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Angola's UNITA rebels lay down arms
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Mark Steyn on stability in the Muddle East...
The point about Bush's June speech is that it can go either way: it can be a blueprint for a Palestinian state, or it can be an explanation as to why a Palestinian state isn't going to happen. Partying in Gaza after killing Americans (five out of the seven dead were American citizens), the locals gave a pretty clear indication of which interpretation they prefer. And why wouldn't they? The Iranians, Saudis, Iraqis and (not all that indirectly) the EU subsidise the death cult. Stability - the stability of the cesspit - is the curse of the Middle East, and it's time to forget Osama's DNA and drain the real swamp.
The most obvious difference between stability and stagnation is the smell. And the flies...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 08:00 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fred, you are such a linking sweetheart!
I told Stacy at Sekimori that I wanted my new site to look more like Rantburg!
Indeed, Rantburg is a MUST stop several times daily for me!
Don't be a stranger.
Posted by: Jennie Taliaferro || 08/04/2002 2:40 Comments || Top||


Jennie's moved...
Jennie Taliaferro's moved and has a new Sekimori design that builds nicely on her old look.
Cheeze. Must be getting time to redesign Rantburg again...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 09:05 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can read your blog on any size screen. I can also read it in a no-tables text browser without scrolling halfway down the page. Your colors don't hurt my eyes. I like your design!
Posted by: Kathy K || 08/04/2002 3:33 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Grenade attack on UN building in southern Afghanistan
A grenade exploded in the grounds of a United Nations compound in southern Afghanistan in the first attack against UN staff since the world body resumed its operations in the country late last year. No one was injured in the attack on Thursday at the local headquarters of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Kandahar city. The grenade landed on the lawn and the force of the explosion broke a few windows. No one was injured.
Another pinprick attack. They'll continue until the Afghans start catching the guys who pull them off. But...
The two suspected attackers first made off on a motorbike which they were forced to abandon and then escaped into a field where pursuing security officials lost track of them.
That's what always happens, isn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 07:13 am || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Axis of Evil
Powell rejects Iraq offer on arms inspections
US Secretary of State Colin Powell Saturday rejected a move by Iraq inviting the chief United Nations weapons inspector to Baghdad to discuss the resumption of inspections halted amid acrimony in December 1998.
He means discussing the resumption of meetings on fixin' to get ready to hold talks...
The offer, which coincided with a new flurry of speculation about a possible US attack on Iraq, had earlier drawn an equally skeptical reaction from Washington's closest Western ally Britain, but broad support from Russia, which opposes US military action.
Iraq owes them money and they'e afraid they won't get paid...
Powell, speaking to reporters ahead of meetings with Philippine officials in Manila, accused Iraq of attempting to "change the goalposts" and wriggle out of their obligations. "The goal has to be disarmament and removal of all capacity for weapons of mass destruction," he said. "The Iraqis have constantly tried to find their way around their obligations with respect to inspections. They understand what is required of them and there is no need for further clarification or discussion of a comprehensive approach. It is clear, it is spelled out, inspections aren't the issue, disarmament is the issue."
"So either do it, or take the consequences of not doing it..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 07:13 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Powell's unambiguous rebuff of the Iraqi "offer" is very revealing of his personality. Simply, he is the kind of man for whom eventually enough is enough, and he cuts you off at the knees. I explain in more detail on my own blog site.
Posted by: Donald Sensing || 08/03/2002 20:59 Comments || Top||


Soddy FM in Teheran
Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal arrived in Tehran Saturday for a one-day visit and was welcomed at Mehrabad International Airport by his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi. Al-Faisal said that his visit is aimed at examining the stances of the two Islamic states on a wide range of issues. He was also carrying a written message from Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz for Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. "Ways of expanding the two countries' relations as well as Middle East issues, including those relating to Iraq and Palestine, will be discussed in meetings with the Iranian officials," al-Faisal was quoted as saying. "Our stance is one with Iran over the (planned) American military attack against Iraq," he conveyed.
"Yup. We're both against it..."
"Our stand with Saudi Arabia is one in the sense that the Islamic Republic of Iran is opposed to any military attack on Arab and Islamic countries," Kharrazi said, according to IRNA. The Iranian foreign minister added, "Since both countries wish to seize every opportunity to expand their cooperation, ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation as well as latest international and regional developments will be examined in this trip."
"Yeppers. We're opposed, no matter what they do. And they're opposed to any attacks on us, no matter what we do."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 12:03 pm || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


East/Subsaharan Africa
Angola's UNITA rebels lay down arms
Angola's UNITA rebels formally disbanded their military wing and laid down their arms, ending the 27-year civil war that has torn the country since independence from Portugal. At a ceremony bringing to an end one of the longest conflicts on the African continent, government and rebel officials announced the formal end of the rebellion which had been in the works since a peace deal signed in April. "We have entered a new era," Angolan Defence Minister General Kundi Pahyama said. "From now on the conditions have come together for stability in Angola."
All it took was 27 years of bloody civil war, who knows how many dead and maimed, and the death of Jonas Savimbi...
Former rebel commander General Abreu Kamorteiro said, "Under our peace accord, we will never again take up arms against the republic of Angola."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 07:13 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  fred:
And the most tragic and exasperating cat is that if the FPLA had accepted its electoral loss back then, not called for Soviet help which resulted in the massive airlift of Cuban and East German soldiers, this ugly civil war would've never happened.
Angloa could've been one of the wealthiest and more stable African countries a useful counterweight to what's happening in Zimbabwe. Together with South Africa, anglo would've been an influential country within the continent.
Frankly, nobody really won this war; let's hope that this experience moderates all the parties and leads them on the road to reconciliation and reconstruction. I don't want another Zimbabwe in waiting
xavier
Posted by: xavier || 08/03/2002 14:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front
US must release names of those arrested after September 11
The Justice Department "shall disclose within 15 days the names of those it has arrested and detained in connection with its September 11, 2001 terrorist investigation," Judge Gladys Kessler ruled on Friday. Most of the suspects are being held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Thought Club Fed was for al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees?
The department must also disclose the names of the detainees' attorneys within the same time frame, Kessler decided. "The court fully understands ... the first priority of the executive branch in a time of crisis is to ensure the physical security of its citizens. By the same token, the first priority of the judicial branch must to be to ensure that our government always operates within the statutory and constitutional constraints which distinguish a democracy from a dictatorship," Kessler said in her ruling.
For people detained within the United States, that makes sense. For those detained in military operations it doesn't...
The judge made two exceptions in her ruling, allowing officials to honor the request of detainees who wish to remain anonymous, and enabling the department to keep secret the dates and places of the detainees' arrest.
"They said they all desire to remain anonymous, yer honor..."
Secret arrests are "a concept odious to a democratic society and profoundly antithetical to the bedrock values that characterize a free and open one such as ours" Kessler said.
I agree with that. The names of people suspected of colluding with the enemies of this country should be a matter of public record: their names, their addresses, and the reasons they were detained. Their neighbors should know where they live, so they can defend themselves against them if need be.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 07:13 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think the yahoo news site is wrong about the Gitmo detainees. I had already read the stories in the Washington Times , and our local Knight Ridder rag. After I read the above, I checked the WaPo story. None of them mention the Gitmo thugs.

The KnightRidder story says, "The court order gives the Justice Department 15 days to release the names of 715 people detained on immigration charges, and 129 who were detained on criminal charges, all in connection with the September 11 investigation."
The story is here:
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/3791290.htm
Posted by: Ray || 08/03/2002 12:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Kessler's a pretty good candidate for "dumbest federal judge," so this may not stand up long.
Posted by: Anonymous || 08/03/2002 16:43 Comments || Top||


Bill sez he'd ''fight and die'' for Israel. Just you wait...
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton told Jewish supporters in Toronto earlier this week that he would fight and die to protect Israel if Iraq or Iran ever invaded. "The Israelis know that if the Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan River, I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die," Clinton said to cheers at a Hadassah children's charity fund-raising dinner Monday. Jim Kennedy, a spokesman for Clinton, provided the transcript of his comments.
If you can't believe Bill Clinton, who can you believe?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 05:56 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Karachi US consulate bombing trial to start on August 10
The trial of three men charged with the deadly June suicide bomb attack against the US consulate in Karachi will begin on August 10. Police filed charges against the three men — Mohammad Imran Bhai, Mohammad Hanif Ayub and Mohammad Ashraf — for involvement in the blast. Ahmed said "They have been charged for (causing the) blast, murder and terrorism. The maximum punishment is death."
Which is also the appropriate punishement. "Life without parole" doesn't make it in terrorism cases, especially in Pakistan. As soon as the Bad Guys are jugged, the ones that got away start looking for people to kidnap or airplanes to hijack...
All the three suspects belong to Harkatul Mujahedin al-Alaami, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Harkatul Mujahedin. Police believe the three suspects are key figures within the party. "Imran Bhai is the chief, Hanif Ayub is head of its militant wing and Ashraf is the finance secretary of the group," police investigator Manzoor Mughal said. Six others suspects have been listed as "absconding."
Harkat ul Mujahedin al-Alaami is also apparently al-Qanoon and maybe two or three other "organizations."
A police officer who is currently in custody is listed as the fourth accused in the plot to kill the president.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 07:13 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


International
Yvonne Ridley embraces Islam...
According to recent information, British journalist Yvonne Ridley who was arrested and held during the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, has now embraced Islam after studying the Holy Quran. She went to Afghanistan illegally a few days prior to US attacks. The articles she wrote describing her eleven days in Taliban custody were published in all the leading newspapers of the world. '11 Days in the Prison of the Taliban' is a book that has so far sold millions of copies around the world and is a proof of the justice and sincerity of the Taliban.
Yvonne was apparently dropped on her head sometime in the course of her captivity. She was under the delusion that she was important enough that Western intelligence agencies tried to get her killed.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 11:56 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The link is great, a quote

"One chapter, "Carrying On up the Khyber", tells of how she almost shot dead several soldiers when her scarf got caught in the semiautomatic she was holding while posing in a very "Boadicea-like manner" for a photograph."

A real asset to Islam and the Taliban.
Posted by: Tony || 08/03/2002 13:09 Comments || Top||


Soddies talking (nuclear) cooperation with Pakland?
US officials have confirmed reports that senior Saudi officials have discussed the prospect of nuclear weapons co-operation with Pakistan, Washington DC based World Tribune.Com reports in Thursday issue.
I saw the World Tribune article and passed on it — it's not the World's most reliable Tribune. Now Balochistan Post has picked it up — and it's not really reliable, either...
The basis of World Tribune report is a US report published in the State Department’s strategic journal cited Saudi interest and stressed that the Saudi kingdom does not have nuclear weapons. The report appears in the latest issue of the State Department’s “US Foreign Policy Agenda.” The journal was published on the department’s web site and focused on the topic “Weapons of Mass Destruction: The New Strategic Framework.”
There's the link to the original, if you want it. The writer doesn't set out to make the case that the Soddies are going for WMD, and any evidence presented is pretty flimsy...
“Saudi Arabia does not have weapons of mass destruction,” the report, authored by former Pentagon official Anthony Cordesman, said. “It did, however, buy long-range CSS-2 ballistic missiles from China. Very senior Saudi officials have held conversations with officials involved in the Pakistani nuclear programme, and possibly with similar officials in other countries.”US officials said Saudi leaders have also discussed the procurement of new Pakistani intermediate-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. They said Saudi officials were invited to tour Pakistan’s nuclear weapons facilities and that no sale has been concluded.
The Arabians have been snuggling up with the Paks on the military front, mostly, I think, because the Paks have the prestige of having developed an "Islamic" nuclear weapon. I think they might see the Paks as protectors of the Protectors of the Holy Places. While they have the money and other resources to develop their own program, I think doing so would invite the wrong kind of attention from the wrong quarters; they'd have to produce them overnight and present a fait accompli, or risk having the project "disrupted" by the Americans or the Israelis, and possibly by a few other regional forces who wouldn't want to admit involvement. Friday prayers often include the Heathen Hindoos, remember.

The Saudi military isn't very large — there aren't enough Saudis to sustain a large force; the population is about 22.7 million, and of these 5.3 million are "expats." That makes it rather smaller than Iraq, which has almost the same population but without the foreign labor. Total military manpower is about 162,000, which includes 105,500 regulars. Despite being one of the world's largest weapons importers, they have not historically been military adventurers. It's easier, more efficient, and in the long run cheaper to work behind the scenes and through proxies. That's what leads me to believe they'll prefer to contract out any nuclear adventurism, and have someone else take the hit.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 07:26 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Middle East
IDF taking Nablus casbah apart...
Israeli troops hunted down militants in Nablus, a day after soldiers poured into the northern West Bank city that Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer has dubbed a "terrorist capital". Tanks flanked the rim of Nablus's old quarter, known as the Casbah, while soldiers conducted house-to-house searches for Palestinian militants, witnesses said, adding that snipers stood with guns poised on rooftops. Around 120 tanks, bulldozers and troop carriers swooped on the city Friday after back-to-back bomb attacks in Jerusalem this past week, including a blast at the Hebrew University that killed two Israelis and five Americans and raised the ire of the international community. About 50 people have been detained since Israeli troops stormed in and 10 homes have had walls bulldozed by the army as it cleared pathways into the maze of the Casbah, witnesses said.
That's the same number they said they'd detained yesterday. Guess they've been busy with the real estate operations...
The Jerusalem campus bombing was thought to have been planned out of Nablus, Israeli officials said. "Nablus is the terrorist capital, the departure point for suicide bombers and other would-be attackers of Israel," said Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer.
We'd started to notice that, too. But Jenin is just as bad...
Two Palestinians were killed Friday in exchanges of fire as Israeli armour sped into the old town, while a Hamas militant was slain in a raid on a nearby village. The army reimposed a strict curfew in Nablus, which residents had been largely ignoring in recent days.
Guess the IDF isn't going to let them ignore it now.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 07:13 am || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Rantissi sez he's sorry about those dead guys...
Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantisi expressed Friday regret for the deaths of the Americans in Wednesday's Jerusalem bombing at Hebrew University. "They are American citizens who just came here to visit," he told The Associated Press. "Our battle is against the occupation." However, he said he was referring only to "pure" American citizens, "not those who have dual (U.S.-Israeli) citizenship."
"Those corpses are okay..."
In another interview, he said he was "sorry about the death of Americans or foreigners". "We are sorry about the deaths of foreigners or Americans ... Hamas' Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades only target Israelis and nobody else," he stressed. But he said that while Hamas regretted the deaths it would not apologize to Washington. "Hamas will not send any message of apology to the United States because they don't send us their apologies when Israel kills our sons with a US green light and US arms," he added.
I love these little conversations. We should have them more often. Note the arrogant assumption of sovreign equality with the United States? That assumption that we speak on the same level, you know, Hamas and the U.S. — like, hermanos? Pretty soon they'll be asking to borrow money, and to use the National Lawn Mower.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 06:32 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Peres never said Yasser should 'die by the bullet'...
Israel’s Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Saturday Army Radio that the French publication L'Express would apologize for quoting him as saying that "To end this (conflict) Yasser Arafat must die by the bullet. But not ours, of course."
It's just something he should have said...
"I was surprised to read the things attributed to me in L'Express," Peres said. "I didn't give any interview to L'Express and didn't say these things... This report is unfounded. It stands in complete opposition to my opinion. There is no need to solve problems with gunshots. I didn't say such a thing about Arafat or anyone else. It outrages me to read these things."
Actually there is every reason to solve problems with gunshots. The reluctance of those like Peres to bite the bullet (so to speak) and do the unpleasant makes the whole thing drag out longer, more people get killed, and in the end Yasser's probably going to wake up dead one morning — of a bullet.
"Mr. Peres has never made such remarks, either in private or elsewhere. It does not in any way reflect his opinion," the Israeli embassy in Paris said in a statement.
Is that egg on the face of L'Express?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 06:08 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Hamas says it can deliver on threat to kill 100 Israelis
A political leader of Hamas said over the weekend that the group's militants were capable of following through on threats to kill 100 Israelis for every one of its leaders slain. "We killed 76 Israelis in just a few days after the assassination of Yehya Ayash," said Abdel Aziz Rantissi, recalling a wave of suicide attacks after Ayash, a Hamas military leader known as "the engineer", was assassinated by Israel in 1996. According to Israel's foreign ministry, 59 people were killed in the revenge attacks carried out in the name of Ayash.
But who's counting...?
Hamas already claimed Wednesday's blast at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, which left seven people dead, in reprisal for the assassination of the group's military chief, Salah Shehade, 10 days before when an Israeli F-16 dropped a one-tonne bomb on Gaza City. Rantissi said he did not foresee an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip despite Israel's wish to strike the Hamas leadership which is based there. "Getting into Gaza is no easy journey, the resistance here is very strong and Israel knows that," said Rantissi, explaining what he labeled Israel's "hesitancy" to re-occupy Gaza.
"Go ahead. Hit me with your best shot..."
Rantissi also said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only end when a Palestinian state is established within Israel's 1948 borders, basically advocating the disappearance of the Jewish state. But he added that, in the meantime, Hamas was willing to consider a truce for up to 10 years if Israel was to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and if Palestinian refugees who lost their homes in 1948 were allowed to return to their lost property inside Israel. The truce could be extended beyond 10 years, he added. "We can't give up our land, we can't give up our homes and villages," he said. "There is no room for Israel among a sea of Arabs and it will soon become clear to all, Israelis included."
I actually don't think Hamas really cares about a Paleostinian state. I think they're in it for the Armed Struggle® — the killing, the bombing, the maiming. And I don't think they're going to go out of business until Sheikh Yassin, Shanab, and Zahar are dead — but not Rantissi, because he's a mole for our side... But don't tell anyone, okay?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 08:30 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Two MNLF iced in Lanao del Sur...
Government troops killed yesterday two guerrillas of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) faction linked to Nur Misuari, officials said. Soldiers also recovered 10 light firearms, two grenade launchers, grenades and assorted ammunition following the 25-minute clash in Bobong town. The battalion report claimed the 15-man group that engaged troops were members of a “liquidation group.” It did not give other details.
I think I'd want more details...
A senior military intelligence officer, however, downplayed the threat from Misuari’s group. He questioned the loyalty of field commanders linked to the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor, now detained on rebellion raps. Misuari’s nephew, Julambri, is believed to be the leader of rebellious MNLF forces. A new group has cropped up in Cotabato, following the death of an MNLF commander’s son in what Armed Forces officials said was a “clan war.” While Julambri claimed last month to have 40,000 fighters, the senior intelligence source said he only has “hundreds” of loyalists.
Are all these groups of Islamic thugs run as family businesses?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt || 08/03/2002 06:26 pm || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2002-08-03
  Angola's UNITA rebels lay down arms
Fri 2002-08-02
  Yasser squeals like a pig...
Thu 2002-08-01
  Hamas leader's wife to 'shahid' recruiter: not my kid!
Wed 2002-07-31
  Israel sez Shehadeh's successor's been named...
Tue 2002-07-30
  Another Soddy prince goes toes up...
Mon 2002-07-29
  Indonesia's VP Calls For Islamic Law
Sun 2002-07-28
  Four Beheaded in Kalimantan
Sat 2002-07-27
  Indonesia Bomb Blast Injures 53
Fri 2002-07-26
  Greeks nab another November 17th crazed killer...
Thu 2002-07-25
  Colombian plot to crash plane into buildings foiled
Wed 2002-07-24
  Hamas Threatens All Out War
Tue 2002-07-23
  Two days, two dead Soddy princes...
Mon 2002-07-22
  IDF strikes at founder of Qassam Brigades...
Sun 2002-07-21
  13 die as Afghan tour bus hits land mine
Sat 2002-07-20
  Car explodes in Jaffa, driver dead, I'm glad

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