WASHINGTON (AP) - More than three-fourths of the people living in Afghanistan say living conditions, security from crime and freedom of expression have improved from the days when they were living under Taliban rule, an ABC News poll says.
On the questions of jobs and economic opportunity, people are evenly divided on whether economic opportunities are better or worse. Almost nine in 10 - 87 percent - say the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2002 was a good thing for the people of Afghanistan. And three-fourths of Afghans say their country is headed in the right direction, far higher than in the United States, where only three of 10 say that.
The optimism comes in a country where people say by a 2-1 margin that their own economic situation is bad, medical care is limited and basic services like electricity are not available for many people.
Six in 10 Afghans say attacks on U.S. troops cannot be justified, while three in 10 say they can.
The poll of 1,089 adults was conducted by Charney Research with field work by the Afghan Center for Social and Opinion Research in Kabul from Oct. 8-18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2005 00:00 ||
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Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to Washington said on Wednesday the failure to capture Osama bin Laden only enhanced a sense of al Qaeda's invincibility and said that the group remained capable of launching attacks. Although U.S. officials have described al Qaeda as diminished after U.S.-led assaults, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief, said the group was "alive and well" and its leaders were "quite capable of issuing orders and having those orders followed."
In a wide-ranging first meeting with reporters, Turki insisted Saudi Arabia would not follow suit if rival Gulf power Iran develops nuclear weapons, which Washington believes it is trying to do. Turki reaffirmed concerns that Iran was exerting "undue influence" in Iraq and expressed optimism that turmoil in Iraq would abate if a government due to be elected next week is able to prove its legitimacy to the Iraqi people.
Turki has been charged with improving Saudi relations with the United States which deteriorated after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, carried out by mostly Saudi-born hijackers. His predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, left several months ago to head Saudi Arabia's national security council after serving in Washington for more than two decades. In recent years Bandar rarely spoke with reporters on the record.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2005 02:19 ||
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#1
Being, along with his entire family, one of the worst---he'd know.
#2
Turki has been charged with improving Saudi relations with the United States which deteriorated after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, carried out by mostly Saudi-born hijackers.
#3
Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief, said the group was "alive and well" and its leaders were "quite capable of issuing orders and having those orders followed."
And.... Prince Turki, as a man obviously "in the know," please tell us precisely what are your plans to assist us regarding this capability? Other than attend parties, chase *****, drive fast cars, and go flying, Bandar did virtually nothing while he was here in the big PX.
#4
Turki has been kissing mullah Omar and Osama's @ss for so long he blows his nose with toilet paper. If this pr!ck was our mortal enemy there would be ZERO change in how things stand at present. Whenever you think of how treacherous Saudi Arabia is, picture this bipedal rectal cavity in your mind.
An eight-member explosive expert team that arrived in city Monday from Singapore today (Tuesday) visited the two places where suicide bombers set off bombs killing 10 people and injuring many more, reports UNB.
The explosive experts, accompanied by officials of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), elite force RAB and police, went to Gazipur this noon and examined the two spots. They later held a meeting with Gazipur Police Super at his office and discussed the matter. When contacted a senior police official of the district said the foreign explosive experts visited the spots, but declined to elaborate.
"We can say no more!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2005 00:00 ||
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KICKBACKS paid by Australia's monopoly wheat exporter to the regime of Saddam Hussein were put into a bank account used to finance a $US10million ($13 million) slush fund for families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
We knew about the payouts but we didn't know the source.
US Government and CIA documents reveal a trail of blood money flowing from companies now known to have taken bribes into bank accounts in Jordan, which were then used by the Iraqi Government to pay money for deadly bombings or to buy weapons.
According to a US inquiry into the corrupt UN oil-for-food program, companies such as Jordanian firm Alia, which received hundreds of millions of dollars from Australian wheat exporter AWB, paid money into "front" accounts held under false names. These accounts were then emptied each evening into Iraqi Government accounts at the same bank and used for its international transactions.
Alia, which AWB says it thought was a trucking company, provided 15 per cent of the kickbacks uncovered by the investigation into rorting of the oil-for-food program. "According to information provided to this committee, Saddam paid $US25,000 rewards to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers through the Iraqi ambassador to Jordan," Republican congressman Henry Hyde, chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on international relations, told an oil-for-food hearing in November last year.
Continued on Page 49
OSLO, Dec 8 (AFP) - A plane suspected of carrying out covert prisoner transports for the US Central Intelligence Agency flew from Oslo to Paris in July, the Norwegian aviation authority Avinor confirmed on Thursday. Avinor stressed however that the aircraft may have been leased by others than the CIA. "I can confirm that a plane flew from Oslo to Paris Le Bourget" on July 20, Avinor spokesman Ove Narvesen told AFP. "But this kind of plane can be used by many others than the CIA," he added.
According to Norwegian weekly Ny Tid, a Gulfstream III with the registration number N50BH arrived at Oslo's Gardermoen airport on July 20 from Gander in Canada. It stopped over for several hours before flying on to Le Bourget. The weekly said that the plane was used several times by the CIA and landed at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Washington has held hundreds of "enemy combattants" captured in Afghanistan at the end of 2001.
According to Norwegian and French media, the CIA may have used the Oslo and Le Bourget airports for flights transporting prisoners. The US embassy in Oslo, questioned by the Norwegian foreign ministry, denied however that the Gulfstream III was used at that time by the CIA or any other part of the US administration.
On Wednesday, French Defence Minister MichÚle Alliot-Marie said French airports were "apparently not" used by CIA planes transporting undeclared prisoners, but admitted that doubts remained concerning certain flights. "There is a doubt concerning two civilian flights that travelled from Oslo to an eastern European country," and which may have made stopovers in France, she said. According to Narvesen, there were two passengers and two crew members on board the Gulfstream on July 20.
"As far as I know, this type of aircraft can also be rented to private people for completely different missions," he said, adding: "It may be erroneous to draw conclusions."
Reports of suspicious CIA planes secretly using airports have emerged in a number of European countries. The planes are believed to have flown suspected Islamic extremists to hidden prisons where they were possibly tortured.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2005 11:10 ||
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#1
I just hope they enjoyed their in flight complimentory pork sandwiches washed down by allah approved swine sperm beer.
#3
Hello in the rear, this is captain Bob speaking. We are making our final approach to Oslo's Gardermoen Airport, please make sure your seats and tray tables are in their upright and locked positions. For our sandbag-select passengers strapped to 463L pallets in the rear of the aircraft, kindly disregard this instruction. We know most of you have a choice in air travel carriers, thank you for choosing Air America, we appreciate your business. We'll be landing in approximately 15 minutes.
He's baaaaaack.
Abdullah Khadr is back in Canada after being released from Pakistan, a published report said on Wednesday. Khadr was escorted by Canadian officials on a flight to Toronto on Friday and released, said the Toronto Star. Legal documents cited by the newspaper indicate that the RCMP is investigating Khadr and his sister Zaynab for terrorism-related offences. His sister proudly admitted in a TV interview that she supports Al-Qaeda. She was wearing a burka at the time in case in the future she has to back-peddle on her comments.
Unconfirmed reports allege Abdullah ran an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan while he was teenager in the 1990s. He has not been charged criminally. The 24-year-old's family has been the subject of much speculation regarding their alleged links to terrorism. His brother, Omar Khadr, is the only Canadian held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. runs a detention centre. A special U.S. tribunal has charged Omar in connection with the killing of an American soldier during the Afghanistan war. He killed a combat medic, keep in mind.
Their father, Ahmed Said Khadr, is accused of financing terrorism and died in a 2003 gunfight with Pakistani troops. My condolences. To any injured Pakistani soldiers.
It's unclear who held Khadr in Pakistan and why he was released. He disappeared after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. and there has been no official confirmation of where he's been since then. The Toronto Star says U.S. authorities may ask the RCMP to lay unspecified charges against Khadr and have him extradited.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/08/2005 01:47 ||
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#1
admitted in a TV interview that she supports Al-Qaeda
Just to be clear, that was a Canadian interview, not some Al Jazeera station (where AQ veneration is dime-a-dozen).
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/08/2005 2:07 Comments ||
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The DRUDGE REPORT has learned from a top GOP operative that the Republican National Committee will provide state parties with a web video prior to release tomorrow afternoon that shows a white flag waving over images of Democrat leaders making anti-war remarks. The ad is in response to the controversial comments Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean and 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry made earlier in the week.
A Democratic strategist who had the web ad described to her said, âThis is way over the top but we have no one to blame but Dean, Kerry and others who continue to pander to the anti-war activists within our party.â
The web video advances the Republican contention that the Democrats only have a âretreat and defeatâ message on the war in Iraq. The video highlights the effect Democrats can have on the morale of U.S. soldiers.
One Republican strategist familiar with the ad said, âThe Democrats, especially Howard Dean have a way of trying to turn the tables and say âthatâs not what I meantâ â its just those âevil Republicansâ This video will make them crazy â it reinforces what they really believe with what they actually said â and that is devastating for the Democratic Party.â
#3
Dear Santa: thank you for John Kerry, Nany Pelosi, Howard Dean, and the rest of the big-mouth, small-brain losers.
signed Karl Rove
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2005 20:30 Comments ||
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I suspect that the ad is less for public consumption, and more to both create alarm and despondency among the democrats, and to give a morale boost to the State republican parties at the same time.
That is, the actual ad will be tamer then the response to it before it even airs--the purpose of the leak.
#5
It ain't funny - ridiculing the democrats as white flag wavers. They really aren't the peace-at-any-cost-party or the totalitarian-peace party. They just act like they support Saddam and sympathize with al Quaeda cause it will them get elected. Now if that ain't beat all?
Although the Democratic party had broken apart in 1860, during the secession crisis Democrats in the North were generally more conciliatory toward the South than were Republicans. They called themselves Peace Democrats; their opponents called them Copperheads because some wore copper pennies as identifying badges.
A majority of Peace Democrats supported war to save the Union, but a strong and active minority asserted that the Republicans had provoked the South into secession; that the Republicans were waging the war in order to establish their own domination, suppress civil and states rights, and impose "racial equality"; and that military means had failed and would never restore the Union.
Peace Democrats were most numerous in the Midwest, a region that had traditionally distrusted the Northeast, where the Republican party was strongest, and that had economic and cultural ties with the South. The Lincoln administration's arbitrary treatment of dissenters caused great bitterness there. Above all, anti-abolitionist Midwesterners feared that emancipation would result in a great migration of blacks into their states.
As was true of the Democratic party as a whole, the influence of Peace Democrats varied with the fortunes of war. When things were going badly for the Union on the battlefield, larger numbers of people were willing to entertain the notion of making peace with the Confederacy. When things were going well, Peace Democrats could more easily be dismissed as defeatists. But no matter how the war progressed, Peace Democrats constantly had to defend themselves against charges of disloyalty. Revelations that a few had ties with secret organizations such as the Knights of the Golden Circle helped smear the rest.
The most prominent Copperhead leader was Clement L. Valladigham of Ohio, who headed the secret antiwar organization known as the Sons of Liberty. At the Democratic convention of 1864, where the influence of Peace Democrats reached its high point, Vallandigham persuaded the party to adopt a platform branding the war a failure, and some extreme Copperheads plotted armed uprisings. However, the Democratic presidential candidate, George B. McClellan, repudiated the Vallandigham platform, victories by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Phillip H. Sheridan assured Lincoln's reelection, and the plots came to nothing.
With the conclusion of the war in 1865 the Peace Democrats were thoroughly discredited. Most Northerners believed, not without reason, that Peace Democrats had prolonged war by encouraging the South to continue fighting in the hope thatthe North would abandon the struggle.
Source: "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War" Edited by Patricia L. Faust
Liberal Democrats are so upset with Hillary Clinton's waffling on the Iraq war that some are now saying they're "ashamed" of her. The Daily Kos - the political web site widely read by the party's base - is urging Democrats to move beyond Mrs. Clinton and her husband, declaring: "Shame on the Democratic Party if they ever nominate her" for president.
The scathing editorial, written by Kos contributor "Trifecta," states outright: "More than anything else, I am ashamed of Hillary Clinton."
"When you look dispassionately at some of the things [Bill and Hillary] are capable of, it should leave one very skeptical and concerned about a 'third term' for this pair." The Kos writer compares Hillary - unfavorably - to President Bush, saying she's an unprincipled opportunist when it comes to key issues while Bush shows leadership in the face of adversity.
"When faced with low poll numbers on his crappy ideas, Bush plods on," the Kos pundit says. "And [he] still gets them passed, pushing his agenda forward." Meanwhile, Trifecta complains the Clintons "put their fingers to the wind" and run away from the fight.
The left-wing blast at Hillary also compares her unfavorably to Sen. Joe Lieberman, whose defense of the war last week contrasted sharply with Mrs. Clinton's weaselly claim that she was tricked into voting to give Bush the authority to attack Iraq. "Holy Joe Lieberman is a true believer in this war," says Trifecta. "He may be scorned, but as idiotic as his views are, I genuinely believe these are his views. "Hillary on the other hand is simply unbelievable. She protested Vietnam, knows this war was a stupid mistake, but is so damned cynical that she is engaging in this twisted posturing, all to serve her personal interests. . .
The Kos Hillary slam concludes: "Shame on her. Shame on the Democratic Party if they ever nominate her."
I love it when they eat their own
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2005 10:51 ||
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Jong Il/Kucinich 2008!
Mugabe - Sec. of Agriculture
Castro - Minister of Aquatic Sports
Chavez - Sec. of Energy
bin Laden - Sec. of Homeland Security
Trafficant - Sec. of Corrections
Posted by: BA ||
12/08/2005 12:16 Comments ||
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#9
Don't be silly, even the Dems wouldn't elect leaders that could be knocked out on a technicality (foreign birth). Sheehan/Free Mumai 2008
#16
My long-standing prediction that the Dem establishment (essentially, the Clintons) would jettison the far left appears to be coming true. That these moonbats are portrayed as the party's "base" really says more about the position of the person making the characterization than it does about the Democratic Party.
Hillary is no fool and she is obviously angling for a showdown. She either doesn't think the leftniks are any kind of base or she believes she can build a new one in time for the '08 election.
It was okay for Bill to have Lewinskis in the Oval; it was okay for Bill to tell the world that he didn't, etc.
But it's not okay by the libs for Billary to be in favor of a volunteer Army and their mission that the Donks helped send over to Iraq.
Have I got that right?
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/08/2005 16:19 Comments ||
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#19
Zarqawi and Sharpton '08
Beheadings in Oval effective 01-2009
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/08/2005 16:20 Comments ||
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#20
the Kossacks think theyre the Democratic Base?? Hoo boy - if theyre our based we're domed, I tell you.
Clintons claim to fame in American politics is turning the Democratic party away from idiots like that. Yeah some of them rallied around in the late 90s - that was cause Rightwing types attacked the Clintons so bitterly, and the lefties just assumed the enemy of their enemy was their friend - some still do, but not the Kossacks.
Hilary will do fine without the Kossacks - though theres increasing buzz that Mark Warner of Virginia just might emerge as the DLC candidate in '08. Meanwhile who do the Kossacks have - Russ Feingold? Spare me.
#21
BTW, in case anyones wondering, Im not committed to Hillary in '08. I like Warner, and I think Evan Bayh is another good possibility. Im not too keen on Edwards, and I think Kerry, Dean, Feingold, etc would all be disasters.
#22
The Kossacks are the base that swings the donk primaries. It's going to be 1972 redux. Only this time the donks won't even have the advantage of running against a crook. Unless the trunks nominate Duke Cunningham.
This election is almost over and I can't think of who the trunk nominee will be.
#23
I donât agree. The â08 election defiantly hasnât started. In spite of posturing by various would-be candidates, there is little indication who whom either party will actually nominate. Speaking for myself, I would rather not vote for McCain: although I will if the Democrats nominate Clinton. Now, if the donkeys were to do something very, very clever â say, for example, nominating Bill Richardson of New Mexico â my vote would come back into play.
Unfortunately, that is very unlikely. I find it highly plausible that the â08 presidential race will become a âlesser of two evilsâ event in which both parties work very hard at making their most loyal members stay home, getting drunk and wondering why they donated their hard earned cash to the RNC or DNC, respectively.
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday his assertion that the United States cannot win the war in Iraq was reported "a little out of context," saying Democrats believe a new U.S. strategy is needed to succeed there. Seeking to clarify a statement in a Texas radio interview that Republicans harshly assailed and some Democrats questioned, Dean said, "They kind of cherry-picked that one the same way the president cherry-picked the intelligence going into Iraq."
Dean was questioned on CNN about an interview he gave Monday to radio station WOAI in San Antonio. "The idea that we're going to win this war is an ideal that unfortunately is just plain wrong," the former Vermont governor and unsuccessful 2004 presidential candidate said. His Republican counterpart, Ken Mehlman, called Dean's prediction "outrageous" and said it "sends the wrong message to our troops, the enemy, and the Iraqi people just 10 days before historic elections."
On Thursday, Dean stressed at several junctures in the interview that Democrats support U.S. troops struggling to secure Iraq. He seemed to be striving to counter charges that statements by some Democrats suggesting a pullout are having the effect of undermining U.S. servicemen and women. Democrats have been struggling to find party unity on Iraq. Dean's broadside Monday, likening Iraq to the Vietnam experience, went beyond an earlier call by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., to begin to pull troops out. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., embraced Murtha's position Wednesday. But other Democrats have been more cautious about second-guessing President Bush on this issue.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said earlier this week that Democrats "undercut the president's credibility at our nation's peril."
Asked Thursday to defend his statement in the Texas radio interview, Dean said: "It was a little out of context. ... We can only win if we change our strategy dramatically. ... We want to serve our troops well. They're doing a fantastic job in Iraq." Dean charged that Bush is "going in the wrong direction. We'll go in the right direction and save soldiers lives while we're doing it." "We can and we have to win the war on terror," the Democratic Party chairman added. "We can't do it with this kind of approach."
Asked about Lieberman's statement, Dean replied, "I am not as worried about the president's credibility. ... We need to redeploy our troops and stop making our troops the target over there. We believe that talking about the president's failed strategy is not unpatriotic. It may undercut the president but it does not undercut the troops. We are for the troops and we are going to support the troops." He acknowledged, however, that Democrats "may have some small disagreements" on the timing of any withdrawal.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2005 10:46 ||
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#1
In other news, Saddam Hussein said that the war with Iran, the Invasion of Kuwait, the gassing of the Kurds, the efforts to procure and produce WMDs, and the establishment of a brutal authoritarian dictatorship were "taken out of context."
He also offered to apologize for anything the court wants him to apologize for, if it means that they won't hang him.
#5
Asked Thursday to defend his statement in the Texas radio interview, Dean said: "It was a little out of context. ... We can only win if we change our strategy dramatically. ...
"The idea that we're going to win this war is an ideal that unfortunately is just plain wrong,"
"Out of context"? Sounds like a pile of crap to me.
#6
Yeah, I meant to say "We don't want us to win in Iraq". Thanks for the opportunity to clarify that.
Posted by: Howard Dean: Important Guy ||
12/08/2005 11:30 Comments ||
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#7
Fish in a barrel. I love this shit!
Posted by: The Evil Karl Rove ||
12/08/2005 11:32 Comments ||
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#8
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., embraced Murtha's position Wednesday.
AFTER the Presidents speech Pelosi said...
"We should follow the lead of Congressman John Murtha..."
But of course there is that little vote thingy...403-3...Sorry Nancy...you wern't even one of the 3.
#9
Howard Dean has his Ahmadhinejad moment. He says something dangerous, undeniable, memorable and quotable. What part of "just plain wrong" don't we understand, doctor?
#10
I wonder how well Dean expressed himself as a doctor. "Dude, when I told you you had two weeks to live, I didn't exactly mean you had two weeks to live. You took that one little remark out of context. You're really doing quite well, for a guy on death's door, I mean. Aaarrrgh!"
Posted by: Matt ||
12/08/2005 12:34 Comments ||
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#11
I do not take anything out of context. I never worked an honest day in my life. I have nothing better to do than listen to dean natter natter.
#18
Tape recorded statements are a bitch, arent they, Hard as hell to say"I didn't say that" when it's recorded.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/08/2005 20:23 Comments ||
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#19
With nut cases like screamer Dean and Hillary as elected "representatives of the people," it is really no wonder the rest of the world thinks were a bit off.
Able Danger was working to identify Al Qaeda and had struck gold with the Hamburg cell. But the same technology and group, working on a completely independent study implicates the Clinton administration so all the data, China and Al Qaeda targets, is destroyed in a moment of political panic.
It is now highly possible 9-11 happened because the Clinton administration was afraid of bad PR.
#2
hmmm. Do I detect a note of if the conservatives hadn't tried to impeach Clinton, none of this would have happened? Perhaps I'm being hypersensitive.
I had a different thought when I was reading it. That it was scuttled because not only because it brought up high profile names that could be explained with innocent connections - but that it was bringing up high profile names that would have some serious splaining to do.
Maybe some admin officials had much more to fear than just a perception problem.
#3
What? Corruption in the Clinton administration?
That's about as surprising as a run on milk and bread in the lead-up to tonight's winter storm.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/08/2005 7:46 Comments ||
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#4
After briefing the CIAâs representative stationed at SOCOM headquarters, and explaining that Able Danger would not be competing with the CIAâs own separate mission to find and kill Osama bin Laden, Shaffer was surprised by the CIA repâs stern resistance to sharing any information, said Shaffer. âI clearly understand the difference,â the CIA rep told him, according to Shaffer. âI clearly understand. Weâre going after the leadership. You guys are going after the body. But, it doesnât matter. The bottom line is, CIA will never give you the best information from âAlex Baseâ or anywhere else. CIA will never provide that to you because if you were successful in your effort to target Al Qaeda, you will steal our thunder. Therefore, we will not support this.â
Right here ladies and gentlemen is precisely what it is about at the national agency level, ie.,"stealing thunder." Which means in the end, less budget for the OGA and more budget for DoD. Painfully uncomplicated.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/08/2005 8:04 Comments ||
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#2
That picture of Kennedy, Kerry, Dean is great with Pearl in the background.
I have been thinking along time and what worries me is not the disent or even them defeating our current war effort I think we are winning and Bush while he cant talk worth a sh*t does have a good plan and 3yrs to see it through and the will to do so. But what worries me is that I really dont think without a Mccarthism type sweep we could wage any major war effort like a China, or even Iran type war, were losses would be hundreds if not thousands every month for years and some real losses of battles and campains.
What pisses me off is that the Sedition laws were made and should be enforced or brought out of the closet to keep a minority in our nation through freedom of speech undermining a war effort with grevious results for the majority. Freedom of speech is important but at the same a minority cannot be allowed to undermine the majority that is wrong. You cant make everyone happy ever it is impossible the minority has thier rights but not the right to undermine the majority just because they disagreed and will do nearly anything to be proven right even if that means a major loss for thier own nation.
December 8, 2005: There have been several joint training exercises held recently between the U.S. Air Force and the Indian Air Force. The Indians have used their new, Russian designed, Su-30s (an improved model of the Su-27, which is the Russian answer to the U.S. F-15). The Indians have gone up against American F-15s and F-16s. The Indian pilots have been quite successful in these mock dogfights, and very eager to let everyone know about it.
What isnât usually included in these battle descriptions is the fact that the ground rules deliberately prevented the American pilots from winning every engagement. These days, American pilots use close in dog fighting (with heat seeking Sidewinder missiles) as a fall back tactic. The main air-to-air weapon of the U.S. Air Force is now the long range (over 50 kilometers) AMRAAM missile, and superior radar equipment. This is nothing new, the United States has been working on this tactic for nearly half a century, and in the last decade, they have finally gotten missiles, radars, tactics and pilots able to make it work consistently.
For a long time, pilots were not enthusiastic about BVR (Beyond Visual Range) engagements, and the early missiles (the AIM-7 Sparrow) were not all that accurate. But after decades of trying, they finally have a winning combination with the AMRAAM and a new generation of radars and electronic gear. So when American fighter pilots go train with foreign air forces, they have to take their BVR tactics off the table, since under those conditions, the âenemyâ force would not have much of a chance.
But thereâs also the security aspect. Other air forces also have BVR missiles (usually Russian), and the American pilots donât want to give away the electronic tricks and tactics they would use to defeat the Russian missiles, and ensure that AMRAAM would succeed. So the American pilots have to fall back on the older dog fighting tactics, which many foreign fighter pilots are good at (since they donât train much, if at all, with BVR missiles.) For the Indian Air Force, such training exercises are good because it allows them to train against F-16s (which their long time foe, Pakistan, has). For the American pilots, they get to operate against Su-30s (which China has.) For all concerned, itâs a chance to fight against pilots from a different culture, who may use different, and sometimes superior, tactics and methods.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2005 10:34 ||
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#1
It's good to practice your fallback tactics every once in a while.
#2
For all concerned, itâs a chance to fight against pilots from a different culture, who may use different, and sometimes superior, tactics and methods.
Switch the F-15 with the F-22 and that's probably an entirely different story altogether.
This is going to cause some turbans to unwind, I just know it.
LAHORE: Pakistani embassies have started sending invitations to Israeli diplomats to participate in its programmes, BBC Radio on Wednesday quoted an Israeli newspaper as saying. According to the BBC, the newspaper has reported that for the first time, Pakistani embassies are dispatching official notes sent to all diplomatic missions to Israeli embassies as well. The newspaper reported that Pakistani embassies had earlier deleted Israel from their mailing list but had recently started inviting Israeli diplomats to its programmes.
According to Jerusalem-based journalist Harinder Mishra, Israeli officials had confirmed they received invitations from Pakistani embassies in some countries. Responding to the invitations from Pakistani embassies, officials of the Israelâs Foreign Office said they had directed their diplomats to be very careful about such invitations, adding that they were trying to ascertain whether the invitations were being sent as part of Pakistanâs official policy or as result of personal relations between the diplomats. The officials said that Israeli embassies would reciprocate by inviting the Pakistani diplomats to its programmes. âIsrael aspires to end its diplomatic isolation in Muslim countries,â the officials added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2005 00:00 ||
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KARACHI: Federal Interior Minster Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that foreign students studying in Pakistani seminaries will be repatriated.
Speaking after an inter-provincial conference on law and order at the Sindh Secretariat on Wednesday, he said that the government had decided that foreign students will not be admitted to Pakistani madrassas in the future. He said that most of the nearly 1,200 foreign students had already left the country, while the rest had been asked to leave immediately.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2005 00:00 ||
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In a tale of two cities, President Bush yesterday heralded progress in northern Mosul and southern Najaf as new models for rebuilding Iraq.
But last Friday, Iraq's government imposed emergency law and a curfew in Sunni-dominated Mosul and throughout Ninevah province, and a senior U.S. official in Baghdad yesterday referred to the city of about 1.7 million as "nasty Mosul."
In Najaf, militia fighters of the two rival religious parties that control the Shiite holy city recently clashed in street battles. A few days ago, former prime minister Ayad Allawi was attacked during a visit by an angry, rock-throwing mob that some Iraqis charge was backed by a militia -- and that Allawi called an assassination attempt.
The two important and politically charged cities showcase signs of progress for Iraq, as Bush described, but also security problems and other pressing difficulties for the U.S. mission and the new Iraqi government.
Since insurgents gained control of much of Mosul late last year, Bush said U.S. and Iraqi forces have "killed, captured or cleared out" many of the extremists -- reopening the way for reconstruction. In a Nov. 19 gun battle with U.S. troops, eight suspected al Qaeda operatives died in a Mosul residence, some by blowing themselves up.
Conditions had improved enough that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Mosul last month to launch the first Provisional Reconstruction Team, the new interagency approach to reconstruction -- although the city is still so volatile that she flew by Black Hawk helicopter to the U.S. military headquarters and never got into the city.
Bush also pointed out that more than half of the voters in Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital, voted in the October referendum for the constitution -- although he did not mention that 56 percent of voters rejected proposed laws for a new Iraq. Just 10 percent more in that region would have doomed the constitution and forced Iraqis to go to the polls Dec. 15 not to elect a permanent government, as scheduled, but to select another interim government.
Since the 2004 crisis over the militia takeover of Shiism's holiest shrine in Najaf, Bush cited progress on rebuilding the police force and refurbishing schools, restoring water supplies and reopening a soccer stadium.
Religious pilgrims are visiting the city again, he said, although he failed to note that vast numbers are from Iran. U.S. officials express privately concern about Iran's influence on Najaf's clerics and politics.
Some Iraqis challenged Bush's assertions. In Najaf, Rafid Farhan, 33, said security is now controlled by Moqtada Sadr, a young cleric and militia leader, and not U.S. troops or the Iraqi government.
As part of his latest efforts to counter criticism over U.S. Iraq policy, Bush said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations that Iraqis have made "amazing progress" since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein. "They've gone from living under the boot of a brutal tyrant to liberation, to free elections, to a democratic constitution," he said.
But others involved in assessing Iraq argue the president's portrayal is, at best, too rosy.
"Progress is running far behind Iraqi expectations in virtually every area," said Wayne White, head of the State Department's Iraq intelligence team from 2003 to 2005 and now an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute. "In their view, most Iraqis are not seeing 'amazing progress.' All too many of them live in constant danger, with less electricity in many areas than under Saddam Hussein."
Bush conceded problems with corruption at both the local and national levels as well as waste in reconstruction, and he said the United States had adjusted its efforts. But he did not get into the scope of the problem, which has increasingly alarmed Iraqis and U.S. officials.
In an interview yesterday, Stuart Bowen, the U.S. inspector general for Iraq, said corruption is "pervasive and very serious, particularly within the Iraqi ministries of defense and interior but not confined to the two offices." In one case under investigation, more than $1 billion is basically missing, he said.
Complicating the issue are new revelations about U.S. corruption in Iraq, with 50 open cases against U.S. citizens and three recent arrest warrants issued. "A lot that happened is still secret and below the bar," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2005 02:30 ||
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How much do you miss all your State Dept perks there, Wayne? You were allowed to stay at least 4 years longer than you should've, asshole. This is a common "collect the bitchin" article. "Iraqi expectations". Yeah. I can find any number of similar opinions of expectations not met to the satisfaction of some selected assholes in any city on the planet. This is tripe. Seditious, disingenuous, cut 'n run tripe.
It's sad how demonstrably traitorous and gutless so many current and ex Govt employees are. Thinking short-term and solely about themselves they enable and embolden our enemies - and endanger us all. That the MSM features these assholes and beats the drum makes them as complicit as any accessory to a crime.
I hope I live long enough to see these cretins receive what they deserve - all of 'em. That they will persist until there's a a bloody backlash and showdown I do not doubt.
#4
although the city is still so volatile that she flew by Black Hawk helicopter
By this standard, south-west Ohio was just as "volatile" in October 2001 when the president flew from Wright-Patt to a ceremony at a school in a Chinook escorted by three or four Blackhawks.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/08/2005 7:50 Comments ||
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In an interview yesterday, Stuart Bowen, the U.S. inspector general for Iraq, said corruption is "pervasive and very serious
I don't see a problem here. Corruption is standard fare in Washington and numerous American cities (think Detroit or New Orleans).
#6
Ordinary Iraqis are financially better off now than they were at any time in the past two decades. According to World Bank and International Monetary Fund estimates, per capita income has doubled since 2003. Iraq's per capita gross domestic product is today almost twice that of Yemen and nearing that of Egypt and Syria, hardly a sign of failure in a country in which, just three years ago, antiwar groups insisted children were starving en masse. Statistics aside, the Iraqi economic boom is apparent to anyone who visits an Iraqi market. Not only are appliances and luxuries in the stores, but customers are actually purchasing them.
#7
"I hope I live long enough to see these cretins receive what they deserve - all of 'em. That they will persist until there's a a bloody backlash and showdown I do not doubt."
Hunter/Killer teams. Citizen Hunter/Killer teams.
Implacable and immune to begging and pleading. I hope I live long enough to participate.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon has tentative plans to halt the scheduled deployment of two brigades to Iraq and instead send in smaller teams to support and train Iraqi forces in what could be an early step toward an eventual drawdown of U.S. forces, defense officials said Wednesday. Details are still under discussion, and it would largely depend on the military and political conditions there after the parliamentary elections next week, said the officials.
Under the plan, deployment of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, based at Fort Riley, Kan., would be canceled. Instead, for the first time, portions of the brigade would be divided into 10- or 11-member military transition teams that would be sent separately into Iraq to work with Iraqi security forces. Also, some other members of the brigade would go to Iraq to do security duty, such as guarding high profile targets.
The second unit that would not deploy to Iraq is the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, which is currently in Kuwait and is usually based in Germany. Under the plan, up to two-thirds of the brigade would return to Germany, while the rest would stay in Kuwait, prepared to respond to any emergency in Iraq.
The 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Polk, La., would not go to Afghanistan.
The new deployment plan would not dramatically reduce the number U.S. forces in Iraq but instead would set the stage for a gradual troop reduction, allowing the military to stop or delay other unit deployments planned for 2006-2008.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2005 00:00 ||
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Well, it's great to see the President finally following the Murtha Plan!
/sarcasm
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/08/2005 22:41 Comments ||
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"We're HOLDING the hostage deal over for only two MORE days! After that it's OVER! C'mon....jeez....we don't want these windbags...someone come through! Make AN OFFER!"
Reminds me of the movie, Ruthless People.
Kidnappers extended a deadline until Saturday in their threat to kill four captive peace activists and posted a video of two of the hostages wearing robes and shackled with chains.
The original deadline set by the group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness was Thursday. The extention was announced in a statement that accompanied Wednesday's video, according to Al-Jazeera and IntelCenter, a government contractor that does support work for the U.S. intelligence community. never kidnap a hostage nobody cares about...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2005 00:00 ||
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There was a story like this. Um, The Ransom of Red chief or something like that.
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush on Wednesday touted progress in helping the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Mosul rebuild as he tried to bolster American confidence in his Iraq war policy. As part of a series of speeches before the Dec. 15 election, Bush highlighted rebuilding of electrical plants, schools, hospitals and businesses despite the insurgency.
In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Bush cited Mosul and Najaf as examples of cities where reconstruction efforts are progressing. âOver the course of this war we have learned that winning the battle for Iraqi cities is only the first step. We also have to win the battle after the battle, by helping Iraqis consolidate their gains and keep the terrorists from returning,â Bush said.
Construction jobs are putting local residents back to work in Najaf, the hospital is open and elected officials are in charge of the cityâs government, Bush said. In Mosul, he said, local Iraqi leaders have upgraded key roads and bridges over the Tigris River, rebuilt schools and hospitals, improved the cityâs water and sewage network, and begun refurbishing the airport.
But he said Mosul still is not receiving enough electricity and militant intimidation is still a concern. âFor two and half years the Iraqi people have made amazing progress. They have gone from living under the boot of a brutal tyrant to liberation to free elections to a democratic constitution,â Bush said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2005 00:00 ||
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People want to see an active president. When W was turning the other cheek it looked like he didn't care, and people punished him for it in the polls. Now that he's gotten up and started fighting back his numbers are climbing up. He looks more like he cares now, and people respect and reward that. (Makes me wonder if he suffered a bout of depression during that time after the election when he just suffered in silence.)
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/08/2005 6:53 Comments ||
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Bush plays the long game. He always has. Now that the media and democrats have staked out and ever so publicly established their losing postion on the war, it is time to slam the door shut. Election day is in 11 months. :)
Posted by: Dave ||
12/08/2005 11:00 Comments ||
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Regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah is using the Philippines as a sanctuary and the country must confront the threat, Americaâs top spy said yesterday.
US Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, who was in Manila as part of a visit to allies in East Asia, said the United States continues to see the Philippines as a "close partner" in the war on terror and is ready to provide assistance to improve the countryâs counterterrorism capability.
At a dinner Tuesday with President Arroyo at Malacañang, Negroponte prodded the Philippine government to pass an anti-terrorism law.
"Southern (Philippines) is a focal point of terrorist and security threats," Negroponte told The STAR yesterday. "International terrorists, especially Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), have... used Philippine territory as a sanctuary for some of their activities."
Security officials in the region have expressed concern that JI, loosely linked to al-Qaeda, continues to maintain terrorist training centers in areas protected by certain members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Central Mindanao.
Two Malaysians tagged as the brains behind the nightclub bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian island of Bali in 2002 are believed to have taken refuge in these sanctuaries in Mindanao. Washington has put up a combined bounty of $11 million for the capture of the two fugitives.
Singapore authorities reportedly warned Manila that JI militants had plotted to launch terror attacks during the just concluded 23rd Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines.
Lussenhop denied that the threat was connected to the visit of Negroponte - his first to the country where he served as ambassador from 1993 to 1996, and his first to Asia since becoming the first US director of national intelligence earlier this year.
As part of a "national intelligence strategy" released by Negroponteâs office last October, the US is strengthening foreign intelligence relationships and human intelligence capability.
Negroponte declined to go into specifics about US intelligence cooperation with the Philippines, but said Washington planned to increase human intelligence capabilities worldwide by as much as 50 percent over the next years.
"With the end of the Cold War, we allowed our human intelligence capabilities to decline somewhat and there was, if you will, a hollowing-out of our intelligence services," Negroponte told The STAR in an interview at the US Embassy residence in Forbes Park in Makati City. "In the wake of 9/11, the decision was made that we had to restore and increase those capabilities."
Asked if he thought the Philippines had the capability to contain the terrorist threat, he cited the arrest of the Valentineâs Day bombers and said, "I think this is a dynamic, ongoing process... youâve had some successes, and you have captured some significant terrorists."
"In a long-term struggle such as this, people have their ups and downs, they have their wins and their losses," he added. "I think by strengthening your own institutions, by passing your anti-terrorist legislation - I think thatâs one of the areas we think would be very important."
He said he discussed this with the President at the Malacañang dinner where National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales was also present.
"I think that all the Filipino officials that I spoke to believe that itâs desirable to seek the passage of that legislation, and that it would be a helpful tool in confronting the terrorist threat that you see in this country," Negroponte said.
Forging peace with the MILF, he said, could help neutralize the support given by rogue separatist militants to JI and the Abu Sayyaf.
"That is one of the reasons it is considered important that the peace talks between the government of the Philippines and the MILF be successful and that the talks being brokered by the government of Malaysia bear fruit, because that would help deny JI sanctuary," Negroponte said.
"We have seen the MILF come out publicly and in our observations, the leading elements of the MILF are now saying that the terrorists are not welcome in MILF territory. And that has been a very important factor, which could be consolidated with a peace agreement being signed," Jones said. "We are very encouraged by that."
Negroponte and embassy officials clarified that his arrival had been planned for some time and was not a surprise visit. He left yesterday for visits to South Korea and Japan.
Since assuming his post in April after serving as the United Statesâ first ambassador to post-war Iraq, Negroponte has visited the United Kingdom and parts of the Middle East. His ongoing Asian tour is just his third foreign trip as Americaâs top spy.
"I am visiting friendly allied countries, countries with which we have important security interests," Negroponte said yesterday.
He said his meetings with Mrs. Arroyo Tuesday and with Philippine national security and intelligence officials yesterday morning were meant "essentially to compare notes on how we view the international terrorist situation, since the United States and the Philippines are close partners in the international war on terrorism."
Negroponte flew to Australia from Hawaii before visiting the Philippines.
"If you are involved in the international war on terror, this is something that cannot be done alone," he said. "No one country can carry out these activities alone."
He declined to comment on political developments in the Philippines.
Negroponte was also ambassador to Honduras and Mexico. He left the Foreign Service in 1997 to become the executive vice president of McGraw-Hill publishing company. He returned to diplomacy as ambassador to the United Nations in 2001 and helped the US pitch the war on Iraq to the UN. Last year, he was named ambassador to Iraq.
At the Palace, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita confirmed that Negroponte had separate meetings with the President and Gonzales Tuesday night where the latter gave a briefing on the governmentâs accomplishments in neutralizing terror suspects.
"The purpose of (former) Ambassador Negroponteâs visit is really to take a look at how things are with an allied country such as the Philippines as far as our counterterrorism program is concerned," Ermita said, adding that Negroponte might have wanted to check on the effectiveness of the intelligence exchange.
He however said the meeting with the President was more of a social function than anything else.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2005 02:40 ||
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It is good to see the PI has not fallen off the radar screen of the beltway. What's going on there is important to the US and the global war.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/08/2005 8:02 Comments ||
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Aaron Klein, WND's Jerusalem bureau chief, was prevented today from entering Syria, where he planned to interview officials from Syria, Lebanon and the U.S., as well as co-host ABC Radio's nationally syndicated "The John Batchelor Show," because, according to at least one official in the Syrian embassy, he's Jewish.
However, when the trio arrived in Amman, they were told there was a problem with the application. They met with Eyad Alarfi, assistant to consul general in Amman, who could provide no information about what was holding up the visa. Later, Alarfi said approval for visas were granted for Batchelor and Mason, but not for Klein.
By telephone, Klein spoke to an official from the Ministry of Information in Damascus who declined to provide his name. At first he refused to suggest why Klein had been singled out and prevented from entering the country. Later, however, he asked: "What religion are you?"
Klein said he refused to answer.
"You know what you are," said the official.
Mason, who made the initial arrangements for visas with Syrian media representative al-Arsan, said a red flag was immediately raised when Klein's name was mentioned.
He reportedly told her it would be better if Klein did not go. She asked if it was because he is Jewish. Al-Arsan replied: "Yes, it is."
Batchelor and Mason decided to leave the Syrian embassy without their visas.
Batchelor is staying in Amman and broadcasting from the Grand Hyatt Hotel, one of three Jordan hotels hit by al-Qaida bombing attacks last month. Batchelor said he would dedicate the program tonight to the story of Syria's blatant racism. "It seems like it's 1938 and Czechoslovokia all over again," said Batchelor. "Aaron told me to go on to Syria and broadcast. But I told him that if I was to leave him behind, the enemy has won a victory. What we represent to the people of Jordan and Syria is that we don't separate people on the basis of race, color or creed."
Later, another official in the Syrian embassy told Klein he didn't think he was being singled out because he's Jewish, but rather because he is a Jerusalem-based correspondent. Yeah, yeah. That's the ticket! However, Klein pointed out that other non-Jewish Jerusalem-based correspondents, including Fox News Channel's Jennifer Griffin, have recently been granted visas by Syria.
From Strategypage
The Iranian Navy has been unusually active the past few days, with a significant portion of its vessels underway. What this means is uncertain â no exercises had been announced, but it could be a surprise alert. None of the other Iranian forces seem to be engaging in any unusual activity. There are some major training exercises planned in the south, using, for the most part, ground forces.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2005 13:55 Comments ||
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Remember the plane that crashed was carrying journalisits on their way to observe an exercise, and Debka said that the destination of the plane indicated navy or Pasadaran headquarters, so this is almost certainly the navy excercise in question.
#3
Global Security has some good stuff on the Iranian Navy. Here is some ... "In July 2002 a conventional-arms sale triggered sanctions on several Chinese companies. Beijing had transfered high-speed catamaran missile patrol boats to Iran. The C-14 patrol boats are outfitted with anti-ship cruise missiles. Short-range anti-ship missiles for the patrol boats also were sold from China to Iran in January 2002. The catamaran and anti-ship missile sales were first disclosed by The Washington Times in May 2002, shortly after the first of the new C-14 patrol boats was observed by US military intelligence at an Iranian port. The high-speed gunboat can carry up to eight C-701 anti-ship cruise missiles, and usually have one gun. There have also been reports of Iran possesing another type of anti-ship system. Up to 16 Sunburst anti-ship missile systems were traded in the early 1990's from the Ukraine."
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/08/2005 15:54 Comments ||
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I wonder if the press was there to see this: "In January 2003 a report in the World Tech Tribune indicated that Iranian officials stated that a destroyer will also be introduced over time. The destroyer, the Mowj, is being constructed and should be completed sometime after the launch of Sina 1. "
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/08/2005 15:56 Comments ||
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One wonders about the maintenence capabilites of the Iranian navy and servicibility of those anti-ship missles.
Having said that there are three major areas where the USN could stand for some improvement in both use and countermeasures: corvettes, mine warfare, and SSKs.
#10
No, the Persian Gulf is not too shallow for our subs to operate there. But it is a demanding area to be in, and requires constant vigilance to keep from hitting the bottom, or some other bubblehead who can't drive.
now there's thinking outside the box! HT to Drudge
Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that if Germany and Austria feel responsible for massacring Jews during World War II, a state of Israel should be established on their soil. Ahmadinejad, who sparked an international outcry in October when he said Israel "must be wiped off the map", also repeated his view Thursday that the Jewish state was a "tumour".
"Now that you believe the Jews were oppressed, why should the Palestinian Muslims have to pay the price?" the hardline president asked in an interview with Iran's Arabic-language satellite channel, Al-Alam.
"Why did you come to give a piece of Islamic land and the territory of the Palestinian people to them?
"You oppressed them, so give a part of Europe to the Zionist regime so they can establish any government they want. We would support it," he said, according to a transcript of his original Farsi-language comments given to AFP.
"So, Germany and Austria, come and give one, two or any number of your provinces to the Zionist regime so they can create a country there which all of Europe will support and the problem will be solved at its root," he said.
"Why do they insist on imposing themselves on other powers and creating a tumour so there is always tension and conflict?"
Al-Alam said Ahmadinejad was speaking in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia where he was attending a two-day meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference that opened Wednesday.
"Is it not true that European countries insist that they committed a Jewish genocide? They say that Hitler burned millions of Jews in furnaces ... and exiled them," Ahmadinejad told Al-Alam.
"Then because the Jews have been oppressed during the Second World War, therefore they (the Europeans) have to support the occupying regime of Qods (Jerusalem). We do not accept this," he said.
He also noted that European countries "believe in this so much and are so determined that any researcher who denies it (the Holocaust) with historical evidence is dealt with in a most harsh way and sent to prison."
The Holocaust was Nazi Germany's systematic slaughter of an estimated six million Jews between 1933 and 1945, mainly in the latter years of World War II.
Official Iranian media frequently carry sympathetic interviews with Holocaust revisionist historians -- who attempt to establish that the number of Jews killed by the Nazis was wildly exaggerated.
Iran refuses to recognise Israel.
Ahmadinejad said his second proposal was for "a referendum in Palestine for all the original Palestinians" to decide on the future of what is now Israel, the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
But the president said that "the best solution is resistance so that the enemies of the Palestinians accept the reality and the right of the Palestinian people to have land."
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2005 13:16 ||
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When I read this, I get the feeling that he has a strategy here. He's trying to diminish Europe's support for Israel, to the degree that Europe actually does support Israel. First, he sets up European guilt over the Holocaust as the reason for their support; next, he attempts to lessen the guilt by suggesting that the Holocaust wasn't as bad as everyone thinks. Lessen the guilt, lesson the support. He knows well how the Europeans feel about Jews, and he is trying to get them to embrace those feelings. This man, and those responsible for his election, are dangerous. Iran must be destroyed.
#8
I suspect the Iranians could care less about downwind drift. They would probably see any domestic nuclear contamination as a noble and quite worthy sacrifice so long as the Jewish State was destroyed.
"...Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces and they insist on it to the extent that if anyone proves something contrary to that they condemn that person and throw them in jail," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
"Although we don't accept this claim, if we suppose it is true, we ask the Europeans: Is the killing of innocent Jewish people by Hitler the reason for their support to the occupiers of Jerusalem?"
#2
This inDUHvidual is a potential gift as he may finally prod Europe from it's slumber. Hey, I can hope, can't I?
Posted by: Dave ||
12/08/2005 13:21 Comments ||
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the problem with this asshat is they are on the road to developing a nuke. Only one guess as to his first target. The jews won't let this happen and will rightfully strike first lighting off another war for the US to fight.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/08/2005 14:01 Comments ||
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"the occupiers of Jerusalem"
I suppose he's referring to the Jews, who occupied Jerusalem for a thousand years before there ever was an Islam.
#5
Ahmadinejad has said, "Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi,". In other words, his and the Iranian revolution's main mission is to prepare the conditions for the Final Battle of Islam. Extremely dangerous mindset and the west is not listening.
The Great War prophesy and the beginning of the muslim version of the end of the world: For seven years Mahdi will lead Muslims in victory over the Antichrist before the return of Isa (Jesus). Madhi will gather a great army in Afghanistan (Khurâsân) to fight the infidel Christians and march on Jerusalem. It starts with a call from the sky at the beginning of the Day of Judgment.
Posted by: ed ||
12/08/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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Syria is engaged in clandestine talks about reopening peace negotiations with Israel in an attempt to head off United Nations sanctions next week over its alleged role in the February assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.
Bashar Assad, the Syrian president, is being urged by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to restart bilateral talks with Israel that collapsed in 2000. Discussions were under way in Mecca yesterday at a summit of the Islamic Conference Organisation, chaired by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and attended by most Arab heads of government.
The Arab proposal forms part of an unexpected initiative to revive King Abdullah's landmark 2002 plan for a comprehensive MIddle East peace settlement. An Arab official said the Abdullah plan, which proposes official recognition of Israel by all Arab countries in exchange for the return of occupied Arab land, was on yesterday's agenda in a closed-door session of the Mecca summit.
Arab diplomats said Syria's revived interest in talking to Israel resulted from its wish to deflect US and other western pressure over allegations that senior Syrian officials were involved in the Hariri killing. Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor in charge of the inquiry, is due to present his final report to the UN security council next Thursday, a move that could trigger punitive action threatening Mr Assad's rule. "Syria would go along with almost anything at this point," a senior Arab diplomat said yesterday. "They are looking for any leeway. They do not want to be penalised like Libya or Iraq. They are definitely looking for a way out of this mess."
"Fire sale! Everything on the lot has to go! Every make, every model, every color! No reasonable offer refused!"
Last week, Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, said he was in no hurry to resume peace talks with Syria. "In my opinion, Israel should not surrender the Golan Heights," Mr Sharon said.
Not looking for a new car, is he?
The US state department is backing the Arab approach as part of its strategy to force Damascus to mend its ways. In the wake of the Hariri killing, Washington has demanded that Syria end its domination of Lebanon, block jihadist infiltration into Iraq and end its support for Palestinian militant groups. So far, Syria has withdrawn its troops from Lebanon and the Iraqi interior minister, Baqir Jabr Solagh, reported this week that cross-border infiltration by insurgents had halted.
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the main US ally in the Arab world, received a letter from Mr Assad on Tuesday about the peace proposal and the Hariri affair. Mr Mubarak said Egypt and other Arab countries were "exerting great efforts" to prevent an escalation of the crisis. In a recent visit to Damascus, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi national security chief, told Mr Assad that Saudi Arabia "has always cared for the safety of the Syrian people and leadership". He said the region had reached a critical stage and "all need to behave wisely and carefully". Mr Assad did not attend the Mecca summit, though Syria was represented at a high level.
A senior Foreign Office source said Arab leaders were actively trying to avoid another regional conflagration that could occur if western pressure led to Mr Assad's regime being toppled. He said British policy was to force Syria to reform but "not to humiliate them".
Rantburg policy, I think, is for Pencilneck to have a Mussolini moment with a lamppost ...
But US neo-conservatives are urging the US Bush administration to isolate Mr Assad, even if that means blocking talks with Israel. Richard Perle, former Pentagon adviser, said: "Assad has never been weaker and we should take advantage of that."
Of course we could try to get the best of both worlds: get him to sign a peace treaty with Israel. And then lower the boom on him anyway. And when he complains (which he won't, because he'll be dead 'cause his people killed him), remind him that, after all, we're the Great Satan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2005 00:00 ||
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Al-Qaeda and other terror groups are more sophisticated in their use of computers but still are unable to mount crippling Internet-based attacks against U.S. power grids, airports and other targets, the FBI's top cyber crime official said Wednesday.
Investigators keep a close watch on terror groups' use of computers but have not detected any plans to launch cyber attacks against major public institutions in the United States, FBI assistant director Louis M. Reigel said.
"I don't think that capability exists today," Reigel said in a briefing for reporters at FBI headquarters.
The government has conducted simulated terrorist attacks on computer, banking and utility systems, and Reigel said his division of around 1,100 agents treats seriously the prospect of such a strike.
FBI cyber experts have noticed progress in the technical mastery suspected terrorists have shown online, he said. One new wrinkle first appeared four months ago, Reigel said, declining to be more specific.
Terrorists also have made only infrequent use of stenography, the practice of hiding a text message in another kind of file, typically a picture, Reigel said. "It looks like a picture, but if you have the right program, you can extract a text message embedded in a picture," said Reigel, a 31-year FBI veteran who formerly led the New Orleans field office.
On another matter, the FBI still has no suspect in the spread of the latest version of a computer worm that began appearing last month as e-mails purporting to come from the FBI, CIA and German security services, Reigel said.
The third version of the Sober worm spread so quickly and widely that at one point the FBI was bombarded with 200,000 e-mails a minute over four days, he said. "It almost killed our system," Reigel said, before technicians developed a means to divert the messages.
Unlike with earlier versions, "this time we believe we have enough information to where we can pursue a logical investigation," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2005 02:33 ||
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Article: Terrorists also have made only infrequent use of stenography, the practice of hiding a text message in another kind of file, typically a picture, Reigel said.
Actually, stenography is the practice of shorthand. Steganography is the practice of hiding messages in graphics files. I guess those checks and balances the media are always on about don't work 100% of the time.
#5
Reigel said his division of around 1,100 agents treats seriously the prospect of such a strike.
This is shitforbrains stuff. The notion that islamic terrorists will mount some kind of crippling cyber attack is ridiculous. Unless of course the instructions are secretly encoded in the Koran.
#7
""I don't think that capability exists today," Reigel said in a briefing for reporters at FBI headquarters."
Awhile back RB posted an article re: Saudi pornography with hidden messages encoded within them. Also, I thought an unknown terror group took credit for the blackout in Ohio a couple of summers ago? The FBI can't afford to be guessing in the midst of a bitter cold winter.
Written text: "Four years after the New York and Washington raids, Al-Sahab interviews Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Sahab Media Production, Sha'ban 1426 [September 2005]"
Interviewer: "We are happy to interview you four years after the New York and Washington raids."
Dr. Ayman Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: "I, too, am happy to address our Muslim nation through you in this critical stage of its history. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, and pray that Allah will reward you for publicizing the word of truth in the midst of the Crusader campaign and global war that is being waged against Islam and the Muslims."
Interviewer: "Dr. Ayman, how do you view the Crusader campaign, four years after it began?"
Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: "The new Crusader campaign is failing, just like the previous ones, by the grace of Allah. America and its Crusader allies have not accomplished a thing, except for throwing its army into the battlefield to take blows on a daily basis, to have its soldiers killed on a daily basis, and to have its economy bled on a daily basis.
"What did they accomplish in Afghanistan? They removed the Taliban government from Kabul, and it settled in the villages and mountains, where the real power of Afghanistan lies. Northern Afghanistan and Kabul have become a scene of chaos, pillaging, looting, defiling [women's] honor, and drug dealing, which have flourished under the American occupation. Then they held elections, which resembled a masquerade more than anything, since the country's periphery is controlled by highway bandits and warlords, since the international committees monitoring the elections - or rather, those who bear false witness - could not cover more than ten voting districts, even if they wanted to. Transferring the ballot boxes takes 15 days, under the control of the warlords and highway bandits, and then under the control of the occupation forces, and since any resistance, or anything resembling resistance or opposition, is met with bombardment, missiles, the burning of villages, and the killing of hundreds."
"After all this, they obtained the false testimony of the U.N., which had seen nothing about which it could bear witness - except for several theatrics in a few voting districts in the cities. This is one example of the hypocrisy of the U.N., which they claim to be the symbol of their international legitimacy.
"While the U.N. rejects the elections held in Zimbabwe, for example, because the time dedicated to voting was insufficient, it is as silent as a graveyard about the elections in Afghanistan, which were held under the terrorism of the warlords. For 15 days, the ballot boxes were passed around among the highway bandits and the American collaborators, and no one knows what happened to them before they appeared at the ballot-counting centers.
"While the U.N. whines about those killed in Darfur and established an international tribunal for the war crimes committed there, it was as silent as a graveyard about the tragedy of one million Iraqi children, who died as a result of the siege on Iraq - the same siege that profited U.N. officials and the son of Kofi Annan, as the U.N. itself admits. The U.N. was recently forced to reveal a part of this scandal, the stench of which spreads far and wide.
"It was as silent as a graveyard when the Taliban was betrayed - after an agreement was signed with them - at the hands of the Americans and Dostum in Kunduz. Then [the Taliban] were murdered in Qala-i-Jangi, and later they were suffocated in container trucks en route to Shiberghan prison. Then they were treated worse than animals in Shiberghan prison. Yet Lakhdar al-Ibrahimi declares that the issue of Qala-i-Jangi is sensitive, and should not be opened now.
"In complete collaboration it remains silent about what goes on in Abu Ghureib, Guantanamo, and Bagram, and about the way the Al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners are treated. They disappear from the face of the earth, and nobody knows anything about them, nor does anybody dare to ask where they are, what has been done to them, where they were arrested and tortured, and why, until when, where, and how they will be held in prison."
"Where are the international agreements and U.N. treaties? What about human rights - or even animal rights? This is all because the U.N. is part of the Crusader kingdom, over which reigns the Caesar in Washington, who pays the salaries of Kofi Annan and his ilk.
"This is what they have accomplished to this day in Afghanistan. In Kabul, their [allies] are terrified, and their president cannot leave his office. If he goes to Kandahar, he faces assassination attempts. If his plane lands in Gardez, missiles catch up with it. Forged elections... Crusader forces led by America taking blows on a daily basis... An almost complete media blackout... Pakistani collaboration... Despite all this, America was forced to admit the strength of the resistance it faces, and to admit that the Taliban is still the strongest force in Afghanistan.
"Brothers, I tell you - and the Crusaders and their apostate collaborators cannot refute it - that were it not for the continuous support the Pakistani army gives the Americans, they would have left a long time ago - and they will leave soon, Allah willing.
"As for Iraq, what have they accomplished apart from losses and defeats? They established a government through ridiculous elections, boycotted by half of the people. Fake voters kept flowing through the borders, while the American planes observed from the skies to eradicate any opposition. Abu Ghureib and similar prisons swallow up the free and the honorable.
"At the end, the U.N., as usual, sends it congratulations for the clean and fair elections. The National Guard, the police, and the security forces bear the burden of dealing with the resistance to the Americans. There is an independent [Kurdish] state in the north, which is infiltrated by Jewish intelligence agencies, and which is divided between two collaborating political parties that fight over every little thing, and agree only on secularism and on the need to fight Islam, under the American banner."
"Had Saladin vanquished them today, we would have put them to the sword. [Shi'ite] movements attempting to sever the south purport to belong to Islam, yet they agreed with the Americans, led by Bush the Crusader, to occupy Iraq. There is a government [in Iraq] that begs the Americans not to leave, because they know that the day the Americans leave will be their last.
"With the grace of Allah, the clear declaration of their failure came one day after the blessed raid on London, when the American and English declared they were preparing to leave Iraq. Every day they leak to the press another item about leaving Iraq, in order to calm the terror that has taken hold of their peoples."
Interviewer: "Dr. Ayman, what is the state of Qaeda Al-Jihad after four years of ferocious war against it?"
Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: "With the grace of Allah, Qaeda Al-Jihad remains a base [qaeda] for jihad. And for the grace of Allah and no one else, its Emir, Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect him, still leads the jihad.
"All those lies with which Bush tries to deceive the Americans - that he has eradicated half of Al-Qaeda or three-quarters of Al-Qaeda - it's all nonsense that exists only in his head. With the grace of Allah.
"I proclaim to all Muslims and all mujahideen that, by the grace of Allah, Al-Qaeda is spreading, growing, and becoming stronger. By the grace of Allah, it has become a popular and pioneering organization, confronting the new Zionist-Crusader campaign, in defense of all the plundered Muslim lands, and fighting all the apostate and collaborating regimes that rule our Muslim nation.
"From all Muslim countries, people join Al-Qaeda, which confronts the infidels, apostates, traitors, and collaborators, wherever they may be, with weapons, with fighting, with da'wa, and with argumentation. Allah be praised.
Interviewer: "How do you view the jihad movement in general?"
Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: "The jihad movement is growing and rising. It reached its peak with the two blessed raids on New York and Washington. Now it is waging a great historic battle in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and even within the Crusaders' own homes.
"The latest raid on the Crusaders' homes was the blessed raid on London, which was a slap in the face to British Crusader arrogance, after the mujaheed lion of Islam, Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect him, had offered the peoples of the West a truce, if they leave the countries of Islam, but their arrogance drove them to crime, and their conceited foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said that these proposals should be treated with contempt. So let them pay the price of their government's filth and arrogance.
"Whoever attacks us - with the help of Allah, we cut off his hand, and whoever acts with insolence towards us will pay the price of his filth.
"The Crusader West had decided to follow Bush and Blair in their aggression against the Muslims. So they should pay the price for this aggression. They should endure it, because the war is still in its first skirmishes."
Interviewer: "How do you view the situation in Afghanistan?"
Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: "In Afghanistan, America is being dragged to the same abyss in which the U.S.S.R. fell, but much faster. America is keeping most of its casualties in Afghanistan secret, although the simple media of the mujahideen exposes their lies, and publicizes their casualties. America will leave Afghanistan, Allah willing, just like the Soviets, and Allah willing, it will be afflicted by the same disasters that afflicted the Soviet Union after it left Afghanistan."
Interviewer: "Dr. Ayman, after the recent operations of the Pakistani army in north Waziristan, after the kidnapping of civilians and the killing of more than 18 women and children from the muhajireen, and after the siege on the religious schools, and the killing of their students - what is your message to the Muslim nation in Pakistan in general and to anyone with a trace of faith remaining in his heart, in the Pakistani army in particular?"
Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: "I say to them that Pakistan is the main supporter of the Crusader campaign against Afghanistan.
"Today, the Pakistani army plays the same role that the British Indian army used to play in the aggression against the Muslims in India, and in quelling the Muslim uprisings in the British colonies. Today, the Pakistani army operates as a private institution, serving the interests of Bush and Musharraf pockets the reward. The Pakistani army has abandoned the mission of defending Pakistan, and is devoting itself to killing the Muslims in Waziristan, in defense of the American army.
"As for the defense of Pakistan - Musharraf has claimed that America would defend him, if the Pakistani army devotes itself to serving Bush's interests. Therefore, if this policy continues, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Pakistani army surrendering to the Indian army in Islamabad, like it has surrendered in Dhaka.
"Musharraf wants a Pakistan without Islam. This is why they destroyed the Islamic schools, and they are inventing a new religion, which they composed for him in America. They call this fairy-tale 'enlightened moderation.'"
Interviewer: "More than four years have passed since America began its campaign to destroy Al-Qaeda and Taliban. So far, despite all America's capabilities and despite all the Pakistani help, America has not succeeded in capturing Mulla Muhammad Omar or Sheikh Osama bin Laden may Allah protect them both. What is the reason, in your opinion? "
Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: "The main reason is Allah's protection, which is incomprehensible to the Americans and to the materialistic Crusader West. The second reason, which stems from the first, that the Muslim masses opened their hearts and home to the mujahideen, gave them refuge and protected them, exposed their children, families, property, and homes to bombings and burning and risked being killed or captured, for the sake of Allah, in support of Islam, and in defense of the mujahideen.
"Jihad for the sake of Allah is greater than any individual or organization. It is a struggle between Truth and Falsehood, until Allah inherits the earth and all who live on it. Mullah Muhammad Omar and Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect them from all evil, are merely two soldiers of Islam in the journey of jihad, while the struggle between Truth and Falsehood transcends time."
"I call upon the mujahideen to focus their attacks on the stolen oil of the Muslims. Most of its revenue goes to the enemies of Islam, and most of what they leave is plundered by the thieves who rule our countries. This is the greatest theft in the history of humanity. The enemies of Islam are consuming this vital resource with unparalleled greed. We must stop this theft any way we can, in order to save this resource for the sake of the Muslim nation.
"If the only way to repel these thieves is by killing them, they should be killed without honor."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2005 02:21 ||
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#1
After all this, they obtained the false testimony of the U.N., which had seen nothing about which it could bear witness - except for several theatrics in a few voting districts in the cities. This is one example of the hypocrisy of the U.N., which they claim to be the symbol of their international legitimacy[", said Zawahiri].
Perhaps the headline should read Zawahiri Stumbles on to a Valid Point. In fact, the second sentence sounds (dare I say it?) Boltonesque. Nonetheless, I look forward to the day he gets the 72 raisins he so richly deserves . . . after a harsh waterboarding at a secret CIA prison in the heart of darkest Eurabia breaks him like a pinata.
#2
al-Zawahiri: "The new Crusader campaign is failing, just like the previous ones, by the grace of Allah." DNC Chairman Howard Dean: "The idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong. I've seen this before in my life. This is the same situation we had in Vietnam."
al-Zawahiri:America and its Crusader allies have not accomplished a thing, except for throwing its army into the battlefield to take blows on a daily basis, and to have its economy bled on a daily basis." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)"I believe that the president's leadership in the actions taken in Iraq demonstrate an incompetence in terms of knowledge, judgment and experience in making the decisions that would have been necessary to truly accomplish the mission without the deaths to our troops and the cost to our taxpayers."
al-Zawahiri:"In complete collaboration it remains silent about what goes on in Abu Ghureib, Guantanamo, and Bagram, and about the way the Al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners are treated." Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL):"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime â Pol Pot or others â that had no concern for human beings,"
al-Zawahiri:"Where are the international agreements and U.N. treaties? Senator John Kerry (D-MA). "The UN and Kofi Annan offered help after Baghdad fell. We never took him up on that and did what was necessary to transfer authority and to transfer reconstruction."
al-Zawahiri:"As for Iraq, what have they accomplished apart from losses and defeats? Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) "Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily."
al-Zawahiri: "All those lies with which Bush tries to deceive the Americans." Rep. Jim McDermott(D- WA): "I believe that sometimes they give out misinformation. It would not surprise me if they came up with some information that is not provable, and they've shifted."
al-Zawahiri:"The latest raid on the Crusaders' homes was the blessed raid on London, which was a slap in the face to British Crusader arroganceâ¦" British MP George Galloway: "We argued, as did the security services in this country, that the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq would increase the threat of terrorist attack in Britain."
Al Qaedaâs sophisticated and fast-paced use of the Internet while effective in getting its message across is both risk-prone and challenging.
According to an analysis produced for Stratfor, the US-based online news and analysis site, by Kamran Bokhari, text-based, audio taped and video-recorded jihadi statements posted on numerous websites have become part of the daily diet of news. Al Qaeda leaders understand the value the media attach to the messages they send and have dedicated significant resources to public relations. The Internet offers Islamist militants a low-tech, cost-effective, minimal-risk medium through which they can demonstrate their existence and operational status, conveniently reach out to their constituents and participate in the battle for public support in the Muslim world. While the principal Al Qaeda leadership has relied on sending audio and video messages via more old-fashioned means, such as Arab-language satellite channels, its more vibrant Iraqi branch, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has not only been the most active in terms of staging attacks, but has also maintained a steady stream of messages through the Internet.
The analyst underlines the quick footwork involved in evading US and allied intelligence and security agencies fighting the war on global jihadism in cyberspace and searching for militantsâ virtual outposts. The jihadis face two types of threats. When a jihadi website is detected, it is shut down by the company hosting the site. Some jihadi groups are accustomed to having their sites shut down, which is why the sites resurface at alternative addresses shortly after being taken down. The second more dangerous threat to the militants is the groupâs physical location being traced from its virtual portal. While this happens infrequently, when it does occur, the best law enforcement can hope for is to catch the groupâs webmaster or the middlemen who relay information to the webmaster. Just as it maintains multiple layers among its horizontal units and vertical echelons of leadership for security purposes, Al Qaeda maintains similar arrangements between those who order press releases and those who generate them.
Bokhari points out that if Al Qaeda were a normal organisation operating legally in the public sphere, there would still be a need for central coordination through one or more official spokespersons or a dedicated mass media team. âBut for the most notorious and wanted organisation in the world, coordinating the flow of information is exponentially more cumbersome. The key issue is how to maintain secure, organised communications from the networkâs sub-units to the central leadership, on to those in charge of making sure the message reaches the groupâs websites, or the clearinghouses that disseminate discourse from a wide range of jihadi actors around the world,â he explains. More sophisticated jihadi groups likely operate their own servers, which is a more reliable means of making sure the media can locate the site and statements and provide them with a much larger audience than they could procure on their own.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to Washington said on Wednesday the failure to capture Osama bin Laden only enhanced a sense of al Qaeda's invincibility and said that the group remained capable of launching attacks. Although U.S. officials have described al Qaeda as diminished after U.S.-led assaults, 
An eight-member explosive expert team that arrived in city Monday from Singapore today (Tuesday) visited the two places where suicide bombers set off bombs killing 10 people and injuring many more, reports UNB.
KICKBACKS paid by Australia's monopoly wheat exporter to the regime of Saddam Hussein were put into a bank account used to finance a $US10million ($13 million) slush fund for families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
Liberal Democrats are so upset with Hillary Clinton's waffling on the Iraq war that some are now saying they're "ashamed" of her. The Daily Kos - the political web site widely read by the party's base - is urging Democrats to move beyond Mrs. Clinton and her husband, declaring: "Shame on the Democratic Party if they ever nominate her" for president. 
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday his assertion that the United States cannot win the war in Iraq was reported "a little out of context," saying Democrats believe a new U.S. strategy is needed to succeed there. Seeking to clarify a statement in a Texas radio interview that Republicans harshly assailed and some Democrats questioned, Dean said, "They kind of cherry-picked that one the same way the president cherry-picked the intelligence going into Iraq."
KARACHI: Federal Interior Minster Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that foreign students studying in Pakistani seminaries will be repatriated.
