A Kuwaiti man with a mortar was arrested on Saturday when he tried to enter a hotel housing the main U.S. and British military press center in the Gulf state, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Security officials had initially said several men with petrol bombs had been detained but the ministry spokesman said only one man had been arrested. "He was stopped at the hotel security checkpoint and he was arrested after a mortar was found in his car. He was trying to get into the hotel grounds," Colonel Ahmad al-Sharkawi told Reuters. "He is now being held by state security." "Last time I stayed here, there was a mouse in my room..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 10:21 am ||
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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be extradited to the United States, Pakistan said after his arrest on Saturday. "Right now, I can't say whether Mohammed will be moved tomorrow or next week," Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad told Reuters. "It could be next week, it could be tomorrow." Make it tomorrow...
A senior U.S. official in Washington described the capture during a raid in Pakistan early on Saturday as "extraordinarily significant" because he was critical to planning future assaults on the United States. "He's the senior-most al Qaeda guy to be captured yet," the official told Reuters. Guess Ayman's next on the list. Though I think we should go for Sully next. He seems kind of depressed lately...
"He was critical to not only the planning for the September 11, 2001, attacks but also is central to the planning for future attacks," he said.
More, from CNN...
Mohammed was no longer in Pakistan as of late Saturday, the officials said. It was not known where Mohammed was or who had custody of him. Where do they ship 'em first? Bagram, for delousing? Then to... Morocco? Damascus? Probably not Damascus right now...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:28 pm ||
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#1
Huge. Anyone who says the war on terror isn't working isn't paying attention. We are moving forward, and we are going to win - much to the disappointment of the DNC.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/02/2003 1:04 Comments ||
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AP Breaking News 8:07AM PST - developing (via MSNBC)
According to the newsflash Pakistan has arrested a top Al-Qaeda operative, as yet unnamed, but who is on the Top 10 wanted list from the FBI
Here's the AP release, as of 11:02...
An al-Qaida operative on the FBI most-wanted list, was among three people arrested in Rawalpindi, a senior government official said. He refused to identify the operative by name and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
Doesn't sound like he knows anything, except that it's a big. The Paks were just saying they were on to something. Maybe this is it...
FoxNews picks it up, too, passing along the AP release, and adding that two other people were arrested with him...
And a bit more from Roto-Reuters...
Pakistan detained a Pakistani and two foreigners near Islamabad on Saturday in a search for al Qaeda members, and a government source said one of the three could be an important figure in Osama bin Laden's network. "Right now all I can say is that one could be an important man, but... a lot of investigation is still needed," said the source, who asked not to be named. Officials said the two foreigners were of Arab origin but gave no further details. No shootout was involved because the suspects were taken by surprise at a house near the capital. "We have detained three terror suspects this morning. One is a Pakistani and two are foreign nationals," said Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat.
I'll be outside ululating for the rest of the afternoon! Look out for falling AK rounds! Want some candy, little kid? Hubba hubba hubba!
Full story from AP...
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, was arrested Saturday in Pakistan. Mohammed, who is on the FBI's most wanted list, was among three people arrested in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. U.S. officials regard Mohammed as a key al-Qaida lieutenant and organizer of the terror mission that sent hijacked passenger jets crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing more than 3,000 people. Mohammed, 37, has not been charged in the Sept. 11 attacks, but he has been charged in a 1995 terror plot. He is one of the FBI's most-wanted terror suspects, and the U.S. government is offering up to $25 million for information leading to his capture.
Somebody's gonna be buying a lot of beer in Rawalpindi!
Kuwaiti-born Mohammed is the uncle of convicted 1993 World Trade Center conspirator Ramzi Yousef, a senior Kuwaiti official told reporters Monday. An older brother is a member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network and another brother died in Pakistan when a bomb he was making exploded.
Heh heh. I love it when that happens...
A second man arrested in Saturday's raid in Rawalpindi was also of Middle Eastern origin but has not been identified. The Pakistani who was also arrested has been identified as Abdul Qadoos. Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikar Ahmad said that Qadoos was linked to a terrorist organization, but he refused to identify it. He said that Qadoos had received training in Afghanistan.
Hasn't everybody in Pakistan?
However, Pakistan's oldest and most organized religious group, Jamaat-e-Islami, said Qadoos was one of its members and that he had no links to al-Qaida or any other terrorist organization. Local Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Mian Mohammed Aslam and Hanif Abbasi said at a news conference Saturday in Rawalpindi that Qadoos was wrongly arrested. They said the FBI conducted the raid and carried out the arrest.
Yeah. He just happened to pop in for a beer, and suddenly the place was wall-to-wall with coppers. He was just an innocent bystander. By coincidence (of course), Dr Ahmed Javed Khawaja, who was arrested in December for sheltering Qaeda thugs, was also a JI member who was unfairly targeted...
"The Pakistani agencies have been at work tracking these people," Ahmad said. He said Qadoos was "picked up because of his association with al Qaida."
A bit of detail from ABC...
Senior government officials said the three men were arrested about 3 a.m. local time Saturday at a house where Qadoos lives with his father. Omar Qadoos, Ahmed's cousin, said only Ahmed, his wife and two children were in the house.
Was Khalid his wife? Or one of his kids?
There also was a guard outside, he said. "The police pounded on the gate and then they rushed through. There was some firing, but no one was hurt and then they beat the guard and broke the lock on the front door," Omar Qadoos said.
"Hey! You can't do that!"
"Shuddup!" [THUMP!]
He said police held the family at gunpoint while they collected cassettes, a computer and computer discs, leaving the floor littered with clothes, papers and other items.
And from CBS...
The tip-off came about a week earlier following a raid in the southwestern town of Quetta and the arrest of a Middle Eastern man, possibly of Egyptian origin, according to a Pakistani government source. "At the time of that raid in Quetta the authorities were looking for Khalid Shaikh but he escaped and from there they followed him to Rawalpindi," said the official. "They got information from the man they picked up in Quetta and from phone calls until they tracked him down to Rawalpindi."
Sounds like they were on that boy tight...
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/01/2003 06:55 pm ||
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Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
03/01/2003 12:46 Comments ||
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#2
Here's a page from the FBI site that lists the FBI's most wanted terrorists. There's more than 10 men listed, but it looks like the list is in descending order of importance.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
03/01/2003 10:46 Comments ||
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#3
YES! Don't forget to hand out the sweets while ululating!
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/01/2003 12:14 Comments ||
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#4
Wonder who the Arabs are? Bodyguards or also-bigs?
Posted by: Fred ||
03/01/2003 12:19 Comments ||
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#5
Wooooooooooooot. I hope he gets a cell with no Koran and no turban.
Posted by: Jon ||
03/01/2003 12:32 Comments ||
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#6
Fox also brought up good points - he'll know more than anyone else where everyone is - the anthill's been kicked as Geraldo said and everyone will have to move to a different sfe house, disrupting communications. I bet the 55 gallon drum - IV drip of giggle juice started the minute they got their hands on him - welcome to the Carribean Khalid! It was also strange that they reported the CIA led the Paks to him, the FBI wasn't involved?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/01/2003 12:34 Comments ||
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#7
Folks, this cannot be won piecemeal. How much is the Bush government paying to bribe the Musharaf dictatorship for occasional delivery of a handful of Arab jihadis? From near bankruptcy during the sanctions' period, this is where Pakistan's terror state stands today: "Since 911, the benefits reaped from the volte face on our Afghanistan policy stood at $10 billion in foreign exchange reserves." (www.thefridaytimes.com) And under Pakistan's constitutional formula, the terrorist government of NWFP gets 8.4% of federal transfers, which it is using to finance jihad against Americans. Even so, the Bush administration's cosmetic-democracy campaign coerced sham elections in Pakistan, under conditions where Islamists control the media, and 3 party leaders are in foreign exile. How did this stupidity play out? On Monday, the prime beneficiaries of managed "democracy" - the MMA - are attempting to remove Musharaf from office by forcing a Shura declaration that his Legal Framework Order (the basis of his power) in inconsistent with the constitution. Musharaf's own PM - Jamali - has admitted that there are no provisions that would make the LFO inclusive. Thus, the jihadis, awash with American taxpayer booty, are about to remove their last obstacle to full power. Then what? Americans start dying in Afghanistan, and American tort lawyers have a field day with Bush's reckless endangerment of the lives of soldiers. And, finally the wholesale approach to the problem of Islamic savagery will be possible.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
03/01/2003 13:05 Comments ||
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#10
When the interrogation and military tribunal are finished, a good, very-well-publicized public hanging would be a step in the right direction.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/01/2003 13:55 Comments ||
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#11
Hmm.... I wonder if Khalid is of the same character as his nephew, he is a man of certain tastes, enjoys the good life. Maybe the CIA doesn't have to fire up the Egyptian Slow Roaster after all. "Khalid, its either the sunny Carribean or the Cairo's Kenny Rogers Broasted Jihadi House, hmmmm Broasted Jihadi."
1. You CAN take a criminal organization down piecemeal. We did it with the Mafia, and we're using the same techniques now with Al-Queda.
2. You do whatever takes to get your man. If that means big rewards for snitches you do it. And on the international level it means paying off countries like Pakistan to help you.
3. You also do the POSSIBLE first. No one is going to argue that Pakistan isn't a serious problem, but what would you have us do right now, go to war with them? They're useful NOW and that's the key. We'll remember that they've been useful.
4. IF the loonies take over, and IF they threaten us, THEN we go after Pakistan. Your final comment is actually quite accurate. If we have to use a wholesale approach to Islamic savagery, we will. We will. But only if we have to.
Just keep one thing in mind: We are NEVER going to forget September 11. Iraq is all about going after Islamofascism and destroying it root and branch. We understand what the threat is now. If Pakistan positions itself as part of the problem, we go after them too...but not now.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
03/01/2003 14:44 Comments ||
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#13
Going after Pakistan would be rather easy. Simply cozy up to India a little more. Problem is, it's not all that certain that the loonies understand the concept of mutually-assured destruction, should they ever take over.
#14
He won't be extradicted to the U.S., but will be in the possession of U.S. and Pakistani agents - apparently this will expedite the extraction of information. Warm up the pliars, truncheons and moustachios amigos - it's time for the hard boys to get medievel on his ass, and no steenkin' lawyer will be there to save him. Should save on the giggle juice
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/01/2003 15:42 Comments ||
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#15
We can handle Pakistan if we need to, anon.
Now, will you lot quit being so serious? I could here Fred ululating all the way from here (and even over my own ululations).
Rejoice a bit. We just bagged some major game!
Posted by: Kathy K ||
03/01/2003 15:45 Comments ||
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#16
In the name of allah the most merciful--after the last excruciating interrogation session--they should beat the soles of his feet until his head falls off his neck--in the name of allah the most compassionate ,of course
#17
I'm sorry but I find all of this celebration to be just soooooo DISTRACTING. How will we be able to concentrate on Iraq if we allow ourselves to imagine the interrogatin process currently underway for Khalid and friends. I just can't seem to focus.....
Posted by: Mark ||
03/01/2003 16:57 Comments ||
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#18
Allahu Ackbar!
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
03/01/2003 17:24 Comments ||
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#19
Apply giggle juice and tools of the trade. Then when we have extracted what we think is almost all of the info we can get, cozy him up to the business end of the drones of our famous bagpipes and play "amazing grace" a few times.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/01/2003 18:24 Comments ||
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#20
AQ has to consider every currently-in-the-works operation this clown knows about compromised. Major time bought even if he never says a word. Better yet, Fox News reports he was quite the high liver when he was in the Phillipines in the mid-90's. As Vea Victus points out, sounds like a guy who could be turned. This is definitely the one of the best days we've had in this fight.
#22
R. McLeod:
Over 20 years of anti-jihadi work tells me that U.S. values are cheapened when mixed with Pak-jihadism. Once Americans realize that Bush-Cheney's 10-50 year counter-terror balloon is about to burst, then the civilized peoples of the earth will re-align against Islamic savagery.
I don't think they use heroin, though bad guys have been known to use induced drug dependency. Primitive giggle juice is pentathol or that sort of thing - used to be called "truth serum," even though results are unreliable.
More modern methods involve large doses of tranquilizers for extended periods. The idea is not so much to get a one-time absolute truth, as to make the subject not care if he's telling you the truth over an extended period ('cuz, like, life is gooooood, man!) Used with various psychological approaches it can be very effective.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2003 8:07 Comments ||
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Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan said on Friday that the government had got some vital clues with regard to the recent incidents of terrorism, and very soon the culprits would be apprehended. He, however, did not divulge the details of those 'vital clues' and said it would be premature to disclose them. "Nope. Nope. Can't tell yez. Don't even ask."
"The government has got vital clues and would soon apprehend the elements involved in the killing of innocent citizens", he said while talking to the newsmen at the Governor's House on Friday. That's Pakistani for "An arrest is expected at any time."
Governor Ibad said the recent incidents of killings in Karachi were not of sectarian nature, rather they appeared to be part of a conspiracy to weaken the country and make the government unstable. Ahah! It's an insidious plot! Anywhere else in the world, that would be a laughably melodramatic statement. In Pakland, it's expected...
Referring to the murder of Muttahida leader [MQM leader] Khalid bin Walid, killing of 10 people near an Imambargah a few days back and of a policemen in Karachi on Friday morning, he said the enemies first killed the Muttahida leader to create unrest, then sprayed bullets on people near an Imam Bargah to ignite sectarian clashes; but all their efforts had failed and now they had targeted policemen at the US consulate. In a city like Karachi, it's hard to get above the general level of background noise when it comes to killings...
When asked if the Friday incident had any link with anti-US sentiments or if the government saw any foreign hand in it, the governor said: "We are examining the incident from all the sides, however any comments at this time would be premature." He urged religious scholars to avoid issuing provocative statements and observe a code of conduct in letter and spirit so that peace could be maintained during the month of Muharamul Haram. He also referred to statements of certain political leaders commenting on subversive activities in such a way that could only help terrorists fulfil their nefarious designs. He advised politicians to avoid such irresponsible statements. Figger the odds on either of those things happening...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:55 am ||
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heh...There will be some culprits apprehended alright...
Posted by: Brian ||
03/01/2003 17:45 Comments ||
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A man arrested for killing two policemen outside the US consulate in Karachi has told interrogators he wanted to punish the protectors of "infidels," a senior police official said today. Police named the accused as Zulfiqar Ali but said other details were not yet available as he was under interrogation. "Ow! Ow! Stop hitting me there!"
Karachi police chief Asad Ashraf Malik said the alleged assailant was a tough guy who risked his own life in committing the attack. "What he did was nothing short of suicide as he completely risked his life," Malik said. The nationality of the alleged attacker was still unclear although he was initially suspected by police to be an Afghan. Police said some alleged associates of Ali were detained for questioning. Ali was to appear in court today to be remanded into police custody so that officers could complete their investigation, Malik added. "Ow! Not again!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:43 am ||
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Police in Karachi yesterday declined to confirm the identity of the person who attacked and killed policemen near the U.S. consulate in Karachi. However, some officials said that the attacker spoke Pashtu and Dari languages and claimed that he was an Afghan. A senior police official, Fayyaz Leghari, said it was too early to say whether he had any accomplices at the scene for backup. Yesterday's story referred to "gunmen"...
"Such men use many names and different identities. At this stage it would be premature to say anything," he said. "Our investigations are on. Once they are complete we would give all the details," police said. "Sometimes it's been so long since they used their real names, they're not sure who the hell they are themselves..."
The assailant, brandishing a pistol, snatched the submachine gun from a police official, Alam Zeb, inside the park, located just across the road to the consulate. When Zeb tried to resist, the attacker fired a shot critically wounding him, said Tariq Jameel, a deputy inspector general of police. Then he sped toward the consulate and opened indiscriminate fire at policemen sitting inside the post, which protects the narrow lane adjacent to the consulate. Two sub-inspectors were killed instantly, while four other policemen, a Rangers' personnel and a civilian were wounded. "When the attacker exhausted his ammunition, he tried to escape, but was caught by a unit of Rangers. He is still in their custody," said Jameel. Sounds like a spur of the moment thing to me...
Zeb, the policeman from whom the assailant snatched the weapon, described him as a bulky man clad in trousers and shirt. Fayyaz Leghari, another senior police official, said he sported a mustache, but seemed that he shaved his beard recently. The attacker was in the custody of the paramilitary Rangers, but was interrogated by a joint team of interrogators, an official said on the condition of anonymity. "Owww! Ow! Ow!"
"My turn to interrogate him!"
"Ow! Put those down!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 08:51 am ||
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some officials said that the attacker spoke Pashtu and Dari
Almost all of the first British "human shields" to go to Iraq were on their way home last night after deciding that their much-heralded task was now too dangerous. Two red double-decker buses, which symbolised the hopes of anti-war activists when they arrived to a fanfare of publicity a fortnight ago, slipped quietly out of Baghdad on the long journey back to Britain. Isn't it hard to walk with your tail between your legs that way?
Nine of the original 11 activists decided to pull out after being given an ultimatum by Iraqi officials to station themselves at targets likely to be bombed in a war or leave the country. Among those departing last night was 68-year-old Godfrey Meynell, a former High Sheriff of Derbyshire, who admitted that he was leaving out of "cold fear". He had been summoned, along with 200 other shields from all over the world, to a meeting at a Baghdad hotel yesterday morning. Abdul Hashimi, the head of the Friendship, Peace and Solidarity organisation that is hosting the protesters, told the shields to choose between nine so-called "strategic sites" by today or quit the country. "Yeah. You guys are human shields. Shield something."
The Iraqi warning follows frustration among Saddam Hussein's officials that only about 65 of the shields had so far agreed to take up positions at the oil refineries, power plants and water-purification sites selected by their hosts. It heightened fears among some peace activists that they could be stationed at non-civilian sites. Mr Meynell and fellow protesters who moved into the power station in south Baghdad last weekend were dismayed to find it stood immediately next to an army base and the strategically crucial main road south to Basra. And they were so-o-o-o-o surprised.
Iraqi officials said there was little point in guarding what they considered to be low-risk targets. "A high-risk target? We could get killed... Uh. Oh, yeah.
Iraq's decision to force the pace was welcomed by some of the 20 Britons remaining in Baghdad. "It's only fair," said Uzma Bashir, 32, a college lecturer who is one of the team leaders. "We've come here as shields to defend sites and now the Iraqis are asking us to make our choice." Have a nice time. Remember to wave to the A10 pilots. They like that...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 07:22 pm ||
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#1
In this case I have to side with the Iraqi officials. I mean, it's like buying a condom with a hole in it: if it doesn't protect anything, what use is it? So long suckers...
#4
Let's have a good dose of public ridicule to balance the romanticized fluff interviews they all gave before they left for Baghdad. My only regret is that they left alive..I was hoping for a little chlorine in the gene pool, Darwin-style.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/01/2003 21:13 Comments ||
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#5
I can see how this would seem like fun. Hop on a bus, tour across Europe and wind your way down to someplace exotic.
Of course that's until you realize that this might actually result in your demise. That's such a buzz kill.
Posted by: Matt Miller ||
03/01/2003 23:04 Comments ||
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#6
Goes to show that these frickin' morons simply do not get it. They acually believed that Sammy would "see the light" simply because they rode in on their Magic Bus. I say don't let
em back in - they made their choice and they should be made to abide by it as it was decided on freely. It's tough to watch someone die due their own stupidity , but that's nature work. Good luck, morons.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/02/2003 1:20 Comments ||
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#7
The Iraqi warning follows frustration among Saddam Hussein's officials that only about 65 of the shields had so far agreed to take up positions at the oil refineries, power plants and water-purification sites selected by their hosts. It heightened fears among some peace activists that they could be stationed at non-civilian sites.
Well surprise, surprise. Apparently, they just figured out that what is likely to be attacked aren't civilians. People have been saying this all along, and these dumbasses weren't listening.
First we have to accept any democratic voting, it is really shamefull to see some readers here acting so arrogant thinking that democracy doesnât exist outside the US. Secondly Bush is not a tactful politician as he has not the succes and simpathy of Clinton outside the US, I donât know how it is inside the US. He set of a lot of angry blood in Turkey calling the Turkish call for compensation of the damage the US brings with every war she starts in the middle east a horsetrading and randsom, all the blackmailing with threathening to establish a Kurdistan was the other dimension. One can see this as an answer to Bush from the Turkish parliament: stick your so called randsom right up in your â¦.., and stop making us sick with all your blackmailing.
regards,
Posted by: Murat ||
03/02/2003 10:58 Comments ||
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Turkey's parliament speaker says a motion to allow U.S. troops into the country for a possible Iraq war has been rejected, an MP told reporters. The issue is crucial to U.S. military plans and Turkey's relations with Washington. The vote, carried out behind closed doors, ended with 264 votes for and 251 votes against with 19 abstentions — an apparent slim victory for the government. But the opposition party challenged the result. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) argued that the government had not won the 267 votes needed to represent a majority of the 534 lawmakers present in the assembly. Time for Plan B. Load everything up, ship it to the Gulf. Who's up for the Republic of Kurdistan?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 12:30 pm ||
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#1
Lets see... 6 Bil. / 534 = aprox 11 mil
That's a good deal it would seem. But I dunno... maybe the cost of living is higher in Turkey.
#3
I do not think that we should waste any more time. Quietly cut our losses. Start formulating a plan B for losing Incirlik, and gradually implement the plan without fanfare. Just give pablum public statements when absolutely necessary. Watch the hands and feet and not the mouth. We cannot depend on friends that we have to bribe. We are going to get setbacks, and those fairweather friends will learn through their pocketbook when they check their account balances.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/01/2003 13:43 Comments ||
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#4
Turkey can kiss those billions goodbye and defend its own border too. I suppose it's good news for the Kurds, both in Iraq and Turkey. Let's roll...
P.S. to Turkey: You're either with us or against us, and you've chosen to be against us. Need help? Go beg in Paris. And remember how the French stood up for you in NATO!
Posted by: Tom ||
03/01/2003 13:46 Comments ||
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#7
Becky's got a point. Yes their populice is against the war. But with Iraq reformed Turkey's life should be a lot better. Got to wonder why they think shafting the US, after the US stood by them in NATO, and offered $BN in aid, and will be reshaping the country right next door to them, is the way to go. Let's hope the US does have a Plan B and that this doesn't push the start of things way back.
#8
Powell: "We are giving the inspections process more time, as many have asked for. But in the end, one must conclude we can't go on very long like that."
I guess thats Plan B until Plan A works again
#9
If the Turkish parliament doesn't change it's mind, things actually get simpler for us. Much simpler.
We need to have the balls to be who WE are. The U.S. has generated approbrium around the world for supporting dictators. It's time for us to become the true champions of freedom-loving people. The Kurds have more than proved that they want and believe in democracy. So let's help them have freedom and independence. If the Turks don't like that, well, that's a shame but we can work that out.
If we become the true torchbearers of democracy, freeing Iraq, freeing the Kurds, freeing others who deserve and demand freedom, the U.S. will have no shortage of friends. Just the opposite.
As Islamism has become the religion of the maniacs, as Communism has become the religion of the extreme left, so should Democracy become our religion. Yes, I know this is Wilsonian. But it's right and if we are true to this belief we will have billions of converts.
Don't worry about Turkey. We can win in Iraq without them. Look at the big picture, the long-range goal. And that goal should be freedom and the pursuit of happiness for everyone.
Posted by: R. McLeod ||
03/01/2003 14:56 Comments ||
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#10
So what's gonna happen to all that equipment that was loaded off? My guess it's already heading to eastern Turkey. This issue is only about more US troops on Turkish territory, right? The ones already there are OK. Granted its a small contingent, but they could get the equipment across the border, couldn't they?
Look for airborne units to be activated. My guess is they will not be deployed in the south. This means the northern front is still a go, but with much more difficulty. Any airfields in northern Iraq? It doesn't even have to be a paved surface.
#11
This Turkey decision is truly puzzling. As noted above the US has already offloaded troops and equipment - does this mean no more? Is this another attempt to boost the aid package? Is this more deception to Saddam so he doesn't know what's going on in Turkey (as some have suggested)? Is the Turkey parliament so against war that they would turn away $15-30BN in aid? Does this push the war back? Any ideas? (Murat - you seem to know a lot about Turkey)
#12
So the question of the day is: Is our dealing with Turkey disinformation or dogf--c? We need some intel.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/01/2003 18:31 Comments ||
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#13
Hmmm. How long does it take to move several thousand soldiers across Turkey? I'm not a logistics person but seems like it wouldn't take too long.
Supposedly the military equipment is already moving and the U.S. has some people in Turkey preparing things. Also there are a lot of reports about special operations people making things ready in Iraq.
Normally, air strikes preceed troop movement and that might take a few days. Assuming everything else is positioned and ready then maybe we are not ready for Turkey's permission yet.
In addition, looks like Bush is being patient with Blair as he works the UN commitment and that is going to take a few more days.
And it has occurred to me that every truck, Humvee and trailer that unloaded in Turkey might have had some space for people too.
I have no experience in these matters but maybe it is premature to write off our friends in Turkey.
Posted by: dc ||
03/01/2003 21:41 Comments ||
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#14
Yep...fact is we have enough troops in Turkey as is to open a 2nd front large enough to achieve our goals there....as has been the motto: Whatch the hands, not the mouth.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/02/2003 0:58 Comments ||
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#15
If Turkey gets EU entry in the next few days, we know why they decided to stab the US in the back. If they don't, then it means obviously that the AKP is what it always looked like : a bunch of Osama-maniacs, who want to turn Turkey in a Talibanistan. Add yet another enemy to the list.
Posted by: Peter ||
03/02/2003 4:03 Comments ||
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#17
Don't be too hard on Turkey. They have been allies for a long time. The Gulf War took out their pipeline revenues and neither the US nor the Gulf States made them whole again. And don't be too easy on the Kurds. Basically they are good folk, but there have been real Kurdish terrorists and long ago, when they were stronger, the Kurds did some nasty things to the Assyrian Christians. OK, Turkey didn't go along this time. We'll do well anyway.
First we have to accept any democratic voting, it is really shamefull to see some readers here acting so arrogant thinking that democracy doesnât exist outside the US. Secondly Bush is not a tactful politician as he has not the succes and simpathy of Clinton outside the US, I donât know how it is inside the US. He set of a lot of angry blood in Turkey calling the Turkish call for compensation of the damage the US brings with every war she starts in the middle east a horsetrading and randsom, all the blackmailing with threathening to establish a Kurdistan was the other dimension. One can see this as an answer to Bush from the Turkish parliament: stick your so called randsom right up in your â¦.., and stop making us sick with all your blackmailing.
regards,
Posted by: Murat ||
03/02/2003 11:01 Comments ||
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Source is The Sun (UK). Grain of salt time...
SADDAM Husseinâs top missile expert has been murdered to stop him blabbing to the UN. General Muhammad Saâid al Darraj died on Thursday after Saddamâs men poisoned his drink. Relatives say he was ordered to hide details of Iraqi Scuds from the UN â but devious Saddam did not trust him.
General al-Darraj was murdered hours before Saddam agreed to the destruction. The engineer had been called to a meeting at one of Saddamâs palaces for talks about how to mislead UN scientists over Iraqâs Scud programme. Moments before he died, he managed to tell his family Saddamâs officials had spiked his drink with poison. It sounds very... ummm... Borgia.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 10:38 am ||
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Syrian President Bashar Assad told the [Arab] summit's opening session that it was a mistake to identify the Iraqi leadership as the source of the crisis. Assad accused the United States of seeking not to topple a dictatorial regime but to secure Iraq's ``oil and redrawing the region's map and destroying Iraq's infrastructure.'' "Sammy din't do nuttin', nuttin', I tell yez. It's all about oiiiiilll!"
``We are all targeted ... we are all in danger,'' Assad said. It's not too late to repent and change your ways, Bashar...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:34 am ||
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#1
Smart fellow, the Assad Baby.
Posted by: Peter ||
03/01/2003 10:56 Comments ||
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#2
Yup, he used to be an optician or something, back in London, before the heir-apparent brother croaked and he was called back by daddy for his dictatorship lessons.
An Iraqi official said on Saturday that Iraq had destroyed four Al Samoud 2 missiles. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Iraqi spokesman said the destruction occurred 20 miles north of Baghdad in the Al-Taji area, a section that is home to several factories involved in missile production. A spokesman for the U.N. weapons inspectors, Hiro Ueki, said a team of inspectors was headed to the site. "As soon as they arrive the destruction will begin," he said. "I do not believe that it has begun, but it's a matter of minutes." Odai al-Taie, head of the information department at Iraq's Information Ministry, said a team of U.N. weapons inspectors also would seize a mold used to make solid fuel at the Al Rasheed Company in order to prepare it for destruction on Sunday. I' surprised they're actually doing something, rather than "clarifying" what they should be doing for a couple weeks...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 08:51 am ||
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#1
How many do they have versus how many they destroy? Will they destroy a few and claim they did all they had, like with the WMD?
BTW, I'm sure we'd be happy to take care of the destruction for the Iraqis, all at once.
#3
Funny, Thursday M. Chirac's party members warn that he should not threaten to veto a new resolution from the US and Friday it is announced that the hitherto-sacrosanct missiles are to be destroyed.
Meanwhile Blix says that is nice, but still not full cooperation. As 1441 specifies.
Posted by: John Anderson ||
03/01/2003 9:24 Comments ||
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#4
If we put Palestinian suicide bombers into the missiles that could speed up the process quite a bit...
#5
estimates I read were that he had 100 - 120 Al-Samoud 2's...at 3-4 a day he could extend this into late April and into the... Dreaded Iraqi Summerâ¢!
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/01/2003 11:55 Comments ||
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#6
We could maybe help him out. Do the whole job in less than an hour I should think.
Posted by: Michael ||
03/01/2003 12:02 Comments ||
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#7
Actually always reliable Geraldo said they only destroyed 1, and 3 are in the process of being disassembled.
I wonder many scuds Saddam is destroying?
Posted by: Jon ||
03/01/2003 12:42 Comments ||
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#8
I thought there was a difference between destroyed and disassembled. Destroyed is BYE-BYE; Disassembled is I CAN FIX.
The United Arab Emirates on Saturday called for Saddam Hussein to step down, the first Arab country to do so publicly. Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, president of the Persian Gulf nation, submitted a proposal at an Arab League summit urging Saddam and the rest of his leadership to give up power in exchange for immunity from prosecution. He's already said no...
The call defied long-standing resistance among Arab leaders to meddling in each others' domestic affairs. Sheik Zayed's letter, circulated among journalists at the summit and formally submitted for debate by the leaders, did not refer explicitly to Saddam but said the entire "Iraqi leadership should step down and leave Iraq with all the appropriate advantages within two weeks of adopting this Arab initiative." Calls for Sammy to beat it have been a pretty steady chorus since this whole thing started swelling up. It's probably just a fantasy, but I recall that when Iraq invaded Kuwait, Sammy justified it by claiming it had been at the invitation of "young revolutionaries" under Colonel Alaa Hussein Ali. Each morning, I keep waiting for the news that a cabal of "young revolutionaries" has taken power in Iraq, not even necessarily in Baghdad, and called for U.S. assistance against Sammy...
In the first Baghdad reaction, Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Al-Douri, speaking to CNN from New York, repeated the position that there was no chance Saddam might resign. That's what I expected they'd say. But they also said they weren't going to destroy the al-Samouds...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:20 am ||
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Defying the American plans to install a U.S.-led government after ousting Saddam Hussein, Iraqi opposition groups named a unified leadership Friday, after three days of intense talks in the Kurdish-held northern Iraq. Upbeat opposition officials, eager to present themselves as a credible force to be reckoned with, said hours of delicate closed-door debate yielded a six-member council they want to see at the heart of a future government in Iraq. "The conference has been a good success. We have resolved all the problems in the opposition," said Sami Abdul Rahman, a senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which hosted the three-day talks. If they'd managed to do that back in October, things would be a little simpler now. We could have recognized them as the legit government of Iraq and given them "fraternal assistance" in getting rid of Sammy...
The council consists of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani, the Iraqi National Congress (INC) leader Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the Tehran-based Shiite Supreme Assembly for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi National Accord, as well as Iraqi dissident and former foreign minister Adnan Pachachi. See? Wasn't that simple?
Barzani and Talabani are Kurds who have been sharing control of the north of the country since they wrested autonomy from Saddam in 1991 and have strong political and military credentials. Al-Hakim is a conservative Shiite, and his group has its own militia with backing from Iran. Chalabi and Allawi, also Shiites, are secular dissidents and have been close to the CIA. Abdul Rahman said the opposition had also formed 14 committees, which roughly match the functions of various ministries, a challenge to Washington which has urged the groups here not to form a government-in-exile. So put together a government. The way things stand now, it'll make things simpler, not more difficult. Can this be Plan B, being implemented?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 08:51 am ||
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#1
The pending agreement of the council of six was probably one of reasons the Turkish parliment voted the way they did. Actually, by not requiring Turkish help, the US will just look stronger. It would even be better to oust Saddam without Turkey or Kuwait help, however, that would have required some tough amphibious stuff.
#2
I have to say I was pretty P.O'd by that column in the WSJ last week. What are the Americans going to do, choose the Iraqi flag?? How much Islam is in our schools?
What in the bejeebus have they been doing for the past 20 years, sitting on their middle finger and spinning? Why don't they have a plan or at least a flag? It can't be that difficult.
Arab foreign ministers drafted Friday a compromise text that seems to satisfy both Iraq and the Gulf Arab states, such as Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, which are hosting the U.S.-led military buildup in the region. The draft calls on "Iraq's neighbors to abstain from joining any military action against the country, its security and territorial integrity," and "absolutely reject a war against Iraq." Any change in the region frightens them. That frightens me...
It is seen as satisfactory to Kuwait and Gulf Arab states bound by defense pacts with the United States as they can argue that, in the event of a war, they are not directly participating in the attack and that U.S. forces operating out of its territory are doing so under U.N. cover. Or not...
"We do not trust Iraq, but we want a peaceful settlement to the crisis and avoid war," Kuwaiti Information Minister Ahmed Al-Fahd Al-Sabah told reporters. "Kuwait will not participate in any military action against Iraq," he said, while adding that the emirate, as a U.N. member, was bound by international law." He pointed out that U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iraq were taken under Chapter VII of the charter, which allows military action to enforce them. He also explained that the defense pact signed with the United States after the February 1991 liberation of the emirate from a seven-month Iraqi military occupation was "the security guarantee of Kuwait in the face of Iraqi threats and imposes obligations" on the emirate towards the United States. They might want to adhere to them, too. If the U.S. were to be beaten up enough diplomatically that we took our toys and went home, there wouldn't be an awful lot of support next time around when Sammy decided he'd like to go back to having 19 provinces again. All the momentum would be lost, and the antiwar wieners would be pointing to how we'd lost this time as a justification for not getting involved that time...
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa told reporters that "there is total agreement between Arab states. "The summit will send a clear message to everybody that we cannot support military action against Iraq and that we are for the full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions," he added. We demand to have it both ways..."
Diplomats said the leaders will also consider a blueprint for action that includes sending a three-country delegation to Baghdad, Washington and to the United Nations to mediate in the stand-off. "A blueprint for action" that consists of nothing but talk...
Nearly half the 22-member League are represented at the summit by heads of state, and the others, including Iraq and Kuwait, by top ministers and officials.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 08:51 am ||
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While the government wants to pursue peace talks with the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), it will exercise no let up in its war until they come to the negotiating table. President Gloria Arroyo announced this yesterday as she renewed all-out military offensives against the MILF. "Negotiate now," she said, a statement seen as an ultimatum for the MILF guerrillas to talk peace with the government. "We want peace but (we) have to enforce the law," she said. "We have a call for the MILF to come to the peace table. We have given them the draft of the peace agreement and we have to run after those who break the law." Isn't there some sort of law against running an autonomous armed militia in opposition to the government? Maybe they should think about passing one...
The president expressed optimism that the MILF will return to the negotiating table, noting that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed has given word that Kuala Lumpur will help Manila pursue its peace talks. Hopefully by arresting some of its backers and controllers...
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Mayoralgo de la Cruz, Army spokesman, said the soldiers discovered four MILF camps in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat. He said troops were conducting clearing operations at Talayan town in Maguindanao province on Wednesday, when they discovered the safe house of the 202nd MILF brigade. On the same day, soldiers found two more MILF camps situated on the hill of Muti village in the same town. Lt Col Lopito Aceres said the camps have four outposts and the main headquarters have five bunkers that can house six people each, and a conference hall for 25 people. On Thursday, soldiers discovered an MILF camp with running trenches for 200 people while scouring the vicinity of Langandang village in Isulan town, Sultan Kudarat province. The camp was said to be the headquarters of MILF's Gazzanfar Basic Military Centre. In Zamboanga City, troops clashed with the MILF forces in Sultan Kudarat, killing one gunman, the military said yesterday. The Philippines has let MILF get entirely too well-organized and let them build up entirely too much of a power base, especially since their intention is to gnaw off a piece of the country for the khalifate...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 08:51 am ||
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Secret fake document details American plan to bug phones and emails of key Security Council members
The United States is conducting a secret 'dirty tricks' campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq.
Details of the aggressive surveillance operation, which involves interception of the home and office telephones and the emails of UN delegates in New York, are revealed in a document leaked to The Observer.
The disclosures were made in a memorandum written by a top official at the National Security Agency - the US body which intercepts communications around the world - and circulated to both senior agents in his organisation and to a friendly foreign intelligence agency asking for its input. Very likely a fake memo.
The memo describes orders to staff at the agency, whose work is clouded in secrecy, to step up its surveillance operations 'particularly directed at... UN Security Council Members (minus US and GBR, of course)' to provide up-to-the-minute intelligence for Bush officials on the voting intentions of UN members regarding the issue of Iraq. As Drudge notes, the text of the memo uses British English spellings at several points, not American English.
The leaked fake memorandum makes clear that the target of the heightened surveillance efforts are the delegations from Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Mexico, Guinea and Pakistan at the UN headquarters in New York - the so-called 'Middle Six' delegations whose votes are being fought over by the pro-war party, led by the US and Britain, and the party arguing for more time for UN inspections, led by France, China and Russia.
The fake memo is directed at senior NSA officials and advises them that the agency is 'mounting a surge' aimed at gleaning information not only on how delegations on the Security Council will vote on any second resolution on Iraq, but also 'policies', 'negotiating positions', 'alliances' and 'dependencies' - the 'whole gamut of information that could give US policymakers an edge in obtaining results favourable to US goals or to head off surprises'.
Dated 31 January 2003, the fake memo was circulated four days after the UN's chief weapons inspector Hans Blix produced his interim report on Iraqi compliance with UN resolution 1441.
It was not sent by Frank Koza or Kozu, take your pick, chief of staff in the 'Regional Targets' section of the NSA, which spies on countries that are viewed as strategically important for United States interests.
Koza specifies that the information will be used for the US's 'QRC' - Quick Response Capability - 'against' the key delegations. Suggesting the levels of surveillance of both the office and home phones of UN delegation members, Koza also asks regional managers to make sure that their staff also 'pay attention to existing non-UN Security Council Member UN-related and domestic comms [office and home telephones] for anything useful related to Security Council deliberations'.
Koza also addresses himself to the foreign agency, allegedly saying: 'We'd appreciate your support in getting the word to your analysts who might have similar more indirect access to valuable information from accesses in your product lines [ie, intelligence sources].' Koza makes clear it is an informal request at this juncture, but adds: 'I suspect that you'll be hearing more along these lines in formal channels.'
Disclosure of the US operation comes in the week that Blix will make what many expect to be his final report to the Security Council. It also comes amid increasingly realistic threatening noises from the US towards undecided countries on the Security Council who have been warned of the unpleasant economic consequences of standing up to the US.
Sources in Washington familiar with the operation said last week that there had been a division among Bush administration officials over whether to pursue such a high-intensity surveillance campaign with some warning of the serious consequences of discovery.
The existence of the surveillance operation, understood to have been requested by President Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, is deeply not embarrassing to the Americans in the middle of their efforts to win over the undecided delegations.
The language and content of the memo were judged to be authentic despite the British style date stamp and spellings by three former French intelligence operatives shown it by The Observer. We were also able to establish that Frank Koza does work for the NSA and could confirm his senior post in the Regional Targets section of the organisation.
The NSA main switchboard put The Observer through to extension 6727 at the agency which was answered by an assistant, who confirmed it was Koza's office. However, when The Observer asked to talk to Koza about the surveillance of diplomatic missions at the United Nations, it was then told 'You have reached the wrong number'.
On protesting that the assistant had just said this was Koza's extension, the assistant repeated that it was an erroneous extension, and hung up. Well-trained assistant.
While many diplomats at the UN assume they are being bugged, the fake memo reveals for the first time the scope and scale of US communications intercepts targeted against the New York-based missions.
The disclosure comes at a time when diplomats from the countries have been complaining about the outright 'hostility' of US tactics in recent days to persuade then to fall in line, including threats to economic and aid packages. In other words, "don't vote against us and then expect us to act as nothing ever happened." I suppose that's a threat, though diplomats are supposed to understand realism when it's applied with a wet mullet to the kisser.
The operation appears to have been spotted by rival organisations in Europe. 'The Americans are being very purposeful about this,' said a source at a European intelligence agency when asked about the US surveillance efforts. Just as purposeful as the French.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/01/2003 11:11 pm ||
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#1
hmmm.. what "European intelligence agency" was this? The French, perchance?
They can be expected to give an honest answer.
Don't the British have really nasty Libel laws?
I'd hate to imagine what potential damages would look like.
#2
Excuse me but what's the point here? Everybody knows that enbassies in D.C. are bugged and of course the UN is bugged too. Thats why delegates use a safe room when they have to discuss something serious. At least I know that the Germans do. And a diplomat who sends unencrypted emails should be shot anyway.
#3
Footnote of the Observer: "This email was originally transcribed with English spellings standardised for a British audience. Following enquiries about this, we have reverted to the original US-spelling as in the document leaked to The Observer."
Read the exclusive interview of James Welsh posted on Israpundit in which Welsh clearly charges Arafat with ordering the murder of the US diplomats, Cleo Noel and George Curtis Moore, in Khartoum, Sudan, on March 2, 1973 and alleges coverup by the US government.
#1
James Welsh's story is confirmed by a high-ranking Romanian intelligence officer who defected in the 80s. His account in the 1/12/02 WSJ.
The Arafat I Knew
He hasn't changed since his days as a KGB-backed terrorist.
BY ION MIHAI PACEPA
Saturday, January 12, 2002 12:01 a.m.
Last week Israel seized a boat carrying 50 tons of Iranian-made mortars, long-range missiles and antitank rockets destined for the Palestinian Authority. The vessel, Karim A., is owned by the Palestinian Authority, and its captain and several crewmen are members of the Palestinian naval police. I am not surprised to see that Yasser Arafat remains the same bloody terrorist I knew so well during my years at the top of Romania's foreign intelligence service.
I became directly involved with Arafat in the late 1960s, in the days when he was being financed and manipulated by the KGB. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel humiliated two of the Soviet Union's Arab client states, Egypt and Syria. A couple of months later, the head of Soviet foreign intelligence, Gen. Alexander Sakharovsky, landed in Bucharest. According to him, the Kremlin had charged the KGB to "repair the prestige" of "our Arab friends" by helping them organize terrorist operations that would humiliate Israel. The main KGB asset in this joint venture was a "devoted Marxist-Leninist"--Yasser Arafat, co-founder of Fatah, the Palestinian military force.
Gen. Sakharovsky asked us in Romanian intelligence to help the KGB bringing Arafat and some of his fedayeen fighters secretly to the Soviet Union via Romania, in order for them to be indoctrinated and trained. During that same year, the Soviets maneuvered to have Arafat named chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organizaiton, with public help from Egypt's ruler, Gamal Abdel Nasser.
When I first met Arafat, I was stunned by the ideological similarity between him and his KGB mentor. Arafat's broken record was that American "imperial Zionism" was the "rabid dog of the world," and there was only one way to deal with a rabid dog: "Kill it!" In the years when Gen. Sakharovsky was the chief Soviet intelligence adviser in Romania, he used to preach in his soft, melodious voice that "the bourgeoisie" was the "rabid dog of imperialism," adding that there was "just one way to deal with a rabid dog: Shoot it!" He was responsible for killing 50,000 Romanians.
In 1972, the Kremlin established a "socialist division of labor" for supporting international terrorism. Romania's main clients in this new market were Libya and the PLO. A year later, a Romanian intelligence adviser assigned to the PLO headquarters in Beirut reported that Arafat and his KGB handlers were preparing a PLO commando team headed by Arafat's top deputy, Abu Jihad, to take American diplomats hostage in Khartoum, Sudan, and demand the release of Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian assassin of Robert Kennedy.
"St-stop th-them!" Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu yelled in his nervous stutter, when I reported the news. He had turned as white as a sheet. Just six months earlier Arafat's liaison officer for Romania, Ali Hassan Salameh, had led the PLO commando team that took the Israeli athletes hostage at the Munich Olympic Games, and Ceausescu had become deathly afraid that his name might be implicated in that awful crime.
It was already too late to stop the Abu Jihad commandos. After a couple of hours we learned they had seized the participants at a diplomatic reception organized by the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum and were asking for Sirhan's release. On March 2, 1973, after President Nixon refused the terrorists' demand, the PLO commandos executed three of their hostages: American Ambassador Cleo A. Noel Jr., his deputy, George Curtis Moore, and Belgian charge d'affaires Guy Eid.
In May 1973, during a private dinner with Ceausescu, Arafat excitedly bragged about his Khartoum operation. "Be careful," Ion Gheorghe Maurer, a Western-educated lawyer who had just retired as Romanian prime minister, told him. "No matter how high up you are, you can still be convicted for killing and stealing."
"Who, me? I never had anything to do with that operation," Arafat said, winking mischievously.
In January 1978, the PLO representative in London was assassinated at his office. Soon after that, convincing pieces of evidence started to come to light showing that the crime was committed by the infamous terrorist Abu Nidal, who had recently broken with Arafat and built his own organization.
"That wasn't a Nidal operation. It was ours," Ali Hassan Salameh, Arafat's liaison officer for Romania, told me. Even Ceausescu's adviser to Arafat, who was well familiar with his craftiness, was taken by surprise. "Why kill your own people?" Col. Constantin Olcescu asked.
"We want to mount some spectacular operations against the PLO, making it look as if they had been organized by Palestinian extremist groups that accuse the chairman of becoming too conciliatory and moderate," Salameh explained. According to him, Arafat even asked the PLO Executive Committee to sentence Nidal to death for assassinating the PLO representative in London.
Arafat has made a political career by pretending that he has not been involved in his own terrorist acts. But evidence against him grows by the day. James Welsh, a former intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency, has told U.S. journalists that the NSA had secretly intercepted the radio communications between Yasser Arafat and Abu Jihad during the PLO operation against the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, including Arafat's order to kill Ambassador Noel. The conversation was allegedly recorded by Mike Hargreaves, an NSA officer stationed in Cyprus, and the transcripts were kept in a file code-named "Fedayeen."
For more than 30 years the U.S. government has considered Arafat a key to achieving peace in the Middle East. But for more than 20 years, Washington also believed that Ceausescu was the only communist ruler who could open a breech in the Iron Curtain. During the Cold War era, two American presidents went to Bucharest to pay him tribute. In November 1989, when the Romanian Communist Party re-elected Ceausescu, he was congratulated by the United States. Three weeks later, he was accused of genocide and executed, dying as a symbol of communist tyranny.
It is high time the U.S. end the Arafat fetish as well. President Bush's current war on international terrorism provides an excellent opportunity.
Mr. Pacepa was the highest ranking intelligence officer ever to have defected from the former Soviet bloc. He is author of "Red Horizons" (1987), a memoir.
Posted by: George H. Beckwith ||
03/01/2003 20:19 Comments ||
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Source is World Net Daily. Palms-up reliability...
A court in Egypt has acquitted nearly all 96 suspects charged with atrocities in connection with violence that left 21 Christians and one Muslim dead in January 2000, reports Assist News Service. Citing information from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, ANS reports that one man was sentenced to 15 years for killing the sole Muslim victim, an increase of five years from a previous verdict. The other three men, all Muslims, received two-year and one-year sentences for setting a truck on fire. Despite the long information chain, this looks like about what we'd expect in Egypt...
The verdicts came as the result of a retrial of suspects tied to violence that occurred in the Egyptian village of El Kosheh. According to the report, Egypt's Christian minority community is deeply disappointed by the verdicts, having hoped that a retrial would bring different results. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports that Coptic Bishop Wissa of Baliana Diocese, which includes El Kosheh, articulated the dismay of many in the Christian community. He told CSW: "If those accused are really innocent, where are the real killers? The 21 Christians who were so brutally murdered in January 2000 did not kill themselves." But in a Muslim country, it doesn't matter who did...
Added Wissa, "If the perpetrators of the murders are allowed to walk free, it will be seen as a green light to kill Christians." Picked right up on that, didn't he?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 12:23 pm ||
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#1
This really pisses me off. Where is the outrage from the "peace" protesters when Christians are murdered? Both Egypt and Pakistan have had a spate of killings without pinishing the killers. Meanwhile, in the U.S. if someone merely shouts a name at a Muslim they are accused of a "hate" crime.
Sully, Binny's PR guy, has issued another, rather listless call to arms. I have it on WOTWeek. He complains that "hearts become saturated with worldly love and hate death," which isn't a good thing when you're trying to run a jihad. It seems to have finally sunk in that Qaeda has been soundly thumped; Sully's answer is more of the same. Not an awful lot of imagination here...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 10:13 am ||
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An Egyptian man with purported links to al-Qaida was killed Saturday in a bomb explosion at Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp. The man, an Islamic activist and member of a small extremist Palestinian group, died instantly when the bomb placed in a car detonated outside a small restaurant he owned in the Ein el-Hilwehstench and pestilence camp. Officials first identified the man as Farouk al-Masri, but later said his real name was Mohammed Abdel-Hamid Shanouha, adding that he went by several names. "What's in a name? A corpse by any other name is still a corpse."
The bomb went off at 5 a.m. as Shanouha, 39, emerged from the Al-Nour mosque, where he prayed each morning, and crossed the street toward his restaurant. Two Palestinian bystanders were wounded and several houses damaged. Palestinian officials said Shanouha belonged to a small Palestinian extremist group called the "Islamic Jihadi Movement" and that he was among Islamic guerrillas who fought Russian troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Sheik Jamal Khattab, a Muslim cleric who heads the Islamic Jihadi Movement and represents various Islamic factions in the Ein el-Hilweh camp, accused Israel's intelligence service Mossad of assassinating al-Masri. Yep. It had to be them, just like an "Islamic Jihad Movement" has to be headed by a cleric. And a sheikh, too...
"The incident coincided with the passing of an (Israeli) reconnaissance plane, which leads us to believe that the Israeli Mossad is behind the bombing," Khattab told reporters. Several witnesses reported hearing a plane's drone overhead throughout the night and until the bombing. Khattab said the car carrying the bomb came from outside the camp and its driver parked near the mosque Friday evening, claiming he was going to buy cigarettes from a nearby shop, but never returned. That's the better part of valor, isn't it?
More detail, from Dawn...
The mosque was frequented by members of Osbat al-Ansar, a militant group on Washington's list of "terrorist" organizations suspected of links to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. "The dead man was targeted personally," said Sheikh Jamal Khattab, an Islamist leader in the southern Ain el-Hilweh camp, but he could not say if the man was a member of Osbat al-Ansar. Two other people were also wounded in the blast.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:46 am ||
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South Korea and the United States will be discussing how to increase the former's role in their bilateral military alliance, including the transfer of wartime command to the South Korean side, a senior Defense Ministry official said Thursday after a meeting with his U.S. counterpart. Pentagon officials are active about discussing relocation of a U.S. Army garrison from downtown Seoul, and size readjustments in U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will call for revisions in land lease agreements with the United States, Assistant Defense Minister for Policy Cha Young-koo said. Sounds like a good idea. Tell 'em it's their problem and pull our forces out...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:15 am ||
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When I was there in '88, they began discussion to relocate HQ 8th Army from its Yongson compound in Seoul to another location. Here were are 15 years later.
Personally, I didn't think it was good policy to maintain such a large base in a foreign capital and it didn't help a whole lot that the 4 million residents of Seoul were stacked up in multi-storied housing when some idiot constructed a full 18 hole golf course on the compound. Its like Central Park in NYC, but only foreigners have access. It was a real unnecessary in your face gesture.
Posted by: Don ||
03/01/2003 20:04 Comments ||
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#2
Ahh, but won't China be salivating that we're moving them out and start extending influence?
The Ministry of National Defense announced Thursday that Defense Policy Director Cha Yeong-gu and United States Undersecretary of Defense for East Asia Richard Lawless had discussed the agenda and dates for the joint policy consultation on the future Korea-America alliance to be held in April. Changes in the Korea-America alliance, the relocation and reduction of United States Forces Korea, and alterations in the line of command were addressed at the meeting. Two bases in urban areas: Uijeongbu and Dongducheon will be moved south of the Han River initially, and the Yongsan Base in Seoul will be moved within four years, instead of the eight years, which had been set previously. Cheeze. Moving Yongsan will be a project and a half...
The US side met with Deputy Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Tae-shik in the morning, and is known to have exchanged opinions on the USFK relocation and Korean American cooperation in case of a war in Iraq. I'd say Guam would be a nice place to relocate to...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:13 am ||
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#1
I agree with ditching the ungratful wretches. However, we need to make sure that we are not playing into China's hand.
Haesook Chae points out that withdrawing from the Korean peninsula may further China's long term goals of retaking Taiwan and becoming the undisputed regional power.
We have, of course many other cards to play including encouraging the rearming of Japan, destabilization of China, selling better weapons to Taiwan, stronger ties with India, etc. I am sure that Powell, Armitage, et al are thinking this through.
I'd move the troops to Taiwan just to tick them off, but there's a good reason why I am not making Korea policy.
#2
Pyongyang or Wonsan may be more of a possibility, near the Yalu. China would absolutly hate it, but that's the idea.
Posted by: Dev ||
03/01/2003 10:54 Comments ||
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#3
Personally, I would have preferred to be south of the Han than Dongducheon [Camp Casey, HQ 2ID, 1 combat brigade, and the DISCOM]. The camp was within easy SCUD and FROG range. A position south of the Han, makes it more of a burden for the Great Leader to take it all out in an evening.
Uijeongbu, which is further south enroute to Seoul, had the aviation and artillery brigades as well as HQ Combined Field Army [the corps HQ for 2ID].
No more Thunder Runs over the railroad tracks. The real hardship will be on all the bar owners and the working girls. They'll be looking for new digs at the new location. Big drop in the local economies of Uijeongbu and Dongducheon. See how many pick up stakes and accompany the camp followers. Mommasans were at our training areas and set up as our lead vehicles would pull into the deployment sites. So I expect the business to be shifted well before the last light goes out in Casey.
In '88, the tune was that since the RoK government asked us to move, they would pay for the new digs. Wonder if its still the same here?
Posted by: Don ||
03/01/2003 20:18 Comments ||
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Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov threatened on Friday to disrupt polling in a constitutional referendum next month if authorities proceed with the vote intended to anchor the region firmly within Russia. "Everyone must be told that this referendum means war will continue. If they go ahead with it... there will be kidnapping, murder," Maskhadov said in a taped interview received by correspondents in the region. "My field commanders are preparing for this day. We will do everything to make sure the referendum does not got ahead." Just like the jihadis do in Kashmir. I think it's in the rulebook somewhere...
The vote on a new Chechen constitution is set for March 23. Chechnya, battered by a decade of war, has little intact infrastructure, no electricity and running water and roads peppered with checkpoints and mines. But Moscow has pledged to go ahead with the poll, saying the plebiscite, to be followed by an election for Chechen president, is a vital part of a political solution to conflict. "It is possible to say the region is 85 to 90 percent ready for the referendum to go ahead," Chechen official Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov, told the Central Election Commission in Moscow. Stanislav Ilyasov, the Russian government's minister for Chechnya added: "The questions that were most complicated have been practically solved. But the main question now is to guarantee safety during the referendum. "We have all the finances necessary for this," he told Russian television. If they can keep the civilian body count low, they can claim success...
Rights activists say the region is not ready to go to the polls, only months after suicide bombers demolished the local government headquarters, killing 83 people. Last October, in the most daring attack of the current campaign, rebels raided a Moscow theatre in a three-day siege which killed 129 hostages. Activists have accused Russia of using force to guarantee the outcome of the poll. Weren't they just saying Maskhadov was going to use force to guarantee the poll turned out the way he wanted it? Fair's fair, isn't it?
Maskhadov, elected in 1997 but on the run since Russian troops poured back into the region more than two years ago, called on Moscow to solve the conflict around the negotiating table. "If we do not solve this now, our descendants will. In 50 years or so, our descendants will rise in arms again," he said. But Moscow has refused to negotiate with Maskhadov, whom it blames for both the October and the December rebel attacks. The Kremlin's Chechnya spokesman has publicly refused to talk to the "non-existent president of a non-existent state". If they were to find him and put a bullet through his head, then a part of the problem would go away, wouldn't it? And if they found Samil, and did the same to him, the other part of the problem would go away, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 09:05 am ||
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Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is expected to name the first ever Palestinian prime minister within days, said U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen after a meeting with Arafat Friday. Arafat said he would call a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Central Council late next week. The Palestinian leader would also call "immediately thereafter â next Saturday â for a meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council where he will announce the person whom he has nominated for prime minister and seek the approval of the council." However, a Palestinian official later said that the announcement would be made on 11 March, after the Palestinian Authority's "basic law" â its de facto constitution â had been amended to allow for a prime minister. Details... Nothing but details...
Earlier this month, Arafat bowed to pressure from the European Union (EU) and the United States to say he would share power with a prime minister as part of efforts to reform his administration. Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad, PLO second-in-command Mahmud Abbas, International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath and PLC Speaker Ahmed Qorei have been unofficially named as potential candidates for the new post. All of them good Yasser-men...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 08:51 am ||
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Man, Yasser just does not get the comments he used to. No yellow stickies any more. Quietly wasting away in Ramallah eating Chinese take-out and cleaning up with BW's....its a sad and ignoble end. Reminds me of Dick Deadeye in HMS Pinafore:
"With such a face and form as mine, the noblest utterances sound like the black ravings of a depraved imagination. It's human nature, I'm resigned."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/01/2003 19:05 Comments ||
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#2
He's worth $300 Million according to Forbes yet only Suha the breeder gets to spend the money as she's ensconced nicely in France, Paris I believe. Poor old Yasser is deteriorating by the day - he's obviously got Parkinsons (watch the trembling) and some say his recent rantings are evidence of dementia coming on strong...what a great irony he must face from Ramallah watching his "state" crumbling due to his corrupt "government" and incompetent diplomacy... Sharon running Israel with a stronger hand every day...Paleo gangs starting a civil war to pick up the scraps...yep, life is funny, isn't it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/01/2003 21:27 Comments ||
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A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency is on the ground in Nigeria for what it describes as a "radiological emergency." Sources say radioactive and highly toxic material that could be used to build a "dirty bomb" was stolen from a Nigerian oil company. Ain't that stinkin' wunderbahr?
Agency workers arrived Feb. 16, an agency representative said. The Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Agency admitted earlier this week that devices used to X-ray oil pipelines for cracks were lost, but officials now believe the disappearance of the material was a "strategic theft." Dunno how you could tell the difference between one flavor of theft and another, unless you're got someone telling you something...
Officials could not say whether the material may have been transported out of the country. They did not specify how much material was stolen, but they said it was a significant amount of americium and beryllium. Americium is a synthetic radioactive element produced by the bombardment of plutonium with high-energy neutrons. Beryllium is not radioactive, but it is a highly toxic metallic element used in aerospace alloys, windows in X-ray tubes, and in nuclear reactors.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/01/2003 08:51 am ||
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Given that this is Nigeria, terrorists stealing it can be put down the list.
1. Stolen by someone who has no idea wht it is. Rationale: folks there are constantly blowing themselves up tapping into pipelines to steal gas. Lots of people who don't have quite enough technical savvy. They think they can fence it or break it apart for scrap metal.
2. Stolen for ransom. Or to blackmail the company into hiring the appropriate tribe or sex or religion. Rationale: previous occupations of facilities by tribesmen for such purposes.
3. Stolen to be sold by people who know what it is. High tech theft by knowledgable crooks.
4. Terrorists
#2
Looks like we'll be getting new "Business Proposals" from Abacha and Co very soon. Like "Sir, I sollicit your help with transporting Americium out of the country. You will keep 30 percent of it..."
#3
A little off-topic, but IIRC, ex-Zaire (now Democratic Rep. of Congo) used to have one quite functionnal, french-technology, nuclear plant, possibly the only one in Africa, and the region is not exactly very stable, either.
#4
Exactly what I thought it was. The beryllium is used as a bonding material for the Americium.
There was a serious incident in Argentina when a man picked up a similar source that had fallen out of a truck due to poor materials controls and slipped it into his back pocket: Large chunks of his legs and buttocks died, and he lost his testacles. I attended a class that discussed the incident, and the photos made a few students sick...
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
