An Iranian agent was arrested in Kuwait in connection with the latest spate of Al-Qaeda-related attacks in the Middle East. Sawa Radio reported that the unnamed individual was arrested by Kuwaiti security forces after recent intelligence implicated him as a cell in communication with the Al-Qaeda network with prior information on the attacks in Saudi Arabia. Three days ago, two Kuwaiti security forces were killed and two more were injured following street-battles with suspected Al-Qaeda operatives, according to the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry. Since the incident, Kuwaiti intelligence and security forces have been on heightened alert, cracking down on agents working for or conspiring with the Al-Qaeda network.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Convicted terrorist Jack Roche has had his nine-year jail sentence for plotting with al-Qaeda to blow the Israeli embassy in Canberra upheld by Western Australia's Court of Criminal Appeal. In a two to one decision, Roche's appeal against the length of his sentence - which he said did not take into account his extensive co-operation with Australian authorities - was dismissed. Justices Michael Murray, John McKechnie and Anthony Templeman also dismissed a Crown appeal to have the sentence increased. Prosecutors had said the sentence should be doubled because it failed to deter would-be bombers from plotting attacks on Australia.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/14/2005 9:33:51 PM ||
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There's a man in the funny papers we all know
(Alley-Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
He lives 'way back a long time ago
(Alley-Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
LASER beams have been directed at the cockpit windows of planes landing at a Queensland airport three times in the last month, putting passengers' lives at risk. Aviation officials believe a strong green laser was aimed at two 18-passenger planes and a 125-seat Jetstar Boeing 717 as they lined up to land at Maroochydore Airport. Two, including the Jetstar incident, took place in December while the third was reported last week about 22km from the airport as the plane was on a final approach in the evening.
The federal Government has grave concerns about the incidents. Transport Minister John Anderson's spokesman warned that "any act that would potentially endanger the flying public will not be tolerated". "The Government treats the shining of lasers into the cockpits of landing aircraft very seriously, and there are extremely heavy penalties for anybody found to be deliberately engaging in this stupid and dangerous practice," the spokesman said. Airline officials warned any person caught recklessly endangering an aircraft could face a 14-year jail term and, in some circumstances, life imprisonment.
The officials believe the laser could be similar to readily available devices used in the surveying and construction industry. Airservices Australia spokesman Richard Dudley confirmed that a number of incidents had been reported to the air-traffic control provider and were being investigated by Queensland police. "The reason it's regarded as an extremely serious matter is that obviously a laser beam being shone into an aircraft cockpit can not only distract the pilots but may also, more seriously, result in an accident," Mr Dudley said. The incidents are similar to US cases that prompted an FBI crackdown and ultimately saw New Jersey man David Banach facing up to 25 years' jail and fines of up to $US500,000 ($662,000) for anti-terrorism violations. Commercial pilot Richard Woodward said pointing a laser anywhere near an aircraft was "foolish in the extreme and incredibly dangerous". "It may cause retinal damage or it may just be temporary, but the consequences are frightening," Mr Woodward said. "Over a built-up area like Maroochydore it is endangering everyone's lives - not only the people on the aeroplane but the people on the ground." Mr Woodward, technical director of the Australian and International Pilots Association, said the issue of flash blindness from lasers was one that had been worrying pilots for years.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/14/2005 9:15:28 PM ||
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#1
this is probably a really stupid question, but can't they place some glasses on when they take off and land...or place some kind of protective film over the windshield?
#3
There are no stupid questions, only stupid people asking questions. Seriously, 2b, that's not a stupid question. There are coatings that can be applied to somewhat diffuse small intensity laser beams.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/14/2005 10:39 Comments ||
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Will any protective measures, though, make normal tasks nigh impossible? I.e. similar to wearing welding goggles to drive.
MAMDOUH Habib could be returned to Australia on a specially chartered Qantas flight costing up to $250,000, as the federal Government finalises plans with the US to bring him home.
Boy, won't that make the taxpayers happy...
The Attorney-General's Department is understood to have held talks with Qantas about sending a taxpayer-funded plane to pick up the Sydney father of four. If a deal goes ahead, it is believed the aircraft will have to return via Mexico because it will be prohibited from crossing US airspace with Habib on board. The US has insisted that Australia provide an armed security detail of police, or soldiers, to escort Habib back to Sydney. The size of the detail is yet to be determined. It is understood he will be returned within one week, with the Howard Government prepared to use a military aircraft if plans with Qantas fall through. Habib, 48, will be subject to a full psychological screening when he arrives in Sydney, after multiple reports from his lawyers and released Guantanamo Bay detainees that the former Sydney cleaner had been traumatised by his ordeal in captivity.
"Doctor! What are the results of his psychological screeening?"
"Well, it's kind of complicated..."
"Can you put it in layman's terms?"
"Oh, of course. He's a nut."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/14/2005 9:07:20 PM ||
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For old times sake, fly him home on the Ghost Jet.
Meow-meow-meow-meow...
The public prosecutor has asked a court to impose a 150-hour work order on the rap group DHC (Den Haag Connection) for allegedly threatening the life of MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The court in The Hague was also asked on Thursday to impose a four-month suspended sentence on the rappers. In a dis — a rap song written to criticise a person — DHC sang about wanting to break the Somali-born MP's neck. The number also suggested an assassination was being prepared in which she would be killed by a bomb attack. Hirsi Ali has been in hiding since filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered in Amsterdam last November. Van Gogh and Hirsi Ali collaborated on the short film "Submission" that accused the Koran of sanctioning violence against women. A Dutch-Moroccan was arrested for killing Van Gogh. A letter pinned on the director's body threatened Hirsi Ali and other politicians and warned they would be killed next if they didn't stop criticising the Islam faith.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/14/2005 2:31:19 AM ||
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#1
This shows the dutch are not quite clear on the concept yet. You threaten death you don't get community service you get jail. These little twerps should spend some time doing some hard manual labor since they are not getting punished.
#5
Crimes are never prevented but are usually solved. This poor woman will have to live in fear for the rest of her life because she spoke out which is her basic human right. These F-ing lunatics will slit your throat simply becasue you disagree. If the Dutch won't arrest them then deport them. If they won't do that then destroy their homes like Israel does. You can't treat these moonbats with kid gloves they are cold blooded killers, Islam is just an excuse.
#8
You don't really mean that, do you? This is who you're telling to give up her life because some fuckwit jihadi symps are trying to intimidate her.
No the other approach is better - that the Dutch get off their lard asses and respond to this as they did to Van Gogh's murder. If they aren't cowards, they will do it. She'll probably shame them into it, since she's certainly no coward.
#9
My hat's off to her if she has the courage of Sabine or Joan. Me....hey...I'm not that great. I's say screw the losers and move one to greener pastures.
Evidence and other witnesses support complaints by a fired FBI contract linguist who alleged shoddy work and possible espionage within the bureau's translator program in the months after the September 2001 terror attacks, according to a report Friday by the senior oversight official at the Justice Department. The department's inspector general, Glenn Fine, said the allegations by former translator Sibel Edmonds "raised substantial questions and were supported by various pieces of evidence." Fine said the FBI still has not adequately investigated the sensational claims.
The government's report also revealed that Edmonds was fired for using her home computer to write one memorandum about her concerns that contained classified information, which the FBI deemed a security violation. The report released Friday was a 37-page, unclassified summary of a broader, 100-page internal review over Edmonds' case. The report noted that Edmonds, who had been granted "Top Secret" clearance, had first obtained permission from an FBI supervisor to work on the memorandum at home. The supervisor, who wasn't identified, relayed Edmonds' allegations to FBI security officials but also reported Edmonds' own violation of FBI procedures for handling classified materials, the report said.
A violation is a violation, but the supervisor should have been fired as well.
Edmonds maintains she was fired in March 2002 after she complained to FBI managers about shoddy wiretap translations and told them an interpreter with a relative at a foreign embassy might have compromised national security by blocking translations in some cases and notifying some targets of FBI investigations about U.S. surveillance of them. Fine did not determine whether Edmonds' charges of espionage were true, which he said was beyond the scope of his investigation. But he criticized the FBI's review of the espionage accusations. "We found that many of Edmonds' core allegations relating to the co-worker were supported by either documentary evidence or witnesses other than Edmonds," the report said. "Moreover, we concluded that, had the FBI performed a more careful investigation of Edmonds' allegations, it would have discovered evidence of significant omissions and inaccuracies by the co-worker related to these allegations."
The report did not identify Edmonds' co-worker, although Edmonds has publicly revealed her name in comments to journalists. The report said that while there could be innocent explanations for this coworker's behavior, "other explanations were not innocuous." Edmonds filed a federal lawsuit seeking to retain her job, but last summer - in an unusual move - the judge threw out her case at the request of Attorney General John Ashcroft and said her claims might expose government secrets that could damage national security. She is appealing that decision.
FBI Director Robert Mueller previously disclosed that the investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general did not conclude the FBI retaliated against Edmonds. But Mueller also acknowledged in a letter to lawmakers in July that he was concerned by the inspector general's determination that Edmonds' allegations "were at least a contributing factor in why the FBI terminated her services." The department's report concluded the FBI failed to adequately pursue Edmonds' allegation that her colleague committed espionage. Mueller told senators previously that the FBI conducted a "relevant investigation," but promised to review the case and conduct a further investigation if necessary.
Edmonds was born in Iran and raised in Turkey; she speaks English, Turkish, Azerbaijani and Farsi, and was hired as a contract linguist by the FBI in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Edmonds also had sued the Justice Department under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act to compel its inspector general to disclose results of his investigation into her firing. The complete report, classified at the "secret" level, has circulated among the FBI, Justice Department, the 911 Commission and some lawmakers on oversight committees. Edmonds' lawyer, Mark Zaid, said the Justice Department has agreed to provide Edmonds as early as next month with an edited version of its 100-page classified report.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/14/2005 11:12:59 AM ||
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#3
Yup, typical government job. Fire the whistleblower, and say that investigating her claims is outside the jurisdiction of your investigation, since you're only investigating what's wrong with her.
EFL:
FORT HOOD, Texas -- Lawyers for Army Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr. abruptly rested their case yesterday, without calling Graner or any senior officers to shed new light on the prison abuse scandal in which he was portrayed as the grinning, sadistic ringleader. A 10-man military jury is expected to begin deliberations today in Graner's case, the first contested court-martial in the scandal ignited last spring by photos showing naked and hooded Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison enduring humiliating abuses at the hands of U.S. soldiers.
This shouldn't take long
Graner, 36, a former civilian prison guard from Uniontown, Pa., had been expected to testify in his own defense. But his lead attorney, Guy Womack, said they showed through other witnesses how intelligence operatives ran the prison and ordered Graner and other military police guards to "soften up" detainees for questioning. "I feel fantastic," Graner said, giving his mother a quick hug after the defense closed its case. "I'm still smiling."
Enjoy your stay in the joint, laughing boy
At the heart of Graner's defense is his claim that he believed he was acting under legal orders - a legitimate defense in military court, even if the orders actually were unlawful.
First, you have to show you acually received those "orders".
But in testimony this week, Graner's lawyers struggled to show that military or civilian interrogators at Abu Ghraib ever condoned the kind of abuses that Graner is charged with - piling naked prisoners into a pyramid, for instance, putting a leather leash around the neck of a detainee or punching a prisoner in the side of the head. Graner's lawyers could not call many of the senior military leaders they had hoped to present as witnesses. Many potential witnesses refused to testify by invoking their right against self-incrimination and others, including top Pentagon officials, were deemed irrelevant by the presiding judge. The result was a trial that was focused mainly on the abusive acts of one night at the prison and yielded few new details about the scope of the abuses. At Graner's trial, several of his fellow soldiers and three detainees offered a harsh view of life inside Abu Ghraib. Military police guards said intelligence soldiers would direct them to keep detainees naked in their cells, restrict their food, keep them awake and subject them to cold showers or strenuous physical exercises.
All which are legal.
One guard who worked closely with Graner on the night shift at the Iraqi prison testified that interrogators regularly told military police guards they needed to help "break" detainees to get intelligence that could protect American soldiers in Iraq. "We were helping to save the lives of soldiers who were outside the [prison] wires," said former Spc. Megan M. Ambuhl, who served with Graner in the Western Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company and who was discharged from the military after pleading guilty in the Abu Ghraib scandal to a dereliction of duty charge. But Ambuhl, like virtually every other witness called by Graner's lawyers, proved almost as useful to the government as to Graner's defense. Under questioning by a military prosecutor, Ambuhl said she had a brief sexual relationship with Graner while they were at Abu Ghraib.
Didn't everyone?
She also acknowledged sending Graner an e-mail last April that contained the header, "Study finds frequent sex raises cancer risk" and writing in the text of the message: "We could have died last night."
"You don't want your friend to go to jail, do you?" the prosecutor, Maj. Michael Holley, asked Ambuhl at one point. "No, sir," Ambuhl quietly replied. Graner, who faces 17 1/2 years behind bars if he is convicted on the charges of conspiracy, maltreatment, assault, indecent acts and dereliction of duty, also had a sexual relationship with another member of the 372nd, Pfc. Lynndie R. England, while the unit was stationed at Abu Ghraib. England gave birth last fall to a son that Graner is believed to have fathered. She and two other soldiers from the 372nd, Sgt. Javal Davis and Spc. Sabrina Harman, are expected to stand trial at Fort Hood this year.
When Graner goes down, they'll plead out.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/14/2005 9:15:02 AM ||
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#1
When Graner goes down, they'll plead out.
It doesn't work that way. If convicted of the charges by the court martial board, the punishment is determined by a immediate second hearing before the same board to determine the punishment. There the defense is given a chance to introduce the crying children and sick parents. Each specific charge has a maximum penalty which the board can not excced, but has some liberty in the determining the harshness which can range from confinement, forfieture or suspension of pay, to as little as a letter of admonishment. However, if convicted, Graner will alway carry a federal felony conviction for the record. Good for job interviews.
Posted by: Don ||
01/14/2005 10:04 Comments ||
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#2
Oops, I mistook 'they' for the defense, not Davis and Harman. Sorry, my bad.
Posted by: Don ||
01/14/2005 10:07 Comments ||
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#3
I have a feeling his attorney worked under the condition of "giving the defense the defendant wants" rather than "giving the defense that will win". This is a trick used by 'the system' when trying a particularly loathesome defendant, that nobody has any great sympathy for.
#4
Am I the only one wondering if Graner's conduct as a civilian prison guard at Uniontown has ever been scrutinized? I doubt if his sadistic conduct started when he donned an Army uniform.
Either the MSM has exaggerated and even further, has gotten fictional about Abu Ghraib, covering it as if it were Auschwitz and encouraging Americans to fear the worst, that we have treated prisoners to real torture, or Graner actually did something sadistic/torturous. Which is it? Was the case about "torture" at Abu Ghraib overblown, or just not sufficiently covered to demonstrate actual sadism?
If troops were instructed to humiliate and demean captured anti-Coalition insurgents as part of a softening up procedure, but not use torture, did Graner go beyond that?
#8
I bet he goes down hard and then beomes a paid mouthpiece for the left about the evil military-industrial complex. He will start an anti-war movement from prison and after his release he will meet with islamo-facists, convert to Islam, and then be elected to the Senate.
#9
This schmuck was abusing his position by banging his own subordinates, that's really messed up. He gets what he deserves, and from my experience w/the ucmj it is very fair. He'd get two years in the brig from me just for pulling the 'monica' w/young females.
I'm still not sure how any other senior SNCO's or junior Officers in that outfit didn't know about all the sex antics. Making non-uniformed detainees due the naked pyramid and wear panties on their head doesn't bother me at all - being stupid enough to photograph it does.
#10
"Making non-uniformed detainees due the naked pyramid and wear panties on their head doesn't bother me at all - being stupid enough to photograph it does."
Or to put it in a different way: "His crime was being caught".
"Was the case about "torture" at Abu Ghraib overblown, or just not sufficiently covered to demonstrate actual sadism?"
The latter. The MSM focused on things like naked pyramids and panties, because those are the ones we have the pictures of. And the right blogosphere focused on the naked pyramids and panties, because sometimes it is convenient to follow the MSM's lead.
At the same they ignore stuff in the reports like rape, sodomy and suspicious deaths -- those ones we don't have explicit photos of, you see.
And if there is no photographic evidence, how will they prove it? Witnesses? A little problem there-a removed veil is a rape is some people's eyes. And IMO humiliation can sometimes cause people to embellish stories.
Forensic evidence seems like it would be the only way to prove the allegations coming from people who hate us before the war after the war inspite of the war and would lie about us in a second. First of all, the word of non-American person is not automatically more trustworthy than that of an American person. So let's start from that point. In terms of forensic evidence, surely in the cases of rape and sodomy there must have been some evidence? Or are you saying there was an intentional coverup/destruction of evidence?
#12
I'm not interested in the strawmen cliches. We're not talking about "removed veils" here, we're talking about:
1. "putting his dick in the little kid's ass",
2. "They . . . inserted the phosphoric light in his ass, and he was yelling for God's help"
"coverup" and "destruction" of evidence? The Taguba report was released, and you can read it if you like, which when mentioning sodomy doesn't refer to "removed veils".
As for the photographs, only a small portion has been released, I believe, so it again depends what you mean by "coverup".
"First of all, the word of non-American person is not automatically more trustworthy than that of an American person"
Nor is it automatically *less* trustworthy than that of an American person.
But, anyway, have you seen the smiling faces in the photographs? Those smiles may not qualify as evidence that can stand in a court of law, but you should have let those smiles alone convince you about whether those people were sadists or not. This wasn't an unpleasant but regretfully necessary task they were doing. Inflicting pain and humiliation was their joy.
#13
Nice gray area where superior moralizing, hair-splitting, pointless pontification and endless cross-chatter can be indulged. Cool.
Well that covers it for this thread. The courts don't matter, that it is the exception, not the rule doesn't matter - no... all that matters is that one can satisfy that onanistic desire to play word games and outlast all comers (pun intended) and thus declare oneself Champion Of The World! Splat!
#14
Strawman cliches? Is your sole communication skill flaming hostility? No one is saying that sodomy is no worse than removing a veil. Calm down.
Your quotes indicate that at least some Americans believed there was reason to investigate. If sodomy occurred, or rape occurred, you won't find me lining up to defend the accused. But accusation is not the same as evidence of guilt.
I should read the report-you are right-maybe when I am not at one of my two jobs-but the report is not the sacred and complete truth. It is part of the picture.
You have carefully skirted my points about what constitutes a sexual offense with Muslims and what constitutes a sexual offense with non-Muslims. Intentional ignorance of different cultural measurements does not disprove my point.
You need to learn some manners. No one wants to talk to an angry, hostile person for long-even an intelligent and witty one.
#15
Oh, no, what *really* matters is claiming that "thrusting a phosphoric light in the little kid's ass" truly means "removing a woman's veil", because that's ofcourse what people in *that* part of the world mean by "rape".
That, according to .com, is onanistic hair-splitting, the difference between removing-veils and thrusting your dick (or phosphoric lights) into inmates. The Taguba report talks about guards "having sex" with female prisoners, but to call that rape, is probably "superior moralizing" as well.
And in talking about whether the guards were sadists or not, it's "pointless pontification" to discuss whether they enjoyed the pain and humiliation they inflicted.
#16
If sodomy occurred, or rape occurred, you won't find me lining up to defend the accused. But accusation is not the same as evidence of guilt
No, it's not. But continuously and shamelessly repeating the LIE that all the fuss about the Abu Ghraib abuse is about panties-on-heads and naked pyramids (as has always been the case in Rantburg) is not such a good thing either.
"You have carefully skirted my points about what constitutes a sexual offense with Muslims and what constitutes a sexual offense with non-Muslims."
Yes, when we have specific accusations about stuff inserted violently into people's asses, we don't need to play definitional games about what "sexual offenses" mean in different cultures. If I'd talked about people alleging vague "sexual offenses", you might have a point.
#17
And as my final word on this thread: I personally believe in the accusations of rape and sodomy, because I find it difficult to believe that an uncontrolled group of sadists would *not* eventually rape and sodomize if it was in their power to do so.
They were sadists, as their smiles prove, and they were uncontrolled. That may not be enough to convince a court, but it's enough to convince *me*. Take that as you will.
#19
Then we don't agree. When a culture sees removal of a veil (and that is one example, let's not get hung up on the example) as an affront just a step below or even on par with rape, we need to clarify the definition of rape we are using.
As to your other point, I would say that if I looked back and thought about intances where someone I knew or I myself was publicly humiliated, that person usually gets angry. In the case of the these prisoners, you have to add to that anger what was certainly to start either anti-dhimmi or an anti-coalition-forces mindset (let's not forget we didn't pick these fellows up at a cafe, where they were minding their own business-they were in the field performing some pretty horrific butchery). These two things combined make me want to pause and think about all the possiblities--not just jump to the conclusion that those horrible Americans did it. I want to see as complete a picture as I can and not let x number of instances mean it happened in all number of instances. Is each accusation factual or not? Evidence should hold sway.
In Muslim society, societal shame over sex is huge, and with sexual humiliation is even more HUGE and inescapable. SO OFTEN in Muslim society, victims are not believed-they are blamed and ostracized for others' crimes against them. This is such an extreme way of looking at the world that differentiating and ranking the severity of crimes becomes impossible-if it involves sex and you weren't supposed to do it, all crimes make you despicable-even ones that others do against you. That same mindset shames others for the mere suspicion that a person has done something sexually unallowed. What kind of rage would that generate in you, even if you had to experience public shame because someone else put panties on your head-to undergo eternal ridicule from your peers in that culture, as a man? Enraged enough to want to make the other side pay? I would say it's at least possible.
Open your mind a little-I am not saying anyone is innocent or guilty-I don't KNOW that anymore than any of us here who weren't at Abu Ghraib KNOW it. It is probably a mixture of real crimes and hyperbolic accusations.
#20
Aris is a newly-minted computer scientist, and I can see by his smiles in his graduation photos that he is uncontrolled. No doubt a masochist and a hacker and a spammer. That may not be enough to convince a court, but it's enough to convince *me*. Take that as you will.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/14/2005 16:39 Comments ||
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#21
Too lazy to be a hacker, too moral to be a spammer.
But thanks again for making this be about *me*, Tom. It shows yet again where your maturity level lies when you use a discussion about rapes, torture, and murder as nothing more than an excuse to keep on your kindergarten games of "baiting" me.
Next time let's turn a Holocaust discussion into a discussion of Superman vs MightyMouse. That'd be fun and just as mature.
#26
badanov> "Morality is one of those absolutes in life. There are no degrees of morality."
Perhaps in some bizarre fundamelist-nutzo world (where everyone is either saved or damned, and there's nothing inbetween) you'd be correct.
However in the real world, the person who's worst crime is throwing food at people in anger (ObRef Sluggy Freelance) is "more" moral than your average mass murderer or rapist. He doesn't need to have achieved saintliness to be better than a human monster.
And somehow I believe I said I was too moral to be guilty of *spamming*. I didn't compare myself to you, unless you are a spammer yourself.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2005 19:35 Comments ||
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#31
ROTFLMAO. Is that original, or have I been away from LGF too long?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/14/2005 19:45 Comments ||
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#32
Aris, if you would climb off your high horse and come down here with us normal folks, you would see that my entry #20 was a play on your entry #17 to show you the folly of your position. In fact, I used much of your text. It's not about *you*, Aris, it's about your point of view, but you're too damned arrogant to accept anything but praise from me. Thread Arisified by Aris. Graner found guilty. Everybody move along to the "Guilty" thread...
Posted by: Tom ||
01/14/2005 20:15 Comments ||
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#33
original...and extra crispy!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2005 20:21 Comments ||
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#34
Even graduation photos posted in my livejournal dragged from you into the thread, Tom. And you now say it's not about me. Whatever, Tom.
Care to debate about elements of the *actual* issue -- for example whether the photos show Graner & co to be enjoying themselves in the inflicting of suffering? Care to use arguments that a sane person could respect?
But as I said your level of debate is nothing but a desire to perpetuate your games with me, no matter the thread, no matter the topic, no matter the excuse. Play, play, little boy, that claims to be more than double my age.
#35
You know, even Graner's *defense lawyer*, said "If there was anything wrong, it was that they took a picture and they were smiling" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4176241.stm
But, nope, nothing wrong seen in those smiles by Frank G. and Tom. According to Tomm smiling over abuse is the same as smiling over a graduation, and then he claims that to be an argument I should respect rather than see it a mere continuation of his baiting games.
If it was meant as a serious argument, then it shows you to be depraved, Tom.
So, I think I'll give you the benefit of a doubt, and just consider you an immature kid who wanted to continue his games about me. I suggest you go that way, it's better than the alternative.
#40
There are two separate issues here. One has to do with abuses of power over detainees, aka torture, that were unjustified and that did not result in any intelligence or other benefit whatsoever to the war aims. These are not to be tolerated, and it is right and proper to express outrage and shame at them and to wish for more, not less, publicity so as to minimize the chance of their recurrence.
A separate issue concerns winning the war. It in no way excuses the idiotic, and completely repulsive, crimes described in the official reports to assert that the larger objective here, by far, is to defeat the fascists militarily and enable the new Iraqi democracy to survive and flourish.
The first issue is one that the MSM and the public, with their limited attention span, naturally elevate to the same level of importance as the second one. But the two are not of equal weight. If we lose the war, ie, if the fascists succeed in turning the new Iraq into the old Lebanon, then retaining the moral high ground will have been meaningless. If we win the war, we and the Iraqis will be able to survive the blows to our moral image. Winning ugly is not to be preferred. But it's still better than not winning.
#41
Frank, is that an attempt to turn the thread to my nation, just to accompany Tom's efforts of turning it to my person?
But just since you brought it up, Greece's recent record on torture is a bit better than the United States. For that matter, *Turkey's* recent record on torture is a bit better than the United States.
But since I never referred to the United States, and certainly not to compare it to Greece, your talk of nations is irrelevant. Except ofcourse for the psychotic nationalist who sees *everything* in terms of nations.
As a sidenote, it's good Graner was tried and convicted for "mistreatment". But ofcourse, I'd like to see them convict all the people who aided him in said "mistreatment" also. And let's see what will be done about those rapes and murders in custody.
And a hefty sentence too.
Nice to always see you rushing to the defense of torturers, Tom.
#43
strawman Aris - nobody here defends torture. Some would define it low - like defending you - others, myself included, think U*day and Qusay knew REAL torture. Graner was/is a thug and was rightly removed for ugly and unacceptable behavior. BTW - nice grad pics. "Fat and stupid" was a little too harsh IMHO..a little
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2005 22:47 Comments ||
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#44
Camus wrote, "I should like to love justice and love my country equally."
As for this American, I should like to defeat fascism without torturing detainees who are innocent of any association with fascist or other terror.
I believe that to do so requires one to accept responsibility for exposing our sins while simultaneously insisting on the need to carry on, indeed step up, the fight against the fascists.
Don't be absurd. Many people here have honestly, straightforwardly, defended torture. Among those Rantburgers, some have atleast shown the desire to have *non*-sadists be the torturers. And almost all have shown the desire for the torture to be applied only to those certain to have committed terrorism.
And then again some just don't give a shit. Hence Tom defending Graner as a non-sadist and comparing his smile to mine. He either is truly psychopathic and thinks the two occasions are similar, or he is an immature kid continuing his games of baiting. I believe it's the latter, but Tom insists it's the former.
#46
Nice try, punk, but misrepresenting us won't win you friends or converts to the miniscule Aris-friends club. I support killing immediately those without information. Those with information should be broken down within means that ensure the info you drain is accurate. Torture doesn't do that. Argue with that logic, punk
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2005 23:54 Comments ||
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A businessman who lied to investigators about his dealings with a top figure in the militant group Hamas was sentenced Thursday to 13 months in prison. Soliman Biheiri was convicted in October for falsely telling agents in 2003 that he had had no business dealings with Mousa Abu Marzook, a former northern Virginia resident who has been deported and is now a top officer in the political wing of Hamas. Prosecutors said Marzook helped lure $1 million in investment to BMI Inc., Biheiri's now-defunct New Jersey-based business, and that the two engaged in financial transactions involving tens of thousands of dollars as recently as 1996 - a year after the U.S. government designated Marzook a terrorist. The defense had sought an eight-month term. Attorney David Schertler said there is no evidence Marzook received any money from Biheiri after Marzook was designated a terrorist, and Biheiri said during Thursday's hearing that he rejects any associations with terrorism. "I never support terrorism. I never believe in it. I have always believed myself a liberal Muslim. ... How did I know that Abu Marzook, that three years later he would be a member of Hamas?" Biheiri asked.
I dunno. Maybe the black ski mask and green headband might've tipped you off?
Biheiri was convicted in 2003 and sentenced in January 2004 to 12 months in prison on immigration charges. Biheiri has already served his first term and seven months of the term imposed Thursday. He will be deported to Egypt following his release.
From Front Page, an article by Stephen Brown
.... Last December 29, a Cambodian judge handed the three Islamists life sentences in prison for their part in a plot to blow up the American and British embassies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, in 2002. Two of the convicted are Thai Muslims, while the third belongs to Cambodia's indigenous Muslim community. All are believed to be involved with Jemaah Islamiyah, an al Qaeda-linked terrorist network in Southeast Asia, which wants to establish an Islamist super state in the area. A fourth defendant, an Egyptian, was acquitted.
The Cambodian prosecutor in the case said the three planned the terrorist attack with Hambali, the mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia, which killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists. The three Islamists were accused of using a Saudi Arabian-funded Islamic school, where they were employed as teachers, as a cover to carry out the embassy bombings. Cambodian authorities subsequently closed down the Phnom Penh-area school and expelled from the country 28 foreign Muslims and their families, who originated from as far away as Nigeria. ....
The three terrorist-teachers were also accused of having hidden him [Hambali] during his sojourn in Cambodia, during which time he taught them to use explosives. .... The terrorists' arrests occurred in May, 2003, ... after American intelligence had reportedly tipped off Cambodian security authorities. The Phnom Penh Post newspaper also reported that agents from the Central Intelligence Agency interrogated the suspects after they were taken into custody. ....
Islamists are trying to radicalize Cambodia's indigenous Muslim population, which numbers about 500,000 in a nation of 12 million, 90 per cent of which is Buddhist. Most Cambodian Muslims belong to the ethnic Cham minority, while the rest are Malays. .... Islamic fundamentalists, many from the Arab world, have come into the region to "purify" the Islam practiced there with either a strict Wahhabi version or by a form of Islamic orthodoxy called Tablighi Jama'at. .... Arab charities are also active in setting up puritanical schools and mosques around the country. Moreover, about 80 Wahabbi students leave Cambodia every year for religious studies in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, while additional Cambodian Muslim students are contacted in Malaysia, their traditional destination for Islamic education, and are persuaded to move to madrassas in Pakistan. Upon their return ... they take a hard line towards to the traditional practice of Islam in Cambodia. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/14/2005 8:06:40 AM ||
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"Cambodian authorities subsequently closed down the Phnom Penh-area school and expelled from the country 28 foreign Muslims and their families, who originated from as far away as Nigeria. .... "
#4
they expelled a handful of foreign Wahabis, with the support of the HUGE community of domestic muslims, whose traditions are the Wahabis first target. So they CANT be called anti-muslim, and so can get away with this.
IF you want to emulate this Cambodian action, the FIRST task, is to distinguish, as clearly and rigourously as possible, between Wahabism on the one hand, and Islam in general on the other. The govt cant do this, (cause of KSA, mainly, but also other fence sitting Wahabis) but WE sure as hell can.
A Malaysian emissary tapped to negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf kidnapers for the safe recovery of two remaining kidnapped Malaysian citizens has called on the military to mount their rescue operation against their captors in Pandami, Sulu. The emissary contacted Sun.Star Zamboanga Thursday, identifying the two remaining kidnap victims as Mechu Chiong, son of a prominent practicing physician, and his unidentified cousin, both natives of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The emissary, who withheld his name for security reasons, narrated that Chiong and his cousin met a sea mishap, in July 2003, when their sea craft capsized due to big waves that caught them near the boundary, facing Tawi-Tawi island. "They were saved by fishermen who came to their rescue, but the Abu Sayyaf bandits, led by a certain Comdr. Murphy,
Abu Sayyaf Commander Murphy?
He's ruthless. His word is law...
snatched the duo in October 2004 from the fishermen, who took them in custody for more than a year," the emissary recounted. The rescuers, who are Filipino fishermen, were about to turn the duo over to the group of Malaysian negotiators when the Abu Sayyaf Kidnap for Ransom Group (KRG), under Murphy, grabbed them and brought them to their hideout in Pandami, the emissary reported.
"The Philippine military should now conduct its rescue operation against their kidnapers who were also involved in past kidnappings, particularly the Sipadan abduction of various foreign nationals in 2000," the emissary said. The emissary also said that the same group of Murphy was responsible for the abduction and the massacre of the three traveling merchants from Macabebe, Pampanga, the other day. The incident happened in Pandami, the emissary clarified to Sun.Star. One survivor escaped unscathed from the Abu Sayyaf on January 8. The remains of the three slain merchandize peddlers were flown last Wednesday by a C-130 military plane to their hometown in Luzon.
The emissary said he is warning Comdr. Murphy, who is known to have relatives in Sabah, Malaysia, that their group will also take hostage Murphy's kin in their town estate of Sabah to show their vengeance against this kidnap band. "We will arrest and detained all his (Murphy) relatives and his followers in our place if they will not release our two nationals," the emissary vowed. He urged the Philippine military to launch its all-out rescue operation against the kidnapers as the negotiation with the Abu Sayyaf kidnapers has already bogged down.
The emissary revealed that the Abu Sayyaf kidnapers are holed-out with their two captives, at Sitio Tumbagaan, a remote island of Pandami, in Sulu. He said the military should concentrate its operation in this particular island and, if possible, consider as their primordial concern the safety of the two kidnap victims. "It has been more than a year now, and we are already tired negotiating with this kidnappers and nothing happens," the emissary related his despair. The emissary said both the provincial ladders of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu are aware of the incident, as they are also trying to help out in the peaceful negotiation for their release discreetly. According to a reliable military source in Jolo, Task Force Comet, under Army General Agustin Dema-ala, has already mounted its rescue operation in an effort to get rescue the two Malaysian captives from the hands of their Abu Sayyaf captors. The Southern Command here has yet to confirm the reported incident.
A MILITARY jury in Texas today found US soldier Charles Graner guilty of abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
The 10 enlisted soldiers and officers on the jury found Graner, 36, guilty of conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and indecent acts.
The charges related to incidents in which Graner beat prisoners, forced them to masturbate and piled them naked on top of each other.
He did not testify before the verdict was passed, but could do so before the jury sentences him, probably later today.
The court martial was held at the Fort Hood US army base in Texas.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2005 19:18 Comments ||
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#2
Tough to come up with a workable defence when you're guilty. Maybe he and scott can room together after their releases.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/14/2005 19:44 Comments ||
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#3
There you go, Aris, justice. And pretty quick as justice goes. I know it's not on your rape and murder charges, but the prosecution and the jury did the best they could without benefit of your superior jurisprudence based on smile analysis.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/14/2005 20:20 Comments ||
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#4
smile *description* analysis
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2005 20:24 Comments ||
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#5
No Tom, I remember it well. They have to be killed in gruesome fashion, because their crimes are so much worse than rape and murder. Because they're Americans, you see. And they saw the pee-pees and poo-poos of Muslims, and in the relative moral practice of Islamic jurisprudence, this is worthy of the deaths of the instigators. Especially if they're arrogant Americans.
#4
Alas, I won't be attending: my son is coming home next week after a year in Iraq and he takes priority over everything else, even-- gasp!-- Rantburg. But I did send Fred $50 so you can all enjoy a round on me.
#12
Sea, I've been using my normal blog tip money for tsunami relief, but did drop $10 in Fred's tip jar - someone please drink a drink for me [as I slave away at work down here :-( ]. Pinot Grigio if you can. [Or a decent champagne. :-D] I'll be thinking of you all - and will lift a Diet Coke "with" you at 1 and again at 2.
Let me know if y'all need bail money.... ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/14/2005 20:26 Comments ||
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#13
Where's "down here" for you, Barbara?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
01/14/2005 20:38 Comments ||
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#14
Barb, bad, AB, Ship, muck...y'all are too kind. Fred's cooking keeping the books here, so we might or might not be able to offer a full accounting of the funds...
I think this is the third time we've done this story.
January 14, 2005: During the November, 2004 battle for Fallujah, a U.S. Marine sniper made the longest range kills so far in Iraq. Reservist sergeant Herbert B. Hancock, chief scout sniper for the 1st battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, shot four Iraqis at a range of some 970 meters. The 35 year-old marine is a Texas police officer in civilian life. The shooting was done with the 7.62mm M40A3, bolt action rifle. Based on the Remington 700 short action rifle, the M40A3s are hand made to marine specifications. The rifle weighs 16.5 pounds, is 44.25 inches long and uses a 10X scope. The rifle comes with a bipod, and a rail that can also mount night vision scopes. Marine snipers operate in teams of two men, with the other man, who is often also a qualified sniper, acting as a spotter (usually with a 20X scope and binoculars.) A 970 meter shot is difficult for a 7.62mm rifle, especially in Iraq, with it's heat and humidity (which interferes with the predictability of the bullets flight). Shooting is easier in Afghanistan, where higher elevations provide thinner, drier air, and cooler temperatures. The U.S. Army has been following the marine example by training more snipers and supplying each infantry battalion with at least half a dozen of them. The snipers are particularly effective in Iraq, where the enemy fighters are generally amateurs, and don't know how important it is to constantly stay under cover.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/14/2005 11:48:47 AM ||
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Hmmmm... our chief sniper is Herbie Hancock.
This brings new meaning to the album Future Shock.
Must. Put. That. On. NOW. "Earthbeat" is so rockin'!
#2
The snipers are particularly effective in Iraq, where the enemy fighters are generally amateurs, and don’t know how important it is to constantly stay under cover.
Yet another reason to simply dust these twats instead of capturing them: they're relatively easy to kill.
Cattle Rustler Roundup The Border Security Force of India shot dead two persons, including a Bangladeshi villager, and two Indian miscreants were beaten to death in the past two days along the north-western frontiers, the police and the Bangladesh Rifles sources said. According to the sources and public representatives, the BSF men of Mandal Bosti camp under 32 BSF battalion opened fire on a group of Indian cattle smugglers at 6.30am on Thursday, killing an unidentified Indian smuggler near pillar no 418/95 opposite the Mistripara outpost of the BDR along the Panchagarh Sadar borders. A company commander-level flag meeting attended by union parishad and panchayat bodies Thursday afternoon confirmed that the slain was an Indian.
An alleged Indian cow-lifter, Patal, of Baksree Dangar Pahar under Islampur thana of Uttar Dinajpur, was beaten to death by villagers at about 3:00am on Wednesday in village Baragaon under Atoari upazila of Panchagarh. The incident took place when Patal, brother of slain notorious Indian robber Mozaffar, along with his associates, intruded into Bangladesh through a place near pillar no 406 and was caught alone by villagers while they were returning to India along with two lifted cows about 2.5km inside Bangladesh.
"Howdy boys, them ain't your cows now, are they?"
At a flag meeting between the company commander, Abdul Aziz of BDR of Giragaon company under Thakurgaon 20 Rifle battalion, and the company commander, AC Nag of Fotepur BSF company under 32 BSF battalion, Thursday afternoon near the spot, the body was identified by the BSF to be of an Indian but refused to accept it.
"You killed him, you plant him."
In a separate incident, the BSF troops of Sobdulpur camp opposite Chowka border of Shibganj upazila under Chapainawabganj battalion of the BDR shot dead villager Kalu Mia, 28, son of Lokman Ali of village Biswanathpur, along the Shibganj border early Wednesday.
The victim was shot while he was going to the field to respond a natural call.
I guess peeing in a field is a capital offense.
The BSF men took away the body into India and it was expected to be handed over to the Bangladesh Police through a company commander-level flag meeting Thursday afternoon between BDR and BSF.
In a separate incident, an Indian robber, Eslam, 29, of village Milik under Kaliachak thana in Maldah, was beaten to death at village Hothatpara under Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj early Tuesday. Eslam, along with his accomplices, from India tried to commit a robbery at the house of Irfan Ali in the Bangladeshi village when villagers caught him. His associates fled back to India.
"Run away!"
The BDR sent a letter to BSF to receive the body of the Indian robber through a flag meeting between the two border forces along the Shibganj border but the BSF side remained silent till 5:30pm on Thursday, the sources in police, BDR and public representatives said.
Bagmara rally hails RAB action
Jan 13: Riding on motor-bikes and tempos, nearly 200 people of Bagmara thana took out a procession congratulating the action of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) last noon.
Support your local police
According to sources, the procession organised by some local people paraded various villages of Bagmara including Goalkandi, Ramrama, Hamirkutsa, Sikdari and Tahirpur hailing the contribution of RAB in curbing terrorism in the upazila. Later on the organisers of the procession held a meeting at Tahirpur. The speakers in the meeting demanded deployment of RAB at the area for a longer period to ensure a sustainable peace. They also thanked the RAB members for arresting a number of hard core terrorists of PBCP alias Sarbahara and death of some of those in the cross fire. It is learnt, during the time of procession, hundreds of road side people congratulated them with clapping and expressed their satisfaction over the death of Sarbahara leader Moslem in cross fire.
"All hail crossfire! Drinks are on me!"
Three outlaws, one criminal die in crossfire
Our correspondent from Jhenaidah reports: A notorious toll collector and cadre of outlawed Purbabanglar Communist Party (ML) was killed in a crossfire between his followers and police at Hingerpara in Harinakundu upazila early yesterday.
The incident occurred at 3.35 am and the dead was identified as Abdul Aziz, son of Joinuddin Mondal of village Bherakhali in Harinakunda upazila. Police said Abdul Aziz left the area three months ago following the crackdown of law enforcers on the terrorists. A police team of Harinakunda thana, however, could arrest him at his new den at Savar thana area of Dhaka district on the night of January 11 and was taken to Harinakunda thana where on interrogation Abdul Aziz gave his firearms to police.
"Where'd you hide the guns, Abdul?"
"If I tell you, you're just gonna kill me!"
"Who, us?"
Police took him to a village in Chuadanga sadar thana on Wednesday and recovered a pipe gun and two bullets on the basis of his confession. Later police went to village Hingerpara to collect more arms where Abdul Aziz's men fired at police.
Just like it was scripted
In this situation Abdul Aziz tried to flee and was killed in the cross-fire.
"Ouch, I knew this was going to happen... Rosebud....."
There was several cases including 8 murders against him. He formed an extortionists' gang at the area and collected tolls by abducting dozens of innocent men in Harinakunda, Alamdanga and Kushtia sadar upazila for years together.
Agencies add: Two top leaders of Gana Muktifouz were killed in crossfire in Kushtia and three cadres of Purbabanglar Communist Party (ML-Janajuddah) arrested from the Khulna city and four arms recovered yesterday. A team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-6 at Kushtia arrested the two top leaders, Belal Ahmed and Mahmudul Islam, from Motijheel of the capital on Wednesday. The arrested persons were participating in the tender at the drug administration office under the command of a top leader of the outlawed party. The arrested persons confessed to the RAB that they used to purchase arms and ammunition by the tender money and also gave information about some party cadres Alim, Zahid Master, Saddam, Kota and Mozam. Accordingly, when the RAB team went to arrest those criminals at Shastipur village under Kushtia thana yesterday, the activists of Gana Muktifouz opened fire on them. The RAB also returned the fire.
At that time the arrested persons tried to flee the RAB custody and were caught in crossfire.
Fancy that
They died on the spot. The miscreants at one stage fled away leaving behind arms and ammunition.
Almost like they were never there
The RAB recovered a foreign-made .22 bore rifle with 12 bullets, a gun with four live cartridges and a cut rifle from the place. The police said the dead were wanted in several murder cases including abduction and extortion in various thanas of Kushtia. The RAB handed over the bodies and the arms to police in the afternoon.
In another incident, a special team of RAB-6 arrested three cadres of Purbabanglar Communist Party (ML-Janajuddah) from Arang Ghata under Daulatpur thana of the city in the early hours of today. The RAB team raided a hideout of the outlaws at Arang Ghata and arrested Kobbat Gazi, 35, son of Barek Gazi and Rabiul Islam, 30, son of Moksed Sheikh of the Gaikur village and Nazir Khan, 40, son of Kalu Khan of Arang Ghata village under Daulatpur thana, Khulna.
The RAB team also recovered a country-made gun with two live cartridges on the basis of their confession. Police said all of them are the active cadres of PBCP (Janajuddah) and listed criminals. They were wanted in several murder cases. The arrested were handed over to Daulatpur thana. A case was registered with Daulatpur thana.
A suspected terrorist was killed in a crossfire between police and his cohorts in Brahmanpara Upazila early yesterday. The deceased was identified as Abul Hashem alias Hashimma, 40, of Mohalaxmipara village in Brahmapara Upazila. He was wanted in a number of dacoity, terrorism and car hijacking cases. Police said they arrested Hashem from Mirpur area of the upazila on Wednesday and on the basis of his confession they along with him went near the Chandladeus road at about 1 am to arrest his accomplices and recover firearms.
Dark lonely road, 1 AM, just like they teach in the Bangla Police Academy
As soon as they reached the spot, his cohorts opened fire on the police, forcing them to fire back. During the exchange of fire Hashem was trying to escape but a bullet hit him, police said.
One fatal bullet, in the dark, while he's running away
The doctors declared him dead when he was taken to the Upazila Health Complex.
"He's dead, Jim"
During the gunfight, OC Kamaluddin and a police constable sustained bullet wounds. Police recovered a .22 bore revolver, bullets and cartridges from the spot. A case was filed.
Jhenidah Janajuddo's Jumped
Tipped off on Wednesday morning, a team of Harinakundu police in Jhenidah arrested Azizur Rahman from the Khamr area of Savar in Dhaka. Under interrogation he later admitted to possessing a number of firearms that were hidden in various places throughout the village Jhingerpara in Harinakundu upazila in the district. Following the leads, a police team went to village Jhingerpara to recover the PBCP's hidden firearms. A bloody gunfight ensued when they neared the village, as Janajuddho cadres opened fire on them, prompting them to retaliate. Aziz was shot and killed on the spot as he tried to flee by jumping from the police van.
"Feet, don't fail.........ah, crap....."
Police later recovered one cut-rifle, one foreign rifle and 10 bullets from the spot. Police said Aziz, hailing from village Jhingerpara, was accused in 18 criminal cases, including 8 murder cases.
Threat by outlaws' wives
Jan 13: Commissioner of Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) Md Zaved Patwary said here today that the policemen would not be cowered in the discharge of their duty in the face of the reported formation of "death squad" by the wives of some outlaws who were killed in "crossfire" during the incidents of gunfight between the law enforcers and the miscreants last year. The newly—appointed police commissioner of KMP said this while exchanging views with the local newsmen at the KMP conference room this morning about the law and order situation in the city.
The wives of some victims of "crossfire" incidents are reported to have recently formed a secret body to avenge the killings of their husbands by the law enforcers.
Guess it's not "secret" anymore
Commissioner Zaved said," We are neither afraid nor scared of any threats meted to us by the outlaws. Nothing will deter the police force from nabbing the miscreants involved in creating law and order situation." He added," We have already received information through our own channel that the widows of some outlaws are planning to form a body to take revenge for the killings of their husbands. We are now checking the veracity of the information and acting accordingly."
"We'll have a talk with them, soon as we can find a suitable vacent lot"
He continued that the formation of death squad by the wives of the outlaws may also be a tactics to demoralise the police force who have geared up their activities in recent months against the outlaws and the criminals in Khulna division including Khulna metropolitan area.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/14/2005 8:31:35 AM ||
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I don't see much of a need for a Cold Case Squad at the Bangladeshi PD.
Sunni Muslim militants claimed responsibility Friday for the assassination of a community leader who was working to get out the vote on behalf of Iraq's top Shiite cleric, and three American troops were killed in persistent violence ahead of this month's elections.
The Sunni Muslim group of Ansar al-Islam (search) said it targeted Sheik Mahmoud Finjan (search) as a supporter of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (search), and "as a big supporter of the elections."
A separate ambush in Iraq's north killed three officials of a party representing Iraq's Kurds — like the Shiites, working aggressively for a high turnout in a vote expected to pry a large measure of power from Iraq's long-dominant Sunni minority.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (search), meanwhile, said conditions for the Jan. 30 national elections were "far from ideal" and Iraqi officials should intensify efforts to make the balloting inclusive.
Finjan was one of many representatives of al-Sistani — Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric — working to get Iraq's suppressed Shiite Muslim majority to the polls.
Finjan was shot to death Wednesday as he headed home after evening prayers in a mosque at the town of Salman Pak southeast of Baghdad. Attackers also killed Finjan's son and four bodyguards.
The attacks were the latest blamed on Sunni extremists in what's expected to be an escalating campaign of violence aimed at intimidating would-be voters.
"We ... call upon all brother citizens not to participate in the elections because we are going to attack voting centers," Ansar al-Islam said in the statement claiming responsibility, renewing Sunni extremist demands for a boycott of the balloting. The message was posted on a Web site used by insurgents.
Established after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Ansar al-Islam is one of Iraq's older extremist groups — predating even the U.S. toppling of Saddam Hussein. The group has been linked to al-Qaida.
One of its offshoots, Ansar al-Sunnah, has emerged in recent months as the deadliest homegrown Iraqi group.
Attacks claimed by Ansar al-Sunnah include a December suicide bombing that killed 22 people, mostly Americans, at a U.S. military mess tent in the northern city of Mosul; the August executions of 12 Nepalese construction workers; and twin suicide bombings in February that killed 109 members of Iraq's assertive Kurd minority.
Many Sunni Muslim leaders say Iraq remains too violent to allow for a free election and have urged its postponement.
On Thursday night, gunmen killed an Iraqi election official in western Baghdad, police said, marking at least the seventh such killing ahead of the vote. Attackers in a passing car fired upon Abdul Karim Jassem Al-Ubeidi as he headed home, police Capt. Imad Thamir said.
Speaking to journalists at a conference in Mauritius, Annan said the participation of Sunni Arabs in the election was critical.
"I have always made clear that the elections must be as inclusive as possible if they are to contribute positively to political transition in Iraq," the U.N. chief said.
"It is clear that the vast majority of Iraqis are eager to exercise their democratic right to vote," Annan said. "But it is equally obvious that the conditions in which the election is being held are far from ideal."
The U.S. military reported some of the latest violence Friday — the deaths of three U.S. troops in two provinces feared to be too violence-wracked for the vote.
Two Marines of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force died in action Thursday in the western province of Anbar, the U.S. military said in a statement.
And a 1st Infantry Division soldier died while supporting Task Force Olympia operations around the volatile northern city of Mosul the same day, the military said. American forces gave no details.
Another Mosul attack Thursday saw gunmen ambush a car carrying officials of the Kurdish Democratic Party, killing three of them, another party official said.
The Kurdish Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani is one of two main factions of Iraq's Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of the population.
Iraq's Kurds and Shiites, who were dominated by the Sunnis since the Ottoman era, have been fervent supporters of the elections, which will seat a temporary government charged with writing a post-Saddam constitution and overseeing new balloting under it.
Anbar and Mosul's province of Ninevah are two of four provinces conceded by U.S. ground force commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz to be potentially too dangerous for significant voter participation.
The four, among 18 total provinces in Iraq, hold nearly a quarter of Iraq's 26 million people.
In the north, police arrested four people Friday after finding machine guns and rockets packed into their car. The suspected insurgents were pulled over and searched on a road near the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, police Brig. Sarhat Qadir said in Kirkuk.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/14/2005 8:56:49 AM ||
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Palestinian militants killed six Israelis in a bombing and shooting attack at the main commercial crossing into Gaza, mounting their strongest challenge yet to President-elect Mahmoud Abbas and his call for non-violence.
Hours after the incident, there was still no comment from Abbas, while Israel signaled it would weigh its response to the operation carefully to avoid weakening a leader it has said it could do business with after years of shunning Yasser Arafat (news - web sites).
Israeli Transport Minister Meir Sheetrit said on Israel Radio on Friday the terminal, a major lifeline for supplies to 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, would remain closed until further notice as a result of the attack.
Abbas swept to power with an overwhelming victory in last Sunday's presidential poll in the West Bank and Gaza and will be sworn in on Saturday to replace Arafat, who died on Nov. 11.
The new Palestinian leader has urged a cease-fire in more than four years of bloodshed to allow resumption of talks with Israel on peace and Palestinian statehood, a call rejected by militants he has said he planned to co-opt rather than confront.
"The attack was a continuation of resistance," said Abu Abir of the Popular Resistance Committees, another of the three factions which issued a joint claim of responsibility. It called the operation a response to Israel's killing of a West Bank militant and other Palestinians in recent days.
Hamas Islamic militants were also involved and said they had hoped to kidnap Israeli soldiers in order to swap them for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The Karni attack was the bloodiest incident in Gaza in more than a week and caused the highest number of Israeli deaths since a tunnel rigged with explosives blew up on Dec. 12, killing five soldiers.
STRENGTHENING ABBAS
"Israel must press ahead with...its own military moves in order to try to prevent the next attack," Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Army Radio.
But she said: "We must try to strengthen Abu Mazen (Abbas) as a leader, assuming that that at some time or other he will be able take control of the terror organizations."
In a statement, the Israeli army said that militants had planted a large explosive at a door separating the Israeli and Palestinian sides of the terminal, blasting a hole through which three gunmen infiltrated the Israeli side.
"As a result of the explosion and during exchanges of fire which evolved at the scene, six Israeli civilians and three Palestinians were killed," the army said.
Shortly after the blast, Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a clinic in a Gaza refugee camp run by a charity allied with militants, injuring one passerby, the army and witnesses said.
Israel's military commander in Gaza said the army's fight against militants, in the run-up to a planned Israeli withdrawal from the area later this year, was on-going.
"Just last month, more than 40 terrorists were killed in dozens of operations in Gaza, most of them very selective attacks by our forces," Brigadier Aviv Kochavi told Army Radio. "The fighting will continue without announcing (this or that operation)."
Posted by: tipper ||
01/14/2005 2:27:05 AM ||
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#3
Indeed, Abbas is nothing, nothing new. Surely no one thinks anything of substance has changed. The cast of characters, minus Arafart, adds up to the same twisted pile of hate, corruption, and human offal that it did before his departure. There is no Road Map. There is no peace process. There is only the visceral hatred of the Paleos and the sham that those who hide it better pretend to fall for when some minor detail changes.
#4
the terminal, a major lifeline for supplies to 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza would remain closed until further notice as a result of the attack. cause, meet effect.
I'm not a rose colored glasses kind of person - but I have to say that my surprise meter has twitched a bit with Abbas. It may just be because Arafat was soooooo bad and such a corrupt leader that anyone would look better. It will be interesting to see how he handles this first challenge.
#7
Difference doesnt mean success. Arafat encouraged terror. Abbas clearly does not - but IF his discouragement is toothless, if he is a pacifist who opposes terror but lacks the cojones to DO anything, he will be little better. However it is distincly too soon to know. I THINK Sharon thinks there IS a difference. Though of course thats impossible to prove, since even if he didnt, hed have no choice at this point but to make nicey-nice with Abbas. It is certainly very true that the ball is now in Abbas' court - AAMB is affiliated with Fatah, and Fatah now has Abbas' name on it, as in "Abbas' Fatah". Its one thing to say he cant control Hamas, to admit that he cant even control Fatah is very damaging.
#8
Hmmm...I'm not sure that he can control Hamas anymore than Israel or we can. But that doesn't mean that he can't act as a leader who will move the Pal's forward. I'm probably being overly optimistic - but I'm not hurting anyone.
#9
Abbas is nothing...... exactly like all the wheelchairs juindu of this blog.
the Russian expatriate squatters living in iszra gonna have to paid rent soon and back here in turkey and corn land. hunt season will open again as open every 74 year.
juiced where is your historic memory?
OK Sibilla here's a short haiku just for you,
Me iszra juiced juindo
I pay rent to god
say your final prayers 'cuz
soon allah have close encounter with you
in the corn and turkey sandwich land
#10
The new Palestinian leader has urged a cease-fire in more than four years of bloodshed to allow resumption of talks with Israel on peace and Palestinian statehood, a call rejected by militants he has said he planned to co-opt rather than confront.
The problem with "co-opting" terrorists (How in the hell does one do that anyway?) is that there is no immediate incentive to stop their deadly activities. Action is required now, not later.
roses red
trolls yeller
and soon we will take back our oil and send the population to siberia where they will milk love goats.
Posted by: Atom Ant ||
01/14/2005 18:30 Comments ||
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#12
Abbas is nothing...... exactly like all the wheelchairs juindu of this blog.
the Russian expatriate squatters living in iszra gonna have to paid rent soon and back here in turkey and corn land. hunt season will open again as open every 74 year.
juiced where is your historic memory?
Remnants of Afghanistan's ousted Taleban government have killed six Afghan troops in a restive southern province of the country, a local official said on Thursday. The soldiers were seized from a military vehicle on Wednesday in Washare district of Helmand province, Haji Mohammad Wali, a provincial spokesman said. "Then the Taleban killed the six soldiers and dumped their bodies near an underground water canal," Wali told reporters.
Are the Afghan troops allowed to shoot back? Just asking.
Suspected Taleban attacks have subsided since Afghanistan's first-ever presidential elections in October. Wednesday's attack had the highest death toll for months. Helmand lies near the border with Iran and Pakistan and is one of the leading narcotics-producing regions of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2005 1:00:46 AM ||
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#1
If your definetley going to be killed when captured, you'd think you'd at least fight very hard while being caputured.
Punishment remitted too often
According to Jang, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, from a 'larger bench' of the Supreme Court in Lahore, said that the government was too generous in remitting punishments handed down by the courts. Many criminals were let off on flimsy excuses, who then went back to life of crime. He said in one case a prisoner was let off by the government on his learning the Quran by heart, but when he was asked to recite a verse (ayatul kursi) he could not remember it. The bench said that a prisoner given 25 years goes on appeal but before his appeal lands at the Supreme Court he is let off on remission. What should the court do? In other countries, life imprisonment meant life but in Pakistan prisoners were let off through special remissions of all sorts, on national days, and as inam and such pretexts as hifz Quran. In all, over 60 cases were before the court. The court then asked the provinces to provide lists of convicts thus let off. According to Nawa-e-Waqt, Justice Ramday said that life sentence was equal to death and the prisoner should leave jail only after his death.
A society of 'khabay'
Columnist Nazeer Naji wrote in Jang that he was not very hopeful that the American policy in Pakistan would be able to change the culture of the country back to what it used to be, but he wished sincerely that it would. He said Pakistan used to be a warm-blooded society which encouraged arts and tolerated differences of style of life; but now it was controlled by cruel ideologues who taught men to kill each other for sect. Pakistan was once full of entertainment and, like anywhere in Europe, one could see Pakistanis enjoying themselves at restaurants, dance clubs, navy and air force messes; but now all that was gone and it had become difficult to breathe in an atmosphere of civic liberties. Society was dominated by clerics who did much more useful scholarly work when culture was alive; now they simply joined the oppressive forces. All culture was focused on khabay khana (eating big) and then letting off dakaar (burp) and going home sleepy with over-eating. Would America be able to change all this?
Film on Shia-Sunni unity threatened
According to Khabrain, film producer Syed Nur was being threatened by unknown persons for his film Ham aik hain (we are one). The theme of his film was unity of Shia and Sunni communities in Pakistan. The film actually showed that it was not Shia and Sunni communities fighting with each other. It showed that a third power outside Pakistan was doing all the killings. But because of a scene of matam (self-flagellation) he was receiving death threats from the very communities he was exonerating from sectarianism.
Bridegroom teases girls
According to Jang a marriage hall in Sabzi Mandi in Lahore saw a strange drama of eve-teasing. Two barats (wedding parties) had arrives from Tatlay Aali and Gakhar Mandi; but once in the hall the barati people started teasing the women and touching them. On this, the two barats clashed. Chairs were flung at each other (kursian chal gayeen) and there was exchange of mukka ghoonsa (fisticuffs) after which the police arrived and took doolha (bridegroom) Tariq in custody. He was made to rest in thana with his paraphernalia till the two parties had reached an understanding.
Musharraf's photo on banknotes
Sarerahe wrote in Nawa-e-Waqt that an organisation called People's Movement took out a procession in Islamabad asking President Musharraf to print his portrait on the banknotes in Pakistan. They were carrying banners saying Musharraf ka jo ghaddar hai goli ka haqdar hai (He who betrays Musharraf deserves to be shot). The movement also threatened that if the president took off his uniform its ten members will burn themselves in front of his house.
Is this blasphemy?
Writing in Jang, Javed Chaudhry said that the tomb of Barri Imam near Islamabad was being designed and the design was identical with the one seen at the mausoleum of Prophet Muhammad PBUH in Madina. He stated that the planned tomb at Barri Imam was so identical that it could amount to blasphemy.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
01/14/2005 12:05:40 AM ||
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#1
All culture was focused on khabay khana (eating big) and then letting off dakaar (burp)
Ahhh, those were the days...
Posted by: Rafael ||
01/14/2005 0:13 Comments ||
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#4
Every wedding I ever went to ended like that. It's comforting to know that the Pakis made the bridegroom rest his paraphernalia. He'll need it later.
#5
Islam is returning the world to the Dark Ages just wait until they have an Islamic Bomb and a regime stupid enough to use it. Typical of Europe, they will do nothing to prevent this proliferation until it is too late. Remember - Saar, Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, oh shit there goes Poland. Now it's more like Islamists in Iran, then Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq -when the Liberals force us out - Yemen, Jordan, Syria etc. etc. PS keep an eye on Sudan they've already showed their inclination toward genocide.
Prepare your sword and shield they are coming.
I think my hair's growing back, too. Really. I got this fuzz showing up, and it used to be all smooth like a billiard ball...
Sensing a growing yearning for calm among ordinary Palestinians, Hamas is open to stopping violence against Israel, a top official in the militant Islamic group said Thursday. Meanwhile, newly elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was preparing a government clear-out Thursday, as he welcomed the formation of a new Israeli coalition as a chance to advance the peace process. Sheik Hassan Yousef, top Hamas leader in the West Bank, said the group is not trying to destroy Israel. The comments were a marked departure from Hamas' usual calls for elimination of the Jewish state.
A halt in attacks by Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings that killed hundreds of Israelis during four years of conflict, would give newly elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas an important boost in his efforts to restart peace talks. Yousef, who is among Hamas' founding members, is known as a relative moderate within the group, and other leaders couldn't immediately be reached for reaction. The group's main leaders are based in Syria and Lebanon, and they usually stick to the Islamic movement's uncompromising line against Israel. Yousef said the group is reconsidering its violent tactics, though a final decision hasn't been made.
Despite Yousef's comments, Israelis were skeptical. "We're going to have to see what the reaction is. This guy has a reputation for piping off," cautioned Mark Heller, an analyst at the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. "I don't think he was speaking for the (Hamas) movement." No formal announcement on a new-look Palestinian government was expected to be made before Abbas's installation on Saturday but political sources said a number of allies of his late predecessor Yasser Arafat were facing the ax.
"At least four or five ministers will leave," one official said on condition of anonymity. "We know for sure that (Interior Minister) Hakam Balawi will go." Balawi is almost certain to be replaced by Nasser Yusef whose appointment by prime minister Ahmed Qurei was blocked by Arafat in late 2003. The change of interior minister, a key post in the security sphere, follows the resignation of Arafat's old presidential national security adviser, Jibril Rajoub.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2005 9:23:34 PM ||
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#1
Rajoub is out? I thought Rajoub had jumped to the Abbas-Dahlan side, but I could be wrong. Maybe theyre gonna keep him out in the cold for a while. I still dont expect popcorn on his account, but im reconsidering.
At least five Israeli security guards were killed and four wounded late Thursday night in a combined bombing and shooting attack at the Karni crossing point from the Gaza Strip, military sources said. Three Palestinian terrorists were reported killed. According to first reports, the terminal came under shell and gunfire, and then, shortly before 11 p.m., a truck loaded with explosives drove up to a wall in the southern part of the terminal and blew up, smashing a hole through which the gunmen entered. They opened fire in all directions, causing the Israeli casualties before they were shot dead. Nine bodies were later recovered. Five have been identified as Israelis. Three were said to be Palestinians. The ninth had not been identified. Casualties were caused from both explosions. Golani forces and border police were deployed to the area with Air Force helicopter support, and pursued a third suicide bomber who apparently managed to escape, IDF officials said.
Shortly after the massive explosion, gun battles erupted between security forces and Palestinian gunmen. They have since ceased. Two of the Israeli dead were security guards. MDA officials said they evacuated the four wounded to the Soroka Hosptial. Three were in critical condition and the fourth was lightly wounded. All the wounded are civilian security guards. Owing to the fierce gunbattles at the site of the explosion, Magen David Adom officials reported that they had extreme difficulty in reaching the wounded in order to treat them. The Aksa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah, claimed responsibility, as did Hamas and the umbrella Popular Resistance Committee. Fatah hailed "a martyrdom operation" at Karni, which is the main crossing point for goods transported to and from Gaza. Fatah Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades claimed that they succeeded in sneaking a 100 kg bomb to the crossing. The attack was in response to the assassination of a member of the al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades, the organization said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2005 9:58:57 PM ||
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#1
Imagine what would've happened if we didn't have a moderate like Abu Mazen in control of Palestine.
#2
Everytinme I see the picture of this masked terrorist assclown I laugh at the toy gun he is holding. Look closely. It's a solid peice of black plastic.
Oh yea Abu Mazen is ready to make peace, my ass.
This is just a continuation of the Arafish doctrine. If the Israeli Army decided to it could destroy every man woman and child in the Gaza in one day. Is that going to be what it is going to take to break these morons of their 50+ years of terrorism?
Departing from fiery Islamic slogans, Iraqi guerrillas have launched a propaganda campaign with an English-language video urging U.S. troops to lay down their weapons and seek refuge in mosques and homes. Campaign like P&G? Refuge in Moskks and homes, ya say? Like Nick Berg?
The video, narrated in fluent English by what sounded like an Iraqi educated in the United States or Britain, also mocked the U.S. president's challenge to rebels in the early days of the insurgency to 'bring it on'. "George W. Bush; you have asked us to 'bring it on'. And so help me, (we will) like you never expected. Do you have another challenge?," asked the narrator before the video showed explosions around a U.S. military Humvee vehicle. Yeehaww, shouts the cowboy Bush. Ya want some more? 'Cause we got more! Yeah, I DO have another challenge, ya punk. Quit hiding behind your womenfolk's burkas, take off your mask and fight like men, REAL men. Come out on the 30th and make your case, punk.
Threats intended to demoralise and frighten in the tense build up to elections at the end of the month were tempered with invitations to desert and escape retribution. I hear the Marines and Soldiers are oh so worried. Show your faces like real men.
A masked guerrilla from an unknown group called the Islamic Jihad Army, eschewing past impassioned Arabic-language threats of holy war, told U.S. soldiers: "This is not your war, nor are you fighting for a true cause in Iraq." It is our war. We started it and we WILL finish it. Your rotting dead bodies will be the proof.
"To the American soldiers we say you can also choose to fight tyranny with us. Lay down your weapons and seek refuge in our mosques, churches and homes. We will protect you," he said. Fight tyranny with you? Like we fought with Hitler and Tojo? In your CHURCHES?? Meaning the ones ya haven't blown up yet?
There was no way of verifying the authenticity of the video obtained by Reuters. Previous insurgent videos have been dominated by grisly beheadings of foreign hostages who kneel beside radical Islamic banners before their deaths. The Islamic Jihad Army video featured familiar scenes of guerrillas blowing up U.S. convoys but also highlighted some of the key issues of the Iraq war, from weapons of mass destruction to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "We have not crossed the oceans and seas to occupy Britain or the U.S. nor are we responsible for 9/11. These are only a few of these lies that these criminals present to cover their true plans," said the narrator, apparently referring to the Bush administration's assertion of a link between Saddam Hussein and those attacks. Is Bob Shrum working for you guys now?
A masked speaker with a machine gun beside him delivered his message to triumphant music with the ring of U.S. military propaganda films during World War Two. He said the enemy was on the run as the video showed guerrillas firing on U.S. convoys, standing beside the corpse of an American soldier, or loading a large shell for an attack. On the run? You know where to find us, punk. Stop by.
The U.S. military has said it would stay in Iraq until the country is by its definition secure. The rebels focused on political issues that divided the United States and its European allies over the war in Iraq while reminding troops of casualties with images of burning trucks. "We also thank France, Germany and other states for their positions, which we need to say are considered wise and valid until now," said the narrator, who also urged economic warfare against Washington. "Stop using the U.S. dollar. Use the Euro or a basket of currencies," he said on the video dated December 10, 2004. Dollar BAD, Basket of currencies, GOOD
At least 1,067 U.S. troops have died in combat since the start of the war that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Along with at least 20 times that in dead Jihadis.
#9
Luke Skywalker, don't resist the force, come into the force.
Luke, Luke, you mustn't go, don't give into the dark side.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/14/2005 10:20 Comments ||
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#10
....It is your destiny.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/14/2005 10:21 Comments ||
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#11
Departing from fiery Islamic slogans, Iraqi guerrillas have launched a propaganda campaign with an English-language video urging U.S. troops to lay down their weapons and seek refuge in mosques and homes.
That ain't goin happen you dip wad, numb nuts, boneheaded ignorant bastards. You dip shit pricks aren't going to see this in your lifetime.
#14
Maybe not, BAR, but I'll bet they're giving hours of entertainment to the GIs in Iraq. They must be laughing their asses off at this.
Let's face it - Tokyo Rose these clowns are not. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/14/2005 12:29 Comments ||
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"We also thank France, Germany and other states for their positions, which we need to say are considered wise and valid until now," said the narrator
According to Nawa-e-Waqt (November 23, 2004) the men who killed Lahore's renowned but controversial religious scholar Dr Ghulam Murtaza Malik in 2002 were arrested by the police during a chance stop-and-search operation. The two were violent criminals produced in the past years by a mixing of jihad with crime. In the decade of the 1990s jihad brought more weapons into the underworld and gave rise to new brands of armed robbery. Youths taking to it found it easier to kill and stick around without witnesses rather than steal and flee as they used to do in old days.
"If da witnesses is dead, dey got nuttin' on youse!"
The arrested dacoits admitted that Dr Hafeez Shahid of Pattoki, a leader of Sunni Tehreek, had told them to kill two religious scholars because they were 'insulters' of the Prophet (PTUI peace be upon him). They lured a rather greedy Dr Malik out of his house on the promise that they would gift a piece of land to him and shot him dead on a deserted road. They also killed another religious scholar Prof Ataur Rehman Saqib the same year for the same 'offence'.
Wonder what was done to Hafiz Shahid? My guess would be nothing...
Both the killers turned out to be high-school dropouts who found killing and stealing an easier way of life. Their conscience was put at rest by the realisation that they were also killing in the name of Islam — in this case to protect the divine reputation of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
... which is peculiarly susceptible to being sullied by the least word or gesture...
The man who put them up to it, Dr Hafeez Shahid, ran a religious party called Sunni Tehreek. When it hounded non-Muslims in Gujranwala, using the Blasphemy Law, it was eulogised and the government did nothing against it. But then its religious leader thought that because some fellow-ulema were not toeing his line he could get rid of them through hired killers. Now the police is looking for Dr Shahid.
Have they tried his house? I'm surprised that a FIR was even registered...
He may have killed many more whose deaths we have been blaming on India and the United States. The truth however is quite unsavoury as it gradually comes to light. Murtaza Malik was a rich man because of contacts with the GHQ where an Islamist general who has recently retired patronised him. So big was the sale of his books to the army that he had reportedly started up his own paper-making factory. Malik was PTV's most patronised cleric because of the GHQ connection. Now his son Bilal is on PTV and has his father's distinctive style.
... and Pop's connections, as well. And I'd guess that since his books are selling to the army, and Dr. Shahid's aren't, he's likely to be hit, too...
Writing in Jang (November 17, 2004) Nazir Naji stated that in the past Pakistani society was more free. People used to preach Islam but there was more emphasis on example than on coercion. Today any kind of celebration is banned. We cannot celebrate the new year, we cannot celebrate weddings if we serve food; and singing which used to be so common in the past is now disapproved. Pretty dresses for women are now frowned at. Anglo-Indian ladies who once plied their bicycles freely in Lahore have long been chased migrated out of Pakistan. Restaurants where the youth of Lahore used to enjoy their evenings are nowhere in sight. Pakistani films show goonda-gardi and Kalashnikov culture instead of romance. Worshippers at mosques are no longer safe. Even different dresses for the different sects have been made obligatory in some communities. Pakistani society is internally riven with narrow-mindedness.
You don't think Qazi and Fazl and Sami might have had something to do with that, do you? And maybe Hamid Gul?
If we lost our freedom it should have been for a good cause. One cause could be religious scholarship. The clergy was given a chance to show what they could do, but no one has written a single respectable book since late Maulana Maududi wrote his famous exegesis Tafheem al Quran. Qazi Hussain Ahmed says he is mot a qualified cleric, so he is excused; but Maulana Fazlur Rehman has not shown any talent apart from issuing fatwas for killing nationals of a state that our youth cannot take on. Even in fatwas of death there should be some creativity involved. They are crude and difficult to carry out. Of course we have killed Americans, most of them innocent. But we have lost some very powerful clerics too. And that mostly to sectarian violence. The only great literature produced has been in the sectarian underground which arouses us to kill.
So you've given up your freedom, and you've given up the tolerance that existed in what's now Pakistan 100 years ago. And in return you've gotten Qazi and Fazl. Aren't you lucky? An idea set without competition becomes moribund rather quickly, doesn't it?
Daily Jang (November 19, 2004) reported that Sindh chief minister Arbab Raheem had told 106 policemen suspended for corruption that they would be reinstated if they did two months of Islamic moral training with the Tablighi Jamaat in Lahore. On his orders bribe-taking policemen were sent on a Tablighi daura during Ramazan for ten days after which they demanded to be reinstated, but the chief minister insisted on more moral training. He has charged the imam of Yusuf Masjid in Sukkur to take them in for training and then give him report that they had forever abandoned the practice of taking graft before they would be again allowed to work as policemen. Meanwhile Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Raiwind Lahore was expected to host the Punjab governor and JUI leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman. In the past president of Pakistan Leghari attended the gathering. The police is already completely sold to jihadi terrorism which is Deobandi-Wahhabi. And Tablighi Jamaat is a Deobandi mother organisation. The man who blew up the mosque in Sindh Madrassa in 2004 was a policeman. And the 2003 attempt on the life of the president was made by a Deobandi jihadi militia which was aided by an inspector of police. At least one act of terrorism in Balochistan, too, was committed with the help of police officers. The Sindh chief minister who tends to deny honour killing and is against any liberal law against it, should be careful what he puts his police through. The idea of Tabligh is not a good one.
You don't think he might know exactly what he wants them to learn?
Daily Khabrain (November 22, 2004) published reaction to federal education minister General (Retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi that Pakistan's history books should contain chapters on Asoka and Chandra Gupta Mauriya. Teachers and students in Lahore said if this was done they would come out and hold protest rallies. One religious leader said that Islamic culture was being destroyed while another intellectual said that it was no use teaching Asoka in Pakistan. Islami Jamiat Tulaba said such additions to the course would be resisted, while Imamia Students said they would not tolerate it. Brainwash speaks against the proposal to end brainwash in favour of an understanding of history. A lesson on Asoka would lessen prejudice and a lessening of prejudice will weaken the edifice of ideology. What a retired general is proposing today, a retired general of a decade ago would not have been found dead proposing.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2005 11:29:46 PM ||
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#1
If we lost our freedom it should have been for a good cause. One cause could be religious scholarship. The clergy was given a chance to show what they could do, but no one has written a single respectable book since late Maulana Maududi wrote his famous exegesis Tafheem al Quran. Qazi Hussain Ahmed says he is mot a qualified cleric, so he is excused; but Maulana Fazlur Rehman has not shown any talent apart from issuing fatwas for killing nationals of a state that our youth cannot take on. Even in fatwas of death there should be some creativity involved. They are crude and difficult to carry out.
#2
Pakistan is moving closer and closer to the Islamic declination. The country is moving to the 7th Caliphate UBL is dreaming about. The problem is the erosion of rights and pursuits of happiness. This religon preaches darkness and hatred. Not to many Islamic standup comedians. Dark Days ahead boyz if the Islamonuts take over the nukes. We need to keep in good contact with India. Their services will be required.
Agha Ziauddin, a Shia leader ambushed by gunmen in his car in Gilgit on Saturday, died of his wounds in Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalpindi on Thursday morning. Ziauddin was taken to the CMH after being shot in the attack, in which two of his guards were killed. Another of his bodyguards also died on Thursday, AFP reported. The news of Ziauddin's death raised tensions in Gilgit and Skardu was put under curfew at midday on Thursday. Troops were patrolling Gilgit and Skardu, both Shia-majority cities, to enforce the curfew. Security was also tightened in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Cheema told AFP. Sources told Daily Times that a witness of the Saturday attack on Ziauddin, who was possibly also involved in the incident, had been taken into the custody and had identified four other suspects who have been arrested.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2005 00:00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
An Iranian agent was arrested in Kuwait in connection with the latest spate of Al-Qaeda-related attacks in the Middle East. Sawa Radio reported that the unnamed individual was arrested by Kuwaiti security forces after recent intelligence implicated him as a cell in communication with the Al-Qaeda network with prior information on the attacks in Saudi Arabia. Three days ago, two Kuwaiti security forces were killed and two more were injured following street-battles with suspected Al-Qaeda operatives, according to the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry. Since the incident, Kuwaiti intelligence and security forces have been on heightened alert, cracking down on agents working for or conspiring with the Al-Qaeda network.
Convicted terrorist 
LASER beams have been directed at the cockpit windows of planes landing at a Queensland airport three times in the last month, putting passengers' lives at risk. Aviation officials believe a strong green laser was aimed at two 18-passenger planes and a 125-seat Jetstar Boeing 717 as they lined up to land at Maroochydore Airport. Two, including the Jetstar incident, took place in December while the third was reported last week about 22km from the airport as the plane was on a final approach in the evening. 
The public prosecutor has asked a court to impose a 150-hour work order on the rap group DHC (Den Haag Connection) for allegedly threatening the life of MP 
A Malaysian emissary tapped to negotiate with the 
The Border Security Force of India shot dead two persons, including a Bangladeshi villager, and two Indian miscreants were beaten to death in the past two days along the north-western frontiers, the police and the Bangladesh Rifles sources said. According to the sources and public representatives, the BSF men of Mandal Bosti camp under 32 BSF battalion opened fire on a group of Indian cattle smugglers at 6.30am on Thursday, killing an unidentified Indian smuggler near pillar no 418/95 opposite the Mistripara outpost of the BDR along the Panchagarh Sadar borders. A company commander-level flag meeting attended by union parishad and panchayat bodies Thursday afternoon confirmed that the slain was an Indian.
Punishment remitted too often
Sensing a growing yearning for calm among ordinary Palestinians, 
At least five Israeli security guards were killed and four wounded late Thursday night in a combined bombing and shooting attack at the 
Departing from fiery Islamic slogans, Iraqi guerrillas have launched a propaganda campaign with an English-language video urging U.S. troops to lay down their weapons and seek refuge in mosques and homes.
According to Nawa-e-Waqt (November 23, 2004) the men who killed Lahore's renowned but controversial religious scholar Dr 
