President Ali Abdullah Saleh is expected to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London today. The UK ambassador to Yemen, Mr. Michael Gifford told the Yemen Times that the "The visit will cover a number of areas like the cooperation in the fight against terrorism, which will be a key issue for discussion. I do think Yemen has taken firm action in the fight against terrorism, we recognize that can it go further, and I think the Yemeni government would like to take it further." He stressed that terrorism has become a global epidemic that requires good cooperation between all countries, adding that the UK is concerned to cooperate with Yemen in this respect, as Yemen itself has suffered from terrorism in recent years, with the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 and the French Tanker in 2002.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 11:44:41 PM ||
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I especially like this passage, about how Muhammad forbids Muslims from spying on other Muslims:
1924.org continues, after three pages of bleating, that Allah has already settled the issue by forbidding anyone to spy on Muslims. It adds that Mohammed has this eventuality covered with: âIf a person were to glance in your house without permission and you hit him with a stone and thus gouged out his eyes, there would be no blame on you.â
#2
Great post - muslims in the UK are sadly let down by their leaders:
These stories are proof that MI5âs recruitment plan is working, sending those Muslim âminority leadersâ into a frenzy.
It's this response from the Imams that inspires such vitriol amongst the population at large.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/26/2004 13:37 Comments ||
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Hmmm. I am in a quandry. If my goverment thought it need to monitor (spy on) what was going on in my church I would think I was living in a authoritarian state. If the government was monitoring what my social group was doing I would think the same thing.
I can't say I want to give up my freedom of religion or association. In our zeal to stop these assclowns we shouldn't give up too much. But what does one do when it has a segment of it's population wants to terrorise or destroy society?
Nicaragua will exchange terrorism information with El Salvador to prevent members of Al Qaeda from infiltrating into the country, said Nicaraguan Interior Minister Julio Vega on Wednesday. Vega said in a statement that the Salvadorean government will donate Nicaragua a computer program which can identify the entry and departure record of nationals and foreigners.
A group suspected of having links with Al Qaeda has set Sept. 5 as the deadline for El Salvador to withdraw its troops from Iraq, or else prepare for terrorist attacks on its territory and interests. Vega said Nicaragua and El Salvador will have the same information platform by exchanging information to coordinate actions on the possible presence of individuals related to international terrorism. In view of a possible presence of Al Qaeda groups in Central America, Nicaragua has doubled its security measures at the International Airport of Managua and the embassies of El Salvador and the United States in its territory, he added. Chief of the National Police Edwin Cordero told the press Wednesday that his institution has increased intelligence data collection in order to detect possible foreign ties with terrorist groups which have threatened the Salvadorean government. "We have escalated vigilance over the Managua airport, border posts and sea ports so as to prevent the entry into Nicaragua of terrorists," Cordero said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/26/2004 2:30:06 AM ||
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If anyone had told me 20 years ago today that Nicaragua _and_ El Salvador would both be allied with the U.S. against Islamist Fascists and would, to that end, be sharing intelligence information and assisting each other with security measures, I would have laughed a big horselaugh in their face.
Posted by: Joe ||
08/26/2004 17:30 Comments ||
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Posted by: B ||
08/26/2004 16:00 Comments ||
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#3
You can't feed starving people food like that. The nutritional shock can kill them. I suggest starting out with the kid's Happy Meal burger (plain) and work their way up.
Posted by: ed ||
08/26/2004 16:05 Comments ||
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The US Air Force is deploying 1,000 forces to Iraq from Spangdahlem air base in Germany, a base official said Thursday. The forces are elements of the 52nd Fighter Wing, said Air Force Colonel Dave Goldfein. The troop re-assignment comes amid a realignment of US forces abroad that includes possible base reductions or closures in Germany. But Goldfein said the re-assignment should not be taken as a sign to indicate that Spangdahlem was being closed. "At the moment, however, it is impossible to say what the future holds and what sort of forces will be stationed here," he said. The base in the Rhineland region of western Germany has about 5,000 personnel. Getting ready for Iran or something far less interesting?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/26/2004 1:25:14 PM ||
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spiffing up the airfield refueling facilities in western Iraq? Adapting them for Israeli fixtures?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2004 14:00 Comments ||
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Either troop rotation or those Iranian and/or Syrian warplans were just dusted off.If the carriers surge again...
Posted by: Stephen ||
08/26/2004 14:10 Comments ||
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It appears that we are approaching "show time" in Iran.
Posted by: Capt America ||
08/26/2004 15:18 Comments ||
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Heh.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/26/2004 21:46 Comments ||
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Two European banks were yesterday accused by the US Treasury Department of helping Saddam Hussein launder money stolen from the UN oil-for-food programme. American authorities aim to cut the Infobank of Belarus and First Merchant Bank of Cyprus out of the financial system by making mainstream institutions aware of the allegations. The Treasury Department dubbed the banks "primary money laundering concerns" for their failure to combat problems with the oil-for-food scheme.
Posted by: mojo ||
08/26/2004 11:17:12 AM ||
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Major players in the world of International Finance, both of them...
Actually, both of them are probably one-room rentals behind Bob's Bait Shack (or whatever the local eqivalent is)
Posted by: Carl in N.H ||
08/26/2004 12:04 Comments ||
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This better be just the beginning of the exposure and punishment for corrupt abetters of Saddam. I am going to relish every story I read about O-F-F criminals facing justice and hope the US will nail every one of these muthahs HARD.
via Wash Times / UPI - EFL because it sucks...
Must be something in the water at the Executive HQ...
Filing under Fifth Column for inanity.
By Claude Salhani UPI International Editor - August 26, 2004
Pull out a map of the Middle East and take a quick glance at it. With your eyes closed, run your hand over the area, randomly stopping over any part of the Arab world. Chances are your finger will point at a country in turmoil. And by the looks of it, conditions are not about to improve any time soon. Despite attempts -- and the best of intentions -- importing democracy to the Middle East has not been a thriving venture.
In a self-flagellating editorial, the London-based Saudi daily al-Sharq al-Awsat deplored the violence currently sweeping through several Arab countries. The newspaper lamented that no matter how you look at the Middle East, only violence seems to prevail and that "the language of arms" is triumphing over dialogue and peace. "In Yemen, there is no news but that of the army offensive against the rebellious cleric Hussein Badreddine al-Houthy, and the killing of scores of innocent civilians," states the newspaper. "In Iraq, we only hear the sounds of the fighting raging in Najaf and news of the kidnapping of foreigners and sabotaging of oil pipelines." ...much more of the same hand wringing, whining, poofta poop...
Amazingly myopic view of, well, the entire Middle East - and only one culprit identified and associated with all the perceived ills: The Great Satan. Claude, baby, just between you and me, bro, you're a fuckwit. Stop hanging out with Arnoud - you're becoming interchangable.
Posted by: .com ||
08/26/2004 2:00:57 AM ||
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Damn, forgot to show their title: "Analysis: The Middle East's woes"
#3
Claude Salhani, posessor of child-like impatience or blithering moron? Didn't Lebanon's system work just fine until the mid-70's?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/26/2004 3:10 Comments ||
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By whacked, do you mean it is a litany of complaints w/o offering a course of action or solution? What do you expect, since it is written by UPI and Reuter's mideast correspondent Claude Salhani (probably Lebanese) who has now been kicked up to management? Grow up Salhani. You're management now. It's your job to come up with solutions, not just report on them anymore.
http://about.upi.com/journalists/claude_salhani.jlst
Posted by: ed ||
08/26/2004 8:42 Comments ||
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This guy's a freakin' moron2. Can he point to another three to five year span where a given country in the Middle East wasn't in turmoil? Doubtful.
John Hurley, national director of Veterans for Kerry, was online Thursday, Aug. 26, at 2 p.m. ET to discuss the recent allegations surrounding Kerry's Vietnam service.
Rest at link
Login: animals@sunflower.com
Pass: OkiGoVkgVwtSwz
Courtesy of bugmenot.com
Posted by: ed ||
08/26/2004 9:52:51 PM ||
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(2004-08-26) -- President George Bush today announced a major strategy shift in his re-election campaign brought on by what he described as "the failure of my nominal opponent to present a single reason voters should support him."
The Bush-Cheney campaign will now simply ignore John Forbes Kerry, the Democrat candidate and Vietnam veteran who is also a U.S. Senator.
"It's hard to mount an entire campaign against an opponent who has no record, no bedrock values, no consistent positions, no new ideas and only wants to talk about something he hasn't done for 35 years," said Mr. Bush. "So far, the fight has been between me and anti-me...Bush against hate-Bush. From now on, we're looking at a one-man race for the presidency."
Campaign insiders said TV and radio ads will no longer mention the Democrat candidate, but will simply focus on the president's record and his vision for the future.
"I can't change people whose hearts overflow with hatred," said the president. "So I'll just focus on rallying those whose minds are still open. We're going to target what you call your sentient beings."
#1
I think there is some truth to this. Here in Seattle the DNC 'volunteers' always ask 'Do you want to beat bush', 'Would you like to help get rid of Bush', etc..
A distraught father who had just been told his Marine son was killed in combat in Iraq set fire to a Marine Corps van and suffered severe burns Wednesday, police said. I wonder if we'll bill him for destroying gov't property.
Three Marines went to a house in Hollywood to tell the father and stepmother of Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo that their 20-year-old son had died Tuesday in Najaf, family members said. The father, Carlos Arredondo, 44, then walked into the garage, picked up a propane tank, a lighting device and a can of gasoline he used to douse the van, police Capt. Tony Rode said. He smashed the van's window, got inside and set the vehicle ablaze, despite attempts by the Marines to stop him, Rode said.
When the couple saw the Marines walking toward the front door, "My husband immediately knew that his firstborn son had been killed — and my husband did not take the news well," Melida Arredondo told reporters before police escorted her to the hospital. "It doesn't surprise me that he was so traumatized. He went crazy," she said. The Marines pulled Arredondo from the burning van and extinguished the flames on him, police said. None of the Marines was injured, Marines spokesman Maj. Scott Mack said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Jarhead ||
08/26/2004 8:57:14 AM ||
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all around sad story. :-(
Posted by: B ||
08/26/2004 12:38 Comments ||
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Geebus, what a sad story, my sympathies also go out to the Marines who brought the news. A horrible job to get. I expect they just stood back and watched.
#4
This is what voting and free speach, as opposed to property destruction, are for. Old man Arrendondo should vote for JFnK or something if he's angry, not attack the messengers.
#6
Ship, actually they pulled him out. They're Marines, ya know?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2004 18:44 Comments ||
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I didn't mean it that way Frank... ,sigh, I just figured the Marines would let 'em fire up the van if it made him feel any better.
I didn't know they pulled him out. I'd expect that of course.
geebus, it worries me that I think that's a fairly reasonable reaction. I'd fire off big ass rockets with no FAA waiver, screech, hide in a ditch or get drunk. Maybe all the above.
#3
If the message sent was "We don't particularly care for advocates of anti-Semitism and violence against women", then I'd say that it was a pretty damn good one.
#6
sends the wrong message to the Islamic world about America's willingness to listen to what Muslims have to say."
to the contrary...I think it sends exactly the message we are trying to communicate about our willingness to listen to what Muslims have to say. Expect it to get more pointed in the future.
#7
Now asscroft is trying to stop bridge picture collecting? Typical. I don't give a flip about photos, but don't mess around with my sketches of rusty bolts and wild ass cracks.
I'm not sure you have to be an "expert" to notice...
U.N. measures aimed at crippling al Qaeda have had little impact on the threat of terrorism and need to be tightened, a panel of outside experts reported on Thursday.
I'd suggest high explosives, but the UN doesn't do high explosives. They do meetings. And conferences. And seminars...
No nation has ever reported blocking an arms sale or barring passage to anyone on the U.N. list of individuals or groups with suspected ties to Osama bin Laden or his al Qaeda network, the experts said in a report to the U.N. Security Council, which put the measures in place.
I'd have to get out my heavy-duty calculator to confirm it, but I think, based on preliminary figures, that's a zero percent success rate...
Just 19 states have recorded the presence within their borders of any person or organization linked to al Qaeda, although the number of countries in which al Qaeda is active is almost certainly higher, they said. And although 34 nations have reported freezing the assets of people or organizations believed to have ties to al Qaeda under the U.N. sanctions scheme, "in some cases it has been hard to tell what this means," the panel said. "It is not clear from all reports of asset freezing, for example, what those assets are, their value, or who owns them." Based on al Qaeda's continuing high level of activity and reports filed to date by 130 of the 191 U.N. member-states, "it would appear that the sanctions regime imposed by the Security Council has had a limited impact," the monitoring panel concluded.
I'd call mostly ignoring them was a limited impact, yeah...
The panel was asked to review the sanctions by a Security Council committee chaired by Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Munoz, who set a Monday news conference to discuss the findings.
Ahah! Now we're talking! Discussions!
A resolution approved by the council shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States requires U.N. members to freeze the assets of any person or group suspected of ties to al Qaeda or Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers. The measure also orders governments to block suspects' movements and bar them from obtaining arms, funds or other resources.
That means the turbans are growing all those arms and ammunition in little garden plots out behind their garages, right?
Munoz's committee is in charge of compiling official lists of suspected groups and individuals, based on information submitted by governments. While al Qaeda's access to funding has been reduced as a result of international action, "so too has its need for money," the panel said. And international regulation to crack down on terrorist financing "is only as strong as its weakest link," the report said, calling for tighter and more effective restrictions. Most nations have adopted laws imposing an arms embargo on al Qaeda and related entities, "but most al Qaeda-related terrorist attacks have involved arms and explosives not covered by the measures," the panel said. For example, the Madrid train bombing in March relied on mining explosives and mobile telephones, while a May attack on a residential compound in Khobar in Saudi Arabia used small arms and knives, it said. Based on evidence al Qaeda is seeking biological and chemical weapons as well as a so-called "dirty bomb" that would disperse low-level radioactive material, "there is a real need ... to try to design effective measures against this threat," the panel said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 10:19:51 PM ||
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""it would appear that the sanctions regime imposed by the Security Council has had a limited impact," the monitoring panel concluded. "
Gee, another useless sanctions regime. Who would have guessed?
None of the victims are dead anymore, y'see...
The Philippines plans to drop murder charges against 185 members of the country's largest Muslim separatist group, removing a major barrier to resuming peace talks, officials said Thursday. The justice secretary has ordered prosecutors to drop charges against the guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, who are accused of participating in two bomb attacks last year which killed 38 people in the southern Philippines.
"I mean, we got lotsa people in the Philippines. What's 38 deaders?"
The MILF, which has waged a decades-old insurrection for Muslim self-rule in the south, has demanded that the charges be dropped as a condition for resuming peace talks. Talks have been held on and off since 1997. The MILF's current chief Al Haj Mural, vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar and rebel spokesman Eid ("Lipless Eddie") Kabalu — as well as the group's late leader Salamat Hashim — are among those who were charged and will now be cleared. Kabalu called the move "a positive development" and said peace talks could resume once the charges had been dropped. "With this, if it's proven to be true, we see no more hindrances to the resumption of formal peace talks," he said.
"Hurrah! Fire up the peace processor!"
Teresita Deles, the president's adviser on the peace process, said Thursday the cases against the 185 guerrillas were weak and the government thought they could be withdrawn to foster peace talks. However, charges against five other guerrillas would not be withdrawn because of strong evidence against them, said Deles, adding the government wouldn't drop all criminal cases just for the sake of the talks. "We will not violate the laws and we will not shortcut justice," Deles told The Associated Press.
"Unless somebody asks us to, of course..."
The order to rescind the charges is expected to take effect in a few days, Deles said. Kabalu said the government has also mostly met the rebels' demand to withdraw troops from a MILF stronghold that the military captured in a major offensive last year. The MILF has denied involvement in last year's bombings, one of which killed 22 people, including an American missionary, outside the international airport in southern city of Davao in March. The other killed 16 people near the city's wharf the following month. There are an estimated 11,500 MILF guerrillas with about 8,700 firearms, the military said. The MILF has been accused of having links with the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah but the rebels deny that. The group says it has renounced terrorism and pledged to help the government hunt foreign extremists in the country's volatile south.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 3:32:30 PM ||
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Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a close ally of Syria, has made it clear he is willing to stand for another term as Damascus wishes, despite strong across-the-board opposition to changing the constitution to allow him to run. Lahoud said late Tuesday: "If a parliamentary majority wishes to bestow this mission upon me again, then I am ready to accept."
"If nominated, I will run. If elected, I will serve. If not, I'm going to Damascus and you can go to hell!"
Syria's overwhelming political influence in Lebanon, where it has thousands of troops, means it can also count on a majority of members of Parliament. But a growing number of Lebanese religious and political figures are opposed to Lahoud standing for re-election because, under the constitution as it stands, a president is not allowed to stand for a second successive term.
A mere quibble...
While Syria is keen to keep a man they see as an ally in office, the United States is known to oppose the move and Lahoud's announcement drew a swift response from Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and other members of the Christian community, from whose ranks the head of state is always drawn. "The constitution is not just an ordinary law which you can change as you think fit," the newspaper An-Nahar quoted Sfeir as saying. "Each time it has been amended it has led to a serious crisis." In recent times, two constitutional amendments concerning the presidency have been sought by Syria and voted through Parliament. In 1995, the presidential term of Elias Hraoui was extended for three years and in 1998, Lahoud was able to stand for president after the rules were changed because he had not resigned as head of the armed forces within the allotted time frame to be eligible. "Syria is interfering," Sfeir said. "Lebanese politicians who were against the constitutional amendment changed their minds after going to Syria."
So, how's it feel to be a colony?
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 10:27:54 PM ||
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If he says the Chechens did this then
1) He will have to take decisive action - and his military is not up to the task.
2) He has to admit that they got thru and he was unable to stop them.
If he stonewalls, then he looks bad for allowing maint and state airline being so poor as to kill several citizens - or if the Chechens did do it and he's hiding, then he looks really bad.
Vlad is going to be looking for some cover - he needs it now, and cannot sit on the sidelines anymore.
Want to bet that he at least considers reaching out?
#2
OS---I think that if he is not quietly reaching out, then we are quietly reaching out to him. The terrorists are coming home to roost. We are all in this together. The sooner Putin gets over all his hangups the faster we can work together on the task at hand.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/26/2004 23:48 Comments ||
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NAJAF, Iraq — An aide to Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani (search ) said Thursday that a peace deal was reached with rebel leader Muqtada al-Sadr (search ).
"Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr agreed to the initiative of his eminence al-Sistani," said Hamed al-Khafaf, a top al-Sistani aide. "You will hear good news soon from the government and Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr."
"It's the same initiative that we had proposed ... almost the same initiative has been agreed upon," al-Khafaf said.
#1
Now, as Paul Harvey would say, heres the rrrrrrest of the story...
"Itâs the same initiative that we had proposed"
I.E. Sadr caved. Sistani pitched the same deal that the Government did, and has apparently asked for the interim Government to supply National Guard Troops and Police to secure the facility after the Madhi Army leaves it.
But here is the big one that you guys might not get becuase you need to know the culture:
"Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr agreed..."
"and Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr."
Not "hujjat al-Islam Al-Sadr" - his official title (which he acclaimed himself, not from the Shia religuous hierarchy there - kinda like declaring yourself a bishop).
This was a BIG slap in the face designed to show that he is NOT a religious authority but is acting outside the faith.
#4
Dawoud said the government would not try to arrest radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr despite the weeks of violence.
"He is as free as any Iraqi citizen to do whatever he likes," he said.
Hmm, not EXACTLY a guarantee against future arrest, but I dont see that they can arrest Sadr anytime soon without dissing Sistani.
U.S. and coalition forces would pull out of Najaf as soon as interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi orders them to leave, Dawoud said.
To be replaced by IP and ING, so no problem.
The government also appeared to back down from its previous demand that al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia must disband and become a political party, saying only that the fighters should put down their arms.
Now i'm confused. Whats the point of being a militia if youre disarmed?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2004 17:09 Comments ||
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#6
"Whats the point of being a militia if youre disarmed"
Exactly... heh heh.
This looks like Sistani must ahve really been working with the government - the "dis" by not using his title was repeated and deliberate. And the Shia in Iraq will quickly catch on.
This deflates Sadr, as does the arrest of 2 of Sadr's tribal right-hand men, caught red-handed stealing artifacts from the Imam Ali shrine.
And there will be an accouting as well - apparently, the month's reciepts were sitting in there when Sadr's gunmens took over the place by threatening to kill the custodians and keepers of the Mosque.
If they publicise the looting and theft, and Sistani makes it very public, the air will be out of Tater's ballon in a hurry. Same goes if they find Iranians and Syrians (which they will IMHO), and make very public cases of convicting them and deporting them (or publicly executing them under Islamic Law for defilement of the Mosque).
This is a great opportunity if the Allawi government and Sistani can manage to allow Sistani to get the Glory while the government gets the Power.
#7
And one more thing: if Sadr backs out now, Sistani will call down the Islamic Thunder on his head. If there's one thing the Shia do not do, is that you do not publicly disrespect a cleric senior to you.
The only problems now are:
1) all those people that marched to Najaf need to be convinced to go home - and that includes probably large numbers of Iranians, Madhi Army and Zawqari who wanted to take advantage of the crowds to smuggle more armed men and weaponry into Najaf.
2) If the Madhi Army did exfiltrate, where did they go? We need to prevent them from massing somewhere else, like Kufa nearby, or causing trouble up in Mosul or down in Basra or even back to Sadr City in Baghdad. We need to track where these mutts went and be ready to thit them hard at the first sing of any organized action again.
#10
I hope it works out the way you suggest, OldSpook, but I'll believe it when I see it. My gut feeling is that Tater has too many friends in Sadr City to let him slip out of this noose, and Sistani and Allawi have just made a big mistake.
Posted by: Tom ||
08/26/2004 17:35 Comments ||
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#11
I think our guys need to make sure Sadr stays alive. He's exactly the kind of leader we want the enemy to have - someone who alienates Iraqis and gets the men under him killed in large numbers. I can never understand Sadr's urge gather his forces to do a stand-up fight against our guys. Far more advantageous from their perspective to keep on mining the roads, and popping off mortar rounds. The good thing about Sadr's continued good health is long as he's alive, a more capable leader won't fill his shoes.
#12
Rather Not is spinning this right now as a defeat for the Americans and Allawi. It was a quagmire, you see. Sadr would never have quit unless Sistani had decided to step in and tell the young cleric to step aside. The Americans and the Coalition were impotent to the powers of the might Sadr until Sistani arrived on the scene.
"Iraq has two governments, one led by American infidel occupiers and one led by the Almighty Sistani, Supreme Shia Leader, controller of the masses who could rise up and repel the evil occupation should he just give the command.
well..it was something like that.
Blah..it is a bit of a propaganda victory for Sistani. But the bottom line is that Sadr was neutered and the coalition can continue its business. Whatever power Sistiani has, he has and Dan Rather's blather won't change it much.
The spin makes me mad...but bravo the US and Iraqi Army. Job well done.
Posted by: B ||
08/26/2004 18:49 Comments ||
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#13
If Sistani can effectively neuter Tater this time, then some good can come out of it. Tater should be at the 3 strikes you're out part of the game. The Iranians shot their wad with Tater. They could not find anyone else to fit the bill on short notice. Sistani is a royal pain in the ass, and we are forced to do some kind of perverted dance with him, but Iran is the entity behind the majority of the trouble we are having in iraq right now.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/26/2004 20:20 Comments ||
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#14
The shrine has a safe with treasures collected over many years. Sadr's thugs beat the caretaker of the shrine and took the key for 'safekeeping'. At that point the treasures of the Shia's holiest shrine were the responsibility of Sadr. Want to bet that theres stuff missing? Want to bet that both Sadr and al-Sistani know that? Want to bet that Sadr disappears accross the Iran border before word gets out?
Posted by: A Jackson ||
08/26/2004 22:21 Comments ||
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#15
Want to bet that Allawi has lookouts posted already?
And once its known that Sadr was just a common looter, want to bet about a sh*tload of pissed SHia there as well?
#16
OldSpook: Do we come out as bystanders if details of the looting come out. (Hard to see how the tater-tots could resist grabbing the lucre.) Or does it get pinned on us somehow?
#17
Old Spook,as long as the Mahdi mass in an area without the benefit of a venerated mosque for sanctuary, don't they become more of a public sanitation problem? How long would the assualt have taken if they were inhabitating a lower tier mosque - you know, one that we could just spruce up a little after we de-loused it?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/27/2004 2:51 Comments ||
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Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres) said today it was deeply shocked by the attempted murder late yesterday in Mumbai of Sajid Rashid, the editor of the Hindi-language edition of the daily Mahanagar. Rashid was stabbed twice in the back. The organisation called on the Maharashtra state authorities to take all necessary measures to identify and arrest those responsible for the attack and to protect the staff of Mahanagar, which was already the target of violence two months ago. If it is confirmed that Rashid was targeted because he had defended free expression, the attack poses a disturbing threat to all independent news media in Mumbai, Reporters Without Borders added. Rashid was attacked by two men who approached him in the evening not far from the newspaper's offices. Nikhil Wagle, the editor of Mahanagar's Maratha-language edition, said one of the men asked Rashid if he was "the one who insulted the Koran" and the other then stabbed him. Rashid, also vice-president of the movement Muslims for Secular Democracy, wrote about the issue of free expression in Islam in June, causing anger in Muslim fundamentalist circles in Mumbai, and since then he has been receiving anonymous threats. He filed a complaint but the police did not investigate. It was only after yesterday's attack that the police decided to give him protection.
#2
he has been receiving anonymous threats. He filed a complaint but the police did not investigate. It was only after yesterdayâs attack that the police decided to give him protection.
Good to see that the cops are really doing their jobs.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2004 18:42 Comments ||
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#4
Some "brave" muslim stabs a man in the back. How typical a back stabber/shooter. The religion who attacks the women and children first because it can't take the men head on. Islamic=coward. Koran=feces
I'll insult your Koran for you. It's a pack of satanic lies used by a satinic death cult to assult the world. Islam is a religion of hate, war, rape and pillage. Islam and the Koran can go back to hell.
Posted by: Trolling for Allan ||
08/26/2004 19:23 Comments ||
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#2
That's too funny! But I thought the headline You're not taking this seriously, are you? was a comment on the other headline Sistani gets Sadr to accept deal.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 14:41 ||
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#1
"If the Palestinian people rise up and start a nonviolent movement, it will boost world sympathy," said the 70-year-old Gandhi. "The nations of the world will rise up and put more pressure on Israel."
Little late for that. The Israelis, tired of getting their citizens boomed, maimed, and killed, have given up on the Paleos. The Israelis gave the Paleos 95% of what they wanted at Oslo and the Paleos decided to intefadate instead. Now the official Israeli attitude is FOAD to the Arafish. Sorry, Gandhi, the Paleos have s**t in their messkit and it is too late for this generation of Paleos.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/26/2004 15:45 Comments ||
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#2
All it means is that we have to re-cycle the peace process, perhaps reconvene the principles in Oslo again for the good vibes it has. A tiny little bit more from Sharon and a lasting peace is guaranteed.
/pipe down
#3
He doesn't look like he's missed too many meals. Take a tip from Grandpa and starve yourself so I won't have to look at any more disgusting pictures of you hugging terrorists.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/26/2004 16:13 Comments ||
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#4
Don't you know who I am!? I'm Ghandi, dammit!! GHANDI!!!
#5
still remember Ghandi and Jesus in celebrity death match...precious
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2004 20:54 Comments ||
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#6
"If the Palestinian people rise up and start a nonviolent movement, it will boost world sympathy,"
Gee, I don't know. Blowing up Jews seems to have generated a lot of world sympathy for the Paleos. Hasn't done much to improve their own lot, however. Once upon a time, I thought Arafat would put down terror as a tool and become the George Washington of the new Palestinian state. I used to believe in the Easter Bunny, too.
After seeing news clips of them dancing in the streets after 9/11, they can all go *bleep* themselves.
Effective August 21, 2004, the U.S. Postal Service® is resuming most mail services to Iraq. All services will be available with the exception of some Special Services.
Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the government refused to take international help to probe grenade attacks on an Awami Legue (AL) rally on Saturday as 'it would expose their real character to all'. Hasina, also the president of main opposition Awami League, made the comment when she went to the house of Ivy Rahman, women's affairs secretary of her party, to pay her last respect to her. Ivy died from her wounds at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka early Tuesday fighting for her life for three days after suffering fatal injuries in Saturday's grenade attack on the AL rally on Bangabandhu Avenue. With tears rolling down her cheeks, Hasina said Ivy was like one of her family as their girlhood relations consolidated by the years. "Her killing by grenade, a battlefield weapon, was violence at its worst," she said.
Holding the 'Khaleda-Nizami administration responsible for the bloodbath' she alleged the government did not arrest anybody after the attack that killed 19 people, including Ivy, and injured over 200 others. "So many agencies of the government were deployed at the rally that day, but they could not arrest anyone. It proves that the government itself let loose the assailants and did not arrest anybody willingly," she alleged. Hasina accused the government of trying to kill her and all top leaders of her party in an attempt to cling to power as people lost their confidence in the Khaleda administration for its misrule and repression. On the government claim that it strengthened her security in the wake of the attack, Hasina said she read it in the newspapers, but saw nothing. About a fresh threat by Hikmatul Zihad to assassinate her in a week, Hasina said such threats were nothing new to her. "The killers have long been threatening me with death and made a brash attempt on Saturday," she said. Pegging the government as shameless, she said it was beyond her imagination that police would club her party leaders and activists, including women, in the wake of the rally attacks. "Will the families of the dead and the injured will get justice?" she asked.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 11:35:49 AM ||
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Bangladesh is almost inspiring in its enthusiastic corruption. It must take a lot of application to stay at the top (bottom?) of the list of most corrupt nations in the world for year after year. Even Nigeria is envious...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 13:22 Comments ||
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Amidst a new threat of assassination from an Islamist militant organisation, Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina yesterday made the first public appearance since the Saturday's deadly grenade attack to pay her last tribute to veteran Awami League leader Ivy Rahman at the deceased's residence. AL leaders and personal staff of Hasina maintained utmost secrecy until the last moment about the visit. The AL president even avoided boarding the jeep carrying national and party flags to dodge possible attacks. Escorted by two police vans Hasina's motorcade of eight sports utility vehicles started towards Ivy's Gulshan residence at 2:00pm and returned to her Sudha Sadan residence after three hours at around 5:00pm. The opposition leader had kept herself confine to Sudha Sadan for about 93 hours after the Saturday's grisly attack, which she but narrowly escaped.
Hikmatul Zihad, a previously unheard-of organisation, on Monday claimed responsibility for the August 21 grenade and gun attack on Hasina and the AL rally, and vowed to assassinate her in a week. When her motorcade reached the porch of Ivy-Concord Tower, Hasina along with her sister Sheikh Rehana alighted from a red Toyota jeep. Her personal security staff, party volunteers and a large contingent of police kept her encircled until she got into the fifth floor apartment of Ivy and Zillur Rahman. Ivy's body was brought home at 2:30pm as hundreds of AL leaders and workers, her kin, friends and admirers thronged the apartment to pay homage, and also to see Hasina. Police, intelligence officials and party volunteers were seen busy to disperse any unwanted gathering in front of the house. Police also thoroughly checked every one entering the house to express sympathy to the bereaved family. Security measures at Sudha Sadan meanwhile have been beefed up after the latest Hikmatul Zihad's threat to the opposition leader, according to government sources. Restrictions were imposed on general visitors.
AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil however alleged the government did not take any measure to step up Hasina's security after the latest threat. "It's the responsibility of the government to provide adequate security to the leader of the opposition," said Jalil, which he said it has absolutely failed to do. "Threat on Sheikh Hasina is not new. We've been repeatedly asking the government to arrange adequate security for her, but it didn't pay any heed to us," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 11:21:15 AM ||
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Since "Awamy League" was created by Ivy Raman why not name it "Ivy league"
From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Abdul Karim Afghan, a spokesman for Amanullah Khan, a local warlord in Herat Province, accused Iran on 25 August of providing military aid to Herat Governor Mohammad Ismail Khan, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press reported. Discussing the recent fighting between militias loyal to Amanullah Khan and Ismail Khan, the spokesman said that the governor has "established an Afghanistan inside Afghanistan," while maintaining "a private army."
Gotta have your homies if you're going to be somebody important in Afghanland.
Afghan alleged that Ata Mohammad Nur, governor of Balkh Province in northern Afghanistan, has dispatched 2,000 fighters to Herat, disguised as civilians. "Iran has provided Mohammad Ismail Khan with 6,000 weapons in order to arm these forces, and these troops have been integrated" into the governor's militia, Afghan claimed. Both Nur and Ismail Khan are supporters of the Jami'at-e Islami party and while officially holding governor posts, command their own militias independent of the Afghan National Army.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/26/2004 10:54:21 AM ||
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From Harpers Magazine, quoting a handout that accompanies a week-long course on Iraq's customs and history given to U.S. Marines as part of their training.
.... Handshakes may be loose or limp wristed. Iraqis will hold the handshake for longer than U.S. Do not pull away. Females may just touch the fingertips, but generally no contact between men and women. ....
To kiss the forehead, nose, or right hand of the person shows extreme respect. ....
General rule: Treat every Iraqi as if he were a colonel.
Touching among same sex is not considered homosexual. Good friends often hold hands as a sign of friendship. ....
The okay sign that Americans make is considered bad. It is an evil eye. ....
Women hold the honor of the family, and therefore you should not stare or try to interact with them. A simple verbal greeting will suffice.
Do not ask men how their women are doing; instead, ask how the family is.
Showing family pictures is a good way to open relations. Arab women do not show arms or legs, and a picture of your wife in shorts will say to an Arab that you do not respect women. ....
Arabs perceive problems as someone's plot to make their life more unpleasant. We may view this as paranoia. ....
Safety is a foreign concept (everything happens because of Allah).
Amount of facial hair is considered directly proportional to religious faith. ...
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/26/2004 10:40:20 AM ||
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Very nice. However, I'm waiting for the day when will we start handing out phamplets on how Americans like to be treated. I'm darn sick of this be nice to others crap.
Posted by: Jim K ||
08/26/2004 10:46 Comments ||
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#2
Amount of facial hair is considered directly proportional to religious faith. ...
#4
Marine culture tends to osmotically effect everyone around them. To start with, the Iraqi soldiers who fight alongside Marines are going to become very disciplined and badass: they will become an Iraqi elite force. Female Marines are going to be a splash of cold water in everyone's face. After a period of men being utterly intimidated by them, then amazed by them, then impressed all to heck by them--then the Iraqi men will start to consider what is more attractive: strong, intelligent women; or ignorant sheep, covered by burqas. And Iraqi women are going to be really hard to hold down, once they see what they *could have* become, or *might still* become.
As far as Iraqi culture goes, you would be impressed at the staggering cultural changes that have happened in Okinawa because of the Marines.
#6
#3 Touching among same sex is not considered homosexual. Good friends often hold hands as a sign of friendship.
I noticed the same sort of behavior in Okinawa. They learn pretty fast not to touch the Marines.
So are you saying that maybe "John-John" should go run for office in Baghdad? Buddy of mine said his daughter had a friend at school who saw video of Kerry and Edwards the other day hugging and holding hands and asked her parents if they were gay (oops, homosexual). Hillarious!
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2004 11:41 Comments ||
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#7
"I'm darn sick of this be nice to others crap."
>I'd usually agree w/you. OTOH, we are in their country. I think your statement would be good for those who are trying to emigrate here. Like as soon as they get off the damn boat someone hands them a pamphlet on how not to piss us off. The opening paragraph could be......."you're no longer in Iraq/Iran/Pakistan/Albania/Somalia........and we don't give a shit how you did it in the old country, be a good citizen, learn the language or shut the fuck up and leave."
#8
Jarhead - Damn right! I'm tired of us having to kowtow to foreigners in our own country.
Touching among same sex is not considered homosexual. Good friends often hold hands as a sign of friendship.
I've seen this also in the Philippines. You often see pairs of women walking down the street holding hands or with their arms around each other. Its a sign of friendship and not homosexuality.
Point taken. I should have been more specific in my comment. You hit it on the head.
Posted by: Jim K ||
08/26/2004 12:49 Comments ||
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#10
..Actually, there's nothing unusual about this - I've seen booklets from WWII instructing Marines, soldiers, and sailors on how to treat the locals in unusual places, and I've got lots of materials from the Reagan era on how to behave around Arabs when deployed. Having said that, Jarhead's got a point - after we lost three thousand people to 'cultural differences', there comes a time when we need to say, "we don't give a rat's ass."
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/26/2004 13:53 Comments ||
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#11
How to treat Americans:
.... Handshakes are preferred to be firm and manly. Americans are uncomfortable being hung on to. Shake the hand, then get down to business; don't fondle it. Females shake hands the same way a man does, but don't make it a contest of strength. Depending on the woman, you might lose...
Americans don't kiss each other unless they're married, courting, or otherwise want to have sex. Keep that in mind if you feel a pucker coming on ....
General rule: Treat every American as though he was a CEO.
Touching among men is considered a sign of homosexuality unless you're playing football, in which case a discreet bit of ass-grab is okay. But don't take it too far, bub...
Americans occasionally gesture with their hands, but they don't as a rule speak Italian. If they flip you the bird it's okay to be offended. Otherwise, ignore it.
American women, and Americans in general, don't like being stared at. Mind your own damned business. A simple verbal greeting will suffice.
Do not ask men how their women are doing. It's okay to ask about the wife and/or kiddies if you've met them. Otherwise, pretend they don't exists unless the American brings up the subject.
Showing family pictures is a good way to open relations. A picture of your wife wearing a gunny sack with nothing but her eyes showing will say to an American that you do not respect women. ....
Americans perceive problems as something to be solved and people who whine as impediments to solutions. Shut your fudge up.
Americans take reasonable measures for safety. If you don't, and something gets hosed, they will sue the pants off you, your family, the company you work for, your govenment, and possibly your hemisphere.
Some Americans wear beards, some have moustaches, some don't. I told you they don't like being stared at, didn't I?
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 14:30 Comments ||
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#12
Friend of mine spent much time in the ME training notionally allied armed forces. He says that as an ignorant American totally unaware of local customs, he always made a habit of shaking hands with his left hand.
Americans are not impressed with the size of your turban, the curliness of your slippers, or your proclivity to fire automatic weapons in the air for "celebration."
Do you have something cool for us to buy? We pay cash. Do we make something you could use? Let's talk. But enough with this haggling sh*t. In the USA, the price on the tag is the price that you pay.
Telling an American how rich/famous/important you are, will only make them think you are a "blow-hard". Those who are wealthy/famous or important will go to lengths to downplay it.
Having "class" has nothing to do with social status.
Lying is not acceptable, unless it is a polite lie. to prevent someone else from being embarrassed. Liars are considered weak and foolish. Being caught in a lie is considered the ultimate embarrassment.
People who are well-bred, NEVER push to the front of a line or demand service (do you know who I am!?), or presume to be more important than others. If someone treats you badly, you are judged by how YOU handle it, not how they behave. In a confrontation, the first one who loses their cool, loses.
When two people come simultaneously to a door or line (que) or whatever, the person who allows the other person to go first is considred the most important. To determine who wins the honor of not going first, take a step back, smile and wait.
Americans think people who exaggerate or make up "tall-tales" are fools. (Unless you are or are trying to be a liberal Senator or President. Then it's ok.)
Posted by: B ||
08/26/2004 15:24 Comments ||
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#16
Fred/B/Seafarious - excellent job. I am going to cut & paste your comments for later ref as an "American Cultural Senstivity Training" thing I will disseminate to my minions on email back home.
#17
might want to add: "We know which hands you wipe with (except you, hookboy) - don't try to shake our hands with that one if you want to keep it"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2004 17:38 Comments ||
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#18
My two bits:
Americans get angry when you thrust your hand at us and say "give up your money, you owe it to us", and then you slander us and call us f*ckers. Your pompous and presumptious demanding over time only makes us snub you.
Americans can get angry when other men argue with them about God-and always get angry when other men argue God with a bomb. We don't avoid the reality of the world as a place of many religions that must somehow reconcile, but we will tell you in no uncertain terms when you are riding too close to our religious autonomy.
#19
And remember when you're dealing with the whites, they are poor in the way of the spirit and will find no inner peace.
But know also they have medicine that is a fear to behold and they will hunt you down like dogs and kill you in a white anger.
They don't count coup.
I advise the reservation.
If this hadn't come from memri.org, I would have blown it off as a bad SNL routine...but it ain't.
Iraqi Sheik Al-Sumide'i Tells of the Divine Spiders Sent by Allah to Assist the Muslims in the Battle of Najaf
The following are excerpts from an interview with Iraqi Sheik Mahdi Saleh Al-Sumidei, who participated in the battle of Falluja:
Sheik Sumide'i: They [the Americans] attacked Falluja and tried to cause great damage to its residents. They destroyed mosques and homes, killed women, children, and youths, and spread corruption in Falluja. Nevertheless, we believe that Allah protects the believers, and indeed, Allah stood beside Falluja, and I'd like to mention some miracles Allah performed in Falluja. It is possible that the media does not know about them.
The first miracle that occurred in Falluja took the form of spiders that appeared in the city — each spider larger than this chair, or about the size of this chair. The American soldiers left, holding the legs of this spider, and I too, in one of the Friday sermons, held up a spider, with all its magnitude, in front of the satellite channels and in front of the world. This spider also had thin black hair. If this hair touches the human body, within a short period of time the body becomes black or blue, and then there is an explosion in the blood cells in the human body - and the person dies.
This is one of the miracles performed in support of Falluja, and the Jihad that took place in Falluja.
Interviewer: The people saw it, but the TV stations did not air it?
Sheik Mahdi Saleh Al-Sumide'I: The people saw it and the TV stations indeed aired it. I held the spider, and there were between 13 to 15 TV stations, including Al-Arabiya, Al-Jazeera, Al-Majd, Dubai, Abu-Dhabi and other stations, and they saw it with their own eyes.
Interviewer: According to your personal knowledge, are the casualties in Iraq of the American forces and their allies much greater than what the US admits'
Sheik Mahdi Saleh Al-Sumide'I:By Allah, I would like to say something. I swear in the name of Allah on this issue. If the American mothers, sisters, and wives — and this is a message directed at the American people — if they knew what was happening to their children in Iraq, no woman could sleep in her bed at night, and you would see women and children in the streets of America, down on their knees, throwing dirt on their heads because of what is happening to the American forces in Iraq.
Today, if a hundred Americans are killed, they say there was one casualty, and if dozens of tanks were blown up, they say one was blown up. No one will notice the losses caused to the American forces until they return to their bases — if they return, and in my opinion they will not return — but if they return, the world will see and the American people will see the number of losses.
Interviewer: Sheik, what do the Americans do with all these casualties? Some say that there are special mass graves for the mercenary forces the Americans brought to Iraq and no one is allowed to photograph them. A somebody has said, on this program, that they discovered a mass grave in the Iraqi desert and he took an Arab cameraman there, and he was told that if he films this mass grave, the Americans will kill him.
Sheik Mahdi Saleh Al-Sumide'I: This is the truth. We too followed this issue. A mass grave was created in a desert area near the Saudi boarder for the American soldiers killed. There is also a lake near Al-Sa'diya. The Americans place the casualties inside white or black bags, seal them and toss them from a plane into the lake.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/26/2004 1:17:44 AM ||
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This is the kind of stuff the US should be rebroadcasting over here. Let everybody see what sort of lunatics we are really dealing with.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/26/2004 8:53 Comments ||
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#2
Did Psyops drop a shedload of hallucinogens on Fallujah for reasons of disorientating the enemy?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/26/2004 8:55 Comments ||
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#3
Exactly LoR. And broadcast on primetime the spittle flung in the Mosque sermons, the rantings of their religous and political leaders, the blood libel printed in their newspapers and broadcast on their televisions, and the hatred regurgitated by a populace fed a diet of victim propaganda and nurtured on the tit of religious conquest.
The press and government have shielded us from these barbarians much to long. Let us get to know them ... then kill them.
Posted by: ed ||
08/26/2004 9:06 Comments ||
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#4
I don't think it is Allah who is helping them. I think it is Spider-Man. J. Jonah Jamison was right all along...
"Today, if a hundred Americans are killed, they say there was one casualty, and if dozens of tanks were blown up, they say one was blown up. No one will notice the losses caused to the American forces until they return to their bases â if they return, and in my opinion they will not return â but if they return, the world will see and the American people will see the number of losses."
#6
The Americans place the casualties inside white or black bags, seal them and toss them from a plane into the lake.
um..you think they'd be smart enough to ask why the lake doesn't have hundreds (or is it thousands) of bodies floating on top. Unless of course, the giant monsters that live in the lake dine on them.
#7
Interesting that this story came up about spiders. Here's a linky I got yesterday showing pics (supposedly our guys handling them) of 2 camelspiders in Iraq. After a snopes.com search though, we found that most spider experts agree that the biggest they've seen or would get would be around 5 inches. Could be the angle of the camera or a Photo shop job. Here's link:
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2004 9:21 Comments ||
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#8
Link button didn't work, here's the URL:
http://www.buckstix.com/camelspider.htm
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2004 9:22 Comments ||
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#9
the iraqi desert does have a real big brown/tan looking spider aptly named the 'camel spider'. They have a painful bite that causes some numbness but is definitely not fatal.
#10
J: Are they really that big, or are those pics at buckstix.com a photo shop job/angle of camera? I'm really interested in the timing of all this, as I just got that link yesterday and now an imam is using as "proof" that Allan is on their side against our troops! Coincidence? I think not.
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2004 9:30 Comments ||
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#11
...The biggest camel spider I saw over there was roughly 8" from the tip of the front legs to the tips of the rear legs. Not terribly dangerous unless you're allergic to insect bites, but they have a remarkably rotten disposition.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/26/2004 9:32 Comments ||
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#12
Look at how large the sleeve collar and palm is in relation to the spider.
Posted by: ed ||
08/26/2004 9:36 Comments ||
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#13
It is possible that the media does not know about them.
No shit. LOL
#14
I gotta admit...I saw "the" e-mail a while back, and I fell for it. I was all ready to tell you that the camel spiders are four feet long and can run up to 15 mph...(or was it 50mph??). DOh!
Old fat spider spinning in a tree
Old fat spider can't see me
Attercop! Attercop!
Won't you stop?
Stop your spinning and look for me!
Old Tomnoddy, all big body
Old Tomnoddy can't spy me.
Attercop! Attercop!
Down you drop!
You'll never catch me up in your tree!
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
08/26/2004 10:43 Comments ||
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#20
The Shiek's stories have more inconsistancies than John Kerry's journals. For example:...This spider also had thin black hair. If this hair touches the human body, within a short period of time the body becomes black or blue, and then there is an explosion in the blood cells in the human body - and the person dies. Further he claims, ....I too, in one of the Friday sermons, held up a spider, with all its magnitude, in front of the satellite channels and in front of the world. And the Sheik lives on -- a miracle no doubt.
#25
The itsy-bitsy spider got hit by Sarin Gas,
Mutated large and became pain in the ass,
It took the entire army to spray insecticide,
Nobody mourned when the nasty spider died!
#27
Sheiky really needs to get an education. THIS American mom wouldn't bow in the streets crying and wailing, I'd get a large can of Raid, a flame thrower and go spider stompin'. These fools really don't understand American women very well. I'd hurt someone or something who hurt my child.
Guess I can't expect much sense from undereducated blowhards who wouldn't know the truth if it bit them.
Russian emergency workers searched heaps of twisted metal and tall grass Wednesday for clues about what caused two airliners to plunge to earth within minutes of each other, killing all 89 people aboard. Officials said one jet sent a hijack distress signal. Flight recorders from both planes were found and taken to Moscow for investigation, ITAR-TASS, a Russian news agency, reported, indicating the question of what caused the twin disasters soon could be answered. Russian security authorities said explosives specialists were still working at the scene of the crashes. They reported that terrorism remained a possible cause, although there was no evidence so far that terrorists were behind the tragedies.
Except that they lost two aircraft virtually simultaneously. How many aircraft did they lose in the previous hour?
Federal Security Service spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko said investigators were still questioning airport officials and airline and security employees at Domodedovo Airport, from where both flights left 45 minutes apart. Former National Transportation Safety Board vice chairman Bob Francis said coincidence was always possible but seemed highly unlikely.
Yeah. Maybe they were struck by meteorites...
"There are obviously things that can lead to accidents. ... The likelihood that you can have things lead to two accidents ... at the same time ... that's a pretty heavy coincidence," said Francis, who was involved in investigating the 1996 crash of TWA flight 800 off the Long Island coast. The former director of security of the Israeli Airport Authority said the time of the crashes suggested terrorism. "The timing indicates that this is probably a coordinated attack," Rafi Ron told The Associated Press. "There was probably something on board that led the pilots to push the distress signal or submit a verbal signal. In my assumption, that must have been the result of a terrorist being on board." Neither Francis nor Ron had independent information about the crashes.
With two going at the same time, I think you start from the assumption that it was terrorism and then if that's disproved move on to other explanations, like flocks of very high-flying geese, ground crew incompetence, or the hairy eyeball...
#2
Won't suprise me to hear these planes were dropped on purpose.
This is the song I hum in my head to the tune of Strangers in the Night when I fly now.
Strangers on my flight,
turbans they're packin'.
Wonderin' if they might,
plan a hijacking.
They could pull a stunt,
before this flight is through.
Something's on their minds.
I saw them mutter.
What that in their hands?
Looks like box cutters,
I'm gonna kick some ass,
if they make a move.
Strangers on my flight.
Two smelly people,
and they're not talking right;
and in a moment,
I will grab base ball bat;
and that will be that.
Swing like Joe DiMaggio,
and rip them both a new a-hole.
And if they pick a fight,
and try to screw us,
I'll punch out their lights,
just like Joe Louis.
It would feel so right,
for strangers on my flight.
Ratta Tat Tat Tat,
Budda Bing Bang Boom,
Zooma Zooma Zoom.
Send those bastards to the moon....
BTW, the voice I hear when I sing it out loud is the Chairmans' not Harry Connick Jrs'.
#5
Putin is about to commit a big mistake. It's ridiculous to believe that these were two "accidents".
The Russian media are already poking fun at him. Moskowski Komsomolez commented that "despite the gigantic efforts of our state run television we haven't become idiots yet". Iswestija called the crashes the "Russian 9/11". A mathematician calculated that the chances for a "simultaneous" accident were... 1:1 billion!
In the critical paper Kommersant there is speculation that Putin wants to delay the finds until the elections in Chechnya have taken place.
Putin still is up to his old KGB tricks. Those might backfire this time.
By MIKE ECKEL - Aug 25, 11:10 PM (ET
Russian investigators labored Wednesday to determine whether terrorism caused the near-simultaneous crashes of two jetliners, killing all 89 people aboard and spreading anxieties about a possible bloody escalation of the Chechen conflict. Officials stressed that no evidence of a terrorist attack had yet been found among charred wreckage and said they opened a criminal investigation as they looked into other causes like bad fuel, equipment malfunction and human error. The planes' data recorders were recovered, but experts were only just starting to retrieve information from them.
The planes crashed just days before a Kremlin-called presidential election in Chechnya, whose rebels have staged suicide bombings and other attacks across Russia in recent years, including the 2002 seizure of hundreds of hostages at a Moscow theater. Witnesses reported hearing three explosions before a Volga-Aviaexpress airline Tu-134 went down in a field near Buchalki, about 125 miles south of Moscow, with 43 passengers and crew. The wreckage of a Sibir airlines Tu-154 with 46 people aboard was spread over a few hundred yards in a rugged field near Gluboky in the region of Rostov-on-Don, some 600 miles south of Moscow. The Tu-154 jet had activated a signal indicating the plane might have been hijacked or in distress. Reports of far-flung wreckage suggest an explosion may have preceded a crash, said Jim Burin of the U.S.-based Flight Safety Foundation. He also said bad fuel could cause an airplane's engines to fail, but the crew likely would have reported it well before engines quit. "I would expect some communication from the crew that we're having trouble," he said.
Russian authorities had expressed concern that Chechen separatists might stage new attacks before the Sunday vote, but there was no rush by officials to tie the crashes to Chechnya - a determination that would underline the government's failure to quell the decade-old insurgency. "Several versions are being examined, including a terrorist attack, and other possibilities - the human and technical factor," Russia's top prosecutor, Vladimir Ustinov, told President Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting about the Tuesday night crashes. ...more...
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08/26/2004 2:12:06 AM ||
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I heard on NPR that both boxes were found and both stopped working shortly before (during) the explosions. Anybody else hear that?
Yasser Arafat fended off another challenge to his authority Wednesday when Palestinian lawmakers backed away from sweeping reform demands, instead approving a watered down set of recommendations. A wave of chaos plaguing the Palestinian territories, meanwhile, took another victim when gunmen in Gaza seriously wounded a senior intelligence official. The two developments are an outgrowth of years of Arafat's one-man control, which international donors and Palestinian reformers have criticized as corrupt and inefficient, pitting rival security forces against each other.
Israel's intention to withdraw from the Gaza Strip late next year has sparked a power struggle among rival armed groups as Israel refuses to coordinate with Arafat's regime. Israel contends Arafat is implicated in terrorism, but the United States and Egypt warn that bypassing his Palestinian Authority might lead to a Gaza takeover by Islamic militants. In Wednesday's incident, gunmen opened fire at a convoy carrying the deputy Palestinian intelligence chief, seriously wounding him in the chest and killing two bodyguards. Abu Rajab was transferred to an Israeli hospital for treatment. The Palestinian officer, Tareq Abu Rajab, was traveling in a two-vehicle convoy in northern Gaza City when shots rang out, witnesses said. One of the vehicles flipped over. There was no immediate word on who carried out the shooting. Security officials said they were investigating. Rajab, who keeps a low public profile, is an old Arafat ally. Most recently, he was in charge of security for Palestinian diplomatic missions abroad, officials said.
Arafat stonewalled his detractors once again Wednesday. Refusing to sign presidential decrees needed for restructuring his administration, Arafat instead pledged to take the necessary steps in a letter to the parliament, and the lawmakers approved it, 31-12. The recommendations included forming a viable government capable of fighting corruption more effectively and restoring law and order. It also called on Arafat to follow through on promises made in a speech last week to crack down on graft. Arafat, confined to his Ramallah headquarters for three years by Israel, has come under increasing local pressure to streamline and clean up his administration and to relinquish authority over some or all of the many competing security forces. Arafat has resisted, while pledging to take action. However, matters have come to a head with the spreading chaos in Gaza and signs of loss of control in the West Bank, where armed gangs of militants rule the streets in some towns. A recent wave of kidnappings underlined the anarchic security situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2004 12:21:57 AM ||
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A shocking development, who could have foreseen this? It will reverberate thru the ME for decades may even weeks.
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.
The first miracle that occurred in Falluja took the form of spiders that appeared in the city — each spider larger than this chair, or about the size of this chair. The American soldiers left, holding the legs of this spider, and I too, in one of the Friday sermons, held up a spider, with all its magnitude, in front of the satellite channels and in front of the world. This spider also had thin black hair. If this hair touches the human body, within a short period of time the body becomes black or blue, and then there is an explosion in the blood cells in the human body - and the person dies.
Officials stressed that no evidence of a terrorist attack had yet been found among charred wreckage and said they opened a criminal investigation as they looked into other causes like bad fuel, equipment malfunction and human error. The planes' data recorders were recovered, but experts were only just starting to retrieve information from them.
