CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, in his first stop during a week-long visit to the United States, stressed his belief on Saturday that the Irish Republican Army will one day cease to exist. Adams reiterated what he told a Sinn Fein party conference a week ago that, "We in Sinn Fein want to see the IRA ceasing to be. I have said that I do think we'll see the day when there is no IRA." The head of the IRA's political ally began his visit under fire on both sides of the Atlantic over his party's ties to the guerrilla group, which has been accused of robbing a bank and shielding the killers of a Roman Catholic man in Northern Ireland. But Adams said he was unaware that a State Department official called on Friday for the political party to make a "clear break" with the IRA to restore the progress made toward a united Northern Irish government, based on equality between Catholics and Protestants.
Didn't catch the TV news, did he?
Adams is scheduled for a meeting with that official, special envoy Mitchell Reiss, in Washington on Wednesday. Reiss said the party must sever its links to the outlawed group, which remains armed despite its cease-fire, telling Reuters "It hard to understand how a European country in the year 2005 can have a private army associated with a political party."
"I'd be surprised if he did make that a condition for achieving progress in the peace process, but I'm looking forward to meeting with him," Adams told a news conference. He said he was disappointed but not offended that he was not invited to meet with President Bush at the White House on Thursday, St. Patrick's Day, when the president traditionally gets together with Irish government leaders.
It's easy, Gerry: you're not an Irish leader.
But he sidestepped any public denunciation of the IRA, saying Sinn Fein stands for peace and harmony among all Irish people. Adams told a social gathering of about 100 Irish-American supporters in Cincinnati that the recent murder of a Catholic man in Belfast, purportedly by elements of the IRA, was a "heinous, disgraceful act" He said Sinn Fein stands firmly in support of the family of the victim.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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After 9-11 everything changed. The Provos' soft front of Sinn Fein was seen as nothing but terrorist's and thugs' window dressing. Gerry Adams should not be given the time of day.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/13/2005 12:06 Comments ||
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#2
Adams should be picked up as a terr and sent to Gitmo.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/13/2005 12:41 Comments ||
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a social gathering of about 100 Irish-American supporters in Cincinnati
It seems to me that in the past they were able to gather a great many more people to these things. Now, even with everything Keltic being popular in Cincinnati (the pubs are generally packed for the musicians), the Sinn Fein spokesman can only find a century of people to listen to him? Yup, post-9/11 things have indeed changed.
3/12/2005 12:15:00 PM GMT
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Iran's President Mohammad Khatami with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez defended Iran over its dispute with the U.S. and Europe regarding its nuclear program saying Iran has a right to atomic energy.
"Iran has every right, like many other countries have done, to develop its atomic energy and continue its research in this field," Chavez said after meeting with his Iranian counterpart in Caracas.
"Venezuela and Iran agree in firmly rejecting the imperialist policy of the United States."
Chavez, whose country is a leading U.S. oil supplier, announced his stance after meeting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami who declared that both governments will stand "firm against any aggression."
Relation between both countries with the U.S. are tense, as Washington believes that Iran could be trying to acquire nuclear arms while U.S. officials have branded Chavez undemocratic and a source of Latin American instability.
Iran has consistently insisted that its nuclear program is purely for energy uses, and Chavez has accused Washington of backing plots to oust him.
Speaking before Venezuela's congress, Khatami stated, "The injustice of the great powers that try to control the world." He said they include the United States and interfere "in other states under the precept of fighting terrorism and try to force all of humanity to follow their monopoly of power."
Adding that both Venezuela and Iran "are firmly opposed to any aggression which takes place in their countries," adding that "instead of polarity and terror we want peace and security in the world."
"What must be condemned are calls for violence, whether from terrorists or from aggressors with yearnings for domination," Khatami said.
"Terrorism is the deadly phenomenon of our era, even more when some powers rush to meddle in the internal affairs of other states under the pretext of fighting terrorism, and then try to oblige all of humanity to follow them," he said in his speech to the National Assembly.
The interests of the great powers, especially the United States, often "do not coincide with the true interests of the people," Khatami said.
Khatami called for the condemnation of not only terrorist acts, but also for the condemnation "of crimes committed in the name of liberty, such as in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo."
The two leaders on Friday signed some 20 agreements on cooperation on the oil and petrochemical industries, taxes, commerce and construction.
U.S. to offer incentives
The U.S. President George W. Bush agreed with the EU to offer Iran modest economic incentives to scrap its nuclear program, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday.
The incentives include possible membership for Iran to the World Trade Organization and the sale of commercial aircraft spare parts.
In return, Britain, France and Germany have agreed to join the U.S. in sending Iran's nuclear file to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions if it fails to abandon its nuclear enrichment program, U.S. and EU officials said.
A European diplomat said the EU view is that "we go (to the Security Council) if Iran breaks its commitments," including if some new revelation about secret nuclear sites or activities is uncovered.
The U.S. decision to approve offering incentives to Tehran is a significant shift from Washington's previous stance against the Islamic republic, which it accuses of covertly developing an atomic weapons program.
"This is giving to the Europeans more cards to play in their negotiations with the Iranians," Rice said. "This is about unifying the international community so that it's the Iranians who are isolated, not the United States."
Some U.S. officials want specific promises from the Europeans to send Iran's file to the UN Security Council in June and to back sanctions.
"The Europeans have a strategy which is to show the Iranians that if they are prepared to live up to their international obligations there is an alternative path to confrontation and ... a path to a better future," Rice said.
However, Rice denied that the U.S. decision indicated a policy shift. "We are supporting that diplomacy but this is most assuredly giving the Europeans a stronger hand, not rewarding the Iranians," she added.
In their statement, Britain, France and Germany did not mention any deadline by which they might seek to send the matter to the UN Security Council nor did they offer to back any U.S. demand for UN sanctions.
Iran denies that it seeks nuclear weapons and insists that its nuclear program is mainly for the peaceful generation of electricity.
It has refused to permanently abandon its enrichment program, but has agreed to temporarily halt enrichment-related activities during its negotiations with the EU.
Sending Iran's file to the UN Security Council could result in trade sanctions or even tougher action against Tehran.
The mullahs want nukes - we'll be glad to deliver. :-D
BTW, Hugo, we can send you one too.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/13/2005 19:47 Comments ||
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#7
Barbara, why waste a perfectly good nuke on a waste of space like Chavez when a perfectly good round from a 50 cal sniper rifle would do for him nicely?
LONDON, March 12 (IranMania) - Several agreements worth a total of over $1 bln were signed between Iran and Venezuela on Friday. The documents were signed by visiting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez, according to IRNA.
The agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) inked by the two presidents cover various fields. Agreements on encouragement and support of investment, avoidance of double taxation, shipping and marine trade as well as MoUs on oil, gas and petrochemistry are among the signed documents.
The agreements also cover cooperation between the two countries on geological and mines projects. In a separate ceremony on Friday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez handed the highest official sign of his government to President Mohammad Khatami.
Addressing the ceremony, Khatami expressed happiness over his visit to the country and said the sign was a symbol of the link between the two nations that have made up their minds to live freely and gracefully.
Stressing that the two countries were moving steadily towards development in spite of all problems and and obstacles, he said he was pleased to receive the sign from the hands of a person for whom the Venezuelan nation has repeatedly proven its respect.
Chavez, too, described Khatami as a person who has always fought for freedom, justice and peace and has always wanted the best for all world nations. Furthermore, President Mohammad Khatami was presented the Golden Key of the City of Caracas and also the highest degree of the city`s municipality.
The key and the degree were granted to Khatami as a token of Venezuelan officials` gratitude for the efforts he has been undertaking during his term of presidency to promote ties between the two countries.
The Iranian President also took part in a dinner banquet thrown at his honor and his accompanying delegation by President Hugo Chavez on Friday night. Khatami arrived in Caracas Thursday afternoon from Sarajevo on the third leg of his three-nation tour which has already taken him to Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Khatami met Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for talks on issues of bilateral interest, as well as regional and international developments. Iran and Venezuela also concluded several political and economic cooperation agreements during Khatami`s visit.
Iran`s Ministers of Foreign Aaffairs, Economic Affairs and Finance as well as industries and mines are accompanying the president during the tour.
Early last month, gunmen pulled alongside the car of Maj. Gen. Magomed Omarov, a deputy interior minister in Dagestan, a Russian republic squeezed between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea. They opened fire, killing him and three bodyguards near the minister's home.
On Feb. 20, in Kabardino-Balkaria, another Caucasian republic in the Russian Federation, Russian forces killed three insurgents who in December allegedly killed four government employees, looted their offices and set them ablaze in the capital, Nalchik.
On Tuesday, after the killing of rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, 53, the Kremlin and its allies declared a major success in arresting a decade of war in Chechnya. But Russian forces have failed to prevent the conflict from spreading outside Chechnya's borders. With a drumbeat of attacks on policemen, assassinations and bombings, insurgents are destabilizing the patchwork of small Russian republics in the North Caucasus.
The most brutal operation was the school siege last September in which 330 people were killed, most of them children, in Beslan, a town in the republic of North Ossetia.
Other attacks pass with little publicity, even though they sometimes result in pitched fighting. In the Dagestani city of Makhachkala, for instance, a recent stand-off ended with the deaths of five gunmen and the destruction of more than 15 houses set alight by flamethrowers and smashed by a Russian tank.
Maskhadov's death "is a very serious moral, psychological and political blow on terrorism," said Gennady Gudkov, a member of the security committee in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, speaking on television Wednesday.
"Maskhadov's death will trigger disintegration processes, including abroad where there are centers that patronized Maskhadov, and I don't know how they can continue to exist without him. The terrorists have no one to replace Maskhadov."
Some Russian analysts and opponents of the war in Chechnya predict the opposite effect. They say the Kremlin has handed control of the Chechen resistance to its most brutal and fundamentalist leader, Shamil Basayev, an Islamic radical who asserted responsibility for the school siege in Beslan. They contend he will continue to widen the war outside Chechnya.
"Basayev is now the single, top and unquestionable leader, and he is much more intransigent than Maskhadov," said Alexei Arbatov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. " ... Maskhadov was his only rival, and he had disassociated himself from some of the more horrible terrorist attacks. He was more moderate, more flexible. The war was already spreading outside Chechnya, but Basayev will make this process faster and broader."
In a recent interview broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 television, Basayev said he regarded Russian civilians as legitimate targets. "We are planning more Beslan-type operations in the future because we are forced to do so," he said.
Russian security service officials, quoted by Russian media Wednesday, said Maskhadov was killed when a grenade was thrown into a bunker where he was hiding in the village of Tolstoy-Yurt, north of the Chechen capital, Grozny.
With Basayev opposed to any form of negotiation, Russian critics of the war say the Kremlin is now locked into a conflict in which it has just killed its one possible peace-making partner.
The Kremlin has insisted that Maskhadov was intimately linked to Basayev's operations, including the Beslan attack. It contends that his apparent effort to distance himself from attacks on civilians, like his peace overtures, was a ploy to maintain standing as a moderate, particularly in the West.
"The whole region is becoming a hot spot," said Ida Kuklina, co-chair of the Russian Committee of Soldiers' Mothers, a human rights group, which recently took part in talks in London with a Maskhadov envoy at which both sides agreed the conflict had no military solution.
Dmitry Rogozin, leader of the nationalist Rodina Party in the Duma, questioned whether Maskhadov's death would lead to a reduction in violence. "Young militants have emerged in Chechnya," he said. They are establishing radical Islamic cells "in all republics of the North Caucasus."
And on Wednesday, another insurgent voice said the possibility of talks is dead. "A new period has begun in the modern history of the Russian-Chechen military confrontation, which not only allows for no negotiations, but also for no end to the war," wrote Movladi Udugov, a militant ideologue, on the Kavkaz-Center Web site, which Maskhadov had used to press for peace talks.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/13/2005 3:00:08 AM ||
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In a recent interview broadcast on Britainâs Channel 4 television, Basayev said he regarded Russian civilians as legitimate targets. "We are planning more Beslan-type operations in the future because we are forced to do so," he said.
Two things.
1. Basayev wants apparently speed up the transfer of all Chechens to paradise in the earnest. He does not want to negotiate (don't recall he ever did). In a way, that makes some things simpler.
2. Why is this POS given a platform on Britainâs Channel 4?
"A new period has begun in the modern history of the Russian-Chechen military confrontation, which not only allows for no negotiations, but also for no end to the war"
Do they teach algebra in madrassas? Let me guess... no.
This is Abu Hafs al-Urduni, Zarqawi's man in Chechnya according to Collin Powell's chart at the UN.
A RUTHLESS Islamic militant from Saudi Arabia who has been accused of financing some of Russia's most deadly terrorist acts has emerged as joint commander of the Chechen rebels after the killing last week of Aslan Maskhadov, former president of the breakaway republic.
Abu Havs, 40, a Wahhabi extremist, is said to have become one of Russia's two most wanted men, along with Shamil Basayev, the rebel leader who claimed responsibility for the Beslan school siege in September.
It is Abu Havs, according to military intelligence sources in Moscow and Chechnya — and not Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, a little-known cleric named as Maskhadov's official interim successor — who now wields real power.
"Sadulayev is a nobody," a Russian intelligence source said. "Now that we have killed Maskhadov, the two men pulling the strings in Chechnya are Basayev and Abu Havs. They control the militants and the money — and they are the ones planning any future terrorist attacks."
Maskhadov, a decorated former Soviet army general who became president in free elections in 1997, had always publicly condemned terrorism. Although his power waned in his latter years, he mistrusted the Arab extremists who have moved to Chechnya and acted as a bulwark against their growing influence in the region.
His death has deprived the rebel movement of its last moderate counter-balance to the Islamic fundamentalists, further complicating Russian attempts to end the terrorist attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives.
The FSB security service (successor to the KGB) believes that Abu Havs helped to organise and finance the Beslan siege, in which 331 hostages died. It claims that he is the main channel for funds from the Arab world for the Chechen rebels and it suspects him of links with Al-Qaeda. Similar claims have been made by the United States.
Best known as Amzhet, his nom de guerre, Abu Havs was born in Jordan but is believed to have Saudi citizenship. He arrived in Chechnya in 1995 during the first war that Russia waged there, becoming an instructor at a terrorist training camp. He is said to have been so paranoid about being poisoned by rivals that at first he travelled with his own personal cook. But he soon settled in the region and married a Chechen woman. At the height of the second war, which began in 1999, he briefly sought refuge in the Pankisi gorge in neighbouring Georgia where he set up training camps, opened a hospital for militants and built a mosque.
The Russians claim that he quickly became one of the main conduits for weapons procurement. Rabat Kamal Burahlja, a militant and explosives expert from Algeria who was recently captured by the Russians, reportedly told the FSB that Abu Havs helped to organise several attacks, including a raid last year in neighbouring Ingushetia in which Chechen rebels killed about 90 members of the pro-Moscow security forces.
The FSB said the explosives used in the Beslan school siege were prepared by one of Abu Havs's closest lieutenants.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/13/2005 2:48:38 AM ||
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Article: His death has deprived the rebel movement of its last moderate counter-balance to the Islamic fundamentalists, further complicating Russian attempts to end the terrorist attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives.
You gotta love the gobbledygook that journalists spew as analysis. The reality of rebel movements is that moderate leaders have the best chance of success, because they can mobilize the biggest chunks of the population in support of the rebellion. What Chechen is going to want to live in an Islamist state under Basayev? Mashkadov was a nationalist - and many Chechens are comfortable with that. But the prospect of an Islamist like Basayev becoming head honcho isn't going to raise a lot of support from the locals. The Chechen terrorist movement is in its death throes. They may kill tens of thousands of Russians and Chechens in the years ahead, but the outcome is not in doubt. The Russian people may have had a problem fighting Mashkadov, but they will nuke Chechnya if they have to, in order to kill Basayev.
Azerbaijan is in no danger of revolutions like the ones that have swept through its fellow former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia in recent years, Azeri president Ilham Aliyev said Saturday.
That's only 'cos Crayola is still working up the color scheme, bub.
"I don't expect the danger of a velvet revolution in Azerbaijan. Revolutions happen in places were there is a deep chasm between the people and those in power, little trust and no support," Aliyev told a hastily called press conference.
"The people love me. Trust me on this."
His comments came after a month that saw a prison revolt, the murder of a respected opposition journalist that stirred anti-government groups, the publication of a scathing US State Department human rights report and a high profile kidnapping.
And a month of teevee pix of pretty girls in the streets waving flags and purple fingers...
Aliyev appears to have called the press conference in the wake of the break-up of a kidnapping ring in which the security ministry on Friday implicated top police officials. The president downplayed widespread social discontent in Azerbaijan, saying that opinion polls conducted by the opposition as well as independent and foreign organizations have shown "that the president's rating is at the highest point."
"Never been better. Say, is it just me, or is it a little warm in here?"
On Friday the Musavat opposition party called for the government to step down after officials announced high-ranking police officers were arrested in the kidnapping bust, while at least one independent parliamentarian called for the sacking of the interior minister. Aliyev said he would not allow the case to be used in a political campaign against the interior minister but added that he had ordered a "serious" internal investigation. "Revolutions do not happen in these conditions," Aliyev said in reference to his own remarks on how the post-Soviet nation has shown good signs of development.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/13/2005 12:11:02 AM ||
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The Sunday Times - World
March 13, 2005
Italy to stop paying ransoms
John Follain, Rome
THE Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has promised President George W Bush that he will not pay more ransoms to free hostages in Iraq.
The Italian government has denied newspaper reports that $6m (£3.1m) was paid for the release of Giuliana Sgrena [perhaps it it was actually $5,999,999] , who worked for the Communist daily Il Manifesto. But senior officials and intelligence sources have confirmed that money did change hands.
The affair ended when American soldiers opened fire on the car carrying Sgrena and killed the intelligence officer who had freed her.
Last year Italy paid a reported $5m (£2.6m) for the freedom of two aid workers, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta. Hours after Sgrena was seized, Berlusconi announced that "negotiations" had begun.
The reports of ransom payments have infuriated American officials, who say they fund violence and encourage more kidnappings [and this is disputed by whom exactly]. Mel Sembler, the American ambassador in Rome, told Berlusconi last week that the money bankrolled "the war being waged by Sunnis [almost certainly he said Sunni Terrorists rathar than Sunnis]in Iraq".
IMO, this may also reduce the number of other ransoms being paid. If so, it cuts off one of the sources of funding for the terrorists. Alas, they have other sources of funding (from Saudis, etc. -- I've always wondered if some of the funds from Soros or the Tides Foundation have, 2 or 3 times removed, found their way to the terrorists)
#3
âThe Italian team should have known what to expect, but it appears they didnât realise how sophisticated the American military are,â said Selva.
Think we'll ever see that sentence again, in any context, in our lives?
#8
Little late to make that decision, iddnit, Italy?
Good luck enforcing it.
And if sometime in the future we can find proof the money you paid helped get innocent Iraqis murdered by the terrorists your little fellow traveler insisted you pay off, I hope their relatives sue your pants off.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/13/2005 22:21 Comments ||
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One year after the worst terrorist attack in Spanish history, the Spanish police continue to uncover and thwart new plots involving Islamic militants, according to senior Spanish intelligence and law enforcement officials. Despite sweeping measures to improve their ability to investigate potential terrorist threats since the March 11, 2004, bomb attacks that left 191 people dead, the officials estimate that there are hundreds of people scattered in cells around the country committed to attacking centers of power in Spain.
The police have found indications of a cell of Pakistanis that they suspect was planning an attack on a high-profile target in Barcelona. They also found evidence of a cell of North Africans in Madrid that apparently wanted to attack the High Court in the capital, the officials said. "We have been lucky that our investigations have managed to abort other plots before acts of terrorism took place," Juan Fernando López Aguilar, the justice minister, said in an interview. "That means the threats have not disappeared."
After the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks on the United States and the train bombing in Madrid, European governments have devoted new resources to rooting out a terrorist threat that is not yet fully understood. France, Belgium, Germany and Italy have made dozens of terrorism-related arrests in the past year, and Britain enacted a tough new package of laws on Friday. Spain has been particularly aggressive about making arrests. Mr. López Aguilar said the government had detained about 1,000 people in terrorism-related cases in the past year, although most have been released.
In the Madrid bombing, Spain is still hunting down at least half a dozen suspects, who are probably outside the country. "The great majority of the perpetrators are identified, dead or in prison," said a senior intelligence official at the Guardia Civil, or Civil Guard, a police force with military and civilian functions. "But we cannot say that we have all of them. There are questions that remain unclear. The most important is: Who masterminded March 11?" Of 79 suspects believed to be involved in the Madrid bombings, 24 are in jail and awaiting trial. Seven suspects blew themselves up in a Madrid apartment three weeks after the bombing to avoid capture.
The evidence of a Pakistani cell has emerged since the bombings. Last September, the police arrested 10 Pakistanis suspected of belonging to a support network for Islamic militants. The raid turned up a video showing details of a number of buildings in Barcelona, including the 40-story Mapfre Tower and the 44-story Hotel Arts, the two buildings known as Spain's "twin towers," a senior Spanish intelligence official said. The police also seized documents and videos calling for an Islamic holy war, several pounds of cocaine and more than $20,000 in cash. The group apparently raised money through drug trafficking, falsifying documents and extortion, the intelligence officials said. They said they had evidence that the cell sent the money to cells in Pakistan that were loyal to Al Qaeda. But no link to the March 11 attacks was found. The senior intelligence official at the Civil Guard said the group was sending money to the same Islamic militants who killed the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002 in Pakistan.
Fernando Reinares, a special adviser to the Interior Ministry and a terrorism specialist with the Elcano Institute, said, "Apparently they were taking the first steps of what could be plans for committing terrorist actions." Another cell was uncovered last fall, when the police carried out an operation against a group of Algerian and Moroccan radicals who were believed to be planning an attack on Madrid's High Court and perhaps other targets. Using informers, investigators learned that the plotters had started to try to procure explosives for the operation. Concerned that an attack was imminent, the government decided to close down the cell. Investigators brought the information to Judge Baltasar Garzón, Spain's highest antiterrorism magistrate, who ordered the arrests of more than 30 people, mostly North Africans, suspected in the plot. "This particular plot was pretty close," Mr. López Aguilar said. "But it didn't happen."
In the past year, Spain has taken extraordinary measures to improve its ability to investigate potential Islamic terrorist plots. Until March 11, 2004, most of Spain's counterterrorism efforts were focused on ETA, the Basque separatist movement. The Civil Guard, the police force and the National Intelligence Center, Spain's external intelligence agency, have been reorganized under a unified command and meet once a week. The agencies have also created a joint database of suspects' fingerprints, DNA, voices, documents, car rentals and travel, as well as details about arms and explosives transfers. There are also plans to recruit 1,000 more officers and 130 Arab translators and interpreters.
There is no concrete evidence from any foreign intelligence agency of a phone call or message that suggests that the Madrid plot was organized from outside Spain. Jorge Dezcallar, the former head of the National Intelligence Center, the equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency, was quoted in El PaÃs on Thursday as saying that after the attacks he asked the National Security Agency in Washington to look for evidence of links with groups outside Spain, but none were found. Spanish intelligence officials said they were not convinced by the claims of Sayed Ahmed Rabei Osman, who was arrested in Milan in June and extradited to Spain in December. Although Mr. Rabei Osman boasted in conversations recorded by the Italian police that he organized the Madrid bombings, there is no corroborating evidence of his involvement, Spanish officials said. Osman is a former Egyptian soldier and a member of al-Zawahiri's mob. My guess is that he's a little further up the chain of command than some of the 3/11 cannon fodder and was probably in touch with Fakhet, which may have been why there hasn't been much in the way of evidence.
This article starring:
ALLEKEM LAAMARI
Al Qaeda in Spain
IMAD EDIN BARAKAT YARKAS
Al Qaeda in Spain
SAIED AHMED RABEI OSMAN
Al Qaeda in Spain
Al Qaeda in Spain
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/13/2005 2:51:46 AM ||
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#1
I don't get it. Why would the terrorists still be attacking Spain? Spain did what they wanted.
Oh...maybe it's because, like Italy, they have a track record of appeasement and the terrorists know they can get what they want.
#3
Only some of them. Aznar was a courageous ally, and Garzon's been all over the Bad Guyz for years.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2005 12:40 Comments ||
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#4
Anybody know what the Spanish publics opinion is about the continueing terrorism plots against them? I'm curious if any of them think they made a mistake voting in Zappy/
Posted by: Charles ||
03/13/2005 13:33 Comments ||
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#5
So Zappy, how's that appeasement thing going? (Somebody had to say it.)
Posted by: Jonathan ||
03/13/2005 13:37 Comments ||
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#6
I said it once and I'll say it again. Judge Garzon is a Stone. Cold. Stud.
Please note in the future that it's "appeasement thingyâ¢."
I'll forego the usage charge for my esteemed Rantburg colleagues. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/13/2005 16:18 Comments ||
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#8
Seafarious---Garzon is one courageous person. A lone voice in the wilderness that has the courage to act against this terrorist plague. I am sure that he and his family live in great danger. I wish Zappy and his merry men had one tenth the stones and courage that this judge has.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/13/2005 16:31 Comments ||
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#9
What do you get when you take a fraction of zero, AP?
D'you suppose some of them are starting to appreciate the benefits of having the terrorists focussed on events in Iraq?
#10
Well, I've got the same insane streak of grey hair, but my glasses are significatly thicker, which gives me the edge. I don't currently have a lime green tie however.
#11
I was referring to the stones of the judge in the denominator, trailing wife, not to the stonelessness of the Zaapyists, LOL! Dividing by zero is a veddy veddy bod theeng.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/13/2005 21:28 Comments ||
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#13
Veddy bod inded, AP. Thanks for clarifying -- my brain was about to go offline from the impossibilities it was trying in vain to calculate. ;-p
Oh, if anyone is interested in a real klein bottle, check out Acme Klein Bottle. I can personally guarantee the quality of the physical manifestation of the product in our space/time continuum.
#14
Whoops! Sorry, the klein bottle reference goes on another thread... possibly even another website. Oh, well, enjoy it anyway. *sigh* It's going to be a long week until Mr. Wife gets back from Europe. Please be patient with me if I am especially ditsy. Thanks!
#19
I was a kinda sorta math major before I got my MrS, AP. Or maybe it was a minor, with a major in dance or languages... I wasn't sure then, and I haven't yet figured it out. Just as well, as it turned out that my calling was to be a trailing wife.
Anyway. Found the site by accident while looking for something else. Actually fell off the chair, I was laughing so hard. Fortunately, Mr. Wife had fallen asleep earlier enough that my cackling didn't awaken him. Showed the site to Trailing Daughter the next day -- she giggled about it for days, and still periodically rereads the paperwork that came with the shipment. Yes, Acme is a real company that constructs real physical manifestations of Klein Bottles, in several variations and sizes (and prices). My own personal physical intrusion has appeared to sit amongst the wine glasses and beer steins and vases (the last mentioned lest I ruin your idea of my character) for the past two years without popping out of my own 4-dimensional version of higher level reality. So there.
#20
I do not remember how I found Rantburg, trailing wife. But regardless of the start, I am no longer living a life of quiet despiration. No, just loud despiration from here on up.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/13/2005 22:51 Comments ||
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#21
And so you have told the tale of most of us here at Rantburg, AP. All hail Master Fred, creator of Rantburg!
The deportation of controversial Mullah Krekar could be a step nearer if Iraq has given guarantees that he does not risk the death penalty on his return to the country. Iraq's Minister of Justice Malik Dohan Al-Hasan told TV 2 Nettavisen that Krekar will not face the death penalty, but he could not guarantee Krekar's safety from possible enemies in the country.
"Those IED's are everywhere! And car bombs! Us 'Raqis are nutz! Never know what we might do next."
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Erna Solberg (H) said that she could not treat statements to the media as official but stated that if the minister guaranteed that Krekar did not face legal prosecution in Iraq, then the case for Krekar's deportation was strengthened. Norway's Directorate of Immigration (UDI) has previously recommended that mullah Krekar be expelled from Norway. The UDI believes Krekar has links to both al-Qaida and those charged with the terrorist train bombing in Madrid last year.
Krekar is one the most prominent leaders of Ansar-al-Islam...I bet Zarq would be happy to see him arrive in Iraq.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/13/2005 12:47:03 AM ||
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I bet Zarq would be happy to see him arrive in Iraq
When facing him. The moment Krekar back would be exposed, Allan would welcome new delivery right after. There can be only one!
#2
I just have to wonder if there is any way to attach tracking devices to this SOB's sorry a$$. Give him a horse pill or something similar . . . then start rolling up the places he goes to visit.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
03/13/2005 7:52 Comments ||
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ÃÂ Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday ruled out running for president, responding to speculation fueled by a recent poll showing support for a Rice candidacy.
Rice told The Washington Times last week, "I have never wanted to run for anything," although she seemed to leave the door open to the possibility.
She closed the door in appearances on Sunday talk shows, telling NBC's "Meet the Press," "I will not run for president of the United States."
"I won't run," she told ABC's "This Week." "I won't. How's that? Is that categorical enough?"
In a poll conducted in February, 42 percent of voters said Rice should run for the White House.
The survey, conducted by the Siena College Research Institute and sponsored by Hearst Newspapers, found that 81 percent of people would vote for a woman for president; 53 percent thought Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., should try for the job.
1. How about Governor of Caliphornia?
2. Will you accept a draft?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/13/2005 5:25:44 PM ||
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Gov of CA. NIce, but...
Dem assembly and the fruit-nut types will be out in droves to ruin her.
How about another state? One she has a prior relationship with? Maybe the one she went to school in?
That would be Colorado if she wants to move back to her Denver University roots.
Colorado is probably better - a more manageable campaign, and the Republicans will be making a big push in the state legislature. Plus its a fairly Republican state with a libertarian streak from what I can tell. And she could build up her governing skills away from the liberal MSM that focuses on the coasts and the cities near there, completely ignoring the Rocky Mountain region.
#2
A woman always retains the prerogative to change her mind
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/13/2005 18:19 Comments ||
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OldSpook,
Way OT....
Can you help me with the following: Can an American citizen legally hold 2 passports and legally vote in the second country's national elections?
Thanks in advance!
#4
OS, if she can manage Caliphornia, she can manage anything.
Consider that Ahnuld will have tenderized the Democrats by then. Redrawing distirct lines should make incumbents less secure, hence less extreme, hence readier to work with a popular governor like Ahnuld or Condi. The Republican party needs leadership to get back on its feet in the Golden State. It should not be a blue state lock. Ahnuld is doing his best, but if he doesn't have a successor, he'll be a one hit wonder.
If Ahnold blew one of the Bobsey Twins out of the Senate and Condi were in Sacramento there would be a chance to build a state wide GOP that included more than Orange County Rock Ribbed Reconstructed Birchers. The GOP needs a better bench than Lungren and Jones. I like McClintock, but he's not going to fly statewide. Condi will also do well appealing to minorities in a state where even whites are a minority. Those are the folks we need to get in the party.
Unfortunately there's a big bunch of coastal types in Denver-Boulder. That's one reason Owens' star is no longer in the ascendent. He caved into too much tax and spend once he got comfortable in office.
Caliphornia may not be the easiest row to hoe, but no pain, no gain. Condi would be good for the Bear Flag Republic and Califphornia would be good for Condi.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/13/2005 18:51 Comments ||
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#5
Also, you can be selected Vice-President AFTER the convention if need be.
I think she does not want to campaign for office, any office. While she might well be a very good president, if she doesn't want the job, she might not perform well at it.
Dem assembly and the fruit-nut types will be out in droves to ruin her.
How about another state? One she has a prior relationship with? Maybe the one she went to school in?
That would be Colorado if she wants to move back to her Denver University roots.
Colorado is probably better - a more manageable campaign, and the Republicans will be making a big push in the state legislature. Plus its a fairly Republican state with a libertarian streak from what I can tell. And she could build up her governing skills away from the liberal MSM that focuses on the coasts and the cities near there, completely ignoring the Rocky Mountain region.
Dem assembly and the fruit-nut types will be out in droves to ruin her.
How about another state? One she has a prior relationship with? Maybe the one she went to school in?
That would be Colorado if she wants to move back to her Denver University roots.
Colorado is probably better - a more manageable campaign, and the Republicans will be making a big push in the state legislature. Plus its a fairly Republican state with a libertarian streak from what I can tell. And she could build up her governing skills away from the liberal MSM that focuses on the coasts and the cities near there, completely ignoring the Rocky Mountain region.
There's a lot in the news, and about to hit the news, re: illegal entry into the U.S. Rantburgers have contributed lots of links to daily stories, but I thought it was worth starting a series that collects some of the news so we can see the trends and discuss the larger issues. My first collection is up at Winds of Change at the link above. Y'all are welcome to come comment on it at WoC or back here. The important thing is that we seriously consider policy alternatives before the emotionality of the topic makes careful discussion impossible.
And yeah, I know that RB is for ranting. That's why the article is over at WoC instead LOL.
Here are some of the highlights: Condi says the border's being probed heavily, north and south, by Al-Q and other nasty types. The Minutemen are gathering, the gangs are looking to take them on and the Mexican government wants its citizens protected despite any illegal actions they might be committing. (Not entirely an irrational position, that ... let the punishment fit the severity of the crime, not exceed it.) Illegal immigrants painting the walls of nuclear power plants.
Look for an ad campaign to be launched on Monday in favor of strict national rules for drivers licenses (h/t US News & World Report's Washington newsletter - I'll link at RB when their copy hits the web). The group doing the ads put out the Swift Boat Vets campaign too, so it should be well executed.
Posted by: Robin Burk ||
03/13/2005 12:39:28 PM ||
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.. let the punishment fit the severity of the crime, not exceed it.
Which crime? The one committed when they first entered illegally, or crimes committed after that?
I forget which blog, but I saw a comment to the effect that illegal immigrants' lives here in the U.S. need to be made very inconvenient, and that included aggressively prosecuting employers of illegal aliens and removing FDIC coverage to banks that accept matricula cards as ID.
But seriously folks .... there are a lot of issues wrapped up in the topic of illegal entry / illegal immigration / legal immigration policy. Not to mention national policies for identification cards. Let's try to set the terms of the debate on all this.
BaR's attitude is not uncommon among people who've lived near the southern border. I'm worried about all this too - just want to point out that economic, social and homeland defense are separate issues even though they intersect WRT the flood of people entering illegally.
Posted by: Robin Burk ||
03/13/2005 14:58 Comments ||
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I've been pushing militarizing the border over at my blog, Old Patriot's Pen. Let's face it - we're at war with a group that has no more respect for our borders than they have for their own women and children. Our borders are as much a war zone as Iraq or Afghanistan. Our borders are no longer a law enforcement issue, but a national security issue. It's time to give the job to the people that defend our national security - the US Military.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/13/2005 16:01 Comments ||
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Doing something new but right there when Bush needs her. Heh.
President Bush will nominate one of his closest longtime advisers to a key State Department post in an effort to help repair the United States' image abroad, especially in the Arab world, a senior administration official said Saturday. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the announcement that Bush has selected Karen Hughes to be undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs will be made early next week, possibly as early as Monday. The position requires Senate confirmation. The official said that Hughes, 48, will spearhead the administration's campaign to promote democracy in the Middle East.
Hughes, who for years has had a major voice in crafting Bush's domestic message, is a former counselor to the president who left the White House in 2002 to move her family back to Texas. She has little experience in foreign affairs but enjoys the confidence of the president and is close to the new secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. As undersecretary, Hughes' main responsibility will be to repair the image of the United States which was badly tarnished abroad by anger over the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq and overthrow its government. She will be responsible for improving U.S. diplomats' face-to-face contact overseas and will oversee an array of programs, such as radio broadcasts that place American ideas and news before foreign audiences.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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"the image of the United States which was badly tarnished abroad by anger over the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq and overthrow its government."
Oh, horse-shit. The US' "image" in the Arab world (and much of the rest) is a hate hallucination based on ignorance and moral imbecility. Let the losers who enterain these fantasized images fix their own mental dysfunction.
How about the Arab world repairing its "image" among thinking people, American or otherwise -- that of a collective basket-case of stagnant authoritarian mediocrities tarnished by lurid sympathies for racism, genocide, an obsession with silly conspiracy mythgs, and an inability to think straight. Oh -- and let's not forget atavistic Jew-hatred.
Take the public diplomacy funds and reallocate them to enhanced survivors' benefits for US service-members' families, and use what's left over for ordnance.
Spoken as someone getting paid to do public diplomacy work (but of much more concrete, useful type) in the heart of the beast ....
I have long wondered when we would stop apologizing for who we are. No one else is ever expected to apologize, or compromise, or change - only us. The old Teddy Roosevelt saw, "Walk softly but carry a big stick" is in need of updating - since it's obviously misunderstood by both the international Tranzis and our domestic moonbats to mean we should spend our last miserable days before being assimilated in the Great Pasty Smear of PC Stupidity on bended knee or crawling on our hands and knees to some Old European power now cast forever in amber. Bullshit, heh.
Updated:
1) Walk Proud
2) Speak Plainly
3) Do What Needs Doing
4) Ignore the Fools of Antiquity
5) Stay Out of MultiCulti Tranzi Adventures (read: Real Quagmires)
6) Whack the Fuckwits and the Bad Guys with the Biggest Sticks the World Has Ever Seen --- Sans Apologies.
You know you're doing it right if the losers hate you... but will do anything to emigrate.
#3
Something else occurred to me after posting that I'd like to add...
Verlaine, I swear, every time you post you manage to push my buttons, lol! If I didn't know better I'd guess you were my sensei from 40 yrs ago, heh. I came wanting to kick ass, made no bones about it - and he took me for a student anyway. The reason was simple, to get to the point where you can kick ass, you absorb a lot about using power - especially when to use it. In other words, he knew the process and discipline would replace the hot-headed attitude with slow-to-anger and judicious caution. It did.
And a similar analogy may apply to America today. The interference of the Old World, with Britain and France fighting each other here, instead of on each other's soil was an early lesson in leaving behind the baggage of the failures our ancestors fled. It became part of our identity - independence and individualism its hallmarks.
We have so many assets it boggles. I credit our personal rights and cumulative right of redress, our ingenious power-checked institutions, our initial semi-isolation which allowed us the golden opportunity to form a unique national identity which fosters an extrapolated individual identity, our love of individualism, our Jacksonian / Jeffersonian influences which mix into something truly unique in the world, a million other things including an armed citizenry, and one of our oddest traits: forbearance for the lone voice -- which we realize just may be right.
Taken together these traits and aspects moderate... The judicious caution doesn't mean isolationism. The audacity of individualism doesn't lead us to rash adventurism. They also embolden... We've seen what the others have: tribalism, corruption, thuggery, moron notions of hereditary rule, autocratic and absolute rule leading to despotic and nepotistic decline, and the mistake of totalitarian ideologies, whether atheistic or religious or comet-worship or Cult of Personality -- they lead to Kool Aid and disaster -- we are bold and assertive enough to reject these failures and find our own way, one step at a time.
Moreover, we have within our identity the will and habit of self-examination. We make mistakes. We learn - though at differing rates. Some get it on the first try. Some have to die off to remove that foolishness from our population. I love the high-tension interplay of so many wildly differing influences available in our almost unregulated lives. It offers us something that the Old World doesn't understand until they experience it: change and progress, not intensified more of the same.
That which shackles us today is eventually identified, isolated, and eliminated. In America, tomorrow can always be different, better, messy as hell, and interesting. I feel sorry for the others.
#5
.com, I take no credit for pushing the right buttons, but we're all glad they're pushed -- great screed. You succinctly listed the cardinal operational principles of international security (for the US, at least). And what's scary is how the former Texas governor with no previous global resume has followed these rules so successfully. It's just in his bones, it would seem. As I commented a few days back, I'm already worried about Dubya's successor. In national security, for the current situation, it's hard to imagine anyone currently in the mix bringing the same unstudied brilliance to the role. Then again, who among us expected Dubya to be the leader he is?
#6
Then again, who among us expected Dubya to be the leader he is?
Good point. Not me. Not sure what fortune managed to put right man in the right place at the right time. I am suspicious that even Dubya sometimes looks back and wonders.
His strength is in surrounding himself with excellent people, listening to what they have to say, making his own conclusions and doing what he decides to do, with no wavering. What a better leader's resume can you imagine?
It's too early to say if there is someone that may be an adequate replacement. I would be inclined to think Condi may be. It is too early to tell.
#7
Wow - you put it so succinctly... I'm such a bandwidth hog, heh.
You hit the 3 key things that have impact with me:
1) Who, indeed, can replace W? I, like others, have high hopes for someone from his team - since it's a team that truly "gets it". Condi would probably be awesome, though there is credible debate about whether she'll be prepared for a run in '08. I tend to think that it's not about the resume, as you pointed out, it's about the person and surrounding themselves with get shit done people, which is why I'd say she can do the job, with or without some further resume building.
2) Who W was prior to 9/11, vs now. All I can say is that I am still boggled by how fast he grew into the shoes and, at the same time, had prepared himself well - by surrounding himself with people who "get it". Pretty prescient for a cowboy, heh.
3) What he's doing, the Bush Doctrine, was far beyond my vision. When it was first semi-illuminated for me, by Lee Harris at TCS in "Our World-Historical Gamble" - that's 2 YEARS old, BTW, it immediately rang true. It was a masterstroke, and the more I see of its application, the more convinced I am that W has become one of our truly brilliant Presidents. I knew only one thing about him from when he was TX Gov: he did what he said he would do. Then, it was "trivial" stuff, IMHO. Now, it shakes the world - the right way.
I can only hope we are fortunate enough to have another of his stature - or at least someone who also "gets it" and will continue on the road laid out... then another and another. A 1.5% vote swing would have given us Skeery. Too terrible to even contemplate, as we'd be in retreat on every front that matters - and wasting precious time and resources on the things that do not matter or are truly dangerous. Our survival would have been in the same basket as the current crop of governing losers in Europe.
And yeah, I credit you with tripping all sorts of neural connections, lol! You cut to the bone, bro - and that always catches my attention! Sure you aren't the recently retired DiploMad? You should be blogging your own site. Seriously.
#8
Condi, Boulton, Hughes....who amongst us sees what this AP hack misses?
With all respect to ViI, GW has overturned Foggy Bottom and Turtle Bay. This President had to manage his first term by steering around the mess of diplomatic obstacles and political landmines. Now, he is bulletproof and can concentrate on revolutionizing those fetid institution, so the next guy girl starts with a supportive team. If this president is a moron, then we could use a world of morons.
Posted by: john ||
03/13/2005 7:58 Comments ||
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We have far too many Immediate Apologists firmly entrenched in our government, at ever level. Just look at Teddy Kennedy (if you can stand to), John Kerry, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barabara Boxer. Anything we do that will actually make a difference makes them physically ill. I think it's time to clean the horse manure out of Washington, starting at the top and working down through all the government agencies, until the pantywaists are all driven into the Potomac. I've got an axehandle and a grudge, and I volunteer to do my part! Volunteers accepted.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/13/2005 16:09 Comments ||
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#10
.com: Who W was prior to 9/11, vs now. All I can say is that I am still boggled by how fast he grew into the shoes and, at the same time, had prepared himself well - by surrounding himself with people who "get it"
I don't think he "became" anything. You merely changed your estimation of him, which had been fed to you by a media bent on portraying him (and his dad before him) as a lightweight. The guy's not a scholar, any more than George Washington or Teddy Roosevelt was a scholar. But he is a leader.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - A grieving father is trying to gather the facts behind an uprising on Nov. 25, 2001, at the makeshift prison in Afghanistan where CIA officer Johnny Micheal ``Mike'' Spann became the first American casualty of the Afghan war.
Johnny Spann, a 56-year-old real estate company owner from Winfield, Ala., is conducting his own investigation into the origins of the riot at the prison in Mazar-e-Sharif where suspected Taliban supporters were held. U.S. government agencies, Spann said, are not inclined to piece together the entire story. By investigating for himself, ``No lies get told and nothing gets covered up,'' he said in an interview during a visit to Washington. ``I've got more at stake than they have. I want to know.''
Spann shared with The Associated Press a videotape that shows the two hours leading up to the fateful riot. He contends the last two minutes of footage prove the uprising began with a planned grenade attack inside the prison building rather than a spontaneous scuffle outside where his son was interviewing prisoners, including Lindh. The distinction could be critical in Lindh's quest to get clemency for his 20-year prison term. One of the most serious charges against Lindh was that the uprising was planned the night before, yet he did not warn Spann. At one point, the younger Spann is seen with Lindh a short distance away from the other prisoners - a moment at which his father says Lindh had a chance to disclose the riot plot.
At trial, Lindh claimed no knowledge of the riot plot. The judge seemed to agree. If there were evidence that Lindh was responsible for the younger Spann's death, the judge said, then a plea bargain would not have been accepted that spared Lindh more serious charges, such as murder or treason.
Spann's father is convinced that such evidence exists. He refers to Lindh as ``hard core al-Qaida'' and says if Lindh really wanted to help a fellow American, he would have spoken up that morning. Because he did not, Spann contends, Lindh was complicit in the younger Spann's death. Some day, the father is hoping to prove this legally, in an attempt to get Lindh's plea bargain thrown out. ``As soon as the grenade went off, they attacked Mike because that was their cue to do that,'' Spann said. ``It was a premeditated event.''
An intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the circumstances surrounding the incident at the prison were reviewed. The official said some prisoners burst out of the building firing weapons while Spann and a colleague were interviewing prisoners outside.
In the videotape, which Johnny Spann says he obtained from a Frenchman after the U.S. government initially denied him a copy, Mike Spann is last seen walking away from the prison building one minute before the uprising apparently began. The next several seconds show a Taliban suspect being interviewed with his back to the building. There is a muffled noise and a series of screams. The suspect appears to twist his head to look over his left shoulder, toward the noise. At that moment, the film cuts off. The videographer dropped the camera and ran, according to Spann.
In 2002, Spann went to Afghanistan to speak with some witnesses to the uprising. He talked to a Northern Alliance leader and two Afghan doctors who were treating Taliban soldiers. Spann said the doctors told him that his son charged toward the prison building - right into a trap - when the grenade went off.
Later, Spann said, he reviewed autopsy reports that showed his son had two bullet wounds to the head. That indicates a method of death consistent with an execution-style slaying, Spann said. ``That doesn't sound like two people in a fight getting shot,'' Spann said. ``That sounds like one guy is on his knees or something getting shot.''
Questions about the circumstances of the prison uprising surfaced in December with the disclosure of testimony by several Taliban prisoners who were at the Afghanistan prison on the day Spann died. They are now being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. One inmate acknowledged the explosion in the prison building but went on to suggest that a skirmish outside between Spann and a prisoner may have started the uprising. Spann ``was jumped by an Arab or Pakistani male, but the armed man (Spann) shot the prisoner. People began running and chaos ensued,'' according to the testimony, released by the American Civil Liberties Union as part of its investigation into alleged abuse of prisoners by American soldiers.
Spann does not dispute that his son probably killed some Taliban prisoners during a gunfight. But the father insists it was in self-defense and came after the grenade blast. He also insists that the video proves there was no abuse of prisoners that day. The testimony from Guantanamo does not seem to imply there was, although one prisoner claimed he was threatened with a beating if he didn't stay quiet. ``I wish Mike had been treated as well as they had been treated,'' Spann said. ``He'd probably be alive today.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Damned shame that he went down. But execution? That would imply that he had given up . . . I would present it as he got hit while fighting and then got capped again by someone wanting to be certain.
We need more men like him.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
03/13/2005 8:05 Comments ||
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Didn't all these taliban come from Konduz, where they were surrounded? And then I remember some posted message from a reporter covering the scene saying that aircraft were coming in and out of Konduz and the US was not stopping them. (probably a deal for saving the asses of Pakistani officers among the taliban.) When you get down to it, and we look back, the B52s circling overhead should have been allowed to take out the lot, and Spann would have been alive. Our humanity was our weakness that day, IMHO.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/13/2005 12:29 Comments ||
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Posted by: Matt ||
03/13/2005 10:19 ||
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Even though he's long departed my regular reading list, Dandy Andy hits the mark more often than not in this article. In sum, I think he "gets it" about Bolton and credits Bush... but he obviously believes the NYT still matters, lol! Not even a little bit, sonny.
I came across this Farside and it reminded me of Bolton and his new assignment...
The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf has forged alliances with local bandits and militants other than al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, widening its reach and making it more lethal despite battle setbacks, officials said.
The cooperation has allowed militants to undergo joint terror training in the southern Philippines, share resources and combatants, and provide refuge to guerrillas on the run, according to officials and security documents.
Such collusion was shown in the Feb. 14 bombing of a bus that killed four people in Manila's financial district. The Abu Sayyaf collaborated with Muslim converts to carry out the attack, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Valentine's Day assault was one of three almost-simultaneous bombings that killed eight people and injured more than 100 in Manila and two southern cities. An Abu Sayyaf leader, Abu Sulaiman, said the attacks were to avenge military operations against Muslim guerrillas on southern Jolo island.
"This indicates they could now launch nationally coordinated attacks," said Rodolfo Mendoza, a police official with extensive knowledge of Islamic militant groups.
Aside from known ties with Jemaah Islamiyah, the Abu Sayyaf has forged alliances with the Rajah Solaiman Movement, comprising Christian converts to Islam; the kidnap-for-ransom gang Abu Sofia; hard-line members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, known as MILF, and gunmen loyal to jailed Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari, Mendoza and other officials said.
Abu Sofia gunmen, based in the central region of southern Mindanao island, have given refuge to Abu Sayyaf guerrilla leaders Khaddafy Janjalani and Isnilon Hapilon and their followers after military offensives displaced them three years ago from southern Basilan island, military officials said.
A police intelligence report said the Abu Sayyaf plotted bombings and kidnappings with Muslim converts based in Luzon. The converts also have sheltered Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in Manila and outlying provinces, the report said.
Abu Sayyaf guerrillas led by Janjalani have received sanctuary and bomb-making and combat training in MILF strongholds, military officials said. The MILF is engaged in sporadic peace talks with the government and officially denies links to the Abu Sayyaf.
Several commanders of the Abu Sayyaf, the MILF and Misuari's followers met last year near the southern town of Siocon to discuss tactical cooperation and unspecified joint plans, said a senior security official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Abu Sayyaf's links with the MILF have incensed military officials.
They say Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have sought cover in MILF lairs, knowing that the military finds it difficult to attack those areas because of a truce agreement and peace talks between the MILF and the government.
Security officials differ in their analysis of alliances between the Abu Sayyaf and other armed groups, with most saying they were on a "tactical or operational level." Government officials have acknowledged the links but were unclear on their depth.
"There are new groups that are coming in and being recruited by the Abu Sayyaf, like this Balik Islam (Muslim convert) group," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's spokesman, Silvestre Afable, said.
"I don't really know the nature of this phenomenon, but I think it makes it dangerous," he said.
Mendoza said statements from captured rebels indicate the groups formed a formal coalition two to three years ago.
Though the government says the group is a spent force with about 300 gunmen on the run most of the time, officials acknowledge it remains lethal.
Authorities have said the rebels, employing Muslim converts, were behind a bomb attack that set a popular ferry ablaze last year, killing more than 100 people in the country's worst terrorist attack.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/13/2005 3:03:57 AM ||
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by CAROLINE GLICK
Common wisdom has it that until Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah launched Tuesday's pro-Syrian demonstration in Beirut, his terror organization had been more or less on the fence regarding its position on Syria's occupation of Lebanon. This view is belied, however, by a speech Nasrallah broadcast on Hizbullah's Al-Manar television on February 17.
In the speech, which was documented by the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Nasrallah warned against the pro-democracy, anti-Syrian opposition. Nasrallah claimed that the opposition, like UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calling for a withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and the disarming of Hizbullah, had been launched as part of an Israeli-American political war against Hizbullah.
An Iranian minister called US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 'the queen of war and violence' who must be hauled to the International Court of Justice along with President George W. Bush for their crimes around the world.
"Mrs. Rice herself is a sponsor of terrorism and many crimes in Iraq, Palestine and other countries are being committed with her complicity.
"If justice was to be done, Rice, Bush and their coteries should have been tried at the International Court of Justice," Intelligence inister Ali Younessi said.
His statements came in response to Rice's last month remarks about Tehran, accusing the Islamic Republic of terrorism.
"Mrs. Rice is the queen of war and violence...her remarks are not new and whenever she has found a podium she has said these hings," Younessi added.
In a dramatic change of tactics, Washington offered Friday to allow Iran to begin talks on joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) and consider letting it buy civilian airline parts as part of incentives to Tehran over its nuclear cooperation.
But Younessi rejected the offer as 'ridiculous and an insult to the great Iranian nation'.
"The American authorities who have asked us to ignore our legitimate and obvious rights in return for the supply of few airplane parts which is their obligation must apologize to the Islamic Republic," he said.
The intelligence minister stated that the offer was in line with the US policy 'to despise the Iranian nation'.
Washington accuses Iran of seeking to build atomic bombs with its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is aimed at power generation.
The new US stance is a change from Washington's previous hardline position that Iran deserves no reward even though the country allows snap inspection of its nuclear facilities by the UN experts.
But Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said neither threats nor incentives would alter Iran's determination to develop peaceful nuclear technology.
Iran is in the midst of negotiations with the Europeans to find a solution to the standoff, but several officials have lined up in recent days to warn that Tehran might be forced to abandon the diplomatic process if pressed too far.
The key sticking point in the negotiations is uranium enrichment which Tehran has suspended as a confidence-building gesture since last November, but the country insists that it cannot be cajoled to sustain the suspension for good.
The Europeans, represented by Germany, France and Britain, have been pressing the Islamic Republic on this in return for a package of incentives.
Iran's pointsman on nuclear issues, Hassan Rowhani, sounded upbeat Thursday, describing the talks as 'successful'.
"Our negotiations with the European sides on the country's nuclear technology have been successful so far," Rowhani, who is the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said in the southern city of Shiraz.
The also official also blamed western media for a flurry of misgivings which remain in the air about Iran's nuclear intentions.
"The enemies of the Islamic Republic, with their malicious propaganda against us, have created fear among the world countries.
"Basically, we are not after a conquest; rather, we are after friendship, good neighborliness as well as detente and we believe wars, animosity and skirmishes lead the country to backwardness," Rowhani said.
How can we expect that they won't build nuclear weapons when they speak like this? When they speak of peaceful nuclear technology, they really mean nuclear deterents against invasion. Iran thinks their playing the EU for suckers, they're trying to get as many incentives as they can, just like North Korea did, in the 90's, then went ahead with development. And say what can ya do about it?
#1
Our negotiations with the European sides on the countryâs nuclear technology have been successful so far
Lol - for Iran sure, they've gained valuable time and given the Euroweenians nothing.
#2
Someone should tell this bozo that it is Ms. Rice and that if he pushes his luck, he won't have any equipment left when he meets his 72 virgins and that that may happen sooner than he expected.
Queen of War will do as a title until January of 2009 when she trades it in for President.
#9
"Queen of War and Violence" -- excellent title. Let's hope Condi lives up to it where Iran is concerned. Imagine trying to negotiate with these maniacs. You'd have to be a Euroweenian (good term, Spot) to begin to take it seriously. Just a charade we have to go through before taking effective action -- which we will be in deep trouble if we don't do before Iran has nukes.
Posted by: Van Helsing ||
03/13/2005 18:06 Comments ||
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#10
Condi has these old black-turban heads shitting their baggy pants when they arent foaming at the mouth at her.
#12
Notice the sexist allan-worshipper cannot handle the idea of an elected, hard-working woman?
a) a queen is born to her position and makes arbitrary decisions based on her own will. Condi worked her way up from the bottom, with skills and intelligence and education.
b) a queen doesn't do the hard work herself, others do it for her. Condi did the hard yards all by herself.
c) she isn't a mrs! She did is a single woman, doing it for herself and her country.
hard for an Islamist prehistoric to understand. Don't want to make any public statements about it either in case their domestic slaves get a hint and try to escape to the Great Satan to have a life of their own.
Women in the middle east are worse off than blacks were in South Africa under apartheid, but where's the outrage? Where's the t-shirts with slogans? Where are the left-wing protests?
#15
With this statement from the popularly elected leaders of Iran, I sense the beginning of a dialogue. Good start. Statement of positions were made frankly and emphatically. We have something to build upon.
[/diplospeak moonbattery]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/13/2005 21:39 Comments ||
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You look like a nothing more than a generic Magic Persian Mullah, so listen up...dumbf**k...
Remember this man? :
This was Sheik Yasin before he was hit directly by a missile after delivering an incendiary address in the Gaza Strip.
His followers were then trying to gather enough pieces of smoldering brain, fingertips, and toes to bury, since there was nothing left in the middle. Keep your thoughts to yourself of who needs what before the International Court of Injustice, and you may have a longer life...Otherwise if you threaten us...It might be CIA, special forces, or who knows what, the USA likes exchanges of information with the Joooooooooz, so we are familliar with what is now called the YASSIN PROCEDURE...
The United States is ready to accept Hezbollah as a player in mainstream politics in Lebanon, according to a report appearing in The New York Times on Thursday.
The story was swiftly disputed by the Bush administration, which said its policy was unchanged.
"The report suggests that our view has changed on Hezbollah. It has not," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush to Louisville, Kentucky.
Asked if the report was correct, McClellan said, "It's wrong."
U.S., European and United Nations officials told The New York Times that the United States had reluctantly recognized that, besides having a militia and sponsoring attacks on Israelis, Hezbollah was a huge political force in Lebanon and could play an important role in that country following the withdrawal of Syrian forces currently stationed there.
"Hezbollah has American blood on its hands," one official said, referring to events such as the truck bombing that killed more than 200 U.S. Marines in Beirut in 1983. "The administration has an absolute aversion to admitting that Hezbollah has a role to play in Lebanon, but that is the path we're going down."
The New York Times said Hezbollah had also become a lower priority in negotiations to demand the disarmament of the organization, adding that the United States agreed with France that the militant group was too important a force to antagonize.
"There is a realization by France and the United States that if you tackle Hezbollah now, you array the Shi'ites against you. With elections coming in Lebanon, you don't want the entire Shi'ite community against you," one diplomat told the paper.
"Obviously we'd like to see them disarmed as UN Security Council Resolution 1559 requires. Once disarmed, they could undertake any political role in Lebanon that they can win democratically at the polls. This doesn't constitute any change in the U.S. position," the official said.
Israel is vehemently opposed to any change in the U.S. attitude toward Hezbollah, and continues to view the organization as a terror group that threatens Israeli security, both along the northern border and by providing aid to terrorists in the territories.
The European Parliament, meanwhile, branded Hezbollah a "terrorist" group Thursday, urging European Union ministers to take action against the organization.
"Parliament considers that clear evidence exists of terrorist activities by Hezbollah. The [EU] Council should take all necessary steps to curtail them," a non-binding resolution adopted by a big majority said.
The resolution, which also renewed a call for Syria to withdraw its troops and intelligence services from Lebanon, was adopted by 473 votes to eight with 33 abstentions.
The EU is under pressure from the United States and Israel to add the Iranian-backed Hezbollah to its list of outlawed terrorist organizations, obliging member states to seize its assets and take action against its members.
But several EU governments, concerned about upsetting delicate Middle East negotiations, have so far been reluctant, including France, Spain and Britain.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/13/2005 3:10:36 AM ||
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#3
Go ahead and mentally substitute "al Queda" for "Hizbullah", to help imagine just how much this is not going to happen. 242 dead Marines in Beirut are still remembered vividly, for both Hizbullah and Iran.
Posted by: too true ||
03/13/2005 10:21 Comments ||
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#7
"There is a realization by France and the United States that if you tackle Hezbollah now, you array the Shiâites against you. With elections coming in Lebanon, you donât want the entire Shiâite community against you," one diplomat told the paper.
Mr Churchill must realize that shooting down Luftwaffe planes will array the entire German folk against England.
The United States will pursue "stronger action" if Iran does not abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions, Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview Friday. The statement comes as Washington announced it would drop objections to Iran joining the World Trade Organization to support efforts by Britain, France and Germany aimed at persuading Tehran to end its suspect nuclear program. If the Iranians are interested only in civilian nuclear power they can acquire reactor fuel from several different commercial sources, Cheney said in an interview with Fox News. The concern is that Iran wants to enrich enough fuel to give them the capability to build a weapon, he said. "And that's what we want to avoid," said Cheney. "But at the end of the day if the Iranians don't live up to their obligations and their international commitments to forego a nuclear program, then obviously we'll have to take stronger action."
Speaking on a trip to the southern state of Louisiana Friday, US President George W Bush said that Washington and its allies will "speak with one voice to the Iranian regime that they should abandon any ambitions for nuclear weapons for the sake of peace in the world." With US calls to Syria to withdraw troops from Lebanon, the adoption of a common stance towards Iran is the second concrete sign of the new climate of cooperation. "I am pleased that we are speaking with one voice with our European friends," Bush said Friday. "I look forward to working with our European friends to make it abundantly clear to the Iranian regime that the free world will not tolerate them having a nuclear weapon."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2005 1:02:07 AM ||
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#2
European friends?
He should have been more accurate by saying our friends the Brits and Eastern Europeans, along with our non-hostile advesaries in the remainder of the EU.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/13/2005 18:56 Comments ||
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#9
Maybe because of some inherent humanistic conviction that I am actually providing a service,
But of course you are, Sobiesky. You are helping a bully/idiot/fool learn something about the effect the universe has when he causes problems with his behaviour/attitude. As such, you are the tool the universe uses at that moment, and we all hope most sincerely that he will learn from this first application of effect to cause, thus becoming a better human being... and obviating the need for further applications of this most important learning. ;-)
On the other hand, you may just be being pompous and condescending.
#15
I'll try not to move the switch to No More, then. But you have to give fair warning if I do, 'cause I'm kind of oblivious to such things, unfortunately.
Iranian female police cadets stand in front of a group conducting a drill during a graduation ceremony of Iran's police academy in Tehran March 12, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi
It's like party nite at the insane assylum.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy ||
03/13/2005 12:26:09 AM ||
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#13
MacNails-
What's worse is they're wearing white gloves before Memorial Day...these people have NO hope at all.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/13/2005 9:33 Comments ||
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#14
There's a definite TV series in the making here. J-Lo. Christine Aguilar. Paris Hilton's debut. Some dude named Mohammed off screen only. Mohammed's Maidens. Each week one of them gets her burqua ripped off during the chase scene when she slams the car door to quickly after initiating pursuit on foot.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/13/2005 10:05 Comments ||
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#15
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2005 10:24 Comments ||
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#16
Mrs Davis, I think you mean one of them flashes an ankle during a hot pursuit.....
#18
GC9549 - Lol! Where the hell did they get those parasols, lol! Cajuns. I love 'em (and Nawlans) but it's hard to imagine they let them into the Military, lol! I'd figure on some sort of unofficial policy: Don't ask, don't be talkin' in yo mouth!
The Lebanese opposition is turning up the heat on the pro-Syrian Lebanese government, hoping to garner broad international support behind its demand for a full Syrian military withdrawal from the country. The campaign to end Syria's near 30-year military presence in Lebanon nonetheless appears to be bearing some fruit. A delegation of opposition MPs met this week in Brussels with European Union external affairs commissioner Javier Solana and with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier. One of the government's leading opponents, the Druze politician Walid Jumblatt, was also in Moscow to confer with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Larov.
Oh yeah, talk to the Russians, that'll do a lot of good.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Laid out in rows stretching longer than a football field, 1,513 pairs of black military boots gave a sunsplashed park the quiet, somber mood of a cemetery.
The traveling exhibit, a reminder of the U.S. troops lost in Iraq (news - web sites) , arrived on the West Coast this week as divisive as the war itself — especially for the families of the fallen men and women.
To some of the families, it is a cathartic, fitting memorial in a nation they say seems largely anesthetized to the pain of a distant war. For others, it's an outrage tormenting them in their grief.
"There's a difference between honoring our fallen and using them as pawns," said Georgette Frank, who believes the exhibit defamed the memory of her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Phillip Frank, by linking him with an anti-war agenda he never would have supported.
The "Eyes Wide Open" exhibit, created by the American Friends Service Committee, a branch of the pacifist Quaker church, began its nationwide tour in Chicago with 500 boots — then the war's death toll.
The exhibit arrived in downtown San Diego on Wednesday, but space was limited there because of what the county and organizers said was a misunderstanding over a permit. It was moved Thursday to Escondido, northeast of San Diego.
Nine families have donated their sons' military boots for the exhibit, and others have provided time and support. Most of the boots come from military surplus stores.
Cindy Sheehan calls the exhibit a wonderful memorial to her 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who died last year in an ambush in Sadr City. She has left tissues, notes and many tears on the boots that bear her son's name and plans to donate his boots later this month.
Sheehan, who lives in Vacaville, said the exhibit is also a fitting reminder in a nation that has banned media coverage of America's war dead as their remains arrive in flag-draped caskets.
"If some people look at it and they're offended by it maybe they should be," she said. "I'm in unbearable pain every second of every day because of only one pair of those empty boots."
About two dozen families, however, have asked that their loved ones' names be removed from the exhibit. The committee said it removes names from the boots on request, although the names are still read aloud during events.
Frank said she and her husband believe the "naive" peace movement only encourages insurgents in Iraq with the message that continued violence will lead the United States to withdraw its troops. She said her son, felled by a sniper's bullet last year in Fallujah at age 20, was committed to bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq.
"How can I be against the war when this is what my son went to do?" she asked. "And you know what, he succeeded on the Sunday when the Iraqis voted."
Christine M. Dybevik of Coos Bay, Ore., was angered that the name of her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Gary Van Leuven, was used without her permission. Van Leuven, 20, was killed last year in a fierce fight in Husaba along the Syrian border.
"This road back from hell is hard enough without having to defend my son's name in a political arena," Dybevik said. "Our sons made the ultimate sacrifice and they did it for the American way of life and not for some political view."
Fernando Suarez del Solar of Escondido supports the exhibit, and donated the boots worn by his son, Lance Cpl. Jesus Suarez del Solar, 20, who was killed during the March 2003 Iraq invasion.
"We don't need more empty boots," Suarez del Solar said. "We need the people inside the shoes home with their families in peace."
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/13/2005 3:17:25 PM ||
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#1
"We donât need more empty boots," Suarez del Solar said. "We need the people inside the shoes home with their families in peace."
[Pissd off RANT]
Ahem. DUMBASS!
We had our boots at home. Kept them there for many years. Didnt work in WW2 when the evil of Hitler and Tojo arose. Ignoring evil DOES NOT WORK.
Same goes for the 1990's - dont send in troops, just fling a curise missle or two. No matter how many thye kill at the Khobar Towers, the Cole, the US Embassy. I remember that even Bush was not sending them to fight anywhere until something about a couple towers falling, and THOUSANDS of Americans dead.
Have you forgotten or are you simply willfully ignorant or are you just that stupid?
When are you f***ing people get a f***ing clue?
Peace with Islamists does NOT come from staying at home. If we keep our soldiers "at home with their families in peace", then that is where they AND their families will DIE.
They came after us in 93, again in 9/11. You cannot wait until the wolf is at your door before you decide to go buy a gun to kill the wolf. Its far too late then. If anything, this is the one lesson 9/11 taught. The current war is teaching that tyranny cannot stand against democracy, if free people step in and support the democracy. And the end of tyranny will be the end of terror for the most part.
Any rational person knows this. What the hell happened to you Mr Solar?
You SON knew and willingly paid the ulitmate price of freedom, and now you piss on his last best gift, with idiotic naieve statements like the one quoted above, statements that ignore reality and ignore the burden that soldiers carry in order to keep you and other moral cowards like you alive and free.
You should get on your knees and grovel before God that hard men, brave men, self-sacrificing men (and women as well), such as your son exist and carry guns into harms way to protect mice like you.
#2
Christine M. Dybevik of Coos Bay, Ore., was angered that the name of her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Gary Van Leuven, was used without her permission.
Any lawyers out there? Do0es she have a cause of action? Get creative!
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/13/2005 18:55 Comments ||
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#3
The left loves dead Americans, especially dead American military.
The left will never honor courage or sacrifice; they will only honor their own egos and they will use whatever they have to do that. This time it is 1513 brave men and woman who died so they can stroke their own egos with a compliant media.
#4
usual suspects - antiwar and ultimtely antiamerican
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/13/2005 19:09 Comments ||
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#5
...I have no words for Mr. Suarez del Solar that could possibly EVER comfort him. I do have to ask though what the families of the Three Thousand would say if they could have their loved ones back in their boots.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/13/2005 19:14 Comments ||
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#6
del Solar has done everything possible to enable the deaths and subjugation of Iraqis, Afghanis, and now Syrians, Lebanese and Iranians. I think his son would spit on that heritage
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/13/2005 20:06 Comments ||
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#7
I remember when the press trumpeted the first 1,000 killed in Iraq. I shreiked, "Let me know when it gets to 3,000," (as in, the number killed in one day {9/11/01}).
Some people can only see their own loss.
Myself, my youngest son is on his way back from Iraq (USMC). I thank God he has not been injured, but he has seen death and horrible injuries, and told his Mother that he feels "older," so I don't yet know how his tour has affected him. He told me, "It's funny. The first thing you worry about when you hear the blast (of a mine or IED) is 'please don't let it be my friends'". God bless out troops.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/13/2005 21:24 Comments ||
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#8
Personally, I would like to see the local VFW, or ROTC, or USAR Center co-opt this "protest" by adopting it, and turning it into a memorial. Post an honor guard at the four corners - 24 hours per day, and have aflag detail and honor guard perform evening retreat, and then have a military bugler play taps.
One man's war protest is another man's memorial to fallen warriors.
I have remembrance of standing in a small town along the Hudson River in New York - Congers, NY - looking at a memorial to fallen war dead - WWI, WWI, Korea, Vietnam - and also the Civil War, and the Spanish-American war - that little town of maybe 1,500 people (1994) had sacrificed its sons for over 150 years. And - as I gazed at the Congers memorial, I thought back to the similar war memorials I had stood before as a US Army Captain, in little villages in Germany - Hildesheim, and Koerborn - also places with populations of maybe 800 or 1,000 people (as of 1982) - and the "kriegsgefallenerandenksmal" has lists for WWI and WWI - and they must each have lost 100 men - out of what then must have been populations of only 300 or 400 people.
If I was in Escondido, and saw this display, I'd take a walk through it - but I'd be doing so to honor the fallen, and pay my respects - not to mock them, or lament that their sacrifice was futile.
I would also not be one to criticize the bitter remarks of a parent of a fallen soldier - they should be allowed to vent their grief as they see the score - whether I agree with their view, or not.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt, speaking at the Univeristy of Paris, Sorbonne, April 23rd, 1910
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill
#11
Ohhhh.... ENGLISH! No WONDER the frogs and krauts don't get it!
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/13/2005 21:54 Comments ||
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#12
I still haven't forgiven the fucking Quakers for holding blood drives for the North Vietnamese during the war. It was treason then, but politics protected them. The Quakers are too good to fight, but not too good to enjoy the protection and freedoms that better men than they gave their lives to provide. May these sanctimonious prigs burn in lakes of brimstone in Hell forever.
#14
"We donât need more empty boots," Suarez del Solar said. "We need the people inside the shoes home with their families in peace."
[Pissd off RANT]
Ahem. DUMBASS!
We had our boots at home. Kept them there for many years. Didnt work in WW2 when the evil of Hitler and Tojo arose. Ignoring evil DOES NOT WORK.
Same goes for the 1990's - dont send in troops, just fling a curise missle or two. No matter how many thye kill at the Khobar Towers, the Cole, the US Embassy. I remember that even Bush was not sending them to fight anywhere until something about a couple towers falling, and THOUSANDS of Americans dead.
Have you forgotten or are you simply willfully ignorant or are you just that stupid?
When are you f***ing people get a f***ing clue?
Peace with Islamists does NOT come from staying at home. If we keep our soldiers "at home with their families in peace", then that is where they AND their families will DIE.
They came after us in 93, again in 9/11. You cannot wait until the wolf is at your door before you decide to go buy a gun to kill the wolf. Its far too late then. If anything, this is the one lesson 9/11 taught. The current war is teaching that tyranny cannot stand against democracy, if free people step in and support the democracy. And the end of tyranny will be the end of terror for the most part.
Any rational person knows this. What the hell happened to you Mr Solar?
You SON knew and willingly paid the ulitmate price of freedom, and now you piss on his last best gift, with idiotic naieve statements like the one quoted above, statements that ignore reality and ignore the burden that soldiers carry in order to keep you and other moral cowards like you alive and free.
You should get on your knees and grovel before God that hard men, brave men, self-sacrificing men (and women as well), such as your son exist and carry guns into harms way to protect mice like you.
#15
"We donât need more empty boots," Suarez del Solar said. "We need the people inside the shoes home with their families in peace."
[Pissd off RANT]
Ahem. DUMBASS!
We had our boots at home. Kept them there for many years. Didnt work in WW2 when the evil of Hitler and Tojo arose. Ignoring evil DOES NOT WORK.
Same goes for the 1990's - dont send in troops, just fling a curise missle or two. No matter how many thye kill at the Khobar Towers, the Cole, the US Embassy. I remember that even Bush was not sending them to fight anywhere until something about a couple towers falling, and THOUSANDS of Americans dead.
Have you forgotten or are you simply willfully ignorant or are you just that stupid?
When are you f***ing people get a f***ing clue?
Peace with Islamists does NOT come from staying at home. If we keep our soldiers "at home with their families in peace", then that is where they AND their families will DIE.
They came after us in 93, again in 9/11. You cannot wait until the wolf is at your door before you decide to go buy a gun to kill the wolf. Its far too late then. If anything, this is the one lesson 9/11 taught. The current war is teaching that tyranny cannot stand against democracy, if free people step in and support the democracy. And the end of tyranny will be the end of terror for the most part.
Any rational person knows this. What the hell happened to you Mr Solar?
You SON knew and willingly paid the ulitmate price of freedom, and now you piss on his last best gift, with idiotic naieve statements like the one quoted above, statements that ignore reality and ignore the burden that soldiers carry in order to keep you and other moral cowards like you alive and free.
You should get on your knees and grovel before God that hard men, brave men, self-sacrificing men (and women as well), such as your son exist and carry guns into harms way to protect mice like you.
The BBC has bowed to an Israeli demand for a written apology from its deputy bureau chief in Jerusalem, Simon Wilson, who was barred from the country for failing to submit for censorship an interview with the nuclear whistleblower, Mordechai Vanunu. al-guardian: they "bowed" to the demand. interesting choice of words. not surprising, just interesting.
Mr Wilson was allowed to return to Israel on Thursday after signing a letter to the government acknowledging that he defied the law by ignoring demands from the security service and military censors to view tapes of an interview with Mr Vanunu after he was released from 19 years in prison last year. yet they agree to paleo censorship demands. can you say "double standard?"
The climbdown has angered some BBC journalists, who say it will compromise their work in Israel. yes. it's harder to pursue an agenda of attacking Zionists without access.
The agreement was to have remained confidential, but the BBC unintentionally posted details on its website before removing them a few hours later. unintentionally. heh.
Officials of Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, demanded a letter of apology and a promise not to re-offend when the authorities refused to extend Mr Wilson's work permit at the end of last year and barred him from re-entering Israel. At the time, the BBC said it could not meet such a demand. Sharon was kind enough to allow him back. coulda been worse if it was the paleos. we'd be reading his obit by now.
The BBC website said Mr Wilson had now acknowledged to the Israeli government that he was in the wrong.
"He confirms that after the Vanunu interview he was contacted by the censors and was asked to give them the tapes. He did not do so. He regrets the difficulties this caused," the BBC statement said. doesn't regret doing it. just regrets the difficulties.
"He undertakes to obey the regulations in future and understands that any further violation will result in his visa being revoked."
Mr Wilson was not available for comment.
Posted by: PlanetDan ||
03/13/2005 10:44:42 AM ||
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Look for stories about censorship out of this guy ... subtle references to how GOOD he's being about having his every word approved ...
Pfah.
Posted by: too true ||
03/13/2005 13:40 Comments ||
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#2
It will be interesting to see how the BBC acts next year after their staff gets cut 50% or so.
I'd bet on an increase in anti Americanism and anti semitism but we'll see.
#3
"The BBC has the largest budget of any UK broadcaster. Income from commercial enterprises and from overseas sales of its catalogue of programmes has substantially increased over recent years. Its annual budget is approximately $10 billion (â¬7.5 billion, £5 billion) [1]source: BBC. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Don't count on this TRANZI prpoaganda organ to let up or back down on anything. They have the money to do anything they want. They are rabidly anti-US and Anti-Israel.
Insurgents convicted of serious weapons and explosives offences in Iraq are escaping with jail terms of as little as six months under the country's new court system.
To the dismay of both coalition forces and the new Iraqi government, people found to have hoarded or transported huge stashes of bombs, machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades are frequently being treated as leniently as drunk drivers and pickpockets.
Concern is now growing among United States forces that the country's new central criminal court, made up of many judges from the Saddam Hussein era, is being lenient to demonstrate its independence from the coalition.
Some Shia judges have even complained privately that their Sunni colleagues are giving out light sentences to Sunni defendants to show a degree of sympathy with the insurgents.
While coalition commanders are anxious to be seen to respect the judges' independence, a senior US officer involved in liaising with the court told The Telegraph of his concern that it did not pose a deterrent.
Lt Col Barry Johnson, a spokesman for US military detainee operations in Iraq, said: "There are times when the sentences are a source of frustration for the soldiers involved, but we have committed ourselves to re-specting the independence of the court and the decisions it makes. But this is a frustration shared by other parts of the Iraqi government."
The court, which sits in tight security in a former museum next to Baghdad's Green Zone, is Iraq's equivalent of the Old Bailey. It deals with many cases brought with the help of US troops.
While a handful of defendants over the past year have received prison terms of up to 30 years, a list of decisions for last December, the most recent available, showed much lighter sentences.
One defendant, Adnan Tawfeeh Hamde, arrested after US soldiers found 11 rocket-propelled grenades, 12 assault rifles, 5,000 rounds of ammunition and a bag of explosives at his house, received one year in prison, as did two men caught in their car with a 155mm artillery shell and detonator, common equipment for making roadside bombs.
One senior judge, who asked not to be named, said: "The penalty for possession of illegal weapons under Iraqi law is anything up to 30 years. Six months is supposed to be for someone found with an old pistol or something. Anybody caught with rockets or missiles should be looking at 10 years at least.
"Many of the judges are Sunnis from the old Saddam regime and, even though the insurgents are trying to kill them now, they still don't like sentencing their Sunni brothers to long stints in jail. How will we get law and order if these people are allowed back out so soon?"
He said that at least one judge had complained about the light sentencing to the Iraqi judicial council and to the American forces, but to no effect. Privately, US officials say the lenient sentencing presents them with a difficulty in combating the insurgency, with some de-fendants spending less time in prison serving their sentence than they do on remand awaiting trial.
Madhat al Mahmoud, the president of the judicial council, declined to discuss sentencing policy. "I cannot say whether a sentence is appropriate or not, without examining each case in detail," he said. "We have a good judicial system and we have to respect it."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/13/2005 3:08:06 AM ||
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That last one . . . Madhat . . . . . . . . .
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
03/13/2005 7:46 Comments ||
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There's nothing sacrosanct about the "judicial system" - or any other man-made institution.
What in the world made anyone think that left-over Saddamists, and you can bet your ass HE vetted them, would suddenly change their spots?
Classic stupidity based upon the imaginary "special" integrity of "judges". Yeah, right.
Warlords and lawmakers from a clan that controls the Somali capital offered to withdraw 15,000 militia fighters from Mogadishu to guarantee the security of the country's transitional government as it returns from exile in Kenya.
Somalia has been without a central government since clan-based warlords overthrow the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, sinking the Horn of Africa nation of 7 million into clan-based anarchy.
Some 61 lawmakers, including warlords-turned-Cabinet ministers, also pledged Saturday to disarm the fighters, demobilize others and surrender weapons and ammunition to an interim force planned to stabilize the anarchic nation ahead of a larger peacekeeping force.
The militia will be quartered in six camps outside Mogadishu, some three months after lawmakers return to the city, Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Mohamed Aidid said. The government is based in Kenya because the Somali capital is considered unsafe.
"But there is a condition that troops from neighboring countries (Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya) should not take part in the relocation plan of the government," said Aidid, a former U.S. Marine.
Ethiopia actively supported Somali factions with money and weapons in the civil war that started in 1991, and its troops could seek to advance Ethiopian interests if deployed in the Horn of Africa nation, Aidid said.
Somalis also remember the war they lost in 1977 over control of Ethiopia's southeastern Ogaden region, largely inhabited by ethnic Somalis. The Somali army never recovered from the defeat, a fact that eventually helped warlords to overthrow Barre.
The U.S. State Department supported the stance of Somali lawmakers early this month.
Somalia's transitional parliament is expected to consider two competing motions next week on a multinational force intended to help restore order, Deputy Speaker Dalha Omar said.
He said at least 75 lawmakers filed a motion backing the force - minus troops from the neighboring countries. The government, however, has tabled a plan that will not bar neighbors, Omar said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/13/2005 3:05:49 AM ||
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I'm sure somewhere there's somebody who cares what happens in / to Somalia. Not here. Not me. Somalis embrace and practice the same exact "social system" of their most distance ancestors. Thus they render themselves perfectly irrelevant. Stew forever. Same to every other throwback "society". No one can save you from yourselves, except you. Don't call us, we'll call you.
#2
Some places are so inherently fucked up that only raw Darwinism seems to be their salvation--their moon-god will sort them out. And yet, they can produce people like Hirsi Ali. Despite.
#4
The problem is that these failed states are where Al Quaeda, et al make themselves at home. So even in the medium run we may have to intervene just to keep that from happening, a la Afghanistan. But not until after Syria and Iran have been taken care of. Our Special Forces guys have enough on their plates at the moment, and my neighbor's eldest has to graduate from Annapolis and get trained up as a SEAL before he will be useful for such activities.
#5
We would not intervene a la Afghanistan. We should simply kill the people we want to kill, regardless of collateral damage. Make them wish Sherman had conducted a Thirty Years War there.
Then Somalia should be left a cesspool to recover on its own if it can but without our help.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/13/2005 19:25 Comments ||
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We're already running special ops in the Horn, from what I've read. tw is right - it would be folly to ignore al-Q and their ilk's metastasis into these countries.
Posted by: too true ||
03/13/2005 19:34 Comments ||
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Add estrogen to their water and wait a few years.. Accelerated Darwin.
ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy fails to halt the Iranian nuclear programme.
The inner cabinet of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, gave "initial authorisation" for an attack at a private meeting last month on his ranch in the Negev desert.
Israeli forces have used a mock-up of Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant in the desert to practise destroying it. Their tactics include raids by Israel's elite Shaldag (Kingfisher) commando unit and airstrikes by F-15 jets from 69 Squadron, using bunker-busting bombs to penetrate underground facilities.
The plans have been discussed with American officials who are said to have indicated provisionally that they would not stand in Israel's way if all international efforts to halt Iranian nuclear projects failed.
Tehran claims that its programme is designed for peaceful purposes but Israeli and American intelligence officials — who have met to share information in recent weeks — are convinced that it is intended to produce nuclear weapons.
The Israeli government responded cautiously yesterday to an announcement by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, that America would support Britain, France and Germany in offering economic incentives for Tehran to abandon its programme.
In return, the European countries promised to back Washington in referring Iran to the United Nations security council if the latest round of talks fails to secure agreement.
Silvan Shalom, the Israeli foreign minister, said he believed that diplomacy was the only way to deal with the issue. But he warned: "The idea that this tyranny of Iran will hold a nuclear bomb is a nightmare, not only for us but for the whole world."
Dick Cheney, the American vice-president, emphasised on Friday that Iran would face "stronger action" if it failed to respond. But yesterday Iran rejected the initiative, which provides for entry to the World Trade Organisation and a supply of spare parts for airliners if it co-operates.
"No pressure, bribe or threat can make Iran give up its legitimate right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes," said an Iranian spokesman.
US officials warned last week that a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli or American forces had not been ruled out should the issue become deadlocked at the United Nations.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/13/2005 3:04:48 AM ||
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SHHH.....It's a secret...
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
03/13/2005 6:15 Comments ||
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Tom, we know ;-)
Well, if this won't pan out and something else happens instead, what can Mullahs say? Their own Profit (xywz) said: "War is a deception."
#3
âNo pressure, bribe or threat can make Iran give up its legitimate right to use nuclear technology for explosive peaceful purposes,â
The up coming Israeli delivered smack in the teeth might change your mind though.
In political developments, the country's main Shiite and Kurdish coalitions were putting the finishing touches on an agreement they hope to sign on Monday forming a coalition government. A senior member of the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, Ahmad Chalabi, traveled late Friday to Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad, for talks with Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader who is slated to become Iraq's next president. The Kurds have agreed that conservative Islamic Dawa party leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari will be Iraq's prime minister. "There is discussion and there is an agreement on the basic principles. But there is not final agreement on all the details. This visit was on invitation by Talabani to Chalabi. The atmosphere was positive," said alliance member Ali al-Faisal. Kurds and alliance officials said both sides agreed that Iraq would not become an Islamic state, a desire also expressed by the country's most powerful Shiite cleric — Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party, said the Kurds would oppose any attempt to turn Iraq into an Islamic state. "I think the Shiites well understand that implementing an Islamic government ... will bring a lot of problems," Barzani told Dubai's Al-Arabiya television. "We have an alliance with the Shiites. We were both oppressed, and we both struggled against the old regime, but if they insist on having a religious government we will oppose to them." An alliance member, Ali al-Dabagh, said there were no plans to turn Iraq into a religious state or a secular one.
"It will be, um...something else. A third way, if you will."
"We neither want to establish a religious nor a secular state in Iraq, we want a state that respects the identity of the Iraqi people and the identities of others" al-Dabagh said. The Kurds won 75 seats in the 275-member National Assembly during Jan. 30 elections. The alliance won 140 seats and needs Kurdish support to assemble the two-thirds majority to elect a president, who will then give a mandate to the prime minister.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/13/2005 1:22:14 AM ||
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Perhaps they have a bit of misconception what secular means. I would be inclined to believe that they equate the term with atheistm (ex. USSR or ACLUism=>freedom FROM religion). It may be in the translation, too.
#2
It will probably be a mess. But they've come so far, one has to hold out hope for them.
It's what happens when the body tries to write a constitution...
Will they be able to forgo tribal & religious loyalties and look beyond their own noses to make common cause? Or will partition be the only answer that actually satisfies all parties? They can choose to "break up" - and tell everyone else to piss off... or they can realize there's strength in unity and make a major leap forward. It's going to be tough because of the religious autocratic influence.
They've come a long way - and Yagouv Iraqi deserves credit.
#3
I hope that some of the framers of the Iraqi constitution read through the history of US constitution framers. There were deep differences. Really deep and really bitter. Yet compromises were made and a document was finally produced, EVERY WORD the product of great effort. The point is that they all worked together to produce something that still governs this country today. Tremendous responsibility.
I have a feeling that the Iraqis may learn more from our experience and apply it better than our Supremes. Sorry, could not help it......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/13/2005 12:38 Comments ||
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The March 18 Friday prayers in New York will be led by a renowned Muslim scholar, Dr Amina Wadud who is a professor of philosophy and religious studies at a respected American university. The imam's (prayer leader) feminity is unnerving many and has started a raging debate in the Muslim community across the continent. Dr Wadud, an African American and a long time convert to Islam, is poised to become probably the first woman in the mainstream Islam, at least in modern times, to give a khutba (sermon) and lead Friday prayers, at a New York congregation to be attended by her male and female supporters.
"What? What? A woman lead prayers? She must be killed!"
Dr Wadud's supporters argue that there is no express prohibition in the Holy Quran or Sunnah which bars women from leading prayers. They also cite a Hadith in which Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) gave permission to Umme Warqa to lead a mixed congregation in prayers at her home.
Doesn't matter. Since it's not required or obligatory, it must be forbidden. She must be killed. Next case.
A Muslim group has gone one step further by declaring this episode a fight between progressive and traditional Muslims. "Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the rise of political or theocratic Islam is the curtailment of women's rights.
Ummmm... Yeah. But political or theocratic Islam seems to have arisen sometime around 622 A.D.
For this reason, The Free Muslims Against Terrorism congratulates Dr Amina Wadud and the progressive Muslims for their courageous leadership in challenging traditional Muslims," says Kamal Nawash, founder and president of Free Muslims Against Terrorism, a Washington-based group. The opponents of female imams do not see this controversy as a fight between traditional and progressive Islam. "Basketball or football teams are not discriminating against women for being inferior if they do not recruit women. It is simply a matter of practicality," comments a gentleman on the controversy in his Internet posting. Dr Wadud has written an internationally known book: "Quran and Woman: Re-reading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective." She caused quite a stir at a recent conference in Toronto when she said it was okay "saying no to the Quran where one disagrees with it."
"Especially the part where it sez it's okay to kill women prayer leaders. That's gotta be a mistranslation or somethin'..."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2005 12:31:29 AM ||
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âBasketball or football teams are not discriminating against women for being inferior if they do not recruit women. It is simply a matter of practicality...â
Most women are not as physically capable of competing with men in those sports. It's a biological question.
Oh, so then you mean there is a biological reason that a woman can't lead prayers?
"You can't fire me! I quit!"
"Mahmoud, help him on with his coat!"
President Pervez Musharraf has formally accepted NWFP Governor Lt Gen (r) Syed Iftikhar Hussian Shah's resignation and appointed Khalilur Rehman, deputy chairman of the Senate, the new governor of the province. Shah handed in his resignation in the first week of March and the president accepted it on Friday, according to an official press release. It said that President Musharraf had asked Shah to continue in his office till the new governor took charge of his duties. Shah had citied personal reasons for his resignation.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2005 12:33:17 AM ||
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President Pervez Musharraf vowed on Saturday to "fight terrorism ruthlessly" and asked moderate Pakistanis to help him tackle extremism and sectarianism because "this task cannot be achieved by an individual or the government alone". Addressing the third convocation of the International Islamic University, the president said a successful fight against terrorism and extremism was only possible with the help of moderate forces in the country. "There is a tendency to equate Islam with religious extremism and terrorism. Misperceptions about Islam need to be removed through the strategy of enlightened moderation for durable and lasting peace in the world," he said.
The president said the Muslim world should reject extremism and move towards socio-economic development while the West should resolve lingering political disputes, the root cause of extremism and terrorism. "Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance and tells women and men to live in harmony by promoting justice, equality and fraternity," he said.
Yeah, yeah. Yadda yadda. Blah blah. It was a lot more believable the first time we heard it.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2005 12:15:27 AM ||
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Perv, how can women live in "fraternity"?
Posted by: Rex Rufus ||
03/13/2005 0:35 Comments ||
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Musharraf vows to fight terror ruthlessly
...I wonder where Ruth is...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/13/2005 1:31 Comments ||
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#3
Going to jail all the leaders amd members of the MMA and groups whos name stars with a J, I or A? That is what it will take.
That's probably because she doesn't give a phart at this point. She's got more important things to concern herself with, like taking Iran apart. I'll bet she's not even particularly concerned about the religion column on Pak passports, assuming she's ever heard the subject raised.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2005 12:25:08 AM ||
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No sense in aggrevating the neighbors before vaporizing the Mad Mullahs next door.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/13/2005 11:52 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD — The founding director of France's left-leaning newspaper Liberation arrived in Baghdad on Friday to try to contribute to efforts to find kidnapped reporter Florence Aubenas.
These commie tricks are getting a little old.
Serge July said he would use the working visit to the Iraqi capital, which is being coordinated with the French embassy in Baghdad, to explain through the Iraqi media the growing Europe-wide campaign for Aubenas's release.
Which consists of a lot of talk. Ya know, if you only had troops on the ground in Iraq ...
Aubenas, a senior correspondent for Liberation, and her Iraqi interpreter, Hussein Hanun Al Saadi, vanished after leaving her Baghdad hotel on January 5. July started his mission by visiting Saadi's family.
Then he had lunch, smoked a cigarette, sipped some really nice wine, and took a nap.
Last week, the unidentified abductors released a video which showed the Frenchwoman looking gaunt and dishevelled, begging for help.
Nope, not doing nuttin' for me at all.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Serge July said he would use the working visit to the Iraqi capital, which is being coordinated with the French embassy in Baghdad, to explain through the Iraqi media the growing Europe-wide campaign for Aubenasâs release.
In other words, he wants to drive home the difference between the EU and the Coalition. What's the French word for 'grovel' again?
#2
I hope this frog asshole takes some cues for the Italians and clues the U. S. military in on what he is up to, distasteful as it may be for him. It would be far less unfrotunate if we killed a couple of the enemy frogs trying to breach oud checkpoint unannounced.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/13/2005 9:58 Comments ||
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#3
I wouldn't be surprised if the director gets kidnapped himself.
#5
At least he is announcing his presence this time, since the secret approach did not work so well. Meanwhile, the terrorists' see ***Ka-ching, Ka-ching*** in his visit.
"This may be the gift from Allah that we have been praying for, Mahmoud."
"Yes, Achmed, this infidel may solve our cash flow problems."
"I used to scoff at your reading of infidel theories of investments, Mahmoud, I thought that it was Un-Islamic, but now I see that our detention of the infidel female Florence Aubenas is a wise and crafty long-term investment.
"Yes, Achmed. Just another way of financing the war, when our Syrian connection was severed."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/13/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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Fred, I don't think that pic is workplace safe....
A day after his release from house arrest, sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today asked King Gyanendra to release all political detainees, restore fundamental rights and press freedom and constitute a multiparty government. The February 1 step by the King to sack the multiparty government and suspend all fundamental rights of the sovereign Nepalese people was a blatant violation of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, Deuba said addressing a crowded press conference at his residence at Budhanilkantha.
The King's step invited political crisis in the country and that should be resolved soon by restoring democracy and fundamental rights, he said. Deuba and ex-Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka were released from house arrest and 20 other political activists were freed yesterday after one and a half month in detention. However, Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala, CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, Peoples Front Nepal President Amik Serchan and other 800 people are still either in house arrest or in jail. He said his party Nepali Congress (Democratic) along with four major parties including NC and CPN-UML will intensify the anti-King agitation. "Our peaceful movement will continue till democracy was restored and fundamental rights are returned to the people," Deuba said. The five political parties have announced widespread demonstrations on March 14 against the royal coup.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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The government of Jammu and Kashmir admitted yesterday that 25 of the 45 militants who surrendered in Nagrota last year were "fake" and three persons have been arrested for staging the surrender. J&K Minister for Home A.R. Veeri told the state assembly that on November 9 last year a case of surrender of 45 local militants took place which turned out to be fake.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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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.
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, in his first stop during a week-long visit to the United States, stressed his belief on Saturday that the Irish Republican Army will one day cease to exist. Adams reiterated what he told a Sinn Fein party conference a week ago that, "We in Sinn Fein want to see the IRA ceasing to be. I have said that I do think we'll see the day when there is no IRA." The head of the IRA's political ally began his visit under fire on both sides of the Atlantic over his party's ties to the guerrilla group, which has been accused of robbing a bank and shielding the killers of a Roman Catholic man in Northern Ireland. But Adams said he was unaware that a State Department official called on Friday for the political party to make a "clear break" with the IRA to restore the progress made toward a united Northern Irish government, based on equality between Catholics and Protestants.
One year after the worst terrorist attack in Spanish history, the Spanish police continue to uncover and thwart new plots involving Islamic militants, according to senior Spanish intelligence and law enforcement officials. Despite sweeping measures to improve their ability to investigate potential terrorist threats since the March 11, 2004, bomb attacks that left 191 people dead, the officials estimate that there are hundreds of people scattered in cells around the country committed to attacking centers of power in Spain.
Fernando Reinares, a special adviser to the Interior Ministry and a terrorism specialist with the Elcano Institute, said, "Apparently they were taking the first steps of what could be plans for committing terrorist actions." Another cell was uncovered last fall, when the police carried out an operation against a group of Algerian and Moroccan radicals who were believed to be planning an attack on Madrid's High Court and perhaps other targets. Using informers, investigators learned that the plotters had started to try to procure explosives for the operation. Concerned that an attack was imminent, the government decided to close down the cell. Investigators brought the information to Judge Baltasar Garzón, Spain's highest antiterrorism magistrate, who ordered the arrests of more than 30 people, mostly North Africans, suspected in the plot. "This particular plot was pretty close," Mr. López Aguilar said. "But it didn't happen."
The deportation of controversial 
The United States will pursue "stronger action" if Iran does not abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions, Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview Friday. The statement comes as Washington announced it would drop objections to Iran joining the World Trade Organization to support efforts by Britain, France and Germany aimed at persuading Tehran to end its suspect nuclear program. If the Iranians are interested only in civilian nuclear power they can acquire reactor fuel from several different commercial sources, Cheney said in an interview with Fox News. The concern is that Iran wants to enrich enough fuel to give them the capability to build a weapon, he said. "And that's what we want to avoid," said Cheney. "But at the end of the day if the Iranians don't live up to their obligations and their international commitments to forego a nuclear program, then obviously we'll have to take stronger action." 
The Lebanese opposition is turning up the heat on the pro-Syrian Lebanese government, hoping to garner broad international support behind its demand for a full Syrian military withdrawal from the country. The campaign to end Syria's near 30-year military presence in Lebanon nonetheless appears to be bearing some fruit. A delegation of opposition MPs met this week in Brussels with European Union external affairs commissioner Javier Solana and with French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier. One of the government's leading opponents, the Druze politician Walid Jumblatt, was also in Moscow to confer with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Larov.
President Pervez Musharraf vowed on Saturday to "fight terrorism ruthlessly" and asked moderate Pakistanis to help him tackle extremism and sectarianism because "this task cannot be achieved by an individual or the government alone". Addressing the third convocation of the International Islamic University, the president said a successful fight against terrorism and extremism was only possible with the help of moderate forces in the country. "There is a tendency to equate Islam with religious extremism and terrorism. Misperceptions about Islam need to be removed through the strategy of enlightened moderation for durable and lasting peace in the world," he said.
BAGHDAD — The founding director of France's left-leaning newspaper Liberation arrived in Baghdad on Friday to try to contribute to efforts to find kidnapped reporter Florence Aubenas.
A day after his release from house arrest, sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today asked King Gyanendra to release all political detainees, restore fundamental rights and press freedom and constitute a multiparty government. The February 1 step by the King to sack the multiparty government and suspend all fundamental rights of the sovereign Nepalese people was a blatant violation of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, Deuba said addressing a crowded press conference at his residence at Budhanilkantha.
