Edited for brevity. Hat tip: Policy Pete
Companies in Illinois, Louisiana and Virginia are preparing to file for permits to build the nationâs first new nuclear power plant since the 1970s. The partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979 halted the industry from ordering new plants.
The Chicago Tribune reported Sunday, however, that Exelon Corp., co-owner of a Clinton, Ill., plant, New Orleans-based Entergy and Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Resources are expected to apply this fall for early site permits to reserve spots for the next generation of nuclear reactors. Central Illinois could end up with two nuclear plants. Its first reactor drew opposition in the 1970s, but the Tribune reported that many residents have learned to live with the plant. The utilities seem to be taking advantage of a more nuclear friendly climate as natural gas prices bounce higher and concerns grow over environmental effects of fossil fuels. âBout damn time. Unfortunately, it will take several years for any new plants to be built and come online, but the sooner we start the better. The howling this winter over natural gas prices should be particularly spectacular.
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 3:38:19 PM ||
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#1
At least there's a new (albeit unfinished as of yet) respository for the waste at Yucca Mtn, NV. I know a lot of Nevadans (my family's from there) are unhappy about getting this gem, but really, it did make the best sense.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 16:04 Comments ||
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#2
Alas, they most probably will never be built.
The unthinking looneys will tie it up in the courts until those companies decide the game is no longer worth the candle and give up.
Posted by: Michael ||
07/23/2003 16:24 Comments ||
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#3
I'm afraid Michael is right. Construction is unlikely unless Congress cuts the regulatory red tape, and provides for protection from frivolous lawsuits. And that won't happen until the average citizen faces a choice between nuclear power or sitting in a cold, dark room.
#4
My sources, who work in a nuclear power facility near where I live, say that cuch of the red tape, supposedly, HAS been cut, and the loonies (naturally) howled murder. However, no nuclear plant has been built using the new regulations, which tries to encourage the use of standardized designs, which is what the French use to great effect. Several are available already.
The big concern is that, due to environmental concerns, the majority of new power plants built run on natural gas. this has caused a serious drop in Gas supplies: A drop so big, even Alan Greenspan audibly worried about it.
#5
I worked in the NP industry for a while. Our basic problem in this country is that we built a 103 plants with a 104 different designs. Regulatory BS is part of the problem, but other part was the lack of any standard design and the idea that if 200 MW plant could built, then a 800 MW would just be four times as big. Wrong.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
07/24/2003 15:53 Comments ||
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Aris: Happy ( :-) ), or sad ( :-( )?! EFL
North European countries have protested at what they say are plans to increase the number of brothels in the Greek capital, Athens, during next yearâs Olympic Games. Gender equality ministers from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued a joint statement expressing their "abhorrence" at an alleged request by Athens City Council to boost permits for brothels to meet demand during the Games. Time to cower, Athens: the Baltic Gender Equality Ministers are on the warpath, intent on burning both bras and the Parthenon Bordello(TM)
The row erupted earlier this month when the powerful Greek Orthodox Church which accused Athensâ authorities of promoting "sexual tourism" for the Olympics. Athensâ Mayor, Dora Bakoyiannis, denies the charge, saying she is only trying to regulate illegal brothels by making them apply for licenses. Greek authorities decided to implement a 1999 law which stipulates that all brothels must have permits. Presently only a few of the brothels in Athens have permits. Officials said they will give 230 permits while the law provides for 200. But ministers from the Nordic and Baltic countries said the plan was incompatible with Olympic ideals. Sweat, exercise and nudity - what could be more original Olympian? Oh, an absence of ladies...
"It is with indignation and surprise that we have learned that Greece plans to increase brothel activities during the Olympics in Athens 2004," the letter said. "This will lead to more women being exploited and abused." Swedenâs Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Gender Equality, Margareta Winberg, wrote the letter and encouraged the other countries to sign.
#7
Secret Master: In Greece, how do they separate the men from the boys? (Just a joke, Aris)
Posted by: Michael ||
07/23/2003 16:32 Comments ||
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#8
Exactly what are the duties of a 'Gender equality Minister'? I can't imagine there is a lot of work in Europe, they already have the males neutered! (Tony Blair excepted)
EFL
As life goes, it doesnât get much better than for male Zeus bugs. The tiny water bugs that are common along Australiaâs east coast have an easy life. Their female partners provide free food, transport and unlimited sex whenever they want it
Information for this comprehensive assessment of individual equipment was collected during early May. For all you folks interested in such information, it should be good reading - and can be used as a checklist later to see if the Pentagon is listening to the people at the point of the spear.
Click the title to read the page.
Posted by: PD ||
07/23/2003 4:46:48 AM ||
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Great article! No real surprises here. The 9mm proved ineffective in a combat enviroment (I still don't know what was wrong with the .45 ACP). I have to wonder if the directive only load 10 rounds into 15 round magazines was PC or stupidity. Complaints about the .223 ammo, which seems to shoot right through everything leaving a small hole and minor wound channel.
The stars of the combat load the m203 grenade launcher and the Barrett .50 sniper rifle - take out a vehicle with a rifle at over 1000 meters (do the math).
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
07/23/2003 9:20 Comments ||
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I still don't know what was wrong with the .45 ACP
The only reason we switched to the 9mm was that it was the NATO standard round. In between wars, nobody thinks anyone is going to need a pistol, so they get short shrift. Only when the shooting starts and things get up close and personnel do you find out that you really need one. And time after time after time, the .38/9mm comes up short. The Brits found this out in India(?) and went to a .455 and the US did the same during the Phillipine occupation. Need to get our guys a new .45 ACP pistol, maybe a Glock.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 10:21 Comments ||
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The .45 ACP is the best combat pistol in the world and we should have never changed. It is simple to maintain, it will operate if it is full of mud, blood, sand or goo.
I personally used it to shoot three NVA out of my hootch one night. I had a Platoon leader who used all of his .45 ammo and was taking it from others. I asked him why and he said they were so close that the M-16 was too clumsy to use.
The problems with the 9mm and the .38 are well known to police forces, that is why they went from the .38 special to the .357 mag back when. I haven't heard much complaining from my law enforcement friends about the 9 mm but I assure you the guys in the 3ID are probably wishing they had the .45 ACP.
The .45 ACP would stop a bus. It would knock a Vietnamese bad guy about ten feet up in the air on impact. If you want to stop someone running either at you or away from you, the .45 will definitely stop them.
I also think the Thompson would be a great weapon in Iraq.
#4
Can somebody explain what exactly is meant by the term "ballistic breacher" mentioned in the article in the "Shotgun" section ? Is it simply shooting down doors, or more than that ?
Posted by: Carl in NH ||
07/23/2003 11:26 Comments ||
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Nope, that's it. Shoot the lock and the hinges, then kick.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 11:30 Comments ||
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A ballistic breacher is just that, something to shoot down doors and clear out a bar during a bar fight.
I kinda like the idea of a buckshot round for the grenade launcher. That would be very effective in close combat.
#8
What amazed me about the piece is how often and how much these grossly underpaid put-it-all-on-the-line asskickers spend out of their own pockets to improve or correct deficiencies in the gear issued - for which we paid e-NORMOUS amounts of money to aquire.
The procurement system needs to be treated as a hostile adversary until it is responsive to these people. Period.
These men and women are no-shit heroes to every American patriot - and to discover that they have to pony up very scarce cash to try to stay alive makes me just slightly crazy.
#9
"Soldiers had many positive comments about the battle ax."
Cheeze, war hasn't changed in the past thousand years as much as I thought...
Posted by: Carl in NH ||
07/23/2003 11:53 Comments ||
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A lot of guys in the last Gulf War brought their own. Unfortunately, the Army brass decided that personnel firearms had no place in a combat zone. (Huh? I know, I know go Army) They took whatever wasn't cleverly hidden in the Bradleys (Hey Sir they're not taped under the turret BWAHAHAHAHAHA) and locked them in the "armsroom".
I carried the 16/203 combo (best thing since beer!) and was only issued time delayed HE, smoke, and I think an illum round. No impact HE or Buckshot to be found. I had a buddy that had actually fired the buckshot rounds but only gave it a so-so rating. The VN vets were scratching their heads wondering why they ever got rid of the flecette round used in the M-79.
They too swore by the .45 ACP.
Posted by: Paul ||
07/23/2003 13:39 Comments ||
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Yep, Scratching my head over the choice of some limp wristed euro pistol over the good old .45 ACP. Certified ass-kicker. I center punched a NVA type with the .45 and it took out about seven vertibrae on the exit wound.....which was about the size of a basketball, the impact blew him out of the door of my hootch and about fifteen feet beyond. A 9mm would not do that. Heck even with body armour a .45 would kick the target down the street.
I still think the old Thompson would be a better choice for clean up work than the Uzi or any of those other namby pamby 9mm things that people wave around and claim as weapons...they might be useful as a club in hand to hand but they have no effect on anyone with any sort of body armor.
#12
I guess we have to learn once each century that 9mm/.38 cal handguns don't stop bad guys. My Army time was the '70s, and I loved the old M1911A1 .45. An old Army buddy of mine has a .45 and a Baretta M-92. We spent the day firing together at a local range, and the .45 was much easier to hit with. I had to laugh about the 9mm magazine spring - the M-16A1's I trained with had the same problem, and we were told to only put 18 rounds in the standard 20 round magazines. Guess that's something else that hasn't changed. The comment about the lack of a buckshot round for the M203 surprised me too. I remember training with the M-79 Flechette round Paul mentions. Definitely a top-rank barroom clearer.
Posted by: Dan ||
07/23/2003 15:42 Comments ||
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Slowly but surely, things are getting better in Afghanistan, according to an e-mail to Professor Glen Harlan "Instapundit" Reynolds from Professor John Robert Kelly of Boston University, who is in Kabul. Some excerpts:
. . . Few westerners familiar with the doom and gloom features in Americaâs most prominent newspapers, from those of the astute Pamela Constable of the Washington Post, to the recent op-ed pages of the New York Times, would want to test the outer reaches of the city at late at night, especially in a vehicle as ridiculously conspicuous as our open-aired Camaro convertibleâthe only one in Kabul.
From news reports one might prudently assume that Afghanistan has steered even further down the road towards anarchy in the past year. Yet it would have been impossible last summer to attempt to drive even inside Kabul in the evenings, much less travel so openly outside the city at night, so in some ways things have improved immeasurably over the last twelve months. More remarkably, in our many hours on the road we were never impeded by anything more than the now omnipresent traffic jams. As we moved further from central Kabul, however, weapons were always at the ready and the driver was careful never to retrace his route. . . .
Last summer renegade police at the ubiquitous Kabul traffic circles might stop and board my cab uninvited, gleefully tease an automatic weapon and just as suddenly disembark a without explanation a few miles down the road. It was doubtful that many were legitimate police with any official status, nevertheless the judicious travelers never asked for credentials or complained when their vehicles were searched and belongings confiscated. This summer is completely different. Petty harassment has ended. Civil order has been restored to a remarkable degree on the highways by a professional police force that efficientlyâif not always quietly-- patrols the highways in slick new trucks donated by the German government and trained in the latest law enforcement techniques by the American military. Great credit for this transformation must also be shared with the new Interior Minister, Jalali, whoâs been able to bring more of an ethnically balanced and representative police presence into the agency. Kabul law enforcement now moves heavily armed but astonishingly restrained crews along the teeming streets, in a manner as unobtrusive as the ISAF patrols of last year. Consequently, one sees far fewer of the once omnipresent international peacekeepers on the highways. A benefit of this increased security is that the onerous curfews have been eliminated. Drivers are free again to assault and insult each other with impunity all hours of the night while the newly-motorized Afghan police force looks on with a bemused and benign detachmentâjust like ISAF in days past.
. . .
Still, Kabul is hardly yet a tranquil vacation resort. . . . Firefights and skirmishes are not uncommon, but are now very vocally blamed by Afghans on âoutsidersâ like the Iran-based renegade Hekmatyar, Al Qaâeda, Pakistanâs ISI or âinsidersâ like Defense Minister Fahim. Just last week, Fahimâs thugs provoked a firefight in front of the American Embassy (pulling pins and rolling grenades to the front entrance) but were quickly eliminated by American snipers protecting the perimeter. The fact that the Kabulis publicly applauded this action is invigorating proof of the transformation of the culture into a meaningful civil society. . . . Bombings and attacks are considered as personal affronts to the notable progress achieved through the hard work of the citizens themselvesâwith little help from NGOs. Terrorism is viewed as a mark of the increasing frustration and desperation of the reactionaries still operating here. Theyâve lost their main chance; now all the Islamofascists can do is to try to temporarily disrupt an increasingly civil society strongly committed to stability and peace.
. . . Those who disparaged the American efforts in Afghanistan have seriously underestimated the constructive changes wrought in this city in such a brief period. Despite dozens of missteps, made mostly with good intentions, it has been the understated but forceful American influence, not the UN and the hundreds of NGOs, that has taken the major gambles here. The Americans have displayed admirable flexibility in altering tactics and strategy when necessary and achieved this dicey, delicate transition.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2003 1:11:32 PM ||
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#1
Check out what Kelly senmt me a few months ago when I mixed it up with Marc Herold.
#2
Just last week, Fahimâs thugs provoked a firefight in front of the American Embassy (pulling pins and rolling grenades to the front entrance) but were quickly eliminated by American snipers protecting the perimeter.
Come again ? Thugs linked to the Defense Minister assaulted the US embassy ?
Afghanistanâs fledgling national army has launched its first major combat operation, sweeping the Zormat Valley region in the southeast of the country for Islamic militants fighting the U.S.-backed government. About 1,000 soldiers from the now 5,000-strong Afghan National Army (ANA) were in the valley region in the southern part of Paktia province, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said Wednesday. "Operation Warrior Sweep marks the ANAâs first major combat operation," Colonel Rodney Davis said at a military base on the outskirts of Kabul. Davis said the ANAâs mission was to "kill, capture and deny sanctuary to anti-coalition forces," and that it was backed by coalition forces. He declined to detail coalition participation. Intel, air support, etc.
Asked if contact had been made with opposing forces, Davis replied: "Iâd rather not say — the operation is in its early stages." News of the operation comes after suspected Taliban guerrillas have stepped up anti-coalition attacks around the country, but Davis said Warrior Sweep had been planned for some time and was not a response to these.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Davis said rockets landed on Tuesday near coalition bases in the southern province of Kandahar and the southeastern province of Paktika and a patrol of U.S soldiers was ambushed in the eastern province of Asadabad. He said the attacks caused no casualties. Typical Taliban marksmanship.
Davis said attacks in the south, in which the U.S. military said it killed up to 24 suspected Taliban guerrillas at the weekend had involved probably the largest concentration of opposing fighters in months. "What we have seen for the most part over recent months is teams of five, perhaps 10, engaged in hit and run tactics." Big concentrations are a good thing, more targets.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 9:33:12 AM ||
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5000 personal, not bad. After this operation, would it be a good idea to bring in some of the vets and start some hard core marine style training to purge the last vestiges of tribalism ? With a bump in pay upon completion of course.
Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin has come out of a coma and his condition is improving, a source at a hospital in Red Sea city said on Wednesday. "Heâs out of a coma and his condition is improving," the hospital source told AFP. Noooooooooooooooooo!
However, he remains in the intensive care unit at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, one of Saudi Arabiaâs top medical centres, the source said, giving no further details. Hospital officials refused to specify the exact cause of Idi Aminâs illness or provide details about his condition at the request of family members who have been living with him in Saudi Arabia in obscurity for more than 10 years. Idi Amin, a Muslim now in his eighties, was admitted to hospital on Friday. OK, weâre going to have to drive a stake through his heart, if we can find one. A heart, that is.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni warned on Tuesday that Amin would face trial for his atrocities if he returned to his homeland alive. Try his corpse and execute it again, just to be sure.
On Tuesday, one of his wives and a daughter joined him at his bedside after a flight from Kampala "facilitated" by the Ugandan government.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 10:10:52 AM ||
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Shoulda just taken him off the machines and buried him when he first went into the coma. It wouldn't have been half as cruel as what he did to any of his own people.
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 10:26 Comments ||
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#2
My thinking is that Idi actually passed on but the recently departed souls of Odai and/or Qusai have taken up residence in the bloated carcass of Idi.
#3
CC - your idea just fired off a neural path not followed for years... If you recall that the fixed-wing guys say that helicopters don't actually fly, the Earth rejects them. well... Idi Amin did pass on, but Hell rejected him...
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 13:23 Comments ||
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#8
Oh for F**** sake!, what's it going to take to get that vermin into the ground? For some reason I thought he'd snuffed it along with OddBod (http://www.sixtiescity.velnet.co.uk/carryon/CON038.jpg - guy at the back on the left, tell me he doesn't look like Uday!) and Qusay. Oh well, tomorrow is another day...
CC - that is a *very* weird thought, yuk!
Posted by: Tony ||
07/23/2003 13:39 Comments ||
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BERLIN, July 23 (Reuters) - Almost one in three Germans below the age of 30 believes the U.S. government may have sponsored the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, according to a poll published on Wednesday.
Been buying French books, have we?
And about 20 percent of Germans in all age groups hold this view, a survey of 1,000 people conducted for the weekly Die Zeit said.
It also said 68 percent of all Germans felt the media had not reported the full truth behind the attacks, well yes, but not in the way these nimrods are thinking in which some 3,000 people were killed when hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
After the September 11 attacks, there was an outpouring of sympathy from Germans for the United States. Despite misgivings, Germany joined a military campaign against the al Qaeda network that Washington blamed for the attacks.
But as the United States geared up for war against Iraq, relations soured bady as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed vocal opposition to the plans. and other members of the German government got carried away with comparing Bush to famous Germans of history
Although the United States took strong offence at Berlinâs attitude, Schroederâs anti-war stance was popular in Germany and helped him to snatch victory in last Septemberâs elections. But it was principled oposition, I tell you...
Asked whether they believed that the U.S. government could have ordered the September 11 attacks itself, 31 percent of those surveyed under the age of 30 in the poll answered "yes", while 19 percent overall gave the same answer. Projection is a dangerous thing, people
Die Zeit said widespread disbelief about the reasons given by the United States for going to war in Iraq and suspicion about media coverage of the conflict had fostered a climate in which conspiracy theories flourished.
"The news is controlled," 17-year old Kenny Donaubaur was quoted as saying. "You could see that in the Iraq war. It doesnât seem to me thet you get the full truth." Yes indeed, Kenny, now follow that thought through to the logical conclusion and pull your head out.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/23/2003 8:54:21 PM ||
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#1
Too bad we don't get a breakdown of the numbers. It would be interesting if the easties had different opinions than the westies. Also interesting would be the numbers in the islamic community of Germany (some 10% of the population but a smaller share of the citizens).
#2
Note to self: remember this article the next time someone tries to play the "our (insert name here) education system is better than your American one" card.
#6
Problem is, I bet you there are people Stateside who believe the same thing. Here in Canada there is plenty as well, all you have to do is listen to Mojo Radio out of Toronto. One particular guy on Mojo is borderline spreading hatred.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/23/2003 22:25 Comments ||
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EFL
Papers among thousands of files captured from the Stasi, the secret police of East Germany, claim tons of live Second World War munitions were buried in concrete bunkers beneath the runways of Schoenefeld airport in East Berlin. It is now the main destination for discount airlines, such as Ryanair, and numerous charter companies. Not only did the commissars intern munitions beneath the runways, but also entire Nazi fighter planes, all fuelled and fully bombed-up, according to the Stasi. The captured files of Interflug, the former East German government airline and the airport authority of the DDR, are now being examined to see if the Stasi claim is true. Experts believe it entirely feasible that, in the aftermath of the Second World War, with Berlin littered with millions of tons of unexploded ordnance, the Soviets could well have pressured local officials to move to clear the airfield as swiftly as possible. "They would have stuffed them anywhere they could - there was simply too much stuff to blow up all at once," said Karl-Heinz Eckhardt, a Berlin historian. "There was a warren of massive Nazi bunkers beneath the site of the present airport that would have suited their purposes." Nearly two million passengers a year pass through Schoenefeld. According to the Stasi files, the ammunition was buried in bunkers between eight and nine metres deep. A spokesman for the airport said: "We became aware of the bunkers in 1993, four years after the fall of the [Berlin] Wall. A check was undertaken then and everything was determined to be safe." But he conceded that he was astounded at the claims that fully-fuelled and bombed-up aircraft lie beneath the runways and said new tests about the safety of the structures will be carried out. OK, how many people had the same thought I did; "Gee, I wonder what a fully armed ME-262 would go for on Ebay?"
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 2:10:52 PM ||
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I wanna be the first kid on the block to own a FW-190!
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 14:18 Comments ||
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And yet people are still bitching that nothing's been found in Iraq after only a few months.
#3
The ME-262. That was a fantastic plane, and things could have turned out much differently had Der Fuhrer recognized its potential and capitalized on it.
#4
Sluggish acceleration, vulnerable to slower planes on take off and landing, and would often zoom past the target before it'd lined up for a good burst. By neglecting production of tried and trusted designs, and diverting personnel and resources to the development of an infant technology which wouldn't bloom effectively for years, Germany and the Luftwaffe made a big mistakes in the latter part of the war. Similar story with tank development.
#5
I can see the headline now: "Warbird restorers brawl in Nazi bunker"
Posted by: Aussie Mike ||
07/23/2003 18:24 Comments ||
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I'll take my P-51D or P-47D (or Mk.XIV Spitfire) over your FW-190 any day. The Allied planes were competitive in the air, more reliable, and better suited to mass production.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2003 18:47 Comments ||
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Been done by Clive Cussler, if I remember correctly. His fictional hero, Dirk Pitt, tends to collect old cars and airplanes that he's chanced across during his adventures, and one of them was an intact ME-262.
*drool*
Mr. Cussler does this himself, now that he's wealthy due to his successful novels.
Posted by: Ed Becerra ||
07/23/2003 18:59 Comments ||
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#8
I remember that book as well Ed - nice recall on your part
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 22:18 Comments ||
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#9
Bulldog >> In addition, Hitler wouldn't budge on the fact that he wanted it to be a bomber originally, wasting much precious time in developement.
Posted by: Paul ||
07/24/2003 17:23 Comments ||
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Followup to yesterday's story...
Eight Indian soldiers were killed and several others including Indiaâs army commander for Held Kashmir injured in an attack on a military garrison by militants on Tuesday. Heavily armed guerrillas hurled grenades and fired wildly as they stormed the camp at Tanda at dawn some 30 km northwest of Jammu. Seven soldiers died in the raid. After the army shot dead two guerrillas after a three-hour gunbattle and believed the incident was over, a third militant emerged from behind bushes and hurled grenades at a team of top officers who were inspecting the army camp site.
Sneaky bastard, wasn't he?
Lieutenent General Hari Prasad who heads the armyâs key Northern Command, Lieutenent General TPS Brar, Brigadier VK Govil and two other officers received multiple injuries in the attack, defence sources told Daily Times. Gen Prasad was appointed on June 1 as General Officer Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Command, responsible for the security of Held Kashmir. A badly injured Prasad, Gen Brar and another unidentified injured major general were flown to an army hospital in Srinagar. Brigadier Govil of the 16th Corps was critically injured and died in hospital.
Killed, not in combat, but in ambush...
The militant also died. The third militant, who started firing and lobbed grenades at 1:15pm, was killed at 2:40pm, defence sources said. The search was on for a possible fourth accomplice. Sources said the death toll might rise as several soldiers had received serious injuries. Tanda is a major military centre and a battalion headquarters and houses many families of soldiers in a separate quarter. An Indian news agency received a handwritten statement claiming responsibility for the army camp attack on behalf of a previously unknown group, Al-Shuhda Brigade.
Sounds like a false whiskers organization...
âThe attack on the camp was carried out to protest visiting Pakistani opposition leader Fazlur Rehmanâs remarks that the Line of Control should be converted into a permanent border and that the Kashmir issue should be resolved within the framework of the Simla Agreement,â the statement said. âAl-Shuhda Brigade wants to make Fazlur Rehman realise that his statements would have no bearing on the jehad in Kashmir,â it said. âSome self-seeking Muslims have always damaged the cause of Islam and Fazlur Rehman is a chip of the old block. He has hurt the feelings of the Kashmiri Muslims,â the statement said.
So it's all Fazl's fault. Damn him!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/23/2003 12:47 ||
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He has hurt the feelings of the Kashmiri Muslims
Yup. Many a wars have been started for the same reason. If only people learned not to hurt each other's feelings. *sigh*
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/23/2003 12:54 Comments ||
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#2
Think about this a bit. It's an army camp in a disputed region where there are attacks ALL the time. Yet these bozos manage to get into the camp, and one remains concealed for hours, then manages to kill senior officers.
Do ya think India is posting their best and brightest to Kashmir?
#3
Do ya think India is posting their best and brightest to Kashmir?
Sad to say, they probably are. Most Third World countries have great parade ground troops - but when it comes to fighting a war, that's a completely different story.
A total of 52 MiG Indian Air Force aircraft have crashed over the past three years, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes said. Geez, I knew they had a bad record, but not this bad.
Twenty-four of the accidents were caused by human error, 20 were due to technical defects and bird-hits were responsible for three, he said. "Human error" also includes a lot of "we donât know what happened, so letâs blame the pilot. Heâs dead and canât complain."
"A continuous and multi-faceted effort is always afoot in (the) Indian Air Force to enhance and upgrade flight safety," Fernandes said in a written reply to a question in the upper house of parliament. A majority of the accidents involved the MiG-21 fighter aircraft. In the most recent accident, a pilot and co-pilot of a MiG-21 died after their plane crashed at a military airport in Indian Kashmir on July 15.
The Indian Air Force, the worldâs fourth largest, has been plagued by accidents that have left about 100 pilots dead since the early 1990s. A meeting chaired by Fernandes in November decided to phase out the ageing Russian-made MiG-21s. About damm time. Want to buy some F-16s?
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 11:51:33 AM ||
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There are some fine firms, based in the United States, that specialize in aircraft maintenance. Perhaps India should look in to it.
#4
That's the problem when you collect used MiGs from all over the world. If the Indians cracked down on corruption perhaps they would have the cash to buy decent material. God knows they have the natural resources to sell...
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/23/2003 12:35 Comments ||
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#5
Remember, they're on our side...
Actually, they're on their side. They'll milk us for help on the Kashmir issue and on weapons acquisitions while providing no actual assistance. There is a reason why we were allied with Pakistan for much of the Cold War. India was that rare bird - a Soviet fellow traveler that did not need to be told to toe the line - India helped the Soviets because it wanted to*. Democracy or not, India's complex about America may be too deep-seated for us to get significant benefits from a closer relationship. I suspect the nature of these ties is that we will give, and India will take.
* The Soviet Union's Eastern European satellites had their leaders appointed by the Kremlin and millions of troops stationed on their territory to act as enforcers - a role they played in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968. India helped the Soviets because it wanted to stick it to Uncle Sam. Period.
#6
well i think Indias position is a bit more complex then that. During the run-up to partition, the indian national congress saw Britain as supportive of the muslim league and then as responsible for partition. They adopted an anti-Brit and anti-western point of view - while britain allied with Pakistan (as well as Iran and then monarchist Iraq) in the Baghdad Pact - which the US supported, and which became CENTO after the first coup in Iraq. This was more or less an extension of the great game - UK/US against Russia, with pro-russian Afghanistan(under the old monarchy) opposed from the other side of the Khyber by pro-Western (and still secularist at that time) Pakistan. India naturally jumped to the anti-Western and thus pro-Soviet side - which also helped it in its attempt to lead a 3rd world block. Nonetheless, IIRC, India's leaning towards the Soviets was still limited, till they fought the Chinese in 1962. The USSR must have seemed a closer, more likely help than Viet Nam absorbed US at that point. These trends reinforced each other, as under Nixon, the US reached out to China (now Pakistans principle ally) , and leaned toward Pakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Indian antipathy to the US during the cold war seems an almost inevitable result of the era's geopolitics.
The geopolitics of today is far different, and so India is not a natural adversary as then. Whether it is a natural ally is less clear. If you see the world as US vs Islamism, or US vs China, or US vs Islamism AND China, then India looks like a natural ally (as, indeed, does Russia). If you see it as all great powers versus American hegemony, then India, like Russia, is a natural adversary. India, with a different view of China then Russia, seems less inclined to oppose US power than Russia is, but is still not the kind of partner that UK or other "coalition of the willing" states are.
BTW, doesnt India pay for its own weapons? Hasnt there main request lately simply been for the US to ALLOW Israel to sell weapons systems (like the Arrow) to India?
#7
BTW, doesnt India pay for its own weapons? Hasnt there main request lately simply been for the US to ALLOW Israel to sell weapons systems (like the Arrow) to India?
That's the whole point - because of massive American funding and technology-sharing with Israel, getting permission to buy weapons from Israel is a privilege, not a right. The Chinese would dearly love to be able to buy early warning equipment from Israel. Defense rightly put the kibosh on that. Given the doubtful status of our relationship with India, I doubt it is wise to allow our weapons systems to be purchased by India.*
* Liberals have this misinformed view that because we sell the most weaponry (by dollar value) in the world, we will sell our full range of weaponry to all and sundry. The truth, of course, is that we sell complicated and expensive weapons systems to those of our friends who can afford them. And we don't sell everything in the inventory. We don't sell cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, submarines or aircraft carriers, and we certainly don't sell WMD. The reason we're tops in the rankings is because we sell the big ticket stuff, whereas the Russians and the Chinese are stuck selling AK-47s, RPGs and SAMs to terrorist front companies.
#8
Indian antipathy to the US during the cold war seems an almost inevitable result of the era's geopolitics.
This is complete BS. During the Cold War, we had many strong relationships with mutually antagonistic countries in Asia and around the world - (1) South Korea and Japan, (2) Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, (3) much of Latin America with their eternally contentious border disputes. None of them turned to the Soviet Union. (Cuba and Nicaragua did, but those were an armed Communist revolutions to which we were inalterably opposed, courtesy of Monroe doctrine). The US never rejects the hand of friendship.
Scratch an Indian and you will find a reservoir of resentment at the West for allegedly inflicting upon India its backwardness and poverty. It's stored up resentment similar to the feelings Arabs harbor towards the West, without the murderous instincts. And this is why the Indians can't really be described as allies - they'll accept our assistance, but criticize any requests from us for help as demeaning to them. Hence their rejection of the US request for troops in Iraq. The Indians may speak English, but they're basically dark-skinned versions of the French.
#9
Democracy or not, India's complex about America may be too deep-seated for us to get significant benefits from a closer relationship.
India was/is a member of the Nonaligned Movement. Wouldn't be surprised if they are still thinking along that line, even though the old Soviet Union is no more.
#10
as you all should know other than the eastern block countries and myself ..India is the only country that supported the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan...by the way on a lighter note one of my dad's ex- neighbors...was in Afghan in 1979 December and on christmass day i979 actually saw live the soviet invasion...he was in Afghan on a photography excursion...he said he was sitting in a cafe when suddenly the streets was filled with russian tanks...and suddenly all the soldiers got out of their tanks and went to buy coffee and cigarettes from nearby shops..(the soldiers were all in their teens(vietnam dejavu)).the Afghans in the street were like what in the helllll.....but the jihad had not began yet..ambivalence was widespread...but ofcourse days after that the KHADs(afghan KGB) Tracked him down and ran him outta town
#11
I can echo Zhang Fei's description of Indian resentment toward Americans - it's a rabid case of an inferiority complex. Saudi Arabia, and especially Aramco, employs many thousands of Indians. Toward the Saudis, they are total toadys. Toward Americans, they are 2-faced opportunists with a very big grudge.
I learned the hard way that it is a mistake to treat an Indian as your peer. The instant he perceives this, he propmotes himself to be your moral superior and begins harranging you with what's wrong with America. He's never been there, but he knows more about it than you and can tick off a litany of imagined grievances. They must have classes in school on it.
As for the totally BS myth of the great Indian programmers, I'll leave that pile of shit for another day. What a load.
Actually, the uniformity of the crap I hear from Indians indicates that this is what they get from their history books and/or mass media. They're all reading from the same playbook. Our history books tend to accentuate the positive aspects of just about any country chronicled. Their history books probably talk about the glory that was India before those pesky British imperialists upset the apple cart. Not quite as bad as the Chinese with their Alice-in-Wonderland historical accounts, revanchist sentiments and the use of words to obscure rather than illuminate, but not exactly objective either.
#13
All the Indians I know are decent, highly-motivated entrepeneurs. 'Course, they're also naturalized US citizens.
Come to think of it, that could explain a lot. If India exported all of its Reagan Republicans to the US, what's left behind?
Posted by: Mike ||
07/23/2003 17:37 Comments ||
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#14
I do know the Indians are designing and building an
indigenous fighter plane; they were going to buy
the engine from the US, but when Clinton started
an arms embargo after their nuclear tests, they had
to start developing their own from scratch. This has
set them back a fair bit.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
07/23/2003 17:42 Comments ||
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#15
All the Indians I know are decent, highly-motivated entrepeneurs.
Being decent, highly-motivated entrepreneurs and simultaneously unhappy with the US are not mutually exclusive characteristics. There's no shortage of Muslims who fit that category - where else do CAIR and other extremist Muslim lobbying groups get their funding? And these are not penny-ante dollars we're talking about, either.
Fuelled by the US invasion of Iraq and the promise of paradise after martyrdom, thousands of impoverished Pakistani youths are enrolling for âjehadâ in places like Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan, reports OneWorld.net. According to a slew of separatist publications, between January and June alone, Islamic groups recruited approximately 7,000 men aged between 18 and 25 years. "Two of the largest separatist outfits â Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed â claim to have recruited 3,350 and 2,235 boys respectively in this period," the ministry official said.
The usual suspects, gobbling up the poor and the stoopid to turn them into cannon fodder. And people bitch about exploitation by Nike and Gap?
Jehadi groups are finding the Pakistani environment particularly receptive after the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. They use publications, websites, prayer leaders, cassettes, CDs, and souvenirs like badges and T-shirts to lure recruits.
And tin whistles and candy and gum and cheese and bowls of milk...
For his part, Pakistan Interior Minister Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat maintains: "The government is monitoring the activities of jehadi groups. But we cannot proceed against them without any evidence. The government also canât ban them unless they are involved in anti-state activities."
They've already banned them. They put on false noses and moustaches and came back. And you don't find proof if you never look for it...
A member of a prominent separatist group said the vast majority of boys who joined radical Islamists were runaways. Sixty percent were school dropouts.
That's why every time they toss a grenade it bounces off its intended target and takes out a dozen bystanders â they recruit society's losers...
With the Americans in the neighbourhood, Islamists are having a field day. "The US bombing of Afghanistan and Iraq is an attack on the Muslim fraternity. You will go to hell if you do not wage jehad against the US," thundered Lashker-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed publicly recently. "Send your boys to us. We will train them and send them to Kashmir for jehad," screamed a CD message from Saeed.
"We'll send anything left of them back to you after they're dead..."
Labourer Ahsan Mehmood, a father of eight, gave two of his sons to jehad last month. "It is better for them to die for a cause and embrace martyrdom before I kill them due to hunger," said he in justification of the decision.
I suppose that statement makes sense. Just not a lot of sense. To me, it'd be even better for them to get some sort of a skill and make something of themselves. But I guess doinking 72 virgins can be considered a skill...
Prayer leaders and schoolteachers are often jehadâs local agents. Said Karim Khan, a vegetable seller from Gujranwala in Punjab province: "My 18-year-old son joined Lashker-e-Taiba because he was influenced by his teacherâs lectures." Last month, Khan was one of eight separatists shot dead in Kashmir. Thatâs the kind of fate awaiting many Pakistani separatists â whether they are fighting the Americans in Afghanistan or Indians in Kashmir. The Lashkar-e-Taiba website said around 800 youths were killed fighting the Indian Army last year.
It's their job to be killed, pawns in games played by Hafiz Saeed and his ISI backers...
Though the government banned outfits like the Lashker-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Al-Badr and Harkatul Mujahideen, they have re-surfaced with new names. Although the government denies it, jehadi outfits have reportedly set up offices in residential areas of Pakistan cities, from where they approach the public. "Recruitment takes place under the governmentâs patronage. The same jehadi leaders are heading the same banned jehadi outfits under new names. The government is trying to fool the public and the Americans by pretending to have distanced itself from the jehadis," alleges senior journalist M Ziauddin.
We knew that. The question is, what are we going to do about it? At this stage, nothing â Pak repesents both a problem (defined above) and a resource. When it stops being more valuable as a resource than it is irritating as a problem, we should take care of the problem. I'm personally in favor of a killing spree that starts with Qazi and works down. The unfortunate demises of about 3000 people â at least half of them clerics, and not all of them previously identified as Bad Guys â would bring peace and possibly even prosperity to that part of the world for the next couple hundred years. But what's required is the sort of thing that'll make us feel very bad about ourselves when it's all over, so we'll keep putting it off for years, until there's another Twin Towers atrocity, and maybe even until the one after that. Such are the disadvantages of being civilized.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/23/2003 6:26:29 AM ||
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#1
After reading this I visualize a cell cluster metasticizing into a malignant tumor. I recommend radiation treatments in the 2,000 - 5,000 rad range.
#3
LH--Sounds sensible to me. Like the SF letter from a couple days ago mentioned, the kids in Iraq where he's at are in school 10 hours/day now and not subjected to the rantings and ravings of the imams now. Without something to do or a sense of belonging, kids will gravitate to whatever offers them a chance to be part of something, and we should offer them that in a postive way.
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 11:13 Comments ||
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#4
LH: I think we ought to spend three yankee dollars for every Saudi dollar to fund secular schooling and non-wahhabi/salafi/deobandi mosques. I've never been against using carrots. Only when you use the stick, you _use_ it.
#6
Islam, Religion of Peace or Death Cult? "By their actions you shall know them". When are CAIR, et.al. going to stop playing the victim card and clean up their own act if they want acceptance?
#8
One reason they might not be in Iraq is not being able to speak the local language, whereas Pakistani Pashtuns would have no such trouble in Afghanistan, and Pakistani Punjabis would have little trouble in Kashmir because of similar dialects spoken.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
07/23/2003 19:22 Comments ||
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The 55 most-wanted Iraqis and their status, according to U.S. Central Command. Thirty-five are in custody, 16 remain at large, two have been confirmed killed and two have been reported killed. Click on title to view the complete list. Here are the ones still on the run or not confirmed dead:
-No. 1: Saddam Hussein, president.
-No. 5: Ali Hassan al-Majid, presidential adviser, Revolutionary Command Council member. Also known as "Chemical Ali." Possibly killed.
-No. 6: Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Revolutionary Command Council vice chairman, longtime Saddam confidant.
-No. 7: Hani Abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti, director, Special Security Organization.
-No. 14: Sayf al-Din Fulayyih Hasan Taha al-Rawi, Republican Guard chief of staff.
-No. 15: Rafi Abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti, director of general security.
-No. 16: Tahir Jalil Haboush, chief of Iraqi intelligence service.
-No. 20: Taha Yassin Ramadan, vice president, Revolutionary Command Council member.
-No. 21: Rukan Razuki Abd al-Ghafar Sulayman al-Majid al-Tikriti, head of tribal affairs office.
-No. 27: Gen. Sultan Hashim Ahmad, defense minister.
-No. 36: Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan, presidential adviser, Saddamâs half brother.
Edited for brevity.
Nawaf Zaidan Nasiri answered his the front door of his elegant mansion 24 days ago, and greeted a nightmare. Standing there, he told his neighbors Tuesday, were the two sons of Saddam Hussein, Qusay and Uday, Iraqâs second- and third-most wanted fugitives, asking Zaidan to repay years of privilege and favors they had doled out to him.
In an interview today, Thahir said Zaidan told his story yesterday while sitting in a U.S. military Humvee, about two hours after the bodies of the Hussein brothers and two other men were removed from the charred remains of Zaidanâs house. The death of the Hussein brothers caused soldiers to break out cigars and caused jubilation from the Iraqi desert to the Oval Office. But the episode posed a difficult dilemma for a 46-year-old man, suddenly in the glare of the global spotlight, who had made a career out of hanging around the Husseins, according to several of Zaidanâs neighbors and long-time friends.
"Nawaf was always bragging that he was a good friend of Saddamâs family, and he was a friend of theirs," said Thahir, a tribal sheik who lives in a house just around the corner from Zaidanâs, and described himself as best friends with him. Thahir said his friend was typical of the opportunists and mid-level hangers-on who populated the world of Hussein and his sycophantic Baath Party. In a lengthy interview, Jubori and another neighbor, a Muslim cleric who asked not be named, said Zaidanâs comfortable life, including his opulent home, were essentially slop from the Hussein trough. Heâs no angel, but I still think it was $15 or $30 million well spent.
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 1:51:33 PM ||
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Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 14:10 Comments ||
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#2
In a lengthy interview, Jubori and another neighbor, a Muslim cleric who asked not be named, said Zaidanâs comfortable life, including his opulent home, were essentially slop from the Hussein trough.
This just goes to show that when you're a tyrant, it's practically impossible to tell who is or isn't really your "friend".
An old story, but one I had not seen before. EFL:
29 April 03
One of Iraqâs most wanted generals was run down over the weekend by a young soldier who just a few years ago was running down opponents on the Fort Osage High School track team. U.S. Army Specialist Heather Baldus, 21, of Independence, was standing guard duty west of Bagdad along the road to Syria. In a call to her mother Saturday, Baldus related the story of how she chased down General Husam (Hossam) Mohammed Amin. "She was standing post with this other soldier when she saw some movement in a bush by the road," explained Baldusâ mother, Kim James, of Sibley. "She told the guy to cover her while she checked it out." As Baldus approached, she came under fire from unseen gunmen in surrounding buildings. A man bolted from the bush ahead and she pursued, knocking him to the ground with a blow to the head from the butt of her weapon. "He looked up at her and all he could say was âYouâre a woman.â Heather told him âYeah, but that doesnât mean I wonât put a bullet through your head,â " James said. "Heather has always been outspoken." Baldus and the other soldier brought their unknown prisoner to headquarters where they later learned he was one of the 55 most wanted Iraqis, all identified in a deck of cards distributed to soldiers by the Department of Defense. He was the six of clubs and number 49 on the DODâs mosted wanted list. I love a woman in uniform.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 1:50:26 PM ||
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You'll have to stand in line because I'm proposing to her first! Good Job Soldier!!!
WE LOVE YOU!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
07/23/2003 18:40 Comments ||
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#3
Woo-hoo! Go Heather! Go Army!
You know it had to hurt that a mere woman chased him down, knocked him down, and captured him. Hope they tell all his buddies in prison what a pansy he is. (or threaten to if he doesn't talk)
God, I love Americans!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/23/2003 21:27 Comments ||
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#4
stories like this make me glad I read back-dated rantburg pages
Some of you were worried that Saddamâs sons were not mirandized. Well, so is the CBC...
The option of surrounding Uday and Qusay Hussein and waiting them out was considered and rejected, a U.S. general told a media briefing on Wednesday.
Lt.-Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said they did give Saddam Husseinâs sons the opportunity to surrender Tuesday, and were fired at with assault rifles in response. The commanders on the ground had orders to either capture or kill, and they made their choice. "It was the right decision," Sanchez said. Compare with FoxNewsâ headline: "âNo Doubtâ About Uday, Qusay." (oops, itâs been taken off, but it was there honestly)
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/23/2003 1:35:21 PM ||
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#1
Maybe it would have been useful to take them captive, but I'm not losing sleep over it.
#2
Screw the Monday Morning Quarterbacking of these newshacks. Lt. General Sanchez summarized it right to the point when he said that
they did give Saddam Husseinâs sons the opportunity to surrender Tuesday, and were fired at with assault rifles in response. The commanders on the ground had orders to either capture or kill, and they made their choice. "It was the right decision,"
End of friggin' story.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 17:08 Comments ||
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#3
Re right decision: who's right decision.
In my opinion "The Boys" made the right decision. Shooting back was a good idea.
The worst thing that could have happened would be to have captured them alive.
Think on it. I cannot imagine a single thing, up to and including the location Mrs. S himself or the whereabouts of the WMS, that would be worth the grief that we would incur if we had them custody.
I am glad they are out of the way and I am glad they are dead.
Posted by: Michael ||
07/23/2003 18:11 Comments ||
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#4
I am glad they are out of the way and I am glad they are dead.
amen! Capture and a trial are more than these roaches deserve. Hope Dad decides to go out in a blaze of glory as well, but leaves an identifiable corpse ;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 18:23 Comments ||
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#5
They were given the chance to surrender.
We are not talking about some pissed off dude busting a couple of caps.They could have raised the white flag at any time.CBC and all the rest of the asshat Liberials can go piss up a rope
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
#6
I hope they were on their knees begging for mercy in six different languages when a trooper walked up them and said "Hasta la vista, baby!"
Posted by: Matt ||
07/23/2003 20:41 Comments ||
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#7
Besides, the "kinder, gentler" approach had already resulted in three WIA. Even then, after they finished knocking on the door politely with several TOWs, they tried to get them to surrender, but the boyz were still shooting at the good guys...
At that point, the commanding officer was absolutely correct in backing off and dropping anvils and pianos on them until they were quiet. These two schlubs weren't worth even another ingrown toenail...
for a different perspective on Iraq (from the CBC)
Two more U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq in separate attacks on convoys. ...snipped (same crap, different pile)...
Some U.S. soldiers expressed the fear that Uday and Qusayâs deaths could spark revenge killings. And some Canadian reporters expressed their fear that some US soldiers expressed their fear, that...
During some gunfire by Iraqis in Baghdad Tuesday night celebrating the deaths of the two men, a U.S. soldier mistakenly shot a man and a girl about age six. What would a CBC article be like without some wanton anti-Americanism thrown in?
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/23/2003 1:28:51 PM ||
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#1
Some Canadians express fear that their Premier is a Cretin, or was it that his name is Chretien?
Oh, well...same difference.
Some chickens express fear that the sky may be falling.
#2
hey so do you want the cbc not to report that yet again in a routine daily attack we have lost men again in Iraq....are you fro censorship...or what do you want...
#3
'fro censorship? Stevey, let's not let this degenerate into a racial thing, k?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 18:25 Comments ||
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#4
Stevey boy,don't you find it just the least bit odd that CBC,NYT, and the rest of the assinie Liberials never report the good things that the troops are doing,and can't seem to report the hundreds of sucessfull operations in a good light?
Damn!Sorry Stevey boy,I forgot.You are one of those assinine Liberials.
#5
Relax - we're three months into the occupation of Iraq. If I recall correctly, the last Nazi attack on American troops was staged 4 years after the German surrender. We can do all kinds of clever things with electronics these days, but military occupation still functions on pre-Internet time. If 4 years from now we're still seeing a dozen attacks a day, the commanding general for ground forces will need to be relieved.
For now, things will be hopping until they die down. It's sort of like the Afghan situation before Operation Anaconda - before Anaconda, major chaos with attacks all the time. After Anaconda, a whole lot of nothing. And Anaconda was staged 5 months after the demolition of the Taliban.
The reason we're taking casualties in Iraq is because we're doing the mopping up that the Northern Alliance did for us (and for their own survival) in northern Afghanistan and Karzai's Pashtun allies did for us (and for their own survival) in southern Afghanistan. Our Afghan allies were ultra careful not to expose our men to hostile fire because they were afraid we would cut and run a la Mogadishu. I suspect it was only after Anaconda that they understood we meant business.
At any rate, the mopping up related casualties we are taking in Iraq were sustained by our Afghan allies in Afghanistan. If we want to reduce our casualties, we will need to get an Iraqi volunteer force up and going as soon as possible. They can be less restrained about the use of force for several reasons - (1) as locals, they will get the benefit of the doubt from the local population, (2) there are fewer public relations problems from Iraqis killing Iraqis and (3) they will be much more knowledgeable about local customs and conditions and therefore less worried about making mistakes in threat identification.
#6
the newyork tims reports good things too..did it not report that udai-qusai demised...and it also reported the creation of the new iraqi pro American puppet regime complete with chalabi who speaks Arabic with a socialite british accent..ude used to live large in Kensington with the likes of diana.....but hey we killed fou guys in that building and since then we have lost four men...
Posted by: Matt ||
07/23/2003 22:41 Comments ||
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since then we have lost four men
I think it's two men. But two, four - it doesn't matter. At the current rate, we'll probably lose another 100 KIA by the end of the year, and possibly 200 KIA for every year of the occupation until the four or five year mark. I think we'll lose perhaps 1000 men total from the Iraq campaign over a period of 4 or 5 years.
In Vietnam, we lost 1500 men KIA a month, and Iraq is a lot more important. Why is it important? Its location allows us to threaten every Islamist / terror-sponsoring regime in the region - whether via airstrikes or as a last resort, removing the recalcitrant governments.
Note that Muslim terrorists attacked us in a time of peace. If they choose to attack our men in Iraq, so much the better. Unlike the passengers on our jetliners on 9/11 who had to fight them off with their bare hands, our men on the ground are equipped to take hits and hit back rapidly and with overwhelming force.
#9
That's all good & well but what bothers me is when our guys in Baghdad are just sitting targets because someone at the top says "we'll just have to get thru this". And on top of it our guys are supposed to do it with a smile and a candybar in their hand.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/23/2003 23:31 Comments ||
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#10
Rafael >> Currently, the US is recruiting Iraqi's to form their own Army. They will run joints missions with the US. I believe (due to the lack of serious large scale insurgent activities) that the average Iraqi only cares about restoring their lives back to normal. Sooner or later soldiers and civilians will see the insurgents for what they are (Saddam lackeys)and fight against them for a better life.
I've seen three friends who have come back to Germany and they all pretty much say the same thing. The stooges hang around the Palestine hotel and as soon as they see a TV camera they all break into their horse and pony show. As for the press. Three words: Hook, Line, Sinker.
Iraqis: About 1 in 10 look they'd shoot you if they could get away with it. The other 9 in 10 are happy Sammy is gone. They just want a their normal lives back.
Posted by: Paul ||
07/24/2003 17:41 Comments ||
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Gotta get that delivery system sped up Sammy, this makes you look foolish. Heh
An audio tape purportedly by deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, addressing Iraqi armed forces, urged Iraqis on Wednesday to fight occupying U.S. forces, saying the war was not yet over. The tape, aired by Dubai-based Al Arabiya television, was dated July 20, two days before U.S. troops killed Saddamâs two sons, Odai and Qusai, in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
"Well, it's over for them. But not for the rest of you guys, 'cuz you ain't dead yet..."
âWe tell our armed forces and our people that if America has achieved military superiority, it will not achieve supremacy in the battle of wills against the Iraqi people,â the tape said.
Well, we tell our armed forces that we have achieved military supremacy, because Sammy's army wasn't squat. And we will win a battle of wills with Sammy, because what we have to offer smells better and doesn't leave as many deaders lying around...
The voice on the tape and the language sounded identical to that of Saddam. He used many verses of the Koran â the Islamic holy book. âAlthough the occupation is factually present in the form of the U.S. army, occupation is not officially settled. The will of the people and that of the armed forces and the political leaderships are not subdued,â he added.
"Well, some of us are subdued. But not me! I still have cash in hand and lotsa abdullards who're willing to decompose on command..."
The tape said U.S. forces, facing increased attacks, would not be safe in Iraq despite their military might and weaponry. It urged Iraqis and armed forces to rise up in a new âliberation army.â
"Yes, yes! Liberate yourselves from the Merkins so I can come back and control the national treasury and kill people at whim..."
âLet our awakening be a new lesson that can be added to the history of our nation and humanity,â he added.
Hey, Sammy! Y'remember Uday and Qusay and little Mustafa? They're dead now. Let that be a lesson to you...
Wednesdayâs audio tape was the fourth in a month aired by Arab broadcasters and claiming to be from Saddam. A tape last week called on Iraqis to fight the Anglo-American occupiers and âevict the enemy from Iraq.â A CIA analysis has determined that the audiotape last week was âprobablyâ the voice of Saddam. That supported the perception that Saddam survived the war. U.S. forces have been operating on the assumption Saddam is still alive and probably hiding in northern Iraq. The tape said every member of the armed forces, even those retired, should join the resistance to form what he called the âcore of the new liberation army.â
"You suckers get out there and get killed, for the greater glory of, ummmm... me."
âMy brothers at the armed forces and Republican guards, the hard task troops, the news of your actions honoring Jihad (holy struggle) is reaching me and making me feel proud and happy... Use every possible mean and continue your Jihad,â he added.
"Really. I'll take care of any survivors. I promise..."
Celebratory shots rang out over Baghdad on Tuesday night at the news Odai and Qusai were killed in a six-hour gunbattle in northern Iraq, but skeptical Iraqis are still demanding concrete proof they are dead. Centcom sez they have Dental, X-Ray, and Visual confirmation the two decomposing sacks of shit are indeed the offspring of Sammy....Hoo-Ah!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 11:21:54 AM ||
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After having identified the bodies, I would just let them lie there and see who comes to collect. Perhaps Sammy himself wearing a wig??
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/23/2003 13:54 Comments ||
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I am afraid that Sadaam is going to win the battle of wills. I firmly believe his will is going to be executed long before mine.
President Bushâs erroneous reference to an Iraqi-Africa uranium link was understandable, former President Clinton said Tuesday, in part because Saddam Husseinâs regime had not accounted for some weapons by the time Clinton ended his term in 2001. I was waiting for Bill to put his two cents in on this.
Clintonâs comments reinforce one of the pillars of Bushâs defense of the war in Iraq — that his Democratic predecessor was never satisfied that Saddam had rid himself of weapons of mass destruction. "When I left office, there was a substantial amount of biological and chemical material unaccounted for," Clinton said during a televised interview. Clinton said he never found out whether a U.S.-British bombing campaign he ordered in 1998 ended Saddamâs capability of producing chemical and biological weapons. "We might have gotten it all, we might have gotten half of it, we might have gotten none of it," he said. We know, thatâs why we had to go in and clean up.
In his State of the Union speech in February justifying the planned war in Iraq, Bush referred to British intelligence reports that Saddam had tried to purchase uranium for nuclear weapons production. His administration says it now believes those reports were based in part on forged documents. The British still insist the story is true, their sources were separate from the forged documents.
Clinton confined his remarks to biological and chemical weapons, and did not say whether he would consider credible any report that Saddam had wanted to build a nuclear weapons program. Nonetheless, he suggested that Bushâs mistake was par for the course — and that it was time to move on now that Bush had acknowledged the error. "You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president," he said. "I mean, you canât make as many calls as you have to without messing up once in a while. The thing we ought to be focused on is what is the right thing to do now." "And if anyone knows about mistakes, itâs me."
Clinton said ending tensions in Iraq should be the priority now — another echo of the current White Houseâs talking points. "We should be pulling for America on this. We should be pulling for the people of Iraq." And why is Bill supporting Bush on this? Because he sees how well we are doing in Iraq, he had access to the same intel while he was president, and because it undercuts the other Dummycrate candidates. You havenât heard anything from Hill on this, have you? The more they look like fools, the better for her.
Clinton made his remarks as a call-in guest on a program observing the 80th birthday of Bob Dole, his rival for the White House in 1996. Happy Birthday, Bob.
Lawrence Eagleburger was on O'Reilly last night, and he was just as understanding and dismissive of the Dems' attempt to make the molehill into a mountain. Clinton, having more political sense than all nine of the Dem contenders, can see the potential for the worm turning, precisely because of the blatant politicization of the episode.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 10:01:31 AM ||
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"And why is Bill supporting Bush on this?"
And maybe, just maybe, he is a patriot. Maybe, just maybe, he puts his concern for the people of Iraq, and all the people of the middle east, including Israel, above partisanship. I would note that since leaving office Bill has also been a truth teller about what happened at Taba, undercutting the Arafat apologists. Maybe, just maybe, this self-indulgent, undisciplined, squirelly man, has some real core beliefs about improving the world. Maybe when he said "Shalom, chaver" at Rabin's funeral, he really meant it.
#5
Maybe Bill understands that the Dems can't win the next years' elections by calling a referendum on a successful war.Clinton is not doing this for Bush,he's just trying to stop the Democrats from heading off a cliff.
Posted by: El Id ||
07/23/2003 14:58 Comments ||
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Maybe Hillary is still looking at making a run
in '04 and sees the suicidal path the others dem hopefuls have taken.....
#8
There has been a pretty strong bipartisan tradition of ex-presidents NOT criticizing the current office-holder, regardless of party. It's rare enough that Carter's letter on Iraq was considered a breach of protocol. I would assume Bill is sticking with that tradition. Heck, it's entirely possible Dubya takes his calls and vice versa; Clinton used to get advice from *Nixon*, after all.
Posted by: Dan Hartung ||
07/24/2003 2:47 Comments ||
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The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Wednesday that the head of the Special Republican Guard, Barzan Abd al-Ghafur Sulayman Majid al-Tikriti, had been captured. Sanchez said Sulayman, No. 11 in the deck of the 55 most wanted Iraqi regime members, was detained Wednesday. Good catch
Responding to questions about the killings Tuesday by U.S. soldiers of Saddam Husseinâs sons Uday and Qusay, Sanchez said dental records, X-rays and four former senior regime figures had helped establish the identity of the men killed in the Mosul shootout. He added that the coalition would provide proof "in due time" to the Iraqi people that Uday and Qusay, second only to their father in power in the ousted regime, were dead. Weâre still waiting for those photos. Fred has a place all picked out.
The U.S. commander defended the decision to kill the suspects hiding in the Mosul mansion, saying they had repeatedly fired on troops trying to enter the fortified second floor of the palatial villa. "Our mission was find, kill or capture," he said. "We had an enemy that was barricaded and we had to take measures to neutralize the target." They called on them to surrender and got return fire.
He said that 10 TOW anti-tank missiles fired from Humvees had silenced most of the resistance, apparently killing three of the four suspects. Thatâs why thereâs not much left of the building.
The battle ended at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, when troops stormed up the stairs to the second floor and shot the remaining suspect. Sanchez said U.S. forces would continue to search for other fugitive members of the former regime, including its leader. "The ultimate objective is Saddam Hussein. We maintain the focus on all the high-value targets and we will not fail," he said. "The Saddam Hussein regime will never come back into power. We will ensure the freedom of the Iraqi people." Amen.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 9:41:57 AM ||
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the Centcom press conference was on MSNBC this AM. All the whining pressies could wring their hands about was why we couldn't take them alive, was there collateral damage or injuries to civilians since you US guys were using all those nasty weapons in a civilian area - "ma'am, we didn't choose where they should hide"... what a bunch of asshats! The biggest question was whether we would be hypocritical in posting the photos of these two worms to prove to the Iraqi populace that they were dead, since we objected to Al-Jazeera posting photos of our dead GI's
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 10:04 Comments ||
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Yeah--I saw part of the briefing this a.m. Big difference between posting pictures of common soldiers killed in action or captured and two prominent regime figures who have terrorized and enslaved the populace for decades.
I particularly want to slap the reporter (Beeb? Had the accent.) who wondered why Uday and Qusay were killed when the Americans are "specialists" in securing an area, like they're supposed to set up camp in the middle of the neighborhood and conduct a set-piece siege while Uday and Qusay possibly scramble away in the sewers or tunnels below the building after destroying all intel and records left behind. Maybe they'll come out after a week if we offer them pizza and Cokes?
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 10:19 Comments ||
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Dar - I think that one was from ABC - the Australian Broadcasting Corp
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 10:50 Comments ||
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Thanks, Frank.
I also got a real kick out of Fox's follow up interview with a member of the new Iraqi council. This guy was more than happy that the boyzzzz are dead. He feels that the Americans "pamper" their prisoners too much! He also opined that Uday and Qusay are master manipulators and would trick any (paraphrasing here) "young American interrogator from Wisconsin" into giving them favorable treatment. Hilarious!
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 11:17 Comments ||
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Looks like the receiving line at the wake is going to be mighty short.
Several world leaders expressed relief Wednesday over the deaths of Saddam Husseinâs sons with some saying they hoped it would help end sporadic fighting in Iraq and speed its progress toward democracy. Most countries across Asia awoke to TV reports that Saddamâs two eldest sons Odai and Qusai had been killed Tuesday by U.S. forces in Mosul, Iraq.
In Hong Kong, British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the killings as ``a great day for the new Iraq.ââ ``These particular two people were the head of the regime, which was not just a security threat because of its weapons program but was responsible for the torture and killing of thousands and thousands of innocent Iraqis,ââ said Blair, who was on a tour of Asia.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, one of the staunchest supporters of the tough U.S. line on Iraq, said their deaths would bring a measure of stability to post-war Iraq. ``I donât want to overstate that, but psychologically itâs a huge step forward,ââ said Howard.
That sentiment was echoed by leaders in Japan and New Zealand. Japanâs top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, said it might help eliminate the pockets of resistance in Iraq. ``Hopefully, their removal will assist stability in Iraq, in the interests of facilitating self-determination by the Iraqi people,ââ said New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff.
Still, some in the United States had hoped to see the two stand trial. That would have been okay too.
Al-Guardian's just throwing in the downside...
``I, my children, were ecstatic about the news,ââ said Qasim Al-Hashimi, 40, watching Arabic news broadcasts in the Karbalaa Islamic Center in Dearborn, Mich. on Tuesday. But Al-Hashimi added that he would have preferred that the two be taken alive. ``Their crimes need to be exposed to the Iraqi people and to the Arab world,ââ he said, showing deep scars around his wrists, which he said were the result of torture when he was imprisoned for opposing Saddamâs regime.
Reaction in the Iraqi city of Mosul, site of the gunfight, was divided. At least 1,000 people shouted in delight or cursed the Americans outside the mansion of the tribal sheik Nawaf al-Zaydan Muhhamad, where Odai and Qusai had been holed up. ``How can they do this?ââ a man in the crowd shouted Tuesday, apparently more concerned with the property damage. ``What are the Americans doing destroying a house like this?ââ
"And just look what they've done to the lawn!"
Real estate ad, Mosul Times: "Prime location, recently vacated, open lot, leveled and cleared, new owner anxious to sell, contact CENTCOM Realty."
Some Iraqis were delighted while others cursed U.S. soldiers who milled about as smoke wafted from the blown-out windows as the six-hour siege ended. Still others stood silently and appeared in mourning.
Go ahead, be mad, we donât care.
Saddam has a third, younger son, according to some reports, and three daughters. The four kept a low profile. This son had better turn himself in real soon now.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2003 12:48:06 AM ||
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#1
ding dong the witch is dead!
Anybody hear about that poor woman lawyer that Uday had tortured repeatedly? He ripped her apart and drove her stark raving mad over years of abuse because she DARED to defend (and well) a young porter at a hotel and had refused entry to one of Uday's women when she was drunk (not knowing who she was).
She is now a broken, sad mental patient where once she was a highly intelligent and expert lawyer.
#2
Freakin' Al-Guardian....almost tossed my BBQ reading that. There is no equating the relief that the vast majority of Iraqis feel in seeing those punks get roasted. Mourners? Please, who in there right minds would give a flaming donut hole about someone mourning those two psychos (other than Al Guardian et al).
In other news: Our BBQ was quite successful and the brewskis chilled to perfection. A day well ended. Tomorrow, the hunt begins anew. God speed our troops. Tally-ho!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/23/2003 3:22 Comments ||
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"Still, SOME in the US had hoped..."
"SOME Iraqis were delighted while others..."
" 'How can they do this?'" A man in the crowd (the 1,000?)...
Such hard-hitting imagery from, I'm sure, a J-school grad with no axe to grind.
Meanwhile, in my fantasy newspaper, it is reported that SOME Cub fans are happy about the acquisition of Lofton and Ramirez WHILE OTHERS question the wisdom of giving up promising minor leaguers in exchange for the two vetrans. ONE Cub fan in A bar was heard to mutter, "This trade COULD come back and haunt the Cubs in the next few years. It COULD create a groundswell of resentment to the Cubs' occupation of Wrigley Field and cause defections to the White Sox. I view this situation with trepidation since Mayor Daley, a devoted White Sox fan, MAY feel the time has come to raid the North Side of disaffected Cub fans, thus resulting in a diminished Cub fanbase. But only time will tell," he said profoundly, adding later that the root causes of this potential resentment MIGHT be traced to the Cub collapse of '69.
Posted by: Michael ||
07/23/2003 8:58 Comments ||
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CENTCOM briefing this morning reporting that #11, commander of Special Republican Gaurd captured. Developing..
#8
Tell that asshat that the owner of said destroyed mansion is the informant who collected $30 million and is never coming back!
"You've turned in Uday and Qusay Hussein, had your house shot up, and collected $30 million. What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to Disneyland!"
Micheal--As for Lofton and Ramirez, you're welcome! The Pirates are having a fire sale--anybody with talent must go!
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 10:24 Comments ||
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Well, this is really a great day!
We find $60 million in cash in the house and pay a $30 million reward.
HELLS BELLS MEN, we made a PROFIT!!!!!!!
Won't the OMB be happy about this!!!!
I can see the commander of the operation getting the silver star with dollar sign cluster on this one.
And if we auction off either body parts or autopsy photos we might make even more profit.
"For Iraqis, the weeks since Saddamâs overthrow have been like those frames in the Wizard of Oz in which the Munchkins hesitate before deciding that the Witch of the East has indeed been crushed to death.
The extinction of the future of the Saddam regime will dishearten the Baathist thugs who have been hired to fight on. Itâs significant that Uday and Qusay seem to have been sold out by a member of their inner circle, who decided to place more credence in the rewards offered by the Americans than the threats of the Baathists. And wisely so."
You suck.
You probably were the one who let the black cat onto the field at Shea Stadium. BTW, Randy Hundley DID tag out that guy at the plate. And Swaboda never caught another fly ball after the '69 series. Shot his wad, so to speak, just like Ed Kranepool did. It was their year. Thank God Mets lost to Oakland in '73. A .500 team should never win the series.
Good stuff yesterday, LH. Shed a few tears for the Kurds, Shiites, and the rest of the downtrodden myself yesterday despite the glow I felt. A great day in a long struggle in the fight, folks. Let's get back to work now.
Posted by: Michael ||
07/23/2003 13:52 Comments ||
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LH,
How about Jerry Grote, Kenny Boswell, Ed (Glider) Charles, Donn Clendenon (thank you, Pittsburgh), Art Shamsky, Amos Otis (talk about bad trades), Bud Harrelson and Al (TWO homers in 1 game, Cubbies!) Weis.
The fledgling Iraqi Governing Council made its debut before the international community Tuesday, welcomed by Kofi Annan as ``an important first stepââ toward Iraqi sovereignty but rebuffed in a bid to take over Iraqâs U.N. seat.
"We're baaaaaaack!"
Wait a few days til everyone realizes Uday and Qusay arenât going to take the seat.
The U.S.-backed Governing Council is broadly representative of the key constituencies in Iraq - Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. It was appointed nine days ago by the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq. The panel will eventually give way to a true Iraqi government. John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador, hailed the three-member Iraqi delegation, telling them: ``Your presence here is a powerful symbolââ of Iraqâs new freedom. Negroponte also recognized that the 25-member Governing Council will only play a transitory role in preparing Iraq ``for the restoration of full sovereignty.ââ The Iraqi council will be able to pick ministers for a new administration and hold other powers, but U.S. administrators will have ultimate say. Annan made it clear the delegation members shouldnât get too comfortable with their role. ``Our collective goal remains an early end to the military occupation through the formation of an internationally recognized, representative government,ââ Annan told the Security Council.
"Like it had before."
Our collective goal, meanwhile, is to transform Iraq into a democratic society. Guess whoâs going to win that one, Kofi?
``Meanwhile, it is vital that the Iraqi people should be able to see a clear timetable with a specific sequence of events leading to the full restoration of sovereignty as soon as possible.ââ
"I intend to potshot you all, every step of the way..."
The Governing Councilâs attempt to take over the Iraqi U.N. seat was derailed by ``the reservations of some of our neighbors,ââ Ahmad Chalabi, one of the key delegation members said. He did not specify which countries were involved. A source close to the delegation pointed to Syria, a member of the Security Council, as the problem. Time to have a talk with the eye doctor.
Neighboring Iran also has long-standing grievances against Iraq and would also be likely to object to any U.S.-approved Iraqi administration. Ever since Saddamâs U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Al-Douri, left New York on April 11, Iraqi diplomats have kept a low profile at the United Nations. Al-Douri did not resign and Iraqâs U.N. Mission remains open, with the former third-ranking diplomat, Said Shihab Ahmad, in charge. Chalabi said the Iraqi U.N. Mission no longer has Baath party members or Iraqi secret police staffers, and the current staff would remain on duty. ``Part of the purpose of the Governing Council is to represent Iraq internationally and in international organizations,ââ Chalabi said Tuesday. This is a job Chabbers could do without mucking things up too much.
Annanâs special representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, presented his recommendations Tuesday — underlining the breakdown in security and attacks on the U.S.-led occupation force and Iraqis cooperating with it. When Vieira de Mello had finished his report, two fierce old bats women in the visitorsâ gallery rose to shout denunciations of the Iraqi Governing Council as ``illegitimate.ââ They were hustled out by uniformed U.N. security guards. Chalabi was once favored by the Pentagon to be Iraqâs next president. But he took a back seat at the Security Council to Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni and a former Iraqi foreign minister in the government deposed by Saddamâs Baath party in 1968. Chalabi sat next to the third delegate of the group, Akila al-Hashimi, one of three women on the Iraqi Governing Council. A Shiite and diplomat, she led the Iraqi delegation to the New York donorâs conference for Iraq. Pachachi gave the Security Council an introduction to the massive task of reorganization facing Iraq. He said the Iraqi Governing Council has decided to employ at least 30,000 police, open at least 1,500 schools and clinics, pay back salaries to government employees and retrain more than 200,000 demobilized soldiers. "And next week we cure the common cold. The week after, we disarm Iranâs nukes. Oh, did we say that?"
``Our primary goal is to shorten the duration of the interim administrationââ so that an elected government serving under a constitution endorsed by the people can take power in Iraq, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2003 12:42:21 AM ||
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From Geostrategy-Direct, requires subscription...
North Korea last week announced that China has agreed to send 10,000 tons of diesel fuel at no charge.
The fuel has military uses since North Korean military vehicles could use it.
China is North Koreaâs key supplier of goods and fuel. The latest shipment shows that Beijing has no intention of using its supply of goods as leverage on Pyongyang.
North Korea, for its part, has subtly threatened to flood northeastern China with refugees if Beijing sides with the United States in seeking to pressure the communist regime with sanctions or other economic measures. So much for Chinese cooperation at reigning in Kimmie.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 9:17:30 PM ||
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Fraternite, Libertie...oh...crap
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 22:04 Comments ||
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A Wisconsin television station has declined to air a political
ad that accuses President Bush of misleading the country about
Iraqâs weapons program, drawing the ire of the Democratic Party
chief.
The ads show Bush, in his State of the Union (search) address,
making the now-disavowed statement about Saddam Hussein seeking
uranium from Africa for a nuclear weapons program. The Democratic National Committee paid about $20,000 to air the ads on stations in Madison, Wis., a strongly liberal college town.
WMSN, a Fox affiliate, issued a statement saying the ad was
misleading because it omitted the phrase, "The British government has learned" about Iraqâs efforts to buy uranium in Africa. "WMSN gave the DNC the opportunity to edit the ad and include the British governmentâs involvement, but that request was denied," the statement said. (A station sees a LIE and refuses to air it? Am I still in America? I bet Terry was fit to be tied! I donât know who the station manager is but he/she has some cojones!)
DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe responded (by stomping his feet and screeching)with an attack on the decision to not run the ad: "Apparently Fox has changed its slogan from âWe report, you decideâ to âwe let Bush
decide what we air.â" (Sounds like they are NOT going to be on Terryâs Xmas list! What am I Saying? Terry doesnât celebrate Xmas! Kwansza maybe?)
Fox spokeswoman Irena Steffen in New York said the decision was not made at the national level. "You would think a man in his position would know the difference between a local affiliate and a national news network," she said. (You would also think that Terry would know what a lie is. Hell he worked with Bill and Hillary, they know nothing but lies.)
#2
False Light snuffed out. I echo BAR's comment. Take your cutting and pasting job to a whore that will do the job for you, Terry-my-man!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 19:45 Comments ||
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saw this on Fox: Brit Hume's Special Report, and Terry is a graft-taking asshat who wouldn't know ethics if the SEC took it up with him on his Global Crossing profits
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 22:15 Comments ||
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KINSHASA, Congo (Reuters) -- French peacekeepers found the hacked bodies of 22 elderly people, women and children in a village outside the Congolese town of Bunia after trading gunfire with militiamen, a spokesman said on Tuesday. savage--adj: uncivilized; barbaric
The bodies provided the latest evidence of massacres taking place beyond the protection of the French troops, who began deploying in Bunia last month to shield residents from clashes between ethnic Hema and Lendu militia. Are the only civilised troops from the West?
The multinational forceâs spokesman said a French patrol discovered the 22 mutilated bodies in the village of Nizi, about 30 km (19 miles) north of Bunia, during a patrol on Monday.
Troops exchanged fire with ethnic Lendu militia who were leaving the abandoned village, wounding one fighter. There were no French casualties.
"There was an exchange of gunshots, and one of the Lendu militiamen was wounded," Colonel Gerard Dubois told Reuters from Bunia by telephone.
Dubois said the killings appeared to have taken place on Sunday, when large numbers of refugees arrived in Bunia from areas north of the town.
The killings followed another massacre in Tchomia outside Bunia on July 15. Villagers said 80 people were killed, according to a revised toll given by the United Nations on Monday.
The U.N. had initially quoted villagers as saying 45 people were killed in Tchomia, 50 km (30 miles) east of Bunia, in an attack blamed by residents on Lendu militiamen.
A U.N. statement issued on Monday said Tchomiaâs hospital was looted and about 250 houses burnt in the attack. It quoted a local source as saying 80 people were kidnapped.
France is providing the backbone of a multinational peacekeeping force in Bunia, focus of clashes between rival militia backed by governments in Congoâs capital Kinshasa, Uganda and Rwanda competing over the mineral-rich region.
The clashes mesh with a wider pattern of violence in eastern Congo, which has overshadowed last weekâs launch of a power-sharing government designed to end five years of war in which an estimated three million people have died, mainly from hunger and disease.
The French troops in Bunia have a U.N. mandate limited to protecting the town, making it difficult for them to stop killings beyond a security zone roughly 10-12 km (6-8 miles) around Bunia.
The mainly-French force, which is under the command of the European Union, is separate from an existing U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is due to pull out when its mandate expires on September 1.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to approve an increase in the number of U.N. troops in Congo and give them a tougher mandate, aiming to bring security to a wider area beyond Bunia.
Truly human garbage and bereft of the rule of law. I say we barricade the continent until they either kill, eat, or copulate (with infested organs) each other to death. Then, go in and re-colonize all over again.
Washington, DC -- Today after a contentious executive session of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on the nomination of Daniel Pipes to the board of the U.S. Institute for Peace, the Committee lost a working quorum. Based on an AAI initiative, organizations present agreed that they would send a joint letter to the White House asking that the President withdraw this nominee from consideration.
During the Committeeâs discussion of the Pipes nomination, it became clear that many of the Senators had questions and concerns regarding whether or not Pipes should serve on the Board of the United States Institute of Peace. The ranking Democratic member, Senator Edward Kennedy, noted his dismay regarding Pipes offensive and alarmist quotes about "brown-skinned" immigrants. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) agreed with Senator Kennedy and stated he was opposed to the Pipes nomination. Those quotes were falsified.
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) recalled poignant stories from his childhood of his immigrant mother. He described her as a devout woman who took pride in her heritage but was fully American. Senator Harkin indicated that he saw no contradiction in oneâs being proud of their ethnicity or faith and being American. He added that Cedar Rapids is home to the oldest American mosque and that the community flourishes as an example of religious diversity and co-existence. Senator Harkin went on to express his reservations about Pipes questioning the "enfranchisement" rights and "affluence" of Muslims and called Pipes a "lightning rod". And rampant Islamists take pride in their heritage of jihad, and exterminating all things kaffir.
Senator John Warner (R-VA) added that given what he had heard, he had many more questions regarding the nominee and thought that it deserved closer investigation. At one point, Senator Kennedy could be seen leaning over to Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) and whispering in his ear before leaving the room. It was at that point that the Committee lost its working quorum. Previously the Committee had approved other nominees without debate and by unanimous consent. "Hey, Judd! You guys lose! If you want a consolation drink, meet me and Walid in the bar around the corner."
Following the Committee session, community leaders in attendance from AAI, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Muslim American Society (MAS) among others agreed to send a joint-letter requesting that President Bush withdraw Pipesâ nomination.
"The Senate should have never been put in the difficult position of considering such a controversial candidate. The Administration should withdraw Daniel Pipes nomination. He is clearly unfit to serve on the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace," said AAI Managing Director Jean AbiNader. "Instead, they should nominate one of our puppets, who will continue the fine tradition of lying and spinning and painting our crimes with a rose-tinted brush."
#2
Since when do NGO's tell the President who he can nominate? Tell these dinks to go jump off a bridge, Dubya. If the comittee wants to nuke him, they can damn well put it on record.
#3
True story re Jean AbiNader: There was a Kuwaiti businessmen's group doing a tour of the US a few months after liberation. It came to attend a luncheon at the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations. At the last moment a delegation of Moroccan businessmen visiting Chicago (unconnected to Kuwaitis) was invited to attend the luncheon, as well. Panic!! Few if any of the Moroccans understood English well enough to benefit from the various speeches and hobnobbing to be done post-luncheon. A Moroccan-American called me and asked to help out in interpreting. No problem. Free lunch and fun. AbiNader spoke, as a rep of his own business consultancy. His Arabic was/is basically nil. As an icebreaker, he told a joke (in English) about 14th St. in DC, or if not that particular street, then another. I don't know DC well, but this section of town was the "redlight district", or as he put it, "a-hiee a-chaa-al-hamra" It doesn't really translate that way in Arabic. (Not to be prudish, but I didn't/don't know the proper term in Arabic for the part of town where the girls hang out) The only Arabic he spoke the whole speech. The joke bombed, thank goodness. Great use of Arabic, Jean!!! Just to let you know, I told the Moroccans at my table you said something stupid that decent people don't repeat. These were rich, hard-working Moroccans and good guys on top of it.
SO, Jean, you were clearly unfit to speak at that luncheon. Your dislike of Pipes is commensurate to your love of money and how you can position your "Institute" i.e. business venture to get consultancies. You sound almost Jew-like. BTW, folks, Pipes is Jewish.
Posted by: Michael ||
07/23/2003 16:24 Comments ||
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Not Jew-like, Michael, that's Jesse-like
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 18:18 Comments ||
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#5
This is really unfortunate and a victory for the cause of radical Islam. I used to live in MA and I cringe every time I hear gass-bag Ted Kennedy make one of his idiot remarks. Why don't they just nominate James Zogby or some other puppet spokesman of these Muslim propaganda groups if they're not serious about understanding the threats against us?
Posted by: Dan ||
07/23/2003 18:59 Comments ||
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#6
Nah... Kennedy was just recalling the waitress-sandwich assault at La Brasserie he and Dodd pulled... now that was a riot!
In response to the comments on who cut up Samuel Doe, I found this graphic story, but also Johnsonâs take on the current regime and history - interesting but gory
"Gosh, I'm sorry we slaughtered him like a goat..."
In 1990, as his drunken henchmen stripped, tortured and cut off the ears of former Liberian President Samuel K Doe, leaving him to bleed to death, Prince Yormie Johnson made a home movie of the slaughter. Today the former warlord, now a preacher in Nigeria, says he regrets Doeâs death. Festus Eriye reports from Lagos
âI must be very frank, I regret it. I thought that the death of Doe would bring peace. But the death of Doe never brought peace. I thought that after Doe there would be a democratic administration that would provide good governance. But the government we have in Liberia is the worst in our history.â The fatal torture of former Liberian President Samuel K Doe has been well documented. His killers — a gang of thugs led by notorious warlord Prince Yormie Johnson who, together with Charles Taylor, rose up against Doe in 1989 — captured the ghastly affair on video, edited the results, gave it a soundtrack and distributed copies among themselves. In Johnsonâs home movie, he is seated behind a massive desk, with a garland of grenades around his neck. He is drinking a can of beer and a young woman fans him with a cloth, occasionally dabbing his temple.
Sounds like a music vid, doesn't it?
Opposite the desk, in a room crowded with drunk, shouting rebels, Samuel K Doe sits on the floor. He is naked, except for his underpants. His hands are manacled behind his back. Two rebels are shown holding him upright. Flesh hangs off his face. His legs are bleeding. An interrogation of sorts is taking place. Johnson threatens to kill Doe if he wonât talk. "I want information, I want information," he shouts. All Doe can do is plead for his life. Suddenly, Johnson pounds the table: "That man wonât talk, bring me his ear!" The camera jerks around to focus on a screaming Doe, who is held down as a rebel carves off his left ear. Johnson hits the desk again, and barks out the order: "Now the other ear, the right ear. . ." The torture and interrogation continues. Johnson demands to know where he has stashed the money that he stole from the Liberian people. The video abruptly ends. Doe bled to death later that night.
Prince figured he could use that money himself — more booze, babes, guns and ammo...
Almost 13 years later, I am seated opposite Johnson, now an ordained preacher in Nigeria. He has, in a sense, my ears as well, as he professes a profound regret for his role in Doeâs murder.
Doesn't stop Doe from being dead, does it? But it's not so much the fact that he's dead — shuffling off this mortal coil was well-deserved — but the manner of his departure...
The date was September 9, 1990. Doe, who had been trapped for weeks in his official residence, the Executive Mansion, in Monrovia, made a rare trip to the outside world to meet with the commander of the regional United Nations intervention force. He was shot and wounded before being abducted by the rebels, as the peacekeeping troops stood by.
It's an old tradition, y'see...
"If I knew it would be like this, I would have preferred Doe to be there, than to remove Doe violently and put a monster in his place."
"But I was drunk at the time. I didn't know what I was doing..."
Johnson is 44 now and, apart from fleshing out a bit, doesnât appear to have aged much since the violent coup that installed Taylor — also a former warlord indicted by the UN for war crimes, and a president whose rule has once again subjected the country to an orgy of bloodletting and violence. Clad in white kaftan and red traditional cap, Johnson is sitting in the sparsely furnished living room of his one-storey exile home, in the affluent Lagos suburb of Ikoyi. The cream-coloured house with peeling paint has been his home for 11 years. It is surrounded by expansive lawns and tropical fruit trees — under which some of his six children play.
Sounds like he found at least some of that money Doe stole. Or grabbed some for himself...
The absence of security is unusual for this security-conscious neighbourhood. Behind the high walls, the house looks like a poorer cousin to some of the neighbouring mansions. Previously it was used as a guest house for Liberiaâs top government officials. Now Johnson is full of praise for Doe, in the past his sworn enemy. "During Doeâs administration, the international community did not stage embargoes against Doe," Johnson says. "It was not like this [with the world demanding Taylorâs resignation]. Samuel Doe upheld international relations to the letter. He made friends with his neighbours, but this administration has been accused by Sierra-Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast. So where do we stand? No country is an island — you need to interact with your neighbours. If you, the president, are accused of fomenting trouble in the various countries bordering your country, the citizens of your country are going to be given tough times in those countries."
That's the diffo between Doe and Taylor — "very bad" versus "much worse."
The enmity between Johnson and Taylor, once allies against Doe, runs deep. Johnson was one of Taylorâs most trusted commanders in the days when they operated under the banner of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia. Taylorâs ambitions, however, led to an irreparable breach in their relationship in February 1990, and Johnson formed the breakaway Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia, which at one stage controlled central Monrovia. He even declared himself president — a stance which did not please Taylor, who would refer to his former ally as "the late Prince Yormie Johnson" in his propaganda radio broadcasts. After Doeâs death, the Economic Community of West African States felt that Johnsonâs continued presence in Monrovia was an impediment to peace in the country. So he was shipped into exile in Nigeria.
If I'd been in charge, I'da had him bumped off — he's a psychopath. Luckily for all concerned except me and most of the Liberians and probably the souls of his congregation, I'm not in charge...
The recent peace deal that emerged from Ghana calls for Taylor to step down and make room for an interim administration within 30 days. Dismayingly, Taylor was unmoved, and on Friday said he would step down only after a US-led peacekeeping force was deployed in the country. To Johnson, this is a case of Liberian history repeating itself - with potentially dire consequences. "This whole issue of âstep down - I will not step down; step down - I will not step downâ is a playback of 1990," he says. "Taylor is telling the rebels that he was elected, therefore he cannot be told to step down. Taylor did tell Doe to step down. Doe was elected. Taylor demanded that he must step down, and because Doe refused, he prosecuted the war. So the rebels too are telling him to step down, whatâs big about it? The cup he gave Doe to drink is the cup he is drinking from."
What'd you do with the ears, Prince? Still got 'em?
Worse, he adds, is the fact that Taylor is the only African president ever to have been indicted for war crimes: "And because of that indictment, no country can ever do business with a Liberia with Taylor as its head. So do we keep Taylor and the people of Liberia suffer? Do we keep Taylor for Liberia to be internationally isolated?"
I can't think of a lot of states that have sliced the ears from incumbent presidents, either...
Johnson is especially passionate when it comes to Taylorâs plunder of Liberiaâs resources. He claims that Taylor used to refer to the country as his "pepper bush" — a honey pot in local parlance. "The logo of the National Patriotic Party of Charles Taylor is a map of Liberia," he explains. "Across the map is a branch, and sitting on the branch is a bird. So Liberia has become Taylorâs pepper bush, and he is the only bird sitting on that branch, singing songs in the morning. How do you say a whole nation is your pepper bush? Taylor is very wicked. In the whole of Liberia there is not one street light, no water, no good roads, no electricity, nothing. People are suffering. You are a journalist — you heard just a few days ago that Taylor has $1.7-billion in a Swiss bank account that has been frozen. If one man has $1.7-billion in one bank, while his people are living in abject poverty, what do you call that man? He is extremely wicked."
Not the first time that's been mentioned on these pages, is it?
Johnson, who once ran with the "chief of devils", is now an ordained preacher. When I address him as Reverend Johnson, he quickly corrects me: "It is Evangelist Johnson, actually. An evangelist doesnât have a particular church."
So no congregation, either...
After pastoral training, he was ordained at the Christ Deliverance Ministry, a Pentecostal church in Lagos. Before that he was a regular at the popular Synagogue Church of All Nations. It was at this church, two years ago, that Johnson staged a dramatic reconciliation with Doeâs widow, Nancy B Doe and her son, Samuel K Doe jnr. God has changed the former warlord in many ways. Sources say he used to have a very wild lifestyle . When he arrived in Nigeria, he did so with eight women in tow. Most of the women fell pregnant and later left him, taking their children with them. Today, he lives with one wife. Johnson insists all this is history. "God has been working to transform me," he asserts. "As I sit here talking to you, those days when I used to go to Bar Beach to booze and womanise, and I had so many beautiful girls, I donât see them any more. God has removed that. I donât drink no more, I donât womanise. Though I am not saying I am perfect."
Guess he still has the ears...
When I ask him if he is keen to return to Liberia, he turns to the Bible for an answer. "Moses killed the Egyptian and fled into Medina for 40 years. When God was ready for him, He sent him back to Egypt to redeem his people. So 11 years is nothing compared with that time of Moses. It is not even long to me. Those 11 years have been very good. They have been 11 years during which God has been using me."
Yep. A regular Moses, waiting to lead his people out of the House of Bondage...
However, in 2001, Johnson did file an application to run for president in the Liberian elections. "If the Liberian people tell me they would need me to be president, so be it," he now says. "I have immense contributions to make to Liberia. You donât have to wait until people ask you to make contributions." The whole place is a nuthouse, and we would do well to stay clear
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 1:57:42 PM ||
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After reading about the video, I'm sorry I ate lunch.
#3
well Chuck "Not Taylor" - I can see why you'd find it ....disquieting, but I did warn ye
;-) Frank
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 15:10 Comments ||
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#4
Moses fled to Midian, not Medina. That remark along with the Synagogue Church reference makes me wonder exactly what kind of Christianity Johnson is preaching. (As if I really had to ask.)
#5
He's preaching the "OH Shite! You've found me! Yeah I did it, my bad. You wouldn't shoot a priest even if he was reading scripture holding the book upside down, would you."
Posted by: Paul ||
07/24/2003 17:26 Comments ||
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Weekly Standard profiles Dennis Millerâs journey to the right (greatly edited but read the whole article - itâs damn funny):
Miller has applauded President Bushâs leadership and cheered the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Moreover, Miller has lately been pounding the Democratic leadership, the abortion lobby, the French, and big-time lefties like Norman Mailer and Michael Moore. In other words, pretty much Rantburgers favorite targets.
The day after his inaugural Fox commentary, Miller traveled with President Bush aboard Air Force One on their way to a reelection fundraiser. "Heâs a fine man and Iâm proud heâs my president. I enjoyed spending the day with him." And Miller left little doubt that heâd make time for the president over the next 16 months: "Iâd love to. I want this man to be president again. Itâs a dangerous world, and I canât have guys who are soft on that fact.Suppose heâs thinking of Howard Dean - who now leads all Democrats in Californiaâs latest poll? There are no âal Kindas.â"
"I donât think of myself as a classic conservative," says Miller. "I think of myself as a pragmatist. And these days, pragmatism falls into the conservative camp.
We have to depend on ourselves in this country right now because we canât depend on anyone else.
We are simultaneously the most loved, hated, feared, and respected nation on this planet. In short, weâre Frank Sinatra. And Sinatra didnât become Sinatra playing down for punks outside the Fontainebleau [Hotel]."
Sizing up the partyâs presidential candidates, he says, "I knew Kerry was going to have to run for president because his features are so chiseled, his actual skull could be on Mt. Rushmore. The guy looks like an Easter Island statue in a power tie.
Howard Dean can roll up his sleeves in public all he wants, but as long as you can see that heart tattoo with Neville Chamberlainâs name on his right forearm, heâs never going to get off the pad. Wow, I am looking forward to the upcoming election more than ever. Not only will it be affirming, but now itâs gonna be funny as hell. Miller is the perfect guy for the job. Crass and profane enough to fend off the inevitable criticisms that heâs a country-club blue-nosed Republican.
Statement by the Press Secretary
We were pleased to learn from the Department of Defense of today's action against Uday and Qusay Hussein. Over the period of many years, these two individuals were responsible for countless atrocities committed against the Iraqi people and they can no longer cast a shadow of hate on Iraq. U.S. military forces and our intelligence community, working with an Iraqi citizen, deserve credit for today's successful action. While there is still much work to do in Iraq, the Iraqi people can see progress each day toward a better and more prosperous future for their country.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/23/2003 12:39 ||
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Have they gotten his other kids, Tuesday and Thursday, yet?
EFL
Rebels took control of a key bridge at Liberiaâs capital Wednesday in fighting that shattered a day-old cease-fire pledge, sending thousands of families fleeing in a city desperately short of food, water and shelter. Yes! Come on boys, just a little more!
Explosions boomed in the capital, Monrovia, on Wednesday, one day after rebel leaders announced a unilateral cease-fire. Hey, this is an African ceasefire weâre talking about.
`This morning weâre still under attack,â Defense Minister Daniel Chea said after a night of shelling and gunfire. `Itâs still raining round after round of mortars.â As for the rebelsâ cease-fire pledge, Chea said, ``Iâm not impressed at all.ââ You can end it anytime, Dan. Put a bullet in Chuckâs head and youâll be a hero. You know you want to.
By midday, rebels took and crossed the cityâs Stockton Bridge, Lt. General Roland Duo said. Controlling the bridge opens northern suburbs to the rebels, putting them in position to cut off the road to the main airport and encircle the capital. Chuck better take that plane soon.
Taylor told The New York Times he would step aside within 10 days and hand over power to the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yundueh Monorkomna. Taylor will make the formal announcement Saturday, the Times reported Wednesday. Too late, Chuck.
During the past two months, Taylor has announced and then amended plans to resign. On Wednesday, Chea suggested Taylor will remain as long as fighting rages. ``The president has definitely agreed to go to Nigeria,ââ Chea told The Associated Press. ``But he is not going to go under these circumstances.ââ Rebels derided Taylorâs latest departure pledge. ``Taylor is just bluffing,ââ rebel spokesman Kabineh Jaâneh said in Accra, Ghana, where cease-fire negotiations were held. ``You know how many times he has said this kind of thing? Weâll make sure he leaves.ââ Hurry up, please.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 12:20:33 PM ||
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who are we rooting for again? What a freaking mess.
#2
I'm rooting for not-Chuck. When he's gone, we can root for somebody else.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2003 12:31 Comments ||
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#3
With all the anarchy going on in Liberia, it would seem counterproductive to go in with a bunch of soliders to blow away boy soldiers wearing wigs and ladies clothes. Bush, I hope, just stays away, except for troops needed to protect the US Embassy and related personnel.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 13:30 Comments ||
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#4
I'm voting for the kid with the wig that DAR posted. He looks like a trustworthy fellow.
Posted by: Paul ||
07/23/2003 13:41 Comments ||
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#5
Weren't me. I think Fred or Steve posted that.
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 15:07 Comments ||
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#6
The only reason Liberia's making the headlines is because the UN thinks it can dragoon us into wasting men and money on another misbegotten Kosovo-like venture. Once it becomes clear that this administration will not be pushed around, news about Liberia will fade into the background.
A federal judge has dismissed charges that a lawyer supported terrorism by helping an imprisoned sheik. Lynne Stewart was accused of helping Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, who was convicted of plotting to blow up New York landmarks, by helping him to pass messages to the Islamic Group in Egypt, a terrorist group he once led. The charges were announced in April 2002 by Attorney General John Ashcroft, who called the case the first use of a new rule that allows the Bureau of Prisons to monitor conversations between lawyers and inmates who are threats to commit "future acts of violence or terrorism." The judge let stand lesser charges that she lied to and defrauded the federal government, the New York Times reported. Those charges accuse her of making false statements and conspiring to defraud the government through what prosecutors say was her broken promise not to be a conduit for Abdel Rahman. The supporting terror charge would have been hard to prove. This seems to be about right.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 12:04:30 PM ||
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I think the bitch should be extradited to Egypt--I bet they'd like to talk to her about what she knows re: the Islamic Group--the nice folks who were responsible for the massacre of tourists in Luxor.
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
07/23/2003 12:44 Comments ||
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Actually, New York Federal judges are renowned for their liberalism. I suspect the prosecution will appeal.
#3
If she lied and defrauded the government, there should be a serious effort to disbar her. These behaviors cannot be condoned or ignored. If she beats this, then it sends a very clear and ominous message to all lawyers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 13:27 Comments ||
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#4
Not Mike-
I second that idea, with the addition of a manditory clitorectomy, so she can really get the flavor of the culture she seems to so love.
#5
This was in a comment by condor on Lucianne.com:
Koeltl, John George
Born 1945 in New York, NY
Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Nominated by William J. Clinton on April 26, 1994, to a seat vacated by Shirley Wohl Kram; Confirmed by the Senate on August 9, 1994, and received commission on August 10, 1994.
Anyone still think the judicial battles should not be the most important issue for conservatives after national security (or, indeed, that it is a related issue)?
CNN runs a Judy Woodruff interview with Muammar Qaddhafi's heir-apparent, Saif ul-Islam Qaddhafi, that echoes some of the trends we've been watching in Libya here at Rantburg. Last month Pop called for wholesale privatization in Libya, to include the oil industry, which he nationalized when he took power in 1969. Two days after Libya accepted liability for the Lockerbie bombing, he gave the public the bad news that they shouldn't be relying on oil money because it had been frittered away on grandiose adventurism â he didn't quite admit that part, but he strongly implied it. At the end of May, he made a curious speech in which he decried mindless sloganeering and said that being a non-aligned nation would be harmful to Libya.
Of particular interest has been Qaddhafi's pull away from membership in the Arab League and toward Africa, to include his courtship of an Ugandan queenlette and there was a story that he had betrothed one of his sons to the little king's sister. He's been involved in the Central African Republic â and seems to have had enough sense to write off his losses and get out. And he's probably going to end up holding a mortgage on Zim-Bob-We, as Bob gets further and further into debt to Libya, with no prospects of repayment. Libya could end up with a colony in southern Africa just by calling in their notes. Muammar seems to have gotten out of his imitative mode (Mao had a little red book, he had a little green book; Paleos and Red Brigades blew people up, he bombed Berlin discos and Pan Am airliners) and into doing a little strategizing. This might be age and maturity, it might be the influence of Saif ul-Islam, who seems a more sensible lad than the old man:
GADHAFI: Because I'm a Libyan citizen, I would like to send this message to the American people and the American government that we, the Libyan people, we want to have a more constructive and fruitful relationship with the Americans. We want to see Americans visit Libya. We want to go there to study at American universities. We want to invest in the New York Stock Exchange. We want to have Pepsi Cola, Coca-Cola. We don't want confrontation and aggression and, you know, to fight anymore. It's over. It's behind us now. It's dead with the Cold War.
To my uneducated eye, that looks like a full stop on the anti-American/anti-Globalization tour, followed by a U-turn. Woodruff hit him with Lockerbie, and his response was Arab-evasive â a matter of culture, I think, or possibly avoiding any public statements that could end up costing a state that's adventured itself into poverty even more money. He ended up saying the money â $2.7 billion, with most of it probably going to lawyers â will be deposited in a few weeks and can we just move on? (If he's really inventive and they're still malevolent or have a sense of humor, the money will take the form of the deed to Zimbabwe, which would be a hoot â watching the lawyers evict Bob and Grace when they foreclose...) Libya's signed on to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and Saif says they have no interest in WMDs, admitting that even if they did, they don't have the technical base and manpower to do anything with them.
And plus, Libya recently has signed all of the relevant conventions regarding the WMD, and now we are members of those conventions. And because we are members, we have to be subject to international inspections and we have to be subject to other procedures regarding transparency. And therefore, I think we are on the right track, and now we are a member of those international conventions, and I think they are enough and good steps.
Saif says he's happy that Libya's in direct, face-to-face negotiations with the U.S. now, and expects to see mutual benefits to such talks.
And now we are not enemies anymore. We are not in confrontation. We are not fighting each other now. Just are sitting around the table as friends, and we are discussing our concerns.
To me, a statement like that, coming from Libya heir-apparent, has the potential to be in the same category as the Berlin Wall coming down or the Ceaucescus counting muzzle blasts, with echoes of Nixon's trip to China. I lack patience with the International Amity⢠smarm merchants, but I recognize the value of diplomacy, especially when it's skillfully applied. This is an opening that I think should be exploited as soon as the money â or the deed to Zimbabwe â is in hand.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
07/23/2003 11:35 ||
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Okay, I'll bite... but he sounds little different than a Saudi, now. From open confrontation they've moved to quiet discussions over tea and biscuits . Does this mean peaceful intentions and honest dealing? I dunno, but... Let's see what they do and ignore what they say for a few years. The Kid ought to be interesting.
#2
I think Bush's expectation is that the Soddies are going to do something along the same lines, probably not with as public an acknowledgement as Saif's giving. They're hesitation-marking now, but at some point they're going to realize they've lost the covert war they started 30 years ago and start trying to save their bacon, errr... felafel. They probably realize they've been checkmated now.
Their cultural inclination is to talk out of both sides of their mouths. A public surrender by the Keeper of the Holy Mosques⢠would be unacceptable, so I think that over time they'll start talking less out of one side and more out of the other -- see King Fahd's statement that they're going to promote peace and understanding and love and puppies and kittens and baby ducks instead of hatred and jihad the other day. They'll deplore 9-11, religious extremism, all that stuff, and pretend there was never any official involvement, with only a few renegades forming the Council of Boskone. It's the "pretend it never happened" approach. Naturally, if they see another opening they'll try for world domination again, but they see the risks of getting caught at it. Sammy's little princelings buying dirt farms yesterday helps drive that point home.
I'm not saying we should believe what either of them say, but Libya, I'd guess, is under new management. Talk to him. Take him seriously. Set up joint initiatives that'll result in Pepsi and McDonald's and Nike and all the cultural transformation that comes with them. And if he tries to screw us, kill him.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2003 12:18 Comments ||
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Saif ul-Islam?
Looks like Muamar is still dealing with that megalomania problem.
#4
Just like the cartoon character, I am always on guard when dealing with G'Daffy. All this talk is great, but the whole nation of Libya does not have an epiphiny in one big collective sigh. In many ways, like Iraq and Saudi, we have had generations of disfunctional behavior, and a little spiritual rain just does not wash it away. It is important to talk to them, but we better have our remote sensors cranked up on high gain in the background, and not be taken in by all the cliches and baby ducks. It may be a change, but I am skeptical. At least we should not give away the farm, based upon smooth talk. And in the spirit of what Fred said, we should keep an updated target list with coordinates, just in case.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 13:47 Comments ||
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#5
didnt we hear great stuff about Baby Assad before he took power?
#6
Fred: I think rather than a checkmate it's a really strong "check." I think that the Saudis go from the strategic offensive to the strategic defensive overall. In places like the NWFP, Kashmir, and Israel, they stay on the tactical offensive. Overt operations against the US end. In Europe, they concentrate on Wahhabi-izing the immigrant Muslims. If they go over to the defensive everywhere, they lose their core constituency and their heads end up on pikes. My conditions for a checkmate are:
* Secular non-Baathist regime in Syria.
* Secular regime in Iran.
* End of all the foolishness in Pakistan (probably the hardest)
#7
I think this ephinany that the Qaddafhi's comments can be pretty much synopsized into "We watched Saddam get his ass kicked and we don't want to go there. These American soldiers just don't mess around and neithere does George W. Hell, I don't want the 3ID or the MEF on my doorstep next. What do you think I am Nuts or something. Lets have some respect for me having a little sanity".
If anyone thinks any of this is happening out of the goodness of his heart you are wrong. The major league butt whipping we have administered over there resonates far and wide....and it has impressed our adversaries in these pocket dictatorships.
#8
A little of both, I'd say. After all, it's been years since Libya challenged the US directly, so it can't all be the Taking of Baghdad 1-2-3. The whole Lockerbie trial back-down began during the Clinton administration, and they were pretty big on whipping out their pragmatic line then, too: Not admitting to the bombing but sort of playing a "nolo contendere" and hoping we could all get back to business soon.
I've often said that El-Gadhafi [his spelling] dearly hoped to eventually lead the Arab League, but realized that Egypt's Mubarak filled that role comfortably and wasn't budging. With that he turned to Africa and found a continent eager to accept a visionary leader who peddled old-hat stuff from the visionary five-and-dime, like an African Union to emulate the EU.
The son definitely seems better educated and more worldly in many ways, which can't be bad. (Assad's son, remember, was an optometrist; it was his older brother who was groomed for the role. In many ways he's little more than a puppet for his father's junta.) When he talks of Libya's technical capacity it's clear he understands the value of interdependence, rather than taking his father's anti-colonial generation's view that throwing off the masters was the first order of business. Whether he would or could lead this way, assuming he eventually takes over, is another matter entirely, but it's evidence that being a revolutionary only goes so far. Heck, China discarded the little red books itself years ago, and has a pragmatic, vaguely pro-capitalist bureaucrat as president.
It's a lot like the simulation game I played in my college government course, where we had teams playing nations, and options of war, internal political struggles, and economic growth. I used my VIC-20 to build a spreadsheet demonstrating the wisdom of the economic growth strategy, exploiting a weakness of the model, but even without VIC-20s so did the other students. By the end of the course we all had stronger economies, higher per-capita GNP, and only one lackluster war had broken out.
Posted by: Dan Hartung ||
07/24/2003 2:41 Comments ||
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Iran has said it is holding several senior members of Osama Bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda network. The Intelligence Minister, Ali Yunesi, told reporters in Tehran that a large number of "small and big" members of al-Qaeda were in Iranian custody.
I have visions of basketball player-types with Harmonicats swarming around their calves, only with turbans... I think I'll go have a drink.
It is not clear how senior the detainees are, and the minister gave few details.
"How senior?"
"Very senior!"
Earlier this year, the Iranians announced the arrest of a number of alleged al-Qaeda suspects, but rejected US allegations that senior figures of the network had taken refuge in Iran. President Bush has accused Iran and Syria of continuing to harbour terrorists - a charge which both countries reject. Mr Yunesi said that since the US-led war in Afghanistan that led to the fall of the Taleban regime in 2001, Iran had arrested "a large number of al-Qaeda members, some of whom have been expelled or handed over to their country of origin".
He told reporters: "We are still holding many others."
"Oh, hold me, Mahmoud!"
The whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden are not known - or even whether he is definitely still alive.
Posted by: ColoradoConservative ||
07/23/2003 11:19:58 AM ||
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this response keeps cropping up at times when we remind those who're ag'in us that sheltering A-Q is considered sam as siding with A-Q. Who are they, where did they go, and who did you still have? Until they pony up that info, we need to keep the pressure on.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 18:32 Comments ||
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EFL
Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos has issued a warning that his forces are ready to use violence to defend themselves against paramilitary fighters in southern Chiapas. Heâs back!
In a strongly worded communique issued Tuesday night, Marcos said the tense climate in Chiapas reminds him of the days leading up to when paramilitary fighters massacred rebel supporters in the rural town of Acteal in December 1997.
The mass killing was the worst of a series of bloody clashes between pro- and anti-rebel groups in poor Indian communities across Chiapas since the Zapatistasâ armed uprising in the name of socialism and Indians rights in January 1994. Yup, another rebel leader preaching that matra of socialism.
Marcos said dozens of paramilitary fighters supported by different political parties have surrounded Zapatista strongholds in recent days and fired guns in the air.
"The environment is very similar to one we saw in the days before the massacre at Acteal where 45 men, women and children were killed with exceptional cruelty by the paramilitaries," the statement said. He went on to say that if attacked, Zapatista fighters would respond with violence of their own, something they didnât do after the Acteal killings.
"Itâs an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but we are ready to take two eyes for every eye and a mouth full of teeth for just one tooth," Marcos said, displaying his touch for irony that has made him a favorite of intellectuals. Intellectuals just love socialists, especially those dashing rural types wearing masks.
The letter released Tuesday also said structural changes made during recent months by the Zapatista army and affiliated villages are ready to be made public, without revealing any details of that reorganization. Marcos has not made a public appearance since 2001, communicating instead by letters published completely in the Mexican newspaper La Jornada.
Tuesdayâs statement came a day after a letter from the ski-mask wearing leader announced a reorganization of the National Zapatista Liberation Army and a complete break with Mexicoâs government and political parties. Vicente hasnât had a very good year.
In that statement, Marcos ridiculed the countryâs July 6 midterm elections as "the most comical in the history of Mexico," and said the Zapatista army had decided to sever all contact with the political system. President Vicente Fox tried to restart peace talks in 2001 by closing a number of military bases in rebel territory and backing an Indian rights bill championed by the Zapatistas, but Congress passed a watered-down version of the bill, which the Zapatistas unanimously rejected. Even if they had passed it, they would have found a reason to reject it.
Marcos drew unusual criticism last year from Mexican leftists and intellectuals after he showed sympathy for a Basque separatist group linked to terrorist attacks. Humm, the Mexican government just bagged a bunch of Basques the other day.
In his Monday communique, Marcos cited the Zapatistasâ support for the "political fight of the Basque country," the country of Iraq "and all the fights in rebellion against the power of money." "The aggression against the country of Iraq not only is evidence of the truly destructive mission of globalization but also provoked the largest worldwide repudiation in the history of humanity," the statement said. Oh great, another Iraq supporting, anti-global rebel leader with his own army right in our backyard. Wonder if those Basque boys were training Marcosâs boys on car bombs? And Iâll bet that the Zapatistas arenât above attacking American targets for a little funding from guys in turbans.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 10:54:55 AM ||
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I bet Zach DeLaRocha will go back down there and start protesting with these jerkwads any day now...
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 14:08 Comments ||
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#3
I dunno, folks, things are a bit more complicated down in Southern Mexico than you might think. I have a friend (who shall remain nameless) who back in the mid 90's got one of those mercinary gigs training a small (but effective) Myan tribal military force in the jungle down there. His impression was that they we're getting ready to defend themselves from the 'Federales, who had done some fairly nasty things down there over the years. Nobody was babeling Marxist propaganda at him, nobody was talking about starting their own country. Just the good old fashioned "stay off of our land - or else!!!" ethic at work.
My guess is that 'ol Subcommander Marcos is an American, or has at least been educated here in our country. Judging from his accent, he may very well have been educated in California.... which makes a lot of sense, actually. He's an amusing yet effective fruit basket, but little more. The Mayans are about as "Marxist" as Bill Gates.
#4
Agree with SM. The Mayans are a strong people with a strong heritage and culture. After 500 years of opression , they are starting to re-assert themselves in Yucatan and Guatamala. I expect great things from them in the next couple of generations, along with the Q'uechua speaking peoples of the Altoplano.
"And what I think -- again, I would say the most important thing is we should focus on whatâs the best way to build Iraq as a democracy? How is the president going to do that and deal with continuing problems in Afghanistan and North Korea?
We should be pulling for America on this. We should be pulling for the people of Iraq. We can have honest disagreements about where we go from here, and we have space now to discuss that in what I hope will be a nonpartisan and open way. But this State of the Union deal they decided to use the British intelligence. The president said it was British intelligence. Then they said on balance they shouldnât have done it. You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president. I mean, you canât make as many calls as you have to make without messing up once in awhile. The thing we ought to be focused on is what is the right thing to do now. Thatâs what I think."
Posted by: liberalhawk ||
07/23/2003 9:59:24 AM ||
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I heard about this, and well, my first reaction was "what's in for him ?", My second was "the dems are going to be pissed at him". My ninth impression was that we was actually making an honest comment in support of the Presidency.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/23/2003 11:35 Comments ||
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#6
Here, let me pick up a Rantburg troll's tin foil cap and think in their term - Hmmmmm. * Bill is doing this to undermine even more the pathetic current field of Donk players so that Hillery will have a cleaner run for the top of the ticket in '08. *
Ghad, that hurt. Anyone else want to wear that damn thing?
Posted by: Don ||
07/23/2003 11:56 Comments ||
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#7
now bubba is concerned about nkor.....what an a-hole.. he paid tribute to a dictator because he was a spineless leader...after the 1994 accords we became the largest donor (tribute payer) to nkor - i was sickened then and i am sickened now hearing bubba even mention nkor...
PD - the man does not deserve an ATTABOY --- do you really understand how harmful he was to our national security?
Posted by: Dan ||
07/23/2003 12:04 Comments ||
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#8
Hey Bill, was that bad intelligence when we hit the Chinese embassy or aspirine factory. Hey Bill whats Bono up to. Hey Bill what color is your underwear. Hey Bill did you really jackoff in the Oval office? Did you clean up the mess or just steal the rug when you busted loose? Is it sex when you GFYS?
#9
we became the largest donor (tribute payer) to nkor
Funny thing is, he more or less admitted it on Larry King in an interview just before the war started in Iraq. He said that the NKors only wanted money, and they're trying the same tactic now. He was also more or less supportive of the administration's position on Iraq, without actually saying it, that is.
I think we're seeing a post 9-11 Bill, one that is perhaps ridden with guilt. Or he maybe he's doing the anti-Carter thing, 'cause he's actually smarter than that.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/23/2003 12:28 Comments ||
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#10
Limbaugh is on this right now and I have to agree with him. This is all just ass covering on his part. It's all about Bill.
While I am glad he is gone and think little of his presidency, I cannot pile on when he actually does the right thing.
My question is, will the media discuss this? Some minor cultural flunkees leftover from the Clinton administration resigns in protest over the "looting" of the Baghdad museum and NPR and CNN do 5-part interviews. But this? Bet it gets buried in the Kobi-fest.
Remember, if we just complain when he does the right thing, how will he learn to keep doing it? Positive reinforcement. Just think if we'd done this with Carter--he might not be such a loon, today.
#12
Bubba is a sociopath who cannot feel empathy or guilt. He only 'fesses up when he is personally hurt and backed into a corner. Generous or magnanimous acts or statements he issues make sense when looked at in this light. Bubba makes no moves without a strategy. There is nothing from the heart; it is all calculated. And that's the fact, Jack.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 13:37 Comments ||
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#13
Bubba is trying to separate himself from the dwarfs. As Dick Morris would probably say, the "Master of Triangulation" can see that the current Democratic Party path is a disaster in the making. Whether Hillary runs or not, there will not be much of a party left as the current anti-american mood turns off more and more voters.
Posted by: john ||
07/23/2003 14:34 Comments ||
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#14
As much as I both loathe and distrust Slick Willie, he seems to be on the level here. We should definately applaud him when he does this sort of thing.... but keep in mind that Don's "clearing the field for Hillery in '08" seems pretty likely.
#15
Dan - not to put too fine a point on it, yes. I know he hurt us across the board - from military downsizing to totally mishandling the NorKs to missing some golden opportunites to ace bin Laden in his early days / daze.
Some was stupidity, some was pure lazy Dem thinking (group hug and it'll all go away) and some was that he's somewhere between Tony Blair and Trotsky on the political scale.
I sure don't want him back in any capacity - and that goes double for the Ice Queen.
But I think what he said here happens to be right. Simple as that.
If you give credit where due, at all times, it's a lot easier to get people to give you a fair hearing when you have criticism. An example is Sen John McCain - he's considered a fair man and people listen to him cuz he uses this approach.
Within the Rantburg city limits it doesn't work as well as outside Rantburg, I must say. No sweat - it was just my opinion.
BTW, brave Anonymous, the ratio is 1 AwDumbShit = 100 AttaBoys, or so my grandfather reckoned.
#16
Clinton is right because he's in this too and so is Hillary as pointed out earlier. He bombed Iraq in '98 and insisted that there was a WMD threat. He got raked over the coals for faulty intelligence in the Sudan bombing - although the furor over that one was much more muted.
Posted by: Tokyo Taro ||
07/23/2003 22:28 Comments ||
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The Lebanese government has assured the United Nations that it has no mass destruction weapons or any factories that could produce chemical or biological weaponry, An Nahar daily reported Wednesday. "Nope, not zoned for it. Those are all in Syria."
Additionally, Lebanon conveyed that Osama bin Ladenâs Al Qaeda network has no assets or bases, training or otherwise, on Lebanese territory. The only attempt to set up an Al Qaeda cell was smashed earlier in the year with 21 suspected culprits still in Lebanese jails. No official bases, at any rate. They draw too much attention.
These assertions were delivered in response to 26 questions addressed by the Committee for the Combat of Terrorism, which was formed to oversee the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 taken after the 9/11 attacks. Iâm sure we all feel safer knowing they are on the job.
The Lebanese government has noted in its response that it maintains stringent measures at all land, air and sea border points to guard against any trade in mass destruction weapons. Any unauthorized trade, at any rate.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 9:24:19 AM ||
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"Lebanon conveyed that Osama bin Ladenâs Al Qaeda network has no assets or bases, training or otherwise, on Lebanese territory"
Welllll, I guess that still leaves the Ain-El-Hellhole as a possibility huh? Seems like they deeded over sovereignty to that a long time ago
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 10:53 Comments ||
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Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was buried in her birthplace Shiraz on Wednesday. Several state and local officials attended the funeral, according to IRNA news agency. Kazemiâs mother had earlier agreed to bury her daughter in Iran. "I want her buried here. Now point that somewhere else."
According to IRNA, Kazemi was arrested while taking photos of the Evin prison compound on June 23. According to the report, she was taken to hospital three days later after complaining of "poor health during her interrogation". Sure she did, between the screams.
The 54-year-old photojournalist, who was working for Canadaâs Camera Press journal, was pronounced dead as a result of a brain hemorrhage in a Tehran hospital on July 11, the news agency concluded. And now the evidence is buried.
President Mohammad Khatami assigned four cabinet members to inquire into her death last week. President Khatami urged the four cabinet ministers to see whether there is a matter of culpability in the case. Drawing straws to see who gets to pick the scapegoat.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 9:16:26 AM ||
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This is so fucking obvious it hurts. Unfortunately the press, which hasn't pursued it with much vigor, will completely forget it within a week. And Canada has already forgotten, for it was not convenient in the first place. May she rest in peace knowing the Black Hats will die much more violently - no lingering, no treatment, and Allah won't be dropping by to escort them to any Paradise.
#2
What are the craven little shits in Ottawa gonna do about it? Not a goddamn thing
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2003 9:55 Comments ||
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Canada has recalled its ambassador to Iran to voice its intense displeasure at the country's burying of journalist Zahra Kazemi, beaten to death in Iranian police custody.
"[This] is a strong indication, in diplomatic terms, of the complete dissatisfaction of one government towards another government," Mr. Graham said. "â¦we will examine with him and with our authorities as to what steps we wish to take to keep the pressure on the government of Iran."
Yeah, that'll show them they can't mess with Canada! Watch your step or we'll send a strongly worded note of protest next!
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2003 11:28 Comments ||
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#5
Although I didn't read any of it, I'm sure the Canadien press wrote some very stinging op-eds over this. Mark my words, heads will roll and it won't be pretty!
The United States had ruled out the death penalty for two British terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Britainâs attorney general said Tuesday. Lord Goldsmith said he received the assurances during two days of talks with U.S. officials in Washington. He said he had also made significant progress on improving the rules by which British nationals Feroz Abbasi or Moazzam Begg would be tried by a military tribunal. The men will be able to choose a U.S. civilian lawyer instead of being assigned a military lawyer, he said, and their trials, ``subject to any necessary security restrictions,ââ would be open, with news media present. That paragon of journalistic virtue, the BBC, will be there of course.
Begg has been there for nearly five months and was previously detained in Afghanistan for a year, according to the London-based group Fair Trials Abroad. It said he was seized in Pakistan and may be a victim of mistaken identity. Abbasi, in U.S. custody since January 2002, has been described as a computer student. "Theyâre innocent, mere lads! Why the one even writes video games! Lies! All lies!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2003 12:51:33 AM ||
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Just kill them for the hell of it.
Also, the Pakis think that non-lethal force, as practiced by dutiful American cops, is funny. Any off-duty officer care to rebut?
#2
If they are guilty, apply the due penalty as per US military law.
Same with David Hicks.
You would be shocked to see the Al-SMH is already ASSUMING that David Hicks won't get a fair trial in the US. It's disgusting. And no reportage of the fact that he has already confessed.
BTW: nothing happened with that gorgeous hippie even though I drove him across country to stop him hitchhiking. (sigh) what is wrong with me, I am not ugly!!!!
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2003 8:59 Comments ||
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"their trials, `subject to any necessary security restrictions,â would be open, with news media present"
(insert massive loud obscene raspberry here). Major Stooopid Move.
Anon1 - "what is wrong with me"
Absolutely nothing, of course, but the laundry list of what's wrong with him is something else, entirely. Don't shoot all the dogs just cuz one of 'em has fleas. Hang out in Rantburg - as Sheriff Fred sez, "We love you..."
#5
Anon1--Ever think to ask what's wrong with him? What was he doing hitchhiking in the first place? Maybe he has a wife, girlfriend, or even a boyfriend. Maybe he thought you were the "relationship" type and he's more of the "wham-bam-thank you, ma'am" type.
Feel the love from Rantburg! XOXOXO ;-)
Posted by: Dar ||
07/23/2003 10:30 Comments ||
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#6
Anon1---Just remember, to some people, a long term relationship means staying for breakfast....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/23/2003 14:14 Comments ||
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#7
Thanks, Boys: I love all of you, too.
Please don't hesitate to email if you ever come to Australia, I'll buy you a beer for sure:
now I'm going to put an "at" instead of an "@" so I don't get spam:
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.
