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Tater aide arrested in Baghdad
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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Afghanistan
Hamid Karzai removes his chief of staff
In a major shake up in the presidential palace in Kabul, President Hamid Karzai has removed Jawed Ludin, his British educated chief of staff, and replaced him with his predecessor in the job, Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.

Mystery surround’s the sudden resignation of Ludin who first served Karzai as press spokesman and then as chief of staff after graduating from a British university. However senior Afghan officials said the cause of the shake up was due to political infighting within Karzai’s staff. The move has shaken Western diplomats in Kabul and is seen a sign that Karzai is struggling to control the loyalty of his government. It has led to a flood of rumours amongst Afghan cabinet ministers about a possible conspiracy against Karzai, just as Afghan and NATO forces brace themselves for a major Taliban offensive in the next few weeks, the newspaper reported.

In recent months Karzai has faced harsh criticism from many Afghans including members of his staff, senior Western diplomats and NATO officials for not being more decisive in curbing corruption and drugs trafficking in order to win back popular support, while NATO and Afghan forces battle the Taliban. Much of the blame for Karzai’s poor performance has been blamed by Afghans on his staff and cabinet ministers and Ludin appears to have become a victim of the blame game, according to palace sources. On Thursday Ludin spent his last day in office and he will be replaced by Omar Daudzai, who served as chief of staff to Karzai two years ago. Afghan officials said Ludin would be offered an ambassadorship in Europe.
Posted by: Fred || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
NORKS lack antibiotics to counter nationwide scarlet fever outbreak
From East Asia Intel, subscription.
North Korea is facing a nationwide outbreak of scarlet fever. The Daily NK newsletter reported last week that the epidemic had spread to northern and eastern areas of the country. “North Korean authorities are currently taking steps to blockade those regions where scarlet fever has broken out,” the newsletter stated.

One North Korean told the newsletter in a telephone interview on Dec. 14 that “the spread of scarlet fever in the large cities on the east coast of North Korea has become quite severe," and that "neither merchants nor people traveling for personal reasons can enter or leave the area and people are extremely frustrated.
and extremely sick.
“Scarlet fever is spreading in Wonsan in Kangwon Province, Hamheung in South Hamgyong Province, Sinpo, Tanchon, Kilchu in North Hamgyong Province, Hyesan in Yanggan Province, the north and almost all of the eastern regions and it has also recently broken out in Hoeryong in North Hamgyong Province," the person stated.

"With the exception of the military and people conducting business related to the military, the People's Security Agency, etc., travel is restricted for all citizens," the report said.
Also saw another article about electricity shortages severely crippling railway transportation.
“As scarlet fever spreads on the east coast, the railway stations in the large cities are blockaded. Trains that are passing through do not open the doors to the platform,” the report stated.

North Korea lacks sufficient supplies of antibiotics to treat the disease, the report said.
The Army-First policy probably provides any antibiotics for the Army, with nothing left for the civvies, except the Party muckity-mucks.
“While North Korean authorities are boasting of both their status as a powerful nation and military-first politics, the citizens are suffering from scarlet fever and a severely cold winter,” the report said.
So what is your answer to this humanitarian problem, Jimmah and Madame Halfbright? Or Speaker Pelosi, or the rest of the mindless.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Norklandavia Alert: Runaway Scarlet Fever Outbreak

Here Kimmy, We have a plan for YOU, Hillary Rodham's Health Care Plan!


/thanks al-Alaska Paul
Posted by: Jimmah and Madame Halfbright || 01/19/2007 6:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Mortality from scarlet fever among children under 2 years was 55% in 1840. Even as late as 1915, mortality from scarlet fever among children under 5 years was around 30%.

(Some experts believe that the scarlet fever of this period was a different disease, with a different etiology, than the illness we call scarlet fever today.)
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/19/2007 10:57 Comments || Top||

#3  NorKs blame yankee imperialistic running dogs for starting scarlet fever outbreak in 3, 2, 1...

NorKs say scarlet fever epidemic result of blankets sold to them by USA...

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 01/19/2007 15:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Scarlet Fever is strep. In the 1800's and first half of the 1900's there were no antibiotics. The first sulfa drugs were not available until the 1930's. So it probably wasn't a different disease, it just went untreated in an effective way.

The Muppet guy died of basically scarlet fever. It is basically strep throat gone systemic.
Posted by: crosspatch || 01/19/2007 20:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Another Commie "Going Back to the Future", back to the 21st Century future that is the early 1900's. Sad thing is even wid proper anti-biotics, for many ordinary Norkies their body's natural immune systems may already be detrimented due to pervasive hunger. STRATEGYPAGE > unless something changes, mainstream = ordinary North Koreans are looking at PERMANENT HUNGER/
STARVATION + NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. * Can be ascribed as NK being destroyed by South Korea, USA, Japan, andor even by Radical islam IS A GOOD THING = EVENT TO CELEBRATE. CLINTONISM > they demand Demand DEMAND D-E-M-A-N-D, D *** YOU, THEIR RIGHT TO BE DESTROYED.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/19/2007 21:59 Comments || Top||

#6  I had this as a kid. It sucks. With a dedicated intelligence effort America has the power to remove the entire Nork leadership in a single B-1 load of SDBs, how can failing to do so be a good thing?
Posted by: rammer || 01/19/2007 22:11 Comments || Top||


Europe
Netherlands: Imams 'Leaving In Droves'
Amsterdam, 19 Jan. (AKI) - Discrimination and Islamophobia prevalent in the West since the 11 September, 2001 attacks on US cities are prompting a growing number of imams to leave the Netherlands, the Association of Dutch Imams's deputy chairman, Mohammed Ousalah, has told De Telegraaf daily, quoted by Radio Netherlands. He criticised the Dutch government's failure to remedy the situation.

Out of a total of 450 Dutch mosques, 180 are now without an imam, according to Ousalah. He said there is a danger the country's mosques could increasingly fall into the hands of inexperienced extremist clerics.
Tusk, tusk, ...
Many of the imams have left for other European countries such as Belgium and Spain where they are said to enjoy more rights and freedoms, Radio Netherlands reported.
Belgium and Spain ...
Posted by: mrp || 01/19/2007 10:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the "mosques could increasingly fall into the hands of inexperienced extremist clerics"

I guess that's because its the experienced extremist clerics who are "leaving in droves"
Posted by: PlanetDan || 01/19/2007 11:33 Comments || Top||

#2  There was a similar article on this topic posted yesterday, so this one is dup worthy.
Posted by: mrp || 01/19/2007 11:43 Comments || Top||

#3  I wish they would do the same in the UK!!!!!
Posted by: Ebbolump Glomotle9608 || 01/19/2007 11:55 Comments || Top||

#4  My heart bleeds for them. Really.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/19/2007 11:57 Comments || Top||

#5  When the headline says "Michigan" or "Virginia" or "New Jersey" instead of "Netherlands" I'll know we're making some progress.
Posted by: Dave D. || 01/19/2007 12:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Sounds like a win-win for the Dutch. The imans leave. Fewer imans means a higher percentage of "hate" preachers. That makes them easier to track. Get rid of them...and then the followers leave.
Posted by: anymouse || 01/19/2007 12:27 Comments || Top||

#7  Imams Leaving Netherlands In Droves
(I Was Born Under a Jihad Star)

Sung to
"I was Born Under A Wanderin' Star"
from
"Paint Your Wagon"
Presnell & Lowe


I was born under a Jihad star
I was born under a Jihad star

Bombs are made for strappin’
Martyrs are what I want
But the local infidels are pissed when you attack

I was born under a Jihad star

Bush can make you prisoner
And the Jooz can make you sweat
Nerve gas burns your eyes
But only goats can make you cry
Stonin's cause much trouble here
Don't know that its a need
Sadistic punishments that really make the kiffir bleed

I was born under a Jihad star
I was born under a Jihad star

Do I know where hell is?
Under burka's shroud
Heaven's in a sweet white ewe
It’s time to get one now

I was born under a Jihad star
A Jihad Jihad star

Bush can make you prisoner
And the Jooz can make you sweat
Nerve gas burns your eyes
But only goats can make you cry
Stonin's cause much trouble here
Don't know that its a need
Sadistic punishments that really make the kiffir bleed

I was born under a Jihad star
I was born under a Jihad star ar

When I get to heaven
Virgins there await
Wine and peeled grapes
So I hope that I won't be so late

I was born under a Jihad star
A Jihad Jihad star
Posted by: Ogeretla 2007 || 01/19/2007 12:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Discrimination and Islamophobia prevalent in the West since the 11 September, 2001 attacks on US cities are prompting a growing number of imams to leave the Netherlands,

Nope, never their fault, ever...
Posted by: Raj || 01/19/2007 13:06 Comments || Top||

#9  Never driven a Drove, so I cannot speak about it. Any "Goat & Camelcart" magazine editors lurking that can address that particualr vehicle??
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 01/19/2007 14:37 Comments || Top||

#10  Superior work per usual Ogeretla, longa time no humm along.

Mold! Mold! MOOOOOOOOLD!

Got a dream boy, got a bomb?
Wire your vest up and come along!

When yu going we don't know
Were yu going we ain't certain,
When yur gonna blow up we ain't equipped to say

But who give a damn
who gives a damn
You family will be paid.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/19/2007 17:32 Comments || Top||


Red Army Faction Terrorists' Prison Sentences Near Completion
Germany is considering the release of two of the principal leftist terrorists who mounted a campaign of kidnapping and assassination 30 years ago and created one of Germany's worst political crises of the 1970s. Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Christian Klar are both serving life terms but qualify this year to apply for parole for good behavior.

Neither has explicitly renounced a belief in violent revolution, but supporters say the 57-year-old woman and 54-year-old man will not go back underground to fight the state, but instead seek personal fulfillment after spending half their lives in custody.
While their victims are still dead.
Death has already claimed the founders of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a group of students and intellectuals who planned to engineer a communist uprising by the West German working class.

The RAF's plan involved high profile assassinations. The bizarre theory was that by assassinating senior business and justice officials, they could provoke the government into establishing a police state, which would make communism seem a desirable alternative to the masses. But they had no popular support.

West Germany preserved democracy and gradually caught most of the middle-class terrorists. Leaders Ulrike Meinhof, Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin committed suicide in jail in 1976 and 1977.
Suicide? Some say ... not.
How exactly did the West Germans 'preserve democracy'? How did they 'catch' the terrorists?
The writer glosses over the hard work and sacrifice of many a police officer, judge, anti-terrorist specialist and soldier. To them: thank you.
Mohnhaupt and Klar have served longer terms in custody than any other former RAF terrorists and are among only four still serving out jail terms. The rest have been gradually paroled and are living out unremarkable lives in German cities.
As far as you know.
A panel of state superior court judges is set to give Mohnhaupt a hearing on Jan. 22 to consider if she should be granted parole from her five life terms and 15-year term, all concurrent, when she reaches the point on March 26 of having served 24 years. She has already made nine excursions from prison, with armed police watching her, to prepare her for a changed world that is connected by the Internet and only dimly remembers communism.

As part of the RAF "second generation" after the founders' suicides, she led a particularly nasty 1977 Red Army Faction kidnap in which Hanns Martin Schleyer, head of the West German employers' federation, was seized from his car, and found dead 44 days later. Schleyer's widow, Waltrude, called this week for the terrorists to be kept in jail, pointing out they had never shown contrition. In 1993, Mohnhaupt sent a statement from jail opposing an RAF surrender.
I'm with Waltrude on this one: until she makes a complete confession, alocution and statement of remorse she can stay in prison.
Posted by: mrp || 01/19/2007 10:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Suicide? Some say ... not.

Cold and flu season?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/19/2007 16:54 Comments || Top||

#2  To the 1968ers that run Germany and the German media these people are heros, they will walk the day it's allowed.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/19/2007 17:45 Comments || Top||

#3  I remember our Battalion Commander's wife in Germany bore a striking resemblance to one RAF terrorist woman. Since public posters showed their photographs, this meant that her husband had to wear his uniform when the two of them went out on the town, to help avoid misunderstandings.

I also remember the suicides in prison, and how the German newspapers reported them with a straight face. The "suicides" were in retaliation for an RPG attack on the Commander of US Forces Europe's car.

That in itself wasn't as bad as that the RPG had killed the Commander's driver, who was on loan from the Munich Chief of Police. That made it personal.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/19/2007 18:29 Comments || Top||


Greek police clash with anarchists
GREEK riot police clashed with self-styled anarchist youths in Athens overnight, turning the city centre into a battleground of billowing smoke for hours. The youths hurled hundreds of petrol bombs at police, burning four cars and one shop. Police retaliated with several rounds of teargas that choked up the capital's streets. "Five policemen have suffered light burns from the petrol bombs," one police official said.

The clashes started when about 30 youths broke off from an otherwise peaceful march against an education reform law and attacked riot police with petrol bombs. About 9000 students, educators and civil servants marched through the city to oppose the law that allows the creation of private universities in Greece, which protesters say will commercialise education and make it hard for the poor to attend college. The conservative government and main opposition socialists back the bill, saying it will give much-needed competition to Greek state universities and improve higher education.
Posted by: Fred || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  These are NOT anarchists, they are communists. Anarchists don't think anyone should be forced to pay for their choices, communists think they own other people and do think other people are their slaves.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 01/19/2007 9:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Technically true, Bright Pebbles, but the organized anarchists were a violent threat before the communists got into the game. Perhaps nihilists is a better descriptor?
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/19/2007 12:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Who keeps deleting "The Don", and why? I think he/she/it is damn funny.
Posted by: Chuck Darwin || 01/19/2007 19:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Bloody Greeks, nothing but a bunch of barbarians. We need to bomb them back to the Classical Age.
Posted by: The Don || 01/19/2007 8:04 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Dems Seek to Bar U.S. Attacks on Iran
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic leaders in Congress lobbed a warning shot Friday at the White House not to launch an attack against Iran without first seeking approval from lawmakers.
"The president does not have the authority to launch military action in Iran without first seeking congressional authorization," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told the National Press Club.
Dubya came to Congress before we went into Afghanistan. Dubya came to Congress before we went into Iraq. What makes you think he'd go into Iran without coming to you?
The administration has accused Iran of meddling in Iraqi affairs and contributing technology and bomb-making materials for insurgents to use against U.S. and Iraqi security forces. President Bush said last week the U.S. will "seek out and destroy" networks providing that support. While top administration officials have said they have no plans to attack Iran itself, they have declined to rule it out.
And now Reid has undercut the usefulness of the implied threat. Thanks Harry.
Reid made the comments as he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke to the National Press Club on Democrats' view of the state of the union four days before Bush addresses Congress and the nation. His remarks were the latest Democratic display of concern about the possibility of military action in Iran and Bush's power to launch it.

Last week, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., challenged the president's ability to make such a move. In a letter to Bush, Biden asked the president to explain whether the administration believes it could attack Iran or Syria "without the authorization of Congress, which does not now exist."

Meanwhile, Lee Hamilton, the Democratic co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday that the U.S. must try to engage Iran and Syria in a constructive dialogue on Iraq because of the countries' influence in the conflict. "Do we have so little confidence in the diplomats of the United States that we're not willing to let them talk with somebody we disagree with?" Hamilton asked.

The Bush administration, and several members of Congress, say they oppose talks with Iran and Syria because of their terrorist connections. Bringing the two countries into regional talks aimed at reducing violence in Iraq was one of the study group's recommendations.
Hamilton is an idiot. We don't talk with them because talks work in our disfavor. Talking means that the Iranians continue building centrifuges and purifying uranium. Talk is exactly what the Iranians want because it allows them to stall. Look at what they've done with the EU-3, the IAEA and the UN. They'd love to talk with us, then talk, then talk some more. They'd score points off us in the Third World and with their Muslim brethen by 'speaking truth to power' and all that nonsense. Ahmadinejad would be happy to prance around the next couple of years blustering and bellowing at us at various 'conferences' and 'negotiations'.

And if we ever threatened to walk away from talking with them, why, guess who would be blamed as the bad guys? Us of course, and Mr. Hamilton would help lead the charge.

Talking with Iran gets us nowhere. The EU has proven that. Iran either will or won't stop their efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and it's clear that 'talking' has no influence whatsoever in their decision making.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/19/2007 14:23 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Do we have so little confidence in the diplomats of the United States that we're not willing to let them talk with somebody we disagree with?" Hamilton asked.

In a word: yes.
Posted by: xbalanke || 01/19/2007 14:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Harry should do the country a favor and stick to shady Nevada real estate deals.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/19/2007 14:52 Comments || Top||

#3  The president does not have the authority to launch military action in Iran without first seeking congressional authorization,"

With all due disrespect Senator. That's bullshit.
Posted by: Mike N. || 01/19/2007 15:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Do senators even READ the constitution anymore?
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/19/2007 15:34 Comments || Top||

#5  No, they read the sources of enlightenment and knowledge; NYT, WaPo, and LAT. /sarcasm off

They really really should be reading Livy cause they're making the same fatal errors. However, they demonstrate as with the Constitution, they're not into reading classics.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/19/2007 15:50 Comments || Top||

#6  They want to talk talk talk, just like they did in Viet-Nam. How long did it take them to agree to the shape of the table and the seating arrangement??? Oh ya I think the war was over by then. Silly Dems, foolish games.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 01/19/2007 16:01 Comments || Top||

#7  It's unlikely that Bush will unilaterally, or even with Israel, attack Iran without provocation. But provocation could come easy.

For example, if Israel attacks Iran, other than ADA, what would Iran do about it, especially if the US takes down every missile they fire at Israel? And since the Iranians realize this, too, they would have to take on the US forces in the region or just sit there and take it.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/19/2007 18:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Or the Iranians could be stupid enough to cross the border in Iraq, chasing the Iranian Peshmerga in to Kurdistan, and provoking a joint US/Iraq response.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 01/19/2007 18:20 Comments || Top||

#9  What a maroon. Harry and the rest of the Donks really need to pull their heads out of their collective asses. If Bush wanted to order Air Stikes or COIN or SpeOps against Iraq there is little power they have to stop it. Man these Donks are trying hard to make Iraq turn out exactly like Vietnam:
Condemn Offensives ops: Check
Restrict Bombing: Check (sure)
Coozy up to the LLL Fifth Column: Check
Buddy up to other Socialists: Check
Defund Freindly Forces: In Progress
Fly to the Region and negotiate Separately: I wonder wonder what Kerry was doing in Damascus?
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 01/19/2007 19:01 Comments || Top||

#10  I wonder wonder what Kerry was doing in Damascus?

The same thing he was doing in Paris the early 70's.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/19/2007 19:15 Comments || Top||

#11 
.. I was for surrendering, uh before I was for it??

break out the white flags and wave 'em like ya just don't care...


Posted by: macofromoc || 01/19/2007 21:24 Comments || Top||

#12  "Without first seeking Congresional authorization" > HHHHHMMMM, HHHHHHMMMM, okay so how the Congress reat to WND.com > Joe Farah's G2 BULLETIN > Terrorists are ready for war = to strike, BUT INSIDE USA. MAY NOT WAIT FOR USA TO ATTACK IRAN OR VICE VERSA AGZ ISRAEL-USA, + RUSSIA TO SHIP NUCLEAR FUEL TO IRAN - believes will be used only for peaceful/energy purposes; or NEWSMAX > EGYPTIAN WEEKLY SAYS "KILL PRESIDENT BUSH"; or IRNA > Iran Officio = IF USA INVADES, ANY IRANIAN CITY CAN BE USED FOR DEFENSE, + MOUD = NO UNO RESOLUTION, MIL THREAT WILL BE EFFECTIVE TO STOP IRAN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/19/2007 21:34 Comments || Top||

#13  Any large-scale, casualty-heavy Iran-caused/advised/supplied WMD Terror attack agz Israel, andor IRBM missle strike, will be akin to a UNO Member-State de facto attacking another UNO Member-State. Moud by repeatedly threatening the existence of Israel, + stringly inferring the destruction or non-existence of same, has already PRE-QUALIFIED RADICAL IRAN for immediate UNSC mil action.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/19/2007 21:39 Comments || Top||

#14  For all their bluster, if Bush ever had sufficient reason to ask Congress for authority, the donks would not for a moment hesitate to grant it. Could you imagine the reaction of the country in '08 if they did? The American people don't mind a fight, they do mind a loss. The donks should keep the distinction in mind.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/19/2007 21:51 Comments || Top||


Wesley Clark: "Monied" NY Jews Pushing War With Iran
The Republican Jewish Coalition called on Wesley Clark to apologize for claiming that “New York money people” were trying to push the United States into war with Iran. Clark, a former NATO commander and likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, was quoted on the Huffington Post political blog as saying that his greatest worry is that the Bush administration will attack Iran.

Attending swearing-in parties for the new U.S. Congress, Clark told Arianna Huffington, “The Jewish community is divided, but there is so much pressure being channeled from the New York money people to the office seekers.”

In its ads, the RJC says the comment “echoed a classic anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews and money.”

Last week the Anti-Defamation League accepted an explanation from Clark, who said in a letter that he backed dialogue with Iran while not removing a military option.
Dialogue? Ahmadinejad: "Destroy Israeli Jews." Clark: "Destroy only Jews with money."
“My position on Iran should not be misinterpreted, defined out of context or used to create conspiracy theories about one group’s influence on U.S. foreign policy,” he wrote. “There is no place in these critical policy debates for anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that blame the Jewish community for the war in Iraq and for action against Iran.”
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Should have asked Clark if he is at all concerned about Iranian nukes. Apparently that possibility doesn't matter to him.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/19/2007 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Of course it doesn't. He hates Jews almost as much as your average muzzie. Maybe a Carter/Clark ticket is coming.
Posted by: Mike N. || 01/19/2007 0:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh XXck this XXit. Some one has to have a huge pile of dirt on this scumball. Lets hear it.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 01/19/2007 0:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds like Wesley has been reading "The Protocols of the Elders of the New York Money People".
Posted by: SteveS || 01/19/2007 0:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Dirt? After Serbs agreed to surrender Kosovo to NATO's Islamofascist allies - in face of savage Clinton bombings - a Russian military group marched to that province's only international airport and assumed control. General Clark made pronouncements that the move - which was probably meant as a gesture against reprisals against Serbs - was "illegal" and sought Clinton's permission to attack the Russian troops. Clark was steamed when he was given the big negatory. Later, Clark troops sat by while Muslims destroyed dozens of Orthodox Cathedrals and churches, and ethnically cleansed most non-Muslims from Kosovo.
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 01/19/2007 1:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Hey, Weasley, I'm not a monied Jew, and I want Iran leveled. We've got to do lunch. My choice, buddy.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 01/19/2007 1:09 Comments || Top||

#7  OBTW, I'm not Jewish, never mind the monied part. Lunch?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 01/19/2007 1:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Sneaze has it right. A first-hand look regarding the destruction of Christian churches at this link Scroll down (long page), can click on well-documented examples with many photos.

For a quick look:

example of church destroyed by Albanian Mohammedans-smashed, desecrated with excrement
Posted by: ex-lib || 01/19/2007 1:32 Comments || Top||

#9  I think we were fooled by the media into supporting the wrong side.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 01/19/2007 5:18 Comments || Top||

#10  Wesley Clark: "Monied" NY Jews Pushing War With Iran

heh Wesley, I'm willing to convert for the money, ..and move to New York for that matter.. fix it up for me damn it!

/we must take down the current regime in Iran before it has Nukes.. don't tell pathetic Wes tho

»:-)
Posted by: RD || 01/19/2007 5:28 Comments || Top||

#11  “New York money people” were trying to push the United States into war with Iran. ...his greatest worry is that the Bush administration will attack Iran.

But I thought that the Bush administration was controlled by the evil Christian right. ?? Oooh. I see. The evil "New York Money People" control the "Evil Christian Right" who control the Bush administration.
Posted by: Thotle Hupavitch5406 || 01/19/2007 5:31 Comments || Top||

#12  Give Clark credit for one thing, andf one thing only, he's honest enough to say out loud what much of his party thinks in the quiet of their own hearts. It wouldn't shock me if the Dems, as a party, become openly anti-Semitic and openly anti-Christian in the next election cycle.
Posted by: Mike || 01/19/2007 6:33 Comments || Top||

#13  Betcha he's getting funded by Soodys---all that talk about Jewish Money is highly indicative.
Posted by: gromgoru || 01/19/2007 6:36 Comments || Top||

#14  What a scumbag. "Monied" Jews. Is that as specific as he can get? Any names? Institutions behind this? EVIDENCE!?!?!

But no....all he needs to do is allude to the Jewish cabal.

What kills me is that nobody has any concrete evidence of such a conspiracy (guess that means Jews are REEEEEALY good at it or sumpthin'). Yet, we have VIDEO of muslim plans for domination (entitlement arguments, superiority arguments, hate the kuffir arguments, active planning for population growth in western countries, sharia law, etc).
Posted by: PlanetDan || 01/19/2007 8:27 Comments || Top||

#15  Sounds a lot like the Nazi retoric about the rich Jooos driving a nation to ruin. Clark is a fool.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 01/19/2007 8:34 Comments || Top||

#16  Hey, when was Wesley reanimated? Have they worked out the blinking eyes thing yet so that he looks even more amazingly lifelike?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/19/2007 8:52 Comments || Top||

#17  Endorsement from the Kos Antisemitic Kiddies & Jimmah Cahtah in 5....4....3....
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 01/19/2007 9:15 Comments || Top||

#18  It's projection (the primary mental illness symptom of the left), he wishes he was wealthy enough to secretly control things.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 01/19/2007 9:39 Comments || Top||

#19  Is it just me, or is the Left of the Democratic party sounding more and more like the Nazi party every day?
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/19/2007 9:49 Comments || Top||

#20  Well technically it was

"the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party}, or NSDAP"

If you take out the 'German', it pretty much makes the technical qualification for a good definition of the Donks. However, that would be calling them Nazis and since that is the 21st Century equivalent of the 'N' word, that is a word total unhinged from any original meaning and employed simply as an vile epitaph towards any individual or group, we won’t do it here. No, nope, never.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/19/2007 10:17 Comments || Top||

#21  No, it's not just you.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 01/19/2007 10:22 Comments || Top||

#22 
Posted by: exJAG || 01/19/2007 10:41 Comments || Top||

#23  But I thought that the Bush administration was controlled by the evil Christian right. ?? Oooh. I see. The evil "New York Money People" control the "Evil Christian Right" who control the Bush administration.

But don't forget, Thotle, that Halliburton sets atop it all! They control the world universe, lol!
Posted by: BA || 01/19/2007 10:51 Comments || Top||

#24  Tommy Franks, who retired this summer after directing the capture of Baghdad, was asked in a private setting whether he believed that Clark would make a good President. “Absolutely not,” Franks replied. Retired General Hugh Shelton was asked the same question after giving a talk at a college in California. Shelton, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was Clark’s boss in 1999 when Clark was unceremoniously told that he was being removed from his position as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. “I’ve known Wes for a long time,” Shelton said. “I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. . . . Wes won’t get my vote.”

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/031117fa_fact?031117fa_fact
Posted by: doc || 01/19/2007 10:59 Comments || Top||

#25  Procopius: You hit the nail there, friend.

The difference between National Socialism and the USSR variety is that the Marxist-Leninists are professed internationalists ("Workers of the world, unite!" and all that), while Adolf was quite enthusiastically nationalist. Given Stalin's use of blatant nationalism to rally support in WW2, and the caste system of the old USSR that put the Great Russians at the top of most everything, the differences are more rhetorical than real. Also, Hitler and Mussolini made the tactical decision to leave most industries in nominal private ownership instead of nationalising them like Lenin did--but all three states were centrally-planned command economies.
Posted by: Mike || 01/19/2007 11:04 Comments || Top||

#26  Orwell described Nazism as a Marxist heresy.
Posted by: SR-71 || 01/19/2007 11:46 Comments || Top||

#27  Wesley, wesley, wesley...

It ain't just the "Vast Jewish Conspiracy" that wants to see the Iranians "dealt with"...

Posted by: BigEdLB || 01/19/2007 12:50 Comments || Top||

#28  The fact that Wesley Clark is Jewish makes his stance all the more baffling. Is there something about having the word Supreme attached to one's rank/name that causes some to lose objectivity (that they probably never had in the first place)? Just another frickin' eunich like jimmah and keri.
Posted by: Asymmetrical T || 01/19/2007 21:29 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Lileks: Funeral for a Marine
Part of today's "Bleat."

Last week a letter in the paper ran off the usual list of oppressions and deletions of basic liberties, including “the coffins we are not allowed to see.” It reminded me of a conversation I had in Arizona with a Marine, whose family was also staying at my in-laws’ house. (Their daughter played with Gnat, and was one of the Ghosts of Christmas in the play.) He had just returned from accompanying the body of a Marine back to his home town for a memorial. Lance Cpl. Nick Palmer, 19, was killed by a sniper in Fallujah. The vehicle had stopped to defuse an IED, which had been placed to fix the Humvee in place. Flypaper. Lance Cpl. Palmer was manning a gun on the back of the Humvee when he was hit. The shot came from an industrial building a good distance away; whoever killed him had particular skill. It could have been one of those ordinary Iraqis so enraged by the occupation they quit their jobs as an insurance actuary or auto mechanic and went to sniper school, perhaps. Or maybe it was a Ba’athist “Minuteman.” Or an imported Iranian merc. You have to admit it’s possible.

The networks may not have shown footage of the coffin as it arrived, but it certainly had the opportunity to show the funeral and the ceremony that preceded it. The Marine, who was Lance Cpl. Palmer’s commanding officer, described the event: they arrived at night. Both sides of the street were filled with townspeople, gathered to greet the soldier. Every light in every window was on; every pole had a flag.

The church pews had no empty seats. “Amazing Grace” was played and the Purple Heart presented.

Everyone was allowed to see the coffin, and reflect on what it stood for.

The local TV station’s website has a video interview with the parents, which manages to work in Vietnam in the first six seconds. If the TV station filmed the homecoming, it doesn’t appear to be on the site. I can’t think of any reason why they wouldn’t have shown the homecoming, unless they regarded the interview with the grieving parents as the full measure they were required to give.

The Commanding Officer who appears on the phone call is the Marine who told me the story. It’s a very short part of the television story, but it was an intensely private moment and we need see no more. You might not get a sense of the CO's emotions from the voice on the other end. Trust me: it’s a wound, and it’s deep. He didn’t just make a phone call; he left his family at Christmas time to accompany the body and speak at the service – then drove a rental through a storm to get to the airpot to rejoin his family for the few days he had left stateside.

So the next time someone talks about the coffins we’re not allowed to see, consider all that.
Posted by: Mike || 01/19/2007 06:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the next time someone talks about the coffins we’re not allowed to see, consider all that.

Or, just tell them they are lucky its not their son in that coffin and to FO.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 01/19/2007 8:50 Comments || Top||


Pentagon Sets Rules for Detainee Trials
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon set rules Thursday for detainee trials that could allow terror suspects to be convicted and perhaps executed using hearsay testimony and coerced statements, setting up a new clash between President Bush and Congress.

The rules are fair, said the Pentagon, which released them in a manual for the expected trials. Democrats controlling Congress said they would hold hearings and revive legislation on the plan, and human rights organizations complained as they always do that the regulations would allow evidence that would not be tolerated in civilian or military courtrooms.
I'm beginning to think that the DoD ought to 1) release information on what each of these jokers did and 2) call for a public discussion of what should be done with them. Start wtih the ones who killed Americans, then move on to the ones who snuffed women, kids and fluffy bunnies. Let's see the Dhimmicrats and the so-called 'human rights' crowd defend these mooks when we get specific with the details. Right now it's all about 'terrorist rights'. Let's start talking again about 'terrorist acts'.
According to the 238-page manual, a detainee's lawyer could not reveal classified evidence in the person's defense until the government had a chance to review it. Suspects would be allowed to view summaries of classified evidence, not the material itself.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rules for Detainee Trials:
1. Bring the guilty bastards in
2. Give them a trial
3. Hang them (or shoot them, I don't care)

Lather, rinse, repeat as necessary
Posted by: Rambler || 01/19/2007 10:58 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
President's election issue triggers uproar in Senate
The issue of President General Pervez Musharraf’s re-election for a second term triggered uproar in the Senate on Thursday. The opposition questioned the authority of the cabinet to make decisions on the president’s election, and vowed to resist if the government tried to re-elect Musharraf through the current assemblies. “The opposition will resist any such move inside and outside parliament. Our option of tendering en-bloc resignations is still open,” said Opposition Leader in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani. On a point of order, Rabbani said the government must explain if the cabinet had made a decision to re-elect Musharraf through the current assemblies, as the press quoted Muhammad Ali Durrani as saying.

The PPPP’s Dr Babar Awan and Safdar Abassi and the MMA’s Professor Khurshid Ahmed backed Raza Rabbani. Wasim Sajjad, the leader of the house, tried to explain constitutional provisions on the president’s election, but the opposition senators refused to listen, saying they wanted a categorical statement on whether the cabinet had made a decision to re-elect Musharraf or not.

Harsh words were also exchanged between Safdar Abbasi and State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kamil Ali Aga. The parliamentary affairs minister said Durrani had made it clear that he did not say the cabinet had decided to re-elect Musharraf through the current assemblies. The opposition staged a token walkout for not being allowed to raise the issue of a recent raid in Waziristan that reportedly killed some 20 “militants”. MMA, PPPP and PML-N senators walked out of the house in protest when Presiding Officer Khalid Ranjha did not allow Liaquat Bengalzi to raise the Waziristan issue on a point of order.
Posted by: Fred || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any day now they'll start a "Draft Osama and Mullah Omar" movement in Pakistan.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/19/2007 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  When I first read your comment, AH, I thought is said" Draft Obama and..." and my reaction to that was "EXCELLENT." Sorry.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 01/19/2007 14:43 Comments || Top||

#3  FREEREPUBLIC/WORLD NEWS > Chavez soon to impose RULE BY DECREE. D *** it, its Democracy, its "Rights of the People", its for the Children, etc.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/19/2007 21:48 Comments || Top||


Stop criticising me or face jail: Musharraf to Mullahs
Law-enforcement agencies have warned clerics heading seminaries and mosques that they will be put in jail if they take part in “anti-government activities” or speak against President Gen Pervez Musharraf, sources told Daily Times. The sources said that three meetings had recently been held between local clerics and security officials, including from the army. “The clerics were told to stop participating in protest gatherings and giving speeches against the president and government policies, at least till the next general elections,” the sources said. They were told that if they did not stop, cases would be registered against them and they would be put behind bars, said the sources. After warning Islamabad’s clerics, the government intends to spread the message to clerics all over the country.

The security officials also told the clerics that they had recordings of their Friday sermons and anti-government speeches at protest gatherings. Besides, the clerics were told that mosques built on encroached land would be demolished, said the sources. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has issued a notice to the management of Lal Mosque saying it should demolish the building of Jamia Hifsa, a seminary for female students, and Jamia Fareedia, within 15 days, or the CDA would demolish these seminaries itself, the sources said. The sources said that the CDA is also considering demolishing four mosques - Masjid-e-Shuhada, Aabpara, Zia Masjid on Kuri Road, and two near Rawal Dam square - built on encroached land.
Posted by: Fred || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The so called holy men are the West biggest enemy as they influence thousands of illerate people.
Posted by: Ebbolump Glomotle9608 || 01/19/2007 5:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Perv finally remembered that he is a dictator. A military dictator actually. Now if he can somehow get control of his own intelligence service.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 01/19/2007 7:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Well it's about f#^@ing time. Now if only we could get some leaders in America with the ballz to clamp down on dissent here, then we could start getting things done!
Posted by: The Don || 01/19/2007 8:06 Comments || Top||


Musharraf warns Karzai: Stop 'high profile' militants from entering Pakistan
President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday urged the Afghan government to take measures to stop “high profile” militants from crossing the border into Pakistan.
High profile? Like... ummm... Mullah Omar?
Chairing the 9th meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) here, Musharraf said that no country had contributed more in the fight against terrorism than Pakistan. He reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to combat terrorism and extremism and warned of strong punitive action against any illegal and terrorist activity from its soil.
He didn't evict Mullah Omar, though. He didn't have Hek rounded up. He didn't send anybody to comb Chitral for Binny.
Musharraf said the government had taken effective political and administrative measures in FATA, adding that these steps would bring peace and socio-economic development in the region and would lead to effective monitoring of the Pak-Afghan border.
By people from Jupiter...
He, however, stressed the need for strict implementation of plans to check cross-border movement of militants and eliminate foreign terrorists.
Yeah. It's time Karzai came down hard on the beturbanned nutbags who keep swarming across the border into Pakland.
The NSC meeting, attended by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and other members except Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, reviewed important developments at the national and international scene, particularly the post peace agreement situation in FATA and reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the earthquake-affected areas.
It's been over a year and they still haven't managed to rake off all the money...
Aziz said the government would extend all facilities including financial assistance for the development of FATA and the earthquake affected areas. In his presentation on the situation in FATA, NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai said that socio-economic activity was progressing in the area and several measures had been taken to control law and order.
"Oh, yeah? Like what?"
"I'll get back to you on that."

NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani said that foreign militants were resisting the peace agreement and were trying to sabotage the process in South Waziristan. Musharraf praised the ERRA’s efforts for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the quake-affected areas and said that Pakistan’s successful strategy to deal with a natural calamity of such a large magnitude was being quoted as a textbook example across the world.
Posted by: Fred || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But isn't that what NATO and the Afghani forces are doing when they kill off entire Taliban cross-border raiding parties?
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/19/2007 7:24 Comments || Top||


Balochistan police chief vows to flush out Taliban
Inspector General Balochistan Police Tariq Khosa on Thursday vowed to arrest any Taliban militants seeking refuge in the province, while denying claims that Taliban chief Mullah Omar was residing in Quetta.
"Really. We asked around an everything. Nobody's seen him."
Addressing a news conference at Provincial Police Headquarters, Balochistan’s newly-appointed police chief stressed that the police was poised to launch a sustained province-wide crackdown on suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, while dismissing claims made by Afghanistan’s intelligence service that a captured Taliban spokesman had disclosed that Mullah Omar was currently in Quetta, under the protection of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. “We will start a new operation soon to arrest any Taliban. But, we also ask the Afghan government to provide us intelligence about such elements, if they have any,” he said, adding that “Mullah Omar is not present in Quetta”.

Stressing that no one would be allowed to use Balochistan as a launch pad for terrorist activities, Khosa said that police’s biggest challenge was to liberate the province, especially Quetta, from the clutches of rocket launching and bomb detonating “sub-nationalists”. Strict action, he warned, would be taken against those elements promoting violence and terrorism in the name of religion.

He also pointed out that Pakistani police had, in recent months, arrested 400 Taliban, 300 of whom had been handed over to Afghanistan. The remaining 100, he said, were being questioned by Balochistan police and would soon also be handed over to the Afghan authorities. On model police force recommendations, Khosa went on to say that he had forwarded to the federal government his proposals to establish a model police force in Gwadar, under the Project Concept-one (PC-one) framework.
Posted by: Fred || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mullah Omar is not present in Quetta

Nope he's 3 miles outside it .. Hill top villa living , always nice ..
Posted by: MacNails || 01/19/2007 9:48 Comments || Top||

#2  I know where to stick the hose, Chief...
Posted by: mojo || 01/19/2007 10:31 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Ex-GTMO prisoner briefs German lawmakers
A former Guantanamo inmate on Thursday briefed a German parliamentary committee investigating whether the country's security agencies breached German regulations while assisting US anti-terrorism operations after September 11.

Murat Kurnaz, a German resident with Turkish citizenship, described his ordeal, following his arrest in Pakistan two months after the 2001 attacks in the United States. Clutching the microphone in his right hand, the bearded 24-year- old looked tense as he recounted the four-and-a-half years he spent as Prisoner No 061 at the US detention centre on Cuba before his release in August 2006.

Avoiding direct eye contact with the panel, he recalled acts of physical and psychological abuse by his US captors that included being sprayed with "knock-out" gas and chained for 12 hours day. Kurnaz also described how after his arrest in Pakistan he was handed over to US authorities who took him to Afghanistan and then to Guantanamo Bay where he was also interrogated by German intelligence agents.

Kurnaz had earlier claimed that while in Afghanistan, US forces allowed him to be quizzed by two members of the German Special Forces Command, KSK, one of whom pulled his hair, banged his head on the floor and stamped on him. The former inmate had previously described his ordeal at the hands of the German soldiers in Afghanistan during a meeting with members of the European parliament last November. German prosecutors have launched an investigation into two soldiers after Kurnaz identified one of them from photographs. The second soldier was on duty at the same time as the man Kurnaz picked out.

The parliamentary panel is looking into claims that US authorities offered to release Kurnaz in October 2002 after concluding that he was not a terrorist, but that Germany refused to take him back. Kurnaz's lawyer Bernhard Docke told the panel that Germany's former government under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder shared the blame for extending his client's imprisonment. The decision not to allow Kunatz to return to Germany was reportedly taken by the then head of the BND foreign intelligence service, whose boss at the time was Germany's current foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That are going to end up giving this guy money for some kind of civil rights violation crap.

The previous government did the right thing by not accepting him in 02. Only a moron liberal would want him in their country.
Posted by: Mike N. || 01/19/2007 0:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Has anyone pointed out to the Germans that these assholes are trained to lie about being abused?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 01/19/2007 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Tariffs please.
Posted by: ed || 01/19/2007 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds like the Germans wanted some answers. On a similar note has anyone heard from TGA? I suspect he is behind this in some way ;-)
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 01/19/2007 10:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Obviously this guy's a terrorist, because America is being forced to release all kinds of known terrorists, thanks to the liberal media and those pussies at the Red Cross.
Posted by: The Don || 01/19/2007 8:09 Comments || Top||


Iraq
This week's Weekly Report from State Department
Ambassador Khalilzad and General Casey Discuss New Security Plan:

• At a press conference January 15, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Multi-National Forces-Iraq Commander General George Casey discussed the new Baghdad Security Plan, which is based on the assumption that increased security for Baghdad is key to allowing political progress and for securing the rest of the country.
• The plan is designed, structured, and led by the Iraqis with US support. Prime Minister Maliki and the Government of Iraq (GOI) have committed that all those who break the law will be targeted; there will be no sanctuary for criminals or murderers; no militia will be a replacement for the state or control local security; and military commanders will have freedom of action and an ability to do what is needed without political interference or micromanagement.

Plan Incorporates Economic, Political, and Reconstruction Efforts to Assist with Security:

• An essential part of the plan is for Iraq to improve its ability to meet the needs of its people. To facilitate this, the Iraqis are planning political, economic services, and public affairs programs with senior Iraqi leaders in charge of each. Additionally, the GOI will also spend $10 billion on infrastructure and reconstruction projects, creating jobs for the Iraqi people.
• Working jointly with the GOI, the US will double the number of Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq to support the provincial and local governments, helping communities with reconciliation efforts and accelerating the transition to Iraqi self-reliance.

Political Progress Necessary for Security Plan’s Success:

• Political progress is also critical to the success of the new security plan. As such, the GOI has committed to holding provincial elections, reforming de-Ba'athification laws, passing hydrocarbon legislation, sharing oil revenues among all Iraqis, and considering constitutional amendments.

Regional Efforts to Improve Security:

• The new plan also reinforces regional efforts to stabilize Iraq, and it is integrated into a broader regional strategy, encouraging more Arab states to play a positive role and supporting Iraqi efforts to engage their neighbors.
• The regional aspect of the plan also seeks to change the behavior of Iran and Syria, going after their networks in Iraq that are attacking Coalition Forces and undermining Iraqi security. For example, the Coalition and GOI have already taken steps against Iranian Explosively Formed Penetrator/Improvised Explosive Device networks associated with the Iranian Quds forces.

Iraqi Police Net 301 New Recruits in Fallujah and Habbiniyah:

• In recruiting drives held January 10, the Fallujah Police District enlisted 102 Iraqi males, and the Habbaniyah Police District enlisted 199. The 301 recruits will soon travel to Jordan to attend the International Police Training College, where they will be joined by 550 recruits from other parts of Anbar province.
• There are currently over 1,900 Iraqi Police candidates in training in Jordan who are scheduled to return to Anbar province for duty in January and February.

1st IA Division Assumes Control of 2nd Brigade:

• The 1st Iraqi Army (IA) Division assumed tactical command of the 2nd Brigade from US Marine Regimental Combat Team 5 (RCT-5) in a ceremony in Fallujah January 9. The brigade has operated under the direction of RCT-5 for the last year in Fallujah proper and will continue its informal partnership with the regiment’s 1st Battalion, 24th Marines.

Iraqi Leadership Declares Support for Bush Plan:

• Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister, Barham Salih (Kurdish Alliance), said that Iraqi leaders must commit to reforms. He stated that “the time has come to take initiative, and utilize American support that has been offered to us to really turn the corner.” Salih added that failure to do so would damage Iraqi leaders’ credibility in the eyes of Iraqis.
• Commenting on the new security plan, Khaled al-Attiya (UIA), a deputy speaker of parliament, said “If we want the Iraq that we longed for and worked for, then those political forces which suffered under the former regime ... must get together and make this work.”

Vice President Hashimi Attacks Maliki for Shia Militia Ties: Ahhhh, politics!

• Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, Iraq’s most senior Sunni Arab politician, launched a bitter personal attack on Prime Minister Maliki, warning him that the Iraqi government had only limited time to break with sectarian groups and start delivering to ordinary citizens.
• Hashimi stated that Maliki must serve all Iraqis, rather than maintain his affiliation with Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He argued that Maliki had to be “encouraged” to break away from Sadr and unite with other groups in Iraqi society, such as the Sunnis and the Kurds.

SCIRI’s Hakim Calls on GOI to Curb Militia Violence:

• Abdul Aziz al-Hakim (SCIRI) publicly stated that the Government of Iraq should “strike with an iron fist” against anyone who endangers the “safety of people.” He also urged the militia of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to disarm. Hakim commented just hours after President Bush announced his new strategy in Iraq.

Page 19 shows the Government has lowered the oil production goal from 2.5 million barrels per day to 2.1 mbpd. They produced about 2.1 through November and December. Perhaps this reflects the softening price of crude? Or some big producer is down for maintenance? No explanation is offered in the report. Refined product supplies are up.

Two Saddam Aides Hanged at Dawn:

• The sentences against the former head of Iraqi Intelligence and the judge of the Revolutionary Court that ordered the execution of 148 citizens of Dujail in 1982 were carried out at dawn January 15. Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's halfbrother and Awad al-Bandar, former judge on Saddam’s Revolutionary Court, were hanged for their roles in the Dujail killings.
• Barzan was a feared figure in Iraq at the head of the intelligence service in the 1980s. Bandar presided the Revolutionary Court which sentenced 148 Shiite men and youths to death after an assassination attempt on Saddam in the town of Dujail in 1982. Along with Saddam, they were convicted November 5 of crimes against humanity by the US-sponsored High Tribunal.

More than 13 hours after the carrying out of the sentences against two of Saddam Hussein's aides, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamad al-Bandar, an official video was played to a small group of Iraqi and Western reporters that showed the noose decapitating Tikriti. Officials said they would only run the silent, three-minute video once and not show it in public again. Once was enough.

• In order to avoid the distribution of any illicit videos – such as the ones released after the execution of Saddam Hussein – reporters attending the showing had their mobile phones taken by Iraqi security men.


Saudi Arabia to Host Next Arab League Summit:

• Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the Arab League announced January 16 that Riyadh will host the organization's next summit March 28 and 29 in a bid to heal ethnic divisions in the region. The 22-member Arab League traditionally holds its annual summit in March in different Arab capitals.

Iraqi President Talabani Arrives in Syria:

• President Talabani became the first Iraqi head of state to visit Syria in nearly three decades when he arrived in Syria January 14 with a high-ranking delegation including interior, trade and water ministers and the chief of the State Oil Marketing Organization. Good. Let the Iraqis negotiate with the Syrians, not the Congress.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/19/2007 06:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


'UN estimate of Iraq dead off the mark'
An American historian has said that the new UN estimate of 34,000 Iraqis killed in 2006 made headlines around the world, but it’s almost certainly far too low. The number was based on information from morgues, hospitals and municipal authorities across Iraq, but it only lists civilians.

Jon Weiner, who teaches history at the University of California, writes that the first problem with the UN count is that it refers only to civilians - and thus almost certainly omits deaths of Iraqi policemen, soldiers, insurgent fighters, and members of private militias like the Badr brigade. News media failed to report how the UN separated “civilian” casualties from the total, and the UN notably failed to report the total including non-civilians.

The second problem is the UN’s methodology, Prof Weiner argues, is that it relied mostly on tallying official death certificates. The UN argues that its methodology is reliable because “a vast majority of Iraqi deaths are registered” with officials because Iraqis want to “prove inheritance and receive government compensation”. But many bodies found in mass graves or ditches are unidentified. And according to the Los Angeles Times, “Victims’ families are all too often reluctant to claim the bodies … for fear of reprisals.” Chaotic wartime conditions in several provinces make it difficult for officials there to issue death certificates even when victims’ families do not fear reprisals.
Posted by: Fred || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Families and positive identification are not necessary to issue death certificates, though they can be helpful. Put the Iraqi equivalent of "John Doe" on the line, with some description of the body & circumstances of death, if no other information is available, and save a DNA sample for later. Haven't heard of victims of the "insurgency" being found in mass graves, that was the late Saddam's M.O. Prof. Weiner seems to be quibbling.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/19/2007 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  So, where does it say that Iraquis are entiteled to live for ever?
Posted by: gromgoru || 01/19/2007 6:56 Comments || Top||

#3  I like the bit about not including the terrs and militias. Of course you don't count combatants, idiots!
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 01/19/2007 7:41 Comments || Top||


Democrat Hypocrisy On Iraq: a YouTube history (re)lesson
ht to Denny

something you won't see on the MSM
Posted by: Frank G || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Indeed. Someone noted in the comments that a lot of the democRATs comments were made in the late 90's - under Clinton.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/19/2007 0:13 Comments || Top||


Turkish army gathered on Kurdistan’s border ready for attack
London (KurdishMedia.com) 16 January 2007: The Turkish army have gathered and intensified its forces on the Kurdistan’s border ready for attack, reported local sources on Tuesday.
Turks have been in and out of the Kurdish region several times already; don't know if this is any different.
While Turkey is holding a conference on Kirkuk without the participation of the Kurdistan Regional Government or any Kurdish political party, Turkey has intensified its forces on the Kurdistan’s border. Some Turkmens, Arabs and a high number of Turkish MP’s have participated in the conference. It was revealed by local sources that only Turkish flag displayed in the conference.

Radio Nawa stated that the Turkish army ready for zero o’clock to attack Kurdistan.

The speaker of Kurdistan Parliament, Adnan Mufti, condemned the meeting and dismissed it as the interferences on Kurdistan’s affairs. The Kurdistan Presidential Council led by Massuad Barzani has not made any statement regarding the Turkish conference on Kirkuk or the Turkish army’s gathering on the Kurdistan’s border.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Would this be the border of Iraqi Kurdistan or the border of the Kurdish areas within Turkey?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 01/19/2007 15:00 Comments || Top||

#2  If Iran and Turkey are both up to something... that's no good!
(note the Iran article)
Posted by: 3dc || 01/19/2007 20:04 Comments || Top||


Pelosi won't block funds for Iraq surge (today)
Jan. 18, 2007 — There may be a growing battle between Congress and the president over the Iraq War strategy, but new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she won't block funding for additional troops.

Pelosi's position, revealed in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer, came a day after a group of senators announced a bipartisan resolution condemning the Bush administration's plan to increase U.S. forces in Iraq by more than 20,000 troops. While the Senate resolution would be non-binding, it would send a message to the president, and at least a dozen Republican senators have already offered their support.

Below is an excerpt from Sawyer's interview, in which Pelosi said Democrats in Congress would not be held responsible for putting the soldiers in the troop surge in additional harm's way by blocking funds.

Sawyer: As we sit here right now, 3,500 troops are moving in. That's the first of the surge. It has begun. Fifty-one percent of the American people say they want Congress to stop the surge. Money is the method at hand to do that.

Are you going to move to cut off funding for troops going into Iraq as part of the surge?

Pelosi: Democrats will never cut off funding for our troops when they are in harm's way.

It is, I think, very difficult for the president to sustain a war of this magnitude without the support of the American people and without the support of the Congress of the United States. That's why Congress will vote to oppose the president's escalation, from the standpoint of policy. We will have our disagreement.

Sawyer: But short of that — questions posed, resolutions passed — short of that, are you acquiescing in the surge if the pocketbook is the only other control mechanism?

Pelosi: The president knows that because the troops are in harm's way, that we won't cut off the resources. That's why he's moving so quickly to put them in harm's way.

But we will hold the president accountable. He has to answer for his war.
So she accuses Dubya of putting troops in harm's way for political reasons -- to thwart the Democrats. Draw your own conclusions.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How about, the DEMOCRATS won't block funds for Iraq.
She's not a one woman political party yet. But she is full of shit, and full of herself enough to spew shit like this on ABC news.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 01/19/2007 8:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Lest we fergit, LESSON OF 9-11 i.e. COLLAPSE OF BOTH TOWERS > symbolic that regardless of ideology or belief system, regardless of whether one is GOP or DEM or OTHER, AMERICA = AMERICANISM IN THE WHOLE/ENTIRETY/THE TOTAL TOTE WILL GO DOWN AND BE DESTROYED. Amer "going down" is INCLUSIVE OF THE US LEFT. DEMS > "STRENGTHEN [anti-US]SOCIALISM AT HOME, WEAKEN-DESTROY AMERICA OVERSEAS", "USSA NOT USSR, ergo USSA must surrender to USSR".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/19/2007 22:46 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel Turns Over $100 Million To Abbas
Peretz puts West Bank settlement on hold

Israel freed $100 million in frozen tax funds and transferred the money to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, an official in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said Friday. The transfer, made Thursday night, gives the moderate leader a boost ahead of crucial weekend talks in Damascus with the top Hamas leader. It is the first such Israeli payment since the militant Islamic Hamas won control of the Palestinian government last March.

In another helpful development for Abbas, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz rescinded a controversial decision to authorize a new West Bank settlement, a ministry spokesman said.

Abbas is to travel to Syria Saturday for talks with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, aiming at forging a coalition government and ending a punishing international aid boycott. Talks have sputtered for months amid clashes between each side's loyalists which have killed 35 people, but the fact that the two leaders were meeting hinted that an agreement might be finally at hand, though key obstacles remained.

The financial transfer to Abbas was part of tax money Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority under partial peace accords. Israel halted payment of the revenues when Hamas won parliamentary elections and set up its Cabinet.

The Israeli official said the money would be transferred directly to Abbas for use in humanitarian efforts and to boost his security force. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been formally announced, said Israel was satisfied by assurances that the money would not go to the Palestinian Finance Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.

The move to free up the funds did not come with out backlash in Israel. CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports some critics say easing the boycott will free up money for Hamas to buy weapons and fund terrorism.

Meanwhile, Peretz ordered plans for the Maskiot settlement frozen indefinitely "in order to look carefully at the implications," Defense Ministry officials said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. The officials said Peretz had ordered the freeze "several weeks ago."

Berger says the decision came after the U.S. described the project as a violation of the internationally-backed roadmap peace plan, which bans construction of new settlements. Israel claimed that it was simply resurrecting an existing settlement that had been abandoned, but with the U.S. pushing for renewed peace talks, Israel froze the settlement plan.

Israel has been trying to boost Abbas in his struggle with Hamas, which rejects the existence of a Jewish state in an Islamic Middle East. However, such efforts can backfire, as Palestinians of all stripes try to distance themselves from the Israelis. A recent report that Israel had approved an arms shipment for Abbas' forces drew angry denials.

The scheduled Abbas-Mashaal meeting would be the first between the two in years. Abbas' Fatah and Hamas are bitter enemies — their efforts to form a unity government must overcome deep ideological and political divides.

Only the hardships caused by the Western aid cutoff have pushed them together, forcing them to look for formulas each party could live with — while satisfying Western demands that the Palestinian government recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace accords. So far Hamas has refused.

This article also ties in news about a third story, the death of the child of a Palestinian "peace" activist, which someone can post seperately if they want.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/19/2007 06:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That should cover his trip to Damascus. Now what are they going to do next week?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 01/19/2007 8:03 Comments || Top||

#2  That'll buy a lot of explosives and rockets.
Posted by: ed || 01/19/2007 8:15 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm seein' a shiny new bullet-proof Mercedes in Abbas' future. Soundproofed so as not to be bothered by the gunfire.
Posted by: PlanetDan || 01/19/2007 8:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Ahhh yes. Another modern PC Politician demonstrating the "Anti-Midas Touch" - turning gold into lead......
Posted by: OyVey1 || 01/19/2007 8:39 Comments || Top||

#5  This is as stupid as our President proposing to give Abbas and his cohorts $87 million for "security needs".

Handing your enemies money is stupidly suicidal.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 01/19/2007 12:06 Comments || Top||

#6  abbas is killing Hamasniks. Thats worth a fair amount of change to me.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 01/19/2007 14:25 Comments || Top||

#7  It gives them something to fight over...
Posted by: James || 01/19/2007 15:41 Comments || Top||

#8  Pouring gasoline on the fire?
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/19/2007 19:42 Comments || Top||


Peretz, Olmert vow they won't resign
The resignation of IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz will not lead to the departures of the other two men who led Israel to war in Lebanon, sources close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz vowed on Wednesday. They said they were not worried about being brought down by the domino effect that has already resulted in the departures of Halutz, OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam and Galilee Brigade Commander Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch.

"As defense minister, my intention is to continue the mission," Peretz said on Wednesday night in a speech at a graduation for naval commanders in Haifa. Sources close to both men said they were waiting for the release of the interim findings of the Winograd Commission at the end of next month, which they believe will clear them of wrongdoing in the war in Lebanon. Olmert and Peretz are expected to be questioned by the commission over the next two weeks. "Winograd will decide whether or not there will be a domino effect," an Olmert associate said. "The tribunal, established to make decisions, is where his fate will be determined."

Peretz's associates said they hoped Halutz's departure would help end the recent feuding between Olmert and Peretz, because their fates were intertwined. "Maybe the domino effect has stopped because the two men need each other," a source close to Peretz said. "We don't play grudge games, and he wants to get along with the prime minister because it's important for the security of the state."

Peretz's closest allies among the Labor MKs, faction chairman Yoram Marciano and Education Minister Yuli Tamir, have told him in recent days that it would help restore his image as a fighter for the poor, as well as his chances in the May 28 Labor primary, if he were to leave the Defense Ministry and accept an enhanced socioeconomic portfolio. Peretz's aides mocked Marciano and Tamir for "having no military understanding."

At a rally for Peretz's political rival, former prime minister Ehud Barak, United Kibbutz Movement secretary-general Ze'ev Shore, who heads the largest sector among Labor members, joined the call for Peretz to accept a socioeconomic portfolio and leave the Defense Ministry.

Olmert has been talking to Labor MKs and ministers over the past few weeks to hear from them ideas on how to convince Peretz to leave the portfolio, ideally as part of a cabinet reshuffle after the January 31 verdict in the trial of former justice minister Haim Ramon, but if not, then no later than the release of the Winograd Commission's findings.

Politicians from across the political spectrum called upon both Olmert and Peretz to follow in Halutz's footsteps and resign. They said Halutz could teach them a lesson about taking responsibility for their roles in the war. A Smith Research poll broadcast on Channel 10 found that 69 percent of Israelis want Olmert to quit and 26% do not. Some 85% want Peretz to quit and only 13% do not. Respondents were divided about whether Israel needs new elections, with 33% saying yes and 32% no.
Posted by: Fred || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bummer. Isn't there another way to get them sacked?
Posted by: twobyfour || 01/19/2007 1:08 Comments || Top||

#2  I expect Peres to pop up any moment now as a compromise Labor head.
Posted by: gromgoru || 01/19/2007 6:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Please kill me, please kill me, I won't resign.
[/snrk]
Posted by: wxjames || 01/19/2007 11:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Their resignantions are inconceivable!
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/19/2007 12:29 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Another UFO Observed in Western Iran
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- A radiant Unidentified Flying Object was again observed in the sky of Central Sepidar in the vicinity of Bouyer Ahmad in western Iran from 19:10 to 20:30 hours local time (15:40 to 17:00 GMT) Wednesday. Witnesses told FNA that the object has been observed for more than an hour.

In a similar incident last Monday, an Unidentified Flying Object was witnessed in the same area and at the same time.

Witnesses also said that the UFO has been as big as a ball, with a yellow ray and a bright reddish color in the center. They also stated that the object has been flying at a very low altitude.
Yup, sure sounds like a Predator. Hee-hee.
Officials declined to comment on the event.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/19/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This sound to me like a zoo. Zionist Observation Orb.
Posted by: Mike N. || 01/19/2007 0:16 Comments || Top||

#2  /me wonders if there is a Seal team with a tank of helium and a box of mylar balloons sitting behind a hill laughing their assess off.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/19/2007 0:41 Comments || Top||

#3  That would be fabulous. Pulling a "The Gods Must be Crazy" on the geraniums.
Posted by: Mike N. || 01/19/2007 1:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Steve, if that's not true, it should be.
Posted by: Mike || 01/19/2007 7:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Here's an idea: flares. I know we have IR sensors on our drones, but somethings you need to see in visible light.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 01/19/2007 7:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Ya' know...during WW2 and the years after UFOs were frequently seen in the US near nuclear facilities or air force bases where it could be reliably said nuclear weapons were probably stored.

It seems our little gray buddies take an inordinate interest in developing nuclear powers and nuclear facilities.

Coincidence?

:-)

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 01/19/2007 10:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Greg-
It seems our little gray buddies take an inordinate interest in developing nuclear powers and nuclear facilities.

LOL... Or...



"Can someone tell me who serves the best Lamb Kebabs in town"

Posted by: BigEdLB || 01/19/2007 12:55 Comments || Top||

#8  Above me oops...Free Republic ID...Sorry
Posted by: BigEd || 01/19/2007 12:56 Comments || Top||

#9  The truth is out there
Posted by: kelly || 01/19/2007 13:34 Comments || Top||

#10  Here's hoping they're here "To Serve the Mullahs."
Posted by: xbalanke || 01/19/2007 13:42 Comments || Top||

#11  Bwaaa!!!! xb Your about to start a new RB cookbook!!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 01/19/2007 13:53 Comments || Top||

#12  ROTFLMAO!

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 01/19/2007 14:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
US chain pulls 'anti-war' keffiyehs
I think this whole episode highlights just how ignorant so many people are.
Urban Outfitters, a popular American clothing store, on Thursday halted sales of a range of keffiyehs, the traditional Arab headdress, which it had been marketing this month as fashionable "anti-war woven scarves."

The firm's CEO, Dick Heyne, e-mailed a pro-Israel activist who had complained about the items earlier this week to stress that the company had not intended "to imply any sympathy for or support of terrorists or terrorism" in selling the keffiyehs and was pulling them.

The scarves, also sold on-line, were priced at $20 in several different color combinations as part of Urban Outfitters' Spring Fashion women's accessories range. "Due to the sensitive nature of this item, we will no longer offer it for sale," a notice on the Web site stated. "We apologize if we offended anyone, this was by no means our intention."

A manager at an Urban Outfitters on 6th Avenue in New York City close to the West Village, who wished to remain anonymous, said the item had been the "number one selling scarf."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: PlanetDan || 01/19/2007 12:06 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  $20 for a freaking dishrag? Are parents somewhere really raising kids to be this stupid?
Posted by: ed || 01/19/2007 13:39 Comments || Top||

#2  YUP!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: ARMYGUY || 01/19/2007 14:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Why, yes, we do. They're right over there next to the Che t-shirts. Will that be cash or charge, my little suburban freedom fighter?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/19/2007 14:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Folks wore these as political statments during the first intifada (87-92), since then I thought folks had forgotten about that and were just wearing them for the hell of it.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 01/19/2007 17:15 Comments || Top||

#5  tu3031 takes the lead on the 'Understated Snark of the Week' award!
Posted by: Steve White || 01/19/2007 17:25 Comments || Top||



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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2007-01-19
  Tater aide arrested in Baghdad
Thu 2007-01-18
  Mullah Hanif sez Mullah Omar lives in Quetta
Wed 2007-01-17
  Halutz quits
Tue 2007-01-16
  Yemen kills al-Qaeda fugitive
Mon 2007-01-15
  Barzan and al-Bandar hanged; Barzan's head pops off
Sun 2007-01-14
  Somalia: Lawmakers impose martial law
Sat 2007-01-13
  Last Somali Islamist base falls
Fri 2007-01-12
  Two US aircraft carrier groups plus Patriot missile bn planned for ME
Thu 2007-01-11
  US Warships picking up Al-Q hardboyz at sea
Wed 2007-01-10
  Troop Surge Already Under Way
Tue 2007-01-09
  Major battle on Haifa street in Baghdad
Mon 2007-01-08
  US Gunship Hits Al-Qaeda In Somalia
Sun 2007-01-07
  Iraqi Papers Sunday: Iranian Coup Plot Foiled?
Sat 2007-01-06
  Top Dems Oppose More Troops in Iraq
Fri 2007-01-05
  White House Postponing Loss of Iraq, Biden Says

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