I put this on page 2 because I don't believe there is such a thing as a German 'tourist' in Iran.
FRANKFURT â A German tourist arrested after his boat allegedly strayed into Iranian waters has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, his wife said yesterday. Donald Klein, a 52-year-old sculptor, and a French friend were arrested on November 29 and put on trial for entering Iranian territorial waters during a fishing trip in the Straits of Hormuz.
"Wonder if the trout are biting in the Straits this morning, Fráncóise?"
"I dunno, Donald, let's go find out!"
Kleinâs wife, Karin, said yesterday that the German Foreign Ministry had informed her of his sentence. Ministry officials had no immediate comment on her account. Iranian officials have said that the two men are healthy and have been visited by consular officials from their embassies.
The Kleins and their French friend had been vacationing in the UAE. It was unclear whether the Frenchman had received a similar sentence.
Nah, he got professional courtesy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2006
23:37 ||
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FAR-right groups in France are distributing ham sandwiches and pork soup to homeless people in an attempt to discriminate against Muslims and Jews, forbidden to eat pork products.
Food hand-outs, which have already taken place in Paris, Nice and Nantes, and in Brussels and Charleroi in Belgium, have now spread to the eastern French city of Strasboug.
Mr Spieler denounced "a totalitarian regime" where soon "they'll be banning salami".
He said: "Pork is a European symbol, whether we like it or not. The day when there are laws forbidding the distribution of pork in Alsace I believe there will be a lot of us who will leave France and take refuge in a country where there is still a certain culinary freedom." His wife said she would appeal against the prefect's decision.
"Pork is part of our culinary culture and we are offering the soup to everyone, so there is nothing discriminatory about it," she said.
Soulidarieta, an extreme-right group based in Nice, which is also a Bloc Identitaire member, provoked outrage over Christmas when it began distributing soup made with pork once a week to homeless and poor people in the south-eastern city's port area.
Its operation drew as many protesters as homeless people. They accused the group of blatant discrimination by offering pork soup only, deliberately to exclude poor Muslims.
With protesters denouncing the practice as racist, the local town hall and the prefect's office in Nice claimed they were powerless to intervene as the group had done nothing illegal.
The group's head, Dominique Lescure, said pork was a traditional part of French cuisine. He did admit, however, wanting to serve the soup to his "compatriots and European homeless people".
The philosophy behind Soulidarieta, which means solidarity in the local dialect, is made clear in the association's literature, in which it claims: "Our people face being submerged by a rising black demographic tide," and announces "the launch of a voluntary social and political action in favour of our most deprived blood brothers".
The group's slogans call for "solidarity with our European brothers", and "Our own kind first before others".
Pierre Levy of the Council Representing Jewish Institutions in France, who attended the first distribution of pork soup last month, denounced Bloc Identitaire's operations as "using human misery to establish ethnic separation".
#2
So you can't distribute what you want as a charity organization? That's just weird. If the complainers are so angry about it, why don't they start a different group--except you couldn't serve Moslems and Jews at the same booth or building, and vegetarians would be excluded if they were serving soup with meat or egg, and what about every other kind of poor person. Some have allergies and stuff, you know . . .
Scotland Yard Tuesday held a 27-year-old man in the attempted July 21 London bombings on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism. A police spokesman said the suspect was taken to central London for questioning, and searches were underway at two "residential premises and one business premises in West London.
#2
The cardinal error is made by those who insist on fighting a war as if it was a police matter. These individuals are of the mind that an army should never, ever be used, and that the police and courts can deal with any conceivable domestic threat.
EFL- More at da link.
Gunmen on Tuesday killed seven people who supply food to the Iraqi army in an attack on a building in Baghdad, police said, according to Reuters. Earlier, Iraqi security forces reported that two men were killed on Tuesday when gunmen ambushed two separate offices of Kurdish political groups in northern Iraq. The two incidents, in which two other people were also injured, are believed to have been carried out by the same gunmen according to Iraqi authorities. The first attack occurred when four gunmen entered an election office in the town of Kirkuk and shot randomly at employees working there. The men reportedly began shooting inside in the offices of Kurdish group, The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, (IECI), killing one official and injuring another, reported the AP. Less than an hour later, a second shooting occurred nearby at the offices of another Kurdish political group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), also killing one worker and wounding a second.
A US airstrike in Pakistan last week killed at least four foreign terrorists, a Pakistani official said overnight.
Fahim Wazir, the chief government official in the region where the strike occurred, said at least 10 or 12 terrorists from outside Pakistan had been invited to attend a feast in the village of Damadola.
Wazir said that militants had carted off the bodies of the foreigners before authorities arrived at the scene of the attack.
US officials have said the airstrike on Friday was meant to kill al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.
According to intelligence sources, the CIA believed Zawahri was among the foreigners, but Pakistani intelligence officers say the Egyptian-born deputy to Osama bin Laden never turned up for the feast, although he had been invited.
The US attack has enraged many Pakistanis and the Government of President Pervez Musharraf is having to cope with protests against the deaths of 18 civilians when the missiles hit three houses in Damadola, close to the Afghan border.
Pakistan lodged a protest with US Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Saturday and there have been nationwide protests. Government and opposition parties have spoken against the US action.
Despite the diplomatic protest, intelligence sources say the US has Pakistan's tacit agreement to carry out such operations in the Pashtun tribal areas.
According to intelligence officers in Washington, the airstrike was probably carried out by Predator drone aircraft used in similar operations to eliminate other al-Qaeda figures.
Many people had expected Mr Musharraf to broach the issue in a televised address overnight.
But instead he talked about deferring an unpopular mega-dam project, criticised tribal militants in Baluchistan, and spoke of the long-term need to help people affected by last October's earthquake in Kashmir and North West Frontier Province.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who was due to leave for an official visit to the US, called the airstrike "one unfortunate event" in a long relationship.
Speaking at a news conference with former US President George Bush, a special UN envoy for relief for Pakistan's October earthquake, Mr Aziz said Pakistan was "committed to the fight on terrorism".
But he said "naturally we cannot accept any action within our country which results in what happened over the weekend ... our relationship with the US is important, it is growing, but at the same time such actions cannot be condoned".
The US Government has not commented.
Pakistan hopes to gain more materially from its alliance with the US.
Among the issues Mr Aziz was expected to discuss in Washington are plans to purchase F-16 fighter planes.
Pakistan also wants access to civilian nuclear technology.
#1
said at least 10 or 12 terrorists from outside Pakistan had been invited to attend a feast in the village of Damadola
I'm was on my way to Damadola day,
I would not be back vir many a day.
It was BBQ'd goat the menu did say
But they fried me instead... at Damadola Day.
#4
Wait - how can that be? I saw a picture in the NY Times showing the aftermath of the attack with the 'rocket' sticking out of the ground. The NY Times is the paper of record. They'd never LIE to us, would they??
(IsraelNN.com) In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel this week, former Syrian Vice-President Abdelhalim Khaddam asserted that the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria is about to collapse. Accordingly, Khaddam is preparing the foundation for a government-in-exile from his Paris residence. Regarding the Assad regime, Khaddam told Der Spiegel: "The fall has begun. I do not think the regime will survive this year."
Fred has money on it
As for the potential members of his exile government, Khaddam said, "I would not exclude any political group as long as it respects the democratic process," including Islamists and Ba'athists.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
12:27 ||
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who grabs power? what do they do to get syrians to support them (hint: it involves Israel and the USA on the "hate" side, and Iran on the "love" side).
#5
If Syria does go kaflooey, hopefully it will have a window of utter disorganization, but not violent chaos. Enough of a window for the hard-corps diplomats to mosey in and get the horse trading going on.
France, Iran and Russia will want them to continue to be a dictatorship, bless their rotten little hearts; but the US and Britain will connive to get them moving towards a greater plurality, hopefully ending in a democracy. Asking the UN in would help this a lot, at least reducing a lot of the hanky-panky; so they would be useful fools while we worked our works.
#1
"Give me a break," said T.J. Bonner, a 27-year Border Patrol veteran who heads the National Border Patrol Council. "Intrusions by the Mexican military to protect drug loads happen all the time and represent a significant threat to the agents.
Whats all the fuss about, they seldom go north of Des Moines? New Orleans Mayor Fox Says God Wants City US To Be Mostly Black hispanic.
#3
eLarson
Interesting point. If a US civilian saw a Mexican Army regular on our side of the border and shot him, can he be charged with murder or would it be considered defending the Homeland? Would it be any different if the american shot a known AQ terrorist or Iranian/Syrian sabatouer?
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/17/2006 15:42
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#4
"There's right and there's wrong. You gotta do one or the other. You do the one, and you're living. You do the other, and you may be walking around, but you're as dead as a beaver hat." John Wayne to his Tennessee volunteers in 'THE ALAMO'
#5
Can you say bounty? Offer $40 per set of donkey tags and I'm willing to bet we might see a couple locals fix this problem. Because gwad only knows the democraps and repubs will not.
It makes you wonder how many contacts the Muslim terrorist have with the Mexican military.
Two deploying soldiers and a concerned mother reported Friday afternoon that the U.S. Army appears to be singling out soldiers who have purchased Pinnacle's Dragon Skin Body Armor for special treatment. The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations from a secret location, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies. The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/17/2006
10:47 ||
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#1
After the initial reaction, the rationale for this prohibition came to mind. That is, if a soldier gets a piece of commercial equipment that helps him do his job better, fine. But if it is defensive equipment, that helps him alone, there is a problem.
It is bad for unit morale. You don't want your soldiers pondering all of the questions inherent in "he has better protection than I do". And there are lots of questions they would be asking.
This could even have an impact on the whole unit.
Granted, this is my guess as to why they are banning this stuff, but they may have a very good point.
#2
...My advice to the kid would be to wear the armor and the Army be damned. If he does go down to a wound anywhere that WASN'T under the body armor, they still have to pay up. If he takes a hit through the body armor and dies anyways, imagine the stink the MSM will raise - "this poor boy had to buy his own body armor and now the evil Bushitler won't pay his life insurance."
His family will get the money after a news cycle or two of that.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/17/2006 11:40
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#3
...My advice to the kid would be to wear the armor and the Army be damned. If he does go down to a wound anywhere that WASN'T under the body armor, they still have to pay up. If he takes a hit through the body armor and dies anyways, imagine the stink the MSM will raise - "this poor boy had to buy his own body armor and now the evil Bushitler won't pay his life insurance."
His family will get the money after a news cycle or two of that.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/17/2006 11:43
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#4
Anon I have to disagree and if it was my butt (or one of my kids) I would buy the best I could get my hands on before I deployed. The CO is loony if he is going to deny SLGI or any other death benefits of a soldier who wasn't wearing issue gear. Hell if that was the case half the people deployed would be denied benefits. Also it would be a REALLY bad PR move for the Armed Services.
#5
The rules are 'Line of Duty'. When they stop paying out bennies because the servicemember died in an vehicle accident and DUI, then I'd be concerned, but the law is the law. They pay. They will continue to pay. Someone is going to get his nickers in a tight wad when they try to pull this stunt. Talk about "conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces" Art. 134, UCMJ.
You have guys chucking parts of body armor already because of weight. Going stop bennies for them too? You know every now and then the command chain needs an attitude adjustment applied.
#6
Currently nine U.S. generals stationed in Afghanistan are reportedly wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin body armor, according to company spokesman Paul Chopra. Chopra, a retired Army chief warrant officer and 20+-year pilot in the famed 160th "Nightstalkers" Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), said his company was merely told the generals wanted to "evaluate" the body armor in a combat environment. Yea, right....Chopra said he did not know the names of the general officers wearing the Dragon Skin.
#8
It could simply be that the commander (is that an actual thingy, like Sergeant or General, or is that a descriptor?) was incorrect in his/her understanding of the rules. If so, the sound and fury will cause that to be fixed.
#9
IIUC it is going the other way, tw. After a recent unusual period in which people were allowed to supplement equipment in all kinds of ways, the standard Army discipline is kicking in and commanders are demanding that only issued equipment be used.
I won't debate the overal good/bad on this, but will note that a lot of training and tactical doctrine assumes the members of a unit are outfitted the same way. OTOH, from the story this unit appears to be SOCOM and those guys usually have a lot more leeway on equipment. But not, perhaps, at the level of an individual junior soldier.
#14
Paul Chopra is a great guy, fellow Nightstalker, and a friend, but this does no help since he is now a "Company Spoksman" selling a product.
First, The crap about Generals wearing different body armor. This is a fact of life and does not always mean they wear better. The armor they wear is usually lower grade that RBA. They wear thinner stuff because they are usually in a political mode outside the wire, IE visiting heads of state. Ambassadors also wear thin armor, when they wear it. It is no where near as protective as what our troop wear, just helful from some guy with a pistol and no help from a sniper. Which leads to the second point.
If a soldier believes his store bought equipment will outperform his issued then he will leave his issued stuff in the tent, regardless of the truth. Then there are hundreds of issues about durability of the stuff when it gets soaked, damaged, and if it is easilly removed when the soldier gets hit etc...
This is just plane old second guessing the command and stirring doubt as to the effectiveness on the gear they currently wear. This artice does not say they were going without body armor.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/17/2006 14:22
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#15
Didn't have much need for body armor on the carriers, but you can bet that if I did and the commercial stuff looked better than the gov't issue, I'd be there. Remember, the winning supplier is / was the LOW bidder......
#19
Americans who have been conned into supporting the nation-building sham in the Iraq and Afghan pig pens, would do well to check out the attached link:
The name of Lebanon's Christian Maronite Patriarch, Butros Nasrallah Sfeir appears on a hit-list uncovered by a UN commission probing the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, according to a well-placed political source in Beirut. Speaking on condition of anonymity the source told Adnkronos International (AKI) that publisher Gibran Tueni killed in a 12 December bomb blast in Beirut also appeared on the the list which was submitted by the former head of the UN panel, Detlev Mehlis to the Lebanese authorities. "I saw with my own eyes the letter signed by Mehlis [containing the hit list]. Gibran Tueni himself showed it during the first days of August [2005] following his return from Saudi Arabia where he had conveyed his condolences for the death of [Saudi] King Fahd. Besides Tueni another name which appeared on the list was that of Nasrallah Sfeir the Maronite Patriach, " the source said.
Three different hit lists have surfaced in the Lebanese media in recent months. The last one which appeared on 13 January contained the names of several celebrity talk-show hosts and well-known anti-Syrian politicians including Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, his close aide and Lebanon's current Telecommunications minister, Marwan Hamade, Democreatic Left parliamentarian Elias Atallah, Social Affairs minister Nayla Muawad and Hariri's son, Saad ad-Din Hariri. All of those on the list were prominent in the wave of anti-Syrian demonstrations that took place in Lebanon after the killing of Hariri and 20 others in a bomb attack in Beirut on 14 February 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2006
10:47 ||
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Surprise, surprise, surprise...
NEW YORK - Civil liberties groups filed lawsuits in two cities Tuesday seeking to block President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, arguing the electronic surveillance of American citizens was unconstitutional. The U.S. District Court lawsuits were filed in New York by the Center for Constitutional Rights and in Detroit by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The New York suit, filed on behalf of the center and individuals, names President Bush, the head of the National Security Agency, and the heads of the other major security agencies, challenging the NSA's surveillance of persons within the United States without judicial approval or statutory authorization. It seeks an injunction that would prohibit the government from conducting surveillance of communications in the United States without warrants.
Even FISA allows them to do this if the person in the US isn't a 'US person'. Now they want to go beyond the law.
The Detroit suit, which also names the NSA, was filed with the ACLU along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greenpeace and several individuals. The usual suspects.
Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday morning with the National Security Agency and the Justice Department. You can just call up the NSA?
Bush, who said the wiretapping is legal and necessary, has pointed to a congressional resolution passed after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that authorized him to use force in the fight against terrorism as allowing him to order the program. The program authorized eavesdropping of international phone calls and e-mails of people deemed a terror risk. The Detroit lawsuit says the plaintiffs, who frequently communicate by telephone and e-mail with people in the Middle East and Asia, have a "well-founded belief" that their communications are being intercepted by the government. Hmmmmmmm...wonder why that is?
So it's an international call/e-mail, not a 'domestic' one. FISA allows those to be reviewed without warrants if the party in the US isn't a 'US person'. There are other warrant exceptions as well. And the people participating in the suit are going to have to demonstrate 'standing', which won't be met by claiming a 'well-founded belief': unless the judge is a Clinton appointee, of course.
"By seriously compromising the free speech and privacy rights of the plaintiffs and others, the program violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution," the lawsuit states.
#4
A suspicious mind might ask why Greenpeace feels a need to insert itself in this case. Surely using the phones is less taxing on the environment than jetting back and forth for meetings?
#7
The same can be said with CAIR. Both are part of international terrorist organizations (some might make the same case the the ACLU is as well - but I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader).
And does the program involve actual evesdropping (i.e. listening in to your boring 2-hour spiel about your mother's cyst) or simply identification of call patterns (i.e. knowing you call you mommy every day...) from known foreign terrorists?
#12
Thank goodness the ACLU has straighted this out. Now there is now doubt what so ever that the ACLU are traitors working for Muslim terrorist.
Because that is their right, as traitors. Can any of you imagine what would have happened during WWII if they had tried to pull this crap with German sabotours?
#13
I wish there were someone in our government with big enough cojones to declare outfits like CAIR and the ACLU as "sponsors of terrorism". It's dead simple to prove the case, but the political fallout would be astounding. How many thousands of contributers would be surprised at the hidden agendas of these agencies? How many people who have tried to get help from one of these, or from other agencies similar to them, would be shocked to learn the true agenda of these organizations? We need to clean house in the United States, and the organizations listed in this article are as good a place to start as any.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/17/2006 17:33
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#14
Mark Levin just traced the origins of these groups back to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
#16
Actually, it is too bad that these scumbags were not around in WWII. The Roosevelt Admin would have arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned them back then. And the filth would have spent a few decades in prison, until Jimmy Carter would have pardoned them, like he did with Tokyo Rose.
#17
The good thing is the ACLU is now finally going over a cliff in such a way that even a non-impartial observer can see they are on the side ofthe terrorists. This is NOT DOMESTIC surveillance- its surveillence of communications with foreign agest from within the US. The ACLU is going ot get its head handed to it by the coruts onthis one. Apparently they never bothered to read the initial articles of the constitution and th powers of the cheif executive in his role as Commander in Cheif in time of war.
Thank you ACLU - you can now truly be said to be the organization that protects TERRORISTS who woudl kill thousands more Amaricans if not constrained.
#2
Well, it is easier for parents to get all the Fulla stuff than the Barbie stuff.
No Corvette. No pet dog. No silly stuff like Fulla becoming an astronaut, or president, or...any kind of career. No glittering party dresses. Nothing for traveling all over the world. No foreign devil friends.
Just a chador, a hijab, and a full face veil, and you are set!
#7
I want one! Then///no wait this is too easy. Lets wait till the muzzie Ken doll is out. Oh I forgot, they are all in heaven with their virgins and goats. This is way to easy.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/17/2006 15:55
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#8
One problem with the doll. It has boobs. Muhammad set the example of boning 6 year olds as wives so this one is way to old for the average Muhammadian Koranic pedophile for Allah.
At least they can buy her. Now that is something the moon god Islamics are used too doing
Former Vice President Al Gore's assertion that President Bush "repeatedly and persistently" broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without a court warrant did not fall on deaf ears in Washington, D.C. In fact, the Republican National Committee swiftly reacted to the loser of the 2000 presidential election, with RNC press secretary Tracey Schmitt stating: "Al Gore's incessant need to insert himself in the headline of the day is almost as glaring as his lack of understanding of the threats facing America. While the president works to protect Americans from terrorists, Democrats deliver no solutions of their own, only diatribes laden with inaccuracies and anger."
The RNC then showed why Gore's comments are hard to swallow, providing these insightful reminders:
Once Upon A Time, Gore Talked Tough About Cracking Down On Terrorists:
In 1999, Vice President Gore Declared: "Hear Me Well - We Will Fight The Reckless Violence Of Terrorism And We Will Never Yield To Terrorism, Ever." (Joe Carroll, "Clinton Exhorts Parties to Surmount Last Hurdle," The Irish Times, 3/18/99)
At A 1996 Counter-Terrorism Event Gore Said: "The Bottom Line Is That President Clinton And I And The Members Of This Commission Have Pledged To The Families Of The Victims Of Terrorism That We're Going To Take The Strongest Measures Possible To Reduce The Risk Of Another Tragedy In The Future." (Al Gore, White House Briefing, 9/5/96)
Clinton/Gore Administration Used Warrantless Searches:
Clinton Administration Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick: "(T)he Department Of Justice Believes, And The Case Law Supports, That The President Has Inherent Authority To Conduct Warrantless Physical Searches For Foreign Intelligence Purposes And That The President May, As Has Been Done, Delegate This Authority To The Attorney General." (Deputy Attorney General Jamie S. Gorelick, Permanent Select Committee On Intelligence, U.S. House Of Representatives, Testimony, 7/14/94)
In 1994, President Clinton Expanded The Use Of Warrantless Searches To Entirely Domestic Situations With No Foreign Intelligence Value Whatsoever. In A Radio Address Promoting A Crime- Fighting Bill, Mr. Clinton Discussed A New Policy To Conduct Warrantless Searches In Highly Violent Public Housing Projects." (Charles Hurt, "'Warrantless' Searches Not Unprecedented," The Washington Times, 12/22/05)
"One Of The Most Famous Examples Of Warrantless Searches In Recent Years Was The Investigation Of CIA Official Aldrich H. Ames, Who Ultimately Pleaded Guilty To Spying For The Former Soviet Union. That Case Was Largely Built Upon Secret Searches Of Ames' Home And Office In 1993, Conducted Without Federal Warrants." (Charles Hurt, "'Warrantless' Searches Not Unprecedented," The Washington Times, 12/22/05)
President Bill Clinton: "(T)he Attorney General Is Authorized To Approve Physical Searches, Without A Court Order, To Acquire Foreign Intelligence Information For Periods Of Up To One Year ..." (President Bill Clinton, Executive Order 12949, "Foreign Intelligence Physical Searches," 2/9/95)
Meanwhile, Polling Shows Americans Support President Bush's Decision On Wire Tapping:
"(A Rasmussen Reports Survey Found) Sixty-Four Percent (64 percent) Of Americans Believe The National Security Agency (NSA) Should Be Allowed To Intercept Telephone Conversations Between Terrorism Suspects In Other Countries And People Living In The United States ⊠Just 23 percent Disagree." (Rasmussen Reports' Web site, http://www.rasmussenreports.com, Accessed 1/6/06)
Eighty-One Percent (81 percent) Of Republicans Believe The NSA Should Be Allowed To Listen In On Conversations Between Terror Suspects And People Living In The United States. That View Is Shared By 51 percent Of Democrats ..." (Rasmussen Reports' Web site, http://www.rasmussenreports.com, Accessed 1/6/06)
The FISA Court Does Not Provide Flexibility Needed To Fight The War On Terrorism:
President Bush: "(T)he (9/11) Commission Criticized Our Nation's Inability To Uncover Links Between Terrorists Here At Home And Terrorists Abroad. Two Of The Terrorist Hijackers Who Flew A Jet Into The Pentagon, Nawaf Al Hamzi And Khalid Al Mihdhar, Communicated While They Were In The United States To Other Members Of Al Qaeda Who Were Overseas." (President Bush, Radio Address, Washington, D.C., 12/17/05)
9/11 Commission Report: "On January 15, (2000) Hazmi And Mihdhar Arrived In Los Angeles. ... After The Pair Cleared Immigration And Customs At Los Angeles International Airport, We Do Not Know Where They Went. ... We Do Not Pick Up Their Trail Until February 1, 2000 ..." ("Final Report Of The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States," The 9/11 Commission Report, 7/22/04)
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: "The Operators Out At NSA Tell Me That We Don't Have The Speed And The Agility That We Need, In All Circumstances, To Deal With This New Kind Of Enemy. You Have To Remember That FISA Was Passed By The Congress In 1978. There Have Been Tremendous Advances In Technology ... Since Then." (Attorney General Gonzales, Press Conference, 12/19/05)
The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol: "Remember Moussaoui? Remember August 2001? The FBI Wanted To Go To The FISA Court To Get Surveillance Capabilities Based On What They Found On His Computer, And The Justice Department Decided No. Now, The Patriot Act Did Not Change That Standard Of FISA ..." (Fox News' "Fox News Sunday," 12/18/05)
Kristol: "I Wish Bill Clinton Had Done This. I Wish We Had Tapped The Phones Of The People Of Mohammed Atta Here Into The United States If We Discovered Phone Calls From Afghanistan To Him. That Was Why 9/11 Happened. That's What Connecting The Dots Is." (Fox News' "Fox News Sunday," 12/18/05)
9/11 Commission Report: "The Agents In Minnesota Were Concerned That The U.S. Attorney's Office In Minneapolis Would Find Insufficient Probable Cause Of A Crime To Obtain A Criminal Warrant To Search Moussaoui's Laptop Computer. Agents At FBI Headquarters Believed There Was Insufficient Probable Cause. Minneapolis Therefore Sought A Special Warrant Under The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act To Conduct The Search ... FBI Headquarters Did Not Believe This Was Good Enough, And Its National Security Law Unit Declined To Submit A FISA Application." ("Final Report Of The National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States," The 9/11 Commission Report, 7/22/04)
Bush Administration's Wiretapping Authorization Has Been Successful:
"Officials Have Privately Credited The Eavesdropping With The Apprehension Of Lyman Faris, A Truck Driver Who Pleaded Guilty In 2003 To Planning To Blow Up The Brooklyn Bridge." (Peter Baker, "President Says He Ordered NSA Domestic Spying," The Washington Post, 12/18/05)
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
10:03 ||
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#1
Al-Gore's gone through his various post-Florida 2000 stages:
1. Bearded visiting prof look at Columbia U.
2. Fat-boy, puttin' on dem pounds look.
3. Comedic appearances on Letterman where he left the crowd in stitches (NOT!).
4. Various appearance before MOVE-ON.org-sponsored events.
5. And now in his most demented stage at the DAR Constitution Hall.
Next month, Al-Gore hooks up with Mayor Ray "Chocolate" Nagin to tour America.
Vanderbilt Law School Dropout Albert A. Gore Jr., accused President Bush of breaking the law when, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the president authorized wiretapping on international phone calls of terrorist suspects.
Before making another wild accusation against the man who defeated him in the 2000 presidential election, Gore should perhaps have consulted individuals who, unlike him, actually graduated from law school and studied the laws in question. Over at Powerline, one such attorney, John Hinderaker, analyzed the presidentâs program and surveyed the applicable law and found âunder the Constitution and all controlling precedents, the NSA intercept program is legal.â In his update to that post, he provides a link to the Justice Department rationale upon which President Bush relied. (Unlike Mr. Gore, those who wrote that opinion graduated from law school.)
And itâs not just a conservative attorney like Mr. Hinderaker who has found the presidentâs program to be legal. As we have reported before, John Schmidt, associate attorney general in the Clinton Administration, in which Mr. Gore also served (but in a different capacity) found that the president had the legal authority to OK the wiretaps. Another left-of-center attorney to sign off on the presidentâs plan was Cass Sunstein, one of the nationâs most respected constitutional scholars.
Before accusing his erstwhile adversary of breaking the law, this disgruntled Democrat should have consulted with those who actually graduated from law school. And perhaps he should also consult with graduates of another type of professional school so he might finally get over his loss to President Bush now over five years ago.
UPDATE: Back in the day when he was working for Bill Clinton, Gore didnât claim that his boss and his appointees were violating the law when they defended similar eavesdropping. Gateway Pundit provides comments supporting such programs from law school graduates. (Via: Glenn (who thinks Iâm a meanie).)
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/17/2006 10:41
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In fact, the Republican National Committee swiftly reacted to the loser of the 2000 presidential election, with..
Gotta give credit to these guys - it looks like they're learning that mounting a prompt challenge is the best response when the opposition decides to dispense bullshit.
The commander of the Danish special forces is asking politicians to put them into action in hotspots such as Afghanistan and Africa. The head of the nation's military special forces is concerned that his troops are not being used actively enough. Col. Henrik H. Friis warned politicians on Sunday that training alone was not enough to keep up the skills of the nation's elite soldiers.
Friis also pointed out that there were plenty of hotspots around the world, such as Afghanistan and Africa, where the special forces could participate. 'Things happen rapidly in our field, and if we are to measure up to the best special forces out there, it doesn't do any good if we only train. We need to get out and complete some missions,' Friss said, adding that it was important for the forces to continue cooperating with US and other European forces. The last time the Danish special forces participated in a major international operation was in 2002, when they were involved in 'Operation Enduring Freedom' in Afghanistan. The unit received an award for their efforts there, and as a result it was asked to play a major role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
A political decision not to allow the forces to participate in the early phases of the invasion was made, however. And since then, they have mostly carried out short-term operations. Meanwhile, other countries, including neighbouring Sweden and Norway, have been busy with multiple special operations. Friss feared that another result of not being included in international operations was a loss of the relationship that was built up during the 2002 Afghanistan operation.
The minister of defence, SÞren Gade, said he and other political leaders understood Friis's concerns, but that the ministry had no concrete plans to deploy the special forces for the time being.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/17/2006 10:39
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Reminds me a of a show I saw (Military Channel?) on Navy SEALs. It said that in peacetime one of the most common reasons for quitting was a lack of action.
PBCP leader killed in 'crossfire'
A regional leader of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-ML-Janajuddho) was killed in 'crossfire' during a shootout between his gang and police in Chuadanga early yesterday.
"How early?"
"Very early."
The dead was identified as Sonu Mondol, 35 of Purondarpur village in Jibonnagar upazila in Chuadanga.
According to Chuadanga police, Jessore police arrested (Step one) Sonu from Dadpur village in Chougachha upazila with his two accomplices on Sunday noon.
"Afternoon, Sonu, boys. How's about coming downtown with us? Officer, help him up, I can't hear him with his face in the dirt."
After interrogation, (Step two) Jessore police handed him over to Chuadanga police the same day.
"For us? You shouldn't have, we didn't get anything for you."
Following his confessional statement, (Step three) a team of Jibonnagar police set out for Purondarpur village with him to retrieve illegal firearms. (Step four) But the outlawed cadres ambushed the police team (Step five) when it reached Hasdah village at about 4:40am. Police fired back triggering a gunfight between police and criminals. (Six and seven)Sonu tried to escape during the shootout (Eight) and died when he was caught in 'crossfire' (Nine and ten) while the outlaws fled, police sources said. One shutter gun and 12 bullets were retrieved from the scene.
The shutter gun is back! Hip hip huray!
Chuadanga police said Sonu was accused in 12 cases, including five for murder, filed with different police stations in the region.
Wanted on twelve systems
2 drug smugglers held in Ctg
CHITTAGONG, Jan 16:âChittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) in a raid conducted late last night at cityâs Halishahar area detained two drug smugglers and seized 55 Phensidyles from their possession. Police identified the culprits as Mohammad Mohi Uddin (28) and Mohammad Jamal (35). The detainees during the questioning confessed that they had been smuggling drugs under the direct supervision of Dail Karim of the area.
They were handed over to Halishahar police station after primary interrogation and a case was recorded in this connection.
Extortionists rounded up by RAB in Khagrachari
Security forces stationed at Mohalchari army zone rounded up two extortionists while they were collecting toll at village Bodanala under Mohalchari upazila in Khagrachari Saturday night. One Belgium-made SBL gun with cartridges and toll collection receipt were recovered from the possession of Sanjit Kumar Chakma, 30, and Rangachua Chakma, 25, reportedly activists of the Parbatya Chattagram Jano Sanghati Samity, sources in security forces said.
They give out receipts when extorting money at gunpoint?
The Samity, however, told New Age that it had not any link to the two persons. The arrested were handed over to the police.
Foreign gun recovered in Khagrachhari
Jan 16: Security Forces yesterday recovered another Belgium-made gun from Natun Chakma para on Guimara upazilla in Khagrachhari district in an anti-terrorism operation. Acting on a tip-off, Security Forces led by army commander of Shindukchhari zone Major Mostafiz, raided the area yesterday night. The terrorists ran away from the place.
"Feet, don't fail me now!"
The army team recovered a Belgium-made Gun. Major Mostafiz told this correspondent that they are continuing their anti terrorism operation.
It may be mentioned that, last January 14 Mohalchhari army arrested Rangahuyo Chakma (25) and Sanjit Kumar Chakma (30) with one Belgium-made revolver, bullets and subscription books. The two person confessed that they are JSS men and they collect tolls from business men. A case filed against the two arrested men.
Two fake RAB members held in Kurigram
Jan 16 : Two people impersonated as the members of RAB were arrested by Bangladesh Rifles from a bazar in bordering Fulbari upazila while demanding tolls. Police said locals caught hold of Nawsher Ali, and his brother Khwaza Mia while they were demanding tolls from the traders of the bazar at about 1pm.
"Hey, you can't be real RAB men! The sun is still out. Grab them!"
Nawsher wore RAB uniform, they added.
Following their confessional statement, the local people also caught their sister Rahima Begum from a rickshaw, parked near the bazar.
Getaway driver didn't get away
They were handed over to the BDR. Later, BDR handed over the trio to police. A fake identity card of RAB-10 was also recovered from the possession of Nawsher. A case has been filed.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
09:32 ||
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#1
Whew, that was fast! Only a few days ago the Bangladeshi police were struggling to reconstruct the proper order for these reports, but now they're doing it properly by the numbers.
January 17, 2006: The U.S. Department of Defense has decided to make the next generation heavy bomber an unmanned aircraft. The Department of Defense also wants the new aircraft in service by the end of the next decade, some twenty years ahead of schedule. At the same time, the current combat UAV program (J-UCAS, run by the air force and navy) is to be changed as well. The current X45 project will be split up, with the air force and navy allowed to develop a shorter range combat aircraft to suit their particular needs. These will be bombers, with some air-to-air capabilities. The X45 was meant mainly for those really dangerous bombing missions, early on, when enemy air defenses have to be destroyed. But the Pentagon finally got hip to the fact that the J-UCAS developers were coming up with an aircraft that could replace all current fighter-bombers. This was partly because of the success of the X45 in reaching its development goals, and the real-world success of the Predator (in finding, and attacking, targets) and Global Hawk (in finding stuff after flying half way around the world by itself.)
The X45 program started out, two years ago, as a DARPA research project. But last Fall, it was taken from DARPA and given to the air force, with orders to move as quickly as possible. At that time, the plan was to build the X45C version and get it through all the tests needed to certify it for combat. At the time, it was thought another four years would be needed to do that. Now, no one is sure it will take that long.
The X45A has passed tests with formation flying, and dropping a JDAM (actually the new 250 pound SDB version). The X45C will carry eight SDB (250 pound small diameter bombs), or up to 4500 pounds of other JDAMs. The X45A has already shown it can fly in formation and refuel in the air. The X45C will weigh in at about 19 tons, have a 2.2 ton payload and be 39 feet long (with a 49 foot wingspan.) The X-45A, built for development only, is 27 feet long, has a wingspan of 34 feet and has a payload of 1.2 tons. The X-45C will be able to hit targets 2,300 kilometers away and be used for bombing and reconnaissance missions. Each X-45C will probably cost about $30 million, depending on how extensive, and expensive, its electronic equipment will be.
The one topic no one wants to touch at the moment is air-to-air. This appears to be the last job left for pilots of combat aircraft. (cough) close-air-support (cough) The geeks believe they have this one licked, and are giving the pilot generals the, âbring it onâ look. The generals are not keen to test their manned aircraft against a UAV, but this will change the minute another country, like China or Russia, demonstrates that they are seriously moving in that direction.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
09:29 ||
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Without pilots, all sorts of weird possibilities come to mind about heavy bombers. For example, a B-52 was notorious for using almost half its fuel just to get off the ground. So if there's no rush for a heavy bomber launch, why not hoist it up with a dirigible? That is, lift it high up, then start its engines, and it flies away, at altitude, on its own power.
Sounds silly, I know, until you calculate out the greater range before it needs refueling. Right now, bombers are restricted in their use by the availability of refueling aircraft in the vicintity. So maybe it isn't such a ludicrous idea after all.
#5
The X45 program started out, two years ago, as a DARPA research project. But last Fall, it was taken from DARPA and given to the air force, with orders to move as quickly as possible. At that time, the plan was to build the X45C version and get it through all the tests needed to certify it for combat. At the time, it was thought another four years would be needed to do that. Now, no one is sure it will take that long.
Good move getting it out of DARPA. Bad move not setting a schedule or timeline i.e., orders to move as quickly as possible. I can hear blue-suiter chuckles and yawns from the "back 9."
#6
I think the pilots should embrace UAV's in an air to air role, as a supplement. Without the life support systems, etc, the UAV's are a lot cheaper, therefore they could be allotted say, two air to air capable UAV's. Send them in first, let the bad guys use up their missiles and break their formations, then tallyho! Almost none of our fighters engage in ONLY air to air missions, so this would let the manned aircraft preserve missiles and fuel to head to the kind of targets (say an office complex in a built up area) that require human judgement on the spot. One question though, for the geeks, do we have enough satellite bandwidth available to support a whole bunch of these? Seems I recall some trouble with that during the late unpleasantness in Iraq.
Posted by: colin macdougall ||
01/17/2006 13:20
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The Army is already in the process of moving operational control/flying of tactical UAVs to Aviation branch from Military Intel.
There will be plenty of UAVs to go around, some armed, some not, some tactical some (like Global Hawk) for longer-mission surveillance.
#8
So if there's no rush for a heavy bomber launch, why not hoist it up with a dirigible? That is, lift it high up, then start its engines, and it flies away, at altitude, on its own power.
It is speed who keeps a plane flying. Your bomber would be at zero speed and it would immediately go unto a vertical dive, possibly in a spinning vertical dive. It would be tricky to regain control with a fighter, impossible in a bomber who are quite simply not designed for taking the required Gs for trasiting to horizontal flight before hitting ground. Notice that the above assumes the plane is going down nose first. Chances are high it would go on a flat spin or in a tail first dive and then even an F16 would crash
Posted by: t zero ||
01/17/2006 13:36
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Also consider the size of the dirigible. Likely would need to be roughly 29 times the size of the Hindenburg. That number is off the top of my head, but it feels right.
#10
While dirigibles might not provide optimum static launch characteristics, catapults certainly could. Given reinforced airframes and high-G hardened avionics, our new generation of electromagnetic catapults could slingshot these puppies into the air at accelerations that would make most pilots black out. With the catapult doing most of the heavy lifting, critical jet fuel is saved and deployment happens even more quickly. I smell a major win-win.
#11
t zero and zenster: both good points. The design and use of aircraft without pilots really opens up the imagination. So much more is possible. Planes with almost ballistic missile trajectories. Very small, very fast, very maneuverable.
But since most flying is done for logistics rather than combat, imagine also a drone, much like a Huey in size/cargo, that could perform similar missions. Something similar to a Jolly Green Giant, for bus-sized cargoes, etc.
#13
Although the original purpose of the UAV bomber (i.e., softening up inbound anti-aircraft defenses) is laudable, one also needs to consider the use of hypersonic missiles that will be able to address global targets within a few hours. While not able to loiter, their cost of assembly and operation is significantly less.
I especially like the idea of a bunker busting conventional warhead impacting at several times the speed of sound. Such a missile should be able to burrow quite a distance, as in Iranian underground facilities.
#15
It might be far more practical to have launched sub-orbital vehicles to deploy "space based weapons", than to have orbital platforms to do so.
The idea being that from a sub-orbital altitude, they would first maneuver into a very steep attitude, then use their engines to rapidly descend towards the target area. Then, with minor attitude adjustments, they could aim at multiple targets and fire solid projectiles with a rail gun. This would get the projectiles up to speed while reducing atmospheric friction on them, so less would burn off before impact.
Instead of attempting deep penetration with the "rods of god", many projectiles could be used like a gigantic cluster bomb over a wide area, resulting in something like a dense meteorite shower of grapefruit sized objects obliterating most targets over perhaps a ten square mile area.
A Los Alamos scientist described using a rail gun to move a cannonball sized chunk of ferrous metal at speeds that "made it seem to simply rematerialize at the other side of the room."
#17
Instead of attempting deep penetration with the "rods of god", many projectiles could be used like a gigantic cluster bomb over a wide area, resulting in something like a dense meteorite shower of grapefruit sized objects obliterating most targets over perhaps a ten square mile area.
♪ make those grapefruits robotic and I think you're on to somrthing Moose. ♪
»;-)
Posted by: Red Dog ||
01/17/2006 19:17
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January 17, 2006: One of the most unreported stories concerns Saddam Husseinâs connection to various terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda. This has been lost in a lot of the arguments over weapons of mass destruction. Some of it is due to skepticism about any claim made by the American government. Another part is due to an insistence on a court-room level of proof â an impossible standard for intelligence agencies to meet in most cases. That said, evidence is emerging of the Saddam Hussein regimeâs connections to terrorism. The regime openly handed out checks to the families of Palestinian murder-suicide bombers. It also harbored the terrorist Abu Nidal â until the terroristâs reported suicide. Abu Abbas, the mastermind of the Achille Lauro hijacking (during which a wheelchair-bound American citizen was killed), also was in Iraq when captured.
Within weeks of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Czech intelligence reported that ringleader Mohammed Atta had met with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague. This report was one of the most publicized - and contested â in the run-up to the liberation of Iraq. On one occasion, the New York Times reported that Czech President Vlacav Havel had called to disavow the report â and Havelâs spokesman promptly labeled the New York Times report a âfabricationâ. An editorial that labeled the Czech informant a drunk was rebutted within days. This controversy distracted from another link: An Iraqi who attended the January 2000 summit in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia after escorting at least one of the hijackers who flew the airliner into the Pentagon. That Iraqi, Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, had contact information for the safe houses used in the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and a 1995 al-Qaeda plot to destroy airliners over the Pacific when he was taken into custody in Qatar. Shakir was later released by the Qatari government, but taken into custody by Jordan until pressure from Amnesty International resulted in his release.
But the most interesting evidence is from documents. One of these, which mentioned bringing in an envoy from bin Laden to Baghdad to discuss âthe future of our relationshipâ, was recovered by a Toronto Star reporter in April, 2003, shortly after the fall of Saddamâs regime. Other documents have been leaked to various outlets. One, discovered during Operation Iraqi Freedom, was an al-Qaeda manual on chemical warfare that mentioned numerous Iraqi officials. Other documents showed how Saddamâs regime trained numerous terrorists, including the Algerian-based GSPC, the Sudanese Islamic Army, and Ansar-al-Islam, which carried out operations in Kurdistan. Over two million documents are currently held by CENTCOM, most of which are unclassified. FOIA requests have been denied, despite the fact the documents are unclassified. Only 50,000 have been examined, most dealing with weapons of mass destruction. The rest have been lying around, indexed in a database known as HARMONY.
The documents on terrorism that have leaked carry enough evidence that tie Saddam Hussein to a number of terrorist groups, some of which have lengthy track records of attacks on the United States. The additional documents could shed additional light on these connections. There is a chance the apparent connections to terrorism are all a misunderstanding, but there is a better chance the author will get a date with the actress who stars in a prime-time series that has usually won its timeslot.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
09:26 ||
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"But but Bush lied and 2,000 died!"
The liberals said stroking their new copies of the poKoran and ACLU handbooks. "We are not concerned with 9-11 and nether should you."
January 17, 2006: The rift appears to be widening between what might be termed âAl Qaeda Center,â represented by by Osama Bin Ladenâs right hand man Ayman al-Zawahri, and âAl Qaeda-in-Iraqâ (AQII) leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The bombings earlier this month of Shia religious sites in Karbala which caused some 50 deaths and scores of injuries, resulted in an enormous amount of bad publicity for Al Qaeda throughout the Moslem world. Reportedly, as a result of the attacks, al-Zawahri admonished al-Zarqawi over attacks against civilian targets and Shia religious sites. Al-Zarqawiâs reaction was to post on an âofficialâ AQII website a statement denying responsibility for the attacks, though reaffirming that Shia were heretical swine.
Despite al-Zawahriâs criticism, it is unlikely that al-Zarqawi will back off attack on civilian targets, which are much easier to carry out than attacks on Iraqi or Coalition troops. As a result of AQIIâs policy of targeting civilians, as well as a more recently program of assassination against secularist Iraqi resistance groups, a âwar within the warâ appears to have developed in some areas of Iraq. There is strong evidence that pitched battles have occurred in several regions between AQIIâs âforeignâ fighters and local insurgents loyal to tribal or Baathist leaders. In Al Anbar province the principal secular resistance leader, Muhammed Mahoud Latif, appears to be among one of the insurgent leaders prominent in quasi-covert âpeaceâ talks with the Iraqi government.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
09:14 ||
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The rift appears to be widening between what might be termed âAl Qaeda Center,â represented by by Osama Bin Ladenâs right hand man Ayman al-Zawahri, and âAl Qaeda-in-Iraqâ (AQII) leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Not surprising since nobody has heard from Bin Laden or Zarqawi in quite some time and I suspect it will be quite a while before we hear from ol' Zawahiri. If this is the "center" who/what is the right and who/what is the left.
US counter-terrorism ambassador Henry Crumpton has told the BBC that the al-Qaeda leader and his number two are believed to be in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.
"We have no intelligence or evidence that indicates that he [Bin Laden] is dead or incapacitated, so our working assumption is that he is still alive."
Al-Qaeda retained the aim of attacking the US, UK and Europe, he said.
Mr Crumpton told the BBC: "I am very confident we will at some point get al-Qaeda's leadership, and we believe they are in that area."
The ambassador added: "I should also note, no sign of life from Bin Laden, I think that reflects our collective success.
"I think and certainly hope that they are more concerned about staying alive than plotting the next 9/11."
But he warned: "Al-Qaeda and affiliated groups have a strategic aim of attacking the US homeland - that is their intent, we believe they are working toward that.
"I think also they intend to attack the UK again, and Europe."
Mr Crumpton also said the US did not "support, condone or engage in torture" of prisoners.
"Our efforts in counter-terrorism are complex, often secret, therefore that engenders some misunderstanding, some misperceptions, exaggerations."
But he added: "In terms of detainees and prisoners, information they provide is extraordinarily valuable - it has saved lives, it has stopped attacks in Europe and elsewhere."
Nine Iraqi border guards have been detained by Iranian forces after a clash on the southern river frontier with Iran in which one guard was wounded, a senior Iraqi official said Tuesday. Brigadier-General Abbas Mussawi, the regional border force commander, called on Iran to free the men and their two boats that were also allegedly taken in the incident on the Iraqi side of the border. A spokesman for Iraq's defence ministry, however, said the ministry had not yet received any information about Saturday's clash on the Shatt Al-Arab river, 45 kilometres (27 miles) south of Basra, in southern Iraq. The British-led foreign military contingent in the region was also unaware of the matter so-far, a spokesman said.
Mussawi said that the exchange occurred when Iraqi border guards boarded a barge smuggling fuel to Iran. Iranian speedboats arrived on the scene and opened fire, gravely wounding one Iraqi guard. The entire Iraqi patrol, including an officer and the injured man, was then detained and taken across the border to Iran, he said. Mussawi was unable to say whether the wounded guard was alive or dead. The alleged clash was a rare exchange between Iraqi and Iranian forces in southern Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, which saw a marked improvement in the previously difficult relations between the two countries.
Mussawi said his guards mounted the Iranian boat, called "Nur 1", on the Iraqi side of the invisible border dividing Iraq and Iran at the deepest point of the waterway. The people on board had been taking fuel from other smuggling boats. "When the guards mounted the boat they saw that the captain was an Iranian. He alerted the Iranian forces by radio," said Mussawi.
Upon their arrival, the Iranians took the two coastal guard boats and the nine guards, he said. "We call on the Iranian authorities to free the coastal guards who were captured while conducting legitimate work on the Iraqi side of the Shatt Al-Arab," the general said.
The 190-kilometer (120 mile) long waterway, formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the extreme south of the country, marks the border between Iran and Iraq. Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war in the 1980s mainly over control of the Shatt al-Arab, and navigation rights on the river have been in dispute since 1935.
In a similar incident, Iranian forces detained eight British servicemen and three boats in June 2004 for three days. At the time, Tehran insisted the boats were intercepted only after they entered Iranian waters on the Shatt al-Arab waterway. But Britain argued that they had been "forcibly escorted" over the maritime border by Iranian troops.
At least four foreign terrorists died in the U.S. airstrike purportedly aimed at al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, the provincial government said Tuesday. A statement by the administration of Bajur, the Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan, also said that 10 to 12 foreign extremists had been invited to dinner at the village hit in Friday's attack.
Pakistani intelligence officials have said Ayman al-Zawahri,
Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, had been invited to a dinner in the targeted village of Damadola to mark an Islamic holiday but did not show up and sent some aides instead. The statement was the first official confirmation by Pakistani authorities that foreign militants were killed in the attack, which officials have said also killed innocent civilians. The provincial government did not identify who the foreigners may have been or who was the target of the missile strike.
"Four or five foreign terrorists have been killed in this missile attack whose dead bodies have been taken away by their companions to hide the real reason of the attack," the statement said, citing the chief official in the Bajur region where Damadola is located. "It is regrettable that 18 local people lost their lives in the attack, but this fact also cannot be denied, that 10-12 foreign extremists had been invited on a dinner," it said.
#2
But I thought it was just another wedding party like the one, two, three, four ... we've pounded in Iraq on several occasions? Soon, Al Gore and Ray Nagin will go check it out.
#3
Angry is right. I thought there were ten's of thousands of protestors because we killed 18 innocents and there were no foreigners there. Could those protestors have been lying? Boy, I sure hope that's not true that they lied. It would damage my faith in the Muslim religion.
#4
The big headline on my local fishwrap yesterday was: "Pakistanis Decry Botched US Bombing." I want to send them a letter titled: "Readers Decry Botched News Coverage".
BTW - I only subscribe to the Sunday for the grocery coupons.
#5
Xbalanke - are we reading the same paper? Also, letter to ediitor full of LLL breast beating over the deaths of "innocent civilians" Pfeh.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
01/17/2006 11:45
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#6
Rex Mundi, I read the Worcester T&G (well, I get it any way). I dumped the Boston Glob when I found out they're owned by the NYT. After subscribing I found out the T&G is also owned by NYT. Damn, I can't get away from those bastards.
False calculation, gromgoru. Remember, women martyrs get to be the most beautiful amongst their husband's set (assuming he, too, earnt martyrdom -- hey, maybe that's why that woman went off to the Jordanian hotel with her husband: she wanted to make sure she was his favourite afterward!). Children, I assume, don't get anything.
#10
If you lay down with dogs, don't whine when the dog-catcher nabs you. Maybe one or two of these people learned that lesson.
Probably not...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/17/2006 17:44
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#11
Boy, I sure hope that's not true that they lied. It would damage my faith in the Muslim religion.
Come on now, ye of little faith! It's not like they'd try to pass of an artillery shell as a bomb or something, right?
xblanke - I stopped buying the Glob about 10 years ago (a bit after Drudge got on line). Before that I'd buy the weekly version of the paper, keep the sports section (best in the land, at the time) and toss the rest.
"...This latest device demonstrates that significant power can be harvested from the IR and near-IR portion of the solar spectrum [the IR portion of the spectrum has almost 50% of the energy but existing devices only are able to use the visible portion of the spectrum].", said Dr. Stephen R. Forrest. "In fact, this novel approach has the potential to double the power output of organic solar devices [the problem with silicon cells is that they are expensive, brittle and heavy]with power harvested from the near-IR and IR portion of the solar spectrum. With this approach we are well on our way to power levels exceeding 100 watts per [cubic]meter", Forrest concluded.
#1
Great! Except the article has no data. Current organic dye solar cells have only 4% efficiency (and they absorb in the near IR) vs 12% efficiency for amorphous silicon cells (120 watts per square meter).
In fact, the best organic solar cells absorb and convert only about 1/3 of the total available light utilizing primarily the visible portion of the spectrum.
I'm not sure how they calculate that, but if was true, then organics would already be at least 17% efficiency vs the 4% usually cited. And with a price of about 1/2 of amorphous silicon cells, I wouldn't shingle my roof with them yet.
What is more interesting technically are gallium-indium cells that have greater than 50% efficiency from the IR to visible to ultraviolet, though the materials are expensive.
Posted by: ed ||
01/17/2006 11:01
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yes they didn't give much data; I suspect that is because their solar cell was so small it would have been a bit embarrassing
yes also that gallium-indium cells are promising; but, sadly, there just aren't very many deposits of this stuff
Tehran, 17 Jan. (AKI) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday scrapped a ban on the US-based Cable News Network (CNN) a day after the channel was told to leave Iran for its misrepresentation of the president's remarks. Ahmadinejad was quoted by the IRNA newsagency as saying in a letter sent to Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance that CNN be allowed to resume its activities in view of its caving in to threats apology.
"We believe that accurate dissemination of news and information is necessary for political growth and awareness as well as effective interaction among nations in today's world, and the media are the main sources of disseminating useful information," Ahmadinejad said. "Taking into account CNN's apology, we are asking that the channel be allowed to resume its activities, although we maintain the view that the news it has broadcast was contrary to professional ethics of journalism which requires truthful dissemination of news in the interest of all," he added.
Don't we wish
On Saturday, Ahmadinejad said at a press conference that the peaceful use of nuclear energy is a right which Iran cannot be denied, but in CNN's live coverage, his remarks were interpreted into that "the use of nuclear weapons is Iran's right."
On Monday, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance imposed a ban on CNN journalists' activities in Iran, terming the mistakes against professional ethics, but the ministry also said that any revision in the decision "depends on the performance of CNN in future." Once it realised Admadinejad had been misquoted, CNN officially apologised and clarified the matter, according to IRNA.
But Iran still imposed the ban, insisting that CNN's mistake was unforgivable. IRNA argued in a Monday report that CNN's chief correspondent to Tehran Christiane Amanpour, who was present at the conference, was born in Iran and knows the Persian language well.
Boy, this is a tough one, who to believe, CNN or Iran?
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
08:28 ||
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#1
remembered who their friends were, huh? Wonder what CNN promised this time to regain access. b*stards
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/17/2006 9:11
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#2
Same deal Saddam got. We don't negotiate with terrorist regimes.
Lagos, 17 Jan. (AKI) - Four foreign oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria six days ago have read out their captors' demands to the Reuters newsagency by telephone and have warned against any attempt to rescue them. The four hostages - an American, a Briton, a Bulgarian and a Honduran - said, in what Reuters said appeared to be prepared statements, that they were being treated well, but that any military intervention or rescue operation could cost them their lives.
The kidnappers have staged a series of attacks on oil pipelines, platforms and workers over the past three weeks, denting supply from the world's eighth-largest exporter and driving up world prices. The violence has prompted Royal Dutch Shell to evacuate 330 workers from four of its oil platforms in Nigeria. The company is considering more withdrawals amid uncertainty over where the militants will strike next, a senior oil industry source told Reuters. Two attacks last week hit Nigeria's oil output by 226,000 barrels a day and analysts say that if production continues to be disrupted it could push up world oil prices.
The hostage-takers have demand local control of the Niger Delta's oil wealth, payment of 1,5-billion dollars by Royal Dutch Shell to the Bayelsa state government to compansate for pollution, and the release of three men including two ethnic Ijaw leaders, one of the hostages told Reuters over the phone.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
08:25 ||
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#1
Sounds like a job for Robert Montoya's company.
Nouakchott, 17 Jan. (AKI - Mauritanian police have arrested two suspected Islamic terrorists in the Sahara desert who were travelling in a car close to the border with neighbouring Morocco. Both men are Moroccan citizens, and had a large quantity of explosives as well as a state-of-the-art computer and an unspecified amount of euros in their vehicle, according to Mauritanian security sources, quoted by Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai al-Am. The arrests, announced on Tuesday but believed to have been made last Thursday, appear to indicate the continuing presence of al-Qaeda linked terrorists in the country.
In the past few months, Moroccan police have made numerous arrests of suspected al-Qaeda linked terrorists operating in the Sahara desert. In December, Moroccan security forces operating in the area of the Sahara between Morocco and Mauritania smashed an alleged terror cell that they believe had contacts with Algerian and Libyan Salafite groups seeking to create a pan-North African al-Qaeda cell. After the Decembers arrests, the Moroccan and Mauritanian authorities decided to strengthen their cooperation over security in a bid to thwart suspected Islamic terrorists operating in the Sahara.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
08:24 ||
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#1
How lovely -- another computer just full of goodies to be followed up upon. Not to mention a nice car, two bad guys, fragile chemical compounds, and money. Allah really doesn't like someone!
Karachi, 17 Jan. (AKI) - (Syed Saleem Shahzad) - US intelligence officials had reliable information about a gathering of senior al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders in Pakistan's Bajour district and shared it with Islamabad before last Friday's air strike which killed 18 people, says a top Pakistani intelligence official. The official told Adnkronos International(AKI) there was authentic information about a meeting of senior personnel, but it was conjecture that those present included al-Qaeda number 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, or Taliban leader Mullah Omar. There have been widespread anti-US protests in Pakistan over the raid and no word on al-Zawahiri's fate.
Details have emerged in the media suggesting that the air strike targeting al-Zawahiri - the Egyptian doctor and lieutenant to Osama bin Laden - failed because he did not show up for a dinner he was invited to marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. In the pre-dawn raid on the remote village of Damadola, three houses and a school were destroyed by missiles fired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones. Eighteen civilians, including six children, were killed. The raids triggered two days of anti-US protests throughout Pakistan. The foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador for an explanation and information minister Sheikh Rashid condemned the attack. Considered Osama bin Laden's mentor, al-Zawahiri is at the heart of the al-Qaida leadership, and Washington is offering a 25 million dollar bounty for his capture.
AKI sources revealed there was authentic information on the gathering in Bajour district of high- profile Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders who recently fled from Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province. The catalyst for the CIA raid on Bajour Agency - news of which was supplied to Islamabad well in advance - was information gathered by a joint intelligence unit of Pakistani-US operators based in Islamabad, who exchanged hand-delivered notes, on a daily basis. The Islamabad unit provides a centralised daily monitoring report on Pakistan-Afghan border areas, based on information from Pakistani agencies nationwide. The US contributes report on al-Qaeda and Taliban activities, and the security situation in the border provinces of Afghanistan.
Sources told AKI that for the past few weeks, there had been an upsurge in activities in the eastern Kunar province, and the US intelligence partners were reporting that Kunar had become a centre for al-Qaeda members. Previously, a corridor had been traced which started from Kunar and ended at Chitral in Pakistan, as a probable route frequently used by leaders such as Osama bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Afghan resistance leader Gulbadin Hikmatyar. The use of the Kunar-Chitral route was confirmed by leading al-Qaeda militant Abu al Faraj al-Libbi when he was interrogated after his arrest in North West Frontier Province last June. Raids have since been conducted but failed to yield any 'big fish'.
Bajour is on the edge of that corridor and there is a passage which connects Kunar from Bajour. This has made Bajour a suspect region, where joint ISI-FBI teams have conducted raids in past but failed to net any high profile al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders.
AKI's sources said that a recent dispatch from the US side confirmed a movement of Arab-Afghans towards the Pakistani side. As the Chittral area was fully manned by the Pakistan Army, joint intelligence believes those Arab-Afghans entered Bajour. Earlier it was also suspected that along with the Arab fighters there was a high profile Afghan personality, maybe Mullah Omar or Gulbadin Hikmatyar. The dispatch clearly mentioned that if the suspects were spotted, they would be targeted immediately.
Though last Fridayâs attack was the first such incident in Bajour since US forces invaded Afghanistan at the end of 2001, it was the second incident in which Pakistani villagers have been attacked from across the border in under a week. Eight people were killed in an alleged US gunship rocket attack on a house in the North Waziristan Agency on 6 January.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
08:12 ||
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#3
If the US did notify Pakistan 'well in advance' of the attack, then they (CIA) HAD to know Zawahiri would be tipped off. This begs the question of WHY that notification would have been made. And was the CIA/NSA etc. carefully monitoring just who got that notification and where it was passed. In fact, there has been an upsurge in border activity lately - I wonder if there is a 'program' of actions and informings going on, all designed to shed light on the internal network in the Pakistani government. And if not, why not.
In the long run the bigger problem is not Zawahiri, but the factions allied with him within the Pakistani government - Zawahiri doesn't have nukes, the Pakis do. Eventually Musharraf will fall, to natural causes if nothing else first. It is going to be VITAL to know and hopefully be able to work with his successor(s).
#5
Back in WWII, we wanted to confirm the hunch that the Japanese were "reading our mail," and sent a bogus message about the water supply on Midway Island. Sure enough, that info was sent to Tokyo. Think maybe we could do a similiar thing: tell different Paki's different things and see what pops. Then go in and clean out the rat(s).
#6
Glenmore - your comment of "And if not, why not" is the key - we've been at this in Pakland from well before 9-11, and to the extent this was a misfire, I wonder if we gain more than if it were a hit.
Hitchens had an encouraging article yesterday about Iraq/Al Qaeda, and in a similar vein, I suspect Pakistan is now home to at least 3 and probably more intelligence services - it's own, it's own penetrated by us, it's own penetrated by Iran or China, and it's own acting on its own notwithstanding Perv and Co.
In a hall of mirrors like that, it's a bonus when an operation like this accomplishes something immediately, as well as leaving slime trails for all the fleeing slugs. Unless Binny is practicing Farsi on the Caspian shore, the recent homicide bombings in Afghanistan may indicate that Al-Q and the Taliban are so destitute they're shifting talent from elsewhere.
A real good sign might be additional progress pretty far afield - say Somalia or Phillipines - hopefully drying up the farthest reaches as the core withers - here's hoping!
#7
My own feeling is the ISI is protecting both zawahiri and Bin Laden. They know we want them and they're going to get everything they can from us before they hand them over.
From their perspective, we abandoned them like an old blanket when the Ruskies left Afgahnistan. Now they're going to make sure they aren't too successful too fast.
Think the Mafia and the Big Dig.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/17/2006 18:19
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Israeli troops have killed a Palestinian militant terrorist during a clash in the West Bank town of Tulkarm. An Israeli spokeswoman said the soldiers had first tried to arrest him, and he was killed only after he had fired at the troops.
"BANG! Stop or we'll shoot!"
The militant, 24-year-old Thabet Ayyadeh, was the leader of the Hamas military wing in Tulkarm. A local Hamas political leader accused Israel of seeking to provoke bloodshed and said Hamas would not remain silent.
The group's political leader in Tulkarm said there would be Dire Revenge retaliation. "This crime was committed while Hamas is abiding by the state of calm. The aim is to torpedo the calm. We won't remain silent," Rafat Nasif told the Reuters news agency.
Additional from DEBKA: Hamas Tulkarm commander Thabat Salah-e-Din killed trying to escape capture by Israeli force. An Israeli soldier slightly wounded. Long sought as mastermind of suicide attacks in Israel, he tried to shoot his way out when pinned down early Tuesday by an Israeli force. Found in his hideout were weapons and a supply of chemicals for making bomb devices. Eighteen Palestinians wanted for terrorist activity rounded up in West Bank
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
08:06 ||
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#1
His brother Al Thabet will seek serious (if linear) revenge.
Togo's army says it has seized combat aircraft from a former French policeman living in the capital, Lome. Two MiG-23 planes and two Mi-18 helicopters had been found from Lome airport, a military spokesman said.
An international commission is probing the origin of military materiel used by Ivorian forces in the bombing of a French base in Ivory Coast in 2004. The spokesman said Togo would never be a transit zone for ammunition and arms for Ivory Coast or other countries.
"No, certainly not!"
The government has asked former policeman Robert Montoya to explain the origin and planned destination of the military equipment.
"OK, Bob, what's the deal with the MiGs?"
"I was planning on starting a, ah, crop dusting service."
Army spokesman Maj Moise Oyome Kemence said the government had carried out a search at security companies owned by Mr Montoya December after Togolese Defence Minister Kpatcha Gnassingbe issued a complaint against him. "Let's leave the law to deal carefully with this case, without prejudice," Maj Kemence told AFP news agency.
"We don't know if this equipment was going to Ivory Coast," he added.
An international commission based in Lome is investigating the origin of military equipment used by Ivorian loyalist forces in the attack on a French military base at Bouake in Ivory coast in November 2004. Nine French soldiers and an American civilian were killed in the aerial bomb attack.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
07:53 ||
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#1
"OK, Bob, what's the deal with the MiGs?"
"I needed an airplane, and these was all I could afford. You seen what the price of a Cessna 172 is these days?"
Posted by: Mike ||
01/17/2006 13:49
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrived at a deluxe bordello in Beijing on Tuesday for talks with President Hu Jintao on resuming six-nation talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear development, South Korean media reported. A 40-car convoy believed to be carrying the North Korean leader and scores of toothsome hookers arrived Tuesday morning at a government guesthouse in Beijing, the Yonhap News Agency reported, citing unidentified witnesses and diplomatic sources.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said he couldn't confirm whether Kim was in the country, though he said Hu planned to meet with at least one foreign leader over the next two days. China usually announces visits by the secretive Kim only after he is on his way home. Kim, who rarely ventures abroad, is believed to have crossed into China a week ago, with foreign reporters pursuing him every step of the way. It was his first known trip to his regime's only major ally since 2004. He also made a pair of visits to China in 2001. Kim spent nearly a week in the heart of China's booming south, touring high-tech companies in a possible search for ideas to revive his country's laggard economy, according to South Korean and Hong Kong media.
Pro-Beijing newspapers in Hong Kong reported Monday that Kim's armored train left the southern city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong late Sunday for Beijing and a meeting with Hu. According to Yonhap, Kim's train stopped at a station outside Beijing and he was driven into the capital. The United States has urged Beijing to use its influence to convince Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks. They began in 2003 after the North admitted having nuclear weapons. The talks have been stalled since November, with Pyongyang accusing the United States of a hostile attitude. The talks also include Russia, Japan and South Korea.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006
07:46 ||
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Setting the tone at the recent conference of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Tariq Ramadan addressed "young Western Muslims" telling them, "If you want to help the oppressed - vote - donât kill the people, but build a better understanding in your own society."
Speaking to the 1,200 Islamist activists December 17 at the Long Beach Convention Centerâat least some of whom Ramadan apparently believes might be otherwise inclined to "kill the people"-- Ramadan focused on the "Four Cs" as "what we need for now and the futureâŠ. ConfidenceâŠ. Critical Mindâdonât accept anything without checkingâŠ. Commitment, not just international, but domestic⊠and⊠Creativity."
Ramadanâs words echo the strategy of dead Italian communist Antonio Gramsci and the leading modern-day practitioner of Gramscianism, Noam Chomsky. Gramsciâs "Prison Notebooks", circulating in the US for the first time in the late 1970s and early 1980s, led hundreds of thousands of left-over anti-Vietnam war activists to aim for careers in journalism, politics, the ministry and of course academia in order to undermine America from positions of cultural authority.
Ramadanâs parallel strategy calls on young Islamists to instead show, "creativity in every field; culture, intellectualâŠsocial commitment (and) economic dynamics. Ramadan decries, "lack of creativity in the wayâŠwe deal with âthe othersâ". He urges Islamistsâinstead of "kill(ing) the people" to demand, "society follow its own principlesâŠhaving said 9-11 is un-IslamicâŠlet us come togetherâŠ. You have to take from the culture (of the US) everything that is goodâŠ(but)âŠnot everything in the culture is good for usâŠwe are selectiveâŠwe are criticalâŠ."
A Swiss citizen, Ramadan is currently banned from entering the United States by order of the Department of Homeland Security. His Long Beach speech was delivered by video. In 1996 he was temporarily banned from entering France, suspected of ties to an Algerian terror group.
The French newspaper, Le Monde accuses him of organizing a 1991 meeting between al Qaeda's second-in-charge, Ayman al Zawahiri, and Omar Abdel Rahman, who was later convicted in the 1993 bombing of the first World Trade Center. He denies the long history of alleged terrorist associations which follow him like a swarm of flies, dismissing all the accusations as "lies". Ramadanâs books and tapes are popular with young Muslims in the riotous French suburbs who killed, burned and looted to demand that "society follow its own principles" after two criminals electrocuted themselves while evading the police. French-language intellectuals often refer to Ramadan as "the master of doubletalk".
A typical example of Ramadanâs doubletalk may be found in his answer to an Italian magazineâs question about whether it is right to kill children and Israeli civilians because they are considered soldiers. Ramadan replies: "I don't believe that an eight year old child is a soldier. These acts are condemnable; therefore one has to condemn them in themselves. But I say to the international community that they are contextually explicable, and not justifiable. What does this mean? It means that the international community today has placed the Palestinians in a situation where they are delivered political oppression, which explains (not justifying it) that at a certain point people say: we don't have arms, we don't have anything, and so we cannot do anything other than this. It is contextually explicable but morally condemnable."
Killing Israeli children is "contextually explicable"? Apparently Ramadan believes a few sonorous words against terrorism are enough to make it all OKâand allow him to proceed with a plan to turn wanna-be homicide bombers into todayâs social critics and tomorrows cultural and political rulers.
Ramadanâs theme ran throughout many of the convention speeches. "How can we live in this country?" asked Dr. Javeed Akhter, President of the International Strategy and Policy Institute, a MPAC member organization. "We will be confidentâŠso that people look at us as an example of how a minority should behave in this countryâŠ. The Covenant of Medina sets out the principles that are essential to the functioning of a pluralistic society."
The Covenant of Medina, written in 622AD establishes the basis for treating non-Muslim minorities within the Muslim empire which ruled much of world for the next 8oo years.
The document signed by the Jewish tribes subject to Mohammedâs rule in Medina, began protected subjugationâdhimmitude--as a way of life for all non-Muslims who fall under Islamic rule. The next few years were years of conquest and subjugation of Jews and Christians, "those who have received Scripture", who did not accept Islam. The spirit of the Islamic conquerors is captured in the Koran, Sura 1X, 29: "Make war upon those who have received Scripture...until they pay tribute, being brought lowâŠ."
In essence Akhter proposes that Muslims live within the US â as rulers whose idea of a "pluralistic society" is dhimmitude for the rest of us. These so-called "moderate Muslims" of MPAC differ from al-Qaeda only in tactics. Rather than blowing themselves up and taking as many infidels as possible with them, they join domestic leftists in seeking to hamstring America in rules and regulations designed to protect the "rights" of terrorists while undermining America through the unrelenting propaganda focused on Guantanamo "prisoners rights" which is everywhere in the media.
Former Army Muslim Chaplain and onetime accused al-Qaeda spy, James Yee, spoke immediately after Ahkter. He continued the theme, telling the convention, "The Prophet Mohammed saidâŠâWe should strive and pursue those things which benefit usâŠ.â
"Guantanamo, that controversial prison campâŠwhere in 2003 some 660 prisonersâall of them Muslim faithâwere being heldâŠ. I was sent down there as a US Muslim ChaplainâŠ. I made great contributions down thereâŠ. I was down there as an advocate for humane treatment of prisoners⊠to uphold the fundamental American value of religious freedom and diversity, tolerance...."
Yee did not indicate to whom he "made great contributions." Yee, whose family now resides in Damascus, Syria, continues, "For upholding those fundamental American principles as an American MuslimâŠI found myself in a situation where IâŠwould quickly be arrested under suspicions that I was a terrorist spyâŠ."
Yee, Muslim Chaplain stationed at Guantanamo Bay, was arrested on September 10, 2003 and held for 76 days. On one hand Yee does not question whether the prisoners are up holding the "fundamental values" of Islam. On the other hand he demands that the US uphold his self-serving interpretation of what "fundamental American values" are and sees his role in the military as being, "an advocate for humane treatment of prisoners."
"Finally the military and the government came to the realization that they had made a mistake and all of the accusations all of the charges that were brought against me were droppedâthey disappearedâŠ. My moral responsibly as an American Muslim⊠to continue to contribute in the most positive way and what I did was--I simply stood up for justiceâŠto advocate for those fundamental American values of diversity and tolerance and religious freedomâŠ."
Note that Yee does not proclaim his innocence while openly declaring his role in the military is to function as an "advocate forâŠ(the) prisoners."
Why "kill the people" when Islamists can be much more effective undermining America from within by pretending to uphold the "fundamental value" of coddling terrorist head-choppers? Former Ambassador Joe Wilson, whose lies are the cornerstone to the Bush hatersâ "Bush lied" campaign, spoke at MPACâs fundraising banquet. His remarks are not included in the convention audio but his presence at MPACâs fundraiser speaks volumes about the unholy alliance between the Democrat media and the Democrat Party leadership and the Islamists who wear a fig leaf of terrorist criticism in order to make themselves credible political activists.
The MPAC Convention hosted several other speakers who are eagerly putting Ramadanâs strategy into practice, including Parvez Ahmed whose Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) hosts a "Not in the Name of Islam" petition denouncing terror while at the same time is campaigning against the Department of Homeland Security sniffing for radiation near Islamic sites in Washington, DC and other cities. In other words, America must count on CAIR and its petition signers for defense against terrorism while completely disarming ourselves of even the most basic precautionsâbecause they violate CAIRâs interpretation of "our most fundamental principles".
This completely mirrors the status of non-Islamic subjects to Islamic rule where Dhimmis are required to go unarmed amidst the majority Muslim population and rely entirely on the "protection" of Muslim authorities.
Other speakers included, Maher Hathout, whose next book, due in 2006, is titled, "In Pursuit of Justice" and Naheed Qureshi, the "Safe and Free Western Organizer" for the American Civil Liberties Union and UC-Irvine Mid East Studies Professor, Mark Levine. Many speakers were officials of the US or UK government. These include: Alina Romanowski the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Educational & Cultural Affairs, Ron Wakabayashi, a Bill Clinton crony now working in the US Department of Justice office in Los Angeles which handles complaints about the "Do Not Fly" list, Bob Pierce, British Consul General, Bruce Sherman, Broadcasting Board of Governors, State Department, LA County Sheriff Lee Baca, and Faisal Gill Advisor to the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Department of Homeland Security.
Ironically, in addition to Ramadan being banned, another MPAC convention speaker, Waqqas Khan, President of the UK Federation of Student Islamic Societies missed the conference due to being held by the very same Department of Homeland Security for nearly four hours at Los Angeles International Airport.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, (R-CA) was listed on early release versions of the MPAC program as a speaker, but he did not appear. The MPAC convention was held in his distric
#4
The language thingy is ok. Brussels is a French-speaking commune, and to speak Dutch/Flemish there is to mark yourself as an outsider. However, if she wants to be able to communicate with her non-voting constituency, she'd better learn English post-haste; else, she'll never be able to explain to the various alphabet organizations where they're to meet her for lunch. (Food in Brussels is considerably better, and more voluminous, than in France; a gourmand's paradise. Belgium is the kind of country where meat inspectors are murdered regularly for noticing that the animals have been treated with hormones for tenderness.)
"...The Muslim influence on Belgian politics has tangible consequences. Secretary Kir wants to demolish the monument commemorating the 1915 Turkish genocide of 1.5 million Armenian Christian civilians. According to Kir, who is responsible for public monuments, the âso-called Armenian genocideâ is a hoax, concocted by âimperialists.â..."
A BRAWL has broken out over suggestions the NSW Government has been too politically correct to arrest the people responsible for revenge attacks in the wake of the Cronulla riot.
NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam yesterday repeated his attack on the Iemma Government for being soft on ethnic crime and criticised police for failing to arrest people of Middle Eastern descent.
Premier Morris Iemma denied telling police to go soft on people of Middle Eastern descent and responded angrily to the comments.
Inspecting the state's new anti-riot squad, Mr Iemma promised a crackdown on antisocial and riotous behaviour.
"We're on the side of the police in this, he's (Mr Debnam) not. The hooligans and thugs have got no respect. No wonder, when the example is being set by the Leader of the Opposition," Mr Iemma said.
Mr Debnam's comments last week that the NSW Government had been soft on ethnic crime for the past 10 years prompted Mr Iemma's outburst and criticism from police Commissioner Ken Moroney.
"The statistics would suggest the Government is simply not putting the resources into rounding up these Middle Eastern criminals and thugs. The Labor Party seems to be indebted to certain ethnic groups," Mr Debnam said last week. Yesterday, he refused to back down. "Thugs on the streets of Sydney that should be in jail. That's the issue."
Mr Debnam said the Government was too "politically correct" to act against ethnic gangs. "The community wants these people locked up and I'm going to keep raising this issue every day until those couple of hundred Middle Eastern thugs are behind bars."
Police have charged 20 people with offences relating to the December 11 Cronulla riot, during which people of Middle Eastern descent were chased and attacked.
Middle Eastern youths carried out violent revenge attacks at Cronulla, Maroubra and Brighton-le-Sands in response to the riot.
Hadi Khawaja, 24, of Peakhurst, was last week jailed for three months for burning an Australian flag stolen from the Brighton RSL Club.
#1
Police have charged 20 people with offences relating to the December 11 Cronulla riot, during which people of Middle Eastern descent were chased and attacked.
Middle Eastern youths carried out violent revenge attacks at Cronulla, Maroubra and Brighton-le-Sands in response to the riot.
Hadi Khawaja, 24, of Peakhurst, was last week jailed for three months for burning an Australian flag stolen from the Brighton RSL Club.
NB: One person with a Middle Eastern name arrested, for arson, petty theft, or vandalism. In the wake of the Cronulla riot, one church was burnt down, another had its Christmas services interrupted by gun-wielding thugs making threats, and in other instances, Lebanese thugs were seen openly carrying guns.
Furthermore, if anything was a "revenge attack", it was the Cronulla riot. The people were sick of being assaulted and abused by Muslims at the beach, then watching the police do nothing at all about it. There's no doubt that the people who committed violent acts should be punished, but that should apply equally.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/17/2006 8:00
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Biological weapons pose a far more serious long-term terrorist threat to the West than nuclear weapons, according to Washington's leading counter-terrorism expert.
And Henry "Hank" Crumpton, the newly-appointed head of counter-terrorism at the US State Department, believes that it is simply a matter of time before international terrorist groups such as al-Qa'eda acquire weapons of mass destruction and use them in attacks.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Crumpton, who previously spent 20 years working for the Central Intelligence Agency, warned yesterday that the "war on terror" was likely to last for decades.
"This threat has changed the way we will fight wars in the future," he said.
"We are talking about micro targets such as al-Qa'eda which, when combined with WMD, have a macro impact. I rate the probability of terror groups using WMD [to attack Western targets] as very high. It is simply a question of time.
"And it is not just the nuclear threat that bothers me. I think, if anything, the biological threat is going to grow.
"As catastrophic as a nuclear attack would be, it would be self-contained. But if you look at a worst-case scenario for a biological attack, it would be difficult to determine whether or not it was a terrorist attack, and it would be far more difficult to contain."
After the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, Mr Crumpton, who was then a senior CIA officer, played a leading role in the campaign to overthrow the Taliban and destroy al-Qa'eda's operational infrastructure in Afghanistan, which relied heavily on covert operations.
After the war, allied forces found that al-Qa'eda had been working on anthrax programmes that it intended to use on western targets.
"They had hired a very experienced biologist to work on this. They were very serious about it and there is no reason to believe they have given up on their interest."
The fear that terrorist groups might be able to acquire WMD from rogue states such as Iran or Syria explains Washington's determination to confront Iran over its nuclear programme.
"If we look at the threat posed by Iran, they have links with Hizbollah [the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim militia], which is a terrorist organisation with global reach, and they are actively pursuing WMD. And the leadership has made a conscious decision to defy international treaties. I am deeply troubled by this."
As for taking action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Mr Crumpton insisted that "every option is on the table" - including military action.
"I would not rule out anything because of the particularly grave threat that we are facing," he said.
In a distinguished career with the CIA, during which he won four of the agency's highest awards, Mr Crumpton was a key figure in its covert operations against al-Qa'eda pre-September 11.
Referred to simply as "Henry" in the 9/11 Commission Report, Mr Crumpton tried to persuade the CIA to do more in Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden before the attacks, but two key proposals to tackle al-Qa'eda were turned down.
After the September 11 attacks, in which he lost many close friends, he was initially overwhelmed by sorrow.
"But that sorrow was soon replaced by anger, anger that al-Qa'eda could do this to innocent people - and the anger lasted for more than a year."
Mr Crumpton stresses the coalition's achievements in disrupting bin Laden's network. In his view, al-Qa'eda's infrastructure has been so badly damaged that it is now struggling to control the groups that would like to support it.
"They can't communicate with their supporters unless the odd courier breaks through. They can't get access to money and things like that. We have made life very difficult for them."
But despite the initial success achieved during the Afghan war in 2001, he expressed disappointment with the support Washington had received from its European allies since hostilities ended. "The job was not finished and it is not finished now." Bin Laden, who escaped to Pakistan, was "in all probability" still alive, he said.
The regime of President Assad in Syria also seriously threatens western security, he says. "The regime continues to support terror organisations. And we know that the Baathist leadership fled to Damascus taking with them money and terrorist expertise, and we cannot rule out the fact that some of that expertise related to WMD."
#1
The time is NOW to inform Islam that any major biological attack will result in one or both shrines of Mecca and Medina being contaminated in a similar fashion, for ONE ENTIRE YEAR or more so that the next haj is included. Any subsequent biological attacks within that probationary period would result in a second haj being disrupted by continuing contamination. Rinse and repeat.
A dirty bomb release would result in the shrines being dusted with whatever isotope had been utilized during the attack. Again, this contamination would persist through the next calendar haj and be extended upon any repeat attacks. Rinse and repeat.
A nuclear terrorist attack would result in Medina being immolated with Mecca being docketed for subsequent attack. Rinse and one last repeat.
Islam must be made to understand that their inability or unwillingness (I no longer care which it is) to restrain the violent jihadis in their midst is ISLAM'S PROBLEM and not something outside forces must be obliged to address.
Lack of restraint means an inevitable termination of the haj for however long it takes the attacks to stop. The only alternative I see to this approach is to take the shrines by military force and hold them hostage until Islam genuinely and authentically renounces violent jihad.
Until then, should significant NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) attacks occur, they can look forward to severe disruptions in the basic practice of their religion.
So let me see. On the one hand, we have a regime that is pressing full steam ahead with its nuclear programme and whose president has threatened to wipe another sovereign state off the map.
And, on the other side of the negotiations, we have Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
Jack Straw has been at pains to emphasise that no military action against Iran is being contemplated by him or anybody else, but in a sign that he's losing patience with the mullahs Mr Straw's officials have indicated that they're prepared to consider the possibility of possibly considering the preparation of a possible motion on sanctions for the UN Security Council to consider the possibility of considering.
But don't worry, we're not escalating this thing any more than necessary. Initially, the FCO is considering "narrowly targeted sanctions such as a travel ban on Iranian leaders".
That'll show 'em: Iranian missiles may be able to leave Iranian airspace, but the deputy trade minister won't. No more trips to Paris for the spring collections or skiing in Gstaad for the A-list ayatollahs.
Needless to say, the German deputy foreign minister, Gernot Erler, has already cautioned that this may be going too far, and that sanctions could well hurt us more than it hurts the Iranians. Perhaps this is what passes is for a good cop/bad cop routine, with Herr Erler affably suggesting to the punks that they might want to cooperate or he'll have to send his pal Jack in to tear up their tickets for the Michael Moore premiÚre at the Cannes Film Festival.
But, if I were President Ahmadinejad or the wackier ayatollahs, I'd be mulling over the kid glove treatment from Jack Straw and Co and figuring: wow, if this is the respect we get before the nukes are fully operational, imagine how they'll be treating us this time next year. Incidentally, the assumption in the European press that the nuclear payload won't be ready to fly for three or four years is laughably optimistic.
So any Western strategy that takes time is in the regime's favour. After all, President Ahmaggedonouttahere's formative experience was his participation in the seizure of the US embassy in Teheran in 1979. I believe it was Andrei Gromyko who remarked that, if the students had pulled the same stunt at the Soviet embassy, Teheran would have been a crater by lunchtime.
So what can be done? Right now, Iran can count on at least two Security Council vetoes against any meaningful action by the "international community". As for the unilaterally inclined, the difficulty for the US and Israel is that there's really no Osirak-type resolution of the problem - a quick surgical strike, in and out. By most counts, there are upwards of a couple of hundred potential sites spread across a wide range of diverse terrain, from remote mountain fastnesses to residential suburbs.
To neutralise them all would require a sustained bombing campaign lasting several weeks, and with the usual collateral damage at schools, hospitals, etc, plastered all over CNN and the BBC. Meanwhile, Iraq's Shia south would turn into another Sunni Triangle for coalition forces. Every challenge to the West begins as a contest of wills - and for the Iranians recent history, from the Shah and the embassy siege to the Iraqi "insurgency" and Mr Straw's soundbites, tells them the West can't muster the strength of will needed to force them to back down.
But, granted the Iranian destabilisation of Iraq and their sponsorship of terror groups in Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority, surely it shouldn't be difficult to give them a taste of their own medicine. Who, after all, likes the Teheran regime? The Russian and Chinese and North Korean governments and the fulsome Mr Straw appear to, but there's less evidence that the Iranian people do.
The majority of Iran's population is younger than the revolution: whether or not they're as "pro-American" as is sometimes claimed, they have no memory of the Shah; all they've ever known is their ramshackle Islamic republic where the unemployment rate is currently 25 per cent. If war breaks out, those surplus young men will be in uniform and defending their homeland.
Why not tap into their excess energy right now? As the foreign terrorists have demonstrated in Iraq, you don't need a lot of local support to give the impression (at least to Tariq Ali and John Pilger) of a popular insurgency. Would it not be feasible to turn the tables and upgrade Iran's somewhat lethargic dissidents into something a little livelier? A Teheran preoccupied by internal suppression will find it harder to pull off its pretensions to regional superpower status.
Who else could we stir up? Well, did you see that story in the Sunday Telegraph? Eight of the regime's border guards have been kidnapped and threatened with decapitation by a fanatical Sunni group in Iranian Baluchistan. I'm of the view that the Shia are a much better long-term bet as reformable Muslims, but given that there are six million Sunni in Iran and that they're a majority in some provinces, would it not be possible to give the regime its own Sunni Triangle?
No option is without risks, though some are overstated, including regional anger at any Western action: I doubt whether many Arab Sunni regimes really wish to live under the nuclear umbrella of a Persian Shia superpower. And, indeed, one further reason (as if you need one) to put the skids under Boy Assad in Damascus is to underline that there's a price to be paid for getting too cosy with Teheran.
But every risk has to be weighed against the certainty that Iran would use its nuclear capacity in the same way it uses its other assets - by supporting terror groups that operate against its enemies.
And Jack Straw's mullah-coddling is particularly unworthy in that, insofar as Iran has a strategy, the president's chief adviser, Hassan Abbassi, has based it on the premise that "Britain is the mother of all evils" - the evils being America, Australia, Israel, the Gulf states and even Canada and New Zealand, all of which are the malign progeny of the British Empire.
"We have established a department that will take care of England," said Mr Abbassi last May. "England's demise is on our agenda." Apropos the ayatollahs, England could at least return the compliment.
#1
Damn the guy can write. He lances the buffoons, balloons, and boils with surgical skill. He lampoons and dismisses the PC morons who'd get us all killed if things were left to their cheesedick agendas. He carries out the smarmy feckless Tranzi garbage without ceremony. He can tell shit from Shinola at a thousand paces. And, well, he just makes the whole thing fun to boot.
#2
And we're damned lucky to have him ... I just wish there were more like him on our side and bringing clarity to people who don't follow what's going on carefully, the ones who get their worldview from ABC and CNN and maybe the NYT.
Posted by: too true ||
01/17/2006 5:47
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#3
a brilliant peice but i still think a month or two of hardcore desert storm style bombing campaign on thier nuke facilities will put em back a decade or so - buying us some time at least. Other then that though he is dead right and Jack Straw man has acted like a frightened dickhead. Atomic warfare is getting closer and closer to us all and i fear its not going to be us firing the opening shots :( As to what the delivery method for these Iranian nukes will be its anyones guess, ok an airburst nuke is the ultimate but im sure transport ships, civilian aircraft, trucks and maybe even large vans could all be used to strike our civilian areas,passed into the hands of numerous terrorist groups so as to try and create as much of a nightmare as they can for us. Unfortuantly i believe they are half way through these 'plans' already and we are really pushing it if we are to catch up as it were and gain some sort of initiative over the Mad Mullahs and co.I'm not convinced about an uprising at all, my view is the students and others who would like to revolt would be too brutally and viciously put down by the overwhelming conventional power of elements of the Iranian military.I should think these guys could make Tianaman Square look like a playground fight. Sacnctions will be taken as a decleration of war by the Mad Mullahs but i guess we cant blame em for that lol so there out of the question (yay). What i think this boils down to is the only way to deal with them - through force,whos gonna be 'the force'? Germany would provide basing rights i guess and a few covert target watchers but fck all else i'm guessing,france, well im not even gonna try and guess that but probaly just provide a whole host of problems for us, other Euros such as poland may help in limited ways and, UK would be best off bolstering up in Southern Iraq setting up some solid defensive arragements including plenty of air support such as harriers and jaguars and hell we got apaches so lets ship 30 or so of them out there to give us some real tank banging power and deter the Iranian armour divisions in the first place.USA would do well to bring in a load of A-10 hogs to the Iraqi theatre again as a tank banging defensive option,J-stars and sht like that are already deployed as are a fair few patriot batteries (i think) get a few wings of F-15s for defensive work. Get as many covert bases in the planning ready to go at a moments notice too cos the Iranians will get people into Iraq to get targets for thier collection of various surface to surface missiles.US Navy should get a fair few carriers but the more you stack in the gulf waters the higher the danger,perhaps stay outa the gulf altogether and fly futher but keep the carriers safer and leave other air assets to patrol the gulf. Let them know their are a few Ohio class subs lurking somewhere within striking range too and more LA class subs then they can count ready to rain potentially thousands of cruise missiles down on em.I guess some other gulf countrys would help to in a limited and covert manner which is good and overflight rights and basing options shouldnt be as hard as what some claim they will be to get. I 'm sure we can defeat the Iranian regime in conventional warfare and remove thier nuke program But only if we use the maximum force we have straight away - NO gradual ramping up of air campaign over several months but an all out thrashing opening with everything we have and not stopping till every army, airforce and navy base and units have been destroyed. I'm thinking Desert Storm amounts of destroyed armour and bases etc but none of the stopping after a month or so to let most of the elite units go back to safty,no geopgraphic boundries either hit them at every end of thier country,take out every bridge and power station, evry port and airport, every train station and any desanilation plants they have, hit them so hard and in so many differant ways the country simply collapses - that is the only answer. They could not possibly 'grow back' stronger and anyone who thinks they could is as dellusional as the Mad Mullahs themselves. Sometimes we have to stand up and crush the oppisition or we'll be crushed ourselves.
Posted by: Shep UK ||
01/17/2006 6:45
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#4
"Damn the guy can write. He lances the buffoons, balloons, and boils with surgical skill. He lampoons and dismisses the PC morons who'd get us all killed if things were left to their cheesedick agendas. He carries out the smarmy feckless Tranzi garbage without ceremony. He can tell shit from Shinola at a thousand paces. And, well, he just makes the whole thing fun to boot."
And that's the difference between Steyn and Hanson. Both are great, but Steyn covers similar ground, with similar perspective, whilst getting a chuckle.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
01/17/2006 6:49
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#5
Kick them out of the World Cup [soccer] and Ahmadjinedad will be one hell of an unpopular beardie. If that don't work then let's make the rubble bounce a few times and be quick about it.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/17/2006 6:54
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#6
I propose that Iran should try luke warm pablum with non fat milk, it sure works for me.
Posted by: Jack Straw ||
01/17/2006 8:50
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#7
Why not tap into their excess energy right now? As the foreign terrorists have demonstrated in Iraq, you don't need a lot of local support to give the impression (at least to Tariq Ali and John Pilger) of a popular insurgency. Would it not be feasible to turn the tables and upgrade Iran's somewhat lethargic dissidents into something a little livelier? A Teheran preoccupied by internal suppression will find it harder to pull off its pretensions to regional superpower status.
If our CIA had more Jack Bauers and fewer Valerie Plames, this would be right up their alley.
#10
Wouldn't it be far more entertaining to try and unnerve the Iranian public as much as possible? For example, over satellite, start airing "The Day After" and "Threads" every night. Newly-made gruesome documentaries about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with lots of emphasis on the medical effects of radiation.
Get some of Hollywood's talented f/x guys and put together a no-name actor low budget movie about Iran after a nuclear war. Make it as grotesque as humanly possible. Blame the Mullahs and their President by name for secretly building a nuke and throwing it at Israel, because they are also secretly Satan worshippers. Crudely appeal to ignorance and superstition.
And not only does Israel shoot it down, but EVERYBODY, Israel, the US, France, Russia and even China begins lobbing nuclear weapons at Iran.
Show the scortched remains of Mecca and Media. Tehran and Qom as cities of the dead. Show the survivors burning Mullahs at the stake, and putting the heads of their leaders on poles. Really take it to ridiculous lengths, choking and puking in the aisles gross.
Then burn a million DVDs.
You can't tell me that making a bad movie isn't preferable to most other alternatives.
#12
But, if I were President Ahmadinejad or the wackier ayatollahs, I'd be mulling over the kid glove treatment from Jack Straw and Co and figuring: wow, if this is the respect we get before the nukes are fully operational, imagine how they'll be treating us this time next year.
#13
If they really want to be a world player, well then lets give them the attention they are screaming for.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/17/2006 16:26
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#14
Would it not be feasible to turn the tables and upgrade Iran's somewhat lethargic dissidents into something a little livelier? A Teheran preoccupied by internal suppression will find it harder to pull off its pretensions to regional superpower status.
Notice SE Iran is where he is talking - and there and the coastal Arabs, as well as the Kurds in the North and Pashtun in the easter border (Afghnistan) area.
I believe I posted about this a couple of days ago. Its a shame I didnt express myself as well as Steyn. But he must be reading Rantburg to crib my ideas (or else have the same mindset and be talking to the same people I do). Hah Hah!
Peace remains an elusive target on southern Mindanao island where violence is an everyday occurrence and the line between revolutionary movement and jehadi terrorism hard to discern.
A central government delegation and a team of the moderate Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are soon to meet in Malaysia to talk peace in the seventh exploratory meeting, since formal peace talks were halted following former president Joseph Estrada's all out war in 2000.
The latest round of talks are based on a fragile truce signed on Jul.19, 2003 between the government and the MILF, which has for four decades fought for an Islamic homeland in the impoverished southern part of the archipelago, resulting in more than 120,000 deaths.
A 12,000 strong group, the MILF is the biggest of several Islamist groups on Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago -- the only areas left where the country's four million Muslims are still in a majority.
Once inhabited exclusively by Muslims and animists, Mindanao -- the country's second largest island -- is today home to mostly Catholics as a consequence of a government- sponsored migration from the northern islands of Luzon and Visayas.
While the planned talks provide a glimmer of hope for peace, the region is characterised by a blurring between revolutionary groups and terrorist organisations and are taking place in the background of unabated violence throughout 2005.
Although the MILF is dominant, a crucial role is played by the small but radical Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) that is linked to the international al-Qaeda network and the South-east Asian jehadi group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
"Abu Sayyaf is the most dangerous of the revolutionary groups present in the country," Philippine national security advisor Norberto Gonzales has been quoted as saying.
"Compared to MILF and the New People Army (communist rebels), Abu Sayyaf is the most dangerous because these terrorists even volunteer to conduct attacks to get the recognition of international terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda," Gonzales said.
The MILF was the first Islamic group to take up arms in Mindanao in the late 1960s. The simmering communal conflict erupted into civil war after former dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in September 1972.
After four years of struggle, the MILF dropped its claim to independence and accepted a form of autonomy under the Tripoli Agreement, signed on Dec. 23, 1976.
The Tripoli Agreement, as well as the others that followed up to the 1996 Jakarta Agreement, were never properly implemented. The local population's disappointment has fuelled resentment and led to the mushrooming of more pro-independence Islamic groups.
Unlike the MILF, Abu Sayyaf has never been open to dialogue. After a lull, the group has staged a comeback, carving for itself a role as a nexus for disgruntled members of revolutionary groups and the terrorists that have found sanctuary in the forests of the island.
"Abu Sayyaf has emerged as a serious security threat to the Philippines, and arguably the regional security. They have forged closer relations with hardliner MILF elements and have proved to be a reliable partner for JI ," writes security expert Zachary Abuza in his report âBalik terrorism: the return of the Abu Sayyaf', released in September.
During the last 12 months, ASG has been at the core of most of the violence that has rocked the country, including the Valentine's Day attacks when three near simultaneous bombs exploded in Manila, General Santos City and Davao, killing 13 and injuring 140 others.
In these attacks, ASG was clearly helped by JI, the organisation deemed responsible for the worst bombings of the last few years, including the one in Bali, Indonesia, where 202 people died on Oct.12, 2002.
The United States, which provides military and other aid to the Philippines, has been demanding that Manila do more to prevent Mindanao from serving as a sanctuary for foreign jehadi militants, especially some believed to be responsible for the Bali bombings.
ASG was also said to be behind the Aug. 10 and Aug. 29 bombings in Zamboanga City and Basilan respectively, in which more than 50 people were injured. The group has also carried out dozens of small-scale attacks against military and police posts in the region.
The deadly mix of JI and Abu Sayyaf has lately been enriched by yet another explosive ingredient -- the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM), a radical wing of the Filipino Balik Islam, as those who have abandoned Catholicism to âreturn' to Islam are known.
"The ASG and JI are working increasingly with the RSM, militant converts to Islam based in Manila and northern Luzon, who are a vehicle for more experienced terrorist groups to move into the country's urban heartland," reported the well respected think tank International Crisis Group in its December report âPhilippines Terrorism: The Role of Militant Islamic Converts'.
The intertwining of various groups was also highlighted when Abu Sayyaf happened to be at the receiving end of operations undertaken by the Filipino armed forces.
Over the last 12 months, Manila launched two massive and sustained attacks in and around the Sulu archipelago, south of Mindanao. In the hostilities, renegade members of the MILF fought alongside Abu Sayyaf.
Local reports claimed that at least 120 rebels and 27 soldiers died in weeks of fighting when 4,000 government troops took on 800 Abu Sayyaf -MILF rebels at Jolo in February 2005. Fewer casualties -- four soldiers and 22 rebels dead - were reported in a second offensive, launched in November.
Although the MILF has not been involved in the main battles, the organisation can hardly be considered monolithic or fully under the control of its leader Al-Haj Murad.
On Jan. 6, 2005, for example, when a faction attacked an army post outside Cotonato city, killing 23 soldiers, the MILF was quick to denounce it and declare the wing as a â'lost command.''
The fragile truce survived and representatives of the MILF and the government made the trip to Kuala Lumpur in April and September 2005. At the end of both meetings, the two parties claimed significant progress, although they failed to sign a new peace deal as hoped.
In between talks, the MILF showed goodwill by withdrawing 500 fighters from Talayan and Guin-dolongan areas, to facilitate a military offensive against Abu Sayyaf on July 2005.
Nonetheless, many in Washington and Manila are convinced that the group plays two cards at the same time--talking peace with the government but harbouring in its territory Abu Sayyaf and Jl as confirmed by Abuza. "Considerable evidence suggests that the MILF continues to coddle JI and ASG members," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
01:13 ||
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#1
Once inhabited exclusively by Muslims and animists, Mindanao -- the country's second largest island -- is today home to mostly Catholics as a consequence of a government- sponsored migration from the northern islands of Luzon and Visayas.
I dont think so...
Posted by: bk ||
01/17/2006 10:52
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#2
BK is right on this one. Mindanao is about 80% Muzzie. The Christians were moved there from Marcos's home provence. He took the land and gave it to Christians in order to breed the problem out of the population hoping the mixing of families would bring peace, and to take care of his families and neighbors. Like almost all land reform it failed and is part of the problem. The Christian side is now influenced by the NPA.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/17/2006 14:30
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#3
But Islam is a Religion of Peace-n-Harmony-n-Stuffâ¢. It is written!
U.S. intelligence officials said Monday they were trying to determine whether Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant was at a dinner in a remote Pakistani village and whether he was one of the people killed by a CIA airstrike.
The U.S. officials said they had solid intelligence that a number of senior al Qaeda personnel were killed in Friday's attack, which targeted houses in Damadola, Pakistan.
The officials said Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 man, was invited to the Damadola dinner celebrating the end of the Muslim holiday of Eid.
But only some of al-Zawahiri's aides were there, Pakistani intelligence officials said Sunday, according to The Associated Press.
A U.S. counterterrorism official told CNN, "I cannot confirm at this point whether he [al-Zawahiri] showed up or not."
The remains of about 12 bodies, including as many as eight foreigners, were quickly retrieved by a group of men after the airstrike and buried elsewhere, sources said.
U.S. officials declined to comment on that report.
Pakistani officials said Sunday that 18 civilians died in the attack, including five children, five women and eight men.
One Pakistani intelligence official said al-Zawahiri was not among the dead and it was not known whether he had been in the area.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said that "as far as the reports that we've got so far, he wasn't there."
In an interview with CNN, Kasuri expressed outrage Monday that Pakistani forces had not been included.
"This is terrible -- 18 people have died -- innocent people, women and children apart from some men," he said.
Though U.S. and Pakistani forces have long shared intelligence, "any operations, if and when requested, will be conducted by the Pakistani army, to prevent just the sort of occurrence that happened," he said.
Kasuri declined to say whether Pakistani authorities had been informed of the strike beforehand.
"The important thing is not whether we knew or not," he said. "The important thing is a question of our sovereignty, a violation of our sovereignty."
The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan has been "called in," he said, adding that he is prepared to take his complaint higher. "If required, I'll talk to Dr. Rice," he said, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"Actions of this nature strengthen the hands of those who oppose this kind of cooperation."
CNN analyst John McLaughlin, a former CIA deputy director, said that if al-Zawahiri is alive "there is a reasonable chance we will know sometime within the week" -- either because al Qaeda will put out a new tape to capitalize on the U.S. failure to get him or from "other intelligence sources or possibly forensics."
If al-Zawahiri is dead, it could take longer to verify, McLaughlin said.
U.S. officials confirmed that the FBI has a DNA sample from al-Zawahiri's brother that could be used for forensic identification purposes, but they declined to say whether forensic work was under way to identify those killed.
FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said while the bureau often does DNA work for the Defense Department and other agencies, "no request has been received for assistance at this time; however, we remain available if asked."
The killings sparked demonstrations across the country Sunday, with tens of thousands of people marching against Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and the United States. Demonstrations took place in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi.
In Bajour agency, the district including Damadola, tribal leaders vowed to continue their protest for three days, and shops in the district will be closed.
On Sunday, U.S. politicians expressed regret over the deaths caused by the attack but said the airstrike was justified.
"It's terrible when innocent people are killed; we regret that," Sen. John McCain told CBS' "Face the Nation."
"But we have to do what we think is necessary to take out al Qaeda, particularly the top operatives. This guy has been more visible than Osama bin Laden lately," the Arizona Republican said.
Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, told CNN's "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer" that the Pakistani government is unable to control that part of the country, where sympathetic residents were believed to be harboring al Qaeda leaders.
"Now, it's a regrettable situation, but what else are we supposed to do?" Bayh asked rhetorically. "It's like the Wild, Wild West out there. The Pakistani border [with Afghanistan is] a real problem."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
01:11 ||
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#1
If he's alive, why isn't he rubbing our faces in it?
#2
Says it all about the Paks' conviction - having 70,000 troops in the tribal areas whilst Ayman and his 'aides' can seemingly swan about attending dinner parties with their only fear being a US air strike. Time to start operating over the border...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/17/2006 5:47
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#3
rubbing our faces in it = popping up and saying "Yooo hoo, I'm over heeere."
Biological weapons pose a far more serious long-term terrorist threat to the West than nuclear weapons, according to Washington's leading counter-terrorism expert.
And Henry "Hank" Crumpton, the newly-appointed head of counter-terrorism at the US State Department, believes that it is simply a matter of time before international terrorist groups such as al-Qa'eda acquire weapons of mass destruction and use them in attacks.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Crumpton, who previously spent 20 years working for the Central Intelligence Agency, warned yesterday that the "war on terror" was likely to last for decades.
"This threat has changed the way we will fight wars in the future," he said.
"We are talking about micro targets such as al-Qa'eda which, when combined with WMD, have a macro impact. I rate the probability of terror groups using WMD [to attack Western targets] as very high. It is simply a question of time.
"And it is not just the nuclear threat that bothers me. I think, if anything, the biological threat is going to grow.
"As catastrophic as a nuclear attack would be, it would be self-contained. But if you look at a worst-case scenario for a biological attack, it would be difficult to determine whether or not it was a terrorist attack, and it would be far more difficult to contain."
After the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, Mr Crumpton, who was then a senior CIA officer, played a leading role in the campaign to overthrow the Taliban and destroy al-Qa'eda's operational infrastructure in Afghanistan, which relied heavily on covert operations.
After the war, allied forces found that al-Qa'eda had been working on anthrax programmes that it intended to use on western targets.
"They had hired a very experienced biologist to work on this. They were very serious about it and there is no reason to believe they have given up on their interest."
The fear that terrorist groups might be able to acquire WMD from rogue states such as Iran or Syria explains Washington's determination to confront Iran over its nuclear programme.
"If we look at the threat posed by Iran, they have links with Hizbollah [the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim militia], which is a terrorist organisation with global reach, and they are actively pursuing WMD. And the leadership has made a conscious decision to defy international treaties. I am deeply troubled by this."
As for taking action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Mr Crumpton insisted that "every option is on the table" - including military action.
"I would not rule out anything because of the particularly grave threat that we are facing," he said.
In a distinguished career with the CIA, during which he won four of the agency's highest awards, Mr Crumpton was a key figure in its covert operations against al-Qa'eda pre-September 11.
Referred to simply as "Henry" in the 9/11 Commission Report, Mr Crumpton tried to persuade the CIA to do more in Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden before the attacks, but two key proposals to tackle al-Qa'eda were turned down.
After the September 11 attacks, in which he lost many close friends, he was initially overwhelmed by sorrow.
"But that sorrow was soon replaced by anger, anger that al-Qa'eda could do this to innocent people - and the anger lasted for more than a year."
Mr Crumpton stresses the coalition's achievements in disrupting bin Laden's network. In his view, al-Qa'eda's infrastructure has been so badly damaged that it is now struggling to control the groups that would like to support it.
"They can't communicate with their supporters unless the odd courier breaks through. They can't get access to money and things like that. We have made life very difficult for them."
But despite the initial success achieved during the Afghan war in 2001, he expressed disappointment with the support Washington had received from its European allies since hostilities ended. "The job was not finished and it is not finished now." Bin Laden, who escaped to Pakistan, was "in all probability" still alive, he said.
The regime of President Assad in Syria also seriously threatens western security, he says. "The regime continues to support terror organisations. And we know that the Baathist leadership fled to Damascus taking with them money and terrorist expertise, and we cannot rule out the fact that some of that expertise related to WMD."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
01:09 ||
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#1
Reminder: by September 11, 2001, Egypt had imprisoned over 19,000 of the type of animals who would use WMD. The US should have used leverage to have them liquidated. Instead, the Bush regime pushed for inclusion of those pigs in pseudo democratic processes. Over two thirds of imprisoned Egyptians have been let go, in advance of Bush' "freedom." The enemy took license from that perverse indulgence, and are positioning themselves to inflict fatal blows against the West. Consequence: hardline Islamofascism has solidified since 9-11, and will never abate until death is put in the balance.
We cannot win the counter-terror war until we identify Islamists as the mortal enemy, and conduct mass executions of same. In order for Western Civilization to exist, the Eastern Barbarians have to die. Culling their leadership will create a political power vacuum, that Western ideologies could fill if Western leaders cease detaching Koranimals from their binding Koranic prescriptions to wage mortal combat against every form of Secularism and non-Islamic religion. We have to kill this enemy by the tens of millions.
#2
I think that was addressed in the middle section of Alice's Restaurant, where he says, "I wanna kill, I wanna keeeelll, I want blood 'n guts 'n gore 'n veins in my teeth..."
#3
Maybe, CZ. But there are multiple objectives here - and not all of those in Egyptian jails were there because they were jihadis threatening the West.
The challenge will be, not only to survive, but to survive with as much of our values and souls intact as we can. I personally am not willing for my own part to give up those any sooner than I have to.
#8
TW, Make him sit on the bench marked with a "W". His point on Egypt is taken. But as far as "Hank" goes The Thai term "La" seems to be the right one. In english it means no S%&it! Say something new.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/17/2006 15:51
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Differences between the west and Russia and China were exposed yesterday during a meeting in London to discuss strategy for tackling the crisis over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme.
After seven hours of talks Britain, France and Germany announced they are to seek Iran's referral to the security council at a meeting on February 2 and 3 of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Javier Solana, the EU foreign affairs chief, said he was "confident" Russia and China will back the referral.
But both countries expressed serious reservations about future handling of the crisis, in particular the prospect of the security council imposing sanctions on Iran.
Russia, though slowly shifting towards the west's position, is still holding out hope that Tehran may yet accept a compromise. China, which has close economic ties with Iran, is the most hardline in opposing tough action against Tehran.
One European diplomat said: "What is really crucial is support from Russia and China. China does not look too good. China is the major obstacle."
He added that China, which has a veto on the security council, felt squeezed between pressure from the west and dependency on Iranian oil.
A British diplomat said: "There was serious concern about Iranian moves to restart enrichment-related activities contrary to the appeals of the international community not to do so." He added that "there was a thorough exchange of views" on the role of the security council.
The crisis escalated last week when Iran broke seals on uranium enrichment equipment. Iran denies that it has a covert nuclear weapons programme.
The London meeting between senior officials from the US, Britain, France, China and Russia - the five permanent members of the UN security council - plus Germany, was held to try to avoid a repetition of the security council divisions that marked the run-up to the war in Iraq. The west's fear is that China could exercise its veto on Iran's behalf.
The Europeans have begun drafting a resolution to put before the IAEA. "It's short. It calls for [IAEA chief Mohamed] ElBaradei to report Iran to the UN security council," one diplomat said. The western nations have a simple majority in favour of referral but are hoping that Russia and China will back it. The US and Europeans are focusing on Russia in the hope that if Moscow backs their approach, then China will also follow.
President Vladimir Putin, after meeting Angela Merkel on her first visit to Moscow as German chancellor, signalled exasperation with Iran's decision to break the seals. Indicating he was moving towards the west's position, he said: "As for Russia, and Germany, and our European partners and the US, we have very close positions on the Iranian problem."
But he cautioned against "abrupt, erroneous steps" and suggested the issue could still be defused without reference to the UN. He said Iran has not excluded the possibility of accepting a Russian compromise in which Tehran would conduct uranium enrichment in Russia rather than Iran. "One of the main problems is the enrichment of uranium. We proposed to our Iranian partners to set up a joint enrichment venture on Russian territory ... our partners told us they did not exclude the implementation of our proposal."
But China, speaking before the London meeting, said resorting to the security council would "complicate the issue", citing Iran's threat to hit back by halting snap UN inspections at its atomic plants.
The Chinese foreign minister said "all relevant sides should remain restrained and stick to solving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations".
Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, said that dialogue with Moscow and Beijing was of "crucial importance".
Iran yesterday banned CNN journalists from the country after the broadcaster misquoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying that Iran wanted nuclear weapons, the ISNA students news agency said.
What happens next:
Vienna - Europeans plan emergency IAEA meeting on February 2. Iran will try to avoid referral to security council by reopening talks with Russia
New York - Once before the security council, the resolution could tell Iran to suspend uranium enrichment. If ignored, talks would get tougher as US and Europe sought sanctions
Tehran - Iran could then scrap deal on intrusive nuclear checks, and disrupt oil supplies if sanctions imposed
US/Israel - Air strikes could begin to delay Iran's work on nuclear weapon.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
01:07 ||
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Three members of illegal armed groups have been arrested in Chechnya. They reported the location of hiding places with armaments. âAslanbek Bargishev, 30, from Doku Umarovâs group was arrested in the village of Chernorechye, Urus-Martan District. He told the investigators that he had set off two homemade explosive devices on Umarovâs order early in 2005,â a representative of the Chechen interior ministry told Itar-Tass. Bargishev reported the location of a hiding place with 35 projectiles for under-barrel grenade launchers, a machine-gun and 100 kilograms of plastid.
Another two militants â Adlan Khamzatov, 21, from the village of Samashki, and Usam Turluyev, 25 -- were arrested in the Achkhoi-Martan District of Chechnya. According to the results of the investigation, they were members of the gang, led by Sayed-Hasan Musostov, who was killed during an operation near the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya, in Ingushetia, on December 7, 2005. âTurluyev is suspected of having taken part in an attack on the village of Roshni-Chu last August. He reported the location of a hiding place on the outskirts of a cemetery in Samashki, which contained a machine-gun, a grenade-launcher, a submachine-gun, ten projectiles for a grenade launcher and ten powder cartridges,â the Chechen interior ministry official continued. Khamzatov also reported the location of a hiding place with two Mukha grenade launchers. All the three militants are being interrogated.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
01:05 ||
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Kenyan police have intensified their searches for Al-Qaida members believed to be behind terrorist attacks in Kenya in 1998 and 2004. On Aug. 7, 1998, an al-Qaida bomb exploded at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. The attack killed 224 people and injured 5,000. Four years later, on Nov. 29, 2002, 10 Kenyans and three Israelis were killed when an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombassa was attacked and blown up by a car bomb, while a simultaneous rocket attack on an Israeli airliner failed. Al-Qaida reportedly claimed responsibility for the twin attacks.
The Daily Nation reported that Kenyan anti-terrorist officials are attempting to locate Mombassans Ahmed Salim Swedan and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan. The pair are suspected to have masterminded both the 1998 and 2002 attack. The two are among four al-Qaida members sought by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The other two suspects are Kenyans Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed. The United States has posted a $4 million reward for information leading to the arrest of any of the quartet. Kenyan anti-terrorism officials maintain that ongoing investigations established that there are currently no active al-Qaida cells in Kenya.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
01:03 ||
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#1
Now why would the Kenyan police go to all this trouble to find Sweden. Can't they just get out an atlas? And, besides, what have they got against such a lovely peaceful country?
Saffet Karakoc, a Turkish national captured in an operation to round up suspected members of terrorist groups last Tuesday in Spain, has been imprisoned following an investigation.
A Spanish National Court has decided to charge 14 of 17 investigated individuals and release three of them conditionally.
Court sources notified Karakoc, and his Spanish wife Kerime Benedicto Gallego, were among those charged; Judge Fernando Grande Marlaska heard the couple. Reportedly, Karakoc, charged with helping to train individuals in Spain and sending them to Iraq to conduct terrorist attacks, has traveled to Syria and Iraq on several occasions.
It was announced 20 people who have been captured in Spain belong to the Morocco Islamic Combatant Organization and Salafist Group in Algeria. The interrogations of three other people and Moroccan Omer Nakca, who has been accepted as the leader of both terrorist groups will be conducted on Tuesday.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
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A POTENTIAL breakthrough in the nuclear stand-off with Iran came last night when the Iranian ambassador in Moscow praised a proposal to move Tehran's uranium enrichment programme to Russia.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said last night that his position is "very close" to that of the United States and Britain. And it appeared that he could hold the key to a resolution when Iran's ambassador to Russia, Gholamreza Ansari, welcomed an offer to move the Iranian uranium enrichment programme to Russia.
Such a move would mean Iran, which is developing a missile which could reach Israel, could not acquire enough material for a bomb. "As far as Russia's proposal is concerned, we consider it constructive and are carefully studying it. This is a good initiative to resolve the situation. We believe that Iran and Russia should find a way out of this jointly," said Mr Ansari.
Mr Putin emerged from separate talks with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, saying he was treating the situation with caution - but he in no way condoned Iran's decision to break the seals from its uranium enhancement plants a fortnight ago. "We need to move very carefully in this area. I personally do not allow myself a single careless announcement and do not allow the foreign ministry to make a single uncertain step," Mr Putin said. "We must work on the Iranian problem very carefully, not allowing abrupt, erroneous steps."
This just allows the dance to continue. It doesn't solve the basic problem -- Iran wants nuclear weapons so that it can own nuclear-tipped intercontinental and intermediate-range missiles. Whether it's to obliterate Israel, push its neighbors around or insulate itself from Western pressure, it's just unacceptable. If what Putin is doing is giving himself a fig leaf for future use -- "they rejected our reasonable proposal, so now we are forced to vote against Iran in the Security Council" -- well and good. But I suspect it's being done so that when the US/UK says this is unacceptable, he can then block UNSC action.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2006
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#1
AGREED - Russia's and China's own history in antiquity shows that neither Moscow nor Beijing will ever tolerate any lessor power capable of challenging them or destroying them. Iran = North Korea's ultimate utility is to frighten and intimidate Clinton-led America unto anti-American anti-sovereign American Socialism, besides of course the usual geopol econ concessions. China will never allow NorKor to possess any independent nuke arsenal sufficient enough to destroy or challenge Beijing, and neither will it nor Russia allow a host of Iran-style nuke Islamic "wild cards" on their peripheries. Iran-NK , etal are safe from Russia-China as long as the USA, and afterwards NATO-EU, is the main target. OTOH, ONLY THE USA HAS GMD - Russia-China knows that Dubya & Company knows that the sword tip of a poten nuclear "wild card" Iran, etc. also points ags them. DUBYA > HOW LONG CAN RUSSIA-CHINA WAIT FOR A US-IRANIAN = US-NORKOR =... WAR(S) BEFORE THEY MOVE TO PROTECT THEIR AMBITIONS FOR NEW HEGEMONY.
#2
This is what I would do, say yes to the deal, then just screw on them down the road. And I'd say that is what Iran is doing too. Buying themselves a little breathing room. We have just managed to prolong this crisis for another several years so that Iran can enrich in secret or extract plutonium from the spent fuel rods in a last minute deal breaker.
#3
I dont think the US and UK will say this is unacceptable - and I dont think Russia will vote for sanctions as a first step in any case. They dont even seem to be completely on board as voting for referral to the UNSC yet. If the Iranians reject this, then that does give Putin cover to suppor the West and thats good. The bad is if the Iranians use this to drag things out, arguing over the details of the Putin proposal for months, then rejecting it. And if in the meanwhile the UNSC has dithered. Which gets to the question of just how close Iran IS to a bomb, and how much it a lost few months (while they enrich) costs us.
In the anxious months after the Sept. 11 attacks, the National Security Agency began sending a steady stream of telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and names to the F.B.I. in search of terrorists. The stream soon became a flood, requiring hundreds of agents to check out thousands of tips a month.
But virtually all of them, current and former officials say, led to dead ends or innocent Americans.
F.B.I. officials repeatedly complained to the spy agency that the unfiltered information was swamping investigators. The spy agency was collecting much of the data by eavesdropping on some Americans' international communications and conducting computer searches of phone and Internet traffic. Some F.B.I. officials and prosecutors also thought the checks, which sometimes involved interviews by agents, were pointless intrusions on Americans' privacy.
As the bureau was running down those leads, its director, Robert S. Mueller III, raised concerns about the legal rationale for a program of eavesdropping without warrants, one government official said. Mr. Mueller asked senior administration officials about "whether the program had a proper legal foundation," but deferred to Justice Department legal opinions, the official said.
President Bush has characterized the eavesdropping program as a "vital tool" against terrorism; Vice President Dick Cheney has said it has saved "thousands of lives."
But the results of the program look very different to some officials charged with tracking terrorism in the United States. More than a dozen current and former law enforcement and counterterrorism officials, including some in the small circle who knew of the secret program and how it played out at the F.B.I., said the torrent of tips led them to few potential terrorists inside the country they did not know of from other sources and diverted agents from counterterrorism work they viewed as more productive.
"We'd chase a number, find it's a schoolteacher with no indication they've ever been involved in international terrorism - case closed," said one former F.B.I. official, who was aware of the program and the data it generated for the bureau. "After you get a thousand numbers and not one is turning up anything, you get some frustration."
Intelligence officials disagree with any characterization of the program's results as modest, said Judith A. Emmel, a spokeswoman for the office of the director of national intelligence. Ms. Emmel cited a statement at a briefing last month by Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the country's second-ranking intelligence official and the director of the N.S.A. when the program was started.
"I can say unequivocally that we have gotten information through this program that would not otherwise have been available," General Hayden said. The White House and the F.B.I. declined to comment on the program or its results.
The differing views of the value of the N.S.A.'s foray into intelligence-gathering in the United States may reflect both bureaucratic rivalry and a culture clash. The N.S.A., an intelligence agency, routinely collects huge amounts of data from across the globe that may yield only tiny nuggets of useful information; the F.B.I., while charged with fighting terrorism, retains the traditions of a law enforcement agency more focused on solving crimes.
"It isn't at all surprising to me that people not accustomed to doing this would say, 'Boy, this is an awful lot of work to get a tiny bit of information,' " said Adm. Bobby R. Inman, a former N.S.A. director. "But the rejoinder to that is, Have you got anything better?"
Several of the law enforcement officials acknowledged that they might not know of arrests or intelligence activities overseas that grew out of the domestic spying program. And because the program was a closely guarded secret, its role in specific cases may have been disguised or hidden even from key investigators.
Still, the comments on the N.S.A. program from the law enforcement and counterterrorism officials, many of them high level, are the first indication that the program was viewed with skepticism by key figures at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the agency responsible for disrupting plots and investigating terrorism on American soil.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the program is classified. It is coming under scrutiny next month in hearings on Capitol Hill, which were planned after members of Congress raised questions about the legality of the eavesdropping. The program was disclosed in December by The New York Times.
The law enforcement and counterterrorism officials said the program had uncovered no active Qaeda networks inside the United States planning attacks. "There were no imminent plots - not inside the United States," the former F.B.I. official said.
Some of the officials said the eavesdropping program might have helped uncover people with ties to Al Qaeda in Albany; Portland, Ore.; and Minneapolis. Some of the activities involved recruitment, training or fund-raising.
But, along with several British counterterrorism officials, some of the officials questioned assertions by the Bush administration that the program was the key to uncovering a plot to detonate fertilizer bombs in London in 2004. The F.B.I. and other law enforcement officials also expressed doubts about the importance of the program's role in another case named by administration officials as a success in the fight against terrorism, an aborted scheme to topple the Brooklyn Bridge with a blow torch.
Some officials said that in both cases, they had already learned of the plans through interrogation of prisoners or other means.
Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration pressed the nation's intelligence agencies and the F.B.I. to move urgently to thwart any more plots. The N.S.A., whose mission is to spy overseas, began monitoring the international e-mail messages and phone calls of people inside the United States who were linked, even indirectly, to suspected Qaeda figures.
Under a presidential order, the agency conducted the domestic eavesdropping without seeking the warrants ordinarily required from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which handles national security matters. The administration has defended the legality of the program, pointing to what it says is the president's inherent constitutional power to defend the country and to legislation passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Administration officials told Mr. Mueller, the F.B.I. director, of the eavesdropping program, and his agency was enlisted to run down leads from it, several current and former officials said.
While he and some bureau officials discussed the fact that the program bypassed the intelligence surveillance court, Mr. Mueller expressed no concerns about that to them, those officials said. But another government official said Mr. Mueller had questioned the administration about the legal authority for the program.
Officials who were briefed on the N.S.A. program said the agency collected much of the data passed on to the F.B.I. as tips by tracing phone numbers in the United States called by suspects overseas, and then by following the domestic numbers to other numbers called. In other cases, lists of phone numbers appeared to result from the agency's computerized scanning of communications coming into and going out of the country for names and keywords that might be of interest. The deliberate blurring of the source of the tips caused some frustration among those who had to follow up.
F.B.I. field agents, who were not told of the domestic surveillance programs, complained that they often were given no information about why names or numbers had come under suspicion. A former senior prosecutor who was familiar with the eavesdropping programs said intelligence officials turning over the tips "would always say that we had information whose source we can't share, but it indicates that this person has been communicating with a suspected Qaeda operative." He said, "I would always wonder, what does 'suspected' mean?"
"The information was so thin," he said, "and the connections were so remote, that they never led to anything, and I never heard any follow-up."
In response to the F.B.I. complaints, the N.S.A. eventually began ranking its tips on a three-point scale, with 3 being the highest priority and 1 the lowest, the officials said. Some tips were considered so hot that they were carried by hand to top F.B.I. officials. But in bureau field offices, the N.S.A. material continued to be viewed as unproductive, prompting agents to joke that a new bunch of tips meant more "calls to Pizza Hut," one official, who supervised field agents, said.
The views of some bureau officials about the value of the N.S.A.'s domestic surveillance offers a revealing glimpse of the difficulties law enforcement and intelligence agencies have had cooperating since Sept. 11.
The N.S.A., criticized by the national Sept. 11 commission for its "avoidance of anything domestic" before the attacks, moved aggressively into the domestic realm after them. But the legal debate over its warrantless eavesdropping has embroiled the agency in just the kind of controversy its secretive managers abhor. The F.B.I., meanwhile, has struggled over the last four years to expand its traditional mission of criminal investigation to meet the larger menace of terrorism.
Admiral Inman, the former N.S.A. director and deputy director of C.I.A., said the F.B.I. complaints about thousands of dead-end leads revealed a chasm between very different disciplines. Signals intelligence, the technical term for N.S.A.'s communications intercepts, rarely produces "the complete information you're going to get from a document or a witness" in a traditional F.B.I. investigation, he said.
Some F.B.I. officials said they were uncomfortable with the expanded domestic role played by the N.S.A. and other intelligence agencies, saying most intelligence officers lacked the training needed to safeguard Americans' privacy and civil rights. They said some protections had to be waived temporarily in the months after Sept. 11 to detect a feared second wave of attacks, but they questioned whether emergency procedures like the eavesdropping should become permanent.
That discomfort may explain why some F.B.I. officials may seek to minimize the benefits of the N.S.A. program or distance themselves from the agency. "This wasn't our program," an F.B.I. official said. "It's not our mess, and we're not going to clean it up."
The N.S.A.'s legal authority for collecting the information it passed to the F.B.I. is uncertain. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requires a warrant for the use of so-called pen register equipment that records American phone numbers, even if the contents of the calls are not intercepted. But officials with knowledge of the program said no warrants were sought to collect the numbers, and it is unclear whether the secret executive order signed by Mr. President Bush in 2002 to authorize eavesdropping without warrants also covered the collection of phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
Aside from the director, F.B.I. officials did not question the legal status of the tips, assuming that N.S.A. lawyers had approved. They were more concerned about the quality and quantity of the material, which produced "mountains of paperwork" often more like raw data than conventional investigative leads.
"It affected the F.B.I. in the sense that they had to devote so many resources to tracking every single one of these leads, and, in my experience, they were all dry leads," the former senior prosecutor said. "A trained investigator never would have devoted the resources to take those leads to the next level, but after 9/11, you had to."
By the administration's account, the N.S.A. eavesdropping helped lead investigators to Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver and friend of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is believed to be the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Mr. Faris spoke of toppling the Brooklyn Bridge by taking a torch to its suspension cables, but concluded that it would not work. He is now serving a 20-year sentence in a federal prison.
But as in the London fertilizer bomb case, some officials with direct knowledge of the Faris case dispute that the N.S.A. information played a significant role.
By contrast, different officials agree that the N.S.A.'s domestic operations played a role in the arrest of an imam and another man in Albany in August 2004 as part of an F.B.I. counterterrorism sting investigation. The men, Yassin Aref, 35, and Mohammed Hossain, 49, are awaiting trial on charges that they attempted to engineer the sale of missile launchers to an F.B.I. undercover informant.
In addition, government officials said the N.S.A. eavesdropping program might have assisted in the investigations of people with suspected Qaeda ties in Portland and Minneapolis. In the Minneapolis case, charges of supporting terrorism were filed in 2004 against Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, a Canadian citizen. Six people in the Portland case were convicted of crimes that included money laundering and conspiracy to wage war against the United States.
Even senior administration officials with access to classified operations suggest that drawing a clear link between a particular source and the unmasking of a potential terrorist is not always possible.
When Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, was asked last week on "The Charlie Rose Show" whether the N.S.A. wiretapping program was important in deterring terrorism, he said, "I don't know that it's ever possible to attribute one strand of intelligence from a particular program."
But Mr. Chertoff added, "I can tell you in general the process of doing whatever you can do technologically to find out what is being said by a known terrorist to other people, and who that person is communicating with, that is without a doubt one of the critical tools we've used time and again."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
00:58 ||
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#1
NYT, I love them. Hard hitting, insightful objective, and make the best s*it sandwiches I ever had.
#2
The law enforcement and counterterrorism officials said the program had uncovered no active Qaeda networks inside the United States planning attacks. "There were no imminent plots - not inside the United States," the former F.B.I. official said.
Some of the officials said the eavesdropping program might have helped uncover people with ties to Al Qaeda in Albany; Portland, Ore.; and Minneapolis. Some of the activities involved recruitment, training or fund-raising.
These two paragraphs follow one another in the story.
They contradict each other.
The NYT does not realize that, or doesn't want us to realize that.
Stupid, dishonest, or both?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/17/2006 7:55
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#3
And count on some overworked agent at the FBI to engage in an interagency spitting contest in public.
#5
If the FBI had working computers instead of years of failure the requests would have been simple to process.
The FBI should quit trying to define what they need and just clone the CIA system and software.
If it takes the Prez to step in and make it so - so be it.
#6
#5 If the FBI had working computers instead of years of failure the requests would have been simple to process.
The FBI should quit trying to define what they need and just clone the CIA system and software.
If it takes the Prez to step in and make it so - so be it.
Posted by: 3dc 2006-01-17 12:15
Ditto 3dc. The bureau's IT problems are all too well documented.
Quickie: I wonder how many of the "dead ends" were actually due to insufficient Arabic translators -- or Islamonutz symps in the ranks. We've seen how the Fibbies can screw up (nicest way I can phrase it) in this regard. Their abject failure in this, even to the point of seeming to be entirely on the wrong side due to moronic PCism - or worse, cancels out much of what they bring to the table, IMHO.
The turf BS must stop if we are to succeed. Inept management must be shuffled out the door. Old Boy networks and HQ-itis must be tamed or broken or punished.
The Fibbies have hosed almost every opportunity (that becomes public - and surely everyone is aware that they are the ultimate publicity whores) to prove they are anything more than dogged lawyers with a top-notch forensics lab. They are best when telling the victim's survivors, "Yep, he's dead, alright. There were 17 perps, 462 co-conspirators, and 479 motives identified. If you'll look at this chart..."
Their Law Enforcement mantra, 70's era IT, and institutional blinders mean they pretty much suck in the preventative arena.
I figure this is primarily circle-the-wagons BS from the HQ clique cuz they're institutionally incapable of the job we need them to do now and incapable of changing the institution without a clearance sale at the top dawgs and middle wannabees levels who are invested in the existing system.
Prostrating himself and touching his forehead to the ground, Mathieu Pawlak put his demons to rest.
Once a practicing Catholic tormented by a spiritual void and the searching questions of youth, Pawlak embraced Islam and, he says, found peace.
"I'm the same on the outside, but inside everything has changed," said the 25-year-old restaurant cook who converted 4 1/2 years ago. He took a Muslim name, Abderrahman, and last year married a Muslim woman who cloaks herself in a dark veil.
"I found the way that Muslims pray to be truly profound. It links the body and the heart," said Pawlak during an interview at his home in this southern Paris suburb, where a large Muslim population lives.
Pawlak is one of about 50,000 French, and tens of thousands of others across Europe and North America, who have converted to the Muslim faith. Like most converts, he is a mainstream Muslim.
But intelligence services are tracking a disturbing new phenomenon: A growing number of Westerners are giving their hearts to radical Islam and some may try to prove themselves through jihad, or holy war.
Muriel Degauque, a 38-year-old Belgian woman who blew herself up in a suicide attack in Iraq in November embodies those fears, as does another convert, Richard Reid, the so-called shoe-bomber who tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001.
"This phenomenon is in full expansion," Pascal Mailhos, head of the French intelligence service Renseignements Generaux, recently told the daily Le Monde. Some 1,600 converted Muslims follow the rigorous Salafist brand of Islam that breeds today's radicals - out of about 5,000 Salafists in France, he said.
Converts are seen as potentially naive, malleable and zealous in their newfound faith, easy prey for radicals. Some came to Islam for the succor that society denied them, others for revenge, experts say - stressing that such scenarios apply to a small but worrisome fringe group.
The path to Islam often starts with marriage to a Muslim or contact with the faith through Muslim friends - Pawlak's case. Others convert as part of an existential search. But prisons inmates, and people at loggerheads with society, may also take refuge in Islam.
"Islam has become the religion of the oppressed," said Farhad Khosrokhavar, a sociologist who has written books on conversions in prison and on suicide bombers.
"Nowadays, Islam is a kind of ideal means to express discontent with society and the Western world in general," he said.
The ease with which one can convert makes Islam an accessible refuge. One need only recite the "Shahada," a prayer that provides an attestation of faith, before two witnesses.
"It can be done in a cafe," said Abdelhak Eddouk, a prayer leader in Grigny, south of Paris.
The ability of the converts to blend into Western society augments the potential for danger. "They can move from one country to another and have a kind of multiple identity," Khosrokhavar said.
Pawlak and a friend, Christophe Weiss, 23, who, like him, converted to Islam, shake their heads at such notions. They ascribe any radicalization to ignorance of the Muslim faith or immaturity - or a case of mistaken identity.
"Some people will say we are extremists because we pray five times a day," said Weiss, a nursing student.
Like other Muslims interviewed, they see fingerpointing as a new attack on their faith.
"If one is troubled from the start, he will remain troubled," said Zuhair Mahmood, director of the European Institute of Human Sciences, a training center for imams, or prayer leaders, run by the fundamentalist Union of Islamic Organizations of France.
However, authorities say the danger is real.
The Dutch government, in a Dec. 2 letter to parliament, said that "various Dutch converts are experiencing a radicalization process."
French intelligence is so concerned it conducted a detailed survey of 1,610 Muslim converts who were active preachers, delinquents or had ties to radicals, according to Le Monde. The survey last June concluded that 3 percent of the converts "belong to or are in the circle of the movement of Islamist combatants," the newspaper wrote.
At least three Muslim converts in France have been convicted in recent years on terror-related charges, the most recent Lionel Dumont, given a 30-year prison term last month. He was co-leader of a gang of violent hoodlums in the northern city of Roubaix that provided Ahmed Ressam, the so-called millennium bomber, with his start in terrorism. Dumont later fought for the Muslim cause in Bosnia.
Several Muslim converts are being prosecuted in the U.S.-led war on terror. American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States.
In France, only several dozen converts are "potentially violent," said Jean-Luc Marret of the Strategic Research Foundation, a think-tank.
But one Islamic Internet site where al-Qaida has posted claims recently carried a chilling portrait of "the future al-Qaida soldier" - a secretly converted Muslim "born in Europe of European and Christian parents. They studied in your schools, they prayed in your churches" and now swear "to take up arms after their brothers."
For Marret, the real danger lies elsewhere: "The proselytism network across the street, in jail, in universities, in suspect mosques, in companies, this is real."
There is no simple reason to explain why even a tiny minority of converts radicalize, Marret said.
"Why do we fall in love? It's the same," he said. "Why does one become a terrorist? We can cite political, historic, ethnic, family reasons and we will have simplified reality."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
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"Islam has become the religion of the oppressed," said Farhad Khosrokhavar, a sociologist who has written books on conversions in prison and on suicide bombers.
LMAO ! He's as confused as the simpletons he's trying to write about
If Islam is taking away the likes of Richard Reid and Muriel Degauque , then thats fine by me .... If they all club together maybe their accumulative IQ may reach zero , if they are lucky ...
I remember a story in my local Sunday News Mag right after 9/11 about a local all-American Catholic school college boy who converted to Sunni Islam.
He spewed the usual party line bilge about Islam's "peace" and how misunderstood it is, etc. The thing that really summed up the story and the perversity of what he had done was that since his conversion, he avoids any contact with the family dog that he had grown up with.
#9
Actually, according to an old Twilight Zone episode, the way to tell if the Devil is trying to trick you into Hell is the fact that he won't let your dog in. So, no dog means you are not headed towards Heaven. Always wondered if that is why Mo made dogs so unclean for the Muslims.
Pakistan's ruling party on Monday demanded an apology for an alleged CIA airstrike that killed at least 17 people, but the country's prime minister said his trip to the United States this week would go ahead as planned.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q on Monday condemned the alleged U.S. airstrike on a village near the Afghan border, which intelligence officials have said targeted al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri
But Aziz said he was still scheduled to leave Tuesday for the United States, where he said he would talk about security issues but also meet business leaders to encourage foreign investment.
The leader called Friday's airstrike on a village near the Afghan border "very regrettable" but said, "I don't think that takes away from the fact that Pakistan needs investment."
The Muslim League-Q party later issued a statement demanding an official apology from the United States.
Islamic groups, meanwhile, vowed to step up anti-American protests.
Al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, was invited to an Islamic dinner in the village but did not show up, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press.
Al-Zawahri sent some aides to the dinner instead and investigators were trying to determine whether they had been in any of the three houses destroyed in the missile strike, one of the officials said Sunday.
In Washington, a U.S counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the information's sensitivity, said it is not yet known if al-Zawahri was killed in Friday's attack.
The official said the compound that was hit has been visited in the past by significant terrorist figures. "There were strong indications that was happening again," the official said.
With media reports out of Pakistan indicating that at least four foreigners were killed, the official said it appears that some damage was done, even if al-Zawahri was not there. "This place had a history," the official said.
Islamic groups held nationwide protests Sunday as anger mounted over the attack that Pakistan said killed innocent civilians.
"There will be more ... bigger protests," Shahid Shamsi, a spokesman for the anti-American religious coalition that organized the rallies, said Monday.
Protesters believe the airstrike was ordered by the CIA and launched by U.S. forces pursuing Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in neighboring Afghanistan, and Shamsi said the war on terror should not extend across borders without permission.
"Pakistani civilians, including children, were killed," Shamsi said. "Principles cannot be broken in the name of (fighting) terrorism."
In the first comments about the attack from a top U.S. official, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that serious action was necessary against al-Qaeda.
"These are not people who can be dealt with lightly," Rice said. (Related news: Rice: Al-Qaeda can't be treated lightly)
Many in this nation of 150 million people oppose the government's participation in the U.S.-led war against international terrorist groups, and there is increasing frustration over a recent series of suspected U.S. attacks along the frontier aimed at militants.
"They should try to work to improve their image," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Monday of U.S. activities in the region.
A senior army official told The Associated Press on Sunday that "foreigners" were reported in the area around the village of Damadola, four miles from the Afghanistan border, but he said there was no information al-Zawahri was among them.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
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Apology? Ok, we are sorry we missed the bastard.
#2
But Aziz said he was still scheduled to leave Tuesday for the United States, where he said he would talk about security issues but also meet business leaders to encourage foreign investment.
Egypt on Monday said it supported using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes but rejected the emergence of a nuclear military power in the region, in its first official reaction to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. "All countries should adhere to their commitments in a way to allow the international community to be sure of the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program, as we do not accept the emergence of a nuclear military power," Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in a statement.
Aboul Gheit said Egypt was "closely watching" the development of the Iranian nuclear issue "out of its absolute keenness to support all the efforts aimed at consolidating the nuclear nonproliferation (policy) not only at the regional level but all over the world." He said Egypt believes dialogue is the best way to solve the crisis.
So the Egyptians don't like and won't accept it, but also won't do anything about it other than talk.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2006
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It stems way back in antiquity to INTER-ISLAMIC DEBATE AND CONFLICT over which nation or region should dominate Islam as Islam's SOLE centre of power and influence, i.e. EGYPT vs PERSIA vs TURKEY vs SYRIA vs ARABIA vs MUSLIM INDIA, etc.
Deep in the lawless triangle connecting Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, eight Iranian soldiers are being held hostage by a Sunni group that is vowing to kill them if Tehran does not meet its demands.
"We will chop their heads off once our deadline is over," said Abdul Hameed Reeki, chief spokesman of the Jundallah, or Brigade of God group, slowly drawing an index finger across his neck.
The deadline for the men is today.
The emergence of a fanatical Sunni group operating inside Iran's southeastern border poses a startling new threat to the country's Shi'ite clerical regime, which already faces a crisis with the West over its nuclear ambitions.
The eight members of the Iranian border security police were kidnapped last month and are being offered in exchange for the release of 16 of their captors' colleagues, who are jailed by the Iranian government.
"If they release our men, we will release the soldiers," said Hameed, 27, in his first interview. "But if they don't, we will chop their heads off and will send them as a gift to [Iranian President] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."
The desolate plains of Ribat -- infested with bandits, drug traffickers and rebel tribesmen -- is the perfect place for an insurrection. Armed with assorted rifles, hand grenades and a few anti-aircraft guns, the group has been operating from Iran's lawless borderlands for four years.
They say they have killed 400 Iranian soldiers in a series of hit-and-run operations. The Iranian government has accused the United States of supporting the Sunni group and is trying to persuade Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to intercede on behalf of the eight hostages.
But the Jundallah deny any link with either the United States or the Pakistani government. Although they hold out little hope of their 16 members being freed, they hardly appear to care.
"If they hang all the 16 of our colleagues, we do not mind because we know they would be martyrs and will go straight to heaven," Hameed said.
Killing the hostages might be necessary, he suggested, to deter Iranian soldiers from killing innocent Sunnis, who are a majority in some southeastern provinces and, he says, are being persecuted by Mr. Ahmedinejad's hard-line administration.
"We will cut them, cut them and cut them until they ask for the mercy and Tehran is compelled to give us our political rights," he said.
He also said Iran, which announced last week that it was breaking seals on three nuclear plants in order to resume sensitive nuclear fuel cycle work, was just a "screwdriver turn away from manufacturing a bomb."
He added, "Once they do it, they will become a mad elephant and will be a real threat to the world peace."
Although Jundallah has just 1,000 trained fighters, he said, it has the dedication needed to defeat the Iranian army -- particularly if it received some help from the West.
"Our determination is mightier than the mountains, and if we are provided with a little backup from outside, we have the guts to take over, if not Tehran, at least the Sunni majority province of Iranian Baluchistan within a week's time," he said.
The group complains that Iran's 90 percent Shi'ite majority and its government, dominated by Shi'ite clerics, persecutes its Sunni population and denies them their rights.
"No Sunni has a right to become a president, prime minister or even a minister in the Iranian government," said Hameed.
"Between 12,000 and 15,000 Sunnis in the Iranian Baluchistan province have been jailed since the Shi'ite revolution of 1979," he claimed, adding that human rights organizations were prevented from reaching areas to verify the figures.
All the senior figures of Jundallah had been motivated to found and join the group by injustices they had experienced personally, Hameed said.
Its leader, Abdul Malik Baluchi, 25, began the group after his brother and uncle were killed in separate encounters with the Iranian police.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
00:52 ||
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"Our determination is mightier than the mountains, and if we are provided with a little backup from outside, we have the guts to take over, if not Tehran, at least the Sunni majority province of Iranian Baluchistan within a week's time," he said.
Oh, I'm sure they are.
If they were Kurds, I'd support them in a second, but Sunnis? Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us.
Bombers killed at least 26 people in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan yesterday, a day after a Canadian diplomat and two civilians were killed in the area. An unidentified man drove near a crowd of about 100 people watching a wrestling match at a fair in the Afghan border town of Spinboldak, a key crossing point into southern Pakistan, and detonated explosives strapped to his body, said Kandahar provincial Governor Asadullah Khalid. "The wrestling match was about to end when the explosion occurred,"' Khalid said. He said that 20 people were killed, as well as the attacker, and more than 20 were wounded, at least five seriously. However, Rafiq Tarin, a government administrator in the neighboring Pakistani town of Chaman, said more than 30 people who were injured in the explosion were treated in a hospital there, including many in critical condition.
Earlier, a suicide bomber hurled himself in front of an Afghan army vehicle in the provincial capital, Kandahar, 110 km to the north, killing three Afghan soldiers and two civilians. Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif claimed responsibility for that blast, just hours after President Hamid Karzai had expressed concern about an increase in suicide bombings. Four Afghan soldiers and 10 civilians were also wounded in the attack in the heart of the city.
"It was a suicide incident," army Captain Habibur Rahman said near the scene, where pieces of flesh and blood were seen. He said three soldiers were killed, and a hospital doctor said two civilians also died. One eyewitness, Assadullah, said the bomber appeared to be a teenager. "I saw a boy of about 15 with an explosives' vest running towards the car and then heard the explosion," he said. "I ran for cover and saw the casualties when I got up."
Speaking at his heavily fortified palace in Kabul, Karzai said increased use of suicide attacks showed Taliban desperation. However, he added: "They cause insecurity, worry among people ... disrupt life. They are a matter of concern for us ... we will use all means to prevent them."
Sunday's apparent suicide attack on a Canadian military convoy in Kandahar killed 59-year-old Glyn Berry, a veteran Canadian foreign affairs official, and two Afghans. Three Canadian soldiers were wounded, two critically. The past few months have seen a spate of Taliban suicide attacks, mainly targeting US-led troops and NATO peacekeepers, but they have not caused major casualties among foreign forces. Security analysts suspect the Taliban has stepped up suicide attacks after seeing al Qaeda's success in Iraq.
The attacks have come at a time when America's NATO allies are due to take over more responsibility from US troops in Afghanistan and Washington is looking to trim its commitment. The NATO plans have faced some opposition and the Dutch parliament is due to debate on Jan. 25 whether to commit 1,400 more troops to the volatile south, a highly contentious issue in the Netherlands given the dangers.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
00:51 ||
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Spain's High Court has remanded the alleged ringleader of a group of suspected Islamists accused of recruiting fighters to send to Iraq to carry out suicide bombings for al Qaeda, a judicial source said.
Omar Nakhcha was also suspected of having helped three of the suspects in the Madrid March 11 train bombings escape Spain.
Another 14 suspects, some of whom were based around a mosque, were remanded at the weekend.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
00:49 ||
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The North East Students' Organization has claimed that the Al-Qaeda, have set up more than 'fourteen branches in the North East India' with the support of the Pakistan intelligence agency, the Inter Service Intelligence.
The NESO in its memorandum to all the seven states Governor in the region urged to take it as a 'serious matter' with the United Progressive Alliance government so as to take measures to curb their illegal activities that may disturb the tranquility of the region and its indigenous people.
The NESO an all the students' body of the region, reiterated its demand to the centre for expediting all ongoing political negotiations with different armed groups and to work out a time frame for an early and permanent solution for bringing peace in the North Eastern Region.
More than a dozen of armed groups in the region are fighting for a 'sovereign state or homeland' with the support of the ISI in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Demanding a special constitutional status for the North East region, "like in the case of Jammu and Kashmir," the NESO in its memorandum stated "The north eastern region is a microscopic minority in terms of ethnicity, religion. Language. and such we need special protection".
Welcoming the 'Look East Policy' of the central government, the NESO urged the UPA government not to set up an administrative center in Kolkata. "The road map of the 'Look East policy' be made transparent and beneficial to the people of north east", the memo stated.
Extending its support to the Khasi Students' Union in its opposition to Uranium mining in Meghalaya due to "well-known-ill-effects" that such mining could bring about to the land and its people, the NESO demanded from the centre to immediately stop this dangerous and hazardous project for the protection and well-being of the environment and the indigenous people whose only source of livelihood is through the land and its resources.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
00:48 ||
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PP Euro-MP Carlos Iturgaiz yesterday asked the European Parliament to denounce the assembly to be held on Thursday by banned ETA-front party Batasuna. Iturgaiz called on the Zapatero administration "to strictly carry out" the Political Parties Act, under which Batasuna was banned, saying that the assembly "would be a true scandal," similar to what would happen if the Nazis held a meeting in Germany or Al Qaeda in New York. Meanwhile, the state prosecutor's office yesterday filed a motion with the Audencia Nacional, Spain's highest court, to prohibit the Batasuna assembly.
On the floor of the Europarliament in Strasbourg, Iturgaiz stressed that Batasuna "is the political branch and the cradle of ETA, and it is banned in Spain and on the European Union list of terrorist organizations. If Batasuna holds its assembly on Thursday, it would be a direct attack on the freedoms and laws of a member of the European Union, which would be democratically unworthy for Spain, a submission to the plans of the Batasuna-ETA terrorists, and, above all, the betrayal of the victims of terrorism and an insult to their memory."
Iturgaiz continued, "The terrorists are trying to break the law again and, during these days, once again there are statements from the Basque regional nationalist government and from the Socialist government of the nation that amount to putting out the red carpet for these terrorists to parade down with no problems." Iturgaiz declared that the European Parliament "has to raise its voice and denounce this assembly in the strict enforcement of the Political Parties Act."
Socialist Euro-MP Ines Ayala defended judicial powers, and responded to Iturgaiz that "the prosecutor and the judge will decide whether to authorize the assembly, and in Spain the justice system is independent." She addressed parliamentary chair Josep Borrell, saying that the European Parliament "has always decidedly supported peace processes that eradicate violence through a democratic process, and we hope it will continue in that line."
Meanwhile, the state prosecutor's office said yesterday that it would ask judge Fernando Grande Marlaska to stop the assembly, called by Batasuna for January 21.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
00:47 ||
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday defended tough US tactics to root out Al Qaeda militants on Pakistanâs border after a deadly air strike on a village sparked a wave of angry street protests.
Ms Rice would not comment on the reported deaths of 18 villagers in a raid said to target Osama bin Ladenâs deputy. She only said, âWeâll continue to work with the Pakistanis and weâll try to address their concerns.â
But speaking to reporters en route to Liberia for the inauguration of president-elect Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Rice made no apologies for US actions against suspected Al Qaeda forces near the border with Afghanistan.
âItâs obviously difficult at this time for the Pakistani government,â she said of the attack that sent thousands of Pakistanis into the streets in at least five cities and prompted an official protest from Islamabad.
âBut I think I would just say, to both the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people, weâre allies in the war on terror,â Ms Rice said, adding Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies âare not people who can be dealt with lightly.â
âThe biggest threat to Pakistan, of course, is what Al-Qaeda has done in trying to radicalize the country, the extremist elements that really occupy ... parts of the country in important ways, (and) tried twice to assassinate President Musharraf.â
Asked about Fridayâs strike reportedly carried out by a missile- firing US Predator drone in hopes of killing Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri, Ms Rice said, âI canât speak to the specifics of this particular circumstance.â
But she said: âThe frontier area is extremely difficult and itâs been lawless there for a long time. Pakistani forces are operating there, trying to take control. Weâre trying to help.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/17/2006
00:46 ||
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Cuban Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon said Monday that this month's jailing in the U.S. of two Florida academics on charges they spied for Cuba for three decades was "strange" and "worrisome."
Worrisome if you're a Cuban spy, that is.
In the government's first public reaction to the case, Alarcon questioned the timing of the married couple's arrests, which came as a U.S. federal appeals court in Atlanta prepared to rehear arguments in the case of five other Cubans accused of being secret agents of the Cuban government.
"This story comes across as strange and very worrisome because the FBI has supposedly known since June what they said about their activities," Alarcon told journalists of Carlos Alvarez, 61, and his 55-year-old wife, Elsa. "So why come out with this case now? Obviously it has to do with something that goes beyond these two people," Alarcon said.
So you got the message.
"They are trying to create an environment of McCarthyism to influence the Atlanta appeals court," Alarcon said of the newest arrests.
Perhaps one of your agents is singing? There's five of them, can't be sure which one it is.
The husband and wife both hold positions at Florida International University and could get up to 10 years in prison if convicted of failing to register as agents of a foreign power. A U.S. attorney said Alvarez had spied for Cuba since 1977 and his wife since 1982, working independently at first and later together.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2006
00:33 ||
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FIU President Modesto A, Maidique's Statement Regarding Carlos and Elsa Alvarez
MIAMI (Jan. 10, 2006)â Like many people in the South Florida/North Cuban community, I was stunned Monday to learn that two Florida International University employees had been arrested and charged with acting as unregistered agents spies of the Cuban government. I have been friends with Carlos and Elsa Alvarez for many years, but I am not a spy like them, and have known Carlos since before I became president at FIU. Both of them have been valued members of the FIU community for many years. Their cover appeared to be air tight and My personal and professional interactions with the Alvarezes gave me absolutely no indication of any of the activities outlined in the indictment.
The charges are extremely serious. If the allegations stipulated by the U.S. Attorney are substantiated, this will constitute a very significant breach of university American trust and values. The academic excellence of our institution is built on a foundation of service to the community and objectivity in teaching, research and professional service. Faculty and professional staff are pledged to uphold these values, which are intrinsic to FIUâs mission.
FIU has retained the services of former U.S. Attorney Roberto Martinez of the Colson Hicks Eidson Law Firm to advise the university during this time. Mr. Martinez is actively assisting the university in its full cooperation with federal law enforcement authorities.
He is also conducting a thorough, independent review to determine whether any university policies or procedures have been violated. Mr. Martinez has not been hired to assist the Alvarezes in their defense as some media may have reported. Our review is ongoing. To date, our review has allowed us to conclude the following:
FIU did not violate any federal and state procedures related to the funding of travel to Cuba. No state dollars were used to pay for travel to Cuba, or pay sources. No FIU students accompanied Professor Alvarez to Cuba under the auspices of any FIU program to submit spotter or lead reports. No FIU students or anyone else were recruited by the Alvarezes to participate in illegal activity. Following university policy, Carlos and Elsa Alvarez have been placed on administrative leave with pay.
I ask that everyone interested in this case be patient. We at FIU are only now becoming aware of the full extent of the charges against the Alvarezes. The public can be assured that FIU will continue to fully cooperate with authorities and will take appropriate CYA actions at the university level.
HAVANA (AP) - The U.S. mission in Cuba on Monday ran excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech on an electronic sign running along its sea front building, the latest salvo in an ongoing billboard war.
Evidently timed to coincide with the U.S. holiday, the messages streaming along the building's fifth floor in luminescent red also included the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although the new messaging system was activated earlier in the day, neighbors said the words really weren't visible until the sun set. Even then, the words were difficult to read.
"They are provoking us again," said neighbor Miguel Angel Fernandez, who said he first noticed the words from his bathroom window Monday night. "I don't know why they mess with us, we don't mess with them."
More than a year ago, the Cuban government erected billboards outside the mission emblazoned with photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners and a huge swastika overlaid with a "Made in the U.S.A" stamp. Those signs were erected in retaliation for holiday decorations placed on the building for Christmas 2004 that included a sign reading "75" - a reference to the 75 Cuban dissidents jailed in March 2003.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2006
00:29 ||
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TOKYO (AP) - An American F-15 "Eagle" fighter jet crashed into the sea near Okinawa Island on Tuesday morning, but the pilot ejected and was rescued with only minor injuries, American military officials said.
The plane went down about 10 a.m. off the coast of Ikeijima, part of the Okinawa island chain, during a routine training mission, according to a statement issued by U.S. Air Force officials on Kadena Air Base. The crash occurred about 55 miles northeast of the base. The statement said the cause of the crash was under investigation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2006
00:27 ||
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The jihadis shot down an Eagle? Wow! They must have assets on Okinawa! Wait'll the New York Times gets ahold of this!
/hysteria
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/17/2006 7:31
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The former vice-president Al Gore launched a withering attack on the White House yesterday for authorising wiretaps without court oversight, and accused President George Bush of repeatedly breaking the law. The strongly worded speech makes Mr Gore the most prominent political figure in America to weigh in on the wiretapping scandal.
That's not true, lots of nutty Dems have whinged on over this.
Mr Gore, who lost the 2000 election to Mr Bush following the intervention of the supreme court, also went further than other Democratic critics in accusing the president of wrongdoing. Mr Gore said yesterday that the decision to bypass the courts was part of a pattern of behaviour from the Bush administration of "indifference" to the constitution.
To be distinguished from trying to get the Florida courts to steal the election for you, Al?
"We still have much to learn about the NSA's domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the president of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently," Mr Gore said in a speech delivered to mark Martin Luther King day.
I guess if you repeat the assertion often enough it's true, so long as you're a Democrat.
"A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government," he said.
One could make a carefully-constructed argument about wiretapping and the need to distinguish tapping the communications of terrorists versus tapping those of ordinary Americans. One could argue that a firewall is needed between the two, and that the President's actions, though well intentioned, were eroding that firewall. To make that argument stick, one would would need to present it in as calm and dispassionate manner as possible, rising about ordinary politics to be an erudite senior statesman.
Instead, the Dems trot out good old Al, the latest in a series of fire-breathing, screaming Dhimmis. This effort may play to the Kos kiddies, but average Americans have already switched them off. What distinguishes Al's rant from that of John Conyers, or Jay Rockefeller, or Nancy Pelosi? It's all blubbering, screaming bile. Who wants to listen to that?
In yesterday's speech, Mr Gore also called for an independent counsel to investigate the secret wiretap programme.
Oh yasss, we couldn't possibly figure this out without an independent counsel. Or two. Or three.
He ranked the operation with other controversial decisions by the administration in the war on terror, including its holding of "enemy combatants" indefinitely without trial, and its justification of harsh interrogation techniques. "The disrespect embodied in these apparent mass violations of the law is part of a larger pattern of seeming indifference to the constitution that is deeply troubling to millions of Americans in both political parties," he said.
Mr Bush insists that he acted within the law and that Congress implicitly authorised the eavesdropping when it allowed the use of force in response to the 9/11 terror attacks. However, yesterday's broadside from Mr Gore increases the pressure on the White House to offer a fuller explanation of its decisions.
Only in the minds of al Guardian.
The Senate judiciary committee plans to hold hearings next month into the legality of the NSA eavesdropping, and the Republican chairman, Arlen Specter, has indicated that he is sceptical of the Bush administration's assertions that it acted within the law.
Even Specter misunderestimates Bush. Arlen's going to look pretty stoopid when Bush details just how well the program was vetted and reviewed by lots of Democrats, and how concerns were addressed in a timely way.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2006
00:21 ||
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CHarles Krauthammer on FNC said it dead on, i.e. that most Americans understand that America's survival and identity is at stake, and they are more than willing to tolerate Dubya's and the NSA's actions iff it means victory andor security over an enemy. Krauthammer also made the point that during WW2, the Govt's interventions/restrictions ags individual rights were far more intrusive and pervasive than today's WOT, and that FEW IFF ANY AMER POLS OR VOTERS EVER COMPLAINED ABOUT ANYTHING - e.g. putting Japanese in relocation camps after Pearl Harbor, or the Army executing Nazi saboteurs without civilian habeas corpus!? Amers in both WW1 and WW2 put up with martial laws,nationwide drafts of young men, limitations of civil rights, and universal consumer shortages, etc. because America was at war and Americans wanted to win the war(s). In legend, wid the MANHATTAN PROJECT Amer corporations pledged to build any and all the necessary facilities and components for nuke bombs for the total sum profit of ONE US DOLLAR. The Dems got nuthin' now except waiting for American Hiroshimas/new 9-11's and pretending vv the MSM that 9-11 was about ONLY Radical Islam, NOT saving and forcing knowingly failed anti-US American Socialism and anti-US OWG/SWO on an unsuspecting America, where Saving America = destroying America = creating Amerika. Americans must pay for the bulk of future International and Global taxation whilst NOT being allowed to govern or dominate the global empire its warriors are fighting and dying for in the ME. The Left > Americans are not allowed to govern our own nation anymore, by and for ourselves, because of our many, innumerable "errors in judgement" = willful warmongering imperialist ways and foreign policies = Americans demand to be ruled by non-Americans and anti-Americans anyway. NOTHING SAYS PROSPEROUS UNIVERSALIST LAISSEZ FAIRE GLOBAL UTOPIA THAN THE TRAGIC BUT NECESSARY, SOCIALIST STATE-PLANNED, HOLOCAUST AND EXTERMINATION OF 200 MILYUHN AMERICAN CITIZENS; NOR 5-1/2 BILYUHN OF THE WORLD'S 6.0BILYUHN, both +/-, AFTER THAT. American Holocaust is good for America, the enviro, and for Globalism and Socialism, etc. True Hyper-correct Clintonian Fascist = Communist, Socialists = Capitalists, Cops/Judges/Law = Mafiosi, Laissez Faire = Regulation-Absolutism, American Army = Red Army,...........................@ Patriotskis demand to be suppressed and repressed, and sent to the re-education or death camps by our own Government anyways, you lucky winner dogs you!?
#3
Problem is simple, he thinks he's still relevant.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/17/2006 7:53
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"A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government," he said.
Huh.
I seem to recall Gore stood beside Clinton despite Clinton's having been proven to have broken the law. That Gore stayed in an administration that used the IRS to punish critics, wiretapped political rivals, and went through their FBI files. That Gore himself wanted to be president despite his own role in raising bribes campaign funds from foreign powers.
What an ass.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/17/2006 8:13
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There was no controlling authority, as I recall Gorebot's own words.
#6
Bush should've drank large amounts of ice tea and been in the can taking a leak when decisions like these were made. I think that was somebody else's excuse awhile back.
#8
Not too long ago I was totally against holding hearings about NSA and other issues, but now I say â Full steam ahead.â Hold it in the Judiciary committee and subpoena every left-wing nut ball from around the globe. Given their recent show during the Alito hearings I know the Democrats would rise to the occasion. Imagine if you will a full-fledged circus every day in the Senate and every evening the Democrat leaders have to disavow every screwball conspiracy that was testified to during the day. Jon Stewart would have to make his show an hour long just to keep up with the material! Have these hearings (rants) continue through the election cycle and I doubt there would be many voters that would trust the Democrats with anything above trash collector. Just my two cents and a suggestion to the dark overlord (Rove).
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that ``God is mad at America'' and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.
``Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country,'' Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.
Actually, God was mad at you; he just has a broad aim.
``Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves.''
Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a ``chocolate'' city again. Many of the city's black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina. ``It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans - the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans,'' the mayor said. ``This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans.''
Of course, one could imagine the furor if a big-city mayor anywhere in this country had called for said city to be a 'vanilla' one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2006
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When Pat Robertson says things like that, everybody makes fun of him.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/17/2006 6:20
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Ray's worried all the people who left and found out how cities really work elsewhere, won't come back and re-elect him. Plus, a large hispanic population is reportedly moving in to fill the void left by the departing blacks.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/17/2006 7:39
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#3
wouldn't his logic also imply that God was angry at the mayor of New O?
#9
Once you get past the racism and the Pat Robertson theology, what he's basically saying is, "God is mad at us, yet wants us to rebuild NO exactly the way it was before he smote us." I would be embarrassed to open my mouth if I were as ignorant as Ray Nagin.
#11
I guess it was also God who decided to ignore the city's evacuation plan completely and just play it by ear in the face of a Category 4 hurricane, leaving thousands of people stuck in the city and dozens of buses idle in soon-to-be flooded city lots.
Clearly Nagin is the innocent victim here and needs to be re-elected. :-P
Posted by: Dar ||
01/17/2006 13:47
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"Surely God is mad at America."
"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses."
"But surely he is upset at black America also."
"It's the way God wants it to be."
Apparently God has told Ray "Noah" Nagin a whole lot of things, but he forgot to tell him to build an ark.
#15
Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses.
I'm no theologian, and I certainly don't presume to speak for the Almighty, but I'm guessing He is rather pleased that Saddam and his hellspawn kids are no longer running around loose, stirring up trouble.
#16
Nagin may have run a cable franchise in N.O. before becoming Mayor, but he seems to have all of the political and administrative skills of an autistic hamster.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) - Former President Ford was undergoing treatment for pneumonia Monday at the same facility where he was briefly hospitalized a month ago, his chief of staff said. He was said to be doing well.
Ford, 92, was admitted Saturday to Eisenhower Medical Center near his home in Rancho Mirage in Southern California, Penny Circle said. ``Based on his age it is prudent for his initial course of treatment - IV antibiotics - to be done at the hospital,'' Circle told The Associated Press. Ford was expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday or Thursday, she said. ``He's doing very well,'' she said.
Ford was admitted to the hospital Dec. 12 and left the next day. Circle said at the time that Ford had undergone a regularly scheduled health exam but noted that he also had been battling a bad cold. Asked if the pneumonia was the result of any lingering effects from the cold, Circle said, ``I don't think so.''
Ford suffered two small strokes five years ago and spent about a week in a hospital.
An average President but a very good man. Best wishes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan is seeking to sharply increase, to 50 million dollars (41.4 million euros) a year, the amount the United States pays for an airbase supporting its troops in Afghanistan, parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebayev said late Monday.
The fees for the 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) Manas airbase should now be paid only to the Kyrgyz state, at a rate of five to six dollars per square metre, Tekebayev said. âAll the money coming from the airbase must go into the state budget,â he said. Under the current complicated system, the land on which the airbase is located is controled by several entities, which charge anything between three cents and four dollars per square meter.
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said last month that Washington should pay âtens of times moreâ for use of the airbase. Bakiyev earlier raised environmental concerns as a reason to âreviewâ the rent paid by America for use of the base.
I guess we'll suck it up and pay it for now, but Bakiyev ought to remember what finally happened to Ferdinand Marcos.
Last year US forces were evicted from a base in another ex-Soviet republic in Central Asia, Uzbekistan, which was set up to support operations in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. The eviction has forced the Americans to rely more heavily on the base in Kyrgyzstan.
Top US officials including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Kyrgystan and other Central Asian states several times last year, though Washington has denied it is looking for a new base in the region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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This is $20,000 per acre per year. I can *buy* land in Montana for less than that. Much less. My feeling is that we should either secure a lower price or get out of Dodge.
#2
Residential land costs over $10 million an acre in parts of California. Reflects the three primary factors in real estste pricing, location, location and location.
#3
NS: Residential land costs over $10 million an acre in parts of California. Reflects the three primary factors in real estste pricing, location, location and location.
Kirghizstan ain't California. It ain't even Montana. On the other hand, the Russians used to pay $200m for their Cuban base and $300m for their naval base in Vietnam. I guess $50m is in the ballpark.
#4
I have approved the $ 50m for Krygekistem. The billpayer will be the National Endowment for the Arts, and deductions from federally funded university and college research grants.
DUSHANBE: Authorities in Tajikistan are holding the No 2 leader of a banned radical Islamic group, an official said on Monday. A probe into several suspected members of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir party who were arrested last year also revealed that some of the group's regional leaders were among them, Deputy Prosecutor General Abdusami Dadabayev said. He did not say exactly when the arrests were made and gave no further details.
Also Monday, police in Kyrgyzstan said they had arrested a local Hizb-ut-Tahrir leader in the southern Osh region. Regional police spokesman Zamir Sydykov said that police seized 32 pistol bullets and video and audio tapes with extremist content during a search in Marufta Azimov's home after his arrest on Sunday.
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NEW DELHI - The dispute over Kashmir and measures to build confidence between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan were the focus on Tuesday of their third round of talks in a sweeping peace process, officials said.
The two countriesâ foreign secretaries headed the talks running through Wednesday in New Delhi, where they will review progress made at lower-level meetings and plot a course for future negotiations, said an Indian foreign ministry spokesman, Natvej Sarna.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan, who arrived in the Indian capital on Monday, said he expected talks with his Indian counterpart Shyam Saran to be positive. He told reporters he would discuss the Kashmir dispute, peace and security and other issues with Saran. âI donât want to prejudge the outcome of discussions at this stage,â he said.
Earlier, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in Islamabad that Pakistan is approaching the talks with a âpositive frame of mindâ and looks forward to making progress on resolving disputes.
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Of course they are: the government is keeping the world's donations for more important things, the lucky ones are still under canvas, the menfolk went down to the tent cities to get money, leaving the women and children back in the hills, and their religious leaders say the disaster is all their fault for not beating the women enough.
Indian police said Monday they arrested a man in connection with last month's shooting at a prestigious science institute in the country's technology hub, Bangalore. The 35-year-old suspect, with aliases that include Habib and Mehmood Ibrahim, was arrested on Sunday in the southern part of Karnataka and brought to the state's capital, Bangalore, for questioning, a police official said.
In the December 28 attack on the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, gunmen opened fire at a group of people coming out of a scientific seminar, killing a retired professor before escaping. The attack has been blamed on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a Kashmiri militant group, and police earlier this month arrested the alleged leader of the group's operations in southern India.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has named the first members of her Cabinet, including the finance and defence ministers, hours after taking office as Africa's first elected female head of state. The nominations still have to be confirmed by the Liberian Senate. Ms Johnson-Sirleaf's new chief of staff, Morris Dukuly, says Dr Antoinette Sayeh, a Liberian economist and former head of the World Bank program in Benin, was named Finance Minister. The post of national Defence Minister went to Brownie Samukai, a former director of police who has trained in Israel and the United States.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The post of national Defence Minister went to Brownie Samukai, a former director of police who has trained in Israel and the United States.
It looks like the lady has a practical streak. good luck to her and the new government.
Richard Cheney, the US vice-president, has left Washington for Egypt and Saudi Arabia where he will hold talks with the leaders of both countries about the war in Iraq and regional security, among other things. On Tuesday, the US vice-president is scheduled to meet Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, officials said on Sunday. No other details of the talks have been publicly released, but an administration official told AFP that "peace and democracy in the Middle East - I think that is going to be the general focus of him going there."
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Pakistan's Islamist opposition has vowed more protests against a US air strike that killed at least 18 civilians while commentators said the raid would boost support for fighters. The air strike which took place on Friday was apparently aimed at aimed at Osama bin Ladin's deputy and al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Intelligence officials said US counterparts had told them the order for the strike was based on information that al-Zawahiri, had been invited to a dinner at a village in the Bajaur tribal region near the Afghan border. Two Muslim clerics known for harbouring al Qaida fighters attended but left hours before the raid and al-Zawahiri did not show up, they said. Although the US government has not publicly acknowledged any responsibility, intelligence officials in Washington with knowledge of the operation said it was aimed at al-Zawahiri and said they believed drone aircraft armed with missiles were used.
So the information was correct, Ayman didn't show up, but the other two clerics were there and left early. So what's the beef? Sounds like it would have been a well justified strike without Ayman being the target.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
never miss an opportunity for seething ... queue here please , men first , and i use the term 'men' very lightly indeed ...
#2
What is it about cause and effect the Pakis don't understand. The reason the attack took place is 'cause you asshats let these SOBs take refuge in Pakland
Darfur's main rebel group yesterday rejected Khartoum's offer to deploy joint forces alongside African Union troops to curb the violence in the war-torn region of western Sudan. "The Sudan Liberation Movement rejects the Sudanese government's proposal ... and insists on the deployment of an international force," the rebel group said in a statement. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry had said that it proposed during a meeting in Addis Ababa of the African Union's Peace and Security Council the deployment of a tripartite force comprising troops from the government, the rebel movements and the AU.
The move by Khartoum came after it rejected a proposal by the United Nations to send its own troops to Darfur to replace an AU contingent which has struggled to quell the bloodshed. Sudan has expressed its satisfaction with the performance of AU peacekeepers and urged the international community to come forward with the funds for the contingent to continue its mission.
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Eight United Nations managers have been suspended with pay a comfortable allowance and a serving wench as part of an investigation into the world body's procurement services following scandals in the oil-for-food program in Iraq, UN officials say. The investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services is the result of a probe into contracts in the UN peacekeeping department, which is fielding about 85,000 troops, police and civilians around the world. Four of the suspended managers are in UN Procurement Services and four were recalled from peacekeeping missions, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
So the irregularities aren't associated with oil-for-food, but with the peacekeeping budget.
"Placing these eight staff members on special leave is an administrative, not disciplinary, measure," Mr Dujarric said. "Staff members on administrative leave who are not the subject of any action will be returned to their posts as expeditiously as possible." The suspension apparently deals with those in charge of projects or contracts where irregularities were discovered in the audit, which one official said raised "red flags".
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The suspension apparently but knows for sure, deals with those in charge of projects or contracts where irregularities were discovered in the first ever audit, which one official said raised "red smallish white flags".
Dock workers fought with police and smashed windows at the European Parliament building Monday during a violent protest over a proposal to liberalize port services across the European Union. Strikes and work slowdowns also disrupted cargo handling at several ports as trade unions pressed their opposition to the plan even as EU legislators predicted it would be rejected. Police used water cannons and tear gas to try to keep thousands of protesting dockers away from the EU legislature in this eastern French city. But the mob surged forward, hurling rocks, logs and metal fences to shatter large sections of glass in the glass-and-steel building, located on the outskirts of this eastern French city. The damage was estimated at several hundred thousand euros (dollars), the parliament said.
Earlier, police fired pepper gas into crowds of demonstrators after port workers hurled flares, canisters, glasses and stones at the security services during a violent march through the city center. One policeman was hospitalized with a head wound, and 11 officers suffered light injuries, according to the parliament's press service. Workers in yellow vests accompanied by marching bands set off smoke bombs and waved banners saying "Victory to the dockers." Some cars were set alight, and smoke mingled with the smell of pepper spray hung heavy in some parts of the town. The protesters moored a boat on the river outside the parliament.
At least 6,000 workers from all major European ports, including Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and Marseille, and from as far away as Australia and the United States, participated in the demonstration organized by several trade unions. At the same time, workers closed down cargo handling in Antwerp, Belgium - Europe's second biggest port - and strikes affected harbor work in Portugal, Germany and Denmark. Dockers in Sweden and in Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, held short work stoppages.
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox on Monday blocked a road leading to the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood near Jerusalem, set fire to garbage carts and hurled stones at police officers who were dispatched to the area. The reason for the commotion was a protest against a new family that moved to the neighborhood and is "not religious enough," according to the protestors. An hour later, police officers managed to disperse the demonstration and opened the road for traffic. The demonstrators were also protesting the arrest of two ultra-Orthodox men Sunday night, after the two blocked the road with garbage bins to protest against the presence of the new family. During Monday's riots, police officers arrested five more ultra-Orthodox on suspicion of blocking the road.
The new family moved to Ramat Beit Shemesh a number of weeks ago. The other families in the neighborhood decided the newcomers were "not religious enough" and began harassing them in a bid to prompt them to move somewhere else.
This is not the first time ultra-Orthodox people are rioting in the area. In September, clashes erupted between police officers and about 100 ultra-Orthodox residents next to a neighborhood pizzeria. The protestors arrived at the pizzeria and demanded that its owner close it, claiming that he was selling pizzas to inappropriately dressed teenagers. A policewoman was lightly injured during the clashes and an ultra-Orthodox man was arrested.
Two and a half years ago, neighborhood residents demonstrated against a new bus route connecting the town of Beit Shemesh with ultra-orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem. "The buses are not modest enough," the ultra-Orthodox residents claimed, while attempting to block the neighborhood's main road. Police removed the protestors from the area and arrested seven ultra-Orthodox men on suspicion they tried to disrupt buses. The peasants are revolting. Disgusting, even.
#1
"The reason for the commotion was a protest against a new family that moved to the neighborhood and is "not religious enough," according to the protestors."
The ultra-orthodox jews are really whack/fanatic/bigoted/intolerant--hope everyone understands that. Better not to have illusions about them.
#3
They were there before the State of Israel -- a few probably trace back to the original Jebusite inhabitants (pre-King David). Even when the Romans, Christians, and Muslims evicted them from the city, a core always remained and returned. But they are very tribal and very territorial, and not at all nice about it.
#5
well the Ultra-Orthdox in Boro Park Brooklyn arent like that, and the ones in Williamsburg seem able to deal with artist types fleeing the high rent areas of Manhattan. Partly this is just the guys in Jerusalem are more stirred up (IE crazy) but its also perhaps a reaction to some secular Israelis having been hostile to the ultra-orthodox moving into secular neighborhoods.
While the ultraOrthodox may not be paragons of openmindedness, Id be reluctant to charecterize this without more context.
#9
The ultra-orthodox jews are really whack/fanatic/bigoted/intolerant--hope everyone understands that. Better not to have illusions about them.
Spend some time with ultra-orthodox muslims and you will learn to love ultra-orthodox Jews.
Hint: Ultra-orthodox Jews don't crash planes on buildings, don't behead schoolgirls and don't call for exterminating infidels
Posted by: t zero ||
01/17/2006 13:41
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Agreed. At least some of them, however, are willing to knock an unaccompanied American woman to the ground in the souk in old Jerusalem for the offense of not automatically stepping aside as they walked down the sidewalk 4 abreast.
It not being MY land you see ....
The end guy who did it was careful not to contaminate himself by touching me directly - he used an armful of bags to do it.
1987. I was in the country to xfer military tech to the IDF's main contractor.
#11
They're worse than one might like to think, t zero. To the ultraJews, "infidels" are equal to cattle, and most of them (if they're being good jews) wish we weren't around. They're waiting for their g-d to knock us off the planet, and/or put us in their place, which they believe will happen when their temple is rebuilt and they're able to offer animal sacrifice again. Christians, Moslems, pagans--are all the same to the ultraJews. And I've known both Moslems and Jews--the ultra variety of either are not as different as could be supposed.
"Spend some time with ultra-orthodox muslims and you will learn to love ultra-orthodox Jews."v
Well, probably not. The governmental societal structures they live in prevent them from acting out their commitments. I knew this Iranian Jew once, who came to faith in Messiah (Jesus). When he was visiting his sister in Israel, the Lubavitchers kidnapped him and transported him back to New York, and stuffed him in one of their homes for the mentally ill. He only escaped with the help of Jews for Jesus. So kidnapping and imprisonment because of one's religious beliefs aren't my idea of a good time. Not to say the ultraIslamics are any better, as you said, "Ultra-orthodox Jews don't crash planes on buildings, don't behead schoolgirls and don't call for exterminating infidels." I'm just not sure they wouldn't if they had the chance and backing of their governments.
I wanted to also mention that this individual was in college and has since become a very successful business man in Los Angeles, married another Jewish Iranian Christian, and is doing just fine. Definitely NOT insane.
Two Syrian intelligence officers are giving evidence in Vienna again to the UN commission investigating the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister. The two officials are Syria's former head of intelligence in Lebanon, Rustom Ghazale, and his deputy, retired colonel Samih Kashaami, both of whom were heard by the commission in December. "I think it has begun," Syria's ambassador in Austria, Safwan Ghanem, told AFP, adding he did not expect the hearings to last beyond Monday.
The December hearings involved three other Syrians: Abdelkarim Abbas, head of intelligence in Palestine, Zaher Yussef, head of communications and Jameh Jameh, another of Ghazale's deputies. The commission, led since last week by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, also wants to speak to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shareh.
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A Bangladesh court has sentenced a member of an outlawed Islamist group to 15 years in prison for involvement in serial bomb attacks across the country in August, a police officer said on Monday. Two people were killed and almost 100 wounded when 500 bombs went off on August 17, blamed on Islamist militant groups fighting to turn Bangladesh, a mainly Muslim democracy, into an Islamic sharia state.
The court in Kishoreganj town, 150 km (95 miles) from Dhaka, found Obaidullah Suman, an activist of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen group, guilty of possessing bombs and helping plant them, a court official said. The sentencing was the first since almost 800 suspected militants were detained. "The verdict will act as an warning against anyone who wants to be involved with the extremist group," a police officer said. The spiritual leader of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Shayek Abdur Rahman, and the head of the banned Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai, remain at large.
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The United States has warned the Palestinians that inclusion of the resistance group Hamas in any new government could affect US-backed efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state on Monday stopped short of threatening a cut in US aid to the Palestinians if they form a government with ministers from the hard-line Islamic movement after parliamentary polls on 25 January. "Let's just see what happens after the elections," Rice told reporters accompanying her on a visit to Liberia.
But she added the US-sponsored peace road map directed at creating a Palestinian state was a "two-way street". "After these elections, the ability of the Palestinians to engage the Israelis to move forward on the roadmap is obviously going to be dependent on having people in the governing structures who believe in the principles of the roadmap," she said. "In order to negotiate with a party you have to believe in its right to exist. In order to have freedom of movement and%
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Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state on Monday stopped short of threatening a cut in US aid to the Palestinians if they form a government with ministers from the hard-line Islamic movement after parliamentary polls on 25 January.
Why even devote further effort toward these idiots? Let them make their choice, and should it turn out to be Hamas, yank the aid. They get what they want, we save money.
#2
A warning, then a stroke. Come on, Condi-you can do better than that. Be sure that we darn well expect you to-not one red cent to a government led by Hamas. Read it, understand it.
The United States and European Union were seeking Russian and Chinese support for robust diplomatic steps to curb Iran's nuclear program in talks among UN Security Council powers that began on Monday. Iran's resumption of research that could advance a quest for civilian atomic energy or bombs has sparked a flurry of Western diplomacy in pursuit of a vote by the UN nuclear watchdog to refer Iran to the Council for possible sanctions. Moscow, with a $1 billion stake building Iran's first atomic reactor, and Beijing, reliant on Iranian oil for its surging economy, have previously blocked such a move at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors. But Russia has warned Iran it could lose Moscow's support unless it suspended the fuel research it resumed last week. China, however, said resorting to the Security Council might "complicate the issue," citing Iran's threat to hit back by halting snap UN inspections of its atomic plants.
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Wipe out Israel off the Map + Permanent [Global] Jihad] + Islam = Iran will Rule The World, etc = looks like the world is either at another pre WW2 MUNICH; or in the alt Hollywood is about to make another 1973 = 1974 = 1975 = 1977, etc. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. Ala BROKEBACK/MARLBORO MAN-GATE, the USA already have our updated version of RHINESTONE COWBOY - since Anniston + COstner > THE GRADUATE/DELIVERANCE, all we need now to prove IRAQ = VIETNAM = QUAGMIRE is remakes and updates of LITTLE BIG MAN, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, and PLANET OF THE APES or BILLY JACK, etc. Fat Kimmie and NorKor > SOLYENT GREEN and RETURN OF SOLYENT GREEN. Lets all appease the Commies and Spetzlamists and equate Kimmie > BRUCE LEE versus those damned Chinese = Japanese, or Japn= Chinese, ala FIST OF FURY.
Iraqi judge Said al Hamashi will preside over the high-profile trial of Saddam Hussein, along with seven former senior officials, in the Dujail case. He will replace Judge Rezkar Mohammed Amin who tended his resignation on Saturday. "I have nothing to do with the reasons that drove my colleague Judge Amin to resign. I hope he returns to his post and preside over the remaining court sessions," he told Asharq Al Awsat from Baghdad . If Judge Amin "insisted on resigning, I will preside over the next session as planned, as there is no need for it to be postponed," al Hamashi said. Al Amin was said to have resigned because of from government pressure The trial is due to resume on 24 January.
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Courage, Perseverance, and Jurisprudence is whats needed lest Saddam loyalists and anti-US/Dubya agendists succeed in turning the trials per se into a "SAVE SADDAM" PC anti-US show and Saddam gets off scott free, with at best protracted simple exile from Iraq.
African civil society groups yesterday urged the AU not to elect Sudanese President Omar Bashir to head the 53-member body, arguing his governmentâs role in the conflict in the troubled western Darfur region should make him ineligible. Representatives of nearly 40 African non-governmental organizations dealing with human rights, health issues and conflict resolution said Bashirâs selection to lead the pan-African body would destroy its international credibility and crater ongoing AU-mediated Darfur peace talks.
Despite Sudanâs widely criticized human rights record and the roles Khartoum and its proxy militia are accused of playing in rampant atrocities in Darfur, AU leaders are expected next week to consider Bashir for the presidency of the bloc, currently held by Nigeriaâs Olesegun Obasanjo. The groups did not offer an opinion as to who the next AU chief should be but noted the key role Obasanjo has played thus far in shepherding the Darfur peace talks in Abuja.
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#1
Sudan's Bashir as head of the AU does seem a bit unwise, under the circumstances.
#6
Maybe even some of those gold braid shoulder ropes with little pointy things on the ends. If his epaulets were any bigger he'd go airborne in moderate winds.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday condemned an alleged CIA air strike on a border village that killed at least 17 people, but said he would go ahead with a planned trip to the United States to build business ties, AP reported. Aziz said he is still scheduled to leave Tuesday for the US, where he said he would talk about security issues but also meet business leaders to encourage foreign investment. The leader called Friday's air strike on a village near the Afghan border "very regrettable" but said, "I don't think that takes away from the fact that Pakistan needs investment."
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The mother of Ahmad Abu Adas, the Palestinian who claimed responsibility for the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in a videotaped message shown on al Jazeera in February last year, was surprised to discover her sonâs name was mentioned in relation to a suspected terrorist cell. Members of the al Qaeda-linked group were arrested in Lebanon earlier this month and are currently being questioned for planning to carry out terrorist acts. âI do not understand why some media organizations have claimed that Ahmad was brainwashed and recruited by Khaled Tah who is connected to the terrorist cell. Ahmad was not recruited by any group or political party. But it appears that some people are circulating totally fabricated news about him.â
She cautioned that it was important to await the results of the investigation before making any accusations about Ahmad. âKhaled Tah stopped seeing Ahmad a year before he disappeared. They didnât know each other very well. All I know about the matter I read in the report by the German UN investigator Detlev Mehlis. Tah is said to have entered Lebanon on 15 January 2005 and left the following day, the same day Ahmad disappeared. I am unable to determine the connection between what happened to my son and what the report includes. â
Nuhad indicated she had never met Tah and added that Ahmad spent his time with friends from school and the neighborhood. âStrangers or anyone else I could suspect of belonging to al Qaeda never came to the house. The only stranger was the unidentified young man that Ahmad met a few months before he disappeared. He called on Ahmad on 16 January under the pretext he wanted him to accompany him to a rented apartment in the area.â
Holding a picture of her son, taken a week before he disappeared, Nuhad said with bitterness, âThe whole matter is made-up. We all know how Rafik Hariri was assassinated. I hope that Ahmadâs name is not mentioned in issues related to al Qaeda. Itâs been a year [since he disappeared] and I do not know what happened to my son. I am desperate for information on his fate. If he has been killed, I want to retrieve his body in order to bury him and get accustomed to the idea of loosing him. After all this agony and the death of his father because of what we were subjected to after he appeared on TV, thin and almost ill, despite leaving us in good health, today there are attempts to connect his name to a terrorist cell. I do not even know if itâs related to al Qaeda.â
âThe aim is to make Ahmad a suspect again. Perhaps he is no longer with us to defend himself. My son believed that a Muslim does not hurt another Muslim. He did not call for jihad but wished all Muslims would unite and that every Muslim could learn about his religion in a simple manner, especially the young,â she added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2006
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#1
*A package arrives at the Adas home. As it is unwrapped, Ahmad's mmother discovers a splodeydope vest with a mackerel in it*
MOTHER: What does this mean?
NEIGHBOR: It means Ahmad sleeps with the fishes...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/17/2006 8:30
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Security forces killed three children in an attack on Kahan and other adjacent areas on Monday, local tribesmen said. A government spokesman said that there had been no reports of casualties. Meanwhile, bomb blasts and rocket fire were reported in Naushki, Wadh, and Nasirabad areas of Balochistan. A representative of the Marri Qaumi Ittehad said that aerial attacks were carried out in the Kahan area and continued for over three hours. Balochistan government spokesman Raziq Bugti said that unidentified assailants had attacked a security forces' convoy and the latter had probably responded to it.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Where is AI? Where is Doctors without Borders. Where is the NYT? Where is the moral outrage from teh EU? Oh the US is not not involved you say? I say what is the difference? What is good for the goose is god for the gander.
A submarine captain accused of bullying his officers told a court martial yesterday that some were so inexperienced it was like having lower division footballers on a Premiership pitch. Capt Robert Tarrant, 44, who was commander of the nuclear submarine Talent, told a court martial that he expected the very highest standards from his crew. He said he used a leadership style he had learned serving in the Falklands conflict. "I discovered that the margin of error between operational safety and therefore operational success and operational disaster was pretty small," he said. "From my perspective it came down to having the very highest standards of operational capability that one could have at all times. I learned that if you were trying to train during an operation it is too late. In the Falklands we had a captain who had served in the Korean war and because he was an excellent leader we got through and we did well."
The court martial, at HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, has heard that Capt Tarrant went red in the face with fury during "rants" at his officers, some of whom were reduced to tears. Three of five allegations of ill-treatment were withdrawn at the end of the prosecution case because of a lack of evidence.
Officers do not blubber. They may occasionally want to, but they do not blubber.
Tarrant, who now has a Whitehall desk job, said that he had been happy with the crew he inherited when he took over as captain of Talent but was concerned that some new arrivals lacked experience. "My assessment was that it was going to be like taking a footballer from the third division and in six or seven weeks them playing in the Premier league."
He vigorously defended himself against the remaining charges of bullying two officers, Lt Cdr Ryan Ramsey and Lt James Carrick.
When asked about Lt Cdr Ramsey he described him as "an improving watch leader with a long way to go". But when asked about Lt Carrick he said he had not wanted to take him out on operations. Capt Tarrant said: "He was a very junior officer who seemed in harbour to me to sail very close to the wind. I did call into question his officer-like qualities and I did not want him to come on to the patrol but because of the dearth of anyone else available I was told that he had to."
Parts of the court martial are being heard in private because of the sensitive nature of Talent's operations at the time of the alleged offences. The hearing continues.
#2
When I was studying law, and Mr. Hupenter here was writing his stories, and you, Willie, were tearing up the playing fields of dear old Princeton, who was standing guard over this fat, dumb, happy country of ours, eh? Not us. Oh, no! We knew you couldn't make any money in the service. So who did the dirty work for us? Tarrant did! And a lot of other guys, tough, sharp guys who didn't crack up like Tarrant.
#3
Good Lord! Have these people not read the Horatio Hornblower stories? If the officers can't handle a little shouting during drills, how would they survive being shot at -- let alone keeping their crew steady?
#4
In his book about submarines Tom Clancy (he writes documntary books about military in addition to fiction) tells that despite inferior technology British submarines were more feared than American ones by the bad guys due to the quality of their captains. The selection process is absolutely brutal and involves an exam where several surface
combattants are charging the submarine from all around it. If the appliant fails he will not given a second chance: he will never command a submarine. While the standards for non-captains aren't and don't need to be as high a submarine is no place for sissies who can be reduced to tears by rants however brutal.
I don't know if this guy is merely a demandiong officer or a modern Captain Bligh (more exactly: not the real Captain Bligh but the Captain Bligh depicted in the "Bounty" movie with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable) but I know for sure that those officers have no place in submarines and the people who validated them have no place in the Navy.
#5
JFM,
I had the same thought you did re: Clancy's sub book. The course is called 'Perisher'.
It's indeed possible that in this case an oddball somehow got through the system - it's happened a LOT in the USN (Google 'The Arnheiter Affair', and then read it all the way through) and USAF. But the comments from the junior officers in this case sound a bit...well, whiny.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/17/2006 11:56
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#6
All I can say is that I would never admit that a CO made me cry...
Posted by: Mark E. ||
01/17/2006 14:56
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Saudi police have arrested five suspected insurgents in raids in several localities in the capital and seized large quantities of explosives and money, security officials said. The officials said the five suspects - four Saudis and one foreigner - are believed to be part of a network preparing for a terror attack in Riyadh. "They were apparently preparing for a terrorist attack, probably soon," one official told The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media. Another official said police seized some 20kg of explosives and one million Saudi riyals ($373,000) in a raid north of Riyadh. He said police believe the suspects were planning to blow up some government installations.
The officials said police first arrested a suspect who had been under security surveillance. He later informed on the others in other hideouts in Riyadh. The officials said in at least one raid police exchanged fire with the suspects while they tried to escape their hideout. There was no report of casualties. The officials did not divulge the nationality of the fifth suspect. He was only identified as "a resident", a reference to expatriates living in the kingdom. It was not clear if the suspected insurgents are related to al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, which has launched a series of bloody attacks in recent years in Saudi Arabia.
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Two men were killed after a landmine exploded on a dirt road in a village in the Bajaur Agency, a local resident said on Monday. One of the men died at the scene in Jangzai village, said Sharif Khan, a resident of the village. The second man died of injuries while he was being taken to a hospital, Khan said. The explosion occurred on Sunday and both men were in their 30s, he said. There was no official confirmation of the blast and it was not known who may have planted the explosive in Jangzai. The town is about five kilometres from Damadola, a village where an alleged Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) air strike on Friday killed at least 17 people.
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Jordanâs state security court yesterday sentenced to four years of hard labor a man accused of recruiting fighters to join the insurgency in Iraq but acquitted three co-defendants. Jordanian Abdullah Al-Mrayat, 28, was sentenced on a single charge of âcarrying out activity not approved by the government, which jeopardized Jordanâs relations with another country.â The military tribunal initially sentenced Mrayat to five years of hard labor but decided to reduce it to four because he does not have a previous criminal record. His three Jordanian co-defendants were acquitted for lack of proof. They all initially faced up to 15 years of hard labor. The four men were indicted in September of planning to join insurgents in Iraq and recruiting fighters but pleaded not guilty at the start of their trial in October. According to the charge sheet Mrayat traveled to Syria in May intending to infiltrate Iraq to join the insurgency but failed to make it across the border. He returned home in June and recruited the three other men.
Jordanâs state security court also upheld death sentences against two militants convicted of plotting attacks against Jewish and Western tourists during the millennium celebrations. Alleged ringleader Khodr Abu Hoshar and co-accused Osama Samar were first indicted in September 2000 of plotting attacks against tourist sites in Jordan during which they planned to use explosives combining sulfuric and nitric acid. The military tribunal also upheld life sentences against two other defendants, Khaled Mughamess and Saeed Hijazi. The militants appealed the verdict three times but the appeals court returned the case on each occasion to the state security court which upheld its initial verdict each time against the four key defendants.
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Michel Aoun, the Lebanese Christian leader, has launched a scathing attack on Syria's exiled former vice-president, accusing him of bearing responsibility for a string of assassinations. On Saturday, Aoun called on Abdel-Halim Khaddam, an ex-Baath Party stalwart turned whistleblower who last month implicated Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, in the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, to publicly explain the killings.
"Khaddam was for a long time responsible for the Lebanese file, and during the time that he was responsible there were many very unfortunate events which were similar to Hariri's assassination," Aoun told Dubai television. Long the architect of Syria's military and political domination of neighbouring Lebanon, Khaddam was entrusted with the Lebanese file during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. "There were the (assassinations) of two presidents of the republic, Bashir Gemayel and Rene Moawad, and there was the (Sunni) mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled, MP Nazem Al-Qadri ... and Kamal Jumblatt," said Aoun. Aoun, who returned to Lebanon in May 2005 after 15 years in exile in France, added: "We had hoped that he would recall those days and let us know how these events took place."
Posted by: Fred ||
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An Indian man believed dead by his family and fellow villagers caused panic when he returned over fears he had come back as a ghost, the Times of India reports. Children screamed "Ghost! Ghost!" and villagers locked their doors when Raju Raghuvanshi returned from jail earlier this month to his village in Mandla district in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
"Raju! You're dead!"
"No, I ain't!"
"Yes, you are! Now lie down, dammit!"
Raghuvanshi's brothers, who had shaved their heads to mourn his death in line with Hindu tradition, fled when he appeared, the paper reports.
"Feet, don't fail us now!"
"This is what my back looks like!"
Villagers and family members have ostracised him, forcing Mr Raghuvanshi to file a complaint with local police.
"No, you may not come to dinner! You're dead!"
"That does it! I'm callin' the cops!"
The village council has demanded he prove he is not a ghost, but the paper did not say what kind of proof the elders wanted.
"What'm I supposed to do? Not disappear?"
"You could stop decomposing..."
"Naw. That wouldn't work."
Mr Raghuvanshi's troubles arose after he was jailed last year. In prison, he was admitted to hospital with a stomach ailment from which he recovered but a distant relative told his family he had died.
Apparently the distant relative is more credible than Raju.
Posted by: Fred ||
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When I read the headline I knew it had to be Banga of Pakistan. It was India. My bad.
Iran has banned CNN journalists from working in the country after the broadcaster misquoted President Ahmadinejad as saying Iran wanted nuclear weapons, the ISNA students news agency said. CNN's simultaneous translation of Ahmadinejad's lengthy news conference on Saturday included the phrase "the use of nuclear weapons is Iran's right". In fact, what the Iranian president said was that "Iran has the right to nuclear energy", the official IRNA news agency reported. CNN later apologised for its mistake.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Yep, just because Marvin Martian wants to blow up the Earth + Moon, or ISRAEL, wid a little PU286 Explosive Space Modulator-r-r doe NOT make the modulator-r-r a weapon, D *** You. Delays, delays.
#2
Now pay attention Karl. See, don't whine. Just kick their (8!!87&^%(*9! asses out of the White House new corps and they'll come crying back apologizing. Its not like there are any other agencies to cover the room, so its not an assault upon a 'free press'. Hell make a seat for a blogger. You see CNN paid Saddam to carry his good news everything is happy air fillers. You see they apologize for their mistake here because they want access. Start restricting their access and competition kicks in. They start to play nice. Learn.
The Jammu and Kashmir police yesterday claimed to have killed the main conspirator of last yearâs Delhi explosions in a north Kashmir encounter. Police also said another conspirator was injured in the operation that was launched after specific information from Delhi police. Serial blasts on Oct. 29, ahead of Diwali, or the Hindu festival of lights, last year killed 66 people in the national capital.
âOn specific information passed on to us from Delhi police, a well coordinated operation was launched by the state police and the troops of the Rashtriya Rifles,â senior Kashmir police officer K. Rajendra said. âThe operation in Khour village started early Monday morning. We have killed Abdullah Bhai alias Abu Huzaifa, the top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander so far and another terrorist, identified as Ali Mohammad alias Abu Zarar was injured and searches are on to locate him,â Rajendra added. The officer said the two militants had been hiding in a house in Khour village of Pattan tehsil in Baramulla district, 40 km from Kashmirâs summer capital of Srinagar.
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Prime Minister Ariel Sharon briefly opened his eyes Monday in response to a recording of his grandson's voice, relatives told doctors, though hospital officials warned there were no signs that the comatose Israeli leader was any closer to regaining consciousness. With Sharon still incapacitated 12 days after a massive stroke, Monday's media excitement over the reported eye movements showed how even the slightest change in his condition is capturing the nation's attention.
The 77-year-old prime minister has been lying unconscious at Hadassah Hospital since the Jan. 4 stroke. Although doctors say his condition remains "critical but stable," outside experts have said Sharon's failure to regain consciousness in recent days bodes poorly for his recovery. Monday's reports seemed to spark hopes that Sharon, perhaps the country's ultimate political survivor, would prove the experts wrong again. After scaling back coverage of his condition in recent days, TV newscasts and radio programming eagerly reported the latest developments.
Israeli TV said the prime minister opened his eyes as his son, Gilad, sat at his bedside playing a tape recording of Sharon's grandson. A Sharon aide in touch with the family said the report was accurate. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not at Sharon's bedside at the time. The Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported on its Web site that Sharon opened his eyes twice, becoming teary at the sound of his grandson's voice. It said Sharon closed his eyes before doctors reached his room.
The heavy media interest prompted the hospital to issue a statement playing down the reports. It said Sharon's relatives reported "impression of eyelid movement whose significance is unclear." Outside medical experts warned against reading too much into the reported eye movements. "I would take nothing from it," said Dr. Maurizio Miglietta, a coma expert at New York University's School of Medicine, especially because there were no other signs of reported progress Monday. "It can be anything from him waking up to having a seizure, or it could be involuntary," he said. The next thing to look for would be "purposeful movements," such as responding to voices, Miglietta added.
Dr. Anthony Rudd, a stroke specialist at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, said coma patients often involuntarily flutter their eyelids or even open their eyes momentarily. "Often families misinterpret reflex twitching for voluntary movement," he said.
After the stroke, Sharon underwent three operations to stop the bleeding in his brain. Medical officials said last week that he showed some movement on both sides of his body in response to pain stimuli, but he has shown no signs of improvement since then. Doctors have given little insight into his prognosis. Sharon has been on a respirator, and he underwent a tracheotomy Sunday in which surgerons inserted a plastic tube in his windpipe to help him breathe. He has been taken off sedatives.
Sharon's Kadima Party enjoyed a strong lead in opinion polls at the time of the stroke, and analysts warned the party might disintegrate without its founder and leader. But under acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Kadima has strengthened its lead. With Sharon unlikely to return, Kadima on Monday chose Olmert to stand in as party leader in the March 28 election. The decision put Olmert in a strong position to be the next prime minister.
Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousuf said yesterday that fighters in Gaza have rejected a Palestinian Authority plan to put their weapons in storage during next weekâs parliamentary election as a way to reduce the risk of violence. Interior Minister Yousuf said a proposal had been made for factions in Gaza to collect their own weapons just before the ballot and put them into a storage area to which they would have one key and the Palestinian Authority another. âBut they rejected the proposal,â Yousuf told reporters. Khader Habib, an Islamic Jihad leader, confirmed the proposal was rejected, but denied that the groupâs weapons contributed to Gazaâs âchaos and anarchyâ or threatened security during the elections.
"No, no! Certainly not! What would we have to do with violence?"
Yousuf said the Palestinian Authority had offered police protection to faction leaders in Gaza in the hope that they would leave their armed bodyguards at home on election day. But that too was rejected. Habib said the armed factions âknow better how to protect their leaders.â In a warning to fighters, Yousuf said security forces had âclear instructions to confront any attempt to use arms during the election period.â He was speaking after talks with UN special envoy for the Middle East peace process, Alvaro de Soto.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
As much as I hate to admit it, he has a point.
Disarm and you're just another easy target.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/17/2006 7:59
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The name of Lebanon's Christian Maronite Patriarch, 
PBCP leader killed in 'crossfire'
Israeli troops have killed a Palestinian 
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il arrived 
Kenyan police have intensified their searches for Al-Qaida members believed to be behind terrorist attacks in Kenya in 1998 and 2004. On Aug. 7, 1998, an al-Qaida bomb exploded at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. The attack killed 224 people and injured 5,000. Four years later, on Nov. 29, 2002, 10 Kenyans and three Israelis were killed when an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombassa was attacked and blown up by a car bomb, while a simultaneous rocket attack on an Israeli airliner failed. Al-Qaida reportedly claimed responsibility for the twin attacks.
A POTENTIAL breakthrough in the nuclear stand-off with Iran came last night when the Iranian ambassador in Moscow praised a proposal to move Tehran's uranium enrichment programme to Russia.
Cuban Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon said Monday that this month's jailing in the U.S. of two Florida academics on charges they spied for Cuba for three decades was "strange" and "worrisome." 
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that ``God is mad at America'' and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting. 
BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan is seeking to sharply increase, to 50 million dollars (41.4 million euros) a year, the amount the United States pays for an airbase supporting its troops in Afghanistan, parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebayev said late Monday.
DUSHANBE: Authorities in Tajikistan are holding the No 2 leader of a banned radical Islamic group, an official said on Monday. A probe into several suspected members of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir party who were arrested last year also revealed that some of the group's regional leaders were among them, Deputy Prosecutor General Abdusami Dadabayev said. He did not say exactly when the arrests were made and gave no further details. 
Indian police said Monday they arrested a man in connection with last month's shooting at a prestigious science institute in the country's technology hub, Bangalore. The 35-year-old suspect, with aliases that include Habib and Mehmood Ibrahim, was arrested on Sunday in the southern part of Karnataka and brought to the state's capital, Bangalore, for questioning, a police official said. 
Richard Cheney, the US vice-president, has left Washington for Egypt and Saudi Arabia where he will hold talks with the leaders of both countries about the war in Iraq and regional security, among other things. On Tuesday, the US vice-president is scheduled to meet Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, officials said on Sunday. No other details of the talks have been publicly released, but an administration official told AFP that "peace and democracy in the Middle East - I think that is going to be the general focus of him going there."
Pakistan's Islamist opposition has vowed more protests against a US air strike that killed at least 18 civilians while commentators said the raid would boost support for fighters. The air strike which took place on Friday was apparently aimed at aimed at Osama bin Ladin's deputy and al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. 
Darfur's main rebel group yesterday rejected Khartoum's offer to deploy joint forces alongside African Union troops to curb the violence in the war-torn region of western Sudan. "The Sudan Liberation Movement rejects the Sudanese government's proposal ... and insists on the deployment of an international force," the rebel group said in a statement. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry had said that it proposed during a meeting in Addis Ababa of the African Union's Peace and Security Council the deployment of a tripartite force comprising troops from the government, the rebel movements and the AU. 
Dock workers fought with police and smashed windows at the European Parliament building Monday during a violent protest over a proposal to liberalize port services across the European Union. Strikes and work slowdowns also disrupted cargo handling at several ports as trade unions pressed their opposition to the plan even as EU legislators predicted it would be rejected. Police used water cannons and tear gas to try to keep thousands of protesting dockers away from the EU legislature in this eastern French city. But the mob surged forward, hurling rocks, logs and metal fences to shatter large sections of glass in the glass-and-steel building, located on the outskirts of this eastern French city. The damage was estimated at several hundred thousand euros (dollars), the parliament said. 
Two Syrian intelligence officers are giving evidence in Vienna again to the UN commission investigating the murder of 
A Bangladesh court has sentenced a member of an outlawed Islamist group to 15 years in prison for involvement in serial bomb attacks across the country in August, a police officer said on Monday. Two people were killed and almost 100 wounded when 500 bombs went off on August 17, blamed on Islamist militant groups fighting to turn Bangladesh, a mainly Muslim democracy, into an Islamic sharia state.
The United States has warned the Palestinians that inclusion of the resistance group Hamas in any new government could affect US-backed efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state on Monday stopped short of threatening a cut in US aid to the Palestinians if they form a government with ministers from the hard-line Islamic movement after parliamentary polls on 25 January. "Let's just see what happens after the elections," Rice told reporters accompanying her on a visit to Liberia. 
The United States and European Union were seeking Russian and Chinese support for robust diplomatic steps to curb Iran's nuclear program in talks among UN Security Council powers that began on Monday. Iran's resumption of research that could advance a quest for civilian atomic energy or bombs has sparked a flurry of Western diplomacy in pursuit of a vote by the UN nuclear watchdog to refer Iran to the Council for possible sanctions. Moscow, with a $1 billion stake building Iran's first atomic reactor, and Beijing, reliant on Iranian oil for its surging economy, have previously blocked such a move at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors. But Russia has warned Iran it could lose Moscow's support unless it suspended the fuel research it resumed last week. China, however, said resorting to the Security Council might "complicate the issue," citing Iran's threat to hit back by halting snap UN inspections of its atomic plants.
Iraqi judge Said al Hamashi will preside over the high-profile trial of Saddam Hussein, along with seven former senior officials, in the Dujail case. He will replace Judge Rezkar Mohammed Amin who tended his resignation on Saturday. "I have nothing to do with the reasons that drove my colleague Judge Amin to resign. I hope he returns to his post and preside over the remaining court sessions," he told Asharq Al Awsat from Baghdad . If Judge Amin "insisted on resigning, I will preside over the next session as planned, as there is no need for it to be postponed," al Hamashi said. Al Amin was said to have resigned because of from government pressure The trial is due to resume on 24 January.
African civil society groups yesterday urged the AU not to elect Sudanese President Omar Bashir to head the 53-member body, arguing his governmentâs role in the conflict in the troubled western Darfur region should make him ineligible. Representatives of nearly 40 African non-governmental organizations dealing with human rights, health issues and conflict resolution said Bashirâs selection to lead the pan-African body would destroy its international credibility and crater ongoing AU-mediated Darfur peace talks.
A submarine captain accused of bullying his officers told a court martial yesterday that some were so inexperienced it was like having lower division footballers on a Premiership pitch. Capt Robert Tarrant, 44, who was commander of the nuclear submarine Talent, told a court martial that he expected the very highest standards from his crew. He said he used a leadership style he had learned serving in the Falklands conflict. "I discovered that the margin of error between operational safety and therefore operational success and operational disaster was pretty small," he said. "From my perspective it came down to having the very highest standards of operational capability that one could have at all times. I learned that if you were trying to train during an operation it is too late. In the Falklands we had a captain who had served in the Korean war and because he was an excellent leader we got through and we did well."
Saudi police have arrested five suspected insurgents in raids in several localities in the capital and seized large quantities of explosives and money, security officials said. The officials said the five suspects - four Saudis and one foreigner - are believed to be part of a network preparing for a terror attack in Riyadh. "They were apparently preparing for a terrorist attack, probably soon," one official told The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media. Another official said police seized some 20kg of explosives and one million Saudi riyals ($373,000) in a raid north of Riyadh. He said police believe the suspects were planning to blow up some government installations.
Two men were killed after a landmine exploded on a dirt road in a village in the Bajaur Agency, a local resident said on Monday. One of the men died at the scene in Jangzai village, said Sharif Khan, a resident of the village. The second man died of injuries while he was being taken to a hospital, Khan said. The explosion occurred on Sunday and both men were in their 30s, he said. There was no official confirmation of the blast and it was not known who may have planted the explosive in Jangzai. The town is about five kilometres from Damadola, a village where an alleged Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) air strike on Friday killed at least 17 people.
Jordanâs state security court yesterday sentenced to four years of hard labor a man accused of recruiting fighters to join the insurgency in Iraq but acquitted three co-defendants. Jordanian 
Jordanâs state security court also upheld death sentences against two militants convicted of plotting attacks against Jewish and Western tourists during the millennium celebrations. Alleged ringleader 
An Indian man believed dead by his family and fellow villagers caused panic when he returned over fears he had come back as a ghost, the Times of India reports. Children screamed "Ghost! Ghost!" and villagers locked their doors when Raju Raghuvanshi returned from jail earlier this month to his village in Mandla district in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. 
Iran has banned CNN journalists from working in the country after the broadcaster misquoted President Ahmadinejad as saying Iran wanted nuclear weapons, the ISNA students news agency said. CNN's simultaneous translation of Ahmadinejad's lengthy news conference on Saturday included the phrase "the use of nuclear weapons is Iran's right". In fact, what the Iranian president said was that "Iran has the right to nuclear energy", the official IRNA news agency reported. CNN later apologised for its mistake.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon briefly opened his eyes Monday in response to a recording of his grandson's voice, relatives told doctors, though hospital officials warned there were no signs that the comatose Israeli leader was any closer to regaining consciousness. With Sharon still incapacitated 12 days after a massive stroke, Monday's media excitement over the reported eye movements showed how even the slightest change in his condition is capturing the nation's attention.
Palestinian Interior Minister 
