JPost - posted in full, reg usually req'd
More than 50 percent of the Palestinian Legislative Council is theirs, and they don't have a clue what to do next, but according to at least one Hamas leader, talking to Israel is in the cards. "We're examining our options," said Yasser Mansour, the No. 5 Hamas leader told The Jerusalem Post. "We are researching each and every issue." "We F*CKING WON???"
Indeed, a Hamas leader in Nablus, a professor at An-Najah University who did not run, told the Post that many of the leaders were disappointed with the results. "We didn't want this, we didn't hope for this. We wanted to be in the opposition," he said, speaking at a green-flagged, rabble-rousing victory rally in downtown Nablus. "Now all the responsibility is on us." LOL - be careful what you ask for....
What is certain is that although it holds a majority and it can form its own government, Hamas does not want to run the country alone. "We will speak to all the parties and make a coalition," Mansour told the Post.
Hamas, and everyone else, expected the party to be a strong opposition. It could probably have continued terror attacks on Israel. It could have kept an eye on Fatah ministers and made sure the funds went where they were meant to go. It could have voted down any bills proposed that compromised its ideals. Let Fatah deal with the aftermath.
Forget that scenario now. Hamas won 57.5% of the PLC seats. "Instead of being an opposition in the Palestinian Authority, we are the PA," Ahmed Doleh, a well-spoken school principal and No. 36 on the Hamas list told the Post at the victory rally. Doleh, wearing a suit and tie, shook hands with numerous men, young and old, who approached him after the rally and congratulated him.
Looking somewhat dazed at the responsibility that had fallen into the laps of his fellow Hamas colleagues, Doleh said Hamas would deal with Israel, like it already was doing in the municipalities, on issues that concern day-to-day life.
"Hamas will deal with Israel on daily issues," he said, repeating Mansour's mantra that the party is researching how to fulfill "the interests of the Palestinian people." It is only after those talks that it will make decisions regarding the future of the PA government.
"One of the first things we will do is become part of the Palestinian Liberation Organization," he said, referring to the umbrella group that makes all the important decisions and includes Palestinians in the country and abroad. Hamas was not a member until now.
On election day, before it was known that Hamas would be the government and not the opposition, the soft-spoken Mansour, who has been in and out of Israeli jails since 1992, talked to the Post in a reporter's car outside a local mosque.
He explained that the only way Hamas would end its attacks was if the occupation ended. "Then Hamas can give peace," he said.
Mansour said Hamas will offer Israel a long-term hudna (cease-fire). "There is no time-limit to a hudna. It depends on the sides," he said.
At that point Mansour spoke of ideology. He said that ideally Hamas would want the world to be an Islamic state, but practically speaking it wants a Palestinian state in all of mandatory Palestine.
"We can accept that the Israelis who were born here will be citizens in our state," he said, adding that the Palestinian people will decide the nature of the state. "We cannot force people to be religious."
However, Fatah voters were fearful of war, not religion, when they woke up to discover that Hamas had a majority. "This means trouble," said an accountant and Fatah loyalist in a coffee shop downtown. "No one can predict what a future with Hamas will bring. Maybe there will be a fight or maybe Hamas will resign."
He worried about the future with other countries. "We were hoping that after the elections we could make a peace deal with the Israelis and finish this fighting," he said. "Do you think the EU, US and Israel will support the new Palestinian government with Hamas? If Israel does not agree to Hamas's demands, it will mean reverting to fighting. Since they will control the military, they will tell them to fight. The people are weak. They can't fight."
Indeed, the security forces guarding hotels where foreign election observers stayed had long faces. "This is terrible," said one named Majdi. "Maybe Hamas will tell us to go to war."
Looking over at his colleagues, he asked "You guys ready for jihad?"
The line of young men in camouflage uniforms carrying assault rifles looked up at him blankly. "No man," said one. "No way."
But hours after the results were announced, Hamas voters in Nablus said that Hamas's victory means that it will for certain lay down its arms and give up its ideology.
"If they were in the opposition, they would have been able to continue attacks," said a university student named Essam as he sat in a Nablus coffee shop with a friend, smoking a water pipe and discussing the new situation. "But now that they are the government, they can't attack Israel."
His friend Yazen, who also voted for Hamas, looked forward to the new situation. "Now they must talk to Israel. They have no choice. We need to stability and they have to bring it."
I'm convinced this is the best thing that could happen, barring an act of God wiping Islamists from the Earth
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006
21:24 ||
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But the US MUST NOT FUND HAMAS. The State Dept directives say nay, but we must be vigilant. There needs to be actions--->consequences. If the Paleos want Hamas, they need to look to Hamas for funding, and Hamas should not ever ask the US.
And if the US funds Hamas, those making the decision to fund need to be thrown out of government. And I mean anyone. This is a fundamental issue. We made a big mistake funding the PA with Fatah. We literally threw $300+ million down a rathole last year.
Also, that pic in the article begged, Ah Mean, begged for a hellfire. This is insanity do deal with these terrorists, except to hunt them down.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/27/2006 22:11
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Violating that no funds to terroists law should land you in prison.
European communists have reacted with fury to the news that the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe has voted to formally condemn "the crimes of totalitarian communist regimes."
The PACE issued a statement expressing "sympathy, understanding and recognition for the victims of these crimes" which it described as "massive human rights violations... including individual and collective assassinations and executions, death in concentration camps, starvation, deportations, torture, slave labour and other forms of mass physical terror."
It called on communist parties in European states "to reassess the history of communism and their own past [ ] and condemn them without any ambiguity.
Fat chance. Russian newspapers reacted predictably, with former Soviet mouthpiece Pravda describing it as a "ridiculous attempt to condemn communism." It also expressed unease over the prospect of Russian officers being categorised as no different from members of the Nazi SS. Russian MPs on the assembly warned that Moscow was opposed to a condemnation.
Russian opposition to the statement is only to be expected: After all, this is a nation where around 50 percent of the population profess an admiration for Stalin and close to that number admit that having a similarly tough guy around might do their country some good.
However, the antics of western socialists and communists are more shameful. The vote, which passed by 99 to 42 (with 12 abstaining), was ferociously opposed by western leftists.
Spain's supposedly moderate socialists opposed the resolution, while the absurd Belgian Communist Party described it as ""a violent attack on history, present and future of communism." Various Greek factions condemned the resolution as "neo McCarthyism" and, laughably, "persecution."
French Communists attempted to throw the Holocaust into the debate, arguing that to compare the horrors of Hitler's Nazis to what they must imagine to be the benign and gentle acts of their heroes "banalises the Holocaust." They added that the resolution ignored the role of Communists in fighting fascism.
Other Communists in France complained that the vote was a capitalist ploy, consigning Communism to the graveyard of history of closing off any alternative to liberalism.
The vote was a belated attempt to recognise the 100 million who have died at the hands of Communist regimes, including over 20 million in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Its sponsor, Sweden's Goran Lindblad, also proposed a memorial day to remember those who were killed by Communist regimes, though this resolution failed to reach the required two-thirds majority.
#2
My theory: it's gotta be something genetic. Or something in the water...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/27/2006 20:42
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As posted before around the Net, true Rightists are by definition Moralists, hence don't gener give a damn about others have to say about thier actions or decisions - why, becuz they believe are doing the right thing. Leftists and Commies, on the hand, ascribe to anarchism, alternatism. and super-laissez faire where not even the Left is for the Left, thus ascribe to being Super-PC in all things - reality and truth is tertiary or subordinate to populist propaganda.
#5
Heh... I'm looking at this phenomenon and just boggled.
RatherGate - Fake but accurate.
Oprah - Feelings count more than facts.
BDS - Truth D.O.A.
CogDis - Just take meds, don't adapt to reality.
Hundreds of contemporary examples.
My first real contact with this was when I was going through my divorce. The Psychologist who was our "councilor" told me that it didn't matter that what she perceived, the goofy shit that upset her, was not true -- what mattered was how she felt. I told him he was insane and full of shit as she was. That was 25+ yrs ago.
I didn't realize back then that he was onto something big.
#6
It also expressed unease over the prospect of Russian officers being categorised as no different from members of the Nazi SS.
Tough sh!t. You better get used to it. Stalin made Hitler look like a schoolboy. Same goes with the Islamists. You want Holocaust? You'll get one all your own. All of these genocidal, mass murdering maggots need to be greeted with the same intransigent hostility. Nothing less will save us from another round in the barrel with Nazism 2.0.
#2
And how many months will this proposal be "negotiated" before Iran declines. And what will the proposal after that one be? And how many months will that successor proposal be "negotiated" before Iran declines it as well? And what will the proposal after that one be? And how many months will that successor to the successor proposal be "negotiated" before Iran declines that one as well? And what will the proposal after that one be? And how many months will that successor to the successor to the successor proposal be "negotiated" before Iran declines that one as well? And how many stupid proposal/"negotiate"/Iran-declines cycles will we witness until the world wakes up one day with the realization that IRAN HAS *WON* by buying all of this "negotiating" time and that they now possess the nuclear means to fulfill their wet-dream of a nuclear attack on Israel?
#3
I don't want to GIVE them anything. Oil-fired and gas-fired power plants are a lot cheaper and quicker to build and a lot cheaper for them to fuel. And they can afford them -- just look at all the money they've had for tunnels and nukes and missiles. But if I do have to give them something, I'll choose to give them fusioning plutonium at 3,000 ft over Qom. That will be a gift that will be memorable and will even impress North Korea and Pakistan.
#4
Actually, thorium based reactors that cannot breed weapons grade material would make a lot of sense. Exactly why America is supposed to foresake so much treasure to an oil-rich petroleum exporting country is beyond me. I can only assume that we must be punished for insisting upon rational solutions to problems, unlike most of the remaining world.
#9
The Iranians have used their wealth on developing expensive reactors and weapons systems. They do not have the refining capacity to produce their own gasoline and fuel oil, and they are a major oil exporter. We owe them nothing. That is the wonderful thing about freedom of choice. You can choose to be smart or stupid with your God-given wealth. The Iranian people need to make the choice, and live with the consequences.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/27/2006 22:30
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#10
But for now, you diplomatically make them "an offer they can't refuse".
The ultimate dipfufflebarg - and when refused, allows even EU dips to gehey with numbing Iran.
But, I ponder, is it dipsy enough to get MSM beating drums?
Palestinians have reacted to Hamas's unexpected sweep of the legislative elections with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. a tad long, but an interesting look at the street (per Al J)
Minutes after official results gave the Islamic group an overwhelming win in the formerly Fatah-dominated legislative council on Thursday, Hamas supporters came out full force into the city streets to celebrate.
Gaza City was enveloped by a sea of green flags, as cars carrying the group's trademark colour sped through streets, blowing horns below a display of fireworks that lit up the wet sky.
Women and children sang in the streets, neighbours distributed sweets and congratulated one another on the group's upset victory, which surprised nearly everyone.
"I voted for Hamas but truthfully I did not expect them to win at all. It was a surprise to everyone - no one expected this to happen," said Basma Ghalayini, 22, who cast her ballot for the group in what she described as a "sympathy vote".
Even diehard Hamas supporters were taken aback by the win, as sources began to indicate throughout the day that Hamas, not Fatah as initial exit polls suggested, was the victor.
More popular
"I stayed up until 7pm inside one of the polling centre to try and keep track of the votes. Thank God, we were expecting Hamas to bear results, but in this way? Never," Asma al-Kurd, a social worker from the Dair al-Balah district of central Gaza, said.
"I suppose we have more popularity in the Palestinian street than we expected. The Palestinian street has proven they want change."
Not everyone is as excited by the results as al-Kurd.
After erupting in early and wild celebrations the previous night, Fatah supporters mainly stayed indoors, though sporadic cars carrying their trademark yellow flags eventually joined the mass celebrations in Gaza City.
Taha Nabil, a 25-year-old police officer in the bloated Palestinian security forces whose functioning is likely to be streamlined by the new Hamas government, expressed his concern for the future and his shock that what he called a newcomer like Hamas could win so overwhelmingly.
"I see all these celebrations, and, well ... I just hope it's for the best," said Nabil, fireworks blasting all around him.
"Since I'm a police officer and a Fatah supporter, I am not very happy by the results. I just hope the fruits of the victory will not be exclusively for one party or people. Who is Hamas anyway? We were the ones who began the revolution. Hamas have only been around for 10 years, and suddenly, out of nowhere, they changed Gaza."
No celebration
As it turns out, a large number of Fatah supporters, such as Abu Ahmed Hindi, 32, decided to vote for Hamas. Still, Hindi was not celebrating in the streets, but sat drinking tea with friends taking in the scenes instead.
"Even though I am a long-time Fatah supporter, I voted Hamas, and I am happy for their win, which was completely unexpected. I hope Fatah takes this as an opportunity and this period to learn from their mistakes, and go forward from here," said Hindi, a merchant in Gaza's upscale Remal neighbourhood. Sorry Hindi, but your Fatah party may never get a chance to return. Smoldering ruins dont need no politics.
The Hamas vote was as much a call for change as it was a vote against the ruling party, say Palestinians.
Corruption and rampant mismanagement prompted angry and fed-up residents to give their "protest votes" to Hamas, according to 29-year-old shopkeeper Khamas Illawaya, who voted for Hanan Ashrawi's Third Way list. Welcome to democracy. where grudge voting can produce some truly surprising and undesirable results. Strategic voting, yaaas.
"The Palestinian street is only 30% Hamas, but the corruption of Fatah and its failure to answer to the concerns of the Palestinian people gave Hamas a far greater number of votes than expected. The people chose change, not Hamas," said Ilawya. Hamas take note. 30%, huh. If daily deliveries of milk and honey dont commence immediately, the streets gonna get noisy and gunny.
"I firmly believe Hamas is willing to make compromises and accept any state on this planet for the interest of its people," added Illawya, as a friend of his burst into the store, handing out celebratory sweets. What the hell is in those sweets, Illawya? Youve had far too many today. Boy are you in for a surprise. Sleepless night
"I didn't sleep all night," chimed in Subhi Nakhal, a teacher.
"I really feel as if a great load has been lifted off my chest. We have hope now - for the first time in 10 years, we have hope."
Nakhal, who says he barely has enough money to feed his family and who has been chasing the former Fatah government for medical compensation for his sick son for months, believes the secret behind Hamas's success is their effective management and administrative skills, and their social welfare programmes. $25,000 for every suicide bomber and a new house
"The feeling of oppression is a very powerful factor," he said.
Palestinians say now that the vote is over, they expect Hamas to perform as promised and warn that they are anxious to see quick results. Very quick results not a patient people. And another reality of democracy elections promises mean diddly.
"Change is always a good thing. Its not about Fatah or Hamas, it's about changing the faces that represent us. Our hope is that the results are for the benefit of the people.
"They won based on the banner of 'change and reform', and we hope that is not merely a slogan. There must be real changes, even if they are only economic and social changes and not political," said storekeeper Osama Nabulsi.
"Do you think anyone likes the situation we are in? They are sick of the same old situation. What has Fatah done for us during the past 10 years? Nothing."
Certain priorities
Nabulsi and his brother, Khalid, say they are not concerned how the world might perceive the new parliament, likening the situation to the 2001 election of the hawkish Sharon government.
The Palestinian people, they say, have certain priorities, first among them personal security and survival.
A family with 10 children living under the poverty line is not going to think first about relations of the new parliament with Israel or the US or the EU. He is going to think about how he can feed those children," said Nabulsi.
"Not everything is about peace. We have to get our house in order. We are suffering from a real moral crisis. We need to learn some manners. Still a little shaky on the cause and effect thing, huh? Damn right on the last three points. Try thinking about Point 1.
Nabulsi continued: "We need to learn how to raise our children properly. We need to clean our streets. And, mostly, we need security. We need to do all of these things before we make can even speak about a state." Hang onto your kaffiya, Nabulsi. Its going to be a bumpy ride.
GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas and Fatah gunmen exchanged fire on Friday in political turmoil as the long-dominant Fatah faction was threatened with a violent backlash from within after its crushing election defeat by the Islamic militant group.
Hamas, whose shock parliamentary election victory changed the face of Palestinian politics and plunged Middle East peacemaking deeper in limbo, said it would hold talks soon with President Mahmoud Abbas on a "political partnership." But Fatah leaders have rejected a coalition with Hamas.
The United States said it will review funding to the aid-dependent Palestinians if Hamas enters government and Israel suggested it could suspend customs revenue transfers, adding economic uncertainty to the political upheaval.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/27/2006
17:25 ||
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#1
Is it going to esclate into a full blow paleo on paleo war? One can hope this is under way.
#6
off-topic: it's been a couple years since my last comment on Rantburg, and then I didn't comment much. But, this new development violently yanks me from lurkerdom: STOP WITH THE BLINKING TEXT!!!!
#10
Static with IE....report to Bug Bin? Must be the animated GIF
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006 21:52
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I deleted the GIF with Adblock, reloaded, and the blinking continued. Fred has more than enough to do. Let's wait until it happens in at least two places.
#14
Well, it's blinking in the main page, on the stand-alone page, on this here comments page, and in the list of topics on the right. Also, "View Source" shows it with a blink tag. If you don't see it, it's because you have one o' these newfangled browsers that don't support torture blink tags.
The U.S. Navy is converting some of its prized nuclear strategic submarines to launch precision, conventional munitions strikes against terrorist bases and similar targets.
Four ultra-stealth Ohio-class SSBNs are having their 24 Trident II D-5 nuclear ballistic missiles removed and replaced with up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Defense Industry Daily reported Jan. 18.
The program is assured of bipartisan support with Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Clarence Pell of Rhode Island all supporting it, DID said.
The Ohios are being converted into so-called "Tactical Tridents," designated SSGNs, with accommodation for 66-102 special forces troops, special attachments for new Advanced SEAL Delivery Systems (ASDS) or the older Seal Delivery Vehicle (SDV) "mini-subs," and a mission control center. In future, the SSGNs may also carry UUV underwater robotic vehicles and even UAVs for aerial operations, the report said.
"These modifications provide the (United States) with an impressive and impressively flexible set of conventional firepower, in a survivable and virtually undetectable platform that can remain on station for very long periods," DID said. The conversion program will cost $1.4 billion, it said.
The program will allow the Navy to avoid having to decommission the four Trident subs, the USS Ohio (SSBN 726), USS Michigan (SSBN 727), USS Florida (SSBN 728) and USS Georgia (SSBN 729).
Funding for the conversion was originally approved in the Fiscal Year 2002 military appropriations bill and it proved popular in Congress. The Senate approved funding four all four nuclear subs, where President George W. Bush had only asked to convert two of them.
To create a Tactical Trident submarine, two of the Ohio Class SSBNs' 24 large vertical missile launch tubes are converted to lockout chambers to enable exit from the hull underwater, the report said. However the ASDS program is suffering from serious development problems. Until those are sorted out, existing Seal Delivery Vehicles (SDVs) will have to be used instead, DID said.
The conversion costs for the four Ohios is far less than the $1.7 billion cost for each of the new nuclear-powered Virginia class (SSN-744).
BMD will cost $247 billion by 2024: CBO
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/27/2006
17:02 ||
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The program is assured of bipartisan support with Democratic Sens. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Clarence Pell of Rhode Island all supporting it, DID said.
#5
Don't we have sub bases in Maine and Washington as well? Cantwell and Murray (D-WA) and Collins and Snowe (R-ME) aren't mentioned. Isn't King's Bay, GA, also a base?
Posted by: Dar ||
01/27/2006 17:52
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#6
I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that these subs, formerly homebased in Bremerton, are now to be based in Honolulu.
#7
As per GMD many US Navy surface ships and subs will also have BMD assets, including eventually anti-interceptor ability vv the Russians and Chicoms, etc.
Russia's offer to enrich uranium on Iran's behalf is "not sufficient" to resolve the stand-off over Tehran's nuclear programme, Iran says.
Iran's top negotiator said it had merits but was not enough to provide "for Iran's nuclear energy needs".
Iran had earlier reacted warmly to the proposals, raising hopes it might be the key to unlocking the crisis.
While US President Bush praised it as "a good plan", his secretary of state accused Iran of using delaying tactics.
"One cannot say that it is a negative proposal," said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on his return from talks in China.
He said it would be further considered, and could be "part of a package", but was not the whole solution.
The Russian proposal involves uranium bound for Iranian power plants being enriched in a joint venture on Russian soil.
Russia would also take back Iranian nuclear waste for reprocessing.
The theory is that if Iran has no enrichment capability, and no nuclear waste, it cannot refine the uranium further to the high quality required to make a nuclear weapon.
Tehran denies US claims that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, and says it simply wants to produce nuclear energy.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/27/2006
16:58 ||
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yawn
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/27/2006 17:21
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Russia plan 'not enough' for Iran
It never is, kufr.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006 17:39
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Russia's offer to enrich uranium on Iran's behalf is "not sufficient" to resolve the stand-off over Tehran's nuclear programme, Iran says.
#4
Nothing will ever be enough for megalomaniacs (with the emphasis on maniac).
Even if they managed to turn Israel and the U.S. into smoking craters, they wouldn't be satisfied. Nothing in this life will ever satisfy them.
They remind me of the definition of a Puritan: A person who fears that somebody, somewhere, might be having fun.
Of course, when they die, they're not going to be satisfied, either, when they find out what's really in store for them. (Hint: it'll be HOT)
Since they can't be satisfied in life, and they won't be satisfied in death, let's dispatch them ASAP to their special seats in Hell so at least somebody (i.e., the sane world) will be satisfied in this life.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/27/2006 19:32
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EFL:Another Great Moment in the History of White Trash...
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Some women in Springfield are regretting their decision last week to get a tattoo from a door-to-door tattoo salesman. At least one person had to be hospitalized and the others face serious health risks. Wow. Can ya believe that? Sounds like he might not have been a legimate door-to-door tattoo salesman...
Friday night, a man knocked on doors holding a tattoo gun and offering his services. Tamra Eason described the tool as homemade, but still agreed to pay for a tattoo. So did two other women in her apartment complex."It was wrapped with black tape, had a pin underneath it, had fishing wire going through it, you could tell it was a homemade gun," Eason said. Oh, ah don't know...but ah might need one to impress the Rhodes Scholarship Committee, so ah guess it'll be okay...
The next day, Linda Falls passed out and had to be hospitalized.
"I passed out in the store and they said I should have it checked out," Falls said. All the women have an infection in the tattoo area and have been told to get tested for HIV and hepatitis. Maybe door-to-door doctor will be working the apartment complex and save you the trip...
It is illegal in Missouri to give a tattoo without a license, so if several people file complaints with the state, the county prosecutor will pursue the case. "Beware of deals in parachutes, brain surgery and tattoos," said Miller Cotton, a tattoo parlor owner. Spoken like a true professional...
"We just wanted tattoos, and now we're paying for it," Eason said. Go brush your tooth, honey...
#1
I grew up in Missouri about 45min SW of STL. I have allot of relatives down around Richland (Fort Lenardwood area). I can believe this - thems good folks but not much fer smarts.
/Miss family reunions - shootin' turtles on the pond and fishing the Gascanade = fresh fried catfish.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/27/2006 17:15
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Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006 17:31
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#4
And here I was just itching to use my coupon too...
Posted by: Dar ||
01/27/2006 17:54
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#5
Hmmm, you know, I realize it's usually people doing things like jumping off buildings with parachutes and bungie jumping that get the Darwin awards, but these people put a whole new spin on who deserves it. Theoretically, you're actually sort of safe with a parachute..letting some guy who rings your bell poke you with a HOMEMADE tattoo gun is well...insane seems too paltry.
WASHINGTON â Despite persistent disillusionment with the war in Iraq, a majority of Americans supports taking military action against Iran if that country continues to produce material that can be used to develop nuclear weapons, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.
The poll, conducted Sunday through Wednesday, found that 57% of Americans favor military intervention if Iranâs Islamic government pursues a program that could enable it to build nuclear arms.
Support for military action against Tehran has increased over the last year, the poll found, even though public sentiment is running against the war in neighboring Iraq: 53% said they believe the situation there was not worth going to war.
The poll results suggest that the difficulties the United States has encountered in Iraq have not turned the public against the possibility of military actions elsewhere in the Middle East.Bush ratings sink in latest poll
Support for a potential military confrontation with Iran was strongest among Republican respondents, among whom 76% endorsed the idea. But even among Democrats, who overwhelmingly oppose the war in Iraq, 49% supported such action.
In follow-up interviews, some respondents said they believed Iran posed a more serious threat than Saddam Husseinâs Iraq did.
âI really donât think Saddam had anything to do with terrorism, but Iran, I believe, does,â said Edward Wtulich, of Goshen, N.Y. He was among the 1,555 adults who participated in this weekâs survey, which has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. âIran has been a problem, I think, for years,â Wtulich said, âand weâve known about it.â
Wtulich, a registered Democrat and retired manager for the New York City Housing Authority, said he supported taking a hard line with Iran despite the strain of the Iraq war on the U.S. military.
âIt makes me scared,â he said, âbut we may not have a choice.â
Experts said the publicâs views on Iran appeared to have hardened in part because of the more aggressive anti-Western posture of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Elected last year, he has riled the international community with remarks denying the Holocaust and with declarations that Iran will defy European and U.S. pressure and continue to pursue efforts to enrich uranium.
His comments have fostered an impression of him as âvery reckless, a real rogue, as opposed to simply a populist,â said political science professor John Mueller of Ohio State University, who is an authority on wartime public opinion.
Poll respondents expressed a strong preference for the United States working with allies to fight international law violations or global aggression.
The American publicâs position on Iran appears to have hardened over the last year, a period marked by an increasing international focus on Iranâs nuclear program. When a similar question was asked in a Times poll last January, 50% favored military action against Iran.
Regarding Iraq, the latest poll shows that although most Americans remain disenchanted with the war, opinions have stabilized, at least for now. The percentage saying they believe the situation in Iraq was not worth going to war over dipped slightly, to 53%, compared with 56% in a survey a year earlier. Somebody needs to help this guy with the definition of most
When asked who was winning the war in Iraq, 33% said the United States, 7% said the insurgents, and 55% said neither side was winning.
Americans remain divided over how long U.S. forces should stay in Iraq: 40% believe the United States should remain in Iraq for âas long as it takes,â 36% want U.S. troops withdrawn within a year, and 14% support immediate withdrawal.
Respondents were also divided, largely along party lines, over whether the Iraq war is really part of Washingtonâs war on terrorism; 51% say it is, 46% say it is not. President Bush has repeatedly cast Iraq as the central front in the war on terrorism. But many of his administrationâs prewar claims about Iraqâs ties to Al Qaeda have turned out to have been overstated or based on unreliable intelligence sources.
The poll also found that 32% of Americans believed that terrorism around the world had increased because of the Iraq situation, 17% believed it had decreased, and 47% believed the problem was about the same.
#2
Unfortunately, with too many Short-Attention-Span Americans the support is all too fickle. I remember support for OIF running near 70% before the MSM and Dem efforts kicked into high gear. I think the support reflects an assumption of any military action being purely air strikes.
#5
53% support the Iraq effort and 57% want to go after Iran. That's pretty close. This is also from the LA Times, Pravda on the Pacific. If they hadn't oversampled democrats the numbers would be even better. I read this as a pretty strong statement in favor of going after the MM.
#6
Good point about the LAT. One would normally need to skew their polls 5-10% towards the conservative perspective to obtain a legitimate reading of public opinion.
#7
Another interesting item in all of this is if Iran had her own "issues" to worry about, things in Iraq would get better as a result.
Posted by: RJB in JC MO ||
01/27/2006 18:31
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#8
Check out the Fox poll
NEW YORK Americans think Iran is the country that poses the greatest immediate danger to the United States today, taking over the number one spot from North Korea. A FOX News poll released Thursday shows the public is concerned about Iran attacking the United States with nuclear weapons, and even more concerned about Iran supplying nukes to terrorists.
If Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, an overwhelming 91 percent of Americans say they are concerned it would sell them to terrorists, including 68 percent that say they are very concerned.
In addition, eight in 10 Americans are concerned Iran would use nukes to attack a neighboring country (54 percent very concerned), and 73 percent are concerned it would attack the United States (47 percent very concerned).
Iran tops the list when respondents are asked to say which country without being read a list poses the greatest immediate danger to the United States. Today a 28 percent plurality says Iran, up from 18 percent a year ago. North Korea, which was first on last years list, comes in second this time around at 17 percent, down from 26 percent (January 2005). Iraq (16 percent) and China (14 percent) are other common mentions.
Opinion Dynamics Corporation conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News on January 24-25.
Over half of Americans think Iran is either an immediate (16 percent) or near-term threat (40 percent) to the United States, while about a third (34 percent) think it is more likely to be a long-term threat. Few think Iran does not pose a threat at all (7 percent).
Most of the public believes Iran wants to use uranium enrichment for military purposes (82 percent) rather than for the peaceful purposes it claims (8 percent). Furthermore, 68 percent believe Iran currently has a nuclear weapons program, up from 60 percent a year ago (January 2005).
"These broad evaluations of Iran as a present and growing threat highlight the truly perilous situation most Americans see outside our boarders," says Chris Anderson, Opinion Dynamics senior researcher. "We havent even finished one war and many already see the potential need for another."
By a wide margin, Americans think Iran is more of a threat to the world than Iraq was before the United States took military action there. Nearly half (47 percent) think Iran is more of a threat than Iraq was, while 25 percent think less of a threat and 19 percent the same.
If diplomacy fails, 59 percent support using "whatever military force is necessary," to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons; however, when presented with specific military options support drops. Some 51 percent support using only air strikes, and 46 percent support using air strikes and ground troops.
A 54 percent majority is confident in the ability of the Bush administration to handle the situation with Iran, while slightly fewer (46 percent) are confident in the ability of the United Nations to handle Iran.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182909,00.htm
#9
Goodness - if those numbers rise above 100%, then the Dhimmidonk and RINO Senators might begin to feel that they may possibly have sufficient ass coverage to pick up on the House resolution that would authorize Bush to do something.
#10
Let's see....a poll comes out that OVERWHELMINGLY supports military action against Iran and SUDDENLY... the new Dem talking point is that they've always been for being tough on Iran. For the last 24 hours, I've heard the point made at least 5 times that Bush has not been strong enough.
#11
But the moment the shooting actually starts, the Dhimmocrats will be pissing and moaning about what a "unilaterilist cowboy" Bush is. Regardless if he got every nation on Earth short of France and Germany to contribute aircraft for the bombing runs.
By Thomas P.M. Barnett | Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Even as the United States, the EU and others work to stop it, Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons seems inevitable. But is this such a bad outcome? In "Blueprint for Action," Thomas P.M. Barnett explores the security implications involved from a U.S. point of view of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and why it may be the best thing for the United States and the wider Middle East.
With Saddams Iraq out of the way, Iran now stands as the only Gulf power that can effectively veto regional efforts at peace through either its explicit support of transnational terrorist groups or the employment of its military power especially as it achieves status as a nuclear power.
There is no other state in the region that combines the same assets and ambition in terms of politics, economics and security.
Saudi Arabia has no effective security profile (nor does Egypt for that matter), and the House of Sauds political ambitions are more limited in scope, concentrated as they are primarily on keeping the monarchy in power at all costs.
Pakistan possesses a far larger population, but its largely uncontrollable domestic situation consumes whatever ambition the political leadership there has for a larger regional role.
The power of Iran
It is Iran that can effectively veto movement toward peace and stability in either Jerusalem or Baghdad through its effective support to, and manipulation of, the political agendas of regional terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. It is Iran that has the capacity to destabilize the flow of oil out of the Gulf.
It is Iran that determines how much of the energy coming out of the Caspian Basin may be safely accessed by both India and China. And it is Iran, which, by virtue of being a top-five player in both oil and natural gas and a longtime diplomatic pariah as far as the United States is concerned, that offers Asia the best possibilities for locking in long-term bilateral energy ties, a process already begun by India and China.
Regional security partner?
And yet, oddly enough, for all the same reasons why the Shah of Iran was once the preferred security partner of the United States in the region, todays Iran still retains many of those same attributes.
Iran is not a source for, or a supporter of, the jihadist movement embodied by al Qaeda. As a Shiite state, its definition of revolution differs from that track altogether.
Irans Islamist regime results in a sort of tired authoritarianism, never truly aspiring to the sort of totalitarianism pursued by the Salafis, who can be thought of as the over-the-top Maoists (or Trotskyites) to Irans rather pedantic post-Stalin Soviet Union. Iran is a nation-state first and foremost, not some transnational religious-inspired movement.
Yes, like Brezhnevs Soviet Union, Iran is more than willing to exploit transnational terrorist movements to its own ends, but this is a cynical pursuit of national power, not a millenarian fantasy of regional, much less global, revolution.
Iran is not interested in overthrowing the Wests political and economic order, it just wants to receive its due place in those corridors of power.
The mullahs' pretend rule
In many ways, the Shiite revolutionary spirit died a long time ago in Iran, leaving behind a cynical political order where the mullahs pretend to rule, the citizens pretend to obey and the government pretends to reform.
Iran is a frightfully young society, full of ambition for a better life and chafing under what the majority of the population consider to be the rather idiotic rule of the religious fundamentalists, one that offers them no future worth pursuing in an increasingly globalized world that demands far more rational rule sets.
Soviet parallels
Iran most resembles the late-Brezhnevian period of the Soviet Union: A bankrupt ideology, a vastly underperforming economy and workforce, a sullen majority detached from political life as well as economic ambition and an out-of-touch political leadership (the mullahs) increasingly at odds with the technocratic leanings of its governments bureaucratic elite.
However, as the presidential election of 2005 proved, most Iranians will nonetheless vote for a hard-liner as president if he promises a reduction in the political regimes pervasive corruption such is the states perpetual failure in Iran.
Like the late Soviet Union, Iran does not wield military power so much as security vetoes. It can prevent security from arising but it cannot deliver security effectively anywhere beyond its borders.
Because Iran lacks any true client states, its regional security influence is derived primarily from its support of transnational terrorist groups and its persistent quest of weapons of mass destruction.
Quest for the bomb
But even in its quest for the bomb, Tehran displays a calculated cynicism throughout, demonstrating all too well that it understands that nukes are for having, not for using.
Iran will get the bomb, no matter how the United States or its allies seek to prevent that outcome. Tehran was the regional power most pleased by seeing both the Taliban and Saddam deposed.
Unintended consequences
In many ways, the U.S. global war on terrorism has inadvertently made Iran the greatest beneficiary so far in the region in terms of security obstacles removed, begging the question Would it not be nice to get something in return from Iran for all that effort?
So if Tehran is going to get the bomb no matter what, the question shifts from What can the United States do to prevent it? to What does the United States get out of it?
If Iran was our natural security partner in the past for a lot of good reasons, then most of those reasons remain today, simply obscured by the continuing dictatorship of the mullahs (of which we have some very bad memories).
Our natural goal with Iran, then, is to marginalize that religious leadership while capturing the same security partnership we once enjoyed.
Believe it or not
Inconceivable? No more than having Russia acquiesce to our growing military domination of both the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, not to mention Eastern Europes merging with both NATO and the EU.
After all, we once pursued détente with a very similarly evil regime in the Soviet Union in the early 1970s (e.g., tired authoritarianism, bankrupt ideology, enabler of transnational terrorism, finger on the nuclear button), only to effectively kill that regime with connectivity over the subsequent years, yielding a compliant security ally in the process.
History repeating?
Why not pursue the same pathway with Iran? Iran is the one country in the region where it is the rulers who hate the United States and the public that loves us.
Yes, the Iranian hostage crisis was a hugely embarrassing experience for us a quarter-century ago, but typically the passage of that much time allows us to move beyond such humiliations as a new generation of political leadership ensues.
Our grand bargain with Iran is not hard to imagine. Iran gets the bomb, diplomatic recognition, the lifting of sanctions and the opening of trade, and its removal from the axis of evil.
In return, what Iran must offer the United States is long-term support for both the two state solution in Palestine and a stable Iraq dominated by a Shiite majority, the cessation of its support for terrorist groups in the region, joint pressure on Syria for an end to its hegemony over Lebanon (removing their troops is only a nice start) and most symbolically its recognition of Israel diplomatically and its formal declaration of that countrys right to exist.
The future Middle East peace
Is this bargain too much to hope for? Ask yourself this: Can you imagine a future Middle East peace where these steps have not been achieved? I cannot, and so I choose to see Irans reach for the bomb as possibly the best thing thats happened to the Middle East peace process in decades.
Why? Because a huge hang-up in the Palestinian-Israeli struggle has been the Muslim worlds sense of military inferiority, which was first proven in a series of wars across the latter half of the twentieth century and which remains codified in the popular imagination by Israels possession of both the bomb and a nuclear superpower sponsor willing to wage war on its behalf two things the Middle Easts Muslim states have always lacked.
Security through nuclear equality?
Irans possession of nuclear weapons levels that playing field in a proximate sense, by finally allowing the Muslim Middle East to sit one player at the negotiating table as Israels nuclear equal. This is not just opportune, it is crucial.
As for the fears that Irans possession of the bomb will destabilize the region, there is no good historical evidence for that.
Rather, the historical record is quite clear: Two relative equals with nuclear weapons is a far better equation than one that features a permanent imbalance.
Would Iran give terrorists the bomb? Only if terrorists could get Iran something that it could not otherwise achieve directly with the West.
Iran the rational actor
Tell me, since Iran is getting the bomb anyway eventually, would you feel less comfortable about this possible scenario if Iran were to open up to the West or if it remained isolated and surrounded by hostile American troops?
In which scenario do you think Tehran might risk it all by sponsoring a terrorist WMD strike against Israel or the West when it has something to lose or nothing to lose? If America wants Iran to act responsibly in the region, it needs to give Iran some responsibility for regional security.
Everybody wins
Meanwhile, offering Tehrans government-reform elements economic carrots in exchange for denying the hard-line mullahs their self-perceived nuclear security blanket remains an unworkable approach.
In sum, this scenario pathway presents wins for all sides. The United States finally gets a Muslim security partner in the region worth having (as opposed to, say, the sick man of the Arab world, Egypt, or even the let-them-eat-cake royal mafia in Saudi Arabia).
Israel finally gets enough buy-in from the Islamic world for the two-state solution to proceed. Iran gets to return to its rightful place as regional-power-of-note and its public experiences growing economic connectivity with the outside world, which in turn, will inevitably restart a political reform process that rapidly marginalizes the mullahs religious-based political rule.
Olmert government`s decision Friday, Jan. 27 to transfer NIS 200 m tax returns to new Palestinian government next month is criticized.
Former FM Likuds Silvan Shalom says the transfer of moneys to the Hamas-ruled administration is "scandalous," and sends a wrong signal to donor-countries for their relations with the terrorist regime.
Hours after its election victory emerged, Hamas posted through a third party a threat that any holdups in funds transfers to the new Palestinian administration would be casus belli. It would prompt large-scale attacks inside Israel and disrupt its March 28 elections - acting prime minister Ehud Olmerts prospects in particular. Hamas sources evinced an interest in an open-ended truce with Israel.
However Olmerts military and security advisers warn that Hamass only goal is not peace but time to achieve full control of all Palestinian security and intelligence services in preparation for full-scale war against Israel. It will then employ its parliamentary majority to oust Abu Mazen as PA chairman. There is a good chance that something is going to happen soon. Hamas may not be able to make payroll as soon as the end of this month.
The United States would have to freeze millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority if a Hamas-led government comes to power and refuses to renounce terror, a senior U.S. diplomat in Jerusalem said Friday.
Jacob Walles, the U.S. consul-general in Jerusalem, said the U.S. would not deliver assistance to terror organizations, members of terror organizations or ministries controlled by people belonging to terror organizations. The United States, the European Union and Israel all consider Hamas to be a terrorist group.
Hamas won an overwhelming victory in Palestinian legislative elections on Wednesday, capturing 76 of 132 seats. The victory stunned the world and sent Israel, the U.S. and Europe scrambling to figure out how to deal with the sudden rise of the group responsible for dozens of suicide bombings against Israel.
The U.S. gave the Palestinian Authority $400 million in direct aid last year and several million more through various U.N. charities, Walles said. Some of the money was handed directly to Palestinian ministries. "I don't see how we would do that if those ministries were controlled by Hamas," Walles said. "At this point, Hamas has to make a choice. The onus is on them," he added. "If you want to be part of the political process ... you need to recognize Israel, you need to disarm and you need to renounce terror and violence. The choice is theirs."
Without Western financial aid, the bankrupt Palestinian Authority, which ran a $1 billion operating deficit last year, would almost surely collapse. Foreign donors have poured about $1 billion annually into the Palestinian Authority, financing vast reconstruction efforts in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The United States is the single largest donor country, and along with Europe provides the vast majority of the foreign aid to the Palestinians. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006
15:56 ||
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#1
probably for the moment. Wait until our EU and russian "partners" in the roadmap pay up and start pressuring us.
#3
"Without Western financial aid, the bankrupt Palestinian Authority, which ran a $1 billion operating deficit last year, would almost surely collapse."
Not to worry...surely the Arab nations will pony up the dough.
#4
Not another f&cking red cent to these ungrateful murderous b@stards! Let them watch their pro-terrorist government crumble around their ears.
Any government that continues to supply financial aid to the Palestinian Authority must be regarded as a terrorist sponsor. The Palestinians, with their endless blood lust, have finally painted themselves into a moral and ethical corner. The level of moronic idiocy exhibited by these f&ckwits is simply beyond belief.
#5
Renouncing terrorism by Hamas is always suspect. Shut off their money. Game over. We have taken enough hits this year, and we are hemmoraging cash. Time to start tightening our belts and this is as good a place as any. Let Chiraq give EU tax dollars if he wants.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/27/2006 22:21
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Three Iraqi electoral lists, consisting of 80 seats, have agreed to unite to bolster their negotiating position in the future government, liberal politician Adnan Pachachi said Friday....
...Pachachi said that along with the secular list of former prime minister Iyad Allawi's 25 seats, the new group will include the religious Sunni National Accordance Front, with 44 seats, and the more secular Sunni National Dialogue Front of Saleh al-Mutlaq and his 11 seats.
Pachachi, who ran on Allawi's list, added that a number of other smaller political parties are interested in joining, which might increase the group's size to 88 seats.
While most political groups in Iraq have agreed on the need for a national unity government representing all Iraqis, there are fears that the dominant conservative Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, with 128 seats, will not feel the need for a very broad government.
The Arab League was scheduled to hold a national unity conference at the end of February in Baghdad to address these divisions, but Pachachi said that it would probably not be held until a new government is formed.
"A number of Iraqi figures told Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa they would prefer the conference be held after the government is formed and he assented," said Pachachi.
"He added, however, that if the differences continue and the government ends not being one of national unity, it is very possible the conference will be held to resolve these problems." The electoral priorities are shaping up to be that the first government must be a unity government; and that though there are many political parties for the time being, that they should organize into a few powerful blocs. Then, the critical phase will be when these blocs evolve into having philosophical, rather than sectarian, principles.
WASHINGTON -- The staff of U.S. Rep Marty Meehan wiped out references to his broken term-limits pledge as well as information about his huge campaign war chest in an independent biography of the Lowell Democrat on a Web site that bills itself as the "world's largest encyclopedia," The Sun has learned.
The Meehan alterations on Wikipedia.com represent just two of more than 1,000 changes made by congressional staffers at the U.S. House of Representatives in the past six month. Wikipedia is a global reference that relies on its Internet users to add credible information to entries on millions of topics.
Matt Vogel, Meehan's chief of staff, said he authorized an intern in July to replace existing Wikipedia content with a staff-written biography of the lawmaker.
The change deleted a reference to Meehan's campaign promise to surrender his seat after serving eight years, a pledge Meehan later eschewed. It also deleted a reference to the size of Meehan's campaign account, the largest of any House member at $4.8 million, according to the latest data available from the Federal Election Commission.
"Meehan first ran for Congress in 1992 on a platform of reform," the pre-edited entry said. "As part of that platform Meehan made a pledge to not serve more than four terms, a central part of his campaign. This breaking of the pledge has been a controversial issue in the 5th Congressional District of Massachusetts."
The new entry reads in part: "Meehan was elected to Congress in 1992 on a plan to eliminate the deficit. His fiscally responsible voting record since then has earned him praise from citizen watchdog groups. He was re-elected by a large margin in 2004."
Vogel said, "It makes sense to me the biography we submit would be the biography we write."
The change doubled the length of the entry on Meehan, corrected errors and replaced "sloppy" writing, Vogel said. "Let the outside world edit it. It seemed right to start with greater depth than a paragraph with incorrect data from the '80s."
Wikipedia's online honor system has made it ripe for abuse by vandals. Recently, a user wrote in a Wikipedia bio that Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor "smells of cow dung." Another wrote that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is "ineffective." These statements were traced to the House Internet-protocol (IP) address.
Rest at link.
Posted by: Billy Dee Williams ||
01/27/2006
15:28 ||
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#1
Don't worry, Marty. As always, if your lips are moving, I'll still know you're lying...
HOUSTON Jan 26, 2006 â Oilfield services conglomerate Halliburton Co. on Thursday said 2005 was the company's best in its 86-year history, a year anchored by a profitable fourth quarter of strong sales and increased rig activity. Wait till we get to rebuild the Iran oil fields! The income reversed a loss from a year earlier. Special thanks to the Eartquake/Tsunami Division
Quarterly profit rose to $1.1 billion, or $2.08 a share, including a one-time tax gain of $540 million or $1.02 a share. Heh. Thanks Karl. That compared to a net loss of $203 million, or 46 cents a share last year, which included a $384 million loss from discontinued operations.
The results widely beat Wall Street's projections of 89 cents a share on revenue of $5.24 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
Revenue for 2005 reached nearly $21 billion, also beating analysts expectations of $20.4 billion.
Halliburton announced earnings after the market closed. The Houston-based company planned to discuss the results Friday morning in a conference call with analysts.
Shares of Halliburton rose 91 cents to close at $75.15 on the New York Stock Exchange. They added another 1.9 percent, or $1.45, in after-hours trading.
#4
Oh, Yeah? I work at a World Wide Chemical Company and the 2005 profits were the highest in the company's 90 year history. Neener-neener!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/27/2006 19:43
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#5
Millions of Americans with mutual funds, millions receiving retirement checks from pension funds, universities and colleges with alumni endowments celebrate was well. How evil. Heh.
Selected passages; Original article offers contextual support.
Why Turin is a Likely Target for a Terrorist Attack
There are essentially three factors that make Turin a high-value target.
First, from a timing perspective, it makes sense to target the city during the Olympics. During the games, the city will be under intense global media coverage, with the attention of millions worldwide focused on the competition. In addition, February is close to the Italian general elections, which are to be held in May.
Second, Turin presents a range of attractive targets for Islamic terrorists. Sensitive targets in the city of Turin include the extensive railway system, which literally encircles the town, and the main railway stations (Porta Nuova and Porta Susa), the underground railway, Caselle airport, the public transportation system, religious centersin particular the Cathedral of St. John the Baptistand the business district in the city center.
Thirdly, Turn holds important symbolic value for Islamic militants. While Rome is Italy's political heart and Milan its primary financial center, Turin is the economic capital of the country. FIAT, the most prominent Italian industrial corporation, and other major companies are located in the city or its hinterland. An attack against Turin would represent an assault on the economic powerhouse of the country and inflict a massive symbolic, if not actual, blow to its entire economic system.
Also, Turin has one of the largest Muslim populations in Italy, and it is possible that individuals could provide logistical support to terrorists and help with reconnaissance of potential targets.
A Turkish-born Australian citizen has been sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to five-and-a-half years' jail for people trafficking. Mehmet Seriban, 39, pleaded guilty to the charges.
Seriban arrived in Australia illegally in 1995, was granted a temporary protection visa and then Australian citizenship in 1998. Between November 1998 and February 2000 Seriban helped move 30 people, including four family members, from Turkey to Indonesia and onward to Ashmore Reef. He was responsible for organising and paying for their transport, accommodation and food. In sentencing today, Justice David Angel said the passengers had to endure rotten food, hunger and engine fumes, and fresh water ran out within days.
He sentenced Seriban to a non-parole period of two years and nine months in prison, backdated to March 2004. Justice Angel said he doubted Seriban would re-offend when released from prison.
Seriban's defence lawyer says the asylum seekers his client brought to Australia were not "queue-jumpers". Jon Tippett, QC, says the people Seriban helped were genuine asylum seekers. "The whole idea that these people are coming to Australia on boats and they're queue-jumping as genuine refugees is a lie," he said. "And it ought to be treated by the Australian community as a lie and the Government should not be believed when it puts to the Australian community a refugee policy that is based on untruths." Besoeker post.
#1
Sweet! Enter Australia illegally and get citzenship in three years. Gotta give Mehmet credit for his create "friends and family" reunification plan.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006 17:36
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create = creative
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006 17:41
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More similarities have been found between the bird flu creeping into Eastern Europe and the 1918 Spanish flu that decimated populations worldwide, including the discovery of an entirely new way bird flu may kill human cells.
Researchers from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., have found that bird flu viruses carry a gene that can latch onto many crucial proteins inside human cells, presumably disrupting their function and causing far more severe disease than human viruses.
The research provides a new hypothesis for why certain bird flu viruses are particularly lethal for humans.
Published in today's issue of the journal Science, the research comes as Canada prepares to release an updated pandemic flu plan that includes new infection control and border measures, from strategies to get people to wash their hands and cough into Kleenex, to surveillance systems in airports and emergency rooms to detect the virus's introduction into Canada.
There's no evidence so far that the H5N1 avian flu is transforming into the next human pandemic flu strain, but "we certainly are really increasing our efforts in terms of preparedness," says Dr. Theresa Tam, of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
But a SARS survivor, and infectious disease specialist, says Canada is "nowhere close" to being ready for a pandemic should it happen. Dr. Allison McGeer, of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, says more money and time needs to be spent on looking for new drugs for influenza, which masks will truly protect people, how sick people will be cared for when there aren't enough health-care workers and getting Canadians to agree on "fair and reasonable" distribution of vaccines.
In what is being described as the first large-scale mapping of bird flu viruses, researchers from St. Jude mapped 2,196 bird flu genes culled from ducks, gulls, shorebirds and poultry samples collected over 30 years, looking for patterns and comparing them to human flu bugs.
They also mapped the complete genome for 169 bird flu viruses. The work doubles the amount of genetic information available on avian flu.
The team honed in on a gene called NS 1. After looking at nearly 1,200 bird, human and swine NS 1 proteins, they found a particular feature of that gene which is unique in bird viruses and different from human ones.
In bird viruses, the gene produces a protein that allows the virus to bind to "scaffolding" proteins inside human cells.
"It's like a large number of policemen being held hostage. Society falls apart," says McGeer.
In human viruses, the protein doesn't bind to certain cells, which may explain why they're not as virulent.
It hasn't been proven yet. "But, we think that if you interfere with that many proteins in cells, you're going to have a deleterious consequences," said author Dr. Clayton Naeve of St. Jude.
The finding fits with what doctors on the ground in Asia have seen: The H5N1 virus can attack not just the airways, like regular flu, but multiple organs and systems, including the kidney, liver, spleen and brain. Infection has been fatal in more than half the reported cases, and most cases occur in previously healthy children and young adults.
The H5N1 avian flu sweeping across Asia has this "bird" form of the protein. The milder pandemics of 1957 and 1968 had the "human" one.
The 1918 Spanish flu virus, which scientists now believe came from birds, had a very similar "bird" protein that the researchers believe behaves the same way. The protein could become a key target for the development of vaccines and new anti-flu drugs.
McGeer says the research answers "a big piece of the puzzle.
"Does it tell you H5N1 is going to be the next pandemic? No. What it does is add to our understanding of the evolution of influenza viruses."
Naeve says it is possible that whatever makes H5N1 so pathogenic, or toxic to humans, could persist even if the virus adapts to spread easily from humans to humans, and becomes pandemic.
If or when that happens is anyone's guess. Some virologists believe H5N1 is not going to be the next human pandemic.
The virus, which surfaced in Hong Kong in 1997, has been in contact with humans for eight years "and we haven't seen the required mutation," says Dr. James Mahony, a professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University.
The 1918 virus, by contrast, jumped from birds to humans and was quickly lethal.
On Thursday, Indonesia reported that a 22-year-old chicken seller infected with the H5N1 virus died, the country's 15th death from bird flu.
China on Wednesday confirmed the country's 10th case of human infection with H5N1, a 29-year-old woman from Chengdu City in the province of Sichuan. It's not known if she was exposed to infected birds.
The virus has infected 152 people in six countries since 2003, killing 84 of them.
At least some species of migratory birds are carrying the virus to new areas along migratory flyways, according to a report presented this week to the WHO's executive board, and the chance the virus will spread to poultry in new areas "is now high."
Health officials in Canada are monitoring the outbreak of bird flu in Turkey, where two people have died. "To date, people are still convinced there is no efficient human to human transmission," says Tam, associate director of the immunization and respiratory infections division at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
But, "we really have no idea how this virus will behave next if it undergoes some mutation."
The updated influenza pandemic plan will include recommendations for the use of masks. Droplets, or larger "blobs" of secretions primarily spread flu. General surgical masks should be enough should a pandemic happen, Tam says.
"Public health experts feel that putting a mask on an ill person when they're coughing or sneezing and have to move around ... is a sensible thing to do.
"Having well people milling about on the streets wearing masks all the time, we don't know if it's effective or not."
The public focus will be on hand hygiene, Tam says.
Spirit and Opportunity, the spunky NASA rovers that have rolled around Mars for two years, are the unlikely stars of an IMAX movie, which opened on Friday, along with the astronomer who helped create them.
Millions of people have seen photos beamed down from Mars by the robotic rovers, on television or online, but the new film, "Roving Mars," puts together these images in a seamless moving picture and splashes it on a screen five stories high.
Steven Squyres, the rovers' principal scientific investigator and the movie's main narrator, said it gives an authentic feeling of actually being on the Red Planet. "I've kind of had this picture of what Mars really looks like in my head for all this time, and for the first time on that IMAX screen, what I saw with my eyes matched my impressions of what it should really look like," Squyres said in a Reuters interview. One reason it looks so real is that all the images in the film are based on pictures taken by the rovers' own cameras or from the scientific data they have collected. "Every single scene you see is real data from the rover, it's just processed in different ways," Squyres said. "There is not a single fake shot of Mars."
A seemingly impossible shot -- the view of an airbag-covered rover landing on the planet -- was created by digital artist Dan Maas from data collected by the rovers as they bounced. Each bounce was just as it happened, just where it happened on the Martian surface. Besides the rovers and Squyres, the other stars of the film are the thousands of people who worked on the project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere.
MORE than 5,000 British troops will be deployed in Afghanistan in a £1 billion mission the government says is vital to combat global terrorism. John Reid, the Defence Secretary, yesterday directly linked the deployment to Afghanistan - larger than many had expected - to the 11 September attacks on the US and the al-Qaeda terrorist network. But the mission to the unstable Helmand province in southern Afghanistan will leave the army overstretched even by the Ministry of Defence's own measures, Dr Reid admitted.
Under the so-called Harmony Guidelines, soldiers should be given 24 months between operational deployments. Questioned in the Commons, Dr Reid said the Afghan deployment would cut that average to 21 months "and that is not satisfactory".
Under a long-standing agreement with NATO partners, Britain will lead an expansion of the alliance's mission in Afghanistan, with the first additional troops arriving within months. Other countries, including Canada, will bring the NATO mission in Helmand to 9,000.
The 3,300 heavily armed troops Dr Reid announced yesterday will be preceded by 800 engineers. Along with British forces already in the country, the Afghan contingent will peak at 5,700 this summer. For most of the three-year mission, however, the British force in the country will number around 4,700, slightly more than half the size of the UK presence in southern Iraq.
MPs of all parties yesterday raised fears of confusion between the NATO "stability" mission and a separate US-led campaign to hunt down terrorists in Afghanistan. While Dr Reid insisted that the British troops' "primary mission" was not to hunt down al-Qaeda, he clearly linked the broader objectives of his deployment to defeating terrorism.
Reminding MPs that NATO troops first entered Afghanistan in 2001 to topple the Taleban regime that sheltered al-Qaeda, Dr Reid said the dangers of the deployment are justified.
"Whatever the difficulties and risks of this deployment - and I do not hide them - those risks are nothing compared to the dangers to our country and our people of allowing Afghanistan to fall back into the hands of the Taleban and the terrorists," he said.
Dr Reid's admission about the Harmony rules was not the only sign that the Afghan mission will put pressure on the armed forces. Up to 200 of the core deployment could be reservists, some of whom were also called up for service in Iraq. Senior army officers have admitted they are concerned that MoD planners are relying heavily on the Territorial Army for current operations, forcing some reservists to quit and harming recruitment of new part-time soldiers.
The second front will also put strain on the RAF. Air Force commanders have said that transporting troops to south Asia will be a struggle, and they could be forced to charter commercial planes to cope. Some soldiers in Iraq have effectively been stranded by a shortage of transport planes; others have been forced to travel on public transport back to their bases on return to Britain.
Angus Robertson, the SNP MP whose Moray constituency includes the Kinloss and Lossiemouth RAF bases, yesterday challenged Dr Reid about transporting the Afghan force. In reply, Dr Reid admitted that Air Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Air Staff, is still "trying to make sure" that there are enough appropriate planes "that we can make sure our soldiers get home properly".
BRITAIN'S overstretched army could lose the equivalent of an infantry battalion because of a law about to be passed in South Africa. Following Sir Mark Thatcher's involvement in a failed African coup plotted in South Africa, the government there is introducing legislation planned to control its citizens' involvement in foreign military organisations.
Though aimed mainly at mercenary groups, the law will also cover South African nationals serving in the British military. The new rules are expected to take effect within weeks. There are 710 South African nationals serving in British forces, 650 of them in the army.
The Ministry of Defence has admitted that once South Africa's Prohibition of Mercenary Activity Act takes force, Britain will have to seek Pretoria's permission for South African nationals to enlist in the British services. Separate permission will have to be sought should Britain want to send South Africans to conflict zones such as Iraq. South Africa strongly opposed the invasion of Iraq. Adam Ingram, the armed forces minister, admitted in a written answer to parliament that the law "would require permission to be sought for South African personnel to serve in the UK armed forces".
Charles Nqakula, South Africa's safety and security minister, confirmed that it will become illegal for South African citizens to serve in the British Army at a time when the UK is at war. That last para from Comrade Nqakula is curious in light of recent visits by the Iranians. Comrade Nqakula received his military training in Angola, the FSU, and East Germany in the mid-80's I might add. Beseoker post.
#1
Any chance these guys are gettign ready to provide a blocking mission for the Americans as they go into Pakistan, and start chasing the non-infidels directley into the hands of the British?
#4
LOL, Nimble. That's an unfortunate moniker for the Air Marshal to be saddled with, for sure. Almost as bad as that General Chicken fella the Chinese are always on about.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006 14:54
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OK, I'm gonna piss in the punchbowl and say the Brits, NATO, and many of the American troops don't need to be there. The western troop commitment is as large as the 35,000 man Afghan army. The European forces don't need to patrol Kabul. The Afghans are perfectly capable of, and more effective at, doing that themselves. The Afghans should be the ones leading the fight against the Taliban and their Pakistani cohorts. We try to do too much for others, and in the process, weaken them. The Afghans have had four years for reorganization and rebuilding. Let them run with the ball.
In addition, I would like to see American forces concentrate on:
1. Training and equiping the Afghan military to full strength.
2. Hunting down Al Qaeda on both sides of the border.
3. Provide an overwatch force against any large scale action from Pakistan or Iran.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006 15:05
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The British Army is only about 100,000 and they have troops deployed in Bosnia/Kosovo(4,000), Iraq(8,000), Afghanistan, Northern Ireland(10,000), Middle East(4,000), Falklands, Sierra Leone, as well as non hazardous duty stations like Germany and Gibralter.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006 15:16
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#8
Pull the troops out of Germany and South Korea.
#9
The EU has 400 hundred million peplez, give or take 100 mil, and they demand full status recognition in world affairs.
How can they be taken seriously when they haven't funded or commited more organic expeditionary brigades fully capable of sustaining combat, engineering, training or supply?
Why hasn't this cockaroach already smoked his last Cohibas con el veneno?
Miami groups backing Fidel Castro's government today are calling on the Bush administration to extradite accused Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela. Get yer free Havana Cruise line tickets here!
The Alianza Martiana, the Antonio Maceo Brigade, the Asociación Jose Marti and Círculo Bolivariano of Miami are among the groups holding a press conference this morning to demand Posada's extradition. Posada currently is being held in detention in El Paso, Texas. Still looking for the next Tony Montana?
Venezuela wants to try Posada for the bombing of a Cuban jetliner in 1976 that killed 73 people. At the time, Posada was a top official in the Venezuelan state security agency. Cuba has accused Posada of masterminding a string of bombings at Cuban hotels in 1997 and 1998. A federal immigration judge has ruled that Posada cannot be extradited to Cuba or Venezuela because he could face torture. The federal government will decide soon if Posada can be released under supervision or if there's another country that will take him. Why hasn't the US agreed to honor its decade old extradition treaty with Venezuela or its obligations under the 'Convention on Safety in Civil Aviation'? Could be that Venezuela's "institutional crisis" that can't insure no ill-treatment or torture. Perhaps the US finds Chavezs professed desire to spread his "Bolivarian" revolution adversarial. Then again it could be... this.
There are really only two bad choices, Senator Clinton. One is the present "outsourcing" course: Let the Europeans exhaust negotiations, pressure the Chinese and Russians to allow the matter to go to the U.N., bolster Turkey and the Arab Gulf states and advise them to build a regional coalition to contain the problem, hope that Ahmadinejad alienates the world even more. Then, perhaps, sometime during this process, a popular uprising or even a right-wing worried cleric will thwart the nuclear party in Iran before this latest Great Mahdi gets the bomb, and with it impunity through national adulation.
The other unmentionable alternative —if we set aside the real appeasement of letting the mullahs have the bomb, or the equally cowardly policy of gently suggesting that the Israelis do the deed, or some Lord of the Rings fantasy about a grand aerial armada of NATO, American, and Russian jets descending in bombing formation over the modern forge of Mordor —is a preemptive (or in-sourced) American "air strike."
Perhaps two or three weeks of messy bombing, shown on CNN round-the-clock. Unavoidable collateral damage served up hourly on Al Jazeera as "genocide". Missed targets, followed by worries about retribution from terrorists, now armed with nuclear waste and righteous indignation, vowing to "avenge" the infidel attack. Shiite turmoil in Iraq. Investigations into overflights of Muslim airspace. Contention over American use of Turkish, Iraqi, or Kuwaiti facilities to attack another Muslim country. Iranian-backed Hezbollah incursions into Israel. Fierce denunciations from the Russians and Chinese. Private glee and public 'remorse' from the Europeans. Pulitzer-prizes and whistle-blower adulation for CIA leakers and Washington Post up-and-coming reporters. More Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky rants, reverberated by yet more shrillness from Sens. Boxer, Durbin, and Kennedy. Sky-high oil prices with the attendant conspiratorial talk about oil grabs and Zionist plotting. And more still.
All that mess is what killing bin Laden and stopping Iranian nukes may well be about, if we don't "outsource" responsibilities —however glib that sounds on a Democratic blog or thrown out as a gnarly bone to an oohing and aahing academic audience.
#1
some Lord of the Rings fantasy about a grand aerial armada of NATO, American, and Russian jets descending in bombing formation over the modern forge of Mordor
#1
"It is, of course, bigoted and unfair to tar Jews for the misdeeds of their co-religionists. But thats what antisemites do and in this case their job is easier, thanks to Abramoff, Fastow and their sycophantic supporters in the Jewish community."
#2
Some observers, including New York Times columnist Frank Rich, already have begun to connect the dots
lol! I really don't need to read much further, do I?
But I did, curious as I was. Just when you don't think the democratic party can sink any lower... What next? They will want to put women in burkas? It's not far off, really it's not.
Arab League: Hamas will have to recognize Israel
[I didn't use this title because the underlying message is more important]By Ora Koren, Aluf Benn, Lilach Weissman, Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
DAVOS - Hamas will have to accept the Beirut initiative, which calls for full Arab recognition of Israel, despite its declared stands, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said Friday, following the Hamas victory in the Palestinian legislative elections.
I've got most of the big 'uns under control, I think, but I know there are more out there. So please let me know about bugs here...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2006
10:00 ||
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#1
I already let Fred know that some folks' cookies are getting mangled when they post articles to the holding tank. (Besoeker, you're not the only one!) Fred will take a look at that this weekend.
#4
For some reason I got stuck with a generated name on one of my machines and couldn't get my real name to stick until I dumped cookies. Luckily it was a dev machine, but you might give it a try as a desperation measure.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2006 11:01
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#5
Archives is fixed.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2006 11:04
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#6
Fred - will be in and out all day. If you want traces from myside of anything... just ask and I will fire up a sniffer and try the test.
I found these wedged in 'tween the site meter and one of the Blogads. Looks like Aris's slippers eh. He must have kicked the port door on the way out when he huffed off last week.
Do we have a lost 'n found here at the 'burg?
#14
Dunno if it's the program or my computer (or Comcast, or Explorer, or the moon is in the 7th house.... Oh, wait..) - BUT after I enter a comment, when I hit the "back" button to return to the list it won't go back. After about 3 tries, I get this popping up at the top of the screen about the Rantburg logo:
"Warning: pg_query(): Query failed: ERROR: duplicate key violates unique constraint "userspk" in /home/www/www.rantburg.com/htdocs/poparticle.php on line 17"
(the "line 17" part may vary; not sure)
It's not a big deal - just thought you might want to know in case it's something to do with the program, server, whatever on your end.
No matter how many times we say it, Fred, we can never thank you enough for all that you do for us. (The other eds help, too, but you're the main MAN!)
This world would be a much lonelier place without Rantburg. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/27/2006 19:24
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A giant Pacific octopus that attacked a remotely operated submarine off north Vancouver Island could have been senile or maybe just peckish, a marine biologist said Wednesday. "Large male octopuses in the last part of their lives become senescent, or senile," said Jim Cosgrove of the Royal B.C. Museum. "They get to be like humans, doddering old fools that have inappropriate behaviours such as being out in the daytime," said Cosgrove, an expert in octopus behaviour.
Because somebody has to be and it might as well be him.
The attack occurred Nov. 18, 2005, off Brooks Peninsula, on the northwest coast of the Island. The submarine was 55 metres deep and Mike Wood was on a boat on the surface, guiding the submarine along the ocean floor looking for electronic receivers that detect salmon. "I had the ROV [remote operated vehicle] with its manipulator claw attached on a ground rope. It took me two hours to find this particular receiver. The octopus came from the receiver direction about 30 to 50 feet." The octopus anchored three tentacles on the same cable the vehicle was holding onto "and a fourth tentacle shot forward very fast and wrapped around my manipulator claw."
Wood immediately threw the sub into reverse and blasted the octopus with sand and debris from the ocean floor. The sub has about 50 kilograms of thrust "so it's quite powerful," Wood said. In a video recording, the octopus whips its tentacles around as it tries to deal with the sub's counterattack. "Eventually it releases the vehicle and it gets blasted off into the distance," said Wood. The octopus was not injured, he said.
Understatement of the year alert:
"It's unusual for something like this to happen, a giant Pacific octopus attacking an underwater robot," said Wood, suggesting this is probably the first time it has been recorded.
#2
There it is again, a friendly, male attempt at harmless conversation, mistaken for geriatric senality or a desire for sex or victals. Happens to me all too quite frequently.
giant Pacific octopus that attacked a remotely operated submarine off north Vancouver Island could have been senile or maybe just peckish, a marine biologist said Wednesday. "Large male octopuses in the last part of their lives become senescent, or senile," said Jim Cosgrove of the Royal B.C. Museum. "They get to be like humans, doddering old fools that have inappropriate behaviours such as being out in the daytime," said Cosgrove, an expert in octopus behaviour.
Maria Cantwell is reportedly nervous about a primary challenge from the octopus.
#10
"They get to be like humans, doddering old fools that have inappropriate behaviours such as being out in the daytime," said Cosgrove, an expert in octopus behaviour.
mostly blah, blah until this:
"...Sources close to Kerry, who lost to Bush in the 2004 race, told CNN that the senator was calling colleagues from Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum. He announced his decision to support a filibuster Wednesday at a meeting of his Democratic colleagues." The Kos kids, DU and Move-on are, I think, are already somewaht ticked at Senator Empty Shirt for going to the World Economic Forum in Davos and they will be, unless I miss my guess, more upset at the futile postering of calling for a filibuster from 4000 miles away.
#4
If you think John is bewildering, a short bit about TK.
According to the G2 Bulletin, an online intelligence newsletter of WorldNetDaily, in the years between 1995-2001 Teresa Kerry gave more than $4 million to an organization called the Tides Foundation. And what does the Tides Foundation do with John Heinz's money?
They support numerous antiwar groups, including Ramsey Clark's International Action Center. Clark has offered to defend Saddam Hussein when he's tried.
They support the Democratic Justice Fund, a joint venture of the Tides Foundation and billionaire hate-monger George Soros. The Democratic Justice Fund seeks to ease restrictions on Muslim immigration from "terrorist" states.
They support the Council for American-Islamic Relations, whose leaders are known to have close ties to the terrorist group, Hamas.
They support the National Lawyers Guild, organized as a communist front during the Cold War era. One of their attorneys, Lynne Stewart, has been arrested for helping a client, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, communicate with terror cells in Egypt. He is the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
They support the "Barrio Warriors," a radical Hispanic group whose primary goal is to return all of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to Mexico.
These are but a few of the radical groups that benefit, through the anonymity provided by the Tides Foundation, from the generosity of our would-be first lady, the wealthy widow of Republican senator John Heinz, and now the wife of the Democratic senator who aspires to be the 44th President of the United States.
Aiding and supporting our enemies is not good for America, regardless of your political views.
If voters will open their eyes, educate themselves and see the real Teresa Heinz Kerry, they will not appreciate her position as ultra rich fairy godmother of the radical left. They will not want to imagine her laying her head on a pillow each night inches away from the President of the United States.
Hopefully they love this country enough to decide that the only way these two will ever be allowed into the White House is with an engraved invitation in hand.
January 27, 2006: After two decades of use, the U.S. Department of Defense is getting rid of its Beretta M9 9mm pistol, and going back to the 11.4mm (.45 caliber) weapon. There have been constant complaints about the lesser (compared to the .45) hitting power of the 9mm. And in the last few years, SOCOM (Special Operations Command) and the marines have officially adopted .45 caliber pistols as official alternatives to the M9 Beretta. But now SOCOM has been given the task of finding a design that will be suitable as the JCP (Joint Combat Pistol). Various designs are being evaluated, but all must be .45 caliber and have a eight round magazine (at least), and high capacity mags holding up to 15. The new .45 will also have a rail up top for attachments, and be able to take a silencer. Length must be no more than 9.65 inches, and width no more than 1.53 inches.
The M1911 .45 caliber pistol that the 9mm Beretta replaced in 1985, was, as its nomenclature implied, an old design. There are several modern designs out there for .45 caliber pistols that are lighter, carry more ammo and are easier to maintain than the pre-World War I M1911 (which is actually about a century old, as a design). The Department of Defense plans to buy 645,000 JCPs. SOCOM will, with input from other branches, handle the evaluation and final selection. This will take place this year, and if the military moves with unaccustomed alacrity, troops could start getting their JCPs next year. But dont hold your breath.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2006
08:35 ||
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#1
"Official Alternatives"...un-****ing believable. I thought I would never see this day.
Posted by: Billy Dee Williams ||
01/27/2006 9:06
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#3
DOD made a good call on this. I would expect it to move faster than it is eluded to here. The trend is troops, on the Army side, want what the SF guys are carrying and the SF guys want what the classified guy wear. You see this in discussions on body armor, long guns, aircraft, etc... If I were to bet I would bet on a clear winner by this summer.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 9:25
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#4
The M1911 .45 caliber pistol that the 9mm Beretta replaced in 1985, was, as its nomenclature implied, an old design. There are several modern designs out there for .45 caliber pistols that are lighter, carry more ammo and are easier to maintain than the pre-World War I M1911 (which is actually about a century old, as a design).
Well most of the 45s were M1911A1s, mod occurring in 1921. Though in our arms room in 1975 still had some straight M1911s mixed in with the A1s. Too many smoothbores cause of maintenance and repair parts budget cuts back in those post-Vietnam years. Personally, I procured a Colt Combat Commander, lighter, balanced in the hand better, shorter barrel. Nothing necessarily wrong with an old design. Browning's M2 50 cal is still a workhorse.
#5
HooRay! Among all the old farts salts there was much rejoicing. I can think of at least 9 senior NCOs and Officers in my guard unit alone who will be delighted at the news.
Serously, all they need now is to get rid of the 5.56 mouse gun.
I wonder if they are going to manufacture new M-14s, or come up with a new 7.62 design.
Posted by: N guard ||
01/27/2006 10:03
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#6
Long live John Browning's masterpiece, "Old Ugly!"
Posted by: Mike ||
01/27/2006 10:10
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#7
That's kinda odd.
Will we be totally abandoning the 9mm NATO round and usage?
I hope the M11 winner is the Sig model.
*heart* P220.
#8
I carried the sig for three years, loved that weapon!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 11:10
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#9
US State Dept. lads used to carry Sigs in 9mm. Not sure wat they have now. I've been lusting after a P-229 for several years now. A man can never have too many knives or guns.
#12
TA, lucky to say nope, it is not even in the running.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 11:37
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#13
Personally, I like my Colt 1917 45cal officers revolver..the one with the lanyard loop on the butt. More accurate than the 1911 automatic, unless it was fitted with the competition barrel.
However, if you want some combat fighting firepower, here's something coming down the pike... Click here: Auto Assault 12 Combat Shotgun
The length, width, rail and silencer are pulled straight off the USP SOCOM spec page. I would think that would be rejected out of hand as they say "not to exceed". However, if I see the artic expedition glove requirement.....
The issue seems to be that SOCOM built that tank and the boys will not carry it, too large, heavy,slow to draw, etc... It was to be used for a one size fits all requirements, a failed idea. I would expect to see a standard sized .45 version that with minor modifications fit the CQB and other tactical requirements.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 12:58
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#18
The sooner the US military gets rid of that 5.56mm M-16 popgun, the better. I've got a .22 single-shot rifle that has more stopping power. Combat shotguns are good for close-in work, but to reach out and touch someone, you need at LEAST 7.62. The Ma-deuce will still be around for another hundred years, simply because it's a classic design that's easy to maintain and can take a beating and still work. Of course, I think the ultimate military weapon would be a pair of the gattling guns from an A-10 mounted on an M-1 chassis.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/27/2006 14:34
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#19
49 Pan,
H&K does have a standard size .45 and a compact .45. I'm pretty sure the H&K SOCOM (or Mrk 23) was built to SOCOM specs and not intended for general issue.
If you'll indulge me...I think the H&K SOCOM specs read like this: Must be .45. Must have positive manual safety. Must be able to chop down trees, split trees into planks, nails planks together to make bridge, kill 12 bad guys silently without reloading and then use butt of gun to destory the aforementioned bridge. Must have a service life or 60,000 rounds.
The USP is it's country boy-strong cousin minus the steroids. It comes in standard double-stack and compact double-stack size. You could probably nail the planks together, but chopping down the trees with it voids the warranty. The bad guy stopping would be noisy as there is no silencer. Service life is approx 20,000 rounds before you have to replace the recoil spring so buy a couple of spare springs.
The USP Tactical comes in standard and compact size as well (don't know if the compact is commercially available). It's difference from the USP is a threaded barrel with O-ring for a silencer, match trigger and adjustable sights. So, no nailing or chopping if you don't want to be zeroing the sights constantly.
Problem with the USP? No standard rail. H&K has developed a new sidearm blending the USP and P2000 lines to create the H&K .45 w/ standard rails (so I've heard and seen one picture).
Yes, I am a H&K bigot and a H&Kaholic. Why do you ask?
#20
"Will we be totally abandoning the 9mm NATO round and usage?"
Dear God I hope so. As a lower recoil Law Enforcement round, a hollow point 9mm is useful. But as a NATO (FMJ) round it's only good for making small clean (accurate) holes in paper. This make you look good on the firing range, but dead in a combat situation when your target fails to stop even after having been hit many times.
#21
Old Patriot ultimate military weapon would be a pair of the gattling guns from an A-10 mounted on an M-1 chassis.
All I can say imagining that is DAYYYUM!!!
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/27/2006 15:35
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#22
Food for thought: Better to have gone with the M9 than to have kept reusing the in-stock M1911s, but the move to make a NEW .45 is best. As the original post (OP) specifically states, there are better .45-caliber pistols than the M1911. My reason for that "blasphemous" sentence is physics -- at least the M9s were new, unlike old-ass M1911 frames, such as the originals mixed with A1's. The design may work, but the old frames themselves... at least we're both getting new frames/guns in 'fo-faive'.
**Let the Gun Bigot Wars Begin!**
Yep, that's what I think of some of you. :P The 7.62 fetishism... bleh. N guard and Old Patriot, I'd take the 5.56mm -- yes, in the M16 platform -- over any of the above.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
01/27/2006 15:55
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#23
.com--I have that shirt. My only complaint is there's no .357 on it!
OP--I like that! Kind of a new fangled M-16 AA/AP platform, although I think they should use a Bradley or Stryker chassis.
Posted by: Dar ||
01/27/2006 15:57
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#24
I am wondering if S&W will have a 45ACP design in this fight? In any case I want the gun built here even if by license. I don't think we should support the welfare states of people to timid to fight this war and who are anti-US.
I am not biased heheheh. I have a reloading bench set up just for the 45ACP andf a Corbin swedge for squirting out my own soft lead.
#25
This is good news! The "smack" of the .45 c is impressive.
Long overdue, much welcomed.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/27/2006 16:47
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#26
Look. As long as you use that white phosphorous depleted uranium hollow point high explosive armor piercing napalm cluster bomb ammunition, you can use any gun you want.
If your a hillbilly from KY I've got a deck that needs building and some trees to facilitate it! H&K makes great weapons and I'm glad we have FINALLY gotten back to a .45 and your two sizes fits the mark. I certainly hope they enter and I could care less where it is built, we will stand up a facility to manage it just like we do for every other foreign gun we buy and out troops won't go without repair parts.
Last thought- I heard that when they go to field testing they will bring in operators, not engineers to do the testing. This will be interesting as the best engineered weapon is not always the best one for combat.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 17:59
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#31
49 Pan,
I live in TN, so sorry about helping you with the deck. It would have been a glorious deck...not a square angle to be found on it, mind you, but glorious all the same. :)
As I understand it, H&K actually broke ground on a new manufacturing plant some where in GA, but halted building when the XM-8 deal starting falling apart. They are also making a limited number of receivers for the M4 series. No civie sales of that though.
#32
Howdy, psyco, how you doin'? Edward Yee, I have used both the M-14 and M-16. I prefer the M-14. The M-16 is a good weapon but when I hit someone with an M-14 he goes down. First hit. with the M-16 it might take more than one round, also, in heavy undervrush a small twig can deflect an M-16 round but not an M-14. If you have an Army of draftees where marksmanship is not a priority for the draftee then the light weight and rapid fire of the M-16 is preferable. In a volunteer Army where you have dedicated people the 7.62 round is preferable. Note this is only my opinion.
#33
The previous comment was me. and, by the way, I carry a .45 Springfield for concealed carry.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/27/2006 18:35
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#34
Doing great, Deacon. Thanks for asking. I would ask you how things are up there in God's Country, but we all know it's never a bad day in East TN. Had an opportunity to shoot a Spingfield .45 last week. Not bad. Quite accurate, in fact.
#35
For the new battle rifle, I hope that we go with the SOCOM-developed 6.8 SPC. It has the major advantages of the 5.56 -- more ammo per grunt than 7.62 NATO, lower recoil, fully auto if needed; and the range and knockdown improvements.
#37
The 9mm only succeeds in making who ever you shoot very angry.
The .45 will send even a large person to the ground even with a flesh wound and it will kick the snot out of someone in body armor and put them down.
I shot two guys with a .45 in a saper raid in I-Corps and one of them went about 5 feet through the air.
I think the 30/06 is a fine round and now that we are through with our fixation over jungle warfare and have to reach out to 200 and 300 meters to engage the bad guys, it warrants a large caliber weapon.
I liked the .45 because it made a lot of noise in a closed space and it was really a neat weapon with lots of stopping power.
#38
SOG475, I have never had to shoot a person with my .45 but I did shoot a groundhog at about 20 feet. I hit him between the shoulders in the back and there was nothing left from the shoulders foreward. I would not like to be hit by a .45.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/27/2006 20:18
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BAGHDAD - Iraqi special forces backed by US troops raided houses in Baghdad on Friday and detained at least 35 suspected insurgents, police said. The operation began at about 6 a.m. and was being conducted in several southwestern Baghdad neighborhoods, with security forces searching homes, stopping cars at checkpoints and frisking people, said Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi. It was not immediately clear why the operation was launched, but there has been a large number ambushes and drive-by killings in this sector of Baghdad during the past week.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2006
08:34 ||
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BASRA, Iraq - Basras governor threatened on Friday to stop dealing with British forces unless they release several Iraqis detained this week, including policemen, suspected of links to local killings and kidnappings. Gov. Mohammed al-Waeli also called for a mass demonstration on Sunday outside the British consulate in downtown Basra, Iraqs second-largest city 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, to demand the release of the men, who were detained Tuesday in a joint Iraqi-British operation. Tuesdays raids come amid an upsurge of roadside bombings and other violent acts targeting British troops, Iraqi security forces and local citizens in Basra, the main base for British forces in Iraq. Basras police force has long been believed to have been infiltrated by Shiite militiamen.
Basras provincial council and all government offices will suspend all kinds of dealings with the (British) forces at all levels if they dont release the detainees, al-Waeli told The Associated Press. He also called for security control in Basra to be handed over to the Iraqi forces and that the British forces should be stationed outside the city. The Basra provincial council demands the central government intervene to ensure the release of the detainees, he said, condemning what he described as the random arrests conducted by British forces.
Fourteen people were detained in the early morning raids, British officials said, who said nine were released but five others - all policemen - were jailed for alleged roles in murder and other crimes connected to rival tribal and militias. British military officials have said Iraqs Interior Ministry ordered the arrests and that local officials were forewarned about the operations.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2006
08:21 ||
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Unlike in the rest of the country, the British in Basra have let the locals maintain much of their repugnant traditions of the past. This is a guarantee of problems in the present and future; all due to the misguided respect the British have for the "Arab way".
A Thai woman who set a world record by spending 32 days in a cage with 3,400 scorpions is to marry a man who holds a similarly creepy record for centipedes.
The couple will marry on Valentine's Day and plan to consummate their vows in a coffin, according to a sponsor. The pair met while performing their respective stunts at a snake farm.
Honest, we just can't make this stuff up
Kanchana Ketkaew's record was broken in 2004 by a Malaysian woman. Her fiancee, Bunthawee Siengwong, set his record by spending 28 days with 1,000 centipedes.
"The couple met and fell in love when they were touring together after winning their records," according to Somporn Naksuetrong, general manager of Ripley's World of Entertainment, in Pattaya. He said the couple planned to have a traditional Thai wedding ceremony, where elders bless the couple with DDT water. But instead of following Thai tradition and heading to a "wedding room" after exchanging vows, the pair plans to climb into a coffin, he was quoted as saying by the AP agency.
Kanchana Ketkaew, 36, was stung nine times while setting her 2002 record. "It was like being in a room at home, only with thousands of little friends," she said at the time.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2006
08:13 ||
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But instead of following Thai tradition and heading to a "wedding room" after exchanging vows, the pair plans to climb into a coffin, and move to California.....he was quoted as saying by the AP agency.
#3
What a romantic story! Too bad we couldn't run this story on Valentine's Day. I'm delighted they found each other. Mazel tov to the happy couple and all their...little friends.
Canadian Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper has defended plans to send military ice-breakers to the Arctic in defiance of criticism from Washington.
2006, when the seeds of the Ice War were planted
US ambassador David Wilkins said on Wednesday that Washington opposed the plan and, like most other countries, did not recognise Canada's claims. Mr Harper said his mandate was from the Canadian people, not Mr Wilkins. Mr Harper's Conservatives have promised to defend Canada's northern waters from claims by the US, Russia and Denmark.
"We will fight them on the beaches, we will fight them on the hockey rinks, we shall never surrender! By the way, can you loan us a few guns?"
And a plane to get us to where you're violating our sovereignty?
The Conservative plans include the construction and deployment of three new armed heavy ice-breaking ships and an underground network of listening posts.
Damm expansionist Canadians!
The BBC's Lee Carter in Toronto says Canada has only recently woken up to the fact that, with global warming being blamed for melting ice in the Arctic, the so-far-mythical northwest passage, which could link the Atlantic and the Pacific, may in fact become a reality. The US and Canada, together with Denmark, Norway and Russia, have competing claims on parts of the Arctic and the economic bounty they may yield, including trade routes, fishing rights, pelts of cute baby seals, and oil and gas. The US has challenged Canada's current claims, saying that it considers much of the region to be international waters. Ambassador Wilkins described the Canadian position as creating a problem that did not exist, prompting an angry reaction from Mr Harper. "The United States defends its sovereignty, the Canadian government will defend our sovereignty," he said. "It is the Canadian people we get our mandate from, not the ambassador of the United States."
Will we see Canadians marching with signs protesting "No Blood for Ice"?
Mr Harper had criticised election opponents for attacking the US in a bid to win votes.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2006
07:56 ||
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The BBC's Lee Carter in Toronto says Canada has only recently woken up to the fact that, with global warming being blamed for melting ice in the Arctic, the so-far-mythical northwest passage, which could link the Atlantic and the Pacific, may in fact become a reality.
#4
The BBC's Lee Carter in Toronto says Canada has only recently woken up to the fact that, with global warming being blamed for melting ice in the Arctic, the so-far-mythical northwest passage, which could link the Atlantic and the Pacific, may in fact become a reality.
*sigh*
I wonder if anyone's pointed out to them that even at the largest temperature increase predicted, the Arctic will still be below freezing.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/27/2006 9:39
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I suppose it's a reasonable tradeoff. We don't put up too much of a stink about their claims to the Arctic, and they'll do the same for us regarding the Straits of Hormuz.
#11
I think there is an interesting and deliberate political dance being started here. I think that the Americans would rather see the North West Passage being in Canadian waters because it gives them more influence than if it were international waters. (Do the Americans really want Russian and Chinese warships freely bobbing around up there?) And there is no better way for the US to put pressure on Canada to actually beef up its military than by "taking away" our True North.
Note, too, that the NORAD agreement is up for renewal. This time though it is to be signed with no renewal date. There is also negociation to include naval defenses of North America and not just air defense.
So what is in the best strategic interest of the US? International waters to the north of Canada or joint defense of a major shipping lane and potentially massive natural resource?
#12
I like your analysis Canuck, and I like Mr. Harper's reminder to the citizens that Canada is a sovereign nation, and as such is required to define and muster some defense of its borders.
A defense that might even require some amount of pointy and projectile-flinging objects, persons trained in the use of said objects, and vaguely menacing floating personnel containers, perhaps also appointed with pointy and projectile-flinging objects.
Welcome back to the Anglosphere, cousins! We've missed you.
#20
Thus Article 16(4) of the Geneva
Convention provided that: There shall be no suspension of the innocent passage of foreign ships through straits which are used in international navigation between one part of the high seas and another part of the high seas or the territorial sea of a foreign State.
#23
Gosh Phil details, details. You know Canada would never stop anyone from entering or exiting their waterway, or country for that matter, two days ago when there was a shootout at the border the guards ran.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 18:06
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#24
I say good thing he is asserting his "Canada first" mind set. I have no problem with that. Canada is not 52nd a US state like many wish it was.
All my lefty Canadian pals are frothed up because he said "God Bless Canada". He is a "radical fundementalist" they think. They are young and beleive the Liberal party propaganda.
Message to PM elect Harper. Don't take lessons from us. We haven't got that down yet.
#28
I'd like to see one historical source that says this region is contested, i.e., show me one historically alternate name for the Queen Elizabeth Islands, in Russian, Chinese, Danish, or whatever.
All this "contested" bullshit is just coming out of the woodwork now. This isn't Antarctica. Land claims have been settled a long time ago, +/- Hans Island.
Posted by: Rafael ||
01/27/2006 22:59
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Tehran, 27 Jan. (AKI) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said Friday that a compromise proposal by Russia - allowing Tehran to enrich uranium on Russian soil - was not enough to meet Tehran's energy needs. Speaking to reporters on his return from a visit to China, Ali Larijani said "Russia's initiative should be more comprehensive" and needed to be "discussed and improved. The US and the European Union are pressing to have Iran's case referred to the UN Security Council and a board meeting of the UN's atomic watchdog will debate this next week.
Regarding the Russian proposal, Larijani said its "capacity is not sufficient for Iran's nuclear technology. It can be part of a package and taken into consideration within it." Iran says it only wants nuclear technology to generate electricity, not make weapons. Iran has said it plans to build as many as 20 nuclear power reactors, generating 20 GW of electricity over the next two decades. It has still not completed its first reactor, being built with Russian assistance in Bushehr. "It cannot be said that it is a negative proposal. We therefore considered it worthy of studying, and worthy of completion," Larijani said.
"Could take years of study, and many, many luncheons."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/27/2006
07:52 ||
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Iran goes Tepid ... At some point, Iran will go "Ballistic."
Step right up!
Pyongyang, January 26 (KCNA) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is making good use of Jinju and Kumgang medicinal stones, natural minerals for the improvement of health. Jinju medicinal stone, whose medicinal effect has been found out recently, properly contains inorganic ingredients including Ca, Mg, Fe, Si, Ge and Se and more than 20 organic substances including alanine, glycine, linolic acid and oleic acid. Kinda...crunchy though. Ouch!
Especially, it has many kinds of organic substances that are not found in other minerals. Its Ge content is 100,000 times that of Koryo insam with 0.1-1.4~1016 mg. Whatever that means...
Kumgang medicinal stone, called active natural mineral complex, also contains over 60 kinds of mineral matters and some 10 kinds of rare earth elements which are necessary for the promotion of enzyme activity, nucleic acid metabolism and physiological function. Mmmmmmmmmmm...stones!
The Paeksung Trade Technology Exchange Company pulverizes the Jinju and Kumgang medicinal stones until 3? for medical use. They are efficacious for sedation, spasmolysis, defervescence, detoxication, diuresis, hemostasis, diabetes, skin disorders, digestive diseases, epilepsy, tuberculosis, various cancers and arteriosclerosis. Yes. But can it cure painful rectal itch?
In particular, the active natural mineral complex helps children grow fast. The growth rate is double for boys and quadruple for girls. And it improves their physical strength and vigor. South Korea attacked by gigantic North Korean schoolchildren. Film at eleven...
The natural medicinal minerals, the clinical test of which proves no after-effects, are popular among people. Can I have some more medicinal stone, mom, so I can grow up to be a gigantic commie and fight the rabid Yankee dog imperialists?
They also are available for health food, purification of drinking water, animals' feed and cosmetics. It's a medicine! It's a floor wax! It's a house paint!
it's a supplement for undernourished kids who unfortunately really need it ... and the sad thing is, they're so cut off from the outside world that they probably think this is a big breakthrough demonstrating the unique insights of Korean science.
#3
"Step up folks to Uncle Perks rootin',tootin', shootin'' oil. Guaranteed to cure fits, farts, freckles, shits, shinola stains and sore assholes. And guaranteed to slow a 7 years itch to a 2 day scratch!"
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/27/2006 11:47
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In particular, the active natural mineral complex helps children grow fast. The growth rate is double for boys and quadruple for girls. And it improves their physical strength and vigor.
Simple to accomplish when your test subjects come in as severely malnourished kids and leave as only moderately malnourished. Kinda like the reverse of the Nazi "experiments" on the effects of freezing on humans.
#8
Jinju medicinal stone, whose medicinal effect has been found out recently, properly contains inorganic ingredients including Ca, Mg, Fe, Si, Ge and Se and more than 20 organic substances including alanine, glycine, linolic acid and oleic acid.
WTF? Been a LONG time since I had Geology, but these don't sound like naturally occurring combos in stone. Obviously this leads to one conclusion: Jinju Medicinal Stone is people! and rocks...
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006 16:41
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Well, Silicon isn't really toxic, but Selenium and Germanium sure the hell are.
I NEVER would have predicted THIS!
Hamas and Fatah gunmen exchanged fire in the Gaza Strip on Friday, the first of many such gun battles since the Islamic militant group crushed the long-dominant Palestinian faction in a parliamentary election, witnesses said. In an effort to prove to the world that they were capable of managing their own affairs through civil discourse, at least two people were wounded in the clash near the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the witnesses said, describing the incident as a feud over the election results. calling it the beginnings of a "civil" war give's 'em too much credit. more of an "uncivil" war
After the results of Wednesday's vote were announced, Hamas called for immediate talks among factions to discuss formation of a new government. But leaders of Abbas's long-dominant Fatah party said they wanted no part in such a coalition. Hamas's triumph in winning 76 seats in the 132-member Palestinian parliament against 43 for Fatah was widely seen as a political earthquake in the Middle East, triggered in part by voter disenchantment with corruption. you get what you pay for
#7
Another story I saw about this incident sez the shooting began right after the standard Friday prayerscall to arms...The violence erupted, they said, after Hamas militants were angered by a sermon by a Fatah-appointed Muslim preacher during Friday prayers.
#10
So, the bigger question needs to be asked here. The festivities are amusing and all that, but.......
Israel made an agreement at Oslo, which involved a bunch of things with the Paleos. Being a water and sewer guy, I always go back to infrastructure: electricity, water, sewer. Israel agreed to sell power and water to Gaza and the PA as required. However, who becomes the PA after Fatah gives up? Would it be Hamas? Now if Hamas becomes the authority (PA), and they do not formally renounce their aims of destroying Israel, why should Israel help them in any way, giving them resources that will work toward the destruction of Israel? If Israel does this, then it is suicide by the installment plan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/27/2006 15:36
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excellent point AP, excellent.
They (the Israelis) want to put pressure on Hamas, but they dont want to be responsible before the world for a health crisis, cholera epidemic, etc. Besides a cholera epidemic could lead to serious consequences in Israel unless they completely seal off the territories, which is not easy wrt Gaza, and close to impossible for the West Bank, at least at this point.
I think they will try to work multilaterally for now, getting the US and the EU to join them in cutting off most funds to the PA, and confining diplo contact to direct talks with Abbas only. Meanwhile the water and power will flow, and funds that the PA has a stronger claim to - the tariff revenues Israel collects for them. Then they'll get out the popcorn and watch and wait. See how far the Euros and US will go. See what Hamas does about the security forces, which are staffed by Fatahniks, who are scared for their jobs (and their lives?) They can then ratchet up the pressure (how would you like some blackouts) or ratchet down the pressure (oh, we just found some money to release).
Hamas's triumph in Wednesday's Palestinian elections is the best news from the Middle East for a long time. The poll was a more impressive display of democracy than any other in the region, outstripping last year's votes in Lebanon and Iraq both in turnout and the range of views that candidates represented.
Whereas in Iraq parties that opposed the occupation had to downplay or even obscure their views, Palestinian supporters of armed resistance to Israel's expansionist strategies were able to run openly. It is true that Hamas candidates did not make relations with Israel the centrepiece of their campaign. They focused on reform in the Palestinian Authority. But few voters were unaware of Hamas's uncompromising hostility to occupation and its record in fighting it.
Wednesday's election was remarkable also in owing nothing to Washington's (selective) efforts to promote democracy in the Arab world. Instead, it was further proof that civil society in Palestine is more vibrant than anywhere else in the region and that Palestinian politics has its own dynamics, dictated not by outside pressure but the social and economic demands of ordinary people in appalling conditions. Providing a forum to freely express hopes and fears, debate policy and seek agreed solutions is, after all, what democracy is about.
In Israel and Washington reaction to Hamas's victory has been predictably negative. European governments should take a more sensitive view. The first watchword is caution. Applaud the process but don't take issue with the result. While the dust settles and Hamas works out its own priorities for government, Europeans should calmly analyse why Hamas got so much support.
Among several Hamas leaders I met in Gaza last summer, Mahmoud Zahar, one of its last surviving founders, exuded the clearest sense of inner steel. Trained as a medical doctor in Cairo, and now a short middle-aged figure with combed-over grey hair, he left several impressions. This is no mosque-driven revolutionary or wealthy jihadi of the Osama bin Laden type, motivated by ideology or a desire for adventure. Like other Gazans, he has felt the occupation on his skin. His wife was paralysed and his eldest son killed by an Israeli F-16 attack on his house in 2003. Zahar was in the garden and lucky to survive. In spite of that, he took the lead last year in persuading colleagues that Hamas should declare a truce or period of "calm" with Israel. For 11 months no Hamas member has gone on a suicide bombing mission. That is no mean achievement, which foreign diplomats rarely credit.
Zahar's reasons were not just tactical - a desire to deny Sharon a pretext for abandoning his retreat from Gaza. His strategy is to de-escalate the confrontation with Israel for a long period so that Palestinian society can build a new sense of unity, revive its inner moral strength and clean up its institutions. He feels western governments give aid and use the issue of negotiations with Israel only as a device for conditionality and pressure, not in the interests of justice.
So he wants Palestinians to have a broad-based coalition government that will look to the Arab and Islamic worlds for economic partners and diplomatic support. It's a kind of "parallel unilateralism", matching the mood in Israel where the peace camp clearly has lost all real purchase. "Israeli attitudes show they don't intend to make any agreement. They're going to take many unilateral steps," Zahar told me. "In this bad unbalanced situation and with the interference of the west in the affairs of every Arab country, especially Syria and Lebanon, we can live without any agreement and have a 'calm' for a long time. We're in favour of a long-term truce without recognition of Israel, provided Sharon is also looking for a truce. Everything will change in 10 or 20 years."
Zahar also left me with no sense of embarrassment about the imminence of power. He pointed out that Mahmoud Abbas would remain president for three more years, as though implying he could be a convenient front for inevitably unproductive talks with Washington and Israel while Hamas acted as a watchdog on the main issues. "There will be no contradiction between the Palestine legislative council and the president," he said. "We will be the safeguard, and the safety valve, against any betrayal."
Along with caution in reacting to the Hamas victory, Europe's second priority should be to maintain continuity. Any cut-off in EU aid would only be a gift to Israel's hardliners. The EU is the largest international donor to the Palestinian Authority, and Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, blundered last month when he told a Gaza press conference that "it would be very difficult for the help and the money that goes to the Palestinian Authority to continue to flow" if Hamas were in government.
Yesterday's EU statements were more measured. If Europe, weak though its power may currently be, wants to have an independent role in the Middle East, clearly different from the manipulative US approach, it is vital to go on funding the PA regardless of the Hamas presence in government. Nor should the EU fall back on the cynical hope that Hamas will be as corrupt as Fatah, and so lose support. You cannot use European taxpayers' money to strengthen Palestinian institutions while privately wanting reforms to fail. Hamas should be encouraged in aiming to be more honest than its predecessors.
Above all, Europe should not get hung up on the wrong issues, like armed resistance and the "war on terror". Murdering a Palestinian politician by a long-range attack that is bound also to kill innocent civilians is morally and legally no better than a suicide bomb on a bus. Hamas's refusal to give formal recognition of Israel's right to exist should also not be seen by Europe as an urgent problem. History and international politics do not march in tidy simultaneous steps. For decades Israel refused even to recognise the existence of the Palestinian people, just as Turkey did not recognise the Kurds. Until 15 years ago Palestinians had to be smuggled to international summits as part of Jordan's delegation. It is less than that since the Israeli government accepted the goal of a Palestinian state.
Hamas may eventually disarm itself and recognise Israel. That will be the end of the process of establishing a just modus vivendi for Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East. It cannot be the first step. Today's priority is to accept that Palestinians have spoken freely. They deserve respect and support.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006
03:13 ||
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Yes, Israel please leave us alone so we can get on with building a decent army over the next 10 years. An army built on Russian weapons and EU finance. Until then we'll happily have a '2 state solution' where we don't recognise you and you don't recognise us. Abbas can be the front man to keep the EU smily and happy. So lets have a 'truce' so we can get on with building a new military state. Then after 10 years or so we'll be ready to have a war with you.
Posted by: Howard ||
01/27/2006 5:39
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Whereas in Iraq parties that opposed the occupation had to downplay or even obscure their views, Palestinian supporters of armed resistance to Israel's expansionist strategies ....
#3
Hamas may eventually disarm itself and recognise Israel.
Someone been a taken them black acids agin.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/27/2006 6:35
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#4
Incredible. That piece of terror-worshiping drivel is just dripping with pure Jew-hate, yet somehow gets presented as journalism? The writer strikes me as evil, in it's purest form.
#5
I always wonder what the quid pro quo for these guys is . At least during the cold war, you could read between the lines and in every pro-communist screed you could see a job application for minister of culture or head of the writers union in the future People's Republic of [fill in the blank]. These kafirs can't possibly hope for a position of influence in the caliphate, can they? Or are they like Galloway. Does a little bit of zakat end up in a bank account in the Caymans after each of these propaganda pieces?
Otherwise, I don't know what to say. Every line in Steele's blather is either a lie, a distortion, or a moral abomination. Fisking it makes about as much sense as debating Baghdad Bob about journalistic ethics.
Before the Internet, I really had no idea that most of the European press (and most Europeans, it seems) see Israel as a colonial enterprise. In a very real way, Israel has become the scapegoat for 450 years of European colonialist atrocities. The high priests of European culture heap their own sins upon Israel and very literally abandon it in the desert to die. And since the colonialist narrative won't work without a colonizing power, the US has been drafted to fill that role, regardless of how illogical that may be (given that the Europeans, then the Arabs, cast the Jews out in the first place).
On days like this, I feel like saying to Hell with the whole continent. May their granddaughters wear abayas and their grandsons sport beards. The only intervention we sould make is to secure their nukes before the fall.
#6
Murdering a Palestinian politician by a long-range attack that is bound also to kill innocent civilians is morally and legally no better than a suicide bomb on a bus.
Bus bombing was invented by the Paleos decades ago. To equate such with the standard retaliation, long range beheading, is logically off the reservation. Sometimes, morally and legally depends on who started it. Morally, the retaliators have a free move. Legally, bus bombing is only legal in Islam.
#7
I always wonder what the quid pro quo for these guys is .
They expect to be beheaded with sharp knives, not the dull ones the rest of us kaffir will get.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/27/2006 12:08
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#8
Bus bombing was invented by the Paleos decades ago.
Suicide Bombers are much older than that, I have a very old black-and-white Popeye cartoon fron the 20's where the "Suicide Squad" (a very short muslim with an artillery shell strapped to his head) is sitting on a sideline bench like in a football game, cheering on the fighters and waiting for the "Coach" to call on him.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/27/2006 14:40
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#9
Popeye cartoon/Suicide Squad
Damn Redneck...that is one helluva obscure reference...but it works for me.
#11
Whereas in Iraq parties that opposed the occupation had to downplay or even obscure their views, Palestinian supporters of armed resistance to Israel's expansionist strategies were able to run openly.
I'd comment, but 115AS is right, it's like fisking Baghdad Bob.
#13
Murdering a Palestinian politician by a long-range attack that is bound also to kill innocent civilians is morally and legally no better than a suicide bomb on a bus.
It is is the Palestinian is a MURDERER and TERRORIST who TARGETS INNOCENT CIVILIANS. In that case it is targetting a MURDERER who is deliberately hiding among 'innocent' civilians.
So now if Hamas sponsors or engages in suicide bombing it is an act of war. And should be treated as such.
I dont think Ham-Ass can restrain itself -- the leadership is addicted to murdering innocents, ordering murder, and bloodshed as tightly as any crack-addict.
More than 1,000 protesters hit the streets of Samara, some 125km north of the capital, Baghdad, this week to demonstrate against al-Qaida militants blamed for killing more than 100 local police recruits this month. The demonstration on 24 January, organised by the Iraqi Islamic Party and the Muslim Scholars' Association, is the first of its kind to specifically condemn the al-Qaida group for alleged terrorist attacks. "They have to stop killing innocent people like recruits, journalists and children," demanded protest organiser Kamal Ahmed. "If they don't stop, we'll fight them directly," Ahmed added angrily.
Even self-described insurgents, locked in bitter fighting with US and Iraqi military forces, joined in the condemnation. "We work against the US occupation without hurting innocents," said Abu Omar of the insurgent Islamic Army. "If al-Qaida is against the ideology behind the insurgency, it's time to force them out of our country." "We will kill the militants to show how far we will go to save the lives of innocent people," Abu Omar added.
"Everyone started to see that we have to work together to bring progress to Iraq," said Hussein Sardawi, a senior official in the Ministry of Interior. "Al-Qaida is the only group that wants to bring instability to our country. We're happy with the decision to work against al-Qaida," Sardawi said. "But we're also worried that this might result in the deaths of more innocent people."
Similar anti-al-Qaida demonstrations are planned in the cities of Ramadi and Baghdad in the coming days.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006
02:18 ||
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The Iraqi Islamic Party and the Muslim Scholars' Association in the First Puppet Triangulation March
.....
Kamal Ahmed
"They have to stop killing innocent people like recruits, journalists and children," demanded protest organiser Kamal Ahmed. "If they don't stop, we'll fight them directly," Ahmed added angrily.
United States intelligence agencies have been hunting for one of al-Qaida's most notorious members - an expert in poisons and lethal chemicals. But NBC News has learned they have been trying to find him by using a photo of the wrong man on his wanted poster. For a year and a half, the U.S. government has been asking for the public's help in finding Midhat Mursi al-Sayid 'Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, a dangerous al-Qaida operative. But now intelligence officials admit to NBC News they were using a photo of a different man. Abu Khabab is allegedly bin Laden's expert on poisons. He was shown on a State Deparment Rewards for Justice Web site, with a $5 million bounty on his head.
NBC News noticed that the photo seemed to bear a striking resemblance to a radical London imam, Abu Hamza Al-Masri. NBC then located an early television interview with the imam, and compared it with the wanted poster. There are similarities: the unusual white patch of hair, the fold of the shirt collar and the strip of white over his shoulder. After NBC news shared its findings with the CIA, a CIA spokesman then admitted a human error and said, at some point, an incorrect photo was provided for the Web site. However, the official insists all other intelligence on Abu Khabab is accurate.
I saw this report yesterday, and to my untrained eye, NBC was absolutely right. The feds had a pic of ol' hookboy masquerading as the kabobinator...
It's embarrassing, says NBC News terrorism expert Roger Cressy. It's a bit of a black eye, but it's not going to have any long-term impact on the CIA or its ability to fight the war on terror. The hunt for Abu Khabab may now be over. Pakistani intelligence officials say he was killed recently in the Predator missile attack in Pakistan. And that photo on the State Department Web site? It has been replaced with a silhouette.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006
02:13 ||
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There'll only ever be one Hookboy.. and a fugly sight he is too.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/27/2006 8:36
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I find it interesting, and honorable, that the CIA did not pass the buck to the FBI or State Dept on this one. I have seen this happen twice where the correct photos are submitted and someone inserts a "Newer" but unconfirmed photo thinking they are doing the right thing, only to have to retract it and reprint thousands of posters. Tracking these photos are tricky, I suspect the picture they accidentally put there deserves a spot on the list somewhere anyway.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 9:17
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#3
"It's a bit of a black eye, but it's not going to have any long-term impact on the CIA..."
God forbid someone was held responsible for an error or anything like that.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/27/2006 16:20
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Europe is suffering a side-effect of the US-led war in Iraq as militants recruit volunteers across the continent to go and join the insurgency there, the European Unions counter-terrorism chief said.
Its a fact that in several European countries, the police have had to arrest people who were actively trying to recruit people from Europe to join the jihad in Iraq. Thats a complication, Gijs de Vries told Reuters in an interview.
To keep track of these people is a complication. These are the unintended side-effects of that war. We must live with that reality, and we must do everything we can to limit the risk of attacks in Europe being the result.
De Vries was speaking after cases in Europe raised concerns about the extent of recruitment activity. Spain this month detained 15 people suspected of mobilising Islamist fighters for Iraq, and said one of the recruits had killed 19 Italians in a suicide bombing in Iraq in 2003.
French officials last year said several young men from Paris had already died in fighting or suicide operations in Iraq. Police in southern France detained four men and two women last week in a probe into Islamist recruitment for the insurgency.
De Vries said most foreigners fighting in Iraq were from North Africa, Saudi Arabia or other non-European countries, but a number were from the continent.
We do not know how many of them will survive, we do not know how many of them will return, he said.
But we do take very seriously the risk that some may return, having picked up skills that would be extremely dangerous if practised in Europe.
De Vries said some of the recruitment activity in Europe was traceable to the network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al Qaedas leader in Iraq, but other groups were also involved.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006
02:09 ||
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Typical Euro-speak, equating an oportunity with a "complication." I guess similar logic would have made the Normandy landing a "complication" for the United States.
#3
"... side-effect of the US-led war in Iraq as militants recruit volunteers across the continent to go and join the insurgency ..."
Hey, it's a FEATURE, not a bug!!
A former Pakistan Army general told an American newspaper that in the tribal areas today the army has become more of a reactive force, mostly hitting when fired upon.
According to a report in the Christian Science Monitor, former Lt Gen Talat Masood said, The strategy is not working and you can see the results. The Taliban is (sic) more organised than they were. The army, however, has repeatedly denied such claims, insisting that 70,000 troops and paramilitary forces continue to strike at the heart of militant enclaves.
The Pakistan Army has never let off. We are still continuing with the same vigour and effort, Brigadier Shahjehan Ali Khan, acting spokesman of the Pakistan military, told the newspapers correspondent, David Montero, who filed his report with a Peshawar dateline.
While there is a growing perception, says the report, that the army, having seen its strategies fail, has largely retreated to its barracks, this is refuted by central media coordinator of the Pakistan Muslim League, Muazzam Butt who is quoted as saying, They are not confined to their barracks, they are actively patrolling the area. The report has local journalists describing army personnel as captives in their own barracks, unable to leave for fear of being shot at or kidnapped. It is an accusation that ruling party officials and the army strongly deny. Gen Talat Masood and other observers told the American newspaper that there is need for better intelligence gathering in the tribal zone, particularly since many of the troops deployed to fight are not familiar with the area. Their local contacts are weak, their knowledge of the terrain inadequate - precisely the opposite of the enemy they are fighting, many of whom are part of the society or deeply integrated into it. If their intelligence improves, then the best thing would be to do rapid deployments in specific areas, according to the retired general, now a security expert.
The report, quoting analysts of the war on terror here, says that Pakistans military strategy is in need of a paradigm shift. Intelligence remains too weak, and even pitched battles flexing the militarys muscle have shown little effect against an enemy that remains largely unknown.
The question of whether Islamabad is effectively eradicating Al Qaeda elements in the semi-autonomous border region has become a constant - and touchy - refrain in relations with the United States, the correspondent writes.
He quotes Afrasiab Khattak as stating, The American missile strikes show that they (the Americans) are not satisfied with what Pakistan is doing. The results (the army has) yielded in the last two years have been negligible.
Pakistani TV journalist Shaukat Khattak says of the battles that have taken place between the army and the tribal militants, It was like a war between two countries, not a fight with militants. Some analysts marvel that with such a large force the results have been so paltry, says the report.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006
02:08 ||
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He that would Fish, must venture his bait.
Posted by: Ben ||
01/27/2006 2:54
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Pakistani TV journalist Shaukat Khattak says of the battles that have taken place between the army and the tribal militants, It was like a war between two countries, not a fight with militants. Some analysts marvel that with such a large force the results have been so paltry, says the report.
Maybe if both sides weren't shooting over each others heads trying to miss each other.
#3
I wonder whether the Pakistani military might find the going a little bit easier if they brought the equivalent of the Corps of Engineers along with them, fixed up roads and sewers, and electricity.
Salt shaker required until we get further corroboration. As readers know I think that there were ties between Iraq and al-Qaeda, but I would be quite leery about taking this guy at face value, if for no other reason than that he seems to be coughing up everything - WMDs, al-Qaeda, et al. and we've never heard of him till now.
The Iraqi general who served as a top lieutenant to Saddam Hussein said Thursday that he personally witnessed Osama bin Laden inspecting Iraqi air force facilities in Baghdad.
Speaking in halting English, former Iraqi Gen. Georges Sada described the bin Laden visit to ABC Radio's Sean Hannity.
"I can make sure one thing - I know - I have seen by my eyes. It was in '84, '85, Osama bin Laden himself was coming to Iraqi air force headquarters."
Gen. Sada explained: "At that time he was looking for contracts to build air fields in Iraq."
The top Hussein lieutenant said he had no idea if the visit was part of any alliance between bin Laden and the Iraqi dictator.
Bin Laden's 1984 trip to Baghdad has never before been revealed, though a 1998 visit during which the al Qaeda chief allegedly met with Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz was reported by the Weekly Standard two years ago.
In an interview that appeared in Thursday's New York Sun, Gen. Sada confirmed that Saddam had spirited his weapons of mass destruction out of the country before the U.S. invaded in March 2003.
"Saddam realized, this time, the Americans are coming," he told the Sun. "They handed over the weapons of mass destruction to the Syrians.
Gen. Sada's allegations are detailed at length in his newly released book, "Saddams Secrets.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006
02:02 ||
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True or not it will at least shut the Dems up for a few days.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 9:35
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Sounds slightly like or reminiscent of Sabah Khodada / Salman Pak? He was a captain though AFAIK. Confirms Romanian Ceacescu defector Ion Mihai Pacepa's "sarindar" theories (he's the guy who sold Saddam the stuff in the first place) & Debkafiles analysis. Also consistent with Kamel docs.
This phone interview with Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul was conducted by RFE/RL's Afghan Service correspondent Zarif Nazar from Prague on 21 January. Abdullah discussed the most recent videotaped message from Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the current state of the Taliban, terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, and the upcoming London conference on the Afghanistan Compact.
RFE/RL: What are your views concerning Osama bin Laden's recent comments made on audiotape?
Abdullah: Osama Bin Laden is the murderer of Afghan people and hundreds of other Muslims around the world. He has betrayed Muslims of the world greatly. Now that he is putting himself in the position of defending Afghan Muslims and Muslims in Iraq, it is strange. While in the case of Afghanistan he has been the cause of the wretchedness. And, before there were any foreign forces in Afghanistan, Osama and his followers caused the death of thousands of people and forcing them into exile. Now that he declares his position as defender of Muslims, especially of Afghanistan, I find it strange. But he must be found, and must be punished, he and his followers who have been with him in all the crimes all this time.
RFE/RL: Do you have a specific view about Osama's proposal to the United States [asking for a cease-fire]?
Abdullah: The United States has given its answer to that. But for Afghanistan, as a victim country of his and his followers' terrorist activities, the only thing Afghan people expect is that he would be punished.
RFE/RL: What is your comment about the recent Taliban claim of not having played a role in the Spin Boldak suicide attack?
Abdullah: I think those Taliban who are in war, and those foreigners with them, are the cause of all this and part of this crime. Those who have made the decision to destroy Afghanistan have committed different crimes in different parts of Afghanistan during the last four years, including the recent crime. Why do they deny it? In the past, also, in some cases they have claimed responsibility and in others they have not. In this recent case, since the causalities were all civilian, the Taliban didn't want to take the blame.
RFE/RL: What about the issue of Pakistan and other neighboring countries? Do they cooperate with you about preventing cross-border entry?
Abdullah: The crossing of people from Pakistan to Afghanistan and the carrying out of terrorist attacks has continued. This indicates that the problem continues to exist. There have been contacts, and relations have been strengthened. But there are still problems. We hope we can come to the point that criminals will not be permitted to come and cause insecurity in Afghanistan from any of the neighboring countries.
RFE/RL: About the upcoming London conference: what preparation has the Afghan government made and what issues will be discussed?
Abdullah: The conference, which will be held in London, will be about an Afghan [plan or proposal] which is a mutual commitment by Afghanistan and international society for continuing efforts for stability and security in Afghanistan, the strengthening of the state, and its economic and social development. We are hoping that more than 60 countries and international organizations will take part in this conference. From Afghanistan a delegation headed by President Hamid Karzai will attend. In fact, after the Bonn and Tokyo conferences, this is the most important event with relation to international aid to Afghanistan and the position of Afghanistan with regard to issues relating to Afghanistan and international society. In fact, we expect a five-year framework of cooperation to be endorsed by the participating countries.
RFE/RL: Now that your government has accomplished the Bonn conference terms and conditions, it has been said that the government wants to directly implement the aid as opposed to letting the NGOs [implement it]. Do you have any specific proposals on this?
Abdullah: Yes. Our specific proposal for the international community is that Afghanistan's role in implementing and the ownership of the aid should be increasingly greater. At the beginning all aid was implemented through NGOs. This has changed today and we hope we can get this commitment from the international community that -- considering the positive efforts the government has made -- there would be substantial change in the role and ownership of the government in terms of international aid. In the document that will be presented to the conference, there is a section about ways of ensuring the effectiveness of the aid. If supported by the participants, there will be commitment in moving in this direction.
RFE/RL: We have heard that Karzai will be visiting Demark. Could you tell us about the purpose of this visit and whether you will accompany him?
Abdullah: Before that, Mr. President Karzai will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and he will be giving speeches in different sessions there. I will be traveling with him and later he will visit Denmark, one of the Scandinavian countries -- all of which have been assisting in Afghanistan's reconstruction process. Denmark is the only country that, despite invitations to visit, Karzai has not been able to go to. Before the London conference Karzai will have a one-day official visit to Denmark.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006
02:01 ||
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This is Abdullah Abdullah, is this not Nazar? No sir, I am waiting for Nazar this is Abdullah Abdullah. No sir, this IS Nazar, I can hear you. I am awaiting a call form the Foreign Minister. I am Abdullah Abdullah the Foreign Minister can you still hear me? No sir.
President Pervez Musharraf has said in an interview with CNN that besides the United States, Al Qaeda also violates Pakistans sovereignty as it operates from within Pakistani territory.
While we are angry at the violation of (our) sovereignty by the US, I am also angry at the violation of (our) sovereignty by Al Qaeda, Gen Musharraf told CNNs Richard Quest at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He said he believed around five or six Al Qaeda operatives were killed in the Bajaur air strike.
But, he added that the US attack was an unjustified violation of an agreement that Pakistani forces should handle operations against Al Qaeda inside their territory.
Pakistan summoned the US ambassador to protest shortly after the attack.
We were disappointed, President Musharraf told CNN. Intelligence is coordinated between our two countries, and there is cooperation on both sides at a strategic and tactical level. So its a disappointment and we hope this is not repeated.
Asked whether he had received assurances that the attack would not be repeated, President Musharraf said he was pretty confident. This assurance was there and we hope that it doesnt happen again.
He said operations against Al Qaeda along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan had been successful even though bin Laden and al-Zawahiri remained at large. He highlighted the death last month of a top Al Qaeda official, Abu Hamza Rabia, north of the border town of Miram Shah.
We have arrested about 700 al Qaeda operators ... innumerable people have been eliminated, arrested and deported. The latest was Hamza Rabia, the number three man of Al Qaeda, whom we got in the mountains. This is a lot of success.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006
01:59 ||
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EFL
Iran has congratulated the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas for its election victory and praised voters for choosing "to continue the struggle and resistance against occupation". "even if it doesn't exist"
Hamid Reza Asefi, the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement on Thursday faxed to journalists:"The Islamic republic of Iran congratulates Hamas and all the Palestinian soldiers and the great Islamic people."
Iran and Hamas are allies and declared in December that they represented a "united front" against Israel. "The Palestinians have voted for the resistance and have shown their loyalty," Asefi said.
"The result of these elections will reinforce the unity of the Palestinian people in defending their rights. The massive participation of the Palestinians shows their will to continue the struggle and resistance against occupation."
Although Iran is a vocal supporter of Hamas - as well as the Palestinian resitance group Islamic Jihad and the Lebanese Shia movement Hizb Allah - the clerical regime denies allegations it finances these groups.
"*cough*cough* No, Of course not! We expect the Europeans to do that for us"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006
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This puts Iran in an uncomfortable position if Hamas makes any compromises in its articles of incorporation or makes any conciliatory statements.
Jan. 25, 2006 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is fighting back at suggestions made by one of his predecessors and an unreleased Pentagon study that said the war in Iraq is straining the military and creating the risk of "breaking the force." "The force is not broken," Rumsfeld told reporters this afternoon. "I just can't imagine someone looking at the U.S. armed forces today and suggesting they're close to breaking. That's just not the case."
Earlier today, congressional Democrats released a report written by former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The report described a combat force under "enormous strain," that if "not soon relieved, will have highly corrosive and potentially long-term effects on the force." The report concluded that the Army and Marines would not be able to sustain their current fighing capability without "doing real damage to their forces."
Another report commissioned by the Pentagon last year but not released publicly warned of an Army fast becoming a "thin green line" as it overextends itself in the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report concluded that as the conflicts progressed, it would be harder for the Army to maintain current troop deployments in Iraq as the number of future recruits diminishes.
That possibility would make it harder to keep the necessary number of troops available to break the insurgency in Iraq, according to the report written by former Army officer Andrew Krepinevich of the Center for Statistical Budgetary Assessments.
Though he hadn't read the reports by Perry and Krepinevich, Rumsfeld took issue with their analyses and called them at various turns "out-of-date or misdirected," "a misunderstanding of the situation" and "not consistent with the facts."
Couldn't use the words he really wanted to use, I guess.
Noting the current force is "battle hardened," Rumsfeld derided comparisons with a peacetime force or the implication that the current force had been weakened as a result of its combat experience. "The implication is almost backward in a sense, for the world saw the U.S. go halfway around the world they saw what the U.S. military did in Iraq and the message from that is not that this armed force is broken but that this armed force is enormously capable," he said.
The Syrians and Iranians took note even if the Democrats didn't.
Rumsfeld took several jabs at the fact that the Democratic report was crafted by former members of the Clinton administration. "There's no question that during the period of the '90s a number of aspects of the armed forces were underfunded, and there were hollow pieces to it," he said, "and today that's simply not the case."
Rumsfeld continued: "People do not understand all the changes that are taking place. Ask yourself: Do the authors of these reports really have a clear idea of what's been happening here over the past five years?
"These are the people who were here in the '90s, and what we're doing is try to adjust what was left us to fit the 21st century."
When asked why the Pentagon was outsourcing a critical outside report, Rumsfeld replied, "The best way to get knowledge is to look at people with different views." He added, "It's a useful thing to invite people to make comments and criticisms and to opine on this and opine on that. Then the people who are really in the gearbox making this work take all that and make judgments on it, and that's what we do and it seems to work pretty well."
Krepinevich's study was presented to the Pentagon last November at a cost of $137,000. Interestingly, the phrase that's garnered Krepinevich's study so much attention, "the thin green line," is not new it first appeared in a report he wrote in August 2004 for his think thank, the Center for Strategic Budgetary Assessments. The text of that "thin green line" report appears verbatim, including some new paragraphs, as a full chapter in his new 136-page report.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2006
00:28 ||
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quoting Perry and Albright is like having Martha Stewart as your corner manager in a boxing match. They don't have a f*&king clue, and you are screwed....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006 0:40
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Best part of the briefing --
SEC. RUMSFELD: Why don't you just report the news instead of what might be the news?
#3
Agreed, but I liked the part where Rummy said he didn't read either report.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/27/2006 2:27
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I probly shouldnt laugh, but did anyone notice the balding of HalfBright? Looks like she placed her piehole in a light socket. Looks like Beetlejuice.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/27/2006 2:28
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The Army was broke in the 70's. Easily identified by high levels of AWOL, desertion, Article 15s, Courts Martial, race riots, drug abuse, etc. Another indication that dead tree media is unable to perform the function of information source for the republic in order to have a well informed citizenry. So again, why do we have a First Amendment for the Press and not the Internet? How about reversing that.
#9
the phrase that's garnered Krepinevich's study so much attention, "the thin green line," is not new � it first appeared in a report he wrote in August 2004 for his think thank
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Two French missionaries and two Haitians were kidnapped near a volatile slum in Haiti's capital, a U.N. official said Thursday. The four were seized on Wednesday as they traveled on a road near Cite Soleil, a sprawling slum on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince used as a base by heavily armed gangs blamed for a wave of kidnappings and violence in the capital, said David Wimhurst, a U.N. spokesman.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2006
00:23 ||
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Great Canada! now you did it! You awakened the fire-breathing GoreBot! Global Warming accelerates....
Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore has accused the oil industry of financially backing the Tories and their "ultra-conservative leader" to protect its stake in Alberta's lucrative oilsands. "which should remain unmined for a thousand years, even if you all die of freezing. It's natures' way!"
Canadians, Gore said, should vigilantly keep watch over prime minister-designate Stephen Harper because he has a pro-oil agenda and wants to pull out of the Kyoto accord -- an international agreement to combat climate change. which even AlGore at his most charming and influential couldn't persuade himself or his boss to committ the nation to, once every Senator voted against it....
"The election in Canada was partly about the tar sands projects in Alberta," Gore said Wednesday while attending the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. "And the financial interests behind the tar sands project poured a lot of money and support behind an ultra-conservative leader in order to win the election . . . and to protect their interests." "money is only good if it comes from Chinese communist monks with vows of poverty"
Darcie Park, spokeswoman for oilsands giant Suncor Energy, said she's taken aback by Gore's remarks and hopes they don't resonate with Canadians. "Our company just doesn't do business that way. We're really puzzled about where these comments came from," she said. "is it a natural gas disturbance? Something smells bad..."
"Canadians understand how elections work in Canada and understand there are these very tight restrictions around what individuals and companies can contribute to individual parties or campaigns."
The federal Elections Act limits how much money individuals, corporations and unions can donate to political parties. Individuals are allowed to give as much as $5,000 a year, while companies and unions are capped at $1,000 a year.
In their election platform, the Conservatives promised to further limit individual donations to a maximum of $1,000 and ban all donations from corporations, unions and organizations.
Parties and candidates are required to make public any contributions exceeding $200.
While John Bennett, senior policy adviser for Sierra Club of Canada, isn't certain of how much oil companies and their executives donate to the Conservatives, he's noticed their language on Kyoto is similar. ooohhh SIMILAR!
"They've talked about the need for a made-in-Canada plan, which is exactly the terminology Stephen Harper used," Bennett said. "They've talked about targets for Kyoto being unreachable -- that's similar."
Gore warned that Harper wants to remove Canada from the Kyoto accord, which the United States signed under former president Bill Clinton, but has refused to ratify under President George W. Bush. "Hopefully that will not happen thanks to the minority victory," Gore said of Canada's involvement in Kyoto.
And Al knows all about minority parties ...
Gore believes the issue of the oilsands and the sway he contends the industry holds with Harper didn't garner news coverage during the election because "media concentration has taken a toll on democratic principles around the world, and Canada is no exception."
Even if the Conservatives want to abandon Kyoto, Bennett doesn't think they will pull out because polls have shown a majority of Canadians support the agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, which are widely believed to contribute to global warming.
He expects, however, Harper will make little effort to fulfil the country's Kyoto commitment: Cutting greenhouse gas emissions to six per cent below 1990's mark by 2012. He also predicts the Tories will halt Liberal plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from large industries, such as oil firms. "They changed the messaging, but they haven't changed their opinion," Bennett said. "I see them moving a lot closer to the Bush government. Talk a lot, but do nothing."
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006
00:21 ||
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Oh, ferchrissakes.
If this blathering clown and his ilk would SHUT UP, there'd be no "global warming." The hot air they've spewed the past 30 years must have raised the global temperature at least 10 degrees. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/27/2006 1:01
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In 1997, the Senate voted 95-0 against the Kyoto treaty. Remind me again who were the Prez and Vice Prez in that year.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006 1:08
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This gore-gasbag has contributed to global warming by blowing chunks.
Face it AlGorrrreeee, it's you not the world.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/27/2006 2:21
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My impression of the Canadian election was that the voters were tired of the corruption in the party that had been running the country for the last N years.
As for alGore, I can't believe I voted for that guy once. Was I on crack?
#5
#1 Oh, ferchrissakes dito! LOL
I only hope Canada is smart enough to know this moonbat, a graduate of the Jimmy Carter school for Diplunacy, does nt represent America.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 8:08
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How many tons of CO2 spew forth from Al Gore's mouth every year? If we could get him to shut that stinking pie hole, we would be much closer to meeting our greenhouse gas emissions target.
He seems to be losing his mind, he should double his dosage and get off the caffeine
#8
(For those with no clue, "Kamehameha!" is a reference to the Dragonball-Z anime cartoon, the word screamed when one of the characters summons up a fireball to smite his enemy.)
#10
Why do you guys want to shut Al-Gore up? Like Al-Quada's announcements from Afghanistans most succesful cross-dresser, every time he opens his mouth the right-wing win votes.
#12
Anonymoose,
Actually, I got it and ended up spewing soup all over the monitor. Now all you need is an anime drawing of Algore going that weird hyperconstipated grunting thing they do on DBZ, and you're all set.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/27/2006 12:48
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Now all you need is an anime drawing of Algore going that weird hyperconstipated grunting thing they do on DBZ, and you're all set.
Just use the picture of the article, do some photo-shopping with some bright light around it, and put a speech bubble saying "GLOBALWARMINGBUSHITLERSUPREMECOURTBILLCLINTONGIVEMEAJOBATTACK". That would cause me to CACKLE.
Posted by: Charles ||
01/27/2006 15:53
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The UN is preparing to intervene in the Darfur crisis in Sudan after admitting that an African Union mission has failed to curb the violence that has seen two million people displaced and thousands killed.
Yeah boy, the UN is on the move now. Wonder if the mighty Uruguayans are available?
With violence increasing over the past few months, Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, said the replacing of the AU force with a UN one is "now inevitable". The UN plans to put in a bigger, better-financed force with a mandate not just to monitor events as the AU had been doing but to fire back at and hunt down those responsible for the ethnic cleansing.
The UN force will be at least as good as the AU one. In fact, you won't be able to tell the difference.
Mr Annan said he wished efforts to resolve the crisis had borne fruit. "Alas, the opposite is true. People in many parts of Darfur continue to be killed, raped and driven from their homes by the thousand. The number displaced has now reached two million, while three million [half the total population of Darfur] are dependent on international relief for food and other basics. Many parts of Darfur are becoming too dangerous for relief workers to reach."
Although the AU force has grown to 7,000 today, it is largely ineffective, short of equipment and money and unable to protect even refugee camps. Transition from an AU mission to a UN one will take about nine months. The UN security council is expected to meet in the next month or two to give its approval, and a further six months or so will be needed for logistical arrangements.
Six months? Who's in charge, the French?
In spite of threats from the international community, the Sudanese government has failed to rein in the Janjaweed or even stop its air force bombing villages.
Mr Annan said: "Any new mission will need a strong and clear mandate, allowing it to protect those under threat by force if necessary, as well as the means to do so. That means it will need to be larger, more mobile and much better equipped than the AMIS (African mission)." The UN said it wanted the US and European countries to help form a tough mobile force. But this has met with resistance so far in Washington and Europe and the preference is for a largely African force.
Toldya so.
The AU, at its summit in Khartoum last week, exasperated western diplomats by failing to discuss in any detail the Darfur crisis. But it did agree a resolution supporting the take-over of the force by the UN. The AU said it was struggling to find the £10m a month needed to maintain it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2006
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Could be worse - like having the Pakistanis run things.
#2
There's nobody left to protect! These guys have fucked around for almost three years while people were murdered , raped and driven from their homes by arab militias. Arguing and debating the "technical" definition of genocide, and endlessly dicussing their expense accounts in commitee. Limp-dick, worthless, and at the same time enormously expensive.
#3
The UN is preparing to intervene in the Darfur crisis in Sudan after admitting that an African Union mission has failed to curb the violence that has seen two million people displaced and thousands killed.
But it's still not genocide as far as Goo-fi is concerned.
BELGRADE, Jan. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The parliament of Bosnia's Serb Republic voted on Thursday to dismiss Prime Minister Pero Bukejlovic's government after passing a no confidence motion, according to reports from Banja Luka.
Forty-four deputies in the 83-seat parliament voted for the motion against the government headed by the main nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS), while 29 voted against and six abstained. Shortly afterwards, the parliament voted to sack the government.
Under the republic's constitution, Bosnian Serb President Dragan Cavic has 10 days to nominate a new prime minister and the new government should be formed within 40 days, once the parliament votes to sack the incumbent government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2006
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It was only a matter of time, Steve. Ev'rybody knew that.
An unidentified man was burnt to death inside a tea stall at a village in Sadar South upazila early yesterday. Local sources said a gang of miscreants forced the unidentified man to enter into the tea stall of Chand Miah at village North Kamalapur at about 1:00 am. Later, the gang locked the tea stall from outside and set fire to it, roasting the man alive.
Police rushed to the spot and recovered the body at noon.
The guy is murdered at 1 am, and the police 'rushed' to the spot ... 11 hours later?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2006
00:02 ||
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#1
The guy is murdered at 1 am, and the police 'rushed' to the spot ... 11 hours later?
BAGHDAD - Two US soldiers were killed and one wounded in separate rebel attacks in Iraq, the US military said on Thursday. The military said one soldier died of wounds suffered from a rocket attack on his vehicle during combat operations on Wednesday near the western flashpoint city of Ramadi.
Earlier the military announced that a soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing on Wednesday south of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2006
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The media's breathless tabulation of casualties in Iraq--now, over 1,800 deaths--is generally devoid of context. Here's some context: between 1983 and 1996, 18,006 American military personnel died accidentally in the service of their country. That death rate of 1,286 per year exceeds the rate of combat deaths in Iraq by a ratio of nearly two to one.
That's right: all through the years when hardly anyone was paying attention, soldiers, sailors and Marines were dying in accidents, training and otherwise, at nearly twice the rate of combat deaths in Iraq from the start of the war in 2003 to the present. Somehow, though, when there was no political hay to be made, I don't recall any great outcry, or gleeful reporting, or erecting of crosses in the President's home town. In fact, I'll offer a free six-pack to the first person who can find evidence that any liberal expressed concern--any concern--about the 18,006 American service members who died accidentally in service of their country from 1983 to 1996.
The point? Being a soldier is not safe, and never will be. Driving in my car this afternoon, I heard a mainstream media reporter say that around 2,000 service men and women have died in Afghanistan and Iraq "on President Bush's watch." As though the job of the Commander in Chief were to make the jobs of our soldiers safe. They're not safe, and they never will be safe, in peacetime, let alone wartime.
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/011443.php
Thank you for your service and sacrifice. You will be remembered long after the "15 minutes" of fame crowd are long dust in history. They will be remembered, if at all, like the royalists and slavers of their centuries, while you will be among the honored.
#3
Adding to the comment about US military personnel being killed in accidents, training mishaps, and other such incidents: the number has actually gone DOWN from what it was in the 1950's through about 1978, when the last draftee left service. The numbers were in the 5000-8000 range for much of that time. The military was bigger, the equipment less safe to use, and the training involved a few people who really didn't want to be where they were. Having known at least a dozen military members who died in training accidents, and being a "walking wounded" myself, I know how hard it is to accept the death of those who die in training. Yet the small number of casualties suffered in wartime in both Afghanistan and Iraq is the direct result of realistic training - the kind that results occasionally in accidental deaths.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/27/2006 14:21
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Damn. God bless them and console their families.
#5
Killed in combat, training accident, or killed in an accident, they died supporting our nation, God bless them each and every one. The walking wounded, like OP, are an all together different story. Our VA centers have taken huge budget hits and the young, and old OP, that are still paying the price deserve to be taken care of. I wish just one politician would take up their cause and one MSM would support it in the news.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 18:25
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"Killed in combat, training accident, or killed in an accident, they died supporting our nation, God bless them each and every one."
Amen
Even during "zero casualty Clinton" reign from 1993 throught 2000, over 7500 servicemen died (20% were suicides)
From East-Asia-Intel, subscription.
SEOUL -- China is demanding rights to develop North Koreas abundant uranium resources in return for emergency economic assistance, a Japanese newspaper reported last week from Seoul. Yer running up quite a tab, Kimmie, and we need some of it paid back.
But Yang Jang-Suk, director of North-East Asia team at the Korea Trade Promotion Corporation (KOTRA) said he could not confirm the report by Tokyo's Sankei Shimbun. "I don't know for sure, so I will say no more."
Yang is in charge of South-North economic cooperation and has been negotiating mining rights for North Korean natural ore. We did note a certain degree of reluctance on the part of our counterparts to make progress, Yang said, but I suspect it had more to do with the fact that they were conscious of the Chinese interest in exploring iron ore mines in the same area as we plan to invest.
"And they were beating us to the punch."
Mineralogists say North Koreas natural ore is more than 30 times that of South Korea's, both in variety and estimated reserves. The country has some of the worlds highest-quality tungsten and uranium. South Korean experts say the uranium mines in Baekchon, South Hwanghae Province and Sackju, North Pyongan Province, produce high-quality ores. They believe Pyongyang will exploit these reserves to develop nuclear weapons. Hmmm...never thought of that angle...
Former Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young told a press conference earlier this month that Pyongyang is demanding a light-water reactor generator to utilize its uranium reserves for energy development. "We demand a light-water reactor, or we will blow Seoul off the map, so what do ya say, southern comerade?"
Others worry that if China and North Korea jointly develop those uranium mines, a nuclear-free Korean peninsula will become a fantasy. And they will certainly not advertise the fact if they develop them together, said an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. A nuclear-free Korean peninsula is already a fantasy. /reality check
Not advertise? Kimmie's been shouting at the top of his short lungs.
North Korea last month stopped negotiating with China for a 7 billion Yuan [$868 million] investment in iron ore mines in Musan, North Hamgyong Province. Consequently, three Chinese steel companies -- Tunghwa, Juanggang and Yenben Tentz -- withdrew their investment plans. We will regroup and talk to our PLA associates about the next move.
Pyongyang was reportedly angered that news of the plan had been leaked to Chinese media before Pyongyang had authorized the project. Welcome to the Wonderful World of Press Leaks, Kimmie.
According to Korean Mining Corporation, North Korea has been opening its coal mines to Chinese business interests. Pyongyang granted a mining agreement in South Hamgyong Province to a Chinese company to explore and import 20,000 tons of anthracite stone from the mine. The mine has 20 million tons of reserves.
And plenty of starving, unfortunate political prisoners to haul out the ore.
The Ryongdam coal mine, another coal mine in North Pyongan Province, which can produce 3 million tons of anthracite a year, went into a joint venture with the Chinese Wookwang business group early last year. North Korea exports $25 million worth of anthracite to China every year, according to KOTRA.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
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#1
Not to worry - the MSM > its only Uranium, not Plutonium, etc., ergo NorKor is not developing any nukes nor has the materials to build nukes, thus Dubya and Clintonian Fascist = De-Regulated/
Limited Communist USA has no need to invade innocent, Solyent Green-happy NorKor.
#2
The Ryongdam coal mine, another coal mine in North Pyongan Province, which can produce 3 million tons of anthracite a year, went into a joint venture with the Chinese Wookwang business group early last year. North Korea exports $25 millionworth of anthracite to China every year, according to KOTRA.
ANTHRACITE: Preminum Hard Coal
25,000,000 BTUs Per Ton
Fuel Unit Cost $/Ton Unit Cost $/MMBTUs
|
$100.00______|________$4.00
$110.00______|________$4.40
$120.00______|________$4.80
$130.00______|________$5.20
$140.00______|________$5.60
$150.00______|________$6.00
$160.00______|________$6.40
$170.00______|________$6.80
The Ryongdam coal mine alone produces 3,000,000 million short tons of ANTHRACITE per year.
3,000,000 short tons x $100 per = $300,000,000.00
price range before discounts:
plus shipping
the Norks peasents may have to eat air and bark, but at least they have heat and extra cash.
UN Security Council members have agreed that UN peacekeepers should keep monitoring the Israeli-Lebanese border for another six months, a key diplomat said on Wednesday. Lebanon had asked for the UN mission's mandate in the border area to be renewed for an additional year, until 31 January, 2007. But the 15 council members instead reached consensus on an extension until 31 July, 2006, said Augustine Mahiga, Tanzanias UN ambassador and also the council president for January. The mandate of the 2000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, will expire on 31 January unless renewed by the council. A vote on a resolution prolonging the mission is expected on Monday or Tuesday, council diplomats said. While the mission has been in place since March 1978 a draft resolution circulated by France on Wednesday would emphasize "the interim nature" of the mission and stress that the council was "looking forward to the early fulfilment of its mandate."
Only in the UN is something that's lasted just under 30 years and produced no discernable results considered "interim."
The draft would also urge Israel and Lebanon to put an end to violations of their shared border and renew appeals to Lebanon's government to extend its authority across the south, to prevent attacks on Israel from its side of the border.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Nice beaches and cheap whores in Lebanon from what I hear...
A row has erupted in Egypt after the president's son suggested that electoral gains by the Muslim Brotherhood were won using illegal campaign tactics. Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal, who heads the policies secretariat in the ruling party, said the Brotherhood's gains stemmed from evasion of laws and the illegal exploitation of religion during campaigning. In an interview published on Wednesday, he said the law might need to be amended to include a mechanism to prevent what he called "this type of infringement".
Heh. The Brotherhood might cut Gamal off from his rightful place as the hereditary presidency.
Although Gamal has repeatedly denied any presidential ambitions, opposition politicians are convinced that the Mubarak family is preparing him as Egypt's next leader. Hosni Mubarak, 77, has ruled Egypt since 1981 under emergency laws which give the government the power to hold people in detention indefinitely without charge.
Or, on preview, what the rest of the post said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Colombia arrested 19 members of a passport-forging ring with links to Islamic militant groups Hamas and al-Qaeda that enabled foreign nationals to travel in the US and Europe under false documents, the attorney general's office said.
Couldn't send away to Pakistan for the best, could they?
"Some of the suspects are wanted for extradition by the United States for collaborating with terrorist groups Hamas and al Qaeda," Deputy Attorney General Alberto Otalora said. Three members of Colombia's Administrative Security Department, or DAS, the state intelligence agency, were arrested in the sweep.
"Awright youse dirtbags! Come out witcher paws where we c'n see 'em!"
"Sarge?"
"Jenkins? Gonzales? Abu al-Medellini? I thought youse was at Haj!"
"We caught an early flight back after that whole luggage trampling thing. Got right back to work here at the...publishing house. We've got a dreadful backlog."
An employee of Colombia's National Registry, which provides official identification documents, was also among those arrested.
Arrested just as he was about to retire on his generous Soddy pension, and leave for a little 'consulting work' in Caracas. Too bad, so sad.
"This network since 2002 has been dedicated to falsifying documents in order to permit foreign citizens to travel as Colombians through Europe and the United States," a statement issued by the Attorney General's Office said. Citizens of Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt sent information to the ring in Colombia, which used that information to create false Colombian passports, the statement said. "The foreigners were turned into Colombian citizens without ever coming to Colombia," the statement said. The investigation started in 2002.
Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador to Denmark in protest at the Danish government's position on the publication of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed.
... which so far has been "We have a free press, so piss off."
"The (Saudi) government has recalled its ambassador in Copenhagen to express its regret and protest the position of the Danish government regarding a matter that has offended Islam and Muslims," a Saudi foreign ministry official said on Thursday. Ambassador Mohammed al-Hujailan was recalled "for discussions", he said, requesting anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The Islamos are running out of friends all over the world, arent they.
#3
I think I will set up a Mohammed cartoon website and invite to the Saudi ambassador to leave.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2006 15:33
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I'd happily chip in to have all of the cartoons made into billboards for a national display campaign. It should include a 1-800 telephone number so the critical responses can be forwarded to our intelligence agencies.
US President George W. Bush yesterday gave public support for a Russian plan to end the Iran nuclear dispute. Bush told a news conference he would support a civilian nuclear energy program in Iran if all the nuclear fuel was manufactured in Russia and the Russian authorities collected all the waste that could be used for nuclear weapons.
Earlier in the day, China and Iran expressed support for the Russian proposal, and both said they opposed the threat of sanctions from the UN Security Council. Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, on a one-day trip to Beijing seeking Chinas support, said the Russian proposal that uranium be enriched on Russian soil needed further discussion. The Russian suggestion is a useful one, but needs to be discussed further, Ali Larijani told a news conference in Beijing. He told Reuters later that Iran was willing to show flexibility on the issue, but rejected the language of force, an apparent reference to the threat of sanctions.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
This makes the U.S. look good in the world. We look reasonable and the plan is a good comprimise. But we all know Iran is never going to agree to the Russian plan in the end. They probably just want more time to stallllll (continue enriching Uranium) in talks...
#4
I suspect the Iraniacks will agree to it in the end, but pursue a duel program of development; one allied with the Sov's and another clandestine program at home. This would buy them some time, good press, and provide suitable cover for status as "legitimate" peaceful use developers.
#8
Even if the mullahs agreed to this, what are the guarantees that over time material wouldn't be skimmed from the stuff sent back? Pinch a little here, pinch a little there.....as long as the amount is within the typical range of MUF, no one would be likely to notice.
#10
Of course, this puts Putin squarely on record as bearing responsibility for the outcome ....
However nice it would be to see RaPutin's mammary gland pinched in the Bendix, all of his previous dealings heretofore have greatly sucked the mighty wind. Russia's trustworthiness rates a bare few microns in front of Iran's.
It is difficult to resist the notion that overtly hostile entities like Iran should merely be prohibited from possessing any nuclear technology whatsoever. Attempts to acquire same should be met with strategic or economic blockades.
Too many other disreputable governments will be following Iran's lead for there to be any sort of uncertain or inconsistent diplomatic policy regarding this. We must set the standard for the numerous other similar confrontations that will follow this one.
From East-Asia-Intel, subscription
A Chinese electronic reconnaissance aircraft intruded into Japans air defense identification zone recently, prompting renewed concerns over Chinas military activities. Probing, ever probing.
The Chinese have used a civilian aircraft modified for electronic intelligence-gathering to penetrate the air defense zone several times since October, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported last week. Japanese Air Self Defense Force (ASDF) fighters scrambled to intercept the jet and spotted a radar pod on the Chinese jets airframe. "We've got an electronics surveillance plane up here masquerading as an airliner, instructions."
China's aim is to extract more information on the radar of the Self Defense Forces (SDF) by disguising civilian passenger planes and intensifying the gathering of radio-wave [intelligence] in the area around the gas fields, the newspaper reported, quoting government sources. For an attack by fighter aircraft, it is essential to neutralize the other party's radar, the report said. It would appear that the objective of China's reconnaissance activities is to analyze the SDF's radio waves in preparation for that, and the East China Sea is exhibiting the look of information warfare. More food for the worry-plate.
The aircraft was identified as a Tu-154MD, a Russian-built passenger jet.
It's a passenger jet like the EC-135 is a passenger jet.
It was the first time the Tupelov had been detected in Japanese air space.
If it has a radar pod, it's no longer a 'passenger' jet.
Japanese forces have detected Y-8EW electronic reconnaissance aircraft around the disputed gas fields off the East China Sea more than 10 times last year. The aircraft are based in Shanghai. Would be cool to make an EMP and fry the little bugger's electronics. Wonder if the planes are hardened against EMP.
A Japan Defense Agency official said Tu-154MD "symbolizes the rapid upgrading of their military and technical capabilities."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
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#1
If it has a radar pod, it's no longer a 'passenger' jet.
I suspect that the radar pod in no way interferes with its ability to carry passengers.
#2
Fat Kimmie and Solyent Green-happy NorKor makes the verbal threats, China's PLAAF and PLAN does the actual flyin' and a penetratin', ergo proving that NK and China are not colluding.
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia denied one of its military aircraft had violated Japanese airspace the previous day, directly contradicting Tokyo's allegation as well as its claim that Moscow had already admitted the incursion.
"According to the onboard GPS system, Russian radar and the Pacific Fleet, the Antonov-72 of (Russia's post-KGB intelligence service) the FSB, which was following a poachers' ship in the Sea of Japan, did not violate the Japanese border," the FSB said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
"Our aircraft came no closer than three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the border," the FSB added.
Earlier Thursday, Japan's foreign ministry said a Russian border patrol plane penetrated its airspace Wednesday on seven occasions, for a total of 26 minutes, near the northern island of Rebun, without the authority of Japanese air traffic control. The Russian border patrol is part of the FSB.
Japanese Vice Defence Minister Takemasa Moriya said Russia's border security force on the Far East island of Sakhalin informed the Japanese consulate there Thursday that the plane was one of its Antonov-72 transport aircraft.
Rebun is 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) north of Tokyo, facing Sakhalin across La Perouse (Soya) Strait and lying close to the main northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
Japan scrambled six fighter jets and sent radio warnings to the aircraft to leave the territory, the Defense Agency said.
The FSB on Sakhalin Island? Wonder if the same guy that brought you KAL 007 is still in charge?
#6
I lived in Miami at the time of KAL007. The Miami Herald had a brilliant illustrator named Kent Barton. The illustration he drew for that incident (in the Sunday Opinion section)is still vivid in my mind: The drawing was the full width of the paper, just the massive head of a grizzly bear with a commercial airliner splintered in its jaws.
Yes, yes. The sons of Allan are returning to the cradle of al-Andalus.
"Spain has become the centre of a network of Al Qaeda terrorist cells, whose task is to recruit Jihad fighters prepared to die in Iraq." So said a senior police office last week, and the figures he produces would seem to support his statement. Last year alone, the police disbanded four groups dedicated to the recruitment of martyrs for the cause, which is to perpetrate suicide attacks against the occupation forces in Iraq.
More than 50 people have been arrested by the Spanish police since June 2005, accused of belonging to terrorist cells involved in recruitment. It was then that police operations against these terrorists began, with names like Operations Tigris, Sello, La Unión, Jackal, Chameleon and Genesis. The number of recruiters arrested in Spain is almost as large as the number arrested for the same reason in the rest of the entire European Union during the same period.
The police will not put a figure on the number of Muslim residents in this country who might have joined these terrorist organisations run by the United States public enemy number two, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. But there is talk of dozens of them, at least. The National Police and the Guardia Civil have identified almost 50 young radicals living in the Cataluña, Madrid, Andalucía and the Alicante regions, all of whom have disappeared from their homes and are thought to have travelled to Iraq.
Continued on Page 49
#1
The first is the huge police pressure being applied following the train bombings in Madrid on 11 March, 2004. This pressure prevented the establishment of terrorist cells with members prepared to act in this country. Future terrorists prefer to carry out their Holy War in other places, where they have less chance of being captured before they go into action, says one of the police chiefs involved in the fight against terrorism.
They have less chance of being captured? Why? Do the police say, excuse me martyr, but do you plan on blowing yourself up here or somewhere else? They have less chance of being captured because the police don't bother to disrupt the cells headed for Iraq.
#2
"...thought to have travelled to Iraq."
So Spain did not really withdraw all their forces from Iraq after the Madrid bombings - they just switched sides?
Israel's acting prime minister has ordered faster construction of the West Bank separation barrier after chairing his first government-level discussion of the project. The decision, which followed hints by Ehud Olmert that he could set Israel's borders unilaterally should he win general elections on 28 March and should peace talks remain stalled, drew censure from Palestinians who consider the barrier a land grab. Roughly half of the 600km (370 mile) network of fences and concrete barricades has been built, some on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood. Several parts of the project have been held up by Palestinian appeals to Israel's Supreme Court.
Israel calls the barrier a bulwark against Palestinian bombers. A senior official said that Olmert, who assumed power after Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, suffered a stroke on 4 January, reiterated the incumbent's orders to step up construction. An official said: "He made it very clear that the fence has to be completed as quickly as possible." The prime minister's office said in a statement that Olmert recommended rerouting the barrier northeast of Jerusalem so as to enclose a Jewish settlement, Ramot, within the city limits while excluding the nearby Palestinian village of Bait Iksa.
Posted by: Fred ||
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An official said: "He made it very clear that the fence has to be completed as quickly as possible..... we have new contracts pending in Arizona, Texas, California, and New Mexico."
#2
Remember that movie Escape From New York? That is how I envision the palestinians after the wall is built. Of course, that's probably not far from what it looks like now.
Abdullah Al-Othaim, executive president of Al-Othaim Holding Company, reaffirmed yesterday his companys boycott of Danish products until that countrys largest daily apologizes for publishing 12 cartoons that mocked the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI peace be upon him).
Al-Othaim said that just as Denmark has freedom of the press, Muslims have freedom to buy or not to buy. The company is comprised of five subsidiaries (Al-Othaim Supermarket, Al-Othaim Mall, Entertainment, Training Center and Al-Othaim Commercial Group) and owns around 60 branches across the Kingdom. Al-Othaims decision, which he says includes a boycott of any supplier that includes Danish products, may help to impact SR1.3 billion worth of exports to Saudi Arabia.
Oh, dear! What will Riyadh supermarkets do without plentiful Danish hams?
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
We don't get Danish pork products (from memory the world's largest producer) here in Oz, but I am certainly doing my bit to increase aggregate demand for said products. Off to make a bacon sandwich. Yum!!!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/27/2006 8:04
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Only 10 lines or so in the Copenhagen Post. How do I subscribe to the Jyllands-Posten?
26.01.2006 Print article (IE & NS 4+)
Saudi Arabia has recalled its Danish ambassador in dissatisfaction with the government's reaction to the publication of drawings of the prophet Mohammed. Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador in Denmark on Thursday in protest over the government's handling of what it calls the Danish press's 'insulting' of the prophet Mohammed.
'The Saudi Arabian government has recalled its ambassador for consultations on the basis of the Danish government's failure to take action against the country's newspapers regarding the insulting of the prophet Mohammed,' said a Saudi Arabian government spokesman.
Daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed 12 drawings of the prophet Mohammed in September as a way to challenge what it considered the intimidating tactics of fundamental Islamists.
Attempts to obtain further comment from the Saudi Arabian embassy in Copenhagen or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were unsuccessful.
Done and done! I found authentic Copenhagen brewed Tuborg at the store just the other day. Going to go and buy some more in just a few minutes. One of the finest lagers a body can pour down their neck.
...about its newest citizens. Why do they all seem to be so *angry* all the time?
Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) chief Jørn Holme said the greatest anti-terrorism challenge facing Norway is its own citizens, particularly second generation immigrants. At a terrorism seminar staged by the Nordic Council on Wednesday, Holme argued that asylum seekers and immigrants are not the greatest threat to Norway, but rather possible discontent among its own citizenry. "The struggle against terror is not just waged in distant lands, but also through good integration policy involving dialogue and respect," Holme said. Specifically Holme said it was vital to gather those in the danger zone and find them employment, and pointed out that this applied just as much to Norwegian youth attracted to neo-Nazi groups as it did to second and third generation immigrants recruited to extremist Islamic circles. Holme said that the task of identifying the small group of extreme Islamists that use or encourage violence was far more difficult than the public imagined and that "sooner or later" Norway, like the rest of Europe, must be prepared for a terrorist attack.
"Yass, these extremists materialize from nowhere, and leave no clues. They have no identifying characteristics, no traits in common, and none of them ever ever ever visit Mullah Krekar's gazebo for coffee and jihad. Whoops, did I say jihad? I meant to say it's impossible for us to do anything. So you should prolly just kiss your wives 'n' kiddies goodbye right now; we're toast."
"There are many extremist networks that are in fact waging a war against us. This is a very unusual situation that we must learn to live with," Holme said.
Why?
If Denmark declared war on you, would you "learn to live with it?" When Russia parks tanks nearby do you roll over and go back to sleep?
Holme said that the PST and Norway did not need stricter anti-terrorism laws, and was glad that there were no controversial measures like the evil Chimpy McHalliwarmongerer's US Patriot Act in effect. "The PST and the courts have gotten new methods. Now it is important that they are used and evaluated," Holme said.
#4
"There are many extremist networks that are in fact waging a war against us. This is a very unusual situation that we must learn to live with," Holme said.
#5
"The struggle against terror is not just waged in distant lands, but also through good integration policy involving dialogue and respect," Holme said.
I would hope that he means immigrants' attitude toward the country in which they now live...
Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva Sergei Ordzhonikidze announced Thursday that the Disarmament Conference (CD) is not performing well. Sergei Ordzhonikidze made this announcement at the Conference on Disarmament, the world's sole multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations. In 2005, the Conference was not able to reach agreement on a program of work -- the seventh consecutive year during which it was unable to do so -- and so was unable to start work on substantive issues. While there was agreement on most of the elements of a program, the main differences remained on the matters of prevention of an arms race in outer space and nuclear disarmament. This session will last till 31 March, will pick up again from May 15 to June 30, and from 31 July to 15 September.
Meh. Should we have the staff bring us Thai or Ethiopian today? All this fondue is starting to drive me crazy. Geneva is so dreadfully dull in winter. Really, couldn't we go to Rio next time?
#4
Who exactly is this committee trying to disarm?
In theory: the planet.
In practice: the US and Israel.
In earnest: Nobody--its just an excuse to hold a conference, look important, misuse some funds, and seem important while accomplishing nothing of impact.
#5
Seven years of Disarmament Conferences down the drain! Might as well join the fuckin Peace Corps!
Nah. Guess we'll have to sit here in Geneva doing nothing and collect our exorbitant salaries.
Disarmament is hell!!!
A roadside bomb hit an armed convoy carrying Iraqi Industry Minister Osama Al-Najafi yesterday, killing three bodyguards but leaving him unharmed, his ministry said. Ministry spokeswoman Dhuha Mohammed said the convoy was hit near the town of Balad, 90 kilometers north of Baghdad. The blast also wounded another of Najafis guards, she said. Mohammed said the minister had been traveling home to Mosul in northern Iraq for the weekend. Senior government officials often travel by air because of the threat of roadside bombs.
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The Security Council has edged closer to sanctioning individuals blamed for last week's anti-UN violence in Ivory Coast. The movement came on Thursday as the UN mission in the Ivory Coast began a temporary evacuation of some civilian staff. "No decision has been taken today but I think we are very close to a decision (on sanctions)," Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, France's UN envoy, said after the council was briefed on the situation by the UN special representative for Ivory Coast, Pierre Schori.
"All members who took the floor today very strongly condemned the attacks against UN forces," de La Sabliere said. "It is not acceptable that the UN forces be attacked by those who do not want to implement the roadmap" [due to lead to free and fair elections by 31 October]. The French envoy, whose country is Ivory Coast's former colonial ruler, said the 15-member council favoured targeted and "balanced" sanctions against Ivorian pro-government and rebel personalities responsible for violence. He said a decision was likely to be made in the coming days.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Wow! The wheels of justice sure turn quick for the Ivory Coast. Why has it taken 3 years to decide that the Darfur situation is worth getting involved in?
Why will it take the rest of our lives to get a straight answer on Iran?
From East-Asia-Intel, subscription.
Beijing is beefing up its internal security forces in the face of growing domestic unrest, which leaders fear is a harbinger of future instability. China had 74,000 protests riots and disturbances in 2004 and the problem is growing.
According to U.S. China specialists, the large number of protests is a worrying sign for Beijing, since such protests and unrest have often preceded the fall of the ruling dynasty or government in Chinese history. Chinas military is in the process of cutting 200,000 troops from its regular army forces and most are being transferred to the Peoples Armed Police, as the security forces are called. Most of the current internal security troops have been deployed to areas in or near Xingjian and Tibet, Chinas two western provinces. The Tibetans did not exactly appreciate the manner in which the Chicom hosts came to visit.
Two senior Chinese generals said last week that China is stepping up training and equipment for 1 million PAP troops. Wu Shuangzhan, a PAP commander, and Sui Mingtai, a political commissar, wrote a recent article in Qiushi, a publication of the party's governing Central Committee, that the police troops should become an extremely combat-effective force to deal with sudden incidents.
The current euphemism for 'riots'.
The Chinese are worried about attacks by terrorists, saboteurs and the need to stem large-scale mass incidents.
The current euphemism for 'insurrection'.
The two generals also said China is being destabilized by enemy forces from the West. "Western hostile forces have never abandoned political plots to Westernize and divide our country," the generals said.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/27/2006
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#1
heh heh - tanks in the Olympics? Synchronized uprising crushing as an event?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006 0:17
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#2
Xingjian was mainly muslim and borders AQ countries. In fact AC would like the province. (Was as in the Han are moving there in mass - I will disagree with the State Dept and think that movement is a good thing.)
#3
Displacing and outbreeding Muslims is a good agenda for China.
China must remenber to staty in power on must feed the masses and meet their actual aspirations. The oil must flow and workers must have real jobs for that to workout right.
#4
I see a healthy contempt for Muslims here. Unfortunately, US wide that attitude is held by less than 30%. Off topic but if any Muslim denies the "72 virgins" shahid incentive, read then this exposition of Muslim "heaven" by Rabbi Finestone (Los Angeles):
... are other delights as well, according to a Hadith in an authoritative collection called Sunan al-Tirmidhi, which would be on the shelves of any Muslim scholar. In my edition, published in Beirut, it can be found in a section called "The Book of Description of the Garden," chapter 23, titled "The least reward for the people of Heaven," Hadith number 2562. The Hadith reads literally as follows: "Sawda (Tirmidhis grandfather) reported that he heard from Abdullah, who received from Rishdin b. Sad, who in turn learned from Amr b. al-Harith, from Darraj, from Abul-Haytham, from Abu Said al-Khudri, who received it from the Apostle of God [Muhammad]: The least [reward] for the people of Heaven is 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome of pearls, aquamarine and ruby, as [wide as the distance] between al-Jaabiyya and Sana." That these 72 wives are virgin is confirmed by Quran (55:74) and commentaries on that verse. Al-Jaabiyya was a suburb of Damascus, according to the famous 14th century commentator, Ismail Ibn Kathir, so one personal jeweled dome would stretch the distance from Syria to Yemen, some 1,600 miles.
#5
Well, if you sleep with dogs (Iran), you get up with fleas. Where the hell do you think all this islamic fascism started and is funded from?
Of course the joke is that we buy at Walmart, which buys from China, which then buys its oil from Iran. Guess where our dollars go? BTW, I check the little "Made in ..." markings before I purchase. And yeah, I understand that some cheating on that does happen and will till our government panics [only after being exposed for being AWOL on the job] and gets around to hammering the importers and sellers for fraud.
#6
Now Taiwan needs to seize this beautiful opportunity to give the chicoms some real headaches. With 200,000 of their bad boys tied up with the hicks, there has never been a better time. By the way are we witnessing the "meltdown" in china? I have missed the curve on these things before, and just wonder if it is really starting to happen.
#7
The two generals also said China is being destabilized by enemy forces from the West. "Western hostile forces have never abandoned political plots to Westernize and divide our country," the generals said.
Great Britian, Israel, and the United States to blame again.
#8
Ignore the external factors, the Chinese do, and instead look at Chinese history to see how the government is interpreting events.
For example, their terrible overreaction to Falun Gong is because the movement reminds them of the "Son of Heaven" and his Tai-Peng Rebellion, perhaps the second bloodiest conflict in human history.
Other events remind their leaders of other parts of their history. The Tiananmen Square protests scared the heck out of them, because they imagined them to be the return of the Cultural Revolution's Red Guard, intent on destroying everything and mass slaughter.
Chaos erupting throughout the country in protests no doubt also has some horrifically bloody historical precedent. Only a Chinese historian could guess what the Chinese leadership imagine these protests to be.
The point is that "nothing is new in Confuscianism", so everything is just some element of the past, replayed with different characters.
#9
' "Western hostile forces have never abandoned political plots to Westernize and divide our country," the generals said.' Yeah, its all part of a dastardly plot to raise your per capita income of $35K per year.
Iran has said it had information that the United States, Britain and Israel had a role in two deadly military plane crashes in the last two months.
That's be agents 96, 009, and Aleph-41, of course. It's usually them.
It was the latest accusation by Tehran against the West in their sharpening confrontation. A day earlier, Iran blamed the United States and Britain for two bombings that killed at least nine people in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi told reporters on the sidelines of a police seminar that "the information we have says that the US, Britain and Israel's intelligence agents intended to create insecurity in Iran".
We can only hope...
"Even my evaluation says that the crash of our C-130 and Falcon planes was done by their design, or maybe electronic interference."
Employed the old Zionist death ray, did they? That figures. We're insidious that way...
... all that money we gave Halliburton, we should get something for it ...
Pourmohammadi did not elaborate and did not give any evidence.
There is no evidence. The witnesses are all dead.
In early January, an Iranian military flight carrying a commander of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards and 10 others crashed while trying to make an emergency landing, killing all aboard.
Yeah, that was a good 'un. Took over the controls using a secretly implanted device with no serial numbers and crashed it. The secretly implanted device known as a "gizmo" self-destructed on impact.
On 6 December 2005, a military transport plane crashed into a 10-storey building near Tehran's Mehrabad airport, killing 115 people. The plane, a US-made C-130, had suffered engine trouble and the pilot was returning to the airport when the aircraft suddenly lost altitude and slammed into the apartment building. Most of the passengers were Iranian journalists.
That was a similar device, of course. It's known as a "thingummy," and it's less than two inches long. Placed anywhere near an aircraft engine, it causes it to fail on command, then slurps all the aerodynamic characteristics out of the plane, replacing them with those of a brick. It can be operated from a ground station or from outer space. Naturally, it self-destructs on impact.
Do not tell them about widgits ...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2006
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saw it on CSI - an entire plane control panel made of Dry Ice - which evaporated into Carbon Dioxide ...suffocating the....
*accckkkk*
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006 0:44
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Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/27/2006 7:19
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#4
Iran seems to be taking their PR from the "book of Democrats". They only need to place the blame on Bush within two hours of an event to be on par with the Dems.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 7:55
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#5
Probably the same guys that pulled the Wellstone job...
#10
so let's see the crash kills the top general who said "no way can we fight a war with the US"... and the US is supposed to have killed him. get a grip, Mo.
#11
In the "Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Bunch of Guys" department, I can only hope that this article is actually true. Blowing Iran's top brass out of the sky on a routine basis is just ducky with me. Faster, please.
The reshuffling of U.S. Army Europe continued Thursday with the announcement that dozens of Germany-based units will be inactivated, changed or moved later this year. About 7,200 military positions and 11,000 family members will be affected, with about 4,800 positions being moved to the U.S. or elsewhere, and 2,400 being reassigned within Europe, according to Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, USAREURs deputy chief of staff for operations... See chart on bottom of linked page.
#4
I was fortunate enough to spend four years at Fleigerhorst Kassern in Hanau, I commanded two companies in 1AD's Aviation BDE. Sending the Aviation Brigade home will be a great event.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 11:34
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I can't believe they're inactivating the 523rd Dental Company - what about the tradition, the esprit-de-corps, the pain meds?
#6
I spent three tours in Germany (10 years total), all in the Wiesbaden area. I retired in '91, my unit deactivated in '92 after 40 years in the same place. The duties my unit had were taken over by a new unit at RAF Molesworth, about six miles from where I lived when I was stationed a RAF Alconbury. I'm glad I spent so much time in Europe, but I'm also glad to live in the US!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/27/2006 18:26
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Wiesbaden was a great place, we had a sister company there and I was fortunate enough to spend lots of TDY time there from '90 to '94.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 18:34
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#8
Wiesbaden is indeed lovely. The trailing daughters loved wandering the pedestrian shopping zone in the city center when they were little. It was smaller and more charming than the Fussgaengerzone in Frankfurt.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has assured the son of Rafiq al-Hariri, the slain former Lebanese prime minister, that the Bush administration will keep the pressure on Syria to respect Lebanon's independence. Rice on Thursday met Saad al-Hariri, who entered Lebanese politics after the 14 February 2005 killing of his father, in her office and invited in cameras to record the event.
Al-Hariri heads the majority bloc in Lebanon's parliament. The assassination of Rafiq in Beirut set in motion a UN campaign to end Syria's domination of Lebanon. Syria, under UN pressure, withdrew its troops but its influence has not been entirely erased. "We will continue to make sure there is no intimidation of the Lebanese people," Rice said, "and that Syria respects its obligations" under UN resolutions calling for it to withdraw its forces from the neighbouring country. Lebanon can be certain of international support for its independence, Rice said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2006
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...and run up the green standard of New Hamastan
Hamas members on Thursday lowered the Palestinian flag from the roof of the Palestinian parliament and replaced it with their green banner. Palestinian sources said that at the same time, members from the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of the Fateh Movement, arrived to the parliament and started breaking its windows and shooting in the air. Large police forces arrived in the area and cordoned off the parliament to contain the skirmishes.
This is the point where we would all stand and sadly sing the Paleo anthem, if there was one.
China and Iran have expressed support for a Russian proposal to resolve Tehran's standoff with Western governments which suspect it of secretly planning to build a nuclear bomb. Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, on a one-day trip to Beijing to seek China's support, said on Thursday the Russian proposal - that Iran's uranium fuel be enriched on Russian soil rather than in Iran - needed further discussion.
Tehran has previously shown little interest in the idea, intended to ensure it does not covertly divert enriched fuel towards a weapons programme. It had repeatedly insisted it has no plans to build bombs but has the right to enrich uranium fuel on its territory for nuclear power generation. "The Russian suggestion is a useful one, but needs to be discussed further," Larijani told a Beijing news conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2006
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China, Iran warm to Russian offer stall for time.
Interpol has issued international notices, at Pakistan's request, seeking the arrest of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband on corruption charges, officials say. Speaking by phone from France, Interpol spokeswoman Rachel Billington confirmed that "red notices" had been issued for Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, but that it was up to member countries to decide what, if any, action to take.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said the government's anti-corruption body had requested Interpol issue the notices. Bhutto, who was prime minister in the late 1980s and early 1990s, lives in exile in England and the United Arab Emirates. She and her husband are wanted in Pakistan in connection with several graft cases.
Ah, Pakistan! Where even the good guys are bad guys...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2006
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I doubt it. Bin Laden hates Bhutto and even helped to bankroll a vote of no-confidence against her back when she was Prime Minister. She supported the Taliban in its beginnings for reasons of realpolitick, but she was hardly as enthusiastic as her successor, for instance.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/27/2006 1:58
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Mexico's top diplomat suggested Thursday that American soldiers disguised as Mexican troops may have been in the military-style Humvee filmed earlier this week protecting a marijuana shipment on the border.
Confirmation that the Mexicans are lying begins right here.
Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez also told a news conference that U.S. soldiers had helped drug smugglers before. However, he offered no evidence. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico made no immediate comment on Derbez's claims. His comments came a day after U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza issued a statement asking the Mexican government to "fully investigate" the border incident.
Monday's armed standoff began 50 miles east of El Paso, Texas, when Texas state police tried to stop three sport utility vehicles on Interstate 10. The vehicles made a quick U-turn and headed south toward the border, a few miles away. Crossing the border, one SUV got stuck in the Rio Grande River, and men in a Humvee tried in vain to tow it out. Then a group of men in civilian clothes began unloading what appeared to be bundles of marijuana and torched the SUV before fleeing.
Mexico insisted Wednesday that the men in military-style uniforms were drug smugglers, not soldiers. In Mexico, kidnappers and drug smugglers regularly wear police gear, which is sold at street stands.
Which means the Texas Rangers won't know a legit soldier from a smuggler. Be a real shame if the Rangers ventilated the wrong one, eh?
Derbez said Thursday that the men photographed by Texas law enforcement could have been Americans. "Members of the U.S. Army have helped protect people who were processing and transporting drugs," Derbez said. "And just as that has happened ... it is very probable that something like that could have happened, that in reality they were members of some of their groups disguised as Mexican soldiers with Humvees."
Three U.S. soldiers have pleaded guilty to running a cocaine smuggling ring from a U.S. base in Colombia, and a fourth is being tried in Texas this week.
Derbez said there was no proof that the men seen in the incident were Mexicans. Derbez also said his country will send a diplomatic note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanding that U.S. officials tone down their comments on Mexico's security and immigration problems.
I wonder if Condi will snap back that the Mexicans should 'tone down' their human and drug smuggling into our country?
#3
Maybe its time we asks our Congressmen to direct a military exercise on March 16th around Columbus New Mexico in remembrance of the start of the punitive expedition conducted by General Pershing after another Mexican incursion upon American territory. Sort like a diplomatic shot across the bow.
#5
What a shame no one got pics of the identifying marks on the Humvee.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/27/2006 8:03
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#6
Was this a Saturday Night Live skit? Oh, it was real? The diplomat must be smoking some of the stash. Or he just might have stayed too long in that mile long tunnel found in California yesterday.
I suppose all the hawks are right on this one. Its time to let them see what a real US military vehilce looks like and send in the Bradley fighting vehicles and strykers to defend our borders. After reading the AQ passport issues in South America I think we really need to get tough on the border and use DOD on this. OK here's where Beo and .com chime in with "Its about time!"
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/27/2006 8:15
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#7
When the Foreign Secretary of Mexico lies to cover the tracks of drug smugglers, you know then that the entire government -- from soldado to presidente -- has been corrupted by the drug trade. I think that whether you take a libetarian or absolutist position on the war on drugs, you have to agree that we need a radical reassesment of our current policy.
#9
When the Foreign Secretary of Mexico lies to cover the tracks of drug smugglers, you know then that the entire government -- from soldado to presidente -- has been corrupted by the drug trade.
11A5S, Is this news to you? The Mexican culture is as thoroughly corrupt as any other. That's part of the reason so many Mexicans want to escape here. But if it weren't drugs, it would be something else, booze, sex, whatever. We're going to have to clean the place up sooner or later.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/27/2006 9:41
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We're going to have to clean the place up sooner or later.
I'd prefer that we didn't, as they've been riding on our coattails for way too long. They made a mess of their own house, they need to clean it all up. And not by sucking more of our blood.
#12
"In Mexico, kidnappers and drug smugglers regularly wear police gear, which is sold at street stands."
Just a thought but it might even be in Mexicos best intrest to crack down on that sort of thing.
Then again you don't want to start a revolt from the Peasant Contraband Uniform Union.
Yeah, it was... um you...yeaaahhh... dressing up like me, yeah thats the ticket. Now stop bothering me about this. I have to get back to my wife...um.. Morgan Fairchild, yeaaahhh, yeah, Morgan Farichild. Thats the ticket.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/27/2006 11:54
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#14
In Mexico, kidnappers and drug smugglers regularly wear police gear, which is sold at street stands.
They also wear it becasue it is issued to them by the government.
#17
thanks .com - didn't know if many would get that!
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/27/2006 15:38
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#18
I guess I see an order of magnitude leap in the corruption, Nimble Spemble. I don't think that we'll have a problem with booze unless we launch prohibition again. Sex? Most US jurisdictions tolerate it if it's kept in the Yellow Pages and off the streets. Look at what happened when Bloomberg put punitive taxes on cigarettes in NYC. Gangs started moving in and for the first time ever we have people getting killed for a few pallets of smokes.
In all of my research, I've only been able to find two approaches that work with street drugs. Start shooting drug dealers or decriminalize the product. Believe it or not, I'm really don't have a preference one way or the other. Just fix the problem before the corruption spreads here.
What is a spemble anyway? It started here as some goofy Shipman inside humor. I guess that I was one of the uncool kids left on the outside looking in.
#19
it was goofy Ship humor on a nym from the auto-generator. Especially the "ironic Spemble humor"...it's taken on a life of its' own IIUC
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2006 23:42
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#20
11A5S : you need to shoot the junkies as well. When the Chinese did that under Mao, it effectively eliminated their drug problems for 20 years. A little hard on the junkies, but oh well.
Pakistani security agencies have contacted the Interpol in Dubai to arrest two Afghan Taliban financers, one purportedly to be the trustworthy of Mullah Muhammad Omar, operating from Pakistani northwestern soil, said security sources on Thursday.
"And hurry up, man. We saw another drone this morning!"
The arrest of Afghan businessmen Abdul Warri, trustworthy of Mullah Omar, and his brother, Abdul Baqi, is likely to be made within next few days, said the sources, adding that after arrest they will be repatriated to Bagram AFB. Sources said that the two brothers are believed to be close relatives of Mullah Omar and have fled to Dubai after fears of being arrested in Peshawar.
Hopefully leaving a shiny glistening slime trail for us to follow...
The Federal Investigation Agencys Special Investigation Group (SIG) has frozen 15 bank accounts of Shirkat Special and Amria Food in Peshawar and Islamabad on the request of Interpol after thorough investigations revealed that Mullah Omar had a share in both companies. The documents recovered during raid on the offices of the companies indicated that the Afghan group had established offices in Afghanistan, Dubai, Malaysia and Indonesia with different names including Hayat Limited and Kandahar Limited and involvement in transferring money to the Taliban. The trading companies were apparently dealing in edible oil, sugar and other foodstuff and had a sizable amount in Pakistani bank accounts. According to Interpol, the companies were established during Taliban rule and they had reportedly done transactions of USD2.8 million, 1.7 million euros and 1.5 million German mark during that period as well as President Hamid Karzais government in Afghanistan, the sources maintained.
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.
Spirit and Opportunity, the spunky NASA rovers that have rolled around Mars for two years, are the unlikely stars of an IMAX movie, which opened on Friday, along with the astronomer who helped create them. 
A giant Pacific octopus that attacked a remotely operated submarine off north Vancouver Island could have been senile or maybe just peckish, a marine biologist said Wednesday. "Large male octopuses in the last part of their lives become senescent, or senile," said Jim Cosgrove of the Royal B.C. Museum. "They get to be like humans, doddering old fools that have inappropriate behaviours such as being out in the daytime," said Cosgrove, an expert in octopus behaviour.
Canadian Prime Minister-elect 
Tehran, 27 Jan. (AKI) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said Friday that a compromise proposal by Russia - allowing Tehran to enrich uranium on Russian soil - was not enough to meet Tehran's energy needs. Speaking to reporters on his return from a visit to China, Ali Larijani said "Russia's initiative should be more comprehensive" and needed to be "discussed and improved. The US and the European Union are pressing to have Iran's case referred to the UN Security Council and a board meeting of the UN's atomic watchdog will debate this next week.
Jan. 25, 2006 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is fighting back at suggestions made by one of his predecessors and an unreleased Pentagon study that said the war in Iraq is straining the military and creating the risk of "breaking the force." "The force is not broken," Rumsfeld told reporters this afternoon. "I just can't imagine
someone looking at the U.S. armed forces today and suggesting they're close to breaking. That's just not the case." 
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Two French missionaries and two Haitians were kidnapped near a volatile slum in Haiti's capital, a U.N. official said Thursday. The four were seized on Wednesday as they traveled on a road near Cite Soleil, a sprawling slum on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince used as a base by heavily armed gangs blamed for a wave of kidnappings and violence in the capital, said David Wimhurst, a U.N. spokesman.
The UN is preparing to intervene in the Darfur crisis in Sudan after admitting that an African Union mission has failed to curb the violence that has seen two million people displaced and thousands killed.
An unidentified man was burnt to death inside a tea stall at a village in Sadar South upazila early yesterday. Local sources said a gang of miscreants forced the unidentified man to enter into the tea stall of Chand Miah at village North Kamalapur at about 1:00 am. Later, the gang locked the tea stall from outside and set fire to it, roasting the man alive.
BAGHDAD - Two US soldiers were killed and one wounded in separate rebel attacks in Iraq, the US military said on Thursday. The military said one soldier died of wounds suffered from a rocket attack on his vehicle during combat operations on Wednesday near the western flashpoint city of Ramadi.
A row has erupted in Egypt after the president's son suggested that electoral gains by the 
Colombia arrested 19 members of a passport-forging ring with links to Islamic militant groups Hamas and al-Qaeda that enabled foreign nationals to travel in the US and Europe under false documents, the attorney general's office said.
Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador to Denmark in protest at the Danish government's position on the publication of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed. 
US President George W. Bush yesterday gave public support for a Russian plan to end the Iran nuclear dispute. Bush told a news conference he would support a civilian nuclear energy program in Iran if all the nuclear fuel was manufactured in Russia and the Russian authorities collected all the waste that could be used for nuclear weapons.
Abdullah Al-Othaim, executive president of Al-Othaim Holding Company, reaffirmed yesterday his companys boycott of Danish products until that countrys largest daily apologizes for publishing 12 cartoons that mocked the Prophet Muhammad (
Holme said that the task of identifying the small group of extreme Islamists that use or encourage violence was far more difficult than the public imagined and that "sooner or later" Norway, like the rest of Europe, must be prepared for a terrorist attack.
Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva Sergei Ordzhonikidze announced Thursday that the Disarmament Conference (CD) is not performing well. Sergei Ordzhonikidze made this announcement at the Conference on Disarmament, the world's sole multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations. In 2005, the Conference was not able to reach agreement on a program of work -- the seventh consecutive year during which it was unable to do so -- and so was unable to start work on substantive issues. While there was agreement on most of the elements of a program, the main differences remained on the matters of prevention of an arms race in outer space and nuclear disarmament. This session will last till 31 March, will pick up again from May 15 to June 30, and from 31 July to 15 September.
A roadside bomb hit an armed convoy carrying Iraqi Industry Minister 
The Security Council has edged closer to sanctioning individuals blamed for last week's anti-UN violence in Ivory Coast. The movement came on Thursday as the UN mission in the Ivory Coast began a temporary evacuation of some civilian staff. "No decision has been taken today but I think we are very close to a decision (on sanctions)," 
Iran has said it had information that the United States, Britain and Israel had a role in two deadly military plane crashes in the last two months. 
China and Iran have expressed support for a Russian proposal to resolve Tehran's standoff with Western governments which suspect it of secretly planning to build a nuclear bomb. Top Iranian nuclear negotiator 
Interpol has issued international notices, at Pakistan's request, seeking the arrest of former prime minister 
Mexico's top diplomat suggested Thursday that American soldiers disguised as Mexican troops may have been in the military-style Humvee filmed earlier this week protecting a marijuana shipment on the border.
Pakistani security agencies have contacted the Interpol in Dubai to arrest two Afghan Taliban financers, one purportedly to be the trustworthy of Mullah Muhammad Omar, operating from Pakistani northwestern soil, said security sources on Thursday.
