind of the deadly suicide bomb attacks on Gazipur Bar Library and in front of the gate of the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC’s) office on November 29 and December 1 respectively, that killed 11 people and injured over 90, was arrested with bomb-making materials from the house of a former intelligence personnel yesterday.
Something wrong with this surprise meter...
A contingent of Gazipur police led by police super Atiqul Islam conducted the raid at a house belonging to a former officer of National Security Intelligence (NSI), and arrested Wahiduddin alias Jewel (25) and his wife Swapna (19) along with their two-and-half-year-old son Khalid from their rented Telipara residence near Chourasta in Gazipur town at around 3:45am yesterday, police sources said .
You gotta watch those two-year-olds. They can be vicious...
Police arrested Jewel following the statement of two Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) cadres Akash and Mintu, who were arrested from Chittagong for their alleged involvement in the suicide bombings at Chittagong court premises. Police seized some bomb-making materials including iron rings used in fishing nets, volters, magnets, wires, compass, flask, springs, sand and pieces of glass from the house. Police also picked up the house caretaker Moniruddin (32) and his wife for questioning. The owner of the house Nesaruddin, who was a NSI personnel, told police that he did not know anything about the activities of the JMB operative as he (Jewel) rented his house two months ago identifying himself a cloth trader, police sources said.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
When contacted, Gazipur police told The Independent that they arrested Jewel while he was making bombs. Police also arrested six JMB cadres from different parts of Gazipur following Jewel’s statement and the arrested six cadres were taken on police remand for interrogation, police sources said. Police sources said, the local people did not know anything about the JMB commander’s activities as his house was covered with curtain in accordance with the edicts of Islam.
Convenient, those edicts, aren't they?
The high officials of police are now questioning Jewel at Gazipur Detective Branch (DB) office about his involvement in the suicide bomb attacks in Gazipur. A highly placed source in the DB police told this correspondent yesterday that the two suicide bomb attacks on Bar Library of Gazipur and in front of the gate of Deputy Commissioner’s (DC’s) office on November 29 and December 1, were carried out under his (Jewel) supervision. In the attacks 10 persons including four lawyers were killed and over 90 persons were injured. During the interrogation, the JMB commander told police that he was producing two more bombs for carrying out further suicide bomb attacks on December 6, the source added.
They must have asked him very nicely for him to give that kind of detail...
Quoting Jewel the source said that he (Jewel) made the bombs which were used in the two suicide bomb attacks in Gazipur on November 29 and December 1 and he gave these bombs to the two members of JMB suicide squad for attacking the lawyers and the DC of Gazipur district. Intelligence sources said, the arrested Jewel who is a commander of JMB in Gazipur district disclosed scores of names of JMB suicide squad members and the locations, where they are now staying. But the source declined to make public the names and the locations. During the interrogation Jewel said that hundreds of JMB suicide squad members are staying scattered in Dhaka and its adjoining districts to carry out suicide bomb attacks, a reliable source in DB said. Following Jewel’s statement, Gazipur police conducted block raids on different parts of Gazipur, Dhamrai and Savar to nab the JMB members.

Meanwhile, another victim of the November 29 suicide bomb attacks on the Bar Library, Advocate Anwarul Azim, succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) yesterday. The death toll from the two bombings in Gazipur now rose to 11 with his death. The lawyers of Gazipur Ainjibi Samity brought out a procession and held demonstration as the news of the advocate’s death reached the district headquarters. The November 29 suicide bomb attack on the district bar library left three people killed including the bomber on the spot and injuring 30. Five more died on the same day, while one died on December 3 and one yesterday. One person was killed and 30 others injured in the December 1 blast.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jewel's wife's name is Swapna?

Hokay...
Posted by: .com || 12/06/2005 5:38 Comments || Top||

#2  .com didn't you hear about the RB funny-name Hudna?
Posted by: Cdr Shipman Shipman Robot || 12/06/2005 16:43 Comments || Top||


Britain
London plumber charged with terrorism, firearm offences
A plumber arrested near the M25 last week was today charged with five offences relating to alleged terrorist activities and firearms offences, police said.

Kazi Nurur Rahman, 28, of Newham, East London, is alleged to have had in his possession three Uzi sub-machine guns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition. He will appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court this afternoon to answer five charges, two of which are under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr Rahman was arrested by armed officers near the M25 South Mimms service station in Hertfordshire last Tuesday. Scotland Yard said that the 28-year-old, who is a British citizen, was charged following an investigation by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch.

Armed officers from the Metropolitan Police’s CO19 firearms unit challenged Mr Rahman as he left a parked car on a minor road near the service station. A number of properties in the Waltham Forest and Newham areas of London were searched following his arrest.

The first charge alleged that he possessed a firearm, an Uzi, without holding a current firearm certificate on November 29. The second charge stated that he possessed the Uzi with intent to endanger life on the same date. Both are offences under the Firearms Act 1968.

Part of the second charge claimed that Mr Rahman conspired with others to possess firearms, named as three Uzis and ammunition, with intent to endanger life, an offence under the Criminal Law Act 1977.

The third charge alleged Mr Rahman possessed a prohibited weapon, an Uzi, that is designed to discharge two or three missiles without repeated pressure on the trigger. This is also an offence under section five of the Firearms Act 1968.

The fourth charge, made under section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000, alleged that Mr Rahman was concerned in an arrangement which made property, namely three Uzi firearms and 3,000 bullets, available to another. It also alleged that he knew or had reasonable cause to suspect that it will or may be used for the purposes of terrorism. The offence is alleged to have taken place before November 30, 2005.

The final charge, made under section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, alleged that Mr Rahman possessed an Uzi in circumstances which may be connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

Part of this charge also alleged that Mr Rahman conspired with others to possess three Uzi firearms and ammunition in circumstances which may be connected with an act of terrorism. This is an offence under section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/06/2005 03:25 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is he a buddhist plumber?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/06/2005 7:44 Comments || Top||

#2  He's one of those Watergate-type plumbers.
Posted by: Spot || 12/06/2005 8:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Ah, the exposed butt crack was a dead giveaway.
Posted by: Captain America || 12/06/2005 9:00 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia’s Muslims Want Christian Symbols Removed From Coat of Arms
A group of top Muslim clerics have demanded that Orthodox Christian symbols be removed from the Russian coat of arms and have complained about the Russian authorities and power-wielding structures allegedly refusing to abide by the principle of secularity, the Interfax news agency reported. “This is not only a question of the Russian coat of arms. We can say that icons are all but put up on the walls of state offices,” Nafigulla Ashirov, chairman of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Asian Russia, told journalists.

He accused units of the Defense and Interior Ministries and the Federal Security Service of appropriating various saints “who are allegedly the patrons of warriors”. “The power-wielding structures, the authorities and the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy are erecting large crosses at border posts and the approaches to towns. Orthodox chapels are being built in the command bodies of the armed forces,” he lamented.

In his turn, Damir Mukhetdinov, deputy head of the Spiritual Board of the Nizhny Novgorod region’s Muslims, shared the Muslims’ concerns. Their feelings are insulted by the Orthodox presence in the Russian coat of arms. “We, the Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod region, were wholeheartedly in favour of introducing the unity of the peoples holiday. We could not have imagined, however, that the sound of Orthodox bells and the icon of the Virgin of Kazan would become the symbols of this holiday in Russia,” he said about the day of people’s unity. The mufti is convinced that “all this violates the secular nature of the state and doesn’t contribute to the unity of Russia’s peoples”.

Ali Visam Bardvil, head of the Spiritual Board of Karelia’s Muslims, too, believes that the presence of Christian symbols in the coat of arms is impermissible. He said that Russia “is neither a Muslim nor a Christian country”. “The cross is not a Muslim symbol. We respect the religious feeling of Christians but do not recognize the crucifixion of Christ,” the Muslim figure clarified. “Therefore,” he went on, “in my opinion Orthodox symbols should be removed from the coat of arms to make it acceptable to all religions.” Bardvil emphasized that Muslims would support all politicians calling for a change to the current symbols in the Russian coat of arms.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 10:45 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yet another thing the left (ok, the ACLU) and Muslim fundamentalists have in common. They grow closer every day.
Posted by: Secret Master || 12/06/2005 10:53 Comments || Top||

#2  The czars claimed power and authority of the Caesars thru the Orthodox Church as the last vestige of the [Eastern] Roman Empire as established by Constantine at Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul. You know the claim of the Caliphate by Benny? Well, Caesar's goes back a lot further. People making claims based upon history aught to be concerned about that one.
Posted by: Cravitle Elmeremp2989 || 12/06/2005 11:03 Comments || Top||

#3  I no longer laugh at this stuff, for the simple reason that: it is going to happen to all of us, unless we recognize the total depravity of Islam and deny the humanity of Muslims. I oppose nation-building in Iraq, because I want the perverse Muslim culture extinguished. Freedom of religion is too cherished an idea to be applicable to the worst slavers in human history.

Hey Abdul: take you primitive self back to the filthy pig pen that you call a homeland.
Posted by: CaziFarkus || 12/06/2005 11:17 Comments || Top||

#4  "All this violates the secular nature of the state." said the ACLU's San Diego attorney John Tightpants...

Oh, sorry, wrong article. I think.
Posted by: Secret Master || 12/06/2005 11:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Spot on, CE. Tsar/Czar=Caesar.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/06/2005 11:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Nation building in Iraq will extinguish the total depravity of Islam. In fact, it's the best way to do it. Islam can only survive in a 7th century culture. If they are dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st, they'll have to change. Or they'll have to be changed to get them into the 21st century. Either way, this nation building is culture destroying too.
Posted by: Angeash Phomorong4373 || 12/06/2005 11:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Also Kaiser.

Not so much Orthodox there, though.
Posted by: mojo || 12/06/2005 11:33 Comments || Top||

#8  "E pluribus Caliphate"
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/06/2005 11:37 Comments || Top||

#9  It continues to amaze me that they have such a loud voice in their complaints. To take any of this seriously, I too used to laugh at some of this, but now it seems very concerning that change may occur here.
To live in a region that is so different from your own culture and in the beginning be, or seem to be so accepting of it at the time, to only take over the common fiber over time of religion to be your own and demand that it change by having large families and rooting in is so wrong here.
I embrace freedom of religion, but Islam seems not able to do this. Hopefully moving into the 21st century as stated earlier by AP will clarify things. I agree that it is culture destroying.
Posted by: Jan || 12/06/2005 11:55 Comments || Top||

#10  IIRC, it was this "culture destroying" aspect of Western Civilisation that really stuck Osama. And the Left. Another illustration of the convergence of Leftism and Islamist terrorism.
Posted by: Ptah || 12/06/2005 12:33 Comments || Top||

#11  These claims almost have a whiff of legitimacy until you consider what sort of symbology (or pluralism, for that matter) would be allowed if Muslims were running the show. Different day, same excrement.
Posted by: Zenster || 12/06/2005 12:38 Comments || Top||

#12  Dear Islamic wackjobs,

Fuck you with a bacon dildo.

Sincerely,

Russia

P.S. We got your mama in Chechnia
Posted by: mmurray821 || 12/06/2005 12:40 Comments || Top||

#13  What the Islamics are doing in Russia is what they're doing in every "host" country. And that is social/cultual deconstructionism.

It works like this: by undoing (or attempting to undo) a society's confidence in the visual/verbal and otherwise expressions of their unique historical culture, and by introducing "doubt" and insecurity, they weaken that culture in preparation for eventual destruction.

Islamics have long considered it astute to use the cultural norms of the societies they are infiltrating, against those same societies.

For example, in "Christianized" Europe and the West, they play against the vestiges and values of brotherly love, equality, and respect and then "tool" those shared, customary cultural "norm" into an accusation of sorts, that seems to have at its base, something which would readily be accepted by those cultures, BECAUSE it seems to spring from values inherent in the culture, that people consider important. In other words, it pretty much boils down to the accusation by the Islamics that "you're mistreating us" or "you're not living up to your own values (so you're 'bad')-- and you don't want to be bad, do you?"

When any culture gives into this deconstructionist bullying in the name of "tolerance" they would do well to remembe that the "favor" would not be returned on the Islamic side, should they be the ones in control.

Removing Piglet calendars from office buildings in London, removing St. Nicholas figures from holiday shopping areas, removing Orthodox Christian symbology from Russia--this is a pattern, which I hope will be recognized quickly.

Not to be negative, but usually it takes a long time for the culture being constructed to realize what's going on, and by then, too late. Newer cultural norms, now defined by intrusive forces (like the Islamics) take their place, and can no longer be recognized for what they truly are.
Posted by: ex-lib || 12/06/2005 13:41 Comments || Top||

#14  A little incoherent in spots (above) my apologies--I have the flu--but you get the drift. If not, refer to mmurray's post. :)
Posted by: ex-lib || 12/06/2005 13:43 Comments || Top||

#15  ex-lib, I think you got it right. Here is a link to something along the same lines that is happening in Austraulia.
RELIGIOUS groups have launched an attack on Christmas – calling for it to be renamed and toned down.
A leading Islamic body says the use of the term "Christmas" is politically incorrect because it excludes too many people in multicultural Australia.
The Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations wants a community debate to find an alternative – suggesting the word "festive" as a possible replacement.
And a Queensland Jewish leader has called for an end to the "automatic imposition" of Christmas on the community, saying the season has been reduced to a "shopping festival".

Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/06/2005 14:27 Comments || Top||

#16  "E pluribus Caliphate"

top in show ;)
Posted by: Red Dog || 12/06/2005 14:48 Comments || Top||

#17  Happy Shopping Festival Rantburg! (Non-gender specific, secular deity of your choice) Bless Us Every One!
Posted by: Secret Master || 12/06/2005 15:02 Comments || Top||

#18  deny the humanity of muslims
P.S. We got your mama in Chechnia

Given that Russia did in Chechenya a hundred times over what Osama Bin Laden did with the Twin Towers...

...yeah, you then have the audacity of speaking about the depravity of Islam. I urge you to look for signs of depravity within your souls instead.

And ex-lib, by all means let Russia its Orthodox "cultural symbolism", thinking it harmless. I can't expect you to see the trends of *Christian* fascisms, when few people in this forum can seem to hold more than a single ideological enemy in mind at any given decade. Just a while ago, there was a call in Russia to ban all Jewish organizations. All in the name of national unity ofcourse.

Czarism is coming back to Russia, with all the Orthodox-fascism it implies. Do you think that the rest of its qualities are much further behind?

Not that you people would care. Your current enemy of the decade are Muslims, and nobody else matters. Myopia galore.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/06/2005 15:48 Comments || Top||

#19  saying the season has been reduced to a "shopping festival".

not far from the truth
Posted by: Rafael || 12/06/2005 15:52 Comments || Top||

#20  Your current enemy of the decade are Muslims

I can't wait for the Greek decade. I just hope the Fench decade comes first.
Posted by: Cleath Angomoling6322 || 12/06/2005 15:55 Comments || Top||

#21  Given that Russia did in Chechenya a hundred times over what Osama Bin Laden did with the Twin Towers

Tends to happen when attempting to set up a Caliphate. A caliphate ruled by fascists no less.
Posted by: Rafael || 12/06/2005 16:04 Comments || Top||

#22  I thought Airhead stomped away in a snit. What brought him back? Couldn't get his daily moral superiority fix?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 12/06/2005 16:34 Comments || Top||

#23  Job Fair Now!
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 16:45 Comments || Top||

#24  Robert> Airhead decided that the frustration of letting moronic and/or genocidal talk go unchallenged cost him more than the shame of violating his promise to keep silent.

I'll leave it to the experts to determine what personality flaw of mine that reveals.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/06/2005 16:48 Comments || Top||

#25  "Happy Shopping Festival" would seem to discriminate against those who are economically disadvantaged, perhaps made too-late reservations for the Inn, and had to sleep in a manger, had no Escalade to put presents in, and , in the end, had only the love of Jesus's birth to offer...woo!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 16:57 Comments || Top||

#26  Aris, I don't see why you believe that RB'ers would deny a Christian facist regime if it existed and were a threat.

It is important, though, to distinguish those regimes that used Christianity when convenient to further their facist objectives and those whose central defining aspect was their Christianity but happended/chose to be facist. I can think of several of the former, but damn few, in fact none, of the latter in modern times.

That is what I see as the difference with the Islamo-facists about whom the RB'ers are so myopic (wisely so IMO). Islam is absolutely central to who they are. It is what defines them and is how they define themselves. Unfortunately, their version of Islam enables them, in fact compels them, to act as facists.
Posted by: remoteman || 12/06/2005 17:40 Comments || Top||

#27  I dunno Aris: I don't think that our priorities are mis-placed. Consider that any putative return to Czarism/Facism in Russia would result in a system not at all that much different from the Communist regime that fell last time to the right kind of pressure. Further, the putative rulers would still be guided by their Western way of thinking, similar to ours, which was what made MAD reasonably effective. Add to that the documented decline in White Russian population numbers and increasing AIDS rates, and the Czarist nation will have problems meeting military man-power requirements. There are more Women than Men due to World War II, which makes the average russian more inclined to making love (if not babies), not war. And I would hardly call Russia going zarist if the Muslims grew in proportionate numbers, got into power, and established an Islamic state: I understand Czarism is uniquely Russian and Russian orthodox, and any kind of fascism based on anything else would be Fascist, but not Czarist.

On the other hand, you've got a billion plus Muslims, with a burgeoning population whose polygamist culture ensures a large number of unpaired young males. "Czarist" activities are confined within Russian Borders, and also happens to be in conflict with Islamist terrorism. In the far east, it's Buddhism VS. Islamism. In the Middle East, it's Israel Vs. Islamism. in Africa, It's Animism VS. Islamism or Christianity VS. Islamism. In Kashmir, It's Hinduism vs. Islamism. In france, it's the French VS. Islamism. In the Netherlands, it's the Dutch VS. Islamism. In England, it's the English VS. Islamism. Sheesh, to my unsophisticated eye, there seems to be a common denominator in all the above, and it ain't the Czarist empire reviving.

So, on the one hand, I see an old, defeated enemy trying to rise again on a shaky foundation attacking, NOT ME, but the other competitor for world domination, populous, increasing, with polygamist demographics that encourages men to "make war to make love". I look around, and I don't see this (proto)Czarism fomenting trouble elsewhere, but I DO see his opponent in conflict, not with former enemies, but friends and potential friends. A russia with 10000 warheads is indeed a threat, but one we've dealt with before. An Iran with 5 is also a threat, but of a different kind because the actors are, to put it bluntly, Fundamentalist religious fanatics, and I can assure you, from seing how "knowledgeable" you are in the Christian religion, that secularist understanding is going to be royally f*cked up. It took us two days to put down Post Katrina lawlessness. How long did the French take, assuming it was "put down" rather than died down?

And I DO happen to recall that you bellyached about us attacking Iraq, asserting we should have attacked Iran instead. You were right. Why the reluctance, in THIS thread, to insist that you are STILL right?

It, of course, would do us no good to encourage Czarism to rise to defeat Islamism. Advocacy of Democracy and liberty is better, but I guess Putty is swallowing the MSM line that it isn't working in Iraq, so who would blame him for deciding, if Democracy and Liberty aren't working in relatively sophisticated Iraq, he'll have to go back to the old methods in more backward and traditionally Islamic countries. I guess that'll be a test case to determine if the Islamists of Afghanistan could REALLY have thrown out the Russians without American aid.

However, this discussion kinda got off the track: I understood the discussion of Czarist Russia came up because of the question of whose "Caliphate" had the older and more ancient claim. "Czar==Caesar" is correct, but that does not prove a causative link between Constantinople and Moscow: One would need a document on the order of the "Donation" of Constantine, in which the Byzantines, in their last gasp, passed the Roman Baton north to the Volga before expiring before the Hordes of Islam.. Czarist claims of Byzantine descent are as "valid" as Charlemagne claiming to REALLY be the "Holy Roman Emperor".
Posted by: Ptah || 12/06/2005 18:48 Comments || Top||

#28  Excellent, Ptah, excellent!
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/06/2005 19:22 Comments || Top||

#29  Ptah> The basic disagreement I have with your words is all contained in this single sentence of yours: "I look around, and I don't see this (proto)Czarism formenting trouble elsewhere,"

If you mean as an ideology, no, it won't have global appeal. But Russia as a power, does forment trouble elsewhere by the bucketload.

The attitude of "defending our Orthodox brothers" was behind Russian support for Serbia for starters. The murders against a number of politicians in Georgia, plus the occupation of large portions of that territory. Russian support for all the corrupt regimes in the space of the former Soviet Union. The division of Moldova, and the dictatorship of Transnistria.

And not even just in its regions. Russia supports Venezuela, and plays war games alongside China directed against Taiwan. And it supports Iran, and it supports Syria.

This is the fundamental objection: you seem to think that Czarism is *opposed* to Islamofascism: I've seen the new Russian tyrants continuously supporting it instead. (again Iran, again Syria). The rise of an Orthodox fascism in Russia, won't be directed against the Islamofascists. Ideologically it will be directed against the *West*. If anything it will support Islamofascism in its own sphere of influence. "You be religious fascists in your regions, we be religious fascists in our regions". Secularism and western ideas of democracy will be hated by it most of all.

Ugh, this merely scratches the surface of how these seemingly opposed fascisms can be allied to each other, but there's been historical precedent time and again. Fact is that very arguments used to defend "Russian distinctiveness" in this *against* the ideas of secularism, are also the ones that'll be used to defend "Iranian distinctiveness" or "Arab distinctiveness" also against the ideas of secularism.

Russia didn't hate Islamofascism in Chechenya -- it simply hated the fact the Chechens were trying to secede. It didn't hate that they were supposedly building a "caliphate", it hated that they were trying to build an independent state.

The large war isn't between Christians vs Muslims, it's between secularists vs religious fascists. To defend a Christian religious fascist is to strengthen the Muslim religious fascist also; and to weaken the secularist democrats of both faiths.

(The same way that the conflict concerning racial discrimination wasn't white vs. blacks, it was the racists of both sides vs. the antiracists of both sides)

Russian czarism will be all too willing to support Islamofascist imperialism against e.g. Israel, even as it's willing to support Chinese imperialism against Taiwan.
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 12/06/2005 20:20 Comments || Top||

#30  To defend a Christian religious fascist is to strengthen the Muslim religious fascist also; and to weaken the secularist democrats of both faiths.

Again Aris, I don't think you can credibly assert that the Russians are Christian facists or use their religous belief as the central component of their regime. The Islamo-facists do use Islam in this fashion. The Russians are really secularists with some Christian historical trappings. Europe as well.
Posted by: remoteman || 12/06/2005 22:16 Comments || Top||

#31  Well now that you remind me, the facists in WWII did unite, even though that alliance probably would have fallen apart with one attacking the other in good time.

However, all the places you cite Russia being involved is from a FINANCIAL point of view: Look again, and you'll see that they're in where the money is at. Chavez gets Soviet arms because he's got the dough. Iran gets reactors from Russia because they've got the dough. The Warsaw pact was cut loose because they were a drain. Russia's in no condition to provide charity: they NEED it themselves!

A third thing to note, which appears to have escaped your notice, is that the discussion was about the RISE of a czarist russian orthodox fascism: the current state of russia is that of a struggling young democracy dealing with an overly powerful executive. Certainly Russia's Czarist past makes it prone to giving extraordinary powers to a single individual, but I hardly see Putty leading Russia in a RELIGOUS Russian Orthodox direction. The religious symbology in the state offices are reflections of a return to a pre-communist Russia, dominated by the Russian Orthodox church, and an older patriotism that was never crushed by 70-odd years of communism. What you're seeing in the world is Russia-as-economic-and-political-state, not as an explicitly religious state like Iran or Saudi Arabia, actively pushing Russian Orthodoxy as vigorously as the Islamists are pushing their beliefs.

And certainly not as violently.

The symbology in the offices being protested here probably has as much meaning to the average Russian as a manger scene: a genuflection to the heritage of pre-communist Russia as the manger is an acknowledgement of the deep religious roots of 18th century America. Your "Chicken Little" reaction is about on par with the ACLU's, and for exactly the same reasons.
Posted by: Ptah || 12/06/2005 22:48 Comments || Top||


Two Britons Detained in Azerbaijan on Suspicion of Bioterrorism
Police in Baku, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, have detained two British nationals near a water reservoir. The two are being held on suspicion of trying to poison water supplies, the Regnum news agency reported. The two men were arrested on Dec. 3 as they were trying to pour a white powder into the water. The powder has been sent for examination.

Prelimary reports identified the suspects as Paul Williamson and Duncan Jackson, employees of British Petroleum. The Azeri police said a map of the area was found on the detainees. A correspondent for local television network, Azad Azarbaycan TV, cited a police source as saying that the two had been detained because they had behaved in a suspicious manner near the strategic water reservoir.

The expatriates were questioned with power tools at the district police department for several hours but did not explain why they had entered the area of the water reservoir. The National Security Ministry is currently investigating the bizarre actions of the foreigners.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 10:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
German man files torture case against CIA
Posted by: Rafael || 12/06/2005 13:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  On the surface the guy sounds like a nut but that never stopped the ACLU from taking up (legal) arms against the U.S. Government.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 12/06/2005 14:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Aaah Macedonia. So, what is the attraction in Macedonia?
Posted by: BigEd || 12/06/2005 14:16 Comments || Top||

#3  So, what is the attraction in Macedonia?

Gay Greek men?
Posted by: mmurray821 || 12/06/2005 14:45 Comments || Top||

#4  oh crap - don't call he-who-must-not-be-named!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 16:22 Comments || Top||

#5  He's left his mark in another thread. Let's hope he won't feel compelled to mark this one too.
Posted by: Gruling Whelet7817 || 12/06/2005 16:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Good thing I wasn't drinking anything when I read your comment, Frank, or I'd be cleaning my monitor!
Posted by: Ptah || 12/06/2005 18:55 Comments || Top||

#7  sorry :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 19:04 Comments || Top||


Germany Charges Three Terror Suspects
BERLIN (AP) - Prosecutors said Tuesday they had charged three men with being members of al-Qaida, or of supporting the organization, including one who they said tried to buy nuclear material and had contact with Osama bin Laden. Ibrahim Mohamed K., a 30-year-old Syrian national who lived in Mainz, and Yasser Abu S., a 32-year-old Palestinian who lived in Bonn, were arrested in January. They were charged on Dec. 1 with membership in a foreign terrorist organization, federal prosecutors said. Yasser's 28-year-old brother, Ismail Abu S., who lived in Marburg and was arrested in May, was charged with the lesser count of supporting a foreign terrorist organization.

Chief federal prosecutor Kay Nehm said Ibrahim Mohamed K. trained at Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan and fought American forces there. He had wanted to carry out a suicide attack but was ordered back to Germany in July 2002 to recruit volunteers for suicide missions and to raise funds. "He was a member of al-Qaida's command structure with contacts right up to the top leadership, in particular to Osama bin Laden," Nehm said in a statement.

In late 2004, he allegedly tried to procure nuclear material, Nehm said without being more specific. While contact was made to an Islamic-extremist group in Luxembourg, the effort apparently came to nothing.
In the same year, he also recruited his co-accused, Nehm said. Yasser Abu S. agreed to carry out a suicide attack, while Ismail Abu S. was to help raise funds. Details of the planned attack are not known, prosecutors said. The three were also charged with ten counts of fraud and 32 counts of attempted fraud as well as planning to contravene German export laws over a planned insurance scam.

Prosecutors said Yasser Abu S. took out 10 life insurance policies in 2004-2005 and had applied for 23 more policies. The trio has allegedly planned to fake a fatal traffic accident in Egypt, claim the insurance money totaling some euro4.3 million (US$3.7 million), and pass some of it to al-Qaida. The charges were filed in a court in the western city of Duesseldorf. It was not immediately clear when the three might go on trial.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 10:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Small Bombs Explode on Highways in Spain
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Five small bombs exploded on highways near the Spanish capital Tuesday, but no one was injured and there was little damage, news reports said.
Highways, why do they hate them?
The daily El Mundo said police were searching for more bombs following on a warning call from the armed Basque group ETA.

Earlier Tuesday, police evacuated an airport in the northern city of Santander following a bomb warning made in the name of ETA, the Interior Ministry said. The terminal and parking area were evacuated and searched shortly before noon after the Basque daily Gara said it had received a call from someone speaking on ETA's behalf warning that one or more explosive devices would go off at the airport, a spokesman said.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 10:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Dutch newlyweds viewed al-Qaeda videos, plotted to kill politicians
ON the night of her wedding, Malika Shabi watched al-Qaida videos of beheadings and listened to her partner rail against Dutch politicians he wanted to kill, according to a police statement read in court yesterday.

But the 17-year-old girl sat stone-faced and silent when called to affirm the statement in court and to testify against her ex- partner and 13 other men at the opening of their trial, in the largest terrorism case to date in the Netherlands.

The defendants, mostly Dutch-born children of North African immigrants, are accused of belonging to a terrorist group that plotted to attack politicians. They include Mohammed Bouyeri, already sentenced to life in prison for the November 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

Two defendants face additional charges related to a clash with police in which one of them threw a hand grenade that injured three officers.

Lawyers for the men say they are religious youths, innocent of wrongdoing.

Prosecutors allege the men attended cult-like meetings at Bouyeri's home under the guidance of a Syrian spiritual leader who fled the country shortly before Van Gogh's murder. Evidence against them includes copies of the letter left on Van Gogh's body, handbooks on ritual Islamic murders, suicide testaments and tapped telephone conversations about slaying non-believers like sacrificial lambs.

After several acquittals in other prominent cases, the trial of the so-called Hofstad network will be a test for new Dutch laws outlawing membership in terrorist groups, making it easier to prosecute extremists. It is also seen as evidence of the threat Europe faces from homegrown radicals.

Prosecutor Koos Plooy suggested that Shabi who even refused to confirm her name had been silenced by a letter warning her not to speak to police or non-believers.

"May Allah lead you or break your back," Plooy quoted the letter as saying.

Shabi, shrouded in black robes and a pink head scarf, did not respond as presiding Judge A De Boer read parts of her August 30 statement to police.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/06/2005 03:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fun honeymoon...fun couple.
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/06/2005 9:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Death pr0n ... coming soon to Amsterdam Spectravision.
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/06/2005 9:19 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
Illegal trip protests Guantanamo prison
EFL. Warning: Blood Presure Alert.
Baltimore activists will join others in march through Cuba to U.S. base
More than two dozen activists from Baltimore and elsewhere have arrived in Cuba to protest the U.S. detention-and-interrogation operation at Guantanamo Bay. The activists, most of them Christian, have broken U.S. law by traveling to the communist nation.
So bust them when they get back. Even better, throw them in Gitmo with their buddies.
They were planning to set out this morning for the Navy base in southeastern Cuba where the United States is holding about 500 foreign terror suspects without prisoner-of-war status or criminal charges.
So we can see where this story's going.
They expect the 50-mile march from the city of Santiago to take four or five days. If they reach the installation - which is guarded by U.S. and Cuban checkpoints and surrounded by a minefield - they will demand to see the detainees.
Sure. Just walk through the minefields and we'll set it all up.
"There is in our faith the tradition of the corporal works of mercy," the Rev. Steve Kelly, a Jesuit priest, said before leaving for Cuba. "It's only Christian of us to comfort those who are imprisoned."
Thanks, fadda. Just for that, we'll kill you last.
The activists, many of whom have been imprisoned themselves for protesting at U.S. military and defense contractor sites, have been meeting at Jonah House, the Catholic Worker community in West Baltimore that was co-founded in 1973 by war resisters Philip F. Berrigan and Liz McAlister. Berrigan gained national prominence in 1968 as a leader of the Catonsville Nine Vietnam War draft protest.
Ah. The usual suspects...
And, of course, Phil Berrigan was a Catholic priest when he secretly married a nun without leaving orders or the church. They were both excommunicated as a result. Just to put their 'piety' in context.

Their daughter Frida Berrigan is an organizer of the Cuba trip. The activists include veterans of inner-city poverty work and pacifist actions in Iraq and Israel, and they oppose U.S. military policy generally. They have seized on claims of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay, where a U.S. joint task force has been holding and interrogating foreigners captured in Afghanistan and the region after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
A free trip to Cuba in December? Kumbaya! Count me in!
Interrogators there have used cold, heat, loud music and sleep deprivation on their subjects, according to a military investigation this year. In one case, a female interrogator smeared what she described as menstrual blood - it was fake - on a prisoner. In another, a Navy officer threatened to harm the family of a detainee, in violation of U.S. military law.
The investigation followed allegations by FBI agents who said they had seen interrogators insert lit cigarettes into prisoners' ears and chain prisoners to the floor in the fetal position for extended periods. Detainees who have been released have spoken of being forced to look at pornographic images, menaced with dogs and beaten.
Like I said, we knew where this story was heading.
"I think it's important for the world to know that there's not a consensus in this country that torture is OK," said Susan Crane, a resident of Jonah House.
At Guantanamo Bay, the activists plan to confront one of the U.S. military's most sensitive installations during a time of war. Even as opposition to U.S. policy in Iraq grows, there has been little call to close what's known as Joint Task Force Guantanamo. Nor is the activists' opposition to military action universal among Christians. Many Christians support U.S. military policy in Iraq and elsewhere as a righteous response to the problem of evil."I would not reject out of hand the present administration's attempts to liberate a particular people," said J. Daryl Charles, the author of Between Pacifism and Jihad: Just War and Christian Tradition. "We use force morally," said Charles, a professor of religion and ethics at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. "We apply it in order to prevent the greater evil."
There's also that "They're trying to kill us" thing. A small point, but I thought I'd mention it.
Crane called Christian support for war "very sad."
"The early Christians knew you couldn't be Christian and serve in the military," she said. "You had to make a choice. Jesus was talking about loving your enemies."
Your enemies talk about eating you for dinner.
Crane said the group has informed Cuban officials of its plans but has neither sought nor received Cuban permission or support.
If the activists reach the base, Crane said, they will demand to see the detainees. If unable to proceed, they will attempt to hold a prayer vigil.
Did the bring the Big Giant Puppets? "You'll have to check that, sir."
"I've been in prison when people outside were holding a vigil," said Crane, who has been arrested for demonstrating at U.S. military bases. "I could feel the encouragement - not just me, but the other women, that people were praying for me. It brings hope."
Hopefully, you'll get that chance again.
Jonah House resident Gary Ashbeck traveled through Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. He spoke of the need for accountability at Guantanamo Bay.
Oh, wow! A "Human Shield" alumnus!
"This idea of just holding people, taking them prisoners, and just the sketchiness of how they're getting these prisoners ... everything about it just really needs oversight," he said. "What [U.S. officials have] done is they've created a location that completely has no oversight."
What's this guy, running for congress?The Pentagon has allowed teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the prisoners, but the committee does not report its findings publicly. Crane said the U.S. war on terror would not bring security. She said the only way the country can protect itself is by changing its attitudes and actions toward the rest of the world.
I definitely think they ought to let this twit meet "the boys".
"Jesus brought a new commandment: to love one another," she said. "To me, nonviolence is the only thing that's going to work."
Who says the sixties are dead?
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/06/2005 09:21 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some wit should start a strong rumor in the Miami Cuban community that several of them are CIA agents, bringing secret weapons to assassinate Castro with. They are very high tech, and almost invisible.

They have hidden these secret weapons in their luggage and up their persons. And if they can get even a single one of them through...

Let's see how far these birds could march after two dozen deep rectal inspections.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/06/2005 10:09 Comments || Top||

#2  ..they will demand to see the detainees.

Haaahahahahahaaahahahahaa, as if.

These people are not likely to be in any position to make demands.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 12/06/2005 10:47 Comments || Top||

#3  "The early Christians knew you couldn't be Christian and serve in the military," she said. "You had to make a choice. Jesus was talking about loving your enemies." The early Christians knew nothing of the sort. Jesus said, "He who hath not a sword let him sell his cloak and buy one". He knew full well there are times when one must resort to violence.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/06/2005 11:40 Comments || Top||

#4  DB - I've never heard that one. Got a reference?

There is a simple solution - when they return deport them back to Cuba which they love so damn much. Give their citizenship to some cuban refugee who manages to convert a 57 chevy into a boat - at least they would appreciate it.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/06/2005 12:35 Comments || Top||

#5  There were plenty of opportunities for both John the Baptist and Jesus and Paul to comment on military service and Christianity, and they consistently failed to say anything negative about it.
Posted by: Ptah || 12/06/2005 12:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Baltimore activists will join others in march through Cuba to U.S. base. More than two dozen activists from Baltimore and elsewhere have arrived in Cuba to protest the U.S. detention-and-interrogation operation at Guantanamo Bay. The activists, most of them Christian, have broken U.S. law by traveling to the communist nation.

The model of civil disobedience, the Dr. Martin Luther King, accepted the time in jail when he knowingly broke the law. While he objected to the law, he did not seek to undermine the very nature of law. Watch these miscreants try to get out of the penalty phase of their sojourn.

Depending on what book you use. Luke 2 - Some soldiers also asked him [John the Baptist], “What about us? What are we to do?”
He said to them. “Don’t take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay.”


Don’t see where he instructed them not to be soldiers.

Luke 7 - When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people, he went to Capernaum. A Roman officer there had a servant who was very dear to him: the man was sick and about to die. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent to him some Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly. “This man really deserves your help. He loves our people and he himself built a synagogue for us.
So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent a friend to tell him, “Sir, don’t bother yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house, neither do I consider myself worthy to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have some soldiers under me. I order this one, “Go!” and he goes; I order that one “Come!” and he comes; and I order my slave, “Do this!” and the does it.”
Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, “I have never found such faith as this, I tell you, not even in Israel!”
The messengers went back to the officer’s home and found his servant well.


If you understand the historical context of the Roman occupation of Judea, that Jesus did not admonish the officer for his career as a soldier, a foreigner or a gentile, and that he praises the officer’s faith, can only be construed in the positive. You have to twist your thinking really tight to ignore all that.

Posted by: Whaigum Jating4863 || 12/06/2005 13:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Will Castro even bother to clean up the place so they don't see anything bad or will he just trust they have on such solid blinders that they wouldn't say anything that might detract from their mission.

These people are really sad and I think they should be at least seriously delayed upon their return to the US.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/06/2005 14:20 Comments || Top||

#8  Got Cuban entry/exit stamps in your US passport? Say hello to Mr. Fine, he'll be with you momentarily. Then you go over to the desk marked "Passport Revocations"...
Posted by: mojo || 12/06/2005 14:33 Comments || Top||

#9  Very good comments, WJ4863. I was about to use the same scripture. Jesus talked with/confronted numerous soldiers during His ministry, and never did he degrade/admonish them for what they did.
Posted by: BA || 12/06/2005 14:48 Comments || Top||

#10  "The early Christians knew you couldn't be Christian and serve in the military," she said. "You had to make a choice. Jesus was talking about loving your enemies."

DB and WJ beat me to it with their comments, but I'd like to expand upon this issue (and fallacy of this kind of so-called Christian thinking) a bit further.

We see in the Bible many instances wherein God Himself is said to have His own army and His own hosts of armed and capable warrior angels. At one point Adam & Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden and an armed warrior angel with a fiery sword was posted to guard against their return.

Jesus Christ was not above the use of physical violence when He thought it necessary - as the moneylenders at the temple learned to their dismay.

Jesus repeatedly instructed His followers to respect authority, to pay their taxes, and to guard their persons against violence upon them. He instructed His Disciples and those who were going forth to spread His teachings to carry a sword with them in order that they could defend themselves.

The myth that Christians must constantly turn the other cheek and disavow themselves from defending their persons or property purportedly arises from the early centuries of Christian martyrdom by the Romans. When faced by being tortured to death or eaten by wild animals or killed in the most horrible of fashions many martyrs are reported to have met their fates on their knees and in prayer. We don;t hear about those who met their fates standing up and fighting back.

So, this myth of Christian meekness has arisen through the centuries. Christians aren't supposed to take up weapons. Christians aren't supposed to defend themselves of their property.

But Christ never said that nor did He teach that nor did his Disciples and followers.

Leftist, liberal, purportedly Christian revisionists teach this just as they teach a multitude of other heresies.
Posted by: LC FOTSGreg || 12/06/2005 14:57 Comments || Top||

#11  Or in other words, it says When someone strikes you, you turn the other cheek (personally).

It does NOT say When someone strikes your wife, kid or even country, you turn the other cheek.
Posted by: BA || 12/06/2005 15:48 Comments || Top||

#12  The clearest words Jesus spoke about government versus God was "Give unto Ceaser that which is Ceaser's, and unto God that which is God's". He understood that service to Ceaser could be worthwhile, even honorable, but that in all things, our souls belonged to God, not Ceaser. I've been through this before. That's why I served as one of God's warriors.

Go through the Bible and find how many places it refers to shepherds. This isn't just accidental. What God is saying is that there must be shepherds to watch over those who are weak - shepherds who are willing to kill lions and wolves, to protect against the thief as well as the storm.

These people are frauds, whether they are willing to admit it to themselves or not.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/06/2005 15:53 Comments || Top||

#13  CrazyFool, Luke 22:36
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/06/2005 16:12 Comments || Top||

#14  2321 The prohibition of murder does not abrogate the right to render an unjust aggressor unable to inflict harm. Legitimate defense is a grave duty for whoever is responsible for the lives of others or the common good. - Catechism of the Catholic Church
Posted by: Rafael || 12/06/2005 16:41 Comments || Top||

#15  Mojo it's not all that difficult to go to Cuba legally, church based groups do it frequently. And um you can also um, go by boat, the Cuban authorities don't necessarily stamp your passport if you look like an outstanding (safe and with dough) tourist.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 16:50 Comments || Top||

#16  and the Cuban prostitutes consider it professional courtesy not to rat out these "clergy and supporters" for any activities
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 17:13 Comments || Top||

#17  :>

Boats only for day trips tho, don't check in.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 18:43 Comments || Top||

#18  The left is embracing Christianity. As I am in the process of looking for a new church, it is surprising to me how many of the big name Protestant churches seem to have sermons that link spirituality and banning the boyscouts, or the promised land and the plight of the Palestinians.

They have discovered that the CHURCH it to be a perfect place to collect money, preach and lead the sheep to get votes. It's not the first time that this has been done. Throughout history this has been done.

I don't know how I feel about this, I can't help but to think that in the end, God is having a good laugh at the liberals who think that they are brining the sheep into the Christian pews to become their wards. For some reason, it reminds me of the parable - if you teach a man to fish.
Posted by: 2b || 12/06/2005 18:53 Comments || Top||

#19  Perhaps this one, 2b? I'm not sure where they're physically located... but I might be interested, myself...
Posted by: .com || 12/06/2005 19:01 Comments || Top||

#20  At Guantanamo Bay, the activists plan to confront one of the U.S. military's most sensitive installations during a time of war.

Authorize the Marines to shoot them full of holes as soon as they touch the wire.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/06/2005 19:01 Comments || Top||

#21  Thanks DB. Wasn't disbuting you - just didn't remember seeing it.

Great Comments!

I think its often the case for the authorites in countries like Cuba (and N. Korea) to staple a seperate piece of paper into your passport and then stamp that - that way you can easily 'remove' it after you leave.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/06/2005 19:30 Comments || Top||

#22  He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” Luke 22:35-37
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 12/06/2005 21:25 Comments || Top||

#23  John 2:15 for the whip incident
Matthew 22:19-21 for the Caesar’s comment
Luke 7:1-10 about the Roman officer’s servant
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 12/06/2005 21:38 Comments || Top||

#24  "kick Islamofascist ass"

My own personal Jesus 1:10
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 21:47 Comments || Top||

#25  "kick Islamofascist ass"

Frank, that is also Verse 7734 of Imam Al-Aska Paul's Big Book of Quotable Quotes and Holy Sayings™, available on Amazoon.con
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/06/2005 23:34 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Don't let the door hit you in the ass...
WASHINGTON — Valerie Plame, the diplomat's wife whose secret resume was exposed in a newspaper column that eventually led to the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is leaving the CIA on Friday, people familiar with her plans said. lame, 42, worked undercover for the CIA tracking weapons proliferation but saw her clandestine career imperiled after she was identified as an agency operative in the summer of 2003 in a syndicated column by Robert Novak.

Friends said the mother of 5-year-old twins wanted to spend more time with her family, and that although she agreed to be photographed last year with her husband for an article about the case in Vanity Fair magazine, she had no plans to speak out.
"Spend more time with the family"; isn't that what every fired coach sez?
There has also been speculation that she would file a civil lawsuit against the Bush administration contending that it leaked her identity and damaged her career. Oh, please, please, please!

"She did not have a career left," said Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA officer and a friend of Plame since the two were in the same agency training class in the 1980s. "She was no longer able to work as a clandestine officer, which was her reason for being." ohnson said that although Plame still had allies at the agency, her ability to function effectively was irreparably harmed after her status became publicly known.
Bogus answer. CIA has plenty of positions that do not require your name be secret.

"She is either a non-entity or radioactive," Johnson said. "Getting connected with her is not something that is going to enhance your career. She has been something of a leper."
Bingo!
Plame has been with the CIA for 20 years; the decision to leave makes her eligible to collect retirement benefits in the future, Johnson said. Her effective retirement date will be in January, but her last day at work will be Friday.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 11:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In five years she's going to be a damned tough Trivial Pursuit question.

"I got it -- Valerie Flame! No wait, Valerie Bertinelli!"
Posted by: Matt || 12/06/2005 12:50 Comments || Top||

#2  "lame, 42, worked undercover for the CIA tracking weapons proliferation ..."
Beautiful freudian slip, Steve.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 12/06/2005 13:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Sports columnist/radio host/TV star Tony Kornheiser once announced (jokingly) that he was retiring so he could spend more time with Michael Jordan's family.

So long, Val. Don't go away mad, just go away. And take Cindy Sheehan with you to Irrelevantville.
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/06/2005 13:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Figure she gets her "60 Minutes" interview in, what, 2 weeks?
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/06/2005 13:38 Comments || Top||

#5  She and Joe will be resurrected at the 08 DNC convention
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 13:44 Comments || Top||

#6  "She has been something of a leper." No shit? After helping trash and attempting to undermind the policy of the President she finds she has little professional support? Who would have thunk it? Given the agencies track record on WMDs (her speciality) then I can't see her departure as a big loss. Johnson is full of shit about ther not being anyplace to work or contribute, except that maybe no office wants her around.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 12/06/2005 14:16 Comments || Top||

#7  Now, if we can get the rest of her fellow travelers to do the same thing, it will be great.
Posted by: Mahou Sensei Negi-bozu || 12/06/2005 14:20 Comments || Top||

#8  The big retirement checks from Saudi Arabia must be getting through...

For Services Rendered.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/06/2005 14:41 Comments || Top||

#9  I wonder if she is a good example of the quality of CIA agents we have, or were directly hired as civilians.

I doubt I would question those of some military background, but who vets the rest of the clowns?

Posted by: Penguin || 12/06/2005 14:47 Comments || Top||

#10  who vets the rest of the clowns

Their predecessors.
Posted by: Jereting Shonter2622 || 12/06/2005 14:59 Comments || Top||

#11  "She was no longer able to work as a clandestine officer, which was her reason for being."

From what I understand, she was working at a desk job for the last 5 years. Not exactly a clandestine position.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/06/2005 16:25 Comments || Top||

#12  SteveS: "From what I understand, she was working at a desk job for the last 5 years. Not exactly a clandestine position."

You're WRONG!

It's been for the last eight years. :)
Posted by: Justrand || 12/06/2005 17:36 Comments || Top||

#13  the decision to leave makes her eligible to collect retirement benefits in the future, Johnson said.

This is probably the real reason she is leaving. She posed for Vanity Fair, which is against the rules, as I understand it. She should have been fired for cause and and lost her pension. I suspect the big boys in the CIA are letting her off easy.
Posted by: 2b || 12/06/2005 18:02 Comments || Top||

#14  saw her clandestine career imperiled after she was identified as an agency operative in the summer of 2003

Bullshit. She was pulled back due to an inside traitor that resulted in Plame's blown cover in Europe in the 90's that resulted in here being put into a desk job stateside. Go look up ALL the facts dammit!
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/06/2005 18:26 Comments || Top||

#15  A graduate of the farm or not, she hasn't deployed overseas in many years and for good reason. Lovely tender young white women who are also the wives or girl friends of high-profile US State Dept diplodinks and ambos don't make very good clan operatives. They never have, they never will. Plame set aside the shadowy world a long time ago in favour of motherhood, nothing more, nothing less. She should be commended for that. All of this "outing" stuff is media smoke and bullshit.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/06/2005 19:13 Comments || Top||

#16  IOW, iff the article is correct, when Valerie attended and worked around Penn State and State College, she was a de facto CIA Agent-Operative, etc. Dare JOE PATERNO AND HIS NITTANY LIONS - BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.............???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/06/2005 21:34 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Sami al-Arian walks
Ratz. Double plus un-good.
federal jury on Tuesday found a former Florida professor not guilty of funding a banned Islamist group in a verdict likely to be seen as a stiff blow to the U.S. government in its attempts to prosecute terror suspects.

The jury in Tampa, Florida, took 13 days to deliver its verdict against Sami al-Arian, who along with three co-defendants was accused of raising money for Palestinian group Islamic Jihad.

The panel, delivering verdicts six months to the day after the trial started, found al-Arian not guilty of conspiracy to murder, providing material support to a terrorist group and obstruction of justice.

The other men, Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Ballut, were also cleared of most of the charges against them.

The jury was deadlocked on several other charges and U.S. District Judge James Moody declared a mistrial on those counts.

Prosecutors will have to decide whether to retry the men on the undecided charges.

The four were arrested in February 2003 and accused of providing money and support to Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian group the United States designated as a terrorist organization in 1997.

The U.S. government blames Islamic Jihad for killing more than 100 people in Israel, including three Americans.

When the defendants were arrested, then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said al-Arian was Islamic Jihad's North American leader. The defendants denied the charges and said any money they sent to the group was for charitable activities.

The prosecutors' case during the five-month trial in Tampa was based mostly on thousands of hours of wiretapped telephone calls, intercepted e-mails and faxes and bank records gathered over a decade.
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/06/2005 17:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sure, lets just handle terrorism like it was a normal crime. The courts will protect us. Jury of your peers and all that.

This scum bag is going to walk and more people are going to die because of it. The Tampa Tribune was his cheerleader. What a mess.
Posted by: remoteman || 12/06/2005 17:43 Comments || Top||

#2  sigh.
Posted by: 2b || 12/06/2005 17:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Let the Mossad deal with him and his brood
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 18:17 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm with Frank. Too bad there isn't some way for Sami to "win" some free plane tickets to Israel.
Posted by: Zenster || 12/06/2005 19:54 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm with Frank too. The PAL, an extra special division of Mossad, is especially deft at dealing with maggots like this asshole. I only wish American lawmakers had the big balls like the Israelis.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 12/06/2005 19:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Spunds like Sami got a jury of his peers.
Posted by: .com || 12/06/2005 20:07 Comments || Top||

#7  Sounds like Sami got a jury of his peers.
Posted by: .com || 12/06/2005 20:08 Comments || Top||

#8  I suppose that now he's going to spend time hunting for the "real" terrorists.
Posted by: DMFD || 12/06/2005 20:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Why it's Ok for USG to give billions to PA, but wrong for Sami to collect tens of thousands for Islamic Jihad (it isn't like the PA weren't passing $ to IJ)?
Posted by: gromgoru || 12/06/2005 20:52 Comments || Top||

#10  If he had a dual-citizenship, one small white lie on his application and he could've been on a slow boat to Syria...or wherever.
Posted by: Rafael || 12/06/2005 22:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Just inject a GPS tracer in him, then deport him.
Posted by: Thotch Ebbomoque7223 || 12/06/2005 22:50 Comments || Top||


Top Al Qaeda Figures Held in Secret CIA Prisons
Two CIA secret prisons were operating in Eastern Europe until last month when they were shut down following Human Rights Watch reports of their existence in Poland and Romania.

Current and former CIA officers speaking to ABC News on the condition of confidentiality say the United States scrambled to get all the suspects off European soil before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived there today. The officers say 11 top al Qaeda suspects have now been moved to a new CIA facility in the North African desert. CIA officials asked ABC News not the name the specific countries where the prisons were located, citing security concerns.

The CIA declines to comment, but current and former intelligence officials tell ABC News that 11 top al Qaeda figures were all held at one point on a former Soviet air base in one Eastern European country. Several of them were later moved to a second Eastern European country.

All but one of these 11 high-value al Qaeda prisoners were subjected to the harshest interrogation techniques in the CIA's secret arsenal, the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" authorized for use by about 14 CIA officers and first reported by ABC News on Nov. 18.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today avoided directly answering the question of secret prisons in remarks made on her departure for Europe, where the issue of secret prisons and secret flights has caused a furor. "The captured terrorists of the 21st century do not fit easily into traditional systems of criminal or military justice, which were designed for different needs. We have had to adapt," Rice said.

The CIA has used a small fleet of private jets to move top al Qaeda suspects from Afghanistan and the Middle East to Eastern Europe, where Human Rights Watch has identified Poland and Romania as the countries that housed secret sites. But Polish Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told ABC Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross today: "My president has said there is no truth in these reports."

Ross asked: "Do you know otherwise, sir, are you aware of these sites being shut down in the last few weeks, operating on a base under your direct control?" Sikorski answered, "I think this is as much as I can tell you about this."

In Romania, where the secret prison was possibly at a military base visited last year by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the new Romanian prime minister said today there is no evidence of a CIA site but that he will investigate.

Sources tell ABC that the CIA's secret prisons have existed since March 2002 when one was established in Thailand to house the first important al Qaeda target captured. Sources tell ABC that the approval for another secret prison was granted last year by a North African nation.
I keep saying, an old cruise ship in the south Pacific, very discreet, is what we need.
Sources tell ABC News that the CIA has a related system of secretly returning other prisoners to their home country when they have been wrung dry outlived their usefulness to the United States.

These same sources also tell ABC News that U.S. intelligence also ships some "unlawful combatants" to countries that use interrogation techniques harsher than any authorized for use by U.S. intelligence officers. They say that Jordan, Syria, Morocco and Egypt were among the nations used in order to extract confessions quickly using techniques harsher than those authorized for use by U.S. intelligence officers. These prisoners were not necessarily citizens of those nations.
Nor were they citizens of the U.S.
According to sources directly involved in setting up the CIA secret prison system, it began with the capture of Abu Zabayda in Pakistan. After treatment there for gunshot wounds, he was whisked by the CIA to Thailand where he was housed in a small disused warehouse on an active airbase. There, his cell was kept under 24-hour closed circuit TV surveillance and his life-threatening wounds were tended to by a CIA doctor especially sent from Langley headquarters to assure Abu Zubaydah was given proper care, sources said. Once healthy, he was slapped, grabbed, made to stand long hours in a cold cell and finally handcuffed and strapped feet up to a water board until after .31 seconds he begged for mercy and began to cooperate.

While in the secret facilities in Eastern Europe, Abu Zubaydah and his fellow captives were fed breakfasts that included yogurt and fruit, lunches that included steamed vegetables and beans, and dinners that included meat or chicken and more vegetables and rice, sources say. In exchange for cooperation, prisoners were sometimes given hard candies, deserts and chocolates. Abu Zubaydah was partial to Kit Kats, the same treat Saddam Hussein fancied in his captivity.
Oh the humanity!
Of the 12 high value targets housed by the CIA, only one did not require water boarding before he talked. Ramzi bin al-Shibh broke down in tears after he was walked past the cell of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the operational planner for Sept. 11. Visibly shaken, he started to cry and became as cooperative as if he had been tied down to a water board, sources said.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The CIA is leaking again. But look on the bright side. At least this leak has nothing to do with "National Security".
Posted by: Danking70 || 12/06/2005 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  What is up with these bozos? They out to get the Bush administration in War time. Thats treason. Time to treat it as such in a National Security Court. I can almost assure you these are well connected Dems ala Joe Wilson wife.

These 'prisoners' are akin to teh Pirates of past days. They deserve a drumhead court and execution. They don't qualify of a regular court of law anywhere. The don't qualify for civil rights protections afforded to normal humans.
Posted by: Mahou Sensei Negi-bozu || 12/06/2005 1:09 Comments || Top||

#3  moved to a new CIA facility in the North African desert
Is it Mo or Morocco?
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 7:35 Comments || Top||

#4  The CIA is truly FUBAR. Let it do open source work only. Move all black ops to DOD.
Posted by: Glolusing Whains5237 || 12/06/2005 7:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Ok...it's clearly time for several ABC News "reporters" and Execs to wind up in those same "prisons" in order to find out who leaked, and continues to leak, this crap!

And in the case of the ABC-folk the only "torture" required would be if their LATTES weren't frothy enough!!
Posted by: Justrand || 12/06/2005 7:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Confidential anonymous sources have leaked the location of one of the CIA prisons


. This remote island is rumored to be located 3 hrs off the California coastline.
Posted by: doc || 12/06/2005 8:19 Comments || Top||

#7  The timing of this "special ABC report" coincides with Condi's Euro trip, an obvious attempt to embarass our nation and Condi in particular.

I suggest "enhanced interrogation techniques" for the WaPo and ABC News. They put us all in danger.
Posted by: Captain America || 12/06/2005 8:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Blaming the WaPo and ABC is like blaming whores for the flesh trade...It's what they do. The guy to blame is the leaker at the CIA, and there's just too many of them. Whoever leaked this broke an oath. Whoever reported it does what they do for money.
Posted by: Threck Chomong6194 || 12/06/2005 9:02 Comments || Top||

#9  North African desert huh. I would guess our NEW friends the Lybians are pretty well up too date on torture techniques.
Posted by: Jerelet Thineling2988 || 12/06/2005 10:16 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm glad the article mentions the success in capturing these high-intelligence value terrorists.

Oh no it doesn't, looks like yet another ManuFact from our MSM.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/06/2005 12:08 Comments || Top||

#11  Milk these high value terrorists for all the intel that they have, bring them before a military tribunal, and execute them. I swear that the MSM is gonna kill us all with their zeal to expose every secret we have. They need some accountability for their actions. **chickens clucking**
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/06/2005 16:14 Comments || Top||

#12  Jeez after 20 yrs Ima swaying back to Ginger.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 17:03 Comments || Top||

#13  MaryAnn all the way, babeee
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 17:47 Comments || Top||

#14  Why not both?
Posted by: Raj || 12/06/2005 18:35 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Media body urges Pakistan to save kidnapped journalist
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - A world journalists’ watchdog on Tuesday urged Pakistan to help find a correspondent who was kidnapped after reporting on the alleged killing of an Al Qaeda commander. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the authorities should “act with the utmost speed” after gunmen on Monday abducted Hayatullah Khan in the restive region of North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.

Khan -- who works for the Urdu language daily newspaper Ausaf and the European Pressphoto Agency -- had earlier taken pictures of shrapnel apparently from a US missile that locals said killed Egyptian militant Hamza Rabia. The account contradicted that of the Pakistani government, which said that Rabia, the alleged number three in the Al Qaeda hierarchy, died when munitions exploded inside a house on Thursday, killing four other people.
Which explains why the world press is so upset
“We call on the Pakistani government to do everything in its power to find Hayatullah Khan,” Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement. The committee said that, according to its research, Khan had received numerous threats from security forces, alleged members of Afghanistan’s ousted Taleban regime and local tribesman because of his reporting.

Five men with AK-47 assault rifles forced Khan’s car off the road, his brother Mohammad Ehsan told the watchdog. The brother, who was also in the car, said the gunmen were “local people”. “It is imperative that local officials in this troubled and lawless region act swiftly to save the life of this brave journalist,” the committee’s Cooper said.

A delegation from the Tribal Union of Journalists on Tuesday met with local administration chief Zaheer ul Islam and demanded immediate action. “We don’t know who abducted him,” Islam told AFP. “The gunmen could be Taleban or the abduction could be the result of some personal feud.”

The house where the explosion happened belongs to Khan’s maternal uncle, Mohammad Siddiq, family sources said. Two of Khan’s cousins died, including 17-year-old college student Abdul Wasid and seven-year-old Mohammad Aziz.
So the "kidnapped" journalist's family was sheltering Hamza Rabia when he was helizapped, huh? And he just happened to find evidence a US missile hit the house before he went "missing".
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 11:25 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He'll turn up dead the next time the US zaps a bunch of Taliban splodey-dopes. I'm sure he'll make a nice mule, all in exchange for the right to take pictures of Taliban killing Americans. May all who wage war against the US suffer worse than the most horrible afflictions Genghes Khan ever inflicted on HIS enemies.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/06/2005 16:04 Comments || Top||

#2  so "journalist" includes this piece of scum, but bloggers are not consideed journalists for campaign finance? (Weird thought, acknowledged, but I'm still pissed at McCain and his MSM asskissers)
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 17:02 Comments || Top||


'Convenient' bomb? Rangoon Lanmadaw blast kills one
Dec 05, 2005 (DVB) - The blast which occurred on 5 December at a flat in Rangoon Lanmadaw Township had killed one man and seriously wounding another woman, according to a local resident. “It was at the corner of Lanmadaw Kyonegyi Street and where there are badminton courts, near Maung Wait Building. It occurred at the top floor. The roof was blown open. There were only two of them. The boy worked at a cigarette company. The girl is a civil servant. Both of them are at the hospital. It is said one person had died. There are many people arriving there at the moment. There are also many people from the (government) organisations.”

The blast ‘conveniently’ occurred on the day Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) resumed its ‘National Convention’, while its convening committee chairman Lt-Gen Thein Sein warned of ‘destructive elements’ within and without Burma trying to undermine and destroy the constitution-drafting convention.

But it is still not clear whether the blast was caused by a bomb as rumour has it, for rumours are often spread by the military junta authorities themselves with a purpose in Burma, or by other reasons including gas explosion. Whatever the reason, the junta is likely to exploit and portray the blast as an example of a failed attempt by the political oppositions known as the destructive elements to undermine the junta’s effort.

The convention has been widely dismissed as a sham by the opposition groups, who say the delegates were mostly hand-picked by a junta intent on maintaining its grip on power. And the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) which has been barred from taking power despite a landslide victory in the 1990 election and some ethnic national parties, have boycotting the convention on the pain of imprisonment.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 09:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


BLA men confess to bombing KFC, PPL
Two suspected members of a radical ethnic group on Monday confessed to involvement in a deadly car bombing outside a building housing a KFC restaurant and a state petroleum company in the Karachi, an official said. The two men were arrested two days after the November 15 explosion that left at least three people dead.

On Monday, the suspects, identified as Aziz Khan and Mangla Khan, told a judge that they parked the explosives-laden car near the building, police prosecutor Ismail Qureshi said. The suspects are alleged to be members of the Balochistan Liberation Army, an ethnic Baloch group in the Balochistan province. The group claimed responsibility for the Karachi bombing, saying it wanted to target the Pakistan Petroleum Limited. The company operates oil and gas fields in Balochistan, and BLA has claimed to have targeted its facilities in the mineral-rich province in the past as part of a strategy to get more revenues for resources extracted in the impoverished province. Qureshi said the two suspects still faced a trial but it was not known when it will begin.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Sunni holy man banged in Karachi
Two gunmen opened fire inside a bakery in Karachi early on Monday, killing a Sunni Muslim cleric before fleeing on a motorcycle, police said. Qari Habibur Rehman Saeedi of Masjid Faizan-e-Aulia in Lyari, Naya Abad, was gunned down leading to widespread panic in the area. Shops were closed down and police patrols were ordered. Qari Habibur Rehman was buying food at the Fine Bakers after leading morning prayers at a nearby mosque when he was shot, police inspector Bahauddin Babar said. He was shot four times in the neck, shoulder and back. The gunmen escaped on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice, Babar said. Shopkeepers rushed the cleric to Civil Hospital where he died after receiving initial treatment.
"He's dead, Jim!"
Too bad they didn't take him to a certified Level 1 Trauma Center; he'd be ... still dead.
No one claimed responsibility for the killing, but Babar suspected it was the latest in a string of sectarian attacks. Qari Rehman hailed from Multan and left behind two wives – one in Multan with two children and the other in Karachi with a daughter.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The gunmen escaped on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice

how many can they fit on a motorcycle? Is this like the clowns in the little car at the circus?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 0:09 Comments || Top||


Suicide squads being formed to kill Shias in NAs
Intelligence agencies have uncovered a plot by two banned militant groups to kill Shia members of the legislative council of the Northern Areas, sources said on Monday. Sources said that leaders of banned outfits Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) had directed their operatives to form suicide squads to kill Shia members of the legislative council.
They're actually the same organization, with different names...
Intelligence agencies outlined details of the plan in a report submitted to the Interior Ministry, that contained information gleaned from three members of the banned groups. The report said that the SSP and LJ had asked their members in the Northern Areas to recruit women and children to the suicide squads.
They're cheaper than men, of course...
Clerics belonging to these organisations had also contacted people in the earthquake-hit areas to convince them to send their children to seminaries in Punjab. In return, they offered to pay for the children’s education, boarding and lodging, the report said. Maulana Ghulam Kibriya of Rahim Yar Khan was assigned to arrange for these children’s admissions to seminaries in southern Punjab, said the report. The banned organisations were also found distributing periodicals – Paigham-e-Haq (The Message of Truth) and Zarb-e-Momin – in the quake-affected areas, sources said. “The report says that members of foreign rescue teams, including US nationals, frequently seen in the markets of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, are also potential targets for militants,” the sources said. The Interior Ministry has ordered the Northern Areas’ chief secretary, the Islamabad chief commissioner and the Punjab home secretary to take measures to prevent acts of terror.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Tribal journalist kidnapped
Five gunmen kidnapped a tribal journalist in North Waziristan early on Monday morning, his family told Daily Times. "Five armed men kidnapped him at gunpoint at 8:30am on Monday on the main Mir Ali-Bannu highway," said the kidnapped journalist's brother, who did not wish to be named. Hayatullah Khan, who is in his 40s, was to cover a demonstration by students against the killing of their colleague in a December 1 missile strike in which five people, including top Al Qaeda commander Hamza Rabia, were reportedly killed. The owner of the house where the blast happened, Haji Mohammad Siddiq, is an uncle of the kidnapped journalist.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistani Security Forces: Al Zawahiri's aide, Hamza Rabia is dead
"As coroner, I must aver, I thoroughly examined her, And she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead."
Pakistani security sources have confirmed that a key figure of the Al Qaeda organization, Hamza Rabia, who was killed within Pakistan's tribal belt Thursday, was the link between the Al Qaeda's second man, Ayman Al Zawahiri and the movement of other cells. Rabia, 38, was killed along with four other militants, two of whom were Arabs. They were killed in a missile attack that was launched by a U.S. expedition plane associated with American intelligence forces. The missile had targeted their refuge in Waziristan, near the border of Afghanistan. It is believed that Rabia was the successor of Abu Faraj Al-Libby, the third key figure of Al Qaeda, after his arrest by Pakistani forces last May. The Pakistani forces believe that Al Libby and Rabia were involved in two assassination attempts of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at the end of 2003. A reward of five million dollars was offered to anyone who could assist in the capturing of Rabia.

A Pakistani security official stated that American and Pakistani interrogation of Abu Faraj Al Libby indicated that Rabia was in direct contact with Al Zawahiri and that he had been the link between Al Zawahiri and a number of cells at least until last year. The same source added that the connection between Rabia and Al Zawahiri had broken over the past few months. Yesterday, the Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao had asserted that the murder of Rabia has caused Al Qaeda a significant loss.

The Pakistani source asserted that Rabia had survived a number of operations implemented against him by Pakistani security forces in the mountainous tribal region near the Afghan border. The source further states that last month, Rabia suffered severe injuries to his legs from an explosion that caused eight deaths in the tribal village of Musac. Some security forces stated that Rabia's companions had moved him to another location in the region where he had received the necessary treatment.

A French news agency had reported that a Pakistani official stated that Rabia was a member of a group in Pakistan that was planning to carry out attacks in the United States and Britain. These plans were disclosed after the arrest of two of its members, Naeem Nour Khan and Ahmed Khalfan Ghilani. Ghilani, a Tanzanian citizen featured on the FBI's list of wanted men as he was involved in two attacks that targeted the two American embassies in east Africa. Khan was an expert of information technology. American officials have asserted that Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda's leader as well as others, is in hiding near the Pakistani-Afghan border. Whereas Islamabad stated that it had arrested 700 men accused of belonging to the organization.

Steven Hadley, the American national security counselor, stated yesterday that the United States is currently analyzing information concerning the killing of Rabia, however it has not confirmed the incident. President Pervez Musharraf had affirmed yesterday that Rabia had been murdered in Pakistan and told the Kuwaiti Press Agency, “Yesterday I informed you that I am two hundred percent positive that Rabia was murdered and today I tell you that I am five hundred percent positive of this.”
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Something jumped out at me during my reading of this article. It doesn't state that Hamza Rabai was "killed", but that he was "murdered". Think there could be an agenda behind the choice of words?

Naaa, me neither! (/sarcasm)
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/06/2005 16:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Ya know, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Great pic, Fred!
Posted by: Raj || 12/06/2005 18:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Gawd! I wish I had the "Sphincter Slicker" concession for AQ biggies right now. I'd imagine passing a date seed would get real tough about now
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 18:58 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
UNESCO Plans Koran Garden
Doha, 6 Dec. (AKI) - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is planning to establish a botanical garden in the Middle East, based on the Koran. According to a UNESCO official, the garden would be based on the scientific and aesthetic concepts contained in the holy book of Islam and represent a living display of the flora it mentions. "The botanical garden would be the first in the region and we are keen on turning this study into a reality," the official told the Dubai-based newspaper Gulf News.

It has still not been decided where it will be located. UNESCO will consult international experts, botanists and Muslim scholars as it draws up its plans for the garden, before presenting a final proposal to authorities around the region. The different elements of the garden will draw on 150 verses from the Koran which mention the "Gardens of Paradise" and which have inspired a number of Islamic gardens and influenced landscape architecture around the world, the newspaper says.

"These Koranic verses also provide a vivid description and effectively describe the basic role of water and shade, as well as plants, walls, gates and pavilions," UNESCO said in a statement. It went on to add that the garden will also be important in terms of environmental conservation, scientific research, education and recreation. As well as being used to carry out conservation training programmes, it will also spread knowledge about the Koran as part of the cultural heritage of humankind, the statement said.
Your UN dollars at work.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 16:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Got a price tag?
I'll remember this story the next time I hear them bitching that they can't afford to fly tents into Waziristan...which will probably be tomorrow.
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/06/2005 16:28 Comments || Top||

#2  About 5 minutes after completion some wahabist will blow it up for being idolotrist.
Posted by: DoDo || 12/06/2005 16:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Are skorpions a plant?
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 17:12 Comments || Top||

#4  no, a band from Germany (c, not k)
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 17:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Right in front of the Wailing Wall.
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/06/2005 17:29 Comments || Top||

#6  No Wandering Jews allowed.
Posted by: ed || 12/06/2005 17:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Here I am...

Posted by: Raj || 12/06/2005 18:49 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Al-Qaeda Claims Suicide Bombing
Baghdad, 6 Dec. (AKI) - Al-Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a police academy in Baghdad on Tuesday in which at least 36 people - mainly police officers and cadets - were killed. "Two brothers targeted the police academy that continues to train dogs which feed off the blood and honour of Sunni Muslims," according to an Internet statement by al-Qaeda in Iraq. Initially the US military said the blasts were the work of two female suicide bombers, but subsequent reports say that the attackers were men. Some 72 people are reported injured.

There is speculation that at least one of the bombers may have been a recruit enrolled at the academy. Recruitment centres for the Iraqi security services are frequently targeted by insurgents in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 16:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  dogs which feed off the blood and honour

So are they vampires or psychic vampires? Or maybe the pussy Islamists are too wimpy to deal with dog?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 12/06/2005 16:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Wow, I'm really impressed. Never thought they could be so craven and cowardly. What's next, a pre-school? A hospital, oh, that's been done already, sorry.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 12/06/2005 20:01 Comments || Top||


Nine Iraqis found dead, attacks kill 11 nationwide
BAGHDAD - Police on Tuesday uncovered nine bodies of civilians shot dead near a Shia town south of Baghdad, as 11 Iraqis, mainly from the security services, died in other violence around the country, police said. The nine bodies of men in their 30s were discovered near Musayyib, south of Baghdad. They had all been shot at close range, said police.

Police said that insurgents had attacked council workers from Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, north of the capital, killing two and kidnapping a third. Shahla Al Marie, the head of planning in Tikrit, was gunned down together with Tahseen Wali, the head of the accounting department. Ihsan Wali, an engineer traveling with them, was kidnapped, while the driver was wounded. Also in the north, three members of the northern Iraqi oil company’s security force were killed by gunmen as they patrolled a pipeline near Shorkat, also in Saddam’s home province of Salaheddin.

In the village of Khalas, north of the notorious Sunni flashpoint town of Baquba north of Baghdad, one of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari’s bodyguards was killed in a drive-by shooting. With his boss on an official visit to Tokyo, the bodyguard had been on his way to visit his family.

An Iraqi army colonel and his driver were found shot dead on the road between Baghdad and Baquba, said police. The officer and driver, who were not in uniform and travelling in a private car, were killed in a drive by shooting at around 10:00 am (0700 GMT).

Baquba -- the site of frequent violence -- was on Saturday rocked by an insurgent ambush of an Iraqi army convoy that killed 19 soldiers.

In Baghdad, the interior ministry said that police General Hamza Hussein Fadel and a passenger in his car had been shot dead by unknown attackers in the capital’s southern Dura district. A policewoman was shot dead in Baghdad’s western Amriyah district, according to the same source.

Meanwhile, in Karbala, a Salafist -- religiously conservative Sunni -- was sentenced to death for his involvement in a December 2004 attack in the Shia holy city, a judicial source said. Faiz Jalil Shaalan was sentenced to death by a criminal court. He was arrested following a bomb attack in which Sheikh Abdel Mahdi Al Karbalai, a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, was wounded.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 11:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Women bombers kill Iraqi police
At least 27 Iraqi police officers have been killed and another 32 wounded in a suicide attack on a police academy in east Baghdad, the US military has said. A US forces' statement said that the policemen were killed when two women blew themselves up inside a classroom at about 1245 (0945 GMT).

A translator working at the complex has told the BBC that at least one of the bombers was herself a police cadet. The witness said the first bomber went into a classroom before detonating the explosive belt she was wearing. As trainees and instructors tried to escape the scene there was a second explosion, also inside the academy building. Roads around the complex have been sealed off and American forces have been helping the Iraqi emergency services to get the injured to hospital.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 09:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


US army drops murder charges against 2nd Lt Anderson
The US army has dropped all charges against an officer accused of murder while in command of a platoon in Iraq. The officer, 2nd Lt Erick Anderson, 26, was charged in 2004 after two soldiers under his command alleged he gave permission to kill Iraqi civilians. One has since refused to testify and the other has changed his story. The charges against Lt Anderson were brought after four platoon members were convicted of killing Iraqis in the Sadr City area of Baghdad.

Investigating officers said that all charges against Lt Anderson had been dismissed and no further inquiries would be carried out. "Today's a pretty good day," Lt Anderson told the Associated Press. "Right now, shock and awe is pretty much still in effect." He had faced a possible life sentence if convicted on two charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He also faced charges of dereliction of duty, giving a false statement, and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 08:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OK now, as long as they don't retaliate against his promotion capability
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 9:15 Comments || Top||

#2  He was a 2LT in 2004. He is already behind. He should be a 1LT by now.
Posted by: 49 pan || 12/06/2005 9:19 Comments || Top||

#3  He'll get a retroactive promotion to 1st unless the command can show reasonable reason why not. He has an administative recourse which is the sort of like a nuclear handgrenade, takes out everyone, if someone in the chain of command screws with this. I don't think an O6 or above wants to end their career for something petty like that. He then has to apply for a correction of military records to adjust his promotion date to what it should have been originally and to claim the back pay he would have received with that date. However, the reality is that even with a cleared proceedings in his military record, the simple reason that his file is now larger than his contemporaries and that it will require a minute more of reading to understand that the dude is good, means that future promotion and selection boards (O4, CGSC)will pass over his file for consideration. Cause the boards are given less than two minutes to review each file, therefore anything that takes longer than normal doesn't get real consideration. Its broke, but its been broke for decades.
Posted by: Cravitle Elmeremp2989 || 12/06/2005 10:15 Comments || Top||


Iraqi video of 'US captive' aired
Al-Jazeera television has broadcast a video said to be from Iraqi insurgents and purporting to show a kidnapped United States security consultant. The footage showed a blond man with his hands behind his back. It also showed a US passport.

Al-Jazeera said it could not verify the authenticity of the tape, which bore the logo of the Islamic Army in Iraq. There had been no reports of a US security consultant being seized by Iraqi insurgents.

Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 08:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More GI Joe action from Mehmet and Ali at the Beeb website? ... here's hoping.
Posted by: Howard UK || 12/06/2005 9:17 Comments || Top||

#2  DEBKA: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s Islamic Army in Iraq claims to have seized a senior US security consultant Tuesday Dec. 6 and threatens to kill him in 48 hours unless all prisoners are released.
A videotape of the purported captive aired by al Jazeera TV showed a blond man with his hands tied behind his back. An American passport and an Iraqi identity card in the name of Ronald Schulz were displayed.


Could be a contractor
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 9:44 Comments || Top||

#3  He looked civilian, it's real, his face and passport are shown clearly, from S Dakota. He doesn't look like he has much hope on his face.
Posted by: Ebbeasing Creaper3189 || 12/06/2005 21:19 Comments || Top||


French engineer kidnapped in Baghdad
Unidentified gunmen abducted a French engineer from outside his home as he was on his way to work Monday in Baghdad, police said. The kidnappers in three cars surrounded the man as he was getting into a car outside a house in the wealthy Mansour district of Baghdad, police Capt. Qassim Hussein said. The man was on his way to work at the Risafa Water Plant, in the center of the capital, he added. The man taken hostage worked for a French company that had a contract with the Eastern Baghdad Water Company to work on a sewage project, police said. No other details were immediately available.

A photo identification card found at the scene was for Bernard Planche, the head of mission for AACCESS NGO, a group that works on U.S.-funded water projects. There was also a small amount of blood next to one vehicle. Phone calls by The Associated Press to the French embassy in Baghdad were not answered. The French Foreign Ministry said it was verifying the reports with the French embassy in Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


MNF launches new military operation in Ramadi
Multi-National Forces on Monday announced the launch of a new military operation in Ramadi, Anbar Province, to strike Qaeda cells in western Iraq. An MNF press release said, 100 Iraqi soldiers and 400 US soldiers executed the operation starting Sunday night, noting that terrorist attacks against Iraqi civilians, Iraqi forces, and US forces dropped in Ramadi after a series of military operations.

The operation is the 6th of its kind to help bring the Iraqi elections into success in the city of Ramadi. The press release said that the operation targeted areas witnessing activities for independent Qaeda cells, noting that the forces faced minimal resistance by armed groups. The press release added that more information on the operation will be announced in the near future.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But the Beeb said that Ramadi was effectively run by Al-Q... mmmmm.
Posted by: Howard UK || 12/06/2005 7:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Beeb = Haw Haw channel.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/06/2005 7:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Damn... read that as 'Monday Night Football launches new military operation...', which would be cool if John Madden would just freakin' stop talking over the referee's explanation of a penalty.
Posted by: Raj || 12/06/2005 18:58 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Bolton: UN Condemnation of Netanya booming stalls on Damascus origin
United States Ambassador to the UN John Bolton announced Tuesday that Algeria prevented the release of a statement by the UN Security Council condemning Monday's suicide bombing in Netanya.
Bolton calls it as it is...Algeria squeals?
Algeria objected reportedly because the proposed condemnation mentioned that the instructions for the attack came from Damascus.
Seems a lot of communications hub from Damascus. Perhaps that needs to be silenced?
Earlier in the day, a senior Islamic Jihad figure in Gaza City denied that the organization had offices in Syria, claiming that their secretary general Ramadan Shalah left the country months ago. However, the Islamic Jihad, who took responsibility for the bombing openly admitted that it received its orders from Syria.

Responding to the Netanya bombing, US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters: "The organization that claims responsibility for this attack is Palestinian Islamic Jihad and they have their headquarters in Damascus. So if anybody needed a reminder, this is it, that the Syrian government should take immediate steps to crackdown on this group and to inhibit its activities by shutting down Islamic Jihad offices and expelling its personnel."
State Dept? Said that? Wooooo
According to Algeria, innocent Palestinians were also frequently during the Intifada, and the UNSC should not focus on one side's casualties over the others'
no, it's fault, you stoopid f&^ks!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 20:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bam! LOL, Go John Go!
Posted by: .com || 12/06/2005 20:49 Comments || Top||


Palestinian Suicide Bombing Catches Israel’s Electioneering Leaders Unawares
The Palestinian Jihad Islami suicide bombing that left 5 Israelis dead and 55 injured outside Netanya’s Sharon shopping mall caught the Sharon government and Israel’s security chiefs by surprise. DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources reveal that Israeli security forces guided by the Shin Beit believed they had wiped out a dangerous Jihad Islami cell in Jenin in weeks of raids and roundups. However, they missed one last bomb team, a dispatcher and a suicide bomber equipped with a explosive device, who eluded the dragnet. Netanya was therefore not alerted to the danger and the local police were just carrying out routine patrols.

Caught napping, the Israeli government responded predictably by imposing a closure on the northern West Bank’s villages, including the killer’s village of Ilar north east of Tulkarm, and shut down the Gaza Strip’s exits to Israel, barring the Karni goods crossing. A comprehensive offensive to hunt down the Jihad Islami’s operatives and leaders was promised, a repeat of the pledge given after the Oct. 26 suicide attack on the open-air market of Hadera, just south of the coastal town of Netanya, which killed six Israelis.

Gideon Ezra, minister of internal security, up to his ears preparing prime minister Ariel Sharon’s campaign for reelection in March at the head of the new Kadima party, was caught in an unfortunate slip of the tongue. He said: “We know that the terrorists are concentrated in northern Samaria.”

Israeli bases and civilians were withdrawn from Northern Samaria three months ago together with the Gaza Strip. As he fights an election, Sharon does not need this reminder, which can only raise questions about the timeliness and wisdom of pulling Israel counter-terror forces out of a region admittedly teeming with terrorists.

The same question is being asked insistently about the Gaza Strip - especially by the missile-battered Israelis who live within range of Palestinian launch-crews in the Western Negev. Day by day, they see Israeli airplanes and artillery bombing empty sand dunes and buildings while the missiles keeping coming. It has also not escaped the notice of Israel’s intelligence chiefs that al Qaeda has moved from Sinai into the gaping security vacuum of Gaza. Even party leaders expect their campaign to occasion a terrorist spectacular at some point.

Yet a flock of American and European officials are due in Jerusalem in the next few days to force Israel to open a land link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, without bothering about security measures. They also want the Gaza crossings to Israeli kept open in all circumstances. The Palestinians may therefore count on getting a convenient passage safe from Israel’s scrutiny to link the Palestinian and Islamic terrorist bases in Gaza to their strongholds in northern Samaria.

Defense minister Shaul Mofaz, himself fighting in a leadership primary to fill Sharon’s evacuated shoes as head of Likud, has meanwhile declared that targeted assassinations would be resumed in the Gaza Strip against terrorist leaders and Qassam missile crews.

For the umpteenth time, Abu Mazen was put on notice to crack down on Palestinian terrorists - notwithstanding his automatic refusal to do any such thing. This time, the chorus was joined by a new voice: election hopeful, Labor’s new broom Amir Peretz, collected all the party’s retired generals and defense chiefs for their first photo op as a “shadow’ administration. All posed eagerly on the mark.

In this atmosphere, it was not surprising to find the security forces responding sluggishly to the unexpected emergency of a deadly explosion in Netanya. The Magen David emergency service was as fast and efficient as ever. But an inquiry has been launched to find out whether the local police were justified in refraining from shooting the bomber when he was in their sights.

When a police patrol was alerted by a bystander to a shifty-looking character heading for the Sharon mall with his hand in a big bag, a policewoman jumped out of the vehicle and gave chase. She saw that the bomber had been grabbed by the mall’s security guard, Haim Amram, 26, from Netanya, to keep him away from the entrance. She shouted to Amram to pull the Palestinian’s hand out of the bag and screamed to the crowd to stand back. She was too late. The killer detonated his bomb. Amram took the full force of the blast and, with four bystanders, died on the spot. The policewoman’s gun was out and so were the weapons of two more policemen at the scene, but none were fired.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 09:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Defense minister Shaul Mofaz, himself fighting in a leadership primary to fill Sharon’s evacuated shoes as head of Likud, has meanwhile declared that targeted assassinations would be resumed in the Gaza Strip against terrorist leaders and Qassam missile crews.

It's not going to be enough. Devastate a town, and if that's not enough, a city if necessary. These guys only understand force, and it needs to be applied very, VERY disproportionately.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 12/06/2005 11:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh, and those U.S. and EU officials that are going to press for a land link between the West Bank and Gaza?

Tell 'em to go to Hell.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 12/06/2005 11:05 Comments || Top||


Defence witnesses testify in conspiracy trial
Three defence witnesses testified at the State Security Court (SSC) on Monday in the case of 17 men charged with plotting attacks against security officers and US forces training Iraqi troops in the Kingdom. The defendants, including a Syrian, have been formally charged with conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks against Jordanian anti-terrorism officers and US forces training Iraqi troops in Jordan. Other charges levelled against the 17 men by the military prosecution include carrying out and plotting activity aimed at undermining Jordan's relations with another country. The prosecution has also charged the defendants with recruiting people to fight in Iraq and raising funds for Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi.

The suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges during their opening trial in September. The witnesses all testified to meeting two of the defendants, Mufid and Amar, while praying in a Jerash mosque. They said the defendants never asked them for donations for fighters in Iraq and also confirmed that the two defendants had never asked them to fight in Iraq. At the end of the 30-minute session, the defence team asked the court for time to prepare their defence and summon more witnesses.

In a second trial at the SSC on Monday, Muamar Ahmad Jugheiber's lawyer asked the court for permission to summon seven witnesses to testify in the case. Jugheiber is standing trial along with Zarqawi on charges of plotting an attack against the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad in 2003. The Aug. 7 attack left 17 people dead, including one Jordanian and five Iraqi policemen, and injured dozens. Jugheiber and Zarqawi are charged with plotting subversive acts that led to the death of individuals.

Jugheiber's attorney Fathi Daradkeh informed the court that he plans to summon two prison inmates, a former General Intelligence Department officer, two engineers and a journalist. He also requested permission to summon the Jordanian envoy to Baghdad at the time of the bombing. Presiding Judge Fawaz Bqour agreed to Daradkeh's request with the exception of the Jordanian envoy. “The court will make a decision on this request at a later stage in the trial,” Bqour said.

Jugheiber, who met Zarqawi in Iraq in 2002, pledged allegiance to him and embraced takfiri thoughts (labelling people as apostates), according to the prosecution charge sheet. The two plotted to attack foreigners residing in the Kingdom and Jordanian “interests in Iraq, including the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad,” the charge sheet said. “Upon Zarqawi's instructions, Jugheiber monitored the embassy for three days then helped fill the car that was used in the attack with explosives." The SSC adjourned the trial until next Monday. Jugheiber and Zarqawi were sentenced to death in absentia by the SSC in April 2004 for plotting the assassination of US diplomat Laurance Foley outside his Amman home on Oct. 28, 2002. Jugheiber was arrested in Iraq in May 2004 by US forces and handed over to the Jordanian authorities. He is currently being retried in the Foley case on charges of subversive acts that led to the death of an individual.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israeli army to invade northern Gaza Strip in few hours -- Mofaz
The Israeli occupation forces on Monday began preparations for a wide-scale military operation in northern Gaza Strip, said Israeli media. Israeli daily Ha'aretz said on its web site that the Israeli forces are preparing to invade Gaza Strip in revenge for a Palestinian armed operation in the city of Nataniya, where a number of Israelis were killed in a commercial center.
Killed by another boomer, we might add...
The newspaper reported Israeli War Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying that the Israeli Army is preparing to return to northern Gaza Strip in the next few hours. Israeli security forces told the newspaper that the operation is expected to last for a few weeks, noting that the Israeli forces in the West Bank will execute assassination operations and increase the scale of detention operations against Palestinian activists, especially those of Islamic Jihad movement.
They're the ones who laid claim to the boomer, after all...
The Israeli occupation forces today cordoned off the West Bank and tightened security over checkpoints between all areas there. The newspaper noted that all crossings between Israel and Gaza Strip will be closed, except for the commercial Karni Crossing in eastern Gaza, which will remain open for the mobility of goods. The Israeli army decided to increase its military operations in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nablus, in addition to some villages in these areas to limit the mobility of Islamic Jihad members. The newspaper also said that Mofaz asked the Israeli public prosecutor for permission to restart demolishing houses of Palestinian citizens who execute military operations against Israel.
Posted by: Fred || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe they can find some good stuff directly linked to Iran to help the cause. Good Hunting Guys!
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 12/06/2005 11:42 Comments || Top||

#2  "Israeli security forces told the newspaper.."
This doesn't make sense. Informing the newspapers of an invasion?
I have a cousin Natanya, named after the city. She was there just a few months ago. It's so sad to continue to see all of this fighting that is still necessary.
Hope this mission is successful.
Posted by: Jan || 12/06/2005 12:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Better solution is to seal the border tight for a month. Let the Pals go without work or any connection to the Israeli economy. Watch as the regular pals start to turn against the violent ones when the next time the one month turns into two.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/06/2005 14:24 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Soldiers dead in Sri Lanka attack
A mine attack in northern Sri Lanka has killed at least seven soldiers, the military says. The troops were patrolling near Jaffna town, 300km (185 miles) from Colombo, when two devices exploded, police said. The blast is the second since Sunday, when Tamil Tiger rebels were blamed for one nearby in which seven troops died. Tuesday's attack came as Sri Lanka's new army chief vowed to take on terrorism. The rebels are breaching a truce, the government says. The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Jaffna says the mood in the town is tense and more troops have been deployed amid fears war may return. In the island's east, at least three breakaway rebels were killed in what appeared to be part of a continuing internal feud, military officials said.

Tuesday's attack near a Hindu temple on Jaffna's outskirts brings to 17 the number of soldiers the army says have been killed in the north since Friday. "The troops had been on a foot patrol clearing the road and they were returning in a tractor when they were ambushed," said Defence Ministry spokesman Brigadier Nalin Witharanage. Three Swiss nationals passing in a car were also injured. Brig Witharanage said initial investigations suggested a remote-controlled claymore mine had been used in the attack. Claymore mines carry a small charge packed behind hundreds of steel balls which shoot forward on detonation.

The Tamil Tigers have denied having anything to do with Tuesday's attack. "We are not involved. We are not going to break the ceasefire agreement," rebel spokesman Daya Master told Reuters.
"Wasn't us. Musta been some other rebel group. Have you checked for Samoans?"
Although the rebels are in charge of parts of Sri Lanka's north and east, Jaffna is controlled by the army.

In Colombo, new army commander Lt-Gen Sarath Fonseka's first press conference was delayed as news of the blast broke. "We don't have 100% evidence, but we think they [the rebels] did it," he told reporters. "If they did not do it, who else could have done it? "We are ready for any situation... we have not dropped our guard." But he said he wanted the two sides to talk to "ensure the peace process does not collapse".
Yeah, won't do to stop that Peace Processor

There has been no direct contact between the army and the rebels for several months. What would have been the first meeting since hardliner Mahinda Rajapakse was elected Sri Lankan president last month failed to take place on Monday.

Violence over the last few days is the worst since a ceasefire was agreed between the government and the rebels in February 2002, truce monitors say. The United States has added its voice to the chorus of concern, blaming the rebels for Sunday's mine attack. A statement called on both sides "to take immediate action to prevent violence and to uphold the terms of the ceasefire agreement".

Tensions have been rising since Mr Rajapakse was elected. He has ruled out a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east and wants to renegotiate the truce which ended more than 20 years of civil war in which more than 60,000 people died. The Tamil Tigers are demanding a political settlement next year - or they say they will step up their struggle.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 09:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Sri Lanka army warns Tamil Tigers as attacks increase
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka’s outgoing army chief on Monday accused Tamil Tiger rebels of trying to provoke the military with a series of truce-breaking attacks that killed 12 people over the weekend. Lieutenant General Shantha Kottegoda warned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that the army could now defeat them, despite repeated failures in the past. He said the LTTE had stepped up organised attacks against government forces in the former rebel stronghold of Jaffna in a bid to draw fire from the military. “I am very confident that with the training we have done in the past three years we are better prepared today than we were before the ceasefire,” the general said, referring to the February 2002 truce with the rebels. “Our troops will be able to fight and defeat them.”
Just like before, huh?
Kottegoda, who retires as army chief on Monday, said the Tigers may resort to more hit-and-run style attacks in order to minimise losses to their own cadres following a split in the rebel outfit in March last year. “They could resort to more guerrilla tactics because they may want to retain their cadres,” he said.
Plus, it worked.
Kottegoda, who had earlier been an advisor to Sri Lanka’s peace negotiators, said the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse, who was elected last month, must also push ahead with moves to try to revive direct talks with the Tigers. “We have to make a move. We need to take some steps with regard to the peace process,” he said, adding the two sides should be able to discuss the implementation of the ceasefire.

Rajapakse’s government has said he wants a new peace process and to “revise” the truce, but the guerrillas have maintained that any unilateral action on the process is unacceptable. Despite the truce, a total of 12 people were killed in Sri Lanka’s embattled northern and eastern regions over the weekend, a military official said. He said troops in those regions as well as other parts of the island were asked to remain on high alert. “It is obvious that through these violent acts, the LTTE is trying all possible means to provoke troops and create a volatile situation in Jaffna,” military spokesman Nalin Witharanage said in a statement. “In the wake of these incidents, the security forces and the police will now intensify security duties to ensure law and order prevailed.”
That's what they always say; it's the doing ...
Hours after the blast, another soldier was shot dead by suspected Tiger gunmen in the same area, officials said, adding that another trooper had also been gunned down the previous day. The government in a statement said the explosion in Jaffna, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Colombo, was a ”pre-planned terrorist attack on army personnel engaged in non-offensive routine activities.”

“The troops were transporting lunch for their colleagues when they were caught up in the explosion,” a military official in the area said. “We believe it is the work of the Tigers.”
Brilliant, simply brilliant.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/06/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
The Islamic Republic and Castro's Weenie
Following recent reports that Cuban President Fidel Castro had received an invitation from Iranian clerics to convert to Islam, [1] and following a statement by Iranian Guardian Council Secretary Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati that "non-Muslims are animals that chew their cud and cause corruption on Earth," [2] two Iranian websites operating outside Iran posted satirical articles. In his column in www.roozonline.com, well-known satirist Ibrahim Nabavi wrote about "Mohammad Abd Al-Fidel Converts to Islam" and "On Animals and Muslims." Another article, "The Islamic Republic and Castro's Weenie," by someone identifying himself as Abd Al-Qader Baluch, was posted on www.ettelaat.net.

The following are the translations of the articles:


Nabavi: "Mohammad Abd Al-Fidel Converts to Islam"
"Wonder of wonders! Nothing can compare to Islam's influence. According to news from senior Iranian elements, Castro, the leader of the Cuban revolution, has been invited to accept the religion of Islam. In my opinion, he is one of the best choices for converting people to Islam; indeed, Castro meets the necessary conditions for conversion to Islam for the following reasons:

"First: For years, Castro has not shaved his beard, while many of our brother Hizbullah members who deviated [from the righteous path] shaved their beards after a while. For example, we can point out Saeed Hajjarian, [3] [Ataollah] Mohajerani, [4] and Abbas Abdi. [5]

"Second: For years, Castro has repeated a single mantra, and is not willing to accept that the world has changed. Thus, he is eminently suitable for us.

"Third: In light of the fact that Cuba's main source of income is its prostitutes, Castro can direct and guide these acts of licentiousness after he converts to Islam. He will be able to establish the 'houses of modesty' [brothels established by permission of the Iranian regime] extensively in Cuba.

"Fourth: In light of the fact that Castro has for years prevented freedom of speech in Cuba, it seems that his beliefs have been similar to those of [Iran's] religious conservatives for quite a while. For this reason, everything fits.

"Fifth: In light of the fact that for years Castro has worn an army uniform, it is now clear that he is a born jihad fighter for Allah, and is one of our brothers the Basij.

"Sixth: In light of the fact that Castro has for some time had Parkinson's disease, and apparently will soon be ill with Alzheimer's, he himself can serve as Cuba's Marja' Taqlid ['authority for emulation' for Shi'ites].

"Suggestion: To complete the project of Castro's conversion to Islam, it is hereby suggested that his circumcision festivities be held in the presence of Venezuelan President [Hugo] Chavez and [Iranian President] Ahmadinejad, and that the picture of Castro in a white skirt following the circumcision be published extensively so as to deal a powerful blow to the privates of the 'global arrogance' [i.e. the U.S. and the West]."

Nabavi: "On Animals and Muslims"
"Following the human, Islamic, wise, profound, and thought-provoking declaration by Mr. Jannati regarding the five million human beings, including Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Vladimir Putin, and Kofi Annan - [namely] that 'non-Muslims are animals that chew their cud and cause corruption on Earth... - the following questions arise:

"First: Are the pope, Jesus, Mary, Moses, and the other prophets of God who were not Muslims also included in this category?

"Second: Are all the great scientists and philosophers of the world animals, or only most of them?

"Third: Aren't people such as Bijeh - the rapist Muslim Brotherhood member who raped and murdered 21 children and youths in the city of Pakdasht [in Iran] - engaging in corruption? And in contrast, is Mother Teresa included with the animals and those who cause corruption?

"Fourth: Isn't there a problem with the fact that [Jannati's] words will be translated this very day and make headlines in Time, Le Monde, and Newsweek, and will cause all the faithful of other religions, and the world's leaders, to speak out against Iran?" [6]


Baluch: "The Islamic Republic and Castro's Weenie"
"The leaders of the [Iranian] regime have invited Castro to accept Islam. In light of recent statements by Ayatollah Jannati, who said that non-Muslims are animals that chew their cud and cause corruption on Earth, it can be assumed that the content of the letter sent to the Cuban leader was as follows:

"Dear Animal! [emphasis in original]

"Honorable Brother Fidel Castro who will be granted a long and honorable life,

"In accordance with our jurisprudent duty, we ask the famous animal to stop chewing his cud on the planet Earth and to accept upon himself the honor of Islam.

"Fortunately, since we have no problem with Your Honor with regard to the beard, your welcome [into Islam] will be smoother than that of the rest of the animals.

"Instead of the cap, army uniform, and boots that you have been wearing for 70 years, it is sufficient that you don the enclosed robe, turban, and clogs.

"Since you will look like the senior ayatollahs, it will be possible for the religious seminaries of Qom to grant you the honorary degree of Ayatollah Fidel Castro. [7]

"Do not worry about your weenie and your circumcision. We will leave that to the reformists in the [Iranian] regime [emphasis in original].

"He [Allah] is the Guide, and you will be Mahdi [the Guided, i.e. the Messiah]." [8]
I think need these guys on Rantburg, they've got the style down pat.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 16:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Roast Pork, that's all I can say. Other than that I'm good to go.
Posted by: Fidelito || 12/06/2005 17:16 Comments || Top||

#2  'Tis a weird and mysterious way for the lawyerly Clintons, the Fidelists, and the anti-Amer agendists to force America under GLOBAL THIRD PARTY ARBITRATION aka OWG!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/06/2005 21:28 Comments || Top||


Lebanon vows full probe over mass graves
BEIRUT - Lebanon vowed on Tuesday to carry out a full-scale probe into the fate of 30 people whose skeletal remains were found in mass graves at the weekend, and has sought help from the Red Cross. “This is an extremely painful situation, and I have asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to follow this tragedy closely,” Prime Minister Fuad Siniora told journalists. “We want to discover the whole truth.”

Rights group Amnesty International said it had received reports that the “exhumations are not being carried out with the appropriate level of care, and there are fears that the bodies may be damaged and potential evidence lost.” It said the work should be done in line with international standards set out by the United Nations. It urged Lebanon to “take immediate actions to ensure that the evidence at the sites is properly preserved, that the victims are identified and that the evidence is used to bring suspected perpetrators to justice in fair trials.”

The remains of the 30 people were exhumed on Saturday and Sunday from two mass graves near the village of Anjar, three kilometres (two miles) from the Syria border. The Syrian army had its intelligence headquarters and a prison there during its nearly three-decade military presence of its smaller neighbor, which ended in April.

Attorney General Said Mirza said that among the remains “were those of women and children,” and he also called on the ICRC to join in the probe. He added that the government would not hesitate to call on outside experts. The remains have been sent to Beirut for examination by forensic pathologists.

Ghazi Aad, an official from the Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (Solide) visited Anjar on Sunday and demanded an ”international investigation to find out the truth about the identity of those buried in mass graves.” He said he was satisfied with the opening of a judicial inquiry but added that the case presented “a humanitarian matter that must not be obstructed.” Solide has unsuccessfully called for the release of 100 Lebanese prisoners it says are proven to be currently languishing in Syrian jails. Syria has denied the allegation.

The fact that the Anjar remains were in bags and not buried according to any religious rites indicated the people may have been killed. An Anjar resident who requested anonymity told AFP that ”prisoners who died in the Syrian mukhabarat (secret police) prison were buried on the hill.”

Amnesty International said that during and after the war “mass human rights abuses were committed with impunity -- including killings of civilians, abductions and “disappearances’ of Lebanese, Palestinian and foreign nationls, and arbitrary detentions -- by various armed militias and Syrian and Israeli forces.”
Had to work the Joooos in there somehow.
Lebanese MP Akram Shuhayeb, an ally of anti-Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, pointed the finger at Syria for the Anjar deaths. “The responsibility for this mass grave lies with those who who held sway” in the area, a thinly-veiled reference to Damascus.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 11:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Imad Mughniyeh to recruit Palestinian bombers to strike Israel
The reputable Lebanese Shiite weekly Shiraa which opposes Hizballah carries three important revelations in its coming issue:

1. Osama bin Laden’s organization has set up an operations command base in Lebanon.

2. Imad Mughniyeh, the long-sought Hizballah terrorist and hostage-taker, is touring Palestinian refugee camps in the south, especially Ain Hilwa, for talks on al Qaeda’s behalf with sympathetic Palestinian leaders.

3. A large CIA-FBI team has arrived in Lebanon to find out what what Mughniyeh is up to in southern Lebanon.

Shiraa reports that the terrorist chief also met with Jemal Suleiman, head of the Palestinian Ansar Allah, as well as Abu Mahujayn, Shehada Jawahr and Khaled Safayn, leaders of Palestinian militias in the Bureij camp of Beirut and Tripoli. They all traveled to the south for the meetings.

DEBKAfile adds: Mughniyeh is on the United States’ most wanted list as one of the most dangerous terrorists in the Middle East with the same price on his head of $25m as Osama bin Laden. The visiting US intelligence team is seeking to find out if al Qaeda’s south Lebanon base is synchronized with its new center in the Gaza Strip for a mega-attack in Israel. Israeli officials seem unworried by this new menace from Gaza, but the Americans are concerned lest Mughniyeh has been tasked to orchestrate simultaneous strikes against Israel from its northern and southern borders.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 09:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Imad Mughniyeh, the long-sought Hizballah terrorist and hostage-taker, is touring Palestinian refugee camps in the south..."

Really? Very bold assertion.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 12/06/2005 11:17 Comments || Top||

#2  A large CIA-FBI team has arrived in Lebanon to find out what what Mughniyeh is up to in southern Lebanon.

Get up close and personal... But we all know I-Maddy is looking for a few good dupes with promises of vestel virgins and peeled grapes...
Posted by: BigEd || 12/06/2005 14:20 Comments || Top||


Many killed in Tehran plane crash
An Iranian military plane with 94 people on board has crashed into a building in a heavily built-up suburb of the capital Tehran. There was a huge explosion and fire in the 10-storey block. Police said everyone had died on the plane and many deaths were feared on the ground.
I guess I feel sorry for the innocent people killed on the ground
State television said the C-130 plane encountered a technical problem shortly after take-off from Mehrabad airport. All of Tehran's hospitals have been put on alert to receive casualties. The semi-official Fars news agency said so far at least 40 bodies had been recovered. Tehran state radio said at least 25 people had been killed in the building and 15 were injured.

BBC Tehran correspondent Frances Harrison says the city is currently covered in a blanket of smog because air pollution is especially high, but it is not known if this played a role in the crash.
Bush should have signed on to Kyoto..
One local shopkeeper described how he noticed something appeared to be wrong with the plane before it crashed. "We are used to aeroplanes but I thought: 'Oh my God, this one is going to crash'. Then it struck the building with a big bang and smoke came pouring out."
Yeah, we know..
Emergency services rushed to the scene in the Yaftabad district and the area was sealed off.

BBCPersian.com reader Amir, who reached the scene shortly after the crash, said the building was engulfed in smoke and dust and a huge fire swept through the block before the fire brigade arrived. "The scene of crash was very bad. Very soon we saw bodies carried away," he said. The plane was due to fly from Tehran to Bandar Abbas in the south-west of Iran. Passengers are said to have included a group of journalists sent to cover military exercises there.
Like I said, innocents on the ground
The Iranian air force is believed to have about 15 ageing US-made C-130s in operation, dating back to before the 1979 Islamic revolution and the US boycott of Iran.
Wait for it...
The country has a poor record of civil and military aircraft safety. In 2003, an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in south-east Iran killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard. Officials blame the high frequency of crashes on a lack of aviation spare parts due to American sanctions.
Just like we thought. Now excuse me, I really need to go get this meter fixed.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 08:42 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That is why I prefer russian transports over westen ones: when they crash they kill more scum (276 against 94) and less innocents.
Posted by: JFM || 12/06/2005 9:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Amazing how they manage to pin the blame on the U.S.

I suppose they blame us for the lack of progress in the Nuke talks too. After all we should give Iran a steady supply of nukes to bomb us with. (At least according to the BBS'es way of thinking)

Asshat Journalists.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/06/2005 9:08 Comments || Top||

#3  "We are used to aeroplanes but I thought: 'Oh my God, this one is going to crash'. Then it struck the building with a big bang and smoke came pouring out."

Hmmm. Sounds familiar. Did you check to see if any Saudis were on board?
Posted by: Dave D. || 12/06/2005 9:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Steve, you better not be trying to blame your busted meter on US sanctions...

/surely the Zionists have a hand in this somehow
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/06/2005 9:15 Comments || Top||

#5  hopefully the entire nuke science staff was on board
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 9:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Iran just signed a multi-bilion dollar deal with russia. Why the hell are they still flying C-130s? Good riddance to bad islamists!
Posted by: mmurray821 || 12/06/2005 9:45 Comments || Top||

#7  THey have more accidents because of poor maintanance. Why fix it when everything is determined by the will of Alan, peace be onto him.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/06/2005 9:46 Comments || Top||

#8  At least 120 people die in an Iranian military C130 transport plane crash into a 10-storey residential building in a Tehran suburb. All 94 passengers and crew are dead plus a rising number of victims on the ground.
Tehran state radio reports a technical hitch caused the disaster. The plane was heading for Bandar Abbas when it tried to make an emergency landing at Maharabad international airport. DEBKAfile reports Iran's navy and Revolutionary Guards have headquarters at Bandar Abbas. The passengers aboard the C130 were very likely officers of either corps.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 9:48 Comments || Top||

#9  in wish we had about 5 more of these a week out of tehran myself
Posted by: Jerelet Thineling2988 || 12/06/2005 10:13 Comments || Top||

#10  Usually when something bad happens to us it is a sign from Allan. Perhaps Allan is mad a Tehran about the prospect of nukes.
Posted by: Intrinsicpilot || 12/06/2005 10:35 Comments || Top||

#11  Oh, I forgot to issue the accompanying Fatwa...I declare Iran "Nuke Free".
Posted by: Intrinsicpilot || 12/06/2005 10:43 Comments || Top||

#12  Gee, I guess they should fly their OWN planes, which they probably have LOTS of spare parts for...

What? Iran DOESN'T PRODUCE any aircraft?

How shocking. I blame Bush.
Posted by: mojo || 12/06/2005 11:38 Comments || Top||

#13  An Iranian military plane with 94 people on board has crashed into a building in a heavily built-up suburb of the capital Tehran.

That percussive sound in the background is my irony meter detonating.

Officials blame the high frequency of crashes on a lack of aviation spare parts due to American sanctions.

As usual, that elusive mystical scientific enigma known as Cause & Effect persists in confounding even the most sagacious of Persian journalists.

Iran's lack of aviation parts is not due to any sanctions. It's because they flout even the most basic forms of diplomatic protocol, like International Soil. Doing just that excludes them from the global community. Because they choose to cripple their own participation in the free market of aviation parts is no fault of ours.

I can only wonder what our horrific reward would have been had we ignored the 1979 hostage crisis and continued to sell Iran military hardware. Iran's mullahs will continue to drink their countrymen's blood until aenemia kills them all. My heart pumps p!ss.
Posted by: Zenster || 12/06/2005 12:26 Comments || Top||

#14  mojo,

Iran does produce it's own aircraft :

http://www.iranmania.com/news/currentaffairs/images/330iran1402.jpg


Posted by: lyot || 12/06/2005 13:01 Comments || Top||

#15  That's an Antonov 140, which the Iranians assemble from kit. A more interesting example is the Azarakhsh, a reverse engineered, scaled up 1950's US F-5 Tiger. Were they able to reverse engineer the engines or did they buy from the Russians?

Frome Janes:
The journal says the aircraft is a light fighter and ground attack plane with avionics and radar of Iranian design, and "certain critical components" of Russian origin. Jane's Defence Weekly says its sources describe the Azarakhsh as "a highly capable aircraft despite its conventional design".


Posted by: ed || 12/06/2005 13:26 Comments || Top||

#16  A plane loaded with Iranian journalists slammed into a 10-story apartment building Tuesday as the pilot attempted an emergency landing after developing engine trouble. At least 128 people were killed _ 34 on the ground. Witnesses said the C-130 plummeted to earth after ripping open the top of the building and igniting a large fire. Cars were smashed and debris was scattered over a wide area. Panicked residents fled the Towhid residential complex, a series of high-rise apartment buildings for air force personnel in the Azadi suburb of Tehran.

Officials said everyone on the plane, 84 passengers and a crew of 10, was killed. Most were Iranian radio and television journalists heading to cover military maneuvers in southern Iran. In addition to the 34 residents of the apartment building who died, 90 were injured, Tehran state radio said.

The plane, which belonged to the army air force, had just taken off for Bandar Abbas in southern Iran when it developed engine trouble. As it headed back to Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, the pilot was unable to maintain sufficient altitude and hit the apartment complex, state-run television said.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 16:11 Comments || Top||

#17  A C-130 will easily fly on two engines and will land with one. Can't see all four engines going out unless they never inspected the fuel tanks and lines for contaminant buildup. Did someone fill up a fuel tank with water instead of jet fuel?
Posted by: ed || 12/06/2005 17:32 Comments || Top||

#18  Bah, F5's.

Antique junk, but sexy antique junk. Nice 2-engine design, lots of power. Stubby wings, though. I flew the T-38 2-seat trainer version about 20 years ago.
Posted by: mojo || 12/06/2005 17:52 Comments || Top||

#19  Seafarious,

You do know that no Jews died in the plane crash, don't you? Could it have been a Mossad plot? Could it be that Israel had warned the 4000 Jews to stay away that day?
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 12/06/2005 22:08 Comments || Top||


Iran rejects Russian nuclear compromise
Iran's insistence on enriching uranium on its own soil amounts to a "unilateral" rejection of a Russian proposal to resolve a nuclear standoff with the West, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Monday.

Douste-Blazy is the first senior European minister to publicly express dismay at the negotiating stance of the Iranians, ahead of fresh talks expected later this month.

Iran has said its nuclear program will enrich uranium only to a level suitable for civilian atomic-power reactors, but the United States and European Union fear Tehran will use the same technology to make bomb-grade material.

To minimize that possibility, Moscow proposes taking in Iranian uranium for enrichment and then returning it to Iran. But Tehran has said it will only accept proposals that allow it to conduct a full nuclear fuel cycle at home.

"The Russians have made a proposal to Iran for the possibility of a joint venture for enriching nuclear material for Iran. But the Iranians, in a way, have unilaterally refused this," Douste-Blazy told reporters during an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting in Slovenia.

"The Europeans wish to give time to negotiations so as to show the Iranians that what we precisely want is to achieve something through negotiations," he said. "We are not trying to humiliate them. But so far Iran has said 'no' to everything."

The Islamic Republic rejects suspicions that it is bent on making atomic bombs. It says its nuclear project aims solely to generate electricity. But Iran hid its nuclear work from U.N. inspectors for 18 years until 2003, raising alarm in the West.

Talks between Iran and the EU trio of Britain, Germany and France spearheading diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis are to resume within weeks, diplomats say, but differences over the agenda appear to be holding things up.

The EU3-Iran dialogue broke down in August when Iran removed U.N. seals at its Isfahan nuclear facility and began processing uranium, the stage prior to uranium enrichment.

"We want to give every chance for negotiations. We have done all our utmost to resume negotiations and bring them (Iran) back within the international community," Douste-Blazy said.

Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, told Reuters on Sunday that Tehran's patience regarding Western opposition to its nuclear program was wearing thin and it would give the EU only a few months to settle the matter through talks.

On Monday, Larijani said Iran would invite bidders to tender for construction of two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors, signaling Tehran would sally forth with plans to establish a large-scale nuclear industry despite Western opposition.

The announcement, which did not give a time frame for the tenders or construction, came on the heels of news on Sunday that the government had approved construction of a locally built reactor in the province of Khuzestan.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), decided at a board meeting last month to put off a vote on referring Iran for possible U.N. sanctions in favor of giving time for Russian diplomacy to bear fruit.

But Western powers on the board also warned their patience was limited, citing a September board resolution finding Iran in non-compliance with safeguards provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Tehran is a signatory.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/06/2005 03:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I would like, very very much, for the EU dancers, the Iranian negotiator, the Russian FM meddlers, and most especially ElBaradei be together in a meeting and...

The last thing they see is a yellow-orange fireball...

The last thing they feel is the searing heat melting their eyes...

The last thing they hear is "Allahu Akhbar!"...

Then I would consider the last year's worth of mindless dithering to have a purpose unseen by everyone here the day it began.
Posted by: .com || 12/06/2005 5:51 Comments || Top||

#2  It occurs to me that we are sitting on the brink of Iran, with it's mad terrorist leader, acquiring and using a nuclear weapon. However, if I didn't read rantburg, I probably wouldn't even have a clue of how serious this situation is...or for that matter, that there was even was a situation to begin with.

I guess all the fussy people just think that mommy and daddy Israel or the USA will make it all go away. Not sure we going to be able to do that this time. It's the first time I've ever felt truly alarmed.
Posted by: 2b || 12/06/2005 7:00 Comments || Top||

#3  "It occurs to me that we are sitting on the brink of Iran, with it's mad terrorist leader, acquiring and using a nuclear weapon."

Sure looks that way.

The Mad Mullahs are very likely asking themselves three questions right about now:

(1) Does Israel have the capability of stopping us from nuking her into oblivion once we get The Bomb?

(2) Does America have the political will to mount a pre-emptive strike which could destroy our nuclear capability before we get The Bomb?

(3) Would America have the political will to retaliate against us after we destroy Israel?


I suspect they'll conclude-- partly on the basis of what they're hearing from our media, and partly from wishful thinking-- the answer to all three questions is "NO."

And if that's the case, a couple million people may end up paying with their lives for the cynical anti-war posturing of our Democratic Party.
Posted by: Dave D. || 12/06/2005 8:04 Comments || Top||

#4  We are truly moving into a new era. If the asshats get nuclear weapons, they or their proxies will use them. The retaliation should be massive. .com might see his vision fulfilled.

The only option I see is Zenster's massive decapitation strike with conventional weapons keeping nukes as a reserve position.
Posted by: SR-71 || 12/06/2005 8:04 Comments || Top||

#5  You give the Israelis too little credit. We don't know what they'll come up with, but they can't and won't just roll over and let this happen.
Posted by: Elmineger Elmoluque4082 || 12/06/2005 8:48 Comments || Top||

#6  The only questions the Mullahs should be asking themselves:

Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?
Posted by: Captain America || 12/06/2005 9:03 Comments || Top||

#7  Douste-Blazy is the first senior European minister to publicly express dismay at the negotiating stance of the Iranians...

Funny how people like this are always dismayed by events that a reasonably well-informed twelve year old could have predicted.

Ah, nuance...
Posted by: dushan || 12/06/2005 10:32 Comments || Top||

#8  What are the odds they will maintain their reactors better than their Hercs....?
Posted by: Canuck || 12/06/2005 11:53 Comments || Top||

#9  The only option I see is Zenster's massive decapitation strike with conventional weapons keeping nukes as a reserve position.

Thank you, SR-71, but .com also deserves credit here as well. He, too, has been a staunch advocate of decapping the mullahs for even longer than I have. Perhaps I've just been a little more strident vocal about it.

None of this changes the fact that merely wrecking Iran's nuclear arms fabrication infrastructure will not bring sufficient change. There needs to be a top-down purge of all those who propagate terrorist sponsorship and the pursuit of atomic weapons.

We can choose to do this before Iran precipitates a nuclear catastrophe or we can sit back and watch Israel, in its death throes, glass over the entire Middle East. More power to Israel if they are capable of pre-emptive intervention, but there is no proof positive of such a capability.

As a nation and prime target of the Islamists, America owes it to itself (above and beyond the 1979 hostage crisis, and regardless of Israel) to neutralize a country that will surely become a purveyor of atomic bombs to terrorists. For some time, we have already endured the slings and arrows of having acted unilaterally in Iraq. We already have been the focus of Muslim hatred for decades. What is there to lose?

It is now for us to decide just how much is at stake with a nuclear armed Iran. I say that this one is for all the marbles. The mullahs have repeatedly demonstrated a total disregard of consequences, be it for 1979, sponsoring Hizbollah, fomenting the Iraqi insurgency or a raft of other international crimes. It is impossible to think that Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons will have any other outcome than what has preceded this already extant string of calamities.

There is no proof that, once having acquired atomic weapons, Iran will suddenly lapse into some more peaceful mode of existence. More likely, we will be greeted with incessant proliferation of nuclear technology to other Islamist regimes, covert delivery of atomic weapons and materiel to terrorist organizations and the very strong possibility of a nuclear attack on Israel.

As mentioned yesterday by pan49, there is no upside to this equation. Inaction, sanctions and negotiation all have the exact same end result; Time lost in bringing Iran to account and further risk to the entire Middle East, Muslim populations included.

Iran must be stopped. The mullahs must die. End of story.

Posted by: Zenster || 12/06/2005 14:43 Comments || Top||

#10  "Douste-Blazy is the first senior European minister to publicly express dismay at the negotiating stance of the Iranians..."

"negotiating Stance"???

They're not nogotiating with you, they're LAUGHING at you, ya farggin' idgit!

Posted by: Hyper || 12/06/2005 16:28 Comments || Top||

#11  Canuck - the Iranians acquired the C130's in 1973. It's taken this long for things to get REALLY bad with them. It would take at least 20 years for the reactors to go bad, unless they hire the out-of-work Chernobyl staff.

Israel will probably surprise us all, the Iranians most especially. Their "Jerico" missile has a 300km range, and can carry nukes - it doesn't worry Iran. The "Massada" is supposed to have a 3000km range, and can be mirved. Haven't read much about it, but it's supposedly deployed in deep underground shelters in "unusual" places. The "Massada" SHOULD worry Iran, but they may doubt its existence. The only tests were carried out in South Africa in the 1980's.

Iran has talked its way into a corner. I'm afraid it's going to get very nasty in the Middle East before things get better. I hope the US forces in Iraq have infiltrated Monkey-boy's militia. The sh$$ will start with another "uprising", I'm sure.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/06/2005 17:09 Comments || Top||

#12  count me among the decap strike group - I also want to see the material assets and family holdings "owned" by the MM's to be taken out . This has been a "religious kleptocracy" more than anything else. They've used the Islamic nbightstick to accrue personal wealth. Nothing says "time's up" better than a large-ass explosion and fire at every one of your financial holdings
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 17:51 Comments || Top||

#13  I have to agree with a 'decap' scenario, but I'd prefer it to be done by stealth. Of course, that would require a competent, no, excellent CIA, and I don't think we have that capability right now.

But if we did, I'd prefer to start whacking MM's and key MM supporters, nuclear scientists, etc. in various ways, all of which would be denied, of course. Lots of car accidents, heart attacks and banana peels.

There's more than one way to take down a tough target. I'd prefer the quiet way, if we could manage it.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/06/2005 19:12 Comments || Top||

#14  Steve, it'll be pretty tough to disguise the various large explosions needed to make their weapons R&D infrastructure go away. Snuffing the leadership and scientists is great, but rather complicated. Our HUMINT in Iran sucketh a mighty wind of late.

Additionally, while some may argue the point, I maintain that it might be a healthy thing to simply make it known that Iran hath pissed us off sufficiently to where we have now made their entire nuclear weapons program and its ardent admirerers so much twisted wreckage and torn flesh.

Iran will not be the last tin pot dictatorship to require this treatment. We may as well get the world used to the fact that terrorist sponsors and sundry aspirants to nuclear capability will begin meeting with extreme unpleasantness from now on.

We no longer have the soldiers and materiel to scatter into the four winds as we fight the well-distributed base of terrorist infrastructure. Additionally, I am tired of spilling American blood with the sole purpose of doing all the heavy lifting for our putative allies. If they want to stand around and watch, let them watch us be swift and awesome in our acts and enough of this prinking about.

The time is long past for diplomatic delicacy. The dire threat of terrorism demands immediate results with less consideration for collateral damage than used to be permissible. If no one wants to be of assistance (with a nod to Britain and Australia), then let's get the job done with the least amount of our blood being shed.
Posted by: Zenster || 12/06/2005 20:48 Comments || Top||

#15  Everything I've read about producing nuclear materials indicates they need a great consumption of electrical power. Watch the news for blackouts in Iran...
Posted by: Flerert Whese8274 || 12/06/2005 20:49 Comments || Top||

#16  Amen, Zen.

tick... tock... Mullahwankers.
Posted by: .com || 12/06/2005 20:55 Comments || Top||

#17  They demand to be invaded by Russia to protect Iran from the Amer Marines and Army. As wid Iraq, the Clinton-led Dems will indir supp the war(s) as long as Dubya & Co. keeps spending and invading - you know, criticizing the War vv MURTHA!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/06/2005 21:20 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Al-Qaeda Launches CD Of Bin Laden's Speeches
The al-Qaeda terrorist network has just launched a new CD compilation of Osama Bin Laden’s speeches from 2002 to December 2004, a copy of which has been exclusively obtained by Adnkronos International from sources in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Just in time for the Christmas shopping season
According to a senior Pakistani intelligence anlayst, the new CD, which is set to flood the markets, is "clearly aimed at connecting with the common masses all over the world."

"Previously, al-Qaeda used to spread propaganda material which would motivate people to join the Afghan resistance but this new CD does not aim for that," said a senior Pakistani intelligence analyst. "The speeches selected for the CD are not simply propaganda material to instigate people for war but instead presented as in-depth analysis on al-Qaeda’s approach and a clarification of their various actions and their justifications,” the analyst added.
So it's a long format collection of his greatest hits, the directors cut with bonus material
Each speech by the al-Qaeda leader addresses a specific audience; one targeting the Pakistani population (2002), another to the American public, on the eve of the US presidential elections in 2004, while others were tailored for a European or Saudi Arabian public. The CD also includes a speech, accompanied by images of war and destruction in Iraq, which is presented as a tribute to the Iraqi resistance.

Contrary to previous messages from the al-Qaeda leader, when most of the video CDs were usually based on images without any description either in Arabic or in Pashtu, the new video appears to be developed using highly professional techniques and probably in a well-equipped studio. It is believed that the studio may be in the tribal areas of North Waziristan, which lies on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The video offers high audio-visual quality and there are even English slides to accompany the speeches which are addressed to the non-Arabic nations. At the same time, a separate PDF-formatted file has been placed along with the video in the CD, with transcripts of the speeches available in various languages including Urdu, Persian, English and Arabic. "This latest package showed clearly one thing - that al-Qaeda has strongly re-grouped and in an organized manner has spread its propaganda material to the whole of the Muslim world," commented a senior Pakistani security official.

The longest speech in the compilation is bin Laden’s December 2004 address to the people of Saudi Arabia - the last the world has heard from him. Outlining the differences between the people and the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the reasons behind these divergences, he presents an in-depth historical and political analysis. The speech in December 2004 came ten days after the 6 December attack by militants in Saudi Arabia on the US consulate in Jeddah.

In another of the speeches, bin Laden addressed the American people on October 29, 2004, just before the US presidential elections on 2 November. Two other speeches from last year are also included, one addressed to the Iraqis, another offering a 'truce' to Europe.

In 2003, he gave another message to the Iraqis, and yet another one where he addressed to American public after the US invasion in Iraq in March 2003.
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 11:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You know the band's jumped the shark when they issue another lame-ass "Greatest Hits" cd.
Posted by: BH || 12/06/2005 11:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Has it got his speech to the Democrat Nominating Convention in Boston '04? That was a classic.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/06/2005 11:25 Comments || Top||

#3  The Collectors' Complete Memorial edition.
Posted by: Spurt Clomble7808 || 12/06/2005 11:30 Comments || Top||

#4  With a GoogleEarth photo of the Kashmiri rubble, and liner notes by Dan Darling.
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/06/2005 11:34 Comments || Top||

#5  "Rappin' Usama" now available at We B Records.
Posted by: mojo || 12/06/2005 11:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Ossama "Hotblack Desiato" BinLaden
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/06/2005 12:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Bootlegs will be sold in Chinatown next week.
Posted by: doc || 12/06/2005 13:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Posted by: aljazcds.com || 12/06/2005 14:13 Comments || Top||

#9  Sheesh! Who's doing the duping and distribution of this garbage and why can't we make sure they end up in some rubble somewhere (or their ratting carcasses at least)?

Distribution of enemy propaganda surely qulaifies the manufacturer & distributor as an enemy as well does it not?
Posted by: LC FOTSGreg || 12/06/2005 14:30 Comments || Top||

#10  Sorry, but selling crap cds isn't a killable offense. If it was, Coldplay would be wormdirt by now.
Posted by: BH || 12/06/2005 14:48 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm just wonderin' if I call in the next 10 minutes, will I get that CD plus a set of Ginzu knives (or a bamboo steamer) for $19.95? Inquiring minds, ya know!
Posted by: BA || 12/06/2005 14:56 Comments || Top||

#12  will I get that CD plus a set of Ginsu knives

"Slices, dices, lops off infidels heads and is still sharp enough to thin slice this tomato! But wait, there's more"
Posted by: Steve || 12/06/2005 15:51 Comments || Top||

#13  I am holding out until he tours Europe with the Zarqawets.
Posted by: Nockeyes Nilsworth || 12/06/2005 15:52 Comments || Top||


Notes from the Sandbox part 3--Broadhead6, reporting
Rantburg regular Broadhead6 found a moment to let us know how he and his Marines are doing. We wish him and his unit all the best as they help Iraq prepare for Round 3 of elections. Merry Christmas dear Broadhead6 and all who serve!
Thanks all. It's been about 3 months since my last writings. I'm still in TQ doing my thing. It has actually been fairly quiet here. I've come to realize a few things since I've been here so here's a lengthy list for lost time:

1) The media truly focuses on the negative. For instance, we find hundreds of IED's and disarm, destroy, or neutralize them on a daily basis all across Iraq. That almost never gets reported. However, the one that goes off or kills someone gets played ad nauseum. It amazes me how easy the nightly news compounds the bad events as if we were losing the war. Everytime I call home I have to dispell rumors and bullshit precipitated by some ass hole journalist. Yes, mistakes are made as w/any human endeavor. It's not a video game or some silly ass hollywood movie. I hate the zero defects mentality the arm chair quaterbacks back home take on. No matter how much you train and try to do the right thing, shit still happens. No one realizes that for all the hundreds of convoys we run on a daily basis in theater so few bad things actually do happen - it's amazing. If you look at the statistics we're doing real well.

2) I've been here 3 months. I have not seen one MSM reporter. Minus the one from Argentina a month back that I think flew here on accident.

3) We go so far out of our way not to hurt innocent people it goes beyond practicality. I'd like to punch a lot of these human rights pussies in the face who say we don't do enough or don't care about the locals....Idiots. Our ROE is clear. No, I personally could give a fuck about the locals - I don't like their culture and I don't like their society, but, I don't want to hurt anyone's kid or parent on accident. No military folks do. We all have families, we're all human beings. On the same token though, if some 12 yr old points a rifle at me or one of my Marines I will clip them w/out hesitation.

4) Everyone here is behind the mission. We want to do our job and then go home. Pretty common theme. Though I will tell you, close to 10% of my unit wants to stay another 6 months. My take is that we'll be down to company sized elements in 5 yrs out here.

5) This is not Viet Nam, not even close. Heck, not even the same sport. We held a successful Referendum and are getting ready to handle a permanent election. They wrote a constitution and there is no Ho Chi Minh like figures here. The comparisons don't wash no matter how much some fat drunken politicians would like to wax ecstatic about it. BTW, its a matter of time before that socio-path Zarqawi gets clipped, if he hasn't already.

6) Someone put on a VDH article ("Moral War") on the 'burg yesterday. You nailed it. That guy has a command of history and practicality wrt current events most so called elites will never grasp. I love his gig and I'd like to shake VDH's hand just for that article.

7) Most westerners don't understand the tribal nature of the mid-east. We do need to do that better next time around. We also made mistakes in firing all the Iraqi officers and NCO's from the old Army. Patton had the same problem in Bavaria when he was the governor general after WWII. For a lot of people (most westerners can't grasp this) being a Ba'athist was like being a republican or democrat. Not all Ba'athists were blood thirsty baby killers though many should be tried, jailed, or executed for their actions. Some took on that title just so Saddam would leave them and their families alone. I call it a 'lesson learned' out here in reality.

8) War sucks but unfortunately this one was necessary. Hussein needed to be deposed (for violating the UN resolution written in the blood of 299 Americans 17 times over 12 years was enough for me) and we couldn't just leave the place in a vacuum. Cause meet effect.
Re-building this place is hard, dirty, and gritty work. It's not pretty, clean, or easy. I'm not a huge GWB fan but at least he stated that up front and has the grapefruits to stay the course. I'm sick of people taking weak pot shots at the prez, he's got bigger balls then clinton, kerry, & carter combined. Yes, I disagree w/him on immigration and the environment but I think he sees the big picture down the long hiway of Iraq. I don't want my kid here in 20 yrs un-fucking this place when we can do it now. (He can go kill North Koreans if he has to.) Look at Japan/Germany in 1945. Fast forward 60 years and look at our trading partners. I believe Iraq could be a similar success. However, I'm not sure if the average instant gratification 3 second attention span dufus back home thinks about posterity and that 2,100 dead now (though tragic) may stop ten times that many from being killed 20 yrs from now.

9) Fuck Cindy Sheehan. We're all volunteers lady, quit using your son's death for your lame political pulpit. He lived and died a warrior, have the decency to honor him as such. I know she's grieving and I pray for for her soul. I can't imagine losing my little boy but she disrepects his free choice to live like he wanted to w/her charades. I'd come back from the grave and choke the dog shit out of my folks if they pulled that shit.

I could go on all day but you get the drift. Anyways, I'll try to write back again in the next couple months. Hopefully you got something out of my ranting & I didn't insult your intel's too bad. Bottomline, your Marines here are in pretty high spirits and we're fighting the good fight, I'm so proud of my lads here I can't begin to say. Take care and have a great Christmas!

Semper Fidelis

Broadhead6

P.S. Drink some spiked egg nog for me!
Favorite eggnog and other seasonal festive beverage recipes welcome encouraged in comments:
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/06/2005 08:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Great report! Thanks, BH6, keep well and safe and write back soon.
Posted by: Dave D. || 12/06/2005 9:19 Comments || Top||

#2  I'll drink a few for you.

I wish I were 1/10 as articulate as BH6. What he said agrees with my experience there.

BH6, do you mind if I plagerize borrow your stuff to explain Iraq and why we are winning to the idiots on campus?
Posted by: N guard || 12/06/2005 9:32 Comments || Top||

#3  BH6-
God bless you and your marines (and all the soldiers, sailors, and airmen too). Kick ass and stay safe.
Posted by: Spot || 12/06/2005 10:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Thanks for the reality update BH6, thanks for being there, and stay safe!!
Posted by: docob || 12/06/2005 10:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Thanks for the update, BH6. Stay safe, and drop in from time to time to let us know you're ok.
Posted by: BH || 12/06/2005 10:17 Comments || Top||

#6  This may sound discouraging, but may help confirm some of your suspicions.

Twenty years ago, when I was in the Army, we knew that the left and the democratic party didn't much care for us. But that disdain, that lack of understanding and just plain ignorance was nothing compared to what I see today.

Marine, the democratic party and the left as a whole hate your guts.

I mean they passionately want to see you lose in battle, they crave to see you die and your enemy to dance on your flag and drag your bodies through the street. To see you humbled and brought down and that which you love, destroyed.

Good Lord. What sickness of the soul has brought them to this?

The vast majority of Americans like you. No, they love you. You are America's best sons and daughters. Your cause is just, your honor intact, and your means above repute. But the lies and the hate are just never ending.

It is getting hard. The reports you read are just the tip of the iceberg. The only comparison I can make with the left would be the passionate defenders of slavery just prior to the Civil War.

I do not fear for our republic, as their efforts have resulted in the democratic party being stripped of elective office in much of the country. But they still have America's ear, and daily, they and their accomplices pour their bile and lies into it.

The folks that have been true to you, remain so.

But each one of you that can write home, to your family, your friends, and to your community through your home town newspaper, give us all hope and the support we need against this bodyguard of lies.

It is a second war, a war of the spirit, and like in the War on Terror, with 70 enemy casualties to our one, a single letter written by one of you outweighs 70 lies by those that hate you. For what you see with your own eyes and feel with your own hearts is as true as an arrow. It dispels the fog of war. It gives us strength.

Do not worry for us, for we trust in you, and we will do okay. But please, tell your friends not to be silent, that we miss your voices, and that you also serve your country by letting us know that you are in good spirits.

The honor is yours. We fly the blue star banner.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/06/2005 11:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Thanks for the direct info, yes the MSM is killing us.
Stay safe, well and focused, and thank you for your service.
I will drink an eggnog in your honor, actually several.
As Mark Twain's observation that "too much of anything is bad, but too much whiskey is just enough". This I found in the Joy Of Cooking cookbook.
Posted by: Jan || 12/06/2005 11:38 Comments || Top||

#8  Thanks for the update! To the point and well put.

BTW: "The comparisons don't wash no matter how much some fat drunken politicians would like to wax ecstatic about it." sounds suspiciously like one of my Senators from the Commonwealth of Mass. Purely coincidental, right?

God bless all of you, and please stay safe.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 12/06/2005 12:13 Comments || Top||

#9  Good luck, good hunting, and get home safe.
Posted by: Mike || 12/06/2005 12:21 Comments || Top||

#10  BH6, I can't tell you how proud I am of you and your men. Thanks so much for the update. It is consistent with the information we get from Bill Roggio (Fourth Rail/Threats Watch.org) and Michael Yon and virtually all of the mil bloggers.

The MSM are liars and at best they don't understand you. More likely, at worst, they regard you with disdain. The victory you achieve will reveal them and the Democrats to be the swine that they are. Stay true to your mission and know that we at Rantburg, like most of the American people, are behind you 100%.

Merry Christmas Marine.
Posted by: remoteman || 12/06/2005 12:27 Comments || Top||

#11  Couldn't say it better myself.

God bless ya Broadhead6!
Posted by: Ptah || 12/06/2005 12:28 Comments || Top||

#12  For the record, the Christmas drink of choice from my Swedish heritage is glogg: hot mulled wine with vodka (Absolut, of course). I'll hoist one for you.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 12/06/2005 12:32 Comments || Top||

#13  Xbalanke, remember that Glogg and Glocks don't mix!
Posted by: remoteman || 12/06/2005 13:06 Comments || Top||

#14  remoteman, I hope that's just friendly advice and not the voice of experience.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 12/06/2005 13:30 Comments || Top||

#15  Good luck and Godspeed, Marine! I thank you and yours for you being on the front line. We want you on that wall, we need you on that wall! And your point about not seeing 1 reporter at all your entire tour says tons! I can't believe you'd expect them to report from outside the Baghdad Hilton (/sarcasm off/)! Please keep us updated on the mission's progress!
Posted by: BA || 12/06/2005 14:37 Comments || Top||

#16  Was just wondering about you the other day! Wondering if I had missed one of your posts.

Take care of yourself, we know you will take care of your men. And remember, there are lots and lots of folks thinking about you through these upcoming elections and holidays.

Posted by: Wife of a Marine guarding the streets of Heaven (Sherry) || 12/06/2005 16:03 Comments || Top||

#17  ...Merry Christmas, Broadhead6
Posted by: Rantfan || 12/06/2005 16:35 Comments || Top||

#18  Stay sharpe and safe. The Parris Island skeeters miss you.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/06/2005 16:38 Comments || Top||

#19  Broadhead6, Merry Christmas to you and your men. We are behind you 1000%

Posted by: Jack Bross || 12/06/2005 16:51 Comments || Top||

#20  amen here!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/06/2005 17:46 Comments || Top||

#21  Happy Holidays to ya, bh6!
Posted by: Raj || 12/06/2005 18:15 Comments || Top||

#22  BH6, thanks for the update. It should be required reading for the Left. Stay safe, and anytime you're in Chicago the first one is on me.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/06/2005 18:58 Comments || Top||

#23  Excellent commentary, BH6! Echoing all the good wishes. I'm betting if you follow your instincts we'll get you back safe - with a sizable dent in the Bad Guy Brigades as a bonus.
Posted by: .com || 12/06/2005 19:05 Comments || Top||

#24  Thanks for the update BH6. Merry Festivus Christmas to you and your Marines.
Posted by: ed || 12/06/2005 19:36 Comments || Top||



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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In no particular order...
Steve White
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trailing wife
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Fred
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2005-12-06
  Sami al-Arian walks
Mon 2005-12-05
  Allawi sez gunmen tried to assassinate him
Sun 2005-12-04
  Sistani sez "Support your local holy man"
Sat 2005-12-03
  Qaeda #3 helizapped in Waziristan
Fri 2005-12-02
  10 Marines Killed in Bombing Near Fallujah
Thu 2005-12-01
  Khalid Habib, Abd Hadi al-Iraqi appointed new heads of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan
Wed 2005-11-30
  Kidnapping campaign back on in Iraq
Tue 2005-11-29
  3 out of 5 Syrian Supects Delivered to Vienna
Mon 2005-11-28
  Yemen Executes Holy Man for Murder of Politician
Sun 2005-11-27
  Belgium arrests 90 in raid on human smuggling ring
Sat 2005-11-26
  Moroccan prosecutor charges 17 Islamists
Fri 2005-11-25
  Ohio holy man to be deported
Thu 2005-11-24
  DEBKA: US Marines Battling Inside Syria
Wed 2005-11-23
  Morocco, Spain Smash Large al-Qaeda Net
Tue 2005-11-22
  Israel Troops Kill Four Hezbollah Fighters

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