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Grandest of Muftis prays for Muslims' victory
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Afghanistan
Bomb rips through medical plaza in Afghanistan
A bomb ripped through a medical plaza in eastern Jalalabad on Saturday injuring one person and destroying a shop, police said. The explosion was about a kilometre from the local governor's mansion. "We don't know for sure whether the bomb was against the government or the result of a personal grudge," said Shahzada Musloomyar, acting governor of eastern Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital.
Oooh. A hospital and a mosque in the same day. The Talibs are hitting their stride, aren't they?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:29 pm || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under:


Mullah Omar calls for jihad. Wotta surprise.
The former Taleban regime of Afghanistan has issued a rare statement urging Afghans to take part in a jihad against US-led coalition forces based in the country. It said the Taleban considered the possible US attack on Iraq as a continuation of the crusades against Muslims and an onslaught on Islam.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Attacking a secular kleptocracy is an assault on Islam. Islam seems to have a soft spot for kleptocrats, doesn't it?
The message was faxed from an unknown location in Pakistan and signed by Mohammad Mukhtar Mujahid, styling himself as a spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the name used by the Taleban while they were in power.
Back when Mullah Omar was a potentate... I notice the fax came from Pakland. Wotta surprise, that.
A senior Taleban leader, requesting anonymity, later confirmed that the communique was drafted on the directive of their supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.
He's not really big on writing, himself...
Addressed to the "Muslim and Mujahid nation of Afghanistan," the communique accused the US of committing aggression against their homeland and turning it into a colony. It maintained that Afghanistan was insecure and unstable even after 13 months of foreign occupation. Arguing that Afghan religious scholars had endorsed jihad against the US and the "puppet" government of Hamid Karzai, the Taleban communique said all the Afghans should wage the holy war under Mullah Omar's leadership.
"I think you should let me be in charge again. I was really got at being a potentate..."
It said Omar had appointed two Taleban leaders - Mullah Biradar and Mullah Obaidullah (a former defence minister) - as commanders of the new jihad.
As well they should be. They did one hell of a job, last time around.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 10:57 am || Comments || Link || [336109 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Remind me again - why isn't omar dead?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/08/2003 13:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Frank --- He may only have one working peeper, but he rides a mean bike.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 14:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Constantly hearing the word "jihad" gets really old, really quick. Every cleric that calls for it needs to be strung up.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 02/08/2003 21:35 Comments || Top||


Afghan rebels kill soldiers at prayer
Suspected Taleban fighters have attacked a government army post in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand. At least five soldiers were killed as they prayed late on Friday, a senior Afghan official said.
Showing an instinctive respect for the sanctity of a mosque.
Mohammed Mohuddin said two other troops had been kidnapped by the suspected rebels who were then suspected of having fled over the border to Pakistan.
Posted by: Pink & Fluffy || 02/08/2003 10:33 am || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Um, the word "hypocrites" comes to mind for some strange reason.

Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  had to get that last party in before the hajj
Posted by: Frank G || 02/08/2003 13:05 Comments || Top||


CIA officer killed in Afghanistan
Jang
A Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer has been killed and two wounded in a grenade accident during a live-fire exercise in Afghanistan, the spy agency said on Thursday. Helge Boes, 32, from the agency's Counter-terrorist Center, was killed in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday "when a grenade detonated prematurely," the CIA said in a statement. One agency employee was seriously wounded but was in stable condition, a CIA spokesman said. The other received relatively minor injuries and both were expected to recover, he said. Boes, who was training for a mission when he died, was the second CIA fatality in Afghanistan since the US launched a war aimed at ousting the Taliban.
Considering the amount of ammunition that's been fired off in Afghanistan in the past 18 months, that's actually a pretty good record. RIP, Helge.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:07 am || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Too bad. Toutes mes condoléances à sa famille. RIP, M. Boes.
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 11:14 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudis Plan to End U.S. Presence
Saudi Arabia's leaders have made far-reaching decisions to prepare for an era of military disengagement from the United States, to enact what Saudi officials call the first significant democratic reforms at home, and to rein in the conservative clergy that has shared power in the kingdom. Senior members of the royal family say the decisions, reached in the last month, are a result of a continuing debate over Saudi Arabia's future and have not yet been publicly announced. But these princes say Crown Prince Abdullah will ask President Bush to withdraw all American armed forces from the kingdom as soon as the campaign to disarm Iraq has concluded. A spokesman for the royal family said he could not comment.

Pentagon officials asked about the Saudi decisions said they had not heard of any plan so specific as a complete American withdrawal. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers involved were Saudis, members of both parties in Congress have urged broad reform in the conservative kingdom. Until Abdullah actually issues the decrees, it remains to be seen whether he will be the first son of Saudi Arabia's modern unifier, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, to undertake significant political change.

The presence of foreign — especially American — forces since the Persian Gulf war of 1991 has been a contentious issue in Saudi Arabia and has spurred the terrorism of Osama bin Laden, the now disowned scion of one of the kingdom's wealthiest families, and his followers in Al Qaeda.

Saudi officials said the departure of American soldiers would set the stage for an announcement that Saudis — but probably not women, at least initially — would begin electing representatives to provincial assemblies and then to a national assembly, Saudi officials said. The goal would be the gradual expansion, over six years, of democratic writ until a fully democratic national assembly emerged, a senior official said. The debate over the need for reform is described by Saudi royal family members as part of the post-Sept. 11 reckoning to head off foreign and domestic pressures that threaten the royal family and its dominion over the oil-rich Arabian Peninsula.
This is something that should make the Bush team happy. Assuming the Frenchies and Germans don't manage to derail it, taking Iraq will give us a strategic presence in the area — though only marginally better than that provided by Qatar and Kuwait, at first. It should leave us independent of the Soddy oil threat. It will also get Soddy opposition to us and our heathen ways out in the open. The top-down democratization I take with a grain of salt. The process is designed to maintain the power of the princelings, and that'll maintain the power of the holy men. Without individual liberties, which they're not even thinking of, democracy's nothing but a dangerous toy.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:53 pm || Comments || Link || [336096 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Check out the Saudi "reformers" at www.as-sahwah.com The Wahabis jailed Sheiks al-Hawali and al-Awdah from 1994-5, after they attended Teheran's annual jihad conference. Now, Hawali lives in Mecca, while al-Awdah operates a website www.islamtoday.net on behalf of the House of Saud's notorious terror front: Al-Haramain Foundation. The Fatwas, particularly the Mufti Sahibs Haj' incitement against Islam's "enemies" ("Jews and Crusaders"),say it all. While the Wahabis use "permissible lying" (taqiyyah) to pose a pragmatic posture, there is no theological differences between al-Qaeda ut-Jihad and the House of Saud. We will either nuke Mecca, Medina and Riyadh now, or later when the Wahabis
have paid for WMD programs across Islamania. In fact, later is really not an option.
Posted by: Anon || 02/08/2003 23:58 Comments || Top||


8 held in shootout with intelligence agents
Authorities have detained eight Saudi men suspected of involvement in a shootout with intelligence agents last month, a Saudi Interior Ministry official said yesterday. Police arrested several of the men, while others either surrendered or were handed over to authorities by their families, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said. The Jan. 24 shootout near a block of apartments in the capital, Riyadh, left one Kuwaiti bystander dead and two Saudi intelligence agents and a civilian wounded.
We'll be waiting to see their heads roll...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 11:13 am || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:


Grandest of Muftis prays for Muslims' victory
Jang
The Imam of the Holy Ka'aba, Sheikh Saud al-Shraim, prayed for Muslims to be victorious against their foes, in the Jummat-ul-Widda sermon before two million faithful take part in the Hajj. "Strong believers are not scared of death regardless of how loud the enemies beat the drums of war," Sheikh Saud al-Shraim told the pilgrims as he prayed for Allah to help Muslims achieve victory. "Believers are aware that life has a limit and that the Almighty Allah controls our destiny ... They should expect either victory or martyrdom, both of which should be sought." The Imam urged the worshippers, who filled the holy Ka'aba and all roads leading to it, to stay away from disturbances during the Hajj which is due on Monday.
"All Believers are cannon fodder in God's eyes. Your life has no purpose, other than to die or to help others die. You have no rights — they all belong to the Ummah, where us holy men hold them in trust. Ain't you lucky to be a member of the Master Religion?"
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti in remarks published on Friday accused "enemies of Islam" of working to undermine the Islamic nation. "The Islamic Ummah is facing many challenges from its enemies," said Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh. These challenges include "fighting against the Islamic faith, the Ummah's foundations, principles, values, economy and culture. They aim at containing this nation."
"Plots! Conspiracies! We got millions o' enemies!"
The area around the holy Ka'aba, which contains hundreds of high-rise hotels and shopping malls, was flooded with a sea of humanity, many of whom waited for hours under the scorching heat.
Wotta racket.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:13 am || Comments || Link || [336113 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The infidels are trying to contain Islamic countries' economies?

And here I thought they were doing that on their own. Silly me.
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 10:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Wishing for an US defeat in front of "a sea of humanity"... Is it me or the Saudi entity is not even trying to pretend anymore ?
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 11:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Bumpersticker on a car: "Allah --- Protect Me From Your Followers"
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 12:09 Comments || Top||

#4  "Believers are aware that life has a limit" heh
we non-believers will be happy to remind them that patience has limits as well.
Posted by: Frank G || 02/08/2003 13:09 Comments || Top||


Qatari Royal Family Linked to Al-Qaeda
American authorities say Khalid Shaikh Mohammed masterminded behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for Osama bin Laden, and is now considered bin Laden's second in command. In 1996, the FBI tracked Mohammed, under indictment on charges of terrorism, to Qatar's capital city, Doha, and was within hours of capturing him.

According to American intelligence officials, Abdallah bin Khalid al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family tipped off Mohammed. He is listed on government Web sites as the current minister of the Interior for Qatar and is known as a radical Islamic fundamentalist with ties to al Qaeda.

Mohammed is believed to have fled Qatar with a passport provided by that country's government. He is also believed to have been given a home in Qatar as well as a job at the Department of Public Water Works. Officials also said bin Laden himself visited Abdallah bin Khalid al-Thani in Qatar between the years of 1996 and 2000.

One former CIA official who preferred to remain anonymous said the connection went beyond al-Thani and there were others in the Qatari royal family who were sympathetic and provided safe havens for al Qaeda. "We had an opportunity to pick up a very, very bad man and a very dangerous man," said Cloonan. "He still to this day has an impact on U.S. national security."

It's an extremely sensitive situation for the U.S. military, given the role Qatar would play in a war against Iraq. The government of Qatar or its interior minister didn't return repeated calls for comment.
Posted by: Paul || 02/08/2003 08:59 pm || Comments || Link || [336084 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorry, bit off topic, but in regards to another Iraqi-Al-Queda link, can someone set me straight on the following?

When Clinton bombed the al-Shifa pharmaceuticals plant in Sudan, it was because intelligence thought OBL was making VX there with the help of Iraqi scientists.

I just saw a doco, which discredited this, and said it was just an intel error.

However I am aware that a soil sample was taken and had high levels of EMPTA (VX precurser) so there WAS evidence but that the media ignored this in favour of the silly idea that Clinton just bombed the plant to divert attention from Monica Lewinsky.

I think it WAS credible evidence, but am I right? Can you tell me?
TY very much, no more off-topic posts I promise
Posted by: anon || 02/08/2003 4:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Sorry, bit off topic, but in regards to another Iraqi-Al-Queda link, can someone set me straight on the following?

When Clinton bombed the al-Shifa pharmaceuticals plant in Sudan, it was because intelligence thought OBL was making VX there with the help of Iraqi scientists.

I just saw a doco, which discredited this, and said it was just an intel error.

However I am aware that a soil sample was taken and had high levels of EMPTA (VX precurser) so there WAS evidence but that the media ignored this in favour of the silly idea that Clinton just bombed the plant to divert attention from Monica Lewinsky.

I think it WAS credible evidence, but am I right? Can you tell me?
TY very much, no more off-topic posts I promise
Posted by: anon || 02/08/2003 4:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Most important, EMPTA is difficult to isolate in soil; in fact, the incriminating soil sample could have resulted from the breakdown of common pesticides. EMPTA's composition resembles that of several herbicides and pesticides, and could be confused with them in an imperfect test. Moreover, it turns out that there are legitimate, though limited, commercial uses of EMPTA
Given that the owner of Al-Shifa had his assets unfrozen and nothing has really come of the story in the last 5 years, it seems that it was a non story
Posted by: Paul || 02/08/2003 4:52 Comments || Top||

#4  The 'Mohammad' in the above story refers to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad being protected by Sheikh Abdallah bin Khalid al-Thani, and according to a person here other Qatari royals sympathetic to al-Qaeda are:

Abdul Karim al-Thani, member of the royal family and a fundamentalist who is one of the leading financiers of terrorists. A man who funded and protected Zarkawi (now infamous after Colin Powell's presentation) transitting between Afghanistan and Iraq.
and
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani, former chief of police and the man who first revealed the degree of sympathy in sections of the Qatari establishment. He fled the country after failing to unseat his cousin in a Feb 1996 attempt on behalf of the emir's father, who was deposed in June of 1995. Now serving a life sentence in Qatar after being snatched from Beirut.
Posted by: Paul || 02/08/2003 4:58 Comments || Top||

#5  I edited it, and added in the reference. There was another report, day before yesterday, on the same person, without the Khalid reference.

Golly. I wonder who would have become emir if the Soddies' coup had been successful back in October?
Posted by: Fred || 02/08/2003 9:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Obviously Khalid isn't taking any drives into the desert. Or the Quatari ruling family hasn't learned from watching the Saudis.
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 11:01 Comments || Top||

#7  The Qataris have been pretty good friends to us. Unlike the Soddies, I think these guys are just renegades - whether the impetus is Olde Tyme Religion or the desire to warm the Seat of All Power with their own bottoms.
Posted by: Fred || 02/08/2003 11:40 Comments || Top||

#8  Seems the whole region believes in playing every side of the fence. A rather fascinating Game of Houses.
"I say we nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
Posted by: Dishman || 02/08/2003 14:00 Comments || Top||


Britain
Anu Hamza takes his show to the streets...
Deposed from his mosque because of his anti-Western rhetoric, cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri took his radical brand of Islam to the streets yesterday and told worshippers President Bush is a curse to his people and the planet. The Egyptian-born activist, who is wanted in Yemen on terrorism charges, also said the space shuttle disaster was an alarming sign from Allah that America will face fresh calamities.
Again? He just can't get over that, can he?
It was no coincidence that the Columbia disintegrated over Texas, al-Masri told 100 worshippers who knelt in the street outside the Finsbury Park mosque in north London. "It is the headquarters of Mr. Bush. It is a message for him. You are a curse for your people, for the planet and mankind. The message is that some big calamities are going to drop on your head."
That was a message to Abu from God when the grenade exploded in his hand, too...
A mainstream Muslim leader quickly denounced the cleric's "publicity seeking antics" as "grossly offensive." "He seems to have no understanding of the damage that his rhetoric does to community relations in this country and the harm it does to ordinary British Muslims," said Inayat Bungalwala of the Muslim Council of Britain.
So why isn't he back in Yemen yet?
The United States says al-Masri is a member of the Islamic Army of Aden, the organization that took responsibility for the deadly bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen. The cleric is wanted in Yemen for purportedly orchestrating terrorist activities there, but as a British citizen is protected from extradition.
But since his marriage of convenience involved a bigamous lady, they can boot him any time...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 11:09 am || Comments || Link || [336084 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Fresh calamities" ? I sure hope this freak doesn't know something we don't.
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 11:27 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
U.S. loon peace activist deported on way to Iraq
Turkey yesterday deported a former U.S. Marine from California who is campaigning against war on Iraq and who tried to enter the country using documents describing him as a "citizen of the world," the environmental group Greenpeace said. Officials at Istanbul airport refused entry to Ken Nichols, who was a U.S. Marine in the 1991 Persian Gulf war and has helped organize Western volunteers to act as human shields at key sites and in populous areas in Iraq.
"Get the hell out and stay out!" (Where do they get these people?)
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 11:15 am || Comments || Link || [336098 views] Top|| File under:

#1  he's lucky they didn't detain him in a Turkish prison.
Posted by: Tom Roberts || 02/08/2003 11:52 Comments || Top||

#2  His bright red double-decker buses and supporters were also there in Turkey tho' - I'd assumed they might not make it to Iraq in time to be human shields as they desire.

Possibly the attack has been scheduled late in February, not in deference to the UN, or in deference to the hajj, but to allow time for these bright red double decker targets Saddamites to actually live up to their vows and be present when it hits the fan. Bwahahahaha
Posted by: Frank G || 02/08/2003 13:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Where'd they deport him to? He's supposedly given up his US citizenship.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 02/08/2003 15:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Just throw the guy into the Dardanelles; once he floats out into the Mediterranean he'll be back in "the world".
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 02/08/2003 21:43 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Canadian man ran terror camp
Edited for length...
The federal government released secret intelligence documents yesterday revealing that an al-Qaida training camp in Lowgar Province in Afghanistan was under the command of a Scarborough man whose two brothers are captives in the war on terrorism. Abdullah Khadr, 22, is described in a Privy Council Office intelligence report as a suspected al-Qaida member. The documents obtained by the National Post are the first official acknowledgement from Ottawa of the Canadian captives' ties to al-Qaida. They provide a host of previously undisclosed details about the Khadr family, whose patriarch Ahmed Khadr, an Egyptian-born Canadian, is wanted for aiding bin Laden.

Among the revelations is that Omar Khadr, the only Canadian captive at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, confessed to U.S. authorities during interrogations that his family was involved with bin Laden. Omar Khadr was caught by U.S. Special Forces on July 27, 2002, after allegedly killing an American medic with a hand grenade. He is being held at Guantanamo Bay with hundreds of other enemy combatants. He "was undergoing small-arms and explosives training at the time of his capture," the documents say.

The documents say that Ahmed Khadr's second-oldest son, Abdulrahman, "is suspected of having undergone training at al-Qaida facilities." He was captured by British soldiers in November, 2001, and handed over to the Afghan authorities, they say. The eldest son, Abdullah, remains at large, as does his father. No mention is made in the documents of the fourth brother in the Khadr clan. Their sister, Zeynab, lives in Islamabad, Pakistan. All are citizens of Canada.

The Liberal government has consistently denied that Canada has a terrorist problem, insisting it has been unfairly branded a safe haven. The documents show that despite the family's involvement with al-Qaida, following the capture of Abdulrahman Khadr, the Department of Foreign Affairs inexplicably tried to have him transferred back to Canada... Another document shows that Foreign Affairs "asked that the U.S. authorities not send Abdulrahman to Guantanamo Bay for detention." Foreign Affairs officials could provide no explanation last night but said they would comment today.

The documents also show that after the brothers were caught, Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, was briefed in a memo that they were the sons of Ahmed Khadr, a Canadian who was arrested in Pakistan in 1995 for his role in a deadly embassy bombing. Khadr was released after Chrétien, under pressure from Canadian Muslim lobby groups, made an extraordinary intervention in the case during a 1996 state visit to Pakistan. Khadr is now sought by U.S. investigators for his suspected role in the bin Laden terrorist network. "You raised his detention with the Pakistani president during your Team Canada visit and he was later released," the Prime Minister was advised in the secret memo. "The U.S. is very interested in finding Khadr." Government public relations officers subsequently drafted answers to give to reporters defending Chrétien's actions, the documents show. The press lines emphasized that the Prime Minister had only tried to ensure Khadr was treated properly.

The Khadr family is central to intelligence investigations into the Canadian al-Qaida network. Born in Egypt, Khadr moved to Canada in the 1970s and began working with the Ottawa-based Muslim aid group Human Concern International in the 1980s. Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, Khadr took his family to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, where he claimed to be helping refugees. Police and intelligence officials, however, say he was a guerrilla fighter involved with al-Qaida. In evidence unsealed last week by a Chicago court, U.S. authorities alleged Khadr was tied to the senior ranks of al-Qaida as long ago as 1988 -- almost a decade before CIDA stopped giving him Canadian aid money.

The family was living in Peshawar, Pakistan, in November, 1995, when two bombs ripped through the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, killing 17. Police raided the Khadr home and arrested the father for allegedly funnelling money through his aid agency to finance the bombing. The father was still under arrest when Chrétien visited Pakistan in January, 1996, and, under pressure from Canadian Muslim lobby groups, inquired about the case... Khadr's assets were frozen by the United Nations two years ago.
Posted by: Paul || 02/08/2003 08:53 am || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "In a related story, an al-qaeda training camp was discovered on Baffin Island"
I think this is the tip of the iceberg. Never voted for Chretien, the guy's an imbecile.
Posted by: Rw || 02/08/2003 6:31 Comments || Top||

#2  "In a related story, an al-qaeda training camp was discovered on Baffin Island"
I think this is the tip of the iceberg. Never voted for Chretien, the guy's an imbecile.
Posted by: Rw || 02/08/2003 6:31 Comments || Top||

#3  There's a very strong odor of antique flounder emanating from Jean's involvement with this highly-connected international crime family.
Posted by: Fred || 02/08/2003 9:53 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Extremist Groups Renew Activity in Pakistan
WaPo carries a long (Yes, even longer than this) analysis of Pak jihadi groups. These are excerpts, but the whole article's worth reading...
A year after President Pervez Musharraf announced a ban on Muslim extremist groups, a move hailed in Washington as a turning point for Pakistan, several of the organizations have reconstituted under different names and are once again raising money and proselytizing for jihad against India and the West, according to Pakistani officials and members of the groups.
We knew that...
Over the past few months, leaders of four groups banned by Musharraf have been released from house arrest or jail. One of them, Hafiz Sayeed of Lashkar-i-Taiba, has been traveling around the country to meet with supporters and whip up enthusiasm for renewed attacks on Indian forces in Kashmir. Another, Azam Tariq of Sipah-i-Sahaba, serves in parliament.
He's also forming a new organization, since the old one's banned, to do the same old things...
Pakistani authorities have released almost all of the hundreds of militants detained after Musharraf pledged on Jan. 12, 2002, to dismantle extremist groups that he said were "bringing a bad name to our faith." Since Musharraf's address, however, no effort has been made to disarm the groups, and donation boxes have reappeared in stores, mosques and other public places. Pakistani officials deny that Musharraf has reneged on his commitment to curb extremist groups, noting that scores of al Qaeda operatives have been rounded up in Pakistan in recent months, frequently in cooperation with the FBI.
Which is not the same thing as curbing the domestic extremism. The domestic loons are protected, except for when they go too far, by their affiliations with the fundo political parties...
Perhaps nowhere is Musharraf's unfinished business more visible than on the outskirts of this farming community near Lahore, where a group called Jamaat ul-Dawa — the religious and political affiliate to Lashkar-i-Taiba and now its apparent successor — occupies a sprawling, 190-acre compound protected by barbed wire and bearded men with Kalashnikov assault rifles. The group continues to churn out books and periodicals preaching the virtues of jihad in Kashmir, Chechnya, the Middle East and elsewhere.
Violence for the sake of violence. This is not a religious thing in Pakland, it's a cultural thing. That's a fact we tend to forget...
Sayeed said he does not recognize Musharraf's pledge last spring to "permanently" end militant crossings of the Line of Control dividing Indian and Pakistani Kashmir.
"Who's he think he is? The president? I do what I damned well please."
Another hard-line group banned by Musharraf, Jaish-i-Muhammad, is reorganizing under the name of al-Furqan, according to officials with the group.
Everybody's got an alias, but the machinery never changes...
The reemergence of "jihadi groups," several of which have been linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda, has caused deep concern among Western diplomats. They say it holds the potential for renewed confrontation between Pakistan and India, both of which possess nuclear arms and nearly went to war last spring, and calls into question the depth of Musharraf's commitment to the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
I believe Hafiz' intent is to actually push the two into nuclear war, so he can establish a khalifate on the radioactive remains...
Last month, American frustration with Musharraf flared into the open when the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Nancy Powell, during a speech to businessmen in Karachi, called on the government to fulfill its pledges to "end the use of Pakistan as a platform for terrorism." The remark caused an uproar in Pakistan, whose government is unaccustomed to such blunt talk from Washington's envoy.
Regardless of the truth of the matter. The truth of the matter is that Pakland as a matter of policy is continuing to subvert Kashmir, causing thousands of casualties and millions of dollars worth of economic damage at little cost to itself. Over on the other side of the country, the fundo groups are trying to do precisely the same thing, with only "demi-official" (as Hurree Chunder Mukkerjee would term it) involvement by personages within the government.
From all indications, however, the government still maintains a lenient attitude toward groups focused on the Kashmir conflict, such as Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Muhammad. Trained and supplied by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, these organizations have long been regarded as an instrument of state policy. "I don't think they're terrorists," said a senior military intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Anyone who has a beard -- just put an al Qaeda stamp on him. You have got to be slightly more realistic. We are talking about our own people."
"How could our own people be terrorists? That would make Pakland a terrorist-supporting state, wouldn't it?"
Though guerrilla incursions into India were curtailed early last year, pressure on the groups eased in the spring.
That lasted pretty well, didn't it? Two months.
In May, militants attacked an Indian army camp in Kashmir, killing 34 people, most of them women and children. The incident brought the two countries to the brink of war, a crisis that was defused only when Musharraf, under intense U.S. pressure, pledged to "permanently" end infiltrations across the Line of Control. American and Indian officials say incursions dropped sharply in June and early July, but U.S. officials now concur with the Indian assessment that Perv was lying through his teeth they have resumed.
"Of co-o-o-o-urse we trust you, Perv!"
The government has also allowed considerable latitude for militant leaders who were supposed to have been reined in. Even during their detention, for example, Sayeed and two other militant leaders — Masood Azhar of Jaish-i-Muhammad and Fazlul Rahman Khalil of Harkat ul-Mujaheddin — stayed in ISI safe houses, where they were permitted visitors and the use of cell phones, according to statements filed by their relatives in court proceedings related to their cases.
Khalil was also one of the signatories of Binny's declaration of war against us and all we stand for.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 10:31 am || Comments || Link || [336076 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakistan is like a car with a bent frame. No matter how much money you put into it to fix it, it is still a car with a bent frame. It is probably time to cut our losses, or maybe wait till after the Iraq deal goes down.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 12:45 Comments || Top||


Iraq
F117s in Qatar...
A flight of what looked like United States Air Force F-117A "stealth" attack planes was spotted over Doha, Qatar, on Friday as the buildup of forces for a possible war against Iraq progressed. The three black, distinctively shaped aircraft appeared headed for Al-Udeid airbase south of the Qatari capital. An Air Force spokesman at the base said he had no information about the presence of F-117A aircraft, and the identification could not be independently confirmed.
"I didn't notice anything. But then, I wouldn't, would I? They're stealth, y'know..."
A small number of stealth bombers, which military experts say would play a central role along with cruise missiles in the opening days of an air campaign against Iraq, left their base in the United States earlier this week for an undisclosed destination.
I wonder where they went...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:25 pm || Comments || Link || [336097 views] Top|| File under:

#1  France. Operation Smack Weasel.
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 22:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Send dem 117s and carpet bomb dem maggots with the thing they fear the most:SOAP.
Posted by: Hugh Jorgan || 02/09/2003 0:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Send dem 117s and carpet bomb dem maggots with the thing they fear the most:SOAP.
Posted by: Hugh Jorgan || 02/09/2003 0:45 Comments || Top||


Kofi sez we need the UN...
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned the United States on Saturday against attacking Iraq on its own, arguing collective action under a U.N. umbrella would have greater legitimacy and better odds of success.
The first is arguable, the second laughable...
In an address marking the 310th anniversary of William and Mary College, Annan also stressed that force should be used only as a last resort. But if the U.N. Security Council concludes, after a key report by U.N. inspectors due on Friday, that Iraq is not disarming as required by council resolutions, "the council must face up to its responsibilities," he said.
He trusts the Frenchies to make sure it doesn't...
"This is an issue not for any one state alone, but for the international community as a whole," Annan said. "When states decide to use force, not in self-defense but to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the United Nations Security Council," he said.
He's equating verbiage with legitimacy...
"When there is strong U.S. leadership, exercised through patient diplomatic persuasion and coalition-building, the United Nations is successful — and the United States is successful," he said. "The United Nations is most useful to all its members, including the United States, when it is united and works as a source of collective action rather than discord," he said.
Like it did in Rwanda.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:08 pm || Comments || Link || [336113 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This report leaves out one critical line:
“Our (U.N.) founders were not pacifists. They knew there would be times when force must be met by force.”
Posted by: Dishman || 02/08/2003 21:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, like Rwanda, like Iraq, like Lebanon, like North Korea, like Cambodia and the Pol Pot Party like the famous human rights and disarmament conferences. Call Allied Monday morning and put it in conexes and ship it to Paris, freight collect. Jeeze, these hypocrates piss me off.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 21:23 Comments || Top||

#3  It sounds to me like the UN needs the US rather than the other way around.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 02/08/2003 21:32 Comments || Top||


Read between the lines...
This link via Vodkapundit

Britain and America are drawing up plans to give Saddam Hussein as little as 48 hours to flee Baghdad or face war, if UN weapons inspectors report this week that the Iraqi dictator is still refusing to disarm fully.

Although this is the main thrust of the article, there's mention of Dr. Germ...

Dr Blix is holding talks with senior Iraqi officials in Baghdad this weekend. While his inspectors have now been granted private access to a number of Iraqi scientists, one of their prime targets - the English-trained woman who used to run Saddam's lethal biological weapons programme - said that she will refuse to talk to them.

In an exclusive interview to be broadcast on BBC1's Panorama at 10.30 tonight, Rihab Taha, who studied at the University of East Anglia and is known as "Dr Germ", said that she does not trust the inspectors.

"It is a human right that if you don't want to speak to anyone, no one will oblige you or force you." Speaking of her work on biological weapons, Dr Taha added: "It is our right to have a capability to defend ourselves and to have something as a deterrent."

So, she doesn't trust the inspectors. After what happened to the guy who tried to talk to them, I wonder why not? However, in the phrase that I bolded, she's as much admitted that they ARE working on biological weapons. In her mind, helping them is more dangerous to her health than the bugs she's growing...
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 08:49 pm || Comments || Link || [336086 views] Top|| File under:


Rumsfeld irate over secret plan on Iraq
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was visibly angry Saturday night after learning that without Germany and France were crafting a proposal for beefed up U.N. arms inspections in Iraq without consulting the United States. The proposal, first reported Saturday afternoon in the German newsweekly Der Speigel, would send thousands of U.N. troops — so-called "blue helmets" — and hundreds, possibly thousands, more inspectors to enforce U.N. resolutions calling for Iraq's disarmament.
Oh, that'll work, about as well as it usually does...
In comments to reporters, a senior U.S. government official said, "In diplomacy if you are trying to win friends and influence people the last thing in the world you want to do is to lay on the U.S. government — on the most important issue facing us — a major diplomatic proposal through the press. That's not exactly the way to go."
Ummm... Prob'ly not. Unless you don't take us seriously...
The official pointed out that Rumsfeld, in Munich for the 39th annual Werkunde security conference, had met with European officials throughout the day and the matter never was brought up. Rumsfeld raised the issue with German Defense Minister Peter Spruck in a one-on-one meeting Saturday. "And the response we got was, 'We're talking about that with the French, but we're not ready to talk to you about it, it's not fully done,'" the senior official said, "which to say the least was a highly inadequate response."
Nope. They don't take us seriously.
The official called it extraordinary that no one had spoken to Rumsfeld about it before, particularly given Rumsfeld's strong condemnatory comments earlier in the day. Earlier Saturday, Rumsfeld had warned Germany and France — the most vociferous weasels critters critics of the U.S. hard-line toward Iraq — they risk isolating themselves rather than the United States if they continue their resistance to forcing Iraq to disarm.
They don't take Eastern Europe seriously, either...
Separate from the secretive process that the United States delegation found outrageous, the U.S. government is likely to reject out of hand any such proposal to beef up inspections.
"Stuff it, Jacques. And you, too, Fritz."
The senior official brought up the disaster with U.N. troops Srebenica in the former Yugoslavia in July 1995, when Bosnian Serb units killed about 8,000 Muslim men and boys after capturing the town, a U.N.-designated "safe area." "We remember the last time that blue helmets were in a very difficult situation, and we remember July 10th, 1995, Srebenica, when 8,000 men and boys were killed," the official said. "Srbenica was an unmitigated disaster."
The UN prefers not to remember it, of course...
Moreover, the U.S. position remains it is not the inspectors' job to find Iraqi weapons but Iraq's job to prove it has disarmed. According to the United States, more inspectors will not change Iraq's noncompliance.
Keep hammering that point, Don...
Moments before the senior official spoke a clearly angry Rumsfeld declined to comment on the proposal, saying he only knew what was in the press. Earlier in the day, Rumsfeld had blasted the "two or three" NATO members — including Germany and France — who are blocking a NATO proposal to direct the Strategic Allied Commander Europe to prepare a Patriot missile battery, a surveillance plane and chemical and biological detectors to protect Turkey from a possible attack from Iraq. His remarks came in a speech Saturday to the alliance defense ministers gathered here for the conference. "It is beyond comprehension to me how in the world can a NATO country," he began, and was interrupted by thunderous applause. "To prevent just the planning I think is inexcusable," he continued. "Those preventing the alliance from taking even minimum measures to prepare to do so risk undermining the credibility of the NATO alliance. If they won't live up to that, what next might they not live up to?"
Pick something. They won't live up to it.
Rumsfeld said if NATO does not approve the protective measures for Turkey, the United States will do it independently. "Turkey will not be hurt. The United States (and others) will go right ahead and do it, let there be no doubt," he said. "What will be hurt is NATO."
And another multilateral bubble will evaporate.
A senior defense official told reporters Saturday afternoon he expects NATO to approve the proposal on Monday. So "confident and comfortable" was NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson that he put the proposal under a "break-silence procedure," meaning if no NATO member objects, it will go into effect.
Will they be able to keep their mouths shut?
Rumsfeld then launched a broad attack on the United Nations for allowing Libya to head a human rights commission and Iraq to head a disarmament commission. "That these acts of irresponsibility could happen now, at this moment in history, is breathtaking," leaving no doubt that in his mind the United Nations has already lost its credulity, Rumsfeld said. "Those acts will be marked in the history of the United Nations as either the low point of that institution in retreat, or the turning point when the U.N. woke up, took hold of itself and moved away from a path of ridicule to a path of responsibility."
I think they'll try and stick with the ridicule, myself.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 08:56 pm || Comments || Link || [336091 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think that France and Germany will continue this backstabbing even while they are caught in the vortex and are going down the toilet. Hats off to Rumsfeld for telling it like it is. I hope these two are counting their mosques as they speak, 'cause they better watch their six from there, too.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 21:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Though it will never work, tactically this was a brilliant move by Sammy's lawyers, the French. We've often said that a truly effective inspection regime would be little different than occupation. They are proposing something that looks a lot like like occupation. If they make a semi-serious proposal, it will be hard to keep the Brits, the democrats and many other allies on board.
Posted by: JAB || 02/08/2003 23:55 Comments || Top||


US and Britain give Saddam just 48 hours to leave Iraq
Britain and America are drawing up plans to give Saddam Hussein as little as 48 hours to flee Baghdad or face war, if UN weapons inspectors report this week that the Iraqi dictator is still refusing to disarm fully.
"Get out, or we'll throw you out..."
The proposals will form the framework of a long-awaited second resolution, which could be put before the Security Council by next weekend. The deadline would be just long enough for Arab neighbours to make a last effort to persuade Saddam to leave the country, according to US officials, or for a coup to take place. The shortest timeframe to emerge from private diplomatic discussions has been two days. The phrasing of the new, deliberately concise UN resolution would deny Saddam a fresh chance to say that he will comply with Security Council demands. Britain will put forward the resolution because Washington "does not want to be seen to need it", according to a senior Security Council diplomat.
Anybody care if we don't get a second resolution? Didn't think so... Oh, sorry Jean-Pierre and Fritz. Didn't see you there in the back of the blog.
Foreign Office officials confirmed that Saudi Arabia has offered to take Saddam if he goes into exile. Last month Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, said he would be "delighted" if Saddam fled Iraq.
Idi could probably put him up for awhile, until he found a place of his own. (Bad phrasing... I'm thinking condo on the beach, he's thinking Kuwait.)
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 08:40 pm || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I linked to the same article above. I saw something different in its body...
Posted by: Ptah || 02/08/2003 21:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Good eye. I read right over it...
Posted by: Fred || 02/08/2003 21:11 Comments || Top||


Egypt refuses to help interview nuke jockeys...
Egypt has rejected a U.S. request to interview Egyptian engineers and scientists employed in Iraq's nuclear program. U.S. officials said the regime of President Hosni Mubarak failed to respond to Washington's appeals for information of and access to Egyptian nationals employed in Iraq's nuclear program. The officials said after repeated U.S. efforts the Cairo government responded that it viewed Egyptian nationals who work in Iraq as private citizens. "They said they would not get involved and refused to help us locate them or provide information so we could reach them ourselves," a U.S. official said.
"Piss off, George. We're on Sammy's side. Unless he goes down, of course..."
Officials said that late last year the U.S. intelligence community received information of the employment of dozens of Egyptian engineers and scientists in Iraq's nuclear program. Some of the names of the Egyptians matched a list provided by Iraq to the United Nations of more than 500 scientists who worked in Baghdad's nuclear program.
Probably working on Egypt's nuclear program now...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 11:58 am || Comments || Link || [336093 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder how many of these egyptian "scientists" got their degrees in the US? I wonder how many middle eastern engineering students have studied in the US? If they could do an audit of who studied in the US, maybe they could come up with some interesting names. But then again there's always Europe and Russia to provide you with a specialized education.
Posted by: Rw || 02/08/2003 16:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Anyone have any information on how much a year we give Egypt and Israel?

The last I remember reading it was 2.5 billion to Egypt, 2 billion to Israel.
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 22:09 Comments || Top||


The choice for Iraq’s rag-tag army: be killed by the US or by Saddam
For Private Abass Shomail the war in Iraq ended before it had even begun. Two days ago Abass slipped away from his sentry post and started running in darkness across the muddy frontline. He stumbled past the newly dug trenches designed to protect Iraq's conscript army from American bombardment.
He kept going. Eventually he found himself in a rolling landscape of green hills and pine trees, the Kurdish self-rule enclave in the north of Iraq. Abass was the first deserter from the Iraqi military to cross into Kurdistan for several months. Yesterday, in an interview with the Guardian, he gave a unique insight into the condition of the Iraqi army on the eve of an imminent and massive US attack.

Though defectors are a notoriously unreliable source of intelligence, the fact that he had crossed the border into Kurdish-held territory only days earlier, together with his lowly rank and the lack of any apparent incentives to embellish his story, all point to the credibility of his account.
Morale was very low, he said, both among his fellow conscripts and among civilians. "We want America to attack because of the bad situation in our country. But we don't want America to launch air strikes against Iraqi soldiers because we are forced to shoot and defend. We are also victims in this situation."
Abass was yesterday in custody in Chamchamal, a small Kurdish smuggling town overlooked by low green hills and Iraqi army posts. From the edge of town, the silhouettes of Iraqi soldiers could be seen peering out from their bunkers across the fields.
The Kurdish fighters or pershmerga ("those who do not fear death") who took Abbas into custody interrogated him for a day to establish he was not a spy. Yesterday he was still wearing his olive Iraqi army overcoat and woolly balaclava. His new home was a small heated room with a TV set tuned to the Arabic station al-Jazeera.
Conditions back in the Iraqi trenches were not so good, he said. "We have two blankets for every soldier, but they are very thin and don't keep us warm. The officers beat us. And the food is disgusting. I'm only paid 50 dinars [about £3] a month." What would have happened if he had been caught trying to run away? "I would have been executed."
As the US military puts the finishing touches to its invasion plan, it is clear that Saddam Hussein's recruits and volunteers face bleak choices in the coming weeks. If they remain in their positions they run the risk of being pulverised by American missiles. But if they try to surrender they risk being shot.
At the moment it is hard to know which is the greater danger. "There are two groups in the Iraqi army," Abbas said.
"One is made up of soldiers like me. The other is the Republican Guard. The special guard will support and defend Saddam. The ordinary soldiers and many of the commanders will surrender."
But for the moment Iraq's military commanders are making frantic preparations for a battle whose outcome nobody seems to doubt. Earlier this week, troops manoeuvred four enormous Russian-made Katyusha rocket launchers into position behind the frontline at Chamchamal. Some 1,500 Iraqi reinforcements have just arrived. Dozens of tanks have been concealed in trenches, Abbas confirmed, as well as anti-aircraft batteries.
"The Katyusha rocket launchers are not there for aesthetic reasons," the town's Kurdish head of security, Adel Muhammad, joked. "But we have our undercover agents. They tell us that when America attacks the Iraqi soldiers will surrender."
Officials from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party that controls the valleys and mountains around the town of Sulaymaniyah, say they are not expecting a pre-emptive Iraqi offensive in the north, given the huge US invasion force assembling in Kuwait. But President Saddam's record against the Kurds is brutal. Nothing can be ruled out. And the disconcerting possibility remains that, hidden among the ordnance may be artillery shells fitted with chemical weapons.
Every day hundreds of Kurds cross an Iraqi checkpoint to the oil-rich government-controlled town of Kirkuk, a 30-minute drive away. They bring Kent cigarettes smuggled in from Turkey. They return with plastic containers full of paraffin.
"We have to bribe the Iraqi guards $2 each time we cross," Hersh Abdul Karim, an 18-year-old smuggler, said.
The soldiers Abbas left behind, meanwhile, sit in their hilltop bunkers, pondering an unenviable fate. "We are all very tired," Abbas said. "I haven't heard of Tony Blair. But if George Bush wants to give us freedom then we will welcome it."
Posted by: Steve || 02/08/2003 11:09 am || Comments || Link || [336083 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Dozens of tanks have been concealed in trenches"
Not only is Saddam a great military man, but he also fails to learn from the past.
"among the ordnance may be artillery shells fitted with chemical weapons."
I was thinking about this the other day. Saddam could use the bombing campaign to do his dirty work, or as a deterent, to protect certain sites.
Posted by: Rw || 02/08/2003 17:03 Comments || Top||


U.S., Iranian Officials Had Clandestine Meeting on War
Under a veil of secrecy, U.S. officials met with Iranian diplomats in an unidentified European country last month, in what is seen as a U.S. attempt to neutralize Tehran before its looming invasion of Iraq, said a leading U.S. newspaper Saturday, February 8.
Shows good sense on the U.S. side...
Carrying a war message, the Bush administration officials also asked Iran for a humanitarian help in search-and-rescue missions for downed U.S. aircrews and further requested that Iranian government deny haven to fleeing Iraqis who might try to cross into Iran and regroup against a U.S.-supported government in Baghdad, reported the Washington Post.
No harm in that — and maybe some good...
U.S. officials report that signals from Tehran have been encouraging, despite Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi's statements that "Iran is basically against war and is not going to support either side." A senior Bush administration official said the White House hopes Iranians "will stay out of the way" if U.S.-led forces topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in favor of a pro-Western government. U.S. officials, in addition, reassured the Iranians that a prospective war would not target them, the Post quoted a U.S. official as saying.
Nope. We have other plans for them...
The Bush administration also cited its acceptance of Tehran-based Shiite Muslim leaders among the Iraqi opposition. "We wanted to make clear to them that, just as we cooperated with them in Afghanistan, we'll cooperate with them in Iraq. We're able and willing to cooperate in Iraq," the official briefed on last month's mission. He added that the administration and the Iranians have been communicating regularly through partners in Europe and the Gulf.
"The Deputy Assistant Undersecretary of State requests that you convey our heartfelt greetings to those sons of bitches..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:51 am || Comments || Link || [336097 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To be precise, their own citizens have other plans for them...
Posted by: Ptah || 02/08/2003 20:05 Comments || Top||


Ousting Saddam prelude to eliminating Islamist currents
Randa Habib for Middle East Online
The Arab world's worst suspicions about US policies have been stirred by Secretary of State Colin Powell's comments to Congress that a war on Iraq could "reshape" the Middle East to suit Washington's interests. An Arab official, who requested he not be named, said that diplomats in the region had been aware for a year of US intentions to reshape the Middle East's political landscape. "American officials often told us in private that an intervention in Iraq would be a prelude to political and geographic upheavals in the region."
[Applies look of fatuous innocence]
"No! Really? They must be mistaken..."

An analyst who also requested anonymity said Washington was playing a "carrot and stick" game with its main Arab allies, pressing them to align themselves fully in the war on terrorism and the campaign against Iraq, or be prepared to face dire consequences.
That part about "you're either with us or you're with the terrorists" was a pretty subtle hint, huh?
"The Americans have ... made it known to countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt that they must modernize their forms of government and engage themselves clearly in the war against terrorism and Islamic extremism," he said. "It is understood that from now on only pro-American dictators, that ally themselves totally with the West and clamp down Islamist currents, will be tolerated."
Can't recall that we've mentioned installing any dictators at all. We've been talking about democracy and individual freedom. Is there a translation problem?
Powell told a congressional hearing Thursday that ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime could fundamentally reshape the Middle East in a positive way for the United States and its allies.
Well, there it is, right there. That lays out the whole plan, doesn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:23 am || Comments || Link || [336108 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Geez, anyone who's been following the "rush to war" knows what's up.
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 10:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Powell, in his explanation, was subtile, like the "p"in swimming. Overthrowing theocracies (read kleptocracys) to these thugs means replacing them with dictatorships. Some form of republic or parliamentary democracy is beyond their comprehension. It will be a painful transition, but it will come.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 12:19 Comments || Top||

#3  No, to be specific, only pro-American dictators will be tolerated. This means that, henceforth, Middle Eastern dictators must be pro-American or they will be toppled and replaced with democracies.
Posted by: John Bragg || 02/08/2003 17:30 Comments || Top||

#4  "Pro American Dictators" is the anonymous Source's words. Alaska Paul has it right: The possiblity of a democracy or republic is beyond their ken, so this guy is groping for words, and grabbed the only ones that came to mind.
Posted by: Ptah || 02/08/2003 20:07 Comments || Top||


Australians bare all in anti-war protest
Warning! Smudgy boob shot on the link! "Don't look, Ethel!"
More than 700 women have posed nude in Australia in a mass protest against their country's support for possible military action against Iraq. The naked demonstrators, aged 20 to 60, used their bodies to form the words "No war" on the side of a hill in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Protesters said they would use aerial photographs of the stunt to publicise opposition to the government's policy on Iraq. Australia has sent troops to the Gulf and approved the deployment of fighter planes in support of the US military build-up in the region. The organiser of the Byron Bay protest, Grace Knight, said the women wanted Australian Prime Minister John Howard to recall forces from the Middle East.
I always like to get naked when I can't have my way, too. With my body, people usually do what I want, if I'll just put my clothes back on. Strong women have been known to weep at the sight... Or laugh.

Uncontrollably.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:39 pm || Comments || Link || [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OH! The Humanity!
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 22:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Memo
From: D. Rumsfeld, SecDef
To: G.W. Bush, POTUS
Subj: Iraq

We have to call off the invasion. 700 women posed naked in Austrailia and spelled out the words "no war" with their bodies on a hillside. How can we beat that?
Posted by: Mike || 02/09/2003 8:21 Comments || Top||


Home Front
FBI's on lookout for Pakistani
Hours after the government boosted its terror alert level, the FBI said it was looking for a Pakistani man it fears may be a terrorist. The FBI distributed a "seeking information" poster on the Internet for Mohammed Sher Mohammad Khan, 36, although it conceded that may not be his real name. "Khan is being sought in connection with possible terrorist threats against the U.S.," a bureau statement said. "Although the FBI has no specific information that this individual is connected to any potential terrorist activities, based upon information developed in the course of ongoing investigations, the FBI would like to locate and question this person."
Another little present for us, from the MMA? Pakland just oozes guys like this...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:15 pm || Comments || Link || [336082 views] Top|| File under:


Middle East
Lebanon plans to enfore draft...
Lebanon plans to enforce its military draft amid rising tensions along the southern border with Israel. The Lebanese military has called on all 18-year-olds to report to register for the draft within three months of their birthday. A statement by the military's high command warned that those who fail to register would be classified as deserters. Lebanon has a one-year compulsory military service. It has been largely ignored since the 1975 civil war and most of those who have been drafted over the last decade were cannon fodder youngsters from poor families.
Syria thinks it's gonna need a few more brigades, huh?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 12:01 pm || Comments || Link || [336110 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not enough time...
Posted by: Ptah || 02/08/2003 20:08 Comments || Top||


Important safety tip for kiddies...
A 7-year-old Vietnamese boy was killed and five children were hurt after a U.S.-made shell exploded in Quang Tri province while they were playing with it, state media said yesterday. The accident happened Monday, the army newspaper Quan Doi Nhan Dan reported. It raised this year's death toll from unexploded ordnance to at least eight.
"Nguyen! Don't play with that thing! You'll put somebody's eye... BOOM!"

Nostalgic note: Quan Doi Nhan Zan ("People's Army") used to have the most turgid commie prose in existence. With articles like "Emulate Meritorious Actions!", there were times when it made the Chinese look lively and witty.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 11:48 am || Comments || Link || [336086 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Regardless of the circumstance, the accidental death of small children are tragic.

Remember, the French still have a very active government service branch called Deminieurs (sp?) who are pulling out tons of unexploded ordnance every year. Mostly WWI, some WWII, some Chemical Warfare.

I think the same is true for areas around St. Petersburg, Russia and obviously Afghanistan.

Unexploded ordnance will be a problems for decades to come.
Posted by: Penguin || 02/08/2003 13:36 Comments || Top||

#2  why can't we just use ethanol to power cars?

It's a whole lot easier, we already use it in race cars, so it wouldn't be hard to modify production of consumer cars to take ethanol.

Then you just make ethanol by growing corn or non-THC hemp! A closed carbon cycle that will satisfy the greenies, and we no longer have to buy oil from Islamist fantatics!

Let them go back to the stone ages where they belong.
Posted by: anon || 02/08/2003 15:37 Comments || Top||


Middle East
Sharon Met Senior Palestinians in Secret
Israeli media disclosed that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held secret talks with two senior Palestinian officials before and after last month's general elections. Channel One of the Israeli public TV said Sharon held his first meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's PLO deputy, Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, before his Likud party won the general elections last month. A second meeting was held on Wednesday, February 5, at Sharon's ranch in the southern Negev desert with the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Ahmed Qorei, also known as Abu Ala.
Everybody's got an alias... I think I'll use "Captain Bloodblister." Whaddya think?
The channel also said that Israeli Chief of Staff Dov Weisglass and U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, also attended the talks. According to the channel, Weisglass held talks with Palestinian Interior Minister Hani al-Hassan Wednesday. It cited sources close to the government as saying more such meetings were expected in the near future. The talks, which apparently came about under pressure from the U.S. administration, centered on the possibility of a ceasefire and efforts to strengthen the Palestinian Authority.
They want Yasser and crew to hang on for awhile, since Hamas has decided they'd like to be in charge. They'd just like it to happen without Yasser. Yasser, of course, doesn't want to go...
According to Israeli reports, Sharon's secret talks were aimed at improving the climate in the Arab world for U.S. efforts to gain support for a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. On January 30, 2002, Sharon met with Arafat's economic adviser, Mohammad Rashid. Sharon has said several times he was holding secret talks with the Palestinians, despite the fact his government and the United States have actively tried to have Arafat sidelined.
Probably any substantive talks they have will concern getting Yasser lined still further to the side.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 02/08/2003 09:45 am || Comments || Link || [336097 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Israel needs to give up the fantasy of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas is what the Palis want, and that's what they should get. Deal with the facts.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 02/08/2003 10:36 Comments || Top||

#2  I think they've got to let the remnants of the Paleostinian Authority weaken Hamas sufficiently before Mullah Yassin's boyz take over... At least I hope that's what they're doing - if there are more shootouts between the two sides, we'll know that's working.
Posted by: Fred || 02/08/2003 10:59 Comments || Top||

#3  worst idea? arming the PA to balance the Yassin killers...The IDF should take Hamas down a few pegs first, and unless keeping Yassin alive to identify who he deals with (a likely rationale), he should be first on the list to be whacked before the Ararat
Posted by: Frank G || 02/08/2003 13:47 Comments || Top||

#4  I think that this is all window dressing, especially if it came out in the press. Hamas, Hezbollah, and Yasser the Ramallite will go, the question is when, and the answer is when they start ululating and firing when we go into Iraq.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 15:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Sharon is builind up Hassan and Abu mazen to take over the PA when Arafat is eased out post-Iraq. He knows Israel cant hold the territories forever, cant give them up to Arafat. Some (on both the left and right) say Sharon is pretending - I think he's not.

Also helps US at this moment - most valuable, and will earn brownie points for later.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 02/10/2003 8:34 Comments || Top||


hydro-fuel?
Has anyone seen a reaction from Oil company's in general,and Arab oil produceing country's in particular concerning Pries.Bush's $450million hydrogen fuel research initiative?

I am suprised that we haven't heard the Saudies screaming bloody murder that we are trying to destroy thier economy.
Posted by: Raptor, w_r_manues@yahoo.com || 02/08/2003 11:36 am || Comments || Link || [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe because a government subsidy for alternative fuels does more harm to our economy than theirs. The taxpayers are the ones who should be screaming
Posted by: Arnold Kling || 02/08/2003 8:40 Comments || Top||

#2  I haven't seen any reaction at all from oil companies, not that I follow them very closely. I don't think the Soddies take it seriously.

Hydrogen-powered cars makes a lot more sense than driving around with solar panels on the tops of our vehicles, and the mechanics would be less of a kluge than the hybrid electric approach.

The few articles I've seen on the hydrogen subject have mentioned extracting the hydrogen from methane. It would seem to make more sense to me to extract it from water, but I'm anything but an expert. If I remember my high school chemistry correctly, passing a current through water will break it down into H2 and O. If it's really that simple, we're a nation of dumbasses for not having done it around the time gas went above 25 cents a gallon.

The oil companies could no doubt figure a way to make their money by running hydrogen plants up and down both coasts and along the Mighty Mississip.
Posted by: Fred || 02/08/2003 11:28 Comments || Top||

#3  More likely the electrical utilities and the NGas pipelines would make the profits. But the DoE studies going on now have H2 production prices at the source at a $5/gas gallon price level. Is that going to sell in Peoria?
Posted by: Tom Roberts || 02/08/2003 11:50 Comments || Top||

#4  The problem with Hydrogen always goes back to the
Hindenburg moment. New Jersey I think in 1933. Not Hitler's finest hour.
Posted by: john || 02/08/2003 11:56 Comments || Top||

#5  The hydrogen fuel cell makes a pretty innovative use of energy, but I don't know if it's exactly the solution that Bush seems to be pushing it as. Den Beste's work on the subject is probably the most thorough. Yes, you can hydrolize water into H and O, but you need the electricity to do it. A straight Hydrogen engine would conceivably utilize hydrogen produced as a byproduct of other fossil-fuel refining processes--it would likely be too expensive to use hydrogen created by electricity from other marginal alternative energy sources such as solar or wind power. Yes, Hydrogen would store the energy produced by sources that produce electricity when you don't need it, but that makes it more expensive.
The true beauty of the hydrogen fuel cell technology is that it runs on a system of ramped catalytic conversion. You can get hydrogen out of methane through other processes that require less energy than electrical hydrolysis--the fuel cell uses a long process that isn't quite a perpetual motion machine, but close. It's just really, really, expensive.
Posted by: therien || 02/08/2003 11:59 Comments || Top||

#6  I for one am all for exploring new and better technologies.

But consider this: by combining hydrogen with oxygen you get electricity to run an electric motor with "clean" wator vapor as the by-product. Now for a given amount of hydrogen/oxygen you can go a given amount of miles. What that might be I do not know, but with enough information you can quantify it.

Now the amount energy obtained by combining hydrogen with oxygen exactly equals the amout of energy needed to create the hydrogen and oxygen from water. Now add in losses due to ineffiencies in production transmission and use you end up with a net energy loss.

This is good?

Extracting hydrogen from methane is ok, but it's cheaper and more efficient to burn the methane.

I'm not against using hydrogen. But it is not a panecia. Maybe not even a good idea. Ultimately economics will decide what the right thing is.

Re the evil oil companies. They are in business to make money. If there is a better way to produce energy they will be leading the band wagon because they want to make even more money. If you want it and they got it they will sell it to you. They don't care. But if the technology means that you will have to pay throught the nose, you won't want it and they won't sell it.

Good for them.
Posted by: Michael || 02/08/2003 12:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Seems like if the solar power/wind power/pedal power advocates were serious, they'd be using the power output from those sources on a large scale to produce barrels of hydrogen to power those clean, non-polluting cars they claim to yearn for.

If I had any business sense - which I don't - I'd design a small-scale plant that would, with the addition of water and electricity, produce those barrels of hydrogen. I think the problem with the solar power set is that they have no more business sense than I do, or less. What they'd really like is to live in the 12th century and be serfs.

When cheap and affordable hydrogen power comes, whether from hydrolysis or from fuel cells, it'll be because some big, bad oil company or power company figures they can make profits from it. The initial euphoria will be followed by the usual demonstrations in favor of ignoring the development costs and handing it out free, followed by "excess profits" taxes imposed by those who had no hand in development.
Posted by: Fred || 02/08/2003 12:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Actually, the Hindeburg tragedy was overblown. The deaths were caused by people jumping rather that waiting for the gondola to be pulled down. Hydrogen is actually less volatile than gasoline. The biggest problen with hydrogen would be refueling the car. Are ya gonna have to replace fuel cells to refuel?
Posted by: Denny || 02/08/2003 12:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Who is old enough to remember Jimmah Carter (world's greatest monster and peace prize winner)and the synfuels boondoggle? That was intended to reduce dependence on foreign oil. After hundreds of millions of dollars the project produced nothing (how very Carteresque). Some shadow of synfuels is still with us and still soaking up government dollars.

Here we go again.
Posted by: Anonymous || 02/08/2003 12:49 Comments || Top||

#10  Like engine development, development of new fuels takes decades to do economically. There is no easy fix. There is no free lunch. Energy from oil was created millions of years ago by solar power. It is hard to beat it except in specialized situations. Like the exploration of space, development of alternative sources of energy will require a long-term committment which will pay dividends in the long term. We need that long term commitment, and not "trendy" science. We should be working with Russia and others to build a network of oil and gas sources to get around the Middle East. Despite corruption problems, more people in Russia and nearby countries will benefit from the oil wealth that a few Middle East despots. Getting some of the oil money out of the middle east will help dry up some of the terrorist dollars and life will be better for the rest of us. Would you like your energy supply to come from more stable rational business-like people, or would you like to continue to kiss the asses of psychopaths?
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/08/2003 14:19 Comments || Top||

#11  Re: the Hindenburg - saw an interesting documentary a few years ago about that. Their theory was that the hydrogen wasn't the problem. They got a piece of the fabric skin of the Hindenburg, did chemical analysis and discovered the "dope" used to seal the fabric was pretty similar to the composition of modern day solid rocket fuel - they didn't understand the chemistry well enough in the '30's to know they had encased a big bubble of hydrogen in a high intensity fuse. Once the treated fabric sparked the destruction would have been just as total with helium lift. Judging from the films, they didn't think the hydrogen even ignited until after the structure started to collapse. FWIW.
Posted by: VAMark || 02/08/2003 14:47 Comments || Top||

#12  Here's a link to a website detailing how a car can use a methanol fuel cell. At the moment, the technology obviously isn't here, but its worth pursuing.
Posted by: Ptah || 02/08/2003 19:46 Comments || Top||

#13  Older Internal Combustion engines used to run around 50% of theoretical. Now they're substantially better. However, it's worth noting that 'theoretical' is only about 22% efficient for a 12-1 compression.
Boilers typically run fairly close to theoretical, achieving 33-45% actual efficiency (at much higher temperatures). This is roughly 3x as efficient as IC engines.
Delivery of electricity (the grid) is about 50% efficient. Most of the rest is released as heat from power lines and transformers.
Fuel cells are very efficient. I've seen numbers in the 90+% range (energy out vs. energy in).

In theory, it would be possible to achieve a modest improvement in efficiency using existing electrical infrastructure and fuel cells. This is not even taking into consideration the possibility of using fuels like methanol or methane in the vehicle itself. It also does not consider the possibility of power from sources like Solar Power Satellites.

In theory, it is possible.

Perhaps the reason we speak of it being so far off is that we do not want to piss off the Soddies until we're ready.

It would be unpleasant if OPEC embargoed us unless we dropped this research.
Posted by: Dishman || 02/08/2003 20:27 Comments || Top||

#14  Here's another link to a possible source of electrical power from the Ocean.

Essentially, the design uses cold water pumped up from the deep ocean depths to create a vaccuum so that tropical ocean water partially vaporizes, creating "steam" that drives a turbine/generator. At the moment, the efficiency is 3 to 4 percent, so a lot of water has to be pumped to overcome the cost of running the pumps (to move the water and run the vaccuum pumps), but a plant already exists.

THIS is where we get the electricity to split water to get hydrogen.
Posted by: Ptah || 02/08/2003 21:22 Comments || Top||

#15  As far as fuel cell cars go check out what GM is doing with their Autonomy project (the 'Skateboard')
http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/environment/products/adv_tech/autonomy1_010702.html
I think that the system is buildable at this point but the fuel cells are about twice the height (12" vs 6" or something like that) that GM wants.


I've also seen some interesting things about solar power from the University of Las Vegas using closed cycle Stirling engines and solar power. A stirling engine needs heat from any source to run so they are simply using mirrors to track the sun and reflect it off the generator. Talked to a guy there about a year ago and it was looking promising to the point where they were about to field test some generators in the power grid (it's been a while so I might not get the numbers right but I think it was about $100,000 to build a unit that would power 20 homes with a lifetime of 20 years, I assume that that's daytime use only since there was no power storage mechanism i.e batteries)

We're also making advances in wind and wave technology for power generation.
Wind generated power can now be had for about 5 cents per kwHr in favorable areas (http://www.awea.org/faq/cost.html) which is approx what we pay for electricity today in some areas (http://www.soredi.org/Page.asp?NavID=363)

The bigger problem is that we don't have a hydrogen power infrastructure (hydrogen gas stations etc). We're gonna have the old chicken and egg problem. No one will want to buy hydrogen fuel cell cars because there wont be any places you can fuel them and no one will want to build hyrdogen stations since there will be no cars to fuel etc.

So the way I see it we are getting closer to the point where we could be energy independent in say 20 years or so. There is a lot to do but the task is not unsurmoutable.
Never underestimate human ingenuity.


Posted by: CujoQuarrel || 02/09/2003 1:54 Comments || Top||


Latin America
Huge blast kills 20 at elite Colombian club
At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a car bomb exploded in an indoor carpark of an exclusive club frequented by the Colombian capital's top politicians, Mayor Antanas Mockus city announced in Bogota.
A brave strike against the enemies of the working class no doubt
The El Nogal club, located in an upmarket neighbourhood in northern Bogota, was a favorite hangout for politicians and a frequent venue for meetings presided over by Fernando Londono until his nomination as interior minister in the cabinet of President Alvaro Uribe. Firefighters late yesterday battled a blaze sparked by the blast that threatened to spread to neighbouring buildings, which include the Peruvian embassy and the homes of the ambassadors of Spain and Italy. The club had luxurious meeting rooms, a squash court, swimming pool, sauna, hotel and several restaurants.

The blast, which occurred at 8.15pm yesterday (1215 AEDT today), came just hours after national police head General Teodoro Campo announced that his officers had thwarted a string of planned city bombings.
Sounds like the IRA training is starting to pay off
Posted by: Paul || 02/08/2003 08:53 am || Comments || Link || [336082 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like they tried for the Bali effect...
Posted by: Fred || 02/08/2003 9:04 Comments || Top||



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