A Saudi Arabian man recognised a suicide bomber in an Al Qaeda video of an attack in Iraq as his half-brother, according to a report Sunday by the Saudi daily Al Watan. Abu Abeida Al Najdi, who was from the city of Zulfi, northeast of Riyadh, appeared in a video purported to be an Al Qaeda attack on a US military patrol in Baghdad April 29, 2005, the alleged half brother, who was identified only as N.A., told the daily. The man said that Al Najdi, which is a nickname, was his younger half-brother whom the family last saw in November 2004 when he said that he had work to do in the capital.
I think "Najdi" is Arabic for "flying meat."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 00:13 ||
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Just days before the Nov 29 carnage on two court premises, the government gave consent to release a fund of about Tk 2 crore to the Bangladesh branch of a Kuwaiti non-governmental organisation (NGO), Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), which is at the top of the list of suspected donors to Islamic militants in the country.
The funds are for training imams, and for building mosques and madrasas, said sources in the Bureau of NGO Affairs.
Earlier an intelligence report suggested the government to ban the RIHS, and suspected Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (Ahab) of channelling the NGO's funds to the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
According to the US Treasury Department's web site, as part of the US government's financial war on terror it added the RIHS to its list of "Specially Designated Global Terrorists", in January 2002. In addition, the group's directors were added to the terrorist list.
The same organisation was also added to the "Terrorist Exclusion List" of the US government. Any person known to have association with a listed organisation such as the RIHS is currently barred from entering the US.
According to Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) sources however, RIHS started distributing the freshly released fund on Nov 29 among its contractors. It is being disbursed through bearer cheques instead of account payee ones, which makes it easier for just about anyone bearing the cheques to withdraw money from the bank. Observers fear that the process of disbursement may make it easier for the militants to channel fund for their activities.
Among the contractors are some associates of the arrested militant leader Asadullah Al Galib and his second-in-command Abdus Samad Salafi, said a reliable source.
The fund was released after RIHS' regional director general for Asia, Abu Khaled Falah Al Mutairee and its country director general, Abdul Aziz Khalaf Maalullah, both Kuwaiti citizens, lobbied the government till Nov 25 during their six-day visit to Bangladesh, said sources.
Staying in a Banani guesthouse and maintaining secrecy, they met high-ranking leaders of the ruling alliance, leaders of Ahab, and some officials of the Kuwait Embassy, NGO bureau, and of several other Middle Eastern NGOs.
NGO bureau sources said the Kuwaiti officials visited the country with the government's consent and they wanted to know the government's stance on the RIHS.
They convinced the government to release the fund that had been remitted from Kuwait as the RIHS supposedly has to pay its unpaid bills of Tk 12 crore accrued since 2003 for training Imams, constructing mosques and madrasas, and for installing tube-wells in the country.
The government never even conducted any spot-investigation of these projects, said a source.
Release of RIHS funds was suspended after the arrests of Galib, and Samad Salafi in February following investigation reports revealing links among escalating Islamic militant violence in the country, RIHS constructed mosques, and the Imams trained by the NGO.
The Dayee and Imam (Daoa) division of the RIHS and the Higher Islamic Education Institute run by it at Uttara in Dhaka were also shut down by the government three months ago.
In July however, funds for different orphanages under the organisation were released on humanitarian grounds.
Several days ago the NGO bureau following government's nod sent its clearance to the Rajlaxmi Market branch of IBBL at Uttara to release the fund of Tk 2 crore against RIHS' savings account.
However, NGO bureau Director General CQK Mustak Ahmed told The Daily Star on Thursday that the government never stopped funds of any NGO on allegations of terror financing. He also said he did not have information about any NGO funding militant activities.
But bank sources told The Daily Star over phone that about Tk 15 lakh from the fund has already been disbursed through a large number of bearer cheques since November 29. âLarge number of cheques for small amounts are coming in everyday", said an IBBL official.
Regarding the contractors of the RIHS, sources said among over 30 listed contractors, most did not get contracts while a few chosen by Galib and Samad Salafi used to get contracts involving large amounts of money.
If the ones without blessings from the top two Ahab bosses would get any contract at all, it would never be for more than Tk 1 lakh while Galib's man Nurul Islam, general secretary of Ahab, got the contract for construction of Gazipur Ahab School near the Ahab orphanage involving Tk 90 lakh. He was arrested along with Galib, but his cheques will be given to a person authorised by him, said sources.
Galib also used to get RIHS contracts through his nephew (sister's son) Badrul Alam of Satkhira. Badrul's elder brother Sadrul Alam was arrested in connection with the August 17 blasts in Chittagong.
For Samad Salafi, his son-in-law Azizul Bari Mintu, chairman of Nashipur Union Parishad under Gabtali upazila in Bogra, Akmal Hussain of Chapainawabganj and Ahab leader Moffakker Hossain used to get RIHS contracts.
Sources said Mintu used to lobby the BNP high-ups for Ahab and RIHS as he had developed relations with them because of his chairmanship of Nashipur, the home union of BNP's founder also former president of the country late Ziaur Rahman.
The RIHS and Muslim Aid however, in two separate rejoinders to The Daily Star report dated November 26 and headlined "Terror Financing NGOs Remain Unscathed", denied allegations of their links with Islamist militants. The rejoinder termed the report as false, baseless and motivated.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 01:05 ||
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That should be "Bangladesh FUNDS terror donor," my bad ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 1:07 Comments ||
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South Korea will soon contact the North and the United States to ensure progress can be achieved when six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program resume in the near future, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said. South Korea is concerned about a new wave of tension arising between North Korea and the United States over allegations that the communist state produced fake U.S. currency.
âWhat we should do now is to prevent relations between Washington and Pyongyang from worsening," Song said upon arrival at Incheon International Airport Saturday after a two-day visit to Beijing. Song, who serves as South Korea's chief envoy to the sixnation talks, said he also planned to contact other members of the six-party talks to âfine-tune the agenda and date" for the next talks. In Beijing, Song met Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei but declined to discuss any details. He said North Korea and the United States should meet in whatever format was useful to resolve the dispute.
Tension flared anew this past week after Pyongyang condemned Washington over U.S. financial sanctions against firms suspected of counterfeiting and money-laundering on behalf of North Korea. On Friday, the communist state accused the United States of breaking its promise - allegedly made at the latest round of six-nation nuclear talks in Beijing - to hold "negotiations" on the sanctions issue by offering to give only a "briefing." The North warned the issue can affect the nuclear talks.
Washington has rejected the claim, saying it has "never offered to engage in negotiations with North Korea." The lead U.S. nuclear negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, said in an interview with the Associated Press that Washington imposed the sanctions as part of its legitimate right to defend its currency and it is "not prepared to negotiate that."
The nuclear talks, launched in 2003, involve China, the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia. Their fifth and latest session took a recess in November with no signs of progress on how the North would disarm and what it would get in return.
At the fourth session in September, the communist state agreed to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for aid and security assurances, but it quickly backpedaled that pledge by demanding it be provided with a civilian nuclear reactor before disarming. Now, the North is demanding that the United States drop economic sanctions imposed because of alleged counterfeiting and money laundering on behalf of North Korea.
North Korea has urged the United States to lift financial sanctions against the communist state, saying such a move is a prerequisite to progress in sixparty talks to end its nuclear weapons drive. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, quoted early Saturday by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, warned the country would take "all corresponding self-defense measures" should Washington fail to comply.
TOKYO: Japan is thinking of signing a pact with the United States to help keep classified defence information from either country from leaking to a third party, a Japanese news report said on Sunday. Tokyo will consider signing a âgeneral security of military information agreementâ as part of a continuing effort to enhance the two countriesâ security alliance, Kyodo News agency said, quoting unidentified Japanese government sources. The pact would cover defence technology data as well as information obtained through intelligence operations, Kyodo said. It would allow the two countries to exchange more highly confidential information and promote their defence cooperation, the agency said.
It said the United States already has similar pact with about 60 countries including Britain, France and other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO. Currently, Japan and the United States usually exchange memorandums each time Tokyo receives US defence technology information, Kyodo said. Japan hosts about 50,000 US military personnel, most based on the southern island of Okinawa. Calls to the Defence Agency were not immediately returned.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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Now sure why Japan would bother with it at all. We permit the Chinese Communists to come here for employment by the thousands, gain security clearances, DoD employment, etc. Whats left to hide?
SEOUL - North Korea on Sunday demanded the United States withdraw its troops from South Korea, in a renewed campaign by the Stalinist state to drive a wedge in the US-South Korean alliance. âThis is a leftover of the Cold War era, the era of North-South confrontation,â Rodong Sinmun, the Northâs key mouthpiece and ruling communist party newspaper, said in a Sunday dispatch monitored here.
That's technically correct, it is indeed a leftover of the Cold War. Wonder why?
âThe US should get rid of its old conception of the Cold War era and make a bold decision to withdraw its troops from South Korea without delay as required by the times and aspired by all the Koreans.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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MEN suspected of terrible war crimes remain free in Australia for years while other asylum seekers are being locked up or fast-tracked out of the country.
One of Saddam Hussein's former bodyguards, Oday Adnan al-Tikriti, has been given temporary refuge here after at first being rejected by the Immigration Department, which found he had committed crimes against humanity.
At least 30 other men seeking asylum in Australia have been refused visas over the past 10 years on grounds that they were war criminals or had committed crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and terrorist acts, an Age investigation has found. They are able to remain in the country because of a painfully slow appeals process.
Saddam's personal bodyguard was refused a visa when he arrived because of suspected crimes against humanity. He is now living freely in Adelaide after this decision was overturned on appeal, which put doubt on the accuracy of his original interview with immigration.
Mr Tikriti, 38, a member of Saddam's family, rose to the rank of major in the former dictator's personal security force. He once worked for Saddam's notorious son Qusay, running a unit that tracked and captured dissidents. He is now married to an Australian doctor.
One seriously disturbed Australian doctor.
Not one of the men refused visas has been prosecuted under the 17-year-old Crimes (Torture) Act, which allows people "present in Australia" to be charged over foreign atrocities. They cannot be charged under laws passed three years ago especially targeting war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide because their crimes were committed before the laws were introduced.
Several have been living freely in Australia for years as they wait for the appeals system to grind towards a final decision. In the past five years one man was "returned" to Iran and another to Pakistan. Nine left the country voluntarily. But there is no evidence that any found to be war criminals by Australian authorities have had to stand trial overseas.
The Federal Government is "pushing the problem under the carpet or foisting it off to somewhere else", said Graham Blewitt, a former international war crimes prosecutor.
The Age investigation has found more than 30 published cases of men, living in Australia and seeking asylum, appealing to the courts after Immigration case workers denied them protection visas on the grounds of "serious reasons to consider" that they had committed war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 12:17 ||
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Employees set up clandestine prayer areas on the grounds of the Euro Disney resort. Workers for a cargo company at Charles de Gaulle airport praise the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A Brinks technician is charged with pulling off a million-dollar heist for a Moroccan terrorist group allegedly led by his brother. Female converts to Islam operate a day care center that authorities eventually shut down because of its religious radicalism.
"Awright, kiddies! Today we're gonna make bombs! Jamal, you can be the shaheed!"
As France grapples with the rise of Islamic extremism abroad and at home, these are snapshots of what might be an emerging trend: radical Islam in the private sector.
As opposed to government sanctioned terrorism...
The line between legitimate religious expression and extremist subversion can be blurry.
I'd say the line's right there, when they start hollering about killing infidels. You're approaching it when they're takfir'ing people â calling them apostates, heretics, and that sort of thing. You've crossed the line when the explosives come out. Are those real subtle distinctions in La Belle France?
But a recent study by a think tank here paints a picture of rising fundamentalism in the workplace, ranging from proselytizing to pressure tactics to criminal activities. In companies such as supermarket chains in immigrant-heavy areas, for instance, militant recruiters cause workplace tensions by imposing fundamentalist ideas on co-workers and pressuring managers to boycott certain products, the study says.
What they've been doing for years, unmolested, has been to set up their own caliphate in parallel with the gummint. As yet there's no caliph, no grand vizier, no dancing girls, but there are lots of little viziers â they're called imams, mostly â running around preparing the way. You heard read it here first.
On a more sinister level, the study asserts that Islamic networks are trying to establish a presence in companies involved in sectors such as security, cargo, armored cars, courier services and transportation. Once they gain a foothold, operatives raise funds for militants via theft, embezzlement and robbery, the study says. ''Parallel to these sect-like risks, the spread of criminal practices has been detected in the heart of companies [with] two goals: crime using Islam as a pretext; and in addition, local financing of terrorism," concludes the study by the Center for Intelligence Research in Paris.
The report was issued before the riots last month that spread arson and violence nationwide and focused attention on France's immigrant neighborhoods, which are predominantly Muslim. Although intelligence officials detected only a few cases of extremists inciting unrest, authorities worry that the tense urban climate strengthens the hand of hard-core Islamic networks.
The extremists didn't have to incite the unrest. They've long since done that. The riots were a show of strength by the parallel state.
French antiterror officials agree with some of the findings of the study of the private sector, although they say parts of the report exaggerate or simplify a complex issue.
Oh, yasss! It's all shades of gray, isn't it?
In any case, the concern is justified in a wider context, officials say: Extremism is rising in France, home of Europe's largest Muslim community, and intertwining with a foreign threat.
There are two Frances: one is Omnes Gallia, in tres partes divisa est, and the other is the caliphate-in-waiting. The former tries not to bother the latter because Charles Martel is dead, and the latter feeds off the former.
Recent arrests reveal that France has been targeted by an alliance teaming Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, with an Algerian-dominated network, said a senior French law enforcement official, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
Zark is also the leader of al-Qaeda in Europe. I do hope the Frenchies have noticed that by now...
Zarqawi operatives in Lebanon taught bomb-making to accused militants from the network who were arrested here, including French converts, the official said.
Those are the new janissaries. When they're a little stronger they'll start taking the ethic French kiddies to train them up to be shaheeds.
That underscores a development on the home front: a ''significant increase" in converts, including women, said a French intelligence official who also asked not to be identified. In the northwestern Paris suburb of Argenteuil, female converts helped set up an unlicensed day-care center for a dozen children at an apartment in a housing project. Last year, after intelligence officials determined that the center was run with an aggressively fundamentalist philosophy, authorities shut it down.
Whereupon it probably reopened a block away with a new name and maybe some new staff...
Conversions also result from militant recruiting in workplaces, according to the think tank report, which is based on a survey of corporate executives, private security officials and law enforcement experts. The author, Eric Denece, acknowledged that the issue was complex. ''The focus on the private sector is new because law enforcement does not work on it much -- they have other concerns," Denece said. ''But also, company executives have not wanted to talk about this sensitive subject. Some were concerned about being called racists." Denece's study cites a case examined in 2004 by Renseignements Generaux, the domestic intelligence agency, involving the discovery of what it called ''about 10 clandestine prayer rooms" on the grounds of Euro Disney. Denece also alleges that fundamentalists were detected in the resort's security force, but a spokesman for Euro Disney said that claim was inaccurate. As for the prayer areas, spokesman Pieter Boterman said the company resolved that issue. ''During Ramadan, they took a few minutes to pray somewhere. We made it clear that we thought the work floor was not the place to express your personal religion."
In other words, they told them not to do it where they could be seen by the public. I'm trying to figure how that did away with the clandestine prayer rooms, unless the company ended up officially designating prayer rooms, which thereupon became not clandestine by definition.
There are a few clear-cut examples of alleged infiltration of companies. Last year, police investigated a heist at the Brinks Co. that allegedly was engineered by an operative of a Moroccan terror network that has been implicated in the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Hassan Baouchi, who was 23 at the time, worked as a technician stocking automated teller machines; his brother, Mustafa, was a veteran of two stints in Al Qaeda's Afghan camps and an alleged leader of the network. In March 2004, Hassan Baouchi claimed that stick-up men had waylaid him during his rounds north of the capital and stole about $1.2 million. He awaits trial on charges of faking the robbery in cahoots with a gang of known jihadis. About $40,000 later turned up on a fugitive captured in Algeria. ''That's a real concrete example of terrorist financing," said the senior law enforcement official.
Didn't cause my surprise meter to twitch one little bit.
The report also describes a case in which police investigated a cargo company at Charles de Gaulle International Airport with about 3,000 employees. Managers complained that a small group of radicals had tried to gain influence by preaching to co-workers and threatening repeated strikes. Some of the activists ''expressed satisfaction" with the Sept. 11 attacks, the report says.
My guess is that same same guys are still there, still doing the same things.
Nonetheless, demographics and perception make the debate difficult. As the report points out, Muslim employees in France are starting to organize along religious and ethnic lines rather than following the lead of traditional leftist unions. Management sometimes might allege extremism when workers are finding new ways to defend their interests.
Or looking for new ways to undermine the state.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 01:09 ||
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Doesn't this headline deserve a "Master of the Obvious" picture?
#2
Hmmm...unless we put the lid on the Muslim menace, every large city in Western Civilization will have a giant, Saudi financed mosque in a strategic downtown location. A single Muslim on a jury trial, where a Muslim is being tried for a crime that is not recognized by Shariah codes, will mean a hung jury. Prayer break demands will bankrupt certain companies. Can't wait (for the counter-reaction).
#3
IJMHO, but I don't think France will survive. I don't see how they can. They don't have the will or means to stop it in time. Might as well move or convert now.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, the US Secretary of State, will try to dismiss mounting concern over alleged CIA human rights abuses in Europe when she embarks on a four-day tour of the Continent today.
Allegations have been multiplying almost daily that the CIA has operated secret prisons in Eastern Europe and covertly abducted and transported alleged terrorists through Europe. The claims have provoked demands for a response from the US Government.
It is alleged that the CIA runs a secret global abduction and internment operation of suspected terrorists, known as âextraordinary renditionâ, which since 2001 has captured about 3,000 people and transported them around the world.
Dr Rice will give a robust defence of Americaâs actions in response to terrorism. She will tell European leaders that the US does not fly prisoners around the world to be tortured, and that it has respected the sovereignty of all the countries that it has dealt with.
The US Government has so far refused to comment, insisting that it is a matter for national security, which has only fuelled speculation.
During the trip to Germany, Belgium, Romania and the Ukraine, Dr Rice is expected to give a formal response to an official request by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, on behalf of EU governments, that the US answer the allegations.
Stephen Hadley, President Bushâs National Security Adviser, told Fox News yesterday: âShe is going to be addressing these issues in a comprehensive way. One of the things she will be saying is âlook, we are all threatened by terror. We need to co-operate on its solutionâ.
âAs part of that co-operation, for our part, we comply with US law. We respect the sovereignty of the countries with which we deal and we do not move people around the world so that they can be tortured.â
Mr Hadley told CNN that Dr Rice would not comment on specific CIA operations. âObviously if there are these types of intelligence operation going on, they are the kinds of thing that one cannot talk about. Why? Because the information would help the enemy.â
About a dozen European governments have launched internal investigations into allegations that the CIA used their airports covertly to move terrorist suspects around the world, including to and from the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Der Spiegel reports that the CIA has made 437 flights through German airspace â some using German airports â in the past two years.
The CIA is alleged to have made secret flights through Britain, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Denmark, the Irish Republic and other EU countries. Eight European governments have demanded a response from the US. The Council of Europe, an intergovernmental human rights group, has begun an investigation.
Legal advice sought by an all-party parliamentary group, which meets for the first time today, concluded that the British Government would be guilty of breaking international law if it allowed secret flights to use UK airports, it was reported last night. Academics from New York University said: âA state which aids or assists another state in the commission of an internationally wrongful act by the latter is internationally responsible for doing so.â
The British Government has insisted that there is nothing wrong with the CIA flying planes through British airspace, and admits that it does not know or ask whether there are any prisoners on the flights.
According to The Washington Post, the US Government has pressed Berlin not to complain about the CIAâs wrongful alleged kidnapping and imprisonment of Khaled Masri, a German who says he was abducted in Macedonia and tortured at a US base in Afghanistan.
Despite the controversy, the US State Department believes that there is little appetite among European governments to take on the US over its tactics in the war on terror.
FLIGHTS UNDER SCRUTINY
Germany 437 CIA flights landed or crossed airspace, according to Der Spiegel
France 2 jets carrying suspects to Guantanamo Bay apparently used airports
Britain 210 flights alleged to have used British airports
Portugal 34 CIA flights reported landed; has asked for clarification from US
Italy 17 secret CIA flights landed between July 2002 and May 2005, according to Corriere della Sera
Spain 10 CIA flights alleged to have landed in Tenerife and Majorca
Iceland 67 CIA flights alleged to have landed since 2001; has demanded an explanation from US
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 00:08 ||
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there is little appetite among European governments to take on the US over its tactics in the war on terror
There is that one judge in Spain however.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/05/2005 6:33 Comments ||
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#2
Hello Hans, you angry enough to keep your BMWs out of those dirty American hands? I know I am more than angry enough to place 100% tariffs on German, French, etc. imports. The next time an attack on the US is launched from Hamburg, then the USAF should revisit Hamburg 1944. US troops and trade out of the Weasels. Keep those billions and factories at home. Consider it Americas Kyoto gift to you assholes.
Posted by: ed ||
12/05/2005 9:08 Comments ||
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#3
The article quotes CNN and Der Spiegel. Like either of those two news groups are relavent anymore. The list of countries is interesting though. I think what it really reveals is that publicly all those countries chant aint US crap. Behind closed doors they are supporting our war, or at least at the operational level they are.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/05/2005 9:17 Comments ||
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#4
I still call bullshit. Prove it you socialsit dicks. "Un-named sources" ain't proof. Names, locations, documents (real, not fake) and photos. Otherwise, we will sit by and watch your coming takeover by the Islamists with glee, then nuke your asses.
#5
Why set up prisons in Eastern Europe when the threat of sending them to Israel would get the job done and the Israeli's would be willing to help. Doesn't make sense.
-- We cannot discuss information that would compromise the success of intelligence, law enforcement, and military operations. We expect that other nations share this view.
Some governments choose to cooperate with the United States in intelligence, law enforcement, or military matters. That cooperation is a two-way street. We share intelligence that has helped protect European countries from attack, helping save European lives.
It is up to those governments and their citizens to decide if they wish to work with us to prevent terrorist attacks against their own country or other countries, and decide how much sensitive information they can make public. They have a sovereign right to make that choice.
Debate in and among democracies is natural and healthy. I hope that that debate also includes a healthy regard for the responsibilities of governments to protect their citizens.
#8
The Left > "CIA Abuses" > unconfirmed acts of TORTURE automat = #'s of CIA AIRCRAFT FLIGHTS; just as "WMDS" = "NUKES", but not Sarin, Mustard Gas, BioWar, or a few tons of enriched uranium, and even though the Lefties don't say the term "NUKES" on the MSM. AS PER USUAL, ITS THE VOTER'S/MAINSTREAM'S FAULT THE LEFTIES DIDN'T AND DON'T AND WON'T USE THE TERM "NUKES" - you know, REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY and anti-propanganda Secular Moralism.
AMSTERDAM: Fourteen men accused of belonging to a radical Muslim terrorist group, including the convicted killer of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, go on trial today at Amsterdamâs high security court.
Although the Netherlands has not been hit by a terrorist attack since the late 1970s, ...
... until Mr. van Gogh was whacked ...
... the murder of the outspoken critic of Islam and the subsequent arrests of members of the so-called Hofstad group have heightened fears that the country is a target for Islamic terrorists. However, prosecutors have already suffered setbacks, being forced to drop charges the group was specifically planning to kill several Dutch politicians, and losing a similar case against another accused terrorist.
Prosecutor Koos Plooy has admitted that they have insufficient evidence to proceed with charges the group was planning specific attacks, but said that its âradical coreâ had a âcommon aim to strike fear in the hearts of the Dutch and disrupt the democratic structuresâ through attacks. The prosecution alleges that 27-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri, convicted to life in prison for murdering Van Gogh, was a leading member of the Hofstad group. Despite the fact that he already has the maximum sentence given in the Netherlands, the prosecution also wants Bouyeri to appear in the Hofstad group trial because if his alleged key role.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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The darling of the anti-war left may be working overtime to bring down the Bush administration for "outing" his CIA wife, but Wilson said Saturday that the White House was right to go to war over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
"There was a lot of reason to be concerned about weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein," he told WABC Radio's Mark Simone. "I always thought that he probably had chemical and biological weapons and biological precursors as well." Wilson said his primary policy difference with President Bush wasn't over Saddam's WMDs, but rather on the question of "how to construct a policy that gets to the national security issue of disarming Saddam Hussein and does so at minimum risk to other legitimate U.S. interests both in Iraq and in the region."
He'd prefer the State Department and United Nations had teaparties to discuss the problem till Saddam died of old age.
But aside from that, Wilson said he cheered President Bush's decision to topple the Iraqi dictator, telling Simone: "When the president went up to the U.N. and got the [war] resolution unanimously passed at the U.N., nobody applauded louder than I did."
Posted by: Steve ||
12/05/2005 10:17 ||
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Sounds to me like old Joe want a seat in a Hillary administration.
Posted by: Scott R ||
12/05/2005 10:59 Comments ||
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#2
Joe Wilson's the king of the assholes. And his wife is probably pretty shifty too. There, I said it.
Posted by: Robert Novak ||
12/05/2005 11:01 Comments ||
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#3
ROFLMAO.
Posted by: Evil Elvis ||
12/05/2005 11:50 Comments ||
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#4
So...does this get me off the hook?
Posted by: Walter Pincus ||
12/05/2005 12:34 Comments ||
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#5
[span class=moonbat]
Damn you, Joe Wilson, you traitor! How much did Rove pay you to say that?
[/span]
Posted by: Mike ||
12/05/2005 12:45 Comments ||
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#6
It's disgusting to see liberals try to play both sides of the argument. They vote for the war because that was fasionable at the time, we wanted blood.
Now, they say they were fooled by Bush, the evil mastermind. But he's a dumbass too, so which is he a nefarious mastermind, or a dumbass??? Only a liberal could say for sure.
#7
Wilson said his primary policy difference with President Bush wasn't over Saddam's WMDs, but rather on the question of "how to construct a policy that gets to the national security issue of disarming Saddam Hussein and does so at minimum risk to other legitimate U.S. interests both in Iraq and in the region."
I forget... How many votes for president did Joe get?
2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was heckled by a crowd of high school and college-age students in her hometown of Chicago yesterday, with ABC News reporting that security guards eventually "dragged some of the protesters out of the auditorium."
The former first lady was onstage only a few seconds when the crowd erupted with shouts of "Troops out now! Troops out now!" As anti-war leaflets poured from one balcony, umbrellas were unfurled from another displaying the message "Out of Iraq."
There's your parties base, Hillary. Have a nice primary season. Snicker.
Mrs. Clinton initially tried to bargain with her critics, pleading, "Give me a chance and I'll address that if you'll then be quiet." But as the heckling continued, security guards pounced on at least two protesters and dragged them away.
After delivering her prepared remarks, Mrs. Clinton returned to the subject of Iraq. "I disagree with those who believe we should immediately pull out," she told the crowd. "And I disagree with those who say we should stay there forever." Then, looking pained and closing her eyes briefly, the former first lady said: "It would be wonderful if we could turn the clock back â but we cannot."
The new far-left doesn't want to hear that. We all know you can't agree with them and stand a ghost of a chance of being elected, but they demand purity in thought, word and deed. You've lost control.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/05/2005 10:02 ||
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#1
Shocking, just shocking! Wait till she get's to San Francisco!
#2
Then, looking pained and closing her eyes briefly, the former first lady said: "It would be wonderful if we could turn the clock back â but we cannot."
Somebody send her an "I &hearts Saddam Hussein" t-shirt.
The Donks probably thought they could unchain the tiger of the Angry Left and ride it to victory in 2002 and 2004. They lost both times-- and now they can't get off the tiger because it will eat them alive.
Life's tough...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/05/2005 10:32 Comments ||
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#4
Bring them to me! I will crush their skulls between my massive thighs!
Posted by: Eric Idle ||
12/05/2005 11:24 Comments ||
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#8
Ooh! What a liar!
Posted by: Dennis the Peasant ||
12/05/2005 12:00 Comments ||
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#9
Just shut up, Dennis.
Posted by: Roger Simon ||
12/05/2005 12:19 Comments ||
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#10
Mrs. Clinton initially tried to bargain with her critics, pleading, "Give me a chance and I'll address that if you'll then be quiet." But as the heckling continued, security guards pounced on at least two protesters and dragged them away.
Even Mao had to turn on his Red Guard when it starting eating its own. The longer Hillery and the party apparatchik tolerate these radical left wing fanatics for their useful purposes the harder it will be to retain and retake control before the entire dirty bag of them go over the cliff. The danger is that it is likely they'll drag the rest of us with them. However, the lust for power does that to people.
#12
Proof positive that you can't have it both ways. Ha! Ha!
I love it! I hope it's a six way dogfight for the dem candidate in 08. This is going to be great! I can hardly wait.
Members of a civilian border patrol gathered on a street corner outside a Phoenix home improvement store in hopes of deterring people from hiring the illegal immigrants who gather nearby. Volunteers of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps' Phoenix chapter carried cameras so they could document the hirings and plan to turn over their photographs to federal authorities.
Federal law prohibits people from knowingly hiring the thousands of immigrants who sneak across the border each year. Arizona is the busiest illegal entry corridor along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. We're Number One!
During the past three weeks, group members have stood near the home improvement store in eastern Phoenix. Other Minuteman chapters have adopted similar tactics in recent weeks in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Indianapolis and other cities across the United States.
In Phoenix, some motorists passing by cheered in support of the volunteers, while others with Sonora plates and I vote Democratic stickers shouted and made obscene gestures.
Phoenix chapter leader Stacey O'Connell said the group's efforts near the store have been effective in deterring illegal hirings.
#1
Up here, the Home Depot on Hamilton Ave. is a gold mine. There's a substantial number of mojados hanging out at the main entrance, especially on weekdays.
Dean: US Won't Win in Iraq Saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.
There's his first idiocy: the Democrats coming together on anything?
Dean made his comments in an interview on WOAI Radio in San Antonio. "I've seen this before in my life. This is the same situation we had in Vietnam. Everybody then kept saying, 'just another year, just stay the course, we'll have a victory.' Well, we didn't have a victory, and this policy cost the lives of an additional 25,000 troops because we were too stubborn to recognize what was happening."
Dean says the Democratic position on the war is 'coalescing,' and is likely to include several proposals. "I think we need a strategic redeployment over a period of two years," military expert Dean said. "Bring the 80,000 National Guard and Reserve troops home immediately. They don't belong in a conflict like this anyway. They need to be ready to protect our baby ducks and other waterfowl. We ought to have a redeployment to Afghanistan of 20,000 troops, we don't have enough troops to do the job there and its a place where we are welcome.
So Bush is wrong for keeping troops in Iraq too long and wrong for not keeping troops in Afghanistan long enough, even though when we had more troops in Afghanistan the Dems were against it, and the troops we have in Afghanistan now are sufficient to do the necessary work.
And we need a force in the Middle East, not in Iraq but in a friendly neighboring country to fight (terrorist leader Musab) Zarqawi, who came to Iraq after this invasion. We've got to get the target off the backs of American troops. My choice for the neighboring country would be Syria.
Your choice, my choice, all our choices would be wrong; whichever country you picked Howlin' Howard would be upset.
Dean didn't specify which country the US forces would deploy to, ...
... see above ...
... but he said he would like to see the entire process completed within two years. He said the Democratic proposal is not a 'withdrawal,' but rather a 'strategic redeployment' of U.S. forces. "The White House wants us to have a permanent commitment to Iraq. This is an Iraqi problem. President Bush got rid of Saddam Hussein and that was a great thing, but that could have been done in a very different way. But now that we're there we need to figure out how to leave. 80% of Iraqis want us to leave, and it's their country."
80% of Iraqis want us to leave when the job is done; 80% also understand if we leave too quickly there will be a civil war.
Dean also compared the controversy over pre-war intelligence to the Watergate scandal which brought down Richard Nixon's presidency in 1974. "What we see today is very much like what was going in Watergate," Dean said. "It turns out there is a lot of good evidence that President Bush did not tell the truth when he was asking Congress for the power to go to war.
What part was wrong --
1) Saddam was a genocidal mass murderer?
2) Saddam had defied the 1991 Ceasefire agreement?
3) Saddam had defied 17 separate UN resolutions?
4) Saddam had started two pointless wars?
5) Saddam had used poison gas on his own people and on Iran?
6) Saddam had links to various terrorist groups?
7) Saddam had WMD (of some kind), and was itching to have more?
Sure, we didn't find WMD, much to just about everyone's surprise, but tell me what was wrong.
The President said last week that Congress saw the same intelligence that he did in making the decision to go to war, and that is flat out wrong. The President withheld some intelligence from the Senate Intelligence Committee. He withheld the report from the CIA that in fact there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq), that they did not have a nuclear program. They (the White House) selectively gave intelligence to the United States Senate and the United States Congress and got them to give the go ahead to attack these people." I wonder if we will see this anywhere in the MSM.
See above, Howard. What part of the intel was withheld that would have caused you to change your mind?
#1
Saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.
If you consider this as meaning the Dems aren't going to win the war in Iraq this comment is 100% correct. Dem's have picked a loser strategy that will get credit for the loss if we lose and get no gain if we win. Lose/lose is no strategy.
#2
I find Dean an interesting study into the Dems. He skyrocketed as an internet canidate, but then failed when he had to show himself and people could see him for what he was, a Moonbat. Lets get real here, he's only the DNC because he could run faster to the podium than Mikey, King Moonbat, Moore and accept the nomination. The Dems seem to reject any real form of leadership in their party and have taken the "Question Authority" thing to such a level they need to change their name from Dem to Anarchists.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/05/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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Saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.
#7
Anybody remember the dumbass who was president when Saddam invaded Iran? No one can convince me the world is a better place due to the diligence of any democrat following the retirement of Scoop Jackson. I'd like to trust MoJoe but I remember his caviling to that moron that invented this here internet thingy.
#10
I like Dean. Crazy little Mini-Me nut. He's like one of those Halloween Candy dishes that sits quietly until someone walks by and then rises up, flashes red eyes and screams.
#13
The "reactionary" Dems are waiting for AMERICAN HIROSHIMA(S) against incompetent, insufficient alleged Fascist Washington so that they can "react" in super-Regulatory, super-Subsidist, Commie Socialist Totalitarianism and Centralism, aka THIRD PARTY ARBRITRATION in PC/PDeniable Demmie Lefty Legalspeak, for the safety, security, protection, and survival of Clintonian Amerikans and everyone - STAY ARMED PEOPLE, BUY THOSE WEAPONS AND BULLETS, TAKE THAT SURVIVAL TRAINING, STAY IN THE MIL, TEACH YOUR WOMEN AND PET DOGS TO FIGHT AND SHOOT, AND BUILD DAT BOMB /ESCAPE SHELTER(S, ..ETC, a'cuz the Commies - eeeeerrrrrrr, I meant MOTHER HILLARY'S COOKIE-LOVING THIRD PARTY UNO Peacekeepers - are a'coming, to destroy America = saving Amerika!?
#17
And just what are the chances the troops will be significantly reduced in two years? Pretty good, I'd say, depending on your definition of "significantly'.
So the Dems will claim victory for 'getting us out of Iraq'.
Barf.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/05/2005 21:36 Comments ||
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#18
"And we need a force in the Middle East, not in Iraq but in a friendly neighboring country to fight (terrorist leader Musab) Zarqawi...we've got to get the target off the backs of American troops. My choice for the neighboring country would be Syria."
Oh yeah, "friendly", like amoebic dysentery. Always ready with practical plans, those lefty dems.
Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden may have visited the United States as a young man, long before declaring jihad against America and its allies, the 'New Yorker' magazine has reported.
The weekly, in its December 13 edition set to hit US newsstands on Monday, reported that according a longtime acquaintance from his native Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden made at least one trip to the United States, in about 1978, with his wife and oldest son, who needed medical treatment.
The friend Khaled Batarfi, a Saudi journalist who lived down the street from Bin Laden in the 1970's, told the magazine that one aspect of his trip that made a strong impression on Bin Laden was the curious stares by airline passengers at his wife, an observant Muslim who was dressed in a draping gown and full head covering - attire unfamiliar to many Americans at the time.
Some passengers even went so far as to snap pictures Batarfi told the New Yorker, adding that when Bin Laden returned to Jedda, Saudi Arabia, he told people that the experience was like "being in a show."
The visit took place before he traveled to Afghanistan to participate in violent jihad, and about ten years before he founded Al-Qaeda.
Spokesmen at several government agencies, including the CIA and the FBI, told the New Yorker they they had no knowledge of a visit by bin Laden to the United States, while a State Department official said its consular section had no record of having issued a visa to bin Laden, although it no longer keeps complete data from that time.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 00:11 ||
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#1
I can believe this article as Binny himself once told me he did - I do remember during the Afghan War what he claimed to had liked about the USA was America's suburbia, the "undeveloped" andor underpopulated, non-congested parts of America, including its desert SW. Best akin to an Indian on a proverbial Indian "vision quest".
#5
A Bin Laden could have easily got a medical visa to Mayo(or any other hospital of choice) in 1978 without leaving a record. The former King Hussein of Jordan had an entire hospital wing built and the town catered to his entourage with Arabic subtitles on TV and menus. What's scary is he really could be in the desert SW now retracing his steps....he did say he wanted to "die in the belly of the eagle" in a previous tape as well as reportedly being where we least expect him to be.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - The Navy wants to increase its fleet to 313 ships by 2020, reversing years of decline in naval shipbuilding and adding dozens of warships designed to defeat emerging adversaries, senior Defense Department officials say.
The plan by Adm. Michael G. Mullen, who took over as chief of naval operations last summer, envisions a major shipbuilding program that would increase the 281-ship fleet by 32 vessels and cost more than $13 billion a year, $3 billion more than the current shipbuilding budget, the officials said Friday.
While increasing the fleet size is popular with influential members of Congress, the plan faces various obstacles, including questions about whether it is affordable in light of ballooning shipbuilding costs and whether the mix of vessels is suitable to deal with emerging threats, like China's expanding navy. "We are at a crisis in shipbuilding," a senior Navy official said. "If we don't start building this up next year and the next year and the next year, we won't have the force we need." The officials would not agree to be identified because the plan had not been made public or described to members of Congress.
The Navy's fleet reached its cold war peak of 568 warships in 1987 and has been steadily shrinking since then. Admiral Mullen's proposal would reverse that, expanding the fleet to as many as 325 ships over the next decade, with new ships put into service before some older vessels are retired, and finally settling at 313 between 2015 and 2020.
"The Navy appears to be grappling with the need to balance funding for supporting its role in the global war on terrorism against those for meeting a potential challenge from modernized Chinese maritime military forces," said Ronald O'Rourke, a naval analyst with the Congressional Research Service, an arm of the Library of Congress.
The plan has not been formally adopted by the Bush administration, though officials said it had been examined by senior civilians in the Pentagon as part of a larger strategic review of all military programs. The proposal is not expected to change much, if at all, before the review is made public in February, the officials said.
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, which is home to major shipyards, endorsed the Navy proposal when told about it recently and called on President Bush to finance it in next year's budget. "Military requirements should drive the budget, not the other way around," Ms. Collins said. "I hope that the Navy's requirement for a fleet of 313 ships will be matched with adequate funding in the president's budget to achieve that goal over time."
But Defense Department officials acknowledged that with financial pressures mounting and the overall Navy budget not likely to increase, their plans could come apart unless they could trim costs in other areas. The Navy is planning to squeeze money from personnel and other accounts, and ask shipyards to hold down costs, even if it means removing certain capabilities.
Admiral Mullen is in some ways paying for the priorities of his predecessor, Adm. Vern Clark, who improved pay and benefits during his tenure as the service's senior officer but also agreed to trim the Navy's budget in an unusual sacrifice to help pay the Army's bills in Iraq.
Now Admiral Mullen is seeking a fleet that will give the Navy a greater role in counterterrorism and humanitarian operations. The plan calls for building 55 small, fast vessels called littoral combat ships, which are being designed to allow the Navy to operate in shallow coastal areas where mines and terrorist bombings are a growing threat. Costing less than $300 million, the littoral combat ship is relatively inexpensive.
Navy officials say they have scaled back their goals for a new destroyer, the DD(X), whose primary purpose would be to support major combat operations ashore. The Navy once wanted 23 to 30 DD(X) vessels, but Admiral Mullen has decided on only 7, the Navy official said. The reduction is due in part to the ship's spiraling cost, now estimated at $2 billion to $3 billion per ship. The plan also calls for building 19 CG(X) vessels, a new cruiser designed for missile defense, but the first ship is not due to be completed until 2017, the Navy official said. The proposal would also reduce the fleet's more than 50 attack submarines to 48, the official said. Some Navy officials have called for keeping at least 55 of them.
The choices have led some analysts to suggest that the Navy is de-emphasizing the threat from China, at least in the early stages of the shipbuilding plan. Beijing's investment in submarines, cruise missiles and other weapon systems is expected to pose a major threat to American warships for at least a decade. That gives the Navy time, some analysts argue, to build capabilities that require less firepower and more mobility, a priority for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
The plan also calls for building 31 amphibious assault ships, which can be used to ferry marines ashore or support humanitarian operations.
"This is not a fleet that is being oriented to the Chinese threat," said Loren Thompson, an analyst at the Lexington Institute, a policy research center in Arlington, Va. "It's being oriented around irregular warfare, stability operations and dealing with rogue states."
But the Navy would keep 11 aircraft carriers, just one fewer than the dozen it has maintained since the end of the cold war. Retiring the 37-year-old John F. Kennedy could save $1.2 billion a year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Loren Thompson's comments should be taken wid a grain of salt since China's likely response to Washington's deployment of any USN CBG in any Taiwan-NK scenario is to immediately escalate the nuclear threshold. LITTORAL WARFARE IS IRREGULAR WARFARE where modern Navies are concerned - the PLAAF's LR bombers and PLAN SSN/SSK's/"carriers" are there to protect the PLAN's boomer subs, not the subs to protect the former. WIth the advent of smaller, smarter and heavier-armed UAVS, the destiny of the US Navy's own CVNs is likely to become a multipurpose, super-Arsenal ship capable of carrrying 00's of UAVS.
#2
Joseph, that's an interesting vision. The carriers could eliminate the berthing for all the pilots and support personnel that would not be needed anymore because of the use of UAVs, freeing up room for more UAVs and ordnance. Then if the PLAN came across the Taiwan straits they could pulse waves of UAVs at the invasion ships. Cool...
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/05/2005 1:00 Comments ||
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#3
I'm with Joe on this. Although it will take a few years to work on swarm technologies to make this a military killerapp.
Imagine a ship capable of launching many hundreds of disposable UAV's, each of which has missiles and is itself a missile, all of which attack a target simultaneously from all directions.
#5
...Life, liberty, and the pursuit of those who would threaten them. Go Navy!
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/05/2005 9:00 Comments ||
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#6
NOW I'm convinced Joe's not a 'bot.
Unless, he's just a front for the self-aware computer plotting the destruction of the human race. SkyNet, anyone?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/05/2005 9:01 Comments ||
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The only thing more broken than the USN is the CIA. What will a CBG be in 30 years? A CVN, two CGs a part time DD and 2 SSNs. Somebody there should read Augustine's Laws Command of the seas is critical to the US. But it looks like we're giving it up for gold plating. The next naval war is being fought now in our shipyards, and the results don't look good.
#9
Personally I still like the idea of converting some Balistic missile subs over to carrying tomohawks. I think the idea was that you could put 6 tomohawks into each silo and launch a massive non-nuke wave at a target.
Since a sub is stealth by definition this would allow a sort of ace in the hole first strike that could safely decapitate a punk nation. The only issue is you need good coordinates for the strike.
#10
The carriers could eliminate the berthing for all the pilots and support personnel that would not be needed anymore because of the use of UAVs, freeing up room for more UAVs and ordnance.
Not necessarily 'all'. One still will have stick-drivers (albeit ship-based), support staff and maintenance personnel. There will still be ASW and CSAR assets; they haven't made a dipping-sonar UAV yet.
Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said on Sunday that the death in north-eastern Pakistan of an Egyptian described as a leading Al Qaeda operative was a big setback for the terror network. âIt is a big blow to Al Qaeda,â Mr Sherpao told AFP, adding that operations were continuing to track down Al Qaeda members in North Waziristan where Hamza Rabia is said to have met his end.
"Yeppers. Really set 'em on their heels."
Asked if other key Al Qaeda members were still hiding in the area, the minister replied: âWe just donât know, but certainly there are some foreigners hiding there.â
"The Merkins keep telling us that, no matter how many times we deny it!"
Officials have said that Hamza was killed with four other militants while handling explosives late Wednesday. But Al Arabiya television late Saturday said it had been contacted by a person claiming to be from Al Qaeda denying that Hamza was dead.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened! Why, he's just as spry as he ever was! Go on, Hamza! Breathe for them!"
The caller said five people were killed in the explosion. There were two local men, two Tajiks and an Arab named Suleiman al-Moghrabi.
"We're really gonna miss old Sully! But he wudn't Hamza, nosirree!"
NBC News in the United States reported that Hamza was killed by a CIA missile attack. According to a CIA list of most wanted Al Qaeda men operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Hamza has a $5 million bounty on his head. According to the CIA, the English-speaking Egyptian was a close associate of Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri who is wanted in connection with 9/11 attacks.
I suspect that, since Saif al-Adel has been noticed decomposing yet, Hamza was Qaeda's ops chief for Pakland.
President Pervez Musharraf insisted in Kuwait on Sunday that the head of operations for the Al Qaeda network has been killed. âYesterday I said (his death) was 200 per cent confirmed. Now, I say it is 500 per cent confirmed,â Gen Musharraf told state-run Kuwait News Agency.
"We found his lip, and the tests came back positive!"
US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said on Sunday that Washington was looking into reports Hamza had been killed but could not confirm his death. â(Hamza) was involved in planning two assassination plots against (President Pervez) Musharraf,â Mr Hadley said. âSo if he has been killed, thatâs a good thing for the war on terror. Itâs part of the effort to kill or capture the major Al Qaeda leadership.â
We seem to be doing a great job on Numbah Threes...
Asked whether the US had helped âtake outâ Hamza, the adviser said: âWeâve obviously been supporting Pakistan. President Musharraf has been very aggressive in dealing with the Al Qaeda and Taliban presence in Pakistan. We have helped him in terms of providing intelligence and cooperating with his forces, and obviously this is something that would be an important thing for Pakistan, an important thing for the United States.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 00:05 ||
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ISLAMABAD: Immigration from Pakistan and deportations of Pakistanis back to their home country has increased in recent years, according to government and UN figures.
That'd be the ones who think they're back home in Peshawar...
The general flow of migrants from Pakistan is to developed countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Middle East and East Asia. According to a 2001 census, 321,000 people in Britain were Pakistan-born, up from 234,000 recorded in 1991.
Most of them are decent people looking to escape the hellhole of Pakiwakiland. But there's a few ...
Sources at the Pakistan Passport Office said that the number of passport applicants was consistently increasing at a faster rate than previous years, and the regional offices were issuing around 5,000 passports every day. âRegional offices issue an average of 650 passports per day in Rawalpindi alone,â a Passport Office official said.
"Each of them with a religion column, of course..."
According to official sources and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) dealing with migration and human trafficking, Pakistanis are usually deported for loss or expiry of documents, rejection of asylum, possession of fake documents, being black-listed, commission of a criminal offence and illegal border crossing.
Not necessarily in that order, of course...
Apparently being a jihadi or an expert in grenade tossing doesn't count.
As many as 104,075 Pakistanis were deported in the last two years. This figure does not include offloading and repatriation of camel jockeys from the Middle East.
I swear I didn't write that last sentence.
Government sources said that while legal immigration is on the rise in Pakistan, illegal immigration is declining because of preventive measures taken by the government. State Minister for Interior Dr Shahzad Waseem said that various measures had been taken to prevent illegal immigration from Pakistan, including machine-readable passports, electronic installations at entry and exit points, updating of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) rules and the establishment of a special cell at the Interior Ministry. Sources at the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis could not give an exact figure of Pakistanis in foreign countries because of frequent illegal immigration and human trafficking, which cannot be accurately estimated.
But they're taking various measures, rest assured.
Sure glad they cleared that up.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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On 30 November, a 44:35 minute audio message purportedly orated by Abu Hamza al-Baghdadi, the head of the Sharia Committee of AQI was issued. The speech, titled: âThe Election is the Way of the Criminals,â expounds upon the groupâs belief that the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections and democracy, in general, seek to deify man and denounce Islamic Sharia, as politicians become the âhighest authority and there is no other authority above them.â
Further, al-Baghdadi argues that elections serve the Americanâs purpose to extinguish the jihad spirit within the mujahideen â that it will resolve the differences between the coalition and Iraq administrations and the insurgents- and âmake your dreams come true.â The speech elaborates upon a multi-point denouncement of democracyâs purpose vis-Ã -vis Islam and principles as set out in the Quran, and additionally, states that those who participate and elect the men to âpartner with Allahâ will be considered infidels, as âthey are the ones who are providing the mandate to the representatives to make the laws.â
Also, the speech cites historic examples of Americaâs alleged tampering in foreign elections for their own interests, such as Italy in 1947, where the United States sought the âsuccess of the Christian Democrats over the Communist Party.â The audio concludes with a message addressing the mujahideen to remain steadfast in their jihad and to âdraw your swords of dignity.â
Posted by: Fred ||
12/05/2005 13:54 ||
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#1
"Further, al-Baghdadi argues that elections serve the Americanâs purpose to extinguish the jihad spirit within the mujahideen â that it will resolve the differences between the coalition and Iraq administrations and the insurgents- and âmake your dreams come true.â "
#4
Goes to show that for the Mullah "Islamic Bolsheviks" and Islamic Stalinists, nothing says Allah, the Prophet and Heavenly/Worldly Utopia than more repressive Totalitarianism, legal Econ Wealth Gaps, and Honor Killings, ...etc. where 57 Muslim nations have a combined GDP of US$10.0T OR LESS. Good Clintonian Spetzlamists demand to be poor, naked, barefoot and pregnant, and wid one camel, one donkey, and one righteous mud house-for-20+ persons. Ala GORBACHEV > NOT FOR COMMIES AND SOCIES TO COME UP BUT FOR AMERICA TO BE BROUGHT DOWN TO THE STANDARDS OF THE EAST/ASIA, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. POWER TO THE FEW, AND LEGAL PERMANENT POVERTY/SLAVERY FOR THE MASSES, where PUBLIC TAXES = TRIBUTE; and the difference between ultra-Lefties and the women-, wealth-, and dog-stealing Barbarians, Warlords, and Bandit-Slavers of antiquity is....................???
"The Right Sort of Men"
Iraqi boot camps are producing young soldiers who will stay the course
By W. Thomas Smith Jr., National Review EFL & emphasis added. For background, see this article from two years ago.
Seventeen-years-ago, Daniel P. Bolger, U.S. Army officer and military-history professor at West Point wrote, "In the final reckoning, wars are won by men, not weapons. Fortunately, the United States has the right sort of men."
Today, as a brigadier general on the ground in Iraq, Bolger says the Iraqis are also turning out "the right sort of men." These are the men who join the army for all the right reasons: Not for reasons of self, money, or opportunity.
"They [the Iraqis] don't have to join â it is all voluntary," Bolger, commanding general of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, tells National Review Online. "A young man can find many jobs in today's Iraq, including new ones like selling cars; now widely available to most folks: or cell phones; a true post-Saddam 'must have' item." . . .
Fact is, like their U.S. counterparts, thousands of young Iraqis â Bolger's "right sort of men" â are volunteering for service and training to become soldiers at several basic training facilities and officer academies located across Iraq.
The largest and the primary Iraqi-army basic-training facility is at Kirkush in the Diyala Province (eastern Iraq between Baghdad and the Iranian border). A second basic training center recently opened in An Numaniyah in Wasit Province (south of Diyala).
At both schools, training lasts five weeks (comparable boot-camp training lasts nine weeks for the U.S. Army, eight weeks for the U.S. Navy, six weeks for the U.S. Air Force, and 12 weeks for U.S. Marines). "Iraqi basic training is shorter than American basic training because the Iraqi military has fewer weapons and less complex equipment and tactics," says Bolger. "There is, of course, room to grow."
Like American GIs, newly minted Iraqi soldiers move on to advanced training. Infantrymen, for example, must attend an additional seven-week course in infantry skills and tactics.
In addition to the Iraqi army's basic training camps, army divisions occasionally receive permission to train members of the former Iraqi army at specific divisional training centers. Army divisions also operate separate training camps for noncommissioned officer (NCO) schools where instructors train future squad leaders and platoon sergeants. And three academies â Ar Rustamiyah, Qualachulon, and Zakho â turn out commissioned officers in one-year training programs. . . .
Based on the American models of Parris Island, S.C. (for U.S. Marines) and Fort Benning, Georgia (for U.S. Army infantry); Iraqi basic training is far more challenging today than it was during Saddam Hussein's reign. Old school brutality was certainly more severe under the old regime, but there is no comparison in terms of actual combat skills training. There is no value derived from beating and abusing a recruit. There is value in teaching him how to fight and how to lead others in a fight.
"There is the same emphasis [as in American boot camps] on teamwork, physical fitness, mental toughness, and shooting," says Bolger. "Iraqi soldiers in the former army fired 12 bullets a year. Today's Iraqi recruits each shoot more than 600 rifle rounds in marksmanship training."
Attrition varies from one class to the next, Bolger adds, but the rates have run as little as five percent to as high as 20 percent in isolated cases. "Attrition has been lower in recent classes as the Iraqi military gains greater societal acceptance and as the new standards are more widely understood by prospective recruits," he says.
The training instructors are the best in the world: U.S. Marine and Army officers and NCOs who have spent time as instructors on American drill fields, as well as those from British and Australian military forces. They not only train Iraqis, but assist in the selection and training of Iraqi drill instructors.
Though Iraqi boot camps are based on the American model, Iraqi military drill and ceremonies are largely patterned after the British army: A holdover from the 20th-century British Mandate in Iraq.
Each training facility and division has a marching band. "And they are good," says Bolger. "The Iraqis understand that being a soldier does take some appeal to emotion and pride, and drill and ceremonies can instill that." . . .
Though there are many similarities in the entry-level training experiences between American and Iraqi recruits, there are obvious cultural differences. "Iraqi training allows for the five daily Islamic prayer periods and different meal routines, though when demanded by training â such as night firing â these can be and are adjusted," says Bolger. "With regard to grooming, Iraqi males do not favor 'buzz cuts' so hair, while short, is not clipped as often seen in U.S. recruits. Iraqis are also permitted a much fuller mustache by their regulations, even in basic training."
Bolger adds that illiteracy is also a factor. "Not all recruits are literate," he says. "A consequence of Saddam's brutal era, in which schooling was de-emphasized, about a third or more Arab adult males (and even high percentages of women) did not benefit from schooling. This must be accommodated in training, which tends to be 'hands-on' and interactive as a result."
Once graduated and advance-skills courses completed, Iraqi soldiers become members of specific divisions. And each division has its own training program to integrate new soldiers into the division's operational environment. "This is very important, as Iraqi combat units are in combat daily," says Bolger. "New arrivals are taught the unit SOP (standing operating procedure), and they learn the local areas before heading out as parts of fighting units."
Division compounds also have shooting ranges, urban-combat mock-ups, and vehicle-training areas that allow practice and rehearsals before and after actual missions. "Training is part of combat â you learn as you fight in any good army," Bolger adds.
"The training centers are not only turning out good soldiers, but the Iraqi people are also viewing those soldiers â and the Iraqi army overall â in a different light," U.S. Army Col. Michael Cloy, the senior military adviser for the 2nd Iraqi Army (Light) Infantry Division in Mosul, tells NRO. "Iraqi civilians see the new Iraqi army as servants to the people: Not a force that will abuse them, or steal them away in the night never to be seen again." . . .
. . . The guerrillas also have a newfound respect for the new Iraqi soldier.
"A year ago, they [the insurgents] freely attacked the Iraqi military, but now the Iraqi troops dominate the killing ground," says Gen. Bolger. "So the hostiles have resorted to remote bombings because they can't stand and fight the Iraqi soldiers anymore. Their worst nightmare is to confront an Iraqi rifleman in the dark, face-to-face. That will only go one way."
Bolger adds, "The new Iraqi military's officers and NCOs lead from the front, and what we see in training translates into combat. I have been on many, many operations with Iraqi forces, to include numerous infantry platoon foot patrols, with Iraqi Marines on guard out on the oil platforms, on mechanized sweeps, and with midnight raids, and the Iraqis have never quit. They get the job done, under fire. They run to the sound of the guns sometimes at cost. They recover their dead and wounded. They seek the enemy. They expect to win their firefights." And they do. . . .
. . . At the individual level, the Iraqi soldier is aggressive. Of course, soldiers are supposed to be aggressive. But the Iraqi soldier seems to have a natural flair for aggressive action in battle. It's an Iraqi infantry specialty that Coalition troops and instructors believe is giving the Iraqi army an edge over the insurgents. . . .
Those who understand the difficulties associated with standing up a new military force, realize that progress is being made â and in amazing time â under adverse conditions.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/05/2005 12:25 ||
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#1
Duh-oh! Left out the link to the atricle from two years ago. It's here.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/05/2005 12:38 Comments ||
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#2
Sounds like a good investment for the Iraqi government to make would be a third installation modeled after the DLI (Defense Language Institute).
Its basic course would be literacy, which is known to radically improve morale among those who were previously illiterate.
Its intermediate course would be foreign language, primarily English. They would probably also want to study French, Iranian, and who knows what all else. But those who completed such training would be on the promotion fast track.
The advanced course would be education for what amounts to a high-school GED. Soldiers who showed promise there would be on the officer track, and could be farmed out to any of the major Iraqi universities.
The best part is that none of these ideas would be strange in any way to the Iraqis, they wouldn't have to have the logic of it explained to them, and it would raise the professional quality of their military far above any other military in the region, save Israel.
Eventually, as part of the Status of Forces agreement, I hope the US and Iraq agree to conduct an annual joint maneuver, which will eventually be fully integrated into the Bright Star exercises.
It will be a sight to see the Egyptian and Iraqi armies utterly perplexed at the sight of each other perfoming the same NATO-style maneuvers and with the same discipline. The light may dawn that there's still a little hope for some Arab pride left.
#3
Being able to stand up an army from scratch is an SF dream. Normally it amounts to going into a corrupt military that has removed any remaining NCO Corps and trying to fix it. Of course the officer Corps is fighting the change all the way. It is incredibly frustrating. The Iraq model is altogether different. New troops, new NCO's, and new officers allow the creation of new standards and practices without any holdovers. What most don't realize is we are building the next dominant force in the area. I would bet Israel is watching this very closely.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/05/2005 16:35 Comments ||
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DUBAI, UAE (AP) - The training of Iraqi security forces has suffered a big "setback" in the last six months, with the army and other forces being increasingly used to settle scores and make other political gains, Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer said Monday. Al-Yawer disputed contentions by U.S. officials, including President Bush, that the training of security forces was gathering speed, resulting in more professional troops.
Al-Yawer, a Sunni moderate, said he agreed the United States cannot pull out now because "there will be a huge vacuum," leaving Iraq in danger of falling into civil war. In particular, armed Shiite militias in the south might try to incite war if U.S.-led coalition forces leave, he said in an interview with The Associated Press and a U.S. newspaper at a conference here. "I wish it were that simple," he said of calls to set a timetable for withdrawal or a drawdown.
But al-Yawer said recent allegations that Interior Ministry security forces - dominated by Shiites - have tortured Sunni detainees were evidence that many forces are increasingly politicized and sectarian. Some of the recently trained Iraqi forces focus on settling scores and other political goals rather than maintaining security, he said. In addition, some Iraqi military commanders have been dismissed for political reasons, rather than judged on merit, he said.
He said the army - also dominated by Shiites - is conducting raids against villages and towns in Sunni and mixed areas of Iraq, rather than targeting specific insurgents - a tactic he said reminded many Sunnis of Saddam Hussein-era raids. "Saddam used to raid villages," using security forces, he said. "This is not the way to do it."
Al-Yawer also expressed grave concern that Iraqi army units might use intimidation to try to keep Sunni voters from the polls during the country's crucial Dec. 15 general election.
American officials - and Sunni moderates like al-Yawer - are trying to persuade Sunnis to go to the polls, hoping that if they gain a sizable chunk of parliament, Sunnis will abandon support for the insurgency. Al-Yawer said many Sunnis want to vote. But he noted that both intimidation and voter fraud occurred during the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, and complaints to the Iraqi Electoral Commission and U.N. voting advisers went nowhere, he said.
His supporters have made a series of requests to ensure a fair vote this time, including changes to the electoral commission and adequate numbers of polling stations and ballots in Sunni areas, he said. Most importantly, they have asked that U.S.-led coalition forces, and not Iraqi army troops, guard polling stations, he said.
That's a step backwards. We want the Iraqis to learn how to run a safe and fair election.
Many outside experts have expressed concern that Iraqi security forces will actually increase tensions if they guard Sunni areas, rather than keep order. Al-Yawer did not specifically say that Shiites make up too much of the army, but said he would like to see more political and sectarian balance - especially among the officer corps.
Translation: he wants more Sunni officers.
Al-Yawer, running on a slate of secular candidates along with former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, also said he believes the Saddam trial also should be postponed until after the Dec. 15 election so Iraqis can focus on the election. He expressed frustration with the trial so far, saying it is giving Saddam an opportunity to grandstand and appear sympathetic.
Agreed; the solution is a quick trial and a quick execution.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 11:03 ||
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#1
The disgusting thing is that you *know* American and European leftist playrights are already writing dozens of stage plays about "The trial of Saddam Hussien", showing him to be a strong, sympathetic character, being judicially murdered because he stood in the way of the Halliburton conspiracy, or some crap like that.
WITH the trial of Saddam Hussein under way, those in the God-damn-America camp find themselves uncomfortably wedged. Should they justify their opposition to the war by downplaying Saddam's crimes while sheeting home blame for the present turmoil to the US and its allies? Or do they opt for the defence of moral equivalence, conceding that Saddam was indeed a monster but those US presidents who once backed his regime, including George H.W. Bush, are the real monsters.
The best riposte to this warped analysis is a scholarly and sober 700-page volume recently published in France, of all places. Le Livre Noir de Saddam Hussein (The Black Book of Saddam Hussein) is a robust denunciation of Saddam's regime that does not fall into the trap of viewing everything in Iraq through a US-centric prism. The writers - Arabs, Americans, Germans, French and Iranian - have produced the most comprehensive work to date on the former Iraqi president's war crimes, assembling a mass of evidence that makes the anti-intervention arguments redundant.
#1
This is the second iteration of an excellent idea. First time around was "The Black Book of Communism" by Stephane Courtois et al, a group of French historians who had access to the KGB archives after the Fall. Now one about Saddam,also out of France, with all the available info in one volume, suitable for bedside reading or vigoously rubbing onto ignorant Liberal noses.
December 5, 2005: As American infantry units find themselves working more with Iraqi infantry, the American units have set up short (usually a week, or less) training courses to raise the skill levels of the Iraqis. This is partly self-interest. The American troops are depending on the Iraqis, who often lack basic combat skills that U.S. troops take for granted. But thereâs a second reason as well. Allowing the Iraqis to work closely with American troops outside of a combat zone. When outside the wire (outside their bases), the U.S. troops tend to be all business. This demeanor is a bit (or a lot) intimidating to most Iraqis, even to Iraqi soldiers working with the Americans. So these training courses serve to show that the U.S. troops are OK guys, and not the robosoldiers Iraqis have come to consider them. The training, conducted by small teams of American troops, also makes the G.I.s or marines more comfortable about the Iraqi troops. Itâs called âconfidence building.â
Most Iraqi troops certainly need to enhance their confidence. This is done by giving the Iraqis some of the first real weapons training theyâve ever had. The old Iraqi army did not stress marksmanship much, leaving the troops to âpray and sprayâ with their AK-47s on full automatic. But with a few days training, most Iraqis can be taught to fire much more accurately, with single shots, then they ever could do before on full auto. This cheers up the American troops no end, as they often witness Iraqi troops blasting away, to little effect, at hostile gunmen who would be taken out in a few seconds by much more accurate U.S. soldiers or marines. The Iraqis are also pleased to find that the accurate American fire isnât some kind of magic, rather, it's just using, and practicing, the right techniques. Another popular short course covers convoy operations. Many Iraqi soldiers donât know how to drive, or donât know the special driving techniques for military convoys. With more Iraqi troops in action, the terrorists are seeking out Iraqi troops convoys because they know the Iraqis are less well prepared to defend themselves than Americans.
Thereâs still a problem getting Iraqi commanders to follow up on the weapons training. Under Saddam, the ammo budget for the infantry was miniscule, and many officers hate to see troops using thousands of rounds just to improve their aim. These officers are more likely to allow their troops to practice the battle drills the Americans teach them. Especially important are the drills for clearing a building, or getting around streets and buildings without presenting good targets for enemy gunners.
The training, and the joint operations with American troops, are expected to create a core of professional and experienced NCOs and officers that, in the next decade, will train and lead an Iraqi army that wonât be, as it long has been, the most ineffective in the Arab world.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/05/2005 09:58 ||
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December 4, 2005: Americans in Iraq quickly discover that they are in a different culture. It's a violent culture, where the public order we take for granted in the U.S. does not exist in many parts of the country. What is going on here? Don't the Iraqis appreciate our efforts to liberate them from Saddam Hussein's cruel rule? Well, most Iraqis do, but a sizable number want to bring back the good old days (for them), and are taking advantage of some aspects of Arab culture to make it so. Understand this, and you understand what is going on in Iraq.
Iraq has been a violent place for centuries, a fact missed by most reporters. This historical aspect of the area explains much about why, and how, current military operations proceed. The basic problem in Iraq is that the people there have never had a central government they could trust. Thousands of years of kings, sultans, caliphs, emperors and warlords will do that to you. Iraq is just now moving to "rule of the people," rather than rule by a nasty SOB with lots of heavily armed and mean tempered friends. The American effort in Iraq means to make Saddam the last such tyrant to rule the area. But there are some obstacles to overcome first.
Who does rule Iraq these days? It's the "traditional leaders." Under the ancient "SOB and his thugs" model, the main goal of the tyrant was to stay in power and get rich (in that order.) Saddam was an exemplary example of that model. But the day-to-day running of the country was largely left to more traditional arrangements. Tribal and religious leaders provided services people needed to survive. Even much of the infrastructure, like roads and irrigation works, was at least maintained via local leadership. The tyrant might contribute (or loan) the large sums of money needed for major efforts, but the locals were on their own when it came to keeping things going. Saddam used infrastructure investments as another way to keep his core followers (the Sunni Arabs) loyal, and to punish those who would always hate him (Kurds and Shia Arabs). Thus U.S. troops note that the roads and public works are more abundant and in better repair in Sunni Arab areas.
Local leadership was also allowed to maintain public order, or else. Saddam depended mostly on domestic spies to maintain control. He had muscle, to terrorize those who were not behaving. The Sunni Arabs dominated the army and national police. But Saddam had multiple intelligence and security organizations, so everyone was being watched. This is great for maintaining a dictator in power, but not much help in keeping the streets safe. Saddam didn't care much about criminal gangs, as long as he got a cut, and the gangsters were available to help terrorize those who appeared disloyal. Gangsters being outlaws at heart, Saddam made space in his prisons for some of them. Most of the prisoners were there for political reasons. The criminal prisoners were expected to help with getting information from the "politicals," and keeping these disloyal Iraqis in order. Before the 2003 invasion, Saddam emptied the prisons, expect for some of the politicals, and created a golden age for criminal gangs in Iraq.
With Saddam's secret police gone, the tribal and religious leaders were able to form their own militias. These were needed to deal with the criminal gangs, and other militias, especially some of the religious militias. Saddam had kept the peace through terror, and with the government terrorists in disarray, people looked to their traditional leaders for security, as well as the usual dispute arbitration, emergency relief and favors in general. In return, as they had always done, the people offered loyalty, and sometimes their lives, to the tribal sheikhs and Islamic clerics.
There was one major problem with these local arrangements, some of these groups wanted Saddam back, and many of them had violent disputes with other groups, which were now often being settled with guns, not tribal elders. The Sunni Arab tribes had lost most of their income when Saddam was toppled, and his civil servants and army disbanded. Worse yet, many Kurds and Shia Arabs were actively seeking revenge for decades of Sunni Arab terror. But it got worse still, as there was no central leadership in the Sunni Arab community. In such an atmosphere, everyone tried just about everything, usually with the help of bullets and explosives. Criminal gangs flourished, and still do, because of the lack of courts and reliable police.
For the first year or so, Sunni Arabs put aside the beefs they had with each other, as they loosely cooperated to oppose the foreign invader, and the attempt by the formerly subordinate Kurds and Shia Arabs (80 percent of the population) to form a government and run the place. But once the government came together, splits began to appear in the Sunni Arab unity. Some, and increasingly more, Sunni Arabs wanted peace, and are willing to accept it as a minority in Iraq. But many Sunni Arabs are not willing to settle for that status, and be at the mercy of the people they long ruled.
The lack of unity in this Sunni Arab resistance has doomed the movement to failure. There have been several hundred different groups fighting over the last two years. Most have disappeared, Some of these groups are well known in the West, like "Al Qaeda in Iraq." But most of the anti-government groups are led by tribal, religious or criminal leaders. A few are led by foreigners, most noticeably al Qaeda. But even al Qaeda was only able to survive because of tribal support. Religious and criminal leaders could obtain temporary loyalty, but you always belonged to your tribe, clan and immediate family. This was the ultimate safety net in a very violent world.
There are nearly a hundred of these anti-government groups still in business. They survive largely because one or more tribes tolerate, or actively support, them. The anti-government groups come and go because of combat losses (especially the death or arrest of the leaders), or tribal politics (the sheikh and the elders decide to cooperate with the government). Sometimes, there is violence, as the tribes are forced to fight to make it clear that the terrorists are no longer welcome. Some of the terrorist groups have moved to another area, and continued to fight back at the tribe that ditched them. This usually takes the form of assassination attempts (often successful) against tribal leaders. Many of these little wars are still going on, but don't get much coverage in the Western media. The hard core terrorist groups have been steadily losing ground over the last year. This has caused a decrease in suicide bombings, but an increase in American combat casualties, as U.S. troops move into the strongholds of the hard core terrorist groups, and wipe them out, one by one. This fighting is reminiscent of that on the Pacific islands, against Japanese troops, during World War II. The Japanese were outgunned, out fought and rarely surrendered. Same style of fighting is being seen in Iraq. This even extends to the suicidal "Banzai" attack Japanese troops would often make. These energetic, but rarely successful, frontal attacks, were a Japanese custom, it being seen as more honorable, once the situation is hopeless, to stand up and die making a desperate attack, than to wait for the Americans to dig you out. Iraqi terrorists are sometimes coming out and making these hopeless attacks, suffering the same fate as the Japanese.
The Sunni Arab terrorists are sustained largely by encouragement from foreign Sunnis, and portrayal as nationalist and religious heroes in many Arab news outlets. But inside Iraq, it's a lost cause, coming to a bad end, as the losers try to take as many of their enemies with them as they can.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/05/2005 09:51 ||
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The U.S. ambassador to Iraq is holding talks with Iraqi nationalist insurgents and the Sunnis they represent, Time magazine reported on Sunday.
Time quoted U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad as saying "We will intensify the engagement, interaction and discussion with them." He said reaching out to Sunnis regarding their "legitimate concerns" makes sense because of rifts between the nationalist and al Qaeda camps in the insurgency.
Asked about the report on CNN's "Late Edition," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said U.S. officials are "not going to have contact with people who have blood on their hands." But he said the officials have had contacts with Sunni groups for some time.
Hadley said the ambassador was trying to convince Sunnis that democratization will succeed and that "the Sunnis have a place in a democratic Iraq and they need to step forward now, to take that place by participating in the elections."
Hadley said Khalilzad is also authorized to have "very low level" talks with Iranian officials in Baghdad "for the very limited purpose of making clear to the Iranians that we are seeing Iranian equipment and technology showing up, in Iraq, in the hands of people that are attacking the coalition, and that this is unacceptable." He is not dealing with the full range of U.S.-Iranian issues, Hadley said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 00:22 ||
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The car swerved in front of Sheik Ayad al-Izzi's sedan as he was crossing a bridge, on the way back to the capital after he had delivered a campaign speech in a western farming town rife with insurgents.
Another car pulled alongside, and men with Kalashnikov rifles fired into the sheik's vehicle.
His candidacy in the coming parliamentary elections ended abruptly on that concrete span. The attack on Nov. 28 instantly killed Sheik Izzi and two colleagues from the Iraqi Islamic Party, one of the country's most prominent Sunni Arab political groups. The assassins have not been found.
"Day after day, our people are sacrificing themselves for their beliefs," Ayad al-Samarraie, a party leader, said after hundreds of mourners marched out of the party headquarters in western Baghdad last week, raising the sheik's wooden coffin. "There are many groups trying to wreck the political process."
BAGHDAD: Attacks on lawyers and flaws in the Iraqi justice system mean the trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity will never satisfy international standards, a UN rights official said on Sunday.
John Pace, human rights chief at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, also condemned what he called illegal detentions by Iraqi and US military authorities, including thousands of suspects held at Abu Ghuraib prison.
Pace expressed deep concern over the progress of the Saddam trial, which has had two brief hearings of a few hours each since Oct 19, and resumes on Monday. âWeâre concerned already by what we have seen, we are concerned by the murder of two defence lawyers and the serious wounding of another,â Pace told Reuters in Baghdad.
Nothing said about Saddam's genocide, however.
âThere is already a paralysis in the legitimacy of the defence,â he said in an interview at the UNâs fortified compound, adding that defence counsel had to be able to work freely and effectively for the trial to be considered fair.
Ramsey Clark can say what he wants. What more do you need?
âWe believe that weakness in the system of administration of justice, in addition to the antecedents surrounding the establishment of this tribunal, will never be able to produce the kind of process that would be able to satisfy international standards,â Pace said. âWeâre very anxious about the tribunal. The legitimacy of the tribunal needs to be examined. It has been seriously challenged in many quarters.â
This is the campaign to remove the trial to the Hague or some such idiocy. Then they'll let Saddam off with a wrist slap, or they get Carla del Ponte to go to work and Saddam will do of old age in a villa in southern France.
The United Nations has no role in the trial, ...
... which is what really cheeses Mr. Pace off ...
... which is being conducted by a five-judge panel under a tribunal appointed by US occupation forces, but has called for an independent probe into the deaths of the lawyers. The Iraqi government and its US backers say Iraqis should judge Saddam.
Rights groups have argued the Saddam trial should follow other war crimes cases like those for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia and be heard in an international forum like the International Criminal Court, which Washington does not support. Pace said significant human rights issues were involved, which meant the trial should be heard in an international forum. âThe trial should serve as a deterrent against the repetition of the violations of human rights witnessed under Saddam Hussein,â Pace said.
Nuremburg worked so well in that respect ...
Saddam and his co-accused are charged with crimes against humanity in relation to the deaths of 148 men from the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, after an attempt to kill him in 1982. All defendants have pleaded not guilty. They could face death by hanging if convicted. The United Nations opposes the death penalty.
Which is something else that cheeses Mr. Pace off.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
They could face death by hanging if convicted. The United Nations opposes the death penalty.
This is probably the reason behind this "deep concern" crap.
#3
How's the Milosevic trial going? What does one send for a 5 year trial anniversary gift?
Posted by: ed ||
12/05/2005 10:02 Comments ||
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#4
Exactly my thoughts, Ed! I, for one, hope that a 5-year trial anniversary gift involves either lead, rope or electricity.
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2005 11:42 Comments ||
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#5
I'm also surprised to learn that the U.N. now again has a "mission" in Iraq. I thought they all cut and ran after that explosion at their HQ some time back. Ah well, just my wishful thinking, I guess.
Posted by: BA ||
12/05/2005 14:13 Comments ||
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#6
I hadda stop, after the first paragraph, to throw up. Now I have a bad traste in my mouth, and don't care to finish the article.
Goodnight!
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/05/2005 22:01 Comments ||
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GAZA CITY: The head of the Palestinian police said Sunday that his forces needed more weapons and better equipment if they were to successfully combat a tide of lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Speaking at a conference in Gaza City, Aala Hosni said that only one in 20 of his men had weapons and were struggling to maintain order with ramshackle equipment. "We only have limited weapons, light weapons, a lot of which come from the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) forces" which pre-date the creation of the Palestinian Authority more than a decade ago. "Only one in 20 policemen even have weapons," he added.
Which is one of the reasons why fewer Israelis are dying, but he didn't get into that.
The PA has been consistently pushing Israel to allow it to have more weaponry in order to tackle a security crisis in the territories where gunmen from factions largely operate above the law.
And we all know how well Paleo coppers handle weapons. Nope, not a chance in the world new weapons would fall into the hands of Hamas.
Hosni said that the police suffered deficiencies with other vital equipment such as communication systems which he said had been devastated by the Israeli military during the course of the five-year Palestinian uprising, or intifada.
Gosh, maybe you shouldn't have had an intifada.
Extra vehicles, better offices and at least four new prisons would also be essential if the security forces were to succeed in turning around the security situation, he added.
Speaking at the same conference, Interior Minister Nasr Youssef said he was working to ensure that only members of the security services possess weapons.
Then his lips fell off and his nose grew.
While the number of militants openly carrying weapons has dropped in recent months as part of an agreement reached with the armed factions, the security forces have been reluctant to institute a formal crackdown on gunmen.
"Please don't kill us!"
"The Interior Ministry will collect the weapons according to a timetable and through dialogue or by offering compensation," he said. He said weapons held without license would be confiscated and the security forces would "increase our monitoring work to limit the internal and external sources of these weapons." The PA is also looking to bring members of some armed factions, such as the traditionally-loyal Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades into the security services.
Always a good idea to bring hot-headed nuts and killers into the police. Works every time.
While he said the security services would "be open to everyone," it is highly unlikely that Hamas members would join up.
Since Hamas has their own ideas on 'security.'
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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When the dust finally settles and the epitaph for Jamaah Islamiyah is written years from now, the final chapter of that group's violent history may have begun with the move that came earlier this month. On Nov. 18, leading Muslim scholars from around Indonesia joined to declare an all-out jihad against religious extremism. They did so after watching a video of the three homicide bombers who, after showing no remorse, blew themselves up at three Bali nightspots on Oct. 1. The video also showed a masked terrorist -- presumed to be fugitive Noordin M. Top -- encouraging his followers to inflict casualties against American, Australian, British and Italian citizens.
Enlisting the help of some of the country's most respected religious authorities is long overdue. For decades, after all, Indonesia was so often called a nation of moderate Muslims that the moniker became clichâ. Yet for the past five years, an exceedingly small minority of radicals have been regularly eclipsing the silent majority. While mainstream religious leaders remained mute on the sidelines, Indonesia gained an undeserved reputation as a hotbed of radicals.
One wonders why the government took so long to prompt a reaction from the ulema. There were certainly enough opportunities in recent years. In September 2002, for example, the State Intelligence Agency uncovered a cache of damning videotapes made by a Saudi-German extremist named Seyam Reda.
One of the clips showed sermonizing Arabs spreading messages of hate and intolerance to rapt audiences in Sulawesi and Kalimantan. Another, dated Dec. 1, 2001, was of an Islamic prayer session in Central Sulawesi, during which weapons were distributed to militants as well as al-Qaeda member Umar Farouq. Yet another, filmed a few hours later, showed the militants pillaging and plundering on the outskirts of Poso.
Together, the Seyam Reda films were nothing short of a repulsive celebration of violence. In hindsight, the government should have given a private showing of these tapes to influential ulema and asked for their support in the war for the true soul of Islam. Who's to say that some of those involved in the conspiracy to bomb nightclubs in Bali the following month would not have come forward to the authorities, thus possibly sparing the nation of that tragic loss of life?
But sadly, the government's reaction back in September 2002 was to maintain only a half-hearted offensive against extremism. I was the chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) at the time, and I vividly recall senior security officials repeatedly pulling punches against the radicals and failing to use all of the government's tools at their disposal. Tellingly, Seyam Reda was later charged with immigration offensives -- rather than anything to do with terrorism -- and deported after a few short months.
Now, a year into his administration, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is finally showing the needed backbone to confront the remnants of Jamaah Islamiyah with a thoughtful, multi-pronged campaign. To be sure, enlisting the help of Muslim scholars is arguably the most important step. This is because Jamaah Islamiyah recruiters, including Noordin N. Top and, earlier, Imam Samudra, have shown a disturbing ability to corrupt Islamic teachings and recruit acolytes with frightening ease.
One Jamaah Islamiyah claim dramatically demonstrates this point. In the Middle East, some Arab suicide bombers have reportedly spoken of being received by 72 virgins in Paradise after their martyrdom. In Indonesia, this promise has been cleverly altered by Jamaah Islamiyah to have more resonance among the lower class.
During the 2004 Australian embassy bombing, for example, the authorities came to learn that Jamaah Islamiyah had promised would-be martyrs that they could take along 72 friends and relatives on the fast-track to Paradise.
Even Azahari bin Husin -- the Malaysian PhD. and Jamaah Islamiyah bombmaker who was killed in a police shootout in early November -- bought into this idea and made reference to taking along six dozen relatives if he died as a jihadist.
Such concepts, of course, are nonsense. But rather than the government refuting such infantile interpretations, it will be that much more effective if reputable ulema take the message directly to their congregations. In doing so, they will help drain away Jamaah Islamiyah's remaining base of support. Using imagery made popular by Mao Tse-Tung, the terrorists will be left isolated and floundering like fish out of water.
Equally important, the ulema should begin a regular program of visiting some of the more controversial Islamic boarding schools and reviewing their curriculum. High on that list should be the Darus Sya'adah pesantren in Central Java, which reportedly has been linked to some of the al-Ghuraba militants arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and at least one of the October 2005 Bali bombers. Also, at least one pesantren in Poso, Central Sulawesi, has raised eyebrows for its incendiary teachings. Again, self-policing of such education institutions by the ulema will be far more effective than intervention by government authorities.
And looking ahead, one hopes that the country's top Muslim scholars will not lose their voice should militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir be released from prison next year. Against Ba'asyir's shrill intolerance, their collective voice of reason will be a crucial counter-balance.
Of course, the government is pursuing other fronts in the struggle against religious extremism. In particular, I would hope that the administration considers bringing Abu Bakar Ba'asyir up on charges for a third time. Ba'asyir has repeatedly claimed he was not the amir of Jamaah Islamiyah.
But as reformed Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist Nasir Abas astutely points out, this might just be semantics: Many radicals saw Ba'asyir as head of al-Jamaah al-Islamiyah, not Jamaah Islamiyah. Whatever the spelling, as new information comes to light, the government should explore whether Ba'asyir was culpable for attacks for which he has yet to be charged, such as the Philippine ambassador bombing and Christmas Eve attacks of 2000. This could be done without violating the principle of double jeopardy.
The government must also dedicate sufficient resources to definitively resolve the recent attacks in Poso, Central Sulawesi. Testimony from Jamaah Islamiyah detainees -- such as Mustopha and Nasir Abas -- indicate that they have made a long and concerted effort to proselytize in Poso; their links to the repeated outbreaks of violence in that district, in particular, needs to be properly investigated.
The government is correct to note that Jamaah Islamiyah remains a clear and present danger to Indonesia. Over the long-term, enlisting the ulema in the war over ideology is a vital, albeit long over-due, step that at long last gives the authorities the hope of regaining for Indonesia its once well-deserved reputation as a bastion of religious tolerance and Islamic moderation.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 00:15 ||
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There's a question for which they need to find an answer ...
PAMARICAN, Indonesia (AP) - Aip Hidayat was a devout Muslim but showed no signs of fanaticism. He did not force his younger sister to wear a head scarf, chastise friends for skipping prayers or get into fiery debates about the U.S. war in Iraq. Yet the 21-year-old became the seventh person to carry out a suicide bombing in Indonesia, something many said was inconceivable just a few years ago.
Hidayat's mother says al-Qaida-linked terrorists recruited her eldest son as a foot soldier for their ``holy war,'' poisoning his views on Islam so he would take part in triple suicide bombings on Oct. 1 that killed 20 people on the resort island of Bali. ``They used him,'' Siti Rokayah, 40, said quietly, sitting on a straw mat in a cramped two bedroom hut, photographs of a smiling and carefree Hidayat scattered before her. ``I hope whoever did this to my son will be arrested and punished.''
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, but most people here practice a moderate form of the faith. Still, militant Islam appears to be gaining a strong foothold, with five deadly attacks targeting Western interests since 2002. More than 240 people have died, many of them Indonesians.
The secular government has responded by launching its first-ever campaign against hard-line interpretations of Islam - something it shied away from doing in the past for fear of being seen as subservient to the United States. ``What is happening is that today we arrest 10 people, but the ideology continues and the extremists can recruit 50 more people,'' Vice President Yusuf Kalla said, calling on Islamic leaders and politicians to help change that.
For emphasis, he showed them videotaped confessions of Hidayat and the two other Bali bombers, some of them laughing and saying they expected to go to heaven the next day. ``Not just me, but the clerics, too, were shocked,'' Kalla said.
The Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network first emerged in the early 1990s with the goal of creating an Islamic state across Southeast Asia. But it has been reinvigorated by U.S. foreign policy in Israel and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Had to get that canard in, since it's the Associated Press. If it was Roooters, it would have been paragraph #2 ...
``They see themselves as fighting a new world battle. ... They say, we can attack civilians anywhere, just as Americans attack Muslim civilians all over the world,'' said Nasir Abbas, a key Jemaah Islamiyah operative until his arrest in 2003 on immigration charges. ``They say their intention is not to kill Muslims ... but (the) feeling is: 'We are in battle, we use anything we have, anything we are able to do, we do,''' said Abbas, who cooperating with police to expose the inner workings of the network.
Hundreds of Jemaah Islamiyah members have been arrested in a regionwide crackdown and the remaining leaders are on the run, making it hard but not impossible to find new recruits - as the Oct. 1 bombings showed.
In the past, the group relied heavily on a handful of Islamic high schools committed to jihadist principles - the most notorious of which was founded by the group's alleged spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir. It is now under close government watch.
They appear now to be turning to people like Hidayat who, at least outwardly, showed no militant tendencies. ``In at least a couple of cases, it looks like they're going after the lowest common denominator, relatively simple village boys, and recruiting them with frightening ease and dizzying speed,'' said Ken Conboy, author of several books on Southeast Asian terrorism. ``Sometimes the guy's gone for just a few weeks or months and he's strapping bombs to his back.''
Among the promises made to the would-be bombers is that martyrdom is a fast track to heaven - not just for them, but for 72 of their relatives, he and others say.
Wonder which version of the Qu'ran that's in ...
Such a message would resonate with many young men whose families have lived for generations in the same poor village and see little hope of ever making something of themselves, said Solahudin Wahid, vice chairman of the country's largest Islamic organization Nadhlatul Ulama. ``Some of these young men don't have a deep knowledge of Islam and can easily be brainwashed into militancy,'' he said. ``They are easily tantalized. Now it's our turn to teach them. Islam is not like that. Muslims are not allowed to attack if not attacked themselves.''
Still, family and friends in Hidayat's village of Pamarican, surrounded by terraced rice paddies and rich tropical brush, do not understand how it happened to one of their own boys. Though they acknowledge seeing little of Hidayat after he left for Islamic boarding school in 2000, they described the oldest of five children as a shy but serious young man, a good student who might one day become a teacher.
``As a father, what was happened with Aip has made me very worried. Can terrorists do the same to my son?'' said Yayat Suhayat, a neighbor and father of three. ``All parents here have learned a very important lesson. We have to keep a closer eye on our children. ... We can't lose contact with them for even one day.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:01 ||
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#1
RANTBURG artic earlier this week answers the question - out of 57(?) Islamic nations, their combined GDP is only US$10.0T. The USA in and by itself is at least $300.0T, which is a best a CONSERVATIVE LOW ESTIMATE depending on whose scientific klakulator you trust. FOREIGN AFFAIRS belabels the premises of ultra-fanatic Islamism "ISLAMIC/ISLAMIST BOLSHEVISM", os I've called it on the Net GOD/FAITH-BASED COMMUNISM.
As during the Cold War, from Korea to Vietnam, the Commies forced andor misled scores of tens of 000's of the young and uneducated to fight for them.
Security in the Melaka Strait is no longer a local or regional issue because of the perception that terrorists may use the surroundingâs densely built-up area to disrupt international trade or to gain financial support through ransom or hijacking, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Sunday. The deputy prime minister said that although piracy or armed robbery at sea did not pose a significant threat, there was a possibility that piratical activities might become an instrument of terrorists. Welcome to the party - a few years late...
His speech was delivered by Defence Ministry Secretary-General Tan Sri Subhan Jasmon. A total of 186 delegates are attending the conference which will discuss safety and security issues in the Melaka Strait. Najib, who is also Defence Minister, said that to add to the complexity of the security equation, the many stakeholders that comprise the littoral states, user states, maritime communities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) each had different levels of interest, priorities, threat perception and expectations. He said the Strait of Melaka might be a narrow stretch of water but it was one of the busiest waterways in the world. Users of the strait, both regionally and internationally, depended on this waterway to be safe and secure.
"Closure or even disruption of this waterway would have serious repercussion globally, certainly shipping freight rates will soar as insurance premiums increase. Oil tankers would probably have to take a longer route and this means higher operating costs. Effectively, domestic, regional as well as international trade would be seriously affected," he said. Last June, the London-based Joint War Committee of Underwriters categorised the strait as a "war risk and terrorism zone" based on perceived enhanced risks in relation to war, terrorism and related perils.
"In regard to this, we need to emphasise strongly that the Strait of Melaka has not had a single terrorist attack, the only incidents that have occurred were pirate attacks or armed robberies at sea and minor thefts from ships," he said. But it got the Littorals off their butts and made them do something. Amazing what a threat to the wallet can do...
Najib said the maritime security scenario in the strait could be linked to the security situation in any major city around the world, such as New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong or even Kuala Lumpur.
"The threat of crime will continue to exist but we can remove the opportunities that foster and promote the threat," he said. Many steps had been taken at the domestic and regional levels to mitigate the maritime security challenge. The Eyes in The Sky initiative proposed by Malaysia is now a reality and is producing results. The International Maritime Bureau has reported a drastic drop in cases over the last five months. Malaysia has also taken further steps to ensure more effective enforcement with the recent operationalisation of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. Our capability to manage problems in the strait will be further enhanced through a focused approach," he said.
Again, welcome aboard. Too bad it took you so long to get here.
#1
I have an idea. Why don't you kill the mother fuckers that are causing the trouble!!!!!!!!!!!
With all the tech that the Navy, Army and CIA have spent untold millions on, surely theese assholes could be located offshore and appropriately dispatched. Can we not spare a single drone, or satelite or anything for about a week? Swat theese flies and lets get back to work on more pressing issues.
#2
Tell me, Jim. Have they gotten rid of all the crime in Kentucky? Louisville a nice safe place to walk around in at 2am?
Well, Why not? All the money the Feds send to your state, all the tax-money your state collects, all the police, all the goddamn guns that are there among its citizens, you obviously with all the answers... Why haven't you stopped all the crime?
#3
The Malacca strait is incredibly fragile. Sinking a single supertanker in it could choke off maritime traffic for months. The repercussions could include a significant economic collapse in the East Asian sphere. All vessels of size should have a naval escort. Convoy tactics might prove useful. Malaysia is a day late and a dollar short on this. We cannot afford to let their laxity affect timely action regarding this.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/05/2005 13:49 Comments ||
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#5
It's not such a big deal. If Malaysia and Indonesia cannot or will not secure the Straits of Malacca, trade can be rerouted around both countries. These are sea routes, not land routes, meaning that a rerouting would not be prohibitive, cost-wise. Singapore would suffer big-time, though. I expect it will act unilaterally to take care of business, perhaps triggering armed naval clashes with both Malaysia and Indonesia. This, not added costs, is why Uncle Sam is getting involved. We are Singapore's stalking horse. It would be helpful if a long-time ally which purpose-built carrier berths at Changi Naval Station for the US Navy's use did not suffer major economic damage due to malice from its perpetually troublesome Muslim neighbors.
IAEA chairman Muhammad ElBaradei on Monday confirmed Israel's assessment that Iran is only a few months away from creating an atomic bomb. If Teheran indeed resumed its uranium enrichment in other plants, as threatened, it will take it only "a few months" to produce a nuclear bomb, El-Baradei told The Independent. On the other hand, he warned, any attempt to resolve the crisis by non-diplomatic means would "open a Pandora's box. There would be efforts to isolate Iran; Iran would retaliate; and at the end of the day you have to go back to the negotiating table to find the solution."
Just like what happened with Sammy, right?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 03:08 ||
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#1
Guess that means the Israelis will bomb shortly after the March election when Sharon will be elected the new PM.
#2
any attempt to resolve the crisis by non-diplomatic means would "open a Pandora's box. There would be efforts to isolate Iran; Iran would retaliate; and at the end of the day you have to go back to the negotiating table to find the solution."
Huh? talk about a useless f*ck.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/05/2005 4:37 Comments ||
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#3
The "pandora's box" is the circus the IAEA and the EU have been screwing with.
There will be no nuclear armed Iran. 25 years of Death to America in the streets of Iran precludes it.
Brutal destruction of the MM's and their base is the only alternative. Do it now not later.
#4
SO we've gone from a 5 year away estimate being harked over the last year or so to a sudden "a few months" WTF?? My question is once the first nuke comes off the 'production line' how long untill warhead two, three, four and so on. I'd imagine not long so if in say six months they start production then a year form now we could see Iran armed with perhaps ten or twenty warheads deployed and rapidly becoming BMD systems worse nightmare! I still say an Israeli strike is our only hope as the rest of the west sure as hell ain't gonna stand up against these atomic jihadis.
Posted by: Shep UK ||
12/05/2005 6:31 Comments ||
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#5
And this dweeb won the nobel[sic] peace prize???
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. So I'll do both.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/05/2005 6:38 Comments ||
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#6
...Which means they've got the fu*king bomb NOW, it's just going to take them five months to assemble/deploy it.
Now, here is a point I haven't yet seen brought up. The Iranians got most, if not all, of their weapons technology from the Pakis - who have had at LEAST one known fizzle, and probably more. I'm not going to count on a miracle on that account, but we HAVE to take into consideration the fact that if they do not test one first - which would probably bring down the wrath of Curtis LeMay upon their beturbaned heads - they have to face the STRONG possibility that all they have are some very expensive doorstops.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/05/2005 8:55 Comments ||
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#7
That's right Mike. The Iranians never stopped enriching Uranium with their undeclared centrifuges. On the bright side, for the next 10 years or so, Iranian missiles can only target as far as Europe.
On the down side, if the mullahs, as they have said many times, are willing to die in order to nuke the Jews, what are they willing to do to nuke several hundred Great Satan cities or even the cities of the Little Euros Demons. We are gonna have to decide whether is gonna be Death to America or Death to Iran.
As for testing, the never bothered to test its gun type Uranium bomb. It was too simple. The Pakistani's know which of their various Chinese supplied designs they were able to make work and which fizzled. I expect that data is firmly in Iranian hands.
Posted by: ed ||
12/05/2005 9:23 Comments ||
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#8
On the other hand, he warned, any attempt to resolve the crisis by non-diplomatic means would "open a Pandora's box.
Fat lot of good ElBaradei's diplomatic prinking about has done. This SOB has literally fiddled while Rome burned and yet does not have the requisite testicular endowment to admit that it is now time to use military force.
I've been saying this for-effing-evah. ElBaradei has far too many conflicts of interest to ever have been trusted with this mission. His inability to act against his native Egypt's nascent covert nuclear program should have served prompt notice to all involved that this limp-d!ck wasn't about to do anything of substance about Iran. ElBaradei has obviously placed his Arab geneology before any obligation to the world body he serves. If Iran ever launches a single nuclear weapon, ElBaradei should be capped for his perfidy. [spit!]
#9
With all due respect, there are a couple of opinions that are usually expressed regarding this topic that donât make sense to me.
The first is that Israel will take matters into their own hands to resolve this crisis.
Even assuming Israel has the capacity to do the job (big assumption) they cannot, and more importantly, will not strike without US complicity. Therefore if there were no other options, itâs a forgone conclusion the US, as usual, would do the heavy lifting.
And the second is that Iran once armed with nuclear weapons will automatically unleash a first strike on Israel.
Irans fiery rhetoric plays well to its domestic anti-Israel crowd but a first strike would immediately eliminate all their perceived long-term benefits of a nuclear-armed nation.
Not only would such a venture alienate them from the rest of the world (including most of the Islamic republics), it would quite literally would be suicide.
#11
DepotGuy, did you miss the part where Iranian hardliners declared that even the complete destruction of Iran would be worthwhile if they were able to obliterate Israel? Are you willing to permit any test of their intentions?
We must take Iran at its word. It's about time Iran's madmen were held to their statements. Their incessant fomenting of regional instability, be it through incendiary rhetoric or outright sponsorship of terrorist organizations needs to come with a price tag. Now that they've included nuclear capability on the bill of goods, there are irresistable reasons for putting paid to their vicious conniving.
#12
There would be efforts to isolate Iran; Iran would retaliate; and at the end of the day you have to go back to the negotiating table to find the solution.
Irans "word" is a steaming loaf of camel dung.
If Iran had nukes, I'm sure there is more then one "madman" that would advocate the first order of business is to blow their load on Israel. However, the benefits of nuclear capability for defensive posture far out way a most assuredly, complete incineration of their country.
#14
Didn't the CIA assure us a few months ago that Iran was at least 10 years away from the bomb? Can we just put a big red X through that anachronism of an agency now? Please?
On the bright side, for the next 10 years or so, Iranian missiles can only target as far as Europe.
The cargo holds of ships will, however, suffer from no such constraints. If you have real estate in US port cities it's time to sell and move inland.
#15
DG That assumes that the asshats think like we do. Deterrence worked because both sides believed in MAD. This gave the analysts some confidence in their ability to estimate INTENTIONS.
We do not know that the mad mullahs think this way. Have you been listening to the madness about the "Hidden Imam?" Therefore, we have to evaluate them based on CAPABILITIES. I thank that they still believe we will collapse if they hit us hard enough.
I do not know whether the USA or Israel have the spine to deal with this before Iran goes operational. If the mullahs use a weapon, all bets are off.
#16
DepotGuy, Get out of the warehouse and smell the fresh air. Do you really think the Israelis didn't know what they were doing when they attacked the Liberty? If they believe the continued existence of Israel is at stake, they won't consult with anyone before taking action unless they think it will help them in preserving the life of Israel. And I don't blame them one wit.
Further, it is far from Israel's best interest for the U. S. to do the heavy lifting. First there is no assurance the U. S. will do it. Second, it is highly unlikely the Congress would ever approve such action or that any administration would proceed with such an unprovoked attack without Congressional approval. Third, if the U. S. did decide to attack the first stop would probably be the Mossad as their humint is much better than ours. So what help would we be?
Further, the deleterious effects to Israel of Iranian posession of nukes are not limited to detonation over Israel or even to detonation at all. Posession itself is a sufficient threat to justify Israeli action, in my opinion, and I suspect most Israelis'.
It is very important to Israel that Iran not have a successful test of a nuke and I expect them to take actions independent of any other country to prevent one. If they don't, we're in really deep kim chi.
#18
DG That assumes that the asshats think like we do.
Bingo. No amount of Western thought can fully embrace the mullahs' obsessive theological fervor. We are talking about a centuries old grudge that goes to the very core of Middle Eastern hatreds and repeated humiliation at the hands of Israel's superior armed forces. There is no way to comprehend just how crucial it is for these madmen that Israel be annihilated.
Glinesh, were not talking about Osirik here. Perhaps you are the one in need of some fresh air?
If military intervention in Iran comes to fruition, Israel at best will act as support. They would be best advised to concentrate their efforts watching their ass on their backdoor in the aftermath of such an event.
In regards to Iranian intentions, just a guess but I'd say more then one "unhidden" imam would have a problem the nuclear fallout in Gaza and over The Dome of the Rock.
#20
Mike it depends on what type of warhead they use. An implosion type can fizzle (plutonium/uranium mix). A shotgun type doesn't fizzle. In fact although the shotgun type is crude it has an extremely high percentage of always working. During the Trinity tests the labs had no worries about their shotgun type nuke going off, the tests always were about the implosion devices (you had to get the lens and tampers perfectly correct for it at the time).
#22
DepotGuy, Get out of the warehouse and smell the fresh air. Do you really think the Israelis didn't know what they were doing when they attacked the Liberty?
Anyone got a camera? Thisn a 80 lb. Northern Buchannonite.
Iran today reiterated it has no intention of holding talks with the United States on helping improve security in neighboring Iraq.
Last week, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he had been authorized by the State Department to meet Iranian officials for talks on Iraq.
Iranian officials on 29 November ruled out such talks.
And speaking in Tehran today, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi again poured cold water on the proposal.
"Negotiations with America were not on our agenda," Assefi said. "The issue of security in Iraq is an internal matter related to the Iraqis. The Iraqi people are mature and wise and they should determine their own future. So there is no need for negotiations with America."
Khalilzad today said he would urge Iranian officials to play a more constructive role in Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 01:03 ||
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Iran rules out talks with the US
While that definitely constrains the few avenues available to Iran, it certainly doesn't limit our options for dealing with them.
#4
Goerge Noory's quest on CCAM had argued that Israel threatens to take unilateral action against Iran circa or after March 2006. The UNO IAEA's Baradei himself reportedly believes that Iran inevitably intends to dev nukes as it seeks full-cycle processed enrichment of uranium. STAY ARMED, STAY VIGILANT AND STAY READY, FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING.
Iran's patience regarding Western opposition to its nuclear program is wearing thin and Tehran will give the EU only a few months to settle the issue through talks, the country's chief nuclear negotiator said on Sunday. Ali Larijani added Iran would only accept proposals to resolve the dispute which allowed it to produce nuclear fuel on its own soil.
The West wants Tehran to scrap plans to enrich uranium at home. Iran says it will only enrich uranium to a level useable in atomic power reactors but Washington and the
European Union fear it could use the same technology to make bomb-grade material. "We've been in talks for years with no result," Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told Reuters. "We are following this case patiently but the nation's patience has a limit," he said.
Asked how long Iran's patience and its commitment to a two-year-old voluntary suspension of uranium enrichment activities would last, he said: "A few months. We have a limited time framework for talks."
Talks between Iran and the EU trio of Britain, Germany and France will resume in the next two or three weeks, Larijani said. The talks collapsed in August when Iran removed U.N. seals at its Isfahan nuclear facility and began processing uranium, the stage prior to uranium enrichment.
To allay concerns it may use its nuclear plants to produce arms-grade material, Iran has proposed that other countries participate in its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. It has also pledged to allow close monitoring of its activities by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
EU and Russian officials have said in recent weeks that they wanted to discuss a proposal whereby Iran would enrich uranium only in Russia under a joint venture. But Larijani, while insisting that no such proposal has been made to Iran, said Tehran would not forego its right as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to develop its own nuclear fuel activities for peaceful purposes. "We welcome any plan under which Iran's right to enrich uranium on its soil is respected," he said. "Our nation has every right to enjoy the same rights that other IAEA members enjoy. We demand the same rights," he added.
Despite the apparent impasse over enrichment, Larijani said he was "not negative" about the upcoming talks. "I see talks with the EU as a win-win game," he said. "Winning for Iran means having uranium enrichment for nuclear fuel and winning for the European Union means being assured that ... our nuclear program will not become a weapons program.
"A formula can be found to make both sides happy and satisfied," he said, reiterating Iran's offer to allow foreign companies to participate at Natanz.
But he urged the EU to drop threats to refer Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions. "Talks under threat are meaningless," he said.
I agree. We should stop talking and start doing something about this.
"They should put aside slogans and stop threatening us with the Security Council ... (Threatening to send Iran to) the council is a useless method now. Now it is time to solve the problem logically."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/05/2005 00:56 ||
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#1
Yes, threats are useless now, we only understand loud booms.
#2
This is exactly why they should not have the bomb. They have no patience and will resort to emotional responces. Once they have it we will be face with deadline after deadline so they can have their "Rightfull" whatever. Allowing this has no up side.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/05/2005 7:55 Comments ||
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#3
Yes, we only have a few months left to start saying what they want to hear.
#5
Imagine for a second what would happen if they were way behind on the bomb schedule. The bombs don't work, someone sent them pinball machine parts instead of real equipment. Certainly Iran couldn't say so without looking foolish and losing face in the Islamic world. In that case the best bet would be to provoke a limited attack, an attack against the nuke sites that would eliminate evidence and galvanize the Islamic world to your side.
You wouldn't want to go so far as to get invaded so you'd deny Al Queda was in your country, but you'd want to bluster and really freak out people. Especially the Israeli's.
#6
Nice thought, rjschwarz, but as noted by 49pan, there simply is no up side to this equation. Waiting only plays into the Mullah's hands with far worse consequences. Holding off until the successful test of a warhead can only mean that Iran may have already manufactured a dozen of them before then.
.com and myself have been advocating a decap for some time now and ElBaradei's admission that Iran is only "months away" from assembling a device puts paid to any arguments otherwise. Iran's mullahs need to take the dirt nap pronto!
#7
I am not suggesting a course of action for the good guys. I'm trying to explain a possible rational for the irrational statements Iran has been making.
From Iran's point of view. (a) they got bombed and thus rally Islamoids to their side as victims also covering up failures to their nuke program. (b) they don't get bombed and they can pretend to have nukes and scare people.
From a USA/Western Civilization point of view I favor (a). Let them play the victim but be damn sure they don't have the bombs.
#8
I favor (a). Let them play the victim but be damn sure they don't have the bombs.
And how on this green earth are we supposed to "make damn sure they don't have the bombs"? ElBaradei, himself, has shown the complete and utter futility of negotiating with Iran. They refuse to be transparent so there is ZERO chance of any sureity regarding self-reporting or inspection scheme.
The only way to be sure Iran does not have any bombs is to wreck their fabrication infrastructure. That delay will provide time for some sort of regime change, preferrably explosive, and then progress to disarmament.
Who gives a rip what the outside Muslim world thinks? They already hate the USA with a passion that will remain unaltered if we take out Iran. Should the mullahs acquire nuclear weapons all bets are off and, compared to an invasion or bombing, the results of them using a single atomic bomb would be far more devastating to the Middle East and Iran itself.
#10
commence bombing during El-Baradei's next visit. Islamist first, UN watchdog fourth or fifth down the ladder of priorites. Let him taste the broken containment
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/05/2005 20:55 Comments ||
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#11
Don't forget sub-rosa stuff...
Some deniable action is due.
TEHRAN: Iran has extradited all foreign members of the Al Qaeda network arrested inside its borders and is not holding any of the groupâs leaders, said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iranâs Supreme National Security Council on Sunday.
Larijaniâs comments come after several years of speculation over which Al Qaeda members Iranâs regime has in its jails. âThere are no Al Qaeda leaders inside Iran. We do have a long border with Afghanistan, and when the Americans bombed the country, some people crossed this area, but we extradited them or sent them back,â said Larijani. âThere are rules. Those who were Iranians were tried in Iran. If they were foreign, we prevented them from entering Iran or we expelled them,â he added.
That's a fine set of lips you have on the floor.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/05/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh God my side hurts! Looks to me like ol Ali has taken PR lesons from Bagdad Bob. Do they really believe anyone east of Seattle will believe them.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/05/2005 8:00 Comments ||
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#2
No, no al-qaeda, just hamas, hezbollah, and JI.
BEIRUT: Mass graves which were dug up in Lebanon over the weekend are believed to hold the bodies of Lebanese soldiers killed during the Civil War. The number of bodies is expected to reach a total of 40 as the Lebanese authorities continue to dig in the third and largest mass grave to be exhumed within a month. "Some of the bones in the graves are more than 20 years old," said forensic expert Fouad Ayoub, who has been designated by the public prosecutor to officially investigate the latest mass grave in an onion farm on the Nabi Azir hilltop in Anjar. The graves are about one kilometer from the former headquarters of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon and are located in territory formerly occupied by Syrian troops.
Well, now there's a clue.
Lebanese troops have been working since Friday using bulldozers and a team of forensic experts to exhume the remains of 28 human skeletons. The bodies, which were exhumed from two mass graves beside each other, had traces of underwear, clothes and military uniforms still attached to the bones.
Ayoub said DNA tests will be conducted on the remains and the results will be compared with a list of missing civilians and soldiers. DNA tests are already being conducted on 21 bodies discovered earlier this month in two separate mass graves located near Beirut, near Beit Mery and the Defense Ministry grounds at Yarze.
While the identities of the bodies are still being investigated, security sources said the 25 bodies found so far -- most now only skeletons in scraps of underwear -- had lain in the shallow graves for over 12 years but it was not clear who they were and how they died, though one wore military trousers. Some security officials have said that they could be Lebanese soldiers killed during an October 1990 Syrian military offensive against Lebanese Army units led by then interim-President Michel Aoun.
There has been no official response from the Syrian government. However, a statement on Syrian News Web site quoted an "informed Syrian source" as saying "the victims were part of 400 Lebanese and Palestinians whom Abu Nidal's Fatah-Revolutionary Council had summarily executed in the Bekaa in the latter years of the Civil War between 1986 and 1991." Abu Nidal was then fighting with late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah mainstream faction and victims of their clashes were said "to have been buried in several locations in the Bekaa."
And if you can't believe the Syrians, who can you believe?
The mayor of the nearby town of Majdel Anjar, who helped lead security forces to the graves, said he believed up to 40 bodies were buried in the area. "These bodies have been buried near the shrine of Nabi Uzeir since 1993. I have known since 1999 but kept silent," Shaaban al-Ajami told reports. He said he kept quiet out of "fear" of being killed prosecution by the Syrian intelligence, which had a tight grip on Lebanon during its 29 years of tutelage. "One of the skulls had the remains of a sock in it, which is proof of the torture tactics used by Syrian intelligence," he said.
There has been no response or visit by any Lebanese official to the mass grave site.
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BEIRUT: Detlev Mehlis is likely to stay on, Lebanese political sources said on Sunday, after Beirut asked for the probe to be extended. The interrogations of five Syrian officials are also expected to begin Monday at UN headquarters in Vienna without the supervision of UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis.
A team of investigators from the UN investigating team are expected to carry out the interrogations of the five Syrian officers regarding the crime. It is understood that Brigadier General Rustom Ghazaleh, the head of Syria's intelligence apparatus in Lebanon from 2002 until the Syrian withdrawal in 2005, and his assistant Intelligence Colonel Jamaa Jamaa, will be among the five officials questioned.
Too bad we couldn't offer our facilities at Diego Garcia for questioning, but they're secret, ya know.
It is also understood that a key Syrian witness, Mohammad Zuheir Siddiq, is being detained in France on suspicion of having provided the UN team with false information regarding Syrian and Lebanese officials. Another Syrian key witness, Houssam Taher Houssam, said last week he had given false testimony to the probe indicting Syrian and Lebanese officials in Hariri's murder.
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#1
"Another Syrian key witness, Houssam Taher Houssam, said last week he had given false testimony to the probe indicting Syrian and Lebanese officials in Hariri's murder."
Ummmm yeah... BECAUSE THEY TORTURED HIM AND THREATENED TO KILL HIS FAMILY AND EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER KNOWN HIM.
TEHRAN: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his fourth attempt Sunday to name an oil minister, nominating before Parliament the key ministry's current caretaker Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh.
Ahmadinejad's three previous nominees were shunned over their lack of experience, and the latest candidate appears to be the strongest candidate so far - having held the post on a temporary basis for the past three months and having served as a deputy oil minister prior to that.
His nomination also represents a major compromise by the hard-line president, who has been pushing for a fresh face to purge a ministry he claims has been run by people who aren't his friends a "mafia" and for Iran's huge oil revenues to be distributed among the poor.
A vote of confidence is expected to take place on December 11, Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel said in a session broadcast live on state radio.
"It looks like a good decision to name someone from within the Oil Ministry. The atmosphere is more positive," oil consultant Hatef Haeri said. "There is no doubt that Vaziri-Hamaneh is the best option so far given his long record in the Oil Ministry," said Hossein Afarideh, a member of the Parliament's influential energy commission.
But the issue many deputies raised was their unease with Ahmadinejad's style, in that the president has apparently refused to consult with Parliament before presenting each nominee. Many MPs did give a frosty reaction when Vaziri-Hamaneh's name was announced, although Afarideh said "the initially negative reaction will not be the final decision of deputies." "Since some deputies do not consider it good to once again reject the nominee, I think if Vaziri-Hamaneh consults with deputies he would win the confidence vote," said Shokrollah Attarzadeh, another energy commission member.
Vaziri-Hamaneh is also a figure seen as unlikely to upset volatile international markets - or indeed efforts to secure greater foreign investment inside Iran. On Sunday he said the oil and gas "buy-back" scheme, set up for contracts with foreign companies in order to overcome a constitutional barrier to them holding equity, should be abandoned. "But we will definitely have foreign partners in our contracts and we welcome foreign investment under appropriate conditions and prices," Vaziri-Hamaneh said.
Iran's Constitution, hammered out after the 1979 Islamic revolution, puts oil and gas within the state sector and forbids concessionary basis or direct equity stake production-sharing agreements with foreign firms. Analysts have repeatedly said Iran - holder of the world's second-largest oil and gas reserves - is under pressure to at least tweak the arrangement if it wants to meet targets to boost its oil production capacity from 4.2 million barrels per day to 5.4 million by 2010 and then to 7 million by 2015.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A Saudi Arabian man recognised a suicide bomber in an Al Qaeda video of an attack in Iraq as his half-brother, according to a report Sunday by the Saudi daily Al Watan. 
South Korea will soon contact the North and the United States to ensure progress can be achieved when six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program resume in the near future, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said. South Korea is concerned about a new wave of tension arising between North Korea and the United States over allegations that the communist state produced fake U.S. currency.
TOKYO: Japan is thinking of signing a pact with the United States to help keep classified defence information from either country from leaking to a third party, a Japanese news report said on Sunday. Tokyo will consider signing a âgeneral security of military information agreementâ as part of a continuing effort to enhance the two countriesâ security alliance, Kyodo News agency said, quoting unidentified Japanese government sources. The pact would cover defence technology data as well as information obtained through intelligence operations, Kyodo said. It would allow the two countries to exchange more highly confidential information and promote their defence cooperation, the agency said. 
Employees set up clandestine prayer areas on the grounds of the Euro Disney resort. Workers for a cargo company at Charles de Gaulle airport praise the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A Brinks technician is charged with pulling off a million-dollar heist for a Moroccan terrorist group allegedly led by his brother. Female converts to Islam operate a day care center that authorities eventually shut down because of its religious radicalism.
AMSTERDAM: Fourteen men accused of belonging to a radical Muslim terrorist group, including the convicted killer of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, go on trial today at Amsterdamâs high security court. 
Joe Wilson, Iraq war supporter?
2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was heckled by a crowd of high school and college-age students in her hometown of Chicago yesterday, with ABC News reporting that security guards eventually "dragged some of the protesters out of the auditorium."
Saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.
Dean says the Democratic position on the war is 'coalescing,' and is likely to include several proposals. "I think we need a strategic redeployment over a period of two years," 
Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden may have visited the United States as a young man, long before declaring jihad against America and its allies, the 'New Yorker' magazine has reported.
Interior Minister 
ISLAMABAD: Immigration from Pakistan and deportations of Pakistanis back to their home country has increased in recent years, according to government and UN figures.
On 30 November, a 44:35 minute audio message purportedly orated by 
BAGHDAD: Attacks on lawyers and flaws in the Iraqi justice system mean the trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity will never satisfy international standards, a UN rights official said on Sunday. 
GAZA CITY: The head of the Palestinian police said Sunday that his forces needed more weapons and better equipment if they were to successfully combat a tide of lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Speaking at a conference in Gaza City, Aala Hosni said that only one in 20 of his men had weapons and were struggling to maintain order with ramshackle equipment. "We only have limited weapons, light weapons, a lot of which come from the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) forces" which pre-date the creation of the Palestinian Authority more than a decade ago. "Only one in 20 policemen even have weapons," he added.
Security in the Melaka Strait is no longer a local or regional issue because of the perception that terrorists may use the surroundingâs densely built-up area to disrupt international trade or to gain financial support through ransom or hijacking, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Sunday. The deputy prime minister said that although piracy or armed robbery at sea did not pose a significant threat, there was a possibility that piratical activities might become an instrument of terrorists.
IAEA chairman 
TEHRAN: Iran has extradited all foreign members of the Al Qaeda network arrested inside its borders and is not holding any of the groupâs leaders, said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iranâs Supreme National Security Council on Sunday.
BEIRUT: Detlev Mehlis is likely to stay on, Lebanese political sources said on Sunday, after Beirut asked for the probe to be extended. The interrogations of five Syrian officials are also expected to begin Monday at UN headquarters in Vienna without the supervision of UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis.
TEHRAN: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his fourth attempt Sunday to name an oil minister, nominating before Parliament the key ministry's current caretaker Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh.
