Breaking news, could be terror-related...
A man has been killed after a shooting incident near Heathrow airport. It happened when a police patrol on the A4 near the British Airways headquarters was fired on as it tried to stop a speeding vehicle. Police returned shots and a man is reported to have died. An eye witness told BBC London he saw a casualty being taken away by air ambulance. British Airways staff were told to stay inside their headquarters building at the airport. A spokesman at Heathrow police station has described the incident, which happened at 1635 BST on Friday, as "serious". The man, who is described as white, died at 1734 BST. Security at the airport was increased in February amid fears it might be the target of terrorists.
#3
Not routinely. Some cars carry guns in the boot (that's "some autos carry thundertruncheons in the trunk" in 'Merkin, I think), but patrols at airports are usually armed.
#8
Um depends on where they were. When I went through Heathrow via an El-Al flight (Israeli Airlines) the cops near the counters packed submachine guns and they had 2 above the counter with more submachine guns. I would be those at the checkpoints also are similarly armed.
Terrorism, gang violence or business dispute, just another normal day in Moscow.
Igor Klimov, acting head of Almaz Antei concern, was murdered in the center of Moscow on Friday morning. He was out walking his dog. No word on if the dog is a suspect.
Sources at city police headquarters told Interfax that Klimov was shot dead by a revolver with a silencer near his house by an unidentified man in camouflage. Klimov died of a gunshot wound to the chest at the scene, while the shooter escaped after dropping his weapon. Professional hit, not that there is a shortage of pro's in Russia.
A special operation to trace and capture the attacker has been launched. Almaz-Antei was formed in 2002 under a presidential decree. It is Russia's biggest designer and manufacturer of air and space defense weapons. It is responsible for developing air defense systems relying on the S-300 medium-range surface-to-air missile, and the Buk-M1-2, Tor- M1, and Pechora short range surface-to-air missiles. Maybe he should have hired a dog walking service?
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 09:54 am ||
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How the hell do you silence a revolver? Is there some kind of revolver that I don't know about?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 10:25 Comments ||
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"How the hell do you silence a revolver?"
Another news report stated it was a homemade weapon. News reporting on types of weapons are always suspect. Revolvers are not very good to silence due to the gap between cylinder and barrel. I have heard of it being done, but you have to have very tight tolerances. Just having one on the barrel would reduce the noise, but not totally.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 11:49 Comments ||
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The Russian 1895 Nagant revolver had a sealed chamber and was often used as a silenced weapon.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 13:40 Comments ||
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The Belgian-designed M1895 Nagant was made in the USSR in 1932. It is unusual in two features: a double-action with side-gate loading, and gas seal cylinder which produced higher velocities at cost of greater complexity. Because it has no cylinder gap at firing, and because its bullet is subsonic, the Nagant is one of the few revolvers which can be suppressed. Made in peace time, it is fairly accurate.
I love Google, you can find anything.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 14:15 Comments ||
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#6
wouldn't those have all been made into plowshares in the glorious people's soviet republic?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/06/2003 21:19 Comments ||
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EFL
As Indonesia battles a stubborn separatist insurgency in its Aceh province, the guerrillas are charting an independent state from an unlikely base - Sweden. At night, Bakhtiar Abdullah sorts mail at a post office in downtown Stockholm. During the day, he joins leaders of the Free Aceh Movement in planning rebel strategy. "As soon as the situation is reasonable, we take the first flight back," said Abdullah, the spokesman for the rebel group. "If Aceh is independent tomorrow, then we leave tonight." Don't give up your day job
The rebel leadership, including founder Hasan di Tiro, arrived in Sweden as political refugees in the late 1970s. The Acehnese community in Stockholm has since grown to about 50. Another 250 live in neighboring Denmark and Norway. Most have become citizens of their host countries. Meeting daily in bleak apartment blocks immersed in the forests surrounding the Swedish capital, the exiled leaders dispatch orders to rebel commanders in Aceh by cell phone or e-mail. The wonders of modern telecommunication
They're not concerned their safety may be at risk, despite the increased demands from Indonesia they be deported. "We are Swedish citizens. We are protected by the Swedish government," Abdullah said. "We are not so much concerned about ourselves, but about our people back home." Indonesia has repeatedly demanded that Sweden arrest Free Aceh Movement leaders and extradite them. The Scandinavian country of 8.9 million says it won't comply. But Indonesia has stepped up pressure recently, with some lawmakers calling for a break in diplomatic ties with Sweden. The Swedish Embassy in Jakarta closed temporarily earlier this week after receiving threats. An Indonesian delegation led by former foreign minister Ali Alatas is expected to arrive in Stockholm next week, bearing what it said was proof of crimes committed by exiled rebel leaders. Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh said Sweden doesn't support the rebel group or Acehnese independence, but won't take any action against rebels living in Sweden unless "concrete evidence or substantiated suspicion" emerges. In a row house apartment in Alby, a suburb of Stockholm, Free Aceh Movement leaders dismissed criminal allegations and called the Indonesian government a "terrorist state." Not quite, but they're a contender
"We hope that Sweden will not buckle under Indonesian pressure," said Malik Mahmud, who has replaced the aging di Tiro as the group's leader. "It's obvious that Indonesia is trying to get rid of us by whatever means they can." Mahmud, 63, said he hopes to recruit "cadets" among the Swedish-born children of Acehnese exiles to carry on the independence struggle in the staunchly Muslim province, albeit with Swedish accents. Cadets = cannon fodder
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 08:58 am ||
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#1
Notice that he set up in cushy Sweden and not in one of the neighboring states. Much safer and better benefits. Who wants to lead a rebellion where its dangerous and a rough-life.
Not strictly WoT, Fred, but evidence that some racist and xenophobic French are finding the finer points of rapprochement hard to grasp... Serena Williams broke down in tears last night after being booed at the end of her semi-final at the French Open. The world number one was given a hostile reception as she was knocked out of the championships in Paris by Justine Henin-Hardenne, of Belgium, in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Gosh, it's almost like 1936 again. Am I over-reacting? Perhaps.
Williams was booed every time she questioned a call, even when justified, and, towards the end, every first serve she missed was greeted by loud cheers. Defeat not only cost her the title she won last year but ended her run of four consecutive Grand Slam titles. "I'm not used to crying but it's a little difficult," said the 21-year-old, whose elder sister Venus went out earlier in the tournament. She said she did not believe the crowd's reaction was the result of anti-American feeling in France. "Sometimes they just want the underdog to win," she added. And, usually, it seems, the American to lose.
After initially denying that the crowd had made it harder for her, she stopped and added: "That's a lie, it does make it harder. I just have to be a little stronger next time." Williams, who side-stepped a suggestion that race might also have been a factor, said: "All my life I've had to fight and this is just another fight I have to win. She said she would return to her home in Florida to work on her serve. "I enjoy the challenge and I look forward to my next tournament at Wimbledon."
I don't think race was a factor. I think it was that she's an American. I wish she hadn't cried, though. Never let the bastards see you cry.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
06/06/2003 04:47 am ||
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#1
I don't follow tennis *at all*, so it may very well have eluded me, but I don't remember getting much mention of booing in the news. That's really low, especially when you add the fact that tennis-goers are supposed to be the "classiest" sport fans around, given their middle-class-and-above base. Still, our PC-obsessed media may have been furthermore embarassed by the idea of an overhelmingly white crowd cheering over the defeat of a black foreign athlete; sometimes, keeping one's moral highground above the Racists, Chauvinists Americans (Tm) is not that easy.
#2
I suppose it was because of this: Williams certainly did not endear herself to Paris with the comments she made in March.
Asked about anti-French feeling in the United States, a snickering Williams mimicked a French accent and said: "Well, we don't want to play in the war. We want to make clothes. We don't want the war."
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/06/2003 7:36 Comments ||
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Yeah, I don't think she could have expected a warm welcome after such an attitude.
I believe there were several more Americans taking part in the French Open. (Venus Williams, Meghann Shaughnessy, Monica Seles) Any indication whatsoever *those* people were booed?
In short, it's probably not because of her nationality *or* her race.
NICOSIA â Greece has warned its NATO allies of the possibility of a "heated incident" over the Aegean Sea after airspace violations and hostile encounters with Turkish warplanes. At stake are Turkey's hopes for membership in the European Union and the stability of the sensitive eastern Mediterranean area. More love from the "Continent of Peace"â¢
Some diplomats believe the situation is exacerbated by an apparent feud between Turkey's civilian and military authorities. "It is clear we are facing increased provocation and aggression from Turkey in the Aegean," said Greek Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou. Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, chief of the Turkish general staff, said that "Turkish jets will fly wherever they want over the Aegean Sea." "And ours are faster, so there!"
Greece and Turkey, who are members of NATO, disagree on the width of their territorial waters in the sea sprinkled with Greek islands. In a typical report one day last week, Greece announced 11 infringements of the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) and three airspace violations leading to eight dogfightlike encounters. At the same time, however, Athens and Ankara announced a series of minor, bilateral "confidence building" measures. They include an exchange of senior staff officers in all the three branches of the armed forces, an exchange of students at military academies, and cooperation between military hospitals. Greek commentators across the political spectrum have intensified attacks on Turkey despite efforts by Foreign Minister George Papandreou to calm the situation. "Ankara blows hot and cold," headlined the Athens daily Kathimerini. According to diplomats, one of the main stumbling blocks is the lack of understanding and the growing mistrust between the two centuries-old enemies. Ya think?
The other is persistent reports of the quarrel pitting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan'sJustice and Development Party against senior Turkish military leaders grouped in the National Security Council. Many Greek officials feel that "there are two Turkeys" â one pro-European, moderate and flexible that is led by Mr. Erdogan, and the other typically Eastern, intransigent and aggressive, represented by Gen. Ozkok. That's exactly backwards: Erdogan is the closet Islamist, and the generals are the ones dragging their country kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
The Turkish media continue to speculate on the degree of feuding between their military and civilian leaders. According to some reports, "anger is growing among younger officers" at the appointment of notorious pro-Islamic politicians to key administrative posts. The Turkish military establishment is sensitive about obstacles in the path of Turkey's EU membership. Particular attention was given to the statement in the fall by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing that admitting Turkey would be "the end of French domination of the European Union." He described Turkey as a Muslim country "with a different culture, a different approach and a different way of life." Mr. Giscard now leads Europe's constitutional convention drafting the constitution of the European Union. Turks understood without the translation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/06/2003 01:22 am ||
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I would like to see Greece ejected from NATO. It vivals France as the most consistently anti-American nation in Europe. Athens is a hotbed of terrorism.
Posted by: TJ Jackson ||
06/06/2003 2:49 Comments ||
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but you've gotta love the greeks: they invented democracy, medicine, scientific rational thinking, philosophy and all those greek gods.
Plus they've got the Olympic games (which they invented)in 2004.
Everyone loves the Greeks, and hte Greeks love America and Australia and Western countries in general!!! there are more Greeks living in Australia than there are in Greece.
plus they hold no truck with the religion of peace. Gotta love them for that!
#4
Oh, Greece is much more anti-American than France... The difference is that while US can claim it liberated France, it's the opposite in Greece -- Greeks can claim it supported their conquerors and tyrants. Be it the seven-year junta, or the Turkish Attila.
"That's exactly backwards: Erdogan is the closet Islamist, and the generals are the ones dragging their country kicking and screaming into the 21st century."
No, the Kemalist Generals are the ones that dragged their country kicking and screaming into the *20th* century. In the 21st century however, Erdogan may be a "closet Islamist" (the same way that Bush may be a "closet Christian fundie") but this doesn't seem to have stopped him from *expanding* freedoms, rather than curtailing them.
It's only since his election, for example, that the Kurds have certain rights like e.g. speaking their own language.
#5
Couldn't Greeks also claim the US and her allies were responsible for liberating Greece from fascism? Or would you have been capable of doing that yourselves had you wanted to?
#6
Yes, of course they could claim that. That's why you got Greek troops to fight alongside you in the Korean War, and a pro-American Greece for several decades.
But then, as I said, USA got on the *side* of the fascists (aka military dictatrorship in Greece) and against the democrats. So, no more gratitude for you people. We've repaid our debt. And then got stabbed in the back.
But nonetheless, we still letting you use military bases in Crete, even during the Iraq War. So it's all moot really. Whether you deserve the aid or not, you are getting it, if somewhat less vocally than from Poland or Spain.
#7
What do you propose Greece do now? How many more years of anti-Americanism are required before 'debts' are repaid this time? Perhaps a year or two of outright violent anti-Americanism (say, a few terrorist attacks on those Cretan bases), or a couple of decades of whingeing and grumbling? And I'm not American, by the way, I'm British.
I dont think Greece owes the US anything. You dont need to help us because we pressure you either. Help us when we are right, oppose us when you think we are wrong.
All we really want is for the world to quit being wishy-washy and pick a side. I get sick of sunshine allies.
#9
Did someone decide that Greece has repaid it's det to the U.S. without consulting me? Or anyone else?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 14:05 Comments ||
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What I want to know is, who is responsible for Alexander's debts in central Asia? I mean, OK he was Macedonian, but half of ancient Macedon is still Greek. Caused quite a trail of destruction, old Alex. And Persia! That Persepolis was irreplacable. The mullah's ought to start calling in the reparations. Have the Uzbeks exercised their vengeance on the Greeks? Anti-Greek sentiment must be at boiling point in Tashkent.
#11
Oh, I've no disagreement that anti-Americanism is unhealthy. I'm not justifying it, I'm just explaining it.
What I propose Greece does now? Its current government is doing a pretty good job cooperating with the US whenever the goal is just - be it the capture of terrorists or support for the war on Afghanistan or stuff like that.
Just saying that you can't expect our alliance to run on "gratitude" or past "debts" on the side of Greece, any more...
#12
Hey Bulldog---Got an idea. Why don't we chart the history of the world on a big-assed flowchart, then use a spreadsheet or a database to describe the events and their costs to whom. Then we can map the biggest tom-wallager reparations plan, with costs and see how it works out in the end, bringing us up to date. We can then settle all acounts and then its just love and hugs from here on out. Anyone got some spare time to devote to the project?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/06/2003 17:15 Comments ||
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Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. The cold wind of McCarthyist blacklist censorship takes down another "artist" for espousing her views...
Is the ghost of Sen. Joe McCarthy alive and well in Hollywood? That is certainly on the minds of many outspoken liberals in Tinsel-town these days. The latest conspiracy theory focuses on the just-announced axing by ABC of very vocal anti-Iraq war activist Janeane Garofalo's new sitcom, ''Slice o' Life.'' Look for her next one, "Out o' Work".
Though the alphabet network had given Garofalo and Universal Television a thumbs up on the show for next season, network execs changed their minds, telling Daily Variety and other industry outlets it was ''the direction of the series story line'' that led to the dumping of ''Slice''âjust days before the show's pilot was scheduled to be taped in Vancouver, British Columbia. ...and the fact that we're a bit adverse to flushing lots o' money down a toilet.
A source close to Garofalo tells this column the actress and comedian was furious by the last-minute change and believes it's yet another example ''of a network bowing to the perceived power of the Bush administration. ... Janeane is convinced her politics and all the hate mail the right-wing lobby stirred up during the war is what is behind all this.'' The Evil Bush Strikes Again!!!
An ABC spokeswoman denies that, saying this was a decision based strictly on the artistic merits (or lack thereof) of the show â with Garofalo's politics ''never coming into the decision-making process whatsoever.'' It just SUCKED! Okay! Is it that hard for people to believe?
For the pilot, Garofalo would have played an unwilling segment producer assigned to come up with corny feature pieces to run at the end of a TV newsmagazine show. Looks like pure TV gold to me. We're all gonna be rich!
This is Garofalo's second recent TV stumble. A potential HBO project was also shelved. The Evil Bush! His tentacles are everywhere! Even cable!
#1
I wish it was The Evil Bush who did it. I love it! Another Hollywood frog crawls out of their well only to learn that there is a whole other world out there and it does not revolve around them.
#2
Narcissism is a bitch when you are the only one that really loves you.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/06/2003 18:23 Comments ||
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I can't stop laughing at their stupidity! They cannot see how their anti-american tone really doesn't score well with most Americans. If Bush really had this meniacle streak a lot of these Half-wits would be working in some gulag in Texas. Hmmm...gulag, Texas, Barfalo? Sounds like a cool sitcom to me. Or how about left-wing celeb death matches? Now I would watch that for sure. Robbins-vs-Sheen, Ansner-vs-Moore (Fathead division), Babs-vs-Susan. Now thats what I call entertainment!
ISLAMABAD: Five religio-political parties of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) are likely to form the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Azad Jammu and Kashmir (MMAAJK) and a formal announcement may be made by the end of this month. âThe five religious partiesare Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammat Ulema-e-Islam, Jammat Ulema AJK, Jammat Ahal-e-Hadith and Islami Tehrik,â sources told Daily Times.
Sources said that two informal meetings of the alliance were held during the last months and the final meeting would be held in Palandri in AJK on June 11. Sources also claimed that this alliance would also take the part in the general elections in AJK.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/06/2003 04:39 pm ||
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India should accept the situation is not going to change. They will not get all of Kashmir and should build a big freaking wall. Change the name from Kashmir and Jammu to just Jammu. Get on with their lives.
#2
wel i dont think that there is any dispute between MMA leaders its all humars which announce by president Musharaaf by him self and by his iner satisfaction cos he has come to know that he should leave the president ship and his army position or one of them against the movment of MMA.
LFO(The Legal frame work order is just like american new world order)and if pakistanies ppl are not in mood to accept new world order how they accept Musharaaf's LFO
PESHAWAR: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah said on Thursday there was no crisis in the Frontier province, a few days after criticising MMA leaders for creating unrest in the province and interfering in the affairs of the district governments.
"Nope. Nothin' to see here. Nope. Nope."
The governor was reluctant to answer reportersâ questions regarding the situation in the NWFP and the details of his meeting with the 24 district nazims of the Frontier, who resigned on June 1 in protest at the alleged interference of the MMA provincial government in the local government system. âThere is no crisis in the province. The only crisis is in the articles and news in the media,â he said when asked about the growing war of words between Islamabad and Peshawar. âEverything is fine and there is nothing serious.â
"How are you?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/06/2003 04:36 pm ||
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LAHORE: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will observe âthanksgiving dayâ today to celebrate the approval of Sharia Bill in the NWFP Assembly, said the MMA Supreme Council in a press statement on Thursday. Separately, talking to reporters at the residence of Pir Ijaz Hashmi, a central leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP), following a meeting of the Supreme Council at the Doctorsâ Hospital on Thursday, MMA President Shah Ahmad Noorani said the coalition of religious parties (MMA) would start its protest movement from June 10 against what he called the unconstitutional and undemocratic acts of the federal government against the NWFP government. He said the MMA would organize rallies in Sargodha and Karachi on June 10 and June 20. âIf the government does not change its attitude after our rallies... resists the process of Islamisation in the country and does not stop interference in the NWFP affairs, the MMA will call a âMillion Marchâ in Islamabad,â said Mr Noorani.
"We'll drive the bastard from office!"
When asked about the date of the march, MNA Liaqat Baloch stood up at once and said, âIf President Musharraf does not give timeframe for taking off his uniform, why shall we announce the date of the march.â The meeting was convened at the Doctorâs Hospital because Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussein Ahmad is admitted there and doctors did no allow him to leave the hospital. Except Maulana Samiul Haq, chief of his own faction of the JUI, all other chiefs of the component parties of the MMA attended the meeting.
They're all on board but Sami? What's he holding out for?
It is learnt that differences between Maulana Sami and the component parties of the MMA are growing. JUI-S headquarters in Akora Khattak confirmed that Maulana Sami was not invited to the meeting. Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Gen Musharraf was busy in hatching conspiracies and the farce of nazimsâ resignation was the brainchild of National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) Chairman Daniyal Aziz. He said the NWFP government was strong enough to effectively cope with such a drama.
Yes! I knew it! Conspiracies afoot! Deep-laid plots! Clandestine meetings in the dark of the night among men of sinister visage!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/06/2003 04:28 pm ||
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Source: NNI
A young man involved in spying activities for the US interest has been killed in Southern Waziristan. The dead body of Muhammad Khan s/o Gul was found in Tara Sawar Jungle with a letter describing him as a US spy. In another incident, a man belonging to Wazir Tribe was also killed on the same charges a few months ago.
Golly, I hope those Islamists don't root out all of our spies in Waziristan. I mean, we have thousands of them, maybe millions. I've seen them. They're mostly disguised as holy men â imams, and muftis, and such. Sure hope the fundos don't find out. The blood could be flowing by the bucket...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/06/2003 01:47 pm ||
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#1
I know that when I was a US spy in Waziristan, I always carried a letter with me that described me as a spy. I only hope that all my fellow spies in Saudi, and Pakistan don't get discovered.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 13:58 Comments ||
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Attention all US spies, attention all US spies. Please throw your US spy letters away. I repeat, throw your US spy letters away. That is all. Out.
#3
I never carried a letter when I was a U.S. spy in Waziristan. I had a chip implanted in my head. The only way they could have found it if I'd been captured would have been to cut my head off and look. Sure hope that doesn't happen to all those spies in Waziristan...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/06/2003 15:11 Comments ||
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Probably a good idea to leave the "Property of CIA Athletic Dept." t-shirt at home, too...
Imran Khan starts a beard!
According to Nawa-e-WaqtImran Khan was seen in Islamabad with his stubble grown big. When asked he said he had started a real Islamic (sunnat) beard and was saying his namaz five times a day. On this he was congratulated by Jamaat Islamiâs Qazi Hussain Ahmad who also embraced him warmly. The paper commented that Imran Khan always had a beard but that it was an âinternalâ one; now he had decided to âexternaliseâ it. It then appealed to the ARD leader Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan to break his vow to stay clean-shaven and submit to the sunnat (sacred tradition) of keeping a flowing beard.
I used to have an ingrown beard, too. Hurt like hell...
Offices to close during namaz
According to daily Pakistan the NWFP government had ordered that all offices and shops be closed in the province for the duration of namaz five times a day. The government was looking to Islamise more of social life of the province for which it had set up an Islamisation Commission.
Musharraf to go next year!
Printed in Khabrain the predictions of astrologers Fazal Karim and B. A. Babar described General Musharraf taking off his uniform in August 2003 but remaining in power, which meant that the LFO dispute would go on till November 2003. Meanwhile prime minister Jamali would suffer some kind of an attack. From November onwards there would be political upheaval as a result of which General Musharraf would resign and go in June 2004. He said that the star of Pakistan and General Musharraf (Sun) was the same which meant that Musharraf was lucky for Pakistan and that no harm would come to Pakistan as long he was in control. Relations would improve between America and Pakistan in 2003 with an agreement signed. In 2004, after Jamali suffers a stroke, the Chaudhry clan would come to power. After five years however Jamaat e-Islami will come to power in Pakistan. Years 2003 and 2004 will be lucky for Kashmir but if it didnât get free in these two years then there will be war.
Donât trust Christians
Daily Nawa-e-Waqt editorialised that Iraqâs former senior minister Tariq Aziz had been revealed as a traitor to Saddam Hussein because he had been an informer to the Americans on the whereabouts of his president and had informed them about the presence of Saddam in one of the bunkers attacked by American air force. The editorial said that this proved the truth of the Holy Quran which said that Christians and Jews could never be trusted. It said that today one would have to add the third category, the Hindus, and learn not to trust them. Whenever the Muslims shook hands with these three and trusted them they would be betrayed.
Donât let the inspectors in!
Famous columnist Ikram-ullah wrote in Nawa-e-Waqt that UN inspectors visiting Pakistan were a sign of danger because America might not accept their clean chit and attack Pakistan. He said the inspectors would not stop at examining our chemical installation but might ask to visit our Kahuta laboratories. He said Pakistanâs signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) should be reviewed after the Iraq war.
James Rubinâs lie
Columnist Masood Ashar wrote in Jang that in a BBC discussion James Rubin, Clintonâs man in the State Department, claimed that the people of Iran were in favour of America while the state was not. On the other hand among the Arabs the governments were with America while the people were not. Rubin derived the logic that wherever there was democracy the people were with America. The columnist thought that Rubin had invented the claim about the Iranian people being in favour of America.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/06/2003 04:25 am ||
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Do the Friday Times and KCNA have an exchange program? And happy "namaz", whatever the hell that is.
#2
Remember that the Friday Times simply summarises the kind of stories running in the Urdu newspapers into English. The Times reporters are actually part of Pakistan's small liberal elite, and in no way share most of the sentiments that they are translating.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/06/2003 9:26 Comments ||
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So they think they're nuts too?
Okay, I get it.
THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSERVATIVE Shariah bill by the MMA-led Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) Assembly June 2 has sent alarm bells ringing among the diplomatic and donor communities, even though most expected the move. Islamabad has moved quickly to allay the fears of the international community by sending a strong signal to Peshawar that it is treading a slippery slope. A senior diplomat told TFT the June 2 high-level meeting chaired by General Pervez Musharraf â which removed the NWFP chief secretary and inspector general of police in the aftermath of the clericsâ jihad against billboards that displayed female images â was meant to signal to the international community that the federal government was cognizant of the developments in the NWFP and would do everything to put the brakes on MMAâs so-called Islamisation drive.
Perv has a habit of sending these "signals" and then never following up on them...
The international communityâs â especially the United States â biggest worry is that such retrogressive legislation could lead to the Talibanisation of the province and a possible reincarnation of the Al Qaeda in the NWFP. At least two parties in the six-party Islamist coalition, the JUI (F) and the Samiul Haq group, are widely known to be very close to the Taliban. One could almost say that the Taliban was an Afghan offshoot of the JUI.
Diplomats across the board think the MMA government is carrying on with the legacy of the Taliban, a literalist, tribal and highly retrogressive exegesis of Islam. From what has happened so far and what is in the pipeline, this contention seems spot-on. The Hisbah Bill is also unconstitutional in that it seeks to create parallel judicial and police systems. There have been acts of vandalism in the name of Islam, the MMA government wants all women veiled, school-going children have to wear shalwar-kameez, male coaches cannot train women athletes, music has to be banned and so on. Indeed, most diplomats would like to see the back of the MMA government. At least one expressed his delight over the option of Governorâs Rule if things do not improve. âThe talk of âconstitutional measuresâ if administrative changes fail to improve the situation makes sense. It will be in Pakistanâs greatest interest to fight the menace of Talibanisation. The Taliban had antagonized the world by making and implementing paranoiac and anti-women policies. That became the reason for their rout. The MMA is also following in their footsteps, and if it did not change its future direction soon, it will meet the same fate,â he says.
Insiders are of the view that the establishment has had enough of MMAâs shenanigans and plans to put the brakes on the alliance. âReplacing the NWFP chief secretary and the police chief is the first step in that direction; it could be followed by the imposition of Governorâs Rule,â says a source. For its part, MMA leaders have vowed to resist Islamabadâs intervention, labeling the possible move as âun-Islamicâ. âWe will fight Islamabad with our blood!â warned Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz. The battle-lines seems drawn on both sides.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/06/2003 04:05 am ||
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Aaah, troubles in (islamic) paradise...
I've read that the programmed upgrade of the indian armory was decided because India had worries about a possible breakdown of Pakistan in the next decade or so. Yugoslavia redux in the (very) early stages, or political infighting as usual ?
An American fighter shot down in the closing days of the Iraq war with the loss of both crew members may have been hit by a missile abandoned by British special forces during their flight from an ambush, according to a defence source. A Ministry of Defence investigation is focusing on the possibility that a Stinger shoulder-launched missile abandoned by the SBS during an aborted mission in northern Iraq was fired at a US Air Force F15E Strike Eagle, killing its pilot and weapons operator. A military source said: "The feeling is the SBS didn't do a good job, leaving loads of kit behind." My feeling is until the full facts of the incident are known it's too early to point the finger. Upon surprise/ambush, the SBS must've quickly realised they would be needing air evacuation. Leaving ASMs around would jeopardise their own chances. Perhaps they initially believed they could retrieve their gear, or an attempt to destroy it failed?
The SBS team was operating near the town of Mosul when it was surprised by Iraqis and forced to abandon at least one Land Rover, a quad bike, rocket launchers and machineguns. Most of the team was rescued by helicopter but two men were forced to flee over the border into Syria.
On April 7, about six days after the ambush, the Strike Eagle was shot down while bombing enemy positions around the northern town of Tikrit. The aircraft's pilot, Capt Eric Das, 30, and his weapons officer, Major William Watkins, 37, were killed. Major Watkins' widow, Melissa, who is pregnant with their second child, said she had been told her husband's plane had disintegrated.
Examination by the Americans of radar returns and other evidence ruled out Iraqi radar-guided anti-aircraft missile systems and guns. The Strike Eagle's altitude and sophisticated countermeasures also suggested the crude Soviet-era shoulder-launched missiles available to the Iraqis were unlikely to be responsible. Suspicion then turned on the much more lethal US-manufactured Stingers lost by the British not far from the crash site. The question remains as to whether the Iraqis would have been able to operate a foreign missile system effectively at such short notice.
The suggestion that Stingers were among the abandoned SBS weapons was greeted with disbelief by a senior special forces source, who said he had heard nothing of their disappearance. "You would rather leave a man behind than equipment like that," he said. The SBS is the elite special forces arm of the Royal Marines, smaller than the SAS but just as highly regarded. Yesterday, the MoD maintained its practice of not commenting on the activities of special forces. No doubt more of this story will come to light soon.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
06/06/2003 04:59 am ||
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No way SBS easily leaving such a weapon on the ground; no way soldiers not trained for that could crash airplanes at first shot; no way special forces would carry heavy hair defence stuff without any opponent air force; simply There are many stinger systems around the world...quite often sold or given by USA to their supposed friends around the world...starting with Bin Laden.Why keep on with lies?
This USA war propaganda sometimes make me puke.
#7
If it was lost British equipment, I don't hold it against them. Everybody with a brain knows damn well that they didn't just negligently leave ordnace lying around. After all, our military has done worse to soldiers from other countries, and our own soldiers, unfortunatley.
And I don't blame them for it one bit.
Does anyone know what happened to the report that an A-10 took out a British APC on it's second pass. I'm not saying these cases are connected at all, It just reminded me of it.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 10:22 Comments ||
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...There might be more to this than there seems, but for different reasons.
First, there are at least a few Stingers floating around the world that we simply cannot account for, and IIRC there is a pretty strong liklihood that they found their way into the wrong hands. Let me point out that these could not possibly be the imfamous Mujhadeen Stingers that never came out of Afghanistan - those weapons passed their battery shelf/service lives a long time ago.
Which leads to the next point - it's certainly possible that an SF team had a MANPAD, so it's not out of the question. If they were looking for the 'drones' that some folks were saying the Iraqis had, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to have one or two - and Stinger isn't that heavy. Of course, that begs the question of why they left one in the field. We'll probably never know the first answer, but the second one has a perfectly logical one: they may have tried to use it and for some reason it simply did not function. Understandably believing the missile was TU'd, they abandoned it - and unfortunately, it got picked up. In the heat of battle, it could well have happened.
How easily could someone have picked up an abandoned Stinger and used it? Well, the ones I trained on in Korea in the mid-80s actually had a plate on the side with picture instructions, designed to be used by nervous or scared troops in combat without a whole lot of practice if they had to.
Now, myself, I have an exceptionally hard time believing that an SAS team could have made an error like this, and I hope that wasn't it. If they did, then I really think it has to be written off as one of those awful things that happen when the shooting starts.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/07/2003 2:15 Comments ||
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US officials now say they are not so sure that a coalition air strike killed "Chemical Ali", one of Iraq's most notorious officials. General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said interrogations of Iraqi prisoners indicated Ali Hassan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein, might be alive. And DNA testing of the remains?
Myers and US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld had said on April 7 they believed an air strike on a house in southern Iraq had killed al-Majid. They showed reporters a video of laser-guided bombs obliterating the house where a tipster told coalition forces al-Majid was staying. "We believe that the reign of terror of Chemical Ali has come to an end. To Iraqis who have suffered at his hand, particularly in the last few weeks in that southern part of the country, he will never again terrorise you or your families," Rumsfeld said at the time. A British officer in Basra, Major Andrew Jackson, also said on that day that a body believed to be al-Majid was found in the rubble after the air strike. Myers and Rumsfeld, speaking after briefing members of Congress, did not elaborate on what they called "speculation" that al-Majid may have survived.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
06/06/2003 04:43 am ||
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The original report of Chemical Ali's third or forth demise suggested that he returned to his home in Basrah while allied forces were rampaging north. It never made a lot of sense to me, and I'm not surprised to find that the news of his demise might have been exaggerated.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
06/06/2003 7:54 Comments ||
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If we end up confirming that we got him, imagine the headlines you could write: "Chemical Ali" Oxidized
"Chemical Ali" Rendered Inert
"Chemical Ali" Meets His Enzyme
Posted by: Mike ||
06/06/2003 10:19 Comments ||
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Chemical Ali changes composition: Decomposition
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 15:19 Comments ||
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The alleged operational chief of a regional militant Muslim network will face trial on June 16 on charges of helping plot the Bali bombings, the third suspect to take the stand over the attack, according to an official. Mukhlas, also known as Ali Gufron, could give the best insight yet into south-east Asia's Jemaah Islamiah organisation. Mukhlas has bragged about knowing Osama bin Laden, whose Al Qaeda network has been linked to Jemaah Islamiah.
"Yeah. Me an' Binny's buddies. We used to get together on Wednesday nights for cards, a few beers, a few laffs. Friday was our bowling night..."
Mukhlas has been charged with plotting, organising and carrying out terror crimes causing mass casualties. The charges are the same as those faced by the alleged mastermind of the attack, Imam Samudra, and Mukhlas' younger brother, Amrozi. Like the two men already on trial, Mukhlas faces the death penalty if convicted.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/06/2003 05:03 pm ||
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U.S. diplomats who visited the site of political clashes in Myanmar saw bloody clothes and homemade weapons, suggesting far more people may have been killed than the four reported by the military junta, a U.S. Embassy official said Thursday. Evidence gathered at the site also indicated the fighting in northern Myanmar, which broke out around democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade as she toured the region last Friday, was orchestrated by the government. The junta detained her after the clash and has not disclosed her whereabouts. Sounds like they whacked her.
``What they found corroborates eyewitness reports circulating of a premeditated ambush on Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade,'' the official said. The two diplomats who visited the scene of the attack found signs of ``great violence,'' including bloody clothing, numerous homemade weapons and smashed headlights and mirrors. The official would not detail all the information suggesting a premeditated attack but said it included photographs and physical evidence. Myanmar's lying junta has said the fighting began when Suu Kyi's motorcade drove through a crowd of townspeople protesting her visit and that four people were killed. Exile groups allege that government-backed forces staged an ambush and that 70 or more people may have been killed over two days. Exiled opposition figures in Thailand say the Nobel Peace Prize winner may have received head injuries in the violence. The junta insists that Suu Kyi and colleagues detained with her are fine - although it refuses to divulge where they are held. In a morgue, I'm afraid.
The exiled figures say the clash was planned by the junta to justify a crackdown on Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. Which will fool no one other than Chomsky and ANSWER.
U.S. officials said Thursday that some of those claims were corroborated by diplomats who visited the scene. ``Circumstances and reports from individuals in the region indicate that the attack was conducted by government-affiliated thugs,'' U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said in Washington. ``The debris remaining at the scene suggests a major clash, which could easily have resulted in serious injuries to large numbers of people.'' At least 19 members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party were also detained. The military, which has put Suu Kyi under house arrest several times since 1989, has repeatedly sought to quash her movement and said she was taken into ``protective custody.'' Tight media controls and the remote location of the clash made it impossible to confirm what happened. Phone lines to the area appear to have been cut.
That's always a bad sign...
Myanmar's government is under pressure to produce Suu Kyi by Friday, when U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail visits. Razali told The Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur he expected to meet junta leader Gen. Than Shwe to push for Suu Kyi's release. As he prepared to leave for Myanmar, the diplomat said he would investigate the violence by talking to all sides ``to get factual details of what took place.'' Razali said senior U.N. officials had asked him to proceed with the visit even though the junta has refused to give assurances that he would be allowed to meet her. Good luck, Razali; let's see if the UN can be useful for a change.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/06/2003 01:11 am ||
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Stratfor was speculating that this action might have been done by the regional leadership who want no part of even going through the motions with Aung.
Whether the high command will feel that bad about this, even if true, is another question.
#2
According to Burmese exile groups - whose accounts have now been supported by United States diplomats in Rangoon - the NLD convoy was attacked by thousands of USDA members, plain-clothes members of the security forces and freed convicts armed with sticks, machetes and some firearms who had been transported into the area with the assistance of local military commanders.
The exile groups claim that many people were killed and that both Ms Suu Kyi and deputy NLD chairman Tin Oo were injured. While the accounts of the toll and the extent of the leaders' reported injuries remain conflicting, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says "disturbing and credible reports" indicate the death toll was much higher than the four acknowledged by officials. Some exile sources said Ms Suu Kyi suffered head injuries and a broken arm when she was beaten by the mob and that TinOo, a 76-year-old former army chief of staff, suffered minor gunshot wounds. Unidentified sources told the BBC and Agence France Presse that Ms Suu Kyi had been "hurt by shards of glass on her face and shoulder" when a brick smashed her car windscreen. The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, a self-styled shadow government based in the United States, said about 70 people were killed. The Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma, which had earlier broadcast extracts of Ms Suu Kyi's speech in Monywa, reported that she had suffered a serious head injury and that "scores of people" had died in the attack.
I think that the government goons were supposed to beat up her supporters and maybe arrest her. Things got out of control and she was seriously injured or killed and now the government is now frantically trying to figure out what to do.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 13:33 Comments ||
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Who bad an imperialist hegemon would the US be if we went in and cleaned out the Junta. The left should love us for that, no? Yeah right.
LOS ANGELES - A small airplane plunged into an apartment complex Friday, setting the three-story building ablaze and injuring at least 10 people. Five of the victims were critically injured, said Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Franco. Authorities had no immediate information about deaths, and they didn't believe the crash was terrorism.
Witnesses saw the plane plunge into the building shortly before 4 p.m. in Los Angeles' Fairfax district, near Hollywood. "I looked up and saw the plane just do a nosedive," area resident Aaron Hooker told KABC-TV. "It didn't seem real." The building, which had about 30 units, burned fiercely at first. A number of people approached the building and tried to help people out. Firefighters had the blaze under control in about a half-hour. By then about half the building was gutted. The plane was believed to have been a four-seat aircraft that took off from Santa Monica Airport about 10 miles away, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donn Walker. A single-engine Bonanza BE-35 departed Santa Monica at 3:45 p.m. Seven minutes later the Santa Monica tower gave its pilot a frequency change to contact a radar control facility for flight guidance. The plane never contacted the facility. The Bonanza pilot did not file a flight plan and was operating on visual flight rules. He did not have any other information about the plane, including how many people were aboard. The plane went down about a block from the athletic fields of a high school.
Adam Krolfifer of High Point, N.C., was in line waiting to see a taping of "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" when he heard a plane overhead. "We were waiting at CBS Studios. I heard a plane, like he was doing acrobatic moves. About four minutes later, we saw a huge plume of black smoke," said Krolfifer, who was in Los Angeles on vacation. "It sounded like it was making maneuvers, the engine getting stressed out," he said. California authorities notified the Homeland Security Department about the crash, and the agency was working with state and local officials to monitor the situation, spokeswoman Rachael Sunbarger said. FBI agents were sent to the crash site but only as a precaution, spokeswoman Cheryl Mimura said. "There is no indication that it is an act of terrorism," Mimura said. No indication of terrorism, indeed. A plane crashes into a heavily Jewish neighborhood on a Jewish holiday when everyone's expected to be at home. Indication, indeed.
Posted by: Ben ||
06/06/2003 09:06 pm ||
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Give me the proverbial break. I've heard of several reports of airplanes from Santa Monica Airport tanking. Were the crashes in the 70s terrorism as well?
#2
It's too early to discount any possibility. One thing we can be sure of is that The Authorities® will bend over backwards to convince us that this isn't terrorism regardless of the actual circumstances. For now, there's a lot about this incident that doesn't add up no matter how you slice it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/07/2003 1:15 Comments ||
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It now looks like this wasn't terrorism. But I agree with Rex that the way the authorities rule out terrorism at the very beginning is ridiculous. And considering the factors I originally mentioned, terrorism should have been considered as a possibility. I think it's a possibility that's now been discounted, but at the time, it seemed real.
Posted by: Ben ||
06/08/2003 17:54 Comments ||
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HARARE - Police arrested Zimbabwe's main opposition leader and charged him with treason Friday as hundreds of security forces took control of the streets of the capital and prevented marches demanding the resignation of President Robert Mugabe. Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested just after he vowed to continue protests — only now without warning. "From now onwards we will embark on rolling mass action at strategic times of our choice and without any warning to the dictatorship," he told reporters. "More action is certainly on the way."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/06/2003 04:59 pm ||
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Federal inmate James Ujaama, the former Seattle man who pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban, has been moved to New York to testify before a grand jury investigating a militant London cleric believed to be a top al-Qaida recruiter. Ujaama, 37, is the key witness in a criminal case federal prosecutors are building against Abu Hamza al-Masri, a former imam at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, said federal law-enforcement sources. A federal grand jury in Manhattan is investigating Abu Hamza's alleged efforts to help Ujaama and others set up a terrorist-training camp on a small ranch in Bly, Ore., in 1999, two Department of Justice sources have confirmed. Abu Hamza recently has been the focus of a political firestorm in Great Britain, where Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary David Blunkett have announced plans to deport the cleric. Authorities have pulled his license to preach inside the three-story mosque, although he continues to advocate violence against the West in soapbox sermons just outside. Abu Hamza has been designated a terrorist by the U.S. State Department and is wanted in Yemen for his alleged role in the 1998 kidnappings of 16 Western tourists by the Islamic Army of Aden. Four of the hostages died during a shootout.
The man just oozes holiness, doesn't he?
Ujaama became friends with Abu Hamza after moving to London in the mid-1990s. There Ujaama designed and ran the cleric's Web site, Supporters of Shariah, which supported holy war against Israel and the United States. Ujaama, a graduate of Ingraham High School and a local entrepreneur formerly known as James Earnest Thompson, was also one of several Seattle-area militant Muslims affiliated with the now-defunct Dar-us-Salam Mosque in the Central Area.
The "City of Peace" Mosque. How appropriate for a Religion of Peace™...
Last year, as a result of his 1999 activities in Bly, Ujaama was charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and kill U.S. citizens abroad. He faced up to 25 years in prison. In exchange for his cooperation, Ujaama will serve two years of a possible 10-year sentence for providing computers, money and fighters to the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/06/2003 01:44 pm ||
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If we've designated him a terrorist, and the UK is going to deport him, why the hell don't they just go arrest this guy instead of giving him all the time in the world to disappear?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 15:09 Comments ||
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When Ujuaama was arrested in Denver last year and his computers, etc. seized, his family and lawyer hit the racism issue HARD. And, of course, Ujaama was innocent and a victim of racist Bush policies.
A Florida judge ruled Friday that a Muslim woman cannot wear a veil in her driver's license photo. Prosecutors had argued that allowing people to cover all but their eyes in their ID pictures could allow potential terrorists to hide their identities. After hearing three days of testimony last week, Circuit Judge Janet C. Thorpe ruled that the state has a compelling interest in protecting the public, and that having photo identification was essential to that interest. Thorpe also said Sultaana Freeman's right to free exercise of religion would not be infringed by having to show her face on her license.
Freeman, 35, had obtained a license that showed her veiled with only her eyes visible through a slit. But the state revoked the license in 2001 when she refused to have her photo retaken with her face uncovered, a demand made after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Freeman sued the state of Florida, saying it would violate her Islamic beliefs to show her face publicly. Assistant Attorney General Jason Vail argued that Islamic law has exceptions that allow women to expose their faces if it serves a public good, and that arrangements could be made to have Freeman photographed with only women present to allay her concerns about modesty. Yes!
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 01:40 pm ||
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So is that ACLU scumbag attorney going to appeal and waste more of the public's purse, or is he going to probe around in another spon on society's soft underbelly for another opportunity to poke with a dagger?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/06/2003 13:46 Comments ||
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ON Fax news today....cant tell you how much this pisses me off...
During the hearing, Freeman conceded that she has had her face photographed without a veil since she started wearing one in 1997. She had a mug shot taken after her arrest in 1998 on a domestic battery charge involving one of twin 3-year-old sisters who were in her foster care. The children were removed from her home, according to records from the Decatur (Ill.) Police Services.
Child welfare workers told investigators in Decatur that Freeman and her husband had used their concerns about religious modesty to hinder them from looking for bruises on the girls, according to the Decatur Police records.
Posted by: Fed UP ||
06/06/2003 13:50 Comments ||
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NO! you can't take my daughters veil off so you can look for the bruises I put on her! You imperialist dog! Respect my religion, it's the "Religion of peace"
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 14:07 Comments ||
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You can probably bet the house on an appeal. ACLU Boy and Burqa Girl continue their lonely quest for "justice". This is about "religious freedom" after all. HA!
#6
This might sound really bias but a case for beating your female children might be made on religious grounds as well. I'm sure the beatings are restricted to just wives and servants.
argued that Islamic law has exceptions that allow women to expose their faces if it serves a public good
Did I miss something?
Since when does Islamic law have anything to do with state or federal laws?
Why are these assholes given any leg to stand on?
I know they hate it, but we don't live under their backward, stupid, cruel Shari'ah law.
Stop giving it legitimacy!
#8
"arrangements could be made to have Freeman photographed with only women present to allay her concerns about modesty"
CRAP. These are the little throwaway concessions that are cited in the NEXT case as precedent.
YOU try telling your DMV or Secretary of State's office that you can only have your next driver's license photo taken by Anglican ministers, or stockbrokers, or dolphins, or whatever you fancy YOUR peers to be. You'll be walking to work the next day.
Yes, my DMV is always eager to hear about MY special arrangements. CRAP.
I'm delighted this nasty little faker didn't pull off her scam... but this is still an incremental victory for the enemy, and you bet it'll be cited soon in something equally ridiculous.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
06/06/2003 23:14 Comments ||
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Moroccan authorities said on Friday they had charged another 19 members and sympathizers of an extremist Islamic movement in connection with suicide bombings in Casablanca last month in which 43 people died. Some of the men, all Moroccans, had planned similar attacks on the tourist destinations of Marrakesh, Agadir and Essaouira, the official MAP news agency said. State prosecutor Abdellah Alaoui Belghiti said most of the men, aged between 17 and 40, belonged to an ultra-conservative Islamist movement known as the Salafi Jihad.
"Yar! We be jihadis!"
Some had declared their support for the May 16 attacks on Casablanca and their readiness to carry out similar bombings in the tourist sites, he said. The authorities had previously said the 12 suicide bombers who killed 31 civilians were linked to the small Assirat al-Moustaquim (the Righteous Path) grouping, regarded as just one group within the broader Salafi Jihad tendency. Salafi Jihad is regarded by analysts as a loose movement composed of smaller, often locally based groups. A more radical splinter group from the Saudi-influenced Salafist movement, its literalist interpretation of Islamic texts emphasizes martyrdom.
"Yar! We be martyrs!"
According to the prosecutor's statement, three of the 19 arrested had sworn allegiance to Abdelhaq Bentassir, also known as Moul Sebbat, whom authorities regard as one of the main organizers of the bombings. He died in police custody last week.
"Yar! I be dead! 'At's where me liver used t' be!""
The statement said one of those charged, a 20-year-old street trader, had given lodging to "leading dangerous individuals from the Salafist Jihad" in his home at Berrechid, 40 km (25 miles) south of Casablanca, and had intended to smuggle them across Morocco's eastern border into Algeria. On Tuesday, the authorities, who allege the suicide bombers had links with international terrorism, said they had arrested a French national in connection with the attacks. The Moroccans have been busy.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 01:03 pm ||
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its literalist interpretation of Islamic texts
There is no other interpretation.
It's so frustrating trying to make people understand what the world is dealing with. I guess fair-minded, logical, critical-thinking Westerners just can't grasp that a religion might actually be rotten to the core and that an overwhelming majority of said religion's practitioners would cling to such outdated and cruel dogma...
As you probably guessed when things were hosed for an hour this morning, we're on the new server. Once my boss kindly showed me how to unhose them, in exchange for me doing some honest work today, things seem to be working okay. The only thing still screwed up is my e-mail. I can send, but not receive. Until I can, I want to thank everyone who's kicked in for the hosting fund. I'm hoping all the bugs will be dead soon...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
06/06/2003 11:27 am ||
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June 5 is the day of the navy of the Korean People's Army (KPA). The DPRK observes June 5, Juche 35 (1946) as Navy Day. That day President Kim Il Sung gave an important instruction on organizing the marine security corps. "Row faster!"
On this day the seamen of the KPA renew their strong determination to defend the seas of the country as firm as an iron wall. An iron wall? Won't it sink?
Hero of the DPRK Kim Kun Ok said that it is the firm pledge of the one-beats-a hundred sailors to become human torpedoes and destroy ships of the U.S. imperialist aggressors, should they ignite a war on this land again. Won't they hurt their heads if they become human torpedoes?
The torpedo boat commanded by him sank a heavy cruiser of the U.S. imperialists Baltimore called a "moving island " in the waters off Jumunjin during the last Korean war (June 1950-July 1953). Anybody???
Hero of the DPRK Pak In Ho, had this to say that no force on earth can match the KPA navy armed with the spirit of devotedly defending the leader and the spirit of becoming human bullets and bombs. Care to try and prove that theory? And which is it? Human bullets, human bombs, or human torpedoes?
He is one of those who captured the U.S. imperialist armed spy ship "Pueblo" when it illegally intruded into the DPRK's territorial waters off the east coast in the 1960s. Surprised they didn't call it a "battleship".
Their words represent the firm pledge of the one-match-for-a hundred sailors of the KPA. One match for a hundred? Must be tough to get a smoke lit in the NK navy? Defect, boys! Good American smokes and everybody gets their OWN matches!
The navy of the KPA has been trained into a matchless naval force under the leadership of Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il! Is there anything he can't do?
Today, our navy is demonstrating its might as an invincible force capable of carrying out any naval operations as it is fully equipped with both powerful offensive and defensive means. All seamen are the death-defying corps transparent in the spirit of devotedly defending the leader and the self-blasting spirit. How can they be death-defying and self-blasting at the same time? I'm just asking...
Aggressors will certainly suffer a disgraceful defeat in face of the brave navy of the KPA if they dare intrude into the territorial waters of the DPRK. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Yeah, down boy.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
06/06/2003 10:11 am ||
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USS Baltimore, CA-68, was a WWII heavy cruiser (8" main guns). She served in the Pacific in 1943-45, and in the Med during the Korean conflict, and was eventually rebuilt as a guided missile ship.
Several other Baltimore-class cruisers provided gunfire support in Korea, but none were sunk by enemy action, so far as I know.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/06/2003 11:33 Comments ||
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I check this out on the Naval History website. 6 USN ships were lost during Korea, 5 minecraft and 1 fleet tug, all to mines. So it appears Kim Kun Ok is full of shit. What a surprise.
#6
Hmm. Seems the DAFS missed the being sunk part...
From: Dictionary of American Fighting Ships, Vol. I, 1964, Navy
Department, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Naval History
Division, Washington, D.C.
BALTIMORE (CA-68)
dp. 13,600;
l. 673â 5â;
b. 70â 10â;
dr. 26â 10â;
s. 33 k.;
cpl. 1142;
a. 9 8â, 12 5â;
cl. BALTIMORE
The fifth BALTIMORE (CA-68) was launched 28 July 1942 by Bethlehem Steel
Co., Fore River, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. Howard W. Jackson, wife of the
Mayor of Baltimore; commissioned 15 April 1943, Captain W. C. Calhoun in
command; and reported to the Pacific Fleet.
Between November 1943 and June 1944 BALTIMORE was a unit of the fire
support and covering forces at the Makin Islands landings (20 November-4
December 1943); Kwajalein invasion (29 January-8 February 1944); Truk
raid (16-17 February; Eniwetok seizure (17 February-2 March); Marianas
attacks (21-22 February); Palau-Yap-Ulithi-Woleai raid (30 March-1
April); Hollandia landing (21-24 April); Truk-Satawan-Ponape raid (20
April-1 May); air strikes against Marcus Islands (19-20 May) and Wake
Island (23 May); Saipan invasion (11-24 June); and the Battle of the
Philippine Sea (19-20 June).
Returning to the United States in July 1944, she embarked President
Roosevelt and his party and steamed to Pearl Harbor. After meeting with
Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur, the President was carried to
Alaska where he departed BALTIMORE 9 August 1944.
Returning to the war zone in November 1944, she was assigned to the 3rd
Fleet and participated in the attacks on Luzon (14-16 December 1944; and
6-7 January 1945); Formosa (3-4, 9, 15, and 21 January); the China coast
(12 and 16 January); and Okinawa (22 January).
On 26 January she joined the 5th Fleet for her final operations of the
war: Honshu Island attacks (16-17 February); Iwo Jima operation (19
February-5 March); and the 5th Fleet raids in support of the Okinawan
operation (18 March-10 June).
After the cessation of hostilities BALTIMORE served as a unit of the
âMagic Carpetâ fleet and then as a part of the naval occupation force in
Japan (29 November 1945-17 February 1946). Departing the Far East 17
February 1946 she returned to the United States and went out of
commission in reserve 8 July 1946 at Bremerton, Wash.
BALTIMORE was recommissioned 28 November 1951 and assigned to the
Atlantic Fleet. She was deployed with the 6th Fleet in the
Mediterranean during the summers of 1952, 1953, and 1954. In June 1953
she represented the United States Navy in the Coronation Naval Review at
Spithead, England. On 5 January 1955 she was transferred to the Pacific
Fleet and was deployed with the 7th Fleet in the Far East between
February and August 1955.
BALTIMORE commenced pre-inactivation overhaul upon her return from the
Far East and went out of commission in reserve at Bremerton, Wash. 31
May 1956.
BALTIMORE received nine battle stars for her service in the Pacific
during World War II.
EFL
Thousands of militia supporters of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe flooded the capital Harare on Friday in a massive show of force designed to head off a final day of opposition-led protests against the government. Hundreds of young men wearing white T-shirts emblazoned with the words "No to Mass Action" took up positions in central Harare, while in townships more young militia members patrolled the streets singing the praises of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. Their brown shirts must not be back from the cleaners. Blood is hard to get out once it dries.
With the city overwhelmed by pro-government activists, there was no sign of the planned protests by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which had asked supporters to turn out on Friday to cap a week of protests aimed at forcing Mugabe's resignation. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was to hold a news conference at 1200 GMT in the city, while Mugabe himself quit the capital to address a ZANU party rally 150 km (95 miles) to the north. In Mabvuku, a township known as an MDC stronghold, the streets were empty on Friday save for gangs of young Mugabe supporters — blamed by the opposition for some of the most serious violence seen in prior demonstrations. Bob's own Hitler Youth
Shops were closed, many shuttered behind iron bars, while the streets were patrolled by armored police vehicles, some with guns mounted on top. The opposition says Mugabe's government is repressive and his policies have ruined Zimbabwe's economy. That's a yes.
The 79-year-old leader, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, says he is being targeted by Western powers and their local proxies angry over his policy of seizing white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks. "Landless blacks" like his wife.
The government has declared Friday's planned protests illegal, and police vowed a forceful response against "any elements bent on plunging the country into a state of lawlessness," the official Herald newspaper said.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 09:35 am ||
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#1
"Independence from Britain in 1980" Not true -- Rhodesia became independent in 1965 (although Britain did not recognize it). 1980 saw a change of name and of power, not independence.
#2
Update: Police arrested Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday and charged him with treason as anti-government protests faltered in the face of a massive show of force by President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested after a news conference in which he vowed to press ahead with protests against Mugabe, whom he accuses of being an illegitimate and increasingly incompetent leader. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Tsvangirai was being charged with treason in connection with a series of statements since the disputed March 2002 elections that allegedly incited his supporters to violence. Lawyer Innocent Chagonda said Tsvangirai -- who is already on trial for treason in connection with an alleged plot on Mugabe's life -- would be held until Saturday when he was due to appear before a magistrate.
I'm afraid he's not going to get out this time.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 13:23 Comments ||
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#3
Gee, I remember when when Bob was a "freedom fighter" fighting the evil white oppressors? In Africa, when the boot that kicks them in the head belongs to a black guy instead of a white guy, does it make the kick any less painful? I'll have to ask Bob's French friend Jacques. Maybe he knows the answer.
EFL
A senior Hamas official said Friday the militant group is breaking off talks with the Palestinian prime minister on halting attacks on Israelis, a surprise reversal that throws into doubt a key component of a U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan. Surprise? We were counting on it.
As part of the U.S.-backed "road map" to Palestinian statehood, the Palestinians have to rein in militants who have killed hundreds of Israelis in shootings and bombings during 32 months of fighting. The Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, has been trying to negotiate with the militias rather than use force, saying he wants to avoid civil war. It was not clear whether a refusal by Hamas to negotiate a truce would set the stage for a crackdown by Palestinian security forces. This should be fun. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader and hardliner, told reporters on Friday that efforts to reach a truce were off. He said Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, made too many concessions in his speech at a Mideast summit earlier this week in Jordan. "I believe that Abu Mazen himself ... closed the door in front of Hamas because he committed himself in front of Bush and Sharon (to) what Palestinians refused," Rantissi told The Associated Press. "So, (there is) no way now ... to open dialogue with Abu Mazen, because he will come to a dialogue with cuffed hands." Palestinian Cabinet Minister Ziad Abu Amr, Abbas' liaison to Hamas, said he had not received official word from the group that talks were finished, but blamed Israel's killing of two Hamas militants overnight in the West Bank town of Tulkarm for hampering the effort. There have been conflicting statements from Hamas about cease-fire efforts, and Rantissi is known as a hardliner in the group. Despite his statements, contacts between the Palestinian leadership and Hamas leaders abroad were continuing, Abu Amr said. And in other news from paleostine:
Meanwhile, efforts to clear the streets of gunmen from a militia linked to Abbas' own Fatah movement continued. Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian security chief, who's not dead yet, is offering to buy illegal weapons carried by the militiamen, according to several Palestinian officials and militia members, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Dahlan has received money from the United States and Europe for buying the weapons. And we know how well gun buyback programs have worked here.
There were conflicting reports on the amount of money promised. A leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militia linked to Fatah, said Dahlan is offering $6,000 for each rifle, while officials gave lower figures. $6000 for turning in a old rifle? Hell, they busted a guy in Saudi the other day selling AK's w/ammo for under $500. I'd turn in my old gun, buy a brand new model and pocket the change.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 09:11 am ||
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#1
come on now - $6000 is the opening bid - they'll eventually settle for less than $500. thats the way it works.
Thats why we westerners (and western minded israelis) keep screwing this up. Today there are people getting bent out of shape cause Abu mazen hasnt given up the right of return - hes keeping something to haggle with. Barak, a very western minded israeli, went to Camp david with close to his final offer - no wonder Arafat couldnt make sense of it - either there was a trick, or Israel was collapsing, and he could ask for Nazareth and Haifa. At Taba Barak did make the final offer - and Arafat was too much the middle easterner to accept so fast - if youre putting that much on the table so fast, there MUST be more i can get out of you.
Thats why the current process is more hopeful. Sharon seems to have more insight into the regional mindset. You know damned well he is NOT going to put his cards on the table early. He'll play every little concession for all its worth, and his first bid will be something totally unreasonable "you want contiguity - i'll give you contiguity - we keep ALL pre-2000 settlements, and link them to Israel with bridges and tunnels you can pass under and over"
By being unreasonable, Sharon makes peace MORE likely - reasonable folk like Barak may NOT be capable of making peace in this region.
#2
"By being unreasonable, Sharon makes peace MORE likely-reasonable folks like Barak may NOT be capable of making peace in this region"
I think your on to something.
I sure wish I could hear someone say that on cable news. A statement like that would get the anti-semites, and other knee-jerk reaction type liberals up in arms.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/06/2003 10:13 Comments ||
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Damm, that was fast:
French troops have begun arriving in the town of Bunia in eastern Congo where hundreds have been killed in weeks of violence. People in Bunia shouted with joy as the troops drove into the town which has been the scene of several reported massacres. We'll see how long the cheering lasts.
The soldiers are spearheading a 1,400-strong rapid reaction force being deployed under a special mandate from the United Nations to provide security and protect civilians. The officer in command of the forces told the BBC's Ishbel Matheson that the troops' first priority was to secure the airport.
Four or five UK officers have also arrived to assist in investigating the risks and technical difficulties involved in deploying a multinational force to Bunia. Our correspondent says the soldiers arrived without warning, and that more are expected to touch down throughout the day. She says the presence of foreign troops may deter killing in Bunia, but elsewhere in the surrounding countryside in Ituri region the massacres are likely to continue. It's a given.
The European Union ratified the sending of the force on Thursday - the first time EU peacekeeping troops have been deployed outside Europe. Lunch is now being served.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 08:42 am ||
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#1
So the second stringers finally get their chance to show up the varsity squad. I guess the EU figures that if Iraq gave the US some international muscle, tnen Africa will do the same for the French, I mean, the EU. Unfortunately, I suspect the French, I mean the EU, has no idea what a complete fuck up of a continent Africa actually is - the many, many tribes simply don't like each other.
Or maybe Chirac got one of those "please lets us deposit $20,000.00 millions in dollars US in your bank" e-mails and decided he wanted in on the ground floor.
A few dozen guys in Land Rovers drive in unannounced from Uganda, catching the rebels unaware...right into the UN compound at Bunia Airport. Notice the "rebels" watching the parade...don't look too intimidated, do they? Gee, you brought us a few more "peacekeepers" to terrorise and hold hostage, how nice!
At best, this is an advon team designed to provide Air Traffic Control and protect the first light transport in. But will this stop the killings even in the city, much less the countryside...hmmm...not yet.
BTW, the UN has already assessed that Bunia can't handle more than 2 flights a day. The French say that because of this, it will take them 45 days to fully deploy 1400 troops (until say 20 July), and that they intend to have all their forces out of the county and the "peacekeeping" duties asumed by Bangladesh by 1 Sept (45 days after that). Does something seem wrong with the math here?
TOKYO, June 5 -- U.S. troops will withdraw from the tense Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea in a phased redeployment, bringing an end to 50 years of guard duty that began at the end of the Korean War, officials said today.
A joint statement by U.S. and South Korean officials said American troops will be pulled back to positions at least 75 miles from the DMZ, and will abandon a large base they occupy in downtown Seoul. The move from the DMZ will free about 18,000 U.S. troops to be more mobile, and they will be replaced by soldiers in a modernized South Korean army, officials said.
No precise schedule has been announced for the change, although U.S. officials have said the new deployment may begin this year. The South Korean government is seeking a delay until current tensions over North Korea's nuclear program are eased.
Officials said the move would not immediately reduce the 37,000 U.S. troops posted in South Korea.
The statement said the redeployment would "enhance security" and would be done "taking careful account of the political, economic and security situation on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia."
Pentagon officials, under prodding by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to create a more mobile and agile force, insist that the U.S. defense against North Korea remains strong even if American soldiers are not manning bunkers and watching the minefields at the DMZ.
The redeployment was not a surprise. In April, Rumsfeld announced that troops stationed near the DMZ might be shifted south, to other countries in the region or even brought home. U.S. officials have been negotiating with their South Korean counterparts to set the details.
The U.S. withdrawal has put South Korea's president, Roh Moo Hyun, in an awkward situation. He campaigned on a call for reduction of South Korea's reliance on U.S. forces, and many of his supporters continue to demand that U.S. troops leave. But faced with an intransigent North Korea that has declared its intent to possess nuclear weapons, Roh reversed his position and unsuccessfully urged the U.S. to delay the move.
"The South Korean government wants the next steps to be slower," said Ahn Yin Hay, a professor of international relations at Korea University. "The Roh administration thinks it ought to be done after the North Korean nuclear issue is resolved. But the consensus is that no matter what the Roh government would like, it is inevitable the U.S. government will make the decision on the basis of their global strategy."
Agreement on the withdrawal appears to have been costly for the United States. Last week, the U.S. military announced it would spend an additional $11 billion over the next three years for new equipment and defense systems for South Korea, including upgraded missile systems and reinforced military intelligence.
"The essence of what we're trying to do is to make sure that the forces we have here on the peninsula can respond quickly and immediately, even before reinforcements arrive, if there were ever to be an attack," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said in Seoul on Monday.
The DMZ was established along the armistice line drawn to end hostilities of the 1950-53 Korean War, in which U.S. and South Korean troops fought North Korean and Chinese forces to a standstill.
The two-mile-wide, 155-mile-long DMZ has become a de facto border between North Korea and South Korea, which never signed a peace treaty and still are technically at war. The DMZ often is called the most heavily guarded border in the world. During a 1993 visit, then-President Bill Clinton referred to it as "a stark line between safety and danger."
U.S. and South Korean troops face North Koreans just feet from each other at the Joint Security Area on the DMZ, where periodic negotiations are held. The hostility is palpable. Two U.S. soldiers were killed there in a fight with North Koreans in 1976.
But the bulk of patrols along the DMZ already are conducted by South Korean troops, part of a well-equipped, well-regarded 650,000-member military force. U.S. troops will continue to train with them at positions near the border, today's statement said.
In fact, deterrence along the border long has relied on the U.S. ability to call in overwhelming air attacks and firepower -- and ultimately on a nuclear threat. U.S. troops have been called a "tripwire" -- a force whose sacrifice in case of an invasion by the million-man North Korean army would guarantee U.S. retaliation.
Americans increasingly have chafed at that role, especially during the periodic public protests against the U.S. troop presence in South Korea. Officially, U.S. officials deny that the demonstrations -- which swelled last year after a U.S. armored vehicle accidentally ran over two young girls -- prompted their considerations.
According to the statement released in Seoul, U.S. troops will first move from about 15 bases near the DMZ to two major bases, Camp Casey and Camp Red Cloud, north of Seoul. In a second phase, the statement said, the troops will move to "key hubs south of the Han River," which bisects Seoul.
The two countries also agreed to relocate farther south most of the estimated 7,000 troops from the sprawling 8th U.S. Army headquarters in downtown Seoul, though the headquarters itself will remain in the capital.
Some South Korean nationalists object to the U.S. presence on prime real estate in the middle of South Korea's capital. Outside the gates of the base, there are regular protests demanding that Americans move.
Rumsfeld has ordered a thorough revamping of U.S. military deployments throughout the world. Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith said last week that the new alignment meant "everything is going to move everywhere. There is not going to be a place in the world where it's going to be the same as it used to be."
Feith's remarks fueled reports that the other large contingent of U.S. troops in Asia -- based on the Japanese island of Okinawa -- also would be moved. U.S. officials played down that prospect, but they acknowledged that the 25,000 troops there are also subject to the review.
Posted by: ----------<<<<-- ||
06/06/2003 08:32 am ||
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Looks like Charles Taylor might be on his way out, now if things in this part of Africa go true to form, then the remnants of his Army and Government will take to the bush as a rebel group, while the current LURD rebels will take over the capital and prove to be just as corrupt and incompetant as their predecesors. If Taylor does go however, it might help end the civil wars in Guinea and Ivory Coast, since he is more responsible for those wars then anyone else.
Rebels in Liberia are reported to have entered the suburbs of the capital, Monrovia, as President Charles Taylor struggles to hold on to power. At the same time, aid workers said thousands of refugees had fled in terror from camps on the outskirts of the city. The refugees were trying to reach the centre of Monrovia despite the army trying to block them, said Ramin Rafirasme, West African spokesman for the World Food Programme. "People are in the street, in the rain. The situation remains very tense in Monrovia. We are very worried by the situation of these people," he said. Witnesses contacted by reporters by phone also tell of fighting near the town of Duala, four kilometres from Monrovia, where rebels were trying to capture a bridge leading directly to the city. Liberian military sources have acknowledged a thrust by rebels into the capital's outskirts. They say the rebels were beaten back but then returned with heavy fire.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/06/2003 04:00 am ||
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#1
But, they're always moving on the capital. It's been this way for years.
#2
But Taylor is now wanted for crimes against humanity and has hardly a friend in the world, whereas the LURD are thought to have the backing of some regional states that are sick of Liberian support for rebel groups in there own countries.
Taylor might be able to survive this, but I wouldn't be suprised if this is the begninning of the end for him too.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/06/2003 9:20 Comments ||
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#3
MONROVIA, June 6 â Rebels fighting to overthrow Liberia's President Charles Taylor have crossed a key bridge that opens their way into the capital, fleeing civilians said on Friday. The bridge over the Saint Paul River is just over 10 km (six miles) from the centre of the coastal city of Monrovia. ''The rebels have crossed the bridge. The situation is serious,'' said one man fleeing towards the centre. Others confirmed his account. Another bridge stands at the entrance to the administrative heart of the city. Witnesses had said earlier the rebels advanced at first light on Friday to sprawling, now deserted refugee camps just beyond the city before crossing the bridge.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/06/2003 13:59 Comments ||
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#4
There are some damn good mercenary groups in Africa these days. Big corporations hire them all the time. The UN (or the US for that matter) should hire them to take over Liberia after rebels and government beat each other up.
Give the nation over to someone else to care for under the watch of the UN Trusteeship council. When they have a secure, stable nation they can get independence again. Liberia should probably be the US responsibility since President Monroe pretty much created it (diamond revenue would ensure it wasn't a monetary black hole at least) but I'm willing to let the French take on the burden if they have even a slight desire.
EFL
The Bush administration is seeking agreements with its allies to seize suspected arms shipments from proliferators and rogue states such as North Korea before they reach their destination. "Our goal is to work with other concerned states to develop new means to keep weapons out of the hands of thugs and crazies disrupt the proliferation trade at sea, in the air and on land," John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told Congress. "To jump-start this initiative, we have begun working with several close friends and allies to expand our ability to stop and seize suspected [weapons of mass destruction] transfers," Mr. Bolton said. President Bush first outlined the policy, known as the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), during his visit to Poland over the weekend. The effort includes stepping up economic sanctions and enhancing global export controls. Mr. Bolton explained the initiative in testimony before the House International Relations Committee yesterday. "Over time, we will extend this partnership as broadly as possible to keep the world's most destructive weapons away from our shores and out of the hands of our enemies," he said. The initiative, officials said, is a direct response to a December incident in which the United States and Spain seized a North Korean missile shipment for Yemen but had to let it go because no rules had been broken. That had to hurt.
Mr. Bolton warned yesterday that the administration's ultimate goal is "not just to prevent the spread" of illicit arms, "but also to eliminate or roll back such weapons from rogue states and terrorist groups that already possess them or are close to doing so," as it did in Iraq. Five countries â Britain, Spain, Australia, Japan and Poland â have so far acknowledged publicly that they have discussed the PSI with the United States, although U.S. officials said many more have been approached. "All of them are generally supportive of the concept and the need to look at creative and proactive measures to stop the proliferation of weapons and missiles," a State Department official said. Arms-control analysts noted that the list of nations backing the plan resembles the "coalition of the willing" that stood by the United States during the war in Iraq. No coincidence who is willing to sign on early. Thanks, mates.
"The initiative is worth pursuing, but it should not be a substitute for more effective nonproliferation efforts on part of the administration, including diplomatic engagement," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the nonprofit Arms Control Association. Um, Daryl, this initiative is what people would call a "diplomatic engagement."
"The problems with North Korea and Iran stem from past nuclear cooperation they have had with other countries such as France and Russia," he said. "It's a desire to pillage and loot their neighbors regional security problems that drive those states to pursue nuclear and other weapons, we shouldn't ignore diplomatic and legal efforts." Attaboy, Daryl, you can always sue 'em.
Although the administration's strategy to combat weapons of mass destruction, which was released last year, outlined basic nonproliferation objectives, the PSI is the first concrete effort to change the existing international rules. If Washington's proposals receive international support, it would be able to confiscate deliveries, preventing them from reaching their intended recipient. In the event that shipments are being transported by air, the plane carrying them would be denied overflight rights by countries that are part of the PSI, the State Department official said. The aircraft could also be grounded when they stop to refuel, or even "escorted down" if they refuse to land, the official added. "At a minimum, interdiction can lengthen the time that proliferators will need to acquire new weapons capabilities, increase the cost and demonstrate our resolve to combat proliferation," Mr. Bolton said. Or just have the Navy sink the ships carrying the stuff.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/06/2003 01:30 am ||
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - In an effort to avoid replaying a confrontation, the United States said Thursday it will seek to extend the deal exempting American peacekeepers from prosecution by the new international war crimes tribunal.
Last year's battle pitted the United States against countries around the world, including close European allies, Canada and Mexico. It ended in July when the Security Council agreed to exempt from arrest or trial peacekeepers from the United States and other countries that have not ratified the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court. Not going to be any different this year.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte told The Associated Press on Thursday that the United States would like ``a technical extension ... of the resolution,'' though he did not give a timeframe or say when a draft resolution would be introduced. ``It's very straightforward. We wouldn't introduce any substantive changes into the resolution we adopted last year by unanimity in the council, and we would assume - certainly hope - that this would receive overwhelming support,'' he said.
Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, said the stakes this year are ``in some ways even higher than last year because if the resolution was rolled over without a debate and without objection, it would increase the chance of its becoming a permanent fixture.'' What a smart boy you are!
But council diplomats said the United States was pressing for a quick vote without an open debate.
The court culminated a campaign that began with the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials for World War II's German and Japanese war criminals. It has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed after July 1, 2002, involving any of the 90 nations adhering to the treaty, but will step in only when states are unwilling or unable to dispense justice.
The United States objects to the idea that Americans could be subject to its jurisdiction even if it is not party to the pact. Washington argues that the court could be used for frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions, especially of American troops. During last year's battle, the United States threatened to end far-flung peacekeeping operations established or authorized by the United Nations - from Afghanistan and the Mideast to Bosnia and Sierra Leone - if it was not exempted.
The final deal dented the court's underlying principle that no one should be exempt from punishment for war crimes, and it angered court supporters and human rights groups. Simple choice: exempt us or fly Air Ukraine to your peacekeeping jobs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/06/2003 01:15 am ||
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#1
Why would any nation agree to this agreement? It will only serve the ends of leftists and police states.
Posted by: TJ Jackson ||
06/06/2003 2:52 Comments ||
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#2
Between the MANY objections to the ICC there is the problem of democracy and separation of powers.
The judges of ICC are unelected be it directly or indirectly (when judges are selected by elected bodies)
And there is NO legislative body defining the limits for the judges: it is them who define the "law" and then go after people having broken it. So there is a strong temptation to mold the law in order to be able to go after the guy who displeases the court. I will pass on the primadonism of Carla del Ponte whose actions would have exposed her to disciplinary action in most democratic judiciaries (violating presumption of innocence or secret of the instruction).
So my advice is: ignore the ICC and if it really gets in the way then have a couple cruise missiles "suicide" in the building
#3
And why exactly should the US not be a pert of an International Court of Justice? If the US is confident that it's soldiers commit no human rights violations, then there's nothing to be scared of, is there? If there's a different law for the US compared to other countries, then the US shouldn't expect any other war criminals to get indicted either. Maybe we should just release Milosevic.
#8
Completly OT, but since no one has mentionned it yet... To all imperialistic yankee warmongers : thanks for that unilateral, unmandated, hegemonic intervention on that particular day of june, somewhere along the coasts of normandy. And of course, the same go for the others unilateralists involved, Canadians and britons. Thanks.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
