A South African woman mistakenly plunked a 100-year-old gold coin worth more than $1,000 into a parking meter while shopping without her glasses, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. "I can't believe I could have done something like that," said the woman, who asked not to be identified. And I can't believe you're so stupid as to comingle ancient gold pieces with the change in your coin purse. Do you even remember how to breathe?
The woman said she also believed she had spent an 1890 sovereign, worth a small fortune, as small change, the Cape Argus newspaper said. Hot candidate for Mouth Breathers Anonymous.
The woman inherited the gold coins from her mother, but they became mixed up with loose coins she kept in a container and were transferred to her purse by mistake. She told the newspaper she did not realize she had the coins with her and was not carrying her spectacles. She said she thought she put a Kruger sovereign, worth about 7,000 rand ($1,100) in a parking meter in Paarl outside Cape Town. How people like this make it out of the house each morning without choking to death on their own toothbrush is beyond me.
Posted by: Zenster ||
07/24/2004 4:10:15 AM ||
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I used to freak out the Salvation Army every Christmas with decent date duplicate walking liberty halves. Always warned the office after the fact.
#2
This was an episode of Perry Mason. There were murders and shenanigans afoot, and someone paid a dippy but beautiful starlet to claim she'd put the coin in the meter. Watch for a poorly-edited tape to turn up, falsely suggesting a love affair between the murdered girl and the innocent suspect.
#3
Cheeze. You can remember what happened in an episode of Perry Mason?
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2004 14:23 Comments ||
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I love Perry Mason. It's on the Hallmark Channel in the afternoons. At one time it was on something like six or eight hours a day. It's down to two hours a day now. I've seen all the episodes several times each now, so haven't watched it much recently.
#5
Angie, don't listen to these cretins. Let me tell you about the mint condition hard bound edition of Erle Stanley Gardner's The Case of the Velvet Claws (his first Perry Mason case) at the head of my extensive Perry Mason book collection. Gardner remains the world's best selling mystery author. Sadly, many of the television episodes were cranked out by a boiler room squad, but it in no way alters the fact that Raymond Burr brought Perry Mason to life in an excruciatingly accurate and iconic fashion. Few other stage roles, save that of "Spock," have ever been so thoroughly grafted onto a single human actor.
Footnote: MAD is one of the only long standing publications to have never run any paid advertising within its pages. Quite a track record in some respects. Then again, maybe none was ever submitted. How will we ever know?
A Saudi airline official reportedly said Saturday there are no Saudi pilots in U.S. custody, but he complained about U.S. measures against the pilots. The official al-Watan newspaper quoted Saudia Airlines Director Khalid bin Baker as saying no other country in the world besides the United States has prevented certain Saudi pilots from flying over U.S. air space. He said the kingdom does not treat American pilots in this way because the measure the American government took was based on a misunderstanding over certain names. Bin Baker added lawyers explained this to the American authorities, which led to the revoking of the decision against some names, and work is being done for the rest. The U.S. authorities have banned several Saudia Airlines pilots from entering American air space on suspicion they may be linked to al-Qaida network, led by Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/24/2004 1:13:50 PM ||
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He said the kingdom does not treat American pilots in this way because the measure the American government took was based on a misunderstanding over certain names.
Yes, the illustrious list of Saudi names like Prince Turki al-Faisal, Waleed M Alshehri, Wail M Alshehri, Satam M A Al Suqami, Abdulaziz Alomari, Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan Al Qadi Banihammad, Ahmed Alghamdi, Hamza Alghamdi, Mohand Alshehri, Hani Hanjour, Majed Moqed, Khalid Almihdhar, Nawaf Alhazmi, Salem Alhazmi and Ahmed Ibrahim A Al Haznawi have made America more than a little suspicious of Saudi Arabians who get their hands on an aircraft's control yoke.
So long as Saudi Arabia is overrun by the exact same organization that orchestrated the 9-11 atrocity, the United States will have more than ample reason to exclude their nationals from performing overflights in anything more substantial than an ultralight.
The United States pledged 50,000 tons of food aid on Friday for North Korea this year, weeks after the two countries appeared to make some progress toward resolving a two-year-old nuclear weapons standoff. The United States, which is traditionally one of the top food donors to the impoverished, Communist nation, says its aid is independent of its negotiations to persuade Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear programs.
But the Bush administration acknowledged it would be good if the aid had a positive impact on nuclear negotiations, in which the two governments held their highest-level talks earlier this month. "It's our desire to help the North Korean people," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "If that impresses the North Koreans and makes them adopt a more favorable attitude, then that's good, but our intention is to help the people and not to try to affect the talks." The United States could also pledge more food aid later this year, he added. The aid came in the same week the United States allowed North Korea's U.N. ambassador to attend a conference in Washington, the highest-level visit to the capital by the Pyongyang government during the Bush administration. Last year, the United States pledged North Korea 100,000 tons in food aid, and in 2002 it gave 207,000 tons. In those cases, the donations roughly accounted for at least a fifth of the aid originally appealed for worldwide by the World Food Program, according to State Department figures.
Sounds like we just threw the rabid dog a bone to chew on.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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This should be genetically modified grain so that the green moonbats can howl about it and give us an excuse to let them starve. North Korea will not be self-sufficient in the foreseeable future. Feeding them just delays the ultimate result. These people are beyond redemption. No one who has come of age in the lunatic asylum that is North Korea can be peacefully integrated into any recognizable form of civilization. Let them starve now or kill them on the battlefield later, sooner or later Kim Jong-il's legions are going to have to die.
Posted by: Random thoughts ||
07/24/2004 14:56 Comments ||
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#7
Taters?, what's taters precious?
Posted by: RJB in JC MO ||
07/24/2004 17:28 Comments ||
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#3Stupid idea. The reward is supposed to be thrown to the dog AFTER he does the trick, not before.
A group claiming to be the European wing of al Qaeda on Saturday threatened Australia and Italy with attacks if they did not pull troops out of Iraq. The statement signed by "Islamic Tawhid Group, the al Qaeda organization, Europe" and posted on a Web site said it would attack both countries with "columns of rigged cars" if their demands were not met. "Australian people, if your government refuses to withdraw and respond to us we will shake the ground beneath your feet as we did in Indonesia and columns of rigged cars will not stop," it said. "Italian people, we advise you accept our offer and if you refuse you will hear columns of rigged cars shaking your cities," it added.
It was the second such statement in a week. On Wednesday the previously unheard-of group threatened Bulgaria and Poland with attacks if they do not pull out from Iraq. The group also threatened to attack Australian interests in Arab and Muslim countries. "Our arms are long and we can reach whoever we want, whenever we want. Follow the path of the Philippines and Spain. It is the correct path which guarantees you a safe and secure life."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/24/2004 3:05:34 PM ||
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"Follow the path of the Philippines and Spain. It is the correct path which guarantees you a safe and secure life..."
#2
The more reason to toss anybody within one's borders who owns a turban. Eventually it'll come to that. Might as well get started now.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2004 19:54 Comments ||
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and then we are go to astralia and america and italy and poland and france and arabia and israel and rushia and canada and jordan and korea and spain and filipines and honduras and bolivia and kenya. then we are go to yemen and germany and japan and pakistan and turkey and britain and brazil and indonesia....
The ambassadors to Norway from Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt and Marocco and the charge d'affaires from Tunisia has criticized Progress Party leader Carl I.Hagen for his attack on the Muslim faith in a speech last week. -Hagen has insulted 1.3 billion Muslims, and offended the principles of tolerance and freedom on which the Norwegian society is built, the diplomats write in a letter to Aftenposten. "We expect that our rights to practice Islam will be respected by those who do not share our faith, and that we do not have to meet the ugly threat of religious intolerance from any quarter," the letter states. I notice the Soddies didn't sign their little spiel. I wonder why? Presumably they will be sending a letter to Saudi Arabia next, protesting the the rights of non muslims.
It is very unusual for foreign diplomats to comment on Norwegian domestic affairs. Speaking at the summer festival of the Charismatic church Living Word (Levende Ord) in Bergen, Hagen said among other things that children are used as suicide bombers in the effort to convert the world to Islam, while parents believe they receive glory and honour as their children become martyrs. "I can see no similarity with the concept of moral and justice found in Christianity," Hagen said. Hagen also said that if Israel loses in the Middle East, Europe will succumb to Islam next, if Islamic fundamentalists have it their way. Must be reading Rantburg
Thelogian at the University of Oslo, Oddbjoern Leirvik, said last week that Hagen's speech may be compared to the agitation against the Jews in the 1930s. How about the hatred coming from the mosques on a weekly basis, or is it politically incorrect to mention brown men?
"The Progreess Party has also earlier tried to "play its Muslim card" in different election campaigns, but this time I feel Hagen really overstepped the mark," Leirvik said to NRK. Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg said the speech shows why the Progress Party is not part of any government. "It is a bit dangerous if we picture all Muslims as terrorists," Solberg said to NRK. Especially if his name is Mullah Krekar. He might sent some of his hard boyz around for a "friendly" visit.
She said she did not want to term Hagen's speech as racistic, but that it showed hostility towards Islam as a religion. She said that Hagen's attitudes does not make it simpler for the Conservatives to cooperate with the Progress Party.
#1
The only way a speech like this will work is to emphasize, over and over, that Moslems receive rights in "Christian" and secular nations that Christians do not receive in Moslem nations. *And* that this proves that Christian and secular nations are SUPERIOR to Moslem nations, and that Moslem nations are INFERIOR to Christian and secular states.
Then the speech must emphasize that Moslems who demand rights in Christian and secular nations MUST renounce the oppressive, racist, sexist, and anti other-religion and secular beliefs of Islam, OR THEY DO NOT DESERVE TO BE TREATED WITH EQUALITY AND RESPECT THEMSELVES.
So, RENOUNCE cruelty, racism, slavery, sexism, and religious hatred AND WE WILL GREET you into a BETTER WAY OF LIFE than is offered to you under ISLAM.
Michael Moore's contentious film Fahrenheit 9/11 has opened in Poland, with some film critics likening it to totalitarian propaganda. Gazeta Wyborcza reviewer Jacek Szczerba called the film a "foul pamphlet". He said it was too biased to be called a documentary and was similar to Nazi propaganda director Leni Riefenstahl. But politicians opposed to the country's involvement in the US-led occupation of Iraq have urged people to see the film. "In criticising Moore, I have to admit that he has certain abilities - Leni Riefenstahl had them too," Mr Szczerba said in his review.
"Michael Moore will not convince Poles with his film," the Rzeczpospolita newspaper said in its review. People are very sensitive to aggressive propaganda, especially when it pretends to be an objective documentary or a work of art." The Polish government has supported the US-led operations in Iraq, and the Poles are in charge of a 6,200-strong force in southern Iraq. More than 2,000 Polish troops are currently serving in Iraq.
"The film contained some propaganda, but there was also a lot of truth in it," Pole Elzbieta Karwinska, 58, said after seeing the film. "But I see no direct connection between the film and the Polish army in Iraq. I think that Poland is in Iraq for completely different reasons." This week, an Australian government minister described Moore as "the quintessential ugly American", after the film maker criticised the Australian prime minister's support of US President George Bush, saying: "What is John Howard doing in bed with an idiot?".
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/24/2004 6:22:15 PM ||
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Michael Moore will not convince Poles with his film
I'm afraid he already has some convinced. But...they would have already been convinced without Michael Moore's help.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/24/2004 21:17 Comments ||
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Few Americans realize the depth of passionate friendship the Poles and some other eastern europeans feel for Americans and America. Today and tomorrow, and for many years to come, I believe that when push comes to shove, Poland will be one of the few that stands strong with us.
Former Clinton White House counsel Lanny Davis fueled speculation on Thursday that he personally leaked the news that former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger was under criminal investigation by the Justice Department, by repeatedly dodging the question. Asked point-blank if he was the leaker, Davis refused to respond directly, but instead told Liberty Broadcasting's Linda Chavez that if he had asked a reporter the same question, the answer would be "None of your business."
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/24/2004 3:49:46 AM ||
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#1
It's really very simple, Lanny. Berger is guilty of a federal crime. He knows it. You know it.
If he were not so well connected he would be doing hard time at Leavenworth for 10-20 years.
Instead, he'll plead a lesser charge (just like you are me) and do less time than Martha. Then he'll write a book about the experience and cover his court costs plus some to pad his retirement.
From the NY Sun via Instapundit:
In August of 2000, Mr. Berger was presented with another possible plan for attacking Mr. bin Laden.This time, the plan would be based on aerial surveillance from a "Predator" drone. Reports the commission: "In the memo's margin,Berger wrote that before considering action, 'I will want more than verified location: we will need, at least, data on pattern of movements to provide some assurance he will remain in place.' " In other words, according to the commission report, Mr. Berger was presented with plans to take action against the threat of Al Qaeda four separate times — Spring 1998, June 1999, December 1999, and August 2000. Each time, Mr. Berger was an obstacle to action. Had he been a little less reluctant to act, a little more open to taking pre-emptive action, maybe the 2,973 killed in the September 11, 2001, attacks would be alive today. It really doesn't matter now what was in the documents from the National Archives that Mr. Berger says he inadvertently misplaced. The evidence in the commission's report yesterday is more than enough to embarrass him thoroughly.
#2
Wait a minute. Feeling "embaressed" is Berger's consequence for bad judgement and endangering our national security and contributing to 9/11. Pardon my unforgiving nature, Sandy,feeling embaressed is tanamount to being given a free pass for NEGLIGENCE of the highest order. Give me a friggin' break. A good lawyer like Sandy Berger would never tolerate gross negligence committed by a physician, for example, so why should this big sack of repeat failures in judgement get off with a red face and a tsk, tsk? I've read on another thread comments about the oh-so great responsibility of being head of our national security and how it's easy to make mistakes even though good intentions are in place. Say what??? What feel good gibberish excuse making. Sandy Berger was no little CIA pencil pusher. He wanted the power without paying any consequences. Berger showed gross negligence while he was NSA and continued poor judgement as well as abuse of trust in the former title he still wore for self-interest re: the recent pilfering of sensitive documents he no longer owned. He should pay with jail time in Leavensworth and George Tenet should occupy an adjoining cell for his "slam dunk" negligence. When are we, the US voters, ever going to demand that these power hungry incompetents be required to pay consequences?
Posted by: rex ||
07/24/2004 22:38 Comments ||
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EFL: I detect sloppiness in his actions but not the sloppiness that he is portraying in his public statements/appologies.
Archive monitors assigned to watch Sandy Berger review top-secret documents allowed the former national security adviser to break the rules and be left alone, the New York Daily News reported. Berger, the target of a federal investigation for allegedly smuggling secret files out of the National Archives, persuaded the monitors to leave him alone in the high-security room by saying he had to make sensitive phone calls, a senior law enforcement source told the paper. "He was supposed to be monitored at all times but kept asking the monitor to leave so he could make private calls," the official said.
The sources said Berger stepped out of the room as he looked over the documents and allegedly stashed some in his clothing. The archive monitors told the FBI Berger was observed stuffing his socks with handwritten notes about files that were to be given to the 9-11 Commission. Notes about the secret files cannot be taken out without special permission. The monitors also observed frequent bathroom breaks that aroused their suspicion. The New York paper noted it is standard procedure to constantly monitor anyone with a security clearance who examines the type of code-word classified files stored in the underground archives vault. He was acting almost like he was guilty of something.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/24/2004 3:17:35 AM ||
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Berger tells the monitors to break the rules and look the other way. And it appears the mainstream media is ok with this. Someone in the chain of command does the same thing in dealing with a small percentage of prisoners in Iraq and heads are called for. Another, we demand more of others than we expect of our own kind. How about several weeks of isolated pretrial confinement for Sandy like Wen Ho Lee? Nah, not going to happen to one of their 'Good o'Boys'.
Posted by: Don ||
07/24/2004 13:19 Comments ||
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As someone on a differ site asked,WHO was Berger calling,and did that someone ask/tell him to remove documents?If so we can add conspiracy to other crimes Berger committed.By his own admission,he has destroyed classified documents,interfered w/Federal investigation(9/11 Commission)in addition to violating security rules.I wonder if Berger is willing to spend a couple years in Fed.prison?Contempt of Congress could land him there.
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/24/2004 14:20 Comments ||
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#3
As someone on a differ site asked,WHO was Berger calling,and did that someone ask/tell him to remove documents?
Can't say anything about what was discussed, but it's probably not going to be difficult to find out WHO was called, if Berger indeed made a call to someone.
And out of curiosity, isn't cell phone use not allowed when dealing with classified document viewing/review?
#4
Old Polish Saying: "Never Attribute To Malice What Can Be Adequately Explained By Stupidity."
I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that Berger did this on his own because he knew what was coming. Take a look at the way he thought and acted while he was NSA - I'm almost willing to believe that he never even considered the possibility that copies existed of what he was stealing...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/24/2004 15:19 Comments ||
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Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/24/2004 03:30 ||
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Joe Kernan is an accidental governor. He was a nondescript Democrat Lt Governor who was elevated by the untimely death of Governor Frank OBannon last year. He's running for Governor this year and is likely to lose in Republican Indiana. This is just one more grasp at the straws just out of reach. One thing about Joe Kernan, he's no Doc OBannon.
(2004-07-22) -- The 9/11 commission report released today blames the 2001 terror attacks on a "failure of imagination" among government officials, and urges intelligence agencies to "hire more evil people who could effectively anticipate acts of unrestrained wickedness."
According to the report, America is vulnerable to terrorism because the CIA and FBI are filled with "patriotic people of integrity who have a hard time imagining the kinds of twisted and macabre things which are the stock-in-trade of terrorists."
The report recommends that intelligence agencies recruit and hire "a new generation of heartlessly wicked and depraved agents and analysts who can stay a step ahead of Usama bin Laden and his imitators."
Posted by: Korora ||
07/24/2004 12:30:24 AM ||
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The hallmark of a good analyst is that he/she is able to get inside the head of the opponent - see the world from the adversary's eye, and reason the way the adversary does.
I know from personal experience that people like that have a very hard time fitting in to the normal military establishment, and are very troublesome for supervisors and commanding officers.
But there were areas in the intelligence and special warfare community (at least in the 1980's) where they really put mindsets like that to very good use.
I know ;-)
Its a shame the military and intel community was "PC-ized" in the 1990's.
Posted by: Susan ||
07/24/2004 1:46 Comments ||
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"hire more evil people who could effectively anticipate acts of unrestrained wickedness."
"a new generation of heartlessly wicked and depraved agents and analysts who can stay a step ahead of Usama bin Laden and his imitators."
You called?
Among my ideas:
1. Kidnap the entire Reuters staff, sell them to Sudanese slave traders, then pull a double-cross and napalm the lot at the time of exchange.
2. Secretly plant remote control bombs in all new Volvos so Leftist agitators could be eliminated at will.
3. Set off a nuclear bomb in some Iranian mullah's garage and blame it on a "work accident."
4. Crucify the men of the Saudi royal family at 50 yard intervals along the Mecca-Medina highway.
5. Invite Arafat to Camp David, replace him with a double, and plant the real one in the Maryland woods.
6. Turn commercially available remote control model planes into cruise missiles, issue them to agents in various key places, and launch a simultaneous untraceable assault on baddies and fellow-travelers all over the world.
7. Saturate lefty moonbat message boards with lunatic conspiracy theories in an effort to sow discord and confusion. Oh, wait a minute.
#8
Okay AC, once your paperwork and background checks are cleared, you're hired. Welcome to the team, but you are not allowed to play with any sharp instraments. :)
Posted by: Ben ||
07/24/2004 4:05 Comments ||
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We need to send scouts from OPM to all the world's hollowed-out volcanos forthwith! Then we'll hit all the undersea strongholds. Finally every breeder of fluffy, white cats in the western hemisphere.
We know these people. We just need to recruit 'em where they are. :)
#11
Folks, it's just not true that people didn't anticipate suicide attacks by aircraft prior to 9-11. People did, and it was widely discussed and agonized over in "certain circles". Additionally, there are a lot of other devious attack scenarios that were spelled out prior to 9-11, but fortunately have not been attempted by the jihadis yet. The problem is people don't pay attention to these things until something happens.
#12
"The problem is people don't pay attention to these things until something happens."
And even when we do pay attention to them, as with the 1993 WTC bombing, our attention span is often rather short.
The period between the end of the first Gulf War up until the 9/11 attacks has been called America's "holiday from history," and I think that's a good characterization: the American people were in no mood for serious, dangerous, difficult things during that period, and we had a government whose saliant feature was a slavish committment to following public sentiment instead of leading. So we paid little attention to the WTC bombing, Khobar Towers, the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and the attack on the USS Cole. Each attack caused a brief flurry of excitement, which soon abated.
Radical, expansionist Islam has been at war with us-- in an openly declared state of war aimed explicitly at our destruction-- ever since November 1979. But until 9/11 we weren't willing to pay attention.
But even that is fading, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Democratic Party to re-focus the American people's concern back onto domestic "issues" involving the redistribution of wealth and forced "fairness".
And a large segment of the public appears to be buying the Donk package, and I'm beginning to wonder just what the hell will have to happen before we really, REALLY decide it's time to get off our asses and get serious about the war-- one of our cities getting nuked? God forbid.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/24/2004 9:20 Comments ||
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Dave, I often wonder about that myself. Unbelievably, I've heard it expressed by smart people in the defense-intel establishment that 3,000 deaths isn't really that big a deal in the larger scheme of things. So maybe it will take a nuke strike. However, I don't think the jihadis are quite up to that yet ("yet" being the key word). There is a certain scenario that I worry about, which I won't describe, that pertains to the Olympics. It doesn't take an evil genius to figure out what it is, and I'm sure many Rantburgers can imagine it. There are also ways that a 9/11 style attack could be repeated without hijacking airliners, and those are not hard to figure out either.
#15
In sober truth, #11 is right. It didn't take a genius, evil or otherwise, to anticipate the 9-11 hijack-suicide attack scenario. I remember a number of discussions of that very possibility, as well as some others that probably shouldn't be mentioned here.
It even came up in the media in reference to a terrorist who had been caught in the Phillipines. He told the Phillipine authorities about a plan to hijack a number of planes simultaneously and crash them into various public buildings. At the time the media were primarily concerned about reports that the suspect had revealed this under torture. I wish I could find this story now, but a Google search is hopeless because of all the 9-11 references.
In private discussions of this possibility, the main objection was that a sizable group of terrorists would not be able to get the rudimentary flight training needed without at least one of them arousing suspicion and setting off a massive alarm. Even I thought they would have to get the training overseas. Of course, one of them, Moussaui, actually was caught, but the alarm didn't ring.
#16
The problem is that even if an analyst pegs the problem, you have to sell the issue to "The powers that be". Not only do you have to get into the other guy's heads, you have to sell it to people who do not want to believe it because it conflict with their view of the opponent and the world.
And in the case of analysts in the 1990's, they did NOT have an audience that was willing to even listen, much less beleive. Trying to convince TPTB that people actually beleive that kind of stuff (Jihad, virgins, killing in the name of God/Allah etc) is damned difficult.
I heard of one who had to rework things because he was told "Killing in the name of God is so Medaeval" and had the analysis dismissed out of hand, then when it was presented again, it was dismissed it becuase he could had no "motive" for actions.
You get a lot of "Thats crazy, nobody thinks like that" which translates to "I dont think like that so nobody else does". Liberals are far worse about this than conservatives. I think this is because conservatives believe there is evil, individuals can be deeply evil, and that you do have to act to stop it. Liberals simply will not accept that people are evil, they blame things on circumstances and groups, not on individuals.
Conservatives place the blame on individual evil and are amenable to taking action against the individual. Liberals blame circumstance, and want a circumstance that they can work to make things better.
Add to the ideaology preconceptions, that there was a fundamental misunderstanding, antagonism and mistrust by the Clinton administration for the intelligence and military communities. That makes a major roadblock for any analyst and analysis products - and the Gorelick barrier prevented anything from cosssing between agencies unless the "Executive" layer at the top decided to let it cross - i.e. to get an idea from Agency N to Agency F, you had to sell agency N first all the way up the food chain, then Agency F's head will have to get a sales job that will allow his people to see and act on it.
And THAT is why competent analysts are hard to find. And why so many left in the 1990's. (And why so many of us came back in, post 9/11 - we finally had an audience that is willing to listen open mindedly).
We make pretty good project managers out in the world. ;-)
#18
I would have thought Clinton would have been an easy sell on the dying-for-72-virgins idea. "So these guys have to pick between staying alive and having 72 virgins? I feel their pain."
Posted by: Matt ||
07/24/2004 13:35 Comments ||
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Both Old Spook and the Virginian nail it -- the intel agencies need to generate the information, analysts have to understand and connect the dots, and the policymakers and politicans at the top have to get the message and act.
That's what damns Sandy Berger: as the NSA it was his job to do that final integration of data and analysis and make sure the President got the message, and -- repeatedly -- he didn't do that with al-Qaeda. He didn't sell it, he didn't try to sell it, he just wrung his hands and said 'no'.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2004 13:37 Comments ||
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#20
The 9-11 Report says that Richard Clark worried about suicide hijackings but that his source for this scenario was Tom Clancy, not the intel agencies. The scenario is in Debt of Honor IIRC. Clancy said he got the idea when he was in college.
There are some very interesting analyses of possible future threats in the open literature that I have found, but I don't have the links anymore.
#23
I always liked the scenario with Lex Luther wanting new beachfront property and going out of his way to develop it.
In the Mid-East there is this nice rift valley that ends up being the Red Sea. Lots of stressed rocks there. I am sure that a new sea branch could be encourged to reach Mecca.
Evil thoughts are fun. Now, how to make them profitable?
#24
AC: It even came up in the media in reference to a terrorist who had been caught in the Phillipines. He told the Phillipine authorities about a plan to hijack a number of planes
He did not simply "tell" the Filipinos. They administered severe beatings and knocked his teeth out. The coup de grace came when they threatened to send him to Israel for questioning by the Mossad.
AC: Of course, one of them, Moussaui, actually was caught, but the alarm didn't ring.
Instead of beating him to a pulp, the FBI couldn't even get permission to look at his computer. 9/11 occurred because of political correctness.
Project Bojinka (apparently a Croatian word for "explosion") was the devious brainchild of these sessions. The plan was ruthless and devious, and it employed every scrap of ingenuity that Yousef could muster, which is saying quite a bit.
In Phase One of Bojinka, a minimum of five al Qaeda operatives would work in concert to destroy 11 U.S.-bound airliners over the Pacific almost simultaneously starting on Jan. 21, 1995.
The terrorists would board planes bound for the U.S. with stopovers all across Asia. They would plant bombs timed to explode on the second leg of the flight, then get off during the layover and repeat the process for another plane. The plan was elegant and highly coordinated. All five operatives would have escaped to Pakistan unharmed.
If the plan had succeeded, it would have killed an estimated 4,000 people and completely shut down all air travel around the world for days or even weeks.
The bombs were ingenious constructions, using Casio digital watches as timers and virtually undetectable liquid nitroglycerin as the explosive. Yousef tested the device on a flight from Manila to Tokyo on Dec. 11, 1994. He built his bomb in the lavatory and left it under his seat when he disembarked in Cebu, the Philippines. It exploded on the way to Japan, killing the businessman unfortunate enough to have taken over Yousef's seat. The plane managed to land successfully thanks to a heroic effort by the pilots. Yousef resolved to increase the potency of the explosive.
On Jan. 5, 1995, one of Yousef's compatriots started a small chemical fire in the apartment where the bomb supplies were being mixed. The conspirators fled, leaving documents and alaptop computer behind. Watching smoke pour out the apartment window, Yousef calmly sent Abdul Murad back to retrieve the computer after the fire department left, but the police were already on their way and Murad was arrested.
Yousef left the country a day or two later, and Khalid Shaikh wasn't far behind. Murad, left to the gentle ministrations of the Philippines police, began a lengthy confession under torture. During the course of his confession, he laid out Phase Two of Bojinka.
Murad told his interrogators that he had been selected for the great honor of martyrdom (an honor the secular Yousef preferred to leave for others). Murad, who had trained as a pilot in the United States, had been instructed to hijack a commercial airliner and crash it into a U.S.landmark. Possible targets included the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and CIA headquarters.
Yousef and Khalid Shaikh fled to Pakistan. One month later, U.S. officials tracked him down and arrested him. The team of FBI agents and Pakistani intelligence officials who made the arrest were so busy patting themselves on the back that they completely ignored Khalid, who was sleeping in the room next door.
Yousef was flown back to the United States, and into New York, where an outstanding indictment for the WTC 1993 bombing awaited him. As the plane landed, an FBI agent pointed out the World Trade Center towers to the terrorist, and commented, "They're still standing."
"They wouldn't be if I had enough money and explosives," Yousef reportedly responded.
Yousef was convicted in a New York courtroom for both the WTC bombing and the Bojinka plot, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Judged a high escape risk, he was sent to serve his sentence at the Supermax prison in Colorado. His cellmates included the Unabomber, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. After McVeigh's execution, Yousef wrote of the Oklahoma City bomber, "I have never (known) anyone in my life who had so similar a personality to my own."
Yousef might have been locked away, but on Sept. 11, 2001, he still managed to take one last shot at his favorite target, and this time he succeeded. An al Qaeda operation led by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed finally made the Bojinka plan a reality, hijacking four jets and crashing three of them into their targets, the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
It must have given Yousef some satisfaction to see the fruits of his handiwork on his tiny black-and-white TV set. With a body count around 3,000, it was only a little less mayhem than would have been caused by Yousef's first draft of the plan (which U.S. authorities had reviewed in detail well before 9/11). And this time, the towers did come down.
We can only hope that was the last plan Ramzi Yousef left unfinished on the drawing board...
The Energy Department, in response to a security scandal at the Los Alamos weapons lab, ordered a halt yesterday to classified work at as many as two dozen facilities that use removable computer disks like those missing at the New Mexico lab. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the "stand-down" at operations using the disks, containing classified material involving nuclear weapons research, was needed to get better control over the devices. The disks, known as "controlled removable electronic media," or removable disk drives CREM, have been at the heart of an uproar over lax security at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where work has been stopped as scientists search for two of the disks reported missing July 7.
The missing Los Alamos disks raised concern at the Energy Department about the handling of the devices at other facilities involved in nuclear weapons research, department officials said. Abraham said he wanted to "minimize the risk of human error or malfeasance" that could compromise the classified nuclear-related information held in the devices, which are used at Energy Department facilities nationwide in nuclear-related work. "While we have no evidence that the problems currently being investigated are present elsewhere, we have a responsibility to take all necessary action to prevent such problems from occurring at all," Abraham said in a statement. The stand-down involves classified work across the government's nuclear weapons complex wherever the CREM storage devices are used, the official said. It will continue until an inventory of the devices is completed and new control measures on their use is put in place, said Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis. Employees using the disks also must undergo security training.
Wonder when they'll glomb onto compact flash cards, key drives and memory sticks?
Among the facilities that are preparing for an interruption of classified work are the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago; the nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, where a missing classified disk was reported found last week.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2004 12:04:54 AM ||
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Think USB, DOE-boys... Even the common Swiss Army Knife might be a threat to National Security, and I don't mean the sharp pointy bits... Now, so far, the toothbrushes don't seem to store anything but latent Gingivitis... though, if you run across one of these you should send the guy home, he's spending waaay too much time at the lab, heh.
#2
Already off limits at the classified facilities that I know of:
Cameras
Cell Phones
Transmitters of any kind
Pagers
Voice Recorders (including digital ones)
Radios/boomboxes, car radios (can't bring them in)
PDAs
Thumb Drives
Memory devices of any kind (Compact Flash, etc)
Laptops
Hard Drives
Floppy Disks
Modems
DVDs of any kind.
Data CDs of any kind.
Recorded or blank CDRoms/CD-RW's
(neither data nor music nor MP3)
Calculators with alphanumeric memory capability
Anything with wireless or Infared capability
MP3 players, memory or hd based ones, incl iPods
Cassette tapes nor players
And CD Players are banned if they can do anything other than play a normal audio CD (i.e. must not be able to play SACD, no MP3 CDs, no DVD-Audio etc, nor should they hook to anything other than a headphone, nor should they have a radio or be capable of recording).
For a while all music CDs had to be registered upon entry, checked into the security office, stamped "UNCLASSIFIED" and given a serial number. They could then checked out to the person who owned them - and were forbidden to remove them from the property.
We can now at least remove commercially made music CDs from the property to take them home as long as we show them at the guard desk.
Why the hell anyone working with Nuc secrets is under any less restriction is beyond me.
#5
Actually, the guards have been put on notice to look for the new USB data watches, and to stop anyone wearing those from entering, or exiting the building .
Watches with data entry ability (even if just phone numbers).
Furby.
All transmitter devices are prohibited, which makes sense until you consider: your car key fob??? Oops.
None of our workstation computers even HAVE removable drives (or they've been removed). The floppies have their connectors pulled. Ditto the CD-ROMs. The only way to get a disk is to send the files to IT and have them burn a disk.
But of course you can just stick Dox in Sox and walk out.
The commission also considered evidence that bin Laden and Iraq jointly developed a nerve-gas factory in Sudan. In testimony before the commission March 17, former Defense Secretary William Cohen said soil samples from around the plant showed evidence of EMPTA, a component of nerve gas that doesn't occur naturally and has no commercial application. Cohen testified that the manager of the plant had gone to Baghdad to meet with the "father" of the Iraqi nerve-gas program and the plant appeared to have been financed at least partially by bin Laden.
Former President Clinton and former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger made the same assertion in testimony before the commission during private sessions. Based on that evidence, the United States decided to attack the plant with cruise missiles on Aug. 20, 1998. At a news conference Thursday, the chairman of the Sept. 11 commission, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, said intelligence from foreign sources contradicted some of the information by the U.S. government had gathered. He said the commission had concluded that it wasn't clear the plant was a nerve gas factory or that bin Laden had helped finance it. "We gave weight to (Cohen's) testimony, and it's the same belief that President Clinton had, the same belief that Sandy Berger had," Kean said. "But there are a whole bunch of people on the other side who dispute that finding, who say there is no independent collaborative evidence that those chemicals were there. And this is a debate that goes on."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/24/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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This whole evidence of a collaborative link is utter non-sense. Does anyone really suspect that terrorists are going to do anything other than work in shadows? Telegraph their liasons and "collaborative" connections? We seem to be reverting back to a legal proceeding with "clear and convincing" evidence -- utterly maddening logic that may again prove deadly.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/24/2004 1:59 Comments ||
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#2
It is the legalistic crap that got us in trouble in the first place. The problems started in the intelligence community long ago, circa Frank Church. The Clinton Administration looked at each terrorist incident against us as a criminal act. Look how the C/A handled the USS Cole affair. Lawyers will get us killed if we let them take charge. This is war, not some cop show on MSM.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/24/2004 3:05 Comments ||
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#3
You guys don't understand Islam. According to the Quran they have to have properly signed, witnessed and recorded contracts for all jihad activities to assist Allah in the proper allocation of virgins. Failure to prepare such documentation might result in failure to receive proper credit for infidel elimination. Thus the absence of such documents is evidence that terrorism has not, occurred, or at least has not been done by Muslims.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
07/24/2004 7:25 Comments ||
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#4
Very good Mr Davis. I just hope some people like Michael Moore don't put this statement in his next movie.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Friday warned top executives of major American sports organizations that al Qaeda may strike soon -- possibly at large sports events. In a seminar for commissioners and other top officials of professional and amateur sports organizations, Ridge and other Homeland Security officials asked for help in ensuring safety at and around major sporting events. He repeated a warning that the government fears al Qaeda might try to stage another large-scale attack in the United States, though he said he had no details on the time, place or method. "You are here because you know that mass public gatherings -- such as the large sports events you will be hosting in the coming year -- are potential targets," he said. "And you know that the way to protect your venues from attack is to be prepared."
"As commissioners and security directors for large, high profile events, you play a very significant role in keeping our citizens safe," Ridge told the group, representing 18 sports organizations. The group included National Football League commissioner Paul Tagliabue, National Basketball Association deputy commissioner Russ Granik and other top officials from Major League Baseball, NASCAR and the U.S. Olympic Committee. At the meeting, held at the Transportation Security Administration's Operation Center near Dulles International Airport, the executives were given briefings on the current security threat. An official from the Secret Service -- the agency that coordinates all "national special security events" like the Super Bowl and the Olympics -- gave a briefing on various tactical considerations to be taken into account at large sporting events. The FBI gave an explanation of federal efforts to protect against weapons of mass destruction, and another Secret Service official spoke about how to provide protection for athletes, the executives and fans. "The threat we face is real," said Ridge. "But we can mitigate it by working together and planning proactively. We would like to ... involve the sports fans in our collective effort to keep our events secure."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/24/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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Poor Ridge is running around like Henny Penny based on both AQ information and disinformation. End result: the little boy that cried wolf.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/24/2004 2:07 Comments ||
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#2
Damned if you do, damned... you know the rest. How about we all shut up and keep our eyes open? Because once the proverbial balloon goes up, the chatterers will look might stupid for whining every time the gov't does its job and tells us what they know (though it's little).
From the BBC. EFL.
The losing candidate in the Philippines presidential election, Fernando Poe, has gone to the Supreme Court in Manila to ask for President Gloria Arroyo's victory to be annulled. He has demanded a recount of about 60% of the votes. A spokesman for Mrs Arroyo said she welcomed Mr Poe's complaint in the interests of fair play, and she believed he had made the right decision by taking the matter to court rather than organising protest demonstrations. In a 28-page petition to the Philippine Supreme Court, Mr Poe's lawyer Sixto Brillantes set out the former actor's complaints. Mr Poe has accused his rival of "massive and widespread electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities" to win the 10 May polls. His supporters claim that Ms Arroyo manufactured or switched ballots to manipulate the results of the poll. No hanging chads? I'm shocked!!!
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said: "We are glad that Mr Poe and Ms Legarda chose only the legal and proper forum to contest the elections. We are ready to defend our case and we are confident that we stand on solid ground." The fix is in!
"Nonetheless, we will continue to extend our handcuffs to all our former adversaries for the sake of unity and reconciliation." Mr Brillantes estimated that an investigation into the election results would take about three years - half Ms Arroyo's term in office. Time enough to fix the evidence....
Under the Philippine constitution, the Supreme Court has the sole authority to decide election matters, but there is no deadline and cases can drag on for years. Considering they are still waiting to try Estrada - the former president who was replaced by Arroyo
An Iranian court has acquitted an intelligence agent who was charged with the "semi-intentional murder" of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi who died in custody last year, the man's lawyer said on Saturday. "I was informed by reliable official sources at the judiciary that he has been acquitted," Qasem Shabani, lawyer for Intelligence Ministry agent Mohammad Reza Aqdam, told Reuters. The trial, which ended abruptly last Sunday after just three court sessions, has exposed Iran's human rights record and judicial processes to intense international scrutiny. The case has soured Iran's relations with Canada and exposed deep rifts between President Mohammad Khatami's reformist government and the hardline judiciary.
Shabani said it would be up to lawyers acting for Kazemi's family, who include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, to decide whether they wish to pursue charges against any other suspects for Kazemi's death. Kazemi, 56, an Iranian-born photographer was arrested last June for taking photographs of Tehran's Evin prison. After more than three days of interrogations she was submitted to hospital where she slipped into a coma and died. Iran's judiciary initially announced that she had died naturally of a stroke. But a subsequent government inquiry showed Kazemi had received a blow to the head while in detention that split her skull and caused a brain hemorrhage.
In addition to torture, she was probably raped.
http://www.daneshjoo.org/article/publish/printer_3062.shtml The federal government and Lawyers without Borders are looking into allegations that Iranian interrogators raped a Montreal photo-journalist before killing her, then pumped chemicals into her body to speed decomposition.
Posted by: ed ||
07/24/2004 16:23 Comments ||
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The report provides similar glimpses of other terrorists associated with the attacks, including Mohammed, who is referred to in the report as ''KSM,'' and who promoted the idea of using the jetliners as missiles. Mohammed originally conceived of crashing nine airliners while he would hijack a 10th himself, killing the male passengers and landing to give a speech ''excoriating'' repressive Arab governments and US support for Israel. The report found that not all those working with Osama bin Laden accorded him undivided devotion. Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri, who became head of Al Qaeda operations on the Arabian peninsula and orchestrated the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen was asked to swear loyalty to bin Laden but ''found the notion distasteful and refused,'' the report said.
He was not alone — Mohammed also refused, as did Hambali, the leader of Jemaah Islamiah who accepted bin Laden's offer in 1998 to form an alliance ''in waging war against Christians and Jews.'' The report reveals that bin Laden was most interested in hitting the White House, even though Mohamed Atta thought it was too difficult. The report also discloses that several months before the 9/11 attacks, Hizbollah appeared to have been shadowing three of the hijackers as they flew from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon and onward to Iran.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/24/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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This was a reassuring tidbit. I recall the documented feuds that were found when we 'did' Afganistan. All kinds of little bitch fights. Imagine the fight over the 70 virgins: No mine, Omar...No, Mohammed likes me more....
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/24/2004 2:10 Comments ||
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Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has called on Egypt not to bow to kidnappers who seized an Egyptian diplomat in Baghdad. "The only way to deal with terrorists is to bring them to Hell or justice, in that order" Mr Allawi said during a visit to Syria. It sounds like Allawi has been reading "The IDF Guide to Terrorist Negotiations."
Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb was abducted by gunmen as he left a mosque in the Iraqi capital on Friday. A militant group said it took Mr Qutb hostage in response to Egypt's offer of security aid to Iraq's government. A BBC correspondent says Cairo has offered equipment and training for Iraqi security troops. However, since the hostage-taking Egypt has been insisting that it has not offered to deploy troops in Iraq. It sounds like Egypt has been reading "The Handbook of Spanish Military Doctrine" (Revised edition, now with special Philippine afterword!)
In a fresh kidnapping, the director of a state-owned Iraqi construction company was seized by gunmen as he drove to work on Saturday, an interior ministry spokesman said. 'Close ranks' Mr Allawi told reporters in Damascus: "The only way to deal with terrorists is to bring them to Hell or justice and to close ranks and we hope that Egypt and the Egyptian government would act accordingly." Don't get your hopes up, old bean.
The interim prime minister visited Cairo this week and discussed the possibility of using Egyptian troops to train Iraq's forces. But Egyptian officials have stressed that no deal was struck. "Egypt sending any forces or military personnel to Iraq was not a matter that has been proposed at all," the country's official news agency Mena quoted Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit as saying as he hurriedly changed coats. Mr Qutb is the most senior official and first foreign diplomat to be kidnapped in Iraq since militants began taking hostages in April. A group calling itself the Liars Lions of Allah Brigade says it is holding him captive. Isn't that the same "Allah" you Egyptians revere? Sorting out just what and who you Arabs worship gets more than a little confusing at times. Keep this sh!t up and maybe outsiders are going to completely give up on trying to discern any difference at all.
Deadline extended
In a separate development, the captors of seven foreign truck drivers - including an Egyptian hostage - issued a new deadline to the hostages' Kuwaiti employer. In a video broadcast on the Arabic satellite TV station al-Jazeera, the kidnappers apparently issued a fresh, 48-hour deadline for Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport to shut its operations in Iraq. The "deadlines" only mean anything to people who are willing to negotiate with terrorists. Otherwise, they're just psy-ops window dressing, that's all.
In the tape, the Black Turbans Banners group also increased their demands, adding that Iraqi prisoners be freed from Kuwaiti and US jails and the company pay compensation to the families of those killed in American attacks on the town of Falluja, and everyone be given a pony!. They had threatened to kill one hostage every three days, starting on Saturday. But that deadline has apparently been extended by 48 hours. Find the kidnappers and kill them. There is no other solution. Any compliance with their demands should be accompanied by both condemnation and severe economic penalties, be they sanctions, boycotts or appropriation.
#1
Note that Al-Jazeera once again has operatives reporters front and center.
Perhaps this requires fighting fire with fire.
Kidnap all family members of the suspected jihadis. Make a deal that the hostages will be returned "as is" when proof of either surrender or suicide
of the jihadis is received. Else, return
a 1pound piece of hostage every day (only
the very best surgeons will be used to insure
maximum survival of the hostages)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Torture equipment used by Saddam Hussein's slain son, Odai, to punish underperforming Iraqi athletes was displayed Saturday at a Baghdad sports stadium in advance of the opening of the Olympics next month in Athens. Journalists were shown medieval-style torture equipment, including an "iron maiden-like" casket with metal spikes fixed to the inside that athletes had been forced into and chain whips with steel barbs the size of tennis balls attached to the end.
"During the old regime, Odai was looking for results and he wanted winners. He didn't like second place," Talib Mutan, an Iraqi Olympics Committee official, told Associated Press Television News. "If the athletes didn't come in first, they were punished. And he would punish the people around the athletes, their managers and coaches included," Mutan said.
Mutan said athletes who earned Odai's wrath were tortured in various ways, through beatings, sleep deprivation and being forced to walk barefoot over hot asphalt during Iraq's searing summer. The official said suggestions had been made to display the torture equipment in a museum, but there had been no final decision.
We could save a few of the more choice items for Saddam and his French lawyers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2004 4:35:45 PM ||
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#5
I can see it now. We'll use our newly invented
liberal-o-vision to see inside one of these torture
centers.
(queue TV show music for fantasy thoughts)
Here folks, we can see a room upon which every wall has pictures and articles praising the Presidents Bush. How horrible. It has been
said that victims often broke by merely being told about this room's existence.
This next room is quite scary. It is filled with loudspeakers which continually play tapes of various talk show hosts such as Limbaugh, Hannity , and Savage. The guards here make the wretched
souls here write papers expousing the correctness of their views.
The final, and worst room -- from which only two known liberals have emerged from alive -- is the most nefarious of them all. The guards speak of it only in hushed tones as "the room." When taken there, the victim is presented with all of the
various mistakes she has made throughout her
life. In this room, she is asked to perform
then forced to perform the most outrageous act
possible: she must be responsible for herself. That is right! She is booted into the world with nary a social program to aid her and forced
to work and pay taxes. The horror. The shame. It
asounds the mind that men can think of such
atrocities upon which to afflict our kind.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Iraq's interim leader said Saturday that diplomatic relations between Syria and Baghdad likely will be restored soon, after years of hostility and recent tension over foreign fighters sneaking into Iraq along their shared border. Speaking to reporters after meeting with the Syrian president, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said new formal ties "will surely happen." "Relations will be restored and they will be strong," Allawi said. "It is clear that our visit here is the beginning of a bright chapter in relations between our two brotherly people. We are opening a new path for American tanks page with Syria."
Syria's official news agency, SANA, said Allawi and Syrian President Bashar Assad agreed to resume diplomatic relations "as soon as possible." The two countries broke off ties in the early 1980s when war began between Iraq and Iran.
Allawi also said both leaders formed a joint committee to study security issues. Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari said his country would do everything in its power to "undermine achieve security and stability in Iraq." He said both countries had agreed on the importance of "safeguarding Iraq's unity ... restoring its full sovereignty, and doing what is necessary to end the foreign occupation."
"Please get those American tanks out of your country. They're making us nervous!"
The undersecretary of the Iraqi Finance Ministry, Sabah Aouni, said continuing discussions between the two countries would include Iraqi assets frozen in Syrian banks since the coalition toppled Saddam's regime. Previous estimates had placed the figure at up to $500 million, but Aouni said the figure stood at more than $1 billion.
Nice chunk 'o change there. Raghad did well for herself.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2004 4:32:12 PM ||
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#1
Great! Lets have a wedding party followed by a neck tie party.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/24/2004 22:36 Comments ||
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Sudanese Arabs Friday slammed a U.S. congressional resolution describing atrocities in Darfur as "genocide," while people driven from their homes asked how Washington could make it safe for them to return. "Is Iraq not enough? Do they want to destroy us too? ... America wants everyone who is Arab to pay. Warmer. You're getting warmer. It's not Iraq, stupid. IT'S THE TERRORISM AND GENOCIDE. That sh!t's gotta stop or we will come and kill you.
They do not understand anything," said 34-year-old driver Ismail Gasmalseed in Khartoum. Yeah, our higher education just cripples us.
The U.S. Congress approved the resolution Thursday and its supporters hope it will help mobilize the international community to protect Africans in Darfur from Arab militias. But the Bush administration resisted calls Friday to declare Arab militia attacks on African villagers in Sudan genocide, a controversial label that would pressure the United States to do more to stop the violence. An equally unacceptable stance.
Controversial? Seems pretty straight-forward to me.
The United Nations has declared the situation in Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis but has not called it a genocide, which would force it to take action. Par for the course with these maggots. Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Zenster ||
07/24/2004 4:00:02 AM ||
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Why the fu-k are we still in the U.N.? I have never seen a more useless organization.
#2
I've long since seen enough from Putin, the dudes an evil bastard and his government is one of the bigger problems we face on the world stage today.
Posted by: RJB in JC MO ||
07/24/2004 7:19 Comments ||
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#3
Gosh. Once again, more evidence that it really is a religion of piss.
#4
There is a very simple solution to this problem. Give the Africans guns and ammunition. Tell them to kill every Arab they see. Then, when the Arabs complain that they are being killed, we can just shrug and say "Killed? Oh, we try not to get involved in Moslem disputes."
#5
Sudanise definition of"Attack U.S.":whine and cry
Buy a bunch of Strella's(no point in giving them top of the line stuff,might come back to haunt us).Train&supply them with M-113's,fav's,and a 10 or 12 M-60 tanks.
#6
#2I've long since seen enough from Putin, the dudes an evil bastard and his government is one of the bigger problems we face on the world stage today.
RJB, much more of this crap outta Russia and I'll have to agree with you. It's like we are slowly backsliding into the Cold War again, only with totalitarian regimes parading around as free market economies instead of naked Communist aggressors.
But some people are too obsessed with the whole communist/capitalist thing to see the more important freedom/tyranny thing. Freedomhouse has been showing the backsliding Russian stats for freedom, but few people here seemed to give a damn. As if "enemy of freedom" wouldn't inevitably end up meaning "supporter of tyrannies". Or as if KGB became innocent now that that it has changed its name.
The Soviet anti-freedom block was greatly reduced but its core wasn't destroyed -- and it's a natural ally of other enemies of the West.
#8
Point made, Aris. Ever since the communist regime fell, whenever people have bemoaned how Russian organized crime is so rampant, what I tell them is, "Nothing really changed, all they did was take their uniforms off."
#9
Remeber folks the UN has to adhere to the laws
of cultural relativism. This means that it isn't genocide if the perps don't believe that the victims
are fully human.
However, since *our* culture is universally evil, the UN must pursue a policy of whining.
It is one of the most frightening forms of violence in Iraq today — dozens of human bombers willing to die for their cause. But Brig. Gen. John Custer, the director of intelligence for Central Command, told ABC News he believes many of the bombers are forced to carry out the attacks. Custer said there was evidence some bombers were physically chained inside the vehicles used in the attacks. While possible, it sounds a bit strange. If you have to chain the person in, how will they be persuaded to steer correctly? I can see this as a way to prevent them from jumping out at the last minute. I suppose that if there is remote detonation this might make some sense.
"What we've found in a number of places are hands chained to a steering wheel," he said. "Up in Irbil, we found a foot roped into the car, unable to escape. Their children were kidnapped and held — they were forced. We've seen faces blown off and been able to identify the perpetrator." Officials are not certain who is forcing people to do this, but he says the idea that Iraq is being badly infiltrated by outsiders is wrong. Again, debatable.
"The big myth is that the foreign fighters are everywhere, that there are thousands," Custer said. "My feeling is that that's largely that Arab street [spreading the myth]. That's the story everybody wants to hear, and Iraqis don't want to admit that some of [the bombers] might be Iraqis." There are serious concerns that violence will increase in the next few months with the approach of the Iraq elections. They primary concern: Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi has been blamed for much of the violence in Iraq. Today U.S. warplanes attacked what the military said was a gathering site for his followers in Fallujah. "Zarqawi has certainly become the rock star terrorist in the past two months," Custer said. "Not to the degree most people can claim and not to the degree they want to be seen." Custer said he sees possible links between Zarqawi and al Qaeda, but beyond that, he said, "I don't see a lot of evidence in Iraq of al Qaeda." Custer insisted progress has been made in going after the insurgents in Iraq, but he acknowledged the extremist networks are proving very difficult to crack.
Posted by: Zenster ||
07/24/2004 12:20:44 AM ||
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General CUSTER?
Sorry, but that doesnt exactly inspire confidence.
I hope there is no place called Little Bighorn in Iraq near this guy.
#2
No, but there is a Little Fallujah that may tie the good General Custer in knots. This guy is bucking for one of those TV armchair general spots after retirement.
P.S. If I read/heard this "rock star" analogy again I'll loose my lunch.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/24/2004 2:19 Comments ||
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#3
If you have to chain the person in, how will they be persuaded to steer correctly?
It's always possible that family members are being threatened in addition to this "encouraged" fealty.
#4
Didn't some of the Viet Kong on suicide missions chain themselves to trees?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/24/2004 3:07 Comments ||
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#5
Zenster I disagree. Sort of. It is possible.
1. They may be forced to drive the car while as bomb-arama said becuase "family members are being threatened...."
2. If they are reffering to cars sitting alongside the road, then it is likely they are placing men inside so as not to bring attention to it being a bomb, then remotely detinate
3. This could be psy-ops to work up the Iraqi people
#6
#52. If they are reffering to cars sitting alongside the road, then it is likely they are placing men inside so as not to bring attention to it being a bomb, then remotely detinate
Good point about roadside bombs, Dragon Fly, which is precisely why I mentioned remote detonation. The article already mentioned holding the "drivers'" family hostage.
Britain could send 5,000 troops to Sudan very quickly if the government decides to intervene in the humanitarian crisis, the head of the army said yesterday. "If need be we will be able to go to Sudan," General Sir Mike Jackson, the chief of general staff, told BBC News 24's Hardtalk programme. "I suspect we could put a brigade together very quickly indeed." Pressure for intervention was growing yesterday after the US House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution declaring that "the atrocities unfolding in Darfur ... are genocide". In defiance of complaints from Sudanese officials that their country is being treated like Iraq, members of the house urged President George Bush to seek a UN resolution threatening sanctions against those responsible and authorising a multinational force to protect displaced people and humanitarian workers.
A draft security council resolution is already swirling the drain circulating at the UN headquarters in New York. The UN estimates that the 15-month conflict between Arab nomads and black African farmers has killed at least 30,000 people and displaced more than 1 million. Although Sudan has promised to protect displaced civilians and disarm the Arab Janjaweed militias after they've finished the job they were given to do, western diplomats say it has not done anything enough - particularly in terms of reining-in the militias. The hope in Washington and London is that sight of the draft resolution will persuade Khartoum to comply, rather than dig its heels in, but officials say they will press ahead with a vote if they feel the pressure is not working. The UN has been reluctant to use the word "genocide", which in law has a specific and rather narrow definition.
'cause then they'd have to act -- quelle horror!
Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, said the terminology used was less important than fixing the problem. "Whatever you call it, it's a catastrophe," he said after trying to transplant a spine into meeting the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, on Thursday. "People are dying at an increasing rate. Right now this is a matter for the Sudanese government to handle. They have been supporting and sustaining some of these Janjaweed elements, and this has to end. Since they turned it [the violence] on, they can turn it off. We made it clear to them that there will be consequences if it is not turned off."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2004 12:10:44 AM ||
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#1
If the UN fails to act, it's time to fold up the tent. This is Rwanda redux.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/24/2004 1:49 Comments ||
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#2
Capt America: If the UN fails to act, it's time to fold up the tent. This is Rwanda redux.
Maybe not. The Sudan has two things that Rwanda did not - oil and Muslim rulers to carry out all kinds of mischief with the money from that oil. The Muslim view now is that the US is tied up in Iraq, which may be why they're possibly financing Iraqi terrorists to keep the US tied up. If the US sweeps the Sudanese military from the field, it will have the salutary effect of reminding Muslim countries that Uncle Sam is still in the game, and that they should resist the temptation to support anti-American terrorists, lest they too be targeted.
#3
Perhaps, but I was specifically referring to the UN passivity in the face of genocide. My point being that if the UN is in denial, then why support this lame but costly entity at all? What the hell is its mission?
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/24/2004 2:04 Comments ||
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#4
Until a military commander has the steel to track down the Janjaweed militants and hose them with enough lead to line a reactor, nothing will change. The Janjaweed are merely an informal military arm of Sudan's government and need to be treated accordingly. Once their bones are bleaching in the sun, the governemnt should be next. No pretext or excuse is needed to send all of them to the wall. Each and every African government that wants to instigate this sort of genocide should be decapitated in rapid succession until they get this silly notion out of their heads that human life is cheap. Only theirs should be.
We can spend the money on exceptionally brief interventions aimed at deposing these bloodthirsty vermin, or we can pour in billions of dollars after the fact mopping up all the spilled blood. I vote for the low-cost alternative.
#5
The UN has been reluctant to use the word "genocide", - Hmmm....maybe because the US wasn't the subject matter, heh?
Posted by: Don ||
07/24/2004 9:07 Comments ||
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#6
I agree with #3. A mission to Sudan would be a terrible waste of GI lives and US taxpayer $. This is an unwinable situation as it stands.
I posted an article a few weeks ago that explained that there were good reasons for the reluctance of UN nations to get involved in Sudan and it does not have anything to do with lack of courage. I'm not denying that one of the reasons could be stereo typical slow UN sleepyheadeddopoeyness, but the main reason cited was a very practical, common sense one involving strategy. The challenging geography of the Sudan area makes it very very tough to get ground troops in and to supply them once they are in. In other words, it's a mission that has the makings of a bloody disaster, a trap if you will, for ground forces trying to stop the bloodshed and being sacrificed with their own bloodshed. IMO, we should not touch Sudan with a 10 foot pole. Blair is considering moving his troops in because of his Christian missionary zeal and let's face it, because of the Labour's black immigrant voting constituency. It does not mean that the US should automatically follow when this type of situation is so obviously perilous for ground troops.
This is a situation where Kofi Annan needs to twist arms of Muslim nations warming chairs on the UN Human Rights Commission to IMMEDIATELY send in peacekeeping troops to Sudan to "assist" [ie. to wise up the Sudanese gov't that their inaction with the Muslim militia is unseemly to the P.C. global marketing of Islam as the religion of peace] the Sudanese gov't to reign in the militia. Why aren't we playing the UN game for a change like it's often played against us and challenging the Muslim nations to get off their burkas and do something? Muslim peacekeeping troops are less likely to be decapitated than Western peacekeeping forces. And how about these UN chair warming Third World countries starting to earn their right to vote on global affairs and their right to gobble down foreign aid like there's no tomorrow?
Let's be realistic. Genocide will continue to happen in Sudan whether or not US/UK troops are sent there, but if our troops are sent then they will only add to the Christian genocide numbers. The article I cited also said a troop level of at least 200,000 or more would be required to pacify Sudan. Where are we going to get that many troops? Are any of you planning to volunteer yourselves and your first born to push off to Sudan? It's very noble to talk about stopping genocide, but this "mission" does not lend itself to a few thousand stout hearted marines being able to stop the killing frenzy and only promises that Marines will be part of the bloody casualties.
Posted by: rex ||
07/24/2004 15:14 Comments ||
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#7
rex: The article I cited also said a troop level of at least 200,000 or more would be required to pacify Sudan.
First off, CA is talking about how it would be a good thing to do away with the UN. He is saying that the UN is botching the Sudan situation just as it did Rwanda.
I think we could topple the government with no more than a few thousand men. Black rebel groups have been fighting the Arab government for decades. The problem today is that the Arab Sudanese government has control of oil, and therefore access to the latest Chinese and Russian weapons. But they are opposed by millions of black Muslims and Christians. The odds are good that we can work with the blacks in the Sudan to destroy the Arab government just as we supported the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan. The only question here is whether Arab governments would object to the toppling of yet another Arab regime. We'll also get to verify for ourselves some of the rumors about Chinese troops and advisors in the Sudan.
#8
The Janjaweed could be totally decapitated with a dozen AC-130's. They have no armor. They have little in the way of mechanized forces. They rely a LOT on small, unarmed vehicles and even horses and camels for transport.
Do you have any idea how much lead 4 7.62 minicguns can throw out at one time? An AC-130 has two SETS, plus, in some versions, a nice 105MM howitzer for "effect".
You fly at night. They're whisper quiet - at 5000 feet up, you hardly hear them, unlike the standard C-130, that can be heard at 80 miles. Excellent night-vision goggles identify Jangaweed from the "standard" Sudanese encampment. You come across a camp in trail formation, one on each side. Suddenly all hell (an apt description) breaks loose, and everything suddenly erupts into flying bullets, exploding flames, and death.
Before you have time to react, the desert's quiet again, and the only thing to do is for the living to try to count the dead, possibly patch up a few of the wounded, and pray the death-clouds don't come back.
Just to let Khartoum know how high they are on your shit list, you run an arclight strike down the Nile river at 3:00 AM, local time. The cost of glass will shoot through the roof. Fish will float, belly-up or in tiny pieces, for 70 miles downstream, a virtual carpet of putridity. And doctors will have to treat 70,000 cases of ruptured eardrums.
There's a lot more ways of sticking it in and breaking it off than with ground troops, and sometimes the results are equally as nasty. If at first they don't learn, repeat as necessary. If they STILL don't learn, THEN you send in ground troops, use more sophisticated weapons, or alter your arclight aiming point.
We have the means to be the meanest, nastiest people on earth. We either have to develop the mental muscle to use that force when its needed, or we're still marshmallows in the world, and will continue to be kicked around. I prefer "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for I'm the meanest SOB in the Valley, and nobody dares raise a finger against me". Let us continue to be kind when kindness is appreciated, and be willing to be the meanest, nastiest SOBs in the world when it isn't.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2004 16:36 Comments ||
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#9
ZF is right. The black Sudanese don't need troops. They need weapons and knowledge. Don't you think 1 A-team can work work with hundreds or a thousand Sudanese? Why should the Americans do everything. Why now provide the weapons and training to turn the tables on the Arabs? The Arabs have already killed over 2 million black Sudanese. Will it require another 2 million? 5 million? until something is done?
The blacks are starving because the Arabs have killed and driven them off their farms. The Arabs have sheep and cattle now grazing on those farms. Let the Furs and Southern Sudanese go and take the Arabs sheep, kill and rape them, and drive their asses out of Africa. Starvation solved. Sometimes revenge is justice.
Posted by: ed ||
07/24/2004 17:10 Comments ||
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#10
#6The challenging geography of the Sudan area makes it very very tough to get ground troops in and to supply them once they are in. In other words, it's a mission that has the makings of a bloody disaster, a trap if you will, for ground forces trying to stop the bloodshed and being sacrificed with their own bloodshed. IMO, we should not touch Sudan with a 10 foot pole.
All good points, rex. Which is why I keep advocating that we go in and strafe all Janjaweed encampments as the opening bell for our "Memo to Sudan."
#8The Janjaweed could be totally decapitated with a dozen AC-130's. They have no armor. They have little in the way of mechanized forces. They rely a LOT on small, unarmed vehicles and even horses and camels for transport. Do you have any idea how much lead 4 7.62 minicguns can throw out at one time? An AC-130 has two SETS, plus, in some versions, a nice 105MM howitzer for "effect". You fly at night. They're whisper quiet - at 5000 feet up, you hardly hear them, unlike the standard C-130, that can be heard at 80 miles. Excellent night-vision goggles identify Jangaweed from the "standard" Sudanese encampment. You come across a camp in trail formation, one on each side. Suddenly all hell (an apt description) breaks loose, and everything suddenly erupts into flying bullets, exploding flames, and death ...
There's a lot more ways of sticking it in and breaking it off than with ground troops, and sometimes the results are equally as nasty. If at first they don't learn, repeat as necessary. If they STILL don't learn, THEN you send in ground troops, use more sophisticated weapons, or alter your arclight aiming point. We have the means to be the meanest, nastiest people on earth. We either have to develop the mental muscle to use that force when its needed, or we're still marshmallows in the world, and will continue to be kicked around.
Thank you very much, Old Patriot. Your stark assessment is really spot on. I've been shouting this from the rooftops at Rantburg for some time now. The vast resources being diverted towards fighting terrorism now demand that we find short-path solutions to such vile ancillary crimes against humanity like genocide.
Strafing out the Janjaweed camps is the perfect place to begin demonstrating what awaits those who wish to indulge in war crimes. We really do not have much choice in this. International military resources are spread too thin. Accusations of American "unilateralism" are already being tossed about like little boys in a Darfur Janjaweed raid. Who gives a sh!t anymore? Let's take the gloves off and show how @ss gets properly kicked.
#11
#8Do you have any idea how much lead 4 7.62 minicguns can throw out at one time?
I asked an old friend of mine who was a door gunner in Vietnam if the chopper had to make course corrections due to weight lost while firing their miniguns. He said, "Hell, yes." The chopper would tend to rise in station while the guns were being shot due to lightening of payload.
#12
Look, the reality is that the UN is culipible in this matter too. The UN is a super bureaucracy that sustains itself on US funds and serves no rational mission. Time to yank the chain on these bastards.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/24/2004 22:31 Comments ||
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President Bill Clinton thought Iraq might have provided chemical weapons to Sudan in the late 1990s under a co-operative arrangement between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, the investigation into the September 11 attacks revealed. While the commission stood by its previous staff judgment - that there was no evidence of "a collaborative, operational relationship" between Iraq and al-Qaeda - it revealed new evidence that the Clinton and Bush administrations both worried about the potential links.
Mr Clinton ordered an air strike in August 1998 against the al-Shifa chemical plant in Sudan after officials in the office of Richard Clarke, then White House director of counter-terrorism, concluded that Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, had access to deadly VX nerve gas allegedly being produced at the plant. Mr Clarke later said traces of a precursor chemical for VX detected near the plant were "the exact formula used by Iraq" and speculated that Iraq was helping al-Qaeda acquire such weapons. Sudan has long insisted that al-Shifa was harmless and the commission says there is no independent evidence of the existence of the VX precursors at the plant.
The question of a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda was among the more controversial addressed by the commission. The report says that in 1998 Iraq sought closer ties with Mr bin Laden and even offered him a safe haven. The al-Qaeda leader declined, thinking that he would be better off in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/24/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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It is one of the most frightening forms of violence in Iraq today — dozens of human bombers willing to die for their cause. But Brig. Gen. John Custer, the director of intelligence for Central Command, told ABC News he believes many of the bombers are forced to carry out the attacks. Custer said there was evidence some bombers were physically chained inside the vehicles used in the attacks. "What we've found in a number of places are hands chained to a steering wheel," he said. "Up in Irbil, we found a foot roped into the car, unable to escape. Their children were kidnapped and held — they were forced. We've seen faces blown off and been able to identify the perpetrator."
Officials are not certain who is forcing people to do this, but he says the idea that Iraq is being badly infiltrated by outsiders is wrong. "The big myth is that the foreign fighters are everywhere, that there are thousands," Custer said. "My feeling is that that's largely that Arab street [spreading the myth]. That's the story everybody wants to hear, and Iraqis don't want to admit that some of [the bombers] might be Iraqis." There are serious concerns that violence will increase in the next few months with the approach of the Iraq elections. They primary concern: Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "Zarqawi has certainly become the rock star terrorist in the past two months," Custer said. "Not to the degree most people can claim and not to the degree they want to be seen." Custer said he sees possible links between Zarqawi and al Qaeda, but beyond that, he said, "I don't see a lot of evidence in Iraq of al Qaeda." Custer insisted progress has been made in going after the insurgents in Iraq, but he acknowledged the extremist networks are proving very difficult to crack.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/24/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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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.
