Hat tip: Drudge.
A man knocked unconscious by a tree branch during the weekendâs storms in north-eastern Victoria has been rescued, reportedly, by a Morwell familyâs pet kangaroo. The kangaroo kept banging on the door of the familyâs house in Tanjil South, then led it to the man lying unconscious about 150 metres away. "Whatâs that? Timmieâs in the well?"
Authorities have allowed the family to care for the kangaroo since it was little, because it is blind in one eye and thinks it is a dog. Rural Ambulance Victoria paramedic Eddie Wright says the man was taken to the Austin Hospital with serious head injuries. He says he could have died if he had not been found until later. "The kangaroo alerted them to where he was and has gone and sat down next to him and thatâs how they found him," he said. "Especially when you consider itâs not a pet as such, itâs just an animal thatâs adopted them over the years and comes and goes as it is free to, they were lucky yesterday it was in the area."
Posted by: Dar ||
09/22/2003 10:09:52 AM ||
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#1
Kangaroo has Lassie moment
Dinkum Aussies might call this a "Skippy" moment... :)
#2
Authorities have allowed the family to care for the kangaroo since it was little, because it is blind in one eye and thinks it is a dog.
How do they know it thinks it's a dog?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/22/2003 10:17 Comments ||
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#3
Robert - they found it on the woof. It's skin is a little ruff. It loves to eat bark. And, it's persistance in getting help could only be described as dogged.
#6
A female kangeroo could use its pouch to be particularly effective at fetching slippers and the paper. This would aleviate the saliva problem with having a dog perform the same function. I propose that all dogs be upgrade to kangeroos immediately except in the Phillipines as kangeroos don't taste right in stew.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 12:32 Comments ||
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#7
A female kangaroo would also be especially useful when parents with small children need to walk the pet -- no need for the stroller...
#9
sorry, i find this hard to believe. kangeroos are stupid (no offense to any kangeroos reading this), but it's reported that it took four roos to make the original versions of "skippy the bush kangeroo" because they were incapable of learning more than one trick. the guy probably had an oatmeal bar in his pocket and the pet needed a feed.
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 21 -- Their head scarves kept slipping with every high kick. Their toes and knuckles scraped the concrete floor during warm-up stretches. Their lungs and muscles, unused to any exercise, tired easily
"Try to take as much pain as you can stand," urged Mahbooba Rezahi, 17, the instructor of the only martial arts class for girls in the Afghan capital. "Breathe deeply . . . keep your elbows bent." She glanced up from a deep bend with a mock frown. "No giggling!"
There were only nine students in Rezahiâs tae kwon do class at the Afghan Youth Club this morning -- a fraction of the 300 boys who attend its martial arts classes in the evenings. There were 13 girls participating until last week, when police came and locked the clubhouse doors twice, unnerving some of the teenage students and their parents.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 19:49 Comments ||
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#2
Afghan women need fire arms training. Of course if the men don't like th idea of tae kwon do, then they're really gonna have a fit at the thought of women with guns. It might put an an end to honor killings and such.
Posted by: Tokyo Taro ||
09/22/2003 21:14 Comments ||
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#3
Hummmm -- for me, the most important part of this story is "police came and locked the clubhouse doors twice"... what's with this? I thought the Taliban were out of office...
#4
There is only one paratrooper in the Afghan forces. She kicks ass and needs to be put on posters and explain why it is important for women to be able to defend themselves... because a large proportion of the decent men are dead and there are still a bunch of men theat need killing.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 22:04 Comments ||
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#5
I'm with Sherry--there had better be some separate, justifiable reason for the shutdown other than that classes were being offered to women. Too much American blood has been shed ridding this country of that Taliban pestilence to put up with this petty crap.
Posted by: Dar ||
09/22/2003 23:00 Comments ||
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The U.S. military has confirmed the deaths of two Taliban commanders and said it was "highly confident" only combatants died in a raid that killed one of them last Wednesday. Afghan officials said on Saturday at least eight Afghan nomads, including women and children and puppies and kittens and baby ducks, were killed in a U.S. air strike that killed two Taliban guerrillas, including commander Mohammad Gul Neyazi, in the southern province of Zabul. They said a bomb had landed on their tent and that Taliban guerrillas were known to have taken refugee with nomad families in the area in the past. Nomads: a.k.a. supporters
A U.S. military statement seen on Sunday said: "The coalition can now confirm anti-coalition leaders Mullah Abdur Rahim and Mohammad Gul Neyazi were killed during recent Operation Mountain Viper engagements.
Mullah Rahim's still dead, huh? That's encouraging...
"Based on the available reliable information at this time, we are highly confident only combatant anti-coalition persons were killed or wounded during the Wednesday engagement," it said. "No puppies or baby ducks were harmed, either."
Afghan officials said last Monday Rahim, who controlled Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, was among 15 guerrillas killed in fighting in Kandahar province the previous day. Some guerrilla officials confirmed his death, but a man who identified himself as Rahim contacted Reuters last week to say he was still alive. The voice sounded similar to that of Rahim, who had spoken to Reuters several times in the past, but the phone line was of very poor quality. Must be using Binnyâs phone.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/22/2003 4:31:42 PM ||
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The last few American combat troops pulled out of the Prince Sultan Air Base here earlier this month, officially closing the Persian Gulf headquarters used by the Air Force during both Iraq wars and concluding a nearly 13-year run of extensive United States military operations in Saudi Arabia. If we return, itâll be because the Saudis didnât clean up their act
The withdrawal signaled the end of a long strategic arrangement, mutually beneficial until it fell victim to tensions resulting from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, in which 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Since then, the countriesâ fragile diplomatic relations have undergone considerable strain â only worsened in recent months by the American military presence in the kingdom, American and Saudi officials said here this week. NY Times spin - itâs our fault
As one American diplomatic official based in the region put it, "on both sides, actually, the alliance had become a little bit of poison, and both sides were glad to see it end." poisoned by both sides, huh? another State Dept weenie sucking on the Soddy teat
Nearly 500 advisers now constitute the only American military presence left in a country that during the 1991 Persian Gulf war had as many as 550,000 American troops at several sites. The advisers are helping to train the Saudi National Guard. The Prince Sultan base, which at the height of the war this spring housed 10,000 American troops and 200 planes, has now been supplanted as the Middle Eastâs main American military air operations center by Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. protection for Qatar against the Saudi pressure
This last phase of the American departure from the base occurred with almost no fanfare, attracting only minor mention in the Saudi press. "It was as if they were never here," a senior Saudi official said. "They left very quietly." The drastically reduced American profile could simplify the governmentâs position among Saudis who espouse Osama bin Ladenâs contention that the American military foothold was an affront to the kingdomâs sovereignty. For years, the American presence not far from Islamâs two holiest sites, at Mecca and Medina, has provided Al Qaeda with an important rallying cry. Partly for this reason, members of Saudi Arabiaâs royal family had rarely acknowledged the large number of American troops who used the base as a launching pad for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. About 50 miles southeast of here, the sprawling high-security installation does not appear on most Saudi maps and is marked on a barren desert road by an unassuming Arabic sign.
For the Americans, particularly the pilots who flew thousands of missions from the base, assignment to the 363rd Air Expeditionary Wing was difficult. Late last month, the expeditionary wing was deactivated. "They came out of here hating the place," the American diplomatic official said. "The missions were often dangerous, and the Saudis set a lot of restrictions on the flights." In part, Pentagon officials say, the shift is a logical outgrowth of the fall of Saddam Husseinâs government in Iraq. Thirteen years after it began, the officials say, the American baseâs original Iraqi mission had been accomplished. We have the Iraqi bases now, which can be used without Saudi restrictions, in fact, they are within range of Riyadh, Mecca, Medina.....go figure
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 7:57:54 AM ||
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The drastically reduced American profile could simplify the governmentâs position among Saudis who espouse Osama bin Ladenâs contention that the American military foothold was an affront to the kingdomâs sovereignty.
Not likely. This "complaint" is just one of many convenient excuses in bin Laden and his followers' list of reasons to play jihadi.
#3
The base was about as unobtrusive as possible. I lived in Riyadh for three years and never saw or heard an aircraft. IIRC, the airmen/soldiers were restricted, as the article said, but, really for their own good. Believe me boys, you wouldn't have much to do at the Safeway. In any case, the only American presence is now the typical govt-govt military cooperation programs. Maybe those are the 500 "advisors" mentioned. They may be based at the "ESKAN" facility, about 1/2 way between Riyadh and air base. Even these guys are very discreet, so the American military presence in Riyadh, at least, was never really felt.
Posted by: Michael ||
09/22/2003 11:24 Comments ||
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bah! we just left because none of our planning includes already having bases in Saudi. Cheaper to leave than to have to re-write one of those plans.
Brussels, Belgium-AP -- The NATO allies have picked their next secretary general. Heâs Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Former NBA-Europe star....not
In an official statement, the alliance says the ambassadors of the 19 NATO nations agreed that de Hoop Scheffer will succeed Britainâs Lord Robertson, who is stepping down in December after serving his four-year term. Robertson did yeoman work as I recall, hawkish when need be
De Hoop Scheffer is seen as a bridge maker between the United States and those European allies whose opposition to the Iraq war earlier this year prompted NATOâs deepest split in years. I do bridges, and the life cycle should be more than 50 yrs here, pal
The Dutch government supported the war but avoided taking a high profile in the dispute with NATOâs anti-war nations led by France and Germany.
The Dutch government has maintained the Netherlandsâ traditional support for both a closer integration among European nations and a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. French support for the guy? Iâll withhold judgement
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 7:48:56 PM ||
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HAMBURG - German authorities are to obtain an arrest warrant for an Algerian radical who held 32 European tourists hostages, some of them for more than five months. Confirming a report in Mondayâs Der Spiegel news magazine, federal authorities said Abderrassak al-Para is being sought on charges of extortion, kidnapping and terrorism. A one-time paratrooper with the Algerian air force, Para is the self-styled "emir" of the GSPC terrorist group which seized the tourists in a remote region of Algeria last February. "I am the most holy emir of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. Emirs need money, holy men need hand grenades rocket launchers. Now stick âem up!"
Posted by: seafarious ||
09/22/2003 11:24:02 AM ||
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#1
I see know point to the warrents unless they establish a record so that if the clowns are picked up for something else (probably in Pakistan or Malaysia) they will be held for extradition. It's not like the Algerian military is actively trying to track terrorists down. That could get dangerous.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 19:23 Comments ||
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Turkeyâs decision on whether to send troops to Iraq will not depend on a UN resolution allowing for an international peacekeeping force in the war-ravaged country, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Sunday. He stressed, however, that Ankara would welcome any such move by the UN Security Council, which many here hope will help soften Iraqi opposition to a possible Turkish deployment in their country. âTurkey attaches great importance to this, but does not tie everything to a UN condition,â Gul told reporters before flying to New York for the annual gatherings of the UN General Assembly. Ankara will finally decide whether to contribute troops in response to a US request for help to pacify its increasingly turbulent neighbour once parliament returns from summer recess on October 1, Gul said. The Turkish constitution requires parliamentary approval to send soldiers abroad. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, backed by the influential army, is willing to contribute up to 10,000 troops, but has refrained from taking a decision because of strong objections from Iraqi leaders and from public opinion at home.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:34 ||
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#1
Hello Fred, first my compliments for your changed attitude, you donât delete postings you donât like anymore, I appreciate that, thanx.
Latest reports show that the US and Turkey must have agreed in a far stadium, some concrete steps taken are showing that Turkish troop deployment will soon going to happen. Today the general command released a news that a group of 4 coordination and communication officers where dispatched to the central US headquarters in Baghdad as preliminary to deployment.
Posted by: Murat ||
09/22/2003 5:17 Comments ||
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#2
this is in addition to the special ops forces Turkey had surreptitiously slipped in earlier, and were caught, right? Turkey is not our friend, and the back stabbing won't be forgotten. This is a small gesture now that they know the EU and France played them for suckers. And what was this:"Latest reports show that the US and Turkey must have agreed in a far stadium, some concrete steps taken are showing that Turkish troop deployment will soon going to happen" ? Nice
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 7:27 Comments ||
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#3
Frank G.
To my big displeasure I have to stay objective, all the signs points towards an agreement between the Turkish government and the US, 4 officers have been dispatched to the US headquarters in Baghdad for coordination. So that makes me believe that a Turkish troop deployment wonât take long anymore, unless the parliament I hope reject the motion.
You are a typical American thinker mumbling about EU and France, who cares a shit about them. And about Turkish American friendship LOL, does America have friends, does any nation have, I donât believe in friendship between nations, I believe in mutual interests.
Posted by: Murat ||
09/22/2003 7:40 Comments ||
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#4
mumbling? lol
If you don't believe there are friendships, you haven't paid attention. America's relationship with Britain and Australia? With Israel? These are beyond mutual interest treaties. They are shared histories and cultural ties
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 7:48 Comments ||
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#5
Frank G >> Why knock Murat about the EU. At least he's got the attitude of "If you've got lemons, then make lemonade."
Yeah, the EU did play Turkey like a sucker. (Which initially I felt bad for.) But so too did Turkey play the US for one as well. (Sympathy gone.)
Even after the US was there for Turkey fighting to support it's defense with Patriot missle systems at NATO while damn near the rest of NATO said to hell with Turkey. Then, of course, they stabbed us in the back. If that's how they treat allies, then they deserve the shit they get shoveled. Bon Apetite Turkey!
I knew our "former" allies were gone once the Islamics took control of the government. Our last hope was for their military leaders to step in which they didn't.
I say to hell with the shitbags. I say we support a Kurdish state and then build bases. What would Turkey do then? Die in droves or hate us. Then Murat would even get a chance to fight the infidels. (Or more likely, don a dress and wait out the war.) Who cares. Nobody else loves Turkey either. Maybe the French would come to their rescue. LMAO.
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 8:24 Comments ||
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#6
Ya 'think that 8.7Bill in loans(bribes)had any thing to do with it.
Murat,would you prefer we pulled our troops head North,set-up an independant Kurdistan and allow the South to descend into civil war between the Sunnis and Shias.
That would be my preference too,let them kill each other off.
they have nothing the French want - it's all about the ooiiillll, as they say
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 8:37 Comments ||
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#8
That's right on Anonymous, Turkey is like a cheap whore. First time around we just didn't offer enough cash. But then when your economy is in the shithole, anything for some Yankee Dollars, right? Question is what are we getting for our 8.7 billion?
#9
Turkey has the potential to control water flows in major parts of the Middle East. That is one value of her to the creation of a prosperous, moderate set of countries in that region.
Don't count the generals out, either. I am very glad they did not have to intervene, but I suspect that if the Islamacists go overboard, that possibility remains. The demagogues who are playing games around Turkey's positions re: the US know that very well.
OK I won't blame you for not being an economy prof., fact is that the Turkish economy has recovered from the 2001 crisis. At the moment there is no need for Yankee dollars (at least no immediate need), better keep those dolars for the record deficite the US is facing.
I believe the motive to sent troops is more because the Americans leave shit behind when they can't handle the situation anymore. Someone has to clean up the dirt a son of a bitch leaves behind.
Posted by: Murat ||
09/22/2003 9:04 Comments ||
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#11
"Someone has to clean up the dirt a son of a bitch leaves behind."
Screw you,Urat bastard!Hope you have fun danceing with the PKK.
#12
Mow, Murat, did you have to sink to that? You were maintaining so nicely too..*shakes head*
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 9:46 Comments ||
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#13
I'm with Murat on this one: I'd be happy to keep the 8.7 Billion. Word is out that the Iraqis are pissed off that few other Arab/Islamic nations helped liberate them from Saddam. No friends, only national interests.
And I don't believe in friendships at the international level either. Just national interests. Any other way of thinking just stuffs your head up your ass, and you only end up getting screwed in the nose.
(Hmm, maybe with the exception of the Anglosphere: The aussies got on board when they had their own 9/11 in Bali. Britain's in with us all the way, despite trying to lay the eurowhore. NZ and Ireland are too small to play. And Canada's suffering from a bad head cold quebecois/francaise. Here's hoping the Canucks join the next party...)
#14
Frank, Murat simply *hates* America and Americans. Somedays he controls it, somedays he doesn't.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/22/2003 9:53 Comments ||
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Murat
Don't go overboard on the Machiavellian side. Countries have interests and states are the "coldest of the cold monsters" but in democracies you have to keep public opinions in mind. If you support a country your nationals find unpalatable you could end losing elections. Even in dictatorships you have to keep in mind that soldiers sent to unpopular wars fight poorly and will cause you major embarassment if they are defeated. Not to mention the disctator has to keep in mind possibility of a military coup (cd the fall of Salazar) if Army has to fight an unpopular war.
And that is why while states have no friends, nations have them and leaders would be better to keep that in mind. Compare your own reaction to the two following sentences: "Turkish army is sent to protect the Tutsis against genocide in Rwanda" and "Turkish army is sent to protect Azeris against genocide at the hands of Armenians"
#19
I do have to agree with Murat. The US fucked itself during the Clinton years when it downsized (just as it historically always has after major conflicts) and Clinton's sorry ass under funded it for eight long years. I know, I was there.
The US does need to gain back some of those divisions to counter the threat of terrorism, providing flexibility of movement/deployment and rotation of units. We can see how easily our two front war theory has "exposed our flanks". With 1,000 well trained guerillas, they can tie up more than ten times their numbers.
The other problem is that our way of thinking needs to change. This "Are we done yet?" mantra the 24 hour news cycle repeats every 30 seconds have to go. Currently the American public's attention span lasts about as long as a TV commercial. We as a people have to think of it as a long term goal. THe media treats it as a baseball game. One day we're winning the next we're losing. You can win almost every battle and still lose the war.
As for Turkish troops. They are not a necessity and never have been. We need troops merely to free up our own for other missions until we build up more divisions. Turks will do for now, but not preferred. Bush is scrambling on this one. After all (in reference to lack of troops), piss poor planning prevents proper performance.
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 12:29 Comments ||
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#20
Murat
I will be cynical and I will tell you why the US needs Turkish troops. First: Because in case there is a need to do some cleansings at Tikrit or Falujah the American troops are far too soft hearted for doing the job real well. An Armenian friend told me yours aren't.
Second: Because my experience with the the Muslim world is that they scream bloody murder if an American or Israeli soldier dares to pull a hair from a Muslim but will keep a deafening silence when Muslims slaughter other Muslims. See Algeria, the fate of Hazars under Taliban rule
or of Iraquis under Saddam.
#21
I sort of agree with JFM here. The Turks are known as good 'interogators' and the quality of their soldiers is as good as, if not better than, any country in Europe except England (which like our soldiers are good at using technical equipment that the Turks don't have). Furthermore, because they ruled much of the Arab world fairly efficiently for several centuries a while back, there is some reason to believe they could do so effectively now. The key will be to keep the Turks from causing a problem in the Kurdish area where ethnic issues might arise or in the Shiite areas where religious issues might arise.
#22
No, no, NO! We do NOT want Turkish troops in Iraq. The only locals who will welcome them will be the Turkomen minority. The rest have an opinion of the Turks that is in the range of hate <---> spite.
When the Turks ruled that region, insurrection and unrest were common. The Arabs seethed the last century of Ottoman rule, and there's no reason to think things have changed. The Arabs would NOT remain quiet if fellow Muslims killed their brethen, if said fellow Muslim was a Turk.
This is a bad move in a lot of ways. Let the Turks stay home and simply remind them, again and again, that France will never allow them into the EU.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 14:09 Comments ||
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#23
I believe that the $8 billion is the approximate amount that Turkey got hosed as a result of the first Gulf War. Remember when we decided to go back to our domestic issues and leave a giant mess in the place we bailed out of.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 14:24 Comments ||
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#24
Steve White:
I was joking. I think the Turks can handle Arabs (when was the last time the Arabs have defeated the Turks without Western assistance? Hmm, never?) but they have problems with Kurds and an Islamist government: that is two reasons for them trying to sabotage Iraq's reconstruction.
#25
Super Hose >> That's true too. We did screw Turkey after the last war. Just like we left the Afghans to rot as soon as the Soviets left.
mhw >> You're right in the fact that they're good warriors and that some of their tactics do raise eyebrows.
Steve White >> In the end considering everything said, Steve's points trumps it all. The Turks want to go because of the Turkomen minority and to harass the Kurds. A Turkish deployment will be like pulling the grenade and throwing the pin. That is, of course, unless they are placed down south near Basra, which I doubt.
Time is what's killing us now. All we need is 6-8 more months before the Iraqi police and military can start coming into play. The Turks, and French we don't need. However, we do need money and more troops. As long as the Iraqi oil pipes aren't producing than the US taxpayer is footing the bill. That isn't going to play well next year for the elections.
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 16:59 Comments ||
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#26
To recap after the last war, we left Turkey with a big problem because the Saudi's said it would be OK. Our transit request through Turkey was interpretted by many folks in Turkey as the US yelling BOHICA at the top of our lungs.
We seem to be doing a little bit better this time around, which is one reason why we seem to be gaining some support in Turkey.
Murat's perception is that we sandbagged the Turks in Korea, then the Saratoga shot their flagship during an excersise, then we conned them into supporting our coalition in Desert Storm before we bailed on them leaving refuges and unrest.
It has actually worked out better this time because we didn't cut a bunch of deals to get coalition members. Can you imagine what it would have been like if we had Jaques Strap along for the ride on the is one. 9-11 has made the US more serious about our dealings with the world. That's a good thing.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 19:35 Comments ||
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I know this is a repeat, I think this has new IMPORTANT info:
A military and intelligence investigation into possible security breaches at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is under way following the arrest of a U.S. Army Islamic chaplain, Bush administration sources said. Capt. James Yee, who has not been charged, is being held on suspicion of espionage and treason.
If proven, he should get the opportunity to count muzzle blasts...
Sources said the investigation is looking at whether other U.S. military personnel may have been involved. U.S. military authorities took Yee into custody September 10 at the Jacksonville, Florida, Naval Air Station while in possession of classified documents "that a chaplain shouldnât have," said an official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The official said the documents included "diagrams of the cells and the facilities at Guantanamo," where the military is holding about 600 suspected al Qaeda and other so-called enemy combatants. Yee also allegedly was carrying lists of the detainees as well as their interrogators, the official said. A Diagram and a list? Wonder what that is for? Sounds like someone was planning a jail break? Or maybe some act against the interrogators?
Yes to both. A bust-out from Guantanamo would be a feather in the al-Qaeda turban. The interrogators would represent the communications link to the detainees...
In addition, Yee is suspected of having ties to radical Muslims in the United States that are now under investigation, the official said, adding that he couldnât elaborate.
"I can say no more!"
Yee, who was assigned a military defense lawyer, can be held for 120 days before the military charges him with any offense. Also he can be beaten by the guards with impunity.
He appeared September 15 before a military magistrate, who ruled there was sufficient reason to hold him in pretrial confinement. DUH!
Army officials with the U.S. Southern Command, which controls the Guantanamo Bay facility, said that they could not comment on the status of the investigation. However, they confirmed Yee is a 1990 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. They said he became an air-defense artillery officer and left the Army some time later. Yee then moved to Syria, where he lived for four years studying Islam and was married, apparently to a Syrian woman. A U.S. State Department document available on the Internet confirms Yeeâs time in Syria, saying he "spent four years studying Arabic and Islam in Damascus." The same document quotes Yee as saying, "An act of terrorism, the taking of innocent civilian lives, is prohibited by Islam, and whoever has done this needs to be brought to justice, whether he is Muslim or not."
Damascus is an interesting place to study Islam. I'd have expected Pakland or Yemen, myself, or Soddy Arabia...
A Southern Command official said Yee returned to the Army as a Muslim chaplain after his conversion to Islam and was assigned in November to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Yee is one of about a dozen Muslim chaplains in the U.S. military. Whatâs the screening process for these Chaplains? Religion of peace my ass! Which ones can we trust if someone from West Point canât be trusted? Seems that young Captain Lee got some serious education while in Syria. For those of you who just joined the program, Syria is the ugly step-sister of Iraq.
#1
All military Islamic chaplains have come out of Wahabist schools. I don't think that is very smart. I don't know that you can flush them all out of the service immediately.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 12:47 Comments ||
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#2
Planning a jail break. Where are they going to go?
#4
I haven't seen the whining 'why pick on us' announcement from CAIR yet; nor anyone predicting that this would agitate the Arab street. Is it because the perp is ethnically Asian? Cinthia McKinney call your office.
#7
In addition, Yee is suspected of having ties to radical Muslims in the United States that are now under investigation, the official said, adding that he couldnât elaborate.
Anyone remember a story about a couple of imams detained in Southern Florida on or around 9-11-03? I wonder if their detention was a side-effect of this arrest...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/22/2003 13:23 Comments ||
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#8
Thule is nice this time of year. They may need chaplains to do other duties as assigned....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/22/2003 13:33 Comments ||
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#9
If the Gitmo hotel guests stage a break-out, even if they are gunned down and everyone killed, it is a propaganda victory for Al and the Qaedas. Also an American Muslim Chaplin aiding and abetting a breakout or attempted breakout is also a feather in their cap. It is good that we caught this one. We need to be extra vigilant and we need to check into all the military's Muslim Clerics Imams Chaplains and their background and see what else they are hiding.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/22/2003 13:46 Comments ||
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#10
I don't know about jail breaks, but any intelligence that might have been derived has been compromised. Al Qaeda knows what not to do and, if they were clever, could have planted bad intelligence.
#11
Isolation from other suspects is a very key part of an interrogation. What I think we'll find is that the Chaplain was transferring information between prisoners so that the stories matched. Information also might have been transferred on what beans had been spilled to outside sources. I doubt that uprisings or escapes were being coordinated.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 15:11 Comments ||
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#12
He may have reported on both interrogation methods and cooperative captives. This is very bad. I have a difficult time understanding why any such Moslem should be entertained by the US military, especially one who left the army to study Islam in Damascus and has "acquired" a Syrian wife. We're at war! What happened to security clearance?
Were Nazi theorists invited to visit prisoner camps and boost the morale of German prisoners during WW II ? it looks like someone is still not getting the message that Moslems have declared all-out war on the USA.
#13
I almost wish they'd tried a breakout. Gitmo is a major naval base, armed to the teath because its bordering communist Cuba on 3 sides. I'm pretty sure any attempt to liberate the friends in Gitmo would have ended with a lot of Al Queda body bags before they even got close to the prisoners.
#15
I think a more likely scenario is that he was gathering information to give to a press source. I bet that will be his story. He will say that the incarceration at Gitmo was offensive to his American and Islamic sensabilities and that he was going to bring the info to the Press (NY Times? Al Guardian, Al Jazeera?) so it gets out to the public.
If I was his lawyer, that is what I would push for.
BTW, I disagree totally with his actions. If convicted, possibly they should behead him. And deport his wife.
#16
Chaplin or not he should be tried and if found guilty shot or hanged.
I was at GITMO when camp X-Ray was first built for the Cuban/Haitian Crimelords / Psychos in 1994. First off, good luck trying to make it to Castro. It's alot of swamp with little nasties that typically inhabit the terrain and those other things called ....landmines.
When Cuban migrants couldn't take the camps anymore they'd try to flee back to Cuba. Many nights at the outdoor movie theater we'd suddenly hear a "Whoomp!" and know what happened to that last "escapee." Alternatively, they could swim for it. Just don't try to swim upriver on the airfield side. The Cubans have a meat packing factory that drains into it. The sharks like to hang out there. I almost got pulled out of the boat fishing on that river once. Then it may still be Box Jellyfish mating season. Ouch! They're all over the place. Oh yeah, so are the thousands of Barracuda. Then they could simply drown.
Then, of course, the last and most deadly predator that they'd have to elude would be the Marine security forces. HAHAHAHA Good luck Achmed! Say "hi" to Allah while you're in hell for me. Thanks.
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 17:21 Comments ||
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#17
Frankly after reading all about honor/shame, shouldn't the little wifie be killed too? The Religion of Peace⢠demands it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 19:05 Comments ||
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Tip to Drudge
The Dixie Chicks say they donât want to be a country music band any more. Violinist Martie Maguire told Spiegel magazine: "We donât feel part of the country scene any longer, it canât be our home any more." She said she was disappointed other country singers didnât back up the Dixie Chicks in their criticism of George W Bushâs politics on Iraq. Imagine that!
"A few weeks ago, Merle Haggard said a couple of nice words about us, but that was it," Maguire complained. "The support we got came from others, like Bruce Springsteen." Going home empty-handed from the Country Awards ceremony also made them decide to break with the scene, Maguire said. "Instead, we won three Grammys against much stronger competition. "So we now consider ourselves part of the big Rock ânâ Roll family." Does this mean the are going to dress trashy and french kiss on stage? Natalie and gang made good music but their politics stink. She might find it rough when they meet someone like Ted Nugent (another critic).
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) ||
09/22/2003 10:54:51 AM ||
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#1
No problems, Martie, see you next time at the truck stop just off I-35. I like the shrimp platter, remember?
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 11:07 Comments ||
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#2
The Dixie Chicks say they donât want to be a country music band any more.
No big deal. If they want to be a member of the Anti-American Stupid Club, then go for it.
#3
Like these plump dopes have any chance of competing against Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, etc (yeah I know, they're not "Rock'n'Roll" but neither are the Dixie Dopes). Give me a break!
I'm not much of a Country Fan, but having lived in the South and having lived in the culture that helped spawn it, it's my guess that they weren't REALLY a part of the scene to begin with, inasmuchas they were so obvously out of touch with their fan base in being unable to forsee the reaction to Maines' thoughtless remarks. I haven't lived in the South half as long, and even this Former West coaster with leanings towards the Classical, High Renaissance, and Baroque styles of music, could have told her "Hunnah, yo' gonna be in a heap 'o trouble fo' openin' yo' piemouth!"
#5
going for the Sinead "Conscience of Rock-n-Roll, but currently unemployed" O'Connor merit badge huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 12:36 Comments ||
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#6
Their music sucked! Fake twangy crap. They pretended to be country and sucked up the goodies while they could. Now they have lost their fan base so it's time to be idiots. Look for Janice Joplin type rip offs.
#9
Brucie would be supportive... he is an anti-American whiner of long standing.
I am always disgusted when the chorus of "Born In The USA" is played in a patriotic context. I guess people don't listen to the actual lyrics, but they should:
"Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just covering up
[chorus:]
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To go and kill the yellow man
[chorus]
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said "Son don't you understand"
[chorus]
I had a buddy at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a little girl in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A."
So your cool-rocking daddy thinks a whole lot of the US of A... sounds like Murat wrote it.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
09/22/2003 15:47 Comments ||
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#10
I misread that for a minute. They said: "We donât feel part of the country scene any longer, it canât be our home any more."
I thought they said: "We donât feel part of this country any longer, it canât be our home any more."
I was hoping they were moving to France. Bummer. Its not like they weren't moving away from Country before they made the stupid comments.
#12
Basically what happened was that they had a meeting with their record label and were told that if they wanted to maintain those 7 figure paychecks they had better change formats. 'tis all business, that's all...
Posted by: Rafael ||
09/22/2003 16:29 Comments ||
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#13
The Chickie Dicks forgot the iron rule of country music; Love your country.
#15
Can't wait for them to suck face with Britney Spears or Madonna but I won't hold my breath for the Dixie Chicks - Metallica tour.
Posted by: Ned ||
09/22/2003 21:14 Comments ||
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#16
Heard they were going to do French rock, now they'll be the Froggie Chicks.
Posted by: TJ Jackson ||
09/22/2003 23:37 Comments ||
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#17
A few weeks ago, I was a guest on a local radio call-in show in Lubbock, Tx (hometown of Chick Natalie Maines). This particular station had banned the Chicks' music after their performance in London.
The topic was the upcoming Aviation Centenniel, not the Dixie Chicks, but somebody inevitably mentioned them. I referred to them offhandedly as the "Vichy Chicks" then had to explain the reference.
One of Lubbock's 10 or 12 liberals, obviously a far-gone LLL conformist, called in and demanded that the station owners and I be jailed for violating the Chicks' right to free speech. It never crossed her mind that we might have rights as well and that we were exercising them.
Explaination for arrests at religious schools. EFL:
More than a dozen foreign students detained in Pakistan and now under interrogation were "sleeping cells" of the alleged Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the interior ministry sources said yesterday. Authorities disclosed that the crackdown in the southern port city the previous day, when 13 Malaysian and two Indonesian youths were detained took place after the man accused in the Bali bomb blast pointed to the sleeper cells in Pakistanâs commercial capital. The 15 will be deported to their countries after interrogation. To face even more interrogation.
Meanwhile, Indonesiaâs acting consul general in Karachi said that the detainees, Gungun Rusman Gunawan and Saifuddin, both students at the Abu Bakar school, are from Indonesiaâs main Java island. A senior source in the interior ministry clarified that the South East Asian students were taken into custody from Abu Bakar religious school in Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighbourhood in Karachi, a known hub of hundreds of seminaries. "We acted after receiving information about the presence of the sleeping cell of Jemaah Islamiyah in Karachi from the two governments, which has been alerted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation," a security official said. The official said the ongoing interrogation revealed that four of the detained students had direct links with Hambali, suspected kingpin of JI, which is blamed for the deadly Bali bombing in Indonesia and a string of other attacks. Rusman Gunawan may be Hambaliâs little brother.
"The youths arrested in Karachi are not known to have been involved in any major terrorist incident in the past but they have told interrogators they were planning some attacks in the region," the Pakistani security official said. Describing the Karachi roundup as another significant step in the fight against international terrorism, a senior interior ministry official said their disclosures would he greatly helpful in tracking other such elements that might be lurking in seminaries elsewhere in the country. "These foreign students had been staying in Karachi for quite sometime," the official said, without disclosing exactly when they arrived in Karachi and the name of the school where they had board and lodging. As part of its campaign to purge seminaries of undesirable or unauthorised foreigner inmates the Pakistan government has previously forced many students to leave the country. To make room for their local nutcase students.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/22/2003 9:35:39 AM ||
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Pakistani generals routinely deny that their army retains any sympathy for the Taliban. But here is a secret they managed to keep quiet for several months. In early summer U.S. soldiers scrambling after Taliban remnants along the craggy mountains of southeastern Afghanistan made a surprising discovery. Among the gang of suspected Taliban agents they nabbed were three men who, it emerged in interrogations, were Pakistani army officers.
Tap... Tap... This surprise meter's busted, dammit!
Authorities in Pakistan clapped the three in a military brig; an official from military intelligence called them "mavericks." But the news of their capture alongside enemy fighters underscored a persistent issue in Washington and Kabul: Whose side, exactly, is Pakistan on? I wonder how senior these officers were, and what rank they held within the Taliban?
The longer the war on terrorism continues, the more questions the U.S. seems to have about Pakistan. Just how devoted is President Pervez Musharraf to fighting terrorism?
Not very, though he does talk a good game...
Is Pakistan undermining stability in neighboring Afghanistan?
You betcha. Pope->Catholic, bear->outdoor plumbing, Pakistan->undermining Afghanistan...
Is it flirting with the potential disaster of a new war on the subcontinent by harboring militants fighting India in the disputed region of Kashmir?
General Franco->dead...
What role does Islamabad play in the proliferation of nuclear weapons worldwide?
Playing "big technological brother" to other Muslim, especially Arab, states. It's the only prestige they can manage, since they often make Yemen look stable...
On so many issues of U.S. concern, Pakistan is a crucial nexus. Certainly Washington continues to appreciate Musharrafâs decision to side with the U.S. after 9/11. That meant breaking ties with the Taliban, which Pakistani authorities had nurtured; assisting the U.S. in changing the regime in Afghanistan and in running down remnants of Osama bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda as they fled their sanctuary there; and restraining Islamic extremists in Pakistan. Says a U.S. official of the Pakistanis: "Weâre certainly better off with the level of partnership we have with them than if we had none."
I'm certainly happier now than I was directly after I whacked by thumbnail with a claw hammer, too...
But the faintness of that praise contains at least a hint of disappointment. No one expected Musharraf to reorient Pakistan toward moderation instantaneously. Even if his security chiefs saluted his new orders, rogue operations were inevitable. Plus, Musharraf has to balance Washingtonâs demands against the fact that many Pakistanis are sympathetic to the Taliban and al-Qaeda and particularly to the militants in Kashmir. For those reasons, the Bush Administration has settled on what a State Department official calls "the carrot approach with Pakistan."
"If you don't act like complete thugs, we'll give you money..."
Islamabad, meanwhile, is resisting U.S. demands that its forces be allowed to mount their own search parties inside the tribal territories. That scenario, explains a Pakistani military officer, could lead to an armed tribal uprising. "You get these hotshot CIA guys who come in on a six-month rotation, and they want to tear up everythingâmosques, villagesâto get bin Laden," a Western diplomat comments. "Well, the Pakistani army has to live with the fallout." And within the army, there seem to be strains of resistance to the U.S.-led effort against al-Qaeda and its allies. Pakistani military-intelligence sources say army investigators in early September arrested three officers, all "below the rank of lieutenant colonel," for suspected ties to al-Qaeda. Two of the officers were based in the tribal areas. All three, say the sources, were fingered by al-Qaedaâs top planner, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. They are in Pakistani military custody.
Under house arrest, perhaps?
Thought to be the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Mohammed was caught last March inside an army officersâ colony in Rawalpindi. Authorities say he was sheltered there by a serving army major. A senior military-intelligence official denies that al-Qaeda has any support in the military beyond this "tiny cell."
"Yeah, honey. It was just that one time!"
But according to Talat Masood, a retired lieutenant general and a writer on security issues, a strong anti-U.S. feeling pervades the army. After Musharrafâs government turned against the Taliban at Washingtonâs prodding and failed to condemn the civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan, says Masood, "there was a sense of betrayal inside the armed forces." Weeding out extremists in the military may not be easy. For years, the top brass drummed into midranking officers a sense of Islamic mission. A Prophet-length beard helped an officerâs promotion, as did praying five times a day. Now, says Masood, "the army is taking measures against officers who are too religious minded." Those deemed overly fanatic are discreetly steered into nonsensitive or dead-end jobs, he says, and a soldier needs permission from his commanding officer before he is permitted to grow a beard. These doesnât include the Islamist Generals, the second highest ranking officer in Pakistan, General Aziz, is a hardcore Islamist.
These same countervailing forces are at play in Islamabadâs relations with militants fighting to expel India from the part of Muslim-majority Kashmir that it occupies. The militantsâ cause is popular within the Pakistani security forces and among Pakistanis in general. After India and Pakistan, both nuclear armed, nearly went to war over the conflict in May 2002, Musharraf assured Bush that there were no militant training camps in Pakistani territory.
That was just before his lips fell off...
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage reminded Musharraf of that guarantee when the two met in Rawalpindi before Musharrafâs last meeting with Bush in June. Armitage then produced a dossier of satellite photos showing camps of that nature. "Musharraf acted outraged and upset," a State Department official tells TIME, but it wasnât clear to the Americans whether he was angry that the camps were functioning or that the U.S. had uncovered them. I would think itâs the latter, afterall, the Pakistani press was reporting all along that the camps continued to function.
In January 2002, at the insistence of the U.S., Musharraf banned five such groups. Yet the government has allowed them to resurface under new names. Abdul Rauf Azhar, formerly of Jaish-e-Muhammad, says, "We are still doing our work." Azhar is not just any militant. Indian police suspect him of organizing the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight to secure the release of his brother Maulana Masood Azhar, among other prisoners, from an Indian jail. The two Azhar brothers top Indiaâs wanted-terrorist list, but Pakistan brought no charges against Abdul Rauf. Musharraf did vow to keep Masood under house arrest, but staff members at his ornate mansion in Bahawalpur say he is free to travel, give incendiary sermons against the U.S. and collect donations for the Kashmiri insurgency.
It's called hypocrisy. We've seen so much of it in the past couple years it's hardly worth commenting upon...
Ultimately, the most explosive issue between the U.S. and Pakistan is the nuclear one. American intelligence officials believe Pakistani scientists have sharedâwith North Korea and Iranâthe technology they developed on their way to becoming a nuclear power. That is a possibility Washington cannot ignore when North Korea is explicitly threatening to sell nuclear weapons to terrorists unless the U.S. gives in to Pyongyangâs demands for security guarantees, diplomatic ties and economic aid. U.S. officials do not think government agents are responsible for the leakage of Pakistani technology, but the U.S. has repeatedly asked Pakistan to impose tighter export controls and remains unsatisfied with Islamabadâs response.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
09/22/2003 1:16:39 AM ||
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#1
Is Pakistan friend of foe?
Yes.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 11:12 Comments ||
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#2
I agree with Super Hose. Pakistan is both. The General in charge is sort of a friend, big chunks of the population are not.
#6
Tap... Tap... This surprise meter's busted, dammit!
Left it in the basement when Isabel came through, eh? That'll teach you! :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 14:15 Comments ||
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#7
Perhaps this will register on your surprise meter... We have NO friends in the Middle East. We have a few countries who are willing (more or less) to help us deal with problems, but those problems affect them as much as it does us. Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and several other small players see us as the balance against the territorial ambitions of the rest of the Mideast. They're willing to help, because they know we will help them in exchange - we feel a moral obligation to do so. Such an obligation doesn't exist toward us. Pakistan needs us to help keep the lid on the explosion that's building among its population as the Mullahs and Imams constantly preach hate - toward the United States, toward India, and even to a lesser degree, toward Afghanistan and Iran. Saudi Arabia uses us like a dirty shirt, constantly balancing our (and more importantly, our allies') need for oil against its support of Paleo fundies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/22/2003 15:32 Comments ||
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Violence is what usually leaves large numbers of people dead in Kashmir. That and riding on buses...
Eighteen people died on Sunday in violence across Indian-held Kashmir, including four civilians killed by a bomb outside a liquor shop. Snuffies Suspected militants placed explosives inside a videocassette recorder left in front of the alcohol store in the town of Rajouri. âA group of people went to see the VCR and it blew apart, killing two people on the spot,â a police official said. Doctors at the Rajouri hospital said four people were killed in the blast and 28 injured, including seven in serious condition who were airlifted for treatment in Jammu.
Booby-trapped VCRs â that makes sense. No telling what people could be looking at on those sorts of things. If they'd been home reading their Korans, nothing woulda happened to them, unless some gunnies happened to come by and cut off their heads...
Elsewhere in southern Kashmir, an Indian soldier and two hard boys militants died in a gunbattle at Gursai in the Poonch district.
Your basic Kashmir shootout. Nobody has a name. There's no reason. Doesn't even say what they died of...
Indian troops banged shot dead six more suspected Pakistanis militants in three separate incidents.
Not even a location...
Police said krazed killers militants also slaughtered killed five Muslim civilians in four incidents around the state. The motives for the civiliansâ slayings were not immediately clear.
Wrong color turbans? Reading the wrong chapters of their Korans? Who knows?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:24 ||
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Booby trapped Korans. That is an idea. Time for the fundies getting a taste of their own edicine.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Deputy Secretary General and MNA, Fareed Ahmad Paracha expressed disappointment at the governmentâs refusal to present the National Assembly with the names of 500 persons who had been handed over to the United States. He said US President Bush in his speech said that General Musharraf had handed 500 suspected terrorists to the US. He said the JI had asked the government to issue the list of those turned over to the US, but the government refused.
Qazi's still trying to figure why he got so few birthday presents this year...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:24 ||
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Qazi's BSing. Chaplin Yee gave him all the info he needed. Heh heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/22/2003 16:20 Comments ||
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The Indonesian government has sent a protest note to the Pakistani authorities over the arrest in Karachi of two Indonesian students suspected of being Islamic militants. âThe acting ambassador in Islamabad has sent a protest note to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry because it did not notify the embassy of the arrest. The Pakistani ambassador to Indonesia has also been summoned to the foreign ministry,â the acting Indonesian consul general in Karachi, Temu Alam, said. However, the Interior Ministryâs National Crisis Management Cell director, Brigadier Javed Cheema, said the ârequest for their arrest came from their respective countries, who have sought their deportation.
"Well, we didn't mean for you to arrest them that hard..."
They may be in a better position to confirm links of some of them with Jemaah Islamiyah". Mr Alam was quoted by the Detikcom online news service as saying that the consulate general also planned to send a letter to the governor of Karachi to obtain information on the whereabouts of the arrested Indonesians. Pakistani authorities on Saturday said they had arrested 13 Malaysians and two Indonesians on suspicion of being Islamic militants in a pre-dawn raid on a seminary in Karachi. Two students from Myanmar were also arrested. Mr Alam identified the two arrested Indonesians as Gungun Rusman Gunawan (27) originally from the West Java town of Cianjur and Muhammad Saifuddin from the Central Java town of Sleman. He said the two were arrested at the Abu Bakar Islamic University in Karachi by police officers but their current whereabouts were unknown. Saifuddin was a new student still on probation, not yet a full permanent student of the university. An intelligence official confirmed to AFP the 15 students were suspected of links with the JI, but added that none of the detainees admitted to links with extremist groups. âThey only admitted they had overstayed their visas, but said they were just devoted Muslims and students,â he said.
"I'm just a devoted Muslim. Wanna see my turban? Wanna touch my rocket launcher?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:24 ||
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Gungun Rusman Guawan may have interesting relatives: The authorities in Pakistan are investigating whether a man arrested in Karachi at the weekend is the younger brother of Asian terror suspect Hambali. Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikhar Ahmed said identity checks were being carried out with the authorities in Indonesia to establish whether Rusman Gunawan was among those detained. Reports say he was picked up with at least 14 others from Malaysia and Indonesia on immigration charges. Hambali's real name is Riduan Isamuddin. Many Indonesians only use their given names, so family members often do not have the same surname.
The way these groups like to keep it in the family makes Rusman a "person of interest".
Posted by: Steve ||
09/22/2003 9:16 Comments ||
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More details: The younger brother of Hambali, al-Qaida's suspected point man for Southeast Asia, has been arrested on immigration charges in Pakistan along with several other people, two senior Pakistani Interior Ministry officials said Monday. The man, Rusman Gunawan, was one of 17 people from Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar arrested Saturday in raids on three Islamic schools in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, said one official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official is closely involved in Pakistan's campaign against terrorists. An Indonesia-based terrorism expert said Gunawan was believed to be in charge of the Pakistan branch of Jemaah Islamiyah, the terror network his brother is accused of helping found. Gunawan is believed to have arranged trips for Hambali to Pakistan and Afghanistan, said the expert, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
If confirmed he's a important catch.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/22/2003 9:41 Comments ||
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#3
Confirmed by Pakistan's Interior Ministry: The younger brother of Hambali, al-Qaida's suspected point man for Southeast Asia, has been arrested along with 16 other people suspected of terrorist activities, Pakistan's Interior Ministry said Monday. The brother, Rusman Gunawan, was among 17 people from Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar arrested Saturday in raids on three Islamic schools in Karachi, ministry spokesman Iftikhar Ahmad told The Associated Press. "Yes, the brother of Hambali is among the 13 Malaysian and two Indonesian students who were detained in Karachi," Ahmad said.
The Iraq war has predictably evolved into a guerrilla conflict similar to Vietnam. Our currently stated objectives are to establish reasonable security and foster the creation of a secular, representative government with a stable market economy that provides broad opportunity throughout Iraqi society. Attaining these objectives in Iraq would inevitably transform the Arab world and immeasurably increase our future national security. These are goals worthy of a fight, of sacrifice, of more lives lost now to save thousands, perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands in the future. In Mosul last Monday, a colonel in the 101st Airborne put it to me quite simply: "Sir, this is worth doing." No one I spoke with said anything different. And I spoke with all ranks. But there will be more Blumbergs killed in action, many more. So it is worth doing only if we have a reasonable chance of success. And we do, but Iâm afraid the news media are hurting our chances. They are dwelling upon the mistakes, the ambushes, the soldiers killed, the wounded, the Blumbergs. Fair enough. But it is not balancing this bad news with "the rest of the story," the progress made daily, the good news. The falsely bleak picture weakens our national resolve, discourages Iraqi cooperation and emboldens our enemy. During the conventional part of this conflict, embedded journalists reported the good, the bad and the ugly. Where are the embeds now that we are in the difficult part of the war, now that fair and balanced reporting is critically important to our chances of success? At the height of the conventional conflict, Fox News alone had 27 journalists embedded with U.S. troops (out of a total of 774 from all Western media). Today there are only 27 embedded journalists from all media combined.
Throughout Iraq, American soldiers with their typical "can do" attitude and ingenuity are engaging in thousands upon thousands of small reconstruction projects, working with Iraqi contractors and citizens. Through decentralized decision-making by unit commanders, the 101st Airborne Division alone has spent nearly $23 million in just the past few months. This sum goes a very long way in Iraq. Hundreds upon hundreds of schools are being renovated, repainted, replumbed and reroofed. Imagine the effect that has on children and their parents. Zogby International recently released the results of an August poll showing hope and progress. My own unscientific surveys told me the same thing. With virtually no exceptions, hundreds of Iraqis enthusiastically waved back at me as I sat in the open door of a helicopter traveling between Babylon and Baghdad. And I received a similar reception as I worked my way alone, shaking hands through a large crowd of refinery workers just to see their reaction. We may need a few credible Baghdad Bobs to undo the harm done by our media. Iâm afraid it is killing our troops. Will the major american media soon have their own "BBC" moment?
Posted by: Steve ||
09/22/2003 2:10:49 PM ||
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Steve, it won't happen if you go by watching what's on the Sunday talk shows. Yesterday's stuff didn't have too much that perturbed me, although I didn't watch Madeleine (by choice) on Russert. But Tim's interview with Cheyney the previous week was indicitive of what anti-idiotarians are up against. IIRC, Cheyney said he didn't know if Iraq was linked to 9-11. I thought, yeah, that makes sense, he's not overdoing it. Tues. morning Chi. Trib. headline stated "Bush:No link between Iraq and 9/11" based on some questions the prez had answered on Monday. The subsequent story focused highlighting a supposed contradiction between W's Monday words and VP's Sunday's words. But if you look in fine print, the pres'. saying there was no link, didn't contradict what Cheyney had said. Both guys are saying there's no smoking gun, but AQ and Saddam did have links prior to 9-11. That we DO know.
It's up to Russert, George, the CBS and Fox people to get folks like Rep. Marshall, Lileks and Steyn on the air talking. But then that kind of initiative would alienate them with the inside-the-beltway pundits, and nobody wants to get disinvited to cocktail parties. Kristol and Will are good on their shows, but I think more bloggers /folks who get the message out through web should be on these programs. Matt Drudge knows what I'm talking about. So much reliance on the old guys. Robert Novak? Is he still alive? Why always Biden? Yeah, I know he's ranking Dem on Foreign Relations comm., but I'm tired of seeing the same old faces.
Posted by: Michael ||
09/22/2003 15:04 Comments ||
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#2
Biden's always good for a sound bite on the Dem side, but Chuck Hagel's been on way too much lately and is so squishy I have to recheck to see if he's done a Jeffords-jump without me knowing
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 15:29 Comments ||
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#3
I think what he says is right. There are not enough embedded reporters now and the only ones who are talking are the inside-the-beltway idiots talking heads or those which have a political agenda (on both sides).
The american public does not see the waving Iraqis or the repainted schools and restored power plants or the constructions going on because the 'evening news' does not show it - they don't have the reporters there on-the-spot to say things like 'Today these Iraqi children are going to school for the first time... because of the reconstruction efforts of the 101st Airborne.". Any american citizen (except for Gepheart who whould be humiliated about the 'miserable failure'...) would be proud to say 'The U.S. did that!'.
Instead they see 'Today 3 US Servicemen were killed... and now for the sports....".
The Military and the civil services there need to start to showcase the advances and accomplishes they are making in the reconstruction effort. The restored power plants and schools and hospitals. Both to the local Iraqi civilians and the remote american public. And not just on Sunday Morning talk shows (which not everyone watches).
#4
I've been a journalist for 30 years, the first 27 in "hard news" and I promise you there is NO excuse for the pathetically bad and biased reporting coming out of Iraq (NYT's Burns is a major exception).
For anyone to ever claim that the reporters have to report the "most newsworthy" material, i.e., bad news, is nonsense.
It's true that it's nigh impossible to write a breaking story on a school repair or an act of kindness, but breaking news is by no means the only copy coming out of Iraq. I've read more than on "Sunday burger" news feature on the front page of my local paper (the SF Chronicle, where I labored for 12 years) and these stories are the perfect opportunity to provide depth and perspective in news columns...that has not been forthcoming.
This comes down DIRECTLY on the reporters. They shape the story, they gather the material they want to use. A editor can fuss with a story somewhat (and of course THEY can insist on a more balanced presentation, but in they end they can only work with the copy the reporter provides.
The post-April coverage of Iraq has been appalling and the public is becoming increasingly aware of how lousy it's been. If readers ever really figure out how they've been hoodwinked it's goodnight Irene for a lot of publications...
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
09/22/2003 16:17 Comments ||
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RM: Great post. My unsupported personal guess is that, what with it being hot outside and the possibility of being shot, the remaining reporters are spending a lot of time in the Al Rashid Hotel groupthinking themselves into an "All Is Lost" frenzy. Why drive fifty miles in the heat to interview some grunts building a school when you can have another scotch in the air conditioned bar? And besides, what could a nineteen-year old American PFC possibly teach a reporter from (cue the trumpets) the BBC? Other than courage, loyalty and self-sacrifice, that is.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/22/2003 17:33 Comments ||
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Iraq needs a good blogger that had nothing to do with the Saddam government. Finding one is going to be almost impossible to do, but the local commanders over there need to start a search. One good blogger, putting out the straight poop on what we're doing (not just the combat, but the "public services" stuff), could shake the foundations of the US publishing oligarchy. It wouldn't cost as much as one flight from Baghdad to Kuwait, and return. It would be worth its weight in gold.
Whatever, it should be published in both Arabic and English, possibly also translated into FRENCH (so the humiliated bas$$$$$ know just how much they screwed up). It should be a cross between Samizdata and Den Beste, with the possibility of comments, but not necessarily bogged down with them. It should have FIRST PERSON information, as well as what's going on elsewhere in Iraq.
The purpose wouldn't be to inform Iraqis about what's going on in their country (although that would be a good thing, if more people had computer access to the Internet), but to the rest of the world, which gets its information strained, spun, and smeared.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/22/2003 17:38 Comments ||
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There will hopefully be a reckoning with the disservice our own media is doing the country as a whole. I do not miss any opportunity to tell folks who gripe about the effort in Iraq that they are being lied to, via omission.
Just as the leftists in Iraq and in New York who decides what is newsworthy by this constant defeatist crap they publish, I continue to hammer away at the only theme I can: the truth. It is all any of us can do.
#8
Good article, with links, at InstaPundit's MSNBC site about this. He pointed out an insight from Michael Barone that I particularly appreciated -- the media is using the wrong standard to identify "news" in Iraq.
The media also have the wrong standard for what is news. It is news when there is a fatal accident at Disneyland and not news when there is not. But Iraq is not Disneyland. In a country that is occupied after decades of a brutal dictatorship, good news is news.
#9
But...but....but.... If the media spent time on what is really happening and what people are dying for in Iraq there might not be time for the latest news from J-Lo and Ben!
#10
RM
There was a posting over the weekend from the writing of a young woman that entered into Chechnya. I took real exception to it because , she appeared to be a budding Geraldo type - looking for a sensational story without lettign lack of facts stand in the way.
Do you think that journalism become more about entertainment rather than facts and information?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 19:53 Comments ||
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"Media" in this context means the electronic media; since these commonly set the tone for all mass media. These organizations, even specialized ones like CNN, are outgrowths of the entertainment industry and its unholy alliance with advertising.
It is in their nature to take whatever line is best suited to a time-constrained, superficial, emotionally loaded view of events.
It is also in their nature to portray guerrilla and resistance fighters and their activities in as positive a light as reasonably possible.
I am convinced that this reflects the all-pervasive influence of the "illusion of rebellion" in modern advertising. The trappings and superficial appearance of defiance and rebellion have been the most-used advertising device for over 40 years. As documented by Thomas Frank in his landmark social critique, The Conquest of Cool, the 1960s Counterculture was largely an invention of the advertising industry and it remains the basis of the industry's internal culture to this day.
Of course, the affinity of commercial pop-culture for terrorists and rebels is based on an illusion, and a most destructive one, since many icons of rebellion are in fact totalitarians and violent extremists. The classic example is the Stalinist terrorist Ernesto "Che" Guevara, whose grubby portrait decorates dorm rooms and yuppy warrens throughout the western world.
How else can it be that leading-edge pop-culturists; people who support abortion on demand, drug legalization, and unlimited welfare; will strip naked and display themselves in public in support of medieval religious fanatics and reactionary puritans?
In a democratic society, the most extreme rebels (and therefore the most salable) are often those who oppose democracy, human rights, and the values of the Enlightenment, hence the absurd spectacle of professional "non-conformists" supporting and glorifying Islamic-fascist killers.
EFL:
Officials supplying American Forces Network programs to Iraq say there will be 1,500 satellite television decoders in the country by the end of this month, and they will begin broadcasting television over the air by the end of October.
In recent months, troops in Iraq have complained about a lack of television and radio service. The push for dishes and decoders, however, has since become so big that an exchange warehouse in Europe has run out of the boxes and quadrupled orders for new ones. On a recent trip to Iraq, the theater engineer for the Air Force Broadcasting Service sold or gave away about 1,100 decoders. The service said that the majority of troops in Iraq now have access to satellite television somewhere on post.
âIâd say right now we have every major command,â engineer Curtis Young said from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The Air Force broadcasters, headquartered in San Antonio, are responsible for all the service in the Middle East. My old unit.
âThe goal of all the folks, especially the Army side of the house, is to have football available for their troops,â Young said. âWe understand what that time of year means.â Most of the boxes in Iraq will have been provided to commands at no charge, Young said. The rest are paid for by individual commands or troops requesting them. Over "X" number of viewers, free issue. Very small number or you want to get yours faster, unit buys. Cost under $1000.
The military is trying to offer satellite television in the common area of every âbed downâ camp in Iraq. The military also plans to take AFN to the airwaves in Baghdad, Tikrit and Mosul, as well as six other smaller areas that Young said he couldnât discuss. "I can say no more"
The broadcast TV service will be one or two channels, with either or both AFN News and AFN Sports, rather than the standard mix of American sports, news and sitcoms troops would see in Europe or the Pacific region. AFN News channel takes news programs from all networks, removes commercials, inserts boring generic AFRTS spots, and transmits via satellite. AFN Sports does the same with sports programing.
Though Iraq uses an incompatible television system, the U.S. government doesnât want to broadcast shows offensive to locals, said Michael Kinchen, director of the Air Force Broadcasting Service in Texas. Sitcoms, soaps, and dramas = SEX!!! Even though Iraq uses the PAL TV standard and we will be broadcasting NTSC, as soon as the locals find out, theyâll be selling NTSC sets on the black market. The mullahs find out that the locals are watching General Hospital and Friends instead of going to the mosque, thereâll be hell to pay.
One official said early distribution of decoders in Iraq was hampered by terrain, finding where bases were and, for some stateside units, not knowing much about AFN. âItâs also tough to market how to get AFN, [because] if they donât have TV, they wonât see a promo spot,â said Cal Miller, operations and plans chief for the broadcast service in Texas. To receive AFN via satellite in Iraq, viewers must also use a 1.5-meter dish instead of the 80-centimeter dish used in Europe. Some commands initially brought the smaller variety. Kinchen said his organization also plans to offer cable service to commands that order it. Bigger bases would get a cable headend facility with ability to insert local programming. They might also get more channels.
Radio is already being broadcast in Baghdad, Kirkuk and at Tallil air base. The availability of radio was another early complaint.In letters to Stripes that ran in July and August, several troops complained of receiving only the BBC. âWhereâs AFN radio in Iraq?â wrote Staff Sgt. Darren Dinger, from Baghdad. âWhat gives? Iâm sure the soldiers would like to hear an American radio program, get our news from America and be able to listen to a variety of music. And weâd definitely like to hear one or two sports programs.â
Another soldier accused the BBC of anti-American coverage.âIâm tired of this radio station bad-mouthing my country, my commander in chief, and our mission here in Iraq,â wrote Staff Sgt. J. Critasi, also in Baghdad. âI sincerely hope AFN can get a radio station set up soon so we can listen to some unbiased news that isnât clouded with righteous arrogance.â Oh, man! Wait till they can sit down and watch all the network news shows ranting how we are bogged down in a quagmire and spot their wives protesting.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/22/2003 1:41:20 PM ||
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Damn right, Steve. Just wait they catch Michelle whats-her-name on ABC and Fred Francis on Matthews Sunday mornings.
Posted by: Michael ||
09/22/2003 15:09 Comments ||
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Just set up Internet Cafe's for the boys. We are doing it for the Iraqis. I never liked watching last weeks football games when I already knew the scores. Unless the Satalite feeds are real time, that is. I amy be dating myself.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 19:56 Comments ||
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Ah, military media, turning the enemy's most effective weapon against him.
President Bush said Sunday heâs not sure the United States will have to yield a significantly larger role to the United Nations to make way for a new resolution on Iraq. And he continued to insist on an orderly transfer of authority to the Iraqis rather than the quick action demanded by France. In an exclusive interview with Fox Newsâ Brit "Not Christiana" Hume, Bush said he will declare in his speech Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly that he "made the right decision and the others that joined us made the right decision" to invade Iraq. But the president said he will ask other nations to do more to help stabilize Iraq. "We would like a larger role for member states of the United Nations to participate in Iraq," Bush said in the interview to be aired Monday night. "I mean, after all, weâve got member states now, Great Britain and Poland, leading multinational divisions to help make the country more secure." Asked if he was willing for the United Nations to play a larger role in the political developments in Iraq to get a new resolution, Bush responded, "Iâm not so sure we have to, for starters." Zing! Translation for Chirac: we donât need you.
But he said he did think it would be helpful to get U.N. help in writing a constitution for Iraq. "I mean, theyâre good at that," he said. "Or, perhaps when an election starts, theyâll oversee the election. That would be deemed a larger role." Yep, when itâs time to gather people into a room for chatter, the UN is hard to beat!
Germany, France and Britain have also called for more authority for the world body in Iraq, as Washington debates with its allies over a new U.N. resolution. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, however, has not joined Franceâs call for a quick handover of power to Iraqi, backing the U.S. stance instead.
Jacques wants so badly to jiggle the American elbow!
"The key on any resolution," Bush said, "is not to get in the way of an orderly transfer of sovereignty based upon a logical series of steps. And thatâs constitution, elections, and then the transfer of authority." Bush said he would tell the United Nations that while some countries did not agree with the U.S.-led military action in Iraq, itâs now in the international communityâs best interest to not only rebuild Iraq, but rebuild Afghanistan, fight AIDS and hunger, deal with slavery and proliferation of heinous weapons. "You know, the sort of thing the UN was founded to handle."
He said the United Nations has a chance to do more as a result of U.N. resolution 1441. The United States argues that U.N. resolution 1441, passed unanimously in November, provided sufficient authority for the U.S.-led war. That resolution threatened Baghdad with "serious consequences" if it failed to show it had handed over or destroyed its weapons of mass destruction. "Thatâs the resolution that said if you donât disarm there will be serious consequences," he said. "At least somebody (the United States) stood up and said this is a definition of serious consequences." "See, Jaques, thatâs what it means to keep your word and thus be taken seriously."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 1:52:01 AM ||
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What's the likelihood that Bush will show up with the WMD ace during his UN speech? a short recap of the last 2 years, followed by a summary of WMD findings in Iraq, leading into a challenge: wanna keep arguing against the US, or are you WITH us? then a request to promptly deal with Iran, NoKorea, and Syria.
#2
What I want to know is, why does GWB have to "ask"? Why solicit help? Just spell it out nice and clear - if you want to help out, great, and you also have input. If you don't, they you don't have any say in what happens. Simple as that.
#3
I'd like to hear him say something along the lines of "I came here a year ago and laid a challenge before the United Nations to be relevant. You have failed that challenge."
#5
Right Bomber. Background: Remember in the buildup to GWII, all the criticism heaped on W and Powell re Powell's not going to every corner of the globe to make kissy-face with potential supporters? But Baker had been to X number of countries in '90-91? Well, Powell wasn't doing it because he wasn't asking for dough. Baker was.
I can tell you this, the Saudis thought we were the smartest guys around, the way we got others to pay for that show. Only problem was we didn't get rid of Saddam thanks to the UN limitations put on the mission. This time the UN had a chance, didn't live up to the 15 or so previous resolutions re Iraq and W took action. We're paying our own way. It's more expensive, but there's nothing like having freedom of action when dealing in foreign affairs.
The Left refrain? Let's "internationalize" the boots on the ground? A joke. How is the current force on the ground outside of the US any different from what a typical UN force would look like? Brits, check. Others? Fiji? They do a lot of peacekeeping. Poland? Ambitious country, wants to make an impression. Beautiful for UN purposes. I don't have a list in front of me, but I bet the UN forces in Bosnia and Kosovo are very similar to what we've ALREADY got on the ground in Iraq re GDP, democratic countries.
As for money? France and Germany and anyone else who opposed us in Iraq is not going to ante up, anyway, no matter what W says. And you know what? Good for them. They sat out and why would we expect them to help us out? Only Americans who believe this is the wine-drinking and cheese-eating Francophile at-any-cost Leftist along the lines of Mark Shields, the PBS liberal.
Posted by: Michael ||
09/22/2003 15:28 Comments ||
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Chirac yesterday said France would not veto - the only negotiating left is whether they vote yes or abstain. Apparently the Germans and Russians moved away from them, and France wasnt willing to veto on its own.
I dont expect any help from France. I do expect help from Germany, in terms of training police, and money. Russia may put troops on the ground. And i expect 10,000 to 15,000 decent troops from 3rd world countries - Turkey, India, etc. Not a lot, but enough to help us over the hump. And I expect significant monetary help from Japan and S Korea.
#7
Russian troops aren't a good idea either. Their soldiers aren't the "Ambassadors of Goodwill" anywhere they go. They're nothing, but problems. Besides, it's amazing they'd entertain the idea. They're still getting their asses stomped on a daily basis in Chechenland. A Russian air support mission = carpet bombing. Besides, do you really think countries like France, Russia, China, or Turkey, would have any other motive than to help Georgie Pooh to fall flat on his face?
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 17:07 Comments ||
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A car bomb exploded Monday morning while the vehicle was being examined at a checkpoint as it tried to enter the U.N. compound, killing at least two people and injuring seven others. The blast occurred about 100 yards from the U.N. compound at the Canal Hotel, scene of a devastating car bombing last month that killed 23 people, including the U.N.âs top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. The casualties of Mondayâs bombing appeared to be the driver and Iraqi police. No doubt Kofi will blame us for this too.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 1:42:01 AM ||
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Now why would someone try to blow up the people who kept Saddam and his killer sons in power, gave them the "Oil for Palaces" program, weakened all efforts at removing Saddam and refuse to participate in the reforms of the country unless they get a piece of the oil pie large say in the new government? Oh...nevermind
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 9:02 Comments ||
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3rd item broken out from that Guardian article, done for discussion purposes. EFL and a re-written lead. Aquila al-Hashimi, one of three women on the 25-member Governing Council and strong candidate to become Iraqâs representative at the United Nations, underwent surgery again following an assassination attempt. Al-Hashimi, a Shiite Muslim and career diplomat, was seriously wounded by six gunmen in a pickup truck who chased her in her car near her home on Saturday. The assailants escaped.
They're busy congratulating each other right now on their bravery for shooting up a woman...
Al-Hashimi underwent a second operation and was reported in critical but stable condition at a military hospital on the grounds of one of Saddam Husseinâs former palaces where the Coalition Provisional Authority has its headquarters. On Sunday, Douglas Brand, a British adviser to the Iraqi police, said the coalition officials were helping Iraqi police with the investigation and appealed to the public to come forward with any information. ``This was a cowardly attack. She has undergone two operations. She remains in critical but stable condition at the hospital,ââ Brand said. ``Anybody who has any further information to offer us, to help us in the investigation, to hunt down those who committed this crime, we ask them to contact the Iraqi police service locally or the coalition forces.ââ
The Governing Council president, Ahmad Chalabi, blamed Saddam loyalists for the shooting. The attempt against al-Hashimi was the first against a member of the council since it was appointed by U.S. authorities in July. Al-Hashimi had been preparing to leave for a key U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York on Tuesday, during which the Iraqi interim government is expected to lobby to represent the country in the world organization. Major U.S. allies are urging Washington to give the United Nations a significant role in bringing stability to this fractured country. Al-Hashimi also was a functionary in Saddamâs government. No telling who held a grudge.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 1:40:20 AM ||
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Only ten days earlier, the former diplomat had visited the Quai D'Orsay and, according to the New York Times, "admonished the French not to try to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the new Iraqi government by offering a tempting plan for quick sovereignty."
It is al-Hasemi's parting words to her French hosts that bear repeating: "Don't think the Iraqis will ever forget what the Americans did in liberating them. We will not allow the Americans to fail."
Same article as a couple others; I broke it up to facilitate discussion. EFL
Iraqâs interim government announced plans Sunday to open all sectors of its economy except oil to foreign investors and to institute an income tax next year. Iraqi Finance Minister Kamil Mubdir al-Gailani unveiled the plan in Dubai, where the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are holding their annual meetings. Under the plan, foreign banks will be allowed to enter Iraq, with some restrictions, and foreigners will be permitted to lease property for up to 40 years but not own it. The new policies mark a sharp departure from the tight economic controls that were in place for years under Saddamâs one-party rule that lasted for three decades until he was toppled in April. Al-Gailani also announced a 15 percent maximum tax rate for individuals and corporations starting Jan. 1 and a 5 percent reconstruction surcharge on all imports except for humanitarian goods. Most personal incomes were not taxed under Saddam. 15% maximum tax rate? Thatâs very similar to what the British governor of Hong Kong did right after WWII. Said governor also instituted legal protections, ensured the courts were honest and fair to Anglos and Chinese alike, attacked corruption and make government accountable. Taxes were kept low and stable to encourage investment and savings. We all know the result in Hong Kong. Someone in Iraq is learning from history. Treasury Secretary Snow applauded the blueprint for a new Iraq economy as ``policies that make sense ... that offer real promise,ââ but cautioned that security in a nation still facing daily violence would be a prerequisite for any substantial economic recovery. ``Itâs awfully important that we see Iraq move forward well and become a place of peace and security,ââ Snow said in Dubai. This is good, and as the security situation improves it will be better. Who needs the French?
The Frenchies will show up. They'll just have to compete on the same basis on the Germans, Brits, Samoans, and Icelanders...
This is probably the day's most significant story. Iraq taking the free market economy route, opening up to foreign investment, with low tax rates and (at least I haven't heard of any yet) no VATs to slow the economic works, is a recipe for economic recovery. Whether the inhabitants will get used to the idea quickly, after 30 or 35 years of National Socialism remains to be seen. It's also a good longer-term mechanism for increasing security. People are going to have too much to do to spend their time running around with RPGs...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 1:36:33 AM ||
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I like the plan. Chalabi is pretty astute about financial affairs. Most Arabs don't really care for him, though.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 12:12 Comments ||
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Three American soldiers died in a mortar attack and a roadside bombing west of the capital, and coalition authorities appealed to Iraqis on Sunday for information to help investigators track down those who tried to kill a prominent woman member of Iraqâs Governing Council. In a sign of the countryâs ongoing security situation crisis, the U.S. military reported two soldiers from the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade were killed when mortars struck a U.S. base at the Abu Ghraib prison on the western outskirts of Baghdad about 10 p.m. Saturday. Thirteen other soldiers were wounded in the attack. No prisoners were hurt. Itâs not a crisis, itâs the way it is til the Baathists and outsiders are whacked.
Shortly before the Abu Ghraib shelling, a soldier from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee outside Ramadi.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 1:32:13 AM ||
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"crisis"
Al Guardian is the journal of record for the smug hate-America bigots who infest Britain's chattering classes. Guardian columnist Charlotte Raven taunted grieving Americans just after 9-11-01 by declaring that "A bully with a bloody nose is still a bully." She didn't mention that a whore with a column is still a whore. Another Guardian bimbo, one whose name escapes me, suggested that identifying the WTC dead was a childish indulgence and that the money set aside for this should be donated to Third World governments. The Brit-bigot slattern wanted to shovel the remains of Americans into a hole somewhere so 3rd world tyrants could steal a few more millions.
The British bigot-class's broad-brush attacks on Americans ("endless miles of dull little towns and fat suburbanites") would be condemned as unconcionable slurs if they were directed at anyone else.
Make no mistake, folks, these people hate us, all of us, and they hope to profit from our destruction.
It is no coincidence, of course, that many British chatterati either work for or are heavily invested in businesses that are substantially owned by Muslim petro-investors, or that profit heavily from relationships with terror-supporting dictators.
Myanmarâs ruling military junta has held its first rally to demonstrate support for its new roadmap plan aimed at shifting the isolated Southeast Asian nation towards democracy, state press reported Sunday. More than 15,000 people attended the rally in Yangon organised by the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the New Light of Myanmar reported. The USDA is blamed for the May 30 attacks on Aung San Suu Kyiâs supporters that led to the Nobel peace laureateâs detention and the latest democracy crackdown in Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military for more than four decades. The group, described as a social organisation by the government, typically organises such carefully orchestrated mass rallies in a bid to demonstrate strong public support for government policies.
A social organization, huh? Well, I'm certainly fooled...
âSundayâs mass rally is to hail and support the Prime Ministerâs speech on the political roadmap of the State,â University of Yangonâs rector Soe Yin said in a speech to the crowd, according to the report. The first step of the roadmap is supposed to be the reconvening of the constitution convention suspended in 1996 following a boycott by Aung San Suu Kyiâs National League for Democracy (NLD), which deemed it unrepresentative.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:39 ||
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What's this "Myanmar" crap? It's still Burma to me.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, has told American interrogators he originally aimed for a double wave of suicide attacks, involving up to 10 commercial airliners and targets on both US coasts. Details of what he has told his CIA captors were made public by the Associated Press news agency yesterday after an AP reporter was shown interview reports. They make clear Osama bin Ladenâs central role in the attacks. He scaled down plans to hijack five planes on each coast, and scrapped plans to hijack others in Asia. He thought it would be "too difficult to synchronise" attacks on opposite sides of the world. Bin Laden was also directly responsible for the number of Saudis among the hijackers, Mohamed said. "There was a large group of Saudi operatives that would be available to participate as the muscle in the plot," he told interrogators. The reports also appear to back claims by Zacarias Moussaoui, the French Muslim on trial for his life as a September 11 conspirator, that he was not part of the plot, but was training for a later wave of attacks.
"No, no! I ain't one of those killers! I was gonna kill people later..."
Posted by: Dar ||
09/22/2003 10:06:38 AM ||
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What were the West Coast targets? Hollywood and Berkeley?
#2
If I recall, there was talk about SF financial district type high rise buildings, even the Seattle Space Needle. Landmark types of targets.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/22/2003 14:02 Comments ||
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I could imagine the thoughts of one of the West coast izzies, "Man if I can take out that big sign that says HOLLYWOOD the whole world would know and the kaffir would suffer!"
#4
What were the West Coast targets? Hollywood and Berkeley?
These two locales suffering an attack would barely register a blip in CA. While the rest of the country might be outraged, the loonies that live here in CA would still be trying to understand "why they hate us".
WASHINGTON â Egyptian state and central security officers and soldiers attacked a small historic Coptic church in Assiut during Mass, arresting several deacons and others, throwing communion bread on the floor and stepping on it with their boots, according to reports received by the U.S. Copts Association.
According to the group, the attack on St. George Coptic Orthodox Church occurred Friday.
The officer in charge of the raid reportedly ordered the church priest to evacuate and close down the church. The priest refused, as did the parishioners. When their orders were not obeyed, the police officers attacked the priest, according to the report. Angry parishioners confronted the police, who surrounded the church and made arrests in an attempt to occupy the church.
"The news of the attack on the church spread through the city and thousands of Copts rushed to protect and aid the church," said the report from the association.
"As the scene developed police forces were surrounded by thousands of angry Copts chanting various cries of defiance, such as: âBy our spirit, by our blood, we will protect our cross!,â âWe will die martyrs defending our church!,â and âWe are ready to start a new age of martyrdom at the hands of the government!â"
The massive crowd of Copts prevented the government forces from arresting the priest, said the report. "It is unclear what motivated the security forces to attack this historic holy site, however, members of the Coptic Community in Assiut tell U.S. Copts Association that they fear fanatic policemen may have plans to convert the historic church into a mosque," said the association in a statement.
Observers say Islamic extremists have successfully infiltrated all branches of the Egyptian government, resulting in repeated attacks on Copts, their churches, and properties by members of the Egyptian government.
Michael Meunier, president of the U.S. Copts Association said it is time for President Hosni Mubarak to put an end to the abuse and to hold accountable those responsible for the continued harassment of Christians.
Assiut is the third largest city in Egypt with the Copts comprising a majority of its citizens.
The government of Egypt has been a charity that our governemtn has been funding extensively for quite a while. This behavior needs to stop pronto or I recommend that we reroute Egypts cash to Paul Bremmer.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 10:43:51 PM ||
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The interpretation of the communiqueâs statements about currencies was disputed by G7 delegates in Dubai. John Snow, US Treasury secretary, said on Sunday it was a "milestone change". But others, including the UK and Japan, said there was no change in the G7âs stance.
Some economists said the market was overreacting to a statement largely intended to placate US manufacturers. But the dollar fell to Y111.48, down Y6 in a week.
The rise in the yen and other Asian currencies also - in effect - handed the Chinese a further competitive devaluation against its main trading rivals at a time when the country has been under pressure to revalue its currency, which is tied to the dollar.
Concern that Japan may be shamed into curtailing purchases of US bonds sent the yield on 10-year US Treasuries higher from 4.13 per cent to 4.31 per cent. So far this year, Japan has spent about Y9,000bn ($75bn) - much of it on Treasuries - helping to lower US interest rates.
Looky Looky what we found. Our buddies have been thinking of us. They have been saving up to help out all this time.
Snip
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 10:35:23 PM ||
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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran, under pressure to dispel fears it is developing nuclear arms, Monday paraded six of its newly deployed medium-range missiles, which military analysts say could reach Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf. It was the largest number of Shahab-3 ballistic missiles put on public display since Iran announced in July it had finished testing the weapon and deployed it to the Revolutionary Guards. "Nope, nope, we donât threaten nobody, nope, nope."
The sand-colored Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, towed along to the accompaniment of rousing military music, were the climax of a lengthy parade to commemorate the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Great idea, commemorate a horrible war that wiped out hundreds of thousands of youth soldiers by parading missiles.
Iranâs reformist President Mohammad Khatami said the show of strength should not be read as saber-rattling. "The Islamic Republic of Iranâs policy is based on detente," he said at the parade led by disabled war veterans. "We are opposed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons but we insist on our absolute right to be powerful in the scientific and technological arena." "We too must have a saber to rattle!"
Uzi Rubin, former director of Israelâs Arrow anti-ballistic missile system program, said Iranâs Shahab-3 was a clear threat to the Jewish state. "The (Shahabâs) increased range covers the whole of Israel, north to south, from deployment areas deep within Iran, and thus increases concern as to what would happen if such missiles were armed with WMD warheads," he told Reuters.
Television pictures showed one of the missile carriers displayed a defiant message in bold letters on a giant yellow banner facing Khatami. "We will stamp on America," it read.
Iran insists its nuclear scientists are not working on a weapons program but trying to meet soaring electricity demand. "Oh, the missiles? Theyâll, um, help us meet soaring electricity demand."
U.N. nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declined to comment on the missiles. Definitely no twitch on the surprise meter there.
The IAEA Governing Board has given Iran until the end of October to dispel doubts that its stated policy of developing nuclear energy was not a cover for building atomic arms. And if the Iranians donât, the IAEA will ... give them until the end of DecemberMarchAugust 2008
Hard-liners in Iran say Tehran should follow North Koreaâs example and pull out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty rather than cave in to international pressure. But Mohsen Aminzadeh, deputy foreign minister for Asia-Pacific affairs and seen as a close aide to the reform-minded Khatami, said Iran must regain international trust by signing the NPT Additional Protocol for snap inspections of nuclear sites. "America accuses us of having a clandestine nuclear program. We deny it but that is not enough to neutralize Americaâs plots against us," he said. "If there is no other way to change the negative atmosphere created by America against Iran but accepting the Additional Protocol, then accepting the protocol is beneficial for us," he told the official IRNA news agency. And then his lips fell off.
Based on the North Korean Nodong-1 and modified with Russian technology, the Shahab-3 is thought to have a range of 810 miles. Iran says it is intended to serve purely as a deterrent and has not declared how many Shahab-3 it has been able to manufacture. Military analysts say questions remain about its reliability and accuracy. A NKor-designed missile built by mullahs?
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 2:33:17 PM ||
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#1
I think the Iranians are picking up the Paleo habit of never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity...they seem to be deliberately asking for a 55 gallon drum of whupass to be opened....you'd think at some point their self-preservation instincts would override their raving lunatic instinct, but noooooo
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 14:52 Comments ||
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#2
It is a mad mad mad world out there, but not the old MAD (mutually assured deterence) but just plain looney.
Atomic weapons in the hands of terrorists, NORKS, Iranians, Jihadi Pakistanis, et al is a nightmare. They will find a proxy and will threaten to nuke one of our cities if we do not leave them alone. Then what do we do? We are entering the most perilous stages of the WOT, and that is what to do about the NORKS and Iran. And the clock, boys and girls, is ticking down to zero. Maybe the mainstream press ought to write a story about this, instead of a detailed travelogue of the view from within their colens. Sheesh!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/22/2003 15:32 Comments ||
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#3
AP, That's a *very* good point.
For a very sobering and bleak analysis, see http://belmontclub.blogspot.com "The Three Conjectures", which are:
Conjecture 1: Terrorism has lowered the nuclear threshold
Conjecture 2: Attaining WMDs will destroy Islam
Conjecture 3: The War on Terror is the 'Golden Hour' -- the final chance
I'm not a policy wonk, but it made quite a bit of sense to me.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
09/22/2003 16:33 Comments ||
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#4
Thanks for the link and great read, Tony. That is exactly what I was worried about. The nutcases will stop at nothing. We (meaning all of humankind) should be going to the planets instead of spending all our treasure eliminating Islamic nutcases. But we are where we are now and WOT is the task before us.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/22/2003 17:07 Comments ||
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#5
The real question should be is "So Isreal, when are you gonna neutralize this threat?" They'll do it on a moment notice and bypass the UN altogether. (Smart people those Israelis.)
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 17:30 Comments ||
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#6
When you see a military parade imagine a guy in a sexy sports car. The parade is a show because there is nothing where it counts. We all remember the fine parades that Saddam had every year. Boy those guys can parade. Fight no. Parade sure.
#7
I always wondered where the Banjo playing retard from Deliverance got to. Now I know he must be running Iran. Even Kim wasn't stupid enough to troop out the missiles during his latest gala activities. Kim must have encouraged them to show off the merchandise in order to drop himslef to number two on the list of Country Most In Need of A Whoopun.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 19:47 Comments ||
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#8
Good catch, Tony.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/22/2003 20:52 Comments ||
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#9
agreed - good catch Tony
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 21:32 Comments ||
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#10
This kind of thing is driving idiotarian left pop-culturists crazy, and making their inherent insanity and duplicity plain for all to see.
For a generation, it has been holy writ among LLL conformists, handed down by Hollywood itself, that nuclear energy is eeeviiiillll. Now, the logic of membership in the cultural fifth column requires them to defend Iran's acquisition, not just of nuclear energy, but of nuclear weapons.
Similarly, "peace" activists like the Mennonite Central Committee and ANSWER find themselves supporting suicide bombers and guerrilla attacks on American troops, as well as atrocities by the "resistance" forces in Kashmir and Chechnya.
EFL
Iâm so pissed by this Iâm almost at a loss for words.
Tracking a story about the persistence of honor killings in Jordan involves preliminary negotiations over tiny glasses of sugary tea overwhelmed with fresh mint leaves. It involves tacit and mutual acknowledgment of the sensitivity of the issue, between sips and polite conversation. And it involves discreet assurances that introducing a foreign reporter into a segment of Jordanian society that approves of the murder of girls and women accused of dishonoring their families will not result in a small-scale clash of civilizations.
Only after being satisfied on these points does Inam Asha, a driven Amman social worker and womenâs rights advocate, fix a time and location -- on the other side of town, in a rundown neighborhood that has probably never seen better days. Unlike its more upscale, Westernized counterpart, east Amman -- a mixed neighborhood populated by both East Bankers and Palestinian refugees -- resembles another planet: poor, resentful and conservative.
Traffic is heavy in the narrow streets of Jebal Manara as the late afternoon sun beats down and pollution from the line of cars snaking down the street gathers into an ethereal haze. Brightly colored Arabic signs dot the main streets, but the stores emit an air of defeat, as if tired from staving off deepening poverty. Upon closer inspection, the commercial heart of Jebal Manara reveals little in the way of social activities. There are no movie theaters and few restaurants. Only men frequent the few shabby coffee shops, smoking flavored tobacco through water pipes as they watch the latest setbacks in the Arab world on satellite television.
The women who walk the streets are al-most invariably covered, the only thing dis-tinguishing them is to what extent. Some wear headscarves, tightly pinned under their chins so not a stray hair falls out of place. Most wear a loose, long-sleeved jilbab reaching from the neck to the feet. A few wear head-to-toe black, with a black mesh veil completely covering their faces and gloves on their hands. Worn-out sandals peek out from under the black gowns with each step.
In the industrial area, car garages and spare parts shops line one of the side streets. As the men work to bring their cus-tomersâ sputtering vehicles back to life, a narrow steel door between two garages opens to the small indoor courtyard of the home of Um Khalid. A group of eight local women ranging from 20 to 70 years old, assembled by Inam Asha to meet me, sit on mattresses lining the threadbare but spotless living room beyond. The cement walls are devoid of ornamentation, with the exception of a few pieces of framed embroidery. One hand-stitched piece reads "God bless our home" in English. The women, meanwhile, talk in rough Palestinian dialects about the conservative social code by which they continue to live. By Western standards, at least one aspect of the code is difficult to fathom -- that girls and women should be killed for shaming their families.
Perhaps most surprising, though, is how many women of precisely the social stratum most affected by the phenomenon sanction honor killings.
Grass-roots campaigning by womenâs rights activists and the few men on the far liberal side of the political spectrum has brought the issue of honor killings to the foreground, but the effort lacks widespread popular or government support. Whatâs more, temporary laws aimed at improving womenâs rights and pertaining to honor killings in particular, enacted by King Abdullah and approved by his cabinet over the past two years while parliament was dissolved, have been rejected twice in the space of a few weeks by the newly elected Lower House. In a country where tribal laws can carry more weight than those of the government, change has been slow in coming.
The women of Jebal Manara, clad in traditional Palestinian embroidered dresses harking back to their native Jaffa, sheer headscarves wrapped loosely around their faces, cluck disapprovingly of a local honor killing a few years back when a teenage girlâs mother and brother shot her to death for running away from extreme physical and emotional abuse. But a girl who elopes? Or gets pregnant out of wedlock?
"She deserves it," says Um Khalid, an older woman with crackling brown eyes and a bright yellow jalabiya, without pausing to consider otherwise.
"Her behavior affects the entire family. In this case, she has to die," says another woman in her 30s, leaning against a pillow. In the eyes of this traditional, close-knit and socially conservative society, bringing shame on the family could lead to ostracism. That in itself is a virtual death sentence for the generations remaining in the same houses within the same social circles.
"Women are harsher than men on this issue," explains Asha, the social worker. They have to distance themselves publicly from the shameful behavior "to avoid being associated with it."
Otherwise "no one would marry any girls in the family," says one girl, as she serves more sweet tea laden with mint. Killing the deviant, the women argue, redeems the familyâs honor, allowing it to return to the social circle, reputation intact or even enhanced. Not in Godâs eyes it doesnât.
Um Khalid, the most vocal of the group, is quick to point out that a girlâs scandalous behavior does not necessarily merit death. The problem arises, she says, when other people begin to find out.
"If the immediate family knows about an affair, maybe they can cover it up and marry her off. But if others start to talk, they may feel they have no alternative but to kill her."
Officially, around 25 girls and women die every year in Jordan at the hands of their relatives in the name of family honor, or sharaf. That figure does not include unreported incidents; Asha also points to tens of so-called suicides that include an unknown number of honor killings being covered up. In 75 per cent of the cases the killer is the womanâs brother. So much for applied family loyalty. In theory, but not in practice.
More at article
#2
what about the Arab women supporting the honor killings? What's their excuse? cultural and religious brainwashing? Too frigging stupid to understand they're perpetuating their own miserable station in life? Jeebus!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 16:25 Comments ||
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#3
Just more of that progressive thinking from the Religion of Peace⢠(assholes!).
#4
Frank G--maybe it's sort of a Stockholm Syndrome kind of thing going on in addition to all the above. That's why you see females who get the living sh** beaten out of them getting irate when the cops arrest their husbands/boyfriends. (The worst I ever heard of was a female [can't call them women....that implies maturity, and don't give me all that PC crap 'cause I don't wanna hear it] going down to the jail after being released from the hospital with a broken leg and dislocated shoulder demanding that her boyfriend be released in time for their trip to Disneyland the next day.
May bees pee upon those who think this "honor killing" crap is a good thing.
Posted by: Baba Yaga ||
09/22/2003 18:06 Comments ||
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#5
It is what they have been taught since he cradle, reinforced by the cultural dependence on personal good-will to get anything done. I think it was a Jesuit who said basically "give me a child until the age of six, and that child is ours forever."
Still, it would be nice to see a variation of Lord William Bentinck's stance on suttee [sati=faithful wife]. Acknowledge that 'honor killing' may occur, but that participants will face murder charges, preferably in a court no less than twenty miles from the family home.
Posted by: John Anderson ||
09/22/2003 18:41 Comments ||
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#6
This looks less like a problem of Islam and more like a backward practice of a tribal culture.
Wait, I sorry. My kids keep telling me that at school they have learned that tribal cultures are to be accepted.. no honored. That's right, the real brutality is in Western Society as epitomized by America where a homeless person has to travel all the way to Frisco to get a cool $400 of unregulated spending money.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 20:01 Comments ||
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#7
"This looks less like a problem of Islam and more like a backward practice of a tribal culture."
Except the areas where it is practiced coincide with the areas that Islam is practiced, and not with any particular culture. I've read reports of "honor" killing from Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, and the Arab nations; there's no "tribe" in common in those areas.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/23/2003 8:47 Comments ||
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PEACEKEEPING: Chinese Peacekeepers on the Way
September 20, 2003: China has asked Canada to host a team of Chinese army officers, who want to observe how Canada trains, equips and leads peacekeeping troops. China has only gotten involved in peacekeeping operations in the 1990s, and then only providing police or military observers. But if China provided well-prepared troops for peacekeeping duty, this would significantly expand the number of peacekeeping troops available, as China maintains the largest army on the planet. This would also be a plus for China, as UN peacekeepers are paid at a "UN rate" that, while not high as wages paid to Western soldiers, is much higher than what troops in countries like China receive. The poor nations sending troops, tax these wages heavily, or simply take the UN wages and pay the troops what they usually get. But for China, the reasons for being more involved in peacekeeping are more practical than financial. Such operations would give China more clout in the UN and provide their troops with some useful field experience.
(If any of you are unfamiliar with it, Dunniganâs Strategypage is very much worth the look.)
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/22/2003 12:01:27 PM ||
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#1
hope they've changed their definition of peacekeeping. Last time it was a little mop-up op in Tienanmen square
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 12:32 Comments ||
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#2
That's one way to take care of the Quebecois.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/22/2003 12:50 Comments ||
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#3
Perhaps they shouldn't ask the Canadians about the 'equiping peacekeepers' part.
#7
China and peace keeping in the same breath makes me want to gag. This is the land of one-baby policy, the SARS outbreak, mischief in Korea, Pakistan and India.
It is not in our national interest that the Chinese gain any practical experience.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
09/22/2003 23:56 Comments ||
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#8
Ironically enough, the only UN force that ever did much actual fighting, the one that kept Kim Il Sung from adding South Korea to his slave empire, was opposed largely by this self-same Chinese People's Liberation Army.
According to the Chicoms, their troops who fought in Korea were strictly volunteers, even though it emerged during interrogation that many of them did not know in what part of the world they were fighting.
According to an old friend who actually witnessed these interrogations, one prisoner guessed that he was in the Phillipines, since there were Americans around, but he thought it might be too cold. Another suspected that it was Mexico, since the people were brown and spoke an incomprehensible language.
Israelâs army has begun using Russian immigrant soldiers, veterans of fighting in Chechnya, as snipers to guard Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, Israeli security sources said Monday. The unit dubbed the "Immigrant Legion" was created recently by recruiting several dozen Russian-born men aged 40 and over who were too old to qualify for reserve duty but had volunteered to serve in semi-official security squads, the sources said. Security sources said the volunteers included veterans of the Russian armyâs fight against rebels in the Chechen region. "These guys fought in Chechnya, but when they got to Israel they were considered too old for the draft," a security source said. "Eventually the military found their sharpshooter training -- and their dedication -- too good to ignore." Experienced and blooded.
Snipers play a key role in Israelâs ground forces operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where Palestinian militants are spearheading a nearly three-year-old uprising for independence. They have been used in track-and-kill operations against militants and to protect settlements and border areas. Palestinians have accused Israeli snipers at times of targeting unarmed civilians and protesters. Israel denies this. Snipers enable you to pick the one bad guy out of a crowd.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said snipers in the Russian army undergo a year of training, giving those who eventually move to the Jewish state a qualitative edge over Israeli counterparts who have only five weeks of training. Several members of the Immigrant Legion have also doubled as sniper trainers, security sources said. They said as many as half of Israeli conscripts who become snipers in the regular army are also Russian-speaking immigrants despite having no prior military experience. One source called it a "matter of mentality," saying the new immigrants demonstrated greater patience -- an important characteristic for sharpshooters -- than native-born Israelis. Growing up waiting in line for everything teaches patience.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/22/2003 11:06:35 AM ||
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#1
Sharpshooters??
"Uh, Yasser? Can you please go to that window there and tell me what you see outside?"
At least seven people were killed and 31 injured after three separate premeditated blasts rocked China including one at a Carrefour shopping center in central Wuhan city, state press reported Monday. Four people were killed and 23 injured in central Chinaâs Hubei province when an explosion occurred as firemen and medical workers were trying to fight a blaze at a government institute. The explosion occurred in the middle of the night in the city of Yichang, close to the massive Three Gorges Dam on Chinaâs Yangtze river. Emergency rescue workers had been called to fight the blaze at a two-storey dormitory building of a company belonging to the Hubei geological survey team, the report said. While firefighters fought the blaze and medical workers began treating residents in the dormitory, a sudden explosion sent firemen and rescue personnel sprawling to the ground. Humm, either something like a propane tank cooked off, or somebody set a fire and left a bomb for responders. Report seems to indicate they think it was a bomb.
In a separate blast Sunday evening in the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan, three people were slightly injured when a bomb went off in a Carrefour shopping center in the Hanyang district. Meanwhile, three people were killed and five injured when a bomb went off in Baoji city, Shaanxi province late Sunday evening, a Chinese business daily reported. Busy sunday night in China.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/22/2003 10:03:46 AM ||
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#1
I am surprised that word of the bombings has reached the West.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 10:59 Comments ||
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#2
When this happened a few months ago, the government attributed it to a guy with marital problems and shakedown artists. Must be a lot of that going around over there.
From al-Guardian, no less! Caught at Winds of Change EFL
Western governments gave an extraordinarily grudging response to Kagameâs overwhelming victory. With a few exceptions, the donor community in Kigali and western NGOs criticise the government in notably similar terms as paranoid, controlling, anti-democratic, and even for being responsible for stoking the war in the east of the former Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A UN report blamed Rwanda (among others) for looting the DRCâs wealth, but even some of those close to the report say none of the assertions was supported with any evidence. Kagame is cool about the criticisms: "It is because we want to do things our own way - they want to give lessons ... We just have to go on with our own business of changing lives here."
The most notable of the enemies are the French, who have never forgiven Kagame for winning the war against the French-backed regime responsible for the genocide, and for thwarting the French military Operation Turquoise which occupied a swathe of western Rwanda trying to preserve its clients. Then in 1996 the Rwandese military attacked the refugee camps in eastern Zaire which were controlled by the genocidaires of 1994, where active military training for another genocide carried on under the noses of international organisations. More than a million peasants walked home and were resettled in an extraordinary feat of organisation for any country, never mind one so very poor. As Joe Katzman at WOC says: "Well. Doesnât that just sum up the âToyota Talibanâ NGOs and the French in 2 neat paragraphs?"
But around 370,000 soldiers of the former regime fled west through Zaire and regrouped in the surrounding countries. "We fought them on six fronts until they crossed the borders out of Zaire ... this is how we got sucked into DRC," says General James Kabarebe, who led the campaign that overthrew Mobutu in favour of Laurent Kabila, father of the current president. The Byzantine internal politics of Zaire/DRC soon ousted Kabarebe as chief of staff to Kabila and, in an astonishing twist, the genocidaires were brought from their refugee camps across the region and into Kinshasaâs army. Today, they are still players for the Kinshasa government in the DRCâs intense power struggle. Despite international mediation of a ceasefire, competing groups continue to fight for influence in the transitional government in Kinshasa, while the Congolese people are living a nightmare of economic collapse, massacres and rapes. Rwandaâs security, its ambitious steps towards normality, may be threatened by the instability of its neighbours. In an old political tradition of blaming the victim, many will continue to blame Rwanda for DRCâs violent trajectory. But up on the hills, peace may be being modestly built.
A longer version of this article appears in The Nation www.thenation.com
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 8:34:17 AM ||
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#1
"It is because we want to do things our own way - they want to give lessons ... We just have to go on with our own business of changing lives here."
Why, that's so ... so .... democratic of them. No wonder the French are so upset! I hope this finds its way into the American press, but I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 11:01 Comments ||
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#2
I'd like to see it copied by the other 43 African nations. That, more than anything, would put the French in their place - i.e., Paris in the summertime...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/22/2003 15:13 Comments ||
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#3
Certainly works better than what we did in Haiti. By this model Liberia should round up all the gunmen of the different warlords and expell them. Kind of sucks for the neighbors, though. Maybe the UN and NGO's can provide vocational training for the gunmen. Teach them wordworking or bead craft.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 16:08 Comments ||
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JPost - Reg Reqâd
Lebanese troops fired at militant Hizbullah forces in southern Lebanon Sunday in the first such clash in more than a decade, killing one guerrilla and wounding two. Lebanese security officials confirmed the clash in the southern village of Jbaa, some 20 kilometers southeast of the port city of Sidon, but refused to give further details. "I can say no more"
The incident began when members of rival Shiite Muslim groups Hizbullah and Amal clashed over hanging political posters in the village mosque. The rivals beat each other with sticks, prompting Lebanese army troops in the area to open fire and kill Hizbullah member Ahmed Ghamloush and wound two of his comrades. they were probably laughing so hard, accidently fired a couple rounds...I can just picture these idiots whacking each other with sticks over whose posters get put up in the mosque. Idiots
Lebanese forces quickly cordoned off the area where the clashes occurred. It was unclear if Hizbullah forces fired any bullets. The clash was the first between Hizbullah and Lebanese army forces in southern Lebanon since 1991, when Lebanese troops entered the region for the first time since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. The pro-Iranian Hizbullah and pro-Syrian Amal have previously fought pitched gunbattles in Beirutâs predominantly Shiite southern suburbs and southern Lebanon for control over Lebanonâs 1.2 million-strong Shiite Muslim community. keep that up boys
A power struggle from 1987 to 1990 killed more than 1,000 people.
The more devout you are, the higher the pile of corpses...
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 8:14:23 AM ||
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#1
The incident began when members of rival Shiite Muslim groups Hizbullah and Amal clashed over hanging political posters in the village mosque...
You might consider ducking, because I'm sure that the U.S. proponents of Church-State separation will come roaring in to voice their horror at placing political posters in a religious location. Or maybe their ethic only applies to Christianity.
JPost Reg Reqâd
An armored bulldozer demolished a house in Hebron Monday, crushing to death Bas El Kawasme, a leading Hamas terrorist in Hebron. Kawasme had forced his way into the Arab familyâs home and opened fire on soldiers trying to arrest him.
"Outta the way, lady! I'm takin' over!"
"That's my new couch, dammit!"
Military sources said troops from the Nahal Brigade closed in on the house in the southwestern outskirts of Hebron during the night in pursuit of a fugitive. After surrounding the house, soldiers called on the inhabitants to get out.
"We're comin' out! Can I bring my couch?"
They fled and told the troops that the gunman had forced his way into their home. The gunman, whose identity was known but not released, remained inside and opened fire at the troops. "Youâll never take me alive, coppers!"
"Hokay"
The commander brought up a tank, which fired a number of rounds into the house to force the gunman out, but he refused to surrender, the army said.
"Tank rounds? Haw haw! I laff at your tank rounds!"
Finally, the commander of the operation brought in an armored bulldozer and it razed the house on top of the gunman alive who continued to shoot until the walls fell on him.
"Laff at this, funny boy!"
Heh heh
His body was later dug out along with his weapon, military sources said.
"Oh, my Gawd! My couch is ruined! Why'd he have to be on the couch?"
Israel Radio reported that Kawasme was involved in many deadly Hamas attacks against Israelis in Hebron, Jerusalem and other places. Kawasme was also reportedly involved in planning the August 19th suicide bombing on the number 2 bus in Jerusalem which killed 22 and wounded scores.
Right now he's feeling a little flat...
Elsewhere Monday, troops apprehended two suspected Hamas terrorists in the village of Rantis west of Ramallah. Rantis is the hometown of the two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at the Tzrifin bus stop and the Hillel Cafe in Jerusalem two weeks ago. Israel Radio reported Monday that the security establishment has registered 42 terror warnings throughout the country today.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 8:03:10 AM ||
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#1
Good job IDF!!!
Someone call Jimmy "The Peanut" Carter. Get him and his home building people on site quick! Those people deserve to have their house rebuilt.
What?... you can't pull him away from the mirror?
Arrogant bastard!
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 8:50 Comments ||
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#2
Jimmy shouldn't go. He's likely to be taken hostage or something, and.......say, you know, that's a great idea! ;)
#4
Did somebody at the scene remember to recover his ruby slippers.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 12:54 Comments ||
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#5
Kawasme had forced his way into the Arab familyâs home ...
So, tell me... Will Yassin or Arafat be writing a check to this (presumably) uninvolved family so they replace the meager home this rabid flunky commandeered to serve as his own personal "alamo"? Or are people's homes considered as resources subject to "the Jihad's needs" as much as, say, the school children that these pigs hide behind when they start opening fire at the IDF patrols
Posted by: Ken B. ||
09/22/2003 13:27 Comments ||
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#6
Well, at least the valiant martyr's family will get a hefty check from Saddam for his brave sacrifice.
Oh, wait...
Posted by: Dar ||
09/22/2003 14:08 Comments ||
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#7
You know Israel should have a COPS like show. Only in this show they go after terrorists leaders.
'Oh it looks like Achmed is hiding in that house over there and firing at us'
(picture of house)
'Uh oh! he forgot about the heavy duty bull dozer!'
(picture of flat house and IDF High Fives)
What ratings that would get! Add in some Afghan footage, some Tikriti raids, and viola HUGE audience.
Sponsor could be Lockheed, ADM, or better yet Haliburton! That would drive the Libs CRAZY!
Sorry no check from Saddam, we closed that account PERMANENTLY!
#8
Comments seem to be one sided. While it is hard not to ridicule Arabs, arenât the Jews to blame for starting Judeo-Christian-Islamic mental virus? What in this universe can be more idiotic than billions of people believing in Jewish âGod givenâ tradition and its derivatives? The archaic teachings are permeated with fear, superstition, denial and ignorance. How long should we be âpolitically correctâ? Jewish holy land looks more like HELL, if there is such a thing. I abhor Jews for starting it.
#9
Cyber Sarge,you are brillant. You have solved the problem of replacing enbedded reporters so that both sides of the Iraq crisis are portrayed in the Media. If we had a COPS show in Iraq that follwed the "Men and Women of Law Enforcement" over there, people would actuially see what the soldiers of the coalition are doing.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 20:06 Comments ||
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#10
Unfortunately,I can forsee the leesons-learned article in next issue of HAMAS FREEDOM FIGHTER TIMES."When running into a house to avoid Israeli imperialist killers,take child hostage to prevent family from ratting you out."
Posted by: Stephen ||
09/22/2003 20:46 Comments ||
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#11
Another martyr for the IHOP ISM pantheon.
(for non-US readers, IHOP is the International House of Pancakes, an execrable American restaurant chain that stays open 24 hours and is known as the eatery of last resort for starving night-owls.)
As for you, aptly named nEcro, look up "Joseph Goebbels" and "Julius Streicher". Follow their path, share their fate.
President Bush on Sunday described as "uncivil" Sen. Edward Kennedyâs critical remarks of the administrationâs policies in Iraq. Kennedy said last week the case for going to war against Iraq was a fraud "made up in Texas" to give Republicans a political boost. The longtime senator also alleged that the money for the war is being used to bribe foreign leaders to send troops. Instead of being used to bribe union leaders and leftist twits at home!
In an exclusive Oval Office interview with Fox Newsâ Brit Hume, Bush said that while he respected Kennedy, the senator "should not have said we were trying to bribe foreign nations." "I donât mind people trying to pick apart my policies, and thatâs fine and thatâs fair game," Bush said in the interview that will air Monday night. "But, you know, I donât think weâre serving our nation well by allowing the discourse to become so uncivil that people say - use words that they shouldnât be using." Kennedyâs comments, part of the drumbeat of criticism Bush has received lately from Democrats, were described as a "new low" by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Kennedy dismissed DeLayâs comments, saying that once again GOP leaders are avoiding questions about Bushâs policies "by attacking the patriotism of those who question them." He didnât question your patriotism, only your ethnics and decency.
Kennedy, D-Booneâs Farm Mass., elaborated on his foolish comments in an interview on CNN Friday, saying the administration is announcing an $8.5 billion loan to Turkey, and that country will then provide military assistance in Iraq. As I recall, JFK also did some horse-trading in his day.
"It didnât have to be this way," he said. "We wouldnât have to be providing these billions of dollars to these countries to ... coerce them or bribe them to send their troops in, if weâd done it the right way, if weâd gone to the United Nations, if we had built an international constituency." If you would have pulled yer head out of the bottle for a while, Teddie, youâd have seen that Bush did go to the UN and did try to build an international consensus. Remember why it failed? We do.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2003 1:57:41 AM ||
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Maybe calling Kennedy unpatriotic isn't the right thing to do. Maybe calling him a traitor is more accurate. After all, we still have troops fighting this war. I think Kennedy should hold his criticism of oeprations in Iraq until they are done. Right now, he just sounds like a traitor to me.
#2
Used to be that politics stopped at the waters' edge - at least that was what politicians pretended. The Dems are so hateful of Bush and desperate to win that they aren't even bothering to pretend anymore. Disgusting that a fat drunk loudmouth like Kennedy is a Senator, but we don't have to pretend that he's coherent, patriotic or interested in anything other than his own hubris and power. I put him in the traitor category too.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 7:19 Comments ||
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#3
Frank G >> Pffffst. This Bud's for you.
The Freak Show that is the Kennedy family, never ceases to amaze me. The whole family whose vast fortune is due to illegal bootlegging.
Ted alone holds legacy to the whole Chapaquidick affair (cowardly bastard who escaped justice), then he was the Daddy of the fiasco that are HMO's. Now this. Ass! The Kennedy's represent everything that's bad about America. Wasteful, arrogant, bureaucratic, unethical, crooks.
Next to Jane "Hanoi" Fonda's death, he's the next one I can't wait to see go.
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 8:39 Comments ||
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#4
Ted Kennedy, son of a dealer in illegal drugs and open supporter of Adolph Hitler. Guess that's where he learned his character and morals.
#5
"It didnât have to be this way," he said. "We wouldnât have to be providing these billions of dollars to these countries to ... coerce them or bribe them to send their troops in, if weâd done it the right way, if weâd gone to the United Nations, if we had built an international constituency."
News flash: The United Nations is ineffective, Teddy. Get your head out of your ass and take notice of the world as it really is.
#12
Massachusetts keeps electing this guy. They know he's guilty of Kopicny's death. But he's a lovable rogue. He's a rich prick. Just like my senator, Patty Murrey, who thought osama was building day care centers for the Afganies.
#14
OK, maybe Senator Kennedy should have just called it a quid pro quo instead of a bribe! But for the rightwing to be whining about a lack of civility, giving what their marionettes are spouting on Faux News, talk radio, etc. is beyond amusing -- BWAHAAHAA! Gimme a break!
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
09/22/2003 14:18 Comments ||
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#15
..giving what their marionettes are spouting on Faux News, talk radio, etc.
Now that IS a joke. Next, you'll be talking about the "conservative media".
Posted by: Mary Jo Kopechne ||
09/22/2003 15:48 Comments ||
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#18
Mary >>> Great link! NMM should go to it and then come back and explain it all away like all the other left wing loonies try to do. It would provide Rantburgers hours of entertainment.
Posted by: Paul ||
09/22/2003 17:36 Comments ||
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#19
Now Paul, You know that site is nothing more than a âVast Right-Wing Conspiracyâ! Shame on you for spreading the truth lies about Senator Kennedy and smearing his family name. The Kennedyâs have never worked hard to get where they are today! Why what other family has provided more drunks legislators for the country? As an American of Irish extraction, I cannot for the life of me understand what the draw is? Ok theyâre rich and one was President, BFD! When did congress become a welfare system for underprivileged Kennedy children? Why do people on the east coast still elect them to office? Has any of them has a unique idea, sponsored any good legislation, or made a difference? That is why the murderer Senator Lush Puppy Kennedy can make stupid remarks and not get thrown out of office.
#20
Kennedy's remark about Iraq was Bush's vietnam is funny, it took the Army's 3rd Divison and the Marines less time to destroy the Medina Repulican guard, than it took kennedy to call about his oldsmobile at chapaquidick!!!
South Korea trained about 13,000 commandos to infiltrate into communist North Korea over a four-decade period, Yonhap news agency said on Sunday, quoting a military information agency. Of the 13,000 or so agents, some 7,800 had been killed or were missing and 200 were wounded between 1951 and 1994, the Defence Information Command said in a report submitted to a lawmaker. Hundreds of former commandos, who say they were trained to infiltrate into North Korea, held violent protests last year demanding government compensation and recognition. The protesters said they were part of a unit that had existed since the 1950-53 Korean War. The South Korean government has yet to officially acknowledge the existence of the infiltration teams. The two Koreas remain in a technical state of war because the Korean War ended in an armed truce that was never replaced by a peace treaty.
7800 killed or missing out of 13,000? You've got to respect men that are willing to take on that kind of odds.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:31 ||
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North Korea still ahs tunnels under the DMV. How many infiltrators do you think they have trained? South Korea needs to get its infiltrator training program in high gear.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2003 16:23 Comments ||
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Lebanon said on Sunday it had ordered banks to disclose the existence of any accounts linked to six leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas whose assets the United States has ordered frozen. But a central bank official said there was no decision to freeze possible accounts found and that any action to be taken would depend on the result of the probe.
"Nope. Nope. Can't do it..."
A copy of a letter sent to bank heads and obtained by Reuters asked banks to disclose accounts of six Hamas activists including spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, senior political leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi and Lebanon head Usama Hamdan. It also asked the banks to reveal accounts linked to five Palestinian groups Washington accuses of financially supporting Hamas including Lebanon-based Sanabil Association for Relief and Development. Sanabil denies links to Hamas and says it aims to help Palestinian refugees and orphans.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:24 ||
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Wow, this will be effective.
"Nope, no Ahmed Yassin account, though there is the Samah family. It's these 3 guys who call themselves Abu Spiritdude, Abu Santrissy, and Abu Usamamama... they look kinda familiar. Have the pictures of the guys you're looking for been on the telly?"
#2
...a central bank official said there was no decision to freeze possible accounts found and that any action to be taken would depend on the result of the probe.
Fine an' dandy. Till then, we'll just void your codes for inter-bank transfers, hmmm?...
The top Israeli minister who said it would be an option for Yasser Arafat to be killed insisted Saturday that the Palestinian leader should not have âimmunityâ from reprisals.
Falls in with my theory that he's going to get helizapped next time a bus blows...
Amidst international controversy over Israelâs threat to expel Arafat from his West Bank base, Ehud Olmert, Israelâs deputy prime minister and trade minister, told a Washington conference on the Middle East that Arafat was âresponsible for terrorâ and should be accountable for his actions. Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qurei called for Palestinians to demonstrate a united front Sunday after talks in the Gaza Strip with faction leaders and members of Arafatâs Fatah movement. Qorei, who is also known as Abu Ala, met representatives from the high committee of national and Islamic forces, a body which includes the hardline Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, Palestinian sources said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:24 ||
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helizapped next time a bus blows
God I hope so, and in the middle of the human shields Paleo civilians, baby ducks, puppies. Taking him out will make him more of a martyr than he already is, but a dead one finally. It has the added bonus of letting Hamas, IJ, Syria, Soddy and Iran know that there is no level of thug that can't be taken out - world opinion be damned
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2003 7:23 Comments ||
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#2
The Arafish is a wily chap, but his time is running out. The IDF will keep cleaning house of Hamas roaches and make him irrelevant if he does nothing. If Hamas feels that they gotta boom to keep credibility, then they have signed the Arafish's death warrrant. Arafish will not accommodate Israel. The Truce Trick⢠is old now and Israel has had enough. By accommodation, he would betray his own cause, so his only two choices are irrelevance or the barbeque grill. Either way he loses.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/22/2003 19:39 Comments ||
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The Israeli army imposed a curfew Sunday in Jenin after tanks, jeeps and armoured vehicles re-entered the center of the West Bank town. The sound of gunfire could be heard but there were no reports of any casualties, Palestinian sources said, adding that some 30 vehicles had entered the town. An Israeli military source confirmed troops had entered the town and imposed a curfew âas part of the ongoing operation against the terrorist infrastructureâ. Israeli troops redeployed on the outskirts of Jenin on Saturday after a two-day sweep targetted against Palestinian militant groups. Four Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians, including two children, were wounded in the operation, during which five wanted militants were arrested.
And don't forget the way they shot those baby ducks. Shameful. Just shameful...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/22/2003 00:24 ||
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I have a doubt. Are you speaking of flesh and blood baby ducks or of rubber baby ducks? Israelis shooting rubber baby ducks would be the most shameful thing ever made by humankind. I cannot believe someone could be so eeeeeeeevil.
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.
