No link, but Iâm sure all our hearts will break over this:
(MUSLIMS UNDER PRIVILEGE HOME)
3 OLD UGBOR ROAD
BENIN CITY.
Bismillah walhamdulillah was salaatu was salaam âala rasulillah.
As-salaamu alaikum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuhu.
Peace opon you all.I am useing this meduim to let you know that some of our muslim brothers and sisters are in a very difficult situation. Some are in the streets begging and some donât even have a home,I consider It a shameful thing to our muslim communites. The (Muslims Under Privilege Home)as been set up as a means to help cry out to muslims brothers in the world for help.The muslims underprivilege home is started here in Africa and hope to soon be all over the world where our muslims brothers are suffering.So I Abdulahi Momoh,stand today appealing to fellow muslims arround the world to support this foundation.We are habouring up to about 280 muslims in the foundation home,They need food,cloths,and anything you can donate to help them with .I want to appeal to you that if you see it as our muslim rights to help our brothers.I urge you today help me help our brothers.Donate and Support this Foundation to stand and Almighty Allah will also in return solve your broblems too.May the peace of almighty allah be with all of us.I wait to hear from you.
Abdulahi Momoh.
Email: abdulahi_momoh@tiscali.co.uk
Abdulahi from Benin City in Africa seems to have a UK e-mail account.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 3:13:17 PM ||
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#2
Rantburgers, ya got an e-mail address for one of those Nigerians who is trying to unload 10-20 million dollars? Please share it with Momoh. That'll solve the problem for the Nigerians as well as the poor homeless Muslims.
Oops, forget it. Benin City is in Nigeria so Abdulahi must already know about the hidden fortunes. Steve, ya don't suppose .... Naah. : )
#5
I was thinking the Saudis could divert a month or two of their "undermining the Dhimmis in Nigeria" account payments - should feed and clothe all these people
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/21/2004 19:27 Comments ||
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#6
This is really sad. Where can I send all my credit card and bank account numbers?
Wonder if he hit up that idiot British newspaper woman so she can have something else to blame Bush about.
This is the second time I've cut this. Next time the comments will go with it. I'm tired of seeing it.
I remind all posters that articles should be either hard news or commentary that expands our understanding on the mechanism and goals of terrorism.
Please edit all postings for length. Cut the parts that repeat what everybody knows by now because we've seen it so many times before. Try and keep them short and punchy. People try to read this stuff, y'know.
I will delete pure opinion pieces and such purely political hit pieces that bore me. This is because Rantburg concerns itself with the War on Terror. If you want to post Bush hit pieces, go to Indymedia. If you disagree with what Bush does, kindly confine yourself to the comments portion of real articles and take your lumps.
Please do not feed the trolls! I end up leaving troll pieces with a lot of comments because the comments are funnier than the posted article.
If you're a troll, please don't post and then comment on your post under another name. It's tacky.
Thank you,
The Management
Posted by: Mike Hersh ||
01/21/2004 12:33:08 PM ||
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#1
They're Baaaaccck!
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 12:42 Comments ||
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#3
This was posted yesterday. Please go back to your Howard Dean website and leave the adults alone, ok? (This helpful hint brought to your ignorant ass from a Democrat tired of you morons making us all look stupid.)
#4
The Bush White House always puts their political interests over the public good. Now, they're even intentionally endangering our national security to further their cover-ups. Richard Nixon's Watergate Gang never dreamed of this fundamental and monumental corruption.
As the public learns more about Bush's lies on Iraq, his failures and cover-ups about 9/11, and the economy languishes in neutral for almost everyone, Bush will lose more support. Especially if the media may start doing their job. If the media wake up and report the news, Americans may learn more about how Bush and his bunglers undermined our national security before and after 9-11 with the Kean Commission and investigations into Leakergate
#7
Outsider hurls, If the media wake up and report the news, Americans may learn more about how Bush and his bunglers undermined our national security before and after 9-11 with the Kean Commission and investigations into Leakergate
While we shouldn't feed trolls, we may certainly spank them. OS, you're a fool. The media leans liberal. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN are liberal leaning, Fox is not. The New York Times, LA Times, San Francisco Examiner, Washington Post, Boston Globe -- all liberal leaning. Ask the media to do their jobs? They're doing them.
You don't like what they report? Please re-enter reality and take another look.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2004 12:57 Comments ||
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#8
Yikes! An outbreak of "Mad How" disease. Will Rantburg have to be quarrantined?
Posted by: Mike ||
01/21/2004 13:00 Comments ||
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#9
Darn you, Mike Hersh, you've dropped a bunch of crap on my favorite web site. Off with you, you troll!
Posted by: Tom ||
01/21/2004 13:02 Comments ||
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#10
Don't worry Spring will soon be upon us and Mike can return to his favorite bleachers where he can bat about his favorite beachball with other chumps instead of annoying people for fun.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 13:08 Comments ||
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#11
steve - first, youve got to remember that the radicals dont like the liberal media. Radicals dont really like libs,or moderate social dems, etc as a general rule. Im not going to go into it here, you're gonna havta trust me. Now the above post cleverly avoids anything that is explicity radical - even implying that positions of earlier presidents were good - but i would say that i nonetheless associate this degree and nature of vitriol with radicals - though i will admit that a large number of frustrated liberals have adopted such rhetoric (yadda, yadda, civil culture, yadda yadda, florida, yadda yadda lewinsky, yadda yadda Bork, yadda yadda)
I will also not respond the numerous points in the original post, a few of which are good (no im not even going to point out which) among many that are easily refuted, some of which are vile, etc.
My main point is this - it is NOT possible to have a meaningful discussion, in a forum such as this, of something that makes 30 or 40 points. Period. Radical, liberal, conservative, moderate, whatever. You can make one point, maybe two or three (though thats pushing it) once you make so many no one can coherently respond, or follow a discussion. Any laundry list like this should be considered a troll REGARDLESS of its ideological origin. Since its purpose, BY NATURE OF ITS FORM, NOT CONTENT is to provoke contention, rather than discussion and analysis.
#12
I've never been a huge W. fan, but heck, none of the Dem's running would get my vote. As an independent, there is some horrible b.s. in that post:
"Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes" - read your laws moron, it's the electoral vote that counts.
"Attacked and took over two countries." - The 51st & 52nd States? Bwhahaha.
"First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner." - and the problem is??
"First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record." - besides Clinton?
I could go on and on, but y'all get the picture. Kelley, please put down the hash pipe, the nitrous balloon, turn off the "dead" record, shave your arm-pits, and come back down to earth baby. Don't feel bad though, you're still gonna get four more years of G.W. ....bwhahaha.
Personally, I think the USS Condoleeza Rice, PhD should be the fifth Iowa-class battleship, but then I always was a mite old-fashioned. That said, a carrier would work.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/21/2004 13:28 Comments ||
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#16
this is an e-mail that is making it's way around the net. I got a copy of it.
The first part is actually kind of funny. But I actualy felt pity, instead of annoyance when I realized they are still so desperately clinging to the "selected/not elected" fantasy.
Hey trolls...did you hear that flushing sound after Pelosi and Daschel spoke last night? That was the sound of any remaining dignity your party had left, flushing down the john. Youre party's dead, done, finished. You aren't trolls, you are dinosaurs.
Posted by: B ||
01/21/2004 13:46 Comments ||
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#17
The USS Howard Dean would be a good name for an ammunition ship.
#18
And in related news, the Flat-World Society chair person, Brian Flatulence, spent all of yesterday thrashing on the floor, shouting, "It IS flat, damn it! Flat, flat, flat!"
#19
You have to hand it to this person, though. It takes balls the size of grapefruit to post proof positive that you don't have two brain cells firing at the same time.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/21/2004 14:03 Comments ||
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#20
Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant
This happened long before GW wandered on to the scene
#22
First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner
And that prisoner would be... Tim McVeigh!
Anyone really wanna stand up for that piece of scum's life?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 14:24 Comments ||
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#23
Tancred, I think it was some Mike Hersh guy. He left the area pretty quickly and with good reason. I think his post have been victimized ala the prison rape scene in Shawshank Redemption. It got pretty ugly - like an intellectual version of a piranah feeding frenzy. Maybe his buddies are running amok on other threads. Hersh might have been the old week bleeding cow that the gouchos drive in up river as a diversion.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 14:33 Comments ||
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#24
Three comments: (1) "Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie" You can't drop a load like that without providing the name of the film. Come on. (2) A Simpson's episode had the USS Walter Mondale, it was a laundry ship if I remember correctly. (3) It's amazing all of the things a President has to do when the previous administration avoids all the big decisions.
#27
Obviously, Kelly and Mike deserve the highest praise and respect for their courage in publicly exposing this evil dictator.
If it is possible, we should take up a collection for their legal defense. Those of us willing to take the risk should gather at the gates of the nearest Federal concentration camp facility to protest their disappearance and detention in the new Bushitler/AshKKKroft Gulag, and to demand the return of Constitutional rights that have been repealed under the evil Patriot Act that creates such an oppressive and chilly atmosphere for free speech. The memory of the martyred Dixie Chicks demands no less.
What? They're still running around loose?
What the hell kind of dictatorship is this?
There's something wrong with this picture.
#28
AC. Right, after all they should be mouldering in some hidden mass grave (or being the 'guest of honor' at a rape-room celebration) somewhere instead of spouting off without fear of retaliation.
#30
Hey Fred, if this is the kinda crap that results from a Deaniac loss in Iowa, what happens next week after NH?
Posted by: john ||
01/21/2004 19:18 Comments ||
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#31
What Deaniacs don't get is the right WANTS Dean to win the democratic nomination. Makes Dubya's job of getting re-elected all the easier. but alas, we have shot our mouths off so much that the democrats are on to us.
and not just mellow, very, very mellow?
According to press reports, a British man, Lee Maisey, 36, had smoked 6 cannabis cigarettes a day for 11 years prior to his death in Summerhill, Pembrokeshire, last August. The coroner found during an inquest that other causes of death could be ruled out and laid the blame directly on Mr Maiseyâs cannabis consumption. "This type of death is extremely rare," Professor John Henry, a toxicologist at Imperial College, London, said after the inquest at Haverfordwest, west Wales, according to The Age. "I have not seen anything like this before. It corrects the argument that cannabis cannot kill anybody." According to The Mirror, Mr Maiseyâs cannabis use amounted to "24,000 reefers" over the 11 year period. Second Headline: British Cheetos Consumption Falls to 11 Year Low in August
#1
A toxicologist should know better than to say that one incident, if true, proves a case. Epidemiologically poor science.
Posted by: Jim K ||
01/21/2004 9:28 Comments ||
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Wow, the first guy in recorded history to die of a THC overdose? I'm skeptical. Of couse, 6 joints a day is a lot of unfiltered smoke. He shoulda used a bong - clean and cool.
I wonder if the prayer works for non-jews, or am I doomed to the eternal fires
An Israeli rabbi has invented a prayer to help Jews overcome the guilt of visiting pornographic websites. The benediction by Shlomo Eliahu says: "Please God, help me cleanse the computer of viruses and evil photographs which disturb and ruin my work..., so that I shall be able to cleanse myself (of sin)."
Oh, yeah. That should work.
Mr Eliahu said he had seen a marked increase in the number of men who had come to him to confess their internet sins. The callers said they were worried that the time they were spending surfing for porn was ruining their family lives, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth reports. The rabbi recommends that Jews recite the prayer when they log on, or even programme it to flash up on their computer screens so they are spiritually covered whether they enter a dodgy site intentionally or by mistake.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/21/2004 1:56:38 AM ||
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#1
Keep praying Tipper. But if that doesn't work try Internet Cleanup. If you can't cleanse yourself, at least you can cleanse history and cache files from your hard drive. :)
#9
better nekid wimmins than the blue screen of death
I wonder if they are working on a special protective prayer which gives you immunity for about 5 hours worth of hard core porn,
i'm even willing to pay extra for a special high bandwidth yarmolka to wear when you say the special prayer!
Posted by: The Dodo ||
01/21/2004 13:19 Comments ||
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Lord, help me. I do believe I've fallen in with a bunch of porno surfers. LOL
Four men,including two wearing womenâs clothes, have been arrested in the main southern city Kandahar on suspicion of planning bomb attacks, the cityâs military chief said Wednesday. Two men carrying grenades and wearing all-enveloping head-to-toe burquas used by most Afghan women, were arrested Wednesday in Kandaharâs crowded Herat Barwaza district, Ahmad Shah told the reporters. Iâve run out of new burka jokes, youâll just have to make up your own.
They were planning a terrorist attack," Shah added. Or maybe they just liked dressing......sorry.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 10:44:47 AM ||
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To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newm..BOOOOOOOOOOOOM !!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: john ||
01/21/2004 12:20 Comments ||
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I can see it now.. don't ship 'em to prison, ship 'em to a Swedish sex-change clinic. Keep 'em there til they're all healed, then dump 'em in Soddy Arabica. Mwehehehehe...
Ed.
Posted by: Ed Becerra ||
01/21/2004 14:15 Comments ||
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#10
Priscilla: Terrorist of the Desert
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 15:13 Comments ||
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#11
RC, LOL.... but I don't know why.
Priscilla: Chick o'da burning sands.
Priscilla and the Seven Shoes of Wisdom
EFL:
Peacekeepers and Afghan police arrested several top agents of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar the peacekeeping chief said Wednesday. More than three "main actors" in Hekmatyarâs organization were detained in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Lt. Gen. Goetz Gliemeroth, the commander of the NATO -led peacekeeping force in Kabul, said. More than three, 4 , 8 , 16?
At least one of the men is suspected in a mine blast that killed two Canadian soldiers in October. All are now in American custody. A man identified as Abu Bakr was arrested in Kabul five days after the mine blast, and Gliemeroth said there was "very strong evidence" that he had been involved in the attack. Gliemeroth didnât identify the other men or provide further details, including when the other arrests were made. He said the investigation was still continuing. "I can say no more."
Gliemeroth said Kabul police sent the men for detention to the main U.S. military base at Bagram, north of the capital. Only real "players" get invited to Bagram.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said he couldnât comment on any detainees at Bagram, where the American military has a jail for terrorist suspects. Nobody comments on anything or anyone at Bagram. Itâs a black hole, just like the prison at the Baghdad airport where Iraqâs Most Wanted go.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 10:17:43 AM ||
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I wonder if any of them will 'die' in U.S. custody, following which we bag Hekkieboy.
On Jan. 6, a series of explosions ripped through the east side of the city of Kandahar, and 11 days later the effects of those explosions were still evident on the children in the 452nd Combat Support Hospital here. As many as 14 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the double bomb blast in the "spiritual home of the Taliban," just one day after Afghanistan adopted a new constitution, according to a statement from the office of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. The victims were mainly children from the nearby Abdul Ahad Karzai primary school, named after the presidentâs father, who was assassinated by Taliban agents five years ago. Many were transferred to medical facilities at Kandahar Air Field, while others were evacuated to Bagram.
"We received 11 victims total â all of them being children," said Capt. Mary Jo Literski, a nurse with the 452nd CSH out of Milwaukee, Wis. "For our facility, thatâs a large number of casualties all at once." Literski said most of the injuries were shrapnel wounds from the explosion, many of them requiring surgery. "The shrapnel only makes a small puncture mark when it goes in, but then it does a lot of damage on the inside. So most of them needed abdominal surgery to get the shrapnel out and repair the damage to the internal organs," Literski said. She said that without the medical care provided at the U.S. hospital, many of the children would have died. "(In Afghanistan) there is a medical system, but itâs very limited," Literski said. "Their surgical capabilities are almost not available." Rest of article at link
"The strong will stand, the weak will fall by the wayside." For Air Force tactical air control party airmen, these words are more than just a motto; they also serve as a battle cry. Wherever American military forces are found, TACP airmen are sure to be nearby. Nicknamed the "Air Force infantry" because they spend most of their career assigned to Army units, tactical controllers can most often be found embedded with special operations forces. Rest of article at the link
#1
Heard a TAC F-4 Pilot talking trash with some guy on a troop transfer bus. Something like "it's not if I'm bombing and straffing, it's when I'm bombing and straffing.
In a half hour panel discussion â âThe Media and Entertainment Agendaâ â organized by the Arab News ...International Herald Tribune publisher Michael Golden described the US news media as a relatively small community in a huge industry that is the biggest export earner in the US economy. Heâs right about that. I bet some networks would drop their "news" departments like a hot potato if they didnât feel they had to keep up appearances.
He expressed what some saw as the insouciant opinion that they were ânot trying to convince people of a particular point of view,â a comment that brought a guffaw of disbelief from some sections of the audience. One member of the press corps was heard to suggest loudly that Golden should actually read some of the publications in his group more closely and mentioned a notorious web journalist. Wish I knew what journalist they mean. Arab News pointed to the panel that the American people are led to believe that the Arab media is controlled and censored and that satellite channels such as Al-Jazeera are hostile because they show images, in Iraq and Palestine, that are unfavorable to the Americans rather that presenting Americaâs take on events. Arab News asked if the panel thought there was much misrepresentation, distortion and manipulation in the American media of the Arab world. Golden gave what several people in the audience thought was a non-answer. He said that in the US there is a clear choice of media outlets. âThere are people whose goal is to convince others of their point of view... even if itâs misguided,â in direct contradiction to his previous assertion that the press was not trying to convince people of a particular point of view. No contradiction there. He said that some news outlets have that goal, not all. Itâs called a free press, something Saudi Arabia doesnât understand. But wait, thereâs more. Guess who else was on the panel:
Former Saturday Night Live star Chevy Chase and cult Hollywood actor John Cusack. Both actors greeted the auditorium with the Islamic greeting of âAssalam Alaikumâ to the evident pleasure of the crowd. Sycophants.
âIâve never had so much fun being recognized by so many of younger....er, actually not so young generation here,â said Chase of an evening spent meeting Saudis. Chevy Chase is no longer funny. Maybe thatâs why heâs sucking up to the Arabs. I mean, he did get work slinging Turkish cola.
Cusack was also surprised by his being recognized. âI had no idea my movies played hereâ mistakenly thinking movie theaters existed in the Kingdom. âHow little we know about your culture, poetry, your art,â he added. âWe tend to see only caricatures of each other.â I used to respect Cusack. But now heâs sucking up to the Arabs too. And doesnât even know one of the most basic things about Saudi Arabia: No movie theaters. Because thereâs no freedom there. :::sigh:::
#2
Let's say that you are a publisher in Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, the UAE, for six examples (and there are more): How long do you expect to be in business (or stay out of jail) if on two consecutive days you publish editorials that criticize the status quo? Hypocracy, thy name is Arab journalism.
#3
Did you say Pussyfootin? We ain't gonna pussyfoot around this arab - jew question. No nattering and no pussyfooting. Me and Outsider and gonna come out of this monitor and show you RantBurgers some Southron Hospitality, which means if you don't allow jew bashin we gonna put you in a southern hospital! Yes! We're going to Georgia! We're going to West Virginia, We're going to Milledgeville, We're going to Chattahoochee! We're going to Arcadia... We've been to Bedlam already YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
EFI
Saudi Arabiaâs King Fahd has urged some 900,000 pilgrims [there are country by country quotas; with 1 billion moslems in the world, the quotas effectively prevent over 90% of moslems from carrying out one of the 5 top commandments of Islam]
who have already converged on the kingdomâs Muslim holy cities to take part in this yearâs Haj to abide by local rules, newspapers reported Tuesday. "The kingdom has taken the necessary measures to ... provide the conditions that would enable the pilgrims to perform rituals in peace," [lots of non Saudi guards have been hired]
Fahd told the cabinet on Monday. The Saudi monarch urged the faithful not to violate Saudi laws and regulations and to "avoid anything that might desecrate the pilgrimage or undermine the pilgrimsâ security." The daily Arab News said some 900,000 faithful had already arrived in Mecca and Medina ahead of the Haj, which begins on January 30. More than two million pilgrims, including 1.3 million foreigners, are expected this year, it said.... Saudi authorities, who have rounded up hundreds of suspected extremists since the bombings blamed on sympathisers of the al-Qaeda militant network, have also stepped up security in Mecca. Riyadh has warned pilgrims against causing trouble every year since 1987.... Meetings or the raising of political slogans are firmly banned. [just like every day in the Kingdom]
Posted by: mhw ||
01/21/2004 10:15:24 AM ||
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What's a jihadi to do ? Supposed to blow us up on February 2, but don't want to miss the Haj. Damn.
#2
....the quotas effectively prevent over 90% of moslems from carrying out one of the 5 top commandments of Islam....mhw
It may be an inconvenience for some, but since they are obliged to complete only one Hajj in a life time, there will be other opportunities to discharge this duty.
here is the arithmatic
1.3 non Saudis are allowed in per year
so in, say, 70 years, that's about 100 million
but the current non Saudi Islamic population is about 1 billion. So even if the population stays at 1 billion, only about 10% of the population will do the haj.
#4
I stand corrected. Must have put the decimal point in the wrong place. You're right of course, a billion is a thousand million. (Begining to sound like G. Gordon Liddy.)
Wonder how the keepers of the faith are going to solve this problem since it is a pillar of Islam.
#5
Well, if there is trouble I got the answer right up here in my pocket. We'll nip it, nip it, nip it. There will be no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, repeat no peanut butter and jelly for them what piss off allen.
Posted by: Ole Barn ||
01/21/2004 16:28 Comments ||
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Al-Qaida has foiled an attack by Saudi security forces on its members in Riyadh, Islamist websites have reported. Two websites carried a statement on Tuesday attributed to the "Al-Qaida Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula" outlining how the attack was thwarted. The group "was tipped off by Mahmoud the Weasel elements within the Saudi security service about an impending attack against the mujahidin, who were in a public place in Al-Rabwa neighbourhood of Riyadh", the statement said. The alleged assault was supposed to take place on Friday night, said the statement, which was posted on www.alpalsam.com and a Yahoo message board. "On the basis of this information, the mujahidin evacuated the place and went to a safer spot," said the statement, which hailed "the security service members who cooperate with Al-Qaida".
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 8:25:36 AM ||
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Saudi Arabiaâs highest ranking idiot and candyass religious authority said yesterday that Saudi women appearing without their veils in the presence of men "cause the doors of evil to open." He was later overheard saying: âEeww! Women are ickyâ! Has anyone seen the pool boy?
Grand CandyassMufti Sheik Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikâs remarks came after Saudi Arabiaâs leading businesswoman, Lubna Olayan, who delivered the opening speech at an economic conference in the Red Sea port of Jidda this week, was shown on the front pages of local newspapers without a head scarf. OMYGODINHEAVEN!
"This is prohibited for all. ...what? was there a terrorist attack?...
I severely condemn this matter and warn of grave consequences. ...was there an assault oh his majesty?...
I am pained by such shameful behavior in the country of the two holy mosques," Sheik Abdulaziz said in remarks carried by the state Saudi Press Agency. Oh! Heâs upset because the cooties machine is in the house.
Men and women at the conference were segregated by a bug zapper and screen, but women were able to cross over into the menâs section â portrayed by some Saudi journalists as a sign of liberalization in the conservative country. I will never understand this. What man would demand that women cover themselves up?
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
01/21/2004 8:06:37 AM ||
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A pathetic man.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 8:13 Comments ||
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#2
One who knows "his" woman would leave him for another in an instant if she could get the chains off.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
01/21/2004 8:39 Comments ||
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#5
So, you can't control yerself so it's the girl's fault. I wish that when ol' pedo Mo wrote his big book o' lies he had added a line similar to "If your eye offends you, gouge it out." Imagine the fun. Hell, that one-eyed bastard in Britain could be king.
#8
an ayotollah is a senior clergyman in shia islam, with a broad religious and religious law role - roughly a bishop.
a mufti, IIUC (its been a while since ive read lewis, etc) is a juriconsult -someone who a local religious judge is supposed to turn to to resolve hard cases - had an official role in the Ottoman system for a given district, etc. A secular analogy would be an appelate judge, sorta. A Catholic analogy would be a senior cannon lawyer, I guees, though a Jewish Rosh Yeshiva might be closer - though no such geographically delimited official roles for the latter (Israel has official district rabbis but theyre more administrative officials, IIUC, in charge of patronage and distribution of funds to local synagogues - the juriconsult role is still maintained OUTSIDE the state apparatus there)
#9
more importanly look at the whole article - in which numerous women at the conference called for change. also look at the article below in which a prince called for change. I see signs of ferment, even if the establishment is fighting back.
#12
Shipman---your offroad package comment cracked me up! Beef borrito frags all over the keyboard.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/21/2004 23:14 Comments ||
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Mufti Sheik Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikâs sounds to belong one of the most respectable Islamic Clerics family in Saudi Arabia but his comments on Ms. Lubna Olayan have provided evidence of him being a rotten egg of the family. Either he doesnât know how respectable the lady is or what services to Islamic ethics she has been rendering, or he just gave such comments for some nasty purposes. I have personal experience of working with Luba during 8Oâs and 9Oâs and found her most dignified and observing a real Muslim woman etiquettes better than most veil-observing females in the Kingdom. Morally she is great. She is a caring mother of 3 grown up children, runs an excellent household, and of course, a successful prominent business-woman at international level. She leads an excellent reputation through the international business community. By all true and real Islamic standards laid in teachings of the Quran and Sayings of the prophet (PBUH) she is very respect worthy.
Even the founding Kingâs grandson gets roughed up for speaking his mind. He dared criticize King Fahd. The outcome of this case should be interesting.
A Saudi prince who was kidnapped in Switzerland, smuggled back to the kingdom and placed under house arrest is threatening to take senior ministers to court. Speaking exclusively to Aljazeera on Wednesday, Prince Sultan bin Turki bin Abd al-Aziz described in detail how he was seized in Geneva and taken back to Saudi Arabia against his will last June. The kingâs nephew is currently under house arrest in the Saudi capital, but still plans to take the State Minister Prince Abd al-Aziz bin Fahd and Islamic Affairs Minister Sheikh Salih Al al-Sheikh to court. The kidnapped prince said five masked men had stormed his office in Geneva while he was meeting another member of the royal family, beat, bound and gagged him before loading him on to a private jet.
"Don Aziz wantsa talk to youse, mug!"
In his official statement, Prince Sultan said he held "the Saudi government responsible for meting out justice" and he expected the two ministers to pay the consequences of their actions. A leading Saudi reformist, London-based Dr Saad al-Faqih, said Riyadh was faced with a real problem in dealing with the prince, his high profile making it extremely unlikely he would be imprisoned or murdered. "However, it is impossible to keep him silent either and very difficult for authorities to stop mobile phones and faxes from being smuggled in and out of the palace."
So he'll prob'ly end up going for a drive in the desert, never to return...
Al-Faqih claims Prince Sultan was seized in Geneva for his public criticism of royal family extravagance and dubious investments â particularly King Fahdâs financial relationship with Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri. You can only imagine how Mahmoud-the-street-vendor would be treated for the same transgression.
Posted by: Gasse Katze ||
01/21/2004 3:46:30 AM ||
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his high profile making it extremely unlikely he would be imprisoned or murdered.
So I guess he won't be having one of those "car accidents" on a lonely desert road?
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 8:49 Comments ||
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#2
Bummer for poor ol' Prince Sultan bin whatever. One day your sipping hot schocolate and doing the slopes in a free, happy fun place, smoking fine cigars, shots of brandy. The next day your in pissville. Site of the two places that Mo said are holy.
#3
He could always go out like Andrey Zhdanov & suffer from (IIRC) 'sudden heart paralysis', a rare but well documented medical condition that affects people who fall from grace in autocratic societies...
Posted by: Dave ||
01/21/2004 17:37 Comments ||
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EFL
British use of cluster bombs in the Iraq war could count as a war crime and justifies further investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor in the Hague, a group of international lawyers say. we should be using hugs and kisses against murderous thugs, you see, or possibly a âTeddy Bearâ bomb
Seven academics from Britain, Ireland, France and Canada an impartial group if there ever was one
interviewed eyewitnesses and examined evidence to see if there was a case for referring British conduct to the court, said the useful idiots pressure group Peacerights, which organised the review. "There is a considerable amount of evidence of disproportionate use of force causing civilian casualties," one of the lawyers ... what? you want to see it? well, itâs there, trust me, just wait until trial
"The U.S. cannot be tried before the court because it refuses to sign up to it. The UK did." gee, canât imagine why the u.s. told these a-holes to stuff it; of course, the ICC would never never never, ever be used as a political club
Use of bunker-busting munitions had also killed civilians, Peacerights said. nothing about charging saddam with using industrial shredders on civilians tho, imagine that
ICC officials were unavailable to comment, but Bowring said senior politicians, possibly including Prime Minister Tony Blair, could have something to worry about. aim high, it increase contributions and grabs headlines
"Heads of state are not immune in principle," unless theyâre anti-western, anti-U.S. socialists
the law professor said. "This one goes right to the top." U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said last month more than 1,000 civilians were killed or wounded by some 13,000 U.S. and British cluster bombs in the Iraq war last year. proof? anyone? anyone? beuller?
Bowring said the report would be sent to both the British attorney general Lord Goldsmith and the ICC. yes, thereâs nothing else they should be doing, like rolling up islamofascists in the UK
Experts were dubious the case would proceed. even al-reuters has to acknowledge this, but why run the story in the 1st place?
The British military was also the subject of complaints to the ICC last July when Greek lawyers sent the court a dossier of human rights allegations in Iraq. you ouzo drinking swine better PRAY there arenât any casualties at the olympics
The court has received hundreds of complaints from dozens of countries since it came into force in July 2002, not a one of them in any way a political attack, no no no
but only one formal investigation has been launched, into reported crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Posted by: 4thInfVet ||
01/21/2004 10:55:40 AM ||
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What is wrong with these idiotarians? They ought to be looking into the illegal use of machetes in Rawanda.
Posted by: B ||
01/21/2004 11:18 Comments ||
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#3
There is no money or publicity in machetes. Just a cultural thing. Move along.
Posted by: john ||
01/21/2004 11:52 Comments ||
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#4
A MOAB could be an effective alternative. No fuss and no mess. It would be like putting your oven in clean mode - just kind of wipe the residue away with a paper towel.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 12:01 Comments ||
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#5
"There is a considerable amount of evidence of disproportionate use of force causing civilian casualties,"
I'll say. Bodies are being unearthed in Iraq every day, and there's more mass graves that have yet to be found and.......... say what? This isn't what they're talking about? Oh okay then, never mind.
#7
They ought to be looking into the illegal use of machetes in Rwanda.
Those machetes aren't being wielded by Westerners, and as such, aren't worthy of attention or investigation by idiotari....ahem, "international lawyers".
We have to make sure we're deliberately using it on women, children, old people, and puppies tho. Otherwise the Peace Organizations will have to fabricate things.
#9
Leftists seem to think that military pilots wake up in the morning, take chow, jump into their fighter jets just loaded with heavy ordnance, take off and bomb anything that moves.
Because of this abject ignorance, they are imbued with this rage over how callous and inhumane military pilots are.
Sooo, I will repeat in this post: NATO pilots, and their air staffs are extremely careful about the rules of war and the targets that are chosen; their air staff make damn certain the location is right and the target is right before their pilots even go wheels up.
Heck, even the US has damn military lawyers vetting many if not all targets struck.
Now, strictly speaking for myself alone and not for the rather more professional military people running things, I still like my 24 bomber 48 nuclear cruise missile solution to Islamic terrorists, but that is just me.
So, the moron who posted this communistic crap needs to drop to his/her knees and praise Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that guys like me do not run things.
#13
No, we're using dolphins to clear land mines. It's not very efficient, but damn, it's funny.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 14:27 Comments ||
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RC, does Green Peace ever protest when a tuna accidently gets tossed in the field and flops about before discovering a mine?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 14:38 Comments ||
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#15
They don't protest for long, and that's the beauty of the system: You toss a dolphin into the field, then the Greenpeacers run through the field to rescue the dolphin.
If you're careful, you can use the dolphin multiple times, and even return it to the wild when you're done.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 15:02 Comments ||
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#16
LMAO, coffee/beverage alert!
Posted by: Rafael ||
01/21/2004 15:40 Comments ||
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#17
I couldn't be paid to go tp the Greek Olympics. I am betting that they will be some unexpected fireworks there. The greek government thinks that they are out of bounds because of their stand agaimst the US, think again.
Posted by: Capt Joe ||
01/21/2004 15:47 Comments ||
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RC have you heard anything about the secret baby seal teams?
THE Australian wife of alleged terrorist Willie Brigitte has been detained in Paris. Melanie Brown, 27, who has been visiting France, where her husband is being held, was taken into custody on Tuesday and is currently being questioned by French police.
"Come wiz me, madam, if you please!"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Non."
"Ms Brown is assisting French authorities with their inquiries into Mr Brigitteâs activities and is being treated in accordance with French law," Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said last night.
"Cigarette?"
"No, thank you. I don't smoke."
"The French authorities are aware that the Australian Government has no information to suggest Ms Brown was involved in her husbandâs security related activities."
"And where were you on the night of the 14th, madam?"
Mr Ruddock said Ms Brown had been advised that she should seek independent legal advice if she intended to travel to France.
"At home. In bed."
"Alone?"
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs minister Alexander Downer said Ms Brown would receive consular assistance if she requested it.
"What do you think?"
"I don't think, madam. I only ask questions."
It was unclear last night if Ms Brown had attempted to visit her husband.
"Tell me, is this your veil?"
"That's not a veil. It's a handkerchief."
"LeGume! Bring me the veil! This is a handkerchief!"
"Sorry, Inspecteur!"
French authorities said earlier this month they had no record of her seeking permission to go to the bleak prison hidden behind Parisâs Orly Airport.
It was a dark and stormy night. High on the hill, behind Paris' Orly Airport, the bleak prison was pounded by rain...
A spokesman for the Australian Embassy in Paris said Ms Brown had not asked the embassy for help in trying to get access to her husband.
"I need help! But... I cannot ask for it! It is too... dangerous!"
Ms Brown, a former Australian soldier and student at Danebank Anglican School in Hurstville, met Caribbean-born Willie Brigitte in the middle of last year. Like her husband she had become a follower of Islam shortly before the marriage. Previously she had been a member of a Jewish lesbian group, even participating in a float for the organisation in Sydneyâs Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 2002.
"Tell me, madam. How did you come to be a Jewish lesbian?"
The pair rented a small two-bedroom flat in Shadforth St, Wiley Park, for six weeks. He had spent three years training as a marine in the French armed forces and she joined the army as a full-time soldier and after basic training moved into the signals corps. Ms Brown was reportedly trained in Arabic, was posted to Townsville, and undertook a tour of duty in East Timor.
"That is all for now. But, madam..."
"Yes?"
"Don't try to leave the country, eh?"
Ms Brown has been cleared by ASIO and the Australian Federal Police of any wrongdoing or having any knowledge of what the al-Qaeda-trained Brigitte was doing in Australia.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 8:15:09 AM ||
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Ms Brown had been advised that she should seek independent legal advice
I think she needs a shrink more than a lawyer. First she's an Anglican school student, then an Aussie soldier, then a Jewish lesbian, then she meets up with some guy named "Brigitte" and converts to Islam? All before she hits 30?
Umit Bayrak, Seckin Mandaci and Evren Hidiroglu who had been detained in northwestern town of Gebze after the suicide car bomb attacks in Istanbul talked about their experiences at Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan where 450 Turkish âstudentsâ received training.
"Yasss. I was majoring in high explosives..."
Seckin Mandaci (code name: Abdusselam) said, ââthe place we went was the Ekrat camp near Jalalabad. After the religious, political and military training, we were digging foxholes. In the evenings, we were praying, reading holy Koran and making religious talks. We were obliged to go to sleep at 10 p.m. There was no electricity and listening to radio was prohibited. I knew Ilyas Kuncak who blew himself up with a lorry in front of the HSBC in Istanbul and his son-in-law Abdulkadir Karakus. We got acquainted with each other nearly six months ago and met for several times.ââ
Enver Hidiroglu (code name: Ensar)said, ââI entered the Ekrat camp with the help of Ali Uzum whose code name is Abu Muhammad. During a bomb training, the hand-made bomb exploded accidentally and I lost two of my fingers. I had doctors cure my left hand as I told them that I was wounded during war. People at the camp were very pleased with the September 11 attacks. After those attacks, the camp was evacuated.ââ
Umit Bayrak (code name: Zeyd) said, ââGurcan Bac whose code name is Ebu Omar, the person who is frequently mentioned for the bombings in Istanbul was one of the top men at the Ekrat camp. Burhan Kus whose code name is Hamza was the man responsible for training. We were seven men and they gave us numbers. I was the number one. Although we did not cover our faces at camp, we wore masks when we went to lunch. We were not allowed to talk to other groups. Our camp official has us swear to God that we would not talk to anybody. The first phase took three months. Later, Burhan Kus ordered me to give bomb training to eight new comers. I taught them lessons about preparation of bombs with acetone, ammonium nitrate, artificial fertilizer and potassium nitrate. We were wearing masks also during those lessons. I donât know the exact place of the camp but there was a motorway 200-300 meters south of it. We were using water of a stream. There was a dining hall, laboratory and arsenal at the camp in addition to houses of Gurcan Bac and Burhan Kus. The training programme is as follows:
04.00: ritual ablution, praying, reading Koran
05.30: sports
07.00: breakfast
08.00: resting
08.30: study of hadiths and conversation
09.00: theoretical and practical weapon training
10.30: cooking
12.00: lunch and praying
14.00: bomb preparation and explosives training
15.30: praying and leisure time
22.00: sleep
No wonder they are so ineffective at times, only three hours of weapon and bomb training each day.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 11:01:17 AM ||
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450 Turkish âstudentsâ Wow! That's a lot of nutjobs floating around. Have they found them all yet?
Posted by: B ||
01/21/2004 11:11 Comments ||
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I don't think bomb prep is the best course late after noon and right after lunch.
#3
I don't think bomb prep is the best course late after noon and right after lunch.
"What's the matter, Abdul?"
"Sorry, (burp) I think that humus we had for lunch (burp) disagreed with me. Now, after you connect the blue wire, (burp) you connect the red wire taking care not to..(burp)" KABOOM
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 13:28 Comments ||
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#4
What "sports" do you play for an hour and a half starting at 5:30am?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 14:28 Comments ||
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EFL but silliness remains unsullied. Fred, sorry for yet another post on this issue, but this one is so chalk full of rationalizing stupidity that I couldnât resist posting it. It called my name all morning like a jelly donut. I knew its siren call would plague me throughout the day. Kill it if you wish; I have excorcised my headscarf demon.
A proposed ban on religious symbols in French state schools could include a ban on beards, according to the French education minister. Luc Ferry said the law, which will be debated in parliament next month, could ban headscarves, bandannas and beards if they are considered a sign of faith. But Mr Ferry said Sikhs might be able to wear head coverings if they were discreet. He also acknowledged that Sikhs were not permitted by their religion to cut their hair, and suggested that they could wear caps. If your religious believe procludes you from cutting your hair, wonât you have to wear one of those red and white floppy stovepipes from The Cat In the Hat?
Mr Ferry, in a National Assembly legal committee hearing about the draft law, said the definition of a religious symbol in the proposed law was broad so that pupils could not bypass the law simply by deviating from a list of proscribed items. So any compromise act aimed at compliance will be interpreted as an attempt to skirt the intent of the law.
Some Muslim girls wear bandannas to cover their hair as an alternative to the traditional headscarf, feeling it is easier to blend in to the crowd. So bandanas are on the no-no list. What happens if youâre just having a bad hair day, are a fan of the Grateful Dead, or are nostalgic for the taste Aunt Jemimah syrup?
Asked about beards, as worn by many Muslims, Mr Ferry said: "As soon as it becomes a religious sign and the code is apparent, it would fall under this law." I am conflicted on this one. I donât really care for that pubescent bean sprout on the chin thing, but this kind of penalizes the followers of the Norse god Odin as well. Also for those youths who can grow an actual beard or mustache, this unfairly inhibits their efforts to buy alcohol underage. Jacques Myard, an MP from Mr Chiracâs ruling party weighs in. "Beards are not at stake because we have young boys and they donât have beards," he said. So the beard rule only applies to kids young enough so that they canât grow them anyway.
As the proposal stands at the moment, discreet religious symbols - such as a small star of David or cross worn around the neck - would be permitted. But he said ordinary headbands, which he described as "invisible turbans", were preferable to traditional headgear. So invisible turnbans are allowed.
"This is more a question of discipline than any religious or political affair but I would say today that we are not facing a religious approach with the Muslims as long as they are sikhs, which arenât really Muslims. We are facing a genuine political policy that tries to enforce their own Sharia Law on the civil law which is not acceptable." Huh?
He told the BBCâs World Update programme that France was "absolutely tolerant to any religion". Huh? The Sikh angle is a great addition to the controversy. Itâs the inevitable twist to any effort to rein in free expression. Many American companies are dealing with this issue with regards to their smoking policies. There is always some person who wants to know how the new policy will affect those who chew tobacco or use snuff. It is always fun to see somebody with a tie trying to discuss the dangers of second-hand spit.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 9:43:13 AM ||
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I just keep my dip habit very discrete in the office. Besides, the stains in the carpet were becoming unseemly.
#2
I knew itâs siren call would plague me throughout the day.
Thanks for beating me to it. This story was calling to me like the One Ring whispering in Frodo's ear. "Post me, post me, you know you want to, my precious, yesssssssss!!!!"
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 9:57 Comments ||
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#3
Our local news reader wore what appeared to be a partially stuffed polecat on his head for years. What's the problem?
#4
I actually lay awake last night thinking about the headscarf issue. God help me.
I think the headscarf issue is going to become a highly emotional issue for women, much more so than any of us expect. To Muslims, it is a symbol of their identity and to western women it is a symbol of the oppression that the Arab world subjects women to - and would force upon us if they could.
Don't get me wrong - I have no problem with Muslim women wearing the headscarf, any more than I have a problem with Christians wearing a cross or Jews wearing a Star of David. That's not my point.
Just mark my words - this issue will be divisive! And to prove my point, look at this article linked from Instapundit.
After years of being rendered speechless over rape-rooms, stonings, exploding women, and all other manner of unspeakable oppression....the feminazis finally found the inner strength to speak up to condemn Daniel Pipes...that's right Daniel Pipes for saying that the headscarf was a fashion statement for the Muslim women (or whatever it was he was saying...I'm not quite sure WHAT he was saying, to be honest).
If, after giving a pass to all of the other atrocities, this issue can bring the feminazis to suddenly rediscover their voice for issues regarding women, instead of for just bashing white males, and even though they could only bring themselves to direct their anger toward a politcally correct conservative target....well...need I say more???
Posted by: B ||
01/21/2004 10:55 Comments ||
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#5
Darn, it never works when I do the link. I'm going to try again.
Posted by: B ||
01/21/2004 10:56 Comments ||
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#6
ok..so I'm stupid. Here it is but I broke it up with a return after 2004 so it wouldn't cause a problem
#8
If I were writing a screenplay to document this ridiculous controversy for all time using the made-for TV format (which would be a satire unto itself), I would have the German Chancellor attempt to provide political cover for Chiraq by banning baldness in German schools to combat the intolerance of skinheads. This would force actual bald people to wear wigs to school. Can you imagine an entire school protesting the ordinance with Trafficant toupees. Sinead O'Connor would sing at a candlelight vigil for the oppressed.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 11:12 Comments ||
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#9
Will religious symbols include NASCAR numbers? Like I worship 8.
Posted by: john ||
01/21/2004 12:32 Comments ||
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#10
B, I read what was at the link - I disagree with what she said in that the solution should not be outlaw the bandana. The solution would be to protect the women from the acid throwers and then let the women decide how they want to dress. Government's sole function is to protect citizens from bozo's.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 13:46 Comments ||
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#11
SH - I completely agree with you. I'm just predicting that this is going to become a highly emotional issue, for both western and Muslim women, rather than a rational one.
Posted by: B ||
01/21/2004 14:40 Comments ||
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#12
Wait a minute. I thought we were wrong because we attacked terrorists instead of dealing with them judicially. How can these same clowns that say would should be arresting terrorists then fail to arrest the acid throwers? BZZZB. .... Sorry, brainlock. I'm better now. Must have entered the wrong logic path.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 14:43 Comments ||
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#13
Will religious symbols include NASCAR numbers? Like I worship 8.
See the light infidel. 19 is the Holy Number and Mayfield is the chosen Dodge Boy.
Posted by: Lake Loyd ||
01/21/2004 16:33 Comments ||
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#14
I dreamt that all this tempest in Frawnce over the hijab was a mad hatter's tea party put on for my enjoyment. I awoke from my dream and found out that it was for real. Not only that, I saw multitudes jumping on the raft floating on the sewage lagoon.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/21/2004 23:28 Comments ||
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Most of the detachment of 70 Dutch commandos dispatched to southern Iraq late last year to monitor possible terrorist activities along the Saudi Arabian border returned home to the Netherlands on Tuesday. The commandos were deployed in December 2003 after security concerns were raised about the 1,100 Dutch peacekeeping troops stationed in Iraq. But the special operations forces failed to detect any terrorist activities in their patrol region, the Defence Ministry said.
"Noep. We looked. Nothin' there."
The Dutch troops are in charge of security in the thinly-populated, desert province of Al Muthanna in the south of Iraq. Concerns were heightened after 19 Italian soldiers were killed not far from where the Dutch are based in the city of As Samawah. Iraqi authorities also confirmed the arrest of an Al Qaeda suspect towards the end of last year who was allegedly planning a bomb attack against Dutch troops. Defence Minister Henk Kamp thus resolved to deploy the 70 commandos to secure the region and 55 of them returned home on Tuesday. The other 15 commandos will stay in Iraq for several more weeks to assist marines train Iraqi police. The initial deployment of the commandos irritated many marines already in Iraq because it gave the impression the primary protection force needed protection, news agency ANP reported.
Everyone was so confused...
But Minister Kamp said time and time again that the peacekeeping troops were fully capable of defending themselves against attack and the commandos were only on temporary assignment to gather intelligence. If the security situation degenerates in Iraq, the Dutch commandos can be quickly re-deployed to the region.
We can all breathe easieer for that...
The Dutch Parliament has approved a six-month extension of the peacekeeping mission and troops will remain in Iraq until at least the middle of this year. Dutch forces are expected to gradually start the transfer of power to Iraqi authorities in March.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:07:46 AM ||
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Any word on whether the Dutchies whacked any bad guys?
#2
The dutch wacked the grand total of one bad guy, and how did we respond to that? By repatriating the marine in question and see if criminal charges could be brought against him.
We are a deeply wierd people.
Fred, thereâs "terrorism" and thereâs terrorism
Or a bunch of spoiled brats - via Lucianne:
SAN FRANCISCO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggerâs key campaign promise to roll back a tripling of the stateâs car tax was challenged directly to the California Supreme Court on Wednesday by a coalition of college students and social activists whose members and clients will bear the brunt of his budget cuts. Opponents of the governorâs November tax cut, which saves motorists $4 billion a year in annual registration renewal fees, want a majority of the seven high court justices to overturn the pledge, which has deepened the stateâs deficit, and along with it, the need for cuts to services...
And who are the groups, you ask???
Parker said the University of California Student Association, Californians for Justice and the Equal Justice Society went directly to the Supreme Court in hopes that it would act immediately. A case of this scope commencing in a trial court could take months or years to resolve.
Rall just attended an exhibition of paintings by French schoolchildren:
Panel after grisly panel depicted the United States, George Bush and those ubiquitous symbols of American commercial culture--McDonaldâs and Coke--as murderous, predatory and gleefully vicious. Obese Uncle Sams chopping up Iraqi children with a knife, their blood gushing across construction paper.
Funny how there were no such exhibitions while Saddam was gassing, maiming and torturing his own people. But, oooooooh --- Coke, McDonalds --- the humanity!
Rall was split between pleasure and pain:
We donât take issue with most of the cartoonsâ messages. They see Bush as a vicious, thoughtless warmonger with fascist tendencies, Americans as arrogant brutes who donât give a passing thought to the innocent people who die at the hands of their government and rapacious corporations as hegemonic steamrollers that crush cultural distinctiveness and independence in their ceaseless quest for the almighty dollar. They canât believe that we feel more entitled to use military force than Luxembourg or Monaco.
... But the level of rage and vitriol against America and everything related to it (one kid even trashed Tropicana orange juice) surpassed prewar propaganda in Saddamâs Iraqi press. And these are kids.
Indeed. Itâs troubling to see how children even in Western countries are now being fed the same kind of anti-US propaganda that suidide bombers in the Arab world are. But Rall doesnât worry about that. The more people (or kids) in his Bush-bashing party the better.
#3
So will Rall take a step back and reconsider the anti-American tripe he's built his career on? Of course not. He can't see how his crap is connected to what he saw on display.
BTW -- after Rall's attack on Petty Officer Neil Roberts (who fell from a helicopter, was captured by al'Qaeda and then murdered), I vowed I'd never look at anything he ever had a part in creating. Does Rall bother to find out why this message was so popular among the school kids? Was it a requirement, or was the showing selective in what was exhibited?
Does he bother to take the time to wonder about a country (France) that apparently teaches its kids to hate Americans?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 19:27 Comments ||
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#4
I'm guessing the reason the kids "hate us" is because they are ignorant schoolchildren (this is almost redundant) who've---well, let's let Ted explain it:
Children get their politics from their parents and teachers, who form their impressions from the media.
Right. Anti-American media, anti-American kids. Ted, of course, instantly jumps to the conclusion that the European media has been reporting reality while American media has been reporting fantasy.
Frankly, I'm surprised Ted's surprised. If the kids were raised on a strict diet of Ted Rall columns, this is exactly the sort of conclusion they'd come to.
Ted tells us that four American "artists" (all from newspapers, so presumably that means they're editorial cartoonists)---all of them anti-war---were invited to the town's annual cartoon art festival. So this wasn't just an exhibition of children's art, it was an exhibition of political cartoons. In an anti-American country (don't even try to deny it), it's not surprising that the cartoons would be anti-American. Pro-Americanism will not win the prize.
Ted also tells us that some American high schools got into such an anti-French snit that they stopped teaching French. That, I hadn't heard (and don't believe). But remember: French-bashing bad, American-bashing entirely understandable.
This is for Robert Crawford and others who fear a psychotic episode if they are exposed to another Ted Rall column. Tips always welcome.
#5
Not a psychotic episode, but one similar to what happens to David Banner when he gets mad. Also, not even viewing anything Rall has touched keeps the chance that hits on his material could be counted as an "readers" and somehow prolong his employment.
As for grade schools no longer teaching French -- yeah, right. If it happened, it's probably because the district would rather spend the money on jocks and toys than on a language teacher. Second place would be that no one really cares anymore.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 19:52 Comments ||
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#6
Brain vomit like this is the reason why no one should give a rats ass what that F*tard Rall has to say. His anti-Americanism (or dementia)is well documented.
Screw him.
#7
I would suggest that there is a long term decline in teaching and learning French as the language is in decline. It is almost universal phenomena that when two people meet and do not have the same native language in common, then they speak English. In our globalizing world there is a network effect at work that will result in English as the universal language and American English as the primary variant. This is inevitable and will happen much sooner than most people realize. I have already seen pronounced changes in the 10 short years the Internet has been generally available
Given a choice between learning French and improving English. The latter is clearly a better choice for around 95% of the world's population.
Posted by: Phil B ||
01/21/2004 20:10 Comments ||
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#8
Phil,
I heard someplace a couple of years ago that there are more Chinese (in China) who speak English as a 2nd language then there are Americans/Canadians (in North America) who speak it as a primary language.
#9
crazyfool - My experience of the English spoken by mainland chinese and these are the university educated ones is that its pretty awful. Most of them have had no exposure to native English speakers at all. This will change but it will take a few years. OTOH educated Indians all speak good English.
Posted by: Phil B ||
01/21/2004 23:24 Comments ||
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Edited for length and relevence.
Awaiting the birth of her first child in London (where she lives with her husband), actress Gwyneth Paltrow recently announced that she will not raise her kid in America. Hey, Gweneth, wanna improve the quality of life in America? Stay in England with your hellspawn. In 20 years when prayers five time a day in England multi-cultural society are imposed along with the âbagâ, you can remind your child about all the ills of the USA.
The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave is just too dangerous a place — with all of these gun-toting, super-patriots running around — Ms. P proclaimed. Dangerous place for leftists such as Ms. Paltry Paltrow
The Oscar-winning actress told a British publication: âI worry about bringing up a child in America. At the moment, thereâs a weird, over-patriotic atmosphere over there, like, âWeâre number one and the rest of the world doesnât matter.ââ Riiight. The world doesnât matter; sounds Clintonesque, without the patriotism, without the responsibility. Iffin the world doesnât matter, why did Bush go to the UN TWICE to get their blessing for removing Saddam? Iffin the world doesnât matter why do we have several countries aiding us in Iraq? Why? Becuase you run aroud with your fifth column socialist friends and you refuse to pull your head out of your ass to see the world as it really is, not as Comrade Paltrow wants the world to be seen.
If frantic flag-waving werenât enough, the nation apparently is awash in firearms. âAnd the guns in school — itâs not great,â Paltrow complained. Youâd think the legendary gun lobby was handing out assault rifles at the schoolhouse door. (Blame not the NRA, but the ACLU and other proponents of permissiveness, for violence in our schools.) Show me the guns, girl. Fact is, you canât.
At the time of the Iraq war, the star-spangled girl informed another British interviewer. âI love America and I completely stand behind America. But at the same time, Iâm a free thinking person and I question motives too and I question this war and the motives behind it.â Undeniably, Paltrow is free. Clearly, she has a right to question or oppose administration policy. Itâs the âthinking personâ part thatâs in doubt — especially in an individual above adolescence who introduces a statement with the word âlike.â You just have been hiding in a cave to not understand the reasons why we are at war. 911? Remember that, or is that âourâ fault?
Ms. Paltrow, military folks are standing in harmâs way to conduct the war on terror. If you canât stand behind those troops AND their mission, at least show your love of America by keeping your mouth shut. As it is, you sound tired and irrelevent. And to me personally: a traitor.
Whatâs Gwynethâs gripe? Is America today truly the weirdly over-patriotic place of the actressâs fevered imagination? You wouldnât know it from the spiritual treason the left gets away with. Spiritual, my ass. This is not âperceivedâ treason. This is out and out treason with troops in the field and our enemies here and in Eurostan.
Within days of 9/11, liberals like Katha Pollitt, a columnist for The Nation, were fretting over modest manifestations of patriotism. (Pollitt says she told her 13-year-old daughter, who asked to fly the flag, âThe flag stands for jingoism and vengeance and war.â) I donât recall anyone asking the flag-haters to exit stage left. The last time I heard âAmerica, love it or leave it,â was during the Vietnam War. âThe flag stands for jingoism and vengeance and war.â None of those things are necessarily bad in time of war.
Most importantly, our public schools continue to teach skepticism about America, if not outright loathing, in the name of multiculturalism, diversity and various victim studies. Still, liberals like Paltrow are intimidated by even these gestures. For the left (including its Hollywood auxiliary) any patriotism is too much. Hollywood believes the dictionary definition of patriotism is: âparanoid, xenophobic, chauvinistic, authoritarian bordering on totalitarian, imperialistic, warmongering â See McCarthyism.â Hollywood patriotism: Sitting on an antiaircraft gun emplacment which is used against our military forces, visiting Baghdad to inform the world that Bush is worse than Hussein, jerking off abot non-existant Islamic daycare centers, and trying to convince everyone that you love your country: just not enough to allow it to defend itself.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/21/2004 5:29:21 AM ||
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#1
Just how many prominent Hollywood lefties have been assassinated in recent years?
Well, there was, uh, wait a second, have it right here; somewhere; and, uh, lemme see, well I'm sure there have been many and a Canadian professor told me so, so there.
The belief in European superiority couldn't be chauvinistic, could it? Does any Hollywood uber-conformist terror-apologist and euro-dhimmi actually know who Chauvin was and how his name became a term of opprobrium? For that matter, who invented "jingoism" and where?
The otherwise idiotarian Andrew Young was exactly right when he said that the British and French invented racism and franchised it to everyone else.
The ancient peasant need for prejudice and presumed superiority remains, only the targets have changed, and not even that in all cases.
Paltrow is the equivalent of the shuckin' and jivin' minstrel show performers of a bygone era, pandering to Euro-bigots and profiting from her own debasement.
While we are on that theme, Michael Moore's fat, slovenly persona is akin to a white man wearing blackface, a caricature revealing the performer's real prejudice.
#2
Another thing, I'll bet she still uses her American Express card.
That simply won't do.
We should come up with a new card for these rich expats who are so uncomfortable with jingoistic, provocative terms like "American".
Call it the UN Express Card, pay in $10,000 and get 8 cents worth of credit.
Perhaps a selfless, compassionate NGO card would be more to her liking.
The Amnesty International Card: one rate for Americans and their friends, a much lower one for third world dictators and interest-free for Palestinian "resistance-fighters."
How about the Trotskyite Express Card of Britain? Pay 40% of your income every month whether you charge anything or not.
#7
The otherwise idiotarian Andrew Young was exactly right when he said that the British and French invented racism and franchised it to everyone else.
Actually, Andrew Young has a perfect record of being wrong. Neither the British nor the French invented racism. Racism is something that predates the French and British empires by thousands of years. Genocidal wars between major civilizations were the rule, not the exception way before either the Gauls or the Celts became cohesive tribes. In times of old, racism was so prevalent that encouraging the move of entire populations from conquered territories was considered a merciful gesture - it was practised by ancient civilizations everywhere. (The Jews fled from the Assyrians, the Huns fled from the Chinese, et al).
This is a lot like the canard that Europeans invented imperialism. Civilizations everywhere have been conquering weaker neighbors for thousands of years. Europeans merely had an uncharacteristic period of dominance for a few hundred years. Unlike Europeans, many of the traditional non-European imperialists are now feeling their oats, now that they're becoming more developed. (Not having experienced the horrors of either WWI or WWII, they're spoiling for a fight over territorial grievances, real or imagined). In fact, the wars of the future are likely to be among non-European powers looking for a rematch with regard to territorial losses suffered in the past*.
* They always overlook the gains - the losses were a tragedy and a crime, whereas the gains were only what they deserved.
#9
Gwyneth Paltry has kept her head up her ass for so long she's used to the smell of shit.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
01/21/2004 11:21 Comments ||
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#10
She does have wonderful hair though. And a pouty smile. The camera just loves her. I'll miss you Gwenyth. I'll check you website often as well as your chatroom.
#11
Hey, give gWhineth some credit; she is one of the only Hollyweirdoes who actually have left the country. I'm STILL waiting for all those wackoes who keep threatening to move to Europe to in fact do so. Streisand, Altman, Baldwin, et al, will you guys please put or shut up ?
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
01/21/2004 11:46 Comments ||
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#12
Eurostan. God what a perfect term for the future Europe. If you don't mind Badanov, I'm gonna adopt it and overuse it as if it were my own.
#13
Paltrow is the pampered daughter of another actress (Blythe Danner?) - doubt she knows the true meaning of middle-America or any person of humble beginnings. Which leads me to surmise that she probably doesn't know any gun-toting super pat's or that her child ever would as people of that societal ilk do not associate with those of our ilk. You know, us jingoistic, redneck, knuckle-dragging, gun-toting, meat-eating, blue-collar, nationalists.......traits to live up to if you ask me.
Apparently she watches too much Peter Jennings. If she did live in the states, most likely her kid would go to some high cost prep school. Anyways, if gun-toting super patriots are the worse thing about this country to her - may I live to be a 120 year old proud American. BTW - I always thought most of her movies sucked anyways.
#14
At the time of the Iraq war, the star-spangled girl informed another British interviewer. âI love America and I completely stand behind America..."
Then you take the bad along with the good. Sorry, but the world doesn't revolve around the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow. Deal with it.
#16
In her defense, she did go to a public high school in Long Island. Granted, she lived in a really upscale town, so the school wasn't bad. But she didn't go to prep school.
#17
Shouldn't she and Depp take their complaints to the ICC. I mean American officials couldn't be charged or anything but it could be a photo-op like when Sally Fields testifies on the plight of textile workers because she starred in Norma Rae.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 13:26 Comments ||
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#18
The left says that "Bush is stifling dissent!", when in reality what has happened is there is no long a market for their drooling idiot ideas.
to quote Jack Nickloson: " Go sell your crazy somewhere else, were all full up here"
Posted by: Frank Martin ||
01/21/2004 17:43 Comments ||
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Nepal has asked its mission in Islamabad to be careful while issuing visas to Pakistani nationals fearing that some of them might be al Qaeda members on the run from the US forces who were combing parts of Afghanistan, a senior Nepalese official said.
Boy, that'd be unusual. Wouldn't it?
Every day at least 10 Pakistani nationals were flying to Nepal on board the Pakistan International Airlines, a majority of them Afghans, a senior Home Ministry official said, "W have already given instructions to the concerned officials in Pakistan to be careful while issuing visas to the Arab nationals," he added. Nepalese government fears that al Qaeda members on run after the US forces started combing operations in parts of Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan may find a safe haven in their country. Many of the people entering Nepal these days were Afghan nationals, he said. The possibility of Afghani terrorists entering Nepal with false identity cannot be ruled out, the Home Ministry source said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:10:06 AM ||
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#1
Make them wear purple jerseys or the communists might shoot them accidently.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 13:28 Comments ||
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Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said the government attaches top priority to its nuclear programme and vowed not to hand over nuclear scientists to any country. He clarified that Pakistan would not compromise on its nuclear programme and it was in safe hands. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told reporters on Tuesday that the scientists were being questioned in Pakistanâs interest. He said that 80 percent of debriefing of Dr Qadeer Khan and other scientists was completed. âSome scientists have been released and some are under investigation. They will be freed if found innocent,â the information minister said.
Will they be hanged if not?
He said the government was satisfied that Pakistanâs nuclear programme would not plunge into crisis. He clarified that neither an Israeli minister was coming to Pakistan nor a conference was being held in Pakistan.
I have no idea if that was a change of subject or if he was giving examples of "crises."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:03:59 AM ||
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#1
He clarified that Pakistan would not compromise on its nuclear programme and it was in safe hands.
As Mr. Ahmed addressed this issue, his nose mysteriously began to lengthen....
#2
ISLAMABAD - Pakistanâs questioning of some of its top nuclear scientists came after the country sent its own investigative teams to Iran and Libya in recent months, a senior Pakistani official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official would not give details about the exact timing of the trips or say what was discovered, but the disclosure indicates the seriousness with which the government is taking allegations of nuclear proliferation.
âYes, we sent our own teams to Iran and Libya and the debriefings began after that,â said the official. He said the interrogations sprung from information learned on the trips, as well as evidence handed to Pakistan by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"We welcome our distinguished visitors from Pakistan. Before we begin the tour, I wish to thank you for all the technicial and material support that you have given the Islamic Republic."
"Huh?"
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 12:41 Comments ||
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Two more tribesmen, accused of harbouring foreign terrorists were Tuesday handed over to the Political Administration at Wana, bringing to 22 the number of suspects so far surrendered to the authorities. The Kakakhel, a sub-tribe of the Zalikhel Tribe which is the biggest sub-tribe of Ahmedzai Wazir Tribe, in a massive operation in Shakai area nabbed two tribesmen Bilal and Jehanzeb who are included in the wanted list of 57 tribesmen accused of harbouring al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives were surrendered to the authorities at Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan Agency, bordering Afghanistan. The house of one of the wanted tribesmen, Maulvi Abbas was demolished and burnt to ashes by the Kakakhel Tribe in Datkot area. Maulvi Abbas was included in the list of most wanted men including Naik Muhammad and Sharif Khan who were accused of strongest supporters of former Taliban militia and were involved in harbouring the al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives in South Waziristan Agency. Maulvi Abbas and others are still at large and could not be nabbed by the Lashkar, constituted by the Ahmedzai Wazir Tribe. Lashkars appear to be the tribal militias, though it looks like the holy man in question got away, courtesy once again of Mahmoud the Weasel.
Relatives of Naik Muhammad and Sharif Khan also warned by the Lashkar to surrender them at the earliest otherwise their houses would be razed,said Rehmatullah Wazir, Assistant Political Agent South Waziristan Agency while talking to The Nation here. He said a heavy contingent of khassadar force along with the Lashker raided the house of Maulvi Abbas. The house measuring 10 kanal was totally razed and all its rooms were burnt into ashes.
Did they remember to sow the ground with salt?
Rehmatullah Wazir said that with the handing over of two more wanted men including Bilal and Jehanzeb, the Zalikhel Tribe was moving fast in netting the most wanted men accused of sheltering foreign terrorists and hoped that remaining suspects will be nabbed soon. He said after the demolition of Maulvi Abbas house, who was included in the list of most wanted men they will also demolish the houses of Naik Muhammad and Sharif Khan who have not yet surrendered. Wonder if all the folks who condemn the Israeli policies in this regard will even notice that this is going on?
The APA was quite optimistic that the remaining suspects from Zalikhel Tribe will be handed over today (Wednesday) as the Lashkar has been given three-day deadline for nabbing the suspects. It is hoped that relatives of Naik Muhammad and Sharif Khan will double their efforts to convince the suspects to surrender.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:00:01 AM ||
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Some two of the five al-Qaeda men, held from a Gulistan-e-Jauhar apartment in a raid on Sunday, are likely to be handed over to the US within the next two or three days, The News has learnt reliably. "Out of the five arrested foreigners, two Arabs are very important and after completing our investigations, we will hand them over to the country, which wants their custody," a senior official said. Without naming the country, he said: "So far we have not found any evidence, regarding involvement of these foreigners in any subversive activities here. If any of them is involved in any terrorist activity here, we will deal with him as per the law of the land. Otherwise, we will hand them over to the custody of the country, where they were required."
He disclosed that so far only Pakistani security officials were interrogating the arrested men. "But they (the FBI agents) are also aware of the investigations and maybe they also join investigations with us," he added. Declining to give the identities of any of the arrested men, including two Arabs, the official said: "Investigations are going on and at this stage I cannot disclose their identities. But we suspect that one of the five men may be on FBIâs most-wanted list." Sources said the women and children, who were also taken into custody, would be sent back to the country of their origin. It is learnt that the arrested men were being interrogated by a joint interrogation team for ascertaining their links with local militants. However, an intelligence official told The News that one of the five arrested men was a close associate of Waleed al-Attash, the mastermind of USS Cole bombing and he had avoided arrest from a Korangi house last year. Walid al-Attash is another name for Tawfiq Attash Khallad, a key al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan who was picked up last April along with one of KSMâs nephews. At the time, he was planning to take out of the US Embassy in Karachi.
He said the arrested persons were also in contact with a senior al-Qaeda leader. Without naming the leader, the official said: "We believe that he is in Karachi and we are tightening the noose around him." This is likely another of KSMâs murderous relations. Karachi was Khalidâs base for over a decade and he has a lot of contacts still in the city even after his arrest in Rawalpindi. Before 9/11/02, a good chunk of al-Qaeda was run out of Karachi with Khalid, Ramzi Binalshibh, Tawfiq Attash Khallad, and Ammar al-Baluchi all running their operations out of the city.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 12:54:39 AM ||
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As a fall out of intense operations by the Royal Bhutan Army against the militant camps on its territory and intense pressure exerted by the operations of the Indian Army units in the areas bordering Bhutan, 43 militants - 28 NDFB and 15 ULFA - have surrendered to the Army units during the past 24 hours in various districts in Assam. A large quantity of arms and ammunition were also handed over by the surrendering militants, an official release said on Tuesday. Since the commencement of operations by the Royal Bhutan Army and complementary operations by the Indian Army on its side of the border nearly 200 militants have surrendered, it said.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
01/21/2004 12:42:06 AM ||
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Can it still be considered journalism if it provides a positive hopeful message? I thought hopeful writing was pandering and flagwaving by definition.
WASHINGTON â Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, who commanded the Third Infantry Division as it spearheaded the assault on Baghdad, now has the daunting job of making sure his old unit and the Army as a whole are ready to roll again.
With the US military under greater strain today than it has been for decades, turning around units back from the front is an urgent challenge. Tens of thousands of tanks and other vehicles are encrusted with desert sand and dust, and weary troops are eager for home. Yet the demands of fighting, while exacting a toll, also benefit armed-force preparedness in ways that are often overlooked, senior Army officers and military analysts say.
War-zone deployments hone combat and leadership skills, improve unit cohesion and often boost retention rates, at least initially. At the same time, they test the militaryâs equipment and organization, acting as a catalyst for change.
"The majority of the Army will have a combat patch for the first time since Vietnam," says General Blount, now in charge of Army readiness, at his Pentagon office. "We were already the best army in the world. Now weâre the most experienced."
Over the next four months, he notes, eight of 10 active duty Army divisions - with 220,000 troops will be rotating in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan. The 82nd Airborne Divisionâs 1st Brigade, for example, heads to Iraq this month with combat veterans from Afghanistan reportedly making up 75 percent of its 2,000 paratroopers and most of its key commanders.
Real-world missions are nurturing leaders and building postwar peacekeeping skills that are difficult to train for, military officials and experts say. "Itâs hard to get an unruly mob to train with," says one US official who specializes in ground forces.
Moreover, although the deployments are placing unprecedented demands on the all-volunteer military, recruitment and retention are generally holding up, official statistics show. In the 2003 fiscal year, all four services met their recruiting and retention goals, with the exception of a retention shortfall in the Army reserves.
Indeed, contrary to popular belief, deployments have historically had a positive effect on retention, at least initially.
....
In part through such policies, todayâs large-scale deployments are accelerating the Armyâs reorganization in several ways:
Unit manning. Bonuses and stop-loss policies designed to keep units together at war are moving the Army toward a new personnel system. In contrast to todayâs practice of individual assignments, the new system aims to create units that will stay together for about three years.
More expeditionary, modular brigades. Once back from the combat zone, units such as the 3rd Infantry Division will systematically reorganize to create more brigades with new, more standardized capabilities. For example, the Third will go from three brigades to four, each with a mix of armor and infantry as well as enhanced intelligence, military police, civil affairs, and air capabilities.
Even as divisions reorganize, Blount says, the units will be able to meet any sudden contingency. Already this week, about 4,000 troops from the divisionâs 3rd brigade are at in California for a training exercise reportedly designed to simulate combat on the Korean peninsula.
"Weâre an expeditionary Army, and weâll be deploying a lot," Blount says.
Clark, Kerry and Gore know all this their war heros.
MOSUL, Iraq â Weapons and discarded Iraqi military equipment were turned in or discovered by soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade (Stryker), 2nd Infantry Division, attached to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), in northern Iraq yesterday.
Members of the Coalition for Iraqi National Unity, a concerned group of local citizens, turned in six rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 60 RPG rounds, 1,490 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, 1,000 rounds of 12.7 mm ammunition and one night-vision scope.
A cache, scattered around a 300-meter area, was discovered close to an old Iraqi strongpoint. The cache consisted of 14 mortar rounds, 10 rocket-type projectiles, four mortar fuses and numerous protective mask filters, helmets and military clothing items.
Another cache, found near the town of Rabiah, consisted of 94 rounds of 82 mm mortar, 38 rounds of 60 mm mortar, two Russian RPG rounds, and three anti-personnel RPG rounds. The cache was reported to the soldiers by a local source. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team disposed of all munitions in place. Also near Rabiah, a unit found a cache of five rounds of 82 mm mortar piled along the side the road. EOD destroyed the rounds in place.
#1
It's a good sign that the locals are pointing out these caches... I hope they are being compensated for this... But at some point, there being so damn many small arms/weapons in Iraq that it could prove profitable to buy the weapons, bury the weapons, squeel, collect the dough, start over. Who knows, perhaps that would be efficient.
EFL:
When guards at an oil refinery seized a group of intruders last weekend, they thought they had snared thieves. A search, however, turned up more than 80 containers of explosives, suggesting a planned attack that could have crippled the facility and disrupted energy supplies to millions of people in the Iraqi capital. Officials at Baghdadâs Doura refinery told The Associated Press that four intruders were preparing two tons of explosives for an attack on the refineryâs fuel depot or the boilers that help power the plant. A successful strike could have knocked out half of Douraâs production for at least a year, said the facilityâs general manager, Dathar al-Khashab. That would have been a bad thing.
A series of attacks months ago forced authorities to shut down the export pipeline built to carry crude from northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The pipelineâs continued closure has constrained oil production at northern oil fields and left the country with a single export route, a southern pipeline to the Persian Gulf. The discovery of a bomb at a pipeline leading to a refinery in Beiji, 125 miles north of Baghdad, forced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday to halt repairs on a corroded section of the pipe. Most oil-related attacks have occurred within 30 miles of Beiji, said Robert McKee, oil adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority. Attackers donât want to commute very far?
The number of attacks peaked at 16 in October and dropped to four last month - a decline that accompanied deployment of the first of some 14,000 oil industry guards. "Itâs a very heavy physical presence with an Iraqi face," said the projectâs commander, Army Col. Tom OâDonnell. A British security firm, Erinys International Ltd., is training the guards and expects to complete the deployment by the end of next month. Last autumn, saboteurs fired mortars and machine guns nightly at an oil depot in the town of Latifiyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad. The attacks prevented the depot from operating for over 10 hours a day. After Erinys hired hundreds of guards from three villages in the area, the number of attacks there dwindled to zero, and the depot is now open around the clock, OâDonnell said. "I asked, âWhy do you think there havenât been any attacks in the past few weeks.â And the guards told me - this is no lie - âBecause I live there. Theyâre not going to shoot me,â" he said. Most likely related to each other.
Politically motivated insurgents, many of whom are believed to be foreigners, present a tougher challenge, and some Iraqi oil officials advocate using force to subdue them. Two of the four would-be saboteurs at the Doura refinery spoke with Egyptian accents, security guards said. Outsiders donât care how many Iraqis they kill.
Security guards and police at Doura caught three men Saturday trying to flee across a scrub-covered field next to the refinery. A fourth intruder escaped but was captured the next day. When a search of the field turned up canisters of explosives camouflaged by sticks and dead grass, they realized that these ordinary-looking strangers posed an extraordinary threat. The cache was four times the size of the charge that blew up outside coalition headquarters. Officials believe the intruders had concealed the munitions and planned to load them on a vehicle and sneak them into the refinery complex. The attack might have succeeded, if not for vigilant guards in a watch tower built just six weeks before. Good work, guys.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 1:45:53 PM ||
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Give them a fair trial then attach them to some of the charges and light the candle.
US forces on Wednesday claimed to have arrested a key Baath party leader, Gen. Matloob Sayar, leader of Saddam Hussainâs Baath party. Gen. Matloob Sayar reportedly surrendered himself to the coalition forces in the province of Al anbar on Monday. According to statement issued from the US forces, Gen Matloob and his colleagues were allegedly involved in the attacks on coalition forces. This story from Hi Pakistan - looking for independent conformation.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 10:35:46 AM ||
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2004 â A former Iraqi general turned himself in to coalition forces Jan. 19, reported Combined Joint Task Force 7 today.
Gen. Matloob Muslat Sayer, a former high-ranking Baath Party official and paramilitary Fedayeen Saddam member, surrendered himself to Task Force All American, according to a CJTF 7 release. His action was a result of the task force's previous operations against former regime element networks," the release noted.
Sayer, his family and associates had reportedly been involved in recent attacks on coalition forces. Soldiers found two AK-47 assault rifles, nine AK-47 magazines and various improvised explosive device-making materials at his home in the Anbar province.
#2
Thanks, Chuck. Bagged another one last week as well: Former Iraqi Intelligence Service officer, Col. Abdul Hadi, was captured last Friday in Ramadi -- also in Anbar province, the statement said. It gave no other details.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 13:18 Comments ||
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Having better intelligence than your enemy is vital to the success of a military operation, and the current situation in Iraq is no exception. Every day, terrorists, insurgents, and members of the ousted Baath Party attempt ambushes and place improvised explosive devices intended to kill innocent civilians and coalition soldiers. To combat this, the Army has recently developed and deployed a new information gatherer â the Shadow, a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle. Soldiers from the 312th and 313th Military Intelligence Battalions operate and maintain the Shadow TUAV for the 82nd Airborne Division, which is calling the Anbar province home these days. The vehicleâs mission is to gather intelligence from high altitudes, which allows it to remain mostly imperceptible to enemy detection.
For the plane to accomplish its mission effectively, a variety of different soldier occupations must work together effectively. "The TUAV platoons are made up of TUAV operators, mechanics, and electronic-warfare technicians," said Staff Sgt. Matthew Norris, the platoon standardization instructor pilot from the 312th. "It is important for all the different (specialists) to work together, because they all cover very different areas in the operation." The 312th normally is part of the 1st Calvary Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, but they have been temporarily assigned to the 82nd. The 82nd does not yet have its own Shadows, so it borrowed a platoon from the 1st Cavalry for the current deployment to Iraq. In addition to performing normal combat missions, the soldiers from the 312th are training the soldiers from the 313th for when they receive their own equipment.
Normally, each brigade-level asset in a combat division would have its own TUAV platoon, but that was impossible, given the current situation and the lack of 82nd-specific TUAVs. The platoon at Forward Operating Base Ridgway is responsible for supporting the entire 82nd Airborne Division and its subordinate elements throughout the largest province in Iraq. "This platoon is supporting the entire division, so we are further apart than normal," said Chief Warrant Officer James Harris. "An added intricacy is that the launch/recovery site has to occasionally fly missions, so we are operating at a higher rate and a nonstandard format for this system."
The soldiers at Ridgway are responsible for launch and recovery and all maintenance on the Shadows. Once the vehicle passes all preflight checks and is launched, the operators maneuver it into position for a team at the division headquarters to take control. The Shadows are designed so flight operation can be transferred seamlessly from a team at one location to another at a separate location. Supporting the entire division makes it even more important to keep all four Shadows fully operational. The platoon takes this task very seriously and performs thorough and consistent maintenance. "We are the only TUAV platoon in the Army, at this time, to go through the initial 500 hours of flight time without any incidents," said Staff Sgt. Jason OâNeill, the platoon sergeant for the group from the 312th. The significance of the Shadowâs mission isnât lost on the soldiers who make it happen. "While we are flying our birds and doing surveillance, we are saving troopersâ lives," said Pfc. Emmanuel Rendon, a Shadow operator, "either from route recon, looking for IEDs, or identifying any enemy ambushes or attacks on the road." Photos at the link
#1
What would probably be helpful would be to also fly armed Predators around the periphery of the target surveillance area. If people are caught setting up an ambush or a trap, a Predator can be maneuvered in to promptly dispatch the bastards with its armament. There's no longer any need to capture insurgents - killing them outright saves having to deal with them later.
#5
Hey Fellers, if you want to see a former commander in the 312th MI Bn, look at the flag(Hey Saddam, Who's your Daddy!?) picture on 4-19-03. I'm on the left, CPT "A" on the right.
Tokyo will investigate a news report that its troops who just arrived in Iraq may become the target of terrorist attacks in the imminent future, the countryâs defence chief said Tuesday. A convoy of Japanese soldiers, the vanguard of Tokyoâs first post-World War II deployment to a conflict zone, arrived at its base in Samawa, southern Iraq on Monday. "We will collect information on issues, including such a plot, as the advance team has arrived there," Defence Agency Director-General Shigeru Ishiba told a regular news conference when asked to comment on the report.
Jiji Press news agency, in a dispatch from Samawa on Tuesday, quoted "local security officers" as warning Japanese troopers at a security meeting held upon their arrival that they may be targeted by terrorists within a few days. The meeting was attended by the governor of Musanna Province, where Samawa is located, the head of provincial police and Dutch military officers, as well as chiefs of three dominant Islamic organisations, it said. Ishiba said the defence agency had not received "such detailed information", but added that Japan would seek any intelligence related to security threats, including information from the Dutch military. Jiji Press said the meeting participants reported that a string of terrorist attacks plotted by militant Islamic groups, including members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network and its supporters, had been uncovered recently in Samawa and elsewhere in Musanna Province. The provincial authorities are ready to beef up security in cooperation with Dutch military forces stationed in Samawa to secure the safety of the Japanese troops, it said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:09:00 AM ||
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The story I read said there were 25 troops, followed everywhere by 100 Japanese reporters. I think they'll be OK.
#2
Now open for bizness: Samawa Massage & Tea Room!
Posted by: john ||
01/21/2004 12:47 Comments ||
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I have this recurring, dark fantasy that the bad guys are unlucky enough to pull off an attack on SDF troops and quickly learn why most of Asia doesn't much care for the Japanese.
If it is JI thatâs behind the sudden rise in explosives in the region, the good news is that they seem to be getting found before theyâre detonated rather than afterwards ...
Indonesian police say they have found almost 30 bombs plus guns and ammunition in a district where Muslims and Christians have battled in recent years. The bombs and weapons were found on cocoa plantations in the Poso district of Central Sulawesi on Monday, said Police Sergeant Major Pangeran. He said 27 bombs, one rifle and a number of bullets were found at a plantation in Ratulene and two home-made handguns were found at Tabalu. An invesigation was under way to trace the owners. Poso district police chief, Abdi Dharma, told the state Antara news agency he believed the bombs and weapons had been put there for the police to find. He said some residents wanted to hand over weapons to police, who have been conducting a drive to disarm the district, but did not have the courage to do so.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:24:58 AM ||
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EFL, The relevant parts translated by me from the Spiegel reporting a new turn in the Hamburg 9/11 trial
The federal prosecutors got hold of a man who claims to have been a high-ranking member of the Iranian secret service for many years. In this function he says to have learned about the planning of 9/11 before it happened, seen several al-Qaida bosses in Iran and known some of the death pilots from Germany by name. Up to now only the Federal Propsecution Office knows the name of the man, but he is willing to testify at court under condition of anonymity.
According to the interrogation protocol the Iranian secret service agent claims that Iran was actively involved in the planning of 9/11, from page 11 onwards of the protocol he also mentions Mzoudiâs name several times. He says that friends from within the Iranian secret service apparatus have told him that the defendant was supposed to be killed by terrorists after his release in December 2003. The reason: In Iran Mzoudi was suspected to work with Western Intelligence Services or that he was released to be spied upon.
In the view of the federal prosecutors the statement proves that Mzoudi must very well have been a member of the Hamburg cell and because of that had to be liquidated as a bearer of top secret information and a potential traitor. Other statements of the new witness incriminate Mzoudi heavily. The witness says that he has heard Mzoudiâs name as the guy responsible for the logistics of 9/11. The Moroccan, he says, had been responsible for the âdraft and the dispatch of information to intermediariesâ, âbecause he was familiar with codesâ.
Especially these statements perfectly fit in the picture sketched by the prosecution which claims that Mzoudi was the man in the background of the terror cell. Again and again federal prosecutors have presented a puzzle of many little assistances before court in order to prove Mzoudiâs guilt. It is true though that the witness hasnât been able to prove his statements or put them in concrete terms. He only says, that he has this information from a man âat the very topâ of the Iranian Secret Service.
It should be difficult for the prosecution to bolster the credibility of the new witness. The witness claims again and again that his person is known to intelligence services like the (German) BND and that he doesnât want to testify publicly at court. But it is doubtful whether the judges will accept that explanation. In the tangled web of international intelligence services the truth is difficult to filter out because of all the different interests involved and the always present desire to protect sources. First of all the ruling judge Klaus RÃŒhle intends to get his own picture of the new witness. He has summoned the two superintendents of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) who had questioned the Iranian on January 15th in Berlin. He wants to know from them, who this witness is and what kind of impression the two investigators have about him. The further progress of the trial will only be decided after that, but at least in this week a judgement is no longer expected. The German Stern reports: Mzoudiâs defence attorney GÃŒl Pinar said that the witness was an unidentified Iranian intelligence agent claiming to have informed US authorities before September 2001 of an impending attack, but was not taken seriously. The Hamburg court received the protocol of the Berlin interrogation on January 19th.
Posted by: True German Ally ||
01/21/2004 7:05:06 PM ||
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#1
thanks TGA!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/21/2004 20:11 Comments ||
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Very, very interesting. Will Iran be next on our list of "regimes in need of an ass-kicking?" The mullahs better hope they can get their Islamic Bomb put together quick (if it isn't already).
#4
The international media hasn't yet seized the thing. It's dynamite. If the court now convicts Mzoudi that means that the court finds the Iranian link credible.
I might add that German intelligence isn't easily bluffed with Iranians, they know the country damn well, maybe better than the CIA. So watch this!
But should the court find that this potato is too hot, expect Mzoudi to be on the first plane out to Morocco. And guess who will have the flight number and exact arrival time in Casablanca?
#8
An Iranian defector told an Arabic newspaper last year that Al Qaeda came to them requesting help with an 'important mission' in America, but he says that Qaeda was turned down.
The translation was posted here last year.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
01/21/2004 23:10 Comments ||
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#9
Thanks, TGA. Drudge had a wire service report on 9/12/01 about an Iranian prisoner in a German jail who had been begging his jailers for several days prior to 9/11 to allow him to talk to the CIA, FBI, etc, regarding an imminent attack on the US. I wonder if that case has anything to do with this?
#10
I don't think so. At least this guy claims to actually have spoken to U.S. authorities BEFORE 9/11 but was laughed off.
Germany has very good intelligence on Iran. While I don't know how credible the source is I think this is not something to be shrugged off. I guess the German BKA (and the BND) are fully aware of the political dynamite. And someone high up must have okayed the "leak". It's a tangled web we weave...
Many Iranian cabinet ministers and other senior officials have tendered their resignations over hardlinersâ disqualification of parliamentary candidates, the Iranian vice-president said today, warning that the countryâs entire reformist government was ready to quit over the affair.
"A number of cabinet ministers and a number of vice-presidents have resigned. Naturally, they are waiting to see how things go, but the cabinet ministers are very serious in their resignation," Mohammad Ali Abtahi told reporters after a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace.
Asked whether the countryâs president, Mohammad Khatami, would join the walk-out, he said: "It is supposed that all of us will go together." Questioned about his own position, Mr Abtahi smiled but failed to respond...
If itâs not a free election in which people can elect their preferred candidate, then there should be a boycott," Mr Armin, who has been barred from seeking re-election, told the Guardian.
Aside from the guardian council, hardline clerics also control other key unelected bodies such as the judiciary and the state media. The latter deny reformistsâ claims that the disqualifications are a ploy to swing the elections the conservativesâ way and insist that those disqualified failed to meet the legal criteria for candidacy.
State television has yet to show footage of the sit-in, but about 80 MPs gather every afternoon in the lobby of the parliament building to listen to speeches and give interviews to journalists. Others have been sleeping in their offices or committee rooms.
Speaking about the US Military moving all of its troops out of Seoul, this Chosun editorial concluded with:
For its part, if the U.S. presses for a move out of emotional reasons, that would be difficult to call a responsible attitude as an ally.
Because as we all know, South Korea, itâs people, and itâs government never let emotion enter the equation when it comes to their attitude as a "responsible ally." Donât we?
#1
sure, south korea wants to have their cake and eat it too.
Like having a neighbour that borrows all your tools and bad mouths you in front of everyone they see. Then one day, you say you are taking the things back and they call you irresponsible.
Good luck to them in their solitary dealings with North Korea. After all, South Korea says that NK is not a problem and that the problem is the US.
ie. screw em
Posted by: capt joe ||
01/21/2004 21:24 Comments ||
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#2
They are still pissed at Ohno's gold! While nero fiddles! Idiots?
via Drudge... Note to Management...Fred, I wanted to EFL, but there is so much meat I pasted it all! Have mercy!
House Administration Chairman Robert Ney (R-Ohio) will ask Attorney General John Ashcroft today to investigate a charity event for ties to an Iranian terrorist group backed by Saddam Hussein. Just a note on the source article: The Hill is the paper of record for Congress and the activities of its members in Washington DC. I am impressed with the thoroughness of the reporting of this article and pleasantly surprised to see none of the usual widows/orphans/kittens/puppies/babyducks handwringing...I shall have to read The Hill more often!
The event, to be held Saturday at the Washington Convention Center, is billed as a ânight of solidarity with Iran.â The organizers, led by the Iranian-American Society of Northern Virginia, hope to raise $140,000 to help survivors of the earthquake in Bam on Dec. 26, which killed 30,000 people. Or to help surviving hardliners, itâs so hard to tell the difference sometimes...
But a number of sponsoring groups have strong ties to the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), and the fundraiser may violate the prohibition on providing material support for global terrorism. âI intend to ask the attorney general to investigate this,â said Ney. âThe MEK is hiding behind earthquake victims; youâll find those are false groups. Theyâre not supposed to operate, and I donât know what theyâre going to do with the money. I just think it smells.â An MEK representative in Washington did not return repeated calls for comment. Spokesmen for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI said they were not aware of Saturdayâs event and declined to comment on the sponsor groups. Bob Ney gets it; Homeland Security is clueless. Gah.
'Cept that it's not that simple. Khalq was brought under control when we occupied Iraq. They surrendered and their guerrilla/terrorist operation is, I believe, being disbanded, though the political wing seems to remain intact, operating out of Gay Paree. We're probably retaining parts of them as a boogeyman to scare the turbans with. Their fighters would also make useful guides and translators should any special operations guys want to... ummm... go exploring. Raising money for earthquake victims would be a legitimate activity for MEK the political party in exile.
An official with the Iranian-American Community of Northern Virginia declined to provide any details on the participating groups. âItâs about solidarity with victims of the earthquake in Iran and to support the Iranian Resistance and call for referendum in Iran,â said the official, who would not give his name. "And you shouldnât ask so many questions, besides."
The Iranian Resistance is a pseudonym for the MEK. The official said all of the money raised would be donated to the American Red Cross Thingy, but the Red Cross has backed out of the event. âThe American Red Cross will not be accepting donations from this fundraiser,â said spokeswoman Jacki Flowers. âGiven the political undertones of the event, we just could no longer field donations because of the potential to compromise our neutrality.â Hot potato.
The MEK is an Iranian opposition group formerly based in Baghdad but with a continuing strong presence in the United States, primarily for fundraising and efforts to reverse its terrorist designation, first imposed in 1997. The U.S. intelligence community alleges the MEK was responsible for the deaths of at least six American servicemen and civilians in Iran during the mid-1970s and actively participated in the 1979 U.S. Embassy seizure in Tehran. Having fallen afoul of Khomeini, in 1986 the group took refuge in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein.
One bad choice followed the other...
In addition to its periodic hit-and-runs inside Iran, intelligence sources say, the MEK took part in Saddamâs grisly suppression of the Kurdish and Shiite minorities. Saddamâs backing of the MEK was used as one justification for the Iraq war, and coalition forces viewed the MEK as enemy combatants. Last fall, federal law enforcement raided several MEK-related organizations in the Washington area. Of the 23 organizations listed as sponsors for the event, 17 are known MEK front groups or linked to prominent MEK members and activists. None appears to be registered with the Internal Revenue Service or state agencies as legitimate businesses or charities. The MEK has often created fictional philanthropic and social organizations to convey legitimacy. In a 1994 dossier on the group, the State Department noted that âmany of these member groups are actually shell organizations, established by the [MEK] in order to make [it] appear representative and ⊠popular. Likewise, the [MEK] has formed associated groups with benign names, such as the âAssociation of Iranian Scholars and Professionalsâ and the âAssociation of Iranian Women.ââ Among the groups sponsoring the earthquake benefit is the Association of Iranian Women USA. The group is also known as the Association of Iranian Women, and is headed by Behjat Dehghan, whom intelligence sources have identified as a prominent MEK member in the United States. Other sponsors of the event that have been identified in media reports as MEK front groups include the Iranian Society of South Florida, the Iranian-American Society of Texas, and the National Committee of Women for a Democratic Iran. Ramesh Sepehrrad spearheads the latter group. Intelligence officials say Sepehrrad is a major MEK organizer in Washington. A number of the sponsor groups are known to have strong MEK sympathies. They include the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, Coloradoâs Iranian-American Community, the Society of Iranian Americans in Dallas and the Association of Iranian-American Scholars in Southern California.
All of these groups should be monitored. But I suspect that MEK is under new management.
A website for US for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran, yet another program sponsor, is www.defend-maryam-rajavi.org. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the MEK, was arrested in Paris last year on terrorism charges. The groupâs site was registered to Hamid Azimi, once president of the Southern California Society of Iranian Scholars and Professors, another MEK front group. A prominent member of US for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran is Saeid Sajadi, who is also known to law enforcement as an MEK member. He is also president of the Iranian-American Solidarity Society of Kansas City and the Society of Iranian-American Medical Professionals. Both groups have strong MEK sympathies; neither is registered as a legitimate professional organization. At least one group that is not affiliated with the MEK â Loyola University of Chicago â says it was fraudulently listed as a sponsor. âAbsolutely not,â said university spokesman Bud Jones. âIn no way does Loyola University of Chicago support this group or the event. That would be totally inaccurate.â The Iranian-American Society of Northern Virginia would not comment on Loyolaâs sponsor status. Other groups that do not have apparent ties to the MEK but are listed as sponsors are the Justice Matters Institute, the Womenâs Institute for Freedom of the Press and the Womenâs Freedom Forum. Spokespeople for the groups could not be reached immediately for comment. La Leche League International, another sponsor, withdrew its support upon learning of the possible MEK ties.
I'm not sure what the advantages of breastfeeding have to do with earthquakes in Bam, anyway...
Following the earthquake, the Bush administration temporarily lifted sanctions on donations by Americans to Iran, which is listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. âThis sounds to me like the MEK is trying to feed on and exploit that legitimate concern of Iranian Americans for their own political purposes,â said Ken Timmerman, publisher of the Iran Brief newsletter. Hope some three-letter agencies are paying attention...
The Bush administration advises Arab and other Muslim governments to educate their children in schools that teach more than Islamic doctrine, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday. In some of these schools, children are being taught to hate, thereby hurting peace efforts in the region and also not helping their own societies, Powell said. "We have been talking not only to the Saudis but to other Middle Eastern leaders and Muslim leaders around the world, and made it clear to them that Islam is a great religion," Powell said in an interview with WPHT Radio in Philadelphia. "But they also have to be educating their youngsters not just in the tenets of Islam and the Islamic religion, but they have to educate their youngsters for the demands of the 21st century. They have got to give them skills. They have got to teach them to read and write. They have got to teach them science and math and all the other things that are necessary for societies to be successful in the 21st century."
Focusing on some of the Islamic schools, Powell said "if they are just going to take their young people and put them in these madrassas, these schools that do nothing but indoctrinate them in the worst aspects of a religion, then they are shorting themselves, they are leaving themselves back as well as teaching hatred that will not help us bring peace to the region, and will not help their societies." Powell said the Bush administration had made it clear to Saudi Arabia that the 21st century is going to require changes in their society. "But we do it as friends, and we donât do it to beat them up or lecture them," Powell said. The U.S. needs Saudi Arabia, but "there are certain policies they have that we are not happy with," he said.
"They have a different culture, a different society than ours - things they do that would not be acceptable to us," Powell said, without elaboration.
#1
"They have got to give them skills. They have got to teach them to read and write," Powell said. "They have got to teach them science and math and all the other things that are necessary for societies to be successful in the 21st century."
None of that is required to wear a suicide belt. Get with the program Mr.Powell. Been scoping out this site for a few days, gotta say it's fun to read. Keep up the great rants.
Posted by: Proud To Be An Infidel ||
01/21/2004 17:47 Comments ||
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#2
In some of these schools, children are being taught to hate, thereby hurting peace efforts in the region and also not helping their own societies, Powell said.
"We have been talking not only to the Saudis but to other Middle Eastern leaders and Muslim leaders around the world, and made it clear to them that Islam is a great religion," Powell said in an interview with WPHT Radio in Philadelphia.
"But they also have to be educating their youngsters not just in the tenets of Islam and the Islamic religion, but they have to educate their youngsters for the demands of the 21st century," Powell said.
One question: what difference does it make to include other subject matter besides Islamic doctrine if those teachers inspiring hate towards non-Muslims keep on preaching it anyway? The only result of Powell's little suggestion would simply be high-tech jihadis, a very unsettling prospect.
#3
Why is the Islamic World reminds me of an old TV show with William Windom. The show was called My World and Welcome to It. "My Century and Welcome to It, The 7th Century that is"
#4
Could we send officials from our teachers' unions to help help adjust the curriculum away from constant blind hatred and anti-Americanism? ... No, that might make things worse. What about every third cashier at a Wal-Mart superstore?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 21:25 Comments ||
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Leaders of the Democratic Platform, a coalition of political parties, clergy, students and business leaders, who met Caribbean community leaders in the Bahamas yesterday to seek a peaceful resolution, said they had a two-pronged plan to depose him. The first element, said Evans Paul, an opposition politician, was "to show the international community and the Catholic church that Aristide has lost his popularity and should not be supported". The second was to show that he "uses violence to repress our rights to free speech and assembly and that no compromise is possible with his regime".
The police fired tear gas and bullets into the air to break up a student protest on Monday. On Sunday a boy of 13 was killed during a protest against the government when shots were fired by men hiding in a state television station. On Saturday Mr Aristide said the opposition rallies constituted an attempted coup, and he refused to step down. The protests have become an almost daily event: 47 people have died and more than 100 have been injured since mid-September.
Mr Aristide has become isolated on the world stage since observers questioned the fairness of the parliamentary elections in 2000. He was elected by a landslide later that year, but has been in almost permanent conflict with the opposition, which demands new presidential and parliamentary polls. Mr Aristide told Caribbean leaders last week that he would hold parliamentary elections in six months time. He made the same promise last year. His opponents refuse to take part in elections unless he resigns. The standoff has provoked a bloody spiral of popular protest and state repression in recent months, particularly since Monday when parliament disbanded, leaving Mr Aristide in effect to rule by decree. On Monday students threw stones at private schools which had stayed open despite being asked to close in solidarity with the protests. During the melee a tear gas canister landed in a Roman Catholic girlsâ school, causing the children to panic. On Thursday two pro-government broadcasters, Radio Pyramide and Radio America, were attacked. Three days later two stations with an anti-government bias were set alight. The clashes have marred the bicentennial celebrations of Haitiâs independence from French rule, when it became the worldâs first black-led republic. I didnât receive the script on this one. If he is ousted again, are we supposed to invade and put him back in power? Somebody page Jimmy Carter and let us know.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 5:05:59 PM ||
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If a run away reactor or an earthquake caused the situation in Haiti there'd be support to evacuate the country. Haiti needs to be depopulated to give it's soil a chance regain a foothold. They are Creole speakers... send 1/3 to Louisiana, 1/3 to France, 1/3 to Quebec and 1/3 to French Polyopanisia and last 1/3 to the People Republic of Vietnam.
#4
Shipman,
I don't know who would foot the bill, and I'm sick of invading places for humanitarian reasons only to be called an imperialist. I was hoping for Castro to take over, but I think he only subverts the poor in countries that have money or oil.
I came up with this plan in the shower. Roy Disney now has time on his hands until they popsicleize his aged ass. Rather than allowing him to travel the country tilting at the Eisner windmill, let's reroute the old coot to the Caribbean. He arrives with a $10B from the US taxpayers as a balloon, lump sum, don't come looking for more, last lotto stake to get him started. We allow him to issue stock in such away as to leave one share per Haitian that they can cashout should an individual decide to leave or should said individual be such an abomitable ass that a majority of other residents decide to blackball him for hygene offences or whatever.
Roy founds HAITILAND and excercises McAurthur like powers for a decade or so of theme hotel building, ride construction and tourist gouging. He should have the power to issu more stock not to exceed the .... zzzzzz
#5
zzzz..... Whah. Sorry that was me. I forgot. He's allowed to deport violent felons to Gitmo for 10 years. And he is not allowed to issue Visas either Jesse Jackson, members of his family, other members of Rainbow Push, or Farakauns crowd either as we want this Island kingdom to be a finincially sucessful Pan-African utopian not a shakedown..... zzzz Halle Berry.... zzz ... can of Readi Whip ... zzz
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 21:15 Comments ||
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Amnesty International has launched a two-year campaign to ban the execution of child offenders worldwide. In a report entitled "Time to end a shameful practice", it says that those who commit crimes below the age of 18 have the capacity for rehabilitation. "International developments... make us believe that our aim is within reach," the organisation said. The US is one of eight countries Amnesty says has executed child criminals since 1990. According to Amnestyâs report, the US is the only country in the world which openly acknowledges executing child offenders. "The USA promotes itself as a global human rights champion yet it accounts for 13 of the 19 known executions of child offenders reported since 1998," it said. Other countries which have executed child offenders since 1990 include China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the organisation says. Amnesty says child offenders remain under threat of execution in the Philippines and Sudan, as well as in the US. So as we unearth the bodies in Iraq, AI calls for the rehabilitation of Lee Malvo. Kim doesnât make the list either because he doesnât announce when he executes a child. If we can the publicity for child executions, can we get the same treatment from AI? How about a little love.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 4:55:36 PM ||
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If this article does not irk you, try Lawless in GITMO from the WaPo. Evidently it is bad juju to hold terrorists in Cuba for a year or two but when a 74 year-old POW swims a river to exit NK, nothing is said.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 17:18 Comments ||
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#2
Amnesty Irrational
Posted by: B ||
01/21/2004 17:30 Comments ||
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No mention of Kimmie-boy's murder of newborn babies in North Korea (for the horrible crime of maybe being of mixed NorthKorean - Chinese race)?
#4
We only execute murderers. If they're old enough to commit murder, they're old enough to die. It was never a question of rehabilitation - the point of execution is to see to it that those who deprive others of their lives are themselves deprived of their lives.
"The accused intentionally caused [Jean] Heleneâs death, his intention was clearly determined," prosecutor Lieutenant Roger Koffi told the court. Sergeant Theodore Seri has denied killing the Radio France Internationale (RFI) Abidjan correspondent. Correspondents say the killing was a sign of anti-French feeling. - Obligatory hate crime angle.
His family has demanded compensation of $275,000. Sergeant Seri admitted struggling with Helene but says the fatal shots did not come from his gun. However, police officers testified that a bullet was missing from Sergeant Seriâs kalashnikov rifle. A ballistics expert said the gun could not have gone off unintentionally. Wonât be seeing this one on New Detectives.
The BBCâs Lara Pawson in Abidjan says there is concern that the trial could spark violence. Some lawyers fear that the case will be politicised by lawyers defending the accused. Safe bet - this media circus in Ivory Coast wonât be shoving Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant out of the headlines.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 4:47:04 PM ||
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Note - the French family could have done better if they filed a civil suit in Mississippi, where thejuries are bodacious.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 21:17 Comments ||
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In this village of 3,000 people, 12 cars, one college graduate, and no telephones, the final push to erase polio from the earth hit a dead end. The poliomyelitis virus zigzagged down one alley to the next several months ago, almost surely carried along in a fetid ribbon of water polluted with human waste. Children drank from it, splashed in it, rubbed their dirty hands in it, and that was the virusâs opportunity. It infected four of the villageâs youngest residents, who lost the use of one or two limbs. The virus thrived here in part because of the usual obstacles to better health care: internal political struggles, misspent money, alleged corruption. But an unusual additional factor came into play in the hamlets along the fault line between Christians and Muslims in West Africa: Local Muslim clerics told villagers to reject the polio vaccine because it was part of an American plot. Thes "Men of God" are willing to condemn their people to the possibility of polio for political points.
#1
One way to deal with this sort of ignorant BS is to tell them okay, we won't be immunizing anyone over there any longer. However, there is one catch: people will stay where they are - no one leaves the country, period. If these types don't mind their population being stricken with deadly contagions that are easily stopped with simple immunizations, then fine, suffer among yourselves in silence and don't pass it around to the rest of us. The other alternative is to go in and defang these "clerics" by any means necessary, either directly or by proxy.
There's been enough game-playing on the part of Muslim clerics, and it needs to come to a stop, one way or another.
#2
Couldn't we just loose Jim and Marlon Perkins on this village? If they can hit a cheetah in the ass with a tranquilizer round, they ought to be able to peg a Nigerian kid with a dart of vaccine.
According to my own extremely crude translation of the German newspaper Der Spiegel, it looks as though a high-ranking Iranian defector is claiming that Iran or at least its security services (IRGC and VEVAK, no doubt) had a direct role in the 9/11 attacks in the trial of accused Hamburg cell member Abdelghani Mzoudi, but I need a better translation.
TGA, if you or any other fluent German speakers are around, can you be of any assistance in this regard?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 4:11:52 PM ||
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Dan,
Send it to the Shark. He's translated Der Spiegel before.
http://www.usefulwork.com/shark/
Posted by: Daniel King ||
01/21/2004 16:44 Comments ||
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#2
Yes this is a bombshell. Grains of salt apply but this might be BIG.
I'll post a translation of the essentials here in a new rant soon, ok?
A counterterrorism database that could help prevent terrorist attacks was built by a man who is considered a patriot by some and a criminal by others. Hank Asher, who has been credited with transforming law enforcement with his computer technologies, once smuggled millions of dollars worth of cocaine. In August, the Boca Raton multimillionaire walked away from the so-called Matrix project because of concerns about his past. Asher admits to running drugs during eight months in 1981 and 1982, and although he was never charged with a crime, he says he paid a price with years of negative publicity and intense public suspicion. If he had become a Hollywood actor or a NYT writer, all would be forgiven. But a Patriot, never.
He says he now has made peace with himself. "I go to sleep every night knowing that Iâve done much more good than harm," he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. In the months after he quit smuggling, Asher began down his road to redemption, his supporters say, helping the U.S. government deter drug trafficking in the Caribbean. Another strike against him in the eyes of the left.
But it wasnât until 1993, when Asher, a high school dropout who said he largely taught himself computers, devised a system credited with transforming law enforcement. His AutoTrack system combined billions of commercially and publicly available documents onto one network, condensing searches that had taken weeks to seconds. "Hank Asher has done more to facilitate intelligence and information-sharing for police in the country than anyone Iâve ever known," FDLE director James T. "Tim" Moore said. "Heâs a patriot, a true friend." But even then, rumors were swirling about Asherâs past. Federal, state and local agencies interested in AutoTrack researched Asherâs background and discovered that an old court record referred to him as a former drug smuggler. Note he was never charged with anything.
No one found any signs Asher, now 52, had been involved in anything untoward since, said John Walsh, host of the TV show Americaâs Most Wanted, who has received free, unlimited access to the database for his National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Still many public officials were bothered by the perception of associating with a former drug smuggler. "But the question was, do we want to use this technology weâd never had before, or do we close our eyes and say weâre not going to use it" because of old allegations, said Phil Ramer, special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcementâs Office of Statewide Intelligence. Ramer says every FDLE investigation since the early 1990s has used the program. Common sense rears itâs head, finally.
The confidence law enforcement officials had in Asher grew after the Sept. 11 attacks, when out of what Asher called sheer horror, he created the Matrix. Insert John Ashcroft abuse of privacy rants (here).
The information-sharing database melds commercially and publicly available records with sensitive investigative data for investigators with security clearance. Queries result in names, phone numbers, addresses and histories on possible terrorists, pedophiles and criminals, as well as photos and comprehensive backgrounds on a suspectâs network of family and friends. The horror!! I can feel their eyes on me right now!
The federal government has committed $12 million to make the Matrix available across the country. But in the 18 months before government money was available, Asher used $20 million of his own and gave the government free, unlimited access to the technology. Ok, Patriot he is.
As 13 states considered joining the Matrix last summer, the smuggling stories resurfaced, prompting several agencies to reconsider. Asher quit the board of his company, Seisint Inc., put his stock in a blind trust and announced he would have no decision-making ties to the Matrix. "I did it for the good of the country," he said. Others may argue that he did it for the money. If Matrix is successful, Asher stands to make millions. To the left, making money is evil. Unless, of course, you are a rich lefty.
Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, among others, thinks Asherâs motivation is altruistic. "Maybe itâs the guilt he feels for what he did when he was young, but heâs deeply dedicated to trying to help people," Giuliani said. "Heâs a man of extreme talent, and heâs used that talent for good." Amen to that.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 2:08:19 PM ||
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The rumors are likely being pumped by a competitor.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 14:31 Comments ||
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How long does anyone think it will be before someone makes some sort of derogatory Jew comment about this person? (I seem to remember someone telling me long ago that Ashers had a certain standing in Israel...or something like that - anyone have details?)
#3
An obvious concern that might arise is whether Seisint's code has some trapdoors or other security vulnerabilities that would allow Asher or others to get at the merged data.
one way to address that is for Seisint to allow one of the Federally Funded R&D Corps (Aerospace, RAND, Mitre) to review the source code under a non-disclosure agreement. The FFRDCs have a special status which allows them to see company- private information & not disclose it to competitors or the gov't.
Sudanese papers today said the peace talks which are currently taking place in the Kenyan town of Naivasha between the government and the SPLM, would be suspended starting from Thursday [22 January] until after the [Muslim feast of] Eid al-Adha, which is scheduled for the first week in February. The Sudanese paper Al-Hayyat said the peace talks would be suspended on Thursday and the first vice-president, Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha, would return to Khartoum on Friday [23 January].The paper added that Taha would leave for Mecca to perform the holy pilgrimage. This shows Taha is not serious about peace. I nominate Sudan to be next in the war on terror.
#1
Sudan doesn't need to be invaded. Just give the Christian and animist southerners enough weapons and ammo, supply the eastern and western rebels, and let the three meet in Khartoum. They can hang all the mullahs, imams, and other clerics, split the country among them, and go on about life with fewer worries. The multitude of weapons confiscated in Iraq would make a good start...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/21/2004 16:58 Comments ||
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Old Patriot--I hope that hanging day comes soon.
EFL
An American nuclear weapons expert who recently visited North Koreaâs main nuclear complex said Wednesday he saw no convincing evidence that Pyongyang can build a plutonium-based nuclear device, but it most likely can make plutonium. Since they havenât tested one, Iâve lways been skeptical as well....but plutonium in a dirty bomb would be nasty Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos, N.M., nuclear research laboratory, also said he remained unconvinced that the North Koreans could convert any such nuclear device into a nuclear weapon. Hecker, who visited North Koreaâs secretive Yongbyon nuclear site on Jan. 8 as part of an unofficial U.S. delegation, was speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The North Koreans claimed that day that they had reprocessed 8,000 spent fuel rods to extract plutonium, Hecker told the committee. He said the visiting delegation could not definitively substantiate the reprocessing claim, but said he saw evidence that the North Koreans had the technical expertise to do that. Another former official on the trip, former State Department official Jack Pritchard, wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece published Wednesday that all 8,000 rods had been removed from the nuclear site, in what Pritchard called evidence that the communist nation may have restarted efforts to build atomic bombs. Just in time for famine and unrest...wonder if they could feed all their starving with the money spent on their international mischief
Hecker said he told senior North Korean officials that "there is nothing that we saw at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center that would allow me to assess whether or not the DPRK possessed a nuclear deterrent if that meant a nuclear device or nuclear weapon."
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/21/2004 12:14:27 PM ||
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Hecker said he told senior North Korean officials that "there is nothing that we saw at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center that would allow me to assess whether or not the DPRK possessed a nuclear deterrent if that meant a nuclear device or nuclear weapon."
No shit, Einstein. Does this guy really believe that the NorKs would put all their cards on the table for all to see???
I suspect that Mr. Hecker had two traveling partners - one with his hands constantly over his ears, and the other with his hands constantly over his mouth.
#3
No this is wrong. Newsday says that we only have a decade or so before Kim has us by the short ones. Quick enter Emergency Negotionation Plan Bravo. Stand-by ... execute!!! Here are some details:
... That worst-case scenario is based on the assumption that North Korea could soon finish building a new reactor and a uranium enrichment plant, the IISS reported. Under the more likely scenario that it takes several years to complete those facilities, the boost in bomb-making capacity would come near the end of the current decade, said John Chipman, the institute's director.
"There is still some time for diplomatic efforts to halt and eliminate North Korea's nuclear arsenal while it remains limited to a handful of nuclear weapons," he said.
"As time elapses, however, a diplomatic solution could become more difficult, as Pyongyang acquires additional strategic bargaining chips" and greater uncertainty make verification more complicated, he said.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 17:12 Comments ||
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Rooters: Dean Disarms Hecklers with National Anthem
Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean on Tuesday unleashed an unlikely weapon to disarm hecklers â the U.S. national anthem. Armed hecklers, boy howdy!
When a rally at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord was interrupted for a second time, the former Vermont governor led his supporters in a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner to drown them out. See title.
Earlier, Dean had called for security to remove a couple of protesters who were shouting and waving the Confederate flag, a divisive symbol of racism and slavery in the South. As they were hustled out, Dean requested they not be "manhandled." This severely dissapointed several "guys" at the back of the room.
Last year, Dean was roundly attacked for making an insensitive remark about wanting to be the candidate for "guys with the Confederate flag on their pickups." He later apologized for the remark. Hence the guns, I guess...
Dean criticized the hecklers, saying they "refuse to respect our right of free speech" and told the crowd: "But you can exercise your right to vote and thatâs the way weâre going to take back our country. The way to deal with what you have seen this afternoon is to vote." Then he broke down and started sobbing and blubbering. Like a girl.
Posted by: mojo ||
01/21/2004 10:58:29 AM ||
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This all could have been avoided if Dean's speechwriter had subtituted a different catch-phrase; NASCAR fan, for instance, into his original statement about Southern dudes. His slip makes the moron who inflicted us with theSoccer Mom look like Aristotle in comparison.
To draw an odd parallel - as is the Hose's modus opperendi - Arsenio Hall once speculated that even Mozart must have had his off days. You know, sat down at the piano and banged out - Everybody was Kong Fu fighting (de dete de da dat da dah ....)
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 11:23 Comments ||
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Mojo-
Whoa (or should I say: Oh wow, man!)your title brings back old memories. How many out there remember Firesign Theatre?
#4
Dean criticized the hecklers, saying they "refuse to respect our right of free speech.."
Tell that to your comrades-in-arms who have no qualms about shouting down conservative speakers at events. Tell that to your comrades-in-arms who won't lift a finger to discourage harassment by their associates of those that don't share your views.
Go on, tell them. Or is it really "free speech for me, but not for thee", as it seems to end up being wherever people of your political stripe are concerned?
#7
Dean criticized the hecklers, saying they "refuse to respect our right of free speech" and told the crowd.
OK. Let me see if I have this right:
Hecklers kept away from President Bush == violation of hecklers' free speech.
Hecklers present at Dean rally == violation of Dean's free speech.
Can anyone explain this to me? I'm confused.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/21/2004 12:58 Comments ||
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RC, remember the scene from Stripes where the late John Candy explains bunk making duties to his platoon mate. You will find that Candy's remarks are very applicable in this situation.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 13:06 Comments ||
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Spot -
How many out there remember Firesign Theatre?
...How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all? And Nick Danger for President!!
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/21/2004 13:26 Comments ||
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#10
George Tirebiter!
Hemlock Stones, the Great Defective, in The Tail of the Giant Rat of Sumatra!
Posted by: Mike ||
01/21/2004 13:31 Comments ||
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#11
"Stand him on his head. See, now it's morn-ing!"
#13
Everybody was Kong Fu fighting
Curse you, SH! Now I have this ear-worm driving me crazy. My daughter bought one of those "Kung-fu Hamsters" that plays that song. I eventually had to be absolutely cruel - I turned it on, and let the cats in to play. It now plays "EVERWAKUFITI", over, and over, and over, and over, and ...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/21/2004 16:44 Comments ||
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#14
OP, stop. I think I have a high stomach sprain from the belly laugh.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 21:27 Comments ||
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Strategy Page
The food and fuel situation up north is pretty grim, and itâs making the security forces up there nervous. Lots more North Koreans are openly expressing an "I donât give a damn" attitude. Just like Eastern Europe in 1989. If people in the most psychotically repressive country on earth are openly dissenting from the Cult of Kimness, thatâs a bad sign for the current regime. The current food crises is a result of foreign donors refusing to contribute food for North Korea because the government has not allowed foreigners to observe where the donated food goes. Other witnesses have consistently reported that the donated food goes to the armed forces and is not sent to areas where there has been unrest, or where the government suspects there might be unrest (because a number of locals have fled to China or Russia.) [span class=sarcasam]Would Jimmy Carter and Madeline Albrightâs friends actually do such a thing.[/span]
Currently, some twelve percent of North Koreaâs population, that was getting food aid, has been cut off. New supplies will not arrive for several months. But after that, the food aid could dry up again if the North Korean government does not become more cooperative. The government is showing signs of easing up on building nuclear weapons and controlling foreign aid. But signs are not the same as a done deal, so the people still starve. Faster, please.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/21/2004 10:52:35 AM ||
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The Norks remove nation-of-origin labels from donated food. The downside to this is, when the food doesn't show up you can't spin it to look like someone else is to blame.
#2
BBC also has US expert doubts N Korean bombs and Newsday has Most Asian Nations Welcome Bush's Speech. I haven't yet read the BBC article. The Newsday article can be summarized with the observation - Asians views on Bush speech directly correlate to whether the listeners recent exposure to sensless acts of brutality. Obviously, this simple observation explains the diffence between opinions of the Iraq War between Poland and France.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 11:47 Comments ||
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Squeeze Kimmy harder. Something's got to give sooner or later.
An Israeli businessman was indicted Wednesday on charges of bribing Ariel Sharon with hundreds of thousands of dollars, further complicating the prime ministerâs clouded legal situation. Analysts said the indictment against real-estate developer David Appel increases the chances that Sharon may face charges, which the Supreme Court has ruled would compel him to leave office pending the outcome of a trial. Increased pressure on Sharon could further endanger the already moribund peace process, destabilize the coalition government and trigger a gloves-off battle for succession in the upper ranks of the Likud, politicians and analysts said.
Sharon was not charged with any criminal wrongdoing, and officials in his office said he was conducting business as usual Wednesday. ``The prime minister continues to work as scheduled and has not changed anything in his work,ââ an official said on condition of anonymity. Nonetheless, opposition lawmakers called on the prime minister to step down. ``He should resign,ââ said former Finance Minister Avraham Shochat of the Labor Party. ``He is polluting the atmosphere.ââ
I've noticed that members of the opposition often say things like that...
Appel was indicted in the Tel Aviv Magistrates court for allegedly giving Sharon hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote an ambitious real-estate project in Greece when Sharon was foreign minister in 1999 and to help rezone urban land near Tel Aviv before and during Sharonâs term as prime minister. Sharon was allegedly asked to use his influence to push forward both projects, although neither project in Greece nor the land deal near Tel Aviv came to fruition.
I don't think it's considered a bribe if he didn't do anything for the money. Then it's called a "gyp."
During 1998-1999, the indictment said, Appel ``gave Ariel Sharon a bribe in recognition of activities connected to the fulfillment of his public positions.ââ It said Appel paid a total of $690,000 to Sharonâs family ranch in the Negev desert. Appel, a powerful activist in Sharonâs Likud Party, also promised his support to Sharon during two election campaigns, the indictment said. The indictment also charged Appel with bribing Vice Premier Ehud Olmert to promote the Greek project when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem in the late 1990s. It also charged that Sharonâs son, Gilad, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in consultation fees for the Greek project. Prosecutors believe these funds were used to bribe Ariel Sharon. ``(Appel) and Gilad agreed to this arrangement despite the fact that the defendant knew that Gilad had no relevant professional qualifications,ââ the indictment said. Appelâs lawyer, Moshe Israel, denied the charges. ``There is no doubt he is innocent,ââ Israel said.
No doubt. No doubt...
In order for Ariel Sharon to be charged, prosecutors must be convinced that a bribe was accepted with criminal intent. But Wednesdayâs indictment of Appel added uncertainty to Ariel Sharonâs legal problems. The prime minister also is being investigated for alleged involvement in illegal campaign financing. Prosecutors suspect a $1.5 million loan was provided by foreign businessmen during his 1999 primary campaign for Likud Party leadership. Moshe Negbi, Israel Radioâs legal affairs analyst, said, ``It is not reasonable to believe that Sharon did not know what this money was being offered for.ââ
Eyal Arad, an adviser to Sharon during the 1999 elections, played down the accusations. ``If it was a serious issue, with real proof against the prime minister, that would require a separate debate and of course an indictment against him,ââ he told Israel Radio. Even if Sharon is not charged, public pressure and anger within the ruling Likud Party could force him to step down, political analyst Emmanuel Rosen said on Army Radio. The Yediot Ahronot daily said that Likud members are already preparing for a possible leadership battle. Leading contenders include former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. Olmert, as vice premier, would otherwise be a strong contender, but his alleged involvement in the Greek real-estate deal will likely harm his chances.
I remind all posters that articles should be either hard news or commentary that expands our understanding on the mechanism and goals of terrorism.
Please edit all postings for length. Cut the parts that repeat what everybody knows by now because we've seen it so many times before. Try and keep them short and punchy. People try to read this stuff, y'know.
I will delete pure opinion pieces and such purely political hit pieces that bore me. This is because Rantburg concerns itself with the War on Terror. If you want to post Bush hit pieces, go to Indymedia. If you disagree with what Bush does, kindly confine yourself to the comments portion of real articles and take your lumps.
Please do not feed the trolls! I end up leaving troll pieces with a lot of comments because the comments are funnier than the posted article.
If you're a troll, please don't post and then comment on your post under another name. It's tacky.
Thank you,
The Management
Posted by: Rabbi Katz ||
01/21/2004 10:18:05 AM ||
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increases the chances that Sharon may face charges
Oh no - not another troll! An indictment is not a conviction. Pro-Labor prosecutors have been going after Likud on spurious charges for years. Too bad there's no way to remove them office. (Unlike Arafat, who kills people who accuse him of graft, Sharon isn't the kind of guy who shoots his critics - he does go after people, but only Arabs on the battlefield).
#2
What is this? Ed Asner said that they were going after Sean Hannity next. We've been fooled by the clever LLL, again. Doh!!!
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 11:53 Comments ||
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Rabbi Katz, this is not a toilet for dumping shit in. FOAD.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
01/21/2004 11:58 Comments ||
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#4
Now wouldn't it be hilarious if those seeking to oust Ariel Sharon turn out to be successful and end up having Benjamin Netanyahu taking over the driver's seat?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/21/2004 12:16 Comments ||
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#6
Woo Hoo, that war criminal Sharon will hopefully get locked up and put away. He's always been a criminal finally get prosecuted for it. Must hurt all you Israeli policy loving dicks.
#8
Hmm if this trollage keeps up I'm going to start a post about globular clusters.
Posted by: Val ||
01/21/2004 13:18 Comments ||
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Woo Hoo, that war criminal Sharon will hopefully get locked up and put away. He's always been a criminal finally get prosecuted for it. Must hurt all you Israeli policy loving dicks.
I partially agree. Were Sharon to go, in would come Netanyahu, a man who make Sharon look like a flaming liberal.
May God Bless General Sharon and keep him safe from his leftist enemies.
A TEAM of inspectors from OLAF, the European Union fraud office, is this week arriving in Jerusalem to investigate whether EU funds have been misdirected by the Palestinians. The European fraud-busters come at a time when allegations are mounting of corruption in the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian officials and employees of pressure groups in the West Bank and Gaza are accused of having systematically diverted foreign aid over recent years. But the outcome of the OLAF investigation is by no means certain.
I think the usual response is to try and bump them off, isn't it?
Thatâs because European Union officials, orchestrated by EU External Relations Commissioner Chris ibn al Patten, have repeatedly ignored the signs that millions of euros of taxpayersâ money may be ending up in the wrong Palestinian pockets. see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. just pay for it.
In the hope of sucking up to strengthening ties with Yasser Arafat and the Arab world, EU leaders have proved remarkably reluctant to find out exactly how their aid money is spent. Arab states have reduced their funding in protest at the stalled peace protest. Does the EU have the will to do the same? At the very least, the EU should consider its continued support conditional on clear-cut action by Arafat to implement the first phase of the roadkillRoad Map peace plan. This calls for the Palestinians to âdeclare an unequivocal end to violence and terrorismâ. their simultaneous call for pigs to fly was considered more likely to occur
The EU has placed customs tariffs on Israeli goods produced in West Bank settlements. EU aid to Israel is not allowed to be used in the occupied territories. The time may have come for the EU to apply similar sanctions to the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat is suspected of having been paying the salaries of terrorists from the e10m in monthly EU budget support for his civil service. Pattenâs claims that the EU funds were minutely supervised by the IMF have been disputed by the IMF official responsible, Salaam Fayyad, now Palestinian finance minister. An IMF report concluded that $900m was âdivertedâ from the PA budget up to 2000. Former Palestinian cabinet minister Abdel Fattah Hamayel admits paying $40,000 per month bombing expensesâliving expensesâ to those Al-Aqsa Martyrsâ Brigades gunmen not already employed by the Palestinian security forces. hey. have you seen the price of C4 lately!?! Stephen Bloomberg, a London-born engineer, is suing the EU for e20m. In August 2001, two Palestinian gunmen sprayed his car with bullets, killing his pregnant wife and leaving Mr Bloomberg and his teenage daughter paralysed in wheelchairs. The gunmen were caught by the Israelis. One was a police officer and the other the police chief from the West Bank town of Qalkilyeh. Their salaries at the time were paid by the EU. It is also alleged that corruption may have tainted EU donations to Palestinian Non Governmental Organisations. Much of the e105m donated since 2000 has been laundered channelled through the Palestinian Finance Ministry. Funds are budgeted at an exchange rate of 4.5 shekels to the dollar and paid out at a rate of 3.5 shekels to the dollar. No one knows what happens to the millions represented by the exchange gap.
My guess is that it's Suha's clothes closet, but I suppose it could also be used for arms and ammunition...
LAST week, lawyer Khader Shekirat was arrested by Palestinian police after the EU accused him of stealing $2m from LAW - the EU-funded Palestinian human rights group which he headed. he was released that afternoon, after the photo ops
Recently, the Palestinian NGO Network flatly refused to sign a pledge, requested by the American aid body USAID, that they will not âprovide material support or resources to any individual or entity that advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in or has engaged in terrorist activityâ. what? you mean you wonât pay us to kill Jews?
They said they preferred to reject the $1.3m received from USAID in the past decade rather than sign the pledge. The EU should consider a similar pledge - combined with concrete action - from the Palestinian NGOs and the Palestinian Authority government.
Posted by: PlanetDan ||
01/21/2004 9:52:18 AM ||
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I will kiss Arafat @$$ at high noon at the temple mount if he spends ONE day in custudy. This is all for show, nothing will become of this and the terror will continue. USAID has drawn a line in the sand, but EU (France/Germany) has no cajones to make this worthwhile. I preduct they (EU) will boost the PA fund and the stealing will continue.
#5
Former Palestinian cabinet minister Abdel Fattah Hamayel admits paying $40,000 per month âliving expensesâ to those Al-Aqsa Martyrsâ Brigades gunmen not already employed by the Palestinian security forces.
Which means the Paleo security boys get more, right? Otherwise they'd hit the bread line.
$40,000 per month ANYWHERE in the world would buy you a soft life -- great house, good food, lots of entertainment and toys, education, you name it. ANYWHERE. So why is Ein-al-Hellhole such a shithole? Why is Jenin a shithole? Ramallah? Same thing. Each and every village and city on the West Bank and Gaza is a dump.
Don't blame the Israelis, either. They were working to whip the place into shape right up to the time they pulled out and gave Yasser his long-coveted "autonomy". Lot at the result.
I hope USAID sticks to its guns and doesn't dispense another penny. I have no hopes at all for the EU.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2004 13:05 Comments ||
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#6
What if we just sent the charities funding in the form of Walmart gift cards. It would be harder to use the funds for evil as they could only draw cash if the remainder on the card was less than $5. If you use one of the cards at my local Wal-mart to fill up, you can get 4 cents off per gallon of gas. That might have a damping effect the spirally worldwide price of crude.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 13:40 Comments ||
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An Islamic leader accused of concealing alleged ties to terrorist groups to gain U.S. citizenship was ordered by his mosqueâs trustees to take a leave of absence. Imam Fawaz Mohammed Damrah was charged last week with obtaining U.S. citizenship by providing false information. The indictment alleges he was a member or had links to several groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and concealed those affiliations when he applied for citizenship. He has pleaded innocent and is free on $160,000 bail. If convicted, he could lose his citizenship and face up to five years in prison. And then get booted out of the country.
Trustees of the Islamic Center of Cleveland voted Monday to place Damrah on a paid leave of absence while he defends himself. "We support the imam as a person, but our obligation is to cover our ass protect the center," Dr. Ali Halabi, the mosqueâs president, said in a statement. Damrah, 41, rejected the boardâs request that he take leave voluntarily. "No, Iâm the imam here. Iâm not leaving and you canât make me!"
A board member said supporters are pushing for a vote of the general membership. Yes, Iâd like to see a show of hands.
At a rally Friday, Damrah said the charges against him are part of "blatant targeting" of Islamic leaders by the Jews government. "In these difficult times, we must not allow fear and hate to deprive us of our collective civil rights," he said. In case you hadnât noticed, Mohammed, you are being granted your civil rights. You have been publicly charged with a crime and granted bail. You will have a attorney and a trial where you can answer the charges against you. If you lose, you can appeal. You wonât find those rights available to you in many Arab countries.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 9:51:02 AM ||
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...Man, the old home town just ain't what it used to be. Ladies in South Euclid lying about finding lottery tickets, the Grand Imam of Cleveland gets busted (his pink flamingo in the yard probably had a burka), and the Indians are regular contenders. I'm gonna have to take a few days, get up to the Sportsman on E.9th and St. Clair, get a Reuben, and try to figure this out....
Okay - all humor aside, I remember the Muslim community in Cleveland actually being out on the East Side - Beachwood, Eastlake, in through there, and usually they were well paid professionals who had assimilated quite nicely - they just went to a different church than we did, that's all. Wondering how this guy got in there.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/21/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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Two Michigan men have been charged in connection with a drug ring that authorities say may have financially supported Hezbollah, an Islamic militant group listed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. Enter standard "If we just legalized drugs" rant here Ali Abdul-Karim Farhat, 39, and his brother, Hassan Farhat, 34, were arrested by federal agents at their Dearborn home Monday. They are being held on cocaine conspiracy and distribution charges and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. "Based on what Iâve seen and heard to date, the investigation doesnât demonstrate anything other than wishful thinking," the menâs attorney, Arthur Weiss, told the Detroit Free Press. "Lies, all lies!"
According to a criminal complaint, Ali Farhat, owner of perfume importer Sigma Distribution Inc., had been involved in marijuana, cocaine and heroin trafficking for at least 10 years, based on information supplied by government informants. The complaint says Hassan Farhat gave another informant a package containing cocaine at the Farhatsâ booth at a trade center last December. Bet the informant was wired and they have pictures.
Search warrants for the company and the menâs home indicate agents were searching for Hezbollah-related books, videos and documents. As they say, developing.
In another Dearborn case, assistant U.S. attorney Ken Chadwell filed an affidavit Tuesday in support of the continued detention of Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, who was indicted on charges of providing material support to Hezbollah. Kourani was ordered held without bond. Good.
Kourani, 32, got a visa to travel to Mexico by bribing a Mexican official in Beirut with $3,000, then entered the United States from Mexico in the trunk of a car on Feb. 4, 2001, Chadwell said. Pause - seethe - continue:
According to the government, Kourani told the FBI his brother is Hezbollahâs chief of military security for southern Lebanon. Kouraniâs lawyer, Nabih Ayad, has denied Kourani has any connection to Hezbollah. Nabih, better have a talk with your client.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/21/2004 9:33:28 AM ||
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Kourani told the FBI his brother is Hezbollahâs chief of military security for southern Lebanon
well, well, isn't he a prized little catch??
Posted by: B ||
01/21/2004 13:38 Comments ||
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Russiaâs Deputy Prosecutor-General Vladimir Kolesnikov announced on Tuesday that the perpetrators of the terrorist act in Kaspiysk, Dagestan on May 9, 2002 and their accomplices have been formally charged and their case will go to court in late January. The terrorists set off a powerful explosive device in a crowd of people during the Victory Day march-past in the center of Kaspiysk on May 9, 2002. On Tuesday, Kolesnikov responded to a question from ITAR-TASS by saying that the investigation into the criminal case is drawing to a close. âFive persons, including accomplices and the perpetrators of the crime have been charged with committing the terror act and the criminal case against them will be submitted to the court in late January,â he said. According to Kolesnikov, the investigators have identified the mastermind of the terrorist act - field commander Rappani Khalilov, who is hiding in Chechnya.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:17:53 AM ||
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Five Russian soldiers were killed and four wounded when Russian positions came under fire a total of 19 times over the past 24 hours in Chechnya, an official said.
In a clash with rebels near Roshni-Chu in the south-western Urus-Martan region, four servicemen were wounded and one rebel was killed, the official in the Kremlin-backed Chechen administration said on condition of anonymity.
Another three servicemen were injured when a military truck was blown up near the village of Alkhazurovo, also in the Urus-Martan district, the official said.
Russian artillery and aviation pounded the Itum-Kale, Vedeno and Nozhai-Yurt districts and at least 170 people were detained in so-called "sweeping operations" designed to flush out rebels and supporters, he said.
Also, Russian news agencies reported that a group of 15 rebels was destroyed during a two-week special operation in the Urus-Martan region. The reports did not make clear if all 15 had been killed. The group used falsified documents identifying them as members of various security structures to facilitate abduction of local residents, the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Col Ilya Shabalkin, a spokesman for the Russian military operation in the region, as saying. In the groupâs camp on the outskirts of the Tangi settlement, a list was found with the names of 21 people who they intended to kill, Shabalkin said. Among them were members of law enforcement agencies, he added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:15:52 AM ||
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Zimbabweâs opposition leader has said any attempt on the life of President Robert Mugabe could spark civil war. Morgan Tsvangirai, who is on trial accused of plotting to kill Mr Mugabe, said any such attack would unleash anarchy and chaos. He says he had no reason to plot to assassinate Mr Mugabe, as he expected to beat him at the polls. Well sure, in a fair election you might have.
"All political assassinations have consequences that undermine democracy, justice, freedom," he told the court. Smart man. What a foolish waste the whole Zim-Bob-We farce has been.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader has been testifying for a second day in the case, which began in February 2003. Mr Tsvangirai said he and two senior officials of his party, Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela, were duped into believing that Mr Menashe was interested in promoting the MDCâs image. He said the consultant had promised to help them raise funds for the party and lobby for international support for its political activities in Zimbabwe. The prosecution case hinges on a grainy video tape made by the Canadian political consultant in which Mr Tsvangirai allegedly discusses Mr Mugabeâs "elimination". Think this might have been a Bob-style set-up?
In his testimony, Mr Ben-Menashe said that Mr Tsvangiraiâs Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had signed a $500,000 contract with his firm and promised $10m to the head of the air force, Air Marshal Perence Shiri, to stage a coup after Mr Mugabeâs assassination. If convicted, Mr Tsvangirai could face the death penalty. Donât expect any Hollywood stars to protest, though.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2004 1:05:37 AM ||
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Mugabe killing âcould spark warâ
I'm failing to see how this would be worse...
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
01/21/2004 8:34 Comments ||
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Iranâs Guardian Council is allowing 200 reformist candidates of more than 3,500 blacklisted a week ago to stand in next monthâs elections. Abbas Kadkodaye of the conservative legal body said it was speeding up the review process after an appeal by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "After the order was given by the Supreme Leader, we have been obliged to speed up our work," said Mr Kadkodaye on the Guardian Council website. "So far 200 candidates have been approved". He did not specify which candidates. "The ones you ainât heard of."
"The Guardian Council has enough time to review the cases carefully... to prevent the violation of anyoneâs rights," he said at the time. If that were the case, you wouldnât have banned them in the first place.
On Monday, President Khatamiâs party, Association of Non-Combatant Clerics, raised the pressure by threatening to boycott elections scheduled for 20 February. "If urgent measures are not taken to settle the current problem, which prevents free competition between legal political views, there is no further reason for the Association to take part in the parliamentary election," it said in a statement. The Guardian Council on Sunday reiterated its defiant posture in a rare news conference, saying it would not bow to pressure to retract the candidate vetoes. Spokesman Ebrahim Aziz said its members would "not succumb to any pressure or propaganda", but added that they would follow Ayatollah Khameneiâs request to review the cases. "That wasnât pressure, that was, um, a request."
The Council has until 30 January to complete its review. Those still disqualified have another chance to appeal before campaigning starts on 12 February. Iâm sure the Association of Pacifist Clerics will be a big help.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2004 1:00:03 AM ||
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No offense, but I'm deeply skeptical as to how the Iranian political game is played. How do we know that this whole thing wasn't just staged for external consumption in order to show the Euros that it was the nice fluffy reformists who won in order to act as a PR barrier against US action against them?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/21/2004 1:03 Comments ||
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#2
Sorry Dan! I'm deeply offended. And nothing you could say can put my emotions at rest. If the current situation doesn't improove then I'm going to buy a sequined suit and become a pearly queen. I'll travel around the world and seek my destiny.
As for the guardian council, yes okay, fine whatever, I'll pray, five times and more, yes, sure, you bet, may I have another!
#3
The Guardian Council is just throwing the reformers, or more probably the external world a bone. This is nothing but window dressing. The GC holds the power and they are not going to let go until they get their asses kicked every way to Sunday.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/21/2004 17:10 Comments ||
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President Bush discussed with Indiaâs foreign minister on Tuesday how the two countries can build on a strategic relationship Bush suggested last week. "The president congratulated the foreign minister on the important progress being made on the relationship between Pakistan and India," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said after the presidentâs 15-minute meeting with Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha. "They also discussed the next steps on the strategic partnership between India and the United States." Strategic partnership with the worldâs most populous democracy. I like that. How âbout you, Mahmoud?
Last week, Bush announced an expansion in dialogue on proposed cooperation to expand engagement on nonmilitary nuclear regulatory and safety issues and missile defense, ways to enhance cooperation in peaceful uses of space technology and creation of the appropriate environment for successful high-technology commerce. Relations between Bush and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee have moved ahead over the past couple of years. The announcement came just after nuclear-armed India and Pakistan took a historic step of proclaiming their desire to put a half-century of enmity behind them and renew peace talks. Later, Sinha met for almost 90 minutes with Secretary of State Colin Powell, who praised last weekâs India-Pakistan agreement. With Sinha at his side, Powell told reporters the two sides "will be moving in an aggressive way and promptly" to implement the agreement announced last week. But, he added, the relationship goes well beyond that agreement. "There is no area of dialogue that we are not pursuing, and pursuing in a very profitable way," he said. Sinha said the discussions were conducted "in the friendliest and most cordial atmosphere. There is a great deal of meeting of the minds on most of these issues." Outstanding demonstration of cause-and-effect here: take a real step on the peace front, get talks moving on other things of interest. Wonder if the lesson will spread?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/21/2004 12:52:38 AM ||
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One word here...UGH. I trust the Indian government as far as I can throw it..no sorry...even less than that. Heck I'm Indian and even I'm admitting that. While theres a lot of reasons to have India on friendly terms, they aren't exactly fully on our side.
Posted by: Val ||
01/21/2004 5:06 Comments ||
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Val, I tend to agree with you but still think India is a natural ally in the WOT and worth cultivating. Just have to get them past all that socialism nonsense.
Posted by: Phil B ||
01/21/2004 5:53 Comments ||
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#3
I had read something awhile ago that suprised me - India has one of the most consistantly anti-American voting records in the UN.
Given the UN is beyond useless so votes there count for nothing, I was still shocked by it.
#4
Given the UN is beyond useless so votes there count for nothing, I was still shocked by it.
Why would you be shocked? Read any English language paper from India on the Internet, any day of the week - they read like the People's Daily, with an Indian twist. India is no status quo power - it has territorial claims all over the region*. Unlike China, which negotiated orderly handovers with Portugal and the UK over Macao and Hong Kong, India seized Goa** from Portugal (via invasion) in the 1960's. The result? Macao and Hong Kong have First World infrastructure and are the richest cities in China, whereas Goa is just another squalid Third World backwater.
* These claims are in spite of the fact that India today is really the British empire in South Asia, with Burma, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh detached. Pre-British rule, India did not exist as a nation - understandably so, given that India includes a real mish-mash of distinct languages within its boundaries. India is a British creation, just as today's China was a Manchu creation.
** And unlike Macao and Hong Kong, which had been part of the Chinese empire before they were ceded to Portugal and Great Britain, Goa was never part of the British empire in South Asia - it was seized by the Portuguese from the Turkish Ottoman rulers, many centuries ago, before the British colonized the South Asian subcontinent. And yet the Indians seized Goa on the basis of incredibly dubious territorial claims.
#5
Read any English language paper from India on the Internet, any day of the week - they read like the People's Daily, with an Indian twist.
That would be China's People's Daily. You do have to read the Chinese version in translation (via Google or Altavista) to get some insight into what they're really thinking (and they're not nice, comforting thoughts).
#10
BAR, he's probably some trust-fund baby ditching his 1 O'clock at Berkley. He's spending his afternoon coming up w/pithy one-liners as per the above submission but is not much for substance, prose, or content. Though I am sure he can drool like a champ. However, I'm just a dumb Marine led by a rogue terrorist and his cronies - so what do I know? Maybe OS can go to India and then report back to us the finer points of their governmental process and the benfits of the caste system.
#12
Goa was a third world backwater long before India siezed it.
Actually, Goa was similar* to Portugal's other Asian holding, Macau, before India seized it. Macau's GDP (on a purchasing power parity basis) was $18,500 in 2002. India's (and by extension, Goa's) was $2,600. But this isn't atypical - from the Jewel of the Crown (i.e. the British empire) to one of the world's poorest countries - this is the legacy of India's inspired leadership.
* That is, a pocket of the First World in the Third World.
Palestinian infiltrators have succeeded in breaching Israelâs new security fence and barrier system. "Maginot Line!" "Quagmire!" "Oh MY!"
Israeli security sources said Palestinian infiltrators have scaled the four-meter high concrete fence by using a simple ladder. The Israeli project calls for the establishing of a 730-kilometer fence at a cost of $1.9 billion. Most of the project consists of a concrete wall or chain-link fence with sensors, cameras and military patrols. But itâs not done yet, is it?
In one case, Arab infiltrators brought a ladder to the fence in the northeastern West Bank. They quickly scaled the fence and entered a waiting car that took them to Israeli Arab villages. The infiltrators were deemed as Palestinians looking for death from IDF snipers work. The sources said an Israeli command center spotted the infiltrators but could not respond quickly enough to capture them. They said this constitutes a breach in security that must be resolved. High velocity bullets, night scopes, more sensors, and permission to shoot should do it
Since the fence was built, the sources said about two infiltrations a month take place from the West Bank through the area of the fence. Before the fence was built, the number of infiltrations was reported at 300 a month. letâs see, thatâs a ...2 divided by 300....carry the 0âs....um... 99% reduction...guess it isnât working huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/21/2004 12:10:43 AM ||
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"letâs see, thatâs a ...2 divided by 300....carry the 0âs....um... 99% reduction...guess it isnât working huh? "
That depends on how many infiltrations occur in *total*, not in that specific area. With an unfinished fence, infiltrators don't need to go through *there*, except in order to test the defenses for later use. Or so I imagine.
*When* the fence is built, only then will we be able to estimate how much infiltration is taking place.
This incident however still makes one wonder how defensible the Israeli fence will end up being, given that its future course is gonna be even more twisty than the current portion... The more twisty, the longer, the more troops needed to guard it... etc
#6
I reckon the Gaza fence is quite effective, if not perfect, and the security fence will be built on the same blueprint, with wall sections added. Anyway, if that is so easily breached, why do propaleostinian orgs everywhere screeching about the "apartheid wall"? Btw, 96% trench-fence-barbwire-patrol road-sensors-fine sand strip (for footprints), 4% concrete wall. You'll note that the vast majority of pictures, news footages, demonstrations, etc, etc... only show theses 4%. You might call it a bias.
#8
The main point about a defensive wall, throughout history, is not that by itself provides some sort of security, but that a wall, combined with proper patrol and defense, will be a sufficient obstacle to greatly increase the security inside.
The benefit of the wall as opposed to a patrolled and defended open space, is that it lets you cut down substantially on the number of troops and sentries you need. Also, it lets you concentrate your troops in specific places from where they can respond in force as necessary (because now they have time to respond), rather than have realtively weak forces distributed along the length of the perimeter.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
01/21/2004 12:53 Comments ||
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A negative reinforcement technique would be to wait until a bunch of guys were on the ladder and then open up with a 50 cal. Besides, an electrified fence might hurt somebody.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/21/2004 13:33 Comments ||
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If I were a Paleostinian, I would let them build the wall or fence, and just switch tactics. Instead of suicide bombers, use mortars, rockets, or just throw stones over it. This thing about counter-battery fire is all a myth (plus the IDF doesn't have radar). disclaimer: sarcasm
Posted by: Rafael ||
01/21/2004 13:56 Comments ||
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Damn shame we couldn't have just recycled the Berlin Wall. Finally could have put the thing to good use.
Ed.
Posted by: Ed Becerra ||
01/21/2004 14:39 Comments ||
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#12
This idea may only work for a short time, but if done correctly, could yield some really awesome results.
1: Coat the top of the wall with a layer of something like the black light ink that lets you get back into clubs and Disneyland and what-not. Instead of using a liquid dye, use a fine powder so as not to raise suspicions that there is anything else to the wall than the normal dust one would acquire climbing over concrete. At the same time make it a fine enough powder that even a vigorous brushing off couldn't remove it.
2: Wait.
3: That night, send out some stealth-type "eye in the sky" drone, like the one that filmed the fake paleo funeral last year. You know, the one one where the "bearers" accidently dumped the stretcher and the "corpse" kept getting up to run back on? Only this time, fit it with some sort of night vision camera that would be able to detect anyone with the dye.
4: At this point, either follow their activity to a den, or just have the coordinates sent to the IDF, who can then pull a , "Dust 'em till they glow, then shoot 'em in the dark!"
Okay, maybe I read too many comics when I was a kid, but it sounds pretty feasible, yeah?
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.
