EMBARGOED BOOK CLAIMS SAUDI OIL INFRASTRUCTURE RIGGED FOR CATASTROPHIC SELF-DESTRUCTION
According to a new book exclusively obtained by the Huffington Post, Saudi Arabia has crafted a plan to protect itself from a possible invasion or internal attack. It includes the use of a series of explosives, including radioactive âdirty bombs,â that would cripple Saudi Arabian oil production and distribution systems for decades.
Bestselling author Gerald Posner lays out this âdoomsday scenarioâ in his forthcoming âSecrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Saudi-US Connectionâ (Random House).
According to the book, which will be released to the public on May 17, based on National Security Agency electronic intercepts, the Saudi Arabian government has in place a nationwide, self-destruction explosive system composed of conventional explosives and dirty bombs strategically placed at the Kingdomâs key oil ports, pipelines, pumping stations, storage tanks, offshore platforms, and backup facilities. If activated, the bombs would destroy the infrastructure of the worldâs largest oil supplier, and leave the country a contaminated nuclear wasteland ensuring that the Kingdomâs oil would be unusable to anyone. The NSA file is dubbed internally Petro SE, for petroleum scorched earth.
To make certain that the damaged facilities cannot be rebuilt, the Saudis have deployed crude Radioactive Dispersal Devices (RDDs) throughout the Kingdom. Built covertly over several years, these dirty bombs are in place at -- among other locations -- all eight of the Kingdomâs refineries, sections of the worldâs largest oil field at Ghawar, and at three of the ten indispensable processing towers at the largest-ever processing complex at Abqaiq.
According to the NSA intercepts, Petro SE was devised by the Saudis because of their overriding fear that if an internal revolt or external attack threatened the survival of the House of Saud, the U.S. and other Western powers might abandon them as the Shah of Iran was abandoned in 1979. Only by having in place a system that threatened to create crippling oil price increases, political instability and economic recessions did the royal family believe it could coerce Western military powers to keep them in power.
Some American and Israeli officials privately believe that Saudi officials have been aware for more than a decade that their conversations were monitored, and that as a result they greatly exaggerated Petro SE in order to blackmail the West into protecting them at all costs. For the Saudis, the threat to the U.S. and other powers works so long as those countries cannot be certain of the extent of the âself-destruction grid.â
Posner chronicles an over twenty-five year multinational intelligence gathering operation that exposes Petro SE -- the House of Saudâs ânuclearâ insurance policy to escape the fate of Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran.
âAlthough the NSA is not certain of the radioactive elements finally used by the Saudis, they believe Petro SE successfully developed dozens of radiation dispersal devices,â Posner writes.
âThese RDDs that the Saudis have integrated into their oil infrastructure are far less lethal than traditional nuclear weapons. The risk is not mass fatal casualties as with a nuclear explosive, but rather increased cancer rates over many years. In the short run, the psychological fear that an area is contaminated by radiation might be so great as to make it commercially unproductive.â
Posner is an award-winning author of nine books, including "Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11" and "Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK", and has written for such publications as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and U.S. News & World Report.
#1
This would be laughable if the Saudis weren't crazy and ignorant enough to believe they could contaminate enough of the oilfields to 'cripple' them. Dirty bombs are way over-rated and the most they could do is contaminate a small area and make anyone entering it to take precautions. Oilfields are relatively big places - hundreds of square kilometers. All of the worlds radioactive waste would be needed to contaminate a significant proportion. Infrastructure is of course more vulnerable but I can't see how radioactivity would do more harm than explosives and fire.
#2
You' think they may be that crazy? If they did come up with the scheme, it would be designed as blackmail, rather than something deployed, I reckon. Otherwise, it would be extremely stupid. One may consider possible infiltration of responsible details by jihadists--it is estimated that about 6% of military and police forces is rather sympathetic to izzies or outright under their command--and manipulating the setup for their own goals.
#6
Bullshit. Saudi's don't get their hands dirty enough to be able to pull this off without lots and lots of workers/contractors noticing. It would be a huge undertaking to be effective. It would be difficult to prevent accidents/subversion and an intolerable risk. And western powers would take the royals out of power for sure if they did it. Pure bullshit.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 20:48 Comments ||
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#7
Maybe it's just me, but the idea of Saudi Arabia as a contaminated nuclear wasteland has a certain appeal.
Some extra light was cast upon the obscure events of last January in the Gulf state of Oman (reported in Terrorism Focus Vol II, Iss 3) when a group of 'Islamists' were picked up. On April 18 the trial began of a total of 31 suspected Islamist militants accused of planning to launch attacks in Muscat during the city's Cultural and Trade festival held last January, in a bid to overthrow the regime. Until this point speculation had been rife about the motives and the identity of the detainees, including suspicions of connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, which was implicated in an earlier plot in 1994. However, something akin to a news blackout had been imposed.
Oman is highly sensitive to the public relations fallout of the incident, fearing loss of investment potential in a state that in 2003 produced some 800,000 barrels of oil per day and one which occupies a crucial strategic position opposite the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf. They have strenuously played down any perceived threat of terrorist attacks of the sort that have shaken neighboring Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and part of Yemen.
As a mark of the sensitivity of the issue the case was closed to the foreign press and not held in public. Only the lawyers acting for the families of the accused and members of Oman's consultative council were admitted, and few details were published in the main press of the legal proceedings. The Omani daily al-Watan noted only that "certain members had regretted their joining such an organization" [www.alwatan.com ]. However, the Arabic language web magazine Shafaf al-Sharq al-Awsat added some interesting details on the case. It reported that the statements of the accused varied between expressions of regret and explanations that the goals of the Ibadi group were those of "self-preservation against internal and external enemies" [www.metransparent.com].
Most of the accused considered that their mission was founded on the principle of concealment (kitman) for the initial stage of the "Imamate of Concealment", to be followed by "Imamate of Epiphany" as it became overt and finally the restoration of the Islamic Caliphal State or Imamate which was abolished in 1959.
Others explained that the Higher Council of the organization had decided two years previously on foregoing political aims in favor of other 'consciousness-raising' aims, such as publishing the Ibadi rite and defending it. The common thread in the case of the accused was that removing the regime was precisely counter to their aims, and that their actions constituted an ideological defense of Ibadism, in case the government should change and other Islamic schools take its place.
If so, it appears that this Gulf Islamist phenomenon is effectively an 'anti-jihad' in the making, against the al—Qaeda inspired extremists spreading in the Gulf. In all, the authorities have detained 42 suspects, including those put on trial.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 02:05 ||
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#1
This is kind of odd. Oman is the only Ibadi run state in the world. The Ibadis are fairly obscure islamic sect numbering a few hundred thousand outside Oman and frequently persecuted. Inside Oman they are a clear majority 75%. The Muslim Brotherhood are Sunni although pan-Arab. The reference to the concealed Iman is clearly Shiia. Yet they claim to be defenders of Ibadi. The 1959 reference I assume is to the current sheik's overthrow of his father in a coup and bringing in a constitutional monarchy with a full adult franchise (i.e. women can vote). So as crazy as it sounds I tend to agree with the author that these were 'anti-jihad' terrorists just wanting a return to the good old days.
The November 28 2002 attack on an Israeli airliner in Mombassa, Kenya, focused attention on Yemen and it arms markets. A UN report tasked with assessing arms trafficking to Somalia found that the shoulder fired missiles used in that attack likely originated from Yemen. Furthermore, follow-up reports cite Yemen's weapons availability as a significant risk factor for al-Qaeda's procurement of arms.
Yemen's efforts at internal control started after 9/11 with the new international focus on terrorism. The Yemeni government embarked upon a widely known weapons buyback program, hoping to disarm the tribes and thus neutralize the threat they posed to government control, in a non-confrontational manner. Sources connected to the markets believe the tribes have largely participated, relieving themselves of artillery, missiles, tanks and other forms of heavy weaponry. Surprisingly, the widespread rumor of American financing of the buyback program seems to exercise little impact on the tribes' willingness to participate.
Weapons purchases in the markets have fallen drastically since 1999, a period coinciding with a marked decrease in intertribal violence. Tribal mini-wars created a market for weapons of all sizes and varieties, leading to a flourishing trade in arms. The decrease in activity led to a drop in supply accompanied by significant price hikes. Currently, the market's major customers are tribesmen hoping to adorn themselves with rifles or pistols, as is customary in Yemeni tribal tradition. Anything heavier, and ammunition in general, is in low demand as no large customer groups have any great need for such items. This decrease in demand has accompanied other limited Yemeni government efforts to affect control over weapons in Yemen. The government implemented a ban on carrying weapons inside major cities. The results did not reach their intended marks with tribal cities like Marib and al-Hazm, though more urbanized areas such as Sana'a, Aden and Taiz successfully implemented the ban.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 02:02 ||
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Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, on a regional tour that earlier took him to Syria for reconciliation after months of tension, met with the Jordanian leader to discuss Mideast peacemaking and Iraq. The Saudi prince held a 90-minute meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan, the third stop in a regional swing that has also taken him to Egypt. Saudi diplomats, insisting on anonymity, said Abdullah briefed regional leaders on his recent visits to the United States and France, but offered no further details.
Earlier in Damascus, the Saudi prince held talks with President Bashar Assad in the first meeting since ties strained two months ago over strong Saudi pressure on Damascus to pull out of Lebanon or risk damaging relations. Syria ended 29 years of military presence in Lebanon on April 26. Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah said that Abdullah's visit was within the framework of "continued coordination" between the two Arab countries. He declined to elaborate. Asked whether Saudi Arabia was working to improve strained relations between Syria and the United States, Dakhlallah said: "When Arabs meet, they discuss issues concerning Arabs and Arab relations."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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Every election has its memorable moment. For the 2005 British general election, that moment came when the Islamist George Galloway defeated the black, Jewish pro-war member of parliament, Oona King, for Bethnal Green and Bow in the East End of London. Mr. Galloway overturned a Labor majority of more than 10,000. As the result was announced, Mr. Galloway yelled exultantly at his ecstatic devotees: "Tony Blair, this is for Iraq!"
Mr. Galloway is not just a demagogue, but a defender of Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and Yasser Arafat. Mr. Galloway is now the leader of Respect, a party dedicated to mobilizing disaffected Muslims and left-wing yuppies who are against Mr. Blair. A year ago, he was thrown out of the Labor party for inciting British troops in Iraq to mutiny. Mr. Galloway used to spend Christmas with his friend Tariq Aziz - Saddam's erstwhile foreign minister, who is now awaiting trial - whom he insists is a "political prisoner." Saddam's propaganda footage showed him with the dictator. But there he is, still sitting in the mother of parliaments.
The precise nature and extent of Mr. Galloway's involvement with the Saddam regime is, to say the least, still unclear. Since the regime fell, his conduct has been investigated by parliamentary, party, and charity officials. None of these inquiries found proof of corruption, and the Daily Telegraph lost a sensational libel case after it alleged (on the basis of documents found in the Baghdad foreign ministry) that he had been in Saddam's pay, though the newspaper is appealing. Mr. Galloway's name surfaced again in the course of the Volcker inquiry into the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, though the degree of his involvement in the scandal is yet to be seen.
Mr. Galloway boasted that he had "come back from the dead," as he basked in publicity, evidently enjoying his humiliation of feisty little Ms. King. He is proud of his nickname, "Gorgeous George," which he acquired as a result of his public admission of extramarital affairs that ended his first marriage. In mid-campaign, Mr. Galloway's Palestinian Muslim second wife, Amineh-Abu Zayyad, gave an interview to the London Sunday Times. She told the press that when she heard he would call his new party "Respect," she wept. "How can he call it this when he doesn't even treat his own wife with respect?" After Ms. Zayyad alleged that she received calls from women who claimed to have had affairs with him, she said that Mr. Galloway tried to persuade her to stay in Beirut until the election was over. "George said it was the intelligence services, his enemies, that were trying to get at me." She now says she wants a divorce.
Pressed by a BBC anchorman, Jeremy Paxman, to say whether he felt proud of unseating one of the few black women members of Parliament in Westminster, Mr. Galloway lost his temper. "All those New Labor members of parliament who voted for Mr. Blair and Mr. Bush's war have on their hands the blood of 100,000 people in Iraq ... That is a more important issue than the color of her skin," he said, accusing Mr. Paxman of insulting all 15,801 Londoners who had voted for him. He then stormed out of the interview.
It is those voters, overwhelmingly Muslim, who should concern us at least as much as Mr. Galloway. Across the country, city after city with a large Muslim minority showed an above average swing against Mr. Blair and Labor. It seems pretty clear that the great majority of Britain's 2.5 million Muslims obeyed the instructions of their imams or community leaders and voted en bloc for whichever antiwar party seemed to have the best chance of defeating the Blair government. The Muslim defection from their traditional allegiance to Labor cost Mr. Blair up to half of the seats he lost and partly accounts for the unusually strong anti-Blair vote in London.
That Muslim vote is now also Islamist, in the sense of subordinating all other considerations to religious objectives. This is a new political phenomenon for a country that still fondly imagines itself to be a United Kingdom. It is also a phenomenon that is likely to outlast the coalition presence in Iraq, or even the present phase of the war on terror. Since the results of a recent Guardian opinion poll, among others, provides evidence that a large proportion of British Muslims not only thought the attacks of September 11, 2001, were justified, but would like to be governed by shariah law, it makes sense now to talk about an Islamist vote in Britain.
The implications of the emergence of a European Islamism are profound and worrying. The greatest Western scholar of the Islamic world, Bernard Lewis, has already warned that Europe may well become a Muslim continent by the end of this century. If that comes to pass, it may be that the British election of 2005 will be seen as a milestone on the road to what another eminent expert, Bat Ye'or, has already dubbed "Eurabia."
An unprecedented demonstration has taken place in the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan. At least 1,000 people gathered in the eastern town of Andizhan to demand justice for a group of 23 young men accused of being Islamic extremists.
Long lines of protestors stretched down the streets around the courthouse - women on one side, men on the other. Tuesday's unprecedented call for justice was extremely well organised. The protesters were dressed in their best clothes, and the scene was peaceful and good humoured.
They had made long wooden benches especially for the women to sit down, and they had also brought supplies of food and water. The demonstrators even had their own guards and a cameraman to ward off any interference by the militia.
There have been many such court cases in Uzbekistan in recent years, but this is the first time that there has been such a large-scale protest. It has been organised by the families of the accused, many of whom have several sons already in jail.
I suppose they could be innocent
Posted by: Steve ||
05/10/2005 8:28:52 AM ||
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In addition to the unexpected re-appearance of Sawt al-Jihad, just released on the internet is another new magazine, aimed at those the Arab mujahideen fighting in the Caucasus, or sympathizers following the events in the region, entitled Sawt al-Qoqaz (The Voice of the Caucasus).
Modeled on the format and reproducing the production quality of the Arabian Peninsular Sawt al-Jihad productions, the 33-page periodical includes the customary mix of religious exhortation literature, military lessons from early Islamic history, spiritual preparation for military jihad, and poetry.
The editorial states the purpose of the periodical: to fill the information gap about events in the region. It emphasizes how the conflict in the Caucasus, under the guise of "internal security" or "anti-terrorism" is actually a religious, anti-Islamic conflict and pointedly refuses the concept of "compromise" in the political and military struggle.
This first edition also includes an interview with Shamil Basaev, who gives his view of the present situation of the Chechen struggle, including the level of military co-operation between the various jihadi groups operating in the arena. A note is also included on lessons and experiences from the Chechen jihad, penned by the Mufti of the Chechen mujahideen Abu Omar Muhammad al-Sayf (famous for his denunciation of the Iraqi elections and of the concept of democracy published in the online Iraqi jihadi magazine Al-Fath). A final plea is then made to Muslims across the world to come to the aid of the mujahideen fighting in the Caucasus.
This article starring:
ABU OMAR MUHAMAD AL SAIF
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 02:04 ||
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#1
pinups wear all-black chadors - look like ink smudges
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 20:48 Comments ||
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As Russian troops high-stepped through Red Square to commemorate World War II, some observers couldn't help but wonder which legacy Vladimir Putin prefers - the democratic present or the authoritarian past.
Many see a leader who is increasingly isolated, accumulating more power while relying on fewer people, and perhaps risking a loss of control over the vast, oil-rich, and nuclear-armed Russian Federation.
"Russia is not a strong state, it's a brittle state," said Celeste Wallander, director of the Russia/Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington.
Yet President Bush and his aides, while protesting what they call democratic setbacks in Russia, want to maintain their relationship with Putin, the main reason they accepted his invitation to Monday's ceremony on the 60th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany.
Bush has said his Russian counterpart is forging democracy in the face of immense challenges after decades of communist repression. "There's a lot we can do together," he said before meeting privately with Putin on Sunday.
And Putin himself has angrily disputed allegations that he has cracked down on the press and political opponents, saying democracy is growing at least as well in Russia as in the United States.
"It is beyond doubt that the people have chosen democracy, that we have established the institutions of democracy, and that the philosophy of democracy has a place in people's minds," Putin said on CBS' ``60 Minutes'' program broadcast Sunday.
Defenders of Putin note the enormous domestic pressures: aggressive business interests, organized crime, crushing poverty, and the internal politics that seem to have always characterized Russian government.
The critics' bill of particulars against Putin is growing, however: television stations virtually annexed by the Putin government; political rivals arrested; governor's elections canceled; and the ongoing, brutal, tit-for-tat war with rebels in Chechnya.
Yet Putin may also be creating vulnerabilities as well, analysts said, especially if his country is hit with another terrorist attack, as with the 2002 siege of a Moscow theater, or the horrific murders of schoolchildren in Beslan last year.
"Putin has amassed so much power, he's making himself the guarantor of Russian safety," said Leon Aron, a Russian-born scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "And that could fall apart if there's another attack."
Russia also faces a ticking time bomb. Its population is expected to fall from 146 million to 104 million over the next half-century, thanks to low rates of fertility and high rates of alcoholism, illness and early death.
When it comes to Russia's dodgy health care system, "the government's attitude seems to be pretty close to benign neglect," said Nicholas Eberstadt, an AEI scholar who has studied Russia's demographic trends.
Then there are allegations of rampant corruption and oligarchy amid grinding poverty, causing some to pine for the old days of collectivization.
Russia's troubles are a main reason the Bush administration wants stability with the Putin government, officials said.
U.S. officials have enough on their plate without a Russian crisis, some said: trying to stabilize Iraq; seeking a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians; worrying about the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.
Besides, officials and analysts said, there's not a lot the administration could do to actually change Putin's behavior except raise U.S. concerns with the Russian leader.
Bush has done so, both this week in Moscow and at a Feb. 24 meeting in the Slovak Republic. Bush and his aides said he is able to have challenging discussions with Putin because the two men have a good personal relationship.
"I've got a relationship with President Putin that enables me to be able to have a frank discussion," Bush told Estonian television before his trip.
Putin has also been frank, raising questions about the democratic nature of the U.S. Electoral College and the wisdom of the Iraq war. He has also questioned press freedom in the United States.
Charles Kupchan, an international relations specialist at Georgetown University, said Bush needs to admonish his Russian friend, "but I don't think anybody expects Putin to run back to Moscow and reverse some of the more authoritarian steps he has taken in the last several years."
"I suspect this will be the pattern of the next several years," Kupchan added.
Anatol Lieven, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said many in the West are expecting too much from Putin too soon, as it will take at least a generation for Russia to build a strong democracy.
Criticism "should be leavened with a recognition that on a number of vital issues, he is still pushing economic reform in the face of the entrenched opposition of public elites and public opinion," Lieven wrote in a recent edition of Foreign Policy.
Putin's critics frequently focus on the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil magnate who had contributed to Putin's political opponents. He is now awaiting sentencing on a contested tax fraud conviction, though Putin says the case reflects well on his country's independent judiciary.
Critics also point to Putin's alleged efforts to influence the contested election in Ukraine. That nation's anti-Russian "Orange Revolution," coming on the heels of the "Rose Revolution" in Georgia, undermines Putin's political position at home.
There is some evidence the Bush administration's conservative supporters in the United States may push them to get more aggressive with Putin.
"There's been a dramatic, decided and quite dangerous decline of democracy in Russia," said Bruce Jackson, director of the conservative-leaning Project on Transitional Democracies. "They've got to start drawing red lines for Putin's government that haven't been there before."
Some Republican members of Congress, meanwhile, have proposed forcing Russia out of the G-8 economic group. Putin plans to host the group's summit next year, and is expected to invest as much prestige in that event as in the 60th anniversary celebration of V-E Day.
Bush administration officials said that in some ways Putin is getting a bad rap.
While critics ripped Putin for calling the collapse of the Soviet Union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century - as opposed to the two world wars, or the Holocaust - Bush noted that he devoted most of that speech to the topic of democracy.
The questions surrounding Putin will come to a head in 2008, when his presidential term limits are supposed to kick in. Some wonder if he will try to change the rules instead and hold on to power.
Meanwhile, supporters of democracy hold their breath about both Putin and the fate of his country.
"Russia has nuclear weapons," Wallander said. "When you break something like that, it doesn't break neatly."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 01:33 ||
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#1
And I doubt a'flyin dem dar Soviet-era Commie flags of Fascism is gonna help him become loved - yousa know the US Left, they absolutley and undeniably a'hate the USSR , dats why they a'want America to become the USSA!?
For more than a decade, Russia concentrated its security firepower in Chechnya, and it still has more than 80,000 soldiers and 12,000 police officers there trying to root out bands of Islamic separatists.
But the search for militants has expanded all across Russian territories in the North Caucasus Mountains. Hardly a week goes by without news of security sweeps, detentions, skirmishes and killings of reputed militants in the region's villages and towns.
Shocked by an attack last June on police posts in Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya, and the bloody school seizure in Beslan in September, Russian security forces have intensified the hunt not just for rebel leaders but for rank-and-file militants.
At least 28 suspected militants were killed in eight special operations outside Chechnya during the first four months of this year alone.
"It's part of one and the same anti-terrorist campaign," said Alexander Cherkasov of the human rights group Memorial. "It's the result of these five years, when everything was limited to Chechnya. We haven't managed to keep the terrorists inside there, and now it's happening all over."
Extremism is spreading despite harsh anti-terrorist methods, from targeted killings of rebel leaders such as Aslan Maskhadov, to the payment of rewards for information, to the demolition of houses where suspected rebels have found refuge.
In one case, security forces used a tank to knock down a house in Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan, after hundreds of soldiers in smaller armored vehicles and a helicopter gunship failed to root out five gunmen holed up inside.
"We think such measures cannot be considered excessive if, first of all, they solve the task of putting down terrorists and — the main thing — minimizing losses among law enforcement.
"Until recently, we were losing several colleagues in the course of liquidating just one terrorist. We can't allow this," said Vladimir Vasilyev, a former Interior Ministry officer who heads the Russian parliament's security committee.
Nikolai Shepel, Russia's deputy prosecutor general responsible for the North Caucasus, said radical Muslim groups scattered through the region are small — typically with no more than 15 to 20 members each. But he said they are all working with a single aim.
"It's terror with the specific goal of splitting off the North Caucasus in order to create an Islamic caliphate," he said in an interview with the Associated Press in the regional prosecutor's office at Vladikavkaz, capital of North Ossetia.
Mr. Shepel said the groups also have links to international terrorist networks.
An assistant clicked on a captured video showing Maskhadov in a forest with Arab mercenaries — showing what prosecutors say is an indisputable link between the late Chechen leader and international terrorism.
"We think it is a network of groups in the North Caucasus that act in a conspiratorial way, and the film confirms that they were led by" Maskhadov, Mr. Shepel said.
Such videos, produced by the militants with Arabic soundtracks to try to attract financing for the Chechen rebel cause, are not hard to come by. Even in the Chechen capital, Grozny, which is patrolled heavily by Russian troops, the videos can be found in just about any outdoor market.
But Mr. Shepel said this particular video came from the basement hide-out of Abu Dzeit, an Arab and reputed al Qaeda liaison who was killed by security forces in February, three weeks before Maskhadov was slain in a similar raid.
The prosecutor plunked a plastic bag full of inch-long metal chunks on the desk, and said they also had been found in homemade, plastic-bottle bombs stored in Dzeit's bunker.
The fight against rebels inside Chechnya is increasingly being turned over to local law-enforcement forces which largely recruit former separatist fighters. Critics accuse them of employing the same methods as the rebels, especially abductions, which are said to be also used by federal forces.
Human-rights advocates say abductions simply create a new pool of victims who are ripe for rebel recruitment and that the authorities' reliance on force across the south ignores the roots of rebellion — persistent poverty and joblessness, government corruption and police brutality.
"The federal center needs a new concept of a policy on the North Caucasus," said Alexander Dzadziev, an analyst in Vladikavkaz. "It should set its priority, deciding whether it's more important to fight terrorists or work on social and economic problems, or both simultaneously, if it really doesn't want to lose it."
He said authorities should communicate with nonmainstream Muslim groups and recognize that the region's disaffected youth have found hope in fundamentalist Islam, because Muslim charities give them financial help for food and clothes and for education.
"The government doesn't give them anything," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 01:11 ||
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The United States has pressed China to use all of its "tools in the box" to bring North Korea back to negotiations on its nuclear arms program, a State Department official said. Can we then use all of our tools in the box??? PLEASSSSEEE????
But the official, who asked not to be named, stopped short of confirming reports that top US envoy Christopher Hill asked Beijing to cut off fuel to the North Koreans but was rebuffed by the Chinese. No oil for nukes!
Washington has made no secret that it was counting largely on China to woo Pyongyang back to the stalled six-party nuclear talks that also include Japan, Russia and South Korea.
"What we have done is ask the Chinese to think about the full sort of set of tools in the box that they can use to get the North Koreans to come back to the table," the State Department official said.
"There are a lot of things that are out there that are possibilities," the official said. He did not elaborate. I can, and it rhymes with broom.
He made his comments as North Korea again dashed hopes There were real hopes this would happen? for an early resumption of the negotiations that broke off last year, and fueled speculation it might be preparing for its first nuclear weapons test.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, asked China to cut its oil supply to North Korea to put added pressure on Pyongyang
But China turned down the request because it would damage its oil revenue pipeline, the Post said, citing US officials briefed on the talks held in Beijing on April 26.
Acting State Department spokesman Tom Casey would not comment on the Post report. But he added: "We've had a long-standing policy ... of encouraging the Chinese and others to use what influence they have on the North Koreans to bring them back to the six-party talks." Fat chance of that happening. China figures our attention is better focused on Korea rather than Tiawain.
Asked whether that included offering carrots as well as sticks to the North Koreans, Casey said: "Influence, encourage, do what they can to get them back to the table. I think we've left the diplomacy on that up to them." The B2s in Guam are up to us. Duck and cover Kim.
#1
Maybe people will finally figure out the truth behind China's smoke and mirrors - that North Korea is really a rattlesnake bred by China to keep Uncle Sam at bay.
#2
nor did it force Japan to rearm, but teh consequences were the same
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 16:53 Comments ||
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#3
Commenter from another blog forgotten in the mist of 3 days time wanted Taiwan to make an offer for all of the NORKs bombs at a billion a pop to see what would happen.
#5
S: Commenter from another blog forgotten in the mist of 3 days time wanted Taiwan to make an offer for all of the NORKs bombs at a billion a pop to see what would happen.
Not going to happen. Chinese aid is the only thing keeping Kim Jong-il in power today. The amount of money needed to match this aid year-in and year-out would be huge. Besides, any offer would lead to a Chinese invasion.
#6
Every high level meeting is carefully stage managed beforehand. The low level apparatchiks get together and flesh out everything, so by the time the big boys even meet they just need to go through the motions for the photo-op. This avoids tons of wasted effort, insult, open haggling and other such nonsense. What has actually been decided is *not* for public consumption.
In his state of the union address the other day, Vladimir Putin, as befits an old KGB hand, was waxing nostalgic. ''The demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,'' he declared. ''For the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.''
Well, why don't they come home? If there's one thing Russia could use, it's more Russians. The country's midway through its transition from ''superpower'' to ghost town. Russian men already have a lower life expectancy than Bangladeshis — not because Bangladesh is brimming with actuarial advantages but because, if he had four legs and hung from a tree in a rain forest, the Russian male would be on the endangered species list. By mid-century, vast empty Russia will have a smaller population than tiny Yemen. The decline in male longevity is unprecedented for a (relatively) advanced nation not at war. Russia has extraordinary rates of drug-fueled AIDS, Hepatitis C, heart disease and TB, all of which are mere symptoms of an entire people unable to pull themselves out of a spiral of self-destruction. If you seek communism's monument, look around the health clinics of post-Soviet Russia.
Immediately after his retirement, the now forgotten Canadian swinger Pierre Trudeau took his sons to Siberia because that was ''where the future is being built.'' Any future being built in the outlying parts of Russia belongs to Muslims and Chinese in need of lebensraum, and drug cartels and terrorist networks eager to take advantage of remote areas in a state lacking sufficient reliable manpower to police its borders.
Moscow couldn't hold on to Eastern Europe. They couldn't hold on to Central Asia. Why would they fare any better with the Russian ''Federation''? Heard of a place called Bashkortostan? It's this week's Stan of the Week — a formerly autonomous Russian Muslim republic whose direct elections were abolished by Putin as part of his recent centralization of power. The capital city of Ufa has been wracked by protests from something called the People's Front of Bashkortistan. Be honest, if you're Vlad, that's the last thing you need right now. After all, it's his court the Bashkorti are bashing, if indeed ''Bashkorti'' is what you call the people of Bashkortistan. Whoops, I see they're called ''Bashkir,'' and no doubt they'll be downing a lot of kir at their independence bash. If you're an ''energy-rich formerly autonomous Muslim republic,'' what's the point of going down the express garbage chute of history with Russia? If the Bashkir have a future, it's not with Moscow.
The Chinese must look at Russia's diseased kleptocracy and think, ''There but for the grace of whoever.'' So far, Beijing's strategy of economic liberalization without political liberalization is working out a lot better than the Moscow model. Instead of all this guff about the blessings of liberty, Deng Xiaoping cut to the chase and announced: ''To get rich is glorious.'' And, for city dwellers whose income increased 14-fold in the two decades after Deng told 'em to go for it, things have worked out swell.
I'd say the Chinese are doing it the right way round: Historically, economic liberty has preceded political liberty. At this point, the Politburo would rise up as one and say, whoa, man, hold up, who said anything about political liberty? But, realistically, how much longer can they hold it at bay? Do you remember SARS? Big disease a couple of years ago. It started in rural China, leaping from livestock to people, because farm animals are highly valued and often sleep in the house. When a totalitarian regime has a crisis on its hands, its first reaction is to lie about it. So that's what the People's Republic did — denying there was any problem for the first three months, thereafter downplaying the extent of it, and only coming clean — or marginally less unclean — about the scale of the disease after it had wiggled free of China's borders and infected and killed people all around the world, including an awful lot in my home town of Toronto. The World Health Organization, unduly deferential to dictatorships as U.N. agencies always are, issued various travel advisories for China. But what about within China? SARS spread to the cities because some rural dweller came up to town for the day, and before you knew it it had reached Hong Kong, where the infected lobby, elevators and other public areas brought the international clientele of the Metropole Hotel into contact with the disease.
That's a metaphor for the present day People's Republic. China can make your radio. But they can't make a plausible press release to read on it. Are the internal contradictions of Commie-capitalism sustainable that much longer? With SARS, the booming modern coastal cities were infected by a vast rural hinterland where the pig sleeps in the front room. Given the ever widening income gap between these areas, how much longer can they coexist in the same state? Calling it all ''China'' sounds nice and homogenous, but the space so designated on the map is a China that has never previously existed in any functioning way. As a centralized nation-state, it's as artificial an entity as the more obvious apellatory crocks such as the ''Soviet Union'' or ''Yugoslavia.'' A lot of European lefties are pinning their hopes on the emergence of some grand new Chinese superpower, but China will not advance to the First World with its present borders intact.
The stability fetishists having assured us that nothing can ever change in the Middle East are now making the same confident guarantees for the rest of the planet. In a magnificently loopy column in the Guardian about Blair the ''war criminal,'' Richard Gott says that instead of siding with ''the evil empire'' [America], Britain should have joined ''a coalition of the unwilling that would include the Europeans, the Russians and the Chinese.'' America could yet implode, I suppose: Nothing is impossible. But the structural defects of the EU, Russia and China are all far more advanced. If you were betting on only one happy ending, I'd take China.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 09:49 ||
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#1
I was shocked (really) to see that Ufa is a moslem region. It's slightly south of (and a long way east of) Moscow. Has Islam invaded that far? Or is Bashkortostan another of those regions created by Stalin when he moved entire populations around in the 30s and 40s?
#2
Jackal, Hopefully we'll get a response from some of the RusskyBurgers, but I am guessing that Islam penetrated that far north during the time of the Mongol overlords.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
05/10/2005 12:40 Comments ||
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Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
05/10/2005 12:45 Comments ||
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#4
Arguably, the break up of the Soviet Union was a demographic necessity as ethnic Russians were at the point of becoming a minority. The same thing will happen in Russia as the Turkic (mostly moslem) peoples have a much higher birthrate. There are several moslem stans within Russia, including Tartarstan.
#3
Pipe down with all these hints -- they're irritating our subs that are busy polishing the nose cones on several hundred nukes that are just off your coast. You'll have about one minute to duck and cover, Kimmie -- and that's only if you see it coming, which is not likely.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 8:34 Comments ||
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#4
North Korea hints at returning to stalled nuclear talks
An alleged al-Qaida militant testified Monday that Spanish police visited him in prison last year and hinted they would get him released in exchange for cooperation in their probe of a cell accused of helping prepare the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Such a visit by police would be illegal under Spanish law because only an investigating magistrate can interrogate a jailed suspect.
The judge overseeing the trial ordered the prison visit log checked to see if the visit took place. A court clerk later read records from the investigating magistrate who originally interrogated the defendant, warning him that police would be visiting him in jail for more questioning.
Abdulla Khayata Katan, a 29-year-old Spaniard of Syrian origin, is accused of belonging to a Spanish al-Qaida cell, but not of playing a role in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. He is on trial with 23 other suspects, three of whom are accused of using Spain as a staging ground to help plot the Sept. 11 attacks. The others, including Katan, are charged with belonging to al-Qaida, weapons possession or other offenses.
Katan was arrested in Jordan in February 2004 and handed over to Spanish authorities. He immediately underwent three days of questioning by investigative magistrate Baltasar Garzon. Katan testified Monday that, about a month later, while he was being held at Soto del Real prison outside Madrid, two Spanish policemen visited him and said they brought ``good news.'' He said he had asked if this meant being released. ``They said, 'Yes, yes,''' Katan told the court.
The police officers questioned him in an office, rather than in the room where prisoners usually receive visits, and showed him photographs of other suspected Muslim militants, Katan said.
He said he told the police that he knew them, even though he didn't, thinking it would help him get out of jail. ``I lied to them,'' Katan said. When it became clear Katan was going to stay in jail, he said he asked the police about their offer of help and all they did was give him a business card with the name and phone number of a lawyer.
In testimony after Katan, Osama Darra, a Syrian-born gift shop owner, denied charges of going to Bosnia in 1995 for terrorism training on orders from the accused leader of the Spanish al-Qaida cell, Imad Yarkas. Darra said he went to Bosnia to help beleaguered Muslims and never made it to Zenica, where the alleged terrorism training camp was located. Darra also said alleged money transfers to Islamic militants in other countries were simply to settle debts from business deals.
Jasem Mahboule, another Syrian-born defendant, told the court handwritten Arabic language documents with bomb-making instructions that were found in his home were not his and he could not have written them because he left school at age 12 and has limited education. ``What would I do with those?'' he asked in a combative tone. Mahboule also denied charges of going to the camp in Zenica, saying he had never been to Bosnia.
Algerian suspect Sid Ahmed Boudjella admitted to living off petty theft but denied allegations he supplied stolen credit cards that Darra is said to have used fraudulently to raise money for the cell. The trial, in its third week, was to continue Tuesday.
This article starring:
ABDULLA KHAIATA KATAN
al-Qaeda in Europe
Baltasar Garzon
IMAD YARKAS
al-Qaeda in Europe
JASEM MAHBULE
al-Qaeda in Europe
OSAMA DARRA
al-Qaeda in Europe
SID AHMED BUDJELLA
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 01:06 ||
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(CNSNews.com) - The Pentagon on Monday rejected calls by a congressionally appointed commission to slow down the withdrawal of 70,000 American troops from Europe and Asia. The proposals entail the U.S. Army withdrawing from about half of its European bases, the Pentagon confirmed. The Overseas Basing Commission said the moves were being planned without sufficient coordination with affected countries or synchronization with other security activities and needs, but the Pentagon disputed that view. In a report officially released Monday, the commission also queried the Pentagon estimate that repatriating the troops and their families would cost around $10 billion. The commission said it would cost about twice that amount. It called for more congressional oversight of the process.
Among the commission's specific recommendations was one saying that a Germany-based heavy combat brigade due to return to the U.S. should remain where it is. This would provide a hedge against unexpected future security threats in the European region, demonstrate commitment to NATO, and show U.S. resolve in the Balkans. "We further decrease our presence in NATO only at risk of lessening our influence in Europe." It also said plans to withdraw U.S. Marines from Okinawa should be scaled down, calling the southern Japanese island a "strategic linchpin."
The Pentagon's review of force posture abroad is aimed at making the U.S. military a leaner, more focused force capable of handling post-Cold War threats and contingencies. President Bush announced the initiative last August, citing the need for "a more agile and flexible force." According to the commission report, the plan envisages returning approximately 30 percent of al U.S. sites abroad to host nations, mostly in Germany and South Korea. The plan to bring tens of thousands of personnel home is meant to dovetail with plans to close, realign or expand military bases on U.S. soil -- a process known as Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
05/10/2005 8:38:04 AM ||
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#1
"a Germany-based heavy combat brigade... would provide a hedge against unexpected future security threats in the European region"
Germany is welcome to let the EU take over the base after we leave. I'm sure they'd welcome the protection of a French heavy combat brigade. Or maybe the Belgians could step in -- the French voters aren't so sure about this EU deal.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 8:52 Comments ||
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#2
If the Western Europeans won't finance their own defense after handholding by the US Treasury for 50 years, then we can work with who ever takes over as we dealt with the Soviets for the same amount of time. The Atlantic is still a better defensive position than the Elbe ever was.
#3
I criticize the pentagon on their overseas base-closing plan. They ain't doin' it fast enough.
Fook the damn EU and let them grow up and provide their own damn defence. I'm tired of holding hands and helping supposed allies and getting stabbed in the back during and afterwords, then getting bitched at for not helping sooner and/or enough.
#4
This would provide a hedge against unexpected future security threats in the European region, demonstrate commitment to NATO, and show U.S. resolve in the Balkans.
Heavy combat brigades have to be transported. What if a nation that must be traversed declines or delays (as did Austria some time back)?
#5
The Overseas Basing Commission said the moves were being planned without sufficient coordination with affected countries..
What's there to coordinate? The places we don't need to be in, we should get out of. That is all.
This would provide a hedge against unexpected future security threats in the European region, demonstrate commitment to NATO, and show U.S. resolve in the Balkans. "We further decrease our presence in NATO only at risk of lessening our influence in Europe."
Are these guys kidding? Look, if the EU is going to be the heavy lifter that it wishes to be, then they need to take care of problems in their own backyard. That includes the Balkans and any "future security threat". As for NATO, the old Soviet Union is gone. If some sort of loose alliance can be kept, fine, but NATO's usefulness as it currently stands is subject to question.
#6
They could have saved a lot of words if they'd just told us right up front whose ox is being gored. (or whose bribe is being cut)
No need for all the rest of that mumbo-jumbo.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/10/2005 12:31 Comments ||
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Index
A
B
C: Coordination
"The Overseas Basing Commission said the moves were being planned without sufficient coordination with affected countries or synchronization with other security activities and needs..."
Cross reference: Operation Iraqi Freedom, Turkish denial of territorial use and our "allies" indifference to our coordination and security "needs". Also see "Americans Who Don't Give a F*** Anymore".
(Hat tip to Instapundit)
The United States is getting a national ID card. The REAL ID Act (text of the bill and the Congressional Research Services analysis of the bill) establishes uniform standards for state driver's licenses, effectively creating a national ID card. It's a bad idea, and is going to make us all less safe. It's also very expensive. And it's all happening without any serious debate in Congress.
I've already written about national IDs. I've written about the fallacies of identification as a security tool. I'm not going to repeat myself here, and I urge everyone who is interested to read those two essays (and even this older essay). A national ID is a lousy security trade-off, and everyone needs to understand why.
Aside from those generalities, there are specifics about REAL ID that make for bad security.
The REAL ID Act requires driver's licenses to include a "common machine-readable technology." This will, of course, make identity theft easier. Assume that this information will be collected by bars and other businesses, and that it will be resold to companies like ChoicePoint and Acxiom. It actually doesn't matter how well the states and federal government protect the data on driver's licenses, as there will be parallel commercial databases with the same information.
Even worse, the same specification for RFID chips embedded in passports includes details about embedding RFID chips in driver's licenses. I expect the federal government will require states to do this, with all of the associated security problems (e.g., surreptitious access).
REAL ID requires that driver's licenses contain actual addresses, and no post office boxes. There are no exceptions made for judges or police -- even undercover police officers. This seems like a major unnecessary security risk.
REAL ID also prohibits states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens. This makes no sense, and will only result in these illegal aliens driving without licenses -- which isn't going to help anyone's security. (This is an interesting insecurity, and is a direct result of trying to take a document that is a specific permission to drive an automobile, and turning it into a general identification device.) This is not the whole article. Read the rest at the link . Some of Mr. Schneier's arguments against the Real ID are, in my opinion, very valid and outweigh any arguments for this piece of legislation. I firmly believe a person should have some form of identification in order to obtain a driver's license but I think this bill goes way beyond that.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/10/2005 11:54 ||
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REAL ID also prohibits states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens. This makes no sense, and will only result in these illegal aliens driving without licenses -- which isn't going to help anyone's security.
Yeah, let's just treat illegals like they're normal, law-abiding citizens!
I haven't read the entire article, but does he ever bother to provide evidence for some of his assertions? For example, "Assume that this information will be collected by bars and other businesses, and that it will be resold to companies like ChoicePoint and Acxiom." -- why is he making that assumption? What is his evidence? Why is this a Bad Thing?
If there's no "serious debate" about this, it's because people like the author of this piece aren't very serious.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/10/2005 13:33 Comments ||
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It has been 3 1/2 years since 9/11. What has been done to prevent another attack? Right - nothing but wringing of the hands. Real ID is not perfect, but let me tell you, nothing the government does or will do will be perfect. It is not a national ID, which you would be required, under pain of arrest, to have on your person at all times. But, it would prevent 19 aliens from walking onto an aircraft and blowing us away, again.
#3
Real ID is just another "learning experience" for government. They had to learn the hard way that Prohibition was a disaster. Then they are still learning that the War on Drugs is an obscentity, that has cruelly stripped so very many of our freedoms giving nothing in return--freedoms that will be ever so hard to regain, even if the damn War on Drugs ends today. So now they seek to find the extremes in surveillance and control over the lives of other. Eventually they will learn that it is a loser, spending vast amounts of money to discover the hidden boring secrets of hundreds of millions of people. Indulging their voyeurism until their is nothing left to spy on. Dehumanizing others in an almost masturbatory hatred of privacy and quietude in others. To do what? Discover the brand of toilet paper Mrs McGuillicudy prefers? Divine why teenage boys are rebellious and horny? Isn't it a shame that our leaders are so spiritually immature that, once again, they would injure us all just so they can "find out" what most people already know? Wouldn't it be better if they just took out a subscription to 'Psychology Today', to try out the current pop self-help technique?
#4
After thinking on this for a few hours I still believe the idea is sound but I do still have some reservations about how it will be implemented. At the moment it is an unfunded mandate to the states which will require the states to provide the money for implimentation. How well will that work? I agree that the author does not provide data or specifics, but it did get me to thinking. I'll do a bit more research on this.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/10/2005 14:10 Comments ||
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#5
So now they seek to find the extremes in surveillance and control over the lives of other.
Another assertion without evidence. Where in the REAL ID act does this occur?
Trying to construct a more verifiable form of indentification is not surveillance.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/10/2005 14:15 Comments ||
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RC - Did you get your recommended minimum daily amount of conspiracy elsewhere, today? ;-)
#7
For goodness sakes, how are uniform standards for state driver's licenses the dawning of the apocalypse? And how is it "very expensive"? And who in their right mind thinks that the information involved (like "actual addresses and not post office boxes") is not already in databases. Get a life.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 14:49 Comments ||
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Forms of modern identification require biometric data, or they are far too easy to counterfeit. And, like the Social Security card, if they are effective, then everyone else will want to use them. Abuse will inherently follow use, by both the government and private concerns. Second, registration with IDs is inherently coercive, or the ID is useless--unless you *must* have the ID to do something, nobody wants it. But this coercion can be additive. Right now, it will be required to drive, fly, have a bank account, or receive "entitlements" of any kind from the government. However, the ID may be required to do many things now taken for granted as not needing any ID at all: entry into buildings; voting; employment; credit purchases; cash purchases; school attendance; and any police matter. Third, the data contained on the ID may be enlarged to include far more than it does now, readily available to anyone with a scanner. Educational and medical/mental health records, criminal record & sex offender status, injunctions and restraining order information, financial records, any public records involving liens, forfeitures or garnishment, status as a parent paying child support (a currently existing federal database), prior drug or other offenses making you ineligable for government funds, *and* security status, such as "no-fly" status. Fourth, an importantly, there are perhaps 10-30 million people in the US who cannot qualify to receive the Read ID, for any number of reasons, not just for being illegal aliens. Many of the homeless neither have ID right now, or are capable of keeping an ID if it is issued to them. At any given time there are hundreds of thousands of people with outstanding arrest warrant, who will face jail or prison if they attempt to get an ID. There are also a vast number of people who are "outside the system" (blanks), who are either averse to IDs or who live lives that do no require ID, and no longer have them or other evidence that they are citizens. So, Mr anti-paranoid, what do you do with 10-30 MILLION people who don't fit? Ear tags? Chip implants? And for what? To conclude: All of these people have a strong motivation to either evade the system, corrupt the system, or bias the system in such a way that they can just live their lives in peace. Given such motivation, I am appalled to think of the utter chaos this will spawn. What price is *your* liberty worth? Would you kill to defend it? How many lesser crimes would you gladly commit?
#9
What are we after? I think most people want to see controls on who comes in this country, both from security and economic standpoints. We need a mechanism for doing that. I like the idea of real ids, from what I've seen so far; no other suggestions to date address both challenges as uniformly, and other suggestions seem susceptible to political meddling.
#11
I would feel better if getting my passport was harder than it was. I went to the post office, paid a fee, gave them a certifed copy of my birth certificate that was 20 years old had my picture taken, they made a copy of my drivers license on which the picture looks not very like I do (a 8 year old picture). I got the passport in the US mail 4 weeks later. You think getting this "secure ID" will be anymore difficult?
#12
I find it odd that one of the "arguments" anonymoose puts forth against real IDs is that people evading arrest warrants and those in the country illegally will be driven to crime.
As for the rest -- I'm not really worried. Being asked to prove who I am in order to enter a building doesn't bother me; my employer requires that of me already, and it doesn't infringe on my liberty in any way.
Requiring an ID to vote? I'm all for it! Bring it on! Let's have a national database/voter registry to prevent double-voting, fictional voters, illegal alien voters, and disenfranchised voters from voting! In fact, I believe that far from being some sort of infringement on my rights, the status quo, with the Democrat machine cranking out phony registrations and pre-marked absentee ballots, is itself an offense against my rights by diluting my vote with fictional and illegal votes!
Trying to take your other points in order:
Abuse will inherently follow use, by both the government and private concerns.
That's what the courts are for. BTW, the lack of a verifiable ID is the root of many abuses, too.
Second, registration with IDs is inherently coercive, or the ID is useless--unless you *must* have the ID to do something, nobody wants it.
I have no problem with things that are "inherently coercive", per se. It's "inherently coercive" to require children to be immunized before they can attend school -- and to require them to attend school, for that matter -- but the social good far outweighs the negative.
Third, the data contained on the ID may be enlarged to include far more than it does now, readily available to anyone with a scanner.
Ah. The slippery slope.
Again, I'm not particularly worried about this. You list the potential info:
Educational and medical/mental health records, criminal record & sex offender status, injunctions and restraining order information, financial records, any public records involving liens, forfeitures or garnishment, status as a parent paying child support (a currently existing federal database), prior drug or other offenses making you ineligable for government funds, *and* security status, such as "no-fly" status.
Excepting the health information and most of the financial data, this is already public information.
What price is *your* liberty worth? Would you kill to defend it? How many lesser crimes would you gladly commit?
WTF? How does an ID that can be verified make me less free?
Can such an ID be abused in ways that make me less free? Certainly. But so can the LACK of such an ID.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/10/2005 15:39 Comments ||
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#14
anonymoose has been investing in Tinfoil... But paying cash so as to not show ID, of course. What about that cursed IP address???
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 16:06 Comments ||
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#15
..might that be tinfoil futures?
OTOH...in a galaxy far far away, someone who works for the Federation and can't speak English very well, is chalenging a poor native to prove his citizen status.
Posted by: Kevlar ID ||
05/10/2005 16:23 Comments ||
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#16
..if I was living underground (metaphorically speaking) and doing business in cash only, I would hire a lawyer (they love cash) and take the steps to become legal. You'd be suprised, practically any mess can be cleaned up.
..but, if I was living underground (literally) and doing business in cash only, I'd ask a gopher what to do.
Posted by: Kevlar ID ||
05/10/2005 16:42 Comments ||
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#17
I'd like Real ID a lot more if you needed it to vote...
#18
I am truly sorry for those of you who are so trusting both of technology and the people who run it, that you would surrender yourselves to it sight unseen. Blanket solutions are just so intellectually easy that to many people they are irresistable. Say, national health care or military draft. It is just so *easy* to understand the basic concept, so reasonable, that they embrace it with no more thought, disparaging the quickly ballooning problems that could "easily" be corrected if the system "just had more money", or that "the system is good, it's just bad people that are trying to subvert it." Previously, I read comments that "it's no problem if it oppresses criminals" -- but criminals are just a minority, what about the vast number of other people who just can't be made to fit in such an easy to understand system? What do you want to do to them to *force* them to conform to your easy to understand system? They *must* be forced, you know. They won't join it willingly. But it's for their own good, you know. "My employer already makes me use an ID to enter his building, so I'm used to it." So what if that building isn't just *one* building? What if it is your apartment, *and* the hospital, *and* the library, *and* any government office, *and* banks, *and* anybody else who feels like it. All could claim legitimate security reasons to require you to swipe your card, and get the information from it. I could go on and on, but let me leave you with this final thought.Do you remember the Clinton administration? Do you also remember how they misused every part of the government they could to achieve their political ends? FBI files to the IRS to NOAA, even. There really was *no* limit to what they did or would do for political gain. Now, on the off-chance that some of you are republicans, if on the also off-chance you made it on the "enemy list" of your local democratic party, and they had the means to abuse you, would you trust them not to? Would they ever, *ever* say, "This guy is a republican Nazi, let's stick it to him." And believe me, even with the limited amount I know of villainy, with what is on your Real ID card, I could make your life a living Hell. I could run you down into the ground, financially. It is laughably simple and easy to understand, which is what matters, right?
#19
I'm not worried. Me and my clan will gather around Keaton beach and drink beer and defy the powers that be. We may also steal DeaconMans artillery and defy the UN black heliocopters, unless they have ice of course, in which case we just roll over.
#20
*snicker* the shiny side of the foil goes out, right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 20:01 Comments ||
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#21
Frank nailed it. IP addresses are coersive. They must be banned immediately. They allow anyone to find your computer. Thats terrifying!!!!!!! Make all computers anonymous!!!!
#22
Frank G, especially: well, obviously you are too good to be haxored, identity thefted, had your credit card numbers stolen, had your VIN/SSN and other personal numbers swiped. You should really brag to all those creeps about how safe you are. Me, I shred, minimize personal data on the Internet, try to control marketing data, and I still have had my CC numbers used to try and buy stuff at a Wal-Mart in Mexico City. I have also had credit denied because Equifax screwed up my data, and at a really embarassing time. Also, I had the pleasure of seeing a girl arrested and held for days because she had the same name as a girl in another state who looked nothing like her. Sorry, you may call it paranoia, but I call it sad experience, coupled with knowledge of the utter oafishness, malfeasance, incompetance, and malevolence of those people who will be administering this system. But hey, you are safe. Sucker.
#23
I have not had my credit or ID stolen - you are justified in your concerns if you wish, your extensions of the ID act to the rest of your strawmen is what I considered absurd. Nuff said
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 21:36 Comments ||
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#24
No, it is your assumption that the Real ID act is a thing unto itself that is absurd. Right now, you are probably in dozens of government databases, that taken individually seem to each be justifiable. The government has free access to your education records, despite the Buckley Act, and to your medical records, via HIPAA or the GBA (which also gives financial institutions indirect medical information, not covered by HIPAA), and to your employment records, via the Welfare Reform Act (supposed to be used only for deadbeat child support purposes). But despite their best efforts, there is no centralized system for compiling *all* of your data into a single, easily accessed database. Until now. Each of these databases are different systems using different identifiers for you as an individual. This is why it takes weeks to compile a detailed dossier on you, granted, one that is rife with inaccuracies and false information. But the worst part is that databases will be integrated into the system with other databases that have no record checking or central authority. For example, the "no-fly list", is wide open for many government agencies to indicate that in their opinion, someone is a risk. But no one manages the list, makes corrections or changes to it, or even takes responsibility for it. Once you are on it as a "risk", you cannot fly, and there is no appeal. The same applies to the "sex offender" database. People are added to the database when they are accused of any sex-related offense (I knew one who slapped a stripper on the bottom in front of an undercover police officer), *not* when they are convicted (his case was laughed out of court, but he is still on the list as a sex-offender, permanently). And, since many of these government databases buy and integrate private database information, god knows what may be put in your dossier, easily accessible at the lowest levels of government. Now, please, do not fool yourself into thinking what I have said are straw men. For the most part, these, or parts thereof, have already happened, or could easily happen, and without further public input. For further information, I might recommend reading Declan McCullagh's 'Politech', at politechbot.com, also epic.org, and eff.org
I for one appriciate your slant and willingness to dive into topics even though we have differences of opinion sometimes. (and i'm sure most RantBurgers do also)
Hell, almost my entire family disagrees with my views. (moonbats galore)
Posted by: Kevlar ID ||
05/10/2005 22:52 Comments ||
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#26
Don't need REAL ID. Just pass legislation that makes the States liable for damages, pain and suffering which legal citizens suffer by illegals who were granted legit IDs by those States. When the penalties start sucking the life out of the state budget for education, security, health, etc, the states will take action to tighten the issuing process.
The Soap Opera continues.
The United Nations won the firstround of a skirmish against the U.S. Congress on Monday when a federal judge temporarily blocked a former investigator from distributing documents on the oil-for-food program for Iraq. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington issued a 10-day restraining order against the investigator, Robert Parton, a former FBI agent, so both sides could have time to resolve the issue.
The restraining order was sought by Paul Volcker, head of a U.N.-appointed Independent Inquiry Committee (ICC) investigating fraud in the $67 billion humanitarian program. Parton resigned from the Volcker probe, saying he believed the committee's last report was not tough enough on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. On Thursday he turned over documents from the IIC to the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee, led by Illinois Republican Henry Hyde. The suit seeks to force Parton to return the documents and not comply with subpoenas from two other congressional committees. Susan Ringler, counsel for the IIC, said in a supporting brief that the documents could "pose a grave risk to the safety of Iraqi witnesses, who if their names are disclosed, fear for their lives and the lives of their families." This is not the reason so why are they so keen to get the documents back? I have to conclude they contain significant new evidence of wrongdoing.
A UN agency worrying about the lives of ordinary Iraqis? There's a first ...
But the U.N. complaint puts the inquiry committee on a collision course with the U.S. Congress where Republican legislators accuse the IIC of undue secrecy and Volcker says he has to protect the credibility of his investigation. Credibility through secrecy, thats a new one.
I hadn't thought that Mr. Volcker needed the money, but I can't think of another reason why he got involved in this sordid affair ...
Lanny Davis, Parton's lawyer, said, that his client provided information to congress because he was forced to do so by a subpoena and would comply with the court's ruling. Parton, in his own statement, said he kept copies of "certain materials relating to the areas of the investigation for which I was responsible because of my concern that the investigative process and conclusions were flawed." A damming statement if I ever heard one.
In the court documents, the U.N. brief said Parton had agreed, in writing to respect the confidentiality of the investigation, which he then violated. "In fact, however, Mr. Parton appears to have unlawfully removed large quantities of Independent Inquiry Committee materials," the U.N. complaint said. Unlawfully? In which juristiction was this law enacted and by which elected representatives? If a US juristiction then thats up to a judge to decide. The UN has no laws, so it can't under a UN law.
An agreement is an agreement, however, and one that a US court (bound by law) will enforce. I sure hope Congressman Hyde can work a copying machine ...
Volcker on Friday offered a compromise to Congressional committees to allow Parton to give a one-off public statement. providing the materials were returned. Don't sound like much of a deal.
Volcker, who will give a final report this summer, released an interim report on March 29 that said there was no evidence Annan had interfered in the awarding of a lucrative contract in Iraq to the Swiss firm Cotecna, which employed his son Kojo. But it said the secretary-general was lax in not investigating the possible conflict of interest when U.N. officials closed the probe after only 24 hours. "That non-finding is hardly an endorsement or exoneration," Volcker said, adding that, "On the basis of the facts reported, others may, and have, drawn other inferences."
Parton, however, said he disagreed with "the path the ICC chose to take." He said the documents allowed him to "be in a position to defend myself against risks that I knew existed as a result of the IIC Committee's actions." A curious statement. Was he being set up somehow, in order to keep him quiet about things he knew?
#1
An agreement is an agreement, however, and one that a US court (bound by law) will enforce. It depends where it was signed and its wording. If signed on UN premises then these premises are by convention (and some would say by law) not part of the USA (like a foreign embassy) and hence US laws do not apply. I think it extremely unlikely that the UN will test any contract in a US court becuase of the precedent set.
In addition, I don't know the situation in the USA but here in Australia, conditions in an employment contract relating to after the employment has been terminated are dificult to enforce becuase they are generally considered to violate the common law principle of freedom of trade. The employer has to demonstrate harm to their business or reputation, which should be fun to watch.
#2
The 10-day restraint is pretty standard when one party claims "risk of injury or death", I believe, which may be why the claim was made - a procedural dodge. As for the docs being "unlawfully obtained", well, bullshit. His notes, his property. Does the UN have a reciept, maybe? An inventory of what we're not allowed to see?
This guy no longer works for the UN, and if history is any guide, never will again.
#3
Ya know, I'm pretty sure you can't enforce a contract intended to conceal evidence of a crime.
I'm not a lawyer or anything, but I really suspect the UN's just clutching at straws.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/10/2005 7:28 Comments ||
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#4
"Mr. Parton appears to have unlawfully removed large quantities of Independent Inquiry Committee materials"
Off to the slammer in Brussels with him -- can't have people revealing UN secrets... Why would the UN have ANY secrets other than private personnel files???
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 8:25 Comments ||
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#5
I didn't know a Fed Judge could block a Congressional investigation.These seems wrong!
#6
an immediate shutoff of all funds to the UN and an eviction order should be our response. RICO prosecution is in order
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 8:43 Comments ||
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#7
Think they "shopped" for the judge to handle this for them?
Google "U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina"
and you get in the very first hit:
"Urbina, Ricardo M. Born 1946 in New York, NY Federal Judicial Service: US District
Court for the District of Columbia Nominated by William J. Clinton on ..."
#8
Volcker has business ties with one or more of the companies involved in the Oil for Food scandal. I don't have the cites, but several bloggers are following the issue closely and have all the poop.
#9
The congress needs to slam a congressional impeachment inquiry for Contempt of Congress at this judge who is providing cover to UN criminals. A US Congressional subpeona overrules any treaty in my book.
#10
We need to keep an eye on this one. The pain in my side sez that this is the tip of the sh*t iceberg.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/10/2005 11:52 Comments ||
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#11
I believe Volker has personal ties with the OFF circle, as well -- a nephew/niece married to someone else's opposite number, that kind of thing. Much like Chiraq and Chretien are related by marriage... and apparently quite a few others in the group.
On January 4 2004, militants conducted simultaneous raids on police and military posts across three provinces in Thailand's Muslim majority south. The raids were well coordinated and displayed considerable planning and professionalism. Though described as the start of the new insurgency, the same type of attacks had been conducted by groups since 2001-02 on a smaller and more sporadic basis. The seizure of 300 M-16s caused the Thai government to impose martial law and deploy additional troops. The heavy-handed military response has, in turn, led to a cycle of violence. There are currently more than 20,000 troops, police and intelligence officials deployed across 10,000 square kilometers. Yet, the violence has steadily escalated. Since January 2004, roughly 700 people have been killed. Only in Iraq were more Muslims killed in 2004.
Most of the victims in 2004 were killed in drive-by motor-cycle shootings or machete attacks. The victims usually died in insurgent attacks: police, soldiers, local government officials, and in particular local Muslims that the militants deemed to be collaborators. Between January and the end of October 2004, there were 24 bombings (including one double and one triple) and in addition there were seven attempted bombings. Together, only five people (including three police) were killed and 72 were wounded; nine bombings had no victims whatsoever. Initially the bombs were relatively small (between 2-5 kilograms), but the attack on insurgents at the Krue Se mosque fueled the insurgency. By August the bombs had become more sophisticated: insurgents employed roadside IEDs to target troop convoys, began to use time delayed bombs to target police investigators, and made use of cellular phones as detonators.
On October 25, the Thai army killed over 85 people, including 78 protestors who, after being loaded onto trucks, died of asphyxiation. Though some armed leaders fired on Thai security forces, most were unarmed. The Tak Bai incident, which was captured on video and was widely distributed by VCD, was a turning point.
Between Tak Bai and the middle of March 2005, the number of bombings doubled. There were 48 bombings, including four double and one triple; and 12 attempted bombings. The lethality of the bombings also increased: 31 were killed and more than 315 were wounded. Another technical threshold was crossed on February 17 2005 with the detonation of the first car bomb. The size of the bombs gradually escalated post-Tak Bai: averaging between five and 10 kilograms. Bombs in the 20 kilogram range are now being deployed, suggesting that the militants had gotten past logistical and technical hurdles. Interestingly, assassinations and arson attacks have increased at the same rate as the bombings.
Bombings continued apace through March and April 2005. Though instead of roadside IEDs that targeted military convoys or bombs in front of bars, the targets became increasingly economic. For example, March saw a number of attacks on the vital rail link that connects Thailand and Malaysia. But it was the triple bombings in Hat Yai in early April that really shook the government: the Hat Yai airport was bombed (injuring four Western tourists), as was the Carrefour supermarket and a hotel. What was less reported in the press is that there were six other bombs that were defused or failed to go off that day, all targeting economic interests. This was meant to have a devastating psychological impact as the militants were moving beyond their area of primary activity. Hat Yai, the capital of Songkhla province does have a sizeable Muslim population, but it has been spared most of the violence in the past year. It is the major economic center of the south, both a tourist hub and a regional wholesale and financial center. That same weekend, militants chopped down more than 500 rubber trees, the region's other economic pillar.
The Hat Yai attacks led to an increased security and military presence in Bangkok's Don Muang airport and the screening of cars at several five-star hotels in the capital; though a common occurrence in Manila and Jakarta, this has been very infrequent in Bangkok. The mood amongst security personnel is divided: while some contend that it is only a matter of time before a major bombing, others argue that if the militants were going to do it, they already would have.
This debate is indicative of the fact that still very little is known about who is behind the insurgency. Statements range from the Prime Minister's assertions that they are merely "criminal gangs" to policy makers who assert that "separatists with possible links to foreign Muslim extremists" are to blame. Making things more confusing is the fact that no group has taken any responsibility for any of the attacks in 2004-2005, nor has any other organization publicly stated their goals or platform. The Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), which was active in the 1970s and 1980s, but had disbanded by the 1990s, has taken a degree of responsibility through its web site postings warning foreigners to stay away, but few believe that PULO has revived. [1]
Based on my interviews and analysis of the range and the different styles of attacks, there are four distinct organizations, two of importance, while two others are more fringe groups. The most important groups are the Gerakan Mujahideen Islamiya Pattani (GMIP) and the outgrowth of the old Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) organizations now known as BRN Coordinate (BRN-C). The two smaller fringe groups are Jemaah Salafi and some elements of the 1990s splinter group, New PULO.
The GMIP was founded in 1986 but quickly degenerated into a criminal gang until 1995 when two Afghan veterans consolidated power. Since then, the rural-based GMIP has led attacks on police and army outposts. The group had close relations with a Malaysian militant organization, the Kampulan Mujahideen Malaysia (KMM), which was also founded by veteran Afghan Mujahideen in 1995.
The Thai National Security Council acknowledged that there is "a new Islamic grouping" which, "through increasing contacts with extremists and fundamentalists in Middle Eastern countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, they have metamorphosed into a political entity of significance [sic]." [2] At the same time, Thai intelligence now speaks of the insurgency as being a "pondok [madrasas]-based" movement. [3] As the former commander of Thai forces in the south said, "There is no doubt that the basis for this new insurgency are the ustaz. This is something that has been in the making for a long time." [4] Beginning in December 2004, the Ministry of Justice's Special Investigations Department has launched a number of raids on five different madrasas, and arrested or issued warrants for Islamic teachers from the Thammawittaya Foundation School and the Samphan Wittaya School. [5] The evidence suggests that these schools, ustaz (Islamic teachers) and radical students hail from the old BRN organization and networks established in the 1970s.
The key question is whether there is any degree of coordination between these organizations and networks. Analysts in Thailand are divided over this question and based on my interviews I have come away with a sense that there is a limited degree of coordination, but that the centers of these organizations have little command, control, or resources to offer their cells. Attacks seem disjointed because the cell structure is so compartmentalized and autonomous from the leadership.
The most pressing question to date is whether the notorious terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is involved. The Thai government denies that there are links. As a Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman said, "The causes of the situation [are] domestic. It's not part of any international terrorist network but of course we are concerned about the introduction of extremist ideologies among the youths. We are concerned about the possibility of extremist groups in the region connecting together and this could become a serious problem [sic]."
Evidence pointing to JI links is limited, but there are still at least five reasons to be suspicious. First and foremost, JI approached both the GMIP and Jemaah Salafi in 1999-2000 and invited them to a series of three meetings known as the Rabitatul Mujahideen, but it is unknown how deep or strong a relationship was forged. Hambali, JI's operational chief and a senior member of al-Qaeda, was of course captured in Thailand, along with his two lieutenants, Zubair Mohamad and Bashir bin Lap (Lillie) who were charged with perpetrating a major terrorist attack in Bangkok. Lillie was arrested along with a local Thai mujahid, Awang Ibrahim. Secondly, a Singaporean JI member, Arifin bin Ali, was captured in Thailand where he was allegedly plotting to hijack an Aeroflot jetliner to crash it into Singapore. Thirdly, several southern Thai militants were arrested in conjunction with a JI cell in Cambodia that was implicated in laundering money for al-Qaeda through the Om Al Qura Foundation. Fourthly, one of JI's leaders and a key planner of the October 2002 Bali bombing, Ali Ghufron (Mukhlas) was given refuge by Thailand's leading Wahhabi cleric, Ismail Lutfi. Moreover other JI members have sought refuge in southern Thailand. Thai security officials have acknowledged to me that the social links are there, but they were unable to detect anything more than passive support for JI. Fifthly, two Indonesians were killed in the April 2004 siege at the Krue Se mosque and an Indonesian employee of the charity Medical Emergency Relief Charity (MER-C), which was implicated in JI and support of JI-linked paramilitaries in the Malukus and Poso, Indonesia, was arrested and deported. Likewise, a Syrian is now wanted by the Thai authorities in connection with the Hat Yai bombings. There is also greater concern that Bangladesh's HuJI and the Rohinga Solidarity Organization are actively supporting the militants.
The central question surely revolves around the future course of the insurgency. The mood in Thailand is very pessimistic, and most agree that the insurgency is taking on a life of its own. Indeed there are several reasons to be pessimistic. First and foremost, no group has accepted any responsibility or listed any demands. This conspiracy of silence suggests that the insurgents support violence for the sake of it. As the government over-reacts to attacks, deploying more troops and engaging in more indiscriminant raids, it will promote an environment conducive to building the insurgents' organizations.
Moreover, despite little evidence of JI involvement there is always the concern that the notorious Indonesian organization will eventually inject itself into the conflict. This potential involvement becomes all too real when one considers that at some point the insurgents will require training and funding to ratchet up the conflict to the next level. Sectarian conflict is one of JI's key strategies in terms of recruitment, fundraising and propagandizing. Lateral violence creates a sense of victimization; a sense that Islam is under attack and that the secular state is not doing anything to defend fellow Muslims. The role JI played in the Malukus and Poso between 1998-2001 is particularly instructive; in neither case did they start the unrest, which had their own local causes, but JI was quick to take advantage of the conflicts. They not only sent their own operatives and established paramilitaries, but also assisted in the movement of a number of Arabs and Afghans, thus escalating the conflict. Moreover, JI is able to offer significant technical experience. This has been evident in the transfer of technology to Islamist groups in the Philippines, particularly in two instances in which JI members have or attempted to pass on the blueprints for a Bali-like truck bomb.
Furthermore the targeting of monks by the southern Thai insurgents is another worrying development. Three monks were killed in January-February 2004, while groups of monks were targeted twice in October 2004 and since February-March 2005 three more monks have been killed, thus raising the specter of greater sectarian conflict in southern Thailand.
Notes:
1. PULO and Bersatu's joint "Statement of Protest" issued on 31 October 2004, can be found at www.pulo.org/statement.htm. PULO and Bersatu did not take any responsibility for the unrest, but simply called on different international organizations to intervene. PULO also threatened in a separate posting on their website that they would reward Mujihidin who killed Thai police officers. Following the Tak Bai incident the PULO website issued the following warning: "Their capital will be burned to the ground like they did to our Pattani capital. Their blood will be shed into the earth and flood into the rivers, our weapons are fire and oil, fire and oil, fire and oil."
2. Cited in Shawn Crispin, "Strife Down South," FEER, 27 January 2004.
3. The Thai Ministry of Education has registered 214 Islamic schools, but acknowledges that there are hundreds of small, unregistered, privately-owned pondoks. "Muslim Teachers Extend Cautious Welcome to Aree," The Nation, September 2004.
4. Simon Elegant, "Southern Front," Time-Asia, 11 October 2004.
5. The school, which is one of the largest Islamic schools in Thailand, was founded in 1951 by Haji Muhamad Tohe Sulong, and has some 6,000 students, spread across four separate campuses. It has 196 ustadz, or Islamic teachers. The curriculum is mixed, however, and only 400 students solely study Islam.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 02:00 ||
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#1
I think the author overstates the case. The impact on the tourism industry has been minimal except from Malaysia. The railline is not 'vital' it carries mostly passengers and buses are faster. There are millions of rubber trees in southern Thailand and chopping down 500 is just symbolic. Unless they attack the main tourist areas, Bangkok, Phuket, etc this will continue to be a localized irritant. And if they do the Thais will come down hard.
Malaysia Monday reiterated its readiness to negotiate with any country willing to provide security control in the Melaka [Malacca] Strait, the world's busiest waterway. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, however, said it must done with respect to Malaysia's right as a sovereign and littoral state responsible to the strait. "We have been always saying that if there are any country willing to cooperate with us, we have no problems. We can sit down and talk," he told reporters, here Monday. Syed Hamid was commenting on today's newspaper report that the US was willing to offer assistance to Indonesia to police the strait.
Syed Hamid said it was improper for the US to offer assistance either to Singapore or Indonesia to patrol the strait without Malaysia's consent. Also, he questioned whether there was a need for Indonesia, Singapore or Malaysia to seek outsider help to provide security in the strait...
Syed Hamid said Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia would meet soon to discuss security issues at the strait. The discussions would, among others, centre on a recent incident where an armed civilian ship escorted another civilian vessel while passing the strait. "We are concerned that there are civilian ships under the guise of providing security cover. This is taking over the role of the navy, the role of maritime agencies, this is very dangerous. "These are mercenaries and we cannot allow them to operate in our area," he said.
Sounds like the International Brotherhood of Pirates made a contribution to his retirement fund. Can't have anyone defending themselves without government approval, why that might be considered restraint of trade.
AMSTERDAM — Foreign Minister Ben Bot is demanding an explanation from the Iranian ambassador to the Netherlands following the alleged intimidation of a Dutch MP at Tehran airport on Monday. The minister's spokesman said Bot will write a letter to his Iranian counterpart demanding an explanation.
"And if that doesn't work, we'll send a even sterner note!"
Green-left GroenLinks MP Farah Karimi claims she was "threatened and intimidated" while questioned about her contacts with Iranian human rights activists. Her address book, notebooks and diary were briefly confiscated and possibly copied.
Interesting, a Green-left party member would normally be on their side. They never miss a chance to make friends and influance people.
The MP, of Iranian ancestry, is enraged by the "scandalous treatment" and had urged Minister Bot on Tuesday to lodge a protest with the Iranian government.
Ah, she's of Iranian ancestry. Kind of like the Canadian journalist who had the "accident" in jail. They must figure; "Once Iranian, Always Iranian"
During her 10-day visit to Iran — her fifth visit to the Middle East country — Karimi met with human rights activists, including Nobel Peace laureate, Shirin Ebadi. She also spoke with reformist politicians, journalists and others campaigning to reform the dictatorial regime in Iran.
The visit passed without incident until Karimi checked in for her return flight to the Netherlands on Monday night. Public servants with the Information Ministry then questioned her and indicated they were displeased with her initiative to set up a satellite broadcaster in Iran. They warned that in future visits, Karimi might be restricted to just visiting family.
The next step will be threatening the family if she don't behave.
After her passport was checked, Iranian soldiers twice inspected her three carry-on bags and took her notebooks, diaries, two mobile phones and address book to another room. She was given her belongings back, but Karimi fears they have been copied.
Of course they were.
"I am very concerned about the people I spoke with in Iran. The Ministry of Information knew of my contacts and discussions, but the army, prosecutors and police form a parallel structure and can arrest people because they spoke with me," she said.
Yup, that's how secret police work
Karimi said she chose to go public with her story because her contacts in Iran said only political pressure from outside Iran can help.
Meanwhile, Liberal VVD MP Hans van Baalen said Minister Bot must condemn the intimidation and demand guarantees for the people listed in Karimi's address book. He'd also said the Iranian ambassador must be called to explain the incident and the Dutch ambassador to Iran be recalled for consultation.
Co-initiator of the plan to set up a satellite broadcaster to support free Iranian media, Van Baalen said the intimidation of Karimi was "unacceptable".
"Iran violates human rights and threatens to develop nuclear weapons. Actions such as these make it clear where Iran stands," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/10/2005 1:14:40 PM ||
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"Iran violates human rights and threatens to develop nuclear weapons. Actions such as these make it clear where Iran stands," he said.
#1
We could always counter with "Abdullah, Imam and Goatf*cker"....with Don Adams doing the voiceover
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 10:38 Comments ||
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#2
If someone could record these they really scream out "voice-over". Then re-broadcast over a small satellite channel available in Iran. Imagine the Mullahs sounding like dumb and dumber, except really perverted and utterly ignorant of the Koran, mis-reading it for whatever they want at the moment. "But the Prophet *says* we must use our goat for carnal pleasures!" "But, Ahmed, that is not a *literal* interpretation! The Prophet *means* that you dress up a small boy as a goat and use *him* for carnal pleasures!"
Iranian women will fight alongside their countrymen should the United States attack them over the alleged nuclear weapon issue, an advisor to the Iranian president said Tuesday.
Dr Zahra Shojaei, an advisor on women affairs to the Iranian President and head of the Centre for Women's Participation, said that Iranian women would definitely put up resistance to such attack, just like they did during the Iraq-Iran war.
History showed that Iranian women were at the war frontier as well as assisting from behind during the nine-year Iraq-Iran war which ended in 1988, she told Bernama [Malaysian News Agency]. She is leading her country's delegation to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women [in Putrajaya, Malaysia] which ends Tuesday.
"However, I believe the United States is wise enough not to attack Iran as the experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan are enough for them," she said.
Dr Shojaei said that during the Iraq-Iran war following the invasion of Iraq on Iran on Sept 22 1980, some Iranian women even wrote poems to boost the morale of their soldiers in defending their country.
Ah, the legendary 47th Poets Brigade...
Female doctors and surgeons also helped in the war while some women were captured by the Iraqi soldiers and died as martyrs, she said.
The US had labelled Iran as part of the axis of evil and alleged that the country was developing nuclear weapons through its uranium enrichment programmes although Iran had denied the allegation, stating that its nuclear programmes were meant for peaceful use including for power generation. The US had hinted that it may attack Iran should the country develop the alleged nuclear weapons.
#1
The US could counter this Iranian threat by overtly declaring to the people: "No Nation Building!!" would be the policy, after the US invasion; thus freeing up all options promulgating the country's destruction!
#2
I generally pride myself on my English language skills, but Glomoper Omineling3808's statement is beyond me. Would someone be so kind as to translate into the English I'm accustomed to? Thanks.
UNITED NATIONS - Former UN chief arms inspector Hans Blix urged Iran and Israel on Monday to support a ban on nuclear enrichment across the Middle East as a possible compromise on curbing Teheran's nuclear ambitions.
Shut. up. and. go. home.
Making the Middle East an enrichment-free zone would be in the interests of Iran and Israel, Blix told a news conference on the sidelines of a month-long meeting of the 188 signatories of the 1970 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. "I think Israel is extremely interested in having Iran refrain from moving on" to resuming enrichment activities, Blix said. "I'm surprised the idea has not come up before."
I'll keep this simple for you, Inspector Clouseau: Israel's nukes make sure that her Arab neighbors won't do anything rash or stoopid. Whereas Iran's mullahs are guaranteed to do something re-e-eeally stooopid the day they get a nuke.
Such a move would also reassure Iran without affecting any existing Israeli nuclear weapons, he said. While Israel neither admits nor denies having the bomb, it is estimated to have about 200 nuclear warheads.
But to help seal the deal, he also encouraged Washington to offer security guarantees to Teheran as a further enticement for it to give up its nuclear ambitions.
Sure, Blixie: we'll guarantee that if they ever use a nuke, they won't need to worry about their security.
In a deal reached with Britain, Germany and France in November, Teheran agreed to suspend all nuclear fuel-related activities while both sides tried to negotiate a long-term agreement on Iran's nuclear activities. But Iran, unhappy with the slow pace of talks with the three European Union nations, said on Monday it would resume some work related to enrichment within days.
The UN Security Council has long urged transforming the entire Middle East into a completely nuclear-free zone. But Blix, who headed the UN nuclear watchdog agency for 17 years before leading the UN search for Iraqi biological and chemical weapons in 2002 and 2003, said it was politically unrealistic to press for such a step at this time.
Now that you've figured out one thing correctly, let's see if you can't retire to your sinecure.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/10/2005 12:38:02 AM ||
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This is just silly. Why would the MMs agree to it? It offers them nothing. Why would Israel agree to it? It offers them nothing. Just more blathering from a clueless has-been. Nothing to see here, move on.
#2
What's with the phrase "politically unrealistic"? This is just plain unrealistic. Politics doesn't have anything to do with it. For the Israelis it's a matter of survival. For the Mad Mullahs it's just madness.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/10/2005 9:01 Comments ||
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#3
Blix: âIâm surprised the idea has not come up before.â
That about sums up his ignorance of reality.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 9:04 Comments ||
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#4
...Blix told a news conference on the sidelines
Probably held where he now shakes his change filled Dunkin Donuts cup.
#6
"...support a ban on nuclear enrichment across the Middle East as a possible compromise on curbing Teheranâs nuclear ambitions..."
Right. Freeze everyone and everyone will comply. We know this will happen because the Iranians/Islamists have such a spotless record on honoring their agreements and truth telling.
A new political movement announced here Monday is aiming to offer voters an original alternative when casting their ballots during parliamentary elections slated for later this month. For voters who wish to make a statement this election, instead of abstaining from voting or submitting a blank ballot they will now be able to cast a ballot detailing a political program rather than a list of candidates. Behind the initiative is Hayyabina, a small group of independent individuals rallied under the slogan "Let's go for a secular republic."
While I sympathize with them, even applaud their goals, wasting a ballot is a dumbass way to go about it. You achieve your goals by forming political alliances as needed.
During a press conference held Monday at Zico House in central Beirut, the members of Hayyabina expressed their belief in the right of all citizens to participate in the public arena outside the boundaries imposed by current political parties. The group's mission statement is to make heard the voices of those who do not adhere to "the assumption that citizens can be represented on the basis of confession alone." In this context, Loukman Salim, a publisher and one of the founders of Hayyabina, rejected all present "entrenched political elites," insisting "leaders of the opposition who continue to uphold the confessional structure are just as guilty ... as the Syrian loyalists." Hayyabina has summarized its political program on a small mock-ballot, hoping voters who do not wish to support any candidates during the coming parliamentary elections will instead drop this cut-out into the ballot box. Of course, the mock-ballot will not be counted as a vote. But, according to group member Fadi Touffic, "submitting the program of Hayyabina as a vote will be an active way for people to express their rejection of today's dominant retrograde confessional politics."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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Former Army Commander General Michel Aoun met with senior Hizbullah members in move seen as a prelude to talks with the resistance group's leader Hassan Nasrallah. The talks will further fuel speculation that the two sides will agree to a political alliance during the upcoming elections, a move that could ensure both sides gain a strong parliamentary representation.
Following the meeting Hizbullah's Baabda MP Ali Ammar said: "We held a very special meeting with Aoun today, during which we agreed on certain issues we label as important, such as the need to protect the Taif Accord and to safeguard the Lebanese cultural diversity." He added: "A meeting between Nasrallah and Aoun will be scheduled soon according to the general's time table." Asked whether there will be a political alliance during the elections between Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah, Ammar said: "Hizbullah has always been, and will always be open to cooperation with all factions of the Lebanese society in order to reach a true state of democracy in Lebanon."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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One day after his historic return from exile, former Lebanese Army General Michel Aoun called on his former political foes to "look ahead to the future, but keep an eye on the past." After meeting on Sunday with Strida Geagea, the wife of jailed Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea who fought a bloody battle with Aoun toward the end of Lebanon's civil war, Aoun said: "We hope Geagea will be free with us soon, and I will try to meet with him as soon as possible, even if that means I visit him in his jail."
Aoun, who received a welcoming telephone call from Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and met with former President Amin Gemayel during the day, is also expected to meet with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir following a visit from Archbishop Roland Abu Jaoude on behalf of the patriarch. Sfeir and Aoun had sharp differences in the past, but during Sfeir's recent trip to Paris, the two reconciled their differences. He is expected to meet with Hizbullah today.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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A low-profile meeting was held Monday between Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanon's Fatah commander, Brigadier Sultan Abu al-Aynayn - the first of its kind between a Lebanese official and the Palestinian figure. Abu al-Aynayn, officially wanted by Lebanese security officials after being sentenced to death in absentia on weapons charges and for forming an armed militia, met with Berri for more than two hours at the speaker's residence in Mosseileh in the presence of several Amal and Fatah officials.
Sources told The Daily Star the meeting was positive and focused on the General Amnesty law, adding the Palestinian delegation told Berri the amnesty should encompass both Lebanese and Palestinians. One member of the delegation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Berri supported the amnesty law including Palestinians, but suggested several MPs submit an urgent draft bill on the subject. Both parties agreed to make contacts with several MPs who support the Palestinian cause to this end. Abu al-Aynayn said he wanted the amnesty to include all Palestinians, as it would provide Palestinian refugees here a base of support from which to resist UN Security Council Resolution 1559.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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"Give me amnesty or give me, uh, um, more ohms!" -Fatah Resistance Brigadier Sheikh Abu al-Neyney
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Syria and Iran have a major role to play in future discussions on the disarmament of Hizbullah, stressing the regional nature of the issue. But Mikati reiterated Hizbullah is a Lebanese resistance group and all decisions regarding the matter should be made by the Lebanese. The premier's comments were published Monday in an interview with the London-based Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper following his visit to UN headquarters in New York where Mikati met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
In the interview, Mikati also stressed the need to resolve the issue of the some 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, saying they must be given the right to return to their land. Concerning the upcoming parliamentary elections, Mikati denounced Saturday's explosive and fruitless parliamentary session and expressed his regret about the adoption of the 2000 electoral law. The premier said his Cabinet had originally proposed the formation of a committee of MPs and ministers in charge of creating an electoral law, adding that the committee would have prevented such conflicts from occurring. During Saturday's session, two MPs had to be physically separated after a scuffle broke out during discussions on the release
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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In the interview, Mikati also stressed the need to resolve the issue of the some 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, saying they must be given the right to return to their land.
Y'mean the ones that left voluntarily when they thought their buddies were gonna "push the jews into the Mediterranean"? The ones who got stuck ib Lebanon when that shit just didn't happen? The ones who've been living in government-enforced squalor for half a century because Lebanon doesn't want 'em?
Fuck 'em. Oh, ok; Send the women and children to Syria, then. If you can get Syria to agree...
American and Pakistani intelligence agents are exploiting a growing rift between Arab members of al-Qaida and their Central Asian allies, a fissure that's tearing at the network of Islamic extremists as militants compete for scarce hideouts, weapons and financial resources, counterterrorism officials say. The rivalry may have contributed to the arrest last week of one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants, a Libyan described as al-Qaida's No. 3 and known to have had differences with Uzbeks. Captured Uzbek, Chechen and Tajik suspects have been giving up information about the movements of Arab al-Qaida militants in recent months, four Pakistani intelligence agents told The Associated Press, leading to a series of successful raids and arrests. "When push comes to shove, the Uzbeks are going to stick together, and the Arabs are going to stick together," said Kenneth Katzman, a terrorism expert with the Congressional Research Service in Washington. "I think the Uzbek guerrillas have had no home. Some of this could be a battle for survival."
The Pakistani agents, who hold sensitive jobs in various military and intelligence agencies in several cities, all spoke on condition their names not be used. U.S. officials declined to comment on the schism. One, however, noted that al-Qaida and its allies do not always function as a cohesive unit. And another cautioned, "There may be a division, but you haven't won anyone over to your side." The official spoke on condition his name not be used because of the sensitive topic.
Abu Farraj al-Libbi, the Libyan and top al-Qaida operative, was captured in the northwestern part of Pakistan on May 2 after a fierce gunbattle. Now in Pakistani custody, he's accused of planning two assassination attempts on President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Al-Libbi used Pakistanis, not Central Asians, to carry out the December 2003 attacks on Musharraf - a sign of who he trusted, authorities said. And al-Libbi sent a Pakistani suicide bomber, they said, to try to kill the prime minister in 2004.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABU FARRAJ AL LIBI
al-Qaeda
AHMED KHALFAN GHAILANI
al-Qaeda
AIMAN AL ZAWAHRI
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Gen. Shaukat Sultan
JUMA NAMANGANI
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Kenneth Katzman
KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMED
al-Qaeda
MOHAMED NAIM NUR KHAN
al-Qaeda
TAHIR YULDASH
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 2:53:39 PM ||
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#1
Sensitivity training all around. Now! Or I'll rape your sister.
Michael Kinsley
In this great country, there are newspaper editorial pages of every political stripe, from nearly insane far-left rantings to the Wall Street Journal.
... with the former predominating...
But when the United States faces a danger to its most important institutions and values, Americans can count on the newspaper industry to put aside petty differences and speak with one voice.
Now is such a moment. The enemy is invisible, indeed inexplicable, but could be fatal to all we hold dear. In short: Some evil force is causing people to stop reading newspapers!
Darth Vader? Fu Manchu? Howell Raines?
Newspaper circulation figures, which had been drifting decorously downward for years, have started to plummet. At the current rate of decline, the last newspaper subscriber will hang up on a renewal phone call that interrupts dinner on Oct. 17, 2016. And then it will be over.
Coincidentally, newspaper ownership has been decorously consolidating for years, and the long term effect has been that most local newspapers are owned by interstate and often international conglomerates. Some of those small-town papers used to be alarmingly diverse in opinion. Also coincidentally, newspapers used to hire people who could write, and now settle for J-school graduates.
This alarming possibility threatens all of us, because reading newspapers is, in the end, what makes us Americans.
Sunday I took the Little Woman to a baseball game for Mother's Day. We stopped on the way home and had apple pie. Neither of us read a newspaper that day.
We are prudent, practical, common-sense people. And what could be more common-sense — more downright American — than chopping down vast acres of trees, loading them onto trucks, driving the trucks to paper mills where the trees are ground into paste and reconstituted as huge rolls of newsprint, which are put back onto trucks and carted across the country to printing plants where they are turned into newspapers as we know them (with sections folded into one another according to a secret formula designed for maximum mess and frustration and known only to a few artisans) and then piled into a third set of trucks that fan out before dawn across every metropolitan area dropping piles here and there so that a network of newspaper deliverers can go house-to-house hiding newspapers in the bushes or throwing them at the cat, and patriotic citizens can ultimately glance at the front page, take Sports to the john, tear out the crossword puzzle and throw the rest away?
Aye, laddy! I can remember when I was a lad, they used to put news in newspapers! But that was a long time ago, though not in a galaxy that far away.
Newspapers are essential to every American, and none more so than the fools and ingrates who have stopped buying them. It is up to us, as members of the last generation that experienced life before computer screens, to make sure that future generations of Americans will know what to do when it says "Continued on Page B37." In a recent survey of Americans under age 30, only 26% said "Look in Section B," and a pitiful 13% chose the correct answer: "Look for Section B. It's around here somewhere."
And when I was a lad, there were lots of people who were literate. And some who could write, too. They were called... uhhh... they were called... subscribers! That's what they were called!
Self-consciously tongue-in-cheek 7-point plan to save the newspapers snipped because it was silly, even for Michael Kinsley.
#1
Newspapers are dying becuase they have lost their purpose: to tell the news, just the NEWS, and not embellish it with opinion, especially far left opinion. That is why they are failing: they are no longer trustworthy, they slant what they tell, and hide a lot as well.
#2
To survive, newspapers must become more like blogs. First, create a news wire of independant sources from all over the Internet: hundreds or thousands of websites who provide news just for a URL byline. That handles your international and national news far better than AP, UPI, Rooters, etc. Then have local news produced by stringers--anyone who writes up a good local story gets paid a nominal fee, from $.25 to $5 PayPal, for it. Then have a few journalists working phones to confirm local stories. Imagine how much news a large city generates in the course of the day! Keep the newspaper to news and ads only--producing a paper thinner than USA Today. Nothing flashy, no colors, no sports, no want ads. The end result would be the same as intensely surfing the Internet for news for several hours.
#3
My son the future journalist says "Newspapers are Dead! I am going into magazines! Somebody always likes the in-depth articles with the glossy photos. Daily news is for computers."
#5
The problem with newspapers is the problem with television news (especially network news). By the time anyone opens the newspaper or turns on the news they know all the actual news from the internet. That's reduced television, magazines and newspapers to become entertainment outlets, instead of news sources... which is why they don't contain much real news anymore and are just opinion rags.
#6
im read the papers not for breakin news but for data about the news that broke - liker what kinda payoff the derby trifecta had and ifn baby earnhardt still in the top 10
#7
Most cities used to have morning and afternoon papers. The afternoon papaers went the way of the dodo bird many years ago. But the morning papers are written the day before because nobody stays up all night. The net result is opinion and wire service copy. And in a world that the newsday is happening when North Americans are sleeping, well 15 minutes with Rantburg at 9:00am EST gets met everything I need.
Posted by: john ||
05/10/2005 15:54 Comments ||
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#8
Note how the oh-so-liberal Mr.Kinsley implies the Wall Street Journal is the right wing equal of "nearly insane far-left rantings". Maybe it is bias like this that is causing your LA Times to lose subscribers.
When a paper constantly attacks 1/2population as stupid,after a while that 50% sees no reason to buy that paper.
In reality,what is happening is a return to traditional American news sources. Until the 1960s most cities had at least 2 papers,one generally conservative,one generally liberal. Until recentlt most cities have had only one major paper,w/a generally liberal viewpoint. With the Internet Revolution,we are returning to the news landscape of multiple sources and viewpoints. Just as in the early days of our Republic when anyone could print his pamphlets,now most anyone can blog.
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/10/2005 16:56 Comments ||
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#9
BTW,you can swat a fly w/a computer. It's just that the fly has to really p*** you off!
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/10/2005 16:58 Comments ||
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#10
Computer? Heck no I use 22 bird shot. :D
Internet news lets me pick my own filter, not some liberal north easterners. Yup the papers are dead.
#11
I see blogs as the newspapers of the Old Republic during the 1700s. There were thousands of them. Some downright silly and lampoonish, others more respectible. The respectible ones became full blown newspapers, the others dissapeared.
#12
In this great country, there are newspaper editorial pages of every political stripe, from nearly insane far-left rantings to the Wall Street Journal.
And I, Michael Kinsley, will ensure that the LAT's is the former.
May 10, 2005: It turns out there are there are Islamic "Weapons of Mass Destruction" after all. In particular, biological weapons. But these mass killers have been developed within Islamic nations, and are doing most of their damage there. The war on terror has taken many American doctors to Islamic nations, and they have discovered a heretofore hidden AIDS epidemic. This is not the first time this has happened. AIDS quietly entered India, and South East Asian nations, but was finally discovered, and received attention. But in most Islamic nations, AIDS is not supposed to happen, and the governments, religious leaders and general population will not even admit the disease is there. But it is, and in large numbers. While promiscuity and prostitution are common in Islamic nations, talking openly about it is not. As a result, AIDS has spread for years through the Middle East and other Islamic nations without much, if any, official or media attention. This is nothing new. Same thing happened in Africa, even in nations with few, if any, Moslems. Cultural traits made it difficult for many African nations to admit AIDS, and its favorite methods of transmission (drugs, homosexuality, promiscuity) existed. Now some African nations have a third or more of their adult population infected. Billions has been donated by Western nations to provide medical assistance to African nations that now admit they have a problem, but infrastructure and corruption problems are preventing many of the infected from getting any care. Same pattern is developing in the Islamic world. No official statistics yet, but the medical underground hints at high, and rising, infection rate. And little, if any, local willingness to recognize a problem exists.
But it's not just AIDS. In Nigeria, faith based paranoia on the part of Islamic clergy, and politicians, caused a polio epidemic, which is now spreading to other Islamic nations. The UN has been trying for years to wipe out polio (which has been eliminated in most Western nations). In the last few years, UN medical resources were massing to wipe polio out in one of the last places where it still thrives; northern Nigeria. But some local Islamic clergy got the idea that these foreigners and their medicine (polio vaccine) were actually out to poison young Moslem females and make them sterile. Yeah, it's nuts, but it went over big in northern Nigeria and stopped the polio eradication program cold. The Islamic clerics finally relented (after the UN brought in Islamic medical experts, and jumped through a lot of hoops), but by then it was too late. The polio was moving to areas where it had earlier been eliminated. Since you can track where a polio strain came from, it is now known that the "Nigerian strain" is responsible for outbreaks as far away as Indonesia. So far, there are only about 1,300 cases in Nigeria and elsewhere. Polio is not nearly as bad as AIDS. Many of those infected with polio never know they have it, but they can spread it. About one half of one percent of those who get it can end up paralyzed for life, usually in the legs. Polio mostly hits young children.
Many Islamic radicals continue to blame Western conspiracies for the polio outbreaks, which are hard to hide. AIDS, on the other hand, causes a breakdown in the immune system, and the actual cause of death is always something else (that makes you sicker, quicker, because your weakened immune system cannot deal with it.) But the Islamic radicals, when confronted with the AIDS outbreak in their midst, blame it on outsiders. This sort of things does not happen in an Islamic culture.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/10/2005 9:19:22 AM ||
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#1
Polio, typhoons, and AIDS - oh my! Ever get the feeling someone was trying to tell you something?
#6
JFM - How about you kiss my ass?
I've been over there, both with the arabs and the french. Both don't bathe and stink. It isn't racist, it is a fact.
#7
I didn't know French was a race. One could characterize mmurray's post as derogatory towards the French, but certainly racist is an incorrect description. I would characterize it as hilarious.
#10
I've seen worst comments on this page. I apologize for the ass kissing remark though. I usually see red first and regret later. Irish temper. (now I've pissed off the Irish)
May 10, 2005: The U.S. Marine Corps is equipping most of their M-16 and M-4 rifles with ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight). This device, which does not use batteries, provides a red chevron-shaped reticle and bullet drop compensator. For daytime use, a fiber optic system collects available light for brightness and controlled contrast in the scope. At night, the system relies on tritium for illumination. The 4x32 sight allows you to get first round hits at 300 meter, or longer ranges.
It seems like only yesterday that everyone was saying how the age of long range aimed rifle fire was over.
The sight also allows for better accuracy at closer ranges, with both eyes open. The manufacturer, Trijicon, has been making similar sights for years, and they are popular for police, hunting and military use. SOCOM has long used them, and many marines and soldiers have bought the civilian version of the ACOG with their own money. At a thousand bucks each, ACOG costs more than the rifle it's mounted on, and the users consider it well worth the price. A Chinese firm manufactures a version of the ACOG sight, but violates the American manufacturers patents to do so. The Chinese version sells for as little as half what the legal version sells for.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/10/2005 9:11:37 AM ||
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#1
everyone was saying how the age of long range aimed rifle fire was over
til you take one in the neck
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 11:04 Comments ||
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#2
THe age of the rifle never ended. Especially in open terrain like it is over there. Or wherever a good operator can get into a good hide and take out "Habeeb" from 300m+.
Abu Jaafar pulls out one of the dozens of files piled on his desk and leafs through evidence that a Finance Ministry employee once served in Saddam Hussein's notorious intelligence agency. Snapping the file shut, he pronounces his verdict: "This man should be fired."
The office in charge of removing senior members of Saddam's Baath party from state institutions has kicked back into gear under the new government made up largely of Shiite Arabs and Kurds, who were savagely repressed by the former regime.
Former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite and ex-Baathist, was never a strong supporter of the U.S.-imposed ban on hiring members of the party, whose 35 years in power were some of the darkest in Iraq's history.
Allawi argued that Iraq's new democratic institutions need the expertise of those who served the former regime, and reportedly brought many Baathists back into government and the security forces.
After the United States handed back sovereignty to Iraqis last June, Allawi tried to shut down the Supreme National Commission for de-Baathification, but was overruled, according to commission Executive Director Ali al-Lami.
Work picked up again for Lami and his staff when Iraq's new Shiite prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, started forming a government after the country's first democratic parliamentary elections Jan. 30. "After the elections . . . it was agreed to reactivate the process of removing Baath party members from state institutions," Lami said in an interview.
Parliament set up a 12-member committee Sunday to oversee the commission's work. U.S. officials have cautioned against a wholesale purge of Iraq's government and security forces at a time when they face an increasingly complex and deadly insurgency, warning it could further antagonize the disaffected Sunni Arab minority believed to be driving the insurgency. But Lami said the ban applies only to those who served in the party's upper echelons, an estimated 65,000 people.
The United States dissolved and banned the Baath party in May 2003, a month after toppling Saddam, but later softened its stance, inviting former high-level officers from the disbanded military to join the security forces. The former top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, also allowed thousands of teachers who were Baathists to return to work. About 35,000 senior Baathists lost their jobs in the eight months after the policy took effect, but 16,000 of them appealed and returned to their posts, Lami said.
The tough stance adopted by Shiite leaders and their Kurdish allies against those with ties to Saddam's regime was one of the main issues that held up formation of Jaafari's government until April 28.
Jaafari asked representatives of Iraq's major ethnic and religious groups to submit candidates for his Cabinet. But many of the names, particularly those from the Sunni minority that dominated under Saddam, were sent to the de-Baathification commission for vetting.
Sunni hard-liners say the ban was used to reject most of their candidates, and the new government's most senior Sunni member, Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer, skipped the swearing-in ceremony in protest. In the end, seven Sunnis joined the Cabinet, but Jaafari's choice for human rights minister turned down the job, saying he didn't want to be a token appointee.
An estimated 1.5 million of Iraq's 26 million people belonged to the Baath party, formally known as the Baath Arab Socialist Party, at the time of Saddam's fall, but most say they joined for practical reasons. Membership was needed for career advancement, to secure places at prestigious colleges, or to get specialized medical care. You made your choices, now you have to live with the consequences. Welcome to the real world.
The southern Somalia Islamic leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys talked to the media about his recent meeting with the Somali Transitional prime minister Geedi. The two leaders met yesterday before the prime minister left the country for Nairobi, Kenya. He told the media he opposed man-made laws for the past thirty-four years and he is not going to endorse the new democratic government. "Democracy is contrary to Islamic teachings and I told Mr. Geddi to fear Allah and stop working for our enemies" He said.
Mr. Awey's philosophy is to put aside all man-made laws. He advocates for using the Koran as the supreme constitution of the nation. "Democracy originated in Greece and it allows the public to control the government" Aweys added. He believes the current government is anti-Islam. He is also concerned with Ethiopia's involvement in Somali politics. Many Somali leaders say the only thing Somalia needs from Ethiopia is to leave occupied Somali land.
The main philosophy of the Somalia TNG for Southern Somalia; the President Abdullahi Yusuf and his Prime minister believes that "AI-Itihad started moving their militia and weaponry out of Mogadishu to the Central regions, Marka and to Kismayo to deceive and create doubts in the minds of those who would have otherwise supported to bring to justice to those who committed crimes against humanity. The militia Al-itihad Groups in Southern Somalia started utilizing Arab media, Mogadishu radios and the BBC Somali Section as a propaganda tool to change the international public opinion and to lessen the weight of the different terrorist groups in Somalia under the umbrella of Al-Itihad Al-Islamiya. Al-Itihad is a growing threat to the whole region of East Africa and eventually to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea."
Now at 2005, Somali Al-itihad underground units are incorporating and providing a moral issue to the worst criminals in the annals of Somali History! Religious scholars and sheikhs in Somalia are traditionally associated with the moral value voice of the Somalis. Hence every imaginable politician seeks his or her alliance and support. Should not they distance the cartel of thief's, assassins, mass murderers, rapists and hooligans, which is what FTNG is composed? The FTNG president is AbdulAhi Yusuf who was a confidante and right hand man of the last Ethiopian dictator for ten years. He nominated the premiership to the most hated Warlords of Mogadishu in the worst periods of the Somalia Southern civil wars. Should not they put the interest of the country before immediate gratification, clanism and personal gains?
This article starring:
SHEIKH HASAN DAHIR AWEYS
Al-Itihad Al-Islamiya
Al-Itihad Al-Islamiya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 01:37 ||
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#1
Democracy...allows the public to control the government
And it means us Learned Elders wouldn't control the government and we can't have that. You see, the Koran is the basis of government, and the Koran is what we say it is!
#4
Well put spot. The learned venerable Elder fits a bunch of old words in a different language with the world he sees around him. Is that man-made law? Hell no. End of discussion. Seems the Elder has distilled and refined the K.I.S.S. rule to complete and absolute idiocy. Another great scientific accomplishment of islamic culture?
Iraq's two-year insurgency led by Al Qaeda's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is being funded by supporters of a strict Saudi-based Muslim sect and some foreign countries, the Iraqi president said, without naming the states involved.
President Jalal Talabani told Reuters in an interview he believed Zarqawi had nevertheless been weakened and isolated and there was no fear of civil war in Iraq, which has suffered a spate of bombings designed to undermine its new government.
The veteran Kurdish leader, sworn in a month ago as the first non-Arab president of an Arab nation, said late on Sunday Zarqawi was backed by extremists across the region.
"They are getting aid from Al Qaeda and from some financiers among some extremist Muslim organisations from Wahabi extremists abroad and from countries that I will not name," he said.
Talabani, who left Amman en route to an Arab-South American summit in Brazil, said Jordanian-born Zarqawi's capture could be close and the leadership of the group, which has claimed some of the deadliest bombings in Iraq, had been decimated.
"I think that Zarqawi appears isolated and hated by Iraqis and I would not rule out his capture any second, but I cannot guess where or when," he said.
Hundreds of members of Zarqawi's group have either been captured or killed by US and Iraqi troops, he said, adding that recent Baghdad car bombings were a sign of desperation by the predominantly Sunni Muslim insurgency.
"These last acts in which car bombings have escalated are evidence of weakness. The overall number of terror attacks has fallen sharply," Talabani said, in contrast to US military estimates that the guerrillas recently gained ground.
"They have been dealt a severe blow and weakened a lot and you can say they have been isolated by people who are angry with their crimes," Talabani said.
He ruled out civil war driven by rising communal tensions between Shias and Sunnis and a wave of sectarian killings.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 01:03 ||
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The foreign minister of the ousted Taliban regime, Wakeel Ahmed Mutawakil, has urged the Taliban to hold talks with incumbent Afghan government. "I ask the Taliban to hold talks with the Afghan government. It will be good for our people," Mutawakil told Khyber TV. He also criticized the al Qaeda, saying Osama bin Laden and his men had misused Afghan hospitality. The Afghan Shoora of Ulema had unanimously asked Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden to leave Afghanistan, but they had not received a response, he pointed out. While admitting that the Taliban was no longer an organised force, he noted that they could still organise protests.
In another interview to the BBC, Mutawakil said Osama Bin Laden and his men had abused Afghan hospitality and brought suffering to the country. "Our guests are always too rich or too strong. That's been Afghanistan's historical problem," said Mutawakil, who, after three years in American detention and subsequent house arrest in Kabul, has emerged as a key player in the government's attempts to forge peace with the Taliban. "The Russians, the Arabs and now today, well it's not just the Americans, it's the international coalition and Nato. There's no doubt that today's guests are very strong compared to our own forces, our own army at least. They're strong technically."
He also said the current government could learn from the Taliban on some issues, like security, eradication of opium poppies and low rates of government corruption. 'But as to banning girls' schools, a Taliban policy which he used to justify to the world's press, Mutawakil said education is positive and knowledge marks out both men and women as human,' the BBC said.
This article starring:
WAKIL AHMED MUTAWAKIL
Taliban
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 00:55 ||
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The Al-Qaeda group of Iraq's most-wanted militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi denied a US report on Monday that 75 insurgents had been killed in a sweep near the Syrian border. 'The adorers of the cross claim to have killed 75 Muslims at Al-Qaim. Once more, they are lying, because lying is their religion,' said the statement on an Islamist website, the authenticity of which could not be verified. US forces said 75 insurgents were killed in the first 24 hours of operations in the area believed to be a Zarqawi stronghold.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 00:54 ||
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#1
He just wants us to prove it, by showing the digital photos and finger prints; atleast of those who have any left other than ashes or shadows!! My advice to the troops: reduce the numbers of confirmed kills by a factor of 4 to the media; keep Zarqawi guessing what happened to them!!
#3
Like he can take a head count from that hole he's in!
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 8:37 Comments ||
Top||
#4
With thanks to Monty Python
BLACK KNIGHT:
Have at you!
[kick]
ARTHUR:
Eh. You are indeed brave, Sir Knight, but the fight is mine.
BLACK KNIGHT:
Oh, had enough, eh?
ARTHUR:
Look, you stupid bastard. You've got no arms left.
BLACK KNIGHT:
Yes, I have.
ARTHUR:
Look!
BLACK KNIGHT:
Just a flesh wound.
[kick]
ARTHUR:
Look, stop that.
BLACK KNIGHT:
Chicken!
[kick]
Chickennn!
ARTHUR:
Look, I'll have your leg.
[kick]
Right!
[whop]
[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's right leg off]
BLACK KNIGHT:
Right. I'll do you for that!
ARTHUR:
You'll what?
BLACK KNIGHT:
Come here!
ARTHUR:
What are you going to do, bleed on me?
BLACK KNIGHT:
I'm invincible!
ARTHUR:
You're a looney.
BLACK KNIGHT:
The Black Knight always triumphs! Have at you! Come on, then.
[whop]
[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's last leg off]
BLACK KNIGHT:
Oh? All right, we'll call it a draw.
Intelligence officers who have been questioning Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the senior al-Qaeda suspect arrested last week, have cast doubt over claims by Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, that the interrogation is "proceeding well".
Depends on who you ask, I guess:
"Hey, Abu! How's your interrogation goin'?"
"Ow! Ow! [Whimper!]... Not so well!"
Libbi, 28, who is said to be al-Qaeda's No. 3, had defied efforts to make him give details about its senior hierarchy, despite coming under physical pressure to do so, officials said on Saturday. More than a dozen low-key al-Qaeda targets were arrested in Pakistan last week thanks to information said to have been stored on Libbi's mobile phone. Yet early US and Pakistani hopes that he would tell them the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawihiri, were dashed. One senior intelligence official said: "So far he has not told us anything solid that could lead to the high-value targets. It is too early to judge whether he is a hard nut to crack, or simply that he doesn't know more than he has told us. They have tried all possible methods, from the 'third degree' to injecting him with giggle juice a truth serum, but it is hard to break him."
"More giggle juice, Abu?"
"Yershhh, shank you!... Shay! Have you sheen my thumbnails?"
Pakistan has ruled out his immediate extradition to the US, and denies that US agents are present at his questioning.
"Agent Starchedshirt, perhaps you should spend the day in the hotel bar? You might not want to see this!"
"Ummm... Good idea. And thanks for the smelling salts! They helped a lot!"
An Interior Ministry official, Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, said: "Our own agencies are investigating him. No one else is involved for the time being." However, a government minister said British intelligence officials might be allowed to join the interrogation. "This would be done once we exhaust him completely and are satisfied that he is not preparing to commit a terror act in our country."
"Neville, would you mind joining the Abu Faraj interrogation?"
"Certainly, Alistair. I'll bring my polo mallet!"
Pakistan said at the weekend that it had caught seven conspirators in central Punjab province late last mongh who were planning an attack on President Pervez Musharraf.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/10/2005 00:46 ||
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#1
There you go boys!! Once you pull out those finger and toe nails, keep him on ice, atleast until they grow back...we don't want the "Red Crescent" to know!
#2
It seems we may have the wrong Al Libbi or he may not be as high up as was previously thought.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1602568,00.html
I say drain him dry of every bit of information he has regardless.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/10/2005 14:21 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"They have tried all possible methods..."
I don't think so -- not that fast. The list of possible methods is quite long, especially in Pakistan.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/10/2005 15:00 Comments ||
Top||
#4
And of course the Paks wouldn't lie about him not talking, right?
Posted by: Steve ||
05/10/2005 15:10 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Do
libbi libbi libbies
dribble dribble dribble
on their ankles ankles ankles
when their beaten beaten beaten?
#6
of course, when I want to know how a Paki interrogation is going, I ask Australian reporters, who, of course, have access to "senior gov't officials" who are in the know and byDNA flaw, have to tell the truth..... I call BS
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2005 20:17 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Time for some menstrual blood and Madonna movies.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/10/2005 20:21 Comments ||
Top||
BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday to be patient over problems with Israel over peace moves. Lula offered the advice during a meeting of the two leaders on the eve of the first South American and Arab summit, which takes place in the Brazilian capital.
He's new at this, isn't he.
In a 40-minute meeting between Lula and Abbas, the Palestinian leader expressed concern over the delays [regarding the release of prisoners and transfer of towns in Gaza], Brazilian foreign affairs advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia told reporters. "President Lula praised patience and said he greatly appreciated the fact that the Palestinians, considering the difficulties they confront in their lives, have made great efforts for peace."
I'm sure they've made 'great efforts for peace', I just can't think of any ...
Lula mentioned that he had waited 13 years to become Brazil's president and suggested the Palestinians negotiate "with calm," even though they have been in conflict with Israel for 57 years.
He's a particularly clueless socialist, isn't he.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/10/2005 12:29:48 AM ||
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#1
"..the Palestinians, considering the difficulties they confront in their lives, have made great efforts for peace.â
Considering what little the Paleos have done so far, da Silva would be better off not bothering to grossly exaggerate their "efforts".
Some 800 Afghans including 109 women have registered as candidates for the country's first post-Taleban parliamentary and council elections to be held in September, officials said yesterday. Some 3,500 others have received information sheets and are preparing to register as candidates, a week after the joint UN-Afghan electoral commission launched the process, they said. Between 5,000 and 10,000 candidates are expected to stand for the vote, according to the commission.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Who says democracy is unIslamic! I am really looking forward to see what Afghanistan is like a decade from now. Their enthusiasm despite real personal danger for the participants, especially the women, should be a reminder to us all.
The leader of Egypt's new political party said he would run for president in the September elections. Mamdouh Qinawi, leader of the Free Social Constitutional Party, said in a press conference he would launch his election campaign soon and promised to guarantee Egyptians their political rights and a better social and economic environment. He said he hoped all the candidates would be given equal opportunities by the media to highlight their manifestoes.
The Social Constitutional Party became Egypt's 19th recognized party after it was approved by the Political Parties Committee (PPC), an affiliate of the Shoura Council, last year. Only 11 of the 19 recognized political parties obtained their licenses after challenging an initial refusal from the PPC through Egypt's judicial system. Three parties were formed in 1977 and four were authorized by the committee. The PPC has refused to extend official recognition to 63 parties. Meanwhile, the Shoura Council, Egypt's upper house of Parliament, approved an amendment to the constitution to allow multi-candidate presidential elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Hopefully there isn't much ballot box stuffing this time.
Tunisia's ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) swept weekend municipal elections in the north African country, winning 94 percent of the 4,366 seats at stake, provisional results showed Monday. The four legal opposition parties that fielded candidates in Sunday's vote, as well as one independent list, together won about 260 seats, of which around 100 were for the Movement of Socialist Democrats. Some 2.8 million voters elected town councils to new five-year terms in the polls, whose turnout was calculated at more than 80 percent on average, ranging from 78 percent in northern Kalaat al-Andalous and 97 percent in central Chrarda, the Interior Ministry said.
The RCD's crushing victory had been expected, and mirrored the result from 2000, but this time, under a law passed that year aimed at promoting pluralism at the communal level, the opposition will be awarded blocks of 20 percent of the seats in each of the town councils for which they fielded candidates and won at least three percent of the vote. On the basis of the results, this will apply to about 60 of the 264 town councils.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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There was tense standoff in the Punjab University last night after the PU Syndicate pledged to prevent all political activities on the campus including an Islami Jamiat Talaba book fair. Police were called in to prevent violence. On Monday, the PU Syndicate, a body representing the faculty, passed a resolution to stop political activity on the campus and empowered the university vice chancellor to allow or disallow such activities in the future. The university said that it would not let the IJT hold a book fair on the campus at any cost. The IJT, which has advertised the fair from May 10 to 12, is infuriated by the decision. It had been expecting a favourable outcome and had distributed memos to faculty members asking them to support the book fair.
The IJT leadership held a meeting late night and decided to press on with the book fair. Invitations for the book fair have been distributed in colleges and the press. On the administration's request, police were deployed at New Campus and they closed the main university gates. Senior police officials said that the police has been put on alert in case the IJT responded with violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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Iraq's two-year insurgency led by Al Qaeda's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is being funded by supporters of a strict Saudi-based Muslim sect and some foreign countries, the Iraqi president said, without naming the states involved. President Jalal Talabani told Reuters in an interview he believed Zarqawi had nevertheless been weakened and isolated and there was no fear of civil war in Iraq, which has suffered a spate of bombings designed to undermine its new government.
The veteran Kurdish leader, sworn in a month ago as the first non-Arab president of an Arab nation, said late on Sunday Zarqawi was backed by extremists across the region. "They are getting aid from Al Qaeda and from some financiers among some extremist Muslim organisations from Wahabi extremists abroad and from countries that I will not name," he said. Talabani, who left Amman en route to an Arab-South American summit in Brazil, said Jordanian-born Zarqawi's capture could be close and the leadership of the group, which has claimed some of the deadliest bombings in Iraq, had been decimated. "I think that Zarqawi appears isolated and hated by Iraqis and I would not rule out his capture any second, but I cannot guess where or when," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2005 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Saudi Crown 
Malaysia Monday reiterated its readiness to negotiate with any country willing to provide security control in the Melaka [Malacca] Strait, the world's busiest waterway. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, however, said it must done with respect to Malaysia's right as a sovereign and littoral state responsible to the strait. "We have been always saying that if there are any country willing to cooperate with us, we have no problems. We can sit down and talk," he told reporters, here Monday. Syed Hamid was commenting on today's newspaper report that the US was willing to offer assistance to Indonesia to police the strait.
Former Army Commander General 
One day after his historic return from exile, former Lebanese Army General 
Prime Minister 
The foreign minister of the ousted Taliban regime, 
The Al-Qaeda group of Iraq's most-wanted militant 
Libbi, 28, who is said to be al-Qaeda's No. 3, had defied efforts to make him give details about its senior hierarchy, despite coming under physical pressure to do so, officials said on Saturday. More than a dozen low-key al-Qaeda targets were arrested in Pakistan last week thanks to information said to have been stored on Libbi's mobile phone. Yet early US and Pakistani hopes that he would tell them the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his deputy, 
The leader of Egypt's new political party said he would run for president in the September elections. 
Tunisia's ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) swept weekend municipal elections in the north African country, winning 94 percent of the 4,366 seats at stake, provisional results showed Monday. The four legal opposition parties that fielded candidates in Sunday's vote, as well as one independent list, together won about 260 seats, of which around 100 were for the Movement of Socialist Democrats. Some 2.8 million voters elected town councils to new five-year terms in the polls, whose turnout was calculated at more than 80 percent on average, ranging from 78 percent in northern Kalaat al-Andalous and 97 percent in central Chrarda, the Interior Ministry said.
There was tense standoff in the 
Iraq's two-year insurgency led by Al Qaeda's 
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