ABU DHABI — Prominent Muslim scholars and intellectuals here have called for a unified fatwa (religious edict) for the entire Islamic world to avoid conflicting fatwas and misuse of the religion.
This will cheez off the Soodis.
It implies some sort of Islamic Pope, which carries its own disadvantages.
The scholars call, which came during an Islamic conference that concludes today, was probably prompted by the controversy over the issuance of public fatwas permitting the killing of foreigners in Iraq and elsewhere by individuals.
As I've said before, so many times I'm tired of the same thought running through my head, any idiot can issue a fatwah, and many do...
A fatwa clarifies the Islamic ruling in an answer given to a question or a set of questions usually related to an Islamic issue. It does not make any difference whether the questioner is a person or a group of persons. It stands to reason that fatwa is not an easy task, but an arduous one. Not every individual has the right to issue fatwas and make pronouncements on matters.
... even though they do.
This is because the one who commits himself to issuing fatwas acts on behalf of Allah's Messengers and Prophets, the scholars said.
No word on whether al-Aksa Paul will be allowed to continue issuing fatwas.
Criticising the establishment of a council for fatwa and research in Europe, Dr Mohammed Saeed Ramadan Al Booti, a renowned Muslim scholar, said: "At this dangerous turning point we call for unification of our word and unification of our authority which issues fatwas.
They're afraid the Council's gonna move to Avignon...
Unfortunately there are a lot of activities, which swim against the current, and we need not set up a new authority council for fatwa in Europe or elsewhere. The more authorities we have the more negative effects we have, including chaos. Once we unify our authority, we will get rid of our chronic headache of conflicting fatwas," Dr Booti stated.
"And if we can't, we'll issue a fatwa against the renegades!"
"You only need one bunch to issue fatwahs, and you're lookin' at it!"
He said that the one nominated to hold the position of Mufti (the scholar who issues fatwas) should possess several characteristics including deep insight, equanimity and tranquility, a firm religious background and deep knowledge and a nine-year old bride be aware of daily life and contemporary issues.
"He should also have a turban and be able to roll his eyes real good!"
Dr Ahmed Holeil, Minister of Auqaf and Islamic Affairs in Jordan, said the conflicting fatwas issued at present by different parties call for unifying the fatwa at the Islamic world level. "We hear nowadays shocking fatwas on satellite TV channels issued by ignorant individuals who are becoming dangerous to our religion. We hope that we will have one authority in the Islamic world," Dr Holeil stated.
Unless he's ignorant and dangerous as well.
He, however, noted that if this is a mission impossible, then we can have an authority in each country," he noted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2004 12:35:23 AM ||
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We hope that we will have one authority in the Islamic world," Dr Holeil stated.
Only took 'em a few centuries to figure that out, eh?
#5
This could be a great way to end the war. Create Fatwa Clearing House and get Binny to doTV ads going around to peoples' houses giving them huge checks. If it takes off, he could start doing Budweiser ads too. Everybody happy.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/29/2004 8:38 Comments ||
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Great idea, Mrs. D. And every 100th envelope could contain anthrax or a letter bomb. If you can't return your entry, it's because you already lost.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/29/2004 8:43 Comments ||
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Just what the world doesn't need: a Grand Unified Fatwa Theory.
President Bush may see himself as defender of democracy and compassionate conservatism but British film fans have voted him "Movie Villain of the Year." The American "Axis of Evil" fighter is wooing voters with security pledges ahead of the presidential election next week, but it was Bush's role in Michael Moore's anti-war film "Fahrenheit 9/11" that won him the villainous title. In a poll for Total Film magazine, the U.S. leader fought off competition from such well-known baddies as atomic scientist Doctor Octopus from "Spider-Man 2" and fellow Texan Leatherface from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
"The overwhelming response of our readers voting Bush top villain just goes to show how frightening people found him in Fahrenheit 9/11," Total Film's editor Matt Mueller told Reuters. "He was absolutely terrifying in that film. The infamous scene where he's informed about the Twin Towers attack while visiting a school, and sits there absolutely paralyzed, is enough to strike fear into anyone's heart," he said.
Posted by: Destro ||
10/29/2004 2:00:47 AM ||
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I guess the Hollywood celebs who flee Amerika after Bush steals the election will feel right at home in London.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/29/2004 8:22 Comments ||
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Wow he won a poll in Europe? And the LLL say Bush doesn't appeal to people in Europe!
#3
Swap the Hollywood idiotarians to the EU in exchange for their best scientists and entrepreneurs.
They get our celebs who cannot tolerate the frustration of living in Bush's America; we get their brainiacs who cannot tolerate the frustration of EU bureaucracy, underfunding and economic and tax obstacles. Deal?
#5
Absolutely. Look, the EU brain drain is already a huge trend. Their best scientists are disgusted with EU academic politics and bureaucracy and have been coming here in droves: better funding, much more freedom, lower taxes and plenty of entrepreneurial opportunities for the ambitious.
I'm just trying to accelerate an existing trend. And also get rid of our most annoying idiotarians in the process.
#6
lex - Given the poll results, it seems the brain drain is substantially complete. You can cherry-pick the remainders, but I believe your campaign is a smashing success, already!
FBI Director Robert Mueller made an unannounced visit to Mexico on Wednesday and met with President Vicente Fox, Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha and other top law enforcement officials. In his first visit to Mexico as FBI director, Mueller discussed issues related to terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping, environmental crimes, fugitives, contraband and auto theft, according to statements by the U.S. Embassy and the Mexico's Attorney General's Office. Mexico's top organized crime prosecutor, Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, and the director of Mexico's Federal Agency of Investigation, Genaro Garcia Luna, also participated in meetings with Mueller, who arrived in Mexico City in the morning and left several hours later. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza also met with the FBI director, whose visit was not made public until after he had left.
Interesting, that. Official visits are normally announced to get press coverage.
Fox spokesman Augustin Gutierrez confirmed that the president met behind closed doors with Mueller, who was appointed FBI director on Sept. 4, 2001. He refused to disclose what was said at that meeting. In its statement, the federal Attorney General's office said Macedo de la Concha and Mueller discussed a wide array of topics, including the threat of terrorism and the need to tighten laws to better combat organized criminals who work in tandem with terrorists. Also discussed was the FBI's advisory role in the Mexican federal government's investigation of 10-plus years of unsolved slayings of women in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, according to the statement.
Current count is over 340 dead. They keep jailing people and claim it's solved but the bodies keep turning up.
Mueller told the Mexican attorney general that recent changes in U.S. law have made it easier for that country's numerous law enforcement agencies to work more closely together, it said.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/29/2004 11:22:28 AM ||
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de la Concha? But...what kind of shell? Snail? Conch? Bash?
#3
de la Concha?
I'm not a professional linguist, but in Tex-Mex Spanish, concha is slang for the female poozle. (Nyaah, go find your own euphemism. Civil, well-reasoned discourse, remember?)
The first person to even *hint* at a 'cunning linguist' joke gets a spanking.
More than 80 suicide attackers have been trained on foreign soil to launch strikes in Russia, according to the country's security services chief.
During a debate on national security, Nikolai Patrushev told parliament that some attackers had been "neutralised".
But he said he could not guarantee there would be no further attacks.
Suicide bombers have been responsible for many attacks in Russia, including the bombing of two planes in August, which killed more than 90 people.
Mr Patrushev's comments came shortly before a Russian parliament debate on President Vladimir Putin's bill calling for a radical overhaul of the way Russia is run, following the Beslan school siege.
Mr Putin wants to abolish direct elections for regional governors, saying this will help security.
Critics say he is undermining the constitution and depriving Russians of their democratic rights.
Beslan mastermind
Mr Patrushev, the head of the FSB security service, called for the creation of a single permanent anti-terrorist centre.
He told Duma deputies on Friday: "We have established there are more than 80 suicide attackers trained abroad who are to be sent to Russia to carry out terrorist acts.
"We don't know what route they might take to get into Russia, and this creates definite problems."
He did not explain how the FSB had gathered the information on potential attackers.
He said the training of fighters and suicide bombers "was carried out through secret religious and military-religious organisations, located in a number of eastern states".
Mr Patrushev would not rule out the possibility of future attacks.
"In order to confidently say there will be no terrorist acts, a comprehensive system of measures must be in operation and it has to operate precisely. So far such a system has not been created in our country."
He also said the September school hostage drama in Beslan, North Ossetia, was carried out by Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who has already claimed responsibility for the attack, blaming Russia for the bloodshed.
The officially death toll for the siege was 360, including 172 child hostages and 30 members of the gang which targeted the school. Unofficial estimates put the number of victims higher.
"For the secret services it is nakedly clear that the ideologists of the terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus are [Chechen separatist leader Aslan] Maskhadov and Basayev and men from al-Qaeda. As for the Beslan attack in particular, it was organised by Basayev," he said.
Deterrents
Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov told the Duma that existing legislation made it hard to fight terrorism effectively.
He suggested detaining relatives and confiscating finances could be efficient deterrents for would-be suicide bombers.
"Detaining relatives and showing terrorists what may happen to their relatives could help save people's lives, so let's not close our eyes or put a diplomatic face on it," AP quoted him as saying.
"When you live by the sword, you die by the sword."
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said here Friday that the Chinese leaders and Chinese government are highly concerned with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's state of illness. Zhang said President Hu Jintao sent a message Thursday to Arafat to express his solicitude. "Arafat is an outstanding leader of the Palestinian national liberation movement and an old friend of Chinese people" said Zhang, adding that China is willing to offer any possible help forArafat's recovery. Reports said Yasser Arafat will be airlifted to Paris for treatment early Friday.
Arafat, 75, president of the Palestinian National Authority, has been sick over the past two weeks, suffering from what Palestinian officials said a stomach flu. On Wednesday night, the Israeli media quoted sources as saying that Arafat was very very sick. Some reports said that Arafat collapsed earlier and had lost consciousness for several hours. Arafat's senior advisor Nabil Abu Rudeina said the leader was now in stable condition but doctors had advised Arafat to receive follow-up checks abroad as they deemed it necessary.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/29/2004 2:08:05 AM ||
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Yeah, maybe they can offer some Chinese medical assistance *shudder*.
My friend laid down his motorcycle last year...broke 6 ribs and a collarbone. Took him to the hospital, they sent him home with no treatment, not so much as an aspirin for the pain. "We don't have the right supplies", and that was that. I live in fear of having to visit a hospital here.
#4
Arafat is an outstanding leader of the Palestinian national liberation movement (but it isn't like the standards for Paleo leadership are very high) and an old friend of Chinese people (who has been a thorn in the side of the Americans for years).
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/29/2004 1:19 Comments ||
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New countries should consider troops along the border. Syria, Iran, Turkey, SA... take your pick.
Border duty would be a little less risky than being in urban areas if they took adequate precautions. 76% of Russians just said Al Qaeda was the biggest threat to their country, but today news comes out the Russians helped Iraq remove explosives before the war. The Russians owe us and Iraq about 10,000 troops. Someone needs to pound on the Russian public to make that happen.
#3
I haven't heard anything good about the long-suffering Russian conscript forces. I'd be happier if Putin would see to the sabotaging (sp?) of the Iranian nuclear program, or at least mark on the map for us where Iran has hidden the various bits -- to make Israel's bombing runs more accurate next Wednesday.
#5
Russia's problem is Pakistan's problem: the state is failing, the government is too corrupt to function effectively, and the security services are a fifth column. The appropriate way to wean Russia off the persian tit is to buy them. If it takes $5B in payments to Russia's nuclear industry, then we should pay them $5B. A bargain.
Another sign that the times, they are a-changin'...note: the syntax is a bit off in this article since it's a rewrite of a TV news story.
Federal agents are crediting an anonymous tip to a drug bust that has four men behind bars. The men are accused of smuggling in millions of dollars worth of a drug that few [Americans] have even heard of. It's known as "Khat" or "Qat" and investigators say the men who had it smuggled in had plans to sell it in DC. "This particular seizure is the largest Khat seizure ever made in the United States," investigators said. Three thousand pounds of Khat, a naturally occurring stimulant similar to Amphetamine. On Tuesday, bags disguised as Oregano, pepper and other spices arrived at the port of Baltimore. Authorities explained how the drug arrived, "the Khat leaves...and they are in fact freeze-dried...the reason they are freeze-dried is to maintain the narcotic potency of the leaf." Waiting for the nearly three thousand pound shipment were federal agents with the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement or "ICE." After it was seized, undercover ICE agents made contact with the recipients and arranged to deliver it to Washington, DC, to a self storage facility.
The manager of the U-Store says he was in the process of renting out a storage unit to four men when they were surrounded by dozens of agents. "They were caught off guard. We were as well. They just came in and swamped the place and very shortly, they arrested them," the manager said. Although Khat is illegal in the United States, it is widely used throughout much of Europe, East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The leaves are usually chewed or added to tea.
It's still unclear how extensive this drug ring may have been, but with three thousand pounds of Khat off the street, agents are confident they put a significant dent in the sale of a little known drug. "The retail value exceeds $5-million so it's an extremely significant seizure." The four suspects all of Ethiopian descent are charged with drug smuggling and possession with intent to distribute a narcotic drug. In addition to the shipment that was intercepted in Baltimore, agents found more Khat being stashed in a storage in Silver Spring, Maryland. They also recovered 13-thousand-dollars in cash.
#2
It still cracks me up that they use "I.C.E." as an acronym, because it was the name of the fictional Matt Helm spy character's (Intelligence Counter Espionage) agency. To make matters worse, the Matt Helm series was made into a campy adult comedy, sci-fi fantasy, four-movie series starring Dean Martin.
From an article by Claudia Rosett in National Review On Line on March 10, 2004:
In the growing scandal over the United Nations Oil-for-Food program ... U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and his staff have excused themselves from any responsibility for the massive corruption .... That's fascinating, not least given the ties of Annan's own son, Kojo Annan, to the Switzerland-based firm, Cotecna, which from 1999 onward worked on contract for the U.N. monitoring the shipments of Oil-for-food supplies into Iraq. .... Cotecna was hired by the U.N. on December 31, 1998. Shortly afterward, press reports surfaced that Kojo was a partner in a private consulting firm doing work for Cotecna, and that just 13 months previously he had occupied a senior slot on Cotecna's own staff. Asked about this in 1999 by the London Telegraph, a U.N. spokesman, John Mills, replied that the U.N. had not been aware of the connection, and that "The tender by Cotecna was the lowest by a significant margin." But the information that Cotecna — while employing Kofi's son in any capacity — put in the lowest bid by far for the job of authenticating Saddam's Oil-for-Food imports, is not necessarily reassuring. .... this is a subject on which neither the U.N. nor Cotecna has been willing to offer illumination. Asked for details, both have stonewalled. .... A query to the U.N. Oil-for-Food elicits from a spokesman only the information that the five-year-old response by the late Mills "stands, as provided by the U.N." A recent query to Cotecna, asking for at least some detail on ties to Kojo Annan, elicits nothing beyond the reply that: "There is nothing else to add."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/29/2004 9:45:21 AM ||
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Personally, I want to know how much Mike is being paid to troll Rantburg.
I mean, Christ, man, stop trying to defend a corrupt, genocide-loving anti-Western thug.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/29/2004 14:33 Comments ||
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RC, how the heck did John Kerry get into this discussion?
Israel has killed the road map peace plan for the Middle East with apparent U.S. acquiescence, a UN human rights investigator said on Thursday, triggering a strong rebuttal from the Jewish state. "The road map is dead. Israel has killed it," South African law professor John Dugard told a General Assembly committee. Being on the same road with the likes of Hamas marching murderers tends to result on traffic nightmares
Two words, buddy: Bus boom. That's what killed it. Gotta work on that attention span thing...
"The world is looking to the United States for leadership in this region, and the world is simply not getting it," said Dugard, who monitors the Palestinian territories for the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Commission. Is 'world' also looking at the record of 'human rights' Hamas showed it's dead victims as they were blown to bits simply for taking a bus to work or school?
Israeli envoy Tuvia Israeli responded to Dugard by saying his work had long been marked by "lack of context, lack of balance, omission of facts and distortions of both law and reality." By ignoring Palestinians' "support of terrorism, corruption, lack of reform and incitement to violence," Dugard had advanced "a rejectionist myth that only one side has responsibilities and only one has rights," Israeli said. "Such a myth is not just a lie; it is fundamentally incompatible with the road map and with the true spirit of international law and diplomacy," Israeli told the committee. Dugard, in a report issued last month, accused Israel of building its barrier on West Bank land in order to confiscate the land and put pressure on Palestinians to move away, rather than to keep out suicide bombers, as Israel says.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/29/2004 2:34:59 AM ||
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"The world is looking to the United States for leadership in this region, and the world is simply not getting it,"
This is just code for "the US is not pressuring Israel to make concessions". But who's pressuring the Paleos? No one, which is why there's no progress on a solution.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/29/2004 9:03 Comments ||
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Yeah a great big wall and a bunch of missile craters will tend to do that. But Israeli casualties are significantly down, so maybe they should just hire a new cartographer.
#10
According to Tuvia Israeli, Dugard had advanced "a rejectionist myth that only one side has responsibilities and only one has rights." This is the situation in a nutshell. Dugard and his ilk never veer from parroting the line that only Israel has responsibilities and only Palestinians have rights. Boring bunch of PC f***ers. I could write their script for them for any hypothetical twist and turn in this conflict well in advance. That's how little they have to contribute to any dialogue, leave alone any solution to the conflict. And the man's a law professor? Give me a break.
Two bombs exploded today near a tea shop and wounded 20 people in southern Thailand, police said, as violence continued unabated in the Muslim-majority region where residents are seething over the deaths of 78 detainees while in military custody.
No word on whether they're also making faces and rolling their eyes.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was scheduled to explain the situation in the south in a televised address today. His government has come under severe criticism for its handling of the growing violence, with some fearing a full-blown Islamic insurgency is in the making. The 78 Muslim detainees suffocated or were crushed to death Monday when security forces jammed them into military trucks after a protest in Narathiwat province turned violent. At least seven others died during the demonstration, apparently shot by security forces. The first explosion today took place as morning customers crowded tea shops. It was planted at the foot of tree in the provincial capital of Yala, 745 miles south of the Thai capital Bangkok. Police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the wounded included two police sergeants. Shortly after, while a bomb squad was clearing the area, a second explosion injured about 10 people, most of them policemen, reporters at the scene said. No other details were immediately available.
The latest incidents in the violence-plagued south followed a bomb explosion in the neighbouring province of Narathiwat Thursday night, which killed a Malaysian tourist and a Thai women, said Police Col. Phol Vatcharanon. At least 20 people, including three Malaysian tourists, were injured in the blast at Sungai Kolok. Sungai Kolok is known for prostitution and smuggling, and is a popular destination for male tourists from across the border in Malaysia. No one has claimed responsibility for the three attacks and no arrests have been made.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2004 12:17:04 AM ||
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...FWIW, I heard today from an aqcuaintance in Thailand. Their comment is that the dead may very well have been martyred by the ones who started the riot - the Thai police, MPs, and others behaved most professionally, but the rabble rousers were determined there were going to be martyrs even if the authorities wouldn't make any.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/29/2004 1:02 Comments ||
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I live in Bangkok. I've seen the films, and my business partner was in Narithiwat when the riot and aftermath took place.
The deaths occurred after detainess were loaded into open military trucks. They were loaded into the trucks in sardine fashion - lying face down, with hands tied behind their backs. They were stacked like sardines - five deep. They were then driven to an Army camp - a five hour journey. The men on the bottom row - lying on the floor of the trucks, with four layers of men lying on top of them - suffocated - which would be an obvious result.
I saw the films - broad daylight, high-quality film, no pressure on the camerman.
I have very little sympathy for Islamofacists - 'happy to see whabis sent off to raisenland.
But - this was horrendous behavior - making Abu Ghriab look like Disneyland. This was Pol Pot, or Saddam-at-his-worst style abuse.
The clear message received by the Muslim Thais - don't ever surrender -its a death warrant to be taken into captivity.
Here in Bangkok, we're bracing for trouble. The trouble in the south has not previously affected things here. That's about to end. Trouble coming.
#3
From the footage I saw of the incident it didn't look very professional. The arrested protesters had their hands tied behind their backs and were forced to crawl on their stomachs to the side of a river while Thai soldiers walked around them delivering random kicks and beatings.
Certainly it wasn't smart to do it in front of tv cameras, and combined with the high deathcount, I expect the South Thailand Jihad to really heat up in the coming months.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
10/29/2004 2:34 Comments ||
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That well could be the intended outcome. The Thai militarty and police are tired of this crap and are not going to use kid gloves. They will just wipe the bastards out. Most of the casualites so far have been cops and military. Regardless of what the politicians say the Military and cops are doing it their own way.
#6
I've spent a lot of time in Thailand and its hard for the average Westerner to appreciate how much the average Thai despises moslems. I suspect those instigating the moslems think they are going to get a PC western response. They are in for a hell of a shock.
#7
My first encounter with Thai people were 2 guy going to the local JC with my older Brother. They were teh children of a goverment minister and a military office that had been jumped by several fellow the proceded to gut and leave dead on the street. Don't make the mistake of thinking teh Thai are gentle people when pushed. They will not take crap off of these "insurgents" and will treat them harshly. Attacking a police station will get you killed as evidenced by the death toll.
#8
I first met Thai Special Forces guys in MACV Recondo school in 1969. Wonderful people, good guys, ass-kicking troops. NEVER say anything less than wonderful about the King.
#9
Over time, I am sure more and more governments 'round the world will be arranging timely, miserable deaths for these people. At least, I hope so. Happy trucking.
#10
i am more inclined to think that the thai government is the bastard, however. looks like uncle sam has taught these leaders well: shoot muslims, kill them all. in their attempt to clear "terrorists", they have become the bigger "terrorists". these people are farmers, fishermen, they don't even have enough money to feed their family properly (due to age old sanctions from bangkok from back since the late 19th century), let alone buy explosives - terrorists? yeah right.
A Muslim cleric accused of heading the terror group blamed for the Bali bombings proclaimed his innocence as his trial opened Thursday, and said the charges were the work of President Bush and "his slave" — Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Abu Bakar Bashir is charged with heading the al-Qaida-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah and with involvement in two attacks — the Bali nightclub bombings and a suicide blast at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last year. The United States and Australia also accuse the 66-year-old cleric of being a key Southeast Asian terror leader. "I am innocent. The charges are baseless," a relaxed-looking Bashir told reporters before the trial began. "Everybody knows, even school children, that there is pressure (for a trial) from George Bush and his slave John Howard." "All those people who do not agree with the interests of George Bush are called terrorists," Bashir said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2004 10:52:49 PM ||
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why doesn't he suffer the debilitating and possibly-fatal accident any one of us would suffer in an Indonesian jail? Oh yeah, they're not trying hard enough with him. Kill.Him.Now.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2004 0:07 Comments ||
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What is your problem man? If he's innocent so be it, if not, let him be punished accordingly. Don't be a busybody. And when one of you get killed you get all emotional and wants revenge. The fault lies in your liking in poking into other people's matters. Americans.
President mullah Mohammad Khatami Wednesday described the Islamic Revolution of Iran as "The most democratic revolution in the course of the contemporary history".
(Mullah joke of the week)
Addressing statesmen during a meeting with mullah Khamenie, he added "the great revolution's greatest fruit is the Islamic Republic of Iran, that is established based on the values promoted in God's last true religion, and in pursuit of freedom, democracy, justice, advancement, peace, peaceful coexistence with the others, and independence for itself and other nations." This mullah must have been drinking while hidding behind a burka.
Referring to the current insecure conditions in the region, particularly due to the US-led occupation of Iraq, as well as Israel, mullah said, "In such a chaotic regional atmosphere Iran has managed to devise its comprehensive twenty-year development plan, that is the best proof for our system's stability, and the full settlement of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region." Not for long bub
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/29/2004 2:18:44 AM ||
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no , Khatami , u got it wrong , The most democratic revolution in the course of the contemporary history is coming to a cinema near you (if they not banned ) soon .............
Although it includes a number of Francophile as well as pro-American figures, Lebanon's new Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Omar Karameh, has already received the cold shoulder from both Paris and Washington. "We have taken note of the formation of this new organ," a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry in Paris said yesterday. "But there are no plans for any substantive contacts with the team in question." In Washington, Richard Boucher, the State Department spokesman, was even more precise. "The new Lebanese Cabinet is a Syrian creation," he said. "Its imposition is another sign that Syria is not prepared to cooperate with the United Nations' Security Council."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2004 12:00:02 AM ||
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There's been some serious clue-bat use goin' on somewhere...
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who doctors say may have leukemia, Good news! Radiation and chemo. Makes me think perhaps a quick departure isn't such a good idea after all.
was conscious and in "good shape" at a French hospital on Friday after leaving the West Bank for the first time in more than 2-1/2 years. The 75-year-old president, who has for decades embodied the struggle with Israel for a Palestinian state, was rushed to the hospital by helicopter after landing at a military airfield Reserved for Franee's most trusted dictators
southwest of Paris. He was stretchered inside. "We are very relieved that he was able to travel, that he arrived in good shape and was conscious. I talked to him," said Leila Shahid, the Palestinian Authority's envoy to Paris. "President Arafat has been suffering from an intestinal flu for at least three weeks, Three weeks they've let him puke blood. Savages even to their fearless leader. Or maybe they hoped he'd kick the bucked sooner.
but obviously there is more to it than that," she told reporters at the hospital in the southwestern Paris suburb of Clamart. Doctors had already begun examining him but would need "several days before (they) can finish all the examinations and arrive at a real diagnosis," she added.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/29/2004 2:58:56 PM ||
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interesting that of all the arab/muslim countries to choose from, he chose france.
#2
heavy metal toxin bet it same thing kill franco franco it overwhelsms the liver and cranks up the bile ducts to an extent that the brain can't handle, it's all hydraulics, watch for nurses constantly wiping the ears.
Posted by: Spaniard United To Be Noticed ||
10/29/2004 17:51 Comments ||
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Arab satellite television Al Jazeera said on Friday it would broadcast a video tape from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden addressing the American people. It said the tape, to be aired at 4 p.m. EDT, would discuss the reasons behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and their repercussions. It gave no further details. so now he's taking credit for Sept 11? It wasn't the Jews? It wasn't Bush behind it all?
Arab satellite television Al Jazeera said on Friday it would broadcast a video tape from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden addressing the American people. It said the tape, to be aired at 4 p.m. EDT, would discuss the reasons behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and their repercussions. It gave no further details.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/29/2004 3:23:18 PM ||
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I wonder if it's James Carville in a burkha, sort of a pre-Halloween extravaganza.
#2
Drudge headline: Osama bin Laden, in Al-Jazeera broadcast, campaigns against Bush... If everything else has yet to do the trick I think Kerry picking up an endorsement from OBL will finally put this one out of reach.
Reasons? For 3000 innocent Americans to be incinerated, mangled, and crushed by rich, spoiled, educated jihadi god pretenders? Reasons like all the aid we give hungry Muslims? Reasons like saving the Kosovars? Reasons like allowing Muslims to practice their faith in the US?
There ARE no reasons, unless you are a self-hating, shamed-of-America apologist. In which case you'll be voting for the politician willing to bend over the farthest to give Osama more room.
Oct 29, 3:09 PM (ET)DUBAI (Reuters) - Arab satellite television Al Jazeera said on Friday it would broadcast a video tape from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden addressing the American people. It said the tape, to be aired at 4 p.m. EDT, would discuss the reasons behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and their repercussions. It gave no further details.
Maybe he's going to endorse Kerry?
Posted by: Steve ||
10/29/2004 3:45:48 PM ||
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Gee, a taped screed about 9/11? I'm convinced - that the schmuck is dead.
The Arab television station Al-Jazeera said it would broadcast a new tape from Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden on a Friday evening newscast. The tape is expected to be aired at 4 p.m. EDT.
Multiple sources told FOX News that the 18-minute videotape is authentic and said its release was timed to coincide with Tuesday's presidential elections. Bin Laden makes reference to recent conflicts in Iraq and addresses the American people directly, sources said.
U.S. officials said the tape appears to have been made recently. Bin Laden is speaking from a lectern and he talks about threats to the United States and he says that President Bush will not protect the American people. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
10/29/2004 16:08 Comments ||
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Maybe a power struggle within the bad guys camps? Z man claiming he is in charge, Egyptian Z man saying "oh no your not... Allah gave me that job"
Maybe yesterdays tape was not "approved by OBL" or at least his composting remains.
#4
I wonder if this will be coupled with a Madrid style attack. Will that be the hook to get people to watch? Oh and bomb the ef out of al Jazeera. Let it be known that this is the fate of any who spread the AQ and other islamofascist propaganda.
Posted by: ed ||
10/29/2004 16:24 Comments ||
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By AlQ legend, and a point that many terrorism "experts" constantly make, the tape may be the wake-up call for "sleeper cells". They would say - am waiting to hear it from one of them on Fox - that this portends attacks.
I heard on Fox a little earlier that the masked ding-dong whose tape was the ABC scoop has been identified by someone who knows him as that SoCal twitter, Ghadan.
So maybe we will see something. Maybe it's only political poopery in an attempt to influence the elections. 96 hours to go.
#9
Mrs D .I fully concur. After Osama sending his little message we need to send ours to his proxies in Fallujah effective Sunday through Election Day so our counter attack defeating the enemy is the breaking news ...not the Osama's.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/29/2004 19:34 Comments ||
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I heard that the video ends with "I am John Kerry, and I approve this message."
HT Drudge - WASHINGTON — A U.S. soldier is coming forward Friday to say a team from the 3rd Infantry Division took about 200 tons of explosives from an Iraqi military facility soon after Saddam Hussein's regime fell last year. Explosives gn be "missing" when our folks go in & get rid of them. Seems logical to me!
The soldier will appear before reporters at noon, EDT. The briefing will be shown on the FOX News Channel. The announcement is the latest twist in the mystery over what happened to 377 tons of explosives that the International Atomic Energy Agency said had disappeared. The soldier's story comes as new videotape has surfaced that supports the contention that tons of the explosives were still at the base following Saddam's fall on April 9, 2003. U.S. officials had said they suspected the explosives were taken before U.S.-led forces took Baghdad. MSM aka The official organs of the Kerry Campaign - DAMN FOILED AGAIN. I THOUGHT FOR SURE AFTER THE MINNEAPOLIS TV STATION VIDEO. Well at least we still have a Haliburton Scandal.
Videotape shot by a Minnesota television crew traveling with U.S. troops in Iraq when they first opened the bunkers at the Al-Qaqaa munitions base nine days after the fall of Saddam Hussein shows what appeared to be high explosives still in barrels and bearing the markings of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The video, taken by a reporter and cameraman employed by KSTP, an ABC affiliate in St. Paul, on April 18, 2003, was broadcast nationally Thursday on the ABC national network.
Now the news crew admit they don't know for sure the place shown on the video was even al-Qaqaa. Their own GPS showed a location several miles away.
The head of the Political Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization said Friday no committee was formed to succeed ailing Yasser Arafat. Farouk Kaddoumi was quoted by Tunisia's daily al-Sabah as saying "reports about the formation of a three-man committee to take over rule from Arafat are simply rumors aimed at distressing and confusing the Palestinian people."
Not that they aren't already.
He said the political vacuum which would occur in the advent of Arafat's disappearance would be filled by the Palestinian institutions which are in charge of handling the affairs of the Palestinian people.
"Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah, etc.."
"The Central Committee of the PLO's mainstream Fatah movement and the organization's Revolutionary Council will be summoned to take the necessary decisions if the need arises," Kaddoumi added.
Cleaning their guns as we speak.
He stressed that "in any case, the energies of our people will always be focused on combating Israeli occupation and building the independent Palestinian state." The president of the Palestinian Authority arrived at a military hospital in a suburb of Paris Friday for more profound examinations and tests after his health deteriorated dramatically in the past days. Arafat is believed to be suffering blood problems and unconfirmed reports said he might have leukemia.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/29/2004 10:44:26 AM ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2004 12:59 Comments ||
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They seem to be attempting to put Abbas (Abu Mazen) in place (you will recall him as the man who apparently sincerely, but ineffectually, stuggled against Arafat in the "road map summer")
This seems to be largely out of panic at a possible war between Dahlan and Rajoub. They seem to think Abbas can hold things together - perhaps they also see him as having good enough relations with Egypt and Israel to restrain Dahlan.
#4
It doesn't matter what they decide. There are so many well-armed crazies running around the PA that it's sure to be a bloody change. Somebody will start shooting, it doesn't really matter who.
Sudanese rebel leaders' demand that Islam be kept out of government in the war-torn region of Darfur, has been rejected by government negotiators. African Union peace talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, have moved on to discussion of a political settlement to the 20-month-old civil conflict. Rebel leaders have used the talks to call for a clear division between religion and the state in Sudan. "We are now prepared to start deliberations on the political issues, following the appeal of the international observers and facilitators," Mahgoud Hussein, spokesman for the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), said. "Firstly, we'll start with the declaration of principles. We want a clear distinction between the state and religion. Right now in Sudan you have a situation where Islam is given prominence over other religions. This shouldn't be so. Even though I'm a Muslim, we want religion to be a personal thing with every citizen having the freedom to practice what he believes in."
Well, we can't have that now, can we?
The demand has been immediately rejected by Government negotiators, who insisted that mainly-Muslim northern Sudan, including Darfur, should be governed under the principles of Islamic law. "Darfur is in the north, so Sharia law should apply. It is not negotiable," Abdul Zuma, media adviser to the Sudanese Government at the talks, said. Darfur's black African tribes are predominantly Muslim but regard themselves as culturally separate from the Arabs, who dominate the Khartoum Government.
And the Arabs consider themselves culturally superior to pretty much everyone.
In earlier peace negotiations with mainly Christian rebels in southern Sudan the Government conceded that Sharia law would not apply there under an eventual settlement, but the western region of Darfur was not included in the offer.
Christians in the south fought a little too hard, but I'm sure the government has sharia in the south as a long range plan, right after they kill the christians.
Nobody's commented on this, possibly because we're all caught up in Yasser's (hopefully deadly) illness and the release of Binny's tape. But I think I'm going to mark this one and yesterday's post on the mullahs' reaction to the Afghan elections for the Classix.
The difference between us and them, the reason they hate us and they're trying to kill us, is that their society — Islamic society — cannot abide the idea of individual freedom. They may be shoved to the dunking stool of elections, though they'll fight that every step of the way, but they're forbidden by their religion to accept the idea of personal liberty. The concept itself includes the freedom to choose your religion, even the freedom to practice no religion at all. Islam demands public and ostentatious adherence to its tenets. If you try to leave it, the Koran itself demands you be killed. It can't brook a rival, not even "people of the Book."
Posted by: Steve ||
10/29/2004 9:18:56 AM ||
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"Their society â Islamic society â cannot abide the idea of individual freedom"
Which should not be news to anybody here, but it's still worth a reminder.
"If you try to leave it, the Koran itself demands you be killed."
Islam - the Roach Motel of religions.
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
10/29/2004 20:31 Comments ||
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Sudan Govt rejects call to separate religion, state
Perhaps it may be necessary to separate Sudan's politicians from their corporeal bodies. Such a move might encourage migration away from theocratic government. If not, it still could serve as an object lesson to anyone else considering the notion of further genocide.
Islam demands public and ostentatious adherence to its tenets.
Such mandatory and conspicuous prostration is the hallmark of an extremely insecure religion. Those faiths that are more sure of their place among thinking and autoscopic followers tend to demand less overt demonstrations of adherence. Islam's eggshell ego should be an automatic warning to anyone with an IQ above room temperature.
#3
In that case, separate the state from the government. Drive Bashir and his supporters in Egypt, Somalia, or Saudi. Help those they have butchered take over Sudan.
Posted by: ed ||
10/29/2004 23:29 Comments ||
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Forgive the link to my own blog, but you won't read this elsewhere.
You're always welcome, Robin...
Yesterday I had the humbling and awesome experience of meeting Humalia Akrawy. I've posted my notes from that meeting at Winds of Change. Here's a little about her:
What would you do if you were a 22 year old Kurdish Muslim woman in March of 2003, when an army drawn from several countries invaded your homeland?
If you were Humalia Akrawy you would remember your brother, killed under Saddam -- and remember how they sent back just one leg and part of an arm to demonstrate his death and their power to your family. You would look at your father, who no longer has full use of his hands after being tortured by Saddam.
And then, despite the disapproval of many but with the blessing and support of your family, on 23 March you would volunteer to become a translator for the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army.
But what would you do when Ba'athists and jihadists ambushed your car, injuring your brother and trying to kill you, and when they later killed your 24 year old sister thinking she was you -- pumping 60 AK47 bullets into her body? Or when you received a letter saying, "We know we missed killing you, but we will be back" and then your home was blown up, injuring another brother and killing the Iraqi policeman guarding it?
Go read what she has to say about the war, about the situation in Iraq and the future there.
Posted by: Robin Burk ||
10/29/2004 8:12:09 AM ||
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#1
No chance that'll make the MSM before Wednesday.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/29/2004 8:40 Comments ||
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Great read--thanks for the link!
Posted by: Dar ||
10/29/2004 9:05 Comments ||
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Here I'd thought it was her alter ego telling us the true poop she couldn't risk her job saying under her real name. Or perhaps knowing Praktike doesn't comment here.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/29/2004 18:16 Comments ||
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Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday vowed to unseat Ariel Sharon as head of the Likud Party and return to the prime minister's chair in the near future. It's very possible there will be a new Israeli PM, but BiBi might be jumping the gun a little. Now is not the time for Lukud infighting.
Supporters of the former prime minister said he recognized the falling-out between himself and Sharon would not be mended, and was preparing for a definitive split within the party. The open challenge to Sharon's rule came less than a day after Netanyahu threatened to resign his critical post if the prime minister did not agree to put his Gaza-first retreat plan to a national referendum. Netanyahu Thursday made clear he had no intention of backing down, even if other senior ministers withdrew from the ultimatum.
Over the past month, Sharon has repeatedly expressed his confidence that early elections would see him remain at the nation's helm with increased political power. Sharon has stated on several occasions that he would prefer fresh elections to a referendum on his "disengagement" plan, though he desires neither. But Israel's Channel One News on Wednesday said Netanyahu had a different take on the outcome of the next national election, whenever it may be held. "If there will be an election, I will be Likud chairman," he was quoted as saying, referring to the fact that prior to a national poll, the various parties would hold internal primaries. When questioned by The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu's office would not confirm the quote, but did say the finance minister believed there would be elections soon and that he would likely run. The Sharon camp issued blistering criticism of Netanyahu following the reports, vowing to make sure that even after Sharon retired, Netanyahu would never return to power.
While Netanyahu has for nearly two years maintained a low profile politically, Sharon's relentless drive to uproot the Jews of Gaza has caused the long-simmering animosity between the two men to once again boil to the surface. As the Knesset prepared to vote Tuesday on Sharon's retreat plan, Netanyahu warned that the prime minister's tactics in pushing forward his initiative were creating a deadly rift in the nation. But Netanyahu's calls for a referendum in order to salvage unity among the people fell on deaf ears. So following the vote, Netanyahu informed Sharon he would resign as finance minister if the prime minister did not approve of a referendum within two weeks. On Thursday, Netanyahu insisted he would not back down on his demand, even though other Likud ministers had already rescinded their support for fear of losing their jobs.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/29/2004 2:44:24 AM ||
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#1
We with B.N. as prime minister the Paleos would be begging for Sharon back.
#2
I strongly suspect that BN has shot his wad. Sharon just pulled off a major coup in the Knesset, which left BN and his three fellows not only out in the cold, but looking weak, thus diminishing their chances for a comeback. I predict Sharon will replace much of his cabinet with reliable pro-withdrawl Labor party ministers, who he would need to force recalcitrant settlers with anyway. He will then perform an orderly withdrawl, much to the dismay of his enemies on all sides, and will then put all resources into complete disengagement with the Paleos. This will only really come about with Egyptian and Jordanian administration of the Paleo territories.
#3
But Egypt and Jordan have made it clear they do not want to administer the territories. They know that's a loser's game. At least when Israel was in charge (before Intifadas I and II) they built schools and sewer systems, and made sure clean water was available. Neither Egypt nor Jordan have the funds to spare for such fripperies, and the population is even more radicalized than it was in 1967. Popcorn, anyone?
In particular the imminent passage to hell of Mr. Arafat may have pulled him out of a dilemma. He managed to avoid taking a clear position for or against disengagement by pushing for a referendum. Sharon said mustnt delay for a referendum. With uncertainty on the Pal side, there may be delay anyway, though Sharon denies. And if a moderate like Abbas succeeds, that creates yet more possibilities. In particular it may make it harder for Labor to join a Sharon govt. Labor accepted, grudgingly (in the case of Mitzna and Labors left, VERY grudgingly) that talks were on hold while Arafat was in power. If Abbas is the new Pal Prez, Labour will certainly push for talks. Not clear if Sharon can pull Likud that far. Sharon would be isolated, and Bibi could well take over as head of Likud. Labour would get the govt, and start negotiations.
Of course if negotiations succeeded, Bibi would probably be history and be succeeded by a younger Likud moderate, maybe Olmert. If negotiations fail, Bibi might have a shot at PM.
'Yahad Chairman Yossi Beilin said Friday that the neutralization of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has created a rare opportunity for the renewal of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Until yesterday, we supported a unilateral withdrawal, but as of today, we are demanding negotiations," Beilin said. He went on to say that Israel should withdraw from the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, while coordinating security arrangements with the Palestinians.
Beilin's Yahad party supported the disengagement plan in the Knesset vote on Tuesday, in spite of the fact that as an initiator of the Geneva Accord, Beilin found it difficult to support a unilateral move.
In remarks Friday, Beilin backed calls made Thursday by Yahad MK Zehava Gal-On for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to prepare for a post-Arafat era, to revise his policy, and coordinate the withdrawal from Gaza with moderate Palestinians. According to Gal-On, Israel must reappraise the situation and implement the Gaza pullback alongside negotiations.
MK Ephraim Sneh (Labor) said that the evacuation of Arafat to a Paris hospital has created a new reality. "Israel needs to initiate a policy based on coordinating the pullout with the Palestinian government," Sneh said.'
Yasser Arafat's death or departure from the Palestinian leadership will have very significant impact on the workings of the PLO mission at UN headquarters in New York. According to one version of events discussed by diplomats Thursday, the death of the Palestinian leader would mean a moderation in the position of the PLO's New York mission toward Israel. The Palestinian chief of mission, Nasser al-Kidwa, who is Arafat's nephew, has taken an extremist and hostile line against Israel in recent years. He has repeatedly called for emergency sessions of the General Assembly, which became a platform for anti-Israel speeches and resolutions that won widespread support.
During Mahoud Abbas' term as prime minister there was no communication between him and al-Kidwa, who is said to take his orders directly from Arafat, and Abbas reportedly considered firing him. Al-Kidwa is also on poor terms with Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath. Senior diplomats at UN headquarters believe that after a transition period in the Palestinian leadership, al-Kidwa will be replaced by a moderate senior Palestinian. Sources in New York said Thursday that the PLO mission is already considering a memorial ceremony to be held for Yasser Arafat in the General Assembly. According to the sources, al-Kidwa is planning international events in Arafat's memory, to which world leaders and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be invited.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/29/2004 2:29:16 AM ||
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Osama Bin Laden fled Afghanistan following the battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. He briefly retreated into the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir in January 2002.
By June 2002, bin Laden had reportedly moved south into Baluchistan, a mountainous, autonomous tribal region in western Pakistan. It was a sensible place for him to hide. The Baluch are a nation without a country; their ancestral homeland straddles Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. It is likely that his confederates have family and friends among the Baluch. A number of high-ranking al Qaeda operatives are ethnic Baluch, including Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Yousef's uncle, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the operational planner of the September 11 attacks.
The Baluch have a long history of harboring terrorists. Saddam Hussein financed Baluch terrorists against Pakistan as far back as 1969, Iraq expert Laurie Mylroie told me.
In July 2002, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf announced that he was sending commandos into the tribal areas of Pakistan to flush out bin Laden. If Pakistani troops were quick and thorough, bin Laden would find himself surrounded—and perhaps even betrayed for the $25 million price on his head. Relying on the goodwill of Baluch cutthroats, he must have known, was not a viable long-term strategy.
Seemingly desperate, bin Laden recorded an extraordinary audiotape and sent it via courier to Ali Khomenei, the grand ayatollah of Iran's Supreme Council. On that tape, according to a former Iranian intelligence officer I interviewed in Europe, bin Laden asked for Iran's help. In exchange for safe harbor and funding, he pledged to put al Qaeda at the service of Iran to combat American forces in Afghanistan and in Iraq, where al Qaeda leaders believed American intervention was inevitable. Bin Laden reportedly pledged, "If I die, my followers will be told to follow you [Khomenei]."
Apparently the taped appeal worked. Murtaza Rezai, the director for Ayatollah Khomenei's personal intelligence directorate, began secret negotiations with bin Laden. Under the agreement between the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and al Qaeda, several convoys transported bin Laden's four wives, as well as his eldest son and heir apparent, Saad bin Laden, into Iran. Saad reportedly remains there today.
Then, on July 26, 2002, bin Laden himself crossed into Iran from the Afghanistan border near Zabol, traveling north to the Iranian city of Mashad.
Over the next year, bin Laden holed up in a series of safe houses controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard between Qazvin and Karaj, two cities along a highway west of Teheran. He moved frequently to avoid detection or betrayal. He was not alone. Two intelligence sources told me bin Laden was "guarded by the Revo-lu-tionary Guard."
Bin Laden also traveled with al Qaeda's number two man, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was wounded and required medical treatment, my sources said. For a time, bin Laden moved freely with and crossed into Afghanistan at will, usually through an Iranian border checkpoint near Zabol?.
Why would Iran, a predominantly Shi'ite Muslim land, work with a predominantly Sunni Muslim terror organization like bin Laden's? The short answer is personal connections, shared goals, and a common enemy. Ayman al-Zawahiri, a bona fide Sunni extremist, has received financial support from Iran since 1988. Bin Laden himself is believed to have met with Iranian intelligence officials at Islamic conferences in Khartoum, Sudan, in the early 1990s. Both bin Laden and the mullahs share an Islamist worldview that calls for the armed overthrow of Arab dictatorships and the restoration of a single caliph who will rule according to Shari'a law.
Finally, they share enemies, including many Arab leaders, the United States, and the rest of the Western world.
Whether the Sunni-Shi'ite divide is as wide among radical Islamists as some analysts say, few can dispute that Iran's increasing isolation and the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has provided Teheran with a strong incentive to seek out new allies.
Bin Laden is not the only senior al Qaeda member who has reportedly sought sanctuary. Saad bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the western city of Kermanshah, hard on the Iraq border. Saif al-Adel, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's successor as commander of al Qaeda's military wing, is also said to be there...
Administration officials expect bin Laden will most likely be captured in Pakistan. Yet policymakers would be wise to turn their attention to Iran's documented links to global terrorist networks, including bin Laden's. With vast oil revenues, a long history of supporting terrorists, and a fathomless desire to achieve its ideological aims at the expense of American lives, it certainly deserves its place on President Bush's "Axis of Evil."
Part I & II in the link.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/29/2004 2:25:07 AM ||
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We have received small disconnected hints of this out of sight part of the war on terrorism. This includes such comments of "A terrorist cell was disrupted in X", "Information from the interrogation of Abu Y resulted in foiling a plot to attack Z". While the article is encouraging, how many of public will read and understand this information? Not many I am sure. I certainly understand the need for security to prevent the loss of intelligence advantage. This can be seen in the history of the cipher break of Enigma and Purple. I do think that the administration could do a better job of encourging the home front by releasing sanitized versions of our success in the early days of Afganistan. Perhaps something like the Dolittle raid on Tokyo from "airfields in Shangra La". It certainly would do no harm to publicize events which the terrorists know have happened the instant the first JDAM explodes. Bucking up the folks at home is an important part of any long war. This was done very well in WWII and was an abyssal failure in Viet Nam. The White House should study the results of those two conflicts.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
10/29/2004 21:54 Comments ||
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The Iraqi military academy that NATO plans to set up outside Baghdad should be able to train about 1,000 officers a year, the alliance's top commander in Europe said Thursday. U.S. Gen. James L. Jones said the training mission would likely be smaller than the 3,000 instructors, guards and support troops that his planners have set as a ceiling for the mission in Iraq. "Three thousand will be the maximum and it is going to be less than that, I think," he told reporters at NATO's military headquarters in southern Belgium. The number of actual instructors is expected to be around 350. Jones declined to speculate when the academy would be up and running. Allied military experts presented a detailed operational plan for expanding the training to the 26 allied nations this week but officials said it would likely take at least a couple of weeks before it is approved. The United States is pushing for the training center to be operational by the end of this year.
Jones said at least 16 of the 26 allies had "indicated willingness to contribute troops inside Iraq" for the training mission. Others will help train troops outside the country, he added. A first group of about 20 Iraqi officers are set to begin a weeklong course Monday at NATO's Joint Warfare center in Norway. In additional help for Iraq's fledgling armed forces, NATO has already started work coordinating international efforts to supply military equipment. Jones said that was focusing on gear from the old Soviet bloc which Iraqis are familiar with since the days of Saddam Hussein. Many new NATO members from eastern Europe have surplus supplies of such equipment.
I see a match of supply and demand.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2004 12:39:24 AM ||
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I see selling and buying. And more killings. US is growing another Saddam Hussein and another Baath. Who cares? As long as we can sell off all our weapons. Or else the finished fighter planes will be stuck in the American desert with no one to buy.
Time to calibrate the bullshit meter. Just in time for the election too.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violence since the U.S.-led invasion last year, American public health experts have calculated in a report that estimates there were 100,000 "excess deaths" in 18 months. No baby ducks?!?! Surely there's a flaw in the analysis!!
The rise in the death rate was mainly due to violence and much of it was caused by U.S. air strikes on towns and cities. "Making conservative assumptions, we think that about 100,000 excess deaths, or more have happened since the 2003 invasion of Iraq," said Les Roberts of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in a report published online by The Lancet medical journal.
JH SPH is a respectable place, but that doesn't mean they can't get real political from time to time. Big problem with schools of public health is that all the big public health issues -- sanitation, disease, slaughterhouses, vaccinations -- have been figured out, so there's less to do in a day.
"The use of air power in areas with lots of civilians appears to be killing a lot of women and children," Roberts told Reuters. The report came just days before the U.S. presidential election in which the Iraq war has been a major issue.
Near-NYT impeccable timing.
Mortality was already high in Iraq before the war because of United Nations sanctions blocking food and medical imports not to mention the shredding machine but the researchers described what they found as shocking. The new figures are based on surveys done by the researchers in Iraq in September 2004. They compared Iraqi deaths during 14.6 months before the invasion in March 2003 and the 17.8 months after it by conducting household surveys in randomly selected non-Kurdish neighborhoods. Previous estimates based on think tank and media sources put the Iraqi civilian death toll at up to 16,053 and military fatalities as high as 6,370. By comparison about 849 U.S. military were killed in combat or attacks and another 258 died in accidents or incidents not related to fighting, according to the Pentagon. The researchers blamed air strikes for many of the deaths. "What we have evidence of is the use of air power in populated urban areas and the bad consequences of it," Roberts said. Gilbert Burnham, who collaborated on the research, said U.S. military action in Iraq was "very bad for Iraqi baby ducks civilians. We were not expecting the level of deaths from violence that we found in this study and we hope this will lead to some serious discussions of how military and political aims can be achieved in a way that is not so detrimental to civilians populations."
After we kill the jihadis the need for air strikes should decline.
The researchers did 33 cluster surveys of 30 households each, recording the date, circumstances and cause of deaths. They found that the risk of death from violence in the period after the invasion was 58 times higher than before the war. Before the war the major causes of death were torture heart attacks, starvation chronic disorders and Uday accidents. That changed after the war. Sure. I can buy that...if you count Saddam Hussein as a chronic disease.
Two-thirds of violent deaths in the study were reported in Falluja, the insurgent held city 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad which had been repeatedly hit by U.S. air strikes. "Our results need further verification and should lead to changes to reduce non-combatant deaths from air strikes," Roberts added in the study.
Sure Generalissimo, and why don't you tell us how? You know you want to.
Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, said the research which was submitted to the journal earlier this month had been peer-reviewed, edited and fast-tracked for publication because of its importance in the evolving security situation in Iraq. "But these findings also raise questions for those far removed from Iraq -- in the governments of the countries responsible for launching a pre-emptive war," Horton said in an editorial.
Posted by: Steve White (assist to Rafael) ||
10/29/2004 12:09:04 AM ||
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#1
I call Bullsh*t! I call shenanigans!
Posted by: Tibor ||
10/29/2004 0:44 Comments ||
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The methodology is about as sound as estimating the level of teenage sex by asking adolescent boys how often they got layed.
Otherwise, I recall from WW2 data it took on average 10+ bombs to kill one civilian. I realize bombs have got a lot more accurate, but that should reduce civilian deaths and I don't believe many bombs are being used - < 10 per week? I can only conclude that either some completely new effect is at work or those interviewed are lying their heads off.
#3
I just voted -1 (dump the article about this) at a very liberal site. This crap comming out just before the election is pure crap. I posted that we actually line up 1000's of Iraqis everyday and machine gun them just for fun. I added they have missed all the baby ducks, kittens and puppies we kill.
I think if you look on Lancest's site this is not published.
I smell fecal matter and it's comming from my left. This is desperation by the left in europe who just now get it. We don't hate Bush like they do. The German publication BILD just came out and endorsed Bush. That paper is the largest circulation in Germany and europe.
Europe fears Bushes relection. Another reason to vote for him.
A couple of points. Death rate in Kurdish sample has fallen dramatically. Excluding Fallujah the study found 21 violent deaths, of which 6 persons were identifiably women or children (< 15 years old). I know enough about statistics that you can't reliably extrapolate from 6 data points.
#5
"Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, said the research which was submitted to the journal earlier this month had been peer-reviewed, edited and fast-tracked for publication because of its importance in the evolving security situation in Iraq."
"Because of its importance in the evolving security situation in Iraq", my ass: it was fast-tracked for publication so it would appear at the optimum time for influencing the U.S. election.
If it weren't so despicable, the "medical dhimmitude" in this would be funny: here we have a bunch of doctors rushing like mad to churn out Democratic Party campaign-ad material, all for the purpose of electing a medical-malpractice attorney as our Vice President.
Way to go, shitheads.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
10/29/2004 1:46 Comments ||
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data do not show evidence of widespread
wrongdoing on the part of individual soldiers on the ground. To the contrary, only three of 61 incidents (5%) involved coalition soldiers (all reported to be American by the respondents) killing Iraqis with small arms fire.
In one of the three cases, the 56-year-old man killed might have been a combatant. In a second case, a 72-year-old man was shot at a checkpoint. In the third, an armed guard was mistaken for a combatant and shot during a skirmish. In the latter two cases, American
soldiers apologised to the families of the decedents for the killings, indicating a clear understanding of the adverse consequences of their use of force. The remaining 58 killings (all attributed to US forces by interviewees) were caused by helicopter gunships, rockets, or other forms of aerial weaponry.
#10
"Two-thirds of all violent deaths were reported in one cluster in the city of Falluja."
Haven't had time to read the report beyond the intro, but a simple calculation here suggests that 66,000 abnormal deaths are deemed to have occurred amongst the people living in the vicinity of 30 households in one part of Falluja? Tell me I've got the wrong end of the stick...
#11
All the MSM are carrying this and none mention the (for me) most interesting (and statisticaly - read scientific) valid part of their study which is the Kurdish death rate dropped dramatically. The authors predictably gloss over this, but it seems to be a huge 60%, much larger than the non-Fallujah increase they found.
#12
A statisticaly significant fact 95% of all statistics are invalad. Mostly because they are pulled out of the statisticians backside becaue they are trying to support their own agenda and are biased as hell to whit:
"The report was released just days before the U.S. presidential election, and the lead researcher told The Associated "I was opposed to the war and I still think that the war was a bad idea,"â¦
#15
100,000 deaths my ass. If that were happening, the MSM would have been all over it all the time, what with 100,000 greiving families to exploit, etc.
There were hundreds of thousands of deaths in Iraq, all right - we're still exhuming the bones from mass graveyards, with no help from the Euros - but they were killed BY SADDAM.
However, since the conscienceless clowns of both the MSM and this report apparently approved of his "presidency," while they disapprove of the presidency of the man who freed 50 million people from slavery, that doesn't get brought up much.
I'm with you guys - I call bullshit AND attempt to influence our election. These people are what they project onto George Bush - evil.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/29/2004 9:11 Comments ||
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#16
I call bullshit -- and another attempt to sway the election to a U.N. toadie (Kerry).
We have to get out of the UN and get the UN out of the US.
#18
Fallujah contains less than 1% of Iraq's population. If two thirds of the violent deaths reported by the 990 subject households were in Fallujah, then Fallujah households were either disproportionately represented to an absurd degree, or the rate of violent death was very low to non-existent in those outside Fallujah. In the former case, the projection of these figures onto the entire population is unwarranted, even ignoring the probable bias of anecdotal accounts from that source. In the latter case, the claimed result is mathematically impossible.
#19
To further clarify, if two thirds of the violent deaths in a representative sample occurred in Fallujah, then two thirds of the derived figure of 100,000 would also have to have occurred in Fallujah. Otherwise the sample is simply not representative. I don't think that even the jihadists have claimed anything like 67,000 civilian deaths in Fallujah.
You can bet your last dollar, though, that every Chomskyite in the country will be quoting these figures by the end of the day.
Those numbers, unlike these, are real. When you can admit your nation's guilt, then you'll have a little bit of standing in discussing how trustworthy these numbers are.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/29/2004 10:58 Comments ||
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#25
In keeping with the spirit of the article, mangling numbers cuz it makes you feel all warm and runny (h/t Martin Mull), here are a couple of fun websites with pointless / meaningless graphs - almost as funny as this article:
#28
Amen, Sea. I check it every couple of months. Only across the board humor rival Scott Ott ever had - excepting Allah's targeted routine. Mucho Heavy Sigh.
#29
Oxblog has a link to a skeptical look at these numbers. No real in depth analysis yet, the usual guys who would do it are obsessed with some missing explosives, for reasons I honestly cant fathom. Somebody at Human rights watch has already said these numbers are way to high.
Here is what the Lancet article says: If we exclude the Falluja data, the risk of death is 1.5-fold (1.1-2.3) higher after the invasion.
For those of you not familiar with epidemiology, 1.5 is the relative risk, or multiplier, placed on normal mortality in this case.
Two points: 1. The threshold for publication in most leading medical journals is an RR of 3.0. This means Lancet has pushed this thing into print by lowering its own standards. 2. An RR of 1.5 means that (1.5-1.0) / 1.5 is the percentage "explained" by their data, or 33%. In other words, 66% of the explanation is due to something other than the war!
So to recap, Lancet publishes a study using highly flawed survey methods with numerous systematic and other biases, lowers its own standards and rushes its peer review to get it into print. And even then their numbers don't prove anything.
This is junk science of the worst kind. Pathetic. -- Fresh Air
Methinks The Lancet is going to find out what it's like to get peer-reviewed by the blogosphere.
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
10/29/2004 18:20 Comments ||
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Posted by: Old Grouch ||
10/29/2004 18:38 Comments ||
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#32
Here's an analysis that shreds the report. The editor of The Lancet deserves to be fired.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/29/2004 21:10 Comments ||
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#33
i think we will live in peace once US and Israelis use up their Uzis and Apaches. But that won't happen. they will make more. All in the name of peace. Hehehe. It is so similar to stabbing your roomate to death simply because he was making too much noise at night. For "peace". Murderers.
Sudanese President Omar Bashir has launched an attack on international humanitarian agencies in the troubled Darfur region, calling them enemies in comments published yesterday. "Organizations operating in Darfur are the real enemies," the official Al-Anbaa daily quoted Bashir as saying, without elaborating. "The conspiracy against Darfur is not new," he added, in remarks to representatives of native administrations in Darfur.
The president also accused the West of fueling the 20-month conflict in the region that has left tens of thousands of people dead, displaced more than 1.4 million others from their homes and forced a further 200,000 into Chad. "Western countries are funding the unrest in Darfur," Bashir charged, adding that there were also other elements that wanted to "explode the situation" in the region, again without elaborating. He argued that those "claiming to be concerned" about the crisis were "liars and hypocrites. They are all enemies." Bashir and other officials in Khartoum have repeatedly accused NGOs of proselytizing in Sudan and charged that the West was fueling the conflict in a bid to plunder the country's resources.
There's the real fear: that the NGOs will — even inadvertently — convert the locals to some sort of alternative to Islam and dictatorship. Once the rubes get the idea that "I can be more like them," there's the danger they'll bolt from the real liars and hypocrites who run Sudan.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2004 12:03:00 AM ||
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#2
You are correct: the Arabs there are fully capable of achieving genocide of those they consider inferior without any outside help whatsoever. They are to be congratulated on demostrating such an admirable ability.
Iraq's principal Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has informed the interim Iraqi government of his "full support" for elections scheduled for January. "The grand ayatollah's message is that elections should be held as scheduled and that he will advise the faithful to take active part," Sistani's spokesman Ahmad Safi told Arab News yesterday.
Safi denied earlier reports that Sistani might call for a boycott of the elections. "The grand ayatollah asked for free elections just days after the fall of Saddam Hussein," Safi said. "His position has not changed. He believes that only free elections would allow the people of Iraq to choose a legitimate power and bring the occupation to a rapid end." Sistani's support comes as a major boost to plans for the election that is designed to choose a constituent assembly to finalize a draft constitution that will then be submitted to the people in a referendum. Sistani's support was a conveyed in a message handed to interim Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh who visited the grand ayatollah in Najaf, in central Iraq, on Wednesday.
During his visit to Najaf, Saleh also informed Sistani of " a major aid package" for the Shiite city that was ravaged by weeks of armed insurrection by a group of militants led by Moqtada Sadr, a junior cleric who has since disbanded his militia. The package, believed to be worth $8 million, will finance repairs at the mosque of Imam Ali, at the center of the city, and the expansion of its courtyards and surrounding park. Compensation will also be paid to owners of some 400 shops and homes destroyed or partly damaged in the fighting between the Sadr militia and the US-led coalition forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2004 10:55:43 PM ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2004 10:47:59 PM ||
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#1
A weak attempt by the IAEA/UN to influence the outcome of the US presidential elections. Seems the UN is mad that wa are not mindlessly deferential like most of the other nations of the western world.
#5
Good idea, GUS. Works for me, because there are a lot of countries out there like Iran, North Korea, and Syria that seem to be as clueless as you are and need to be reminded that folks like Dubya and Tom are armed and dangerous.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/29/2004 8:18 Comments ||
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#6
Fox just reported that there will be a news conference at Noon, EST, and it appears the 3rdID carted away the "missing" explosives.
#8
And they used some of that to blow up other stockpiles - and possibly the remainder, lol!
News conference:
The "Press" is desperate - the questions are getting rather pointed and nit-picky, lol! The IAEA seals are a hot-button for them - they want him to explicitly say he either did or didn't see the magic fucking seals. It's getting silly.
#9
The Major is giving details now: he had 8 trucks, each with a trailer. There was a forklift occupying one trailer - so 17 units of hauling, with the precise unit size / capacity unnamed, not to mention the materials themselves, which he said was packed in wooden boxes and palletized.
So it was easy to handle the explosives, in boxes, on pallets, with their forklift. He estimates he hauled away approximately 250 tons.
This story is DEAD. Skeery is shown to be a DEAD PONCE LIAR. DEAD.
Of course, the ABB crowd won't believe a word of it and don't even care... about the explosives, about our troops, about Saddam, about the war, about anything except demonizing Bush.
Jules, lol! A ponce is a poof / poofta... you haven't followed the Trailer Trash thread, I see, lol!
Oh, okay:
Main Entry: ponce
Pronunciation: 'pän(t)s
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
British : PIMP; also usually disparaging : a male homosexual
#12
Gringo liar! You are jealous of my shiny breastplate and gloves of fine Corinthian leather!
Posted by: Juan Ponce de Leon ||
10/29/2004 13:39 Comments ||
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#13
.com, you forgot to say "British usage". That's why your Yank-speaking questioners don't know the term. I think "poof" may be Brit also. Not quite sure, though, as I'm not up on homosexuality related insult terms.
#14
Actually, tw, it's the PIMP aspect, the primary definition you can see above, that triggers my use of the term. The "dandy" - all pretense and zero substance, unscrupulous, unprincipled, tutored yet still crude and pandering, dresses for show, peacock, etc. These are all part and parcel to PIMP and PONCE. I love such wonderful words which can paint such a bright and lively canvas with only a few letters.
Alas, one must occasionally do a little work on one's own to get the full effect. So sorry, all.
And, by the by tw, do I hear a condescending tone in there? Insult? Is truth an insult? I believe I take exception to your close. I can be as erudite as I choose to be. I can be as nasty as I choose to be. The key word, of course, is "choose" - by my choices you know my intent, if not misunderstood. The inverse is true, as well. Are misunderstanding each other here?
#15
.com, I wouldn't dare condescend to any of the regulars - that's dangerous as well as stupid. Besides, I'm not entitled. I apologise that I came off that way, it certainly wasn't intentional. I truly don't know the homosexuality related insult terms -- I had a sheltered childhood, and for whatever reason that tends to be a masculine vocabulary set. The only reason I'm aware of ponce and poof is that my husband translated for me once after he'd returned from a business trip abroad. I'm pretty ignorant on the various terms for penis, too -- as he doesn't seem keen to enumerate those for me for some reason. Are we ok now?
#16
tw - Waaay Cool! I'm sorry - sorry as hell, in fact! I am a putz!
As for the insult world being dominated by male speech - I dunno...
I clearly remember realizing, in the seventh grade, that I could have a real knock-down drag-out fight with some guy - and we'd be friends afterwards - especially if it was close and we were equally bloody. On the other hand, the femalians wouldn't physically harm each other very often, but they said incredibly vicious things to each other which I'm sure wounded deeply - and there was no healing, no comraderie afterwards. That scared the shit outta me! Lol! I was soooo glad to be a male!
That you (and our other treasured RB wymyns - we need the perspective you bring like oxygen itself, heh) survived intact and are fiesty and intelligent and ready to lock 'n load just amazes me. You're tougher than I am - I'll bet my bankroll, lol!
Apologies for being dense, heh. Call me lead-head - I'll take it from you. LH or others who like to snipe me, no way - it'd be war! Lol!
#17
ha! i have squired you with my rapier like rapier many time mr..com and you not even see it!
ha! that not hurt
be try turning you head!
ha!
manuel! fetch me bong!
Posted by: Spaniard United To Be Noticed ||
10/29/2004 17:47 Comments ||
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#18
I clearly remember realizing, in the seventh grade, that I could have a real knock-down drag-out fight with some guy - and we'd be friends afterwards - especially if it was close and we were equally bloody.
I remember that scenario well. Had a knock down, drag-out battle with Bobby Peterson with two of my older brothers and Bobby's one older brother supervising things, and we knocked the shit out of each other for 10 minutes (it seemed much, much longer than that upon reflection). We basically shook hands afterwards and knew it was out of both our systems. I think it's that concept called honor...
Dateline: Yemen --The son of Sheikh Ahmad Ali Al-Waqidi, one of the prominent Sheikhs in Rada'a, was killed last Friday by the police after they attempted to storm Al-Waqidi's house in Khawlan Street. Sources say that a battle between the police and the son of Al-Waqidi took place when the police wanted him to hand over his personal gun to them. The fatal clashes resulted in the killing of Al-Waqidi son by a policeman with a bullet in his head. The Ministry of Interior resorted to the arbitration of tribesmen.
Article does not note why the coppers were looking for the Sheikh. But now I suppose it's time for Dire Revenge (TM) anyway...
Several dozen Nigerian troops flew to Sudan's violence-wracked Darfur region on Thursday, the first of thousands of soldiers being deployed to bolster a tiny African Union peacekeeping force. The troops flew from Nigeria's capital to al-Fasher, in North Darfur, aboard a U.S. Air Force C-130, an African Union official said by telephone from al-Fasher. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 43 troops had arrived. U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said 47 Nigerian troops had flown in, as did Nigerian Lt. Col. Abubakar Rabiu. The discrepancy in numbers could not immediately be reconciled. The new soldiers were the first of planned reinforcements for the 390-member African Union mission in Darfur, a region the size of France. The mission is to be expanded to 3,320 people by the end of November.
Perfect cover for our Green Beret mission.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2004 10:48:38 PM ||
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#2
Yes, OG2765, welcome to Rantburg, home of the Strategic Keyboard Command. Also serving the 93rd Volunteer Civilian Wing of the DIA, where even a simple country doctor or humble civil engineer can singlehandedly win the War on Terror...every day.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who doctors say may have leukemia, 
Dateline: Yemen --The son of Sheikh Ahmad Ali Al-Waqidi, one of the prominent Sheikhs in Rada'a, was killed last Friday by the police after they attempted to storm Al-Waqidi's house in Khawlan Street. Sources say that a battle between the police and the son of Al-Waqidi took place when the police wanted him to hand over his personal gun to them. The fatal clashes resulted in the killing of Al-Waqidi son by a policeman with a bullet in his head. The Ministry of Interior resorted to the arbitration of tribesmen. 
