Hoo Boy! This 'un's a dilly:
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Word that Sgt. Dan Kennings had been killed in Iraq crushed spirits in the Daily Egyptian newsroom. The stocky, buzz-cut soldier befriended by students at the university newspaper was dead, and the sergeant's little girl--a precocious, blond-haired child they'd grown to love--was now an orphan.
They all knew that Kodee Kennings' mother had died when Kodee was about 5. The little girl's fears and frustrations about her father being in harm's way had played out on the pages of the Daily Egyptian for nearly two years, in gut-wrenching letters fraught with misspellings, innocent observations and questions about why Daddy wasn't there to chase the monsters from under her bed.
It turns out Daddy didn't exist. And neither did Kodee. A heartbreaking tale of staggering stupidity, starring a cute little girl, some lamebrained parents, journalism too shoddy for belief, and possibly a crazy woman. Go read. Post-Dispatch story here.Daily Egyptian abases itself here. Another link at the bottom of that article. Man.
#2
Three things come to mind:
"Auntie" uses the same spell checker as mucky.
"Auntie" should join Cindy in Crawford.
This would make a good story line for Law and Order. Just throw in a murder or two to get it started.
A real chestnut from the beeb this one. One that made me splutter coffee all over my desk in apoplectic fury this morning. I'll have to print those documents off again now. Behold:
Almost a third of Londoners overall but nearly two-thirds of Muslims suffered substantial stress following the 7 July bombings in the city, researchers say.
Muslims may have suffered more because of fears of reprisals, they said.
The British Medical Journal study also found that 32% of the 1,010 questioned were to reduce use of public transport. But researchers said the study - carried out before the 21 July attacks - showed the bombers had not created a city too stressed to get on with life.
The research was carried out by London's Kings and University Colleges and the Health Protection Agency. And do you know what Aunty Beeb, I really couldn't give a sh*t - for a community that has been notably ambivalent at best and silent at worst concerning Islamist atrocities across the globe they're getting their dessert with a cherry on. FFS. In light of Fred's comments about this becoming a hate site I would like to qualify my rant by saying that the object of my vitriol is the head-patting, patronising tone of the Beeb editorial.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/26/2005 05:06 ||
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Gee Howard that sounds awful. How do you find the strength to get out of bed in the mornings?
#4
As usual, the Poms make the colonials bear all the guilt for what is really thier own devastation of the planet and all the innocent people on it. Thank allan for health service professionals and academics. Allan only knows how much of the globe the Brits would still dominate were it not for their progressive efforts.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/26/2005 12:17 Comments ||
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#6
While not relying on any scientific medical journal study, every interviewee shown afterwards demonstrated every bit the resolve and steadfastness of WWII Londoners.
These same people jumped on the tube the very next day, they take no shit from two-bit Islamofascists.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 14:27 Comments ||
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#7
What interests me is that 1/3 of British are upset about the reality of what happened and may happen again while 2/3rds of Muslims are upset about their fantasies of reprisals.
If you fear English reprisals the door is right over there. Better luck in France.
MILITARY allies Russia and India will hold their largest ever war games in October, with a focus on anti-terrorism combat using airborne commandos and ground forces.
The joint military exercises would be held in the Thar desert bordering Pakistan in the middle of October, Indian military sources said.
The week-long war games involving special forces of the two post Cold War allies would "seek to strike an inter-operability between land forces for possible future operations under international peacekeeping banners in third countries", an official said.
"The war games will entail blitzkrieg-style anti-terrorist commando operations with the use of aircraft and helicopters," the official said.
A full Russian battalion of 800 commandos and an equal number of Indian special forces personnel would participate.
The announcement comes just days after Russia staged unprecedented military exercises with China.
Despite the 1992 breakup of the Soviet Union, Moscow remains New Delhi's closest military ally and accounts for more than 70 per cent of India's military hardware.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 10:46 ||
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#1
Russia is being a little war game whore, isn't she?
#4
War Games are the Russian equivalent of a trunk show. Nobody wants to go to Moscow to see their exportable goods, so they take them out on tour. I'd not be surprised if the primary Indian motivation is to make sure the Russians continue to honor their warranty coverage commitments.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/26/2005 16:03 Comments ||
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The ex-Soviet Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan claimed to have joined the ranks of the world's space powers by sending a container into Earth's orbit carrying a spiritual guide written by the country's idiot idiosyncratic leader, newspapers reported Friday.
"The book that conquered the hearts of millions on Earth is now conquering space," said the official daily Neitralnyi Turkmenistan. "The sacred text of Rukhnama was chosen because it contains all the wisdom of the Turkmen people, thanks to its creator, Turkmenbashi," the article said, using the name the country's president, Saparmurat Niyazov, has given himself, meaning "Guide of All Turkmens".
The container was launched on Wednesday aboard a Russian Dnepr rocket that blasted off from the Russian launch facility at Baikonur in Kazakhstan on a mission to place two Japanese research satellites into orbit.
Posted by: john ||
08/26/2005 12:05 ||
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#1
Turkmenbashi should be their first astronaut.
Just strap him to the outside of a rocket. Any old thing would do.
Posted by: john ||
08/26/2005 14:36 Comments ||
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Wonder if it works better than foam insulation?
#3
Every time I hear about this guy all I can think of is "Bananas" when the new dictator decrees that everyone must change their underwear twice a day. And wear it on the outside, so they can check.
#2
There might be more to this than meets the eye. Take the basic situation: a country led by a strongman, but filled with hostile Islamists.
The strongman would *like* to support the US, but he *must* use brutality on the Islamists, which is inherently embarassing to the US. So I picture him asking us to leave for the time being, then he utterly, if quietly, kicks seven bells out of the Islamists. Then, after a while, we have some more negotiations, and the Uzbeks invite us back.
Now granted, this is a hypothetical. But if what I suspect is true, his secret police are going to soon be rounding up hundreds or thousands of bad boyz and disappearing them. This will only be noticed in a few humanitarian websites, where it will be bitterly condemned. However, the end result will be good for the entire region in general, Uzbekistan and the US in particular.
I thought the Uzbek terrorists in Pakistan and elsewhere are Uzbek citizens and are terrorists due to blessings from the Uzbek govt?
Are you saying that the Uzbek's have an internal jihadi problem without support from their govt? Or have they, just now realizing, they've allowed the existence of a internally germinated monster without resistance, and now want to kill it off before it spreads?
The ruins of School No. 1 have changed little in a year. Blood remains on the walls in handprints and streaks. A blood-darkened shirt lies in the cafeteria, about the size for a 5-year-old.
One wing has been sheared away by tank fire. The gym, its roof burned, is open to the sky. Upstairs, deflated balloons sag where they had been taped to the auditorium ceiling for the first day of school.
According to the Russian government, 331 people were killed here last year from Sept. 1 through Sept. 3, including 186 children. More than 700 were wounded. It was the worst terrorist act in modern Russian history, and a test of the administration of President Vladimir V. Putin, whose government pledged to find out the truth about what occurred.
But a year after terrorists from a Chechen separatist group arrived with their assault rifles and masks, setting a siege that ended in battle and fire, there is scarcely more clarity about what happened than there was when the flames died down.
Three government investigations are being conducted, by federal prosecutors and by the regional and federal parliaments. Shamil Basayev, Russia's most wanted man, has said he planned the attack. Yet fundamental questions - how many terrorists seized the school, who they were, who commanded the Russian response, when and where powerful weapons that may have killed hostages were used - remain subjects of dispute.
No one can even say with certainty what caused the standoff's grisly end. On one point alone almost all agree: Russia's counterterrorism response was a deeply flawed effort that squandered individual acts of courage and cost untold lives.
Stanislav Kesayev, who directs the regional parliamentary investigation, describes the events that enveloped School No. 1 as a study of how counterterrorism operations should not be done. A central purpose of the federal investigations, he said, has been to protect officials who failed to prevent so much death. His report is expected in September.
"The main conclusion we will make is about the lack of coordination of the power structures and special units that are designed for this purpose," he said.
Most survivors and grieving families interviewed directed their rage at the terrorists who herded families away at gunpoint and surrounded them with bombs. But as they wait for a credible account of the bungled siege and battle, they express disgust at what they call government incompetence and inability to apportion blame for its mistakes.
The anger is widespread enough that the Beslan Mothers Committee, a local support group, has asked President. Putin not to attend memorial events. "It is important in principle to know the truth so that something like this cannot happen again, and so that incompetent, irresponsible, corrupt people - people without morals - will be punished," said Susanna Dudiyeva, the group's leader. "That is not what is happening."
The rough outline is understood. The terrorists appeared minutes after the academic year began on Sept. 1 and surrounded a playground celebration of parents, teachers and students. Those who resisted were killed; about 150 managed to escape. The rest, nearly 1,200 in all, were forced into the gym, which their captors laced with bombs.
Negotiations followed: among other demands, the terrorists sought the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya and meetings with top Russian and regional officials. Two days later, with negotiations stalled, a pair of explosions shook the gym. A battle began, with hostages caught between the sides.
Most victims died in those last hours. But the final chaos was of a type: from the beginning the Russian response was checkered with mistakes.
In the opening hours the officials insisted there were only about 350 hostages, an error that immediately poisoned relations with Beslan's residents, who accused their political leaders of incompetence.
It may have placed hostages in danger, too. Terrorists were listening to the news on radios. Some taunted hostages with the official count. "One of them said, 'Russia says there are only 300 of you here,' " said Kazbek Misikov, who survived the siege with his wife and two sons. " 'Maybe we should kill enough of you to get down to that number.' "
Throughout those days, a tactical understanding of the crisis seemed to elude the authorities. Beslan filled with troops from the police, the Russian Army, the Interior Ministry and Russia's domestic security service, the F.S.B., which sent elite commandos.
But there was little coordination. Four different headquarters were working at once, Mr. Kesayev said. He added, "To this day we do not know who was in actual command."
The authorities also never set up an effective cordon, a lapse many residents believe allowed the escape of some terrorists, whose existence Russia does not acknowledge. The cordon they did make was within 250 yards of the school - inside the range of the terrorists' grenade launchers. Throughout the siege grenades landed occasionally near waiting relatives.
Some oversights were astonishing, the families said. On Sept. 3, the commandos left Beslan to rehearse tactics in another village. The ingredients for disaster were in place.
The explosions boomed minutes after 1 p.m. on Sept. 3. Although the blasts marked perhaps the siege's most important moment, instantly turning the standoff into a seemingly spontaneous battle, what caused them remains in dispute.
The prosecutor's office says the first explosion was an accident caused by a bomb falling to the floor. Many survivors agree. Others do not.
The differences have given rise to unlikely theories, including speculation that a sniper shot a terrorist at the bomb trigger. (The gym's plastic windows were opaque. A sniper could not see through them.)
This much is clear: one explosion occurred where terrorists had set a large bomb along one of the gym walls. It blew out the wall and lifted the ceiling and roof, and left heaps of broken bodies in an arc.
Outside, the soldiers and the police opened fire. Confusion reigned, said Lt. Col. Elbrus Nogayev, a police supervisor whose wife and daughter died in the school. "I heard a command saying, 'Stop shooting! Stop shooting!' while other soldiers' radios said, 'Attack!' " he said.
Moreover, the F.S.B. commandos needed 20 or 25 minutes to return, Mr. Kesayev said, and went into action in a disorganized fashion. "I watched them running to the school through the gardens, putting on vests as they ran," he said.
More signs of poor planning emerged. Not enough ambulances had been readied, and many injured hostages traveled to hospitals in private cars, without medical help.
Inside the school, terrorists ordered survivors to the cafeteria, where some were forced to stand at windows as human shields. A number were quickly shot by troops outside, said Irina Naldikoyeva, 30, who was there with her two children and a niece, Vika Dzutseva, now 16.
Simultaneously, a fire spread in the gym's ceiling. But firefighters took at least two hours to approach, the families and Mr. Kesayev said. By then the roof had collapsed. In all, 218 of those killed were found with burns, the Mothers Committee says.
It is a lingering source of anger and pain. "I know my wife was injured," said Ruslan Tebiyev, who lost three relatives. "But why did she have to burn?"
The fire's cause is also a point of contention. Several survivors say it was lit by the bombs, which exploded with such heat that people on the opposite side of the gym were burned. Marina Mikhailova, a teacher, said she saw a terrorist spreading an incendiary fluid. But some families have shifted blame to the authorities, a sentiment intensified by the government's false statements.
After months of denials, the prosecutor's office admitted this summer that the Russian forces had fired powerful shoulder-held rockets known as shmels at the school. Some families believe the rockets caused or accelerated the blaze, although this is not clear.
Whatever the rockets' effect, the bereaved mothers say, their presence demonstrated that the government was willing to use indiscriminate force though children were present.
There is similar anger and disbelief over the use of tanks. One witness, Teimuraz Konukov, said that at about 2:30 p.m., he lay behind a tree across the street and watched a Russian tank fire its main barrel into the school's facade. Hostages were still inside at the time.
Prosecutors insist the tank did not fire until evening, after all the hostages had escaped or were dead. Mr. Konukov, whose version aligns with what was witnessed by two journalists from The New York Times, is incredulous. "I was right here," he said, pointing to the spot.
No full explanation has been given for the even more extensive tank shooting later in the day that destroyed one of the school's wings. "These are all points that must be investigated," Ms. Dudiyeva said. "Who brought these heavy weapons? Who gave orders to fire them? Why is this unknown?"
Nurpasha Kulayev stands in a cage in the courtroom, rarely raising his eyes. Russia claims he is the sole surviving terrorist from the siege; his trial had been expected to bring a deeper understanding of those days. Instead it has become a showcase of contempt for the government.
Families contest even the authorities' most basic claims. The prosecutors, for example, say 32 terrorists seized the school - 30 men with automatic rifles and 2 women wearing suicide bombs. Thirty-one of them died, according to this account. (They are not counted among the 331 victims.)
But many survivors and participants insist they saw at least four other men who were captured and have not been seen again, and a third woman. Their faith in the official version has been further undermined because Russia has not publicly identified all the terrorists it says were killed.
The trial's conduct has also perplexed the families. The officers who arrested Mr. Kulayev have not testified, but people who knew little of him are regularly on the stand. At a recent hearing the slate of witnesses so frustrated one woman that she stood and loudly scolded the judge.
The trial is only one example of what families here regard as official incompetence and callousness.
A crime-scene video taken the morning after the battle, leaked to the Mothers Committee and reviewed by The New York Times shows investigators shoveling ashes among the dead. At one point two men discover a dead girl, and unceremoniously toss her blackened body into a bag.
Families say evidence was lost or mishandled in this cursory sweep - a conviction that deepened in February when residents found charred items from the school in a local dump. In the mess were human remains: tangles of hair and dried skin.
They also wonder why the school was secured for less than 36 hours after the battle - scant time for forensics work. Instead of serving as a resource for investigators, Mr. Kesayev said, the bloody ruins were converted "to a place for pilgrimages and excursions."
The prosecutors have responded by declaring his commission illegal - a declaration of no legal standing, and one that Mr. Kesayev said fits a pattern. "Every agency wants to be first in line for the medals," he said, "and last in line to take responsibility for the failures."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/26/2005 00:21 ||
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#1
A truly sad day for the world. These bastards need to be administered justus.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 1:51 Comments ||
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i wonder if the terrorist had infiltrated the russians and caused more confusion or caught the 4 that where supposedly caught and never seen again. They could have helped them escape
#5
Boy, it sure reads like a cluster f**k. Nothing like helping defuse a hostage situation by bringing in a MBT to shoot up the place. "Bring in the 125mm HRT sniper!"
Posted by: Dar ||
08/26/2005 13:11 Comments ||
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#6
Yah, never forgive and never forget. Did I just make that up?
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/26/2005 21:03 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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That won't work, it's Labor Day.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 1:52 Comments ||
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Damn, and I was going to bring a new recipe for grass and tree bark soup...
Posted by: Iron Chef Sakai ||
08/26/2005 9:34 Comments ||
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When you're ready, Iron Chef, they have a wonderful new ingredient for you...
New Species of Turf Bred
Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) -- The Institute of City Management under the Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has succeeded in breeding a new species of turf. It, very viable and blight-resistant, quickly grows.
The fully grown turf, 5-6 cm high, does not need to be cut. And its density is 500-600 stalks per 100 square centimeters.
This turf, a clone variety, can be planted in parks, recreation grounds, football fields, golf links and gardens.
IN the commonwealth legal offices in Sydney, a scenario once branded a doomsday fantasy was this week placed high on the national agenda with cold, matter-of-fact reality.
The group of prosecutors, with access to hundreds of hours of intelligence reports, was well aware that Australia had faced at least four serious terrorist threats since 9/11.
In the latest scenario, the prosecutors cleared the way for up to 10 Australian residents to be charged with being members of a terrorist organisation.
And here's the catch. The suspects had not signed up to the global network of radical Islamists inspired by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeida. Nor had they been whipped into a mood for jihad by firebrand clerics abroad.
Those being targeted are mostly home-grown males. They have no formal links to Islamic terror groups. Many were born in Australia, while the rest have, at face value, found comfort in their new standards of living and embraced much of our way of life.
Their terrorist group does not even formally exist, except in the eyes of those who have watched, listened and learned about the men's alleged plans to attack prominent landmarks in Melbourne and Sydney.
Legal advice prepared in the past month suggests all that needs to be proved at law is that the suspects fostered an act of terror.
To be liable for prosecution, they need not progress to the next step of preparing for an attack. And in the rising threat that many believe Australia now faces, prosecutors are more than willing to chance their arm with a test case.
Since 9/11, Australian police and agents have foiled at least four serious terror plots aimed at Australian targets, including an alleged plot to attack the nation's electricity grid, a suspected move against Melbourne's public transport system and stock exchange building, and targets along the Sydney Harbour foreshore.
According to investigators who have worked in the national counter-terrorism scene, Australia has moved from the periphery of the radical Islamists to a position close to the centre of their priorities. Authorities have recorded the emergence of a growing number of men and women willing to champion violence in the name of Islam. Australia, in their view, is at real risk of an attack that could well come from within, as with the London bombings.
The home-grown threat is not an assessment that sits comfortably with intelligence chiefs who have for the past three years kept the national security threat level anchored at medium.
Nor has a rethink been forced by the arrest of six Australians on terror charges, the capture of three alleged home-grown terrorists in Afghanistan, two more in the Middle East, and the recent emergence of a balaclava-clad jihadi with a suburban Australian accent threatening to rain more bombs on non-Muslim nations.
But a pull-together of all Australia's brushes with radical Islam since the weeks before the 9/11 strikes on the US throws up a scenario that is almost impossible to reconcile with the public confidence of our policy-makers.
While the mastermind of history's most devastating act of terror, Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, was putting the finishing touches to the jet hijackings in the US, he found time to drop into the Australian High Commission in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to apply for an Australian visa.
As The Australian revealed on September 22 last year, KSM, as he is now known, was granted a multiple entry visa, but never got around to using it.
Why he wanted to travel to Australia at such an important time in his career as a terrorist leader has never been established.
However, his interest was the first of many wake-up calls for ASIO and the AFP, both of which were well and truly asleep at the wheel, along with the CIA and the FBI.
In the 12 months that followed the 9/11 attacks, a virtual terror network of would-be South-East Asian jihadis was uncovered in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. In the weeks that followed the Bali bombings of October 2, 2002 - which claimed 202 lives, among them 88 Australians - the homes of 12 people across the three cities were raided and their occupants linked to Jemaah Islamiah, the network behind the Bali atrocity.
Within weeks, the first home-grown terrorist was arrested. Jack Roche, a former taxi driver, admitted to plotting to bomb the Israeli embassy in Canberra after he had met bin Laden and his inner circle in Afghanistan.
By then, former Sydney cleaner Mamdouh Habib and Adelaide man David Hicks had been rounded up in Pakistan and Afghanistan and flown to the US-run prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In 2003, the interest in Australia by foreign jihadis and the willingness of locals to dabble in their causes escalated.
The visit in May that year of Frenchman Willie Brigitte has been assessed by ASIO to be the most serious terrorism threat Australia has yet faced.
Three men Brigitte met during the six months before he was deported to France are now facing terror-related charges.
Federal ministers point to the lack of success of the three plots that have targeted Australia as a reason for maintaining the threat assessment status quo.
However, they have for the past eight weeks been casting a nervous eye towards Britain, where security agencies believed they could keep an Islamic terror attack at bay until the slaughter of July 7.
The harsh lessons learned in London are just as relevant in Sydney and Melbourne. The radical Islamists who have shown interest in us are resilient, resourceful and capable.
Foiled plots are no indicator of long-term success. The experience of the past four years has shown that in many ways they are a means to an end.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 11:03 ||
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A MAN will appear in court after police seized fake passports and dozens of forged identification documents during raids in Sydney today. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and New South Wales Police found 10 forged Australian and foreign passports and a number of forged Australian visas after swooping on properties in Waterloo and Kingsford, in inner-southern Sydney, early today. Also located were Australian migration arrival stamps, Medicare cards, NSW driver licences, blank NSW birth certificates and more than 50 stolen cheque books.
High-quality templates found on computer disks could have been used to reproduce the fraudulent documents, which had links to an overseas criminal syndicate, police said. The Identity Crime Task Force charged a 34-year-old Waterloo man with a number of commonwealth and state identity crime offences.
The man possessed stolen genuine passports and fraudulently obtained Australian visa and citizenship documents, opened bank accounts in false names, and fraudulently operated those accounts, police said. The man stole authentic identification and assumed the stolen identities in addition to fabricating new identities, which were compiled in "identity kits", they said. The offences include contravention of the new Australian Passports Act 2005, which imposes jail terms of up to 10 years and fines of up to $110,000. The man was refused bail. He is due to appear at Parramatta Bail Court tomorrow.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 08:33 ||
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Still looks like Mario Coumo to me.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 14:40 Comments ||
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PRIME Minister John Howard said today he knew nothing of compensation payments to families of Iraqis killed by Australian troops and should have been told. News Ltd newspapers today reported that secret payments, believe to range from $1500 to $15,000, had been made to the families of Iraqis killed by Australian soldiers. "It is news to me. I'll find out. I'll investigate the claims but I don't have any knowledge of it," Mr Howard said on Southern Cross radio in Melbourne. "I should have been told."
Payments were only made when negligence was found and related to such cases as car accidents and civilian bystanders to firefights, not to insurgents. Defence had refused a freedom of information request to disclose the exact compensation sums paid, it was reported.
EFL
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan is now purportedly "channeling" her slain son, Casey, from heaven, suggesting he's calling President Bush "an idiot," and she claims to have "tens of thousands of angels" supporting her cause to bring home immediately American troops serving in Iraq. "When I get up [to heaven], Honey, that ain't what your ticket says.
he's gonna say, 'Good job, mom,'" the California woman said in a speech last night upon her return to Crawford, Texas. "He's not going to say, 'Why'd you make me spin in my grave?' you know. And I can just hear him saying, 'George Bush, you are really an idiot. You didn't know what you were doing when you killed me. You didn't know what you were getting into.'"
She publicly thanked her son as well as others who died in the Iraq War, and claimed to have the backing of those who dwell in the afterlife.
"I know that they are in heaven," Sheehan said, "and I know that that's why this movement is growing because we have tens of thousands of angels behind us that are supporting us, that are saying, 'Well, you know we died and that was really crappy, but we hope that our deaths are going to make the world a better place,' and it's up to us to make sure that it does." She should have a long talk with Pat Robertson.
"Casey was killed by insurgents. He wasn't killed by terrorists," she said. "He was killed by Shiite militia who wanted him out of the country, when Casey was told he was going to be welcomed with chocolate and flowers as a liberator. Well, the people of Iraq saw it differently. They saw him as an occupier."
Cindy also reflected on the days immediately after Casey's birth, noting, "I looked in his eyes and it looked like he could tell what I was thinking. That's very disarming when you have like a week-old baby looking at you and you know he knows what you're thinking. And I knew he was going to be a great man. I just had no idea how great he was going to be or how much it was going to hurt me."
"I don't care about them talking about me being a crackpot or a media whore, or a tool of the left," she said. "I'm like, if I truly was a media whore do you think I would like maybe get myself fixed up a little bit before I went on? Ever hear the phrase "lipstick on a pig?" That doesn't bother me at all, but what bothers me so much is when they say I am dishonoring my son's memory by what I'm doing, that my son would be ashamed of me or what they really like to say is that I'm pissing, or sh---ing, or spitting on his grave I know they're right."
Audio of Cindy Sheehan's speech is available by clicking here, (courtesy the Brad Show)
Can we now treat her with all the respect due Shirley McLaine?
#6
This woman has been driven to serious mental illness by her so-called benefatcors. She now hears voices?
She is totally out of touch with reality and needs professional help.
#7
This and the news of the White Supremacists, along with Rev. Al, should make for good "news" this weekend. Bad thing is, the MSM won't let us see it (or the pro-Bush groups across the street). I heard yesterday that 3-4 parents of soldiers slain had already showed up in Crawford to remove their son/daughter's cross from the moonbat protest area and placed them in downtown Crawford. One father said he'd moved his son's cross 3 times already (the moonbats keep making a new one and putting it back in their area).
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2005 11:00 Comments ||
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She's apparently sick as well as grieving, though where the line of difference lies I'd not care to define. She deserves to be ignored and left alone till she recovers. The media are disgusting.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/26/2005 11:09 Comments ||
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I'm checking with Evan Coyne Maloney over at brain-terminal to see if he might be considering rolling any tape.
#10
hell with the recent happenings at 'Camp unCasey' they are making such a fine mockery of themselves Protest Warrior probably feel they couldn't improve on it....
Hat Tip: LGF. The author of this announcement, one Jamie Kelso, is an assistant to David Duke and a Storm Front Member:
Stormfronters' Rally In Crawford, TX On Saturday & Sunday Aug. 27 & 28
I'm driving out to Crawford, Texas tomorrow, Friday August 26th to help put up a White Nationalist voice in the protest against Bush's War for Israel that was started by Cindy Sheehan. Cindy Sheehan started the war? It would appear that composition is not the strong suit of the Master Race.
We'll be uploading digital photos, and maybe video, from Crawford so that Stormfront's 58,000 Members (achieved today) and hundreds of thousands of Guests can follow the events in Crawford from a White patriot perspective. If you live anywhere within a driving distance that won't put you out too much, would you please join us on Saturday and Sunday? That's August 27th and 28th. The facilities at the Crawford Ranch Camp Casey are excellent: good food, shade, tents, water, toilets, parking, and all basic necessities are there in ample supply. Most supplies are free. Courtesy George Soros and various other LLL sympathizers.
Brownshirts helping themselves to the supplies of Redshirts. Somehow, I like this.
All you need to bring is yourself, a good shade hat, and a long-sleeved shirt. I'll put up maps to Crawford and sign-making ideas in this thread. Please add your ideas. Our purpose in journeying to the Crawford protest against Bush's Neocon War for Israel is to:
Let The World Know That White Patriots Were First & Loudest To Protest This War For Israel
I share Mr. Kelso's implied concern that the institutional media may not give the White Nationalist presence the attention it deserves.
We don't want leftist Johnny-come-latelys who are misleadingly protesting this war as if the war is about oil (not true), or as if it's right-wing patriots who launched this war (not true) to hijack the issue from us. We want to challenge these leftists with the fact that their leftist leaders, like Hillary Clinton, are on the same War for Israel team as the cowardly Republicans who have been bought and paid for in the Senate, House, White House, and Media by the Jewish Neocon political machine.
Please PM me if you can come on Saturday or Sunday. Please phone me too: Jamie Kelso at xxx xxx-xx24. I'll be answering the phone around the clock, so call at any hour.
#2
God, I hope a SUV carrying Dr. Rice, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz drives by.....the protestors' heads'll explode!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2005 0:09 Comments ||
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#3
This actually makes some kind of sense. Many have said that this is a war for oil. Cindy Sheehan believes it's a war for Jews. It's a great way for Neo-Nazis to get face time. Maybe it'll help them raise some funds. This is really taking on a carnival atmosphere.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 1:54 Comments ||
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#7
It's a freakin' symbiotic convergence. What will the off spring look like?
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 1:57 Comments ||
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#8
This should be interesting.
Isn't this when Al Sharpton joins the circus?
"Rev. Al Sharpton Plans to Join 'Peace Mom'The Rev. Al Sharpton plans to join peace activist Cindy Sheehan, known as the Peace Mom, on Sunday near President Bush's Texas ranch.
Sharpton's office said Thursday he would participate in a prayer vigil Sunday with Sheehan in Crawford, Texas. Sheehan returned on Wednesday to Camp Casey, named after her 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed last year in Iraq.
Sheehan began her vigil on the road leading to Bush's ranch Aug. 6, vowing to stay through his monthlong vacation unless he met with her. She left last week to visit her 74-year-old mother, who had suffered a stroke, in Los Angeles.
Sheehan's protest in Crawford has encouraged anti-war activists to join her and prompted peace vigils nationwide. But Sheehan continues to draw harsh criticism from those who support the U.S. effort in Iraq.
Sheehan plans to leave Crawford at the end of August and embark on a bus tour ending in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 5:12 Comments ||
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#9
So, who's making the popcorn? Better make lots... this will be more amusing than anything Hollywood has put out this year.
#11
Surely, there won't be any violence? I'd hate to see anybody get hurt really bad. But Neo-Nazis and the far left in the same campground? I can't wait!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2005 7:19 Comments ||
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#12
I think this is what you would say is a "Call to all Moonbats" the idiot on the right is wearing an Aryan nation shirt, I thought that group od fools died with the death of the facist rev butler?
Posted by: 49 pan ||
08/26/2005 7:25 Comments ||
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#13
Well boys, this little party in Crawford is about to get real interesting. Sheehan, Nazis, ultra-leftists, and Al Sharpton in the same general proximity are too much for me to bear. What the hell do nazis and Cindy Sheehan have in common?
#16
I'm waiting for the bands of extreme activist quakers to arrive to make it complete by ranting about the environmental impact of the protest and the failure of the protesters to provide a safe haven for illegals at their camp. Well, it's already one big happy family of nutters. Tu - it's already worse than they are capable of comprehending.
#20
I don't know about ya'll but after the earthquake night before last and the Great Moonbat Gathering in Crawford I'm ready to take ace and head for the hills. It's just getting TOO weird.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/26/2005 11:07 Comments ||
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#21
The group photo before the She-Tradgedy Tour should be priceless. You really can't make this shit up.
#22
I picture the caption "happy family" on a chinese take out menu next to a picture of somebodyhugging a dingo, feral cat, large rat, pirannah, iguana and vulture really close together with focus on the expressions and body language of each species captured.
Put up some nice iron bars, some of those little peanut / seed vending machines and charge admission. That way they'd be a revenue generator rather than overhead!
Maybe we could sell licenses to cull the heard periodically. Wouldn't want them to over-graze the environment.
CRAWFORD, Texas â A fallen soldier's mother said Thursday that the anti-war vigil she started nearly three weeks ago near President Bush's ranch won't end when she and other protesters pack up their camp next week.
Cindy Sheehan said the day after she leaves Aug. 31, she will embark on a bus tour ending up in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24. Then the group will start a 24-hour vigil in the nation's capital. "I am not alone," she said at a news conference Thursday. "There's the people standing behind me here, but there's thousands of military families ... who want the same answers to the same questions."
Bush has said he recognizes Sheehan's right to protest and understands her anguish, although she does not represent the views of many families he has met with.
Sheehan and other grieving families met with Bush about two months after her son died last year, before reports of faulty prewar intelligence surfaced and caused her to become a vocal opponent of the war. Bus tour? Since Aruba has a "fire sale" on tours after the Holloway incident, perhaps there is a bus that would be most suitable...
The KuKu Kunuku Bus from Aruba
Perfect for Cindy S. and her not-so-merry band of Leftists.
#3
What is it with these lefties and their "bus tours." First, Hanoi Jane and her bus that ran on vegetable oil and now these kooks? What a picture that would be....hippie bus filled with hippies, veggies, Sheehan, Rev. Al and the Aryan Nation goons, moveon.org goons, etc. all hanging out the windows! Mehopes .com can come up with a picture of that!
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2005 11:07 Comments ||
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#4
I was thinking maybe a psychedelic painted Volkwagen microbus would be fitting for Cindy and her aging hippy cronies. Some of us grow up while others just get older.
#5
I find it interesting how she keeps using the Gold Star Mothers group as platform. IMO the group is distancing themselves from her quick/professional as possible. The statement following is from the official webpage of AGSM's (I love these ladies)--
Cindy Sheehan is currently in the news. She and her organization have no connection whatever with American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. We are a 501 C(3) organization and, as such, do not engage in political activities. We do support our troops. After all, they are our children.
Hat tip LGF. I sure hope the next party crasher brings some cold beer or ice.
The Rev. Al Sharpton plans to join peace activist Cindy Sheehan, known as Holy Mother Sheehan by the normally atheistic anti-military Kos Kids & DU crowd the Peace Mom, on Sunday near President Bush's Texas ranch. Wonder if he knows the Aryan Nations are coming?
Sharpton's office said Thursday he would participate in a choreographed media event prayer vigil Sunday with Sheehan in Crawford, Texas. Sheehan returned on Wednesday to Camp Casey, named after her 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed last year in Iraq.
Sheehan began her vigil on the road leading to Bush's ranch Aug. 6, vowing to stay through sweeps week his monthlong vacation unless he met with her. She left last week to visit her 74-year-old mother, who had suffered a stroke, in Los Angeles.
Sheehan's protest in Crawford has encouraged loons from every bizarre interest group anti-war activists to join her and prompted yawning peace vigils nationwide. But Sheehan continues to draw harsh criticism from those who think her fifteen minutes were up a long time ago support the U.S. effort in Iraq. Sheehan plans to leave Crawford at the end of August and embark on a bus tour ending in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24. If she wraps it up at the White House, it sounds more like she's a "Stalker Mom" than a "Peace Mom".
#2
Say hello to the Skinheads and the Nazi's for me, Al. Maybe you can have a discussion about the Evil Zionist Jews with them?
How close is this freak show getting to critical mass?
#3
I think we can now all agree that Cindy Sheehan has just jumped the shark. Bringing in Rev. Al (or Jesse Jackson) is like having Oliver join the Partidge Family. Perhaps Al (or Jesse) and Cindy can swap stories about how the Joooos cause all of the world's problems.
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/26/2005 9:00 Comments ||
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#4
Sheehan's like a lightbulb in the dark - attracting all the nasty little critters that usually stay in the shadows or their holes during the day.
#8
Every time I think "There's nothing that could happen to make this any more of a clown show," something happens that makes this more of a clown show. I can't wait to see what they surprise us with next.
#9
The fact that Camp Casey has not been torn apart by packs of wild dogs or sacked by roving gangs of bikers is one of those things that keeps me from believing in God.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/26/2005 16:03 Comments ||
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#10
Brother you know its a party when Rev. Sharpton shows up.
The moveon people are no doubt hoping he brings his own bottle of Jack this time and some of them fly choir robes for the whole gang to wear while they sing Kum Baya and smoke some of Rev. Sharpton's fine hand rolled doobies.
I bet the price of rolling papers tripled at Crawford's Kwike Mart since the long hairs started arriving. That and sales of organic biodegradable toilet paper or can that double as a rolling paper?
While I'm betting that deoderant and anti-perspirant sales remain at pre protestor levels.
A long-awaited C.I.A. inspector general's report on the agency's performance before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks includes detailed criticism of more than a dozen former and current agency officials, aiming its sharpest language at George J. Tenet, the former director, according to a former intelligence officer who was briefed on the findings and another government official who has seen the report.
Mr. Tenet is censured for failing to develop and carry out a strategic plan to take on Al Qaeda in the years before 2001, even after he wrote in a 1998 memo to intelligence agencies that "we are at war" with it, they said, speaking about the highly classified report on condition of anonymity.
The report was delivered to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees on Tuesday by Porter J. Goss, the current C.I.A. director. Its preparation and previous drafts have provoked strong emotions at the beleaguered agency, which has borne the brunt of public criticism in a series of major studies of intelligence failures.
The inspector general, John L. Helgerson, intends to send Congress additional materials, including a compilation of responses from Mr. Tenet and about two dozen other officials, the officials said.
The report describes systemic problems at the agency before 2001, the officials said. In addition to criticizing Mr. Tenet; James L. Pavitt, the former deputy director of operations; and J. Cofer Black, the former director of the agency's Counterterrorist Center, it offers praise for some specific actions taken by them and other officials, they said.
The findings place Mr. Goss in a delicate position. As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee in the years before the attacks, he influenced intelligence policies and monitored intelligence agencies. As a leader of the joint Congressional inquiry into the attacks, he joined in requesting the inspector general's inquiry nearly three years ago.
Now, as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he will have to decide whether to take disciplinary action against any of those criticized, risking a further blow to the morale of an agency still charged with protecting the country against future terrorist attacks.
The report recommends that Mr. Goss convene "accountability boards" to recommend personnel actions against those faulted in the report, who are identified by title rather than by name. Officials said the only action possible against Mr. Tenet and other officials who have retired would probably be to send them a letter of reprimand.
In a "message to the workforce" sent by e-mail after he delivered the report to the Senate and House intelligence committees, Mr. Goss said that during the preparation of the report, "much has been done at C.I.A. and throughout the intelligence community to improve and reform the way we do business." He said he thought "the major changes to our agency are behind us."
He said, "The bottom line is I want you to continue to do what you do best - provide our country with close-in access to the plans and intentions of its enemies and provide decision makers with the information they need to make the tough decisions." The agency declined to release the message, but its text was provided by a former intelligence official.
Paul Gimigliano, a spokesman for the agency, declined to comment on the report or Mr. Goss's plans.
Mr. Tenet, who stepped down in July 2004 after seven years as director of central intelligence, has responded vigorously to the challenge to his record. In addition to writing a lengthy response, he asked former Senator Warren B. Rudman, who served as chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1997 to 2000 and was co-chairman of a major commission on terrorism, to review the report.
Neither Mr. Tenet nor Mr. Rudman would comment, and neither Mr. Pavitt nor Mr. Black could be reached for comment on Thursday. But a former intelligence official close to Mr. Tenet said Mr. Helgerson's team had failed to interview policy makers and intelligence officers outside the agency or to note that the agency was more focused on Al Qaeda than any other arm of government was before 2001.
But the official who has seen the report said it appeared to be "thorough and professional." He said inspector general investigations usually were not authorized to interview people outside the agency.
Eleanor Hill, who served as staff director for the joint Congressional inquiry into Sept. 11, said the report had been requested to provide "accountability" for the failures that permitted the attacks.
"The families of the victims had repeatedly asked for some kind of accountability," Ms. Hill said. The Congressional inquiry did not have time to do "the kind of painstaking work necessary to assess individual responsibility," she said.
While agency morale is important, she said "the quality of its performance is even more important, given the nature of the threats the country faces."
One earlier draft of the inspector general's report criticized the management of the Counterterrorist Center and the Directorate of Operations for focusing on Al Qaeda's leadership, rather than looking for ways to attack the terrorist network at lower levels, according to a former senior agency official who read the draft. The former official said that by focusing on going after Osama bin Laden, the agency missed opportunities to recruit low-level agents on the margins of Al Qaeda who might have eventually provided access to its inner workings.
He also said the report took top officials to task for allowing thousands of pages of Arabic intercepts to go untranslated.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/26/2005 00:11 ||
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#1
The families of the victims had repeatedly asked for some kind of accountability,
Yes, the Jersey Girls control the 9/11 Commission, always did. They demand a head on a pike, the jack ass commissioners want to give them one.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 2:00 Comments ||
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Caught via Capt Ed The CIA's independent watchdog has recommended disciplinary reviews for current and former officials who were involved in failed intelligence efforts before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, The Associated Press has learned. CIA Director Porter Goss now must decide whether the disciplinary proceedings go forward. oh please oh please!
The proceedings, formally called an accountability board, were recommended by the CIA inspector general, John Helgerson. It remains unclear which people are identified for the accountability boards in the highly classified report spanning hundreds of pages. The report was delivered to Congress Tuesday night.
Following a two-year review into what went wrong before the suicide hijackings, people familiar with the report say Helgerson harshly criticizes a number of the agency's most senior officials. Among them are former CIA Director George Tenet, former clandestine service chief Jim Pavitt and former counterterrorism center head Cofer Black. The former officials are likely candidates for proceedings before an accountability board.
The boards could take a number of actions, including letters of reprimand or dismissal. They could also clear them of wrongdoing. not likely unless it's a total whitewash
Those who discussed the report with the AP all spoke on condition of anonymity because it remains highly classified and has been distributed only to a small circle in Washington. Pat Leahy must've seen a copy (D-Leaking)
Tenet and Pavitt declined to comment. Black could not be reached Thursday.
Goss was among those who requested the inspector general's review as part of a 2002 congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks. At the time, Goss was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. A CIA officer in the 1960s, Goss must now decide whether the current and former agency personnel should be considered for sanctions.
Those who know Goss well question whether the director, who took over the agency last September, will commission the disciplinary reviews. Despite public outcries for accountability, many in the intelligence community believe Goss would be loath to try to discipline popular former senior officials and cause unrest within the agency. Boo Friggin Hoo - Accountability first
He may not want to go after less senior people still in the CIA's employ. Intelligence veterans say these CIA employees are the government's mostly highly trained in counterterrorism and before the Sept. 11 attacks, devoted their time to trying to stop al-Qaida. The hearings would force them to defend their careers rather than working against extremist groups.
In addition, the numerous investigations after Sept. 11 determined that an intelligence overhaul was essential to attack Muslim extremism.
Some Congress members â including California Rep. Jane Harman (D-Mediahog), the Intelligence Committee's senior Democrat â are pushing for the CIA to produce a declassified version of the report so the public can debate these and other issues. Some family members of 9/11 victims have also called for the report's immediate release.
"The findings in this report must be shared with all members of Congress and with the American public to ensure that the problems identified are addressed and corrected, thus moving to restore faith in this agency," a group called Sept. 11 Advocates said in a statement Thursday.
The final version comes after much internal debate at the CIA and new national intelligence director's office about whether to simply scrap the document because it looks backward and is so harsh, said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Beth Marple, spokeswoman for National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, said, "As expected, there has been discussion between Director Negroponte and Director Goss about this report. But there were absolutely no efforts to kill it."
The CIA declined to comment on the substance of the report.
Accountability boards are normally made up of top CIA officials. In the case of the most serious issues, it would not be unusual for the agency's No. 3, the executive director, to lead the proceedings.
People familiar with the inspector general's process said the document largely covers ground already plowed in the 9/11 commission's report and a House-Senate inquiry that issued its own report on the attacks in December 2002. Those 37 Congress members requested the inspector general's review to consider issues of accountability.
Among items that received significant attention in the past: the CIA's failure to put two known operatives, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, on government watch lists and to let the FBI know that the future hijackers had entered the United States.
The new report, however, comes at the events from a different perspective, focusing more narrowly on the agency's performance let's see how far back the findings go...... bet they only start on W's watch, as blackmail, that's what J. Edgar Hoover would do
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Institutionalize the military personnel system at the CIA with upper positions having to be vacated and new people in place every 4 years. Its about as effective as any means that a bureaucracy has yet come up with to keep the act fresh and move the fools along in a short period of time.
Russian diplomats told members of a commission investigating alleged abuses of the U.N. oil-for-food program Thursday that Russian companies did not violate sanctions against Iraq while participating in the program, the Foreign Ministry said. We're clean as a hound's tooth.
The commission members, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, met with Foreign Ministry officials during their third visit to Russia while investigating the scandal-tainted humanitarian program.
The Russians told the commission that "our companies, as they have officially informed the Foreign Ministry, acted in strict accordance with (U.N. sanctions against Iraq) and with Russian law, Hey! Where'd my lips go?" the ministry said in a statement.
Money statements: ... "Congess, Republican-dominated, is now talking about withholding half of the US contribution unless US-backed changes are implemented. Enter John Bolton. His nomination was so controversial the President failed to win cross-party backing and he was appointed in a so-called "recess appointment" valid only until the new Congress in January 2007. But judging from his few weeks in New York, Mr Bolton is not at the UN to negotiate.
Since Madeleine Albright, President Clinton's UN representative, the US delegate has arrived with a rocket in his or her pocket. In the council, if the other delegates do not like what the Americans want, the US no longer hesitates to act without UN blessing. Now Mr Bolton is at the UN with a mission. At the end of the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama famously decreed the end of history. We could be witnessing the end of diplomacy." Or, the jig is up you retards
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#5
tu: Would it be too much for Bolton to show his "rocket" in front of the Gen. Assembly. Or, I'm not picky, beat Kofi over the head w/ it!
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2005 10:41 Comments ||
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#6
The UNSC is the only "real" UN. The rest of the general assembly are, on average, 5th grade educated relatives of whoever rules the country. Except as a permanent forum for endless international groupthink, it does nothing of value. Granted, there actually is a value in groupthink, but only as art, not as policy.
Therefore, what is needed is a revision of the UNSC, based on what I would call a "three tiered" membership. Nations that have economic power, military power, and a willingness to commit significant money, resources and military power to world needs.
Veto members would have all three. That is, money, guns, and a willingness to use them. This would be the US; Russia; China, the EU, India and Japan. Commitments would be on permanent detachment in a neutral country acting as host, and each member would have to contribute an equal share of manpower and money. Equipment would be standardized in make, but from several manufacturers, and any power that wanted to could provide additional non-proprietary equipment to the UN unit. Funding would be made at the beginning of each mission.
Second-Tier Members could vote "yes" or "no", to lend their voice, but would have no veto. They could contribute materially to missions with standardized equipment and personnel. Otherwise, they would pay into a fund to support such missions, equal for all second-tier members. Germany, Britain, France, Australia, Turkey, and other economic powers would belong.
Third-tier members would be non-voting "blocs", NGOs, and multi-national organizations that could argue before the UNSC about missions it contemplated and recommend others. The African Union, SEATO, the WMF, the World Court, etc. Their main value would be to highlight obvious problems ignored by the major powers, such as the Rwanda genocide.
As things stand right now, nobody who has power will allow it to be diluted, so no change will occur at the UN. The only possible way around it is to create a new body, as outlined above, that acts independently of the UN until it is fully functional, then either supplants the UNSC from outside the UN, or replaces it within the UN.
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Thailand will look at the MALSINDO module, a coordinated patrol collaboration among Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to combat illegal activities in the northern Straits of Melaka.
Armed Forces Chief Admiral Tan Sri Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor said Malaysia and its northern neighbour need to share and exchange information in a coordinated manner to fight piracy, illegal immigrants, smuggling and organised crimes at maritime borders... By implementing the module, Mohd Anwar said maritime agencies could increase the frequency of their coordinated patrols along the common maritime borders.
He said lately piracy attacks at the Malaysia-Thailand maritime border had been more serious and needed due attention.
Mohd Anwar said exchange of early information was vital to react promptly if there were incidents or discovery of terrorist and crime activities.
Thailand showed keen interest in cooperating with Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to implement the "Eye-in-the-Sky" concept which mobilises military assets such as maritime patrol aircraft.
Iran sees no justification in continuing nuclear negotiations exclusively with the European Union trio, said Iran's newly appointed chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Thursday. Speaking on state television, Larijani said there were serious doubts whether Britain, France and Germany were the only suitable negotiation partners and whether they genuinely represent the E.U. and the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Larijani, who is also Iran's new secretary of the National Security Council, said there could be other countries within Europe or even non-European countries within the IAEA board of governors with whom Iran could continue nuclear talks. Larijani reiterated that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a new initiative for the nuclear talks which will be disclosed as soon as the new cabinet starts work.
As the international committee investigating the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri prepared to make its initial findings public, a high ranking French source advised the Lebanese not to fear the truth. Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al Awsat, the source said, âIt is time for the truth to reign in Lebanonâ after months of anticipation about the conclusions of the UN team headed by Detlev Mehlis. He said the report would âname all the parties involved in this heinous crimeâ.
Paris is confident the committee will not rest until it has discovered the truth which is in Lebanonâs best interest. The source added, âNo one must fear the results of the investigation.â However, the initial report by Mehlis was unlikely to include all the final details on the car bomb, which killed the former leader in February 2005. More likely, the Chief of the UN probe âwill request an extension for his mission of several weeksâ to enable his team to complete the investigation, especially as he has yet to question Syrian military and security officials who were present in Lebanon at the time.
The source noted that France, as well as the United States and the European Union, âcontinues to adopt a firm stand towards Lebanon and Syria and is awaiting the truth to emerge regarding Haririâs assassination.â This is evident in the lack of dialogue between Paris and Damascus and Franceâs refusal of the sanction the EU association agreement with Syria.
On the challenges faced by the UN probe, the source indicated, âMehlis will continue to press Damascus for better cooperation as he enjoys the full support of the Security Council.â So far, the Syrian government has repeatedly refused to allow high-ranking senior officials to be questioned by investigators.
Why, doesn't that come as a surprise?
As for Lebanon, the source called on the newly established government to announce its reform program, confirm that talks had taken place between Paris, Washington D.C and Brussels to discuss economic aid to Beirut. One of the proposals currently being debated was to hold a conference in aid of Lebanon next autumn. So far, France has denied a date has been set but hoped the meeting would be different from Paris-1 and Paris-2, thereby sending a message to Beirut that the international community is ready to assist the Lebanese but not run their affairs for them. So far, the Chirac government has succeeded in driving off U.S pressures to apply UN resolution 1559 in full, including disarming Hezbollah. It has recently sent a military delegation to discuss supporting the Lebanese Army and is continuing its efforts in this field independently of U.S policy.
I think we're actually good copping-bad copping here...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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VIENNA - France, Britain and Germany are preparing to call an emergency meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdogâs governing board to send Tehran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions, diplomats said on Thursday. The so-called EU3 were consulting with others on the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency board in preparation for calling an early meeting after IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei issues a report on Iran due on Sept. 3, IAEA diplomats said.
At a similar meeting two weeks ago, the board called on Iran to halt sensitive atomic work that it resumed this month in defiance of the West. Iran has said it will not heed that call. Tehran denies Western charges that its atomic program is a front for covertly developing nuclear weapons. âThe Brits and the Germans are keen on an early board meeting, the French are also not opposed. The Americans also do not oppose it,â said an EU3 diplomat familiar with Iran-EU negotiations. It was not clear, however, that the Europeans would request the meeting. They would have to overcome opposition from political heavyweights Russia and China and ElBaradeiâs report to the board would be key. I see another stern memo in Iran's future. Things are really heating up at the keyboard.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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âThe Brits and the Germans are keen on an early board meeting, the French are also not opposed. The Americans also do not oppose it,â
TEHERAN - Iranâs hardline judiciary will soon bury close the case of murdered Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi and has blocked family lawyers from pressing for a fresh probe, one of the lawyers said on Thursday.
Last July a Teheran court acquitted an intelligence agent accused of giving the journalist a mortal blow to the head while she was in custody two years ago, and family lawyers have set their sights on bringing to justice a judiciary official they say is the real killer. âWe predict that the defendant will be cleared,â Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said of the intelligence agent.
Gee, whoda thunk?
Kazemi family lawyers had also backed the agentâs plea of innocence, but Dadkhah said that demands from the family that the courts look into other suspects had been blocked. âThey will not accept any appeal on the case because they have said our time is over even though according to the law there is no deadline,â he told AFP, amid reports that the judiciary will soon issue the verdict of an appeal hearing held last month.
Kazemi, who was 54, died in custody in Teheran in July 2003 after being arrested for photographing a demonstration outside a Teheran prison. Family lawyers have accused the judiciary of a cover-up, a charge backed by Ottawa. Iranâs government has acknowledged that Kazemi was violently beaten in prison, although the judiciary has also said she may have died after she was pushed into a hammer a fall.
Among the lawyers for the Kazemi family is Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, who has already denounced the courtâs alleged refusal to comply with calls for the investigation to be widened. Ebadi has vowed to âfollow this case until my dying dayâ and âuse all means, domestic and internationalâ.
Don't buy any life insurance, Shirin.
But Iranian authorities have been keen to see the back of an embarrassing affair which has also badly damaged relations with Canada.
But that's all better now, right Mr. Martin?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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The U.S. Army will end 80 percent of its IT application systems by 2007, its chief information officer said.
Lt. Gen. Steve Botuelle, Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Army, told the AFCEA Technology Showcase conference, also known as the Army's Directors of Information Management/Army Knowledge Management (DOIM/AKM) conference, in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday that he would submit a consolidation plan to senior service officials within two months and before the end of October.
According to a report in Federal Computer Weekly, Boutelle said that Lt. Gen. Jerry Sinn, the Army's budget director, planned to cut the number of different IT applications he operated from 200 to three.
Boutelle said he would eliminate redundancy in the Army's IT operations by "following the golden rule of government: identify unnecessary applications and cut their funding," FCW.com reported.
New Delhi, August 25
Commandos of special forces of India and the US carried out a three-week joint training exercise in the country August 4 to 19 to hone their combat skills in countering modern security challenges, including terrorist threats,
Exercise â Vajra Prahar â was held in âthe western theatreâ. It was also aimed at providing the troops of the two countries with the âfirst-hand knowledge of each otherâs weapons, equipment, operational techniques and organisation", said an Indian Army spokesman here.
Over the past few years, the armed forces of India and the US have stepped up joint training programmes, particularly manoeuvres that will help them jointly tackle terrorist threats. India has also purchased special weapons and equipment for its commando units from the US.
This exercise consisted of tactical manoeuvres, long-range surveillance techniques, special helicopter-borne operations, combat survival, combat shooting techniques and a friendship parachute jump.
âWith the successful completion of the exercise, military cooperation between the two countries has strengthened further,â the spokesman said.
He quoted an American Green Beret commando as saying that the training programme was of a high calibre: âWe train with most of the armies in the world, but itâs here we get equally trained,â the US commando said.
Over the past few years, India has opened some of its top training facilities â usually off-limits to foreign military personnel â to the US armed forces that have trained in areas as varied as Jammu and Kashmir and a jungle warfare school in the northeastern state of Mizoram.
Posted by: john ||
08/26/2005 15:11 ||
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Well now, isn't this a pleasant counter point to Operation Peace with Amphib Tanks with Flags of Red.
#2
Last week of September will see the USS Nimitz exercising off Goa with the Indian carrier Viraat.
Posted by: john ||
08/26/2005 17:24 Comments ||
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#3
In Novemeber, the Indian Air Force will hold joint exercises in Kashmir with the USAF and the RAF.
Posted by: john ||
08/26/2005 17:26 Comments ||
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#4
Correction: the November exercise with be USAF-IAF.
The RAF will come to Kashmir in early 2006.
Posted by: john ||
08/26/2005 17:37 Comments ||
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#5
Add the French and Russians to the Mix
The Indian Navy will carry out bilateral exercises with the US, French and Russian navies during September- November this year, Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in the Parliament Wednesday.
Nuclear powered submarines of the US and French navies and the aircraft carrier of the Russian navy are likely to be part of their forces in these exercises, Mukherjee said.
Posted by: john ||
08/26/2005 17:42 Comments ||
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Has a whinier bunch of people ever existed on this planet?
GAZA CITY (AFP) - The Palestinians intend to oppose any move by Israel to have the UN Security Council declare its 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip over following the withdrawal of all Jewish settlers. Foreign minister Nasser al-Qidwa said Israel's continued control of Gaza's air space and territorial waters meant any such move would be premature and should await a comprehensive peace agreement."The international community must maintain the Palestinian territories' current legal status after the unilateral Israeli withdrawal," said Qidwa, who travelled to Moscow this week to put his case to one of the five permanent members with veto powers on the Security Council. What is their "current legal status"? Victim? Money pit? High investment, low return?
The minister charged with liaison with Israel over the pullout, Mohammed Dahlan, echoed Qidwa's comments. "Gaza will remain under the control of the occupier, who will continue to weigh heavily on our lives through control of border crossings, air space and territorial waters," he said. ...and don't you forget it, Mo.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told a Kuwaiti daily last week that he planned to ask the Security Council to declare the occupation of Gaza over and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to address the UN General Assembly next month as part of Israeli efforts to improve its standing with the world body. Yeah, sure. Good luck with that, Ari.
Any move to change Gaza's status would be a sharp shift away from the provisions of the 1993 Oslo accords which foresaw the Palestinian territories' occupied status being maintained right up to a full peace treaty. Both international and Israeli courts have accepted the occupied status of the Palestinian territories in a series of decisions, most recently on Israel's West Bank separation barrier, which in places juts far into the territory.
Palestinian human rights activists also argued that Israel's evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip fell far short of an end to occupation. "The Israeli withdrawal ought to have marked the end of military occupation and the lifting of the grip on land and people but this isn't the case," said the head of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Raji al-Surani. "Israel is going to preserve its powers to intervene in Gaza and its control of land, sea and air borders," Surani told AFP. ...and the money quote. Palestinian rights lawyer Yunis al-Jaru went further, warning that any change in Gaza's status would absolve Israel of its legal responsibilities for the welfare of the territory's population. "Proclaiming the end of the Israeli occupation of Gaza would enable Israel to shake off its responsibilities, which require it to protect people under occupation and cater for their basic needs in health, education and food," said Jaru who heads the organization Conscience. Here's an idea. GET OFF YOUR LAZY, LEECHING PALI ASSES AND DO IT YOURSELVES!!! FOR ONCE!!!
"In the current circumstances, this would create a serious precedent both for the Palestinian question and international law."Gaza will be totally cut off from Israel -- and we won't shed many tears over that -- but it will also be cut off from the West Bank including east Jerusalem politically, socially and economically, and there lies the nub of the problem."
Jaru predicted that Israel would continue to use the threat of its military might to prevent the Palestinians developing normal communications links for the territory, such as a fully functioning port and airport. "The Palestinians of Gaza will only be able to take the plane to Cairo more than 450 kilometres (280 miles) away and will only be able to import or export foods through the Egyptian ports of Damietta and Port Said" more than 300 kilometres (200 miles) away. "To say that Gaza was free would be a mystification without precedent in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It would allow Ariel Sharon... to transform a military disengagent into an end to occupied status. "Israeli disengagement is going to strangle Gaza. Residents will no longer be able to use Ashdod port or Tel Aviv airport and will no longer be allowed to enter Israel to work," Jaru said. Be careful what you wish for, Jaru. Words to live by...
"Gaza is going to be one big prison with 66 percent of its working age population unemployed and 81 percent living below the poverty line." Good. They earned it. It's about all they've ever earned.
#1
Jaru predicted that Israel would continue to use the threat of its military might to prevent the Palestinians developing normal communications links for the territory, such as a fully functioning port and airport.
Tough shit, boys. As long as terrorism is priority #1 in your pointy little heads, the Jews are more than justified in brandishing their Big Club. Personally, I hope they get to use it someday.
#5
Palestinian rights lawyer Yunis al-Jaru went further, warning that any change in Gaza's status would absolve Israel of its legal responsibilities for the welfare of the territory's population.
Well yeah....
They want it both ways, suckers.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/26/2005 21:01 Comments ||
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#6
Well did Hamas win, and drive the Israelis from Gasa? Then pony up your own infrastructure and utilities. ONLY if the Joooooos left of their own free will can you POSSIBLY claim any sort of "you can't just run away and leave us alone" stuff.
So, what is it?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/26/2005 21:51 Comments ||
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#7
If the Paleos whine within their own ghetto does anyone hear it? I don't.... turn up the music, please
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/26/2005 23:09 Comments ||
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IRAQI negotiators are locked in last-ditch talks to convince disgruntled Sunni Arabs to sign up to the draft constitution after missing a third deadline for a parliament vote.
The majority Shiites were under pressure to shelve their demand for Kurdish-style autonomy in a bid to win over the Sunnis, whose support was seen as crucial in efforts to end the deadly insurgency, a Kurdish negotiator said.
"Today is the final day, and the last chance to discuss the draft constitution. We hope to reach an agreement that would satisfy everyone," Mahmud Othman said.
Iraq cancelled a parliament session to approve the draft constitution as the protracted negotiations between the Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis were unable to reach a consensus on thorny issues yesterday.
But Parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hasani said the draft would be put to the nation in an October 15 referendum, even if it failed to win overall consensus.
The constitution, key to the war-torn country's political transition and an eventual withdrawal of foreign troops, has been dogged by differences on federalism, the role of Islam and sharing of oil wealth.
The latest political haggling comes against a backdrop of violence following clashes between rival Shiite groups and the discovery of the bodies of 37 men, who had been tortured and executed men, in a stream south of Baghdad.
Today, rebels killed at least 11 people across Iraq, including two policemen shot dead by gunmen in the restive Sunni town of Baquba, while two Danish soldiers were wounded in southern Iraq in a roadside bombing.
Negotiators said talks were focusing on the main sticking point â federalism â to persuade Shiites to give up demands for autonomy in the southern and central regions.
"There are attempts to convince the (Shiite) alliance to leave the issue of federalism in other parts of Iraq (south and centre) for the next parliament to deal with, and also to implement it gradually over two or three years," Mr Othman said.
The Shiite demand for a Kurdish-type autonomy is largely fuelled by a desire to control a chunk of the country's vast oil reserves located in the Shiite south.
The Sunni Arabs, dominant under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein but now under-represented in Parliament, have been opposing their demands, fearing that a federal structure will rob them of the oil wealth.
Mr Othman said the Sunnis were nevertheless showing signs of softening their demands.
Sources close to negotiations said the main reason for the sustained delay was that Iraqi leaders and US officials are keen to get Sunni approval and weaken the insurgency.
"I think that the support for the insurgency will probably broaden if the Sunnis feel like their interests are not protected," US General John Vines, head of the multinational troops in Iraq, said.
Mr Othman said the Sunnis also opposed any reference to Saddam's Baath Party in the constitution.
"Sunni Arabs say that there is a law stipulating banning the Baath Party, and that there is no need to mention Baath in the constitution," he said.
One article in the constitution's first chapter entitled Fundamental Principles bans any entity that advocates racism, terrorism or ethnic cleansing, especially the Baath Party even under a new name.
Hundreds of supporters of Saddam took to the streets of Baquba and the mixed northern oil centre of Kirkuk to demonstrate against the draft constitution.
"Sunni Arabs are determined to defeat the constitution if they feel eliminated," protester Sheikh Abdel Karim al-Jaburi said.
The Sunnis, who largely boycotted the January elections, are gearing up for a show of strength in the planned December elections that could lead to a new power equation in parliament.
"We believe that federalism should be postponed until the next parliament (is elected)," said Sunni negotiator Hassib Arif al-Obaidi.
"We think that circumstances are not suitable at the moment to implement it. We need a peaceful environment in the presence of a balanced national assembly, in which we can discuss this matter adequately."
In Iraq's 275-member national assembly, the Shiites and Kurds jointly hold about 210 seats, while the Sunnis hold around two dozen.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/26/2005 10:47 ||
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The Kurds are on the Sunnis side on this, since a Shiite autonomous area does them no good, and deemphasizes the "specialness" of the Kurdish zone. And of course the Kurds are close to the Americans, who badly want a deal. And the Kurds are straining against the Shiites on the religion issues. Now the Shiites are offering to postpone settlement of federalism till the next parliament. Which seems pretty good for the Sunnis - the Shiite alliance only holds 52% of the current parliament, and if the Sunnis turn out in the next elections, as seems likely, the Shiite alliance loses its majority, and the others can block a Shiite autonomy.
BUT - thats assuming the Kurds, Sunni arabs, and the Allawi list can stay united. Basically, it means the Sunnis have to trust their fate to the Kurds.
TOKYO - Two Japanese teachers have been missing in Pakistan and Afghanistan since arriving there on holidays three weeks ago, authorities said on Friday.
What, were the Algerian tours all booked?
The man and a woman arrived in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on August 6 and shortly afterward contacted their families in Hiroshima for the first and last time, officials said.
âOur staff in Islamabad and Karachi confirmed that two people entered Afghanistan but we donât know where they are now,â said Yuji Yamamoto, an official at the Japanese foreign ministry.
"Yuko, were should we take our holiday, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Paris?"
"Oh, those are so boring. I hear Karachi is beautiful this time of year."
Posted by: Steve ||
08/26/2005 12:05 ||
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The American Legion, which has 2.7 million members, has declared war on antiwar protestors, and the media could be next. Speaking at its national convention in Honolulu, the group's national commander called for an end to all âpublic protestsâ and âmedia eventsâ against the war. I disagree.
"The American Legion will stand against anyone and any group that would demoralize our troops, or worse, endanger their lives by encouraging terrorists to continue their cowardly attacks against freedom-loving peoples," Thomas Cadmus, national commander, told delegates at the group's national convention in Honolulu. That part I agree with. However, in a democracy, it's vital to have honest dialog about our foreign policy goals and implementation. Of course, the Far Left is not honest, but treasonous.
The delegates voted to use whatever means necessary to "ensure the united backing of the American people to support our troops and the global war on terrorism."
In his speech, Cadmus declared: "It would be tragic if the freedoms our veterans fought so valiantly to protect would be used against their successors today as they battle terrorists bent on our destruction.â He explained, "No one respects the right to protest more than one who has fought for it, but we hope that Americans will present their views in correspondence to their elected officials rather than by public media events guaranteed to be picked up and used as tools of encouragement by our enemies." This might suggest to some, however, that American freedoms are worth dying for but not exercising. Nope. No media bias here.
Without mentioning any current protestor, such as Cindy Sheehan, by name, Cadmus recalled: "For many of us, the visions of Jane Fonda glibly spouting anti-American messages with the North Vietnamese and protestors denouncing our own forces four decades ago is forever etched in our memories. We must never let that happen againâŠ." It already is.
The way to beat nutty speech is with more speech. The moonbats are free to parade with their puppets and goofy, hate-filled signs. We're free to point all that out to our fellow citizens.
#1
He made the proper distinction: "...that would demoralize our troops, or worse, endanger their lives by encouraging terrorists to continue their cowardly attacks against freedom-loving peoples."
This is to paraphrase giving "aid and comfort" to the enemy.
It is NOT legal to:
1) Call for the violent overthrow of the US or the assassination of US officers, elected or appointed. Armed resistance against the United States or its military or other officers.
2) Attempt to undermine the military by interfering with its mission or morale, to include encouraging desertion, mutiny, and disobedience; physically interfering with shipments of military supplies and personnel on active duty; or to provide material or morale support to the enemy. Interference with a legal draft.
3) Assisting the enemy by acts of sabotage, espionage, the spreading of enemy propaganda, and other threats to the public trust and confidence of the US government.
4) Unauthorized travel to hostile or forbidden nations; doing so with intent to interfere in US foreign policy or lend aid and support to the enemy; meeting with enemy representatives or agents in any country in an effort to do either. Falsifying or promulgating falsified documents in an attempt to discredit the government of the United States or undermine the US military or foreign policy. Possession, transfer and release of any classified documents or equipment, copies, reproductions, in full or in part.
5) Acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government; encouraging others to acts of violence, civil disobedience, or other violations. Acts of physical destruction against federal property. Acts of riot, sedition and treason not othewise mentioned.
#2
I also can't agree with the call for "an end to all" public protests. That is free speech, and that's what our fighting men and women are protecting, while simultaneously granting it to the oppressed peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The better solution, IMO, is to counter these demonstrations with our own and demonstrate that there are many more people, and people of higher character and intelligence, that support our troops and support their mission.
The unfortunate part of that is that most of those people have jobs, families, and other responsibilities that don't allow them to counter-protest on a whim. C'est la vie...
Posted by: Dar ||
08/26/2005 11:12 Comments ||
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I just joined. I've been getting their pamplets on joining mailed to me, but have basically ignored them. Seeing this made me want to join.
#4
No way Dar I am with Anonymous Protesting is for things like civil rights maybe the patriot act or this or that political idea. War is WAR and when your nation is at war you support that war or at the minimum dont get in the way of such. Sedition is illegal and should be enforced if not with jail then fines and deportation. You dont give moral aid to our enemy you dont harm the moral of US soldgiers you just dont do that. Thier is no excuse we have freedom of speech but we dont have the right to undermine a active war effort at the cost of US soldgiers lives. that is Sedition and illegal. The pres and the leadership should quit this defensive crap and go offensive call the protesters out for what they are hell they are out front of Walter Ried Medical with f*cking "maimed for life" signs. Is that free speech DAR????? The US military fights for freedom not for our enemies to be allowed to spread thier propoganda within our nation amongst our own population that is BS. In WW1 and WW2 we enforced the Sedition laws rounded people up imprisoned them deported some did what was nessecary. US citizenship is a privalage not a natural born right. If you dont respect that and honor the good and bad that comes with that you dont deserve it and should lose it so someone who does and will can take your place. Our nation is dying from within because of the distortion of our laws. Freedom of speech was never meant to allow internal undermining of a war effort or our nation. That is not what our forefathers meant our more receant forefathers understood this in WW1 WW2 and acted properly during the 60's somehow we lost that understanding and today it is still costing us.
I do agree thou that the military needs a informational division. Our leadership wont do it the media and hollywood cannnot be trusted to do it. The military needs to hire some advertising people and have public service announcments to tell the good news. Military reps should be sent out to all news stations to be in the know experts in full dress expaining what is good and bad and debating the consiquences if we fail and the benifits if we can stay solid and win. I want to see commercials with pictures of US troops have tea or a meal with X Iraqi civilians, showing the atrocities of terrorist then the caption this is what we fight, shorts of fake news stories of "what if we lose" showing senerios of the consiquences that would follow, shorts of germans before WW2 hating america and after building allies is hard expensive and time consuming, Iraqi soldgiers fighting asking for our continues support to help them beat our "common enemy" the terrorist. I have seen thousands of anti-smoking, anti-drugs, freekin save energy public service announcements why do I not see announcements on this and all Military efforts of importance, if the US smokes big deal some die early of cancer if we lose to the terrorist the consiquences is overwhelming.
Not only is it bias, it's 1) editorializing, and 2) not even a logical conclusion of the quoted remarks. I don't know why you didn't use the full title: American Legion Declares War on Protestors -- Media Next?
... the group's national commander called for an end to all âpublic protestsâ and âmedia eventsâ against the war.
But he did no such thing, at least not in the remarks quoted. I agree, though, that rather than disparaging war protests, he'd have been a lot better off encouraging counter-protests.
#6
C-Low--My contention is with the word "all", as in "end all protests". Providing aid and comfort to the enemy is treason, and I think we've seen plenty of examples of it that should be prosecuted. However, people still have a right to disagree and make their opinions known. There is a line to be drawn there between voicing dissent and voicing treason.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/26/2005 13:03 Comments ||
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#7
In grudgingly agree that freedom of speech should not be curtailed - even for the ass-wipes. Otherwise, the last part of the famous lines would have to be dropped:
""It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."
#8
Hear, hear, Lone Ranger! I agree. But, I see C-Low's point too. We've lost our way in how to TRULY fight a war after WWII. You fight for victory, not to settle for some 'peace accord, ceasefire, etc.' That's a big reason why we're in Iraq now...we didn't finish the job in 1991 (although, I don't blame Bush Sr. for that).
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2005 14:17 Comments ||
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I meant to add a blurb about Daniel Pipes' recent article about this. He states (and I agree) that many know we won't enforce the treason/sedition laws, so they go forth and act ways harmful to this country. His prime example was the "American Taliban" (John Walker Lindh) from Calif. He was caught RED-HANDED in Afghanistan right after 9/11 fighting our troops. After being rounded up, he led the prison outbreak that led to the death of Mike Spann (CIA Op and from what I remember, our first death in the WoT, plus an Auburn Tiger alum to boot)! Now, THAT is treason, clear cut, and he should've been tried and shot on sight! Made into Example #1!
Posted by: BA ||
08/26/2005 14:21 Comments ||
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#10
This is not a news item but a Goebbels style editorial.
When did Cadmus call for a ban on "all 'public protests' or 'media events'" against the war" as this piece claims in the first sentence?
This is an agenda driven interpretation and the absence of an exact quote to support it is a red flag.
His actual words, as quoted, include a number of qualifications.
"The American Legion will stand against anyone and any group that would demoralize our troops, or worse, endanger their lives by encouraging terrorists to continue their cowardly attacks against freedom-loving peoples,"
This does not equal all protests against the war, by any means. It certainly doesn't if we accept the Left's claims of patriotism and support for the troops.
Apparently, the author also wants to conflate demoralizing troops, endangering lives, and encouraging terrorists with "American freedoms."
The author has essentially confessed to seditious intent by asserting this equivalence.
#11
The knockout punch:
Where does Cadmus call for a ban on anything, including even seditious behavior?
Does a call for the American Legion to "stand against" various Moonbats really equal a call for a legal ban.
Opposition is not automatically oppression. There is no Constitutional right to freedom from disagreement, ridicule, and opposition; just as there is no Constitutional right to be taken seriously or to have the unfettered use of the forum of one's choice.
Editor and Publisher is, of course, an internal publication of the Media-Industrial Complex and its pronouncements should be treated with the utmost skepticism.
Too funny to ignore... reminds me of that old RB article on the saudis trying by law to reduce interbreeding, because 70% of their newly-wed are family-related.
By P. David Hornik
The lead article in the August issue of the Israel Medical Association Journal reports success in lowering infant mortality rates among Arabs in the Western Galilee. These rates being generally twice as high among Israeli Arabs as among Israeli Jews, by 2002 an Israeli health program launched in the late 1980s had lowered the rate among Western Galilee Arabs to about 1.5 that of the Jews in the area.
The program found three main factors causing the high rates among the Arabs: infections, home births, and diseases resulting from inbreeding. About 40 percent of Muslim and Druze women and 70 percent of Bedouin women in the region were found to be married to first- or second-degree relatives.
Through an information campaign, the infant mortality from infections and home births has almost been eliminated in Western Galilee. The health program is now trying to tackle the inbreeding problem, using ultrasound screening for pregnant women in consanguineous marriages, articles in the media, and study days for health workers, schoolteachers, and religious and community leaders on the harmful effects of inbreeding. The program emphasizes the fact that consanguineous marriage is in no way mandated by Islam.
Rooted in ancient custom, consanguinity is nonetheless widespread in the Arab world; for example, a 1989 study in Iraq found 53 percent of the subjects to be consanguineously married. One result is the prevalence of extended clans that lead to nepotism and lower levels of identification with the state. The clan structure is a major factor in the Arab worldâs endemic corruption and lack of civil society.
But if, as the Israeli study highlights, inbreeding is also a major cause of disease, another conclusion seems inescapable. Just as modern medicine recognizes genetic sources of many physical illnesses, modern psychology recognizes genetic components in many psychological problems including criminality. Presumably, a region where inbreeding is rifeâand reinforced through successive generationsâshould also have a greater frequency of such mental ailments. Though, not surprisingly, there seem to have been no studies in that regard given the delicacy of the subject, the high levels of social pathology, violence, and terrorism in the Arab world suggest that inbreeding is one of the causes.
Such observations are not, of course, comfortable because they are likely to inspire absurd charges of racism. Racism, of course, is not the issue; inbreeding is equally bad for all kinds of people, but Arabs happen to practice it. Indeed, in todayâs world it is found mainly in a salient extending from Morocco to Southern India.
Skeptics about attempts to reform or democratize the Arab world often point to Islam as a factor more fundamental than political practices such as elections. It seems they should also emphasize the separate problem of inbreeding. Although it would require great resources, it may be that programs like the Israeli one in Western Galilee could contribute more to helping the Arab world overcome its problems than strictly political reforms for which it may not be ready.
#4
"The program found three main factors causing the high death rates among the Arabs: infections, home births, and diseases resulting from inbreeding."
I think the Journal forgot to mention that mortality rates were being dramatically lowered, before 9/11.
That sucks!! Man, the Arabs were thaaat close, to a low mortality rate.
MILWAUKEE â Illegal immigrants are often criticized as unfair competition for U.S. jobs. Now, with an unprecedented program in Wisconsin, they could be competing with legal residents for a new home â with help from the state government. The first-in-the-nation program, run by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, is helping to make getting a first mortgage easier âfor illegal immigrants.
The new home-mortgage program has Republican state Sen. Glenn Grothman up in arms. "I don't think the state of Wisconsin should be sending the message that our immigration laws are a joke," Grothman said. That's the federal government's job.
The Wisconsin mortgage program follows the lead of the Internal Revenue Service, which gives out individual taxpayer identification numbers, or I-TINS, largely to people in the United States illegally so that they can legally pay income tax. Wisconsin is now allowing I-TINS to be used where Social Security numbers would normally be required. "We are not the immigration police. In fact, the IRS won't even allow us to inquire about the status of people who have I-TIN numbers," said WHEDA Executive Director Antonio Riley. That's something Congress needs to change now
"It's money earned, taxes paid, families need a home, I need the votes. It's that simple," said Democratic state Rep. Pedro Anus Colon.
Colon said that if neighborhoods like his largely Hispanic South Milwaukee district are to succeed, home ownership is vital. He also blasts federal lawmakers for leaving illegal aliens in a "no-man's land" in which they are able to pay federal taxes but unable to get permanent residency. I agree. They should have a definite status: in Mexico.
Grothman said he wants essentially to eliminate the I-TIN mortgages and has proposed that Social Security numbers be required for state loans. He said that even though he believes the vast majority of Wisconsin is with him on this, he's not sure his own party is. Certainly the head of the party doesn't seem to be.
"If my legislation doesn't pass, it shows a high degree of cowardice on the part of the Republican leadership of the state of Wisconsin," Grothman said. Making them fit for Washington DC.
Wisconsin GOP leaders say they do not fear Hispanic voter backlash getting in the way of Grothman's legislation, ... "Us? Afraid? Ha!"
... but that the party has other priorities, like election law reform, that needs to be completed first. Excuse Me. I'm going to go howl at the moon. It's about as effective as writing Kolbe or McCain.
#1
"It's money earned, taxes paid, families need a home, I need the votes. It's that simple," said Democratic state Rep. Pedro Anus Colon.
After all Pedro needs their votes. If they have a taxpayer's number and a house how can we stop them from voting. It is an unfortunate fact of life in Wisconsin that far too many idiots that attend the UW decide to stay in Madison or Milwaukee rather than go home after getting their degrees.
#2
..the lead of the Internal Revenue Service, which gives out individual taxpayer identification numbers, or I-TINS, largely to people in the United States illegally so that they can legally pay income tax.
#3
By anchoring them here with houses, the liberals are thinking ahead to our "final solution" to illegals. We cannot come up with a plan to get them out until lawmakers solve problems like they are creating, so they are creating as many problems as they can. I think passing some good stiff laws that keep them from being able to get work would work better than anything. Big-time fines for any employer who gets caught with illegals, tip-lines to report suspected employers and public recognition for employers who don't use illegals from any country.
#5
I'm not for legislation through litigation but is it possible to sue WHEDA under federal laws that prohibit the harboring of illegal aliens and racketeering? By providing mortgage loans that help illegals buy houses. WHEDA is aiding their ability to remain here illegally.
#6
BaR:
That's standard IRS policy: Nothing can get in the way of bringing in more revenue.
In Egypt under the Pharaohs, which was hardly a free country, tax collectors could not tax so much that a family would starve, or take their only home. The IRS can throw a widow and orphans out on the street.
#7
Nothing new here. When I lived in Chicago in the 80's, Cook County heavily advertised how much more generous the welfare benefits were in Milwaukee to enhance the migration of Illinois welfare recipients to Wisconsin. Worked well. Exported Chicago's economic problems to Wisconsin.
Look at it this way. enforcing the immigration laws is ICE's job. Collecting taxes is the IRS. The IRS doesn't care if you are legal or illegal, only whether you can be taxed. Perhaps the IRS is already referring everyone with an I-TINS to ICE. But at least they're collecting the tax. You wouldn't want the illegals to run afoul of the IRS, would you? That's what tripped up Capone.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/26/2005 16:55 Comments ||
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A short symposium by Frontpage mag on the future of Africa, interesting. The rise of salafi, arabized islam certainly fits into the WOT.
One can also check this page, http://www.freeworldacademy.com/globalleader/africa.htm
which comes to similar conclusions and gives an interesting diagnosis on the "magical thought" source of the bad governance, in addition to external factors such as marxism and the various slave trades. Note this one is done by an aged retired french businessman, a liberal (european sense) wishing to promote entrepreneurship values, so its english may feel a little weird.
Hat tip: LGF, which aptly headline this "Mismatch of the Century) aka Pop-culture Bambi vs. Intellectual Godzilla NEW YORK Tribune Media Services columnists Victor Davis Hanson and Arianna Huffington will square off in a debate about whether the U.S. is "internationalist or imperial."
The debate is scheduled for Sept. 14 at the Gerald R. Ford Museum Auditorium, Grand Rapids, Mich. It's the first in a series of events (also taking place Oct. 6-7 and Nov. 17) on "War and Empire" hosted by the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University. Huffington and Hanson are also authors, and Huffington is the namesake behind the high-profile Huffington Post group blog/news site. Note to Huffy's handlers: Don't bring a squirt gun to an artillery duel.
#2
ROFL! Talk about the Moonbats having no grasp of reality and buying their own bullshit. If this isn't a puff-piece circus, it will be the most one-sided "debate" in modern history.
#3
VDH should be careful. I watched Huffy when she ran for governor. She's articulate, glib and never at a loss for words. I've not heard VDH speak; he's a superb writer but that doesn't always translate into polished speaking skills.
Don't get me wrong, I think VDH is not only right but by far the brighter of the two. I wouldn't want him to get manuevered into a bad position.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/26/2005 2:28 Comments ||
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#4
Frankly, I wish America was an imperial power. Iraqis and Afghanis should be liivng under American law, rather than Sharia perversity.
And I am with Robert Spencer on putting US - and Western - security needs over self-determination pablum that appeals to 3rd world infants and their State Department indulgers. Hitler had overwhelming democratic support during the height of Nazi power. Should we have respected those democratic wishes? Hell no! But, VDH appears to be an absolutist on the universality of self-determination and nation building obligation. His position is not that far from Huffington's air-head diplomacy.
Frankly, the following savages are personna non grata on my human scale: post-Roman "palestinians"; Pashto Pakis and Afghanis; Arabist Malaysians and Indonesians; Sunni Iraqis; Qom Shiites; Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwanis) and Wahabis and Jamaat-i-Islamis. The counter-terror war can't be won until we write off that scum. The problem is: their lives. Read Spencer on inclusivist myths, before you embrace sham VDH's quixotic liberationism.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/26/2005 2:37 Comments ||
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#5
Huffington is a publicity whore.
Her stature can only improve (from nowhere) debating Hanson. Hanson shouldn't debate her, shit, she lost her ass in the Caleformia governer debates. She has the intellect of a flower pot.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 5:09 Comments ||
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#6
I have to agree with Steve White on this one: while all signs should point to a VDH victory, based on his higher moral integrity, IQ, and superior wisdom, no one should ignore Arianna's debating experience. Unfortunately, sometimes quick, glib answers appear more cogent in "real-time" than solid, forthright responses do, especially ones that require a background of laborous study, so typical of VDH's columns. I mean, I hope there's not too short of a time limit on answers; longer is better for Hanson and worse for Huffington-- G-d forbid she actually has to explain what she says....
I've been dissappointed before, and I'm sure I will be again-- hopefully not this time. This is our #4 hitter coming up to bat with men in scoring position against their crummy middle reliever, so he is expected to not waste the out. He'd better pull through.
Posted by: Armchair in Sin ||
08/26/2005 7:29 Comments ||
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#7
Emotion versus Logic.
Mobs are more likely to buy the emotion appeal.
"Friends, Romans, Country, I have come to bury Caesar not to praise him..."
Wonder if Victor has a say in the probable stuffing of the audience seats? Not like that has happened before.
Firebrand Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is rapidly gaining support among Iraqi youth, raising fears he could eventually unify Shi'ites and Sunnis against American forces.
Iraqi youth raptly listening to tapes of Sheik al-Sadr, and both young men and girls kissing his posters.
Even police stations had pictures of Sheik al-Sadr on the walls, said Babak Rahimi, just back from a two-week trip to southern Iraq.
Followers of the militant cleric, who has been generally quiet since leading two uprisings against American forces last year, have been engaged in two days of violent clashes with the rival Iranian-trained Badr Brigades in the holy city of Najaf.
"There is a lot of reverence for Muqtada al-Sadr" among more secular Sunnis, said Mr. Rahimi, who said he was taken aback by the dedicated following accumulated by the young cleric over the past two years.
"This is an anti-American resistance movement, and he will eventually exploit this, he will eventually merge with the Sunni insurgents," Mr. Rahimi predicted. "This would prompt a stronger force against American troops in Iraq and he will have a lot more followers," he said.
"It has something to do with something very basic, appealing looks, his charitable organizations and a very prestigious family background. Young girls kissing Muqtada al-Sadr's photograph? That tells you a lot," said Mr. Rahimi.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 01:05 ||
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#1
appealing looks? Did they not see that pic yesterday. Hell i couldn't even sleep last night thinking about those teeth.
#3
These are Shiites, not Wahhabbi Sunnis. Personality cults are pretty standard for the Shiites, as they have been historically in many other strains of Islam.
For the record, I tend to think that a lot of this, to say nothing of the experts quoted (Katzman I can vouch for, but most here know my opinion of Cole) is a case of a journalist wanting to knock down the administration's statements on Iranian involvement in Iraq and then seeking out experts who will tell them what they want to hear.
When rival Shiite Muslim factions battled in Iraqi cities this week in a worrisome new turn for the country's stability, neighboring Iran had little to lose: It supports both factions.
Iran has shrewdly pursued a strategy of "portfolio diversification" in Iraq. It backs a wide range of actors - even competing ones -with support, money and weapons to ensure that it has a say in Iraq's future, Western officials and analysts said. "They are like lobbyists. They're spreading the money around, so whoever wins owes them," said Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor and expert on Shiite Islam who's criticized U.S. policy in Iraq.
Iran's maneuverings in Iraq have taken on new urgency amid last-minute wrangling over a draft constitution and the Bush administration's charges that Tehran is fueling the anti-American insurgency with cross-border weapons shipments.
Those charges remain unproved, U.S. officials conceded, and are disputed by outside experts. They question why Iran's Shiite clerics would aid insurgents from the rival Sunni branch of Islam who are seeking to regain the power in Iraq they'd wielded under Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
But Iran has spread its largesse far and wide, the officials and analysts said, in pursuing three main goals in Iraq: promoting Shiite political dominance, keeping the United States off-balance and avoiding all-out sectarian civil war on its western border.
So far, it's achieved all three. "I think the Iranians feel that they are basically winning in Iraq. They feel things are basically going their way," said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East specialist at the Congressional Research Service, part of the Library of Congress.
Iran has maintained ties to secular Shiite leaders such as Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, the former head of the exile group Iraqi National Congress, and to religious groups such as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. It's also reached out gingerly to firebrand nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, according to the analysts and a senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue of Iran's involvement in Iraq is being debated within the American government and involves classified data.
Al-Sadr's supporters battled with forces from SCIRI's military wing, the Badr Organization, Wednesday in the holy city of Najaf and other cities. The fight was part of an apparent turf war between the Shiite militias. "Iran has built ties with an array of diverse and at times competing political forces - Shiite Islamist parties, of course, but also Kurdish parties and violent groups," according to a March report by the nonprofit International Crisis Group. "In so doing, Tehran can maintain a degree of influence regardless of political developments and help steer those developments in less hostile directions," the report said.
It quoted European diplomats as saying Iran has provided al-Sadr, whose forces led an April 2004 rebellion against U.S. troops, with money and arms. But Iran remains wary of the unpredictable cleric, it said.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld went further, accusing Iran of allowing weapons to be smuggled across its border into Iraq for use against American troops. "It is true that weapons clearly, unambiguously from Iran have been found in Iraq," Rumsfeld said at the time.
His remarks followed the seizure of a cache of sophisticated explosive devices in northeastern Iraq near the Iranian border. The devices use "shaped charges," which channel the power of an explosion and are used to destroy tanks and other armored vehicles. American military forces report seeing a sharp rise in attacks using the more sophisticated weapons in the last few months.
While the shipment clearly came via Iran, who sent it and where it was headed remain in doubt, the senior U.S. official said. "There's no quick jumping to conclusions that this stuff is Iranian, and even if it is Iranian, that (it) suggests complicity up and down the Iranian government," the official said. "People are looking at this in a vigorous way."
Wayne White, a former Middle East intelligence analyst at the State Department, said, "I cannot explain at all" the shipment. "If you were gun-running to your own people, you would never use that (northern) route," he said, referring to the fact that Iran's Shiite brethren are strongest in southern Iraq.
Cole, the University of Michigan professor, said the idea that Iran would aid Iraq's Sunni insurgents was "completely implausible."
One will never go wrong betting against Juan Cole.
One possibility is that the weapons were smuggled by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is a client of Iran, helped al-Qaida build the shaped-charge bomb that damaged the destroyer USS Cole and has allied itself with Sunni groups occasionally to attack U.S. targets, analysts said. Or, they said, with power in Iran spread among competing institutions, it could be a freelance operation.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/26/2005 00:17 ||
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#1
Iran wants to find a way it can continue to attack the US who they have seen as day one their mortal enemy. They want nothing less than true death to America.
Iran would love a weak failed state right next to them. For years they have had to use Leabanon as a launching ground to attack Israel. With a weak failed state next door they could pick up the pieces secure all Iraq;s oil and attack Israel via Lebanon All while seen as the "savior" of fellow muslims.
#2
Good read, but I question Cole's logic in his statement regarding why Iran would use the northern route to smuggle in explosives when their people are primarily in the south. Hell he acts like they don't have enough spare c4 to spread around. What's a few pounds of shaped charges vs some dead Americans or better political positioning.
Perhaps the shipments of explosives were meant to be used against the kurds that were organizing recent scattered anti government actions against Iran via Iranian kurdish factions, or perhaps they just want Zarq and/or the Sunnis to keep the Americans busy up north so the Shiia can do their dirty deeds with the Iranians in relative peace and quiet in the south.
Stability and democracy in Iraq are not in the interest of Iran and the MMs. So why wouldn't they feed a sectarian civil war in Iraq, how would it hurt them to see the Sunnis marginalized and desperate.
I argue that the Iranians do want to see civil war in Iraq and as much American bloodshed as possible in the process, and would assist Zarq or either side in fomenting such a war if necessary. Thus the shaped charges,and the northern route.
At least 29 people were killed and dozens injured in violence across the country on Thursday as voters went to the polls in 54 districts in the second phase of local elections. Tens of thousands of troops and police were deployed in sensitive areas across the country after the first phase of the elections a week ago was marred by violence, in which at least 20 people were killed and 700 injured, and opposition claims of rigging.
Acting chief election commissioner (CEC) Justice Hamid Dogar later confirmed 22 deaths on Thursday. âHowever, none of them were killed inside any polling stations and not all the cases were linked to election activity,â the CEC said. The CEC said that the primary turnout was around 60% in Punjab, 40-45% in Sindh and 45% in NWFP. He said it was too early to say the turnout in Balochistan, but observers there put the turnout at around 30 percent.
The most deaths were reported in Punjab (20), followed by Sindh (6), NWFP (2) and Balochistan (1). Six people were killed in Lahore. Two men were shot dead and six injured when rival groups opened fire near a polling station in Toor village, UC-145 Khana. Two more, including former nazim Muhammad Zaheer, were killed and one injured in Maraka in Manga Mandi. Polling was suspended for two hours at a polling station in UC-144, Haloki, after a PPP worker was gunned down. Another political worker was killed by a rival group near a polling station in UC-38, Shalimar Town. Three people were killed by in firing outside a polling station in Chak 436, Jaranwala tehsil, Faisalabad district. Two were killed in a shootout in UC-83, Jhang district.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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LAHORE: Fifty-two-year-old Anwari Mai keeps an old black and white photograph of her son on the kitchen shelf of her house in a village near Gujranwala. Maiâs son Qayyum stares out from the faded picture with a straggly beard making him look older than his 19 years. Today, Qayyum would be nearly 23. Qayyum is among the increasing number of âdisappearedâ people in the country. Nearly four years ago he was recruited by an extremist organisation to battle the US-led coalition in Afghanistan. Anwari Mai and her husband, Saleem, believe their son returned from Afghanistan in 2003 along with other Pakistani prisoners who were handed back by Kabul but they have no idea where he is being held, nor even if heâs still alive. They suspect he may be in jail somewhere in the Punjab province.
Is that violins I hear in the background? Anybody got a bandaid? I think my heart's bleeding...
âItâs a bad situation. We believe many people who came back from Afghanistan are being kept in jails here. There are no charges against them and therefore no hope they will be freed by the courts or at least awarded a specific jail term. Often, their families have no idea where they are detained, according to what we know,â said Brigadier (r) Rao Abid, in charge of the Vulnerable Prisoners Project at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Hopefully in unventilated shipping containers someplace unpleasant...
He believes that like Qayyum, a large percentage of those who went to Afghanistan were misguided, confused young men, susceptible to the propaganda of the fundamentalist âjihadiâ groups. Currently, though the precise figures are unknown, HRCP believes that 300 or more such men may have been jailed in the Punjab alone.
I believe a large percentage of those who went to Afghanistan were misguided, confused young wannabe krazed killers, little Nek Mohammads. Every one of them disposed of makes the world a safer place.
But these are far from being the only missing people in the Pakistan. âMissingâ was a term rarely heard in the local context before but things have changed since Washingtonâs âwar on terrorâ began after the 9/11 attacks. The countryâs Anti-Terrorism Act was amended in 2002 to include various provisions that HRCP has described as âdraconianâ, particularly the power to sanction the detention of suspected militants without charge for up to a year. In the view of rights groups, this law has frequently been used unjustly against citizens. Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who vanished in April 2003, is perhaps Pakistanâs best-known âmissingâ person. Aafia vanished from Karachi along with her three small children. Some reports have suggested she was in the custody of Pakistani intelligence agencies, while others indicate that she is being held in the US.
Yeah. I've got her in my basement. We just decided to snatch her for no reason...
The academic and her husband were named on a list of wanted people compiled by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) being accused of having links with the Al Qaeda network. Her mother in Karachi, Ismet Siddiqui, continues to demand information about her daughter and her grandchildren, as well as details of any charges brought against her in the two years since she âdisappearedâ.
Demand and be damned. You play the game, you take your lumps.
Estimates of the number of missing people vary, according to HRCP, between âseveral hundred and several thousandâ. More accurate figures are hard to obtain, with government officials extremely reluctant to divulge any information on the subject.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I believe they're wearing my missing socks - in the alternate universe. It all started with the introduction of dryer sheets. Since then, well, all sorts of small cloth articles began disappearing. It is a well-known fact that all dryers come factory-equipped with wormholes. I'm pretty sure the first interstellar travel will begin with a very very large dryer.
#2
"The academic and her husband were named on a list of wanted people compiled by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) being accused of having links"
In that case, you have nothing to fear. The FBI only know how to accuse and coverup, they never take it any further.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal president and Jamaat-e-Islami ameer, has condemned the police raid on a JI office in Hyderabad as âunwarranted use of forceâ. He demanded an inquiry and re-polling, especially in the areas where governmentâs allied parties âresorted to violence to win the electionsâ.
In a statement on Thursday, Qazi said that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activists came from Karachi and marred peaceful polling in the city. He said that MQM activists smashed MMA women activistsâ cars. He said that reports coming from Hyderabad suggested that the âfascist partyâ had hijacked the election process at gunpoint. He said that police action against Al-Khidmat groupâs activists in Hyderabad and raids on the JI office were carried out under MQM convener Dr Farooq Sattarâs supervision. Qazi crticised the Election Commissionâs officials for not taking action against massive rigging and irregularities despite several complaints from all over Pakistan. He said people would reject election results.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Let the whinning and moaning and hand wringing commence, particularly from those who have no clue of how to address the issues the constitution drafters face.
Take the time to get it right, but do so with deliberated haste.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/26/2005 2:05 Comments ||
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The Sri Lankan government has turned down a Tamil Tiger request to hold talks in Norway. The talks to discuss the implementation of the country's three and a half year ceasefire should be held in Sri Lanka, a government spokesman said. The Tigers agreed to talks last week following the assassination of the country's foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. The government blames the Tigers for the killing, a charge they deny. "Since the talks are going to be held on ceasefire violations and strengthening the truce, the talks must be held in Sri Lanka," government spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/26/2005 00:00 ||
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Yeah, they probably noticed what happened the last time talks were held in Oslo.
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.
A MAN will appear in court after police seized fake passports and dozens of forged identification documents during raids in Sydney today. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and New South Wales Police found 10 forged Australian and foreign passports and a number of forged Australian visas after swooping on properties in Waterloo and Kingsford, in inner-southern Sydney, early today. Also located were Australian migration arrival stamps, Medicare cards, NSW driver licences, blank NSW birth certificates and more than 50 stolen cheque books.
The CIA's independent watchdog has recommended disciplinary reviews for current and former officials who were involved in failed intelligence efforts before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, The Associated Press has learned. CIA Director Porter Goss now must decide whether the disciplinary proceedings go forward.
... "Congess, Republican-dominated, is now talking about withholding half of the US contribution unless US-backed changes are implemented. Enter 
Iran sees no justification in continuing nuclear negotiations exclusively with the European Union trio, said Iran's newly appointed chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Thursday. Speaking on state television, Larijani said there were serious doubts whether Britain, France and Germany were the only suitable negotiation partners and whether they genuinely represent the E.U. and the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Larijani, who is also Iran's new secretary of the National Security Council, said there could be other countries within Europe or even non-European countries within the IAEA board of governors with whom Iran could continue nuclear talks. Larijani reiterated that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a new initiative for the nuclear talks which will be disclosed as soon as the new cabinet starts work.
As the international committee investigating the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri prepared to make its initial findings public, a high ranking French source advised the Lebanese not to fear the truth. Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al Awsat, the source said, âIt is time for the truth to reign in Lebanonâ after months of anticipation about the conclusions of the UN team headed by 
The so-called EU3 were consulting with others on the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency board in preparation for calling an early meeting after IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei issues a report on Iran due on Sept. 3, IAEA diplomats said.
TEHERAN - Iranâs hardline judiciary will soon 
NEW YORK Tribune Media Services columnists 
At least 29 people were killed and dozens injured in violence across the country on Thursday as voters went to the polls in 54 districts in the second phase of local elections. Tens of thousands of troops and police were deployed in sensitive areas across the country after the first phase of the elections a week ago was marred by violence, in which at least 20 people were killed and 700 injured, and opposition claims of rigging. 
Maiâs son Qayyum stares out from the faded picture with a straggly beard making him look older than his 19 years. Today, Qayyum would be nearly 23. Qayyum is among the increasing number of âdisappearedâ people in the country. Nearly four years ago he was recruited by an extremist organisation to battle the US-led coalition in Afghanistan. Anwari Mai and her husband, Saleem, believe their son returned from Afghanistan in 2003 along with other Pakistani prisoners who were handed back by Kabul but they have no idea where he is being held, nor even if heâs still alive. They suspect he may be in jail somewhere in the Punjab province. 
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal president and Jamaat-e-Islami ameer, has condemned the police raid on a JI office in Hyderabad as âunwarranted use of forceâ. He demanded an inquiry and re-polling, especially in the areas where governmentâs allied parties âresorted to violence to win the electionsâ.
The Sri Lankan government has turned down a Tamil Tiger request to hold talks in Norway. The talks to discuss the implementation of the country's three and a half year ceasefire should be held in Sri Lanka, a government spokesman said. The Tigers agreed to talks last week following the assassination of the country's foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. The government blames the Tigers for the killing, a charge they deny. "Since the talks are going to be held on ceasefire violations and strengthening the truce, the talks must be held in Sri Lanka," government spokesman Nimal Siripala de Silva said.
