The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has criticised the war in Iraq at a midnight Mass. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor told a congregation of 2,000 that more needed to be done to achieve peace in the country and across the Middle East. He said it was a "terrible thing" that billions of pounds spent on conflict could have helped ease suffering. The cardinal has told BBC News he believes 2005 should be the year for campaigning to end poverty. Speaking at Westminster Cathedral, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said: "How is it that peace has not arrived? How is it that there is war in Iraq, violence in the Holy Land, and the horror of pain and death amongst the poor and deprived who suffer from injustice and thus do not find peace?"
He questioned how it was possible to wish fellow Christians a happy Christmas "unless you and I, in whatever way is open to us, say and do what makes for peace". Speaking on the theme on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day on Christmas Eve he said 2005 should be the year to campaign to end poverty. The cardinal added: "If the governments of the rich countries were as ready to devote to peace the resources they are willing to commit to war, that would be to see with new eyes and speak with a new voice and perhaps then others would listen to us with new ears." I'm surprised they didn't report it as a personal attack against Blair.
Armenia's parliament voted Friday to send 46 non-combat troops to Iraq, a move that was backed by President Robert Kocharian but drew sharp criticism from many Armenians and opposition groups. After more than seven hours of debate behind closed doors, lawmakers in the National Assembly voted 91-23, with one abstention, to send the contingent, which will include bomb-disposal experts, doctors and transport specialists. The troops could be deployed to Iraq as early as next month and could serve in Iraq for up to a year, said Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, adding that the contingent would only conduct humanitarian operations. "There is not, and will not be an Armenian military presence in Iraq," Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said. "In the humanitarian aspect, it is preferable for Armenia to contribute to the postwar reconstruction of Iraq, in establishing democracy in this country which has important significance for the region and which could have an impact on the Caucasus."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 9:05:39 PM ||
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Is that 46 more than our back-stabbing "ally" Turkey? At least 'declared troops', not covert thugs sent to disrupt the Kurds?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2004 21:52 Comments ||
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With such a formidable force you can't loose anymore, muahahaaha
Posted by: Murat ||
12/25/2004 22:20 Comments ||
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Well, it's just the Armenians proving that they are "real men", unlike the Turks. Again.
#4
The Armenians just bought protection from another Turkish genocide of the Armenians. Smart people. Who is going to protect you from the comming slaughter?
Posted by: ed ||
12/25/2004 23:30 Comments ||
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#5
Well, thank you guys.... knowing your folks aren't just real happy with this move.... we Americans have to thank you.
We got lots of guys willing, trained, desiring to be on the "front" lines. It's amazing to listen to them talk of their mission, of what they are doing, and how they feel about what they are doing in this world.
Lots of pundits and politicians keep asking for more troops. We don't need more "front line troops." We got those folks, troops on the front lines, willing and waiting to go back in, troops in the states, wanting to go back, retired troopers with a deep down inside of them feeling, that they should be there. We got guys hurt, wanting to return to their unit..... we need folks like these Armenians to support our troops on the front line.
Gotta think, each of our Soldiers, Marines would salute these Armenians for their support.
That's 46 of our guys, not doing "behind the scene" stuff. Now, they can go do "front line" stuff. What they are trained to do and what they desire to do.
I'm no military person.... but, man, there's lots I could do with 46 support folks!!!! In any business! And trained folks, living by the creed of taking orders...... Whoa.... what I could do with 46 folks!
Thanks, Armenia....our guys and gals know you are there. And we Americans know you are there with us.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic makes the resolute protest to the authorities of Qatar in connection with the "ex-tradition" of two agents of the Russian special services to Russia condemned earlier by the Qatar justice for the act of terrorism, as the result of which former acting as the President of the CRI Z. Yandarbiev was killed and a heavy mutilation was put to his juvenile son.
Explanations of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that transferring of the terrorists to Russia with the purpose of their further serving of punishment in the native land, took place according to the bilateral agreements, at least, cause bewilderment as the law on terrorism for the first time was accepted by Qatar in connection with the assassination at Z. Yandarbiev.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic is compelled to establish regretfully, that such actions of the Qatar authorities not only put under doubt independence of justice in their country, but also directly encourage the Russian special services to activate their terrorist activity on physical elimination of political opponents of the Russian authoritative regime abroad.
The Chechen Republic Ichkeria
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ilyas Ahmads, The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 5:43:16 PM ||
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North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il has said his communist country has no intention of invading the South, an official North Korean news report said Saturday. The North's media have often said a second Korean war would not be triggered by North Korean provocation but by an attack from the South. Nonetheless, it's highly unusual for them to attribute such a statement to Kim, said South Korea's official news agency, Yonhap, which monitors the North's media.
"Greater Leader Kim Jong Il has pointed out that in the South today, there is a fuss over the non-existing threat of invasion from the North. But in reality, the only existing threat of invasion is not from the North but from the South," said North Korea's state-run Pyongyang Radio. Pyongyang Radio relayed Kim's comment at the head of its commentary accusing the South of an arms buildup. Yonhap carried the excerpts of the commentary.
And if you can't believe Radio Pyongyang, who can you believe?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 9:07:07 PM ||
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has he been seen live on TV or in person (other than by KCNA)in the last couple weeks?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2004 21:14 Comments ||
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I guess it has been a big misunderstanding all these years. Thank goodness the most decorated war hero didn't make it to the White House.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
12/25/2004 21:34 Comments ||
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Corrected headline: Report: N. Korea Wonât Can't Invade S. Korea
Posted by: ed ||
12/25/2004 23:31 Comments ||
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Hold it....
"Greater Leader"...? It was always 'Dear Leader' or 'Great Leader'.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/25/2004 23:42 Comments ||
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Some wit in the US delegation should counter-demand that China be excluded. Then make the Norks a bunch of bi-lateral proposals in front of the Chinese that would make them freak out.
#4
A bizzare yet possible solution to the problem. Just have a 5 power conference and inform the NORKS of the decision after the fact. Sweeten the deal with 21 pcs white meat, extra crispy.
There is increasing concern that the asylum-seeking Bakhtiyari family will be deported from Australia today. The Australian Government has refused the family refugee status and plans to deport the family to Pakistan, although the family continues to argue it is from Remulac, a small town in ... France Afghanistan.
Mother Roqia and her six children were moved to community detention housing at Port Augusta last week, while father Ali is at Baxter Detention Centre. Dale West, from the Catholic welfare agency Centacare, says the family packed their bags on Christmas Day. He believes they will be flown out of the country today. "Exactly how that will happen I think's open to speculation," he said. "I'd be surprised if the Government went ahead with something that so many people knew about."
If Mr. Howard had a noodle for a spine, you might be right.
"In that context I believe that perhaps a chartered flight from Woomera or some other airport in the region is more likely than the fact that they seem to have been planning to come to Adelaide and go on a Malaysian Airlines flight."
Mr West says he has given up on last minute appeals to the Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstrone. "The Federal Government have made it clear by their public statement and by their actions of last Saturday morning when they came and woke the children and took them from their beds back to the Baxter detention environment that they are hell-bent on deporting this family," he said. "New information about their origins, appeals for compassion all of those things seem now to be past and it's my view that the family will be deported."
A spokesman for Senator Vanstone says arrangements are being made to deport the family as soon as possible, but would not confirm if that will be today. Farewell !! Have a lovely trip ! BYE BYE NOW !!
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/25/2004 11:50:27 PM ||
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Furious students and faculty members at the Borough of Manhattan Community College are demanding that the school abandon plans for a certificate program on security management. They view it as an endorsement of the Bush administration's Department of Homeland Security.
Why would a school, where people go to learn things, have an opinion on the subject?
Like hundreds of other community colleges across the nation since the September 11 attacks, the two-year CUNY school in Lower Manhattan is hoping to take advantage of the surging demand for security training. The school's faculty proposed a program in May that would teach students about threats to homeland security and how to counter them. At a school where the student government headquarters is decorated with a poster of a tortured Abu Ghraib prisoner and another that calls President Bush a "madman," some students and faculty members have reacted to the proposed program with intense suspicion.
"I'm suspicious of anything that contributes to the security of the nation. There's gotta be something wrong with an idea like that."
While those who proposed the program argue that it will offer BMCC students sought-after skills to help them find jobs in the security industry, critics say the program is an oppressive outgrowth of the Department of Homeland Security. These beauzeuax see ignorance as strength.
At a meeting Wednesday of the faculty council, tempers flared, according to those who were present, as faculty members shouted questions at the designer of the proposed program, Elinor Garely, a professor in the business management department. The student government is handing out a "fact sheet" on the program with the header: "Stop BMCC 'Homeland' Repression Program Now!"
I thought the 3-credit hour course in rounding up people with turbans was okay, but felt it needed a lab to go with it...
... and field exercises. The botany students do it all the time.
"Faculty members point out that if BMCC becomes known as 'Homeland Security U,' this will intimidate and drive away many present and potential students, especially immigrants," the leaflet states.
Ummm... Like immigrants who might be recognizable threats to homeland security? Is that a bug or is it a feature?
The president of the student government at BMCC, Jason Negron, said the proposal is "a very scary issue that students are very, very against."
Sounds like Jason frightens pretty easily... Wonder where he was three years ago? That woulda scared the pants off him, I'll betcha...
He said if the program were to be instituted, students would be exposed to "a lot of right-wing views" and about "a lot of things that other countries have done to America without giving the other side of the story." He said it was the "progressive" faculty members who voiced opposition to the proposal at Wednesday's meeting. "And you know we can't have any dissenting voices in the College."
One of the courses proposed for the new certificate program, "Terrorism and Counterterrorism," provides an overview of guerilla warfare, hostage situations, and profiles of terrorists and their organizations. Another course, "Homeland Security," would invite a representative from the New York State Office of Homeland Defense to speak to students and would cover such topics as "The new strategy to secure cyberspace, ""Analysis and discussion of safety and security concerns in high-rise buildings after 9/11," and "How to protect the organization from outside investigators." The proposed curriculum also includes courses on "Travel, Tourism, and Hospital Security," "Crime Prevention through Environmental Design," "Legal and Ethical Issues in Security Management," and "Employment Trends in Security Management." The proposal anticipates first-year enrollment at 35 to 40 students. It could take months before the college approves the certificate program. After the CUNY central administration reviews it, the proposal would be returned to the faculty for final approval. The senior vice president for academic affairs at BMCC, Sadie Bragg, said the administration at the college has listened to the concerns of those who are objecting to the proposal. "Their concerns will be voiced," she said.
Sounds like they're being "voiced," loudly and insistently...
It appears the program has the support of the administration. BMCC's president, Antonio Perez, asked the department of business management to devise a security program, Ms. Garely said. Mr. Perez is a member of a task force that the American Association of Community Colleges recently established to help develop programs related to homeland security at community colleges across the country. Ms. Garely said the objective of the program is not to promote the Department of Homeland Security but to train students in skills that are in high demand in the workplace.
I'd hardly call that the function of a college, after all...
"The need for safety-and-security education is part of every industry," she said. "Whether you look at cruise ships, shopping malls, corporate headquarters, every bank, they all have security," she said. Ms. Garely said the program is geared toward students who want entry-level security positions and to security employees who are seeking promotion. She said the 30-credit program could be transferred to four-year degree programs offered at such schools as the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, also part of the CUNY system. According to her proposal, about half of the students at BMCC are employed, with an average income less than $15,000. Ms. Garely said she was taken aback by the angry reaction to the proposal from faculty members, whom she encouraged to read the proposal. "I think that the discussion and viewpoints are what an academic process is about," she said. "That's why we have colleges, so people can speak out."
#1
I think that this will cement their place within the Moonbat hierarchy. May I suggest the DNC issue a True-Blue Reality Rejection Award for CUNY? *golf clap*
Saddam Hussein's deputy prime minister, Tareq Aziz, denied that Iraq used the UN oil-for-food program to make billions of dollars, his defense lawyer said on Friday. Badih Aref said that Aziz told him that he wouldn't provide evidence on corruption allegations at the United Nations. "We used to offer assistance to parties, institutions and states that stood by Iraq. We helped them via the United Nations because the oil-for-food program was a legitimate program supervised by the UN," Aref cited Aziz as saying. "This cannot be considered bribery because it was our right to sell oil to those who wanted it and we could not affect the price at all, as it was set by the United Nations itself." Aziz added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 5:24:24 PM ||
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He always reminded me of Garfield the Cat, besides that this is another credible source of information.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
12/25/2004 21:35 Comments ||
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sounds like the Baathists and UN (who can tell the diff any more?) got to him
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2004 21:42 Comments ||
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Palestinian Nominee for Presidential elections of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Taysir Khaled, on Friday, accentuated the need to continue the Palestinian Intifada and said the Palestinian people has been resisting the Israeli occupation like any resistance against occupation in the world. In an interview with the Saudi newspaper Al-Jazira, Khaled noted the Palestinian people are progressively exposed to the occupation and uprooting policy, expressing support to resist the occupation in the occupied territories.
He criticized the US complete bias to the "Israeli aggressor" pointing out that Israel is an anti-Palestinian rights advocator where it invented the veto law to protect the Israeli occupation from the international resolutions. He declared that in case of his winning in the elections, he would never negotiate with the Israeli side but to achieve the international resolutions that would guarantee Palestinians to get their rights. He voiced reservation over the Roadmap saying it aimed at making Palestinians be busy with themselves to achieve security for the occupation forces, while the occupation forces are preoccupied with fighting Palestinians in their daily struggle to survive, demolishing their houses and uprooting their trees.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 5:38:35 PM ||
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The solution is really quite simple. Israel should begin offing every single Palestinian presidential candidate that advocates continued terrorism. Continually cull such blood-thirsty killers from the roster until the only choices remaining involve those who seek peaceful reconciliation with Israel. Then let the Palestinians elect whomever they choose.
JAKARTA: As the faithful gathered for Christmas prayers Friday, Indonesia braced for possible terrorist attacks with tight security at churches, hotels and other potential targets to safeguard seasonal festivities. More than 180,000 police officers were being mobilised after alerts by foreign governments of an imminent attack by Islamic extremists in the world's largest Muslim-populated nation. Indonesia has been hit by a wave of deadly bombings in the past few years, including a string of church explosions on Christmas Eve four years ago that killed 19 people, and the October 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 died. "The deployment of two-thirds of the police force across the country for the Christmas and New Year season is now complete," national police deputy spokesman Sunarko Danu Ardanto told AFP. In Jakarta 28,000 police and military were dispatched to guard the city's 467 churches and 67 other places of worship while shopping centres and other locations such as hotels would receive extra guards.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 1:05:22 AM ||
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The U.S. is considering launching military strike on Syria in an attempt to kill or capture Iraqi Ba'athists, it says are behind the attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq, a senior administration official told The Jerusalem Post on Friday. The official added that new U.S. sanctions are likely to be implemented. However, he said that U.S. should be more "aggressive" after Tuesday's attack on a U.S. base in Mosul.
Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please ...
The officials remarks suggested that the U.S. believes the attack on the mess tent, in which 22 people were killed, was planned from inside Syrian territory. "I think the sanctions are one thing. But I think the other thing [the Syrians] have got to start worrying about is whether we would take cross-border military action in hot pursuit or something like that. In other words, nothing like full-scale military hostilities. But when you're being attacked from safe havens across the border — we've been through this a lot of times before — we're just not going to sit there," the senior administration official said. "You get a tragedy [like the attack in Mosul] and it reminds people that it is still a very serious problem. If I were Syria, I'd be worried," he added. Meanwhile, another U.S. official said that sentiment reflects a "growing level of frustration" in Washington at Syria's reluctance to capture Ba'athists and other operatives, the U.S. claims are organizing attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 5:22:19 PM ||
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Well does hot pursuit include nailing a couple of presidential palaces in Damascus? Little Basher Assad is up to his lieing eye balls in attacking our guys.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
12/25/2004 21:36 Comments ||
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Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told reporters in Lebanon on Friday that Tehran doesn't take the U.S. threats seriously.
Sammy didn't take them seriously, either...
Kharrazi also challenged U.S. and Iraqi officials to prove their allegations that his country is interfering in Iraq's internal affairs. "America's threats against Iran are not new and nobody takes them seriously," Kharrazi told reporters during his visit to the Lebanese capital, Beirut. He also said that "Iran will keep striving for its goals." The Foreign Minister also described the accusations that Tehran is meddling in Iraq's internal affairs as "ridiculous".
"America attacked Iraq and interfered in its affairs to seize the country while there are no Iranian soldiers in Iraq at all," he said. Kharrzi also praised the upcoming national elections in Iraq, planned for January 30, and warned against internal divisions in Iraq. "We want all sects to participate in the elections as it's high time for the Iraqi people to prove that they are mature," he said.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud said that Lebanon, Syria and Iran were facing international pressure but added that they would stick to their position and would seek cooperation and dialogue with other friendly nations. The Iranian Foreign Minister is expected to discuss current events in Iraq and in the Palestinian territories with the Lebanese leadership during his two-day visit. He traveled to Beirut after he left Syria, where he held similar talks with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 5:19:13 PM ||
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Four military bases the United States is building in Afghanistan will only be used by the Afghan National Army, an U.S. Army spokesman said on Wednesday, denying that a U.S. base was being constructed close to border with Iran. There has long been speculation that the United States would seek base rights to station forces in the strategically placed Central Asian country even after the three-year-old war on terror is won.
On this parched and dusty African plain, China's largest energy company is pumping crude oil, sending it 1,000 miles upcountry through a Chinese-made pipeline to the Red Sea, where tankers wait to ferry it to China's industrial cities. Chinese laborers based in a camp of prefabricated sheds work the wells and lay highways across the flats to make way for heavy machinery.
Only seven miles south, the rebel army that controls much of southern Sudan marches troops through this sun-baked town of mud huts. For years, the rebels have attacked oil installations, seeking to deprive the Sudan government of the wherewithal to pursue a civil war that has killed more than 2 million people and displaced 4 million from their homes over the past two decades. But the Chinese laborers are protected: They work under the vigilant gaze of Sudanese government troops armed largely with Chinese-made weapons -- a partnership of the world's fastest-growing oil consumer with a pariah state accused of fostering genocide in its western Darfur region.
China's transformation from an insular, agrarian society into a key force in the global economy has spawned a voracious appetite for raw materials, sending its companies to distant points of the globe in pursuit -- sometimes to lands shunned by the rest of the world as rogue states. China's relationship with Sudan has become particularly deep, demonstrating that China's commercial relations are intensifying human rights concerns outside its borders while beginning to clash with U.S. policies and interests.
Sudan is China's largest overseas oil project. China is Sudan's largest supplier of arms, according to a former Sudan government minister. Chinese-made tanks, fighter planes, bombers, helicopters, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades have intensified Sudan's two-decade-old north-south civil war. A cease-fire is in effect and a peace agreement is expected to be signed by year-end. But the fighting in Sudan's Darfur region rages on, as government-backed Arab militias push African tribes off their land.
China in October signed a $70 billion oil deal with Iran, and the evolving ties between those two countries could complicate U.S. efforts to isolate Iran diplomatically or pressure it to give up its ambitions for nuclear weapons. China is also pursuing oil in Angola... No blood for oil?
#1
Well whaddya know... I'm so astounded and surprised youcould knock me over with a feather... made of pig iron...
Perhaps it's time to declare China a "terrorist state", as it has deserved since Mao took over.
This is where the RB money guys jump in, methinks, to discuss the financial ramifications - trade deficits, bond and debt sales, interest rates, currency markets, etc...
Weening us from them as a "trade partner" will, I'm sure, cause much squealing and pain, but the upside?
#2
Perhaps it's time to declare China a "terrorist state", as it has deserved since Mao took over.
Preach it, .com. We could not agree more on this critical topic. Our war against Islamic jihadism will look like a speed-bump compared to navigating the containment of China's top-heavy kleptocracy. The communist mandarins are merely a massive-scale representation of what is happening in Iran. Be it ideological or religious authoritarianism, both are just as repugnant and of equal threat to our freedom.
America's politicians are swayed through financial campaign contibutions made by domestic business interests, like Wal-Mart, which conduct heavy trade with communist China. Wal-Mart's imports represents a solid 10% of America's trade deficit with communist China.
Wal-mart purchases $15 billion worth of goods in China each year. The world's biggest distributor, which has 42 stores in China, can sell 10 percent of its Chinese import in the US.
The same Wal-Mart whose underpaid employees may be dragging down community services due to total absence of company benefits despite huge tax incentives awarded by area governments to encourage their outlet openings.
The exact same communist China that is insolently threatening Taiwan's democracy and simultaneously strangling Hong Kong's in the cradle. The same China that is all the while promoting installation of well-armed genocidal terrorist autocracies in Sudan and especially North Korea, with its unsavory armaments proliferation to Iran.
China is not our friend.
If China sold all of our treasury notes at once, it would only depress their value at time of sale. They need us more than we need them. No other cartel of nations could possibly take up the slack of us cutting off Wal-Mart's Chinese orders alone. All of America boycotting China could melt it down in a few months time.
China will always be hungry to expand so long as its communist mandarins hold the reins of power. China is financing its expansionism through sponsorship of terrorist, genocidal and proliferating nations.
#3
Since the financial guys always tell us what a bath we'll take if we don't work the Chinese market ("a billion customers" yeah, who make about $2.50/yr average, yawn), etc., I keep hearing a simple answer - like the proverbial birdie on my shoulder, and the Chineseness of it makes me smile... to smile inscrutably in their faces right up to the moment the bombing commences...
And all that debt, all those Treasury Bonds. all that paper will be instantly worthless... And all those Chinese advisors floating around the globe... homeless. And all those massive inefficient state-sponsored projects falling idle... And the sudden glut of oil on the world market...
I don't pretend to know the depth or breadth of the bath a few would take, but it would be paper, as opposed to jobs, and anyone who's in bed with the enemy of my country just earned himself derision and scorn, not sympathy. I do know they're the next serious threat, they will never cease until they are forcibly divided into a couple of dozen Republics, and their day of reckoning and mythology-busting has been a long time coming.
I'd welcome removing all those junky products that have crowded better quality off the store shelves. So you saved $2.57 on that cordless phone - this one's made in the USA...
#4
I expect China will become the patron of all the repressive oil sheikdoms, mullahcracies, and dictatorships. What a trip. Godless communists allied with muslim supremists. An exact duplicate of leftist thinking in the west allied with islamists. Destroy the democratic free societies first and then fight each other for supremacy.
People who buy products made in China finance this behavior. The cheap chinese trinkets bought today will ensure a world of war for your children when they grow up. Better to cut off this trade, rebuild our manufacturing base, and build a self sufficient energy production structure within the US.
Posted by: ed ||
12/25/2004 23:49 Comments ||
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Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon said this week, during a briefing with company and regimental commanders serving in the Ramallah area, that the Israel Defense Forces would not consider ideological opposition a reason to exempt soldiers from participating in the evacuation of settlements. According to Ya'alon, any concession made to these soldiers would "legitimize gray refusal."
Ya'alon said that only soldiers whose families live in the settlements slated for evacuation would be exempted from participating in their removal. According to Ya'alon, soldiers should heed only one authority - that of their commanders, and not their rabbis.
"Any soldier who obeys an authority other than his commander will not be acceptable among our ranks. A platoon commander who hesitates will not be one of us. The only consideration will be of soldiers who will have to evacuate their own relatives. We will not send them to this mission," Ya'alon said.
"But there aren't going to be any discounts, neither for hesder students nor for residents of settlements, if they aren't relatives of the people who are going to be evacuated. If I post the skullcap-wearers to peripheral tasks, I will perpetuate gray refusal." The hesder students combine military service with yeshiva studies.
"Just as we were clear when we dismissed pilots and Sayeret Matkal [an elite special operations force] fighters who signed letters of refusal to serve in the territories, we will behave in the same way here. We cannot allow ourselves anarchy," said Ya'alon.
"There is great pain in implementing the decision about the settlements in the territories, but precisely for this reason it is necessary to be clear: In the army there is one authority and no other. Otherwise, a disaster could happen here, a disintegration. There are already rabbis who will come out with an explicit call against the refusers. I believe that it will be possible to persuade more rabbis who are now sitting on the fence."
In his first official campaign speech, Mahmood Abbas, the frontrunner to the January elections, demanded Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories and release all Palestinian prisoners. The PLO chief also said on Saturday that the Gaza pullout plan must be the beginning of more withdrawals and that Israel must end its occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. "The withdrawal from Gaza must only be a part of other withdrawals which should follow," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip as well as four enclaves in the West Bank by next year. "Israel must pull out of all Palestinian lands occupied in 1967. We must end the occupation," Abbas said to his supporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "We cannot compromise on Jerusalem," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 3:43:18 PM ||
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#2
The only way that Abbas can gain the least shred of credibility is by putting a halt to Palestinian terrorism. Failing to do so should cost him his life. It's time to up the cost of noncompliance for the Palestinian people. Their ranks must be thinned of all who advocate terrorism. If this results in all of the Palestinians being killed, so be it.
This world no longer has the luxury of pretending that terrorism is just some sort of nasty anomalistic behavior that will go away if we ignore it. Terrorism must be torn out by the roots and any cultures that encourage mass murder atrocities must be confronted with extinction for their support of it.
#3
Zenster, I strongly suspect he will lose his life either way. And not at Israeli hands, either. As will all who dare openly advocate discontinuing the intifada.
#4
Zenster, I strongly suspect he will lose his life either way. And not at Israeli hands, either. As will all who dare openly advocate discontinuing the intifada.
Which is why I do not think we are killing the terrorists quickly enough. There needs to be an open season declared on all advocates of violent jihad. Bashir, Sadr, Qawadari and all the upper eschelons of jihadism are just the starting point.
Those who seek leadership of societies that support terrorism must be made to realize that death is their reward. If the terrorists are killing all those who oppose such extremism and other nations are busy killing the terrorists, then such societies will quickly notice how terrorists are their true enemy. Any support of terrorism means that everybody's life is suddenly put at risk.
Cultures like the Palestinians and Iran must be made to confront their own extinction as a direct price for supporting terrorism. Only when the penalty becomes so severe will they consider changing their ways. Until then, they will continue to mutilate, maim and murder our world on a routine basis.
Why should all of us put up with their predatory assault upon our freedom? Better that we begin killing each and every single person on earth that considers random mass murdering atrocities to be problem solving tools. Such people epitomize the exact types who will eventually go on to launch a terrorist nuclear attack. I say begin killing them all now. Why wait?
The U.S. President George W. Bush has signed a bill that allows him to impose sanctions on Sudan to protest the violence in the western region of Darfur. The law imposes measures on Khartoum for "its failure to stop the fighting in Darfur." The sanctions include a travel ban on senior Sudanese officials and freezing the assets of all officials and firms. The new legislation also demands Bush to call on other United Nations members to adopt similar measures and stop importing oil from Sudan. It also authorizes 100 million dollars as an incentive for the fighting parties to reach a final and comprehensive peace deal.
The so-called "Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004" backs the deployment of more African Union troops to the region. It authorizes $300 million in aid, including help to deploy more AU forces. Washington had already described the violence in Darfur as "genocide." The United States also accuses Khartoum of supporting the Janjaweed militias, responsible for much of the fighting in the war-torn region. The Sudanese government strongly rejects the allegations.
"On what basis?"
"Ummm... We don't need a basis!"
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 3:37:48 PM ||
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Will this be as effective as the boycott of Saddam Hussein? 'Cause China is buying up all the oil and oil production facilities (eg Western Canada) that it can find.
A delegation of Iraqi Kurds has handed the UN a petition calling for an independent Kurdistan. The petition was signed by more than 1.7 million Kurds, almost half the Kurdish population in northern Iraq. The petition, signed by residents in "southern Kurdistan," calls for a referendum that will lead to the independence of Kurdistan and the breakup of Iraq.
Pretty good diploclub, huh?
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard confirmed that the organistation received the petition on Wednesday night, however, he said that the UN receives similar petitions on a "routine" basis.
"We don't intend to pay any attention to it unless it's accompanied by gunfire..."
The petition was handed to Carina Perelli, director of the UN electoral assistance division that is helping to organize Iraq's January election. The UN fears that an independent Kurdish state might lead to the breakup of Iraq. It has also adopted several resolutions stressing the need to preserve Iraq's unity.
Resolve and be damned. "Iraq" has historically been two to three areas occasionally united, now with a thin veneer of Arabism. They don't like each other. Their parents didn't like each other. Their grandparents didn't like each other.
"We have all been working on the basis that you are going to have a unitary state, an Iraq that is united and at peace with itself and with its neighbors," Secretary-General Annan said during a recent press conference.
"... whether they like it or not!"
Eariler this week, a delegation from the Kurdish Referendum Movement met with UN officials. Iraq's interim government along with Turkey, which has its own Kurdish population with aspirations for independence, strongly oppose an independent Kurdish state. The statement, signed by the movement members, demanded appointing a special UN envoy to the Kurdish region and the dispatch of a delegation to survey "the true will of the Kurdish people ... and to take practical steps for conducting a referendum to allow Kurdish people to exercise their right of self-determination".
On the spot are you, Kofi? Lemme, see... My guess is that he'll ignore it.
The Kurds, who form about 20 per cent of Iraq's 25 million population, have several well-organised political parties and an elected parliament. They eariler pledged that the Kurdish region will be maintained under the new constitution due to be drawn up after the Iraq's elections, scheduled for January. However, the Referendum Movement's statement stressed that "the Kurds are a distinctive nation different ethnically, culturally and philosophically from Iraqi Arabs".
"We may have our faults, but we're not nearly as nutty as they are. Not by a long shot!"
"Kurdistan was forcibly annexed to Iraq without any respect for the wish of the Kurdish people, (and) that for the last 80 years the Kurds have been subjected by the Iraqi Arab state to repression, enslavement and genocide," the statetment added. According to the statement, since 1991, "the Kurds under international protection have been exercising de facto independence ... (and) they do not wish to be controlled by an Arab-dominated Iraq".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 3:28:40 PM ||
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Has Diane Feinstein endorsed this yet?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/25/2004 16:55 Comments ||
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I'm sure Koffi Anna and the U.N. will take this very seriously like he does the Sudan genocide problem and the Congo problem and he did with the Rwanda genocide. (There are probably a few dozen other areas he paid attention to as well....).
I'm sure there are at least few 5-star resturants he hasn't hosted a U.N. Conference / Lunch in left the world.....
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 1:08:53 AM ||
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Lol! So many straw men, so little time, eh Raffie?
Yawn... This "Who, us?" routine is wearing a bit thin, however. Light a fire under that PR firm of yours to come up with something new - something original with some cleverness, K?
Meanwhile, don't forget to think in three dimensions...
Pakistan on Friday deployed police and plainclothed commandos around churches and other Christian installations in stepped up security to foil possible attacks during Christmas, officials said. Police have been directed to step up patrols while policemen equipped with metal detectors manned all entry and exit points in Islamabad, they said. Screening machines have also been installed at the entrances of churches in different areas, a police spokesman said. Special security arrangements have been made in central Punjab while hundreds of policemen have been deployed in Lahore to avoid any incidents on Christmas eve, local police chief Shafqaat Ahmad told reporters. In Karachi strict security measures have been taken to prevent any attacks on Christian and other minority community targets.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 1:02:00 AM ||
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An in-depth study of Islamic history revealed that the Hudood Laws were not a true interpretation of the Holy Quran, said Shaheen Sardar Ali, a law professor at Warwick University and Oslo University, while talking about her research. She said that more than 95 percent cases lodged during the past 25 years were based on personal vendettas as could be seen by superior courts freeing the accused (who were actually the victims).
Prof Shaheen's research 'Relationship of State and Religion' started a year ago and will be published in January. The study covers the Islamic and judicial context of all cases tried under Hudood laws over the past 25 years. The laws are widely regarded as discriminatory laws introduced by General Ziaul Haq in 1979. Prof Shaheen hails from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and was also the NWFP health minister from 1999 to 2002. The Alliance for Education Development (a group of non-government organisations), the Idara-e-Taleem-O-Aagahi (ITA) and the Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD) jointly arranged the discussion, which was held at the Lahore Press club on Friday. Prof Shaheen was the keynote speaker at the discussion 'Interceptive strategies for women's human rights in plural frameworks: An analysis of state and judicial responses to Hudood case law'.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 1:00:39 AM ||
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Iranian Foreign Minister Syed Kamal Kharrazi will arrive in Islamabad on December 27 (Monday) to discuss bilateral and regional matters. IRNA quoted Iranian Embassy sources in Islamabad as saying that Mr Kharrazi was visiting on Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri's invitation. Mr Kharrazi would talk with Mr Kasuri about bilateral relations, the embassy said, adding that the Iranian foreign minister was also expected to meet President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during his two-day tour.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2004 12:56:08 AM ||
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He's a busy little man. Really been around lately: Egypt, Syria, New Zealand....
#2
Thanks for the perspective, Bryan. I can't keep such things in my head, and its important to know.
BTW, you wouldn't happen to be the former master sergeant (sp?) who was in a motorcycle accident in Germany in the latter half of the '90s? Friend of the lovely Pavla Trojkova? He spelled his name with a y, too.
CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Dec. 24, 2004) -- Although they couldn't be home for the holidays, Marines in Iraq received a timely Christmas gift when David Letterman performed a Christmas Eve edition of "The Late Show with David Letterman" here.
Letterman, along with his musical director Paul Shaffer and stage manager Biff Henderson, brought the popular late night television show to the Marines, sailors and soldiers currently stationed at Camp Taqaddum, Iraq, Dec. 24, 2004. They were followed with a performance from "Off the Wall," a southern California band, which added to the holiday festivities.
"How about a nice hand for Jay Leno, ladies and gentlemen," joked Letterman as he started his show.
Sgt. Jeana V. Warren, a supply clerk with 1st Force Service Support Group, kicked off the show by formally introducing Letterman to the crowd. The crowd roared and hands flew in the air when he asked for a volunteer to help deliver his opening monologue.
"Isn't that how you got here?" Letterman asked.
With the help of cue cards held by an Army soldier, Letterman delivered his opening monologue written specifically for the troops:
* "Anybody here from out of town?"
* "I see many of you brought your own truck."
* Regarding being in a combat zone: "I haven't seen anything like this since the last Pistons-Pacers game."
* "If I wanted to face insurgents I would've spent Christmas with my relatives."
* "Iraqi elections are in January. Hurry up and pick somebody so we can get the hell out of here."
* "Iran is developing a nuclear bomb; good news is that they're dropping it from a camel."
Letterman's guest, comedian Tom Dreesen, performed his stand-up routine, joking on everything from race relations to his time in the Marine Corps.
Following a tradition he's established on "The Late Show," Letterman allowed several members of the audience to showcase their talents onstage.
A choir group from Combat Service Support Group 15 sang Christmas carols, and Cpl. Wesley McNallie with Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 wowed the audience with his bagpipe performance, which included The Marines' Hymn. The biggest highlights for many of the male servicemembers - Ilana, the Late Show Grinder Girl, and Anna, the Hula Hoop Girl - received a warm welcome of cheers and applause as they performed their unique acts.
"Was it just the word 'women?'" Letterman said. "I kind of feel that way myself."
The show closed with Paul Shaffer's rendition of "Dreaming of a White Christmas," tailored for the audience.
"I'm dreaming of our armed forces...You guys are heroes built to last,
You guard our freedom with honor unsurpassed,
Pardon my French, but I gotta mention, you kick some serious a--!"
Letterman, a staunch supporter of the Marine Corps, has repeatedly featured U.S. Marines on "The Late Show," performing running cadences while sounding off the "Top Ten List."
On the Sept. 17, 2001, episode of "The Late Show," his first show after the attack on the World Trade Center, Letterman declared he had "three new heroes now. They are New York's bravest, the firefighters; New York's finest, the cops; and the United States Marine Corps because, as you know, before this thing is finished, it will be the Marine Corps that goes in and settles the score."
"Paul and I were in Afghanistan three years ago, and last year we were in Baghdad. We wouldn't want it any other way," said Letterman. "We're sorry we keep having to come back. If you ever come to New York City, come see us and we'll treat you like big shots."
Letterman wrapped things up around 11 a.m., giving the Marines enough time to grab something to eat and head back to the stage area to watch the "Off the Wall" perform popular hits, including Eminem's "Lose Yourself," Beyonce Knowles' "Naughty Girl" and Three Doors Down's "Here Without You." The Los Angeles band got a taste of daily life in Iraq when an explosion from a controlled detonation briefly halted the performance and sent the band members scrambling for a protective bunker. The Marines in attendance barely budged. "You guys should've told us about those things," said vocalist Karmen Whitsett.
Camp Taqaddum was the first stop of the band's tour of Marine bases in Iraq. They will play for Marines throughout Iraq and plan on returning to the states after the new year.The band closed out their performance with their version of Neil Young's "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World," and thanked the crowd for their service in Iraq. "It was a privilege. The flight out was horrible and long, the accommodations were very limited and I would do it all again," said Whitsett.
The Marines appreciated the band's performance. "It's really selfless of them to come out and play for us," said Sgt. Melida M. Finnegan, 28, who is assigned to 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. "I'd love to go see them back in the states," said Lance Cpl. Jennifer M. Holt, 20, a Marine with 3rd MAW.
The Taqaddum-based Marines, most of who have been deployed since late summer, welcomed the celebrity visits, especially during the holidays. "It was great, all of the Marines getting together having a good time," said Gunnery Sgt. Ronald Trignano, 32, a tech-controller with Communication Squadron 48. "It almost makes you forget where you are for a little while."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2004 12:29:20 AM ||
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Thank you, Dave Letterman, for doing this. You are a mensch.
(Though I still won't watch his lame show.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/25/2004 1:24 Comments ||
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There are many reasons why Letterman is much better than Leno. This is just one of them.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/25/2004 4:21 Comments ||
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I agree with Barbara, when his show is shown over here, I just shudder - it's bloody awful.
BUT - massive kudos to him and his team for going out and giving the guys a morale-boosting show.
Good man, Mr Letterman!
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
12/25/2004 10:22 Comments ||
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Leno's been to Iraq at least once and Afghanistan twice, I think.
#5
One of the Drill Instructors who used to work for me was on his show a couple years back doing the "top ten" things you'll never hear a Marine DI say. He was in NY for a couple days and the folks just treated him and the other Marines great. Kudos to David L.
Tariq Aziz, a jailed former senior aide to Saddam Hussein, wants to write a book about Saddam but rejected reports that he will testify against the former dictator, his lawyer said Friday.
Need to set up a Rantburg Futures on who gets Tariq's first book-promotion interview...Larry King, Katie Perksalot, or Yvonne Ridley...
Aziz also denied there was any corruption in the U.N.-run oil-for-food program.
"Nonsense. The checks cleared."
The lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, said he met Aziz for five hours Thursday in a small room in an area near Baghdad with a member of the U.S. military present. Aref quoted Aziz as saying he denied ``any wrongdoings related to the oil-for-food program'' that allowed Iraq to sell oil to buy food and medicine for its people suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed in 1990.
Really, what else is he going to say -- "I dunnit and I'm glad I dunnit!"?
He'll say "I didn't do it, and besides, I won't do it no more!"
U.N. officials have been accused of corruption in the oil-for-food program that started in 1996. A report in October by U.S. arms inspector Charles Duelfer said Saddam was able to ``subvert'' the $60 billion program to generate an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue outside U.N. control from 1997 to 2003. The report alleged that Iraq tried to manipulate foreign governments by awarding contracts and bribes to foreign companies and political figures in countries who showed support for ending sanctions, in particular U.N. Security Council members Russia, France and China. It alleged, among other things, that Aziz paid a cash bribe of up to $20 million to a female colonel in the Russian Intelligence Service. The Iraqi media has speculated that Aziz could agree to testify against Saddam and other top leaders as part of a plea bargain. But Aref said that would not happen. ``I am not ready to testify against President Saddam Hussein. I will not say anything that contradicts with my conscience and honor,'' Aziz said a handwritten statement that Aref showed to an Associated Press reporter.
Not that he has any honor.
``I am not ready to speak about Saddam Hussein now, but I will when I become a free person. I will write a book about him because I am not ready to testify in front of any court or any judge,'' Aref quoted Aziz as saying. ``It is a conspiracy. When the Americans want us dead they will hand us over to Iraqis and ... they will kill us. The orders will be American but the hands that carry it out will be Iraqi.''
⊠when I become a free person?? In your dreams.
The lawyer said his driver dropped him at a checkpoint near Baghdad's airport for the visit Thursday and he was taken from there in a three-vehicle convoy for a 20-minute drive to the location where Aziz and 10 other former Saddam aides are being held. ``Before going into the room, American soldiers asked me not to hug him, so I only shook hands with him,'' the lawyer said. Aref said Aziz told him he meets the other 10 top Baath Party officials, excluding Saddam, during a three-hour break every day when they can walk in the open air or have a shower. They are only allowed three showers a week, Aziz said. Aref said Aziz told him former prime minister Mohammed Hamza al-Zubaidi appears to be suffering from psychological problems. ``He always hallucinates,'' Aziz was quoted as saying.
We must have found the Swiss bank account numbers.
Or Tariq found the keys to the giggle juice cabinet.
It was the first meeting between Aziz and his lawyer since he was captured by U.S. troops 20 months ago. The meeting came shortly before Aziz is expected to be interrogated by an investigative judge. Aref, who said Aziz's family had chosen him to defend the former minister, said he did not know when Aziz would be questioned by an investigative judge. ``He appeared in good spirits and good health,'' Aref said. Aziz, the only Christian in the top Baath Party leadership, was allegedly involved in several party purges in the 1970s and 80s during which an unspecified number but lots and lots of people died.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2004 12:24:25 AM ||
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Right now, the risk of ratting on Saddam is higher than the risk of not rattting. Change the equation and Aziz will sing like a (jail) bird.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/25/2004 11:47 Comments ||
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This is a lawyer engaging in pretrial publicity for Aziz with an AP reporter. Who is the lowest scum in the transaction? Do you believe any of them?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/25/2004 12:14 Comments ||
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"Tariq, old buddy, we've got a little deal for you. We want everything you know about everything you know about. We don't have a lot of time, so we're going to set a deadline. You have until Wednesday morning to start singing. If you don't, we drop you in Kurdistan with a loincloth and a dull paring knife. We'll give you 30 minutes to give us your preliminary answer."
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/25/2004 13:09 Comments ||
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NABLUS, West Bank - The radical Hamas movement made a surprisingly strong showing in local Palestinian elections, according to preliminary results, signaling a drop in popularity for the ruling Fatah movement ahead of next month's presidential poll.
Elections for local councils were held Thursday in 26 communities perceived as Fatah strongholds, with some 150,000 eligible voters choosing from among more than 800 candidates. Sixteen percent of the 360 local council seats were reserved for women. According to preliminary results obtained Friday by The Associated Press, Fatah won a majority of council seats in 14 towns, while Hamas, participating for the first time in Palestinian elections, took control in nine communities. In two towns, a joint Hamas-Fatah slate won, indicating that local issues and clan loyalties blunted the rivalry at times. The outcome of the vote in one community, Yabed, was not immediately available.
"This is an outstanding result for a bunch of bloodthirsty terrorists Hamas," said Palestinian analyst, Ali Jerbawi, a former head of the Palestinian Election Commission. "The 26 localities were selected from the beginning (as) strongholds of Fatah. So the results should have been more for Fatah than Hamas."
Hamas has been at the forefront of anti-Israeli violence, carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks, even as it has emerged as the strongest political challenger to Fatah, the PLO faction led by the late Yasser Arafat. A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, said the result reflected strong support for the group but suggested that Hamas was ready to forge coalitions with Fatah. "The coming stage is one of development and rebuilding our society, and we will cooperate with everyone to strengthen our society."
The vote was the first in municipalities since 1976. Polling stations were jammed throughout the day, with high voter turnout reported. Elections were held in any of the major Palestinian cities or large towns. Voting in an additional 600 towns and villages was expected to be held next year.
Hamas is boycotting the Palestinian presidential elections on Jan. 9, but its strong showing in the municipal poll could indicate faltering support for interim leader Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, the presidential front-runner. "Abu Mazen won't have an overwhelming majority," Jerbawi said. "I think he will win with 55 or 58 percent."
Jerbawi doubted that the weak Fatah showing in the municipal elections would have any affect on fledgling Israeli-Palestinian peace moves, despite Hamas' strong opposition to them and its continuing calls for Israel's destruction.
Just in case anyone forgot.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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*snicker*
"Democracy" in PaleoLand. Oh Yeah, they "get it", all right. Yewbetcha. And the Hate Machine grinds another pound...
#2
The radical Hamas movement made a surprisingly strong showing in local Palestinian elections, according to preliminary results, signaling a drop in popularity for the ruling Fatah movement ahead of next monthâs presidential poll.
....Proving that necessary Paleo change is unlikely to come with a simple change in leadership.
#3
Continued Palestinian support for an overtly terrorist organization like Hamas completely obliterates any hope they should have of being recognized as a legitimate or participatory culture in the Middle East.
Until all Palestinian advocacy of terrorism ceases for once and all, their attempts at nation-building must remain fruitless. Under no circumstance should they be rewarded with international credibility unless they finally come to understand the complete unacceptability of terrorism.
If this proves impossible, then every single Palestinian should be deported from the area, never to return. Their willing assistance of terrorism entitles them to become nothing more than an Arabic diaspora.
The time is NOW for imposing harsh measures against any and all cultures that perpetuate terrorism.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has criticised the war in Iraq at a midnight Mass. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor told a congregation of 2,000 that more needed to be done to achieve peace in the country and across the Middle East. He said it was a "terrible thing" that billions of pounds spent on conflict could have helped ease suffering. The cardinal has told BBC News he believes 2005 should be the year for campaigning to end poverty. Speaking at Westminster Cathedral, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said: "How is it that peace has not arrived? How is it that there is war in Iraq, violence in the Holy Land, and the horror of pain and death amongst the poor and deprived who suffer from injustice and thus do not find peace?" 
In his first official campaign speech, 
The U.S. President George W. Bush has signed a bill that allows him to impose sanctions on Sudan to protest the violence in the western region of Darfur. The law imposes measures on Khartoum for "its failure to stop the fighting in Darfur." The sanctions include a travel ban on senior Sudanese officials and freezing the assets of all officials and firms. The new legislation also demands Bush to call on other United Nations members to adopt similar measures and stop importing oil from Sudan. It also authorizes 100 million dollars as an incentive for the fighting parties to reach a final and comprehensive peace deal. 
An in-depth study of Islamic history revealed that the Hudood Laws were not a true interpretation of the Holy Quran, said Shaheen Sardar Ali, a law professor at Warwick University and Oslo University, while talking about her research. She said that more than 95 percent cases lodged during the past 25 years were based on personal vendettas as could be seen by superior courts freeing the accused (who were actually the victims). 
Tariq Aziz, a jailed former senior aide to Saddam Hussein, wants to write a book about Saddam but rejected reports that he will testify against the former dictator, his lawyer said Friday. 
