The United States is preparing to test new-generation weapons, including smart bombs, on Australian territory under an agreement currently under negotiation. Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper today revealed Canberra and Washington were currently hammering out a new defence training agreement which included multi-million upgrades to Queensland's Shoalwater Bay facility and the Northern Territory's Bradshaw training area and the Delamere Air Weapons Range. Former ANZUS treaty adviser Ross Babbage, who has just returned from defence briefings in the US, revealed that tactics and cutting-edge communications would also be tested under the proposals, bringing the two nations closer together. ------Snipped--duplicate from yesterday---
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 6:03:11 AM ||
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I'd prefer Fallujah and Iran
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2004 8:16 Comments ||
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#2
Can we get Greenpeace to send Michael Moore as an observer... A very close-range observer?
#3
We know the Greens and other Lefties will try to protest. So what is the over/under for protestors getting lost and dying of exposure/dehydration in first year of testing?
Posted by: Stephen ||
11/05/2004 16:00 Comments ||
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#4
OldSpook,
Article talks of closer cooperation which might mean Aussie SAS practices calling in US air strikes. Maybe one of the laser designator teams will mistake Michael Moore for a clapped-out minivan being used as practice target.
Posted by: Stephen ||
11/05/2004 16:05 Comments ||
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Australia's leading spy agency has admitted it failed to respond to a call from a terrorist who offered to reveal all about his links to terror group al-Qaeda and his terror training in Afghanistan. The man was West Australian Jack Roche, currently in jail for nine years after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit terror offences.
In its annual report, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) acknowledged Roche attempted to make contact in mid-2000. Roche, who was having misgivings about his part in a proposed al-Qaeda attack on the Israeli embassy in Canberra and consulate in Sydney, wanted to volunteer information on his travels in Afghanistan and possible Australian links to al-Qaeda. ASIO made no response. It now admits a major failing which it has addressed. It said the failure to follow up Roche's calls revealed inadequacies in the handling of what it termed public line callers.
"Thank you for calling the ASIO terrorist hotline. All our operators are busy right now. Please stay on the line as your call is important to us. Current waiting time is a estimated.....two...days."
"Accordingly we reviewed and changed our procedures and now have a system of fall-back checking so that appropriate followup is assured," it said. "This process was instituted in 2003 and has been independently reviewed and validated." In the report, ASIO director-general Dennis Richardson said Australia and its interests abroad remained at risk of terror attack. Mr Richardson said that was underlined by the arrest and deportation of French al-Qaeda suspect Willie Brigitte last year and the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) attack on the embassy in Jakarta in September.
"Born in the Caribbean, introduced to militant Islam in France and trained as a terrorist in Pakistan, Brigitte embodied the global nature of international terrorism," he said. "But for the cooperative work of the French authorities, ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and the NSW Police, it is likely that Brigitte and his associates would have carried out a terrorist attack in Australia." Brigitte was arrested in Sydney in October last year and interviewed by police and by ASIO officers. He refused to discuss his activities. Because the French security service wanted him back and its investigation was well advanced, ASIO decided the best course was to return him to France, where he remains in custody.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/05/2004 1:42:24 AM ||
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#1
Time for American expats in Australia to treat an aussie to a cold one and comisserate over idjit "intelligence" agencies.
The Dutch Cabinet has declared war on Islamic extremism, Deputy Prime Minister Gerrit Zalm has announced. He justified the step by calling the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh an "attack on the rule of law". Zalm said on Friday that there had been new developments in the world of Islamic extremism in which religious thoughts were being "translated into murder and manslaughter". "This is something that we absolutely cannot tolerate," he said.
Maybe new to you, not not to us. Nice of you to notice though.
The Liberal Party (VVD) minister said the cabinet would therefore expand the Dutch intelligence service AIVD, requiring an increase in funding. Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner and Interior Minister John Remkes will provide further information to the Dutch Parliament next week. The cabinet is also investigating whether existing legislation is sufficient to tackle radical Muslims who commit violent offences. Zalm referred to the investigation by Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk into the possibility of revoking the Dutch passports of violent offenders who hold dual nationality status.
Kicking them out is ok, I prefer just shooting them myself.
Cabinet ministers also discussed on Friday the controversial El Tawheed mosque in Amsterdam, where the suspected killer of Van Gogh, 26-year-old Dutch Moroccan Mohammed B., regularly attended. No decision was taken about the mosque.
May I recomend the D-9 solution?
Furthermore, the government has said it will remain in contact with Muslim organisations in a joint bid to crackdown on extremists. Zalm also expects that these organisations will internally make it clear to members that radical actions are not approved of.
Did you explain to them what happens if they don't?
Amid fear of social tension, Amsterdam police have increased the number of patrols in city streets to watch for signs of any public disorder. Minister Zalm stressed Friday that the Muslim community must not be judged on the actions of a "small radicalising group". Zalm rejected speculation the government had fallen behind in the fight against Islamic extremism, pointing out that many people who had been threatened with death had not been killed. For example, adequate security precautions had been taken when MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali was believed to be at risk.
Known for her outspoken criticism of the Islamic faith, Hirsi Ali co-operated with Van Gogh in the making of the 10-minute film "Submission", which casts an accusing eye on domestic abuse in the Muslim community. Van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death in Amsterdam on Tuesday and it is widely believed that he was murdered in reaction due to the broadcast of the film last August. The killer left a letter at Van Gogh's body with an Islamic religious message, warning that Hirsi Ali was next. But despite the death threat levelled at Hirsi Ali, Zalm said he expects that she will be able to continue her public functions. But he also left the decision up to Hirsi Ali herself as to when the Liberal VVD MP will return to work.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 3:27:55 PM ||
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#1
I'm sure that they'll track down all of their internal Islamofascists and lecture them very sternly. Nothing like a good death squad to prod socialist politicians into action.
#4
Hmmmm. This just might be worth watching. The Dutch are anything but stupid... They mainly suffer from their geography, not their lack of intelligence or stones. Whacking public figures has, indeed, resulted in discussing and acting in ways that are still unthinkable in their neighbors, no? They might just "get it" if the Islamofools don't "get it" first and move elsewhere to ply their murderous trade.
#5
Watch for the name Victor Koppe to surface periodically. He seems to be the lawyer of choice of the Dutch mujahideen. I'd really like to know how he gets paid and by whom.
#7
Something tells me that the fact the jihadis hit a Dutchman while he was cycling may have been the last straw. That's like taking out an American while he is barbequeing with friends.
#8
Yes...... (I live in Holland) this is goin to be so funny to watch, I would respectfully like to request the VRWC to consider a masive popcorn-airdrop on the my coordinates...........
#14
CF - I saw that story - and was stunned by the sheer stupidity. Truly amazing. I suggest that, under the best circumstances and giving them (endless? no...) benefit of the doubt, it might be an indicator of Local vs National... Upstream they appear to be figuring it out. In a given locale, however, it's obvious that the local "authorities" are still PC blind. Time and future events could, indeed, change things for the better. I hold out hope for the Dutch, Danes, Germans, and our UK cousins. They just don't take it all that well when hit - so hits will tell the tale, IMHO.
#16
But the very wording of the announcement shows that they've got it wrong already. There is no 'islamic extremism', there is only islam.
"Minister Zalm stressed Friday that the Muslim community must not be judged on the actions of a 'small radicalising group'." There they go again, in denial to the last.
"Zalm rejected speculation the government had fallen behind in the fight against Islamic extremism, pointing out that many people who had been threatened with death had not been killed."
So the fact that she hasn't been killed, despite needing round-the-clock armed protection, is judged as success?
#17
There is no 'islamic extremism', there is only islam.
Bull. That's like saying there was no Spanish Inquisition, there was only Christianity. Or that there existed no Nazis, there existed only Germans. Or that there existed no white slaveowners, there existed only whites.
Minister Zalm stressed Friday that the Muslim community must not be judged on the actions of a 'small radicalising group'." There they go again, in denial to the last
You may be willing to give the Islamofascists guardianship and authority over the whole of Islam, others (both Muslims and non-Muslims) are not so eager.
#19
"Van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death in Amsterdam on Tuesday and it is widely believed that he was murdered in reaction due to the broadcast of the film last August."
The extremists are so clueless that they think killing the messenger will kill the message. All they've done is magnify the message. On the other hand, instead of spending their time and money planning murders, they could make their own movie presenting their spin, in an effort to disprove Van Gogh's movie and gain support for their position. Apparently, the extremists are so brainwashed with hate, there's no room in their heads for anything else, like common sense.
#20
You may be willing to give the Islamofascists guardianship and authority over the whole of Islam, others (both Muslims and non-Muslims) are not so eager
Hmmmmm... from the crickets chirping, the "others (both Muslims and non-Muslims)" must be taking it back stealthily, huh? Islamo-Guerillas For Peace�
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2004 19:17 Comments ||
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#21
WTF? I thought Aris vowed never to come back here.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/05/2004 20:48 Comments ||
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#22
The recently deceased Van Gogh's message may have been magnified. But the mesage "Criticize Islam and be slaughtered" has also been heard loud and clear. Don't you think Dutch filmmakers will think long and hard before making another such film?
Posted by: ed ||
11/05/2004 20:57 Comments ||
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#23
Hmmmmm... from the crickets chirping, the "others (both Muslims and non-Muslims)" must be taking it back stealthily, huh?
It's a law-enforcement issue, Frank. Twenty years of community-police work, followed by a program of really aggressive citation writing if they continue to misbehave.
#24
Robert> "WTF? I thought Aris vowed never to come back here." No, I don't think I ever vowed anything like that. But your brain is still stuck on the same mindless, counterproductive, wasting-everyone's-bandwidth trolling loop, I see.
Raj> Um, didn't Christianity reform, or did I miss something?
Yeah, about 1700-1900 years after its creation, people started no longer dying for not being good Christians. But even before that time I'd not blame all Christians for the crimes of a few. Would you?
#25
Certain varieties of European are very slow to anger, the Dutch among them. However, when they do get up a right royal rage they are very, very dangerous people. I would also note that while Christianity may be on the wane in northern Europe, it is being replaced not by Islam, but by the quaint traditions of their forebears, the Vikings. And worshippers of Odin, Thor, Tyr and Freya do not really embrace the whole "Turn the other cheek" philosophy.
#26
Islam doesn't need reform any more than Christianity needed reform during the Inquisition. What Christianity needed back then was for Christians to stand up and run a sword through the lunatics running (and ruining) their religion. Muslims need to do the same now.
The man suspected of assassinating Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam earlier this week was a member of a squad of suicide killers, a newspaper has claimed. Newspaper De Telegraaf — which had promised it would publish a shocking exclusive on Friday about the Van Gogh killing — said Van Gogh and five prominent Dutch politicians are named in a hit list drawn up by Muslim terrorists. Citing sources close to the murder investigation, the newspaper said Mohammed B., 26, was part of a group of young Moroccan men specially trained by terrorists to carry out suicide attacks in the Netherlands. Amsterdam police chief Bernard Welten responded to the newspaper's claims on Friday by saying there was "absolutely no question" of a death list.
Was that "Absolutely, no question!" or "Absolutely no!"
Yes.
Welten also indicated he disagreed with the decision by Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner to reveal the full contents of the letter the killer plunged into Van Gogh's body with a knife. Mohammed B. is to appear in court on Friday and eight other men have been detained as part of the ongoing investigation. De Telegraaf said detectives have come across a "death list". Top of the list was Van Gogh who made the movie Submission which criticised the treatment of women in Islamic communities. The other five names on the list are Somali-born Liberal VVD MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, independent conservative MP Geert Wilders; Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk; and Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen and his deputy Ahmed Aboutaleb. There are unconfirmed media reports that Hirsi Ali and Wilders have been moved to safe houses for their protection. Ali — who wrote the script for Submission — has gone into hiding several times in the past following death threats, the most recent being levelled against her and Van Gogh when the short film was screened in August.
What's the over/under on how many more have to die before the Dutch take action?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/05/2004 9:27:58 AM ||
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I'd say they go now
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2004 10:12 Comments ||
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It looks like it's only the beginning, the Dutch soft liberal attitude has and will not help them for the difficult times to come.....
Posted by: General Pershing ||
11/05/2004 10:46 Comments ||
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#3
Now, now, lets not be to quick to put down a whole political movement, acting like a religion, with an axe to grind, and murder to commit just because some kook Dutchy made a film about some of the fruits of that creed. That would be racist. And, could lead to an open conflict.
#5
Gotta love the follow-up for this: A local artist paints a mural saying "Thou shalt not kill". In response, the Boss at the local mosque complains to the police that the mural is "racist".
The police, of course, destroyed the mural.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/05/2004 14:10 Comments ||
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#6
What's the Islamofascist interpretation of the 10 commandments?
#2
There were some good quotes in the article. First it's getting personal for the politicians:
The mass-circulation De Telegraaf said those threatened included Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee who is a prominent member of the VVD liberals, right-wing politician Geert Wilders, Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk and Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen.
Now they're personally threatening mainstream politicians after having demonstrated their ability to reach out and touch someone. Not a smart move. It could lead to this type of reaction:
"A small group of radical Muslims are forcing us to take measures which could have effects for well-intentioned citizens," Justice Minister Donner and Interior Minister Johan Remkes wrote in a letter to parliament.
I think (hope) the Islamofascists just found out who is going to stand up for themselves in Europe.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/05/2004 8:38 Comments ||
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#3
The asshattery of France and the Appeasement of Spain have emboldened these islamo fasicist clowns. The bombers in Spain were Moroccan and the killer in Holland a Moroccan. Put 2 and 2 together european elites! You have a problem right in your midst and you are not dealing with the issue.
I am angry since my Dutch friend is now at risk due to this assing around by the EU and the short sighted ruling class of europe. This multi national socialism and multiculturalism is endangering our civilization. These stupid classist ruling elites are chattering and doing nothing. Their response is to add more police guards to a the mosques, and to hide the persons under threat. They will do nothing proactive. I am venting I know. However I know we US folk and even liberal Canada would act before we let this get to this point.
My friend in Holand said something that was too scarry. He said he and some friends were talking and he had said. "Since the ruling elites will not act perhaps it is time to bring back the trains for them." He is not a facists he is very liberal and was easy going before this last murder. An average guy is thinking this. He even said the thought scared him to even think it. He says the political class will not listen to the people. This is what happen when the ruling class does not listen to the people and they do not respond to the peoples needs. Europe can go down the same road it did in the 1930's we can't let that happen.
Norwegian police have shut down a satirical web site that called for the assassination of U.S. President George Bush, newspaper Aftenposten reported Thursday. The U.S. embassy in Oslo filed charges against Norwegian rap trio Gatas Parlament because a website they ran urged people to finance the assassination of the president. The group has said the content was meant as satire. "I think it is fairly obvious to everyone not working at the American embassy or in the police that this was not about killing anyone. The web site is a political campaign," said Aslak Borgersrud, of Gatas Parlament.
Police have removed the site's content and replaced it with a copy of the police fax explaining and authorizing the shutdown. "The implicated will be called in for questioning in the near future," police lawyer Pal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby said. He said the site was removed because it violated harassment laws. Convictions could carry fines or jail sentences of up to two years.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 1:51:25 AM ||
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[span class=ChannelingInstapundit]
More crushing of dissent in John Ashcroft's Amer-er-er- . . ., uh, er, Norway.
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Posted by: Mike ||
11/05/2004 10:54 Comments ||
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I'm not one of the Euro-bashers around here but being called on their behavior has clearly embarassed France and its hangers on. Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi sought to calm anger on Friday over his description of states that opposed the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein as "spectators." "What I said is that history is history, past is past. We need to start operations, to start a new chapter and look to the future. We definitely want to forge a positive alliance with Europe," Allawi told reporters after a breakfast meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Brussels. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called Allawi's comment "a slip of the tongue" and said he would remind the prime minister of Germany's contribution in training Iraqi police and military in the United Arab Emirates and in offering to write off a substantial amount of Iraqi debt. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, one of the European critics of the war, told reporters: "I don't like the expression 'spectator states' at all. I don't understand it, and if I do understand it right, I don't like it at all."
Oh, I expect you understand it perfectly. And if you don't like it, too bad.
French President Jacques Chirac, the most outspoken opponent of the Iraq invasion, skipped the meeting with Allawi to fly to the United Arab Emirates but insisted it was no snub. "There is no problem naturally with the Iraqi authorities," Chirac told a news conference, adding he had invited Iraqi President Ghazi Yawar to Paris and he had accepted. France canceled a planned visit by Yawar in September after two French journalists were taken hostage in Iraq. However, diplomats said Chirac's early exit was a clear snub and disclosed that France had managed to get a phrase explicitly welcoming Allawi deleted from the draft summit statement.
Posted by: phil_b ||
11/05/2004 8:19:12 AM ||
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Iran is not threatening to nuke the E.U. so what do they care.
The European Union's Dutch presidency dismissed Thursday speculation about a US military strike on Iran to force the Islamic republic to abandon its nuclear drive. Referring to suggestions that some in the United States wanted to attack Iran, labelled part of an "axis of evil" by the re-elected President George W. Bush, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said "not all people in Washington" endorsed this. "I don't think we're thinking of military strikes. I think that would be counter-productive," he told reporters shortly before the start of a two-day EU summit that will debate Iran among other international headaches. Iran nuking Israel or the Saudi oil fields would be "counter-productive".
Ahead of fresh talks on the nuclear issue between Iran and the EU in Paris on Friday, Bot said the EU had "clear indications" that the Iranian government wants to pursue dialogue. "It is more helpful to continue the dialogue and to convince the Iranians that there are other means if you want to have a nuclear programme," he said, noting a Russian offer of enriched uranium for peaceful atomic energy in Iran. But the Dutch minister added: "Of course we cannot wait interminably." Earlier Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it was "inconceivable" that the United States would attack Iran over its nuclear programme and that the world would back such action.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 5:11:35 AM ||
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Bot's fellow country men are being killed by muslims on the streets in Holland. He has no clue for what the hell the EU is dealing with in Iran. Demonstrastions where "death to america" is the prominent feature accompanied by talk about nuclear development and missle tests are the kind of thing that will assure the US never "asks" before it attacks.
The Bots own people are already under attack at home. The Dutch governments response to attacks and threats is to send more cops to protect mosques. This guy Bot and the ruling elites of the EU are clueless. Iran is going to eat them for lunch and the EU will lay their and die.
My dutch friend and I chatted again last night. He is "liberal" but he is ready to burn these arse holes out. He says you can't even go out for a drink in his small town without some muslim wanting to have a fight with you or giving you some kind of crap.(I thought they didn't drink?) His ex girl friend was raped by a "north african," coworkers have been attacked and hospitalized by "muslims gangs." Some crazy turban showed up at his Mom's school and shot some folks. He is going for an "illegal" firearm for self protection. He and his pals are all voting for Wilders. The average Dutchman has had it with the "imigrants" who are not assimilating and expecting that dutch society adapt to them.
One can hope Putin will come to his senses and explain to Terhan that if a nuclear device should happen to go off in the mideast Terhan can expect Russia to nuke Iran until the rubble is like fine flour except made of glass. This will get the terrorist state turbans attention. They will get no warning from us I hope. I hope we just act. Since most of europe doesn't have a clue and is fed nothing but anti american propaganda by the MSM why should we even care what they think. Our future is not in europe it's in the pacific and with China and India. Old Europe is stagnat protectionist and ossified.
#3
What were they going to strike with? British weapons?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/05/2004 8:39 Comments ||
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What were they going to strike with?
Perhaps a disabling blow from a harshly worded resolution followed by waves of carefully nuanced irony with maybe a diplomatic snub or two thrown in for good measure.
MarkE is correct that the EU will do nothing because a) it will be someone else's problem first and b) those someones, either Israel or the US, will take action even if the EU simply stands around jawing about the problem.
The French president has decided to leave an EU summit just before a meeting with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. This frog sob Chirac, thinks he is the king of the world.
Mr Allawi is due to join EU leaders as guest of honour at the summit lunch in the Belgian capital. But Jacques Chirac, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, says he has prior engagements and will not attend. Mr Allawi, on a European tour, made his plea for wider participation in his country after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on Thursday.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 4:12:57 AM ||
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Hmph. Didn't dare be upstaged by a REAL leader with balls bigger than his, eh?
#2
Mr. Kerry blew off an opportunity to meet with Mr. Allawi and look where it got him.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
11/05/2004 6:19 Comments ||
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#3
The truth is Kerry had more domestic support then Chirac has. The BBC is spinning it a Chirac is "to busy."
When France is totally locked out of Iraq for the next 50 years to any trade by Iraqi law I will laugh. What is the saying? These people hold long grudges and have nasty ways of settling them? France the pay back is on it's way.
#4
Would you want to face Allawi if you were the chief sponsor and apologist for Saddam Hussein, who is responsible for killing as much as 5% of the Iraqi population and sending into exile another 16% (4 million)? No. I don't imagine Chirac is all that eager to face Allawi or any other non-Baathist Iraqi.
Posted by: ed ||
11/05/2004 7:30 Comments ||
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#5
We can but stand gape-mouthed in awe and wonder at the quality of subtle French diplomacy and nuance, the immensity of understanding and expression demonstrated by Monsieur le President Chirac on this, as on so many other, occasion. It is at such moments that I am thankful to be but a simple American, capable of only the smallest corner of such things.
#9
Sock Puppet...that will only be if we ("W") don't go soft and 'cushy' on the french with reachout arms of reconciliation. He has been known to reach alittle too far out, on the warm side!
The French president has decided to leave an EU summit just before a meeting with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Mr Allawi is due to join EU leaders as guest of honour at the summit lunch in the Belgian capital. But Jacques Chirac, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, says he has prior engagements and will not attend.
Correspondents say Mr Chirac's move is seen as a clear snub to Mr Allawi who has called for broader involvement in Iraq. Mr Allawi has implored so-called "spectator countries" to become actively involved in the reconstruction of Iraq. The EU leaders are expected to present a multi-million dollar aid package to Mr Allawi at the meeting. The money will be used to provide technical advice and support for the Iraqi elections, planned for January.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
11/05/2004 4:01:16 AM ||
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#1
Great picture of Chirac indicating exactly how much integrity and courage he has.
#4
If that's the way Jacques feels, it's not a problem. All that needs to be done is to freeze out Phrench companies from any activities in Iraq or anywhere we are operating in a cleanup mode, or where we have the last word. Think Afghanistan also. If he wants to keep playing obstructionist, then he should be made to pay economically.
#6
So France throws in its lot with the fascists and pisses on the man leading Iraq toward the first free elections in the last four decades. Qui s'occupe? = Who gives a f-ck?
#5
Move along, nothing to see here. Usually talentless artists who deep down know they do truly suck resort to controversialism in order to sell their product. E.G. - Britney Spears/Madonna lesbo kiss, Mike Moore, any rap act in general.
GEORGE Bush yesterday offered an olive branch to hostile European leaders — but was snubbed by the French President. ...But French President Jacques Chirac — dubbed Le Worm — was doing his best to scupper bridge-building. He will snub a meeting with Iraqi PM Iyad Allawi in Brussels today. It is a sleight aimed at Mr Bush and Tony Blair, who back Mr Allawi. If this doesn't deserve a surprise meter I don't know what does. How rediculous is it that he hugs and kisses Saddam but will not meet with Allawi? If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny.
Chirac — who tried to stop the war to topple Saddam Hussein — will leave Brussels before the new Iraqi leader arrives. However Chirac DID find time to visit Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in hospital yesterday. Yet another huge surprise.
#4
ahhh yes, W makes the effort Aris et al scream is necessary and Chirac spurns it - France is not our ally - get over it - boycott the fuckers
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2004 7:38 Comments ||
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#5
CF said it all. I guess that makes me a dittohead.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/05/2004 8:12 Comments ||
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#6
As I commented below, it's in our best interests to acknowledge and work with anyone in any country that shares our values and concerns.
Even those in France LOL.
Seriously, it is not useful to demonize France as a whole. It's far more useful to work to marginalize idiotarians wherever they are found. Unfortunately, that includes most of the French elite and many French citizens right now. But that could change, folks. Chirac won't be around forever ... at some point he will either die in office or face that corruption trial he's been avoiding.
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G **
Jaloviina Ãdelbrännvin:
A blend of cognac and neutral spirit, this is a traditional Finnish ``noble drink,'' and it's a little sharp, but quite nice and drinkable. Probably an improvement on the original cognac. A cheap and tasty substitute, 40%, made since 1932.
T *** Kaj ****
Thereâs moreâ¦but check out âShrine to Spiritsâ for a whole host of options.
Drink up!
Hmmmm. I wonder what Sabine drinks, heh. Have you met her, TGA? Seems to me like that might be a good idea - for Herr Stoiber, as well. Think of it as work-related research, heh. Chirac's personal Waterloo, 2007, isn't all that far away. I am sooo looking forward to it...
JFM? Is Sabine still building her base? Is she a viable player, yet?
#19
Well, Chirac's mid-term now, so it makes sense that the politics are on the back burner. I sure would love to see her "come of age" in time and in organization for 2007. IIRC, JFM told us she was quite a formidable campaigner with a clear head and solid values. Still sounds good, to me!
Chirac's brand of whoring politics (only for personal gain, especially) is having a terrible effect on France, in trade, stature, reputation, across the board. I know it seems he is successfully tarring the US with his games, but when the smoke clears (think economics, heh) he will be as naked as the clueless Emperor in his New Threads. His game can only succeed temporarily, for it flies in the face of realities which can't be denied forever. They need a leader to bring them back to center, back to sanity, before they become even less relevant. Not even their hidden hands within the EU structure can save them from an economic meltdown.
I'll bet Stoiber wouldn't be afraid to pull the "eject" handle. heh.
#20
I think someone needs to present Jaques with a nice bottle of California burgundy - amply laced with ex-lax. If you could ever empty the sh$$ out of Chirac, there wouldn't be enough left to fill a penny matchbox. Keep the personal boycott working, and watch Phrawnce and Chirac tank - about the middle of August, when all the "elite" are on vacation.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/05/2004 21:32 Comments ||
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The Canadian government found almost twice as many cases of suspected terrorist financing in the 12 months that ended in March, with the amount of money involved almost tripling to C$70 million ($58 million). The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, a government agency, said it identified 48 cases in fiscal 2004, up from 25 a year earlier. It refers any suspected terrorism and money-laundering cases to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and other enforcement bodies.
Some of the increase may be due to better monitoring. Canada made it mandatory in 2000 for financial institutions to report any suspicious transactions, such as those involving more than C$10,000 in cash, and broadened the law in 2001 to cover terrorism. The agency received 9.5 million reports in fiscal 2004, up from 2.2 million the previous year. ``We received more data and we're getting better at detecting suspicious activity,'' spokesman Peter Lamey said. The agency, known as Fintrac, also identified 112 new cases of money laundering last year, up from 78.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 6:09:44 AM ||
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"It refers any suspected terrorism and money-laundering cases to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and other enforcement bodies."
Which will speak to the guilty parties, and ask them to desist --- very firmly.
#2
Having been a frequent visitor to Canada in the past, I can gladly report that Canadians in the fly over country think this is as big a load of bs as we do.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
11/05/2004 8:32 Comments ||
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#3
Having been a frequent visitor to Canada in the past, I can gladly report that Canadians in the fly over country think this is as big a load of bs as we do.
Posted by: Old Fogey ||
11/05/2004 8:32 Comments ||
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#4
Agreed, OF. It's in our best interests to acknowledge and work with anyone in any country that shares our values and concerns.
Even those in France LOL.
Seriously, it is not useful to demonize Canadians as a whole. It's far more useful to work to marginalize idiotarians wherever they are found.
#7
I have friends in Alberta. They are almost normal. They don't even have horns. Don't define Canada by the politics of Qubec which dominate the whole of the Canada
#8
You guys are so right. I love Canada. I love the Canadians I've met. Did they love me as being from "The States"? Dunno. It didn't come up.
Question to Canadian readers: did the CBC pick up on the statements of Edward "Ted" Kennedy regarding the Iraq War? If yes, were they taken at face value? Just curious.
#9
There are a lot of responsible, good Canadians. They are as dismayed as us over the "liberalization" of their country as we are. There is a sense of helplessness as all these looney laws are passed. Hopefully, President Bush, in his second administration, will move forward and change some attitudes in this country by example. It is my hope that Canadians will be inspired to change their government for the better to become more responsible. We cannot give up on the Canadians (well, maybe Quebec, but not the rest of 'em).
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/05/2004 13:23 Comments ||
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#10
I have friends in Alberta.
Are you sure about that? Alberta is beef country. Last time I looked your border was still closed to Alberta beef. That's a big, big loss to Albertans. The good news is, that the biggest proponent of keeping the border closed to Albertan beef, Daschle, has been kicked out.
Alberta and Saskatechewan are more like red-state US
As a Torontonian (and part-time Kingstonian), I can tell you that it is already too late. Especially for Ontario (it's like Massachusetts). Canadians seem to have been bitten by the bug that causes them to live in an alternate reality where evil does not exist. Little do they realize that if a nuke goes off in New York...bye bye eastern Canada. Pathetic, but what can I do.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/05/2004 14:19 Comments ||
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#11
did the CBC pick up on the statements of Edward "Ted" Kennedy
You mean the "Iraq is Bush's Vietnam" comment, or something else? Pretty anything anti-Bush, or anti-American is embraced with open arms up here.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/05/2004 14:38 Comments ||
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#12
The "good" Canadians' problem is that they share the country with Quebec and Ontario. The US can't treat Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba differently than Quebec and Ontario. Now, if they would like to petition for statehood, that's a different question. Both they and we would be better off with the newest US states being Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia, Yukon, and Northwest.
#16
Ontario is like Michigan; Quebec is like Massachusetts.
Qanada can keep BC. Too much like Caliphornia.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/05/2004 19:29 Comments ||
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#17
SPOD:
"Don't define Canada by the politics of Qubec which dominate the whole of the Canada"
You mean, define Canada by something other than a widely recognized, generally descriptive, and broadly applicable stereotype? Define Canada by something other than that which dominates the whole of Canada?
;)
Rafael--
I feel for you. I live just south of Vancouver. Man, are they loony up there. I'm pretty happy-go-lucky, and I can fake a decent Canuck accent, but the moment they find out I'm American (from the "States," eh?), I have to start hightailing it out of one-sided conversations.
#18
Mrs D - careful on the Caliphornia unless you want San Diego's military to conquer your state. The Blue's on the extreme coast, saturated around north LA/SF...
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2004 19:45 Comments ||
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#19
Back to the article at hand, the whole problem is Maher Arar is not only blown completely out of proportion, but is quite divorced from reality.
The United States generally sends illegal immigrants back to where they came from. No, really, where they REALLY came from. Unless they have other arrangements with the government of the gateway country, they go to their respective country of citizenship. As nice as it would be to send illegal Mexican immigrants traveling from the Okanogan orchards to America back to Canada, that isn't where they go. Terrorists from Syria with "asylum" claims in Canada might be similarly difficult to process.
In April, James L. Pavitt became the first director of the CIA's clandestine service ever to testify publicly before Congress. While he was not technically undercover as the deputy director of operations, just about everything he was in charge of for five years was.
Having retired in August after 31 years at the CIA, Pavitt has become the agency's most senior public advocate, defending the spies and analysts who have come under attack by Congress, the 9/11 commission, the White House and, most recently, their new CIA director, former House Intelligence Committee chairman Porter J. Goss.
"Were they terrorists in their own right?" he said. "Yes, I believe they were."
At the same time, Pavitt believes the postwar occupation has been marred by misguided initial decisions to exclude the State Department from managing relations with an emerging Iraqi leadership, as well as decisions to disband the army and disqualify all former Baath Party members from working in the new government.
The way the United States encouraged reconciliation of former Communist Party members in Eastern Europe after the Soviet Union dissolved "offered some insights on the way we could deal with Iraq," Pavitt said in the first lengthy newspaper interview since his retirement. "Not everyone who was a Baathist was an ardent supporter of Saddam Hussein, or some kind of criminal. There were people who felt they had to be part of the party."
Earlier this year, the Bush administration softened its de-Baathification program. It has also allowed some former military officers to join the new army and has put a U.S. ambassador in charge of the reconstruction and of nonmilitary U.S. relations with Iraq's interim government.
But on the more general chaos of the occupation, Pavitt said the CIA "made it clear, as I recall it, that the possibility and prospect for insurgency was real and genuine."
"The window we had on the ground in Iraq after the fighting stopped was a brief window. . . . Anyone who believed we could walk into Baghdad and be greeted as liberators for very long, I think simply didn't know very much about the history of Iraq. . . . Trying to hold Iraq together with concepts that are important to us -- democratic institutions and so forth -- is going to take some time. I don't think anybody should be surprised it's rough going," he said.
To succeed in Iraq now, he said, sitting in his family room in front of a crackling fire and surrounded by original art that he has collected over the years, "will require flexibility, perhaps more flexibility than we've seen in the past."
Pavitt's directorate of operations was responsible for knowing the plans and intentions of Osama bin Laden and other terrorists, for inserting CIA paramilitary units into Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and for sending secret teams into Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Somalia to snatch al Qaeda members with the help of local security forces.
His operatives were the first to fire Hellfire missiles mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle at an al Qaeda convoy in Yemen, killing them all, including a U.S. citizen. They interrogate the likes of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh and have secretly transported dozens of terrorists around the world. They recruited and debriefed foreign agents with information about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction before the war and were assigned to kill or capture the Iraqi leader once the war began.
In one recent authorization bill, the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee, then chaired by Goss, warned that the CIA's spy operations were headed "over the proverbial cliff" and that "the nimble, flexible, core-mission-oriented enterprise the D.O. [directorate of operations] once was, is becoming just a fleeting memory."
The criticism makes Pavitt bristle.
"I think there needs to be a clearer understanding that human intelligence is extraordinarily valuable, but those who expect perfection out of it will always be disappointed," he said. "If we are right 40 to 50 percent of the time, we're batting pretty well."
Creating a national intelligence director as was proposed by congressional committees and the 9/11 commission, will not necessarily fix the problems, he said. "And to suggest that if we don't act" to create such a director that terrorist strikes against the United States are more likely "is simply not right," he said. "There are no easy fixes."
Terrorism, said Pavitt, "is not going to be gone a year from now. My children, your children are going to have to worry about this a long time from now. If that's true, we're not going to just make it all better, make the nation safer overnight by making a new bureaucratic structure."
Pavitt, who plans to join the private sector soon, although he declines to say in what capacity, said it will take years to train and season the numbers and kinds of American spies the CIA needs to infiltrate al Qaeda -- or, more likely, to recruit foreign agents who can get inside the terrorist group.
"There seemed to be shock and dismay when [former CIA director George J. Tenet] said it would take five years until the human service is healthy again. Spare me! Stop! It's no surprise to anyone," Pavitt said.
Actually, he contends it will take longer: "I can't produce case officers overnight. It takes seven, eight, nine years" before a clandestine case officer is experienced enough to be successful against these toughest of targets.
Although Congress and the White House have given the CIA healthy increases in funding since Sept. 11, Pavitt said too much of the new money, to stay within deficit ceilings, is given in yearly supplemental funds. Without a sustained financial commitment to pay for larger recruiting and training programs, he said, managers cannot put the necessary infrastructure in place.
"It's a hell of a way to run a railroad, by the way," he said. "We've got money now to deal with the crisis of the moment and the crisis of the moment is Iraq and terrorism. There's some other money, but nowhere near the kind of investment that's necessary."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/05/2004 1:55:13 AM ||
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"Although Congress and the White House have given the CIA healthy increases in funding since Sept. 11, Pavitt said too much of the new money, to stay within deficit ceilings, is given in yearly supplemental funds. Without a sustained financial commitment to pay for larger recruiting and training programs, he said, managers cannot put the necessary infrastructure in place.
"Itâs a hell of a way to run a railroad, by the way," he said"
Hmmm...per Article I, Section 8 of the US Consitution, "To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for longer Term than two Years." Hell the Army has always lived on annual appropriations and its not going to change. Whine, whine, whine. Goodbye and don't leave the door hit your ass on the way out.
Posted by: Don ||
11/05/2004 12:33 Comments ||
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VaxGen, which shifted its focus to bioterrorism treatments after failures in H.I.V. research, has won an $877 million contract to supply the United States government with anthrax vaccine. VaxGen, based in Brisbane, Calif., will make 75 million doses of the vaccine, which is enough for 25 million Americans because it is given in three doses, Tommy G. Thompson, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, yesterday told reporters on a conference call. It is the government's first purchase under an antiterrorism law President Bush signed in July.
Anthrax is a bacterial infection that occurs most commonly in animals like cattle, sheep and goats. People sometimes contract anthrax by touching material from infected animals. The germ was used as a weapon and spread by mail in 2001, leading to five deaths. "This is a key step toward protecting the American public in the event of another anthrax attack," Mr. Thompson said. The intentional release of the bacteria "is one of the most significant biological threats we face," he said.
The contract includes an additional amount of as much as $69 million, which will be awarded at the government's discretion for testing the vaccine in children and the elderly. Under the contract, VaxGen must obtain a license for the vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration. Federal law, in an emergency, allows the government to stockpile for use medical treatments that are not approved by the F.D.A. The BioPort Corporation, a private company, has the only anthrax vaccine that has been approved by regulators.
Under the contract, VaxGen will deliver 25 million doses of the vaccine to the government within the next two years. The total amount is due within three years. VaxGen will maintain manufacturing capability for at least two years after the final shipment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2004 12:36:53 AM ||
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Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has warned that violence in the country's south could get worse. Mr Thaksin said suspected Muslim separatists wanted to provoke the government into over-reacting. "I am convinced that the violence will be intensified... since the militants want to tempt the government to get angry," he said.
"Don't get me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry"
More than 400 people have been killed so far this year, with security forces blamed for almost half of the deaths. Mr Thaksin was speaking after another member of the security forces - a Muslim serving in the Thai navy - was shot dead on Friday while he guarded a Buddhist temple in the southern province of Narathiwat.
I'd wager he was singled out just for that reason.
Mr Thaksin, who has been strongly criticised for his handling of the violence in the south, said the militants wanted to use the latest attacks to generate attention overseas and win new recruits. "They want to stir our anger, prompt us to use brute force and spread the news. Then their sympathisers overseas will throw in their support," he said.
"Send mullahs, guns and money.."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 8:50:33 AM ||
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Well, well - Thaksin (Toxin to his detractors - I'm now neutral on him) certainly "gets it" regards the threat. We'll soon see if the "gets it" regards the solution. I think he does... mano-a-mano fighting is something at which the Thais excel. Not at all sure about military-style coordination and professionalism, however. Hell, it's long past due that their military and police become more than ceremonial escorts for their Royals, anyway. Professionalism and training had better be on the menu, and damned soon, if they hope to stop this shit before it eats South TL.
#2
I had the opportunity to watch part of the Thai "Tiger" Brigade in action in 1971. Those guys are every bit as good as the ROK Marines, and know the terrain. If you hear that the Thai government has sent in the Tigers, it's all over. There won't be enough Muslims left to field a girl's volleyball team.
I don't approve of genocide, but when you have one group that's making 90% of the trouble in your country, you come down on them like a ton of bricks. Anything else will only encourage them. That's the same mistake Bush is making on our southern border.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/05/2004 22:16 Comments ||
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James Billington, the librarian of Congress, is in Iran this week on the first visit by a notable U.S. government official to that country in 18 years, administration officials said.
The unannounced visit was confirmed by the Library of Congress on Wednesday after it was disclosed by the Federation of American Scientists, an independent policy group in Washington. The library said that the purpose of Billington's trip was "purely cultural" and that he was traveling at the invitation of Muhammad Kazem Mousavi Bojnourdi, the director of the National Library of Iran.
While cultural visits have occurred before, administration officials said they believed Billington to be the highest-ranking American official to travel to Iran since 1986, when Robert McFarlane, then the national security adviser, led a delegation that made a secret visit in an attempt to cultivate a relationship with moderates in the Iranian government.
The State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said he would not "attach any special importance" to Billington's visit.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 5:15:08 AM ||
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James Billington handed out dosemeters during his visit. State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher,didn't attach any special significance to the dosemeters.
#2
The country's head librarian is visiting? He probably wants to catalog what remains of the Shah's personal library. And perhaps shower copies of Mark Twain on the populace as he is driven around, in lieu of candy and small change. I realize that, as a group, librarians are pretty bright and very knowledgable, but I honestly don't think his visit is going to make any sort of diplomatic or military breakthrough. Sounds like fun, though!
Of all the foreign policy challenges facing President Bush in his second term, none — apart from Iraq — looms larger than Iran.
Twenty-five years after Iranian students seized U.S. diplomats as hostages, Iran and the United States are at the brink of a potentially more serious confrontation over Iran's apparent determination to develop a nuclear bomb.
Iran says it wants nuclear energy to generate electricity and has the right to manufacture reactor fuel. The United States has left negotiations to its European allies, who have managed to slow but not stop Iran's nuclear drive. Israel, which blew up an Iraqi reactor in 1981 when Iraq had begun a similar program, has warned it will not tolerate a nuclear Iran. So has President Bush. "Our position is that they won't have a nuclear weapon," Bush told Fox News Sept. 27.
The situation is so volatile that officials and foreign policy experts in both Iran and the USA say the possibility of armed conflict is real. "All options are on the table," Bush told Fox News.
Asked about the status of relations recently, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi was blunt. "It's very bad," he told reporters Sept. 29 in New York, where he attended the United Nations General Assembly. "The question is if it can be changed or not, and if this is in the interest of Americans, Iranians and (other) people in the region to continue this animosity."
Iran is a top priority for at least three reasons:
â¢Nuclear proliferation. U.S. estimates of how long it will take Iran to be able to make a nuclear weapon range from one to four years.
â¢Iraq. Iran, which shares a lengthy border with Iraq, has close ties to Iraqi Shiite groups that could determine Iraq's political future. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank, Oct. 4 that the Iranians "clearly want to affect the outcome of the (Iraqi) election, and they are aggressively trying to do that. They're sending money in. They're sending weapons in." Iraq's elections are set for January.
â¢Terrorism. Iran supports Hezbollah and other anti-Israeli groups that have conducted numerous attacks and suicide bombings in Israel. Iran has also said it is holding al-Qaeda members who escaped from Afghanistan. In return for them, Iran wants the United States to hand over leaders of an Iranian opposition group based in Iraq.
Bush is pushing for an early confrontation with Iran at the United Nations by urging the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council unless it promises not to produce nuclear fuel. The Security Council could levy punishing sanctions against Iran. The IAEA will meet to consider the issue Nov. 25. Iran has suspended enrichment of uranium, a nuclear fuel, for a year but is threatening to resume it.
But council action is by no means certain. Alternatively, the use of force could be ineffective and backfire. Destroying the nuclear program would be difficult if not impossible, because facilities are dispersed throughout Iran and much of the infrastructure is underground. Airstrikes could retard Iran's progress, but the cost could be high. Iran's hard-line Islamic government has warned that any attack on Iran would provoke a violent response, and the United States has much at risk in the region, with its troops fighting a growing insurgency in Iraq.
Asked to rate relations now on a scale of one to 10 — with 10 being relations under the shah and one the hostage crisis in 1979 — Bakhash says, "we're barely at four."
Iran's economy minister was even more negative. "We're at zero," Seyyed Safdar Hosseini said in an interview Oct. 6 in Washington, where he attended the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
He criticized the Bush administration for making demands on Iran but offering nothing in return. He blamed the administration for blocking Iran's repeated efforts to join the World Trade Organization, despite what he said was Iran's compliance with requirements that it eliminate many of its trade barriers. And he insisted the nuclear program was important for Iran's economic development: "After 25 years, the U.S. should admit that Iran is an independent country based on the support of its people and is following rational policies."
Despite having no formal diplomatic relations since 1980, the two governments have had contacts.
The most tangible thaw came after the election in 1997 of Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric, as Iranian president. The Clinton administration eased U.S. economic sanctions slightly in 2000 to permit trade in food, medicine and carpets. But divisions within the Iranian government between hard-liners who wanted no relations with the United States and moderates who favored engagement prevented direct official talks.
Direct talks finally began secretly in Geneva in 2002 as an outgrowth of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. The United States and Iran found common cause in deposing the Taliban government, which had persecuted Shiite Muslims and murdered Iranian diplomats and journalists. But the meetings ended in May 2003 after they were reported by the media and a series of bombings in Saudi Arabia was linked to al-Qaeda members who the Iranians say are under house arrest.
A new opportunity to talk at a high level could come this month, when Secretary of State Colin Powell is to attend a meeting in Egypt of foreign ministers from Iraq's neighbors and major industrial nations. Those attending will be "all together in a room, talking about the region and talking about how we can bring stability to that part of the world, beginning with Iraq," Powell said in an interview with the al-Jazeera television network Sept. 29. "And if the Iranians are in the meeting and wish to talk in a responsible manner about this problem, I will be in the room, too."
European officials say the Europeans have to be more willing to punish Iran, while the United States must be willing to offer Iran incentives for giving up efforts to produce nuclear fuel.
"An effective policy is bound to require carrots as well as sticks," says Chris Patten, former external affairs commissioner for the 25-nation European Union. "We have to be able to put a package to Iran that gives Iran an opportunity to play a normal role regionally and internationally." A must, Patten says, is assurances from the United States, which "as the world's only superpower is the country Iran is most concerned about."
Before the U.S. elections Nov. 2, Powell was cautious about making any promises. "I can't envision anything until I know whether the Iranians are willing to forewear their nuclear ambitions," Powell said in an interview Oct. 18.
Whether that attitude will change remains to be seen.
"We have very powerful mutual interests that need to be addressed," says William Miller, an Iran scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington research organization.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/05/2004 2:00:16 AM ||
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European officials say the Europeans have to be more willing to punish Iran, while the United States must be willing to offer Iran incentives for giving up efforts to produce nuclear fuel.
The shmuck concienceless Euro/french imbeciles
have totaly (and intentionally) missed the point.
The only carrot Powell can ofer the present regime
in Iran is THEIR SURVIVAL.
Any negotiations with the Mullahs at this stage broadcast weakness of the US.
Now is the time to take the gloves off. After they have a nuke the equation is going to be very different and the price is going to steeply escalate.
My two cents on this is: USE A VERY BIG STICK NOW-
NO CARROTS PLEASE.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/05/2004 2:52 Comments ||
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#2
Elder of Zion, would you say that the many of the European nations are importing Iranian crude oil, and therefore those involved in Iranian nuclear talks will from Paris will be similar to Iraq all over again. The big stall game on the part of the despotic rulers of Tehran.
The gloves must come off now while time remains before the mullahs 'test' some of their nukes if they believe their time is up. The bulk of Iranians born after 1979, which I have read compose the majority of 'Persia's' population want the 7th century Islamic fanatics ousted from power. All they require is tangible 'Western' assistance, excluding any stabs in the back such as what took place with the Kurds in their fight against Saddam's forces.
The mullahs teach jihadic suicide to the Shi'ite faithful in their on going Islamic crusade against the 'infidels'. Maybe they will do the world an enormous favour and follow their own advise. (Wishful thinking)
This can not be allowed.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 3:15 Comments ||
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#5
Psywar. Start issuing helpful "warnings" to the sane people of Iran: "Anyone who doesn't want to glow in the dark, please evacuate (Tehran/Oom/whatever) by such-and-such date. That is all."
#2
The Iranian people know President Bush is their best bet for freedom from the mullahs.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 1:56 Comments ||
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#3
As Iranians and especially the younger generations have become happy, those affiliated to the Islamic regime are seen deeply worried about their future.
Sweet.
Posted by: Dar ||
11/05/2004 13:32 Comments ||
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RAMALLAH — Israeli officials have confirmed reports that Arafat died. They said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon obtained the information from French intelligence.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said the 75-year-old Arafat died on Thursday in a military hospital in Paris.
The officials said Arafat was deemed clinically dead, but remained attached to life support systems on the insistence of his wife, Suha, Middle East Newsline reported.
"He is dead and there is no longer any doubt of this," a PA official said. "The announcement will come when Suha agrees to it, but I don't imagine the French allowing a dead Arafat to stay in their hospital for more than another few days."
The official said that over the last week Suha has pressed Arafat aides for information on her husband's bank accounts. Arafat was said to have up to $3 billion in assets, much of it believed deposited in Swiss banks, according to a report in the current edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com.
The PA has not confirmed Arafat's death. Officials said Suha was the only one authorized to issue statements regarding her husband's condition. On Friday, after repeated assertions that Arafat's condition was improving, PLO envoy Leila Shahid said the chairman was in a coma.
The PA has already begun preparing the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the announcement of Arafat's death. On late Thursday, amid the PA denials of reports that Arafat has died, PA television broadcast a program on his life.
"What's being done now is no different than when King Hussein died," the official, referring to the death of the Jordanian monarch in 1999, said.
"Hussein was essentially dead when he was flown from the U.S. hospital back to Amman. But Jordan waited three days until all of the preparations for the succession of power had been completed."
Israel's military began to implement its plan drafted to respond to Arafat's death. Termed "New Leaf," the plan by the military's Central Command envisions power struggles within the ruling Fatah movement and between Palestinian insurgency groups as well as an effort to increase civil unrest and armed attacks against Israel.
Arafat was expected to be succeeded by a two-man Palestinian leadership. Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei would operate the PA's daily affairs while PLO Executive Council chairman Mahmoud Abbas was seen as becoming the head of the PLO and deal with Palestinian foreign affairs.
The PA placed its security forces on alert. On Friday, Qurei was scheduled to travel to the Gaza Strip to meet security chiefs and other officials in an effort to coordinate policy.
At the same time, Palestinian insurgency groups were expected to meet to discuss a post-Arafat regime. So far, the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad has warned that it would intensify the war against Israel.
PA officials said Arafat did not leave a will that stipulated where he wished to be buried. Israel has ruled out the prospect that Arafat would be buried in Jerusalem.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 7:39:27 PM ||
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I have to admit that I am a little surprised Sharon siad he got the information from French Intelligence.
While obviously it's funny, the French should get a little fromaged, n'est ce pas?
#2
Looks like 2004 will be a banner year for windfall profits at Swiss banks.
Posted by: ed ||
11/05/2004 20:20 Comments ||
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#3
What we all want to know, of course, is if he's really, most sincerely dead.
In the spirit of international harmony and reconcilliation, I'm not even going to touch the phrase 'French intelligence'. Besides, I'm too busy making popcorn in anticipation of the forthcoming Paleo Civil War. Should be a good one!
#4
Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday that Arafat died in hospital. "[He] passed away 15 minutes ago," Juncker told reporters on arrival at a European Union summit in Brussels when asked what he knew about Arafat's condition.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 21:34 Comments ||
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#5
Let me be the first to say it:
Ulululululululululululululululululululululu!
**passes out candy**
:-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/05/2004 22:21 Comments ||
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#6
The Camel is asking Hitler & the Grand Mufti "why is it so hot down here?"
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 22:29 Comments ||
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The U.N atomic watchdog has discovered plutonium particles near an Egyptian nuclear facility and is trying to determine if they are evidence of a secret weapons program or simply the byproduct of peaceful research, diplomats said Friday.
I'll take weapons program for $500, Alex.
In comments to The Associated Press, the diplomats warned against assuming Egypt might have violated the Nonproliferation Treaty by trying to separate plutonium, a substance used to make nuclear weapons. The traces could be from a cracked research reactor fuel element or have other, nonmilitary origins, the diplomats said. "From time to time these things pop up in places they should not be at," said a diplomat familiar with the investigations of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. "Most of the time, there is a reasonable answer."
"Just because it's a lie doesn't mean it's not reasonable."
Still, he said agency experts trying to determine the origin of the particles were not ruling out any possibilities until seeing the test results from several European laboratories analyzing the Egyptian samples. The discovery of the particles was a reflection of more efficient controls by the IAEA of member nations' nuclear activities over the past decade as it attempts to prevent proliferation either by rogue nations or black-market profiteers. The controls include more pervasive environmental sampling, which is meant to trace particles of plutonium and enriched uranium - two alternate components of nuclear weapons. Such tests have revealed traces of highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium in Iran - evidence, says the United States, of a secret weapons program. Iran insists it is working only to generate nuclear power.
A Vienna-based diplomat said Friday that the agency's information was still too sketchy to firmly establish how old the Egyptian plutonium traces were. But he suggested they appeared to have been released into the environment no later than the 1980s. Egypt appeared to turn away from the pursuit of a nuclear weapons program decades ago. The Soviet Union and China reportedly rebuffed its requests for nuclear arms in the 1960s, and by the 1970s, Egypt gave up the idea of building a plutonium production reactor and reprocessing plant. Egypt runs small-scale nuclear programs for medical and research purposes. Plans were floated as recently as 2002 to build the country's first nuclear power reactor. But no construction date has been announced, and the pro-government Al-Ahram Weekly recently reported that the plant site near the coastal town of Al-Dabaa might be sold to make way for tourism development.
Although it signed the Nonproliferation Treaty, Egypt in recent years has become one of its vocal critics, mainly because of concerns over Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal and more recent fears about Iran's nuclear agenda. Attempts to reach diplomats for comment at Egyptian Embassy in Vienna after office hours Friday were unsuccessful. Cairo earlier this week denounced a French newspaper report linking Egypt to Libya's now-dismantled nuclear weapons program and suggesting the IAEA's Egyptian head, Mohamed ElBaradei, was protecting his country from scrutiny.
A French newspaper? Accusing ElBaradei of covering up a covert islamic weapons program? Wow, that did peg the surprise meter!
But one of the diplomats suggested the IAEA's search and testing in Egypt reflected the impartiality of ElBaradei, and said that - if there are any suspicions about the origins of the plutonium - the agency head would be sure to report it to the IAEA's board of governors.
Uh huh, and I have this bridge......
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 3:04:16 PM ||
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The French are trying to undermine their competition. Restraint of trade, as it were.
Loyalty pays well. Ramallah, West Bank - Suha Arafat, the once estranged but loyal wife of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat who has incited anger for her extravagant lifestyle abroad, has rarely left her husband's side since his transfer for medical treatment in Paris. I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! WHERE'S THE FRIGGIN' MONEY, YOU UGLY BASTARD!!!!
Thirty-four years younger than Arafat, the French-educated daughter of a wealthy Palestinian Christian couple first met the man who was to become her husband 20 years ago when she was a student at the Sorbonne. Arafat hired her to do public relations for the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) when he was exiled in Tunis. She later became his economic adviser before they married secretly in 1990, only revealing their union two years later. Would YOU admit you were married to him?
Their only child, a daughter called Zahwa, was born in 1995 in a private hospital in Paris - but marital life quickly degenerated into de facto separation. Ein-al-Hellhole's maternity hospital must've been booked up...
With her dyed-blonde hair, Suha's penchant for ever-larger and more expensive clothes and the high-life could not be more different from the veteran leader's trademark military suit and austere obsession with politics. She spends the graft, whereas he stashes it away.
Suha, a convert to Islam, once complained to an Egyptian newspaper that her husband never gave her any jewels and lived like a bachelor. "When I complain of being neglected, he offers me souvenirs and symbols of the Palestinian revolution," she said in a rare interview. What do I look like? A UN representative, you cheap prick!
However she later denied that her marriage was on the rocks and called Yasser "the happiest of husbands" who sang "Frere Jacques" - the only French song he knows - to their daughter. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...
"Brother Jackie, Brother Jackie,
Go to sleep, go to sleep,
Or I'll break your elbow, or I'll break your elbow..."
Despite once saying she had "married a myth", Suha never displayed anything less than fierce loyalty to Arafat's dream of a Palestinian state. For all her Western ways and education, she has said there would have been "no greater honour" than sacrificing any son of hers to the struggle and has backed suicide operations. Yeah, too bad she don't have one to give. Funny how that worked out.
After leaving the Middle East in early 2001, to the fury of Palestinians who saw her as betraying their cause for luxury, Suha has since divided her time between Paris and Tunis, where the PLO was based. Despite her estrangement, six months before rushing to Ramallah to oversee Arafat's transfer to Paris for medical care, Suha said that she was prepared to return to the Palestinian territories "the minute I am asked to". ...and not one minute sooner. It's "yucky" there...
During her husband's agonising decline in a French hospital, she has been one of the few people permanently at his bedside - the picture of a devoted wife watching her husband battling a possibly fatal illness. THE MONEY! WHERE'S DID YOU HIDE THE MONEY!!!TELL ME, YOU BASTARD!!!
It has been a stark comparison to the public blunders and lack of tact that caused headaches for the Palestinian leadership earlier in their marriage. Hailing Hillary Clinton as the first lady she most admired, Suha embarrassed the former United States president's wife at a West Bank function by launching a tirade against Israel for upping cancer rates in the Palestinian areas. A senior Palestinian official was forced to apologise to Washington. We're sorry our asshole president's wife made your asshole president's wife look bad. A thousand pardons...
Last year, France opened a preliminary investigation into the transfer of large sums of money of undetermined origin to Paris bank accounts she owns. Suha accused her husband's arch-foe, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of being behind the subsequent press reports. Looks like the investigation's still in the "preliminary" stage. Probably will be for quite some time, like, forever...
Maybe, finally, an answer.
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- First Coast News has learned a body has been found in Iraq and DNA testing is underway. Multiple sources tell First Coast News Captain Scott Speicher's family has been notified. They will not disclose the details of why they believe these are his remains only to say they have reason to feel confident these are his remains. Test results are expected within weeks.
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An internet message from an al-Qaeda-linked group threatening "unbearable hell" for Americans in reprisal for President George W Bush's election victory appears authentic, a US official said on Friday.
Super. And here I was hoping to relax this weekend...
The official said the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which earlier claimed responsibility for the Madrid train bombings in March, previously had used the website where the latest message was posted. "So it appears to be them, given those credentials," said the official, who asked not to be identified. Some past claims by the group have not panned out, such as the August power blackout in New York.
I think they took credit for the Howard Dean campaign, too.
But, the official said, "We are taking it seriously and watching it closely." The group, which takes its name from an al-Qaeda chief killed in Afghanistan in October 2001, said, "The coming days will show you that the one you preferred will lead you to an unbearable hell." It said appeared to threaten new attacks on the United States within the "next days". "The re-election of the criminal Bush, who is no different from the other leaders of this country who have devoted their efforts to killing Muslims everywhere in the world, will not dissuade the mujahedeen from striking the head of the line of infidelity," it said.
Aw, heck. I'm gonna go have that beer anyway. Cheers to our Commander-in-Chief.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/05/2004 12:58:34 PM ||
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The American people have spoken. And what they have said is, "Osama can take his hudna and shove it straight up his ass. We're finishing this war."
#7
I have no doubt that they can still spread misery. The thing is, Al Qaeda, each time you do, you reduce the chances that Islam will survive as a world religion. You could easily end up as
Martyrs for the Death of Islam.
Bet that idea was never covered in the Al Qaeda playbook.
#13
"....killing Muslim everywhere in the world"? This rant never ceases to amaze me. Besides Afghanistan and Iraq ( and for a good reason) where else are Americans killing Muslims? These MOFOs are killing people in Russia, Algeria, Nigeria, East Timor, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Sudan, Somalia, the Netherlands, Thailand,Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc,, etc, and Americans are the ones killing all over the world? Something is seriously wrong with those people!
#18
Man, I dread to think of the wrath of the American people if there were a Beslan-like attack in the US. Unlike the Russias, we are very, VERY good at killing large numbers of people any where in the world at any time. Many Mooslims would die in our response.
You may be a little surprised, however, when the "sheep" in this country SHOOT BACK.
Thank the Founders for the 2d Amendment.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/05/2004 19:03 Comments ||
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#22
This may not end until the mohammedan holy book comes out in the new millennium edition. The first injuncture for the survivors reading the updated holy book will be (essentially) "Don't f*ck with the Americans".
#24
I think George needs to write a new executive order, one disolving all laws limiting gun ownership, and requiring every American to take marksmanship training. Paragraph 2 should state that every American is to be armed to the teeth 24/7. The Congress then needs to pass a budget bill providing every American over the age of 14 with an M-16, 1500 rounds of ammo, and a very sharp bayonette. There will be NO BELSAN on US soil.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/05/2004 22:27 Comments ||
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#25
All right, I'll say it. Who's the VP succession?
Talk about clueless morons. The scary part is they're willing to put their faces up for all the world to see. Hat tip: Tim Blair
Some of us -- hopefully most of us -- are trying to understand and appreciate the effect our recent election will have on you, the citizens of the rest of the world. As our so-called leaders redouble their efforts to screw you over, please remember that some of us -- hopefully most of us -- are truly, truly sorry. And we'll say we're sorry, even on the behalf of the ones who aren't.
I'll agree with one thing you said, weenie - you're sorry, all right.
Pictures at the link. [Eds., can you post one of them? -Hokay. Ed.]
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/05/2004 12:09:19 PM ||
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Oh, gawd, that's so pathetic it's funny! What a bunch of assclowns! LOL!
Posted by: Dar ||
11/05/2004 12:12 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, truly, truly sorry.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/05/2004 12:23 Comments ||
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#3
We knew this was coming. Every pro-Kerry friend/relative I have has been carrying on all campaign about how bad the US has been to the world and how we have so much to apologize for. This is one of the best reasons Bush got in-he doesn't apologize for America when apology isn't due.
#4
Like, doods, I feel like leaving and going to another country, like... what's that big one where all the hockey players come from? Vermont, I think.
#5
They ought to cheer up - they've made at least one member of the rest of the world very happy indeed. Hilarious!!! First a Bush re-election, now a Clown Parade? Almost too much! Thank you, America!
#10
look at this shithead who is holding the sign , he is clearly drunk or stoned out of his mind. I'm sure he blames bush for not wanting too get off his ass and get a job too.
#11
I always wondered what happened to those anti-social pathetic types in high school and now I know. I am surprised that Kusinich and Dean aren't on thri site too.
#15
thank you rantburg! after seein this today ima went and let them all know about it at janeane garafolo radio blog and now they are use it tonites show:
Show Blog:
this is the blog and comments we read during the show, feel free to comment on anything and everything on these threads
November 05, 2004
hour one - Friday
Peter Dudar and Sally Marr, activist filmmakers behind anti-war documentary "Arlington West."
Let the world know: we're sorry, it wasn't our fault
Was this election stolen? Let's find out. Join Black Box Voting's call for an audit.
Posted by not sam at 06:33 PM | Comments (66) | TrackBack (0)
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq that new military campaigns in Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds could jeopardize upcoming elections, according to a letter obtained Friday. In the letter dated Oct. 31, Annan told American, British and Iraqi leaders that the United Nations wants to help prepare for the elections, scheduled for the end of January, but fears a rise in violence could disrupt the process. "I have in mind not only the risk of increased insurgent violence, but also reports of major military offensives being planned by the multinational force in key localities such as Fallujah," Annan wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press.
U.S. jets have launched multiple airstrikes against insurgent positions in Fallujah and U.S. soldiers blocked roads leading to the city in preparation for a planned assault to put Fallujah and other insurgent bastions north and west of Baghdad under control of Iraq's interim government. After meeting with European leaders at a European Union summit in Brussels, Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Friday the window for a peaceful settlement of the standoff over Fallujah was closing fast. A Fallujah offensive would involve a combination of U.S. and Iraqi forces. Annan warned that major military assaults, "in which the main burden seems bound to be borne by American forces," may discourage Iraqis from participating in the vote. Annan urged the coalition to give more time for dialogue to succeed and offered U.N. help. "I, and all my colleagues at the United Nations Secretariat, want to help," Annan wrote. "But we need a conducive environment if elections are to produce a positive effect." Given that Allawi's latest comments came a week after Annan's letter was sent, it appeared that Iraqi and American leaders were not seriously considering the offer.
Bwahahahaha!
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 11:49:38 AM ||
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"But all the rebels want is respect and consideration!"
#2
Scorched earth, boys. If they haven't left by now they're on the other side - or just too stupid to live. No prisoners. Hell, if it was up to me, I'd behead every fucking jihadi under arms. The unarmed ones get to live, but they wouldn't enjoy it.
#3
"warned U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq that new military campaigns in Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds could jeopardize upcoming elections"
Wow, is this moron living in bizarro world or is he just on the other side?
#6
I think the only thing keeping the trigger from being pulled is that Allawi is out of the country. As soon as he returns home, Fallujah delenda est.
#8
Wow, is this moron living in bizarro world or is he just on the other side?
He works at the UN. That's one of the definitions of "other side".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/05/2004 14:11 Comments ||
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#9
Lol! Kofi. He never misses an opportunity to STFU, does he, lol!
RWV's got it: Allawi is running Iraq. He'll want to be on the ground and in the loop when the fur starts flying. And he'd better keep his word this time, no getting butterflys and bowing to the stupid call for hudnas or negotioations after the move begins. You can only cry "Wolf!" once (Fallujah last April) or twice (Najaf) and keep your allies. There won't be a third opportunity, dude.
#10
It could be that a nauseating new relationship between Chirac and Kofi is taking form, waiting its moment to trip us up and put the new Iraq in real danger. The combination of this report and the report of Chirac shunning Allawi looks a bit suspicious.
#14
We see what happens when the U.N. " WARNS "
A big ZERO !!! We wouldnt be in this situation if the U.N. had the balls to do anything about, well, anything. Semper Fi and Hail King George .....
#18
WTF is this assclown talking about? Discouraged from participating? The only deterrence I see is the threat of getting one's head cut off...and how's he gonna talk em out of that?
Kofi: Mr Jidahist, you simply cannot go around cutting off heads. It isn't nuanced.
Jihadist: Who sez?
Kofi: I understand your grievances and we certainly can find other productive means by which to have them heard.
Jihadist: hmmmmm, nope. I would much rather cut off their heads. Are we done here?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
11/05/2004 16:08 Comments ||
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#19
I just want to shit in this guys soup. I can't stand the sight or sound of him. He doesn't want to help. he wants to ruin Iraq and our reputation. Screw him.
Posted by: remote man ||
11/05/2004 16:59 Comments ||
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#25
Oh, stuff a sock in it, Coffee, you worthless maroon, you pimple on the ass of humanity.
If you don't like what we're planning to do in Fallujah, why don't you fly right over to that city and personally help the terrorists with "negotiations"?
I'm sure our guys would be willing to wait a day or two for you to get there. We'd even provide a one-way military escort from the airport.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/05/2004 19:11 Comments ||
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#26
Sgt DT: Ewwwwwwww
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2004 19:12 Comments ||
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#27
The US should sponsor a UNSC resolution calling for the removal the US from Iraq and vote for it as well.
#28
Nothing says "conducive environment for elections" like suicide bombings of Iraqis by Baath torturers and virgin seeking Wahabis. Isn't there a nihilistic rebel movement in Ghana we can fund, just to help the democratic process.
Posted by: ed ||
11/05/2004 20:14 Comments ||
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#29
I think George and Tony should get together and decide the UN needs to relocate to the Seychelles or some other out-of-the-way place, and then both the US and the British pull out. The rest of the sociopaths, morons, third-world dictators, and the People's Republic of China can play all the games they want. In the meantime, the "Coalition of the Willing" can create a new alliance - one that will actually DO something - and start cleaning up the messes people like Koffing Anus and Muhammered El Bardead have created. If a few morons from the UN get toasted, so what? The United Nations has been subverted from within, and is now nothing but a laughingstock. Time to pull the plug by cutting the flow of American dollars and British pounds into the financing of this carnival of the insane.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/05/2004 21:47 Comments ||
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Amnesty International has expressed deep concern for Bangladesh's minority Muslim Ahmadiyya community. It says some Islamic groups have threatened to step up attacks on Ahmadi places of worship.
That would be the Sunnis and Shiites.
Nope. The Ahmadis are a separate group. They'll slaughter the Shiites later...
The Ahmadis, who number 100,000 in Bangladesh, do not believe Mohammed was necessarily the last prophet. Amnesty called on the government to condemn any acts of violence and to ensure members of the Ahmadiyya community were protected. "The government of Bangladesh must take decisive action against anti-Ahmadi agitators who have continued to attack members of the Ahmadiyya community," Amnesty said in a statement. "These groups have been allowed to attack Ahmadis with impunity."
Somehow, I don't think the Bangla gummint's going to react very energetically. It's not like they haven't noticed...
The group said 11 Ahmadis were seriously hurt in an attack in Brahmanbaria, 75km (47 miles) north-east of Dhaka, last Friday and that Islamist groups had threatened to carry out attacks more frequently. Amnesty called for an independent investigation into the attack in Brahmanbaria. The government could not be reached for comment on Friday.
It's weapons cleaning day...
In January, the government banned publications by the Ahmadiyya movement as a 5,000-strong rally marched to an Ahmadiyya mosque in Dhaka to denounce the movement. A home ministry statement said the ban "was imposed in view of objectionable materials in such publications that hurt or might hurt the sentiments of the majority Muslim population of Bangladesh".
"Stop complaining about people attacking you or they'll attack you for saying they attack you. They're sensitive about that kind of slander."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 9:04:10 AM ||
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The attackers are spured on and funded by the Wahabi . Anything but Wahabism is apostate and must be killed in the name of allan, this includes the Shiites.
#2
The Ahmadiyya, who, in general believe that the nasty Medinian verses of the Koran are no longer valid, are not considered as Muslim by most Sunnis.
Many Palestinians have reacted angrily to news of US President George Bush's re-election. . Well, that's just too bad. They can learn to live with the mandate of the American voters, if they don't blow themselves up first.
Is there anything they don't react to angrily?
Despite his declared vision for a viable Palestinian state thriving in peace beside Israel, most Palestinians believe Bush to be an enemy of Arabs and Muslims and a fanatic ally of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. They argue that his support of Israel's policies in the occupied Palestinian territories - including extrajudicial assassinations and home demolitions - disqualifies him as an honest peace broker between the Palestinians and Israelis. Bush's pledge to Sharon in early 2004 to support the annexation of large chunks of the West Bank effectively dried up any semblance of Palestinian optimism about his commitment to Palestinian statehood and a just and durable settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. More blather & bunk
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 4:51:20 AM ||
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#5 reality check wrote: "Just think how they are going to react when they are invited to attend Secretary of State Zell Miller's first Mideast Peace Summit"
Man, that made my day a little brighter, just thinking about it!
#9
#7 is me, guys. Didn't notice the weird name until I'd made several comments. Don't know why my own name disappeared since I'm using my home computer.
Yeesh.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/05/2004 11:55 Comments ||
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#10
Your Rantburg cookie got wiped.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/05/2004 11:56 Comments ||
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#11
Well-placed car bombs when they take to the streets.
#13
That's what I thought, #10 Tom, but it wasn't.
I'm always very careful when I'm clearing cookies to make sure Rantburg & LGF are not wiped off.
Weird.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/05/2004 19:15 Comments ||
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#14
I think it's time to make the paleostains an offer they can't refuse: "Either accept the state of Israel and learn to live in peace, or we'll help Israel wipe you from the face of the earth." I think that's clear enough for even Arafart to understand, six feet under. Set a deadline, say January 1, 2005. The plumbing business will skyrocket in the West Bank and Gaza in the next few days.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/05/2004 22:00 Comments ||
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Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak has announced his return to political life and his intention to run in the next Labor primaries. "I plan on leading the Labor party back to leading the nation", he told reporters this (Thursday) afternoon in Tel Aviv. (Labour had control before and blow it. No more.)
Barak met this morning with Labor Chairman Shimon Peres and told him about his decision. He then convened a press conference to officially announce his comeback. The former prime minister reiterated his position regarding a national unity government, by which "Labor must not only give Sharon a safety net but an iron bridge in order to ensure the disengagement plan is implemented". Barak believes Labor should try and reach an understanding with the Likud to hold early elections after the completion of the withdrawal plan.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 4:00:11 AM ||
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Barak blew it but:
1. No other Labor leader since (Mitzna, Ben Eliezer, or Peres) has done better.
2. Barak would argue that he blew it only cause of the perfidy of Yasser. But Yassers not long for the world. Labor will want to negotiate with Yassers successor. Wont Barak be a tougher negotiator than Peres or Mitzna?
#2
The problem is whom does one "negotiate" with, some demented sicko with bombs under his shirt? Not that Yasser was any better, he ordered the wave of suicide attacks (as long as the 'Camel' was only issuing orders).
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 18:12 Comments ||
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Hamid Karzai formally accepted his election as president of Afghanistan Thursday, a day after a joint U.N.-Afghan electoral board proclaimed him the victor in the October 9 vote, and said he would not condone the existence of "private militia forces" in the country. Karzai, who has been Afghanistan's interim president leading up to the popular vote, also said he would keep warlords who deal in Afghanistan's lucrative opium trade out of the government. "There will not be any private militia forces in Afghanistan, that is the first demand of the Afghan people," Karzai said. "There will definitely, definitely not be any drug money in (the government). We are going be dedicated, strong in working against that."
Wednesday's announcement of Karzai's victory came after a probe into allegations of vote fraud. Even though officials found some problems in the polling that need to be addressed, they said the problems didn't affect the results of the voting. A total of 8,128,940 votes were cast, representing 70 percent of registered voters. Of those votes, 104,404 were declared invalid. Karzai took 4,443,029 votes, 55.4 percent of the total cast. His closest challenger, Yonous Qanooni, was second with 1,306,503 votes, 16.3 percent. Sixteen other candidates ran. Karzai dismissed complaints that some of the voting fell along regional or ethnic lines, saying such a pattern was only natural, particularly in the absence of political parties. "Afghanistan has to travel many, many years before we can have the kind of vote that you experience in other countries in Europe or in America," he said. "For Afghanistan to have an election for the first time and experience such a voting, I would consider that a very national vote."
Karzai pledged his government would "respect the constitution" and serve all Afghans. "The Afghan people have voted for a government based on laws, based on institutions, and that is what we are going to provide to them -- a government based on the constitution of Afghanistan and ... that will work for strengthening of the Afghan army, the police, and other institutions of the state," he said. "We will be serving the whole of this country, each individual of this country, wherever he or she may be," Karzai said. "We are going to be in service of the whole of Afghanistan -- every corner of the country, every province of the country, every village, street, every home of Afghanistan, every individual. We are going serve them all." State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday the next steps in Afghanistan are elections for parliament and local governments, to be held late in the northern spring. Northern spring?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/05/2004 1:56:43 AM ||
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Betcha this went through an Australian editor or writer. Thus the "northern spring", which is Aussie-talk.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/05/2004 11:49 Comments ||
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Darfur - a shining example of multilateralism at work. I think the USA is correct in leaving this to the UN to see how it can handle a crisis. Remarkably bleak assesment of the situation. So far the UN multilateralists are well on their way to the biggest humanitarium dsaster of recent times.
The United Nations' special envoy to Sudan told the Security Council on Thursday that Darfur is sliding into anarchy as government and rebel forces battle over control of the territory. The U.N. official, Jan Pronk of the Netherlands, said that U.S.-supported plans to send 3,300 African troops to halt the violence in the Darfur region are inadequate and that more than twice that number is needed to restore calm.
Pronk said that the Sudanese government is losing control of the Arab militias it equipped and recruited last year to counter black rebel forces and their kin, and that the militias have killed thousands and forced more than 1.8 million from their homes. But he blamed the rebel Sudanese Liberation Army for stirring up the latest round of violence by stepping up attacks against local police and robbing Arab traders of their camels, which are vital to Arab tribes. "They are provoking the militia to attack," he said in an interview after the meeting.
Pronk appealed to the 15-nation council to increase pressure on Khartoum and Darfur's rebels to strike a political deal ending the violence at a rare council meeting in Nairobi scheduled for Nov. 18-19. The meeting is being organized by John C. Danforth, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to encourage Khartoum to sign an agreement with a separate rebel force it has been battling in another part of Sudan for more than two decades. Danforth hopes that such an accord will help lead to a peace deal in Darfur. "I am afraid the situation in Darfur may become unmanageable unless more efforts are made, both at the negotiation table and on the ground," Pronk told the council. "Darfur may easily enter a state of anarchy -- a total collapse of law and order. We may soon find that Darfur is ruled by warlords."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: phil_b ||
11/05/2004 12:49:06 AM ||
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#1
France and German need to step up to the plate.
I won't hold my breath.
#3
...the Sudanese government is losing control of the Arab militias it equipped and recruited last year to counter black rebel forces and their kin...
More like the gov't is holding its hands behind its back and staring off into space.
Dawood Ibrahim, the man labelled by the US administration a year ago as a "specially designated global terrorist", is brazenly back in business in the Pakistani port city of Karachi. Indian intelligence circles are stunned that Dawood is moving about openly in Karachi. What is more baffling is that top builders of Mumbai and other businessmen are personally calling on him regularly at his bungalow in Clifton in Karachi. Earlier, Mumbai businessmen having dealings with Dawood would fly to Dubai and from there go to Karachi on false Pakistani passports arranged by the don. But they have now done away with this clumsy procedure and are directly flying to Karachi and meeting the leader of India's biggest crime syndicate, police sources said. "We are keeping a close watch on the activities of these businessmen and will take action against them at the appropriate time," a police official told TOI on Wednesday.
What intelligence personnel find odd is that the US administration, which wields tremendous clout in the corridors of power in Islamabad, is doing precious little to act against Dawood, even though it had accused him of links with the most-feared terrorist organisation in the world, the al Qaeda of Osama bin Laden. The US has already frozen Dawood's assets in the US and has asked the member-countries of the United Nations to do likewise. But this order has apparently not made any difference to Dawood.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
11/05/2004 12:10:50 AM ||
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#1
Either we're tracking him for intel on who he's contacting/dealing with or he's turned and working for us.
PARIS - Sources close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, hospitalized near Paris, on early Friday denied he was "brain dead" and breathing only thanks to artificial life support systems, as a French medical official had said after conflicting reports as to whether he was alive or dead.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
"President Arafat is not in a coma, his state of health inspires confidence in us, he has not lost consciousness, partially or totally, and his vital organs are working normally," said Mohammed Rashid, a member of the 75-year-old leader's delegation here.
"Yeah! He always looks like that!"
He told journalists: "He does not need help from any reanimation machine and we hope that his general condition will improve in the next few hours."
"Bring out the Zionist Reanimation Machine!"
Arafat's closest adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina also denied that the Palestinian leader was brain dead. Earlier, the French official had told AFP on condition of confidentiality that in strictly technical terms, Arafat was "not dead," but he had slipped into an irreversible coma and could only be maintained in his vegetative state through ventilation machines.
As a pulmonary/critical care doc, I can tell you that just based on the news reports, the likelihood of the old buzzard surviving to discharge (a standard measure) is about 1%. Coma, mechanical ventilation and a low platelet count move you nice and high on the APACHE critical illness score.
"He's not 'dead,' y'see. He's just not... ummm... alive."
The information followed a short statement by a senior French military official who said "Mr Arafat is not dead".
"Not technically, anyway."
The Palestinian Authority president's condition was "complex," General Christian Estripeau, spokesman for the French defence forces' medical service, told reporters outside the military hospital tending to Arafat. "The patient's condition needs appropriate treatment which required his being transferred to a unit suited to his pathology on the afternoon of Wednesday November 3," he said. He refused to take questions, but said his statement had been prepared according to the wishes of Arafat's wife, Suha.
"He's been moved to a room that's closer to the morgue."
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei told reporters at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah that Arafat "is not in a coma".
"Nonsense. Comas are un-Islamic."
"There have been examinations and results are positive," he said without elaborating. "It is wrong. If the president was dead, the whole world would know," Palestinian communications minister Azzam al-Ahmed told AFP. "But it is true that he is a very critical condition," he added, nervously fixing his tie.
I think the boatman has his hand out for the coin.
French medical sources said Arafat's health suddenly and dramatically evaporated deteriorated Wednesday while he was undergoing tests to give the docs more time to figure out how to avoid giving a diagnosis determine the cause of an illness which prompted his medical evacuation to France. A French medical source said an EEG was carried out on Arafat Thursday -- itself "a sign of extreme gravity" -- and that there was no reading of any cerebral activity.
If that's true, it's over. There are very, very few reports of anyone with no cerebral activity on an EEG, intubated in an ICU, coming back to survive to discharge. Keep in mind that lower brain function (e.g., pons, medulla, brain stem) could have activity, but it won't matter.
Arafat was said to have been well enough Wednesday to welcome Bush's winning a second term, and, according to one of his aides, said he hoped for a jumpstart to the moribund Middle East peace process.
Right after which he yelled for his pills.
UPDATE: From Arabic News - Vagueness still overwhelms the fate of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat who has been in coma, according to the French medical sources which treat him at Percy military hospital in Paris. The sources explained that the state of "Brain death" precedes the death of any person that can be kept alive with the help of medical instrument in the intensive care room. One of the medical team member said that Arafat is in a deep coma of level 4. This means that he is totally unconscious, the halt of any brain activity and spontaneous breathing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2004 12:00:31 AM ||
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#1
Steve, what are the chances he can stay 'alive' for months in an ICU?
#2
Actually not so good. Intubation and mechanical ventilation could be due to a number of reasons, but most of the ones applicable here aren't conducive to survival beyond a couple weeks at the most. Anytime you're intubated for beyond a couple of days, the risks of complications (infection, barotrauma, etc) increases substantially. Plus other organ systems tend to start shutting down, complicating things even more.
It's possible to be intubated and ventilated for years -- I have patients like that. But not like this situation. If he's not dead already, he's gone soon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2004 0:40 Comments ||
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#3
Thanks Steve. That means we face the edifying prospect of a paleo election. It looks a lot like a gun battle just with more international observers.
#18
There are several factors that will influence when Arafat is declared dead.
First, under Islamic law he must be buried within 24 hours of death. There is a lot of negotiation going on re: where he will be buried.
Second, under Palestinian law an election must be held within 60 days of his death. Since he deliberately scuttled any succession planning, and no election mechanisms, officials or processes are in place, officials will want to hold off announcing his death as long as possible while they form cliques, negotiate with one another behind closed doors and figure out how to run an election.
I suspect there is strong pent-up demand for elections, given that he has postponed them for 8 yrs via declarations of emergency. Add in the Hamas, Hizbollah and PFLP guys ready to launch terror attacks to gain street cred, and it will be very chaotic and dangerous indeed.
#25
Arafat is just finally completing the corruption he pursued all his life. Neither alive nor dead, this fiendish enity of evil is now simply UNDEAD.
#27
"surviving to discharge (a standard measure) is about 1%. Coma, mechanical ventilation"
Damn. I hope Arafat is gone for good. And this comes from someone who WAS in a coma and on mechanical ventilation last year. (I had so many chest xrays, I was my own nightlight for months after I got out)
Posted by: Dave ||
11/05/2004 13:16 Comments ||
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#31
[span class=SoccerMom]
tu3031, stop pestering me while I'm driving or I'll pull this minivan over and give you such a thrashing! I'm warning you, young man, I'm serious! Don't make me do it!
[/span]
Posted by: Mike ||
11/05/2004 15:03 Comments ||
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This just in: The latest statement by hospital spokesman, General Christian Estripeau, gave little away to the growing band of media assembled outside the gates.
"The state of health of the President Yasser Arafat has not deteriorated," he said. "It is considered as stable compared to the last bulletin we issued. Thank you very much."
"He can't get any deader"
Posted by: Steve ||
11/05/2004 15:27 Comments ||
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#35
"'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-ARAFAT!!"
Yeah, I know, I've been beating it into the ground. But it's still very, very relevant to the situation.
#38
Why have we not heard from our Fearless Newz Leader Dan Rather? If Arafat was a frog with side pockets, he would be packing a handgun, or something like that. Just throwing out these ideas for discussion.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/05/2004 16:01 Comments ||
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#39
"Bring out the Zionist Reanimation Machine!"
"Look out! They're gonna turn him into a Golem!"
"Keep your shirt on Charlie... They can't do that. He's not Kosher, for one thing."
"Oh!... Yeah... You're right, I feel much better. Can't think what I was worried about."
"You see... now, maybe a zombie. Anybody got any kettledrums?"
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
11/05/2004 16:31 Comments ||
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#40
--âThere have been examinations and results are positive,â ---
#41
Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday that Arafat died in hospital. "[He] passed away 15 minutes ago," Juncker told reporters on arrival at a European Union summit in Brussels when asked what he knew about Arafat's condition.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 21:35 Comments ||
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#43
Do we have the GPS coordinates for some Tomahawk "surgery"? We can blame it on the French, saying we gave them one to test. The Arab Street is so stupid, they'd probably believe it. No matter what happens, no matter when he "dies", half the paleos will accuse Israel of killing him.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/05/2004 22:09 Comments ||
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#44
Remember the bit about the 72 hours after he died, we are still in the cycle if my Israeli sources are correct.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/05/2004 22:25 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
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
Australia's leading spy agency has admitted it failed to respond to a call from a terrorist who offered to reveal all about his links to terror group al-Qaeda and his terror training in Afghanistan. The man was West Australian 
Cabinet ministers also discussed on Friday the controversial El Tawheed mosque in Amsterdam, where the suspected killer of Van Gogh, 26-year-old Dutch Moroccan Mohammed B., regularly attended. No decision was taken about the mosque. 
The French president has decided to leave an EU summit just before a meeting with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Mr Allawi is due to join EU leaders as guest of honour at the summit lunch in the Belgian capital. But Jacques Chirac, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, says he has prior engagements and will not attend.
GEORGE Bush yesterday offered an olive branch to hostile European leaders — but was snubbed by the French President. ...But French President Jacques Chirac — dubbed Le Worm — was doing his best to scupper bridge-building. He will snub a meeting with Iraqi PM Iyad Allawi in Brussels today. It is a sleight aimed at Mr Bush and Tony Blair, who back Mr Allawi.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has warned that violence in the country's south could get worse. Mr Thaksin said suspected Muslim separatists wanted to provoke the government into over-reacting. "I am convinced that the violence will be intensified... since the militants want to tempt the government to get angry," he said. 
Ramallah, West Bank - Suha Arafat, the once estranged but loyal wife of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat who has incited anger for her extravagant lifestyle abroad, has rarely left her husband's side since his transfer for medical treatment in Paris.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq that new military campaigns in Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds could jeopardize upcoming elections, according to a letter obtained Friday. In the letter dated Oct. 31, Annan told American, British and Iraqi leaders that the United Nations wants to help prepare for the elections, scheduled for the end of January, but fears a rise in violence could disrupt the process. "I have in mind not only the risk of increased insurgent violence, but also reports of major military offensives being planned by the multinational force in key localities such as Fallujah," Annan wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press. 
Dawood Ibrahim, the man labelled by the US administration a year ago as a "specially designated global terrorist", is brazenly back in business in the Pakistani port city of Karachi. Indian intelligence circles are stunned that Dawood is moving about openly in Karachi. What is more baffling is that top builders of Mumbai and other businessmen are personally calling on him regularly at his bungalow in Clifton in Karachi. Earlier, Mumbai businessmen having dealings with Dawood would fly to Dubai and from there go to Karachi on false Pakistani passports arranged by the don. But they have now done away with this clumsy procedure and are directly flying to Karachi and meeting the leader of India's biggest crime syndicate, police sources said. "We are keeping a close watch on the activities of these businessmen and will take action against them at the appropriate time," a police official told TOI on Wednesday. 
PARIS - Sources close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, hospitalized near Paris, on early Friday denied he was "brain dead" and breathing only thanks to artificial life support systems, as a French medical official had said after conflicting reports as to whether he was alive or dead. 
