(SomaliNet) Hundreds of angry protestors have on Tuesday rallied in Abudwaq town of Galgadud region in central Somalia in protest of the recent brutal act by the Islamic fighters in which they executed four wounded men who were belonging to the militia loyal to Colonel Bare Hirale, the leader of former defeated Juba Valley Alliance and minister of interim government based in Baidoa city in southwest Somalia.
The demonstrators were complaining about the Islamist killing acts to wounded prisons of war in Bu'ale city, the capital of middle Juba region in southern Somalia. Gunmen of Islamic Courts entered the hospital where they had killed the injured militiamen who were laying on beds. The people in Abudwaq who were taking part in the protest were chanting anti Islamist slogans and burnt the sort of turbans knows with Islamic fighters to wear. This shows mounting hatred to Islamic Courts and lessens the support for Islamists.
Most of the local officials addressed the rally strongly condemned the acts in which Islamic fighters finished wounded POWs as barbaric, inhuman and unacceptable. They said it was unjustified and un Islamic acts Abudwaq is dominant by the clan in which the executed militias were belonging.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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President George W. Bush said on Tuesday the United States was looking at new ways to stop the violence in Darfur after getting a "grim" report about the humanitarian crisis from his special envoy.
I'd suggest an ultimatum to the Sudanese government to cease and desist. If they don't, begin bombing every manifestation of Sudanese military activity, from their MoD to Joe Jeep Jockey.
"The United States is going to work with the international community to come up with a single plan on how to address this issue and save lives," Bush said after meeting envoy Andrew Natsios, who spent 10 days in Sudan this month.
Unfortunately, we've been "working with the international community," which, as usual, suffers from testicular paralysis. Time passeth, and the slaughter continues while the striped pants set has some pretty good lunches.
"He came back with a grim report," Bush said. "The people who have suffered there need to know that the United States will work with others to help solve the problem. And the government of Sudan must understand that we're serious."
The government of Sudan would know we were serious of we began turning all Sudanese military installations into rubble and all Sudanese military equipment into scrap metal.
The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003, when non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government. In response, the government mobilized Arab militias known as Janjaweed, who have been accused of murder, rape and looting. An estimated 200,000 have been killed and 2.5 million forced to flee their homes during violence that has included rape, killing and looting.
But the UN can't bring itself to admit that 200,000 dead is genocide.
Although it declared more than two years ago that genocide had occurred in Darfur, the United States has been unable to stop the violence or to persuade the government to accept a U.N. peace-keeping force of up to 22,500 troops and police.
The U.S. calls it genocide. The UN calls it "unfortunate."
Bush, and a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, both suggested they were looking at what more they can do but provided few details on how they might influence the Khartoum government. "We are reaching the crunch point. It's important that the Sudanese government be in no doubt at all of our seriousness," Blair's spokesman said after the British prime minister met Sudanese Vice President Salva Kiir in London.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I'd suggest contemplating only. You have enough on your plate. I know, let Koffee handle this one.
#3
The last time the US wanted to show a big heart in an African country, we wound up in a "BlackHawk Down" situation. The sight of our boys being dragged around in the dust nude damn near drove me to a stroke back then (Thanks Les, and I hope your still dead!). Let the AU handle this and help with logistics and intelligence if need be. If other African governments and militaries don't give a s***, why should we. Save our guys for the winter offensive in Afghanistan, thats coming up.
#4
Western Liberals are screaming for the US to get involved but once we do they will be screaming that our troops are commiting atrocities and that we should leave before the job is done. Isn't that their MO? If they are so concerned about Dafur then they should suit up and stop the killing themselves. That is, if they can stop accusing and insulting our troops long enough to get their cowardly asses into gear!
#7
Unfortunately, we've been "working with the international community," which, as usual, suffers from testicular paralysis.
No. The "international community" whole-heartedly endorses genocide. Look at how they treat the Palestinians.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/01/2006 5:17 Comments ||
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#8
Arclight Khartoum and watch this stuff stop. Use an F/A-18 armed escort and turn the arab capital into a typical arab cesspit. I'm sure Ethiopia will allow us to over-fly their territory, either on the way in or the way out. We already have SOME Buffs in Diego Garcia. It'll make for a long day, but those guys can handle it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/01/2006 13:40 Comments ||
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Algeria's powerful army, an unyielding foe of Islamist rebels, has a key role to play in forging peace and democracy after years of strife, a top Islamist opposition politician told Reuters in an interview. The conciliatory remarks by Rabah Kebir are the most positive made by a senior Islamist about the influential military since Algeria descended into violence in 1992 following aborted elections that Kebir's party was poised to win.
"The army is a key player during this transitional period," said Kebir, a revolutionary-turned-reformist who has drawn national attention by voicing support for government peace efforts since returning from 14 years in exile in September. "It (the army) is a real guarantee that the political class will reach a stage where it will be able to govern the country in the manner of Western democracies," said Kebir, dressed in a traditional flowing white "kamis" robe as he spoke during a visit to Larbaa town south of Algiers. "The day the parties will govern the country, that day the army will withdraw and play its role as described in the constitution."
His unusual praise of the army's role in ensuring security and political stability signals a deepening of his rapprochement with the government, which has sought to welcome Islamists into the political mainstream provided they renounce violence.
A slim, tall figure with a close cut beard, Kebir spoke to Reuters after leading evening prayers for about 30 colleagues, among them several founders of the FIS and its armed wing, in the house of an associate in this fruit-farming town. With his return from Germany Kebir, in his late 40s, became the first leader of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) to end his self-imposed exile since its armed wing began a revolt in 1992. Several other FIS leaders remain overseas.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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DOHA - Al-Jazeera news channel, which has changed the face of Arab television reporting by breaking taboos, is set to extend its controversial reach to English-speaking audiences as it marks its 10th anniversary on Wednesday. The maverick Arabic channel, which began broadcasting in 1996 with staff largely drawn from the BBCs short-lived Arabic television, is looking to a promising future since the will, the money and the expertise are all there, according to its editor-in-chief, Ahmad al-Sheikh.
Its second decade will see the repeatedly delayed launch of the English-language Al-Jazeera International on November 15, one of the stations directors Mahmud Shamam told AFP on Tuesday. Al Jazeera International, whose launch was initially planned for 2005, but had to be put off partly for technical reasons, will transmit from four regional broadcast centers in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington.
Al Jazeera, often dubbed the Arab CNN, will also start a pan-Arab newspaper, based also in Doha, sources in the network said without specifying a launch date.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Al Jazeera, often dubbed the Arab CNN,
I thought CNN is was theArab CNN already?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
11/01/2006 13:20 Comments ||
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#2
Maybe as part of their expansion, they can do live remotes on the Iranian navy clock cleaning that is about to commence.
A tip off from Australian security agencies has seen three Australians held in Yemen suspected of running guns for al-Qaeda. Two brothers and another Australian of Polish extraction were arrested in the Middle Eastern state two weeks ago. They were reportedly training as terrorists under the guidance of Osama bin Laden's mentor Sheik Abdul Amjai al-Zindani, at a local university.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Britain's law and order chief said Tuesday that nearly 400 people have been charged with terrorist offenses since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. A total of 387 people had been charged with terrorism-related offenses in the last five years, with 98 awaiting trial and 214 already convicted, Home Secretary John Reid said at a conference in central London.
"That is an indication of the scale of the threat which we face," Reid told the event, organized by technology firm Smiths Group PLC. "In responding to it, the struggle has to be at every level, in every way and by every single person in this country. It is easy between trials and between headlines to forget just how deep this ongoing struggle is," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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TOKYO - Japan will maintain its sanctions on North Korea despite Pyongyangs agreement to return to stalled six-party talks on the reclusive communist states nuclear programme, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said on Wednesday. Shiozaki, the governments top spokesman, said North Korea must first commit itself to abandoning its nuclear programmes, as promised in a joint statement issued after a September 2005 round of the six-party talks.
The most important thing is for North Korea to completely abandon nuclear development in accordance with the joint statement from September of last year, Shiozaki told a news conference. Until we know that they will keep that promise, we will just carry on with what weve decided to do, he said, referring to Japans sanctions implemented following Pyongyangs Oct. 9 nuclear test.
The Japanese punitive measures include a ban on imports and a prohibition on North Korean ships entering its ports.
Earlier, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso was quoted as saying that it was too early to celebrate. It is truly welcome that the talks are set to be resumed soon, but we cannot just celebrate and say Thats great, Kyodo news agency quoted Aso as telling parliament.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
PACIFIC STARS-AND-STRIPES > Quinones > USA believes North Korea MAY/MIGHT at 6-Party Talks demand the withdrawal of all US milfors from South Korea as condition precedent for giving up its nuke weapons progs.
#2
Screw em, when you get em on the ropes you don't let em go. You move in for the kill. I think keep the pressure on until we see some real cooperation.
The two Sydney brothers arrested in Yemen as suspected al-Qaeda terrorists were being watched last year by authorities who foiled a suicide bomb plot aimed at Sydney's Kings Cross railway station, newspapers said today.
Mohammed and Abdullah Ayub were arrested in a CIA sting last month along with a third Australian, Polish-born Marat Sumolsky, 35, who lives overseas, according to reports.
The three are among a group of eight foreigners with suspected links to al-Qaeda who are facing terrorism charges in Yemen over an alleged plot to smuggle arms to Somalia.
The Ayub boys were being watched because their father, Abdul Rahim Ayub, and his twin brother, Abdul Rahman Ayub, were believed to be the Jemaah Islamiah agents who set up a Sydney cell called Mantiqi4, before the 2000 Olympics.
Their Australian-born mother, who reportedly swapped hippie beads for a burqa in Indonesia, heads a radical Islamic wives club whose husbands were arrested over the Kings Cross plot, newspapers report.
Rabiah Hutchinson is in Yemen with her jailed sons, aged 18 and 20.
The Ayubs' Sydney lawyer, Adam Houda, says his clients have done nothing wrong.
Australian consular officials are expected to be granted access to the trio today.
Not that her opinion counts, she being "meat" and all.
Amnesty International's first female Muslim secretary-general, Irene Khan, says a Sydney Islamic cleric does not deserve the privilege of leadership after a comment comparing unveiled women to "uncovered meat". Ms Khan says Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilaly's views are not representative of the majority of Muslim people and it is up to Muslim communities to take action.
She told ABC TV's Lateline program says it is time for the debate to move on. "I think people like him should not be given the privilege of being considered as leaders," she said. "Because the question on part of the Muslim community - and there is a question on the part of the larger community - as to how much space do you give to views that reflect only a very narrow part of the community?" She says Muslim communities should take their own action. "I think a lot of the responsibility lies with the Muslim communities themselves and they need to rise to that responsibility here and take action. At the same time the Government should not target or demonise the Muslim community itself because of what one individual is saying and there is a sense among the Muslims that this man does not represent them any more than [former One Nation MP] Pauline Hanson represented Australian views."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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This is the kind of action we've been looking for. And, if you get the chance, kick this old bugger right in the balls.
#2
I guess al-Hilali doesn't exactly meat with her approval.
She says Muslim communities should take their own action. "I think a lot of the responsibility lies with the Muslim communities themselves and they need to rise to that responsibility here and take action. At the same time the Government should not target or demonise the Muslim community itself because of what one individual is saying and there is a sense among the Muslims that this man does not represent them any more than [former One Nation MP] Pauline Hanson represented Australian views."
Oz Rantburgers, how about it, did the Australian public loudly decry the policies of Pauline Hanson?
It is encouraging to note how Khan lobs the ball into the Muslims' court by noting how "a lot of the responsibility lies with the Muslim communities themselves and they need to rise to that responsibility here and take action". Less encouraging is how Ms. Khan strays from an otherwise good stance on one point. She says that, "there is a sense among the Muslims that this man does not represent them". This most certainly does not seem to be the case. The outcry against al-Hilali has been minimal, as witnessed by his refusal to step down. The rally being planned in al-Hilali's support certainly indicates a strong current of support within the Muslim community.
I suppose we should be glad that Amnesty International has appointed a Muslim woman who is not an apologist or appeaser. More heartening is that Ms. Khan will be in the catbird seat when it comes to flaying Islam alive over its policy of Abject Gender Apartheid. It only remains to be seen if Amnesty International will have the moral conviction to finally take on Islam for its vast catalog of human rights abuses.
#3
I have come to the conclusion that the so called "moderates" dont talk out either they are too scared or my personal favourite that deep down they believe in what the extremist demand ie Sharia, islamic domination worldwide etc.
#4
"Deserve" is a strange word to use when talking about leadership, especially when discussing non-elected "community leaders". They either are, or they aren't, leaders. "Deserving" reeks of paternalism.
So, while the guy in question is a turd, and a waste of a perfectly good turban, I have to object to this notion of just deserts. It suggests that the speaker in question somehow believes that the world is, or ought to be, fair. Which is obnoxious in and of itself.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/01/2006 7:58 Comments ||
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#5
It's good that Ms Khan spoke out. It's just interesting that she/Amnesty International waited this long to say something.
#7
"She says that, "there is a sense among the Muslims that this man does not represent them". This most certainly does not seem to be the case. "
Seeing that she IS muslim, and DOES live in Australia, might we not assume that she is making a judgement based on her own observations, and not by examining outcries in the press?
#8
Seeing that she IS muslim, and DOES live in Australia, might we not assume that she is making a judgement based on her own observations, and not by examining outcries in the press?
I'll refrain from further comment until I see what happens at al-Hilali's support rally. That the rally is happening at all is significant in and of itself.
Two of the Australian terrorism suspects arrested in Yemen are reportedly the young sons of a Jemaah Islamiah agent.
The brothers, aged 18 and 20, are the sons of Abdul Rahim Ayub, who set up a Jemaah Islamiah cell in Australia and fled after the Bali bombings.
Fairfax reports the brothers, aged 18 and 20, are the sons of Abdul Rahim Ayub, who set up a Jemaah Islamiah cell in Australia and fled after the Bali bombings. Their mother, Australian-born Rabiah Hutchinson, who grew up in the NSW town of Mudgee, is possibly more radical than the father.
The couple met in Indonesia, after Ms Hutchinson became a strict Muslim, and they wed in 1984. Her husband's twin brother, Abdul Rahman Ayub, reportedly fought alongside Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
They are part of a group - that has been under ASIO scrutiny for years - insisting they went to Yemen to further their religious instruction.
They are part of a group - that has been under ASIO scrutiny for years - insisting they went to Yemen to further their religious instruction. A third Australian, with Polish heritage, was arrested in Yemen with the brothers. Australian consular officials are on their way to Yemen to meet three Australian terrorism suspects.
News Ltd reports that a fourth Australian may have been arrested in Yemen over the plot. The men are among a group of eight foreigners with suspected links to al-Qaeda who are facing terrorism charges in Yemen over an alleged plot to smuggle arms to Somalia.
Sydney lawyer Adam Houda is representing the Ayub brothers and has concerns about their welfare, citing Yemen's poor human rights record. Mr Houda said his clients had done nothing wrong. "We're talking about two kids here, one's 18 and one is 20, innocent of all claims or any links with terrorism," he said. He described claims that they had links to al-Qaeda as "totally ridiculous". Mr Houda was reluctant to discuss whether the brothers' had links to men who reportedly helped set up a Jemaah Islamiah (JI) cell in Australia.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Ms Hutchison is in Yemen with her sons, Mohammed Ayub and Abdullah Ayub, and the Herald has been told that their tour group was joined by some of the wives of the men who were arrested on terrorism charges in Sydney one year ago.
That was from another article. That's a strange little tidbit.
The head of Sydney's Lebanese Muslim Association says he has no concerns that Saturday's rally in support of embattled Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali will turn violent. Association president Tom Zreika has told the Nine Network that rally goers, who will meet at the Lakemba mosque, have been urged to think of India's peaceful campaigner, Mahatma Gandhi. "We've been out telling people to just relax, take it easy, it should be a calm day," Mr Zreika said. "Think of Gandhi when you're out there because the last thing that we want to do is stir up more emotions and more trouble. The point is, if you really want this message to come out, do it in the legal way, don't break the law, obviously and have fun."
An SMS message is circulating, calling on Muslims to attend the "peaceful" rally. Mr Zreika said he also had sought the approval of police to stage the rally, and he said sufficient officers would be provided to assure public safety.
Sheik Alhilali is recuperating in hospital after collapsing during a meeting that was to decide his future, following the public outcry over a sermon in which he likened immodest women to "uncovered meat" who invited assault.
Mr Zreika said it was not up to him to remove the sheik from his position, and he called for a "fair go" for him. "It's not a matter for me, it is a matter for the Australian Muslim public. I resonate what they say," Mr Zreika said. "There are calls - I'm not going to say that there are no calls ... but he has apologised, he has given an explanation, he has asked for more time to recover. Now, it is up to us to give him a fair go according to Australian standards.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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The head of Sydney's Lebanese Muslim Association says he has no concerns that Saturday's rally in support of embattled Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali will turn violent.
Horse snot ... I mean "of course not", Zreika knows that the rally will turn violent. Ergo, his lack of concern. I will post a retraction right here at Rantburg if this demonstration goes off without any violence. I'll give myself this one out; If Aussie counter-protesters show up and festivities ensue, it counts as violence even if the Aussies start it because, after all of the antagonism al-Hilali has spewed, it's difficult to imagine that Sydneysiders won't go ballistic at the drop of a fatwah.
#2
The point is, if you really want this message to come out, do it in the legal way, don't break the law, obviously and have fun."
I thought the message was that it is ok to rape women without a hijab. Tough to do that the "legal" way. However, I'm sure if you are following Sharia - you can find a way to both make that legal and have fun.
Seriously - this is an outrage and I hope that the Australians will begin to realize how dangerous this is becoming. Clearly - the "moderate muslims" who insisted that his comments did not represent the views of many Muslims were mistaken.
#3
HHHHMMMMMM, HHHHHHMMMMMM, ANTI-AMERICAN GLOBAL SECULAR/SOCIALIST STATE vs ANTI-AMER GLOBAL RADICAL MUSLIM STATE vs ANTi-AMER GLOBAL MAFIA STATE vs ............@ > IOW, the world will all be happy and equal when someone else has our rights, our freedoms, our money, wealth, women, lands, homes, .......goldfish and pet dogs, etc. WE'RE FREE, D *** NG IT, NOT SLAVES.
#5
As long as they understand they are rallying in support of rape. In support of defining women as "meat". In support of demanding women remain hidden under an abiya in some dark corner of a house and never permitted out alone or uncovered.
Such a noble rally. Best break out the burkhas girls least you be "peacefully" raped at this event.
#2
To be frank, though the term islamoleftists was nopt coined by chance, french "conservatives" suck up to the muslim vote pretty badly too, from the municipal level (mosque building funded with public money, ground loaned for a symbolical euro for 99 years, etc, etc...), to the very top (think shiraq, galouzeau "de villepin", or sarko).
#4
Parwez Wahid, who worked the phones on a recent night for Deval Patrick, the Democratic nominee for governor in Massachusetts, said getting better representation of Islam in school curriculums is one example of issues that concern Muslims at the local level.
Well then Deval's your man!
That separation of church and state thing? A mere formality...
#5
The republicans should get a cooperative cleric to drop a fatwah on Muslims voting for a party that supports nine different kinds of Islamic blasphemy. It only goes to show how callow the Democrats are that they accept this Muslim support despite it being one of the purest forms of taqqiya ever seen.
WASHINGTON - Bowing to pressure from both political parties, Sen. John Kerry issued an apology to U.S. troops on Wednesday after a botched joke about President Bushs Iraq policies that led Bush and fellow Republicans to accuse him of insulting the GIs.
I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended, Kerry said in a statement.
Kerry said he mangled the delivery of a line aimed at Bush that he delivered on Monday. According to aides, the language was originally written to say that if youre intellectually lazy, you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq just ask President Bush.
In his apology on Wednesday, Kerry said, As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop.
It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don't want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops.
I wonder if he's actually learned anything from this lesson?
Here's a few:
1) Jokes aren't to be undertaken lightly.
2) John Kerry isn't very good at jokes.
3) The American people don't dig even a hint of demeaning our fighting men and women.
Unfortunately, I suspect John Kerry will take away the following:
1) People are too stupid to get my lofty humor.
2) I mean people are REALLY stupid not to have gotten this one.
3) Really, really stupid. Unlike me, who had the sense to marry not one but TWO really wealthy women.
#2
Does McCain--or any other combat veteran for that matter--feel compelled to remind everyone at EVERY FREAKIN' OPPORTUNITY that he is a combat veteran?
Kerry should just put his medals back on so we don't have to hear about it again and again and again!
Oh, wait--I forgot he threw them away. Never mind...
Posted by: Dar ||
11/01/2006 16:50 Comments ||
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#3
Two thoughts:
1. "I voted against apologizing before I voted for it."
2. Wonder how the moonbats are taking all this?
Posted by: Mike ||
11/01/2006 16:58 Comments ||
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#4
I was for the joke before I was against it.
Thank you, thank you. I will be performing all week! Take my wife....Please!!!
Posted by: John F Kerry ||
11/01/2006 17:01 Comments ||
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#5
my words were misinterpreted should never, ever be part of a apology. That is not an apology -- that is deflecting the blame elsewhere, rather than on self.
#8
I am not a veteran, let alone on who has seen combat. Kerry's apology is about 3 days late. It's was not just an insult against those who choose to serve in our nations military, it was an insult against the whole nation.
#10
Horse hockey. This effete, ineffectual snob manages to dodge responsibility yet again while appearing to those who don't pay much attention to have apologized.
He doesn't say he's sorry he said what he said. He says he regrets that he was misinterpreted. It's the fault of those damned listeners and that lying video tape! Not only was he misinterpreted, but misinterpreted to "wrongly imply" something negative about the military. He didn't imply anything- he straight out said it. Sorry if you were offended, he says, but it wuzn't me you should be mad at, it's those misinterpreters who are to blame.
Spineless, opportunistic and obtuse. Utterly lacking leadership qualities or strength of character. Some things never change.
He's willing to "personally apologize" to those who were offended, in the same way
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
11/01/2006 17:19 Comments ||
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#11
Such an insincere weasel.
Posted by: ed ||
11/01/2006 17:20 Comments ||
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#12
OK, 40+ hours to own up to his gaffe. How about some damage estimates;
Million$ in Dem sponsored TV advertising undercut
Loss of 3 news cycles
His need to be relevent has just contaminated and invalidated most of the poll work completed to this point, as the great unknown will now be how much did reminding everyone what a swack the dems nominated in 2004 reenergize the republican base. Both parties will be in the fog of war from now until Tuesday without relevent polling data. Both sides will spend additional million$ trying to figure out the damage done from "inside the submarine".
All in all, nice work Lurch. Karl knew he could count on you!
#16
This is what Mr. Kerry said: You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.
This is what he says he meant to say: I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq."
#17
This is what Mr. Kerry said: You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.
This is what he says he meant to say: I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq."
#18
"During last year's presidential campaign, John F. Kerry was the candidate often portrayed as intellectual and complex, while George W. Bush was the populist who mangled his sentences. But newly released records show that Bush and Kerry had a virtually identical grade average at Yale University four decades ago." LINK
#19
"Kerry, who graduated two years before Bush, got a cumulative 76 for his four years, according to a transcript that Kerry sent to the Navy when he was applying for officer training school. He received four D's in his freshman year out of 10 courses, but improved his average in later years. The grade transcript, which Kerry has always declined to release, was included in his Navy record."
#20
What a pathetic piece of dogsh!t; I can only imagine that since 'the apology,' the phone lines are being worked overtime to try to get back on the cancelled campaign appearances. One can only hope that the candidates roll over and have Senator Stupid back on.....good news for all the pubbies out there.
#21
Also note that this is perhaps the first time he's failed to get in front of a camera to speak on something. That says a lot in my book (and it's not good).
You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq. Nyuck!Nyuck!Nyuck!Nyuck!Nyuck!
#23
So it is the contention of the gentleman from Massachussetts that he lacks situational awareness, is incompetent both at reading a prepared speech and at ad-libbing from the text, and he has a tin ear? Some people are best suited to quietly clipping coupons in the upstairs back room.
Kerry's a dildo. Not even a real dick. A fake, imitation, battery-powered dick.
Apologies to the ladies; it's the gin.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/01/2006 21:01 Comments ||
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#25
Those of us who were around in the 60's understand that there was no "botched joke", only a natural expression of beliefs held for over 40 years. People like Kerry thought it then, they think it now. They cannot conceive that anything might have greater value than their own precious hides and the fufillment of their instant desire.
#27
I am not a veteran, let alone on who has seen combat. Kerry's apology is about 3 days late. It's was not just an insult against those who choose to serve in our nations military, it was an insult against the whole nation.
Apology not accepted.
As one who was also not in uniform, but did see combat (and has the throat and calf scars and the screwed up knees & ankles to prove it), and as one who's life was saved by a coupla' Marines who dragged my ass through the bush for a klick or two with one of 'em holding a pressure bandage to my throat the whole way (needed 14 stitches, missed the jugular by less than an inch), I can honestly say that J F'n Kerry is a prick, and someone whom I would never want at my back any day of the friggin' week let alone as my commander in chief.
I'll take any one of the guys who dragged my sorry bleeding butt out of the bush that day over this idiot anytime - and they were under fire most of the way and never once even thought about leaving the civilian "liason" behind.
Kerry would leave everyone behind if he were ever (shudder) elected POTUS. He's a pos of the first order.
#3
Worse than the stealing is the lie implied by its use in the ad. She's an anti-war candidate who claims that the photo shows "just how bad it is in Iraq". In fact the girl was injured by a terrorist bomb and the US soldier is carrying her to safety and medical attention. Not that the truth is much of a barrier to the Dems...
#7
I'm proud of those boys. They're among the deadliest soldiers ever to walk the earth, theyre in the Middle East killing bad guys and setting people free, and they've got a wicked sense of humor.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/01/2006 22:45 Comments ||
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#8
Yeah, Kerry apologizing at this point for being fearful of damaging the upcoming election, instead of to our Troops. Too little too late. Seems like he had a conference with his ilk to decide how he should best deal with his comments.
This delay speaks volumes. What a rectum.
Posted by: Jan ||
11/01/2006 23:06 Comments ||
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Inappropriate Comments Are a Distraction from Important Issues NEW YORK - The nation's first and largest Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans organization, IAVA (iava.org), released the following statement today from Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff in response to Senator John Kerry's remarks Monday.
"Senator Kerry should issue an immediate apology for his misguided and inappropriate remarks," said Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran, and the founder and executive director of IAVA. "His comments, and his refusal to offer an apology, have angered many troops and veterans, and have become an unfortunate distraction from the real issues that face this nation."
"Let's not forget that while our politicians are busy fighting each other, our troops are busy fighting the enemy. Right now there is a US Soldier missing somewhere in Iraq, but our leadership in Washington and the American media is consumed by this latest example of politics at its worst," Rieckhoff said. "It's time to get back to the issues that matter."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 12:21 ||
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#1
I think he's waaaaay past an apology.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/01/2006 13:09 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. John Kerry apologized on Wednesday for a "botched joke" that had drawn fire from President George W. Bush and dominated debate in the last days of a bitter fight for control of Congress.
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Yahoo news say he apologized, here, but the guts of the whole article are below.
Kerry said his remarks about Iraq troops to a college crowd in California were aimed at Bush, not the military, and canceled campaign appearances on behalf of Democratic candidates to avoid becoming a bigger distraction.
If that's his idea of an apology, that's what he said yesterday.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/01/2006 13:17 Comments ||
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#9
I wonder if that pic will be on Pg 1 above the fold of the WaPo or NYT tomorrow morning. You know it would if a trunk had said something that stupid.
#17
I just can not believe Kerry hasn't put an end to this at any cost.
He is being beaten worse than a rented mule on a mexican beach,and he still won't plead stupid.
I'm sure all of those millions spent on dem advertising today are hitting home!
#18
They just showed the pic on Fox. Kerry is a bigot, always has been.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/01/2006 19:05 Comments ||
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#19
It's worse than that, 49 Pan. He's both a snob and deeply insecure. I still remember that bio of him that the Boston paper ran before the 04 election. We were supposed to feel sorry for him because his branch of the family couldn't keep up financially with the Kennedys etc. and his aunt had to pay his way through the outrageously expensive exclusive prep school. That made him disadvantaged, you see ...
Well the pitch was a loser, but it did illuminate something deep in his character. Those really rich kids were from Republican families, ergo he would be a Dem. And while he looks down on your average American he also secretly feels inadequate in the social class to which he aspires.
It's a neurotic mess and he keeps acting it out, over and over again. Filming himself acting out combat in Vietnam so he could be a hero like the real JFK was only one instance ... 30+ years later he's no farther along in his psychological growth.
I mean, REALLY: suggesting that he's the manly man whom Republicans are afraid to debate? That's PATHETIC. Bush has more masculinity without thinking about it than this metrosexual jerk can dream about mustering by will power and bluster.
In a lot of ways he's a wannabe to Bush. Bush may not be articulate, but he's a natural athlete. Kerry's an uncoordinated klutz whose sports are individual things like windsurfing. Bush digs in his heels on things he feels are really important, like Iraq. Kerry THINKS he's being equally strong by refusing to apologize, but it's off key and counterproductive because it comes from weakness, not strength.
I could almost feel sorry for him if I didn't know how he betrayed our troops during Vietnam and since.
#20
Nice analysis, lotp. There is certainly a psychosis at play - and it is apparent enough to the casual observer that it completely confounds me he has ever been re-elected to anything, much less the US Senate. Given Kerry, and Kennedy - his equally psychotic mirror image, it is obvious the majority in MA are total suckers for this arrogant snobbish asinine behavior and are equally as flawed. Neither would make it to a small city council in Texas, for instance.
#21
Every once in a while you meet someone who is articulate, can spell, and clearly says what we all wish we could. LOTP here at RB that person is you. Thanks for being here.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/01/2006 20:26 Comments ||
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#2
If you talked about black in this manner you'd be labeled a racist. If you talked about women in this manner you'd be labeled a sexist. If you talked about Jews ...
Unfortunately, no one has developed a 'ist' word yet for such small minded pathetic bigotry.
#4
Kerry's crack matters because it was thought that the free spending republican Congress, and the 'quagmire' in Iraq would keep the republicans at home on Tuesday, Nov 7.
Thanks, John, we needed a little incentive. We needed to be reminded of exactly who the democraps are. If Kerry has ignited a large republican turnout, we may even add to republican leads in the houses of Congress. I know if every republican votes that is exactly what will happen.
We know that the democraps will vote because they are lined up behind the platform of progressive ideas eminating from democrap leadership.
Right ! Democraps may stay home in large numbers.
It's hard to say. We've been told to practically expect tailgating by jubilant Democrats outside of the polling places, so agitated and motivated are the Left. And yet... only 15% turnout in Democrat primaries?
I saw a sticker on a truck coming into work today: "Another Democrat for Ehrlich". I think there will be more Democrats, disaffected by the likes of Kerry, Murtha and so forth, voting GOP in this election since Ronald Reagan's landslide wins.
#7
One Democrat problem lately is they were so sure of success that they may find a lot of their folks don't actually bother to vote. Why go through the hassle when your team is guaranteed to win?
Meanwhile that certainty of success scares out the Republican base. Add Kerry's comments which couldn't be better timed to help the Republicans (and his nomination in the first place) and you have to wonder if Kerry isn't a Rove agent or something.
#11
Rush has said pubbies have more mail-in ballots out than dems, and there was an interesting piece in THe Hill??? today, generic dem does better, but put names to the pubbies and they win, sometimes very big.
Barbra Streisand's politics didn't find a wholly agreeable crowd during her Monday concert at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. As Babs traded political barbs with a George W. Bush imitator, a fan of the songstress who apparently disagreed with her politics pelted her with a beverage. And as her anti-GOP riff ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out of the center as he shouted at Streisand. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows.
I do neither. In fact, most times I ignore Yentl's existence.
A similar scenario unfolded during Streisand's concert earlier this month at Madison Square Garden in New York, during which the singer used the F-word in shouting down a heckler.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#4
She is a total non person in my world. I can't believe people still buy her records she is so yesterday. I could care less if she stopped breating tomorrow.
Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kerry drew election-year fire from President Bush and other Republicans on Tuesday for saying college students could "get stuck in Iraq" if they do not study hard. But Kerry, who unsuccessfully challenged Bush in the 2004 presidential election, refused to apologize and said his remark was a "botched joke" aimed at the president, not U.S. troops.
With the Iraq war a dominant issue in the November 7 elections, Kerry's comment on Monday gave Republicans, struggling to maintain control of the U.S. Congress, a chance to fight back. Kerry's office said later the Massachusetts Democrat had misread his prepared remarks that included the words "Just ask President Bush," which he omitted.
Kerry, who was criticized for mishandling national security issues during his losing White House campaign, angrily accused Republicans who have never been in war of making unfounded attacks. "The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and (Vice President) Dick Cheney who misled America into war," said the Massachusetts Democrat.
While campaigning in California, Kerry told a college crowd on Monday: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Kerry's office released his prepared remarks, which said, "Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#4
Carrie's Kerry's only hope for resurrection now is to invoke the Halloween defense, and claim that he was possessed by demons (gibberish decoder ring translation: Rove).
#5
Demonic possession or not, Congress should be called to special session, and make ev'r last one o' dem sons-o-bitches vote yea or nay to censure Mssr. Kerry (who is reported to be American).
#6
The D student lives down to his expectations. Lest we forget, this is not the first time Jean Francois Kerry insulted the US men and women in uniform.
#7
If only Kerry could be on the receiving end of some real fire.
Posted by: Peter Jennings ||
11/01/2006 9:06 Comments ||
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#8
Jeez, did underestimate Kerry's vanity. I expected him to slink off for a few days to the mansion in Martha's Vineyard and let the networks bury this story. But Nooo, he has to stage, what like, 3 news conferences yesterday, digging a deeper hole each time. So much so it became the lead evening news story. Anyway, John, glad you are once again reporting for duty.
Posted by: ed ||
11/01/2006 9:21 Comments ||
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#9
...FWIW, this is the email I sent to J. F'n K. this morning - and I urge EVERY 'Burger to do the same:
Senator Kerry -
Sir,
I must respectfully but firmly ask you to reconsider and apologize for your comments regarding the intelligence of our fighting men and women. The average educational level of the US military stands in direct and unquestionable reproof to your statements, and a prompt apology - blaming and chastising no one but yourself, is most definitely in order.
I had the honor and privlege of serving my country for twenty years, during which time I earned an Associate of Science degree in Munitions Systems and a Bachelor of Arts degree(with honors)in Interdisciplinary Studies - and I was far from alone in my education. I consider your statements not only a slap at the men and women currently serving but myself and those I served with as well.
And finally sir, I am medically unable to return to duty - but were it possible, I would take my poor education and report in as much time as it would take to pack my bags.
Respectfully,
Michael J. Kozlowski
SSgt, USAF (Ret)
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/01/2006 10:09 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2006 10:17 Comments ||
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"The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war"
It should come as no surprise that this was Kerrys first response. The Democrats I know I am but what are you? line has been the standard bearer spin to deflect all criticism. Look no further then the shrill and repetitive slogan of The President has no plan for Iraq. This has been their mainstay obfuscation to the fact that they dont have a workable solution of their own. The botched joke excuse is simply another version of the You misunderstood the nuance of my statement. (Oooh boy Senator thats a good un! Tell um the one about the IED.) Predictably the next angle is The vast right-wing slime machine is twisting statements out of context. After all its an election year dont cha know.
I submit Sen. Durbins defiant response (P.2)to his infamous Pol Pot speech. (This was made prior to his apology in face of an eminent censure.) See if you can spot a pattern.
"The White House lashes out to me, and pretty soon the mainstream media , it just follows. It has happened time and time again. They have a good way of starting the news when they want to protect the president, but the reality is, as the poll numbers show this morning, despite all this effort, the American people are very worried about what's happening in Iraq."
#14
It is amazing to me that people say that President Bush is inarticulate with this asshat running around. He is the master of the run-on sentence that, if there were any point at its inception, is a total muddle by the end.
Lawyers for dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to declare a key part of President Bush's new military trials law unconstitutional. The detainees' lawyers challenged the military's authority to arrest people overseas and detain them indefinitely without allowing them to use the U.S. courts to contest their detention. Rather than "arrest," they can "kill." Happy?
Bush gave the military that authority last month when he signed a new law that sets up special commissions to hold trials for foreigners designated as "enemy combatants." Bush hailed the law as a crucial tool in the war on terrorism and said it would allow prosecution of several high-level terror suspects.
In written arguments, attorneys for more than 100 detainees who would be locked out of the regular judicial system asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to let the detainees keep their legal challenges going in civilian courts with Carter or Clinton-appointed judges.
The framers of the Constitution never would have permitted the government to hold people indefinitely without charges, the lawyers wrote. "Persons imprisoned without charge must retain the right to obtain a court inquiry into the factual and legal bases for their imprisonment," they wrote. You all of course remember how our courts processed every claim of every German, Italian, and Japanese captured during WWII, including members of the SS after Malmedy.
This argument echoes a Supreme Court ruling in June in which the justices ruled that the Bush administration's system for trying enemy combatants violated U.S. and international law. Within weeks, the president persuaded Congress to pass a new law setting up military commissions and barring detainees from using the civilian court system. Shortly after the new law was signed, the Justice Department told hundreds of detainees that their cases in the U.S. courts had been rendered moot.
On Wednesday, seven retired federal judges from both political parties filed legal briefs in the detainees case before the Washington appeals court, arguing that the military commissions law would allow authorities to use evidence obtained by torture. Although the law prohibits torture, the judges said the military has not addressed torture claims made by detainees. The retired judges also argued that the new law illegally strips courts of the power to question military decisions about the detainees' torture claims.
The Justice Department has until Nov. 13 to respond to the detainees claims. "No."
Lawyers for alleged al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla have asked a Florida judge to dismiss the terrorism case against him, saying he was tortured and force-fed psychedelic drugs while held at a U.S. military brig for more than 3-1/2 years.
"More giggle juice, Jose?"
"Like, wow, man! Listen to the colors!"
"The torture took myriad forms, each designed to cause pain, anguish, depression and ultimately, the loss of will to live," Padilla's attorney's said in the motion for dismissal filed in Miami federal court earlier this month. "Often he had to endure multiple interrogators who would scream, shake and otherwise assault Mr. Padilla," his lawyers said. "Additionally, Mr. Padilla was given drugs against his will, believed to be some form of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or phencyclidine (PCP), to act as a sort of truth serum during his interrogations."
The heart bleeds... Nope. It's the chili again.
Presiding U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke on Monday gave the U.S. attorney's office until November 14 by to respond to Padilla's allegations, according to an order released by the court. Padilla, a U.S. citizen arrested in Chicago in May 2002, was initially accused of plotting to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb." He was held in a brig at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston, South Carolina for three years and seven months, without charge, before being abruptly transferred to a federal lock-up in Miami and brought into the official legal system.
That was after he was turned into a newt...
While in the brig, Padilla was "tortured by the United States government without cause or justification," his lawyers said, adding that his treatment was "shocking to even the most hardened conscience."
You mean somebody cut his head off and stuck the knife into his eye socket?
The forms of torture included isolation, prolonged sleep deprivation, exposure to extremely cold temperatures and shackling in "stress positions" for hours at a time, they said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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What - he did only what the USDOD, Penn State, Joe Paterno + Valerie Plame, etal., John Mark Karr + Professors Zarqawi + Khalid Mohammed, told him to do???
Al-Qaeda Number Two Ayman al-Zawahri was a past visitor to a madrasa destroyed by a Pakistan Army helicopter attack but he was not there when the missiles struck on Monday, senior Pakistani security officials say. Several other al-Qaeda luminaries had passed through the religious school run by pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Liaqatullah, who was killed in the airstrike along with around 80 of his followers, the officials told reporters a day after the attack.
Among the other known militants to have frequented the madrasa at Chenagai village, near the Afghan border in the Bajaur tribal region of northwest Pakistan, was Abu Obaida al-Misri. An Egyptian, like Zawahri, al-Misri was identified as the mastermind of a plot to blow up US-bound airliners flying from London's Heathrow airport that was foiled earlier this year. The officials say he was a mentor to Rashid Rauf, a British Muslim arrested in Pakistan in August, who was said to be a key figure in the conspiracy.
No major militant figure was believed to have been present when the army attacked, and orders for the assault were given in anticipation that the militants were about to be sent to fight - possibly to launch suicide attacks on NATO and Afghan forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
No major militant figure was believed to have been present when the army attacked
I guess the Pakistanis did run this operation after all.
President General Musharraf has vowed to crush militancy with force and insisted that the Bajaur madrassa targeted in an airstrike on Monday was a training camp for Taliban militants.
"We will crush militancy with force and no one will be allowed to challenge the writ of the government."
We will crush militancy with force and no one will be allowed to challenge the writ of the government, Gen Musharraf said in his address at a seminar on Security in South Asia in the Non-Traditional Spheres and Human Security on Tuesday. He added that the targeting of the training camp was a manifestation of the governments resolve to crush militants.
Anyone who says that they were innocent people are telling lies. The compound was being used for training of militants, Gen Musharraf said. They were being monitored for the last seven days. We knew exactly who they are, what they are doing. They were all militants, using weapons, doing military training within the compound. However, he said use of military force only bought time and did not provide a political solution to extremism and terrorism, which must be addressed through a holistic strategy.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
It could be that Perv's finally gotten a teensy bit tired of being in the crosshairs so often. We'll know for sure when the ISI actually tries to kill him. Then the festivities will begin in earnest.
#7
However, he said use of military force only bought time and did not provide a political solution to extremism and terrorism, which must be addressed through a holistic strategy.
If you would bomb all of the hate-preaching madrassas, that would be a close second to this "wholistic" approach, and a lot quicker and cheaper, too! :-)
Sounds like Pervez may have found the gas pedal . . . .
#9
Lol, USN - the uniform and Pervy's non-existen record as a warrior set me off. Apologies to the real Cap'n. Pervy's actually closer to the Little Corporal, anyway, lol.
The attack on a madrassa in Bajaur Agency on Monday was a pre-emptive strike to prevent the militants being trained there from conducting terrorist activities, according to security officials. The militants were actually undergoing training when the operation began at 4:30am on Monday, the officials said. The madrassa was the only one that had not been closed after the educational session ended with Ramazan, and this was concrete evidence that it was a training camp for militants, they said. Al Qaeda trainers might have been in the compound at the time of the operation, they added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Sorry. Preemptive is leveling 90% of the Pakistani madrassahs. In terms of the Global War on Terrorism, nailing the BJ Academy (Bajuar Jihadist Academy) amounts to slapping a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound.
KHAR: Thousands of tribal protestors here on Tuesday welcomed a call for suicide attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan, as anger against a madrassa airstrike on Monday swept through Bajaur Agency and North West Frontier Province, eyewitnesses said. Around 15,000 people at a protest demonstration in the Khar area of Bajaur Agency also vowed to avenge the killing of innocent people.
Are you ready to join suicide missions? local cleric Maulana Inayatur Rehman asked the protestors, who said yes. The cleric vowed to uphold the supremacy of Islam.
We will carry out even suicide attacks for jihad. Rehman said he had prepared a squad of suicide bombers to target Pakistani security forces in the same way that militants were attacking Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq, AP reported. Wanted pro-Taliban militant commander Maulana Faqir Muhammad said President Musharraf was an American agent, killing innocent people at the US behest. He dismissed government claims that foreign and local militants were present in the madrassa at the time of the airstrike. He said that he was ready to work with a tribal jirga for peace, but vowed not to renounce jihad. He announced that American agents will be hanged publicly.
Elimination of Musharraf is a must to restore peace, he told protestors carrying guns and chanting death to Musharraf, death to Bush. Security forces stopped the protestors from marching on the Khar Bazaar, which remained shut.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Gonna bang their shootin' arns at those B-1's loaded with GPS glide-bombs, huh?
#3
Are you ready to join suicide missions? local cleric Maulana Inayatur Rehman asked the protestors, who said yes. The cleric vowed to uphold the supremacy of Islam.
Perish the thought that this clerical rat bastard asshole might uphold Islam's supremacy with his own precious fucking life.
Another MNA from Bajaur Agency, Maulana Mohammad Saddiq, resigned from the National Assembly on Tuesday in protest at an attack on a madrassa that killed 80 people. Member National Assembly Sahibzada Haroonur Rashid was the first to announce his resignation in protest against the strike. Saddiq resigned following the demand of protesting tribesmen in the agency. He said he had sent his resignation to the Jamaat-e-Islami chief with the request to pass it on to the National Assembly speaker. We cannot remain silent over this barbaric incident, he told the protesting tribesmen.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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If all members of the MMA resign job done by Perv and the West!!!
KHAR: Bajaur Agency political authorities on Tuesday stopped Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad from entering the agency. Qazi reportedly wanted to condole the deaths of the people killed in an air raid on a madrassa in Bajaur Agency on Monday. We have orders from the top to not allow you into Bajaur Agency, a senior government official at a checkpoint told Qazi, who managed to slip into the area regardless. Authorities chased Qazi and stopped him after he had gone four kilometres into the restricted area. Qazi addressed a gathering there, condemning the federal government for banning politicians and journalists from visiting the attack site. MMA leader Sirajul Haq, who resigned as senior NWFP minister after the Bajaur strikes, accompanied Qazi. Earlier, Mohmand Agency political authorities stopped MMA legislators Maulana Mohammad Saddiq, Hafiz Rashid Ahmad and Maulana Shujaul Mulk from entering the agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The easing of a security crackdown in Baghdad's volatile Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City may be emboldening members of Shiite death squads, a Sunni leader said Wednesday.
Tariq al-Hashimi -- a vice president of Iraq -- said at a news conference he thinks the security situation is deteriorating largely because the Shiite-led government isn't doing enough to take on militias.
"Are we sending the wrong message to the terrorists?" al-Hashimi asked, referring to the possibility that Shiite death squads would exploit the opening of selected checkpoints.
"Now that the iron fist has loosened, [terrorists] can move around as you please and shake the stability in Baghdad again. Is this in the country's interest?"
U.S. and Iraqi troops tightened security in Baghdad during a hunt for a missing U.S. soldier believed to have been abducted October 23.
U.S. and Iraqi checkpoints were set up around Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City slum, the Shiite stronghold of the Mehdi Army, followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, on Tuesday ordered the removal of the Sadr City checkpoints, which inconvenienced civilian Iraqis, after al-Sadr called for a general strike and threatened possible violence.
Checkpoints along Army Canal -- which leads into eastern Baghdad, including the Sadr City area -- were opened, and cars and pedestrians were allowed to pass freely. (Watch Sadr City celebrate al-Sadr 'victory' -- 1:50)
Al-Hashimi said militia attacks Tuesday night and Wednesday against Sunni Arabs began soon after the checkpoints were removed.
He said the crackdown in Sadr City should not have been changed by al-Maliki without the agreement of the multiethnic political council for national security, in a process he said was agreed upon before the government was formed.
Al-Hashimi said the security situation generally is deteriorating and security forces are playing a big role in that process.
Pointing to CDs that have been circulating, he said there is evidence showing Iraqi security forces providing militias with weapons and intelligence.
Al-Hashimi called for a purge of the security forces, to replace people who have political or sectarian allegiances with professionals.
#1
perhaps we need to explain to the Sunnis what will happen if we withdraw (sunni massacres), and said withdrawal is expedited by their uncivilized behavior. Then we tell Maliki and Sadr that we will build up the Sunni capability to f*cking destroy all of them if they don't STFU and knock it off. In the meantime we actually arm up the Kurds (F*ck you, Turkey). Poltics, 1800's British style
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/01/2006 22:05 Comments ||
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Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States says the partition of Iraq would lead to ethnic cleansing and sectarian killing on a massive scale. Prince Turkey Turki al-Faisal made the remarks during a speech in Washington.
Prince Turki told a conference on Washington's relations with the Arab world that dividing Iraq into three regions, reflecting its Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish populations, would be a disaster. Unlike the current situation.
"To envision that you can divide Iraq into three parts is to envision ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, sectarian killing on a massive scale and uprooting of families and even the divorce rate in Iraq will shoot up 300 percent," he said. Where was Prince Turkey when Saddam, a Sunni, was cleansing the Kurds?
Prince Turki's remarks came the week before U.S. Congressional elections. Public opinion polls say the Iraq war is a top priority among voters.
Some leading Democrats, including Senator Joseph Biden, are supporting a plan to divide Iraq into three separate regions - Kurdish, Shi'ite and Sunni - with a central government in Baghdad. The White House has called the proposal a plan for partition, and has rejected it, saying it is an idea the Iraqi people do not support.
Prince Turki says the current bloodshed in Iraq is because the government is not providing security.
"What we see today is an expression of the, first of all, the lack of authority of the government, which encourages people to turn to their basic sectarian and ethnic divides for self-protection," he said. "Hence the rise in militias, some of them for political reasons, others for material gain or even for simply criminal activity, undertake the killings and dislodgings that have been practiced in the last two thousand years in Iraq."
The Saudi ambassador says his country is strongly supporting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and is urging him to extend his government's power throughout the country.
"Our hopes and our engagement with the Maliki government is to encourage them to extend their authority over all of Iraq and provide the daily requirements of stability and security that any society deserves anywhere in the world today," he said. "By doing that you can go a long way in meeting the challenges of the insurgency that is taking place in Iraq."
Prince Turki also called on the Bush administration to pressure Israel into peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Peace/Paleo _ oxymoron?
He says the "United States is the only country that can do the right thing for everybody in the Middle East."
#2
Saudi Envoy Says Dividing Iraq Will Cause Mass Killing
And this is different from current conditions how?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/01/2006 19:19 Comments ||
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#3
Partition of Iraq sets an unfortunate precedent for Saudi Arabia, at least from the house of Saud perspective. Going back to herding camels for a living won't be a lot of fun.
#4
If the Saudis woudl quit funding this crap we'd not see the killings.
And if he thinks a partition is bad, think about what happens if we dont even bother with that, but turn tail and run as Speaker Pelosi defunds the military operations there.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria's foreign minister is considering a visit to Baghdad in November - the first by a top Syrian official since the fall of Saddam Hussein and a major step toward restoring diplomatic relations, Iraqi and Syrian officials said Tuesday. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem is considering traveling to Iraq, said a Syrian Foreign Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give statements to the press.
In Baghdad, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said the ministries agreed "in principal" that al-Moallem would visit Iraq in November. Both the Syrian and the Iraqi official said no date had been set.
Imad Fawzi Shueibi, a Syrian political analyst, said the visit sends a "clear Syrian message that what is happening in Iraq - the sectarian killing and violence - is a red line for Arab national security and Syrian national security that can't be accepted by Damascus."
Other than the fact that they aided and abetted the Sunni end of the killing, you mean. It's the Shi'a fighting that bothers them.
Damascus broke relations with Baghdad in 1982, accusing Iraq of inciting riots by the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Damascus also sided with Iran in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Commercial ties improved during the last few years of Saddam's rule before he was overthrown in 2003, but no Syrian ministers have gone to Baghdad for more than six years.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad said in October that al-Moallem would visit Baghdad after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ended Oct. 23-24, and that he would discuss the restoration of diplomatic ties with senior Iraqi officials.
Syrian officials had said in February that Syria would exchange ambassadors with Iraq once a new Iraqi government was formed, marking the first time Damascus set a time frame for restoring full diplomatic ties. The new Iraqi government took office in May, but there has been no exchange of ambassadors.
They lied but that's not unusual.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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It would be more useful if the US Army visited Damascus.
(KUNA) -- Iraqi Vice-President Tareq Al-Hashimi opposed on Tuesday an order by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to lift a blockade around the flashpoint Baghdad suburb of Sadr city. He said the move by Maliki was unilateral because he should have consulted first the political national security council, adding that this order could spell an end to a lull in the sectarian death squad violence. "The prime minister, in his capacity as commander in chief of the armed forces, has decided to lift the blockade of the access roads to Sadr City and other areas of Baghdad," a statement from Maliki's office said earlier.
Maliki noted that the checkpoints should be lifted by 5:00 pm (1400 GMT), but added that it could be reimposed after dark during Baghdad's nightly curfew or in the event of specific operations to capture "terrorists".
For the past week Iraqi and American forces have been manning a cordon around the eastern suburb as part of the hunt for a kidnapped US soldier, causing long traffic queues and angering local residents. Inhabitants in Sadr City decided to protest after suspected insurgents managed to get into the city yesterday despite the American security operation to set off a bomb attack that killed 26 civilians and wounded many more. The Iraqi special forces backed by US military advisers carried out a raid into Sadr City today and arrested three suspects.
"The purpose of the mission was to search for the missing US soldier and to capture the leadership of a kidnapping cell reported to have knowledge of the soldier's location," the US military said in a statement. An American soldier of Iraqi descent was abducted on October 23 after he slipped out of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone in order to visit his secret Iraqi wife at the home of relatives in the city. The kidnap triggered a rescue operation by thousands of US infantry around Sadr City, home to several thousand gunmen from Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Iraqi and US forces have also launched raids inside the district, most recently today morning, when they arrested three suspects. But the US forces began lifting the blockade shortly before Maliki's 5.00 pm deadline, triggering a triumphant response from local youths who waved banners from racing trucks and mopeds in an impromptu victory rally. Anger at traffic jams and lost business had been growing inside Sadr City. Today militants loyal to cleric al-Sadr ordered a general strike, shutting down shops, offices and schools.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Good. If they're on strike, they won't mind when the blockades go back up, right?
#6
I find it interesting to hear dissenting voices.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/01/2006 5:51 Comments ||
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Anger at traffic jams and lost business had been growing inside Sadr City. Today militants loyal to cleric al-Sadr ordered a general strike, shutting down shops, offices and schools.
Saudi Arabias ambassador to Washington warned Monday against a hasty US retreat from Iraq, and said dividing the country on ethnic lines would unleash massive ethnic cleansing. Prince Turki al-Faisal cautioned against the notion of splitting the war-scarred nation into three sectors for Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis. Since America came into Iraq uninvited, it should not leave Iraq uninvited, said Prince Turki, in comments which came against a rising tide of calls ahead of next weeks legislative elections for US troops to leave Iraq. Withdrawal of American forces should only follow intense dialogue between Washington and the Iraqi government on their future relationship, Prince Turki said at the annual conference of the National Council on US-Arab Relations, a private outreach group. Prince Turki also rejected suggestions which have gained currency among some congressional figures and commentators that Iraq can no longer exist as a unified state and should be split into autonomous sectors on ethnic lines. To envision that you can divide Iraq into three parts is to envision ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, sectarian killing on a massive scale and the uprooting of families, he said. Those who call for a partition of Iraq are calling for a three-fold increase in the problems, Prince Turki said. It is practically impossible for Iraq to be divided on sectarian lines or even on ethnic lines; there is just too much intermingling of Iraqis with each other in every part of Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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"Ethnic cleansing", huh?
Don't try and pretty it up - it'll be a slaughter, and the Shiites wil be on the losing end.
#2
Having weaseled himself out of the 9-11 lawsuit, Turki weasels support for his fellow Sunnis. However, we should play the Sunni Card, in our own interests. If the Ayatollahs fall, Syria will collapse too, with Hizbollah, al-Sadr, etc. Then all support for al-Qaeda in Iraq dries up.
#3
Well Turkey there might be a reduction in Sunni influence there. Or, since they're part of your tribe, maybe they'll all skeedaddle right into SA. That's not the purpose of the wall you're throwing into place is it ? Nah, didn't think so.
#4
No problemo. The faster the shiites and sunnis sort out their problems the sooner the world will know true islam.
And what rubbish is this `ethnic cleansing`. They are arabs. The difference is religous. Should have been more like `religous cleansing`.
#6
I hope y'all will forgive me, but every time this Saudi turd's name floats to the surface, I feel compelled to post the dirt on this particularly nasty piece of shit. This is from a Guardian article of March 2, 2003:
But Turki is not what he seems. Behind him lies a murky tale of espionage, terrorism and torture. For, while Turki has many powerful friends among Britain's elite, he is no ordinary diplomat. Turki has now been served with legal papers by lawyers acting for relatives of the victims of 11 September.
They accuse him of funding and supporting Osama bin Laden. The Observer can also reveal that Turki has now admitted for the first time that Saudi interrogators have tortured six British citizens arrested in Saudi Arabia and accused of carrying out a bombing campaign.
The revelations throw a stark light on Turki's appointment late last year as Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to Britain. They also cast doubt on the suitability of Charles's relationship with senior Saudis. A year ago Charles had dinner with bin Laden's brother, Bakr bin Laden, and regularly hosted meetings for Turki's predecessor, Dr Ghazi Algosaibi, who was recalled after writing poems praising suicide bombers.
The US lawsuit is seeking more than $1 trillion in com pensation from a list of individuals and companies alleged to have supported al- Qaeda. The claimants' head lawyer, Ron Motley, a veteran of successful anti-tobacco suits, has already called it 'the trial of the century'.
Now, after papers were served on Turki several weeks ago, the Saudi ambassador will be at the heart of it. Legal papers in the case obtained by The Observer make it clear that the allegations are serious and lengthy. Many centre around Turki's role as head of the Saudi intelligence agency. He held the post for 25 years before being replaced in 2001 just before the attacks on New York.
Turki admits to meeting bin Laden four or five times in the 1980s, when the Saudi-born terrorist was being supported by the West in Afghanistan. Turki also admits meeting Taliban leader Mullah Omar in 1998. He says he was seeking to extradite bin Laden at the request of the United States.
However, the legal papers tell a different story. Based on sworn testimony from a Taliban intelligence chief called Mullah Kakshar, they allege that Turki had two meetings in 1998 with al-Qaeda. They say that Turki helped seal a deal whereby al-Qaeda would not attack Saudi targets. In return, Saudi Arabia would make no demands for extradition or the closure of bin Laden's network of training camps. Turki also promised financial assistance to Mullah Omar. A few weeks after the meetings, 400 new pick-up vehicles arrived in Kandahar, the papers say.
Kakshar's statement also says that Turki arranged for donations to be made directly to al-Qaeda and bin Laden by a group of wealthy Saudi businessmen. 'Mullah Kakshar's sworn statement implicates Prince Turki as the facilitator of these money transfers in support of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and international terrorism,' the papers said.
Turki's link to one of al-Qaeda's top money- launderers, Mohammed Zouaydi, who lived in Saudi Arabia from 1996 to 2001, is also exposed. Zouaydi acted as the accountant for the Faisal branch of the Saudi royal family that includes Turki. Zouaydi, who is now in jail in Spain, is also accused of being al-Qaeda's top European financier. He distributed more than $1 million to al- Qaeda units, including the Hamburg cell of Mohammed Atta which plotted the World Trade Centre attack.
Finally the lawsuit alleges that Turki was 'instrumental' in setting up a meeting between bin Laden and senior Iraqi intelligence agent Faruq al-Hijazi in December 1998. At that meeting it is alleged that bin Laden agreed to avenge recent American bombings of Iraqi targets and in return Iraq offered him a safe haven and gave him blank Yemeni passports.
This lying shitbag has ZERO interest in any sort of American success within the MME (Muslim Middle East).
I'd like to go off topic for a moment and welcome hutchrun to Rantburg. I haven't seen your nym around here before and thought I'd dust off the welcome mat.
As to ethnic cleansing, you've hit one of my personal points, hutchrun. I have long maintained that the tremendous effort, treasure and precious American blood spilled in Iraq will all be worth it if the remaining world will finally realize how Muslims simply adore killing each other. The upshot being that once they're through squabbling over doctrinal issues like who was the first to wipe his ass with a smooth stone in his left hand, they'll be out to kill the rest of us infidels with gay abandon.
Any promise threat of ethnic cleansing must be laid directly at the Saudis' feet. Their fucked up hyperviolent Wahabbist shitheads have bred up so much of this sectarian hatred that any protestations over Sunnis getting a massive ass-kicking in Iraq should fall on deaf ears.
Since America came into Iraq uninvited, it should not leave Iraq uninvited,
Blow me you sick shit. We'll do what's best for America and Saudi Arabia can suck hind tit.
#9
I still say reconstitute the Ottoman Empire if we fail. Leave Israel and Turkey out but conquer the rest and give it to the Kurds to run. Kurds have Shia and Sunni and wouldn't be opposed to using strong measures to keep the peace.
Mecca in the hands of semi-friendly Moslems would do a lot of good.
#10
Two large nukes, one over Riyadh, the other over Qom, would settle a LOT of the problems in the Middle East. The House of Saud is a house of hate and destruction. It's time its influence was eliminated. The idiots in Qom need a LARGE a$$-kicking. I also believe the entire world would be a more friendly place if the US used nukes again. It would eliminate all doubt that we will do whatever we HAVE to to maintain world peace, including eliminating the source of discord.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/01/2006 14:51 Comments ||
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Actually just give Mecca back to the Jordanian Royal Family where it belongs. The Saudis took it from the Hassemites Royals in the 1920s, before then, Mecca was the Hassemites responsibility and was run a lot more cleanly and efficiently. Also, the Hassemites are NOT Wahabists and their influence on who would or would not be a recognized Mecca Imam could be a big help.
Asma Jahangir, UN Special Rapporteur and chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said on Monday that there can be no freedom of religion without religious tolerance.
Ummm... I might even phrase it the other way around, that religious tolerance is impossible without freedom of religion.
She was speaking at a special event held by the US State Department to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion and belief. She pointed out that while religious freedom should be viewed as a basic right, there was no single recipe that could it all world regions, given their different cultural mores, history, traditions and levels of development.
Yasss... Such a dilemma, to define "religious freedom" in such a manner as to allow, even encourage, Islam to flourish, but then to allow it to suppress all other religions in the name of quaint local cutoms and mores.
Each society had its own norms and peculiarities. Education, she said, could be part of the solution but it would have to be the right kind of education.
Uhuh. Very tightly controlled education.
She said even highly educated societies were sometimes seen practising religious intolerance.
Depending on how it's defined, of course. And who's doing the defining.
The exclusion of women from religious dialogue amounted to denying 50 percent of the population a role in this important area, she stated. According to her, the root cause of religious conflict and intolerance is not poverty but political and economic disempowerment.
I'd say lust for power has a lot to do with it. And I'd call intolerance one of the causes, not one of the effects.
Ms Jahangir said freedom of religion should not be the preserve of the worlds major established religions but of its non-traditional religions as well. She expressed alarm at the sectarian divide in some parts of the world, pointing out that it was always those in a minority who suffered the most. She was critical of the French law on headscarves for Muslim women, which she said stigmatised them, leaving them out of the mainstream.
Unlike Pakistan's enlightened blasphemy and hudood laws.
She said not it is not religion as such, but those who follow it, who have the right and need to be protected. She also expressed concern at the hyper-sensitivity to religion witnessed recently in all parts of the world.
Oh, she noticed the worldwide Islamic hissy fits, did she?
She found it regrettable that governments were often reluctant to take action against groups that spread such hate and disaffection. She also spoke disparagingly about Guantanamo where the religious beliefs of the inmates had been abused in several instances through insult to their faith, such as desecrating the Holy Quran. It was a form of torture and it was unacceptable, she added.
Beating them with the Holy Koran would be torture. If the "desecration" has been disproved, then it's not much of a torture, is it?
Ms Jahangir answered a large number of questions from the audience on her work for the United Nations and on several aspects of religious freedom and human rights. She said the Muslims living in America had experienced a backlash in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Of course, it wasn't much in comparison to the frontlash the rest of America had felt from religiously-motivated krazed killers.
She said she feels disappointed at this turn of events because she expects the United States to maintain its traditionally high standards of religious tolerance.
You can always find something to bitch about if you look hard enough.
She said the US government had used the war on terror as a cover to persecute certain individuals.
That's right. The war on terror is a mere pretext to persecute... ummm... terrorists.
Integration, she stressed, should be two-sided. Not only should those who came here from other countries and cultures integrate with the societies where they live and respect their laws and traditions, but those societies too must make an effort to respect those who come from other cultures and religious backgrounds.
But not to bend over backward. Muslims have no more claim on our indulgence than do Buddhists, Shintoists, or animists.
Above all, she said, the Rule of Law must prevail and be respected by all.
Just like it is in Pakistan.
She said America should abide by its great traditions for its own sake. She deplored the attitude where Muslims were treated at best as suspects. She said extremism should be marginalised because it does not represent the larger body of Muslims or for that matter followers of other religions.
There aren't any followers of other religions who're killing members of other religions in the name of that religion. Period. Buddhists aren't doing it. Hindoos aren't doing it. Rosicrucians aren't doing it. Only Muslims, and they're doing it in large numbers.
She also answered questions about the controversy over Muslim womens head coverings. Womens heads should be left alone, she said, causing a good deal of laughter. She told the gathering that on a visit to the Maldives, she found that most women were wearing the hijab. When she asked why so many had adopted the practice, she learnt that after the tsunami, some Muslim clerics had issued edicts that the tsunami had hit the Maldives because women went about dressed immodestly.
It's my opinion that God struck that particular area of the world because of the large concentration of Muslims. If they were Lutherans that stuff wouldn't happen.
Asked about the persecution of Christians in certain Muslim countries, she replied that religious tolerance should be for everyone, regardless of what faith they follow. People should be viewed as human beings, not Muslims, Christians, Jews or Hindus, she added. The meeting was also addressed by US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who said freedom of religion applies to the practice of religion. It does not give religion freedom from criticism.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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there can be no freedom of religion without religious tolerance.
Life is so much more fun when viewed in a fun house mirror.
She pointed out that while religious freedom should be viewed as a basic right, there was no single recipe that could it all world regions, given their different cultural mores, history, traditions and levels of development.
Horseshit. Freedom of religion, period. No cultural mores, no traditions or history. Freedom of religion. What part of those three simple words does she not understand?
This woman is a hopeless tranzi multiculti wanker. Fisking her shit could take hours. Besides, Fred already did a swell job. Time for bed.
Based on free software from Wikipedia, officials from the 16 U.S. spy agencies - and even some beyond that - are increasingly using a new internal Web site called "Intellipedia" to research and share ideas on some of the most difficult subjects facing U.S. intelligence.
The Web site looks just like the publicly available Wikipedia, with articles on subjects from North Korea to Osama bin Laden. But this one allows users with the right security clearances to jump in and write their own articles or edit those written by others. They can set up bookmarks and get updates when pages are changed.
"All of these tools ... are in their Model T stage," conceded Sean Dennehy of the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence, who helped develop the Intellipedia.
Yet he and other intelligence officials briefing reporters on the government's attempt to bring cutting-edge technology into its ever-more-youthful work force describe it as a success.
When New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed his plane into a Manhattan apartment building this month, officials from the Transportation Security Administration and eight other agencies updated information on the accident 80 times in two hours. The crash wasn't a terror threat, but authorities didn't know that at first.
Don Burke, a CIA officer from the Directorate of Science and Technology, said more than 3,600 users have created log-ons to use the site, providing at least 1,000 edits on various articles on any given day. That includes weekends and the wee hours of the morning.
Contributing to the Intellipedia is generally voluntary, although senior analysts working for National Intelligence Director John Negroponte are using it to write one of the most high-level intelligence assessments on Nigeria.
The contributions will eventually be merged into one document, called a National Intelligence Estimate, for use by the White House and Congress.
Unlike Wikipedia, all the changes on Intellipedia are attributed to the individuals who made them. That leaves drafts and fingerprints, which can be of help in deconstructing faulty assessments such as the prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Security, too, is a concern. The most secret sources and methods aren't included on the site, and there are different versions of Intellipedia available to people with different levels of security clearance.
Nevertheless, tens of thousands of users can potentially access information that - in another era - would have been more closely held.
Still, Michael Wertheimer, Negroponte's assistant deputy director for analysis, sees it as worth the risk because the system appeals to the new generation of intelligence analysts, about half of whom have less than five years' experience. "This is how they like to work," he said.
Getting some traditionalists to contribute takes encouragement. Intellipedia's architects have resorted to sending small, black garden shovels to contributors.
"I dig Intellipedia!" says the handle. "It's wiki, wiki, Baby."
Want to see what it looks like? That you'll have to Google.
#2
Getting some traditionalists to contribute takes encouragement. Intellipedia's architects have resorted to sending small, black garden shovels to contributors.
"I dig Intellipedia!" says the handle. "It's wiki, wiki, Baby."
Why are they going that if their intent is to encourage contributions?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/01/2006 10:19 Comments ||
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Posted by: FBI guy ||
11/01/2006 10:41 Comments ||
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#6
Remember back when we were snarking about the FBI's latest failure to computerize and somewho suggested a wiki would make a fine first-pass attempt at a system?
#8
I hope they expand the concept to create a (heavily moderated) public wiki complementary to their private wiki.
The concept is simple: to open the floodgates to those who want to "talk" to them. Granted 98% would be utter crapola, but in that 2% they might get some pearls of true genius.
I am reminded of one of the first serious efforts to compile a dictionary. The compiler received an extraordinary flow of contributions from one gentleman, who eventually he discovered was a voluntary inmate in an insane asylum.
In the case of an online intelligence wiki, they would receive all sorts of tidbits, many from other intelligence agencies, either as a discreet heads up or trying to deceive (not knowing that any information is useful information to a spy agency.)
But they would also get information from old, retired spies and historians, world travelers and experts in arcana, and some shocks by those odd people who can read a thousand pieces of information and draw a quantum leap, but correct conclusion.
#10
Sea, methinks if they'd just puruse either the RB Times-Picayune daily or Thugburg, they'd find out a LOT more! Another reason I love RB...TONS of info (that in hindsight, actually matters, no matter how far scattered), easily accessed and plenty of online "experts" (both in spying and snarking) to boot!
Posted by: BA ||
11/01/2006 13:44 Comments ||
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If they or NSA had a brain, they'd have somebody posting here and at ITM and a bunch of other places. Dropping juicy tidbits now and then, monitoring the traffic and goings on from time to time. I actually suspect/hope they have been.
#12
I hope they expand the concept to create a (heavily moderated) public wiki complementary to their private wiki.
AMEN! I'm sure Cyber-Sarge, Old Spook, and Fred would also agree to contribute. Thugburg would be a great place to start. Another good idea would be to collect ALL open-source information about hot-spots around the world into a single source. Can you imagine having EVERYTHING that was said or written about Darfur, Somalia, Yemen, any of the muzzie terror groups, etc., online for everyone to see? Might want to make some areas read-only, to keep the "enemy" from erasing historical context. It would take a HUGE server, but I'm sure a CRAY-3 could handle it... Either that or a Sun SparkStation.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/01/2006 15:13 Comments ||
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They don't need a public wiki. That's one of the things data mining is excellent for. ;-)
Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television announced Tuesday that it would launch its long-awaited English language channel Al-Jazeera International on November 15. Al-Jazeeera International is billed as the first global English-language news network headquartered in the Middle East. Its executives have promised to cover the news from a different perspective, and reverse the information flow from the developing world to developed countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Boosting tourism has become a virtual obsession for the conservative government of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In recent weeks he has on several occasions hinted at the possibillity of foreign tourists visiting the country's nuclear sites.
The United Nations Security Council reiterated calls on Monday for the disarmament of all militias inside Lebanon, as the UN envoy on Resolution 1559 announced that arms were still being smuggled from Syria to Hizbullah. In a non-binding statement unanimously adopted by its 15 members, the council said "important progress" has been made on the implementation of Resolution 1559, particularly with the deployment of the Lebanese Army in the South.
But the council also noted "with regret" that some provisions of the resolution have yet to be implemented, namely the disbanding of militias; the maintenance of strict respect for Lebanon's "sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence"; and free and fair presidential elections "without any foreign interference and influence."
The Security Council statement followed a presentation by UN special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen on the progress of the implementation of Resolution 1559.
After the meeting, Roed-Larsen told reporters that he had been informed by Leb-anese authorities that arms were still being smuggled into the country from neighboring Syria. The envoy said the officials gave no details on quantities or types of weapons.
Roed-Larsen said representatives of the Lebanese government "have stated publicly and also in conversations with us that there have been arms coming across the border into Lebanon."
"The consistent position of the government of Syria has been that, 'yes, there might be arms smuggling over the border, but this is arms smuggling and that the border is porous and very difficult to control,' Roed-Larsen said.
"In order to have an effective arms embargo, there has to be cooperation with all regional partners, [including] Syria and Iran," he said.
Roed-Larsen called the situation in Lebanon "worrisome." "The political rhetoric shows that there are very high tensions, and I think we have to look at the situation in Lebanon with all caution. And there are reasons for being worried about where this is heading," he said.
Generally, the council renewed its call for "the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 and urged all concerned states and parties ... to cooperate fully with the government of Lebanon, the Security Council and the Secretary General to achieve this goal."
[snip]
There was no mention made of Israel's repeated air violations, with the past week witnessing a high level of overflights over most of Lebanon in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
[snip]
Under Resolution 1701, Lebanon is to secure its border and entry points to prevent the passage of illicit arms or related material.
The resolution authorizes the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to assist Lebanon in this task if requested.
Scorecard: (1) Hez wants everyone to know that it is conducting "serious" negotiations with Israel (2) A UN Security Council statement strengthens its call for Lebanon's militias to disband (3) The Lebanese Gov't officicially informs the UNSC that arms smuggling from Syria to Hez continues (4)Monday's UNSC statement does not include a condemnation of Israeli overflights (5) A reminder at the conclusion of the article that UN Res. 1701 permits the UNIFIL forces in and around Lebanon to "assist" the Lebanese Gov't in securing its borders.
All that plus the fact that the most intense debate in the Lebanese gov't is over the formation and scope of the Harrari tribunal (read: Syrian interference)
A top Russian security official and a senior lawmaker suggested Tuesday that Moscow could back a draft UN Security Council resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran, despite Russia's long-held opposition to punishing Teheran. "The Russian political leadership will apparently have to join a new resolution on Iran proposed by Britain, Germany and France that envisages limited economic sanctions," Yuri Volkov, a deputy speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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The gas deal did not work out so well or something?
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that "serious negotiations" were under way over the fate of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by Hezbollah sparked a month of brutal fighting in Lebanon.
In a three-hour taped television interview,
Nasrallah said a negotiator appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been meeting with Hezbollah and Israeli officials.
Nasrallah said a negotiator appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been meeting with Hezbollah and Israeli officials. He would not provide details about the negotiations, but told Hezbollah's TV station, "We have reached a stage of exchanging ideas, proposals or conditions."
Nasrallah has offered to exchange the two for Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, but Israel has repeatedly refused. Although the U.N. resolution that ended the 34-day war called for the soldiers' unconditional release, Israel has exchanged prisoners in the past. "They are serious negotiations ... It's better to keep it away from the media ... this issue is on track. We are moving ahead. How long does it take? It's up to the nature of the negotiations," Nasrallah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Russia said on Tuesday it believed Iran's nuclear program was peaceful, and a political dialogue, not sanctions, must be used in talks with Tehran. "We do not have information that would suggest that Iran is carrying out a non-peaceful (nuclear) program," Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov told a news conference in Moscow.
"We believe that the possibilities for continuing political discussion around this problem (Iran's nuclear program) have not been exhausted," he said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation on Monday that talks over Iran's nuclear dispute were being hindered because the European side did not have enough authority. "The most important problem in continuing Iran and Europe's negotiations (over the nuclear issue) is the European side's lack of enough authority (to take decisions)," an Iranian television report quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Putin.
In a statement on Monday, the Kremlin said Putin had told the Iranian leader that Moscow favored further talks.
Iran says negotiations are the only way to resolve the dispute. But Iran's failure to meet a U.N. deadline to halt enrichment has opened up the possibility of U.N. sanctions. European states have prepared a draft sanctions resolution but Russia has voiced misgivings. "Sanctions should not be adopted for their own sake," Ivanov said.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana held months of talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani. But those talks did not reach a deal and Solana said this month it was up to Iran to decide if talks should continue. "Some Western countries create obstacles and prevent a peaceful solution to Iran's nuclear case," Ahmadinejad said.
Iran has often blamed the United States, its arch-foe, for seeking to sway others against Iran. Washington has been seeking to toughen the sanctions resolution.
#1
Just becuz Iranian units were practicing to operate in radioactive enviros long before the recent Norkie test > can only mean Israel-USA are planning to unilater nuke a nation which proclaims doesn't have nukes.
A jury Wednesday found an Ethiopian immigrant guilty of the genital mutilation of his 2-year-old daughter in what was believed to be the first criminal case in the United States involving the ancient African tradition.
Khalid Adem, 30, was convicted of aggravated battery and cruelty to children. He could get up to 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Adem used scissors to remove his daughter's clitoris in his family's Atlanta-area apartment in 2001. The child's mother, Fortunate Adem, said she did not discover it until more than a year later.
During her father's trial, the girl, now 7, clutched a teddy bear as she testified on videotape that her father "cut me on my private part."
Federal law specifically bans the practice of genital mutilation, but many states do not have a law addressing it. Georgia lawmakers, with the support of the girl's mother, passed an anti-mutilation law last year. But Adem was not tried under that law since it did not exist when his daughter was cut.
During the trial, Adem testified he never circumcised his daughter or asked anyone else to do so. He said he grew up in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and considers the practice more prevalent in rural areas.
Adem's attorney acknowledged that the girl had been cut, but implied that the family of the girl's mother, who immigrated from South Africa, may have been responsible. The Adems divorced three years ago, and attorney Mark Hill suggested that the couple's daughter was coached to testify against her father by her mother, who has full custody of the child.
Adem, who cried throughout the trial and during his testimony, was asked what he thought of someone who believes in the practice. He replied: "The word I can say is 'mind in the gutter.' He is a moron."
The practice crosses ethnic and cultural lines and is not tied to a particular religion. Activists say it is intended to deny women sexual pleasure. In its most extreme form, the clitoris and parts of the labia are removed and the labia that remain are stitched together.
Knives, razors or even sharp stones are usually used, according to a 2001 department report. The tools often are not sterilized, and often, many girls are circumcised at the same ceremony, leading to infection.
It is unknown how many girls have died from the procedure, either during the cutting or from infections, or years later in childbirth. Nightmares, depression, shock and feelings of betrayal are common psychological side effects, according to a 2001 federal report.
Since 2001, the State Department estimates that up to 130 million women worldwide have undergone circumcision.
#3
Perhaps y'all might want to read the discussion on this case at Gates of Vienna. It appears that female genital mutilation is practiced almost exclusively by women.
Also check out the Ethiopian perspective at this link.
#4
It appears that female genital mutilation is practiced almost exclusively by women.
That's only because the intensely patriarchal Islamic system decrees that wimmen's gonads are cootiville. Think for more than a millisecond regarding who benefits most from this revolting practice. Women are rendered sexually frigid and unable to tell if their man is a stud or dud.
Make no mistake that women inflicting this hideous mutilation upon other women and girls is a profound betrayal of their own sex, but in the majority all of this is enforced by historically patriarchal cultures. In previous threads relating to this incident, it has already been noted, and I concur, that the mother in this case could not possibly have been ignorant of what happened to her young daughter.
#5
The question should be: "was he guilty?" For this child to remember so vividly an event that occurred when she was 2 years old conjures up the "implanted memory" baloney in the Washington state daycare travesty. This case is the result of a divorce war and they are historically rife with dirty tricks. Read Dymphna's data at Gates of Vienna!
A Democratic Congressional candidate from Iowa is canceling a campaign event later this week with Senator John Kerry. Brucy Braley says Kerry's recent comments about the Iraq war were inappropriate. Braley is running against Republican Mike Whalen in Iowa's First District congressional race. It's a contest considered to be one of the most competitive House races in the country.
#1
Kerry has also cancelled a scheduled appearance in Philadelphia with Bob Casey:
"We made a decision not to allow the Republican hate machine to use Democratic candidates as proxies i[n] the distorted spin war," said David Wade, a Kerry spokesman, in a statement.
No comment needed.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/01/2006 10:57 Comments ||
Top||
#2
So has Casey repudiated? Seems like this just focuses the unwanted attention on Casey.
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.
President George W. Bush said on Tuesday the United States was looking at new ways to stop the violence in Darfur after getting a "grim" report about the humanitarian crisis from his special envoy.
DOHA - 
Amnesty International's first female Muslim secretary-general, Irene Khan, says a Sydney Islamic cleric does not deserve the privilege of leadership after a comment comparing unveiled women to "uncovered meat". Ms Khan says Sheikh Taj el-Din Al Hilaly's views are not representative of the majority of Muslim people and it is up to Muslim communities to take action. 
Two of the Australian terrorism suspects arrested in Yemen are reportedly the young sons of a Jemaah Islamiah agent. 
NEW YORK - The nation's first and largest Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans organization, IAVA (iava.org), released the following statement today from Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff in response to Senator John Kerry's remarks Monday.
Barbra Streisand's politics didn't find a wholly agreeable crowd during her Monday concert at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. As Babs traded political barbs with a George W. Bush imitator, a fan of the songstress who apparently disagreed with her politics pelted her with a beverage. And as her anti-GOP riff ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out of the center as he shouted at Streisand. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows. 
Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kerry drew election-year fire from President Bush and other Republicans on Tuesday for saying college students could "get stuck in Iraq" if they do not study hard. But Kerry, who unsuccessfully challenged Bush in the 2004 presidential election, refused to apologize and said his remark was a "botched joke" aimed at the president, not U.S. troops.
Lawyers for alleged al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla have asked a Florida judge to dismiss the terrorism case against him, saying he was tortured and force-fed psychedelic drugs while held at a U.S. military brig for more than 3-1/2 years. 
Al-Qaeda Number Two Ayman al-Zawahri was a past visitor to a madrasa destroyed by a Pakistan Army helicopter attack but he was not there when the missiles struck on Monday, senior Pakistani security officials say. Several other al-Qaeda luminaries had passed through the religious school run by pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Liaqatullah, who was killed in the airstrike along with around 80 of his followers, the officials told reporters a day after the attack.
President General Musharraf has vowed to crush militancy with force and insisted that the Bajaur madrassa targeted in an airstrike on Monday was a training camp for Taliban militants. 
KHAR: Thousands of tribal protestors here on Tuesday welcomed a call for suicide attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan, as anger against a madrassa airstrike on Monday swept through Bajaur Agency and North West Frontier Province, eyewitnesses said. Around 15,000 people at a protest demonstration in the Khar area of Bajaur Agency also vowed to avenge the killing of innocent people. 
KHAR: Bajaur Agency political authorities on Tuesday stopped Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad from entering the agency. Qazi reportedly wanted to condole the deaths of the people killed in an air raid on a madrassa in Bajaur Agency on Monday. We have orders from the top to not allow you into Bajaur Agency, a senior government official at a checkpoint told Qazi, who managed to slip into the area regardless. Authorities chased Qazi and stopped him after he had gone four kilometres into the restricted area. Qazi addressed a gathering there, condemning the federal government for banning politicians and journalists from visiting the attack site. MMA leader Sirajul Haq, who resigned as senior NWFP minister after the Bajaur strikes, accompanied Qazi. Earlier, Mohmand Agency political authorities stopped MMA legislators Maulana Mohammad Saddiq, Hafiz Rashid Ahmad and Maulana Shujaul Mulk from entering the agency.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States says the partition of Iraq would lead to ethnic cleansing and sectarian killing on a massive scale. Prince 
(KUNA) -- Iraqi Vice-President Tareq Al-Hashimi opposed on Tuesday an order by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to lift a blockade around the flashpoint Baghdad suburb of Sadr city. He said the move by Maliki was unilateral because he should have consulted first the political national security council, adding that this order could spell an end to a lull in the sectarian death squad violence. "The prime minister, in his capacity as commander in chief of the armed forces, has decided to lift the blockade of the access roads to Sadr City and other areas of Baghdad," a statement from Maliki's office said earlier.
A top Russian security official and a senior lawmaker suggested Tuesday that Moscow could back a draft UN Security Council resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran, despite Russia's long-held opposition to punishing Teheran. "The Russian political leadership will apparently have to join a new resolution on Iran proposed by Britain, Germany and France that envisages limited economic sanctions," Yuri Volkov, a deputy speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said in a statement.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that "serious negotiations" were under way over the fate of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by Hezbollah sparked a month of brutal fighting in Lebanon.
Russia said on Tuesday it believed Iran's nuclear program was peaceful, and a political dialogue, not sanctions, must be used in talks with Tehran. "We do not have information that would suggest that Iran is carrying out a non-peaceful (nuclear) program," Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov told a news conference in Moscow.
