HERAT, Afghanistan - Scores of factories shut up shop in Afghanistans western city of Herat on Monday as workers joined doctors and nurses in a strike to demand better security, representatives said. About 200 health workers in the city stopped working Saturday complaining of a rise in criminality, including kidnappings, as well as attacks linked to an insurgency led by the extremist Taliban movement.
Workers at around 250 small factories at the citys main industrial park joined them on Monday, said the chairman of the citys industrial union, Toryalai Ghawsi. We dont have security in this industrial park. Unless the security to ensure our safety is provided, we will not open, he said.
Doctors were meanwhile refusing to go to hospitals and private clinics were closed, expect for emergency cases, said Sayed Hassan Farid, spokesman for the citys doctors union. Insecurity, kidnapping and terror have increased in Herat and no one is taking this seriously, he told AFP. We want the central government to provide us security.
The governor of Herat province, which adjoins Iran, said police were doing what they could but were under-resourced. We have 2,500 police for a city of three million people. Thats not enough, governor Sayed Hussein Anwari said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Are all the trouble spots in Afghanistan within a few minute motorbike ride of a border? Seems that way. Without the cooperation of the authorities on the other side of the border (Pakistan and Iran - not happening) or a willingness to ignore the border (and force to get away with it) I don't see much chance of improving the security situation. Hope nobody gets sick in Herat.
#4
Small family owned businesses producing goods for the local market. Afghanistan doesn't have the capital markets or distribution systems that would allow a business to serve the nationwide market.
Posted by: ed ||
03/11/2008 18:23 Comments ||
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An Australian magazine apologized for breaking a worldwide news blackout on Prince Harry serving in Afghanistan, saying it wasn't party to the agreement and wasn't ``alert to the possible ramifications.''
Harry, 23, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, was withdrawn early from the fight against the Taliban after a Jan. 7 story by New Idea magazine was picked up by the U.S.-based Drudge Report last month and broadcast globally. ``We did not knowingly breach any embargo and were not party to any agreement for a media blackout on the story,'' New Idea said in its issue published today. ``However, and more importantly, we do acknowledge that our actions in publishing the story can be reasonably viewed as insensitive and irresponsible.''
Harry, third in line to the throne, spent 10 weeks in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the center of the Taliban insurgency. He was the first member of the British royal family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew as a naval helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War with Argentina.
Harry trained as a battlefield air controller. His role in Afghanistan, where tours may be for as long as six months, included calling up air support to supply ground forces, surveillance work by planes and drones and guiding aircraft to their targets. He said he was surprised the news blackout held as long as it did. ``The system can work, I don't see why it can't work again,'' he told the British Broadcasting Corp. in an interview last week, saying he should be allowed to return to Afghanistan.
Blackout Broken
The Drudge Report's pick up of the story in New Idea prompted British media to break their blackout on the prince's presence in Afghanistan. ``We acknowledge and regret the distress and anxiety felt by readers over recent revelations in regard to Prince Harry and his service in Afghanistan,'' New Idea said. ``We regret this serious lapse in judgment.''
New Idea is a Sydney based women's magazine published weekly that had a circulation of almost 390,000 at the end of last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
we do acknowledge that our actions in publishing the story can be reasonably viewed as insensitive and irresponsible.
That's OK, I don't expect anything else from journalists. That being said, however, how do you plan on making restitution?
#4
"Who did they think they were, the New York Times?"
At least these folks showed some form of contrition unlike the Pinch Press.
Whether it was sincere or not.....
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/11/2008 8:17 Comments ||
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#5
Trying to avoid any actions from the military; based on reports yesterday, they were going to pursue charges.....
AFAIK tell, the only diff between these guys and the NYT is that their toilet flush water spins the opposite direction......
Al Qaeda supporters on the Web have unleashed an unprecedented flood of criticism of Afghanistan's Taliban, once seen by extremists as the model of an Islamic state.
Now extremists accuse the Taliban of straying from the path of global jihad after its leader Mullah Omar issued a statement saying he seeks good relations with the world and even sympathizes with Shiite Iran.
In February, the Taliban announced it wanted to maintain good and "legitimate" relations with neighboring countries. Then, last week online militants were outraged when the movement expressed solidarity with Iran, condemning the latest round of sanctions imposed on Tehran by the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear enrichment.
The Shiite Islamic state of Iran is viewed as anathema by the Sunni militants of the Al Qaeda and other extremist movements. "This is the worst statement I have ever read ... the disaster of defending the (Iranian) regime is on par with the Crusaders in Afghanistan and Iraq," wrote poster Miskeen, whose name translates literally as "the wretched" and who is labeled as one of the more influential writers on an Al Qaeda linked Web site.
While anyone with a password can comment on these militant Islamist forums, the Al Qaeda-linked forum moderators single out certain individuals as particularly important. It's not clear, however, whether the resentment among Al Qaeda supporters reflects a rift between the Taliban and Al Qaeda's leadership.
The Taliban hosted Osama bin Laden until the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 toppled the movement, and since then the Taliban and Al Qaeda are believed to have worked closely in the Afghan-Pakistan border area. "The Taliban seeks to be a respected political movement that can at the same time govern Afghanistan and be at limited peace with its neighbors," said Rita Katz, the director of the Washington-based SITE Intelligence Group which monitors militant Web traffic. But she cautioned that the "Taliban's surprising call to support Iran in the face of new U.N. sanctions does not mean that the group is suddenly offering unequivocal support to Iran," though it shows readiness to coexist with the neighbor.
Cairo-based expert on Islamic movements Diaa Rashwan linked the Taliban's quest for international legitimacy to possible future negotiations with the Afghan government. "Mullah Omar's statement about good relations are in response to accusations from the West that the Taliban is radical and does not accept dialogue or negotiations with others," he said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in September he was ready to negotiate with the Taliban, including Mullah Omar himself, to put an end to the insurgency, while U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan William Wood said in December he would support reconciliation talks, with some conditions. "The only problem about an eventual compromise with the Taliban is the fate of Al Qaeda, whether it will be expelled from Afghanistan or commit itself to the Afghan government," Rashwan said.
The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and created a society run according to the strictest interpretation of Islamic law that has since been seen as a model for conservative Muslim militants the world over. However, it's pursuit of practical policies that involve working together with entities that have different ideologies counters the beliefs of the global jihadist trend represented by Al Qaeda. "I am afraid that a nationalist ... trend is penetrating Taliban regime," Miskeen said.
"Sheiks Osama (bin Laden) and (Ayman) al-Zawahri should censure Taliban for these statements," said another poster, by the name al-Zarqawiya, an allusion to Al Qaeda leaders.
Katz, however, noted that "Bin Laden and Zawahri understand the need for diplomacy" and may well understand that the Taliban wants to walk a fine line between being part of the international global jihad while still positioning itself to one day rule Afghanistan. "The Taliban is not necessarily moving away from its model of an Islamic state, but instead seeking a path that will enable the Taliban to achieve its concept of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan while at the same time attaining the respect of at least some members of the international community," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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BIGNEWSNETWORK > NEWS.AU - ISLAM STRUGGLES WITH CONFLICT, PHOBIAS.
Kuwait's government appealed for unity on Monday amid rising sectarian tension in the Gulf state following demonstrations in support of the slain commander of Lebanon's Hezbollah. The government has become increasingly concerned after hundreds of people took part in a rally last month to mourn Imad Mughnieh, killed in a Damascus car bomb.
The rally caused uproar in the oil-rich emirate because Mughnieh was accused of hijacking a Kuwaiti plane two decades ago. "The cabinet urges citizens and the media to avoid issues that could undermine our national unity and the solidarity of the Kuwaiti people," said a statement issued after the weekly cabinet meeting. "We should work together to safeguard Kuwait's security and stability," said the statement, adding that legal measures will be applied to all.
Since the rally, eight leading Shiite activists including two former MPs and a prominent cleric have been arrested on charges of being members of Hezbollah Kuwait, a previously unknown group. Two have been freed on bail.
Hundreds of angry Shiites demonstrated for the second day in a row on Monday outside the interior ministry in Kuwait City to protest at the detention of one of those arrested, Sheikh Hussein al-Maatuq.
The protest, which included many women activists, came after the public prosecution remanded the six activists for another day in police custody pending investigation. "I call on Kuwaiti society... to be solidly united and stay away from these tensions... which are against our national interests," parliament speaker Jassem al-Khorafi told reporters. "Our country cannot bear this... We should remember what happened to us when our country was occupied," by Iraqi troops in August 1990, Khorafi said.
Around one-third of Kuwait's native population of one million are Shiite, with the rest being Sunni.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
You think the citizens of Kuwait have forgotten who the Paleos backed during the occupation of their country by Uncle Payout Saddam?
President George W. Bush pledged on Monday to help modernize Poland's military as part a U.S. effort to secure agreement for basing components of a global missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.
White House talks between Bush and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made progress toward removing a key stumbling block in negotiations on stationing 10 missile interceptors on Polish soil.
Poland, the biggest NATO member from the former Warsaw Pact, has demanded that Washington help upgrade its military in exchange for hosting part of the anti-missile system, which has added to strains between Washington and Moscow.
"The United States recognizes the need for Polish forces to be modernized," Bush told reporters. "And we're responding."
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said negotiations were focused on improving Poland's air defenses.
Bush promised that U.S. experts would come up with a military modernization plan "before my watch is over." He leaves office in January 2009.
But he acknowledged there is a lot of work still to be done on Poland's role in the missile defense system, and U.S. and Polish officials have said it could take months more to finalize a deal.
Bush again downplayed Moscow's concerns about the missile shield, saying, "This system is not aimed at Russia. I will continue to work with President (Vladimir) Putin and give him those assurances as well." He's still trying to figure out the best way to have his cake and eat it too. Just give him some time.The Bush administration wants to put the interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a system it says is meant to protect against long-range ballistic missiles from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
Russia has insisted, however, that the shield could pose a threat to its security, and Putin has warned that Moscow will target its missiles at the system if it is deployed in Eastern Europe, Russia's former sphere of influence.
The United States and Czech Republic are close to finalizing an agreement, but the Polish government has taken a tougher stance in negotiations and many details remain to hammered out.
Sitting beside Bush in the Oval Office, Tusk said Poland was ready to cooperate on missile defense as part of an overall security effort that would include upgrading Polish forces.
"All these issues come in the same package," he told reporters. He deemed it a "breakthrough" that Bush and the U.S. government "understand quite clearly our expectations."
"There's a commitment to a system that respects Polish sovereignty, that will ensure that the people of Poland will not be subjected to any undue security risks," Bush said. "And at the same time there will be this modernization effort."
Passengers involved in what officials have called an attempt to crash a Chinese airliner last week were carrying suspicious liquids on board, the national aviation authority said Monday.
A China Southern Airlines flight crew foiled Fridays alleged attempt to deliberately crash a plane flying to Beijing from Urumqi, capital of the northwest region of Xinjiang, an official from the region said on Sunday. The aviation regulator added on Monday that some passengers were in possession of suspicious liquids on the flight.
The plane was subsequently diverted to the city of Lanzhou in Gansu province, where the substances were removed, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said. The plane continued on to Beijing. The aviation administration gave no other details. The dearth of information in the case and another alleged incident raises suspicion as to whether they were being used as an excuse to crackdown on dissent before the Olympics, an official from Human Rights Watch told AFP.
The hijack plot was one of two alleged incidents cited by officials from Muslim-dominated Xinjiang over the weekend that stoked fears of terrorism with the Beijing Olympics only five months away.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper ||
03/11/2008 11:26 Comments ||
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#5
#1: Was it nuc mom (sp), or kimchi juice?
I think we can rule those out, PM6460. After all, the plane didn't disintegrate in air, and none of the passengers were reported as having been asphyxiated. Having been in both Vietnam and Korea, I can't say which smell is worse!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/11/2008 17:35 Comments ||
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An American Muslim, appointed new U.S. envoy, headed off Monday with the goal of repairing the battered image of the United States in the Muslim world. They're not listening.
I think they understand us only too well. That's the trouble.
Sada Cumber, a Pakistani native, is the new special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, a caucus of 57 Muslim nations. Hope ya got Permanent Resident status in the US, dude. You're gonna need it soon.
They couldn't find anybody smart enough to do the job that'd been born in Wyoming or Texas or Noo Joisey.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a reception for conference countries at the State Department that Cumber will help the United States explain itself to the Muslim world.
Right. Explain to them that we believe in individual liberty, that we don't believe in one religion lording it over all others, that if a free man decides he doesn't want to be a Moose limb or a Methodist or a Hindoo then there's nobody that can tell him to. That'll go over big in Lahore, won't it?
Rice said Islam is an important part of the American fabric of life. "Our growing Muslim population is a great and welcome addition to our country," she said at a gathering of diplomats from conference member countries at the State Department.
I certainly hope she's saying that to be polite. The Muslim population is no "greater" than the Salvadoran or Guatamalan or Hmong segment, and as yet probably smaller than the first two. And many of us find the thought of large numbers of Islamist holy man tromping around our country eying up the "uncovered meat" with just about as much welcome as we'd extend to termites.
I especially like the part where they show up and demand everybody change everything to fit their religious demands.
Cumber, an entrepreneur living in Texas, was most recently chairman and CEO of SozoTek, a wireless imaging company. He said he plans to travel extensively and use his business background and experience to build bridges between the United States and the Muslim world. "As an American Muslim, I believe I am in a unique position to promote dialogue," he said before leaving Washington for an Organization of Islamic Conference meeting later this week in Senegal. The Jeddah-based conference is the world's largest pan-Islamic group.
President Bush announced his intention last June to appoint an envoy to the conference, but took his time in making an appointment. "The core of his mission is to explain to the Islamic world that America is a friend, is a friend of freedom, is a friend of peace, that we value religion," Bush said last month when he formally announced Cumber's appointment. "It's an important job, there is a lot of misperceptions about America and Sada is going to be a part of our effort to explain the truth." W, Western qualities don't fit well into their fundamental power structure.
#2
Rice said Islam is an important part of the American fabric of life. "Our growing Muslim population is a great and welcome addition to our country," she said at a gathering of diplomats from conference member countries at the State Department.
Piling it on a little thick there, Condi?
I won't miss you when you're gone...
#3
They're not listening. I think they understand us only too well. That's the trouble.
Actually, they don't understand us at all - they play with the people in Washington. What we really need is someone like Petreaus in the White House, telling Iran that we'll turn their little piece of desert into a huge sheet of radioactive glass if they don't behave. We don't need to make nice - Arabs equate "nice" with "weak". We need to show the muzzies everywhere that when we've had enough, the other side ceases to exist. THAT is something they can understand.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/11/2008 17:38 Comments ||
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#4
Wrong person, wrong side. The US ambassador to the OIC should be named Goldman.
Posted by: ed ||
03/11/2008 17:56 Comments ||
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#5
this fellow is an Ismaili (a shia who believes the 7th Iman disappeared and will return as opposed to the mainstream Shia who believe the 12th Iman disappeared and will reappear).
The Ismailis are a non-violent bunch and are persecuted by both Sunnis and mainstream Shia.
#6
An modern Ismaili is marginally better but their hands are hardly clean. The majority of Ismailis were from the Assassin sect until that unfortunate incident with the Mongols.
Posted by: ed ||
03/11/2008 18:26 Comments ||
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#7
Rice said Islam is an important part of the American fabric of life. "Our growing Muslim population is a great and welcome addition to our country,"
A man was sentenced Monday to three years and five months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to buy submachine guns and sell them to Iranian government officials opposed to that country's current president.
Seyed Mostafa Maghloubi's plan, if executed, would have destabilized an "area of the world that has suffered enough from continuing upheaval," U.S. District Judge George King said as he handed down the sentence. "These were very dangerous actions," King said.
Maghloubi, 50, of Los Angeles pleaded guilty last August to violating a federal export ban to Iran. According to the plea deal, a person he approached about buying the equipment brokered a meeting between him and a Los Angeles police detective Maghloubi thought was an arms dealer.
Maghloubi took delivery of three Uzis and a pair of night-vision goggles, according to court records. He intended to ship the guns and goggles to a faction in Iran's government aligned with a political foe of current leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the court papers said. Which faction would that be?
Before his sentencing, Maghloubi apologized to the court and asked King for mercy. He said his family had suffered both emotionally and financially since his arrest last year.
Maghloubi's attorney, Deputy Federal Public Defender Guy Iversen, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Posted by: ed ||
03/11/2008 18:47 ||
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This article sounds like so much BS.
First, the judge said: Seyed Mostafa Maghloubi's plan, if executed, would have destabilized an "area of the world that has suffered enough from continuing upheaval," U.S. District Judge George King said as he handed down the sentence.
A little overblown, don't you think judge.
Second, the following was involved: three Uzis and a pair of night-vision goggles, according to court records
Hardly destabilizing of a region.
The Iranians can get arms from many places in the world besides this poor schlump. However, Seyed Mostafa Maghloubi is off the street and not likely to become a terrorist for a few years.
The Taliban in Mohmand Agency said on Monday they were attacking security forces in the agency to avenge the killing of five of their men a week ago. The Taliban will continue to attack security forces in the agency until and unless security forces end operations in Swat and Waziristan Agency, the newly appointed Tehreek-e-Taliban Mohmand Agency spokesman, Dr Asad told Daily Times over the phone from an undisclosed location. However, the Taliban spokesman denied that the Taliban had blown up Khasadar checkposts in the agency, saying the government was responsible for the attacks.
He alleged that the political administration was destroying checkposts to steal Khasadar personnels salaries. He did warn, though, that officials in the agency helping the government against the Taliban would also be attacked.
Meanwhile, unidentified militants kidnapped tribal chieftan Ilyas Khan near the agency headquarters, Ghalanai. Dr Asad denied Taliban involvement in the kidnapping. On March 4, security forces fired rockets at a car carrying five suspected militants after they refused to be searched at the Nahaqqi checkpost in Mohmand Agency all five were killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Posted by: ed ||
03/11/2008 9:42 Comments ||
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#6
we have humiliated the Crusaders, and have made their blood flow in the streets...
Right, humiliated, I forgot.
We're not the ones hiding in caves in the middle of buttf*ck nowhere, throwing rocks at tanks and blowing up buses full of women and kids.
#7
The Scene: A wistful Al Qaeda recruit, facing another long day of being pursued by US troops, and watching the Palestinians mug it up for the TV cameras in the comfort of home in the West Bank...
Now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it
You play the Jihad on the CNN TV
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Jihad for nothin' and virgins for free
Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain't dumb
Maybe get a blister on your trigger finger
Maybe get a blister on your bum
We gotta install IED setups
And dodge the predators
We gotta move from town to town now
We gotta run from the US Marines
See the little faggot with the turban and the Koran
Yeah buddy that's his own gun
That little faggot got his own TV Reporter
That little faggot he's a Jihad Star
We gotta install IED setups
And dodge the predators
We gotta move from town to town now
We gotta run from the US Marines
I shoulda learned to play the victim
I shoulda learned to play the press games
Look at that Jihadi, she got it stickin' in the camera
Man we could have some fun
And he's up there, what's that? U-ulation noises?
Bangin' on his rifle like a Palestinian
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Get your Jihad for nothin' get your virgins for free
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/11/2008 16:35 Comments ||
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#13
Compare wid WAFF.com Poster Thread > PRESSTV - US HAS MADE IRAN INTO A REGIONAL POWER. "Unintentionally" = indirectly, as per Officio from the US COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS???
#14
AQ were the warmup band for Dire Straits for a couple of shows, but they just didn't have what it took. Poor guitar licks, drummer with no sense of rhythm and the lead singer kept bombing.
#16
THE NEXT FEW MONTHS WILL PROVE DECISIVE - paragraphs section pretty much says it all, espec "We have been instructed to focus on attacking targets that are STRATEGICALLY AND MORALLY IMPORTANT TO OUR ENEMIES, ON THE EVE OF THE US ELECTION CAMPAIGN [IMO-means on or before November 2008?]...MAXIMIZE PAIN AND HUMILIATION/
EMBARRASMENT..."
Interestingly, RUSSOPHOBE - MOMENT OF TRUTH > THE NEXT TWO MONTHS [few months?]...
*WARFARE.RU > US TO SEEK THIRD FORWARD MISSLE DEFENSE SITE, MISSLE X-BAND RADAR IN SE EUROPE. Other than Czech + Poland, and CLOSE TO IRAN [Turkey?]; + US SEEKS 9.3BILLION FOR MILITARY MISSLE AGENCY [MDA Agency] + CHINA IN THE WORLD.
IRAN = Radical Islam need to stop US entrenchment, which in the absence of Islamist-only battlefield victory can likely only be achieved [short of "polluting" Islamism-Islam agenda via collusion wid ANTI-/NON-ISLAMIST WORLD POWERS] BY INTRODUCING HIGH-PROFILE, CASUALTY-INTENSIVE TERROR ATTACKS INSIDE THE USA.
OSAMA > DESIRES FOR ISLAM TO PROVE ITS DIVINE WORTH-PREMISES VV FIGHTING ITS END-TIMES, ALL-OUT APOCALYPTIC BATTLE AGZ NON-ISLAM IN IRAN-PERSIA. OSAMA needs or requires the USA, etc. to de facto attack and invade IRAN, which won't happen as per fighting the USA only in IRAQ-AFGHANISTAN = MUSIM CRESCENT.
Nope. I'm not name calling here. Even the animals seethe in Gaza.
Gaza Ma'an Dozens of horses, camels, sheep, goats and donkeys rallied in front of the UN headquarters in Gaza City on Tuesday in protest of Israel's crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip. The blockade is baaaaaaad!
Palestinian activists fitted the animals with signs in various languages reading, "Where is the world's conscience?" Save the children of Gaza", "Gaza is dying; end the siege," "Is the UN an international lie?" and "The UN has to end the siege of Gaza." Awwwwwwww, isn't that cute. The animals have little whiny signs on them!
Sami Akila, the spokesperson of the Sunna' Al-Hayat society and the organizers of the rally said if the animals' messages reach the international community, Gazans will try sign language in an attempt to make their appeals understood. Maybe teach the animals sign language. Knock off two birds with one stone...
"We know that animals in the world are fed to glut, while the children of Gaza suffer from hunger and anemia and most of them go to sleep without having supper. You are concerned about dogs more than your concern about us contradicting your own human values and the treaties you signed and failed to implement," Akila said, addressing the UN. Chop some of the animals up and have a nice buffet. I'll bet that would get the UN's attention. And, if not, you could feed your starving, anemic kids...
The protestors also delivered a message for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon asking him to save Gaza through implementing the principles of human rights. They said in the message, "Does the Secretary-General await the death of 1,200 Palestinian patients who are denied travel abroad for treatment, before the siege can be lifted?" Teach the animals to play violin.
#2
Dozens of horses, camels, sheep, goats and donkeys rallied in front of the UN headquarters in Gaza City on Tuesday in protest of Israel's crippling blockade of sexual abuse in the Gaza Strip.
#3
Well you still have your precious "resistance", what the hell else do you want. By all means, don't quit shooting those homemade bottle rockets at Israel, and don't even talk peace, that would look silly after all the traditional arab bluster we've heard.
Suffer you poor dumb bastards, suffer.
#4
This whine would have a lot more resonance were it not the the thousands of dollars wasted firing AK-47s into the air to celebrate a Palestinian butchering Israeli students. The Israelis should wall them off and cut all contact and commerce between Israel and Gaza. Let them truly starve.
#7
it says you really mean it when you send your loved ones with the message
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/11/2008 14:46 Comments ||
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#8
Other signs:
We may be animals but we still outrank infidels.
I may be unclean but I still smell better than Mahmoud.
and
Achmed rode me, but not in a good way.
Posted by: ed ||
03/11/2008 18:15 Comments ||
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#1
Rather reminiscent of another Palestinian celebration. Hunt them down and burn their bodies into ashes. Then I will pass out candies.
Posted by: ed ||
03/11/2008 9:43 Comments ||
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#2
The silence is DEAFENING!
Where is the global, moral outrage?! These people are CELEBRATING the deaths of civilians. Students.
NO OTHER GROUP COULD GET AWAY WITH SUCH DESPICABLE, MORALLY DESTITUTE BEHAVIOR. But Paleos and Jews? Apparently that's easily understood worldwide: Paleos are held to a different (lower) set of moral standards and Jews, well, Jews are just.....Jews. They probably did something to deserve it.
#3
The "good terrorists" have also declared him one of their superstars...
Killer of eight young men is Shahid
Mahmoud Abbas's official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper has honored the killer of the eight high school students gunned down this week with the status of Shahid - Holy Islamic Martyr.
In so doing, the PA is sending its people a straightforward message of support for the terror murders and the murderer. According to the PA interpretation of Islam, there is no higher status that a human being can achieve today than that of Shahid.
The official PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida prominently placed a picture of the killer on the front page, with the caption, "The Shahid Alaa Abu D'heim." In a Page One article on the terror killings, his act is again defined as a "Shahada achieving" action.
This honoring of terror and terrorists by the PA has significant financial ramifications, particularly at this time. Last week the US Administration sent a request to Congress to allocate $150 million to the Palestinian Authority. In response to earlier PMW reports on the widespread Palestinian honoring of terror, Congress made it illegal for the US to give money to entities that "advocate" terror, as follows:
"[The US] shall terminate assistance to any individual, entity... which she has determined to be involved in or advocating terrorist activity." Congress further legislated that "none of the [US] ... assistance under the West Bank and Gaza Program may be made available for the purpose of recognizing or otherwise honoring individuals who commit, or have committed acts of terrorism."
-2008 Foreign Operations Bill Sec. 657.B - C.1
Since a society's honoring of terrorists is one of the greatest terror promotions, and as the budget for the PA newspaper comes from the PA's general budget, the incessant honoring of this and all recent terrorists by Abbas's PA as Holy Islamic Shahids should render the Palestinian Authority ineligible to receive any American money under the terms of US law.
Think that'll happen? Or will it be another Muzzie mulligan?
I'm betting on the mulligan.
The al-Aqsa mosque was never the site of a Jewish temple, Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, said Monday during a press conference he convened in Jerusalem to respond to voices calling for the expulsion of Israeli residents of the city who participate in terror activities against Israel.
"Those calling for the expulsion of Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem are hysterical and stupid and belong in the trash can," Salah said at the conference. He went on to deny any Israeli or Jewish historical claim to the city, denying that there ever existed a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount. "The claims of the Jews are big lies and they have no right to any speck of dust here," he said.
Israel, he claimed, was carrying out extensive digs under al-Aqsa mosque, and was hiding destructive tunnels under the compound which had already caused damage to the mosque and several houses in the Muslim Quarter.
"I think that we are at a critical time. We believe that al-Aqsa is in danger and that it is under occupation, and we believe that Jerusalem is in danger because it is under occupation," Salah said. "Jerusalem is not only houses - it is faith, it is history, it is a culture, it is a present, a future and an eternal right that we will not relinquish."
In January, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz filed an indictment against Salah, charging him with incitement to violence and racism in a speech he made last year protesting the archeological dig carried out at the Old City's Mughrabi Gate.
During his sermon in Jerusalem's Wadi Joz neighborhood on February 16 of last year, Salah urged supporters to start a third intifada in order to "save al-Aksa Mosque, free Jerusalem and end the occupation." Salah's speech also attacked Jews, saying, "They want to build their temple at a time when our blood is on their clothes, on their doorsteps, in their food and in their drinks. Our blood has passed from one 'general terrorist' to another 'general terrorist.'"
He also said, "We are not those who ate bread dipped in children's blood."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Again...as if there were any doubt. large doses of islam leads to insanity, delusions, and homicidal tendencies.
#3
And for any of you Rantburgers who might have remembered...anymouse's son is alive and well in Fallujah. Thanks for thoughts and prayers for him and all the other brave US warriors in harm's way so that we all may sleep soundly at night.
#7
You know, given the muslim tendency to blow up anything they disagree with (particularly things important to others religions) it would be fitting and proper for the Al Aqsa mosque AND the Dome of the Rock to be obliterated and the pieces dumped at sea.
#9
In that future scenerio without Islam I assume copies of TRUE LIES will still be available even if Hollywood has glorified Islam and tried to make the west feel guilty and all.
#10
What a wonderful religion. You can ignore any data that doesn't support your view, call down blame and guilt on those that oppose you, destroy property of those that oppose you and have your mouthpieces whitewash the act.
Posted by: BA ||
03/11/2008 13:59 Comments ||
Top||
#12
What's really on the Temple Mount:
Church of St. Mary of Justinian (Temple Mount, Jerusalem)
The Church of St. Mary was a Byzantine church that was built in Jerusalem during the reign of Justinian and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The church was located on the Temple Mount.
Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that the church was built in 560 AD and burned down by the Persians in 614. Later after the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land, this church eventually was converted into what is the present day Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque was built 20 years after the Dome of the Rock, which was built in 691-692 by Khalif Abd El Malik (the name "Omar Mosque" is therefore false). Therefore, in or around 711, or about 80 years after Mohammed died, Malik's son, Abd El-Wahd (who ruled from 705-715) reconstructed the Christian- Byzantine Church of St. Mary and converted it into a mosque. He left the structure as it was, a typical Byzantine "basilica" structure with a row of pillars on either side of the rectangular "ship" in the center. All he added was an onion-like dome on top of the building to make it look like a mosque. He then named it El-Aqsa, so it would sound like the one mentioned in the Koran.[1]
There are no buildings stemming from the religion of Islam that are anything like the DOR--it is quintessentially Orthodox Byzantine--just like Hagia Sophia in Turkey. End of story.
#13
Oh, and if there was no Jewish Temple there in the first place (BTW, NOT directly under the church/"mosque" anyway), why have the Arabs been trucking out loads of dirt and artifacts from underneath the Temple Mount in the dead of night--for how many years now?
#17
Ex-lib, last time I was there, our hosts said that the Temple had been located in the open area behind the Dome of the Rock. Nothing there now (well, at least in 95).
I guess Gaza gets to cool down and rearm while the West Bank goes hot.
Bethlehem, West Bank - Fadi al-Amour and his friends high school seniors spent more time last week on the street than in class. Every day, they marched on Rachel's Tomb, guarded by Israeli soldiers, and, along with hundreds of other young Palestinians, pelted the nearest symbol of Israeli power with rocks and Molotov cocktails.
"We were implementing what our leaders in the prisons tell us we should be doing. Even Marwan Barghouthi has warned that this is where we're going: the third intifada," says Mr. Amour, mentioning the Fatah figure jailed by Israel in 2002 for his role in the last intifada, which lasted from 2000 to 2004.
From Gaza rocket strikes and West Bank riots to a deadly shooting inside Jerusalem late last week, many Palestinians are saying or perhaps hoping that these incidents of violence will spark a new, much broader conflict with Israel.
Those who are encouraging a further escalation say it's overdue. Others, including many who remember the misery of past intifadas, worry that this will just drag the Palestinian cause down a dead-end street.
"There might be an escalation in the coming weeks and months, and an escalation has already been going on in Gaza in recent weeks and months," says Ali Jarbawi, a political scientist at Birzeit University, near Ramallah.
But, he says, there might be a danger in rushing to label the events of the last few weeks as the start of another intifada. "People are feeling a sense of despair. They're frustrated by the [new Israeli-Palestinian negotiations] leading nowhere, and [by] the internal situation between Hamas and Fatah," he says. "But I don't see that translating into a concrete, continuous event, which I think is something that defines an intifada. Let's wait and see."
But among many average Palestinians, the feelings that were present during the first intifada (1987-93) and the second one are resurfacing again, and quickly.
On Sunday, at the mourning tent at the family home of Alaa Abu Dhaim, who killed eight Israelis late last week at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem before being shot and killed by a security guard, there were many mixed feelings expressed about where Palestinians are headed, as the Islamic militants of Hamas continue to battle Israel on one front and secular Fatah leaders are sitting down at the negotiating table with their Israeli counterparts on another.
Mr. Abu Dhaim, a man in his mid-20s who was due to be married soon, was from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jebel Mukaber, meaning he had an Israeli-issued residency card and was free to travel and work in Israel.
For many across the tight-knit community of Jebel Mukaber, there was an acknowledgment that Abu Dhaim's act might be a sign of returning to the days of intifada. There was also much reluctance to see that happen.
"We hope this isn't the start of something bigger," says Mahmoud Abu Dhaim, an uncle of the young man being celebrated as a shahid, or martyr. "For years they've been talking about peace but there's no progress. So now we're going back instead of going forward."
Another uncle, Tawfiq, says his nephew was "extremely normal and showed no sign of political affiliations or training."
Conflicting reports have linked the gunman to Hamas and then to Hizbullah; the green and yellow flags of both movements began springing up in Jebel Mukaber after the news broke. Family members said that Israeli police here told them if the family didn't take down all of the flags, as well as the "shahid posters" that already plastered the walls of the neighborhood, they wouldn't be allowed to have a mourning tent at all.
The celebratory flyers read: "The Islamic Movement in Jebel Mukabar congratulates its people for the martyr Alaa Abu Dhaim, who answered the call to his God in a heroic operation in Dir Yassin." Dir Yassin was the name of an Arab village that existed near the site of the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva until 1948, the year of the war that led to Israel's establishment.
Just as the use of the name Dir Yassin conjures a sense of decades-old revenge so close to Israel's 60th anniversary this May, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Abu Dhaim's choice of target was itself symbolic.
"The terrorist ... did not choose it by coincidence in his pursuit of victims," Mr. Olmert said at Sunday's cabinet meeting. "Mercaz Harav is a very special place in Jerusalem and for the Zionist movement. It is the flagship of religious Zionism. It is the place from which have come forth the best soldiers for many generations," he said, adding that it "has educated and nurtured tradition and legacy, as part of Israel's resilience."
At Abu Dhaim's home, from which there is a clear view of a West Bank separation barrier cutting through the landscape, relatives and friends said the motivation for the attack might have come from many places, but most palpably, from the recent violence in the Gaza Strip.
Responding to Palestinian missile attacks on its southern communities, Israel launched a short but intensive military campaign on Gaza the week before last, in which approximately 126 Palestinians died in the space of several days. Two Israeli soldiers died in the operation; several citizens have been injured by Katyusha and Qassam rockets launched by Palestinian militants.
According to the Associated Press, Egyptian officials have been meeting with Hamas representatives in an effort to forge some kind of cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.
Up the street from Abu Dhaim's house in East Jerusalem, a group of men who would usually be at work on Israeli construction sites sat drinking coffee together for the day because they deemed the atmosphere too tense to go to work in the Jewish parts of town, due to the yeshiva shooting.
Most had lived through one if not two intifadas. Now in their late 20s and early 30s most were less than enthusiastic about the start of a new intifada and hoped it wouldn't come to be. At the same time, they said, their lives had not improved and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seemed to be growing worse.
"No amount of violence is ever going to bring peace. But what we see on television of what Israel is doing in Gaza is much more disturbing than seeing an army jeep on my corner," says Mahmoud Abbas, no relation to the president.
For Amour and his friends, they welcome another intifada. About last week's shooting attack in Jerusalem, they said: "Inshallah [God-willing], there should be more operations like this."
Amour, the most vocal of his clique, explains it this way. "We welcomed it completely. And if the Israelis hit Gaza again, things will start up again here."
#3
Yes, bringing peace and prosperity to the palestinian people. Maybe it's time to settle this once and for all. But Israel won't do that, they'll just smack them enough to get them off their backs for a while.
#1
If you have the Vatican's state department guy telling you this, you've really left the reality ranch. The Vatican's state dept is known for being "accomodationist" (at least until the Pope corrects them, as Benedict seems to do regularly).
#6
"Catholic-Muslim relations nosedived in 2006 after Benedict delivered a lecture in Regensburg, Germany, that was taken by Muslims to imply that Islam was violent and irrational."
-C'mon your holiness, you mean the religion that want's to clip folks over some cartoons could be irrational?
(Xinhua) -- Singapore police believe escaped Jemaah Islamiyah leader Mas Selamat Kastari is still in the country as there is no evidence to show he has managed to leave Singapore, local media reported Monday.
It has been 13 days since the terrorist escaped from Whitley Detention Center in Singapore on Feb. 27, where he had been detained under the Internal Security Act since 2006 for involvement in a plot to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport. Police are continuing their intensive search while there is still no sign of Mas Selamat.
Police said Monday they are still focusing their search in forested areas, local radio station 938 Live reported. The search has been extended to residential areas, including abandoned buildings and vacant houses, local TV Channel NewsAsia said.
Police maintained that Mas Selamat is still in Singapore as there is no evidence that his escape was a result of help from others although the authorities are not ruling out the possibility. With the increased searches, police said more than 10 immigration offenders - mainly illegal immigrants - have been arrested.
Police have received some 1,100 emails and calls so far. They encouraged the public to provide any genuine information or possible sighting of Mas Selamat. But they cautioned that action will be taken against hoax callers. A 50-year-old bus driver was charged with giving the police false information about Mas Selamat's whereabouts and leading police on a wild goose chase.
This article starring:
Mas Selamat Kastari
Jemaah Islamiyah
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Philippine and Indonesian police are planning to set up a DNA databank to help rapidly identify captured or slain members of the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, a top police official said Monday.
National police chief Avelino Razon said the anti-terrorism project would be developed with Interpol's help and integrated into the police information systems of the two countries both key U.S. anti-terrorism allies. "This will be a useful tool, and we want to have this as soon as possible," Razon said.
Razon said he discussed development of the databank with Indonesian officials on the sidelines of an international police conference in Hong Kong last week. Police in both countries will focus on obtaining DNA samples of the relatives of dozens of Jemaah Islamiyah members known to be hiding in the southern Philippines, he said.
The Indonesia-based militant group has been blamed for the 2002 nightclub bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali that killed 202 people. Two suspected Bali bombing plotters, Umar Patek and Dulmatin, are believed to have fled to the southern Philippines in 2003.
Philippine military officials believe Dulmatin, a master bombmaker whose wife identified him as Ammar Usman, may have been killed in a clash with government forces in the country's southernmost province of Tawi Tawi in January.
American and Philippine experts are conducting DNA tests to determine if the body was that of Dulmatin, who is believed to have been plotting terror attacks and training Filipino militants in the southern region of Mindanao.
Washington has offered a reward of US$10 million (6.49 million) for Dulmatin's capture.
Police intelligence officers said the DNA tests are using tissue samples taken from Dulmatin's wife and six children, who were separately detained in Mindanao in 2006 and deported to Indonesia last year.
The Philippine military believes more than 40 other Jemaah Islamiyah members are hiding in Mindanao. It says the fighters went to Mindanao for combat and religious training and are too afraid to return home because of an anti-terror campaign in Indonesia
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Tehran has issued a postage stamp honoring terrorist Imad Mugniyah.
The stamp, which features a smiling picture of Imad Mughniyeh wearing a military uniform, was unveiled at a ceremony attended by the Iranian minister of post and communication, Mohammad Soleimani, and Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, former chief of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards, according to the report.
The image used for the stamp appeared frequently at many ceremonies the Iranian government held for Mughniyeh after his death.
Iranian media called the senior Lebanese terrorist the Che Guevara of the Middle East.
Look for Muggsey T-Shirts to be all the rage by the end of the month in Berkley.
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.
An Australian magazine apologized for breaking a worldwide news blackout on Prince Harry serving in Afghanistan, saying it wasn't party to the agreement and wasn't ``alert to the possible ramifications.'' 
(Xinhua) -- Singapore police believe escaped Jemaah Islamiyah leader 
Philippine and Indonesian police are planning to set up a DNA databank to help rapidly identify captured or slain members of the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, a top police official said Monday.
Tehran has issued a postage stamp honoring terrorist Imad Mugniyah. 
