A senior United Nations official says the international community's top priority should be forcing a peace deal in Sudan's troubled Darfur region. Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said on Tuesday, it was perilous to have such instability in a country with so many neighbours. Sudan is bordered by Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Libya and Egypt.
Somehow I can't see the UN "forcing" anyone to do anything, starting with Sudan and its duplicitous government...
At a news conference, Guterres said: "In my opinion, it is the most dangerous crisis point in Africa and in the world in general. That is why I think that the top priority of the international community should be to create the conditions to force a peace accord."
The conditions to force a peace accord would involve Bashir dangling from a rope and Turabi ripped apart by an angry mob. I'm all in favor, but I'm not sure how Antonio intends to accomplish it...
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state said on Monday she favoured a major UN role in Darfur and told Khartoum it must cooperate in accepting international help. Sudan has rejected UN suggestions that western forces should be sent to Darfur, and argues the international community should instead provide more cash to African Union forces already on the ground.
Forces which have so far been phenomenally successful...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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UN Force? Oxymoron anyone?
Posted by: BA ||
01/19/2006 9:31 Comments ||
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Egypt has decided to release 143 Sudanese who were among 469 detained by police after the break-up of a protest last month, the Foreign Ministry said. Egyptian police originally rounded up more than 600 Sudanese who were part of a three-month demonstration that ended in violent clashes in December. Egypt had said it wanted to send all of them back to Sudan but has since released some of them. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which has appealed to the authorities not to send any Sudanese back to Sudan, has been interviewing those still in detention to determine whether any are entitled to be labeled refugees. Those with refugee status would be exempt from deportation.
The ministry said in a statement, issued late on Tuesday, that the authorities would release 56 Sudanese from Darfur, the war-torn western region of Sudan, and 87 women and children, leaving 326 still in detention. The UN agency would have until Jan. 26 to determine the legal status of those still being held, the ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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A militant group attacking oil installations in the Niger Delta has said it will widen its range of targets to include more multinational companies. So far, only Royal Dutch Shell has admitted to being attacked by the group, which is holding four of Shell's foreign oil workers hostage. But the group said on Wednesday it had now attacked platforms operated by Total and Agip - which both denied having been attacked - and said that it also intended to target Chevron. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in an email statement to Reuters: "The reports of attacks on Agip and Total flow stations are correct. We have decided not to limit our attacks to Shell oil as our ultimate aim is to prevent Nigeria from exporting oil. We will attack all oil companies including Chevron facilities."
The group began a wave of sabotage on the world's eighth-largest oil exporter a month ago, and Shell has shut 226,000 barrels a day, roughly 10% of Nigerian output. "Pipelines, loading points, export tankers, tank farms, refined petroleum depots, landing strips and residences of employees of these companies can expect to be attacked. We know where they live, shop and where the children go to school," the group said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Nigerian officials have made contact with an armed group holding four foreign oil workers in order to negotiate their release, Information Minister Frank Nweke has said. Separatist militants seized the four men - an American, a Bulgarian, a Briton and a Honduran working for subcontractors to the energy giant Shell - on January 11 and have vowed not to release them until their demands are met.
In an interview with the US news network CNN, Mr Nweke said that Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo had ruled out a military reponse to the crisis and had ordered negotiators to seek a "political solution".
"We have no doubt in our minds that this is going to come to an end very quickly. In a few days the team should revert to the President with a status report and we'll hopefully see these people's release," he said. The minister could not, however, clarify the growing confusion over who exactly has taken the men. There is a consensus that the gang, which has also recently blown up oil pipelines and attacked government soldiers protecting a Shell oil plant, is made up of militant members of the Ijaw ethnic group. But several email claims of responsibility have been sent to the media, and it is not clear who exactly the attackers represent.
Mr Nweke said that some prominent figures initially thought to have been behind the kidnap had come forward to deny involvement and that the government was not sure whom it was dealing with. Most of the email statements, however, have demanded the release of jailed Ijaw guerrilla leader Mujahi Dokubo Asari and the former Bayelsa governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who has been accused of large-scale embezzlement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Bangladeshi security forces committed serious abuses in 2005 including extra-judicial killings and torture of detainees, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday in its annual report. âThe countryâs human rights record, already of pressing concern, worsened as Bangladesh security forces continue to commit abuses including extra-judicial killings, excessive use of force and custodial torture,â the US-based organisation said.
The government does not dispute the deaths but rejects the term âextra-judicial killings.â It says the killings are not unlawful because they occur when suspects resist arrest or are caught in âcrossfireâ between security personnel and suspected criminals.
"Just because they all take place at 4AM in a dark alley behind a deserted train station and the dead guys cadre always get away without leaving a trace doesn't mean it didn't happen!"
âBetween January and October 2005, an estimated 300 persons were killed at the hands of the security forces...human rights groups and journalists have demanded an inquiry into each death, but the government has refused,â the report added. Critics of the governmentâs Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite crime-fighting unit responsible for many of the deaths, accuse personnel of acting as judge, jury and executioner.
The government came to power in 2001 with a mandate to crack down on lawlessness and claims that some crimes such as extortion have halved since the RAB became operational.
The report also accused the government, a four-party Islamist-allied coalition led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, of fuelling the persecution of the Ahmadiyas, a Muslim minority movement.âIn January 2004, the government placed a ban on all Ahmadiya publications in response to an ultimatum by the Islami Okiya Jote (a government coalition partner).â it said. Although the ban was later suspended by a court, the âBNP chose to save its coalition rather than defend the rights of the Ahmadiyas,â the report said.âAttacks on Ahmaidya homes and places of worship also continued in 2005. The government to date has not prosecuted any of the responsible individuals.â
Posted by: Steve ||
01/19/2006 09:03 ||
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But that would mean no more Crossfire Gazette!
Miserable Corsairs! They can have my Crossfire Gazette when they pry it from my cold dead computer screen hands!
Prisoners at the Guantanamo base in Cuba provided important information in connection with last summer's London transit bombings that the United States shared with authorities in the United Kingdom, the general in charge of the prison said.
The July 7 suicide bombings by four young British Islamists on three underground trains and a double-decker bus in central London during the morning rush hour killed 52 people and wounded more than 700 others.
"After the attacks in London, there were a number of questions asked trying to understand who these people were and where they had been," Army Maj. Gen. Jay Hood, who oversees the Guantanamo detention operation, said in an interview late on Wednesday.
"A significant number of the men we're holding here, a number, have lived in London, have lived in the United Kingdom," Hood said.
"And so where we could answer their questions and provide background on movements, travels, financing, communications, means of communications, recruitment, training, that sort of thing, I think we have played an important role."
British anti-terrorism officials have said it was unclear what support or international links the bombers had. But in a videotape aired in September, al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri claimed the group had carried out the bombings to strike at "British arrogance."
All of the UK citizens who had been held at Guantanamo have been released but non-citizens who lived in the United Kingdom are among the nearly 500 prisoners at the remote U.S. naval base.
Hood did not discuss which prisoners gave information potentially linked to the London bombings, nor did he provide specifics.
The general said U.S. intelligence agents had shared with U.S. allies "literally everything" learned from the prisoners.
"Of course if we had people here at Guantanamo Bay who had some specific knowledge â locations, personalities, monies, communications during their time in the United Kingdom, we'd certainly provide that," Hood said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/19/2006 00:14 ||
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Thanks a bunch guys.. now throw another Koran in the kazi.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/19/2006 8:58 Comments ||
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LONDON - Britain believes the CIAâs reported secret transfer of terrorism suspects to foreign countries for interrogation is illegal, according to a leaked government document published on Thursday. The Foreign Office memo says the practice, known as extraordinary rendition, âcould never be legalâ if the detainee is at risk of torture, according to extracts printed in the Guardian newspaper. It adds that British cooperation âwould also be illegal if we knew of the circumstancesâ, according to the newspaper.
Britain, a key US ally, has repeatedly sought to play down its role in the rendition controversy. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told parliament on Jan. 10 that Britain has approved only two CIA rendition flights. However, the leaked document, dated Dec. 7, 2005, says the CIA may have used British airports more often. âThe papers we have uncovered so far suggest that there could be more than the two cases referred to in the House (of Commons) by the foreign secretary,â the BBC News Web site quoted from an extract of the memo.
It was sent by an official in Strawâs department to an aide in Prime Minister Tony Blairâs office, the Guardian said. It was leaked to the New Statesman magazine and parts were reprinted in several British newspapers on Thursday.
The briefing documentâs author, named as Irfan Siddiq, appears to suggest the British government should seek to sidestep difficult questions over its role in the renditions. âWe should try to avoid getting drawn on detail and to try to move the debate on,â he wrote, according to the newspaper.â
A spokesman for Blair declined to comment. A Foreign Office spokesman had no direct comment. âThe government does not deport or extradite anyone to another state where there are substantive grounds to believe they would be subject to torture,â he said in a statement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2006 00:02 ||
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*yawn*
Its the Guardian , what does anyone expect .. Sympathy for the war on terror , or sympathy for terrorists insurgents
When will they learn , its a war , not a frikkin parking ticket violation
#2
It's amazing how rumour and hearsay can help the leftist press perpetuate a story ad infinitum. BBC Radio 4's The Today programme just cannot shut up about this.
Question: How many USAF bases are there in Britain? Another question: Would the US really need to use civilian airports to shunt these shitbags around the globe?
This story will not be in the news tomorrow... but will be back next Wednesday when the left experience a quiet day for Anti-American news stories. NEXT...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/19/2006 8:29 Comments ||
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Russian military exports to other countries were estimated at USD six billion in 2005, said Defense Minister Sergey Borisovich Ivanov on Wednesday. In a report raised to Russian President Vladimir Putin over military issues, the minister said that Russian military firms signed USD 22 billion contracts with other countries, said the Russian TV. He also said Russia is to take several measures to boost and maximize military exports even more.
You Russo experts will have to help decide if that number is right or just fairytales from the Information Ministry. I don't doubt that Russia is planning to ramp up its weapons exports...
A £50MILLION RAF Eurofighter has crashed â just weeks before the 1,500mph super jet is due to come into service. The Typhoon suffered âconsiderableâ front-end damage after it nose-dived on landing. The pilot and co-pilot escaped unhurt when the jetâs front wheel failed to go down properly. Last night Ministry of Defence insiders claimed that the Eurofighter had suffered a series of problems with its front wheel. But official sources insisted the accident at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on Monday was the first involving a wheel failure.
The Eurofighter has previously been heavily criticised for its spiralling costs and teething problems. Britain has ordered 144 Typhoons â with the first due to come into service with the launch of a new squadron at the beginning of April. Last night RAF top brass insisted that the accident would not delay the start-up date of the Typhoon unit â Number 3 Fighter Squadron. An RAF spokesman said: âThe damage to the aircraft is being assessed and the incident is the subject of an inquiry.â
The Typhoon can fly at twice the speed of sound and above 65,000ft. RAF chiefs insist its agility means it can âout-dogfightâ any jet in the world.
So we'll just avoid dogfights and stick with killing them with long range missiles. The ones sold to "un-friendly" countries, that is.
Critics have said that the plane â developed by the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy â was designed for an enemy that no longer exists, the former Soviet Union.
Critics tend to avoid talking about China and other people buying Russian jets. I wonder why? Well, no I don't
Two new aircraft carriers ordered by the Navy are due to carry 36 Typhoons each.
#4
The UK will use the F35. It's a negotiating ploy to get the additional F35 technology, esp. the entire software suite, for the less than 10% share that they paid for.
In addition, Germany wants to cancel the third and last batch of Eurofighters and wants the other participants to agree to waive the cancellation fees, which are almost as expensive as building the planes.
Posted by: ed ||
01/19/2006 10:22 Comments ||
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..Every new aircraft has its share of teething (It could very well be that it was just a bad nose gear strut or oleo) problems and the Typhoon is no exception. It could very well be that it was just a bad nose gear strut or oleoFor example, the F-16 - which I worked on as a brand new bird and as a mature weapon system - had a flaw in the flight control system that killed some pilots before they got a handle on it. The cost of a modern fighter tends to magnify these flaws to a hideous extent - given what Typhoon REALLY costs (official figure is just under 63M Euro or 76.3M USD - I suspect it's closer to 100M Euro), it's likely that spares and repair funds are in VERY short supply and that the damaged bird will be grounded for a very long time, if it ever gets back in the air.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/19/2006 11:18 Comments ||
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The Airbus has a lot of problems with its nosegear also. Seems to be a Euro weak area.
#8
how well it performs against a swarm of Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicles?
That will depend on numbers and size. If it's thousands and tiny then the Typhoon is doomed like it's namesake which ran across tiny FW-190's over the channel while covering the Canadians at Diepe.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Almost 1,500 Iraqi officers passed through NATO's training program for the country's military last year, two-thirds receiving instruction inside the country and the rest at facilities in Europe, the alliance said Wednesday. "The alliance aims to achieve the same results in 2006," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said in a statement.
NATO trainers have been working in Iraq since August 2004, and focus on midlevel and senior officers. Training is based at a staff college opened by NATO last September on the outskirts of Baghdad and run by about 160 NATO personnel. NATO's role in Iraq has been limited to the training mission, supplying equipment to Iraqi forces and some logistical support for a Polish-led contingent of the U.S.-led coalition. Opposition led by France and Germany prevented a wider role. The training had a $13 million budget last year.
NATO coordinated the supply of $120 million worth of military equipment to Iraq's armed forces last year, including 77 tanks from Hungary and 17,000 AK-47 rifles from Slovenia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2006 00:27 ||
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The good news is that it is to NATO standards, less that it is probably not the best NATO training.
I'm sure that parallel to these courses, the US has set up discreet facilities for serious training of senior officers, in the best tradition of WT Sherman.
It behooves our army to insure that it is burned into the brains of every Iraqi officer that we are their allies, that when you fight on our side and in our way you win, and that only a damn fool raises arms against us. Such lessons last for generations, and are the cutting blade of foreign policy.
STOCKHOLM: Sweden's security service warned in December that Al Qaeda had threatened the country over its peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan but said on Wednesday the alert was over. The SAPO security service said the threat came after parliament backed plans to boost the country's contingent with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, a decision taken despite the killing of two Swedish peacekeepers there in November. "We saw comments from Al Qaeda that were directed against Sweden and we also received other information that constituted a heightened risk scenario," SAPO chief Klas Bergenstrand told Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Spain's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial of the leader of the banned Basque Batasuna party, after overruling his conviction for promoting terrorism. The court ruled that Arnaldo Otegi, who was facing a 15-month prison sentence, had not received a fair trial. He was convicted for praising fallen Basque militants at a funeral in 2001.
The appeal ruling came after a court banned a Batasuna rally on Saturday. Batasuna was banned from politics in 2003 over alleged links to Eta. Mr Otegi was convicted in 2004 for his part in the funeral of Basque separatist Olaia Castresana, who died after explosives she was handling blew up. At the burial, Mr Otegi offered his "warmest praise to all gudaris (Basque soldiers) who have fallen in this long fight for self-determination". The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the judgement had not been impartial and ordered a Basque court to retry Mr Otegi before a new panel of judges. A High Court judge ordered a new two-year ban on Batasuna's political activities, saying that it was controlled by armed separatists. Batasuna has always denied being the political wing of ETA but has refused to condemn attacks by the group.
Mr Otegi kept his seat in the Basque regional parliament after the party changed its name. He lost his MP's immunity from prosecution last year when Batasuna candidates were barred from standing in April's regional elections. He spent four years in jail for kidnapping in the 1980s.
"I'm just a soul whose intentions are good - Dear Lord please don't let me be misunderstood..." Always hated that song.
Yep, yep. Hunky dory. Couldn't be better. But hey, don't ask us too many questions, ok? Ya never really know who's listening...
In Iran, an Islamic theocracy, Christians and Jews occupy an unusual place. But it's not necessarily uncomfortable. From the choir loft, a haunting aria rises and falls through an air thick with ceremony and incense. At the altar, candles illuminate a large painting of the Madonna and Child. It is nearly midnight on New Year's Eve, yet it is standing room only at St. Sarkis Church in downtown Tehran. Here some of the faithful from an estimated population of 100,000 Armenian Christians in Iran come to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next.
Armenian Bishop Sebouh Sarkissian sees his people as Iranian citizens, not a religious minority. (Read the transcript.) The Armenians say they've been in Iran for hundreds of years. Many were brought by force, enslaved by Persian ruler Agha Mohammad Khan during his wars in the Caucasus. But now many claim Iran as their own. "We identify ourselves with Iranian society and nationality because Armenians have been living here for centuries and centuries," says Bishop Sebouh Sarkissian of the Archdiocese of Tehran. "Sometimes they call us religious minorities -- a word I've never liked, even hated, because we are not a religious minority. We are citizens of this country."
Citizens who, some say, have more privileges under the Islamic government than even Iranian Muslims. In the Armenian Club near the church, a more festive New Year's celebration is under way. Dozens of couples twirl around the floor, their hands held high in the traditional style of Armenian dance, with live music performed by a band brought in from Armenia specifically for the occasion. One man tells me, pouring a glass of Johnny Walker Red whisky over ice, "We have more freedoms than even the Muslims. They would never be able to do this." Christians are allowed to have alcohol in their homes and sometimes for holiday celebrations, but for the Muslim population it's strictly forbidden.
Others at the party agree, saying they don't face discrimination in Iran and can even travel more freely, usually to Armenia and to the United States. One woman is more circumspect about life for Armenians in Iran. "We have a little hole here in Iran," she says, "but we're very good at filling it with happiness."
Iran also has a Jewish minority, which at its peak numbered about 80,000. Shortly after the Islamic Revolution, many immigrated to the U.S. and some to Israel, leaving a community of about 25,000 today. Still, it is the largest Jewish community in the Middle East, outside of Israel. At the Jewish Community Center in Tehran, Dr. Unes Hammai-Lalehzar says the Jewish population has had its ups and downs, but he doesn't believe there's any discrimination from the general public. I ask him about the yarmulke he's wearing and if he is comfortable wearing it in public. "Most people here don't even know what this signifies," he laughs. "No, it's not a problem."
But I ask him if there's been any change in the climate since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent remarks both questioning the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map." He's clearly uncomfortable with the topic and says my questions are getting political. But I press him on it. "As far as daily life goes here, there hasn't been an impact on us," he says, "We don't see any difference in our lives. But maybe others feel differently." He continues, saying the Iranian government has made a clear effort to distinguish between Zionism and Judaism.
"Zionism is a political party that enjoys Jewish symbols and ideals, but it's not the same thing," he says. "The law that is being enforced in Israel is not Jewish law, it's not religious, its anti-religious." In the nearby synagogue, David Zakaria, who owns a rubber factory, agrees. "His comments were directed more to Israel as a political entity," he says of President Ahmadinejad. "I'm connected to Israel religiously, it's the Holy Land, but not politically." But even with that religious connection, Iranian Jews, along with the rest of the population, are not permitted to travel to Israel. And while they say they don't face discrimination from their fellow Iranians, Jews here can't be considered for jobs as teachers, unless they are teaching members of their own community. Government jobs, even junior level positions, are also off limits.
At least on the surface, the dominant Shia Muslim population seems, if anything, curious about their countrymen in the religious minority. Back at St. Sarkis Church on New Year's, Muslims Bahrehman Shaker and Jawad Dae-Zadeh have both brought their families, 20 people in all, to witness the Christian celebration, even though they don't know anyone in the Armenian community. "We just wanted to see," says Shaker. "We've been to [Christian] New Year's before in Australia with fireworks, but this is very different." "We want to share their happiness," says Dae-Zadeh, "and congratulate them on their Christmas."
#1
Iranian government has made a clear effort to distinguish between Zionism and Judaism =
If you behave like a proper dhimmi and pay jiziya, you'll be just fine.
#3
But I ask him if there's been any change in the climate since Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent remarks both questioning the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map." He's clearly uncomfortable with the topic and immediately pissed himself saying my questions are getting political as he bolted from the room.
When is it safe to release a captured Islamic terrorist from prison or detention? According to a top official of Canadaâs intelligence service, the answer is: never.
In public testimony at a court hearing in Ottawa last November, which got no attention south of the border, the senior Middle East analyst for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), identified only as âP.G.,â declared his agencyâs âbeliefâ that people who have joined militant ânetworksâ linked to Al Qaeda and affiliated Islamic movements âmaintain their ties, and their relationships to those networks, for very long periods of time. These ties are forged in environments where relationships mean a great deal, and it is our belief that the dedication to the ideology, if you will, is very strong, and is virtually impossible to break.â
In an official paper that he drafted outlining the serviceâs position on the release of alleged jihadi detainees held by the Canadian government under a controversial post-9/11 security procedure, P.G. wrote that âIndividuals who have attended terrorist training camps or who have independently opted for radical Islam must be considered threats to Canadian public safety for the indefinite future. It is highly unlikely that they will cast off their views on jihad and the justification for the use of violence.â The paper adds that âIncarceration is certainly not a guarantee that the extremist will soften his or her attitudes over time; quite the contrary. The Service assesses that extremists will rejoin their networks upon release.â
In a section of the paper carrying the subhead âOnce a Terrorist, Always a Terrorist?â, P.G. noted âthere have already been instances where released detainees have rejoined extremist groups ⊠At least 10 detainees released from the Guantanamo Bay prison after U.S. officials concluded they posed little threat have been recaptured or killed fighting U.S. or coalition forces in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and one of the repatriated prisoners is still at large after taking leadership of a militant faction in Pakistan and aligning himself with Al Qaeda.â
The CSIS paper cites several well-known cases as evidence that Islamic militants are likely to maintain, and even intensify, their extremist views and violent tendencies as a result of imprisonment. In one case, Allekema Lamari, an Algerian âextremist,â was released from a Spanish prison only to later mastermind the deadly March 11, 2004, bombing attacks on Madrid commuter trains. Then there are the cases of Ayman al-Zawahiri, who, the paper, says spent three years in an Egyptian prison for his involvement in the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, only to emerge as Osama bin Ladenâs principal deputy, and Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, the militant who spent seven years in prison in his native Jordan for extremist activities, only to emerge as self-proclaimed creator and leader of Al Qaedaâs ultraviolent affiliate in post-Saddam Iraq. The CSIS paper also pointedly notes that after serving half of an eight-year terrorism-related sentence in a French prison, Algerian Islamic militant Fateh Kamel returned to Canada; Kamel, the document says, once boasted: âKilling is easy for me.â
The CSIS paper and the testimony of P.G. were made public during court hearings on the detention of Mohamed Harkat, a former Ottawa gas-station attendant and pizza delivery man who was arrested by Canadian authorities in December 2002 based on information gathered by the CSIS. After 9/11, Canada instituted new antiterror laws that gave the government power to expel foreign terror suspects based on secret intelligence information and to jail them without trial pending deportation hearings.
Lawyers for Harkat went to court to argue that their client should be released on bail, subject to electronic monitoring by authorities and tight control over his activities, while officials examine whether it would be appropriate to deport him to Algeria, where some say he could suffer human-rights abuse. In a similar case involving an alleged Islamic militant from Montreal, a judge ruled that the suspect could be released on bail while deportation proceedings continued. In Harkatâs case, however, a judge ruled that the suspect must remain in prison.
Barbara Campion, a spokeswoman for the CSIS, said her agencyâs view is that Harkat is âsuch a threat that he shouldnât be releasedâ on bail. As to P.G.âs wider assertions that it was unsafe to ever release a jihadi militant, Campion noted that Canada only was detaining a handful of militants under its antiterror laws. She said that there might be a qualitative difference between the Canadian detainees (whom authorities believe could be truly dangerous terrorists) versus the hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo (many of whom were rounded up with Taliban forces in Afghanistan and may not pose a serious terrorist threat ).
While the Canadian government regarded them as dangerous, there might be a qualitative difference in the relative dangers posed by the release of the suspects held by Canada and the release by the U.S. government from the Guantanamo Bay detention center of captured suspects who fought with Taliban forces in Afghanistan rather than with Al Qaeda.
Two U.S. counterterror officials, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject, said that whatever the Canadians believe about the risks of releasing detained jihadis, the Bush administration was likely to continue to release detainees from detention who were not regarded as serious risks to resume terrorism, in full recognition that some of them might return to the battlefield.
Under cross-examination by Paul Copeland, a lawyer for Harkat, P.G. made statements which raised questions about the policies and procedures of the CSIS. For one thing, P.G. acknowledged that the information in his paper about how 10 detainees released from Guantanamo Bay had rejoined terror groups originated in a Washington Post story. Copeland noted that P.G.âs official paper omitted information indicating that the 10 suspects who re-offended were among 202 detainees released from the U.S.-run prison facility and asked why this figure was not in the paper. P.G. said that when he wrote the paper, âit did not seem as if [the 202 figure] was important for the paper,â at least in part because CSIS did not have information on what had happened to the other 192 suspects who had been released.
Copeland also asked P.G. if he had looked into whether any of the information that the CSIS had collected regarding Harkatâs alleged terror links had come from captured Al Qaeda leaders who might have been subjected to âtortureâ by foreign agencies that had held or questioned them. Copeland noted that the Canadian government stated that some of the information it used to build its detention and deportation case against Harkat came from Abu Zubaydah, the captured Al Qaeda training-camp chief who, according to U.S. news reports, may have been subjected to harsh treatment while in U.S. custody. (Zubaydah is believed to be currently held by the U.S. government in a secret CIA detention facility overseas.) P.G. told the court that while he was concerned about the possibility that some of the intelligence may have come from detainees who had been tortured, he had ânever, personally, asked any individual whether or not specific information was obtained under torture.â
CSIS spokeswoman Campion said that as a small agency, her service had to rely heavily on intelligence-sharing relationships with foreign intelligence services, and she insisted that it was CSIS practice not to rely on âsingle sourceâ information. She said that while the CSIS does âtake what weâre given,â the service is concerned about possible mistreatment of sources and âalwaysâ corroborates the information from multiple sources before using it against someone. She noted that earlier in the Harkat case, a judge ruled that because of concern that Abu Zubaydah may have been been mistreated, the court would ignore any information he supplied about Harkat. Nonetheless, the judge ruled there was sufficient other evidence for authorities to detain Harkat. Campion added that CSIS operations were subject to detailed and regular scrutiny by a government oversight panel called the Security and Intelligence Review Committee.
Apart from his pessimism about the possibility that jihadi suspects could somehow reform and be released back into society, P.G. predicted that Al Qaeda and related groups are likely to persist and prosper whether or not Osama bin Laden remains alive and at its helm. âIn this regard, we are in a no-win situation,â P.G. testified. âIf Osama bin Laden remains at large, he remains a rallying cry, and a symbol for his organization, and as a paragon, if you will, of resistance to the West. If Osama bin Laden is killed and/or captured, he becomes a martyr to the cause of Islamic extremism and the war against the West. I think in either case, Mr. Bin Ladenâs removal from the scene is irrelevant, in the sense that Al Qaeda has already set the standard for international Islamic extremism.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/19/2006 00:26 ||
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#1
Good post, Dan. Islamic sunnah requires emulation of the phony prophet. That fraud engaged in 59 known terror operations. Ergo: Muslims will emulate the founder of the cult. We either engage them with total commitment while we have overwhelming advantage, or buy Bush's nation-building snakeoil and aid and abet the enemy buildup.
The Officers Club blog has posted an account of the terrorist's effective tactics against helicopters. Hmmm...how could ambush bombs be planted without general public complicity? Deny.com Deny.com Deny.com
#2
does this mean Merkel is being too optimistic on the Guantanamo detainees? Or is she grandstanding?
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/19/2006 6:37 Comments ||
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#3
I imagine that the Liberal government listens to this gentleman about as well as they listen to the military heads of their sadly neglected Armed Services, which is to say, not at all. What sense of duty keeps such a man from throwing up his hands and moving south -- if the Conservatives don't win, they don't deserve to keep him.
#4
As with common pedifelia, recidicism for released islamic terrorists is documentably high. Not sure why this requires such an enormous leap of faith.
#5
If it is never safe to release captured Islamic terrorists then there is no point keeping them locked up - in fact it is counterproductive to keep them locked up (other terrorists grab hostages to try to trade for the prisoners). So Islamic terrorists should be tried, and if convicted sentenced to death and executed without delay.
House Democrats, led by liberal Michigan Congressmen John Conyers (who else), will hold unofficial hearings on the legality of President Bush's warantless wiretap programs Friday, and have added additional witnesses and congressmembers to their retinue. Which means every LLL moonbat is welcome to attend. Here is a sample:Among the more prominent witnesses include Bruce Fein, an Associate Deputy Attorney General under President Ronald Reagan, and James Bamford, an intelligence expert who has revealed details about the NSA spying project.
Also attending: George Washington Law School Professor Jonathan Turley, the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Director Caroline Frederickson, Director of the Center for National Security Studies Kate Martin, and the Truth Project's Richard Hersh. I wonder if this will be on Cspan? Last time was very entertaining. That is if you like watching the Democrats commits suicide on TV (which I do). I am taking bets the they will come to the conclusion that Bush:
1. Had no legal right to perforn the wiretaps.
2. Stole the 2000 and 2004 elections.
3. Lied about WMDs
4. Is a poopyhead.
#1
Since you guys have enough time to hold "unofficial hearings", maybe you have time to go make some sandwiches while the grownups discuss important things.
#8
Hell, the Dhimmidonks used the Library of Congress yesterday for their latest memery (The Culture of Corruption) campaign, though it is supposed to be off-limits for political BS. Gutless Partisan Lying Asstards.
#9
Why haven't we heard anything from Hillary on this? I think it's because she thinks she will be the next President and she doesn't want to be as limited in her Presidential powers as the Democrats want Bush. She knows Billy Bob did worse (his spying was on domestic calls) and she doesn't want to call attention to that. Al Gore, on the other hand, can scream to High Heaven that GWB is usurping the Constitution because he WONT be the next President. I also don't expect the MSM to ask Hillary her opinion on this as she would have to come down on GWB's side and that would further alienate her to the far left. I really think she has no chance of being the Democratic nominee.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/19/2006 19:59 Comments ||
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PRINCETON, New Jersey - US Sen. Hillary Clinton called for United Nations sanctions against Iran as it resumes its nuclear program and faulted the Bush administration for âdownplayingâ the threat. In an address Wednesday evening at Princeton University, a Democrat representing New York state, said it was a mistake for the United States to have Britain, France and Germany head up nuclear talks with Iran over the past 2 1/2 years. Last week, Iran resumed nuclear research in a move Teheran claims is for energy, not weapons. âI believe that we lost critical time in dealing with Iran because the White House chose to downplay the threats and chose to outsource the negotiations,â Clinton said.
But I thought going it alone and not involving the international community was being "unilateral"?
While Clinton was critical of the administration, she never mentioned the president by name and did not engage in the same sort of sharp rhetorical attack against him or other Republicans as she did earlier this week.
In her wide-ranging speech before some 800 Princeton students, staff and alumni gathered to inaugurate the new S. Daniel Abraham Visiting Professor in Middle East Policy Studies Chair in Middle East Studies at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Clinton addressed several hotspots in the Middle East. She spoke about the United Statesâ close ties with Israel and called on Palestinian leaders to help forge a new peace process - and to provide better service to the Palestinian people. She applauded nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for making recent gains in womenâs rights.
And Clinton called for the United States to reduce the number of American troops in Iraq, leaving a smaller strike force. âThis will help us stabilize their government and will send a message to Iran that they do not have a free hand despite their personal and religious connections,â she said. Clinton said that the United States has an important role in stabilizing the Middle East, in part because America offers a brand of optimism that can make a difference.
âHistory has weighed heavily on the Middle East. What we have tried to do over the last 30 years, starting with President Carter, moving through other presidents, including my husband, and now this president, is to send a uniquely American message: `It can get better. Just get over it.ââ
I don't know if I would have mentioned Jimmy Carter and Iran in the same speech, but I'm glad you did.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/19/2006 08:54 ||
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#1
She's been bleating about a lot lately, trying to raise her profile.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/19/2006 9:59 Comments ||
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#2
Her statement of a few days ago when she said the House of Representatives was run like a Plantation drew a some criticism from the more centrist members of the Democratic Party. She was playing to her true base, the really liberal Democrats. I think that was a very calculated statement to see just how much criticism she would get and it turned out to be not all that much. This statement was made to assure the more Centrist Democrats that she is not a falming leftie. She knows she can't win by being soft on Iran od the War on Terror and she also can't win by being waht the far left wants so she's trying to appear more to the center. I don't think it will work but who knows, they nominated Kerry the last time.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/19/2006 11:05 Comments ||
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#3
She is so clueless. The UN will never issue sanctions against Iran as long as China and Russia are getting oil and nuke development contracts. Never... If she was to exhibit any clue she would recognize that this situation can more likely be set up, as her husband did, just like Bosnia/Kosovo/etc., as a NATO action.
#7
TOMANON, I think she does know calling for sanctions is meaningless. This has nothing to do with actual reality and everything to do with political posturing. She can sit back and say the Bush Administration let Iran get nukes all the while ignoring the Democrat' insistance on letting Europe lead the way on this. The Media will forget all about how they villified Bush for doing things without "Our European Allies". This makes her appear to be tough on Iran. Appearance is everything.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/19/2006 11:46 Comments ||
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#8
"She is so clueless. The UN will never issue sanctions against Iran as long as China and Russia are getting oil and nuke development contracts"
in that case John Bolton and Condi Rice are clueless as well.
#9
Agreed, Liberalhawk. I don't think China would allow the Security Council to implement sanctions against Iran. Someone saying there should be is another matter. I still think this is posturing on Hillary's part.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/19/2006 14:18 Comments ||
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#10
Bullshit, lh. That's a novel form of moral equivalency - I'll give you the dubious credit for inventing it. BUT...
To draw the comparison you did is disingenuous and a slur upon two honest hard-working civil servants (real ones, go figure!) doing the incredibly thankless tasks for the President in the Tranzi Arena.
The entire current Tranzi Tower of Babble and Corruption must be consigned to history's dustbin - and it will be, just as previous failures. Many of us get it, have so for some time. Many more are beginning to get it. When enough get it, it will be gone. Until then, President Bush has to check off the boxes. Go figure, but he deals within the envelope of reality, unlike the brain-fartlet spewers.
As for your comment - well - to be blunt, such apparent naive trust in blatantly corrupt institutions and the intentional slander of good people in favor of blatantly partisan politicians is, at this point in time, an indicator of either purely partisan bullshit - or BDS.
Hillary is not Dr Rice, nor is she John Bolton. She's not in the same class - and never has been - by a long shot. She's a lying political partisan with a wet finger in the wind. She's a media whore who wants to be The President - cuz that's all that remains for such an ambitious example of the lust for power.
#11
I'm waiting for some wit to scam the kooky left that not only is Hillary demanding to go to war *now*, but that the rest of the kooky left support her.
That is "Hillary is leading the whole herd! Are you conforming, or not? ON TO WAR!" Just to see how many would knee-jerk instantly to call for war with Iran.
George Tenet, the former CIA director who assured President George W. Bush that finding unconventional weapons in Iraq would be a "slam dunk," will give his account of the conversation in a book to be published by HarperCollins, the publisher said on Wednesday.
The News Corp.-owned company said it agreed to publish a Tenet memoir that is tentatively entitled, "At the Center of the Storm." The release was expected late this year or early in 2007.
Representatives for HarperCollins and Tenet declined to discuss the deal's dollar value.
HarperCollins said the book would shed light on Tenet's role at the CIA during the agency's campaign against al Qaeda that started in the 1990s, the Sept. 11 attacks, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the rise of the Iraqi insurgency.
The book will also provide "the real context of Tenet's own now-famous slam-dunk comment" about Saddam Hussein's suspected prewar weapon of mass destruction cache, the publisher said. The expression, used originally to describe a basketball move, has come to mean something which can be achieved with complete certainty.
The "slam-dunk" quotation first surfaced in journalist Bob Woodward's book, "Plan of Attack," which portrayed Tenet as assuring Bush that finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq would be a virtual certainty.
The 2003 Iraq invasion was justified largely by intelligence that Saddam Hussein had such weapons. No such weapons were found, and the prewar intelligence effort has since been condemned by a presidential commission as one of the most damaging failures in recent U.S. history.
Tenet, who served under both Bush and former President Bill Clinton, resigned in July 2004 amid widespread criticism over intelligence lapses that also involved the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian award, in December 2004.
Tenet initially had a $5 million book deal with Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. But he postponed his publishing plans last March.
"He never entered into a contract with Crown," said Tenet spokesman Bill Harlow. "Then he decided to hold off to gain some perspective. Now he's ready and has decided he's most comfortable with the folks at HarperCollins."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/19/2006 00:21 ||
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SYCAMORE TWP. - Police and Metro officials remain stumped over the discovery of three homemade explosives found Monday on the seat of a bus. A video system on the bus, which might have yielded clues, wasn't working, officials said Tuesday.
The explosives could have seriously injured a passenger if they had exploded, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said. "They are like firecrackers on steroids," said Steve Barnett, a spokesman for the sheriff's office. "I wouldn't call it a bomb." The casing of each device, made of cardboard, was about 4œ inches long and Ÿ-inch in diameter. Each contained a high-grade flash powder, which could have exploded if exposed to a flame.
If the three devices had exploded together near or under a person, the blast could have caused severe injury or death, the sheriff's office said.
The explosives were found by the driver of Bus 946 after she parked it near the Dillonvale Shopping Center at the end of her route Monday evening. The bus serves the Montgomery Road corridor, including Kenwood Towne Centre, officials said. The sheriff's hazardous devices unit removed the devices after the driver notified authorities.
Bus drivers routinely inspect the buses looking for suspicious items, along with the usual lost sweaters, books and music devices.
They also have installed video cameras on buses. But the recording system for the four video cameras on Bus 946 was not working Monday, said Sallie Hilvers, a spokeswoman for the bus system. She said she hopes someone saw the person who dropped or intentionally left the explosives - and the witness will notify authorities. "All of us have been (wondering) why (explosives) would be set out in the middle of the seat," said Hilvers. "No one knows if it was intentional or accidental."
Hilvers said there is no reason to believe that riders of the bus system are in any danger. Metro received no threats related to the explosives found on the bus. "It is our position that (riding the bus poses) no different risk or concerns than people face in any public space these days, whether you are in a mall or a theater," Hilvers said.
I can't wait for my employer to relocate our offices. It's kinda nice to spend the commute time reading or sleeping, but at least my own car is IED free. That, and no more downtown...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/19/2006 9:32 Comments ||
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President George W Bush nominated former State Department spokesman Richard A Boucher as assistant secretary of state for South Asian Affairs on Wednesday. Boucher replaces the incumbent, Christina Rocca.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) directed the government on Wednesday to reply within three weeks to a petition challenging the ban on religious outfit Hizbut Tahrir. The bench admitted the petition for hearing and sought the government's response. The petition, filed by group spokesman Naveed Butt, said that the ban imposed by state authorities on the group was "illegal and unlawful". The group's counsel Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry said that Hizbut Tahrir is an international Islamic organisation active in 40 countries for the promotion of Islam through literature and conferences.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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This speech echoes many of Fred's themes; that public and private diplomacy go hand-in-hand with the public displays of brute force, that the old diplo structures are collapsing, that the US has to take on the unpleasant task of rethinking and revising our world relations, and that (not in Condi's speech) once again, GWB will have to endure three more years of the catcalls, giant puppets, and seething violent hatred directed at him by the anklebiters of the world. Go Condi!
Note: the speech is really too long to post in full here, but do try to go read the whole thing.
Over the past 15 years, as violent state failure has become a greater global threat, our military has borne a disproportionate share of post-conflict responsibilities because we have not had the standing civilian capability to play our part fully. This was true in Somalia and Haiti, in Bosnia, in Kosovo, and it is still partially true in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These experiences have shown us the need to enhance our ability to work more effectively at the critical intersections of diplomacy, democracy promotion, economic reconstruction and military security. That is why President Bush created within the State Department the Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization. Recently, President Bush broadened the authority and mandate for this office and Congress authorized the Pentagon to transfer up to $100 million to State in the event of a post-conflict operation, funds that would empower our reconstruction and stabilization efforts. We have an expansive vision for this new office, and let there be no doubt, we are committed to realizing it. Should a state fail in the future, we want the men and the women of this office to be able to spring into action quickly. We will look to them to partner immediately with our military, with other federal agencies and with our international allies, and eventually we envision this office assembling and deploying the kinds of civilians who are essential in post-conflict operations: police officers and judges and electricians and engineers, bankers and economists and legal experts and election monitors.
#1
Civic Action programs will only work or survive in an environment of military and political stability. If you do not control the countryside, it'll all be up your arsss in no time with lives, money, and effort wasted. A synopsis of US foreign aid over the past 10 years with the resulting country updates would be an intersting read. I suspect all those dollars and effort have changed very little.
The US is to reduce the number of its diplomats posted to Europe, and will send more to other countries, including China, India, Nigeria and Lebanon.
"Mon dieu!"
"America must begin to reposition our diplomatic forces around the world," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday. She said it was an anomaly that the US had the same staff levels in Germany as in India, more than 10 times the size. She said the redeployment would help foster democratic and economic change. Ms Rice told students at Georgetown University that President George Bush's administration was committed to "transformational diplomacy". The philosophy was an attempt "to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world," she said.
Even the tyrannies with the really good restaurants, ready cash, and willing wimminz?
"Transformational diplomacy is rooted in partnership, not in paternalism," she said, adding that it was based on "doing things with people, not for them."
Talk about a disturbance in the Force...a million International Relations students just screamed out in pain...
Although the state department has 7,440 diplomats in foreign countries, there are nearly 200 world cities of more than a million people in which the United States has no formal diplomatic presence, she said. "This is where the action is today, and this is where we must be."
#1
IIRC, the CIA went thru this a few years back. The howls of pain from Langley over the lost cushy postings reasons for being there were exquisite. It will be even worse with the Diplos from Foggy bottom. But it was/is necessary and past due.
Europe has become a backwater. The end of the cold war was the end of the last reason to pay much attention to the place. The Euros are contracting, not expanding. They are not a military threat. Most of "old Europe" has the smell of death on it. The trade issues will essentialy take care of themselves. We have higher priorities, like survival.
It may become an area of major interest in the future when the AlQ wannabees in the housing projects take over, and the various states like france becomes al-Franjistan for instance. But it won't be nearly as pleasant duty station then.
Posted by: N guard ||
01/19/2006 0:34 Comments ||
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#2
howls of pain from Langley
Yeah, and then the spooks tripped over each other to be the first to the phone booth to leak to the NY Times.
Can you imagine the leaks that will be flooding out of State?
#5
Europe has become a backwater. The end of the cold war was the end of the last reason to pay much attention to the place. The Euros are contracting, not expanding. They are not a military threat
It could be that Europe is not a military threat but it has some technology who could be put into bad guy hands. Chirak (may a million pigeons shit on him) is trying hard to provide Rafales (equal if not superior to the F15 or F16 between other things because it is 15 years newer) to the Chinese and while the Raptor is superior (between other things because it is 10 or 15 years newer) fighting a Rafale-equipped Chinese air force on Rafales will be _much_ harder than a Chinese air force flying the crap they are presently flying.
Isolationism is not a solution: while you don'ty pay attention the bad guys are forming a coalition that even America cannot defeat. The bastards like Chirac (may he die smothered by teh sit of amillion pigeons) are dreaming of an alliance withn China and Russia against you just like Hitler did with Japan and planned to create trouble in South-America. The solution is not isloationism but to do an ideological D-Day: land on the hearts and minds of Europeans and drive out the bad guys. The same that America slept while Bin Laden prepared 9/11, the same America has slept while both the leftists and teh Euro-supremacists (those who dream with Europe ruling the world) have been hard at work poisoning minds both in REurope but also in South-America.
But for that it is crucial that you first drive out of business the two bit "intellectuals" a la Chomski, Ward Churchill or Genocide Fonda who make big $$$ on denigrating America.
BTW: When I told America had to fight the ideological battle in Europe I was not telling you should reach for them and try to be like them otr other non-sense. More on the opposite: you should show them how the European way is in fact a scam aimed at keeping a self-appointed elite in power while the serfs strive to feed it and democracy is voided by pseudo-democratioc electoral systems.
Read this (magnificent) text about the conversion of a European into an American
#6
Maybe I should just start mainlining caffein as soon as I awaken.
You might want to reconsider that plan TW, as IV-coffee is a bad trip and way habit forming. Nine out of ten Drs. say you'll be driven on to the shoals of bacon and eggs no time.
#7
Not to worry, TW. We love you anyway, even if you do sometimes post when you're not quite awake. Would that was the worst commentary we'd see here on the 'Burg!
Posted by: mac ||
01/19/2006 9:57 Comments ||
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#8
Perhaps I should not have been so emphatic JFM. While diplomaticly and militarily Europe as a whole is yesterdays news, it does not mean that the U.S. is going to retreat into Fortress America.
Quite the contrary. We are going to be even bigger pests in the future than we are now. I was commenting on the fact that we have limited resources (manpower, money). So we will focus our efforts on the immediate problems that are trying to kill us.
Remeber, unlike the servants of the ruinous powers...er, fanatical Muslims, the various European states don't see the US as a existential threat. Just a major power to be managed. This relationship can be managed with fewer diplomats.
(Yes, I've been playing Warhammer 40k. Why do you ask?)
Posted by: N guard ||
01/19/2006 10:24 Comments ||
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#9
It was funny to watch/hear the Spooks go nuts about leaving Europe for other areas of the world. Funny because given the HUGE effort they had in Europe not one of them predicted or knew about the Soviet collapse. Most of the old gang probably blames Reagan/Bush for the Soviet collapse and their clueless ness. Personally I think they became so complacent that they had a working relationship rather than an adversarial one (which was their job). Heck most of them made careers writing political and military estimates on Soviet union rather than engaging in espionage against them. I still remember sitting in Hawaii reading a classified report about Gorbachavs âGreat moderationâ of the Soviet bloc into a modern economic and military power that would âcompete with the west well into the next century.â Too bad we canât get stuff like that declassified, because I bet that most of those soothsayers are the naysayers of today.
#10
Condi is just trying to reduce the State Department workforce. Transfers from Paris, Rome and Copenhagen to Thimbu, Bujumbura and Bishkek will generate some healthy turnover.
#12
RD, mac, you are darlings. I'll stick to getting my caffein the old fashioned way, as you suggest - room temp Diet Coke straight out of the can. ;-)
JFM, I wept reading Misha I's love letter to America. I commented, too -- you may need to vouch for me over there (please lie as necessary to give me a good character... mercy buckets!)
BAGHDAD â A mass grave containing the bodies of 22 people believed to have been killed during a failed Shia uprising against Saddam Hussein in 1991 has been found near one of Iraqâs holiest cities, security officials said on Tuesday. At least 12 people were killed in attacks across the country, including seven workers slain as they were preparing rations for the Iraqi army and one person killed in an attack on a Kurdish political partyâs office.
Security sources said the remains of 22 people had been uncovered near the holy Shia city of Najaf, where a number of mass graves have been found since the fall of Saddam in April 2003. They are believed to be victims of a violent repression by Saddamâs regime of a Shia uprising in 1991 following the Gulf War which ousted Iraqi invasion troops from neighbouring Kuwait. âThe remains were found by accident at a building site in the Kifl region on the road between Najaf and Kerbala,â one source said.
âA search is ongoing to find other bodies,â the source said, adding that at least five mass graves dating back to 1991 have been found in the region in recent years.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Lawyers for Iraq's former deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, have asked Italy and Croatia to consider granting him asylum if he is released from U.S. detention, officials in both countries said Wednesday. The Italian and Croatian foreign ministries both confirmed receiving letters from Aziz's Italy-based lawyers asking if either government would be willing to grant him asylum. Aziz's family and lawyers have said he is in very poor health, and have petitioned several countries to accept Aziz for medical treatment if he is released. The Italian ministry said officials were evaluating the letter. In Croatia, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said his nation "will in no way" grant Aziz, 69, asylum, the state-run news agency HINA reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
consider granting him asylum if he is released from U.S. detention
Now that's a textbook example of wishful thinking, that is.
Mahmoud Abbas says he is ready to hold peace talks with Israel, but is warning that he might resign his post if the Palestinian parliament, to be elected on 25 January, opposes his platform.
When he resigns, will anybody notice?
The Palestinian president said talks with Ehud Olmert, Israel's acting prime minister, should be held as soon as possible. "I am ready to meet him as soon as possible and I hope to sit round the negotiating table immediately," Abbas said in Ram Allah on Wednesday. "The only way we can forge peace is through negotiations and not through killings, assassinations, attacks and unilateral measures."
However, Hamas, which has spearheaded the resistance against Israel in recent years, is expected to make a strong challenge to Abbas' ruling Fatah party and earn a place in the next government. A coalition government involving Hamas could make it difficult for Israel and the Palestinians to restart long-frozen peace efforts.
Yeah, and a gas tank full of sugar could make it difficult to start my car...
"If I feel that I can't fulfil this programme ... then the seat is not my ultimate ambition," Abbas said, referring to his post as Palestinian president. Abbas's comments came after Olmert said on Tuesday he hoped to resume negotiations with the Palestinian leadership after Israel's general election on 28 March.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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"meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/19/2006 0:12 Comments ||
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'ABBAS READY TO QUIT' - Just do it, though i will miss the pics of him on LGF if he fades away
Posted by: Shep Uk ||
01/19/2006 5:45 Comments ||
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#3
NOBODY is able to take the place of Arafat's mug, and Abbas is a poor replacement, Shep. However, with every change, there is a potential for improvement. It's just that, for Palestinians, "improvement" is best defined by a Clintonista language expert.
#4
"The only way we can forge peace is through negotiations and not through killings, assassinations, attacks and unilateral measures."
What went unmentioned is the fact that he's unwilling or unable to meet the ONE demand that would probably get the ball rolling - disarming and dismantling terr groups on his territory.
"If I feel that I can't fulfil this programme ... then the seat is not my ultimate ambition," Abbas said, referring to his post as Palestinian president.
Well hell, he should step down today then. If he can't/won't do anything about Paleo terrorism, then he's useless.
People will be banned from carrying guns on 25 January when Palestinians go to the polls in general elections, under an agreement between Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction and its main rival in the election, the radical Islamist group Hamas. The announcement was made on Wednesday at a joint news conference in Gaza by senior officials from the two organisation - Fatah's Samir Mashharawi and Hamas' Saeed Seyam. The 25 election day should be a ''a celebration of democracy" the men said, warning that any Hamas or Fatah militant who did not comply with the order would be expelled from their respective movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
The 25 election day should be a ''a celebration of democracy"
SD Business News - WOT good News; EFL, pic at link
In a series of flight tests this week, a robotic helicopter developed in San Diego landed aboard a Navy warship while it was steaming off the Maryland coast near Patuxent River.
The tests marked the first time an unmanned helicopter has landed aboard a moving Navy ship with no pilot controlling the aircraft, according to Northrop Grumman Corp. The Los Angeles defense contractor made the two Fire Scout helicopters used in the flight tests at its unmanned systems business in Rancho Bernardo.
The landings demonstrate that robotic aircraft could still become a valuable weapon for the Navy, which has yet to embrace unmanned aircraft with the same enthusiasm as the Army and Air Force.
The Predator unmanned plane, which was also developed in San Diego by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, has gained widespread praise for the role it has played in U.S. military operations in Iraq. Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk, also created in San Diego, has served more of a strategic role as a globe-girdling, high-altitude spy plane.
In the same vein, the Fire Scout could prove to be a major new source of revenue for Northrop Grumman, which plans to build a fleet of Fire Scouts at a new plant near Moss Point, Miss.
Fire Scout MQ-8b
Company: Northrop Grumman
Length folded: 22.87 feet
Rotor diameter: 27.5 feet
Height: 9.42 feet
Gross weight: 3,150 pounds
Speed: More than 144 mph
Ceiling: 20,000 feet
Flight time: More than 8 hours, with standard payload
Flight time: More than 4 hours, with 500-pound payload
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/19/2006 19:04 ||
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Cool!
Life is goooood. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/19/2006 20:29 Comments ||
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THE Indonesian military used starvation as a weapon to exterminate the East Timorese, according to a UN report documenting the deaths of as many as 180,000 civilians at the hands of the occupying forces.
The 2500-page report, obtained by The Australian, has been suppressed for months by the East Timorese Government and will infuriate Indonesia, which has punished only a handful of soldiers for the murders, assaults and rapes that occurred during its 24 years of occupation.
Napalm and chemical weapons, which poisoned the food and water supply, were used by Indonesian soldiers against the East Timorese in the brutal invasion and annexation of the half-island to Australia's north, according to the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation report.
The violence culminated in the 1999 reprisals for the independence vote, when the Indonesian military and its militia proxies rampaged through East Timor, killing as many as 1500 people and destroying most of the towns.
The report blames the Indonesian Government and the security forces for the deaths of as many as 183,000 civilians, more than 90 per cent of whom died from hunger and illness.
It claims Indonesian police or soldiers were to blame for 70 per cent of the 18,600 unlawfull killings or disappearances between 1975 and 1999.
Based on interviews with almost 8000 witnesses from East Timor's 13 districts and 65 sub-districts, as well as statements from refugees over the border in West Timor, the report also relies on Indonesian military papers and intelligence from international sources.
It documents a litany of massacres, thousands of summary executions of civilians and the torture of 8500 East Timorese - with horrific details of public beheadings, the mutilation of genitalia, the burying and burning alive of victims, use of cigarettes to burn victims and also ears and genitals being lopped off to display to families.
Thousands of East Timorese women were raped and sexually assaulted during the occupation and the report concludes that rape was also used by the Indonesian military as a weapon of war.
"Rape, sexual slavery and sexual violence were tools used as part of the campaign designed to inflict a deep experience of terror, powerlessness and hopelessness upon pro-independence supporters," the commission found.
The deaths amounted to almost a third of East Timor's pre-invasion population.
The report found that after taking into account a peacetime baseline mortality rate, the number of East Timorese whose deaths could be directly attributed to Indonesia's deliberate starvation policy was between 84,200 and 183,000 people from 1975 until 1999.
East Timor, one of the world's poorest nations, with a population of just over one million people, had a pre-invasion population of 628,000.
The Indonesian security forces "consciously decided to use starvation of East Timorese civilians as a weapon of war", the report says.
"The intentional imposition of conditions of life which could not sustain tens of thousands of East Timorese civilians amounted to extermination as a crime against humanity committed against the East Timorese population."
A culture of impunity prevailed in the occupied territory and "widespread and systematic executions, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and sexual slavery was officially accepted by Indonesia", the commission found.
"The violations were committed in execution of a systematic plan approved, conducted and controlled by Indonesian military commanders at the highest level."
The report, due to be handed by East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan tomorrow, also criticises Australia for its long-term de jure recognition of the Indonesian occupation and its failure to try to prevent the use of force in East Timor.
It recommends reparations from Indonesia and the members of the UN Security Council, including Britain and the US, who gave military backing to Indonesia between 1974 and 1999, as well as those nations that provided military assistance to Jakarta during the occupation, including Australia.
The report will worsen the already noxious reputation of the Indonesian military, which has largely escaped punishment for human rights crimes in East Timor. All bar one of the accused at the Indonesian tribunal on East Timor was acquitted or found innocent on appeal.
The commission carefully notes that many of the Indonesian military officers who played key roles in the occupation have since been promoted and details their ascension in the military.
The report said many of the current senior members of the Indonesian military "could be held accountable" for the violations in East Timor.
Titled Chega!, which means "Enough!" in Portuguese, the report is one of the most detailed and comprehensive of its kind ever compiled.
Sponsored by international donors, including Australia, and 3 1/2 years in the making, the report was given to Mr Gusmao in October. But he is only now preparing to publicly release it.
It is understood he was both concerned about offending East Timor's giant neighbour and worried the report's detailed and trenchant criticism of the resistance - which also summarily executed and tortured civilians, particularly in the 1970s - could lead to social and political anarchy.
A former resistance hero, Mr Gusmao prefers reconciliation with Indonesia over seeking justice for the occupation. He said on Tuesday he would present the report to Mr Annan in New York tomorrow.
Former Syrian Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam, who resigned and defected to France in June 2005, discusses the role of the current president in the Hariri murder case, the establishment of a government in exile and the possible end of the Damascus regime...
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began a visit to Syria Thursday to consolidate an old alliance made increasingly crucial as both countries face mounting U.S. pressure and the threat of international sanctions. Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad were expected to talk about Iran's standoff with the West over its nuclear program and the threat to refer it to the U.N. Security Council, as well as Syria's own troubles over a U.N. investigation that implicated it in the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister.
Bilateral economic, industrial and cultural agreements also were expected to be discussed during the two-day visit. Syria is Iran's closest Arab ally. The two countries have had close relations since 1980 when Syria sided with Iran against Iraq at the start of the Iran-Iraq war. On the eve of the visit, Ahmadinejad described bilateral relations as "strong and good." Both countries share to a certain extent similar foreign policy objectives: opposition to what they describe as U.S. attempts to dominate the Middle East, hostility toward Israel and support for Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups fighting the Jewish state.
Ahmadinejad's visit comes at a very delicate time for both nations. Iran's insistence to proceed with its peaceful nuclear activities have raised great concern in the European Union and the United States, which have been pushing for referring the issue to the Security Council, a first step toward possible sanctions.
Syria faces international accusations of failing to fully cooperate with the U.N. investigation into last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Investigators have implicated Syrian officials and now want to interview Assad and his foreign minister. Damascus has denied any role in the killing.
Syria sits on the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency board, which meets on Feb. 2 for a vote on whether to refer Tehran to the Security Council.
Ahmadinejad on Wednesday accused the West of acting like the "lord of the world" in denying his country peaceful use of nuclear energy. But the United States and other countries are suspicious that Iran is planning on develop nuclear arms.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 11:29 ||
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I predict this Ahmadinejad guy is gonna go a long way. He's got an incredibly bright future, brighter than a thousand suns.
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton called for United Nations sanctions against Iran as it resumes its nuclear program and faulted the Bush administration for "downplaying" the threat.
She either hasn't been paying attention or she thinks the public hasn't. My guess is "yes" to both.
In an address Wednesday evening at Princeton University, Clinton, D-N.Y., said it was a mistake for the United States to have Britain, France and Germany head up nuclear talks with Iran over the past 2 1/2 years.
Why? Bush got criticized when he didn't let the Euros take the lead, now he's getting criticized when he does.
Last week, Iran resumed nuclear research in a move Tehran claims is for energy, not weapons. "I believe that we lost critical time in dealing with Iran because the White House chose to downplay the threats and chose to outsource the negotiations," Clinton said.
Ooooh. Outsourcing. Bad. Republicans do that.
While Clinton was critical of the administration, she never mentioned the president by name and did not engage in the same sort of sharp rhetorical attack against him or other Republicans as she did earlier this week.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 09:37 ||
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the left line is that we shouldnt have outsourced negotiations to the Euros, cause WE should have been offering goodies to the Iranians ourselves. The right line, found here and elsewhere, is that we shouldnt have outsourced to the Euros, cause that gave the Iranians time, and wasnt tough enough (see Krauthammers latest) Hillary of course is trying to appeal to BOTH, which isnt easy, God bless her.
But bottom line, shes caling for sanctions, which the left is not doing.
Maybe not "the most uncompromising wartime president ..." but still doing the right thing.
#3
the left line is that we shouldnt have outsourced negotiations to the Euros, cause WE should have been offering goodies to the Iranians ourselves. The right line, found here and elsewhere, is that we shouldnt have outsourced to the Euros, cause that gave the Iranians time, and wasnt tough enough (see Krauthammers latest) Hillary of course is trying to appeal to BOTH, which isnt easy, God bless her.
But bottom line, shes caling for sanctions, which the left is not doing.
Maybe not "the most uncompromising wartime president ..." but still doing the right thing.
I know that you (like myself) have your political favorites, but she isn't going to get the nomination. It will be Bill Richardson or someone like that.
#4
LotR, I skimmed it yesterday. My epigrammic summary of the 322 pages of wonkery is: Thank G*d we are not the ones who have to make the call.
Seriously, unless there is an internal revolution (unlikely), we are going to **have** to invade and change the regime. The only question is, will this be before or after a city somewhere gets nuked.
Posted by: N guard ||
01/19/2006 10:40 Comments ||
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#5
After.
You can bet on that.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/19/2006 14:09 Comments ||
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#6
LotR, this one is beyond my ability. I got past the title page to the table of contents, then gave up. Fortunately, Nguard is cleverer than I.
The United States and Europe, seeking Russia's help in bringing Iran's nuclear activities before the United Nations Security Council for review, have assured Russian officials that they are not pressing for sanctions against Iran right now, American and European diplomats said Wednesday.
The diplomats said that instead they were pursuing a limited effort to convene a Security Council debate and send the matter back to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear monitor, for further efforts to get Iran to suspend uranium activities that the West suspects are part of a nuclear weapons program.
"We are not seeking a sanction mechanism at this moment," a European diplomat said. "We are pursuing a gradual approach. We are trying to tell Iran that what the I.A.E.A. is telling them is exactly what the Security Council thinks. It's an empowering process for the I.A.E.A."
European diplomats said the Council could act either by passing a resolution or by allowing its president to issue a declaration in its name.
The West's incremental approach is a response to Russian and Chinese reluctance to press for immediate sanctions, despite their concern that Iran has broken its commitment to suspend uranium enrichment activities. The Russians and Chinese say they do not want Iran to retaliate by breaking off talks and forcing international inspectors to leave the country.
On the other hand, some diplomats eager to press Iran on nuclear matters said they were concerned that the steps being contemplated might be too small to be taken seriously in Tehran.
The diplomats who described the situation, from several nations, spoke on the condition of anonymity so that they could speak more freely while the negotiations continue.
The Bush administration has said for two years that its ultimate objective is to bring Iran before the Security Council for possible censure or sanctions. But it has proceeded slowly, deferring to European efforts to negotiate. That deference is still part of the American approach despite Iran's recent actions.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, after meeting with Javier Solana, the chief European Union envoy, said Wednesday that "it is now important for the I.A.E.A. board of governors to act so that Iran knows that the international community will not tolerate its continued acting with impunity against the interests of the international community."
Afterward, Mr. Solana said the Europeans and the United States were considering a Russian proposal presented as an alternative to the possible referral of Iran's case to the Security Council by the atomic energy agency. The Russian proposal was to have the Security Council take up Iran, but without a formal "referral" from the agency.
Whether or not there is a formal referral from the agency is technical but significant, Mr. Solana said. Without a referral, the Security Council could debate the matter but not consider sanctions.
"A referral to the Security Council is in itself a very important decision," Mr. Solana said, suggesting that the Russian idea did not go far enough. He said that there was "nothing fundamentally wrong" with the Russian idea but that it implied too much of a delay.
"Referral means something which has legal consequences for the relationship of this dossier to the Security Council," he said.
The European and American approach has been codified in a draft resolution to be presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency for possible adoption at an emergency meeting on Feb. 2. The Western timetable is for Iran to be "referred" at that meeting and then considered at the Security Council and then referred back to the atomic agency.
The Russian proposal, by contrast, calls for no formal action by the atomic agency on Feb. 2, but some kind of debate at the Security Council in February, possibly with the agency director, Mohamed ElBaradei, taking part. Then the agency could take up the subject of Iran in March.
American and European officials said they did not feel comfortable putting off the entire matter until March. Iran, many Western experts say, is perhaps only a year or two away from developing the capacity to operate centrifuges that enrich uranium and take other steps enabling it to make a nuclear weapon.
Mr. Solana and Ms. Rice also reiterated Wednesday that they would not accept Iran's latest offer to talk about its nuclear program unless it returned to a full suspension of its uranium enrichment activities.
It was Iran that effectively cut off negotiations by breaking the moratorium on enrichment, Ms. Rice said, adding, "As that condition exists, I am sensing from the Europeans that there's not much to talk about."
Britain, France and Germany, also representing Europe, have engaged in talks for a year with the objective of persuading Iran to suspend and then shut down its uranium processing and suspected weapons-making activities in return for economic, political and security benefits from the West.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/19/2006 00:08 ||
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NY Times - salt lick ready?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/19/2006 0:14 Comments ||
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Just one of those open ended resolutions saying âunspecified consequences if this resolution is brokenâ kind of resolution will do just fine.
PARIS: Using military force against Iran to prevent it pursuing its nuclear programme would be 'completely mad', the chief of France's defence staff said on Wednesday. General Henri Bentegeat said the idea of Iran possessing a nuclear weapon was 'a real nightmare' but added that the way for a negotiated solution remained open.
Which of course the Mad Mullahs⢠will do because they're so reasonable and all ...
"I don't think it would be reasonable to envisage military action against Iran to prevent it having this nuclear programme," Bentegeat told Europe 1 radio. "That would create a dreadful drama in the Middle East ... I think that at the moment it would be completely mad," he said. "Maybe one day we will get to that point. But today it is exclusively the diplomats who are having their say." "There are still paths of negotiation which have not been explored," Bentegeat said. "Russia in particular is offering help to find a solution to the problem."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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... "Maybe one day we will get to that point... let's just wait till a military action would be even madder when Iranians start feeding coordinates into their target batch!
#5
I don't agree with the General but .... Besoeker, I wonder if you really are advocating punching women who walk by at work - which is what your link showed.
Beirut wants U.N. peacekeepers to stay in southern Lebanon at least through January 2007, it said on Tuesday, promising in the meantime to keep trying to extend its own authority to the South. The request for the mandate of the U.N. force to be prolonged to Jan. 31, 2007, came in a Jan. 11 letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan from Lebanese U.N. envoy Ibrahim Assaf. The letter was circulated at the world body on Tuesday.
The mandate of the 2,000-strong U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, will expire July 31 unless it is renewed by the U.N. Security Council. The 15-nation council is to discuss the mission in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday. Annan and the Security Council have pressed Lebanon's government to extend its authority across the South since Israel pulled out of the region in May 2000, ending 22 years of occupation.
After the Israeli withdrawal, the militant group Hizbollah dominated the area, profiting from a power vacuum there. Hizbollah guerrillas have since sporadically clashed with Israel forces. Hizbollah last year entered into the Lebanese government, the first formed since a September 2004 Security Council resolution demanding that all armed groups on Lebanese soil be disarmed and dismantled. Largely as a result of that U.N. resolution, neighboring Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April 2005. But the new government has shied from trying to disarm Hizbollah, which has strong popular support.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Iran said yesterday it was confident US-European efforts to refer it to the UN Security Council will fail amid reluctance from Russia, China and Arab countries to take the step. Iranian president chided the West, saying it should deal with Iran with more "logic."
They seem pretty convinced the fix is in. Sammy was, too...
But Iran's attempts to resume negotiations on its nuclear program met rejection from Europe and the United States. France insisted Iran must first suspend its newly resumed uranium enrichment activities before any talks can be held. "Iran must return to a complete suspension of these activities," Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau said in Paris. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, also rejected any return to talks, which Europe called off after Iran ended its freeze on enrichment research earlier this month. "There's not much to talk about," Rice said during a photo session at the State Department with Solana.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Iran said yesterday it was confident US-European efforts to refer it to the UN Security Council will fail
Oh.
O.K.
So we won't bother then.
So what's after sanctions? Did we just skip a step?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/19/2006 20:39 Comments ||
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The recently-appointed governor of the Iranian central bank, Ebrahim Sheibani, has confirmed reports of a possible transfer of Iranian state deposits away from European banks. Iranian website Rooz-on-line reported on Wednesday that Tehran was considering shifting funds deposited in European banks to financial institutions in Asia, in particular South East Asia. It noted that the move followed the decision by the EU negotiating team (France Britain and Germany) to press the UN's atomic watchdog to refer Iran's nuclear case to the Security Council.
Surely they don't think the Euros are handling them with kid gloves for any reason other than large sums of cash? Why take away the club they've been using to beat them?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Punishment for recent strong words wafting from the EU3. Note that they are "warning" of a "possible" funds xfer.
#2
I take it that Switzerland, not a member of the EU, has no reason for concern. I wonder how the Swiss investigation of U.S. human rights abuses is coming?
British author Salman Rushdie said the West had failed to grasp the extent to which Islamic extremism was rooted in men's fear of women's sexuality.
I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that Islam isn't a religion, but a sexual fetish.
Rushdie told German weekly magazine Stern that his latest novel, "Shalimar the Clown", dealt with the deep anxiety felt among many Islamic men about female sexual freedom and lost honor. When asked if the book drew a link between "Islamic terror and damaged male honor", Rushdie said he saw it as a crucial, and often overlooked, point.
I think we've pretty much reached concensus here that it is crucial. We probably started arriving at that conclusion when we saw out of the left eye the Islamists jumping up and down and rolling their eyes and waving guns while they hollered about their "dignity and honor," while out the right eye we saw the Arab and Pak husbands/brothers/cousins/relatives/passersby either slaughtering women and girls in horrible manners, or slicing their noses or lips off, or splashing them with acid, or simply beating them to a pulp regularly, also in the name of "honor." Bill Quick, a long time ago, opened the discussion on "honor-shame" cultures, and his observations still remain valid.
"The Western-Christian world view deals with the issues of guilt and salvation, a concept that is completely unimportant in the East because there is no original sin and no savior," he said, in comments printed in German. "Instead, great importance is given to 'honor'. I consider that to be problematic. But of course it is underestimated how many Islamists consciously or unconsciously attempt to restore lost honor."
Not to mention the differences in the definitions of "honor." Islamic "honor" is not the same as Western honor. I'd also add for discussion the closely related lack of recognition on the part of proper Islamists of the concept of romantic love...
When asked why he probed the issues in his new novel in the context of a love triangle, he said: "It has a lot to do with sexual fear of women."
We're discussing a religion where it's haram for married folks to look at each other's pee-pees...
Rushdie, 58, said that much of the anger toward the West was provoked by that split on sexual issues. "(It is) because Western societies do not veil their women. Because they do not defuse this potential danger," he said.
And men aren't expected to be able to deal with the danger.
The Indian-born Rushdie, who lives in New York with his fourth wife Padma Lakshmi, told Stern that he has lived without security protection for seven or eight years. "I go where I please," he said. "I went to India often in the last few years, which I enjoyed."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/19/2006 00:56 ||
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bomb em with porn?? The mark 1 xxx clusterfck munition showering the target with porno vids!
Posted by: Shep UK ||
01/19/2006 5:29 Comments ||
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hold on hold on, shouldnt Rushdie be dead by now???? WTF they've been trying to get him for as long as my mind can remember. they cant even get an Author??? lol lol
Posted by: Shep UK ||
01/19/2006 5:31 Comments ||
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Perhaps a wider distribution of "Brokeback Mountain" will help quell the deep confusion in the male Arab world.
Buggery has always been a feature of middle eastern Arab male culture. Lack of access to females often means that young Arab males play with each other, often finding in other males their first sexual experiences.
#8
TAF: Buggery has always been a feature of middle eastern Arab male culture. Lack of access to females often means that young Arab males play with each other, often finding in other males their first sexual experiences.
My feeling is that this isn't widespread, and more or less an urban legend tied to the fact that many Middle Easterners of the same gender hold hands - something we see as having sexual significance that isn't in the Middle Eastern context. Middle Easterners take heterosexuality seriously - the punishment for sodomy in many Muslim countries is death. And that's just the law. In many Muslim countries, private killings of gays in gruesome ways isn't something the Taliban invented.
#9
So there's no such thing as gay middle-easterners!
Posted by: Rafael ||
01/19/2006 23:07 Comments ||
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Well, I can say that it is common in Saudi. It's no UL there. For example, it is common knowledge in al Khobar, in the news yesterday for the kid with the offensive car window sticker, that after last prayer the homosexuals congregate in the al Tamimi Safeway parking lot. Not sure when it began, exactly (didn't see it in 1992, but did in 2000), but most of the expats learned to get their shopping done during daylight hours - usually during that (approx) 1 hr gap between the 4th and 5th prayers - or wait until the "weekend" of Thur & Fri. I saw this little social phenom myself and asked Saudi acquaintences what was up. They laughed and told me it was the local meat market. I presume the "cops" know, too, but must leave it alone unless there's something flaunted.
BTW, these guys were the lucky ones - good jobs at Aramco, married, they made it. Untrue for those without their good fortune, the vast majority, who will not be able to wed until their mid-30's - a fact also confirmed by these guys. It's good to be King and it's good to be connected - which a job at Aramco requires.
The hypocrisy is beyond obvious and homosexuality is as common there as hetersexuality is here in the US. I ran across a couple of guys in the hallway at the Gulf Hotel in Manama, Bahrain - there were couches conveniently distributed at various points in the hallways. They didn't skip a stroke.
Same as the ritual that developed at the mall with the girls dropping little pieces of paper with their cell numbers through the atrium opening to the boys below. That's not puishable by death, of course, but it, too, is obviously against Shari'a.
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 senior United Nations official says the international community's top priority should be forcing a peace deal in Sudan's troubled Darfur region. 
A militant group attacking oil installations in the Niger Delta has said it will widen its range of targets to include more multinational companies. So far, only Royal Dutch Shell has admitted to being attacked by the group, which is holding four of Shell's foreign oil workers hostage. But the group said on Wednesday it had now attacked platforms operated by Total and Agip - which both denied having been attacked - and said that it also intended to target Chevron. The 
Nigerian officials have made contact with an armed group holding four foreign oil workers in order to negotiate their release, Information Minister Frank Nweke has said. Separatist militants seized the four men - an American, a Bulgarian, a Briton and a Honduran working for subcontractors to the energy giant Shell - on January 11 and have vowed not to release them until their demands are met. 
Bangladeshi security forces committed serious abuses in 2005 including extra-judicial killings and torture of detainees, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday in its annual report. âThe countryâs human rights record, already of pressing concern, worsened as Bangladesh security forces continue to commit abuses including extra-judicial killings, excessive use of force and custodial torture,â the US-based organisation said.
LONDON - Britain believes the CIAâs reported secret transfer of terrorism suspects to foreign countries for interrogation is illegal, according to a leaked government document published on Thursday. The Foreign Office memo says the practice, known as extraordinary rendition, âcould never be legalâ if the detainee is at risk of torture, according to extracts printed in the Guardian newspaper. It adds that British cooperation âwould also be illegal if we knew of the circumstancesâ, according to the newspaper.
PRINCETON, New Jersey - US Sen. Hillary Clinton called for United Nations sanctions against Iran as it resumes its nuclear program and faulted the Bush administration for âdownplayingâ the threat. In an address Wednesday evening at Princeton University, a Democrat representing New York state, said it was a mistake for the United States to have Britain, France and Germany head up nuclear talks with Iran over the past 2 1/2 years. Last week, Iran resumed nuclear research in a move Teheran claims is for energy, not weapons. âI believe that we lost critical time in dealing with Iran because the White House chose to downplay the threats and chose to outsource the negotiations,â Clinton said. 
âHistory has weighed heavily on the Middle East. What we have tried to do over the last 30 years, starting with President Carter, moving through other presidents, including my husband, and now this president, is to send a uniquely American message: `It can get better. Just get over it.ââ 
Lawyers for Iraq's former deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, have asked Italy and Croatia to consider granting him asylum if he is released from U.S. detention, officials in both countries said Wednesday. The Italian and Croatian foreign ministries both confirmed receiving letters from Aziz's Italy-based lawyers asking if either government would be willing to grant him asylum. Aziz's family and lawyers have said he is in very poor health, and have petitioned several countries to accept Aziz for medical treatment if he is released. The Italian ministry said officials were evaluating the letter. In Croatia, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said his nation "will in no way" grant Aziz, 69, asylum, the state-run news agency HINA reported.
People will be banned from carrying guns on 25 January when Palestinians go to the polls in general elections, under an agreement between Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction and its main rival in the election, the radical Islamist group Hamas. The announcement was made on Wednesday at a joint news conference in Gaza by senior officials from the two organisation - Fatah's Samir Mashharawi and Hamas' Saeed Seyam. The 25 election day should be a ''a celebration of democracy" the men said, warning that any Hamas or Fatah militant who did not comply with the order would be expelled from their respective movement.
PARIS: Using military force against Iran to prevent it pursuing its nuclear programme would be 'completely mad', the chief of France's defence staff said on Wednesday. General Henri Bentegeat said the idea of Iran possessing a nuclear weapon was 'a real nightmare' but added that the way for a negotiated solution remained open. 
The recently-appointed governor of the Iranian central bank, 
