Better than the usual 419-scam e-mail; "Mrs. Arafat" has a French e-mail address (she lives in Paris) and the money is in a Belgian bank (EU headquarters). Anybody that wants to can reply to Miss Piggy Mrs. Arafat by clicking on the headline. Spelling and grammar unchanged from the original:
Dear Brother,
I hope this letter will meet you in good health as I have prayed to ALLAH and I hope this mail will not be surprising to you if you have been following current events in the international media with reference to the Middle East and Palestine in particular.
I am Mrs. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of YASSER ARAFAT, the Palestinian leader who is in stable condition after he died recently in Paris. Since his death and even prior to the announcement, I have been thrown into a state of antagonism, confusion, humiliation, frustration and hopelessness by the present leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the new Prime Minister. I have even been subjected to psychological torture. As a widow that is so traumatized, I have lost confidence with everybody in the country at the moment.
You must have heard over the media reports and the Internet on the discovery of some fund in my husband secret bank account and companies and the allegations of some huge sums of money deposited by my husband which I have refuses to disclose or give up to the corrupt Palestine Government. In fact the total sum allegedly discovered by the Government so far is in the tune of about $4.5 Billion Dollars. And they are not relenting on their effort to make me poor for life. As you know, the Moslem community has no regards for woman, hence my desire for a foreign assistance.
My late husband deposited the sum of (45 million euros) fourty five million euros in a belgium bank. whose name is withheld for now until we open communication. I shall be grateful if you could receive this fund into your bank account.From the presnt account bearing my late husband name because,I do not want the money to get into the present Government.We have to transfer out the money from the account and close it completly.
Having known my condition , I decided to donated this money to Muslim organization that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want this Muslim organization or you to use this money in all sincerity to fund mosques, orphanages, widows, suicide bombers,beheadings,burkhas,secret police goon squads,hijackers,a liposuction for myself, and also propagating the word of ALLAH and to ensure that the society upholds the views and belief of the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran emphasizes so much on ALLAH'S benevolence and this has encourage me to take the bold step.
Because of my inability and my Daughter young age informal experience to handle this matter alone , I faced difficulties and incapacitated by the situation more so by the fact that I do not have the-know-how to handle ability because of my husband death and traumatized situation I am facing now.
I have made a decision well considered with my daugther Zahwa , to donate 40% of the money to Islamic orphanage home and organisation's. You will help me invest 50% of the money,While,10% will be for you considering the good and sincere effort and time you will put to see the transfer of the money to your account from the bank in Belgium.You will also help to secure a good accommodation for me in Qatar and also for the sake of ALLAH share the rest of the money to the needy.
I don't want my husband efforts to be used by non Muslims or something that will not please ALLAH. I dont want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this bold decision for I know that after death, I will be with ALLAH the most beneficent and the most merciful. My happiness is that I lived as a true devoted Muslims where I found peace and love. Whoever that wants to serve ALLAH must serve him in truth and in fairness. Please always be prayerful all through your life and also put me in your daily prayers to ALLAH,because with him,all things are possible.
I am giving you this information in total trust and confidence I will greatly appreciate if you accept my proposal in good faith. Please,In case you don't accept please do not let me out to the security and international media.
However, any delay in your reply will give room in sourcing for a Muslim organization or a devoted Muslim for this same purpose.
May the Almighty ALLAH continue to guide and protect you.I wait to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Mrs. SUHA ARAFAT
Posted by: Mike ||
01/11/2005 12:40:38 PM ||
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Okay, let's hypnotize her into thinking that Rantburg is worthy of zakat. You are getting very sleepyyyyyyyyyâ¦
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
01/11/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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SFR - lol!
I like this. It means she's unable to get her hands on any of that money - so she's willing to settle for half.
#7
I still can't grasp the concept (without gagging) of this twat climbing into the sack and riding the old fart. Is that kid really his? And if it's true, did she really (ugh) ride the wrinkled old prune? Or was the deed done artificially?
#2
The Brits better be careful with what they wished for.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/11/2005 19:50 Comments ||
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#3
These asswipes will promptly be realised to spread lies and jihad. The mention of suing the US has already been made by "lawyers" in the UK and the propaganda machine is already hotting up.
My only question is why were are letting them go? I say send their asses back to Afghanistan and let their terrorist loving supporters fetch them from there.
A court martial has been set for a British soldier accused of selling fake photographs of British troops abusing Iraqi prisoners to the Mirror. Pvt. Stuart MacKenzie, who served part-time in the Territorial Army, will stand trial in April before a military court in England for allegedly helping produce the photos, the Guardian reported Tuesday. One image, printed on the Mirror's front page under the headline "Vile," purported to show a soldier urinating on a hooded and bound prisoner. Another depicted a prisoner being hit with a rifle. MacKenzie had a preliminary hearing in October but the case was delayed for procedural purposes, officials said. The publication of the photos led to the dismissal of Mirror editor Piers Morgan after the Army accused him of endangering the lives of troops in Iraq who could be targeted for revenge.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/11/2005 2:11:02 PM ||
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Muslims living in Britain are facing two choices; either to migrate or to join the jihad, a key Islamic figure has said. Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammed, leader of the now officially disbanded Islamic militant group Al Muhajiroun told United Press International Saturday that as the covenant of security under which Muslims previously lived in Britain has been broken, Muslims must now consider themselves at war. "And I declare we should ourselves join the global Islamic camp against the global crusade camp," he said.
What violated the covenant, according to Sheikh Omar, was the anti-terrorist legislation introduced in the United Kingdom after the 9/11 attacks. If the British government would review these policies and release those detained without trial in Belmarsh prison and elsewhere, Muslims could live at peace in Britain. Otherwise, they must prepare themselves to fight. "The response from the Muslims will be horrendous if the British government continues in the way it treats Muslims," he said, adding that suicide bombings were a possibility.
He called on Muslims to form a new coalition united behind al-Qaida with Osama Bin Laden as their leader. This jihadi group would replace Al-Muhajiroun, which is no longer needed, he said. By dissolving such parties the Muslim community will have to come together, and as the judge of the Sharia court in Britain, he is the one to unite them, he added. Those who did not wish to either leave or fight would not be regarded as Muslims, said Sheikh Omar, condemning in particular the Muslim Council of Britain for urging the Muslim community to cooperate with the British government. "They are hypocrites, we don't believe they are Muslims," he told UPI. "In a time of crisis, who ever allies with them (the kuffaar -- non-believers) is one of them, so I don't believe they are Muslims in the first place." "I doubt if one of them would dare to walk the streets of Mecca by themselves," he added.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
01/11/2005 9:12:35 AM ||
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#1
Load thier ass on a livestock frighter and ship thier ass' to France.
#3
And I thought that SOBM had been planning to keep quiet re: the fate of Abu Hamza.. Time to give them the choice of repatriation or internment.
"The response from the Muslims will be horrendous if the British government continues in the way it treats Muslims," he said, adding that suicide bombings were a possibility.
Yeah, cos that'll do you and your community (and, unfortunately, the sikhs and hindus) loads of favours. Tit.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/11/2005 9:50 Comments ||
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#4
2b has the solution in a nutshell! Good call!
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/11/2005 9:51 Comments ||
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Throwing hard boyz off the dole would be un-Islamic. It's in the Koran somewhere, you could look it up.
#10
I am hard pressed first to see the difference between these *individuals*, not British Muslims, and those *individuals* who supported the acts of Guy Fawkes, not British Catholics, so many years ago. That being said, I see no difference why these *individuals* should not meet his same fate.
#11
This ass clown needs to be locked away so folks like me don't take matters into our own hands. What this ahole is calling for is violence and he is attempting blackmail. This goes beyond any reasonable definition of free speech. It is incitment to violence. His butt should be in jail. Will Blair do it? Does the UK have the balls to put him away?
#17
At least it knows something about posting etiquette - CAPS LOCK IS ONLY THERE TO BE USED BY THE RAVING INSANE. It's not there for the mentally undisadvantaged.
About 400 extra British troops are being sent to Iraq to shore up security ahead of the elections scheduled for the end of this month, the government said yesterday. Troops from the 1st Battalion Royal Highland Fusiliers will be sent from Cyprus to Iraq for a "limited period for election security", on the recommendation of the commanding officer in Iraq, Mr Hoon said. The 400 troops would be deployed in the region of south-eastern Iraq controlled by British forces. Mr Hoon dismissed speculation British forces could be sent to Baghdad or the Sunni Triangle ahead of the election, telling MPs: "No such decision has been taken or is in prospect."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/11/2005 12:50:52 AM ||
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#1
Sending 400 is only a small statement , i would personally like to see a large statement , and I expect so would a lot of Iraqi's who actually wanna vote in these elections .
#4
I don't know...at a time when (once again) Blair is on the defensive at home, bucking the popular tide (or at least the noisy one) to send more troops instead of bringing them all home... it feels kind of like defiance to me.
#5
The way we've treated the Gurkhas has been very shabby recently. I hope we can rectify that - I'd rather see them all get paid proper pensions than a single 'asylum seeker' get a bean.
I saw a program where Gurkhas were being selected for the British Army (in Nepal). It was unreal - they were carrying large rocks up and down a hill all day long, as well as all manner of other tasks - absolutely incredible to watch. I'd like to see them set loose tracking down some of the swine who have beheaded bound prisoners. Word would soon get about...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
01/11/2005 19:06 Comments ||
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Hmm....guess L'il Kimmie's a bit tetchy about his thinning hair?
STALINIST North Korea has stepped up its campaign against long hair and untidy attire which its media says represents a "corrupt capitalist" lifestyle, reports said. Paging Michael Moore!
North Korean state television, radio and newspapers have led the grooming drive, urging people to cut their hair short and to dress tidily, the BBC said in a dispatch citing broadcasts from Pyongyang. Men were asked to have crew cuts with hair growing up to five centimetres in a twice-a-month visit to the barber, it said. Not only health and hygiene but also intelligence was cited by the North Korean media as reasons for the crackdown on appearance. Pyongyang television noted long hair "consumes a great deal of grass nutrition" and could thus rob the brain of energy, according to the BBC. But another serious reason came from state radio which said tidy attire "is important in repelling the enemies' maneuvers to infiltrate corrupt capitalist ideas and lifestyle" in North Korea, it said.
The ruling communist party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, even warned inappropriate appearance under foreign influence could lead to national decay. "People who wear other's style of dress and live in other's style will become fools and that nation will come to ruin," Rodong was cited as saying.
Posted by: Desert Blondie ||
01/11/2005 11:00:24 AM ||
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Well, I guess that would explain my grades in college...
Posted by: Jonathan ||
01/11/2005 11:23 Comments ||
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Loon graphic, Fred?
I swear, Kim Jong Ill is going totally insane.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
01/11/2005 11:34 Comments ||
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This is seriously jacked. Though I wonder if it is to let the Chinese more easily spot escapees so they can return them to the Hell Kingdom.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
01/11/2005 11:47 Comments ||
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#4
This dictum is being referred to as "Hair Apparent"
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/11/2005 13:58 Comments ||
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I guess hair must not be very edible, or they'd be encouraging it. Just think of all those potential "mullet farmers" out there!
Posted by: Dar ||
01/11/2005 15:07 Comments ||
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Sorry, #7 is me. Hair is edible, just not digestable.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/11/2005 15:14 Comments ||
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I guess the erstwhile Dear Leader is living proof of the proposition that long hair steals brain energy, just enough left for his brain stem (lizard brain) to function.
#10
Long hair and capitalism go together? Geez-with all the flat-tops, buzz cuts and shear jobs around me in my capitalist work environment, I can only assume the short hair proves I've been working for a communist-run company!
Extremists with links to Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network are present in the Balkans and are infiltrating other European countries, a senior Bulgarian secret service official said on Monday. "We have information that people with connections to structures linked to Al Qaeda have passed through Bulgaria to on their way to neighbouring European countries," secret service chief General Kircho Kirov said. "There are people in the Balkans who have been in Chechnya and Afghanistan. Some have been active in Iraq," he told the Trud daily newspaper.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier called on Monday for a "new relationship" with the United States but warned that a better alliance did not mean allegiance. Barnier, in an interview published in the International Herald Tribune, said he hoped to visit the United States "every three to four months" to meet with administration officials, members of Congress and others. "We need more political dialogue - we need to talk more," Barnier said.
Diplospeak for "you need to listen to us more."
US officials correctly accuse France of blocking their bid to obtain full UN backing for the US-led occupation of Iraq, a campaign which Paris opposed.
Barnier said it was a "mistake, an error of analysis" for the Bush administration to try to divide the Continent into an "Old Europe," principally France and Germany, and a new, more pro-American Europe including countries like Poland. Stressing that the European bloc would continue to grow "whether it is pleasing or not," Barnier said Washington should recognise that "the countries joining the European Union will progressively and inevitably have a European reflex. Americans must understand that it is in their interest that Europe get organised and have an autonomy. It's the price to pay for an effective alliance. The alliance between Europeans and Americans must be balanced."
Sure, no probs, and why don't you try defending yourselves?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
I'd say they have two choices to pick from.
1. Subservient boot-licking lackey - They are French after all.
2. Hated Enemy - This is their default choice anyway, unless they start some serious groveling.
#4
What exactly what does France have to balance with? Nothing? Yes, thats right, nothing.
Why would we negotiate another screwing at the hands of Chirac? No good reason I can think of. I think France will find it's diplomats lack the "culture" to deal with Ms Rice. She is so very far above the station of any French politician or technocrat.
#5
SPOD, it will be interesting to see how they deal with Dr. Rice. I don't think that she accepts much in the way of BS. Unfortunately, the French are all about BS.
#6
vote time ... all hands raised if you would like the French on your side ...
*watchs tumbleweed go by*
no-one? , come on , there must be someone .. anyone ?
#14
âAmericans must understand that it is in their interest that Europe get organised and have an autonomy..."
It's never been about American opposition to a unified Europe. Focus, please.
Several of these kinds of statements that have come from France post-Iraq have been quite provocative in both tone and language. Can anyone imagine France delivering such a "diplomatic message" to any other country they have relations with? Of course not.
France has yet to take a good introspective look at its actions and words visavis the US and recognize they themselves have to contribute something useful. They apparently haven't figured out that it might be worthwhile (and a much better indicator of their "respect" for an ally) to use language that fosters healing, not language that reopens rifts.
#15
Europe needs to work out it's own problems with crushing socialism and Islamist threats. They can blame the US all they want to, but to what end? What will that accomplish? The US has simply begun to look West, instead of East for their trade. It's a new century. The world turns on.
#16
he hoped to visit the United States âevery three to four monthsâ to meet with administration officials, members of Congress and others.
He better be bringing pizza or Chinese takeout if he comes over that often. Hell, I don't think the Brits and Aussies come over that often, and they're our allies.
#19
ChIraq want New Europe to kiss France's spotty behind, and thinks it's inevitable that they will succeed in peeling the emerging East Europe democracies away from US influence. He's telling us "this is how it's gonna be, so bend over and like it." Typical French potty mouth. Mr ChIraq, meet Ms Condi Rice, she'll be your new Governess. You'll address her as "Sir" and speak only when spoken to. Now, go to your crate.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/11/2005 11:41 Comments ||
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Condi should let him sit out in the lobby until hell freezes over. He can lecture the receptionist until closing time.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/11/2005 11:49 Comments ||
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#21
I wonder, will ChIraq be like Achenar who wakes up and smells the blood or Sirrus who never does?
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
01/11/2005 12:01 Comments ||
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#22
A spoiled relationship is like spoiled milk. It isn't gonna get any better and it only will stink up your refridgerator. Or something.
#23
Is the DeGaulle on its way to the Indian Ocean yet? Do we have adequate search and rescue assets tracking its progress?
Posted by: Matt ||
01/11/2005 13:18 Comments ||
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#24
France comes from the Roman approach to law: revolution as opposed to evolution. That is, as in their political history, clear the ground and start over with a new, complete system. The U.S. comes from the English evolutionary tradition: even drastic change (the ending of slavery, giving women the vote) builds on what has gone before. We simply don't do 'new relationships' -- and the French will never be able to grasp that.
#25
Is this "one milk shake, two straws" material?
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/11/2005 18:43 Comments ||
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Lots of talk and inference of European 'inevitability'. Nothing is inevitable - try this one on for size. President Bush formally declares that as a recognition of the coalition of the willing, he says that each country who sent troops to Iraq can join NAFTA (perhaps in an affiliate way initially).
If he says that now, before our election comes along (probably going to be in May), Blair will shit himself (good). The UK Independence Party will have a field day and the Conservatives might be able to rally themselves too. The Europhiles will go apopleptic of course. The 'New Europe' will have access to even bigger markets than they were promised on EU entry (with a lot less regulation) As for what 'Old Europe' will think - who cares?
Not going to happen of course, GW wouldn't do that to Blair - but it does show what kind of weapons are at his disposal (and that's without the HAARP and Roswell stuff!).
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
01/11/2005 18:56 Comments ||
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Perhaps I'm missing it Tony. Why would allowing Britain, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, et al into NAFTA cause Blair problems?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/11/2005 19:18 Comments ||
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#28
Short Answer: No!
Long Answer: No! Phuque Phrawnse!
#30
The US policy towards France should be the same as the policy towards North Korea, malign neglect. Although, the Duke of Exeter said it better in Henry V: "Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,
And any thing that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at."
New York Post - hyperbole reduced
The criminal probe into why former Bill Clinton aide Sandy Berger illegally sneaked top-secret documents out of the National Archives — possibly in his socks — has heated up and is now before a federal grand jury... Berger admits removing 40 to 50 top-secret documents from the archives, but claims it was an "honest mistake" made while he vetted documents for the 9/11 commission's probe into the Twin Towers attacks. Berger has also acknowledged that he destroyed some documents — he says by accident.
#1
Give Berger a break, Judge. He puts his pants on one leg at a time.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/11/2005 15:01 Comments ||
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Normal folks make mistakes.
Still, normal folks would not get away with stuffing top-secret documents into their clothes and sneaking them out of governmental buildings. Or is this common behavior in DC?
Posted by: Dr. Jules ||
01/11/2005 15:16 Comments ||
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BTW - he's facing 10 yrs per document, and has publicly disclosed (and told the FBI) that he took 40-50, some of which he destroyed...let's do the math?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/11/2005 17:52 Comments ||
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Berger might be in some doo doo unless he can get someone to believe it was just an honest mistake. Prior to 911, I guess the Clintonistes were preoccupied with impeachment and Zippergate. They didn't think the AQ boneheads were any kind of threat.
The Pentagon is considering establishing a new four-star military command for intelligence, reflecting concern that the powerful civilian intelligence post created by Congress last year could weaken the Pentagon's grip on its vast intelligence assets.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., a close ally of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, says he is reviving the idea that was first floated last fall, after senior military intelligence officers in recent weeks privately signaled support. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the idea is under consideration as part of an effort to improve military intelligence.
The proposal continues a power struggle between the Pentagon and civilian branches of intelligence that almost thwarted passage of the 9/11 intelligence-restructuring bill last month. The Pentagon and its supporters on Capitol Hill want to ensure that the 9/11 law doesn't divert spy satellites controlled by the military from missions intended to support frontline troops.
Behind the turf war is a debate over national security priorities.
The proposal comes amid growing concern at the Pentagon that Iraqi insurgents are winning the intelligence war, striking U.S. and Iraqi government forces at will while hiding within Iraq's Sunni population. But there are strategic intelligence priorities competing for attention. With much of the nation's intelligence apparatus focused on Iraq, civilian intelligence has been unable to find al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden or produce a definitive picture of suspected nuclear weapons programs in North Korea and Iran.
Addressing the Heritage Foundation last week, Chambliss said his aim was to prevent the new director of national intelligence — the powerful civilian post created by the intelligence-restructuring bill that Congress approved last month — from gaining "an unrealistically large span of control" over military intelligence.
Whitman said the idea is under consideration as part of the military intelligence overhauls being crafted by Steve Cambone, Rumsfeld's top adviser on intelligence. Officially, the Pentagon wants to see Chambliss' proposal in writing before endorsing it.
"Nevertheless," Whitman said, "we are committed to all efforts to improve and strengthen the national intelligence community and defense intelligence capabilities to meet the needs of the warfighter." Cambone declined to comment.
One reason the proposal is winning support among military intelligence officers is that it offers the opportunity for upgrading the Pentagon's top uniformed military intelligence official to four stars, the highest rank held by military officers. The number of four-star officers is limited, and includes such posts as the top two officers in each of the four military branches, the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among others. Currently, the highest uniformed intelligence post, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is held by a three-star officer.
The Pentagon is also looking at the Chambliss proposal as a way to ensure it has an intelligence officer of sufficient stature and rank to handle disputes that may arise with the new intelligence czar.
One obstacle to the idea is the problem of finding money for the new support staff that would likely come with a new, higher-ranking military intelligence chief at a time when the Pentagon is under intense pressure from the White House to cut spending.
Chambliss, a member of both the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, says he will co-sponsor legislation with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., to create a new organization, INTCOM, or Intelligence Command, headed by a four-star general or admiral.
INTCOM would encompass the intelligence branches of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the three agencies under Pentagon control that run spy satellites and intercept enemy communications: the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.
Chambliss said requiring the new civilian intelligence czar to direct eight military intelligence organizations is a formula for confusion.
"How someone outside of the military, like the (director of national intelligence) could adequately and efficiently manage these vast intelligence capabilities by dealing with eight separate Department of Defense members is beyond me," Chambliss told the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Intelligence failures prior to the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq war stemmed primarily from poor human intelligence generated by the civilian CIA, Chambliss contends, yet the intelligence overhaul bill does little to improve human intelligence. The 9/11 Commission argued that the CIA director was being held accountable for failures even though 80% of the U.S. intelligence budget is under Pentagon control.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2005 12:11:20 AM ||
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Good idea. There needs to be a hedge that insures intel doesn't get stymied.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/11/2005 7:43 Comments ||
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Anyway, aren't the needs for military and civilian intelligence different?
Keep the civilian side from gaining "an unrealistically large span of control" over military intelligence.
So I find this particularly pathetic: offers the opportunity for upgrading the Pentagonâs top uniformed military intelligence official to four stars, the highest rank held by military officers.
translation - throw stars into the eyes of the individuals who should be protecting military intelligence and watch them dance for the accompanying peanuts. so freaking sad.
Just days after NEWSWEEK revealed the relationship between President Bush and President Clinton has "grown surprisingly warm and personal," a former federal prosecutor who played a prominent role in the Senate's Whitewater investigation has been picked by Bush to head Homeland Security! Michael Chertoff was chief Republican counsel to the famed Senate committee delving into former President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton's Arkansas business dealings. Mrs. Clinton, now a senator representing New York, will be among those considering Chertoff's nomination, which must be confirmed by the Senate.
That could be fun, but she won't bring it up.
Chertoff headed the Justice Department's criminal division from 2001 to 2003, where he played a central role in the nation's legal response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/11/2005 12:06:36 PM ||
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*snicker* as I've always said... if your opponent suddenly grows suprisingly warm and personal, chances are he's feeling particularly jovial because he got a personal surprise coming your way....
Separatist rebels from the Indonesian province of Aceh have deplored the presence there of two militant Islamic groups helping survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami, saying they were using aid to push a religious agenda.
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) said in a statement from its government in exile in Stockholm that the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) "would squander scarce resources".
The statement branded the two groups as "criminal organisations" and said they were not welcome in Aceh. It said "the actions and words of FPI and MMI contradict Islamic teachings and the tolerance and faith of Acehnese Muslims".
The self-styled prime minister of the government-in-exile, Malik Mahmud, told Reuters that their brand of fundamentalist Islam was not acceptable in Aceh, which fought Dutch colonialists and Japan's World War II occupation and whose campaign is fuelled by a centuries-old nationalist movement and not by religion.
"What we don't like is they make people more confused about the situation under the pretext of giving aid and give their version of Islam, which we think is very radical," he said in a telephone interview from Stockholm.
"They say things like the tsunami happened because Indonesia did not accept sharia law in Aceh," Malik said.
"Our organisation is legal, nobody has the right to stop us," MMI chairman Irfan S Awwas told Reuters. "We are there solely for humanitarian purposes, for our fellow Indonesians."
The FPI was one of many small militant groups that sprang up after the 1998 fall of former president Suharto and made a splash by attacking nightclubs, brothels and other entertainment venues deemed an affront to Islam.
The group has recruited volunteers to go to the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and the Moluccas, where Christian-Muslim clashes have killed thousands in recent years.
FPI leader Habib Rizieq denied GAM's assertion that the groups were working with the Indonesian army.
"We go there purely for humanitarian activities, and when the job is done, we will go home."
GAM, which has been fighting since 1976 to separate Aceh from Indonesian rule, accused the government of helping the two groups to travel to Aceh.
"At a time when the international community is so generously assisting the people of Aceh, the government is wasting valuable funds by assisting these criminal organisations to travel to and stay in Aceh," the GAM statement said.
Aceh remains under a civil emergency following a year of martial law aimed at crushing GAM rebels. Access for foreign aid groups and media was heavily restricted until the province was struck by the magnitude 9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2005 12:10:09 AM ||
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GAM, which has been fighting since 1976 to separate Aceh from Indonesian rule, accused the government of helping the two groups to travel to Aceh.
ooooh. bluster? Why would anyone invite al Q to dinner? It might be worthwhile to point out to other seperatist rebels worldwide, that inviting AQ to help you fight off you current government means that those same AQ thugs will run your next government. I'm guessing that playing second fiddle to AQ leaders is exactly not what established leaders of rebel movements have in mind.
Oh the tangled web. If the government wanted to get rid of GAM, it might be in their interest to throw AQ in the mix and get the Americans (Johnny on the Spot) to help them. But more than likely, the Americans would enlist the help of the GAM to fight them.
MALACAÃANG said on Tuesday that it expected the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to punish its renegade members who attacked an Army base in Maguindanao province and assured the Muslim rebel group that peace talks would continue. "We are expecting the MILF leadership to impose sanctions on those who instigated the attack," Press secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement. "Nevertheless, we assure that the skirmishes will not in any way affect the on-going peace negotiations," he added.
Fighting between the MILF guerillas and government troops erupted Sunday night in the province after the rebels overran an Army base to avenge the death of one of their commanders. At least 21 combatants were killed, reports said. A ceasefire between government soldiers and the MILF rebels has been in place for 17 months. Both parties are set to resume peace negotiations this year. Bunye said international peace monitors and the government and the MILF joint ceasefire committees are looking into the incident. The military and police are pursuing the attackers and order in the area is being restored, Bunye said. "The renegades will be held accountable for the treacherous attack," he added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2005 12:32:52 AM ||
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MALACAÃANG said on Tuesday that it expected the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to punish its renegade members who attacked an Army base in Maguindanao province and assured the Muslim rebel group that peace talks would continue.
I don't get this. "Renegade" members? So, are the rest of the MILF membership considered "good" terrorists???
#4
BAR - re: "Renegade" members? I had the same thought. I suppose if they can hold a cease-fire then they might as well.
And what is the moral, boys and girls? It is that if you want to change a government, get some guns, kill some people and then when you start to lose the rebellion, call a ceasefire and your wishes will come true.
#5
"Here, let me spread my cheeks a little more so you can ram it in real hard. Oh no! A reach-around is not necessary!" -- Arroyo Government.
This is a farce. Anyone with half a mind can see that these so-called renegades are part of the MILF and fuly supported by them and not a real 'splinter group'. I'm doupt that they will do any real 'punishment' but the Arroyo government will save face and be able to continue the 'peace process'. At least until the MILF is able to re-arm itself.
If they are a 'splinter group' (another one?) then its obvious that the MILF does not have the ability to fulfill any obligations it might make.
Indonesia's military asked aid groups in tsunami-stricken areas Monday to draw up a list of international relief workers — and to report on their movements — as fears arose for the safety of foreigners helping survivors in a region wracked by rebellion long before the waves hit. The request underlined the unease with which Indonesia has faced the growth of the biggest aid operation in history, replete with foreign soldiers and civilian humanitarian workers. Indonesian authorities have long been wary of foreigners' presence in the tsunami-stricken Aceh province, where separatists have been fighting government troops for more than 20 years. Foreigners were banned from the province at the northern tip of Sumatra island until the earthquake hit Dec. 26, touching off the tsunami.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Looks like the KKK in turbans.
The government also want to make sure "aid workers" are exactly that and not formenting further unrest I am sure.
DEBKA, salt to taste. EFL: Last Sunday, January 2, US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage performed his last major mission before stepping down in favor of Robert B. Zoellick, whom incoming secretary Condoleezza Rice has picked as her deputy. This mission took Armitage to Damascus with nine American demands.
1. Start repealing Syria's 40-years old emergency laws.
2. Free all political prisoners from jail.
3. Abolish media censorship. 3.1 A pony
4. Initiate democratic reform.
5. Speed up economic development
6. Cut down relations with Iran.
7. Announce publicly that the disputed Shebaa Farms at the base of Mt. Hermon are Syrian territory. This would cut the ground from under the Lebanese terrorist Hizballah's claim that the land is Lebanese and must be "liberated" from Israeli "occupation."
8. Hand over to US or Iraqi authorities 55 top officials and military officers of the former Saddam regime, who are confirmed by intelligence to be established in Syria and running the guerrilla war in Iraq out of their homes and offices.
But the punchline was in the last demand.
9. Syria had better make sure that none of the Kornet AT-14 anti-tank missiles which it recently purchased in large quantities from East Europe turn up in Iraq. US intelligence has recorded their serial numbers to identify their source. DEBKAfile's military sources add: Because he cannot afford to buy advanced fighter planes and tanks, Assad purchased massive quantities of the "third generation" Kornet AT-14 anti-tank weapons.
Just in case any are found in Iraq, General Casey, commander of US forces in Iraq has already received orders from the commander-in-chief in the White House to pursue military action inside Syria according to his best military judgment. Number 9 therefore incorporates a tangible threat. The American general has the authority to launch military action against Syria as he sees fit and without delay if Damascus continues to meddle in Iraq's affairs.
DEBKAfile adds: The Syrian ruler protested to Armitage that he is doing everything he can to hold back the flow of guerrilla fighters and weapons into Iraq. As proof, he ordered Syria's chief of staff General Ali Habib to establish a forward command center on the Syrian-Iraq border to oversee efforts to control border traffic on the spot. The fact is that General Habib is one of the few Syrian officers which the Americans have trusted. He commanded the Syrian units dispatched to Saudi Arabia in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq and made friends with the US commanders and officials conducting the war, including vice president Dick Cheney and the then head of joint chiefs of staff, Colin Powell. However, even Habib's old American buddies do not rule out the possibility that he was posted to the border not to restrain the traffic but to take command of Syrian units posted there and prepare them for the contingency of an American military offensive. Assad and General Habib are both aware, according to our sources, of the near carte blanche handed down to General Casey to pursue military action against Syria as and when indicated by US military requirements in Iraq.
In this regard, DEBKAfile's military sources note four important points:
1. It will not take place before President Bush is sworn in for his second term on January 20 or Iraq's general election three days later.
2. The Americans will not start out with a large-scale, orderly military offensive, but rather short in-and-out forays; small US and Iraqi special forces units will cross the border and raid bases housing Iraqi guerrillas or buses carrying them to the border. If these brief raids are ineffective, the Americans will upscale the action.
3. The Allawi government will formally request the United States to consign joint Iraqi-US forces for action against Syrian targets, so placing the US operation under the Baghdad government's aegis. In other words, Iraq will be at war with Syria without issuing a formal declaration.
4. It is fully appreciated in Washington, Baghdad and Jerusalem that intense American military warfare against Syria could provoke a Hizballah backlash against Israel. Damascus may well activate the Lebanese Shiite group to open a second front on Israel's northern border. The Syrian ruler is expected will tolerate a certain level of American low-intensity, low-profile action. But, because of his reluctance to strike back directly at American or Iraqi targets, he will field the Hizballah — and not just for cross-border attacks but to galvanize the terrorist cells it controls and funds in the West Bank and Gaza Strip into a stepped-up offensive against Israeli targets. These Palestinian cells have proliferated over the years, particularly in the Fatah and its branches, encouraged by Yasser Arafat's cooperative pact with the Hizballah which remains in force after his death.
Therefore, the key Middle East happening in the coming weeks will be US military strikes against Syria. The election of Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian Authority chairman, his invitation to the White House, the formation of the Sharon-Peres government coalition - albeit on very shaky legs, and the talk of imminent Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations, will prove to be no more than sideshows of the main event.
#1
That's all? I was hoping this fairy tale ended with this: "...resulting in a massive Israeli offensive towards Damascus to cover the cleaning out of southern Lebanon." :)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
01/11/2005 10:24 Comments ||
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#2
What's with all the political demands? Syria's internal problems can be sorted out eventually; right now what's needed is their prompt removal from the list of Iraq's undesirable outside influences.
#3
Significant action may be preceded by some sort of mutual defence agreement between the U. S. and Iraq to be ratified by both legislatures that will be expandable to include other ME democracies. After Iraq makes the case, Syria will be determined to be a threat to be dealt with under the agreement.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/11/2005 10:32 Comments ||
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#4
Demand #10 (just in case they agree to demands 1-9): Assad must go on al-Jazzeera TV and kiss his own ass.
#5
I like my salt so I'll bite. There may be something to this. Belmont Club references articles by AP and the Telegraph that state pretty much the same thing. Allawi is pushing for a more rutheless approach to the insrugents (more rutheless?), using Iraqi hit squads to go after leadership targets. He's also apparenlty royally pissed at Syria - the prospect of SF raids into Syria was also mentioned, as well as the trip to Syria by Armitage. Welcome steps all, I would say.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/11/2005 12:01 Comments ||
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#6
There is no way Assad can accede to the demands Armitage presented without being deposed (at minimum!) by his daddy's people. This action is just to put Syria on formal notice that they have screwed themselves. I would look for a formal request from the new Iraqi government immediately following the swearing-in ceremony, if not sooner, to be followed by reports of specific bodies found, possibly unmanned, in their beds or on the wrong side of the border.
The United Nations said yesterday that the Hezbollah resistance group bore the main responsibility for the death of a French peacekeeper in a flare-up of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said the violence had been sparked by a Hezbollah attack that killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three, violating the so-called Blue Line drawn up to mark the border following Israel's 2000 pullout from south Lebanon. "We are expressing ... serious concern over what happened yesterday with the attack of Hezbollah across the Blue Line," the envoy said after talks with Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud. "We can't forget anyway that the event started with the attack across the Blue Line." De Mistura rejected Hezbollah's argument that attacks on the disputed Shebaa Farms district were justified because it remained under Israeli occupation. "We consider the Blue Line (extends) all the way up to Shebaa, including Shebaa," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Hezbollah to Blame for Peacekeeperâs Death: UN
"It's YOUR fault he died!.....okay, now that that's out of the way, what do you guys need? Money? Medical supplies? Spare parts?"
#2
Not so fast, BAR. Perhaps the UN has entered a 12 step program. The first step to solving the problem is admitting you have one. Maybe the bureaucrats of Turtle Bay have figured they should not put all their chips on Lord Kofi and are trying to make nice to the US. The UN, the forgs, the Turks...funny how even the dumbest can get the message, even if it does take a while.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/11/2005 10:53 Comments ||
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You mean it wasn't the Jooooos? Wow. Never thought I'd see the day.....
EFL. Sympathy meter please...
FALLUJAH, Iraq -- When Ahmed Hussein Nasser returned to Fallujah weeks after a devastating U.S.-led campaign to retake the city from insurgents, he could barely recognize the city where he had spent all 66 years of his life. His anger against the Americans and Iraqi forces allied with them has only grown since his return - a worrisome sign for U.S. officials letting people back into Fallujah, a one-time insurgent stronghold where the population was generally believed to support the fighters. How'd that work out for you, Ahmed?
"When I see Americans in Fallujah I feel as if I am seeing devils in front of me," he said.
About 85,000 residents have gone back to inspect their houses and general conditions in the city, but only about 10 percent of them stayed, said Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. All hail the High Commisioner!
Few houses escaped damage from the intense American air raids late last year and the insurgent bombings and shootings that followed. Work teams have cleared rubble from the streets, but it is still tangled with downed power lines. Craters cut off access to side streets, and some buildings have walls or ceilings missing if they weren't simply destroyed. There were suggestions before people began to return that they would have no idea of the devastation the campaign wrought. Some Marines south of the city reported people told them they thought Fallujah was practically unscathed. American officials have characterized their November battle as a fight to liberate Fallujah and have said the people returning have generally welcomed being free from the grip of the insurgents. "Losing your home is a very emotionally distressing, no matter how the loss came about. All human beings will experience a roller coaster of feelings and undoubtedly look for someone to blame," Maj. M. Naoimi Hawkins, spokeswoman for the 4th Civil Affairs unit, wrote in an e-mail."Many Iraqi residents have made it clear to me that they realize that foreign fighters brought about the destruction and are ultimately the ones to blame."
The government said each family will get immediate financial aid of $100, and more aid worth $500 will be given later. Residents whose homes were damaged will get up to $10,000, the government said.
Life has slowly improved in recent days as more people go out in the streets and vendors appear selling fruits and vegetables. U.S. troops continue to patrol some parts of the city to search for weapons caches and guerrillas who have trickled back. People have running water and electricity for several hours every day, said Mohammed Hussein of the Ministry of Industry, which is supervising infrastructure projects in the city.
American military officials say they have witnessed little friction with Iraqis coming back into the city. Lt. Col. Daniel Wilson, deputy for current operations for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said the only discontent he's seen has been due to frustrations over wait times at city checkpoints for entering residents.
Mohsen Abdul-Ghani was among the first to return two weeks ago and found his house undamaged, though everything inside was in shambles. A blue "X" had been spray-painted outside to signify that American troops had searched the building. The 41-year-old professor at Baghdad's Islamic Law University left the city the same day to bring his family from Baghdad, where they have stayed during the attacks."When I came back the next day I found the house totally burnt although there were no weapons in it and the Americans had earlier put a blue X sign," he said. Though he had no evidence, he immediately blamed the United States for killing and wounding civilians. He did not mention Iraq's insurgents. "The Americans have destroyed our city," he said. Sounds just like an American professor.
#2
I wouldn't give a single American life to save anything in this shithole of a town. Fuck em, and they better understand it will be the same consequences after the elections, except the Kurds and Shias won't let the civvys out first.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/11/2005 16:37 Comments ||
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#3
A cynic would say: Whenever they ask someone's opinion in Iraq, always look at what they do for a living, where they live, what kind of car they drive, and what kind of clothes they wear. It's the easiest way to spot a member of Saddam's nomenklatura. So this guy is a university professor, huh? Wanna bet his last name really ends with al-tikriti?
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/11/2005 16:40 Comments ||
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#4
they should ask them if they want the torturers and thugs too return, and didn't these fuckheads get paid for their lil shithole huts anyway?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/11/2005 17:53 Comments ||
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#8
His anger has grown.... "When I see Americans in Fallujah I feel as if I am seeing devils in front of me," he said.
The feeling is mutual you sunni-stooge. What do you think the Shiites and Kurds think about you? Hmm. Maybe we let the Kurds come in and clean out your little cesspool. The only reason you are still alive is because of US Forces.
#17
Actually we should have treated them the same way they treated the Kurds and Shiites, just surrounded the city and gassed all the rats. That way the city would have been intact, all the bad guys dead and collateral damage within acceptable Sunni standards.
#18
Message for you mister sunni man. You acquiesced to the creation of a terrorist/jhadi/turdball "insurgency" center in your city. You and your fellow citizens fed and cared for it. You welcomed it to use your mosques. Quit your crying and be happy you and your family are alive. Oh yes, one more thing STFU. The elected Iraqi government may not be so gentle with you when it arrives. Don't draw attention to yourself, you know what I mean?
#19
You know, I was kind of angry about the destruction of the World Trade Center in my home town, so I can understand where these guys are coming from. Maybe we can get a support group together or something.
#20
Well, actually someone should have explained to him the normal US response to the killing, burning, mutilating of our citizens and then hanging them on a bridge and dancing around. The Fallujahans are very lucky that the city was not completely razed at the time. The AF would have been pleased to have an operational test of the MOAB. Kerry lost so there isn't anybody in the US who really cares what these pathetic losers say. I bet he is going to show us how upset he is by not voting so Iraq can't have an official election.
From al-Guardian:
"They took prints of all my fingers, two pictures of my face in profile, and then photographed my iris. I was now eligible to go into Falluja, just like any other Fallujan." Dr Ali Fadhil makes a dangerous journey to Falluja to learn the post-siege fate of its residents. But his personal autopsy investigation remains unresolved. Where are the bodies of the purported casualties? Is a potato chip factory serving as the frozen storage crypt of fallen jihadis? Will Brad and Jen get back together?
#6
I checked out the site, Seafarious, and it looks like this is a different "Ali Fadhil" than the former ITM guy...for which I'm glad as even the beginning excerpt is completely sensationalist
EFL
A Chicago bank says it will begin selling its Islamic home-financing products to Freddie Mac -- one of the nation's largest investors in mortgages. The move will expand opportunities for Muslims to become homeowners without violating Islamic restrictions on paying interest, Devon Bank said in a press release. Devon Bank said it uses the Islamic "murabaha" trade model to avoid problems that make traditional loans objectionable to devout Muslims. Under murabaha, the bank buys a house or some other commodity for a client, then sells it to that client for cost plus an agreed-upon profit. Under Islamic law, interest may not be charged on loans.
A Murabaha sale involves two separate contracts -- one in which the bank buys the property, and a second in which the bank sells the property to a client, who may then repay the bank in installments. Devon Bank said its Islamic home-financing model complies with both Islamic and U.S. law. It includes residential and commercial real-estate financing, financing for business equipment and trade goods, and construction financing.
#6
free enterprise, baybee. I don't see much of a problem with this, personally. No doubt the bank sells the house back at a profit equal to the current fixed interest rate. As long as non-muslims can get the same deal without religious discrimination, so what?
I'd think the Islamists would find it more alarming than we do. Homeowners make good citizens.
#7
All I wanna know is if I can get out of my student loans by converting to islam.
Yes, but you have to blow yourself up to qualify.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/11/2005 14:22 Comments ||
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#8
steve..lol! The children blow up so quickly.
seriously, this has to be binny boy's worst nightmare. Two generations of the American dream and the kids will be surfing the porn and choosing lipstick to match their hair color.
#9
Devon Bank said it uses the Islamic "murabaha" trade model to avoid problems that make traditional loans objectionable to devout Muslims.
What I wanna know is, why is it that just about everywhere Muslims are involved in something, it is always everything and everybody else that is supposed to bend to their will?
Interest is perfectly legal here, so get over it. If ya'll can't, go find someplace else to live. Asswipes.
Abdul Hai's last trip to the brickyard Abdul Hai, 45, zonal leader and organiser of the outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (ML) was killed in a gunfight between his accomplices and RAB members in Abhoynagar upazila of Jessore district early today(Monday). Two RAB members were injured in the incident. According to a press release issued today by RAB Â 6, Hai was a top PBCP leader of Abhoynagar and Narail areas of greater Jessore district and stood accused in 11 cases including 6 cases of murder. He was absconding for long to evade arrest.
Been on the lam till his luck ran out.
Abdul Hai who hailed from village Baghutia under Abhoynagar upazila was arrested from village Banipur of the same upazila at around noon yesterday (Sunday). Acting on leads provided by him, a team of RAB members along with Hai went to Taj Brick field area at village Bunaramnagar last night to recover arms and arrest his partymen.
The old brickyard in the middle of the night gag.
Sensing their presence, the outlaws opened fire on the RAB team from their hideout in a bid to snatch their leader from their custody.
"Git them law-dogs, and for crying out loud, try not to hit the chief this time."
The anti-crime force returned fire instantly. At one stage of the encounter, Hai managed to escape from their custody.
"Feet don't fail me........ahhhhh!"
At the end of the gunfight, which continued for about 20 minutes, the RAB team found the bullet-ridden body of Abdul Hai lying in the area.
Wotta surprise.
"Crossfire" being the leading cause of death among captured thugs
One foreign gun, one pipe-gun, 5 cartridges and three spent cartridge cases were recovered by the law enforcers from the place of occurrence.
Jahidul can't come to the interrogation. He's sick
Meantime, a cadre of the PBCP's Janajuddha faction arrested on Sunday was admitted to Khulna Medical College and Hospital. He fell down several flights of stairs sick during interrogation, police sources said. A Rab-police joint team nabbed Jahidul alias Saiful, 30, son of Shah Ali Molla of Alaipur village in Rupsha upazila, from Rupsha bridge area in Rupsha in Khulna with a gun and two bullets.
Gittu goes up in smoke
A notorious extortionist was lynched by angry mob at Karwanbazar in the city yesterday. The deceased was identified as Gandu Alam alias Gittu (25), son of Shajahan Ali, a resident of 9, Garden Road, Kazipara under Tejgaon police station, police sources said. According to police, a group of extortionists numbering four to five went to a shop at Karwanbazar belonging to one Rustom at around 6.30am yesterday to collect Taka twenty thousand as toll. As Rustom refused to pay the amount the extortionists threatened to kill him. At on stage of altercation Rustom grabbed Gittu and cried out for help. Hearing his cries the local traders rushed to the spot and beat Gittu mercilessly. As the criminal tried to run away, they caught him again and set fire to him.
"Forget the iron rods, hand me the Zippo!"
On being informed, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel rushed to the spot and rescued Gittu. The remaining extortionists managed to flee the spot. Seriously injured Gittu was rushed to the Emergency Department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the attending doctor declared him well-done dead. The body of Gittu was not handed over to his family members till filing of this report at around 6.15pm yesterday. Gittu was allegedly a notorious extortionist of the Karwanbazar area but no case was found against Gittu with Tejgaon police station, said the Thana police.
"Is this your grenade, Mamun?"
The elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-4) recovered a powerful grenade from Aminbazar at Savar and arrested three people in this connection on January 7. The arrested were identified as Hossain (40), son of Md. Joynal Munshi hailing from Dhanshal under Jhinaigati in Sherpur, Abdur Rahim (48), son of late Haji Nizamat and Mamun, son of Macher Ali both hailing from Bardeshi under Savar police station in Dhaka district. According to RAB sources, acting on a tip off a squad of RAB-4 arrested an alleged criminal in a drive conducted at Aminbazar on the night of January 7 and recovered a grenade from his possession. RAB arrested two others following his confessional statement.
"I'll talk, please don't take me out to the brickyard!"
The recovered hand grenade is made by RJS group in 2001 and GREN A PERS, 2001 was inscribed on it.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/11/2005 11:41:04 AM ||
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Notorious photographs of human pyramids and tethered Iraqi prisoners do not prove that US troops abused detainees in Iraq, a military court has heard. Specialist Charles Graner is facing a court martial for his role in alleged abuses at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail. Spc Graner could face a 17-year sentence if found guilty. Three other soldiers have already been convicted.
Defence attorney Guy Womack insisted a tether is a "valid tool", and denied that the photos depicted real abuse. He compared pictures of naked Iraqi prisoners in a human pyramid to cheerleaders at US sports events, who form pyramids "all over America". "Is that torture?" he asked, opening Spc Graner's defence on Monday.
No, but it is abuse, which is what your client is on trial for.
The soldier, who was pictured smiling in a number of the Abu Ghraib pictures, denies assault and conspiracy to mistreat prisoners. Some of the pictures were shown by the prosecution as the court martial got under way at the Fort Hood army base in Texas on Monday.
In his opening statements, prosecutor Major Michael Holley graphically described some of the acts allegedly carried out by Spc Graner. He claimed the military policeman beat an Iraqi prisoner with a baton until he begged to be killed, and forced male inmates to simulate oral sex. Referring to pictures showing Spc Graner standing next to a pile of naked Iraqis, Spc Graner's lawyer said "pyramids" could legitimately be used as a "control technique". Another photo featured Pte Lynndie England, who has since had a child with Graner, leading a prisoner on a leash.
Mr Womack said tethers were "a valid tool" when dealing not only with prisoners, but also with children. "You've probably been at a mall or airport and seen children on tethers; they're not being abused," he argued. "You're keeping control of them. A tether is a valid control to be used in corrections," he said. "In Texas we'd lasso them and drag them out of there."
This kind of argument may work real well for you in a civilian court and on TV, but it ain't gonna go over very well in a court martial.
He said the soldiers took pictures of each other "because no one did anything they thought was wrong".
Or they were stupid and never thought anyone would see them.
The soldier's defence says the abuse was sanctioned by his superiors. "He was doing his job. Following orders and being praised for it," Mr Womack told the court.
Got any proof of that?
Spc Graner, in his dark green dress uniform, chatted and joked with his defence team before the hearing began, but showed no reaction during the proceedings. His trial is expected to last at least a week.
"Whatever happens is going to happen, but I still feel it's going to be on the positive side and I'm going to have a smile on my face," Spc Graner said last week.
Keep smiling, asshole.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/11/2005 8:50:14 AM ||
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#1
ya gotta love it. Civilian lawyers defending the Abu Gharib gang against the US military. You can just hear the short circuits in the NPR gang's head.
#2
He compared pictures of naked Iraqi prisoners in a human pyramid to cheerleaders at US sports events, who form pyramids "all over America". "Is that torture?"
That's because everyone outside of Islam lacks the super-sensitive Sphincter Of Allan. It is a remarkable recent biological discovery, unique to Muslims, which has left researchers stunned - and apologists gagging. In lay terms, a connection was discovered between the throat and colon, controlled by what has been dubbed as the Sphincter of Allan. In addition, it has been shown that the more holy the Muslim, the more neural connections to this small ring of muscle - resulting in heightened sensitivity. When stimulated, the sphincter opens - allowing the person to, literally, talk shit.
Pundits suggest this explains much regards Muslim press releases, in particular, and the peculiar penchant of Arabs and others long steeped in Islam to curse mustaches and "spew" dire consequences predictions, in general.
#4
Hmmm. It's not a condition, per se, it is a physical reality. If you wish to preclude a Muslim from talking shit, assuming that is your intent, then there are 2 regimes suggested:
1) applying a desensitizing agent to the Sphincter of Alan by oral ingestion
2) or ramming a large butt plug into the Muslim's mouth.
Posted by: ed ||
01/11/2005 12:11 Comments ||
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#6
ed - I presume from your suggestion that, when the beef lead cools, it will conform to the contours of the cavities which lead up to the Sphincter of Allan, thus sealing the passage?
#8
These are obviously only temporary solutions. I recommend sphincter surgery-removing all inflamed tissue between the throat and colon.
Posted by: Dr. Jules ||
01/11/2005 12:46 Comments ||
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#9
Dr Jules - Since the discovery of the Sphincter of Allan is so recent, wouldn't this be considered experimental surgery? I'm just thinking of the insurance issues - most Muslims prolly don't have Blue Crescent...
#10
Heck, do they even have doctors; I mean doctors of medicine as opposed to doctors of theology. And doctors of medicine that don't believe in leaches and bleeding.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/11/2005 16:55 Comments ||
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#11
Happy to see Rantburg readers do not appear to support the practices the defendents are alleged to have committed. As a former regular green machine interrogator from the 96C days, and as someone who has lived for years in the ME, let me assure you all that what these people are accused of is counter-productive. The misbehavior of even small units tends to become public, and when it does it gives the other side an edge. Witness the recent REMF constraints on intel ops in Afghanistan. You will be doing the professionals a service by condemning this stuff. Just one vet's opinion.
#12
mustajwib - I don't think ANYBODY outside the Graner crew thought stacking these mooks in a nekkid pyramid was anything but really stupid. Many (including me) think that the hullabaloo was way overplayed by the Donks and the press as a political weapon to damage Rumsfeld, and by connection, Bush. I deeply resent the overplaying of these asshole's complaints, as I have paid a lot of money at times to be tied up with women's panties on my head....but that's just me
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/11/2005 20:37 Comments ||
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The Muslim extremist believed responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks on civilians and soldiers in Iraq was ruthless, uncompromising and fiercely certain of his violent interpretation of Islam while in prison, say Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's former cellmates.
The ideological seeds of what one Western diplomat estimates is al-Zarqawi's 2,000-strong army of fighters in Iraq today can be found in the time he led a prison gang during the late 1990s while serving time for allegedly trying to topple the Jordanian government.
"Al-Zarqawi was a simple, but a dangerous man," said Yousef Rababaa, who shared al-Zarqawi's cell block in Jordan for three years until 1999. "You just don't come near him if you don't buy his bigoted gospel."
Rababaa said al-Zarqawi led a fanatical group of about 20 prisoners known as al-Tawhid, which refers to the central Islamic tenet of monotheism and is similar to the name al-Zarqawi initially used for his fighters in Iraq. The rhetoric was meant to evoke a pure ideal of Islam, one al-Zarqawi believed was worth killing to protect and spread.
Rababaa headed a rival prison group espousing the need to purge Muslim lands of foreign occupiers, but al-Zarqawi didn't consider him militant enough. Rababaa said al-Zarqawi tried to persuade him to join his group, and when he failed, "labeled me an 'infidel.' "
"I knew my adversary as a man who neither pursued the path of reconciliation nor was able to maneuver because of his background and his limited thinking," Rababaa told The Associated Press.
Rababaa, 35, was sentenced to life in jail in 1996 for plotting terrorism against Israeli targets in Jordan, but - like al-Zarqawi - he was freed under a royal amnesty in 1999.
For all his self-taught religion and guerrilla training, some of al-Zarqawi's activities in Iraq recall the teenage thug and prison enforcer he once was. He is believed to have been the masked man who appeared in videos decapitating at least two civilian American hostages in Iraq.
Now 38, al-Zarqawi dropped out of school at 17, family members have said. A thug in his teens, al-Zarqawi was known for heavy drinking and street fighting. In the 1980s, he was jailed for sexual assault, security officials have said without providing details.
He also had a passion for tattoos. In prison, Rababaa said al-Zarqawi covered up the tattoos, which he came to see as reminders of a shameful past. A prison doctor said he had at least one tattoo, a green anchor denoting his love of the sea, removed from his left arm.
Al-Zarqawi embraced religion when he was in his early 20s. Like many poor, frustrated young men, he was drawn to the calls of pride and identity made by radical preachers.
His late mother, Umm Sayel, said in an interview last year in the family home in Zarqa that her son hung out at mosques because he had so much free time, and he soon was bringing clerics home to explain the Quran to him. Zarqa is an industrial city 17 miles from Jordan's capital, Amman.
Like other Arab men with religious fervor, al-Zarqawi traveled to Afghanistan a few times between 1991 and 1995 to fight alongside U.S.-backed Afghans battling Soviet occupiers.
Back in Jordan, he led a plot to topple the kingdom's pro-Western monarch, which he considered an "infidel," according to military court documents. He was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to 15 years in jail, but he was freed under a general amnesty when Jordan's King Abdullah II ascended to the throne in 1999.
Rababaa, his former prison mate, doesn't underestimate al-Zarqawi's capacity for violence, but questions whether he could have planned the wave of suicide bombings and other attacks in Iraq for which he has claimed responsibility and for which the Americans blame him.
Another ex-convict, who said he befriended al-Zarqawi while serving a life sentence for anti-government activities, said he had a hard time imagining the militant as guiding Iraq's insurgency. The second ex-con spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of drawing police attention. The second ex-con said al-Zarqawi was feared by other inmates and, while loyal to his friends, was quick to fight if crossed, but lacked the brains and skills of a planner.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2005 12:20:55 AM ||
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Still cannot reconcile this. (among other things)
12. On June 20, 1994 Ramzi Yousef and al-Zarqawi, at the instigation of the Iraqi intelligence, caused an explosion at Mashad in the Iranian territory adjoining Pakistan which killed a large number of Shias. Zarqawi, along with the late Riaz Basra, the leader of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ), the militant wing of the SSP, helped the Taliban in the capture of Kabul in September, 1996.
Three scenarios. 1. Rahman is wrong about 1996 activity in Kabul, and Zarqawis ex-prison buddies are lying for him.
2. Rahman is right about '96, Zarqawi's ex-prison buddies are telling the truth. Zarqawi is actually dead but his passport lives on.
3. Rahman is wrong about '96. Zarqawi's friends are also telling the truth about his abilities. Zarqawi has always been a puppet of the Baathist Iraqis. LeJ = Iraqi asset?
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
01/11/2005 3:47 Comments ||
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#2
Sorry, Raman.
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
01/11/2005 3:53 Comments ||
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All I want to know about the "mind" of al-Zarqawi is that it is spread all over a street or wall courtesy of a USMC 7.62mm bullet fired from a DMR. I think that is the best way to put this "poor, frustrated young man" out of his and the world's misery.
#4
he was freed under a royal amnesty in 1999.
WTF is it with the mooselimbs and their letting people out of jail? He was trying to overthrow the government for goodness' sake, then you go and let him out?! You really think he's reformed? Oh yes, he memorized the Koran, lol.
#5
Pete.. I've been predicting that we will know when Zarqawi is captured, because the news reports about him will change from "elusive mastermind" to "dumbo that wasn't all that important anyway".
Suddenly, after rumors of his capture, we get the indepth news reports with interviews from prison cell mates saying he was "dumbo".
#7
"Now 38, al-Zarqawi dropped out of school at 17, family members have said. A thug in his teens, al-Zarqawi was known for heavy drinking and street fighting. In the 1980s, he was jailed for sexual assault, security officials have said without providing details."
"Al-Zarqawi embraced religion when he was in his early 20s. Like many poor, frustrated young men, he was drawn to the calls of pride and identity made by radical preachers."
or, another psychotic sociopath finds facilation for his perversions in the religion of Peace and Love. Along the lines Remoteman, I'd like to see him beaten with his good leg until we see what is really in his mind.
The government of Ukraine, acting a day after an explosion killed eight of its soldiers in Iraq, announced Monday that it would withdraw its 1,650-member force by the middle of 2005.
Ukraine has been moving for months toward pulling out its forces, but officials have remained vague about dates; Monday's statement, which followed a meeting between President Leonid Kuchma and his defense and foreign ministers, gives new firmness to those intentions.
The blast occurred as the troops were loading an explosive onto a truck in Suwayrah, 20 miles southeast of Baghdad. One Kazakh was also killed. The Islamic Army in Iraq, an insurgent group, asserted responsibility for the blast, which was first reported as an accident but is now being investigated as an attack.
Ukraine's contingent is the fourth-largest in the U.S.-led military coalition and operates under Polish command in southern Iraq. Nine Ukrainian soldiers were killed in previous incidents.
An announcement posted on Kuchma's Web site said his expected successor, Viktor Yushchenko, would address the issue of troop withdrawal after taking office. Yushchenko moved closer to inauguration when Ukraine's election commission late Monday declared him the winner of a Dec. 26 vote.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2005 12:08:28 AM ||
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sadly this has been on the cards for a few months now . At least they are staying till mid 2005 . Was kinda hoping Viktor Yushchenko would keep troops out there , but I think i shall just put down the crack pipe dream
The top UN envoy to Afghanistan said the country had just a few weeks to finalize crucial details if parliamentary elections were to go ahead in spring as planned. Jean Arnault told the UN Security Council on Monday that the government and the electoral authorities urgently had to assign populations to districts, which had to be agreed 120 days before the elections. If the target date of holding parliamentary elections in April or May is to be met, "district boundaries must therefore be finalized within the next couple of weeks at the latest," he said. Other issues to be clarified include the participation of refugees and nomads, the demarcation of districts, voters' lists, and revisions of the electoral law, Arnault said. One important piece of legislation that must be adopted concerns the powers of local councils that are to be elected, he said.
Do the holy men get to hang the nubile young wenches or not?
"This complex preparatory work is pursued with the April-May target in mind and a final decision on the election date will have to be made by the new Independent Electoral Commission in the next few weeks," he said. Arnault also said an appeal would be made to the international community to fund the elections, saying between US$120 million and US$130 million would be needed.
Cheez, it's always about money for the UN.
Although three UN electoral workers kidnapped in October were later freed and the overall security situation in the country had improved, he warned the abduction and killing of a subcontracted UN Office of Project Services employee in December meant the targeting of international staff could occur again. Arnault also warned that abductions might become more "routine once winter conditions recede and the movement of anti-government forces becomes easier." Arnault said the government had to tackle irregular militiamen as a matter of priority as they could undermine the electoral process. Around 33,000 militiamen had given up their weapons, but between 20,000 and 30,000 must still be disarmed, he said. Japan's UN Ambassador Kenzo Oshima, told reporters after Security Council consultations Monday: "There are challenging problems that need to be overcome for these elections to proceed on the technical side as well as the political side." Japan is the largest financial contributor to the disarming of militia in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/11/2005 12:21:47 AM ||
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Osama bin Laden and other militant leaders could be hiding in eastern Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. forces along a key stretch of the Pakistani border told The Associated Press on Monday. Col. Gary Cheek, who controls U.S. forces in 16 Afghan provinces, also said Taliban leaders appear to be losing control of a stubborn insurgency, three years after their ouster for harboring the al-Qaeda leader. Forces loyal to Taliban commanders such as Jalaluddin Haqqani, and to renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar still attack U.S. forces near the mountainous Pakistani frontier, and Cheek said the rebel leaders could also be present in his area of responsibility.
... but their hearts don't seem to be in it...
"Leaders like Hekmatyar, Haqqani, bin Laden could possibly be in our region, but any information we have on them would be very close-hold (closely guarded) for operational reasons," Cheek told AP by e-mail. American generals and senior diplomats have said recently they have no firm intelligence of where bin Laden is hiding. However, Karzai said last month that bin Laden was "definitely" still in the region. Cheek said that while insurgents remained a danger to his forces, the number of foreign fighters among them was not "significant." Moreover, militant activity in the east had been "sporadic over the past six months and does not appear tied to any specific strategy or agenda."
"It would appear that the Taliban in particular may be fragmenting and that its central core of leadership is unable to direct coordinated actions," Cheek said in a written response to an AP reporter's questions. "I would guess that there are a lot of things the Taliban and others want to do, but their ability to do those things are limited." He said most of the leaders he was tracking are field commanders suspected of attacks and bombings. A roadside bomb killed one U.S. soldier and injured three more on Jan. 2 in eastern Kunar province, but Cheek suggested criminal activity was a bigger problem in that region, where Hekmatyar loyalists are believed to find sanctuary among sympathetic villagers.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2005 12:12:47 AM ||
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#7
Maybe rotation? These guys have been going all out for quite some time. Send the longest-there units home for a bit to renew their acquaintance with their families and the peaceful world, before sending them back for the next invasion?
Five years after Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 was hijacked in December 1999, the three men released by the Indian government to ensure the safety of the passengers continue to be sheltered in Pakistan despite repeated demands for their custody by Interpol, the American Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). On December 24, 1999, five armed Pakistani nationals hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 from Katmandu to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Led by Sunny Ahmed Qazi, alias Burger, the hijackers slashed the throat of one of the 178 passengers, a honeymooner, and forced pilots to open the cockpit door. Burger demanded that the Indian government release three Pakistani terrorists from prison in exchange for the hostages aboard the aircraft. After an eight-day stand-off, New Delhi agreed to free the three militants as demanded by the hijackers, ostensibly to ensure the safety of the passengers and members of the crew who were held captive at Kandahar for eight days between December 24 and December 31. Among those released by India was Masood Azhar, a Pakistani national and secretary general of the Harkat-ul-Ansar, who was arrested on February 11, 1994 from Srinagar. The second released jihadi was an Indian national -- Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, chief of the Al-Umar Mujahideen militant outfit. The third was Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed, a British national of Pakistani origin who too belonged to Harkat-ul-Ansar and had masterminded the kidnapping of three Britons and an American during September-October 1994 in Jammu & Kashmir.
The Palestinian opposition group Hamas announced on Monday that it will work with the new Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, despite misgivings about what it said were voting irregularities. The Islamic militant group boycotted Sunday's vote and urged supporters to stay away, but did not try to disrupt the election. A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said Monday that "we are going to deal with the elected president despite our boycott of this election." Even before the vote, Abbas was meeting with leaders of rival Palestinian factions to persuade them to halt attacks on Israel and reach a power-sharing agreement. Most militants signaled they are willing to halt attacks, but negotiations on sharing power, including Hamas representation in the PLO, failed.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Am sure they will deal with him , when he doesnt tow the line in the coming months .
Popcorn and marshmellows compliments of MacNails®â¢
It's a whole new set of opportunities for the Paleos to miss. We'll know how it's going to turn out in about a month...
... after the first boom or the second? ...
After being triumphantly elected Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas extended a hand of peace to Israel yesterday, while the approval of an Israeli government favorable to a Gaza pullout further boosted peace hopes. "We offer the hand of peace to our neighbors and we hope that the response will be positive," the incoming head of the Palestinian Authority said after being confirmed as the comfortable winner of Sunday's second-ever Palestinian presidential election.
"The elections are only the beginning, not the end. We have a program full of things to do in order to achieve peace," the dovish former prime minister said. The more than 40-point margin of Abbas' electoral victory grants him the legitimacy he needs to yank the peace process out of its slumber and resume talks with Israel. Before the voting was even over Sunday, a senior aide in Ariel Sharon's office said the Israeli prime minister was ready to meet the winner — whose identity was never in doubt — "as soon as possible".
Abbas is likely to have a summit meeting with Sharon in a fortnight, Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said yesterday. Asked when the two men would meet, Shaath said talks would take place "probably in two weeks". Top level Israeli-Palestinian contacts have been frozen since Abbas resigned as prime minister in September 2003. Both men have indicated a willingness to return to the negotiating table. There were no massive public displays of jubilation in the West Bank and Gaza after the election results, but Abbas will take over from Arafat with new-found Israeli cooperation and enthusiastic backing from the international community.
US President George W. Bush was among the world leaders to offer their congratulations and also invited Abbas to the White House. "I look forward to talking to him at the appropriate time. I look forward to welcoming him here to Washington if he chooses to come here," Bush said. The White House said Bush will speak by phone with Abbas later this week. Abbas met with Bush at the White House as Palestinian prime minister in July 2003. National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said Bush will "take this one step at a time."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
We have a program full of things to do in order to achieve peace,â the dovish former prime minister said.
Good. You can start by fulfilling your end of deals already struck.
You know what your assignment is, now get cracking.
US President George W. Bush was among the world leaders to offer their congratulations and also invited Abbas to the White House.
If you're smart, Sir, you'll wait for Mazen to live up to one of his obligations. ONE.
#3
well , the honeymoon period is over ... get cracking slacker , and show us why you have been elected to lead this *cough* great nation out of the dark ages and into the bronze age :P
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
01/11/2005 11:59 Comments ||
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#5
I dunno. That dumb hick cowboy was quite clear; he wouldn't pretend to "work" with Arafat, and he didn't. The bloodshed in Paleoland after Yasser stabilized was markedly less than most of us here were predicting. They had an election, Abbas did not get the customary 105% of the vote, now he will come and talk with the prez. Bush also likes to take the measure of a man face-to-face. I give him the benefit of the doubt...one time only. Don't blow it, Dubya.
#8
Sea - correct - I predicted a bloodbath. I'd point out that the festivities should be allowed a year to happen. Electing a 69 yr old ex-killer is not my idea of a fresh start, and the first time he tries to interfere with their sacred Joooo-killing, his chances of making 70 diminish.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/11/2005 16:57 Comments ||
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#9
surprise, surprise, the surprise meter is working. You are right Frank, but this it doesn't hurt to be hopeful. Just the words are light years ahead of anything Arafat ever did. Give the man some security and see if we can't move the paleo's into the 19th Centurty.
Violence has spiked against Iraqi and US forces in the battleground provinces of north-central Iraq, with less than three weeks to go before landmark national elections. US Army officers at their headquarters in Saddam Hussein's old palace in Tikrit describe an insurgency that has grown since last March despite the best efforts to win over the Iraqi people living in the northern provinces of Salahuddin, Diyala and Tamim, home to Iraq's alienated Sunni Muslims. "What we've seen was the insurgency gather steam since last April and May. It probably would have gained steam a whole lost faster if it were not for courageous Iraqi National Guard and police standing up for their country," said Maj. Gen. John Batiste, commander of the First Infantry Division (1st ID). Despite the insurgency's ability to recruit new members, Batiste believes the US Army is winning in Iraq. He points to the training of 11,000 Iraqi national guardsmen in his area of operations which he considers a success story. "These things take time. You have to take a long view," Batiste said.
I'm waiting for the Iraqis we've been training to turn the Bad Guyz' tactics against them. It's not like Iraqis don't know how to be vicious with each other. But we're trying to train them out of that, which is both a good thing and a bad thing...
Batiste said Iraqi officials are determined to hold elections in the 1st ID provinces of Salahuddin, Diyala, Tamim and Kurdish Sulaimaniyah and hope for a 50 percent turnout at the polls. Security plans will rely on the Iraqi army and police, with US forces in a back-up role, Batiste said. But his officers warn that violence is expected to mount in the contested provinces, where a strong turnout among Sunni voters would bestow some legitimacy on the contentious polls. "We do expect the violence to steadily increase as we get close to elections," one officer said on condition of anonymity.
I don't expect a strong Sunni turnout, either. But I also expect they're just going to have to suck it up.
Since December, there had been 63 attacks causing casualties among US and Iraqi troops, double the number from the previous month, the officer said. The officer said anywhere from 20 to 40 armed cells existed in the four provinces and described the entire region as a danger zone. Forty-four suicide car bombs have been carried out since last March, along with 39 car bombs detonated by remote control. Last week, a suicide car bomb killed 18 guardsmen traveling on a bus near Balad. "There is an increase in localized recruitment. We attribute that to a very frustrated populace especially in the Sunni triangle."
Yeah, they're the same guys who were in a position to kick people around under Sammy. As an army they were crap. As a citizenry, they're even crappier, but it's Capone crappy.
A case in point is Hawija, west of Kirkuk. The city has a rate of 80 percent unemployment among men, many of them veterans of Saddam's old army, the officer added. "Right here straight through the Sunni triangle, pick about any metropolitan center, you're going to find a high concentration of attacks."
I rest my case.
Insurgents are being sheltered by rural farmers as well as entire city neighborhoods, the officer said. The list of those still on the run includes Saddam lieutenant Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, Kamal Al-Aswadi, a fighter from Samarra, Rashi Taan Kazim, a former governor in Al-Anbar, and former Saddam bodyguard Mohammed Hadosh. Besides Douri, who has a $10-million price on his head, the others illustrate the depth of the resistance movement that has evolved in little over a year since Saddam was captured, hiding in a shithouse small foxhole on a farm. Aswadi, aka "Kamal the Tailor", was a businessman with ties to Saddam's entourage, but wrapped himself in the cloak of radical Islam after the dictator's regime collapsed. The military believes he relies on funding from Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi's movement and built his armed wing around tribal connections. Shortly before US forces stormed Samarra last October, his rebel clan fought with another insurgent-linked tribe, the Al-Nissanis, over bragging rights in the city. Kazim, who has a million dollar price on his head, is the point man for Baathist activity in Diyala. The military believes he funds groups, supplies weapons and "uses religious ideology to recruit extremists", in an example of the insurgency's blurred lines. Hadosh was Saddam's top bodyguard in Tikrit and the military believes he funds rebel activities in Baiji, home to Iraq's largest refinery.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Time to put these places down.
Hard cordons. Put up miles of jersey barriers, concertina and tanglefoot - and possibly minefields - facing INWARD in a perimeter around these places. Create hard checkpoints in and out of these Sunni cities. If they want to make thier cities into shitholes, let them. But keep them bottled up there to deal with the consequences. Nothing in, nothing out, other than inspected food trucks.
Any foreigners found will be deported if found with valid ID no weapons. If found with weapons or evidence of terrorist training (forged IDs etc) they will be summarily executed. On the spot. Locals found with weapons/IED materiels or captured while fighting will be put in prison camps in Kurdish areas, under Kurdish guard, and their adult family members [in the Arab sense of the word: father, brothers, sons] will be expelled and jailed with them. This woudl only apply to the "tribal" cheifs, whose entire family (males of legal age) should be placed "at risk" for acts committed by each other.
Anyone wishing to leave voluntarily has to go to a 30 day detention center for vetting against terror links, then will be relocated to a Kurd or Shia part of the country at a refugee camp there, where Kurdish and Shia security will be watching them.
The Baathists must have the consequences driven home to them - and so does the population that supports these thugs.
#2
As an adjunct, there should be Iraqi "hit squads" whose only mission is to find and kill the "leadership" targets. And they should use "Russian" methods if neccesary. Send Al Dhouri the ear of one of his sons, then start sending fingers of his wife or mother. He will get the message that his sons and wife and mom are at risk now, just the way he is putting the sons and daughters and moms of normal Iraqis at risk.
#3
Locals found with weapons/IED materiels or captured while fighting will be put in prison camps in Kurdish areas, under Kurdish guard,..
A very sensible solution. And compensation to the Kurds for keeping those home-grown thugs under lock and key could be taken from oil revenues, and wouldn't cost the U.S. a penny.
#6
purposely harming the innocent to get at the guilty means the devil will have to be paid.
Why worry about it? It's not as if WE would be doing that, since OS' proposal is for Iraqi hit squads, who are not likely to have any such reservations, to be carrying this out.
#8
What's so wrong about it? If it's not Americans doing it, then it can't be wrong. That's pretty much how things have been portrayed so far, so if the media and critics want to play that game, then fine, let's play that way and get someone else to do real, honest-to-goodness dirty work.
#9
1. We need to bring back the Phoenix Program. (Sorry about the link. I couldn't find an unbiased source on the web. Note, however that in the last paragraph, after calling the program a failure, the author quotes a Vietnamese official admitting that Phoenix wiped out up to 95% of the VC leadership in some provinces.)
2. Do what a lot of the folks here have been calling for: Use Shias and Kurds to patrol the Sunni Arab areas. As a technique, it is historically proven to work. The British did it for 200 years in India with great results. Yeah, it'll piss off a lot of Sunnis, but what have we got to lose? They hate us already. I don't think that any Sunni/Arab government really has the balls to act.
Hard cordons. Put up miles of jersey barriers, concertina and tanglefoot - and possibly minefields - facing INWARD in a perimeter around these places. Create hard checkpoints in and out of these Sunni cities. If they want to make thier cities into shitholes, let them. But keep them bottled up there to deal with the consequences. Nothing in, nothing out, other than inspected food trucks.
Any foreigners found will be deported if found with valid ID no weapons. If found with weapons or evidence of terrorist training (forged IDs etc) they will be summarily executed. On the spot. Locals found with weapons/IED materiels or captured while fighting will be put in prison camps in Kurdish areas, under Kurdish guard, and their adult family members [in the Arab sense of the word: father, brothers, sons] will be expelled and jailed with them. This woudl only apply to the "tribal" cheifs, whose entire family (males of legal age) should be placed "at risk" for acts committed by each other.
Anyone wishing to leave voluntarily has to go to a 30 day detention center for vetting against terror links, then will be relocated to a Kurd or Shia part of the country at a refugee camp there, where Kurdish and Shia security will be watching them.
The Baathists must have the consequences driven home to them - and so does the population that supports these thugs.
#11
As an adjunct, there should be Iraqi "hit squads" whose only mission is to find and kill the "leadership" targets. And they should use "Russian" methods if neccesary. Send Al Dhouri the ear of one of his sons, then start sending fingers of his wife or mother. He will get the message that his sons and wife and mom are at risk now, just the way he is putting the sons and daughters and moms of normal Iraqis at risk.
Hard cordons. Put up miles of jersey barriers, concertina and tanglefoot - and possibly minefields - facing INWARD in a perimeter around these places. Create hard checkpoints in and out of these Sunni cities. If they want to make thier cities into shitholes, let them. But keep them bottled up there to deal with the consequences. Nothing in, nothing out, other than inspected food trucks.
Any foreigners found will be deported if found with valid ID no weapons. If found with weapons or evidence of terrorist training (forged IDs etc) they will be summarily executed. On the spot. Locals found with weapons/IED materiels or captured while fighting will be put in prison camps in Kurdish areas, under Kurdish guard, and their adult family members [in the Arab sense of the word: father, brothers, sons] will be expelled and jailed with them. This woudl only apply to the "tribal" cheifs, whose entire family (males of legal age) should be placed "at risk" for acts committed by each other.
Anyone wishing to leave voluntarily has to go to a 30 day detention center for vetting against terror links, then will be relocated to a Kurd or Shia part of the country at a refugee camp there, where Kurdish and Shia security will be watching them.
The Baathists must have the consequences driven home to them - and so does the population that supports these thugs.
#13
As an adjunct, there should be Iraqi "hit squads" whose only mission is to find and kill the "leadership" targets. And they should use "Russian" methods if neccesary. Send Al Dhouri the ear of one of his sons, then start sending fingers of his wife or mother. He will get the message that his sons and wife and mom are at risk now, just the way he is putting the sons and daughters and moms of normal Iraqis at risk.
Egyptian reformers have demanded that, like Palestinians, they too should have a chance to choose their leader from a host of candidates. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has won four presidential terms in referendums where he is the only candidate, earlier congratulated new Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, who beat six other candidates. "The Palestinian people chose their president ... I think the Egyptian people are not naive, and are capable of choosing from among many candidates," said Hussain Abd al-Raziq, spokesman for the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR). He was speaking at a news conference called to announce that EOHR would work with six other human rights organisations and four opposition parties in a campaign to change the country's three-decade-old constitution.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Thousands of southern Sudanese danced with President Omar Hassan Bashir yesterday one day after a peace deal was signed to end more than two decades of civil war in the south. A crowd of about 10,000 southerners singing and waving their hands encircled Bashir as he danced to traditional southern music, dressed in a civilian brown suit and covered in a white cloak symbolizing peace. "I used to dress in khaki because I am in the army and because there was war," Bashir told the crowd, which defied security and his armed guards and thrust forward, surrounding his platform. "Today I am still in the army ... but I'm not wearing khaki because there is no more war."
Khaki's are being cleaned and pressed so they'll be ready when the war resumes
Bashir flew to Juba from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where his government signed an agreement on Sunday with the southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army to end Africa's longest civil war, which has claimed more than 2 million lives. "Peace is the gift I bring to you," he told the people who had come from all around Juba, southern Sudan's main town.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Two Nepalese army helicopters destroyed a Maoist rebel hideout and arsenal in an aerial attack on a remote jungle gorge in the far west of the country, a senior security official said on Monday. "The security forces carried out aerial attacks on a Maoist hideout and arsenal located in the middle of Sirise forest on Saturday evening," the official who did not want to be named said. The official said eight huts allegedly used to manufacture and repair arms were destroyed and said several Maoists were killed or wounded in the attack, but declined to give further details of the incident 350 kilometers west of Kathmandu. The rebels are believed to have set up the arsenal inside the forest after an arms supply crunch following a recent tightening of border security by land-locked Nepal's southern and northern neighbours- India and China, the official said.
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The US ambassador's offer to help the government stifle Majlis-e-Tahafuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwat's movement is interference in Pakistan's internal affairs, said the MMA general secretary Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, and demanded the US government to recall him because he was "personae non gratae".
How many of him are there?
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Ahmad said that American envoy Ryan C Crocker was lobbying to keep the religion column out of machine-readable passports. "All religious groups, including the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), will hold protests this Friday against the government's refusal to incorporate a religion column in passports." Earlier, he presided over a meeting of the Majlis-e-Tahafuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwat at Lahore Press Club, where he criticised PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Religious Affairs and Minorities minister Ejazul Haq for breaking their promise to add the religion column. Ahmad said that the MMA would take out peaceful demonstrations throughout the country on Friday. "MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed will lead demonstrations in Islamabad, secretary general Maulana Fazalur Rehman in Peshawar, Syed Munwar Hassan and Maulana Abdul Gafoor Haidri in Karachi and Liaqat Baloch in Lahore."
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Remind me again why they want a religion column. Turbans, beards, and Korans (or lack thereof) not enough?
Members of the NWFP Assembly on Monday expressed their anger at the remarks of a Lahore High Court judge who "abused the Pakhtun nation" and demanded that suo moto action be taken against the judge. In an adjournment motion, Bashir Bilour, ANP's member of provincial assembly, read out a newspaper report dated October 22, 2004 in which a judge of the Lahore High Court Multan Bench had passed remarks against the Pakhtun people. Mr Bilour said the judge had remarked that since the accused was a Pakhtun "he must be a smuggler".
Well, that's a pretty definitive statement. I mean, the guy could also be a gunny, or a snuffy, or a strong-arm boy, or a just a guy who happens to own eighteen rocket launchers...
I believe the proper term is "enthusiast."
"The judge has abused the entire Pakhtun nation. I protest his remarks," said the ANP leader. Mr Bilour suggested that a resolution be passed against the judge, which should then be sent to the federal government. Ikramullah Shahid, NWFP Assembly deputy speaker, demanded the Supreme Court take suo motu action against the judge because he had insulted the Pakhtun nation. Farid Khan of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) demanded the judge apologise for his remarks in the press. Muhammad Ayaz Khan, NWFP law minister, assured the members of the house that he would investigate the issue. Bashir Bilour's adjournment motion was put aside for 10 days.
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The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Rules and Privileges on Monday finalised amendments and changes in over 290 NA rules ranging from imposing penalties on unruly members to nomination criteria of the opposition leader. Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, the parliamentary affairs minister, told Daily Times the committee had approved the amendments and changes and had decided to redraft all of them. The new rules allow the president to identify unruly MNAs when he addresses a joint sitting of parliament. The NA speaker will act against the MNAs the president names. Under the amended rules the speaker will have the authority to suspend the salary of the unruly member(s) for that particular session. The speaker will also be able to suspend the membership of unruly MNAs for one or more sessions. He said the rules would be tabled in the next NA session scheduled for February. He said all the rules were endorsed by the committee members unanimously. The minister stated the only reservation was on the amendment in the rule related to the standing committees of the house. He said the committee would finally deal with that issue in the next meeting. Sources said one of the committee members proposed that members of the National Assembly (MNAs) be given authority to discuss the conduct of the judiciary in parliament. However, that proposal was rejected. The committee also endorsed the rule to allocate one hour every week in which the prime minister would directly respond to the queries of the members.
According to another amended rule, the appointment of opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman might be challenged. Now anyone with the support of most opposition members would be declared the opposition leader. The opposition leader would be nominated within seven days of the ascertainment of the leader of the house. The calendar of business of the year will also be issued with the commencement of the parliamentary year. The other changes approved by the committee related to the election of the speaker and his deputy, powers and functions of the speaker, election of the prime minister and leader of the house, leave of absence registration and vacation of seats in the assembly, sitting of the assembly and classification and arrangements of business and the president's address and message to the house.
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Rantburg without Fazl? Never! It's the dishtowel, I tell ya. Lets call in Carson and the Queer Eye dudes for a pedicure and fashion intervention...
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.
Muslims living in Britain are facing two choices; either to migrate or to join the jihad, a key Islamic figure has said. 
Extremists with links to Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network are present in the Balkans and are infiltrating other European countries, a senior Bulgarian secret service official said on Monday. "We have information that people with connections to structures linked to Al Qaeda have passed through Bulgaria to on their way to neighbouring European countries," secret service chief General Kircho Kirov said. "There are people in the Balkans who have been in Chechnya and Afghanistan. Some have been active in Iraq," he told the Trud daily newspaper.
French Foreign Minister 
Just days after NEWSWEEK revealed the relationship between 
MALACAÃANG said on Tuesday that it expected the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to punish its renegade members who attacked an Army base in Maguindanao province and assured the Muslim rebel group that peace talks would continue. "We are expecting the MILF leadership to impose sanctions on those who instigated the attack," Press secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement. "Nevertheless, we assure that the skirmishes will not in any way affect the on-going peace negotiations," he added.
Indonesia's military asked aid groups in tsunami-stricken areas Monday to draw up a list of international relief workers — and to report on their movements — as fears arose for the safety of foreigners helping survivors in a region wracked by rebellion long before the waves hit. The request underlined the unease with which Indonesia has faced the growth of the biggest aid operation in history, replete with foreign soldiers and civilian humanitarian workers. Indonesian authorities have long been wary of foreigners' presence in the tsunami-stricken Aceh province, where separatists have been fighting government troops for more than 20 years. Foreigners were banned from the province at the northern tip of Sumatra island until the earthquake hit Dec. 26, touching off the tsunami.
The United Nations said yesterday that the Hezbollah resistance group bore the main responsibility for the death of a French peacekeeper in a flare-up of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said the violence had been sparked by a Hezbollah attack that killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three, violating the so-called Blue Line drawn up to mark the border following Israel's 2000 pullout from south Lebanon. "We are expressing ... serious concern over what happened yesterday with the attack of Hezbollah across the Blue Line," the envoy said after talks with Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud. "We can't forget anyway that the event started with the attack across the Blue Line." De Mistura rejected Hezbollah's argument that attacks on the disputed Shebaa Farms district were justified because it remained under Israeli occupation. "We consider the Blue Line (extends) all the way up to Shebaa, including Shebaa," he said.
The Palestinian opposition group 
Violence has spiked against Iraqi and US forces in the battleground provinces of north-central Iraq, with less than three weeks to go before landmark national elections. US Army officers at their headquarters in Saddam Hussein's old palace in Tikrit describe an insurgency that has grown since last March despite the best efforts to win over the Iraqi people living in the northern provinces of Salahuddin, Diyala and Tamim, home to Iraq's alienated Sunni Muslims. "What we've seen was the insurgency gather steam since last April and May. It probably would have gained steam a whole lost faster if it were not for courageous Iraqi National Guard and police standing up for their country," said Maj. Gen. John Batiste, commander of the First Infantry Division (1st ID). Despite the insurgency's ability to recruit new members, Batiste believes the US Army is winning in Iraq. He points to the training of 11,000 Iraqi national guardsmen in his area of operations which he considers a success story. "These things take time. You have to take a long view," Batiste said.
Egyptian reformers have demanded that, like Palestinians, they too should have a chance to choose their leader from a host of candidates. Egyptian President 
Thousands of southern Sudanese danced with President 
The US ambassador's offer to help the government stifle 
Members of the NWFP Assembly on Monday expressed their anger at the remarks of a Lahore High Court judge who "abused the Pakhtun nation" and demanded that suo moto action be taken against the judge. In an adjournment motion, Bashir Bilour, ANP's member of provincial assembly, read out a newspaper report dated October 22, 2004 in which a judge of the Lahore High Court Multan Bench had passed remarks against the Pakhtun people. Mr Bilour said the judge had remarked that since the accused was a Pakhtun "he must be a smuggler". 
The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Rules and Privileges on Monday finalised amendments and changes in over 290 NA rules ranging from imposing penalties on unruly members to nomination criteria of the opposition leader. Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, the parliamentary affairs minister, told Daily Times the committee had approved the amendments and changes and had decided to redraft all of them. The new rules allow the president to identify unruly MNAs when he addresses a joint sitting of parliament. The NA speaker will act against the MNAs the president names. Under the amended rules the speaker will have the authority to suspend the salary of the unruly member(s) for that particular session. The speaker will also be able to suspend the membership of unruly MNAs for one or more sessions. He said the rules would be tabled in the next NA session scheduled for February. He said all the rules were endorsed by the committee members unanimously. The minister stated the only reservation was on the amendment in the rule related to the standing committees of the house. He said the committee would finally deal with that issue in the next meeting. Sources said one of the committee members proposed that members of the National Assembly (MNAs) be given authority to discuss the conduct of the judiciary in parliament. However, that proposal was rejected. The committee also endorsed the rule to allocate one hour every week in which the prime minister would directly respond to the queries of the members.
