Becase the last few have been so-o-o successful ...
Taliban fighters heavily occupy parts of Helmand province and must be confronted, a NATO official says, adding to recent indications that major battles are looming as spring arrives in Afghanistan. Violence flared yesterday as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization struck back at a Taliban leader who had broken a peace deal in a district of Helmand, killing him with an air strike.
That'll teach him ...
A suicide bomber attacked a Canadian convoy in Kandahar later in the day, and a pair of gunmen on a motorbike killed a pro-government religious leader in the heart of the city. It was a return to the kind of daily incidents that southern Afghanistan witnessed in the fall, before the onset of the cold, damp winter. Insurgent activity fell sharply after Canadian troops led an offensive in September, code-named Operation Medusa, pushing thousands of Taliban out of entrenched positions near Kandahar city.
Colonel Mike Kampman, the Canadian chief of staff for NATO in southern Afghanistan, hinted in a recent interview about one of the next flashpoints: the northern Helmand River valley. "The situation on this piece of ground is a pre-Medusa type of scenario," Col. Kampman said, pointing to a map and running his finger along the blue line that runs north from the town of Gereshk to the river's source at Kajaki Lake.
There is as yet no confirmation of the deaths of targeted al-Qaeda suspects who may have been killed in recent fighting in Somalia, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in an interview published in the Financial Times on Monday. Meles told the business daily that though bloodied papers had been found belonging to Aden Hashi Ayro, a militant suspected by the United States of protecting leaders of an east African al-Qaeda cell that bombed US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, reported sightings of him suggest he is alive.
The Prime Minister also said that Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Hassan Turki, two leaders of the Islamic Courts Union - a hard-line Islamist party that implemented Sharia law in the parts of Somalia it controlled - were "alive and moving in and out of Kenya on the border.
We do not have definite information on a number of the key al-Qaeda targets. There are reports that one or two of them might have died but we have no confirmation, Meles was quoted as saying by the FT. Meles said that the United States was assisting with DNA testing on suspects killed in the fighting. He also dismissed talk of an escalating Islamist insurgency, saying: If the TFG (the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government) manages to pull off the plans it has for national reconciliation... then the remnants of the Islamic Courts and international jihadists will be politically marginalised.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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A KEY suspect in the £53 million Securitas robbery could be heading back to the UK in a swap deal with authorities in Morocco, it has been reported. Lee Murray, 29, travelled to the North African country after the raid - Britain's biggest-ever cash robbery - last February. It has now been reported Mr Murray could be returned to Britain in exchange for suspected terrorist Mohamed Karbouzi, who lives in London, and is wanted for questioning over bombs that killed more than 40 people in Casablanca in 2003.
Derek Parker, Mr Murray's solicitor, said: "We know that during this meeting the Moroccan delegation requested the extradition of Karbouzi. I have been told by a legal source in Morocco that Lee is likely to be extradited, but we don't know when."
A spokeswoman for Kent Police would not comment on reports of the swap deal, saying only: "Extradition proceedings are underway." Eleven people charged with robbery and kidnapping over the Tonbridge robbery are due to go on trial at the Old Bailey on April 16.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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Mr Murray could be returned to Britain in exchange for suspected terrorist Mohamed Karbouzi, who lives in London, and is wanted for questioning over bombs that killed more than 40 people in Casablanca in 2003.
Hopefully living in a confined space with guards.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
02/06/2007 3:28 Comments ||
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Sounds like a win-win, but I am sure there will be wrenches available for the throwing...
The treason trial of Nigerian oil militant Mujahid Dokubo-Asari is due to start shortly at the Federal high Court in the capital, Abuja. He was arrested in 2005 after calling for the oil-producing Niger Delta to secede from the rest of Nigeria. A BBC correspondent says the government is under pressure to release Mr Dokubo - a key demand of those who have staged a wave of attacks on oil facilities. Last year, Nigeria lost some $4bn because of unrest in the Niger Delta. Mr Dobubo's lawyers are expected to ask for his release on bail. The BBC"s Senan Murray says there is tight security outside court, with a truckload of riot police on standby in case of any trouble. But he says there are no demonstrators.
Last week, Nigerias Army Chief of Staff Major General Andrew Azazi, who is from the Delta, met some oil militants, who repeated their demand for Mr Dokubos release if the violence is to stop. They also want former Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha to be freed - he is accused of corruption and money laundering. The militants often attack oil installations and kidnap oil workers for ransom. Last year, such attacks cut Nigerias oil output by some 20 percent.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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To:
From: Mrs. Olga Dokubo-Asari
Date: 2007-02-06 18:33 GMT
Re: DISPARATE PLEAD FOR HELP
I AM MRS. OLGA DOKUBO-ASARI, WIFE OF MUJAHID DOKUBO-ASARI. MY HUSBAND IS UNDER ARREST AN FACING EXECUTION BY THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA. BEFORE HIS ARREST, MY HUSBAND DEPOSITED THE SUM OF TEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($10,000,000.00US) WITH A REPUTABLE SECURITY COMPANY IN BATTLE AXE, MICHIGAN. I NEED YOUR HELP IN INVESTING THIS SUM IN YOUR COUNTRY. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
02/06/2007 8:11 Comments ||
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That's BATTLE CREEK.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2007 10:28 Comments ||
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That, or BAD AXE.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/06/2007 10:36 Comments ||
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Yemen is prepared to grant political asylum to a top Somali Islamist leader, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kerbi said Monday, as other officials predicted that Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed could arrive within 24 hours. Speaking to reporters, al-Kerbi said that Sheik Ahmed "has not officially asked for asylum yet, but if he applies we will not abstain from accepting." Sheik Ahmed told The Associated Press last week he planned to leave Kenya, where he fled in January, soon, once he had received a formal invitation from the Yemeni government.
On Sunday, al-Kerbi met with the U.S. ambassador to Kenya and said they discussed the latest developments in Somalia and efforts being exerted to hold a reconciliation meeting. Sheik Ahmed is expected to arrive within the coming 24 hours, a foreign ministry official and a security official said.
Sheik Ahmed was the chairman of the Executive Council of Islamic Courts and shared the leadership with Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is a U.S. list of people with suspected ties to al-Qaida, though he has repeatedly denied having ties to international terrorists. Sheik Ahmed is not known to be wanted by U.S. authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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Kenya,
Please send him to Yemen in a body bag.
Thanks,
TFG
Ethiopia
US Marines
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/06/2007 13:28 Comments ||
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"To the last drop of blood", right, Sheiky?
Yeah, ya didn't say it was necessarily gonna be yours though, right. That Jihad shit's for the "little people"...
A FRENCH Muslim convert suspected of plotting to attack an Australian nuclear power station goes on trial on terrorism charges in a Paris court today.
Willy Brigitte faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of association with criminals involved in a terrorist enterprise by the main Paris criminal court.
Prosecutors allege Brigitte, 38, and Sajid Mir, his co-accused who will be tried in absentia, considered targeting a nuclear power station or another high-profile facility near Sydney.
"He will plead his innocence," Brigitte's lawyer Jean-Claude Durimel said. "He denies being a terrorist, a potential terrorist, or having prepared any attack whatsoever or wheresoever."
Brigitte has spent almost 3-1/2 years in preventive detention since he was extradited to France in October 2003 following his arrest in Australia.
The case against Brigitte is based on documents found at his Sydney home, an investigation by Australian authorities into suspects linked to the Frenchman and testimony to French police by an Islamic militant, who later withdrew his allegations.
Australia's chief spy said Brigitte had been "almost certainly involved" in activities aimed at harming the country. Australia has been targeted by militant Islamic groups because of its role alongside US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Group of campers"
At the time of his arrest, Brigitte was working in a local restaurant and was married to Melanie Brown, a former Australian soldier and also a convert to Islam.
Brigitte, who comes from the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe, told French police he had gone to Australia to rebuild his life after turning his back on radical Islam.
But Australian authorities said a search of his Sydney home produced documents linking him to Pakistani Islamic radicals recruiting volunteers to fight in Kashmir, disputed by India and Pakistan.
According to the French investigation, Brigitte travelled to Yemen in 1998 and 1999, and then to Pakistan, staying in fundamentalist religious centres.
Back in France, they say he led the so-called "group of campers" that conducted military-style training in Fontainebleau Forest near Paris and the Normandy region in the late 1990s.
Several members of the group were among those convicted in May 2005 of providing logistical support to the assassins of Ahmad Shad Masood, the leader of the Northern Alliance killed on the eve of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Two group members died fighting with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and a third was captured by U.S. forces and held without trial in the U.S. military jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
A FRENCH court will debate the extent of free speech versus religious sensitivities today as Muslim groups sue a satirical magazine that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.
The Grand Mosque and the Union of French Islamic Organisations accuse Charlie Hebdo of inciting racial hatred by reprinting the Danish caricatures that sparked violence in the Muslim world last year.
Politicians, intellectuals, secular Muslims and left-wing pressure groups have lined up behind Charlie Hebdo, arguing that Muslim groups have no right to call for limits on free speech.
"I just cannot imagine the consequences not only for France but for Denmark and Europe if they lose the case," Fleming Rose, the Danish editor who first published the cartoons said.
"It would turn back the clock decades, ages."
However, an opinion poll on Tuesday showed 79 per cent thought it unacceptable to ridicule a religion publicly and 78 per cent ruled out parodies of Jesus Christ, Mohammad or Buddha.
"Are the French rediscovering the sacred?" asked the Catholic weekly Pelerin which published the poll. "Are they renouncing the critical spirit that has inspired a French tradition since Voltaire and the Enlightenment?"
The poll showed the French split over whether religious leaders should sue their critics in court.
The Paris court will hear the case today and tomorrow, and issue its ruling at a later date.
The cartoons, originally published in 2005 in the Danish daily Jyllens-Posten, provoked protests in the Muslim world that left 50 people dead. Several European publications reprinted them as an affirmation of the right to free speech.
A televised debate between Charlie Hebdo publisher Val and Paris Grand Mosque rector Dalil Boubakeur broke down in acrimony after they squabbled over the boundaries of free speech.
Courts defend free speech
"Democracy works by criticising ideologies, including religious ideologies. If we can't criticise religion anymore, there will be no women's rights, no birth control and no gay rights," Val said in the raucous TV debate.
Mr Boubakeur said the controversial cartoon showing Mohammad with a bomb in his turban was not simply satire, but an insult against all Muslims by suggesting they were all terrorists.
"We don't want censorship, we don't want the sacred to be protected by blasphemy laws or medieval jurisdiction," he said.
Mr Boubakeur said last week he wanted to show that reprinting the cartoons was a provocation equal to acts of anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial, which are both banned under French law.
Courts in France, which observes a strict separation of church and state in the public sphere, have repeatedly defended free speech rights against religious objections.
The Catholic Church failed in recent years to win court injunctions against a film poster with a cross formed like a swastika and a fashion ad with scantily clad women posing like Jesus and his Apostles in Da Vinci's painting The Last Supper.
Long Chicago Tribune exclusive about a Polish airfield supposedly used for renditions.
SZYMANY, Poland -- At the end of a narrow lane that slices deep into the pine forests of northern Poland, a sign in four languages improbably announces that you have arrived at an international airport. The 6,500-foot runway--long enough to land a Boeing 777--lies under a blanket of snow. No planes have landed here in months, and the front gate is locked.
But in late 2002 and 2003, there was a flurry of unusual activity at Mazury-Szczytno International Airport, a former military facility that happens to be near a Polish intelligence training complex where European investigators suspect the CIA maintained a secret interrogation and detention facility.
Planes began arriving from Afghanistan, all of them registered to American companies. Most of the planes were Gulfstreams, twin-engine jets popular with corporate executives. One was a Boeing 737. These jets would park at the far end of the runway, where they would be met by government vehicles. The planes would stay no more than an hour or two before taking off. Their onward destinations were also unusual: Morocco, Uzbekistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"Everything was unusual, from beginning to end," said Mariola Przewlocka, who was the airport's manager from 2003 until 2005, when her job was eliminated. "I was told to accept these flights even when the airport was closed."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2007 08:21 ||
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Let's hope those flights were filled to capacity.
Posted by: ed ||
02/06/2007 8:46 Comments ||
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The idea this is news is ludicrous. First, my only objection would be if the security services were not doing this sort of thing. Second, this is yet another example of the press doing its level best to compromise national security.
This will continue for exactly as long as we fail to hang these "journalists" as the traitors they are.
#3
An "unusual" woman Mariola Przewlocka, a medaled veteran of the Âåëèêàÿ Îòå÷åñòâåííàÿ âîéíà, Velikaya Otechestvennaya Voyna, who also speaks fluent Russian and takes copious notes. "I was told to accept these flights even when the airport was closed, and I always do what I am told."
#4
So just how does the airport 'hold clues?' Did Columbo go out and take plaster csts of the tires and then compare the tread to all known or suspected CIA-owned aircraft? Any photographs exist to support tail numbers?
In reality is is nothing more than a Polish Drag Strip with a realllly long shut down area.
"So did you ever hear of Herouxville before this?" asked Carole Casabin, who's tending bar at Pub 842, a convivial watering hole just down the main street from the town hall.
"No? I didn't think so. But a lot of people have heard of us now."
And so they have. Little Herouxville, a village of 1,300 in Quebec's Mauricie region, has been in the news worldwide since its town council adopted a set of standards aimed at immigrants, spelling out what is acceptable comportment in the municipality and what is not.
What grabbed the most attention is that the list includes a specific prohibition against stoning women in public and burning them alive and an interdiction against face covering, except at Halloween - measures clearly aimed at Muslims, even though the town is almost entirely old-stock Quebec francophone and there isn't a single Muslim resident.
Andre Drouin, the town councillor who instigated the measure, raised the ante on the weekend when he appeared on a popular Quebec TV talk show and called on the provincial government to declare a state of emergency to protect Quebec culture from distortion by foreign pressures.
The Herouxville initiative has elicited considerable support, but has also exposed the town to ridicule from others.
Yesterday, Premier Jean Charest, reacting to Drouin's latest sortie, said the furor has gone too far and is provoking dangerous excesses in the current debate in the province over what accommodations for immigrants are reasonable in Quebec society.
Drouin, however, was unrepentant at a council meeting last night, where the council unanimously stood by the initiative and called on Charest to take action on setting rules for immigrants that would apply to the whole province.
"It's what the people want," Drouin said.
"There are 95 per cent of people in Quebec who want this. Now it's up to him to act."
Drouin said he has received hundreds of supportive phone calls from residents and more than 5,000 emails from all over.
He insisted Herouxville is not an isolated case.
"It's a world problem.
"What we did seems to have pulverized the planet. We took a decision and the planet is surprised. All we're doing is standing up and saying this is who we are."
The Muslim Council of Canada and the Muslim Forum of Canada have threatened to lodge a formal complaint with the provincial human rights commission that the Herouxville measures are in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights.
But the happy hour crowd at Pub 842 is enthusiastically in favour of the initiative, and revelling in the town's newfound notoriety. The bar was buzzing yesterday with talk about the publicity it has generated and about who was on what TV network.
Yves Trudel, who runs a bed and breakfast in the town, says the rules laid down by the council are a preventive measure that others, notably Montreal, should consider.
"For them, it's probably too late to adopt a code of behaviour because things have gone too far. Here, we're saying this is the way it is and you respect it. This is our home, we're at home here and this is the way we do things here.
"Some people are calling us Heroville," he added, confiding he had an appointment later with a correspondent from the French newspaper Le Figaro.
Steve Lafontaine, a local electrician, said if others aren't following suit, it is because they are afraid to speak up and stand up for the Quebecois way of life.
"Some others aren't going along because they get subsidies from the government that they don't want to get cut off. All the big cities are the same."
"The people who are laughing at us don't want to say what they they really think," said Pierre-Luc Seguin, a construction worker. "But a lot of others are for what we're doing.
"There was a guy here from Montreal last week who wanted to buy a Herouxville flag. He said we've got guts here. He wanted to put it up on the Jacques Cartier Bridge."
Donald Masicotte, an electrician in training, said he doesn't feel strongly about the issue one way or another.
"I don't think we're going to have Muslims moving here en masse the week after next," he said. "But it's causing a lot of talk. Anyone from outside moving here is more likely to be European."
The council initiative was also heartily applauded by the two dozen local residents who attended last night's meeting.
The only critical voice was from Lise Larivee, who agreed with its overall purpose but found some of the proposed rules were misdirected.
"I'd like to know how many women have been stoned in Canada since it was founded," she said. "It was hardly sophisticated. It made us look like racists."
Louise Trudel, who also attended the meeting, insisted there is nothing racist about the Herouxville initiative.
"I have nothing against immigrants, I know a lot of immigrants. But at one point there has to be a limit to accommodating them. If they came here, it must be because they like the way we live.
"We took our religion out of everything, the schools, the government. Why should they try to bring in theirs?"
The most common attitude in town is foursquare behind the council initiative.
"You either do catch-up or you do prevention. We're doing prevention," said Claude Veillet, a retired police officer. "We don't want this to turn into a tower of Babel."
Herouxville Mayor Martin Perigny said he fully supports Drouin's initiative and is delighted with the publicity that has rained down on the town.
"It's great," he said last night. It's been like a bomb.
"I hope we've woken up the government and that they'll do something now."
#1
"What we did seems to have pulverized the planet.
"I do not think that word means what you think it means."
try "Polarized"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2007 10:19 Comments ||
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The Muslim Council of Canada and the Muslim Forum of Canada have threatened to lodge a formal complaint with the provincial human rights commission that the Herouxville measures are in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights.
These barbarians are convinced that in Canada, telling people NOT to stone women to death is construed as a violation of their human rights. Sadly, they may prove to be correct.
#3
The Herouxville declaration is only in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights, if that charter is the Koran. It'll come to that later.
By the way, what race are Muslims?
#4
"I'd like to know how many women have been stoned in Canada since it was founded," she said. "It was hardly sophisticated. It made us look like racists."
And the citizens of Herouxville want to KEEP it that way, ya stupid biddy.
Louise Trudel, who also attended the meeting, insisted there is nothing racist about the Herouxville initiative.
"I have nothing against immigrants, I know a lot of immigrants. But at one point there has to be a limit to accommodating them. If they came here, it must be because they like the way we live.
"We took our religion out of everything, the schools, the government. Why should they try to bring in theirs?"
#5
The Muslim Council of Canada and the Muslim Forum of Canada have threatened to lodge a formal complaint with the provincial human rights commission that the Herouxville measures are in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights.
Wow.
Just. Wow.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/06/2007 11:53 Comments ||
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Andre Drouin, the town councillor who instigated the measure, raised the ante on the weekend when he appeared on a popular Quebec TV talk show and called on the provincial government to declare a state of emergency to protect Quebec culture from distortion by foreign pressures.
Need to do that in many, many other places including U.S. We have such a bunch of pansies in the U.S. government.
#8
Louise Trudel, who also attended the meeting, insisted there is nothing racist about the Herouxville initiative.
"I have nothing against immigrants, I know a lot of immigrants. But at one point there has to be a limit to accommodating them. If they came here, it must be because they like the way we live.
"We took our religion out of everything, the schools, the government. Why should they try to bring in theirs?"
Ptah : Damn straight! DITTO! DITTO!
Ms. Trudel proves that there are still a few clear headed Canadians...
A bipartisan resolution repudiating President George W. Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq failed to advance in the U.S. Senate on Monday, dealing a serious setback to critics of the war. The resolution needed 60 votes before the 100-member Senate could begin debate, but it got only 49, with 47 voting against.
The proposal, sponsored by Senators John Warner(R-VA) and Carl Levin (D-MI), fell victim to partisan wrangling over the limits and terms of the Iraq war debate. While in theory the measure could still be revived, the way ahead was unclear.
#1
I suppose this is good, but in my mind it makes them all double pussies - once for proposing the resolution in the first place and twice for not having the stones to go thru with it. Our country is at war. Lead, follow or get out of the way.
#3
I heard on the news that Worming Warner voted AGAINST his own bill! Props to the GOP for standing their ground UNITED even though I don't support their message. Maybe now that they realize they have this power they might use it for good and not bad.
#4
Reid couldn't garner a majority to cut off filibustering, much less the 60 votes necessary. This was all about Reid's refusal to allow debate and votes on alternatives. He's failed his first leadership 101 course test...heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/06/2007 11:50 Comments ||
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I'd rather they did debate it, I dearly want to see the Dems fall flat on their face with a big, very public SPLAT.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2007 13:07 Comments ||
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The Republicans wanted a much broader debate, which the Democrats refused. Hence the vote to shut down an artificially limited debate. Senator Reid thought he could whip everyone into his line... and he failed. Failed Leadership 101 indeed!
Republicans blocked a full-fledged US Senate debate over Iraq on Monday, but Democrats vowed to find a way to force President George W. Bush to change course in a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis. "We must heed the results of the November elections and the wishes of the American people," said Harry Reid, leader of the Democratic majority.
Reid spoke moments before a vote that sidetracked a nonbinding measure that would express disagreement with Bush's plan to deploy an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq.
The political jockeying unfolded as Democrats sought passage of a nonbinding measure, supported by Republican Sen. John Warner, that was critical of the administration's new Iraq policy. It is the first time Democrats scheduled a sustained debate on the war since they won control over Congress in last fall's congressional elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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Republicans block cloture which ends debate on an issue.
#4
This article is false. Jackal is correct. The Donks wanted to bring two resolutions for a vote, The Trunks wanted to open the issue for more discussion and the introduction of more resolutions.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/06/2007 9:09 Comments ||
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#5
And, yet, when the Donks blocked the President's judicial nominees, does anyone remember it being called "blocking full-fledged debate"?
Naw, I thought not. Jeebus, we're gonna have to shoot some "reporters" before this thing's all over and done with, I'm afraid.
Posted by: BA ||
02/06/2007 9:17 Comments ||
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#6
I saw AP's headline and the blatant propaganda it was. Goddamn seditionists.
#7
I think the Republicans should spend the next 2 years blocking EVERYTHING. I mean everything. Shut Washington down. Don't let so much as a $50 appropriation pass through the congress. Obfuscate, deviate, deflect, delay, frustrate, block, filibuster, table, do whatever it takes. Fuck the dems.
Besides, 2 years of Congress doing nothing? Sounds good to me. It's when they are actually doing something that I'm afraid.
#8
#2: Gee, if you can't get your resolution passed, maybe you could compromise to get a different one passed, instead of whining about it?
Ummmm, no, whining is an integral part of being a Democrat, you take that away and they'll explode from the pent up internal pressure. (yeah, I know, what's the down side of that? Besides having to clean up the floor and walls, I can't think of one)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2007 10:26 Comments ||
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FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) - The judge in the case against the first U.S. officer court-martialed for refusing to ship out for Iraq barred several experts in international and constitutional law from testifying Monday about the legality of the war. Because this isn't an international or consitutional case
1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, of Honolulu, is charged with missing movement for refusing to ship out with his unit, the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He also faces charges of conduct unbecoming an officer for accusing the Army of war crimes and denouncing the administration for conducting an "illegal war" founded on "lies."
As the court-martial got under way, military judge Lt. Col. John Head excluded virtually all the planned defense witnesses. Head previously ruled that Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz, could not debate the legality of the Iraq war in court. No Soapbox for YOU!!!
If convicted, Watada could receive four years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. He has requested that his case be heard by a military panel of officers, the equivalent of a jury. hmmm... I've heard this was a dumb idea...
At one point, Seitz suggested Head could be committing judicial misconduct if he denied Seitz an opportunity to ask panel members biographical questions to determine any bias. "If you are going to tie my hands and you are going to script these proceedings, then in my view we're all wasting our time," Seitz said. I WANT MY SOAPBOX! GIMME! GIMME! GIMME!
The judge said Seitz would be allowed time to question panel members individually. Panel selection began in the afternoon, with the defense and prosecution questioning a pool of 10 officers: a colonel, two lieutenant colonels, three majors and four captains.
Seitz appeared intent on discovering whether any members had any preconceived notions on officers who have refused to deploy with their units, and based on that, whether they felt any soldier who did should be removed from the military. In addition to questions about their educational background and hobbies, Seitz asked what, if anything, they had read or seen about Watada's case and whether they would be compelled to administer a certain kind of punishment based solely on the charges if his client were to be convicted.
Potential panel members also were asked if there was anything about Watada's actions that, given their own experience, would affect their ability to remain impartial while hearing the case.
Ultimately, seven of the officers were selected to serve on the panel.
Although other officers have refused to deploy to Iraq, Watada is the first to be court-martialed. In 2005, Army Sgt. Kevin Benderman, an enlisted man, served 13 months in prison and was given a dishonorable discharge after refusing to go to Iraq. Stupid reporter. Even I know 'enlisted man' != 'Officer'
Outside the base, a small group that included actor Sean Penn demonstrated in support of Watada. A few others demonstrated against him, including one man who carried a sign calling Watada a "weasel."
Watada, who joined the Army in March 2003, has called the Iraq war "a horrible breach of American law" and said he has a duty to refuse illegal orders. I mean like I thought we were going to pick flowers or something......
Army prosecutors have argued that Watada's behavior was dangerous to the mission and morale of soldiers in Iraq. "He betrayed his fellow soldiers who are now serving in Iraq," Capt. Dan Kuecker said at one hearing.
On Tuesday, prosecutors were expected to call on at least three witnesses as they try to prove that Watada's speech amounted to misconduct. Seitz said late Monday he would call two witnesses, Watada and a character witness, an Army captain who has known Watada for about two years. The captain has been brought back from service in Iraq to testify, the lawyer said. Might be entertaining watching him get shot down when he tries to use the proceeding as a soapbox.
#1
Figures, this character is supported by "movie war hero" Sean Penn. The only combat Penn has seen was when he was beating Madonna.
As far as Watada goes, he has just proven his word is no good. He needs that 4 years and a DD. Just another spoiled brat.
#3
OMG. Head is a judge?! I was once one of his prosecutors, and he's an incompetent choad. Took him three tries to get promoted to LTC. Sounds like he's doing okay so far, but keep your fingers crossed, folks.
Posted by: Uncle Sam ||
02/06/2007 1:01 Comments ||
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Although other officers have refused to deploy to Iraq, Watada is the first to be court-martialed.
Then go find the other "officers" and court-marial them as well. Lead by example! Lead from the TOP! Quit buggering rankers and letting the "officers" off!
#6
Seitz appeared intent on discovering whether any members had any preconceived notions on officers who have refused to deploy with their units
Um, I dunno about anyone else, but I damn well hope US officers have preconceived notions about other officers who refuse lawful orders.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/06/2007 6:39 Comments ||
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#7
...I am SO waiting to see this twinkie cracking rocks in Leavenworth. Mr Watada (I will NOT give him the dignity of the rank he's disgraced) made a whole bunch of mistakes here:
* Trying to turn the CM into a platform for speaking out about the war. That got tried at all the Abu Ghraib CMs and it got swatted down hard.
* Hiring a civilian lawyer. If you're catching one for something like murder or assault, yeah - get a civilian. Something like this - these guys are always out of their depth. They think it will be like a civilian trial where they can pretty much do anything they want, and it sure as hell don't work like that in a military courtroom.
* The jury vice the judge. That was a REMARKABLY dumb move. When the UCMJ says 'jury of one's peers', they mean in this case commissioned officers - and that does'nt mean he'll get 6 Lieutenants. They'll find six hardened combat officers (probably with some Purple Hearts in there) who will want nothing more than Mr Watada's a*s on a flagpole.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/06/2007 7:00 Comments ||
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#8
Watada's father is a longstanding leftie moonbat. It's interesting that young Watada joined the Army in March 2003.
#9
SR-71, Watada is also a moonbat, and signed on with the intent of disobeying orders to create a propaganda spectacle exactly like this. I don't have the links/refs offhand, but his commie friends have written about the scheme publicly on their blogs. They're delighted: witness the protest outside the gate. They're not protesting, they're attracting attention, so that Watada's long-term gamble gets as much publicity as possible.
#11
Last night's (NBC) KING 5 news had two heart-warming human interest stories as the lead off articles:
first one was about a man who saw his neighbor's house on fire, broke in and pulled the elderly (sleeping) man to safety.
the second started out : "...the day did not go well for Watada's defense...." and then detailed all the stuff excluded.
These warmed the cockles of my heart...
They contrasted nicely with the web site reports from the papers and the other TVs: all over "poor widdle El Tee....."
I hope Ex JAGs fears re: the judge are unfounded this time by.
#12
I really hope they call members of his squad to testify on how he BETRAYED their trust and left them hanging. To me nothing else would send a stronger message to the panel. I hope they make a BIG deal about flushing this turd into Levenworth for at least ten long ones.
#14
To be precise - Fort Leavenworth and its military confinement facility, not Leavenworth which is home to a large federal penitentiary which is just south and west of the main gate from Ft. Leavenworth. If he went to the civilian one, you could probably get odds of his life expediency from Vegas.
#17
As I remember, his beef's with Iraq. There's still a minor skirmish going on in Afghanistan, or so I've heard . Call his bluff and send him there. He can run a one man border outpost up near the Big Wazoo. Send his lawyer and his old man along to keep him company.
#18
Saw some Lefty on Fox at noon carrying on about how he is a True American Hero. If I'd been next to her I'd have dope-slapped her. Disgusting. Crying about the Judge not allowing any "debate" over whether or not the war is legal. That's not the issue. He swore an oath, signed on the dotted line, and now doesn't want to pay the mortgage. 3 years at hard labor and a dishonorable discharge.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/06/2007 15:57 Comments ||
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#19
Spot on Deacon. A contract is a contract and he should be in prison. Then for shits and giggles deport his family.
FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) - A soldier was found guilty Monday of deserting her Army unit on the eve of its deployment to the Middle East and was sentenced to three months in military prison.
A guilty plea by Spc. Melanie McPherson, a 28-year-old reservist from Tofte, Minn., to going absent without leave was superseded by a military judge's ruling on the more serious charge of desertion. McPherson told the judge she hitchhiked to Minnesota after leaving Fort Bliss the day before her unit was to leave for Kuwait, in July.
McPherson was also reduced in rank to private and will receive a bad-conduct discharge after her prison term.
Trained as a military photojournalist, McPherson said she left because she was afraid she would eventually be deployed to Iraq as a truck driver or military police officer. She said she feared that if she were sent to war as anything other than a photojournalist, she would endanger herself and those around her. McPherson also pleaded guilty to missing her deployment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
That also makes it a federal felony conviction. Sorta shuts a number of doors on her future. However it opens new ones, like going on the commie leftist lecture circuit as a sock puppet stooge and running for Senator in Massachusetts which is basically the same thing.
#3
Can we get Air America to pay her for an interview, that'll kill two birds with one stone, nobody will listen to her, and it'll drive AA further into debt?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2007 10:35 Comments ||
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#4
This is all making headlines around the country, but a Colorado Springs enlisted man was found guilty of being AWOL, and faces up to 10 months and a BCD. He was scheduled to go back to Iraq for the second time in December, 2004. Note that most of these desertions occurred in 2004, about the time of the Presidential elections. I guess these idiots all thought John sKerry would be elected, and they'd be pardoned. Bunch of bleeping cowards...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/06/2007 13:47 Comments ||
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#5
Compare her comments Re; fear of getting hurt with those from a PH1 (Navy 1st Class Petty Officer) recently quoted in the Whidbey News-Times. She not only did her photojurnalism duties, but also provided armed cover for her shipmates on the streest in Iraq.
She received, either a Silver or Bronze Star (cannot remember, sorry) for her actions, but declared that she wasn't any sort of hero, just doing her job.
NEW DELHI: India is fencing and installing floodlights on the Indo-Pak border at a fast pace, and Home Minister Shivraj Patil is leaving for a two-day visit to Gujarat and Rajasthan to inspect the pace of work, according to a Home Ministry spokesman.
The spokesman said here on Friday that of the 310 kilometres of the international border in Gujarat to be fenced and floodlit, 207 kilometres had been fenced and flood lights had been set up along 178 kilometres.
He said the union home minister was inspecting border outposts in the two states, and Patil would also inspect work on border fencing in the Bhuj district of Gujarat. The fencing is part of Indias ambitious project to seal its entire 1,800-mile border with Pakistan.
Even as India embarks on a peace process with Pakistan, expedited work on fencing the border with Pakistan is in progress. The spokesman said that at most places, fencing along the Line of Control had been repaired. The construction of fences began in the late 1980s in the state of Punjab.
Posted by: john ||
02/06/2007 06:23 ||
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#1
And it is fencing the Indo-Bangla border as well.
With the Maoists taking over in Nepal, that border will also need fencing.
India really got the pick of the litter when it came to neighbors.. Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka.
I'm betting they get so fed up that they'll mine their borders
Posted by: john ||
02/06/2007 6:29 Comments ||
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#2
It seems that security fences are all the rage nowadays.
#4
A Hindu ex-pat MD once explained to me that India in ancient times was like the "United States" of the world, unified, politically stable and wealthy. All those unsavory neighbors brought it down over the centuries.
#5
India has two choices - be constantly vigilent, fence its borders, and control the flow of militants; or conquer their surrounding neighbors and put a stop to the threat permanently. They will attempt the first alternative until that collapses, then will reluctantly go with the second. This will require they keep their foot on the necks of all muslims and communists, which will be tiring but will work.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/06/2007 13:50 Comments ||
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#6
Actually, there is a third option, OP : going Roman on your neighbors. A few example villages and things might just settle down along the borders. And since the Indians are dark-skinned Third Worlders, they won't get the bad press that any Western state would.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2007 While the situation in Iraq is challenging, it is winnable, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Fox told a group of online journalists and bloggers yesterday during an operational update by telephone. Fox, who has flown combat and contingency missions over Iraq in Operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom, is now communications director for Multi-National Force, Iraq.
Sectarian violence is now the gravest threat to our strategic objectives in Iraq, and to be honest, Iraq is a more complex strategic problem entering 2007 than it was this time last year, he said. However, he noted, hes seen cause to believe the struggle is winnable.
I draw hope from the fact that we are joined, not opposed, by the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people in this struggle, Fox said. In polling conducted in November, 89 percent of Iraqis nationwide agreed with the statement: My first loyalty is to my country rather than my sect, ethnic group, or tribe.
Fox said hes pleased to be working in partnership with the liberated people of Iraq as they work to build a stable, secure, and self-governing country. The fact that more Iraqis are joining police forces is cause for optimism, he said.
In December, 1,115 Iraqi men signed up to join the Police Forces. To put this in context, Fox said, eight months ago we had zero recruits from Ramadi. In one month, over 600 tribesmen in Ramadi alone qualified for enlistment."
In December, he added, Multinational Force officials restored responsibility for security in Najaf Province to Provincial Iraqi Control. Last week, Iraqi forces in Najaf detected and assessed a significant security threat, realized they were outnumbered and facing an entrenched enemy, and did exactly what American forces are trained to do in that tactical situation: call for airpower, he said. In the end, we killed 262 anti-Iraqi forces, and captured 411. We also recovered 11 mortar systems and enough heavy machine guns to show this was not a group of pilgrims.
Fox attended a city council meeting in Fallujah that he described as raucous and disorganized. He said council members had some significant points of contention. But it demonstrated even if the Iraqis are not at the levels of Jeffersonian democracy yet, they are eager to find solutions to their problems.
The Iraqi economy is also showing positive signs, Fox said. Each time I travel outside the International Zone, Im amazed that virtually every house in Baghdad has a satellite dish on the roof, he said. While everybody focuses on the violence in Baghdad, rural Iraq has experienced a post-Saddam boom that is employing and putting cash in the pockets of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi families.
Fox cautioned, however, that its important to have realistic expectations about short-term progress. First, it will take some time for the effects of the additional troops being deployed to take hold, he said. Second, although (U.S. Army Lt. Gen. David) Petraeus brings unparalleled experience and wisdom to this fight, Iraqs problems are systemic, and will not be turned around immediately in February and March.
Fox went on to highlight what he called one of the most important intangibles that doesnt make it through the mainstream media filter: "the sense of mission, and the morale of the people who are serving here. Its not every day that you have the opportunity to leave your fingerprints on great work, Fox said. And this is one of those times where everybody thats here understands what an incredibly important mission were engaged in.
Were also focused on this mission to the point where we understand the vast majority of the American people support everything about the military, he continued. And the people who disagree with the nature of the political decisions that brought us here, we still appreciate the fact that those people also support the military.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/06/2007 06:16 ||
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#1
89 percent of Iraqis nationwide agreed with the statement: My first loyalty is to my country rather than my sect, ethnic group, or tribe.
That's a higher percentage than Democrats.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/06/2007 6:36 Comments ||
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"the sense of mission, and the morale of the people who are serving here."
Hooah! Just sent him an e-mail on that one myself.
#3
The other 11 percent are those unemployed since 2003 from their previous jobs as Saddam's rapists, enforcers and executioners. I think that was the pre-war estimate of those employed by Saddam. That's all it takes to cause the current levels of violence, that, and the tons of weapons Saddam had squirreled away prior to 2003.
HADITHA, Iraq (Feb. 2, 2007) -- When Sgt. Nathaniel Tatum heard a loud Boom while on a security patrol through the windswept streets of this Euphrates River city, he didnt think about how to react to the improvised explosive device (IED) blast he simply let the training take over.
After two Marines were wounded in an IED blast, Jan. 18, 2007, Tatum and fellow Marines along with the squad corpsman, who the Marines call Doc, provided immediate medical attention to the injured Marines who would have been in bad shape without immediate attention, according to HM1(FMF/CAC) Patrick W. Horgan, independent duty corpsman with the Hawaii-based 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.
While providing life-saving medical attention is business-as-usual for U.S. Navy corpsmen, the medical experience for the average U.S. Marine is often limited to the basic first-aid courses received in recruit training. However, Tatum and a group of approximately 100 Marines from the Battalion attended a Combat Lifesaver Course (CLC) while training in California, June, 2006.
In the CLC, corpsmen teach the Marines how to handle a casualty until a corpsman or medical officer is able to tend to the wounded. Throughout the course, Marines were taught how to apply a tourniquet, treat various wounds, administer an IV, recognize and treat shock, control blood loss and the anatomy of ballistic injuries.
This [Combat Lifesaver Course] is probably some of the most important training a Marine can receive before deploying to a combat zone, said HM3 Philip Oppliger, corpsman with Echo Company 2nd Battalion. Ideally a corpsman is always going to be there when someone goes down, but thats not always possible.
Each squad of 10 to 14 Marines employs a corpsman, but when the squad has multiple casualties the Marines often give each other initial medical care, according to Tatum. When Tatum saw two Marines injured after an IED detonated, he knew the corpsman needed help treating the wounded Marines, he said.
Within seconds of the blast, Tatum was applying a tourniquet and assessing the wounds of one of the wounded. By the time the squad corpsman was able to reach the wounded Marine, Tatum had already checked the Marines vital signs and applied a tourniquet to the Marines leg and stopped the bleeding.
All I saw was a Marine in my squad, my friend, laying on the ground, said Tatum, who received a concussion in the blast. The first thought I had wasnt if he was OK or not, it was to get a tourniquet on him and stop the bleeding. There wasnt really time to think, the training just took over.
While the corpsman continued to treat the wounded Marine, Tatum ran over to the other wounded Marine who was being treated by a fellow Marine. I was a little dazed after the blast, but when I saw (the wounded Marine), I ran over to him and applied a tourniquet on his leg as fast as I could, said Lance Cpl. William R. Hussey, infantryman and 19-year-old from Baltimore.
While both Marines sustained significant injuries, the immediate medical treatment from fellow Marines and the corpsman likely saved their lives, according to Horgan, a 36-year-old from Aurora, Colo. The treatment these Marines received at the scene in the few minutes following the blast was crucial, said Horgan. When we (corpsmen) can rely on Marines to provide effective medical treatment when a corpsman is unavailable it makes our job easier, but more importantly it increases the survivability of the Marines.
When a Marine or Sailor is wounded in combat, a chain of events is set in motion designed to get the wounded service member as stable as possible while getting him to a medical facility where he can be thoroughly treated as fast as possible. This window of time is seldom more than 10 minutes.
Usually we only have five to seven minutes to work on him before he gets CasEvacd (Casualty Evacuation - put on a helicopter bound for the nearest medical facility), said Horgan. Sometimes it can get kind of chaotic.
The list of treatments performed by corpsmen in their five to seven minute window is staggering; stop the bleeding, clear the airway and regulate breathing, apply IVs, assess multiple wounds, apply bandages and splints and provide medication among numerous other tasks.
With so many things to accomplish in such a short period of time, someone whos never seen a corpsman in action might assume this process would be hectic. To the contrary, the Docs are trained to keep their cool under pressure.
When things go down, youve got to pause and take a breath and quickly evaluate the situation, said Oppliger, a 22-yaer-old from Bend, Oregon. You say to yourself, OK, were taking fire from this direction, Ive got my bag (medical supplies) and theres the patient. Then you start running.
Keeping cool is one of the most important tools in the corpsmans bag for a couple reasons, according to Horgan. If youre calm and collected about the situation, it creates a calmer environment, said Horgan. Youre able to provide better care when youre calm and everything just runs a lot smoother, which ultimately increases the survivability of the patient.
The other reason according to Horgan is that keeping cool is contagious. The other Marines and onlookers see their calm and collected reaction and it instills confidence that everything that can be done is being done. While the corpsmen are trained in medical procedures from the time they enter the U.S. Navy, they feel safer knowing if they should become a casualty, Marines like Tatum who have gone through the CLC are on hand to provide medical care, according to Oppliger.
Making sure the Marines know some combat medical stuff is our way of saving our own lives, said Oppliger.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/06/2007 06:07 ||
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#1
Now this makes about as much sense as anything I have heard in a long time. Way to go Marines... I hope that eventually this will become an integral part of all Marines basic training!
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
02/06/2007 10:40 Comments ||
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#3
Learned that in the Boy Scouts, sur prises e that they're just now teaching it to Marines, We also got this in Boot Camp.
This should have been done years ago.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2007 10:41 Comments ||
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#4
CPR, basic & advanced first aid, & a practical knowledge of human anatomy related to the foregoing should be a requirement of all high school graduates. Fat chance of that happening.
#5
According to my friend Sgt Havey who served in Iraq over a year ago this was SOP for his Army unit.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/06/2007 12:06 Comments ||
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#6
I think the course they are describing here is a little bit more then just basic or advanced first aid. From the sounds of it... it's combat trauma oriented. By focusing purely on combat trauma they can deal with things in such a manner that soldiers will remember their training.
For instance the average person that goes through an EMT class will forget 60% of their traning within 1 year if they do not put the training into practice, or review the training every so often...
Marines are no different... most of them are not going to be focusing on battle field emergency care. They have other jobs to do...
In a class designed to deal with combat trauma... you can take the top 10 things that you want your Marines to remember and give them that information...
In these instances they don't need to have the knowledge of how to treat frostbite... no they need to know where to tie a touriquet, how to stop blood flow to a wound, and if they can teach the average marine how to give an IV... WOW! That's immediately useful info...
Just rambling about something that I find interesting...
#9
We have had this in the Army for a number of years now. It is much more than bacic CPR and first aid. Each squad went through it and had refresher training. We had one aid bag per squad.
The impressive thing was his off handed comment about seven minutes to medevac! It came across as seven minutes is a long time and that seven minutes is the standard. Folks a medevac in seven minutes is outstanding. HT to the med community for this standard! And I thought the Golden Hour was a great standard!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/06/2007 13:23 Comments ||
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#10
The US Army National Guard has really been pushing the CLC since 9/11. A friend of mine went through it in 2003, and got set for a refresher at the end of 2003 since his NG unit was scheduled for Iraq. The Oregon National Guard has been pushing all NCOs to have taken and passed this course.
#11
This is a lot more than CPR and basic first aid. It's about an extra 3 to 5 days of training, with the highlight being that everyone administers an IV with a saline-type solution.
Every Soldier, and I would assume every Marine, has to demonstrate proficiency in First Aid as part of initial entry training, and must be retrained and retested on this periodically. CLS is way above and beyond that. CLS includes being issued an extra bag, complete with IV + needles, latex gloves, burn ointment, flexible splint material, J-tube for insertion into the larynx (intubation or something like that). It's a fairly rigorous course with a fairly tough exam. Hard part is that pretty much everyone has to give and receive an IV - that right there washes out a lot of the wimps.
My unit had about a quarter of all personnel CLS qualified - this is in addition to the medics. CLS guys are really medics-lite as an additional duty, since the medics can't be everywhere, and someone has to be able to treat the medic if he gets hit. Since being a CLS is big promotion points for the Army, and you need someone who is going to get the job done under pressure, I usually sent only volunteers to the course, and selected those who weren't squeamish and had proven themselves. Usually team leaders/junior NCO/squared-away up-and-comers.
#12
10% of my Det is CLS qualified. It is way beyond basic medical care learned at Recruit Training i.e. - stop the bleeding, start the breathing, protect the wound, treat for shock, etc. The new courses take into account the newest injuries often associated w/IED threats, etc.
What kind of Det are you in? I would assume you are the Det commander? If so, and you are in a deployment window, I would strongly encourage you to try to push your CLS-certified numbers to 25%-33% or so. 10% is not near enough to ensure that there is one around when you really need one.
Deep inside the heart of the Green Zone, the heavily fortified administrative compound in Baghdad, lies one of the most carefully guarded secrets of the war in Iraq. Not anymore. Thanks for that, LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH.
It is a cell from a small and anonymous British army unit that goes by the innocuous name of the Joint Support Group (JSG), and it has proved to be one of the coalition's most effective and deadly weapons in the fight against terror. Its members -- servicemen and women of all ranks recruited from all three of the British armed forces -- are trained to turn hardened terrorists into coalition spies using methods developed on the streets of Northern Ireland, where the British Army managed to infiltrate the Irish Republican Army (IRA) at almost every level. During the long-running unrest in Northern Ireland, the JSG operated under the cover name of the Force Research Unit (FRU), which from the early 1980s to the late 1990s managed to penetrate the very heart of the IRA.
Since war broke out in Iraq in 2003, the cell has been responsible for running dozens of Iraqi double agents. Working alongside the Special Air Service (SAS) and the American Delta Force as part of the Baghdad-based counterterrorist unit known as Task Force Black, the cell members have supplied intelligence that has saved hundreds of lives and resulted in some of the most notable successes against the myriad terror groups fighting in Iraq.
Last week, sources said, intelligence from the JSG led to a series of successful operations against Sunni militia groups in southern Baghdad. Information obtained by the cell also is understood to have inspired one of the most successful operations carried out by Task Force Black, in November 2005, when SAS snipers fatally shot three would-be suicide bombers. The killing of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq until his death in June, came after intelligence obtained by the JSG, as did the rescue of kidnapped British peace campaigner, Norman Kember.
JSG operators deal with dozens of Iraqis every week who are prepared, for a variety of reasons, to become informers. "Some Iraqis come to us because they are simply fed up with the violence," one source said. "They may have had members of their families murdered, tortured or kidnapped. Unlike much of the middle class, which has already fled the country, they may be too poor to leave and so they come to us to see if they can make a difference." Risking their own lives, and those of their friends and relatives to do so. They also fight who stay in the shadows and feed helpful information.
#1
In NI the informers mostly did it for money (and sometimes to keep themselves or a family member out of jail) and I suspect this is the case in Iraq.
BTW, publizing this does no real harm, since it helps to up their paranoia levels, always a good thing.
#2
It has long been suspected that the Joint Support Group (JSG) utilizes covert interrogation methods including "Irish Yoga" or (IR). I have attached a link which illustrates both the traditional Indian, as well as IR techniques.
#7
This is actually old news. The Rantburgers had an article about the British contribution to task force black. At that time the article mentioned British soldiers dressed in American uniforms to look less conspicuous in Baghdad.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/06/2007 13:58 Comments ||
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The plan to install an anti-rocket system in the South will provide a wider range of security, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Monday. He criticized his predecessors for not installing the system earlier. "This system has great significance," Peretz said at a tree-planting ceremony in Sderot. "It is too bad that the investment wasn't made in previous years... The system could have been ready and prepared, and it could have helped."
Peretz denied reports that plans have been drawn up for evacuating Sderot in an emergency.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday gave final approval for the Iron Dome anti-Kassam system, which was chosen by Peretz last week. It is being developed by Rafael (Armaments Development Authority).
Olmert and Peretz met with defense officials after Sunday's cabinet meeting and decided that the government would budget approximately $300 million for the project. Once the money is allocated, officials said, the system could be operational and deployed outside the Gaza Strip within two and a half years.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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The boyz at DEFENSETECH.org are looking closely at this one.
ABU DHABI - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that the European Union would do what it could to help support the negotiations between the rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah. Merkel made the remarks in Abu Dhabi, where she had arrived earlier in the day as part of her tour of four Arab states. Germany currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency.
We will do everything in our power to hlep make these talks be successful, Merkel said about the Hamas-Fatah negotiations which were set to start on Tuesday to try to end their conflict and seek ways to set up a national unity government.
'everything in our power'? Is that all?
Merkel said she was grateful to Saudi Arabia for its efforts to bring the two parties to the negotiating table, and she said the EU was in close contact with the two parties.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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Actually it is "Sieg Heil", Grom; it was a typical Nazi ripoff of ancient things. The Sieg Heil and the stiff armed salute were taken from the ancient Germanic auxilaries of the Roman Empire; of course, Mussolini had ripped off the stiff armed forward salute in the 1920s for the Italian Fascists.
By the way, the meaning of the phrase is "Hail to Victory!"; sort of like the "Viva La Revolucion!" in Castro's Cuba.
Hamas and Fatah representatives on Sunday expressed hope that the upcoming summit in Saudi Arabia between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal will end the fighting between the two parties and result in the formation of a PA unity government.
Hmmm. Fred's graphics library is missing an "Unlikely Meter."
Meanwhile, a cease-fire announced between the two parties on Saturday appeared to be holding in the Gaza Strip as Fatah and Hamas militiamen refrained from street fighting. However, PA security officials reported that some incidents of violence, including mutual kidnappings, continued. They said among those kidnapped was Ashraf Dahlan, a 20-year-old nephew of senior Fatah operative Muhammad Dahlan, a sworn enemy of Hamas.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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They said among those kidnapped was Ashraf Dahlan, a 20-year-old nephew of senior Fatah operative Muhammad Dahlan, a sworn enemy of Hamas.
and Dahlan (who I think has Saudi contacts) will part of the Fatah delegation at the Mecca Summit
Envoys of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington this week to prepare the agenda of a Mideast summit, an Abbas aide said Monday. The U.S.? Good idea. Send 'em to Vegas and get 'em laid. Make sure we get pictures.
The Israeli-Palestinian-US summit is meant as a step toward resuming talks on a final peace deal. The envoys will tell Rice that the Palestinians oppose further interim arrangements, said Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo, who is heading to Washington with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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Thailand is asking the United Nations for help to draw up home-schooling courses in case the escalating insurgency forces schools in the South to close for an extended period. The Narathiwat Edcuation Office is seeking funding from the United Nations Children's fund, known as Unicef, to help compose the "self learning lessons" for school children in the violence-plagued province, official Thai News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The declining numbers of teachers willing to teach in Thailand's troubled southernmost border provinces has led to the appeal for help. Teachers now believe that home schooling provides the best chance of educating southern children without losing their own lives.
Thawat Saehumy, chairman of the Narathiwat Teachers' Federation, said the home-study courses were being prepared in case the province was forced to close down some of its 200 schools because of lack of security. Most teachers proposed that "self-learning lessons" be made for students, so they can study at home, and teachers will collect their homework for correction. About 10 per cent of Narathiwat's 199 schools will pilot these lessons, Mr Thawat said.
Suspected Muslim extremists have burned down some 110 schools and killed more than 70 teachers and school officials in the deep south since Jan 4, 2004, when militants raided army depots in the area and stole 300 rifles, triggering an escalation of violence in the area.
Public school teachers, particularly but not exclusively Buddhist, have been specifically targetted as representatives of Thailand's Bangkok-based bureaucracy. They have become so-called soft targets in the war against Bangkok, with the insurgents seeing the schools as a symbol of state control of the South.
Thailand's army-appointed prime minister said on Sunday he supported building a security wall along part of the border with Malaysia to stop smuggling and illegal border crossings.
Surayud Chulanont, on a tour of Thailand's Muslim-dominated far south where 2,000 people have been killed in a three-year-old separatist insurgency, avoided any mention of the violence as a reason for building the wall. "The wall will make it more convenient for us to check border areas," Surayud said of the proposed 27-km (17-mile) wall in the Betong district of the southern province of Yala, one of the three southern provinces bordering Malaysia.
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a bloodless Sept. 19 coup, infuriated Kuala Lumpur in 2005 when he suggested building a security wall along the entire 500-km (310-mile) border with Malaysia to stop militant infiltration. Malaysia has repeatedly denied assertions by Thai security agencies that militants are hiding on its territory.
Surayud said there was no need to run the proposal by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who will visit Thailand for annual bilateral talks on Feb. 11-13. "If we don't build it, it could disadvantage us because we will face problems with border crossings and smuggling," he told reporters after meeting with Betong's mayor, whose district is considered a hot spot for militant activity.
Surayud's weekend visit is part of a peace drive in the Malay-speaking region, an independent sultanate until the Buddhist-dominated Bangkok government annexed it a century ago. But the attacks have continued, including an ice cream vendor who was shot dead and beheaded on Thursday in the neighbouring province of Pattani.
#4
Not just the terrors LH. You think if you count up the number of Americans killed, maimed, robbed, raped, etc in the last 7 years by those coming across the southern border, the number could be greater than the losses on 9/11? It's easy to ignore the slow erosion of life, property, and liberty taken by that opening than the quick smack across the face dealt that one day.
#5
"those coming across the southern border, the number could be greater than the losses on 9/11?"
Now you sound like one of those lefties saying 9/11 wasnt that big a deal, compare it to the crime numbers. Crime is part of the human condition, the first business of the national govt is to stop military and quasi-military attacks on our soil, which is what 9-11 was.
In any case, the fences being discussed wrt India, and of course Israel are about defense against terrorists, not to control immigration. Thailand denies its fence is about terror, but I dont believe that.
So that explains the "except us". You can want a fence on the Mexican border anyway, for other reasons, but dont be pretend its for the same reasons as the antiterror fences.
#6
so you deny it would have ANY benefits in the WOT? Who's pretending? And just who's posing?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/06/2007 15:29 Comments ||
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LH, one man's "immigration", especially if it is illegal and uncontrolled equals another man's invasion. Just because they're not carrying guns and shooting when they come across, at least not most of them, doesn't mean it's not an invasion. Where do you live? Minnesota? Try a border state for a while. The southern border, that is. Try sending your kid to a school where half the kids don't speak English. Try waiting in a hospital emergency room with extreme pain or a life threatening condition while the doctors look after illegal aliens who come in with a case of the sniffles because they know they won't have to pay. And how do you know that everybody coming across that border is a friendly, hard working family man who only wants to do the work Americans won't do? Procopius2k is right. There has been a slow erosion of our soveriegnty, our quality of life and, yes, our security. Ask any cop at a funeral for one of his colleagues when the shooter was here illegally. It happens here in my neck of the woods. It makes the news when a cop gets killed but a lot of people are victimized in various ways then you never hear about.
#8
"so you deny it would have ANY benefits in the WOT? Who's pretending?"
It might have some side benefits, sure. But the statement "everyone is building them except us" implies a more direct parallel. Israel and India (and probably Thailand) have actually had armed terrorist walking across the open border. We MIGHT have that happen in the future. While that is one reason FOR building a fence, it does NOT put us in the same situation as the countries that ARE building fences.
#9
"Try waiting in a hospital emergency room with extreme pain or a life threatening condition while the doctors look after illegal aliens who come in with a case of the sniffles because they know they won't have to pay."
actually ive been in ERs where there are plenty of folks who come for that reason - almost all good American born citizens (largely folks whose ancestors came here before 1808, Id judge) Fortunately theres triage. However thank you for making the case for universal health coverage.
Anyway, provision of services and all SHOULD be part of the debate on the fence. Fine. But thats not why the Israeli or Indian fences are going up, and I doubt its really why the Thai fence is going up.
#10
"Try waiting in a hospital emergency room with extreme pain or a life threatening condition while the doctors look after illegal aliens who come in with a case of the sniffles because they know they won't have to pay."
actually ive been in ERs where there are plenty of folks who come for that reason - almost all good American born citizens (largely folks whose ancestors came here before 1808, Id judge) Fortunately theres triage. However thank you for making the case for universal health coverage.
Anyway, provision of services and all SHOULD be part of the debate on the fence. Fine. But thats not why the Israeli or Indian fences are going up, and I doubt its really why the Thai fence is going up.
#12
Terrorists have been caught on the Mexican side of the border, liberalhawk, and we saw a report with photos here a few years ago of Iranians having crossed the border, dropping their (if I recall correctly) Republican Guard uniforms in the desert, no doubt having changed into the native garb of jeans and a t-shirt. That nothing has happened yet is either luck, quietly good work by those fighting the homefront side of the war, or lack of orders from headquarters. Absence of evidence isn't the same as evidence of absence, after all.
And the statement was everyone who's anyone is doing it! which was meant to be lighthearted. I guess I should've put a smiley face on it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/06/2007 16:25 Comments ||
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#14
"Terrorists have been caught on the Mexican side of the border, liberalhawk,"
yeah, and terrorists have been caught in Toronto.
I dont see folks arguing for a fence on the Canadian border, and thats just as passable for somebody coming from Iran as the Mexican border. Hell its probably easier, since INS (or whatever theyre called these days) is so much lighter, and there arent these minutemen types, etc.
#16
liberalhawk who the F cares. Thailand has the right idea and Bush hasn't got a clue. Also at the Canadian border we don't have tens of thousands of illegals flooding in. Muslims find it easy to hide in these masses.
And so what if there are other reasons Americans want to keep job stealing welfare draining prison filling illegal Mexicans out. 1/3 of our Federal prison's population is made up of illegals. Do we have to mention the drugs smuggled in? The majority of meth smuggled into Minnesota comes from Mexico. Deal with it my friend, Thailand has the right idea.
Also odds are the first dirty bomb blown up in our nation will be smuggled over the Mexican border.
That being said even the Minute Men are getting ready to aid on the northern boarder. Which is good news because heaven knows Border Buddy Bushie isn't going to take care of us there.
But then again I'm just thinking about protecting my family and nation.
#17
I think they are building a fence on the Canadian side as well, liberalhawk. And, the Minutemen have been quietly watching our northern border almost as long as they've been watching to the south. NPR did an interesting little story on them quite some time ago, long before they started fussing about the Minutemen in the south. It's just that, as you say, people don't talk about it.
Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad accused George W Bush and Tony Blair of being more evil and bigger murderers than Saddam Hussein and the Sept 11 attackers. In some of his most provocative swipes at the US and British leaders, Mahathir said Monday that their war in Iraq had caused worse terror than al-Qaedas suicide bombers around the world.
History should remember Blair and Bush as the killers of children, or as the lying prime minister and president, said Mahathir, long known for frequent and scathing verbal attacks on Western countries and culture. As prime minister, Mahathir was unabashedly vocal in his criticism of the United States, Britain and Australia. After stepping down in October 2003, he has become even more strident. What Blair and Bush have done is worse than what Saddam had done, Mahathir, 81, said in a speech to inaugurate a three-day conference organised by his non-government organisation, Perdana, and aimed at criminalising war.
On Wednesday, conference delegates are expected to formally launch a war tribunal that would hold trials for world leaders, including Bush and Blair, against whom common citizens file complaints. The tribunal will not have the legal authority of any international organisation and will not be able to impose penalties, but Mahathir said its aim is to condemn the accused in history books.
We should not hang Blair if the tribunal finds him guilty, but he should always carry the label War Criminal, Killer of Children, Liar, Mahathir said. And so should Bush and the pocket Bush of the Bush land of Australia, he said, referring to Australias Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch ally in Washingtons campaign against terrorism. Seventeen people, nine from Iraq, five from the Palestinian territories and three from Lebanon, have arrived for the peace conference, where they will submit oral or written complaints to the so-called Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission.
After investigations, the commission will decide whether the leaders accused in the complaints should stand trial, albeit in absentia, at the war tribunal. Mahathir said terrorist attacks, such as those of Sept. 11, 2001,are weak peoples retaliation against oppression by powerful countries.
In the war on terror ordered by Bush, Mahathir was a front-line Asian ally of the US immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, arresting and jailing more than 100 suspected Islamic sympathisers of al-Qaeda in Malaysia. However, Mahathir maintains that the root cause of Islamic terrorism is the injustices of the West, especially in thePalestinian territories and Iraq.
Terrorism cannot be condoned, but neither can the cruel retaliation by powerful countries, he said. The Sept 11 attackers may have killed about 3,000 people, but about 600,000 people have been killed during the US-led war in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. The terror caused (by powerful countries) is actually greater, and the powerful countries are much more terrorists than the suicide bombers, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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So don't f--k with us and you don't lose 600,000. What's so hard to understand?
#2
Good enough speech for me. Give him a Dynamit Nobel Peace Prize, hell with the balloting.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/06/2007 0:27 Comments ||
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The terror caused (by powerful countries) is actually greater, and the powerful countries are much more terrorists than the suicide bombers, he said.
#4
LOL, what if you threw a "war crimes" party and only 17 people showed up?
And, Mr. leader man, why don't you show me some proof that we've killed over 600,000 people, goats, and fluffy bunnies in Iraq and Afghanistan. I can guarantee the number is nowhere near that high, and of those killed, probably 80% deserved it. The remaining 20% (fluffy bunnies and goats) were probably the targets of the jihadis, not our troops.
Posted by: BA ||
02/06/2007 9:21 Comments ||
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#6
BA,
You forgot the baby ducks. Our problem is that we are NOT killing them like we should. If we were, ole Mahatir would be licking our boots.
Very Frozen Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/06/2007 15:13 Comments ||
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#7
Good point, Al. Thanx for the correction!
Posted by: BA ||
02/06/2007 15:45 Comments ||
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#8
Self promoting himself for that Nobel Peace Prize?
What a suckup.
But it looks like a good start right out of the box. Gore's gonna have to push hard to get back in the hunt. Maybe Jimmy Carter can give him some good anti-American tips.
#5
Give 'em the proof. Show them the movies our boys made when they liberated the death camps. Then tell them, "Hey, this is what happens when you make us mad. It's a side of our collective personality that we don't like to think about and that we try to keep suppressed. You want proof of Hiroshima and Nagasaki too? You want the truth? The truth is your Twelfth Imam won't help you when you finally make us mad enough to do this to you."
#6
I think the applicable phrase is "imperially ignorant".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/06/2007 14:38 Comments ||
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#7
New Category - SSIMBT - so sick it must be true.
The collective angst and fixation and hauntings these muslims put themselves through in their persecution of the jooooos. Yeesh. The mind, far too jelled at this point to boggle, quivers.
#10
Sorry about the initial duplicate entry - I think it was a typo, maybe it was Freudian Orwellianism.
Proof of Mahomet, Mahommed, Mohammed, Mohamed, Mohamed, Mo, Peanut Butter upon Him, Peas Be upon him, whatever, is a good idea. Maybe it's in the wishing well, or the well water, or whatever the dowser says.
"In 1840, a rumor spread in Damascus that an Italian Capuchin friar and his Arab servant had disappeared. The French consul in the city, Comte Ulysse de Ratti-Menton, immediately accused the Jewish community of ritual murder, and persuaded the Ottoman governor to arrest Jewish notables and hold Jewish children hostage. Some of the notables died under torture; others were forcibly converted to Islam.
The scandal rocked Europe, but Ratti-Menton was unrepentant and the Quai d'Orsay defended him. In the National Assembly, Prime Minister Adolphe Thiers complained that Jews were "besieging all the chancelleries with their petitions." When Arab media today depict ritual murder as a fact of Jewish life, they are retailing, whether they know it or not, lessons learned from French teachers long ago."
#4
Is't there a TV series in Palistine based on the Protocols of Zion which showed (in the one clip I briefly saw) Jewish elders seeking out a 'young christian boy' so that they could take his blood or something.
This is what these people feed their children on a regular basis.
#5
These stories have been making the rounds for for over a thousand years, the background noise in Jewish/Muslim and Jewish/Christian relations. Thank God the Christian world outgrew it. Crazy Fool, I think you're thinking of the Ramadan special put on by the Egyptian government two years ago, and repeated there and elsewhere last Ramadan. Something like a 24-part series, the title had a horse in it, I think.
Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said his country is ready to share its massive gas reserves with "Muslim brotherly countries, including Pakistan" during his talks with visiting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. He called for strengthening of ties between Iran and Pakistan keeping in view the abundant cultural, historical and religious commonalties shared by the two countries.
Receiving Musharraf during his one-day visit here Monday, Khamenei said given the growing importance of energy in the world, Iran is ready to share its massive gas reserves with Pakistan, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported. "Iran is also rich in gas and we are ready to allow Muslim brotherly countries, including Pakistan, to benefit from Iran's reserves and facilities," IRNA quoted Khamenei as saying while referring to the project for laying a pipeline to transfer gas from Iran to India via Pakistan.
Expressing happiness over the price coding for Iran's natural gas, Musharraf hoped that the process for laying the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline - called the Peace Pipeline Project - would begin soon.
#8
Wait a minute, someone's full of gas on this article. Isn't Paki-Waki majority Sunni and Iran majority Shi'a? I thought the two couldn't work together at all? That's what the MSM keeps telling me. Oh, I'm sooooo confused.
And, what's with India importing gas from Iran? Can we not supply them, or just not enough?
Posted by: BA ||
02/06/2007 9:46 Comments ||
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Yes Iran is presumed to have huge deposits of natural gas.
However, it will take many billions to drill, establish the collection and distribution networds and lay transmission pipelines. That's where the 'muslim brothers' come in. Iran doesn't have the funds to build the infrastructure and with all their best people working on their nuclear stuff, they probably don't have enough technical people to do the work even if they had the funds.
#10
We import Natural Gas, by pipeline (IIUC) from Mexico and Canada, and even some LNG from Algeria. The economics isnt there for us to export NG to India. India can import LNG from the gulfies, but Iran via pipeline can be competitive.
#11
India is not willing to pay the price for the gas that Iran is demanding. The negotiations are stuck.
There is another hiccup and that is the export of 'lean' versus 'rich' gas. Iran wants to sell lean gas (suitable for power generation only) while India wants rich gas, to also provide feedstock to India's huge chemical and plastics industry.
Unless that pricing dispute is settled, there will be no gas pipeline and no gas to brotherly muslim Pakistan since that market is too small to justify the expense of construction. Only with kaffir India as a customer will the pipeline be built.
Posted by: john ||
02/06/2007 10:50 Comments ||
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#12
The Indians shouldn't bite at all out of principle: the pipeline goes through Pakiwakiland, who will assert control over the spigot at opportune times.
#13
Natural gas used to heat homes needs little or no refining, just pressure regulation as it's brought into use. I know some farms in Ohio with gas wells that are heated with gas directly from a nearby well head. That, and the royalty checks, keeps some farms in business.
"Rich gas" has a liquid component lacking in "lean gas", which makes the Rich more valuable when the valuable natural gas liquids are extracted for use. Not sure how this is done.
The US has been running right along the boundary of an absolute shortage of NG, relying on pipelined Canadian (supplies 90% of US imports) and Mexican imports to keep warm this winter. I doubt very much any net exports from the US will ever be possible. The US can't import more LNG than at present because of the additional necessary import facilities not being available on our shores, and not being likely to be constructed due to NIMBYism and other forms of domestic mulish obstinacy. As a result the US has the highest priced NG in the world (my domestic price has gone up 600% since 1980!). 58% of world NG reserves are in Russia, Iran and Qatar. Even if India were willing to import NG by pipeline from Iran, it would still be at risk of political & terrorist manipulation of its supply line, as Europe has been learning from Russia.
Excuse me, it's 3.7 deg F outside, I must go downstairs & shovel more dollar bills into my gas furnace.
#15
Pakistan will almost certainly attempt to use the gas supply as leverage against India and that has many Indians calling for any pipeline to run along the sea floor, outside Pak limits (which would be horrendously expensive).
Alterntatively, additional LNG regasification plants and shipment by Tanker would be preferable.
Posted by: john ||
02/06/2007 14:37 Comments ||
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The US has several trillion cubic feet of reserves that are not being tapped because congress won't allow it. They're offshore in the Gulf, in the Pacific off California, in some parts of the Western States, and off the coast of the Carolinas and Florida. That doesn't include anything in Alaska, or off the coast of Puerto Rico.
Another major part of the problem is a lack of infrastructure to get the gas from where it is to where it's most needed. There are a couple of coal seams in western Colorado that could be tapped for several million cubic feet, but there's no pipeline to get it to customers, and most of the gas is in a national forest. We're really bad about shooting ourselves in the foot as far as resources are concerned.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/06/2007 14:40 Comments ||
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Iran's top spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Monday that the Zionist regime was preventing unity in the Muslim world. Ahah! I knew it wuz them all along!
During a meeting with Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf, Khamenei added that the State of Israel was set up by "arrogant forces" with the aim of starting a dispute between the Islamic nations. "Any plan for the Middle East will succeed only if [we] put an end to the American intervention and the Zionist crimes," Khamenei said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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Of course, to the Ayatollahs, America also has to go, in the interest of Muslim "unity." http://www.edume.org/
See download: "The Attitude to the 'Other' and to Peace in Iranain School Textbooks and Teacher's Guides"
#5
does this a-hole realize he's saying that muslims are stupid and gullible? that joooos are smarter? that muslims are easily led? that muslims simply can't help it?
#7
It's been said the muzzies never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. That's not entirely true.
ONE thing the muzzies never miss is an opportunity to blame it all on the USA and Israel.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
02/06/2007 9:28 Comments ||
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"During a meeting with Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf, Khamenei added that the State of Israel was set up by "arrogant forces" with the aim of starting a dispute between the Islamic nations. "Any plan for the Middle East will succeed only if [we] put an end to the American intervention and the Zionist crimes," Khamenei said."
At what point did Perv take his fingers out of his ears?
#12
"During a meeting with Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf, Khamenei added that the State of Israel was set up by "arrogant forces" with the aim of starting a dispute between the Islamic nations. "Any plan for the Middle East will succeed only if [we] put an end to the American intervention and the Zionist crimes," Khamenei said."
They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
-Napoleon XIV
#13
Last we heard about Khamenei he was supposed to be on his death bed, just about ready for the buzzards. Now it sounds like his biggest health problem is between his ears.
Former Hezbollah leader Sheikh Subhi al-Tufaily blamed Iran on Monday for the political standoff in Lebanon and urged opposition protestors to leave the streets, where they have been protesting against Premier Fouad Seniora's cabinet since December 1. In an interview with pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat, al- Tufaily called the Hezbollah-led open-ended strike "a failure" and a "time bomb" casting strong doubts about the opposition forces' ability to push anti-Syrian Sunni Prime Minister Fouad Seniora to resign and to form a national unity government.
Al-Tufaily, who was Hezbollah chief from 1989 to 1991, said he feared the political turmoil in Lebanon could slip into a "civil war" between Sunnis and Shiites. Any clash with the Sunnis in the areas of protest might risk a full-blown armed confrontation. He added: "Iran is pushing the Lebanese people, especially the Shiites, towards a disaster."
Indeed, Lebanon has recently witnessed several anti-government protests, a general strike and student riots which led to the killing of six people and the wounding of more than 200. Al-Tufaily's criticism of Iranian policy and its influence on Lebanese opposition was quite clear, a view which he said sets him apart from Hezbollah. The former leader's relationship with Hezbollah has been deteriorating, and "apparently fixing the relationship between me and my sons of the Islamic resistance (Hezbollah) is not in the interests of Iran."
He added: "I only ask Iran to reconsider their policies in Lebanon, because - unintentionally - they're serving the American interests (in the region) and they're pushing the Lebanese people, especially the Shiites, towards a disaster that's uncalled for."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2007 00:00 ||
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He added: "I only ask Iran to reconsider their policies in Lebanon, because - unintentionally - they're serving the American interests (in the region) and they're pushing the Lebanese people, especially the Shiites, towards a disaster that's uncalled for."
this puss needs a Fisk-beating. The comments are the english translations of his BS Demonization and Responsibility
I've been making my way through the mail and online comments I've received in response to my columns last week. "and memos from management"
The many e-mails I've gotten privately from people serving in the military are, not surprisingly, the most respectful and reflective. Some correspondents are downright indignant, some are sarcastic, and most are hurt by the "mercenary" epithet and my commentary. But they are philosophical about their service and where we are in the war and the country today. "my feelings were hurt"
The torrents of other mail -- biting, fanatical, threatening -- represent the worst of polarized and hate-filled America. I'm not complaining about being criticized or being made the latest punching bag for those who subsist off of high-volume conquest. Nor am I apologizing for addressing, however imperfectly, the questions I did last week, nor for being critical of the military. "I'm not apologizing....even if management makes me issue a pseudo-apologia"
Instead, I'm trying to make sense of the worldview of those who have responded. For the critics, I have become the enemy and have been demonized. In that process, I have ceased being a person, an individual, or a human being, all essential to justify the campaign to annihilate me. I'm not trying to offer myself up as victim here, nor do I expect the critics to change their view. I'm merely pointing out the process and the implications of the dehumanization. "I'm the victim here"
The overall theme is fairly consistent: I bask in my easy, comfortable, elitist Washington existence telling people what to think and deciding what news is, while others suffer. Therefore, those who claim to love America and all it stands for wish for my life, my work, my fat-cat existence to be taken away from me, that I be punished not only for what I think but for who I am. "redneck illiterate hicks"
They find fault with four major areas of my work and existence.
Let's start with military service: The argument I read is either that I haven't served (coward, leftist, not real American), or that even if I did wear the uniform (which I did), I had a comfortable and safe existence in Germany while my brethren were fighting and dying in Vietnam. Or, that I was not high-ranking enough to know anything. Or, that I was not low-ranking enough to really experience the truth.
I can see, in the military blogs and in the comments of those who have written about my posts last week, that those who refer to themselves as Vietnam veterans still yearn for the recognition and thanks that they believe they haven't received. There is no question that Vietnam is still an open wound for them, and that they therefore only recognize the worth of fellow veterans, of those who have been through exactly the same experience.
(Why didn't I actually serve in Vietnam? I enlisted in the Army less than one month after my 18th birthday in June, 1974, at a time when the war was essentially over and when no one joining the new, all-volunteer force was being sent to Vietnam.) "I'm the victim here"
Then there is the issue of who pays me to write this blog: the mainstream media. Whether it's the Washington Post or journalism in general, there is nothing the blogosphere likes better to rail against than mainstream media organizations. Now that Iraq is the center of national struggle, and with the President portraying U.S. presence there and the outcome of the conflict as a fight for national survival and honor, media bashing has gotten ever more vicious. "we're the victims here"
Since I write for washingtonpost.com, I am part of the all powerful, self-congratulatory, far-left, Bush-bashing, fifth column mainstream. It isn't so much what I say -- after all I'm an opinion columnist and if you don't like what I say, don't read it -- it is more that I sit in my safe little cubicle in front of a keyboard sipping lattes, giving aid and comfort to the enemy while our boys and girls die. In other words, I'm comfortable while others suffer. "and we get more comfortable with every death count.."
Other criticism focuses on public opinion, which commenters say I've misstated. It appears that many Iraq war supporters believe that public opinion against the war (and the President) is a concoction of the mainstream news media and the liberal elite. Moreover, some seem to believe that in the battle for public opinion, people like me are in some kind a contest with soldiers or veterans of the Iraq war as to who knows best. "CBS polls say different!"
As this line of argument goes, the soldiers themselves and those who have served in Iraq are the only ones who really know what it is like, what the war is about, and what should be done. The media in general and war opponents in particular intentionally and purposefully provide a negative and discouraging view that doesn't comport with what the soldiers see, so goes this argument. But the bigger point is that any dissenting voices are just those of whores, politicians, tin foil hat liberals, or worse, un-Americans. In this view, there are no actual experts in this world, no one who studies and measures public opinion, no one who studies war or the military, who do not wear the uniform. This is not some post-modern relativism, it is pure anti-elitism. The elite think they know it all, while those who do all of the dirty work, who do all of the suffering, are methodically ignored and dominated. "and that's the way it should be!"
Finally, commenters attack what I wrote as the work of Democrats and "liberals." I'm lumped with Bill Clinton, that degenerate who decimated the military and the Kerry-Sheehan-Hillary-Gore-Pelosi evil axis, which now threatens more of the same. Fight back, the commenters say to their brethren. America for too long turned the other cheek against terrorism and now it is time not just to fight but to draw battle lines and show no mercy in that fight. They have, after all, shown no mercy for us.
In this narrative, I have spat upon the American soldier and thus America, called the true patriots naïve and un-educated. I have all the power and control all of the words and through my actions I enslave others and ensure that only my type and my class prospers.
The reconciliatory and peace-loving narrative is that only the soldiers are honorable and virtuous, and no matter how despicable I and my ilk are, they will still "save" me from the enemy. The evil narrative is that they will happily watch me die, serving not as protector but as judge of who can live and who does not deserve to.
Note: On the advice of my editors, this is the last column I will post for awhile on this subject. My impulse would be to continue to fight back and answer the critics, but I see the wisdom in their observation that nothing new is being said here and the Internet frenzy is adding nothing to the debate or our understanding of our world. I also see that I cannot continue to write about humanity and difficult questions if indeed what I wish is to vanquish those who attack me. "the torches and pitchforks have been sighted"
A blog is a deeply personal endeavor and for that reason, the writing and the comments in response veer towards the hyper-personalized. I need to say to my readers, though, that I write an opinion column. It is my voice, one that is often sarcastic and one that solely reflects my 30 years of experience in the field. I strive to see an angle in an event that is different. Because I try to be ahead of the curve, and not just reflect conventional wisdom, the observations are often uncooked, and often even wrong. I feel successful when I've tapped into something, and I guess the recent postings have been a success in that regard, even though they have become painful for me and others. "like the Taliban is successful"
I'm a bit surprised that many of the critics, even the O'Reilly's of the world, think that I AM the Washington Post, that is, that the journalism in the Post is inseparable from the opinion. Maybe these critics are just posturing to attack the newspaper; maybe they truly don't get it; maybe they really wish for or foresee the demise of the mainstream news media. The Post, on the other hand, has made a major commitment to adjust itself to this new, cacophonous, very imperfect new medium, demonstrating that it is not going to die a carbon death while the digital era advances. Because it is the Washington Post, I know that my words carry more weight, and that gives me an added responsibility: I not only have to be true to myself and what I believe and adhere to the facts, but I also have to be mindful of the power of the pen. In that spirit, I'll give myself and my readers a break.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/06/2007 15:42 ||
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#1
Touched a bank account nerve on the little fella.
#2
As a reservist who has been mobilzed once, and will gladly go again...and the father of a Marine officer who will deploy to Iraq for the 1st time in 6 months:
#5
A personal blog is one thing, and we should expect that the thoughts posted on one are indeed uncooked, as Mr. Arkin says. But what he wrote was extremely rude and unnecessary. Clearly he was in the mood to pick a fight -- I can't imagine that he thought his words wouldn't whip around the blogosphere, both left and right sides -- and equally clearly disingenous in his surpise at the magnitude of the fight he provoked. Many are not equipped to handle the immediacy of the blogosphere, and poor Mr. Arkin is one of those.
Nice of him to notice and acknowledge that the military men and women he so despises and demonizes are the ones who wrote most thoughtfully and politely. A pity he drew no conclusions therefrom.
#6
If you don't want to be demonized, don't side with the devil.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/06/2007 17:32 Comments ||
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#7
The torrents of other mail -- biting, fanatical, threatening -- represent the worst of polarized and hate-filled America
You mean like those who took the criminal independent action of a few at Abu Ghrib to broadbrush the military and the President's action in Iraq? Or those who whipped up the emotion of hate directed at those in uniform based upon a fictitious flushing of Koran at Gitmo? Or those who blindly ignore every single and constant violation of the Geneva and Hague Conventions by the enemy but who make literal mountains out of mole hills out of claims of violations by American military personnel for which, upon examination, there are no such bases in either.
Or one's own opinion about volunteers who've by the record of the Republic have constituted the sword and shield of the nation for most of its existence rather than the 'levee en masse' that happened only upon the direst emergency?
You may have served Chump, but so did Benedict Arnold. Claiming victim status after the long trail that your 'political' wing has demonized the American soldier and his efforts is a joke only to be seen among the little circle you exist within. While you're wrestling for petty earthly power, they're fighting for concept that exceed your poor means to add or detract.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
Lashing out cause your manhood's really that cheap it seems.
#8
Well done! Bravo! Bravo Procopius! Well done, indeed! (ladylike golf clap)
It would seem that our dear little Mr. Arkin liked the thought of sowing a wind, and then didn't care a bit for the whirlwind that he reaped. Life is just full (insert dripping sarcasm here) of these little tragedies.
I would advise dear little Mr. Arkin to take his justly deserved lumps and learn thereby.
And on what basis is he a "military expert" for various "legacy media" outlets. No one has explained that miracle to me yet. Anyone having any amusing guesses as to this, is urged to enlighten us, post-haste.
#9
Am I the only one that noticed the first fuckin thing that prick did in this article was take a shot a Vietnam vets or am I just to pissed at this fuck to be reasonable in my assessment?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/06/2007 20:29 Comments ||
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#10
In that spirit, I'll give myself and my readers a break.
His boss suggested he take a few days to consider his future?
Posted by: john ||
02/06/2007 20:42 Comments ||
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#11
He and his first amendment right to free speach are welcome here. He will get first class treatment from me and my luooovl slugger. The men and women and their families deserve a little more respect.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/06/2007 20:47 Comments ||
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#12
Good rant, Procopius2k.
One thing that is really starting to chap my ass is the use of the word 'mercenary'. There is a world of difference between someone who will fight for whoever pays him and someone who signs up to serve his country. Is that so hard to understand?
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