From Al Muhajiroun The Guardian this morning joined the growing band-wagon of liars, crusaders, vilifiers and Blair Lackeys queuing up to stab sincere Muslims and scholars in the back in a bid to gain some media profile and fame at the expense of Blair and Bush's war against Islam and Muslims (or the so-called 'extremists') under the guise of fighting terrorism. However Al-Muhajiroun members and leaders are used to the drivel spewed out by Tania Branigan and Vikram Dodd in today's Guardian where they try to spice up their article by stating:
âŠDuring an interview with Foreign Office staff and with an MI5 officer present, Mr (Rhuhel) Ahmed says he confessed to every allegation put to him, including going to Afghanistan to fight jihad at the expense of the al-Muhajiroun groupâŠ
The fact is that no one from Al-Muhajiroun has ever met Mr Rhuhel Ahmed or even spoken to him, let alone funding his so-called Jihad in Afghanistan, which is indeed contrary to the purpose that Al-Muhajiroun was set up for in the first place — i.e. to propagate Islam verbally to the societies in which they function, commanding good and forbidding evil, without the use of force, in response to Allan Allah (SWAT SWT) saying in the Qur'an:
'Let there rise from among you group(s) [verbally] calling to Islam, commanding society to do good and forbidding society from evil, and they are the successful' [EMQ 3:104]
However, Allan Allah (SWAT SWT) has warned us already in the Qur'an that among those who will have most hatred and animosity towards you will be the Jews and the Mushrikeen (like the Sikhs and Hindus associating with Allan Allah (SWAT SWT) others) so it is no surprise that the true intentions of the Hindu Vikram Dodd are shown in today's Guardian as he (together with Ms Branigan, who is most probably a Jewess) attempt to stitch up Al-Muhajiroun and its leadership.
Allan Allah (SWAT SWT) says in the Qur'an:
"You will find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers (to be) the Jews and those who associate others with AllahâŠ" [EMQ 5: 82]
The irony is that had this in fact been the case — and we await irrefutable evidence that it is so — then surely the MI5 and Special Branch would have picked up the Al-Muhajiroun leadership long ago rather than allowing them to continue to 'fund Jihad' overseas, as is claimed. The reality is that this is nothing short of a blatant lie which any journalist with integrity would either verify or at the very least publish a denial by those accused.
Hence, once again we find ourselves warning Muslims not to give any interviews to non-Muslim media outlets, unless they broadcast them live, which are seen to only serve their masters at war with Islam and Muslims. This policy has been adopted by Al-Muhajiroun and in fact no interview was given by any members of Al-Muhajiroun to Tania Branigan or to Vikram Dodd for the article published today.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/04/2004 11:21:41 PM ||
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Japan's Sankei Shimbun, citing a report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service, reported Wednesday that North Korea has earned US$500 million annually for the past one or two years by exporting narcotics and spent some of its earnings on the military.
The paper also quoted the report as saying that although the international community led by the U.S. has recently strengthened its crackdown on drug trafficking, North Korea has illegally exported over twice as many drugs as it did in the past.
According to the report entitled ¡°Drug Trafficking and North Korea,¡± as North Korea saw more than a 50 percent decrease in profits made by drug trafficking as a result of having to collude with crime organizations in Russia, China, Japan or Korea in order to evade being caught, it greatly increased the amount of trafficking, thus earning some US$500 million annually over the recent years. This is equivalent to 70 percent of the country¡¯s total exports of US$700 million as of 2000.
The report also said that the North started to cultivate poppies, the source of opium, from the mid-1979s as national policy and systematically exported refined opium from the mid-1980s before heavy rains in 1995 and 96 decreased the yield of poppies, which led the country to engage in mass production of stimulant drugs such as methamphetamines to illegally export them to Southeast Asian countries. Sankei Shimbun said Japan confiscated a total of 3,300 kilograms of methamphetamines over three years starting from 1999 and 34 percent of them were produced in North Korea. The report, written as supplementary material for U.S. congressional legal review, urged the U.S. to strengthen its crackdown on drug trafficking by the North in order to arrest its development of weapons of mass destruction.
Can any Rantburger imagine what it would be like to live like this?
The hundreds of North Korean refugees who have arrived in the South from Vietnam this week will have had a long and frightening journey. For many, that journey is likely to have started at the Tumen River, which separates North Korea from China. North Korea's river border is shallow enough to wade across in summer. This narrow waterway can be walked across in winter, when it freezes over, and waded across in summer.
But South Korean activist Kim Sang-hun told BBC News Online that the crossing was very risky. "It's heavily guarded on both sides," he said. "There are some people who went to the top of a hill nearby and watched the guards for days, and picked the right time." Others risk bribing the guards with cash, drink or cigarettes.
Once across the river, escaping North Koreans are unlikely to spend much time on the heavily-patrolled border, said Kato Hiroshi, head of a Japanese NGO which helps North Korean refugees. Instead, they make their way into the mountains, and from there into populated areas to find work. This alone might take five to seven days, depending on the refugee's connections. They also need to change their clothes to make themselves less visible.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/04/2004 12:10:14 AM ||
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Dr Steve - In direct answer to your comment... I think TGA has a very solid grasp of the realities. Maybe some others around know something about it from E&E.
These wretched people are taking the ultimate physical risk - to escape one somewhat less deadly but immeasurably more damaging to the soul. This Japanese NGO is one I could actually support.
PARIS, Aug 2 (AFP) - A French former member of the European parliament, Jean-Charles Marchiani, was held in custody here Monday following investigations into alleged corruption, his lawyer said. Jacques Tremolet de Villers said Marchiani, a former chief government officer of the Var district in the south of France, had been placed under investigation for alleged misappropriation of funds and for influence-peddling.
A French member of the EU, corrupt? And this is news?
He has been under investigation by examining magistrates here over sums of money allegedly obtained in the sale of French Leclerc tanks to Middle East countries in the 1990s, from a contract for a Paris airport baggage handling system, and in connection with the release of hostages in Lebanon in 1988.
Kick backs on weapons sales is normal practice, but skimming ransom money is a new low.
An associate of French former interior minister Charles Pasqua, 60 year-old Marchiani was used an emissary by Pasqua during negotiations to obtain the hostages' release. As he is no longer a European Parliament deputy since elections this June, Marchiani is no longer protected by parliamentary immunity which has hitherto prevented his detention.
Marchiani is also under investigation separately in connection with alleged arms sales to Angola and for alleged misappropriation of funds concerning commissions paid by the oil group Elf in its Nigeria operations. In a statement after his detention was announced Monday, Marchiani denied all the accusations and said he had always respected the law and morals.
Then his lips fell off.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 9:25:35 AM ||
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. . .misappropriation of funds concerning commissions paid by the oil group Elf. . .
Naaah - I won't make an inappropriate remark about Keebler cookies. . .
Hat tip: Tacitus
Colin Powell and P. J. O'Rourke discuss foreign policy, Volvos, Elvis, and more.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/04/2004 4:14:48 PM ||
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Thanks, Dar. That was great.
Two more must-reads:
A piece on the terror web, in The New Yorker, of all places. Beats the hell out of that liar Seymour Hersh.
Also, equal parts moonbat BS, insight into the mind of deranged Dems, and a surprising honesty about how LLL protests/riots during the RNC would be a very bad thing. It's a conversation between Norman Mailer and his son. Guaranteed to make you both seethe with anger and nod in agreement, a rarity when listening to the Left these days.
(2004-08-02) -- In response to specific terrorist truck-bomb threats against major U.S. financial institutions, Democrat presidential candidate John Forbes Kerry today called for a "livable wage" for minimum-wage workers, more funding for public schools and a government-controlled health care system for all Americans.
"These threats from alleged potential lawbreakers cast a stark light on the most important issues of our day," said Mr. Kerry, who is also a U.S. Senator. "If the terrorists strike they may kill underpaid heads of household, underpaid school teachers and other people who can't afford health insurance."
Mr. Kerry added that if he were in the White House today, "these potential future victims would have had better, government-sponsored, lives before they met their untimely end. And we would aggressively prosecute their killers through the courts."
"These are the issues that really matter to Americans," he said. "Unfortunately, George Bush has been so distracted by alleged threats to the homeland and by rounding up so-called terrorists, that he has lost touch with the average citizen. Mr. Bush acts as if government's primary job were to provide for the common defense, rather than to guarantee the right of single-payor healthcare for all."
Posted by: Korora ||
08/04/2004 12:33:22 AM ||
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Will terrorists unable to ply their trade in the US be able to get disability under the Kerry administration?
Hat tip: http://www.danieldrezner.com/
Fred, I submitted this earlier. Don't know if it got lost in the server shuffle, so I am submitting it again.
Long letter, but worth going to the link and reading the whole thing.
I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to the commission, I made you aware of. Thus, I must assume that other serious issues that I am not aware of were in the same manner omitted from your report. These omissions cast doubt on the validity of your report and therefore on its conclusions and recommendations.
...
Dear Chairman Kean:
It has been almost three years since the terrorist attacks on September 11; during which time we, the people, have been placed under a constant threat of terror and asked to exercise vigilance in our daily lives. Your commission, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, was created by law to investigate "facts and circumstances related to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001" and to "provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism", and has now issued its "9/11 Commission Report". You are now asking us to pledge our support for this report, its recommendations, and implementation of these recommendations, with our trust and backing, our tax money, our security, and our lives. Unfortunately, I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to the commission, I made you aware of. Thus, I must assume that other serious issues that I am not aware of were in the same manner omitted from your report. These omissions cast doubt on the validity of your report and therefore on its conclusions and recommendations. Considering what is at stake, our national security, we are entitled to demand answers to unanswered questions, and to ask for clarification of issues that were ignored and/or omitted from the report. I, Sibel Edmonds, a concerned American Citizen, a former FBI translator, a whistleblower, a witness for a United States Congressional investigation, a witness and a plaintiff for the Department of Justice Inspector General investigation, and a witness for your own 9/11 Commission investigation, request your answers to, and your public acknowledgement of, the following questions and issues:
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed ||
08/04/2004 8:29:43 PM ||
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Feisal Abdul Rauf is the spiritual leader, or imam, of a mosque just blocks from Ground Zero. Though he had long been active in "interfaith dialogue" with his Christian and Jewish counterparts, he was galvanized by the horror of 9/11. He has emerged since then as an articulate and sometimes eloquent spokesman for a moderate form of Islam, more specifically, an "American Islam." In his new book he presents what he terms "a new vision" of both Islam and America; it is a picture that is at once quixotic and maddening, particularly because it is so well-intentioned.
One of the more puzzling and, indeed, agonizing aspects of the aftermath of 9/11--especially for those who, like myself, have spent many years teaching and writing about Islam--has been the relative silence of American Muslims, a silence that by and large continues unbroken. In "What's Right With Islam," Mr. Abdul Rauf makes an effort to come to grips with this disastrous passivity on the part of Muslims, but his comments fall far short. To state that "suicide bombing is a tragic phenomenon that strikes at us all" and to follow this up with the remark that "it takes a terrible toll of innocent lives, while it also reflects the deep despair and hopelessness of its perpetrators" hardly seems commensurate with the magnitude of the disaster.
Mr. Abdul Rauf notes, rightly, that both suicide and the taking of innocent lives are expressly and unequivocally forbidden in Islamic teaching. In fact, Islam goes much further than that. In a sacred tradition recounted by the medieval mystic and theologian al-Ghazali (to whom Mr. Abdul Rauf devotes some admiring pages) we read that "if a man is murdered in the East and in the West another man takes delight in the murder, both he and the murderer are partners in the crime." Mr. Abdul Rauf doesn't mention this tradition, so dear to Sufis, but it would have strengthened his case.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed ||
08/04/2004 9:04:53 PM ||
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Intelligence found in Pakistan suggests that suspected al Qaeda operatives in that country contacted an individual or individuals in the United States in the past few months, according to two senior U.S. government sources.
These officials would not characterize that communication.
But the sources also said there is other information from Pakistan that has led to investigations in the United States to uncover whether there are any individuals or terrorist cells plotting an attack on U.S. soil.
In addition, two senior Pakistani intelligence sources told CNN that there is evidence at least six individuals in the United States were contacted by Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, an alleged al Qaeda operative who was recently taken into custody in Pakistan. U.S. officials have not confirmed that information.
It was Khan's arrest and documents in his possession that sparked this week's increased threat levels in Washington, New Jersey and New York, U.S. officials have said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 3:43:31 PM ||
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Hope we can follow the money and slash a major financial artery, too. Terror doesn't come cheap, especially if the operatives need to live in the New York metropolitan area.
I read this comment in today's link "Source: Terror attacks in September"
#1 I was just listening to a guy named Paul Williams on KSFO here in San Francisco. This guy is a terrorism expert, consultant to the FBI, etc and author of the book Osama's Revenge--The Next 9/11: What the Media and the Government Haven't Told You. He said that Osama has 7 nukes spread around the US and is planning on exploding them sometime in the next few weeks. That is a hairy claim. Very scary!
Posted by: remote man 2004-08-04 12:28:41 PM Comment Top
Has anyone else heard anything like this?
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
08/04/2004 2:06:33 PM ||
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shit - meant osama in the title
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
08/04/2004 14:07 Comments ||
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So Mr. Williams just made this discovery at the same time his book came out?
Posted by: Matt ||
08/04/2004 15:17 Comments ||
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He probably copped the m.o. from Richard Clarke & Joe Wilson. Or it could be a huge coincidence...
#4
It has been posted here on the Burg in the last couple of weeks. There was lots of interesting discussion regarding the care and feeding of small nuke-u-lar devices.
It seems highly unlikely that IF they had them, they are still in working order.
#5
doubt it. anything they could build would require constant maintenance.. unless you think the jihadis are constantly screwing up because they trained all their smarties to handle nukes ;)
if they have anything, then must be some kind of dirty bomb.. mostly useless... tho the media will do it's best to get people to crap their pants.
ahh the media, lazy man's jihad
#6
Almost *any* nuclear devices would have to be radiation bombs. The problem with radiation bombs is a simple one. Bomb-type radioactive materials are usually very, very heavy. So you need to both "atomize" them as much as possible, and blow them as far up and away as you can, to cover as much area as possible, before they settle to the ground as dust--think of gold as a comparison. The lighter isotopes usually have a short half-life. The two most dangerous are Iodine and Cesium, which have half-lifes of 7 days and a month, respectively. So if your bomb sits around for any length of time, it doesn't work, the isotopes have broken down.
So, most radiation bombs are made of uranium or similar materials. And truthfully, the high explosive needed to make them work will be more destructive than the isotopes themselves. How easy would it be to blow up an ounce of gold and make gold particles cover an area?
(Historical note: one of the Soviet Union's first nuclear missiles just had nuclear waste in its warhead. When it hit the ground, it would have gone 'splat', with hardly any explosion.)
1) emplaced weapons would be radiating. Decay happens and nothing can stop that. Has effects: screwing up electronics, causing radiation of surrounding contianer, and eventually produces a detectable signature. So they would have to be maintained - meaning more chances to detect. (NEST does do sweeps).
2) detonation would require somone the to trigger them. The longer they wait the higher the risk of discovery of either the weapon or the triggerman.
3) Wy would they wait? They do not gain anything by waiting.
Strike between now and jsut before the election, it rallies the nation. Plus striking urban areas kills lots of Democrats. Ensuring a Bush Victory - and a mandate to kill anything that moves in that region of the world.
Strike just before the election - guarantee a Bush victory with the same mandate.
Strike after the election, and lose the impact other than killing - and forces whoever wins the election to go hard after the entire Muslim world - Bush need not stand accountable as he turns Mecca into Glass in either scenario, and Kerry has no way to back out without being impeached.
Senior government officials said Tuesday that new intelligence pointing to a threat of a terrorist attack on financial targets in New York and possibly in Washington was a major factor in the decision to raise the terrorism alert level over the weekend.
The information was not limited to surveillance of specific buildings over the years.
The officials said the separate stream of intelligence, which they had not previously disclosed, reached the White House only late last week. It was part of a flow that officials said had prompted them to act urgently in the past few days.
The officials disclosed the information a day after the Bush administration acknowledged for the first time that much of the surveillance activity cited this weekend to justify the latest warnings had been at least 3 years old. At the same time, the White House offered a vigorous defense of its decision to heighten the terror alert in New York, Newark, N.J., and Washington, with officials saying there is still good reason for alarm.
"I think it's wrong and plain irresponsible to suggest that it was based on old information," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said of the heightened warning.
In an appearance in New York, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge responded to questions about whether election-year politics had played a part in determining how and when the intelligence was released.
"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security," Ridge said. "The detail, the sophistication, the thoroughness of this information, if you had access to it, you'd say we did the right thing. Government should let the public know about situations like this. It's not about politics. It's about confidence in government telling you when they get the information."
In addition to the surveillance activity, detailed in case reports uncovered late last week from computer disks in Pakistan, a senior intelligence official said "very current and recent activity on the part of al-Qaida" has left little doubt that "al-Qaida is moving toward the execution stage of attacks here in the homeland."
Among other things, one official disclosed Tuesday that one recent intelligence report pointed to a possible attack "in August or September."
That shifting tone might prove frustrating to the public, providing little guide to assessing the gravity of threat information whose details remain shrouded in intelligence reports not available to anyone outside the highest ranks of government.
A senior White House official who mentioned the new stream of intelligence in an interview refused to say anything more about its source or content. The official said it had not been publicly disclosed out of concern that such a step could compromise offensive intelligence and law enforcement operations in the United States and around the world.
Officials would not describe those operations, but said they were meant to disrupt a possible plot.
But senior federal intelligence and law enforcement officials also described the intelligence as important. They said it had reached the White House last Friday, and strongly reinforced the sense of alarm prompted by the separate flow of information that was arriving at the same time through the CIA from Pakistan, and that it was based on information culled from seized computer disks that contained detailed case reports of reconnaissance conducted on buildings in Manhattan, Newark and Washington in 2000 and 2001.
In providing new details about those case reports, senior government officials described them as discrete documents, each at least 20 pages long and devoted to a particular target. Perhaps most intriguing, they said, was that the reports were written in "perfect English."
The author of the reports was "obviously someone who has lived an extensive period of time in the West, exceptionally professional, exceptionally meticulous," a senior intelligence official said. "Anyone who thinks that these terrorists are a bunch of ne'er-do-wells, if 9/11 didn't convince them, these case reports would convince them."
Though the case reports do appear to have been completed prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as Bush administration officials first acknowledged Monday, some of the computer files appear to have been updated or accessed more recently, including a computer file containing a photograph of a building that had been modified in January of this year, a senior White House official said. The official also said there was reason to believe that people associated with al-Qaida who are still at large would have had access to the reports.
The officials also acknowledged that they have not been able to assess the significance of the fact that the computer file had been modified. Such a modification could have meant that the file was updated with newly taken surveillance photographs, but might simply have meant that the file had recently been opened and closed.
The White House officials spoke in a lengthy interview arranged at the request of The New York Times.
The computer disks containing the case reports were linked to Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a 25-year-old Pakistani computer engineer who was arrested by Pakistani authorities July 13, American officials confirmed.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 12:43:05 PM ||
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OT, noob question.
Is Dan Darling the dude that is now interning with some *evil* neo-con thinktank? I think I saw the infopost on windsofchange?
EFL - I think this guy slept through West Point course work concerning the UCMJ.
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Muslim Army chaplain Capt. James Yee, frustrated by a lack of an apology for being jailed at Guantanamo Bay on espionage charges that were later dropped, is resigning from the military, his civilian attorney said on Tuesday. "The government owes him an apology," Yee's attorney Eugene Fidell told Reuters.
In a letter to the Army saying he would resign in January, Yee said Army officials had tarnished his reputation with bogus charges and prevented him from repairing it by slapping a gag order on him.
"Those unfounded allegations -- which were leaked to the media -- irreparably injured my personal and professional reputation and destroyed my prospects for a career in the United States Army," Yee wrote in the letter, excerpts of which were provided by the lawyer to Reuters.
"I have waited for months for an apology for the treatment to which I have been subjected, but none has been forthcoming. I have been unable even to obtain my personal effects from Guantanamo Bay, despite repeated requests," Yee wrote. I am forced to rebuild my library of porn from scratch.
Yee has been stationed at Ft. Lewis in Washington state since the Army dropped all charges against him, including noncriminal convictions of committing adultery and storing pornography on a government computer, which were dismissed by Southern Chief Gen. James Hill in April. "Dropped the charges" is not really and accurate description of what happened to him.
-snip-
Yee will not speak publicly until he leaves the Army, Fidell said, citing a document he received at Ft. Lewis "which reminds him if he makes any adverse criticism of U.S. military policy, it could lead to disciplinary action." It's sad that he would have to be reminded of one of the basic tenants of his COMMISSION AS AN OFFICER!
"That order is clearly intended to chill his free speech rights and having been incarcerated once already, he doesn't feel like tempting fate," Fidell said.
Yee is working toward a master's degree in international relations and considering following up with doctoral studies, Fidell said.
"He is probably going to head back home to New Jersey when he is out of the Army," Fidell said.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 12:57:54 AM ||
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What a mess! Feel sorry for the guy, he wasn't the evil mole I was led to believe.
#2
The Army did not cover itself with glory on this one and seems to keep digging the hole deeper.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
08/04/2004 8:53 Comments ||
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I look forward to when he gets out of the military and "the gag order" is removed. Then, I'm sure some of those charges which have been "dismissed" will be reevaluated and we'll get a better idea of just what really happened.
These guys never seem to get the concept of "better to remain silent" if guilty, and it all starts to unravel the minute they attempt to prove just how mean everyone was to them.
#4
I can't take any of this demanding an apology shit seriously. What's done is done, and no apology is going to undo it. Don't like it? Well, life's a bitch sometimes.
-snip- characterization of how Alaoudi's role as a player throughout DC politics due to his disguise as a "Muslim Moderate."
The Alamoudi story points to the urgent need that the FBI, White House, Congress, State Department, Pentagon, and Homeland Security - as well as other institutions, public and private, throughout the West - not continue guilelessly to assume that smooth-talking Islamists are free of criminal, extremist, or terrorist ties. Or, as I put it in late 2001: "Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers."
Militant Islam is the enemy; even its slickest adherents need to be viewed as such.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 4:02:18 AM ||
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Here here! Anybody read Belmont Club today? Those islamic bastards are ready to go jihad red! Arroyo has really screwed the pooch.
The New Yorker printed this, via LGF. A Lefty or 2 might be paying attention:
...For much of Spain's modern history, the organization that has defined its experience with terror is ETA, which stands for Euzkadi Ta Azkatasuna (Basque Homeland and Liberty). ETA, which was founded in 1959, has a clear political goal: it wants to set up a separate nation, comprising the Basque provinces, in northern Spain, and parts of southern France. Although ETA has killed some eight hundred people, it has developed a reputation for targeting, almost exclusively, politicians, security officials, and journalists. Over the years, the terrorists and the Spanish police have come to a rough understanding about the rules of engagement. "They don't commit attacks on the working class, and they always call us before an explosion, telling us where the bomb is situated," an intelligence official in the Spanish National Police told me recently in Madrid. "If they place a bomb in a backpack on a train, there will be a cassette tape saying, 'This bag is going to explode. Please leave the train.'" And so on March 11th, when the first reports arrived of mass casualties resulting from explosions on commuter trains, Spanish intelligence officials assumed that ETA had made an appalling mistake.
SNIP - It's a long one.
One of the most sobering pieces of information to come out of the investigation of the March 11th bombings is that the planning for the attacks may have begun nearly a year before 9/11. In October, 2000, several of the suspects met in Istanbul with Amer Azizi, who had taken the nom de guerre Othman Al AndalusiOthman of Al Andalus. Azizi later gave the conspirators permission to act in the name of Al Qaeda, although it is unclear whether he authorized money or other assistanceor, indeed, whether Al Qaeda had much support to offer. In June, Italian police released a surveillance tape of one of the alleged planners of the train bombings, an Egyptian housepainter named Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, who said that the operation "took me two and a half years." Ahmed had served as an explosives expert in the Egyptian Army. It appears that some kind of attack would have happened even if Spain had not joined the Coalitionor if the invasion of Iraq had never occurred.
Muslims worldwide fear Christians are waging a "war against Islam," Malaysia's leader said yesterday, blaming the campaign against terror on increased tensions between the religions.
In an emotional speech to the World Council of Churches, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the events that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks in America, including the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, "have all taken religious undertones".
He told representatives from Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches: "In the eyes of many Muslims, events in the last three years seem to lend credence to the view that the Christian West is, once again, at war with the Muslim world."
It was the first time that a prime minister in this moderate, predominantly Muslim country - which chairs the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference - was addressing an exclusively Christian audience, Malaysian officials said.
Abdullah begged Christians and Muslims to "work together for the sake of peace and justice".
"We cannot stand before a compassionate God while there is so much we have left undone because we are disunited," he said, wiping away tears as his voice began to crack.
The 56-year-old, Geneva-based church council groups 342 member churches in about 120 countries. It aims to promote dialogue and understanding among Christian denominations and works co-operatively with the Vatican, although the Roman Catholic Church is not a member.
Abdullah said there was "less trust and goodwill between Islam and Christianity than there was a few years ago". "The current global scenario has unfortunately burnt bigotry into the collective conscience of our respective communities," Abdullah said.
"Many Muslims the world over feel that the war against terror is a war against Islam, and no amount of reassurance from the West that it is not will convince them otherwise."
Abdullah stressed that terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam represent a "misguided" minority, who are frustrated over how Western powers tackle Muslim grievances such as the Palestinian struggle.
Religions should not be allowed to be torn apart by extremists, he said. "If we fail to do so, we risk having our religion hijacked by those who promote hatred and violence. We risk ceding ground to those who do not see the need to live in peace with other religions," he said.
"We cannot allow our religions to be torn apart by extremist impulses," he said.
He said the fact that Christian leaders from around the world were gathered in a Muslim country (Malaysia) was a a message in itself. "It is a powerful statement against the rhetoric of hate and distrust that is so prevalent in the world today."
The church council is conducting a 10-day meeting that ends on Friday in Malaysia to discuss theological issues and inter-religious dialogue.It launched a series of discussions between Christian and Muslim leaders in October 2002.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 2:20:47 AM ||
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"Many Muslims the world over feel that the war against terror is a war against Islam, and no amount of reassurance from the West that it is not will convince them otherwise."
We Westerners have not believed our leaders either.
"We cannot allow our religions to be torn apart by extremist impulses," he said.
I think the worry is about the extremists in one particular religion, bucko.
Posted by: rex ||
08/04/2004 2:28 Comments ||
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#2
I think the guy needs eyeglasses! US war-planes were dropping roses on Afghan and Iraqi children.
Bush was speaking the truth when said that this is a crusader war and I do not see what is shameful about it.
Posted by: Chris ||
08/04/2004 2:43 Comments ||
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#3
What other 'religion' mandates it's followers smash planes into very tall buildings, in the name of jihad, or board city buses and self detonate slaughtering passengers, again in the name of jihad, or drive a car loaded with explosives directly into a church services, that's jihad demonstrated to the entire world?
Some would term this madness a cult of death driven fanatics. They would be more than correct.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 2:48 Comments ||
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#4
The honourable, tearful PM almost had me in tears as well when I read his appeal for unity between Christians and Muslims.
Apparently there are about 1,2 billion Muslims burdening our planet. (That is, one-fifth of the entire population). Out of the whole bunch, I think I've heard about a dozen speak out against the terror committed in their name. But let's be generous and put the total at about 100 who have in fact spoken out.
That leaves 1 199 999 900 Muslims who are:
*Terrorists
*Supporters of terror
*Indifferent to terror
*Unaware of terror
*Against terror, but too scared to speak up.
#6
world council of churches should feel right at home in a totalitarian environment...They're commie revisionist theologian apologists from way back, and haven't changed a bit.
Yeah....all you Christian terrorist groups should quit blowing up buildings and buses full of kids and shit.
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
08/04/2004 4:47 Comments ||
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#7
On the one hand you have a group of people who, in the name of their God, have done all kinds of good for people around the world. Producing an economic system able to sustain their citizens. A group of people who will share their Lord and Savior with you, as they feed you and your starving neighbors, never force feeding it to anyone.
On the other hand you have a group of people who, in the name of their god, have done all kinds of evil things to people around the world. People who preach nothing but pure hate. People who have produced nothing but chaos for 1000 years. People who will force you to convert to their religion(islam), or die.
By the way......Here in Texas the word islam translates to mean: That little bit of white stuff on the top of chickenshit. The thing about that little bit of white stuff is......it's chickenshit too.
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
08/04/2004 5:20 Comments ||
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#8
"Some would term this madness a cult of death driven fanatics. They would be more than correct."
That would be me.
Islam will become a religion, and not just a death cult, when "submission to the will of God" no longer means "submission to the will of man."
Christianity made that transition centuries ago. Islam needs to follow suit. And they need to do it VERY quickly.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
08/04/2004 6:07 Comments ||
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#9
"On the one hand you have a group of people who, in the name of their God, have done all kinds of good for people around the world."
Yeah, it was all kinds of good when the female mathematician Hypatia was torn from her chariot, stripped naked, dragged to the church and subsequently her flesh was scrapped from her bones with oyster-shells and her "quivering limbs delivered to the flames".
#11
"We cannot stand before a compassionate God while there is so much we have left undone because we are disunited," he said, wiping away tears as his voice began to crack.
"The CEO of Rising Star, Kujaatele Kweli, told Local 6 News that they have tried to create an office that accommodates anybody's religion -- not just Islam.
"And you have an ecumenical philosophy," Holfeld said.
" Yes," Kweli replied.
"(Then) shouldn't you be able to accommodate all faiths in the same lunch room?" Holfeld asked.
"We do, we can," Kweli said.
"But you've dismissed one of your employees for eating pork in the lunch room," Holfeld said.
"Yes, pork is considered unclean," Kweli said.
The Koran forbids Muslims from eating pork. And according to Kweli, Morales and every employee at the company is advised of the no pork policy.
"Our point of view is to respect the laws of the land and the laws of the land as I understand it is to the accommodate people's right to practice their religions if you can," Kweli said.
"Even if it impacts other people?" Holfeld asked.
"Well, it always impacts other people," Kweli replied.
This exchange is a trip. It seems to have made sense to Kweli and it seems to have made his point. Somehow. Maybe. Kinda. Wotta classic Moolim 'tard.
#16
Aris
I'll see you on Hypatia, and raise you Marcantonio Brigadino
"Bragadino arranged for peaceful terms of surrender, but the Turks - enraged by the losses they had suffered while taking the city - started torturing and killing Bragadino's soldiers. When Bragadino objected, Mustafa ordered that his ears and nose be cut off and that he be skinned alive. The skin was stuffed with straw and mounted on a wagon, and legend has it that Bragadino lived long enough to behold his own gruesome double paraded through the streets."
#17
Funny Mr G. Chris has been doing a lousy job of it though.
Chris, we drop bombs on children in the name of the lord. Killing children is 21st century man. Stripping Hypatia was only the beginning. Wait till we get a hold of the peaceful jihadie children from around the world. Think of Disney's "It's a small world" ride. Do that ride while you nap BTW.
#18
Tipper, that's true ofcourse but I never claimed that the Turks (or Muslims in general) were "a group of people who, in the name of their God, have done all kinds of good for people around the world" the way Halfass Pete claimed for Christians.
#19
"Abdullah stressed that terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam represent a "misguided" minority, who are frustrated over how Western powers tackle Muslim grievances such as the Palestinian struggle."
No, as it turns out the moderate muslims are actually the misguided majority as Jihad and the killing of all who do not believe is a fundamental pillar of true Islam.
AD 624 "Muhammad broke with his Jewish supporters because they refused to recognize him as a prophet and adopt Isalm. He chose now to emphasize the Arabness of the new religion and has his followers face Mecca when praying instead of Jerusalem.
In the end, all the Jews were either banished or executed."
Posted by: jojo the idiot circus boy ||
08/04/2004 13:54 Comments ||
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#20
Where oh where to begin?
Abdullah said there was "less trust and goodwill between Islam and Christianity than there was a few years ago". "The current global scenario has unfortunately burnt bigotry into the collective conscience of our respective communities," Abdullah said.
"The current global scenario" has burnt in a distinct and valid mistrust of all Islamic extremists and those who do not vociferously denounce them, especially those from among the extremist's own faith. Bigotry has nothing to do with it. Maggots flying laden passenger planes into skyscrapers and committing other heinous artocities most certainly does.
"Many Muslims the world over feel that the war against terror is a war against Islam, and no amount of reassurance from the West that it is not will convince them otherwise."
"Many Muslims" also seem to have a really difficult time thinning their ranks of extremists and supporters of terrorism. That is what's driving the perception that the war on terror is becoming a war on Islam. Islam's inaction is causing an equal and opposite reaction from those populations who are being murdered by Islamists.
Abdullah stressed that terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam represent a "misguided" minority, who are frustrated over how Western powers tackle Muslim grievances such as the Palestinian struggle.
Big newsflash, that "misguided minority" and any of their frustrations are going to destroy Islam from within. These fanatics had better be explicitly identified to corresponding national security organs by Muslims dwelling within those countries or Islam will be dismantled as a terrorist organization. No options.
Religions should not be allowed to be torn apart by extremists, he said. "If we fail to do so, we risk having our religion hijacked by those who promote hatred and violence. We risk ceding ground to those who do not see the need to live in peace with other religions," he said.
The ball is squarely in Islam's court. Pretending that there is no rhinoceros in the living room just isn't working for those not blinded by Islam's dogma.
"We cannot allow our religions to be torn apart by extremist impulses," he said.
THEN DON'T ALLOW IT! Instead, a wink and a nod with a frequent smirk thrown in is all that's being shown the terrorists. Keep it up and Islam will be an odd historical footnote and nothing else.
#2
"Europeans say Iran's a complex place; different people want different things.
Ah,so unlike anywhere else, so do nothing. Perhaps the some of the former Eastern block may go in. If there is still money to be made the French & German whores will pay any sanctions lip service so long as it doesn't infringe on thier ability to set up back door deals.
I wonder about the Brits though.
This is just pointless squawking anyway, the Israeli's will smoke the reactors before they go online whether the EU likes it or not.
#3
Iran: U.S. Vows Tough Stance On Tehran, But Will Europe Follow?
A few possible answers:
1.) Most importantly: WHO GIVES A SH!T?
2.) Europe might after each of them has their own 9-11.
3.) None of this will matter to the Israelis.
4.) All of this will be moot if the mullahs have already had their @sses blown to he!! in a handbasket because of their meddling and support of terrorism.
 Lebanon's chief prosecutor has issued a summons for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to appear for questioning over the disappearance of a Lebanese cleric.
Moussa Sadr, the spiritual leader of Lebanon's Shia community, disappeared while visiting Libya in 1978.
Yeah. That'll happen.
They can then hold him in contempt, just like we do.
Mr Sadr's son filed a suit in Beirut last month against Mr Gaddafi and 17 other Libyans. Lebanese officials say they have new information about people allegedly involved in Mr Sadr's disappearance. Two of Mr Sadr's assistants, Sheik Mohammed Yacoub and Abbas Badreddine, disappeared with him. Their wives joined Sadreddine Sadr in filing the complaint. A lawyer for the families said the suit contained "claims that clarify that some people have taken part in this crime".
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2004 11:48:46 PM ||
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#1
cool. Another excuse for Mo's Fembots to be photo'd on the net ;-)~
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 0:40 Comments ||
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#2
I hope they remembered to scribe the bloody pentagram on the floor to keep him harnessed during the proceedings.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 20:18 Comments ||
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More financial institutions than previously disclosed may be at risk of attack, and an al-Qaida operative has told British intelligence that the group's target date is early September, intelligence sources said yesterday. The operative, described as "credible" by British intelligence, told his debriefers that the attack would take place "60 days before the presidential election" on Nov. 2, according to a former senior National Security Council official. On Sept. 2 President George W. Bush is expected to address the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden. Counterterrorism officials are analyzing data from a computer seized in Pakistan last month to see if financial institutions in addition to the five disclosed Sunday are at risk of attack, U.S. officials said yesterday.
The former senior National Security Council official said he was told by British intelligence that they are interrogating an al-Qaida operative who confirmed that financial institutions are being targeted and that an attack was planned for September. And a U.S. official familiar with the ongoing analysis of the computer said, "There are references to other things [buildings]" in the al-Qaida computer's data, including a picture of the Bank of America building in San Francisco. "There is mention of other places."
The laptop computer was seized on July 25 following the arrest after a 12-hour gun battle of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who is wanted for his alleged role in the 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Pakistan's information minister confirmed to The Associated Press yesterday that e-mail data retrieved from Ghailani's computer indicated planned attacks in both the United States and Britain. A British official said that the threat to the U.K. was not specific.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 12:37:15 AM ||
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#1
I was just listening to a guy named Paul Williams on KSFO here in San Francisco. This guy is a terrorism expert, consultant to the FBI, etc and author of the book Osama's Revenge--The Next 9/11: What the Media and the Government Haven't Told You. He said that Osama has 7 nukes spread around the US and is planning on exploding them sometime in the next few weeks. That is a hairy claim. Very scary!
Posted by: remote man ||
08/04/2004 12:28 Comments ||
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#2
He said that Osama has 7 nukes spread around the US and is planning on exploding them sometime in the next few weeks.
I doubt the nuke info is correct. Seems to me the Islamofascists would have already used them if they were actually able to smuggle them into the country. G-d help us if he's right, though.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/04/2004 12:36 Comments ||
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#3
I can't see these idiots waiting if they had even one stashed someplace. They'd light it off immediately.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/04/2004 12:39 Comments ||
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#4
i would have to disagree - islam teaches patience and it was 8 years between the first attack on the towers and 9-11...this is really scary stuff and should not be taken lightly...
if the govt does have credible evidence an announcment should be made.
if we are attacked with nukes then iran will be destroyed, damascus, north korea , northwest pakistan ,medina , northern sudan.... spread the pain to all.. and not with suitcase nukes but with our largest yeild weapons.
and just maybe with this knowledge the govt's that support these asshats would move to stop any planned operations.
we need to forget about open borders and love they neighbor and get a little midevil on our enemies. with all of our self-censure about some panties on prisoners head and dem politics about wmd's we look very weak to our enemies.
Posted by: Dan ||
08/04/2004 13:00 Comments ||
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#5
Dan, I agree and I think that our gov't would not take this lightly if they believed this threat to be real/imminent. The waiting/patience issue runs into the technical hurdle of weapon maintenance that RB'ers with the knowledge of such things have reviewed extensively. It doesn't sound as though that maintenance is easy at all and doing same on multiple weapons in mutiple locations would be well nigh impossible without significant support (which would make detection easier). Both make me sceptical of this guy's opinion. Maybe I just don't want to really believe it.
Posted by: remote man ||
08/04/2004 13:56 Comments ||
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#6
Remote - totally concur but we do not have luxury of debate about maintenance issues (which are well founded and as you stated, reviewed extensively hear at rb). money is a mover and shaker and just what if binny was able (either through aq or a proxy) to lure fomer soviet nuke scientist into their organization? if true the maintenace agruement is thrown out the door. and there are many reports to this affect. are they valid, dunno know, but if they are it becomes trully scary. all i can say is the dems should of listened to nunn and lugar! when they controlled both the pres and the congress in the eary 90's when this issue could of/ should of been dealt with.
Posted by: Dan ||
08/04/2004 14:24 Comments ||
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#7
WEll, isnt this something...and here I just made arrangements to go to NYC for my birthday Sept `11..yeah, 9-11. I've been there every year since 2001....my wife is a LOT concerned about this...and I dont blame her really, but hell...what are ya gonna do? Not go? Go? No answer to this one...you either do or you dont...and how do you decide? I have my tickets and we have hotel reservations...and intend to be there that whole week...including 9-11....
Now, would you go up there knowing this? would you feel comfortable walking the streets of NY on Sept 11? We're going....but will I regret it? Hope not...wish us luck...
Posted by: Live to ride ||
08/04/2004 15:47 Comments ||
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#8
I think the Reps and the Dems can share blame on failing to deal with this one, but disagree that a former soviet nuke scientist throws the maintenance argument out the door. You need more equipment than a screwdriver and a set of gap wrenches to do that work right - hard to get, hard to hide and probably another set of maintenace headaches all its own. Given that I work two blocks from some of the targets of the week, maybe I just don't want to think too hard about this, either.
#9
This guy Paul Williams has been blitzing all media outlets promoting his new book. Personally, I think he is using the proven Jack Van Impe formula of "fear for profit". (FYI: JVI is a televangelist who reads newspaper articles and relates them to scripture. He's been doing this for years and it's made him a multi-millionaire). Mr. Williams is first and foremost a Capitalist, as I'm sure first thing he does in the morning is run outside to his mailbox to collect his royalty checks before terrifying listeners on another media outlet. Just my .02.
Posted by: Mike from Philly ||
08/29/2004 21:42 Comments ||
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#10
One broken headlight...
One drive away without paying for gas...
One pissed off loud-mouthed stateside ex-wife...
That's all it takes to unravel an operation. I think the worst Al Qaeda can pull off is to kill other Moose Limbs and then in Eurostan.
And I think Oasama's next big move is when what is left of his remains comes off the wall of a Toro Bora cave.
From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
In a commentary on 1 August regarding the decision by the Brussels-based Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to halt all of its medical programs in Afghanistan after five of its staff members were killed in June, The Kabul Times praised MSF's work and urged it to return to Afghanistan According to the daily, the culprits arrested in connection with the attack on the doctors were "released as a result of wheeling and dealing by the local warlords who are increasingly exerting influence [over] unarmed officials." Calling MSF workers a "group of devoted humanitarian servants who have abandoned their comfortable life at home and save the lives" of Afghans, The Kabul Times urged the organization to return to Afghanistan "as soon as the security situation improves." The daily recommends that Karzai award medals to the MSF workers in Afghanistan for their service helping Afghans.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/04/2004 11:50:56 PM ||
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From the Pakistan Christian Post
A famous Scholar and Vatican-decorated Pakistani Christian Rev. Khalid Soomro who engaged himself in volunteer services to mange PCP Karachi Bureau office is not safe in Pakistan. Muslim extremist group ... set his house on fire on July 27. The family members of Mr. Soomro informed PCP about threatening e-mails and calls to Mr. KM Soomro, which have pushed him to hidings in Pakistan.
One of the e-mail reads as:
Mr.Khalid Mansoor Soomro
I am editor of Zarb-e-Momin a large weekly-circulated newspaper. I come to know that you become kafir (infidel) and left Islam, and you are working against Islam in an Islamic country. This is too much.
Behave yourself and repent and again enter into Islam, otherwise, our youths will be forced to make you human being .I have read your testimonies and know about your activities. This is the first and last warning to you, your family and your whole network. If I heard any negative activity on your end then we will be on right path to punish you.
Your father
Haji Abdul Rasheed
For our readers information this Zarb-e-Momin weekly is published by Al Radheed Trust in Pakistan and on evidence of involvement of this Trust with Al Qaida Terror Network, the trust was banned but its publications are still reaching in market. The PCP correspondent from Faisalabad Rev. Stephen Nazir is also receiving such threaten mails and calls from this group and in hiding in Pakistan. The leaders of Pakistan Christian Congress have demanded iron hands against culprits and safety of Rev. Soomro and Rev. Nazir by the government of Pakistan.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/04/2004 11:04:22 PM ||
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Via FARK.
Angry rocker Henry Rollins is heading off to Honduras to entertain troops -- but he won't be singing. Rollins plans to give a spoken word performance to the soldiers. 1) My buddy went to one of these four years ago at the Berklee Performance Center. To quote the 'Men On Film' guys - HATED IT!!!
2) As noted here some time ago, there's an uncanny resemblance between Rollins and the guy playing the soldier in the DOOM game. Coincidence?
#2
Raj, I miss the "Men on..." skits--they were hilarious!
This spoken word dealie sounds like a nightmare!
Haven't our troops given enough without putting them through this as "entertainment?"
#1
I do not think this article fully addresses the reasons why the kidnappings are continuing. The author neglects some vital issues and dresses up others with wishful thinking.
Just as the Saudis turned tough when their own civilians were targeted in bombings, Iraqis would be expected to take more than a passing interest in kidnappings if they hit their own people, some experts say.
The only problem being that the Saudis have not "turned tough" in the face of internal violence against Saudi citizens. The level of collaboration with terrorist elements by Saudi security has made them an international laughing stock.
The Iraqis have yet to make any substantial hue and cry about how many of their fellow citizens are routinely being blown to bits by the insurgents. Far too many Iraqis refuse to accept that America is not the Great Satan and therefore regard all who oppose Iraq's liberators as heroes. This is the issue's core.
"But if they start to kidnap Iraqis, then I think we could see things turn quickly - just as some of their other attacks on Iraqis are starting to backfire."
Until there is massive retaliation by citizens, in the form of exposing perpetrators and reporting of clandestine activities, nothing being done by the insurgents will "backfire."
"The fact is that the Iraqi people really didn't mind too much when Americans were the ones dying in these kinds of incidents," he says, referring to the gruesome burnings and beheading of American contract workers earlier this year. "But just as we saw the Saudi people react when attacks were suddenly being perpetrated against their own people, I think we'd see the same reaction from Iraqis."
Once more: No extreme reaction to the bombings equals no extreme reaction to kidnapping of Iraqis.
They note that bombers and kidnappers have shown no willingness to shy away from particular nationalities or religious populations.
That is because a significant portion of the insurgents are not Iraqi. They have zero compunctions about attacking any targets of opportunity. Until the influx of foreign fighters is somehow interdicted, nothing much is going to change. Military actions against offending neighbor countries who are purposefully recruiting and arming these insurgents probably will be required in the absence of action by the Iraqis themselves.
As radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said in a sermon last Friday condemning the Saudi proposal, "Even if they are Islamic and friendly, if they come to Iraq that means they are cooperating with the occupiers. Thus they will be considered occupiers, too."
And it is precisely this sort of mentality that drives this entire problem. Sadr perfectly embodies the thankless anti-American mentality that quite simply needs its @ss kicked into submission. No amount of persuasion or enticement will alter this caustic mindset. A solid beatdown is needed to demonstrate the undesirable ramifications of maintaining such hostile attitudes.
#3
The kidnappings are the same as Saddam's use of SCUDs in 1991. Nothing else seems to be working and this gets a lot of press - it won't stop until they're dead.
The virgins are calling you," Mohamed Atta wrote reassuringly to his fellow hijackers just before 9/11. It has long been a staple of Islam that Muslim martyrs will go to paradise and marry 72 black-eyed virgins. But a growing body of rigorous scholarship on the Koran points to a less sensual paradise - and, more important, may offer a step away from fundamentalism and toward a reawakening of the Islamic world.
Some Islamic theologians protest that the point was companionship, never heavenly sex. Others have interpreted the pleasures quite explicitly; one, al-Suyuti, wrote that sex in paradise is pretty much continual and so glorious that "were you to experience it in this world you would faint." But now the same tools that historians, linguists and archaeologists have applied to the Bible for about 150 years are beginning to be applied to the Koran. The results are explosive.
The Koran is beautifully written, but often obscure. One reason is that the Arabic language was born as a written language with the Koran, and there's growing evidence that many of the words were Syriac or Aramaic. For example, the Koran says martyrs going to heaven will get "hur," and the word was taken by early commentators to mean "virgins," hence those 72 consorts. But in Aramaic, hur meant "white" and was commonly used to mean "white grapes."
Continued on Page 49
#1
"...and that future terrorist recruits will be promised not 72 black-eyed virgins, but just a plateful of grapes."
I guess it will come as some shock when they suddenly appear in hell with a bunch of raisins.
Posted by: jojo the idiot circus boy ||
08/04/2004 16:08 Comments ||
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#2
As a former vintner, there may be a little more to this... I have also seen reference to the finest wines being available in the Islamic paradise. Given some of the European influence in various parts of their world, and with the translation meaning white grapes or raisins, what comes to mind as the finest of wines made from "white raisined grapes" is the German TBA (TrokenBeerenAuslese). These are only produced in certain years when conditions are right, from botrytised ("Noble Rot", kind of a raisined effect) grapes that concentrates the sugars and acids. A TBA is made using individual grapes, and back in the day they may have determined that 72 grapes would make a glass of wine. It is to die for - but only as a figure of speech, not quite literally, and not quite in the same ballpark as 72 virgins for eternity.
soooo.... can we end this Islamic nonsense? I'll send a few cases of TBA and they can get drunk off their asses and feel paradise right here and now. And go to work tomorrow with a headache like the rest of us.
Posted by: former winemaker ||
08/04/2004 19:55 Comments ||
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#3
Grapes! You're giving me grapes!? I blew myself to shit, for friggin' GRAPES!!! Allahu Akabar, MY ASS!!!
Posted by: Abdullah Muhammad Jihadi Jihadi ||
08/04/2004 20:15 Comments ||
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#4
I remember seeing this posted on the site before, but when I searched I couldn't find it. Glad to see it again; means I wasn't just having a dream where I was searching Rantburg and came across this article (I love this place, but I've better things to do in my dreams!).
Funniest thing I've seen in a long time, in a tragically ironic sort of way. Serves the bastards right that all they get is drunk. Although, on the other hand, is it established by Muslim "scholars" that those virgins are young, sexy women, or is it assumed? I might be more in favor of the "virgins" interpretation if it involved guys and old hags being given to these jihadis. The possibilities would literally make it hell . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
08/04/2004 20:29 Comments ||
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#5
There's an off-chance that I ran across this and confused the two; it's been a while.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
08/04/2004 20:34 Comments ||
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#6
I blew up a bus and all I got was 72 raisins and this lousy t-shirt!
Posted by: Dar ||
08/04/2004 21:33 Comments ||
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#7
Speaking of grapes as in rasins ..look at Yassir's face!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 21:48 Comments ||
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#8
Bad premise in the article: if the Islamist terrorist suicidal asshats go anywhere it'll be straight to Hell.
The Turkish Exporters Assembly (TÃM) Chairman Oguz Satici said on Tuesday that Turkey is a strong country in the region and would not give in to terrorism.
Satici said that such terror threats and attacks would not scare Turkey.
The recent wave of attacks and violence against foreign workers and drivers in Iraq increased concerns among Turkish businessmen and companies operating in Iraq.
The International Transporters' Association (UND) has decided to stop carrying goods and supplies to US forces in Iraq following a string of kidnappings and the killing of Turkish worker Murat YÃŒce by Iraqi militants.
TIM chairman condemned the terror attacks against Turkish drivers and workers. Satici however said that some Turkish transporters would continue to carry goods Iraq despite the decision of the UND. "Those who accept the risk will stay in the Iraq market."
Satici said that the terror aims to scare people and create chaotic situations. "They try to drive people into a different psychological state.
"We are looking at the recent situation from this perspective. We will maintain our existence in the region without ignoring risk reality," Satici said.
Turkey is aiming to increase its exports to Iraq to $1.8 billion by the end of 2004.
Iraqi Transportation Minister Al-Erris had said in a statement that heavily armed Iraqi police would accompany foreign truck drivers in Iraq due to security concerns.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/04/2004 1:45:50 PM ||
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#1
To paraphrase the Islamists: "We love making money more than you love death."
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) - Pfc. Lynndie England was often sloppy at her paperwork job at Abu Ghraib prison because of illicit, late-night visits to the part of the facility where detainees were abused, her supervisor testified Wednesday.
The testimony by Spc. Matthew Bolinger at a pretrial hearing continued the government's theme of portraying England as one of a handful of out-of-control Army reservists who took it upon themselves to photograph detainees in humiliating poses at the prison near Baghdad.
Bolinger said England was repeatedly disciplined for sneaking into the prison's fortified "hard site" to visit her boyfriend, Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr., who is also charged in the case and is the father of the child England is carrying. "Her performance was not so good," Bolinger said. "She was sneaking out in the middle of the night, going to the hard site."
Bolinger said England also was disciplined after being caught in bed several times with Graner beginning in July 2003. He said authorities tried several different punishments to keep her away from Graner and his part of the prison, including restricting her to her quarters and requiring that she be escorted any time she left the unit's headquarters building.
Just what I thought, a cronic troublemaker.
Bolinger, who supervised England in her job processing prison paperwork, testified by phone from Fort Lee, Va., where the 372nd Military Police Company, based on Cresaptown, Md., is stationed since returning from Iraq.
On Tuesday, Army investigators testified that the naked detainees shown with England in human pyramids and tethered to a leash were common criminals of little or no value to interrogators - abused "for fun." The prosecution's case has been aimed at rebutting a defense claim that England was acting on orders from higher-ups to break down prisoners for questioning. The hearing, expected to last through the week, will determine whether a court-martial goes forward against England on 13 counts of abusing detainees and six counts stemming from possession of sexually explicit photos. The maximum possible sentence is 38 years in prison.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 1:36:34 PM ||
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#1
Don't take this the wrong way, but I give about as much a shit about this as about that Kobe clown and what's-his-name (Peterson?).
Which is to say, NONE.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/04/2004 13:57 Comments ||
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#2
except Kobe, Scott Peterson, et al aren't being used as a crude club by the scumsucking NYTimes (and fellow travellers) to delegitimize our servicemen, their mission, their leadership and the C-I-C
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 14:11 Comments ||
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#3
Amen Frank! It seems as if the LLL press still believes that this was done on orders from President Bush and that the Gis eagerly complied. They are trying damn hard to drag the President into this mess as well. I feel sorry for this soldier because I can tell she was used by that guys (and others) as a prop in their sick games. I would have liked it if they had prosecuted from the top down but maybe she will cop a plea after the Article 32? If can get a plea from the prosecution that might save her some in the sentencing. I noticed that there were two other females indicted in this little âpyramidâ scheme, but I have heard or seen them. I care because they need to publicly make it clear that this is NOT SOP in the Military. We need to put these men/women away and closed this chapter
#4
I feel sorry for this soldier because I can tell she was used by that guys (and others) as a prop in their sick games.
She wasn't "used" -- she volunteered. She was REPEATEDLY ordered not to go into the cellblock, but she kept doing it. She deserves no sympathy at all.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/04/2004 15:04 Comments ||
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#5
As far as the LLL press goes, the facts be damned. Their mission is to drag GWB, Rummy, or anybody near the top into it in order to destroy the Bush presidency. They will whip the abu Grabass scandal until it is a dead horse, then the LLL will walk away and look for another horse to whip until IT dies. Just like the NYT is trying to discredit the Orange alerts in NYC and NJ because the intel is a couple of years old. Buildings don't change that fast, procedures do and need updates from time to time.
The LLL is as dangerous as al Q because they want to destroy our institutions or remake them in their own image. If that is allowed to happen, we become exposed for al Q attacks. And that's the fact, Jack.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/04/2004 15:10 Comments ||
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#6
Barb, I agree she may have been a willing participant but I have a sneaking suspicion that the as a PFC she was easily swayed. Being away from home and in that situation, she was probably easy prey for the sickos in the prison. Yes I know all about how she is supposed her own women, a âbigâ girl, and doesnât need a men. But I have seen MANY females that latched onto losers while stationed far from home. Only when they returned to the âreal worldâ did they realize what they did and whom they were with. I have a nagging feeling about this young women may be one of these types. The fact that she disobeyed a direct order to visit her âboyfriendâ tells me a lot about the boyfriend. If he cared about her he would have not allowed her access and what sicko takes pictures like that? Her boyfriend has a history of abuse and he is just the type (Quasi strong, stupid, and abusive) that these young women loved to latch onto.
#7
HERE is what happened. CIA is in a turf war with DOD. They are also in a real war with Muslim Male Murderbotsâ¢. Here they saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. They picked this misfit and credibility free loser, as well as a couple of others likewise. They stage the photo's and release them. The "scandal" "embarrasses" Rumsfeld/DOD/Bush and also humiliates the Muslim Male Murderbots⢠thus scaring off all but the most motivated dead enders. I think.
#9
#5 As far as the LLL press goes, the facts be damned. Their mission is to drag GWB, Rummy, or anybody near the top into it in order to destroy the Bush presidency. They will whip the abu Grabass scandal until it is a dead horse, then the LLL will walk away and look for another horse to whip until IT dies.
First off, it's legit to report on it. Yeah, sure, some of the people in the prison are jackasses and deserve it. Some people were actually innocent in there. Would you like it if you were arrested here and tortured like they were? And yes, they have every legit reason to try to link the Executive Branch to this because, lets face it, Rummy is definately a micromanager and he approved the "tougher" means of getting information out of people.
Just like the NYT is trying to discredit the Orange alerts in NYC and NJ because the intel is a couple of years old. Buildings don't change that fast, procedures do and need updates from time to time.
As for this, post an article that's anti-Orange Alert.
I have an article for you here: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/02/politics/02assess.html
I read through it, and it doesn't certainly seem anti-Orange Alert to me.
The LLL is as dangerous as al Q because they want to destroy our institutions or remake them in their own image. If that is allowed to happen, we become exposed for al Q attacks. And that's the fact, Jack.
Just because one questions the leadership, that doesn't mean that they hate our own country. That's just stupid. I love this country, but I don't support, nor do I believe in the President's views. Just because I call some--or all--of his policies into question means that I am more dangerous than Al Qaeda? I'm not the one flying airplanes into buildings like they are! Do you think I wanted to watch the attacks on September 11, 2001 or October 12, 2000 or August 7, 1998 or February 26, 1993? Do you think that I was celebrating these attacks like people in Palestinian areas or in Afghanistan were? Hell no. These were some of the most (and most certainly the most) despicable acts in the history of the world; how dare anyone imply that just because I'm a liberal I want to see terrorists flying into or blowing up buildings. That's really terrible that anyone would imply such a thing. The 'LLL' wants to destroy our institutions and make them into their image? You've got to be kidding me if you really think that. Why don't you prove it? And if that happens, we expose ourselves to Al Qaeda attacks? How do you prove that one?
Posted by: Liberals Are Patriotic Too, You Know ||
08/04/2004 20:30 Comments ||
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#10
Apparently Liberals are gullible too - drink deeply from the kool-aid trough, my patriotic friend lol
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 20:53 Comments ||
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#11
Pix show here pulling a train. Multiple times.
She was plain enough, but thought what was between her legs was gold plated since enough guys wanted some.
So she got carried away. And got busted.
Pay the price. As should all her compatriots in the Graner Gang. And the Chain of Command up to the commanding General of the Brigade should be given an Article 15 at a minimum.
#12
Old Spook, do you think she got pregnant on advice of counsel as a ploy for a reduced sentence, or do you thnk that she ran out of whatever birth control she was using?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 22:31 Comments ||
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#13
And yes, they have every legit reason to try to link the Executive Branch to this because, lets face it, Rummy is definately a micromanager and he approved the "tougher" means of getting information out of people.
The documents that show Rumsfeld approving "more stringent" forms of coercion involve such shocking tactics as shaving someone's beard or only giving them cold lunches. There is zero evidence tying anyone outside of Abu Ghraib to what happened inside Abu Ghraib.
And I'll believe liberals are patriotic when they stop whining about it and start ACTING like it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/05/2004 7:51 Comments ||
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Grumpy Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was marking his 75th birthday without ceremony or celebration in his West Bank headquarters yesterday, insiders said. Staff working at the leadership compound where Mr Arafat has been kept under effective house arrest for nearly three years said he ignored them when they uttered birthday greetings. Although surprise birthday parties have been held in the battered compound, known as the Muqataa, no such celebration was expected this year.
I'd like to send him something, maybe a gift-wrapped JDAM.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 1:07:39 PM ||
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#1
Wish 'em a happy birthday next week too. It's fun to play with minds. Happy 88th!
#2
Staff working at the leadership compound where Mr Arafat has been kept under effective house arrest for nearly three years said he ignored them when they uttered birthday greetings.
 Via DRUDGE, EFL
A Central Florida woman was fired from her job after eating "unclean" meat and violating a reported company policy that pork and pork products are not permissible on company premises, according to Local 6 News. Lina Morales was hired as an administrative assistant at Rising Star -- a Central Florida telecommunications company with strong Muslim ties, Local 6 News reported.
Florida seems to have a lot of muslim ties, doesn't it?
However, 10 months after being hired by Rising Star, religious differences led to her termination. Morales, who is Catholic, was warned about eating pizza with meat the Muslim faith considered "unclean.," Local 6 News reported. She was then fire for eating a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, according to the report.
Mmmmmmmmm, bacon!
"Are you telling me they fired you because you had something with ham on it?" Local 6 News reporter Mike Holfeld asked. "Yes," Morales said. Holfeld asked, "A pizza and a BLT sandwich?" "Yes," Morales said. Local 6 News obtained the termination letter that states she was fired for refusing to comply with company policy that pork and pork products are not permissible on company premises.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/04/2004 12:43:26 PM ||
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#1
I wouldn't last a week!
Monday - Ham/Cheese (1st Warning)
Tuesday - Balogna (2nd Warning)
Wednesday - Pepporoni Pizza (Termination)
Thursday - Hire Lawyer (CHA CHING$$$$)
#2
more reason to say "screw the f@#$!&*g mulsims"...if this is true it is very distrubing... they are only victims when it suits them
Posted by: Dan ||
08/04/2004 13:06 Comments ||
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#3
So where's the Anti Christian Litigants Union? Oh, that's right we're talking about Moose-Limbs...can't say anything bad now can we.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/04/2004 13:23 Comments ||
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#4
Protest idea: A whole buncha people eating BLTs in front of their office. For extra points, actually have some bacon frying up while you're there, and maybe have a nice big fan to blow the aroma towards their offices.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/04/2004 13:47 Comments ||
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#5
Sue them. Sue the ass off them. They are NOT pulling this sh*t here.
#6
R.C. Also have a few pet pot-bellied pigs onhand.
Since this is a 'telecommunications company' it is operating in the 'regulated' sector? Might be some auti-discriminiation regulation being violated.....
#7
Dont know much about muslim dietary laws, but taking treif (unclean) meat into a kosher kitchen or dining facility could render said dining facility unkosher.
If I had a workman in my house, Id certainly expect them NOT to bring pork in.
Business establishments run by Orthodox jews (well other than kosher restaurants, obviously) dont usually have kosher dining facilities on premises, IIUC, to avoid just this problem.
But I dont really see whats the issue. A christian fundamentalist can impose a conservative dress standard in a PRIVATE business he or she owns, no?
#8
not entirely LH - just like Catholic Hospitals being required to have abortion services in their employee health plans...
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 14:01 Comments ||
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#9
Most likely there was a disclamer that they had her sign when she was hired. If a lawsuit pops up they just need to present the disclamer and its over.
#11
According to Findlaw.com, it is illegal to discriminate in the workplace based on religious beliefs and practices.
*However*, I think there could be a good debate about "anti-religious" practices: that is, employees doing something not work related that is offensive to other persons religious beliefs and practices. Especially if there is an established company policy against it.
Now this could get interesting. For example, the sale of beef products by a 7-11 with Hindu employees, or a company with a *secular* objection, say vegetarianism, to eating meat of any kind on the premises.
There is some case law needed here.
#12
Well of course many Americans believe that Catholic hospitals SHOULDNT be so required. If you wish to change that law, go ahead and try to change it. And of course no one requires that Catholic hospitals offer abortions ON THEIR PROPERTY.
I for one see no real hardship involved in respecting your employers preferences about what food is brought into HIS property. But if you seriously want to push through an equal eating rights law, I suppose you could do so. That would probably result in NO EMPLOYEES being allowed to bring outside food in at muslim institutions, as is often the case with Jewish institutions.
#13
so Frank, if i ever hire you to do some work on my house, and you sign a contract that you WONT bring pork into my house, youre gonna bring it in anyway? And if I fire you, youre gonna organize a protest in front of my house??
As info - I once applied for an admin job at a Catholic hospital - I'll be damned if i would have brought a corned beef sandwich into the dining hall on a Friday during Lent, whatever the law said. But maybe thats just me.
#15
well that would weaken their case, though theres still the doctrine of employment at will. Basically your employer can fire you for ANYTHING they want - as long as its NOT your race, religion, gender, etc or your disability. Or to avoid paying your pension. Or to keep you from organizing a union. I think thats it. Still, I wouldnt fault her for threatening a lawsuit. They really SHOULD have had people sign something.
But them im a liberal who is sympathetic to employee lawsuits ;)
#22
An employee is fired because she ate something the Koran considers unclean? If one sees this as anything but an attempt to breach the live-and-let-live way of life in the US with Koranic law, he suffers from terminal wishful thinking. What else can he do that is authorized by the Koran but against American law? Remove women from all mixed gender workplaces? Force employees to remain silent or abstain from work 5 times a day for prayers? We should have all learned a long time ago-there is no respecting others' cultural norms (in this case, our country's norms) when it comes to Islam.
Here's an idea for you, bud-you want to try to force your Islamic ideas down your employees' throats? Put your demands in writing in a pre-employment contract and make the new hiree sign it; but realize by doing so that you open a flood of legal action against yourself-suits I hope you lose miserably.
I think this attempt to slip Koranic norms into our way of life is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. There is no better time for some pre-emptive legislation against this intrusion of Islam into the law of our land.
#23
Does this mean that the whole of Mother Earth is unkosher since at any one time there is a pig walking around somewhere on the planet? /smartass
No, since there are definitions to "kitchen" or "dining hall". Theoretically the only issue is the spread of treifness through contact (and you cant spread treifness through contact with human beings, only food to food, or food to utensil, or food to table surface. One can of course eat kosher food in a "treif" place - thus orthodox jews eating their salami sandwiches in a general lunchroom, taking care to avoid direct contact with surfaces, etc. In a KOSHER restaurant or dining hall however, the idea is to be able to eat more normally, with less care for contact. Which I suppose could be accomodated if the eaters of trief were very careful to avoid contact with surfaces, etc. But its not really reasonable to expect those who eat trief to be familiar with the nuances of kashrut, so its easier to simply ban non-kosher food from being brought it. However theres NO problem with trief food being consumed in another room in the SAME building.
Again I dont know about Halal laws, but my impression has always been that theyre LESS strict than Kashrut, so it really seems to me this policy IF it applies outside the dining hall, is going beyong what religious law would require.
But again, its still employment by will, aint it? Unless she had a contract, which I dont suppose she did.
#24
An employee is fired because she ate something the Koran considers unclean? If one sees this as anything but an attempt to breach the live-and-let-live way of life in the US with Koranic law, he suffers from terminal wishful thinking.
Live and let live in the US involved private property, and employer rights.
What else can he do that is authorized by the Koran but against American law? Remove women from all mixed gender workplaces?
That would violate equal treatment by gender. In the current case ALL employees are banned from eating pork. So no discrimination.
Force employees to remain silent or abstain from work 5 times a day for prayers?
Cant force anybody to pray. You can certainly force people to remain silent or abstain from work, I think. Its called "meetings"
#25
Here's an idea for you, bud-you want to try to force your Islamic ideas down your employees' throats? Put your demands in writing in a pre-employment contract and make the new hiree sign it; but realize by doing so that you open a flood of legal action against yourself-suits I hope you lose miserably.
And shouldnt an employer have to sign a contract with you before he decides that your job is no longer doing research, but now involves making sales calls? Or that hes changing the hours of work? But he doesnt have to do that, at least not in the US. Its called "employment at will" If SHE wanted the protection of a contract, it was up to HER to insist on one.
#27
Given the big push toward "tort reform," it is increasingly difficult to win employment cases. Even in a clear cut case like this, it would likely be a hard fought fight to get the case to a jury. One before a jury, IMO, she'd win.
On the technical side, even if her employment was "at will," all that means is that her employer could fire her for any reason or no reason -- BUT NOT FOR A WRONG REASON. The federal commerce clause legislation (and the statutes of many states) will not permit commercial enterprises that are open to public commerce to violate certain norms that (if the government did the same) would violate fundamental rights â e.g., religious freedom, racial equality, etc. A NGO, religious in nature (as contrasted with a commercial enterprise open to the public), should be exempt from these laws (quasi-fundamental rights protections in the commercial sphere) under the preemption of the First Amendment.
#29
time for the seething American street to know the manner this "Islamic" company operates, and put these assholes out of business. Boycotts, protests, picketing and seething letters to the local rag. And no, LH, I wouldn't work for you - I have standards :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 20:38 Comments ||
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#30
Sometimes in my most abusive daydreams a wing of KC10s or 135s is making a low pass over Mecca dusting the place with bacon grease
EFL
The senior Al Qaeda operative captured in Pakistan last week met with former Liberian president Charles Taylor in the years before and after Sept. 11, 2001, and received refuge from the former US ally while planning further terrorist operations, according to US intelligence officials and United Nations investigators. The UN? Phef!
The officials and investigators also painted a picture of Liberia under Taylor as a haven for Al Qaeda, and raised new questions about why the United States waited so long to support Taylor's ouster and continues to refrain from using its influence to bring him before a UN war crimes tribunal. YOUHAVEGOTTOBEJOKING! The UN is asking us--The United States--why we waited so long to do something? I.Must.Resist.Urge.To.Gouge.My.Eyes.With.Pencil.
We should use our influence so that Chuckles can be put on trial by Carla del Ponte sometime in ... oh, 2015 or so. Shouldn't take Carla more than four, five years to make a case.
Al Qaeda allegedly paid Taylor for protection and then joined him in the African diamond trade, raising millions of dollars for terrorist activities, according to UN war crimes documents. They are a girl's best friend.
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
08/04/2004 9:32:17 AM ||
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This would be the three week delay incurred while the NYT decried the 14 month "Rush to War" in Iraq?
A long-awaited amnesty plan intended to help end the 15-month-old insurgency in Iraq will not cover fighters who have killed anyone, a government official said Wednesday.
That's more like it
The government had originally proposed the amnesty as part of a carrot-and-stick package to end the violence; the insurgents would be forgiven for their past crimes, but those who continued killing could be executed under a planned death penalty law. But the amnesty, which was expected to have been announced soon after the interim Iraqi government took office June 28, has been repeatedly delayed, and subsequent drafts have narrowed the list of who would be eligible. Officials were still uncertain about when it might go into effect.
"The amnesty covers those Iraqis who have not committed killings, who have been deceived into joining the resistance and who are now convinced that they made a mistake. We welcome them," said Georges Sada, spokesman for Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. "Anyone who committed the crime of murder will not be covered by the amnesty," he added.
"Who do you think we are, Saudis?"
Iraqi officials had earlier said the amnesty might extend to those who killed U.S. and other coalition troops. U.S. officials said an early draft contained ambiguous language on that issue, but later drafts ruled it out. Sada said the debate over the amnesty had nothing to do with U.S. pressure and that killers were never to have been covered by the amnesty. "We have sovereignty. We don't go and ask the Americans how to act every time," he said. "Nobody at all has pressured us."
Sada said the amnesty plan has been "fully completed" but still needed to be signed by Allawi, who returned Tuesday from a Middle East tour. Those who could benefit from the amnesty would include insurgents who stashed heavy weapons at their homes or drove cars used in attacks, without killing anyone themselves, Sada said, adding they should turn in their weapons and denounce the resistance.
Experts have said that some type of amnesty was needed to coax Iraqi nationalist guerrillas to the government's side, while separating them from fighters using terrorist-style bombings. Some militants have opposed the concept of amnesty as insulting, saying they were legitimately fighting against the foreign occupation of their country and do not need forgiveness. The interim government has coupled the amnesty proposal with tough talk about emergency laws and reintroducing the death penalty, suspended during the U.S. occupation, to punish militants.
"We will be tough on those who violate the law so that we can put an end to the ... unrest in the country, and thus we have to give a chance to those who want to take it," Sada said. "We will deal with those who don't want to take this chance."
Posted by: Steve ||
08/04/2004 8:55:51 AM ||
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A long-awaited amnesty plan intended to help end the 15-month-old insurgency in Iraq will not cover fighters who have killed anyone, a government official said Wednesday.
Somehow, I suspect that this new development will have the effect of excluding a large number of "insurgents".....
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Raghad Saddam Hussein said in an interview published Tuesday that as the eldest living child of the former Iraqi leader she must become a politician, because her father and many Iraqis were depending on her.
"I am the daughter of Saddam, my mother is Saddam's wife, my children are the grandchildren of Saddam," she told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily newspaper. "You do not understand, but I have commitments. I bear his name and he depends on me."
"He needs my help after the death of my brothers. I am the only one ... and today I have to help my father," she said.
I don't think that Ragbag will receive much support in the Shiite community.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/04/2004 1:25:29 AM ||
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...and my husband was the son in law of Saddam, but he's not anymore, because Saddam...ummmmmmmmmmmm....killed him...
Egypt's leading newspaper has published a series of articles that deny the Holocaust, and claim Jews invented "lies of genocide" to extort the West and make possible the establishment of the Jewish state, prompting some Israeli lawmakers to express reservations about allowing Egypt to control security in Gaza after Sharon's withdrawal plan is implemented next year. Dr. Rif'at Sayyed Ahmad, director of the Jaffa Research Center in Cairo and columnist for Al-Liwaa Al-Islami, Egypt's state-controlled newspaper, published a two-part article, 'The Lie About The Burning of the Jews,' which claims the Holocaust was a Jewish invention.
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
08/04/2004 5:33:22 AM ||
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Does anyone think this will make the NYT. Thought not
#2
Can anyone please explain why the Jews genocide is more special that the Rwanda or the Bosnia genocide?
Posted by: Chris ||
08/04/2004 6:35 Comments ||
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#3
Numbers involved for one - and the slow brainwashing of a supposedly civilised nation into complicity - the industrialisation of genocide. I think that Rwanda and Bosnia, abhorrent though they were, were not on the same scale.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/04/2004 6:39 Comments ||
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Chris:
1. I do not recall reading a ranking system here. But since you asked: As Howard UK mentioned numbers.
#6
Chris- genocide in it's extreme is the total elimination of a race or culture, and in my opinion only the Halocaust has approached this insane extreme. Hitler had his final solution, had the capability, was hell-bent to accomplish it, and was well along the way to eliminating one of the most productive, creative and vibrant people on this planet.
#7
#2 Can anyone please explain why the Jews genocide is more special that the Rwanda or the Bosnia genocide?
1-It was an industrialised genocide programed, developed 2- numbers (2x 3x 4x or more) than Ruanda genocide
3- it was within our civilisation
4- by one of most advanced countries in world
the country that "produced" Beethoven, Mozart, Goethe, Strauss and many others
5-by the educated elite that governed Germany not some warlord
5- Nazis wanted jews killed all over the world not only expelled from their homes, In Bosnia and Ruanda was only to seize territory.
6-Holocaust was ideological
To see the evil just check
the beaurocrats number that was in any of these "projects"...and compare.
7-Finnally Jews didnt have any rebel armed group, warlords or anything, they werent fighting for their territory, their were only pacific citizens of their country(ies) and many had died defending same country(ies) in other wars.
#8
don't forget it wasn't just Germany, all of Europe was in on that one. hitler(lower cased on purpose, don want to give any respect to the bastard) did not invent the ideas that ultimately resulted in the holocaust, hilter provided the political support to get done what people wanted done
(hitler originally just wanted to deport them, but that was not working out (people would just de-deport themselves and go back home) so he moved on to a more permanent and disturbing solution as suggested by one of his generals)
but none of it would have been possible if the rest of europe didn go "what now? We can get rid of the jeeews AND the gypsies??? YES!! right over there mister german soldier guy!"
the holocaust points to a sickness in all of western society and not one I think we ever really found a cure for...
#10
Hmmm... Let's start with Poland, which had a 5% Jewish population before WWII, and less than 1% after. Where'd they go? The space alien story just isn't working. . . But what do you expect from Egypt or any Arab country. "Don't confuse me with the facts"
#11
I don't think Chris really expected an answer. Just bomb-throwing and scooting
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 12:50 Comments ||
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#12
If you have an agenda and a holocaust or genocide fact conflicts with your agenda, revise history, not your agenda. But not to worry, the UN will take care of all the people in Darfor in a timely fashion.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/04/2004 13:30 Comments ||
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#13
Let's do the math:
1.) Al-Liwaa Al-Islami is Egyptâs state-controlled newspaper.
2.) We send Egypt scads of bucks in foreign aid.
3.) Egypt uses the money they save to publish this sort of hate speech. Yes, it's hate speech, don't call a camel a goat. Holocaust denial is a prine indicator of those who would like to see it repeated. America needs to penalize Egypt for promoting this sort of vile revisionist propaganda.
I also advocate a mysterious and highly destructive explosion on the premises of Al-Liwaa Al-Islami's printing presses. Crap like this needs to carry a very painful pricetag. Egypt and other Arab countries broadcasting the "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" was bad enough. America is effectively financing this sort of evildoing and either we make promoters of anti-Semitism (and hate speech in general) pay a price for it or openly admit to the most hideous of alliances. We can do better and our nation deserves better.
DUBAI: King Abdullah of Jordan yesterday harshly criticised Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for what he said were its shifting demands, and called for urgent reform at the top to allow the peace process to proceed.
"We want the Palestinian leadership to declare clearly what it wants and not surprise us every now and then with some decisions or by accepting things that it did not accept before," he told Al Arabiya TV in an interview.
"It is unfortunate to see that what had been rejected, or considered as treachery if accepted, has unfortunately come to be seen by some people as a great achievement," he said.
"The Palestinians should tell us how to help them.
"In the beginning, the issue was about the return of 98 per cent of occupied Palestinian territories, then it became about less than 50pc of this land and we don't know what the percentage will be in a year or two.
"As for the (Palestinian) refugees, the issue was about return and compensation, then it became about the return of a small percentage of them."
King Abdullah said that the internationally drafted Middle East peace roadmap, launched amid great fanfare last year but as yet unimplemented, provided an opportunity that the Palestinians needed to seize if they were to obtain their promised state.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/04/2004 2:10:32 AM ||
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It's nice to see that someone in the Arab world finally noticed that Arafat squandered the opportunity of a lifetime when he walked away from the Clinton-brokered deal. They know that the offer will never be that good again and after the wall is completed, there may be no offer at all.
 Jordan's King Abdullah II publicly expressed frustration with the Palestinians for the first time Tuesday, saying in an interview that they need to fix past mistakes and carry out wide-ranging reform. In the interview with Al-Arabiya television, Abdullah said the Palestinian leadership needed to take decisions that would prove its "clear vision" as a partner in peace talks. Palestinian divisions and lack of reform have allowed the world to use "these particulars as justifications and excuses tocorrectly put the blame on the Palestinian side" for the breakdown of the peace process with Israel, he said.
Abdullah declined to say whether he advocated change in Palestinian leadership. "It is only the Palestinian people who can choose its leadership or change it," he said.
First time for everything.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has been under pressure at home and abroad to carry out reforms, particularly in the multiple security services. He has committed to consolidate the security forces and put some of them under control of his prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, but many have been skeptical of his promises. Abdullah said the leadership had the chance now, more than any other time, "to seize the opportunity to achieve peace through the road kill map" - a reference to the internationally backed peace plan that envisions the creation of a Palestinian state by next year but has been stalled for more than a year. "Subsequently, this requires the Palestinian leadership to conduct a comprehensive and bold review to many of the facts on the Palestinian arena and correct some of the mistakes which the world takes as justifications to put the blame on the Palestinian side."
When asked to comment on Palestinian complaints that they were left alone to face Israel and the international community, Abdullah sounded frustrated with Palestinian policy. "First, the Palestinian people must tell us how they want us to help them and with what. At the beginning, there was talk about the return of 98 percent of the occupied Palestinian territories, then the talk changed to less than 50 percent of these territories and we don't know in a year or two on what percentage the talk will be about." Abdullah said the Palestinians had also changed their position on the refugees issue, which he stressed Jordan must have a say in, considering its role as a host of the largest number of displaced Palestinians. "We do not forgo this right," he said. Initially, negotiations were on refugee "return and compensation, but we find now that the talk is concerning the return of a small percentage of them," he said.
That's 'cause Ararat wants all the Jooos pushed into the sea, but realizes he can't quite say that.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2004 11:26:45 PM ||
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#1
"reform or we'll bitch slap ya into Sudan and Lebanon, again"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2004 1:19 Comments ||
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#2
He means reforms similar to the ones in his country. In another words, a CIA puppet leader imposing a false democracy.
Posted by: Chris ||
08/04/2004 1:50 Comments ||
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#3
a CIA puppet leader imposing a false democracy.
Hey, good idea, works for me. Maybe that's the kind of leader who would be best for the Paleos. Somehow I don't think "true" democracy would work with the Paleos because they'd just vote to kill all the Jews and Christians, and that might be nasty for some of us. Hey, nothing can be worse that Herrfatmanwiththedirtysheetonhisuglymutthead.
Posted by: rex ||
08/04/2004 2:23 Comments ||
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#4
Da King should save his breath. The Paleos will, of course, miss this opportunity (for reform), too. If he really wants to help, he should get rid of Arafart. Nothing will happen until ol' Yasshole is gone (if then).
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