Leaders of Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia urged the UN Security Council yesterday to lift an arms embargo on Somalia to help a transitional government establish its authority over feuding warlords. Somalia has a one-year-old transitional government that has been struggling to assert power over the squabbling warlords and clan leaders who carved the east African country into fiefdoms after the 1991 overthrow of military ruler Mohammed Siad Barre. A planned peacekeeping force to support the fledgling government and the Somali peace process has been on hold in part because a 1992 UN arms embargo prevents peacekeepers from bringing their heavy weapons into Somali, mediators have said. âThe leaders called for lifting an arms embargo by the Security Council on peacekeeping troops when they deploy in Somalia to achieve peace and security,â said a statement issued at the end of a two-day regional summit in Yemenâs Red Sea city of Aden.
I think it's a great idea. Give everybody in Somalia at least two guns. Let them shoot each other up, get it out of their system, and then shoot any survivors for war crimes. Once the place is cleaned out, open a border with Mexico and fill the place with people who're willing to work for a living.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
When has a UN embargo ever had an impact. How in-the-hell is it having an impact now?
#2
I'll call this as BS. The 'transitional government' will use the weapons to invade the relatively stable Somaliland and Puntland. Somalia was a UN creation and f**kup from the start. They seem determined to carry on f**king it up. Somalia is not quite that glowing example of UN stewardship Rwanda, but give them time.
#3
I think it's a great idea. Give everybody in Somalia at least two guns. Let them shoot each other up, get it out of their system, and then shoot any survivors for war crimes. Once the place is cleaned out, open a border with Mexico and fill the place with people who're willing to work for a living.
Posted by:Fred
I agree with you Fred. Our arms embargo against Fidel Castro has certainly been effective.
Finally announced. Thought the silence about this meant there was lots of discussions going on. I'm betting 10 bucks Bush demanded it. And usual Reuter's bias
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation to determine who disclosed a secret NSA eavesdropping operation approved by President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks, officials said on Friday.
"We are opening an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified materials related to the NSA," one official said.
Earlier this month Bush acknowledged the program and called its disclosure to The New York Times () "a shameful act." He said he presumed a Justice Department leak investigation into who disclosed the National Security Agency eavesdropping operation would get under way.
Justice Department officials would give no details of who requested the probe or how it would be conducted.
The disclosure of the covert domestic spying program has triggered concerns among both Democrats and Republicans, with many lawmakers questioning whether it violates the U.S. Constitution.
Several lawmakers have backed a planned hearing on the issue by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania.
Bush and senior administration officials have argued that the policy of authorizing -- without court orders -- eavesdropping on international phone calls and e-mails by Americans suspected of links to terrorism was legal and necessary to help defend the country after the September 11 attacks.
The White house has sought to play down the impact on civil liberties, saying the program was narrow in scope and that key congressional leaders were briefed about it.
Officials have confirmed to FOX News that the FBI is involved in the investigation, but did not comment on whether other agencies were involved, when the investigation began or whether the referral for the probe came from the National Security Agency itself.
The White House is expected to comment further on the investigation at 12:30 p.m. ET.
#3
I donât want to sound like one of those yahoos in the fever swamp but I really hope this leads to a prominent Dhimicrat Senator or House member. Also I hope the news comes out around September so as to affect that parties chances. I wonder if the MSM will give the same amount of coverage they gave to the non-stories of Plame an Delay?
#4
I hope it leads to some lawyers getting it in the butt during their stay in jail for contempt for protecting their secret source. That will reduce the incidence of the press "doing it's job" by passing on classified information leaked by some one else.
I hope the some one else gets it too when they get sentenced.
#9
They should get the Warrants and Subpoenas for the investigation from the FISA court itself. Just so it's all on the up-and-up.... I mean, since everyone agrees that the FISA court is so error free and all....
Posted by: Mark E. ||
12/30/2005 16:14 Comments ||
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I wonder if they will find a Judge and a couple of congressmen at fault. hmmmm....
EFL BAGHDAD, Iraq - Maybe it was the time the taxi dumped him at the Iraq-Kuwait border, leaving him alone in the middle of the desert. Or when he drew a crowd at a Baghdad food stand after using an Arabic phrase book to order. Or the moment a Kuwaiti cab driver almost punched him in the face when he balked at the $100 fare. But at some point, Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old from Florida, realized that traveling to Iraq by himself was not the safest thing he could have done with his Christmas vacation.
And he didn't even tell his parents.
Hassan's dangerous adventure winds down with the 101st Airborne delivering the Fort Lauderdale teen to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, which had been on the lookout for him and promises to see him back to the United States this weekend.
It begins with a high school class on "immersion journalism" and one overly eager _ or naively idealistic _ student who's lucky to be alive after going way beyond what any teacher would ask.
Hassan, whose parents were born in Iraq but have lived in the United States for about 35 years, hung out at a local mosque. The teen, who says he has no religious affiliation, added that he even spent an entire night until 6 a.m. talking politics with a group of Muslim men.
The next trimester his class was assigned to choose an international topic and write editorials about it, Hassan said. He chose the Iraq war and decided to practice immersion journalism there, too, though he knows his school in no way endorses his travels.
Using money his parents had given him at one point, he bought a $900 plane ticket and took off from school a week before Christmas vacation started, skipping classes and leaving the country on Dec. 11.
Hassan's extra-mile attitude took him east through eight time zones, from Fort Lauderdale to Kuwait City. His plan was to take a taxi across the border and ultimately to Baghdad _ an unconventional, expensive and utterly dangerous route.
He again called his father, who told him to come home. But the teen insisted on going to Baghdad. His father advised him to stay with family friends in Beirut, Lebanon, so he flew there, spending 10 days before flying to Baghdad on Christmas.
Dangerous and dramatic, Hassan's trip has also been educational. He had tea with Kuwaitis under a tent in the middle of a desert. He says he interviewed Christians in south Lebanon. And he said he spoke with U.S. soldiers guarding his Baghdad hotel who told him they are treated better by Sunni Arabs _ the minority population that enjoyed a high standing under Saddam Hussein and are now thought to fuel the insurgency _ than by the majority Shiites.
He said he wrote half the essay while in the United States, half in Kuwait, and e-mailed it to his teachers Dec. 15 while in the Kuwait City airport.
"There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil, between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction," he wrote.
"Those terrorists are not human but pure evil. For their goals to be thwarted, decent individuals must answer justice's call for help. Unfortunately altruism is always in short supply. Not enough are willing to set aside the material ambitions of this transient world, put morality first, and risk their lives for the cause of humanity. So I will."
"I want to experience during my Christmas the same hardships ordinary Iraqis experience everyday, so that I may better empathize with their distress," he wrote.
Farris Hassan says he thinks a trip to the Middle East is a healthy vacation compared with a trip to Colorado for holiday skiing.
"You go to, like, the worst place in the world and things are terrible," he said. "When you go back home you have such a new appreciation for all the blessing you have there, and I'm just going to be, like, ecstatic for life."
His mother, however, sees things differently.
"I don't think I will ever leave him in the house alone again," she said. "He showed a lack of judgment."
#1
His mother, however, sees things differently.
"I don't think I will ever leave him in the house alone again," she said. "He showed a lack of judgment."
But he learned a fu** of a lot. Good on ya Farris.
#3
This would make a great movie. Better yet lets take Berkly, yup all of it, and dump it on the Kuwait/Iraq border.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/30/2005 14:36 Comments ||
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I'm not quite so sanguine about the lad's little adventure. Here's a link to exerpts from the essay he wrote, apparently before he left. And the AP story I read in the local paper this morning had him hanging out at the local mosque, talking politics with the attendees, for another little "immersion journalism" project he did just before this one. However, he is apparently on his way home, according to the Associated Press, who believe him to be a good little Young Republican rich kid (Mom gave him a US$10,000 reward for some stock tips that paid off big) whose parents escaped from Iraq long before the spoiled brat was born. Oh dear, I'm afraid my opinion is showing -- so sorry!
The acquittal on December 6 of Sami al--Arian, a former professor of computer engineering at the University of South Florida, on eight counts relating to terrorism was a setback not only for the Department of Justice and the Bush administration, but also for the struggle against Islamic extremism itself. That the Florida jury deadlocked on another nine counts, however, leaves open the possibility of his ultimate conviction.
Al--Arian was indicted in February 2003 for his involvement with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group that engages in terrorist acts including suicide bombings in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. And his trial did clarify once and for all-after years of denial by the professor and his supporters-that Al--Arian was a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, approved of its goals and methods, and raised money in the United States to finance its activities. Nevertheless, after five months of trial and 13 days of deliberation, the jury found Al--Arian not guilty on the most serious counts against him, including conspiracy to murder and maim abroad.
On these counts, the prosecution may have overplayed its hand. The Department of Justice built its case on nine years' worth of secret surveillance (fully authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, by the way), including almost 500,000 intercepts of faxes and phone conversations, many of them exchanges between Al--Arian and leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The terms of the Patriot Act made this evidence admissible in court. And it showed Al--Arian's sympathies and intent beyond any doubt.
Government Exhibit T--516, for example, is a letter written by Al--Arian on February 10, 1995, to Ismail al--Shatti, a member of the Kuwaiti legislature. In the letter, Al--Arian noted that both Hamas and Islamic Jihad were "being threatened by the enemy." Al--Arian called for "preserving the spirit and flame of Jihad against the enemy," and went on to praise a recent suicide bombing in Israel carried out by "martyred mujahedeen" as "the best guide and witness to what the believing few can do in the face of Arab and Islamic collapse at the heels of the Zionist enemy." Al--Arian urged al--Shatti to "extend true support of the jihad effort in Palestine so that operations such as these can continue." He described the movement's "very difficult" financial situation and urged Al--Shatti to explore "the feasibility of assistance from benevolent people and institutions whom you know to the jihad in Palestine." The prosecution showed that Al--Arian spoke about the letter on the phone two days after writing it, asking a friend to "carry the message" overseas when he went abroad.
While the prosecution stressed the hideous nature of Islamic Jihad's attacks on civilians, it did not establish a link between Al--Arian and any specific act of violence. And it failed to persuade the court that the law required no such link for a conviction. This left an opening for the defense to argue-as Al--Arian's friends long had-that he was simply a professor persecuted for his political beliefs. The 1995 letter, the defense claimed, proved only that Al--Arian was a zealous crusader for the Palestinian cause, who wrote and spoke against the Israeli "occupation" of Palestine. Moreover, no evidence was provided that Al--Arian ever mailed the letter, or that al--Shatti ever received it.
But whatever mistakes the prosecution may have made, it cannot be blamed for Judge James Moody's confusing instructions to the jurors. As if collaborating with the defense-and over the prosecution's objections-the judge told the jury, "Our law does not criminalize beliefs or mere membership in an organization. A person who is in sympathy with the legitimate aim of an organization, but does not intend to accomplish that aim by a resort to illegal activity, is not punished for . . . lawful purposes of speech." Even advocating the use of force, the judge instructed the jury, is permissible as long as the words used are "not directed at inciting or producing imminent or lawless action." Al--Arian could be found guilty only if "the evidence proves he committed a crime charged in the . . . indictment."
What the judge did not emphasize-and the jurors either did not understand or, in an act of nullification, chose to ignore-was that fund--raising for a terrorist group is a federal crime every bit as much as personally planting a bomb. In 1996, Congress changed the law, correcting an earlier statute that required the government to prove that money sent to illegal terrorist groups was earmarked and used for the execution of terrorist acts. The new statute, section 18 U.S.C. 2339B, which became law in October 1997, prohibits "material support to designated terrorist organizations" whether or not it can be tied to particular acts.
As Wake Forest law professor Robert M. Chesney explained in a Harvard legal study, "the legislation creating 18 U.S.C. 2339B expressly stated a Congressional finding that all forms of aid-but especially financial aid-given to foreign terrorist organizations enhanced their capacity to cause harm, irrespective of the donor's intent." That groups like Hamas perform charitable functions for their constituency as well as committing acts of violence does not exempt a fundraiser from prosecution on the grounds that he only meant to help their worthwhile efforts.
Al--Arian's defense team, then-with help from the judge-succeeded in transforming a terrorism trial into a trial over free speech. The prosecution valiantly tried to prove that he was as guilty under federal law as the suicide bombers he supported and financed. The jury wasn't convinced.
A source high up in the Department of Justice who is close to the prosecution summed up the outcome this way: "Justice might have been better served by admitting up front that they were not trying to prove he ordered and funded a specific terrorist attack or suicide bombing; only that he engaged in raising money for an illegal terrorist group and arranged for its receipt by them, for which he was ably thanked. By spending much time showing the jury the horror of PIJ attacks upon civilians, the jury was reinforced in its thinking that the government had to prove Al--Arian's support of these specific acts."
At this writing, the Department of Justice is reportedly close to deciding to prosecute Al--Arian on the charges on which the jury was split. In any new trial, prosecutors would concentrate on the funding alone, a clear violation of the law. With the Patriot Act in danger of being rescinded early next year, it is essential to proceed quickly to a new trial.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/30/2005 01:04 ||
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Ewwwww....clearly Judge Moody needs a knee cap adjustment - administered by the nearest Louisville Slugger.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/30/2005 1:47 Comments ||
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I feel a gift of prophecy comming upon me. So, here goes.
1. al-Arian are not going to be convicted on any count.
2. He's not going to be deported.
3. He'll get his academic position back.
The investigation into the missing consignment of over 100 tonnes of explosives took a dive on Friday after Naval divers discovered the two heavy metal objects lying on the sea bed were probably junk.
The objects were suspected to be the two out of the six containers that went missing from the ship MV Eugenia a week ago. The explosives were en route Afganistan for the use of the Border Road Organisation for road construction.
Before the explosives were found missing, the ship carrying the 100 tonnes of industrial grade explosive had itself gone off the radar. As the news sank in, Indian Navy and Coast Guard launched an urgent search for the ship, located it and brought it back to anchorage.
The development has sent alarm bells ringing in the Government. Home Secretary, VK Duggal, convened a high-level meeting attended by Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Naval top brass and Coast Guard.
The meeting deliberated over the security implications of the missing explosive material that could pose grave danger to the security of many installations if reached the wrong hands.
Crew members were being questioned to know whether they crossed over the Indian waters and off-loaded the six containers to anti-India forces.
Though the crew had informed Indian Maritime authorities about the loss of one container on December 23, a day after it sailed for Bandar Abbas port in Iran, the ship could not be located. When it was finally brought under Indian control, some of its parts were found damaged.
Agencies were checking whether this part of the ship was damaged due to containers falling off the ship or whether it was deliberately done to mislead authorities.
Three Naval warships headed by Survey vessel INS Nirdeshak and two minesweepers are maintaining a sonar sweep of an area 15-20 nautical miles off the Mumbai shore to hunt for the explosives.
Meanwhile, over 50 divers were yet to make contact with the metallic substance lying on the bed of the sea. The crew of the ship carrying the cargo had pointed out the likely area in the sea where the containers supposedly fell off.
The specialised ships engaged in the search mission detected some noises emanating from the sea bed at a depth of 25 to 30 metres and 30 nautical miles off Mumbai on Thursday. They, however, clarified that since the water was shallow at the designated spot the sonar rays could have bounced off rocks or a wrecked boat or some other metallic substance.
The naval divers assisted by deep sea salvage equipment were now engaged in pinpointing the source of the sounds, sources said adding no contact with the perceived metallic substance was made till Friday.
At about 7:30 p.m. on December 28, a gunman walked into an international conference taking place at the Indian Institute of Science, a prestigious academic institution in Bangalore, and began throwing hand grenades into the conference hallâfour grenades, all unexploded, have been found so far on the institute's campus. Apparently panicking when none of the grenades exploded, the gunman opened fire with an AK-56 while he retreated. A retired mathematics professor attending the conference was killed, and four others were wounded. The gunman scaled a wall and fled; the Bangalore police believe that he had an accomplice.
No arrests have been made, and the police have named no suspects yet, but suspicion is increasingly zeroing in on the Islamist terror outfits that have been waging a mounting campaign of terror against India. The Lashkar-e-Toiba, a jihadist group that aims to drive India out of Kashmir, is a prime suspect, but Bangladesh-based terror outfits are also considered potential culprits. India's security experts have been warning for months that it was only a matter of time before terrorists attacked Bangalore in a bid to weaken the country's booming technology sector. In March this year, Indian authorities announced that plans seized from militants belonging to a Lashkar-e-Toiba cell in New Delhi showed that the terrorists had planned to strike at software companies in Bangalore.
If the jihadist groups are indeed behind the attack, then they have picked their target well. The Indian Institute of Science is one of India's most important scientific institutions, and its presence in Bangalore is a key reason that the city became India's technology powerhouse. That's why the psychological impact of the attack is immenseâanalogous to the impact that an attack on MIT would have in the United States. Jaswant Singh, a former finance minister of India and a member of the BJP, India's major opposition party, said that the attack could seriously hurt âthe internal, international, and economic standing of the country.â Terrorism experts warn that Bangalore remains an attractive target for any terror group looking to hit India. âAttacking Bangalore would be a logical step for the jihadis at a time when India is becoming an economic power,â says Anil Bhat, a New Delhi-based terrorism expert.
The attack is likely to shift attention within India to the question of how well prepared the country's outsourcing centers are for terror strikes. In a press statement released immediately after the terror attack, NASSCOM, the trade body for India's technology sector, stated that the country's outsourcing companies already have many security measures in place; however, it said that the incident âhighlights the need to review and upgrade these.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/30/2005 01:09 ||
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"Hello, this is IBM customer service, how may I help yo...hey! who are you and what are you doing her*BAROOM!!!*"....
#2
Oh yes Mista Besoeker, you wish to change your Delta Flight 1234 to Tampa, to 4321 to San Diego, oh no problems sir, just one minute please sir, ooh, errr, what was dat noise rat a tat tat, rat a tat tat, Ka Booom! ..... terminal dial tone.
#3
An attack on a call centre would probably be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Indian media is obsessed with Bangalore and the pressure for war would be impossible for Indian politicians to resist.
ISLAMABAD - Islamic seminaries in Pakistan vowed on Thursday to resist a government move to expel all foreign students by the end of the year, while the government said there would be no extension of the deadline. President Pervez Musharraf has ordered all foreigners studying at the religious schools, known as madrasas, to leave by Dec. 31 as part of a drive to stamp out terrorism and religious extremism following the July 7 London bombings.
Somehow Perv got it into his head that the madrassas are a threat to him. Wonder why?
Mohammad Hanif Jallandari, a senior cleric of the Ittehad-e-Tanzeemaul Madaris, an alliance of Islamic schools, said that around 700 foreign students, out of a total of 1,400, had left Pakistan after the governmentâs order.
He said madrasas were also not enrolling any more foreign students, but would not respect the deadline. âWe donât accept the deadline,â he said. âThe move is based on wrong assumption that foreign students are involved in illegal activities.
"And there's nuttin illegal about blowing up infidels! Why it says so in the holy book! You could look it up!"
âThey have legal travel documents, valid visas and none of them is wanted or suspected in any criminal or terrorist act. So what is the issue?
âThe government should review its decision and withdraw it. We want a peaceful settlement of this matter, but if they try to impose something, we will start blowing stuff up not accept it at all.â
Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told Reuters that 65 percent of foreign madrasa students had already left the country and the government would not extend its deadline. âThe provinces will submit reports on the issue on December 31 and any further action will be based on those,â he said.
"Seen any of dem furriners in the madrassas?"
"Nope."
"Hokay, let me write that report to HQ."
Jallandari said Ittehad-e-Tanzeemaul Madaris (the Alliance of Organisations of Religious Schools) would meet in Islamabad on Saturday to draw up a plan for future action. He said it had no intention of expelling foreign students. âItâs a discriminatory policy,â he said. âForeign students are allowed to join colleges and universities in Pakistan but they are barred from madrasas.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Since they haven't quite gotten around to ringing the bell to his front door ...
QUETTA, Pakistan - A Pakistani court has sentenced top Taleban commander Mullah Dadullah to life in prison in absentia for attempting to kill Pakistani hard-line cleric and lawmaker Maulana Mohammed Khan Shirani last year, a lawyer said on Thursday.
Dadullah, who is believed hiding in a home in a posh district in Quetta or Islamabad or Karachi Afghanistan, was convicted on Wednesday by the court in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province. He had been charged with trying to assassinate Shirani in July 2004 as the lawmaker traveled on a road to his home constituency, said Kamran Murtaza, the lawyer for Shirani. Shirani, his three aides and his driver escaped unhurt.
Murtaza said Judge Abdul Ghayas also convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison three Afghan nationals - alleged supporters of Dadullah- and two Pakistanis who were present in the court and who proudly confessed to involvement in the attack. One Pakistani was acquitted for not trying lack of evidence, he said. Murtaza said the two convicted Pakistanis had told the court during the trial that they had carried out the attack against Shirani after receiving orders from Dadullah.
"We dunnit, and we're glad we dunnit!"
Shirani was the only man in his Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party who opposed the Taleban and criticised some of their actions. On Thursday, Shirani - who himself never blamed Dadullah for the attack - told The Associated Press that he had no idea why he had been attacked. âI donât know why these unfortunate people did it. I have no enmity with anyone,â he said.
"Except Jooos. And Crusaders. And infidels. And the Hindoos, oh yes, the Hindooos. But other than that .. well, the Buddhists ... but I ... oh yes the Bihais, hate those shifty Bihais ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Foreign ministers and diplomats from 21 Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority have met in Cairo to begin talks on reforming the 60-year-old Arab League and rewriting its charter. Opening the talks on Thursday, Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib, Jordan's foreign minister, urged colleagues to improve decision-making process in the League, which has long been seen as ineffective.
Or perhaps non-existent...
The league's rules state that decisions should be taken by consensus, and many member states want that to be changed. "The Arab world faces increasing challenges which should be met with increased joint efforts," al-Khatib told the gathering at the league's headquarters in Cairo. Aljazeera's correspondent in Cairo, Lina al-Ghadhban, reports that a number of delegates submitted proposals to amend the league charter with regard to voting on decisions. The proposals recommend that agreement should be the basis of decision-making. In case of disagreement, voting should be resorted to, but only when crucial issues such as membership and peace and security are involved. Decisions will be taken in such cases provided they are backed by a two-thirds majority, according to the proposals, al-Ghadhban said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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The day after five Iraqi prison guards were killed in an attempted prison break in which four inmates were also killed, a senior American commander in Iraq says that the US will increase the number of soldiers advising Iraqi police commando units, "in part to curtail abuse that the units are suspected of inflicting on Sunni Arabs." The New York Times reports that the plan is expected to be formally approved in the next few weeks. The advisers with the Iraqi commando units will themselves remain under the command of American officers.
Under the new plan, which would be put in force in and around Baghdad, all the Iraqi units would get American advisers, and the advisers' total number would be increased by several hundred, said the commander, who spoke to reporters in Baghdad only on condition of anonymity. In one case, he said, an entire American battalion, typically with more than 500 soldiers, will be attached to a particular Iraqi brigade.
The Washington Post reports that the program is aimed specifically at former militia forces within the Iraqi interior ministry. The ministry is dominated by "the current governing Shiite religious parties and those parties' factional fighters" that have close ties to Iran. "We're going to try to wrap ourselves around them," the senior official said of militia loyalists within the special police ... "By hugging the enemy, wrapping our arms around them, we hope to control them . . . like we did with the army," the official said.
The Post adds that US military and civilian leaders have called 2006 the "year of the police," and plan to focus on Iraq's police forces with the same attention it tried to give to Iraq's new army.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the US has also launched a $50 million program to expand military prisons in Iraq, after the number of prisoners doubled to more than 15,000 inmates. The program is part of a two-pronged strategy to keep insurgents behind bars, and eventually hand over the responsibility for their custody to Iraqis. Currently more than 3,700 US troops are being used to guard these prisoners. But the Telegraph says the plan has hit several snags, in particular the discovery of several cases of Iraqi Shiite guards mistreating Sunni Arab prisoners. There is probably a simpler solution to this, but hearts and minds I guess. Whatever, but $50 mil. What the hell, are these guys going to the freakin caribbean or jail?
"We and the Iraqi government continue to have concern about the way prisoners are treated in Iraqi facilities and in facilities nominally under the control of the Iraqi government," [a US State Department spokesman] said. Boohoo for them.
Amnesty International has described the notion of a swift handover as "frightening". In addition, the Americans are dubious about the quality of some of the guards they have trained. I find amnesty international frightening.
The prison extension program will be finished by April.
Meanwhile, the number of detainees on a hunger strike at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay has doubled in the last week to 84, the US military says. Bloomberg News reports that lawyers for the prisoners say they are protesting their continued detention without trial and conditions at the base. There are 505 prisoners being held at the US naval base in Cuba. Only nine have been charged with any crime, while the rest are being held as enemy combatants. Let em starve. Or feed em pig.
"This technique (hunger striking) is consistent with Al Qaeda training and reflects detainee attempts to elicit media attention and bring pressure on the United States Government to release them," the US military said. "Enemy combatants on voluntary fast are closely monitored by medical professionals, receive excellent medical care, and when required, the appropriate amount of daily nutrition and hydration through enteral feeding," or tubes inserted through the nose and into the stomach. Jees, this is better treatment than most Americans get at an emergency room. This pisses me off. If they want to starve, let them.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, a lawyer for three of the detainees, said that one of his clients, Bahrani Isa Almurbati, told him that he will only stop his hunger strike when he is sent home. Well, you may be hungry for a long, long time.
"His philosophy is that he should be sent home or allowed to die because the idea of spending the rest of his life at Guantanamo without any due process is simply unbearable."
The Supreme Court said in early November that it would hear arguments on whether the Bush administration can use military tribunals to try terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo. No date for the hearing has been set. They are not citizens and do not seserve due process. They are terrorist and should have been shot by now.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The U.S. will carry out planned withdrawals of American troops in Iraq only from regions where Iraqi forces can maintain security against the insurgents, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said Thursday.
Gen. Peter Pace said the current force of 160,000 would drop to below 138,000 by March, then U.S. commanders on the ground would work with the Iraqi government to determine the pace of future pullbacks in areas that have been secured by local security forces. "The bottom line will be that the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police will gain in competence, that they will be able to take on more and more of the territory, whether or not there are still insurgents in that area," he said in an interview with a small group of reporters, including The Associated Press, aboard a military plane en route to the United Arab Emirates.
The number of American forces in Iraq was raised to about 160,000 to provide extra security during the October referendum and December parliamentary elections, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said those extra troops would be leaving soon. The exact size of the additional troops cuts has not been announced, but senior Pentagon officials have said the number of American troops in Iraq could drop to about 100,000 by next fall.
The decision where to cut troops "will be based on the Iraqi units in that area and the threat that exists in that area," Pace said earlier at a news conference in Bahrain.
The key, he stressed, "is the Iraqis' ability to control that area."
Pace has said American units will steadily hand off more security duties in the coming months to Iraqi forces and stressed the U.S. military needs to be flexible, but his comments offered a detailed glimpse of the administration's plans.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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I can't wait to see how this gets spun by the Democrats and the press. Will it be
a) running dog imperialist forces retreat like whipped curs from their quagmire of failure
or
b) things going as planned, Iraqi security forces step up to the challenge.
Any bets?
THey are saying its not due to success and the plans, but due to "Congressional Pressure" (i.e. those jerk senators for Masshole and Murtha, Pelosi, et al) and "Popular Opinion" (i.e. Howling Howard Dean, Cindy Shitstain, Michael Mooooore, et al).
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has welcomed an investigation into alleged electoral fraud in Iraq. "I welcome the invitation of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq to international monitors and experts to observe and review the December 15 elections, including the complaints settlement process," Rice said in a statement.
Betcha she doesn't discount the stories about the truckloads of ballots, either...
Her comments came after the International Mission for Iraqi Elections announced that it was sending a team of independent experts to issue a follow-up report on alleged irregularities in the vote. Sunni representatives have claimed that the elections were tainted by widespread fraud and led street demonstrations demanding a new election. Iraq's electoral commission has ruled out rerunning the election but it may reject ballots found to have been tainted by fraud.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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A former lawyer for Saddam Hussein says the US should free the deposed leader if it wants to end its problems in Iraq and earn the friendship of Arabs.
Ummm... What's that word I'm trying to think of?... Ahah! I got it: No.
Khalil Dulaimi, who was Saddam's chief lawyer, has written to US President George W Bush. He says Iraqis who supported their former leader are waiting for a lunatic bold decision from the world's most powerful statesman to free him. "I call on you to release Mr President [Saddam] immediately to allow the Iraqis to decide his fate," Mr Dulaimi said. "Only then will you get out of your predicament in Iraq and truly become an advocate of justice."
Seems like the Iraqis are busy deciding his fate right now...
He says such a decision would prove to be the panacea that would end Washington's woes over Iraq. "Your relations with Iraq will then be historic and you will win the favour of the Arabs and Muslims and the entire world," Mr Dulaimi said.
Less most of the ones in Iraq, of course...
The lawyer says it is the only way to spare Iraq from a bloody civil war. "Iraq is heading now towards a destructive civil war ... release him so that wounds can heal and his people unite."
Iraq's civil war may eventually come, but that's because it's Sammy's boyz who're pushing for it, since they have the urge to be slaughtered along with their families in much the same manner the Shia and Kurds were slaughtered when they held the power. Starting a civil war when you're outnumbered, outgunned, and out-industrial-based isn't a really good idea. Ask any Confederate.
Mr Dulaimi also says it will become clear to Mr Bush that Saddam's two-month-old trial is a farce of false witnesses and lies that should be ended.
"Lies! All lies!"
Saddam, who is being tried for war crimes, faces hanging if convicted. "You will become convinced of President Saddam's complete innocence. His popularity gains by the day and (he) is beloved by millions of Iraqis," Mr Dulaimi said.
"They just don't show it."
For many Iraqis, the televised trial since October has generated mixed feelings of anger and revenge and moved others to criticise it as a show trial. Iraq's new leaders say Saddam's trial will erase painful memories of a brutal regime and help usher in a new era of democracy and justice.
As long as it ends up with him dangling from a rope...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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"Your relations with Iraq will then be historic and you will win the favour of the Arabs and Muslims and the entire world," Mr Dulaimi said.
Haaaahahahaahahahahaaaaa, now I know he's full of shit.
#2
This mook, like all lawyers the world over, enhance their reputation by getting their clients off the hook. The worse off their client, the greater the glory of getting them off the hook. This pissant probably is screaming for Bush to be tried for war crimes when he isn't begging bush to let saddam off.
True justice is not a matter of popularity or how many people you can get to DEMAND that Saddam/Tookie be let off the hook. No, Justice is "you do the crime, you do the rope dance", and true justice is giving to Sammy what he gave to others. Revenge? YOU BETCHA. ALL JUSTICE IS CALCULATED AND REGULATED REVENGE, to make sure that the person being punished was truly guilty of the crime, and that the innocent are not wrongfully punished in place of the guilty.
#5
Create a true hell on earth for him with this proven recipe:
give saddam 20 hits if acid.
strip him nude
when he starts peaking let some kurds beat on him and then cover him with pig shit
after an hour or two of that pain let him wander loose nude in the winter mountain areas of kurdistan.
If somebody brings him to a hospital then put him in an insane assylum and make sure he gets 2 more hits of acid a day for the rest of his life.
This will comdem him to a life time BAD TRIP.
A true hell!
... in a dark alley...
... naked, unprotected, and all alone...
... after telling the Kurds and Shites (and what the hell - tell the Iranians too) when and where he would be released.
The year 2005 will end in just a few days. During the year, Indonesia faced quite a number of internal security problems, such as the prolonged communal conflicts in Poso and Palu in Central Sulawesi, the terrorist attacks in Jimbaran and Kuta in Bali in October 2005, conflicts related to industrial relations following the fuel price increases in October 2005 in some areas in Java and so on.
However, 2005 was also an important year for Indonesia when the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a memorandum of understanding in Helsinki, Finland, to end the separatist conflict in Aceh. It is hoped that in the near future Aceh will no longer be a "flash point" in Southeast Asia.
We also saw in 2005 that Indonesia still has problems handling its internal security issues. Since the separation of the National Police from the Indonesian Military (TNI) in April 1999, which was formalized through People's Consultative Assembly Decree No. VI/2000 on the separation of the police from the (TNI) and Assembly Decree No. VII/2000 on the role of the TNI and the police, there have been problems between the two institutions about who should handle internal security issues.
According to Law No. 34/2004 on the military, the TNI has the obligation to undertake military operations other than war, most of which are related to internal security issues, such as handling armed separatist movements and armed rebellions, fighting terrorism and dealing with piracy and illegal immigrants.
This is why after the Bali bombings on Oct. 1, 2005, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in a speech to mark the anniversary of the TNI on Oct. 5, asked the military to assist the government in the fight against terrorism. The military responded to the President's request by offering to reintroduce its territorial commands from the provincial level to the village level. The military also established a new antiterror detachment in several regional military commands, similar to the National Police's Detachment 88.
Although high-ranking officers said the military's response to internal security issues would depend on requests from the political authorities (the President), and the guidelines set down in the law, there are still no regulations about when and how the military will assist the police in dealing with internal security.
There is also still a question about how to coordinate the military, the police, intelligence agencies, government ministries and other institutions in the fight against terrorism. There are still no new rules of engagement for the military in dealing with terrorism. Apart from that, the antiterror desk at the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Social, Legal and Political Affairs has not been upgraded to become a national antiterror board able to coordinate the fight against terrorism. It is necessary that the President do something about this issue.
However, if the military reestablishes its territorial command structure down to the village level, it will be a waste of money and resources. It is better for the military to focus on promoting a maritime strategy to face security threats related to transnational crimes or any conflict related to boundary disputes, such as Ambalat, and to guard all of the maritime and land borders between Indonesia and neighboring countries.
It seems that terrorism will remain a security issue in 2006. Although Azahari was killed in Malang in November, 2005, another alleged terrorist mastermind from Malaysia, Noordin M. Top, and his followers are still around. There are also quite a number of small independent terrorist groups in Indonesia with no links to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) or al-Qaeda.
Apart from that, there are also a small number of police and military deserters in Aceh, Maluku and Central Sulawesi who are able to destabilize the security situation in those areas or other places in Indonesia.
Besides terrorism, it is possible for communal conflicts and conflicts related to local elections to occur in areas around the country, particularly in conflict areas such as Central Sulawesi, West and Central Kalimantan, Papua and Aceh.
In Aceh, for example, security forces must maintain their preparedness so they can respond to possible conflicts during elections for the governor and district heads. Apart from that, there have been political activities in Aceh and Jakarta to establish two new provinces in Aceh, namely Aceh Leuser Antara (ALAS) and South West Aceh (Abas), which is not in line with the Helsinki agreement that states the 1956 borders are the official borders of Aceh.
Security problems could also occur in Aceh when the government stops its financial assistant to former GAM members. So far, for security reasons, GAM leaders have never submitted the names of their members. It is possible that after the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) completes its mission in Aceh in 2006, there will be a new conflict between former GAM members and the security apparatus in Aceh.
However, if the reintegration of former GAM members into society, the process of making a new law on Aceh province, which has to be finalized by the end of March 2006, the process of holding local elections and reconstruction and rehabilitation in the province all go well, there will be no big conflicts in Aceh.
Papua is another potential conflict area that must be managed carefully. Vice President Jusuf Kalla's decision in November, 2005, to postpone the election for the governor of West Irian Jaya were welcomed by Papuans. In accordance with Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua, it is up to the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) and the local legislature to decide whether to approve the establishment of West Irian Jaya province.
If these two bodies do so, there will be two local elections in Papua, namely to elect the new governor of Papua province and the new governor of West Irian Jaya province. Although clanism is still part of local politics in Papua, it seems that local elections in Papua will go well. Papuans are tired of conflict, so local communities, NGOs and religious leaders have all agreed to help prevent any big conflicts in Papua.
Maluku and Central Sulawesi are two conflict areas where "invisible hands" are still trying to disturb the peace. Although there is still segregation between Muslims and Christians, it is highly likely that both Islamic and Christian leaders in those two areas are trying to communicate with each other and work together to prevent any small communal conflict from blowing up, as happened in 1999-2000.
Ambon and Poso are also two areas where the intelligence apparatus is very active gathering information. The problem is how the intelligence apparatus from the police and the military are able to share information about sociopolitical and security conditions in those areas in order to prevent conflict.
People in Ambon and Poso are tired of the violence and they know exactly who are the "actors" trying to create conflict in their areas. However, because there is no protection for people who come forward, they are reluctant to inform security authorities about the actors.
There were communal conflicts between the Dayaks and Madurese in West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan several years ago. Unless these two communities resolve their disputes and deal with the roots of the problem, it is possible the communal conflicts could flare up again.
In conclusion, conflict is possible in a multiethnic society like Indonesia. There is no one formula or remedy to prevent conflict in the country. It depends on local leaders and the security forces to handle these issues, and also the political leaders to decide whether to enhance the police's capability or to use the military to handle conflicts or specific internal security issues such as terrorism.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/30/2005 00:56 ||
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Anti-personnel mines have been found set to explode near passing military convoys in Sri Lanka and European observers say the country is in danger of slipping back into civil war.
I thought that's the condition they were in all the time. Silly me.
Hagrup Haukland, the chief of a group of truce monitors drawn from five Nordic countries, said in a statement on Thursday: âIf this trend of violence is allowed to continue, war may not be far away. It is now imperative that the parties join hands to arrest the violence prevailing in the north and in the east.â
Lemme 'splain ya something, Hagrup: if one side's trying to make peace, and the other side's trying to kill them, you're not going to have peace. If one side's buying the peace and brotherhood line, and the other side's buying ammunition, then one of the two sides is in for trouble. And it won't be the Nordic countries.
Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe, a military spokesman, said that navy personnel engaged in road clearing in Mannar district, 220km north of the capital, Colombo, recovered two Claymore mines fixed together on a tree. The army also discovered another two Claymores along a main road that links Mannar with Vavuniya, a main town in northern Sri Lanka, Samarasinghe said. âIf all these [mines] went off today, it would have been a major disaster,â Samarasinghe said. He said that he suspected Tamil Tiger rebels of placing the mines.
Brilliant! Brigadier, how do you do it?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Hagrup Haukland is a moron : Sri Lanka is in the calm of a negotiated truce, not a country at peace. The Tamil Tigers make the PLO look peaceful and law-abiding. Always remember, the LTTE is the group that popularized suicide bombers, taking out a whole crowds of people.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa has suspended his efforts to mediate a rapprochement between Syria and Lebanon. âWe will have to wait some time, because our efforts have been thwarted by false accusations of a deal (with Syria) to close the dossier of inquiry,â into the murder of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, the An-Nahar newspaper quoted Moussa as saying. âThe Saudi and Egyptian initiatives have also been interrupted.â he said, without elaborating. Moussa said he was waiting for âa change in attitude from Lebanon.â
"They'll come around. They always come around. I mean, it's just a dead politician. What's the fuss?"
On Sunday Moussa rejected accusations he was concocting a deal to clear Damascus of Haririâs assassination. He described as âcompletely unfoundedâ accusations in Lebanon that the pan-Arab body was working on an initiative whereby the probe into the February murder would be closed in exchange for an end to assassinations that have been blamed by many on Syria.
Bingo. There's the motive for the booms. It's a stoopid motive, but I guess it's worked before...
âA deal that would conceal the truth in this affair was never even considered,â Moussa said in a statement.
Then his lips fell off...
An investigation led by the United Nations has implicated a number of Syrian and former Lebanese security officials in Haririâs assassination. Earlier this month, Moussa went on a fence-mending mission to Beirut and Damascus, in the aftermath of the assassination of anti-Syrian MP Gebran Tueni, also the owner of An-Nahar.
Somebody should tell Amr that Jerry Lewis wants his face back. And his lips, too...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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"Hey Lady!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/30/2005 14:15 Comments ||
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A Lebanese cabinet minister has urged a UN commission to summon Syria's foreign minister for comments in which he suggested that the slain Lebanese statesman Rafiq al-Hariri had lied about being threatened by the Syrian president. Marwan Hamadeh, Lebanon's telecommunications minister, also said on Thursday that Farouk al-Sharaa, the Syrian official, should stand trial, accusing him of misleading the commission that is investigating al-Hariri's assassination.
At a press conference on Wednesday, al-Sharaa had suggested al-Hariri lied to Lebanese politicians when he told them he was threatened by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, at a meeting on 26 August 2004. Al-Sharaa said al-Hariri "was unable to justify" his acceptance of the extension of Lahoud's mandate and so he had claimed that he had been threatened by the Syrian president. "This is my opinion," he added.
Hamadeh accused al-Sharaa of trying to mislead the UN investigation and said the commission should summon him. "We warn about the continuous attempt to pressure and terrorise the international investigating committee," Hamadeh said in a statement.
Y'mean like threatening to kill the chief investigator?... Oh, but wait. That wasn't Syria. It was... ummm... somebody else. They said so, in fact.
Another leading politician, Walid Jumblatt, the political head of Lebanon's Druze community, reacted to al-Sharaa's remarks by saying the Syrian foreign minister was a "bully" and accusing Syria of sending "poisonous, corrupt and immoral messages".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2005 00:00 ||
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The CIA's controversial "rendition" program to have terror suspects captured and questioned on foreign soil was launched under US presidentBill Clinton, a former US counterterrorism agent told a German newspaper.
Michael Scheuer, a 22-year veteran of the CIA who resigned from the agency in 2004, told Thursday's issue of the newsweekly Die Zeit that the US administration had been looking in the mid-1990s for a way to combat the terrorist threat and circumvent the cumbersome US legal system.
"President Clinton, his national security advisor Sandy Berger and his terrorism advisor Richard Clark ordered the CIA in the autumn of 1995 to destroy Al-Qaeda," Scheuer said, in comments published in German. "We asked the president what we should do with the people we capture. Clinton said 'That's up to you'."
Scheuer, who headed the CIA unit that tracked Al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden from 1996 to 1999, said that he developed and led the "renditions" program, which he said included moving prisoners without due legal process to countries without strict human rights protections.
"In Cairo, people are not treated like they are in Milwaukee. The Clinton administration asked us if we believed that the prisoners were being treated in accordance with local law. And we answered, yes, we're fairly sure."
At the time, he said, the CIA did not arrest or imprison anyone itself. "That was done by the local police or secret services," he said, adding that the prisoners were never taken to US soil. "President Clinton did not want that."
He said the program changed under Clinton's successor,
President George W. Bush, after the attacks of September 11, 2001. "We started putting people in our own institutions -- in
Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo. The Bush administration wanted to capture people itself but made the same mistake as the Clinton administration by not treating these people as prisoners of war."
He accused Europeans of being hypocritical in criticizing the US administration for its anti-terror tactics while benefiting from them. "All the information we received from interrogations and documents, everything that had to do with Spain, Italy, Germany, France, England was passed on," he said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended renditions on a trip to Europe this month as a "vital tool" for fighting international terrorism but insisted that Washington does not condone torture.
Posted by: ed ||
12/30/2005 10:53 ||
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Has anyone noticed how silent the Clintonoids are these days? Not a peep from Billary, Sandy Burgular, etc.
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/30/2005 12:26 Comments ||
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#2
As Saint Clinton of Cigar is involved I foresee our unbiased MSM dropping this story rather pronto.
#3
"President Clinton, his national security advisor Sandy Berger and his terrorism advisor Richard Clark ordered the CIA in the autumn of 1995 to destroy Al-Qaeda,"
excellent job boys....
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/30/2005 13:07 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Leaders of Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia urged the UN Security Council yesterday to lift an arms embargo on Somalia to help a transitional government establish its authority over feuding warlords. Somalia has a one-year-old transitional government that has been struggling to assert power over the squabbling warlords and clan leaders who carved the east African country into fiefdoms after the 1991 overthrow of military ruler Mohammed Siad Barre. A planned peacekeeping force to support the fledgling government and the Somali peace process has been on hold in part because a 1992 UN arms embargo prevents peacekeepers from bringing their heavy weapons into Somali, mediators have said. âThe leaders called for lifting an arms embargo by the Security Council on peacekeeping troops when they deploy in Somalia to achieve peace and security,â said a statement issued at the end of a two-day regional summit in Yemenâs Red Sea city of Aden.
ISLAMABAD - Islamic seminaries in Pakistan vowed on Thursday to resist a government move to expel all foreign students by the end of the year, while the government said there would be no extension of the deadline. President Pervez Musharraf has ordered all foreigners studying at the religious schools, known as madrasas, to leave by Dec. 31 as part of a drive to stamp out terrorism and religious extremism following the July 7 London bombings.
Foreign ministers and diplomats from 21 Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority have met in Cairo to begin talks on reforming the 60-year-old Arab League and rewriting its charter. Opening the talks on Thursday, 
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has welcomed an investigation into alleged electoral fraud in Iraq. "I welcome the invitation of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq to international monitors and experts to observe and review the December 15 elections, including the complaints settlement process," Rice said in a statement.
Anti-personnel mines have been found set to explode near passing military convoys in Sri Lanka and European observers say the country is in danger of slipping back into civil war.
A Lebanese cabinet minister has urged a UN commission to summon Syria's foreign minister for comments in which he suggested that the slain Lebanese statesman 
