#3
You guys are so unhip it's a wonder your asses don't fall off. This thing dates from back in '97, if not earlier.
But apart from that, which sex is supposed to have received the jibe here? The fellow who posted it signs himself "ageing misogynist", so I'm guessing it's supposed to be the woman. Guess you he-men missed the point that the man's story is every bit as wretched as the woman's, being a childish testosterone-fueled fantasy.
Having said that, I would rather be dragged over carpet tacks and dipped in rubbing alcohol than read the story of Laurie and her damned tea. Reminds of Barbara Kingsolver. Give me the Anu'udrian death ships any day. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel" is one of the all-time great lines, though. I think of it every time I hear someone say something like, "The best way to solve problems is not to have enemies."
#4
Angie - Oooh - you're mean, lol! Be gentle with us, K? Just because you've seen it before, and we haven't, doesn't make us un-hip - the Internet is one big mofo place!
And I didn't give a hoot about who was right or wrong or any sex angle - just two people who have no Life Venn Diagram intersection!
Y'know, I can picture you commanding an Anu'udrian death ship blasting Congress, lol! I'd be happy as hell to be your First Mate! *please?*
#5
Y'know, I can picture you commanding an Anu'udrian death ship blasting Congress, lol! I'd be happy as hell to be your First Mate! *please?*
Yar! We be space pirates! Congress, Shmongress -- first we'll plunder the fabulous gems of the Corundum Cluster, and then I'll drop you boys off at Planet Playmate for some R&R while I stay up in orbit and ... uh ... guard the loot. That's it, guard. Not steal, no. Guard.
#6
How devious! Knowing full well that we'll miss the return shuttle! 20 or 30 times! Ah, you're a True Pirate - and Yellowbeard would be proud of yer!
Besides, Dear Captain, I remember how we were recuited! Yer a wily one, y'are - offering what we can't resist! Arrrggghhh!
#7
Sheee-it, don't y'all know it takes about eight years fer that internet thingamie to filter through to down here? We 'aint completely squaresville, though, daddy-o, we've gotten on to these hip duds called flares, and that cool band the Bee Gees came from here. Once. A while back. BTW the contrubutor was an ageing misogynist, not the poster. I'm ten years younger, and consider myself a misanthropist rather than a misogynist- I hate men as much as women. And cats. And call yerself pirates? Even our homosexuals are pirates. Bloody lily-livered limey landlubbers.
Posted by: Paul from Down Under ||
07/16/2004 21:10 Comments ||
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#8
I've seen it before, but this is a classic. Truly a source of innocent merriment. I enjoyed how both sides degenerated into one liners. Almost precambrian. LOL!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/16/2004 21:14 Comments ||
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#9
PFDU - Lol! I got a laugh from the FeatherSword pic - reminds me of the comfy chair! Have you seen this roo pic?
#11
I like Gary's story better. I'd rather watch oil paint dry than read anything like Rebecca's "story." *barf* It would be a more productive use of my time.
C'mon, Angie - I'll flip you for command of the Anu'udrian death ship. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/16/2004 23:40 Comments ||
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Angie, You mean Bellbottoms are not the latest fashon statement?
Not one U.S. dime should be spent on the back-stabbing oil barons of jihad.
Saudi Arabia has approved the procurement of a huge C4I security network worth $9.4 billion as part of a project to ensure border security, according to a new report. Let the whole House of Sooodies sink in their own sea of crude and financed Wahhabi terrorism. 15 out of 19 were glad to murder over 3000 American citizens on 9-11, recall?
The report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the Saudi Interior Ministry has approved a system developed by the Paris-based Thales that would establish a security zone along the 6,500 kilometers of the kingdom's land and sea borders. The report said the system would undergo installation starting in the fourth quarter of 2004. The report was co-authored by former Pentagon official Anthony Cordesman and Saudi security consultant Nawaf Obaid. The report cited Obaid as a consultant to the Saudi security services.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 5:57:32 PM ||
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Maybe we should use the same border control equipment for our southern border? Even if it cost 20 Billion dollars to install, it would pay for itself in one year in terms of how much it's costing us each year re: welfare and social services, medical services, education, and federal jail for illegal aliens from Mexico crossing the border and making themselves at home [or breaking other federal laws as the case may be] in the USA.
Posted by: rex ||
07/16/2004 18:05 Comments ||
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#2
ROTFLMAO. Contracted to Phrance? Those mighty Barons of Industry? Makers of the CLEMENCEAU tramp, i mean Aircraft Carrier?
Sweeeet. Now when we need to go clean a nest in soddyland, we know we can easily penetrate there without them knowing it.
#4
You mean like a fence. To keep terrorists from crossing the borders. Wow, what a concept! (P.S. Note to Saudis - most of the terrorists have already crossed the border into your country. In fact, most were born there).
Posted by: A Jackson ||
07/16/2004 19:37 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2004 17:01 ||
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#1
Very well written and very clear regards the strict Islam, the Shari'a Islam, the one none of the Mythical Moderate Muslims has the stones to confront. When the Mythical Moderate Muslim man says Shari'a is insane barbaric bullshit, he will finally exist. What about female Muslims, you ask? I don't doubt she exists, but as the story makes clear, she has no right to...
#3
Why the f*ck would we GIVE money to the Saudis? They should be paying us for keeping Gulf oil traffic flowing.
Posted by: Tibor ||
07/16/2004 10:45 Comments ||
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The vote was a stinging defeat for the Bush Administration which had strongly opposed the measure saying it would "severely undermine" counterterrorism cooperation with Saudi Arabia and U.S. efforts for peace in the Middle East.
I think it is impossible to "severely undermine" cooperation with the Magic Kingdon. The fact the Kingdom exists undermines any attempt we make to rid the planet of Islamic terrorism.
#5
Try to "big picture" seemingly ridiculous situations like this, and maybe get a different perspective.
First of all, most of this aid is going for arms, most of which are probably bought from the US, and are being used to defend them against Iran.
Second thing, the Saud have prolly long since committed any revenues to the point where cutbacks might incite civil war--but marginal funds from the US can be used in a discretionary manner without risk--and possibly for things they US wants to happen in Saudi.
Third, the US has interests in the Kingdom that it would rather pay for (and pay to protect), than leave up to the good graces of their hosts. Say a large FBI office, guarded by men who know that their check comes from the US, not the Interior Ministry. A lot of loyalty *can* be bought.
Fourth, the funds can be monitored, to insure that they are accountable. If bribes are being paid, we want them to go to our friends, not our enemies.
This list can go on and on. In international circles there are always strings attached.
#6
Good grief!!! The GOP is playing directly into the hands of the leftist Kerry crowd in continuing to support the Wahhabi cult.
I heard the same trash in the 1980's about why conservatives 'must' support Saudi Arabia. It was trash then and really sinks now!
The GOP should have drafted this bill blocking, not a few million, but every last dime to Arabia until the House of Saud is toppled from the 'oil-based' power they have to promote global Wahhabi linked jihadism.
15 out of 19 on 9-11 were SAUDIS.
This moronic display is how elctions are lost!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 21:02 Comments ||
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I agree with #3 and #6. There is no nuanced justification for giving foreign aid to a regime that a) supports Wahhabism/anti-American jihadist mindset and b) a filthy rich corrupt regime that refuses to share the oil-derived wealth with the Saudi population at large. Oil is not the sole property of the House of Saud.
I had no idea that we were sending aid to Saudi Arabia. GWB is darn lucky that aid was blocked this year FINALLY when he's running neck and neck with Kerry - this kind of idiotic foreign aid package if approved would have cost Bush votes, in light of 9/11 and the pre-dominance of Saudis in the hijacker group. What is Bush thinking??? I'm really angry with giving aid to Saudi Arabia. How dare the WH try to promote this nonsense! It's an event like this that makes me think that GWB is luckier than he is smart...lucky that the aid package was defeated and lucky that his opponent, John Kerry, is so mediocre. If GWB were running against a Democrat with class and smarts like Zell Miller, he'd lose. GWB's continued genuflection to the Saudi princes is shameful.
Posted by: rex ||
07/16/2004 22:29 Comments ||
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the actual $ aid is small if you read the article - it's the discounted military equipm't and tech transfer that it allows them to purchase. Good thing to shut it down before it falls into the command structure dominated by strict wahhabis (I know, I know...it already has)
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 22:35 Comments ||
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Saudi officials are testing the effectiveness of the adage: You catch more flies (terrorists, in this case) with a drop of honey than a cask of vinegar. Saudi Arabia is more than halfway through a 30-day amnesty and three suspects (including one Tuesday) have turned themselves in. Two Islamic clerics mediating between the government and jihadi militants say they need more honey time and concessions to bring an end to a series of bombings and shootouts that have rocked the desert kingdom.
The whole point of an amnesty is that it is time-limited -- act now while supplies last! If the amnesty lasts for a whole year, why turn yourself in the first eleven months? This shows that the whole process in Saooodi-land is a rouse.
The Saudi efforts are being closely watched next door in Iraq, where the new government says it will announce its own amnesty for insurgents this week. Sheik Mohsen al-Awaji, one of the Saudi clerics involved, says the amnesty announced June 23 should be extended for another month. "We're working around the Islamic clock in our efforts to get the wanted suspects to give themselves up and are currently in contact with several people," says Awaji, a former associate professor of geology. "We need more time."
That means they're waiting for more ammunition to arrive.
Another sheik involved in the negotiations, Safar al-Hawali, says that the more than 700 terror suspects behind bars should be released (at least those who have not been charged or who've finished their sentences) as a way of gaining trust of militants on the run. Saudi Arabia should also reduce its support for the United States because these young men see the United States as the enemy of Islam, he told the Monitor in a phone interview.
"Release my pals so that I know you're serious!"
But on state television Sunday, Crown Prince Abdullah, the country's de facto ruler, warned militants that time was running out. "If the grace period is over there will be no more excuses," he said.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/16/2004 9:12:24 AM ||
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most of these young men are uneducated and havenât traveled. Heâs trying to teach them an alternative means of resistance. "What weâre suggesting to them is peaceful means of resistance against the U.S. government, like economic boycotts, and engaging in dialogue with the American antiwar movement and American churches and explaining their point of view to the American public
yeah, that's what we need: lectures from ignorant asshats with sharia as their morality. Fuck em
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 9:44 Comments ||
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But on state television Sunday, Crown Prince Abdullah, the countryâs de facto ruler, warned militants that time was running out. "If the grace period is over ⦠there will be no more excuses," he said.
If the amnesty is a Nayef move, does this represent counter pressure from Abdullah to keep it from getting out of hand?
British voters have delivered a humiliating rebuke to Tony Blair in two by-elections in supposedly safe Labour seats in the Government's first electoral test after the damning Butler inquiry into Iraq intelligence. Massive swings against Labour cost the party Leicester South and reduced its previous 11,000-majority in Birmingham Hodge Hill to just 460 votes, a 27 per cent swing. The Health Secretary, John Reid, said: "I am not saying we are delighted with the result, but given all the circumstances it's a relatively good result for us. It's not an unsatisfactory result."
Both seats have big Muslim and blue-collar populations that traditionally support Labour, but they appear to have been alienated by the Iraq war and angered by Lord Butler's revelations. The swings against Labour come a month after the party's poor showing in elections for the European Parliament. The victorious Liberal Democrat candidate in Leicester, Parmjit Singh Gill, who took the seat with a 21 per cent swing, said the voters had spoken for the people of Britain. Which 'voters'?
Their message was that Mr Blair had abused and lost their trust, he said. The results and the ramifications of the Butler inquiry will stall Labour's efforts to put Iraq behind it and refocus on the domestic agenda before the next general election, expected in May. The main Opposition Conservatives were beaten into third in both seats. The Butler fallout has included a call by the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith for the intelligence chief, John Scarlett, author of the discredited Government Iraq dossier, to stand aside as the new head of MI6. The retiring head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, has reportedly told friends that Mr Scarlett's closeness to Downing Street and public exposure make him unsuitable for the job. Mr Scarlett, who was described as a mate by Mr Blair's former communications chief, Alastair Campbell, was the head of the Joint Intelligence Committee that prepared the flawed dossier used to justify the invasion of Iraq. Downing Street has said Mr Blair has full confidence in Mr Scarlett's ability.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 6:56:28 PM ||
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Maybe by sometime around 2020 I might encounter a logical explanation why taking out the man who killed more Muslims than anyone else in history was such a terrible thing in the eyes of virtually all Muslims. But I doubt it.
#2
It seems like the Islamic invasion is well under way in the U.K.
The tide must be reversed ...or ....fill in the blanks.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 19:19 Comments ||
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Bulldog it's because Muslims are tribalists and cultists. We attacked there "tribe" therefore no matter how evil the tribe member was we must be attacked. It's backwards and ignorant thinking. The same reason so many live in poverty.
Pyongyang has replaced its public security minister who has disappeared from public view after a train blast in April that killed 161 people. There is lingering speculation the incident was linked to an assassination attempt on the North's leader Kim Jong-Il. off to the salt mines, if they have any.
Choe Ryong-Su had been dismissed from his post just one year after he assumed the important position that controls the country's powerful secret police, a backbone of Kim's totalitarian rule. South Korean officials said Choe's fate is unknown. Tokyo Radiopress reported that Choe has not been seen since the disaster in Ryongchon, near the Chinese border. The real question is whether Choe has been executed along with a number of others who may have been involved in a plot to assassinate Kim. The train enroute from China passed through the station anywhere from 30 minutes to nine hours before the blast.
Pyongyang watchers in Seoul had considered Choe to be one of the next generation of North Korean leaders because he replaced Vice Marshal Park Hak-Rim, 86, one of the most influential figures in the North's military. He also replaced Park as the member of the powerful National Defense Commission chaired by Kim Jong-Il. The North's media gave no explanation for Choe's replacement. But South Korean intelligence officials said Choe was likely fired due to the train blast. According to diplomatic sources, North Korea's state security agency has concluded that the train explosion was a botched attempt to harm Kim. A mobile phone was reportedly used to spark the explosion. North Korea watchers said there is a possibility that Choe was punished or executed. Government officials in Seoul declined to comment about Choe's fate, but said he has been absent from public appearances since the train explosion. Ju Sang-Song, an army general, replaced Choe in a shakeup ordered by the North's legislature, the Supreme People's Assembly on July 9, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 5:50:32 PM ||
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The government of New Zealand announced a series of sanctions against Israel yesterday following the sentencing of two Israelis who sought to illegally obtain New Zealand passports. The two were accused by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark of being Israeli intelligence agents. Under the sanctions, all Israeli officials wishing to enter New Zealand are now required to acquire entry visas prior to arrival. Prime Minister Clark also announced that New Zealand was unwilling to receive President Moshe Katsav during a visit that he planned to carry out in Australia and New Zealand in August. The visits of senior delegations to and from New Zealand have also been canceled, and the credentials of the new Israeli ambassador will not be approved, while contacts with the local honorary consuls of Israel in New Zealand will be severely limited.
At the completion of a trial in Auckland yesterday, in which Elisha Cara, 50, and Uriel Kelman, 31, were found guilty of seeking to obtain a New Zealand passport through illegal means, and of belonging to a criminal organization, the two were sentenced to six months' jail and fined 50,000 New Zealand dollars. After the court passed its verdict, Clark announced that they operated "on behalf of the intelligence services of Israel."
Foreign Minister Phil Goff said, "We know this, the government of Israel knows this and it knows why we know," that they are agents of the Mossad. The minister suggested in an interview with Israel Radio that the arrest of the two Israelis was not an isolated incident and hinted at claims made to Haaretz by New Zealand police that the Mossad had allegedly sought to acquire as many authentic passports as possible in a long-term operation. The New Zealand sources pointed to the fact that Cara, who claims to be a tourist agent based in Australia, entered New Zealand 24 times during the past three and a half years. The Australian daily, The Age, reported that Canberra had also initiated an operation to uncover whether its sovereignty had also been compromised by alleged Israeli agents.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 2:59:02 AM ||
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The New Zealand sources pointed to the fact that Cara, who claims to be a tourist agent based in Australia, entered New Zealand 24 times during the past three and a half years.
I'm shocked! A tourist agent visiting the place he's marketing as a vacation site! Truly damning evidence.
Posted by: Charles ||
07/16/2004 9:23 Comments ||
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Oh... so no one's got anything to say on this interesting news lol.
* 1954 - Egypt cracks Israeli Military Intelligence cell of Egyptian Jews who firebombed sites frequented by Westerners to embarrass Cairo and prevent the nationalisation of the Suez Canal. Defence Minister Pinhas Lavon quits, but denies authorising plot.
* 1985 - US Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for passing intelligence to Lakam, an Israeli agency specialising in scientific cooperation. Israel apologises to Washington and dismantles Lakam. Pollard is sentenced to life in prison and is still incarcerated.
* 1991 - Four Israelis, widely reported to be Mossad agents, are arrested during an apparent attempt to bug the Iranian embassy in Cyprus. They are released for lack of evidence.
* 1997 - Two Mossad assassins are captured by Jordanian authorities after a failed attempt to kill Khalid Meshaal, a Hamas leader, in Amman. They are sent home after Israel frees jailed Hamas founder Shaikh Ahmad Yassin. Israel then promises Canada to never again use its passports. Yassin was assassinated by Israeli helicopters earlier this year.
* 1998 - A group of Israelis is discovered trying to tap the phones of a suspected Lebanese Hizb Allah activist in Switzerland. In a closed-door trial, one Israeli, described in the media as a Mossad agent, is fined and given a suspended jail sentence. His three accomplices are released.
*In Cyprus, two suspected Mossad agents are arrested and charged with spying on sensitive military installations. They are released after nine months in prison under a plea bargain.
Vandals smashed historic headstones and cut a swastika into a lawn at a Jewish cemetery overnight, authorities said Friday. The attack came just hours after two Israeli men were imprisoned for passport fraud and named as spies by the New Zealand government. Wellington Botanic Gardens manager David Sole said the Jewish section of Bolton St. cemetery near the center of the New Zealand capital was a sea of broken marble and overturned tombstones when he visited Friday morning. "People are speculating the attack may have been sparked by the two Israeli men and the passport case," a council spokesman said.
I think it's because outside of Haiti you don't have to worry about dead guys fighting back...
Jewish Council President David Zwartz said there was a direct connection between the case and "people here feel they can take it out on Jews. It seems to me that it's Israel-bashing one day, Jew-bashing the next day." Rabbi Antony Lipman said the desecration on the graves, some of them 100 years old, had shocked New Zealand's Jewish community. "We hope Wellington is not going the way of some other communities in the world, where this has unfortunately become a frequent occurrence," he said.
He's hoping the NZs aren't turning French...
Rabbi Lipman said he made no connection between the Israeli men sentenced to six months in prison in Auckland Thursday and the smashing of the headstones. "Only the criminals who have done this would know their own motive," he added.
I believe the motive is usually to make the law-abiding afraid of them, thereby stroking their egos. Unable to accomplish anything of substance, they settle for being a pain in the ass...
Prime Minister Helen Clark said it was "not an open and shut case" that the attack was linked to the spy case. "We condemn without reservation people desecrating graves, it is a horrible thing to do," she told National Radio.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 2:50:55 AM ||
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My guess is it is some left wing jew haters who have bought the lies of the Islamofacists. I have noticed that the left now thinks it's "cool" to be anti-semitic.
Bet they spout some anti-semitc/free masonry crap if they are are ever caught/ My bet is the cops don't look to hard. New Zeland is a small place no doubt the folks who did this can be found. Q.E.D.
#3
Oh. I thought that desecrating graves was a Jewish tradition ... and usually done under the orders of a Local rabbi. That's what the ubiquitious hate manual 'Talmud' says. Blah Blah Blah from Baba Meziah lol.
#5
and maintaining his usual level of drool and inarticulate crap. Big word,"ubiquitious", Faisal. I'd be impressed if only you'd spelled it correctly.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 14:08 Comments ||
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Sheeeiiik Faisal of the Wahhabi Cult most likely has never even encountered a Jewish individual, never mind a real rabbi, but then again what can one expect existing in the Wahhabi wonderland of jihadic fantasy.
Time to milk the goat again.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 19:41 Comments ||
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I believe Sarkozy is regarded as an adult, and even gets special face-time with administration bigs when he's in town. One more reason for Chirac to dislike him. I'd bet that even the French will go for a serious dude like him vs. the ridiculous Dominique (Who By The Way Is A Man) deVillepin, Chirac's protege. Time will tell.
#3
Unfortunately, Chirac is not so stu-peed to showcase Sarkozy in a positive way. Chirac gave Sarkozy the finance minister position when France has record high unemployment rates-close to 10%. So Sarkozy will be associated with the bad economy because he will be the last guy holding the bag as Finance Minister.
Meanwhile, Chirac has given the evil prince in waiting, Dominque deVillepin, Sarkozy's old portfolio as interior minister to wreck in his own special poetic way. That means the evil pinhead now has powers over counterintelligence,[which was a helpful department to ours], national security, and immigration...
The three-month offer of a terrorism truce - made in April purportedly by Osama bin Laden - expired on Thursday, little noticed in European countries that had been invited to accept it. At the time the taped message was broadcast on Islamic satellite networks April 15, CIA officials said that technical analysis of the recording indicated it was probably authentic. "I announce a truce with the European countries that do not attack Muslim countries," said the audiotape by a man identifying himself as bin Laden. "The door to a truce is open for three months," but the time frame could be extended. "The truce will begin when the last soldier leaves our countries," the speaker said without elaborating. An apparent attempt to drive a wedge between Europe and America, it was quickly spurned by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Zappie accepted it in fact if not in word.
As the deadline passed Thursday in European capitals, where security forces already were on stepped-up alert, there was no apparent change in the resolve to battle terrorism. In Poland, which has held an important military command role in the U.S-led coalition force in Iraq, Foreign Ministry spokesman Boguslaw Majewski said, "Security measures are being implemented on a constant basis. There is no need for an immediate anti-threat measure." ... "Every threat is being taken seriously, but this is one of many threats that has been made toward Poland and Europe in the last weeks and months," Majewski said.
In Italy, which has the third-largest military contingent among postwar forces in Iraq, there was no mention of the passing deadline on state TV. The main evening news' report on terrorism focused on terrorism alarms in the United States and the concerns of some that they may play into the election campaign of U.S. President George W. Bush. Earlier in Rome, Italy and Russia issued a joint statement reasserting "condemnation without ambiguity of all forms and acts of terrorism, regardless of motives, places and circumstances." The statement, issued after talks in the Italian capital between the countries' foreign ministers, made no mention of the deadline. At the time the taped offer surfaced, Italy called the idea of negotiations "unthinkable."
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Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2004 12:24:41 AM ||
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I bet France has been trying to make a deal which involves selling out the US.
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Europe's biggest terrorist threat is Morocco - seething with as many as 1,000 al-Qaida adherents capable of suicide attacks and skilled at slipping through the continent's southern gateway, Spain's leading anti-terrorism judge testified Thursday.
Only a thousand? Somebody dropped a zero or two.
The impoverished kingdom just a short ferry ride across the Strait of Gibraltar has about 100 al-Qaida-linked cells that raise money by dealing hashish, fencing luxury cars and smuggling people into Spain, Judge Baltasar Garzon told lawmakers investigating the Madrid train bombings. Most of the 17 suspects jailed in the March 11 bombings, which killed 190 people, are Moroccan. "They use every means and mechanism, and their activity can even be initially perceived as ordinary delinquency," Garzon said of the cells. "In my opinion it is the gravest problem Europe faces today with this kind of terrorism."
"What do we have behind door #1 for our winner, Vanna?"
Garzon said his figures came from police and intelligence data. Officials at the Moroccan Embassy could not be reached to respond to Garzon's allegations. Morocco, too, has done its share of finger-pointing at Spain since the train bombings, but both countries have pledged to work more closely against terrorism. Garzon said his first reaction to the train bombings was that al-Qaida was responsible, not Basque separatists as initially claimed by the government. He cited the scale of the carnage and the level of coordination - 10 nearly simultaneous blasts from backpacks full of dynamite and shrapnel. "The spectacle was absolutely horrifying," Garzon said. "It is probably the most shocking thing I have ever seen and I hope it is the last."
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Friday he would be willing to launch a pre-emptive strike against terrorists if he had adequate intelligence of a threat. Kerry offered some support for one of the most controversial aspects of President Bush's national security policy, even as he criticized the president for not reforming intelligence agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "Am I prepared as president to go get them before they get us if we locate them and have the sufficient intelligence? You bet I am," he said at a news conference at his Washington headquarters. anything to gain power...again
The Bush administration laid out the doctrine of pre-emption months before the Iraq (news - web sites) war began in March 2003. It argued that the United States cannot rely on its vast arsenal to deter attacks and must be willing to strike first against potential threats. Critics of the policy say the Iraq war shows how the country could be driven to war by flawed intelligence. Kerry said the intelligence needs to be improved so that the word of a U.S. president "is good enough for people across the world again." But he added, "I will never allow any other country to veto what we need to do and I will never allow any other institution to veto what we need to do to protect our nation." ballicks
Kerry spoke one week after the Senate Intelligence Committee sharply criticized prewar intelligence on whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The report did not address Bush's role, but Kerry said, "as commander in chief, the president of the United States must take responsibility for what happens on his or her watch." The four-term Massachusetts senator said that nearly three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, "this president has not taken action sufficient to fix the intelligence problems that have plagued us." Outlining his own proposals, Kerry repeated his call for creating a director of central intelligence who would oversee all facets of the nation's intelligence operations.
That's the function of the DCI which is in fact the Director of Central Intelligence.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 5:22:01 PM ||
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Why does anyone breathlessly report what someone says they would do / or would have done differently? It's all just hot air until you're in the big chair - taking the heat from all sides and making so few of the harpies truly happy.
"I promise a snazzy new car in every garage, a chicken (range or regular, your choice) in every pot, and a pony in every backyard - which will be at least 3 acres in size! Vote for meeeee!"
#4
If Kerry backs a lot of the basic idea of pre-emption, what would be the point of putting the guy in the Oval Office then? It would be just like having GWB there, but with even MORE spending, HIGHER taxes, and even BIGGER government.
#5
"I will never allow any other country to veto what we need to do and I will never allow any other institution to veto what we need to do to protect our nation."
I was for requiring U.N. support for going to war before I was against it......
Looks like she missed a good opportunity to shut up... Whoopi slams GOP Calls outrage over Prez bashing 'a little fake' A Hollywood actress complaining about fakeness, that's rich.
Whoopi Goldberg lashed out at Republicans again yesterday, branding them hypocrites for trying to "punish" her for joking about the President. Who's doing the 'punishing', I wonder?
Fired from her gig as SlimFast spokeswoman, the bereft of class salty entertainer hit back at Republicans who threatened a SlimFast boycott over sexual puns she made about President Bush's name at a Democratic fund-raiser. Since they shitcanned her, there's no need for that now, is there?
"America's heart and soul is freedom of expression without fear of reprisal," she said in a statement. Standard Martyr ComplexTM defence. Nice try...
"I find all this feigned indignation about 'Bush bashing' quite disingenuous," she said, noting the Bush administration has savagely gone after critics like former Sen. Max Cleland, Iraq whistleblower Joseph Wilson and ex-terrorism chief Richard Clarke. All three of which have also used the same defence and have, to put it bluntly, 'veracity issues'...
"For the Republican Party to pretend this is new to them seems a little fake," she said. "The fact that I am no longer the spokesman for SlimFast makes me sad, but not as sad as someone trying to punish me for exercising my right as an American to speak my mind." How much does that Hollywood Squares gig pay, again? Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Raj ||
07/16/2004 10:51:08 AM ||
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#1
Sure, that idiot bitch, goldberg, has a right to say what she likes...... BUT, Slimfast also has a right not to associate with her. Or, in this case, FIRE HER STINKING ASS!
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
07/16/2004 11:04 Comments ||
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#2
Yet another Hollywood bint who does not understand that freedom of speech is freedom to critize and BE critisized! This is an outstanding example of many thousands of little folks excersizing their freedom to let Slim Fast know how they felt and how they were going to vote with their bucks.
#3
it's all bush's fault that i am an idiot and run my mouth..ya know all you little people out there should just shut up and listen to us in hollywood cause we the real thing...
Posted by: Dan ||
07/16/2004 11:42 Comments ||
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#4
"Americaâs heart and soul is freedom of expression without fear of reprisal," she said in a statement.
Yawn. This is the oldest response in the lefty playbook.
#5
Asa Khalif, who has made headlines for accusing celebrities of insensitivity, cried foul in the Goldberg firing.
A little research may help Mr. Khalif. As it turns out some in top executive posistions at Slim Fast are donors to...the Democratic party. Turns out they are really capitalists, not "racists."
#7
Never fail to play the race card. Go to hell Whoopi.
Posted by: Lil Dhimmi ||
07/16/2004 13:01 Comments ||
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#8
Can you believe that Ted Danson used to tap her? So friggin gross I can't even imagine it in my worst nightmare. Of course, Ted is a confirmed nimrod, so that may have something to do with it.
Posted by: remote man ||
07/16/2004 13:11 Comments ||
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"Americaâs heart and soul is freedom of expression without fear of reprisal," she said in a statement. . . . â . . . my right as an American to speak my mind."
Ahh. The stupidity of the LLL media moguls. They are absolutely ignorant of the fact that the laws of our nation are such that average citizens (and businesses) can never violate the First Amendment. Where there is no prior restraint by Government, or Governmental retaliation for speech, or other similar governmental action, there is no First Amendment violation. What these people are really objecting to is the very thing they profess to cherish -- the unfettered exercise by private citizens (and businesses) of that particular First Amendment right known as criticism -- often of some LLL moron or opinion.
#12
What an elitist bitch! (apologies to all female dogs out there...) She claims she has the right to say those things (which she does) and then turns right around and whines about us exercising the same right.
You are right Ms. has-been, you have the right to say those things and we have the right to call you on it and we have the right to not patronize Slim Fast and Slim Fast has the right to cancel your contract for losing revenue.
Its called Free Will. Get used to it because this isn't a socialist country (thank God!).
#13
Get used to it because this isn't a socialist country (thank God!).
Not yet anyway.
Posted by: Lil Dhimmi ||
07/16/2004 13:44 Comments ||
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#14
Let's not beat around the bush, Whopi is a slut piss-ant. Flush her sorry ass down the johns.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/16/2004 14:29 Comments ||
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Nice one, cingold.
Right. Whoopi's "freedom of speech rights" cannot be violated by private parties. Duh. Criticism and the right to "just say no" through our purchases, our business decisions, our criticisms, stands. In other words, she can say stupid things, and we can say we don't like it. She should learn how to deal with that fact, especially since she has opted to represent retail products as part of her livelihood.
SlimFast's decision had to do with business--and they have a right to make their own decisions about what will, and what will not, benefit sales. SlimFast does not exist for Ms. Goldberg. It exists to make a profit.
Whoopi apparently doesn't understand that the First Amendment is to prevent the GOV'T from infringements against the citizenry. Sheesh. The libs just don't know nothin' it seems.
#16
While negotiating her next job she should simply insist that she cannot be fired for her political comments. I'm sure they'll be lining up at the door to hire her.
Well at least she can keep Danny Glover company in the unemployment line.
Whoopie, my dear, who give a flying f**k about a fat assed washed up has-been unfunny b*tch like you has to say? Get your lard ass back in the center square and make a buck or two the hard way.
This was written in response to the first one, which I posted here a few days ago. I discovered it in the comments on the Win Back Respect blog page (click on the comments link for the 7/12/04 post). Clicking on the signature will take you to the writers'website The top two 7/15 posts are of interest.
Attn: Win Back Respect and Supporters
See Below for The Truth About Bush's Foreign Policy
To Whom It May Concern:
It has come to our attention that a group called 'Win Back Respect' has offered an open letter from American scholars studying abroad condemning the foreign policy of the administration of President George W. Bush. This group of students has described American¹s foreign policy initiatives as 'arrogant' and further charged that these policies have endangered Americans living abroad.
As students and leaders from across the globe, representing thousands of young people, we must disagree. While we respect their concerns and opinions, as fellow young leaders and scholars from around the world, it is our personal experience that their views misrepresent American foreign policy and its effects throughout the international community. During his term, President Bush has worked diligently to address all aspects of foreign policy including immediate threats, emerging threats and humanitarian concerns.
Snip. Details of President Bush's successes, with which we are all familiar.
These examples demonstrate President Bush's skillful handling of America¹s foreign policy. Unlike our colleagues we are proud to support America¹s principled action and efforts to spread freedom, equality and prosperity throughout the world. Ultimately, our foreign policy can not be driven by a desire to appease or pursue universal consensus at the expense of freedom and security. As history has repeatedly shown, "what is right may not be popular and what is popular may not be right."
Shane Frith
Chairman - International Young Democrat Union
New Zealand
R. Stuart Jones
Chairman - Generation GOP
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar
University of St. Andrews, Scotland
...and further signatures of leaders of student democracy groups around the world. Not just of Americans studying abroad, but mostly of non-Americans studying at non-American universities, a truly international group.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/16/2004 12:52:30 AM ||
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It makes me wonder why any sane man would run for president in 2004, given what he might face. "Mr. President, New York has suffered an atomic attack."
"Call the Security Council, and tell them oh. Right. Is there still a UN?"
"It's sideways in the river."
"Hmm. Well. Is the League of Nations still answering the phone? I seem to remember they kept on a skeleton staff. Mostly janitorial. But we'll have to make do."
What then? The presidency is not the sort of job for which you volunteer unless you're willing to do everything that's necessary. If we lose a city (and what a mild, offhand term for such a horror) there isn't going to be any debate about getting UN resolutions. At least I hope not. And what do you do then? Attack Iran's nuclear facilities, hope you can flatten North Korea before they decide the game is up and it's time to go first, oh, and incidentally the new missiles can hit LA surprise! Do you pave Syria if they don't roll over on day two? Damned if I know. I don't have to know what to do. Not my job. But if you want the job, you have to be willing to open the tubes and order Slim Pickens to the cockpit. It's always been that way, sure - yet these things have had an odd distant theoretical flavor predicated on an unpredictable escalation. That enemy would nuke us as a last resort, because that meant the end of everything - power, caviar, liquor, nice cars, good dentists, dames, those nice little cigarettes with the gold bands around the filters? The ones that burn evenly, and you can smoke a dozen in an hour without getting tongue fur? Heaven on earth.
Our present enemy will nuke us as soon as they can, because it means heaven, period.
I hate this; God I hate this. But I don't have any longing for normalcy, as [Peggy] Noonan put it the other day, because normalcy was a delusion, a diaphanous curtain draped over the statue of Mars. Nor do I want a time out, a breather, an operational pause. I want to cut to the chase. I want Iran in the hands of its people and leaning to the West again, I want Lebanon independent of Syrian rule, I want Syria isolated and cowed, Arafat dead and buried in the land of his birth or Paris, symbolically and the Saudi Civil War done and over with pragmatists in power. I'd like this all tomorrow please.
Noon is fine, if it works for everyone else.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/16/2004 6:16:32 AM ||
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"...But if you want the job, you have to be willing to open the tubes and order Slim Pickens to the cockpit. "
I LIKE that imagery.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/16/2004 12:14 Comments ||
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We don't stand a chance of winning this until we decide to get serious. If we'd conducted WWII in the half-assed PC manner we're conducting the war on terrorism we'd have lost. Our enemies are not going to give up, they are not going away, and they want to kill a lot of Americans. Unless we get serious, sooner or later they will.
Posted by: A Jackson ||
07/16/2004 23:36 Comments ||
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As you read this, there's a young Marine patrolling the roadside in Ramallah or Fallujah looking for IEDs. As he does, he daydreams. He thinks about his young wife in San Diego, his mom and dad, and the dog he found at the pound. He remembers that the presidential election is few short months away and he'll need to track down his unit's voting assistance officer and get an absentee ballot. He wants to vote for President Bush because he respects him, thinks he's been a good commander-in-chief.
Sure, being in Iraq, several thousand miles away from home, sucks but that's what he does. He's a Marine and he's proud to do whatever he can to help these poor people find their way to freedom. He's too young to remember that, four years ago in the last presidential election, military absentee ballots were a big deal. In the deciding battleground of Florida, Democratic candidate Al Gore and a team of lawyers went to great lengths to prevent military absentee ballots from being counted. They fought over every ballot, one by one, challenging the authenticity of signatures, noting the lack of postmarks, and contesting incomplete or, in some cases, handwritten entries. While Gore, Jesse Jackson and company were blubbering about "disenfranchised voters" in Palm Beach apparently incapable of following a line and punching out a chad, thousands of men and women serving their country abroad, some in combat zones, were having their votes systematically negated.
In heavily Republican Duval County, Florida, five Gore lawyers contested very one of hundreds of military votes during a 19-hour process running until 4:00 AM. It took the Bush campaign filing a lawsuit in five Florida counties to prevent the discarding of military ballots that didn't have a postmark. (Mail services in the military, especially in the more remote assignments, are a different animal. Not all military mail is processed through U.S. postal services). U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier ordered Florida's canvassing board to cease and desist, reminding them "their job is to accept votes, not reject them."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 3:07:19 AM ||
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At least some in the military are on top of this: my son emailed me from Iraq way back in May, asking for a copy of his voter registration certificate because they were already in the process of getting everybody's absentee ballots.
"Why do liberals want to count votes of the seemingly incapable and exclude those serving our nation?"
Because the Democratic Party is no longer the working man's party-- it has become the NON-working man's party. And the politics of parasitism is the only kind of politics it knows how to play anymore.
Â
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/16/2004 6:00 Comments ||
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And I hope that every single person in our armed forces who votes this year remembers which political party tried to 'disenfranchise' their votes in 2000.
By Cliff Kincaid
Accuracy In Media
Ralph Nader is under attack by liberals in the Democratic Party and the media who think his presidential run will siphon votes from John Kerry. On the other hand, former Republican Pat Buchanan ran an interview with Nader in his magazine, suggesting that conservatives might want to vote for Nader rather than Bush this November. But that interview ran before Nader picked Peter Camejo as his running mate. Most stories about Camejo have identified him as a businessman and Green Party activist. A few have noted he ran for president on the ticket of the Socialist Workers Party. But Max Friedman of the group, Historians of American Communism, has done the work on Camejo's background that the media did not.
His research, published as a letter to the editor of the Washington Times, noted that, "Camejo was a Communist for decades." In addition to his work in the Socialist Workers Party, a party founded by Trotskyites, Friedman said that Camejo eventually showed up as an "endorser" of the "conference call" for a July 1992 affair known as "Perspectives for Democracy and Socialism in the '90s." Friedman explained that it was being held by a new group known as the Committee of Correspondence, formed out of the Communist Party USA.
The story had been told in a Washington Times column by Joseph Goulden, formerly of Accuracy in Media. Another member of this new Marxist organization was Leslie Cagan, now leading the anti-Iraq war organization, United for Peace & Justice. Friedman said that Camejo had completed the radical-left circuit from "red" to "Green," or so it seemed.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 3:01:43 AM ||
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. . . former Republican Pat Buchanan ran an interview with Nader in his [little vanity press] magazine, suggesting that conservatives might want to vote for Nader rather than Bush this November. But that interview ran before Nader picked Peter Camejo as his running mate. . . .
"Pat who?"
"Didn't he used to be on Hollywood Squares or something?"
"He's still living?"
Posted by: Mike ||
07/16/2004 6:12 Comments ||
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Camejo had completed the radical-left circuit from "red" to "Green," or so it seemed.
It isn't a circuit at all. It is simply donning a new jacket. Hence the nickname 'watermelon': Green on the outside, red on the inside.
From Scrappleface:
Before President George Bush made his final decision not to speak at this week's convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he and his speech-writing staff prepared a draft of an address that he would have delivered if pressure from the media had become so intense that he had no other choice. Here is a partial transcript of that speech, which was accidentally emailed to 1.5 million GOP supporters last night...
PRESIDENT BUSH:
"My fellow Americans, members of the NAACP, Senator Boxer. It's an honor to be with you tonight representing the political party that introduced the 1957 Civil Rights Act--which at the time was the first civil rights legislation in 82 years. Although Senator Lyndon Johnson, the Democrat from my home state, and Senator John F. Kennedy, the Democrat from my opponent's home state, both worked to prevent the full implementation of the 1957 Act, it formed the foundation upon which the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voter Rights Act still stand."
"I also represent the political party whose Congressional delegation voted overwhelmingly for the Civil Rights Act of 1964--82 percent of Republican Senators voted 'yes' and 80 percent of Republican House members approved--helping to overcome the weak support by the opposition party where only 69 percent of Democrat Senators and 61 percent of Democrat House members voted for the Act. "
"I'm also delighted to come as an ambassador from the party of Abraham Lincoln, whose emancipation proclamation officially put an end to slavery in America."
#5
Dear Mr. President: Please give the speech. And, while you're at it, please tell the folks that I'd like a return of my portion of the 60 Trillion Dollars poured down the social programming rat hole over the past 3 decades. Not to mention some reparations for the more than 30 year's worth of dominating our attention via the left wing media.
Thank you, Mr. President. It's sure good to be an American!
EFL
The United States plans to develop an experimental 30,000-pound (13,600 kg) bomb, the biggest in its inventory, aimed at destroying deeply buried targets beyond the reach of existing bombs, the Air Force said on Friday. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, would be about one-third heavier than the 21,000-pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast, MOAB, dropped twice last year in "live" tests at a range in Florida.
#11
Just put some of those naval rail guns in space. Make them "duals" (pointing in both directions so they don't change orbits) and shoot straight down at a hyper-velocity. Dropping only gets you 450 meters/second impact speed. Rocket acceleration can get 900. That's maybe 60 to 90 meters into limestone (newest scientific american). A rail gun in space should do way better shooting down.
Maybe even lots of repeating shots like a mini-gun to swiss-cheese the place.
#12
nice clip PD - looks like a way to create a public swimmin' hole in Fallujah
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 22:02 Comments ||
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#13
C'mon, snark - go for it!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/16/2004 23:14 Comments ||
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Seems like the possibility of a string of JDAM's on the same aimpoint, each timed to strike through the previous one's material fluff up, would dig a pretty deep hole.
One of America's largest nuclear weapons research laboratories has suspended its activities after secret information went missing. Officials are not saying what data has disappeared from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, but it is thought to be highly sensitive. The laboratory was temporarily closed four years ago as forest fires got dangerously close to it. Several security breaches have hit the birthplace of the first atomic bomb. Its closure comes on the anniversary of the first atomic bomb test in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Its head, John Browne, resigned in January last year, following allegations of theft and fraud, including allegedly questionable purchases and the disappearance of computers and other equipment from the complex. A few months later, the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was instructed by the government to make "aggressive and far-reaching" changes to tighten security at all nuclear weapons laboratories in the US. Security lapses at all three major US nuclear weapons labs - Sandia and Los Alamos in New Mexico and Lawrence Livermore in California - have included the loss of keys, laptops and even a van, as well as the two-year disappearance of two vials of plutonium oxide.
As yet there is no evidence of any deliberate act to steal the data at Los Alamos - probably CDs - which was reported missing last week from a unit known as the Weapons Physics Directorate. One official is quoted as saying there is no evidence yet that the missing data has even left the facility, although that may be difficult to prove one way or another. "These breaches of national security will not be tolerated," Gerald Parsky, chairman of governors of the University of California which manages Los Alamos, told Reuters news agency. Officials are currently conducting a detailed inventory of sensitive data at the lab, logging CDs and floppy discs. That work is expected to take several days. Staff who had access to the items in question are being allowed into the plant under escort only. The NNSA, the federal agency which oversees the industry, has sent a team to Los Alamos to investigate the disappearance.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/16/2004 5:04:37 AM ||
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At least there are no huge amounts of missing plutonium, like there were in the 70s when the Isrealis stole material for their nuclear weapons.
#4
Did they look behind the filing cabinets? You know, where they found the two missing hard drives with classified information they misplaced last time.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/16/2004 12:58 Comments ||
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Why is anyone surprised when we lose atomic secrets? The University of California runs Los Alamos. Berkeley etc. The Rosenbergs weren't available for management positions so we gave it to U.C.
NYT - I think Michelle Malkin would disagree with Conde...
For login: BugMeNot
By CARLOS H. CONDE - July 16, 2004
MANILA, July 15 - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had no choice but to accede to the demands of Iraqi insurgents who abducted a Philippine truck driver last week and threatened to kill him unless the country withdrew its troops by July 20, analysts and critics said Thursday. The risk of disappointing Washington, her most important ally, was easily outweighed by the potential political retaliation that could have imperiled Mrs. Arroyo's political and economic agenda for the next six years, they said.
The hostage, Angelo dela Cruz, 46, a father of eight, appeared Thursday night on Al Jazeera, the satellite network, looking and sounding upbeat. Al Jazeera quoted him as saying that he would return home soon, although the militants supposedly told the network that Mr. dela Cruz would not be released until the last Filipino soldier was out. Mr. dela Cruz thanked the Philippine government for agreeing to the withdrawal, which started Wednesday with the departure of 43 of the 51 Filipino police officers and soldiers in Iraq. But Mrs. Arroyo's decision "was very serious and damaging" to Manila's relationship with Washington, a United States diplomat stationed here said. He did not elaborate, except to add that Washington had not expected such a move from Mrs. Arroyo, who is widely considered its strongest supporter in Southeast Asia and whose country has received by far the most military aid of any country in the region.
The United States ambassador to Manila, Francis Ricciardone, said Wednesday that America continued to support the Philippines. "We are allies,'' he told reporters. "We are here for you." But Edgardo E. Dagdag, a national security expert at the Asian Center of the University of the Philippines, said the pullout "will raise a lot of questions as to how dependable the Philippines is as an ally in the fight against terrorism." The Philippines, he said, needs the United States in its own fight against terrorism. "So if we are vacillating now, I doubt if we can get America's full support," Mr. Dagdag said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: .com ||
07/16/2004 12:11:22 AM ||
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Mrs. Arroyo's country will continue to have it's hand out to the US and expect support even after this. Screw them. We should have let the Japanese army keep them.
Kiss my rosey red rear end, no more aid to the Philippines. Let the JI and MILF have them.
Cowards/
#5
i dont think we want to see ANY state fall to the Islamofascists, giving them save haven, training camps, etc. If that happened wed have to invade, or at least bomb regularly - its probably a more economical use of our forces to keep providing aid.
Im sure there are other areas where we can "punish" those who dont contribute in Iraq.
#6
LH: i dont think we want to see ANY state fall to the Islamofascists
A power vacuum in the area would be fun to watch, but probably not fun to live through, for the people in the region. Would Malaysia / Indonesia be interested in adding the Philippines archipelago to to their holdings? Sure - but in the absence of Uncle Sam, they would still have to worry about the Chinese response - i.e. the Chinese would probably want a piece of the action. And what would be the Japanese and Korean response to China and Malaysia / Indonesia? Hey, let's pull the troops out from Korea and Japan and find out...
(continues from headline)
...back to its original platform in downtown Beirut. But President Lahoud ordered the army to take away the monument. The bells of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Georges overlooking the Martyrs Square rang out when a long trailer started depositing the four torn figures of the statue back home from eight years in repairs at Universite Saint-Esprit de Kaslik north of Beirut. Premier Hariri, who took the initiative of ordering the return of the statue, was on hand to greet the returning bronze sculptures that were covered by floral wreaths during the 3-hour trip from USEK to the downtown commercial center that was long a main civil war battlefront. Obviously rattled by the media applause for the Hariri accomplishment, President Lahoud ordered the army to take custody of the torn figures of the statue pending the construction of the pedestal "because it is not proper to leaving them flung on the ground."
Also on hand to greet the statue was An Nahar's General Manager Gebran Tueni, who had fiercely campaigned for the return of the national monument that commemorates the execution of Lebanese campaigners against Ottoman colonial rule on May 6, 1916. An USEK girl student filled the bullet holes in the statue with red roses just before it began the trip back to the downtown base, which is a few meters from the towering new building of An Nahar. Beirut Mayor Abdul Monem Al Arisse, who accompanied the statue on its home journey, said the reconstruction of the statue's pedestal would be hopefully finished within a few days and the four 'martyred' figures of the monument would again overlook the renovated square.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 8:50:53 PM ||
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Two joint members of the pan-Persian Axis of Terror holding jihadic hands. Syria and Greater Syria.
Lebanese and Syrian troops have held naval and air force maneuvers, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported Friday. The agency said the maneuvers, in which live ammunition was used, took place Thursday between the Lebanese coastal town of El-Aabde, some 12 kilometers (7 miles) south of the Syrian border and the Syrian coastal town of Latakia. "Naval and air force units and frogmen from the brotherly Syrian army and helicopters, gun boats and naval commandos from the Lebanese army took part," the agency said. "The maneuvers included landing as well as destroying naval targets." The agency said the war games were supervised by Lebanese army commander, Maj. Gen. Michael Suleiman, and Syrian army chief of staff Maj. Gen. Ali Habib.
Lebanon signed a Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination with Syria in September 1991. Since then both countries have had close relations although such maneuvers are not common. Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon where it has maintained troops since entering in 1976 with the goal of helping to ease the Lebanese civil war. It now has about 20,000 troops in the country. A few years ago it was as high as 33,000.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 8:15:50 PM ||
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Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamal Kharrazi said here on Friday, "Main objective of the U.S. Greater Middle East Initiative is stabilizing Israel's status in the region and providing for the expansion of the Zionists' hegemony." Kharrazi who is in Sudan added, "The foreign powers are meanwhile after exertion of military and political pressure over the regional countries to secure greater interests for themselves." The Iranian foreign minister made the comments in a meeting with his Sudanese counterpart Mustafa Uthman Ismail, adding, "The real intentions of those who talk about the Greater Middle East Initiative, reforms, and democracy are highly suspicious." Referring to the prevailing conditions in Iraq and occupied Palestine, he said, "The presence of outsiders in Iraq is aimed at securing their hegemony over the region and its vital energy resources, and the Israelis, too, are taking full advantage of the U.S. broader presence in the region." The Iranian foreign minister added, "The ultimate goal of Washington in Palestine, too, is paving the path for Israel's full hegemony, not only over the Palestinians, but throughout the Islamic world."
Elaborating on Iran's fully peaceful nuclear projects, Kharrazi criticized the West for making much ado about nothing in Iran's case, while observing total silence regarding Israel's notorious nuclear arsenal and hundreds of nuclear warheads. He further reiterated, "Iran has never been pursuing military objectives in its nuclear programs, and will never do so, while preserving its natural right to take peaceful advantage of the nuclear energy, which we will never abandon." Kharrazi also expressed regret over the bloody clashes in Sudan's western Darfur region, expressing hope that Sudan's government would manage to solve the dispute there needless of foreign interference and relying on national initiatives. He meanwhile congratulated the Sudanese government for the establishment of peace in southern Sudan following many years of deadly clashes with the insurgents there, announcing Iran's readiness to participate in reconstruction and economic development of the war torn regions in southern Sudan. Emphasizing on the need to boost the level of Tehran-Khartoum comprehensive ties and cooperation, particularly in economic field, Kharrazi said, "Our economic ties do not match the excellent level of our political relations and important steps need to be taken in order to fill the gap in that respect." He added, "It is easy to boost bilateral economic ties, keeping in mind the two countries' capabilities in industrial, oil, energy, and agriculture fields." Kharrazi said that Sudan's economy is "rapidly growing" and that that country has achieved noticeable capabilities in oil industries during the past few decades. Well, well, back to oil for jihad Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 6:50:45 PM ||
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Umm. They want to help rebuild the Christian and Animist portion of Sudan? Oh yeah, I bet. First thing, let's improve the place by exterminating all these Christians and Animists!
#1
The USA's involvement in a pre-emptive strike against Iran would also undermine the Bush administration's last vestiges of credibility as an 'honest broker' in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Where in the hell is Jane's coming up with that? Anyone with half a brain can see that the US has given up on the Paleos, based upon their actions toward Israel, especially with Paleo suicide/homicide booms of Israeli civilians. I am sure that we are providing Israel with as much intel as our satellites and other remote sensors can gather.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/16/2004 16:09 Comments ||
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#2
If the USA was to participate in such an operation, Washington's allies would undoubtedly denounce what would be seen as yet another example of dangerous US unilateralism.
#3
I think a lot of Jane's writers moonlight at the BBC. Gosh there would be whining, seething and calls for DIRE REVENGE (TM) on the Arab street. BFD. Europe would have their knickers in a twist. Boo Hoo. The Pak's would get an itchy nuke trigger finger. Not likely if they want to live to see tomorrow. Just as with Osirak, the world would bitch publicly but cheer privately.
Posted by: remote man ||
07/16/2004 16:30 Comments ||
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#4
If the USA was to participate in such an operation, Washington's allies would undoubtedly denounce what would be seen as yet another example of dangerous US unilateralism ... The US administration also faces the dilemma of insisting that Iran has no right to develop nuclear weapons while Israel is believed to have several hundred in its arsenal.
Any risk of "dangerous US unilateralism" is minuscule compared to the potential for nuclear exchange should Iran obtain atomic weapons. How is the outside world able to ignore this glaring fact? Also, there is no "dilemma" about denying Iran weapons while permitting Israel to have them. Unlike Iran, Israel has not avowed to annihilate any of their neighbors.
#1I am sure that we are providing Israel with as much intel as our satellites and other remote sensors can gather.
I'm not. I think we have capabilities that we do not share, even with the Israelis. That said, I'm confident that we are giving Israel fairly detailed intel, just not everything.
#3Just as with Osirak, the world would bitch publicly but cheer privately.
And it's precisely this sort of sh!t that's gotta end. Just like Arabs publicly expressing horror at 9-11 and quitely cheering at home, Europe and other putative US allies need to get onboard with crippling rogue nations like Iran or North Korea.
The time is past for petty rivalries when it comes to combating international terrorism. In an age of proliferated nuclear weapons the chance for horrendous slaughter far outweighs any small differences. What was France doing participating with the PRC's recent exercise? Everyone knows that China is proliferating nuclear technology to Iran, yet no one stands up and takes notice.
In the long run, this sort of subterfuge is simply suicidal. Better that America begin unilaterally decapping governments like Iran than run the risk of waiting too long for our supposed allied to get a clue.
#5
Where in the hell is Jane's coming up with that?
What I want to know, is what the hell does Iranian pursuit of The Bomb and a possible joint pre-emptive U.S./Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities have to do with Palestinians?
#6
I just read over at Strategy Page that Israel is taking delivery of new F-16I's that put Iran in range of an attack. They have been receiving 2 per month since February. Call that 10 aircraft. They used 8 to attack Osirak as I recall. Break out the popcorn?
#7
what the hell does Iranian pursuit of The Bomb and a possible joint pre-emptive U.S./Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities have to do with Palestinians?
#8
Iranian OPEC oil exports are earn billions which in turn are re-exported to Hamas, Hiz'ballah, Syria and a number of other Shi'ite rooted jihadists around the globe.
Bush will deal with this general pressing geostrategic issue most likely within weeks of being re-elected. Will it be a cake walk? No! But it is an absolute in order to break the back on well financed Shi'ite Islamic terrorism.
The Axis of Terror (Iran-Syria-Lebanon) have at the most 6 months to carry on as 'normal' against our troops in Iraq, bombers attacking, or failing to self detonate against Israelis, plus the scores of other 'infidel' targets' world-wide.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 23:08 Comments ||
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#9
Any risk of "dangerous US unilateralism" is minuscule compared to the potential for nuclear exchange should Iran obtain atomic weapons. How is the outside world able to ignore this glaring fact?
Simple, Zenster. They think the nukes in the hands of terrorists (which includes the Iranian mullahs) would be used against Israel and the US, which they approve of (yes, even the EUnichs do, jealous little bastards that they are). They never think farther ahead about who would be next.
And the Froggie threat to use their nukes doesn't scare the jihadis AT ALL.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/16/2004 23:22 Comments ||
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#10
Yikes, is Jane's reduced to this sort of drivel? (though I must say, in its pure form like this, it still is funny) One can get this sort of idiotic recitation of myths and non-facts from NYT/WaPo/Newsweek/ABC/BBC any day of the week -- Jane's used to be for good military geek-stuff.
Western diplomats say recent intelligence reports show Iran has been attempting to buy items that could be used to build nuclear weapons -- a charge Tehran dismisses as baseless. The diplomats cited European customs information and intelligence gathered in the Middle East showing Tehran had tried to buy, among other things, high-speed switches that could potentially be used in a nuclear weapon and high-speed cameras the Iranians might use to test a nuclear explosion. "They appear to be working on the planning for a high-speed nuclear implosion device," the diplomat said, adding that Iran had also been experimenting with "high explosive that would be appropriate for the core of a nuclear weapon."
A senior U.S. official told Reuters in Washington that these procurement efforts were part of an effort that has been going on for a long time. He declined to confirm the specific items mentioned, but said they were not "all new" to Washington. "This is an ongoing procurement process. I fully believe that they're still at it, but I can't say that there is some new list that they're out buying right now," the official said. The diplomats said their motivation for briefing Reuters was concern that France, Britain and Germany were enabling Iran to play for time while the trio struggle to find a way of enticing Tehran into fully suspending its uranium enrichment program.
Iran agreed with the Europeans last October to suspend its enrichment program, which the United States believes is aimed at making fissile material for atomic weapons. But Tehran never fully suspended the program and recently said it would resume production, assembly and testing of enrichment centrifuges. "There is a recognition here that time is a very critical factor," said a non-Western diplomatic source. "The red line is not when they (the Iranians) get the bomb, but when they don't need any more external assistance." A senior European diplomat said there was a lot of evidence that what Iran sought was "break-out capability" that would stop short of building a nuclear weapon but give it the ability to do so rapidly if it chose to leave the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United States is bound to seize on the new intelligence as further proof of its belief that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear power program. But analysts and diplomats say Washington will have trouble persuading skeptics that Iran wants the bomb given that U.S. and British intelligence about pre-war Iraq's alleged stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) -- a key justification for the decision to invade Iraq -- turned out to be grossly inaccurate.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
07/16/2004 9:53:00 AM ||
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#1
Why have we or the Israelies not done anything, said anything, or made and move in relation to this?
I really think they might already have 1 or 2 stolen from Kazikstan back in the early 90's.
How in the hell could Saddam have been more dangerous then these people? I've never bought into the whole "Iraq is a bigger threat than Korea or Iran". I think W just wanted to get Saddam because he tried to kill his Dad.
/rant off.
Does anyone have an answer why we are pussy-footing around with Iran and Korea? This seems like one helluva bigger threat than Saddam.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
07/16/2004 10:46 Comments ||
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#2
Bigger threats are harder to deal with.
Bigger threats have huge collateral issues that come into play when you confront them.
Moving into Iraq WAS a confrontation of Iran.
Posted by: too true ||
07/16/2004 12:10 Comments ||
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#3
Calm down. Europe has committed to monitoring their program. They'll take care of everything. NOT!
#5
IMHO, Syria is a puppet - a side show. Think about it.
If Al Rooters & Co keep reporting on Iran, the body of evidence will be sufficient to convince everyone short of Cynthia McKinney, Eddie Bernice Johnson, and the other LLL / terrorist enablers who've infiltrated the Congress that this is one of those pivotal moments - and the Bad Guyz have to be "handled" - period - and now.
I'll try to find a link, but to back that last statement up is this: the Good News is that a U.S. House of Representatives resolution last May 6 authorized "all appropriate means" to end Iranian nuclear weapons development.
That should cover Dubya should he be forced to act (whether directly or in support of Israel) prior to the election. Afterwards, they are definitely toast. One way or another, if Bush is re-elected, the stated goals of the Mad Mullahs has forced the US hand - they'll be taken out. If Skeery is elected, he'll prolly put on his patented knee-pads and back EU3 sanctions which aren't worth warm spit.
A recent visit to Iran by Syrian President Bashar Al Assad may be behind an expected change of attitude by Iran towards the al Qaeda suspects being protected by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, according to Iranian sources who spoke to Asharq Al Awsat. Asad supposedly told Iran about a U.S. plan to strike strategic Iranian locations after the U.S. elections in November and pointed out that the presence of al Qaeda members in the country could be used as justification. Sources told Asharq Al Awsat there were 384 members of terrorist organizations in Iran, including 18 al Qaeda leaders. Meanwhile, sources also told the paper that Khaled Al Harbi, who recently surrendered to Saudi authorities after pressure by Iran, was allegedly suspected of having relations with the CIA, which is why the Iranian RG separated him from the rest of the al Qaeda elements.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/16/2004 9:14:42 AM ||
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#1
well, there's 383 left then.... including Bin Laden
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 9:41 Comments ||
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#3
Khaled Al Harbi,.. was allegedly suspected of having relations with the CIA
Boy, I hope the Iranians don't find out how deeply the CIA has penetrated al-Qaeda, especially the Saudi faction. Just don't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/16/2004 16:16 Comments ||
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Al-Qaida may be recruiting non-Arabs less likely to attract the notice of security personnel to carry out attacks inside the United States, the FBI warned on Friday.
The terror network especially seeks operatives who have U.S. citizenship or legal residency status, the FBIâs counterterrorism division said in its weekly bulletin to 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide. "Finding operatives with U.S. status would greatly facilitate al-Qaidaâs ability to carry out an attack within the United States," said the bulletin, obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The new warning comes amid a continuous stream of intelligence indicating that al-Qaida is determined to strike the United States in the summer or fall. U.S. officials have said the terror network blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks hopes to inflict mass casualties again and disrupt the U.S. political process in this presidential election year.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 7:04:48 PM ||
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#1
Thugs recruiting other thugs.
Well, duh!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/16/2004 21:14 Comments ||
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#2
I thought I would run the headline as is , but I fully agree, ticked off 110% on this end too :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 19:11 Comments ||
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#3
It is going to take extremely sophisticated U.S. strategy and tactics, constantly dodging and weaving [and therefore under constant attack domestically and abroad for being âinconsistentâ] to meet the challenge.
Malaysia and Indonesia, resist any further projection of U.S power in the area; for example, fast small patrol craft with Marine or Special Forces contingents. They fear their Moslem critics charging them with selling out their post-colonial sovereignty to infidels.
If these nations are so worried about "selling out their post-colonial sovereignty," they have few choices. America has a pretty sterling track record of not retaining territory taken in battle. The Philippines is a prime example. If Malaysia and Indonesia look east instead of west, it is towards their actual and one-time colonial masters, be they religious or imperialist.
The United States has not significantly colonized their region and represents the least threat of all. Especially when compared to the more insidious intentions of Muslim theocratic domination or European dealings with rogue nations. China most certainly is not their friend, as it's easily assumed somewhere in the politburo is an ancient map that shows the entire Malaysian archipelago under Chinese rule.
I'd wager the Summer Surge is a handy real-time demonstration that persuasive defense of American interests can be installed whenever and wherever on this planet that we chose.
You are about to read an account of what happened during a domestic flight that one of our writers, Annie Jacobsen, took from Detroit to Los Angeles. The WWS Editorial Team debated long and hard about how to handle this information and ultimately we decided it was something that should be shared.
"It is not a question of if....it is a question of when," claims the author of a controversial new book "Osama's Revenge: The Next 9/11: What the Media and the Government Haven't Told You," (Prometheus Books). Paul Williams, an investigative journalist and author, says information he has obtained and some he was given access to all point to another attack by al-Qaida on the U.S. mainland. "I believe that between now and 2005, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida will attack the U.S. with [stolen] nuclear weapons. I have no doubt about it," says Williams. The allegations were made during an extensive interview with NewsMax.com. Williams says his "intelligence" concludes the most likely means of attack would come in the form of a "suitcase [size] tactical nuclear bomb."
"The chatter that everyone is referring to is coming from the nest in Pakistan, a virulent nest in Iran. The chatter is all about nukes being here. ... The best bang for the buck is nuclear; they [al-Qaida] know that." Such bombs are estimated to have an explosive strength of approximately "10 kilotons" and could weigh less than 35 pounds. "With today's technology and the Internet, an experienced person could easily assemble such a bomb in his home garage," Williams explained. A bomb of that strength could easily level Manhattan and spread lethal radiation throughout the New York City metro area, says the author. "It could render Manhattan unlivable for 1,000 years," he estimated.
According to Williams, several of the "suitcase nukes" are already inside the U.S. Some could have been smuggled in overland from Canada or Mexico, or shipped from overseas via container ships, he explained. Another, more ominous method, was a throwback to the Cold War era. Williams, quoting Russian military officials, says Moscow secretly slipped into the continental U.S. several suitcase nukes to be activated in case of the breakout of hostilities with Washington. Today, Williams says many of those "sleeper" nukes remain in place because some in the Kremlin still believe a conflict with the U.S. is possible.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 1:29:05 AM ||
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#1
So it's just a big ol', eye for an eye thing? A blood libel?
#2
"The author insists that al-Qaida has "thousands" of sympathizers (radical leftists) and numerous sleeper cells in the United States ready to carry out new attacks when given the OK"
"Islam practices patience ... remember it was more than eight years between attacks on the World Trade Center. They are in no rush. They will attack when they are ready."
Like the man says, the Dem & GOP conventions may go off without any major problems, except the collections of homegrown leftwing sellouts creating havoc in the steets of Boston & NYC, but radical Islamists always wish to 'top' their kill ratio with each major attack. The WTC is a classic horrific example. Multi-subway slaughter might be the next order, unless they are prevented by whatever means required to ensure public safety from these cult-like killers.
"Williams, quoting Russian military officials, says Moscow secretly slipped into the continental U.S. several suitcase nukes to be activated in case of the breakout of hostilities with Washington."
"Today, Williams says many of those "sleeper" nukes remain in place because some in the Kremlin still believe a conflict with the U.S. is possible."
Some people in America, the U.K & elsewhere trust the current Russian government. The new improved KGB is hard at work under Putin
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 3:40 Comments ||
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#3
This is pretty easy to counter. We get nuked we vaporize Medina and Mecca, so much of Islam. Osma doesn't count on us playing the eye for eye game.
I say we announce it publicly. Give standing orders. Then let the Islamisists sort it out.
#7
I seem to recall reading, perhaps here on RB, that the old Soviet suitcase nukes required maintenance/replacement, and that any sold on the black market would be non-working at this point. Perhaps some of our nuke experts could comment.
#8
Whenever I read about someone spouting off about terrorists with suitcase nukes, I know its someone who is either ignorant or deceitful.
Yes it is possible to build a nuclear weapon small enough to fit into a suitcase.
However,
1. - it would be very, very heavy.
2. - it would be detectable by even rudimentary devices
3. - once assembled, small nukes require real time maintenance by people who know what they are doing - without this maintenance, the bomb loses its capacity to go critical
#9
radio interview with a tech expert yesterday said they required constant maintenance, weren't really suitcase size (but 'handleable' by a single man) and were difficult to set off even when new...
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 8:34 Comments ||
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#10
One piece of litter thrown out the car window, one fender bender, or just one pissed off/jealous/avenging boy/girlfriend calling 911: Osama and his Moose Limbettes can't screw up once.
#11
Hmm. Let's ask our loyal, humane allies if 4,000,000 American deaths would finally even the score, from their point of view, for "what America has coming to it". Would that be enough for you to see us as humans again, to open your eyes to evil in this world, or would you really need to see America being punished "play out" a little longer? Maybe we should poll people in those countries which wanted to see America lose in the Iraq War; their opinion should provide a good measurement of whether justice bloodlust has been satisfied.
#12
I think a standing threat to VAPORIZE Mecca and Medina should anything like that happens is intriguing. It would eliminate a pillar of Islam just like that.
#13
agreed, eLarson. and if al qaeda claims it was some other faction that has the bomb, we say "we don't care -- if ANYONE bombs the USA, Mecca gets it."
#14
Nuclear weapons are not easily obtainable nor easily manufactured.
1. You need access to plutonium or highly enriched U-235. This cannot be done by an individual or a small group. It requires the resources of a state entity.
2. Assuming a state entity will sell you Pu or U-235, you will need to machine it into the usable shapes that will then form a critical geometry when put together. Any mistake in this will result in a very expensive hunk of sub-critical metal.
3. You then need someone who's good with explosives to build the charges and timers that will push those two pieces of nuclear material together. Again, any mistake in this and the bomb won't work.
4. You will need to find a neutron source (like a plutonium/beryllium mix), which aren't available in Wal-Mart last time I checked.
I'm not saying it cannot be done, but it is definitely not the "Honey, I'll be out in the garage working on the nuclear weapon" home improvement project that this writer makes it out to be. Also, if memory serves me correctly, I remember reading that the vast majority of the explosives recipes in The Anarchist's Cookbook and The Poor Man's James Bond either don't work or are more hazardous to the bomb-maker than the target.
Last point: if Mr. William's has indeed stumbled on this threat, show us some love and give us an address.
#17
I agree with virginian that these things are highly unstable and require constant maintenance, battery charging, etc. This threat doesn't seem credible to me.
Posted by: Tibor ||
07/16/2004 11:09 Comments ||
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#18
BTW, I forgot to add that I agree with the premise that bin Laden (if he were alive) would want to kill 4 million Americans.
Posted by: Tibor ||
07/16/2004 11:10 Comments ||
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#19
DN - that was good, heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 11:13 Comments ||
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#20
one thing is provable from this article - the american media totally ignores true and present threats to our homeland.
the US govt should make a clear statement on this. if a nuke does go off in the US the world should know our response.
Mecca, Medina, Tehran (and all military installations), North West Frontier in Pakland (actuall all bauluchistan..) and damascus would be vaorized. We know who supports these terrorists, we know who our enemy is. We need to let them know the consquences of supporting these asshats.
With our policies of the 80's and 90's, plus the loss of momentum in the WOT (mainly our politics and self censure)our enemies believe there are no consequences. This needs to change.
Posted by: Dan ||
07/16/2004 11:36 Comments ||
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#21
You will need to find a neutron source (like a plutonium/beryllium mix), which aren't available in Wal-Mart last time I checked
Aisle 24, next to the light bulbs
Actually, I think its only available in the super Wal-Marts not in the 'smaller' ones.
#23
They have nukes here, they would love to use them on us, but they are refraining becase they are very, very, patient, and love suspense.
Uh huh......
Something's missing here folks. 1. Steal underwear. 2. ? 3. Profit.
#24
What's this obsession with suitcases? As the terrorists have demonstrated, stowing a nuke in the trunk of a car will work just fine. A car or small van can carry a very heavy nuke and try it just about anywhere.
#25
The most likely scenario for a terrorist nuke detonation in the US is a container ship, in one of the major ports - NY, Boston, Baltimore, Long Beach, Oakland, etc, etc.
That's why they're insisting on boarding all ships before they enter port.
#26
I don't know where to go with this. The RB experts say it is very difficult to accomplish and realtively easy to detect. Based upon my experience/exposure to DOE, both of these ring true. The other point is if they have the devices in-country, why wait to use them? That would only increase the likelihood of detection as well as increase the need for maintenance.
So I guess I question the author's near-term assertion. I have no doubt, however, that this is the asshat's ultimate objective and, should it occur, that our response will be both swift and devastating.
Posted by: remote man ||
07/16/2004 12:08 Comments ||
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#27
Dreadnaught makes a good point, and let me add my $.02.
A nuclear weapon - even in its most simple and basic form - requires an ungodly amount of upkeep. This is not something you can put together and then just set aside until needed - their care and feeding is so demanding that most people (myself included back in the day) are stunned when they find out what it requires. Even if ALQ has a couple of Paki nukes, unless they are maintained to the letter - with USAF/USN quality facilities and people - they will be useless within a few months at most. (And even with that, all of our weapons need to go back through depot-level maintenance at intervals.)
As far as getting them into the country, I have said this before and I'll say it again: if it was so easy to do, why hasn't it already been done?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/16/2004 12:35 Comments ||
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#28
While a nuke detonation is a scary prospect, I'm quite doubtful about it.
The logistics of nuclear and chemical weapons seem to prohibit their deployment by small terroristic cells.
I think we'd more likely see a terrorist attack in the same vein as OKC bombing. A coordinated detonation of trucks during rush hour could be catastrophic.
Not to mention an attack by dudes with guns at a mall or sporting event. (It'd be short lived in places like Texas tho. CCW are handy like that)
All in all, we don't know shit. I just know that if 4million americans get vaporized, there's going to be about 250million pissed off americans that aren't going to stand for any bs from other countries or 5th column members.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/16/2004 14:12 Comments ||
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#31
If their is an attack anywhere before the US election, it will be against one of the US allies. That is the only way to effect the election against Bush. A nuke attack on US soil, no matter when and no matter what president is in power, will result in the end of the world as we know it, and the end of Islam forever. Kiss the rock goodbye 'slims. It will be gone, and you will follow, if there is another mass casualty attack on US soil. For this reason, I am guessing that the terrorist 'slims will opt for small attacks that won't allow us to wipe them off the maps.
#32
eLarson (back at post 12): I don't think nuking Mecca (and thus dropping one pillar) would end Muhammadanism, which seems to show considerable flexibility when the political situation demands it. I tried to model Moslem responses a bit and decided making Mecca go away would be counterproductive.
Posted by: James ||
07/16/2004 16:19 Comments ||
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#33
In response to #14, it may not be all that difficult to build a gun type (Little Boy) fission device. The only thing that didn't exist before WWII that was need to make Little Boy was the enriched uranium, and knowledge of its properties. If you had the U235, the only machining that would need to be done would be to make two cylinders, a large hollow one, and a small solid one to fit into the large one. If you didn't care about your own health, all you would need is a lathe to do this. You would need to know the relative sizes for it to work, but you could probably look that up. A neutron source could be obtained from a stolen oil well logging tool, a soil density probe, or enough americium from smoke detectors. That and a piece of lithium would give you sufficient neutrons. Put the lithium at the end of the hollow cylinder, the neutron source at the end of the solid cylinder and fire the small one into the large one. How? Use a scrap naval gun barrel, or steal the barrel from the old artillery piece in the town square, or in front of the armory. Or make one from heavy pipe. If you want a casing use an engine block. This is really not needed since water is an excellent neutron reflector. Just set the gun off in a swimming pool, or maybe a bathtub (I haven't worked out all of the numbers). Even if it didn't work right and just "fizzled", well, you,ve just set off a dirty bomb. Now, an implosion device (Fat Man)is quite a bit more sophisticated. I probably wouldn't be willing to try that myself.
I don't think nuking Mecca (and thus dropping one pillar) would end Muhammadanism
I agree. You cannot stop there, but you must start there. That way, the followers of this vile blood cult will see the destruction the worst among them has brought on all of their heads.
Of coarse, the more risky way to go would be to put Mekkka at about number 4 or 5 on a well publicized (after hitting numbers 1 and 2) list. And give the 'slims a chance to stand down.
We'll see how this goes, but I think we still have time to work this out before it goes that far. For right now, the 'slims think they can destroy us without blowing up the world. The problem will really come into play, when they feel that they can't win. That is when the suitcase nukes will start going off, as they provoke us into a cult like "end of world" scenario. I put "" up because so far, every cult "end of world" scenario seems to have fallen shy of its grandiose vision. But then again, the 'slims are no david kkkoresh.
#35
#3Â This is pretty easy to counter. We get nuked we vaporize Medina and Mecca, so much of Islam. Osma doesn't count on us playing the eye for eye game.
I say we announce it publicly. Give standing orders. Then let the Islamisists sort it out.
#12Â I think a standing threat to VAPORIZE Mecca and Medina should anything like that happens is intriguing. It would eliminate a pillar of Islam just like that.
#13... agreed, eLarson. and if al qaeda claims it was some other faction that has the bomb, we say "we don't care -- if ANYONE bombs the USA, Mecca gets it."
#20Â ... the US govt should make a clear statement on this. if a nuke does go off in the US the world should know our response.
Mecca, Medina, Tehran (and all military installations), North West Frontier in Pakland (actuall all bauluchistan..) and damascus would be vaorized.
#31... A nuke attack on US soil, no matter when and no matter what president is in power, will result in the end of the world as we know it, and the end of Islam forever. Kiss the rock goodbye 'slims.
#34... Of coarse, the more risky way to go would be to put Mekkka at about number 4 or 5 on a well publicized (after hitting numbers 1 and 2) list. And give the 'slims a chance to stand down.
Ever since I found Rantburg I have been advocating some sort of credible deterrent to terrorism. Since Islamist terrorism is the biggest threat, their shrines should be held hostage. Even without a nuclear attack, reprisals should still be made.
If a "dirty bomb" is set off in America, Medina or Mecca gets dusted with the same isotope, just before the haj.
If chemical or bio weapons are used, the shrines get the same treatment, right before the haj.
There has to be a price, and America needs the courage to establish that price and spell it out clearly to the Muslim world. Islam is not going after the terrorists within their ranks with anything approaching efficacy. It is now up to us to deter any sort of mass attack.
While James makes some interesting points, I do not see where there is any other single lever that can be applied to Islam as a whole. And we need to attach some sort of cost to any further attacks on America.
In light of the less-than-cordial reception my first mention of credible deterrence against terrorism got here at Rantburg, I'm gratified to see that other people are beginning to reconsider this option. I still maintain that there might be something better, but until such a possibility is revealed, we still need to have a (smoking) hole-card, and the shrines are a good start.
#33... If you had the U235, the only machining that would need to be done would be to make two cylinders, a large hollow one, and a small solid one to fit into the large one. If you didn't care about your own health, all you would need is a lathe to do this.
Doesn't enriched U-235 burn in ambient air? I thought you needed an inert gas environment to machine the materials, plus a full scuba for the machinist, despite that person's incredibly short lifespan thereafter.
There has to be a price, and America needs the courage to establish that price and spell it out clearly to the Muslim world.
While I agree that there needs to be a price, we cannot give the dead-enders among the slims a well publicized goal post for our nuclear response. We have seen that their dead-enders can be very potent, and when they determine that they cannot win, that is when they will aim for those goal posts.
#38
A "suitcase" nuke would require incredibly sophisticated tolerances and geometry for the plutonium core and the explosive lens. That and the maintenance puts this one at a secondary level of threat. A container with a ready made bomb would be the most feasibly way to get a nuke into the country. The most important thing is to prevent cells from becoming operational and to harass sympathizers and rabble rousers in Mosques in the US to prevent them from gaining converts and operatives. It would also be nice to tighten our borders, like Mexico for first priority, and secondarily Canada. We need to continue to take the fight to the enemy and to keep him on the defensive. Not much we can do about Europe until they get wacked and wake up to the fact that this is a war and not a law enforcement deal.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/16/2004 18:05 Comments ||
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#39
America's goal: Kill 4 million jihadis.
But we don't have a bag limit, so more is fine.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/16/2004 18:38 Comments ||
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#40
#35 Do it slowly and use lots of water or machine oil to keep it below ignition temperature. Shouldn't be any more difficult than machining magnesium. And if you screw up, you have a uranium fire in a garage in the subburbs, which would make life hell for the neighbors. The point is, if life has little meaning to you, you can manage to pull it off on a shoestring, without the safety procedures that a rational person would use. I doubt that the Sri Arum sarin makers had a DOD quality chemistry facility. It probably resembled a high school chemistry lab. Some of them probably managed to poison themselves during the process. But they still managed to kill a few people, injure thousands, and spread terror.
Interesting engineering design you posit. Unfortunately, all my experience is in the reactor world, not weapons. Nevertheless, there are a few questions that would need to be answered:
1. Does your americium/lithium combo produce the correct neutrons?
2. Are the critical geometry issues resolved any better with your gun barrel model? The sub-critical pieces must stay together long enough with the neutron source in the right spot to get the whole sha-bang rolling. That's why the implosion model was used in the first place.
3. You are correct that even in error you would get a fizzle, and there have been a few critical geometry container accidents (in Mass. in the 1950s and in Japan about 5 or 6 years ago) that probably would resemble the ensuing event. However, uranium or plutonium is a low-level alpha emitter, so a poor candidate for a dirty bomb. The "fizzle" wouldn't give off enough fission fragments to truly frighten.
4. The entire notion of using a spare naval gun barrel or the like belies the terrorist need for portability.
5. Finally, enriched uranium or plutonium is precious. You can't spend that much money or resources to obtain it and then say, "Not sure if this'll work, but let's give it a shot." Any terrorist organization knows that in this environment, after a major operation, your opponents are going to walk the cat back and crush anyone and anything involved in that particular evolution. The results would have to justify the expense.
#42
You will need to find a neutron source (like a plutonium/beryllium mix), which aren't available in Wal-Mart last time I checked
Aisle 24, next to the light bulbs
Actually, I think its only available in the super Wal-Marts not in the 'smaller' ones.
Try the ones in Byelorus, southern Ukraine ... or the delivery service that makes stops in the Caucasus.
On the need for major maintenance ... one person I've talked with who has some knowledge doesn't think it would be hard for someone with a little training to keep one of the Soviet suitcase nukes in operable condition here, assuming that was done from the beginning of its presence here.
Having said that, this is one of those threats that is extremely difficult to protect against ... especially if, say, a device was smuggled out of the soviet embassy a while back ... but also one I don't give too much credence to on the basis of one journalist's claims.
Posted by: not my usual handle here ||
07/16/2004 19:50 Comments ||
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#43
I also wonder if AQ is not thinking twice about going beyond the 9/11 scale of attack. One or two nukes would invite a devastating response from us. Reports suggest that they were surprised by our response to 9/11, which would mean they were very naive at that time. I assume they have learned something since then, no matter how much macho bluster they spew about everything is going according to God's plan.
#44
The article about plutonium production contains one little gem:
If typical weapons-grade plutonium, plutonium-239, is spiked with some plutonium-238, which decays more quickly, the self-irradiation process dramatically picks up speed. If 5 percent of the plutonium-239 is replaced with plutonium-238, the sample will age 11 times faster than normal plutonium-239. Aging can be accelerated by a factor of 16 over normal aging processes if 7.5 percent of the sample is plutonium-238. A useful measure of acceleration aging is defined as the number of years required to reach a radiation dose that results in 10 displacements per atom. Weapons-grade plutonium normally takes 100 years to reach this dose but will need just 6.25 years if it is spiked with 5-percent plutonium-238.
One would have to assume that any "suitcase" bombs were made with plutonium. Given Soviet Russia's slovenly track record for quality control, contamination of their fissile material may well have rendered any number of their nuclear weapons totally useless by now, especially the compact ones.
Given the tight component proximity and drastic thermal cycling issues of small package bomb designs, it seems less than likely anyone would have been able to maintain them correctly.
I must also concur that if al Qaeda was in possession of a nuclear device they would have already used it. Not that Iran would blush at handing off a few to them when they become available.
#45
You are all fascist pigs... You can't punish an entire religion (one with over a billion followers) for the actions of a few... Islam does not preach violence any more than any other religion... There are some radicals, but that is the case with all religions... The KKK is a terrorist organization that justifies it's actions through Christianity, but no one is calling for the destruction of Christian "shrines" or the like for the behavior of a few redneck bigots. Nor does anyone think it is the religion's responsibility (or that of ranking officials in the religion) to put an end to the KKK or other Christian fundamentalist groups. So, to take the actions of a few (literally) and apply it to over a billion, is an over-generalization to say the least. God bless every human being. -- Travis
#46
Sorry you are wrong. Islam has been slow to quit supporting these Jihadi bastards. Plenty muslims vocally, willingly give support to them. I stand by my original idea to hold Mecca, Medina and the Al Asqua mosque hostage. Any attack on the US by AQ and we take them out, period, no negotiation. They are gone. You can throw in Terhan, Damacus, and Islamabad for good measure. Standing orders to all Tridents at sea. Multiple devices deployed all targets totally destroyed. Nothing to salvage. The basis for this evil satanic death cult gone.
Sorry I gave up my fascist tendencies for Libertarianism. Do what you want, don't bother me with it, don't expect me to pay for it, or give a damm about it. Allow me the same freedom to live my life in private without bothering anyone the way I want to.
#47
Plenty muslims vocally, willingly give support to them. - I would like to add that many professional, influential muslims in the UK privately support actions such as 9/11 - I love luring them into such admissions by pretending to be anti-American myself. They fall for it every time... Turn Mecca/ Medina into glass and the message may just get home...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/31/2004 7:04 Comments ||
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#48
After hearing what the Muslims did to those children in Russia, I gave up EVER trying to see their point of view again. The Muslims of this world can justify any atrocity, no matter how horrible, if it is in the name of Allah, and furthers the creation of their proposed One World Islamic State. And all moderate Muslims I hold equally complicit, since they all secretly rub their hands with glee at the thought of a World Islamic Government. In my opinion, especially after the torture and massacre of the Russian School kids, Islam is now the enemy of the entire civilized world, and like a rabid dog, it MUST BE STOPPED. The best solution, as many others have so eloquently suggested here, is to nuke their "holy" cities and capitals. We should give the populace 24 hours notice to vacate the area(s), however. Otherwise we would be just as barbaric as they are. I'm surprised Putin hasn't taken out Mecca already! - Windsong -
#49
Osama bin Laden can kiss Mohammed the Prophet's ass. I like to say that I enjoy stepping on the portrait of osama bin laden with my bare feet. I also like to throw pieces of bacon on top of the portrait of Mohammed the Prophet.
#50
Did anybody read the articles at these links? We have the 1 kiloton "PBS" suitcase that weighs 80-100 pounds and will wipe out everything in a 1/2 mile radius. Then we have Williams' 10 kiloton suitcase that "could weigh less than 35 pounds". Obviously somebody here is full of baloney, and it's probably Williams. Williams does not seem very believable to me. He says: "With todayâs technology and the Internet, an experienced person could easily assemble such a bomb in his home garage"
Yeah, if somebody gave him all the materials, machined and ready for assembly. My impression from my reading is that it's a bit more involved than just exploding two pieces together. Clearly it is not as simple as Anonymous5765's concept. And also: "It could render Manhattan unlivable for 1,000 years"
Anybody here been to Hiroshima lately?
Dirty bomb -- yes, big problem.
Suitcase nuke -- I'm not losing any sleep over it. It hasn't been maintained for years, and time quickly turns it into a dud.
Posted by: Tom ||
09/18/2004 16:25 Comments ||
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#51
"It could render Manhattan unlivable for 1,000 years"
It took me about two minutes to find a news article about Hiroshima Day 2004: "Today in Hiroshima, Japan, an estimated 40,000 people gathered for the 59th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city."
Posted by: Tom ||
09/18/2004 16:51 Comments ||
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20 million dollars investment in oil, electricity & water sectors Libyan sources estimate expected investment in oil sector 6 milliar dollar, in electricity sector 6 Milliars also and 8 Milliars in water sector and development in transport, distribution and treatment. Libyan economists put this plan which will be 2005 for which huge investments up to 35 milliar dollars were considered in foreign investment in the fields of oil, industry, tourism, modern services and electric power. Libya plans to double individual income during next 20 years which require investment in various fields not less than 50 milliars of which 60% to be saved by the state and the remaining percentage will be financed from general companies and private sector.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 7:24:48 PM ||
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An anti-war group sued media giant Clear Channel in New York this week for breach of contract over an anti-war billboard the group wanted to display in New York's Times Square during the Republican National Convention. The groups reached a settlement Thursday amid speculation that the lawsuit may have been a preplanned publicity stunt, something the anti-war group denies. "We just want our billboard up," said Project Billboard spokesman Alex Slater. "We don't want damages; we don't want our money back. We just want our billboard."
Thursday's agreement, reached after the lawsuit was filed, earned the group two billboards instead of the one originally rented. It also generated a lot of national press coverage. Project Billboard originally contracted with Clear Channel Communications to put up a billboard on the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Clear Channel -- which recently tangled with shock-jock Howard Stern over his show's sexually explicit content -- also organizes concerts, entertainment events and billboard advertising. Slater described Project Billboard as "a group of concerned citizens who highlight important debates that face our country in the run-up to this election." He claims Clear Channel violated its contract in refusing the original billboard design.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 7:09:27 PM ||
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Yo, Clear Channel - you should've know better than to accept a deal with lunatics and asshats. I hope it cost you a bundle - and is an instant object lesson to everyone else out there in the media biz:
These people are not just anti-war, they're on the other side.
These people have zero integrity and their hatred knows no bounds.
They are the purveyors and tools of socialism, apologists for those who wish to destroy us, enablers of the terrorists, and the enemies of freedom.
They just don't have the balls to admit it, yet - just as the MSM hasn't the stones to report it.
#2
Perfect, .com! They are (indeed) the purveyors and tools of socialism, apologists for those who wish to destroy us, enablers of the terrorists, and the enemies of freedom.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 21:05 Comments ||
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#3
obviously this "nti-war" group hasn't taken our sensitivities to account and should expect we conservatives will start seething. They should voluntarily pull their ads to be sensitive to us. Or we'll kill them...did I get the patter down right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 21:10 Comments ||
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#4
Doh! "anti-war"...I guess I had a subconscious aversion to that name....wonder why?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 21:16 Comments ||
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#5
Lol! Boy am I glad I'm on this side of the issue - youz guyz is be formidible! 'Sides, I dunno how to seethe. It's really starting to bug me! This is as close as I've come thus far - and he just looks like he's gonna 'splode!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 21:18 Comments ||
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#7
Does anyone think that if something comparable to what the anti-war group had in mind was plastered across a billboard near the Democratic convention in Boston that lefties would waste no time in trying to get it taken down?
The Palestinian Authority played down a damaging row with the United Nations yesterday after declaring its Middle East envoy persona non grata, casting a cloud over an upcoming General Assembly debate on Israel's "illegal" West Bank barrier. A day after veteran leader Yasser Arafat's top aide said Terje Roed-Larsen was "not welcome" in the occupied territories, a senior official insisted the envoy was still free to talk with Palestinians. "There has been no formal decision to boycott Roed-Larsen," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei's chief of staff, Hassan Abu Libdeh, told AFP.
"Of course, we're not guaranteeing some of the boyz won't try to shoot him up..."
Roed-Larsen has previously been something of a bete noire for the Israelis over his outspoken criticism of the occupation of the territories. But he ironically won praise from the Israelis after he told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that there was a "steadily emerging chaos" in Palestinian areas and that Arafat had shown a "lack of political will" to reform his government. Arafat's senior adviser, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said Larsen's declarations "were unacceptable and he is not welcome in Palestinian lands."
"Y'say what we wanna hear, or y'can't have none of our fabled hospitality!"
Palestinian Authority's chief UN representative, Nasser Al-Kidwa, said: "We have not decided anything". Palestinian Telecommunications Minister Azzam Al-Ahmad yesterday insisted: "There is no row back ... no contradiction ... Mr. Roed-Larsen is persona non grata but not barred from entering our territories."
"I don't think that word means what you think it means..."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2004 5:05:45 PM ||
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Nabil Abu Rudeina, said Larsenâs declarations âwere unacceptable and he is not welcome in Palestinian lands.â
Good show, Rudeina! You just s**t in your proverbial mess kit. Never miss and opportunity to miss an opportunity. And you wonder why all your sugar daddies are not giving you money no mo'.
"Y'say what we wanna hear, or y'can't have none of our fabled hospitality!"
Great line, Fred!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/16/2004 20:08 Comments ||
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Over the years, the rapper Jadakiss has depicted a world of drug dealing, murder and other assorted mayhem without raising many eyebrows. But seven words in his new song "Why" "Why did Bush knock down the towers?" has gotten Jadakiss the most mainstream attention, and criticism, of his career. "It caught the ear of white America," he said proudly during a phone interview with The Associated Press. "It's a good thing. No matter what you do, somebody's not going to like it, but for the most part, most people love the song."
Not everyone loves it. Bill O'Reilly called Jadakiss a "smear merchant" this week, and some radio stations have edited out the line in the song, in which Jadakiss talks about perceived injustices, conspiracies and problems affecting the world. MTV says it is playing an edited version of the video, as it was sent by his label, Interscope. Jadakiss says fans have demanded to hear the original version. "In the beginning, they would edit, but after that, everybody called back for the version that was calling Bush (out)," he says. Jadakiss doesn't really believe Bush ordered the towers destroyed he says the line is a metaphor, and that Bush should take the blame for the terrorist attack because his administration didn't do enough to stop it. "They didn't follow up on a lot of things properly," says Jadakiss. "It's the president of the United States. The buck stops with him."
The controversy doesn't appear to be hurting Jadakiss his new album, "Kiss of Death," released last month, is nearing 500,000 copies sold. However, his song "Why?" has stalled at No. 16 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 5:16:27 PM ||
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Oh, a rapper has blamed Bush. Well, since he knows so much more about international politics than we do, since his breadth of knowledge spans sex, and drugs, and gangs, and shootouts, and violence, and hatred, and anger, and prostitutes, and because he seems to think that he's an artist because he yells with a synthesized drum in the background, we should all listen to him.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
07/16/2004 18:03 Comments ||
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#2
"If we can get people to vote from the ages 18 to 44, we can make a change."
How about getting them to learn to read and write first? And get jobs? And stop doing drugs? And stop gang-banging and listening to rap on street corners?
Damned ignorant parasite.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/16/2004 18:11 Comments ||
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#4
Beethoven wrote music. Elvis wrote music. McCartney & Lennon wrote music. Rap is not music. Rap was invented so that otherwise talentless people could make money in the music biz.
#2
Millionaire philanthropist George Soros's Open Society Institute "was invited to leave Uzbekistan," as President Islam Karimov put it
so it's not all bad
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2004 14:14 Comments ||
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Mr. Rumsfeld thanked the country for its support ...and stressed that human rights are just one aspect of US-Uzbek relations. Taskent probably inferred that the US was giving military considerations higher priority than human rights concerns, Lewis says.
#4
maybe Bush really IS serious about democracy promotion. Interesting!
No, it's not "interesting;" it's short sighted and unrealistic. No wonder Rumsfeld is annoyed with the typical airy-fairy bungling intervention of State Dept. Uzbekistan's location and its fossil fuel resources has great potential. Check out proven oil and natural gas reserves and how illicit drugs are transported thru this country. I'd suggest to you and GWB and State Dept. that "human rights" is not a huge priority in that country at this very moment in time. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uz.html
Uzbekistan has a Sunni majority government, and the "oppression" has been directed at Muslims accused of practising extreme Wahabbism. And State Dept. thinks that if these wack-jobs get humane treatment [everyone can already vote there at age 18]the strains of Kumbaye will ring out in central Asia? Witholding US aid will just push Uzbekistan closer to Russia, who is becoming more KGB'ish and less democratic everyday.
Maybe if GWB is "interested" in the power of democracy - true democracy and not sham democracy on paper only -and how "democracy" can change a country's society and economy and attitudes to America, he should look in his own backyard-MEXICO. Why not start with a country whose feudal oligarchical social/political backwardness continues to have a huge negative impact on our country. Why not start with something easy? Why not hold back aid from our repressive anti-human rights unjust southern neighbor which has concentrated power in the hands of approx. 50 Mexican families, a country which has rampant 24/7 racism for the past 100 years to Mexicans with non-Spanish blood lines?
Is State Dept. suffering from far-sightedness? Can it only judge human rights abuses and poor examples of democracy in countries that are located an ocean and a continent away from our border?
Posted by: rex ||
07/16/2004 15:38 Comments ||
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#5
Isnt not holding political prisoners rather more basic than instituting affirmative action for Mestizos?
We are of course not expecting rapid change to democracy in central asia, but are concerned with our initiatives wrt to Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi, etc. Our position in Uzbek was undermining that.
#6
but are concerned with our initiatives wrt to Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi, etc. Our position in Uzbek was undermining that.
Our "initiatives" re: Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Tunisia...excuse me, what were these "initiatives" other than hear no evil, see no evil, talk no evil. Why can't the same "initiatives" cough, cough be taken with Uzbekistan? Our position in Uzbekistan should be exactly that at this time-strategic positioning-and forget about passing moral judgments about how a relatively pro-USA Sunni government treats its destructive extremist Wahhabi Muslim prisoners. Wacking them off makes 35 fewer Wahhabi extremists who might take pot shots at our troops in Afghanistan.
As for Mexico and its racist oligarchical government-I'd say, there's more hope for reforming that society by using the carrot and stick approach than reforming a Muslim country 10, 000 miles around the globe. It also might demonstrate that GWB is consistent and without prejudice re: lauding the power of democracy,if he's start applying what he preached to his dear friend, Presidente Foxie Loxie.
Posted by: rex ||
07/16/2004 17:39 Comments ||
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#7
Perfection, as an extreme, must be economized, thus it is so rare.
Morocco home to most of the suspects in the Madrid train bombing is teeming with some 100 al-Qaida-linked cells that are capable of suicide attacks, and pose Europe's biggest terrorist threat, Spain's leading anti-terrorism judge has testified. Each cell has five to 10 members, "so we are talking about 900 to 1,000 people who could be sought by police now in Morocco," Judge Baltasar Garzon told lawmakers investigating the March 11 attacks, which killed 190 people. "In my opinion it is the gravest problem Europe faces today with this kind of terrorism," Garzon said yesterday, quoting police and intelligence data.
I'd expect to see smaller cells than that for security purposes, but maybe Moroccans are a gregarious lot...
Many of the groups are in northern Morocco, with members who speak perfect Spanish and are able to slip easily in and out of Spain just a short ferry ride away across the Strait of Gibraltar. The groups raise money by dealing hashish, selling stolen cars and smuggling people into Spain, he said. "They use every means and mechanism, and their activity can even be initially perceived as ordinary delinquency."
The difference between a crook and a terrorist being how the guy puts his turban on in the morning...
Morocco has done its share of finger-pointing at Spain since the March 11 Madrid bombings, but both countries have pledged to work closely against terrorism. Garzon also complained yesterday that European law enforcement bodies, intelligence services and courts lack a clearly-defined strategy for fighting Islamic terrorism. "At least I don't know of one yet, despite all the efforts that are being made," Garzon said.
We haven't seen one here yet. Occasionally great police work seems to be routinely tossed by the courts. When the bad boyz do get jugged, it's for relatively short periods of time. Once their debt to society's been paid, they're free to run up more debt, even assuming they haven't stayed in the business while in jug.
via BBC
By David Willey - Friday, 16 July, 2004, 01:08 GMT 02:08 UK
Libya has agreed to open a new aid corridor across the Sahara Desert to speed up the delivery of relief supplies to the Darfur region of Sudan. Under the agreement with the World Food Programme, the first road convoy will make the 3,000km-journey next month. The first shipment of wheat flour, from Switzerland, is expected to arrive in the Libyan port of Benghazi in early August. From there it will be taken to the border area between Chad and Sudan. More than 100,000 refugees from Sudan have sought safety in neighbouring Chad, and many are camped along a 600km stretch of the border.
This will also allow our Special Ops people to bring in the needed weapons for the Furian resistance more quickly.
Faster journey
After signing the agreement in the Libyan capital Tripoli, John Powell, a senior official of the World Food Programme, said that the new land corridor across the desert would enable the WFP to dramatically increase the amount of food aid it was sending to the area. Until now, the Rome-based agency had to truck aid from Port Sudan along roads which were often closed by maurading Janjaweed terrorists impassable or washed away by swollen rivers during the rainy season. The opening of the new trans-Sahara corridor through Libya will enable year round access to Darfur as well as reducing transport time. The WFP is appealing for more funds to buy food for victims of the Darfur conflict, which the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Although time is of the essence, everything good in this crisis happens in slow motion.
Posted by: .com ||
07/16/2004 1:34:27 AM ||
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via BBC - EFL
By Paul Wood - Friday, 16 July, 2004, 04:46 GMT 05:46 UK
A Palestinian boy arrested with a bomb strapped to his chest has told the BBC he volunteered to become a suicide bomber to avoid going to school. Hussam Abdo, who was 15 at the time, said his parents would not have allowed him to leave the house if they knew what he was going to do. He was stopped by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank. They forced him to cut off his belt, which contained nearly 9kg of explosives and nails. ...more...
The bottom was reached long ago... but they've never stopped digging.
Posted by: .com ||
07/16/2004 1:21:45 AM ||
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Israel accuses the Palestinians from Yasser Arafat on down of creating a cult of death.
Many Palestinians however, say that suicide bombers are a symptom of the despair and desperation felt by the whole community.
Whatever the truth, there is no shortage of other teenagers in the occupied territories who wish to take the mission that Hussam Abdo failed to complete.
I didn't read one iota about this kid feeling despair or desparation. What this kid had to say only underscores the Israeli "death cult" position:
He added: "It's not suicide, it's martyrdom. I would become a martyr and go to my God. It's better than being a singer or a footballer. It's better than anything."
#3
They forced him to cut off his belt, which contained nearly 9kg of explosives and nails.
Even while reporting a Palestinian terrorist outrage, the BBC finds a space to use language that makes Israel seem like the bad guys. Any 'normal' reporter would have said, "His belt, once removed contained..."
#5
...he volunteered to become a suicide bomber to avoid going to school
What ever happened to the days when kids would just hold a thermometer up to a light bulb until it read 101 degrees, and then say, "I'm sick, mom. Can I stay home today?"
#7
"... "It's not suicide, it's martyrdom. I would become a martyr and go to my God. It's better than being a singer or a footballer. It's better than anything."
Yet he decided not to try and carry out his mission anyways - by either setting the damn thing off anywhere he could, or making a grab for it, which would have ended up with the troops opening fire. Either way, he seems to have decided that he could put off his quality time with the virgins for a little while yet.
Somehow, I think they're having a much harder time getting volunteers any more.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/16/2004 12:20 Comments ||
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#8
Seems he thought being made fun of while doing a strip tease on world wide TV was even better than martyrdom. I guess martyrdom is overrated.
Posted by: ed ||
07/16/2004 12:26 Comments ||
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#9
He's 15?
Hell I know his problem.
He's short, ugly and Arab.
#11
Sane posters, only, please respond (especially anyone who lives over there and is familiar with the politics, sans American/Euro "journalism":
Are we dealing with an agrarian-based population that was displaced--taken away from the only way of life they knew by the immigrants? Is that why the Paleos are so poor, compared with the Israelis? Are they victims of Arab politics and power trading? Or is there another reason? How were they doing before the Jews returned? Was the population, then, equally poor, so the discrepancy was not as great as it is now (i.e. between underdeveloped/ Moslems and modern/Jews)? What about the native Christian population before and after? Thanks.
"Dumbass, brainwashed or both?" From the look of him, Raj, I'd say both.
#12
.com, When you get a chance if you could list the procedure for posting photos in here. I still have yet to figure it out -- Thanks in advance
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/16/2004 20:47 Comments ||
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#13
Ex-lib, only one I can answer there - and maybe it's not quite what you're looking for, but it's all I've got - is that since Arafat popped up, there have been a couple of massacres of the native Christians - Darfor (sp?) was, I believe, one of the nastier ones. They still exist, but methinks they're a little quieter these days. Although I did once meet a Palestinian Christian woman who still blamed Israel for all her problems . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
07/16/2004 21:00 Comments ||
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#14
Lol! Hmmmmm. Make you a deal: As soon as you promise not to post more than 15 articles / day, I'll be happy to! You don't leave anything for the rest of us, lol!
As for Fred's bandwidth, if you go gaga on images (note my embedded pix be wery wery small nowadays!) - then you're beholdin' to the tip jar! Linked images don't hit RB, so they can be as big as you want, but embeds do. You'll have to pay for your fetishes like the rest of us, lol!
Of course, posting it on RB tells the Bad Guyz, trolls, and dipshits, too. We can exchange email addy's through Fred@rantburg.com, if you want to do this - I'll send him one so he knows it's cool. 8^)
Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs has a couple of very good summaries on the history of the Palestinians, the Arab-Israel conflict, etc. Just for background, he is not Jewish, and apparently didn't even pay attention to that part of the world until he saw the Palestinians dancing on his TV screen, celebrating 9/11. Scroll down the left side of the page to the heading "never forget", then click and read to your heart's content.
I could tell you what I know, but then my father still holds his Israeli citizenship from his stint in Haganah in 1948, when his mother used to kaffee klatch with Golda Meir, so perhaps there are some who might assume me to be biased.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's interim prime minister said Thursday he expects insurgents to strike harder in the coming weeks and announced the creation of an intelligence service designed to combat terrorism. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's comments to The Associated Press came amid a spate of new violence, including a car bomb Thursday that killed 10 people and wounded 40 others. Also, a decapitated body wearing an orange jumpsuit was found in the Tigris River, possibly that of a foreigner taken hostage.
Allawi said militants aiming to undermine Iraq's new government are determined not only to kill civilians and soldiers but also to destroy the nation's infrastructure in a campaign of sabotage. "Whether it's electricity, oil, water, hospitals, roads, bridges, this is a clear sign that the terrorists are so evil that they are not only satisfied by hitting the targets, and killing and inflicting loss of life, but also (causing) destruction," he said.
Iraq's new government has talked increasingly tough about cracking down on insurgents. It passed emergency laws giving Allawi broad powers to combat violence; police have conducted sweeps of terror suspects in Baghdad and other cities. Those actions may have spurred militants to launch their series of attacks in recent days, Allawi said. "They know that they should not give us a chance to rebuild our capabilities - security, police and the army. So they want to undermine our efforts," he told AP, sitting in front of the red, green and white Iraqi flag. They will "hit harder in the weeks ahead, and maybe even months ahead."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2004 12:29:07 AM ||
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Some have stated that Iraq lacks a 'liberation myth' similar to the French delusion that deGaulle was instrumental in rolling back Nazi rule.
Supposedly such a myth is helpful phychologically in building a nation.
Perhaps Iraq is now getting an opportunity to generate such a myth, and, if so, it will be far more close to reality than that of France. Allawi seems to get this.
via TruthNews
Gary Fitleberg, July 14, 2004
The Arab "Palestinian" ambassador to the United Nations rejected the monthly Middle East report to the Security Council. Nasser Al-Kidwa called Terje Roed-Larsen, U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, a "cheerleader" for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after hearing his report. Roed-Larsen is also the U.N. secretary-general's special representative to the Palestinian Authority. The report, considered harsh on the Palestinians, said the Palestinian Authority "is in deep distress," and that "this collapse of authority cannot be attributed only to the Israeli incursions and operations inside Palestinian towns." Al-Kidwa blasted the report for not focusing on the recent opinion of the International Court of Justice against Israel's West Bank security barrier and for saying that a successful Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip could advance the peace process.
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.
Under the agreement with the World Food Programme, the first road convoy will make the 3,000km-journey next month. The first shipment of wheat flour, from Switzerland, is expected to arrive in the Libyan port of Benghazi in early August. From there it will be taken to the border area between Chad and Sudan. More than 100,000 refugees from Sudan have sought safety in neighbouring Chad, and many are camped along a 600km stretch of the border.
Hussam Abdo, who was 15 at the time, said his parents would not have allowed him to leave the house if they knew what he was going to do. He was stopped by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank. They forced him to cut off his belt, which contained nearly 9kg of explosives and nails.
