Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it was "inconceivable" that the United States would attack Iran over its nuclear programme. "I don't see any circumstances in which military action would be justified against Iran full stop," Straw told BBC radio amid speculation that re-elected US President George W. Bush may be more hawkish over the Islamic republic. Asked if the world would support a US bombing campaign against Iran, Straw said: "Not only is that inconceivable, but I think the prospect of it (US military action) happening is inconceivable."
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means..."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 3:30:25 PM ||
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Dictionary sez:
inconceivable--"So unlikely or surprising as to have been thought impossible; unbelievable: an inconceivable victory against all odds."
#7
Covert? That would be like cruise missiles with no markings?
Posted by: Tom ||
11/04/2004 16:16 Comments ||
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Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. The Brits love acheiving their goals through deception. The US likes to meet at high noon in the town square with six shooters. Good Cop, Bad Cop!
#9
Reminds me of all the hysteria after Baghdad fell. Lefties peppered Powell and others re the possibility of turning right or left for more fruit picking. Ask Colin/W if this practice had an effect, but you can be sure that when MSM in US picks this up and runs this story through the grinder for a few weeks on Talking Head shows, the US might be backed into a corner. I don't see it as a good/bad cop thing at all. Rather, it's pure boiler plate along the lines of "with election victory, Bush will have to make kissy-face with those he defeated, not the other way around."
Jack: Poor choice of words.
TGA: What does it mean?
Posted by: chicago mike ||
11/04/2004 16:29 Comments ||
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#10
The US must not accept a nuclear Iran. If we do, then why did we re-elect W?
#11
Who might understand this?
Who might consider it properly?
Whose spirit might dare to see through it?
Whose tongue might announce it?
Whose mental capabilities might form a proper idea of this?"
He adds:
"interim hoc omittamus: multum est ad nos."
("Let's leave it for a moment, it trespasses our horizon")
#12
Maybe we need to parse what he said: 'it was "inconceivable" that the United States would attack Iran over its nuclear programme.' But what if the US attacked Iran for a different reason? Say, for counter-attacking Israel after they had blown up Iran's nuclear programme; or maybe a border provacation with Iraq; or interfering with shipping in the Persian Gulf; or any number of other belligerant acts that Iran is itching to perpetrate?
Colombia's Supreme Court has authorised the extradition of one of the former heads of the Cali drug cartel. Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela may make a final appeal against the judgement, but legal experts are certain he will be unable to escape prison in the US. At the time he was at its helm, the Cali cartel was the richest and most powerful crime syndicate in the world. Rodriguez Orejuela was known as "the chess player" for his ability to out-wit and out-manoeuvre his opponents. But this time, it seems, he is firmly in his pursuers' grasp.
The US authorities have been trying to get their hands on the two Rodriguez Orejuela brothers - Gilberto and his younger brother Miguel - for over 15 years. Then they headed the Cali drug cartel, responsible for smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine onto the American mainland. Now in his 60s, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, once one of the richest men in the world, looks set to spend the rest of his life in an American prison
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 2:18:20 AM ||
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A top Moscow-backed official in Chechnya says he is ready to send forces into Georgia to wipe out Chechen separatist rebels alleged to be there. Ramzan Kadyrov, son of the assassinated Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov, said Georgia must restore order in the mountainous Pankisi Gorge area. Mr Kadyrov said Chechnya was "sick and tired of silently watching terrorists being trained and armed" in Pankisi.
Georgia denies Russia's claim that it is harbouring Chechen militants. Mr Kadyrov said the Russian-backed authorities in Chechnya did not plan to "rush full-tilt" into Georgia. But he warned his irregular force, estimated at 2,000 to 4,000 well-armed troops, would move quickly if it was felt necessary to secure Russia's interests. "Terrorists will be destroyed in their lairs, and in future they will not be allowed to build their nests around Russia," he said. "If an order comes to destroy terrorists in Pankisi, it will be carried out without delay." He said Georgia's leadership should stop looking to the international community for help and "restore order themselves unless they want others to do it". Georgian authorities have previously carried out police operations aimed at restoring order in the troubled Pankisi Gorge area.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 6:17:47 PM ||
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Russia's most notorious terrorist, Shamil Basaev of Chechnya, has used his Web site to make statements both diplomatic and defiant. Since masterminding the hostage taking in the southern Russian town of Budennovsk during the summer of 1995, the radical Muslim leader has claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist acts that killed hundreds of Russians, Radio Free Europe reported Wednesday. This week the fugitive's Web site, kavkaz-center.com, posted the full transcript of an interview with a Globe and Mail reporter, in which Basaev expressed regret for the deaths of hundreds in Beslan, but also blamed Vladimir Putin for the catastrophe. Basaev also warned his men may resort to terrorism against the citizens of states whose leaders support Putin's Chechen policy. He repeated earlier denials of any links with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and also denied his men include numerous foreign mercenaries. All Russian Muslims, Basaev added, have an obligation to contribute materially to the jihad.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 6:14:57 PM ||
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AUSTRALIAN military bases will be used by US forces to test next-generation warfare, staging mock attacks from aircraft carriers and conducting hi-tech war games. Details of joint Australian-US military training has centred on using three bases. They will test the latest weaponry, including precision munitions, tactics and cutting-edge communications, according to Ross Babbage, a former senior ANZUS treaty adviser. Professor Babbage, just returned from US defence and Pentagon briefings as part of the Kokoda Foundation, said the public was yet to be told the significance and benefit to Australian forces of the planned training.
Tens of millions of dollars would be spent upgrading Shoalwater Bay Training Area, in Queensland, and Bradshaw Training Area and Delamere Air Weapons Range in the Northern Territory, Prof Babbage said. "What I can see happening is rather more than what has been revealed," Prof Babbage said. "There will be things that will be learned together, they will try completely new things."
The program would place Australia among the highest-priority training grounds for the US in the world and send a strong message of US support for Australia throughout the region, Prof Babbage said. "We are making it very clear that when push comes to shove, Australia and the US governments operate very closely together," he said. "When it all goes to custard we can rely on their support."
He said the Howard Government could be expected to launch another round of briefings for Asian-Pacific countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Papua New Guinea, to allay neighbourhood concerns. But Prof Babbage conceded more US-Australian exercises would be a sensitive issue further north. "The Chinese, who are running on several levels, are trying to bring most of South-East Asia and Australia closer to them."
Prof Babbage said the Delamere range would see experimentation with new smart bombs and live or dummy bombing raids into Australia from US aircraft carriers.
He said the smaller-version smart bombs, which could be tested, would be able to hit not just a specific tank, but a specific hinge or weakness of the tank.
"I bet you a pint you can't put one through the hatch, mate."
Special operations, ground force and surveillance training would take place at Bradshaw. Shoalwater Bay will host Exercise Talisman Sabre in 2007, which will see joint training of more than 20,000 troops with live bombing raids, amphibious landings, sea manoeuvres and simulations. A yet to be built Joint Combined Training Centre will connect each of the Australian bases with US mainland complexes and the US Pacific War Fighting Centre in Hawaii to provide real-time battlefield assessments.
"The Americans and our own Government are putting more meat on the bones of the alliance," Prof Babbage said. "When you put all these things together and you fast-forward five years, there is a significant evolution of Australia's ties with the Americans. ". . . in Washington, what they were saying - very senior defence people - was when it comes to the cutting edge, you guys and the Brits are who we can work with. "There is a frankness of exchanges, a special level of trust."
Prof Babbage said the potential for US equipment being set up in Australia to stage deployments to hot spots remained on the table, but initial agreements were restricted to training. "There is no proposal to base any US combat units here . . . (but) they could stage through Australia if they needed to in the future," he said. "What we are going to see is more exercises and a variety of exercises. "I think it will be a significant advance, but what will be significant is the quality. "This does not mean the Australian Defence Force has to commit to any future conflict (with the US). "What it means is that if there is commitment they can operate almost seamlessly."
EFL: Charles Robert Jenkins, the Army sergeant who left his soldiers and walked into North Korea in 1965 to avoid combat duty in Vietnam, received a light sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty in a court-martial here to desertion and aiding the enemy. After hearing bleak testimony about his harsh life in North Korea, an Army judge seemed to accept a defense lawyer's argument that Sergeant Jenkins, 64, had "already suffered 40 years of confinement." The judge, Col. Denise Vowell, then demoted him to private, stripped him of four decades of back pay and benefits, and gave him a dishonorable discharge and a 30-day jail sentence.
The prosecutor, Capt. Seth Cohen, had called for a tougher sentence, evoking, in a veiled way, the need for military discipline while American soldiers are fighting in Iraq. Referring to noncommissioned officers like Sergeant Jenkins, he said, "We can't have soldiers going into the field fearing that their N.C.O.'s will abandon them, especially given the state of the world today."
But the trial and sentencing seemed to reflect American political needs to mollify Japanese public opinion, which has been moved by the drama of the American defector from North Carolina and his Japanese wife, Hitomi Soga Jenkins, whom he met in North Korea a few years after North Korean agents had kidnapped her from a Japanese island in 1978. Apparently to minimize American media attention, the one-day military trial took place as votes were being counted in the American presidential election.
Massaging Japanese public opinion is important to Washington, which wants to move the Army's First Corps from the state of Washington to this base, already the headquarters of the United States Army in Japan. By receiving a 30-day sentence, Private Jenkins is now detained in Japan, avoids return to the United States for incarceration, and can receive weekly visits from his Japanese wife and their two North Korean-born daughters. To further soften Japanese opinion, military officers gave a slide show of the detention facility, which is on a United States Navy installation at Yokosuka. Drawing oohs and aahs from Japanese reporters, the slides showed rows of exercise bicycles, a living room-style visitation room, and close-ups of the food, including a large photo of a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top.
Ummmmmm, pie!
"It's not Club Med, but it is not hard labor either," said Capt. King H. Dietriech, commander of the Navy facility. He also stressed that "there will be no special treatment for Private Jenkins." -----snip-----
In rare testimony on Wednesday about life in North Korea, Sergeant Jenkins and his wife said their lives had been controlled by omnipresent "political supervisors." Mrs. Jenkins said her supervisor prepared her for her first meeting with Sergeant Jenkins in June 1980 by suggesting that "I was to marry" him. "Little by little, we started to love each other," Mrs. Jenkins said, noting that they decided to get married barely one month after meeting. "My husband did not like North Korea, nor did I." One day, when Sergeant Jenkins was a bachelor, living with three other defectors, he took advantage of the rare absence of their political supervisor to search their house. In the attic, he recalled, they found tape recorders. In each room, they found a microphone.
The Americans, he said, were forced for 10 hours a day to study and memorize the writings of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung, writings that he called "class struggle from the perspective of a crazy man." Six months ago, while he was still in North Korea, such a statement could have earned Sergeant Jenkins execution. He said here on Wednesday that if he had once criticized Mr. Kim or his son and successor, Kim Jong Il, there would have been no forgiveness. "Go dig your own hole, because you are gone,'' he testified. "I have seen that done."
With little coaxing by the defense counsel, Capt. James D. Culp, Mrs. Jenkins painted a portrait of a broken industrial society where living standards had regressed to the 19th century. With no heat or electricity in their Pyongyang house during most of the winter, she said that to sleep in the cold "we would wear everything we owned in terms of clothing when we went to bed." Warm water never flowed from faucets. Warm baths were rare luxuries."
Reading at night was by candlelight. When the candle wick had burned, she said, her husband "would collect the melted wax in a can and use it for a homemade candle." With the food rationing system breaking down, she said, they grew vegetables and raised chickens in their yard, but the family often went to bed hungry. The family was forbidden to leave the house without their political supervisor. Coils of barbed wire surrounded their house, she told the court.
Deprived of books, Sergeant Jenkins said he had so treasured a banned a copy of the historical novel "Shogun" that he read it 20 times. In later years, he tinkered with a state-issue, single-channel North Korean radio so that he could secretly listen to the BBC and Voice of America. Such surreptitious acts of rebellion carried the sanction, Mrs. Jenkins said, of being "thrown out of the city, and taken to a remote mountain area to live."
With anti-American hostility acute, Sergeant Jenkins recalled that one day he was taken to a hospital where orderlies held down his forearm as a doctor, without using anesthesia, cut off a piece of skin tattooed, "U.S. Army."
In his closing statement, he apologized to soldiers under his command, to the Army and to the nation. "After living 40 years in North Korea, there is no freedom like the freedom in the United States," he said. Referring to Kim Jong Il, he added, "People in North Korea suffer under a system that is evil and is run by a man who is evil to his bones." After one day in North Korea, he said, he realized that he had made a terrible mistake. Noting that he was forbidden to write to his family in America while in North Korea, he said, "I am deeply sorry to my family, who suffered in silence for 40 years."
From North Carolina, his younger sister, Pat Harrell, said by telephone that she would tell the news to their 91-year-old mother. "This has been 40 years in coming, in believing that one day I would hear from him,'' Mrs. Harrell said. "I never gave up hope. Now I am just waiting to able to touch him."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 3:34:36 AM ||
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The Americans, he said, were forced for 10 hours a day to study and memorize the writings of North Koreaâs founder, Kim Il Sung, writings that he called "class struggle from the perspective of a crazy man."
#2
whether he spent 40 years in confinement or not a traitor is a traitor and should not be given special attention. Treat him like any soldier today would be treated.
#3
Sorry to be a candy ass on this one but I think this guy has already spent 40 years in prison and should be given the break he got. He said after one day, he realized his mistake. He spent 40 years regretting it.
Posted by: John Simmins ||
11/04/2004 10:57 Comments ||
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Jenkins paid the price and is unlikely to run for President, but I am not going to defend him. It's either pretty much set him free or go full bore and do an Admiral Bing.
North Korea is likely to return to six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons development now that the U.S. election is over, South Korea's foreign minister said Thursday. In a report to the National Assembly's unification and foreign affairs committee, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon also said South Korea plans to bribe persuade North Korea to make a "strategic decision" that will set the stage for a breakthrough at the next round of talks. "The U.S. presidential election has ended, and if the U.S. side pushes for an early resumption of the six-party talks, North Korea will consider it has to continue to deal with the Bush administration, and there is a possibility that it will respond to the talks," Ban said, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. North Korea has yet to comment on the re-election of President Bush.
Might have aspirated on their spittle.
Ban didn't rule out the possibility of North Korea remaining reluctant to come to the negotiating table since the North has repeatedly demanded that there must be a change in what it calls a "hostile" U.S. policy.
We got yer hostile policy right here, Kimmie!
The report on Thursday focused on the implications of the re-election of Bush. Analysts have said North Korea wanted to wait for the outcome so that it could deal with a new administration without political uncertainty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2004 12:39:20 AM ||
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More Australians are getting terrorist training overseas, the chief of the country's spy agency said, adding that his organisation had searched for them on every continent except Antarctica. "While small in absolute terms, the number of Australians confirmed or assessed to have undertaken terrorist training continues to grow," Dennis Richardson said in a speech late Wednesday. "Overwhelmingly, those people in Australia who have undertaken terrorist training have done so beyond Southeast Asia and their continuing links and motivations primarily come from beyond the region."
Let me guess, someplace with a lot of sand and oil?
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) chief said Australia had been a potential target for Al-Qaeda for at least four years and would continue to be so. In the past three years, an attack on the Australian High Commission in Singapore had been thwarted but the bombings of Bali nightclubs in 2002 and an attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta in September had succeeded, he said. Plans for an attack in Australia involving Frenchman Willie Brigitte, a convert to Islam deported to France last year and held since then under France's tough anti-terrorism laws, had also been thwarted.
A raid in Pakistan in late 2002 uncovered details about a number of airports being cased before September 11, 2001, including one in Australia, Richardson said. Since the 2001 attacks in the United States, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation had prevented 10 people suspected of terrorism activities from entering Australia, he said. And Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had been advised to cancel or deny passports to 20 people seeking to leave the country. So far only Muslim convert Jack Roche in the western city of Perth has been convicted and sentenced for terrorism offences, in relation to a planned attack on the Israeli embassy in Canberra. Four others were awaiting trial for alleged offences in Sydney, Richardson said. "Investigations are continuing which could lead to the arrest of others," he said, adding that the spy agency had been working to identify Australians worldwide connected to terrorism. "That work has taken us from Indonesia to inside the Arctic circle and to all continents but Antarctica," Richardson said.
"inside the Arctic circle", I'm guessing he's talking about the Scandinadian countries. Unless there's a Aussie al-Qaeda cell working on the North Slope.
"It is work which continues to this day. Four Australians were in custody overseas either awaiting trial for alleged terrorist offences or serving a sentence for one, Richardson said. Two Australians, David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, are in US detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Hicks, charged with a series of terrorism related and other charges, is awaiting trial by a military commission.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 3:41:08 AM ||
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European investigators need sharper tools and better intelligence-sharing to be able to intercept suspected terrorists faster, French and German officials said Thursday.
"We must act in real time," French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere told a terrorism conference in the German city of Wiesbaden.
"Very often it takes much too long for appropriate action to be taken. We must position ourselves so a house search can be carried out within the hour."
Europe has been seeking ways of sharpening anti-terrorism cooperation since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in the United States, a task made still more urgent after suspected al Qaeda-linked bombers killed 191 people in Madrid in March.
But it has been hampered partly by the reluctance of security services to circulate intelligence information in a European Union of 25 countries for fear of compromising sources.
"We cannot deal with this threat on a local or national level ... It's about pooling and sharing intelligence on a cross-agency basis," Bruguiere said.
Agencies like the EU police body Europol -- had "not reached their full potential yet," he added.
In Germany, the biggest EU member, reform of the security services has been complicated by tensions between the federal government and the 16 states, each of which has its own police and intelligence services.
Interior Minister Otto Schily, addressing the conference on Tuesday, said he was confident of forcing through constitutional changes to give the Federal Crime Office -- the Bundeskriminalamt or BKA -- more "preventive powers," for example to tap suspects' telephones.
BKA chief Joerg Ziercke voiced frustration with the current situation where the agency is often forced to take a back seat to police forces in the federal states.
"If we receive highly sensitive threat information, we don't want to get into long discussions with the states on whether they have the resources to launch surveillance if I have the resources to do that myself," he told journalists.
In a drive to improve coordination between the federal police and intelligence services, the government is moving their headquarters to Berlin and setting up a joint database into which they can pool information on Islamist suspects.
But this too is controversial, both with Germany's more than 3 million Muslims and with privacy watchdogs.
Federal Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaar told the conference Muslims considered to be "extremists" must not be listed in such a database unless there was concrete evidence of links to terrorism.
Top intelligence officials countered that view, saying suspects could always be removed later if terrorist involvement was ruled out. "We shouldn't let (militants) exploit our freedom and data protection rules," said Ruediger von Fritsch, deputy head of the foreign intelligence agency.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 5:46:53 PM ||
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I for one welcome a more nuanced, flexible Franco-centric positioning of the forces, to defend the heart of Europe.
Police are reportedly investigating a possible connection between the man suspected of killing Dutch filmmaker and columnist Theo van Gogh and the terror network al-Qaeda.
The Netherlands-born suspect — identified as Mohammed B., 26, holding Dutch and Moroccan nationality — also had contact with eight other men arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of terrorist activities.
The arrests were made as police raided B.'s house in Marianne Philipsstraat in Amsterdam-Slotermeer and four other homes in the Dutch capital on Wednesday. Police seized computers, videos and literature.
The men are suspected of being part of a criminal gang, but it is not yet clear if they are also being linked to involvement in the murder of Van Gogh, who was shot and stabbed
on an Amsterdam street at about 8.45am on Tuesday.
They were identified by their nationality — six Moroccans, an Algerian and a Spanish-Moroccan. They are aged between 19 and 27.
B. is reported to be an acquaintance of the eight suspects, having stayed at the raided premises. The authorities previously arrested several suspects at the raided homes in Amsterdam West and North last year on allegations they were involved in the bloody terror attacks in Casablanca.
Amsterdam chief public prosecutor Leo de Wit said the men arrested on Wednesday were not among those arrested last year.
The latest raids were based on the information gathered last year. B.'s address was also found among the investigation notes. The same addresses were placed under surveillance again from Tuesday night.
Five suspects were arrested in October 2003 on terrorism charges, but were released shortly after due to a lack of evidence.
The Dutch intelligence service AIVD claims the suspects were in contact with the brain behind the 16 May 2003 Casablanca attacks, a Moroccan identified as Naoufel. Forty-five people were killed, including 12 suicide bombers.
Media reports had earlier indicated that B. might have held links with Samir A., a Muslim man arrested in the Netherlands in June for allegedly plotting bomb attacks on Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and the Dutch Parliament. He was one of the October 2003 arrested suspects.
Meanwhile, De Wit has said the letter left on Van Gogh's body was inspired by a "radical Islamic conviction". The suspect was also allegedly carrying a suicide farewell letter at the time of his arrest.
Some 75 police officers have been assigned to the murder investigation and Van Gogh's suspected killer has undergone an operation on his injured leg. He was shot during an exchange of fire with police before he was arrested.
He has been transferred to the penitentiary hospital in Scheveningen and is only being allowed access to his lawyer.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 5:44:02 PM ||
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Scheveningen? Somebody notify the 8th Air Force...
#3
Robert Spencer at Jihadwatch notes that he's been told by "sources" that Van Gogh was assassinated on orders of someone high up in the global jihad network. He did not say al-Q. The killer was probably supposed to be killed by the cops - he had a martyr letter in his posket - but chickened out and fled when he saw the police coming. He shot an officer full in the chest but the cop was wearing body armor.
Britain has become one of the favourite places to live for the thousands of French disenchanted with life in their home country. Traditionally, France has been the retreat of choice for Britons hoping for a better lifestyle in Europe but now that trend looks set to be reversed as thousands of French move to Britain. There are now 300,000 French people living in Britain and the French embassy says Britain hosts the largest French community in Europe with London, Manchester and Kent favourite locations for French expatriates.
Segola Chambon typifies one of the many young graduates looking to kick-start their careers in London. She came to London after graduating and started work as a school teacher. Then she became a shop assistant, worked in a tourist office and now works as a team leader for a property firm. Mrs Chambon says many of the French find they can progress faster in their jobs in Britain. "If you work hard, you can do really well." She recently bought a house with her husband in south-west London and looks set to live in Britain permanently. "Initially I came for six months but I have lived here for four years and now I want to stay." French entrepreneurs find it easier to set up and run businesses in Britain and the super-rich set buy property to avoid paying high levels of French wealth tax. A lot of Brits buy property in France, especially the south, and translocate there anticipating a utopian way of life. Fools. This seems like a fair exchange to me.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
11/04/2004 8:46:25 AM ||
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"If you work hard, you can do really well"
Yes, it's remarkable how that happens in free countries.
Buoyed by recent successes, NATO soon will ask European nations to send more troops and equipment to Afghanistan. If enough nations pitch in, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan could be reduced. The plan is to ask nations to stake a claim in the country, providing a more stable area a piece at a time, according to U.S. Marine Gen. James L. Jones, NATO's supreme allied commander. Following the successful Afghan presidential elections and the small victories at many regional outposts, Jones plans to seek more help from the alliance's member nations, as well as others. Currently, there are about 18,000 U.S. troops in the country and between 6,500 and 8,000 other NATO forces there.
The Czech Republic has sent a battalion trained to take on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. The Netherlands has contributed the 1st Helicopter Detachment, 301st Squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Its six Apache helicopters, 110 troops and 24 vehicles are based in Kabul, the capital.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 1:33:43 AM ||
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This is really good news! NATO stepping up is long overdue.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/04/2004 17:06 Comments ||
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European allies alienated by President Bush's first four years in power offered Wednesday to let bygones be bygones, saying they want to work with the new administration and seeking, right from Day 1, to get the new White House to listen more to overseas opinion.
[Digs little finger in ear]
"Dick, I keep hearing this buzzing in my ear!"
"Me, too, Dubya! Sounds like French or something!"
French President Jacques Chirac, in a congratulatory letter, said he hoped Bush's second term "will be the occasion for strengthening the French-American friendship."
"And what could be stronger than French-American friendship, eh, mon ami?"
"We will be unable to find satisfying responses to the numerous challenges that confront us today without a close trans-Atlantic partnership," wrote Chirac. He addressed the letter to "Dear George."
"Dear George, Think of all we've done for you!"
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who also clashed with Bush over Iraq, wrote the president a congratulatory letter expressing "great expectations" for renewed cooperation. "The world stands before great challenges at the beginning of your second term: international terrorism, the danger of weapons of mass destruction, regional crises — but also poverty, climate change and epidemics threaten our security and stability. These challenges can only be mastered together."
Another critic of the Iraq war, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said his government wants "a relationship of efficient, constructive cooperation with the U.S. government and with President Bush, respecting the ideas of each side." Zapatero, who angered Washington by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, stayed up most of the night to watch as Republican red crept across the U.S. electoral map.
Election interest in Europe was intense, as was the disappointment many felt over Bush's victory. Some saw it as proof that Europe and the United States are farther apart than ever.
I don't feel very flexible. Perhaps you should move closer to us?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2004 12:27:09 AM ||
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#1
Stamp this shit "Junk mail not accepted. Return to Sender", put it in a bottle and toss it off the Brooklyn Bridge.
Bush will now be in office after Chirac and Shroeder are long gone. Let's see if France and Germany offer us someone to deal with who has a brain, real ethics, and a value system more advanced than Socialist Prison Bitch.
Meanwhile, just smile and say nothing... especially to the MSM press.
#2
I am expecting them to move towards us.not! Germany can't afford not to but it won't. Their unemployment has moved down to only 10.1%. France and Chirac are playing Germany for fools. The MSM in Europe will not let up on their anti-US propaganda it will only get worse.
Europe will continue it's decline.
#3
Chirac addressed the letter to "Dear George"? How utterly insulting: he is using the 'tu' form that, when not used between intimates (which he most definitely is not), is used to speak to children and social inferiors. While George may not pick up on this, I am certain that his parents, who spent so much time representing this country abroad, will.
#4
Good point, Trailing Wife, but he could hardly use the "vous" form, since that would imply Bush as a superior non-parental adult: an admission that he couldn't make in front of his countrymen...
#5
In his response will Bush use the formal "thank you" form used between civil countries or the "f*%^ you" form more familiar to enemies that seek your destruction?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 6:32 Comments ||
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Delusional Old Europe. A variant of BDS I suppose.
Why would Bush's first days of the next four years raise the possibility of surrender to their corrupt, cowardly ways? are they fools? do they think Americans are fools?
Ah, yes, I see, sorry. At this stage, statements from Old Europe are as influential and significant as statements from North African failed states.
#7
France has proved itself: useless, pointless, unreliable, and untrustworthy. And diplomatic language and nuance notwithstanding, that will be remembered for a long time.
Posted by: A Jackson ||
11/04/2004 7:44 Comments ||
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I don't think Powel, Rice or Chenny will miss the improper form of address.
#9
Euro elites understand New York City and L.A., what they do not understand is the vast USA in between the coasts. That most of them cannot comprehend how Bush was re-elected is proof that they do not understand "us" as a whole.
#10
Jarhead-Yep. The hot flash of disagreement over the Iraq War is transitioning into a multiple-fronted, deep cultural rift. We'll see the real nature of our divisions emerge. This must happen (to help us identify true allies and compatible governments), but I think our disagreements will be explicit, public, and very confrontational.
#11
My wife the French teacher said vous was most certainly the proper form of address. Tu was too fimilar. Bush and Chirac are not friends or familiars so tu is improper.
She also has felt directly the decline in realations with France. Students who have told her the reason they are not in second or third year french is "My dad won't let me."
#12
In his response will Bush use the formal "thank you" form used between civil countries or the "f*%^ you" form more familiar to enemies that seek your destruction?
Worse than that, Mrs Davis: he'll reply in English
#13
Jules, I'm afraid your right. We are coming to a head with France/Germany, I hope all involved can be statesmen-like about pushing forward on the issues but I am not holding my breath.
#14
A short reply:
"My Dear Jacques - your use of "tu" was inappropriate
thanks
W, as in Winner"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 10:17 Comments ||
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#15
Back from some wonderful autumn days in the mountains, first my heartfelt congratulations for making the right choice, at the right time. I wasn't much in doubt though and chose to avoid all the election hype.
America has always spearheaded new ideas, new developments. Let's see what Europe will do this time.
Euro elites of course don't understand the vast USA, not even the U.S. coastal elites do. Go to the German countryside of Southern Bavaria and ask people there... they have been voting conservative for the last 60 years and they certainly understand the people of Texas, Wyoming and Nebraska better than New Yorkers. Next time George Bush should visit a small Bavarian town instead of Berlin and he'll meet a Germany where he would feel right at home.
That's an approach I'd recommend for anyone interested in rebuilding transatlantic ties.
It may not always seem so but folks, we need each other. In these dangerous times we cannot allow the rift to widen. This would amount to giving aid and comfort to the enemy. It may seem that America and Europe are drifting apart when it comes to common interests and values. But we face challenges that should make these differences appear insignificant.
Re German unemployment: The East keeps dragging us down. We could have needed a "Bush approach" in 1990. It would have hurt for a few years but things would look much better now. In Southern Bavaria unemployment is around 5-6%
Re Chirac: Yes, using a "tu" in a diplomatic exchange (barring private conversations) is considered extremely condescending in France. I don't know if you remember how furious de Villepin (who was said to be a man) was when Jack Straw addressed hoim with his first name.
#16
Va te faire foutre, Chirac! Tu es un perdeur! L'Arbuste ne renrdra pas a toi.
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
11/04/2004 10:28 Comments ||
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#17
Welcome back, TGA. I was wondering where you were! Glad you had a nice holiday.
Now that the election is decided, I think the high level of vitriol had better decline. We will only prevail if all the people of good will in the world are united.
#18
Respectfully, TGA, do our European allies think that they have to contribute good will and monetary/military commitment to the equation, or is it all to come from America? Do you believe that a few significant disagreements over principles can be soothed or compromised? What do we do with the radically different notions about when force can and must be used?
This rift bothers me a lot. 15 years ago, I was such a big proponent of Europe. I loved all things UK, got a degree in French, lived in Latvia teaching English. I cannot see many common interests any more. Terrorism, of course, but the response to it?
#19
Thank you for the insight, TGA. I live in the mountains of east Tennessee and I can tell you the gripe people have here is not with the German people themselves but with the politicians. I have some friends who are veterans of World War II and they told me almost to a man they were surprised and impressed with the German people. They felt much more at home in the German countryside than in France. The Germans were industrious and hard-working whereas the French were all waiting around for some one else to clean up the damage. I agree with you we need each other. The world is so much smaller now than any time in the past and we have many challenges to a free way of life that we all need to work together to overcome. Thanks again for your support.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/04/2004 10:52 Comments ||
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#20
Now that the election is decided, I think the high level of vitriol had better decline.
The high level of vitriol would have been good to decline regardless of whether before or after the elections.
Europe is being treated by most of Rantburg as if it was Iran or Syria. "Thank you"s to the occasional UK and Hungary and Poland and Estonia and Italy and Bulgaria and pretty much the majority of the European nations, immediately followed by an either inconsistent or revelatory contempt towards the entire continent.
The rift will widen, because (the way I see it) the Bush administration and most of its supporters seem to consider the rift a *good thing*, to my great dismay. Europe's too proud to yield in allegiance and America's too proud to even consider an alliance of *equals*.
Yes, if Western civilisation is to survive, USA and Europe need to be united. Small chance of that, alas. Most Rantburgers even treated half of their own nation as if it was the enemy. Which btw I think was one of the reasons for Osama Bin Laden's last message -- Iraq having already driven apart Europe and US, now he was trying to seed rifts internally between blue and red US states.
Got your note, but it was in some disgusting foreign language that no self-respecting American understands, so we used it as tinder to start the pyre we're burning freedom on. Feel free to stop by and toss another Moslem on the barbie!
#23
TGA, well said, but Jules reflects the Jacksonian perspective. It's going to take two to tango. I'm sure W is ready, willing and able.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 11:01 Comments ||
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#24
Mrs D-I don't have a good understanding of what Jacksonianism means, but if you're saying each side must contribute, then yes, that's what I am getting at.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 11:13 Comments ||
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#26
Jules> Just my impression. Certainly people here persistently seem to want to forget the German troops stationed in Afghanistan for example. Such intentional forgetfulness is not the action of people who want the transAtlantic rift to go away.
I've seen comments against Europe spoken casually here that resemble only the comments of the most fanatically rabid anti-American Europeans in vitriol. Most of the other Europeans atleast claimed that it was the Bush administration that they hated -- contempt I've seen in Rantburg for Europe is undisguised against the whole of the continent, its countries, its peoples, its politics, everything about it. You make exceptions for individuals like TGA and JFM, you make exceptions for specific countries that aided you in Iraq... and then it's back to the general contempt of Europe.
#28
Aris-I see it as a question about the world views and political solutions that come from Europe's political leaders. If the European people share those views, then the world views of the people, yes.
#29
Half of your own country share those "world views" and "political solutions". So what does that say about rifts? If Europe and USA are so close together that the European attitude is still well within the spectrum of American politics?
The contempt for Europe I've seen is nothing but a version of the contempt I've seen for Kerry, his voters, and the Democratic party in general. Even the occasional idiotic call to bomb Europe are resembled by occasional idiotic calls for civil war like "if Kerry wins, the red states should break away, and we'll have the support of army too".
#30
well now - that's not very "united" of you, now is it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 11:29 Comments ||
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#31
Aris-It says that half the American people buy those world views and political solutions. Lucky for them, the other half is fighting for the security of the world that the first imagine is delivered to them with no more effort than a wish.
If you're sensing contempt from some writers toward Europe, you might internalize what that does to you and understand how that is multiplied 100 fold in Americans, who are always being sh*t on in Euro public opinion. This is why I made the point about good will from both sides. Had a look at Drudge's report today? The cover of the Brit newspaper? Is that not trashing America? Has it not been so for at least 4 years, unrelentingly?
Good will and cooperation won't come when one side is continuously insulted and its politics not directly argued, while the other side expects to be treated with courtesy and an open ear nevertheless.
#32
Aris, I think most Rantburg contempt is reserved for the "political Europe", for failed leaders who don't live up to what could be expected from free democratic countries.
Tony Blair had the guts to stand for what he believed in... and should he lose the next elections that's the risk he is willing to take.
That's the difference between a politician and a statesman.
I think it's the same with Bush. He risked a lot and in most countries he would have lost big time.
The Daily Mirror might think otherwise bit maybe 59 million Americans aren't that dumb. It could just be that they recognize a statesman even if he sometimes stumbles over his words. They know talk is cheap.
We will find out in the next four years how not dumb those voters actually were.
If Europe is too proud to "yield in allegiance" then it has two choices: Equal America in economic and military strength or get out of the way. It sounds cruel but the real world is cruel, too.
As long as we Europeans chose to "outsource" our security, we have only ourselves to blame.
Europe could equal America if it really wanted to.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 11:41 Comments ||
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#34
Frank G> I would be happy if a bare *fraction* of Rantburgers had as many positive comments to make about Europe or the EU as I've made in the past about the US. E.g. I can't remember even hearing any American Rantburger ever conceding that Europe also cares about human rights and freedoms just like the US does.
#36
TGA> Good comment. But it doesn't solve the problem of division and contempt between the continents. They can have contempt for "political Europe", same way they can have contempt for the blue states in the USA. They may disagree with the politics and even have contempt for the politics. And they may even be right in that contempt.
But it's not helping. Arrogance isn't helping to heal a rift even if it's justified arrogance. And politics shouldn't be there to make you feel good but in order to help your country and your civilisation.
#37
I do distinguish as TGA sez, between the chattering classes (elites, media, EU nabobs, etc.) who are highly anti-american, and the people who we've always had a bond with. Europe has a long history of HR concerns, but lately has seeme to have lost their moral compass (much as many of our LLL has) in being able to judge good and bad. All Abu Grahib all the time is an excellent example. The condemnations of Gitmo is another. When someone has proven themselves unworthy of respect in their judgements, you get the derision and cynical STFU attitudes you see here. Anyone who could support Arafat for a Peace Prize is such an object of ridicule and derision, and justifiably so.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 11:52 Comments ||
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#38
36-It would certainly go a long way to reduce contempt on our end.
Aris-"Justified arrogance"...do you see how eaily insults roll off your tongue about Americans?
#40
Aris-"Justified arrogance"...do you see how eaily insults roll off your tongue about Americans?
Which insult was that? That I called you "arrogant"? My reference is still to the people sharing a specific attitude, not all Americans. Chirac is also extremely arrogant, which is as destructive when he shows it as when Rumsfeld shows it.
#41
TGA does have it. Maybe we (R-burgers in general) could be more distinct in our rants toward the EU Political Leadership/media elites and the average European citizen so as not to put the average German, Italian, Brit, Spaniard in the same category as the political leadership/media conglomerates we are lambasting. This especially goes for their servicemen who are fighting along side us in the WOT. I (and I'm sure the rest of posters) have nothing but respect for those who are willing to put their lives on the line shoulder to shoulder w/us Yanks though we don't note this in every post.
I think we tend to say "Europe" as a whole for the sake of brevity in posting, not to lump together all the folks of the entire continent w/the political leadership - though that may in fact also happen from time to time depending on the poster. I can't speak for everyone, there are some Euro govt's I really dislike but in general when I've traveled abroad I've found a lot more in common with the locals then I think they even thought possible. Ireland and England were a particular pleasure last time out.
I think Jules sums up how many of us feel toward a lot of the news orgs over the pond. Most of us would rather have good will on both sides of the pond, and I agree, it takes both sides to reach across and act like adults. However, as most can attest (at least over here), the Anti-American bias in the Euro press dates back well before Bush. A lot of times it's subtle, but it's still there.
#42
however, when 58% of europeans polled want to see a "weakened US role" in the world, don't expect us to care about their root causes anymore....
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 12:05 Comments ||
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#43
I disagree with the above. IMO we and the Euros are more culturally similar than we think but are inevitably going to drift apart politically because of the cold hard facts of diverging geostrategic positions and capabilities, especially as regards the middle east. It's not a matter of leadership; this is a longer-term, deep structural shift.
Re social and cultural convergence, we and the European publics are converging in nearly every area expect the role of religion in public life. Demise of the traditional family. Demographic challenges brought about by delayed (or eschewed) childbearing and greater longevity. Collapsing welfare and pension systems.
Also note the great shifts in the direction of deregulation (esp in France) and privatization and economic liberalization generally that Europe has made in the last two decades. Also note the transatlantic convergence, at least among the majority white populations here and in Europe, regarding crucial social areas such as marriage patterns and family structure. Historians will probably see the decline of the traditional family, the delay in childbearing, the rise in childless couples and unmarrieds, as one of if not the most revolutionary social changes in our age. It is the cause of a demographic catastrophe in the making. And this change is as pronounced in America as in Europe--more so for low-immigration Europe than for us, but make no mistake, this trend hits the white US population as well.
Regarding political divergence, the simple fact is that we and the Europeans will be sharply divided on the middle east so long as 1) Israel and the palestinians are at war and 2) the Euros refuse to show any inclination to apply sticks to Iran instead of just carrots, carrots that are in any case of far more benefit to EU corporations than to the mullahs. No amount of goodwill or dialogue or efforts at understanding can overcome the fact that the middle east divides us and will do so for another decade at least. Historians
#44
"I beg you Madame, please tell the President to forgive me for being such a putz."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 12:09 Comments ||
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#45
The grand transatlantic pissing match-- who's more arrogant, Rumsfeld or Chirac, nyah-nyah nyah-nyah, nyah nyah-- is totally beside the point. Look beneath the surface. Israel divides us, Iran divides us.
Even Blair and Straw have been acting in direct opposition to US policy and interests on these two crucial issues. No one, not the most gifted diplomat or statesman, can eliminate this deep cleft that will likely remain for decades.
#46
it pains me greatly to write this, as I like Jules and many other US liberals am a deeply ingrained Europhile in most cultural matters (exc attitudes toward immigration) and would dearly like to see US-European solidarity. I do not wish to hurt TGA's or any other Euro-comrade's feelings. But the simple fact is that Old Europe is less relevat to our security situation and needs than are India, Russia, Japan and of course China. It's long past time the US elite shifted its focus from London, Paris and Berlin toward the new axis of history that runs from Moscow to Islamabad, New Delhi, Beijing and Tokyo. I would be very surprised if this does not happen in Bush's second term. A key indicator will be whether we move not just troops but senior diplomatic staff our of Europe. We could and should transfer about half our PAris-based diplomats to ASia.
#48
Jules,
The book in which Walter Russell Mead fully explores the Jacksonians, as well as the Hamiltonians, the Wilsonians and the Jeffersonians is Special Providence A magazine article on the Jacksonians was published in National Interest. A large portion of the basis for Mead's theories is Albion's Seed which I strongly recomend to you if you have not read it. You will look at this country differently after haveing read it.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 12:29 Comments ||
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#49
Is it possible Chirac wrote a letter because he wasn't sure a phone call would have been answered?
Posted by: Stephen ||
11/04/2004 12:46 Comments ||
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#50
"We will be unable to find satisfying responses to the numerous challenges that confront us today without a close trans-Atlantic partnership," wrote Chirac.
Okay, no satisfaction for Chirac. Works for me.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/04/2004 13:01 Comments ||
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#51
I was hoping TGA would stop by.
The point I would like to remake is how in the run up to the invasion how EU support could have averted that. It would have sent saddam a msg that the gig was up. But France, Germany, Russia, China, had a tit in their mouth, sweet cream.
I'm sure that more Germans (Afganistan) than french would have been willing, well no french, or canadien, chumps.
Our efforts in the war on jihad needs to be waged together. But unless Germany, france are ready to lead, well hells bells.
I could care less whether the EU wants to be a socialist vunderland. Just keep making quality products and I'm a fan. But hey, this is for real now.
#53
I agree that we could benefit a bit from a little more precision and a little less overgeneralization when we talk about Europe, or France, or Turkey; not just in the complaints, but also in the compliments. I've noticed people writing about ancient history a lot, as though a modern Dane meditated on the exploits of his Viking ancestors and was just waiting for adequate provocation to grab an axe and go berserker on Islamists.
While it is much shorter to type "The french were bribed by Saddam" than "Chirac's cronys and big business interests were bribed by Saddam," I think it is worth the extra electrons.
It would make this site seem a bit more respectable to the leftists I try to send over here to find non MSM news. Rants and bigotry I prefer to leave to them. :-)
Posted by: James ||
11/04/2004 14:10 Comments ||
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#54
James, I would agree in principle that one ought to distinguish government policy and popular ideas, BUT a huge majority of the French people are siding with their intellectuals and their government. All polls in the last three years have demonstrated that.
Hence it is valid to damn the whole country and invite any rational minority to leave -- for their own sake. Until and unless a new majority arises in France, why would one want to pretend that they are on our side? French anti-Americanism is a fact, an ideology that has been on the rise in the last decades.
#55
James this site is totally respectable. There was/is perfidy being waged against the USA in this war. I'm not asking anybody, other than Canada (shame), to step up and do squat. Other than do something prudent. And don't scheme against America that is trying to fight a hot war, with boys on the line.
#57
No, it's not valid to damn the whole country, not even France. French people following their government by a huge majority? I doubt that. The average French thinks that all politicians are corrupt and a**holes, left or right.
#58
Lucky-You may not ask anybody else to chip in and help, but you can be sure the US will be expected to chip in on every other issue of international reach for sure. The something-for-nothing dynamics in international politics has got to go.
#59
I'll dissent on France. When have they been an ally that aided us? 1781 and then? With a track record that long, I think it is not just the government that opposes us.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 15:58 Comments ||
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#60
The French oppose themselves, especially the Parisians :-)
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 16:38 Comments ||
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#63
TGA: It may seem that America and Europe are drifting apart when it comes to common interests and values.
And it will only get worse as the EU expands. The ultimate reason is American support of Israel. Europe has still not resolved its problem of antisemitism. It is to be expected from the Muslim immigrant population, but it certainly doesn't help matters when the born-and-bred Europeans join in as well.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/04/2004 17:12 Comments ||
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#64
TGA: French people following their government by a huge majority? I doubt that.
Maybe not. But the bottom line is, what do they think of the US? And in their response, they reflect their government, and the government reflects them.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/04/2004 17:15 Comments ||
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#65
Aris, we most certainly do not hate Europeans around here (ok, maybe the French are a special case, but still.....)
However, if Europe wants to be treated as an equal, they've got to bring more to the table than what they have been bringing.
I noticed an erosion of respect starting around the Bosnia situation. As I recall, at first we were not wanted in there, and then after the Europeans couldn't calm it down, guess who they came to for help. It was the first time I remember hearing things like "How many damn times do we have to go over there (Europe) to solve their damn problems?"
And it's gotten worse. There's still a lot of ties, but the ties are getting stronger across the Pacific and in Latin America now. We trade more with them, more people from the Pacific and Latin America are here as immigrants than from Europe, and it's now seen as a smarter move to study their languages rather than European ones. (Yeah, I know Latin America speaks Spanish, and Portuguese in Brazil. Spanish is still seen as a good thing to study....and it ain't because of any affinity for Castille.)
There still is a cultural affinity for Europe, but it is fading as we become more and more tied to those newer economies that produce things that the Continent can't or won't (new technologies, hardware, software, you get the idea).
To more and more of us, Europe seems like a big museum where artifacts of the past are preserved. The new, exciting stuff is going on in India, in China, and Singapore.
#66
Rafael... True Anti-Americanism is often (not always) connected with Anti-Semitism (big Jewish money etc). But I know lots of Germans who are desperately anti-Bush and still love and admire the USA. And are not antisemites at all.
I was wondering about the Daily Mirror cover (about those 50 million "dumb" Americans.
I couldn't find a cover like this in Germany today.
#67
"How many damn times do we have to go over there (Europe) to solve their damn problems?"
Exactly. It isn't "you're European, we dislike you"; it's our rapidly growing impatience with the imperious, flawed political views that several European leaders try to force down America's throat. Chirac insists that war is never justified. Not only does this widely accepted Euro view indicate that Europe hasn't learned from the disasters of apathy and inaction of its past, you actually want to castigate us for using our military today to rescue you and others from the predictable outcomes of this deadly philosophy. Not only is that ingratitude and mental oblivion, it's a long-term picking off of our people, at no cost to you. That is making Americans mad.
#72
I would be happy if a bare *fraction* of Rantburgers had as many positive comments to make about Europe or the EU as I've made in the past about the US.
Um, I can thank Europe for, during my visits there (except for Germany), providing me with many reasons as to why my ancestors left?
Canadian spies have been pondering one of the more chilling questions of the post-9/11 era: Does Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda have briefcase-sized nuclear weapons?
I know, I'm shocked as well. Canada has spies?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 3:45:57 AM ||
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#1
A newly obtained intelligence report examines the intriguing notion and concludes that whatever the answer, the terrorist network is intent on acquiring nuclear means.
Who knew?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 9:41 Comments ||
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#2
How much money you spending on that spy network, Canaduh? There are feces-covered hippie bums to feed, you stingy bastids.
#6
Joe Lieberman for Secretary of State, Rudy Giuliani for Attorney General, fire Norm Mineta and replace him with Zell Miller. A cabinet that kicks ass!
Posted by: Jonathan ||
11/04/2004 11:40 Comments ||
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#7
..Did anybody catch the part where they asked him about Arafish and without missing a beat, he replied, "God bless his soul'?..
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/04/2004 12:52 Comments ||
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#8
Condi for VP (or SecDef, or SecState).
Hey, I can dream, can't I?
Posted by: Mike ||
11/04/2004 13:46 Comments ||
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#9
Condi to run against DiFi.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 13:51 Comments ||
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#10
Mike : If Powell leaves, you may get your wish...
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 14:39 Comments ||
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#12
The Dems are down and he needs to kick them HARD. I like Jonathan's appointments they would be great and in keeping with conservative traditions. I would also re-nominate Estrada for a vacant court position and give Spectre the finger. He needs the Ron Regan playbook and follow it.
The surprise broadcast last week of a videotape from Osama bin Laden injected an element of uncertainty into the final days of the presidential campaign, stirring speculation about which candidate would be most affected.
Would the fresh image of the defiant al Qaeda leader feed public fears of terrorism and thereby intensify support for President Bush, who had made the war on terrorism the core of his appeal for a second term? Or would it remind Americans that Bush still had not caught the elusive terrorist and thereby push voters to Sen. John F. Kerry, who had argued that U.S. forces under Bush had become distracted by Iraq?
Polls taken over the weekend and outside voting stations on Tuesday indicate that bin Laden's reappearance may have cut both ways -- and ultimately had little net effect on the election's outcome. A weekend survey by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal found a large share of likely voters -- 74 percent -- knew about bin Laden's message, which warned Americans to stop threatening the security of Muslims.
Asked whether the statement made them more inclined to vote for one U.S. presidential candidate or another, 24 percent said Bush, 12 percent said Kerry -- and 62 percent said it made no difference. A Sunday poll by Marist College found that 46 percent said they were "more favorable to Bush" from what they knew of the bin Laden videotape, while 43 percent said they were "more favorable to Kerry."
On Tuesday, a nationwide exit poll conducted for a consortium of news organizations found that 56 percent of voters considered the bin Laden videotape "important," according to results released by CNN. Of those, half voted for Bush, and half for Kerry. "I saw nothing to indicate it helped or hurt Bush," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, which did its own polling on the question over the weekend.
Kohut said a majority of the "late-decider" voters opted for Kerry, but he rejected the idea that they were driven to do so by new concern about bin Laden.
"I don't think the public saw anything in the videotape that frightened them more than they already were, or that gave them any insight into the problem we face," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 3:15:09 AM ||
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More than 700 people were arrested on immigration violations and thousands more subjected to FBI interviews in an intense government effort to avert a terrorist attack aimed at disrupting the election.
As with past unrealized al-Qaida threats, law enforcement officials said Thursday they don't know for sure whether any of those arrests or interviews foiled an attack.
"It's very hard to prove a negative," Michael Garcia, chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an interview Thursday. "We did cases and operations for people we thought posed national security concerns. We didn't arrest anyone who had a bomb."
For example, ICE agents arrested a 23-year-old Pakistani man in late October who had illegally entered the United States through Mexico in 2000 and was working as a fuel tanker truck driver with access to a major U.S. seaport. The man, who was not further identified, is charged with making false statements about how he entered the country and remains under investigation for any links to terrorism.
He was one of the 237 people arrested in October alone on immigration violations, for a total of over 700 since the enforcement effort began last year, Garcia said. "It was a broad approach that led us to have a very disruptive effect, we believe," he said.
Although the election season passed without an attack, officials say al-Qaida remains a dangerous foe intent on striking the United States again. The day after the election, Attorney General John Ashcroft told his senior staff to not let their guard down.
The Jan. 20 presidential inauguration heads the list of upcoming high-profile events that officials say could draw terrorist interest. Others include the Feb. 6 Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., and the December holiday travel season, which last year saw several threats against trans-Atlantic flights.
There still is concern the Osama bin Laden videotape aired last week could be a signal for an attack. And despite asking for help from the public, the FBI still has not identified a man calling himself "Azzam the American," whose lengthy videotape aired last month promised attacks that will make U.S. streets "run red with blood."
The FBI interviewed about 10,000 Muslims and Arab-Americans in the months prior to Election Day in an effort to gain intelligence about people who might pose a threat and to build bridges to those communities.
Many of those interviews led officials to individuals in the United States who might be linked to terrorism but had previously escaped government detection, said a senior Justice Department official speaking on condition of anonymity because of national security concerns. The official did not provide any details.
Still, there were reports of heavy-handed tactics in some places. The Council on American-Islamic Relations provided several examples, including a young Pakistani man who was held for five hours in Las Vegas after books on the Muslim holiday of Ramadan and Arabic grammar were found in his possession.
"This was viewed as an extension of the ongoing policies that have been targeting Muslim and Arab-American communities," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. "These communities view themselves as law-abiding and contributing to society in a very positive way."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 6:11:32 PM ||
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#1
Cry me a freakin' river Ibrahim. We're tryin' to save lives. Your whining doesn't mean squat to me.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
11/04/2004 18:23 Comments ||
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#2
"These communities view themselves as law-abiding and contributing to society in a very positive way."
Well of course they do ... in a Sharia sort of way.
#5
I firmly believe that one of the principal reasons that there were no follow-on incidents after 9/11 is that the FBI immediately vacuumed up all the suspicious characters and sorted them out slowly. Might have inconvenienced some innocent ones, but that was balanced out by keeping the bad guys off the street.
That's what an FBI agent tells Team 4 in an exclusive investigation that will air tonight on Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m.
For the first time, Team 4 has evidence of specific ways al Qaeda was casing the area. Federal officials say they've found and foiled those plans, which included a possible attack on Pittsburgh.
Why Pittsburgh? Former FBI Special Agent in Charge Ken McCabe tells Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons:
"You want to start really messing with Americans and their heads and get them really panicky and scared? Hit them in different smaller cities in the heart of America -- Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Kansas City. That would, I think, shake a lot of people up."
Tonight on Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m., Team 4 will talk about photographs, detailed plans and written descriptions of specific locations in Pittsburgh.
Team 4 also talks about something that recently happened at a security-sensitive facility in western Pennsylvania, and what federal agents are doing about it.
There may be more to come on this, the headline sez there's evidence of a local terrorist plot ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 5:50:30 PM ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 19:12 Comments ||
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We have a great deal of international students at our universities and hospitals. Pittsburgh is one tough town...Hell with the lid off...we were called in the early 20th century due to our steel mills. The mills are long gone...but the folks who worked are not.
EFL
The anticipated departures have left Washington abuzz on how the president will shape his new Cabinet. Should President Bush conclude that he must restore America's relations with the international community and balance the budget,he will likely look to advisers that closely resemble those that surrounded his father. The problem,however, is that many of those figures have been openly hostile to the Iraq war that the president defended repeatedly on the campaign trail. Not just them, but the entire Department of State and much of the CIA.
While no decisions have been made, the latest speculation has the White House tapping former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson to take the job of Mr. Ashcroft. If Mr. Thompson becomes attorney general, he will be the first African American to hold the position. Governor Pataki has been mentioned to take over the Department of Homeland Security, filling the shoes of another moderate northeastern governor, Mr. Ridge. There is a strong possibility that the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, will become secretary of state once Mr. Powell leaves. Was Condi a bureaucracy-buster at Stanford?
Should Ms. Rice move to Foggy Bottom, the fiercest internal competition opens up for her old job. Among those names in circulation are the deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, the man largely credited as the intellectual architect of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the undersecretary of state, John Bolton, an early candidate in 2001 for the slot of deputy secretary of state and a skeptic of international agreements with rogue states. Wolfowitz would be a nice slap in the face of the antiwar MSM.
Also in the running in this scenario is senior National Security Council director, Robert Blackwill, a former ambassador to India who is credited with drafting the strategy to marginalize Ahmad Chalabi from the interim government in Baghdad. If Mr. Bush is to heed the advice of [Tony Blair]--that is, Foggy Bottom-style "realism"--Mr. Blackwill, or the deputy national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, would likely emerge as frontrunners to run the National Security Council.
#3
Ridge had already announced he was leaving for financial reasons.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 13:18 Comments ||
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take Mineta out!
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2004 13:19 Comments ||
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Is he still there? Talk about dead weight.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 13:27 Comments ||
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Dream moment: "Today the President announced that the State Department will be resigning."
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/04/2004 13:31 Comments ||
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RC, That and the CIA resigning would do wonders for our National security. Picture thousands of tenured professors with security clearances and you have both departments. Too bad they can't be forced to resign, no matter how much they screw up. The CIA/State missed almost all the big political and military events in the past 30 years. Neither predicted the trouble with the rise of fundamental Islam (Iran), fall of the Soviet Union and entire Warsaw pact, the rise and then crushing of dissent in the Peoples Republic of China, and the problems in the Balkans. Getting rid of both of these would IMPROVE national security.
#8
NYT has an article stating that the Condi does not like dealing with foreign diplodicks. She prefers Defense Dept.
I don't see Paul W. as NCAdvisor. He is too much of a lightning rod. He pissed me off when he couldn't remember how many U.S. troops died in Iraq, at the Sentate hearing.
#11
I think that Condoleeza Rice will be VP by 2006. That would give her time for a little federal executive experience and position her for 2008. As for the State Department, many of its senior people are of a vintage where Foreign Service was a nifty way to avoid the draft and not have to go to foreign countries where people would shoot at you. It would be good for them to move on.
#12
State badly needs a housecleaning of the sort Rummy's attempting in the Pentagon. Condi strikes me as just the sort of person who'd be up to the task.
An Indonesian Muslim cleric on trial for leading the Al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah network Thursday rejected as a "joke" charges that he masterminded the Bali and Marriott hotel bombings. Appearing in court under heavy guard, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir ridiculed claims that while in prison he instigated the Marriott bombing in which 12 people died, saying the charges were a plot by U.S. President George W. Bush's supporters.
"Those damm Swiftvets are trying to smear my good name!"
"Surely these charges are a joke," the white-bearded 66-year-old said, reading a defense speech during which he had to choke back tears. About 50 of his supporters attended the trial, chanting, "God is great". "I believe that the basis of all the charges against me today are a fabrication to justify holding me in detention so that I cannot remain in the community." "Many charges that were cleared in the previous trial are again being repeated with reckless abandon. Legal boundaries are being crossed and trampled for the sake of accommodating God's enemy, the Bush regime," Ba'asyir said. Earlier in the trial, prosecutors said Ba'asyir orchestrated the Marriott bombing from his prison cell. "Where is the logic that a person under detention could be connected with a movement outside?" Ba'asyir said.
The mob did it for years.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 3:21:08 AM ||
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The United Nations has warned its staff in Thailand to be careful following threats by a separatist group to stage attacks in Bangkok in revenge for the deaths of 85 Muslim protesters in the south last week. The UN said in an email to more than 1,000 staff in Thailand, which Reuters obtained on Wednesday, the threat "cannot be dismissed or be taken lightly". "It is entirely possible that an attack is being planned against a soft target in Bangkok," said the two-page note from chief security officer Russel Radford. "It is important that staff exercise caution when moving about the city and be aware of what is happening around them." Security in Bangkok malls and public transport was "designed to combat petty crime and would not be that effective in preventing an attack", he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2004 1:07:00 AM ||
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#1
Surely the UN wouldn't say that Muslims might be involved in the threatened violence, only that the threat was issued because Muslims died. Muslims never commit violence and the UN would never be so insensitive as to imply they do.
Aside from the good hotels, food, bars and hookers, why are there 1,000 UN staff in Bangkok?
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 9:01 Comments ||
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That seems like 2 reasons more than the UN needs to invade a country. Why do you think they put their headquarters in NYC?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 9:05 Comments ||
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Re #2 (Steve): why are there 1,000 UN staff in Bangkok?
The UN Community in Thailand is more diverse than in most countries because Bangkok is a major regional centre for the UN System â it has sometimes been called the Geneva of Asia. We have a wide range of agency offices (24 in all) dealing with Thailand, the South East Asia Sub-Region and the whole of Asia and the Pacific, from Central Asia in the West to the Pacific Islands in the East.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/04/2004 23:16 Comments ||
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On the streets and in the gathering places of Iran, millions celebrated the re-election of President Bush with congratulations and discreet V for victory signs to each other.
The Student Movement Coordination Committe for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) Web site reports that not just a few, but millions of Iranians hoping for reform in that country are excited about President Bush and his promises of democracy for the whole region.
However, SMCCDI reports, "As Iranians and especially the younger generations have become happy, those affiliated to the Islamic regime are seen deeply worried about their future."
It says the ruling regime in Iran, and all of its lobbyists and apologists, spent piles of money hoping for a Bush defeat.
They even organized a celebration in Tehran of the day the American hostages were taken in Iran in 1979, but could only manage a "few thousand professional protesters" from a city of 12 million inhabitants.
The site reports that "commemoration of one of the main Islamist act [sic] of terror ecountered another massive popular rejection."
#1
Could we hope for more this week. In the last week (and the coming week) we've seen/will see:
* Castro bust his a$$ going onstage for a speech.
* Arafish on his deathbed.
* Bush re-election.
* Howard re-election in Aussieland (well, that's a little bit older history).
* The sale of bunker busters to Israel (Contingency Plans, anyone?).
* Now this (Iran ready to topple w/o much help!).
* Gloves off in Fallujah.
* Karzai finally announced winner of election in Afghanistan.
What a GREAT month or two for freedom. We truly are watching history unfold before our very eyes!
Posted by: BA ||
11/04/2004 22:03 Comments ||
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Whoa. A little skepticism here. The student movement is telling us the news that we want to hear. Again. I'm not going to buy it, at least I don't believe it's as wide spread as they report. In the past, they had me believing and hoping that Iran was on the brink of a counter-revolution. Now I'm not so optimistic even if there is widespread disenchanment with the Mullahs.
The past 3 years should teach us that dissidents and defectors are not always the most reliable sources - especially in the Middle East where they have different cultural mores (face culture) when it comes to speaking directly and literally. The last 3 years should teach us that though the people in the Middle East and Persia on the whole may revile their leaders and their own oppressors, they are not quite ready to stand up, forget their grudges toward the West and embrace liberty. Kudos to these students and others who are, but I doubt that this feeling is as universal in Iran as they want us to believe.
Posted by: John in Tokyo ||
11/04/2004 22:27 Comments ||
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Several businesses reputed to be linked to the Mullahcracy, and a number of Islamic regime's patrol cars were destroyed or damaged in nightly commando style operations during the last 48 hours.
In Tehran alone, unidentified individuals, whom the local residents call "Freedom Fighters," set 26 businesses on fire and destroyed 14 patrol vehicles and were able to escape from the scene unscathed...
Hundreds of protesters have ben injured or arrested following the sporadic but often violent clashes which rocked, on late Thursday and early Friday, several Iranian cities. Popular demonstrations took place, following last Sunday's unrest and as many Iranians sized a state sponsored religious ceremony and then a consecutive banned Ancient Iran's tradition named "Mehregan", in order to break Islamist taboos and show their rejection of this ideology and its concordant regime.
Cities such as, Tehran, Esfahan, Hamadan, Ardebil, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Ahwaz, Falavarjan, Oroomiah (former Rezai-e) and Yazd were widely affected by these unrests. The most violent clashes have been reported from Esfahan where the crowd attacked public buildings, banks, Islamist centers and patrol cars in retaliation to the brutal attack of militiamen which were sent to stop their public peaceful demosntrations... Take with a grain of salt, but hope springs eternal.
Ali's sense of outrage moved him to sign up. The thought of U.S. troops around the holy shrines of Karbala and Najaf "made me sick," says the 25-year-old Lebanese Shiite. So a few months ago he joined a group of 50 or so men from the town of Baalbek, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, who had decided to fight in the Iraqi resistance. They traveled to the battlefield by way of Damascus.
Ali rode in the back of a pickup from the Syrian capital across the Iraqi border with five other enlistees, all of them carrying false Iraqi IDs issued to them in Syria. Later the group hid in the secret compartment of a meat truck, for the journey's final leg down the highway to Karbala. After 10 days' training with 200 other newcomers, Ali was issued an AK-47, a black headband and a green uniform. He spent the next month serving against the Americans as a member of the Mahdi Army, headed by the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Who sent the Lebanese contingent to Iraq? Ali says it's no mystery: "Baath Party people."
Saddam Hussein's Baath Party was supposedly abolished after the fall of Baghdad. But the Pan-Arabist political group has another branch that's anything but defunct: the ruling party of Syria. Hawks in the Bush administration used to dream aloud of pushing on from Baghdad to Damascus. Now, according to some administration officials, the Syrians may be doing their bit to make sure the Americans remain bogged down in Iraq. "The Americans captured the old leadership, like Saddam Hussein," says Assem Kanso, a member of the Syrian Baathists' National Command. "But what about the others? Many of them like to go to Syria." You might call it their home away from home.
The Syrian government, which denies aiding the insurgency, purports to have clamped down on its Iraqi border. But smugglers don't seem intimidated. In Lebanon's biggest Palestinian-refugee camp, Ein Hilweh, a veteran Palestinian fighter, displays 15 falsified Iraqi passports. He says he has visited Iraq three times since the war began, escorting new recruits for the insurgency. They traveled from Damascus to Baghdad via commercial bus. Each passport goes for $1,000, he says. Who pays, and who organizes the trips? "Don't ask," he says. "It's better for you and it's better for me."
Two months ago, after the shooting stopped in Najaf, many of the Lebanese fighters volunteered for service against the Americans in Fallujah. As insurgents, they were earning $800 a month—three times an Iraqi policeman's salary. Instead, Ali went home to the Bekaa Valley. "I got scared," he says. "Some local people were friendly, and some were not. It was like you had one enemy in front of you and one behind you." He has one regret, he says, about his time in Iraq: "I didn't have the good fortune to shoot any Americans." Tragically, some of Ali's friends may have better luck.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 7:33:16 PM ||
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Guess this helps exlpain the 100:1 kill ratio.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
11/04/2004 19:52 Comments ||
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Personally, I've got no problem iff Rummy and the USDOD's strategic strategy in Iraq or Afghanistan is to entice armed Radical Islamists to come into Iraq where CENTCOM will destroy them as only US firepower can. US milfors are killing Islamists many dozens, scores, or hundreds at a time - each Radical Islamist whom dies in Iraq is one less back in Syria andor Iran to bully or slaughter pro-America/West/Reform/Democracy locals. As long as Dubya is POTUS, where the US goes, it will NOT leave until the whole region is pacified in favor of the West and democracy. THis isn't SOUTH VIETNAM where the USA and MACV were supporting internat allies of Saigon - the USA-Allied CENTCOM is Iraq and Afghanistan!
#5
Talk about nerves of steel, huh? Or was that pigs that squeal?
Ok, so maybe he isn't as brave as he thought he was, at least he got 1273 bonus miles on Syrian bus lines.
Hundreds of bassiji students have demonstrated in Tehran in favour of its nuclear technology programmes. The bassijis, who were brought in by bus, formed a human chain around the Atomic Energy Organisation. The protest follows a vote on Sunday in the parliament asking the government to pursue peaceful nuclear technology, including mastering the fuel cycle. Bassijis chanted, "Death to America" and "Death to England" as they gathered to listen to speeches. Are these humanoids in for a 2005 surprise.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 1:10:52 AM ||
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#1
will those cool green headbands hold the tops of their heads on after being skulled by marine snipers
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
11/04/2004 2:35 Comments ||
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"formed a human chain around the Atomic Energy Organisation"
Let us know when you form a human chain around the Atomic Energy "reactors". The Israeli's will air drop virgins and raisins as a part of promoting a diet rich in, DEATH.
U.S. jets pounded parts of Fallujah on Thursday, targeting insurgents in a city where American forces were said to be gearing up for a major offensive.
Al-Jazeera television broadcast a threat by an unspecified armed group to strike oil installations and government buildings if Americans launch an all-out assault on Fallujah. The report was accompanied by a videotape showing about 20 armed men brandishing various weapons including a truck-mounted machine gun.
Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese-American businessman — the second U.S. citizen seized this week in Baghdad — and videotape Wednesday showed the beheadings of three Iraqi National Guardsmen and an Iraqi officer.
Early Thursday, U.S. aircraft fired on several barricaded rebel positions in northeast and southeastern Fallujah, the military said.
U.S. soldiers and insurgents also clashed overnight on the southeastern outskirts of the city after insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at Marines. Two insurgents were killed while no U.S. casualties were reported, said Lt. Nathan Braden, of 1st Marine Division. Hospital officials in Fallujah reported three civilians were injured in the overnight shelling.
U.S. forces are preparing for a major offensive in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, and other Sunni militant strongholds in hopes of curbing the insurgency ahead of January's election.
An Iraqi National Guard patrol was hit Thursday by a car bomb in Iskandariyah, an insurgent hot spot 30 miles south of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 15, Iraqi hospital officials said.
On Wednesday, a U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing 12 miles south of the capital. A suicide driver detonated his vehicle at a checkpoint near Baghdad airport, injuring nine Iraqis and forcing U.S. troops to close the main route for hours.
Gunmen killed a senior Oil Ministry official, Hussein Ali al-Fattal, after he left his house in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, police said. Al-Fattal was the general manager of a state-owned company that distributes petroleum byproducts.
Radim Sadeq, an American of Lebanese origin who worked for a mobile phone company, was grabbed about midnight Tuesday when he answered the door of his home in Baghdad's upscale Mansour neighborhood, officials said. No group claimed responsibility.
It was the second abduction this week in Mansour, where many foreign companies are based. On Monday, gunmen stormed the two-story compound of a Saudi company, abducting six people — including an unidentified American, a Nepalese, a Filipino and three Iraqis, two of whom were later released. No claim has been made for the kidnappings.
As the wave of abductions continues, another militant group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, posted a videotape on a Web site Wednesday showing the beheading of man it said was an Iraqi army major captured in the northern city of Mosul.
A statement by the group called Maj. Hussein Shanoun an "apostate" and said he confessed to participating in attacks against insurgents on orders of the Americans.
Just before his death, the victim was shown warning Iraqi soldiers and police against "dealing with the infidel troops," meaning the Americans.
In another video, aired Wednesday on Al-Jazeera, a previously unknown group calling itself the Brigades of Iraq's Honorables said it beheaded three Iraqi National Guardsmen, accusing them of spying for the Americans.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi reaffirmed that Italy would keep its 3,000 troops in Iraq for as long as the Iraqi government wanted. After a meeting with Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, Berlusconi said, "Italy will stay in Iraq according to the requests that will come from a legitimate Iraqi government."
His comments came a day after Hungary said it would withdraw its 300 non-combat troops from Iraq by March 31, undercutting Bush's effort to hold the multinational force together.
Allawi received encouragement from Pope John Paul II, a staunch opponent of the war, for building democratic institutions in Iraq. John Paul received Allawi at the Vatican and in a brief speech read for the frail pontiff by an aide said he was praying "for all the victims of terrorism and wanton violence" and for those working for the reconstruction of Iraq.
The body of a Kurdish contractor missing for three months was found in a deserted area outside the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, an Iraqi official said. Youssef Ahmed, who did business with the interim Iraqi government, was found shot in the head with his hands bound behind his back, said Maj. Gen. Anwar Mohammed of the Iraqi National Guard.
The international medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said in Belgium it was pulling out of Iraq because of the escalating violence and targeting of aid workers. The organization, also known as Doctors Without Borders, did not say how many staff it has in Iraq, but said it had provided about 100,000 consultations in three clinics in Sadr City, a rundown, mainly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Baghdad.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/04/2004 6:01:57 PM ||
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BAGHDAD, IRAQ — Quds Arab-language news wire service in recent days has reported that four Arab-language media outlets have been forced from the city of Fallujah by Anti-Iraqi Forces.
Now that's very interesting
According to Quds, Al-Arabiya, Middle East Broadcasting Company, Lebanese Broadcasting Company and Al-Iraqiyah television were forced from Fallujah by Anti-Iraqi Forces because they were accused of providing biased coverage to Coalition forces by refusing to air insurgent stock footage of alleged civilian casualties.
Fake, but accurate stock footage of dead puppies and baby ducks. Wonder if SeeBS is interested.
In discussions with Coalition officials, reporters from both Al Arabiya and MBC acknowledged threats to correspondents and indicated that some correspondents had withdrawn from Fallujah for their own safety and were reporting via phone from outside the city.
Saturday, seven people were killed and 19 wounded when a car bomb exploded outside the Baghdad offices of Al-Arabiya, the Dubai-based TV network. A web post claimed responsibility for the bombing on the Al-Izah bulletin board (http://www.alezah.com) in the name of the '1920 Revolution Brigades', and another post to the Arab Dialogue Forum (http://www.hdrmut.net/vb) claimed the attack on behalf of the Jihad Martyrs Companies in Iraq. Shootings, abductions and other acts of intimidation by Iraqi insurgents have made it difficult for journalists to operate and report freely.
They also may sense what's going to happen soon and don't want to be stuck in the target area.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 1:51:47 PM ||
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#1
All that and hardspots located near the petting zoo and daycare play areas
#3
The terrorist spin doctors don't like when the shoe is on the other foot. If Quds & the rest of the Muslim reporters would like to remain in Fallujah they should be able to, but it will be their last assignment promoting the jihadist view point.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 14:56 Comments ||
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#8
At almost the same time, the US has announced that it is adding six(?) Iraqi news embeds to its forces around Fallujah. To me, that means two, maybe three days before launch.
#10
insurgent stock footage of alleged civilian casualties
What?! You mean the terrorists have a library of video of wailing women and bleeding children, which they trot out to idiot reporters every time a pack of jihadis gets blown away?!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/04/2004 18:44 Comments ||
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November 4, 2004: An Israeli company, IMI, is selling a rifle grenade containing a camera and transmitter. It is used to get quick pictures of the battlefield. Many nations still use rifle grenades, which fit over the front of the rifle and are propelled by the bullet for several hundred meters. The IMI Refaim recon grenade is fired nearly straight up, and, on the way down, provides several still pictures of the area underneath. These pictures are transmitted to a nearby laptop computer, or PDA, equipped with a receiver, and video software. The pictures can be zoomed, to see more detail. Such a grenade weighs less than a pound, so a unit with a properly equipped laptop, can use many of these grenades to great advantage, especially in urban combat. The recon grenade is a major improvement in air reconnaissance for combat units. In the past, it was almost impossible for front line infantry units to get current aerial photos of what was in front of them. Even getting a helicopter overhead is difficult. These recon grenades are a matter of life and death for the infantry using them. Clever
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 1:46:24 PM ||
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#1
Our guys use the RAVEN RPV to do pretty much the same thing except that it provides video and is reusable.
#6
Link to some Israel Military Industries (IMI) made weapons.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 15:06 Comments ||
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I can see a massive advantage to this over an RPV -- you could use this INSIDE buildings or caves. OK, I'd hate to lug around even a PDA in that kind of fight, but if it could be integrated with a HUD...
November 4, 2004: The U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command) has been given authority to spend up to $25 million a year, without consulting Congress, to support warlords, mercenaries and foreign combat forces in general. Traditionally, this ability was restricted to the CIA. However, the U.S. Army Special Forces was allowed to organize and maintain mercenary forces during the Vietnam war, and did so with great success (and often in cooperation with the CIA). However, since the formation of SOCOM in the 1986, the Department of Defense has increasingly seen its commando force as a superior (compared to the CIA) source of intelligence. Moreover, SOCOM takes orders from the Department of Defense, the CIA does not. So the Department of Defense has sought powers for SOCOM that are similar to those the CIA has. The CIA does not like this, but SOCOM has a good track record (including may joint operations with the CIA), and has accumulated sufficient clout and good will in Congress to get additional powers. The main argument for giving SOCOM money for mercenaries is because this sort of thing is very useful for hunting terrorists. You often have to hire muscle locally, and in a hurry. SOCOM is taking the lead in field operations against terrorists overseas. Now SOCOM can hire locally, and do it quickly, where before it had to call back to Washington and do some negotiating first.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 1:37:39 PM ||
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Hire locally, act globally.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 13:48 Comments ||
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Just make sure they're all in front of you during firefights.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi reaffirmed Thursday that Italy would keep its troops in Iraq for as long as the government there wanted them. After a meeting with interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, Berlusconi said, "Italy will stay in Iraq according to the requests that will come from a legitimate Iraqi government."
Bravo!
His comments came a day after Hungary said it would withdraw its 300 non-combat troops from Iraq by the end of March, undercutting President Bush's effort to hold the multinational force together. Also Thursday, the Czech parliament voted to extend the mandate of the 100 Czech troops in Iraq by two months, to Feb. 28, 2005, keeping them in the country during the elections scheduled for January. Berlusconi's center-right government sent about 3,000 troops to Iraq to help rebuild the country after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
Allawi also received encouragement from Pope John Paul II, a staunch opponent of the war, for the building of democratic institutions in Iraq, and assurances of the pontiff's "closeness to the Iraqi people, so sorely tried by the tragic sufferings of recent years." John Paul received Allawi at the Vatican and in a brief speech read by an aide said he was praying "for all the victims of terrorism and wanton violence" and for those working for the reconstruction of Iraq. The two men met privately for nearly 10 minutes. In his public remarks, the pope did not mention his opposition to the war. He called for "truly representative" democratic institutions that respect ethnic and religious diversity and said the Christian community would help build democracy.
The Italian government repeatedly has said it will keep its troops in Iraq until the country is stabilized and has a legitimate democratic government. Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino recently said coalition forces in Iraq could be "gradually" reduced after the January elections there if Iraqi troops and police can keep the country stable. Allawi said he was confident about the reconstruction of his country and the chance of holding elections due by Jan. 31.
Allawi next heads to Belgium to attend a European Union summit at which EU leaders are expected to offer him a trade deal as part of efforts to aid Iraqi reconstruction. On Thursday, the EU set out details of a $40.3 million aid package to support the elections. The EU's head office said it would send three experts to Iraq to work with the United Nations and the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq. They also will help train up to 150 Iraqi election observers.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 1:02:49 PM ||
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The Italians, the Czechs, and the Poles have shown themselves to lions in Iraq. The leaders of Germany, France, and Spain look weak and ineffectual next to Berlusconi. He knows that when it comes to George W. Bush, like the US Marines, there is no better friend and no worse enemy.
#5
It's nice to know who the 'allies' are. Bravo to the Italians.
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/04/2004 17:12 Comments ||
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I have a hunch the Italian Armed Forces are developing a taste and touch for advanced warfare and are coming up with something unique to their niche.
GUWAHATI, India - A rebel group in India's remote northeast said neighbouring Myanmar was preparing to launch a military action to drive Indian separatists from its soil. Yangon has moved in hundreds of soldiers to parts of northern Myanmar, said Kughalo Mulatonu, a leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) which is fighting for a tribal homeland in India's Nagaland state.
Is there anyone that doesn't want a homeland?
"We're expecting attacks on our bases any time with Myanmarese soldiers building bunkers and moving large stocks of military hardware to the area," Mulatonu told AFP by telephone from Kohima, capital of Nagaland state. The group's statement came a week after Myanmar's military strongman General Than Shwe ended a visit to India with a pledge the secretive junta would not let Indian rebels operate from its soil. There was no immediate official comment from New Delhi but an Indian intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Indian troops were being deployed along the country's 1,640-kilometer (1,000 miles) with Myanmar. "We're aware of Myanmar planning some kind of an offensive against militants and so we're preparing to seal the border" to catch or force the rebels to surrender, the official said.
Hammer, meet Anvil.
The rebel leader said the NSCN had "about 5,000 members in 50 camps inside Myanmar with a wide range of weapons like rocket launchers, light machine guns, mortars ... to challenge the Myanmarese soldiers."
Socialist rebel thugs vs Myanmar government thugs, now that's entertaintment.
At least four other militant groups from India's northeast where a myriad of tribal and ethnic groups are fighting for greater autonomy or independence have training camps in northern Myanmar's thick jungles, Indian intelligence officials claim. The last time Myanmar launched a military crackdown against the NSCN and other Indian rebels was in 2001. Nagaland's chief minister Neiphiu Rio said the government had seen "some (intelligence) reports about Myanmar trying to evict northeastern militants from that country." New Delhi says anti-Indian rebel groups use camps in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan to launch hit-and-run attacks in India's northeastern states where militancy has claimed over 50,000 lives since the country's 1947 independence. Late last year, Bhutan launched a military operation to drive out Indian separatists from bases in the kingdom from where they had staged hit-and-run attacks on Indian targets. Bhutan said it had destroyed about 30 rebel camps.
The survivors seem to have moved to Bangladesh, wouldn't be surprised if these guys did the same, the leaders at least.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 11:14:13 AM ||
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I don't want to think about Nagaland, sounds like Helen Thomas' spiritual home... no.. wait that Hagaland.
Ride Your First Wife's Ferris Wheel O' Hate!
Board again The Lawn Mower of Doom!
Walk down the darkened halls of
THAT PAPER WAS DUE WEDNESDAY haunted school.
#1
"Cumhuriyet reported that the Turkish force would consist of 20,000 troops, and claimed that military forces have already begun their deployment toward the Turkish-Iraqi border. The daily also claimed that Turkey has received tacit approval from US officials to intervene in Kirkuk."
LOL! What total bullshit!
And I'll just bet there is another plan, one absolutely approved by Allawi and US forces, to send any fuckwit Turk troops back in small plastic baggies if they stick a toe over the border, lol!
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 6:23 Comments ||
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#5
This is wishful thinking on the part of the Turks. The Stryker Brigade would probably take a very serious exception to any large formations of armed men not under coalition command and would escort them back across the border, either voluntarily or involuntarily. We need to get our forces out of Turkey as quickly as possible to prevent them from being held "hostage" during any wild scheme such as this. The Turks have become unreliable. The military is beginning to fail in its role of providing stability to the nation.
#8
The Turks probably believed our MSM, that Kerry won, and assumed he wouldn't respond to the provocation (Thanks to all the Powers that be that Bush won!!!). In honest ignorance, the generals likely believed that the new president would be sworn in immediately. They know better now.
#10
Bravo rjschwarz. *snicker* apparently the Turks thought that Kerry would win reelection and got a bit ahead of themselves.
I fully expect a narcissistic fool like Erdogan to try this - in an effort to be Chirac's bitch. Too bad he's not wise enough to realize how badly this will turn out for him.
#12
Probably so much BS. However, if the Turks do try this, an independent Kurdistan which includes the eastern part of Turkey and the northwest part of Iran starts looking attractive.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 01:50 ||
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#1
To sum up: "Oh shit!"
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/04/2004 1:54 Comments ||
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The only reason they care who wins the US election is because a Bush victory will mean that there is a greater chance that more Islamic countries will have the opportunity to have their own elections. Thugs don't like it when good people are empowered.
#3
"I think that, like all Palestinians, Yasser Arafat is waiting to see what President Bush is going to do to revert to a policy of peace rather than a policy of war."
#4
Memo to A....rabs: Bush is the least of your concerns. The pissed off American people is who you should worry about. The U.S Election shows a majority of Americans HATES the Islamic fundamental bastards and wants them destroyed. Bush will be more than glad to oblige.
#5
Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesperson:
Wants America to win their war for them that they lost and wont stop fighting asemetricly. Boy if Israel took off the gloves and finished that war...
Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will convalesce in Tunisia after undergoing medical treatment in France, Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) political chief Faruq Qaddumi said Wednesday. "After undergoing treatment he will need time to rest," Qaddumi said before leaving for Paris in the company of other Palestinian leaders. "He will be here in Tunis, soon, if he lives out the week God willing." Qaddumi would not be drawn on whether Arafat, who is suffering from a blood disorder, had been poisoned. "The medical reports which will be published on Thursday will give us an explanation of his condition," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2004 1:44:41 AM ||
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his misses that young ay-rab rent boy dick--which is hard to find in central paris--but is readily available in the french suburbs and cites--if he lives he retires to tunis and sets up a daycare center with michael jackson
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
11/04/2004 2:13 Comments ||
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#6
I hjear there's some where between 2.5 and 6 billion reasons the fish might be welcome in Tunisia.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 7:06 Comments ||
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I suspect he is leaving France because if he stays he will face civil court challenges by French Jews. They were filing charges after he landed in France. I bet after so many days in country Arafish becomes bound by French civil laws.
#13
In fact it is France's hidden role in the WOT: provide medical treatment to ennemies of America. Binnie, if you read this, we can take care of your kidney problems. Ditto for the mullahs.
#15
I guess once he's declared officially dead
they can give him an enema and bury him in a shoebox :)
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/04/2004 15:09 Comments ||
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The arafish should be in Florida. We could keep that sucker going for another 30 years..... at about $50,000 a day.... plus rooms for the help and guards and special meals, tips, candy, gifts for vips, special blankets, special pillows padlocked to the bedframe, the Blue Marlin Artifical Gill and extras.
The Air Force's first test version of its new field uniform was not a hit with the force, so the service has developed a new version that is a little less "distinctive," according to Senior Master Sgt. Jacqueline Dean, chief of the Air Force Uniform Board. The new test uniform uses almost the same subdued gray, tan and green the Army uses in its new battle dress uniforms. (Photo in link)
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/04/2004 1:24:10 AM ||
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"The original test colors, on the right, proved to be "too distinctive" for airmen who offered their opinions." Actually my buddies confided that they looked "Gay" and "unmilitary." Of course they can't say that in a national news outlet, that would be un-PC!
#2
Distinctive? If nobody want's to say the real reason I will. The pattern is a copy of Vietnam tiger stripes and we've had enough of those, thank you very much.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/04/2004 8:44 Comments ||
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The initial response I heard was that the uniform looked like a Luftwaffe reject. The AF has been plagued with pathetic uniforms since the AAF became the AF. The only semi-decent uniform we had, the silver tans, was replaced with blue polyester. And the McPeak experiments remain too painful to talk about. Camouflage uniforms for the AF must come from the same consultants that said that the Army would have more self-esteem if everyone could wear the Ranger black beret. What a crock. The AF mission is to fly and to fight, not serve as testbed for would be fashion designers.
#4
The Navy has adopted camo also. The official reason being it is harder for terrorists to see them onboard when their ship is tied up at the dock.
The actual reason is that they look less mussed when creased and unwashable stains do not show up as clearly.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/04/2004 9:04 Comments ||
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Let me see if I've got this straight -- the Air Force considers the uniform on the left to be an improvement? WTF?
Posted by: Jonathan ||
11/04/2004 10:28 Comments ||
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Jonathon, it's part of a long tradition of drabness. When the AF separated from the Army in 1947, the idea was to get as far away from the showy Pattonesque Army uniforms as possible - just a plain blue business suit with no badges, shiny buttons, etc. Just getting the metal buttons on the coat was a major fight. The AF dress blues have always looked like a Greyhound bus drivers uniform. The formal mess dress uniform looks like it belongs to a maitre de in a third rate wannebe French restaurant. Hey, you can't buck tradition.
#7
I am so #$%@^!ing glad I am retired and beyond this.... I went through two... nope, counting class As and utilities...FOUR changes. The uniform allowance only replaces one or two items as they wear out, it doesn't even come close to the cost of buying three or four complete sets of everything, all at once.
#8
Before we went to the digital cammies the majority of us Marines lobbied hard for the 'Nam style tiger stripes. I thought they looked hard core, made realistic sense and were a tribute to our past. We also wanted to go back to the Korean era style boot gaiters but that got shot down by the top brass as did the tiger stripes.
#10
For working uniforms why don't they just contract Walls or Dickey for just plain old work clothing like God knows how many working stiffs wear. You know the solid dark blue/green/tan/kahki pants, shirts and coveralls like you can get at Wally World. if they need camies for duty in a combat zone just bite the bullet and use what ever the Army is using. This is just the sort of crap that wistle blowers in Congress look for
An application has been filed before the Supreme Court asking that nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan's team of doctors be changed because he has lost trust in them following a heart attack.
Another one?
"The team of doctors attending Dr AQ Khan is not reliable and it is the desire of Dr Khan, as conveyed, that at least two doctors of his own choice be on the panel. He has strong doubts about the medicines and medications he is being administered," says the application filed by Major (r) Hassamul Haq, the brother of the principal staff officer to Dr Khan. A petition challenging the restrictions imposed on Dr Khan is already pending with the apex court. The application seeks the immediate intervention of the chief justice of Pakistan in this case and calls for the constitution of a new medical board to examine Dr Khan. It claims he has suffered a heart attack and suffers from a neurotic disorder.
"What kind of neurotic disorder?"
"He's gone bonkers. Thinks he's a chicken."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2004 1:08:02 AM ||
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Perhaps we can get him to inhale some plutonium? That will make him feel much better.
A secret dialogue between the Musharraf-government and Benazir Bhutto, chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party, is underway, say inside sources.
Shhhh! Don't tell nobody! It's a secret dialogue!
It is learnt that the government wants Ms Bhutto's support for General Musharraf's decision to remain army chief. In exchange it has offered a package to Ms Bhutto that includes the release of Asif Zardari from prison, her safe return to Pakistan and elevation to the chairmanship of the senate, sources said. Apparently, the hurdle relates to the status of the cases against Ms Bhutto and her spouse. Ms Bhutto wants a complete and unequivocal withdrawal of the cases while the government is insisting that she should fight them out in the courts without undue interference from Islamabad.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2004 12:43:22 AM ||
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BAGHDAD — Iraq's parliamentary elections will take place in the last week of January, the body organising the poll said yesterday, despite relentless bombings and kidnappings. "We, the Commission, have not fixed the date yet," Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission spokesman Farid Ayar told Reuters. "But the election day will be in the last week of January 2005."
Iraqis are due to elect a 275-seat parliament by the end of January that will draft a permanent constitution to govern Iraq after US-led forces overthrew Saddam Hussein last year.
The nine-member commission was charged in June with preparing for the poll, which it hopes will allow Iraqis to choose their leaders freely for the first time in decades. Ayar said the commission, which began the monumental task of registering voters on Nov. 1, still had time to set the exact election date, but it would precede the Jan. 31 deadline set by the country's provisional constitution drawn up this year.
Ayar said the first few days of voter registration, which is based on Iraq's existing household ration lists, was going well. "They are coming to register," Ayar said. "Families are coming to the centres to get their November rations, where they get a form on which to correct any details that need changing." Voter registration ends on Dec. 15, he said.
Each party entering the election must present a list with a minimum of 12 candidates and a maximum of 275.
On Election Day, the United Nations has estimated there should be between 7,000 and 9,000 polling centres across Iraq.Â
Still think they should work out single-member districts as a way to get semi-rebellious regions on board, but this is a good start.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2004 12:13:18 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.
Russia's most notorious terrorist, Shamil Basaev of Chechnya, has used his Web site to make statements both diplomatic and defiant. Since masterminding the hostage taking in the southern Russian town of Budennovsk during the summer of 1995, the radical Muslim leader has claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist acts that killed hundreds of Russians, Radio Free Europe reported Wednesday. This week the fugitive's Web site, kavkaz-center.com, posted the full transcript of an interview with a Globe and Mail reporter, in which Basaev expressed regret for the deaths of hundreds in Beslan, but also blamed Vladimir Putin for the catastrophe. Basaev also warned his men may resort to terrorism against the citizens of states whose leaders support Putin's Chechen policy. He repeated earlier denials of any links with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and also denied his men include numerous foreign mercenaries. All Russian Muslims, Basaev added, have an obligation to contribute materially to the jihad.
European allies alienated by President Bush's first four years in power offered Wednesday to let bygones be bygones, saying they want to work with the new administration and seeking, right from Day 1, to get the new White House to listen more to overseas opinion.
Hundreds of bassiji students have demonstrated in Tehran in favour of its nuclear technology programmes. The bassijis, who were brought in by bus, formed a human chain around the Atomic Energy Organisation. The protest follows a vote on Sunday in the parliament asking the government to pursue peaceful nuclear technology, including mastering the fuel cycle. Bassijis chanted, "Death to America" and "Death to England" as they gathered to listen to speeches. 
Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will convalesce in Tunisia after undergoing medical treatment in France, Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) political chief Faruq Qaddumi said Wednesday. "After undergoing treatment he will need time to rest," Qaddumi said before leaving for Paris in the company of other Palestinian leaders. "He will be here in Tunis, soon, 
