Britain is increasingly becoming isolated from the United States and European members of NATO due to what its allies see as its misguided go it alone policy in Afghanistan, a respected expert on that country warned on Saturday.
Moreover, it appears that British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is widely expected to step down at some point this year, is coming under increasing fire for mimicking President General Pervez Musharrafs approach to the Taliban, including deals made with members of the militant group, even as its fighters step up attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.
Writing in Britains Daily Telegraph, respected analyst Ahmed Rashid warns that the international coalition in Afghanistan is increasingly holding London accountable for contributing to the current chaos in that country, effectively undermining western efforts to forge some kind of stability there.
He notes that US and European NATO members have gone on record as telling him that they resent Londons policy of making arbitrary peace deals with the Taliban, while at the same time refusing to put pressure on Pakistan to stop providing sanctuary to the Taliban leadership. The latter criticism has traditionally been reserved for Washington.
Western diplomats in both Kabul and Islamabad told Rashid that Britains go it alone policies were threatening military preparations for a major Taliban offensive expected next month.
Topping the list of criticisms is the peace deal secured by British troops in Musa Qala, in the southern province of Helmand, where operations are under the control of the British contingent of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) 37-nation alliance.
While British military commanders maintain that the deal was struck with tribal elders, reports have emerged that it was, in fact, made directly with the Taliban, a charge London denies. This is reminiscent of the increasing criticism levelled against Gen Musharraf over his Sep 5 North Waziristan peace deal, which US political analysts have slammed as having been concluded with Taliban elements. Islamabad also denies the charges, saying that the deal was secured with tribal elders.
Britains critics have slammed its Taliban peace moves has having effectively given the green light to the return to Musa Qala of large numbers of heavily-armed Taliban fighters.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The "experts" at the Foreign Office have got to him. Take to retire this disastrous Prime Minister.
Somalia's Islamist leaders are reportedly in Yemen to hold talks with Yemeni officials over their defeat in Somalia. Yemeni foreign monster Dr. Abu-Bakar al-Qurabi has revealed that senior Islamist members have come to his country. He said they came to Yemen to hold talks with the officials. "They are here to talk with the government officials over the foreign military occupation in Somalia," he said. Ummm... That's what usually happens when you declare war on another country and your army melts on the approach of the enemy.
According to Al-Khaleej newspaper, Qurabi said it would be an opportunity for the Islamists to negotiate with the transitional government. The minister did not specify the names of the individuals that arrived in Yemen. He also pointed out that his government was determined to mediate Somalia's challenging parties. As usual, they'll try to negotiate what they couldn't snatch through force of arms.
Thousands of Ethiopian troops backing the Somali government forces ousted the Islamic Courts from the capital and most parts in the country that used to be under their control in a heavy battle that took two weeks. The news comes as Musse Sudi Yalahow, a warlord, has returned to Mogadishu after nearly six months of absence. US backed warlords were defeated in a fierce battle by the powerful failed ICU that is on the run in early June last year. So we're discussing three separate levels of competence, two of them in-. The warlords weren't a patch on the Islamic Courts. The Islamic Courts weren't a patch on the Ethiopian army.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The news comes as Musse Sudi Yalahow, a warlord, has returned to Mogadishu after nearly six months of absence.
Tip o' the hat to the SandMonkey. We pretty much knew this but it is from the horse's, er, mouth.
SHARM E-SHEIKH Is Egypt declaring its intentions to develop nuclear weapons? Thus it appeared in a speech delivered by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Thursday on the occasion of meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Sharm e-Sheikh. We dont want nuclear weapons, Mubarak stated, But since they appear highly present in the area, we must defend ourselves."
Recently Egypt announced that it was striving to attain nuclear capabilities. President Mubarak himself, as well as his son Jamal, were questioned on the issue and declared that their nation needed nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and Egypt's nuclear program would be aimed at overcoming the deficiency in fuel and natural gas reserves.
However, now it appears that if Iran develops nuclear power, Egypt will no longer be satisfied with devoting its nuclear resources to peaceful purposes alone.
It's one thing if the evil Joooz have the bomb. But allowing the Medes and Persians? No, never!
Mubarak made the comments Thursday after being questioned by an Egyptian journalist on Olmerts recent slip of the tongue regarding Israels nuclear armament. The writer asked whether Olmerts peaceful declarations during their meeting contradicted his recent comments in Germany that Israel is stocked with nukes.
In response, Olmert reiterated past statements that Israel will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East. As is well known, it is Iran that is threatening to introduce nukes and use them and many countries have good reason to be concerned, including Israel, Egypt and many European nations. The UN Security Councils decision to threaten sanctions against Iran is a step in the right direction.
Mubarak, on the other hand, said that if Iran attains nuclear weapons, his country cannot sit idly by on the sidelines. Egypts stance is clear. We declared this stance in Baghdad in the early 1990s in the presence of then President Saddam Hussein: The Middle East should be free of weapons of mass destruction atomic, biological and chemical.
We dont want nuclear arms in the area but we are obligated to defend ourselves. We will have to have the appropriate weapons. It is irrational that we sit and watch from the sidelines when we might be attacked at any moment, Mubarak stated.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2007 01:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
These arabs and pershans are crazier 'n sh*t house rats. Nukes will be the end of them. They do not have enough sense to think things through about MAD. They will develop SAD (Self Assured Destruction) when they get nukes because there are too many nutcases that will get their hands on a device. Take a look around Cairo and think what it will be like with everyone dead. Or Anwar dam with a big hole in it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/07/2007 2:30 Comments ||
Top||
#2
These arabs and pershans are crazier 'n sh*t house rats. Nukes will be the end of them.
That sounds an awfully lot more like a feature than a bug.
#6
According to most of the English language Arab press, they fear Iran more than do they fear Israel. That is one reason why I have been seathing against the Wall Street Journal for promoting US play of the Shiite Card. Advocates of that insanity are brain dead. still, al-Sadr appears to be taking over Sunni neighborhoods of Baghdad, at will. God knows why that is being indulged.
#3
It is about time the "racist" Met turned on the Mozzies who are rejecting democracy ("Kuffrocracy"); bashing girls who don't wear Hijab; praising the Taliban etc.
#4
I say thanks for your service now f~#* off back under your stone or go somewhere where you are appreciated like Pakistan
Posted by: Alex ||
01/07/2007 13:21 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Get these useless traitors off the force now, when they want to go. Tell them to pack their dumb asses up and go, and don't stop till they hit Islamabad, the rathole of their making.
LONDON (AP) - Britain's army will be deployed at oil, gas and electricity facilities in the country to defend them from potential terrorist attacks, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The News of the World cited an unnamed security source as confirming security will be increased around the facilities after intelligence suggested terrorists may target the country's infrastructure. The newspaper said the measure would mark the first time soldiers had been called in to guard such facilities.
Britain's Home Office, which oversees counterterrorism efforts, would not confirm the report. But it did say it was reviewing security around key infrastructure facilities. "We have been very clear that we face a severe threat of terrorism," a Home Office statement said. "It is therefore important that we consider all options for protecting our assets and infrastructure."
The Home Office said the review of security around key infrastructure did not come in response to any specific threat and added the general threat level to the country has not changed. A Home Office spokeswoman declined to comment further on the report.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2007 00:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I still wonder about those Hemel Hempstead explosions.
#2
Or you could just expel the enemy population, saved billions of pounds on welfare as well as policing and get on with the tea and sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
The British government was preparing to give special funding to local councils to help identify possible Muslim extremists, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Sounds like pragmatism to me...
According to the report in the national Daily Mirror newspaper, Communities and Local Government Minister Ruth Kelly was expected to announce later this month the five million pounds funding of the initiative that calls for council staff to tip off authorities about possible risks, and act as the ears and eyes of police.
Extremism is an issue for all of us. Local authorities must rise to the challenge, too, the Daily Mirror quoted Kelly as saying. This funding will enable us to harness the long-established expertise of local authorities in developing deep insights into their areas in order to meet the challenge of tackling violent extremism.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Back when my Dad was growing up on St. Jouns, Michigan, they called this a 'bounty.' He got I think 25 cents for each rat head he brought in (farming country and all). Best part, the county paid another dime for each tail. I'll bet if the Brits called it a bounty, they would get more respondents (especially if a proof of purchase were required).
Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the sinktrap. Further violations may result in banning.
#5
You got it USN, ret. A good ole bounty. I could stand on any street corner there and make a week's wages in a couple hours. Exactly same here. Both for Muzzies and Mexes.
TOKYO - The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that the United States and Japan are expected to upgrade their joint operation plan for a possible contingency on the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese newspaper said the countries agreed on military cooperation in case of an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula, a missile attack on Japan or the launching of an operation to protect Taiwan from China.
Rolled Taiwan into that, did they?
The Asahi Shimbun quoted local government officials as saying that under the new agreement the US would be authorized to launch attacks on North Korea from bases and ports in Japan.
There's a little instant message for both the Norks and their Chinese masters.
In addition, the report said, Japanese and US officials will seek the cooperation of the police, local governments and the private sector in such functions as search and rescue operations for US military personnel, and providing and guarding bases and ports that would serve as operational hubs for the US military.
A senior Japanese defense official confirmed that the two countries are examining reactions to possible scenarios in the area, and admitted that the North Korean nuclear threat and the tensions between China and Taiwan are two key points that raise Japans concerns.
Looks like Taiwan just isn't about China.
According to the Kyodo news agency, during talks scheduled for next month Japan and the US are expected to discuss logistical aid to American troops in case of and armed conflict between Beijing and Taipei.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2007 00:09 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Wowsers! That story had a lot more to do with Taiwan then I was expecting.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2007 4:07 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Yep. Major message.
The 1st Korean War may well have been lost without the help of the remnants of the Japanese merchant fleet and airfields.
#4
If the Chinese Government isn't saying "Oh Shit" right about now, they're incompetent.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/07/2007 10:46 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Hmmm. Let's go over that with care. We've got 30,000+ troops in SKor now. We've got some still in Okinawa, but supposedly being relocated in large measure to Guam. Does this signal a prelude to removal of units from Korea finally ? And some justification to Japanese homeland that continued US presence is going to be required ?
#6
If they could tie in the Philppines and maybe Vietnam and Thailand, China would be sh$$$ing little golden apples about now. The Australia-India-US axis already is worrying Beijing, and it could expand. It may not be exactly like the "Cold War", but it's getting close. The next thing the US needs to do is to greatly increase its mine warfare capability (both minelaying and minesweeping), and share it with Taiwan, Japan, Australia, and India.
I'd like to nominate John Bolton as next Secretary of State.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/07/2007 17:11 Comments ||
Top||
#8
When Russia + Chinas say or infer that War agx the USA , AND ONLY THE USA, is not only possible = realistic BUT DESIRED, NEAR BY or SHORTLY AFTER YEAR 2020, one of their meanings is THAT A DECADES-LONG "NEW COLD WAR" IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE/TOLERABLE, regardless of the PC-speak. IS WHY THE LEFTISTS, SECULARISTS, ANARCHISTS, ALTERNATISTS, GOVERNMENTISTS, COMMIES-SOCIALISTS and TOTALITARIANISTS ETC. ARE PUSHING HARD NOW TO GET THEIR DOMESTIC AGENDAS INTO LAW. Any so-called NEW COLD WAR is between NOW and 2020, becuz after that ALL GLOVES, I.E. PEACE =PSUEDOPEACE, ARE OFF. Remember, CLINTONISM > HATED DESPICABLE US NAZIS-FASCISTS = also WELL-MEANING BUT ERRORFUL LIMITED COMMUNISTS. Iff the WOT > how to stop "Fascist' ALLEGED BULLY/BRUTISH ARROGANT Amerika, then is by definition a WAR AGZ "LIMITED COMMUNISM" IN FAVOR OF FULL/TOTAL COMMUNISM, a WAR AGZ "IN YOUR FACE" IN FAVOR OF "THEY WHOM MUST NOT BE NAMED/SEEN/HEARD BUT MUST BE OBEYED".
#9
TAIWAN > CHINA may be modernizing, but it still calles itself Communist and has NOT given up its ambitions for anti-US/WESTERN, China-centric Asian-Pacific hegemony. IOW, unlike the icy/cold-eyes of the USSR during the Cold War, China per se WANTS TO KILL US QUICKLY BUT WARMLY AND POLITELY. THEY LOVE YA, MAN, ERGO WE MUST DIE.
A little anti-dhimmitude in Olde Belgium, plus sensitivity training goes both ways!
Ten youths from Beringen (Limburg province) who had thrown stones at Jewish youths visited the Anne Frank Museum in the Dutch city of Amsterdam today. The youths were accompanied by Federal Minister Peter Vanvelthoven. The trip is part of a re-education scheme after an incident which caused widespread upset in December.
The facts go back to the end of November last year. A group of young Turkish immigrants in the Limburg municipality of Beringen attacked a group of Jewish school children by throwing stones at them, shouting anti-Semitic slogans. (Belga) the Anne Frank House The Antwerp school children were visiting former mining buildings in the area. The incident led to the children returning immediately, as the windows of the youth hostel where they would be staying overnight had also been smashed. The incident was made public a week later and shocked the local community in Beringen.
Semms a bit more serious than a handful of pebbles, don't it?
It was agreed that the youths should apologise to the Jewish school children, that they would visit the Anne Frank House and do 30 hours of community work as a punishment. Federal Employment Minister Peter Vanvelthoven and Ahmed Koç, an alderman on the Beringen town council, accompanied the youths to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam to confront them with the horror the Jewish community was faced with during the Second World War. (Belga) Peter Vanvelthoven accompanied the young immigrants "The Anne Frank Museum is quite impressive," Mr Koç told VRT radio. "This is not just a day out, this is about re-education. It will allow the youths to see for themselves how much suffering the Second World War caused. I think that seeing it with your own eyes has more impact than seeing it on TV."
#1
They *should* have quickly set up a museum that would fully show the evidence of the Turkish genocide of Armenians. I'm sure, given a few days, the Armenian embassy could "throw together" something impressively hideous, designed to lay on a serious guilt trip.
#2
It was agreed that the youths should be tried, imprisoned with hard-labor then deported apologise to the Jewish school children, that they would visit the Anne Frank House and do 30 hours of community work as a punishment.
#4
how about beating and deporting the lil muzzies?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2007 11:07 Comments ||
Top||
#5
And so, when the adults left, how many of the "youths" snickered over the lame attempt to "re-educate?" How many of their parents' told them, after being "re-educated" that it was all Jewish lies and propaganda?
#6
How about some public flogging as the starter course of re-education. Then make it clear that this is Europe, not shithole north. Love it or leave it.
AMSTERDAM A controversial imam has given a sermon at a mosque in Eindhoven despite a court-imposed ban. A Muslim organisation had requested the court order after the imam regularly made radical and inflammatory statements, Radio Netherlands reported. Imam Kariman first became notorious in 2001 when he used obscene and insulting language to describe same-sex relationships to an audience of children. On Sunday, the imam and a group of his young supporters demanded that he be allowed to lead prayers in the mosque. The Anwar-e-Medina mosque said it allowed him to lead the service to prevent a disturbance.
Spain's bishops are alarmed by ambitious plans to recreate the city of Cordoba - once the heart of the ancient Islamic kingdom of al-Andalus - as a pilgrimage site for Muslims throughout Europe. They might think about recreating Christianity in Spain. Why aren't they converting all those Moors flooding into the country? There aren't any laws against prosyletizing them in Spain, like there are in Morocco. Or have they simply forgotten how to prosyletize? Maybe they should take some lessons from the evangelicals.
You didn't get the memo? The official religion of Spain is post-Christian secular humanism. Says so in the socialist manifesto ...
Plans include the construction of a half-size replica of Cordoba's eighth century great mosque, according to the head of Cordoba's Muslim Association. Funds for the project are being sought from the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, and Muslim organisations in Morocco and Egypt. Other big mosques are reportedly planned for Medina Azahara near Cordoba, Seville and Granada.
They have to big, you know, just to let everyone know that they're back in town ...
The bishops of those cities are alarmed at the construction of ostentatious mosques, fearing that the church's waning influence may be further eclipsed by resurgent Islam financed from abroad. Up to one million Muslims are estimated to live in Spain. Many are drawn by a romantic nostalgia for the lost paradise of Al-Andalus, the caliphate that ruled Spain for more than five centuries.
Spain's Muslims have been long respectful towards civil and ecclesiastical authorities, but as numbers have grown they have turned to more radical leaders. An alliance of Spanish converts, pro-Moroccan and pro-Saudi leaders took control of one of Spain's two main Islamic federations last year. Half of the new leaders are imams from Saudi-funded mosques in Madrid and Fuengirola.
Mansur Escudero, president of Spain's Islamic Council, said he did not favour the construction of flamboyant mosques with foreign money. "I prefer more modest, decent buildings that are backed by Spanish local authorities," he said, but added: "Muslims have the right to build mosques big and small wherever they like."
"And if they build big, that's your tough luck."
Hundreds of mosques have popped up all over Spain. But churches, and many residents, complain that big, shiny mosques are more than just centres for culture and worship, and say they are funded by undemocratic countries promoting Islamic radicalism.
Depends on how you define 'culture and worship', doesn't it?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
In fa
Except for:
1) Before being a mosque it was a church.
2) It was so badly designed (remeber this was the goden age of islam) that it would have crumbled without the additional constructions made by Christians after Cordoba's liberation who prevented its crumbling. In afct a part where Christians let it untouched crumbkled towards 1500.
3) Apparently they haven't heard of rules about extinction of judicial action for claims who have not been exercised for over 30 years.
4) Not a word about reverting to Christain cult the hundreds of mosques in North Africa and Middle East built in stolen Christian churches.
A draft copy of the speech President George Bush plans to deliver this week about the new way forward in Iraq has leaked to the media from a White House source who requested anonymity due to the unethical and treasonous nature of the leak.
In the text the president explains why hes ordering an increase in U.S. troops in Iraq, rather than heeding the demands of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for implementing what the president calls a strategic skedaddle.
Portions of the speech text are excerpted here
My fellow Americans, as I stand to speak with you tonight, some 132,000 U.S. troops stand tall in Iraq. I want to tell you tonight what they stand for. Im also going to call on thousands more of our heroes to stand with them, and I want to explain why this fight is too important to lose.
As you may have heard, I have directed the Secretary of Defense to boost our troop strength in Iraq immediately. This, of course, will spark new Congressional hearings. Since you dont have time to watch all those hours of C-Span, Ill give you the condensed version now.
Increasing our fighting force by 20,000 will not only allow us to better support the Iraqi Armys new effort to crush sectarian militias, but it also means we can have several armed U.S. divisions on Irans border within hours. Once Israeli jets obliterate Irans nuclear facilities, well be on the doorstep.
Whoa, did I say that out loud or just think it?
Folks, were not at war with the average Iraqi citizen. Were fighting proxies deployed, armed and funded by Iran and al Qaeda who are taking advantage of the Iraqi governments chaotic infancy to advance their vision of a global Muslim caliphate. This is not a neo-con nightmare fantasy, its the enemys stated goal.
Youve probably heard from the news media that the Iraqi insurgency is stoked by high unemployment. Well, if folks cant pay their bills or buy groceries, where do you think they get the money to make bombs and to buy guns? Do you know how much lamb and falafel you can buy for the cost of one AK-47? The lack of money is not the problem. The people supplying the money are the problem.
As a wise man once said, Civil war isnt breaking out in Iraq, its breaking in.
Some tell me that the American public doesnt understand the stakes that youre too stupid to comprehend the cost of failure in Iraq, or the benefit of victory. I dont believe that.
But just in case theres a journalist or a politician out there who doesnt understand why we fight, and why we must win, let me make it plain.
In every country where radical Islam takes over, the first people to fall under the sword are journalists and politicians. There is no free press under Sharia law, and no room for politicians who would advance the rights of women and homosexuals or the freedom to choose an abortion. There is no debate on these issues, because people who would speak out against Sharia law never speak again. Incidentally, theres no debate about the death penalty either, although the appeals process for the convicted can sometimes drag on for minutes on end.
If you think America should back away from this fight, think about this:
Picture a future where the number two (Iran) and number three (Iraq) oil reserves in the world are in the hands of our sworn enemies. How long do you think it would take them to expand their regime to Kuwait, Yemen, Dubai and Saudi Arabia? Which non-Muslim nations might be the first to capitulate to whatever demands these petroleum-rich whack-jobs might make? Who would stand in the way? The United Nations, perhaps?
And let me paraphrase the late John Lennon
Imagine theres no Israel.
Its easy if you try.
Just give Iraq to Ahmadinejad.
Jerusalem, bye-bye.
A lot of well-meaning Americans seem to think that there are a lot of well-meaning radical Islamists, who want only justice for their cause, and then they would settle down and live in harmony with their infidel brothers thats you and me.
Do you think the Islamic warlord Moktada al-Sadr would like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony?
No, hed like to teach the world chant in bland monotony, hed like to put a bloody end to Christianity. Hes the real thing, and so is Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and dozens of other radical Islamic leaders who are willing to pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the destruction and demise of liberty and its primary champion, the United States of America.
Lets face the facts. Iran declared war on the U.S. in 1979. Al Qaeda declared war on the U.S. in 1998. No truce or ceasefire has been signed. Iran and al Qaeda remain at war with us, whether we acknowledge it or not.
And if we continue to stumble on as if these well-funded, suicidal hate machines dont exist, or cant hit us, were going to wake up one morning to news that the tallest structure in New York is the subway.
If we wavered at news of 3,000 troops dead overseas, what will we do with news of 300,000 or 3 million dead in our own land. If were willing to capitulate now, how will we handle their demands then?
Keep in mind, the first to fall under Sharia law will be the media. The radical Islamists have already demonstrated an ability to dominate the headlines through random acts of terror. What will they be able to accomplish when they control the media directly?
It will be too late to act when you go to your mailbox and find the Sports Illustrated Annual Burqa Edition. It will be too late when basic cable consists of Al Jazeera and the Fatwa Channel. It will be too late when butterfly ballots and Diebold machines are virtually error free because there are only two choices yes and no.
Perhaps you dont think this is possible that Im just trying to scare you. Thats because you took the Self-Esteem elective in high school instead of American history.
The only reason that English isnt your second language after German the only reason the Congress isnt called the Reichstag
the only reason the president isnt called the Führer (by sane people) is that the blood of more than one million Americans and the toil and sacrifice of millions more scrubbed the stain of Nazism from the face of the earth.
The men and women who remember what it took to accomplish that are in the winter of their years now, and so the task falls to a new generation of reluctant heroes. In their day, they heard the same excuses for not taking bold, overwhelming, decisive action. But they eventually ignored those voices and listened to a higher calling.
They gave, they fought, they suffered, they died. And because they did, we receive, we relax, we enjoy and we live. Those are good things but our comfort and plenty have also lead us to slumber.
Those of us with the luxury of remaining stateside in this conflict debate the war as if it were a purely philosophical question. Some folks are more concerned with appearances, tolerance and the civil rights of our enemies than with the future of freedom.
A lot of people say that our military policy has to take into account Iraqi cultural and religious sensitivities as well as tribal customs and loyalties.
Hog wash.
If you blow up people with sophisticated remote-triggered roadside bombs, or send a young man strapped with explosives into a crowded market, you have cashed in your culture, your religion and your noble-savage tribal mystique. Youre a bloodthirsty terrorist and Im not going to waste a minute of the State Departments time trying to negotiate with you. Your file has been transferred to the Pentagon. Your days are numbered.
If you have legitimate grievances, take them to the legitimately-constituted courts or legislature.
You want to be taken seriously? Take off the rag mask, drop the AK-47, slip out of that fashionable explosive vest and start exercising some of that legendary Muslim wisdom or doing some of those charitable deeds for which your religion is so well-known.
So, heres our new strategy in plain terms:
Defeat the enemy.
Extinguish the flame of radical Islam.
Talk after victory.
Today, Im warning the tyrant in Tehran that any weapons we find in Iraq stamped with his return address shall be returned upon his head a thousand fold.
Im offering the people who live around Irans nuclear facilities 36 hours to get out of town, because were about to deliver a major setback to Ahmadinejads peaceful energy research.
Finally, Im inviting the president of Iran to fly to Washington D.C. where hell be taken into custody, given a fair trial for his complicity in the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, and then whisked away to comfortable quarters at one of our fine maximum security prisons.
This is certainly a more desirable fate than the one that awaits him when the people of Iran rise up and take back their country from this hairball in a leisure suit and his black-robed overlords.
Thank you for listening. May God bless our troops, and grant them victory. Dayum! WORD.
Hat tip Sound Politics (local W.Washington (state) Conservative blog.)
WASHINGTON Dal LaMagna has packed up his second home in New York and moved to a house a short walk from the Capitol to begin a one-man, self-financed lobbying campaign to get the U.S. out of Iraq.
I ran into LaMagna on Thursday at a small reception for Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Democratic senator he helped re-elect in November. But the wealthy businessman he sold Tweezerman.com, a personal grooming company he founded was distracted from celebrating by a growing obsession with the Iraq war. "The reason I'm not as obsessed with Darfur or Bosnia or the many places in Africa as I am about Iraq is because Iraq is our fault, and we should fix it," he said. Ahhh yes.... everything is Our Fault.
LaMagna, who lives in Kitsap County, is working full time to lobby members of Congress to call for a quick withdrawal of U.S. troops. He started with Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott. AKA Bagdad Jim.
The day after the November election the two flew alone to Amman, Jordan, to meet with members of the Iraqi parliament and others in the region. McDermott said he asked U.S. officials in Jordan to give visas to two Iraqis he wants to bring to D.C. But he said he has been unable to make that happen. Sorry Jim. But we have a little problem letting people who want to murder innocent civilians in.... you understand....
LaMagna says getting Iraqis to Washington is key. "They need to say to the American people: 'We want the troops out now,' " he said. "They need to say, 'Don't worry, we can resolve our problems ourselves.' " Funny how he never names these people.....
After their November trip, McDermott and LaMagna developed a plan they say reflects what Iraqis want. It would undo major pieces of the Bush strategy. They want U.S. troops out of the cities and sent to close the borders with Iran and Syria. They want the Iraqi constitution rewritten and the former Baath party government, which the U.S. dismantled, brought back to run things. To protect the country, they say, the old Iraqi army must be reconstituted and rearmed.
So let's bring back the genocidal fascists who knew how to make the trains run on time?
McDermott says there are a handful of other lawmakers interested in the plan. LaMagna says his job is to build those numbers.
LaMagna was Cantwell's campaign co-chairman. But he's more loyal to his work on Iraq than he is to the Democratic Party. He said he works closely with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan ... Another Traitor.
... and has helped coordinate anti-war activity.
LaMagna has little patience for Democrats who he says won power largely because of the administration's Iraq strategy but have yet to offer a concrete plan to end the war. "It's been a month and a half and we haven't seen anything come out of the Democrats," he said. "Why aren't the Democrats out there with a plan?"
They only took power Thursday. But LaMagna clearly has lost patience with his party.
#3
"I've been a strong Baath-party supporter since I tweezed my first unibrow"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2007 13:55 Comments ||
Top||
#4
LaMagna has little patience for Democrats who he says won power largely because of the administration's Iraq strategy but have yet to offer a concrete plan to end the war.
The only plan that the dems had was to sabotage the Administration at every point. That's it, LaMagna, anything else is wishful thinking on your part. Speaker Pelosi on the podium with Congressional grandchildren swarming around, that's the new plan.
Better reread the dictionary definintion of HUBRIS, it will come in handy in the near future.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/07/2007 14:21 Comments ||
Top||
HAVANA (AP) - Cindy Sheehan called for the closure of the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as she and other activists arrived here Saturday to draw attention to the nearly 400 terror suspects held at the remote site.
There she goes again.
Sheehan is among 12 human rights and anti-war activists who will travel across this Caribbean island next week, arriving at the main gate of the Guantanamo base in eastern Cuba on Thursday - five years after the first prisoners were flown in.
"Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not afraid of anything," Sheehan said when asked about the possibility of U.S. sanctions for traveling to communist-run Cuba, which remains under an American trade embargo. "What is more important is the inhumanity that my government is perpetrating at Guantanamo," she told reporters.
Sheehan arrived in Havana early Saturday evening with trip organizer Medea Benjamin of the California nonprofit groups Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace.
Benjamin is a hard-line commie, and we all know Code Pink.
Benjamin said group members believed they were exempt from U.S. travel restrictions on Cuba because they were traveling as professional human rights activists who will attend a daylong international conference in the Cuban city of Guantanamo on Wednesday, the eve of their protest.
It'd be great if they were wrong and our government showed some spine on their re-entry.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2007 00:02 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Let her and Medea Baby walk right up to the wire. Make sure the mooks see them. Then tell them that that's who's panties get stuck on their heads if they don't talk.
Then see if they'll talk...
Posted by: C. Sheehan ||
01/07/2007 8:24 Comments ||
Top||
#8
"Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not afraid of anything,"
Except for becoming a rapidly aging has-been 23 minute celebrity who dies unmourned and forgotten by all except Larry King.
#9
I think they ought to arrest every no-name *with* Sheehan, but let Sheehan go. And I mean arrest them in Gitmo, where they can be held in a military stockade for several weeks while paperwork is arranged so that their US attorneys can fly down there for them.
Then, while Cindy is trying to figure out how to get back to the US without her luggage or airplane tickets, which would have been confiscated as "tools used in a criminal enterprise", each of her compadres gets put in a cell with some wicked US Marine as their "roomie".
I'm sure that even a Marine doing a couple of weeks for drunk & disorderly will be less than inclined to be preached at by some lefty in his cell.
#13
Moose, why not just throw them in with the detainees they claim to support? I bet those fun-loving guys would welcome w hem with open zippers arms. Now that would be entertaining.
#14
I don't know if all that "trap 'em in Gitmo" is such a good idea. I mean, wouldn't it be cheaper to have a "baggage handler(s)" fill their check-in bags with CANF pamphlets, with, maybe, a purchase receipt marked 'paid-in-full' with Mother Sheehan's signature?
#15
Wait just a cotton pickin minute here. "...arrive at the main gate of Gitmo."
Why the fuck is there a gate that civilians can get to?
Seems to me that there shouldn't be any access point on the Cuban side of Gitmo at all. The only thing that should be on the Cuban side is razor wire and mines. And as for access from the sea, well... I should think anything that isn't a DoD asset wouldn't be allowed within miles of the place.
If this bitch makes it to the gate for any reason other then an explosion propelling her corpse toward it, it will have been a massive security failure on the part of the Marines. In my mind anyway. But, I admit, I'm a bit of a dreamer.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2007 12:24 Comments ||
Top||
#16
Cyber Sarge: You're close, but I have one better.
Why not record several days of the screams and whining of the Sheehan crowd, then re-broadcast it, over and over, to the Gitmo inmates?
I'm sure that those jihadis would love nothing better than peacenik snivelling, crying, pissing and moaning for 24/7.
Just give the guards some damn good hearing protection, or they'll shoot the speakers.
#18
Benjamin said group members believed they were exempt from U.S. travel restrictions on Cuba because they were traveling as professional human rights activists
Watch it mister these aint no run of the mill pain the arse rabble- rousers they are professional activists.
#19
Cyber Sarge, for some reason, I can believe that citizens of an enemy Nation would be working at an American Marine base.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2007 13:46 Comments ||
Top||
#20
"Please Love me! I need a hug!"
Judging by the look of metabolic derangement in the photo what she needs is to get off her lefty diet and take in some protein and essential fatty acids.
Sometimes I wonder to what extent leftism is a nutritional problem. Anyone know any serious lefties who are big steak eaters?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2007 14:09 Comments ||
Top||
#22
Anyone know any serious lefties who are big steak eaters?
I know some lefties with otherwise "normal" dietary habits. And they're still crazy. It could be that Leftism makes a person more prone to odd dietary notions. Lefties have their brains wired backwards.
Posted by: Chuck Darwin ||
01/07/2007 14:18 Comments ||
Top||
#23
I hate to think of what the State Dept would do to me if I tried to pull one like this. They'll probably let her off the hook though, since she is a well known piece of shit, not an unknown one.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2007 17:38 Comments ||
Top||
#26
I can't believe she's still news.
Such a big story what with all of her 11 folks with her. "Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not afraid of anything," Sheehan said"
"be very afraid", as said by Yoda
if the gate falls down and she's faced with these poor mistreated terrorists.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
01/07/2007 19:19 Comments ||
Top||
UP family planning minister asks Muslim women to produce as many healthy kids as they want, says Mulayam govt will pay Rs 1,400 per child
Lucknow, India - January 6: In a statement that shocked even officials of the state Health Department, Ahmad Hasan, the family planning minister of Uttar Pradesh, today announced that Muslim women can produce as many healthy children as they want, and that the state government would give Rs 1,400 to take care of each child.
Hasan made the statement while addressing a gathering today, after a Pulse Polio awareness rally was taken out by Muslim women in the Old City on eve of the next phase of Pulse polio drive, starting on Sunday.
The support extended by the minister, though, had one condition: You (Muslim women) can produce as many healthy children as you can afford and I am there to support you. But do come out and support us in need (read upcoming state Assembly elections). We will make all your dreams come true in the next five years.
Hasan said the Congress government had advocated the two-child policy but the Samajwadi Party government would help them in all possible way to have more children. Congress ki sarkar ne do bachhon ke bad rok laga di thhi, par hum samajhte hain ki yeh apka faisla hai (Congress government had put the two-child norm in place but we feel its your decision to put a cap on your family), Hasan said. So, you can produce as many healthy children as you want.
Though the statement shocked and surprised even the women at the gathering, they applauded the minister the moment he announced that the government would give Rs 1,400 for every child.
Hasan also put the onus of the increasing number of polio cases in the state on the Centre and said the state health Department could not pursue the Pulse Polio programme as it desired due to the Centres negligence.
Meanwhile, making evident that the Assembly polls are round the corner, Hasan went on with his announcements: You give us land on rent of Rs 5,000 and we will give you hospital wherever you want. You select the doctors, we will appoint them at Rs 10,000.
Interestingly, while Hasan and the Health officials claimed a good response, Newsline found that the younger lot of women with children was lured to the rally with promises of money, while the elder ones were told that they would get pension. Many women from different localities of the Old City confirmed the fact, though Health Department officials refuted these charges.
There was an announcement in our area that we will be paid money if we come here, and thats why I am here with my one-year-old daughter. I also called other women from the locality, said Shanno of Chowk area. Asked about the polio drop, she said her daughter, Sheher, was not administered the drop.
The elderly women, meanwhile, could be seen with ration cards in hand. We were told that they would give us pension if we participated in the rally, said Munnavar Jahan, from Kashmiri Mohalla in the Old City.
But Dr S K Srivastava, director general, Medical and Health, said: No such bait was given, neither did we make any promises. They have all come here willingly,
Meanwhile, the Health officials present at the meeting preferred to not comment on the ministers statement about childbirth.
Posted by: john ||
01/07/2007 06:35 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Memo to Mr Ahmad Hasan: the job of an Indian state family planning minister to to encourage people to limit their family size...
Posted by: john ||
01/07/2007 6:43 Comments ||
Top||
#2
It's already being done. Why would the Indians want to compete with the Euros?
#3
Don't be silly, Muslims are except from all criticism on the grounds of "over-population", "over-consumption" and "climate change" just as they are exempt from criticism concerning women's rights, the judicial and extra-judicial murder of gay men, minorities, people who face Mecca the wrong way, etc.
#5
Hey what's the conversion rate of Rs 1,400 to american dollars?
We kinda do the same thing here. Illegals
having lots of babies with our paying for all of the hospital costs and until they're 18 years old, parents included to take care of said children.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
01/07/2007 14:41 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Hey what's the conversion rate of Rs 1,400 to American dollars?
$31.59
Posted by: Chuck Darwin ||
01/07/2007 21:26 Comments ||
Top||
#7
"$31.59" - enuff for one US tween/Teen's Friday night binging at McDonalds or the Arcade. And now you know why Russia-China = Iran > MANY WOMEN ARE REFUSING TO HAVE CHILDREN NO MATTER WHAT THE GUBMINT SAYS NOR HOW MANY AK-47'S ARE POINTED AT THEIR HEAD.
#8
We do the same thing here - its called Welfare - the more kids you have the more the government will give you. So why not have 6-8 kids which you can neither support or care for?
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is planning to field its own candidate for the presidents office instead of resigning if General Pervez Musharraf tries to re-elect himself through the current assemblies, MMA sources told Daily Times on Saturday. I was wondering why Qazi stepped down as head of the MMA...
They said that the alliances supreme council would consider suspending its decision to resign during the upcoming National Assembly session, to focus on contesting the presidential election against Musharraf. Pakistan Peoples Party Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto had suggested that the opposition resign from the assemblies if Musharraf tries to re-elect himself through the current assemblies. Proposals to suspend resignations and field a candidate would be made at the next supreme council meeting on January 11 in Islamabad.
The sources claimed that a number of MMA leaders were against Bhuttos suggestion of resigning from the assemblies.
MMA Senior Vice President Qari Gul Rehman said that senior party leaders were considering giving up the idea of resignations. He said an MMA candidate for the presidential slot would boost the morale of religious forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
President Gen Pervez Musharaf has said that some elements are fanning civil war in Pakistan and urged the people to stand united against these elements.
Extremists, whether Taliban or others, shall not be allowed to hold sway in Pakistan, the president said at the inauguration ceremony for a project to supply gas to the southern NWFP districts of Hangu, Karak, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank and Dera Ismail Khan. He said that the Pashtun people had backed Quaid-e-Azam during the foundation of Pakistan. Pakistan is passing through the same situation and needs the assistance of Pashtuns in this critical moment, he added.
He urged people not to harbour foreigners living in their areas without legal documents. He said Pakistan faced no external threat, but some internal elements were against the development of the country. Some retrogressive elements propagates that I am against Islam but I tell you that they are wrong, he said. I am the real Muslim.
He urged the people of Karak to vote for progressives and reject extremists in the next general elections. He said that Pakistan was at a crossroads. People have to decide whether they want to embrace development or backwardness, he added. The president said that Pakistan was in dire need for big dams to cope with an energy shortage, and so Kalabagh Dam would be built.
Gen Musharraf said that ten water filtration plants would be installed in Karak district, and Rs 20 million would be spent on resolving electricity supply problems in the district.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Not that I would consider Mushi a legitimate mod, but the most oft-used expression by moderate Arab pols is: "We were just about to stand up to the bad guys when you stupid Americans did that stupid thing. Had you stupid Americans not done that stupid thing, we would have stood up, but now it's too late. It's all your fault for being so stupid."
There is a human pipeline that arranges for alienated British Muslim youths many of them born in the UK of Pakistani heritage to travel to Pakistan for indoctrination and training at temporary terrorist camps, believed to be operated by Al Qaeda leaders, according to a report in the current issue of Newsweek. Well, golly. Who'da ever guessed that?
The report quoted US authorities as saying that the UK-Pakistan pipeline had played a role in several planned terrorist plots. A US intelligence official said that agencies on both sides of the Atlantic had information linking a 26-year-old London man, Muhammed Al-Ghabra, as a major organiser for Al Qaeda and other terror groups to some of the well-known plots. Things like this do happen every now and then without the knowledge of the host government. After all, they can't know everything that takes place within their borders. On the other hand, when these things happen on a regular basis, with sophisticated, large-scale support networks behind them, then we expect to find that the host government is actually involved in the activity.
The information that the US Treasury Department made public in its announcement freezing Ghabras assets appears to affirm his role as a terrorist fixer. The Treasury statement said some of the would-be terrorists that Ghabra allegedly helped travel to Pakistan returned to the UK to engage in covert activity on Al Qaedas behalf. It said that during a visit to Pakistan in 2002, Ghabra allegedly met and stayed at the home of Abu Faraj Al-Libi, who at the time was believed to have succeeded the 9/11 mastermind as the Al Qaeda operations chief. Ghabra was also accused of training at a terror camp in Kashmir. The US government is the only party involved in designating Ghabra as a terror organiser that has released such detailed information on him.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If these camps are big and active and accepting recruits from many and distant sources, then they ought to be vulnerable to infiltration.
In fact, let's spread the rumor that a guy named Mo(ses Howard?) is the infiltrator.
#2
A US intelligence official said that agencies on both sides of the Atlantic had information linking a 26-year-old London man, Muhammed Al-Ghabra, as a major organiser for Al Qaeda and other terror groups to some of the well-known plots.
SRINAGAR, India - A Kashmiri separatist leader put forward a peace plan on Saturday to unify the disputed Himalayan territory -- claimed both by India and Pakistan -- and give it autonomy. Sajad Gani Lone, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference, proposed that unified Kashmir be administered by its people, while the regions defence could be the joint responsibility of Kashmiri, Indian and Pakistani authorities.
Lone said Achievable Nationhood -- a 266-page document -- was the first of its kind to be presented by a separatist since the insurgency broke out in Indian Kashmir in 1989. Among other things, the document envisages unhindered, tax-free movement of goods between the two Kashmirs which India and Pakistan claim in entirety but rule only in part.
Achievable Nationhood achieves unification of two parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Lone told a news conference. Achievable Nationhood propounds the creation of a single Jammu and Kashmir Economic Union which would result in a boundary-less and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
Lones peace formula comes a month after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Islamabad would abandon its claim to Kashmir if India agreed to give the territory autonomy under joint supervision by both countries. India welcomed the proposal saying it could be discussed during formal peace talks between the two sides.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Personally I think the only solution for Kashmir is to divide it by current ownership. Independence would mean Kashmir waited to be swallowed by India or Pakistan.
What I would like to see is an independent Kashmir and Punjab forming a semi-neutral border between India and Pakistan. Won't happen, but I think it would be a good thing for India to implement.
Bilal alias Imran, who was arrested in Karnataka on Friday, had met Abu-Al Kalama, the top man of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan, according to initial investigations carried out by Jammu and Kashmir police as part of its "background check" on his antecedents. He had shifted out of Kashmir 12 years ago. Bilal belongs to Sadarbal in Hazratbal area, on the outskirts of Srinagar city, the police have found out.
It has also found that he was out of Srinagar for 12 long years. He was doing handicraft business in Karnataka, locals of his area told police. "We are trying to verify each and every bit of detail about him and his activities," one of the officers in investigations told Hindustan Times.
Director General of Police, Karnataka, K Srinivasan, has sought the help of J&K police as the terrorist was suspected to be part of the conspiracy to mount a terror assault on Infosys and Bangalore airport. Since Bilal belongs to Srinagar, efforts are on to find out find out more than what he has revealed so far to the Karnataka police.
Bilal, during his interrogation, disclosed that he had met Abu Al-Kalama, top Lashkar-e-Taiba man who runs the LeT training centres in Pakistan. When did he go to Pakistan and how did he go there, whether on a valid visa or did he cross over to PoK via LoC or did he travel to Pakistan through a third country? All this is subject matter of the police investigation. At the same time, he has claimed that he was simply a courier. The Jammu and Kashmir police are looking at all aspects of the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"He was doing handicraft business in Karnataka." Skilled craftsman and purveyor of fine homemade explosive devices?
Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers under United Nations command were demoted, dismissed or reprimanded for their roles in a sex-abuse case while on assignment in the Sudan, but U.N. officials are powerless to bring charges or prosecute the soldiers for their alleged crime. The UN is widely recognized as mostly powerless, except in those areas where it has managed to accrue a bit of power through the indulgence of its member nations; in the cases where it does have some power it is wont to abuse it.
Jane Holl Lute, assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, thinks the punishment is enough. "I think it sent a very clear message," Lute told reporters Friday in response to growing questions about the U.N.'s handling of the case. That message is "It's not my job!"
News broke earlier this week that the peacekeepers were booted out of the Sudan within the past year after allegations surfaced. The alleged incident involved one Bangladeshi soldier in June 2006, in southern Sudan. An investigation by the U.N.'s Office of Internal Oversight Services is ongoing. One U.N. official told FOXNews.com the allegations were "credible." U.N. officials said four Bangladeshi peacekeepers were repatriated. But a handout from the U.N.'s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) issued Friday, however, put that number at six. One soldier was sent home and dismissed from the Bangladeshi army. The U.N. statement said two of the three guards on duty during the alleged incident who were sent home were lowered in rank and two superior officers were "severely reprimanded," according to a U.N. statement.
"The disposition of discipline" is up to troop contributing countries that are U.N. members, not the United Nations itself, Lute said. In response to a question whether the U.N. requires a minimum code of justice for peacekeeping troops, Lute pointed to a proposal pending before the General Assembly that she said "strengthens measurably" the actions home countries take when their troops are accused of sexual abuse. If a member state isn't prepared to uphold those standards, she said, "then the organization is prepared to do without their services. We take this very seriously."
U.N. military officials have the power to direct the troops placed under their command, but are relatively powerless when it comes to punishing them if they are accused of crimes against humanity. There are 13 misconduct investigations ongoing at the Sudan mission, some include sexual abuse.
From January 2004 to the end of November 2006, investigations were conducted for 319 sexual exploitation and abuse cases in U.N. missions throughout the world. These probes resulted in the dismissal of 18 civilians and the repatriation on disciplinary grounds of 17 police and 144 military personnel.
Lute said any allegations of misconduct affect peacekeepers around the world, as well as the populations they work to protect. "Every time I'm made aware of sex exploitation and abuse, Im outraged. I'm outraged at every level as a peacekeeper, as a professional, as a colleague of the tens of thousands of men and women who serve honorably in peacekeeping," said Lute, who served in the U.S. Army. "I'm angry as a woman, I'm angry as a mother, I'm saddened that the world has not come as far as we'd like to believe in our treatment of women and vulnerable populations. I'm determined, I'm determined to do whatever it is we can to strengthen this comprehensive package of reform and remediation."
Except, you know, do anything.
What's frustrating to military commanders on the ground is that there is little they can do to offending peacekeepers, other than putting them on desk duty, restricting them to quarters, and requesting a full investigation and repatriation.
How about sic'ing the First Sergeant on them?
The Bangladesh Mission to the U.N. did not return phone calls by FOXNews.com for comment. A spokesman at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said "of course" the United States will make addressing peacekeeper abuse allegations a priority this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said newly empowered Democrats will not give President Bush a blank check to wage war in Iraq, hinting they could deny funding if he seeks additional troops.
"If the president chooses to escalate the war, in his budget request, we want to see a distinction between what is there to support the troops who are there now," she said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
"The American people and the Congress support those troops. We will not abandon them. But if the president wants to add to this mission, he is going to have to justify it and this is new for him because up until now the Republican Congress has given him a blank check with no oversight, no standards, no conditions," said Pelosi, D-Calif.
Her comments on CBS' "Face the Nation" came as Bush worked to finish his new war plan that could send as many as 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq and provide more money for jobs and reconstruction programs.
Bush is expected to announce his plan as early as Wednesday.
#1
excellent! Let's start '08 campaigning now, with the returning vets as PR spokesmen on how the Donks quit supprting them with the funds they needed
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2007 17:19 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The returning vets will NEVER get airtime from the MSM, so that source of information will not make it to the 'average American' (nothing to see here, move along....)
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/07/2007 17:27 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Yup, that's what the Dems want... and God help us if we let them have it.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/07/2007 18:44 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I can't really fathom what Pelosi is thinking. Does she (or any other defeatist) think that Global terrorism will cease if we abandon Iraq? She needs to tug real hard on her ears until she hears a "pop".
#9
DEMS > America will retreat in a forward direction, and not the good way like at CHOSIN. Iff this was the DemoLeft's beloved VIETNAM of early 1970's, the Dems will prob support stopping the massive Commie arms flows from NVN-CAMBODIA-LAOS by B52 buffing 100% of SOUTH VIETNAM ONLY. Now, in 2007 = "Vietnam War", USA > gonna do the opposite by fortifying Cambodia-Laos and making sure NVN takes over South Vietnam = Iraq, ergo THAT'LL SHOW NVN = IRAN-ISLAMISTS WHO's THE BOSS, YOU BETCHA BOY!?
BAGHDAD, Jan. 6 When American soldiers woke Saddam Hussein in his cell near Baghdad airport at 3:55 a.m. last Saturday, they told him to dress for a journey to Baghdad. He had followed the routine dozens of times before, traveling by helicopter in the predawn darkness to the courtroom where he spent 14 months on trial for his life.
When his cell lights were dimmed on Friday night, Mr. Hussein may have hoped that he would live a few days longer, and perhaps cheat the hangman altogether.
According to Task Force 134, the American military unit responsible for all Iraqi detainees, Mr. Hussein had heard some of the rumors on the radio about potential execution dates. But never one to understate his own importance, he had told his lawyers for months that the Americans might spare him in the end, for negotiations to end the insurgency whose daily bombings rattled his cellblock windows.
As Mr. Hussein prepared to walk out into the chill of the desert winter, dressed in a tailored black overcoat, that last illusion was shattered. After being roused and told that he was being transferred to Iraqi custody, a task force statement e-mailed to The New York Times a week later revealed, he immediately indicated that he knew the execution would soon follow.
As he left the detention area, he thanked the guards and medics for the treatment he had received, Lt. Col. Keir-Kevin Curry, spokesman for the task force, said. Mr. Hussein was then driven to a waiting Black Hawk helicopter for a 10-minute flight to the old Istikhbarat prison in northern Baghdad, where a party of Iraqi officials awaited him at the gallows. During this brief period of transfer, Saddam Hussein appeared more serious, the task force said.
#4
The Times must have fucked up. This story does not clearly blame the U.S. Miltary.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2007 3:43 Comments ||
Top||
#5
It's not like the industrial shredders where available that didn't seem to bother MSM during Saddam's days in power. Ounce of outrage expressed during the gruesome deaths of thousands at his and his sons' hands? I guess laughter rather than taunting by the executioners is considered high culture by MSM.
#7
They should used the industrial shredder feet first then fed him to pigs. The only thing that offended me about the proceedings was allowing the man to wear that tailored coast the NYT is rubbing itself over. How many peasants were slaughtered on the altar of Moloch to buy it? But their deaths, as with so many others, are insufficient to raise the ire of "the left".
#9
As FOX's FRED BARNES had indic, Iraqi Sunnis are realizing they made a big mistake in not participating in post-IRAQI FREEDOM local elex, which by extension includes any Sunni-specific pretense of "saving" Saddam.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip On Sunday announced the formation of what they say is a new "resistance" group to carry out attacks against the United States, Israel and Iran in the name of executed former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The new purported organization, the Saddam Hussein Martyrs Brigades, will "hit America, Israel, Iran and all the traitors to our people," according to a pamphlet distributed today in the densely populated Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis and obtained by WND.
"The Zionists and Americans will not dream of more invasion because the reaction of our wing will be very painful. The cells of our organization are spread all around Palestine," the pamphlet stated.
Israeli and Palestinian security sources could not immediately confirm the formation of the purported new group.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip this weekend mourning ceremonies continued for Hussein, who was hanged one week ago after being sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. In the northern West Bank town of Yabed, near Jenin, about 500 people on Saturday participated in a march for Hussein. They also opened a mourning tent in his honor.
In Halhoul, near Hebron, hundreds of Palestinians reportedly attended a rally in honor of Hussein, waving flags of several Palestinian terror groups. Rally-goers burned the Israeli and American flags, and chanted slogans against Iran and against Iraqi Shiite leaders who opposed Hussein.
Pictures of Hussein alongside late PLO leader Yasser Arafat were posted throughout Gaza and the West Bank.
How appropriate. They were both fascists and now they're both dead.
Iranian leaders last week hailed the death of Hussein. Iran and Iraq engaged in a bitter war from 1980-1988. Many Iranian Shiites saw Hussein as an enemy in part due to his violent repression of Iraqi Shiites.
Hussein was considered a hero to most Palestinians. His final words last week reportedly included "Palestine is Arab."
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/07/2007 10:22 Comments ||
Top||
#3
... His final words last week reportedly included "Palestine is Arab."... That's not what was initially shown by the recording of the execution. The creation of a myth begins.
#4
"The Zionists and Americans will not dream of more invasion because the reaction of our wing will be very painful."
why am I reminded of that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the knight keeps threatening and provoking, only to get his limbs sliced off one at a time after each attempt to fight?
Hussein al-Sheik, a senior member of Fatah in the West Bank said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will announce a thorough reform plan and personnel changes for Palestinian security forces. Al-Sheik noted that the changes are meant to help battle the anarchy rampant throughout much of the PA, particularly in Gaza. According to the security official Abbas is determined to implement his decision to disperse the Hamas paramilitary militia in the Gaza Strip after declaring it illegal.
In light of continued security chaos and assassinations that got to a number of our fighters ... And in light of the failure of existing agencies and security apparatuses in imposing law and order and protecting the security of the citizens, President Mahmoud Abbas decided to reshuffle the security forces and its leadership and to consider the (Hamas) executive force, officers and members, illegal and outside the law, Abbas office said in a statement.
Palestinian Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was quick to reject Abbas call to dismantle his security force. A spokesman for the force, Islam Shahawan, said in response that the force will double its numbers to 12,000 fighters and urged citizens to join up.
Egypt, Jordan and the United States are trying to aid troops loyal to Abbas, shipping them guns and ammunition, Israel i officials were briefed in advance. Should efforts to form a unity government fall through and infighting between Hamas and Fatah picks up steam Abbas may official call for early elections in the Palestinian Authority, as he has already hinted he might resort to such measures in a speech last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
I assume he's carrying for his squads light machine gun. Usual OB is 6 Aks riflemen, 9 children meat-armour, 1 light machine gun, 1 spokesman, 1 AP correspondent, 7 goats, and 3 days of supplies in the ambulance.
To address the issue of data leaks of the kind we've seen so often in the last year because of stolen or missing laptops, writes Saqib Ali, the Feds are planning to use Full Disk Encryption (FDE) on all Government-owned computers.
"On June 23, 2006 a Presidential Mandate was put in place requiring all agency laptops to fully encrypt data on the HDD. The U.S. Government is currently conducting the largest single side-by-side comparison and competition for the selection of a Full Disk Encryption product. The selected product will be deployed on Millions of computers in the U.S. federal government space. This implementation will end up being the largest single implementation ever, and all of the information regarding the competition is in the public domain. The evaluation will come to an end in 90 days. You can view all the vendors competing and list of requirements."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2007 01:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
If you read the description of FDE on Wikipedia, you won't be impressed with the technology even with the 256 bit AES keys.
The encryption chip doesn't raise my flag, but a dongle would be better in that it combines physical security with disk/software security plus the dongle addresses the boot time vulnerability that is inherent in FDE.
The best security is always physical security. If the Bad Guyz™ can't latch onto your packets, your hardware or your keys, they can't crack your computer encryption no matter how weak it may be.
If the government has bought into the notion that FDE is a cureall for sloppy security we may as well award the NY Times the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their advanced work in computer security because that's as close to keeping secrets on government computers as we will ever get.
#7
We just had one of these installed on all our laptops at work. It registers a 'security question' and (I think) with a central server. If you forget your password you call them and answer the 'security question' they open up a 'backdoor' somehow.
I have to wonder where they keep all the 'security questions'....
The president of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Reza Aghazadeh, admitted Friday that Iran has built underground tunnels to use as deposits for nuclear material. "Right now we have 250 tons of Uf6 (the gas obtained by treating mineral uranium, which is transformed into enriched uranium by inserting it in centrifuges connected to a cascade) deposited in a network of underground tunnels which can't be found anywhere else in the world," he said. "Each month we put new material and machines worth millions of dollars in these tunnels, as well as in our nuclear installations," Aghazadeh added.
On 23 December, the Security Council voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, which the international community fears is aimed at building atomic weapons. Iran denies this, insisting its programme is solely for civilian use. The resolution bans trade with Iran in all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to such activities or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems. States are also required to prevent the provision to Iran of any technical assistance or training, financial assistance, investment, brokering or other services. Iran plans to begin production of nuclear fuel on an industrial scale soon, the country's official news agency IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I don't know what the U.S. Military has planned for Iran, but they are going to have to get real damn lucky to get this stuff with bombs. As much as I hate the idea of putting troops in Iran, I don't think there is any other option.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2007 2:36 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Iran had imported subway drilling machines years ago and has no subways. The only news here is that the Mad Mullahs are boasting about it.
Without sufficient intelligence the tunnels may well be out of reach. Surface transportation, electrical generation and oil importing/refineries are still on the surface.
This BS was already reported by the fabulist, Seymour Hersch. The report is the product of Peace Now self-loathers who want to forestall any action by Israel against supposed "peace" partners. Peace Now is a surrenderist group, whose members would have broke into Auschwitz rather than raise arms against a Nazi. There is no way that Israeli attack plans would be divulged to anyone. Watch the attacks on Israel from so-called "peace" activists who support the Paleo war on the Jewish people. And if these geniuses had the slightest ability to conduct strategic analyses, they would realize that the job could only be done with heavy nukes. And Qom would go first. ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Irans uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear bunker-busters, according to several Israeli military sources. The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb. Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open tunnels into the targets. Mini-nukes would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout. As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished, said one of the sources. The "source": Peace Now tactical liars.
The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossads assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years. Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least 70ft of concrete and rock. However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior sources said. Any US involvement would use Reaganite "fait accompli" tactics. The public will, properly, only hear about whatever is done, in a breaking news report. There will be overwhelming support and the Pelosis will be left crying on the sidelines.
Israeli and American officials have met several times to consider military action. Military analysts said the disclosure of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment, cajole America into action or soften up world opinion in advance of an Israeli attack.
Some analysts warned that Iranian retaliation for such a strike could range from disruption of oil supplies to the West to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets around the world. More BS; Iran lost over $6 billion in 2006, because they couldn't meet OPEC quotas. The Ayatollahs need every penny they can get. In any case, I would forsee a coup should the leaders prove impotent. And, the Iranian public is well aware of the unearned wealth that the Ayatollahs have given themselves and families, in non-competitive contracts. Rafsanjani is worth over a billion dollars.
Israel has identified three prime targets south of Tehran which are believed to be involved in Irans nuclear programme:
Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed for uranium enrichment
A uranium conversion facility near Isfahan where, according to a statement by an Iranian vice-president last week, 250 tons of gas for the enrichment process have been stored in tunnels
A heavy water reactor at Arak, which may in future produce enough plutonium for a bomb Israeli officials believe that destroying all three sites would delay Irans nuclear programme indefinitely and prevent them from having to live in fear of a second Holocaust.
The Israeli government has warned repeatedly that it will never allow nuclear weapons to be made in Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has declared that Israel must be wiped off the map. Again, use of accurate missiles that can destroy Israeli power production would destroy Israel. If the Bush regime is not with the program - and they are pushing yet another useless 2-state plan - then they need to be prodded. The Paleo and Ayatollah leaders need to die. Period.
#1
I would investigate the sources and the newspaper to see if they are invested long in oil. Everyone knows the reason for these articles is to fluff the price of oil.
#2
Definitely BS. We would only find out about Israel's "plans" after they have been executed. If this was any kind of a leak it was done purposefully - a trial balloon. Done just to gauge everyone's reaction.
#5
The most underestimated emotion in Arab politics is humiliation. The Israeli-Arab conflict, for instance, is not just about borders. Israel's mere existence is a daily humiliation to Muslims, who can't understand how, if they have the superior religion, Israel can be so powerful. Al Jazeera's editor, Ahmed Sheikh, said it best when he recently told the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche: "It gnaws at the people in the Middle East that such a small country as Israel, with only about 7 million inhabitants, can repeadedly defeat the Arab nation with its 350 million. That hurts our collective ego. The Palestinian problem is in the genes of every Arab. The West's problem is that it does not understand this." Israel fully understands and will deal with it on their own timetable and terms. The nuclear option may simply be the warning against Iranian or Syrian retaliation when the hammer does fall, and it will fall.
#6
Israel is not the only country that may have a "Samson option." Perhaps those missiles on the south Iranian coast are targeted on the oil shipping points and oil fields not owned by Iran, not on US military assets. If bombs fall on Iran, bombs may fall around the Persian gulf cutting oil production/export by 40%. The rest of the world would know real pain shortly after. Is your Strategic Petroleum Reserve full?
An effective first strike would cause Iranian military professionals, who are immune to Ahmadinejad jihad bragging, to turn on the Ayatollahs. I don't forsee attacks on third parties.
#8
Don't need full reserves if you got theatre missile defense. Thems is mobile soze we can move'em around and protect other peoples stuff two. Like oil and wutnot.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/07/2007 3:58 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Curious. Iran is unable to come anywhere close to meeting its OPEC production allowables, even at very high world oil prices. Why? Are their fields nearing depletion - or merely unmaintained? Are there no new fields to be found - or are they merely unable to effectively look for them?
Depending on the answer, they may actually have a legitimate reason to develop nuclear energy (though not weapons), and the weapon posturing may be in part designed to solicit technical help from America haters.
#12
The idea any of this is subject to debate is mind-boggling to me. Iran's nuclear program should have been annihilated with twenty-four hours of the the fall of the WTC towers. Once again it is the Jews who are asked to walk ahead of the rest of the flock and all the sheep following behind blaming them for tempting the wolf.
#13
As an aside, back during the Lebanon thing, the US took the opportunity to give Israel an s-load of bunker busters, far more than they would ever need for their immediate use.
At the time, the Israelis mentioned that they were working on far more improved versions of BBs. And I'm sure that the US is more than willing to share their new "tunneling missile" tech with Israel.
#14
There are many advantages to signaling the enemy, which is what this well timed "leak" is intended to do.
Kudos to the Mosad and Israeli leadership on this one.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/07/2007 10:52 Comments ||
Top||
#15
Another Really? No Shit? article filled with high drama and conflict. Every nation, even with marginal capabilities, has Secret Plans to blow the shit out of any number of other nations that could be perceived as a possible future threat. (Pssst .the US has secret plans to bomb Pakistan, Saudi, Egypt, Libya, and on and on and on ) That doesnt equate to desire or intent. All these plans were drafted years ago and are constantly being revised as situations evolve. Thats what responsible defense departments do and its only prudent. Ill let others speculate on the motivation and timing of this article and its leaked info from anonymous sources but chances are its nothing more then empty bytes for a Sunday Edition.
#16
The NWT also develops plans and articles for every contingency. It was a slow news day, so they dragged out one of those plans and slapped it on the page of the newspaper in a vain attempt to increase circulation.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/07/2007 14:33 Comments ||
Top||
#17
#9 Iran's oil production is going down, forever. Iran is led by insane mass murderers. All things considered, the country should not have nukes.
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.
Britain is increasingly becoming isolated from the United States and European members of NATO due to what its allies see as its misguided go it alone policy in Afghanistan, a respected expert on that country warned on Saturday. 
Somalia's Islamist leaders are reportedly in Yemen to hold talks with Yemeni officials over their defeat in Somalia. Yemeni foreign monster Dr. Abu-Bakar al-Qurabi has revealed that senior Islamist members have come to his country. He said they came to Yemen to hold talks with the officials. "They are here to talk with the government officials over the foreign military occupation in Somalia," he said.
LONDON (AP) - Britain's army will be deployed at oil, gas and electricity facilities in the country to defend them from potential terrorist attacks, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The News of the World cited an unnamed security source as confirming security will be increased around the facilities after intelligence suggested terrorists may target the country's infrastructure. The newspaper said the measure would mark the first time soldiers had been called in to guard such facilities.
AMSTERDAM A controversial imam has given a sermon at a mosque in Eindhoven despite a court-imposed ban. A Muslim organisation had requested the court order after the imam regularly made radical and inflammatory statements, Radio Netherlands reported. Imam Kariman first became notorious in 2001 when he used obscene and insulting language to describe same-sex relationships to an audience of children. On Sunday, the imam and a group of his young supporters demanded that he be allowed to lead prayers in the mosque. The Anwar-e-Medina mosque said it allowed him to lead the service to prevent a disturbance. 
HAVANA (AP) - 
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is planning to field its own candidate for the presidents office instead of resigning if General Pervez Musharraf tries to re-elect himself through the current assemblies, MMA sources told Daily Times on Saturday. 
President Gen Pervez Musharaf has said that some elements are fanning civil war in Pakistan and urged the people to stand united against these elements. 
There is a human pipeline that arranges for alienated British Muslim youths many of them born in the UK of Pakistani heritage to travel to Pakistan for indoctrination and training at temporary terrorist camps, believed to be operated by Al Qaeda leaders, according to a report in the current issue of Newsweek. 
Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers under United Nations command were demoted, dismissed or reprimanded for their roles in a sex-abuse case while on assignment in the Sudan, but U.N. officials are powerless to bring charges or prosecute the soldiers for their alleged crime. 
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said newly empowered Democrats will not give President Bush a blank check to wage war in Iraq, hinting they could deny funding if he seeks additional troops.
BAGHDAD, Jan. 6 When American soldiers woke Saddam Hussein in his cell near Baghdad airport at 3:55 a.m. last Saturday, they told him to dress for a journey to Baghdad. He had followed the routine dozens of times before, traveling by helicopter in the predawn darkness to the courtroom where he spent 14 months on trial for his life.
Hussein al-Sheik, a senior member of Fatah in the West Bank said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will announce a thorough reform plan and personnel changes for Palestinian security forces. Al-Sheik noted that the changes are meant to help battle the anarchy rampant throughout much of the PA, particularly in Gaza. According to the security official Abbas is determined to implement his decision to disperse the Hamas paramilitary militia in the Gaza Strip after declaring it illegal. 
To address the issue of data leaks of the kind we've seen so often in the last year because of stolen or missing laptops, writes Saqib Ali, the Feds are planning to use Full Disk Encryption (FDE) on all Government-owned computers. 
The president of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Reza Aghazadeh, admitted Friday that Iran has built underground tunnels to use as deposits for nuclear material. "Right now we have 250 tons of Uf6 (the gas obtained by treating mineral uranium, which is transformed into enriched uranium by inserting it in centrifuges connected to a cascade) deposited in a network of underground tunnels which can't be found anywhere else in the world," he said. "Each month we put new material and machines worth millions of dollars in these tunnels, as well as in our nuclear installations," Aghazadeh added.
ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Irans uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear bunker-busters, according to several Israeli military sources. The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb. Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open tunnels into the targets. Mini-nukes would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout. As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished, said one of the sources. 
