(CNSNews.com)- A foundation that uses events such as the "Race for the Cure" to raise money to fight breast cancer is jeopardizing women's health by using some of those funds to support local chapters of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, according to a former advisor to the foundation. Planned Parenthood clinics provide breast cancer screening and education, but the organization is also the nation's top abortion provider.
"You can't affirm life with one hand and support an organization that kills people with the other," said Eve Sanchez Silver, a medical research analyst and two-time breast cancer survivor who severed her ties with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation after learning that its chapters supplied $475,000 in grants to local Planned Parenthood affiliates in 2003. Silver and many others in the medical and scientific community believe that abortion makes a woman more vulnerable to developing breast cancer. --------snip-----
Silver spent almost four years as a charter member of the foundation's National Hispanic Latina Advisory Council. In that capacity, she helped the Komen organization set national and international policy, particularly regarding Hispanic populations. That all changed after Silver received an e-mail about Joan Archer, a breast cancer patient who returned a wig to an Iowa chapter of the foundation last May. Archer cited Komen's financial support of Planned Parenthood as one of the reasons for giving back the wig. "The people who sent that to me said, 'This can't be true because Eve (Silver) is a part of this organization, and there's no way she'd be a part of this,'" Silver said. "I checked it out to see if it was so, and it was."
The following weekend, Silver attended a meeting with Komen's leaders at the foundation headquarters in Dallas. "They were getting ready to revamp their program, and I wanted to know if they would consider not funding Planned Parenthood. "I said: 'As a Latina adviser, I have to tell you that this is a serious break in the fabric of the reality of the organization. It's not in line with what I believe Komen to be. I don't understand why this is happening.' " According to Silver, the foundation officers responded that they were helping Planned Parenthood in an effort to support any organization providing breast care services.
However, as the Cybercast News Service previously reported, an examination of Planned Parenthood's recent annual reports shows that while the organization's overall revenue has increased five years in a row and the number of abortion procedures performed at Planned Parenthood clinics has soared during the same period, the number of breast exams conducted at Planned Parenthood facilities in 2003 (the most recent year available) fell by 13.3 percent.
Silver's second objection to Planned Parenthood is that the organization was founded by Margaret Sanger, a leader in the science of selective breeding or eugenics. "[Sanger's] plan was to eliminate people of color," Silver said. "As a woman of color, I have no interest in supporting an organization that is designed to kill the very people I'm supposed to be representing." When Komen officials refused to back down on their financial support of Planned Parenthood, Silver resigned from the foundation.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/22/2005
9:27:41 AM ||
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#1
Apparently the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has plenty of money if they can afford to give some to other places.
#2
wow! I think it's a mistake for CNS to try and turn this into a pro-life issue as they seem to be doing in this article.
It is an outrage that money, which people, (including myself) contributed in the belief that it was going to fund the fight against breast cancer, was diverted to ANYTHING other than it was intended.
#3
Silver and many others in the medical and scientific community believe that abortion makes a woman more vulnerable to developing breast cancer.
Umm, Not exactly. Here's the lowdown as best as I can make it out to be.
The best evidence and research falls out as a byproduct of a long term life study of women. Such studies are a goldmine of information, provided one asks the right questions up front. Because many medical conditions are known to be hereditary, one of the research goals was to determine if Cancer was also hereditary. Thus, one (out of a multitude) of medical questions about medical history obviously included "did your mother have cancer?". Follow up is mandatory in these cases, since many of these women's mothers were still alive and hadn't shown signs of cancer YET.
When some of the participants developed breast cancer, same as their mothers, the researchers ran extensive correlations involving environment, diet, lifestyle, and other factors.
What they found was very interesting: The highest correlate they found was that women whose mothers had breast cancer GOT breast cancer after getting a first trimester abortion. How high a correlation? A Jaw dropping 100 PERCENT. A 75% correlation in a case like this calls for a round of drinks at the local bar AND a paper in the most prestigious medical journals. 100% is totally unheard of. So much so, THAT THE RESULTS WERE DISMISSED. There was NO FOLLOWUP. (The handwave said the numbers were too small to be significant, so the 100% correlation was a statistical fluke. The problem is that the correlation factor has, as a byproduct, an estimation of the probability of the result being a fluke, with the higher numbers indicating a higher probability of flukiness.)
What is more significant is that there was NO significant correlation between breast cancer for women whose mothers had breast cancer, AND who either had SPONTANEOUS abortions, OR who went full-term and had their child.
The lack of follow-up is what is suspicious to me, personally, seeing how the logical hypothesis that would follow would be this: We know that pregnancy initiates a whole slew of biochemical changes in a woman's body. One of those stimulates the growth of breast cells in order to prepare the woman for nursing (I had a lady friend who had been quite delighted about the increase in her bust size while she was pregnant with her daughter). The Hypothesis states that as the preganacy proceeds to the latter stages, a different set of hormones kicks in to counteract the initial surge from the first kind of hormone (The study of hormones reveals that they come in counteracting pairs, and it is rare to find a hormone that acts like an accellerator without finding one that acts like a brake.) The hypothesis states that the initial hormone dosage at the beginning of the pregnancy sets up conditions that would normally be favorable for breast cancer to develop, but only if allowed to continue. A side effect of the second hormone set dosage counteracts the effects of the first set, removing the conditions that would, left unremoved, would allow breast cancer to develop.
The hypothesis accounts for the study results thusly: the early term pregnancy introduces the first hormone set, but the early term abortion prevents the introduction of the second hormone set. If the pregnancy is continued, then the second hormone set is introduced. The spontaneous abortions, followed by no statistically equivalent change in breast cancer frequency, can be explained by stating that the first hormone set is NECESSARY for the pregnanacy to continue, AND that the hormones are probably fetal or placential in origin: Many hormones in nature do multiple duties and have multiple effects on the body, based on the organ system being affected, so this is not unusual.
Mind you, this is just a hypothesis: the value of any hypothesis lies in its ability not only to explain the facts (any LLL can do THAT), but suggest alternate lines of research to pursue. You have to actually pursue the research to determine whether the hypothesis is worth elevating to a theory or should be discarded. For instance, this suggests we MUST start tracking women who have had abortions and do life studies to confirm the effect. This suggests that we MUST do such research in order to determine if women at risk in this situation should be warned. This suggests that we should look closely at hormone level increases or decreases during the early part of pregnancy, and correlate gainst any counter changes in the latter part of pregnancy. This suggests we should be looking closely at hormone levels in woman and spontaneously aborted child. Once we've determined what hormone (or hormones) are involved and to what degree, we should synthesize them and start clinical trials in abortion clinics to determine the efficacy of post-abortion injections of these hormones. Clinical trials should be started to monitor pregnant women early in their pregnancy, identify those with hormone imbalances, give some remedial hormone treatments, and track the results. Most importantly, if these hormones always work, and pregnancy only affects the levels, then some breast cancers may be caused by haywire hormone levels and can be treated, or better yet, prevented, by hormone treatment intervention.
There is so FREAKING MUCH that can come out of pursuing the research: Post abortion prevention of cancer. A possible cure or preventative for cancer. A possible treatment that would save some pregnancies that would otherwise be terminated. But it is NOT being pursued because of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: "Abortion is a low-risk procedure" is the mantra of PP and NOW, and nothing must be allowed to contradict The Word Of The Priestesses of Female Equality.
The following weekend, Silver attended a meeting with Komen's leaders at the foundation headquarters in Dallas. "They were getting ready to revamp their program, and I wanted to know if they would consider not funding Planned Parenthood. "I said: 'As a Latina adviser, I have to tell you that this is a serious break in the fabric of the reality of the organization. It's not in line with what I believe Komen to be. I don't understand why this is happening.' " According to Silver, the foundation officers responded that they were helping Planned Parenthood in an effort to support any organization providing breast care services.
God-damned Liberalism itself is a serious break in the fabric of reality. Too bad it doesn't involve creation of a wormhole to swallow up the offenders...
#4
ptah, Any thoughts on the effects of long term use of the pill in all this? I've always had unsubstantiated fears of fooling around with the endocrine system.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 12:07
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#5
Ptah...very interesting thanks! If it's true, then it is criminal that these studies were squelched.
I have an interesting story to tell in this regard. For years, I worked in a hospital where it was my job to chart height, weight, labs, meds and nutritional intake on patients who had in been in for several days.
One pattern I noted was that women ...in the 30 - 50 yr age range who had breast cancer (as opposed to other cancers) frequently had very high cholesterol. Not just total cholesterol, but the ratios of HDL to LDL were unfavorable too. Unusually high levels for their age group.
One other intersesting fact was their pattern of their weight gain. They had not struggled with weight their whole lives, but rather, the weight increase tended to be more sudden and dramatic and correlating loosely with their breast cancer.
The trend was significant enough that one of the dieticians that I worked with, and I used to wonder - Did weight gain and poor diet (resulting in an increase in chol) increase one's risk for breast cancer? Or did the cancer cause the increase wt gain and cholesterol levels? Either way their was a clearly a relationship that was unique to breast cancer patients.
Years later, I was reading about dramatically successful endocrine treatments for prostate and breast cancer. You either respond or you don't. Truly breakthrough stuff.
Putting that together with the increases and weight gain in the cholesterol of the breast cancer patients, I again wondered if the key to cancer won't eventually be found in the endocrine system.
Reading your information above, it would be interesting to go back and see how many of these women had had abortions. Though people often lie about that - it's often in their charts...it could be done.
#7
I'm agnostic on this, and lazy to boot.
If abortion does significantly increase the probability of breast cancer, there should be a sharp rise in US incidence after Roe.
#8
Quite honestly, I doubt if the doctors would notice this in the same way that we did. Why? Because it was the comparison of "normal women" in the same age group, v/s those admitted for breast cancer that made the relationship stand out to us.
All day long, day after day, we looked at labs/weight histories and spoke at length to patients about their eating habits and weight history....not just for breast cancer patients, but for all kinds of patients. And generally, women patients in the hospital, aged 30-50, are more healthy than elderly who often have chronic illnesses.
It was in this light that it made it possible to notice this pattern. I've talked to other RD's to see if they noticed it too, but the way we charted things was unique and more detailed than is done in many other hospitals.
Even Doctors who treat only breast cancer patients might not see the same thing that we saw, though it does seem they could note higher than average cholesterol levels, but it would have to be for those in a similar age group - rather than as a whole.
#9
and one last thought - on the freak chance that anyone actually finding this interesting - but wishing to dismiss it as, "someone would have noticed that before".
Not necessarily - as we were not looking at it from the angle of women with breast cancer compared to women without - but rather we were looking at it from the view of typical weight/gain/labs for normal women of similar age and lifestyle, v/s an atypical number of women with breast cancer showing an atypical pattern.
In fact, we weren't looking for it at all. It was just there.
#10
Mrs. D, I would recommend asking your question regarding the pill to others. However, my wife had the same reservations, which is why we used the sponge. And I definitely have grave reservations about the Use of the Pill by teenagers, whose endoctrine systems are just coming on-line.
Dishman, the correlation was for a very small and specific set of people: those women who had early term abortions, AND whose mothers had breast cancer. There was very little to no correlation when other factors were considered. The statement in the article does imply a general relationship between Cancer and Abortion, which you picked up, but which is typical MSM incompetence. I mentioned the research, and the constraints, to correct any possible misunderstandings that that misstatement would have created.
I make no bones about it: I'm opposed to aborting Human beings, but my aborting the truth to stop it would only make things worse in the long run. I tried to couch my information in the context of a hypothesis that I advocated had to be explored.
Go read a typical label on any prescription drug you get: It usually states that certain people shouldn't take the drug, and lists the ailments or other drugs that the drug interacts badly with. I didn't even ASK that women be asked, when they get an abortion, "Did your mother have breast cancer?" I'm just pissed off that PC is preventing funding of what seems to me to be a potentially fruitful line of research. Once you've done the research, THEN you have a basis for policy recommendations, including requiring asking The Question. If the answer is yes, inform the patient of the risks and let them make an INFORMED decision.
Doing the reverse is best left to the Global-warming freakazoids.
#11
The problem with correlating breast cancer occurrence to birth control pill use is that hormone dosage levels -- and estrogen/progesterone ratios -- have been precipitously reduced since the original Pill came out. Also, the number of women who take the Pill to regulate hormone levels has increased, relative to those who take it only as their chosen method of birth control. That first group by definition has other endochrinological (sp?) health factors that could impact the rate at which they contract breast and other cancers, screwing up the statistics totally.
I suspect it will take at least another generation before all the factors can be teased out of this particular skein of factors and influences.
#12
studies have show 'the pill' to change the user's personal perception of what an attractive male should look like..(bad boy or not, etc)
I seriously doubt that's the only mental effect..so I'm anti-pill as well.. other methods for avoiding children work well enough without altering the person
MOHMAND AGENCY: The arms collection campaign in the tribal areas will soon start, said Sahibzada Muhammad Anis, political agent of Mohmand Agency, on Tuesday. He said the government had planned to collect heavy arms from tribesmen, adding that the dispute between the Essakhel and Burhankhel tribes, regarding the handing over of the weapons to authorities, had also been resolved during a tribal jirga.
He said a special committee would be formed for the campaign in collaboration with intelligence agencies and Mohmand Rifles. He said tribesmen had voluntarily surrendered their weapons in the past and had not been compensated for them. However, this time the government would compensate the tribesmen for giving in the weapons. He said special relief funds would be given for the victims of the recent rain and snowfall in the area. He said the security situation in the agency was satisfactory. He added that a survey for building a cadet college in the area was underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
9:24:05 PM ||
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Scientists have warned that Tehran could be next in line because of its location in a high-risk fault zone. An expert at the Moroccan National Centre for Earthquake Research, Nasir Jabbur, says the Sumatra quake responsible for the December 2004 tsunami has accelerated the frequency of tremors along these fault lines. "This is one of the reasons why Iran has witnessed two devastating earthquakes in just over a year. And today's quake is only 250km away from the epicentre of Bam. Tehran is about 700km from the epicentre of the Zarand quake and could be next in line," Jabbur said. Many seismologists suggest Tehran is especially vulnerable to a big quake due to the fact that the city straddles several major fault lines and has not experienced a substantive tremor since 1830.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
8:01:03 PM ||
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#1
"At the feast of Belshazzar and a thousand of his lords,
While they drank from golden vessels, as the Book of Truth records,
In the night, as they reveled in the royal palace hall,
They were seized with consternation â âtwas the Hand upon the wall!"
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/a/n/handwrit.htm
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 20:16
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#3
The Damavand volcano is just 50Ks from Tehran. Its classified as dormant - likely to erupt again. It clearly has had major eruptions in the last 10K years although no eruptions in the historical record. An ideal candidate for a large explosive eruption.
Found via slashdot. Not as much solid cost information as I was hoping for; I think it might work better if it could easily switch feedstocks, to ride out price fluctuations.
...The key question is whether the end products are pure enough and cheap enough to compete with other biofuels and petroleum. Until recently it seemed that turkey fuel would score big on both counts. CWT saw opportunity in the mad cow scare of December 2003. Expecting U.S. authorities to ban the feeding of animal offal to livestock—a practice linked to mad cow disease—CWT and ConAgra formed a joint venture that built a $30 million plant in Carthage, Mo. The venture assumed that nearby turkey processors would provide lots of free turkey waste. Last year the Carthage plant began selling its output to a Midwestern manufacturer, which buys it for roughly $40 a barrel (25% less than conventional fuel) and uses it to run its plant. The Carthage factory now produces 400 barrels a day.
That's a drop in the ocean of U.S. oil consumption, currently running around 20 million barrels a day. But making more turkey fuel isn't as hard as nailing down its costs. It turns out that feeding animals to animals remains standard practice in the U.S., despite a modest tightening in the regulations last year. So instead of being free, turkey leftovers cost $30 to $40 a ton, a hefty expense considering that one ton of turkey yields just two barrels of oil...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/22/2005
7:04:18 PM ||
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#1
Sounds like another good reason to make the feeding of animals to like animals illegal.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 19:22
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#2
Nothing goes to waste in the meat processing industry. Nothing. The scraps that don't go into hot dogs or sausage or such get rendered down to recover the oils and the resulting solids go into animal feed. I know of one meat processing plant that even has a cover on its wastewater treatment pond that captures any methane and feeds it back to a boiler.
It's not unusual for a pork processing plant to process 7,000 pigs per day. Can you imagine the massive pile and foul stench if any of those wastes were just piled up somewhere in a dump?!?
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 21:01
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The families of Massachusetts National Guard members killed in action would receive $100,000 in death benefits from the state, up from the current $5,000.00, under a bill filed by Gov. W Mitt Romney yesterday. The bill would make the benefits retroactive to October 2001 to cover National Guard members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. The death benefit would apply to individuals killed in state and federal actions.
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/22/2005
7:00:01 PM ||
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#1
I forgot to add in this info. Under the new bill, the state would also pay the $195 annual premium for life insurance policies for National Guard members from Massachusetts. Romney's bill is modeled after legislation at the federal level recently proposed by President Bush to boost the federal death benefit from $12,000 to $100,000.00
If both bills become law, the family of a member of the Massachusetts National Guard killed while federally activated would be eligible for death benefits of up to $200,000.00
The total cost to the state of Romney's plan is less than $1 million. The bill would also:
1) Make payment the $1,500.00
annual annuity to Gold Star surviving spouses who receive the US Department of Veterans' Affairs Dependency and Indemnity Compensation;
2) Expand the annuity to benefit the spouces of those injured while on active duty but who ultimately die from nonservice related causes;
3) Treat National Guard call up as creditable service toward a state pension.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/22/2005 20:46
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Much in internationally said these days about the reform of UN and democracy. Such slogans are popular ones that nobody refuses, except a dictator or a reactionary. the dictator rejects democracy and the reactionary rejects reforms, but the whole issue would be unacceptable to all if it is just an issue of propaganda or eclecticism, i.e a rightful word steered for false hood .
In other words, to achieve other objectives and not reform and democracy. If we are serious in tackling with reform an democracy on the international level, we have to start with reform of the head of the world and to achieve democracy therein. The head of the world is UN organization . the UN General Assembly is the haven of the world parliament. Unless we reform the world parliament and make it a democratic one, it is unacceptable to respond to nay demand for reform and democratization of a demostic parliament or government anywhere in the world. But who to reform the General Assembly ( the World Parliament ) and make it a democratic one.
The issue is too obvious, it is to vest on this international parliament the same competences of any congress (parliament) in any classical democratic state i.e it should be the legislation instrument the security council becomes the executive instrument and the International Court of Justice is the judicial authority.
I know Fred doesn't like us linking to other blogs, but this is al Gathafi. Yes, Muammar gets blogs! Sort of. Well, add him to the Better than average blog list. He's better than Kos. And next month he's going to start profiling the bodyguard of the month. Priceless.
Domain Name:ALGATHAFI.ORG
Created On:28-Nov-2001 20:24:14 UTC
Last Updated On:29-Dec-2004 09:41:45 UTC
Expiration Date:28-Nov-2006 20:24:14 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Tucows Inc. (R11-LROR)
Registrant Name:Abdallah Alhamil
Registrant Organization:World Center For Green Book Studies
Registrant Street1:Jamhooriya Street
Registrant City:Tripoli
Registrant Country:LY
Registrant Phone:+218.213406493
It's a legitimate news source, so it's welcome here. If all the guys whose actions we're interested in maintained opinion websites, we'd be mining them, too...
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005
6:56:08 PM ||
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In the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, this Letter of "Apology" was written by Lieutenant General Chuck Pitman, US Marine Corps, Retired:
"For good and ill, the Iraqi prisoner abuse mess will remain an issue On the one hand, right thinking Americans will harbor the stupidity of the actions while on the other hand, political glee will take control and fashion this minor event into some modern day massacre.
I humbly offer my opinion here:
I am sorry that the last seven times we Americans took up arms and sacrificed the blood of our youth, it was in the defense of Muslims (Bosnia, Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait, etc.).
I am sorry that no such call for an apology upon the extremists came after 9/11.
I am sorry that all of the murderers on 9/11 were Islamic Arabs. snip
I am sorry that the USA has to step in and be the biggest financial supporter of poverty stricken Arabs while the insanely wealthy Arabs blame the USA for all their problems. and more . . . snip
If you want an apology from this American, you're going to have a long wait!
You have a better chance of finding those seventy-two virgins.
Chuck Pitman
Lieutenant General
US Marine Corps (Retired)
Semper Fi
Geebus, I love this guy. Ya think him and Gen Mattis went to school together?
#7
Find it in your hearts to write off Arab savages, and the garbage dump of humanity, and let us rebuild their crap countries on our terms, and over the dead bodies of each and every Islamofascist within. Amen.
Report: Vice president likely to step down 'due to his health'
Vice President Dick Cheney likely will step down next year due to health reasons and be replaced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, according to a report by geopolitical expert Jack Wheeler.
On his website, To the Point, Wheeler reports there's a "red-breasted rumor bird" flying around Capitol Hill that has whispered the same thing to most congressional committee chairmen.
"We all know that Dick Cheney has been the best vice president of modern times, perhaps in American history," one such chairman told Wheeler. "And we know that he absolutely will not run for president in 2008. Further, he has an unfortunate history of heart trouble. So let's just say none of us will be surprised if, sometime next year, he will step down from the vice presidency due to his health."
Continued the source: "Should this happen, President Bush would need to appoint his replacement, just as Richard Nixon chose Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew. It is quite clear to us whom the president would choose should he need to: Condoleezza Rice."
Wheeler goes on to analyze what such a scenario would mean for the 2008 presidential election.
Writes Wheeler: "Being a sitting vice president places Condi in an impregnable position for the GOP nomination in 2008 and sucks every breath of wind from Hillary's sails. Historically, it's hard for a party to keep the White House after they've had it for eight years. This is George Bush and Dick Cheney's way to buck history — and make it."
Serving as Bush's national security adviser during his first term, Rice took over the State Department last month. [BRAG] I proposed exactly this same scenario a while back, though it boggles the mind on the effects it would have both in the United States and around the world.[/BRAG]
#2
If it happens, it happens. Couldn't do much better than Condi for a replacement. But I hope Cheney will still be availabe for W to bounce ideas off of. The more brains to pick the better.
I don't know if he's been as bad as this article says, but. I do knoew there has been much concern about his "ticker".
Plus all the folks screaming about Republicans being racist will poop in the pants.
So, Harry Belafonte, what's this about "Bein' in 'da man's house?' "
Dr Rice would be one misdirected pretzel away from that very "big house".
And of course Hillary would probably begin a whole new series of fainting spells, poll or no poll...
#3
Sounds like a plan. We don't need the best GOP candidate in 2008, just the one that will win it. Right now, Condi is the only one that can deliver against Hitlary.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/22/2005 19:56
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#4
Do a straight swap: Condi becomes VP, Cheney to State. That way the GOP gets a viable candidate and W keeps a valuable advisor. Win/win.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/22/2005 21:52
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Princess, 3, Could Be Heir to Japan Throne-Reports
Princess Aiko, 3, could become next in line to the Japanese throne after her father, Crown Prince Naruhito, under plans now being considered, Japanese media quoted a government source as saying late on Monday. Girls have value? - Must not be an Islamic country.
I don't think there's any Islamic equivalent to Amaterasu...
The question of who is next in line to the Chrysanthemum throne has sparked controversy because of a law which limits accession to males. No boys have been born into the imperial family since Prince Akishino, the crown prince's younger brother, in 1965. Long dry spell. No girls born in my family since 1959. Eight straight boys including BigEric, and various nephews and cousins. I can see how a pattern is frustrating.
An advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the imperial succession issues is discussing a proposal to revise the Imperial Household Law, which limits accession to the throne to males. On who would be next in line after the crown prince, Kyodo news agency quoted the government source as saying: "It will go to Princess Aiko." Papa what are you getting me into?
The crown prince's brother, Akishino, is second in line to the throne under the current law. Is Akishino OK with little niece getting the thumbs up?
Posted by: BigEd ||
02/22/2005
5:24:38 AM ||
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It's much more of a golden shackle life than even that of the English Royal Family. Lots of time spent in shrines taking part in rituals as the embodiment of the nation. The rest of the time pretty much scheduled decades ahead for court ritual. Not much time to be a human being instead of a figurehead.
#3
Bah.... more silly traditions from a time long ago. No place for monarchs in the modern world, even figurehead ones. To the American eye, all kingship rituals are preposterous on their face.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/22/2005 12:31
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#4
Mark E you seem to forget our own Royalty - the Judiciary - sits for life, is unaccountable to the people, issues decrees that can't be linked backed to the fundamental document of law. For what its worth, we cross the line when in the Kansas City MO school system case the Federal Judge declared a tax on the citizens of MO to fund his program [BTW, the system still ended up decertified years later even with the money]. Our Legislative reps didn't impeach the wanker, too easy to hide behind the robes and say 'he did it'. The case ended up before the Supremes who did reverse his decree only because "all other measures hadn't already been exhusted". In other words, the court reserves the right to tax without consent.
#8
The bane of Japanese society - women getting married at an age too old to reproduce effectively. Crown Princess Masako miscarried her last pregnancy 4-5 years ago. Otherwise, they [probably] would have had a family with several girls, with the youngest a boy. This could have had a big impact on Japanese family sizes. But...nope...Naruhito married for love, instead of his country, and got a woman with a womb full of past-date rotten eggs.
As President George W. Bush continues his European visit, meeting today with European leaders in Brussels at the NATO Summit, a recent Gallup survey shows Americans about evenly divided over the position of the United States in the world today. About half are satisfied, and half are not. A clear majority of the public believes world leaders do not respect Bush,>(the cause is not addressed - the can you blame them he's a FITB or We're back to normal crowds) though Americans are divided as to whether the United States is viewed favorably or unfavorably around the world. Most Americans also believe the United States should continue to play at least "a major" role in international politics, but the number saying this country should take "the leading" role has declined somewhat since 9/11....
If China's anger does not translate into action against North Korea, expect the "Japan cards" to begin falling one by one. First, Japan will announce that it is accelerating the process of rethinking Article 9, a process begun in wake of 9-11 and originally planned to last several years. If China still fails to act, Japan's next step will probably be a formal abandonment of Article 9, which would mean for all intents and purposes that Japan's military is no longer just a force for self-defense. Tokyo could, and presumably would, project its forces wherever they might be needed. The last thing China wants is a resurgent Japanese military. The balance of power in Asia would shift away from Beijing and toward Tokyo overnight: Japan, with the world's second largest economy and access to American technology, would quickly become the region's dominant military power.
But China may still allow North Korea to run on its long leash. In that case, the next Japan card would probably be an announcement that Japan and the United States will begin to manufacture military hardware on Japanese soil. With that would come a range of benefits to Japan, from the importation of expertise to a renewed capability to construct the military of its choosing, to an even closer relationship with the US. The actual hardware involved would likely be something that could benefit both Japan and Taiwan, again signaling to China that it must act on North Korea or risk losing its "renegade province" for good -- submarines or fighter aircraft fit the bill nicely. Missile defense cooperation might be an additional component of the hardware card.
Should that card fail, the world is a short way from seeing what would have been unthinkable a few years ago: Japan becoming a nuclear power. Because of its sad history with the atomic bomb, Japan has long forbade the US from basing nuclear weapons on its soil and has never pursued building such weapons of its own. But it could build nuclear weapons at any time. At present, experts estimate that Japan is roughly six weeks away from producing a nuclear weapon. All it has to do is decide to do it, and the fact of a North Korean nuclear weapon sitting atop a No Dong missile capable of striking Tokyo combined with Chinese inaction would make that decision an easy one. Japan would go nuclear.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005
5:11:25 PM ||
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For future reference, I have heard this described as "The Four Doctrines". (1) The removal of Article 9 *and* its supporting legislation, bureaucratic regulation and legal precedent; (2) The creation of a Japanese Military-Industrial Complex, based on the American model; (3) The creation of a Japanese nuclear ballistic missile paradigm, to include Security Council membership; and (4) The establishment of a Japanese-Taiwanese-American Sphere of Influence with several other countries, much like NATO, but *not* SEATO. This just insures that any aggressive military buildup performed by China would be prohibitively expensive.
Hat Tip DRUDGE / Daily Standard Piss Off A Belgian novelty shows what the good people of Brussels really think about George W. Bush.
by Paul Belien The newest Belgian fad--a Bush urinal sticker.
WHEN JOHAN VANDE LANOTTE, Belgium's Vice Prime Minister, goes to the toilets today, he finds the urinals in the offices of his ministry decorated with stickers. They show an American flag and the head of George W. Bush. "Go ahead. Piss on me," the caption says. Vande Lanotte is one of Bush's hosts in Brussels. Is peeing on your guest's head appropriate? In Belgium it is. After all, Brussels' best known statue is that of "Manneken Pis," a peeing boy. The Belgians, whose parliament is FIRST ethnic, then ideological, show they're "intellegence" and "class".
No, it's not appropriate. It's deliberately insulting.
The piss stickers, specially made to be used in urinals, can be seen these days in the public toilets of Belgian schools, youth clubs, and pubs. They were designed by Laurent Winnock, president of the Young Socialists, the youth branch of Vande Lanotte's Socialist party. Winnock did his creative work during his office hours, which would not be worth mentioning if Winnock did not work in the offices of Vice Prime Minister Vande Lanotte, as one of his press spokesmen. See what Socialist governments will pay a salary for. Somebody is showing they have no practical talent, and is praised!
If it's done on government time, the government owns it.
Last Friday, Belgian television asked Robert "Steve" Stevaert, the Socialist party leader, what he thought of the stickers. It had not been his idea, he stressed, but he refused to distance himself from it. He hardly could, seeing as the stickers can be ordered for free through the party's official website. For Belgian television viewers the message was clear: Bush may be our government's guest, the ministers will greet him, smile and tell him that he is most welcome, but we all know what they think of the bastard.
And by extension, what they think of us.
Bastard?
Belgian TV producers : Let's see your family tree. Who is calling who a bastard. Children by a mistress is common in your country!
For those who missed the "subtlety" of the urinal stickers, Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian minister of Justice and one of the Socialist party's most powerful figures, let go during prime time on Sunday evening, as Air Force One was about to land in Brussels. "I would rather have had John Kerry visiting us," she said on television. When the interviewer asked whether it was not undiplomatic to say so, she answered: "No. That is how I feel about it." Didn't "Get any" last night, eh Ms. Onkelinx? And so you need to take it out on the president of the country who save your countrie's ungreatful backside twice in the last 100 years? Sprecken ze Deutsch? Sprecken ze "Heil Hitler?" No? Well, remember who you diss babe!
We wish Bush had been visiting someplace else, too, like Warsaw or even Berlin. It's not very sanitary, having him wading through a piss bucket.
Meanwhile, however, a citizen of Ghent, where the stickers had also been distributed, has filed a complaint with the Belgian judiciary headed by Onkelinx. "This sticker has nothing to do with freedom of speech," he says. "If I go to the gents in the pub nowadays, I am forced to pee on Bush and the American flag because it is impossible to miss this sticker." Find a sticker of your Socialist Prime Minister and put it over the sticker of Bush... Then you can joyfully aim!
I do not know whether the president is aware of the real feelings of his Belgian hosts. Has the American Embassy in Brussels informed him? This question crossed my mind, as he was delivering his speech to a crowd of politicians, journalists, and businessmen in the prestigious halls of Brussels' Concert Noble on Monday afternoon. There, under a huge painting of Leopold II, Belgium's late-19th-century king (and the tyrant of the Congo), Bush addressed a few hundred people invited by the U.S. Embassy. I know some of them. They used to be my colleagues. Bush has the guts to show up anyway. Besides in their infinite wisdom, the EU chose your left-wing nuthouse city to be its capital. Not a wise decision.
Fifteen years ago, I was sacked by a Belgian newspaper because I had written an article in the Wall Street Journal which the Belgian politicians did not like. Being a somewhat conservative and pro-American journalist, I was a regular contributor to the Journal in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These articles were not liked by my liberal colleagues, nor by the Belgian regime. On April 6, 1990, I was fired after writing a Journal op-ed piece about how a major story had been ignored by the Belgian media under political pressure from the top political parties. The more things change the more they stay the same! Political Correctness. "Freedom" in old Europe is idle talk, an abstraction!
That day ended my career as a newspaper journalist. None of the Belgian papers has been willing to employ me since. Fifteen years later I am still known by my former colleagues as "that fascist from the Wall Street Journal." And now I could see those same editors sitting in the audience, listening to a man whom they despise. That's why your nation is considered a junior associate in the "Axis of Weasels"
Indeed, they think that the world will be saved if America becomes more like Europe, whereas I think that Europe will be saved only if it becomes more like America. But that is an opinion which no one in Europe is allowed to have. Those who do, get peed upon. Yup PC run amok. Dr. Paul Belien is the author of the forthcoming book A Throne in Brussels on the "Belgianisation" of Europe (Imprint Academic, May 2005).
#1
The Belgians, whose parliament is FIRST ethnic, then ideological, show they�re "intellegence" and "class".
Yup. They're frogs first, Flemish always second.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 17:13
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That's an awful lot of Belgies sticking their fingers in urinals to put those stickers in place. Well if anyone had any doubt at all about the absolute moral and political bankruptcy of Second International Socialism, this should erase it.
Europe's choices: Facism, Sharia, or John Locke. Choose wisely.
#6
I would say boycott Belgium but they don't really sell anything I can think of. A useless little country of useless little people. I bunch of pissants if you will.
#7
SPD: sublime beer and chocolate. However, there are more than enough micro-breweries producing US-made Belgian recipes and enough fine confectioners to fill the void for me.
US President George W. Bush is expected to use his visit to Europe this week to seek more support in his administration's bid to keep China's growing military might in check, analysts said.
Bush departed for Europe on Sunday, a day after the United States and Japan declared Taiwan was a common security issue amid the concerns about China's threat to invade the island if it declares independence.
Washington and Tokyo also urged China "to improve transparency of its military affairs" in a joint statement Saturday amid concerns an EU plan to lift an arms embargo against Beijing could upset the region's military balance.
The European Union imposed the arms embargo after China's military crushed the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests.
By removing it, the US fears Beijing will have greater access to high-tech weapons systems that could be used to thwart any US intervention in the Taiwan issue, said Richard Fisher, deputy head of the Washington-based International Assessment and Strategy Center.
"As both Japan and the US begin to seriously prepare for a real war on the Taiwan Strait, it is simply sickening that European leaders are proposing to take any steps that would help to enable (China's) dictatorship kill (Taiwan's) democracy," Fisher told AFP.
Despite the embargo, EU companies were already involved in China's military modernization and lifting the embargo would only heighten existing cooperation, he said.
While Britain's Surrey Satellite Technologies was enabling new Chinese military anti-satellite capabilities, advanced Rolls Royce turbo engines were powering China's homemade JH-7A fighter bomber and Eurocopter was helping China build combat and transport helicopters, Fisher said.
German diesel engines were outfitted on China's fleet of conventional "Song" class stealth submarines, while French engines power China's new naval frigate. Both could be used in an potential naval blockade of Taiwan, he said.
"As such, European companies have a presence in all PLA (People's Liberation Army) military industrial sectors," Fisher said.
"Even if the EU Code of Conduct is modified after discussion with Washington to continue denying the sale of full EU-made weapon systems to China, a very likely increase in the sale of military technologies will serve to accelerate PLA modernization."
Although much of China's efforts to modernize its military have come from Russia, there was still a lot of European technology China would want, said Ellis Joffee, an expert on the People's Liberation Army at Hebrew University in Israel.
Since the 1990s, Beijing has purchased about 20 billion dollars worth of Russian military hardware, including advanced Sukhoi SU-27 and SU-30 fighter jets, modern Russian destroyers and submarines, with about 12 billion dollars of weapons already delivered, he said.
"What is driving China to develop is their desire to have a capability to deter or defeat US intervention in the Taiwan Strait and deter Taiwan from extreme provocation," Joffee told AFP.
"The acquisition of the Russian weaponry and the ongoing training by the military, is constantly raising the price for any US intervention."
If the arms embargo was lifted, it was unlikely China would rush to Europe to begin a buying spree, but by lifting the embargo greater exchanges with EU military industries would likely increase, he said.
"I'm sure that there are some systems out there that they will want to buy from EU countries. There are a wide range of weapons sytsems to choose from, like ship-to-ship missiles, airborne warning and control systems and radars," he said.
David Shambaugh, a leading expert on the Chinese military at George Washington University, further dismissed notions in Europe that it was better to sell weapons to Beijing now as it would only be a matter of time before China would be capable of producing its own high-tech weapons.
"Without access to Western defense tech or end-use weapons, China's indigenous defense capacity will remain quite handicapped," Shambaugh told AFP.
"There is broad consensus in the PLA watching community in the US that, with a few exceptions (like ballistic missiles and missile guidance systems), all other conventional weapons indigenously produced in China's military industrial complex are 10-20 or more years behind the state of the art."
Posted by: ed ||
02/22/2005
3:28:14 PM ||
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Letting China in the WTO was a big mistake.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 17:16
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this is nothing new,
folks without a stake in a given conflict will make any money they can.
for historical proof, look to the hitler, his military build up was largly financed by American and British companies (including, a great irony, one Jewish banking company)
I found this while I was researching what seems to be a very large volcanic eruption missing from the historical record. It is becoming more apparent that there must be regulation of any of man's activities which may result in significant climatic change. The earth is in a fairly precarious temperature balance given the present distribution and density of human population and agricultural production. A cooling trend could lead to continental glaciation in the middle latitudes. This tendency could be reversed by the use of carbon dust spread on snow and ice to reduce albedo and induce melting, but this method has been stated by Gates (1970) to be financially unrealistic.
Given the failure of the various national states to prevent the explosion of nuclear weapons, another source of atmospheric pollution, it is doubtful whether these same states will be able to control their present industrial air pollution. For this (and other reasons) the present division of humanity into sovereign states seems a dangerous anachronism. The federation of mankind into a world parliament would be one alternative which would permit the adoption of pollution controls sufficiently stringent to prevent climatic alteration and its social and economic consequences.
Posted by: phil_b ||
02/22/2005
3:07:35 AM ||
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Hmm, so: 1) The atmospheric explosion of nuclear weapons contributes to global cooling; 2) The eco-nuts believe we're experiencing global warming; and 3) We need to off the regimes in Syria, Iran, & North Korea. Anybody besides me se a win/win/win situation in the making here?
#3
If anyone cares to take it further...
It occurs to me that a Solar Shield would run about $15T/K, or substantially less than Kyoto. I don't think it was really looked at, which means that Kyoto was the motive, rather than global warming.
#5
Global cooling? Get your woolies! GET YOUR GALOSHES!
Rainfall Los Angeles 2004-2005, through Feb 21 : 32.51 inches,
Normal 9.89,
Yeah teah yeah - You Seattle-ites are laughing at a mere 32 inches. But our ground is saturated. My back-yard has standing water...
Increase 22.62 - 229%
Yikes - Flooding, Tornadoes, and Blizzards Nearby!
No snow in LA yet - Last measured snow in Downtown LA : 1949...
Record (1883-1884) 38.18 inches,
Normal 15.06
Increase 23.12 - 154% for the old record.
Oh Temp was 58 yesterday. Normal 70. But that difference is mostly rain induced...
However RB-ers know Martin, "The Granite Lion", my cat. He sits on the window sill swishes his tail and meows constantly, complaining about the H2O. He is probably saying, "All those mice are drowning. They need to die a more dignified death. Be caught by me!"
#6
Well, looking out my office window in Pasadena, California, I see rain & clouds. That might be normal for some, but here in LA it is pretty odd. Granted, individual instances mean nothing, and one year is not a trend, but . . . .
#7
I'm concerned about global (as in: my region) wetting. I need a grant to study it
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2005 14:54
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Dude, I not only need a grant to study this, I think we ALL need a conference to consume beer discuss this important matter. Say... Tahiti?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
02/22/2005 15:28
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Yes Lawrence! Plenty of good microbrewerys around LA. We need a committee to study the fesabilty of a committee to study the record rainfall in Los Angeles!
#12
Phil_b: Where and when was this unrecorded volcanic eruption you're looking for?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/22/2005 16:46
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I dunno about you but a tornado watch has been issued until 6:00PM here in the LA Area. Everyone is looking out the windows and looking up...Radar L A
Global Warming - Global Cooling?
I await to say the immortal words of Ray Bolger in the "Wizard of Oz", Itsa Twista Itsa Twista!
#16
still raining down south - just got home in Santee (next to El Cajon on your map)....1 hr commute for 20 mile drive - yikes
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2005 19:02
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Tornado warning? Get away from any trailer parks as they act like magnets to twisters. If you're interviewed after the tornado be sure to take your shirt off before the cameras start.
#19
WR - Having lived in the midwest most of my life, I'd say you have the protocol for the post-twister interview nailed. And of course the attraction for tornadoes by trailer parks is well-documented.
I did live in L.A. for a few years though, and what I was wondering is, has anyone ever done a study to determine why earthquake epicenters are always located under liquor stores?
Posted by: Darth VAda ||
02/22/2005 20:51
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It's probably the same physical law that makes my toast fall butter and jelly side down.
#21
Phil F, in 1740 there was a famine across Europe, some Irish sources suggest it was worse than the Great (Potato) Famine. There was also a great freeze in England. Contemporary accounts say it was so cold that water poured out of a container froze before it hit the ground. It seems to have affected N. America as Florida recorded a snowstorm in that year. This strongly indicates a major volcanic eruption in 1739/40 yet the historical record contains nothing.
#22
Phil, 1680-1720 was a period of decreased solar activity and occurence of sun spots in larger amount than recorded previously (Little Ice Age). In 1730's, the temperatures have risen to a level of 1990's and the precipitation levels dropped down substantially towards the end of the decade. That may explain the famine in 1739/40.
Hmmm - Probably the reson the SocDems still have a shot is my father's family who came here from that region 100+ years ago en masse, and upon gaining US citizenship, increased Republican vote in the Chicago suburbs and downstate Illinois...
#2
EEK, thats a thread I posted to as well. Well it was a narrow SPD victory with the Danish Party giving them a win. A very weak coalition. The BBC has more on the subject in english.
Heavy clashes between Iranian Kurds and security agents erupted on Friday in three towns in western Iran, leaving dozens injured and hundreds arrested. Clashes broke out after State Security Forces agents used force to disperse demonstrations taking place simultaneously in the towns of Sardasht, Saqqez, and Baneh in protest against severe fuel shortages in the area, eye-witnesses reported. The demonstrations quickly turned violent as protestors fought back and shouted slogans against Iran's ruling clerics.
In Sardasht, residents came to the aid of protestors during clashes as the SSF attempted to arrest anyone in the vicinity of the demonstration. At least 200 people, mostly youths, were arrested. In Saqqez, residents reportedly forced SSF agents to flee the scene after serious scuffles. In Baneh, hundreds of protesting youths were reportedly detained by security forces and taken for questioning. Iranian Kurds have been at loggerheads with the Islamic fundamentalist regime that has been in power for 26 years.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:53:56 AM ||
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So the Mad Turbans are using a page out of Saddams book and denying resources. The Young men are all "fighting age" so it's another page. The more you tighten your grip the more slaps away.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/22/2005 10:08
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If they put as much effort in produceing oil, and selling it or using it to supply thier own people, as they do hideing WMD, they would be rich enough to build a non conventional military that would preclude any attack.
#6
48 hour rule, as usual. The Iranian dissidents and exiles have tendency to exagerate disturbances inside Iran. I mean I admire these folks deeply, but I wouldnt wager too much on their reports.
For giggles: Mr. Annan's opinion piece published in the WSJ's dead tree version today, on page A14. Uncut, and awaiting your comments. Enjoy! The U.N. needs to be reformed, but it still performs a crucial function.
Doorstops perform crucial functions. Toilet paper performs a crucial function. Should I go on?
In the past year I have read many attacks on the United Nations--quite a few, but by no means all, in the pages of this newspaper.
... most of them, in fact, fully justified.
That pains me, because I have served the U.N. all my life. I have done, and am still doing, everything I can to correct its imperfections, and to improve and strengthen it. And I believe profoundly in the importance of that task, because a strong U.N. is of vital importance to humanity.
A "UN" is an idea that people have actually been striving for, for a couple thousand years. Alexander tried it, and it didn't work. It degenerated into competing successor states. The Pax Romana lasted for a few generations, then fell apart into bickering, then civil war, then the Dark Ages. The Holy Roman Empire lasted for a thousand years, and never really amounted to much. The French Empire attempted to unite Europe but didn't even make it to Napoleon II. The League of Nations doesn't receive the amount of mockery and derision it deserved. And now the United Nations, a good idea whose time is gone, begins its own long process of disintegration, broken up by its own internal faults, another paving stone on the road to Hell.
When the appalling disaster of the tsunami struck in the Indian Ocean, killing at least 150,000 people and destroying the livelihood of millions, President Bush acted quickly to form a core group of nations with available military forces in the region. That was the right thing to do. It got the relief efforts off to a flying start, which was essential. But a week later, when all involved came together in Jakarta to plan and coordinate the multinational effort, everyone, including the U.S., agreed that the U.N. should take the lead. Why? For two reasons.
Blinding speed of reaction isn't one of them, I'll bet...
First, the U.N. had the necessary skills.
It's just a bit sluggish in its response. Kofi, have you ever seen a body that's been lying in the Southeast Asian sun for a week?
Its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which I formed in 1997 soon after I took office, is designed exactly for the role that was required--a light structure, not getting in anyone's way or doing their job for them, but able quickly to locate needed supplies and contact whatever organization can deliver them.
All supervisors, no worker bees...
But second, and even more important, everyone was willing to work with the U.N.: the governments and people of the affected countries, the donors, and the nonprofit organizations whose role is so essential in all emergencies, great and small. All of them recognize that the U.N. is the right body to lead, because it is in no one's pocket. It belongs to the world.
Gotta disagree with every statement in that paragraph, I'm afraid. The governments, the people, the donors, the nonprofits, didn't care who was supervising. Lucifer could have come flapping out of Hell on great bat wings, accompanied by battalions of demons, and if he'd been bringing groceries and medicines and helping to treat the injured, he'd have been accomodated. The U.N. has no particular legitimacy that it doesn't earn. At times in the past it has earned it, though not to the extent it talks up. But legitimacy can also be spent: when the expectation becomes that the U.N. supervisory class is going to fly in first class, stay in the local 5-star hotels, diddle a few of the local schoolchildren, and siphon off a heavy percentage of the money flowing to the victims, then the world is just as well off without the U.N. And in fact, without a U.N., blocs of nations could just as easily, and probably more cheaply, establish regional disaster relief mechanisms.
Another example of the U.N.'s importance--a more difficult one, because of its sharply divisive political context--is Iraq. Indisputably, the war in Iraq two years ago caused many people on all sides to lose faith in the U.N. Those who favored military action against Saddam Hussein were disappointed that the Security Council did not--as they saw it-- have the courage to enforce its own resolutions.
Why make them, if you're not going to enforce them? That episode enhanced the U.N.'s reputation as a debating society that values the discussions more than the results.
And those who opposed it were frustrated at the U.N.'s inability to prevent a war they thought unnecessary or premature.
... and that heavily impacted their profits.
And yet, when the U.S. and its allies wanted an Iraqi body with broad national and international support to help them run the country, they turned to the U.N. and my special representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, for help and advice. He persuaded L. Paul Bremer that it should be a Governing Council, not a mere advisory body, and he persuaded key Iraqi leaders such as Ayatollah Sistani to let their followers join it. Sergio and 21 of his colleagues paid with their lives for their courage and determination to help the Iraqi people--as, alas, do too many brave servants of the U.N. whom the world hears little about.
Interesting interpretation. The U.N. was invited in by Bremer after fairly extended agitation by the same people who didn't want to see the war come in the first place, and who were bitching that they were unfairly excluded from the postwar contracts. Sergio and 21 of his colleagues paid with their lives for not accepting the security arrangements the U.S. offered.
Last year, when the Coalition wanted to transfer power to an interim Iraqi government, they turned again to the U.N. for help. They knew that if the U.N. were involved in choosing it the new government would have a much better chance of being accepted as legitimate and sovereign.
They knew the same bunch lump them collectively as the mostly non-Islamic opposition demanded U.N. involvement and would loudly decry any election as illegitimate unless it was blessed by U.N. "monitors," who ended up operating, if I recall, from Jordan, presumably using very powerful telescopes and remotely controlled armored cameras.
Both Iraqis and Americans also turned to the U.N. for help in organizing last month's elections. The U.N. helped to draft the electoral law and the law on political parties, to choose and train the members of the independent electoral commission and hundreds of election organizers (who in turn trained thousands of others), and to draw up the voters' lists. It was also there to give advice on the actual conduct of the election, the vote count, and the announcement of the results.
You mean it was supervising the entire operation? Right. That's why we didn't see the worker bees.
Again, we had the necessary expertise--we have organized or helped organize elections in 92 countries, including most recently Afghanistan and Palestine. But even more important was the legitimacy that our involvement brought. The results of an election organized by the Coalition powers, or by Iraqis that they had chosen, would have been less widely accepted in the outside world, and probably in Iraq as well.
I'd put that down as a U.N. "success" in its own right: by loudly honking its own horn, it does manage to give itself something of a cachet. However, objectively, I'd say the U.S., with over 200 years of experience in organizing elections, referenda, town hall meetings, pissing contests, and fist fights, has a lot more experience in the matter than the U.N., and could probably figure how to do it better. We also, despite the accusations of many people trying to get extended mileage out of badly worn premises, and the attempts of those who desire to corrupt the system, conduct our elections with a fairly high degree of honesty, unlike many of the United Nations.
Now Iraqis have their own elected Transitional National Assembly, and will soon have an elected government answerable to it.
And we owe it all to the U.N.? To quote the eminent Cuban philospher, R. Ricardo: "I dun thin so."
The assembly has to draft a constitution acceptable to all Iraqis, and the government has to isolate its most violent opponents by winning the trust of groups who did not vote in the elections--mainly Sunni Arabs--and bringing them into the political process.
Or by killing them in large numbers and by painful methods. That works, too.
Here too, the U.N. can help--and it will. We can give expert advice, if asked, on the drafting of the constitution.
... since the U.N. constitution works so well and is so universally adhered to. Oh. Wait. No U.N. constitution. Then how about the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights? Everybody adheres to that, right? Come to think of it, by what right are the U.N.'s experts considered experts? Who picks them?
We can reach out to those groups--mainly Sunni Arabs--who stayed away from the elections, for whatever reason, but are willing to pursue their goals through peaceful negotiation and dialogue.
Well. Go on. Let's see you reach. From Jordan. Or Turtle Bay.
And we can bring together the world community in a joint effort to help Iraq rebuild itself and heal the wounds of dictatorship and war.
And this'll be ready when? With, perhaps, the same lightening response time employed with disaster relief? Quite to my surprise, it's been almost two years since Sammy left office in the dark of night, taking with him only a few close friends, some ammunition, and the national treasury. What has the U.N. being doing in the meantime?
Even the scars left by past differences can be turned into today's opportunities. Precisely because the United Nations did not agree on some earlier actions in Iraq, today it has much needed credibility with, and access to, Iraqi groups who must agree to join in the new political process if peace is to prevail.
That's why those Iraqi groups killed Sergio.
The U.N. can be useful because it is seen as independent and impartial.
Or it can be seen as useless because it is seen as a corrupt tool of dictatorships, hopping on whichever Liberation bandwagon happens to be fashionable at the moment. Durban occurred before 9-11 came along, and it already showed a disgusting face of the U.N., not one that civilized people would want to stare at for long.
If it ever came to be seen as a mere instrument or prolongation of U.S. foreign policy, it would be worthless to everyone.
If it is seen as a mere instrument of anti-Americanism it becomes equally useless. When your honest broker turns dishonest, you fire him or have him shot. You don't try and coax him into changing his ways. Trust is like virginity, Kofi.
I could go on.
But not very convincingly.
I could speak also about the 18 peace operations we have in war-torn countries around the world, and the tens of millions of homeless and hungry people, over and above those affected by the tsunami, to whom we are bringing relief.
Perhaps we should also discuss the Rwandan genocide, the Darfur genocide that's not admitted to be a genocide, and the forgotten slaughters of the past anybody remember Katanga? How about the Paleostinian refugee camps, now edging up to their 60th year of existence could we maybe put a sunset date on future humanitarian efforts like that?
Indeed, when ill-informed critics try to cut the U.N. off at the knees, the people they hurt most are not diplomats or bureaucrats but innocent people caught in war or poverty, in desperate need of the world's help.
"Do it for the children!" After all, with tens of millions served, as only the U.N. can serve them, really a few incidents of food-for-nookie don't amount to much. Except to the people involved, and they're mostly just natives, who don't feel pain or shame like we do.
Some decry what they see as a lack of principle in U.N. decision-making, pointing to the compromises that inevitably emerge from a body of 191 member states. Anyone who attacks the U.N. for failing to serve the global interest should, as part of that exercise, critically examine the decisions of each nation within the body. They will find that there is plenty of criticism to go round. But they should also remember that the U.N., like the U.S. and other great democracies, is a work in progress--always struggling to lessen the gap between reality and the ideals which gave it birth. That such a gap exists is all the more reason why those who value freedom and peace should work to build the U.N. up, not tear it down.
Not necessarily. See my previous comments on honest brokers. If you're an honest broker among competing interests, then being on the wrong end of a decision occasionally is something that can be lived with. But if you're on the other side, and on the other side consistently, then we have no use for you. Piss off. Go away. Move the whole shebang to Lagos or Khartoum, and let the Soddies support you.
Of course the U.N. is far from perfect--even if some of the recent allegations made about it have been overblown. The interim report of Paul Volcker's independent inquiry has helped put the Oil For Food program in perspective. Some of the more hyperbolic assertions about it have been proven untrue.
And some have proven to be true, despite being unbelievable. Old lady falling down an elevator shaft, indeed! I wouldn't put that in a bad novel.
Yet I am the first to admit that real and troubling failures--ethical lapses and lax management--have been brought to light.
Then why'd you wait for everybody else to admit it before admitting it yourself? You, as secretary general, had the resources to uncover the problem and deal with it. Your virginity's gone, Kofi.
I am determined, with the help of member states, to carry through the management reforms which are clearly called for by Mr. Volcker's findings.
"There went the horse. Let's lock the barn door, quick."
Even more shocking are widespread cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of minors by peacekeepers and U.N. officials in the Congo and other African countries. Both the U.N. Secretariat and the member states have been too slow to realize the extent of this problem, take effective measures to end it, and punish the culprits. But we are now doing so, and I am determined to see it through.
... now that they've been brought to light by other parties. What hasn't been brought to light yet, Kofi? What are you doing to deal with it?
In my eight years as secretary-general, I had already done a lot--with the support of member states, often led by the U.S.--to make the U.N. more coherent and efficient. Now we need to make it more transparent and accountable--not only to diplomats representing member governments, but also directly to the public. The U.N. cannot expect to survive into the 21st century unless ordinary people throughout the world feel that it does something for them--helping to protect them against conflict (both civil and international), but also against poverty, hunger, disease and the erosion of their natural environment.
I can see no evidence that the UN actually does such things, though it sometimes makes the pretense of supervising those who do...
And in recent years, bitter experience has taught us that a world in which whole countries are left prey to misgovernment and destitution is not safe for anyone. We must turn the tide against disease and hunger, as well as against terrorism, the proliferation of deadly weapons and crime--starting, urgently, with decisions from the Security Council to end the abominable crimes in Darfur and bring war criminals to international justice.
Sudan is a pipsqueak, ninth-rate power with little pretense of legitimacy and less pretense of effectiveness. Yet they're ignoring you, Kofi. They're telling you to piss off. They won't have you "interfering in their internal affairs." And you won't.
This September, we have a real opportunity to make the U.N. more useful to all its members. Leaders from all over the world are coming to a U.N. summit in New York. I shall put before them an agenda of bold but achievable proposals for making the U.N. work better, and the world fairer and safer. I know that Americans want to do that as much as any people on earth.
That would seem to imply that other people on earth have become less and less interested in the actual workings of the U.N., glancing at it only occasionally to see if they've got a bearded lady, and India rubber man, or Jojo the Dog-faced Boy on display. The U.N. has ceased to be a usable institution.
More than any other people, they have the power to do it--if they listen to and work with others, and take the lead in a concerted effort. I believe that they will give us that lead. I look forward to September with hope and excitement. Mr. Annan is secretary-general of the U.N.
#7
Lucifer could have come flapping out of Hell on great bat wings, accompanied by battalions of demons, and if he'd been bringing groceries and medicines and helping to treat the injured, he'd have been accomodated.
But then the 'Islamic states' didn't really do much did they.... and nobody was suprised....
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/22/2005 19:02
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#10
Thankee kindly, Xbalanke. But all I wrote was the first line, "for giggles..." All the rest came from the snarky keyboard of Master Fred. My bit is in dark yellow, Fred's in the same yellow as all our comments below the article. Perhaps someday I will write something to earn the praise you are so generous with today. ;-)
The U.S. dollar was weaker against other major currencies in European trading Tuesday. Gold prices rose. 2-year Euro vs. Dollar Chart. The euro was quoted at $1.3219 in European trading, up from $1.3057 Monday. Later, in midday trading in New York, the euro traded at $1.3233... Gold closed in London at $434.60 bid per troy ounce, up from $427.10 on Monday...
#4
saw on LGF today that Soros was doing the driving down - he's no American.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2005 19:11
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#5
What gave me away?
Posted by: George Soros ||
02/22/2005 19:19
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#6
the cat
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2005 19:34
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#7
Soros may be profiting from the downturn, but he's not driving it. He only realizes that Bush wants the dollar to drop precipitously, and even though he hates Bush, he won't stop profiting off his policies. What Bush is doing, however, is sticking it royally to both China and Europe, who have been behaving like economic parasites for years now, propping up their expansions at our expense. This now makes them get their own houses in order, a little painfully, or continue to be dorks, a lot painfully. Their choice. Either way, the US wins.
THE CIA has predicted that the European Union will break-up within 15 years unless it radically reforms its ailing welfare systems. The report by the intelligence agency, which forecasts how the world will look in 2020, warns that Europe could be dragged into economic decline by its ageing population. It also predicts the end of Nato and post-1945 military alliances. In a devastating indictment of EU economic prospects, the report warns: "The current EU welfare state is unsustainable and the lack of any economic revitalisation could lead to the splintering or, at worst, disintegration of the EU, undermining its ambitions to play a heavyweight international role." It adds that the EU's economic growth rate is dragged down by Germany and its restrictive labour laws. Reforms there - and in France and Italy to lesser extents - remain key to whether the EU as a whole can break out of its "slow-growth pattern".
Reflecting growing fears in the US that the pain of any proper reform would be too much to bear, the report adds that the experts it consulted "are dubious that the present political leadership is prepared to make even this partial break, believing a looming budgetary crisis in the next five years would be the more likely trigger for reform". The EU is also set for a looming demographic crisis because of a drop in birth rates and increased longevity, with devastating economic consequences.
The report says: "Either European countries adapt their workforces, reform their social welfare, education and tax systems, and accommodate growing immigrant populations [chiefly from Muslim countries] or they face a period of protracted economic stasis." As a result of the increased immigration needed, the report predicts that Europe's Muslim population is set to increase from around 13% today to between 22% and 37% of the population by 2025, potentially triggering tensions.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:52:15 AM ||
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Then of course Kyoto is making the problem worse by requiring increased taxation and decreasing economic growth.
#2
If the Euros had any sense, they'd start inviting in folks from (non-Muslim) SE Asia and Latin America instead of the Mohammadans they're selling their souls to now.
Their current immigration patterns aren't even particularly geographical -- why keep going down that insane path?
#3
And largely unremarked and uncounted is that Western Europe has a high emigration rate. Whilst it has slowed recently, the UK loses perhaps 75,000 a year almost all skilled mostly to USA, Australia and Canada.
#4
Get the heck out while the getting is good. Going to be a shame to see all those cathedrals turned into mosques without a shot being fired. They don't get much use as it is anyhow.
#9
*shakes head* I personally think the predictions of the assessment are correct from first principles, but I think Aris would have a field day razzing us, pointing out how it comes from the same people who missed 9/11 and failed to push the WMD->Bekka Valley connection WRT Iraq.
#10
This assessment is frustrating. First and foremost, while proper in usage, "the EU" isn't a single thing, it is a bunch of things, some of which exist, some of which are failing, and some of which haven't even been created yet, and may not ever exist. There is the economic-monetary union; the political-bureaucratic-domestic-policy union; the legal union; the foreign policy union; the constitutional-federal-presidential executive union and the military union. And they do NOT evenly parallel each other. Some may never come into being, some may remain even if the rest collapse, and some may last in one form or another as long as the Holy Roman Empire, and be as equally useless. As even the casual Euro-observer will admit, if you look at the EU in each of these areas, you see an entirely different situation.
#12
After reading another article which mentioned that Article III claims animals are sentient beings, too, I decided the CIA was too generous. I give a political union ten years at the most. It was noted other places today that it would give them a single anti-American voice, but I don't know that that will be enough to keep them together, not with the way the world is changing.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/22/2005 15:57
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All the better to negotiate with the UFOs, don't you see ... The cabinet has approved a proposal to establish the Supreme National Space Council, government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh announced here on Monday.
The Supreme National Space Council will be established with the aim of making peaceful use of outer space and space technology, protecting national interests, and achieving economic, cultural, and scientific development through this technology, Ramezanzadeh added.
He said that the president of the Islamic Republic, the council chairman, the chairman of the Iran Space Organization (as the council's secretary), the minister of communications and information technology, the minister of science, the defense minister, the foreign minister, the minister of mines and industries, the director of the Management and Planning Organization, the director of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), and four space experts would be the members of the council.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:50:12 AM ||
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So what's the Normal National Space Council do?
#2
The (Super Islamic) Supreme National Space Council (of Iran) also known as the Council of Boskone. You can count on the fact they want to use space for "peaceful" purposes because they are allanists.
Maybe they should spend some of that money moving their citizens out of rammed earth housing and mud huts that kill them everytime there is an earthquake instead of "space" first.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 8:48
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#6
If done right(keywords)rammed earth housing is damnded good.It can be stronger than masonry block,the secret is to use the right mixture of sand,clay,cement,re-enforcing wire,with lots of tamping.Large parts of the Great Wall are rammed earth and all they used is sand,clay,with willow branches as a binder.
#8
In a quake masonry block burys you too. It really doesn't matter what the brick, block, stone it is, masonry comes apart when shaken or stirred. That's why all current brick/stone you see in Caliphornia is faux and all foundations are poured. Wood frame would be a lot better.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 9:04
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One of the goals is "achieving....cultural .... development through this technology."
Now that should be interesting to watch -- cultural change in Mullahland. Or is it someone else's culture that they plan on changing?
The IRA's money laundering empire is so vast that they have been negotiating to buy a bank in Bulgaria, it was reported yesterday. The Provisionals have been working with a Bulgarian crime syndicate for the last year, trying to take control of a bank to be used to launder cash from their criminal operations, security sources said. The banking operation would have lasted until 2007, when Bulgaria joins the EU, and would then become subject to stringent financial controls, the Irish Times reported.
Noel Conroy, the Garda commissioner, confirmed that his detectives had been working abroad. "It's a bit too early to go into details, but we will be following up in relation to matters overseas," he said. The IRA's "colossal" money laundering business has unravelled after Irish security services spotted a Bulgarian arms dealer at a meeting in Ireland. Yesterday, as detectives continued to follow his trail, a further £437,000 in cash was taken by Garda officers from several premises, bringing to almost £3 million the amount recovered from the £26 million Northern Bank robbery in Belfast in December. Police believe the Bulgarian bank would have been used to launder the estimated £30 million a year the IRA receives from counterfeiting, robberies, extortion, racketeering and smuggling.
Using a scam the Italian mafia devised of buying banks in Latvia before it joined the EU last year, the IRA would have used the bank to provide it with paperwork and cash from a legitimate institution. Mr Conroy said forensic tests were expected to confirm that the money seized in the Republic was connected to the Northern Bank robbery. Standing next to Mr Conroy at a press conference in Hillsborough Castle, Hugh Orde, the Police Service of Northern Ireland's chief constable, announced a new protocol that would cement a new level of co-operation between the two forces. Officers from both sides of the border would work in each other's services.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:48:33 AM ||
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great icon!
did you know the Speed Queen washers are assembled in Saudi Arabia?
One of the Taliban's most senior and charismatic commanders has become a key negotiator as more and more members of the Islamic militia in Afghanistan give up the fight against the Americans. The commander, Abdul Salam, earned the nickname Mullah Rockety because he was so accurate with rocket propelled grenades against Russian troops. He later joined the Taliban as a corps commander in Jalalabad before being captured by the Americans after September 11. Now he is a supporter of President Hamid Karzai and is tempting diehard Taliban fighters to accept an amnesty offer and reconcile themselves to Afghanistan's first directly elected leader. "The Taliban has lost its morale," he said, speaking by satellite phone from the heartlands of Zabul province, a Taliban redoubt. "But you have to go and find the Taliban and call to them and ask them directly. If they believe they will be secure and safe they will come down from the mountains."
Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said yesterday that a group of Taliban militia including senior officials will soon join the Afghan government's peace initiative. "They are in Kabul seeking peace and to boost the reconciliation process," he said, adding that he was hopeful that the Taliban surrender would take place before the parliamentary elections, expected in the summer. Afghan officials claimed in recent days that four unnamed senior figures from the former Taliban government have accepted the US-backed offer of amnesty extended to them by Mr Karzai's government and will form a new party for the elections. "This step is a great encouragement to other Taliban to end their struggle," said Mullah Rockety. "I have said to the Taliban that now is the time for unity, the time for Afghan brother to stop killing Afghan brother."
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABDUL SALAM
Taliban
MULLAH ROCKETY
Taliban
Zalmay Khalilzad
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:47:20 AM ||
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#1
This is what victory in the War on Terror will look like. It deserves a bigger headline.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 8:58
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He blamed Taliban inactivity on extreme winter weather and promised a spring offensive against US troops.
I thought the "brutal Afghan winter" was supposed to screw us up?
#3
tu3031---The Brutal Afghan Winter (TM) term only applies to operations by people on the outside looking in.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2005 9:52
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Not coming soon to the BBC.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
02/22/2005 10:29
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#5
Part of the amnesty agreement has to include him being forced to watch kids fly kites, people playing chess, and hear music (Afghan Folk-Nothing "culturally offensive" to a normal Afghani) being played. And, to see how much happiness people have related to these activites, and be reminded of the Taliban Butchers such as One-Eye Omar's hatred for such activities.
Maoist Shining Path insurgents ambushed and killed three Peruvian policemen in a remote jungle area known for guerrilla activity, officials said Monday. The officers were driving Sunday evening in the Huallaga Valley about 205 miles northwest of Lima when more than 70 rebels sprayed their SUV with semiautomatic weapons fire, police said. The officers were shot to death as they fled the vehicle, which was then looted and set ablaze, police said.
Sunday's attack was the first on police in the former guerrilla stronghold since June, when two officers and a marine died in a similar ambush. Terrorism experts say "Comrade Artemio," the last original Shining Path leader still at large, commands about 150 guerrillas in the mountainous jungle region. Artemio had eschewed violence since 2001, but last April threatened to renew attacks if the government did not negotiate an amnesty for his contingent and jailed Shining Path leaders. A red flag bearing images of a hammer and sickle was left behind and phrases associated with the Shining Path were scrawled on the road in red paint, including: "We sought a political solution to the problems arising from the people's war."
Former Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi told Radioprogramas radio Monday that the ambush had all the hallmarks of Artemio, who he said has joined forces with the cocaine trade in Huallaga Valley, a prime producer of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:45:28 AM ||
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"Artemio had eschewed violence since 2001, but last April threatened to renew attacks if the government did not negotiate an amnesty for his contingent and jailed Shining Path leaders."
Ah, I see. "Let us come home or we'll kill you." Marxist logic at its finest.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/22/2005 7:13
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President Thabo Mbeki criticised the United States for calling Zimbabwe an "outpost of tyranny" saying, in an interview published on Tuesday, that it went against Washington's efforts to promote democracy worldwide.
"Yasss. We try never to call a spade a spade around here..."
The comment attacked by Mbeki was made by US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, who listed six "outposts of tyranny" last month; Zimbabwe, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.
Y'see, y'gotcher basic Axis of Evil, and then y'gotcher Short List of Awful.
"It's an exaggeration and whatever (the US) government wants to do with that list of six countries, or however many, it's really somewhat discredited," Mbeki told the Financial Times.
"I mean, just because they chased all the white people out of the country and stole their land and farm equipment, and they're a one-party state, and they beat up guys that try to form an opposition with ax handles and such, and they took the former Breadbasket of Africa and turned it into just another basket case... Well, nobody's perfect. I mean, the same thing could happen here in South Africa."
South Africa has served as an important mediator with its troubled neighbouring state, trying to encourage reforms through a controversial "quiet diplomacy" that avoids overt criticism of human rights abuse, media clampdowns and harassment of the political opposition in the country. If South Africa were "to shout, they would shout back at us, and that would be the end of the story", he said.
Have you given any thought to invading them and killing all the ZANU-PF thugs you can find?
"I'm actually the only head of government that I know anywhere in the world who has actually gone to Zimbabwe and spoken publicly very critically of the things they're doing." Mbeki characterised his relations with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as "very good", and repeated his wish to see a "free and fair" vote in parliamentary elections being held there next month.
And I hereby repeat my wish for a full head of hair, a disappearing lard gut, and a weekend in the Poconos with Patty Ann Brown. Good luck, Thabo.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:44:04 AM ||
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No one is buying your crap Mbeki. Mugabe is the reason his country is a hell hole and you are an enabler. Dr Rice is only saying what you lack the balls to say.
#2
M-Be : Look at the bright side. Zimbabwe is in the big leagues now. Africa got noticed! Bad Bob is up there with Crazy Kim, the magic Mullahs, Lucky Lukashenko, the General who's not Burmese, and Fidel who lives forever.
#3
The real reason, IMHO, that Mbeki is upset is because HE has aspiration to hit the same kind of despotic state as Bad Bob. You see, BB started off as an elected president and simply made good on his Marxist ambitions. The camels nose in the tent, one little bit at a time. BB definitely needs and hot-lead enema, along with most of the government.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/22/2005 6:51
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#4
Didn't someone here write a song about Mugabe?
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/22/2005 9:25
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#7
Mbeki is trying to not alienate two factions: the die-hard ANC (who think what Mugabe did is fine and should've happened in S.A. - yesterday) and the Moderates/Indians/Asians/Anglos/Boers.
The former would replace him, probably quickly, likely violently. The latter would leave S.A. and wreck the country. Not that Mbeki would mind seeing the latter go - just not at this point in time.
Iranian Vice-President for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Majid Ansari, arrived here Monday to express his country's deep regret to Lebanese nation and government over assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Ansari, during his visit, is due to condole with the bereaved family of Hariri. He is also scheduled to meet with the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and express his heartfelt condolences over the tragic event. Ansari is accompanied by vice-presidents Mohammad-Ali Abtahi and Mohammad Sadr and ex-MPs from Tehran, Abbas Sheibani and Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipour.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005
1:24:30 AM ||
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Ansari, during his visit, is due to condole with the bereaved family of Hariri.
Seems odd that the family would be willing to condole with an Iranian rep.
#2
Right, 2b. Especially condoling with the financial enabler of all the misery in Lebanon, from the Syrians to Hizb'Allah. Makes me want to gag.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2005 11:13
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#3
I wonder if they checked with the family before announcing they would be calling. Didn't the family shut the door in the faces of members of the current government when they tried to come to the funeral?
Lakma Kalidatu was having dinner with her six grandchildren when they were interrupted by a burst of automatic gunfire.
In an instant, she spirited away the children to a nearby Islamic school, leaving behind everything.
"We're still afraid to return to our village," Kalidatu, 60, said as she washed clothes outside the school where about 300 other refugees have been staying since early January.
They have every reason to be concerned about their safety.
Since December 2003, the villages around the marshy area in Maguindao province on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao have seen frequent and bloody battles between soldiers and rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Military and local officials blame a small and radical MILF faction for the violence, which they say is an attempt to sabotage peace talks aimed at ending a 36-year separatist insurgency that has claimed at least 120,000 lives.
"They are the enemy of the people, the enemy of development," said Hadji Yasan Ampatuan, a member of the provincial legislative council and a nephew of Maguindanao governor Datu Andal Ampatuan.
The military said splits have emerged in the MILF, dividing it along ideological, political and economic lines. It said there could be as many as seven groups jostling for control.
Major-General Raul Rellano, the army's regional commander, said the rogue MILF faction posed a "real threat" to the talks that have been brokered by Malaysia since 2001.
"There is a rift among them," Rellano told Reuters, saying the peace process would be moving at a much faster pace if the MILF were a solid organization.
Citing army intelligence estimates, Rellano said about 30 percent of the MILF's 11,000 fighters belonged to radical forces that refuse to halt their war for a separate Islamic state in the southern third of this mainly Roman Catholic country. The Muslim people of Mindanao call themselves Bangsamoro.
The military said the radicals, headed by leaders with deep religious backgrounds, have active links with foreign militants from Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and the homegrown groups Abu Sayyaf and Abu Sofia.
Rellano said the MILF renegades were behind the attack on an army base in Kalidatu's village that broke a shaky 17-month cease-fire in January.
Silvestre Afable, the government's chief peace negotiator and communications director for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has warned that hardcore militants might step up attacks as talks inched toward a final peace agreement.
"Terrorism is one of the challenges we are facing -- not only as a threat to law and order but as a threat to peace in Mindanao," he told a recent briefing for foreign media.
Rebel leaders dispute reports of splits in the movement, saying the violence in some parts of central Mindanao was rooted in intense local politics and ancient blood feuds.
Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman, said the MILF was dragged into the conflicts among rival local politicians only because some had sought help from relatives within the guerrilla group.
"Blood is thicker than water," Kabalu said. "This bloody cycle of vendetta killing, known among locals as 'rido', is often seen as truce violations because some MILF members and militiamen find themselves on opposite fences."
Kabalu said there were hundreds of unresolved killings in Muslim areas of the South due to political rivalries, land disputes and even petty quarrels among neighbors.
The military says the involvement of MILF elements in the violence had exposed the leadership's weak control over its forces as it struggles to win support from some guerrilla forces influenced and led by Islamic clerics.
"They are hiding behind 'rido'," said an army intelligence official. "Based on our sources on the ground, there's really a group, opposed to the talks, that is out to embarrass the MILF leadership."
He said some MILF members also were resentful because the peace process not only restrained criminal activities to raise funds but forced them to run after their own comrades engaged in kidnappings, robberies and extortion.
"Those are perceptions," Mohaqher Iqbal, the chief MILF peace negotiator, told Reuters, saying the movement allowed for healthy debate among its members. "But, at the end of the day, it is always the central committee that decides."
Iqbal said factionalism was not an issue at the moment but could become one if the peace deal is not acceptable to the vast majority of Muslims in the Philippines.
"We will never break that vicious cycle of endless violence and bloody struggles," he said. "New groups will emerge to fight for the rights of the Bangsamoro people."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:40:16 AM ||
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SOUTHERN Command (Southcom) chief Alberto Braganza Monday confirmed the death of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) chieftain Kadaffy Janjalani and his right-hand man Isnilon Hapilon. "We are confirming the death of Janjalani and Hapilon. We have not heard of Janjalani and Hapilon since November," said Lieutenant General Braganza, as he stressed that the military has significantly reduced the ASG capability, despite their claim of responsibility for the Valentine's Day bombings that occurred in Cities of General Santos and Davao in Mindanao and in Makati, Metro Manila. The three simultaneous blasts killed 11 people and injured over a hundred. But Braganza was quick to say that because they have yet to search and recover their bodies to strengthen their findings, the military has to continue to officially check its veracity.
The Fat Lady has retired to her dressing room to sulk, disappointed yet again...
As usual, he downplayed continuous threats from the ASG to conduct more bombings across the country, following their successful February 14 bomb attacks. Braganza also denied that the Misuari breakaway forces have formal ties with the ASG even if both are fighting side-by-side against government troops in Sulu. "It's not hierarchical, but just tactical alliance in some areas due primarily to blood relationships," Braganza said. As this developed, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) regional office has called on the Armed Forces to cease its continuous offensives in Sulu to spare more lives in the Sulu fighting.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:37:36 AM ||
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#1
Fecal matter for brains. Human rights commission can't dictate acts of military necessity. Just sign everything over to the islamic terrorists now and get it over with. They sure as heck will not pay any attention to human rights commissions. It's against allan to do so.
#3
As this developed, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) regional office has called on the Armed Forces to cease its continuous offensives in Sulu to spare more lives in the Sulu fighting.
Spare TERRORIST SCUM LIVES, you mean? KMWWA*, you bastards.
Agreed, BigEd. No offense to SPoD, but these people indeed have Deep Space Class Hard Vacuums betwixt their ears.
Translated from Spanish It happened last night at 8:30pm as confirmed today by General Hector Fandino, commander of the 17th Army Brigade. A patrol of the 46th Infantry Battalion was undertaking military operations in the sector known as "Pegado" when guerillas of the 34th FARC Front set off an improvised explosive device [literally a 'field mine']. Two soldiers died at the site and two others died at the Apartado Hospital where the wounded were brought.... In the same region, this past February 9th, 18 soldiers and 11 guerrillas were killed in combat with FARC. Meanwhile, on February 14th, three children perished by stepping on mines emplaced by the same group of guerrillas in Vistahermosa.
Posted by: 11A5S ||
02/22/2005
12:37:19 AM ||
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I don't know how to post links yet; but I'd like to recommend Yahoo news for this topic, especially if you can read Spanish. Yahoo has a link to "prensa nacional" (national press) under Colombia. You can look up just about every newspaper in the country. We have a dear friend in Pereira, whose uncle's coffee farm is uncomfortably close to the local gang operations, so we try to keep current on this.
An Algeria rebel group has killed 10 soldiers in an ambush on a military convoy after rejecting any truce with the government. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) posted a statement on its internet site claiming to have exploded bombs as the soldiers' road convoy went past on Friday in the Batna region, 430km east of the capital. Its fighters then opened fire with machine guns, killing 10 soldiers instantly, it said. It did not know the number of wounded. However, the Algerian government has confirmed the death of only four soldiers.
Despite the arrest of its number two operative Amari Said last October, the GSPC is considered still the most dangerous and organised of Algeria's rebel Islamic forces. The GSPC has between 300 and 500 men, many former combatants from the war in Afghanistan, Algerian police chief Ali Tunsi said. Sahrawi has since been replaced by Abu Musab Abd al-Wadud, whose real name is Abd al-malik Durkdal.
As in "Durka Durka Durka Jihad"?
In an interview with an Algerian newspaper in January, Algerian Interior Minister Yzid Zerhuni promised to soon put an end to the GSPC. "There are at this moment some pockets of terrorists from the GSPC that we are going to put out of commission," said Zerhouni.
This article starring:
ABD AL MALIK DURKDAL
Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
ABU MUSAB ABD AL WADUD
Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
AMARI SAID
Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
Yzid Zerhuni
Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:34:34 AM ||
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President Vladimir Putin ordered the Interior Ministry on Monday to toughen efforts to eliminate militants in the restive North Caucasus region.
His order followed special operations over the past several weeks to kill alleged Islamic extremists and their accomplices in several southern cities.
"I think you should tie up all the loose ends that could appear in the process of investigating this affair," Putin told Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, referring to a weekend operation to kill three alleged militants holed up in an apartment in the city of Nalchik.
"You should work like this in the future, and treat them more severely," Putin said.
Police killed an alleged militant trying to flee capture in the city of Karachayevsk early Monday after discovering a group of armed men in an apartment the previous day, said Alexei Polyansky, spokesman for the Interior Ministry's southern regional branch. Police then sealed off the building, where two or three more militants were believed to be holed up, he said, without revealing further details of the operation.
The three alleged militants in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, were killed Sunday morning when security forces stormed the apartment where they had barricaded themselves. Two were ethnic Russians and the third an ethnic Karachai from the predominantly Muslim region of Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Polyansky said.
Nurgaliyev told Putin that investigators had discovered last week that the heads of the Karachayevo-Cherkessia radical Islamic group had instructions to conduct terrorist acts in Russia. As a result of interrogations, police found a bomb-making laboratory and maps of two southern Russian regions, he said.
He said similar special operations to uproot militants were being conducted in the southern republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan.
Authorities had previously said that the militants killed in Nalchik were Islamic extremists, but it was unclear whether the two Russians were adherents of Islam or simply mercenaries, Polyansky said.
Investigators found a Makarov pistol in the ruins of the apartment. The gun bore the serial number of a weapon that went missing during a June 2004 militant raid on police and security forces in Ingushetia, Polyansky said, tying the dead militants to a longer series of attacks that have rocked southern Russia.
On Sunday, Arkady Edelev, a deputy interior minister, said the confrontation with the three militants came during a three-day sweep in Nalchik to root out what he called "terrorist-sabotage groups." He said the groups were preparing terrorist attacks.
Alexander Nagorny, deputy editor of the nationalist newspaper Zavtra and a Kremlin critic, said Monday that Putin could "choke" on the persistent violence in the Caucasus — much as the United States is struggling with the insurgency in Iraq.
"We see how partisan and terrorist activity is spreading to more and more regions. [The government] doesn't have the strength to deal with it, especially with the continuation of the existing approaches, the existing tactics and strategy," Nagorny said.
Russian officials frequently play up claims of a large foreign mercenary presence among Chechen rebels and other militants in the south to shore up their argument that they are closely linked to international terrorists, justifying the Kremlin's harsh response. The increasing use of suicide bombers and merciless hostage-takings are widely thought to have been inspired by foreign emissaries linked to al-Qaida.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:30:58 AM ||
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I agree with Vlad. Break out the napalm, and stand upwind. I am a downwinder because: I love the smell of napalm in the morning, and charcoal in the afternoon.
Philippine security forces have arrested two men suspected of involvement in last week's deadly Valentine's Day bombing in Manila. They said the men were suspected to be members of the al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which claimed responsibility for the Manila bombing and two other attacks in the south that day which killed a total of 13 people and wounded more than 100. "Based on sketchy reports, we got a big fish," Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Buenaventura Pascual told reporters, saying the two suspects were also linked to previous bomb attacks in the southern port city of Zamboanga on Mindanao island. He said a team of soldiers and police officers arrested the two in Manila early on Tuesday, but gave no further details.
A senior military intelligence official told Reuters one of the suspects, Gamal Baharan, was involved in an October 2002 bomb attack outside an army training camp in Zamboanga City that killed an American soldier. A police intelligence official said the other suspected Abu Sayyaf member, Amil Hajiron, was caught based on a tip from an informant who saw a sketch of the bomb suspects on newspapers and television. Hajiron was believed to be involved in the November 2002 bombing of a Roman Catholic shrine in Zamboanga City, the police official said.
This article starring:
AMIL HAJIRON
Abu Sayyaf
GAMAL BAHARAN
Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:28:51 AM ||
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2 Abu Sayyaf members are big fishies
Good. Now scale them, clean out the innards, and cook them.
A Tunisian organization dedicated to defending the rights of terrorism victims criticized today as "a bit hasty" and "ill-advised" the positions taken by certain human rights activists in defense of a group of individuals arrested after having downloaded material from the internet as part of a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts. "As an organization dedicated to the rights of terrorism victims, we see this expression of support as a bit hasty," said the Tunisian association for terrorism victims in a statement issued in Geneva. It added, "the defendants have of course the right to all the legal guarantees under Tunisian law. But certain elements in the case are truly disturbing and should convince all parties interested in the case to be more cautious."
Members of the group, known as "the Zarzis group" were tried and sentenced last year on charges of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism in the southern Tunisian city of Zarzis. Tunisia has unwaveringly taken a rigorous stand against terrorism. The Tunisian association for terrorism victims cited among the "disturbing" facts of the case the fact that "investigators in Tunisia have pointed out that members of the so-called "Zarzis group" have sought support abroad from the "Al-Qaeda" terrorist organization and also attempted to smuggle weapons into the Tunisia to commit acts of terrorism. By the time they were arrested, members of the group had already started manufacturing and storing explosives. They planned rocket attacks against a local secondary school and National Guard station, and were found in possession of files downloaded from the Internet regarding the manufacture and use of bombs, explosives, gun-silencers and combat munitions. "By arresting members of this group, the Tunisian authorities might have pre-empted a tragedy and prevented another casualty toll," stressed the organization. "A more socially-responsible attitude would be to discuss the means of preventing terrorist behavior and clearly denounce all forms of extremism and hate-mongering which lead to terrorism. The rights of all societies and human beings to life and safety require us all to do our share in this regard," added the statement.
Although certain activists have taken up the case of "Zarzis group" as a case of individuals "with no crime except trying to access the Internet," a number of human rights organizations have taken a more cautious attitude on the issue and have abstained from defending members of the group. The Tunisian organization issued the statement in Geneva where is taking place the preparatory meeting for the world summit on the information society (WSIS) scheduled in Tunisia next November.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:27:13 AM ||
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Bravo. Very good. We need more clarity like this.
Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interim vice president, will face off in a secret ballot Tuesday to determine who will be the Shiite majority's choice for Iraqi prime minister, officials said. The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee — despite days of negotiations.
Chalabi spokesman Haidar al-Moussawi said the most powerful man in predominantly Shiite Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, met with interim Finance Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi in the southern city of Najaf and gave his backing for whatever decision the alliance makes. "Al-Sistani assured that whoever the alliance will choose, he will agree on him," al-Moussawi said.
Although Chalabi and his supporters claim he had the support needed for the nomination, the vote between the two 58-year-old men was anything but a sure thing. The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the main group making up the alliance, had tried to persuade Chalabi to quit the race, some of its senior officials said. "We had hoped that we would agree on one person without the secret ballot, because we fear that such a vote will cause divisions inside the alliance," said Jawad Mohammed Taqi, a senior member of the group, known as SCIRI. He added that "Chalabi seems very confident and he believes that when we hold a secret ballot he will get the majority. I believe this is an exaggeration."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:25:35 AM ||
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Chalabi has pulled out -- support if now for al-Jaafari. Wonder what kind of deal was cut here?
Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk is moving to deport three Muslim clerics because of accusations they represent a threat to public order and national security. The three imams will be declared undesirable aliens and two of them will have their residence permits cancelled, the first such action has been taken against clerics. In the third imam's case, an application for an extension of a residence permit will be refused. The Dutch security service AIVD said one of the imams originates from Bosnia and a second comes from Kenya. The origin of the third imam was not released, newspaper De Volkskrant reported. Minister Verdonk took the decision in consultation with Interior Minister Johan Remkes. This represents the first active step in the government's plan to crackdown on Islamic extremism. Inquiries by the AIVD indicated that the imams "contribute to the radicalisation of Muslims in the Netherlands", the Justice Ministry said on Tuesday. All three imams work at the Al Fourkaan mosque in Eindhoven.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
The ministry claims the imams tried to recruit, or tolerated the recruiting, of Muslims for Jihad, or holy war. They are also accused of using their sermons to urge Muslims to "isolate" themselves from the rest of Dutch society. The AIVD said the mosque in Eindhoven disseminated the Salafist philosophy — which is strongly opposed to Western society and the imams there were sponsoring aversion of the West in their sermons. The Dutch Cabinet "declared war" on Islamic extremism following the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an alleged Islamic militant in November last year. One of the methods the government announced it would use was the expulsion of "radical imams". It has increased funding for the AIVD and judiciary and announced legislation forcing suspected terrorists to regularly report to police. Mosques also promised to keep closer tabs on extremism. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and other areas such as train stations have been declared permanent security zones. Members of the public entering these areas can be picked out at random by the police and frisked. The deportation comes after the AIVD pinpointed Eindhoven in recent years as a "hotbed" of terrorism. A total of 100 to 200 Muslims are currently under surveillance across the country.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/22/2005
12:24:49 PM ||
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Perhaps the Dutch will proclaim themselves an Imam Free Zone.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 12:48
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The Dutch may have to keep an increasing number of them under surveillance for a very long time. Is that a solution?
#4
The AIVD said the mosque in Eindhoven disseminated the Salafist philosophy â which is strongly opposed to Western society and the imams there were sponsoring aversion of the West in their sermons.
On the one hand they didnt expell all Imams but carefully selected Salafists who preach hatred of the West. On the other hand they didnt accept the excuse that its only words - they treated incitement seriously. The right balance, I think.
#5
true, but a couple (or twenty) falls down the stairs on the way to the exit might let the imams see how much we appreciate their efforts
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2005 14:55
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This is more of what I'm afraid of what we'll see in the future, when the P.C./multiculti groups' reality comes crashing down around them. Forgot who it was that said it here, but the liberals may act more violently (than your typical Rantburger; although, I doubt it) when cornered b/w a rock and a hard place and I think that the Netherlands may be leading the way to the death of the LLL (in Europe, at least). Amazing what a dose of reality will do for ya.
From the Wall Street Journal's dead tree op-ed page. Requires subscription, so given here uncut.
Recent books have raved that the European Union is the way of the future. In contrast, a supposedly exhausted, broke and post-imperial United States chases the terrorist chimera, running up debts and deficits as it tilts at the autocratic windmills of the Arab World. That caricature frames the visit of the president to Europe as transatlantic pundits demand a softer George Bush, Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld. Stop the childish bickering and the tiresome neocon preening, we are lectured ad nauseam by Euro and American elites. Don't divide Europe, we hear endlessly. Even though the European press, EU leaders, and their wild public have dealt out far more invective than they have received, American circumspection is the order of the day, the expected magnanimity from the more aggressive (and stronger) partner.
Europe is huffy, but strangely tentative in its new prickliness. Short-term positive indicators -- trade surpluses, the strong euro, low inflation and expansion of the EU -- are showcased to prove that its statism and pacifism are the preferable Western paradigm. But privately bureaucrats in Brussels are far more worried about different and scarier long-term concomitant signs: high unemployment, static rates of worker productivity, low birthrates, Islamicist minorities, looming unfunded entitlement obligations, and a high-sounding pacifism that is being increasingly seen world-wide as base appeasement by friend and enemy alike.
The adage goes that the European Union counts on a more sophisticated and nuanced "soft power." In reality, that translates to using transnational organizations and its own economic clout to soothe or buy off potential adversaries, while a formidable cultural engine dresses it all up in high sounding platitudes of internationalism and multilateralism. Everything from idly watching Milosevic and the Hutus butcher unchecked to unilateral intervention in the Ivory Coast or no action in Darfur usually finds either the proper humanitarian exegesis or the culpable American bogeyman. Yet contrary to the mythologies of Michael Moore and the high talk of Kyoto, most of the international sins of the recent age -- selling a reactor to Saddam, setting up a new arms market in China, whitewashing Hezbollah, or subsidizing Hamas -- were the work of European avatars of peace.
Continued on Page 49
#1
The population trends in Europe coupled with the state welfare could spell serious problems in the future. Our Soc Sec and Medicare problems, caused in large part by population trends and expectations, are dwarfed by the problem in Europe. See, e.g., The Global Baby Bust, FA, 6/04, http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501faessay83307/phillip-longman/the-global-baby-bust.html?mode=print
"With a shrinking labor supply, Europe's future economic growth will therefore depend entirely on getting more out of each remaining worker (many of them unskilled, recently arrived immigrants), even as it has to tax them at higher and higher rates to pay for old-age pensions and health care." This, of course, will require increasing importation of workers, who often come from Islamic countries (Turkey, et cetera).
#6
I won't write off Europe, because it is such a big market, and an exploding number of Euros - including in France - are beginning to understand what has to be done with the Muslim enemy. Any Secular - even Commie mutts - can be educated. Koranimals are immune to reason. Any politician in the West who kisses enemy asses, needs to be tossed into the discreditation hole and left there. Hate for Muslims is good. I love Hate.
Well, with number of euros exploding, Houston, we would have already bigbadaboom a problem.
Perhaps "rapidly increasing number" would be a better verbal device.
I am not convinced, though. Eastern Europens still have some life juice in their bloodstream and they have a genetic memory of Islamic thread (I inherited it too). Western Europe is so pussified that in my humble view, they are already 1/3 on a slippery slope.
Communist rebels stepped up their campaign to block highways disrupting food and fuel supplies across Nepal as seven people were killed in clashes between villagers and rebels, officials said Monday. The insurgents ordered disruptions of the country's transport network to protest King Gyanendra's Feb. 1 decision to dismiss the government and suspend civil liberties. Rebels attacked passenger convoys, burned trucks and set off land mines late Sunday to stop travel on the Prithvi Highway, the country's lifeline, killing one truck driver and wounding seven passengers, army spokesman Brig. Gen. Dipak Gurung said.
The road's closure was likely to cause food and fuel shortages and send prices soaring across the Himalayan state. Also Sunday, rebels set off homemade bombs when residents tried to clear tree trunks and boulders placed by the rebels on other roads, injuring four people, police said.
Showing rare defiance, armed villagers challenged the Maoist militants in the southwestern Kapilbastu district, killing six of them on Sunday, Gurung said. Unlike in the past, villagers are no longer succumbing to rebel demands and have killed at least 20 insurgents in the past four days, Gurung said.
Let's hope this is a trend ...
The rebels focused on blocking the 125-mile Prithvi Highway, which connects Katmandu to the heart of the Himalayan state and leads to the southern border with India. "The battle has moved to the highway. They want a show of strength by shutting it down, we want to keep it open," Gurung told The Associated Press. Gurung said army patrols have been escorting buses, trucks and other vehicles on the highway.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005
12:23:33 AM ||
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Showing rare defiance, armed villagers challenged the Maoist militants in the southwestern Kapilbastu district, killing six of them on Sunday, Gurung said. Unlike in the past, villagers are no longer succumbing to rebel demands and have killed at least 20 insurgents in the past four days, Gurung said. Let's hope this is a trend ...
Algeria's top Islamic rebel group has killed four soldiers in an ambush on a military convoy and rejected any truce with the secular government, security sources said on Monday. The attack by guerrillas of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) took place on Saturday in the Batna region, 500 km (310 miles) east of the capital Algiers.
The government is preparing a national referendum to give hundreds of rebels still fighting a chance to surrender in exchange of laying down their arms. A communique dated Feb. 20 published on its Web site in which it claimed responsibility for the Batna attack, said: "Our ambush against a military convoy was a great success ... we reject any truce, reconciliation or dialogue with the regime."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:23:08 AM ||
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Kenyan authorities have arrested three men with alleged links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in the East African nation, a police official said on Monday. The trio -- a Sudanese national and two Kenyans -- were detained on Saturday in northeast Kenya near the border with lawless Somalia and transferred to Nairobi for questioning by anti-terrorism police, the official said. "We are holding one Sudanese and two Kenyans on suspicion of involvement in terrorism activities," the official said, suggesting that Kenya may have been tipped to the threesome's alleged activity by foreign intelligence. "We got a hint from sources I cannot disclose now of their involvement in terrorism activities and links to bin Laden," the official said on condition of anonymity. "The investigation is continuing."
Police took them into custody as they were travelling along a normally unpatrolled road in Kenya's northeastern Tana River district, the official said. "The route ... is not manned by police and that's why it appears they were using it," the official said. Kenyan authorities believe that the route has been used by terrorists in the past, notably to transport bombs and other weapons from Somalia to Kenya for the deadly 2002 attacks on Israeli interests in the port town of Mombasa.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:21:55 AM ||
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Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq dismissed on Monday a report of secret talks between insurgents and U.S. officials and said its attacks would continue, according to an Internet statement. Time magazine, citing Pentagon and other sources, said on Sunday that U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers were conducting talks with Sunni Muslim insurgents on ways to end fighting in Iraq. "The enemies of God say the mujahideen want to end jihad (holy war), but they do not know that the jihad will go on ... and our response to what was published by Time magazine will come in our attacks," the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in a statement posted on Islamist Web sites. "Our thirst will only be quenched by cutting off your heads and spilling your blood ... Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq will continue its jihad until the flag of monotheism is raised and until God's law rules," it said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:19:33 AM ||
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"Our thirst will only be quenched by cutting off your heads and spilling your blood ... "
beheadings are soooo last year .. /yawn
Voting is the 'in vogue' thing this year matey !
#3
man I hope his end is slow and painful - perhaps sepsis while trapped under rubble for a week or so?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/22/2005 10:50
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#4
Checking out every body he communicates with and everybody who communicates with him thinking twice. Great article to get them in a crossfire with eachotheer.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 11:06
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Twenty-two people including four US soldiers have died in a series of attacks in Iraq since Sunday evening, while a journalist, her son, and three men working for the US military have been kidnapped, according separate security sources and a statement from a militant group.
An Iraqi truck driver was killed overnight in an attack northeast of Baghdad on his convoy carrying equipment for the Iraqi army, police said. Two other drivers were missing. A teacher at Baijiâs Oil Institute died on Monday in a bomb attack, while an Iraqi soldier was killed in a mortar attack outside Samarra and an Iraqi civilian died in an attack on a chemistâs, southeast of Samarra, security sources said.
In Mosul, police Lt Col Essam Fathi was shot dead as he left home, police said, and in the same city gunmen kidnapped Raeda Wazzan, a journalist working for a government-funded television station, along with her son, aged 10, a TV executive said. An Interior Ministry source said that four people had died in separate attacks in the capital.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:17:43 AM ||
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#1
Someone pointed out around the time of the election that statistically, we lose about 47 people per day on the highways of America.
Soon this will all fade in the background as Mikey Jackson will consume the attention of the news media sharkfest. Mikey, All Day, All Night. OMG.
#2
By the way, three of the soldiers were killed in an attack on a medevac chopper. I'm sure we'll hear more about this from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/22/2005 10:00
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#3
and over 14,000 people were murdered in the US in 2003.
#5
Ahhhh.....but the highways are IMPROVING! At the time of the Viet Nam war, our highways killed around 55,000 people every YEAR - roughly the same number of US tropps that died in Viet Nam during the whole quagmire. And, as you may have noticed, we drive a lot more now.
The number of deaths an the roads peaks at about twice the average on the Fourth of July. I suppose having so many cars on the road does give one a sense of independence..... (irony intended).
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2005 16:07
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AN al Qaeda suspect blew himself up in southern Russia as security and police forces closed in, security officials revealed yesterday. Abu Dzeit, a Kuwaiti, killed himself during an operation in Ingushetia, a region which neighbours Chechnya, said Sergei Ignatchenko, a Federal Security Service spokesman. He said security forces killed two accomplices in a house, then found Abu Dzeit in an underground bunker.
Ignatchenko said Abu Dzeit had funded and planned several terrorist attacks, including an attack on Ingushetia's interior ministry last summer and organising the school siege in Beslan in September. He said Abu Dzeit, also known as Little Omar and Abu Omar of Kuwait, had trained bombers and suicide attackers. In the bunker were weapons , ammunition and an explosives laboratory, he said. Ignatchenko said al Qaeda wanted an Islamic-controlled community in the North Caucasus. In related developments, three alleged militants holed up in a flat in Nalchik were killed on Sunday after a day-long siege with police. Another alleged militant was killed yesterday in Karachayevsk. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, yesterday ordered the interior ministry to treat suspected Islamic militants in the south more severely.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:15:55 AM ||
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Putin, ..., yesterday ordered the interior ministry to treat suspected Islamic militants in the south more severely.
What that entails?
Hanging on their entrails?
I suggest shootin' first and skipin' questions later.
#2
Abu Dzeit, one of mainy aliases of Al Kaboomi himself.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2005 1:23
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This makes it look like he committed explosive suicide without using the action to take any of his enemy with him. In other words, simple -- and religiously forbidden -- self murder to avoid the discomforts of being captured, which is expressly forbidden in the Qur'an. How, then, can this person be taken up to Paradise and the 72 sloe-eyed virgins?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
02/22/2005 7:00
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#5
Yesterday I posted a link to Pravda's take on the situation. The long and the short of it: they believe this guy was Very Very Important, even though there's a noticable dearth of previous articles about him both there and here...
Trailing Wife: Maybe he meant to go out with a bigger boom than he actually did. especially if he's about as competent as the rest of the terrorists in the Beslan atrocity, which started going south with an accidental detonation of one of the bombs there.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/22/2005 8:40
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#6
I thought I felt a chill.
We can always hope that that they asked him a few questions before the bunker blew up.
#7
Heh! Spokespeople for law-enforcement authorities rejected the information, though. They said that the terrorist with such a name had been killed several months before. Maybe they did catch him a few months ago, and claimed he was dead to keep the Red Thingy Away. Timing's about right. At some point they'd want to produce the body. A big boom would nicely hide unattractive marks.
#8
Phil F -- Well, if that was his intention, the result was downright pathetic. But if he really does get the whole Paradise reward after all, what is he going to say to the other guys when they compare notes between bouts of laying siege to their individual sets of virgins?
Beslan Guy: I killed babies and raped little girls, and in the end sent 300 infidels to roast their bellies in hell.
Abu Dzeit: Well,I planned a bunch of things, and when the police came for me, I tried to take them with me. I did, really!
All the other Lions of Islam, who'd been listening closely, start muttering to one another, then somehow all have wandered off, leaving Abu Dzeit to the lonliness of his virgins and 10,000 servants, none of whom can supply interesting conversation....
#9
I wonder if the Bangledesh police are paying attention to this? A little variation in the "crossfire" plot could keep their jobs fresh and interesting.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2005 11:18
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Putin, the Russian president, yesterday ordered the interior ministry to treat suspected Islamic militants in the south more severely.
Simpler... Many more 20-somethings having "Heart Attacks" in custody. There must be a genetic population of Islamics with congenetal heart defects in the Caucuses. Hmmmm
#11
The question that's bugging me now is why have we gone from hearing nothing about this guy to hearing that he was more-or-less in charge of AQ operations in the Caucasus?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/22/2005 16:37
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The trial has started in Turkey of four policemen accused of the unlawful killing of a man and his child in the south-eastern province of Mardin. Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz were shot and killed in what security forces said was an anti-terrorism operation. Ugur Kaymaz was 11-years-old when he was killed.
Ah, a "baby terrorist".
That the trial is happening - and that it is attracting attention inside the country - testifies to the changes Turkey has seen over recent years. The killing of Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz in late November last year aroused little attention for a few days. But gradually the Turkish media, non-governmental organisations and members of the Turkish parliament became more and more involved.
The security forces, which for years have been accused of torture and extra-judicial killings in Turkey's troubled Kurdish south-east, were thrown onto the defensive. The shooting in the back of a child who was reportedly dressed in his slippers at the time did not seem to many like an attempt to halt a terrorist operation. Instead the police have been accused of using excessive force. Those involved were, for a time, suspended from duty. They have since been re-instated and re-assigned.
Speaking to the BBC, the president of the Kurdish political party, Dehap, acknowledged that things had changed in Turkey. He said that the growth in the strength of civil society had led to that change in atmosphere. There is still a fair amount of paramilitary activity in the south-east and human rights groups maintain that the authorities are still heavy-handed in their response. The difference between now and a few years ago is that, in some cases at least, such responses no longer go unnoticed in the rest of Turkey. In this case, moreover, the authorities have been quick to act against those who appear to have overstepped the mark.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005
12:15:54 AM ||
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Syria has denied having offered to withdraw its approximately 16,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon, and officials in Damascus disclaimed remarks by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to the effect that Syrian President Bashir al-Assad had promised an imminent pullback of those forces.
"President Assad stressed more than once his firm determination to go on with implementing the Taif agreement and achieve Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, in accordance with this agreement," Moussa had announced. But Syrian Information Minister Mahdi Dakhlallah told the BBC that this had been the result of a misunderstanding, and that his country's forces would merely be redeployed within Lebanon. Analysts speculated whether the apparent misunderstanding could signal divisions over policy in Damascus, where some believe a power struggle is underway between hardliners from the regime of al-Assad's father, former Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad, and more moderate elements that see a need for fundamental reforms in Syria.
Bashir al-Assad last week appointed his brother-in-law, Brigadier-General Assaf Shawkat, as head of the powerful military intelligence service, replacing General Hassan Khalil, who had reached retirement age, according to the BBC. The news service quoted Syrian sources as saying that the move was intended to consolidate the ruling family's grip on the police and security apparatus.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/22/2005
12:14:55 PM ||
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#1
Surprise meter pegged?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 12:42
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"The news service quoted Syrian sources as saying that the move was intended to consolidate the ruling familyâs grip on the police and security apparatus." And money.
South-East Asian authorities need to keep a close eye on Jemaah Islamiah despite recent arrests of some of the extremist group's key members, a counter terrorism expert has warned.
Three Malaysians, Mohammad Nasir Abbas, Noordin Mohammad Top and alleged master bombmaker Azahari bin Husin, were arrested last year and have been accused of being senior members of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network. Abbas testified last December that he had been sworn into JI by hardline Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.
South-East Asian Regional Centre for Counter Terrorism director general Dato Zainal Abidin Zain said the arrests had helped disconnect links between JI and al-Qaeda, which was a significant achievement. "The (JI) movement has suffered major setbacks following the apprehension of its JI operation chief combatants," he told the Third Annual National Security Conference in Sydney. "These successful captures meant that another point of contact between the al-Qaeda and this region has been cut off."
But authorities needed to stay vigilant, he warned. "It is important to note that although the JI have suffered a setback the threat by the remaining members ... cannot be discounted," Mr Zain said. "The next phase of our investigation and efforts will focus on cleaning up the JI remnants."
Mr Zain said any attempt to stop terrorism had to look at grassroots problems, such as poverty. "We need to look long and deep at all the issues that surround terrorism. Terrorism knows no colour, religion, beliefs and boundaries. Therefore it is only logical that efforts to counter terrorism are best to ignore, colour, religion, beliefs and boundaries."
This article starring:
ABU BAKAR BASHIR
Jemaah Islamiah
AZAHARI BIN HUSIN
Jemaah Islamiah
MOHAMAD NASIR ABAS
Jemaah Islamiah
NURDIN MOHAMAD TOP
Jemaah Islamiah
Jemaah Islamiah
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:13:42 AM ||
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The extremist Abu Sayyaf is merely a military wing of a terrorist "nebulous party."
This was the government's assessment of the terrorist group in the new National Internal Security Plan (NISP) that is now the subject of discussions and brainstorming in the unified command levels of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Based on the 28-page security plan that was drafted by the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COC-IS), it said that the Abu Sayyaf has "a nebulous party structure" performing the role of a "brain" in the entire terrorist organization, and that this has yet to be fully determined and identified by government operatives.
The group's "nebulous party," added the NISP, has "civilian supporters acting as its shield," while the Abu Sayyaf "itself as the sword."
Such presumptions were compared to how the government regards the mainstream underground Maoist movement and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
With regard the Maoist rebel movement, the NISP pointed out that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is its "brain," its underground political umbrella, the National Democratic Front (NDF), its "shield," and the New People's Army (NPA) is its "sword."
As for the MILF, the rebel front is in itself the "brain," its revolutionary mass bases in Mindanao are its "shields," while its mujahideens (holy warriors) in the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), are its "sword."
The NISP has it that the "core members" of the Abu Sayyaf were former mujahideens who fought in the Afghan wars of the 1980s.
It later grew in strength when it was able to recruit disgruntled members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) after it entered into a peace agreement with the government in the early 1990s.
After a series of government assaults, the Abu Sayyaf became a mere "lawless terrorist bandit group claiming Islamic theocratic objectives."
However, the NISP noted that it still "exerts influence and enjoys support in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Sarangani."
"Lately," added the same document, "it has been pre-occupied with recruitment and kidnap-for-ransom activities to generate funds for the procurement of high-powered weapons."
By now, the Abu Sayyaf has a fighting force of less than 300, from a peak of 1,200, but the government nonetheless considers it "as the immediate threat group in Southwestern Mindanao."
"While many⊠communities (in Mindanao) are against the means by which the (Abu Sayyaf) hopes to attain its goal," the NISP assessed, "(it) continues to enjoy some degree of support."
The Abu Sayyaf is being suspected by authorities to have established a link with the Jeemah Islamiya, the Southeast Asian terror network of Saudi-dissident Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Its ultimate objective is to carve an independent Islamic state in Mindanao.
All of the Abu Sayyaf's terrorist units have been dispersed from its former regular fighting formations to avoid head-to-head confrontations with government forces, as the NISP document warned that "its special operations groups (are) lurking in several urban centers (to) conduct terroristic activities, to include bombings of uncooperative business establishments."
By now, the government suspects that the Abu Sayyaf has already struck an alliance with a faction of the MNLF loyal to jailed former Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Nur Misuari, which recently staged a revolt in Sulu.
While Abu Sayyaf terrorists are now believed to be also operating in Metro Manila, the military has vague information with regards its linkages with the shadowy Luzon-based terrorist group Rajah Solaiman Revolutionary Movement (RSRM).
For the past three years, police and military operatives have encountered elements of the RSRM and its self-styled armed wing, the Hukbong Khalid Trinidad (HKT), in campaigns against terrorism in Tarlac, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan.
According to the NISP, "Government response (to the Abu Sayyaf) should not only put an end to terrorism and banditry."
"More importantly," it added, "(government has to) address poverty, which is the breeding ground of terrorism."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:12:16 AM ||
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Thirteen people suspected of links to Al-Qaeda will go on trial in Yemen soon accused of planning attacks, a legal official said on Monday. "Yemen's prosecutor-general intends from next week to bring before court a new group of 13 members of Al-Qaeda," said the source. "The group members planned terrorist acts. They will also be prosecuted on other charges, never before made against Al-Qaeda network members, including some linked to immoral activities."
They raise money by pimping and dealing drugs, too?
The official was speaking as a Sanaa court held another hearing in the trial of 11 other presumed Al-Qaeda members also charged with planning attacks in Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden. The court adjourned that case after dealing with procedural questions and fixed its next hearing for February 28.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:10:58 AM ||
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What links one to Al-Qaeda in Yemen these days? Maybe it's a sure way to get a conviction...if that doesn't stick, then the "immoral activities" will get 'em for sure.
Phil asked the other day why we haven't heard anything about Abu Dzeit before. My guess is that his kuniyat of "Dzeit" (which doesn't sound terribly Kuwait) has probably been mangled a couple of times during the translation from Arabic to Russian to English. As far as who he is, he's one of the 10 Arab al-Qaeda leaders who oversee and finance the Chechen/North Caucasus jihad, of whom Basayev is the big cheeze. There are lower-ranking Arab commanders who run the jamaats or jihadi platoons (not to be confused with the Ingushetia Jamaat, which is an organization rather than a paramilitary formation), but the top ten make up the local Council of Boskone that makes the whole thing work.
Russia has been knocking off or detaining these big shots at a fairly consistent rate since Beslan, and by all accounts Abu Dzeit oversaw all of the nastiness in Ingushetia, though I believe there's some actual Ingush the Bad Guys use to give them some local flavor. Abu Hafs al-Urduni (if he's still alive, there's been conflicting reports on this one) or Abu Omar al-Saif are the Arab Big Cheezes in the North Caucasus now that Abu Walid al-Ghamdi is toes up. Russian forces claim to have killed a key Al Qaeda member suspected to be involved in a school siege in which over 350 people, mainly children, were killed, Xinhua reported. Abu Dzeit was killed in an operation by Russian security forces in Ingushetia republic last week, Sergei Ignatchenko, a spokesman of the Federal Security Service, said Monday. He was suspected to be involved in the attack last September at a school in Beslan town of North Ossetia province near the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya.
Dzeit, according to the spokesman, was involved in funding and planning several terrorist actions, including an armed attack on the Ingushetia interior ministry last summer. "We can say that with the elimination of Abu Dzeit, a channel of funding terrorists in the North Caucasus and the rest of Russia has been blocked," he said.
Ignatchenko said Dzeit and two accomplices were hiding in a village in Ingushetia. Troops raided the house where Dzeit was hiding in a bunker along with two associates. While the forces killed the associates, Dzeit blew himself up, Ignatchenko said. A large quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from the bunker, which also had a mini-film studio and a laboratory for making explosives.
Investigations revealed that Dzeit, also known as Little Omar and Abu Omar, was the Al Qaeda representative in Ingushetia, distributing funds from the international terrorist network. Dzeit, who had received special training at Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, was also in charge of training suicide bombers.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/22/2005
12:10:01 AM ||
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TEHERAN - An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit southeast Iran on Tuesday morning destroying some villages and killing at least five people, state television reported. The earthquake, centred on the town of Zarand in Kerman province about 440 miles (700 km) southeast of Teheran, struck at 5:55 a.m. (0225 GMT), television said.
"Up to now only five people have died, but we can't say that's a final figure because some villages have been destroyed and we don't have access to them," Ali Sharifi, head of Kerman's university of medicine told television.
Major settlements appeared to have escaped heavy damage suggesting the overall death toll would not be as high as in some similar strength tremors in the earthquake prone country. "In Zarand and Kerman only some walls have collapsed and there were no casualties but we still don't have any figures on casualties in the villages in Kerman province," Interior Ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani said.
Television said 25 to 30 percent of property had been damaged in five villages close to Zarand. Kerman Governor Mohammad Ali Karimi told television that aid groups had been sent to the villages but he had not yet asked for any help from other provinces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005
12:07:27 AM ||
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Hmmm were any UFOs flying overhead when the earthquake struck? Were local military authorities firing at a flock of birds because they confused them with Isralei F-15s, and there are "secret" nuclear facilities nearby? Is it truly an act of God who is pissed at all the nasty stuff done in His name? Inquiring minds want to know...
More than 10,000 Congolese civilians have fled into Uganda to escape renewed clashes between tribal warriors and former rebels, almost half of them since mid-January, the U.N. refugee agency said on Monday. The refugees survived a perilous 35 km (22 mile) canoe journey across stormy Lake Albert from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before washing up in western Uganda. "They say they are fleeing fighting between Mai-Mai militia and former rebels from RCD-Goma, and between the Hema and Lendu (tribes)," Roberta Russo, UNHCR spokeswoman in Uganda, told Reuters.
She said 10,385 refugees had so far been registered at a camp by the agency near Kyaka village, 200 km (125 miles) west of the capital Kampala. Of them, 4,258 have arrived since January 14, she said. In recent years, remote western Uganda has seen repeated influxes of Congolese villagers fleeing fighting in their country's mineral-rich Ituri province. At least 50,000 people have been killed there by militias since 1999, and clashes have continued despite the end of Congo's wider war in 2003. The trigger for the latest flare up in fighting was not immediately clear. Russo said about 70 refugees were crossing the lake to Uganda each day, and that most new arrivals were Congolese women and children following husbands who fled earlier. U.N. aid officials said earlier this month some 85,000 people fearing rape and death in northeastern Congo had fled their homes so far this year. Most of them were staying with host families or makeshift camps elsewhere in the region.
Sectarian clashes during a procession to mark Ashura left three people dead and 20 injured in northern India on Sunday, officials said. The violence erupted as the Shia procession wound its way through the narrow streets of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state, said Anuradha Shukla, a district magistrate. Some Sunnis shopkeepers objected to the Shia procession passing through their neighbourhood, and both sides started throwing stones at each other, she said. At least 14 shops and houses were burned. The mobs then fired at each other before police reached the site of the clashes and dispersed the protesters. A curfew has been imposed in parts of the city, Shukla said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
12:01:53 AM ||
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The US military has been carrying out raids in the western Iraqi province of Anbar in a crackdown on insurgents. The focus of the operation is the town of Ramadi, the provincial capital, which has been a rebel stronghold for many months. Night-time curfews have been imposed and a cordon of checkpoints surrounds the town, which is home to 400,000. The offensive has been dubbed Operation River Blitz and is targeting rebels in towns along the Euphrates river. Iraqi security forces are also taking part in the operation. They say a prominent tribal leader and more than 10 of his relatives are among those detained...
#3
Looks like he is using a weapon with accessories for urban combat (think SWAT.) I wonder how many guy are adding their own sighting devices etc? I have seen various sighting devices so I am wondering. The radio thing means this guy is a coms guy.
#4
Can someone who is knowledgable about urban warfare training please give me the benefit of your expertise and describe how these soldiers wage urban warfare under these conditions? Somebody our family cares about is in the middle of Urban Warfare School in Okinawa. Anybody who reads my usual comments probably knows that "my military knowledge, tho' I'm plucky and adventury/ Has not yet been brought down to the beginning of this century." (with apologies to WS Gilbert)
'm 25 years old,'' Marilyn Monroe says in "Some Like It Hot.'' "That's a quarter of a century. Makes a girl think.''
The Miracle on Ice hits the quarter-century mark today, and if I said not a year has gone by that I don't think about it, I would be exaggerating only a bit.
There never has been anything like it, of course. Not for the sheer surprise of it. Or the enormity. Or the impact. Or the joy.
Usually, when you are present at something that was not supposed to happen -- that was not supposed to be possible -- it takes time to get your arms around it. To understand what it means and how it will change the lives of those who made it happen....
Iran moving things around. Who's winning, and who's losing in the aftermath?
A number of Ministries will be merged according to a new government bill. Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari told Fars News Agency that according to the government's new bill, several other Ministries will be merged, including the Ministries of Commerce and Economy. "A total of 21 Ministries and 20 major governmental organizations are presently working under the supervision of President Mohammad Khatami," he said. Commenting on the new bill, he pointed out that energy ministry will be formed after the merger of oil and power ministries. "Labor and Cooperative Ministries will also be merged," he said. Shariatmadari noted that roads and communications ministries will also be merged to form a new ministry under the name of communications and transportation.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005
1:18:36 AM ||
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Emily, a suggestion for a new headline:
MULLALAHLAND MINISTRY MERGERS MULLED ;)
#2
"The Ministry of Killing Kufrs is merging with our Ministry of Nuclear Power, but we are still dedicated to solely the peaceful use of nuclear power."
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2005 10:29
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European Union foreign ministers have renewed sanctions against Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe for another year. However, they said the measures - a response to the political and human rights situation - could be re-examined after next month's parliamentary poll. The extension, which came on the day Mr Mugabe celebrated his 81st birthday, was passed unanimously without debate. The sanctions include a ban on Mr Mugabe and other government officials from travelling to EU countries. They were first implemented three years ago... Now, if Mugabe were willing to challenge the US, and could afford to buy French-made arms, it would be an entirely different situation.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
02/22/2005
11:59:18 AM ||
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The sanctions include a ban on Mr Mugabe and other government officials from travelling to EU countries. They were first implemented three years ago..
#2
Obviously Mr. Mugabe's immediate problem is that he is clearly not offering to buy sufficent military equipment from the EU. He could take guidance from China in this matter.
Posted by: john ||
02/22/2005 15:36
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Given Mugabe's mindset, I doubt he would have purchased from Europe, even if there was no embargo. In any case, Zimbabwe just inked an agreement to buy arms from China.
SYDNEY - Australia will send an additional 450 troops to Iraq to provide security for Japanese engineers helping rebuild the country's south, Prime Minister John Howard said on Tuesday.
Howard, one of US President George W. Bush's closest allies, said Iraq was at a "tilting point" following recent elections and the coalition had to support the fledgling democracy. "The government believes that Iraq is very much at a tilting point and it's very important that the opportunity of democracy, not only in Iraq, but also in other parts of the Middle East be seized and consolidated," he told reporters.
Howard said it would be "devastating" if the Iraqi democracy failed.
The prime minister said the initial commitment was for a year, with two troop deployments, each spending six months in Iraq. He refused to say whether it could be expanded after that. Howard did not canvass the possibility of expanding Australia's military presence in Iraq when succesfully campaigning for re-election last October and said changing circumstances on the ground since the poll warranted the additional deployment
Howard said it was a difficult decision to send extra troops and pointed out any military deployment involved the risk of casualties. "I know it will be unpopular with many people," he said.
Thanks, mate!
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005
11:47:21 PM ||
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#1
The Left is in disarray in Australia at the moment. Opposition will be minimal.
#2
Good on ya, mates! (even though your guys seem to have the pick of the limited good-looking babes around the Palace ....)
Australia -- first "ally" visit on my itinerary when I get the chance. (OK, not exactly a place without a lot of attractions anyway -- they even have x-country skiing in their winter!)
#3
they even have x-country skiing in their winter Not around here. The record was in 1923 when snow covered the top of Bluff Knoll the highest mountain in the south of Western Australia for a whole 4 days. If anyone is fascinated by the subject of snow in WA here is a site.
#4
Outstanding...will require the addition of a few more bottles of fine Aussie Semillon to the collection. Good on ya Bruce!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/22/2005 1:59
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phil_b: am I talking about Victoria? I know that I was shocked, a few years back, to encounter a nearly 100% Australian staff at a California x-country ski area. They explained that they had two winters, one in the Sierras and one back home.
In any case, I hope to get to Oz before too long, whether winter or summer. I once worked for a guy from Perth, BTW.
#6
Howard, one of US President George W. Bushâs closest allies, said Iraq was at a âtilting pointâ following recent elections and the coalition had to support the fledgling democracy. âThe government believes that Iraq is very much at a tilting point and itâs very important that the opportunity of democracy, not only in Iraq, but also in other parts of the Middle East be seized and consolidated,â he told reporters.
Iraq is indeed at a tilting (tipping?) point. Everyone agrees with that assessment. Some wish us to pull out because of that, hoping that we'd be foolish enough to take the bait, resulting in the balance tipping against us in the long run.
Howard shows he has gumption and initiative, seeing an opportunity to jump in and tilt the balance in the West's favor at a critical time.
Bush, Blair, Howard, Aznar: God has indeed smiled upon our undertaking by giving us such leaders.
Australia is just 500 miles from the world's most populous Muslim country. I think the ADF can handle any threats from that direction but, if not, they know who to call.
#9
Iraq is indeed at a tilting (tipping?) point. Everyone agrees with that assessment.
I would say, rather, that there are several good indications that Iraq is at a tipping point. Ive been burnt too many times to say it IS a tipping point. On Iraqi tipping points its not a 48 hr rule thats needed, but at least a one month rule. I want a full month with a lull in US combat deaths, and Iraqi deaths from insurgent incidents. Maybe two months. I continue to hope.
The Bush administration plans to send a high-level team to Nicaragua to protest Managua's failure to account for shoulder-fired missiles that could fall into the hands of Islamic terrorists, a senior U.S. official said yesterday.
The United States has become increasingly worried about the fate of hundreds of Soviet-provided SA-7s like the ones used by terrorists in Kenya in 2002 to try to down an Israeli airliner. In that attack, the two missiles missed their target.
The Nicaragua problem arose last month when a police sting, aided by U.S. officials, captured an SA-7 missile from four Nicaraguans who thought they were selling it to Colombian terrorists. To some U.S. officials, the missile's appearance at an air-conditioner repair shop in Managua was proof that elements of the military were hoarding scores of SA-7s for future sale on the black market.
Last week, the situation worsened when the Nicaraguan assembly overrode a veto by President Enrique Bolanos that stripped him of power to, at his discretion, dispose of weapons. The override effectively ends, for now, Mr. Bolanos' plans to destroy about 1,000 SA-7s known to be in the country's arsenal.
U.S. intelligence thinks there are about 80 additional missiles never declared by the government.
The assembly's override demonstrated the extent to which the opposition Sandinista party has gained control of the legislature through elections and backroom deals.
"This is essentially the Sandinista party taking control over the missiles," the senior U.S. official said.
The official said the U.S. delegation leaving this week will be made up of Pentagon and State Department officials. They plan to meet with Mr. Bolanos, a U.S. ally who wants to destroy the SA-7s as promised to Washington, and legislative leaders who blocked destruction.
A State Department spokesman yesterday said he had no information on a planned trip to Managua. But the senior U.S. official said the delegation has received "talking points" that include telling the Nicaraguans that loose SA-7s pose a major terror threat to the United States and to civil aviation worldwide.
The source said the Pentagon, National Security Council and State Department are unanimous in adopting a policy that Nicaragua must account for and destroy all its SA-7s, heat-seeking missiles that can hit aircraft within 15,000 feet.
To underscore Washington's unhappiness with the left-wing Sandinistas' maneuvers, the Bush administration did not send a high-ranking military officer yesterday to attend the swearing-in of Gen. Omar Halleslevens as Nicaragua's top military officer. Instead, an American officer with the mid-level rank of major represented the United States. Normally, such a ceremony would attract a senior officer from U.S. Southern Command in Miami, perhaps even the four-star commander.
The Nicaraguan military has denied that it harbors any SA-7s other than the 1,000 missiles left over from the 1980s civil war, which have been inventoried by the Organization of American States. But the serial number of the missile captured in the sting did not match that of any inventoried missile.
U.S. officials have said they do not know whether any Nicaraguan SA-7s missiles have fallen into the hands of terrorists.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005
11:36:57 AM ||
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As President Bush visits Europe this week, he is up against a continent brimming with hostile public opinion. But while Americans have grown used to being condemned as global bullies, at least one region has people looking to them for salvation.
For many of the young people who take to the streets in protest in Lome and other blighted, overlooked capitals across Africa, only one distant power seems great enough to defeat the local forces of tyranny: the U.S. military.
"Tell George Bush to send us guns," young protesters screamed last weekend in Lome, capital of Togo, where the dictator of 38 years had just died, only for his son to succeed him by military appointment within hours.
"We need American troops to deliver us from this regime," young men shouted.
America's export of democratic ideals, along with the hard-core rap music and imagery that has suffused African youth cultures, has made it seem like a beacon to Africa's downtrodden — or at least better than France, former colonial ruler and lasting influence in much of West Africa.
That was evident amid the tear gas and riots in the former French colony of Togo, when thousands protested against the military's appointment of Faure Gnassingbe as president. Young people, many in American-branded jeans and baseball caps, begged Western journalists to send the message that they wanted the U.S. Marines to come in stop a new dictatorship from blossoming.
That was before pressure at home and abroad elicited a pledge from Gnassingbe late Friday to hold presidential elections within 60 days, and matters may yet be resolved peacefully.
Similar pro-American sympathies have been noticeable in other places wracked by civil war, ethnic hatred and disease.
In Ivory Coast, where pro-government mobs attacked French families last year and clashed with French peacekeepers, any foreigner could win immunity and cheers simply by producing an American flag — or even a red-white-and-blue car air-freshener. Demonstrators waved posters appealing to Bush for help.
The French, whose soldiers, traders and technocrats are still deeply engaged in West Africa, get the blame for much that goes wrong here. The United States keeps a much lower profile. French criticism of the Iraq invasion only adds to Washington's luster. So while the educated classes of Africa debate the rights and wrongs of U.S. policy, at street level Americans are often seen as knights in armor who would surely ride to the rescue if only they knew how bad things were.
As U.S. troops rolled into Baghdad in 2003, many people of eastern Congo, 3,000 miles away, were being slaughtered in ethnic massacres. Over and over, frightened Congolese were heard demanding American intervention.
Months later, rebels descended on Monrovia, Liberia, a country founded by freed slaves returned from America. Deposed President Charles Taylor finally agreed to step down — but not until U.S. troops arrived.
The 100 soldiers who joined a West African peacekeeping force were the first U.S. military mission on African soil since 10 years previously, when the killing of 18 U.S. soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia, doused any American appetite for further African interventions.
Yet many Somalians say the American troops are still the only ones who can deliver their city from warlords and drug-addled gunmen.
In the former French colonies, the call for American firepower usually comes in the same breath as vitriolic hatred for the French — delivered in French, the lingua franca inherited from colonial times.
During the demonstrations in Lome (pronounced low-MAY), Togo's beach-front capital, protesters confronted journalists shouting, "Are you French? If you are, we will kill you." A French radio journalist was doused with gasoline but escaped unharmed.
Few listened to the funeral dirges and electronic anthems droning out of state radio in ceaseless homage to the dead president. In neighborhoods full of restless, unemployed youth, Busta Rhymes and DMX blared from a distant boom box, near a mural honoring slain rapper Tupac Shakur.
"People are hungry and dying here," said a 24-year-old calling himself LL Cool J, after the American rapper...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
02/22/2005
11:36:42 AM ||
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#1
Somebody better tell these folks not to hold their breath. Or to start building nukes.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 11:59
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#2
"...the former French colony of Togo..."
"Are you French? If you are, we will kill you."
Ahhh, the legacy of the superior French culture.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 12:05
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No.
The whole freakin' continent, not to mention a good share of the adjoining ones, are damned shizoid: One moment ya want us to come ridin' in and rescue you, the next you want us out, the next after that, if we're not out the previous moment, you wanna kill us, and the next after THAT, you're screaming that we left too soon and are to blame for the ensuing bloodshed. No F*ck*n' thank you!
We love our troops because they're willing to die for their country, and their country is OUR country. And we're is democratic enough to know, without a doubt, that our country is US, which means that they're willing to die FOR US.
We will NOT throw them away to save idiots, bigots, racists, the bi-polar, liberals, or whales.
I'd tell ya to go to Hell, but you've already got the French.
#4
Ptah, I honestly don't know what the f**k to say ... (re: them, not you. You, I'm cool with.)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
02/22/2005 13:27
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#5
Ptah: Don't write off Africa so easily. There are one heck of a lot of Africans who are the very models of enlightened western civilization. And they are not such just as individuals, but as a class in their native countries. In all fairness, if you saw Americans as only inner-city gangsters, Indians living in abject poverty on some reservation, and the Amish, you could easily believe that America is a very primitive place. So what Africa needs, more than anything else, are the institutions that inexorably lead to democracy. Institutions that are taken for granted in the US. To be given the same "nation building" support that has been given to Iraq. But here's the irony: when an African nation makes even the least movement towards such a situation, towards these institutions, it immediately becomes the destination for everyone else on the continent! Because there are vast numbers of Africans who want it, however they can get it, even in what to them is a foreign country. And they are willing to relocate. Enlightened democracy often fails there because it is too popular.
#6
Interesting perspective moose. I'm one those who has given up on Africa. Nothing seems to work. I think it was Blair who recently appealed for a 50Billion fund to fix Africa. If I thought it would make enough of a difference I would support it, but more aid hasn't worked to date and I see no reason it will work in the future. I have no idea what to do about Africa and I don't see anyone else who does. The latest depressing news was a huge jump, nearly 60%, in South African mortality rates over the last 6 years.
#8
Problem is Africa had been built along the lines of colonization districts, ie the colonial power subdivided its empire according to conveniency: if such tribe was easier to reach from town A than from town B then it went into A even if B was populated with friendly tribed and B with mortal ennemies. Not a problem since the colonial army would go after anyone causing trouble. But independence meant the minority tribe had to deal with an army formed by its ennemies, with politicians who did their utmost to prevent their economic success and unfair judges.
So the first step would be to break the artificial states norn from colonization whose mere artificialness voids any attempt to implement democracy and rule of law. This precludes economic progress: people will not do business if they fear the other guy will not fill his part of the contract hoping an unfair judge will rule for him.
#9
You know, I wish the beautiful people of Africa all of the peace and happiness in the world - but that place is such a mess that it's hard to even know where to begin.
Interim Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen as his Shiite ticket's candidate for prime minister Tuesday after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid, senior alliance officials said...
Excerpt from a long article. Interesting comments there about air conditioning and handling combat stress. Page 1 because it seemed more like Ops than Politix, but move wherever. "The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event," he tells about 200 Marines, sitting on the ground under a metal windbreak against a cliff in Al Asad. "That said, there are some a--holes in the world that just need to be shot. But you go on and find your next victim or he's gonna kill you or your buddy. It's kill or be killed," he said. "There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim. ... It's really a hell of a lot of fun. You're gonna have a blast out here!" he said, with marked glee. "I feel sorry for every son of a bitch that doesn't get to serve with you."
He is also icily clear with what he expects of the new Marines in the theater, who are much needed reinforcements and relief for departing troops. "You must know the commander's intent: (Our motto) is 'no better friend, no worse enemy.' But I have added: 'First do no harm.' No harm to the innocent. No harm to a prisoner, ever. This is the Marine Corps," he barked.
Referring to the reserve soldiers who abused and humiliated prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Mattis said: "They were undisciplined, sorry-ass excuses for soldiers. We will not cost America one ounce of its moral authority," he said. "How you treat people is very, very important. We're not gonna become racists. They (the enemy force) want you to hate every Iraqi out here. ... You treat those women and children the way you do your own. You make certain you don't do anything that would smear the Marine Corps. It is absolutely essential you know what I won't f--ing tolerate," he said, and related the details of a recent case in which a Marine administered an electric shock to a detaiinee he had in jail. He was swiftly court-martialed. "He thought it was funny. It is, if you like five years in Leavenworth (prison)," Mattis said.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005
11:27:10 AM ||
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#1
Love this guy! Screw the pansies who can't handle the honest truth--it's men like this who keep your right to bitch and moan intact!
Posted by: Dar ||
02/22/2005 12:10
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#2
I'm not religious, but my feelings towards the Marines nearly fall in that category.
1) Former Ba'athists
2) Foreign fighters.
3) MSM. Let's all be honest about what we feel after the way the wusses like those in the the cabal (Jennings-Rather-Williams) savaged the General a few weeks ago.
LET THE GENERAL BE! HE'S ONE OF THE FEW WHO STEPS UP AND EXPLAINS A TRUE AMERICAN MIDSET.
THE DIFFERENCE IS HE HAS MILITARY TRAINING, LEADERSHIP, AND EXPERIENCE IN BATTLE.
#5
I thing General M. maybe moving into untouchable territory... meaning I don't think the MSM has the power to touch him. Interesting fellow. I'd like to know more about him.
A little over two centuries ago, a small group of planters, landowners, merchants, and lawyers met in Philadelphia to decide how their new country was to be run. Within four months this remarkable collection of patriots, veterans, pragmatists, geniuses, oddballs, and the inspired succeeded in agreeing the extraordinary, beautiful document that, even with its flaws, was to form the basis of the most successful nation in history.
On February 28, 2002, another constitutional convention began its work, in Brussels this time, not Philadelphia. Its task was to draw up a constitution for the European Union. The gathering in Brussels was chaired by Giscard D'Estaing, no Hamilton or Madison, but a failed, one-term president of France best known for his unseemly involvement with Jean-Bedel Bokassa, the cannibal "emperor" of central Africa. Giscard's convention was packed with placemen, cronies, creeps, and has-beens to make up a body where to be called second rate would have been an act of grotesque flattery. Only a fool, a braggart, or a madman would have compared this rabble with the gathering in Philadelphia. Needless to say, Giscard managed to do just that. The rabble returned the compliment. At ceremonies held to celebrate the conclusion of the convention's work, one over-excited Austrian delegate compared Giscard to Socrates, a remark that would undoubtedly have reduced that ancient, and unfortunate, Greek to yet another swig of hemlock.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005
11:03:10 AM ||
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On February 28, 2002, another constitutional convention began its work... ...The gathering in Brussels was chaired by Giscard D'Estaing, no Hamilton or Madison, but a failed, one-term president of France best known for his unseemly involvement with Jean-Bedel Bokassa, the cannibal "emperor" of central Africa. Giscard's convention was packed with
{INSERT PHOTO HERE : "Village Idiots Convention" from the Woody Allen Movie, "Love & Death"}
placemen, cronies, creeps, and has-beens to make up a body where to be called second rate would have been an act of grotesque flattery.
#2
At ceremonies held to celebrate the conclusion of the convention's work, one over-excited Austrian delegate compared Giscard to Socrates, a remark that would undoubtedly have reduced that ancient, and unfortunate, Greek to yet another swig of hemlock.
#3
The constitution paves the way for the transfer of increasing amounts of defense and diplomatic activity from Europe's national capitals to Brussels. Article 1-16 commits all member states to a "common foreign and security policy." "Member states" are required to "actively and unreservedly support the Union's common foreign and security policy in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity and shall comply with the Union's actions in this area. They shall refrain from action contrary to the Union's interests or likely to impair its effectiveness." In a recent radio interview, Spanish prime minister Jose Zapatero explained how this might work: "we will undoubtedly see European embassies in the world, not ones from each country, with European diplomats and a European foreign service...we will see Europe with a single voice in security matters. We will have a single European voice within NATO."
"Hey Zappy, while you were talking I saw a bulge in your pantaloons. And why are you breathing so heavily? You like telling the Brits, Italians, and Eastern Europeans what to do, eh? Your kind would not get elected in those places very easily. So you are shoving your pacifist appeasing trash down thier throats, right?", one reporter asked...
The angered Zapatero screamed for the guards to "Throw out the heckler." His rage boiling. "You are no reporter, sir. I challenge you to pistols at dawn. Wait a minute. I am a pacifist? This is a dilemma!"
The separation barrier Israel is building along the West Bank will not mark the definitive border of an eventual Palestinian state, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview published in Cairo Saturday. Asked by state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper if the barrier would be the definitive border, Sharon replied: "No. The real border will be established once total calm is restored, which will allow us to move toward the (Middle East peace) roadmap."
The internationally drafted roadmap foresees an independent Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel. "It is not the wall that demarcates the border," Sharon added. The wall's "only objective is to prevent terrorist operations inside Israel. We consider that the construction of the wall has stopped numerous terrorist operations." Asked whether the barrier would ever be pulled down, Sharon said: "We will study the matter."
If you don't have terrorism, you don't need the wall. But I have the feeling it'll be a while before they don't need the wall.
"Concerning the refugees, I have an agreement with President George Bush which foresees their being able to return to a Palestinian state. That is our position. I do not see how they could be able to return to Israel. On east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state, Sharon said: "Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for the past 3,007 years after it was proclaimed as such by King David. It is the undivided capital of Israel." Sharon said Egypt was doing more than before to stop weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip. "If the smuggling stops, it would please me a great deal to withdraw from this stops," Sharon said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
11:02:23 PM ||
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The purpose of the wall all along has been to be a bargaining chip in addition to keeping boomers at bay. Israel needs to finish it and keep the pressure on.
From Faith Freedom, not exactly muslim-neutral, but good to know anyway, perhaps too optimistic?
Islam in Fast Demise
In Africa Alone Everyday, 16,000 Muslims Leave Islam
By Ali Sina
Hitler said if a lie is repeated often enough and long enough, it would come to be perceived as truth. One such lie often repeated is "Islam is the fastest growing religion".
Despite the fact that Muslims by virtue of being poor and uneducated are much more reproductive than others, Islam as a religion is not growing but dying fast.
More and more Muslims are discovering that the violence evinced by some of their coreligionists is not an aberration but is inspired by the teachings of the Quran and the examples set by its author. Muslims are becoming disillusioned with Islam. They find out that the mechanistic ritual of praying five times per day, reciting verses that they do not understand and indeed mean nothing, getting up at taxing hours of the morning and abstaining from food and water until the sunset are not means to becoming more spiritual but are instruments to control their mind. These enlightened Muslims no more heed to the fear mongering verses of the Quran that threaten to burn them and roast them in the fires of hell if they dare to think and question the validity of that book.
Every day thousands of Muslim intellectuals are leaving Islam. They find Islam inconsistent with science, logics, human rights and ethics. Millions of Iranians already have left Islam. The enlightened Muslims of other nationalities are not far behind. This is the beginning of a mass exodus from Islam. It is a movement that is already in motion and nothing can stop it.
However the exodus from Islam is not reserved to the intellectuals but also the average Muslims are finding that Islam is not the way to God but to ignorance, poverty and wars. They are leaving Islam to embrace other religions especially the Christianity.
Perhaps it is best to listen to the truth coming from the mouth of the horse. The Internet site aljazeera.net published an interview with Ahmad Al Qataani An important Islamic cleric who said: "In every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity. Everyday, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Ever year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity."
What Muslims say among each other, is not the same thing that they say for the consumption of the Westerners.
These are huge numbers. If this trend continues we can expect to see Islam become insignificant in Africa in just a few decades. This is good news for those who are concerned about the on going slavery in Africa and the prospects of war and genocide.
In fact with the weakening of Islam, we can hope to see peace in many war-ridden parts of the world including Palestine. By now it should be clear that any road map to peace between Israel and Palestine will be blocked by the Islamists and the terrorists. Peace in Middle East is not possible as long as Islam is the ideology of the masses.
It is important that we realize that this terrorism that is threatening the peace of the world and these wars that bleed the Muslim nations are not economically motivated but are they are hate motivated. They are religious wars. The weakening of Islam means peace for mankind.
Al Qataani and al Jazeera Network were alarmed by these huge numbers of Muslims leaving Islam, but humanity must rejoice over these numbers. The weakening of Islam means the triumph of mankind.
The following is part of the transcript of Al Jazeera's Interview with Al Qataani translated to English. Here is the original transcript in Arabic Snip, transcript of an interview w/a learned elder of islam, from Al Jihadzeera, long and full of victimization : rest at link.
This article starring:
AHMED AL QATAANI
Learned Elders of Islam
Posted by: Anonymous5089 ||
02/22/2005
10:48:10 AM ||
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#1
On the other hand, this could be a tactic on al-Jizz's part to rally the troops - threatening them with extinction if they are not sufficiently faithful and working hard to convert others. 6 mil a year is a lot of conversions, that sort of social change would be visible. Hope there's some truth to it, though, and can't wait until we see some equivalent numbers coming out of Asia.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2005 12:49
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Ooookay, so exactly how many of those 6 mil are being executed In Accordance to the Islamic Holely Writ?
AFAIAK, the real test of failing Islam is dropping numbers of people dropping on their faces and hoisting their asses in the air when the Muzzin calls for prayer, AND dropping contributions to mosque coffers NOT derived from oil profits.
I'm with BH in calling this BS. I'm so f*cking disgusted with the religion, I'm prepared to spend $3 a roll on toilet paper printed with "...And Mohammed is His Prophet" in Arabic so I can wipe my *ss in comfort with it.
#4
Where do I put my order for a roll of that paper?
Maybe I'll take several and put them in the bathrooms at the local mosque.
Posted by: John ||
02/22/2005 13:00
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#5
One of the problems with spokesmen for Islam is that they just make stuff up. So the 6 million figure may be made up of vapor.
However, another problem may be based on one of the more curious beliefs of Islam. Based on the theory that the Quran is true and all other sources are corrupted or false from the start, many muslims believe that all children are born muslim at birth and, in non Muslim families, the children are 'converted' to the religions of their parents during childhood.
This belief, btw, allows anyone estimating the total world Muslim population to 'count' all children under a arbitrarily set age as Muslim.
#9
Not a bad read, for sure, but it's over a year old, published in November 2003 . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/22/2005 15:54
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John and Raj,
Its not that bad an idea. We keep reading the lengths the tribals will go to in PakLand to save a torn or burned koran.....
A C-17 load of toliet paper with the koran printed on it and dropped from high over the tribal areas could keep 100,000s of tribal land folk busy saving all those holy pages.. And just imagine the scream when it rains....
âIn every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity. Everyday, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Ever year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity."
Faster, please.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/22/2005 20:00
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#12
# 11 Barbara I think your stat's are incorrect.
Or where are you getting the amount's from?
I am waiting for a response on the detached penis story.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/22/2005 20:34
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#13
# 11 Barbara I think your stat's are incorrect.
Or where are you getting the amount's from?
I am waiting for a response on the detached penis story.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/22/2005 20:35
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#14
From the article, Andrea. Do read the article before going after Barb - that's a good luv.
Posted by: too true ||
02/22/2005 20:37
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A former high school valedictorian in Virginia was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and conspiracy to support the Al Qaeda terrorist network. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court. He claimed that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June of 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars. The indictment said that in 2002 and 2003 Abu Ali and an unidentified coconspirator discussed plans for Abu Ali to assassinate Bush.
This article starring:
AHMED OMAR ABU ALI
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Sherry ||
02/22/2005
10:45:19 AM ||
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According to the indictment, Abu Ali obtained a religious blessing from another unidentified co-conspirator to assassinate the president.
More than 100 supporters of Abu Ali crowded the courtroom and laughed when the charge was read aloud alleging that he conspired to assassinate Bush.
All I can add is, "Pay attention America. Pay *very* close attention."
#2
80 years sounds about right if there's no chance of parole.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 11:12
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100 "supporters", eh?
Somebody there taking their pictures? Be sure to make the burka-clad oncover their faces; not all of them are women.
I especially love the bit about his plan getting a religious blessing. From an Aztec priest, no doubt.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2005 11:17
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A former high school valedictorian
obtained a religious blessing from another unidentified co-conspirator
Hmmm- Anyone check the roster of High School Principals in Virginia for someone converting to Wahabism. Particularly his? Or at least one of his teachers who may have been very adamant about his "selection"???
Remember? That Poison Pen Principal up in New Jersey was doing his level best to demoralize troops according to yesterdays article in the NY Post :
#5
Zero factor still in play. The political world will change as drastic as 9/11, if it happens. To parapharse someone else - if you strike me down, you will only make me more powerful.
#6
"Offered . . . to show the judge his scars". Such an offer might play with the press, but it is nearly meaningless as a legal matter: First, the mere fact of scars does not prove the cause for the scars. Second, even if he did receive the scars in detention, it could be for any number of reasons (sadistic prison guard, etc). Third, being beaten by X does not mean you did not plan to kill Y. Here, being beaten by Saudis might a cause of desire to kill a US figure: The US supports the Saudis, the Saudis beat me up, therefore, I take revenge on the US. Et cetera.
#8
doubt this kid was capable however, you have to take this seriously (depending on the evidence). The crowd of supporters might've been laughing because they knew the defendant didn't intend to assasinate the President. Virginia's no stranger to terror (radical Muslim snipers) so they'll probably throw the book at him. He can show his scars to his cellmate.
start by closing all wahabi islam mosques in the US and deporting their clerics and inner circle.
Posted by: abdul ||
02/22/2005 19:27
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Dina Araz and her husband, Navi Araz, sat in the courtroom and wept tears of pride as their son, Behrooz (aka Abu Ali), was formerly charged with plotting to assassinate the POTUS. Navi Araz was heard to mutter "Today my son is finally a man."
#15
From My Pet Jawa (thanx Google News!), here's some info on Ali's high school:
According to the Washington Post and reprinted in the NY Times, he attended the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria Virginia. While family and friends feign that he is the victim of anti-Muslim discrimination, the Jawa Report can reveal that the school in question follows the radical Wahhabi curriculum of the Saudi Ministry of Education. Until recent protest by the US goverment, this curriculum has included anti-Semetic and anti-Christian bigotry and overt calls to jihad.
It sounds like half the kids at that school are Americans. How can that be? It's certainly not accreditted. Is this a matter of discussion in DC right now?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 20:15
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#18
They are not Americans. They are American passport carriers.
They can be born here. They can live here for most of their lives but their loyalties will always lie with the islamic world.
My neighbors in Saudi, a palestinian married to an egyptian, lived in Orange County, California for 20 years. Both became Americans while living here and on Sept 11th they both walked around with big smiles on their fu*** faces. They have four potential terrorists...all Americans!
chanting of USA -- USA. It was that hockey team that first heard those words USA -- USA
The Miracle on Ice was more than just an Olympic upset; to many Americans, it was an ideological victory in the Cold War as meaningful as the Berlin Airlift or the Apollo moon landing. The upset came at an auspicious time: President Jimmy Carter had just announced that the United States was going to boycott the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Americans, faced with a major recession and the Iran hostage crisis, were in dire need of something to celebrate. After the game, President Carter called the players to congratulate them, and millions of Americans spent that Friday night in revelry over the triumph of "our boys" over the Russian pros.
As ABC hockey announcers Al Michaels and Ken Dryden walked through Lake Placid one afternoon a quarter-century ago, they talked about the sliver-sized hope they had for the upcoming game at Olympic Center.
No, not about the United States hockey team beating the mighty Soviet Union -- that would have been ridiculous. Maybe, they reasoned, the U.S. could keep it a game for two periods. It would be great if they could keep the score to, say, 3-1. That's all anyone could ask for.
"Just give us a game that isn't a complete rout," Michaels said.
Several hours later, the United States clung to a 4-3 lead. The Olympic Center was in a frenzy.
Finally, as the puck skittered toward center ice and the last seconds ticked off, another thought -- a single word -- replaced "ridiculous" in Michaels' head.
Michaels then translated that spontaneous thought, that word, into the single most famous phrase in sportscasting history, one he swears was unscripted: "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"
"I don't know where 'Yes!' came from," Michaels said last week. "I still don't know where 'Do you believe in miracles?' came from. It was a stroke of good fortune. . . . It provided a signature for what had taken place."
Posted by: Sherry ||
02/22/2005
10:38:51 AM ||
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And if that had occurred today:
1- Howard Dean says he supposes that's a good thing.
2- Amnesty International reports on vicious bodychecking by the American players.
3- A columnist in the Boston Globe writes, "The Game Is Lost."
4- John Kerry explains that he used to deliver hockey pucks to the Cambodian National Team.
5- Hillary barges into the team's post-game buffet.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/22/2005 10:56
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6- Ward Churchill calls those who get injured on the field "little Eichmanns."
7- Intl. ANSWER cries foul whenever the American team gets a goal.
8- The UN rules against America unless the other team is Israel.
9- Kofi Annan bribes the referees.
10- The ELF booms the zamboni.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
02/22/2005 11:03
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#3
Shaddap, you dorks, this is one I like to enjoy.
There's an excellent film called "Miracle on Ice" that deals with the 1980 U.S. hockey team. It uses real footage from several games, including the win over the Russians. The crowd counting down the seconds before the win is chilling. I remember it well...I hadn't heard the end of the game since it was on originally. The movie is a worthwhile watch if you can pick it up cheap.
#7
On the other hand, one of the more poignant themes of Star Trek-DS9, was Commander Sisko's devotion to the dying, if not dead, sport of Baseball. I didn't care much for the series, but the way the writers weaved that theme throughout selected episodes, at certain times, really made one think, "Yes, nothing is forever. Cherish what you have and enjoy it now, for it may not be around for your descendants."
#9
It's because they don't have a large enough rink on the Frigate Class Starships to field a decent size team. Therefore they foregoed it. I thought everybody knew that. It was mentioned several times by the Chekov in Trek On 1992, 1995 and 1997. It was also part of a trivia question on TREK GUM Card.
#10
In these days, Michaels and Dryden would be censured for outright rooting for the US team. Just give us a game that isnât a complete rout. Are those the words of an unbiased journalist? No. The NYT would have a reported embedded with the Soviet team. (Name of Duranty, probably.)
Oboy. Another lost doinker story. I think I'll go lie down for the rest of the afternoon...
A woman upset about an impending breakup with her boyfriend cut off the man's penis and flushed it down a toilet, police here are alleging.
Upset doesn't quite cover it
Utility workers recovered the severed member Sunday and surgeons reattached it. Kim Tran, 35, was charged with first-degree assault, domestic violence and tampering with evidence. She was being held in custody without bail. Police spokeswoman Anita Shell said police received a call just after midnight Sunday that a 44-year-old man had been dropped off by his girlfriend at Providence Hospital with amputated genitals.
Well, that was big of her
"It was brutal, brutal," Shell said. The man's name has not been released in keeping with department policy in domestic violence cases, Shell said.
Also to protect him from ridicule, read on..
Investigators determined that the man and Tran had argued over a impending breakup on Saturday night. The relationship had lasted a little more than a year but the man no longer wanted to be involved, police said. At some point, the couple decided to have sexual relations and the man agreed to have his arms tied to a window handle above their bed.
STUPID!! Make-up sex = Good, Break-up sex = bad. Break-up sex tied to a bed = Darwin Award nominee
The woman then pulled out a kitchen knife and severed the man's penis, police said. She flushed the penis down the toilet, untied the man and drove him to the hospital. She assisted him to a nurse's station and then drove home, Shell said.
"Here, he's all your's."
Officers arrived at the couple's home and found the woman cleaning up the bloody scene. A police supervisor contacted officials at the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility and asked them to go to the home to see if the man's body part could be recovered.
Now there's a service call you don't get everyday
Utility workers removed the toilet and found the severed member, which was rushed to Providence Hospital and reattached successfully early Sunday morning.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/22/2005
1:03:24 PM ||
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At some point, the couple decided to have sexual relations and the man agreed to have his arms tied to a window handle above their bed
Why reattach? Anyone this stupid needs to have his DNA not passed on in the gene pool. Now someone who he could impregnate (If it still works) might produce stupid offspring...
#2
Excuse me, officer, we're looking for... what?
That's what I thought you said.
Posted by: Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility ||
02/22/2005 13:30
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More with the Southeast Asian women severing members. Is this some kind of underground cultural thing, or do they just like to take matters into their own hands?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/22/2005 13:45
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#4
The field of Neuro surgery is always advancing, so there is hope. The poor guy can always call Adam and Eve for prosthesis or adaptive equipment.
I hate to see any guy left all "balled" up.
Lets here it from Trailing Wife and Barbara Skolaut.
Will health insurance pay for this? Or is it considered cosmetic surgery?
ANdrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/22/2005 14:46
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#5
We gotta hear from AP. I figure the chilly pipe conditions allowed for easy recovery and reattachment. Something to remember if you consider moving.
#6
Good Lord, Andrea, why on earth do you think I'd know such a thing!?!
Nontheless, hazarding a guess, it seems logical that this could reasonably be called emergency surgery for the gentleman involved.... I certainly wouldn't think of it as optional cosmetic surgery, since it was not his decision to be dismembered. On the other hand, I would think the insurance company would then go after the woman to be reimbursed for the costs, as it certainly was an optional action on her part to cause the damage.
#7
# 6 Do we have any personal injury lawyers out there? WHich way would you swing your gavel??
You are correct the penis should be treated as
any appendage in need of surgery. WHAT A WORLD.
Call up Barbara Skolaut and get the input. We are waiting....
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/22/2005 18:24
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Outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Sunday ruled out the possibility of an Islamic state in Iraq, despite the victory in last month's historic elections of a list backed by the country's Shiite clergy. "Iraq isn't ready to be governed by an Islamic regime," said Allawi. "There are still (secular) forces on the ground, even if the elections were clear in giving 140 seats to the Alliance's list," he said. The conservative United Iraqi Alliance list was blessed by Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and took a slim majority of seats in the new 275-member national assembly. "That proves the desire of the Iraqi people to choose such a party pending the next elections and the drawing up of the constitution," he said. Writing Iraq's new constitution is the main task faced by the assembly.
It will then be put to a referendum, before fresh elections are held in December. "The next phase will decide the nature of the Iraqi regime," said the premier, a secular Shiite, whose list obtained 40 seats in parliament. Allawi reiterated his call for all political forces to be included in the transition process, in particular the Sunni Arab former elite, who were the election's big losers thanks to a widespread boycott. "Even if their participation in the next government is now impossible, that doesn't mean they can't be present in the other powers," he said. He warned against any of Iraq's ethnic or religious groups being distanced from power.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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Whoa -- W just showed an ace on the table! Telln' ya'll, don't play poker with our cowboy! Only months after he criticized countries "like France," President Bush was lavish in his praise of French President Jacques Chirac, one of the sharpest critics of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "I'm looking for a good cowboy," Bush said Monday when a French reporter asked him whether relations had improved to the point where the U.S. president would be inviting Chirac to the U.S. president's ranch in Texas.
Brief, vivid images of Chirac clearning brush, to be rewarded by a lunch of beef and beans...
Chirac had equally kind words to say about Bush, saying he and the American president "always had very warm relations."
"At times they were downright inflamed..."
Iraq? Merely a blip in ties between the two countries that have been "excellent for over 200 years now," Chirac said. "Now, of course, that doesn't mean that because we share common values, we don't necessarily agree on everything all the time," Chirac added, "That doesn't necessarily mean we agree on everything at every time."
"That doesn't mean we're going to agree with taking Iran apart next year..."
The two leaders spoke with reporters before they sat down to dinner of lobster risotto and filet of beef with Bordelaise sauce. "This is the first dinner since I've been re-elected on European soil, and it's with Jacques Chirac. And that ought to say something. It ought to say how important this relationship is for me, personally, and how important this relationship is for my country," Bush said. A White House official later said Chirac was expected to visit Bush in the United States this year, but neither a date nor a location had been determined. As a Texan, keep him in Washington
I'll be surprised if he makes it to Crawford.
Posted by: Sherry ||
02/22/2005
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This is the first dinner since Iâve been re-elected on European soil ....
Interesting turn of phrase. It largely telegraphs everything one needs to know about Bush's likely approach to European states during his second term.
#2
I'm just amazed that nobody has made the connection that Bush OWNS the ranch and he's just LOOKING for a good cowboy -- a good hired hand. I found this amusing, but there's no way I could stretch it to "lavish in his praise of French President Jacques Chirac". That bloated frog wouldn't even make a so-so cowboy.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 8:36
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Sounds like an inside (Texas) joke to me. The ranchmen I grew up around used to say that to kids (both boys & girls) to raise a smile. It's a good-natured compliment--everybody wanted to grow up to be "a good cowboy," but a bit teasing. Sort of like asking a Little Leaguer if he's ready to play for the Yankees.
#5
What's really funny, and clever, about the "I'm lookin' for a good cowboy" statement, is how Bush has been portrayed so negatively in Europe as the Cowboy President.
Posted by: DO ||
02/22/2005 10:56
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If he's a good cowboy, he ought to be able to break a mustang. I'd pay money to watch Chiraq try.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 11:08
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DO, you beat me to it! Who knew that Bush could be so "nuanced"? ;)
Ivan Eland According to The New York Times, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted that the suicide killers of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, were unknown and said: "We're not laying blame. It needs to be investigated." But the U.S. government began blaming Syria even before an investigation had been completed.
Syria's been occupying Lebanon and supporting a variety of terrorist organizations, thereby maintaining the conditions for occasional car bombings. There are stories that the boom was authorized by Assad or those very close to him not stories put out by the U.S. government, but stories rattling about in the Muddle East. Suspicion naturally falls on the Syrians, and it takes a willing suspension of disbelief not to think of them as suspects...
Because the Bush administration suspects Syrian involvement in the murder, it has recalled the U.S. ambassador to Syria and demanded that the Syrians withdraw their troops from Lebanon. Yet even Ariel Sharon, the hawkish prime minister of Syria's archenemy Israel, said that he did not know who was behind the killing.
We said the same thing. But if your dog bites someone, you're responsible, whether you sicced it on him or not...
Some Lebanese believe that al Qaeda could have slain Hariri because he is close to the government of Saudi Arabia, which Osama bin Laden despises.
I'd call them the second line of suspects...
Who killed the former Lebanese prime minister is important, and Syria may very well have played a role to retaliate for Hariri's opposition to a Syrian military presence in Lebanon. But the Bush administration's reaction to the murder is more significant.
Every time someone says "the real issue is..." I know they're trying to divert attention from what the issue really, truly is.
Despite some Syrian help in curbing the flow of anti-U.S. guerrillas and funding for them from Syria into Iraq, the United States has decided to treat the autocratic regime in Damascus as harshly as it has treated other "rogue" states, such as Iran and Iraq.
That could be because it's regarded as a rogue state. They didn't stay bought.
The U.S. government's zeal to blame Syria for Hariri's murder parallels its recent saber rattling against Iran. Most likely, the administration recently leaked word of U.S. drone flights and special forces missions into Iranian territory to intimidate the Iranian theocratic government. Unfortunately, the administration has forgotten the post-9/11 Iranian help it received to fight al Qaeda.
Unfortunately, the writer's overlooking the Iranian involvement in the unrest in Iraq, Iranian control of terror organizations throughout the Muddle East, and the fact that whether the Iranians are working on a nuclear weapon or not, the head of Iranian Hezbollah seems to think they are and he's looking forward to using it.
It is hypocritical for the administration to punish Syria for assassinating a former Lebanese prime minister (assuming the Syrians did it) when the U.S. led its own campaign to kill leaders of the Iraqi regime, including Saddam Hussein and his two sons.
Not in the least hypocritical. Hariri was a retired politician in a country not at war, not conducting armed operations against anyone, at least that we know of. Sammy and the boyz were forcibly retired dictators in a country torn by terrorism and guerrilla warfare, who represented a danger to the state.
It is also duplicitous for the Bush administration to point the finger at Syria for having 14,000 troops in Lebanon, when the United States originally approved that troop presence and when it has 150,000 of its own troops occupying Iraq.
Not duplicitous at all. We invaded them, we're reconstructing their government, and then we're going to leave. Syria's been treating Lebanon as a colony for a good long time, and showed no signs of ever leaving. Lahoud's a Syrian puppet, just as Hezbollah's an Iranian creature...
If odious regimes such as Syria are never rewarded for anything positive, they have no incentive to behave better.
If you've ever trained a dog, it doesn't work if you only use the treats and never use the rolled up newspaper.
This does not mean holding them in a tight embrace or condoning their abysmal human rights practices. It does mean treating them with a wary pragmatism and not assuming all they do is evil.
We're not quite at that stage with them. They're an outright dictatorship a hereditary dictatorship, fergawdsake. With the exception of Libya, they're the last remaining overt dictatorship in the Muddle East. Even the Soddies pretend to be a reasonable monarchy. Most everybody else is either democratic on paper or they actually are fairly reasonable monarchies.
The Bush administration should follow its own lead and imitate its successful policy with Libya.
Tried that, after Sammy fell. Assad didn't want to do it. He was too afraid of the terror network he'd fostered, and of his own henchmen.
The administration provided a powerful incentive for Muammar Qaddafi, Libya's despotic strongman who also has been suspected of trying to kill a foreign leader, to give up his nuclear weapons program. It offered Qaddafi an end to international economic isolation in exchange for better behavior. In contrast, Syria's and Iran's efforts at some cooperation with U.S. policies have been shot down in their infancy.
The overtures were made. They didn't want to play. How many overtures do we have to make?
In the case of Iran, the regime quit cooperating with the United States when it realized that the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan was more or less permanent. Furthermore, President Bush has actually declared that he would not ease relations even if the Iranians gave up their nuclear program.
It's a paper "democracy," that's actually a theocracy. They run all the Shiite terror networks. How willfully blind should he be?
Why should those regimes improve their behavior if they feel that they can do nothing right and the goal posts keep moving back when they take a step, however tentative, in a positive direction? As unbelievable as it may seem, considering the Iraqi debacle, the military threats by the Bush administration against Iran and Syria closely resemble the pre-invasion threats the administration made against Iraq.
I don't find it unbelievable at all. I think we're going to seriously thump one or the other or both, probably some time next year. They're going to be thumped because they run terror networks, and it's our national policy to a.) destroy terror networks and b.) export democracy to give their citizenry a chance to live like human beings.
A little more sugar and a little less vinegar toward "rogue states" might give these countries an incentive for better behavior.
They got all the sugar they could handle when Maddy Albright was Secretary of State and Bill Clinton was president. They got negotiations and sweet reason even under Reagan and Bush the Elder. That stuff stopped with 9-11, when we lost our national sense of humor.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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#1
The Independent - all the equivalence thats fit to print. Otherwise this is just the Left whining that they don't like the new rules.
Joke (slightly recycled): How can you tell if you have arrived at SF International Airport?
A: You can still hear the whine after the airplane's engines have stopped.
#2
What is not said is all the NSA material that is probably on hand which shows direct Syrian involvement in the killing. We're not about to reveal collections methods......yet. Should be worth the price when the Pres goes to Congress for the authorization for the use of force.
#3
The Bush administration should ... imitate the Reagan administration's successful policy with Libya.
Couldn't agree more. A few airstrikes on the ol' presidential palace would probably do wonders for the Syrian leadership's attitude & willingness to cooperate.
#4
This is the same idiotarian whose article on NorK I posted last week. He's a limp dick apologist for despots: they're just misunderstood! If odious regimes such as Syria are never rewarded for anything positive, they have no incentive to behave better
And what have they done that's positive, invade Lebanon? What an idiot.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il says his country is willing to resume talks with its neighbors and the United States if Washington "would show trustworthy sincerity and move (its stance)," Pyongyang's official news agency has announced. "We will go to the negotiating table anytime if there are mature conditions for the six-party talks thanks to the concerted efforts of the parties concerned in the future," the state news agency KCNA quoted Kim as saying. The agency said Pyongyang "would as ever stand for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and its position to seek a peaceful solution to the issue through dialogue remains unchanged."
The six-party talks include North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. North Korea announced on February 10 that it would withdraw from the talks and declared for the first time that it possessed nuclear weapons, blaming a hostile U.S. stance for the impasse. But, in what appears to be a reversal, Pyongyang said Tuesday that its government "has never opposed the six-party talks but made every possible effort for their success."
They will or they won't, depending what Kimmie had for breakfast...
Posted by: ed ||
02/22/2005
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Sounds like they caved in. I wonder if China turned off the oil pipeline for a while.
#2
Aka "The USA and Dubya are such big nasty warmongering imperialist fascist capitalist meanies the Commies are justified, absolutely and undeniably, to attack NORAM/CANUSA, and Radical Islam to take out the Admin. and leadership of the GOP-Right". Its just a big weird coincidence that President Kerry is still President and still a Senator, Dean is now DNC CHair, and Hillary is Betty Crocker!?
#3
2.7, JM. The jusices are starting to flow, however, no Juiche, Sea of Fire, and there is definitely a lack of capital letters. I suggest that one go back a couple of years and read the KCNA rants that scored 8.0 and above.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2005 1:26
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#5
What is the point of further negotiations? In the90âs the US, Japan and South Korea have North Korea food and fuel oil in return for North Korea not pursuing nuclear technology that could be used to produce a nuclear weapon. What can North Korea give us now in return for us feeding their people: the promise not to sell nuclear technology? There really isnât anything to talk about.
#6
And the purpose of talks with a totalitarian state that readily breaks agreements and routinely does 180 degree turns in talks is...???
Posted by: Tom ||
02/22/2005 8:52
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And just last week the limp dicks were saying how bad it was that we were being mean to Kimmie. What a load of crap. Kimmie only has one card (blackmail/extortion) and plays it again and again. *Yawn*
#8
I agree with Alaska Paul -- a 2.7 for the article, but a 5.5 for Josesph Mendiola.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005 10:06
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*Holds up card* 1.3.
A pathetic performance lacking any vigor or creativity.
The end is indeed near: they don't have enough food to give to the propagandists to keep their energy levels up. I fear that Army First man did not Kick the Bucket: He died from appendicitis after eating it...
#10
No wait, they want to talk. Oh, no they don't. Oh yes, they're ready now. Oh, I guess not. This could go on as long as the IAEA was trying to get Saddam to let them in.
Madrid and Riyadh are to cooperate on combating international terrorism, Spain's interior ministry said. After a meeting with Saudi ambassador Prince Saud Bin Naif Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Jose Antonio Alonso said Spain's national centre for anti-terrorist coordination (CNCA) would "exchange information with the Saudi interior ministry." Madrid is proposing an "official liaison structure, with a base in both countries, tasked with dealing with reciprocal cooperation requests".
"You show me yours and I'll show you mine."
Both sides have agreed to cooperate on monitoring firms and their offshoots which "have presumed links with Islamic extremist organisations and charitable fronts who use this cover to facilitate or to finance terrorism". Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, having made the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq his first foreign policy decision on taking office last April, is pursuing what he terms "a strategic alliance of civilisations against terrorism."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005
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And the Spaniards formalize their Dhimmi status while providing the Saudis a beachead on the western part of the continent.
#2
It is like a slow motion train crash. Must be water or sumtin if Spaniards don't se it. Pink spectacles? Perhaps. Leftism seems to be a mental problem--substitution of ideological considerations for reality, cognitive disonance... seems to be pandemic, even Portuguese got infected.
By all accounts, particularly Monday's thousands-strong rally, the opposition seems to be gathering momentum, while the loyalist camp continues to lose ground, making it more and more likely that the pro-Syrian government could be ousted and Syrian troops driven out of the country. Many partisan MPs refused to comment on Monday's rally, preferring to wait. "Any comments would be like adding fuel to the fire," one MP said on condition of anonymity.
President Emile Lahoud commented Monday on opposition moves, suggesting that former Premier Rafik Hariri did not belong to one group. "Some exploit the deadly incident to meet their personal interests and ignore that Hariri was a national asset whose stances and policies have restored Lebanon's unity and regained its role internationally," Lahoud said. In a statement issued Monday, former Prime Minister Salim Hoss criticized both the government and the opposition. "The government should have resigned or at least expelled key security officials from their posts?" he said. However, Hoss criticized the manner in which some opposition parties have exploited the tragic event. "Escalating the tone of oral nuisance against Syria, thus instigating violence against ordinary Syrian citizens, has gone too far," he said. "Hariri was confident that the Syrian troops were going sooner or later; the withdrawal is far less complicated than many would have us believe," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government is stepping up its propaganda war with insurgents by broadcasting videotaped interviews with suspects who appear to confess to killings, rape and theft on the orders of guerrillas. The offensive was launched in recent weeks on state-run Iraqiya television, which broadcast lengthy interrogations of Iraqis it said had carried out terrorist acts under the direction of "Abdullah," described as a criminal with close ties to Syria. There is no obvious way to verify the authenticity of the confessions. The interrogator's face does not appear on camera, and the suspects are shown sitting in office chairs across from a desk in a white-walled room.
Iraqi officials, who are struggling against a raging insurgency, accuse Syria of allowing guerrillas to cross its borders into Iraq to carry out attacks and permitting Saddam Hussein loyalists to live on its soil. Damascus denies the accusations and says it has tightened security along its long border with Iraq. The suspects in the Iraqiya footage appeared relaxed as they gave long, explanatory answers, calling their interrogator "my master" and explaining how they helped kill policemen and steal for the guerrillas.
Before each man spoke, Iraqiya showed images of masked insurgents in black throwing a kidnapped hostage to the ground before beheading him. One suspect questioned on Sunday, identified as Saad Ghanim, said he was paid $500 to help steal $30,000 and then kill the owner of the cash. He said insurgents took the rest of the money to finance their activities. "They told me I had to fight a holy war against the Americans. Abdullah told me my children would be killed if I did not obey," he said. "I used the stolen money for gambling."
"My children would have been killed if I hadn't!"
The interviewer encouraged the men to speak about "filthy crimes" and constantly mentioned Syria. "So were these goods smuggled with the knowledge of the Syrian government?" he asked. A suspect named Farhan first said yes and then no.
"Mahmoud, hand me my knuckle dusters! Now, Farhan, I'm going to ask you again..."
Many Iraqi television viewers are skeptical of the programs. "This is fabrication. It is not true," said Muhannad Muhammad, a driver.
And where were you on the night of December 19th, Muhannad?
A propaganda battle of often chilling words and images has raged since the U.S.-led invasion in April 2003. Insurgents in Iraq have broadcast harrowing images of terrified hostages in orange uniforms like the ones worn by prisoners at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Some have been beheaded on camera.
Those were fabrications, too, of course. Not true at all.
Other videos show militants saying goodbye to their families and making bombs before carrying out suicide attacks which have killed hundreds of people. The government has announced arrests of militants described as followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq. Iraqiya frequently carries lengthy interviews with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi as well as call-in shows in which he promises to meet the needs of ordinary Iraqis. But such conventional programming might not grip viewers as much as the televised confessions.
"Fatimah! Is the popcorn ready yet? The confessions are coming on!"
Ghanim described how he and several other people, including Abdullah, kidnapped a 20-year-old woman, put her in the trunk of a car and then raped and killed her. "Don't you have a conscience?" asked the interviewer.
"Of course not! I'm a Salafist!"
The men replied that intimidation and poverty had driven them to join the insurgents and kill and steal from innocents. "I and someone else held the girl and then Abdullah slaughtered her," said Farhan.
"My children would have been killed if I hadn't! They would have been killed if I hadn't raped her, too!"
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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I wish they would do that here,it would push the fence sitters off one way or another.
#2
This is the kind of propaganda war we should have been waging since the beginning. Let the muzzies know that the jihadis are out to kill them, not just infidels.
A recent series of gun battles here between Islamist militants and the police is forcing Kuwait for the first time to take a long hard look at the influence and impact of domestic Islamic extremism. In tandem with a tough security crackdown that has so far netted some 18 militants and killed eight others, the Kuwaiti government is launching an awareness campaign to promote moderate Islam and counteract extremism. But as a staunch ally of the United States and host to some 25,000 American troops, Kuwait represents a tempting target for militant Islamists and many Kuwaitis are wondering if the violence plaguing neighboring Iraq and Saudi Arabia is set to spill over into their own nation. "These clashes are a small drop in the ocean to what is coming. Kuwait is becoming a top priority for Al-Qaeda," said Mohammed Mulaifi, a writer and member of the austere Salafi branch of Sunni Islam who has close contacts with Kuwaiti militants.
So far the Kuwaiti authorities have remained one step ahead of the militants, busting cells, seizing weapons and arresting suspects before attacks are carried out. Kuwait is a relatively small, close-knit country, making it easier for the state security branches to keep tabs on potential troublemakers. At least three cells of Islamic militants have been identified in the crackdown, say Kuwaiti officials. One of the ringleaders, Amer Khleif al-Enezi, died in custody last week, eight days after he was arrested. Enezi reportedly had confessed to planning attacks against U.S. military convoys. Kuwait remains a vital logistics hub for American forces in Iraq.
The Kuwaiti authorities traditionally have turned a blind eye toward extremist Islamists living in the country so long as the militants refrained from directing their activities against the state. But the recent violence has compelled the government to take action. "These events mark a real watershed in terms of Kuwait dealing with the problem of extremists in their midst," a Western diplomat said. The security scare also has led Kuwaitis to ask some searching questions about the Islam practiced in Kuwait and how to dissuade impressionable youngsters from turning toward the ideology of Osama bin Laden. "These incidents have turned the majority of the religious believers against the militant trend," said Shafeeq Ghabra, president of the American University of Kuwait. "They are asking how it is possible that their 15- or 16-year-old sons can be recruited by militants to murder in the name of God."
Although Kuwait's Constitution is secular in nature, conservative Islamists wield considerable influence in how laws are applied in society. Kuwaiti Islamists were in uproar last year at the staging of a pop concert for the hit Lebanese television program Star Academy. A fatwa was issued banning women from singing to men and prohibiting dancing at concerts. Some schools even ban clapping and the playing of the national anthem, believing that they are expressions of secularism. The education curricula is coming under close scrutiny, particularly some religious school text books which contain inflammatory language about jihad and disparage the Shiite branch of Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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Palestinians gave a jubilant welcome to 500 prisoners freed Monday by Israel as part of a truce, but many complained that uprising leaders were not among those released. Hamas militants appeared unmasked in a West Bank city, their leader shouting that there can be no peace "as long as there is a single prisoner in Israeli jails."
Everybody back in the peace processor.
Relatives of terror victims appealed unsuccessfully to Israel's Supreme Court to block the release, listing Israelis who have been killed over the years by freed Palestinian prisoners. The prisoners released Monday were not directly involved in violence, officials said. But earlier, Israeli officials indicated it would consider freeing Palestinians convicted of direct involvement in violence, a change in its blanket refusal to release Palestinians with "blood on their hands."
Gah.
Palestinians also faced internal political turmoil. Leaders suspended a session of parliament when it became clear that a new Cabinet, presented by Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, would not win a vote of confidence. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been struggling with Qureia over power issues including the makeup of the Cabinet, and the crisis may be a way for him to force the prime minister to resign. Abbas has made the prisoners a key political and emotional issue and measure of his effectiveness. His brief term as prime minister in 2003 collapsed largely over his pique at Israel's refusal to free veteran prisoners and uprising leaders. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the release was a goodwill gesture to strengthen Abbas. Almost every Palestinian has had a family member imprisoned by Israel at some point.
Each of them unblemished as a shiny new AK-47 cartridge...
All over the West Bank and Gaza, the tearful scenes of joy played out. But again, many Palestinians not directly involved in the release were disgruntled. Although 400 more are to be released in the coming days, about 7,000 Palestinians would still be behind Israeli bars, including leaders of the uprising. Palestinians complained that most of the freed prisoners were small-time offenders or near the end of their terms.
Sorry, Khaled...can't please all of the Paleos all the time.
"There will be no peace as long as there is a single prisoner in Israeli jails," Hassan Yousef, West Bank leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, shouted through a bullhorn. In Nablus, a crowd of 15,000 welcomed 100 prisoners. Dozens of gunmen fired in the air, among them Hamas members appearing with their weapons in public and unmasked for the first time since Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to an unofficial truce this month.
Gah. Gah. Gah.
Near the West Bank town of Jenin, a 30-year-old bystander was killed by celebratory fire and four people were wounded. A long convoy of cars, led by gunmen flying a green Hamas flag from their vehicle, escorted the released prisoners into town. Landau, the former Shin Bet commander, said about one in seven Palestinians freed in previous rounds returned to hostile activity, and that releasing prisoners at this stage is unusual. "First you leave the territory, and then you free prisoners," he said. "I fail to see the logic of this."
Me neither.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005
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No more of this "goodwill" bullshit by the Israelis. As the Paleos live up to their obligations, everything then flows from there, and not a moment sooner.
#2
"Hamas militants appeared unmasked in a West Bank city, their leader shouting that there can be no peace "as long as there is a single prisoner in Israeli jails."
...And seething for the UAV cameras, one hopes...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/22/2005 7:27
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The fallacy of NATO is that it was an organizaiton for the defense of Europe, not of the United States. No European country ever, in their wildest dreams, conceived that they might have to move their troops west, rather than having the Americans move their troops east for their defense. The Soviet Union was the enemy, not Canada or Mexico or, as it eventually turned out, a stateless army of beturbanned psychotics, funded by that place Europe's oil comes from. There's no Soviet Union now. Despite what some people fear about Putin there never will be again. NATO's reason for existence started evaporating in 1988. It got whispier when the Berlin wall came down, and it was transparent by the time Ceaucescu did his last count of muzzle blasts. The August Coup reduced it to little whisps of smoke, more a lingering odor than an actual entity. NATO welcomed the East European former satellite states, but they joined as a gesture of independence, not in the expectation they'd someday march off to war as part of a continental force. NATO RIP.
As one wag said, "NATO exists to keep the US in, the Russians out, and the Germans down." The Russians are out and couldn't get back in if they flew tourist class, the Germans are so down that they're wearing a French choker chain, and I confess I don't see why we're still in.
Atlanticist small talk is all that's left
By Mark Steyn
"The change for the moment is more in tone than substance," wrote Alec Russell, reporting on President Bush's European outreach in yesterday's Telegraph.
You don't say. My colleague is almost right. In Brussels yesterday, the President's "charm offensive" consisted of saying the same things he always says — on Iraq, Iran, Palestine, the illusion of stability, the benefits of freedom, the need for Egypt and Saudi Arabia to get with the programme, etc. But, tone-wise, the Bush charm offensive did its best to keep the offensiveness reasonably charming — though his references to anti-Semitism and the murder of Theo van Gogh by a Dutch Islamist were a little more pointed than his hosts would have cared for.
But, in the broader sense vis-Ã -vis Europe, the administration is changing the tone precisely because it understands there can be no substance. And, if there's no substance that can be changed, what's to quarrel about? International relations are like ex-girlfriends: if you're still deluding yourself you can get her back, every encounter will perforce be fraught and turbulent; once you realise that's never gonna happen, you can meet for a quick decaf latte every six — make that 10 — months and do the whole hey-isn't-it-terrific-the-way-we're-able-to-be-such-great-friends routine because you couldn't care less. You can even make a few pleasant noises about her new romance (the so-called European Constitution) secure in the knowledge he's a total loser.
World leaders are always most expansive when there's least at stake: the Queen's Christmas message to the Commonwealth is the ne plus ultra of this basic rule. In Her Majesty's beloved Commonwealth family, talking about enduring ties became a substitute for having them. That's the salient feature of transatlantic dialogue since 9/11: it's become Commonwealth-esque - all airy assertions about common values, ties of history, all meaningless. Even Donald Rumsfeld is doing it. At the Munich Conference on Collective Security the other day, he gave a note-perfect rendition of empty Atlanticist Euro-goo: "Our collective security depends on our co-operation and mutual respect and understanding," he declared, with a straight face.
Rummy's appearance in Munich was unscheduled. A German federal prosecutor was investigating a war crimes complaint against the US Defence Secretary and, although it seems unlikely even the silliest showboating Europoseurs would have been foolish enough to pull a Pinochet on him, Rumsfeld made a point of not setting foot on German soil until Berlin put an end to that nonsense. That tells you more about transatlantic relations than anything in the speech. But, just for the record, the "collective security" blather is completely bogus. In the column I wrote on September 11, 2001, I mentioned en passant that among the day's consequences would be the end of Nato - "a military alliance for countries that no longer in any recognisable sense have militaries".
I can't remember why I mentioned Europe and Nato in that 9/11 column. It seems an odd thing to be thinking about as the towers were falling. But it was clear, even then, that the day's events would test the Atlantic relationship and equally clear that it would fail that test. Later that week, for the first time in its history, Nato invoked its famous Article Five - the one about how an attack on one member is an attack on all. But, even as the press release was rolling off the photocopier, most of the "allies" in this post-modern alliance were insisting that the declaration didn't mean anything. "We are not at war," said Belgium. Norway and Germany announced that there would be no deployment of their forces.
Remember last year's much trumpeted Nato summit in Turkey? This was the one at which everyone was excited at how the "alliance" had agreed to expand its role in Afghanistan beyond Kabul to the country's somewhat overly autonomous "autonomous regions". What this turned out to mean on closer examination was that, after the secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, put the squeeze on Nato's 26 members, they reluctantly put up an extra 600 troops and three helicopters for Afghanistan. That averages out at 23.08 troops per country, plus almost a ninth of a helicopter apiece. As it transpired, the three Black Hawks all came from one country - Turkey - and they've already gone back. And Afghanistan is supposed to be the good war, the one Continental officials all claim to have supported, if mostly retrospectively and for the purposes of justifying their "principled moral opposition" to Iraq.
A few months before 9/11, I happened to find myself sitting next to an eminent older statesman. "What is Nato for?" he wondered. "Well, you should know," I said. "You were secretary-general. You went into the office every day." With hindsight, he was asking the right question. On the other hand, if Nato is useless to America, it looks like being a goldmine for the Chinese, to whom the Europeans are bent on selling their military technology. Jacques Chirac is pitching this outreach to the politburo in lofty terms, modifying Harold Macmillan and casting Europe as Athens to China's Rome. I can't see it working, but the very attempt presumes that the transatlantic relationship is now bereft of meaning.
Nato will not be around circa 2015 - which is why the Americans are talking it up right now. An organisation that represents the fading residual military will of mostly post-military nations is marginally less harmful than the EU, which is the embodiment of their pacifist delusions. But, either way, there's not a lot to talk about. Try to imagine significant numbers of French, German or Belgian troops fighting alongside American forces anywhere the Yanks are likely to find themselves in the next decade or so: it's not going to happen. America and Europe both face security threats. But the difference is America's are external, and require hard choices in tough neighbourhoods around the world, while the EU's are internal and, as they see it, unlikely to be lessened by the sight of European soldiers joining the Great Satan in liberating, say, Syria. That's not exactly going to help keep the lid on the noisier Continental mosques. So what would you do in Bush's shoes? Slap 'em around a bit? What for? Where would it get you? Or would you do exactly what he's doing? Climb into the old soup-and-fish, make small talk with Mme Chirac and raise a glass of champagne to the enduring friendship of our peoples: what else is left? This week we're toasting the end of an idea: the death of "the West".
Posted by: Brett ||
02/22/2005
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#4
I wouldn't say bye to all Europe. Russia won't be out for ever and Germany won't stay down, especially if there's no adult supervision. The Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, Romanians et al in Central Europe will welcome us and will be more effective alllies as their recovery from 50 years under communism proceeds. And the Brits, Dutch and Norwegians are not guaranteed to jump in the toilet with the French and Belgians. Just rename NATO and move it to Warsaw.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 7:42
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Withdraw from NATO(it's an alliance in name only).It is time France,Germany,Spain,etc stand or falls on it's own.To paraphrase Horace Greely"Go east young man".
#7
His asssessment is depressing, all right, but seems to be on the mark. Rummy's statement on Old Europe was also on the mark. Things change. If countries like France, Germany, Spain, etc. do not share our priorities and values, then we deal with them on our common ground and move on. Mrs. Davis made the point: There are a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe that share our values through hard won freedoms. There are opportunities to do good things because we have common interests.
I am not enthusiastic, however, about bailing out Europe in places like Kosovo and other places in the former Yugoslavia. They need to clean up their backyard themselves. If they can't deal with that, they can't do anything.
On the subject of staying or withdrawing from NATO, I would keep with them for now, with the knowledge that they are fading into the sunset. I would be very careful about technology transfers and sharing of sensitive secrets. I would imagine that alot of this is bound by treaty, but with the rumblings of mil trade with the Chicoms, I have this feeling that we are giving away technology that will be lobbed back at us. Anyone out there with NATO experience that can enlighten us on NATO use or misuse of US military equipment and knowhow?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2005 11:04
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Remember, America is a Maritime, Oceanic power. This means Poland, with a seacoast and good port cities, will be a key player. The problem will be whether the Scandinavian countries (denmark, Norway, sweden) will allow passage.
#13
Problem is that Poland and all of our other prospective allies in Eastern Europe are EU members. Their shiny new Constitution will largely prohibit their joining a NATO-esque alliance with the US. Instead they'll be locked into the Franco-German American counterweight model.
The editors of the always-excellent German blog David's Medienkritik are joining forces with other people of good will in Mainz on Wednesday to add their voices to the throngs "welcoming" President Bush to Germany. Click on the link to find out the details and we will be there in spirit and solidarity with you. Send us some pictures and we'll post 'em!
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/22/2005
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It feels good to see that there are those in Germany dedicated enough to go out and rally in support of German-American relations, over the top of the moonbats who will undoubtedly be moving alongside the President from country to country.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/22/2005 6:35
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Pakistan has issued new rules of engagement permitting its Army to fire at US forces that cross the border from Afghanistan without coordinating first, according to a report contributed to the magazine 'American Conservative' by a former CIA officer.
Then they've got no bitch when we fire back, do they?
Philip Giraldi, now an international security consultant and writer of intelligence matters, writes in the February 28 issue of the magazine's 'Deep Background' column that "President Musharraf has been receiving angry reports from his military that US forces have been engaging in hot pursuit across the border in violation of bilateral agreements. Musharraf is also said to be unhappy about the recent abrupt withdrawal of Predators and other surveillance resources from Pakistan for transfer to Iraq for use against Iran. According to high level Pakistani sources, Musharraf and his Army chiefs expended a great deal of political capital in their support of the Al Qaeda hunt, clashing frequently with hostile tribesmen along the border. The US Central Command's January announcement that the drones and other supporting surveillance technologies that were being used against Al Qaeda would be withdrawn to support 'elections in Iraq,' was an unpleasant surprise, particularly when 'in Iraq' turned out to be a euphemism for 'against Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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#1
Iraq is a euphanism for Iran, Syria, and Saudi, if ya really want to get technical, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/22/2005 1:20
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Really? -- Shoot back!
That's not going to sit to well with anybody I know.
#3
Most of these asshats don't even know where the border is. The assets that were used over Pakistan were not being put to good use. There is also this, the removal may lead some QA to believe they can move without detection. That is not likely the case. Of course if our troops are fired on they will respond in kind.
#4
It will be an interesting day when some Pakki border unit fires on American ground troops who have Apaches, A-10's and AC-130's in close air support. There might not be a whole lot to pick up afterwards - just pink mist.
#6
according to a report contributed to the magazine âAmerican Conservativeâ by a former CIA officer.
That's Buchanan's paleo-con circle jerk. Take this report with a world-record sized salt deposit.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/22/2005 7:40
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"a former CIA agent"?? Who? Schuerer.
Ok, we are to believe that Musharraf is bizarrely ordering his men to shoot at Americans who shoot at Al Qaeda - but is angry that we withdrew our intelligence assets since they have "expended a great deal of political capital in their support of the Al Qaeda hunt." But he's mad because we shoot back? Makes sense, not a lot of sense, but some.
#10
I suspect that much of the Army in that region is from that region, that is, totally in bed with the bad boyz. They won't shoot at their own, and were probably danger close to mutiny and shooting at the US anyway. This way, they keep their uniforms on, and under at least modest discipline. More than anything else, I just see it as a little give and take--I truly doubt any Pak military are going to light up the US any time soon.
#11
Hey, if they could spare a few minutes from shooting at Americans to snipe at some of the terrorists over there, that would be nice. But only if they've got time.
MATARA (Sri Lanka) — Visiting former US president Bill Clinton declared yesterday he was happy to learn that the government and Tamil parties had begun working together after the tsunami disaster urging the two parties to use the opportunity to narrow the differences.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga who met former presidents Clinton and George Bush over dinner, had informed them that the government and the LTTE were trying to reach a working arrangement to oversee reconstruction work in the North and East. Clinton said he too had personal differences with his one time rival George Bush but the two of them have come together to help raise private funds for tsunami-affected countries.
The two former presidents fielded questions from the media after visiting a camp run by a US Christian Children's Fund for children affected by the tsunamis in Habaraduwa in the Matara district. "We want the government of Sri Lanka to have a plan" finalised for its requirements and a monitoring process to ensure equitable distribution of foreign funds, said Clinton adding that the Indonesian authorities had already set up an independent authority to overlook post tsunami reconstruction.
Bush said he was very appreciative of the work done by the US marines noting that despite fears by various quarters, "they came, they helped, they worked side by side with Sri Lankans and they left."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005
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Attempts to form a new Palestinian cabinet have drawn a blank after a session of parliament was halted amid disputes over the selection of new ministers. Parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh said on Monday the session would resume on Tuesday in the middle of debate which came after Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya unveiled his prospective cabinet line-up and the top priorities of his administration. "I regret to inform you that 15 other deputies want to take part in the debate but we do not have time," Fattuh said. "As a consequence we will continue tomorrow."
A senior government official said the vote was being shelved amid continued dispute among deputies from the dominant Fatah faction over the line-up of a new government. "There will be no vote today," Tayyib Abd al-Rahim, secretary general of the Palestinian Authority, said in Ram Allah on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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The European Union offered to provide training for Iraqi police and judges on Monday in a move aimed at ending a transatlantic rift over Iraq on the eve of a summit with US President George W. Bush. EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels approved a plan to train 770 senior Iraqi police officers and judges in the EU and in countries near Iraq. The mission, due to start mid-2005, could be extended to Iraq if security allowed. "It will consist of integrated training ... to be given to a representative group of senior officials, mainly in the judiciary, police and penitentiary sectors," according to a communique translated from French.
And it will start at some point conveniently in the future.
Paris and Berlin have pledged to help reconstruction through debt relief and training but will not set foot in Iraq. The EU communique hailed the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq as a step forward for democracy in the country and noted the EU had already agreed aid totalling over half a billion euros ($650 million) to Iraq. "The (EU) Council reaffirms its goal of an Iraq which is secure, stable, unified, prosperous, democratic, respecting of human rights and ready to cooperate constructively with its neighbours and the international community," it said. EU diplomats estimate the Iraq training mission would draw on around 10 million euros of EU funding, with member states coming up with an additional 15-18 million euros.
Unless they opt out as they've done in Afghanistan.
The EU also declared itself ready to support the political process in Iraq, notably by helping in the drafting of a new constitution if invited, and to explore broadening commercial ties with the country.  Â
Umm, help drafting a constitution is prolly what the Iraqis don't need from the Euros.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2005
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#1
Nope but in repayment for help with the police Iraquis could help the Euros with their Constitution. They can't be worse than Giscard d'Estaing.
#2
Somebody made the comment that the EU should just copy the U. S. constitution and do a global search and replace of Europe for States. That is really true for new democracies like Iraq. This proportional representation stuff is really a level of filtration designed to reduce accountability.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/22/2005 15:58
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Eh, the US consitution was built while taking the power structure and concerns of the states into consideration
Big state vs Small states, big pop Vs small pop, and how much slaves counted for...etc
as such it's not useful for an ethnicly and religously divided country...
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he would soon take steps to withdraw his troops from Lebanon under an accord that ended the 15-year civil war there, according to the head of the Arab League. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa met Al-Asad and Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on Monday, as tens of thousands of demonstrators thronged the seafront in Beirut to urge Damascus to recall its troops from Lebanon. "During our meeting, President al-Asad expressed his firm desire, more than once, to continue implementing the Taif accord and to withdraw from Lebanon in keeping with this agreement," Musa said.
Syria is facing intense international pressure to end its political and military domination of Lebanon. Lebanese opposition figures have suspected Syria of having a hand in the murder a week ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, but al-Assad's government has vehemently denied this. Al-Hariri, a five-time prime minister and billionaire businessman who spearheaded Lebanon's post-war revival, was killed four months after he quit in a row over Syria's influence in his country.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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#1
Is that "soon" as in, say, "next week," or "soon" on a geological timescale?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/22/2005 1:19
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IIRC, the Taif Accord only requires partial withdrawal/redeployment by Syria of its many armed instruments of occupation. It also doesn't affect Hizb'allah. UN 1559, on the other hand, orders them all out.
So Baby Assad's only promising part of what's, and won't follow through on even that much. Surprised?
Coming home... Wonder if they'll stay there this time?
Kuwaiti media has failed to market the unique ties between Kuwait and the United States established after the liberation of the country from Iraqi occupation in 1990, says MP Musallam Al-Barrak. Accusing the Kuwaiti media of playing a negative role in this issue, the MP said "because of this today's generation, who were children in the early Nineties, are not aware of the fact Americans had sent their sons to liberate Kuwait and their presence is needed to protect our country." Al-Barrak praised the role and preventive measures taken by the Interior Ministry to fight terrorism, saying "these measures have stabilised the security of Kuwait."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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A major test for India-Bangladesh relations is on the cards. On Feb. 25, Golap Baruah alias Anup Chetia will be released from a Dhaka jail. New Delhi is dying to get Chetia extradited. But will Dhaka oblige?
I tend to doubt it. How about you?
Very unlikely. Chetia is one of India's most wanted men. One of the founders and general secretary of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Chetia was arrested in Dhaka with a fake passport and satellite telephone in 1997. India has been demanding his deportation for eight years. But Dhaka refuses to deliver the ULFA chief on one ground or the other. There is every likelihood that Chetia will go scot-free after his release —like Sanjit Deb Burman, another top separatist leader from India's insurgency-wracked northeast, who was jailed in Bangladesh. He vanished after his release, much to India's disappointment. India-Bangladesh relations, already plagued by long-standing mistrust of each other's intentions, is now in tatters after New Delhi's refusal to attend a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Dhaka from Feb. 6 to 8. India cited the law and order situation in Bangladesh to stay away.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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Indonesia's military suffered a rare casualty when a soldier was killed in a clash with separatist rebels in restive Aceh province on the eve of another round of peace talks, the army said on Monday. It said 20 Indonesian army (TNI) soldiers were ambushed by about 30 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels on Sunday while they were on their way to a bridge reconstruction site in Aceh Jaya regency on the west coast of the tsunami-wrecked province.
The clash came a day before another round of peace talks in Helsinki aimed at ending three decades of violence and securing a lasting peace for the gas-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island. The military in Aceh said in a statement that seven other soldiers were wounded. Three critically wounded soldiers were taken to a hospital in Medan in North Sumatra province, it said. Few soldiers have been killed in the most recent months of the offensive in Aceh, launched in May 2003. Sunday's death of the unidentified soldier was the first since the Dec. 26 tsunami.
In a separate incident, the army said on Monday that outgoing army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu fired shots as a convoy he was travelling in chased a group of rebels. Local media showed pictures of Ryamizard firing an automatic weapon.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Kuwait's Islamist Ummah Party announced yesterday total backing for women's full political rights, becoming the first Sunni Muslim group in the emirate to support women's suffrage.
"Oh, yass! Certainly! See? We're not involved with the guys in the shootouts!"
The party "approved by a majority the principle of women's political participation in voting and candidacy," said a statement issued after a meeting to discuss women's rights. "The party calls on the national assembly and the government to approve women's political participation and to comply with Shariah regulations and social practices," the statement added. The party has three supporters in the 50-seat parliament but it was not immediately known whether those MPs will abide by its decision.
The Ummah Party was launched last month by a group of Salafi Islamists to become the first political party in the Gulf Arab region. The government has not recognized its establishment and summoned its 15-member office bearers for interrogation at a police station. They were, however, released without pressing any charges against them. The statement also called for broadening political participation in Kuwait by enfranchising servicemen and lowering the voting age to 18 years from the current 21.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The leaders of the United States and France have increased pressure on Syria to pull its 14,000 troops out of Lebanon. US President George Bush and French President Jacques Chirac made the call for a "free Lebanon" in a joint statement on Monday. The statement came as they were dining in Brussels in what was billed as a reconciliation effort after two years of bitter differences over Iraq. "We urge full and immediate implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1559 in all its aspects, including its call for a sovereign, independent and democratic Lebanon as well as for the consolidation of security under the authority of a Lebanese government free from foreign domination," they said.
Is it just me or is there something uncomfortable about having the French behind us ...
Makes the back of my neck itch...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2005
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#1
Look at the video of that press conference. Chiarc was preforming to the cameras and Bush stared straight at him watching every movement of every muscle. The look reminded me of a boss about to fire somebody.
#2
I don't understand what's going on here. The French are suddenly our friends? Chirac is not our friend, he's an enemy working hard against us.
Harari was a close and personal friend of Chirac and the Sauid Royal Family, and Harari used to be pro-Syrian until he had a recent change of convictions. Shalom (minister of something from Israel), was visiting Chirac at the very time that Harari was boomed. Shalom was there to discuss putting Hezbollah on the terrorist list - which Chirac refused.
#3
and no...I don't think The Jews(TM)killed Harari...for anyone who may be wondering...though I do think it significant that Harari was boomed at the very time that Chirac (his close and personal friend) was meeting with Shalom to discuss putting Hezbollah on the terrorist list.
I think it was the Syrians...not that there aren't enough possible suspects to make a good Agatha Christie novel. It's just things should make sense in this world......
#8
Is it just me or is there something uncomfortable about having the French behind us ...
Nothing mysterious. If you were listening to the rascally Laura Ingraham this AM, you heard her interviewing an NRO person, who says the "Chirac family" are up to their eyeballs with Lebanese investments, and they'd be much more profitable with Syria gone!
That lady knows who to ask for, to get info on what bodies are buried where... He he he
#10
Eh, I'm inclined to believe that it's never really been about hatred of America for Chirac...
Everything has been about either the money or staying out of jail.
#2
Why wait for Scott Ritter and his alleged June attack by the USA ags Iran - "Attack me, now, d*** you, attack me and North Korea and Syria and Cuba and Chavez and .....", aka calling the Commie Airborne and Radical Islam to save us from Dubya. HAIL HILLARY - only a woman and a Clinton can save Amerika and Amerikan anti-Fascist Fascist Communism from Dubya, Kerry, Dean and Gore, mad men of and males of the world!?
A village council has punished a 20-year-old man for adultery by ordering the betrothal of his 2-year-old niece to the husband of the woman with whom he had the alleged affair, police said on Monday. Tribal elders meeting last week also ordered Muhammad Akmal to pay a 230,000-rupee fine to the woman's husband, who has since divorced his wife.
Police said that the council in Kacha Chohan village decreed that the 2-year old girl would be married to Muhammad Altaf when she turns 18. Altaf, a 42-year old farmer, divorced his 32-year old wife over her alleged love affair with Akmal, and then asked elders to convene the panchayat, or council, on February 15 to arbitrate in the dispute and propose a punishment. Akmal, a bachelor and also a farmer, is Altaf's cousin. Area police chief Maqsoodul Hassan said officers have started an investigation, but had made no arrests because no one had filed a complaint. None of the parties to the dispute could be reached for comment Monday. Their Mazari tribal village has no telephone service. Rashid Rahman, a lawyer and Multan-based coordinator with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, condemned the village council's decision. "These types of panchayats are illegal and nobody has the right to take a decision about a child's life," he said. "This country has its legal system and all decisions should be taken under it."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Allah akhbar, baby! It is written!
âThis country has its legal system and all decisions should be taken under it.â
Yes words are printed on paper somewhere, but unless you get police to enter and take the child into protective custody, then she is doomed.
In the above movie Tom Selleck's character is taken prosoner by proto-Talibanis, and is released on the condition that he will let the tribal chief's son drop explosives on the British base. The son climbs in the back seat with the explosives. Oops - forgot to tell him to fasten the seat belt. Selleck takes off. Flies over the proto-Talibani encampment turning the plane upside down as he flies over the proto-Talibani encampment. The rebel leader's son falls out of the plane. Tents are blown up, and proto-Talibanis are blown to the virgins in pieces the size of a few atoms as Selleck's character escapes.
#2
How the hell does the neice enter into all this, anyway? Was the bachelors brother involved somehow? Was this really a fraternal gang-bang? How about some real punishment to the man involved in this crime rather than punishing his neice who will be married off to a 58-year old pedophile. Cause let's face it, if he waits 16 years for a two year old . . . there is something wrong with him.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/22/2005 6:47
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the council in Kacha Chohan village decreed that the 2-year old girl would be married to Muhammad Altaf when she turns 18. Altaf, a 42-year old farmer
all in a days work for...drumroll... the ROP
Kuwait's government, which last year sent a female suffrage bill to parliament for approval, is committed to allowing women to vote and run for political office, a minister said on Sunday. "The government is serious about the passage of the law as soon as possible," Social Affairs and Labour Minister Faisal Al-Hajji told state news agency KUNA, adding the issue was discussed during Sunday's Cabinet session. "Women practice their political rights in most countries in the world, including Islamic Gulf states, even becoming ministers," said Hajji, who is also acting information minister. "Democracy will be complete only with the joining of its two wings, men and women," he said. "Social norms should not become an obstacle barring women from attaining full political rights."
Looks like the Sabahs are putting the Islamist bloc behind them. I'm impressed, even though there's no way of telling how long it'll last.
In 1999, HH the Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah issued a decree granting women the vote but it was defeated in the 50-man parliament by an alliance of Islamist and tribal MPs. Last May, the government referred another bill to the House but the Assembly has not set a date for a debate. Kuwaiti women serve as diplomats, run businesses, lead the humanitarian and education sectors and help steer oil and banking industries. But they have had to watch their sisters make modest progress in other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and Qatar where they can vote and stand for election, without gaining the same rights. Kuwaiti officials have said pressing ahead with reforms is a priority as the oil-rich state promotes itself as a modern, investor-friendly nation.
Rather than as an Islamist backwater like some of its leading lights would like it to be...
On Wednesday, 10 liberal, independent and Shi'ite MPs filed a motion to refer the Election Law to the Constitutional Court to rule on Article 1, which limits voting rights and candidacy to males above 21 years of age, Arab Times reported. The MPs said the law violated Kuwait's Constitution which stipulates gender equality. Women have edged closer to political participation after some Islamist MPs said last year they would support the female vote, but not moves to allow women candidates in parliamentary polls. The Kuwaiti government Sunday called on parliament to hold a special session to debate a bill granting women full political rights, Hajji said. The Cabinet discussed the issue today ⊠and requested the parliament speaker convene a special session to debate this bill at the earliest time," Hajji was quoted as saying by KUNA.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Israel will free 500 Palestinians on Monday in its largest prison release in nearly a decade as a goodwill gesture to bolster peace efforts with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinians say Abbas needs a large-scale release to persuade militant groups to formalise a ceasefire he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a Feb. 8 summit. Some 8,000 Palestinians are held by Israel.
Prospects for peacemaking in the Middle East have strengthened since Abbas was elected to succeed Yasser Arafat on a platform of non-violence and persuaded the armed factions to follow a de facto truce. The release of prisoners comes a day after Israel's cabinet approved a plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, marking the first time Israel decided to dismantle settlements on land Palestinians want for a state. None of the prisoners -- the first of 900 to be freed in coming weeks -- had been found guilty of attacks that killed or injured Israelis. Most had already served at least two-thirds of their sentences. They will be released at crossing points to the West Bank and Gaza in the biggest release since 1996, when 800 were freed.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Scientists have warned that Tehran could be next in line because of its location in a high-risk fault zone. An expert at the Moroccan National Centre for Earthquake Research, Nasir Jabbur, says the Sumatra quake responsible for the December 2004 tsunami has accelerated the frequency of tremors along these fault lines. "This is one of the reasons why Iran has witnessed two devastating earthquakes in just over a year. And today's quake is only 250km away from the epicentre of Bam. Tehran is about 700km from the epicentre of the Zarand quake and could be next in line," Jabbur said. Many seismologists suggest Tehran is especially vulnerable to a big quake due to the fact that the city straddles several major fault lines and has not experienced a substantive tremor since 1830.
It is becoming more apparent that there must be regulation of any of man's activities which may result in significant climatic change. The earth is in a fairly precarious temperature balance given the present distribution and density of human population and agricultural production. A cooling trend could lead to continental glaciation in the middle latitudes. This tendency could be reversed by the use of carbon dust spread on snow and ice to reduce albedo and induce melting, but this method has been stated by Gates (1970) to be financially unrealistic.
Heavy clashes between Iranian Kurds and security agents erupted on Friday in three towns in western Iran, leaving dozens injured and hundreds arrested. Clashes broke out after State Security Forces agents used force to disperse demonstrations taking place simultaneously in the towns of Sardasht, Saqqez, and Baneh in protest against severe fuel shortages in the area, eye-witnesses reported. The demonstrations quickly turned violent as protestors fought back and shouted slogans against Iran's ruling clerics.
In the past year I have read many attacks on the United Nations--quite a few, but by no means all, in the pages of this newspaper. 
THE CIA has predicted that the European Union will break-up within 15 years unless it radically reforms its ailing welfare systems. The report by the intelligence agency, which forecasts how the world will look in 2020, warns that Europe could be dragged into economic decline by its ageing population. It also predicts the end of Nato and post-1945 military alliances. In a devastating indictment of EU economic prospects, the report warns: "The current EU welfare state is unsustainable and the lack of any economic revitalisation could lead to the splintering or, at worst, disintegration of the EU, undermining its ambitions to play a heavyweight international role." It adds that the EU's economic growth rate is dragged down by Germany and its restrictive labour laws. Reforms there - and in France and Italy to lesser extents - remain key to whether the EU as a whole can break out of its "slow-growth pattern".
The cabinet has approved a proposal to establish the Supreme National Space Council, government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh announced here on Monday.
The IRA's money laundering empire is so vast that they have been negotiating to buy a bank in Bulgaria, it was reported yesterday. The Provisionals have been working with a Bulgarian crime syndicate for the last year, trying to take control of a bank to be used to launder cash from their criminal operations, security sources said. The banking operation would have lasted until 2007, when Bulgaria joins the EU, and would then become subject to stringent financial controls, the Irish Times reported.
One of the Taliban's most senior and charismatic commanders has become a key negotiator as more and more members of the Islamic militia in Afghanistan give up the fight against the Americans. The commander, 
Maoist Shining Path insurgents ambushed and killed three Peruvian policemen in a remote jungle area known for guerrilla activity, officials said Monday. The officers were driving Sunday evening in the Huallaga Valley about 205 miles northwest of Lima when more than 70 rebels sprayed their SUV with semiautomatic weapons fire, police said. The officers were shot to death as they fled the vehicle, which was then looted and set ablaze, police said.
President Thabo Mbeki criticised the United States for calling Zimbabwe an "outpost of tyranny" saying, in an interview published on Tuesday, that it went against Washington's efforts to promote democracy worldwide.
SOUTHERN Command (Southcom) chief Alberto Braganza Monday confirmed the death of 
It happened last night at 8:30pm as confirmed today by General Hector Fandino, commander of the 17th Army Brigade. A patrol of the 46th Infantry Battalion was undertaking military operations in the sector known as "Pegado" when guerillas of the 34th FARC Front set off an improvised explosive device [literally a 'field mine']. Two soldiers died at the site and two others died at the Apartado Hospital where the wounded were brought.... In the same region, this past February 9th, 18 soldiers and 11 guerrillas were killed in combat with FARC. Meanwhile, on February 14th, three children perished by stepping on mines emplaced by the same group of guerrillas in Vistahermosa.
An Algeria rebel group has killed 10 soldiers in an ambush on a military convoy after rejecting any truce with the government. The 
Philippine security forces have arrested two men suspected of involvement in last week's deadly Valentine's Day bombing in Manila. They said the men were suspected to be members of the al Qaida-linked 
Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite once known for his ties to Washington, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the conservative interim vice president, will face off in a secret ballot Tuesday to determine who will be the Shiite majority's choice for Iraqi prime minister, officials said. The decision to hold a secret ballot came after the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, which has most of the seats in the 275-member National Assembly, was unable to decide on a nominee — despite days of negotiations.
Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk is moving to deport three Muslim clerics because of accusations they represent a threat to public order and national security. The three imams will be declared undesirable aliens and two of them will have their residence permits cancelled, the first such action has been taken against clerics. In the third imam's case, an application for an extension of a residence permit will be refused. The Dutch security service AIVD said one of the imams originates from Bosnia and a second comes from Kenya. The origin of the third imam was not released, newspaper De Volkskrant reported. Minister Verdonk took the decision in consultation with Interior Minister Johan Remkes. This represents the first active step in the government's plan to crackdown on Islamic extremism. Inquiries by the AIVD indicated that the imams "contribute to the radicalisation of Muslims in the Netherlands", the Justice Ministry said on Tuesday. All three imams work at the Al Fourkaan mosque in Eindhoven. 
Communist rebels stepped up their campaign to block highways disrupting food and fuel supplies across Nepal as seven people were killed in clashes between villagers and rebels, officials said Monday. The insurgents ordered disruptions of the country's transport network to protest King Gyanendra's Feb. 1 decision to dismiss the government and suspend civil liberties. Rebels attacked passenger convoys, burned trucks and set off land mines late Sunday to stop travel on the Prithvi Highway, the country's lifeline, killing one truck driver and wounding seven passengers, army spokesman Brig. Gen. Dipak Gurung said.
Algeria's top Islamic rebel group has killed four soldiers in an ambush on a military convoy and rejected any truce with the secular government, security sources said on Monday. The attack by guerrillas of the 
Kenyan authorities have arrested three men with alleged links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in the East African nation, a police official said on Monday. The trio -- a Sudanese national and two Kenyans -- were detained on Saturday in northeast Kenya near the border with lawless Somalia and transferred to Nairobi for questioning by anti-terrorism police, the official said. "We are holding one Sudanese and two Kenyans on suspicion of involvement in terrorism activities," the official said, suggesting that Kenya may have been tipped to the threesome's alleged activity by foreign intelligence. "We got a hint from sources I cannot disclose now of their involvement in terrorism activities and links to bin Laden," the official said on condition of anonymity. "The investigation is continuing."
Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq dismissed on Monday a report of secret talks between insurgents and U.S. officials and said its attacks would continue, according to an Internet statement. Time magazine, citing Pentagon and other sources, said on Sunday that U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers were conducting talks with Sunni Muslim insurgents on ways to end fighting in Iraq. "The enemies of God say the mujahideen want to end jihad (holy war), but they do not know that the jihad will go on ... and our response to what was published by Time magazine will come in our attacks," the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said in a statement posted on Islamist Web sites. "Our thirst will only be quenched by cutting off your heads and spilling your blood ... Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq will continue its jihad until the flag of monotheism is raised and until God's law rules," it said.
Twenty-two people including four US soldiers have died in a series of attacks in Iraq since Sunday evening, while a journalist, her son, and three men working for the US military have been kidnapped, according separate security sources and a statement from a militant group.
AN al Qaeda suspect blew himself up in southern Russia as security and police forces closed in, security officials revealed yesterday. Abu Dzeit, a Kuwaiti, killed himself during an operation in Ingushetia, a region which neighbours Chechnya, said Sergei Ignatchenko, a Federal Security Service spokesman. He said security forces killed two accomplices in a house, then found Abu Dzeit in an underground bunker.
The trial has started in Turkey of four policemen accused of the unlawful killing of a man and his child in the south-eastern province of Mardin. Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz were shot and killed in what security forces said was an anti-terrorism operation. Ugur Kaymaz was 11-years-old when he was killed.
Syria has denied having offered to withdraw its approximately 16,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon, and officials in Damascus disclaimed remarks by Arab League Secretary-General 
Thirteen people suspected of links to Al-Qaeda will go on trial in Yemen soon accused of planning attacks, a legal official said on Monday. "Yemen's prosecutor-general intends from next week to bring before court a new group of 13 members of Al-Qaeda," said the source. "The group members planned terrorist acts. They will also be prosecuted on other charges, never before made against Al-Qaeda network members, including some linked to immoral activities."
Russian forces claim to have killed a key Al Qaeda member suspected to be involved in a school siege in which over 350 people, mainly children, were killed, Xinhua reported. Abu Dzeit was killed in an operation by Russian security forces in Ingushetia republic last week, Sergei Ignatchenko, a spokesman of the Federal Security Service, said Monday. He was suspected to be involved in the attack last September at a school in Beslan town of North Ossetia province near the troubled Russian republic of Chechnya.
Sectarian clashes during a procession to mark Ashura left three people dead and 20 injured in northern India on Sunday, officials said. The violence erupted as the Shia procession wound its way through the narrow streets of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state, said Anuradha Shukla, a district magistrate. Some Sunnis shopkeepers objected to the Shia procession passing through their neighbourhood, and both sides started throwing stones at each other, she said. At least 14 shops and houses were burned. The mobs then fired at each other before police reached the site of the clashes and dispersed the protesters. A curfew has been imposed in parts of the city, Shukla said.
The US military has been carrying out raids in the western Iraqi province of Anbar in a crackdown on insurgents. The focus of the operation is the town of Ramadi, the provincial capital, which has been a rebel stronghold for many months. Night-time curfews have been imposed and a cordon of checkpoints surrounds the town, which is home to 400,000. The offensive has been dubbed Operation River Blitz and is targeting rebels in towns along the Euphrates river. Iraqi security forces are also taking part in the operation. They say a prominent tribal leader and more than 10 of his relatives are among those detained...
SYDNEY - Australia will send an additional 450 troops to Iraq to provide security for Japanese engineers helping rebuild the country's south, Prime Minister John Howard said on Tuesday.
"The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event," he tells about 200 Marines, sitting on the ground under a metal windbreak against a cliff in Al Asad. "That said, there are some a--holes in the world that just need to be shot. But you go on and find your next victim or he's gonna kill you or your buddy. It's kill or be killed," he said. "There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim. ... It's really a hell of a lot of fun. You're gonna have a blast out here!" he said, with marked glee. "I feel sorry for every son of a bitch that doesn't get to serve with you."
A little over two centuries ago, a small group of planters, landowners, merchants, and lawyers met in Philadelphia to decide how their new country was to be run. Within four months this remarkable collection of patriots, veterans, pragmatists, geniuses, oddballs, and the inspired succeeded in agreeing the extraordinary, beautiful document that, even with its flaws, was to form the basis of the most successful nation in history.
The separation barrier Israel is building along the West Bank will not mark the definitive border of an eventual Palestinian state, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview published in Cairo Saturday. Asked by state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper if the barrier would be the definitive border, Sharon replied: "No. The real border will be established once total calm is restored, which will allow us to move toward the (Middle East peace) roadmap." 
A former high school valedictorian in Virginia was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and conspiracy to support the Al Qaeda terrorist network. 
A woman upset about an impending breakup with her boyfriend cut off the man's penis and flushed it down a toilet, police here are alleging. 
Outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Sunday ruled out the possibility of an Islamic state in Iraq, despite the victory in last month's historic elections of a list backed by the country's Shiite clergy. "Iraq isn't ready to be governed by an Islamic regime," said Allawi. "There are still (secular) forces on the ground, even if the elections were clear in giving 140 seats to the Alliance's list," he said. The conservative 
Only months after he criticized countries "like France," President Bush was lavish in his praise of French President Jacques Chirac, one of the sharpest critics of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "I'm looking for a good cowboy," Bush said Monday when a French reporter asked him whether relations had improved to the point where the U.S. president would be inviting Chirac to the U.S. president's ranch in Texas.
According to The New York Times, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted that the suicide killers of 
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il says his country is willing to resume talks with its neighbors and the United States if Washington "would show trustworthy sincerity and move (its stance)," Pyongyang's official news agency has announced. "We will go to the negotiating table anytime if there are mature conditions for the six-party talks thanks to the concerted efforts of the parties concerned in the future," the state news agency KCNA quoted Kim as saying. The agency said Pyongyang "would as ever stand for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and its position to seek a peaceful solution to the issue through dialogue remains unchanged."
Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government is stepping up its propaganda war with insurgents by broadcasting videotaped interviews with suspects who appear to confess to killings, rape and theft on the orders of guerrillas. The offensive was launched in recent weeks on state-run Iraqiya television, which broadcast lengthy interrogations of Iraqis it said had carried out terrorist acts under the direction of "Abdullah," described as a criminal with close ties to Syria. There is no obvious way to verify the authenticity of the confessions. The interrogator's face does not appear on camera, and the suspects are shown sitting in office chairs across from a desk in a white-walled room. 
Pakistan has issued new rules of engagement permitting its Army to fire at US forces that cross the border from Afghanistan without coordinating first, according to a report contributed to the magazine 'American Conservative' by a former CIA officer.
MATARA (Sri Lanka) — Visiting former US president Bill Clinton declared yesterday he was happy to learn that the government and Tamil parties had begun working together after the tsunami disaster urging the two parties to use the opportunity to narrow the differences.
Attempts to form a new Palestinian cabinet have drawn a blank after a session of parliament was halted amid disputes over the selection of new ministers. Parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh said on Monday the session would resume on Tuesday in the middle of debate which came after Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya unveiled his prospective cabinet line-up and the top priorities of his administration. "I regret to inform you that 15 other deputies want to take part in the debate but we do not have time," Fattuh said. "As a consequence we will continue tomorrow."
sad said he would soon take steps to withdraw his troops from Lebanon under an accord that ended the 15-year civil war there, according to the head of the Arab League. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa met Al-Asad and Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on Monday, as tens of thousands of demonstrators thronged the seafront in Beirut to urge Damascus to recall its troops from Lebanon. "During our meeting, President al-Asad expressed his firm desire, more than once, to continue implementing the Taif accord and to withdraw from Lebanon in keeping with this agreement," Musa said.
Indonesia's military suffered a rare casualty when a soldier was killed in a clash with separatist rebels in restive Aceh province on the eve of another round of peace talks, the army said on Monday. It said 20 Indonesian army (TNI) soldiers were ambushed by about 30 
A village council has punished a 20-year-old man for adultery by ordering the betrothal of his 2-year-old niece to the husband of the woman with whom he had the alleged affair, police said on Monday. Tribal elders meeting last week also ordered Muhammad Akmal to pay a 230,000-rupee fine to the woman's husband, who has since divorced his wife. 
Kuwait's government, which last year sent a female suffrage bill to parliament for approval, is committed to allowing women to vote and run for political office, a minister said on Sunday. "The government is serious about the passage of the law as soon as possible," Social Affairs and Labour Minister Faisal Al-Hajji told state news agency KUNA, adding the issue was discussed during Sunday's Cabinet session. "Women practice their political rights in most countries in the world, including Islamic Gulf states, even becoming ministers," said Hajji, who is also acting information minister. "Democracy will be complete only with the joining of its two wings, men and women," he said. "Social norms should not become an obstacle barring women from attaining full political rights."
Israel will free 500 Palestinians on Monday in its largest prison release in nearly a decade as a goodwill gesture to bolster peace efforts with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinians say Abbas needs a large-scale release to persuade militant groups to formalise a ceasefire he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a Feb. 8 summit. Some 8,000 Palestinians are held by Israel. 
