Sorry for the brief down-time this morning. I installed the patch for the Blaster worm and didn't realize we were going to reboot. Next time I'll read the instructions.
First draft of the Classix page is now up. For the moment, I'll put articles on the list. I think what I'll do eventually is allow anyone to nominate an article as a classic, which'll give it a value of '1'. Then, anyone reading it can confirm the opinion, which'll raise it in rank. But I still haven't thought out the details yet...
I now have a copy of Red Hat Linux, so I can check for bugs there, too. Things look... different.
I think I finally found the comments bug and killed it. In passing, it gave birth to another bug that's not as noticeable, and now I have to kill that one, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/13/2003 14:03 ||
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Take me now, Lord.
Going for a distinctive look, the Air Force unveiled the proposed new utility uniform Aug. 6. COFFEE ALERT!!! All former USAF personnel put those drinks down and cover your keyboards now!
The predominantly blue-and-gray uniform uses a tiger-stripe pattern reminiscent of the tiger-stripe uniform worn by the South Vietnamese during the Vietnam War.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! What, was somebody on the Air Force uniform board drinking beer late one night watching a rerun of "The Green Berets" and thought to himself, "Hey, thatâs it! Tiger Stripes! Thatâll make them stand out!" God, am I glad Iâm retired.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 1:16:09 PM ||
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Steve, add my name to the growing list of those glad they're retired! I was put off enough by the %^$^$^%&%&^%*&%^* BDU uniform. Whyinhell does someone working in NORAD headquarters in Colorado Springs need to wear BDUs to work?
The chain (of command) needs polishing to remove the crap of hangers-on and other assorted witless wonders.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 13:27 Comments ||
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Ditto to OP's comments about being retired. Except I loved wearing my BDUs where ever I was on duty! I hope that they are cheaper than the new BDUs are cheaper (cost) than the old ones.
#3
Spot: Most Falschirmjaeger wore field gray jumpers that fit over their uniform also field gray. It's possible that some were wearing Italian cammo,it had a pattern that looked somewhat like tiger stripe...but that would have been rare. And tiger stripe stinks. It was lousy in Vietnam, and it's lousy now. It does little to disrupt natural body lines. I'll take Flektar or Austrian losenge, thank you.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/13/2003 14:07 Comments ||
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I did a brief stint in the USAF in the 80's and the BDU's were...plain. I don't think these look that bad just by looking at the photo.
Posted by: Bill ||
08/13/2003 15:26 Comments ||
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No pocketts? What next, a row of buttons on the sleeve (see Frederick the Great & Uniforms) so you can't wipe your nose?
I saw some of tiger stripes on some AF types when I was at Phan Rang. The first thing that came to mind was a caption from a Bill Mauldin Willie & Joe cartoon ... "they can't be real sojers, their looking for a fight".
Posted by: Jim K ||
08/13/2003 15:29 Comments ||
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The Corps new camo is distinctive and works well.
#7
Jeeze Louise! This pattern looks like someone in blues fell in a glacial stream and the rock flour dried in place....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/13/2003 17:37 Comments ||
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Well the Army got their beanies....errr....berets so I guess the Air Force gets their morale building clothing too. Won't they just feel special! Thanks Gen Shinseki you were such a human resources genius. That's my rant for the night, goodnight folks, I'll be here all week. Be sure to tip the waitresses on your way out.
#9
sigh... well, I was in the AF from '91 to '00, and I really did NOT enjoy BDU's... thought they were a waste of time for maintenance troops like myself... I was hoping the AF would eventually get with the program and adopt the coveralls that the Marine maintainers wear... They are suited to the job, being appropriate wear for all of us that actually got dirty everyday -- Msgt, SMsgt and CMsgt could wear something akin to Navy and/or Marine khakis, or just wear those regular old blues - they are supposed to be managers anyway... Of course camo would be appropriate when under deployment or excercise conditions, but for day to day ops, coveralls are surely the way to go...
Posted by: Steve W. ||
08/13/2003 23:57 Comments ||
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*...slams head repeatedly on the desk*
Well, first of all, that'll REALLY camouflage your butt in the desert or on a flightline.
Second, the caption for that pic needs to be, "Hi, I'm not a Navy SEAL, but I play one in the Air Force!"
Mike
USAF Ammo 78-98
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/14/2003 1:22 Comments ||
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Regarding yesterdayâs thread about alternate energy sources, there are always complex factors that obscure the problems. For example, I believe that it takes something like 20 years for a solar cell to pay off the energy debt encured in its manufacture.
IMHO we should let the market solve the problem. Thatâs what markets are for. Raise the price of energy, gasoline, electricity, etc. to their true value including geopolitical risks, polution, and ultimate depletion, and a thousand smart people and companies will go to work to find better answers. I wouldnât be surprized to find that the best solutions are not among the ones we are debating.
IMHO this is also a better way to promote energy effeciency than passing laws regulating car mileage.
Politically it might be hard on whoever tried to impliment this, however. Hard to explain to someone filling up on the way to work that heâs paying some part of the cost of keeping the middle east sweet.
Posted by: Lynwood ||
08/13/2003 11:12:48 AM ||
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Tried to yellow all of this, but didn't. *expletive deleteted* newbies.
The biggest investors in hydrogen (aside from the government) are Texaco, Shell, BP, Chevron, Mobil, etc. All of them sit on the board of the National Hydrogen Association. Oil companies already produce hydrogen from natural gas.
Ford, GM, Honda, and Toyota (I think BMW, too) all have functioning hyrogen vehicles on the road, today. Shell was supposed to install the first gas station-based retail hydrogen pump in DC this year.
This all makes sense. The oil companies have a fuel distribution network in place. Car makers make cars. It is hard to understand why people find this surprising.
Like it or not, hydrogen fuel is acquiring a life of its own. Somebody always comes back to point out that there isn't a distribution system in place, the cars are expensive, and there isn't enough hydrogen to replace petroleum yet. Of course not, it's just the beginning! Our first space flight was not to the moon. Television was pretty stupid, when there were no television sets to receive the broadcasts.
Even Bush said, in the speech that appropriated funding for hydrogen research, that you and I might not drive one of these cars, but our grandkids will.
People who think we are converting next week are no less unrealistic than those who think that because we haven't already, we never will. The professional industrial proponents of hydrogen fuel (including steely-eyed oil and auto execs) are not claiming that hydrogen will replace all other forms of power, or that a national transition is imminent... but they are investing R&D dollars into hydrogen every day.
Posted by: Mark IV ||
08/13/2003 12:35 Comments ||
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It is nice to say 'let the market' solve the problem. However, it is misleading to ignore the many non market forces in the energy business. There are pollution laws & regulations, safety laws and regulations, tax laws and regulation. There is govt. funded R&D.
#4
And unfortunately, it's as unrealistic to imagine eliminating or simplifying some of these regulations as it is to imagine a realistic price for energy.
There is some evidence that the less the government tries to manage the market the better it works. Hard to convince a politician though.
#5
Here's a story that turns the entire "environmental" community upside down - the very people who for years have been demanding "alternate energy programs" are now AGAINST one of those programs, because "it'll spoil our view".
Thus we see the two sides of the debate: The rich and famous want us to change our ways, but they don't want to be inconvenienced by anything that helps meet that goal. In most countries, that's called rampant hypocracy.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 14:18 Comments ||
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Right on, OP! The environmental community thinks that people are the enemy. We humans will all leave our footprint on the earth before we are recycled, so to speak. They don't mind locking up millions of acres, but they do want the natural experience. To get to remote parks in Alaska, they hire float planes burning dead dinosaurs in their tanks to get there, then they color pollute the whole scene with a rainbow full of nylon or other petroleum or gas derived parkas, tents, tarps, and sleeping bags. What hypocracy....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/13/2003 17:47 Comments ||
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Just who should be in charge of raising the price? The government? (shudder)
Boy, it sure sounds simple : "Hey, just raise the price!"
How much more of a burden do you want to put on the poor or lower-income people who can just barely pay their gas bills now?
Posted by: Uncle Joe ||
08/13/2003 23:26 Comments ||
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Diarrhea outbreak kills 67
From correspondents in Lucknow, India , 13aug03
AN outbreak of diarrhea in Indiaâs most populous state has killed at least 67 people, mostly children, in the past 10 days, a government health official said today. Deaths from waterborne diseases during the rainy season are common in Uttar Pradesh, an impoverished state with poor water, power and health facilities. why do these stories always seem to come from India or China?
Posted by: Anon1 ||
08/13/2003 6:53:58 AM ||
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If you've been there, which in India's case I have, one look out your hotel window would answer that question. It's a mess, even in New Delhi. Those pictures I linked were the nice ones, btw. :(
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/13/2003 8:26 Comments ||
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Sixty-one people were killed and dozens wounded in outbreaks of violence across Afghanistan in the troubled countryâs bloodiest 24 hours in more than a year, officials said Wednesday. At least 25 people, most of them factional fighters, were killed after fighting erupted early Wednesday between forces of a sacked provincial official and his successor in a remote district of Uruzgan province, a cabinet minister said. The cabinet minister said the fighting involved supporters of Amanullah, the former ruler of the remote district of Kajran and his successor, Abdul Rahman Khan. He quoted Khan as saying it started after Amanullahâs fighters opened fire on a bus carrying his supporters. "Khan told me eight of his people died in the bus incident, in which 20 were wounded, and he lost seven others. Amanullah told me 10 of his men, including close family, were killed." The minister said the fighting was continuing and the central government was trying to broker a cease-fire. Try again after one side or the other is dead. Ghulam Mahaiuddin, head of administration in Helmand, said the bus blast there happened early in the morning in Nadi Ali district, west of the provincial capital Lashkargah. "Eight of those killed on the bus were male, six of them were children and there was a woman too," he told Reuters. Mahaiuddin said it appeared the bomb had gone off accidentally inside the bus and may have been intended for an attack on independence celebrations in Lashkargah next week. He blamed guerrillas from the Taliban regime ousted in late 2001 and said it was possible the bomber died in the blast. Accident or suicide bomber? Havenât been many of those in Afghanistan, at least not on busses.
In the southeastern province of Khost, border forces said they had killed 16 Taliban and al Qaeda guerrillas repulsing a major attack in which five border policemen were also killed. Border police officer Major Ghafar said the insurgents used heavy guns, rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to attack a base used by a border battalion in the Shinkai area east of Khost and adjacent to the border with Pakistan on Tuesday. He said the fighting continued overnight. "The Taliban attack has been foiled. But we are continuing our mopping up," he said, adding that two Arabs from the al Qaeda network had been captured. Ooo, can we have them, please?
Ghafar described it as the biggest attack in the area since the Taliban fell. "In the past, they have staged small-scale attacks, but this one was the most serious of all," he said. Shellfire could be heard in the background as Ghafar spoke by satellite telephone. "The sound you can hear is outgoing fire," he said, adding that government forces had counterattacked after a three-phase guerrilla assault that lasted until 6:30 a.m. Ghafar said authorities had not asked the U.S.-led coalition forces for air support as Afghan forces had been sufficiently strong to chase the insurgents from the area. Nice that they donât feel the need to ask for help.
He said he did not know how many guerrillas had taken part, but the attack had been led by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a top military commander and a former minister in the Taliban regime.
If Haqqani's running things, then this is an important bunch...
Police in Kabul said two student Taliban supporters were killed and one wounded after a car bomb they were making blew up in a western suburb of the capital Tuesday. Car bomb, huh? Guess there wonât be much left of the old homestead.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 10:46:12 AM ||
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An explosion has torn through a minibus in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, killing at least 15 people, reports say. Six children and one woman were amongst those killed, say local officials. The blast happened 30 kilometres from the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, in Nadi Ali district. Officials say the explosion was probably caused when a bomb being carried by one of the passengers blew up prematurely. Maybe, or the bus might have been the target.
They are blaming former Taliban members for the incident. The administrative chief of Helmand Province, Ghulam Mahaiuddin, told reporters the bomb may have been intended to disrupt Afghan independence celebrations, which are due to take place in Lashkar Gah next week. "Six of the dead were children, eight were men and one was a woman," said Mr Mahaiuddin. "They are killing innocent people." Thatâs what terrorists do.
Meanwhile, Afghan troops say they have killed at least eight suspected militants in a shoot-out in Khost Province near the border with Pakistan. Where else?
And in the capital, Kabul, two students were killed and another injured in an explosion in a house in western Kabul. Police say the students were Taliban or al-Qaeda sympathisers who were planning to attack targets in the capital. Work accident, evolution at work.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 9:29:36 AM ||
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students huh? Call it a learning experience. Our condolences to the landlord about his loss
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2003 9:35 Comments ||
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They died with their turbans on...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2003 9:51 Comments ||
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#4
Two university students were killed and one wounded in Afghanistan's capital on Wednesday when a bomb they were making - apparently in preparation for a terrorist attack - exploded by accident, police said. The incident occurred at one of the students' home in western Kabul, said deputy police chief Khalil Aminzada. The wounded student was reportedly in a coma at one of the city's hospitals, Aminzada said. No arrests were made.
An arrest would be a bit redundent, unless he wakes up.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 10:29 Comments ||
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That's in the 'Wherez my roof' section of Kabul...
Four Saudi Police Officers and Suspected Militant Die in Raid Adds a bit of detail to yesterday's article. Reuters replay of the excerpt in Steve's comment...
Saudi security sources said four police officers and a Muslim militant had been killed in the second major clash here in three days after Saudi security forces raided a militant stronghold. An Interior Ministry statement, apparently referring to the initial stages of the fighting in a fundamentalist area in southern Riyadh, said three policemen had been killed and a suspect wounded. It said the fighting had started when the police tried to check a truck parked in a street in the area. Two other policemen were wounded and an unidentified number of suspects were arrested, the statement said. "Some suspects are still holed up in one house," a security official said today, as the shooting eased off, more than five hours after the assault started. Sounds like they would like to take some alive - "squeeze" them for more info?
The ministry statement made no mention of the continuing siege. In addition to those killed, more than 15 were wounded, the official said. It was the fourth clash reported between the police and militants in Saudi Arabia in less than a month. Saudi security officials said Monday that the police had arrested about 10 suspected Islamic militants after engaging in a shootout in Riyadh on Sunday. A resident reached by phone today in the neighborhood where the shootout occurred said that at least five houses had been involved in the raid, in which security forces were backed by helicopters. "The operation is very big," the resident said. "The whole area is surrounded by security police. It is a big area." Residents said they saw police officers arrest suspected militants. "I saw one man break free from police and run away after kicking off his shoes," a resident said. "Police were chasing him." You donât have to kick off sandals, they fall off when you try to run. You do have to pick up your skirt though!
Ambulances sped from several houses in the district. The police set up barricades, closing the area to passers-by and reporters.
Posted by: PayDay ||
08/13/2003 1:31:16 AM ||
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From Arabic News: A Saudi official said that the Saudi security forces arrested following these clashes, seven extremist Islamists of Saudi nationality. One of them was strongly wounded and is suspected to have links to al-Qaida organization. The statement added that the gunmen who are suspected to be Islamists activists opened fire at the special security forces using mortars and machine guns.
Mortars??? That's an upgrade, when do they start the artillary duels and tank battles, I need to make popcorn.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 11:01 Comments ||
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More from Reuters: Saudi Arabia's interior minister said on Wednesday five of the Muslim militants who battled police in Riyadh on Tuesday have been arrested but seven others were still on the run. Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz was speaking to Al Arabiya television, one of the few foreign news networks with offices in the secretive kingdom, a day after a police raid on a militant stronghold in which four policemen and an Islamist were killed. Nayef said the militants were not linked to the May 12 bombings in Riyadh, which Washington and the kingdom blame on the al Qaeda network, but were among another group of militants who shot at police this week at a Riyadh highway rest stop. Saudi security sources said on Monday police had arrested about 10 suspected militants after the rest stop shootout on Sunday. The British Foreign Office said it believed these Islamists had actually escaped and may have been targeting British interests.
A senior Saudi official in Washington, however, said those arrested made up "another major cell that were targeting a British target."
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 15:21 Comments ||
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One of the main rebel leaders in the Solomon Islands, Harold Keke, has surrendered to the Australian-led force that is trying to restore peace in the archipelago. Mr Keke was taken into custody along with three other senior militants, in what was seen as a significant breakthrough for the peacekeeping force. The rebel leader surrendered near his base in the Weathercoast area of Guadalcanal island after talks with the head of the international mission, Nick Warner. Heâs a brave rebel leader, until a real army showed up.
NICK: "Hang it up, Harold, or we'll perforate you."
HAROLD: "Yar! You'll never... What's 'perforate' mean?"
NICK: "Fill you full of holes."
HAROLD: "Hokay. I quit."
Mr Keke and his supporters are blamed for a string of killings, including a government minister and a group of Anglican priests, and are alleged to be responsible for a four-year reign of terror in his remote stronghold. The four arrested men have been taken to the capital, Honiara, on board the Australian warship HMAS Manoora, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. Mr Keke was arrested on an outstanding warrant for robbery. But there will now be a full investigation into other suspected crimes by the warlord and his followers, including murder, Mr Downer told the Australian parliament. Wonder if the Solomans have the death penalty?
Some 40 firearms were handed in to the intervention force by villagers in the area after Mr Kekeâs arrest. Mr Keke is suspected of murdering six Anglican priests he took hostage in April, after he admitted to Mr Warner last week that they were dead. "They got sick, really really sick."
"And then their heads fell off..."
The six hostages were members of an indigenous Anglican order called the Melanesian Brotherhood. They had been held by Mr Keke for several months in his hideout in Weathercoast. At one stage they were shown on Australian television smiling and sharing a meal with the rebel leader. Mr Keke is said to have personally killed the government minister. "It was lead poisoning, must have been something he ate."
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 9:22:18 AM ||
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A suspected member of the Hamburg terrorist cell responsible for the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington intends to refuse to testify at his trial which opens this week in Germany, his attorney said. Moroccan-born Abdelghani Mzoudi, 30, goes on trial in Hamburg this coming Thursday, charged with 3,066 counts of being an accessory to murder and aiding a terrorist organization for his alleged role in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the crash of a hijacked jetliner in Pennsylvania. The indictment, a 90-page document, was prepared by Chief Federal Prosecutor Kay Nehm following Mzoudiâs arrest last October 10. In a ground-breaking judgement February 19, a Hamburg court convicted Mounir al-Motassadeq, 28, of being an accomplice to 3,066 murders on September 11, 2001 and also of being a member of a terrorist organization comprising the six original Hamburg plotters. Unlike Motassadeq, however, Mzoudi will refuse to testify at his trial, said chief defence lawyer Gul Pinar. Pinar added that she will ask the court to allow her to read a prepared statement by Mzoudi explaining his reasons for withholding testimony. Perhaps followed by some quotes from "Stupid White Men".
Mzoudi was a friend of Mohammed Atta, one of the terrorist pilots, and had witnessed his will. Investigators believe he provided money at a later stage to members of the group. Atta and two other cell members, Marwan Alshehhi and Ziad Jarrah, were killed in the hijack attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. Mzoudi was also allegedly close to Ramzi Binalshibh, who was arrested in Pakistan last year and is now imprisoned in the United States. He was also a friend of Said Bahaji, who is still at large. While Motassadeq was the "logistics man" who funnelled money to the Hamburg terrorists during pilot training in the United States, prosecutors say Mzoudi was crucial in covering up activities of everyone involved, including Motassadeq. Mzoudi allegedly was involved in the 9/11 planning to the extent that he knew which sites had been targeted. In the final phase of preparations for the attacks, he took over the cellâs flat on Marien Street in Hamburg to quell suspicion that might arise from its being empty. In fact, the core of the cell, Atta, Alshehhi, Jarrah and Binalshibh, were not in Hamburg at all during much of 2000. Instead, they were undergoing training at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. Mzoudi continued to cover tracks for the cell members after their return from Afghanistan, prosecutors alleged. In addition, he underwent training at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan from April to June 2000 along with Motassadeq and another man, Zakariya Essabar, whose whereabouts are unknown. "It was at that camp that the suspects worked out final details of the attacks with Osama bin Laden," Nehm said. Mzoudi is also accused of having carried out a number of financial transactions for Essabar. Definitely a trial to watch...guess it wonât be on CourtTV though...
Posted by: seafarious ||
08/13/2003 12:11:19 AM ||
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BRUSSELS â Police in Limburg have arrested seven Slovak and Chechen citizens as part of a clampdown on a vehicle forged documents racket. The men are alleged to trade in false licence plates and car documents. Police said the documents and plates were sold to Slovak and Chechen residents for EUR 10,000. They claim hundreds are in circulation. A total of seven people, thought by police to be ringleaders of the gang, were arrested after house raids in Limburg, Flemish Brabant and Liege.
Posted by: seafarious ||
08/13/2003 12:04:50 AM ||
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The Dutch government has been ordered to pay Mullah Krekar EUR 4,970 in damages after being found guilty of unjustifiably detaining the Iraqi-Kurd in a maximum-security prison for several months last year. Haarlem Court also ordered the government on Tuesday to pay him EUR 540 in legal costs. Krekarâs lawyer had demanded EUR 100,000 in compensation, Dutch associated press ANP reported. Lawyer Victor Koppe demanded the large compensation figure on claims the Netherlands had treated his client "scandalously". Vught prison â where Krekar was detained after his arrest on 12 September last year â is the most secure jail in the Netherlands.
I'da said that was justified, since he heads an international terrorist organization...
Krekar was arrested at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on heroin charges while en route from Iran to Norway, where he has lived since 1991 as a refugee. His wife, children and brother also moved to Norway under a family reunification programme for refugees. He is suspected of being the leader of Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam), an Iraqi-based, anti-US and militant Islamic group and US officials questioned him over alleged terrorist links while in detention in the Netherlands. Ansar al-Islam is alleged to have links with Osama Bin Ladenâs al-Qaeda network or ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and is suspected of involvement in the testing of chemical weapons.
Both of which "allegations" are fairly easily verified.
US bombing of several of the movementâs strongholds during the Iraq war killed dozens of the movementâs members and US-backed Kurdish forces routed Ansar from its bases. But Krekar denied all charges and his lawyer accused Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner of working to appease the US in silencing Krekar in the lead-up to the war against Iraq. After his arrest, Jordan submitted an extradition request with the Dutch authorities, accusing Krekar of involvement in the international heroin trade. But the Netherlands said Jordan failed to make a strong enough case and refused the request. Krekarâs lawyers said Jordan used the drug allegation as a fabrication for an extradition request made as a favour to the US. Faced with the prospect of having to release him, the Dutch deported Krekar to Oslo, Norway, where he arrived on 13 January. Norwegian authorities did not arrest him. And it was reported last month that Koppe will also submit a compensation claim against Minister Donner for Krekarâs deportation. "I actually think that it is indisputable that the Minister of Justice acted in violation of the law, the Constitution and all sorts of international treaties," the lawyer said.
I think they should have shot him on the spot, myself. But instead, lots more people will get killed before the guy dies of old age. And somebody else takes over. This is an example of liberalism in top form...
Koppe also said he would submit the second compensation claim once Haarlem had down the initial ruling, but is not yet known when the new damages hearing will be held.
Posted by: seafarious ||
08/13/2003 12:02:07 AM ||
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A group of about 600 U.S. military families, upset about the living conditions of soldiers in Iraq, are launching a campaign asking their relatives to urge members of Congress and President George W. Bush to bring the troops home. (I am sure he is getting right on that)
ââWeâre growing more and more disturbed about the conditions that are developing. Our concerns are both for our troops and the people in Iraq,ââ said Nancy Lessin, a founder of Families Speak Out, formed last fall to oppose the war in Iraq. ("growing more disturbed" Was there any room?)
Susan Schuman, whose son Justin is in the Massachusetts National Guard deployed to Samarra, Iraq, said he shares a small room in a former Iraqi police barracks with five other men. ââThey are rationed to 2 liters of water a day and itâs 125 degrees (52 degrees C), they havenât had anything but MREs (Meals Ready to Eat),ââ she told Reuters, adding that uncertainty about when the troops would come home was ââmost disheartening.ââ (Check again Susan, I bet the situation has improved)
Organizers hope to take advantage of Congressâ summer recess to voice their concerns to lawmakers in their home states. ââThe idea is not to confront but say look, âwhat is going on?âââ said Dennis OâNeil, a member of Veterans for Peace, another group involved in the campaign. ââThis war was supposed to be quick.ââ (BINGO! We have a WHINER!)
Lessin, whose stepson is a Marine who was in the Gulf until late May, told Reuters the group plans a campaign of protests and demonstrations starting on Wednesday and aims to raise public awareness of the number of soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq. (Hmmm War without casualties, Iâm for it)
Another U.S. soldier was killed and two were injured on Tuesday in a bomb attack west of Baghdad. The latest casualties brought to 57 the number of troops killed in guerrilla attacks since the beginning of May. (But the attacks have slowed as of late)
A spokesman for U.S. Central Command said that as of Monday, 167 U.S. soldiers had died and 1,006 soldiers were injured as a result of hostile action in Iraq. He told Reuters that 91 other soldiers had died from non-hostile actions and 277 others were wounded.
(Before you all castrate me about my comments remember this phrase: ââThis war was supposed to be quick.ââ This (clearly lefty) group was OPPOSED to the war and now they think they have a valid gripe. I feel for the families but if they think they are helping their kids plight they are very wrong. This is the same type of group that the North Vietnamese loved to foster. There is a similar post on DU today âBush Eats Barbecue... Soldiers Starveâ. I know that many in Iraq have it rough, but I do find it hard to believe that they are starving. Look for this group to meet with Dean later this week. Final note: Service is VOLUNTARY including the Guard.)
#1
Last time I looked this is what army's are supposed to do, its not all college tuition and job training. I want our troops home as soon as possible, but not before the job is done, besides this is one use of tax dollars that I can stomach, instead of more welfare style entitlements, prescription drug entitlements etc etc
#2
Wills? On the money! BTW they were being issued an ADDITIONAL 2-1+ Liter bottles due to the heat, on top of the water available from the buffalos. These whiners will do anything to get in the news, huh? Wanna bet their loved ones serving either don't know about or are generally embarrassed by the caterwauling?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2003 18:59 Comments ||
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Ok, I've got a dog in this fight. Yeah, war is hell. Always has been. Sometimes you're fighting where you're freezing certain parts of your anatomy off, sometimes it as hot as the inside of a blast furnace - it's called "Global Reach". Sometimes you don't get three squares and a cot. MRE's are miles above C-rats, and there are worse things our troops have eaten (yours truly included - ever had rat? Tastes good, if you're hungry enough). At least in Iraq, there isn't 120+ degree temps and 110% humidity, with every pore pouring forth water that does nothing to cool your overheated body.
There are a MINIMUM of sixteen names on that black marble monument in Washington that I relate to personally. There are another hundred I can relate to personally that have died in "accidents" and "training incidents" - pilots, aircrew, mechanics, truck drivers, and other spooks like myself.
War isn't a game. It's a serious business, run by serious men. People who get into it without understanding that need to leave, immediately. People who want to run the government by the level of whine from the "populace" need to go back and read the Declaration of Independence, all the way to the bottom, where it says "To these goals we dedicate our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." Unfortunately, the whiners usually don't have a clue what "honor" really means.
Any Marine can explain it to them, just ask.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 19:25 Comments ||
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Old Patriot (OP):
Can't improve on your words or sentiments.
By the way, if folks would take the time to stop and ask the active duty infantry soldiers in Iraq (e.g., 3-15 INF 3ID troops), they'd find that while the guys want to come home they also want to do what they've been trained to do. However, the press has "managed" to find some complainers, like that SSG (E-6) and crew we've all heard beating their collective gums whining and crying.
OP, we both know that the combat arms are made up of folks who are both trained and like to "blow up things and kill people." Always been that way, always will be that way. So, with that in mind, let's both welcome folks who don't understand that to leave the field (to those of us who've "been there, done that.").
PS - I don't have 16 names on the Wall, but there's 6 there that I almost went with. Don't envy you those other 10.
And, by the way, for others (not you) who may not know:
It's Viet Nam (2 words), not 1. It has a meaning (People of the South). Vietnamese are the poeple, Viet Nam is the country.
In my father's 30 year Army career, he did 2 one year unaccompanied tours, one in Korea and one in Vietnam. My uncle was killed in Vietnam. My first memory of my father is him COMING HOME. Got that?Coming home bringing my uncle home in a box. As my father told me just last year, my grandmother asked to see the body. She looked at his inert face and said, "He died in pain". Nothing else was said of this sacrifice by her ever again.
We moved constantly to every crappy place the Army could send us.
I made 5 strategic deterrent patrols on an old Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine. That works out to about one year under water incommunicado. As a civilain, I currently spend almost every working day of the week on the road. My wife and I have spent half our 15 year marriage apart. She NEVER complained/complains.
The most important thing MY FAMILY and I ever did or will do was our bit in bringing Communism to its knees. To have undermined that struggle by bitching in the press was unthinkable. The upside of ending totalitarian regimes in Eastern Europe far outweighed any lost sleep on my part or my wife's or mother's part or my grandmother's part.
Our pain, my pain, your soldier's pain is inconsequential in this struggle. The pain will fade, only the results will endure one way or the other.
If I see one more soldier's wife simpering on TV about a lousy year separation in a war zone, I am going to barf. I have ZERO sympathy.
In my family, to have complained was unthinkable. We were expected to suck it up, keep a stiff upper lip and take pride in our sacrifices. We did and do.
The press will use your complaints to undermine your soldier and make his job harder not easier or shorter.
Quit whining. Support your soldier in uniform. Shame on the complainers. DO YOUR DUTY family members. Take strength from others in the same situation.
Soldiers, Sailors, Marines: get the job done. Sleep when your dead. Don't come back until Iraq is on track, you're relieved or you're being carried by 6 men.
All war is a moral struggle as much with yourself as with the enemy. Suck it up!! Any questions?
say what? We just invaded and beat a fairly large country on the other side of the world! If the "open combat" phase of the war went on for another 6 months, it would STILL be considered a "quick" war, by almost any standard.
BTW, who the hell said it was "supposed to be quick"? The Prez never said that. The SecDef never said that. The Lefties said we would be "bogged down" in a "quagmire". Who said it would be quick? Nobody.
Posted by: Uncle Joe ||
08/13/2003 23:43 Comments ||
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Thousands of Shiâite Muslims poured into the streets of a Baghdad neighborhood Wednesday to denounce U.S. troops who they said had defiled a religious school by flying low in a helicopter, which struck its flag. "No, no to America!" shouted protesters who flooded the streets of a sprawling suburb populated mainly by poor Shiâites, who form a long-oppressed majority of Iraqâs population. Arab television aired film showing a U.S. helicopter flying low over a tower where a black flag was flying. Its wheel appeared to touch the religious banner. Funny how Arab television just happened to be there, and just happened to be filming the flag when the chopper just happened to fly over, isnât it.
A military spokesman said he knew of no incidents in the area. "I dun know, theyâre always bitchin about something."
A Shiâite cleric in the neighborhood said U.S. troops had defiled a sacred place, and demanded they stay away. "We request that no American soldier enter this city. The presence of American soldiers shakes security and causes terrorism. This is an aggression on the sacred Muslim places," Sheikh Qays told Reuters. "In fact, the whole country is sacred. Git out."
The area was known as Saddam City under Saddam Hussein, who maintained a tradition of oppressing the Shiâite majority, but locals now call it Sadr City after a prominent late cleric.
Most leaders of Iraqâs Shiâites, who account for about 60 percent of Iraqâs 26 million people, have largely avoided confrontation with their countryâs occupiers, and some work with a U.S.-appointed council aimed at forming an Iraqi government. But you can always find enough to form a spittle spewing mob when thereâs a camera crew around.
Washington has made clear, however, that it disapproves of suggestions by some Shiâite clerics that Iraq should follow the theocratic style of government adopted by Shiâite Iran. Need to make it clearer, got some slow learners.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 3:58:54 PM ||
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Flying a black flag?
"Yar we be Shia Pirates!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2003 19:02 Comments ||
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#2
We should just divide the country into thirds. The unified Iraq helps the ungrateful Shia because they will be the majority and can dominate the nation, and it helps the problem-child Sunni's who still back Saddam and otherwise have no oil of their own. It benefits the treacherous Turks who did not help as agreed and who have sent troops in to cause trouble. It helps Iran and Syria both of whom are covertly helping the bad guys and have Kurdish minorities. And it scares Saudi Arabia who has a shia minority living atop their oil fields.
And it benefits the Kurds who have been our ally for a decade and whom the US betrayed in the past.
PARIS (Reuters) - Prominent Iraqis who despised Saddam
Hussein will take up arms against U.S. forces if life under
occupation does not quickly improve, a senior U.N. official
said in outspoken criticism of Washingtonâs postwar policy in
Iraq.
Ghassan Salameh, adviser to the special U.N. representative
to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello, told the French weekly Le
Nouvel Observateur in an interview published Wednesday that the
United States had bungled its victory since toppling Saddam.
"Many influential Iraqis who initially felt liberated from
a despised regime have assured me that they will take up arms
if the coalition troops do not arrive at a result. Time is
short," the magazine quoted Salameh as saying.
He did not spell out which prominent Iraqis had warned of
an uprising against the U.S. and British-led coalition. The
U.N. mission, he said, made a point of meeting senior figures
and took credit for pushing the U.S. administrator to give
executive powers to the appointees on Iraqâs new Governing
Council.
He said protests over energy shortages in the southern city
of Basra showed that Washingtonâs British allies, who have
generally been seen as more active in bringing Iraqis into
administering their region, also faced difficulties.
Southern Iraq, dominated by the long oppressed Shiâite
Muslim majority, had hitherto been fairly calm. But prominent
Shiâite clerics have made clear they are impatient to be left
alone, at long last, to run their own affairs.
Salameh warned that ordinary people, frustrated by the lack
of basic services four months after the fall of Saddam, could
rally behind ideological opponents of the occupying forces.
"In reality, the population is very surprised. They donât
understand how such a level of efficiency during the war could
be followed by such a lack of efficiency in âpeace,"â he said.
Salameh accused the U.S. government of promoting an
ideological agenda and of making "errors of judgment."
This included a purge of members of the dissolved Baath
party, which affected thousands of qualified professionals with
little or no ideological attachment to Saddam. These were now
being replaced by "proteges of local factions," he said.
I'm hoping that the above is based on the vociferations of a noisy minority, and most Iraqis are trying to lift themselves up by the bootstraps...instead of considering picking up a rifle and shooting at an American (or Brit).
#3
Let's see, an Arab UN bureaucrat talks to his class allies (Baathists) in Bagdad and they tell him that they're pissed because the Americans purged them and won't allow them back into power. What this tells me is that we're succeeding!
Based on things I've read in Strategy Page and elsewhere about the power situation, the only reason that the Sunni areas in Bagdad had 24/7 power was because Saddam decreed that the rest of the national power grid would suffer rotating outages in order to supply Bagdad's needs. From this we can infer that anyone carping about power outages is almost certainly from Bagdad (or some other favored Sunni town such as Tikrit) and probably a Baathists (the poor Shia neighborhoods got blackouts, too). So we can assert with a high degree of confidence that Ghassan Salameh (1) never left Bagdad for his fact finding and (2) has only been talking to Baathists.
#4
Well, by golly, we'll just have to get a move on, won't we?
One thing that's disappointed me about the Iraqis is that they've had several chances to beat the heck out of Robert Fisk and haven't done so. Don't they respect the tradition set by their Afghan brothers?
Posted by: Matt ||
08/13/2003 15:43 Comments ||
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#5
Wonder how long any of the lights would stay if the US Army left? The US is the only thing between civilization and anarchy. Iraq without the US would make Liberia look like the kingdom of peace.
Posted by: john ||
08/13/2003 20:56 Comments ||
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#6
Ghassan Salameh used to be Lebanon's Minister of Culture. Now, as we all know, Lebanon is under Syrian occupation. All members of the Lebanese government are hand-picked by Syria. Is it surprising that one of Bashir al Assad's (the Syrian leader) minions would be down on the American administration of Iraq?
#4
"I wonder if their truck has a gun rack?"
It's Iraq, they most likely got a mount for twin 12.7mm AA guns in the back. Just the thing for duck hunting.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 13:06 Comments ||
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#5
"This one is for me," **takes drink...** "and this one is for my dead homies."
**pours beer on curb**
The American army announced yesterday that it was decided to start pumping oil in the main pipeline for exporting oil from northern Iraq to Turkey today and that the operation will take days before the possibility of resuming exports. The commander of the engineers unit in the fourth contingent troops who is responsible for the infrastructure of oil sector in northern Iraq, Body Nicklson, said it is expected to start oil exports at a rate of 200,000 and 300,000 barrels a day from the northern fields and that the number will increase to 500,000 barrels a day by the end of the year. Hereâs a job for those Turkish troops, guard the pipeline to Turkey.
On the other hand, eye witnesses and officials said that a pipeline transporting oil from Karkouk oil fields to al-Doura refinery in Baghdad was damaged yesterday because of a fire that lasted for three hours and happened because of looting operations. Just two weeks before, the oil pipeline which extents from Karkouk fields to the refinery was exposed to fire near Beji. Pipelines are easy targets, but they are also easy to repair.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 11:14:42 AM ||
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More details: Iraq began pumping fresh crude oil Wednesday through a pipeline to Turkey's Mediterranean coast for the first time since the war, a Turkish oil official said. Iraq began pumping oil at around 4:30 p.m., said the official at Turkey's Ceyhan terminal, speaking on condition of anonymity.
``They started pumping and everything looks normal,'' the official said. ``We don't know for how long they will keep pumping, it is up to Iraqis.'' Iraq resumed oil sales in June, when tankers began shipping out crude that had been in storage at Ceyhan since the war halted exports. But deliveries of fresh supplies from Iraq's northern oil fields were held up, in part because of sabotage. Oil was expected to flow for about 10 days to Ceyhan before any ships would be sent for loading. ``First, we have to wait for the storage tanks to be filled before exports can begin,'' the official said. Ceyhan already has about 500,000 barrels of Iraqi crude in stock and has a total storage capacity of around 8 million barrels.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 11:33 Comments ||
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Recent intelligence suggests the militants are well organized. One returning group of fighters from the militant Ansar al-Islam organization captured in the Kurdish region two weeks ago consisted of five Iraqis, a Palestinian and a Tunisian. Among their possessions were five forged Italian passports for a different group of militants they were apparently supposed to join, said Dana Ahmed Majid, the director of general security for the region.
Damn. I was hoping they were out of business...
Long gone are the bearded men in the short robes believed worn by the Prophet Muhammad that the Arabs who went to Afghanistan favored. Instead, the same practices that allowed the Sept. 11 attackers to blend into American society are evident. The fighters steal over Iraqâs largely unpoliced borders in small groups with instructions to go to a safe house where they can whisper a password to gain admittance and then lie low awaiting further instructions, say Iraqi security officials in northern Iraq and in Baghdad.
[Knock knock!]
"Mahmoud sent me!"
"Wot's da passwoid?"
"Slaughter."
"Hokay. Youse can come in."
"They come across as civilians, they shave their beards and have clean-cut hair," said a senior security official in the Kurdish region. More from Mullah Krekar: Mullah Mustapha Krekar, the founding spiritual leader of Ansar al-Islam, said in an interview on Sunday with LBC, the Lebanese satellite channel, that the fight in Iraq would be the culmination of all Muslim efforts since the Islamic caliphate collapsed in the early 20th century with the demise of the Ottoman Empire. "There is no difference between this occupation and the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979," he said from Norway, where he's safe he has political asylum. "The resistance is not only a reaction to the American invasion, it is part of the continuous Islamic struggle since the collapse of the caliphate," he said. "All Islamic struggles since then are part of one organized effort to bring back the caliphate."
"That's cuz we miss the Sick Man of Europe..."
Posted by: 11A5S ||
08/13/2003 12:42:08 AM ||
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Wow...two Mullah Krekar posts in one day! Personally, I think he's missing an awfully good chance to keep quiet, piously pontificating from the safety and comfort of fjord-land while his jihadis prepare his caliphdom.
This article was very interesting and IMHO backs up the "flypaper" theory, as seen in this quote:
"All previous experiences with the activities of the underground organizations proved that they flourish in countries with a chaotic security situation, unchecked borders and the lack of a central government â Iraq is all that," said Muhammad Salah, an expert on militant groups and the Cairo bureau chief of the newspaper Al Hayat. "It is the perfect environment for fundamentalist groups to operate and grow."
Perhaps the Marines can help them tend their garden just a bit. I'm sure Rantburghers can point out some of the most noxious weeds...
British Airways (BAB) received permission Tuesday to resume flights to Iraq for the first time in more than 13 years, officials said. The airline got the go-ahead from the U.S.-led administration in Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority, to start services to Basra, Iraqâs second-largest city. The airline said it plans to fly twice a week, via Kuwait, using a Boeing 777 aircraft. British Airways and U.S. authorities will decide later when flights will resume. "The security of our customers, staff and operation is absolutely paramount, and we will fly to Iraq only once we are confident that it is safe for us to do so," said BA safety and security director Geoff Want.
Alan Burnett, the airlineâs regional director for the Middle East and Africa, said: "We are delighted that we have been given the go ahead to start services to Iraq. Our priority is to establish flights to Basra as soon as we can, but we continue to look at the possibility of starting flights to Baghdad in the future." He predicted that resumed air service connecting Iraq with Europe will be vital to rebuilding Iraq and its economy. In 1927, British Airwaysâ predecessor, operating under the name Imperial Airways, began flights to Basra in southern Iraq. Two years later, flights began to Baghdad, the capital. BA flights were suspended in March 1987 during the Iran-Iraq war. Flights resumed in November 1988, but were suspended again in February 1990. More quiet good news.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2003 12:28:44 AM ||
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All troops in Iraq should expect to serve for at least a year, with brief rest breaks in the region and possibly a few days at home, the commander of U.S. forces said Tuesday. That came as news to some soldiers. "Itâs a one-year rotation," Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told The Associated Press in an interview. "Every soldier has been told that theyâll be deployed for a year, and then at the end of the year weâll be working to send them home." But some of the 148,000 soldiers in Iraq said nobody told them how long they would remain in the country, where guerrillas attack Americans daily and high temperatures often top 120 degrees. Pfc. Deacon Finkle, 20, of Dallas, screwed up his face — red from the heat — when asked how long he would be in Iraq. "Donât know. No idea," he said. Willie.
Spc. Jeff Ross, perched atop a bridge overlooking Baghdadâs dangerous Airport Highway, knew he was scheduled to be in Iraq for a year, saying: "We really donât have a choice." "A yearâs going to be rough. Itâs going to be a long haul," said Ross, 22, of Hillsboro, Ore. "But I think we can do it. If it cools off a little bit, itâll be all right." Joe.
The issue of soldiersâ tours has been contentious, with troops and their families posting missives on the Internet criticizing their government for keeping U.S. forces in Iraq. Some express concern about "mission creep," in which what begins as a swift war turns into a long-term occupation that could cause heavy American casualties as Iraqis become more and more skeptical of U.S. promises to let them govern themselves. "They need to come home!" Kimberly, the wife of a reservist deployed in February, wrote on the Web site of the support organization Military Families Speak Out. "Our unit has no redeployment date in sight, and we are constantly told that they may even be extended."
Things like that do happen in wartime...
Sanchez said commanders were working hard to make soldiersâ lives more bearable, and many soldiers said they were getting new creature comforts such as better food, more air conditioning and access to television and the Internet. "Weâve been doing a tremendous amount for them," Sanchez said in his office in Saddam Husseinâs former palace, a copy of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giulianiâs "Leadership" displayed on the bookshelf. He said soldiers were starting to get "outs" to rest camps inside Iraq to improve morale. "They get pulled off-line for two or three days and they get to rest in an environment that is essentially stress-free, as much as you can be inside of Iraq," he said. "Theyâve got Internet, theyâll get TV, theyâll have air-conditioned space, theyâll get hot meals. In some places they have swimming pools, so we kind of get them to relax."
Kind of like Vung Tau used to be in Vietnam...
Sanchez also said 150 soldiers a day were being flown to the Persian Gulf state of Qatar for breaks, and that other R&R bases were planned for Jordan and Turkey. But on the Internet, some soldiersâ families criticized the vacations, saying commanders should instead work on getting the soldiers home for good. "My son-in-law has been in Iraq since March. ... He has been given orders that extend his stay until JULY 2004," reads a message signed "Bette" on the Web site of Military Families Speak Out. "His company just had a two-day vacation(?!) in Qatar. President Bush has just left for his MONTH-LONG vacation on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Letâs send all of the troops to President Bushâs ranch and send the President to Iraq."
Gosh, Bette. Maybe would should just make Iraq an accompanied tour and ship you over there to keep your old man company. Then you can take your chances with him.
Sanchez also spoke of a proposal to give soldiers a "mid-tour break" to see their families. "The intent would be that between your fifth and 10th month of deployment youâd get 14 days of leave and be able to go home," Sanchez said, adding that he hoped the plan would be approved "within a couple of weeks." Good idea if we canât get them home for a while.
In Baghdad, some soldiers said life was slowly getting better. Sgt. 1st Class Charles Ragsdale, 34, of Atlanta, was guarding the Baghdad International Airport, which he said was becoming more livable. "The Army is doing a lot of things every day, every week, to improve the morale of the soldiers out here," he said. "Theyâre trying to get air conditioning. ... The chowâs getting better. Thereâs TV and movies. Theyâre doing the best they can." Okay, Rantburg service vets: tell me, a non-mil person, if this works for you.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2003 12:24:50 AM ||
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One year is pretty standard for rotation through a combat zone, has been since 'Nam. And conditions are at about their worst now, will get better as fast as possible. But there's 30 years of Saddam and his hard boys, not to mention over a decade of serious embargo, to clean up after. Plus, there's the random bangers to deal with.
It won't be popular with the grunts in any case (what is, short of free booze and broads?) and reups will definitely drop. Look for an enlistment push in the media.
#3
Its the best that can be done. And it appears to be as fast as it can be done. Look, wartime sucks, and I hope that most of the guys and many of their families realize that the only thing worse than this war is losing this war, letting Saddam get back in power, and having to fight another one in a generation or so.
Posted by: Ben ||
08/13/2003 7:20 Comments ||
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#4
1 year is a standard overseas short tour for unaccompanied troops. Been doing it in Korea forever. Midtour break is standard as well, lots of Korea troops meet the wife at the R&R facility in Hawaii. They could do the same here at the centers in Europe, if they don't need to fly all the way home.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 8:47 Comments ||
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#5
Korea was also 1 year (or more), based on a point system - more points for combat personnel. Also, since WWII the U.S. Army has been doing individual replacements. There has been talk recently of unit replacments. This might be a good time to implement that.
#7
We're going to be in Iraq for a long, long time. The constant infiltration of foreign national boomers is a clear indication that this is the beginning of the final push - either we succeed in building peaceful, democratic nations, or we need to start preparing for an all-out war between Arab and Western civilizations.
I served my "tour" in Nam, and the one-year, mid-year R&R, and that wasn't a problem for me or my spouse (a former military dependent). I do agree, however, it's not a good situation for combat troops. I would suggest that combat formations be rotated as a group, most preferably at the platoon level. I also agree that our military has been cut too deeply, too fast. We need to reconstitute at least two, and possibly five more divisions. The world isn't going to become a better place just by wishing it to. We need to have the manpower available to not only rotate through Iraq, but to rapidly increase that presence significantly if outside forces threaten the stability we are trying to build.
We built complete divisions in months during WWII. There are enough core cadre available in the retired community and recent discharges to create at least one, and possibly two new divisions, with a 50-50 split of former military and new recruits. Such units could be ready for at least rotation duties within a year. We need to get started.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 13:02 Comments ||
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#8
Slightly OT, but I found this report on the climate of Iraq. From this it seems to me that if the coalition can hold until the end of September, then the temperature will fall, along with electricity consumption and tempers. This will give over 6 months of relatively mild weather to get things sorted out.
Posted by: A ||
08/13/2003 15:19 Comments ||
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#9
Statistically speaking, more murders are commited at 92 degrees F than at any other temperature. Hotter than that you're too tired to go to the trouble, any cooler and you're not as grumpy.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkish leaders on Tuesday began discussing a U.S. request to send thousands of peacekeepers to Iraq, where Ankara would like to see its influence increase. Turkey, which snubbed a U.S. request in March to host American troops intending to open a northern front in the war against neighboring Iraq, seems determined not to create a new crisis with the United States. Okay, who here talked to Necdet? Paul? Frank? Zhang? Iâd blame PD but Necdet is still in one piece.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who reportedly had reservations against sending troops without a U.N. resolution, chaired the meeting of government and military leaders. But a statement issued at its conclusion did not mention a U.N. resolution. The statement made no firm commitment on sending troops, despite apparent endorsement from the military and government. It said parliament would decide. And we know how that works.
``The scope, nature and framework of Turkeyâs possible contributionââ will be determined ``according to Turkeyâs national interests,ââ presidential spokesman Sermet Atacanli said, reading from the statement.
The meeting was the first in a series of high-level debates about the matter. Although parliament is in summer recess until October, it can be called into session earlier. ``The issue is not whether to send soldiers or not,ââ Deputy Premier Abdullatif Sener told private CNN-Turk television Monday. ``The issue is how the Turkish troops will go, what will be their status, where they will be deployed.ââ
The government, which has a comfortable majority in parliament, might see the peacekeeping mission as an opportunity to mend ties with Washington, the countryâs formerly biggest lobbyist at the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. However, many Turks oppose sending peacekeepers to Iraq, fearing casualties. There were small protests Tuesday in Ankara and Istanbul against a deployment. As if none of the rest of us worry about casualties. Heck even the Salvadorians have enough sense to figure this out.
Ankara realizes that a mission could help prevent Kurds in northern Iraq from declaring an independent state. Ankara fears that would encourage Turkeyâs own Kurdish rebels, who fought a 15-year war for autonomy in southeast Turkey. ``If there is instability next door, we canât keep our eyes closed,ââ Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, the deputy chief of general staff, said Sunday.
With American military manpower stretched thin, the United States is looking to a number of countries to send troops to Iraq and relieve some of its burden. Washington has requested troops from India, Pakistan, Germany and others. Germans? Great. Indians and Paks? No thanks, keep them away from the powder keg please.
Turkey has several thousand soldiers in northern Iraq to chase the Turkish Kurdish fighters. Those troops fall outside the scope of the U.S.-led mission.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2003 12:16:12 AM ||
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Personally I think it is a wrong idea to get involved in US produced mess and call it a "peace keeping mission". I would say let Enron and Texaco hire some Gurka's to guard the oil wells.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/13/2003 5:40 Comments ||
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#2
Uday and Qusay are so much more preferrable to US Marines is what Murat is saying. His definition of a mess is liberating a population of 24 million people from under Saddam's boot.
Posted by: Ben ||
08/13/2003 7:26 Comments ||
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#3
A nice liberation it is, probably the Iraqis don't know yet they have been "liberated" and saved for "mass destruction weapons" :)
Posted by: Murat ||
08/13/2003 8:10 Comments ||
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#4
Hey,Murat.Welcome back,long time no see.That is a good idea,them Gurkha's be some bad-ass troops.
Ben,I see you have already caught on to our old friend,Murat.
#5
why would enron and texaco hire guards for facilities owned by the Iraqi national oil company?
Turkey realizes that a stable Iraq is in its interest.
The possibility of Turkish troops without a UN mandate helps us gain leverage in GETTING a UN mandate.
For those who keep dissing Indian and Pakistani troops - are you basing this on actual performance in peace keeping missions? The Indian military in particular, is not a particularly inefficient force AFAIK. And teh overstretch issue is SERIOUS. Folks who keep up with military affairs, particularly US Army affairs, like blogger Phil Carter, all seem to think its quite serious. As it is we have a rotation plan that barely gets us through spring 2004, and that assumes an international division replacing the 101st in the winter. There are things that could go better - an Iraqi militia might reduce the need for american forces by a division. On the other hand theres also the prospect of things getting worse - I dont expect they will, but its hardly wise to plan based on best case scenarios.
#6
Hey Murat? How's that EU-participation thang goin'? Your French friends not so cozy now? I'd welcome Turkey's participation now that things are over but we'll not forget how it went this Spring.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2003 9:32 Comments ||
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#7
Wow! Welcome back, Murat!
I don't expect that any criteria for Turkish participation in Iraq be any different than US involvement in Liberia: If you've got national interests to protect, get involved. if not, we don't expect you to sacrifice blood and treasure getting involved.
#8
Hello guys thanks for your welcome, nice to see you too.
why would enron and texaco hire guards for facilities owned by the Iraqi national oil company?
The Iraqi national oil company of President Bremer you mean Libby?
OK Ptah you mention the right reason "national interest", that's something different than those artificial reasons summoned four to five months ago, nice to hear that.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/13/2003 10:17 Comments ||
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#9
LH: I'm really concerned about Pak troops in Iraq given (1) the various problems with the jihadis in Pakland and the susceptibility of the soldiers to the inducements of the bad guys in Iraq (2) the instability of their government (3) their poor performance in Somalia 1993 when they mostly stayed in their barracks. I'm concerned about the Indians because I don't think the Iraqis will respond well to Hindu troops, particularly once the usual jihadis start blabbering on Al-Jismera.
The overstretch issue IS serious; that's why I'm wondering about the rotation plans, tour of service, etc. in another post here. But I think that getting a decent Iraqi milita trained over the next 6 to 12 months would be a better idea than bringing in unreliable troops from elsewhere. I have nothing against the Latin American troops; they can take some of the easy stuff and thus help with our rotation plans.
But in the end, we need an indigenous solution, not a bunch of UN peacekeepers.
Murat: welcome back. 1) Bremer is not president; he's the chief administrator -- much more powerful. 2) GWB did cite national interests four to five months ago along with the other issues he cited. You could go to the White House website and read the speeches he made back then; they're all there. 3) As long as the Turkish government doesn't have an ulterior motive (e.g., reconstituting the Ottoman Empire) and can respect Iraqi sensitivities over their presence, I'd have no problem with Turkish troops helping out in Iraq. They're well-trained and capable. 4) Enron is out of business. 5) Texaco will compete with everyone else, including in the end (I suspect) Yukos and TotalFinaElf.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2003 10:55 Comments ||
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re Indians - i am just not convinced the locals in Iraq take the jihadi anti-Indian line. How about put them in the Shiite areas of Baghdad - the Shia dont seem that interested in Kashmir, et al. And Hindu troops should be great "flypaper".
Re: Pakis - more of a problem - but this isnt Somalia, theres plenty of US troops to do the hard stuff. How about putting them in Kurdistan - the main job there is watching the borders with Iran and Turkey, not too much if any local police work. Pakis should be good at watching mountain borders, and no Pashtun here to worry about. That would relieve the 173rd airborne.
#11
wrt to Iraqis - it takes time to train troops - iraqi army we're talking about a goal of 40,000 in like 2 years. Militia, who will be less well trained, is a temporary solution, and smaller in number. To get through the crunch of the next 18 months we very much need foreigners. Indians and Pakistanis are ALREADY trained, some experienced. And its a bit optimistic to simply assume that Iraqi troops will all prove reliable. I support the Wolfie plan - but to assume we can overnight create an Iraqi army that doesnt have any of the problems of 3rd world armies strikes me as a tad optimistic.
#12
Looking at the latest news it looks as if around 10.000 Turkish troops are going to be deployed, if of course the parliament approves to this time. I am curious what kind of regulations will be met, judging from the press a Polish command over Turkish troops seems to have been refused by the general staff.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/13/2003 11:24 Comments ||
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#13
Good to have you back at Rantburg, Murat: polite voices of dissent are always welcome. I think the presence of Turkish troops would be a positive development, so long as it is handled delectably so as not to upset the Kurds. Of course, neither we Americans nor the Turkish are known for being delicate....
#16
Welcome back, Murat, we've really missed you. That does NOT mean we won't hand you your head in a paper bag, but we'll try to be friendly doing it! 8^)
Turkey would be the nation of choice for guarding the oil line to TURKEY, for patrolling the border between Iraq and Syria, and for securing the area along the Turkish border, over to where the Kurds have been granted authority. The only problem area would be along the Turkish/Kurdish line of control. Another area where Turkish troops would be most welcome is the mountainous area north of the Shatt al Arab, marking the border between Iraq and Iran. I also think that ALL the nations that are contributing peacekeepers should have a headquarters element in Baghdad (to facilitate coordination and cooperation), and also provide a few military police to help secure the peace in Baghdad.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 13:14 Comments ||
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a Polish command over Turkish troops seems to have been refused by the general staff.
LOL!! Still holding a grudge after 300 years or so? I don't blame the Turks. Gotta start reading the Polish press. I want to see how this gets spun. Hilarious!!
Several hundred Salvadoran peacekeepers bid farewell to their families Tuesday as they left for their mission in Iraq. Col. Sabino Monterrosa led his 360 soldiers aboard several 737s and took off for Zaragoza, Spain, where the group will train for at least a week. The soldiers are then expected to stop in Kuwait to do humanitarian work before heading to Iraq. Defense Secretary Juan Martinez said the mission was ``for God, El Salvador and world peace.ââ The group leaving Tuesday will remain in the Middle East for six months and then be relieved by a new group of Salvadoran forces, he said. The legislature approved the measure deploying Salvadoran troops to Iraq despite opposition by lawmakers from the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the party of former rebels who fought a 12-year civil war against hardline state forces. Figures.
In the past week, Honduras sent 370 military personnel to Iraq and Nicaragua sent 115 soldiers. Thatâs about 850 total. That will help.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2003 12:09:15 AM ||
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Interesting historical intersection, those three. It'd be even more interesting to know how much diplomatic arm-twisting went on.
#2
Just to put this in perspective, my research into Latin American troops provide only one entry about El Salvador troops in WWII. According to that source, the nation sent 36 men and three officers to Europe as part of an artillery platoon. Brazil's commitment to Europe consisted of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, a brigade-size element of about 7500 men. We could use such a commitment in Iraq.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 13:23 Comments ||
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In April 28th 2003, a forum of 225 Islamist clerics, scholars, and businessmen established in Makkah, Saudi Arabia a new body of supporters of global Jihad against the United States and the "Crusader" West. They opened a special web site â www.maac.ws â in both Arabic and English, and published their existence through the Al-Jazirah TV channel. The new forum was meant to be the first global Islamist reaction to the American war against Iraq. Actually, I think the first reaction was jumping up and down, rolling their eyes and having gun sex. This would be the second.
The secretary General of the forum is the known Saudi Dr. Safar al-Hawali, who is regarded by many scholars as one of the main mentors of Osama bin Laden. The campaign is not limited by time, and according to its founders "The Campaign will continue as long as necessary to achieve its goals. Any projects or committees issuing from it will only be endorsed or developed after consultation with and study by the thinkers and scholars of the Islamic World." By reading the English translation of the official announcement, it seems that the founders are attempting at establishing a non-violent global front against what they primarily perceive as Western cultural imperialism, led by the Jewish-American alliance. The key element, as stated by them is: "To repel the aggression of our enemies with all possible legitimate means".
We might point out here that Islamists have their own definitions of "legitimate."
So far it looks as a political gathering, which is trying to unite Islamic Anti-Western efforts,on the background of the American-led efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The basic point of view, which is not new, is the nature of self-defense of the Islamic reaction. But, the web site includes in its Arabic section, a letter that was not presented in English so far, written by the secretary general, Dr. Safar al-Hawali. In his letter Hawali returns to the typical language of radical Islamist scholars. His main theme is that the Islamic nation should acknowledge the fact that they are facing a global infidel campaign (al-batil), which can never meet or compromise with the true faith (al-haqq). The last "Crusader campaign" should wake the Islamic nation up from its indifference and cause it "uprise to resist its enemy, either voluntarily or by force."
The voluntary way is that of the "secured and victorious community," â Al-Taâifah al-Mansourah â in the usual Islamic terms, those who have never believed in the Western values, where "the Crusader spirit lies under the sand of the Humanist slogans." The enforced way is through the Western anti-Islamic campaign, where "the enemy revealed its masks and uncovered its beastly teeth, destroying every doubt and eliminating every optimism. Hence, they found themselves in one line with their brothers from the first group, who believe that this nation has no glory or honor but by investing their soul, their property, and their words in favor of Allah." According to Al-Hawali, this global campaign is not a target but a means "to achieve better means. The campaign should serve also as a platform for unity."
Anybody up to doing a quick analysis of the semantic content of that statement? It doesn't seem to make any sense...
The list of the founders of the new forum includes several prominent Learned Elders of Islam clerics and scholars who belong to the Saudi Islamist opposition, such as Ibrahim al-Harithy, Sheikh Salman al-Awdah, the brothers âAwadh and âAeidh al-Qarni, or Dr. Abdallah al-Shanqiti. Many of the Saudi founders are university lecturers, businessmen, and lawyers, who could very well represent the elite of the Saudi society. The same with the Yemeni and Egyptian founders. A new element to note here are 21 Iraqi clerics and scholars, among them several Shiâis,who could join such an initiative only following the release of Iraq from Saddam Hussein by "the American enemy." Another issue to note is the absence, so far, of persons from Jordan, Algeria, Syria, and Lebanon, and the very few from the Gulf States. I had a look at their list of founders, and although the English spelling of a lot of their names didnât look very accurate, I did recognise Qazi, Fasl, Sami and Shamzai in the Pakistan section. The other country sections also seem to be full of pious holy men, politicians and âintellectualsâ, most of whom would undoubtedly become part of the governing Shura when the Khilafah finally makes its come back.
Some of the interesting persons are Islamic figures from Western countries. The most prominent phenomenon, though not surprising, is the dominancy of the Arab origin of the vast majority of them. 15 of the founders are from Australia, and 9 of these are Imams in Australian mosques. Only one of the founders is from the United Kingdom, and he is not a known figure there. There is no one from the quite large Saudi Islamic opposition in London, what might hint for us that there is no linkage between these two parts of this opposition. There are two Americans of Arab origin, quite known figures - Dr. Ahmad Sharbinia lecturer in the American Open University in Colorado, of Egyptian origin, and Sheikh Walid Manisi, the Imam of the mosque in that university. The Belgian "representative" is quite known, Sheikh Muhammad al-Tijkani, of Moroccan origin. Another "European" is Sheikh Ahmad Abu Laban from Denmark. It should be noted that there are no Islamists from France and Germany. In any case, the core of the list of founders are persons who are known for supporting the anti-Western Islamist struggle of the school of global Jihad. Some of them are very popular among the generation of young supporters of Al-Qaeda in the Arab world. And some of them are likely part of the "brain trust" behind al-Qaeda and the rest of the cannon fodder.
The combination of the letter of al-Hawali, in addition to his known positions, and the list of founders where the Saudi oppositionist element is dominant, seems to be a potential of a supreme council to back politically and ideologically a global struggle, either against the West and its presence in the Muslim world, or the Muslim governments that cooperate with the United States. It might mark also a further step in the march of the Saudi Islamist opposition, which seems to act with growing freedom in the kingdom, with almost no steps taken by the authorities to limit it, not to mention to block it. It is difficult to say whether it is a result of weakness, or part of the double game the Saudi regime is playing. This was written before the May attacks in Riyadh, so it remains to be seen what the Saudis will do, but I tend to think that the government will crack down on the hard core Jihadis and the young clerics who rile them up, rather than the big fish behind the scenes. The Jihadis probably jumped the gun, with Hawali and the rest willing to wait a few more years before making their big move.
The new forum might also mark a further step in establishing the united Salafi-Jihadi trend in radical Islam, that will use the tremendous sympathy and support it gained through Al-Qaâidah operations. It might be premature, but it might also be an attempt to promote a political-ideological anti-Western struggle, as a result of the operational difficulties of Al-Qaeda to launch attacks against Western target, as was expected from it following the war in Iraq. In any case, the fact that this global forum is led by Dr. Safar al-Hawali should be worrying and a test case for assessing the new body. Hawali is known also for his writings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the endless effort to link between the various Islamist fronts.
Extracted list courtesy Dan Darling and Rohan Gunaratna...
Omar Abdul Rahman
Abu Fahdl al-Masri
Sayyid al-Masri
Yassir al-Sirri
Hani al-Sebai
Sayyid Imam al-Sharif
Eritrea:
Mohammed Amir
Abdul Bara Hassan Salman
Germany:
Metin Kaplan
Abdul-Kaddim Zalloum
Abderrazak al-Mahjoub
Yunis bin Salem
Indonesia:
Abdullah Sungkar
Abu Bakar Bashir
Abdul Wahid Kadungga
Abu Daud
Umar Jafar Thalib
Mohammed Kolono
Abu Jibril
Italy:
Abu Omar
Ridwan Benghazi
Fall Mamour
Iraq:
Ayoub al-Iraqi
Mubarak al-Douri
Abu Fahdl al-Iraqi
Wuria Hawleri
Ali Bapir
Jordan:
Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi
Mohammed Ahmed al-Chalabi
Kenya:
Ali Shaei
Kuwait:
Suleiman Abu Ghaith
Hamoud al-Aqla al-Shuebi
Jamal al-Kandari
Libya:
Saif al-Libi
Malaysia:
Nik Adli Nik Aziz
Nik Aziz Nik Mat
Subki Abdul Latif
Mauritania:
Mahfouz Ould Walid
Jemil Ould Mensour
Ould Mohammed Musa
Morocco:
Abdessalam Yassine
Mohammed Fizazi
Noureddine Nfia
Damir al-Maghribi
Abdel Haqq Moulsabbat
Nigeria:
Nafiu Baba Ahmed
Datti Ahmad
Norway:
Faraj Ahmad Najmuddin
Oman:
Khalifa al-Muscat
Pakistan:
Nizamuddin Shamzai
Abdul Razzaq Sikander
Aslam Beg
Azzam Tariq
Mufti Jamil
Fazlur Rehman
Fazlur Rehman Khalil
Masood Azhar
Sami ul-Haq
Qazi Hussein Ahmed
Sadatullah Khan
Umar Farooq
Abdul Samad Sial
Philippines:
Hashim Salamat
Al-Haj Murad
Qatar:
Yousef al-Qaradawi
Saudi Arabia:
Safar al-Hawali
Ibrahim al-Harethi
Awadh al-Qarni
Aeidh al-Qarni
Abdallah al-Shanqiti
Saad al-Faqih
Abd al-Rahman al-Sudays
Salman al-Awdah
Saad al-Buraik
Ali al-Hudaifi
Ahmed al-Hawashi
Mohammed bin Mubarak al-Tawwash
Nasser al-Hamid
Suleiman al-Uman
Saeed bin Zuhair
Abdul Aziz bin Baz
Abu Musab al-Saudi
Abu Fahdl al-Makki
Yousef al-Ayyeri
Louis Attiyat Allah
Abu Saad al-Ameli
Abu Ayman al-Hilali
Ali bin Khadr al-Khadr
Ahmed bin Hamid al-Khaldi
Khalid al-Harbi
Singapore:
Haji Ibrahim bin Haji Maidin
Sudan:
Hassan Turabi
Thailand:
Ismail Lufti
Uganda:
Jamil Tabliq
United Arab Emirates:
Ali Abdallah al-Emirati
United Kingdom:
Abu Qatada al-Filistini
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abdullah al-Faisal
Abu Izz al-Din
Omar Bakri
United States:
Ahmad Sharbinia
Walid Manisi
Abdulrahman Alamoudi
Xinjang:
Hassan Mahsum
Yemen:
Abdulmajid al-Zindani
Mohammed Ali Hassan Sheikh al-Mujahid
Abdullah Satar
Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/13/2003 5:52:07 AM ||
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#1
thanks, Paul!
very interesting.
I want to note down those 15 Aussie Islamists and keep a watch list on them for mentions in the media, quotes, transcripts of speeches, articles etc.
#2
How 'bout a stray cruise missle followed by our most heartfelt sympathys and apologies for such and unfortunate happening.
Posted by: Jim K ||
08/13/2003 8:53 Comments ||
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#3
They're too spread out -- and some of them hidden -- for that. This is a glimpse of the enemy high command.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2003 10:40 Comments ||
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#4
If I were the Mossad I'd make exactly this type of webpage and try to get some of these fellas to post on the bulletin boards and stuff. I'd also promote infighting that way. Nothing like a little internal squabbling to distract the bad guys.
#6
Sounds like it's time to re-introduce the hantavirus into Saudi fleas, and ensure there are PLENTY of fleas around this group of nutcases.
These dorks are providing all the ammunition the rest of the world needs to come down on them with several million tons of ordinance. Now if we can only find a few guys on this side willing to take the proper steps...
Keep getting together in one place, guys, and keep spewing. The spittle-chasing missiles are in the final stages of development.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 13:46 Comments ||
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#7
Another issue to note is the absence, so far, of persons from Jordan, Algeria, Syria, and Lebanon, and the very few from the Gulf States.
There aren't any blank spaces on the Arabic founders page. I wish I could read it... I hope that someone a lot smarter than me at the CIA or Mossad is.
Did anyone see the poll? If click on "Oppose," do they send a suicide bomber to your home?
#10
There are two Americans of Arab origin, quite known figures - Dr. Ahmad Sharbinia lecturer in the American Open University in Colorado, of Egyptian origin, and Sheikh Walid Manisi, the Imam of the mosque in that university.
A mosque? An Imam? Ya don't say?!
Hopefully, dear old AOU has been wired for sound since about April 29th.
DGI At one point your protagonists debate the legitimacy of the preemptive killing of potential murderers.
TC Would you prefer to have a hero without a conscience? Real people have them, including U.S. Marines.
DGI But that particular debate seems especially relevant in light of our recent war on Iraq.
TC If people make war on us, we have the right to make war back. Actually, one of my characters says that in so many words. And in war you donât knock on the guyâs door and say, âCan you come outside so I can shoot you in the face?â You just kill them. Because in war the rules are different. Well, weâre in a war now with terrorism; we should use different tactics, tactics that would be somewhat more effective than what weâre doing now.
DGI That seems to be what youâre saying in your book.
TC No. Iâm telling a story; Iâm not making a political statement.
Posted by: Jon ||
08/13/2003 7:57:45 PM ||
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#1
what do you expect from Newsweak?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2003 21:45 Comments ||
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Tom Clancy has been scarily correct about far too many things in the last several years. That makes his fictional stories about China and India, and a rearmed Japan well worth consideration.
The fact you cannot argue about the death penalty is that the recidivism rate is zero.
The Bush administrationâs decision to buy oil for the governmentâs emergency reserve is contributing to tight supplies and higher energy prices, some economists and congressional Democrats contend. The Energy Department discounts the impact of the purchases, nearly 11 million barrels since the beginning of May, while a number of oil traders say other factors have had more of an impact.
Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, urged Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham yesterday to immediately suspend the oil shipments into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, ââuntil the price of oil falls from its current high levels and the private sector inventories increase.ââ
Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis responded: ââThe vast majority of Americans realize that insuring the SPR is key to our energy and national security. Thatâs why there is bipartisan support to fill the reserveââ to its 700 million-barrel capacity. Filling the reserve when oil prices are high, huh? Wonder if the administration is expecting an "interuption" in the supply of oil from, oh, I donât know, someplace with a lot of sand?
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 4:27:35 PM ||
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Did Sen. Levin (D-Bushhater) have any comments when Clinton/Gore released oil from the SPR to get votes? Didn't think so
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2003 16:48 Comments ||
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Oil prices fell today after Iraq began pumping crude to Turkey for export to world markets and news broke of an increase in U.S. crude inventories, easing concerns about tight supplies.
Crude oil for September delivery was down $1.07, or 3.4 percent, at $30.85 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. If prices settle at this level it would be the lowest close since July 31 and biggest one-day decline since July 22. Oil is up 11 percent from a year ago.
Oil prices edged higher in early deals on Wednesday as traders nervously awaited another expected fall in already low levels of US gasoline stocks.
#4
The Dems are continuously probing the armor of the present administration with daggers to find weaknesses to exploit. They do not want consensus, their whole effort is basically destruction, and defense be damned in the process. Given the potential increased instability of the middle earth east, the administration is being prudent. I would like to see the Bush administration addressing each one of these handwaving dagger exercises with reasoned, simple english statements showing why they are being prudent in their actions, and how this is done in the national interest. In other words Bush needs to demonstrate over and over again how these asshats are trying to damage the country with their political agenda. I would like to see some agressiveness. We, after all, are still at war.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/13/2003 17:34 Comments ||
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#5
"Filling the reserve when oil prices are high, huh? Wonder if the administration is expecting an "interuption" in the supply of oil from, oh, I donât know, someplace with a lot of sand? "
In this context, note the report of a gun fight in Riyadh. And reports just in that Saudis are finding a huge network of al qaeeda cells across the country.
Either A. We are getting these results cause of pressure, and filling the reserve makes it easier to keep the pressure on
B. We're still not getting adequate results and are preparing to break with them
C. We're happy with the results, but are afraid the country is about to blow up.
I have a comment of my own on this over on my weblog. Check here.
Personally, I think the people in question will be criticizing Bush for buying oil for the reserve, up until the day they're criticizing him for not having bought enough.
But by then it'll be too late to easily enlarge it.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/14/2003 22:58 Comments ||
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Taiwanese custom officials on Tuesday said they have seized 158 barrels of chemicals from a North Korean ship following a tip-off that the material could be used for military purposes.
The ship, which had arrived from Bangkok, left for Pyongyang after unloading the chemicals at Taiwanâs Kaohsiung port.
The North Korea-registered vessel Be Gae Hong arrived on Thursday at Kaohsiung from Bangkok with some 2,000 tonnes of aluminium materials and some 40 tonnes of the chemical in transit to North Korea, Taiwanese officials said. Press reports said Taiwan intercepted the shipment at the request of the United States, which had informed the island the ship was carrying some goods for military use. The US, which has urged countries to take more action to prevent trade in weapons of mass destruction, has hailed the Taiwanese move. Expect major NK spittle soon.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 3:37:16 PM ||
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Two Pakistani men were being held on possible immigration violations Wednesday after an airline employee at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport found one of their names on a terrorism-related "no-fly" list, authorities said. Pakistani names on a terror list, whoâd thunk.
Port of Seattle police detained both men Saturday night and turned them over to the FBI. "Weâre looking at how they entered the country. Sometime in the near future theyâll be scheduled for an immigration hearing," said Michael Milne, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "How near, I just canât say."
No criminal charges have been filed against the men, whose names were not been released. Milne said they were being held for investigation of immigration violations. Since they are not US citizens, you can hold them forever while you take your time investigating.
One of the men, age 36, had a Canadian driverâs license and paid cash for a one-way ticket to New Yorkâs John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Seattle Times reported in Wednesday editions. After the airline employee called 911, the man left the counter and left behind his ticket. Non-citizen, cash, one-way ticket, we have a trifecta winner!
The other man, age 29, was carrying a New York driverâs license and also paid cash for a one-way ticket to Kennedy Airport on a different airline, according to police reports. Both used Pakistani passports, The Times said, citing unidentified sources. The newspaper said the men told investigators they paid to be smuggled across the border from Canada last month. Well, gee, that kind of answers the question about their immigration status, doesnât it?
The men were taken into custody Saturday night after an American Airlines employee and a ticket agent from another major airline ran their names through the Transportation Security Administrationâs no-fly database of suspected terrorists and became suspicious. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings, airlines have routinely run security checks on passengers who purchase one-way tickets or buy tickets with cash. "Good morning, Kaffir dog. Give me one-way flight to zionist city of New York, I must sit near cockpit. Oh, do you take gold dinars?"
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 3:02:11 PM ||
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My, my, the system worked. Wonder how the ACLU will present this case. Probably as a "profiling" violation of "First Amendment Rights" to blow up an airline and kill people, claiming it's a violation of their Freedom of Speech.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 17:29 Comments ||
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#3
Old Patriot: You meant, of course, 'Freedom of Religion.'
Posted by: Ned ||
08/13/2003 19:22 Comments ||
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Ned, no I meant "freedom of speech". Seems like the ACLU considers flying a plane into a building "speech", kinda like burning a flag. One of the reasons they're against the "Homeland Security Act" is that it limits their definition of "speech".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/13/2003 19:32 Comments ||
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#5
These clowns appear too stupid to be real terrorists. But it wold not surprise me to dscover they were testing the system for someone else. More cannon fodder.
Posted by: john ||
08/13/2003 20:47 Comments ||
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Nah. That profiling? It'll never work. The ACLU and CAIR told me.
Flights Suspended to Saudi Arabia
Due to heightened security concerns in the region, British Airways flights to Saudi Arabia have been suspended until further notice.
This decision follows discussions early on Wednesday with the British governmentâs Department for Transport.
We apologise for any inconvenience. So Iraq flights are restarted while Saoodi flights are halted - Hah!
Libyaâs Leader of the Revolution Colonel Muammar al Qathafi said on Monday as reported by the official news agency in a welcome speech to the Croatian persident Stefan Mizich visiting Libya: "Through cooperation and friendship most international problems could be solved peacefully. We regret that recently some parties of major states are acting outside the United Nations mandate and beyond the United Nations charter. What happened in Iraq is a serious precedent during this epoch. This takes us back to the era of the league of nations which collapsed through such behaviour. We know that it is Hitler who acted outside the charter of the League Of Nations and he caused the collapse of the League Of Nations and involved the world in the second world war. We have suffered quite a lot from wars and we established the United Nations. Now a new Hitler emerges and transforms the United Nations into the league of nations. All acts outside the charter of the United Nations have to end. The international community has to end that. Such acts do not match the spirit of the age and undermine all that we have built after the second world war."
"The spirit of the age is cooperation, peace, freetrade, flow of goods and services over borders, the flow of world currencies and the spread of culture without borders. This is the spirit of the age. But if we return once again to the diplomacy of ships this will be highly serious. Its is very dangerous to conduct talks through guns. All the world is now concerned and the nations are terrified."
"There is no dividing line between terrorism and self defence. Even the definition of terrorism is not known. We do not know who is a terrorist today. There is no unanimity on one answer. All the nations have different answers and therefore a large number of them are accused of terrorism by those who believe they are fighting terrorism. If the struggle of the Palestinian people to liberate their land is terrorism then what is a legitimate struggle. It is now emerging that the one who has a rocket to use is not a terrorist and those who do not have such means and only possess hand grenades or a pistol for self defence are considered terrorists. In this meeting we wish to express the concern of the whole world and we strongly condemn any acts outside the United Nations charter. We are calling on those rogue states to return and abide by the United Nations charter. They have to respect the international community represented by the United Nations." Yawn, wasnât he supposed to have died from cancer by now? Have to put him in the same class of long lived assholes with Fidel.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 11:09:03 AM ||
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#1
How does any man, even this Queen Latiffa looking idiot, get so used to saying B.S. that he can't possibly believe? I guess that I could ask Al Gore.... but it still boggles the mind.
Qathafi should be running on the Dem's ticket this year. So he's a ruthless dictator who sponsored terrorism - moveon brother! Plus, it would give Dennis K. somebody to smoke hash with!
#5
"Such acts do not match the spirit of the age and undermine all that we have built after the second world war." says Mallomar.
Just who is this "we" and what have they built? Sorry Mulehammer, the US is gonna' take the steps necessary for self-preservation, despite upsetting all the Islamist's dreams of building a caliphate.
And Molehumidor, just what the f*ck has any Islamic nation contributed to the benefit of mankind since say 1200 a.d?
Fidel Castro, the worldâs longest ruling leader, turns 77 Wednesday after a year that saw his communist-run island grow even more isolated as he lashed out at his European allies and jailed some of his most vocal critics. But despite rumors that he was in poor health, the bearded revolutionary has shown in recent weeks he still has the energy to give his traditional hours-long speeches and keep up a work schedule that would exhaust a much younger man.
When Cubaâs rubber-stamp parliament confirmed him in March to a sixth term as the islandâs maximum leader in March, Castro acknowledged he wonât be around forever. His current five-year term would have him governing until he is 81.
"I promise that I will be with you, if you so wish, for as long as I feel that I can be useful - and if it is not decided by nature before," Castro said at the time in a rare reference to his advancing age and mortality. "Not a minute less and not a second more. Now I understand that it was not my destiny to rest at the end of my life," he added. Other long lived assholes, Stalin - 73, Kim II Sung - 82, Pol Pot - 72.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 10:20:20 AM ||
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Long article, EFL:
Congress is set to impose new restrictions on the use of Special Operations Forces that for the first time will require a presidential order before deploying commandos in routine but hidden activities. The restrictions are contained in the classified Senate report accompanying the current version of the intelligence authorization bill for fiscal 2004.
The new rules, if contained in the final version of the bill, would add a burden to the militaryâs deployment of Special Operations Forces by requiring the Pentagon to first obtain a presidential "finding," or directive, similar to those required for covert-action intelligence operations. Findings are declarations that the president "finds" a secret activity is in national interest. Have to ask "Mother, may I?".
A former special-operations officer said the committee language would redefine traditional military activity as a covert action. "What that means is that things that special ops used to do will now require sending a finding to [Capitol Hill] before doing anything," said the former officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The restrictions are being called the "Cambone understanding" and would replace earlier intelligence report language from 1991 that excluded Special Operations Forces from the legal finding requirements.
Currently, so-called traditional military activities, where the U.S. militaryâs role is hidden, do not require a finding by the president. "We want to be able to deploy [special-operations commandos] in minutes and hours instead of days and weeks," said the former special-operations officer. "And this will get us delays. It will make it hard to kill terrorists by turning over deployment decisions to the Senate." Makes you wonder whoâs side the Senate is on.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said the new report language undermines the efforts of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director George J. Tenet to loosen restrictions on covert action in the war on terrorism since the September 11 attacks. The senior official said the report language was inserted based on misunderstandings that resulted from conversations between Mr. Cambone and several senators, who were not identified. We need to know who these bastards are. Bet I can guess which party they belong to.
"This hurts both CIA and [the Department of Defense]," the official said. A spokesman for the Senate Intelligence Committee had no comment. Iâll just bet he doesnât want to talk about it.
Covert-action findings are reported to Congress and in many past cases were disclosed to the public by officials opposed to the operations. Guess who.
The Senate Intelligence Committeeâs report on the authorization bill, produced in June, says that secret military activities in countries where the role of U.S. forces is known to the public are considered "traditional military activities." However, those same activities when carried out in a nation where the presence of U.S. military forces is kept secret are to be treated as covert actions and require a presidential finding, the report states. The new restrictions are opposed by most U.S. intelligence and defense officials. A senior Pentagon official would not say whether Mr. Rumsfeld would recommend that the president veto the bill if the report language is part of the final legislative package. Veto it, and publicly tar and feather anyone, of either party, who supported it.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2003 10:02:07 AM ||
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#1
What, are we afraid of a little success? This is disgusting news. Yes, Bush, veto it and let the chips fall where they may. You've got the momentum. Don't slow down. We're counting on you.
Posted by: Michael ||
08/13/2003 11:14 Comments ||
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#2
Steve you beat me again! Here are my comments:
I used to work in DC and this is a clear case of someone who thinks itâs a good idea for Congress to approve EVERYTHING that the military does. The reason our Armed Forces are so successful is because the commanders have the FLEXIBILITY to fight the battle. Making a Commander gain approval every time he wants employ SpecOps for a certain situation would be a HUGE mistake. Next they will want to approve troop movements and bombing targets (That was the FAILED model in Vietnam). Stephen Cambone must be a big fan of the Soviet doctrine that centralizes all decisions with the political apparatus. I second the Tar/Feather party for Mr. Cambone.
#3
"The senior official said the report language was inserted based on misunderstandings that resulted from conversations between Mr. Cambone and several senators, who were not identified."
Let's not string up Cambone yet. Sounds like the DoD made it clear that the military was not supposed to be subject to the "finding" requirement, but some bozos on the Senate Intelligance Committee tried to get their paws on covert military deployments. I wouldn't be surprised if Rummy had this leaked to embarrass the Senators involved.
BTW, isn't "Senate Intelligence Committee" a contradiction in terms?
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/13/2003 11:55 Comments ||
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#5
I ain't going back to the 1970s when our intel organizations had their hands tied. This isn't happening as long as I can shoot my mouth off about it.
Congress needs to grow up and let the special ops guys do their jobs, unemcumbered and free to dispose of our national enemies.
God Bless the CIA, ONI and our special forces. Let them go through our enemies like crap through a goose.
#6
Bush won't veto it though. I don't think Bush is tough enough to veto anything.
Posted by: Cal Ulmann ||
08/13/2003 14:25 Comments ||
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Anonymous:
From the Merriam Webster Dictionary: Oxymoron - a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness).
From the American Heritage Dictionary: Oxymoron - A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.
So, yes, Senate Intelligence is a contradiction in terms.
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/13/2003 14:40 Comments ||
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Guys, let's not forget who's got the majority in the Senate. The party, which, in the words of its favorite harridan,harpy, gibbering commentator (Ann Coulter) referred to compromise as date rape! If the Republicans don't want this to move forward it won't.
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
08/13/2003 14:45 Comments ||
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#9
The reason our Armed Forces are so successful is because the commanders have the FLEXIBILITY to fight the battle. Making a Commander gain approval every time he wants employ SpecOps for a certain situation would be a HUGE mistake. Next they will want to approve troop movements and bombing targets (That was the FAILED model in Vietnam). Stephen Cambone must be a big fan of the Soviet doctrine that centralizes all decisions with the political apparatus.
Someone hasn't been reading his Art of War (Sun Zi) ... the liberals, of course ;-) but he did note that two of the most important elements of battle were control on the ground, and the real need for spies (the sole form of SpecOps back in the Warring States period). There's a famous incident where he demostrated to a king by setting up a king's harem as an impromptu unit, then executing the two "commanding officers" for negligence - refusing the king's plea for mercy, to demonstrate that so as the king could do nothing against this, he could do even less with an army deployed far away. (See both delays in the relaying of orders/intelligence, and common sense.)
Incidentally, didn't the Soviets have an instance where their centralization cost them dearly? (The USS Clueless noted that in the Korean War, Chinese centralization - ironic for a people who produced Sun Zi - prevented them from extrapolating and capitalizing [excuse the pun :-D] on any tactical victories, which were always followed by powerful counterattacks from the post-MacArthur commander of US Forces Korea.)
Posted by: Lu Baihu ||
08/13/2003 15:18 Comments ||
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#10
The Democrats are so anti-american that they have to hamstring anything that is effective.
Remember the little piece of legislation that lead to the fall of Saigon...Democrats passed a bill that forbid military aid to the South.
Remember the little piece of legislation that got Ollie North in trouble...bill forbidding military aid to rebels fighting a marxist regime in Nicurfreakinagua....
This piece of legislation and the two examples above are essentially violation of the separation of powers provisions of the Constitution. Seems the founding fathers came up with this inconvenient thing that says the President will conduct foreign policy...Congress cannot limit the Presidents ability to conduct foreign policy.
I think this little tidbit should be run up the flag pole and the writers, lets see, Graham and the other minority members of the Senate Intelligence(??) Committee, should be publically humiliated.
#11
This MUST be vetoed. This president has gained much respect for making efforts not to repeat the lethal mistakes of Viet Nam. To allow this to pass would again have politicians deciding which bridges to bomb...whoooaa...I'm having a flashback. Say it ain't so!
#12
This is our illustrious Senate Intelligence Committee notice that even the Republicans have got some weak sisters in the lineup (Snowe, Hagel) but the Dem package is just plain dumb...heard Dick Durbin or Barbra Mikulski or Wyden talk about intelligence lately? They can't even spell it
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2003 19:09 Comments ||
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There aren't many people in the US Senate that I'd trust to feed my dogs if I went away for the weekend.
Arafat sister dies in Cairo
From correspondents in Cairo 13aug03
YUSSRA al-Qidwa, one of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafatâs sisters, died today following an illness, an Egyptian official said. Qidwa, 77, died in the Palestine Hospital, in the northern Cairo suburb of Heliopolis. She had lived in Egypt since 1994 with her husband Jarir al-Qidwa, who had served as Arafatâs advisor on education. Arrangements were being made with the family to send her body back to the Gaza Strip, where it was expected she would be buried alongside her older sister, Inaam, who died in 1999. Arafat, who has been kept by Israel under virtual house arrest for more than a year and a half at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, had six brothers and sisters. OK 2 down, 4 to go
Posted by: Anon1 ||
08/13/2003 6:51:14 AM ||
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#1
Let's hope it's a congenital thing throughout the family
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2003 9:33 Comments ||
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"Arafat, who has been kept by Israel under virtual house arrest for more than a year and a half at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah...."
House arrest, my ass. The little jerk can leave the West Bank anytime he wants to; 'course, he probably can't come back.... (at least, not if the Israelis have any sense)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/13/2003 15:46 Comments ||
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Is it me, or has anyone else noticed that none of Yasshole's family seems to live in the so-called Palestine?
Israel dynamites bomber house
By correspondents in Nablus
THE Israeli army on Wednesday dynamited the house in the West Bank of the family of the suicide bomber who killed one person and wounded 10 in an attack on a shopping center east of Tel Aviv. The house of Khamis Jerwan, 17, who was identified by Palestinian and Israeli sources as being the bomber in the Rosh Ha-Ayin attack, was completely destroyed in the explosion, in Nablus. Ten people lived in the one-storey house in the Askar refugee camp.and donât come back!
A Nablus-based branch of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafatâs mainstream Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Posted by: Anon1 ||
08/13/2003 1:23:40 AM ||
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No $25K from Saddam this time either.
Posted by: Dave ||
08/13/2003 3:52 Comments ||
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Six people appeared before a Rabat court on Wednesday in connection with last Mayâs bomb attacks in Casablanca. The court in the Moroccan capital promptly adjourned the hearing until Friday to give defence lawyers more time to study their cases. A Frenchman, Pierric Picard, 34, from Lyons in southeastern France, was arrested near the northern Moroccan city of Tangiers in early July and is charged with "failing to inform the authorities of a terrorist plot". The five other defendants face more serious charges of having co-ordinated attacks in the north African kingdom with another Frenchman, Pierre Robert, who is due to appear before the same court in the next few weeks. While the suspects are not facing charges directly related to the May 16 suicide bombings in Casablanca which killed 44 people, a clampdown following the attack has put hundreds of suspected Islamist militants behind bars. Moroccan Justice Minister Mohamed Bouzoubaa said on Wednesday that 634 alleged Islamists had been charged since May 16, bringing the total number charged before and after the Casablanca attacks to 1,042. Of those, 699 are alleged to belong to the Moroccan Muslim radical group Salafia Jihadia, believed to be behind the bombings. Morocco seems to be quietly taking its terror issues seriously...thatâs a lot of Islamists in jug.
Posted by: seafarious ||
08/13/2003 12:20:49 AM ||
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Rebels who hold much of Liberia's capital announced today that they will pull out of the devastated city by noon Thursday and leave it to a growing peacekeeping force that will attempt to restore order following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and his flight into exile.
That'll be easier without them there...
Residents and refugees crammed into Monrovia have been clamoring for food, but rebels control the port and its bounty of humanitarian aid. "We have no reason to maintain our forces at the free port now," said Sekou Fofana, a rebel official. "For reasons of humanity we are leaving the port." The announcement by Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, known as LURD, followed a meeting with U.S. Ambassador John Blaney, Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner, who arrived by helicopter this morning from the USS Iwo Jima anchored off the Liberian coast, and the Nigerian general who heads a West African peacekeeping force, Brig. Gen. Festus Okonkwo.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/13/2003 00:12 ||
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More detail on yesterday's item...
Federal officials arrested a British man in New Jersey yesterday and said he had tried to smuggle into the United States shoulder-fired missiles that could be used to shoot down commercial jetliners. The identity of the British man arrested in Newark was under seal and could not be learned last night. But U.S. authorities said he had been ensnared in a sting operation launched by undercover federal agents who he thought were al Qaeda operatives plotting to attack airliners from U.S. soil.
Two words: Military tribunal.
Also arrested yesterday were two men in New York who operate an unlicensed hawala, or money transfer operation, that had wired the suspect funds overseas. The case, which involved an unusual amount of international cooperation, began when FBI agents discovered an arms dealer in Britain, who is of Indian descent, who was hunting for customers interested in purchasing Russian shoulder-fired SA-18 missiles, also variously known as Grouse or Igla missiles. The FBI approached officials from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Homeland Security Department that focuses on overseas arms-dealing cases. The two agencies assembled a team of undercover agents who concocted a story that they were al Qaeda sympathizers who wanted to mount an attack against the United States, and then they approached the British suspect. The agents told him they wanted him first to produce a single missile to prove he had access to the weapons. They wired him money through the hawala in New York to facilitate the deal.
Thereby frying the money men...
The suspect then approached criminal contacts in the Russian arms-dealing world and sought to buy an SA-18 as the first stage of a much larger purchase. Meanwhile, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, had picked up word of the suspect's attempts to buy missiles for use against Americans, and Russian authorities notified U.S. officials.
Makes a nice double check, doesn't it?
U.S. officials then started pursuing the case with Russian help. The FSB arranged for Russian undercover operatives to supply the suspect with an inert SA-18 for transport to the United States. Just days ago the suspect was in Russia trying to arrange purchase of large batches of missiles and plastic explosives for his U.S. "customers."
Didn't we see this once on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."?
The suspect was arrested in Newark yesterday morning after arriving on an international flight. The sole missile involved, an SA-18, was brought to a port in the United States — not publicly identified by U.S. officials — via ship. The missile had been rendered inoperative by investigators and was under their control during transport. The suspect is not believed to be an associate of any terrorist group, but was acting as an opportunistic arms broker. "He's just in it for the money," an FBI official said on condition of anonymity. "He was willing to deal with anybody no matter what they had in mind."
I have in mind how nice it would be to see him with a neck a yard long.
"There is no credible information that terrorists are in control of these kinds of missiles in this country," another federal official said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
08/13/2003 00:09 ||
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#1
Times of India is claiming that the smuggler has Mumbai underworld ties.
#2
So if I got this right, we started a sting over here. When the guy went to Russia and tried to buy the missiles, the Russians found out, and the first thing they did was tell us.
Wow! As someone who stood watch with 16 nuclear missiles aimed at Russia, this is taking me a bit to get my head around. Very cool.
Posted by: Ben ||
08/13/2003 7:23 Comments ||
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Hey,Ben.
Were you on an SSBN,or land based.I use to drive by the silos outside of Tucson,Az.quite often(decomisioned now).
#4
There is no credible information that terrorists don't already have these missiles in the U.S. either. In any case I'm glad the U.S. is running stings like this.
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.
