By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
Thu Jun 9, 3:28 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia has plenty of oil — more than the world is likely to need — along with an increasing ability to refine crude oil into gasoline and other products before selling it overseas, a top Saudi official says.
"The world is more likely to run out of uses for oil than Saudi Arabia is going to run out of oil," Adel al-Jubeir, top foreign policy adviser for Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah, said Wednesday.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Al-Jubeir said relations between his nation and the Bush administration were strong but "the environment in which the relationship operates ... still leaves a lot to be desired." translation : Bush is not taken anymore of their bullshit
He denied his country has any nuclear weapons ambitions, despite international concerns about a Saudi request to lower international scrutiny of its lone nuclear reactor. This is a shame since they are inept enough to denote a nuclear bomb on their own backyard.
He said he was "bullish" about the Saudi economy, which although based on the country's vast oil reserves has also diversified to include a galloping stock market.
Al-Jubeir dismissed speculation, including in a recent book, that the country was hiding the true picture of its oil reserves and that it may have far less than publicly assumed. He said Saudi Arabia has proven reserves of 261 billion barrels, and with the arrival of newer technology could extract an additional 100 billion to 200 billion barrels. Lies, lies, and more lies!
"We will be producing oil for a very long time," al-Jubeir said.
Saudi Arabia now pumps 9.5 million barrels of oil daily, with the capacity to produce 11 million barrels a day. The country has pledged to increase daily production to 12.5 million barrels by 2009, and the nation's oil minister said last month the level of 12.5 million to 15 million barrels daily could be sustained for up to 50 years.
High oil prices benefit the Saudi economy in the short run, but al-Jubeir said his nation wants a stable price that won't hurt consumers so much that they reduce their energy demands. what do you know..he shows some signs of having brain activity!
The problem for both the Saudis and the United States is what happens after the oil is pumped.
"If we send more oil to the United States and you can't refine it, it's not going to become gasoline," al-Jubeir said. The United States has not built a refinery since the 1970s, and other markets have similarly outmoded or limited refining capacity. Environmental concerns and local opposition make it unlikely new U.S. refineries can be built quickly, even with the current gas price crunch.
Saudi Arabia has partly stepped into the breach, with new refineries being built inside the kingdom as well as in China and soon in India, al-Jubeir said.
The country has also invested in gasoline stations, part of a strategy of "going downstream" from oil production to distribution, al-Jubeir said.
"We continue to do it, and we have one of the largest refining and distribution systems in the world," he said.
Ordinary Saudis remain deeply distrustful of the United States in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion and revelations about mistreatment of Muslim prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and a range of complaints about conditions at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, al-Jubeir said. Somebody should ask this oily asshole about the mistreatment of the 5 expats they framed in 2000 to justify the first bombing in Riyadh."Why do they hate you? They don't hate you, they just don't like your policies." Somebody should inform this grease ball that over 50 million Americans are asking themselves, when can we turn Saudi Arabia into a glass sheet?
Al-Jubeir said the Saudi regime takes no umbrage at U.S. efforts to spread democracy in the Middle East. President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have made democratic expansion a centerpiece of Bush's second term foreign policy.
"We believe that the idea of spreading freedom and democracy is a noble one," but change must come on terms each country can accept, al-Jubeir said.
#1
What's odd about this is the relatively small area in which the oil is concentrated. Even more bizzare is that it's in a historically Shia area only recently conquored by interior tribes. What is it about 15 km wide or so?
#4
Last year world oil consumption increased by almost 2M bpd. This year will be less perhaps 1.5M bpd as economies slow. If SA can increase supply by 1.5M BPD as they claim by 2009 then thats about 20% of the demand increase over that period assuming economic growth continues. So where is the other 80% coming from? (Answer = nowhere)
The world is not running out of oil anytime soon. What it has is a supply shortfall.
#3
Come on, guys...it may be symbolic and/or window dressing, but it's a start on democratic reforms, isn't it?
As the Chinese say, "A journey begins with a single step..."
Good for Qatar!
And they've been wonderful allies with us, too.
Gosharoonies, that will let them continue to cover for Al Jizz, something they were taking some serious heat over. How convenient.
Freedom of Assembly, but "according to the law".
Hmmm. Since Shari'a is the basis of law (next item) this this doesn't mean dick, now does it?
Article One - âIts religion is Islam and Shariah is the main source of legislation. Its regime is democratic and its official language is Arabic.â
and
"no changes can be made to the document for the first 10 years"
Think about this. Just because they said a few magic words, "constitution" "democratic" "free speech" "free press", you folks are getting all wobbly and gushy.
Bullshit. They have successfully played the sucker bet and enshrined the same old Arab Islamic Shari'a SHIT, carved it into stone for 10 years, and made all legal-looking and spiffy for public consumption. For what? For so-called "free speech" and "free press" and "free assembly" and an occasional vote on what color the wheels of Shari'a "justice" will be? These are all as stipulated under Shari'a Law, folks. In other words, it's the same old shit.
Shari'a is the key to oppression - and they've got you looking at the shiny wrapper, instead of the shit sandwich inside.
Sorry, but this is a clever PR snowjob - a massive pig in a poke Islamic joke. Swallowed the sucker hook, line, and sinker, too. Need some more metaphors? How about "Same old wine in a brand new bottle"? You can add, now New and Improved with a Constitution and Democracy! Sorta. Active Ingredient: Shari'a.
I've got some swampland and bridges fine real estate I'll grudgingly part with...
#7
"...no changes can be made to the document for the first 10 years..."
How handy for the Emir!
Posted by: Tom ||
06/09/2005 8:36 Comments ||
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#8
Some of these people still think the sky can fall on their heads so this has to be a start.. no matter how miniscule and ultimately disguised it may actually be.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/09/2005 8:39 Comments ||
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#9
Sure, okay.
The Great Arab Leap Forward. I expect that those Dictatorships, Thugocracies, Mullahcracies, etc, who aren't run by total congential idiots and haven't yet made their plans for new window treatments (in response to the pressure they feel from Bush) will take a good hard look at this hoax bold step - and likely emulate it. It's a masterstroke, even approaching genius, for Arab Dictators, anyway.
Please ignore me, I'm just being incorrigibly unforgiving of the Arab Vision Thingy. Silly me.
#10
At least they're saying the words.. which is something.. must be breaking their hearts balls..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/09/2005 9:51 Comments ||
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#11
Saying the words won't disturb the rulers at all if they're thinking in terms of taqqiyah (dissembling to fool the infidel enemy). I agree with .com on this one. The giveaways, to me, are the timing and the 10 year "No change" clause.
#12
Dictators have done this type of thing thoughout history (eg. czarist russia create a state duma without little power) and look how that ended up. This is just done to releve pressure on his regime and wont have any real power.
The presence of Islamic radicals in some parts of Latin America is well known. With its vast wildernesses and weak governments, Latin America has been used for safe houses, transit routes for personnel, and even training bases. The focus of these activities has been on moving and training Islamic terrorists. Recently, however, a potentially disturbing trend has begun to develop, as intelligence suggests that the Islamic radicals are establishing ties with domestic radical and criminal groups in several countries.
Haiti - members of an Islamic group known to have ties with al Qaeda have apparently been providing training in weapons and explosives use to one of the pro-Aristide gangs, while also attempting to convert gang members to Islam.
Dominican Republic - two local radical groups seem to have been in contact with Islamic radicals, seeking financial and technical assistance.
Nicaragua — Al Qaeda, which is believed to have moved important operatives through the country from time to time, may be trying to reach out to dissatisfied fringe elements with the intention of helping them undertake terrorist attacks against the government.
Three Frontiers Region-- Hizbollah, and perhaps other Islamic groups, have been able to operate rather freely in the porous borderlands where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay come together, taking advantage of rampant corruption, to establish training camps, safe houses, and logistical bases.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 15:19 ||
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Russia has credible information that the recent disturbances in the Uzbek town of Andizhan were organized from Afghan territory, said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov.
"Our information is quite reliable: everything that happened in Andizhan was inspired from Afghan territory," Ivanov said at a session of the Russian-NATO Council on Thursday.
"A group of armed militants from Islamic organizations, including [Taliban members], had been planning a raid on Uzbekistan for a long time. So the questions the investigation has to answer are who organized the riots, how, and who assisted them," Ivanov said.
"Ultimately, we are talking about stopping the threat of international terrorism in this strategically important region," he said.
Ivanov noted that terrorist training continues in Afghanistan. "As we know, terrorists are being purposefully trained in Afghanistan for export," Ivanov said, adding that "the recent events in Uzbekistan are a clear confirmation of this."
"In general, the situation in Afghanistan is still far from what we could call stable," Ivanov said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 16:43 ||
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THERE are hopes that President Bush's meeting tomorrow with President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea, coming on the heels of the latest North Korean overture on restarting nuclear-weapons negotiations, may lead to a breakthrough. However, anyone who expects the South to help us put pressure on the North hasn't been paying much attention to what has happened between the two countries over the last five years.
Since South Korea's president at the time, Kim Dae Jung, met with North Korea's Kim Jong Il in 2000 (and pocketed a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts), Seoul has gone to remarkable lengths to gain the North's trust. Unsurprisingly, the only real changes under this Sunshine Policy have occurred in South Korea. And efforts by President Roh, who was elected in 2002, to engage Kim Jong Il have led him to plunge his own nation into North Korea's world of lies.
For example, Seoul no longer sees any evidence of North Korea's crimes: the government tries to keep South Korean newscasts from showing a smuggled tape of the public execution of "criminals" by the North that has been broadcast in Japan and elsewhere; reports that China is shipping refugees back to North Korea are denied by the Roh government; the North's testing of chemical weapons on live prisoners goes largely unmentioned; and even Pyongyang's apparent preparations for nuclear weapons tests are played down.
South Korea, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, has abstained for the last three years from voting to condemn the North for its abuses. The South's latest national defense white paper even indicates that Seoul no longer considers the North to be its "main enemy" - which implies that the presence of American forces on the peninsula is no longer necessary. okay, we can go home now. NOW. Enjoy speaking Mandarin. or would it be Japanese in a decade?
Because Seoul chooses to regard the North as a friendly neighbor, it no longer wants to help North Koreans fleeing the regime - even though its Constitution declares that these refugees have the legal right to become citizens of South Korea. There have been press reports that Seoul has been pressuring China to prevent North Korean escapees from seeking asylum in South Korea's embassy and consulates in China (there are at least 100,000 North Koreans hiding in China).
Last year, when 468 North Korean refugees who had taken refuge in Vietnam were flown into South Korea, Seoul's minister in charge of reunification declared that "we disapprove of mass defections" and promised there would not be another large-scale movement of refugees. In December, the ministry cut the "resettlement" grant program for escaped Northerners by two-thirds and announced that henceforth there would be far greater scrutiny of asylum-seekers (on the questionable grounds that these refugees might be spies).
President Roh has defended this approach by more or less throwing up his hands. He refuses to give even moral support to dissidents in the North, claiming that Kim Jong Il would ruthlessly crush any protests. For Mr. Roh, there is no chance his "partner for peace" will fall from power; in fact, he makes clear that he would not wish the regime to crumble any time soon.
So, what has President Roh received for all this appeasement? The South still has to keep paying in hard cash for any political or economic contacts to take place - it even has to bribe the North to take part in tae kwon do competitions. No reunions among families who have been divided since the armistice of 1953 have taken place in the last year; the previous rounds of reunions received a lot of positive news media coverage around the world but consisted of only brief encounters involving a small number of elderly people wanting to meet loved ones before they die. And, of course, the entire world has to put up with Pyongyang's nuclear shell game.
Many of those pushing the Sunshine Policy came of age while trying to force South Korea's postwar dictators to step down; they believe that the North can follow their model, in which economic gains paved the way for democracy. But forcing North Koreans to remain under Kim Jong Il's rule and hoping that he will make gradual reforms is unlikely to bear fruit.
North Korea undertook some economic changes in 2002, but they actually left the people worse off. A United Nations World Food Program report last month noted that the market price of rice in North Korea has nearly tripled and that of maize has quadrupled in the last year. And of course it is the government, with its monopoly on commodities, that reaps the profits from high prices.
Kim Jong Il has conned the South's big businesses as well as its government, luring them in with offers of exclusive concessions. For example, in 2000 the automaker Hyundai gave the North $500 million in exchange for a promise that it would be awarded all the major civil engineering projects Pyongyang would undertake after it received an influx of foreign aid. Hyundai has yet to realize any profit from the deal and its chairman, who faced criminal charges stemming from his dealings with the North, killed himself in 2003.
WHY does Seoul pay so dearly to prop up the criminal regime? It has claimed that if North Korea were to collapse, it would cost $1.7 trillion to rebuild it, a sum that would cripple the South's treasury. But this figure seems preposterous. Given its population of about 23 million people, the North would need an emergency influx of only about $1 billion a year to pay for food, medicines and fuel until it got back on its feet. South Korea, with its trillion-dollar gross domestic product, could easily afford this.
Nor is Seoul necessarily correct to assume that the collapse of the North would lead to an exodus of desperate people to the South. After ridding themselves of the criminal regime, wouldn't those in the North be just as likely to stay in their homes than to flee south as paupers? The huge need for capital investment in the North would probably create an economic boom, just as it has done in China over the last 25 years. With Mr. Kim gone, South Korean conglomerates and international agencies like the World Bank would be eager to invest in new power stations and factories. Unification is more likely to provide a boost to the South Korean economy than to damage it.
But beyond the economic factors, we must consider the moral ones. South Korea is seeking to keep a tyrant in power against the wishes of his own people. At 63, Kim Jong Il has spent a lifetime in a paranoid and claustrophobic dictatorship. If he were going to become a reformer, we would surely know it by now. And even if against all odds he undertook reforms, he is still personally responsible for a manmade famine that has killed 3 million people over the last decade. Would Pol Pot have been given a second chance if he had vowed to open Cambodia's markets?
Rather than coddling Kim Jong Il and paying him nuclear blackmail, we should be working to arraign him before an international criminal tribunal, just as we did with the murdering leaders of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Yes, it is highly unlikely we would ever get him before such a court, but simply making the symbolic effort might get leaders in China, Japan, South Korea and the West to envision just how attractive a post-Kim era would be for everyone.
Posted by: too true ||
06/09/2005 18:18 ||
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#1
The money quote:
President Roh has defended this approach by more or less throwing up his hands. He refuses to give even moral support to dissidents in the North, claiming that Kim Jong Il would ruthlessly crush any protests. For Mr. Roh, there is no chance his "partner for peace" will fall from power; in fact, he makes clear that he would not wish the regime to crumble any time soon.
There are a number of areas I have in disagreement with President Bush. But the President has made it absolutely clear that the United States supports human freedom throughout the world. President Roh has sold out his people, both north and south of Lat. 38 deg N, and sold out his principles. It is now up to the people of South Korea whether or not they will go along with his despicable actions.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/09/2005 19:23 Comments ||
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#2
The answer: Yes. They're "all" Koreans, and all that "racial solidarity."
What was the saying? "Chinese are casually racist, Japanese are bluntly racist, Koreans are violently racist"?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/09/2005 21:02 Comments ||
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#3
Alaska Paul, if you think the political aspect is bad, you've never seen the South Korean movie where Kim Jong-il's daughter dates a South Korean rock star ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/09/2005 21:03 Comments ||
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#4
Roh is, as his opponents long suspected, a crypto-commie.
A U.S. defense official paid a secret visit to Seoul this week and told his South Korean counterparts that Washington might withdraw its troops if the two sides continue to disagree on various bilateral issues, local media reported Thursday.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry acknowledged the visit by U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Richard Lawless, but refused to disclose what was discussed during his meetings Monday and Tuesday.
Local newspapers reported that Lawless said Washington might have to withdraw its troops if Seoul keeps disagreeing on a range of issues, including Pentagon plans for its forces to be more flexible and potentially operate across the region. The reports in the Hankyoreh and Munhwa dailies, along with various Internet media, cited South Korean defense officials and diplomats.
The Foreign Ministry dismissed the media reports as "not being in line with the trend of close cooperation between (South) Korea and the United States."
While not directly refuting the reported comments by Lawless, the ministry said in a statement that "the Korea-U.S. alliance is not so weak that it could be swayed by comments from one or two officials."
The reports come on the eve of a Friday meeting in Washington between U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun where the two leaders are aiming to patch up strains in their alliance over differences in dealing with North Korea. ADVERTISEMENT
Roh has previously expressed concern that plans for U.S. troops here to be a more flexible force might unwillingly embroil South Korea in regional conflicts.
About 32,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. Washington plans to cut down the number to about 24,500 in coming years as part of a worldwide redeployment of its forces.
Posted by: too true ||
06/09/2005 18:15 ||
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#1
Might?? Just do it. The SKors have been assisted long enough; it's time for them to sink or swim on their own.
#2
Roh has previously expressed concern that plans for U.S. troops here to be a more flexible force might unwillingly embroil South Korea in regional conflicts.
#5
Much of this appeasement and feelings of racial solidarity with NK is generational. SK has had 50 years of of uneasy peace. Those that have memories of life on either side of the 38th parallel and the war are now over 60 years old. Like the war generation in western Europe, they are dying off. In it's place are a generation in power who have only known peace enforced by American power. They see American tanks rolling through the streets and soldiers in their bars. They don't see the life on the other side of the DMZ/iron curtain and their educational/media/cultural institutions feed their prejudices.
Bottom line. Welcome them back to reality. Americans have no obligation to continue to provide for their comfort and feelings of racial superiority. Their freedom and safety is their responsibility. Withdraw and reevaluate trade relations. Trade with out allies, ignore neutrals and boycott enemies. The Soviet Union would be alive, well, prosperous and even more threatening if our leaders had followed the crazy trading non-strategy we have today.
Posted by: ed ||
06/10/2005 0:15 Comments ||
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June 9, 2005: Where are the mysterious, "elite North Korean hackers.?" For over a decade, the South Korean media has been reporting on the cyberwar capabilities of North Korea. All of this revolves around activity at Mirm College, a North Korean school that, since the early 1990s, has been training, for want of a better term, computer hackers. The story, as leaked by South Korean intelligence organizations, is that a hundred cyberwar experts are graduated from Mirim College each year. North Korea is supposed to have, at present, a cyberwar unit of some 600 skilled hackers and Internet technicians. On the other hand, it more likely that those Mirim College grads are hard at work maintaining the government intranet, not plotting cyberwar against the south. Moreover, North Korea has been providing programming services to South Korean firms. Not a lot, but the work is competent, and cheap. So there is some software engineering capability north of the DMZ.
The mystery angle shows up when you try to find any incidents of North Korean hackers actually doing anything. That could be construed as particularly ominous. Only the most elite hackers do their work without leaving behind any tracks, or evidence. Some have maintained that, because North Korea's Internet connections come from China, the North Korean cyberwarriors could be cleverly masquerading as Chinese hackers. However, after a decade, there should be some visible signs of North Korean hacking. It's highly unlikely that the North Korean hackers have been able to wander around the net without leaving some signs. While North Korea has produced some competent engineers, we know from decades of examining their work, that they don't produce super-scientists, or people capable of the kind of innovation that would enable North Korean cyberwarriors to remain undetected all these years.
So do the North Korean cyberwarriors exist, or are they a creation of South Korean intelligence agencies trying to obtain more money to upgrade government Information War defenses? North Korea probably has some personnel working on Internet issues, and Mirim College probably does train Internet engineers. North Korea probably has a unit devoted to Internet based warfare. But we know that North Korea has a lot of military units that are competent, in the same way robots are. The North Koreans picked this technique up from their Soviet teachers back in the 1950s. North Korea is something of a museum of Stalinist techniques. But it's doubtful that their Internet experts are flexible and innovative enough to be a real threat. South Korea has to be wary because they have become more dependent on the web than another other on the planet, with exception of the United States. As in the past, if the north is to start any new kind of mischief, they will work it on South Korea first. So whatever the skill level of the North Korean hackers, they will attack South Korea first.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/09/2005 10:32 ||
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#1
This so reminds me of Elbonia in the Dilbert cartoons. Management thinks they are great, but they are really just above stone age technology.
#3
As in the past, if the north is to start any new kind of mischief, they will work it on South Korea first. So whatever the skill level of the North Korean hackers, they will attack South Korea first.
The author doesn't really 'get' how the net makes geography irrelevant for some things, does he?
Posted by: too true ||
06/09/2005 14:14 Comments ||
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#4
You laugh but wait until Mr. Kim Master of CPM hackery comes and pays your Heathkit a visit.
North Korea boasted it was building more nuclear bombs ahead of the South Korean leader's trip to Washington to discuss deadlocked international efforts to get the communist state to disarm.
The North is widely believed to have enough weapons-grade plutonium for a half-dozen nuclear bombs. Asked by ABC News if the North was building more, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan said: "Yes." "As for specifically how many we have, that is a secret," he said. Kim also implied the North was able to mount nuclear warheads on its missiles. "Our scientists have the knowledge, comparable to other scientists around the world," he said.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun traveled to Washington Thursday on a one-day whirlwind trip to meet President Bush amid signs of strain in the U.S.-South Korean alliance over the nuclear standoff with North Korea.
-SNIP-
Also, U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Richard Lawless paid a secret visit to Seoul this week and told his South Korean counterparts that Washington might withdraw its troops if the two sides continue to disagree on various bilateral issues, local media reported Thursday. South Korea's Foreign Ministry acknowledged the visit but refused to disclose what was discussed. The reports in the Hankyoreh and Munhwa dailies cited
-SNIP-
Posted by: ed ||
06/09/2005 07:44 ||
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#4
In a New Brunswick court hearing earlier this year, Mr. Despres' father was sentenced for beating his live-in girlfriend. High on cocaine, court heard, his father used to rev up his own chainsaw and use it on appliances and the ceiling. Another time, his live-in girlfriend woke up with him standing over her bed with a chainsaw.
#5
half - Check the Onion. I ran across a dedicated Holy Shit! image site once with precisely the sort of images you're referring to, but for some reason - momentary good taste, perhaps, I failed to bookmark it.
A lengthy investigation has uncovered a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist cell in Lodi, in the midst of California's agricultural heartland, federal authorities said yesterday.
Umer Hayat
Umer Hayat, 47, an ice cream truck driver, and his son Hamid Hayat, 22, were arrested Sunday on charges of lying to the FBI. The two men, both believed to be U.S. citizens, are accused of attempting to deceive agents about Hamid Hayat's six-month stint at an al-Qaeda terrorist training camp in Pakistan in 2003 and 2004.
Authorities said the investigation has been under way for several years but declined to comment further about the breadth and scope of the alleged operation.
"We believe . . . various individuals connected to al-Qaeda have been operating in the Lodi area in various capacities, including individuals who have received terrorist training abroad, with the specific intent to initiate a terrorist attack in the United States," FBI Agent Keith Slotter said at a hastily arranged news conference yesterday.
Slotter and U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said agents had not interrupted preparations for an imminent assault on a domestic target.
"I want to make it clear . . . we did not find these guys in the middle of executing a plan of attack," Scott said.
Authorities said two other men were detained Monday. Mohammed Adil Khan, 47, and Shabbir Ahmed, 37, were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for violating terms of their visas. Both are citizens of Pakistan who were living in Lodi. Ahmed has functioned as the imam of the Lodi Muslim Mosque, and Khan is affiliated with the Farooqia Islamic Center, another mosque near the city, the FBI said.
Wazhma Mojaddidi, an El Dorado Hills attorney representing Hamid Hayat, said she could not comment on the allegations against her client. Hamid Hayat is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow. Attorneys for the three other men could not be reached for comment.
Hamid Hayat said he received training in explosives, other weapons and hand-to-hand combat at the al-Qaeda camp, according to court documents.
"Hamid stated that during his training, photos of various high-ranking U.S. political figures, including President Bush, would be pasted onto their targets," FBI Agent Pedro Aguilar said in an affidavit filed in federal court.
U.S. Attorney Scott said Hamid Hayat "confirmed the camp was run by al-Qaeda operatives and that they were being trained on how to kill Americans.
"He further stated he had specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihadi mission," Scott said.
Although the U.S. attorney and FBI agent in charge were circumspect about details, the affidavit offered some clues and raised more questions.
Hamid Hayat apparently had been in Pakistan for more than two years when he attempted to return on a flight to San Francisco late last month, according to Aguilar's account.
Hamid Hayat was on a "no fly" list, which meant he was barred from flying into the United States, for reasons federal authorities declined to discuss yesterday. While the plane was airborne, agents at the FBI's headquarters alerted the Sacramento office and the flight was diverted to Japan.
An FBI agent interviewed Hayat and allowed him to continue to San Francisco, according to the affidavit. Hayat was interviewed by the FBI last Friday and at first denied any link to terror camps. But the next day he was given a polygraph test and admitted he attended the camp in 2003 and 2004, according to the affidavit.
After insisting his son had no knowledge of the terrorist camps, Umer Hayat also changed his story after he was shown a videotape of his son's confession, according to the affidavit.
He then "admitted he paid for Hamid's flight and had provided him with an allowance of $100 per month, knowing his intention was to attend a jihadi training camp," FBI agent Aguilar alleged.
Umer Hayat also said he had toured several al-Qaeda training camps and that his father-in-law was a "close personal friend" of one of the camp operators, according to Aguilar.
Umer Hayat was denied bail at his arraignment Tuesday. His attorney, Johnny Griffin III, declined to return a telephone call seeking comment.
Slotter, the FBI agent in charge, said that although the suspects are believed to be "committed to acts of jihad against the U.S.," agents haven't recovered information outlining "exact plans, timing or specific targets of opportunity."
He dismissed reports that hospitals and food stores were targeted.
"This investigation is ongoing and evolving literally by the moment," Scott said. "We fully anticipate there will be further developments in the hours and days ahead."
Scott refused to say whether authorities believe the suspected Lodi cell has established connections elsewhere in the state or nation.
In Washington, President Bush said he had been briefed on the matter.
"I was very impressed by the use of intelligence and the follow-up," Bush said. "And that's what the American people need to know, that when we find any hint about any possible wrongdoing or a possible cell, that we'll follow up â by the way, honoring the civil liberties of those to whom we follow up."
The Hayats live in a working-class neighborhood of Lodi, a city ringed by thousands of acres of vineyards and farmland in the Sacramento delta. Their street, like their neighborhood, is made up largely of single-family houses and small apartment buildings.
Connie Fink, who lives in an apartment across from the house where the Hayats have lived for at least five years, said she never dreamed anyone in the area would be accused of terrorism. "I guess you never really know who your neighbors are," she said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 15:13 ||
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Voice of America report, so there's some things that are basic in presentation
...Ever since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration and members of Congress from both major political parties have focused on the southern border with Mexico as a potential weak link in keeping terrorists out of the United States. Earlier this year, FBI Director Robert Mueller warned lawmakers that immigrants with ties to al-Qaida could easily enter the United States illegally from Mexico using false identities.
In recent months, some members of the president's majority Republican Party have stepped up pressure on the administration to do more to crack down on illegal immigration. Arizona Republican John Kyl, a member of a Senate subcommittee that deals with immigration issues, expressed concern about the continuing influx of illegal immigrants coming across the southern border during a recent hearing.
There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. But federal immigration officials insist they are making progress in stemming the influx. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar recently briefed a Senate subcommittee on immigration about his agency's efforts since last October.
"The Border Patrol as a whole has apprehended over 800,000 illegal aliens, interdicted 886,000 pounds of marijuana and 7,400 pounds of cocaine. Our objective is nothing less than a border under operational control," he said.
But with that success have come other problems. State and federal officials complain they are running out of room to detain illegal immigrants suspected of criminal intentions or from so-called countries of special interest, which are known to have links with terrorist organizations.
Immigration officials have instituted a limited expedited removal program that detains the most suspicious illegal aliens and usually results in them being deported in about a month's time. Large numbers of other illegal aliens who are not deemed a threat are often released inside the United States and told to appear in court at a later date to determine whether they are eligible to remain. A large number of them never make their court appearances.
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn is joining forces with Senator Kyl to sponsor a bill that would double the size of the Border Patrol over the next five years. If approved, the Cornyn-Kyl bill would authorize 10,000 new Border Patrol agents to the current total of 11,000. It would also offer a version of a temporary guest worker program similar to that proposed by President Bush last year.
The president's plan would allow unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States to apply for legal status to work and would impose new penalties on companies that knowingly hire illegal workers.
Stewart Verdery is a consultant on immigration issues and a former official in the Homeland Security Department. He told lawmakers that the creation of a guest worker program is an important part of helping law enforcement focus on terrorist and criminal threats coming across the border.
But the guest worker proposals have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. Immigration opponents are worried about the government's ability to administer a massive new program while immigration advocacy groups are concerned that the plan will not do enough to protect the rights of temporary workers.
#1
Our objective is nothing less than a border under operational control,"...
Bull, you don't act like it and no holder of that office ever has. The Border to the south should be controled and Patroled by a military type force. Zero drugs and illegal aliens should get across.
#2
SPoD -
Can't use Title X military forces, Posse Comitatus.
However, you could raise a 'para-military' force and put it under Homeland Security. Say, about two brigades of, otherwise unemployed, Apaches. It's not like that has ever been done before. :)
#3
Should have had the Marines practicing intradiction in a desert environment long before we went into Iraq.
Signs along the border "in Spanish" saying US Marine training area, do not cross. Would do a lot more towards stopping infiltration than water fountains.
#5
There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. But federal immigration officials insist they are making progress in stemming the influx.
What about ejecting those that are already here?
Large numbers of other illegal aliens who are not deemed a threat are often released inside the United States and told to appear in court at a later date to determine whether they are eligible to remain.
How about identifying the government officials who are responsible for this, and lowering the boom on them??
The president's plan would allow unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States to apply for legal status to work..
No, no, NO. Round 'em up and throw 'em OUT. Anyone that wants to be a part of the guest worker program needs to be clean, with NO RECORD of illegal entry.
This can't be said enough: NO REWARDS FOR ILLEGAL ENTRY. PERIOD.
In a sharply worded attack, the union for 10,000 U.S. Border Patrol employees accused the federal government of conducting a "witch hunt" in an investigation that implicated dozens of Border Patrol agents in a kickback scheme. The agents, said T. J. Bonner, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, were "victimized by a mindless bureaucracy."
The federal investigation uncovered a widespread kickback scheme involving agents temporarily assigned to the Douglas, Ariz., Border Patrol station several years ago. A Justice Department report disclosed that agents had accepted cash kickbacks from supervisors who rented rooms to them, and cash and other inducements from hotels that sought their business. In some cases, agents filed false expense accounts with the government.
The investigation was prompted by allegations made by agents Larry Davenport and Willie Forester. In a story in its June 6 edition, U.S. News reports that the whistle-blowers' charges led to the disciplining of 23 agents and three low-level supervisors. Border Patrol records show that at least 19 other agents were involved in the scheme but were not disciplined. Two agents, indicted in the case, are awaiting trial in Arizona. Davenport and Forester left the Border Patrol in 2002.
Most of the agents implicated in the scheme were detailed to the Arizona-Mexico border, beginning in 1999, as part of a campaign to crack down on illegal immigration. The whistle-blowers, Davenport and Forester, alleged that David Aguilar, now the head of the Border Patrol in Washington, knew of the scheme but did nothing to stop it. They complained to the Justice Department in February 2001. At the time, Aguilar was the chief patrol agent in Tucson, which includes the Douglas station and covers a 260-mile stretch along the U.S.-Mexico border. Through a spokesman, Aguilar strongly denied the whistle-blowers' allegations.
Arab nations are making good progress in fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, with significant strides in controlling charities, the head of a regional watchdog said yesterday. The comments by Muhammad Baasiri, president of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA FATF) come after the United States has criticized slow progress on the issue in the Arab world. "Countries in the area have honestly taken significant strides in reshaping the charity organizations in their countries. A lot of controls have been imposed on charities and on charities getting money from abroad or transferring money," Baasiri told Reuters in an interview.
Baasiri's task force sets standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing for 14 Arab nations. US Treasury Department official Daniel Glaser said in April there was "still a lot of work to be done" by Arabs to tackle the problem. Washington has pressed Arab states to clamp down on sources of militant financing since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The MENA FATF issues standards based on the recommendations of the global body, Paris-based Financial Action Task Force. The standards also deal with the specific nature of the problems in the Arab world, such as funding through the informal hawala system of money transfers, charities and through smuggling of cash, Baasiri said. The countries have also been "cooperating beautifully" with the United Nations and other international organizations by taking steps such as freezing of bank accounts of suspected terrorists, he said. The MENA FATF's 14 members are Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Baasiri said Sudan, Mauritania, Djibouti, Libya, the Palestinian Territories and Iraq may also be absorbed as members of MENA FATF before end-2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
MENA FATF, based in Paris and run by Muhammad Baasiri. Okaaaay, I feel better now, my confidence restored, my fears allayed. Whew! Close one! No more unsupervised monkey business, no siree.
Muslim cleric Abu Jibril says a bomb blast outside his house on Jakarta's southern outskirts might have been masterminded by the US in an effort intimidate him into stopping his campaign for an Islamic state. The bomb exploded at about 4.30am Wednesday (8/6/05) outside the rented house occupied by Jibril, his pregnant wife and seven of their 11 children at the Witana Harja residential complex in Pamulang, Banten province.
The blast left only a 6-centimeter deep hole in the front yard of the house and caused no injuries, but it could be heard over a radius of several hundred meters, causing many locals to panic. Police found a timer, battery, wires, plastic and low-grade explosives at the scene.
Jibril was at the nearby Al-Munawwarah Mosque, performing pre-dawn prayers, at the time of the blast. He was taken to South Jakarta Police headquarters at 11.45am, questioned as a witness from 2pm to 6pm, and then released. Upon arrival at police headquarters, he told reporters the bombing was certainly "engineered", but he initially declined to speculate on the identity of those behind the attack. "This was engineered because I was praying at the mosque when the bomb exploded at my house," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ABU BAKAR BAASYIR
Indonesian Mujahidin Council
ABU BAKAR BAASYIR
Jemaah Islamiyah
ABU JIBRIL
Jemaah Islamiyah
ABU JIBRIL
Kumpulan Militan Malaysia
AFIF ABDUL MADJID
Indonesian Mujahidin Council
Amnesty International
AZAHARI HUSIN
Jemaah Islamiyah
community-level leader Trisno Dahlan
FAUZAN ANSORI
Indonesian Mujahidin Council
FIHIRUDIN MOQTIE BIN ABDUL RAHMAN
Kumpulan Militan Malaysia
HAMBALI
Jemaah Islamiyah
his lawyer Achmad Michdan
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Permadi
IRFAN S. AWWAS
Indonesian Mujahidin Council
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso
Jibril's former lawyer Munarman
Legislator Akil Mochtar
MUHAMAD IQBAL ABDUL RAHMAN
Jemaah Islamiyah
MUHAMAD IQBAL BIN ARRAHMAN
Jemaah Islamiyah
National Police General Dai Bachtiar
National Police spokesman Aryanto Budiharjo
NURDIN MOHAMAD TOP
Jemaah Islamiyah
One of the cleric's lawyers, Akhmad Cholid
Police chief Inspector General Firman Gani
police spokesman Tjiptono
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
RIDUAN ISAMUDIN
Jemaah Islamiyah
Schapelle Corby
TPM coordinator Mahendradatta
Indonesian Mujahidin Council
Kumpulan Militan Malaysia
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 16:18 ||
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#1
IFF the US had done it he would be dead.
He is alive
ThereFORE::
somebody else like some publicity hound dirt bag must have done it to himself..
Muslim guerrillas said on Thursday they were helping government troops capture two Indonesians blamed for the deadly 2002 Bali bombings and confirmed that the terror suspects were hiding near their southern strongholds with eight other militants.
The two suspected bombers - Pitono, also known as Dulmatin, and Umar Patek - have been sighted in a mountainous region bordering the southern provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, often with al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf extremists, Moro Islamic Liberation Front spokesman Eid Kabalu said.
Kabalu spoke a day after deputy national security adviser Virtus Gil announced that the pair from the Jamaah Islamiyah terror network, which originated from Indonesia, were plotting fresh attacks and undergoing terror training in the southern Philippines.
Gil said the suspects have met with Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, and one of them, Dulmatin, was last seen near Maguindanao a few days ago.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 16:12 ||
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Indonesian police say there has been an increase in communication among militants wanted for a string of deadly attacks, including the Bali bombings, indicating that they are planning fresh strikes.
"We can say to the public that there has been an increase in the intensity of their communication. Intelligence agencies are working hard to monitor them," national police chief General Da'i Bachtiar said.
General Bachtiar says the militants are believed to be in Indonesia but had contact with others overseas.
"It's hard to arrest them because the country is so large and there are always people who help them in hiding," the police chief said.
He says heightened security at embassies and other places will be maintained until the threat subsided.
In another development, police say they hope to find the names of people involved in attacks in Indonesia on a laptop computer seized from a Islamic cleric whose house was attacked by a bomb on Wednesday.
General Bachtiar's spokesman Zainuri Lubis says police are questioning the cleric Muhammad Iqbal - who is accused by the United States of being second in command of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant group.
Iqbal was jailed last year for six months over immigration offences after being deported from Malaysia where he had been held for two years under the country's harsh Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial.
Malaysian authorities accused him of having links to Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia, a militant group which like the Al Qaeda-linked JI seeks to set up an Islamic state.
The United States and Australia warned last week that militants are planning bomb attacks against hotels in Indonesia frequented by foreigners, urging their citizens to defer all non-essential travel to the country.
The warnings said Indonesian police have identified embassies, international schools, office buildings and shopping malls as other potential targets.
Two Malaysian fugitives, Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top, wanted in connection with all three incidents are believed to be still at large in Indonesian and plotting further attacks.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 16:04 ||
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Posted by: john ||
06/09/2005 19:08 ||
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#1
This is mere speculation at this point. Read the last paragraph:
"IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky declined to comment on what the preliminary results of the samples had revealed, saying only that 'testing and analysis is under way.' He said that final results would not be available by the time the agencyâs 35-nation board meets on Monday on Iran and other issues. The diplomat with accreditation to the agency, who has a record of accuracy on issues before the IAEA, said that if final results confirm the preliminary ones, 'they will partially support the Iranians' - and hurt the Americans in their drive to prove Iranâs nuclear program is meant to make weapons."
Posted by: Tom ||
06/09/2005 20:28 Comments ||
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The Bush administration has credible information that Syria has developed a "hit list" targeting senior Lebanese political figures in an attempt to regain control of its neighboring state, just six weeks after Syria said it had ended almost three decades of military occupation.
"These are threats against some of the most prominent Lebanese political leaders. The purpose would be to create instability and to create internal strife," said a senior administration official, who requested anonymity because of ongoing sensitive diplomatic efforts. After a brief lull in Syrian interference in Lebanon, senior Syrian intelligence personnel have been seen back in Lebanon, particularly over the past week, the official added.
Concerned about the possibility of ongoing Syrian presence in Lebanon, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said today that he may send a U.N. verification team back to Lebanon. In the meantime, U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen is being dispatched to Damascus for talks with the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Syria's return to Lebanon would be a major violation of U.N. resolution 1559, co-sponsored by the United States and France, which demanded a total Syrian withdrawal with its tiny neighbor. U.S. and U.N. officials estimated that Damascus had some 14,000 troops and 5,000 intelligence officials. Damascus claimed the last troops pulled out on April 28.
"We are now receiving reports that there may be elements that are still there and we are considering the possible return of the verification team to ascertain what's going on," Annan told reporters. The U.N. team's first mission last month was "unable to conclude with certainty" that all Syria soldiers and agents had withdrawn completely.
The Bush administration is particularly concerned of the potential impact because Lebanon is now half-way through a four-phased election for parliament, which will in turn form a new government. Syria has dominated Beirut's governments since soon after it first deployed troops in 1976 to try to quell Lebanon's civil war.
Syrian intelligence is making use of Palestinian refugee camps. "We have seen an increase in the contacts between Syrians and some of the Palestinian terrorist groups and an increasing presence in some of the camps, including an creasing flow of Syrian people and arms," the senior administration official said.
"They have figured out that one of the places they might be able to hide might be in those camps," which are not controlled by the Lebanese Army.
The U.S. allegation, based largely on information provided by "credible" Lebanese sources, follows the assassination of two leading opponents of Syria's intervention. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 19 aides and security guards were killed by a massive bombing of his motorcade on Feb. 14. And prominent journalist Samir Kassir, who wrote often about Syrian intervention in Iraq, was killed in a sophisticated car bombing on June 2.
The U.S. allegations, ironically, come on the same day that Syria's ruling Baath Party called for improving diplomatic relations with the United States.
The final communique of the party congress called for a "constructive dialogue" with Washington and "an exchange of visits on all levels," according to Syria's state-run television.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 16:41 ||
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#1
Time for us to publish our hit list:
#1. Assad, Baby
.
.
.
2. The rest of the Baathists (in no particular order).
3. Foreign fighters caught in Lebanon (including any Syrians).
4. Hezbollah.
We could give them some sniper training. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/09/2005 16:56 Comments ||
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#3
Concerned about the possibility of ongoing Syrian presence in Lebanon, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said today that he may send a U.N. verification team back to Lebanon.
And I am sure the Lebanese feel soooooo much safer now.
#4
We should publish the hit list so that the second one of them dies of dehydration in the middle of the desert (a la one late Saudi Prince) we can declare shenanigans on Syria.
Posted by: Tibor ||
06/09/2005 18:26 Comments ||
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Monday, June 06, 2005
My friend just came from Iran
I bumped into an old friend yesterday. Well, I won't call him a close friend because he leads such a lousy lifestyle. Anyway, he informed me that he just came back from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"What the hell were you doing there man, you turned into a Shia?" I asked laughingly.
"No, I went there on a business trip. We had a meeting with a number of Iranian businessmen who are going to import our products. My American colleague John (not his real name) came with me. Man, I was scared to death before going there. I mean here I am an Egyptian guy accompanied by an American on a trip to Iran. You sure know that relations between Egypt and Iran are not so good, not to mention the US!! I was also afraid lest I break some religious rule and regret it! Or we get arrested because of John" he said.
"So, tell me about it" I asked.
"Well, I stayed there for 5 days. I got drunk in the first 3! Man, there ain't a house or an office I entered that didn't have a mini bar in it full of smuggled booze from Smirnoff vodka to Heineken beer! I was shocked. Everyone drinks there. Their private life is the complete opposite of what you see on the street. We went up a mountain with a group of Iranians and had all the fun there. When they knew that John was American, they were like flies around him. They took his email, phone number, and stuff" he said.
Axis of evil? What axis of evil? Get on your knees and pray that something happens in Iran guys.
// posted by BP @ 12:25 PM Comments (13) | Trackback (0)
Sunday, June 05, 2005
I didn't want to write what you are going to read right now
I admit I thought countless times before writing today's post. I signed in to Blogger twice only to sign off again. My hesitation was a result of me not wanting to "hang our very dirty clothes" in front of this blog readers. After much thought, I decided to post just to inform you of the humiliation many of us feel and what this "humiliation factor" can lead to.
Upon Laura Bush's recent trip to Egypt, it was planned that she, along with her host Mrs. Mubarak, would visit a USAID funded school in Alexandria. One week before the scheduled visit, the tattered school was painted anew, tidied up, and the sewage system was fixed. The dirty roads around the school were cleaned up and trees were miraculously planted all around the area. A sign in English was written to welcome the 2 first ladies.
Nevertheless, the Alexandria education officials didn't like how the Om el Qura school kids looked like! The girls were poor and wore dirty school uniforms. Instead of cleaning them out and distributing clean clothes that would have definitely drew a huge smile on their faces, the officials decided to replaced the kids with new kids brought from a language school! Not only that, they gave the entire school staff a one week leave! Can you imagine how humiliated the school kids and the teachers are feeling right now!
I believe that Mrs. Mubarak was not aware that she would take her guest to a fake school. I mean, the education officials would have done the same thing if it was only Mrs. Mubarak visiting the school. However, what happened highlights a very important issue which is the humiliation that our governments and leaders made so many of us feel.
Those who are poor and not well connected cannot escape humiliation in public hospitals, police stations, and the military establishment. When I went to check my military status at an army base, I saw firsthand how Egypt's poor youth were being treated so harshly and without any atom of dignity by the army's officials. I was spared from this treatment just because my former army general father was with me. This humiliation is one of the factors that make some so vulnerable to what a terrorist might preach to them. May be poverty and unemployment might not go away, but I don't think it is that hard to teach government officials and employees that fellow citizens deserve to be treated humanely no matter how poor they are or how unclean and untidy their clothes might look.
Besides, I just don't understand how a school that is funded by USAID can be so tattered and in such a bad shape. Does it really receive the funds or do they go into some pockets? And how come the US embassy here doesn't check upon how Americans' tax money is being spent? I have no clue!
Now, Mrs. Bush can do something that would turn the world upside down here. This might cause a huge diplomatic problem between the two countries but it will definitely help the US with some PR here. Mrs. Bush can say that she is not pleased with what happened and she demands that those who lied to her and Mrs. Mubarak be held accountable. She will then invite a delegation of 10 persons from the school, 5 teachers and 5 students, to go and visit the US in the summer. That would be something.
#1
"And how come the US embassy here doesnât check upon how Americansâ tax money is being spent?"
And there you have it, your State Dept in repose. Of course they prolly do "check up" on things now and then - they send the office boy Abdul around. He reports back what they want to hear and they treat themselves to another round... of young local "delights". Abdul was once a favorite, too, but he grew out of it and they kept him on for sentimental reasons.
Wherever posted, they quickly adapt and become privileged barons, caesars, caliphs, crowned heads, czars, emperors, gerents, imperators, kaisers, khans, magnates, maharajahs, majesties, mikados, moguls, monarchs, overlords, pashas, potentates, princes, rajahs, shahs, sovereigns, sultans, tycoons - whatever the local flavor allows. The Foreign Service is very very addictive to the indolent arrogant.
#3
TGA's mentioning The Diplomad yesterday reminded me how much I (we) miss that blog and their insider view. Sigh. Mine's a poor imitation, I'm afraid. He / they were so much more elegant, skewering with a light touch, lol! The Vulture Elite, wasn't it?
Syria said on Tuesday it sought better ties with the United States, but would not compromise its principles. "We always wish for and seek good relations with the United States," Expatriates Minister Buthaina Shaaban told a news conference at the ruling Baath Party congress which is due to focus on reform. Shaaban said Syria was pressing ahead with reform based on the country's needs "that are not related to what others try to threaten (Syria) with".
The congress is expected to approve democratic reforms that Shaaban said might include improving press freedoms and allowing some political pluralism. Ties between Syria and the United States hit their worst level after the US-led war in Iraq which Damascus opposed. Last year, Washington imposed unilateral economic sanctions against Damascus for failing to prevent insurgents from crossing into Iraq, backing anti-Israel militants and maintaining a military presence in Lebanon for almost three decades.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
A couple words about "Hot Pursuit" and for no reason we hear "better ties"?
#4
I thought they just cut diplomatic ties with us? When they figure out what they want maybe they can let us know. I give up, the whole thing is very muslim.
Iran will agree to renew dialogue with arch-foe Washington if it releases Iranian assets frozen since the Islamic revolution, presidential frontrunner Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was quoted as saying on Wednesday. "As I have said before, a goodwill gesture on the part of the United States would be for them to unblock our assets," the top Shiite cleric said in an interview with the hardline Jomhuri Islami newspaper. "If such a gesture was made, we could enter into negotiations. This has been my position and I still think the same way," the 70-year-old Rafsanjani said.
Iran and the United States cut off relations in 1980, a year after the revolution, and Iranian assets in the US were frozen. Rafsanjani has previously said the figure is at least eight billion dollars plus interest.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
[there are many ways to comunicate]
Ayatollah Asshati [humming to himself in Iran]
Oh it's a wonderful day in the neighborhood..neighborhood...
..it's a wonderful day in the neighborhood..neighborhood...would you be my neighbor?
[high up above the ink black sky, a voice]
Roger that neighbor
The Rods from God
Among the weapons the Air Force might deploy are space-based lasers, a space plane capable of delivering a half-ton payload anywhere in the world in 45 minutes, and the "rods from god." The rods are currently just a concept--and have been since the early 1980s--but, if the myriad technical and political hurdles to deployment could be overcome, the system could represent a tremendous leap forward in the military's ability to destroy underground, hardened facilities of the type that have allowed Iran and other rogue states to violate the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty with impunity.
HOW DO THE RODS WORK? The system would likely be comprised of tandem satellites, one serving as a communications platform, the other carrying an indeterminate number of tungsten rods, each up to 20 feet in length and 1 foot in diameter. These rods, which could be dropped on a
target with as little as 15 minutes notice, would enter the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 36,000 feet per second--about as fast as a meteor. Upon impact, the rod would be capable of producing all the effects of an earth-penetrating nuclear weapon, without any of the radioactive fallout. This type of weapon relies on kinetic energy, rather than high-explosives, to generate destructive force (as do smart spears, another weapon system which would rely on tungsten rods, though not space-based).
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/09/2005 0:35 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah, but big difference between "...might deploy" and "is/already deployed", espec if one looks up at the skies o'er WESTPAC. As for the SPACE PLANE, the one described is for civilians and PC - the REAL SPACE PLANE is the one that will take astronauts and space ve-hiickles to the Moon and back.[HINT: t'aint DELTA-WINGS of UFO notoriety].
#3
no reel wun hiderin in em nyoo zeelan. strikly yoos fro tranzpoten teh lizard peples to teh mars base tho. litter do em iluminati kno tho the erth polar shift gonna afec teh hole solar system therby destryoin plutos entire ecosystem.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/09/2005 2:39 Comments ||
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#7
I'm still waiting for a "good-will" gesture from the mullahs. How about an apology, restitution, etc. for the embassy take-over? Never forgive, never forget!
#12
"As I have said before, a goodwill gesture on the part of the United States would be for them to unblock our assets," the top Shiite cleric said in an interview with the hardline Jomhuri Islami newspaper.
#14
Red Dog-
I recently read a tech article pooh poohing the god rods. It claimed that projectiles moving faster than 3000 fps do no more burrowing than those moving slower, the end of the rod just "boils off" faster. Further, it said that accurately guiding the suckers would not be a piece of cake and the cost of getting them into orbit would be astronomical (heh, heh). The conclusion was that a rocket from more conventional launch pad would be much cheaper and as effective. FWIW.
An opinion poll based on 4,738 interviews in 12 cities by the Iranian Students Polling Agency on May 31 and June 1 showed support for Rafsanjani was 27.8 percent, down from 34.8 percent in a poll in the capital by the same agency published last week. Rafsanjani's closest challenger remained Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guards commander and police chief, with 14.0 percent. Outspoken reformist Mostafa Moin, a former higher education minister, came third with 10.2 percent.
The combined support of the four hardliners Qalibaf, former state broadcasting chief Ali Larijani, former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezaie, is just shy of Rafsanjani's backing, the poll showed. Newspapers speculated that Ahmadinejad and Rezaie were the most likely to drop out of the race. Kayhan quoted Larijani as saying there would be good news soon on a consensus candidate. Political analysts say the June 17 election is unlikely to be conclusive. To win outright a candidate must secure at least 50 percent of votes cast. Otherwise the top two candidates must face off in a second round held a week later.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2005 00:00 ||
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IRAQ has finally agreed to accept three shiploads of Australian wheat stranded in the Persian Gulf after claiming the grain was contaminated, Trade Minister Mark Vaile said today.
Mr Vaile said there had been a series of tests on the wheat and that the latest had gone to new Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, who announced last night that the council of ministers had unanimously agreed it was fit for human consumption.
He said the Iraqi government had given the go-ahead for the wheat to be unloaded at the port of Um Qasr without delay.
"It's all clear. Hopefully tomorrow they should be able to start unloading," Mr Vaile said.
"It's been a dispute that has gone on for the last couple of months."
Australia's wheat exporter AWB admitted it was baffled by Iraq's claim that the more than 120,000 tonnes of Australian wheat was contaminated with iron filings.
The wheat had already been paid for but the three bulk carriers have been sitting in the Gulf off Iraq's port of Um Qasr for well over a month.
The delay in offloading prompted an extensive lobbying effort by Mr Vaile and Defence Minister Robert Hill, who called on senior Iraqi ministers during recent visits.
Mr Vaile said he had talked with Prime Minister Jaafari and other senior ministers as late as last weekend.
He said neither he nor AWB believed there was any contamination.
"The shipments were tested before they left Australia. They have been tested a number of times while parked off Um Qasr," he said.
"It goes through some fairly antiquated milling systems in machine and maybe some flour has come out the other end of that process that there has been some concern.
"But certainly we have refuted all the allegations in terms of the shipments."
Mr Vaile said the top priority now was to get the ships unloaded then develop protocols to ensure this doesn't happen again.
"I certainly intend further direct contact with trade minister (Abdul) Basit just to try and establish some guidelines for acceptability of these shipments," he said.
"If they want to have them tested on route or over there, that's fine. But when they arrive we expect them to be unloaded."
Mr Vaile said there could still be a dispute between AWB and the Iraqi Grains Board over the costs of three bulk carriers sitting idle for a protracted period.
"The Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front form part of terrorist organisations of political and religious conviction and of various ethnic origins, who are active in the vast Sahel and Saharan deserts," wrote the Moroccan French daily newspaper L' Opinion on Wednesday.
Commenting on the attack perpetrated last Saturday against a Mauritanian military unit in Lemghit, less than 100 km from the official borders between Mauritania and Algeria, the daily said that this aggression "is new and hard evidence of the flourishing and development of the phenomenon of terrorism in the area".
According to the daily, terrorist organisations, to which Polisario and GSPC belong, "do not find any difficulty in setting up bases for themselves; they move and act freely in these vast deserts. The displacement of the nomadic populations in these areas was never controlled, and here illicit trade, the traffic of drugs and weapons constitute a dominating source of income".
"The uncontrolled desert spaces, in which Algeria installed Polisario in Tindouf, where it still detains Moroccan civil and military prisoners, are predisposed to accommodate such groups. These groups are manipulated sometimes by ideologies or policies which opt for expansionism, or separatism or ethnic division, sometimes by the extremism and the instrumentalisation of religion," underlined the daily.
It added that "the objective of these groups, or, actually that of those who shelter them, finance their activities and maintain them is clear: to destabilise, by means of terrorism, the national security of the Sahel-Saharan countries of the area; to set up a base for international terrorism in favour of Al-Qaïda".
The daily concluded that "the attack carried out against the Mauritanian military unit, and the way in which the hostages were executed by the GSPC, revealed the extent of the suffering that Polisario has been inflicting on Moroccan prisoners that still detained in the Tindouf camps, southwest Algeria".
For the Moroccan Arabic daily newspaper "Al Ahdath Al Maghribia, Polisario agents are involved in operations of sale of weapons to terrorists in the south of Algeria. It stressed that terrorist groups have transformed the area into a refuge, benefiting from the rough ground and ease in smuggling weapons because of the strong presence of trafficking networks.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 16:26 ||
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A Saudi citizen pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges of attempting to carry out a suicide attack in December 2004 on oil tankers at the Karameh border post. Fahd Noman al-Fahiqi, 24, maintained his innocence before Jordan's State Security Court on three counts of conspiracy to carry out an attack and possession and transport of explosives for use in an illicit operation, according to statements from the prosecution.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordnian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq, and Dirar Ismael Mahmud Abu Audeh, also known as Abu Abdel Rahman al-Afghani, are being tried in absentia on the same charges. Fahiqi allegedly crossed the Iraqi border in a car laden with explosives and headed toward several oil tankers but was unable to accomplish his mission due to "technical problems." Authorities arrested Fahiqi shortly afterward when they discovered explosives in his car, read the charge report.
Fahiqi studied at Imam University in Saudi Arabia where he became acquainted with several people who had embraced takfiri thoughts, a policy of killing anybody considered an infidel. The prosecution claims Fahiqi and others infiltrated Iraq from the Saudi border where they met up with Zarqawi in August 2004. Zarqawi encouraged them to join mujahedin groups. The defendant became a suicide bomber after receiving weapons training in Iraq and instruction on the benefits of martyrdom, read the report.
The targeted oil tankers and trucks transported goods from the Karameh border into Iraq. The prosecution maintains Zarqawi instructed the men to launch suicide attacks using cars laden with explosives. Presiding Judge Fawaz Bqour adjourned the trial until next Monday to hear the case for the prosecution.
This article starring:
ABU ABDEL RAHMAN AL AFGHANI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
DIRAR ISMAEL MAHMUD ABU AUDEH
al-Qaeda in Iraq
FAHD NOMAN AL FAHIQI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Judge Fawaz Bqour
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 16:07 ||
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Hundreds of soldiers have deserted the Afghan National Army complaining of poor conditions and fierce resistance from the Taleban, US officials say.
It is a blow to the Afghan government which wants to increase the size of the force so the numbers of international troops in the country can be reduced.
The corps affected is the first to be deployed in the field.
Officials say another reason for men going absent is the difficulty they experience in dealing with their pay.
The 205th Corps of the Afghan National Army is based around the city of Kandahar.
The south of Afghanistan has seen some of the fiercest fighting against remnants of the Taleban and their al-Qaeda allies.
Members of the corps are in combat most days.
A US military spokesman told the BBC that around 300 men have deserted.
That is one in 12 of the entire force.
Soldiers are paid around $75 a month - a good wage in Afghanistan - but the absence of a banking system prevents them from sending money to their families.
The news comes as American troops take more casualties.
On Wednesday two US soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in a rocket attack near the border with Pakistan.
The Afghan government's long term plan is for the numbers of international troops in the country to be reduced and for Afghanistan's own army to shoulder more of the burden of the fighting.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 15:52 ||
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#1
With an integrated Afghan Army and therefore the shame before one's clan removed, the social penalty for taking a powder is much lower. Same o', same o' with the Soviet version of the 'modern' Afghan Army. As much as our advisors would like to push an all Afghan Army concept they are ignoring behavior patterns of a society not ready for the impersonal industrial age. Like our militia units of the ACW [and as carried to a certain extent of our own NG units], the individual identity of the soldier with his village/clan/peers is still more important than the 'national'.
#2
Nevertheless that must change over time if the country is to succeed. And the armed forces are the best place to start it, as the shared discipline, effort and achievement build both pride and common bonds across tribal boundaries.
Not easy but absolutely necessary. The pay issue is equally pressing, I suspect.
Posted by: too true ||
06/09/2005 21:08 Comments ||
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Interesting perspective on Egyptian terrorism from the director of the al-Ahram Center for Political Studies.
Relations between Egypt's two main militant Islamist organisations, Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and Jihad, have been clear since at least 1984. Never better than lukewarm, they became bellicose following Al-Gamaa's suspension of all violent activity in 1997. In contrast, Al-Gamaa's relations with Al-Qaeda remain speculative. Understanding relations between the two necessitates an examination of the nature of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and its intellectual and organisational orientation.
Established in the late 1970s, Al-Gamaa evolved as a local jihadist organisation operating solely within Egypt. The violent attacks between 1981-1997 focussed solely on the Egyptian regime, and the organisation refrained from targeting regimes, organisations or individuals outside Egypt. Al-Gamaa's literature never indicated it had any regional, let alone international, aspirations.
Al-Qaeda has redirected its terrorist activities to new regions, above all, Southeast Asia, Northeast Africa, Latin America and Central Asia, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a session of the Russia-NATO Council. Tensions in regional conflict zones may lead to further escalation of terrorism, he said.
"One of the hardest international problems, is undoubtedly, connected with the tensions in regional conflict zones which pose the threat of Islamic radicalism and terrorism escalation," Ivanov said.
According to him, Russia gives a positive assessment of the implementation of the anti-terrorism plan of actions of the Russia-NATO Council. Recent developments have confirmed that joint efforts of all the Council's structures are needed for proactive fight against terrorism, he added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/09/2005 15:15 ||
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BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 9 (UPI) -- Egypt's opposition Kifaya group has threatened to take prominent members of the ruling party to the international criminal court, it was reported Thursday. Lebanon's al-Mustaqbal daily quoted Kifaya (Enough) spokesman and journalist Abdul Halim Qandeel as saying he would seek an international trial of prominent members of the Egyptian National Democratic Party if the local judicial authorities did not take serious measures against them for assaulting demonstrators last month.
Yeah, that'll scare em.
Qandeel told the paper he testified Wednesday to the general prosecution on how he and dozens of other protesters were physically assaulted during last month's referendum to amend the constitution.
He said he presented "damning evidence" against three prominent members of the ruling party and plain-cloths security officers for "mobilizing hundreds of outlaws and policemen to beat up the demonstrators and tear off the clothes of the women protesters."
Posted by: Steve ||
06/09/2005 12:30 ||
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#1
He's been watching too many American police shows. He's managed to confuse himself into thinking those rights hold true in Egypt, too --
it's amazing to me how certain ideas nestle so nicely into brains all around the world.
I'm uncertain as to why all of the talking heads are so surprised about this - we've documented the Lashkar-e-Taiba training al-Qaeda recruits for at least several years now.
An FBI investigation into a suspected Islamic jihad group in California has produced sensitive new evidence that Al Qaeda may have reconstituted a major terrorist training camp inside Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks—a subject that the U.S. government has been reluctant to publicly talk about.
The assertion that Al Qaeda—which President Bush recently claimed is "on the run"—was still capable of operating a significant training facility inside Pakistan is contained in an FBI affidavit released Tuesday night in connection with the arrests of Hamid Hayat, 24, a U.S. citizen, and his father, Umer Hayat, 47, an ice-cream truck driver, in Lodi, Calif., south of Sacramento. The two men are accused of lying to the FBI about a two-year sojourn that Hamid Hayat made to Pakistan between April 2003 and this year.
#2
Problem is location of the camp. It is in Rawalpindi, headquarters of the Pakistan military.
Bombing it is a political no no. This would cause problems with Pakistan, an ally in the war on terror TM.
These camps are financed and run by the ISI.
When, during the Clinton years, the US fired cruise missiles at an Al Qaeda camp in a bid to kill UBL, they instead killed lots of Pak Army officers, deputed to ISI and engaged in terrorist training.
This sort of Pak duplicity was excused in the past because the main target was India. Post 9/11 things have changed.
Most people don't remember the 1999 Indian Airlines hijacking. A group of five hijackers took over a plane using knives to threaten the crew, slitting a passenger's throat. The hijackers were schooled in avionics. At least one had trained in a simulator. At one point they attempted to take off from Kandhahar, seeking to crash the plane onto an Indian city.
The hijackers are loose in Pakistan. Their method, having been proved sucessful was reused, on 9/11.
Posted by: john ||
06/09/2005 18:33 Comments ||
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June 9, 2005: Lots of folks in sub-Saharan Africa snicker when they hear France's president Jacques Chirac complain of US "unilateralism" and American imperial aims. France still maintains an empire and if you don't think so, check out the way the Ivory Coast, Chad, and the Central African Republic (CAR) work -- or don't work.
And then there's Djibouti, an independent (at least nominally) nation located on the Horn of Africa. At one time know as the French colony of "Afars and the Issas", the place has something State Department real estate agents understand-- strategic location, strategic location, strategic location. It's near the mouth of the Red Sea-- and for the region it has excellent logistics capabilities. Djibouti got its independence from France in 1977, but the way France "de-colonialized" was something of a fiction. France and Djibouti maintain very "close ties."
Since 2002, Djibouti has served as a base for U.S. military and intelligence operations against terrorist groups in east Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Djibouti had a "minor" civil war that lasted from the early-1990s until 2001. Afar ethnics --chafing under an Issa dominated government-- occasionally blew up things and ambushed convoys. That fracas seems to be settled, though settled in the way France likes to settle things. President Ismail Omar Guelleh was recently reelected president. In April 2005 Guelleh won 100 percent of the votes in the presidential election. He was unopposed.
Several analysts have suggested continued American use of Djibouti facilities is an example of France "hedging its bets." Jacques Chirac has repeatedly played the anti-American card in French domestic politics, at the UN, and throughout the European Union. But it's argued that encouraging Djibouti to provide a base in east Africa to bash Al Qaeda scores some covert brownie points from Washington. After the French "No" to the EU constitution, Chirac can use all the brownie points he can scrape together.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/09/2005 10:27 ||
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#1
BS. Pure stallion-like unadultered military power and supremecy by the USA versus the little bitty impotent pony that Chirac rides got us into Djibouti just like it did in Pakistan, Uzbekistan and other places. Also having some local bad boyz with AQ ties who want to kill your president and take over your country don't hurt either.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/09/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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#2
When France ostensibly gave up colonialism, they made an offer to their colonies. Join a "French Community" and enter into economic arrangements with France, use of the franc, stability in the form of French troops stationed in-country to protect the government, technicians to maintain the infrastructure, and a host of other lucrative deals.
Guinea was the only one to refuse. The French gave them their independence. Literally. All ties were cut. France took everything, anything related to colonialism. Right down to the phone lines.
June 9, 2005: Western Intelligence services have long asserted that Al-Qaeda has an ambitious maritime capabilities program. Reportedly, operatives have received swimming and scuba training for demolitions and suicide attacks. Al Qaeda is also reported to own or control an estimated two dozen merchant ships world-wide, and is generally believed to make heavy use of dhows and other small vessels to move personnel, resources, and equipment around in Middle Eastern waters. In addition, it is believed that al Qaeda has trained personnel in small boat operations, for both individual attacks, such as the one that crippled the USS Cole, and in swarm (many, even a dozen or more, boats) attacks, with rumors that they have even conducted training in the United States.
So why haven't we seen much evidence of al Qaeda activity at sea? Certainly there are more than enough targets. Large numbers of American, NATO, and coalition warships are active in Middle Eastern waters, supporting operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and all across the Arabian Sea and adjacent areas, waters also frequented by large numbers of tankers and other commercial vessels. Nevertheless, since large scale operations began in the region in late-2001, in Afghanistan, there appears to have been only one attack on a commercial vessel, against a French tanker off Yemen over two years ago. And four years of intensive MIO (Maritime Intercept Operations) in the region has managed to intercept only a handful of suspect vessels and personnel, with little evidence of any ties to al Qaeda. It is, of course, possible that the high density of the coalition maritime presence has had a serious deterrent effect on al Qaeda's maritime operations. But al Qaeda has shown itself to be rather immune to deterrence in other situations. Given the movement's track record, one could reasonably expect that they would deliberately set up a situation in which a MIO turned into a disaster, when the intercepted vessel blew itself and the boarding party up. But this has never happened, despite thousands of opportunities.
Have al Qaeda's maritime resources have been seriously over-estimated, or have Coalition maritime security measures seriously impeded their employment, or are they holding back for some future operations? It's unclear, but at the moment, al Qaeda's naval threat is more theoretical than real.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/09/2005 10:24 ||
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#3
I'm with pappy, the worldwide war on al-qaeda has stressed their resources. They havent done anything major outside of Iraq in some time. The doomed Iraq mission is draining their savings account and dessimating their volunteer ranks. They can't afford to take their attention or resources away from the Iraq theatre. The funny part is that the dumb bastards travel from all over the planet, spending their own money, and making a very perilous journey, only to be killed by U.S. Marines once they get there. Al-qaeda has gone from a slippery, hard to engage organization
to one that comes to us for their reward. While they most assuredly would like to plot attacks in America, the bulk of the jihadis seem stupid enough to go to iraq and afghanistan and cash in their chips.
#4
I would guess that a lot of Dhow and Merchant ship owners were all gung ho and making promises of support on Sept 11 and now after the collapse of the Taliban and Iraq they aren't returning Al Queda's phone calls.
I few other merchant ships were probably duped and taken by Chinese pirates and are now repainted and sailing under a different name.
A Kenyan judge has thrown out charges against four men accused of murder in the case of the 2002 suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa. High court justice John Osiemo said prosecutors had failed to prove that the men were connected to the attack. Correspondents say the trial was one of Kenya's first attempts to prosecute alleged terrorists. Fifteen people, including three Israeli tourists, died in the attack on the Paradise Hotel.
The four suspects - Aboud Rogo Mohammed, Mohammed Kubwa, Omar Said Omar and Mohammed Ali Saleh Nabhan - are all Kenyans. Three other men are being tried concurrently for conspiracy to bomb the hotel. A judgement in the case is expected later this month. The four acquitted defendants left the courtroom to cries of "God is great".
Accused Mohammed Nabhan welcomed the verdict. "It's fair, I'm quite happy I'm back with my family, justice has been done," he told the Associated Press news agency. The prosecution had argued that the four men had links to known terrorists. It was claimed in court that some of them had family ties to al-Qaeda operatives. But the judge said the prosecution's evidence did not connect the accused to the bombing. Under Kenyan law, judges are allowed to acquit defendants if they find the prosecution case too weak to answer. "Since ... the suicide bombers ... perished during the attack, there is no evidence whatsoever to connect the accused to the murder of the deceased persons," Judge Osiemo said, quoted by AFP news agency. "The prosecution has not established a prima facie case against the accused persons as required in criminal law to require the court to put them on their defence."
Lawyers for the defendants said they planned to sue the government over their lengthy custody. The authorities have come under fire from human rights groups for delaying the proceedings and torturing suspects during the initial investigation. The government denies the allegations of torture.
Most of the Kenyans who died in the bombing were members of a local dance group who were welcoming hotel guests. A simultaneous rocket attack on an Israeli airliner that took off from Mombasa airport failed. A group linked to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which dealt a severe blow to Kenya's once-thriving tourism industry.
This article starring:
ABUD ROGO MOHAMED
al-Qaeda
High court justice John Osiemo
MOHAMED ALI SALEH NABHAN
al-Qaeda
MOHAMED KUBWA
al-Qaeda
OMAR SAID OMAR
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Steve ||
06/09/2005 08:15 ||
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#1
This is exactly why the war on terror has become "a long hard slog". These assholes all say the exact same thing, "I'm completely innocent", "oh, by the way, Death to America!" When are we as a people going to get red of these guys?
NATO defence ministers meeting Thursday plan to come to the aid of the African Union's peacekeeping operation in Darfur with an offer to ferry 5,000 additional African troops to the region of western Sudan. The ministers, however, will likely stress that the African Union remains in charge of the peacekeeping operation.
The Darfur mission would be NATO's first in Africa. The African Union - a 53-member organization that African countries use to address problems on that continent - asked NATO in April to help bring more of African troops into the remote region. The African Union currently has 2,700 or so peacekeepers in Darfur, site of one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes. It wants to deploy another 5,000 - ideally before next month's start of the rainy season - but needs aircraft to send them into the region, which is the size of France. At least some of those additional troops will be flown in by a separate European Union mission, with EU ministers are expected to approve next week.
Washington had hoped for a NATO-commanded airlift operation, but France insisted the EU take charge. As a result, the two will run "side-by-side" airlift operations while taking pains to avoid wasteful duplication, said a NATO official. The United States plans to fly Rwandan troops to Darfur as part the alliance airlift. France will fly Senegalese troops under the EU flag. South Africa and Nigeria have also asked for help to fly troops to western Sudan.
Officials said NATO will only fly peacekeepers to Darfur, provide a some support staff to help the African Union run a headquarters but has made no commitment on rotating troops. Only Canada has expressed a readiness to provide helicopters to fly peacekeepers within Darfur.
Violence has raged in Darfur for more than a year, mostly between black Africans and ethnic Arab militiamen called the Janjaweed aligned with the Sudanese government. The government and the Janjaweed have been accused of committing wide-scale abuses against ethnic Africans in which 180,000 people have died and millions have fled to refugee camps.
Posted by: ed ||
06/09/2005 07:48 ||
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#1
This will be the largest all Euro airlift since Stalingrad.
#3
Why don't they just charter a few Air France jets, rent some choppers and crew from Blackwater, hire Alladin's Lamp catering, and have Tribe, Inc build the movie set HQ. All off-the-shelf commercial services. Eliminates the need to build up infrastructure when all they really need is some rolodex numbers for the occasional one-off expeditionary soiree campaign.
#4
Actually, the same goes for mortuary services - which will prolly be their largest single expense, come to think of it. I'm sure there's a Peaceful Repose in Paradise or Get Yer Virgins Now or Deaders 'R Us listed somewhere on the 'Net. Hey, these guys could prolly work something out, for a fair price.
#5
Washington had hoped for a NATO-commanded airlift operation, but France insisted the EU take charge. As a result, the two will run "side-by-side" airlift operations while taking pains to avoid wasteful duplication, said a NATO official.
Okay. Let's have a race. See who gets there first.
Indian Kashmiri separatist leaders indicated yesterday they might abandon their 57-year-old stance on holding a referendum in the divided Himalayan region after meeting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella group of some two dozen parties, said a solution could emerge from outside a series of decades-old United Nations resolutions calling for a plebiscite. Until now the separatists have always backed the resolutions, which were adopted from 1948 onward, as the only acceptable path to end the bitter dispute over the scenic territory. "It looks as if we are moving toward a negotiated settlement. We have to move from our traditional positions," Farooq said after a group of moderate separatists met Musharraf late Tuesday.
This article starring:
MIRWAIZ OMAR FARUQ
All Parties Hurriyat Conference
All Parties Hurriyat Conference
Posted by: Fred ||
06/09/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Somebody hired a good polling firm (with good body armour and better insurance) and discovered that after a couple decades of randomly butchering everyone's Uncle Jed and Aunt Fatima, for some reason the seperatists don't have the votes they thought they'd have by now...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/09/2005 13:20 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.
Arab nations are making good progress in fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, with significant strides in controlling charities, the head of a regional watchdog said yesterday. The comments by Muhammad Baasiri, president of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA FATF) come after the United States has criticized slow progress on the issue in the Arab world. "Countries in the area have honestly taken significant strides in reshaping the charity organizations in their countries. A lot of controls have been imposed on charities and on charities getting money from abroad or transferring money," Baasiri told Reuters in an interview.
"We always wish for and seek good relations with the United States," Expatriates Minister Buthaina Shaaban told a news conference at the ruling Baath Party congress which is due to focus on reform. Shaaban said Syria was pressing ahead with reform based on the country's needs "that are not related to what others try to threaten (Syria) with". 
Indian Kashmiri separatist leaders indicated yesterday they might abandon their 57-year-old stance on holding a referendum in the divided Himalayan region after meeting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. 
