The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has called on the US and the EU to do more for the world's long-term collective security.
Speaking at a security conference in Munich on Sunday (13 February), the UN chief praised co-operation between American and European allies in post-war Iraq, but suggested that they should "do something more this year: to think ahead, and to help plant the seeds of long term collective security".
The request was related to Mr Annan's own blueprint for "the most far-reaching reform of the international security system since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945".
The changes should match a transformed security environment in the world and make the UN more capable in tackling new global threats. Mr Annan suggested that given the cross-border and instant character of the current dangers, the participating states should realise their mutual vulnerability.
"So, in this era of interdependence, let us banish from our minds the thought that some threats affect only some of us. We all share a responsibility for each other's security, and we must work together to build a safer world. Indeed, in strengthening the security of others, we protect the security of our own".
New UN strategy against terrorism
The UN chief proposed action in strengthening world collective defences — mainly in relation to nuclear proliferation, where the plan is to introduce tougher inspection rules and other concrete steps on disarmament.
He is also set to present a new UN strategy against terrorism, including a proposal to set up a trust fund for member states to meet their anti-terrorism obligations and a new globally accepted definition of terrorism.
Mr Annan is planning to introduce the strategy in March in Madrid, a year after the deadly terrorist attacks in the city.
The UN reforms will also include proposals for new collective tools to "win peace" in post-conflict areas and improve the body's capability of peacekeeping.
A serious situation in Sudan was singled out as on the highest alert for the international community.
"Those organizations with real capacity — and NATO as well as the EU are well represented in this room — must give serious consideration to what — in practical terms — they can do to help end this tragedy", said Mr Annan.
The annual security conference in Munich was dominated by the relationship between the United States and Europe, with a focus upon future links between NATO and the EU's developing security capability.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/14/2005
9:57:40 AM ||
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#1
I think the best reform we could do is throw all the foggybottomed UN'ocrats out of our country and level the UN building and put something useful there.
#2
He is also set to present a new UN strategy against terrorism, including a proposal to set up a trust fund for member states to meet their anti-terrorism obligations and a new globally accepted definition of terrorism.
Maybe they'll call it the Terrorism for Food program? I'm sure it'll work out just great...especially if someone else pays for it.
#3
86 the plane Kofi flys out in would be a start.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 13:39
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#4
The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has called on the US and the EU to do more for the worldâs long-term collective security.
Fer shur, 'cuz we're not doing enough already. /sarc Can somebody tell me who died and left this two-bit socialist douchebag from frickin' Ghana the leader of the world?
#5
How is the UN going to fight terrorism when the body cannot agree on the definition of terrorism? Then, how are we going to do anything as a world body when a very sizeable portion of the UN members are dictatorships, kleptocracies, or just plain corrupt hellholes?
Set up a trust fund? With who's money? Always someone else's resources. Kofi can have Sonny take care of that. He and his friends have Sammy's Oil for Palaces money, if they did not blow it all yet.
FOAD, and the horse he rode in on.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 14:13
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#6
How is the UN going to fight terrorism when the body cannot agree on the definition of terrorism?
A side note: they can't recognize genocide, either.
It is becoming a constant, like gravity: Maureen Dowd opens her mouth, and I get email from guys saying, "Fred! Geez, man, how much do apartments go for in Guadalajara?" Maureen is the resentment columnist for the New York Times. She serves as newsprint megaphone for the angry, selfish, wretchedly unhappy career woman who can't understand why she is living alone in an apartment with two cats. (I understand the alone part. I question the judgement of the cats.) Maybe I can explain.
Not that you actually have to. We've read her stuff before...
In a recent column, headed "Men Just Want Mommy," Maureen tells us, "A few years ago at a White House Correspondents' dinner, I met a very beautiful actress. Within moments, she blurted out: 'I can't believe I'm 46 and not married. Men only want to marry their personal assistants or P.R. women.'" The bastards.
That's because their wives spend the day at home with nothing to do but bang the 16-year-old Brazilian pool boy or the Swedish tennis pro named Sven.
Here we have the eternal cry (at least it's beginning to feel eternal) of the unhappy feminist: "The whole world can't stand me. What's wrong with the whole world?" If men don't want to marry a self-absorbed menopausing ocelot, there is something wrong with men. I listen to this stuff and I want to marry someone's personal assistant, just to be sure I don't get drunk and marry a very beautiful actress.
You won't. She doesn't have time for that. She's banging the pool boy...
But more of Maureen and the personal assistants. She continues observantly, "I'd been noticing a trend along these lines, as famous and powerful men took up with the young women whose job it was to tend to them and care for them in some way: their secretaries, assistants, nannies, caterers, flight attendants, researchers and fact-checkers."
Shucks, that's never happened before, has it? I mean, if it had, it would have been a plot element in thousands of second-rate novels, wouldn't it?
Men want to marry Mommy, she implies, with forty-weight passive-aggressiveness you could lube a diesel with.
Of course, it could be that they just don't want to marry Maureen.
Actually, what men very much do not want is to marry Mommy. The problem for Maureen is that she is Mommy: censorious, moralizing, self-pitying, endlessly instructive, and so achingly tedious that men find themselves thinking of moldy bath sponges. I have never seen her and don't know how old she is. She may be twenty-three, radiantly gorgeous, and have seven husbands. She writes as if she were fifty, a tad overweight and, having grossly overestimated her value in the meat market, missed the train. (I have a federal license to mix metaphors like that.) Since nothing can be her fault, that leaves men.
If we can't stand to read what she writes, can you imagine living with her and having to listen to what she has to say?
Now, why might a man want to date his secretary instead of some virile pit-viperess of a lawyer, forever coiled to strike? To start with, twenty-five is more appealing than fifty. Sorry, but there it is. Second, secretaries usually lack the misandry, vanity, and abrasiveness of the viperess. (Think Alan Dershowitz in drag, but hostile.)
Though, come to think of it, when was the last time you ran into somebody who actually had a secretary? Do they still exist? Or have they gone the way of the Model T, helped out the door by ever increasing minimum wage and the advent of Microsoft Office?
Which leads to, Third, the secretary is likely to be lots more fun.
Maybe they're talking about receptionists and dental assistants? And nurse's aides?
You don't have to spend time comparing penises with her. She won't always be looking for discrimination, like a chicken clucking after bugs in a barnyard. You won't get the throwaway snotty remarks about men. I can't imagine doing a fast double-step jitterbug in a dirt bar in Austin with a warlike partner from Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe—you know, Little Richard shrieking Long Tall Sally, skirts flying in the twirls. A secretary is likely to think it is a hell of a good idea.
I'm sorry. I'm still lost. The closest to a secretary I can come up with is Jan, the admin assistant at my last job. She was a nice lady who used to tell me about her grandkids when she wasn't explaining to me for the 1732nd time how to enter my charge number on my time card. Maybe things are different in Noo Yawk?
Maureen pretty much answers the question of why these creatures stay single. In another column she says, "When I asked a 28-year-old friend how he and his lawyer-girlfriend were going to divide the costs on a California vacation, he looked askance. 'She never offers,' he replied. 'And I like paying for her.'"
Whatever happened to the Mann Act, anyway? Though I can understand. If you're a gent sneaking off for a weekend of sexual promiscuity, it's good manners to pick up the tab...
Maureen knows lots of these. "Carrie, a publicist in her late 20's from Long Island, is not unwilling to dig into her Kate Spade bag. 'He can get the jewelry, the dinners, the shoes and the vacations,' she says. 'I'll get the cab.'"
I see. We're talking about a certain type of woman, not all of them. I'm assuming that not all the women in Noo Yawk are the descendents of the chorus, hat check, and cigarette girls of yesteryear...
Who would marry that? Carrie is a parasite, like a screw-fly larva. You could find better leaning against a lamppost.
Some of those hat check girls used to get pretty pricey, I understand...
Honest prostitution is preferable to dissimulated. (Incidentally, Stanford did a genetic study in which they found that a New York career woman shares ninety-five percent of her genes with the common tape worm. The remaining five percent, speculated the scientists, explains why tapeworms, though parasitic, are not uncivil.) Maureen's women are forever nattering about sexual equality.
They're also the ones who ruin it by making it a political act.
Maureen, speaking of some movie: "Art is imitating life, turning women who seek equality into selfish narcissists and objects of rejection, rather than affection." Actually art isn't doing anything. A woman who wants a man to pay her bills is already a selfish narcissist. I find myself wondering what parallel universe Maureen inhabits, and how she found the door.
I think it's because she only exists in Noo Yawk. When she crosses into Noo Joisey she disappears. All that remains is a dangling participle that reconstitutes itself into her when safely back in Manhattan.
In fairness to at least some career women, maybe most of them, I dated mostly such for a decade or two in Washington, and expected them as a matter of course to split the bill. They did. It didn't seem to bother them. And—surprise—I thought of them as equals. They acted that way.
When I was young and single, I didn't really give much thought to it. I'd ask a girlie for a date because I liked her. But that was many years ago, before there was bowling, so we'd do things like go out and hunt wooly mastodons by the light of the silv'ry moon...
So little of what Maureen says tracks with the world I know. She thinks men don't like smart women. I know a lot of bright guys, and they all look for bright women. They just want agreeable bright women.
I love smart women. In my jaded youth I made the mistake of asking a few dummies for dates. Women really resent it when you take them back to the cave after ten minutes of conversation and say "Good night."
Further—am I alone in this?—I don't think of women I date in terms of superiority and inferiority. Sally is my date, not my competitor. Does it run through Maureen's tiny little mind that I walk along with a secretary thinking, "Hah! Mere secretary. My inferior. Hah!"? Actually I think, "How'd I get so lucky? Hope she doesn't think of that."
I'd be walking along thinking, "Geeze! A secretary! That's the bee's knees! Where the hell did she come from?"
This erosion of pecking order by mating explains why the military doesn't want officers to date enlisted women: A cute corporal is on equal terms with an admiral by virtue of seeing him. Hierarchy doesn't survive romance. But, as Maureen's status-obsessed women discover, neither does romance survive a relentless concern with hierarchy.
I miss the good olde days. How many people can dwell on heirarchy when they're bowling?
Thing is, the times have changed. The age-old bargain was that women exchanged sex for whatever they wanted, and men exchanged whatever they had for sex. Part of the deal was that the woman would be reasonably agreeable. A career woman today, being independent, no longer has to be agreeable, and frequently isn't.
This is not a new phenomenon, either. They used to call them "spinsters."
On the other hand, a man doesn't have to commit himself to anything to get sex. So the man dates his secretary, and the career woman sits in her apartment with the cats. I'm going to move to Mexico. (Though come to think of it, I already have.) I like Fred Reed's writings. He says it all here. What more can I say?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/14/2005
9:53:36 AM ||
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Happy Valentine's day all, and Maureen? I hope your vibe's batteries are dead
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 19:24
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That said my last secretary was 25 years older and 50 pounds heavier than me. I could tell when she was angry about something because she'd dump the contents of my desk drawers on my desk/floor and leave dozens of post-it notes with identical messages pasted all over my office. All in all she made the proverbial warlike partner at Dewey, Cheetum, & Howe look fairly appealing.
#8
ROFL! Sure wish there was a link to the original, but I have to say I haven't smiled and laughed and snorted and snickered for quite so sustained a period of time in forever! Waay funny, both the article and Fred Pruitt's inline commentary, a jewel - of perspectives and sparkling memories. Combining the two Freds like this is dangerous to my health, lol! Can we do it again, soon?!
Amid a general chorus of U.S. approval for the Iraqi election results yesterday, Rep. Charles B. Rangel called the vote "a success by Republican standards" and said Americans "don't want their children to die for other people's freedom."
"I don't believe that the American people think that it was worth the lives of 1,200 Americans and 25,000 men and women in the armed services wounded, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Iraqis dead," the New York Democrat said.
Mr. Rangel, a Korean War veteran, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the war in Iraq is a "fraud" and that the United States cannot and will not bear the price of its children's blood to spread democracy abroad.
"We cannot afford to free people all over the world. We don't have that many lives to give up," Mr. Rangel said...
Mr. Rangel, who mentioned his Korean War service in yesterday's appearance, responded that Americans "don't want their children to die for other people's freedom."
"I'm telling you, we went into Iraq not for elections. We went there to knock off Saddam Hussein, but the American people thought it was connected with 9/11, there was weapons of mass destruction, there were connections with al Qaeda. It was all a fraud," Mr. Rangel said.
"We're fighting this war with other people's kids," Mr. Rangel said.
The results of the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq announced yesterday show a cleric-backed Shi'ite coalition leading with 48 percent of the vote, followed by the Kurdish alliance with 25 percent, which some U.S. leaders predicted would prompt the Kurds to form a governing coalition with other minority groups.
More than 8 million Iraqis, nearly 60 percent of eligible voters, turned out to cast ballots despite repeated threats of violence by insurgents... More quotable quotes from the man who truly says what the Democrat party thinks.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
02/14/2005
9:50:35 AM ||
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#1
More quotable quotes from the man who truly says what the Democrat party thinks.
#6
nope, but the loony wing A. makes up almost half the party B. has long been the source of disproportionate numbers of activists. C. prior to '94, and to some extent for the rest fof the CLinton years, the moderates and the establishment had the lock on money - dems as incumbents got lots of big money - with loss of capital hill, and GOP puttingsqueeze on to "defund the "left"" this dried up = for a while silicon valley money was a substiute, and offset to Hollywood money. The dot com bust, mccain feingold, the loss of the WH, have all hurt that source. This leave internet fundraising, Soros, Hollywood, all sources that favor the left. And the establishment (reid, pelosi, the DNC, etc) lack the Cojones to take on the left in these circumstance.
#8
Not to overstate the case, but there is a substantial minority in the Democratic party that does think like this, and that segment is heavily represented in the activist and fund-raising wings these days. Dean, Pelosi, etc. are the beneficiaries of their power.
The actual voters are another story, but the people they will get a chance to vote for will be disproportionately selected by the first group.
#9
There's the Dem voter, and then there's the Dem party establishment. By their own pronunciations, the party establishment is squarely on the side of Rangle on this issue. The election of Howlin' Howard to head the DNC is proof positive. The Dem Party is learching hard left.....can their own constituency take it back to the middle? ..or will they look elsewhere?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/14/2005 14:09
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#10
"Americans donât want their children to die for other peopleâs freedom." I wonder what he said about any other conflict that Amercian has fought for the freedon of others. Doesn't that pretty much sum up our 230 years of foriegn policy? Just about every conflict we have been involved in has been to spread freedom. yes we expanded out territories, but we have freed 100 times that acerage. Rangel is losing touch with reality.
#11
the clintons, reid and maybe Pelosi tried to beat Dean for DNC chief. The state chairs supported him, cause he charmed em, and promised bagloads of money for state parties. State party chairs are much more cognizant of empty party coffers than of national spokespeople.
#12
LH -- If Rangel (et. al.) don't speak for your party, exclude him from the caucus and don't give him any more campaign cash.
As for Rangel:
Mr. Rangel, who mentioned his Korean War service in yesterdayâs appearance, responded that Americans "donât want their children to die for other peopleâs freedom."
I give you, ladies and gentlemen, lyrics from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic":
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/14/2005 14:42
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#14
i dont think Rangel needs any campaign cash from the DNC to win. If the House Campaign comm is giving $ to a dem to win a district that covers the Upper West Side and Harlem, when swing districts go begging, somebody in the establishment needs a brain transplant.
As for removing him from the party, that doesnt happen in either party. Does Ron Paul speak for the GOP? Or even Trent Lott? No. Rangel doesnt speak FOR the party, much less for the establishment, but he speaks for SOME in the party, a force that cant be drumrolled out, im afraid.
#15
Rangel's devotion to the military was demonstrated when he proposed reincorporating the Draft, not to make the military strong but to damage the military and score political points. He's a political hack, an anti-American (IMHO) asshole and a Democrat. But I repeat myself
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 14:56
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#16
Ah namecalling (implying all dems are hacks), isnt it a wonderful technique?
#17
Let's see, by his own math if Mr. Rangel is right:
"I donât believe that the American people think that it was worth the lives of 1,200 Americans and 25,000 men and women in the armed services wounded, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Iraqis dead," the New York Democrat said. ....
"We cannot afford to free people all over the world. We donât have that many lives to give up," Mr. Rangel said...
Not to make light of the 1,200 dead from Iraq, God bless their souls, they are missed by each and every one of us, but his own numbers show the hypocrisy of his statement. Let's say there's 4-6 countries we need to "free" to protect ourselves (think: Iran, N. Korea, Syria, Saudi, heck, let's throw in Somalia and Sudan-Darfur (for human rights), and finally, Zimbabwe-just for Bob alone). I would argue that most of these (with probably the exceptions of N. Korea, Saudi and maybe Iran, if the internal young/pro-US don't rise up) would be easier to "free" than even Iraq was. Therefore, 6 countries x 1,200 (assumed) dead per country leads us to 7,200! Granted, every one of those deaths would suck, but considering we lost 3,000 innocents in 1 attack, I'd argue that would be worth it to prevent future attacks. We could even cut out Zimbabwe and Sudan and lower the number to 4,800. Granted, this is simple math, but shows the ridiculousness of the "1,200 dead isn't worth our future" groups, when we lost 2.5x that many on 9/11. Logistics, obviously argues against "freeing" this many countries (at least not all at once), but again, I'm just trying to show how ridiculous Rangel's appeasement is. Of course, I just noticed that he predicated his statement on "I don't believe that the American people think that it was worth 1,200...." If maybe the MSM would show those planes flying in to the WTC every once in a while (or even the train bombing in Spain, etc.) to remind the average American what we're up against, this would be a whole different story.
Posted by: BA ||
02/14/2005 15:08
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#18
apologies for the over-the-top, LH, but any party containing Rangel, Boxer, Dodd, Kennedy, et al deserves rebuke in my book
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 15:13
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#19
and no, I don't support every Rep, and I make clear that McCain, Snowe, Specter, and other RINO's don't speak for me
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 15:17
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#20
BA.. your math leaves out Afghanistan. I believe some number of Jihadis would have ended up there instead Iraq, so it's at least somewhat reasonable to include that in the average.
As for Rangel, "donât want their children to die for other peopleâs freedom." So our troops are not adults? IIRC the oldest enlisted casualty in Iraq was 51 or 53. That's "someone's child"? If having parents is the test for being a child, then I presume Rangel is a child himself.
#22
Dishman, I was just going off Rangel's numbers, which I assumed were for Iraq only. Even Rangel (AFAIK) hasn't spoken against Afghanistan. So, I was just saying if we average (and again, I don't mean to make light of the numbers...each and every loss we incur sucks) 1,200 dead per country "freed", then we get 7,200 dead freeing the 6 remaining countries I threw up for discussion (heck, I even argue dropping 2 of them). I would bet even the grunts would say 7,200 (or 4,800 if we drop Zimbabwe & Sudan) is worth it, if it keeps us from another attack (which, presumably would be worse than 3,000 dead, like 9/11). Obviously, like I stated, logistics/training/equipment would keep us from taking them all on at once, and many have argued here to save the best (Saudi) for last, so I'm open to other arguments. Was just trying to show how HIS OWN NUMBERS don't add up to it "not being worth the cost" argument, when the next attack would probably be well over 3,000.
Posted by: BA ||
02/14/2005 15:25
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#23
.com, I'd agree.
Posted by: BA ||
02/14/2005 15:26
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#24
Liberal Hawk...give it up. Note from another thread this comment:
The speech was a collaborative effort. Mrs. Clinton sought input from a number of Americans in the forum, among others Richard C. Holbrooke, who served as her husbandâs ambassador to the United Nations and to Germany; Samuel R. Berger, her husbandâs national security adviser; Jeffrey H. Smith, the former general counsel at the C.I.A. when her husband was president; and Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser for the first President Bush
What a freak'n bunch of losers....no wait...not losers, but conniving power junkies who disdain good people like you, as tools to be manipulated for their political own use.
Face it. There is no good left in your party. You are better off to join the right, and attempt to moderate it's wing-nut influences than you are to attempt to breath life into the hollow, rotted out corpse that represents the remains of the left that you once knew.
#26
Rangle doesn't speak for the party, but he does speak the party line. Nothing he is quoted as saying here differs significanlty from what we've heard form Kennedy, Pelosi, Boxer, Kucinich, Kerry, Dean, Reid.... these are not the Ron Pauls of the Democrat Party - they are the standard bearers and they are destroying the
Democrat Party. But....maybe that's the plan in order to bring on Sir Hillary as the Grand Savior.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/14/2005 15:43
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I guess TGA's right, I'm just not a romantic. Sigh. I try, I really do, but I have this pain, right here, where I got stabbed with an icepick. And it kinda twinges when there's rain coming. And when it gets cold and the wind whips over me, it whistles, softly, a sad tune. And I can't go swimmin' anymore, cuz it just blub-blub-blubs away and I sink like a rock. Sad. Real sad.
#32
Dodd was also an architect of Sandinista power in Nicaragua, correct? Also a major proponent of the Boland Amendment restricting aide to Contras and El Salvador. That WAS the Dem party line. Repudiating Jordan was nice, but doesn't erase a lifetime of restrictions on America while aiding our opponents.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 16:24
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#33
True enough LH, but up until now those 2 have been pretty much invisible on Iraq - at least to the casual viewer of which I prolly have more in common with than most folk here at the U of Rantburg. If that's not the party line - then what is? Does one even exist? I certainly hope it's not the "I hate the Republicans, and all they stand for" plank, which for now it seems to be.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/14/2005 16:27
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#34
Oh Please! While Frank indeed deserves some credit for not shrinking into the wallpaper, it was from another blogger that this story broke. And it's not like Dodd wanted to go public. After phone calls were made and teeth were pulled, he provided a measured response that didn't dodge the truth. Whoopie.
Go look again at who Hillary is surrounding herself with and tell me that this is a party that you are proud to identify with. But then, hey, what's a few top secret documents among National Archive friends?
Stop living in the past. Your party stinks with the hundreds of millions of dead that fell victim to it's failed ideas. Show some dignity, and move on.
#35
Frank - opposing US aid to the contras does make one a traitor, or a fan of terrorists. (time to reexamine the contras own take on the rules of war, I suggest) The contras were NOT democracy promoters, thank you very much. Nor was Somoza.
RM - there is no line, really. Iraq splits the Dems, Im afraid, and theres NO coherent line that they can all agree on.
#36
Communism supporters are not my cup of tea - where does the "mainstream" of the Donks stand on Cuba, eh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 16:35
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#37
Repudiating Jordan was nice, but doesn't erase a lifetime of restrictions on America
a restriction on the executive =s a restriction on America? Geez, James Madison, John Jay, and that gang in Philly in 1787 was sure a bunch of traitors, huh?
#38
It is the Dem party line. Love it or leave it.
Posted by: Rock ||
02/14/2005 16:36
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#39
opposing Somoza and the contras does not equal supporting the communists. The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend, and not always someone I should support.
#40
Isn't this the point where Popeye Doyle would begin asking the perp if he picked his feet in Poughkeepsie? There was no right answer, of course. No matter what the guy said, Popeye would whack 'im.
"Proclaiming a new spirit of cooperation between the United States and Mexico, visiting U.S. senators said Tuesday that the two countries are gradually finding common ground on divisive issues such as immigration, drugs and Cuba.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said Mexico pledged to recognize human rights abuses in Cuba during a U.N. vote Wednesday in Geneva, although it would continue its policy of abstaining from the vote.
Led by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C. - who has pushed countries to condemn Cuban practices before the U.N. Human Rights Commission - Biden and three others from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are on an unprecedented three-day trip to Mexico City.
"
#45
LH: if Iraq does have the Dems split - I wish I could hear more of that split coming out from someone other than Lieberman and Miller. Even then, they would have to get it past the MSM - tough to do. It might not be the party line - but I'm afraid that's the image that has gotten out. It's the perception = reality thingy.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/14/2005 16:54
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#46
or just maybe it could be reality = perception.
#47
It ain't an image problem. It is who they are and what they believe. Rangel is a perfect spokesman. Is there a ear shattering roar from the Dems to correct what Rangel and his ilk have been saying for the last two years? That's their party, and they's mostly proud of it.
Posted by: Rock ||
02/14/2005 17:01
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#48
Rangel belittles âsuccessâ of Iraq vote
Obviously his complaint is that unlike his election where he got a Saddahmesque 90%+, the top vote getter in Iraq was the Sistani alliance with 48%.... Not 2/3, not even an absolute majority.
I can understand why Charley belittles the vote...
#49
As for removing him from the party, that doesnt happen in either party.
Bull. David Duke tried to run as a Republican. The party refused to give him any campaign dollars and endorsed his Democrat opponent.
Do you have an example of the Democrats doing the same? The closest is Cynthia McKinney, except that once attention was off of her, she's back in. I'm 99% sure she's a Democrat again.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/14/2005 19:00
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#50
WikiPedia on Charles B Rangel
I would like to point out to Rantburg readers that anybody can make/modify wikipedia entries....
Lots of people discussed here are not there and creators of an entry tend to get more editing clout on the entry.
Just something to think about...
#51
Three years ago, Fred said that he didn't want Rantburg to degenerate into an "opinion" website. I find a direct correlation between gas-baggery and omission to post articles.
Check this out, funky soul brothers:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_15-2-2005_pg3_2
I expect you all to have fun with this. The year is 2007. After a clash with Turkish forces in northern Iraq, US troops stage a surprise attack. Reeling, Turkey turns to Russia and the European Union, who turn back the American onslaught.
This is the plot of "Metal Storm," one of the fastest- selling books in Turkish history. The book is clearly sold as fiction, but its premise has entered Turkey's public discourse in a way that sometimes seems to blur the line between fantasy and reality.
"The Foreign Ministry and General Staff are reading it keenly," Murat Yetkin, a columnist for the Turkish daily newspaper Radikal, recently wrote. "All cabinet members also have it." Several other columnists have also written about the book, suggesting its depiction of a clash between the two NATO allies could become a reality. Serdar Turgut, the editor of Aksam, one of Turkey's largest newspapers, penned a recent column that took one of Metal Storm's premises - that members of Skull and Bones, the secret society that President Bush joined as a student at Yale, has taken control of US foreign policy - and presented it as fact.
"Powerful people, nearly all of whom are members of a secret 'sect,' are aiming to bring a radical change to the order of the world," Turgut wrote. He further suggested that the US military is developing technology that would allow it to trigger earthquakes, something that will eventually be used against Turkey.
The book has arrived at a time when anti-American sentiments are running high in Turkey. A BBC poll taken last month found that 82 percent of Turks believe Bush's reelection made the world a more dangerous place, the highest figure in any country surveyed. During her recent visit, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern about the issue to Turkish officials. Meanwhile, there is increasing tension between Ankara and Washington. Turkey is frustrated with what it claims is US failure to take military action against the separatists of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq. The country is also concerned about events in the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where the Turks say Iraqi Kurds are staging a power grab as a prelude to the creation of an independent Kurdish state, something it views as a serious threat.
Egemen Bagis, a member of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and chairman of the Turkey-US friendship caucus in parliament, says the unpopular war in neighboring Iraq continues to fuel anti-American feelings. "This public feeling, this public tension, is not any different from what is happening in other European countries or other Middle Eastern countries," Mr. Bagis says.
But American officials in Turkey say the kinds of things they are hearing represent something different. "It's not an isolated phenomenon - you see it all across Europe, but it is more of an exaggerated phenomenon here," says one US official. "I'm not sure in Europe you would see the manifestations that you see here, like this book."
Adds another US diplomat, who declined to be named: "Just like sex sells, anti-Americanism sells right now. Unfortunately, it's nothing to laugh at, because it's damaging to both American national interest and to Turkish national interests. We're really pulling our hair out trying to figure out how to deal with this."
A particularly striking feature of the book - one that may say a lot about recent changes in Turkish opinion - is who saves Turkey from defeat: Europe and Russia. For decades, the European powers were derided in Turkey as the ones that tried to carve the country up after World War 1. Russia, which invaded Turkey in the early 20th century, had always been viewed here with great suspicion. In fact, the potato-and-mayonnaise concoction known in most places as Russian salad is called American salad here. "In all the surveys, increasingly we see people more anti-American. What is different today is that they are less anti-European," says Ali Carkoglu, a political scientist at Istanbul's Sabanci University. "Back in the [19]70s, they wouldn't even trust the Europeans," he says. "The change has been very swift."
For Metal Storm's two authors, Burak Turna and Orkun Ucar, success has come swiftly. This is their first published work. Sitting in an Istanbul cafe, the two say the novel came out of the conviction that the battle they depict is a strong possibility. The book, they say, is their contribution to Turkey's well-being. "Everybody was thinking about a clash like this in their subconscious," but it was articulated by Metal Storm, says Mr. Turna, who used to work in an US-owned textile company but now devotes himself full-time to writing. Turna does not see the book as fiction. "From our point of view, it's a philosophical and scientific calculation," he says. "It's more than a novel."
#1
What is different today is that they are less anti-European," says Ali Carkoglu, a political scientist at Istanbulâs Sabanci University. "Back in the [19]70s, they wouldnât even trust the Europeans," he says. "The change has been very swift." And just WTF makes you think the Europeans are going to trust you
A large black ball, originally designed by Swedish scientists for use on Mars, could be the latest weapon in the war against burglars.The device, developed at the University of Uppsala, acts as a high-tech security guard capable of detecting an intruder thanks to either radar or infra-red sensors. Once alerted, it can summon help, sound an alarm or pursue the intruders, taking pictures. It is capable of travelling at 20mph, somewhat faster than a human being. Even worse for intruders, the robot ball can still give chase over mud, snow and water.
"Number Six is trying to escape again. Release the ball!"
The ball relies on an internal pendulum to control its motion which, when shifted, changes the centre of gravity and starts it rolling. Other devices, including microphones, cameras, heat sensors and smoke detectors are mounted on its central axis.
Nils Hulth, co-founder of Rotundus, the company which is marketing the ball, said it was especially well-suited to patrolling the Village perimeter fences. The prototype, just under 2ft in diameter, weighs about 10lb. "It is extremely light, which is why it moves so fast," Mr Hulth said.
While the current version can only raise the alarm, it could be adapted to corner an intruder if the customer wanted, Mr Hulth added.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
9:41:16 AM ||
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All I can picture is Indy chased by that giant rock in Temple of Doom.
Posted by: Dar ||
02/14/2005 10:34
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Steve - The Prisoner, lol, one of the reasons that UK television used to rock - Thx for the reference and laugh! Figure out a way to work Emma Peel in there next time, K? Yumm, lol!
London mayor Ken Livingstone has been censured by the London Assembly for a Nazi jibe made to a Jewish reporter. Two motions were passed asking him to apologise and withdraw his comments. Labour's Mr Livingstone, who says he is "standing by" his remarks, had accused an Evening Standard journalist of being like a "concentration camp guard". The local government watchdog, the Standards Board for England, could investigate after a complaint from The Board of Deputies of British Jews. The row was discussed at Monday's budget meeting of the assembly, which is made up of 25 members elected to examine the mayor's activities. Inviting Al-Qaradawi to address the London Assembly and now anti-semitic comments to journalists... maybe the intellectual left is the new home of anti-semitism. But I thought Ken was supposed to be so PC... [/irony]
Posted by: Howard UK ||
02/14/2005
9:39:45 AM ||
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Isn't this clearly a violation of their anti-hate speech laws?
Placed on pg 1 because it does relate to the WOT.
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a controversial new law that would toughen regulations regarding the issuing of drivers' licenses, and make it easier for judges to deport illegal immigrants suspected of links with terrorism. Yahoo! (I hope..)
With a vote of 261 to 161, the House approved the Real ID Act, taking what the bill's Republican sponsors describe as an important step in safeguarding Americans against future terrorist attacks.
Last year's report of the independent commission that investigated security and other lapses before the September 11, 2001 al-Qaida attacks said terrorists were able to take advantage of system loopholes and travel documents, especially drivers' licenses.
The Real ID Act, which still must be taken up by the Senate, directs states to ensure that applicants for licenses are U.S. citizens or are in the country legally.
Judges would get more power in deciding on deportation, and applicants for asylum would have to show clearly that a central reason for their request was persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Good, the Asylum laws have often been misused by illegals.
The Department of Homeland Security would get new powers to tighten border security and track illegal immigrants.
In debate on the floor of the House of Representatives, Republicans such as Congressman J. D. Hayworth, argued that the attacks of September 11, 2001 provided indisputable reasons for passing the legislation.
"In the wake of September 11, in the wake of clear and demonstrable evidence that there are those who come to this nation with the intent of harming and killing Americans, who are bent on the destruction of our nation, and our system of government, at long last this body should take the steps necessary to preserve our security and our liberty," he said.
Democrats contended that the legislation would have a chilling effect on civil liberties and the ability of people seeking to immigrate for legitimate reasons. Note the term 'legitimate reasons' and not 'legally'. The Dims are upset because it has a chilling effect on the illegal aliens. There is a legal and proper process to seek immigration into this country.
Congressman Howard Berman called the asylum provisions of the legislation flawed. "If Section 101 (referring to asylum) becomes law, people with a well-founded fear of persecution as a result of these changes will be denied asylum," he said. "There will be no effort whatsoever to enhance our effort to protect this country against terrorism, The asylum laws have often been misused by terrorists and illegal aliens.
but we will have struck a fundamental blow against a tradition which I think is very important to maintain in this country and that is that we are a haven for refugees from persecution, for political, ethnic, religious (and) gender reasons."
Republicans also pointed to the September 11 attacks in promoting a key provision of the bill, which directs that a drivers' license in the hands of someone with a temporary visa would expire at the same time the visa expires. DOH!
Republican Congressman Pete Sessions offered an amendment aimed at ensuring that once someone is ordered deported, they are speedily returned to their home country. "Sadly, according to our government's best statistics, only 13 percent of the aliens arrested entering the country illegally and ordered deported, are actually removed," he said. "As a result, people entering the country illegally and with criminal or terrorist intent have quickly learned that if arrested they can be quickly released on their own word, and that they can be confident in the knowledge they do not have to show up for their hearing knowing they will likely never be deported."
The bill was opposed by many civil liberties groups and organizations working to protect illegal alien immigrant rights, and by state governors and motor vehicle departments who said it would impose unnecessary burdens on the driver's license approvals. Oh My! Someone call a WAHumblance quick!
President Bush this week announced his support for the legislation, which Republican lawmakers had wanted to place in a much larger bill approved last year reforming the U.S. intelligence system.
The Senate would have to pass its own version of the legislation, and the two congressional chambers would have to work out differences, before the law could go to President Bush for signature. I hope most of the measures survive.
I think I also heard that this is volentary in that states can elect not to comform, but then they lose lots of federal money and their people may not be able to take trains, or planes, etc....
Posted by: CrazyFool ||
02/14/2005
9:36:57 AM ||
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And the illegals keep pouring into "my" state California, from Asia and Mexico.
Posted by: home on the range ||
02/14/2005 10:38
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The Dims are probably also upset about the "chilling effect" that Bank Guards have on holdup men who are in the bank to conduct "financial transactions".
#3
It is voluntary. If you choose to continue issuing licenses to illegals, our State DL's will no longer qualify as adequate ID to board planes, drive in other states, etc... :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 11:22
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About bloody time. Now all they have to do is add a biometric component to the driver's license, say a thumbprint (to be searched in the FBI/CIA files before the DL is issued), and I will be happy.
#5
The Democrats are upset about the link to Motor-Voter and the corresponding reduction in new Democrat voters that enforcement of this bill would have. Hopefully Bill Frist has the juice to get this through the Senate in spite of Ted Kennedy, et. al.
#6
This "Real ID" driver's license component of the bill should be a deal-killer because this is just a back door way of instituting a national ID card. These enhanced driver's licenses can then be used as a sneaky way of instituting gun registration, keeping databases about the habits of law-abiding citizens, and otherwise abusing our privacy. As much as it pains me to say it, I'm with the ACLU on this one.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/14/2005 12:49
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The issue of legality should be the top talking point in Senate debate. Almost every American I know, no matter his politics, appreciates the argument that people who come here illegally are first law-breakers, and second are individuals diverting public monies, bureaucratic energies and economic opportunities away from legal residents. Illegal immigration attacks our basic notions of fairness and justice.
Time to develop a strategy for how to counter accusations of racism, which is NOT the basis of American resentment of illegal aliens but IS what we will be hearing from folks against the legislation. Our largest group of illegal aliens, Mexicans, fit well into our country/culture. It's the law-breaking and the two sets of rules for immigration (one for Mexicans and the other for everybody else) that upsets Americans.
#10
When's the last time you used your Passport to cash a check? How about anywhere else that the product or service wasn't travel-related?
The driver's license is the defacto National Id - so that's where the goddamned effort must be placed. All this Big Brother fear-mongering. You guys scofflaws? You got something to hide?
Bitch about security, keeping illegals out, enforcing immigration laws, but flinch like little girls firing a shotgun for the first time when the Pres and the Pubs try to put teeth into the key bit - the identification.
Can't have it both ways, folks. Either you put teeth into the law and focus it where society looks - the driver's license - or quit bitchin' and whinin' about all the tax dollars and dangers.
Go ahead, let your fantasy fears overcome good sense. Don't care more for your family and your neighbors safety more than your imagined right to be anonymous unless you say otherwise. Yeah, baby, that's the ticket.
Sheesh. Go overseas to some truly unsafe place for a few years, see how it works, then tell me how bad this proposed law is, lol!
#14
There are some other little provisions tucked into this bill. One concerns a section of the security fence along the California/Mexico border. It has been blocked for years over environmental lawsuits. This bill says that any previous laws (e.g. ESA) may not be used to obstruct this wall, and that the courts have no jurisdiction over it.
#15
nor does the California Coastal Commission. The enviros were up in arms today
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 16:34
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Frank, the enviros have become predictable to the point of self-parody. Do you think anyone listens anymore?
I still think that the political opposition to stemming the tide of illegal immigration is rooted in motor-voter, absentee ballots, and the feeling of entitlement among certain groups to commit vote fraud.
#17
Tough, my ass. I can tell without reading it it's not really tough if either house of Congress passed it.
They can't handle tough.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/14/2005 17:47
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#18
.com:
I'm with Johnathan. I've never really been a big believer in the comming Mexican apocalypse that people like Micheal Savage keep telling us about. In a generation or two Mexican's become Americans, save for better cuisine and a few words of Spanish. I have seen evidence of this in my own family, who are Redneck-Italian-Irish-Philipino-Mexican's. Mongrels, like any good bunch of Americans.
Frankly, I am a resident of California who owns guns, speaks his mind, and runs a business. In other words, an enemy of the Donk state. As are most of the other California posters at this site. I do not trust the government on privacy issues and civil rights for a moment, not after what I have experienced here.
Find another way to solve this problem. I don't want president Hillary Clinton tracking me at some point in the future.
#19
Now make it so legal immigrants have to register at the police station, so everyone knows where they live. I've had to do that in every foreign country that I've lived in. Had to show a copy of the lease, my passport, etc. They tracked down the building I lived in on the map and made sure it existed. Overstay your visa, and sooner or later someone will arrive to knock on your door.
My foreign friends never believe me when I tell them how easy it is for them in the United States. Get this, they're actually afraid that INS will come after them!
XXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN FEB 13, 2005 21:06:25 ET XXXXX
HOST CHRIS ROCK SHOCK: ONLY GAYS WATCH OSCARS ACADEMY MEMBERS ALARMED OVER CHOICE OF COMIC
**Exclusive**
Veteran members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have grown concerned over the choice of Chris Rock as host of this month's awards show, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. Concern deepened after Rock claimed only gays watch the Oscars!
"I never watched the Oscars. Come on, it's a fashion show," Rock recently declared. "What straight black man sits there and watches the Oscars? Show me one!" Rock added: "Awards for art are f---ing idiotic."
MORE
Academy members have privately called for Chris Rock to be removed as host, sources claim, fearing Rock may "tarnish" the reputation of the Academy.
"Simply put, this is a disgrace," one veteran Hollywood mogul, who asked not to be identified, said from Los Angeles. "This guy is out there saying 'awards for art are f---ing idiotic' and he is hosting the show produced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? I guess the joke is on us!"
Gee, ya think?
One nominated actress questions whether producer Gil Cates was even aware that Rock has "never watched the Oscars." Other unpublicized comments made by Rock threaten to throw the scheduled Feb. 27 broadcast into complete chaos.
Popcorn?
During a recent hate-filled rant, Rock imitated a White House press briefing:
"Mr. President, what about gay marriage? 'F**k them faggots,'" Rock said of Bush.
What will Rock be wearing to the show?
"Nothing against people who aren't straight, but what straight guy that you know cares? Who gives a f---?" Rock explained.
Developing...
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
9:19:54 AM ||
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*snicker* The truth hurts.
Catch 22. Nobody watches the Oscars, because it is a self-masturbating love fest. So they bring in Chris rock - in the hopes that they can draw people in, not to watch the Oscars, but to watch Chris instead. But the show is just a loser throwback from the Hollyweird era, an era whose glitter is long gone and of no interest to anyone except the old dinosaurs themselves. Chris is probably embarassed to host it and doesn't want to be tainted with the stench of the old foggies Depends.
#5
Hey guys... you knew who Chris Rock was when you hired him. It's just like the Howard Stern thing, or Limbaugh doing sports - they want somebody "shocking" but think they can control them. Quit trying to be edgy and stuff like this doesn't happen.
At least six people have died and dozens have been injured after a trio of bombings in the Philippines. A bus is reported to have exploded in central Manila, shortly after two other blasts in the south of the country.
The separatist group Abu Sayyaf, which is currently fighting soldiers on the island of Jolo, said it was responsible for at least two of the blasts. A rebel spokesman reportedly told local radio the attacks were a "Valentine's gift" to President Gloria Arroyo.
One blast happened in General Santos City, when a bomb destroyed a parked motorcycle taxi outside a shopping mall, killing at least three people. "There was a loud explosion... The ground was shaking. People were screaming and running in all directions," a witness told Reuters news agency. National police chief Edgar Aglipay said the bomb was believed to have been stashed in a bag at a taxi stand near the entrance to the mall.
Almost simultaneously, a bomb exploded at a bus terminal in Davao City, injuring at least five people. Davao's mayor Rodrigo Duterte called it "the handiwork of terrorists", and vowed to "track the killers down". About half an hour later, a blast went off in the Makati business district of the capital, Manila, killing at least three people. One witness said smoke could be seen from below a nearby elevated-train station.
In a phone call to DZBB radio after the first two attacks, Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Solaiman said the group was responsible.
"Our latest operations - planned and executed with precision by the gallant warriors of Islam - is our continuing response to the Philippine government's atrocities committed against Muslims everywhere," Mr Solaiman said. "We will find more ways and means to inflict more harm to your people's lives and properties, and we will not stop unless we get justice for the countless Muslims lives and properties that you people have destroyed".
Regional police chief Antonio Billiones said he was still investigating the three incidents on Monday. "But, we can link the attacks to what is happening in the mountains of Jolo," he said.
Fighting has been going on for a week on Jolo island, between soldiers and rebels thought to be from both the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and a break-away faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
They're getting thumped in the country-side, so they boom a city bus to try and get Gloria to back off.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
9:13:17 AM ||
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Why that is the only way the brave islamic fighers can fight. By killing innocent unarmed women and children or using 10-year old children or the mentally handicapped for suicide bombers.
I hope Arroyo doesn't stop. But she has shown her willingness to bend over and grab her ankles before....
#2
UPDATE: National Police chief Director General Edgardo Aglipay announced Monday night that the police have arrested one suspect believed to be part of a group responsible for the separate bombings in General Santos City, Davao City and Makati City.
Aglipay said the suspect was caught while in possession of improvised bombs. He said there is a big possibility that the three separate bombings on Monday is a handiwork of one group and was executed to destabilize the government. The police are conducting intensive investigations and follow up operations to identify and arrest the suspects.
Abu Sayyaf Group spokesperson Abu Solaiman, hours after the bomb attacks, announced that their group is responsible for the series of bombings in General Santos City, Davao City and Makati City. Solaiman announced that the series of bombings is their group's gift to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005 12:02
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Well thongs, actually. Click the link to see 'em. I'm not sufficiently proficient to do the com thing. Wonder if anybody else is reminded of the 8th grade question about the square root of negative 69.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005
8:53:10 AM ||
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Thongs?
She had actual Boxer shorts back when she was first running for the jr. senator slot. What happened?
#2
While I find it hard to keep my breakfast down with mention of Babs and thongs, I really support her as a candidate. A Boxer/Clinton or Clinton/Boxer ticket would be great for both parties. Of course this phenom will only last until someone asks Babs a really tough questions (Like what State does she represent). She really is a total dunce and won because our state is infested with LLL types that robotically pull the lever for anyone with a D after their name.
Highway men arrested
Five robbers were arrested by police while they were trying to loot a rice-laden truck at Sadardi in Bhanga upazila on Faridpur-Barisal highway early today (Sunday). Police said on information they seized the bus in which the robbers were chasing the truck and arrested them red handed at 2.45am. The bus driver, however, managed to flee. Police also recovered two Chinese axes and a big sharp weapon from their possession.
"What the hell is that?"
"I don't know, but it's big and sharp."
Crossfire #1
A listed criminal of the city was killed in 'crossfire' between the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-3) and gangsters at Sutrapur in the old part of the city on Saturday night. The dead was identified as Firoz Alam Pintu alias Kala Pintu (32), son of late Fayez Uddin and a resident of 16/2 Alamganj Lane under Sutrapur police station.
According to RAB sources, on a tip-off that a gang of armed miscreants assembled at Alamganj under Sutrapur police station a squad of RAB-3 went to the spot at around 9.30am yesterday.
9:30 AM? Night shift must be putting in some overtime.
As RAB personnel reached the spot the criminals opened fire on them. The RAB personnel returned the fire and in the encounter one of the criminals was injured and died on the spot. But the rest of the gangsters managed to flee.
Funny how that works
RAB sources said, they recovered two pistols, twelve rounds of bullet from the spot. Pintu was accused in 23 criminal cases including 8 murder cases, police sources said.
The body of Pintu was rushed to the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for autopsy.
"He's dead, Jim"
Pintu is survived by a son and a daughter. Crossfire #2
A listed criminal was killed in 'crossfire' between Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and his accomplices in the early hours yesterday at Mirerkhil of Hathazari upazila. Hossain Ahmad alias Foyez Munna, who hailed from Panchlaish in Chittagong, was a cadre of ruling coalition partner Jamaat-e-Islami's student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, said sources.
So he's a young islamic thug, or was..
With his death, the toll in crossfire rises to 231.
Earlier on Friday morning, a four-member team of Rab-7 with assistance of Rab-2 men arrested Munna at Motijheel Shapla Crossing area of Dhaka, sources said.
He was brought to Rab-7 headquarters at Patenga on Friday evening. He under interrogation said that Gittu Nasir, Sajjad Khan, Gias Hajarika, Taleban Sohel, and other Shibir cadres at different places of Chittagong possess a huge number of firearms. Besides, he confessed to having a few arms hidden at South Mirerkhil in Hathazari.
Those "hidden arms" will get ya every time
A Rab team took him to South Mirerkhil at around 4.30am yesterday.
O-Dark Four Thirty, check
But his gang already lying in wait there opened fire on Rab men to snatch him.
Gang lying in wait, check
Rab men returned fire, and at one stage, Munna got shot.
Shot trying to escape, check
He was rushed to the Hathazari Health Complex, where doctors declared him dead.
Dead, check
Rab men recovered a number of firearms from Munna's village hideout. The arms included five guns, 49 rounds of ammunition and eight cartridges.
Sources said Munna was accused in five cases including one for triple murder. He and his men were involved in the double murder of Awami League leader Faruk Mahmud Siddique and businessman Solaiman Chowdhury in 2003. Munna was reportedly second-in-command of the gang of notorious Gittu Nasir, who had been sentenced to death in the sensational principal Gopal Krishna Muhuri murder case. He had been absconding since the murder of Shibir cadre Chhota Saiful, his brother and sister last year. Another one bites the dust
In Kushtia, Mohidul Islam Shamim alias Mohit Malitha, 42, reportedly the second-in-command of Purba Banglar Communist Party (ML-Jonojuddha), died in a shootout between the police and his associates at village Lalongar under Daulatpur upazila early Saturday Imam rapes 8yr-old girl
N'ganj: An eight-year-old girl was raped by an Imam in Razapur in Fatullah yesterday. The victim, a grade-four student at Razapur Government Primary School, went to the house of Saiful Islam, pesh imam of Razapur Pashchimpara Mosque, for Arabic lessons at around 11:00am.
"Arabic lessons" - so that's what they're calling it these days
Hearing her cry, locals rushed to the house and held the imam, said witnesses. A mob beat up and handed him over to police.
Pity they didn't finish the job. Oh well, maybe he's got some hidden arms, he is a imam after all.
Saiful admitted to raping the girl at local police station in presence of reporters.
Just following in the footsteps of big Mo
.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
8:28:13 AM ||
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With his death, the toll in crossfire rises to 231.
I wonder if they've got a tote board in the background of the nightly news over there that just keeps rolling up like the Jerry Lewis Telethon. "What're we up to now, Achmed..."
#2
With his death, the toll in crossfire rises to 231.
It's great when you have so many forces you can set up a crossfire every time. And RB has reported them all. Any idea how many rounds of bullet they've found?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 9:20
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Saiful admitted to raping the girl at local police station in presence of reporters.
For those of us who jumped down to the last line of the article, I think there is a comma missing.
#4
Just poor placement; In the presence of reporters at a local police station Saiful admitted to doing the Big Mo on the little girl is unambiguous. Phrases need not be separated by commas; I went by the lake on my way to the store.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 9:34
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#5
anyone who reads my posts knows that grammer's not my thing, but...but... in order to be correct, should we not be left wondering whether he admitted to just raping her...or if he admitted to raping her in front of reporters?
With a Shiite coalition set to take power in Iraq, American officials have begun grilling top Iraqi Shiite politicians to try to gauge the extent of their relationship with neighbouring Iran, a predominantly Shiite nation ruled by its clergy. The nature of the Shiite coalition's ties to Iran has become a crucial issue now that the cleric-backed alliance has emerged as the leading faction in the new Iraqi parliament and at a time when the United States and Iran are engaged in a war of words over Iran's nuclear programme. In recent talks, US diplomats have bluntly asked the leaders how a Shiite-dominated government would react if Iran came under attack by an outside power because of its suspected nuclear weapons programme, according to a high-ranking member of one Shiite party.
The Iraqi Shiite leaders have reassured the Americans that they are mostly concerned about how any such attack would affect Iraq, and they have stressed their independence from Iran, said the Shiite party official, who is familiar with the US talks but would speak only on condition of anonymity. Despite such assurances, the questioning highlights a growing US worry that the government set to take power in Iraq could be dominated by Shiite clerics strongly influenced by Iran. Many members of the Iraqi Shiite coalition lived in Iran until the April 2003 fall of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Despite those Iranian links, US officials supported the Iraqi Shiite parties before the war because they shared Saddam as a common enemy. Three of the Shiite parties in the coalition closely cooperated with the United States in the run-up to the US-led Iraq invasion.
The prospect of close Iraq-Iran Shiite ties also worries Iraq's Sunni Arab minority — a group that had long dominated Iraq under Saddam and which nurtures strong anti-Iranian sentiments. The Shiite ticket set to take power in Iraq, called the United Iraqi Alliance, is built around two major Shiite parties with close links to Iran — Daawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known as SCIRI. It was endorsed by the Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, and includes supporters of a young Shiite cleric, Moqtada Sadr, with ties to the Iranian clergy, and prominent politician Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite who once was Washington's favourite to replace Saddam. "The Iranian ticket," was how many Sunni Arabs dubbed the Sistani-endorsed slate.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2005
8:06:20 PM ||
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Man! Pale old dude looks like he could definitely use more iron...
#2
I Told You So: facilitation of elections in Iraq, while Islamofascists filled the power vacuum created when Secularism was abolished (CPA Order #1 outlawed Baathism; not one CPA order challenged extremist clerical authority), would yield an anti-US government that would threaten US occupation troops, and effectively shield the Persian terrorist entity.
When you see bleeding Shiites in the Ashoura martyr-fest, point the finger at Washington for enabling that inhumanity, and affirmation of a genocidal ideology. Iraq is an Iranian-Frankenstein.
KINGSTON, N.Y. -- A 24-year-old man was arraigned early Monday on assault charges after he allegedly opened fire in a crowded shopping mall, wounding two people and sending shoppers scrambling for safety.
Robert Bonelli was arraigned shortly before 1 a.m. in Ulster Town Court on first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment, according to Brian Woltman, a dispatcher for the Town of Ulster Police Department.
Bonelli, of nearby Saugerties, was being held in Ulster County Jail without bail pending a town court appearance on Wednesday, Woltman said.
Finally, a name! I wonder if we'll hear a motive anytime soon.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/14/2005
7:57:42 AM ||
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Calm down, folks. He's just a nut. Show's over. Nothing to see here.
A man who opened fire in a crowded shopping mall with an assault weapon, wounding two, seemed to have a "lurid fascination" with the Columbine High School shooting, a prosecutor said Monday.
Desmond Dutcher, who lives below the Bonellis, said he saw the suspect just hours before the shooting and he appeared "completely fine." Dutcher described Bonelli as friendly but quiet. "I know he's upstairs a lot, doesn't go out too much, doesn't have a lot of friends," Dutcher said.
Yeah, that's always a good sign...
#2
The "assault rifle" aspect is going to send Hillary and Schumer into a fit. New "assault weapons" legislation will be coming out of the Senate soon.
Investigators for the Senate Permanent Investigations subcommittee said yesterday that they had determined that one United Nations-contracted inspector had been bribed to help Iraq export more oil than was authorized under the oil-for-food program.
The investigators said they would present at a hearing tomorrow what they called "overwhelming evidence" that an inspector employed by Saybolt International, the Dutch company hired to monitor oil exports under the program, had accepted more than $100,000 to help the former Iraqi government export more than $9 million worth of oil outside of the program in 2001.
If confirmed, the payments would be the first documented instance of a United Nations inspector for a major contractor having been bribed by Saddam Hussein's government. At least five United States Congressional committees, the Justice Department, and an independent panel headed by Paul A. Volcker are investigating the oil-for-food program, which ended in 2003 and allowed limited oil sales so Iraq could buy crucial aid goods to alleviate the effects of sanctions.
Senate investigators said their inquiry had not found other instances of bribery involving Saybolt or other contractors in the program.
According to two letters in Arabic from Iraq's former oil minister, payments totaling $105,819 were authorized by "the leader God saves," or Saddam Hussein, to a Portuguese oil inspector named Armando Carlos. The letters say the money was for the man's services in helping a French company export two extra shipments of Iraqi oil in 2001 that were not authorized by the oil-for-food program. Copies of the letters were provided to The New York Times by Iraqi critics of the program.
Saybolt officials have confirmed that an employee is being investigated in the case, and a records search listed one of the company's inspectors as a Portuguese man named Armando Carlos Oliveira. In response to questions yesterday, Senate officials confirmed that Mr. Oliveira was the focus of their investigation.
Contacted in Portugal by telephone yesterday, Mr. Oliveira, who identified himself as the manager of Saybolt's operations in the country, denied that he had received payments from Iraq or that he had ever worked there.
Saybolt did not respond to numerous e-mail and telephone messages left at its Dutch headquarters, with its Washington lawyers, and at an office in Houston. In testimony before a House committee in October, Peter W. G. Boks, the company's managing director, said its own investigation showed that one of its inspectors had permitted "topping off" - the loading of unauthorized oil onto an approved oil shipment - but had found "no evidence" that Saybolt inspectors "were aware of the additional unauthorized loadings."
Mr. Boks also said the company had concluded that it was "extremely unlikely" that other instances of such unauthorized shipments had occurred.
Allegations that a Saybolt inspector had received a bribe were first reported by The Wall Street Journal in October. The Financial Times reported Saturday that documents identified Armando Carlos Oliveira as the employee who had been offered money.
Senate investigators said yesterday that they would present "overwhelming evidence" in the hearing tomorrow that Mr. Oliveira had worked in Iraq as a United Nations oil inspector and had accepted money from Saddam Hussein. They said Saybolt officials would testify at the hearing.
In a separate statement issued in response to Mr. Oliveira's denial, Senator Norm Coleman, the Minnesota Republican who is chairman of the Senate investigations subcommittee, said: "These are grave allegations. We are going to present evidence to shine light on the issue. We must keep in mind that the bribe of a U.N. oil inspector is troubling in and of itself, and to make matters worse, it allowed Saddam to generate millions of dollars under the table and outside of U.N. control."
Senator Coleman has been among the most vehement critics of the oil-for-food program and the United Nations officials who ran and oversaw it. He has called for the resignation of Kofi Annan as United Nations secretary general.
Mr. Annan, speaking to David Frost of the BBC in an interview broadcast yesterday, said he would not resign and intended to press forward with reforms of the United Nations.
"Resignation is not on the cards for me at the moment," Mr. Annan said of investigations that have already prompted the suspension with full pay of the program's former director and another senior United Nations official.
"I think when the report comes out the public will begin to understand how complex this scheme was," Mr. Annan said. He said the program was "a political arrangement, a transaction intended to force Saddam Hussein to comply with inspection requirements, disarmament requirements, and in the process concessions were also made to him."
Mr. Annan said those concessions were made because Mr. Hussein was resisting the program and indifferent to the suffering of his own people. "In retrospect one may criticize it, but at the time because of the urgency and the need to help the Iraqi people, some concessions were made," he said.
Posted by: .com ||
02/14/2005
7:23:27 AM ||
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"I think when the report comes out the public will begin to understand how complex this scheme was," Mr. Annan said.
"It was, after all, designed that way. Complexity discourages investigators, after all, and I didn't get where I was by making it easy."
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/14/2005 8:00
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"Resignation is not on the cards for me at the moment," Mr. Annan said of investigations that have already prompted the suspension with full pay of the programâs former director and another senior United Nations official.
Isn't it time for this guy to fall out a window or something?
The NYT's Clinton 2008 push begins... Consider this a love note passed in class. The annual Munich Conference on Security Policy brings together the toughest national security crowd in the Western world, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton played it safe and cool here on Sunday. In her first appearance before the clubby - and overwhelmingly male - gathering of experts, Mrs. Clinton, the junior senator from New York, showered praise on the United Nations as she called on it to reform and uttered only the most indirect rebuke of the Bush administration. In her strongest plea, she advocated a direct NATO role to stop the killing in the Darfur region of Sudan - including logistical, communication and transportation support. "We cannot continue to say 'Never again' as it happens again before our eyes," she said, although the flatness of her delivery robbed her words of their potential impact.
Mrs. Clinton smiled and evoked chuckles when she thanked Secretary General Kofi Annan "for giving my husband a new job" as the United Nations' special envoy for countries affected by the tsunami crisis.
She was welcomed - even praised - by the audience. Antje Vollmer, vice president of the German Parliament, and one of the few women at the conference, told Mrs. Clinton that "personally, politically and intellectually, it was a great pleasure to listen to you." Miomir Zuzul, the foreign minister of Croatia, thanked her for her "excellent" speech.
The speech was a collaborative effort. Mrs. Clinton sought input from a number of Americans in the forum, among others Richard C. Holbrooke, who served as her husband's ambassador to the United Nations and to Germany; Samuel R. Berger, her husband's national security adviser; Jeffrey H. Smith, the former general counsel at the C.I.A. when her husband was president; and Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser for the first President Bush.
Mrs. Clinton, who supported the invasion of Iraq, referred to the "diplomatic train wreck" in the United Nations Security Council in 2003 that failed to forge consensus on the American-led war and split apart the trans-Atlantic alliance, without saying who was to blame. She said the Bush administration and "its conservative allies" were wrong to denounce the United Nations "in violent terms," since the decisions to deny authority for military action in Iraq were made by the member countries.
In the question-and-answer period, she made clear that she was by no means suggesting that NATO expand "meaninglessly" in the world, but added that there were a number of areas where NATO intervention in pursuit of a United Nations mandate made sense. She urged closer cooperation between NATO and Russia, whose military, she noted, had played an important and timely role in the tsunami relief effort.
Mrs. Clinton even mentioned that creative cooperation of NATO with countries like Russia and China and with regional organizations be put on the conference's agenda next year, suggesting she might become a regular fixture here, much the way a number of her fellow senators on the Armed Services Committee have become over the years.
At the conference's gala dinner on Saturday night, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, singled out Mrs. Clinton for praise. He noted that Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, was absent from the conference last year "because he was pursuing a failed presidential campaign." Mr. McCain, who flirted with a presidential bid himself, suggested that Mrs. Clinton might be next, joking that he and Senator Lieberman "are fellow losers, but this year Senator Clinton is here to keep hope alive."
The conference's guest of honor was Mr. Annan, who urged NATO and the European Union to increase efforts to end the Darfur crisis. "Those organizations with real capacity - and NATO as well as the E.U. are well represented in this room - must give serious consideration to what, in practical terms, they can do to end this tragedy," Mr. Annan said. "Additional measures are urgently required."
... The Game is afoot - and McCain just can't help himself, again.
Posted by: .com ||
02/14/2005
7:14:13 AM ||
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The conferenceâs guest of honor was Mr. Annan, who urged NATO and the European Union to increase efforts to end the Darfur crisis.
Another orgy of mutual admiration and self aggrandisment. And overfed people buzzing around the trough. They may be concerned about the people in Darfur, but none of them have done Jack Sh*t for the people there except talk about it. Pretty disgusting group of people, IMHO.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 9:04
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"Those organizations with real capacity - and NATO as well as the E.U. are well represented in this room - must give serious consideration to what, in practical terms, they can do to end this tragedy," Mr. Annan said. "Additional measures are urgently required."
Why doesn't the U. N, do something, Kofi? Lack of leadership? or French business interests? How did it get to be a NATO problem? If the U. N. can't handle genocide, what can it handle?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 9:07
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The only thing that could have salvaged this slime-fest would have been for everyone there to have developed simultaneous and noisy explosive diarrhea and trombone vomiting, culminating in a methane implosion.
#4
If she really wants to do something to help solve the situation, send her over to the Sudan and have her crush Epaulet Man's skull between her massive thighs...
#7
The speech was a collaborative effort. Mrs. Clinton sought input from a number of Americans in the forum, among others Richard C. Holbrooke, who served as her husbandâs ambassador to the United Nations and to Germany; Samuel R. Berger, her husbandâs national security adviser; Jeffrey H. Smith, the former general counsel at the C.I.A. when her husband was president; and Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser for the first President Bush
Sandy Burglar? Mr. I Stuff Top Secret Documents From The National Archives Into My Pants??? And isn't Jeff Smith the counsel responsible for convincing Clinton to discontinue the raid to kill/capture bin Laden?
Go ahead Hillary, surround yourself with this little loser clique....it's sure to raise your popularity among the Average American.
#9
At the conferenceâs gala dinner on Saturday night, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, singled out Mrs. Clinton for praise. He noted that Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, was absent from the conference last year "because he was pursuing a failed presidential campaign." Mr. McCain, who flirted with a presidential bid himself, suggested that Mrs. Clinton might be next, joking that he and Senator Lieberman "are fellow losers, but this year Senator Clinton is here to keep hope alive."
Tells you just how much McCain's ego was hurt by losing to Bush. And it should tell Republicans just where he stands.
Nothing is being done in Darfur because of French and Chinese business (read oil) interests. Kofi is irrelevant in this situation. He could, of course, thump the table and cast aspersions at these two Security Council members to try and get them to change their positions, but he does not have the balls to do this. That is his failing, but it would likely be repeated by anyone in his position. Ain't no one in power going to stick their neck out for a bunch of farmers in the middle-o-nowhere.
#12
Lol, TGA. I can't imagine why?! To miss out on such Grateness!
You're a better man than me - I just wouldn't go to those sort of affairs, which would have gotten me canned for attitude long before I was invited to those sort of affairs. Y'see, if I travelled back in time and was who I am, then now I'd be screwed. And if I killed my grandfather, then I'd see my shadow and there'd be 6 more weeks of winter. Yeah, that's it. So don't throw me in the briar patch with the silly American politicians, K? ;-)
#14
Hey, Ship! Whew! Glad you're here. I've been channeling you, sorta, and I'm not doing too good a job. So, now that you're here, You can be you, and you'll do a much better job, almost as good as if you were um, er, doing it. K?
#15
if McCain, Lieberman and Hillary would dump their parties and start over again in the center, theyd be onto something.
Yes, and if they brought the tooth fairy on board, the country could simultaneously wipe out the deficit, give earned income tax credit to everyone making less than 40K a year, and provide each citizen with a dozen clones.
*snicker* The NYT is reporting it as if it was a real election. *snort*
Claims of violations from losing candidates in Saudi Arabia's first nationwide elections raised concerns on Sunday that challenges could sour the country's tentative step toward democracy.
More than 30 losing candidates in the Riyadh municipal elections have cried foul, claiming that the seven winners - all affiliated with mainstream Muslim organizations - violated campaign guidelines by presenting themselves as an unofficial alliance endorsed by religious sheiks. But the idea of challenging any results generated criticism from those who feared that the ground-breaking elections, held Thursday, would be marred by the bickering.
"If there was variety in the council it would be much more helpful to the city than having members all alike," said Ahmed Owais, a chemistry professor and reform activist. "But the most important thing is that this is a great experiment, so we should defend it and it should continue."
The elections, from which women were barred, are being held in three stages, with the next two in March and April. Only half the representatives in a total of 178 municipal councils are being elected; the rest will continue to be appointed.
With the sheer number of candidates - nearly 100 in each district - many voters had appeared bewildered as to how to make a choice in each of the seven races. Political parties or other public organizations are illegal.
The candidates who are considering filing an official challenge said up to six of the winners appeared on a list that was spread over the Internet, and more importantly by telephone via text messages.
Riyadh residents who had seen one such message said it carried a note that read roughly, "These are the trusted people; we urge you to go and vote for them." The term "trusted people" would be recognized as an endorsement from the religious hierarchy given the backgrounds of the men, the losing candidates said. The message also suggested that forwarding it would bring blessings.
"Of course there are violations; an alliance was formed, and this is in violation of the law," said Thafer Said al-Yami, a losing candidate and lawyer, who said he was informally advising more than 30 candidates considering challenging the results before an independent appeals committee.
He noted, however, that the election bylaws did not specify the remedy for any violation, so it was unclear where the appeal would go.
Another candidate, Badr bin Saedan, said he filed a complaint on Sunday in his district because the winner had violated several bans, including campaigning in person or over the Internet on the election eve. But Mr. bin Saedan, too, emphasized that he did not want to muddle the importance of gaining the vote. "These are the first elections, and I care that they succeed," he said. "That's more important than who wins or loses." The winners denied that they had been part of any coordinated slate, arguing that all kinds of lists were whizzing around via text message.
One winner, Dr. Ibrahim Hamad al-Quayid, went with a group to visit the mufti, Saudi Arabia's highest religious figure, right after the results were announced.
"The winners are not extremists," he said. "They are moderate academics generally trusted by the people. They do not represent a particular religious current, but Saudi society, which is essentially religious."
Parsing the various schools of thought among Saudi Arabia's religious conservatives remains extremely difficult, not least because senior princes tend to quash any such attempt. The interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, rejected the notion of calling the winners an Islamist slate.
"We all have religious inclinations and we are all Muslims," the prince said at a news conference. "I strongly object to the press concentrating on this issue because we do not accept questioning the choice of the Saudi community." Questioning the veracity of the Iraqi election, where people were willing to face real terror and possible death, where the Sunnis consciously and voluntarily trached their future for a few press clippings, then having the enormous gall to portray this PR joke as a serious election leaves me astonished, not. How typical -- MSM disingenuity in extremis. Ranks right up there with faithfully quoting Nayef with a straight face as a man fighting Islamists in the Kingdom of the House of Saud. Yewbetcha.
Posted by: .com ||
02/14/2005
7:05:59 AM ||
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A man arrested at Heathrow airport on explosives charges has claimed he was tortured by British, American and Pakistan intelligence agents. 7/10. Where were The Mossad? Salahuddin Amin, 29, made a brief appearance at Bow Street Magistrates Court in London where he was charged with conspiring to cause an explosion. Afterwards his lawyer, Fariquain Shah, issued a statement on Amin's behalf in which he claimed mental and physical torture. In his statement Amin said:
"In the name of Allah God, the most merciful and gracious, I, Salahuddin Amin, was born in the UK and I am a British citizen with all my family resident in the UK. On April 2 2004 I surrendered myself to the authorities in Pakistan and was detained in the most despicable conditions for over 10 months. Throughout my detention I was tortured mentally and physically and subjected to interrogation by British, American and Pakistani intelligence authorities. On February 8 2005 I was finally released without any criminal charges.
But when I entered the UK, to my surprise, I was arrested and charged with conspiracy to cause explosions in the UK. I completely deny this charge. I have faith in God Almighty and I'm confident that the British judicial system will deal with my case in a just manner. My only crime is that I took it on myself to provide water and food and shelter to the widows and orphans of the Afghan war. I would never do anything that would cause harm or injury to people in the UK."
Amin was detained last Tuesday following his arrival in the UK from Pakistan. He was originally held under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. This refers to suspected involvement in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. But he was eventually charged under the Explosive Substances Act 1883. He will appear in court again on February 21.
This article starring:
SALAHUDIN AMIN
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/14/2005
7:04:21 AM ||
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Yawn. The line's over there. And it's a long one, so take a number and be prepared to wait.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ordered security forces on Monday to become more pro-active in their efforts to restore peace in the largely Muslim south, where more than 500 people were killed last year.
Thaksin, who won a second term in a landslide last week but not one seat in the far south, also said he wanted government agencies to improve cooperation and accelerate efforts to bring peace and prosperity to the relatively poor region. "Our policy on the region won't be changed, but I just want them to tighten up and speed up their work and strengthen their campaign to be more pro-active," Thaksin told reporters after a two-hour meeting in Bangkok.
Thaksin, due to start a three-day visit to the region on Wednesday, told the meeting he wanted the police, army and civil servants to coordinate better to capture suspects and prevent incidents, officials said.
Nevertheless, top security officials said the daily violence which began in January last year might not end during Thaksin's second four-year term. "I can't confirm that it will be 100 percent peaceful," General Sirichai Thunyasiri told reporters after the meeting when asked if peace would return in Thaksin's second term.
Thaksin's unprecedented election victory -- he is the first elected Thai leader to win another term -- has been greeted by more violence in the three far south provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Militants have assassinated civil servants and civilians, targeted troops and police with remote-controlled bombs and set schools on fire.
On Monday morning, eight people were wounded in two bomb blasts in the area where a low-key separatist war was fought in the 1970s and 1980s.
Suspected militants detonated a bomb in front of a school in Narathiwat's Joh Airong district aimed at a joint security patrol that guards teachers traveling to and from work, police said. The bomb missed the patrol, but a second bomb detonated 15 minutes later about 100 meters (yards) away wounded 8 soldiers and police who came to examine the site of the first explosion.
On Sunday, two Narathiwat village chiefs were killed in separate ambushes.
But Thaksin played down remarks by some Islamic leaders and academics that the latest wave of violence was retaliation for the alleged abduction and killing on innocent people by police and soldiers.
"There are no more abductions and killings. This is propaganda by those troublemakers who are instilling fear into people's mind and persuade them to distrust the authorities," Thaksin said. If he decides to get as nasty with the Muzzy Killers as he is with drug dealers, the 'Slamists are in for a rough and tumble ride - and this is one Muzzy encroachment / infestation that will fail. The Thais know how to play nasty.
Posted by: .com ||
02/14/2005
6:52:10 AM ||
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Now picture the UN drawing up how the world should cooperate on security issues. Imagine, for a moment, what measures the UN Krowd would recommend? Ever the opportunist seeking to save his own ass, Kofi jumps on a Rumsfeld statement...
MUNICH, Germany (AP) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed Sunday for Europe and the United States to back a major overhaul of global security measures to combat terrorism, keep weapons of mass destruction from spreading and quell regional conflicts.
The U.N. plans call for tougher inspection rules for nuclear installations, a trust fund to help poorer nations fight terrorism, a drive to strengthen public health defenses against germ warfare and quicker action against potential threats.
"We must strengthen our collective defenses," Annan told an international conference of top security officials as he lobbied for approval of the new steps following the deep divisions that plagued the United Nations over the Iraq war in 2003.
"If New York or London or Paris or Berlin were hit by a nuclear terrorist attack, it might not only kill hundreds of thousands in an instant," he said. "It could also devastate the global economy, thereby plunging millions into poverty in developing nations."
Annan suggested incentives for nations to stop uranium enrichment that could be used to make nuclear bombs. He also said U.N. nations should adopt a common definition of terrorism and draft an anti-terrorism convention, which should include financial help for nations to meet counterterrorism commitments.
"The United Nations must show zero tolerance of terrorism of any kind, for any reason," Annan said.
Annan has invited world leaders to a summit at U.N. headquarters in September to approve the plans.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer broadly backed Annan's security reform plans and urged the United States, as the world's most powerful nation, to play a leading role.
But Fischer, whose government vehemently opposed the Iraq war, rejected calls for NATO to play a security role in Iraq by offering to protect U.N. operations there.
"I don't see any added value for NATO in Iraq," he said, replying to a suggestion by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who was at the conference.
Fischer also called on Washington to play a more active role in European-led diplomatic efforts to ensure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons. "If the United States were to engage positively, and I'm aware of how difficult that is, it would substantially strengthen the European drive," he said.
Annan's call for greater collective security came after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged Saturday that even the United States cannot battle terrorism and other world threats on its own.
"One nation cannot defeat the extremists alone," Rumsfeld said. "It will take the cooperation of many nations to stop the proliferation of dangerous weapons." The UN couldn't agree on a definition of terrorism if its very existence depended upon it, and it does, for the UN gives full rights to the terrorist states and empowers them with Chairmanships which make it a laughingstock. NATO seems to have become irrelevant, as well, per Fischer's statements. So what / who does that leave to actually do something? A coalition of those willing to put troops and treasure behind their ideals and values, not a pointless debating society. And thank you so very much, Fischer, for ending the debate about whether NATO is of substantial value - or just another of those political forums for endless and pointless grandstanding.
Posted by: .com ||
02/14/2005
6:34:10 AM ||
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So toss Phrawance out on it's ear - they bring nothing to the NATO table. It needen't even be for being overly outspoken assholes, either. Tell the cheese-gobbling bastards they obviously "aren't serious" with their laughably weak military.
#2
"If New York or London or Paris or Berlin were hit by a nuclear terrorist attack, it might not only kill hundreds of thousands in an instant," he said. "It could also devastate the global economy, thereby plunging millions into poverty in developing nations."
It would also devastate the UN economy. I am reduced to takeout at Wendy's for lunch?! This must be stopped!
Posted by: Kofi A. ||
02/14/2005 16:18
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Iran has neared completion of a uranium production facility that could be used for the assembly of nuclear weapons.
Iranian officials said they were in the last stage of completing a uranium ore concentrate production plant. They said the facility, located near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, would begin operations by 2006.
The Bandar Abbas Yellowcake Production Plant was disclosed by the Iranian opposition in October 2004. The National Council of Resistance of Iran has uncovered several secret nuclear sites, later acknowledged by Teheran, Middle East Newsline reported.
Iran has already begun the mining of uranium, the first stage in the production of nuclear material, officials said.
The IAEA referred to the Bandar Abbas site in its report to the board of governors in November 2004. The report said the site was next to the Gehine uranium mine.
After the uranium is mined, it would be processed into uranium ore concentrate. At that point, the concentrate is turned into uranium hexaflouride, used in gaseous form as feedstock for the enrichment of uranium.
In November 2004, Iran reached an agreement with the European Union for the suspension of uranium enrichment. Officials said the Iranian decision would be reviewed in April.
The Bandar Abbas facility would process ore extracted from uranium mines into uranium ore concentrate, officials said. The processing of the ore, also known as yellowcake, precedes the production of enriched uranium through gas centrifuges.
Iranian Atomic Energy director Gholamreza Aghazadeh said the facility, termed the Bandar Abbas Yellowcake Production Plant, would begin operations during the next Iranian calendar year. The year begins March 21.
[In Teheran, Iranian officials have formally protested through Swiss diplomatic channels the United States's invasion of its airspace, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. The daily reported that three U.S. officials confirmed that the Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran for close to a year in an effort to gather evidence of nuclear weapons programs and detect weaknesses in air defenses.[
Officials said Iran has sought to complete the nuclear fuel cycle in an effort to avoid dependence on foreign suppliers.
After the uranium is mined, it would be processed into uranium ore concentrate. At that point, the concentrate is turned into uranium hexaflouride, used in gaseous form as feedstock for the enrichment of uranium.
In November 2004, Iran reached an agreement with the European Union for the suspension of uranium enrichment. Officials said the Iranian decision would be reviewed in April.
"The low but variable grade uranium ore found in near-surface deposits will be open-pit mined and processed at the associated mill," the IAEA report said.
On Sunday, Iran rejected a European demand to stop building a heavy-water nuclear reactor and Teheran said it will not replace it with a light-water reactor. Both plants can be used to enrich uranium but the extraction of weapons-grade material from a light-water reactor is more difficult.
We should be grateful that Kim Jong Il wants to spare us more rounds of the pointless six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. They might otherwise have dragged on for years as Kim doggedly extracted all the aid and guarantees he wanted in exchange for more empty promises. The latest crisis raises hopes that the case for engagement with North Korea has finally run its course. If so, we should be glad, even though that case was initially strong.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberation of its East European satellites were followed by the death of Kim Il Sung in 1994 and a disastrous famine in the North. Together, these factors made change seem inevitable. Pyongyang, it was hoped, would open its economy, abandon its ambitions to conquer the South, and seek a rapprochement with Seoul. U.S. President Bill Clinton tried hard to encourage such moves.
But Kim realizes that if he were ever to really reform, both he and his kingdom would quickly disappear—as did similar regimes in the Soviet bloc. So Kim wants guarantees that if he takes the risks asked of him, Washington will keep the dynasty in power. In other words, while some in Washington seek regime change, Kim wants regime preservation. Especially in South Korea, there are those who think that such a deal would be the best way to reduce tensions and to wean Pyongyang off the habits of a rogue state. But the analysis is flawed.
Whether or not Pyongyang really has a small or large nuclear arsenal—or is simply bluffing, like Saddam Hussein—the military calculations on the Korean peninsula will not change. With large stocks of chemical and biological weapons, together with special forces to release them in South Korea, and missiles with which to terrorize Japan or threaten U.S. bases in Asia, Kim already has all the deterrence any country could want. But the dynasty has lost whatever popular support it ever enjoyed, and the ruling family is riven by murderous internal feuds. To keep Kim in power would hence mean going against the wishes of his own people, while entrusting him with large sums of foreign aid—this despite his long record of corruption and economic incompetence. WoW! Rantburg is becoming mainstream. This could be a summary of our comments minus the ridicule, sarcasm and nukemem comments. We certainly do live in interesting times.
Posted by: phil_b ||
02/14/2005
6:24:37 AM ||
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and a disastrous famine in the North.
If it was Dubya's fault they'd have metioned it.
U.S. President Bill Clinton tried hard to encourage such moves.
Prince Charles could be barred from marrying Camilla in a civil ceremony, legal experts have warned. Plans have been drawn up for the couple to marry in a low-key ceremony at Windsor Castle, followed by a chapel blessing. But in a BBC Panorama television special last night, family law experts said there were "serious doubts" over the couple's wedding plans, arguing that the 1836 Marriage Act barred the royal family from civil marriages.
"I was very surprised when I heard this was proposed," said Stephen Cretney, Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. "The legislation which governs civil marriage in England is expressed not to apply to members of the royal family. "There is no statutory procedure whereby members of the royal family can marry in a register office."
Were the couple to wed under current legislation, Dr Cretney said the Prince of Wales would not be legally married and Camilla would not be his wife. "This would be a very, very serious matter," he said.
Valentine Le Grice QC, a specialist in family law, said a "heavy question mark" hung over the proposed marriage. "It would not be possible for them to get married in the way most people understand a register office marriage," he said. "It is not open to the two of them to follow the normal procedures of a registry marriage."
Clarence House said it had taken advice from four independent legal experts and said there was nothing in law which would prevent Charles and Camilla getting married.
The warnings came as it was revealed today that Camilla could still become Queen if public opinion swings in her favour. Mrs Parker Bowles will be the first Princess Consort, reflecting the huge public opposition to her becoming Queen. But senior courtiers admitted that they had deliberately left the possibility of her becoming Queen open if there is a change in the public mood. "When the time comes, which we hope is a long way off, an option would be to reflect the mood in the country at that time," a senior aide to the Prince of Wales told The Times.
Yesterday Charles and Camilla attended a church service near the Prince's Highgrove home, joining a congregation of 34 people in St Lawrence's Church in Didmarton, Gloucestershire. They appeared not to have decided how to spend St Valentine's Day today. Asked if they had any plans, Mrs Parker Bowles said: "Not as yet." The Rev Christopher Mulholland said there was a great sense of goodwill in the church as Charles and Camilla took their seats. "I prayed for their happiness," he said. Some things just boggle. Leave them alone, for crying out loud. They've been bonkers for each other for 30 years.
Posted by: .com ||
02/14/2005
6:17:43 AM ||
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Theyâve been bonkers for each other for 30 years.
And they've been bonking each other for at least that long, too. ;)
I think the law will be changed to allow the marriage, without much fuss. This sounds like a typical contemporary Panorama fluff-piece. It used to be a programme worth watching, you know.
#2
Were the couple to wed under current legislation, Dr Cretney said the Prince of Wales would not be legally married and Camilla would not be his wife. "This would be a very, very serious matter," he said.
Funny, I thought it was the current situation.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 8:13
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Maybe Charles can abdicate the throne he may never get and then he can get married to Camilla, and become the governor of Bermuda...or something like that.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 10:42
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And I thought that the medieval(sp?) royal line was a soap opera!
The number of SAS troopers leaving for lucrative jobs in the security industry has prompted the regiment to write to all soldiers urging them to stay. A letter from the regiment's headquarters has told all the SAS's 300 front-line soldiers that "it would be in everyone's best interests" if they remained in service. An estimated 120 former Special Air Service and Special Boat Service troops have left, swapping a junior NCO's wage of about £2,000 a month for as much as £14,000 a month working as security co-ordinators in Iraq or Afghanistan. The letter is said to have told soldiers to consider their loyalty to the regiment and the kudos of being in the SAS.
"This has always been an issue," an SAS soldier said yesterday. "It is not the young ones that they are worried about but the senior NCOs who are so important. If they lose middle management they lose all that experience for the future and they are desperate to keep that experience there." One former 22 SAS soldier now working in security estimated that 120 former Special Forces men are working for security firms in Iraq. Some are earning £450 a day, or £14,000 a month, working for firms such as Kroll, Controlled Risks and Armour Security. The former soldier, who had just one week off in his last two years in the SAS, said: "They cannot stop people from leaving. The SAS lifestyle is extremely demanding and not really conducive to family life or long-term relationships. On the security circuit you have the potential to earn very high wages combined with an attractive working rotation, invariably one month on, one month off."
While wages, pensions and life insurance have been addressed in recent years, the SAS still has substantial commitments around the world. Workload cannot be addressed, said the former soldier, "because the men are deployed all over the place". The two SAS Territorial Army regiments are also experiencing manning problems and weekend training has been threatened due to lack of numbers. Some TA have been granted permission for up to a year's leave of absence but others have left for the private sector.
The United States Defence Department has offered its most experienced special forces a bonus of $150,000 (£80,000) to sign on for six years to stem an exodus to security jobs, it was announced last week. The British Government spent the equivalent of the annual salaries of 130 SAS junior NCOs on new comfortable chairs for MoD desk jockeys last year. And the MoD, ordered to save money by the Government (to fund more important projects such as its £9.6bn dismal failure anti-obesity campaign), managed to save a mighty £2.5m of an initially projected £90m from the multi-billion pound Eurofighter project by installing a gun which won't fire. Did they think the boots on the ground wouldn't notice?
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/14/2005
5:14:00 AM ||
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You've nailed it BD. The problem is that the UK Govt biggies wank for themselves, but expect the little people to do their bit For God and Queen on a pittance. And make do with shoddy kit, in a war zone, no less.
Think the libs will get tossed out in the next cycle?
I hope The Telegraph shouts this sort of idiocy from the rooftops until that day comes.
#3
.com - I've totally lost patience with Blair's Labour government in just about every respect now. As you say, there's so much ammunition the Tories could and should be using in the upcoming election campaign but don't seem to be exploiting yet.
It doesn't help that Blair's going to withold officially announcing the date the of election unil one month beforehand (it's going to be May 5th - but they won't let on), whilst shamelessly campaigning himself already.
Blair's strategy seems to be an extraordinarily cynical 'I've been arrogant - now please forgive me'. WTF?!!! Safe to assume he's talking about Iraq - and this just as his single most admirable policy is being vindicated before the eyes of the idiotarian world with the elections, diminishing insurgency etc. Various "pledges" regarding how Labour will improve things and steal new Tory policies... Anything, in other words, to remain in power.
#4
Fred might want to have a look at the posting script... seems to have the RB URL insterted in front of the desired URL. This has happened before. Did you have to perform a restore from backup, Fred?
I just extracted the URL and stripped off the RB linkage, BD. No big deal, bro, heh.
#5
Well if I was an SAS NCO I would look at things as a realist. I can stay in and get nothing for my risk except pissed on and help keep a bunch of Transnational Socialist in power who will tax the hell out of the pittance I make. These same Transnational Socialists have no loyalty to me. The former SAS NCO can go to work at a multinational and bank most of their money tax free in a swiss account. Loyalty has nothing to do with it the MOD will phase any regiment out they can get away with. Labor will never properly fund the military. Many Labor supporters hate the military and are not afraid to say so. Bail while the bailing is good.
#6
Lol, BD. Seems McCain jumps onto the sinking E3 Iranian debacle just as Tony jumps off, lol! We have our morons, too, lol!
This statement made me do a double-take: "So all 232 of the RAF's Eurofighter/Typhoon aircraft will be fitted with the gun at a cost of £90 million - but in order to save what is now a mere £2.5 million they will have no rounds to fire."
Sheesh! "Penny wise, but pound foolish." is, after all, an English maxim, lol!
May this sort of management be banished to the back bench! It's hard to be sure what the UK Moonbat quotient is, since your elections don't seem to settle anything in an up or down fashion (lol!), ours is nothing to be happy about (51.x-48.x), but I hope you prevail so your domestic policies will make as much sense as some of the foreign policies (No to EU, Yes to WoT, etc), heh.
Hmmmm, maybe we can get the New York Times to appeal to some swing voter segment to keep Tony - and create a Tory-favoring backlash, lol!
#7
maybe we can get the New York Times to appeal to some swing voter segment to keep Tony - and create a Tory-favoring backlash, This is an excellent idea. It just has to appaer to come from the Dems. From your keyboard to Rove's ear.
#8
Lol, phil - I was joking, but you've got me intrigued, now, lol! Any ideas how we could do it? BD could identify the swing segment, some truly whacked-out moonbat Tranzis, I guess, and the portrayal could be that they're the "mainstream" - which should piss off a LOT of people, lol!
Anyone got good MSM contacts?
Karl, you listening, lol! Hey, I was just kidding about that other thing, Big Guy, don't have me whacked!
#9
Hmmmm, maybe we can get the New York Times to appeal to some swing voter segment to keep Tony - and create a Tory-favoring backlash, lol!
Sounds like a plan, .com! But I think getting Le Monde readers to do the same in the name of EU solidarity would be even more effective. Blair's attempt to jump off the Iraq bandwagon, now that it's effectively arrived at its destination and no more unpopular ME demands are likely to trouble him before the election is politically less necessary that six months ago, say - I think the elections there have done a lot to neutralise objections from the less idiotic members of the bone-headed Stopper community.
Labour are still projected to win, in spite of their many failures. You've got to hand it to them that Brown's management of the economy has been competent, especially compared to our EU neighbours (though who knows what could have been without such lead weights as EU red tape, raised taxes, our £0.5m per hour net tribute to Brussels, the dismantling of the British fishing industry to allow other nations to fish in our waters, etc.). But also the Left in the UK have successfully managed to demonise the Tories, through Pavlovian techniques (you've seen them at work against Bush in the US - unrelenting attack - and Blair himself has initiated very personal attacks on his Tory opponent already (some of which have been accused of being anti-Semitic)) effected by Left wing politicians and their media allies, and without crediting them, under Thatcher, for rescuing the UK from decades of economic failure. Tory policies regarding immigration, the military, foreign relations (particularly the EU) all beat Labour's (and the Lib Dems') into a hat when put to the test of public opinion. And perenially popular Labour causes such as the NHS are demonstrably inferior for anyone who cares to see how things are done better elsewhere... Where was I? Apologies for the rambling ranting.
#10
There is no question that Blair's greatest strength is the weakness of his Tory opposition, and thats's beign genreous. It is also not clear that all the things Tony is being derided for here are exactly the things the British people want him to do. You can only swim against the tide so long. No personal offence, BD, but I think the Brit general populace has gone Euro.
Posted by: Molson Ale ||
02/14/2005 8:11
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Molson Ale - If you look at the opinion polls, the British public are becoming more eurosceptic, not less. Public opposition to the proposed EU Constitution in the UK runs at about 60%.
#16
I thought Howard - slimeball who sent people to work for Kerry's campaign -- would pull Britain out.
Nope. The Tories and the Lib Dems (the latter surprisingly, and IIRC) consistently argue in favour of more British troops in Iraq. Partly just to be contrary, I'm sure.
#18
[Moderator hat: ON]
I've noticed that you need to put in the complete URL (with http:// included.) If you just put in www., Fred's routine sticks on the rantburg stuff.
[Moderator hat: OFF]
I really want to like Tony (I could listen to his speeches all day), but his policies make it very very hard.
#19
someone - UKIP are a single-issue party. I'm not sure they even have an Iraq policy (though I'd like to imagine one). The Steyn link doesn't work for non-subscribers (and I receive the dead tree version - but I don't get access to online articles).
Kirkland Project Director Resigns
Action is Effective Immediately
Nancy Rabinowitz, in a telephone call to Hamilton College President Joan Hinde Stewart Thursday night (Feb. 10), announced her resignation as director of the Kirkland Project.
The action, which takes effect immediately, comes in the wake of controversy surrounding a speaking invitation extended by the Kirkland Project to University of Colorado Professor Ward Churchill and the project's offer of a temporary teaching position to former prisoner Susan Rosenberg.
In a paper written immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Churchill suggested that many of those killed that day deserved their fate. He subsequently reaffirmed those remarks. Rosenberg was indicted but never tried for a 1981 armored car robbery that left a guard and two police officers dead. She was sentenced for 58 years on charges of weapons possession, but President Clinton granted her clemency in 2001. Rosenberg was invited by the Kirkland Project to teach a half-credit course on memoir writing but withdrew following criticism of her past.
In a statement posted to the Kirkland Project's Web site, Rabinowitz said, "Hamilton College finds itself in the midst of a crisis that is deeply rooted in the institution's history and set against a backdrop of increasing political and cultural tension. Much of the resulting media attack has been directed personally at me as director of the Kirkland Project. This, in turn, has been destructive to the project and to the educational mission of the college, in particular to its desire to create a more diverse and welcoming environment for all students. In the interests of the college and its community, therefore, I am stepping down as director, effective immediately."
Rabinowitz continued, "I am resigning under duress, for I would have preferred to stay on until I took my long-awaited sabbatical; however, my strengths have been in the intrinsic work of the project itself, and what the project needs now is someone more adept at the kind of political and media fight that the current climate requires. Therefore, it is in the interests of the mission of the project itself and for no other reason that I am yielding to requests that I resign."
Congratulations to Hamiltonians and bloggers who made this happen. This is really big news as it's one of the first steps I can think of to begin the de-radicalization of American campuses. There's plenty left to do, but as the Devil himself says, the longest journey begins with a single step.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005
5:00:44 PM ||
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Where's my nano-violin when I need it?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/14/2005 17:18
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Don't worry, honey. Being head of Gender Studies department at Kirkland College must qualify you to do just about...ummmmmmm...well... something, right?
Maybe Wardo will hire you to put on his warpaint for him at all his public appearances?
#3
If these asshats feel that their version of free speech is worth defending, then they need to stick around and take the heat. Free speech gives you the right to say it, but does not protect you from the reprocussions of your speech.
With freedom comes responsibility. More freedom---more responsibility. Freedom without responsibility (which is what the LLL think freedom is) is nothing more than license.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 17:25
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--Much of the resulting media attack has been directed personally at me as director of the Kirkland Project.--
#5
When it is too hot, stay out of the kitchen. They ain't used to being challenged and when they are, they tend to wilt. You see, they are used to hiding behind politically correct anti hate speech codes and the like. These benign appearing good behavior codes that supposedly treat all ideas as equal, long as you don't disagree with them or point out that they really ain't equal. These codes really just protect the educationer's leftist educating plans. Not being used to being challenged, sometimes they quit and go home like Rabinowitz. They won't all be that easy though, but folks should continue exposing the Churchills and Rabinowitz types.
PIKEVILLE, Ky.
A North Carolina-based Marine whose battle-grimed face became a symbol of the fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah last year has returned to his home in Kentucky. Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller arrived at Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Jan. 29 with Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. He came home to the town of Jonancy in Pike County for a three-week visit on Friday, arriving without fanfare. "He wouldn't let me tell anyone," said his mother, Maxie Webber. "No signs, no balloons, no nothing. He said 'I'm not a hero.'"
A photograph of Miller, taken by a Los Angeles Times photographer and transmitted by The Associated Press, was in more than 100 newspapers and shown on network television. Miller, 20, was shown with camouflage paint smudged on his face, a bloody scratch on his nose and a cigarette drooping from the side of his mouth. He was exhausted and grimy after more than 12 hours of nonstop fighting.
Miller, a graduate of Shelby Valley High School, would agree to only one interview, which aired Tuesday on the CBS Early Show. Webber said her son wants to spend his leave with his family, rather than rehashing the painful memories of war. "I lost a few of some of my dearest friends," Miller said. "And people don't understand how you can be so close to someone that you've only known for such a short time. But when you spend a year and a half with someone, you know some things about them their own family doesn't even know about." Miller still is smoking, though he is considering dropping the habit. "I actually made a bet with some guys that if I made it out of Fallujah alive, I'd quit," he said.
Thermometers on the ground, measuring the near-surface air temperature, demonstrate a marked increase in globally-averaged temperature over the past two decades. Computer models of global warming predict that the temperature trend in the Earth's thick lower atmosphere, called the lower troposphere, should be experiencing an even more pronounced warming that increases smoothly with altitude. And yet, satellite observations of the temperature of the Earth's lower troposphere do not reveal any overall warming trend. Facing comment to appease the global warming mob cut.
These results will be presented today (February 6) at the 77th meeting of the American Metorological Society in Long Beach, California in a special session dedicated to the scientific study of global warming.
Dr. Roy Spencer, a scientist at NASA/Marshall and principal author on the paper, has been monitoring the temperature of layers in the Earth's atmosphere from space. Along with Dr. John Christy of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Spencer has produced a temperature record spanning 18 years. Acquired from Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) instruments flying aboard the TIROS series of weather satellites. Their data show temperature variations in the lower troposphere, a region from the surface to about 5 miles into the atmosphere.
"The temperatures we measure from space are actually on a very slight downward trend since 1979 in the lower troposphere. We see major excursions due to volcanic eruptions like Pinatubo, and ocean current phenomena like El Nino, but overall the trend is about 0.05 degrees Celsius per decade cooling," Spencer remarked. The interesting thing about this data is it is hard and not open to question. The earth's atomosphere is definitely cooling. Combine this with rural temperature records from co2science.com that show a clear cooling trend in most locations and the evidence I have posted that the southern oceans (most of the world's oceans) seem to be cooling and it seems the day of reckoning for the Kyoto sky-is-falling industry is not far off.
Posted by: phil_b ||
02/14/2005
4:19:50 AM ||
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A child of 7 can plainly see that it runs 5F warmer in the concrete/asplalt neighborhoods of Philadelphia than out here in the suburbs. Could it just be that that ground thermometer data is being interpreted poorly, the satellite data looking at the bigger picture is correct, and those climate models are nonsense? I have never trusted climate models from the folks who can't tell me what the weather will be three days from now.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/14/2005 8:37
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Tom, that's exactly it. Many, many ground stations are in the middle of cities, or better still, at airports. Nothing like a bunch of jet engines running nearby to warp your readings.
The late John L Daly ran a site that talked about this a lot. His family keeps it up, and one of the features are a "Ground Station of the Week" showing records for various sites going back years, decades in most cases.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/14/2005 8:54
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The climate has more variables than we understand as yet; and Tom's point about the location of thermometers is interesting. Cutting emissions is still a good idea, for the sake of cleaner air in general. It's unfortunate that in the political football game over "global warming" the plain good sense of cutting emissions gets lost.
I would be very interested to hear what progress we're making in cutting emissions based on good science. This is not my field of expertise, and I would appreciate some NON-POLITICIZED information.
#5
The problem here is that Kyoto focuses on CO2, which is harmless (unless you believe in the whole global warming hoax). The money spent to reduce CO2 would be much better spent getting old junkers off the roads (buy the people a brand new Prius; it would be cheaper than Kyoto), cleaning up massively polluted areas (under old military bases, for example), and stuff like that. I used to live in southern California. I like the idea of reducing harmful pollution, even at a cost. I hate that we're spending money on CO2 reduction which would be much better used to get rid of real pollution.
#9
however the greenhouse hypothesis also predicts cooling in the upper troposhere (near the stratosphere)--
the stratosphere is not at the same height each day and at each latitude -- there are seasonal and geographic differences but it averages about 15 miles or so up; see http://www.metoffice.com/research/stratosphere/
#11
The whole reason for the Kyoto Agreement was to create CO2 pollution credits which the US would have been forced to purchase from the third world. Nothing more than a global socialist money grab.
#13
Mom, CO2 is not a pollutant. Like water vapour (the main greenhouse gas) its necessary for life on earth. If by emissions you mean genuinely harmfull things like lead and various nitrogen compounds, then the air in all western countries continues to steadyly improves and as someone has pointed out, more could be done by buying up old cars and junking them. Otherwise the MSM avoids the cost of Kyoto, but it is almost certainly the most expensive exercise ever undertaken except the 2 world wars. Something that only now seems to be dawning on countries like the UK and Japan
#14
Ken Lay of Enron (remember him?)was one of Kyoto's most enthusiatic supporters. Enron stood to make even more boodle by "facilitating" the exchange of empty promises. For that reason alone I can deduce that Kyoto was not about the environment but solely about ca$h.
#15
I just came across this piece of info in Rooters report - some Kyoto signatories such as Spain and Portugal have increased greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over 1990 levels.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/14/2005 20:05
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Crichton's "State of Fear" is pretty good, with heavy (nonfiction) footnotes. He's in the "more science" camp.
ACRIM seems to have some pretty good information on solar activity, which seems to account for a large percentage of short-term (less than 1000 years) variation.
Longer term (glaciation cycles, ~120,000 years) seem to relate more to variations in the Earth's orbit (it's not a Newtonian 2-body problem).
TGA, no palm trees, but at least your home is not being scraped by a glacier.
Islamic Action Organization In Iraq Central Direction 43,205 votes 0.51% 1 seat
Kurdistan Alliance List (Talibani) 2,175,551 25.73% 75
Unified Iraq Coalition (Sistani) 4,075,295 48.19% 142
Tukman Iraq Front 93,480 1.11% 3
Al Rafideen National List (Assyrian Christian) 36,255 0.43% 1
Iraqis (al-Yawer) 150,680 1.78% 5
National Democratic Alliance 36,795 0.44% 1
Islamic Group of Kurdistan Iraq 60,592 0.72% 2
Iraqi List (Allawi) 1,168,943 13.82% 40
Liberation and Reconciliation Gathering 30,796 0.36 1
Nation Union (Commies) 69,920 0.83% 2
National Independent Cadres and Elites 69,938 0.83% 2
All Others 444,816 5.26% 0
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The suicide bomber who killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is a Palestinian member of an Islamic group linked to al-Qaida. A security (official), on condition of anonymity, identified the bomber as Ahmed Abu Adas, a Palestinian refugee who lived in the low-income Beirut neighborhood of Tarik Jadida. The source said the bomber's neighbors saw him leave his home a few hours before the attack that killed Hariri and eight other people. Security forces raided Abu Adas' house later in the day and seized a computer and documents, the source told UPI. Abu Adas is said to belong to a Muslim fundamentalist group linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. A group called the Organization of Nasrat and Jihad in Bilad Sham claimed responsibility for the attack, accusing Hariri of being an agent of the Saudi regime. Hariri has dual Lebanese-Saudi citizenship and is a close friend of the Saudi royal family.
Gonna suck being a Palestinian in Lebanon. Now, where did I put that nano-violin?
Additional: DUBAI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - An unknown Islamist group said it killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in a suicide attack on Monday, calling him a Saudi agent in a video tape aired on Al Jazeera television. "For the sake of our mujahideen brothers in Saudi Arabia ... we decided to implement the just execution of those who support this regime," a bearded man wearing a white turban and black robe said in excerpts aired from the tape. "This was a martyrdom operation we carried out ... This is the beginning of many martyrdom operations against the infidels and apostates in the Levant," the man said, reading from a statement that described Hariri as an "agent". He sat in front of a black flag carrying the name "Group for Advocacy and Holy War in the Levant". The Levant is the historical name of the region including today's Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestinian territories and Jordan.
The statement said the attack was also "in revenge for the pious martyrs killed by security forces of the Saudi regime" and used a religious term for Saudi Arabia often used by al Qaeda militants fighting Riyadh's U.S.-allied government since 2003. It was not possible to pinpoint the speaker's origin from his Arabic accent, though it seemed to be Levantine. Al Jazeera said the tape named the suicide bomber as Ahmed Abu Adas. The channel earlier said its Beirut bureau had received a phone call from a man speaking foreign-accented Arabic claiming the attack in the name of the same group. The authenticity of the tape could not be verified. Past attacks in Iraq and elsewhere in the region have been the subject of claims by many groups, some of which have turned out not to be true. Hariri was a regular visitor to Saudi Arabia where he spent 20 years building a fortune in the construction industry that Forbes estimated at $3.8 billion on its 2003 World's Richest People list.Saudi Arabia condemned the Beirut attack as "evil". Lebanese Information Minister Elie al-Firzli told reporters the video tape was being studied. "We cannot rule out anything," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
2:52:06 PM ||
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riiigghhhttt - where'd this pinhead get the boom materials? The tech training? State sponsorship.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 15:25
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#2
Is there any way we could drop a jetload of "Baby Names for the 21st Century" books on pan-Arabia? It's absurd-you have a 50/50 shot of guessing a complete stranger's name correctly if you just shout out Ahmed or Mohammed.
Given the availability of it in the ME, I was under the impression that Arabs excrete it through their skin - perhaps as a result of all that seething.
#6
I read that there was something like 600lbs of explosive. Some ratbag group doesn't just scroung that up, even in the ME. Some state apparatus was behind this. The ID of the bomber is too quick for my taste.
#7
Actually, Hariri was trying to rebuilt Lebanon - almost single-handedly. Good man with vision - just the kind of person Lebanon cannot afford to lose. And I personally smell Baathist all over this hit - no way that much explosive is gathered in one spot in Beirut without Syrian participation and/or active non-interference.
#8
OK, I call the AQ connection bullshit. It has Syrian Military Spec Ops written all over it. They try to misdirect the attention, but no one in Lebanon seems to buy it.
#9
I just had a nasty thought: what if this really was AQ, and this was a way of striking at the Royal Family in Saudi Arabia?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/14/2005 17:44
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#10
Phil, think about it. How would be Soddies harmed by Hariri's assassination.
What is more significant, Hariri's 'friendship' with Soddy royals, or his drive for independent Lebanon?
Let's see what ol' Occam sez ... : "Chop, chop ... I pick the second."
#13
Typo typing fast.... btw...
being its the Mid-East and being that there are even Magic Kingdom angles....
The arabesque will never be understood by those of us outside the culture.
So in that case.... help all players take each other out....
#14
Sobiesky: I don't know. But consider that there are multiple factions of Saudi Royalty, rumored to be occasionally violently hostile to each other.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/14/2005 18:43
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#15
Bin Laden is a Saudi construction magnet. magnate... Unless you are talking about magnets distributed by advertisers for the 'fridge...
#16
Phil, ya're right. They are. However, why take out Hariri to hurt some Soddy? Magic Kingdom angles and such considered, it freakin does not make any sense. It would make a sense to take out a family member of the leader of a faction if the leader is not available or untouchable.
Lebanon--upcoming elections--strong tendency towards independence--Hariri its strong advocate with a chance to form a new government...
That makes sense. Very likely Syrians involved on planing level. Of course, there's a law of unintended consequences. Very likely it will backfire.
#17
YES !!!!!!
We're back to the pre Achille Lauro days of nameless micro grudges precipitating vendetta slayings by unknown and unknowable groups with obscure, undefinable, and hallucenogenic goals.
It's the salafi palawan command general front dervish brigade of the kharjarite regenerative legion !
1. Zawahiri's tape was released yesterday.
2. That was the signal to move ahead with the Beirut boom.
3. Was it a signal for the US to move up its terror alert?
#20
OK, had a phone call with a former SLA officer, living here in Canuckistan since 1986. Presented the theories (trade war conspiracy, AQ and Soddy royals connection) asking to comment on them after am done.
He seemed to be amused and responded with 3 words:
Pure unadulterated crapola
and then continued:
Ask any Lebanese and they will all tell you that they have no doubts about Syrian involvement. The AQ story is just a smokescreen for non-Lebanese consumption...Syrians hoping that it would be swallowed line, hook and sinker and absolving them of any wrongdoing outside Lebanon.
#21
Well, Sobiesky, please give your friend my regards (and condolances if he knew the deceased.) I know the Syrians are the obvious possibility, I just get paranoid sometimes.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/14/2005 23:55
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Now it is Indonesians and Filipinos who fill the factories, building sites and plantations. "Around 11% of the workforce are foreigners," said Shamsuddin Bardin, director of the Malaysian Employers Federation. Their labour has helped Malaysia to build up the region's most successful economy after Singapore.
Some argue that foreign workers are taking jobs away from Malaysians. But unemployment is low and falling - and is currently just 3.5%. "The foreign workers do the three D jobs that Malaysians don't want - dirty, dangerous and difficult - especially working on plantations and in construction," said Mr Shamsuddin.
Even young male Malay graduates, a group amongst which there is a shockingly high rate of unemployment, will not take the jobs the illegal workers do. For 30 years or more, Malaysia has given economic privileges to the Malay community to help it win a more proportionate share of the economy.
But even former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the great champion of Malay rights, ended his 22 years as premier frustrated that, rather than develop a work ethic, many Malays had simply developed a sense of entitlement. Middle-class Westerners might be happy to slum it for a few years before settling into a career, but their Malaysian counterparts are far less willing to get their fingers dirty. "That is not our culture yet," said Mr Shamsuddin. "Malaysians who've been through tertiary education want to go straight into middle management. Even those with no degree don't want to take up low-paid jobs."
#2
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the great champion of Malay rights, ended his 22 years as premier frustrated that, rather than develop a work ethic, many Malays had simply developed a sense of entitlement.
Violence by tribal insurgents in the province of Balochistan has been setting alarm bells ringing in Pakistan. The son of one of Balochistan's tribal leaders here sets out his fears for the future of the province. Violence in Balochistan recently prompted tough-talking President Pervez Musharraf to warn Baloch tribesmen to stop fighting or "they will not know what hit them". He was probably referring to his army's newly acquired hi-tech weaponry - such as night vision attack helicopters - given by the US to help eliminate Islamist militants on Pakistan's western border.
Gen Musharraf's threatening tirade, however, has had the opposite effect. Almost overnight, even the few pro-military urbanized Baloch have turned against the general's jingoistic philosophy. The reason for this transformation lies deep within Baloch culture. [snip]
Many now believe that the 78 year-old Nawab of the Bugtis is not unhappy with the idea of dying in a blaze of immortal Baloch glory. If he should die in a clash with the army then tough-talking Gen Musharraf could be in deep trouble.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The Federal Election Commission will soon look at ways to tighten restrictions on political activities in cyberspace, Roll Call said Monday. The idea make some FEC members uneasy.
Me too..
"I don't think the FEC should do anything that restricts or interferes with the ability of citizens at the grass-roots level to use the Internet or support the candidates of their choice," FEC Vice Chairman Michael Toner said.
Under U.S. law, coordinated communications are considered campaign contributions subject to strict limits. Regulations adopted in 2002 carved out an exemption for coordinated political communications transmitted over the Internet, which is exactly the sort of thing the FEC now wants to review.
Toner said there is no evidence Congress intended to regulate the Internet when it enacted the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. "Congress is clearly familiar with the fact that the Internet is an increasingly important tool in politics and yet did not mention it in the McCain-Feingold law so I still see no evidence that Congress intended to regulate the Internet at all," Toner said.
Yeah, but that was before the Swift Boat Vets, Rathergate, Howell Raines and Eason Jordan. If the FEC doesn't do anything, I expect McCain to try something. I'll wager they will try to say that linking to another blog or website is proof of "coordinated political communications". We need to follow this closely.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
2:26:42 PM ||
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#1
They only have jurisdiction over organizations raising and/or spending money to promote a political message, POV, or support a candidate or party.
We work real cheap. They wouldn't dare pretend thay can regulate the free discussion of individuals. The First Amendment would make child's play of turning them into sushi.
Uneasy? Hah, how about so far out of their depth that they wouldn't have the first clue what to do? Lol!
#4
McCain seems to be positively irritated by that Constitution thingy. He is perplexed why everybody is always talking about it, and why people keep telling him he can't do what he wants because the Constitution won't let him. In fact, if everybody would just do what he wants, then everything would be fine--no more of this senseless argument and disagreement.
#5
I'd surely like to see Arizonans put the fear of losing on his arrogant butt. Maybe even let a smart up and coming youngster, some Lt Col fresh from Iraq, say, someone who can cancel out his POW status and just whoop his ass in the primary and bulldoze the Donk. That, I'd pay to see.
#8
McCain just doesn't like anyone else having free political speech, huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 16:08
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#9
Sorry, .com, but we have until 2010, when I hope he'll retire. I voted for him this time, too. I wasn't happy, but he has the right ideas on the war, which is the most important issue. He's pretty good on judges, too. If we can only get him to support the First and Second amendments, he'd be very good.
#10
Yeah, but that was before the Swift Boat Vets,...
It was also before Kerry hired Kos to shill for him on the web. This is just like their regulating advertising (with which I have problems, but it is the law). Maybe next time, Kos will have to have a picture of Kerry pop-up and say "I'm John Kerry and I paid for this blog."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 17:21
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#11
Headline: FEC looks at policing cyberspace
If the FEC started looking at policing the liberal media, we wouldn't need conservative blogs to counteract their lies.
#12
At some point, they'll decide that trackback is a form of coordination, if that's what it takes to shut down the critics of incumbents.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/14/2005 19:04
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#13
I'd surely like to see Arizonans put the fear of losing on his arrogant butt.
We tried a few years back with a petition, and there was enough momentum that it forced him to tack back. Like Jackal, I unhappily voted for him this time.
And I didn't even send a card. Happy Birthday, you lunatic dwarf. Let's hope it's your last...
Pyongyang, February 14 (KCNA) -- The birthday of leader Kim Jong Il (February 16) is being celebrated as an auspicious holiday for the progressive people all over the world. Preparatory committees for celebrating February 16 have been formed in scores of countries including Russia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria, Guinea, Ecuador, Romania, India, Thailand, Czech Republic, Cambodia, Poland, Egypt and France. They have held meetings, film shows, lectures and other events in celebration of the holiday. I guess people all over the world have lots and lots of time on their hands.
Under the sponsorship of the preparatory committees for meetings of lauding the greatness of leader Kim Jong Il, gatherings have taken place in many countries. Mass media of many countries print portraits of Kim Jong Il and photographs showing his revolutionary activities, along with special write-ups introducing his immortal exploits performed for the Korean revolution and the independence of humankind. Ah, yes. The "immortal exploits".
The participants in the celebration events praise him, who guides the global cause of independence with Songun politics, as the lodestar of the 21st century, a great master of leadership, a great thinker and theoretician and a prominent political veteran of the world.
The chairman of the Youth Group for the Study of Juche Idea of Democratic Congo at a round-table talk extended warmest congratulations to Kim Jong Il on his birthday and said his birthday is the most auspicious holiday of not only the Korean people but also the world progressive people.
The Russian Social Committee for Celebrating the Birthday of Comrade Kim Jong Il was formed in Moscow on January 20 with famous political and public figures. It, in a statement, noted that Kim Jong Il has earned a high reputation as a world-famous genius, excellent strategist and brilliant commander and as the great leader of the heroic people who is successfully carrying into practice his far-sighted plan for building a great prosperous powerful socialist nation on the beautiful land of Korea. Would it be even more beautiful as a land of glowing green glass?
#1
OMG....can you imagine the culture shock those poor folks are in for when this wall comes down and they find out that their Kimmie-poo doesn't have the world fawning over him?
I'm sure SOME reality sneaks in, but, it can't begin to penetrate this, can it?
#2
You know, if all these international Kim-lovers were to suddenly go up in smoke the world's overall IQ would probably go up by several points.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/14/2005 14:28
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#3
Ooooh! Aaaah! 9.8!
Especially loved the "immortal exploits" and the "lodestar of the 21st century".
Obligatory Songun and Juche requirements met.
"France" last on the list -- I always like to see France at the end on the line.
And I'm sure that the chairman of the Youth Group for the Study of Juche Idea of Democratic Congo pretty much speaks for all of us.
Calling him a "lunatic dwarf" is an insult to both the Moon and the "little people". Unhappy birthday, you little dung pile!
Posted by: Tom ||
02/14/2005 14:37
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#8
But I really really want to be, it's just a missing gene thingy, I'd guess, heh. I felt really really bad after a rumble, once. I cut this guy for a solid 8 inches. Felt really bad cuz I just knew it caused his insurance rates to go up. I kept the gun he intended to shoot me with, too. heh. But yeah, I felt pretty bad. Does that count any? Lol!
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer agreed in a meeting last Wednesday to investigate the possibility of purchasing Palestinian natural gas from offshore drilling performed by British Gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
In exchange, Israel would provide electricity and water to Palestinians, something Israel provides in any case.
British Gas, which owns the rights to natural gas reserves near Gaza, is asking to sell natural gas in Israel at a value of $3.5 billion. If there is an agreement between Israel and British Gas to buy the Palestinian gas, the company will lay a pipeline from the drilling sites to the Ashkelon coast.
The infrastructure minister said at the meeting that the thawing of relations with the Palestinians, as well as progress since last week's summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, allows the government to reconsider its decision not to buy gas from Gaza.
It appears that Sharon has not rejected the proposal out of hand.
An Infrastructure Ministry spokesperson said that Ben-Eliezer's proposal had indeed been discussed at the meeting last week. The Prime Minister's Office was not available for comment.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/14/2005
2:05:45 AM ||
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#1
Hamas and Hizb'Allah will consider the gas infrastructure a target if Israel has anything to do with it. Of course, if Abbas could reason with them, everything may be ok...
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 10:58
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#2
Those guys are always more reasonable when they're dead or in jail. I hope Abbas's strategy is to ensure Israeli support in achieving that end.
British police have charged a man with conspiracy to cause an explosion after arresting him Tuesday when he arrived at London's Heathrow Airport from Pakistan. Police officials say authorities filed the charges against 29-year-old Salahuddin Amin Saturday. They say the offenses, involving conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious damage, occurred between October 2003 and March 2004, but gave no details. The suspect is to appear at London's Central Criminal court Monday.
This article starring:
SALAHUDIN AMIN
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:58:37 AM ||
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Kidnappers have abducted the head of a Christian party in Iraq (news - web sites) and are demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops, Al Arabiya television reported on Monday.
The television gave no further details. A staffer reached by telephone said the kidnapping apparently occurred as the unnamed victim was going to his party's headquarters in Baghdad.
Christians form up to 3 percent of Iraq's 27 million people. Several Christian churches have been attacked during the current insurgency against the U.S.-backed government.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:55:00 AM ||
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A MUSLIM leader appointed to help to run the recently reopened Finsbury Park mosque in north London is a former military commander of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organisation. Mohammed Kassem Sawalha is one of five trustees appointed to give the mosque a fresh start. The mosque was closed last year after becoming a centre of Islamic militancy under Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical cleric facing charges in Britain and America.
Sawalha's link with Hamas emerged after he was named as a co-conspirator in an American court case involving racketeering and conspiracy. Last week the cleric, who arrived in Britain 15 years ago and has been given indefinite leave to remain, said that he still supported Hamas, notorious for its suicide attacks in Israel. However, he said he was committed to peace in Britain and would help to run the mosque in an open and inclusive way. "I am supported by the Muslim community and have been working ever since I arrived for that community," he said. Asked whether he supported the military activities of Hamas, he replied: "I have no comment on the question of military activity. I am working here to give a new direction to this mosque and break with the past."
According to US court documents, Sawalha was a leading militant in the early 1990s "in charge of Hamas terrorist operations within the West Bank". The documents, from the federal court in Chicago, claim he met two of the three "conspirators" accused of laundering millions of dollars to finance Hamas activities, including the purchase of weapons.
The purpose of the first meeting with the men was alleged to have been to discuss revitalising Hamas's operations. He met one of the men a second time in London in January 1993. Sawalha allegedly directed him "to provide money to various Hamas members and provided him with contact information". Although Sawalha is named as a co-conspirator, he has not been charged. Asked last week if he faced arrest in the United States, Sawalha said: "I have not tried to travel there."
Abu Hamza is in prison facing trial in Britain on 16 charges, including incitement to murder, intending to stir up racial hatred and being in possession of a document "likely to be useful" to someone plotting terrorism. He is also awaiting extradition hearings on a warrant issued by the US Department of Justice. Following his arrest a group of his supporters tried to take over the mosque, but after extensive discussion between the surviving trustees of the charity that runs the mosque including Mohammed Sarwar, the Labour MP, the police and the Charity Commission, which had closed it five new trustees were appointed.
Last night Sarwar, MP for Glasgow Govan, said he would remain a trustee despite being told of Sawalha's links to Hamas. He was happy with the way the mosque was being run by the new trustees: "The Muslim community is delighted that the Abu Hamza regime is gone and the mosque is open."
Barry Norman, the Metropolitan police chief superintendent who has been working closely with the trustees, said: "I am aware of the background, but if I took the view that I'm not working with this or that person I'd end up spending my whole life in my office."
This article starring:
ABU HAMZA AL MASRI
Finsbury Park mosque
MOHAMED KASEM SAWALHA
Hamas
Muslim Association of Britain
Muslim Brotherhood
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:52:26 AM ||
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#1
unreal. Time to take a close look at the bank accounts of anyone who touched this outrage.
Mexico has been shaken by the arrest of a senior member of President Vicente Fox's staff on suspicion of leaking information to drugs traffickers.
It has not been proven, but the suspicion is that the tip-offs - about the president's movements - were designed to help hitmen assassinate him. The conclusion being drawn is that organised crime has infiltrated the inner circle of the president, who has repeatedly declared all-out war on the cartels.
Observers have been jolted into asking whether Mexico is losing the war on the drug-related corruption, and whether it is in danger of descending into a Colombia-style chaos of narcopolitics.
But Bruce Bagley, professor of International Studies at the University of Miami, points out that corruption and the contraband economy are nothing new in Mexico - what is new is Mr Fox's attempt to eradicate them. In the 1920s, Mexico's PRI party began a 71-year uninterrupted stretch in power, allowing corruption to become embedded within the system, he says.
"The election of President Fox in 2000 in effect broke those traditional linkages," Mr Bagley told the BBC News website. "In co-operation with the US, President's Fox's PAN party went after the largest cartels.
"This in turn unleashed an internecine warfare among the cartels, as they sought to protect themselves, to recover and fight off the cartelitos" - the forest of smaller drugs organisations which sprang up as the government decapitated the big cartels.
Mr Bagley argues that the cartels' apparent attempt to infiltrate the presidential palace - with the suspected, though unproven ambition to target the president himself - is in fact a sign of their weakness. "There's huge paranoia - they're fighting for their economic and political survival, and it's entirely possible they blame President Fox personally for their situation," he says.
Diane Davis, a sociologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has studied the Mexican police, accepts that Mr Fox "has had some high-level successes" against the big cartels but adds that he is in a Catch 22 situation. In order to tackle the cartels, the president must be able to rely on a loyal police force. However, at the same time he is trying to restructure the police force to stamp out "pervasive, endemic" corruption, which turns officers against him. "These are two very hard battles to fight at the same time," she says. "It's a constant revolving door of reform."
Some of the problems Mexico faces are similar to Colombia's. Authorities in both countries have found that they faced down the big cartels - Medellin and Cali in Colombia, Tijuana in Mexico - only to find they created openings for new "mini-cartels".
Events in one country can also influence events in the other. In the 1970s, a strong US-backed policy against the cultivation of marijuana in Mexico served to encourage both cultivation and cartel activity in Colombia, they say. Then in the 1990s, tough measures against cocaine traffickers in Colombia appeared to give new life to cartels in Mexico.
But analysts caution that comparisons between the two countries should not be made lightly. Colombia's internal conflict involving Marxist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and the state has a highly ideological slant, they point out. This is absent in Mexico, where oddly - says Peter Andreas, associate professor of political studies at Brown University - the Zapatista rebel movement has failed to become deeply entangled with the drugs trade. And, he adds, there is a "dramatic difference in the level of violence".
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:51:13 AM ||
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#4
Illegal drugs are as cheap as ever.
What makes anyone think cartels aren't well established here in the good ole USA. Anyone who doesn't think so has been listening/reading the usual suspects in the MSM too long.
#5
Legalize it.... When was the last time someone was killed over liquor in the US? The day before prohibition ended? Coincidence? The largest influence it'll have then is distributors (cf. large liquor distributors in the US) making illegal campaign contributions. Also reduce or eliminate the international trade/law enforcement issue.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/14/2005 19:48
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#6
You beat me to it, tu.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/14/2005 21:50
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#7
Sorry Mark E., but people get killed over alcohol all the time. Between drunk driving and general idiocy around drunks the casualty rate is quite high . . . but your point is probably that Busch is not ordering hits on Coors; Makers Mark not attempting to eliminate the board of Wild Turkey; etc, etc.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/14/2005 22:47
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The Mexican federal government is investigating whether the feared Gulf Cartel drug-smuggling mafia is armed with surface-to-air missiles as part of a plot to assassinate President Vicente Fox or shoot down a commercial airliner. "We do not want to alarm the public," Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said at a news conference Saturday. "The first thing is to find out if it is true."
"Then we'll alarm the public."
Federal agents are trying to determine the source of what may be a U.S. government analysis warning as many as 80 SA-7 Soviet-made shoulder-mounted missiles are on the black market in Nicaragua, he said.
But the threat surfaces during especially troubling times in which no threats or perceived threats are being treated lightly. The document, dated Jan. 31, mentions the missiles were in the hands of the Nicaraguan authorities and were to be sold to drug cartels and paramilitary groups, Vasconcelos said. "We do not have anything new on this," Vasconcelos said. "We are still investigating."
In addition to Fox, other potential targets include Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Central American commercial airliners.
U.S. government officials could not be reached for comment Saturday.
The Washington Times reported late last month that the United States government and Nicaraguan police thwarted an attempt to sell some SA-7 missiles on the black market and that authorities feared stashes of the missiles were still for sale.
Shortly after Fox declared he would fight the "mother of all wars" against the drug cartels, Nahúm Acosta, a key member of the president's travel staff, was arrested and is accused of providing information to drug traffickers. Fox played down the incident and authorities have taken pains to say the matter is under investigation.
The Zetas are the bogeymen of the border. They were linked to the attack last week on Monterrey television reporter Jorge Cardona, whose car and home were sprayed with bullets after he aired an interview with a hooded informant who gave supposed names and codes of alleged Zeta members operating in the U.S.-Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo. The informant said the Zetas were backed by city police and have a military informant.
The reporter, fearing for his life, remains in hiding.
Vasconcelos said the Zetas' leadership has been disrupted, that the group's soldiers have dwindled to about 30, and that he expects the group will soon be history.
A U.S. federal agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the cartel is troubled enough to carry out bold attacks. "These people are desperate," the agent said. "Is it possible? Yes," he said of a missile attack. "Would it happen? Probably not."
But the agent cautioned the Zetas are not traditional criminals, as they are military trained and take orders.
With Gulf Cartel boss Osiel Cärdenas in prison and authorities taking steps to isolate him from his empire, the situation could play out similarly to what happened when Colombian cocaine king Pablo Escobar was captured and feared extradition to the United States. "Look what happened in Colombia," the agent said. "The president starts to talk about extraditing people (Cärdenas) is going to be fighting back."
Colombia saw explosions, assassinations and a bomb detonated aboard a commercial airliner, killing government witnesses prepared to testify against traffickers. There have also been false alarms, including a recent bulletin in which the FBI's San Antonio office advised all U.S. federal officers of a possible plot by the Gulf Cartel to kidnap and murder two of them. After it could not be substantiated, the FBI recalled the bulletin, which warned the cartel had 250 armed men outside the border city of Matamoros and a contingent had visas to enter the United States.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:47:34 AM ||
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In recent weeks, the Bush administration has toughened its stand against the fundamentalist Shiite Muslim government of Iran, calling it one of America's key enemies.
But the administration has not yet presented a clear-cut strategy for dealing with Iran, instead hinting alternately that the solution may be European-led negotiations with Tehran, an Israeli military attack or a rebellion led by the Iranian opposition.
The debate has echoes of the fight two years ago over Iraq, and some critics are saying the administration is making the same mistake -- relying on dubious intelligence sources to justify the case for overthrowing a hostile foreign government.
The U.S. threats have come back to back. Vice President Dick Cheney warned that Israel might attack Iran's alleged nuclear weapons sites. President Bush called Iran "the world's primary state sponsor of terror." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the Iranian regime "something to be loathed." And the White House left unchallenged media reports that U.S. commandos had been conducting spy missions inside Iran since last summer to prepare for a possible attack.
The tough U.S. stance has differed markedly from the attempt by Britain, France and Germany to negotiate an agreement with Iran over its nuclear facilities. The 2-year-old talks have produced preliminary accords but no final deal. Iran has been unwilling to give up the capacity to enrich nuclear fuel that it says it needs for its civilian nuclear power industry, while the Europeans are unable to meet Iran's key demand -- the guarantee that it will not be attacked by the United States or Israel.
In Europe last week, Rice expressed general support for the Iran negotiations. However, she declined her hosts' request to join the talks or to indicate willingness to offer Iran a security guarantee.
"The strategy of the United States is (to hope) that the Europeans can't deliver on some things Iran wants," said Shireen Hunter, an Iran analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "The administration is expecting that, by late spring or summer, the European track will fail."
In place of negotiations, the administration and many members of Congress seem to be suggesting that the Iranian people should revolt. In his State of the Union speech, Bush seemed to signal such an approach, saying, "To the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."
Last month, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., introduced the Iran Freedom Support Act, which would authorize direct aid to opposition radio and television stations. The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, and 49 other House members. A likely recipient of this aid would be NITV, a Los Angeles satellite station that beams its programs into Iran 24 hours a day.
"We think what is needed in Iran is not bullets but information about democracy," said Zia Atabay, a former Iranian pop star who is president of NITV and leads one of its news programs. "The United States has to provoke a democratic discussion in Iran."
Atabay's station is the most prominent foreign-based media outlet to Iran, and its views generally represent the 1 million Iranians in the United States, many of whom live in Southern California and went into exile when the monarchy was overthrown in the 1979 revolution.
Many proponents of this approach call it the "Solidarity strategy," likening it to the U.S. aid to the union-led opposition in Poland in the 1980s that eventually succeeded in overthrowing that country's communist regime.
But Iran's opposition has no equivalent to Solidarity, and its political parties, student groups and nongovernmental organizations are divided and in retreat as the government continues a gradual crackdown on dissent.
A more muscular strategy with support in Washington is modeled after Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, the loose coalition of militias that did most of the fighting for the United States in defeating the Taliban in 2001.
The key tool in this strategy is the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, an Iranian guerrilla force that has 4,000 fighters housed in a U.S.-guarded military base north of Baghdad. This group, known as MEK, is supported by some Washington neoconservatives and liberals, as well as by many European lawmakers, but nonetheless has been designated since 1997 as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.
The group has suspended its guerrilla activities within Iran since 2001, apparently hoping to improve its international reputation. Its backers hope the administration soon will take the MEK off the terrorist list and give it a green light to resume guerrilla activities in Iran.
"The MEK is very much hoping for a combination of Chalabi and Northern Alliance," said Abbas Milani, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, referring to Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi leader who used his influence with Bush administration conservatives to help build support for invading Iraq. "They want to be picked as foot soldiers and intelligence (operatives) for the United States," Milani said.
The MEK's Paris-based civilian leadership avoids openly appealing for U.S. aid but makes clear that it sees itself as a U.S. ally.
Shahin Gobadi, a member of the foreign relations committee for the MEK's political wing, the National Council for Resistance in Iran, praised Bush's State of the Union speech. "The remarks by Bush were a very necessary and important step for distancing the West from its appeasement of the fascist dictatorship in Iran," he said. "But we hope for further, more practical steps in confronting this regime. We should be freed to help lead the opposition to the mullahs."
Most analysts say the MEK has little support within Iran, mostly limited to professionals and students, and outside Iran it is seen as a cult run by its husband-and-wife leadership, Massoud and Maryam Rajavi.
The MEK has been a major source of U.S. intelligence on Iran's alleged nuclear program, producing evidence of clandestine centrifuge production that has proved accurate when checked by U.N. inspectors. Other allegations by the MEK have been proved wrong, however, and experts warn that the Bush administration is making the same mistakes on Iran as it did before leading the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"There is an eerie similarity to the events preceding the Iraq war," David Kay, who directed the CIA's search for weapons of mass destruction in postwar Iraq, wrote in an op-ed article in Monday's Washington Post. "Now is the time to pause and recall what went wrong with the assessment of Iraq's WMD program and try to avoid repeating those mistakes in Iran."
Kay warned that information from the MEK and other exile sources is untrustworthy, just as Chalabi's Iraq intelligence proved to be.
"Having gone to the Security Council on the basis of flawed evidence to 'prove' Iraq's WMD activities, (the United States) only invites derision to cite unsubstantiated exile reports to 'prove' that Iran is developing nuclear weapons," Kay wrote.
Although pro-American sentiment is relatively widespread among the Iranian people, some analysts and exiles say military attacks by the United States or Israel would provoke a surge of nationalism among Iranians and would allow the clerical regime to gain support.
Atabay said most Iranians in exile want change in Iran, but without bloodshed.
"Most Iranians within the United States are with U.S. policy," he said. "They are against the mullahs, but they don't want war. No Iranians want an invasion, because Iranian young people love America, but if America attacks them, they will turn into the enemy. Why should we have to change our close friends into the enemy?"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:43:30 AM ||
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#1
Most Iranians within the United States are with U.S. policy," he said. "They are against the mullahs, but they donât want war. No Iranians want an invasion, because Iranian young people love America, but if America attacks them, they will turn into the enemy.
So the choices are.
(a)Mulacracy with nukes, but the young people love America.
(b)Mulacracy without nukes, but the young people hate America.
That's a hard, hard choice.
#2
Continually threatening America should have consequences. Sorry for the young people - if they tolerate the black hats, then too bad. A mullacracy with nukes should not be acceptable.
#3
"But the administration has not yet presented a clear-cut strategy for dealing with Iran, instead hinting alternately that the solution may be European-led negotiations with Tehran, an Israeli military attack or a rebellion led by the Iranian opposition."
How much more clear do you want? A telegraphed feint to the right with European-led negotiations followed by an Israeli military attack left hook and then a regime ending rebellion led by the Iranian opposition upper cut to the chin. Sounds like a plan to me.
Posted by: Rock ||
02/14/2005 11:45
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This is why I believe comparative religion should not be taught in schools until college where it is an elective. One religion or another is going to be "insulted" no matter what you do. I took a course in Old Testament and really had my eyes opened, comming from a Fundamentalist Baptist up-bringing. We called our study sessions, "Scotch and Scriptures". I don't believe most children that young are able to grasp the concepts of what a religion entails.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/14/2005 13:23
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#3
Would they accept MTLHMOHS? (May the Lord have mercy on his soul) reference here
Posted by: James ||
02/14/2005 13:58
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This appears to be the policy of only one of the half-dozen-or-so examining boards in the UK, and OCR have been up to it since at least 2002 (2003 exam's specimen paper here). I'd suggest that David Holford asks that his school switch RE to another examining board. Some are better than others, and some are less pissy than others. Exam boards operate in a free market.
#5
I disagree, Deacon. High School kids are capable of understanding and appreciating that others have different beliefs (after all, isn't that the point of all the PC nonsense they've been fed since kindergarten?). And by high school they'll have noticed that some of their friends don't go to the same church, and wonder why. I'm starting to get questions from Trailing Daughter's friends about what makes Jews different from whatever they may be, and she is in 9th grade. I don't give them any scotch, though.
#6
But I think it should be taught as comparing religions: the Catholics think this, the Methodists think that, the Jews the other, Muslims... Bhuddists... and so forth. This (pbuh) nonsense should be presented only as "the Muslims always say/write this after the name of prophets and saints (or whatever), just as religious Jews do not even write out G-d out of respect." Treating the Muslim religion differently and more respectfully than the rest is indeed a mark of dhimmitude.
#7
I guess by the 9th grade most children do understand. Younger than that I'm not so certain. I agree with your post #6. But to get into detailed studies I still think College is best. The class I took was beyond High School level.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/14/2005 16:07
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I tend to agree w/DB. We didn't have any religious studies in high school & I think it's better that way. There's enough work teachers have to do just w/the core curriculum of math, science, english, history, etc that needs to be addressed prior to even hedging the relgious question imho.
#9
Me, too, JH. A general overview of world religions would add to students' knowledge base, but it seems like these religious discussions devolve quickly into why my religion is better than yours and would absolutely do so in high school, when kids are so ego-fragile. Plus, imagine the litigation nightmare when schools have to handle complaints about the ingrained biases of teachers for/against a certain religion? This sounds like a mess to me-I don't know what the solution is. I wouldn't outlaw a religious survey class, but perhaps you could protect the school and its families/students by 1) making it an elective course, 2)supplying an outline of the class to parents which they must agree to, sign and return to the school before class even starts.
Posted by: Charles ||
02/14/2005 19:38
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Note to the Jihad-inclined: The United States still has 550 ICBMs in addition to 18 nuclear submarines that carry up to 192 warheads each. Don't push your luck.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/14/2005 20:33
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Responding to death threats against government ministers, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) ordered law enforcement agencies Sunday to crack down on Jewish extremists opposed to the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip (news - web sites).
Cabinet ministers said the charged climate is reminiscent of the period before the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (news - web sites) who was in peace negotiations with the Palestinians. One minister warned Sharon himself could become a target. Extremists have put up posters across the country that say Rabin and the prime minister's deceased wife, Lily, are "waiting for Sharon."
Despite the concerns, Sharon's Cabinet approved a list of 500 Palestinian prisoners to be released in coming days, and several hundred Palestinian workers were permitted to return to jobs in Israel in line with agreements reached at a Mideast summit last week.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, was to present a new Cabinet to his Fatah (news - web sites) movement for approval Tuesday. Abbas was expected to appoint new interior, foreign and information ministers but keep on many current government members, officials said.
Israeli officials have voiced concerns about Jewish extremist opposition to the pullout plan for months. But with this summer's planned withdrawal quickly approaching and a recent warming of ties with the Palestinians, the level of alarm has been raised.
Sharon instructed law enforcement agencies to report back to the Cabinet as soon as possible with steps that can be taken to "rein in the violent rampage" of extremists opposing his plan, a statement said.
Several Cabinet ministers said they have received threatening letters in recent days, and last week Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (news - web sites) had his tires slashed and slurs shouted at him while attending a wedding.
Netanyahu, a former prime minister, was targeted just days after Education Minister Limor Livnat was whisked away from an event where she was screamed at by hard-line Jews.
Meir Sheetrit, one of the ministers who received a threatening letter, said every step should be taken to punish those behind the threats.
"It sets off a warning light, and we should take tangible steps before there is another political murder," he said.
Cabinet minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer presented the ministers a copy of a letter he received. The letter described the Iraqi-born Ben-Eliezer as "the epitome of evil, a miserable Iraqi, a Nazi with Arab blood. You love Arabs more than Jews."
Ben-Eliezer then said to the ministers: "I am telling you: They will try to kill the prime minister," according to the Haaretz daily.
Sharon was outraged.
"I am shocked by this savagery. We need to take immediate practical steps," Sharon was quoted as saying before ordering police, legal authorities and security commanders to take action.
At Sunday's meeting, the Cabinet approved the release of 500 Palestinian prisoners in the near future, one of a series of agreements reached at last week's Mideast summit in Egypt.
Israel will also allow several dozen Palestinian militants who were expelled from the West Bank to return to their homes and gradually hand five West Bank towns to Palestinian control.
Senior commanders from both sides met late Sunday to coordinate the handover of Jericho, the first town to be turned over. Army Radio reported that the handover would take place in about 48 hours.
In line with the summit agreements, Israel will release another 400 Palestinian prisoners within three months.
"Prisoners, prisoners are our priority, and we told everyone about it," from the American secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), to President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites) of Egypt, Abbas told The New York Times. "The situation will be stabilized and will cool down in Gaza and the West Bank" to the degree that Sharon "helps us to release the prisoners."
The Palestinian prisoners to be freed constitute only a small fraction of the estimated 8,000 in Israeli jails. Palestinians are demanding that all be freed, while Israeli officials insist that with few exceptions, prisoners with "blood on their hands" cannot be considered.
Several hundred Palestinian workers from Gaza returned Sunday to jobs in Israel under the summit agreements. Before the outbreak of fighting more than four years ago, more than 100,000 Palestinians worked in Israel.
Also, the Israeli army said the bodies of 15 Palestinians killed last year during attacks on Israeli settlements and army bases in the Gaza Strip would be handed over Monday to Palestinian authorities in Gaza for burial.
Palestinian officials said on condition of anonymity that the new Cabinet would include Brig. Gen. Nasser Yousef, a military official who frequently fought with Yasser Arafat (news - web sites); Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan; and possibly Nasser al-Kidwa, the current Palestinian envoy to the United Nations (news - web sites) and Arafat's nephew, as the new foreign minister.
The current foreign minister, Nabil Shaath, would be shifted to another Cabinet position, the officials said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:38:05 AM ||
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Former chief of Inter Services Intelligence Gen (Retd) Hameed Gul said that US intelligences agencies propaganda to pronounce Pakistan a failed state by 2015 will remain unsuccessful. Talking to Online while condemning the assessment report of US agencies National Intelligence Council and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in which they have said 'Pakistan will be a "failed" state by 2015 as it would be affected by civil war, complete Talibanisation and struggle for control of its nuclear weapons, he said, these agencies have always hatched conspiracies against Pakistan. They always express themselves to be our friends but deep from the inside they are the enemies of our homeland, and hatch conspiracies against us but we will fight till the last drop of our blood and their designs against Pakistan will remain unsuccessful." He went on to say that Pakistan has many foes and that is only because of the subordination the government shows to others.
Like to beturbanned goobers, fer instance -- oh, that's not what he meant.
However, nobody could do anything wrong to the nation which has a desire to live and that desire exist among us, he said. "We will fight for every inch of our homeland till presence of last drop of blood in our veins," he noted.
"We will vent our spleens for you, Perv!"
Former ISI chief further said that incumbent government has lost its basic track. "Even the rulers do not have gall to mention the foreign hand that is behind worsening condition of Balochistan," he maintained. Responding to a query he made it clear that Benazir Bhutto will never ever strike a deal with the government. She, he said is a seasoned politician and is only using bargaining tactics, she really knows what she is doing. "Doors of talks never shut down in politics however, President General Pervez Musharraf's attitude will not help in giving us what we want political reconciliation," he underlined.
Gen (Retd) Hameed Gul also said that incumbent government has set aside Kashmir the core issue of contention between Pakistan and India and is negotiating on other matters, which are inferior to Kashmir issue. He said that India has gained success by diverting Pakistan's attention from Kashmir to Baglihar Dam. "India has bought some extra time to complete its agenda and if one looks at future Pakistan at present stance will fail on both fronts and will neither get Kashmir nor be able to get Baglihar issue settled," he observed.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:34:33 AM ||
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Former chief of Inter Services Intelligence Gen (Retd) Hameed Gul said that US intelligences agencies propaganda to pronounce Pakistan a failed state by 2015 will remain unsuccessful.
#2
these agencies have always hatched conspiracies against Pakistan
No, it's Pakistan that's hatching conspiracies against us (and lots of the rest of the world).
The new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, said in an interview this weekend that the war with the Israelis is effectively over and that the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is speaking "a different language" to the Palestinians. Mr. Sharon's commitment to withdraw from Gaza and dismantle all Israeli settlements there and four in the West Bank, despite "how much pressure is on him from the Israeli Likud rightists," Mr. Abbas said, "is a good sign to start with" on the road to real peace.
"And now he has a partner," Mr. Abbas said.
In a 40-minute interview in his Gaza office late on Saturday night, Mr. Abbas spoke with pride about persuading the radical groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad to respect the mutual declaration of a truce that he and Mr. Sharon announced last Tuesday at their first meeting, in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, which was the highest-level meeting between Israelis and Palestinians in four years.
Mr. Abbas said the war with the Israelis would be over "when the Israelis declare that they will comply with the agreement I made in Sharm el Sheik, and today our comrades in Hamas and Jihad said they are committed to the truce, the cooling down of the whole situation, and I believe we will start a new era."
In the interview with The New York Times, his first with a Western news organization since he was elected president of the Palestinian Authority five weeks ago, on Jan. 9, Mr. Abbas spoke with confidence and humor in nearly fluent English. He also spoke of several developments.
Hamas made a commitment to him to run in the July elections for the Palestinian legislature, continuing the group's "conversion into a political party."
Mr. Abbas fired nine senior police and security officials in Gaza and was prepared to fire more if they did not get "the first message" that they are to enforce his cease-fire.
He set the release of Palestinian prisoners as his first priority, and said it would be a measure of how much tensions have eased in the West Bank and Gaza.
He rejected any idea of a sovereign Palestinian state in temporary borders before a final settlement.
The Americans were talking to him "in a very helpful way," and he hoped the Bush administration would deliver on its promises of political and economic aid.
At nearly 70, he expected to retire after one term of five years.
Mr. Abbas wants progress to continue so that the two sides can move quickly to political discussions about the road map, a diplomatic process meant to lead to tackling the most difficult issues that have deeply stymied both sides: questions of final borders, refugees, Jerusalem and now, "President Bush's initiative about a democratic Palestinian state," Mr. Abbas said.
While he is happy to coordinate Israel's withdrawal from Gaza with Mr. Sharon, he says, the Palestinians need a political horizon looking toward a real state. At their meeting in Sharm el Sheik, Mr. Sharon made many positive commitments, Mr. Abbas said, offering to form a joint committee to discuss releasing the 200 or so Palestinian prisoners held since before the 1993 Oslo accords, and the pullback of the Israeli military in the West Bank and the reopening of Gaza's seaport.
Israel acted further on Sunday to improve relations by agreeing to release 500 prisoners.
Mr. Sharon also spoke "about the Palestinian independent democratic state" and "about the occupation, never to be an occupier anymore," Mr. Abbas said. "So on all these things he was positive, but what we want to know is the implementation on the ground."
Asked about his first priority, Mr. Abbas was quick and explicit. "Prisoners, prisoners are our priority, and we told everyone about it," he said, from the American secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, to President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. "The situation will be stabilized and will cool down in Gaza and the West Bank" to the degree that Mr. Sharon "helps us to release the prisoners," Mr. Abbas said. The Palestinian Authority says Israel holds nearly 8,000 Palestinians, but the Israeli government has had fierce debates about whether to release Palestinians held for attacks against Israelis, with Mr. Sharon expressing public understanding of Mr. Abbas's need to show Palestinians quick benefits from the new quiet.
But Mr. Abbas then wants to move quickly to political discussions with Mr. Sharon about carrying out the road map. He said he would be happy to coordinate Israel's withdrawal from Gaza with Mr. Sharon, but said the Palestinians need a political horizon looking toward a real state.
Although the road map mentions the option of declaring a sovereign "Palestinian state within provisional borders" while talks continue about a final settlement, Mr. Abbas said, "If it is up to me, I will reject it." Palestinians will see an interim solution as a trap, replacing a final settlement, and "peace will not prevail anymore in the region," he said.
"So it's better for us and for the Israelis to go directly to final status," he said. "I told Mr. Sharon that it's better for both sides to establish this back channel to deal with final status and go in parallel with the stages of the road map."
What did Mr. Sharon say, Mr. Abbas was asked. He laughed. "He didn't respond," he said. "But we'll talk more about it. Maybe he didn't like it. We have to repeat it more and more in our ongoing negotiations."
Less than a month after he took office on Jan. 15, Mr. Abbas spoke with surprising optimism. The Israelis say he started slowly and timidly, and then has done better, showing more courage when challenged. Mr. Abbas contends much has been accomplished, given the deterioration of the Palestinian Authority under Yasir Arafat, "but we can't negotiate everything in 10 days."
With his upbeat mood, he may be trying to instill hope in the Palestinians, who, as he says, "are observing, and they see progress, and they are happy with it, but they want more."
"They want job creation, they want to eat, and they want security," he said.
But Mr. Abbas will undoubtedly face serious challenges from Hamas and other radicals, whose support may be tactical, and some of whom want him dead.
Mr. Abbas said he was surprised that the armed militants, many wanted by Israel, embraced his candidacy. "All the fugitives came to me from all factions and said: 'We are for you. You were with us, and we want you to solve our problems,' " he said. They want real jobs in the security forces of the Palestinian Authority "and to be secure from Israeli assassination and attacks," he said. "I promised them, and now it is realized."
Was the armed intifada of the last four and a half years a mistake? "We cannot say it was a mistake," he said. "But any war will have an end. And what is the end? To sit around the table and talk. And they realize that this is the time to come to the table and talk and negotiate."
Asked if Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are labeled terrorist organizations by the United States, want what he wants, he laughed and said: "No, of course they don't want what I want! They want to come to power if they can. For that they ran in municipal elections and after that they will go" to the legislative elections. "And if they win, of course they want power. And it is their right. It is the competition" of democracy.
Asked about Hamas's recent victories in local elections in 7 of the 10 cities and villages in Gaza, Mr. Abbas said: "This is democracy. We have to congratulate Hamas and say, 'O.K., you won.' Why not?" His own mainstream Fatah faction made many mistakes, he said. The vote "is a good lesson for Fatah to realize its position toward this and that and prepare themselves for the coming elections" for Parliament on July 17.
Fatah is already working to renew itself and bring in a younger generation "in parallel" with preparations for the elections, Mr. Abbas said, including work to form a new government, expected within the next week. Some in Fatah worry that Hamas could win more a substantial share of the vote, and Mr. Abbas is negotiating a new law with Hamas about how much proportional representation, which Hamas favors, will be used to elect legislators.
Mr. Abbas argued that democracy would help tame the radicals. "Of course they should be converted into a political party," he said. "It's good for us. We're talking about national unity."
He said he was not bothered that Hamas could construe the acceptance of Israel merely as a stage toward a Palestinian state, to be followed by a renewed desire to eliminate Israel. "Whether they consider it a stage or not, they will accept an Israeli state within the 1967 borders and they declare it," he said. "For me it is not a stage; for them it is a stage - O.K."
The Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, speaking for the right, has said that a cease-fire is not enough, and is just a "ticking bomb" until Mr. Abbas confronts and dismantles Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Mr. Abbas rejected the argument, but not entirely, saying: "If he will put preconditions, it will not work. It will not start. We say, 'We are now in a truce. Let's strengthen it, let us work to stabilize the whole situation.' Now Hamas and Jihad are running for the elections, and what does it mean? It means that they will be converted in time into political parties."
Mr. Abbas, who will be 70 on March 26, is a refugee, and says he will insist on the right of Palestinian refugees, under United Nations Resolution 194 of 1948, "to return back or to be compensated." But he says he is willing to negotiate this, as all other matters, with the Israelis.
"I don't think the Israelis have the right to say, 'No, we won't discuss it,' " he said. "We will ask them to discuss this resolution, and when we come to an agreement, on anything, of course we will accept it."
Mr. Abbas was born in Safed, in what was then British Mandate Palestine. He was 13 in 1948, during the Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel's establishment as a state. "I remember everything," he said. "It was 1948 when we have been deported from Safed to the Golan Heights to Damascus, and I remember every specific point," he said. "There was a war. We had to leave the city. The Israelis invaded the city, the Haganah at the time. We left our country."
With Safed in Israeli hands, Mr. Abbas said, he could not return until 1995, after the leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization were allowed to return to the territories after the 1993 Oslo accords. He wanted to go sooner, but the mayor of Safed organized demonstrations against the visit, he said.But in 1995, "I did go back, but secretly," he said. "The Israeli Ministry of Interior helped me to go discreetly there." He stopped, his face suddenly softer. "I was there for 5 or 10 minutes only," he said. "I was very, very sad. I was very sad."
He looked off toward the far wall, then continued, "Every place, every quarter, every building I remember. I saw my house. But I didn't go inside."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:32:16 AM ||
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#1
My surprise meter is pegging. What's going on here?
#7
talking the talk, in english. necessary, but not sufficient. Theres some improvement in the arabic talk, from what i understand - walking the walk is still at baby steps, but thats better than under Arafat. Trust but verify, like the man said.
Iran rejected a European offer aimed at limiting its nuclear fuel activities and warned Washington against "playing with fire" in an increasingly bellicose standoff between Tehran and the West.
Iran would not give up construction of a heavy-water reactor, which can be used to make nuclear weapons material, in exchange for a light-water reactor offered by the Europeans, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi insisted.
"We welcome such proposals but we will not under any circumstances replace our heavy-water research reactor," Asefi told a news conference.
"We will continue working on our heavy-water reactor," under construction at Arak southwest of Tehran.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer warned Iran it would be referred to the UN Security Council if Tehran resumed nuclear enrichment.
"If Iran behaves in an unreasonable way, if for example it restarts enrichment... then that would lead to the Security Council," Fischer told an international security conference in Germany.
Asefi was unimpressed.
"We have told the Europeans to tell their American allies not to play with fire and the Europeans received that message perfectly well," he said.
The conservative-controlled parliament has muddied the waters, drawing up draft legislation requiring Iran to produce some of its own nuclear fuel.
Key decisions on Iran's nuclear programme are taken at the highest levels of the regime, but MPs have approved legislation to make a symbolic point. Last October, they passed a bill advocating continued uranium enrichment.
Britain, France and Germany are trying to convince Iran it should dismantle an enrichment programme, which the United States says is part of a covert atomic weapons development, in return for economic and political rewards.
Diplomats said EU negotiators have offered to send a mission to help Tehran obtain a light-water research reactor in what would be the first concrete move towards rewarding it for abandoning uranium enrichment.
But Tehran's stance on the Arak reactor is likely to complicate the European task amid an escalating war of words between Iran and the United States over the clerical regime's nuclear activities.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely for civilian energy needs, but the United States -- less than two years after its invasion of Iraq (news - web sites) in March 2003 -- has hinted at the possible use of military force.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) has said an attack is not on the agenda for the time being but has urged Europe to take a tough line with Iran.
"We don't take Rice's threats seriously," Asefi declared.
"Rice and US officials know well Iran's capabilities (of responding)," he added.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that the United States has been flying drones over Iran since April 2004, seeking evidence of nuclear weapons programmes and probing for weaknesses in Iran's air defenses.
The revelation came after the US National Intelligence Council launched a broad review of its classified data on Iran to assess its alleged weapons drive, and its impact on regional and global security.
Tehran insists its talks with the so-called EU3 which began in mid-December, must have concrete results within three months if they are to continue.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, has acknowledged that if Tehran is referred to the UN Security Council, Iran cannot bank on avoiding sanctions.
"It is unlikely one of the permanent members would use their veto in favor of Iran," he said. Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the council's five permanent members.
Iran agreed last November to suspend uranium enrichment but as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it has the right to enrich for peaceful purposes.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:27:40 AM ||
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So, we are "playing with fire?" That's getting close to "sea of fire." Maybe the Norks have shipped other things to Iran.
#2
The administration is expecting that, by late spring or summer, the European track will fail
The is no way that the Euro solution/bribe/beg/plead/whine or whatever you care to call it can be considered anything but failed right now. The mullahs are playing for time and the Euro's don't appear to understand that.
Then what? A security council resolution or sanctions? ooooohhhhh.....how very scary for Iran.
At least the rest of the world will end up with another demonstration of how utterly useless and the UN is. Oh, I forgot, a nuclear armed Iran as well.
#3
Joschka Fischer warned Iran it would be referred to the UN Security Council if Tehran resumed nuclear enrichment . . . Asefi was unimpressed.
Come on, I'm sure they're shaking in their sandals over there in Tehran! I mean, it's the Security Council, man! The Security Council!
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/14/2005 11:28
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#4
JerseyMike-yep, and more. If the European strategy with Iran fails, the consequences are HUGE and we won't let it lie. Every one of us should keep shining the spotlight on our conflicting strategies because they apply to more than Iran.
So much of the current foreign policy rift between the US and Europe grew out of our different approaches in how to handle deadly impasses with malignant Islamic foreign powers. We moved pre-emptively on Iraq because we were unwilling to wait for catastrophe to land on us via Saddam; Europe and the much of the int'l community were willing to wait it out, just as they are now, by favoring soft power strategies. Should the outcome of Iranian nuclear ambition be a nuked-up Iran and the Islamicists remain in power, boasts about soft power working will go straight into the scrap heap of history and responsibility for the increased insecurity of the world will land straight in the lap of the "international community". Those powers that put the people of the whole world at risk because they were too sophisticated to believe in such things as good and evil are going to sound one collective gulp and face more than ridicule from Americans.
#5
"If Iran behaves in an unreasonable way, if for example it restarts enrichment... then that would lead to the Security Council," Fischer told an international security conference in Germany.
Asefi was unimpressed.
Yep, they saw what happened to ol' Saddy when the Security Council got together. More debating, more resolutions, none of which amounted to anything.
There's no reason to believe this time will be any different.
#8
Joschka Fischer warned Iran it would be referred to the UN Security Council if Tehran resumed nuclear enrichment . . . Asefi was unimpressed.
Hey, what do you know? Asefi and I agree on something. We are both unimpressed with Fischer's UNSC threats. Hey, we've made a start on understanding. We both agree that the EU's negotiations will go nowhere. Something to build on.
[/moron optimist rant]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 21:45
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Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be hiding out in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, local police sources said on Saturday, days after the interim government said it was hot on his trail.
"He came to Kirkuk from Mosul," a source in the Kirkuk police department said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There's a possibility that he might be captured at any moment."
There was no immediate comment from U.S. or Iraqi officials on the report that Zarqawi had moved to Kirkuk.
Iraqi officials have claimed in the past to be close to capturing the elusive militant, who has been behind many of the deadliest attacks in Iraq over the past year, including the kidnapping and beheading of several foreign hostages.
Iraq's interior minister said this month that Iraqi security forces were tracking Zarqawi and had recently come close to capturing him, missing him by only a few hours.
"We are following him," Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib told Pentagon reporters from Baghdad. "I think we missed him twice or three times, but hopefully next time we will be able to capture him."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:24:39 AM ||
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#1
Same story also in the UK's Observer newspaper yesterday.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
02/14/2005 9:41
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#2
Kirkuk is the wrong place for this guy - the Kurds know that area, and thats where Z's bombers are most unwelcome excpet by the Sunni bandits who were moved there by Saddam in an attempt to ethnically cleanse the area by displacing Kurds.
If the Kurds do capture Zarqawi, do not expect him to arrive in Baghdad for questioning with all his fingers and toes, nor with his eyes and eardrums and genetalia intact. He will be nice and psychologically broken, saving the Iraqi central government that particular chore.
#4
--If the Kurds do capture Zarqawi, do not expect him to arrive in Baghdad for questioning with all his fingers and toes, nor with his eyes and eardrums and genetalia intact. He will be nice and psychologically broken, saving the Iraqi central government that particular chore.--
#7
Not quite, phil_b; he's using Kirkuk as a "safe house" hoping to hide under the noses of the relatively peaceful Kurds, knowing the US won't rush into an arbitrary attack there! This could be an indication that his trail is heating up, perhaps only by a few hours ahead of the dogs sniffing him out!
#9
Kirkuk is the wrong place for this guy - the Kurds know that area, and thats where Z's bombers are most unwelcome excpet by the Sunni bandits who were moved there by Saddam in an attempt to ethnically cleanse the area by displacing Kurds.
If the Kurds do capture Zarqawi, do not expect him to arrive in Baghdad for questioning with all his fingers and toes, nor with his eyes and eardrums and genetalia intact. He will be nice and psychologically broken, saving the Iraqi central government that particular chore.
#10
Kirkuk is the wrong place for this guy - the Kurds know that area, and thats where Z's bombers are most unwelcome excpet by the Sunni bandits who were moved there by Saddam in an attempt to ethnically cleanse the area by displacing Kurds.
If the Kurds do capture Zarqawi, do not expect him to arrive in Baghdad for questioning with all his fingers and toes, nor with his eyes and eardrums and genetalia intact. He will be nice and psychologically broken, saving the Iraqi central government that particular chore.
Fresh fighting broke out between troops and Muslim rebels on the remote southern island of Jolo on Sunday, the seventh day of a military offensive against militants who have vowed to fight to the last man.
The military said three soldiers were killed and 13 were wounded when troops caught up with fleeing rebels in the island's interior on Sunday. It said the rebels suffered an undetermined number of casualties in air strikes and artillery fire.
"There's heavy fighting going on in Panamao and Luuk areas," Lieutenant-General Alberto Braganza, the most senior commander in the southern Philippines, told reporters. "They are taking a last stand in the mountains."
The military said on Friday about 60 rebels had been killed in clashes since Monday. It lost 30 soldiers, including a battalion commander hit by rebel mortar fire on an army base.
More than 15,000 civilians have poured into Jolo town, on the west coast of the island of the same name, to escape fighting in mountain villages.
Local officials renewed appeals for a ceasefire, saying food, medicines and blankets were running low despite government relief efforts.
"They do not like to surrender, they will fight to the death," said Absalom Cerveza, an ally of jailed separatist leader Nur Misuari and a member of the rebel panel that negotiated a peace deal with the government in September 1996.
He said he had talked to rebel leaders on Friday, telling reporters the fighters were "in high spirits and far from being crushed".
Braganza said an elite team of U.S.-trained counter-terrorist troops was flown to the frontlines on Sunday to reinforce nearly 4,000 soldiers fighting about 800 militants from the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and rogue members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) since a rebel ambush on Monday.
After the MNLF signed the peace deal brokered by Indonesia in 1996, some disaffected followers of Misuari formed alliances with Abu Sayyaf.
While the clashes on Jolo are the bloodiest since 2001, when 500 people were killed in a failed uprising led by Misuari, they are unlikely to affect peace talks with the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which broke from the MNLF in 1978.
Talks with the MILF, brokered by Malaysia, are due to resume next month in Kuala Lumpur.
No organised military campaign has ever been lastingly successful on Jolo island, dating back to the 16th century when Spain colonised the archipelago. The U.S. military also failed to contain local warriors on Jolo at the turn of the 20th century, at the start of the American occupation of the Philippines.
The Philippine military has also launched campaigns on Jolo after high-profile kidnappings by the Abu Sayyaf, but has not achieved much.
The rebels have control of the terrain and wide support from the local population. It is also easy for them to disappear in the jungles or melt among people in towns, and re-emerge at a time and place of their choosing.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:21:51 AM ||
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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Saturday that "terrorists" were entering Chechnya from Georgia and declared that Moscow reserved the right to launch preventive strikes against militants anywhere.
Ivanov's forceful comments at the Munich Security Conference in Germany came in direct response to a question from a Georgian minister. "We have killed so many foreigners in Chechnya carrying passports with a Georgian tourist visa in their pocketsâŠYou can't deny they are penetrating our territory through the territory of Georgia, that's a fact," Ivanov said.
"If⊠we know that some place in the world there are terrorists in hiding, plotting to carry out a terrorist act on Russian territory, should we wait and let them go, and then try to apprehend them? Or hit them straight away? I think the answer is clear," he added.
Russia has said before that it reserves the right to launch preventive strikes, which Ivanov — in a reference to U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Iraq — said were "not a Russian invention." But his remarks were especially pointed given that Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili had voiced her concern about Moscow's stance only minutes earlier. "I'm a bit worried by the accusations that terrorists were again crossing the border and the fact that you might use preventive strikes," she told Ivanov.
Russia has suggested Chechen separatists are in hiding in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, near the border with Chechnya. Georgia says the rebel fighters are no longer in the remote valley.
To Zurabishvili's further question as to why Russia retained two military bases in its former Soviet neighbor, Ivanov responded simply that there was no agreement so far on the status of the bases or how long they would remain.
Ivanov said Russian intelligence indicated between 150 and 200 fighters had been "posted by international terrorist organizations" to Chechnya.
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02/14/2005
12:19:30 AM ||
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Former Chechen rebel Vice President Vakha Arsanov was detained in Grozny last month, a Chechen rebel web site and Interfax confirmed Friday. The web site said he was being tortured in an unofficial prison run by Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov's security forces.
Kommersant, citing a senior FSB official in Chechnya, reported on Jan. 17 that Arsanov had been detained by Chechen OMON commandos. But the Chechen Interior Ministry, to which the OMON reports, denied any knowledge of it at the time, and the ministry's chief of staff described the newspaper report as "conjecture."
Rebel web site Kavkaz Center said Friday that Arsanov was detained in mid-January and transferred to the prison in the Kadyrov clan's home village of Tsentoroi. The web site said Arsanov is being tortured and being told to publicly denounce former rebel President Aslan Maskhadov and admit "the wrongness of the course of the Chechen people toward an independent state." Last week, Maskhadov called on Moscow to begin peace talks with the rebels.
Kavkaz Center said Arsanov's elder son went to Chechnya from Baku, Azerbaijan, in an attempt to assist his father and was also detained by Kadyrov's security force.
Interfax, citing "well-informed" Chechen law enforcement sources, said Arsanov was detained and that no arrest warrant had been issued for him beforehand. Chechnya's chief prosecutor, Vladimir Kravchenko, said his office was looking into the reports about the detention, Interfax reported. A spokesman for the federal troops in Chechnya, Major General Ilya Shabalkin, said he had no knowledge of the matter, while Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov and Chechen Security Council head Rudnik Dudayev declined to comment, Interfax reported.
Human rights groups said in late January that eight of Maskhadov's relatives who disappeared earlier in the month were being held at the Tsentoroi prison.
In October, Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov suggested detaining terrorists' relatives as a way to prevent attacks in the wake of the Beslan tragedy. Kadyrov said Sunday that he would consider suing human rights groups that accuse him of abductions, Itar-Tass reported.
Arsanov, who was elected vice president on the same ticket as Maskhadov in 1997, has reportedly been providing political support and protection to Chechnya-based religious extremists, who are widely believed to have undermined Maskhadov's authority in the waning days of the republic's de facto independence in the late 1990s. Maskhadov fired Arsanov as vice president in January 2001 for refusing to fight federal troops when the second Chechnya campaign started in 1999, Kommersant said.
This article starring:
ASLAN MASKHADOV
Chechnya
VAKHA ARSANOV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:17:54 AM ||
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#1
Vakha Arsanov ... was being tortured in an unofficial prison run by Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrovâs security forces. Well, Duh.
Other than the BGO he's being tortured...I'm totally confused.
Gunmen assassinated an Iraqi general and two companions in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on Sunday, and election officials said an alliance of Shiites won the most votes in the Jan. 30 elections.
On the military front, three U.S. soldiers were killed when their vehicle rolled into a canal Sunday, the military said. The men from Task Force Danger were on a combat patrol near the town of Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. command said in a statement.
In violence in the north, insurgents attacked a U.S. convoy and a government building near the city of Mosul, leaving at least four people dead, hospital workers said. Two Iraqi National Guard troops were also killed while trying to defuse a roadside bomb.
U.S. hopes for a larger NATO role in Iraq suffered a setback when German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Sunday rejected calls for the alliance to protect U.N. operations there. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also ruled out a U.N. security role.
In the Baghdad assassination on Sunday, the gunmen struck as Brig. Gen. Jadaan Farhan and his companions were traveling through Baghdad's Kazimiyah district, an Iraqi police officer said on condition of anonymity.
A claim of responsibility for the attack in the name of al-Qaida quickly surfaced on a Web site that often posts statements by Islamic militants. The claim described the brigadier general as a senior commander in the Iraqi National Guard and the guard commander at Taji camp, an American facility about 15 miles north of Baghdad.
There was no way to verify the claim's authenticity.
In the battle just north of Mosul, insurgents fired on the convoy in Al-Qahira district, leaving at least four people dead and two wounded, doctors at the Al-Jumhuri Teaching Hospital said.
Insurgents also fired a rocket at the governor's building in Mosul, killing one woman and one man, as well as injuring four others, officials at the hospital said. Two Iraqi National Guard troops were killed on Mosul's airport road while trying to diffuse a roadside bomb, police said.
NATO's role in Iraq has been limited to a small training mission in Baghdad and logistics support to a Polish-led force serving with the U.S. coalition. Iraq war opponents led by France and Germany have prevented the alliance developing a wider role, and have refused to send their own troops, even on the training mission.
Fischer, Germany's foreign minister, said his country would not veto a NATO decision to do more, if it was backed by the other 25 allies. But he insisted "we will not be sending soldiers to Iraq."
Fischer emphasized German efforts to help Iraq in other ways _ through military and police training outside the country, economic aid and debt relief.
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02/14/2005
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MAMDOUH Habib and Maher Arar have much in common. Both were born in the Middle East but live in the West, both were detained by the US as suspected terrorists, and both claim to have been tortured under the CIA's top secret "extraordinary renditions" program.
Few details are known of the renditions program. And the US Government intends keeping it that way: in a New York lawsuit begun by Arar, a Canadian citizen, the US is claiming "state secrets privilege" to avoid any discussion of the case.
With virtually nothing officially acknowledged, details of the rules, scope and size of the program are sketchy at best.
But former CIA officials say it does exist and, with the post-September 11 premium on the speedy acquisition of information on terrorism, appears to have expanded.
Some lawyers believe more than 100 people have been "rendered" secretly to foreign governments. According to media reports, the CIA is using a white GulfstreamV jet to shift people around. One such jet has been logged on numerous trips from Washington to restricted-access US military bases and countries such as Egypt.
There have also been the shocking allegations from people such as Habib and Arar - men the US insists are terrorist-linked and therefore not credible.
Habib, 49, an Australian-Egyptian released last month from Guantanamo Bay, says he was kidnapped by Americans and sent to Egypt for six months of torture shortly after being arrested in Pakistan in October 2001. (He says an Australian official witnessed the transfer; Australia denies this.)
Arar, 34, says the US grabbed him at a New York airport in September 2002 as he was returning to Canada after a holiday in Tunisia. He claims he was flown to Jordan by American pilots and then taken to Syria - where he was born - and tortured for nearly a year.
In an interview with The New Yorker magazine published last week, Arar says the pilots identified themselves on the radio as "the special removal unit".
Once in Syria, he claims, he was whipped with electrical cables, kept in a grave-like cell, and eventually confessed to anything he was asked. Only when the Canadian Government sought his release did Syria hand him back.
"They are outsourcing torture because they know it's illegal," Arar says in The New Yorker of the CIA program.
In Habib's case, he claims in a US court document that he was flown by Americans on a plane from Pakistan to Egypt.
The New Yorker says flight logs of a GulfstreamV jet suspected of being used in renditions show it left Dulles airport outside Washington on April 9 for Cairo, about the time Habib says he was released and sent by the US to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. From there he went to Guantanamo Bay.
Can any of this be true? Yes, says the man who helped set up the renditions program, former CIA officer and Islamic terrorist specialist Michael Scheuer.
Scheuer, who spoke to The Australian, is wary of claims that Habib was tortured, but does not discount it.
But he confirms the existence of the program itself - and says it would have made sense not only for Habib to be sent to Egypt, but for the US to have informed Australia of it.
"In the times I was responsible for these kinds of operations, we only had one that I recall that was a dual-citizen of another country," he recalls.
"And we did, indeed, inform that country of our intention to arrest and take this person to - I can't remember if it was Egypt - but the country was a traditional ally, and we did inform them beforehand and had their acquiescence."
Australia denies that it was ever officially told that Habib was sent to Egypt. But the Howard Government says it believes Habib was in Egypt - it just won't say how it knows that.
Scheuer says the renditions program was a response to a realisation at the CIA in 1996-97 that al-Qaeda and allies such as the Egyptian group Islamic Jihad posed a serious threat.
When the intelligence was shown to the National Security Council of former US president Bill Clinton administration, "it clearly got their interest" and the agency was asked to dismantle and disrupt the network, and detain Islamic terrorists.
"We said, 'Fine, OK, what do you want us to do with these people?' And basically, the response from the NSC was 'you figure that out'," Scheuer says.
The plan the CIA produced was to focus on individuals who were wanted in a third country, and during Scheuer's tenure he worked most closely and frequently with Egypt.
The idea was not to grab any terrorist and send them to a friendly Middle Eastern intelligence agency so they could be tortured, he stresses.
Instead, the CIA would hunt down the terror suspect, and if they were wanted or had been convicted in absentia in their home country, they would be delivered back to them.
The purpose was twofold - "to get them off the street and to find out if they knew anything pertinent to the protection of the US". The CIA would provide many of the questions for the interrogations.
"I can't answer the case of Habib - what I can tell you is I was never involved in one of these operations where we did not supply areas of interest or specific questions we wanted answers to," he says. "That's Intelligence 101."
Could ASIO material have been used by the Egyptians? Yes, but Scheuer says the CIA would only have passed on information drawn from Australian intelligence material with the permission of Australia.
"If it was something that would help us form a better question, we would want to do it. But we would not do it without the permission of the originating service," he says.
Why would the Egyptians be better at finding out than the CIA? They wouldn't, says Scheuer. "We simply had nowhere to take them and talk to them over a period of time," he says, while refusing to comment on claims that since the September 11 attacks the agency has acquired such foreign interrogation bases.
"The policy was never thought through in terms of 'where do we take these people?"'.
Scheuer says the FBI and Clinton administration did not want them in the US, where the legal process was too rigid, "and so the agency had to find a way to find the people, find a way to capture them, and then take them somewhere where some legal process would be undertaken against them".
Egypt was a favourite, because there were many Egyptians associated with al-Qaeda, and the Egyptians - well known to the CIA for decades - were willing to help. But the Egyptians would also have to say that they would treat the prisoner in accordance with their laws.
In every case, he says, CIA lawyers had to approve the rendition, and guarantees had to be obtained that the prisoner would be treated according to the country's legal system.
But while he gives some credence to Habib's claim to be caught up in this program, he is not so sure about the claims of torture.
"The view of the Egyptians as wanton torturers is Hollywood stuff," he says.
"They're much more professional and effective than that. But I can imagine them using much more physical methods of persuasion than Americans would ever use."
He says he has never heard of rooms filling with water that Habib claims to have been tortured in. "Certainly no one has ever said that to us," Scheuer says. "And frankly, it's not a question I'm going to look at very closely."
Why not? "If I have authority to deal with a foreign service and the lawyers have cleared it, then my responsibility is to do my best to protect America using that relationship, and I'm not going to look very hard for something that would destroy one potential avenue of protecting American interests."
And while Habib's allegations of Egyptian torture sound bizarre - he was allegedly electrocuted and hung on hooks, as well as shackled in rooms of rising water so he feared he would drown - that does not mean they are false.
When Habib's lawyers claimed in January that he had been held down so a prostitute could smear him with menstrual blood at Guantanamo Bay, the allegation was so nightmarish it seemed he had lost his mind or was lying.
Then, within a few days, a former US military translator at the base revealed in a draft from a book that such techniques had been used to try to shock the Muslim men into co-operating with their interrogators.
And in the past few days, The Washington Post reported that a US military inquiry has learned of several more cases where women soldiers used sexually provocative tactics - and sometimes smeared prisoners with red ink as mock menstrual blood - to try to break the religiously devout inmates.
The fake-blood claim underscores two important points now that Habib is back in Australia. It means that even the most repulsive and unlikely allegations about the treatment of terror suspects ought not be rejected out of hand.
And, whatever the truth of Habib's terrorist links, it adds some credibility to his claims.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:13:09 AM ||
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#2
The article doesn't say anything about these people being innocent of the crimes of which they are accused in their home country, just that the CIA delivered them there. We have a duty to try to protect the innocent, inasmuch as we can, but certainly not to protect the guilty.
#3
Um... were they members of AQ? Were they captured in uniform? If not, then they are owed nothing except a bullet in the brain. Offending someones' sensibilities is not torture. Moreover, nor is simply executing someone. (Mock executions are torture.) Notwithstanding that, if we don't enagage in torture of these individuals (effectively captured spies), it is merely because it is unseemly and ineffective, but these prisoners are due none of the courtesy we give to members of military organizations. And if the left doesn't like torture in principle, let 'em try and ban it in those countries who practice it as a matter of policy through their ineffectual protests (which never seem to happen). I can hear the crickets chirping...
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/14/2005 12:22
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A Shi'ite Islamist bloc won Iraq's first election since Saddam Hussein's overthrow, sealing the political resurgence of the long-oppressed majority but leaving the restive Sunni Arab minority in the cold.
The Electoral Commission said on Sunday the Shi'ite list, known as the United Iraqi Alliance, took around 48 percent of the vote. But that was less than the bloc had predicted and leaves it six or seven seats short of a majority in parliament.
A powerful Kurdish alliance came second with 25 percent, while a grouping led by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi'ite, came third with nearly 14 percent.
Few Sunni Arabs took part in the Jan. 30 voting, which means the minority that has traditionally ruled modern Iraq and held a privileged position under Saddam, a Sunni, will have just a handful of National Assembly seats and little political clout.
That could stoke the insurgency in Iraq which is being fought mainly by Sunni Arab guerrillas who want to drive out U.S.-led troops and overthrow the American-backed government.
The commission said 8.55 million Iraqis, or 58 percent of registered voters, cast ballots in the Jan. 30 poll, Iraq's first multi-party election for half a century. The number of valid votes was around 8.45 million.
In Washington, President Bush congratulated the Iraqi people "for defying terrorist threats and setting their country on the path of democracy and freedom."
The national vote was for a 275-member National Assembly that must agree on a president and two vice-presidents by a two-thirds majority. Those three officials will then agree on a prime minister and cabinet, and their choices must be approved by a majority in the assembly.
Sunni Arab turnout was low. Only two percent of eligible voters in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province cast ballots, and only 29 percent in the mainly Sunni Salahadin province. Sunnis make up about 20 percent of Iraq's 27 million people.
The main Sunni Arab group in the assembly will probably be a bloc led by President Ghazi al-Yawar, although it is set to have only around five seats. A secular party led by Sunni elder statesmen Adnan Pachachi looked unlikely to win any seats.
"The image of Iraq that these results suggest is not real. That is obvious," Pachachi told Reuters.
In another sign of tensions ahead, Kurds in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk erupted in celebrations after results showed them well ahead in the provincial vote -- an outcome that will anger Arabs and Turkmen, who also lay claim to the city.
With no bloc gaining dominance on its own, there has already been furious horse-trading to try to strike deals.
The United Iraqi Alliance insists that one of its candidates -- probably current Finance Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi or Vice President Ibrahim Jaafari -- be appointed prime minister.
The Kurds want their candidate, Jalal Talabani, to be president or prime minister. Under one scenario, the two blocs could do a deal with a Shi'ite candidate getting the prime minister's job and Talabani the presidency.
But Allawi, who visited Kurdistan on Saturday and met Talabani, may also try to form alliances to improve his chances. If he can make a deal with the Kurds and persuade some of the Shi'ite alliance to break away, he may be able to keep his job.
"Since it has no majority, the Shi'ite bloc now has not only got to hold together as a group, but form an alliance with others," said Rosemary Hollis, head of the Middle East program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
"The result reflects the fractious, cross-cutting nature of Iraq, where there are no neat divisions."
Even if Sunni Arabs are largely shut out of government, they could still potentially veto the new Iraqi constitution due to be written this year, causing political deadlock. One of the main tasks of the National Assembly is to oversee the drafting of a constitution which must be approved by a referendum.
Sunni insurgents who have relentlessly attacked U.S. troops, Iraqi security forces and officials have also turned their violence on Shi'ites, raising fears of sectarian civil war.
Iraq has announced it will close its land borders from Thursday to try to prevent a flood of foreign pilgrims arriving for Ashura, one of the holiest events in the Shi'ite calendar, when millions of people converge on shrines in Iraq.
A car bomb exploded near an Iraqi security forces checkpoint on the road between Hilla and Kerbala in a mainly Shi'ite area south of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least one person.
Suicide bombers attacked pilgrims in Baghdad and Kerbala last year, killing 171 people, and Ashura could be a flashpoint again this year, especially if the poll results fuel tension.
The bodies of two men who worked with Allawi's party were found in a rebellious district of Baghdad on Sunday, police said. In the northwest of the capital, gunmen assassinated two senior Iraqi army officers and their driver. The al Qaeda network in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack.
In the town of Baquba northeast of Baghdad, assailants shot dead a Communist party member who was also a local councilor.
In Mosul, a rocket attack on the city hall building killed at least two people, hospital officials said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:10:50 AM ||
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ACTUAL STATS Iraqi Election Commission...
Total Percent Seats
Registered Voters 15,167,369*
*-Number may be off - certain provinces only reported as %ages...
% Turnout 55
Non Participating 6,805,408* 44.87
Total Votes 8,361,961 55.13
Islamic Action Organization In Iraq Central Direction 43,205 0.51% 1 Seat(s)
Kurdistan Alliance List (Talibani) 2,175,551 25.73% 75
Unified Iraq Coalition (Sistani) 4,075,295 48.19% 142
Tukman Iraq Front 93,480 1.11% 3
Al Rafideen National List (Assyrian Christian) 36,255 0.43% 1
Iraqis (al-Yawer) 150,680 1.78% 5
National Democratic Alliance 36,795 0.44% 1
Islamic Group of Kurdistan Iraq 60,592 0.72% 2
Iraqi List (Allawi) 1,168,943 13.82% 40
Liberation and Reconciliation Gathering 30,796 0.36% 1
Nation Union (Communist) 69,920 0.83% 2
National Independent Cadres and Elites 69,938 0.83% 2
All Others 444,816 5.26% 0
A wanted Kuwaiti on Sunday blamed the government for a wave of violence in the pro-Western, oil-rich country, saying police wanted to stop militant Islamists from joining the anti-U.S. insurgency in Iraq.
"We're just on a holy mission, and dese guyz are trying to stop us!"
"If these young men were thinking of operating inside Kuwait, they would have done so a long time ago," Khaled al-Dosari told the London-based Islamic Media Centre in an interview, a copy of which was sent to Reuters. "The authorities wanted to arrest these young men after discovering they intended to go to Iraq for jihad (holy war). Now the authorities are liquidating them physically because there is no evidence against them to put them on trial."
The Kuwaiti coppers have been vigilant, haven't they? My how the pigs begin to squeal.
Kuwaiti officials have said al Qaeda-linked militants were involved in a series of shootouts with police in the Gulf Arab state since early January. Dosari is one of two main suspects still at large. Police say arrested militants confessed to planning suicide attacks against U.S. military and Western targets in Kuwait and say they have seized large weapons caches.
Dosari said Islamic militants had no intention of launching a campaign against Kuwait, but promised revenge for the death of Amer al-Enezi, a man described by police as the spiritual leader of Kuwait militants, who died in custody last week. "The blood of Amer and his brothers is not worthless and we will enter into a blood feud ... Amer and his companions wanted to go to Iraq but authorities killed them on America's orders."
"We will have Dire Revenge!"
Dosari denied the group had links to al Qaeda other than "a relationship of religion and blood" and disowned a media designation of the group as the "Peninsula Lions", under whose name statements appeared on Islamist Web sites.
Except that "a relationship of religion and blood" is everything, isn't it.
This article starring:
AMER AL ENEZI
Peninsula Lions
KHALED AL DOSARI
Peninsula Lions
Islamic Media Centre
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:08:25 AM ||
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The authorities wanted to arrest these young men after discovering they intended to go to Iraq for jihad (holy war). Now the authorities are liquidating them physically because there is no evidence against them to put them on trial."
The good news out of Iraq on Sunday: Election results, after two long weeks of counting, confirmed a large turnout. Despite insurgents' threats, 8.5 million Iraqis, 58% of eligible voters, cast ballots.
The better news: The cleric-led Shiite group dominated, as expected, but fell well short of the two-thirds majority needed to control parliament. So it will have to work with other groups.
Therein lies the key to Iraq's stability — and the hoped-for U.S. withdrawal.
The test for Iraq's new government is not how much it looks like the U.S. Even Vice President Cheney now concedes that it won't. It is whether the Shiites can create a secular, representative government stable enough for the U.S. to withdraw but not leave behind a terrorist haven.
Signs were promising after the vote count was completed Sunday. Shiite leaders went out of their way to assure the country's minorities that they would have a place in the new government. But the path ahead is challenging, particularly among Sunnis, 20% of the population.
Sunday's results confirmed that unlike the Shiites and Kurds, the Sunnis barely voted. They have only a handful of seats in the new 275-member assembly. They are angry at losing the power they enjoyed for decades under Saddam Hussein and others. And they are the insurgency's main supporters.
The Shiites have to convince Sunnis they won't use their new power to exact revenge for past torments. Most immediately, they have to find imaginative ways to include Sunnis in the next steps that will lay the foundation for the new Iraq — choosing leaders, drafting an inclusive constitution.
That process will begin almost immediately as political groups horse-trade in choosing leaders endorsed by the new parliament. Will a Sunni get one of the top jobs? Will Sunnis get key advisory posts even though they weren't elected?
Before the elections, Shiites in the victorious group promised to follow top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. He envisages a secular government guided by Islamic principles, not a repressive theocracy as in neighboring Shiite Iran. But other ayatollahs have made worrisome statements about a government guided by Islamic law.
For the Sunnis, meanwhile, the choice is whether to continue to be spoilers and fan the insurgency. Or be coaxed, as some Sunni leaders want, into the government. Much depends on how the Shiites handle them.
The U.S. has little to say about any of this, but the stakes could not be higher.
Success could drive a wedge between the Sunni and al-Qaeda elements of the insurgency, leading to more stability for Iraqis and an exit for Americans. Failure could produce civil war or ally Iraq with Iran.
For now, though, the news could not be much more encouraging.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:07:15 AM ||
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In the months before North Korea announced that it possessed nuclear weapons, the Bush administration began developing new strategies to choke off its few remaining sources of income, based on techniques in use against Al Qaeda, intelligence officials and policy makers involved in the planning say.
The initial steps are contained in a classified "tool kit" of techniques to pressure North Korea that has been refined in recent weeks by the National Security Council. The new strategies would intensify and coordinate efforts to track and freeze financial transactions that officials say enable the government of Kim Jong Il to profit from counterfeiting, drug trafficking and the sale of missile and other weapons technology.
Some officials describe the steps as building blocks for what could turn into a broader quarantine if American allies in Asia - particularly China and South Korea - can be convinced that Mr. Kim's declaration on nuclear weapons last week means he must finally be forced to choose between disarmament and even deeper isolation. China and South Korea have been reluctant to impose penalties on the North.
To some degree the effort arises from Washington's lack of leverage over North Korea, and the absence of good military options, and it is far from clear that the administration's development of what one official calls "new instruments of pressure" will work. More than four decades of economic embargos of Cuba, tried by nine presidents, have failed, largely because European, Canadian and Latin American allies have not joined in. Nor have they succeeded against the Burmese, also a major source of drugs. The Secret Service has tried for years to halt North Korean counterfeiting dollars, and Australia and Japan have tried to end its sales of amphetamines and heroin.
In interviews over the past three weeks, administration officials have denied that the renewed effort is part of an unstated initiative to topple Mr. Kim. But several officials say North Korea has stepped up its illicit trafficking and counterfeiting in part to make up for lost missile sales and a crackdown on cash transfers from North Koreans living in Japan, some of which are illegal.
"We think they are desperate to put more money into the nuclear program and we're trying to cut that off," said one senior official.
Some officials acknowledge that undermining Mr. Kim's hold on power could be a side effect of the program, if it was successful. "That wasn't the intent in drafting it," said one senior official involved in the process. "Whether it could be one of the results is anyone's guess."
Several officials cautioned, however, that the new "tool kit" did not yet constitute a plan of action because the United States was only slowly trying to engage other nations in the strategy. They said some of the new techniques had already been carried out, but would not say which ones.
Details were described by officials in one intelligence agency and two other government agencies. One official of a foreign government who has been briefed on parts of it confirmed some of the elements. On Sunday evening, Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, cast the effort as "complementary to our continued diplomatic efforts," but insisted that some of the techniques had been used for some time.
"We have been working with our allies and partners for some time now to stop North Korea's illegal activities, especially in counterfeiting and narcotics," he said. "We have a responsibility to protect our citizens, our allies and our economies. North Korea cannot continue its involvement in illegal activities. It must make a strategic decision and eliminate its nuclear weapons program."
Other officials said that while different agencies had been pursuing the North, the new effort represented the first time the White House was coordinating and expanding the tactics to put more pressure on Mr. Kim.
Several officials confirmed that the most recent proposal was drafted by Robert Joseph, the counter-proliferation chief at the National Security Council, before he left the administration in November.
Mr. Joseph is widely expected to be nominated for the post of under secretary of state for arms control and international security.
Two American officials cited, as an example of new pressure tactics, a Japanese law that goes into effect on March 1 that requires all ships to carry liability insurance against spills and other accidents. Almost no North Korean vessel meets the requirement, so it could halt most shipping traffic with North Korea.
Although the nuts and bolts of the proposed measures are not clear, officials appear to be working from lists they have been collecting of banks and companies that the North Koreans have been using. Tracking North Korean financial transactions has long been difficult; it often deals in cash, and through shell companies and unregulated banking centers.
White House officials have declined to say what role President Bush has played in the new strategy. But his dislike for Mr. Kim is well known, and his involvement in strategies to deal with him was described by one former official as "a lot more intense than you might think."
Advisers, military officials and American and foreign diplomats who deal with Mr. Bush on North Korean issues say he frequently criticizes Mr. Kim's human rights abuses, referring to him as "immoral" and "a tyrant," according to one official who sat in on a recent meeting. In a meeting in December with President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea, Mr. Bush spoke about how Mr. Kim lets his people starve.
"Roh said to him, 'Yeah, he's a bad guy, but we don't have to say it in public,' " said one official who has reviewed notes of the session. Mr. Roh's point was that turning the nuclear dispute into a personal confrontation, the way the Bush administration did with Saddam Hussein, could undercut any chance of diplomatic success in disarming North Korea.
Mr. Bush, the official recounted, responded, " 'Alright, I won't say it publicly,' or words to that effect, and so far he hasn't."
Officially, the Bush administration has never declared that "regime change" is its objective in North Korea, and Mr. Bush has expressed a willingness to offer a "security assurance" to North Korea pledging that the United States will not invade. Such an attack is considered nearly impossible, given North Korea's ability to destroy Seoul, South Korea's capital, about 40 miles from the border, and the fact that American intelligence does not know where the North's nuclear arms or all of its nuclear facilities are.
But Mr. Bush has never made any such assurances about attacking North Korea's economic lifelines. On Sunday, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who served under Mr. Bush's father when North Korea was making what the C.I.A. later concluded were its first two nuclear bombs, raised the possibility of a broad economic crackdown.
Appearing on the ABC News program "This Week," Mr. Baker told the host, George Stephanopoulos, that "there's a big gap" between abandoning the six-nation negotiations that had been sporadically under way for the past 18 months "and going to military force."
"There are many things we can do," Mr. Baker added.
"Quarantine?" Mr. Stephanopoulos asked.
"Quarantine is one," Mr. Baker said. "And perhaps the best one, of course, is sanctions by the United Nations Security Council for North Korea's violation of her promises to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the global community."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:06:04 AM ||
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More than four decades of economic embargos of Cuba, tried by nine presidents, have failed, largely because European, Canadian and Latin American allies have not joined in.
How did that little BGO nugget slip through the editors at Time?
Maharashtra Public Works Department Minister Chaggan Bhujbal and two former police officers would appear as defence witnesses in a special court on February 18 in a case registered against alleged terrorist Mohammed Afroz for waging a war against the nation. Hearing a plea by Afroz, special judge A P Bhangale of designated Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court asked Bhujbal, former city police chief M N Singh and suspended Deputy Commissioer of Police Pradip Sawant, to appear as defence witnesses on February 18.
The court, on February four, had issued bailable warrant against Sawant, asking him to appear on February 18 as defence witness to tender evidence in Afroz's case. The warrant was issued as Sawant failed to appear on earlier two occasions. Afroz was arrested on October two, 2002, on the charge of waging a war against the nation. According to police, he was part of the Al Qaeda network, which had planned to blow up House of Commons in UK, the Indian Parliament and Rialto Tower in Australia. Initially, he was booked under POTA but the POTA charge was dropped later and he is now being tried under IPC. Afroz had urged the court to examine Bhujbal and others as witnesses as they had sanctioned his prosecution at the relevant time.
This article starring:
MOHAMED AFROZ
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:04:26 AM ||
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Pakistan's ambassador to the US, General (Retd) Jahangir Karamat has said that there is no evidence that Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan sold nuclear technology to al-Qaeda or other militant groups.
The News quoted Karamat as saying that not only was Khan's network no longer in operation, the fact was that its entire Pakistani operation had been routed.
"I know for a fact that there is no evidence whatsoever for his ever having done business with Al Qaeda or with any other terrorist organisation. Khan's network is gone now. It's history. I'm positive that the network has ceased to operate. There may be people internationally who are underground and who in fact may be getting away with something while the focus remains on something which has been closed down," the paper quoted him as saying
He however, did acknowledge that some of Khan's international associates might still be carrying on the business forward.
He said that though Pakistan was not aware of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al Zawahri's whereabouts, Islamabad, he added had nevertheless broken the back of the group's presence in Pakistan, to the extent that only a mere 80- 100 low level operatives were holed up in the remote areas of the country.
"I don't think there are any more of those kind of leadership people in our urban areas. There are no sanctuaries now whatsoever. And if there are any 80-100 estimated people, they are now on the run and looking for places to hide. I don't think we should be looking at any resurgence of that kind of activity in the future," he added.
"As far as Osama bin laden is concerned, I couldn't tell you where he is. There's never been a sighting of this man who would be a head taller than anybody else in that area. And there's never even been a confirmed rumour or indication, in spite of all the interrogations that have been carried out, about where he is. If he is in that area, some remote part of Afghanistan or Pakistan, then he is probably confined to a house or a compound and he's not moving out from there," he further added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/14/2005
12:02:26 AM ||
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Pakistanâs ambassador to the US, General (Retd) Jahangir Karamat has said that there is no evidence that Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan sold nuclear technology to al-Qaeda or other militant groups.
(2005-02-13) -- With little international fanfare, Venezuela's popular President Hugo Chavez is quietly overseeing creation of a utopian society similar to Fidel Castro's Cuba, according to experts at several U.S. universities.
"Venezuela, an oil-rich land of 25 million citizens, has suffered for years under the vagaries of democracy and capitalism," said an unnamed professor at the University of Colorado (C.U.), "but Mr. Chavez has ushered in a new golden age of Venezuelan glory by...
-- unifying the judiciary,
-- reducing annoying dissent,
-- encouraging poor people to move onto land owned by rich people and grow crops,
-- replenishing the nation's supply of peacekeeping AK-47s and Russian military helicopters, and
-- replacing the old national anthem with a re-written John Denver song, "Almost Heaven, Venezuela."
The economy is expected to boom in the coming years, the expert added, as investors pour their resources into a nation committed to the common good of all of its citizens, and to stability and uniformity at the highest levels of government.
"When you look at the success of Castro's Cuba, you get an idea of what's possible if Chavez follows the same time-tested success principles," the C.U. professor said. "Venezuela will become a model of a new progressive vision for human societies worldwide."
In August 2004, Mr. Chavez received a ringing endorsement from the Venezuelan people during a recall election, when only 42 percent of the voters called for his immediate ouster.
Posted by: Korora ||
02/14/2005
12:02:22 AM ||
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EFL. Anyone got any history on how the Whigs faded into oblivion? Howard Dean, whose revolutionary bid to lead the Democratic Party fell short one year ago with the collapse of his presidential candidacy, received a second chance to rebuild the party on Saturday as he was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The former Vermont governor tapped into the grass-roots support that once fueled his presidential campaign to win over skeptical Democratic activists, who unanimously selected him to lead the party for the next four years. While pledging not to run for president in 2008, Dean said his work would pave the way for Democrats to win in all regions of the country. "If we want to win nationally, we have to start winning locally," Dean said. "Today will be the beginning of the re-emergence of the Democratic Party. The first thing we have to do is stand up for what we believe in." With Republicans in control of the White House, Congress and the majority of state capitals, Dean billed himself as the man to shake Democrats from their doldrums, vowing to make the party competitive in Southern and Western states. Before being handed the party's reins, Dean worked to convince Democrats that he had learned from the mistakes of his campaign, which was diminished by his controversial statements and unpredictable behavior. I'm not nuts. Well, not anymore. Yes, really.
In his acceptance speech, Dean said Democrats "cannot win if all we are is against the current president and his administration." But moments later, he lashed out against the budget proposed by the White House, saying: "It brings Enron-style accounting to the nation's capital and it demonstrates once again what Americans, all Americans, are now beginning to see--you cannot trust Republicans with your money." Oh, no! Ennnnnnnnnronnnnnnnnn! Coming up next... Hallllllllliburrrrrrrrrton! Any other outdated buzzwords for evil I can throw out there?
"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too"?
If Democrats are to be successful, Dean said, the party must convince voters that it is in their economic interest to support their candidates by offering a compelling alternative for protecting Social Security, improving health care and even balancing the federal budget. Okay. Let's see. 1.Euthanasia 2.Euthanasia 3.Surrender in Iraq and tax you into the Stone Age.
"I think I'll be living in red states in the South and in the West for quite a while," Dean said. "That's where we need a lot of work. I think that's where the people who are most skeptical about the Democratic Party are." He probably takes the Dimbo line that if they were dumb enough to vote for Bush, his superior intellect will make them easy pickins . Maybe John Fn Kerry can give him some of those "man of the people" tips that worked so well for him in the campaign?
To gain the support of a Democratic establishment he had once campaigned against, Dean pledged to leave legislative discussion to others, including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), both of whom had reservations about his candidacy. When attempts to find other candidates failed, the congressional Democratic leaders agreed to support him if he promised not to meddle in policy. I figure these two figured he wasn't screwy enough...
On Saturday, the Republican National Committee declined to criticize, with Chairman Ken Mehlman issuing a statement saying: "Howard Dean's energy and passion will add to the political discourse in this country and he will be a strong leader for his party." ...and he said to himself, "Karl Rove was right. With you're dealing with these people, this job isn't nearly as hard as it looks."
In replacing Terry McAuliffe as chairman, Dean emerged from a field of more than a half-dozen serious contenders, winning over Democrats skittish about elevating a politician from a Northeastern state with liberal traditions. So let's get another one in there! They'll never get it, will they?
Even as Dean prepares to travel across the country, several admirers said they hoped he would stick to his blunt, straight-talking ways. "I think you will see his bluntness, his directness, his energy and intellectual honesty," said Scott Maddox, the Florida chairman. "I'm a pickup truck-driving, gun-owning Southern chairman, with a bulldog named Lockjaw, and I'm perfectly comfortable with Howard Dean as chairman of the national Democratic Party." As long as that paycheck don't bounce, and I can keep this high paying party hack job, Howard's my man.
#1
The Bellman himself they all praised to the skies--
Such a carriage, such ease and such grace!
Such solemnity, too! One could see he was wise,
The moment one looked in his face!
He had bought a large map representing the sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.
"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply
"They are merely conventional signs!
"Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
But we've got our brave Captain to thank:
(So the crew would protest) "that he's bought us the best--
A perfect and absolute blank!"
-- Lewis Carroll,
"The Hunting of the Snark", Fit the Second
I saw a tv clip of dean talking to "young people" and he was such a piece of work. Apparenty thinking they would find his sports jacket to be offensive, he apologized for having to modify his look to appear to be an adult.
And I just thought how completely representative that was of today's Democratic party. Their desperate need to find approval by the "young people" in order to justify their leadership as the party of the hip, cool and nuanced.
These grandparents are absolutely terrified they might accidently see themselves in the mirror and discover that, despite their lifetime commitment to raging against the machine, they are, in fact, over 40.
Old people desperately needing acceptance by the young. So truly pathetic.
#4
I still like the reply from the elderly lady during the primaries, and I wish to hell I could find the quote, "I like that nice young man, you know, the Dean of Howard College." When informed the Dean of Howard was not running but that Howard Dean was she said, "Yes, that's the one".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/14/2005 14:49
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Skipper Of Damaged Sub Relieved
Dean takes over helm of the DNC
Does anyone else see the amusing coincidence in that these two articles are next to one-another...
Monday, February 14, 2005 - The internet newspaper worldtribune.com reported last week that Israel Air Force F-16s intercepted and downed two Syrian MiG-29 Fulcrums over the Mediterranean on Sept. 14, 2004. The article was based on a false report from the Washington D.C.-based Reform Party of Syria, a group which has tried for years to sway public opinion in favour of Syria.
Hah, I knew this story smelled funny
The report from the Reform Party of Syria was based on a dubious story about a September 2001 incident in which IDF/AF F-15 Eagles allegedly downed two Syrian MiG-29 Fulcrums. Apparently, the Reform Party of Syria kept the story, but changed that date and the type of aircraft involved. All other details (including pilot names) were identical and typewritten on the same computer as the 60 Minutes Texas Air National Guard story.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
11:23:28 AM ||
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Wasn't the original link from here to Debka? Shouldn't that have rung some alarm bells right off?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/14/2005 12:00
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Hang on....they are trying to puff themselves up by saying they got their asses kicked? I thought UBL cleared all that up with his weak horse/strong horse parable.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/14/2005 12:04
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#3
They are hoping the EU pricks will feel sorry for their stupid asses and pick on Israel some more.
#8
Hang on....they are trying to puff themselves up by saying they got their asses kicked? I thought UBL cleared all that up with his weak horse/strong horse parable.
The Reform Party of Syria is opposed to the Baathist regime, which is why they are in DC. Typical Dissidents collecting bad stories about the government, whether true or not.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/14/2005 20:47
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WASHINGTON (AP) - A test of the national missile defense system failed Monday when an interceptor missile did not launch from its island base in the Pacific Ocean, the military said. It was the second failure in months for the experimental program. A statement from the Missile Defense Agency said the cause of the failure was under investigation.
A spokesman for the agency, Rick Lehner, said the early indications was that there was a malfunction with the ground support equipment at the test range on Kwajalein Island, not with the interceptor missile itself. If verified, that would be a relief for program officials because it would mean no new problems had been discovered with the missile. Previous failures of these high-profile, $85 million test launches have been regarded as significant setbacks by critics of the program.
Even if they suceeded, the critics would declare it a failure
In Monday's test, the interceptor missile was to target a mock ICBM fired from Kodiak Island, Alaska. The target missile launched at 1:22 a.m. Monday EST without any problems, but the interceptor did not launch.
The previous test, on Dec. 15, failed under almost identical circumstances. The target missile launched, but the interceptor did not. Military officials later blamed that failure on fault-tolerance software that was oversensitive to small errors in the flow of data between the missile and a flight computer. The software shut down the launch; officials said they would decrease the sensitivity in future launches.
A non-launch failure is a good thing. Much easier to trouble shoot than a in-flight accident.
Before the Dec. 15 launch, it had been two years since a test. The program had gone five-for-eight in previous attempts to intercept a target. No date for the next test has been announced. It is unclear how continued test failures would affect two experimental interceptor bases in Alaska and California.
Those two bases, Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., are positioned to oppose the threat of attack from North Korea. Both are still classified as experimental but, officials say, they could fire interceptors in an emergency. The Pentagon has not declared those bases "operational," but officials say they would work anyway once certain mechanical blocks are removed from the interceptors themselves. Six interceptors are at the Alaska site, with two more in California as a backup. Up to 10 more will go into silos in Alaska this year, officials say.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
11:08:35 AM ||
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The stealth program took up over a decade and tens of billions of dollars - and all it did was enable the Air Force to bomb (or nuke) enemy cities with impunity - a functional we already had via ballistic missiles and submarine- or ship-launched cruise missiles. Given that the point of this project is to prevent tens of millions of our people from being incinerated, it is worth quite a bit more than tens of billions of dollars to get it right.
#2
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the system. Like all other complex systems, it has lots of teething problems that need to be worked out.
AMRAAM was nearly cancelled in the mid-80s, as it looked like it would never work. The XB-17, XB-29, XP-38 (and maybe others) all crashed. The M-16 had a disastrous debut in 'Nam.
[I happen to work at a major sub-contractor for this thing, but I work on a different program.]
Posted by: mojo ||
02/14/2005
11:07:39 AM ||
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"We expect an official apology from Britain," NPD leader Udo Voigt told Reuters on the margins of the march.
Demand your apologies from the a**hole responsible for getting this firestorm rained down on you. Oh wait- you can't. The filthy chickensh*t killed himself before he could be brought to justice.
#6
What idiot inscribes his weapons with his group affiliation? I think somebody was set up to make the .gov look good . . . some intel guy taking one for the team.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/14/2005 22:50
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February 14, 2005: Never underestimate the value of good will. In Kuwait, efforts by Islamic radicals to set up terrorist operations have, so far, been constantly thwarted. The main reason is the willingness of many Kuwaitis to tell the police what they see, which, for example, has enabled the police to destroy three terrorist cells in the past month. Eight terrorists and four policemen were killed during these operations. But 18 terrorist suspects were arrested, and several more are now known and being sought. Many Kuwaitis are still appreciative of American efforts to liberate them from Iraqi occupation in 1991. But there is also a major culture clash going on in Kuwait between conservative and moderate Moslems. The conservatives are a minority, but they are using their, largely self-assigned, occupation of the moral high ground, to try and impose their social and political ideas on all Kuwaitis.
More so than in Saudi Arabia, the homeland of Islamic radicalism, Kuwaitis are resisting the call for strict application of Islamic law to all facets of life. One way of resisting is not tolerating the presence of Islamic terrorists. Kuwaitis can see what that has done up north in Iraq. The Kuwaiti police and intelligence services have taken advantage of the anti-radical attitudes of most Kuwaitis, and have established an informer network that makes it difficult for Islamic radical Kuwaitis to set up terrorist operations. Kuwait is a very family oriented society. Everyone knows everyone else in extended families and clans. If one of your cousins has grown a beard, spends a lot of time at the mosque, and owns an AK-47, you'll know about it. Foreigners are carefully watched, especially those from Saudi Arabia.
The Islamic terrorists are reacting to these police tactics, but are having a hard time "disappearing" in a society that places so much emphasis on "belonging." In Kuwait, "don't be a stranger" isn't a friendly comment, it's an order.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
10:52:59 AM ||
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I remember reading after 9/11 that Kuwait was going to institute shari'a but then 9/11 happened and it went on the back burner.
Maybe Iraq will loosen up the parliament. They keep voting down more rights for women.
And they're making tons o' money from Iraq and US.
#3
Hey Sarge, don't listen to that MSM Crap. Kuwait Proper is as meek as a lamb these days. I have spent a lot of time gunning for //classified// over there, and besides being shot at every so often, the whole country is just a big cream puff in a big hurry to go somewhere. Remember R-Burgers, this Valentines' Day, don't forget to Shoot, Move, Communicate, Secure, & Sustain.
#4
And don't forget that there is no love lost between the Saudis and the Kuwaitis. The average Saudi thinks the Kuwaitis are rich a**holes. The emnity flows right back the other way.
February 13, 2005: The U.S. Air Force is buying fifteen more MQ-1 Predator UAVs, as well as 140 Hellfire missiles to be used on them for hunter-killer missions. Predator has proved to be particularly effective at hunting enemy troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other areas where terrorists are being sought. But the air force does not have enough Predators (only 58 are in service now) to fill all the requests.
The air force is also spending nearly eight million dollars to get the Viper Strike weapon working on the Predator. Viper Strike is a 36 inch long unpowered glider. The 130mm diameter (with the wings folded) weapon weighs 44 pounds. Because the Viper Strike comes straight down, it is better suited for urban warfare. Its warhead only contains four pounds of explosives, meaning less damage to nearby civilians, while still powerful and accurate enough to destroy its target. A laser designator makes the Viper Strike accurate enough to hit an automobile, or a foxhole. Moreover, a Predator can carry two Viper Strikes in place of a single, hundred pound, Hellfire missile.
The air force is eager to get Predators everywhere the army, marines or SOCOM wants them. This is because all of those people are also developing UAVs that can carry Viper Strike, and day/night vidcams. If the air force loses demand for its services, it loses money to buy new aircraft, and hire more people.
And we can't have that happen
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005
10:43:05 AM ||
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Interesting. Since they don't have pilots, I would figure the pilot mafia would fight against them, just as it's hard to get the Navy to buy Mines.
USS San Francisco Commander Guilty Of Hazarding Vessel Registration required, entire article
The captain of a submarine that hit a seamount Jan. 8 in the western Pacific Ocean, killing one crewman and seriously injuring 23 others, has been found guilty of operating the submarine unsafely and has been issued a letter of reprimand, effectively ending his career.
Cmdr. Kevin Mooney, the captain of the USS San Francisco, was permanently relieved as skipper after an administrative proceeding known as an admiral's mast. The proceeding was convened by an order of the commander of the Seventh Fleet, Vice Adm. Jonathan Greenert.
Cmdr. Ike N. Skelton, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, said late Friday night that Greenert determined during the investigation that Mooney failed to follow "several critical navigational and voyage planning" standards.
"By not ensuring those standards were followed, Mooney hazarded the vessel," Skelton said, reading from a statement issued by Greenert.
The mast concluded that Mooney's crew had access to charts that showed there might have been an underwater obstruction in the area, and that a sounding taken just minutes before the accident did not correlate with the charts that were in use at the time, which should have prompted him to be more cautious.
The news stunned several Navy sources who have been following the accident investigation, particularly because Mooney's actions after the accident were characterized as heroic by everyone familiar with the situation. Despite extensive damage to the ship, he and his crew got it to the surface and kept it floating long enough to limp back to its homeport of Apra Harbor, Guam.
The San Francisco was heading to Australia when it came to periscope depth a little more than 400 miles southwest of Guam to fix its position accurately. Minutes after diving, and while traveling at a high rate of speed, the submarine slammed into a seamount in an area where official Navy charts list 6,000 feet of water.
Other charts of the area, however, show muddy water in the area, which normally indicates shallowness, and other government agency charts show evidence of the seamount less than 150 feet below the surface.
The grounding destroyed three of the four ballast tanks in the submarine's bow, shattered the sonar dome and smashed the sonar sphere. In addition, a bulkhead at the front end of the ship was buckled.
Machinist Mate 3rd Class Joseph Ashley was killed when he was thrown more than 20 feet and struck his head on a large pump. Almost two-dozen others were injured so badly they could not perform their duties, though they have all since been treated and released from the hospital in Guam. Seventy-five others received less severe injuries.
The crew saved the ship by constantly running a low pressure blower meant for only intermittent use to force water out of the badly damaged forward ballast tanks, as well as using exhaust from the ship's diesel motor to augment the blower.
Despite the force of the blow, the nuclear reactor and the ship's turbine generators continued to operate normally, and even sensitive electronic and navigation gear continued to function.
On Jan. 20, Mooney was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 15 in Guam, pending the results of an investigation to determine the cause of the sub's grounding. Cmdr. Andrew Hale, the squadron's deputy commander, assumed duties as captain of the San Francisco.
The mast means that Mooney will not face a more serious proceeding known as a court martial, but the letter of reprimand and the decision to relieve him of command "for cause" means that his promising career is over, the Navy sources said.
In a related development, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff A. Davis, a spokesman for the Pacific submarine force commander, said late Friday night that assessment of the damage to the San Francisco is proceeding and that shipyard workers in Guam are planning to make temporary repairs to the bow of the ship so it can be moved under its own power to a shipyard where it can be repaired.
Although the location where it will be repaired has not been determined, Navy sources said it would likely be Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, or Bangor, Wash.
"These temporary repairs will be engineered to ensure a successful transit," Davis said. "As part of having on-hand materials for potential use in these temporary repairs, a large steel dome about 20 feet high and 20 feet in diameter will be arriving at Guam in the next few days. As of now, no decisions have been made about when USS San Francisco will depart Guam, where it will go, or what her final disposition will be."
Other Navy sources said that if the assessment determines it makes sense to repair rather than scrap the San Francisco, the Navy will likely use the entire bow section from the recently decommissioned USS Atlanta to replace the badly damaged bow of the San Francisco.
#2
Mooney failed to follow âseveral critical navigational and voyage planningâ standards.
If you're not cheating, you're not trying. No boat would ever leave the pier if it followed all the standards required of it. Not only does no boat follow all the standards, but the vast majority of the procedures, instructions, notices are not even read. There simply is no time.
I remember walls in our off-crew offices in Charleston of binders of instructions. Every level of the chain of command puts out instructions - boat, squadron, group, on up to Navy. Chop to a new fleet, squadron, group - a new set of standards applies. All must be followed. Every commander that come's along, adds to the list.
I remember holding a 10 pound instruction in my hands at sea and thinking, if my ship sinks because we were 10 pounds heavy, I am going to be pissed. All of submarining has been reduced to trying to read the standards and follow them. Initiative and independent thinking are the kiss of death in the submarine force.
Every submariner with a conscience eventually comes to the conclusion that the purpose of written guidance is not to make operations better, but to provide ammo to nail submariners who tried to make decisions in good faith, under trying circumstances and with little sleep. At some point every submariner will screw up and leave his guts on the deck for any upper echelon punk to stomp on.
Nothing of use will be learned from this event. All the instructions will be revised and amplified with further steps and cautions all of which will never be read except at some mandatory training that submariners everywhere will be woken up to attend. They won't hear anything at such training because they either will have fallen back asleep or they will be zoning-out in a mental fog.
If they are serious about improving operations, then for goodness sake, abolish the 18 hour operational cycle. Human beings work on a 24 hour cycle in case the instruction-writing weenies have not noticed.
#4
that a sounding taken just minutes before the accident did not correlate with the charts that were in use at the time
That's cause. SOP requires checking your sounding against the chart. If the sounding doesn't match the fix, both are in question. They should have slowed down until they got another sounding. Even worse if the sounding they got was less than the yellow or red limit -> either you aren't where you think you are, or you Nav screwed up.
Other charts of the area, however, show muddy water in the area, which normally indicates shallowness, and other government agency charts show evidence of the seamount less than 150 feet below the surface.
That one's bogus, you can't use a detailed area chart for a transit. You'd be changing charts 5 times a watch. Though presumably the Nav team would look at the detailed chart when laying out the track.
Chop to a new fleet, squadron, group - a new set of standards applies.
Nav standards were promulgated by SubPac, unless it's changed recently. It's not even that thick. The operational manuals are (were) alot less verbose than the admin ones, after all, someone actually has to use them.
Sister Lucia Marto, the last of three children who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in a series of 1917 apparitions in the town of Fatima, has died, Portuguese media reported. She was 97.
Sister Lucia, a Roman Catholic nun, had been ill for the past three months and died Sunday at the Convent of Carmelitas in Coimbra, 120 miles north of Lisbon, TSF radio reported, citing family sources.
Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes called Lucia's death "very emotional news."
Lucia and two of her cousins, siblings Jacinta and Francisco, said in 1917 that the Virgin Mary had been appearing to them once a month and predicting events, such as world wars, the reemergence of Christianity in Russia, and one that Church officials say foretold the 1981 attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. The appearances took place on the 13th day of each month in Fatima, a town about 70 miles north of Lisbon.
The first sighting was May 13, and the appearances took place for another five months, ending abruptly in October of that year.
Shortly after, both Jacinta and Francisco died of respiratory diseases. But Lucia became a nun and penned two memoirs while living in convents.
The Catholic Church later built a shrine in Fatima, which is visited each year by millions of people from around the world. More than 100,000 people from dozens of countries routinely attend the annual commemorations of the sightings.
The pope has visited three times since becoming pontiff in 1978, spending a few minutes with Lucia during a 1991 trip to the site. He has claimed the Virgin of Fatima saved his life after he was shot by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter's Square in 1981. The attack, on May 13, coincided with the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, and John Paul credits the Virgin's intercession for his survival.
In 2000, he visited Fatima to beatify Jacinta and Francisco.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/14/2005
10:03:08 AM ||
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#1
I once talked with a fortune teller who took his job seriously, unlike the typical fraud. "People want me to 'see' the future, but they have a strange idea of what the future looks like: like watching the TV news, or reading a newspaper. What if someone asked you to 'see' the present? "Uh, I'm sitting here talking to you" "But what about my Uncle Frank?" "I've no idea what he's doing right now" So what about the future? 'Well, okay, next Tuesday I'm at home having dinner then going to bed. Well, that's what I see in the future'. And that brings up the second problem: 99.999% of everything people do is boring and repetitious. Try 'seeing' the future without having a 'fast forward' button. 'Okay, I see you lying in bed sleeping, but you are older and fatter.' It's not like people go around talking about interesting things that happen to them all the time, hoping some seer will see them talking out loud and tell them what they said before they say it. Then there is the probabilities thing: some things *will* happen, such as your getting older, unless you die. Other things, like lottery numbers have a lot more possible outcomes. This is why fortune tellers rarely hit on the lotto." "But," he continued, "for most people that is all academic. They don't care about what the future really holds--knowing that information wouldn't change them one bit--they want you to *change* their future for them, somehow." "And the best part is, that even if you tell them what to do to change their future, like 'go on a diet', they won't do it.
#2
Not a Catholic - but, we cannot understand those who have had mystical experiences. Now as to visions absolutely... As to actual correspondence to actual events. Like Nostradamus. The devil (so to speak) is in the interpretation...
RIP Sister
#3
it's true and we were all much more powerful and interesting persons in previous lives. I, for instance was Caesar, and Ben Franklin (and yes, I did get the chicks) heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2005 19:14
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#4
This was Paul Atreides problem in Frank Herbert's Dune series. If you can see the future, truly see every moment, it woould probably drive you mad. Nothing would be a surprise, nothing wondrous. Just boring, day to day drivel.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/14/2005 19:53
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Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a billionaire who helped rebuild his country after decades of war but resigned last fall amid a sharp dispute with Syria and its Lebanese allies, was killed Monday in a massive bomb explosion that tore through his motorcade. At least nine other people were killed and 100 wounded, including a former economy minister, in the blast, which raised immediate fears that Lebanon — largely peaceful since the 1990 end of its civil war — was headed toward a new and bloody twist in the continuing and divisive dispute over Syria's role. The Lebanese National News Agency, quoting a statement from American University Hospital, said Hariri was pronounced dead on arrival, his body mutilated in the massive explosion.
Former Economy Minister Bassel Fleihan, a member of parliament in Hariri's bloc, was severely wounded and admitted to the intensive care unit of the American University Hospital, said another pro-Hariri legislator, Atef Majdalani. Hariri's own Future TV reported that Fleihan was in critical condition and the hospital was preparing to transfer him abroad.
An emergency Cabinet meeting was called and Lebanon's supreme defense council — security Cabinet ministers, top leaders and military officials — were in session at the presidential palace, a presidential spokesman said. Syrian President Bashar Assad said he "condemned this horrible criminal action," according to SANA, Syria's official news agency. Assad urged the Lebanese people to reject those who "(plant) schism among the people" during this "critical situation."
Hariri's assassination removes a main political buffer in a country divided among an opposition strongly opposed to Syria's role, and the pro-Syrian government camp. Hariri's supporters quickly took to the streets, chanting his praises outside the American University Hospital where he was declared dead. In his hometown of Sidon, supporters blocked roads and burned tires.
The explosion at 12:55 p.m. was so powerful that Hariri's motorcade of bullet-proof vehicles was left a burning wreck. It was not immediately known whether the explosives had been planted in a car or a building, but they blew a 10-meter-wide crater in the street and shattered windows of hotels and apartment buildings. At least 20 cars were set on fire in a blast that devastated the front of the famous St. George Hotel, blowing off balconies, and damaged a British bank and the Phoenicia Hotel. Bystanders and ambulance workers made crude stretchers to carry the wounded to vehicles to take them to nearby hospitals. TV footage showed several men dragging a slain victim partially covered by a brown blanket through the rubble-strewn street before letting go of his arms and letting him fall to the ground. Flames still licked from his body and his face appeared grossly disfigured by burns.
There was no credible claim of responsibility. The Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel said its Beirut office received a call from somebody who said a previously unknown group had killed Hariri. "This appears to be a very powerful car bomb that affected at least two city blocks in their entirety. Glass was broken in windows from skyscrapers about a mile away from the explosion," CBS Newsman Edward Yeranian reports. "Explosions have been fairly rare in Beirut over the last several years," said Yeranian. "There was a Lebanese politician that was targeted about 3 months ago, but there were very few victims, and it was a very limited area that was affected."
Hariri was a self-made billionaire who led Lebanon for 10 of the years since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. He was elected prime minister in 1992 and served until 1998, forming at least three Cabinets. He was elected again in 2000 and served until he resigned in October. Hariri moved toward the opposition camp after leaving office — in large part because of a dispute concerning Syria's controversial role in Lebanon. Hariri had rejected a Syrian-backed insistence that his old rival, President Emile Lahoud, remain in office as president for three more years. Pro-Syrian allies of Lahoud accused Hariri of being behind the U.N. Security Council resolution in September that demanded Syria withdraw its army from Lebanon and stop interfering in the country. The resolution was sponsored by the United States and France. Hariri was credited with rebuilding Lebanon from the destruction of the civil war, but he was faulted with shackling Lebanon with a debt of more than US$35 billion. His wide international business and political connections helped earn Lebanon wide recognition and attracted badly needed foreign investment.
TV footage showed dramatic scenes of one burning man struggling to get out of a car window, then falling on the ground. He was helped by a bystander who used his jacket to put out the flames, but it was not clear if he survived. Several young women were seen with blood running down their faces. Some had to be helped from the scene. Heavily armed security forces cordoned off the area with yellow tape as rescue workers and investigators combed the scene apparently looking for casualties or clues to what caused the huge explosion.
#5
Update: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has been assassinated in a car bombing in central Beirut, Tourism Minister Farid Khazen has confirmed. The blast, which reports say killed about nine people, caused widespread damage and left about 20 cars ablaze. The bombing occurred beside the derelict St Georges Hotel, near the city's harbour. It caused a huge crater in the street, and left vehicles smouldering and shop-fronts blown out and blackened. Mr Hariri was on his way back from parliament when his motorcade was attacked near the waterfront in west Beirut.
Mr Hariri has been the leading Lebanese politician since the end of the civil war in 1990, and prime minister for most of the last 15 years. He resigned in October amid differences with Lebanon's pro-Syrian President, Emile Lahoud.
"Nothing personel, Rafik. Just business"
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005 9:10
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#6
One wonders what Islamic politics must have been like before the discovery of black powder.
#8
this is the kind of stuff Machiavelli, and the Borgias knew about, more than its got anything to do with Islam per se - if it turns out to be AQ id be very surprised. Could be Hezbollah, acting as front for Syria.
#9
One wonders what Islamic politics must have been like before the discovery of black powder.
They'd just wack his head off with a sword. Some things never change, do they?
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005 10:43
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#10
Shalom, who was meeting with French President Jacques Chirac when he heard about the explosion,
#11
No question in my mind it was Syria. I smell pita bread and Bashir's been cooking. End game is to limit US influence in Syria's sphere. They lost Iraq all they have left is Lebanon.
#14
I wonder if Assad drafted his condemnation before or after the blast.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/14/2005 12:00
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#15
I dunno, BD, he may be looking at the Sadat treatment soon.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 12:11
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#16
A self-made billionaire. Hariri went to Saudi as a math teacher, saw opportunity and embedded himself, somehow, with Fahd. The latter liked whatever Hariri was providing, set him up in the construction business, and had Hariri's firm gobble up palace-building contracts. Fahd even gave him Saudi citizenship. The guy went back to Beirut and the rest is history. I wonder if there's a good bio of the guy someplace.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
02/14/2005 13:25
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#17
Purported al Qaeda suicide bomber shown on video claiming assassination of Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri was identified as Palestinian called Ahmed Abu Addis. Lebanese security agents raided his Beirut home hours after murder.
Muslim, Christian, Druse opposition leaders in Beirut join forces against pro-Syrian government in Beirut and vow not to rest until Syria is out of Lebanon. Rallies in Beirut and Sidon murdered politicianâs home town born.
The Syrian Intel dude that came up with the idea will learn the law of unintended consequences in no time... I am no sure Assad OK-ed it, but if he did, he's an idiot.
I amnot sure how well would it be received by Lebanese that the assassin was one of Paleos. They (Paleos) may be experiencing some "difficulties" from lebanese for some time to come.
Enraged Lebanese Muslim, Christian, Druse opposition leaders in Beirut declare pro-Syrian government illegal, blame Damascus for Rafiq Haririâs murder.
Lebanese army, security forces mobilized and deployed at key points in capital and across country. Syrian army ordered to stay in barracks.
#21
LH, he took credit for it: BEIRUT, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Lebanese security forces said on Monday they had stormed the Beirut home of a man they identified as a Palestinian who appeared in a video claiming responsibility for the killing of a former Lebanese prime minister.
A Lebanese security source said Ahmed Aboul Adef was not in the house. He had earlier appeared in a video aired by Al Jazeera claiming responsibility for the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Hariri was killed by a car bomb on Monday.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005 15:15
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#22
Man, being a cop in the ME is, from the investigator POV, a phreakin' breeze! All the bad guys cut videos of themselves. Sheesh! Prosecutor Heaven - assuming they don't die in the act or arrest process, heh.
#25
So does the process of arresting this Palestinian involve the use of a squeegee?
Posted by: ed ||
02/14/2005 15:24
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#26
The powerfully armed motorcade of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was no match for the car bomb that gouged a massive blackened crater into Beirut's gleaming Corniche.
A blast so huge it blew out windows more than one kilometre away ripped apart the Mercedes vehicles like toys and engulfed the car Hariri was driving in fierce flames.
It was a big freeking bomb, and it seems jarred loose a few brain cells....
So advanced was the bomb, security sources said, that it defeated jamming equipment so hi-tech that Hariri's passing convoy would interfere with cell phones and televisions.
Or, it was so low tech it couldn't care less about your jammers, like a guy sitting in the car with a button.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/14/2005 15:26
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#27
Well that was fast, for the video to show up.
I reserve judgement. Its VERY convenient for the govt of Syria for such a video to show up. This guy Hairari was not particularly an enemy of AQ, and its hard to see what they gain by it (yeah i know he was a pal of KSA, but thats a thin motivation, I think) Whereas he was a major threat to Syria.
#28
Isn't much of the leadership of AQ known to be in Iran, such as the head of the miliary head as well as the bin Laden wives and children? Just doing a favor for their hosts.
Posted by: ed ||
02/14/2005 16:14
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#29
I doubt it has anything to do with AQ, despite what may be on the tape. It simply does not make much sense. The justification would be a real streeeetch.
Most likely candidates that would be inclined to think they would gain:
1. Syria (Army and Security elements, I have doubts that Assad is really such an idiot)
2. Hizbollah pupeteered from Iran
#30
Of course this is a Syrian operation. What the Islamic fanatics of the Iranian linked Hizbollah or AQ can provide is the readily available pool of jihadis who will blow themselves up at their master's command. Don't see too many Baathists pressing the auto-hamburger switch. They want their rewards in this world.
Posted by: ed ||
02/14/2005 17:58
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#32
I agree with Ed for 3 reasons : 1) the amount of explosives involved - Syrians had to know; 2) extremely popular politician with appeal across religious lines saying "Syria out of Lebanon"; and 3) lots of money to spread around to different political factions and create "reality on the ground" for Syria
#1
They're looking at it from the wrong angle. The results don't indicate a bias to the left or right. They indicate a growing desire for government to get out of our lives. The marijuana use, homosexual relations, and death penalty questions make it look like people trend leftward, but the diminished view on labor unions - which leftists favor - suggests otherwise. Looks like people are going more libertarian than anything.
#2
Bravo to Popular Mechanics for dissecting and refuting these people! Its a point by point debunking of the conspiracy theorists attempts to make 9/11 into a US Government Plot instead of what it was - an evil bunch of Jihadi's trying to kill as many infidels as they can.
And thanks to PM also for pointing attention at these sites and people - nothing roaches hate more than light (attention form the rational) and bug spray (truth). Especially assholes like French author Thierry Meyssan -who continues to pump garbage that the US military attempting a coup is behind the whole 9/1 thing - and is widely published in the middle east and France. (A sample quote of what France and the Arab WOrld hears in their "news" as bing the truth: "This attack, could only be committed by United States military personnel against other U.S. military personnel.").
What the hell is wrong with the conspiracy nutbags?
Why must they contort themselves so badly, and try to delude others in their nearly insane attempts to run screaming from the facts?
Another thing to note, nearly every one of these sites was claiming it was a government conspiracy that either crashed military planes into the buildings or allowed the jet liners to hit the buildings on purpose in order to bolster Bush and allow the war to go forward in Afghanistan and eventually Iraq. And every one of those type of sitse is a "hate" site aimed at Bush and the US Military. (For example, Indymedia is one of the cited loon-fest sites).
I think the Hate-Bush crowd is mentally ill, at least this part of it. They simply cannot accept that evil people do evil things with no conspiracy required other than that of the hijackers. Its very "Old Testament" evil - in their hearts they are evil and act accordingly. Liberals and these loons have no conceptual basis forEvil in their world view - moral relativism allows for any and all actions when you push it to the extremes. And add to that the cauldron of hatred these people have for Bush and America: They cannot accept the fact that George Bush has provided solid leadership as a "War President" since 9/11 - that the office forced "W" to grow into a good president instead of a mediocre 1-termer (which was arguably where he was headed before 9/11). SO they go to extremes to produce an alternate reality in which their insanity is allowed to blossom instead of them having to face facts and live in reality where Bush is right and they are wrong.
Conspiracy theories just can't be debunked because they feed on belief, not rational thinking.
Who believes in a conspiracy theory first wants to believe in something (in this case, the CIA/Jews/Bush orchestrated 9/11), and then they build their own "facts" around this belief which can't be shattered.
Witnesses will systematically be ignored. They can never be "reliable". Hundreds of people must have seen (and many reported having seen) that plane crossing the freeway they were driving on (it was still rush hour) and flying low towards the nearby Pentagon. They saw that plane seconds before it crashed. But no, they "cannot have seen it crashing into the Pentagon, because all they saw was a plane seconds away from the Pentagon and then a big fireball". How can you be so sure that the plane really hit the Pentagon and not that mysterious missile?
No way to beat that reasoning with stating the obvious, or with the question about just where did this plane go if it didn't hit the Pentagon? And why, if you already had a plane a few meters close would you need a missile? You see, all logic questions, but no chance.
The "true believer" will prefer to quote "experts" who will explain by small details that this plane crash couldn't happen, period. They have thousands of those little details. And if you manage to prove them scientifically wrong on all of these, the answer will be: "Umm yes, maybe, but that still doesn't explain the fact that..." and the Sisiphus rock rolls back down the hill.
The most important rule for conspiracy theorists is: Never say that something happened this or that way, always state that this or that couldn't have happened this way. Raise "questions"... the true believers will "connect the dots" themselves.
Has been done for centuries. No way to stop this. People just love conspiracies, because they make them feel "knowing" something that others don't. Whether it's the Templars, the Illuminati, the Nazis or the Bush Administration... those theories will always find followers, and in the days of paste and copy the most absurd ideas will multiply like rabbits.
That doesn't mean that REAL conspiracies don't exist. But a good conspiracy will always require one important thing: Only very few people must be involved. This reason alone would immediately disqualify 9/11.
#6
TGA, quite correct. For any 9/11 conspiracy theory to be correct, hundreds if not thousands of people would have to be in on the secret. It's not going to work.
I've battled the ingnobats from the beginning. The collapse of both towers was clearly due to the fire and the physics of the fire. Any knowledge about fires and buildings would illuminate that issue completely.
The Pentagon was hit by a plane, among other reasons, because the outer hole demonstrates that the plane hit just short of its target. Rookie pilots underestimate the distance above the ground when landing 7x7's. A landing just short is typical of a rookie not recalling that he is actually 40 feet or so above the ground and he must aim slightly "high" to land where he wants to. A cab-over type truck driver makes a similar error when turning, tending to turn too short. A missle would not have made the same error.
#8
I only made it about halfway through the article. Swimming against the tide of half-truths, innuendo, paranoia, leaps of illogic, etc. was just too tiring for me - and I didn't do any of the actual work of refuting all this. Some of the "experts" cited by these sites prove the old adage: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. TGA mentioned Sisyphus - I was reminded of the Hydra.
Bravo to PM for taking this on, though I hope they aren't expecting to change any minds.
#9
Listen, alot of those theories are obviously crap. But some of them might have merit. No, I don't think Bush or the gov't did it.
Bush may have reasons to keep things quiet, but that doesn't "prove" that it was a conspiracy by our own government. I know some here might be shocked, but the gov't doesn't tell us the truthallofthetime.
Let's seperate the poison pills from the rest, and see if there's any substance in it. Here's a rebuttal to the Popular Mechanics article, though sadly these folks are still convinced that Bush & Co. had a hand in the whole thing.
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
02/14/2005 19:29
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#10
Bravo to Popular Mechanics for dissecting and refuting these people! Its a point by point debunking of the conspiracy theorists attempts to make 9/11 into a US Government Plot instead of what it was - an evil bunch of Jihadi's trying to kill as many infidels as they can.
And thanks to PM also for pointing attention at these sites and people - nothing roaches hate more than light (attention form the rational) and bug spray (truth). Especially assholes like French author Thierry Meyssan -who continues to pump garbage that the US military attempting a coup is behind the whole 9/1 thing - and is widely published in the middle east and France. (A sample quote of what France and the Arab WOrld hears in their "news" as bing the truth: "This attack, could only be committed by United States military personnel against other U.S. military personnel.").
What the hell is wrong with the conspiracy nutbags?
Why must they contort themselves so badly, and try to delude others in their nearly insane attempts to run screaming from the facts?
Another thing to note, nearly every one of these sites was claiming it was a government conspiracy that either crashed military planes into the buildings or allowed the jet liners to hit the buildings on purpose in order to bolster Bush and allow the war to go forward in Afghanistan and eventually Iraq. And every one of those type of sitse is a "hate" site aimed at Bush and the US Military. (For example, Indymedia is one of the cited loon-fest sites).
I think the Hate-Bush crowd is mentally ill, at least this part of it. They simply cannot accept that evil people do evil things with no conspiracy required other than that of the hijackers. Its very "Old Testament" evil - in their hearts they are evil and act accordingly. Liberals and these loons have no conceptual basis forEvil in their world view - moral relativism allows for any and all actions when you push it to the extremes. And add to that the cauldron of hatred these people have for Bush and America: They cannot accept the fact that George Bush has provided solid leadership as a "War President" since 9/11 - that the office forced "W" to grow into a good president instead of a mediocre 1-termer (which was arguably where he was headed before 9/11). SO they go to extremes to produce an alternate reality in which their insanity is allowed to blossom instead of them having to face facts and live in reality where Bush is right and they are wrong.
#11
Bravo to Popular Mechanics for dissecting and refuting these people! Its a point by point debunking of the conspiracy theorists attempts to make 9/11 into a US Government Plot instead of what it was - an evil bunch of Jihadi's trying to kill as many infidels as they can.
And thanks to PM also for pointing attention at these sites and people - nothing roaches hate more than light (attention form the rational) and bug spray (truth). Especially assholes like French author Thierry Meyssan -who continues to pump garbage that the US military attempting a coup is behind the whole 9/1 thing - and is widely published in the middle east and France. (A sample quote of what France and the Arab WOrld hears in their "news" as bing the truth: "This attack, could only be committed by United States military personnel against other U.S. military personnel.").
What the hell is wrong with the conspiracy nutbags?
Why must they contort themselves so badly, and try to delude others in their nearly insane attempts to run screaming from the facts?
Another thing to note, nearly every one of these sites was claiming it was a government conspiracy that either crashed military planes into the buildings or allowed the jet liners to hit the buildings on purpose in order to bolster Bush and allow the war to go forward in Afghanistan and eventually Iraq. And every one of those type of sitse is a "hate" site aimed at Bush and the US Military. (For example, Indymedia is one of the cited loon-fest sites).
I think the Hate-Bush crowd is mentally ill, at least this part of it. They simply cannot accept that evil people do evil things with no conspiracy required other than that of the hijackers. Its very "Old Testament" evil - in their hearts they are evil and act accordingly. Liberals and these loons have no conceptual basis forEvil in their world view - moral relativism allows for any and all actions when you push it to the extremes. And add to that the cauldron of hatred these people have for Bush and America: They cannot accept the fact that George Bush has provided solid leadership as a "War President" since 9/11 - that the office forced "W" to grow into a good president instead of a mediocre 1-termer (which was arguably where he was headed before 9/11). SO they go to extremes to produce an alternate reality in which their insanity is allowed to blossom instead of them having to face facts and live in reality where Bush is right and they are wrong.
#6
Our man JOE would whip his ass in a second, even if the so called REF were from some schemeing OWG monopoly like the NCAA supported by Burger Koening and it's assorted Betty Crockerites.
United States Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, called on Washington to strongly support Europe`s ongoing nuclear and political talks with Iran. "The United States needs to vigorously support European leadership on this issue but our friends must also realize that no deal will be worthwhile unless it includes a verifiable monitoring regime," McCain said Saturday evening in his address to the 41st Munich Conference on Security Policy. The EU has vainly called on the US to play a more active role in the sensitive nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. America has so far ruled out direct political and security talks with Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2005
00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Hey, the EU is doing great. Why should we (the Great Satan) help? The MMs have repeatedly stated "Death to America." We do not have much to talk to them about. But in the spirit of humanity and brotherhood, we send Valentine's Day greetings to our friends the Iranians through the Swiss Embassy. Have a nice day.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 1:50
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#2
McCain can't just STFU. I wonder what demographic he thinks he's appealing to - and which one he feesl he can afford to alienate with this bit of stupidity... Jumping on a ship which is sinking fast. Yep, he's a brilliant tactician. Wotta guy.
#3
what McCain says above is precisely admin policy - though we may be supporting the EU3 more vigorously than some in the EU3 would like - I we're supporting them to be tough.
#4
Lh - 10 days ago, it was. Not today. Even the SF Chronicle story today almost gets it.
Every day we have another story from Rafsanjani, or Khomeini, or toothless Khatami, or some Iran FM spokeswinkie and the message has been clear for weeks. now: we ain't gonna abide by no E3 thingy. Period. In every way they can think of to say it, this is what they've said. We get it. I'll bet that even ol Dubya gets it.
Well, Dr Rice went out of her way last week at the NATO thingy to toughen up the statements, saying that we would not join the E3 and that since those efforts were failing, then other options would have to be considered.
Even Tony Blair's backing off because it's clear to anyone who cares to look and listen that Iran is not going to play nice. They even turned down the light water reactor, cuz it won't yield plutonium... so even an E3 member decided to publicly "get it".
Now ol Johnny, he loves a headline. And he loves the spotlight. And, most of all, he loves ol Johnny. I'd bet a Steak at Ruth's Chris that he was not acting in any White House capacity at this conference. The reasons are two-fold, I'm sure. First, he's an asshole and Bush would not be interested in letting him play himself up to kick off his 2008 posturing. Second, they would not, today, use the words "vigorous" or "support" and the E3 effort in the same sentence. It has changed - to keep up with reality. Remember, this isn't any surprise to anyone - it's diplo-bullshit so that the boxes can be checked off along the way.
Bush & Co are flowing with events. Checking off the boxes as they go. A month ago, we were happy to let the E3 play their hand - and say we backed it if asked by the MSM. Then came the Inauguration Address, where Bush made it pointedly clear that we were ready to leave that dead stinking skunk on the road, cuz the Iranians had killed it - and offer directly to the Persian people our support should they decide to act.
So yeah, we had that position when it made sense, Now, when it doesn't, we don't - ol Johnny was just polishing his knob in public. Next will be the UNSC. Then will come the vote - and we'll see about Russia and China, in particular.
Then, all boxes checked, something else will happen.
Remember UAV's, we've just found out, have been overflying Iran for a YEAR. Sounds like the minute they had any to spare in Afghanistan and Iraq, they were sent over Iranian territory.
So ol Johnny need to keep up a little better. At least keep up with Hillary - who is probably the chameleon of the century.
That's what I meant by ol' Johnny should STFU. K?
BTW, his backyard thug-push style is no match for Rummy's eye-plucker or his 5-strike exploding heart punch. Rumor has it that he's drilling Condi hard everyday. She's likely to be a Rumfu Master before summer.
#10
Some one should tell McCain that the Hokey Pokey is not a Rumfu move.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 14:37
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Hokey Pokey, Lol! Perfect, Mrs D! I couldn't come up with anything nearly that clever when the situation demanded, lol! And indeed, it is no match for Rumfu!
#12
Yes the Iranians are defying and embarassing the EU3 - that doesnt mean the admin has withdrawn verbal support for them - this is all the more time to support them verbally, with the IMPLICATION that the logical result of the EU3 process is referall to the UNSC if Iran doesnt play - AFAICT thats still condis enunciated policy, and theres no space between it and what McCain said above.
Iranians need to hear that if they are unwilling to take the deal, really, that the Europeans are giving ... then the Security Council referral looms," she said. "I don't know that anyone has said that as clearly as they should to the Iranians."
IE what i meany by she is supporting the EU process more vigorously than the EU themselves - the logical result of the EU process is UNSC referall, NOT endless negotiation, even if some EU states themselves wont yet acknowledge this. Thats my read of both the Rice statement AND the McCain statement. Which are aligned. QED.
#14
Lol, Lh! You dig up the quote that proves the first point of my statement that they are NOT the same, then claim they are. You have a long lunch, today?
Ol Johnny and Dr Rice are not on the same page, as the quote makes quite clear. The E3 won't be pushing the referral to the UNSC. It's clear Blair has given up - he may join in, but it will be the US proposing the UNSC take up the matter, possibly with the UK supporting and, one hopes Germany right there with us. France will be aloof, methinks.
#15
support Blair vigorously, talk to Schroeder in private, and ignore the French, for now. The Iranians do the rest of the work, isolating Chirac from the other Euros. And the French want to keep a stake in Lebanon, non? Where somebody important just bought the farm. Wheels within wheels, i suspect.
Either Wally Jumblatt or Professor Irwin Corey, I'm not sure which.
The Ain al-Tineh gathering of government and Syrian supporters is gaining momentum ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, with Syrian loyalists accusing opposition members calling for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 of treason on Friday. Justice Minister Adnan Addoum on Friday accused the opposition of overstepping the limits of Resolution 1559 by "making the wrong bets and plucking courage from foreign powers."
The U.S.-backed resolution mainly calls for the withdrawal of Syria's 14,000 troops from Lebanon and the disarmament of Hizbullah. During a news conference, Addoum cautioned against derailing the Lebanese-Syrian track, "a situation that could lead to the isolation of Lebanon to strike a peace deal with Israel."
Replying to opposition member Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt, who described participants of the Ain al-Tineh meeting held earlier this week at Speaker Nabih Berri's official residence as "puppets," Addoum said that "puppets are those executing the orders of foreign powers and not those defending the Lebanese cause." Earlier in the day Addoum discussed with Labor Minister Assem Qanso the legal proceedings against the Progressive Socialist Party, led by Jumblatt, on charges of undermining relations between Beirut and Damascus by accusing the Baath Party of assassinating his father, Kamal Jumblatt. Addoum said that the State Prosecutor's Office will study the case and, should it find evidence to support the lawsuit, a letter will be addressed to Parliament to deprive Jumblatt of his parliamentary immunity. "The case is purely legal and not based on political considerations," Addoum added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
It looks like the late comedian Marty Feldman doing an impersonation of 'Detective Sipowicz' from NYPD Blue.
#2
That is Jumblatt. A historical note: He was directly responsible from the deaths of thousands of Christians in the Chouf and by current definitions certainly a war criminal.
#3
Uh, oh. Is that a red binder he's holding? [insert mysterious musical bridge here] Hard to tell - the reds in the image seem muted, Jumblatt looks like an alky with the red nose intentionally subdued, so maybe... I wondered where it would end up after Arafish's demise...
An Iranian-backed group, Hizbollah, has threatened to kill Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if he continues to work for reconciliation with Israel, a British newspaper claimed on Sunday. According to Sunday Telegraph, the threats to Mahmoud Abbas came via Palestinian Hizbollah contacts. The newspaper reports the security forces are taking them "very, very seriously".
"Many groups both here [in Palestine] and outside do not want a ceasefire because a ceasefire means they will be without power," Sunday Telegraph quoted an unnamed Palestinian official as saying. "As in Iraq, a lot of different powers and groups in the region are involved here and are trying to manage the resistance in our territory. Abbas is challenging their power, and so it is a dangerous path for him." Some media reports also indicate that the Palestinian president personally acknowledged that Hizbollah might be after his life during a private meeting with two US senators — Joe Biden and John Sununu — shortly before last month's Palestinian election. "He said the main threat might be less Hamas and more external," Newsweek International recently claimed.
The Palestinian officials have now intercepted e-mail and other correspondence, showing the bank transactions through which Hizbollah provided funds for Palestinian terrorists. According to Sunday Telegraph, Hizbollah operatives in Lebanon have been offering up to $100,000 "to any Palestinian willing to carry out a suicide attack against Israel". Analysts believe Mahmoud Abbas is faced with a formidable challenge of convincing Palestinian militants to halt attacks against Israel and let him try to negotiate an end to the Israeli occupation. His patience was tested when Hamas attacked Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip just two days after his talks in Egypt, making him sack three senior security officials for failing to prevent the violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Hizbollah is Iran by proxy. So Iran wants to assassinate Abbas. This fits in with my prediction Abu Mazen toes up with in 6 months.
#2
Where does Abbas have the resources and the loyalty to rein in Hizb'Allah and Hamas? He may have some support from the US with a wad of money, but who is going to go in and kick some serious terrorist ass? He's doomed, doomed, I tell ya. Nothing will happen until the terrorists are reined in, and that will not happen until the Paleos are tired of this suicide bomber crap and start ratting out the terrorist cells. Pigs will fly before that happens.
[/Pessimistic but realistic rant]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 1:45
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Analysts believe Mahmoud Abbas is faced with a formidable challenge of convincing Palestinian militants to halt attacks against Israel and let him try to negotiate an end to the Israeli occupation.
#4
Abbas' problem is more fundamental. There is no Paleo state to control. The UN, Israel and a bunch of external charities run most stuff. All Abbas has is control of the money stream (I assume) and some security outfits of dubious loyalty. Unless and until he controls security there is no Paleo de facto government and I don't see how one happens without disarming Hamas etc and I don't see how disarming occurs without a shooting (civil) war which Abbas would almost certainly lose in Gaza without outside intervention. That is if he lives long enough to try.
#6
If Abbas were to actually negotiate with the Zionist entity then there would be peace and we wouldn't be able to kill jooooos. That's unislamic. Abbas the infidel must die.
#8
ok..now I feel bad for saying that. If indeed Abbas is attempting to move the Palestinian's forward, mind boggling though that may be, I wish him all the success in the world.
#10
its all about the Iranian empire folks. Teheran has a more or less loyal client in Syria. Though Lebanon is Syrias client, through Hezbollah Iran exerts direct influence over Lebanon, influence that has grown since the Israeli withdrawl. Iran is still struggling to make tangible gains in Iraq from the fall of Saddam. They tried to gain control of Herat, Afghanistan, but Karzai outmaneuvered them. Supporting Pal rejectionists is there way of asserting influence over West Bank and Gaza - and less directly, over Lebanon and Jordan as well.
Pals factions have always been playthings for outsiders. Historically PLO was Nassers, although Arafat gave some independence vis a vis arab states. Certainly that play hasnt ended. Abbas is aligned more with Egypt and Jordan. With Iraq gone, and KSA being more careful, the extremists look to Syrian and Iran.
MP Mohammed Al-Basseri says Kuwaiti security forces have been able to arrest the "largest possible number" of persons who are suspected to be centers of extremism. Kuwait needs more time to eradicate terrorism and threats to its security, he added. Speaking to media persons in Beirut on the sidelines of a conference being held by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Al-Basseri said extremism is "foreign" to Kuwait, especially since the Kuwaiti society has the freedom to voice its opinion in a peaceful manner through the Parliament, press, and Diwaniyas. Stressing terrorism be treated scientifically, the MP said "although we need security procedures they are alone not enough." "We should logically analyse and study terrorism to root out this menace. We should learn from Egypt, which has a successful experience in ending terrorism," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Seems like the Kuwaiti's are hammering the terrs.
Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the Jordan born terrorist, has instructed some terrorism cells to move their operations to Kuwait and attack US forces, their supply lines, and leading personalities of the Kuwaiti government, Al-Anba quoted MP Ali Al-Rashed as saying. Al-Rashed said the recent terrorist incidents have shaken the confidence of all segments of the Kuwaiti society, adding "we shouldn't remain content with criticizing the concerned authorities but should find solutions and suggest alternatives to end this dangerous crisis."
Describing terrorism as an "intellectual phenomenon," the MP said "clerics and religious scientists know the language of extremism in which terrorists deal. They can help us by talking to these terrorist groups and guiding them out of their misconceived ideologies." The state can play an important role by providing the required facilities and encouraging youth to spend their leisure time in productive activities such as sport and other social activities, at clubs and other facilities, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Describing terrorism as an âintellectual phenomenon,â the MP said âclerics and religious scientists know the language of extremism in which terrorists deal. They can help us by talking to these terrorist groups and guiding them out of their misconceived ideologies.â
The very clerics that would talk to them are probably the ones that brainwashed them in the first place in the Madarassas. These terrorists are a lost generation and will probably have to be rooted out and killed, thanks to these Clerics of Allan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2005 1:33
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Mohamed al-Anssi, 52, who set himself ablaze in November 2004 outside a White House, will be testifying in the case of Sheikh Al-Moyoad. At the time, Al-anssi, who reportedly worked as an FBI informant, suffered injuries that weren't life threatening. REUTERS An FBI informant who set himself on fire in front of the White House last December will be called as a witness for the defense of Yemeni Sheikh Al-Moayad, who was accused of aiding Hamas and al-Qaida.
Lawyers for Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad and his assistant said they have subpoenaed Mohamed al-Anssi, who helped build the FBI's case by posing as the go-between for Al-Moayad and another informant playing an American Muslim who wanted help funneling millions of dollars to terrorists. Al-Anssi appeared in headlines of major US newspaper and on TV screens in the US and throughout the world for trying to commit suicide for allegedly not receiving the promised money from the FBI, who he also said did not return him his passports. He has never appeared at the trial, but has nevertheless been a central figure because he was the prosecution's main informer, helping F.B.I set up a sting to ensnare the Sheikh Al-Moayad.
Al-Anssi is the sole source of some of the government's most dramatic claims about Al-Moayad, including the allegation that the Sheikh said he personally handed $20 million to Osama bin Laden. Defense lawyers said they would request the unsealing of a bank fraud case filed against Al-Anssi in Brooklyn federal court last year. If al-Anssi does appear as a witness, that and other information he gave prosecutors could be heard by the jury. But the defense is expected to attack him as an opportunist and a liar who fed the F.B.I. false information in exchange for lucrative payments. Al-Anssi , who has been subpoenaed by the defense, could testify next week, lawyers said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Yes, it's a sword and, no, I am not glad to see you...
Posted by: Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad ||
02/14/2005 9:47
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I don't know, I suppose this is a better situation for the defense than if he just appeared as a prosecution witness without all of the baggage, but I would think that, no matter which side calls him, putting him on the stand is a huge problem for the defense - as it allows him to be cross examined and allows the prosecution to fully lay out their case.
Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew urged Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah to eschew violence amid growing hopes for a Middle East peace in the wake of this week's Sharm el-Sheik summit. His plea comes hard on the heels of international calls for the armed militants to abide by the cease-fire agreed between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon.
Following a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud, Pettigrew said: "Canada fully supports Security Council Resolution 1559 and Hizbullah should "recognize that violence is not a way to make the negotiations progress." He added: "The well-being of the Palestinian people is dependent on the efforts that have been undertaken by Mahmoud Abbas and Canada wishes to be a larger player in bringing about peace to the Middle East."
Pettigrew, who is on a five-leg tour of the Middle East, arrived in Beirut late Thursday night from Palestine. He is expected to leave Saturday for Damascus, where he hopes to conclude his Middle East tour with a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Israel has said Hizbullah is the biggest threat to the current Middle East peace negotiations after it was accused of supporting militant groups in Palestine. But the group's deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, denied Hizbullah was involved in any activity outside Lebanese territories. Speaking during a radio interview, Qassem said: "The Palestinians inside the occupied land are the ones to decide if they would accept the truce or not, and Hizbullah has nothing to do with this." He added that although Hizbullah supports the Palestinian fight to regain their occupied land, "we have nothing to do with their activities."
Posted by: Fred ||
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Let the Canadian FM work on the NHL impasse and leave Hizbullah to the big boys.
#2
Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew urged Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah to eschew violence amid growing hopes for a Middle East peace in the wake of this week's Sharm el-Sheik summit.
#3
No tell the Canadian FM to send some NHL enforcers over there and get their attention, eh.
(All due respect to the fine members of the CAF.) FM Pettigrew will be treated politely but he really needs to just STFU. The MM's are playing him and his Transnational Socialist buddies Blair, Schroeder and, Chirac for fools.
Parliament will oblige Iran`s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) to produce part of the nuclear fuel needed for the country`s reactors, a senior nuclear energy official announced here Sunday. According to the IAEO`s deputy head for international affairs and planning, Mohammad Saeedi, parliament will present a bill to `task Iran`s Atomic Energy Organization with meeting part of the fuel for the country`s atomic plants`. "As repeatedly announced by the country`s authorities, including the president, Iran`s planning is such that it will conclude (construction) of its atomic plants and meet part of their fuel supply within the country," he told IRNA.
This will mark Tehran`s rejection of the Europeans` efforts to persuade Iran on permanent suspension of uranium enrichment in their negotiations. Iran agreed last November to suspend uranium enrichment under an agreement reached in Paris with Britain, France and Germany, which represent the European Union, in exchange for trade, technology and security incentives. Uranium enrichment is allowed under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which Iran is a signatory, and the country wants it as part of its efforts to master a nuclear fuel cycle. Earlier Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi insisted that Iran would not give up construction of a heavy-water reactor in exchange for a light-water reactor offered by the Europeans. Saeedi said, "Iran`s planning is also such that it takes the issue of suspension of uranium enrichment out of the negotiations context."
Posted by: Fred ||
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Wow, illustration looks like the olde Frog Muesum.
Saudi Arabia's interior minister has dismissed allegations that winners in the first round of the kingdom's nationwide municipal elections are Islamists. Dozens of the 640 candidates who lost in the first round of elections said they would contest the results of the poll, claiming that the winning candidates in Riyadh were on a list said to be endorsed by religious clerics. "The leadership and people of the Arab Kingdom of Saudi Arabia refuse these labels," Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abd al-Aziz said late on Saturday of characterisations of the winners in his first comments since results were announced. "We all have religious inclinations and we are all Muslims."
"And there is only one possible way of Islam and only one possible outcome of any election here in the Kingdom. So stop bothering me."
Local newspapers have characterised the winners as so-called Islamists. Although government-guided, the privately owned papers widely reported the complaints about the so-called Islamic bloc. Nayif said it was incorrect to make such classifications and that the results conveyed a free choice. "I strongly object to the press and media that is concentrating on this issue because we do not accept that the choices of the Saudi community be questioned," he added. "This is the outcome of the voters' choice."
They could pick one from Column A, and another one from Column A.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Nice headdress, Nayef. Do you happen to work at Papa Gino's by any chance?
The Association of Muslim Scholars has said the Iraq elections cannot be accepted as they were conducted while under occupation.
"Nope. Nope. Just won't do. Go back and start over again!"
A spokesman for the influential Iraqi group, Dr Muhammad Bashar al-Faydhi, told Aljazeera on Sunday: "We, from the beginning, have announced our position toward the election as a political process that does meet the interests of Iraqis since it lacks legitimacy. It was carried in the absence of international supervision and under occupation, only persons with vested interests were supervising the political process, a move that is not logically and scientifically accepted."
"And there ain't nobody more rigorous in the old scientific method than us Muslim Scholars!"
Election officials announced the results earlier in the day saying 47% of eligible voters took part in the 30 January vote. But many Iraqis, most notably Sunni Arabs, did not vote due to security concerns or after boycotting the elections all together. Officials said only 2% of Sunni Arabs from al-Anbar province voted whilst only 29% from Salahadin province voted. AMS officials said they will establish relations with the new government despite their belief that it lacks authority to govern. "For the sake of those people (Iraqis who voted), we respect their choice, and will deal with the new government. Yet we know it lacks authority, does not diplomatically represent Iraq, and does not have the right or legitimacy to draw up a permanent constitution and enter in or ratify agreements," al-Faydhi said.
This article starring:
MUHAMAD BASHAR AL FAIDHI
Association of Muslim Scholars
Association of Muslim Scholars
Posted by: Fred ||
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I guess that means that Germany, Italy, and Japan have never had valid elections.
I guess it is true, though, that the 60% turnout is some 40% lower than the last election, where the choices were:
#2
Some of these Sunni leaders need to get their heads examined (they also need a shave). If more Sunnis had voted, the Shiite list would have gotten way below 48%, and Sunni leaders would have a bigger say in the new constitution.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned on Sunday of the danger of a "cascade" of nuclear proliferation unless new steps are taken to prevent it and called for help to stop the killings in Darfur. Annan told a conference of defence ministers and security experts "the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has helped prevent a cascade of nuclear proliferation. "But unless new steps are taken now, we might face such a cascade very soon," he said. Annan said a high-level panel which has proposed far-reaching reforms of the United Nations has also made "many forward-looking recommendations" to beef up the system to prevent states from developing nuclear weapons. Without making direct reference to the current nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea, Annan said: "Member states must summon the will to act to strengthen the non-proliferation regime."
On Darfur, Annan called on NATO and the European Union to take action in the western Sudanese region to end violence between ethnic minority rebels and government-backed forces. A UN panel found that the civilian population in Darfur "has been brutalised by war crimes, which may well amount to crimes against humanity," Annan said. "People are dying, every single day, while we fail to protect them. Additional measures are urgently required. Those organisations with real capacity - and NATO as well as the EU are well represented in this room - must give serious consideration to what, in practical terms, they can do to help end this tragedy," Annan said. "Remember this: our current collective shortcomings are measured in lives lost," he added. Annan saluted the work of the 1,850 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, but said other international bodies must act as quickly as possible in a region where tens of thousands have died and 1.6 million have been displaced.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Annan said a high-level panel which has proposed far-reaching reforms of the United Nations has also made âmany forward-looking recommendationsâ to beef up the system to prevent states from developing nuclear weapons.
Without any threat of punitive measures against violators, few of those "recommendations" are likely to be worth the paper they're printed on. Goo-fi is just flapping his lips. Again.
On Darfur, Annan called on NATO and the European Union to take action in the western Sudanese region to end violence between ethnic minority rebels and government-backed forces.
Why the need to get involved if, according to the UN, the situation in Sudan isn't genocide?
#3
His Royal Muslim Highness Kofi, in spite his Muslim IAEA jester, has finally noted that Muslim Pakistan has The Bomb, Muslim Iran is working on The Bomb, and traces of radioactivity are showing up in Muslim Egypt. Time to get the Insecurity Council to reprimand Khan and Kimmie and fine them each $5 before America wakes up and goes pre-emptive again.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/14/2005 8:28
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A high-level panel which has proposed far-reaching reforms. Many forward-looking recommendations. Throw in a seven day conference at some world renowned five star resort, a request for millions (or billions) of dollars, and you've got the UN at it's finest
#5
Hey Annan.... you're effin' useless. A bunch of grifters, pedophiles, inept thieves and gangster wanna-bes. RICO the lot of em....see how they like the federal pen. It won't be Camp Cupcake, I assure you.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/14/2005 12:31
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tu3031
actually, "A high-level panel which has proposed far-reaching reforms with many forward-looking recommendations" is the F4 macro on Kofi's computer.
Pakistan has reportedly 'admitted' for the first time that Dr A Q Khan passed nuclear secrets and equipment to Iranian officials, says The Sunday Telegraph, a respected British newspaper. The paper's report yesterday said that an investigation by Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, details of which were disclosed to The Telegraph according to the paper, confirmed that Khan and his associates sold nuclear codes, materials, components and plans that left his "signature" at the core of the Iranian nuclear programme. The newspaper claims that the admission came during private talks in Brussels at the end of last month between European Union officials and senior ministers from Pakistan and India. The EU officials were told that cooperation between Teheran and Khan, 68, and associates from his Khan Research Laboratories began in the mid-1990s and included more than a dozen meetings over several years.
Most of these meetings were between Mohammad Farooq, a centrifuge expert from KRL, and Iranians in Karachi, Kuala Lumpur and Teheran. Pakistani investigators have told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that centrifuge drawings acquired by Iran closely resemble the design of the first-generation Pakistan-1 centrifuge. Khan also helped the Iranians to set up a secret procurement network involving companies and middlemen around the world, ISI investigators found. The IAEA told Pakistani officials that centrifuges they had discovered at the Doshan Tapeh military base in eastern Teheran closely resembled the more advanced Pakistan-2 centrifuges.
The Sunday Telegraph says that Pakistan had previously resisted admitting Khan's role in Iran's nuclear plans for fear of diplomatic repercussions. Teheran claims that it "plans to enrich only to the levels that are used to generate nuclear fuel". A CIA report, however, concluded this was a lie. The ISI found that Khan and his associates had approached some potential buyers of weapons of mass destruction, including Saddam Hussein's regime. "Iraqi officials initially agreed but later backed out because they thought it might be a sting operation or a ploy by the US to implicate them," said one official, according to The Sunday Telegraph. Pakistani investigators found that Khan's network tried not only to satisfy existing demand but also to create new markets for their proliferation activities. "They started working it both ways. They provided options to those who wanted to buy this sensitive material but also developed new markets for their wares."
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Khan needs to be strung up. His activities amount to a crime against humanity.
Twenty-five people including an Indian soldier were injured on Sunday when suspected militants hurled a hand grenade at an army patrol in held Kashmir, police said. The attack happened at Shopian 50 kilometres south of the state summer capital Srinagar. "The injured have been rushed to various hospitals," a police spokesman said, adding three seriously injured were being shifted to Srinagar's main hospital. Indian troops sealed off part of the town and launched a search. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Four Islamic militants were killed in two separate clashes with Indian troops in the southern districts of Doda and Poonch late on Saturday, police said. Four AK assault rifles and some radio sets were recovered from the two sites as well as a large quantity of ammunition. Mainly Muslim Kashmir is in the grip of a 15-year insurgency against Indian rule that has so far left tens of thousands dead. India and Pakistan each hold part of the scenic Himalayan region and each claim the territory in full.
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It's a labour of love if you're trying to find the colour of passion for your Valentine's Day gift in Saudi Arabia, where Muslim religious police force shops to hide roses and smuggle heart-shaped cards under stacks of "To my grandmother" greeting cards. "I am sorry. No red roses. I had to remove them three days ago," a Filipino florist said, standing in front of a rich collection of roses and carnations of various colours, except red.
He said the Commission enforced the ban for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Mutawa religious police), which raid shops to make sure that no signs of Valentine's Day celebrations are visible. "Mutawa come every morning and evening" to insure that shops are complying with the orders, he said. Four years ago, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, branded Valentine's Day a "pagan Christian holiday" and decreed that "no Muslim who believes in God or judgement day should celebrate" on this day. The religious police bar shops from selling red roses, teddy bears, greeting cards or any kind of red-colour or heart-shaped gifts to celebrate St Valentine's Day.
Posted by: Fred ||
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I got a feeling the Religious cops have the best porn and booze stashes in Saudi Arabia.
A group of Islamists have asked for a meeting with Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to review the reasons behind the death of Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi in prison, a reliable source told Al-Qabas. Amer Khlaif's body was received by his family and buried in the new graveyard in Jahra, he added. Sources in the Criminal Evidences Department said "according to doctors at the Military Hospital Amer Khlaif's death was due to a combination of factors including mental stress and blood circulation problems."
Meanwhile, Amer's father said he received calls from many MPs and human rights activists reminding him of the importance of knowing the real reasons behind his son's death. Indicating he had rejected such calls which, he said, may create problems in the country, Amer's father said "I want to close this issue as my family needs a reprieve from the pressure we are facing. I will support any action the government is planning to take to ensure the security of Kuwait." A reliable source denied the wife of Amer Khlaif has been referred to the Hussein Makki Al- Juma Hospital, saying "she is still receiving medical attention at the Military Hospital."
This article starring:
KHLAIF AL ENEZI
Peninsula Lions
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A Shia Islamist bloc has won Iraq's first election since Saddam Hussein's overthrow, sealing the political resurgence of the nation's long-oppressed majority. The Electoral Commission said on Sunday the Shia list, known as the United Iraqi Alliance, took more than 47 percent of the vote. The list blessed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is expected to get 132 out of 275 seats in the National Assembly once the final results are made official in three days.
But this was less than the bloc had predicted and leaves it six or seven seats short of a majority in parliament. A powerful Kurdish alliance came second with 25 percent, while a grouping led by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia, came third with nearly 14 percent. Few Sunni Arabs took part in the voting, which effectively marginalises the minority that has traditionally ruled modern Iraq and held a privileged position under Saddam, a Sunni. The commission said 8.5 million Iraqis, or 58 percent of registered voters, cast ballots in the January 30 poll, Iraq's first multi-party election for half a century.
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#1
Keep this firmly in mind: Iraqi residents of the US, delivered more votes to the Communist Party than did they give Alawi's pro-US party? Lesson: generosity in victory, sucks! Nuclear arms are cost effective.
That leaves 14% for ALL other slates combined - and there were over 100. So the Communist slate is way the fuck out of it and will have, for all intents and purposes, no voice. Note in the article that the only reference to Communists is in this sentence, in the last paragraph:
"In the town of Baquba northeast of Baghdad, assailants shot dead a Communist party member who was also a local councillor."
So you're wanking about something you read somewhere else? Got a link, dink?
Regards Iraqis in the US, a very tiny fraction of the vote total, BTW -- who do you think they are? Go ahead, take a few minutes to think about it. It will be a new experience for you. We'll wait...
They received permission to emigrate, study abroad, etc. Who was in power? Think maybe, just fucking maybe, that the majority of the Iraqis abroad are Sunnis and Ba'ath Party members? Who else would Saddam have allowed such a privilege? Since many Sunnis "boycotted" the elections and presented so few Sunni slates, who were these morons going to vote for?
You've made no case, whatsoever, for doing anything to the Iraqis in Iraq. Your point is that people do not appreciate our generosity? Well no shit, Sherlock. That defines a large chunk of humanity, doesn't it? So you wanna drag out nukes cuz a few Iraqi expats in the US voted for the Communist slate? WTF?
Who and where would you suggest nuking, genius?
Duh- duh- dumbass.
You're an ignorant twit with no point other than the one on top of your head. Your tiny reservoir of knowledge is second, third, or fourth hand, your understanding of Arabs and the Middle East is paltry - on a good day, and your analysis is pure mindless shut-in Western Simpleton Nuveau.
You should listen and not speak. Your constant reference to nuking shit proves you have nothing to add to the RB knowledge pool. A cost-effective solution for RB would be to block your IP with 5 or 6 keystrokes for being a hate troll.
#4
Were I an Iraqi in the USA and wanted to register an anti-clerical vote then i might well vote communist and I'm about as (rabidly) anti-communist as they come.
#5
If you were an Iraqi in the US, the odds are at least 90% that you'd be a Sunni Ba'athist - the other 10% are lucky living exiles. I'm just happy that the voters abroad numbered so very few relative to the voters in Iraq. Those abroad are predominantly Saddamists, as I pointed out. They didn't want to register an anti-clerical vote, per se, but an anti-everyone-against-Saddam vote...
#7
The turkmen don't like it they can leave. The deal with the Kurds was done before the election. The Turks can STFU. The lack of control we have in the Sunni triangle is in part due to Turkish back stabing. Go see how you 30 peices of silver you got from Chirac spends you Turkish fools. Sour grapes from those that didn't have the balls to go vote. Tough luck. Don't vote don't bitch as they say.
#8
We are generous in victory because we learned the hard way that vengeance in victory creates the conditions for the next war (anyone here remember how the Treaty of Versailles led to WWII, IToldYouSo?). And, we don't go around nuking our enemies when there are still other options because that is uncivilized. Not to mention stupid: using our nukes is Samson-bringing-down-the-temple, poisoning-our-own-nest, Pyhrric defeat stuff. We aren't anywhere near that point yet -- and if we should get there, it won't be just Iraqi idiots who regret pushing us to that point (any chance you live downwind of the Middle East, IToldYouSo? Do you like the idea of radioactive dust falling on your tomatoes?)
#9
If you were an Iraqi in the US, the odds are at least 90% that you'd be a Sunni Ba'athist - the other 10% are lucky living exiles
Not disputing your numbers, .com - or your trashing of our troll here - but where did you get those figures from. I was under the impression that some significant portion of Iraqis in the US are in fact Kurds. Now, they may be Sunni muslims, but I'd lay odds that their Kurdish identity in most cases predominates.
Not looking to flame, but I think we'd better have real numbers before we draw conclusions.
#10
TN: Before 1990, Detroit had a large Chaldean community, mostly Christian. I don't know how Saddam treated Christians in Iraq. I haven't been back there since, so don't know about the more recent arrivals.
TW: I agree that nuking cities full of innocent people would be abhorrent and would be ashamed of voting for a government that instituted such a policy, unless we get forced into an either/or situation (which is what the Left wants). However, I wouldn't agree completely with your Versailles analogy.
The problem with WWI is that Germany wasn't completely defeated; the army was still mostly on French or Belgian soil. They resented the "harshness" of the treaty (which was far milder than Brest-Litovsk) because "we hadn't really lost."
The treaty at the end of WWII was far harsher than Versailles. Something like 1/3 of Germany became Poland (or the USSR). Germany itself was torn in half. They were forbidden from having any military at all. They weren't even allowed a civilian government for a few years. The country was physically occupied by the Allies.
However, this wasn't resented as much because Germany became utterly defeated. The country was bombed flat (or to a cinder). The people had tanks drive and fight across their land. The government unconditionally surrendered. After a defeat of that size, and with things like the Morganthau plan floating around, the actual terms were considered to be generous.
To come back to the 21st century, Iraq quickly folded under the invasion, with many units never coming into combat, so they could say "well, we were never defeated in battle." The Saddamites never had the feeling of complete and utter defeat. It's possible that if we had taken Fallujah the way we did Aachen or Berlin, they would be psychologically defeated and hopeless. Possible. Perhaps not.
#11
It's possible that if we had taken Fallujah the way we did Aachen or Berlin, they would be psychologically defeated and hopeless. Possible. Perhaps not.
But there sure as Hell would be a lot more of them dead.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/14/2005 9:13
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#12
TN- Sorry for slow response - computer NIC went on the fritz and had to swap it out and get reset with cable co.
Iraqi expats, of course, are not a homogeneous spread, so the mix that happens to live the in the US varies from the mix in the UK. However, it is true that the majority that left in the last 35 years are those that either escaped or Saddam gave his blessing to, no?
One of my "friends" in Saudi who went to university in the UK and was working at Aramco was precisely of that majority, Sunni & Ba'athist - and he is the one who told me how it worked - only those who had the right connections were given the easy trip abroad. The last time I saw him was during the war - and he had decided not to talk to me or any other Westerners anymore. So that, was that.
I'll say the approximate figures make sense to me - and he verified the process behind the logic, so I figure they're pretty good. I'm sure you can locate organizations of Iraqi expats and prove or disprove the specific percentages.
#13
ITSY is posting via Alberta Canada. I suggest he take up his grievances with Paul Martin or possibly Bloc Quebecois. He might find better cheese for his whine.
#14
Thanks for correcting and expanding on my post, jackel. You make my point better than I did :-).
ITSY is clearly not Antiwar, then...she posted from Australia, as I recall. She claimed vehemently that she had a real, live boyfriend, and could read, too. So clearly her viciousness had a different basis than this Candadian person's.
VIEW: Have Iraqis voted for a dictatorship? âMuqtedar Khan
Daily Times (Pakistan terrorist entity), Feb 13, 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_13-2-2005_pg3_6
The election should be seen as a manifestation of power that Ali Sistani wields on the Shiite population of Iraq. His decree, making it a religious obligation for Shiite Muslims to vote, was responsible for the huge turnout. The Shiites recognise that the US occupation is a historic opportunity. If they are disciplined and patient they will rule Iraq. Their principal opponents will be quashed by the US itself.
The Bush administration is under the false impression that the elections in Iraq have heralded the era of democracy in Iraq and thus justify the Bush pre-emption doctrine. What, it seems, they cannot see is that the US has just facilitated a major transfer of power in the Arab World â from Sunnis to Shiites. Thanks to the US the Arab Shiites will now control Baghdad â the jewel in the Islamic crown â after a millennium. They did not rule over Baghdad even under the glorious Fatimid dynasty (909-1171) that governed Egypt, North Africa and Syria but had only a tenuous hold over Baghdad, briefly under the Buwayhid tribal confederation, before the Turkic Seljuks invaded and captured the city with help from the Abbasids...
It is a fact that semitic culture is historically rooted in the area bound by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Thus, it is sacred ground to most Arabs. Now, Persian Islamofascists (al-Sistani is an Iran born Persian) have a "faith based" corridor of wild-eyed, Ashoura' blood-hungry friendlies, that stretches from Teheran to Jerusalem. Now, doesn't facilitation of that, spit on the graves of the 9-11 dead? Also, the "angryarab" nasty blog reported that ingrate Iraqi voters in the US, gave more votes to the Commies than to Alawi's pro-US party. Mantra: Fred likes fact and hates fiction; try it and you might like it.
I'mTellingYouSo now, so I don't have to say IToldYouSo, later. Be nice; there might be ladies present.
#19
Start your own blog site. Post your brilliance there. I'm sure you'll be a star in no time.
Factually, you don't have the first clue what you're talking about, as I said originally. You posted nothing that would even remotely begin to refute me. Your hyper-bolded post only indicates your insecurity and need for attention. Get that gratification somewhere else, you're out of it and born to scorned with your idiot nuke posts. And since you're posting from Kanada, that's probably another source of envy. Sucks to be you.
#20
4.3 But points for use of non linear thought and extra bold. It is a fact that anti-semitic culture is historically rooted in the area bound by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Thus, it is sacred ground to most Buchanaites.
Former Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamduh Habib has said he was routinely subjected to torture during his three years in US custody.
"Yeah! Once they cut both my legs off with a miter saw!"
"Really?"
"Well, I got better."
In a paid interview with Australia's Nine Network television station on Sunday, the Egyptian-born Australian national said he was subjected to electric shocks and beatings every day and even threatened with sexual abuse by a trained dog after he was taken to Egypt from Pakistan, where he was arrested in late 2001.
"They called him 'Bowser the Wowser.' Several of the prisoners became pregnant by him!"
While under torture, he said he made a series of false confessions, including that he trained people to hijack aircraft to fly them into the World Trade Centre in New York, and also that he had fought in Chechnya. Habib maintained: "I have been through a lot, I have been harmed for no reason. I am innocent."
This article starring:
MAMDUH HABIB
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
While under torture, he said he made a series of false confessions, including that he trained people to hijack aircraft to fly them into the World Trade Centre in New York, and also that he had fought in Chechnya.
The false charges of torture are a matching set with the false confessions.
#2
"...threatened with sexual abuse by a trained dog..."
That's one mutt who's going to find re-homing tricky when it comes to retirement.
"Affectionate. And intelligent, you say?"
"Very. One of the quickest learners we ever had at Guantanamo."
"But you say he needs 'special precautions'?"
"Er, that's right. I wouldn't advise bending over when he's around. And don't let him use the internet."
During his sermon delivered at Al-Imamayn al-Hassanayn in Haret Hreik, in the presence of several religious, social and political figures on Friday, Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said Lebanon is a bargaining card used by powerful countries in order to exert pressures on Syria. Fadlallah said the country is going through a period of "political chaos full of sectarian positions," which will lead to the failure of democracy and liberty: "The sectarian speeches delivered by some officials in the name of democracy and liberty will lead to the failure of these principles."
Fadlallah added that the U.S. is using Lebanon to exert pressure on Syria and to achieve its interests through that strategy. "Everyone knows that 'international arrogance' is seeking to achieve its own interests and not Lebanese interests, and is using Lebanon as a bargaining card to exert pressure on another country in the framework of its strategy to exert pressure on the whole region."
This article starring:
MOHAMED HUSEIN FADLALLAH
Learned Elders of Islam
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A Sudanese minister has said that 700 prisoners of war held by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement would be freed by the end of this week. State Foreign Minister Najib al-Khair Abd al-Wahab said on Sunday that Khartoum's foreign ministry and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had signed an agreement on the release and transport of the POWs. Quoting the ICRC, the minister said the prisoners would be freed this week. Under the agreement, the Red Cross would use its planes and other means of transport to bring the prisoners from the south to the north. The SPLM signed a peace agreement with Khartoum on 9 January, ending more than two decades of civil war.
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Sudan has hit out at a call by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for EU or NATO intervention in the war-torn Darfur region, saying the world body ought to back the existing African Union observer mission. "We believe that the African Union has the full mandate and capabilities to accomplish its mission satisfactorily and we expect that no other agency would tamper with this mission," junior foreign minister Naguib al-Khair Abd al-Wahab told AFP on Sunday. "We commend the work done by the African Union which has been recognised by the UN as the major body responsible for supervising the peace efforts in Darfur, and we expect the UN secretary general to spare no effort to bolster the AU in carrying out its assigned mission," Abd al-Wahab said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"We believe that the African Union has the full mandate and capabilities to accomplish its mission satisfactorily
I guess it just depends on how you define "the mission".
America Has Become Hostage to the Jews, as Benjamin Franklin Predicted
In an article in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa titled 'Satanic Spirits and American Documents,' Muhammad Yousef Al-Malifi recently cited the "Franklin Prophecy." This follows a November 2004 interview with Lebanese journalist Arafat Nizam Al-Din on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, recorded and translated by the MEMRI TV Project, in which he also claimed that Benjamin Franklin, as well as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, warned Americans against allowing Jews into the country.
The Franklin speech is a well-known Nazi propaganda forgery, which first appeared in the 1935 edition of the German antisemitic book 'A Handbook on the Jewish Question' and which has at times resurfaced in the Arab press. The forgery claims that during a speech at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1789 ( sic ; the actual date of the convention was 1787), Benjamin Franklin warned that unless the Jews were expelled from the fledgling nation by constitutional decree they would immigrate in great numbers, enslave the Christian population, and control the economy. There are several variations upon the story: sometimes Franklin is mistakenly referred to as the U.S. president, and sometimes he is said to have made the statements during a recess, and not as a speech. In addition, the forgery is sometimes attributed to Thomas Jefferson.
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When I was in high school, I met a Russian exchange student who was sure based on what he had been taught as a youngster that the U.S. dropped the a-bombs on Japan *after* the Japanese had already surrendered. I showed him our history books for comparison, not sure if he left beleiving me or not. Oh well.
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.
XXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN FEB 13, 2005 21:06:25 ET XXXXX 
With a Shiite coalition set to take power in Iraq, American officials have begun grilling top Iraqi Shiite politicians to try to gauge the extent of their relationship with neighbouring Iran, a predominantly Shiite nation ruled by its clergy. The nature of the Shiite coalition's ties to Iran has become a crucial issue now that the cleric-backed alliance has emerged as the leading faction in the new Iraqi parliament and at a time when the United States and Iran are engaged in a war of words over Iran's nuclear programme. In recent talks, US diplomats have bluntly asked the leaders how a Shiite-dominated government would react if Iran came under attack by an outside power because of its suspected nuclear weapons programme, according to a high-ranking member of one Shiite party. 
The annual Munich Conference on Security Policy brings together the toughest national security crowd in the Western world, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton played it safe and cool here on Sunday. In her first appearance before the clubby - and overwhelmingly male - gathering of experts, Mrs. Clinton, the junior senator from New York, showered praise on the United Nations as she called on it to reform and uttered only the most indirect rebuke of the Bush administration. In her strongest plea, she advocated a direct NATO role to stop the killing in the Darfur region of Sudan - including logistical, communication and transportation support. "We cannot continue to say 'Never again' as it happens again before our eyes," she said, although the flatness of her delivery robbed her words of their potential impact.
Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller arrived at Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Jan. 29 with Charlie Company of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. He came home to the town of Jonancy in Pike County for a three-week visit on Friday, arriving without fanfare. "He wouldn't let me tell anyone," said his mother, Maxie Webber. "No signs, no balloons, no nothing. He said 'I'm not a hero.'"
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The suicide bomber who killed former Lebanese Prime Minister 
British police have charged a man with conspiracy to cause an explosion after arresting him Tuesday when he arrived at London's Heathrow Airport from Pakistan. Police officials say authorities filed the charges against 29-year-old 
Former chief of Inter Services Intelligence Gen (Retd) Hameed Gul said that US intelligences agencies propaganda to pronounce Pakistan a failed state by 2015 will remain unsuccessful. Talking to Online while condemning the assessment report of US agencies National Intelligence Council and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in which they have said 'Pakistan will be a "failed" state by 2015 as it would be affected by civil war, complete Talibanisation and struggle for control of its nuclear weapons, he said, these agencies have always hatched conspiracies against Pakistan. They always express themselves to be our friends but deep from the inside they are the enemies of our homeland, and hatch conspiracies against us but we will fight till the last drop of our blood and their designs against Pakistan will remain unsuccessful." He went on to say that Pakistan has many foes and that is only because of the subordination the government shows to others.
Maharashtra Public Works Department Minister Chaggan Bhujbal and two former police officers would appear as defence witnesses in a special court on February 18 in a case registered against alleged terrorist 
United States Senator 
An Iranian-backed group, 
Canadian Foreign Minister 
Parliament will oblige Iran`s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) to produce part of the nuclear fuel needed for the country`s reactors, a senior nuclear energy official announced here Sunday. According to the IAEO`s deputy head for international affairs and planning, Mohammad Saeedi, parliament will present a bill to `task Iran`s Atomic Energy Organization with meeting part of the fuel for the country`s atomic plants`. "As repeatedly announced by the country`s authorities, including the president, Iran`s planning is such that it will conclude (construction) of its atomic plants and meet part of their fuel supply within the country," he told IRNA. 
Saudi Arabia's interior minister has dismissed allegations that winners in the first round of the kingdom's nationwide municipal elections are Islamists. Dozens of the 640 candidates who lost in the first round of elections said they would contest the results of the poll, claiming that the winning candidates in Riyadh were on a list said to be endorsed by religious clerics. "The leadership and people of the Arab Kingdom of Saudi Arabia refuse these labels," Interior Minister 
The 
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned on Sunday of the danger of a "cascade" of nuclear proliferation unless new steps are taken to prevent it and called for help to stop the killings in Darfur. Annan told a conference of defence ministers and security experts "the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has helped prevent a cascade of nuclear proliferation. "But unless new steps are taken now, we might face such a cascade very soon," he said. Annan said a high-level panel which has proposed far-reaching reforms of the United Nations has also made "many forward-looking recommendations" to beef up the system to prevent states from developing nuclear weapons. Without making direct reference to the current nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea, Annan said: "Member states must summon the will to act to strengthen the non-proliferation regime."
Pakistan has reportedly 'admitted' for the first time that Dr 
It's a labour of love if you're trying to find the colour of passion for your Valentine's Day gift in Saudi Arabia, where Muslim religious police force shops to hide roses and smuggle heart-shaped cards under stacks of "To my grandmother" greeting cards. "I am sorry. No red roses. I had to remove them three days ago," a Filipino florist said, standing in front of a rich collection of roses and carnations of various colours, except red.
A group of Islamists have asked for a meeting with Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh 
A Shia Islamist bloc has won Iraq's first election since Saddam Hussein's overthrow, sealing the political resurgence of the nation's long-oppressed majority. The Electoral Commission said on Sunday the Shia list, known as the United Iraqi Alliance, took more than 47 percent of the vote. The list blessed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is expected to get 132 out of 275 seats in the National Assembly once the final results are made official in three days.
Former Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee 
During his sermon delivered at Al-Imamayn al-Hassanayn in Haret Hreik, in the presence of several religious, social and political figures on Friday, Shiite cleric Sayyed 
Sudan has hit out at a call by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for EU or NATO intervention in the war-torn Darfur region, saying the world body ought to back the existing African Union observer mission. "We believe that the African Union has the full mandate and capabilities to accomplish its mission satisfactorily and we expect that no other agency would tamper with this mission," junior foreign minister Naguib al-Khair Abd al-Wahab told AFP on Sunday. "We commend the work done by the African Union which has been recognised by the UN as the major body responsible for supervising the peace efforts in Darfur, and we expect the UN secretary general to spare no effort to bolster the AU in carrying out its assigned mission," Abd al-Wahab said.
America Has Become Hostage to the Jews, as Benjamin Franklin Predicted
