KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait's cabinet called on lawmakers yesterday to speed up a vote on a proposed amendment to this conservative Gulf state's election law that aims to give women the right to vote and stand as political candidates.
The call was made during a parliamentary session attended by hundreds of women activists who had earlier staged a sit-in outside the legislature demanding equal voting rights for women in Kuwait, a close US ally which was until recently the Gulf region's sole democracy. Deputy Prime Minister, Shaikh Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah, ordered lawmakers to set a date as soon as possible to debate the amendment, which cabinet proposed last year.
At one stage, Kuwaiti women watching from the parliament's gallery broke out into applause after a lawmaker backed the amendment. But the parliament's speaker ordered them and the rest of the gallery out following the outburst.
"We are the only country in the world that has a limping democracy," activist Rania Al Saad, 30, outside the parliament building as some 700 protesters chanted "Women's rights now."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2005 12:07:27 AM ||
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The IRA has revealed that it .offered to shoot the men blamed for murdering the Belfast man Robert McCartney Anybody else you need gone, ma'am?
The provisionals also gave details of their own investigation into the killing - admitting some of their members were involved after a five-and-a-half hour meeting with his family. All questioning in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, of course.
But the McCartneys made it abundantly clear that they did not want any physical action taken. It remains to be seen how the statement will be received in a community almost universally revulsed by the killing. I doubt the church bells will be ringing.
For a republican movement struggling for respectability, You've got to be kidding!
it is the most extraorindary tactic, an open statement from the IRA threatening to shoot those involved in the murder of Robert McCartney. We'll kill anybody for respectability. That's why we wear bowlers and carry umbrellas.
Robert McCartney was stabbed at a bar in central Belfast in January. Eyewitnesses claim IRA members carried out the murder -with a ruthless cover-up and intimidation of witnesses. Now that's a surprising MO
It is a case that has spawned an unprecedented grassroots rebellion in a Belfast republican heartland. The family of the dead man have led the campaign, all the time calling for Mr McCartney's killers to be tried in court. They will have reacted with horror when IRA chiefs visited them last month and offered to shoot those involved. The IRA statement issued today says: "The IRA representative detailed the outcome of the internal discplinary proceedings thus far and stated in clear terms that the IRA was prepared to shoot people directly involved in the killing of Robert McCartney." The bereaved were no doubt deeply touched by the sentiment. One wonders why they consented to the meeting, or if they were given a choice.
"The family made it clear that they did not want physical action taken against those involved. They stated that they wanted those individuals to give full account of their actions in court." One of Robert McCartney's relations described the IRA offer of summary justice as "highly insensitive". Doncha love that British understatement?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/08/2005 3:02:26 PM ||
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#1
Nothing much more than the black hand these days. Wait a second.... Irish Mafia? hummmmmm.....
The police, security services and ministers all believe there is a continuing threat of a terrorist attack though no one can be sure how many al-Qaeda-trained activists are in the country. The Home Office said on Monday it would not "get into the numbers game when it comes to answering [in public] questions like how many individuals are posing a threat". At the weekend Sir John Stevens, former Metropolitan police commissioner, put the figure at 100 to 200 but added the figures might not be "exact".
Sir John is thought to have drawn on intelligence assessments he had seen since September 11 2001. The estimates make a distinction between more than 300 Britons who trained in al-Qaeda camps and are under watch, and a core of probably fewer that 30 individuals who might be plotting an attack here or abroad. Pressed for details last month, Charles Clarke, the home secretary, told a Commons select committee the number facing control orders on the grounds they might pose a security risk might not be "significantly larger" than the 17 who have been detained without trial since September 11 2001. The Home Office said an estimate suggesting 20 would be subject to the new security measures was not meant as a precise figure.
The number features in a public document entitled "regulatory impact assessment", in which the Home Office makes a financial cost analysis estimate based on a notional figure. Other recently published figures show that of the 701 people arrested in the UK under terrorism laws between the attacks in the US and the end of last year, only 17 had been convicted and 351 were released without charge. The majority of prosecutions resulted in acquittals or convictions for indirect offences, such as fundraising or recruitment. While the figures provide a confused picture, police and security service chiefs are adamant there is a threat of a terrorist attack on the UK. Police and security service officials say that they have intelligence that could not be used in court as evidence to secure a conviction. As one counter-terrorist expert put it: "We can argue about the figures but the essence of Sir John's warning is right. There can be no room for complacency."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/08/2005 1:38:23 PM ||
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EFL U.S. President Bush will not invite Sinn Fein or Irish Republican Army officials to the White House on St. Patrick's Day. Instead, Bush has invited the sisters and fiancee of a Catholic man said to have been killed by the IRA. The invitation is a significant political message from Bush, whose aides announced last week for the first time since 1995, Sinn Fein and other Irish parties would not be invited. Bush believes neither Adams nor his aide Martin McGuinness can be trusted. Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the separatist group, will be touring the United States when Ireland's patron saint is honored March 17, and will speak in Washington, although he was not invited to the White House. McGuinness will remain back in Northern Ireland to tend to various crises.
#1
Bush is sending a clear message to terrorists. We are not interested in dealing with you and your nefarious agenda. Gerry Adams, like the Arafish, was not invited to the White house. This is good. I like seeing clear goals, messages, and consistancy in the Presidency.
Now all Bush has to do is to get his act together on our southern border.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/08/2005 15:08 Comments ||
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#2
Apologists for the white terrorists appear in 5...4...3...2...
#3
"Now all Bush has to do is to get his act together on our southern border....."
So true. Am I mistaken, or to date does it look like Bush is more attuned to potential voters streaming across the border than he is terrorists? I know he isn't concerned about votes for him, but for future Republicans.
Posted by: Carlos ||
03/08/2005 18:22 Comments ||
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#4
The President is masterful with the invitation/non-invitation weapon. Whether it is a friendly visit with the King of Spain or a "no- visit" to the ranch for weasels, he puts it out there loud and clear. Now that is diplomacy!
The Jew-baiting students at SOAS (see post below) should know they're in great company in lauding their hero Ken Livingstone. For who should also have come out in staunch support of Ken but David Duke, the American white supremacist, former Ku Klux Klansman and rabid Jew-hater.
The Jew-baiting students at SOAS (see post below) should know they're in great company in lauding their hero Ken Livingstone. For who should also have come out in staunch support of Ken but David Duke, the American white supremacist, former Ku Klux Klansman and rabid Jew-hater.
The Jew-baiting students at SOAS (see post below) should know they're in great company in lauding their hero Ken Livingstone. For who should also have come out in staunch support of Ken but David Duke, the American white supremacist, former Ku Klux Klansman and rabid Jew-hater.
They're only beginning to get it. The events of today are the direct result of September 11th. When we as Americans said that 9/11 changed us, it was traumatic, it was searing, but most of all it was motivating: we weren't going to sit down and ask why everyone hated us. We knew why. We knew why a nation of quarrelous, cantankarous, bawdy and religious people had achieved such extraordinary success. We knew why nations full of otherwise ordinary Joes and Joans had nothing to show for themselves. We were successful. They were failures. They knew it. That's why.
We could have easily waved it off, fired a few missiles at a camel in a desert and held high a squirrel pelt. We could have said that it was too difficult, that minds couldn't be changed, that whole peoples didn't want what we had and didn't believe what we believed.
Instead, we set out to change hearts and minds. We did. And this past November, we affirmed that we had the right strategy, the right leadership, and the right plans. What we understood, what Afghans, Iraqis, Lebanese and others have openly acknowledged, is the power of personal liberty. Freedom, in a word. That which makes people succeed when they have it. Oh yes, let us tip our hats to our own opposition, because the valuation of liberty is made in part by the tolerance of dissent; thanks Kos and Mikie and John Kerry, you figured that part out just fine.
But personal liberty is more than that. Courage. Sacrifice. Respect. Tolerance. Decency. And most of all, the subliminal factor, the giving factor, the will to extend one's own blessings to those we've never met, to those who have said over the ages that they 'hate' us. That willingness to bring freedom to ordinary people who've never met us defines the unique American vision of liberty.
George Bush didn't conjure up the idea of bringing liberty to the Middle East recently. It wasn't born in his state of the union speech a few weeks back. It wasn't a campaign promise. The doctrine that personal liberty would break the hold of thugs and despots wasn't born yesterday. It's not an after-the-fact excuse for going into Iraq or Afghanistan, and it's not a justification for oil.
It's been the mission since about September 12th. The Independent doesn't yet see that. But they're closer today than they were.
Posted by: Sobiesky ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
It seems that at least some people on the left are starting to ask that question. Peter Mansbridge, the CBC uber-leftie anchor and political commentator, coincidentally, did comment today:
In less than a year, we've seen relatively free elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, a hint of democracy in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the death of Yasser Arafat and the election of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian who seems bent on finding peace with Israel. And most recently, the remarkable scenes in Lebanon where people power has again stared down the guns of seized power. Is freedom really on the march across the Middle East, as George W. Bush and those who've helped design his foreign policy giddily suggest? Actually, that theory is now gaining support from unlikely sources.
Remember Walid Jumblatt? He was a familiar face in the media of the 1980s as Lebanon went through its agonizing civil war -- a long-time Druze parliamentarian, he was often heard railing against the U.S. for intervening in the mess that was his country. Now, his thoughts have a different tone. Last week, he told the Washington Post: "It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting, eight million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world." Strange is right, because this is the same man whose visa to the U.S. was pulled after he had called Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defence, a "virus," even publicly wished for his death -- all for that same policy that led to the invasion of Iraq two years ago this month.
It is early in this process, but Jumblatt, a controversial figure at the best of times, isn't hesitant with his prediction of where all this is going. To him, what's happening here is similar to those history-making November days 16 years ago. In fact, he made the direct comparison by claiming that the people in his world "all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen"
#4
this is as delusional as western press saying democracy is taking hold in the Mideast. You guys will believe any propaganda put forth by the Bushies. Save this post for a year and see what the spin will be then. Democracy is a pretext for clouding of the minds of you middle class underfunded and moral baited so-called republicans. Read a few history books and a few political sciece texts on propaganda. The concept that there is an eruption of democracy in the middle east is being set up like a soph,ore's work on a propaganda thesis. Democracy in the Middle East is the Willie Horton story of the moment.
#6
.com you are too poor to even fully enjoy the tax cut. Go vote against yourself, your mal-education is showing. while you are at it send your child over to Iraq or join the army and volunteer to find roadside bombs. It makes sense. Democracy will flourish.
#10
Wow, jurisesq, you are sooo sophisticated! And the Bushies are so good at evilly manipulating the poor idiots in Iraq, Afganistan, Kuwait, Paleostine, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Soddy Arabia, Ukraine, and various -stans! And all for the oil, too!
#16
learn something about Islam instead of being just yes men for each other --we Christians got it wrong again --the Crusades are always failures. better to isolate them and ignore than to invade into the middle and surround ourselves. Been to a good flaggelation religious rite. I am the most conservative on this board. You guys are the radicals.
#17
I am the most conservative on this board. You guys are the radicals.
WTF?
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/08/2005 9:43 Comments ||
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#18
ROFL!
Thank you sooo much. Yep. You're the man, or woman, all right. Yewbetcha.
Just wondering, but do you like travel with a warning sign or something? Y'know, like at the pool, to let people know how deep you are? I think that would be a good idea for an expert, such as yourself.
#23
Um, juriseqs? You'd conserve our children by giving carte blanche to people committed to our destruction whatever we do? And you'd conserve treasure by paying it as dane-geld? If we extend the had of peace to al-Qaeda they'll chop it off.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/08/2005 10:00 Comments ||
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#24
Whoops, that should be "hand of peace".
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/08/2005 10:01 Comments ||
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#25
"conserve" at what price? liberty? life?
This is WW IV, not imperialist hubris. Either we win this and freedom spreads through the Moslem world, or we will have a major nuclear war v.soon.
#27
Juriseqs, you are an illiterate authoritarian wannabe with no apparent knowledge of logic, rhetoric, or argumentation. You have not tried to justify or support any of your claims and pronouncements. It is you, not we, who are deficient in education and knowledge.
#28
Isn't it fun now that the left has been exposed to be the dupes and fools that we always knew they were. Poor juriseqs and his buddies are left with Michael Moore, Ward Churchill, Howard Dean, Chirac, Castro, Bill (I love the Mullahs) Clinotn (and soon) Chavez et. al, as their vaunted champions of wisdom. Their belief in the UN, that institution whose leaders are $21 Billion dollars richer from stealing food and medicine from the needy and pushes paper over 5 star lunches as women get raped and entire communities slaughtered. But hey, the do watch it all go down - that's something.
The juriseqs of the world like the UN because it allows them to do absolutely nothing for the desperate, yet still claim to be their champions. So ... comfortable.
They say you are as good as the company you keep. The left has got to be looking around these days and feeling just a bit uncomfortable.
#29
It's kinda funny listening to Juri talk about propoganda in the western press put forth by the Bushies. I guess he means the pro-Bush outlets of ABC, NBC and CBS. Maybe he means the NY Times, LA Times, SF Chronicle, Wash Post. Perhaps he means all the right wing Hollywood propoganda that make it to the theaters. Too bad the Bushies are losing their biggest propoganda pusher - Dan Rather!
Patrick Henry March 23, 1775: "...Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north [Middle East] will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
#33
What's this we Christians nonsense, Kemo Sabe? I'm not at all certain, if we did a hand count, that Christians of whatever flavour are even a simple majority on this site. I know I'm not, nor is .com (who, poor darling, is living off the obscene wages he earned those endless years in Saudi Arabia), nor liberalhawk, nor Master of this pocket universe Fred. That's of those posting to this thread that I'm sure of. And certainly this has never claimed to be a Conservative or Republican site. We've got bigger fish to fry.
#34
Juriseqs, I don't know what branch of Christianity you claim to speak for, but you sure don't speak for me.
Also, looking at your handle, may I make the assumption you are a lawyer? If so, please have your paralegal spell and grammar check your posts before hitting the "submit query" button. If your legal briefs are anything like what you have posted here, you are single-mindedly bringing down the intelligence level of the bar every time your words hit paper.
#35
Juriseqs: Well, I *AM* a Christian. I never made any bones about that, and I'm sure the long-timers on this board know it too.
You are A FAKE. Someone PRETENDING to be a Christian to gain cheap talking points.
If there is anything more Christian that happened in this decade, it was the liberation of Iraq by Americans. We indeed spent lots of money, treasure, and blood to free a people who were propagandised by the SAME sources from which YOU drink, to hate us. We did so to FREE them, and give them the SAME blessings of liberty that we, INCLUDING YOU, enjoy.
You selfish, self-centered, I-am-the-center-of-the-world FAKE. Only SELFISHNESS made you side with A TYRANT, and AGAINST the long-suffering people of Iraq.
Christians have a SEMBLANCE of principle. To complain that we were bad for propping up a tyrant, and THEN to complain when we REPENTED of such a belief and PULLED HIM DOWN is to reveal a LACK of INTEGRITY, PRINCIPLE, CONSISTENCY, and FAIRNESS. You are to America what the Pharisees were to Jesus: willing to twist principles and laws to condemn the blameless, only to wind up creating a situation that condemned themselves.
Either go into your closet and repent, or just GO AWAY.
YOU are the hypocrite the non-Christians of this board cite as a reason not to consider Christianity.
I'm sure to be very misunderstood when I say the following: Bad crap is coming down the pike for you, Juriseqs, and you'll need help to haul your ass out of the fire. This is a WARNING, not a threat. My natural man wants me to say nothing about it, so you'll just thrash around with no clue as to how to get out of it, but I guess the same Spirit that approves of giving liberty and freedom to the Iraquis, at the cost of one's money and children, insists that I throw you this lifeline on the possibility you'll grab it and save yourself a lot of heartache.
#36
LOL DB! And I agree with respect to the Christianity angle the EVERY LLL seems to grasp when they feel the argument slipping. It's always about Jerry Fawell or Pat Robertson or pedophile Priest, never about the teachings of Jesus christ and what that means. I have never met Falwell or Robertson and probably couldn't pick them out of a crowd. I am a practicing Catholic (can't seem to get it right) and I know the difference from right and wrong. I don't consider myself hollier than the next man and I don't like any LLL trying to tell me what they think is 'unchristian' or 'christian' in nature. Also (without knowing) I would put up the credentials of everybody at Rantburg against any group on the left. If Ward Churchill (Chief spouting Bull), Ted Kennedy, Nancy Polosi, Babs Boxer, and Howard Dean are their 'Smart Leaders' then I feel pretty good about our 'Dumb' Leaders. Keep up the good work Counselor maybe you can lose twice as many seats in 2006.
#38
You guys are the radicals. Bingo! He gets it. We are the people who want to fix some serious problems before they get any worse. The Left are the conservatives wishing things wouldn't change.
I'm a card carrying atheist and I suspect we may be a majority of the regulars.
#39
Good for you 2b! I bet you save a lot of money in December. I only ranted about christianity because LLL love to preach on it when they are losing an argument (such as the experts they are). Usually it starts out on what Fawell or Robertson said on some show that outraged just about everyone and how I must agree and follow their thinking. The fact that you are a atheist and I am not proves that not all conservatives walk in lockstep, and that we can (and do) think for ourselves. Wonder if rantburg ever ran a demographics survey? that would be interesting to see.
#41
I'm a card carrying atheist and I suspect we may be a majority of the regulars
Probably no card carrying agnostics, Phil. But it's a guess, nothing more. I don't consider one's religious affiliation, including yours, that important, except for moon-god cultists.
Chechen President and resistance commander Aslan Maskhadov was killed on 8 March in a special operation in Tolstoi-Yurt, north of Grozny, Russian agencies reported, quoting Colonel Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the Russian federal forces in the North Caucasus.
Maskhadov's death effectively demolishes the hope that the ongoing conflict in Chechnya can be resolved peacefully, at the negotiating table. Command of the semiautonomous resistance forces, the various detachments of which are capable of operating independently for months at a time, now devolves to radical field commander Shamil Basaev, the next in seniority and experience after Maskhadov. While Maskhadov sought repeatedly to obtain Russia's consent to negotiate a peace settlement that would guarantee the security of the Chechen people within the Russian Federation, Basaev has made it clear that he has no interest in peaceful coexistence with Russia. But it is likely that others, as yet unknown or little known, will emerge in the months to come to challenge Basaev for that role, or to operate independently of him.
Talks with those new potential resistance leaders, according to former Ingushetian President Ruslan Aushev -- who negotiated with one of them in Beslan during last September's hostage taking -- would be "incomparably more difficult" than with Maskhadov and his associates, even assuming that the Russian leadership would agree to any such talks. Aushev went on to warn, in an interview published in "Novaya gazeta" last month, that it would be wrong to dismiss the new generation of fighters as savages; he described them as "politicians with a young and aggressive ideology behind them...they are well-informed and armed with sophisticated technologies." More to the point, radical Islam is a far more compelling motivating force to the new generation of militants than it was for Maskhadov.
Maskhadov's death also removes the last constraints and inhibitions about attacks on Russian civilians and extending the war beyond the confines of Chechnya. Until very recently, Maskhadov had insisted that his men abide strictly by the Geneva Conventions of warfare, that they refrain from killing civilians, and that they desist from terrorist attacks elsewhere in the Russian Federation. It was only in his most recent communication just last week, with RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service, that Maskhadov hinted he might relax the prohibition on extending fighting into other North Caucasus republics as the sole means of upping the pressure on Russia to end the war. He pointed to the emergence of autonomous militant formations in Daghestan, Ingushetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria. Those formations all maintained links to, and some were trained by, Basaev, who has claimed responsibility for numerous acts of terrorism, including the Beslan hostage taking, the Moscow theater hostage taking in October 2002, and the killing of pro-Moscow Chechen President Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov in May 2004.
Insofar as Maskhadov's death will almost certainly lead to an upsurge of resistance activity across the North Caucasus as soon as the spring foliage provides enough cover, it may enhance Moscow's reliance on the pro-Russian Chechen military formations, including the so-called special presidential guard subordinate to First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, Akhmed-hadji's son and perhaps the most-feared and most-hated man in Chechnya. Russian President Vladimir Putin already apparently regards Kadyrov as the most credible and reliable source of "objective" information about the "true" situation in Chechnya. Moreover, the fact that the FSB managed to kill Maskhadov is likely to act as an additional incentive to Kadyrov to make good on his sworn pledge to kill Basaev, the one figure who could coordinate and control future resistance activities in the North Caucasus.
The key question that is likely to remain unanswered is whether the FSB has known Maskhadov's whereabouts for some time, but decided only now, for unknown reasons, to close in on him, or whether he was betrayed. On 7 March, lenta.ru reported that Maskhadov was among some 15 Chechen fighters pinned down in southeastern Chechnya, some 60-70 kilometers from where Maskhadov was reportedly killed.
Born in exile in Kazakhstan in 1951, Maskhadov returned to Chechnya with his family in the late 1950s and proceeded to make a career in the Soviet armed forces. He was without doubt the lynchpin of developments in Chechnya for most of the past decade -- certainly since the killing of President Djokhar Dudaev in April 1996. It was Maskhadov, in his capacity as Chechen army chief of staff, who negotiated with Russian Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed the two agreements that put an end to the 1994-1996 war and paved the way for the withdrawal of Russian troops and Maskhadov's election in January 1997 as Chechen president. But almost from the outset, Maskhadov was challenged and deliberately undercut by more ruthless and less-principled rivals, including Basaev, whose ill-advised incursion into neighboring Daghestan in the summer of 1999 furnished the Kremlin with the rationale for launching a new war.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/08/2005 1:53:48 PM ||
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President Roh Moo-hyun has come out against the United States Forces in Korea (USFK)'s planned transformation into a Northeast Asian rapid deployment force. "The clear thing is that our citizens will not become embroiled in Northeast Asian conflicts without our consent," he said before a graduation ceremony of the Air Force Academy's 53rd class.
A high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official said Roh's comments were a matter of principle and ways of setting them down formally were being studied in consultation with the U.S. The government also wants to make it mandatory for Washington to get prior consent from Korea when moving USFK forces elsewhere. Korea and the U.S. started discussion of the issue during the Security Policy Initiative (SPI) talks held in Seoul on Feb. 3, agreeing to decide it as soon as possible. Korea's position is that while some U.S. troops could be deployed from the peninsula to places of no immediate threat to Korea's security like Iraq, the USFK would not be allowed to intervene in matters with potentially grave consequences for regional security in Northeast Asia, such as the China-Taiwan standoff.
Washington is not keen on such restrictions and takes a dim view of getting prior consent from the Korean government when moving USFK forces off the peninsula. President Roh's statement is being read as a message to the U.S. confirming Korea's views in a contentious matter.
Posted by: tipper ||
03/08/2005 9:47:27 AM ||
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#4
We have other places where the troops left in South Korea can be gainfully employed. BRAC list comes out in May, hopefully most of Korea will be on it.
#5
"The clear thing is that our citizens will not become embroiled in Northeast Asian conflicts without our consent," he said before a graduation ceremony of the Air Force Academyâs 53rd class.
I have a better idea: United States Forces are not to become embroiled in ANY Northeast Asian conflict, PERIOD, and are to be totally and promptly removed.
#6
Roh cannot have it both ways. He cannot have our protection while playing footsies with the Norks behind our backs (in front of our backs?!). I do not think that Mr. Rumsfeld or President Bush likes to be jacked around like this. I sure do not.
I also do not know what the big deal is about having the Norks fall and having to rebuild NK. I am sure that the cost would not be borne solely by the SKors (if they are smart). 1/3 of the problem is with the Norks, 1/3 with the Chicoms, and 1/3 with the SKors. My 2 cents.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/08/2005 16:51 Comments ||
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#7
AP, I agree with you except that I think the US bears 50% of the responsibility. For about 10 years we have acted toward the SKors like the parent who won't let the last child leave home. If we would just pick up the troops and leave they could deal with their problems however they want. If they want to be annexed to China, it's OK with me. I'd be more concerned about the reaction of the Japanese than anything else.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/08/2005 17:05 Comments ||
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#8
As much as I hate to say it, we need to keep a presence in the Land of the Morning Calm, if only as a tripwire. Kim Jong-il is crazy enough that his troops would be across the border as the last US troop ship was pulling out of port. We don't need a shooting war in that part of the world.
That said, the tripwire force doesn't have to be particularly numerous.
#9
North Korea has zero chance of successfully invading SK. In reality, it will be the South Koreans who will counterattack and take the whole of the North. The downside is that SK will lose a good portion of Seoul and its population. The only way the outcome will change is if China invades on the side of the NK again. Even then, I think it will be more psychological, as the Koreans are scared shitless of the Chinese, than a military imbalance.
Still, I have had enough the the Koreans and it is time to take away the US security blanket and let the South Koreans live or die with the consequences of their actions.
Posted by: ed ||
03/08/2005 18:22 Comments ||
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FORMER Qantas baggage handler and terror suspect Bilal Khazal may have been working as an informant for Australia's leading spy agency for more than a decade. Mr Khazal, who is on bail awaiting committal for trial over terrorism-related offences, might still be an "ASIO asset", according to previously unreported court documents. In his bail hearing last June, NSW Supreme Court judge Greg James noted that Mr Khazal had co-operated with ASIO and the Australian Federal Police over a period of 11 or 12 years. In particular, he had given them information about "those who profess the same faith as he does and who might have extreme views in support of that faith". "He has continued to co-operate and assist," Judge James told the court. Federal prosecutors did not oppose the original bail application.
The claims, which are contained in The Bulletin magazine, were dismissed last night by Mr Khazal's lawyer. Adam Houda said it was a "laughable suggestion" that Mr Khazal had been actively working for ASIO, the AFP or any security agency. "It's unbelievable. Utter crap," he told The Australian. "I don't know where they (The Bulletin) get their information from, but I am privy to all the confidential documentation and I can tell you it's just not true."
Mr Khazal, 34, had been interrogated many times by ASIO in recent years and was always "co-operative" when interviewed, Mr Houda said. But that made him a suspect, not an informant, "They've put the wrong label on him," he said. However, Mr Houda admitted that Mr Khazal had been in regular contact with the spy agency, separate to his interrogations and police interviews. "There's been informal contact numerous times, but not recently. Not since he's been charged," he said. Asked if Mr Khazal had ever provided ASIO or the AFP with information about other terror suspects, Mr Houda said: "That's a question for ASIO. All I can tell you is he's been interrogated numerous times."
Mr Khazal has been convicted in absentia by a military tribunal in Lebanon for financially aiding a local terror group involved in bombings there.
From Lakemba in Sydney's southwest, Mr Khazal has been charged with knowingly collecting or making documents connected with terrorism. Police alleged at his bail hearing that he created a document on the internet listing countries he considered "the enemy", including Australia. He also allegedly encouraged the killing of "infidels", and professed that "militant Jihad is the best form of Jihad". In his defence, Mr Khazal claimed the document was a compilation of writings by other Muslims. A CIA document has claimed Mr Khazal was Australia's link to al-Qaeida. Mr Khazal has been convicted in absentia by a military tribunal in Lebanon for financially aiding a local terror group involved in bombings there. This month, he was convicted by the same tribunal in absentia for helping Sydney fugitive Saleh Jamal flee to Lebanon, where Jamal was eventually arrested and convicted for training with a terror group. Under his current bail conditions, Mr Khazal is required to carry a special mobile phone that allows the authorities to track his whereabouts. Mr Khazal is due to face committal proceedings in June.
This article starring:
Adam Houda
BILAL KHAZAL
al-Qaeda
NSW Supreme Court judge Greg James
SALEH JAMAL
al-Qaeda
Posted by: God Save The World ||
03/08/2005 4:40:21 PM ||
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FEDERAL Health Minister Tony Abbott has been listed to appear as the main speaker at an anti-Islamic Christian conference in May. The conference's theme is how Islam is destroying Australia's Christian values. The Daily Telegraph has learned that the minister, who is pushing a Christian-backed anti-abortion agenda, is listed as the keynote speaker at the fundamentalist gathering. His topics are to include Christian values and abortion. The Annual Festival of Light Conference is a coalition of Christian groups from around the country convened by NSW Upper House MP the Reverend Fred Nile.
While Mr Abbott is yet to officially confirm his attendance, he is being promoted in advertising literature. The promotional brochure, which was posted out inside issues of the newsletter Family News, warned that only Christians were allowed to attend the conference "because of the subject matter". "The conference, because of the subject matter, is restricted to Christians who attend a Christian church," said the brochure, signed by Mr Nile. "All Christians are welcome who wish to be informed about the Daniel Scot v Islam court case, Islam, Humanism and Paganism, which are seeking to undermine our Christian heritage. We will also examine our relationship to Israel as God's chosen people."
NSW Democrats MP Arthur Chesterfield Evans said it showed poor lack of judgment by the minister. "There should be a separation of church and state," said Mr Chesterfield Evans. "This should be the basis of a modern secular state. [Mr Abbott] should represent Australians without fear or favour ... it is worrying he is attending a forum which would appear to be Christian fundamentalism attacking other religions." Organisers of the Festival of Light said Mr Abbott had not confirmed his availability but had made a commitment to try to attend. Mr Abbott, who was recently reunited with his son, whom he gave up for adoption when Mr Abbot was 19, is listed as the guest speaker at the May 28 conference at the Southern Cross Bible College at Chester Hill.
CALIPARI: MATTEOLI, HIS DEATH IS A LESSON
(AGI) - Pescara, March 8 - Environment Minister Altero Matteoli defined Nicola Calipari's death as "a lesson". Speaking in Pescara on the sidelines of a National Alliance press conference, Mr Mattioli said that "I believe the government did everything in its power to free Mrs Sgrena. We were successful where other European governments failed, such as the French one. So far we've always managed to bring all Italian prisoners back home. Unfortunately, we all know what happened after the release. But as far as I know, PM Silvio Berlusconi and Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini have asked the US government for clarifications. The US have guaranteed they will set up an inquiry commission to clarify what really happened. But nobody will bring our hero back", he said referring to Nicola Calipari, "after he saved the life of our reporter and provided a lesson to all of us".
FINI: NO AMBUSH BUT USA VERSION IS UNCONVINCING
(AGI) - Rome, Italy, Mar 8 - No ambush, the hypothesis is "without grounds". Nicola Calipari was killed by American soldiers in an accident caused by "fatal causes". But it is true that the Italian version "does not completely agree" with the one offered by the US, therefore the "truth and clarity" is required, the responsibilities, if any, are to be ascertained and the guilty must be punished. Said Foreign Affairs Minister Gianfranco Fini in Cabinet and rebuilt the phases of Giuliana Sgrena's liberation until the tragic moment in which Calipari died in the so-called "friendly fire". Beyond categorically denying the hypothesis of an ambush, Fini underlines another important element: no error, he said, was done in the operation run by the officers of the Services, especially calipari. The Deputy Prime Minister explains why a bulletproof car was not used and why it was preferred not to immediately go to Baghdad's embassy: "The trip would have been longer" and "the risks greater". The decision of Calidari "considered apt by government" was to keep a "low profile". Fini specied that "Sismi acted respecting government's directives and making use of methods used in other circumstances" in an international collaboration. Calipari made no mistake: "He had the free movement pass and had taken all contacts with US authorities placed for airport security".
SGRENA: FINI ON RANSOM: WE FOLLOWED DIPLOMATIC PATHS
(AGI) - Rome, Italy, Mar 8 - When asked by journalists whether a ransom was paid for the liberation of Giuliana Sgrena, Foreign Affairs Minister Gianfranco Fini limited his reply to: "We followed diplomatic, political and intelligence ways, thoroughly assessing dozens and dozens of ways".
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
03/08/2005 2:13:12 PM ||
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(Ankara, March 7, 2005) - On a key benchmark for European Union membership, the Turkish government has failed to honor pledges to help 378,000 displaced people, mainly Kurds, return home more than a decade after the army forced them from their villages in southeastern Turkey, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. On March 7-8, the European Union's commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, and a delegation of other high-level EU officials will visit Ankara to discuss Turkey's membership. The EU officials should press Turkey to take effective steps to facilitate the return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) to southeastern Turkey, where Turkish security forces expelled hundreds of thousands from their villages during an internal armed conflict that raged during the 1980s and 1990s.
The 37-page report, "Still Critical: Prospects in 2005 for Internally Displaced Kurds in Turkey," details how the Turkish government has failed to implement measures for IDPs the United Nations recommended nearly three years ago. Since the European Union confirmed Turkey's membership candidacy in December, the Turkish government appears to have shelved plans to enact those measures.
Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda terrorism in Iraq, is an inspiration for Islamic radicals. Zarqawi, unfortunately, is carrying out his terrorist attacks mainly against fellow Moslems. This is not unusual, as, so far, most al Qaeda attacks have been against other Moslems. But for Arabs, living in Arab countries, the al Qaeda carnage in Iraq is scary, and disturbing. But for Moslems living in Europe, North America and other non-Moslem nations, the death of so many Moslems, at the hands of other Moslems, is inspiring. Especially with the young Moslems in places like Europe, it's easy to swallow the official al Qaeda line that the Iraqis killed by al Qaeda bombs deserved to die. Moslems in Moslem countries know better. This generation gap is being exploited by al Qaeda, and has made Zarqawi a hero to many of these European born Moslems.
You'll even find this Zarqawi hero worship in the United States, but with a difference. While America has a tradition of assimilation, such is not the case in Europe. There, the immigrants are encouraged to hang onto the culture and customs of the old country. This makes it easier for terrorists to operate. Fewer people will turn them in, and recruiting prospects are better. In the United States, there's too much danger that someone in the community will call the FBI or police. Even before September 11, 2001, this was the case. And since late 2001, the American Moslem community is even more dangerous for Islamic radicals and terrorists. This, and recent reports that bin Laden is urging Zarqawi to make attacks in the United States, makes European counter-terrorism people very upset. They know that any serious Islamic terrorist efforts are more likely to happen in Europe. It's that old "how do you deal with the danger of grizzly bears when you go hiking? Always go with someone you can outrun" routine. Islamic terrorists know that three years of efforts to carry out more attacks in America have only filled the jails with Islamic radicals. The only hope the terrorists have is that the American counter-terrorism people will get lax and lazy, as they did in 2001.
The 911 attack team was typical of Islamic terrorists in that they were not highly disciplined when it came to OPSEC (Operational Security). After the fact, it was discovered that there were numerous opportunities to catch them if the FBI and CIA had been more on the ball. This is an old problem. After the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the FBI got a lot more money for counter-terrorism, and the CIA paid more attention to al Qaeda. But this effort grew weaker as more was known about al Qaeda, and their sloppy methods. It was another example of "don't underestimate your enemy." The danger now is that the greater terrorism danger to Europe will make American counter-terrorism organizations assume that the terrorists are giving up on attacks in the United States. That will never happen, and it's the not-so-bright, not-well-trained or disciplined terrorists, who keep coming, that you have to worry about.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed ||
03/08/2005 7:18:58 AM ||
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#1
What's the over/under on an "old Europe" country going Islamic?
#2
They will beconme more and more of a target, because even our friends like Berlusconi will pay ransom to free old grimy Communist broads who hate him and us, then lie about circumstances surrounding unfortunate tragedys like what happened in Iraq.
PS - to all regular RB women. I am not anti-woman. I use the term "broad" because I have no respect for the old grimy Communist broad as a human being. That was a waste of ransom to free such a loathsome piece of manure as her.
#3
GOOD!! Let them go. Given enough terror attacks in Europe, and the 'Islam is taking over Europe' problem might just get solved once and for all.
Sorry for being so cruel, but Europe needs a big wake-up call, before it is too late!
#4
Big Ed, of course you aren't anti- Rantburg women! You've been around here long enough to know that while I might "dear" you to death, and Andrea would give you one too many understanding hugs, others like Barbara S., Sgt. Mom and Seafarious could do you serious harm, if it were needed.
Of course, some of us may be broads in the best sense of the word (I remember working with people who insisted that they were women, not ladies, which may be why I'm not working there any more;-) ), but absolutely none of us are old grimy Communist broads, except maybe Antiwar, who although she insists she can read, hasn't bothered us with irrelevancies in a long time.
#5
No offense taken, BigEd. This Italian 'journalist', along with her compatriot females who have pulled the same kind of bull before, is a broad: ill-bred, libelous, deceitful, power-hungry and self-absorbed. Sometimes those PC-incorrect words fit best.
Some 60,000 French Jews are interested in immigrating to Israel, according to Bar-Ilan University research conducted by Dr. Arik Cohen. The research was based on questionnaires given to the 125,000 Jewish tourists from France who visited the country in the past summer. They constitute a third of the total population of French Jews. Of those asked, 52 percent said they see their future in Israel. Half of those aged 15-18 said they had personally experienced instances of anti-Semitism in the past four years. A third of the youth said they are considering immigration to Israel in the near future.
The findings were presented at a press conference in Jerusalem on Thursday, where the inauguration of AMI, an organization of French Jewry, was announced. The group will work toward increasing Jewish immigration from France. In the past year, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called on French Jewry to immigrate to Israel. He angered the French government and a number of leaders of the Jewish community in France. The chairman of the Jewish Agency, Sallai Meridor, said Thursday that AMI constitutes an expression of support for immigration to Israel by the French Jewry. In the past three years, only 7,000 French Jews immigrated to Israel. AMI officials argue that many French Jews avoid immigration because of the difficulties experienced during their absorption - particularly in finding jobs.
It's okay to say you want to immigrate, but when it's time for rubber to hit the road few do, always hoping things will get better at home. It's only when you realize that home is shithole -- or that your neighbors are planning to kill you -- that you pack your bags.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
1. France, for its problems is an advanced first world country - GDP per capita similar to Israel, if not higher. Not a sh*thole (other than geopolitically)
2. While antisemitic incidents have increased, and are nasty, its not like people are being killed except for rare, international headline grabbing incidents. Look, how many people stayed in or moved TO new york during its high crime years? Is living in Paris, or even Marseilles, NOW, more dangerous than living in New York in the late 70s? Is it more dangerous than living in Tel Aviv in 2002?
And of course the more affluent can insulate themselves - why would an affluent French Jew go near the banlieus? Its the less affluent, sephardic and orthodox French jews who are more exposed.
3. Making aliyah is a BIG decision. It involves uprooting ones whole life, to move to a country that is different in many ways - and the change of language is a huge issue, and bigger the older you are. Finding job in Israel is a big issue, even if you know Hebrew, depending on your field. And of course the language thing is even harder for the French than it would be for an American - English is virtually the second language there (more so that Arabic, the official second language) and an anglophone can get a job in international business there - for a francophone its that much harder. I saw an article some months back on French Jewish families that had moved, but the breadwinner kept his job in Paris, and visited the family in Israel on weekends.
It does look like french aliyah may increase, and thats good, and it will get easier as there are more French Jews in Israel. But I wouldnt derogate people making hesitating.
Spain's Interior minister said the country faces a "significant" risk of new terrorist attacks as it marks the one-year anniversary this week of the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people. "We are confronted with a significant level of risk of new attacks, more than in other countries with our geography and politics," the minister, Jose Antonio Alonso, said in an interview with the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia. Alonso also addressed the status of the inquiry into the attacks last 11 March for which a group allied with the al-Qaeda network has claimed responsibility. "The responsibility for the attacks centres clearly on a group linked to the global Al-Qaeda network," he said. "The attacks were carried out with money, means and equipment gathered in Spain." In total, 74 suspects, most of them Moroccans residing in Spain, have been identified by Spanish authorities for their suspected roles in the attacks and 22 have been placed in preventive detention.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
All I can say is, "Good luck on finding them before they find you." They got themselves into a pickle. Now they can get out of it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/08/2005 0:09 Comments ||
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#2
"We are confronted with a significant level of risk of new attacks, more than in other countries with our geography and POLITICS,"
#5
Al Queda cells have operated in Spain since 98. No attack on Iraq has limited this since Iraq as the Spanish know was unconnected to Al Queda. All evidence seized in Spain concerning the Hamberg cells and the Madrid bombing cells and the of the 911 preparations carried out there, show not even a phone call to Iraq. However the seized evidence shows the majority of funding came from Saudi Arabia where they all called, all had ties, and all received money. Go figure guys.
#6
juriseq - No problem agreeing that it's smart to follow the money. No argument there. But it's gotten very very old whacking the MSM meme that there were no ties between Saddam and AlQ. Go here: The Weekly Standard. Enter "Hayes" for Author, select Both and click Search. Stephen F Hayes documented it in at least 10 (of the 187 articles that come up) articles. Get the info, it's ancient history now, and kill the meme.
Juriseq, the post is about danegeld (you pay ransom in any form, they will come for more), not about whether Atta made any calls to Iraq (he did not have to, calls to Prague were cheaper).
#8
Don't let evidence get in the way of polemic. Use non-reality based reasoning. Attack your dog for your bad day at work. He is culpable you know. There are ties between him and the others. The Weekly Standard (neo-propaganda) says so.
#13
Sobiesky you marginalize yourself with the name calling
Something tells me you are not trying to get on our good side.
Iraq was unfinished business. Saddam violated the ceasefire enough times since 1991 that I don't care if someone in Iraq holds up an unopened tube of toothpaste and says they found WMD in this little tube, Iraq the pain in the ass is gone and now Iraq the newest republic is here to stay.
#15
Jurisesq,
You are partially right. The ties between Al-Qaida and Saddam and the Mukhabbarat existed but were minor compared to the ties with organizations and factions other Islamic coutries like the Pakistani secret service and branches of the Saudi royal family.
But quibbling about these murky contacts distracts from the big picture. In terms of the root causes of Al-Qaida terrorism, Iraq and Saddam were certral to Al-Qaida.
Don't believe me? Go ask Bill Maher who was gabbing with Ward Churchill about the need to examine the Gulf War and the ensuing decade of sanctions in order to understand 9/11.
Or better yet, go right to the horses ass mouth, Osama Bin Laden. Read his original fatwah. Among the hot air and flowery religious rhetoric and myriad of grievances real and imagined, you can determine that his 3 biggest issues are 1) American troops on (Saudi) Arabian soil (and their corrupt morals, free women, music, drinking, etc.) 2) U.S. Support for Israel and 3) the long-running U.S. sanctions on Iraq and the ensuing humanitarian crisis (a million dead babies).
So 2 of the top 3 are directly related to Iraq and Saddam's deceipt and aggression towards the U.S., his neighboring countries and his own people. Of course, Osama accepted the Baathist propaganda line that all of the problems resulting from the containment strategy were the U.S.'s fault and not Saddam's. Saddam had done a good job of twisting the blame for the suffering and continued conflict on to the U.S. and Osama and most of the Arab/Muslim world swallowed it (except the actual Iraqis, who knew better but wer unable to say otherwise without risking turning up in an unmarked desert mass grave). People like Bill Maher still continue to believe that. But it is as clear as day that Iraq had everything to do with 9/11, Al-Qaida and the many of the other deep rooted problems in the rest of the region.
It will take a long time to defeat the global Jihadist movement, but no solution could be possible without removing the most oppressive, aggressive, unstable and murderous tyranny in the region. Following rolodexes and wire transfers to the various contacts in the network and nothing more is a formula for failure. That stuff is important but it would never suffice on its own. Go tell that to John F. Kerry.
Posted by: John in Tokyo ||
03/08/2005 8:51 Comments ||
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#16
even if you take the troll's premise that pulling out Iraq had anything to do with it, then shouldn't it follow that sending the troops to Iraq in the first place had nothing to do with the decision to dump Aznar? So what was the point of immediately pulling them out then? Just to screw the Americans?
Our dimmie is probably too brainwashed with the discredited beliefs of the last century to grasp it, (you know, those brilliant ideas that if we just act nice and talk about it over a long lunches, then the United Nations can pass a resolution that will stop rape rooms and genocide - ahhh....it worked well, didn't it?) but you can't stop Al-Qaeda by just arresting the already trained cells inside your own country.
Our troll takes the premise that they pulled out of Iraq because that's not where Al-Qaeda was. Sooo.......why didn't they send those troops to where they believed Al-Qaeda to be?
#17
John in Tokyo ...great post - but don't waste too much time with this particular troll. He can't even spell Al-Qaeda right - so you know he's just a parrot.
#18
Premise? 2b - you really think troolboy had a reasoned premise? Of his own? Lol - nahhh. Look at the subsequent posts, lol! He degenerated into incoherence immediately! You and John in Tokyo are much too kind - and wasted a good deal of effort for nada, methinks.
#20
Heh. Hey Juriseq, be sure you spell it right in the future ...it's Al-Qaeduh. Don't forget the "h" at the end...you don't want people to think you are stupid.
#24
Just remember Secular Saddam vs Islamic Radical
Who do we want in charge of Iraq? We have to find the next Saddam and get him "elected" and rule under a "democratic" government in a country where there is no State only a Religion.
#28
Just remember Secular Saddam vs Islamic Radical
What a meaningless pile of crap. Saddam was perfectly willing to kiss up to the religious radicals when it suited him, and the radicals are perfectly willing to work with the "secular" Baathists when it suits them.
Don't believe me? If the seculars and religious cannot work together in the Middle East, why is Hezbollah supported by Syria? Why did Syria and Iran declare a "common front"?
Not that you actually CARE about the evidence. You're nothing but a set of reflex nerves wired up to leftist talking points.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/08/2005 11:18 Comments ||
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#29
hey genius...google your spelling of Al-Qaeda and see what comes up. But, I've already agreed with you on the phonetic thing. Like I said, don't forget the "h".
#30
Oh lord, that ancient Saddam the Secular nonsense again.
He may have been non-religious himself, jurisesq, but in the last few years before his overthrow, Saddam built a huge mosque in Baghdad for the use of his Sunni relatives and their co-religionists, in which was displayed a copy of the Qur'an he claimed was written using his own blood as ink. He also built Sunni mosques all over Iraq, using Oil for Food profits.
Honestly, this was a man clever enough to survive some 40 years of vicious Arab and Ba'ath Party intrigue -- f'r instance when he had his predecessor taken and publicly hacked to pieces, or murdered his sons-in-law who had escaped to the West with tales of his WMD programs -- and to successfully manipulate some of the most cynical and corrupt politicians in the world. Jurisesq, are you seriously suggesting that Saddam Hussein was not clever enough to remember the Arab saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend"?? Saddam Hussein successfully controlled and suborned the religious elements in his country for a generation -- why would he not expect to continue to do so while forging alliances that resonated well with the religious oligarchies on his borders?
#33
If I understand "juriseqs" (#24) correctly that creature believes someone like Saddam ("the next" one) should be "elected" to "rule" the Iraqi people.
#34
What juriseq and all the other lefties want is for the US to attack the Magic Kingdom and forget everything else. They know the effect that would have on the world economy and on Muslims worldwide. It is, in other words, a non-starter...for now. The alternative strategy of changing the countries surrounding SA and peacefully forcing change there is the only one that is viable. In this scenario, Iraq was and is the logical place to start for a whole host of reasons. Some of the locals may not like having change forced upon them, and we know that the chattering classes don't approve. But the vast majority of people in the ME want freedom, are seeing what is happening in Iraq in that regard, and can't wait for the opportunity to reach them too.
#35
now I get it --you all have one day press passes at the white house and also run an escort service and paid to outblog the internet. No wonder there is only name calling and dodgeball.
#38
juriseqs has been around, using different names, and is no competent attorney, just a troll
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 15:03 Comments ||
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#39
Damn fine job you did, DB. Thanks.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/08/2005 15:04 Comments ||
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#40
Barbara, I would have done, but I'm afraid to go in there -- those people have no manners, no morals, and no intelligence, but they do have the viciousness of rabid shrews.
And what is lower-case juriseqs going on about in that last post? Some sort of projection thingy as it calls us names and issues non-sequitors?
#41
Barbara, Karl asked us to keep things on the q.t. for now. We'll wait to send out thank you notes when headquarters gives us the all clear. But I've got the stationery all picked out.
#42
I'm afraid this chew-toy is looking ragged. I suppose I'll have to ban his ass. I wouldn't mind it if the DU sent someone who could offer a semblence of a debate, but juriseqs is just lame.
Someone holler for a clean-up on aisle #24 or something next time he pops up.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2005 15:16 Comments ||
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#43
#40 TW:
those people have no manners, no morals, and no intelligence, but they do have the viciousness of rabid shrews
Other than that, they're pussycats, right? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2005 17:10 Comments ||
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#44
but it's so much fun to be reminded just how stupid and hollow they really are. Makes me feel ..you know... special.
Something practical, for once. And nice pic at the link.
Around 14,000 soldiers from 15 countries are in Norway this month for an annual winter exercise that's far from traditional. Mock battles from the Cold War era have been replaced with anti-terror exercises and training in civilian assistance. This year's international military exercise is training soldiers to deal with terrorist attacks. Last year's annual NATO exercises caught flak from critics who dubbed them outdated. Politicians in Norway's parliament called them "old-fashioned" and urged the powers-that-be that anti-terror training was much more in demand.
So, for the first time, this year's exercise isn't about an invasion of Norway by a conventional military force. Instead, "Battle Griffin" poses new scenarios where operations in foreign countries are in focus. That included an operation over the weekend where special forces took back a battleship that had been stormed by terrorists. The 14,000 soldiers are swarming all over the otherwise idyllic countryside of Nord-Trøndelag, experiencing control posts, conducting peace-keeping missions, clearing away landmines or evacuating civilians in a war zone. Special forces are liberating captured targets, shipping traffic is monitored and fighter jets patrol from overhead.
Troops from the various nations participating have chosen what types of exercises in which they want training. Experience dealing with cold weather, snow and ice, and mountainous territory is useful for troops from, for example, the Netherlands. Many of the soldiers participating in Battle Griffin have experience from Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. The winter exercise was to run until March 11.
The Marines didn't have to recruit Greg McCullough. He signed a promise to enlist last year, while he was still in high school. But now McCullough has had second thoughts, and he's talking to a different kind of recruiter. Jim Murphy is a "counter-recruiter," one of a small but growing number of opponents of the Iraq war who say they want to compete with military recruiters for the hearts and minds of young people. "I don't tell kids not to join the military," says Murphy, 59, a member of Veterans for Peace. "I tell them: 'Have a plan for your future. Because if you don't, the military has a plan for you.' "
Since the advent of the all-volunteer military three decades ago, the armed services have used an array of tools, from recruiting in schools to TV advertising, to successfully sell careers in the military. But with ground troops in Iraq still under fire, the Army and Marines are struggling to get enough enlistments. The armed services need many recruits each year — the Army and Army Reserve alone need more than 100,000 — and less than 10% come knocking on the door. The rest must be recruited. Anti-war activists such as Murphy charge that to fill their quotas, some military recruiters make promises they can't guarantee, such as money for college or training in a particular specialty, and give misleading descriptions of military life. Murphy says high school graduates don't need to join the military to learn a skill, pay for college, see the world or learn discipline.
Building a network
Counter-recruiters formed a national network at meetings in Philadelphia in the summers of 2003 and 2004. They range from Vietnam War veterans, such as Murphy, to high school students trained to talk to their peers about enlistment. The American Friends Service Committee, one of several peace groups opposed to what it calls "militarization of youth," has prepared a brochure titled Do You Know Enough to Enlist? In a tip of the hat to the opposition, it's deliberately designed to look like a military recruiting brochure. Using a 1986 federal appeals court decision that supported the rights of draft registration opponents to equal access to students, the Los Angeles Unified School District teachers union has helped get counter-recruiting into some schools regularly visited by military recruiters in the nation's second largest public district. The counter-recruiters make public address announcements, distribute literature, show documentaries and give classroom presentations.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: longtime lurker ||
03/08/2005 11:24:26 AM ||
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#1
In the San Francisco area, members of a group called the Raging Grannies dress up in flamboyant old-lady attire (big hats, long, flowered dresses) and visit high schools.
Not to be mistaken for the Flaming Trannies who pretty much do the same thing.
#2
That's all very well to produce a neatly slanted newspaper article, but out here in the 'burbs many kids are looking at military service as a post-9/11 duty. Trailing Daughter and several of her friends certainly are, and some of the older siblings have already made the move.
#5
Raging Grannies dress up in flamboyant old-lady attire (big hats, long, flowered dresses)
seems counterproductive to me. This is just another example of the left presenting themselves as aging out-of-touch dingbats to the younger generation. Which, of course, they are. Why they want to call attention to that fact is beyond me - but I guess you have to work with what you've got, and "raging grannies" are the only old fools still stuck in that 2Oth century mindset.
The hot chicks are more interested in the soldiers these days.
#6
What? No Giant Puppets[tm]? Where's the World Famous Giant Puppets[tm]?
Just how interesting the 'Left'[tm] talks about the right to choose, but what they really mean is to choose what they, the Left[tm] wants. Sort of like the normal one-party system state method of operation.
OTTAWA, March 8 (UPI) -- A Canadian Security Intelligence Service official has revealed a naturalized Canadian citizen is affiliated with al-Qaida's Iraqi branch.
Another one? Or were the others just in the Afghan branch, I lost count.
CSIS Director Jim Judd told a panel of Canadian lawmakers Abdul Jabbar is a leader of al-Qaida's Iraqi branch, the Toronto Star said Tuesday.
Canadians, not just cannon fodder anymore. I'm sure they're very proud.
Judd, who gave no other information about Jabbar, went on Monday to outline an emerging and "surprising" threat from "second-generation Canadians" who sympathize with "homeland" causes and are getting caught up in terrorist activities. He said "the type of persons attracted to terrorist networks is changing in worrisome ways."
This article starring:
ABDUL JABAR
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Steve ||
03/08/2005 3:54:35 PM ||
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#1
Now they're worried? After years of not only doing nothing, but inviting terrorists to live there?
Why? Did it finally occur to them that Canada is a Western country and Al-Q wants to destroy/conquer them, too?
Wonder how much that clue cost?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2005 16:40 Comments ||
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#2
Now, now. I'm sure that memo we sent (dated 9/11/2001) just got to them.
Sorry for the blog link but it had the best collection of links to sources for Clinton's latest stupidity.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos Bill Clinton (yes, that Bill Clinton) said, "... (Iran is) the only one with elections, including the United States, including Israel, including you name it, where the liberals, or the progressives, have won two-thirds to 70 percent of the vote in six elections: Two for president; two for the Parliament, the Majlis; two for the mayoralties. In every single election, the guys I identify with got two-thirds to 70 percent of the vote. There is no other country in the world I can say that about, certainly not my own."
Look the Hildebeeste to put out a hit on him soon.
Posted by: AzCat ||
03/08/2005 1:18:59 AM ||
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#1
Slick Willy Bill Clinton needs to see the difference between the left in Iran and the left here. By Iranian standards, Bush would be quite left-wing. King Ti'amel Bill Clinton is blinded by his politics.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/08/2005 9:21 Comments ||
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I think you are completely missing the point of what he said. He's saying the masses of Iranians want freedom and democracy as shown by their voting record. His point is that the mullahs are occupying Iran against the will of the Iranian people.
#4
No, DPA, what Clinton's saying is that Clinton's a complete airhead who should never have been allowed out of his Arkansas trailer park, let alone into the White House.
If he were saying what you think he is, then he would have excluded his own country. Taking if your way, you've got Clinton saying that 70% of Americans do not want freedom and democracy.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/08/2005 11:23 Comments ||
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With a statement like he just made, he not only inhaled -- he drank the Boones Farm Apple wine used as the bong coolant afterwards. And then licked the bong's bowl clean.
Fred, I know these have linked sources, but they come to me in a newsletter. If they're too big, please advise.
(NEW YORK TIMES 8 MARCH, 2005)âŠEric Lichtblau
Dozens of terror suspects on federal watch lists were allowed to buy firearms legally in the United States last year, according to a Congressional investigation that points up major vulnerabilities in federal gun laws. People suspected of being members of a terrorist group are not automatically barred from legally buying a gun, and the investigation, conducted by the Government Accountability Office, indicated that people with clear links to terrorist groups had regularly taken advantage of this gap.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, law enforcement officials and gun control groups have voiced increasing concern about the prospect of a terrorist walking into a gun shop, legally buying an assault rifle or other type of weapon and using it in an attack. The G.A.O. study offers the first full-scale examination of the possible dangers posed by gaps in the law, Congressional officials said, and it concludes that the Federal Bureau of Investigation "could better manage" its gun-buying records in matching them against lists of suspected terrorists. F.B.I. officials maintain that they are hamstrung by laws and policies restricting the use of gun-buying records because of concerns over the privacy rights of gun owners. At least 44 times from February 2004 to June, people whom the F.B.I. regards as known or suspected members of terrorist groups sought permission to buy or carry a gun, the investigation found. In all but nine cases, the F.B.I. or state authorities who handled the requests allowed the applications to proceed because a check of the would-be buyer found no automatic disqualification like being a felon, an illegal immigrant or someone deemed "mentally defective," the report found.
In the four months after the formal study ended, the authorities received an additional 14 gun applications from terror suspects, and all but 2 of those were cleared to proceed, the investigation found. In all, officials approved 47 of 58 gun applications from terror suspects over a nine-month period last year, it found. The gun buyers came up as positive matches on a classified internal F.B.I. watch list that includes thousands of terrorist suspects, many of whom are being monitored, trailed or sought for questioning as part of terrorism investigations into Islamic-based, militia-style and other groups, official said. G.A.O. investigators were not given access to the identities of the gun buyers because of those investigations.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: longtime lurker ||
03/08/2005 11:23:05 AM ||
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Sorry, link not available)
(LOS ANGELES TIMES 8 MARCH, 2005)âŠBob Drogin
U.S. counterintelligence officials are increasingly concerned that Al Qaeda sympathizers or operatives may have tried to get jobs at the CIA and other U.S. agencies in an effort to spy on American counterterrorist efforts. So far, about 40 Americans who sought positions at U.S. intelligence agencies have been red-flagged and turned away for possible ties to terrorist groups, the officials said. Several such applicants have been detected at the CIA. "We think terrorist organizations have tried to insinuate people into our hiring pools," said Barry Royden, a 39-year CIA veteran who is a counterintelligence instructor at the agency.
Oh, I'm so surprised. Are you surprised?
Also, three senior counterintelligence officials said they feared terrorist groups may be trying to place an "insider" in America's fast-growing counterterrorist planning and operational networks as part of a long-term strategy to compromise U.S. intelligence efforts. But unlike Royden, the officials added that it was still unclear if anyone had been assigned to infiltrate U.S. intelligence to commit espionage for a terrorist group. No one has been arrested, and no one has been linked to any new "sleeper cell" of suspected terrorists in America.
Royden's remarks came at a national conference on counterintelligence held over the weekend at Texas A&M University. Other counterintelligence officials were interviewed separately. The officials said that those who had come under suspicion were filtered out during the application process for providing false information, failing lie detector tests, applying to multiple spy services or flunking other parts of the application procedure. But fear of possible penetration has grown because of what one official called "an intense competition" among America's intelligence, military and contractor organizations. They are seeking to hire thousands of skilled linguists, trained analysts and clandestine operatives who can blend into overseas communities to collect intelligence and to recruit foreign agents inside terrorist cells. In some cases, the officials said, those most qualified for such sensitive jobs — naturalized Americans who grew up in the Middle East or South Asia, for example, and who are native speakers of Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Urdu and other crucial languages — have proved the most difficult to vet during background checks. In addition, because of restrictions imposed by U.S. privacy laws, authorities at one spy service may not know that someone they had rejected later found a job at another agency or at a defense contractor working on classified systems. "We're looking at that very carefully," said one counterintelligence official.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: longtime lurker ||
03/08/2005 11:21:29 AM ||
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In some cases, the officials said, those most qualified for such sensitive jobs â naturalized Americans who grew up in the Middle East or South Asia, for example, and who are native speakers of Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Urdu and other crucial languages â have proved the most difficult to vet during background checks.
If someone can't be checked out satisfactorily, then don't hire them, simple as that. Compromising security in an effort to gain access to needed language skills is pretty damned stupid. This should not be difficult to figure out.
In addition, because of restrictions imposed by U.S. privacy laws, authorities at one spy service may not know that someone they had rejected later found a job at another agency or at a defense contractor working on classified systems.
So DO SOMETHING about that then. Good God, they're "looking at that"???
The way government operates sometimes is simply maddening.
WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 40 terror suspects on federal watch lists were allowed to buy firearms in the United States last year because background checks found no reason to stop them, says a government report released Tuesday.
40 "suspects" vs the millions of "non-suspect" buyers isn't bad.
Under current law, belonging to a suspected terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from owning a gun, the Government Accountability Office noted in its study.
Note that they refer to "suspected terrorist organizations" without giving any examples or saying if they are domestic or international.
The GAO recommended that the attorney general clarify procedures to ensure that information from gun purchase background checks is shared with counterterrorism officials and that the FBI should either monitor such checks more frequently or oversee all checks related to terror suspects.
That's tricky, if you flag a suspects file, and he get's turned down when making a gun purchase, then he knows he's a suspect. You don't want to let them know they're under observation.
The report showed that from Feb. 3 through June 20, 2004, 35 known or suspected terrorists purchased guns in the United States. From July 1 to Oct. 31 last year, 12 more suspected or known terrorists were allowed to buy firearms.
Excuse me, if they are "known terrorists", why are they walking the streets? And just like "known criminals", they should not have gotten the ok to make a purchase. Or are we talking about known terrorists under close observation that we don't want to alert? In which case you have to let them make the purchase to keep from blowing the case.
It said that background checks on these individuals did not provide any prohibiting information such as felony convictions or illegal immigrant status.
So they were legal purchases by legal citizens who haven't broken any laws? So, what's your point here?
Currently, records related to gun purchases must be destroyed within 24 hours as mandated by Congress last year. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who requested the GAO study, planned to introduce a bill Tuesday to require the Justice Department to keep records of such transactions for 10 years.
There's the point....
"When the Justice Department destroys these records in 24 hours, they are essentially aiding and abetting terrorist organizations," Lautenberg said. "It's time to end this nonsensical and dangerous policy."
Dimmocrat want's a national database of all gun owners and is trying to play the terrorist card
"For the last four years, the Bush White House and Republican leaders in Congress have been pursuing gun policies that are on the wish list of the National Rifle Association despite repeated warnings form law enforcement leaders," Hamm said. "These policies benefit terrorists and benefit criminals."
I'm sure he considers the NRA as a terrorist organization, maybe those are the people on the watch list
The NRA did not immediately comment on the report.
Hey Peter, how's this for a comment; "When you pry it from my cold dead hands!"
UPDATE: The GAO has now posted the report on their website. Highlights of the report here. Full report here. Just as I thought, it's a classified internal FBI watch list that includes thousands of terrorism suspects, many of them being monitored or sought for questioning in investigations of Islamic-based, militia-style and other groups. Which, of course, can't be looked at or questioned.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/08/2005 12:13:10 PM ||
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#1
Mostly Aryan Nation dipsh*ts having their weird little RenFests out in the woods.
#2
While I couldn't find the report on-line at GAO, I believe I can determine how they conducted their study. By comparing names. Which is, of course, highly accurate as witnessed by its use by the TSA at airports [/sarcasm]
The terrorist behind the Stage Club in Tel Aviv over a week ago taught Middle East Studies at a University in the US before he moved to Syria. 47-year-old Ramadan Shallah is the head of Islamic Jihad who was caught on tape ordering the attack by telephone from Damascus. A transcript of the call was given to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Shallah was a PhD student at Durham University, in England from 1985-1990, where he wrote his thesis on the merits of Islamic Banking. Shallah then moved from Durham to the University of South Florida in Tampa, where he taught Middle Eastern studies and headed the World and Islam Studies Enterprise, a think tank affiliated with the university. In 1995 he became the head of Islamic Jihad and is now wanted for murder by Israel. I bet this guy got vetted as thoroughly as Ward Churchill. I'm surprised he didn't get tenure.
I believe he's also Sami al-Arian's brother-in-law.
Just as it looked like George W. Bush might be nudging toward multilateralism, he goes and appoints John Bolton as his ambassador to the United Nations. There could be no clearer sign that the contempt for the international organization, which was such a prominent feature of Bush's first term, will extend into his second term with still greater force and eloquence.
This initial analysis seems spot-on but as one would expect of this source the article degenerates from there.
Posted by: AzCat ||
03/08/2005 1:11:23 AM ||
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Contempt is hardly the right word. UN's transnational positivism is dangerous. It would've been dangerous even in the absence of external enemy (Islam). In the presence of external enemy it's intolerable.
#3
I thought this was the most revealing and astounding sentence in the article:
All the remarkable developments that have taken place lately, especially in the Middle East, mayââ¬âin some cases, certainly willââ¬âhave to be settled at the U.N. Security Council.
This is the whole difference between Kaplanite one worlders and Boltonite real worlders; when was anything of importance ever settled at the U. N.?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/08/2005 8:58 Comments ||
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Bolton at the UN? Ha! That's great. Almost as good as sending Jesse Helms.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/08/2005 9:07 Comments ||
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I have contempt for the UN and I'm proud of it.
#6
There could be no clearer sign that the contempt for the international organization, which was such a prominent feature of Bush's first term, will extend into his second term with still greater force and eloquence.
Richly deserved contempt, and the UN is welcome to it.
#8
I like that idea. Michael Savage and Leann Hanson on Sunday mornings. Wouldn't be hard to wake up, no matter how late you stayed out.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/08/2005 11:50 Comments ||
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Man I would have liked to see him appoint Mike Savage to the un! The Dips would be scurrying under their desks when he came in. Another good choice would be Ann Coulter. She would give memorable speeches on un day! Also their veto vote would come with long vitriolic speeches on how irrelevant they really are.
Sarge, you rascal! Leather miniskirts to offend the Islamonuttz, and keep everyone else's attention! She'll offend the others when she makes her speech, and shows common sense.
#11
I've been paying pretty close attention to the U.N. for upwards of forty years now, and I'm trying to recall even a single instance-- anything, anywhere, no matter how minor, even-- that's made me think "thank God for the U.N." or "boy, we'd be in really deep shit now if it weren't for the U.N." or something even remotely resembling such sentiments.
I've been REALLY wracking my brain over this-- but I'm drawing a complete, utter blank.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/08/2005 12:27 Comments ||
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#12
Dave, I've thought of one: if it weren't for the United Nations we'd have to rewrite the lyrics to Summertime Blues":
Sometime I wonder
What I'm gonnna do
There ain't no cure
For the summertime blues
Gonna save two weeks
Gonna have a fine vacation
Gonna take my problem
To the U-nited Nations
Posted by: Matt ||
03/08/2005 12:33 Comments ||
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No, sending Paul Reubens would be a sign of contempt. Especially if he was required to be in character.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/08/2005 15:31 Comments ||
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Looks like it's "Two for One Day". Piss off the Norkies too...
In July 2003, during the run up to the six-nation talks with North Korea, Bolton described Korean head of state Kim Jong Il as a "tyrannical dictator" of a country where "life is a hellish nightmare." North Korea responded by saying that "such human scum and bloodsucker is not entitled to take part in the talks. ... We have decided not to consider him as an official of the U.S. administration any longer nor to deal with."
#23
No, sending Paul Reubens would be a sign of contempt. Especially if he was required to be in character.
Hey, Kofi, want some freshly buttered popcorn?
Posted by: Paul Reubens ||
03/08/2005 21:44 Comments ||
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#24
salted?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 21:46 Comments ||
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#25
I understand that if he is acquitted, Michael Jackson will go on an international tour, visiting UN Peacekeeping missions.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/08/2005 22:13 Comments ||
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#26
Plenty o' salt in my butter...
Posted by: Paul Reubens ||
03/08/2005 22:16 Comments ||
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#27
DMFD - Michelle as head as the INS - That would be a damn good move.
Either that or as head of that Sky Marshalls (you know the ones who always have to walk past the security checkpoint (in front of all the terrorists) and has to dress in a white shirt, blazer, and tie (with a big 'KILL ME FIRST' sign on the back).
Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan has confirmed the presence of Jemaah Islamiyah members in his province but clarified the terror group has been on the move since they were first spotted last month in nearby Talitay town. Ampatuan was quick to blame some political figures for the purported hosting of the terrorists by a local commander of an armed group that figured prominently in previous attacks in this town. He recalled that the commander, identified in military reports as Ustadz Wahid Tundok, raided last month a military detachment manned by Muslim Army personnel, in Barangay Linantangan in Mamasapano town.
Worried over the fate of 51,000 evacuees fighting off hunger and disease in the mountains, legislators from Mindanao on Monday issued an appeal to the government to halt massive military operations against insurgents in Jolo town, Sulu province. "We are asking the government to secure the lives of civilians there. There are 51,000 evacuees now in the mountains, and still growing. And they have no food, no shelter, no medicine," Pimentel told reporters after meeting with Muslim leaders. "These are men, women and children who are non-combatants. We are a little apprehensive [about their safety]," he added.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Governor Datu Andal Ampatuan
USTADZ WAHID TUNDOK
Jemaah Islamiyah
Abu Sayyaf
Jemaah Islamiyah
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/08/2005 1:56:33 PM ||
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Nearly 500,000 pro-Syrian protesters waved flags and chanted anti-American slogans in a central Beirut square Tuesday, answering a nationwide call by the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group for a demonstration to counter weeks of massive rallies demanding Syrian forces leave Lebanon. Organizers handed out Lebanese flags and directed the men and women to separate sections of the square. Loudspeakers blared militant songs urging resistance to foreign interference. Demonstrators held up pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad and signs saying, "Syria & Lebanon brothers forever." Other placards read: "America is the source of terrorism"; "All our disasters are from America"; "No to American-Zionist intervention; Yes to Lebanese-Syrian brotherhood."
Black-clad Hezbollah guards handled security, lining the perimeter of the square and taking position on rooftops. Trained dogs sniffed for bombs. Large cranes hoisted two giant red-and-white flags bearing Lebanon's cedar tree. On one, the words, "Thank you Syria," were written in English; on the other, "No to foreign interference." The demonstration was in front of U.N. offices. Hezbollah opposes the U.N. resolution drafted by the United States and France last year calling for Syria to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon.
In Washington, President Bush demanded again that Syria pull its troops out of Lebanon and allow free elections. "All Syrian military forces and intelligence personnel must withdraw before the Lebanese elections for these elections to be free and fair," he said. The United States also has demanded that Syria pull out its intelligence agents, and a Syrian official in Damascus said on condition of anonymity Tuesday that the agents would be pulled back along with the regular army.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/08/2005 2:05:14 PM ||
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#1
If this many people are demostrating in Lebanon, who's making money to keep Syria a float. I kinda like this. Have the enemy join in peaceful demostrations to take money from thier own backers.
#5
Spontanaity versus planned (and well financed via Iran) Rallies. The speakers were whining about their buddies (Syrians) having to leave town and why can't we all just hate the Jews! Hell it almost looked like a DNC event.
Baalbek-Hermel Gathering for Physicians and Pharmacists
Baath Party
Federation Youths Organization
former minister Joseph Hashem
Gathering for the Right to Return and Opposition to Settlement
Human Rights and the Lebanese Association for Lebanese-Syrian Fraternity
Independent Nasserite Movement
Islamic Charity Projects Association
Islamic Gathering for Teachers
Islamic Unionist Movement
Jabal Amel Ulemas Committee
League for the Children of Earth
Lebanese Democratic Party
MP Adnan Araqji
Nabatieh Merchants Association
Najjada Party
Nasserite Gathering
National Gathering of Lebanese University Teachers
National Youths Federation- the Lebanese Popular Conference
Phalange Party students department
Popular Nasserite Organization
Self-Employed Professionals
Syrian Social Nationalist Party
Tyre Merchants Association
Waad Organization
Workers League
Youths Association for Projects
Zawarian Youth Organization- Tashnak
Jamaa al-Islamiya
Posted by: mhw ||
03/08/2005 8:37:07 AM ||
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#1
Any guess on a head-count?
I was kind of hoping that Amal might find its political-ecological niche as the opposition coalition's Shia anchor, but it looks like they're swinging behind Hezbollah? Or is the "Amal's youths and sports bureau" some sort of People's Liberation Front of Judea/Judean People's Liberation Front deal?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/08/2005 9:03 Comments ||
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Mitch H.
Amal has been playing it both ways; almost all their PR has a combination of critizing America, days, demanding Lebanon for the Lebanese and praising their own work most days. Its almost as if the've been studying John F Kerry.
#5
And just think, all those demonstrators (I heard a number this morning of 250,000+) are there under the banner of Hezbollah, the terrorist organization responsible for many innocents'deaths.
How does that say aything other than:
The greater populace of Lebanon (and the ME?) supports terrorism.
Chirac will end up backpedaling so that he is not seen as against Lebanese public opinion.
Among the Syriafest demonstrators are a number of people who have been coerced into attending. Also, people from Syria were bussed in for the event.
Also, amongst the Hizbollah supporters are a lot of Shiite folk who just are into identity politics.
Having said that, however, you are correct that a lot of the attendees at Syriafest are pro-terrorist types. Hizbollah is trying to portray themselves as moderate nationalists but their core supporters are pro terrorists (similar to the problem of the Democratic Party in the US) who will break into the 'death to America', 'death to...' on a moments notice.
#7
yeah, but can they sustain these protests? Or will they be like the ones we saw here in our own country - one big show of strength and then dwindling down to moonbat parades?
#8
Respectfully, I doubt most mainstream US Dems would delight in the outcome of suicide attacks (although there are nutcases like Ward among their ranks). Most are simply people that haven't thought through their political philosophy very well. Still, I take your point that many demonstrators may have been bussed in/coerced.
Until the sentiments of the ME populace are turned away from suicide bombings as legitimate political expression, there is scant hope for the ME-no matter who is our president and no matter what are our peace initiatives.
I think it's very interesting that men and women were directed to different parts of the square. Unlike the pro-democracy protestors, who like to mix with the hotties, the Hezbollocks don't care much for womenfolk. ;-)
Posted by: Tibor ||
03/08/2005 11:13 Comments ||
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Respectfully, I doubt most mainstream US Dems would delight in the outcome of suicide attacks
They wouldn't get off their asses to condemn those who DO express that delight, though. AND they tend to get upset and whine when people DO criticize the pro-terrorists.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/08/2005 11:20 Comments ||
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as reported by http://blissstreetjournal.blogspot.com/
the Hizbollah speakers are spouting the boring moderate, "help us help you" type stuff we saw at the Democratic convention. The Democratic delegates were expecting this; however the Hizbollah activists attending Syriafest were looking for more 'kill the infidel' type stuff and are getting bored.
#13
Personally I canât see how there could be 500k supporters of Islamofacists. They would have had to bus them in from Syria to get that many. And yes it is interesting that they sound EXACTLY like the fever swamp that is the Democratic Party of the USA. Birds of a feather?
#14
Have heard estimates varying from Hezbollah's 1.6 million to Debka's 200,000. From the pictures, it looks closer to the Debka number 200,000 - 300,000. As the IDF would say, a target rich environment
#1
Wretchard and his commentators cover the military aspects, so I'll comment on the political. The MM haven't yet grasped the Iraq lesson; Introduce democracy into an ethnically diverse society and you get at best loose federalism, at worst (for the MM) disollution of the state. Iran really is playing with fire.
#3
I'll agree that most of Iraq is unified, but there are some Azeris and Kurds (remember them?) in the northwest. They are in clumps large enough to have a regional identity, too, not spread around thinly. And some Baluchis in the east, too, but I don't know how independence-driven they are.
#4
gromgorru, I don't where your information comes from, but here is Iran's ethnic makeup from the CIA Factbook. Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1% In addition there are significant subgroups within these groups.
Syria is beefing up its intelligence forces in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday in a meeting in Annan's office at UN headquarters. The main topic on their agenda was the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, with Shalom requesting that the UN increase pressure on Syria to implement Resolution 1559, according to a source who attended the meeting. That resolution calls for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanese soil. Shalom also requested that Annan promote the candidacy of Israel's ambassador to the UN as deputy president of the next General Assembly that is due to convene in September 2005. He also proposed that the General Assembly hold an annual discussion on the subject of anti-Semitism.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Damascus bolstering intelligence in Lebanon
Yeah..they finally got smart enough to send Assad packing.
Iran has accused the European Union of having breached nuclear agreements inked with Teheran. "European leaders promised us international acknowledgement of our right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology; we trusted them on this, and in return suspended our activities," former President Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said. "But after three months, not much has happened," said Rafsanjani, who is widely predicted by local observers to succeed President Mohammad Khatami after the 17 June elections.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of a conference in Teheran on nuclear technology and sustainable development, Rafsanjani termed sustainable development in the Third World - including the right to pursue modern technologies - as the main basis for peace and stability in the world. "The consequences of non-development would soon reach the First World as well, because everybody asks why the First World should have environmental-friendly energy resources and the others not," Rafsanjani said. He further rejected Western arguments that Iran did not need nuclear energy owing to its huge oil and gas reserves. Iran, he said, had even more oil and gas reserves 30 years ago, but at that time the Germans still started the nuclear power plant in the southern Persian Gulf port of Bushehr.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Would it help to confuse them if we appeased them some more?
Posted by: Brave sir EU ||
03/08/2005 9:39 Comments ||
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Lol - I don't think what they want is on the menu!
#5
It's nice they see nuclear power as "environmentally friendly", but then why do they have to brag about some facilities being a half-mile underground?
I suppose Juriseqs will lead the charge?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/08/2005 11:15 Comments ||
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#6
Iran has accused the European Union of having breached nuclear agreements inked with Teheran. "European leaders promised us international acknowledgement of our right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology; we trusted them on this, and in return suspended our activities," former President Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said.
Deal? I wasn't aware that any "deal" had been reached.
#7
Good Grief. First we had ITSY and its "nuke everything" routine. Now we have this yahoo and its "invade invade invade". Who do we get next week, Bozo and a 'cream pie 'em' meme?
FBI has operational information on Al-Qaeda's plans to perpetrate terrorist acts with the use of biological and chemical substances, head of the FBI Anti-Terrorist Center John Lewis said answering RIA Novosti's question. Operational information that numerous terrorist groupings and cells, including Al-Qaeda, have been hatching plans to perpetrate terrorist acts with the use of biological and chemical substances comes from different regions of the world, Mr. Lewis told journalists in Novosibirsk. He did not specify the regions he meant.
At the moment the FBI has no information on any concrete plans of terrorists to perpetrate terrorist acts, using chemical and biological substances, Mr. Lewis went on to say. He stressed that at the same time the problem of biological and chemical terrorism is serious enough. Mr. Lewis is participating in the international conference of the heads of secret services in Novosibirsk.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/08/2005 1:47:25 PM ||
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Radical groups such as al-Qaeda have developed a strong command of the internet, using it for everything from fundraising to recruiting, according to the head of Canada's security service. Jim Judd, who was appointed director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in November, says Osama bin Laden's network has compensated for the loss of its training camps in Afghanistan by using the internet to run lucrative credit-card fraud schemes, publish training manuals and recruit new fighters. "Followers are recruited around the world, including in our own country," Judd told a Senate committee reviewing Canada's Anti-terrorism Act.
He said CSIS keeps tabs on more than 100 people it suspects have links to terrorist groups. Increasingly, the names on the watch list belong to young Muslim men, many of them born in Canada as well as Europe and the United States. The number of adherents to terrorism has grown since al-Qaeda's attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, Judd said. "We are encountering here and elsewhere individuals who are native born in their country showing up as associates or members of terrorist groups," he said.
That trend is encouraged by nearly 4,000 Islamist websites and chat rooms that can be found online at any given time. They post everything from video clips of sermons by radical imams to bomb-making manuals, intelligence officials say. Last year, al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi even managed to publish 23 issues of a sophisticated 40-page online magazine called Al Battah.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/08/2005 1:36:15 PM ||
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A senior commander of U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan says fugitive Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and his inner circle have lost their direct control over most Taliban fighters. U.S. Major General Eric Olson says Taliban militants now lack cohesion and are a fading force in the southern and southeastern Afghan provinces that have been their strongholds in recent years. "It seems very clear to us," Olson said, "given the disjointed and uncoordinated effort that the Taliban has been able to launch, that those type of leaders -- [and] Mullah Omar specifically -- are not exercising effective command and control over Taliban operations in Afghanistan."
Just last month, Olson had warned U.S. policymakers against reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan. He had argued that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda continue to pose a grave security threat. But at a Kabul news conference on 7 March, Olson said he sees a "dramatic decrease" in the number of Taliban attacks in Afghanistan. Still, he says, the U.S.-led coalition forces are preparing operations against what has come to be known in Afghanistan as an annual spring offensive. "There has been an increase in Taliban and enemy activity in the spring [compared to the winter months]. And we anticipate that the enemy has the intention of trying to raise the level of activity this spring."
One reason Olson is confident of a weaker Taliban offensive this spring is an amnesty that Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government is offering to rank-and-file Taliban fighters. Olson says about 30 mid-level Taliban fighters already have surrendered their weapons to coalition forces under the offer. He says that since laying down their arms, all 30 have been allowed to return to their villages without facing prosecution or imprisonment. He says one has even been allowed to serve on his local police force.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/08/2005 1:43:00 PM ||
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Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a rare statement on Tuesday saying his fighters will increase attacks on government and foreign forces in Afghanistan once the harsh Afghan winter gave way to spring. The statement, issued through a spokesman, was a riposte to U.S. Major General Eric T. Olson that Taliban attacks had "decreased dramatically" and Omar was no longer able to exercise control over the insurgents. "This is part of America's psychological war aimed at demoralising the Taliban and creating rifts amongst them," Omar said in a statement read by spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi to a Reuters correspondent in Kabul.
"I have support not only from Muslims in Afghanistan, but from around the world," said Omar, who once declared himself to be a "Commander of the Faithful," a title used by companions of Prophet Mohammad. Remnants of Omar's hardline Islamist militia have kept up an insurgency since being driven from power in late 2001 for giving shelter to al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, following the Sept. 11 suicide airliner attacks in the United States. Hakimi also telephoned another Reuters reporter claiming the Taliban was responsible for the killing of a British man in Kabul on Monday night, but security sources in the Afghan capital doubted the veracity of the claim, saying it appeared opportunist and the Taliban had often made false claims in the past. Hakimi said Omar had told his deputy, Mullah Obaidullah to initiate an attack that would send a clear signal to the Americans that the Taliban command could order a strike whenever it chose.
Olson said he expected President Hamid Karzai to announce an offer of amnesty to Taliban rank-and-file soon and said some 30 medium-level Taliban had recently surrendered to U.S.-led forces. Karzai has said his government is in contact with Taliban members and the amnesty offer will not extend to Mullah Omar or up to 150 of his most hardened followers. Omar's statement said those who had surrendered were bandits and added that no "true Muslim will surrender to the infidels." He vowed a fresh campaign of violence once spring arrives. "You will see increase in our attacks after the end of winter."
This article starring:
ABDUL LATIF HAKIMI
Taliban
Major General Eric T. Olson
MULLAH OBAIDULLAH
Taliban
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/08/2005 1:45:47 PM ||
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#1
So did Hitler in March 1945.
Different Nut
Different Century
Same Mentality
Same Result
#2
Never thought the "harsh Afghan winter" would bite you in the ass, did you, Omie? Thought that was just for the infidels, didn't you? Cold enough for you up in caveland?
#3
"You will see increase in our attacks after the end of winter."
The Taliban was having trouble, what a sad, sad story
Needed a new leader to restore its former glory
Where oh where was he? Where could that man be?
We looked around, and then we found, the man for you and me,
And now it's ...
Springtime for Omar and Afghanistan...
Posted by: Steve ||
03/08/2005 16:15 Comments ||
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EFL
The Democratic foreign-policy expert who was Stewart's guest that night, Nancy Soderberg, tried to comfort him (Jon Stewart), pointing out that the budding democratic revolution in the Middle East still might fail: "There's always hope that this might not work." There is historical precedent for that, of course. Liberal revolutions failed in Europe in 1848 and Eastern Europe in 1968. What is an entirely new phenomenon is liberals calling such reverses for human freedom — half-jokingly or not — occasions for "hope."
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/08/2005 11:29:24 AM ||
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#1
Just when you thought the Dims couldn't get any dumber...
#5
Dean driving the Dimocratac Party. Nancy Pelosi, Teddy, Byrd, Carter, and Harry Reid spouting off daily. Soderberg spilling the beans on national TV that the dims really want US soldiers to die and the Mid East policies to fail.
Dang it's a great time to be a conservative!! What a target rich environment!!
Posted by: Matt ||
03/08/2005 13:45 Comments ||
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#8
I heard soundbites of her. Was she ever in charge of anything important during the Clinton admin? She sounded to me like a second year Poli Sci student.
Interesting piece on the brotherhood in Europe, notably in Germany.
Note that IMHO, political subversion is not the main threat to Europe, declining demography, to put it mildly, coupled with uncontrolled immigration and dissolution of Nation-State are. According to some, Germany may basically "disappear" as a Nation in the following decades, and Frace, Belgium, Holland,... may suffer loss of integrity, or worse.
That's weird : Europe is living a decisive part of its history (population substitution, cultural, religious and normative shifts, integration into a transnational pseudo-superstate,...) and all this is put under a lid by political correctness, which prefers to discuss the "US hard power hegemon", repeating the multiculturalist, metissage formulae, telling people how to think... I'm a 50-50 believer in "Eurabia", perhaps in a less-conspiratorial, watered-down way?, and I'm curious to see where all of this is going to lead us, to say the least.
Posted by: Anonymous5089 ||
03/08/2005 8:33:06 AM ||
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#2
When the women of European nations don't have enough confidence in their men or faith in the future of their nations to have children, Europe is doomed. Abortion and birth control are literally killing Europe.
#3
Zero-population growth is the only thing that will prevent the wasteful depletion of precious resources. The task is to convince the peoples of Asia, Middle East, Africa, and South America. The Europeans are doing the right thing by not doing the thing as much - or doing it with protection.
#4
RWV-I think there's a little more to it than that. With the way so many Europeans think cheating is something that women will just have to accept, you won't see long lines of women waiting to become mothers.
#5
Jules, you are right. I think that probably falls under the category of not having enough confidence in their men.
Snake, there is a difference between zero-population growth and an extinction curve. European birth rates have been well below replacement levels for a long time. Gunter Grass first wrote about it in 1980 in "Headbirths or the Germans are Dying Out."
#6
Part of the reason Europeans accept as inevitable straying menfolk, is the tens of millions who got themselves killed off during the first two world wars, leaving so very many unattached women behind. Essentially, the war dead coupled with the below-replacement birth rate is what has lead to the depopulation of the Native European. In North America the male:female ratio never went so wonky, so we Ami women have never felt the need to accept such behaviour, forcing our menfolk to develop trustworthiness and character. (No insult intended to our Rantburg gentlemen, of course. Y'all would be trustworthy characters without any forcing on our part, right? ;-])
#8
Several Muslim nations including Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey and even Iran have birthrates that are at or below replacement level. Among the non-Muslim, non-African peoples of the third world, many birthrates have been falling dramatically to barely above replacement level.
However, given the huge numbers of young people, these countries populations will continue to grow for years to come.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/08/2005 22:38 Comments ||
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Paul - all the more reason for Europe to adopt our welfare reforms, which no longer reward births
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2005 22:45 Comments ||
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#10
Ifn we ditch the Child Tax Credit, that helps too. But it'll piss off some clients...
#1
Obviously he sees the wave, and alternately describes it as a ripple (don't get excited!) and a tsunami (it's seeding changes!), then wanders all over giving "If I were King" advice, situation by situation and country by country.
Sheesh! It's only been a coupla months. Shit happens, good and bad, but everything takes time and plays out at its own speed. You can't microwave it just because you're impatient and full of yourself.
Bush's "grand strategy" was so clearly laid out in the inaugural address that any 7th Grader could follow it - what does this guy want?
Chill, dude. Stick to your guns, like Bush, and let things develop. Push where you can - don't where it will be a hindrance. We will get help from unexpected places, we will get screwed by those we thought allies, good shit will happen, bad shit will happen. It's just fucking life. Deal with it as it comes - with that stick to your guns rule to guide you. Decaf. Try it.
AN RAF Hercules plane that crashed on the day of the landmark Iraqi elections, killing all ten servicemen on board, was probably brought down by a missile. Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, said in a ministerial statement yesterday that sabotage and a bomb planted on board have been dismissed by an inquiry into the tragedy. Insurgents claimed they hit the transporter from the ground on 30 January, the day of the Iraqi elections. The minister disclosed that an interim report from the Ministry of Defence has ruled out nearly all other reasons for the incident, including sabotage and mechanical problems. An RAF board of inquiry was not yet ready to establish the exact cause of the crash, the MoD said. But it went on to rule out "bird strike, lightning strike, mid-air collision, controlled flight into the ground, wire/obstacle strike, restriction in the aircraft's flying controls, cargo explosion, engine fire, sabotage (including the use of an improvised explosive device) and aircraft fatigue." "There remain a number of other possible causes that require further investigations."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
The Herky Bird, normally a super-safe aircraft, had had some problems that no one likes to talk about. A USAF Reserve C-130H of the 939th ARRW, Portland International Airport, crashed under mysterious circumstances about ten years ago.
Initial USAF causation: the aircrew shut off the engines (the aircraft ditched into the sea, but the sea state was too rough for safe ditching, and there was almost total loss of life). The surviving crewmember couldn't shed any light on why the engines quit running, but similar accidents in the commercial flying sphere had been traced to faulty engine management computers, and some sort of engine computers had just been installed on this particular Herc.
The widows formed a pressure group, and insisted that if the USAF was going to list aircrew error as the major cause, that they do it based on actual evidence, which was lacking in this case.
The USAF retracted crew error as a primary cause, but like the Brits in this case, left it in as a gee-whiz cause.
I would think that since this aircraft crashed over the land, and all the wreckage was recovered, some accurate determination of whether a missile hit was responsible should be available.
My guess is that such evidence isn't there, so the Brits, too, have resorted to a "gee-whiz" finding.
In my book, such findings are a cop-out of the first order. If there's no direct evidence of hostile fire, such a cause MUST be ruled out.
If the Brits are going to "gee-whiz", their speculation should run towards an uncommanded fuel cut-off, by the engine computer.
#2
Is this Herc a different model to the one I've heard RAF pilots refer to as '100 000 nuts and bolts flying in close formation'?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/08/2005 8:45 Comments ||
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No. That's a nickname given to the Hawker Hurricane in WW2. Designed by Sir Sidney Cam. Was IMHO a more important plane than the Spitfire in the Battle of Britain, as more were manufactured, and in "bang per buck" terms, was a more effective fighter. [/history lesson]
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/08/2005 11:28 Comments ||
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Rivrdog - reportedly, one entire wing broke off in the air, which suggests something structurally catastrophic rather than a software problem.
DWMF - yes, Hurricanes were responsible for more enemy aircraft than Spitfires during the Battle of Britain, and being wooden rather than metal were cheaper to build, but they were already close to obsolete as interceptors and fighters at that time. Despite being good in a dogfight (they could do some nifty aerobatics) they were slow and poor climbers so were relegated to using their impressive firepower on enemy bombers whilst the Spits tried to keep enemy escorts at bay - which may have helped their kill ratios relative to Spits. Later mark Spitfires were still flying and fighting at the end of the war, and beyond it, even into the fifties, when Hurricanes had long since been phased out and consigned to less challenging roles in theatres other than Western Europe.
#6
Back on topic - it does seem incredible that, with all the wreckage to hand, they can't tell us whether or not it was hit by a missile or other ground fire. IIUC, an anti-aircraft missile would characteristically have peppered the fuselage with shrapnel holes which ought to be fairly obvious, and, similarly, gunfire ought to have left unmistakable puncturing. What sort of impact would an RPG or other 'anti-tank missile' (as was, reportedly, originally claimed by insurgents as the cause) have had? I'm not entirely sure, but I doubt that the evidence would be hard to find.
#8
An RPG usually has to hit something pretty hard to explode. The aluminum on the Herc might be to thin for this and an RPG might go through. In Mogadishu, and RPG went through a truck door and almost completely through a soldier and did not explode. Ditto for an anti-tank round. It would probably go through and not explode. I can't say for certain but seems to me it was neither one of these.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/08/2005 15:41 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait's cabinet called on lawmakers yesterday to speed up a vote on a proposed amendment to this conservative Gulf state's election law that aims to give women the right to vote and stand as political candidates.
The IRA has revealed that it .offered to shoot the men blamed for murdering the Belfast man Robert McCartney
U.S. President Bush will not invite Sinn Fein or Irish Republican Army officials to the White House on St. Patrick's Day. Instead, Bush has invited the sisters and fiancee of a Catholic man said to have been killed by the IRA. The invitation is a significant political message from Bush, whose aides announced last week for the first time since 1995, Sinn Fein and other Irish parties would not be invited. Bush believes neither Adams nor his aide Martin McGuinness can be trusted. Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the separatist group, will be touring the United States when Ireland's patron saint is honored March 17, and will speak in Washington, although he was not invited to the White House. 
President Roh Moo-hyun has come out against the United States Forces in Korea (USFK)'s planned transformation into a Northeast Asian rapid deployment force. "The clear thing is that our citizens will not become embroiled in Northeast Asian conflicts without our consent," he said before a graduation ceremony of the Air Force Academy's 53rd class.
FORMER Qantas baggage handler and terror suspect 
Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda terrorism in Iraq, is an inspiration for Islamic radicals. Zarqawi, unfortunately, is carrying out his terrorist attacks mainly against fellow Moslems. This is not unusual, as, so far, most al Qaeda attacks have been against other Moslems. But for Arabs, living in Arab countries, the al Qaeda carnage in Iraq is scary, and disturbing. But for Moslems living in Europe, North America and other non-Moslem nations, the death of so many Moslems, at the hands of other Moslems, is inspiring. Especially with the young Moslems in places like Europe, it's easy to swallow the official al Qaeda line that the Iraqis killed by al Qaeda bombs deserved to die. Moslems in Moslem countries know better. This generation gap is being exploited by al Qaeda, and has made Zarqawi a hero to many of these European born Moslems.
Some 60,000 French Jews are interested in immigrating to Israel, according to Bar-Ilan University research conducted by Dr. Arik Cohen. The research was based on questionnaires given to the 125,000 Jewish tourists from France who visited the country in the past summer. They constitute a third of the total population of French Jews. Of those asked, 52 percent said they see their future in Israel. Half of those aged 15-18 said they had personally experienced instances of anti-Semitism in the past four years. A third of the youth said they are considering immigration to Israel in the near future.
The terrorist behind the Stage Club in Tel Aviv over a week ago taught Middle East Studies at a University in the US before he moved to Syria. 47-year-old 
Just as it looked like George W. Bush might be nudging toward multilateralism, he goes and appoints John Bolton as his ambassador to the United Nations. There could be no clearer sign that the contempt for the international organization, which was such a prominent feature of Bush's first term, will extend into his second term with still greater force and eloquence.
Nearly 500,000 pro-Syrian protesters waved flags and chanted anti-American slogans in a central Beirut square Tuesday, answering a nationwide call by the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group for a demonstration to counter weeks of massive rallies demanding Syrian forces leave Lebanon. Organizers handed out Lebanese flags and directed the men and women to separate sections of the square. Loudspeakers blared militant songs urging resistance to foreign interference. Demonstrators held up pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad and signs saying, "Syria & Lebanon brothers forever." Other placards read: "America is the source of terrorism"; "All our disasters are from America"; "No to American-Zionist intervention; Yes to Lebanese-Syrian brotherhood."
Syria is beefing up its intelligence forces in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday in a meeting in Annan's office at UN headquarters. The main topic on their agenda was the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, with Shalom requesting that the UN increase pressure on Syria to implement Resolution 1559, according to a source who attended the meeting. That resolution calls for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanese soil. Shalom also requested that Annan promote the candidacy of Israel's ambassador to the UN as deputy president of the next General Assembly that is due to convene in September 2005. He also proposed that the General Assembly hold an annual discussion on the subject of anti-Semitism.
A senior commander of U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan says fugitive Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and his inner circle have lost their direct control over most Taliban fighters. U.S. Major General Eric Olson says Taliban militants now lack cohesion and are a fading force in the southern and southeastern Afghan provinces that have been their strongholds in recent years. "It seems very clear to us," Olson said, "given the disjointed and uncoordinated effort that the Taliban has been able to launch, that those type of leaders -- [and] Mullah Omar specifically -- are not exercising effective command and control over Taliban operations in Afghanistan."
Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a rare statement on Tuesday saying his fighters will increase attacks on government and foreign forces in Afghanistan once the harsh Afghan winter gave way to spring. The statement, issued through a spokesman, was a riposte to U.S. 
