Coming home... Wonder if they'll stay there this time?
Kuwaiti media has failed to market the unique ties between Kuwait and the United States established after the liberation of the country from Iraqi occupation in 1990, says MP Musallam Al-Barrak. Accusing the Kuwaiti media of playing a negative role in this issue, the MP said "because of this today's generation, who were children in the early Nineties, are not aware of the fact Americans had sent their sons to liberate Kuwait and their presence is needed to protect our country." Al-Barrak praised the role and preventive measures taken by the Interior Ministry to fight terrorism, saying "these measures have stabilised the security of Kuwait."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 ||
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A recent series of gun battles here between Islamist militants and the police is forcing Kuwait for the first time to take a long hard look at the influence and impact of domestic Islamic extremism. In tandem with a tough security crackdown that has so far netted some 18 militants and killed eight others, the Kuwaiti government is launching an awareness campaign to promote moderate Islam and counteract extremism. But as a staunch ally of the United States and host to some 25,000 American troops, Kuwait represents a tempting target for militant Islamists and many Kuwaitis are wondering if the violence plaguing neighboring Iraq and Saudi Arabia is set to spill over into their own nation. "These clashes are a small drop in the ocean to what is coming. Kuwait is becoming a top priority for Al-Qaeda," said Mohammed Mulaifi, a writer and member of the austere Salafi branch of Sunni Islam who has close contacts with Kuwaiti militants.
So far the Kuwaiti authorities have remained one step ahead of the militants, busting cells, seizing weapons and arresting suspects before attacks are carried out. Kuwait is a relatively small, close-knit country, making it easier for the state security branches to keep tabs on potential troublemakers. At least three cells of Islamic militants have been identified in the crackdown, say Kuwaiti officials. One of the ringleaders, Amer Khleif al-Enezi, died in custody last week, eight days after he was arrested. Enezi reportedly had confessed to planning attacks against U.S. military convoys. Kuwait remains a vital logistics hub for American forces in Iraq.
The Kuwaiti authorities traditionally have turned a blind eye toward extremist Islamists living in the country so long as the militants refrained from directing their activities against the state. But the recent violence has compelled the government to take action. "These events mark a real watershed in terms of Kuwait dealing with the problem of extremists in their midst," a Western diplomat said. The security scare also has led Kuwaitis to ask some searching questions about the Islam practiced in Kuwait and how to dissuade impressionable youngsters from turning toward the ideology of Osama bin Laden. "These incidents have turned the majority of the religious believers against the militant trend," said Shafeeq Ghabra, president of the American University of Kuwait. "They are asking how it is possible that their 15- or 16-year-old sons can be recruited by militants to murder in the name of God."
Although Kuwait's Constitution is secular in nature, conservative Islamists wield considerable influence in how laws are applied in society. Kuwaiti Islamists were in uproar last year at the staging of a pop concert for the hit Lebanese television program Star Academy. A fatwa was issued banning women from singing to men and prohibiting dancing at concerts. Some schools even ban clapping and the playing of the national anthem, believing that they are expressions of secularism. The education curricula is coming under close scrutiny, particularly some religious school text books which contain inflammatory language about jihad and disparage the Shiite branch of Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The Bush administration plans to send a high-level team to Nicaragua to protest Managua's failure to account for shoulder-fired missiles that could fall into the hands of Islamic terrorists, a senior U.S. official said yesterday.
The United States has become increasingly worried about the fate of hundreds of Soviet-provided SA-7s like the ones used by terrorists in Kenya in 2002 to try to down an Israeli airliner. In that attack, the two missiles missed their target.
The Nicaragua problem arose last month when a police sting, aided by U.S. officials, captured an SA-7 missile from four Nicaraguans who thought they were selling it to Colombian terrorists. To some U.S. officials, the missile's appearance at an air-conditioner repair shop in Managua was proof that elements of the military were hoarding scores of SA-7s for future sale on the black market.
Last week, the situation worsened when the Nicaraguan assembly overrode a veto by President Enrique Bolanos that stripped him of power to, at his discretion, dispose of weapons. The override effectively ends, for now, Mr. Bolanos' plans to destroy about 1,000 SA-7s known to be in the country's arsenal.
U.S. intelligence thinks there are about 80 additional missiles never declared by the government.
The assembly's override demonstrated the extent to which the opposition Sandinista party has gained control of the legislature through elections and backroom deals.
"This is essentially the Sandinista party taking control over the missiles," the senior U.S. official said.
The official said the U.S. delegation leaving this week will be made up of Pentagon and State Department officials. They plan to meet with Mr. Bolanos, a U.S. ally who wants to destroy the SA-7s as promised to Washington, and legislative leaders who blocked destruction.
A State Department spokesman yesterday said he had no information on a planned trip to Managua. But the senior U.S. official said the delegation has received "talking points" that include telling the Nicaraguans that loose SA-7s pose a major terror threat to the United States and to civil aviation worldwide.
The source said the Pentagon, National Security Council and State Department are unanimous in adopting a policy that Nicaragua must account for and destroy all its SA-7s, heat-seeking missiles that can hit aircraft within 15,000 feet.
To underscore Washington's unhappiness with the left-wing Sandinistas' maneuvers, the Bush administration did not send a high-ranking military officer yesterday to attend the swearing-in of Gen. Omar Halleslevens as Nicaragua's top military officer. Instead, an American officer with the mid-level rank of major represented the United States. Normally, such a ceremony would attract a senior officer from U.S. Southern Command in Miami, perhaps even the four-star commander.
The Nicaraguan military has denied that it harbors any SA-7s other than the 1,000 missiles left over from the 1980s civil war, which have been inventoried by the Organization of American States. But the serial number of the missile captured in the sting did not match that of any inventoried missile.
U.S. officials have said they do not know whether any Nicaraguan SA-7s missiles have fallen into the hands of terrorists.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 11:36:57 AM ||
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President Vladimir Putin ordered the Interior Ministry on Monday to toughen efforts to eliminate militants in the restive North Caucasus region.
His order followed special operations over the past several weeks to kill alleged Islamic extremists and their accomplices in several southern cities.
"I think you should tie up all the loose ends that could appear in the process of investigating this affair," Putin told Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, referring to a weekend operation to kill three alleged militants holed up in an apartment in the city of Nalchik.
"You should work like this in the future, and treat them more severely," Putin said.
Police killed an alleged militant trying to flee capture in the city of Karachayevsk early Monday after discovering a group of armed men in an apartment the previous day, said Alexei Polyansky, spokesman for the Interior Ministry's southern regional branch. Police then sealed off the building, where two or three more militants were believed to be holed up, he said, without revealing further details of the operation.
The three alleged militants in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, were killed Sunday morning when security forces stormed the apartment where they had barricaded themselves. Two were ethnic Russians and the third an ethnic Karachai from the predominantly Muslim region of Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Polyansky said.
Nurgaliyev told Putin that investigators had discovered last week that the heads of the Karachayevo-Cherkessia radical Islamic group had instructions to conduct terrorist acts in Russia. As a result of interrogations, police found a bomb-making laboratory and maps of two southern Russian regions, he said.
He said similar special operations to uproot militants were being conducted in the southern republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan.
Authorities had previously said that the militants killed in Nalchik were Islamic extremists, but it was unclear whether the two Russians were adherents of Islam or simply mercenaries, Polyansky said.
Investigators found a Makarov pistol in the ruins of the apartment. The gun bore the serial number of a weapon that went missing during a June 2004 militant raid on police and security forces in Ingushetia, Polyansky said, tying the dead militants to a longer series of attacks that have rocked southern Russia.
On Sunday, Arkady Edelev, a deputy interior minister, said the confrontation with the three militants came during a three-day sweep in Nalchik to root out what he called "terrorist-sabotage groups." He said the groups were preparing terrorist attacks.
Alexander Nagorny, deputy editor of the nationalist newspaper Zavtra and a Kremlin critic, said Monday that Putin could "choke" on the persistent violence in the Caucasus — much as the United States is struggling with the insurgency in Iraq.
"We see how partisan and terrorist activity is spreading to more and more regions. [The government] doesn't have the strength to deal with it, especially with the continuation of the existing approaches, the existing tactics and strategy," Nagorny said.
Russian officials frequently play up claims of a large foreign mercenary presence among Chechen rebels and other militants in the south to shore up their argument that they are closely linked to international terrorists, justifying the Kremlin's harsh response. The increasing use of suicide bombers and merciless hostage-takings are widely thought to have been inspired by foreign emissaries linked to al-Qaida.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005 12:30:58 AM ||
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#1
I agree with Vlad. Break out the napalm, and stand upwind. I am a downwinder because: I love the smell of napalm in the morning, and charcoal in the afternoon.
If China's anger does not translate into action against North Korea, expect the "Japan cards" to begin falling one by one. First, Japan will announce that it is accelerating the process of rethinking Article 9, a process begun in wake of 9-11 and originally planned to last several years. If China still fails to act, Japan's next step will probably be a formal abandonment of Article 9, which would mean for all intents and purposes that Japan's military is no longer just a force for self-defense. Tokyo could, and presumably would, project its forces wherever they might be needed. The last thing China wants is a resurgent Japanese military. The balance of power in Asia would shift away from Beijing and toward Tokyo overnight: Japan, with the world's second largest economy and access to American technology, would quickly become the region's dominant military power.
But China may still allow North Korea to run on its long leash. In that case, the next Japan card would probably be an announcement that Japan and the United States will begin to manufacture military hardware on Japanese soil. With that would come a range of benefits to Japan, from the importation of expertise to a renewed capability to construct the military of its choosing, to an even closer relationship with the US. The actual hardware involved would likely be something that could benefit both Japan and Taiwan, again signaling to China that it must act on North Korea or risk losing its "renegade province" for good -- submarines or fighter aircraft fit the bill nicely. Missile defense cooperation might be an additional component of the hardware card.
Should that card fail, the world is a short way from seeing what would have been unthinkable a few years ago: Japan becoming a nuclear power. Because of its sad history with the atomic bomb, Japan has long forbade the US from basing nuclear weapons on its soil and has never pursued building such weapons of its own. But it could build nuclear weapons at any time. At present, experts estimate that Japan is roughly six weeks away from producing a nuclear weapon. All it has to do is decide to do it, and the fact of a North Korean nuclear weapon sitting atop a No Dong missile capable of striking Tokyo combined with Chinese inaction would make that decision an easy one. Japan would go nuclear.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 5:11:25 PM ||
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#1
For future reference, I have heard this described as "The Four Doctrines". (1) The removal of Article 9 *and* its supporting legislation, bureaucratic regulation and legal precedent; (2) The creation of a Japanese Military-Industrial Complex, based on the American model; (3) The creation of a Japanese nuclear ballistic missile paradigm, to include Security Council membership; and (4) The establishment of a Japanese-Taiwanese-American Sphere of Influence with several other countries, much like NATO, but *not* SEATO. This just insures that any aggressive military buildup performed by China would be prohibitively expensive.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il says his country is willing to resume talks with its neighbors and the United States if Washington "would show trustworthy sincerity and move (its stance)," Pyongyang's official news agency has announced. "We will go to the negotiating table anytime if there are mature conditions for the six-party talks thanks to the concerted efforts of the parties concerned in the future," the state news agency KCNA quoted Kim as saying. The agency said Pyongyang "would as ever stand for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and its position to seek a peaceful solution to the issue through dialogue remains unchanged."
The six-party talks include North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. North Korea announced on February 10 that it would withdraw from the talks and declared for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons, blaming a hostile U.S. stance for the impasse. But, in what appears to be a reversal, Pyongyang said Tuesday that its government "has never opposed the six-party talks but made every possible effort for their success."
They will or they won't, depending what Kimmie had for breakfast...
Posted by: ed ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Sounds like they caved in. I wonder if China turned off the oil pipeline for a while.
#2
Aka "The USA and Dubya are such big nasty warmongering imperialist fascist capitalist meanies the Commies are justified, absolutely and undeniably, to attack NORAM/CANUSA, and Radical Islam to take out the Admin. and leadership of the GOP-Right". Its just a big weird coincidence that President Kerry is still President and still a Senator, Dean is now DNC CHair, and Hillary is Betty Crocker!?
#3
2.7, JM. The jusices are starting to flow, however, no Juiche, Sea of Fire, and there is definitely a lack of capital letters. I suggest that one go back a couple of years and read the KCNA rants that scored 8.0 and above.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2005 1:26 Comments ||
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#5
What is the point of further negotiations? In the90âs the US, Japan and South Korea have North Korea food and fuel oil in return for North Korea not pursuing nuclear technology that could be used to produce a nuclear weapon. What can North Korea give us now in return for us feeding their people: the promise not to sell nuclear technology? There really isnât anything to talk about.
#6
And the purpose of talks with a totalitarian state that readily breaks agreements and routinely does 180 degree turns in talks is...???
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 8:52 Comments ||
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And just last week the limp dicks were saying how bad it was that we were being mean to Kimmie. What a load of crap. Kimmie only has one card (blackmail/extortion) and plays it again and again. *Yawn*
#8
I agree with Alaska Paul -- a 2.7 for the article, but a 5.5 for Josesph Mendiola.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005 10:06 Comments ||
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#9
*Holds up card* 1.3.
A pathetic performance lacking any vigor or creativity.
The end is indeed near: they don't have enough food to give to the propagandists to keep their energy levels up. I fear that Army First man did not Kick the Bucket: He died from appendicitis after eating it...
#10
No wait, they want to talk. Oh, no they don't. Oh yes, they're ready now. Oh, I guess not. This could go on as long as the IAEA was trying to get Saddam to let them in.
The trial has started in Turkey of four policemen accused of the unlawful killing of a man and his child in the south-eastern province of Mardin. Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz were shot and killed in what security forces said was an anti-terrorism operation. Ugur Kaymaz was 11-years-old when he was killed.
Ah, a "baby terrorist".
That the trial is happening - and that it is attracting attention inside the country - testifies to the changes Turkey has seen over recent years. The killing of Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz in late November last year aroused little attention for a few days. But gradually the Turkish media, non-governmental organisations and members of the Turkish parliament became more and more involved.
The security forces, which for years have been accused of torture and extra-judicial killings in Turkey's troubled Kurdish south-east, were thrown onto the defensive. The shooting in the back of a child who was reportedly dressed in his slippers at the time did not seem to many like an attempt to halt a terrorist operation. Instead the police have been accused of using excessive force. Those involved were, for a time, suspended from duty. They have since been re-instated and re-assigned.
Speaking to the BBC, the president of the Kurdish political party, Dehap, acknowledged that things had changed in Turkey. He said that the growth in the strength of civil society had led to that change in atmosphere. There is still a fair amount of paramilitary activity in the south-east and human rights groups maintain that the authorities are still heavy-handed in their response. The difference between now and a few years ago is that, in some cases at least, such responses no longer go unnoticed in the rest of Turkey. In this case, moreover, the authorities have been quick to act against those who appear to have overstepped the mark.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005 12:15:54 AM ||
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Madrid and Riyadh are to cooperate on combating international terrorism, Spain's interior ministry said. After a meeting with Saudi ambassador Prince Saud Bin Naif Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Jose Antonio Alonso said Spain's national centre for anti-terrorist coordination (CNCA) would "exchange information with the Saudi interior ministry." Madrid is proposing an "official liaison structure, with a base in both countries, tasked with dealing with reciprocal cooperation requests".
"You show me yours and I'll show you mine."
Both sides have agreed to cooperate on monitoring firms and their offshoots which "have presumed links with Islamic extremist organisations and charitable fronts who use this cover to facilitate or to finance terrorism". Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, having made the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq his first foreign policy decision on taking office last April, is pursuing what he terms "a strategic alliance of civilisations against terrorism."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
And the Spaniards formalize their Dhimmi status while providing the Saudis a beachead on the western part of the continent.
#2
It is like a slow motion train crash. Must be water or sumtin if Spaniards don't se it. Pink spectacles? Perhaps. Leftism seems to be a mental problem--substitution of ideological considerations for reality, cognitive disonance... seems to be pandemic, even Portuguese got infected.
Whoa -- W just showed an ace on the table! Telln' ya'll, don't play poker with our cowboy! Only months after he criticized countries "like France," President Bush was lavish in his praise of French President Jacques Chirac, one of the sharpest critics of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "I'm looking for a good cowboy," Bush said Monday when a French reporter asked him whether relations had improved to the point where the U.S. president would be inviting Chirac to the U.S. president's ranch in Texas.
Brief, vivid images of Chirac clearning brush, to be rewarded by a lunch of beef and beans...
Chirac had equally kind words to say about Bush, saying he and the American president "always had very warm relations."
"At times they were downright inflamed..."
Iraq? Merely a blip in ties between the two countries that have been "excellent for over 200 years now," Chirac said. "Now, of course, that doesn't mean that because we share common values, we don't necessarily agree on everything all the time," Chirac added, "That doesn't necessarily mean we agree on everything at every time."
"That doesn't mean we're going to agree with taking Iran apart next year..."
The two leaders spoke with reporters before they sat down to dinner of lobster risotto and filet of beef with Bordelaise sauce. "This is the first dinner since I've been re-elected on European soil, and it's with Jacques Chirac. And that ought to say something. It ought to say how important this relationship is for me, personally, and how important this relationship is for my country," Bush said. A White House official later said Chirac was expected to visit Bush in the United States this year, but neither a date nor a location had been determined. As a Texan, keep him in Washington
I'll be surprised if he makes it to Crawford.
Posted by: Sherry ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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This is the first dinner since Iâve been re-elected on European soil ....
Interesting turn of phrase. It largely telegraphs everything one needs to know about Bush's likely approach to European states during his second term.
#2
I'm just amazed that nobody has made the connection that Bush OWNS the ranch and he's just LOOKING for a good cowboy -- a good hired hand. I found this amusing, but there's no way I could stretch it to "lavish in his praise of French President Jacques Chirac". That bloated frog wouldn't even make a so-so cowboy.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 8:36 Comments ||
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#4
Sounds like an inside (Texas) joke to me. The ranchmen I grew up around used to say that to kids (both boys & girls) to raise a smile. It's a good-natured compliment--everybody wanted to grow up to be "a good cowboy," but a bit teasing. Sort of like asking a Little Leaguer if he's ready to play for the Yankees.
#5
What's really funny, and clever, about the "I'm lookin' for a good cowboy" statement, is how Bush has been portrayed so negatively in Europe as the Cowboy President.
Posted by: DO ||
02/22/2005 10:56 Comments ||
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#6
If he's a good cowboy, he ought to be able to break a mustang. I'd pay money to watch Chiraq try.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 11:08 Comments ||
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DO, you beat me to it! Who knew that Bush could be so "nuanced"? ;)
The families of Massachusetts National Guard members killed in action would receive $100,000 in death benefits from the state, up from the current $5,000.00, under a bill filed by Gov. W Mitt Romney yesterday. The bill would make the benefits retroactive to October 2001 to cover National Guard members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. The death benefit would apply to individuals killed in state and federal actions.
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/22/2005 7:00:01 PM ||
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I forgot to add in this info. Under the new bill, the state would also pay the $195 annual premium for life insurance policies for National Guard members from Massachusetts. Romney's bill is modeled after legislation at the federal level recently proposed by President Bush to boost the federal death benefit from $12,000 to $100,000.00
If both bills become law, the family of a member of the Massachusetts National Guard killed while federally activated would be eligible for death benefits of up to $200,000.00
The total cost to the state of Romney's plan is less than $1 million. The bill would also:
1) Make payment the $1,500.00
annual annuity to Gold Star surviving spouses who receive the US Department of Veterans' Affairs Dependency and Indemnity Compensation;
2) Expand the annuity to benefit the spouces of those injured while on active duty but who ultimately die from nonservice related causes;
3) Treat National Guard call up as creditable service toward a state pension.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/22/2005 20:46 Comments ||
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In the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, this Letter of "Apology" was written by Lieutenant General Chuck Pitman, US Marine Corps, Retired:
"For good and ill, the Iraqi prisoner abuse mess will remain an issue On the one hand, right thinking Americans will harbor the stupidity of the actions while on the other hand, political glee will take control and fashion this minor event into some modern day massacre.
I humbly offer my opinion here:
I am sorry that the last seven times we Americans took up arms and sacrificed the blood of our youth, it was in the defense of Muslims (Bosnia, Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait, etc.).
I am sorry that no such call for an apology upon the extremists came after 9/11.
I am sorry that all of the murderers on 9/11 were Islamic Arabs. snip
I am sorry that the USA has to step in and be the biggest financial supporter of poverty stricken Arabs while the insanely wealthy Arabs blame the USA for all their problems. and more . . . snip
If you want an apology from this American, you're going to have a long wait!
You have a better chance of finding those seventy-two virgins.
Chuck Pitman
Lieutenant General
US Marine Corps (Retired)
Semper Fi
Geebus, I love this guy. Ya think him and Gen Mattis went to school together?
#7
Find it in your hearts to write off Arab savages, and the garbage dump of humanity, and let us rebuild their crap countries on our terms, and over the dead bodies of each and every Islamofascist within. Amen.
For giggles: Mr. Annan's opinion piece published in the WSJ's dead tree version today, on page A14. Uncut, and awaiting your comments. Enjoy! The U.N. needs to be reformed, but it still performs a crucial function.
Doorstops perform crucial functions. Toilet paper performs a crucial function. Should I go on?
In the past year I have read many attacks on the United Nations--quite a few, but by no means all, in the pages of this newspaper.
... most of them, in fact, fully justified.
That pains me, because I have served the U.N. all my life. I have done, and am still doing, everything I can to correct its imperfections, and to improve and strengthen it. And I believe profoundly in the importance of that task, because a strong U.N. is of vital importance to humanity.
A "UN" is an idea that people have actually been striving for, for a couple thousand years. Alexander tried it, and it didn't work. It degenerated into competing successor states. The Pax Romana lasted for a few generations, then fell apart into bickering, then civil war, then the Dark Ages. The Holy Roman Empire lasted for a thousand years, and never really amounted to much. The French Empire attempted to unite Europe but didn't even make it to Napoleon II. The League of Nations doesn't receive the amount of mockery and derision it deserved. And now the United Nations, a good idea whose time is gone, begins its own long process of disintegration, broken up by its own internal faults, another paving stone on the road to Hell.
When the appalling disaster of the tsunami struck in the Indian Ocean, killing at least 150,000 people and destroying the livelihood of millions, President Bush acted quickly to form a core group of nations with available military forces in the region. That was the right thing to do. It got the relief efforts off to a flying start, which was essential. But a week later, when all involved came together in Jakarta to plan and coordinate the multinational effort, everyone, including the U.S., agreed that the U.N. should take the lead. Why? For two reasons.
Blinding speed of reaction isn't one of them, I'll bet...
First, the U.N. had the necessary skills.
It's just a bit sluggish in its response. Kofi, have you ever seen a body that's been lying in the Southeast Asian sun for a week?
Its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which I formed in 1997 soon after I took office, is designed exactly for the role that was required--a light structure, not getting in anyone's way or doing their job for them, but able quickly to locate needed supplies and contact whatever organization can deliver them.
All supervisors, no worker bees...
But second, and even more important, everyone was willing to work with the U.N.: the governments and people of the affected countries, the donors, and the nonprofit organizations whose role is so essential in all emergencies, great and small. All of them recognize that the U.N. is the right body to lead, because it is in no one's pocket. It belongs to the world.
Gotta disagree with every statement in that paragraph, I'm afraid. The governments, the people, the donors, the nonprofits, didn't care who was supervising. Lucifer could have come flapping out of Hell on great bat wings, accompanied by battalions of demons, and if he'd been bringing groceries and medicines and helping to treat the injured, he'd have been accomodated. The U.N. has no particular legitimacy that it doesn't earn. At times in the past it has earned it, though not to the extent it talks up. But legitimacy can also be spent: when the expectation becomes that the U.N. supervisory class is going to fly in first class, stay in the local 5-star hotels, diddle a few of the local schoolchildren, and siphon off a heavy percentage of the money flowing to the victims, then the world is just as well off without the U.N. And in fact, without a U.N., blocs of nations could just as easily, and probably more cheaply, establish regional disaster relief mechanisms.
Another example of the U.N.'s importance--a more difficult one, because of its sharply divisive political context--is Iraq. Indisputably, the war in Iraq two years ago caused many people on all sides to lose faith in the U.N. Those who favored military action against Saddam Hussein were disappointed that the Security Council did not--as they saw it-- have the courage to enforce its own resolutions.
Why make them, if you're not going to enforce them? That episode enhanced the U.N.'s reputation as a debating society that values the discussions more than the results.
And those who opposed it were frustrated at the U.N.'s inability to prevent a war they thought unnecessary or premature.
... and that heavily impacted their profits.
And yet, when the U.S. and its allies wanted an Iraqi body with broad national and international support to help them run the country, they turned to the U.N. and my special representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, for help and advice. He persuaded L. Paul Bremer that it should be a Governing Council, not a mere advisory body, and he persuaded key Iraqi leaders such as Ayatollah Sistani to let their followers join it. Sergio and 21 of his colleagues paid with their lives for their courage and determination to help the Iraqi people--as, alas, do too many brave servants of the U.N. whom the world hears little about.
Interesting interpretation. The U.N. was invited in by Bremer after fairly extended agitation by the same people who didn't want to see the war come in the first place, and who were bitching that they were unfairly excluded from the postwar contracts. Sergio and 21 of his colleagues paid with their lives for not accepting the security arrangements the U.S. offered.
Last year, when the Coalition wanted to transfer power to an interim Iraqi government, they turned again to the U.N. for help. They knew that if the U.N. were involved in choosing it the new government would have a much better chance of being accepted as legitimate and sovereign.
They knew the same bunch lump them collectively as the mostly non-Islamic opposition demanded U.N. involvement and would loudly decry any election as illegitimate unless it was blessed by U.N. "monitors," who ended up operating, if I recall, from Jordan, presumably using very powerful telescopes and remotely controlled armored cameras.
Both Iraqis and Americans also turned to the U.N. for help in organizing last month's elections. The U.N. helped to draft the electoral law and the law on political parties, to choose and train the members of the independent electoral commission and hundreds of election organizers (who in turn trained thousands of others), and to draw up the voters' lists. It was also there to give advice on the actual conduct of the election, the vote count, and the announcement of the results.
You mean it was supervising the entire operation? Right. That's why we didn't see the worker bees.
Again, we had the necessary expertise--we have organized or helped organize elections in 92 countries, including most recently Afghanistan and Palestine. But even more important was the legitimacy that our involvement brought. The results of an election organized by the Coalition powers, or by Iraqis that they had chosen, would have been less widely accepted in the outside world, and probably in Iraq as well.
I'd put that down as a U.N. "success" in its own right: by loudly honking its own horn, it does manage to give itself something of a cachet. However, objectively, I'd say the U.S., with over 200 years of experience in organizing elections, referenda, town hall meetings, pissing contests, and fist fights, has a lot more experience in the matter than the U.N., and could probably figure how to do it better. We also, despite the accusations of many people trying to get extended mileage out of badly worn premises, and the attempts of those who desire to corrupt the system, conduct our elections with a fairly high degree of honesty, unlike many of the United Nations.
Now Iraqis have their own elected Transitional National Assembly, and will soon have an elected government answerable to it.
And we owe it all to the U.N.? To quote the eminent Cuban philospher, R. Ricardo: "I dun thin so."
The assembly has to draft a constitution acceptable to all Iraqis, and the government has to isolate its most violent opponents by winning the trust of groups who did not vote in the elections--mainly Sunni Arabs--and bringing them into the political process.
Or by killing them in large numbers and by painful methods. That works, too.
Here too, the U.N. can help--and it will. We can give expert advice, if asked, on the drafting of the constitution.
... since the U.N. constitution works so well and is so universally adhered to. Oh. Wait. No U.N. constitution. Then how about the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights? Everybody adheres to that, right? Come to think of it, by what right are the U.N.'s experts considered experts? Who picks them?
We can reach out to those groups--mainly Sunni Arabs--who stayed away from the elections, for whatever reason, but are willing to pursue their goals through peaceful negotiation and dialogue.
Well. Go on. Let's see you reach. From Jordan. Or Turtle Bay.
And we can bring together the world community in a joint effort to help Iraq rebuild itself and heal the wounds of dictatorship and war.
And this'll be ready when? With, perhaps, the same lightening response time employed with disaster relief? Quite to my surprise, it's been almost two years since Sammy left office in the dark of night, taking with him only a few close friends, some ammunition, and the national treasury. What has the U.N. being doing in the meantime?
Even the scars left by past differences can be turned into today's opportunities. Precisely because the United Nations did not agree on some earlier actions in Iraq, today it has much needed credibility with, and access to, Iraqi groups who must agree to join in the new political process if peace is to prevail.
That's why those Iraqi groups killed Sergio.
The U.N. can be useful because it is seen as independent and impartial.
Or it can be seen as useless because it is seen as a corrupt tool of dictatorships, hopping on whichever Liberation bandwagon happens to be fashionable at the moment. Durban occurred before 9-11 came along, and it already showed a disgusting face of the U.N., not one that civilized people would want to stare at for long.
If it ever came to be seen as a mere instrument or prolongation of U.S. foreign policy, it would be worthless to everyone.
If it is seen as a mere instrument of anti-Americanism it becomes equally useless. When your honest broker turns dishonest, you fire him or have him shot. You don't try and coax him into changing his ways. Trust is like virginity, Kofi.
I could go on.
But not very convincingly.
I could speak also about the 18 peace operations we have in war-torn countries around the world, and the tens of millions of homeless and hungry people, over and above those affected by the tsunami, to whom we are bringing relief.
Perhaps we should also discuss the Rwandan genocide, the Darfur genocide that's not admitted to be a genocide, and the forgotten slaughters of the past anybody remember Katanga? How about the Paleostinian refugee camps, now edging up to their 60th year of existence could we maybe put a sunset date on future humanitarian efforts like that?
Indeed, when ill-informed critics try to cut the U.N. off at the knees, the people they hurt most are not diplomats or bureaucrats but innocent people caught in war or poverty, in desperate need of the world's help.
"Do it for the children!" After all, with tens of millions served, as only the U.N. can serve them, really a few incidents of food-for-nookie don't amount to much. Except to the people involved, and they're mostly just natives, who don't feel pain or shame like we do.
Some decry what they see as a lack of principle in U.N. decision-making, pointing to the compromises that inevitably emerge from a body of 191 member states. Anyone who attacks the U.N. for failing to serve the global interest should, as part of that exercise, critically examine the decisions of each nation within the body. They will find that there is plenty of criticism to go round. But they should also remember that the U.N., like the U.S. and other great democracies, is a work in progress--always struggling to lessen the gap between reality and the ideals which gave it birth. That such a gap exists is all the more reason why those who value freedom and peace should work to build the U.N. up, not tear it down.
Not necessarily. See my previous comments on honest brokers. If you're an honest broker among competing interests, then being on the wrong end of a decision occasionally is something that can be lived with. But if you're on the other side, and on the other side consistently, then we have no use for you. Piss off. Go away. Move the whole shebang to Lagos or Khartoum, and let the Soddies support you.
Of course the U.N. is far from perfect--even if some of the recent allegations made about it have been overblown. The interim report of Paul Volcker's independent inquiry has helped put the Oil For Food program in perspective. Some of the more hyperbolic assertions about it have been proven untrue.
And some have proven to be true, despite being unbelievable. Old lady falling down an elevator shaft, indeed! I wouldn't put that in a bad novel.
Yet I am the first to admit that real and troubling failures--ethical lapses and lax management--have been brought to light.
Then why'd you wait for everybody else to admit it before admitting it yourself? You, as secretary general, had the resources to uncover the problem and deal with it. Your virginity's gone, Kofi.
I am determined, with the help of member states, to carry through the management reforms which are clearly called for by Mr. Volcker's findings.
"There went the horse. Let's lock the barn door, quick."
Even more shocking are widespread cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of minors by peacekeepers and U.N. officials in the Congo and other African countries. Both the U.N. Secretariat and the member states have been too slow to realize the extent of this problem, take effective measures to end it, and punish the culprits. But we are now doing so, and I am determined to see it through.
... now that they've been brought to light by other parties. What hasn't been brought to light yet, Kofi? What are you doing to deal with it?
In my eight years as secretary-general, I had already done a lot--with the support of member states, often led by the U.S.--to make the U.N. more coherent and efficient. Now we need to make it more transparent and accountable--not only to diplomats representing member governments, but also directly to the public. The U.N. cannot expect to survive into the 21st century unless ordinary people throughout the world feel that it does something for them--helping to protect them against conflict (both civil and international), but also against poverty, hunger, disease and the erosion of their natural environment.
I can see no evidence that the UN actually does such things, though it sometimes makes the pretense of supervising those who do...
And in recent years, bitter experience has taught us that a world in which whole countries are left prey to misgovernment and destitution is not safe for anyone. We must turn the tide against disease and hunger, as well as against terrorism, the proliferation of deadly weapons and crime--starting, urgently, with decisions from the Security Council to end the abominable crimes in Darfur and bring war criminals to international justice.
Sudan is a pipsqueak, ninth-rate power with little pretense of legitimacy and less pretense of effectiveness. Yet they're ignoring you, Kofi. They're telling you to piss off. They won't have you "interfering in their internal affairs." And you won't.
This September, we have a real opportunity to make the U.N. more useful to all its members. Leaders from all over the world are coming to a U.N. summit in New York. I shall put before them an agenda of bold but achievable proposals for making the U.N. work better, and the world fairer and safer. I know that Americans want to do that as much as any people on earth.
That would seem to imply that other people on earth have become less and less interested in the actual workings of the U.N., glancing at it only occasionally to see if they've got a bearded lady, and India rubber man, or Jojo the Dog-faced Boy on display. The U.N. has ceased to be a usable institution.
More than any other people, they have the power to do it--if they listen to and work with others, and take the lead in a concerted effort. I believe that they will give us that lead. I look forward to September with hope and excitement. Mr. Annan is secretary-general of the U.N.
#7
Lucifer could have come flapping out of Hell on great bat wings, accompanied by battalions of demons, and if he'd been bringing groceries and medicines and helping to treat the injured, he'd have been accomodated.
But then the 'Islamic states' didn't really do much did they.... and nobody was suprised....
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/22/2005 19:02 Comments ||
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#10
Thankee kindly, Xbalanke. But all I wrote was the first line, "for giggles..." All the rest came from the snarky keyboard of Master Fred. My bit is in dark yellow, Fred's in the same yellow as all our comments below the article. Perhaps someday I will write something to earn the praise you are so generous with today. ;-)
Lakma Kalidatu was having dinner with her six grandchildren when they were interrupted by a burst of automatic gunfire.
In an instant, she spirited away the children to a nearby Islamic school, leaving behind everything.
"We're still afraid to return to our village," Kalidatu, 60, said as she washed clothes outside the school where about 300 other refugees have been staying since early January.
They have every reason to be concerned about their safety.
Since December 2003, the villages around the marshy area in Maguindao province on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao have seen frequent and bloody battles between soldiers and rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Military and local officials blame a small and radical MILF faction for the violence, which they say is an attempt to sabotage peace talks aimed at ending a 36-year separatist insurgency that has claimed at least 120,000 lives.
"They are the enemy of the people, the enemy of development," said Hadji Yasan Ampatuan, a member of the provincial legislative council and a nephew of Maguindanao governor Datu Andal Ampatuan.
The military said splits have emerged in the MILF, dividing it along ideological, political and economic lines. It said there could be as many as seven groups jostling for control.
Major-General Raul Rellano, the army's regional commander, said the rogue MILF faction posed a "real threat" to the talks that have been brokered by Malaysia since 2001.
"There is a rift among them," Rellano told Reuters, saying the peace process would be moving at a much faster pace if the MILF were a solid organization.
Citing army intelligence estimates, Rellano said about 30 percent of the MILF's 11,000 fighters belonged to radical forces that refuse to halt their war for a separate Islamic state in the southern third of this mainly Roman Catholic country. The Muslim people of Mindanao call themselves Bangsamoro.
The military said the radicals, headed by leaders with deep religious backgrounds, have active links with foreign militants from Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and the homegrown groups Abu Sayyaf and Abu Sofia.
Rellano said the MILF renegades were behind the attack on an army base in Kalidatu's village that broke a shaky 17-month cease-fire in January.
Silvestre Afable, the government's chief peace negotiator and communications director for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has warned that hardcore militants might step up attacks as talks inched toward a final peace agreement.
"Terrorism is one of the challenges we are facing -- not only as a threat to law and order but as a threat to peace in Mindanao," he told a recent briefing for foreign media.
Rebel leaders dispute reports of splits in the movement, saying the violence in some parts of central Mindanao was rooted in intense local politics and ancient blood feuds.
Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, said the MILF was dragged into the conflicts among rival local politicians only because some had sought help from relatives within the guerrilla group.
"Blood is thicker than water," Kabalu said. "This bloody cycle of vendetta killing, known among locals as 'rido', is often seen as truce violations because some MILF members and militiamen find themselves on opposite fences."
Kabalu said there were hundreds of unresolved killings in Muslim areas of the South due to political rivalries, land disputes and even petty quarrels among neighbors.
The military says the involvement of MILF elements in the violence had exposed the leadership's weak control over its forces as it struggles to win support from some guerrilla forces influenced and led by Islamic clerics.
"They are hiding behind 'rido'," said an army intelligence official. "Based on our sources on the ground, there's really a group, opposed to the talks, that is out to embarrass the MILF leadership."
He said some MILF members also were resentful because the peace process not only restrained criminal activities to raise funds but forced them to run after their own comrades engaged in kidnappings, robberies and extortion.
"Those are perceptions," Mohaqher Iqbal, the chief MILF peace negotiator, told Reuters, saying the movement allowed for healthy debate among its members. "But, at the end of the day, it is always the central committee that decides."
Iqbal said factionalism was not an issue at the moment but could become one if the peace deal is not acceptable to the vast majority of Muslims in the Philippines.
"We will never break that vicious cycle of endless violence and bloody struggles," he said. "New groups will emerge to fight for the rights of the Bangsamoro people."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005 12:40:16 AM ||
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South-East Asian authorities need to keep a close eye on Jemaah Islamiah despite recent arrests of some of the extremist group's key members, a counter terrorism expert has warned.
Three Malaysians, Mohammad Nasir Abbas, Noordin Mohammad Top and alleged master bombmaker Azahari bin Husin, were arrested last year and have been accused of being senior members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network. Abbas testified last December that he had been sworn into JI by hardline Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.
South-East Asian Regional Centre for Counter Terrorism director general Dato Zainal Abidin Zain said the arrests had helped disconnect links between JI and al-Qaeda, which was a significant achievement. "The (JI) movement has suffered major setbacks following the apprehension of its JI operation chief combatants," he told the Third Annual National Security Conference in Sydney. "These successful captures meant that another point of contact between the al-Qaeda and this region has been cut off."
But authorities needed to stay vigilant, he warned. "It is important to note that although the JI have suffered a setback the threat by the remaining members ... cannot be discounted," Mr Zain said. "The next phase of our investigation and efforts will focus on cleaning up the JI remnants."
Mr Zain said any attempt to stop terrorism had to look at grassroots problems, such as poverty. "We need to look long and deep at all the issues that surround terrorism. Terrorism knows no colour, religion, beliefs and boundaries. Therefore it is only logical that efforts to counter terrorism are best to ignore, colour, religion, beliefs and boundaries."
This article starring:
ABU BAKAR BASHIR
Jemaah Islamiah
AZAHARI BIN HUSIN
Jemaah Islamiah
MOHAMAD NASIR ABAS
Jemaah Islamiah
NURDIN MOHAMAD TOP
Jemaah Islamiah
Jemaah Islamiah
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005 12:13:42 AM ||
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The extremist Abu Sayyaf is merely a military wing of a terrorist "nebulous party."
This was the government's assessment of the terrorist group in the new National Internal Security Plan (NISP) that is now the subject of discussions and brainstorming in the unified command levels of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Based on the 28-page security plan that was drafted by the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COC-IS), it said that the Abu Sayyaf has "a nebulous party structure" performing the role of a "brain" in the entire terrorist organization, and that this has yet to be fully determined and identified by government operatives.
The group's "nebulous party," added the NISP, has "civilian supporters acting as its shield," while the Abu Sayyaf "itself as the sword."
Such presumptions were compared to how the government regards the mainstream underground Maoist movement and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
With regard the Maoist rebel movement, the NISP pointed out that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is its "brain," its underground political umbrella, the National Democratic Front (NDF), its "shield," and the New People's Army (NPA) is its "sword."
As for the MILF, the rebel front is in itself the "brain," its revolutionary mass bases in Mindanao are its "shields," while its mujahideens (holy warriors) in the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), are its "sword."
The NISP has it that the "core members" of the Abu Sayyaf were former mujahideens who fought in the Afghan wars of the 1980s.
It later grew in strength when it was able to recruit disgruntled members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) after it entered into a peace agreement with the government in the early 1990s.
After a series of government assaults, the Abu Sayyaf became a mere "lawless terrorist bandit group claiming Islamic theocratic objectives."
However, the NISP noted that it still "exerts influence and enjoys support in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Sarangani."
"Lately," added the same document, "it has been pre-occupied with recruitment and kidnap-for-ransom activities to generate funds for the procurement of high-powered weapons."
By now, the Abu Sayyaf has a fighting force of less than 300, from a peak of 1,200, but the government nonetheless considers it "as the immediate threat group in Southwestern Mindanao."
"While many⊠communities (in Mindanao) are against the means by which the (Abu Sayyaf) hopes to attain its goal," the NISP assessed, "(it) continues to enjoy some degree of support."
The Abu Sayyaf is being suspected by authorities to have established a link with the Jeemah Islamiya, the Southeast Asian terror network of Saudi-dissident Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Its ultimate objective is to carve an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.
All of the Abu Sayyaf's terrorist units have been dispersed from its former regular fighting formations to avoid head-to-head confrontations with government forces, as the NISP document warned that "its special operations groups (are) lurking in several urban centers (to) conduct terroristic activities, to include bombings of uncooperative business establishments."
By now, the government suspects that the Abu Sayyaf has already struck an alliance with a faction of the MNLF loyal to jailed former Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Nur Misuari, which recently staged a revolt in Sulu.
While Abu Sayyaf terrorists are now believed to be also operating in Metro Manila, the military has vague information with regards its linkages with the shadowy Luzon-based terrorist group Rajah Solaiman Revolutionary Movement (RSRM).
For the past three years, police and military operatives have encountered elements of the RSRM and its self-styled armed wing, the Hukbong Khalid Trinidad (HKT), in campaigns against terrorism in Tarlac, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan.
According to the NISP, "Government response (to the Abu Sayyaf) should not only put an end to terrorism and banditry."
"More importantly," it added, "(government has to) address poverty, which is the breeding ground of terrorism."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005 12:12:16 AM ||
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Syria has denied having offered to withdraw its approximately 16,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon, and officials in Damascus disclaimed remarks by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to the effect that Syrian President Bashir al-Assad had promised an imminent pullback of those forces.
"President Assad stressed more than once his firm determination to go on with implementing the Taif agreement and achieve Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, in accordance with this agreement," Moussa had announced. But Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah told the BBC that this had been the result of a misunderstanding, and that his country's forces would merely be redeployed within Lebanon. Analysts speculated whether the apparent misunderstanding could signal divisions over policy in Damascus, where some believe a power struggle is underway between hardliners from the regime of al-Assad's father, former Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad, and more moderate elements that see a need for fundamental reforms in Syria.
Bashir al-Assad last week appointed his brother-in-law, Brigadier-General Assaf Shawkat, as head of the powerful military intelligence service, replacing General Hassan Khalil, who had reached retirement age, according to the BBC. The news service quoted Syrian sources as saying that the move was intended to consolidate the ruling family's grip on the police and security apparatus.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/22/2005 12:14:55 PM ||
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#1
Surprise meter pegged?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 12:42 Comments ||
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"The news service quoted Syrian sources as saying that the move was intended to consolidate the ruling familyâs grip on the police and security apparatus." And money.
Iranian Vice-President for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Majid Ansari, arrived here Monday to express his country's deep regret to Lebanese nation and government over assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Ansari, during his visit, is due to condole with the bereaved family of Hariri. He is also scheduled to meet with the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and express his heartfelt condolences over the tragic event. Ansari is accompanied by vice-presidents Mohammad-Ali Abtahi and Mohammad Sadr and ex-MPs from Tehran, Abbas Sheibani and Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipour.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005 1:24:30 AM ||
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#1
Ansari, during his visit, is due to condole with the bereaved family of Hariri.
Seems odd that the family would be willing to condole with an Iranian rep.
#2
Right, 2b. Especially condoling with the financial enabler of all the misery in Lebanon, from the Syrians to Hizb'Allah. Makes me want to gag.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2005 11:13 Comments ||
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#3
I wonder if they checked with the family before announcing they would be calling. Didn't the family shut the door in the faces of members of the current government when they tried to come to the funeral?
Iran moving things around. Who's winning, and who's losing in the aftermath?
A number of Ministries will be merged according to a new government bill. Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari told Fars News Agency that according to the government's new bill, several other Ministries will be merged, including the Ministries of Commerce and Economy. "A total of 21 Ministries and 20 major governmental organizations are presently working under the supervision of President Mohammad Khatami," he said. Commenting on the new bill, he pointed out that energy ministry will be formed after the merger of oil and power ministries. "Labor and Cooperative Ministries will also be merged," he said. Shariatmadari noted that roads and communications ministries will also be merged to form a new ministry under the name of communications and transportation.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005 1:18:36 AM ||
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#1
Emily, a suggestion for a new headline:
MULLALAHLAND MINISTRY MERGERS MULLED ;)
#2
"The Ministry of Killing Kufrs is merging with our Ministry of Nuclear Power, but we are still dedicated to solely the peaceful use of nuclear power."
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2005 10:29 Comments ||
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All the better to negotiate with the UFOs, don't you see ... The cabinet has approved a proposal to establish the Supreme National Space Council, government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh announced here on Monday.
The Supreme National Space Council will be established with the aim of making peaceful use of outer space and space technology, protecting national interests, and achieving economic, cultural, and scientific development through this technology, Ramezanzadeh added.
He said that the president of the Islamic Republic, the council chairman, the chairman of the Iran Space Organization (as the council's secretary), the minister of communications and information technology, the minister of science, the defense minister, the foreign minister, the minister of mines and industries, the director of the Management and Planning Organization, the director of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), and four space experts would be the members of the council.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005 12:50:12 AM ||
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#1
So what's the Normal National Space Council do?
#2
The (Super Islamic) Supreme National Space Council (of Iran) also known as the Council of Boskone. You can count on the fact they want to use space for "peaceful" purposes because they are allanists.
Maybe they should spend some of that money moving their citizens out of rammed earth housing and mud huts that kill them everytime there is an earthquake instead of "space" first.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 8:48 Comments ||
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#6
If done right(keywords)rammed earth housing is damnded good.It can be stronger than masonry block,the secret is to use the right mixture of sand,clay,cement,re-enforcing wire,with lots of tamping.Large parts of the Great Wall are rammed earth and all they used is sand,clay,with willow branches as a binder.
#8
In a quake masonry block burys you too. It really doesn't matter what the brick, block, stone it is, masonry comes apart when shaken or stirred. That's why all current brick/stone you see in Caliphornia is faux and all foundations are poured. Wood frame would be a lot better.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 9:04 Comments ||
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#9
One of the goals is "achieving....cultural .... development through this technology."
Now that should be interesting to watch -- cultural change in Mullahland. Or is it someone else's culture that they plan on changing?
Ivan Eland According to The New York Times, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted that the suicide killers of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, were unknown and said: "We're not laying blame. It needs to be investigated." But the U.S. government began blaming Syria even before an investigation had been completed.
Syria's been occupying Lebanon and supporting a variety of terrorist organizations, thereby maintaining the conditions for occasional car bombings. There are stories that the boom was authorized by Assad or those very close to him not stories put out by the U.S. government, but stories rattling about in the Muddle East. Suspicion naturally falls on the Syrians, and it takes a willing suspension of disbelief not to think of them as suspects...
Because the Bush administration suspects Syrian involvement in the murder, it has recalled the U.S. ambassador to Syria and demanded that the Syrians withdraw their troops from Lebanon. Yet even Ariel Sharon, the hawkish prime minister of Syria's archenemy Israel, said that he did not know who was behind the killing.
We said the same thing. But if your dog bites someone, you're responsible, whether you sicced it on him or not...
Some Lebanese believe that al Qaeda could have slain Hariri because he is close to the government of Saudi Arabia, which Osama bin Laden despises.
I'd call them the second line of suspects...
Who killed the former Lebanese prime minister is important, and Syria may very well have played a role to retaliate for Hariri's opposition to a Syrian military presence in Lebanon. But the Bush administration's reaction to the murder is more significant.
Every time someone says "the real issue is..." I know they're trying to divert attention from what the issue really, truly is.
Despite some Syrian help in curbing the flow of anti-U.S. guerrillas and funding for them from Syria into Iraq, the United States has decided to treat the autocratic regime in Damascus as harshly as it has treated other "rogue" states, such as Iran and Iraq.
That could be because it's regarded as a rogue state. They didn't stay bought.
The U.S. government's zeal to blame Syria for Hariri's murder parallels its recent saber rattling against Iran. Most likely, the administration recently leaked word of U.S. drone flights and special forces missions into Iranian territory to intimidate the Iranian theocratic government. Unfortunately, the administration has forgotten the post-9/11 Iranian help it received to fight al Qaeda.
Unfortunately, the writer's overlooking the Iranian involvement in the unrest in Iraq, Iranian control of terror organizations throughout the Muddle East, and the fact that whether the Iranians are working on a nuclear weapon or not, the head of Iranian Hezbollah seems to think they are and he's looking forward to using it.
It is hypocritical for the administration to punish Syria for assassinating a former Lebanese prime minister (assuming the Syrians did it) when the U.S. led its own campaign to kill leaders of the Iraqi regime, including Saddam Hussein and his two sons.
Not in the least hypocritical. Hariri was a retired politician in a country not at war, not conducting armed operations against anyone, at least that we know of. Sammy and the boyz were forcibly retired dictators in a country torn by terrorism and guerrilla warfare, who represented a danger to the state.
It is also duplicitous for the Bush administration to point the finger at Syria for having 14,000 troops in Lebanon, when the United States originally approved that troop presence and when it has 150,000 of its own troops occupying Iraq.
Not duplicitous at all. We invaded them, we're reconstructing their government, and then we're going to leave. Syria's been treating Lebanon as a colony for a good long time, and showed no signs of ever leaving. Lahoud's a Syrian puppet, just as Hezbollah's an Iranian creature...
If odious regimes such as Syria are never rewarded for anything positive, they have no incentive to behave better.
If you've ever trained a dog, it doesn't work if you only use the treats and never use the rolled up newspaper.
This does not mean holding them in a tight embrace or condoning their abysmal human rights practices. It does mean treating them with a wary pragmatism and not assuming all they do is evil.
We're not quite at that stage with them. They're an outright dictatorship a hereditary dictatorship, fergawdsake. With the exception of Libya, they're the last remaining overt dictatorship in the Muddle East. Even the Soddies pretend to be a reasonable monarchy. Most everybody else is either democratic on paper or they actually are fairly reasonable monarchies.
The Bush administration should follow its own lead and imitate its successful policy with Libya.
Tried that, after Sammy fell. Assad didn't want to do it. He was too afraid of the terror network he'd fostered, and of his own henchmen.
The administration provided a powerful incentive for Muammar Qaddafi, Libya's despotic strongman who also has been suspected of trying to kill a foreign leader, to give up his nuclear weapons program. It offered Qaddafi an end to international economic isolation in exchange for better behavior. In contrast, Syria's and Iran's efforts at some cooperation with U.S. policies have been shot down in their infancy.
The overtures were made. They didn't want to play. How many overtures do we have to make?
In the case of Iran, the regime quit cooperating with the United States when it realized that the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan was more or less permanent. Furthermore, President Bush has actually declared that he would not ease relations even if the Iranians gave up their nuclear program.
It's a paper "democracy," that's actually a theocracy. They run all the Shiite terror networks. How willfully blind should he be?
Why should those regimes improve their behavior if they feel that they can do nothing right and the goal posts keep moving back when they take a step, however tentative, in a positive direction? As unbelievable as it may seem, considering the Iraqi debacle, the military threats by the Bush administration against Iran and Syria closely resemble the pre-invasion threats the administration made against Iraq.
I don't find it unbelievable at all. I think we're going to seriously thump one or the other or both, probably some time next year. They're going to be thumped because they run terror networks, and it's our national policy to a.) destroy terror networks and b.) export democracy to give their citizenry a chance to live like human beings.
A little more sugar and a little less vinegar toward "rogue states" might give these countries an incentive for better behavior.
They got all the sugar they could handle when Maddy Albright was Secretary of State and Bill Clinton was president. They got negotiations and sweet reason even under Reagan and Bush the Elder. That stuff stopped with 9-11, when we lost our national sense of humor.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The Independent - all the equivalence thats fit to print. Otherwise this is just the Left whining that they don't like the new rules.
Joke (slightly recycled): How can you tell if you have arrived at SF International Airport?
A: You can still hear the whine after the airplane's engines have stopped.
#2
What is not said is all the NSA material that is probably on hand which shows direct Syrian involvement in the killing. We're not about to reveal collections methods......yet. Should be worth the price when the Pres goes to Congress for the authorization for the use of force.
#3
The Bush administration should ... imitate the Reagan administration's successful policy with Libya.
Couldn't agree more. A few airstrikes on the ol' presidential palace would probably do wonders for the Syrian leadership's attitude & willingness to cooperate.
#4
This is the same idiotarian whose article on NorK I posted last week. He's a limp dick apologist for despots: they're just misunderstood! If odious regimes such as Syria are never rewarded for anything positive, they have no incentive to behave better
And what have they done that's positive, invade Lebanon? What an idiot.
#2
Why wait for Scott Ritter and his alleged June attack by the USA ags Iran - "Attack me, now, d*** you, attack me and North Korea and Syria and Cuba and Chavez and .....", aka calling the Commie Airborne and Radical Islam to save us from Dubya. HAIL HILLARY - only a woman and a Clinton can save Amerika and Amerikan anti-Fascist Fascist Communism from Dubya, Kerry, Dean and Gore, mad men of and males of the world!?
The leaders of the United States and France have increased pressure on Syria to pull its 14,000 troops out of Lebanon. US President George Bush and French President Jacques Chirac made the call for a "free Lebanon" in a joint statement on Monday. The statement came as they were dining in Brussels in what was billed as a reconciliation effort after two years of bitter differences over Iraq. "We urge full and immediate implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1559 in all its aspects, including its call for a sovereign, independent and democratic Lebanon as well as for the consolidation of security under the authority of a Lebanese government free from foreign domination," they said.
Is it just me or is there something uncomfortable about having the French behind us ...
Makes the back of my neck itch...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Look at the video of that press conference. Chiarc was preforming to the cameras and Bush stared straight at him watching every movement of every muscle. The look reminded me of a boss about to fire somebody.
#2
I don't understand what's going on here. The French are suddenly our friends? Chirac is not our friend, he's an enemy working hard against us.
Harari was a close and personal friend of Chirac and the Sauid Royal Family, and Harari used to be pro-Syrian until he had a recent change of convictions. Shalom (minister of something from Israel), was visiting Chirac at the very time that Harari was boomed. Shalom was there to discuss putting Hezbollah on the terrorist list - which Chirac refused.
#3
and no...I don't think The Jews(TM)killed Harari...for anyone who may be wondering...though I do think it significant that Harari was boomed at the very time that Chirac (his close and personal friend) was meeting with Shalom to discuss putting Hezbollah on the terrorist list.
I think it was the Syrians...not that there aren't enough possible suspects to make a good Agatha Christie novel. It's just things should make sense in this world......
#8
Is it just me or is there something uncomfortable about having the French behind us ...
Nothing mysterious. If you were listening to the rascally Laura Ingraham this AM, you heard her interviewing an NRO person, who says the "Chirac family" are up to their eyeballs with Lebanese investments, and they'd be much more profitable with Syria gone!
That lady knows who to ask for, to get info on what bodies are buried where... He he he
#10
Eh, I'm inclined to believe that it's never really been about hatred of America for Chirac...
Everything has been about either the money or staying out of jail.
By all accounts, particularly Monday's thousands-strong rally, the opposition seems to be gathering momentum, while the loyalist camp continues to lose ground, making it more and more likely that the pro-Syrian government could be ousted and Syrian troops driven out of the country. Many partisan MPs refused to comment on Monday's rally, preferring to wait. "Any comments would be like adding fuel to the fire," one MP said on condition of anonymity.
President Emile Lahoud commented Monday on opposition moves, suggesting that former Premier Rafik Hariri did not belong to one group. "Some exploit the deadly incident to meet their personal interests and ignore that Hariri was a national asset whose stances and policies have restored Lebanon's unity and regained its role internationally," Lahoud said. In a statement issued Monday, former Prime Minister Salim Hoss criticized both the government and the opposition. "The government should have resigned or at least expelled key security officials from their posts?" he said. However, Hoss criticized the manner in which some opposition parties have exploited the tragic event. "Escalating the tone of oral nuisance against Syria, thus instigating violence against ordinary Syrian citizens, has gone too far," he said. "Hariri was confident that the Syrian troops were going sooner or later; the withdrawal is far less complicated than many would have us believe," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Interim Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen as his Shiite ticket's candidate for prime minister Tuesday after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid, senior alliance officials said...
MOHMAND AGENCY: The arms collection campaign in the tribal areas will soon start, said Sahibzada Muhammad Anis, political agent of Mohmand Agency, on Tuesday. He said the government had planned to collect heavy arms from tribesmen, adding that the dispute between the Essakhel and Burhankhel tribes, regarding the handing over of the weapons to authorities, had also been resolved during a tribal jirga.
He said a special committee would be formed for the campaign in collaboration with intelligence agencies and Mohmand Rifles. He said tribesmen had voluntarily surrendered their weapons in the past and had not been compensated for them. However, this time the government would compensate the tribesmen for giving in the weapons. He said special relief funds would be given for the victims of the recent rain and snowfall in the area. He said the security situation in the agency was satisfactory. He added that a survey for building a cadet college in the area was underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 9:24:05 PM ||
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Much in internationally said these days about the reform of UN and democracy. Such slogans are popular ones that nobody refuses, except a dictator or a reactionary. the dictator rejects democracy and the reactionary rejects reforms, but the whole issue would be unacceptable to all if it is just an issue of propaganda or eclecticism, i.e a rightful word steered for false hood .
In other words, to achieve other objectives and not reform and democracy. If we are serious in tackling with reform an democracy on the international level, we have to start with reform of the head of the world and to achieve democracy therein. The head of the world is UN organization . the UN General Assembly is the haven of the world parliament. Unless we reform the world parliament and make it a democratic one, it is unacceptable to respond to nay demand for reform and democratization of a demostic parliament or government anywhere in the world. But who to reform the General Assembly ( the World Parliament ) and make it a democratic one.
The issue is too obvious, it is to vest on this international parliament the same competences of any congress (parliament) in any classical democratic state i.e it should be the legislation instrument the security council becomes the executive instrument and the International Court of Justice is the judicial authority.
I know Fred doesn't like us linking to other blogs, but this is al Gathafi. Yes, Muammar gets blogs! Sort of. Well, add him to the Better than average blog list. He's better than Kos. And next month he's going to start profiling the bodyguard of the month. Priceless.
Domain Name:ALGATHAFI.ORG
Created On:28-Nov-2001 20:24:14 UTC
Last Updated On:29-Dec-2004 09:41:45 UTC
Expiration Date:28-Nov-2006 20:24:14 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Tucows Inc. (R11-LROR)
Registrant Name:Abdallah Alhamil
Registrant Organization:World Center For Green Book Studies
Registrant Street1:Jamhooriya Street
Registrant City:Tripoli
Registrant Country:LY
Registrant Phone:+218.213406493
It's a legitimate news source, so it's welcome here. If all the guys whose actions we're interested in maintained opinion websites, we'd be mining them, too...
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 6:56:08 PM ||
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Excerpt from a long article. Interesting comments there about air conditioning and handling combat stress. Page 1 because it seemed more like Ops than Politix, but move wherever. "The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event," he tells about 200 Marines, sitting on the ground under a metal windbreak against a cliff in Al Asad. "That said, there are some a--holes in the world that just need to be shot. But you go on and find your next victim or he's gonna kill you or your buddy. It's kill or be killed," he said. "There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim. ... It's really a hell of a lot of fun. You're gonna have a blast out here!" he said, with marked glee. "I feel sorry for every son of a bitch that doesn't get to serve with you."
He is also icily clear with what he expects of the new Marines in the theater, who are much needed reinforcements and relief for departing troops. "You must know the commander's intent: (Our motto) is 'no better friend, no worse enemy.' But I have added: 'First do no harm.' No harm to the innocent. No harm to a prisoner, ever. This is the Marine Corps," he barked.
Referring to the reserve soldiers who abused and humiliated prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Mattis said: "They were undisciplined, sorry-ass excuses for soldiers. We will not cost America one ounce of its moral authority," he said. "How you treat people is very, very important. We're not gonna become racists. They (the enemy force) want you to hate every Iraqi out here. ... You treat those women and children the way you do your own. You make certain you don't do anything that would smear the Marine Corps. It is absolutely essential you know what I won't f--ing tolerate," he said, and related the details of a recent case in which a Marine administered an electric shock to a detaiinee he had in jail. He was swiftly court-martialed. "He thought it was funny. It is, if you like five years in Leavenworth (prison)," Mattis said.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 11:27:10 AM ||
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Love this guy! Screw the pansies who can't handle the honest truth--it's men like this who keep your right to bitch and moan intact!
Posted by: Dar ||
02/22/2005 12:10 Comments ||
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I'm not religious, but my feelings towards the Marines nearly fall in that category.
1) Former Ba'athists
2) Foreign fighters.
3) MSM. Let's all be honest about what we feel after the way the wusses like those in the the cabal (Jennings-Rather-Williams) savaged the General a few weeks ago.
LET THE GENERAL BE! HE'S ONE OF THE FEW WHO STEPS UP AND EXPLAINS A TRUE AMERICAN MIDSET.
THE DIFFERENCE IS HE HAS MILITARY TRAINING, LEADERSHIP, AND EXPERIENCE IN BATTLE.
#5
I thing General M. maybe moving into untouchable territory... meaning I don't think the MSM has the power to touch him. Interesting fellow. I'd like to know more about him.
A Tunisian organization dedicated to defending the rights of terrorism victims criticized today as "a bit hasty" and "ill-advised" the positions taken by certain human rights activists in defense of a group of individuals arrested after having downloaded material from the internet as part of a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts. "As an organization dedicated to the rights of terrorism victims, we see this expression of support as a bit hasty," said the Tunisian association for terrorism victims in a statement issued in Geneva. It added, "the defendants have of course the right to all the legal guarantees under Tunisian law. But certain elements in the case are truly disturbing and should convince all parties interested in the case to be more cautious."
Members of the group, known as "the Zarzis group" were tried and sentenced last year on charges of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism in the southern Tunisian city of Zarzis. Tunisia has unwaveringly taken a rigorous stand against terrorism. The Tunisian association for terrorism victims cited among the "disturbing" facts of the case the fact that "investigators in Tunisia have pointed out that members of the so-called "Zarzis group" have sought support abroad from the "Al-Qaeda" terrorist organization and also attempted to smuggle weapons into the Tunisia to commit acts of terrorism. By the time they were arrested, members of the group had already started manufacturing and storing explosives. They planned rocket attacks against a local secondary school and National Guard station, and were found in possession of files downloaded from the Internet regarding the manufacture and use of bombs, explosives, gun-silencers and combat munitions. "By arresting members of this group, the Tunisian authorities might have pre-empted a tragedy and prevented another casualty toll," stressed the organization. "A more socially-responsible attitude would be to discuss the means of preventing terrorist behavior and clearly denounce all forms of extremism and hate-mongering which lead to terrorism. The rights of all societies and human beings to life and safety require us all to do our share in this regard," added the statement.
Although certain activists have taken up the case of "Zarzis group" as a case of individuals "with no crime except trying to access the Internet," a number of human rights organizations have taken a more cautious attitude on the issue and have abstained from defending members of the group. The Tunisian organization issued the statement in Geneva where is taking place the preparatory meeting for the world summit on the information society (WSIS) scheduled in Tunisia next November.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005 12:27:13 AM ||
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Bravo. Very good. We need more clarity like this.
Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interim vice president, will face off in a secret ballot Tuesday to determine who will be the Shiite majority's choice for Iraqi prime minister, officials said. The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee — despite days of negotiations.
Chalabi spokesman Haidar al-Moussawi said the most powerful man in predominantly Shiite Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, met with interim Finance Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi in the southern city of Najaf and gave his backing for whatever decision the alliance makes. "Al-Sistani assured that whoever the alliance will choose, he will agree on him," al-Moussawi said.
Although Chalabi and his supporters claim he had the support needed for the nomination, the vote between the two 58-year-old men was anything but a sure thing. The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the main group making up the alliance, had tried to persuade Chalabi to quit the race, some of its senior officials said. "We had hoped that we would agree on one person without the secret ballot, because we fear that such a vote will cause divisions inside the alliance," said Jawad Mohammed Taqi, a senior member of the group, known as SCIRI. He added that "Chalabi seems very confident and he believes that when we hold a secret ballot he will get the majority. I believe this is an exaggeration."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005 12:25:35 AM ||
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Chalabi has pulled out -- support if now for al-Jaafari. Wonder what kind of deal was cut here?
Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq dismissed on Monday a report of secret talks between insurgents and U.S. officials and said its attacks would continue, according to an Internet statement. Time magazine, citing Pentagon and other sources, said on Sunday that U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers were conducting talks with Sunni Muslim insurgents on ways to end fighting in Iraq. "The enemies of God say the mujahideen want to end jihad (holy war), but they do not know that the jihad will go on ... and our response to what was published by Time magazine will come in our attacks," the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in a statement posted on Islamist Web sites. "Our thirst will only be quenched by cutting off your heads and spilling your blood ... Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq will continue its jihad until the flag of monotheism is raised and until God's law rules," it said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005 12:19:33 AM ||
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"Our thirst will only be quenched by cutting off your heads and spilling your blood ... "
beheadings are soooo last year .. /yawn
Voting is the 'in vogue' thing this year matey !
#3
man I hope his end is slow and painful - perhaps sepsis while trapped under rubble for a week or so?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2005 10:50 Comments ||
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Checking out every body he communicates with and everybody who communicates with him thinking twice. Great article to get them in a crossfire with eachotheer.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 11:06 Comments ||
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Palestinians gave a jubilant welcome to 500 prisoners freed Monday by Israel as part of a truce, but many complained that uprising leaders were not among those released. Hamas militants appeared unmasked in a West Bank city, their leader shouting that there can be no peace "as long as there is a single prisoner in Israeli jails."
Everybody back in the peace processor.
Relatives of terror victims appealed unsuccessfully to Israel's Supreme Court to block the release, listing Israelis who have been killed over the years by freed Palestinian prisoners. The prisoners released Monday were not directly involved in violence, officials said. But earlier, Israeli officials indicated it would consider freeing Palestinians convicted of direct involvement in violence, a change in its blanket refusal to release Palestinians with "blood on their hands."
Gah.
Palestinians also faced internal political turmoil. Leaders suspended a session of parliament when it became clear that a new Cabinet, presented by Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, would not win a vote of confidence. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been struggling with Qureia over power issues including the makeup of the Cabinet, and the crisis may be a way for him to force the prime minister to resign. Abbas has made the prisoners a key political and emotional issue and measure of his effectiveness. His brief term as prime minister in 2003 collapsed largely over his pique at Israel's refusal to free veteran prisoners and uprising leaders. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the release was a goodwill gesture to strengthen Abbas. Almost every Palestinian has had a family member imprisoned by Israel at some point.
Each of them unblemished as a shiny new AK-47 cartridge...
All over the West Bank and Gaza, the tearful scenes of joy played out. But again, many Palestinians not directly involved in the release were disgruntled. Although 400 more are to be released in the coming days, about 7,000 Palestinians would still be behind Israeli bars, including leaders of the uprising. Palestinians complained that most of the freed prisoners were small-time offenders or near the end of their terms.
Sorry, Khaled...can't please all of the Paleos all the time.
"There will be no peace as long as there is a single prisoner in Israeli jails," Hassan Yousef, West Bank leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, shouted through a bullhorn. In Nablus, a crowd of 15,000 welcomed 100 prisoners. Dozens of gunmen fired in the air, among them Hamas members appearing with their weapons in public and unmasked for the first time since Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to an unofficial truce this month.
Gah. Gah. Gah.
Near the West Bank town of Jenin, a 30-year-old bystander was killed by celebratory fire and four people were wounded. A long convoy of cars, led by gunmen flying a green Hamas flag from their vehicle, escorted the released prisoners into town. Landau, the former Shin Bet commander, said about one in seven Palestinians freed in previous rounds returned to hostile activity, and that releasing prisoners at this stage is unusual. "First you leave the territory, and then you free prisoners," he said. "I fail to see the logic of this."
Me neither.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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No more of this "goodwill" bullshit by the Israelis. As the Paleos live up to their obligations, everything then flows from there, and not a moment sooner.
#2
"Hamas militants appeared unmasked in a West Bank city, their leader shouting that there can be no peace "as long as there is a single prisoner in Israeli jails."
...And seething for the UAV cameras, one hopes...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/22/2005 7:27 Comments ||
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The separation barrier Israel is building along the West Bank will not mark the definitive border of an eventual Palestinian state, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview published in Cairo Saturday. Asked by state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper if the barrier would be the definitive border, Sharon replied: "No. The real border will be established once total calm is restored, which will allow us to move toward the (Middle East peace) roadmap."
The internationally drafted roadmap foresees an independent Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel. "It is not the wall that demarcates the border," Sharon added. The wall's "only objective is to prevent terrorist operations inside Israel. We consider that the construction of the wall has stopped numerous terrorist operations." Asked whether the barrier would ever be pulled down, Sharon said: "We will study the matter."
If you don't have terrorism, you don't need the wall. But I have the feeling it'll be a while before they don't need the wall.
"Concerning the refugees, I have an agreement with President George Bush which foresees their being able to return to a Palestinian state. That is our position. I do not see how they could be able to return to Israel. On east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state, Sharon said: "Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for the past 3,007 years after it was proclaimed as such by King David. It is the undivided capital of Israel." Sharon said Egypt was doing more than before to stop weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip. "If the smuggling stops, it would please me a great deal to withdraw from this stops," Sharon said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 11:02:23 PM ||
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The purpose of the wall all along has been to be a bargaining chip in addition to keeping boomers at bay. Israel needs to finish it and keep the pressure on.
Attempts to form a new Palestinian cabinet have drawn a blank after a session of parliament was halted amid disputes over the selection of new ministers. Parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh said on Monday the session would resume on Tuesday in the middle of debate which came after Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya unveiled his prospective cabinet line-up and the top priorities of his administration. "I regret to inform you that 15 other deputies want to take part in the debate but we do not have time," Fattuh said. "As a consequence we will continue tomorrow."
A senior government official said the vote was being shelved amid continued dispute among deputies from the dominant Fatah faction over the line-up of a new government. "There will be no vote today," Tayyib Abd al-Rahim, secretary general of the Palestinian Authority, said in Ram Allah on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Israel will free 500 Palestinians on Monday in its largest prison release in nearly a decade as a goodwill gesture to bolster peace efforts with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinians say Abbas needs a large-scale release to persuade militant groups to formalise a ceasefire he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a Feb. 8 summit. Some 8,000 Palestinians are held by Israel.
Prospects for peacemaking in the Middle East have strengthened since Abbas was elected to succeed Yasser Arafat on a platform of non-violence and persuaded the armed factions to follow a de facto truce. The release of prisoners comes a day after Israel's cabinet approved a plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, marking the first time Israel decided to dismantle settlements on land Palestinians want for a state. None of the prisoners -- the first of 900 to be freed in coming weeks -- had been found guilty of attacks that killed or injured Israelis. Most had already served at least two-thirds of their sentences. They will be released at crossing points to the West Bank and Gaza in the biggest release since 1996, when 800 were freed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government is stepping up its propaganda war with insurgents by broadcasting videotaped interviews with suspects who appear to confess to killings, rape and theft on the orders of guerrillas. The offensive was launched in recent weeks on state-run Iraqiya television, which broadcast lengthy interrogations of Iraqis it said had carried out terrorist acts under the direction of "Abdullah," described as a criminal with close ties to Syria. There is no obvious way to verify the authenticity of the confessions. The interrogator's face does not appear on camera, and the suspects are shown sitting in office chairs across from a desk in a white-walled room.
Iraqi officials, who are struggling against a raging insurgency, accuse Syria of allowing guerrillas to cross its borders into Iraq to carry out attacks and permitting Saddam Hussein loyalists to live on its soil. Damascus denies the accusations and says it has tightened security along its long border with Iraq. The suspects in the Iraqiya footage appeared relaxed as they gave long, explanatory answers, calling their interrogator "my master" and explaining how they helped kill policemen and steal for the guerrillas.
Before each man spoke, Iraqiya showed images of masked insurgents in black throwing a kidnapped hostage to the ground before beheading him. One suspect questioned on Sunday, identified as Saad Ghanim, said he was paid $500 to help steal $30,000 and then kill the owner of the cash. He said insurgents took the rest of the money to finance their activities. "They told me I had to fight a holy war against the Americans. Abdullah told me my children would be killed if I did not obey," he said. "I used the stolen money for gambling."
"My children would have been killed if I hadn't!"
The interviewer encouraged the men to speak about "filthy crimes" and constantly mentioned Syria. "So were these goods smuggled with the knowledge of the Syrian government?" he asked. A suspect named Farhan first said yes and then no.
"Mahmoud, hand me my knuckle dusters! Now, Farhan, I'm going to ask you again..."
Many Iraqi television viewers are skeptical of the programs. "This is fabrication. It is not true," said Muhannad Muhammad, a driver.
And where were you on the night of December 19th, Muhannad?
A propaganda battle of often chilling words and images has raged since the U.S.-led invasion in April 2003. Insurgents in Iraq have broadcast harrowing images of terrified hostages in orange uniforms like the ones worn by prisoners at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Some have been beheaded on camera.
Those were fabrications, too, of course. Not true at all.
Other videos show militants saying goodbye to their families and making bombs before carrying out suicide attacks which have killed hundreds of people. The government has announced arrests of militants described as followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq. Iraqiya frequently carries lengthy interviews with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi as well as call-in shows in which he promises to meet the needs of ordinary Iraqis. But such conventional programming might not grip viewers as much as the televised confessions.
"Fatimah! Is the popcorn ready yet? The confessions are coming on!"
Ghanim described how he and several other people, including Abdullah, kidnapped a 20-year-old woman, put her in the trunk of a car and then raped and killed her. "Don't you have a conscience?" asked the interviewer.
"Of course not! I'm a Salafist!"
The men replied that intimidation and poverty had driven them to join the insurgents and kill and steal from innocents. "I and someone else held the girl and then Abdullah slaughtered her," said Farhan.
"My children would have been killed if I hadn't! They would have been killed if I hadn't raped her, too!"
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
I wish they would do that here,it would push the fence sitters off one way or another.
#2
This is the kind of propaganda war we should have been waging since the beginning. Let the muzzies know that the jihadis are out to kill them, not just infidels.
The European Union offered to provide training for Iraqi police and judges on Monday in a move aimed at ending a transatlantic rift over Iraq on the eve of a summit with US President George W. Bush. EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels approved a plan to train 770 senior Iraqi police officers and judges in the EU and in countries near Iraq. The mission, due to start mid-2005, could be extended to Iraq if security allowed. "It will consist of integrated training ... to be given to a representative group of senior officials, mainly in the judiciary, police and penitentiary sectors," according to a communique translated from French.
And it will start at some point conveniently in the future.
Paris and Berlin have pledged to help reconstruction through debt relief and training but will not set foot in Iraq. The EU communique hailed the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq as a step forward for democracy in the country and noted the EU had already agreed aid totalling over half a billion euros ($650 million) to Iraq. "The (EU) Council reaffirms its goal of an Iraq which is secure, stable, unified, prosperous, democratic, respecting of human rights and ready to cooperate constructively with its neighbours and the international community," it said. EU diplomats estimate the Iraq training mission would draw on around 10 million euros of EU funding, with member states coming up with an additional 15-18 million euros.
Unless they opt out as they've done in Afghanistan.
The EU also declared itself ready to support the political process in Iraq, notably by helping in the drafting of a new constitution if invited, and to explore broadening commercial ties with the country.  Â
Umm, help drafting a constitution is prolly what the Iraqis don't need from the Euros.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Nope but in repayment for help with the police Iraquis could help the Euros with their Constitution. They can't be worse than Giscard d'Estaing.
#2
Somebody made the comment that the EU should just copy the U. S. constitution and do a global search and replace of Europe for States. That is really true for new democracies like Iraq. This proportional representation stuff is really a level of filtration designed to reduce accountability.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 15:58 Comments ||
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#3
Eh, the US consitution was built while taking the power structure and concerns of the states into consideration
Big state vs Small states, big pop Vs small pop, and how much slaves counted for...etc
as such it's not useful for an ethnicly and religously divided country...
Outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Sunday ruled out the possibility of an Islamic state in Iraq, despite the victory in last month's historic elections of a list backed by the country's Shiite clergy. "Iraq isn't ready to be governed by an Islamic regime," said Allawi. "There are still (secular) forces on the ground, even if the elections were clear in giving 140 seats to the Alliance's list," he said. The conservative United Iraqi Alliance list was blessed by Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and took a slim majority of seats in the new 275-member national assembly. "That proves the desire of the Iraqi people to choose such a party pending the next elections and the drawing up of the constitution," he said. Writing Iraq's new constitution is the main task faced by the assembly.
It will then be put to a referendum, before fresh elections are held in December. "The next phase will decide the nature of the Iraqi regime," said the premier, a secular Shiite, whose list obtained 40 seats in parliament. Allawi reiterated his call for all political forces to be included in the transition process, in particular the Sunni Arab former elite, who were the election's big losers thanks to a widespread boycott. "Even if their participation in the next government is now impossible, that doesn't mean they can't be present in the other powers," he said. He warned against any of Iraq's ethnic or religious groups being distanced from power.
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A major test for India-Bangladesh relations is on the cards. On Feb. 25, Golap Baruah alias Anup Chetia will be released from a Dhaka jail. New Delhi is dying to get Chetia extradited. But will Dhaka oblige?
I tend to doubt it. How about you?
Very unlikely. Chetia is one of India's most wanted men. One of the founders and general secretary of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Chetia was arrested in Dhaka with a fake passport and satellite telephone in 1997. India has been demanding his deportation for eight years. But Dhaka refuses to deliver the ULFA chief on one ground or the other. There is every likelihood that Chetia will go scot-free after his release —like Sanjit Deb Burman, another top separatist leader from India's insurgency-wracked northeast, who was jailed in Bangladesh. He vanished after his release, much to India's disappointment. India-Bangladesh relations, already plagued by long-standing mistrust of each other's intentions, is now in tatters after New Delhi's refusal to attend a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Dhaka from Feb. 6 to 8. India cited the law and order situation in Bangladesh to stay away.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005 00:00:00 ||
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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.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il says his country is willing to resume talks with its neighbors and the United States if Washington "would show trustworthy sincerity and move (its stance)," Pyongyang's official news agency has announced. "We will go to the negotiating table anytime if there are mature conditions for the six-party talks thanks to the concerted efforts of the parties concerned in the future," the state news agency KCNA quoted Kim as saying. The agency said Pyongyang "would as ever stand for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and its position to seek a peaceful solution to the issue through dialogue remains unchanged."
The trial has started in Turkey of four policemen accused of the unlawful killing of a man and his child in the south-eastern province of Mardin. Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz were shot and killed in what security forces said was an anti-terrorism operation. Ugur Kaymaz was 11-years-old when he was killed.
Only months after he criticized countries "like France," President Bush was lavish in his praise of French President Jacques Chirac, one of the sharpest critics of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "I'm looking for a good cowboy," Bush said Monday when a French reporter asked him whether relations had improved to the point where the U.S. president would be inviting Chirac to the U.S. president's ranch in Texas.
In the past year I have read many attacks on the United Nations--quite a few, but by no means all, in the pages of this newspaper. 
Syria has denied having offered to withdraw its approximately 16,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon, and officials in Damascus disclaimed remarks by Arab League Secretary-General 
The cabinet has approved a proposal to establish the Supreme National Space Council, government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh announced here on Monday.
According to The New York Times, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted that the suicide killers of 
"The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event," he tells about 200 Marines, sitting on the ground under a metal windbreak against a cliff in Al Asad. "That said, there are some a--holes in the world that just need to be shot. But you go on and find your next victim or he's gonna kill you or your buddy. It's kill or be killed," he said. "There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim. ... It's really a hell of a lot of fun. You're gonna have a blast out here!" he said, with marked glee. "I feel sorry for every son of a bitch that doesn't get to serve with you."
Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interim vice president, will face off in a secret ballot Tuesday to determine who will be the Shiite majority's choice for Iraqi prime minister, officials said. The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee — despite days of negotiations.
Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq dismissed on Monday a report of secret talks between insurgents and U.S. officials and said its attacks would continue, according to an Internet statement. Time magazine, citing Pentagon and other sources, said on Sunday that U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers were conducting talks with Sunni Muslim insurgents on ways to end fighting in Iraq. "The enemies of God say the mujahideen want to end jihad (holy war), but they do not know that the jihad will go on ... and our response to what was published by Time magazine will come in our attacks," the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in a statement posted on Islamist Web sites. "Our thirst will only be quenched by cutting off your heads and spilling your blood ... Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq will continue its jihad until the flag of monotheism is raised and until God's law rules," it said.
The separation barrier Israel is building along the West Bank will not mark the definitive border of an eventual Palestinian state, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview published in Cairo Saturday. Asked by state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper if the barrier would be the definitive border, Sharon replied: "No. The real border will be established once total calm is restored, which will allow us to move toward the (Middle East peace) roadmap." 
Attempts to form a new Palestinian cabinet have drawn a blank after a session of parliament was halted amid disputes over the selection of new ministers. Parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh said on Monday the session would resume on Tuesday in the middle of debate which came after Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya unveiled his prospective cabinet line-up and the top priorities of his administration. "I regret to inform you that 15 other deputies want to take part in the debate but we do not have time," Fattuh said. "As a consequence we will continue tomorrow."
Israel will free 500 Palestinians on Monday in its largest prison release in nearly a decade as a goodwill gesture to bolster peace efforts with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinians say Abbas needs a large-scale release to persuade militant groups to formalise a ceasefire he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a Feb. 8 summit. Some 8,000 Palestinians are held by Israel. 
Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government is stepping up its propaganda war with insurgents by broadcasting videotaped interviews with suspects who appear to confess to killings, rape and theft on the orders of guerrillas. The offensive was launched in recent weeks on state-run Iraqiya television, which broadcast lengthy interrogations of Iraqis it said had carried out terrorist acts under the direction of "Abdullah," described as a criminal with close ties to Syria. There is no obvious way to verify the authenticity of the confessions. The interrogator's face does not appear on camera, and the suspects are shown sitting in office chairs across from a desk in a white-walled room. 
Outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Sunday ruled out the possibility of an Islamic state in Iraq, despite the victory in last month's historic elections of a list backed by the country's Shiite clergy. "Iraq isn't ready to be governed by an Islamic regime," said Allawi. "There are still (secular) forces on the ground, even if the elections were clear in giving 140 seats to the Alliance's list," he said. The conservative 
