#1
Misleading headline alert... no new information, just a retiree's speculation and some good questions, albeit with a conspiratorial tone, and some obvious confusion (maybe on the part of the reporter) about the differences between warheads and delivery systems. (Now for my retiree speculation) As with just about any mishap - they will find a chain of failure and errors. They will also point out each link where the proper leadership, training, or compliance with procedures would have averted the incident.
Posted by: Fod ||
10/09/2007 19:15 Comments ||
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#2
I seem to recall a shellback is someone who crossed the equator, Fod, but what's a bluenose?
Sudan announced on Monday that it would take in Palestinian refugees from Iraq who were stranded two months ago at the Syrian border, Israel Radio reported.
How about the ones who flee Gaza and the West Bank?
A senior official in the Khartoum Foreign Ministry said that President Omar al-Bashir was responding to the request by Hamas and Fatah to host several hundred refugees, and had already begun preparing for their absorption.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees says that over 1,500 Palestinian refugees who fled their homes in Iraq are currently living in harsh conditions in refugee camps along the Syrian border.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
10/09/2007 07:10 ||
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#1
The British have been humiliating and short changing their military for so long.
When they are serving alongside the US in combat operations, we should give them a standing offer that if they want to, they can laterally transfer to the US army while keeping their rank and time in grade, if the alternative is to be denied the equipment they need and to be retired from the battlefield before the job is done.
If we did so, entire units would embarrassingly jump ship.
#3
I like the line in the report that says that Muslim women are prized, " for their rare, natural cover." what is that sh!t all about? sounds more like something out of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom: (invoke Marlin's throaty whisper) " the wild, saber toothed anaconda is a rare creature indeed, but weill worth the strain of the hunt,...."
what a bunch of bs.
#1
CHIN MILITARY FORUM Poster > SINODAILY > JAPAN to deploy F15's to Okinawa, ostensibly to replace same number of aging F4's + China threat. *Other POSTER argues that Okinawa was forcibly invaded by Japan, ergo CHINA should kick out both Japanese and Amers from Okinawa [ while weirdly mysteriously also NOT claiming Okinawa for China]???
A French court on Tuesday fined a guest house owner who refused to give a room to a woman wearing a Muslim headscarf unless she removed it in common areas.
Found guilty of religious discrimination, Yvette Truchelut, 54, was handed a suspended four month prison sentence and fined 1,000 euros ($1409). She will have to pay a total of 7,400 euros to the plaintiff and rights groups that brought the action.
Horia Demiati, who is of Moroccan origin, came to the guest house in eastern France in August 2006 with her mother, who was also wearing a headscarf, and other members of her family.
She chose to leave the guest house rather than comply with the guesthouse owner's demand. Truchelut defended herself during hearings last week by citing her views on secularism.
France in 2004 passed a law banning religious garb, notably Muslim headscarves, from state schools. The move sparked a vigorous public debate on integrating immigrants and the right of religious expression.
Since then, President Nicolas Sarkozy has further stoked the debate with the creation of a new ministry for immigration and national identity which critics say risks reinforcing racial prejudice by twinning the two issues.
Same trend in France, with the official jewish orgs in full appeasement mode.
During a visit to Rome on Monday, top officials from one of the most prominent Jewish organisations said they want to befriend moderate Muslims.
"We want to reach out to moderate Muslims: Islam is under attack from within," the World Jewish Congress's new secretary general, Michael Schneider, told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"This was our message during our presentation to cardinals and the Holy Father [Pope Benedict XVI]," Schneider said.
"Most Muslims are not terrorists, want to live decent lives, and have the same aspirations as other populations," he added. And they just love jooooos.
Asked for the World Jewish Congress's view of Islamist Palestinian group Hamas and its future, Schneider commented: "This is a matter for the government of Israel, whose views are known."
"Obviously, we condemn any acts of terrorism. We do obviously also support peace in the Middle East, but peace with security," Schneider stressed.
Hamas won a crushing victory in Palestinian elections last year and currently controls the Gaza strip. Branded a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the EU, it is the largest Palestinian militant organisation and is seen by its supporters as a legitimate fighting force defending Palestinians from a brutal military occupation.
It has not relinquished its assertion that Palestinian refugees from 1948 should be allowed to return to homes in what has become Israel - a move that threatens Israel's very existence as a Jewish state.
An arguably greater threat to Israel is posed by Iran, Schneider said he and the organisation's president Ronald S. Lauder would be telling Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano at a meeting with him later on Monday.
Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that Iran should be "wiped off the map," a threat that needs to be taken seriously, Lauder argued in an editorial published on Sunday in Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Iran's atomic programme is a threat to Europe as well as Israel, the editorial said. Iran has refused to give up uranium enrichment, claiming it only wants nuclear power to generate electricity.
The United States and other world powers suspect Iran is seeking to build a covert nuclear weapons programme and the United Nations Security Council has slapped two rounds of sanctions on the country.
"We are urging all governments to take what ever actions necessary, particularly economic. These are the only practical solution. We have seen even light sanctions cause economic discomfort," Schneider stated.
The US, France and other nations back a fresh round of stiffer sanctions including financial and investment cuts and restrictions on oil trading.
Schneider said hope that Italy, "a force to be reckoned with ?," will play a leading role against extremism, echoing comments made by Lauder in his Corriere della Sera editorial.
"Democratic governments have an obligation to protect their citizens against internal and external threats," wrote Lauder. He last week held talks with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During their talks at the Vatican, Schneider and Lauder stressed their desire to continue Jewish-Catholic collaboration - a subject the Pope said is close to his heart.
But they also drew attention to their concern over neo-Nazi groups and anti-Semitism present in a number of European countries.
Anti-Semitic statements by the Polish priest Tadeusz Rydzyk, owner of the ultra-conservative Catholic radio station 'Radio Maryja' were "causing tremendous damage to attitudes and relations with the Jewish community in Poland."
"Many Holocaust survivors are still living in Poland," Schneider told AKI.
Some six million Jews perished in Europe during the Nazi World War II Holocaust.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
10/09/2007 11:23 ||
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Cologne - Germany's main Muslim groups denied Monday they were shopping for some of the many empty Christian churches in the country to cope with demand for prayer space. Hundreds of roomy churches in Germany are disused and sealed up, while thousands only attract a handful of people to Sunday services, but many Christians are hostile to selling them.
Bekir Alboga, spokesman for the coordination council representing four main Islamic bodies, said "the main Christian churches refuse on principle to sell any more churches to Muslims." That meant there was no point in asking for them. He said only about half a dozen existing German mosques had previously been in use as churches.
Ayyub Axel Koehler, the German-born chairman of one mosque group, the Council of Muslims in Germany, agreed there was no trend to buy former churches. "Personally speaking, I would always oppose that. I believe it could upset people's religious feelings and we wouldn't want to do that," said Koehler in Cologne.
In Bonn, the office of the Conference of German Catholic Bishops confirmed that Catholic churches were not available on principle for Islamic bodies to buy. The office said a survey had shown 99 per cent of Catholic churches were still in use and would remain so for at least the next decade. Until all the people now aged over 65 die, since religious practice in younger generations is virtually nihil.
"So there are practically none going spare," said spokeswoman Martina Hoehns.
The Islamic Archive of Germany, an Islamic think-tank, said there were 159 mosques of traditional design in Germany while another 184 were under construction or in planning. More than 2,600 simpler prayer halls without minarets or domes, many of them converted halls or factories, are also in use.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
10/09/2007 11:20 ||
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#1
...demand for prayer space...
There's plenty of space in Saudi Arabia or in the Sahara
Posted by: tipper ||
10/09/2007 10:24 ||
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#1
Like the commenters say over there at SIOE, this is beyond parody... still, it fits neatly into the saudi/arabo-muslim worldview, in which there simply is no reciprocity at all between the Master Religion, and the other, false, religions & civilizations that are to be eventually replaced by it.
So, while this may be some "lawfare" aimed at getting more concessions from the eurabists, it might possibly be sincere, in that european secularism and plain western habits are blocks in the expression of "true islam" (with all its niceties), and so they complain.
Of course, try explaining to the hundred of thousands of sheeps which have their throat cut in bathtubs open each year during aid that muslims can't practive is pretty funny, since those private slaughters are forbidden by law... doesn't stop a single french muslim to do so, and the authorites even have to clean after them, by picking up carcasses and remains all over. Thankfully, they can still enforce the law, by suing french personalities who speak about that yearly mass slaughter, like Brigitte Bardot.
#2
Did somebody say human rights? What about the rights of these girls? I can't get over this story about the Mecca 15 ever since Zenster put the link into one of his comments.
The points are expected to be addressed during HRCs official participation in the Second Arab-European Dialogue on Human Rights and Terrorism, which will take place in Copenhagen on Oct.21-23.
Somebody, please, when they're having their little conference, ask the Soddies about the Mecca 15. Then ask if it would be OK to send some Christian missionaries to Soddie Arabia. Then kick their asses out of Europe.
#4
Fear not Ebbang Uluque, your outrage is absolutely worthy, even so many years after the incident. Just yesterday I mentioned the Saudi schoolgirl murders (that's what they were), to someone who had never heard of it. This was an American military veteran and he was equally horrified. If there is one single event that encapsulates Islam's vile hypocritical "moralizing" and total inequity, it's that one. A5089 has already addressed the reciprocity issue very well. When taken together, these basic facts all demonstrate how important it is that Islam be dismantled post haste. It is utterly without a single redeeming feature.
#9
Does Islamic rights include the ability for Muslim doctors and medical students in England to discriminate against Non-Muslims, Alcoholics, Females, Drug addicts, those suffering from sexual disease? What is the Saudi position on this?
Media reports in Germany say three Islamists arrested last month for planning car bombs attacks on US targets had smuggled the detonators into the country with the help of a teenager. The three men, two of them Germans who had converted to Islam and one Turk, were arrested last month by the authorities amid fears they were to plant three car bombs, each packed with 250 kilograms of home-made explosives, at American sites.
German news magazine Der Spiegel as well as Focus, another magazine, reported on Saturday, Oct. 6 that the detonators obtained by the trio were smuggled into Germany unawares by a 15-year-old boy. Police had interrogated the boy, a Tunisian national living in Germany, they said.
"I'm not a terrorist"
The detonators had been concealed in the soles of a pair of shoes in a plastic bag. The boy said he was approached by a stranger in an Istanbul mosque and offered money to take the shoes to Germany. Focus said it had approached the boy, expected to be a key witness at the trial, and he said he had not been party to the plot, adding, "I'm not a terrorist." Der Spiegel did not say how it had obtained the information. The police inquiry into the plot is still underway.
Bombers targeted US sites Der Spiegel also said that surveillance of the three Islamists before their arrests showed that they wanted to kill US citizens, and spoke of possible targets including the huge US Air Force transport base at Ramstein in western Germany. The trio rejected attacks on US military supermarkets since women and children would also be killed, the report said.
German authorities said the men arrested had trained in militant camps in Pakistan before forming a domestic cell of the Islamic Jihad Union, which has its roots in Uzbekistan, but which police believe operated out of Pakistan and Iran. The police said the attacks could have caused even worse carnage than bomb attacks in Madrid or London in recent years.
Germany to restrict sale of chemicals
The German government confirmed on Saturday, Oct 6 that it planned to restrict the sale of nine chemicals which can be used to make explosives. Traders would have to keep a sales log and record the names and identity documents of all buyers while online sales to private individuals would be banned.
Online security measures still controversial
News of the arrests of the home-grown terrorists have shaken Germany and sparked calls for tightening and broadening the scope of the country's anti-terrorism measures. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is seeking powers allowing investigators to send software that secretly installs itself on specific computers, relaying data to police computers as users operate online. Reports on Saturday that Bavaria's regional criminal office already installs programs on computer hard drives that allows authorities to listen to Internet-based telephone calls have triggered unease among politicians who say there is still no legal basis for the measure.
This article starring:
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble
Islamic Jihad Union
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
10/09/2007 08:04 ||
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The British writer Salman Rushdie has accused the Dutch government of abandoning the Somali-born former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, reports Tuesday's Trouw. He says the anti-Islam campaigner has been left to the mercy of Muslim fanatics and calls on the Dutch government to protect her.
Meanwhile the Danish town of Odense is considering offering Hirsi Ali a home, the Telegraaf reported on Monday evening.
Posted by: ryuge ||
10/09/2007 07:53 ||
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Muslim Foot Baths and The ACLU
Story aired: Monday, October 08, 2007
Across the country, officials at universities and airports are considering building foot baths to accommodate Muslims who need to wash their feet before prayers.
This has raised alarm that constructing the baths with tax dollars favors a particular religion.
We talk with the ACLU's Dr. Jeremy Gunn, who tells us why he thinks the practice is constitutional.
#6
Why not have the Muslims carry buckets that they can fill with water and wash their feet? Why should *I* have to pay for some other religion, when the ACLU and other groups are working around the clock to remove any symbols, even historic ones, of my religion? Can't the Soddies or some other muslim group pay for the footbaths?
#11
Maybe people with athlete's foot should use them too...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/09/2007 15:24 Comments ||
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#12
Just watch ... they'll put a few in and someone will put a Koran in one or something ... and next thing ya know we'll have video cameras back in the flippin bathrooms to protect muslim thin skin.
#15
Quickest way to stop this is to let all good Christians know that they can use 'em too. The ACLU will shut the program down faster than Rosie O'Donnell can inhale a twinkie.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2007 16:50 Comments ||
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#16
Please, bring your footbath over here. I have a deposit to make.
#17
Twenty-some years ago we discovered an amazing invention for our babies' dirty bottoms - wet wipes. The babies are grown, but we still take the wet wipes all sorts of places (Port-o-lets at JazzFest, for instance). I really do believe they would work just fine for Muslim feet, with a whole lot less cost and effort. And don't give me the "Mohammed didn't have wet wipes" arguement - he didn't have running water either.
#20
Why don't they just carry around sponges? Or wet-knaps? Why do we have to spend the cash -- and the space -- to replumb to accomodate their fetishes?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
10/09/2007 20:09 Comments ||
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#21
they need to have shorting neon lights in them to look spiffy to mo-man.
#22
I can't force myself to read whatever the ACLU twit barfed up in this instance - does he make a single plausible analogy to any other public accommodation of this sort to any other religion?
Not a religious type myself, but I've long been appalled and outraged at the ACLU's jihad to drive religion (er, most religions) from the public square, where it sat quite comfortably as the US built the freest most open society on Earth. When the LA city council has removed a friggin' cross from the city seal - uh, you jackasses, the city's name is, uh, derived from a religious name - at the cost of thousands to the taxpayers, we have to watch this nonsense?
The only thing that I cling to for cheer amidst the cowardice and idiocy among normal folk and the pathologies ravaging jackasses like the ACLU is that enough people will be offended and astounded and afraid enough to show up at the polls next year and punish the party most associated with all this noxious silliness.
#24
WOW - worked hard today, missed out. High class snark, nothing to add.....Ima feeling mixed feeelings.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/09/2007 20:41 Comments ||
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#25
The best way to look at this is that the Muzzy footbaths are similar to condom give aways for prostitutes and needle trade-ins for junkies. It's reprehensible and uses government money but the spread of disease is even worse. And having Muslims wash their feet in the sink cannot be very sanitary for the rest of us.
Still, I'd feel better about it if they had a coin operated stall around it the way bathrooms used to defend their toilets. That way they'd eventually pay for the footbath themselves. Of course you know the ACLU would be on that as well.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Hay Harry. I want an apology from you for killing the nuke burial site. My tax dollars help pay for it and you feel safer with radioactive stuff stacked along lakes, rivers and oceans.
#3
While Congressional action is sorely needed on such issues as Immigration, Social Security, a Comprehensive Energy Policy, etc, Dingy Harry is focused on ... Rush Limbaugh?
#4
If you can keep repeating the story long enough, the facts fade away, but the impression lingers. GW and the 'plastic turkey', for example. Of course, if it doesn't stick, you end up as Dan Rather.
#7
Sounds like Reid is making an attempt to compare Limbaugh to MoveOn.org and their advertisement about General Petraeus.
Limbaugh has steadily maintained that he was referring only to Jesse MacBeth, who gave media interviews reporting atrocities by American troops before admitting in court that he had been discharged from the Army after six weeks and never went overseas. Limbaugh referred to MacBeth by name later in the call in which the "phony soldiers" exchange took place.
This is what pisses me off about Dhimmicrats. They always ignore pertinent information like the little passage above. They expect people not to know or not to care about all the big holes in their arguments and then when you point it out to them they shout you down or change the subject. Once they establish a pattern of doing that over and over again they lose their credibility and you begin to suspect that every time they open their mouths it's either to lie, distort or obfuscate. That's why I can't stand listening to them.
#9
Moose, limbaugh did apologise to America and American servicemen for all of the statements made by democrats. He pointed out that this is what should be done, then he did it on behalf of Reid, Pelosi, Murtha, Kerry, and others.
#11
Is the American public, particularly the voting public, as dumb as these politicians think? These guys are like Wiley Coyote - one ridiculous plot after another. Maybe the fact Congress is so unpopular is evidence that the public is not as dumb as they think.
#13
Oh. Ok, maybe the American voting public is as dumb as the politicians think. But does that mean one of Wiley Coyote's plots will work and he'll finally nab Roadrunner? Will the anvil really fall off the cliff and hit the Roadrunner on the head, or will it somehow end up on top of the plotter again.
#15
Wrong war Harry. Rush has a national audience 3 hours each day to hammer away at Reid and fellow travelers. Reid is lucky if he can get 10 seconds on the evening news.
Posted by: ed ||
10/09/2007 19:16 Comments ||
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#16
Dear Harry - I'm sincerely sorry that you're such a corrupt, lying weasel.
#17
The efforts of David Brock and the other hard Left media goons to smear Limbaugh and O'Reilly have already failed, been dissected over talk radio and in the blogosphere (besides Fox the only media avenues they do not control) and are sitting atop the propaganda scrap heap.
This is wrong on so many levels and just screams about how frivolously we are conducting this so-called war.
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz said patriotism motivated him to join a spy ring, smuggle secret files from Camp Pendleton and give them to law enforcement officers for anti-terrorism work in Southern California. He knew his group was violating national security laws. But he said bureaucratic walls erected by the military and civilian agencies were hampering intelligence sharing and coordination, making the nation more vulnerable to terrorists. Maybe there will be a place for him in the Clinton administration as an assistant to Sandy Burglar.
Maziarz, a member of the Marine Forces Reserve, had helped search for survivors in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. I decided to make a difference and act, Maziarz testified during his court-martial in July at Camp Pendleton. Big mistake, wanting to make a difference. Better to make a buck. He'll need to internalize that lesson before the Clintons pardon him.
Details of Maziarz's case emerged after he pleaded guilty to mishandling more than 100 classified documents from 2004 to last year. The overall breach could be far larger: Investigators believe that as far back as the early 1990s, the intelligence-filching ring began taking hundreds of secret files from Camp Pendleton and the U.S. Northern Command, which tracks terrorist activity in the United States.
During his trial, Maziarz said he passed the classified files to at least four men. These alleged accomplices were military reserve officers, and two of them also worked with anti-terrorism units for police and sheriff's departments in Los Angeles County.
Maziarz said he took the documents while serving as an intelligence analyst for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. In a plea agreement, he received a 26-month jail sentence in exchange for detailing the spy ring. He also agreed to testify against his alleged accomplices if they are charged.
The plea deal bars Maziarz, 37, from talking with the media. His purported conspirators could not be reached for comment, and investigators refused to discuss any developments. We wouldn't people to know other people are going to jail for trying to protect them when the bureaucracy won't.
Steven Aftergood, a research analyst for the nonprofit Federation of American Scientists, couldn't remember another instance of people being driven by patriotic frustration to break the law. It's incredible. We had better understand their motivations or else this is going to keep happening, said Aftergood, whose organization works to reduce government secrecy while improving security practices. The failure of agencies to share information is a real one and has been raised over and over again without a satisfactory resolution.
The people whom Maziarz described as his accomplices include:
Larry Richards, a Marine reserve colonel and detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He co-founded the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group in 1996. On the military side, he has received a Bronze Star for developing psychological-warfare strategies during the Iraq war.
David Litaker, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department and, until recently, a Marine reserve colonel.
Mark Lowe, another Marine reserve officer and a pilot for Delta Air Lines.
Lauren Martin, a Navy reservist who worked as a civilian intelligence analyst at U.S. Northern Command headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
Richards, Litaker, Lowe and Maziarz came to know one another through their military ties.
Maziarz testified that Richards recruited him in 2004 as his successor for taking classified documents from Camp Pendleton. Maziarz said he routinely passed such information to Richards, plus to and from Martin.
The operation started unraveling about a year ago when Camp Pendleton officials began searching for missing war trophies brought back from Iraq. An internal investigation eventually focused on Maziarz, who had done intelligence work in Iraq. Investigators tracked the missing goods to his apartment in Carlsbad and to storage units he rented in Carlsbad and Manassas, Va. They recovered items such as Iraqi swords, several types of assault weapons and digital cameras. You need to be careful how many laws you break at one time.
Along with the war booty, the investigators found surveillance data on suspected terrorists, two locked briefcases, a government record book, government maps, ammunition and body armor. Based on such evidence, their case broadened to include accusations of spying.
Maziarz isn't alone in asserting that terrorists are operating in the United States. Those who share his perspective include John Miller, former head of the Los Angeles Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau. In 2003, Miller told The New York Times that his office had identified 605 terrorism targets scattered across Los Angeles County. He said al-Qaeda operatives were working in the region to raise money, identify targets and secure weapons. He also said the bureau had arrested 74 suspected terrorists since Sept. 11, 2001.
In the big picture, defense experts said, the Maziarz case isn't just about patriotism. They worry that foreign agents might find it easier to steal secret documents from law enforcement groups, which generally have fewer measures for protecting classified information than federal intelligence agencies. Can't trust those cops. They don't have the same level of internal security as the CIA or NSA as Aldrich and Ames demonstrate.
#1
NS, the point here is that, rightly or wrongly, when you take the oath of service in the US military you agree to obey the lawful orders of your superiors. Gunnery Sergeants and Colonels do not get to make policy and if they choose to break the rules, they are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. I hope that Gunnery Sergeant Maziarz and his accomplices become well acquainted with the inside of a federal penitentiary. There are right ways and wrong ways to do things. This is the wrong way.
#2
I do agree with your specific point, RWV. But as I said, it is wrong on a lot of levels and that is just one of them. I'm po'ed about all of them. And I can't figure out which I'm most po'ed about because I'm so po'ed. I need to hit the lav.
#4
Give him 6 mos or a stiff fine for the war trophy theft...(another stupid rule but still a rule)...commute the rest if a court martial board is convinced he acted in good faith w/the spirit of defending the constitution vice the letter of the law. The beaurocrats need to fix themselves & the admin mockery that's slowing down info sharing....people and their rice bowls.
HT Jihadwatch. Firm Says Administration's Handling of Video Ruined Its Spying Efforts
By Joby Warrick Washington Post Staff Writer
A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al-Qaeda release.
Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.
The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network.
"Techniques that took years to develop are now ineffective and worthless," said Rita Katz, the firm's 44-year-old founder, who has garnered wide attention by publicizing statements and videos from extremist chat rooms and Web sites, while attracting controversy over the secrecy of SITE's methodology. Her firm provides intelligence about terrorist groups to a wide range of paying clients, including private firms and military and intelligence agencies from the United States and several other countries.
The precise source of the leak remains unknown. Government officials declined to be interviewed about the circumstances on the record, but they did not challenge Katz's version of events. They also said the incident had no effect on U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts and did not diminish the government's ability to anticipate attacks.
While acknowledging that SITE had achieved success, the officials said U.S. agencies have their own sophisticated means of watching al-Qaeda on the Web. "We have individuals in the right places dealing with all these issues, across all 16 intelligence agencies," said Ross Feinstein, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
But privately, some intelligence officials called the incident regrettable, and one official said SITE had been "tremendously helpful" in ferreting out al-Qaeda secrets over time.
The al-Qaeda video aired on Sept. 7 attracted international attention as the first new video message from the group's leader in three years. In it, a dark-bearded bin Laden urges Americans to convert to Islam and predicts failure for the Bush administration in Iraq and Afghanistan. The video was aired on hundreds of Western news Web sites nearly a full day before its release by a distribution company linked to al-Qaeda.
Computer logs and records reviewed by The Washington Post support SITE's claim that it snatched the video from al-Qaeda days beforehand. Katz requested that the precise date and details of the acquisition not be made public, saying such disclosures could reveal sensitive details about the company's methods.
SITE -- an acronym for the Search for International Terrorist Entities -- was established in 2002 with the stated goal of tracking and exposing terrorist groups, according to the company's Web site. Katz, an Iraqi-born Israeli citizen whose father was executed by Saddam Hussein in the 1960s, has made the investigation of terrorist groups a passionate quest.
"We were able to establish sources that provided us with unique and important information into al-Qaeda's hidden world," Katz said. Her company's income is drawn from subscriber fees and contracts.
Katz said she decided to offer an advance copy of the bin Laden video to the White House without charge so officials there could prepare for its eventual release.
She spoke first with White House counsel Fred F. Fielding, whom she had previously met, and then with Joel Bagnal, deputy assistant to the president for homeland security. Both expressed interest in obtaining a copy, and Bagnal suggested that she send a copy to Michael Leiter, who holds the No. 2 job at the National Counterterrorism Center.
Administration and intelligence officials would not comment on whether they had obtained the video separately. Katz said Fielding and Bagnal made it clear to her that the White House did not possess a copy at the time she offered hers.
Around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, Katz sent both Leiter and Fielding an e-mail with a link to a private SITE Web page containing the video and an English transcript. "Please understand the necessity for secrecy," Katz wrote in her e-mail. "We ask you not to distribute . . . [as] it could harm our investigations."
Fielding replied with an e-mail expressing gratitude to Katz. "It is you who deserves the thanks," he wrote, according to a copy of the message. There was no record of a response from Leiter or the national intelligence director's office.
Exactly what happened next is unclear. But within minutes of Katz's e-mail to the White House, government-registered computers began downloading the video from SITE's server, according to a log of file transfers. The records show dozens of downloads over the next three hours from computers with addresses registered to defense and intelligence agencies.
By midafternoon, several television news networks reported obtaining copies of the transcript. A copy posted around 3 p.m. on Fox News's Web site referred to SITE and included page markers identical to those used by the group. "This confirms that the U.S. government was responsible for the leak of this document," Katz wrote in an e-mail to Leiter at 5 p.m.
Al-Qaeda supporters, now alerted to the intrusion into their secret network, put up new obstacles that prevented SITE from gaining the kind of access it had obtained in the past, according to Katz.
A small number of private intelligence companies compete with SITE in scouring terrorists' networks for information and messages, and some have questioned the company's motives and methods, including the claim that its access to al-Qaeda's network was unique. One competitor, Ben Venzke, founder of IntelCenter, said he questions SITE's decision -- as described by Katz -- to offer the video to White House policymakers rather than quietly share it with intelligence analysts.
"It is not just about getting the video first," Venzke said. "It is about having the proper methods and procedures in place to make sure that the appropriate intelligence gets to where it needs to go in the intelligence community and elsewhere in order to support ongoing counterterrorism operations."
#4
By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.
SITE needs should file a lawsuit to find out that cable news group's source within the Bush administration. That source should be sued for SITE's entire project costs. The government should also prosecute the responsible individual for violating national security and make an example out of this scumbag.
Watch the NYT bring out all the dark clouds in this article.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency. Bush administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened wiretapping authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess, and some Democratic officials admit that they may not come up with the votes to rein in the administration.
As the debate over the N.S.A.s wiretapping powers begins anew this week, the emerging legislation reflects the political reality confronting the Democrats. While they are willing to oppose the White House on the conduct of the war in Iraq, they remain nervous that they will be labeled as soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on intelligence gathering.
A Democratic bill to be proposed Tuesday in the House would maintain for several years the type of broad, blanket authority for N.S.A. wiretapping that the administration secured in August for just six months. But in an acknowledgment of civil liberties concerns, the measure would also require a more active role by the special foreign intelligence court that oversees the N.S.A.s interception of foreign-based communications.
Because the FISA court just doesn't have enough to do these days.
A competing proposal in the Senate, still being drafted, may be even closer in line with the administrations demands, with the possibility of including retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that took part in the N.S.A.s once-secret program to wiretap without court warrants.
Not that they needed court warrants, but let's not confuse the NYT.
No one is willing to predict with certainty how the issue will play out. But some Congressional officials and others monitoring the debate over the legislation said the final result may not be much different than it was two months ago, despite Democrats insistence that they would not let stand the August extension of the N.S.A.s powers. Many members continue to fear that if they dont support whatever the president asks for, theyll be perceived as soft on terrorism, said William Banks, a professor specializing in terrorism and national security law at Syracuse University who has written extensively on federal wiretapping law.
That would be a correct perception, and one that would be mentioned a few times by a competent Republican campaign in '08.
The August bill, known as the Protect America Act, was approved by Congress in the final hours before its summer recess after heated warnings from the Bush administration that legal loopholes in wiretapping coverage had left the country vulnerable to another terrorist attack. The legislation significantly reduced the role of the foreign intelligence court and broadened the N.S.A.s ability to listen in on foreign-based communications without a court warrant.
We want the statute made permanent, Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said today. We view this as a healthy debate. We also view it as an opportunity to inform Congress and the public that we can use these authorities responsibly. Were going to go forward and look at any proposals that come forth, but well look at them very carefully to make sure they dont have any consequences that hamper our abilities to protect the country.
House Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the interim legislation in August and believed at the time they had been forced into a corner by the Bush administration. As Congress takes up the new legislation, a senior Democratic aide said House leaders are working hard to make sure the administration does not succeed in pushing through a bill that would make permanent all the powers it secured in August for the N.S.A. Thats what were trying to avoid, the aide said. We have that concern too.
The bill to be proposed Tuesday by the Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees would impose more controls over the N.S.A.s powers, including quarterly audits by the Justice Departments inspector general. It would also give the foreign intelligence court a role in approving, in advance, basket or umbrella warrants for bundles of overseas communications, according to a Congressional official. We are giving the N.S.A. what it legitimately needs for national security but with far more limitations and protections than are in the Protect America Act, said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.
Perhaps most important in the eyes of Democratic supporters, the House bill would not give retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies that took part in the N.S.A.s domestic eavesdropping program a proposal that had been a top priority of the Bush administration. The August legislation granted the companies immunity for future acts, but not past deeds. A number of the usual 'progressive' private groups are trying to prove in federal court that the telecommunications companies violated the law by taking part in the program. A former senior Justice Department lawyer, Jack Goldsmith, seemed to bolster their case last week when he told Congress that the program was a legal mess and strongly suggested it was illegal.
In the Senate, the Democratic chairman of the Intelligence Committee, John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, is working with his Republican counterpart, Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, who was one of the main proponents of the August plan, to come up with a compromise wiretapping proposal. Wendy Morigi, a spokeswoman for Mr. Rockefeller, said that retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies is under discussion, but that no final proposal had been developed.
The immunity issue may prove to be the key sticking point between whatever proposals are ultimately passed by the House and the Senate. Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat who was among the harshest critics of the legislation passed in August, said he would vigorously oppose any effort to grant retroactive legal protection to telecommunications companies. There is heavy pressure on the immunity and we should not cave an inch on that, he said in an interview.
Because, after all, it was a 'legal mess', so let's punish the telecomms and make sure they're never eager to help our country ever again.
Mr. Nadler said he was worried that the Senate would give too much ground to the administration in its proposal, but he said he was satisfied with the legislation to be proposed Tuesday in the House. It is not perfect, but it is a good bill, he said. It makes huge improvements in the current law. In some respects it is better than the old FISA law, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Civil liberties advocates and others who met with House officials today about the proposed bill agreed that it was an improvement over the August plan, but they were not quite as charitable in their overall assessment. This still authorizes the interception of Americans international communications without a warrant in far too many instances and without adequate civil liberties protections, said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, who was among the group that met with House officials.
Governments have always had the right -- indeed responsibility -- to monitor international communications. All governments have opened international mail, tapped international telegraph and telephone lines, and so on for decades. We have, properly, expectations of privacy concerning our domestic communications, and a court order is needed to ensure that a snoopy government (which could easily by a Dhimmicratic one) doesn't tap into peoples' private lives. There is no such expectation in international communications. This is one more instance of the usual progressive groups trying to manufacture a new restriction on our government -- and only our government.
Caroline Frederickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said she was troubled by the Democrats acceptance of broad, blanket warrants for the N.S.A., rather than the individualized warrants traditionally required by the intelligence court. The Democratic leadership, philosophically, is bought and paid for by with us, but we need to help them realize the political case, which is that Democrats will not be in danger if they dont reauthorize this Protect America Act, Ms. Frederickson said. Theyre nervous. Theres a keep the majority mentality, which is understandable. But we think theyre putting themselves in more danger by not standing on principle.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
So is Mr.Pink saying that all governments are fascists?
Posted by: buy one war, get one free! ||
10/09/2007 0:29 Comments ||
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#2
The troll needs to fire up google to get some bearings on "fascism", it seems.
Governments have the right to manage communications through its borders -- that's one of the fundamental rights of sovereignty. Every single country on this planet has rules for international mail and telephone calls, as one example. And virtually every country will monitor said mail, calls, e-mail, etc crossing its borders.
Again: domestic is different. A 'fascist' nation (e.g., Saddam's Iraq) spies on everyone at home. A democratic nation that honors personal liberty (e.g., ours) has rules to protect the privacy of honest citizens whilst going after criminals.
But domestic isn't international. A sovereign nation has the right to investigate communications across its borders that threatens the state. And the only way you can argue against that is to be a transnationalist.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2007 0:39 Comments ||
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No. But all governments tend to become fascist in the absence of strong resistance. PC speech codes and thought crime 'hate' crimes strike me as fascist, for instance.
(AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - A Pakistani military helicopter escorting President Pervez Musharraf crashed in Pakistani Kashmir on Monday killing four soldiers. Although the head of the Pakistan army public relations wing, ISPR, General Waheed Arshad, said that the crash was caused by "a technical fault," journalists based in Pakistani Kashmir said that the incident was really an attack on US ally Musharraf, who was re-elected president only two days ago.
Well, yeah, it's a "technical fault" if you don't find the dynamite before it takes off.
Musharraf has survived at least three assassination attempts by al-Qaeda-linked militants.
So this one makes four. Five lives to go.
Reports say that when Musharraf travels by helicopter, several aircraft are used as potential decoys, and it is not known whether he will be in the lead helicopter or one of those following.
This is known in the trade as "elementary precautions."
The four killed in Monday's crash included a brigadier, the two commandos from Musharraf's security detail, and a cameraman from state-run television. Eight people were injured in the incident including Musharraf's press advisor, retired Major-General Rashid Qureshi. Musharraf was traveling to Kashmir to mark the second anniversary of an earthquake in the region which killed around 73,000 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
MOUD > a US Secret Service agent allegedly fired a shot at Moud's car during his recent UNO visit???
#4
Besides the Allah Nut, the most important nut on a helicopter is the one between the cyclic and collective controls.
Besoeker--- the Jesus Allah nut....great snark. You get the award today. LOL!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/09/2007 13:05 Comments ||
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#5
An insh'allah spanner removes the allah nut. In more pressing cases, garden variety allah nuts can be clubbed to death using the insh'allah spanner.
#6
Would it be appropriate to explain to those in Rantburg-land that are unknowing of helicopter parts the importance of the Jesus nut?
its that itty-bitty part that holds the rotorblades and head on; without it you can expect to see Jesus, real soon.
related note: that big fan on top is not solely for flight; it also provides cooling to the pilot; if it stops, watch the pilot start sweating.....
NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani on Monday advised the governor to dissolve the provincial assembly in view of the current situation in the country. I advise the governor under Article 112 (1) of the Constitution to immediately dissolve the assembly in view of the prevailing situation, Durrani told the media after the prorogation of the assembly session.
Durrani said that it was his desire that the governor dissolve the assembly by Monday evening, or the assembly will automatically stand dissolved within 48 hours.
Durrani said he was not interested in joining a caretaker government, and defended JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehmans role in the countrys politics, saying that Fazl was a farsighted leader who did not make emotional decisions. He denied allegations that the JUI-F helped Gen Musharraf in his re-election. He said the speaker was asked to relax assembly rules when a no-confidence resolution against him (Durrani) was submitted to enable me to dissolve the assembly on October 5, but he did not.
Just before Durrani advised the governor to dissolve the assembly, Speaker Bakht Jehan, against whom the JUI-F members planned to move a no-confidence resolution, resigned from his office.
Jehan told the house that the JI provincial executive committee had directed him on Sunday to resign from the office. In view of the JI executive committee decision, Ill submit my resignation to the governor after the prorogation of the session, he said. In his resignation, Jehan said that there was unrest in the country in the wake of the re-election of Gen Musharraf, and a large number of national and provincial assemblies members had resigned. There is a great burden on my conscience because I am an active member of the JI. It does not warrant me to remain in the office anymore as other members of the party have tendered their resignations, said the speaker.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Harlan Ullman, apolitical analyst and adviser to two Washington think tanks, told a Canadian news outlet that if the Supreme Court decides against President Pervez Musharraf when it resumes hearings on Oct. 17, then I think there is going to be martial law and God knows whats going to happen in Pakistan. He told CTV, Canada, that the situation in Pakistan potentially is a crisis and the US should be focusing far more attention on it, but was afraid that when it does, it may be too late.
According to Ullman, Were sitting on top of a powder keg times ten. With the insurgency, with terror, with discrepancies between rich and poor, the fact that they have nuclear weapons, makes it exceedingly difficult for the most gifted people to work something out in this situation. He was of the view that the only good option for President Musharraf is a power-sharing arrangement with Benazir Bhutto, though even then it could be difficult.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Opposition party leaders in the NWFP Assembly termed the chief ministers advice for the governor to dissolve the Frontier Assembly another political drama staged by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) with the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) leadership.
The opposition leaders said Maulana Fazlur Rehman again supported President Pervez Musharraf, as he had done in the past by supporting him on the 17th amendments under the cover of the Legal Framework Ordinance (LFO).
Dissolution of the NWFP Assembly was an option of the APDM before October 6 and not on October 8. Chief Minister Akram Durrani and his party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman paved the way for President Musharrafs re-election and dissolution of Frontier Assembly is now meaningless for the APDM, PML-N parliamentary leader in the NWFP Assembly Anwar Kamal Marwat, who recently resigned, told Daily Times after chief minister advised the governor to dissolve the NWFP Assembly. Fazlur Rehman and Akram Durrani announced assemblys dissolution on October 2, which provided an opportunity to pro-Musharraf MPAs to move a no-trust motion against him. Had they kept the assemblys dissolution secret, pro-Musharraf MPAs would no have tabled the no-confidence motion, Marwat said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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PPP chief Benazir Bhutto is likely to acquire a foreign security detail as President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has done, since threats to her life have assumed worrisome proportions with her return to Pakistan just 9 days away.
Pakistan today, they say, is a dangerous place and not quite the country she left when she chose exile.
If the PPP leader does decide to obtain additional security from abroad, apart from the security that the Pakistan government would make available to her, it will be through a contract with a private Western company, of which there are many in business. Many government leaders from developing countries have opted for such arrangements in order to strengthen their security and personal safety. Bhutto, whose life was threatened by Al Qaeda last week, has said that she is not afraid as she believes that life and death are in the hands of God. However, her family, close friends and political associates are said to be of the view that in her case the policy of erring on the side of caution would be the most advisable. Pakistan today, they say, is a dangerous place and not quite the country she left when she chose exile.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
...and not quite the country she left...
I'd say 'not quite a country' and leave it at that.
Maj Gen (r) Ihsan Ahmed will head the security team formed by the PPP to protect Benazir Bhutto on her return, Geo News reported.
♫ He is the very model of a modern major general (r)! ♫
The security team includes Zulfiqar Mirza, Hasan Raza and 300 other people. Another committee of 2,000 PSF volunteers is also being formed. Benazirs bulletproof car will also likely reach Pakistan soon.
This article starring:
Hasan Raza
Maj Gen (r) Ihsan Ahmed
Zulfiqar Mirza
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Typical moron. When the US pushed Japan into Democracy we didn't insist on Japan being a cookie cutter version of the US. The local culture became a big part in the differences and the eventual success of Japanese democracy.
So why the hell would we do things differently in the Islamic world? This jerk doesn't know what the blue-print is, he just assumes.
#2
See STRATFOR's article on BLACKWATER > USA can expect to fight MUSLTI-DIVSIONAL, OPEN-ENDED CONFLICTS [sectarian] in which the traditional USDOD structure is inadequate to cope wid area-region-specific insurgencies which will surely rise/occur.
SHOWS (1) WOT IS A WAR FOR OWG; and (2) USA-SPECIFIC > US MUST PRIVATIZE, e.g. Blackwater and other PMC's; or else DRAFT to suppor US policies.
BAGHDAD (UPI) -- The Iraqi government wants Blackwater USA to pay $8 million to each of the 17 families whose relatives were shot to death in Baghdad last month.
The government also wants the United States to sever ties with the private security firm within six months and to hand over the shooters for prosecution under Iraqi law, the BBC reported Tuesday.
Blackwater insists its employees were defending themselves, while an Iraqi investigation found they fired without provocation in the Sept. 16 incident.
North Carolina-based Blackwater is the largest of 28 private security firms used to protect U.S. officials in Iraq. Blackwater employs 744 U.S. citizens in Iraq.
Private security workers are immune from prosecution in Iraq but an FBI investigation into the killings raises the prospect of trials in the United States, while the Iraqi investigation said Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq expired in 2006, removing the guards' immunity, the BBC reported.
The Iraqi government said Blackwater guards have killed 38 Iraqi civilians and wounded nearly 50 other since 2003.
#1
The Iraqi government said Blackwater guards have killed 38 Iraqi civilians and wounded nearly 50 other since 2003.
And how many Iraqi citizens have killed Blackwater personnel or have you forgot? It was Americans that had to clean that problem up without much help from those quacking now.
#5
Blackwater has had plenty of time to justify its conduct in this situation but has failed to do so. Too bad for Blackwater. Now -- better late than never -- the company better fire the guilty people and hire or promote new people to establish much better guidance and supervision.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 10:51 Comments ||
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#6
Like the Marines at Hadithia, Mike? Read the bit about how it was a choreographed setup?
Not that the clever, adaptable 'insurgents' could figure out how to manipulate the US media.... Again.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/09/2007 11:24 Comments ||
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#7
Ignoring threats is fatal. Blackwater employees who ignore threats get strung from Fallujah bridges.
"If you approach the car chanting, you will be shot"
Not just a rule of engagement, also a nice bumper sticker...
#9
If any of you guys own Blackwater stock, you better quit fooling around here on Rantburg and run to your broker and sell it all right now. Your stock will be worthless in a few days.
The US Government is not going to support Blackwater about this event, so the company is going down.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 11:53 Comments ||
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#10
Mike - I am not talking support or no support. I do want to know what your problem is.
This from a person who knew a lot of the movement folks back in the day and still thinks they are geo-political imbeciles.
I know guys that work for them and I've subbed for BW. Iraq is profitable, but its not the only place they have work.
This is political payback pure and simple. Had those been Sunnis instead of Malikis' Shia gunbuddies, there'd have been nary a peep.
And on top of that, the Iraqi "witnesses" seem to be very very uniform when it comes to affiliation, and story.
But the bottom line is the SOFA agreement prety much prevents Maliki from extraditing any contractor for this sort of action.
I hope Nouri enjoys his new guards, instead of BW, who will probably get him killed. Because they will be locals, not any contractors. I know some in EODT (best "contracting" company in the world - class act eodt.com) and others will not do business with Maliki and his government now that its looking like he is becoming nothing more than a Shia Iranian puppet.
#13
.... the SOFA agreement prety much prevents Maliki from extraditing any contractor for this sort of action.
I expect that the Iraqi Government will be successful in excluding Blackwater from any future work in Iraq. I expect that the US Government will not support Blackwater on this issue. We will see whether I am correct.
It's my impression that Blackwater in general was a very good company, but this event was a monumental blunder that the company failed to resolve effectively. The company needed to investigate ruthlessly, report the facts convincingly, roll a lot heads immediately, compensate the victims' family satisfactorily and publicly announce corrective measures.
Now the company will pay a very expensive price for these failures. The company might collapse to a very small version of its present size.
There are other US security companies that will be ready to step in and pick up the ball.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 12:56 Comments ||
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#14
Pushback from Maliki for our arrest of Iranian agents, I suspect.
Had those been Sunnis instead of Malikis' Shia gunbuddies, there'd have been nary a peep.
others will not do business with Maliki and his government now that its looking like he is becoming nothing more than a Shia Iranian puppet.
Does anyone really believe that Maliki is still on our side? Or even on Iraq's side for that matter? I hope Maliki's compromised personal security detail finds a way to off his worthless ass. Maliki is emblematic of how mistaken we were to prop up any sort of provisional government in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Both nations should have been held under American military rule until their radical factions were neutralized. Instead, the radicals have embedded themselves into the respective country's political systems (think Sadr) and this hasnot only resulted in dead American soldiers butdelayed any real migration away from Islamic theocracy in the MME (Muslim Middle East).
Elimination of all Islamic theocracy needs to be America's primary goal in fighting the Global War on Terrorism. This is still not the case and represents a fundamental flaw in our wartime strategy.
#16
Seems like an optimistic assumption to me given the death cult religion that prevails there.
Agreed, NS. I'm just trying to frame this in a way where it can be discussed and analysed. Far better that we imposed military rule for decades than allowed these turds to implement shari'a law.
#17
Mike I don't doubt that Bush will cave - he's consistently been an idiot on matters of this sort, especially when State has grabbed him by the ear and it towing him around like a little kid.
But the bottom line is 2 things: first, contractors are the only reliable safe non-political there for security. And second, he "contractor" environment is not a large one. You know each other. And knowing how BW is getting jobbed, Maliki will have a very difficult time hiring anyone. And those he hires will want him at arms length, doing only training, so as to not be the next in line for goat award from Maliki's next Iranian induced tantrum.
Hey Nouri, good luck getting and vetting your PSD. You'll be catching a bullet or a bomb sooner or later because everyone over there has a grudge to play EXCEPT the US and the contractors, and Maliki cannot be seen with US Troops personally guarding him.
If I were BW, I'd cut it quick. Keep only those directly helping the US military and civil populace. Pull *ALL* PSD's from VIPs, and all security for the Iraqi Government, immediate, no warning or transition. Guaranteed Maliki and many others are attacked quickly, especially if the locals get wind of the contractors leaving in a hurry - and that they are not interested in fighting, and only the family stooges are left on guard.
Come to think of it Maliki catching a bomb would help a lot- get rid of an Iranian stooge, allow for new elections, and provide a martyr.
#18
Sounds like a nice plan Spook. Worthy of the old CIA.
Faster Malkie goes, the better I think. He is proving to be worse than worthless. More of a Iranian profiteer.
#19
If I were BW, I'd cut it quick. Keep only those directly helping the US military and civil populace. Pull *ALL* PSD's from VIPs, and all security for the Iraqi Government, immediate, no warning or transition. Guaranteed Maliki and many others are attacked quickly, especially if the locals get wind of the contractors leaving in a hurry - and that they are not interested in fighting, and only the family stooges are left on guard.
Word, 'Spook. Dead Maliki = Good for Iraq. Fewer Americans dead.
Come to think of it Maliki catching a bomb would help a lot- get rid of an Iranian stooge, allow for new elections, and provide a martyr.
So, you're sayin' that there is an upside to this whole snafu?
#21
Blackwater is still private I believe, financed by a seal officer that inherited over a billion dollars from his Dad's business. There is no stock price to effect, and not much in the way of shareholders to answer to. So, a collapse is unlikely. Legal headaches could get expensive if it comes to that, and future contracts may dwindle, but as a private company they can resize/right-size without a lot of drama (not many whiny union types on the payroll there).
We should all go to their web site and buy t-shirts to support the company :-)
#22
knowing how BW is getting jobbed, Maliki will have a very difficult time hiring anyone. And those he hires will want him at arms length, doing only training, so as to not be the next in line for goat award from Maliki's next Iranian induced tantrum.
You know much more about this than I do, Old Spook, but I assume other contractors will be glad to step in and take over Blackwater's contracts.
I think also it's fair to say that a tantrum is being thrown by Blackwater, which should have taken responsibility more constructively in this incident.
I understand that these tragedies do happen in the stressfull and violent situation where Blackwater operates. Nevertheless, the information that has come into the public realm so far indicates that the Blackwater guys acted recklessly in this incident.
And, as I said above, plenty of time has passed for Blackwater to explain itself, and the explanation has not been compelling.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 15:58 Comments ||
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#24
If I were BW, I'd cut it quick. Keep only those directly helping the US military and civil populace. Pull *ALL* PSD's from VIPs, and all security for the Iraqi Government, immediate, no warning or transition.
If Blackwater decides to throw a little tantrum like this, then it's own situation will be even worse. Blackwater ought to consider adopting an attitude that indicates some contriteness and cooperation.
It's failure to do so is why it is getting kicked out of the country, with the US Government's acquiescence. If Blackwater continues to demonstrate a self-righteously defiant attitude all the way out, then I would predict it won't enjoy much success in future contract bids.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 16:12 Comments ||
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#25
Re #20 (Crusader): You know this...how?
I know enough to know that Blackwater is about to lose all its business in Iraq.
In the coming months, as the Blackwater skeleton staff is packing all its Iraq documentation into boxes for storage in its historical archive, the company's leadership ought to spend some time pondering whether it should have managed its response to this incident more effectively.
When things go wrong, investigate the problems and try to fix them. Try to make things right, as best you can. If that had been Blackwater's attitude, then the company might have survived this incident.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 16:26 Comments ||
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#26
In short, you're angry at Blackwater because they're not CONFESS!ing to your satisfaction or the satisfaction of a rather corrupt government.
(ANd yes, they have a corruption problem; if they didn't they wouldn't HAVE to hire guys from America (Blackwater) or Peru (Triple Canopy) or South Africa (whatever their current Executive Options-equivalent is) to be bodyguards).
#27
Let's see Maliki show as much confidence in his own damn country as he showed (until two weeks ago) in Blackwater by getting a regular army unit to guard his ass.
#29
In short, you're angry at Blackwater because they're not CONFESS!ing to your satisfaction or the satisfaction of a rather corrupt government.
I'm not angry at Blackwater. The company was doing important work in an extremely difficults situation.
Because the company responded to this incident ineffectively, however, this work will be taken over by some other, similar company. And the work will go on, and the other company will profit.
The Iraqi Government has not said that it does not want private companies providing this service. Rather, the Iraqi Government has said only that it does not Blackwater in particular to provide the service.
If you want to imagine that Blackwater's exclusion from this important service has nothing to do with Blackwater's performance, then go ahead and enjoy your fantasy.
Go ahead and buy Blackwater stock if you think it's such a great company with such a promising future.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 16:49 Comments ||
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#30
The Iraqi Government has not said that it does not want private companies providing this service. Rather, the Iraqi Government has said only that it does not Blackwater in particular to provide the service.
Oh, of course not, you support the Iraqi government in its quest to find a new set of suckers to sell out six months down the road after the next firefight.
Here's a hint: where is whatever company they're going to hire going to find "fall guys" willing to die to save Maliki if Maliki's going to criminally charge them after the firefight?
You seem to have this image in your head, that the management/stockholders of Blackwater will be chastised for not "confessing" to your/Maliki's satisfaction but everyone else will continue Business As Usual, as if the soldiers and bodyguards provided are just Sacks of Potatoes to be rented at X dollars an hour.
If they were, they could find those potatoes in the Iraqi army.
Haven't you ever asked yourself, why haven't they?
#32
Is there any place where the security video from the police station or other source is available? because until then all I have as proof of guilt is what Maliki claimed the very next day. Perhaps Representative Murtha (D-Mike) would like to weigh in on this and present some evidence other than the highly suspicious 'many people with very similar stories' claim. I can sit here and come up with a way to prompt an incident with just some dedicated scary looking dudes loaded with blanks and some mortars exploding off camera to prompt a response. Would it not be reasonable for Blackwater to await the findings of an investigation before they apologize for something they did or did not do.
To me, it is more reasonable that this is a way to give Blackwater heat, put them up on the law block for a financial hit, and perhaps remove effective security for some target(s) of opportunity who would have to hire local or stay in a known location; catch someone out of their castle and destroy their bodyguard in one move.
As for perspective, how did Sadr's militia respond when told to stop killing Iraqis? This is not a bunch of rampaging lunatics looking for blood else they would not have responded to the call to cease operations with such quickness and inquirery.
#33
Interesting to read the comments of Mike and Old Spook here.
Mike: in a normal business environment, what you propose is the correct course of action. It's another way to paraphrase Marshall Field: give the lady what she wants. If the customer is unhappy, you fix the problem quickly and offer an appropriate apology.
Iraq is not a normal business environment, and I think Old Spook makes the situation pretty clear.
BW was caught in a situation they can't really fix. I don't know if their people 'over-reacted' or not. I'm not sure who could judge that other than other profesisonal security/military people. The rest of us are just Monday morning quarterbacks.
But I suspect OS is right about one thing: it's a small community of people who really, really know how to provide security to an important person in a hostile environment. And if one company says, frankly, screw it, we don't need the aggrevation, I'm not sure another company will come in and scoop up the contract. If Mr. Maliki sends BW home, he may end up depending on cousin Mahmoud to provide security. I can guess the over/under on that one.
Mr. Maliki (whom I do NOT wish harm to) ought to consider his options. I don't think they're all that good. But if I were him and staying alive were a prime consideration, I'd find a way to save some face and keep BW around.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2007 17:22 Comments ||
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#34
I suspect he will choose Basij as guards from his buddy in Iran.
#35
Re #33 (Steve White): And if one company says, frankly, screw it, we don't need the aggrevation, I'm not sure another company will come in and scoop up the contract.
When the US Government opens the bidding for a new company to take over Blackwater's contracts, I would advise everyone to stand far away from the door. There will be such a stampede of bidders through the door that anybody standing nearby might be crushed underfoot. So many bidders' feet will trample over you, that you might eventually be buried in an envelope instead of a coffin.
Blackwater soon will be forgotten, as other security companies rise to wealth and success.
Blackwater will be remembered only in management-school textbooks, in the lessons about how not to manage crises and about the severe consequences for even successful companies that handle crises ineffectively.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 17:50 Comments ||
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#36
But if I were him and staying alive were a prime consideration, I'd find a way to save some face and keep BW around.
Fortunately for Western interests this is one of those moments when the usual monumental towering Muslim Pride works in our favor. No way is he going to back down on this golden opportunity to smear America. In the process, Maliki has painted himself into a neat little coffin corner. By so desperately wanting to tar the enemies of his Iranian puppetmasters, he is leaving himself buns-up naked in the snow and it just couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
#38
Mike, have you ever been to Iraq? I have. There is no "stampede of companies" who want to do security work there. Blackwater was and is doing a DAMN FINE job, and they protected my ass while I was in theater, I can assure you.
The entire thing is a political railroading, consisting of half-truths and downright lies. These guys were some of the bravest and most dedicated folks I met there. You have no idea the threats they face every day. Dozens of their employees have been killed or wounded protecting American contractors (such as me) while NOT ONE of the people they are protecting has suffered the same fate.
If someone makes up a smear campaign against you, while all the time you've been busting your ass to do your job in a dedicated and professional manner, just how are you supposed to take it? Admit wrongdoing when there is none? Bullshit.
The left is indeed famous for coming to conclusions based on false information, but I don't recall that being SOP on the Burg.
#42
#38 (mcsegeek1) just how are you supposed to take it? Admit wrongdoing when there is none?
In that incident, 17 Iraqis were killed and some more were wounded.
Were they all terrorists? Was even one of them a terrorist?
Were they all shot by terrorists shooting from a grassy knoll? Was even one of them shot by terrorists shooting from a grassy knoll.
The publicly available information indicates that not one of the shot Iraqis was a terrorist and that all of them were shot by Blackwater employees.
Since the incident, Blackwater has had plenty of time to explain itself -- to explain why its employees shot so many innocent Iraqi civilians. Blackwater has not explained itself.
Blackwater's time is up. If Blackwater had any chance (maybe there was no chance at all) to survive as a company, it had to respond effectively. Blackwater had to investigate the matter ruthlessly, let the chips fall where they may, roll the heads of the shooters, compensate the victims and publicly announce corrective actions.
Instead, Blackwater mumbled some vague yarns about some terrorists shooting from roofs, about some terrorists dressed as Iraqi policemen.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 19:04 Comments ||
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#43
Were they all shot by terrorists shooting from a grassy knoll? Was even one of them shot by terrorists shooting from a grassy knoll.
Mike, please, don't dilute your arguments like that. All you do is piss people off even more. Will you at least concede how the terrorists' routine use of civilian garb intentioanlly facilitates this exact sort of negative outcome and that they do it explicitly to their advantage? I refuse to believe that you are not cognizant of this one central feature of asymmetrical warfare.
You had the decency to withdraw your inaccurate characterizations of me in yesterday's "torture" thread, please continue to participate in that sort of spirit of intellectual honesty now.
Further, I trust that you are aware of how thoroughly compromised the Iraqi police force actually is. If so, why would you so readily dismiss this very likely possibility?
#45
heh - no UN gobbledygook any more, now that Oil For Favorite Corrupt UN officials has checked out, one-world-boy? Now, it's that eeeevil BW? And Spike accusing someone else of tantrums is precious.
To get to the facts, BW provides a necessary service under harsh conditions and little margin for error. They are paid handsomely, and should be punished if they indiscriminately shot up an innocent local populace (I remain unconvinced). You, Spike, have no real evidence of that, yet you accuse and slur and predict stock-drops in a privately held company. Genius. I now remember why I disliked you so much and how you earned every bit of it. It'll only take a couple more MS days and you'll be back trolling your JFK threads somewhere else. Loser
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/09/2007 19:44 Comments ||
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#46
The publicly available information indicates that not one of the shot Iraqis was a terrorist and that all of them were shot by Blackwater employees.
Since the incident, Blackwater has had plenty of time to explain itself -- to explain why its employees shot so many innocent Iraqi civilians. Blackwater has not explained itself.
Interesting rhetoric, there. We can now replace the non-question of "have you stopped beating your wife" with "why do you beat your wife?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/09/2007 20:07 Comments ||
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#50
Okay, Mike Murtha Sylwester, you've run another thread up toward infinity. How? By assuming Blackwater guilty before trial. But you're not alone -- the Iraqis are demanding $8 million per family before trial.
Ironically, you staunchly defended your precious U.N. officials when it was clear they were dirty. I guess Americans don't get the benefit of the doubt. It was innocent until proven guilty for Kofi, Kojo and their gang, but Americans on the firing line get the full Murtha treatment.
don't waste the effort! That's what they want, a conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids... "
!
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/09/2007 20:23 Comments ||
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#52
Mike S, said: "Were they all shot by terrorists shooting from a grassy knoll? Was even one of them shot by terrorists shooting from a grassy knoll.
Mike, Mike, Mikey.... your stuck on stupid with the boring question. The more interesting one is who wasn't on the grassy knoll. Who didn't want him dead.. Instead you waste time accidentally linking millions of separate plots together into some grand unified theory nobody gives a rats ass about..
I suppose you spend time thinking about Princess Diana too? Who cares? She's in the ground so long the worms are done. Done I say done!
And you still waste your brain cells on the past... why its all quantum anyway... I might not even have happened at all. Just like "the king" living on that other planet and missing the viaduct demolition of earth.. I mean like Arthur Dent saw it so I must be true. Just like that horrible genetically engineered beef in the restaurant at the end of the universe that keeps trying to get you to eat a prime piece of him...
I mean like fer shure... I'm a going to eat a piece of him.... even if the Nordic Gods are present and eating hearty....
Now back to Ted, no.... no.. it was John... at the knoll - no it was the the penguin.... a baby Gates in a Penguin suit killing John to make that Finnish guy guilty...
No? So why have you wasted your life studying a fucking knoll next to a book depositary.
What the hell is a book depositary? Is it a mating between a bank and a library? Oh dear... I've lost my "Hitchhikers Guide" so I can't look it up and my towel is not close enough....
Whatever....
Can I offer you some tea? Its the answer to big oil.
#56
Re #50 (Darrell): By assuming Blackwater guilty before trial.
There will not be a trial, so the decision will be made administratively.
The Iraq Government now has announced its administrative decision, and the US Government subsequently will comply. Blackwater is leaving Iraq forever and immediately will be replaced by other security firms.
Where are Blackwater's explanation and justification for shooting so many people in this incident? Why were 17 people shot to death? Why were many others shot and wounded?
We all welcome Blackwater's side of the story. I myself do no want to see an American company and its many brave guards subjected to false accusations.
The US Government appreciates the good work that Blackwater has done, protecting many US Government officials from constant terrorist threats and attacks. The US Government will defend Blackwater against unjustified accusations, but apparently the accusations are justified.
Apparently there is no basis for anyone to defend Blackwater. There is no basis for even Blackwater to defend itself. There is no good explanation and no good justification to tell the world.
It's just a tragic story of panic and reckless shooting, with wanton disregard for human life. And then the story ends with the company leadership's failure to respond effectively and save the company itself from quick collapse.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 21:19 Comments ||
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#57
In that incident, 17 Iraqis were killed and some more were wounded.
Were they all terrorists? Was even one of them a terrorist?
Were they all shot by terrorists shooting from a grassy knoll? Was even one of them shot by terrorists shooting from a grassy knoll.
The publicly available information indicates that not one of the shot Iraqis was a terrorist and that all of them were shot by Blackwater employees.
Since the incident, Blackwater has had plenty of time to explain itself -- to explain why its employees shot so many innocent Iraqi civilians. Blackwater has not explained itself.
-If you substituted the word "Marines" for "blackwater employees" and "the Marine Corps" for "Blackwater" you'd sound just like John Murtha about Haditha.....but don't let that stop you.
#58
same, same, BH6 - the anti-American animus shines thru. Whatever these people did wrong, in MS's world, they were American first. That cannot be forgiven
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/09/2007 21:24 Comments ||
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#59
When the US Government opens the bidding for a new company to take over Blackwater's contracts, I would advise everyone to stand far away from the door.
You willing to stake your posting privileges on that?
In fact, are you willing to provide links, references, and cite quotes in return for keeping your posting privileges?
Given your past track record at Rantburg and your postings elsewhere on the internet, if you said the sky was blue, I'd stand outside for thirty minutes to check.
#60
Frank, yep, 'tis irritating to see the frothy mouth and glazed eyes.
We did some counter IED training w/some BW guys -they came down to Lejeune when I was there. All former mil, professional, & knew their stuff. I think about that & combine it w/what my observations of the ME were w/twice having the pleasure to be in the kitty litter box -- thus, I am highly skeptical of any claims as to a my lai type massacre. Maybe BW fumbled the PR campaign w/congress at their hearing but I have a hard time swallowing that they went ape shit and clipped a bunch of "innocent iraqis". Too much hollywood for my tastes coupled w/the motives of those that have something to gain.
#62
Ima agreed Pappy and BH6 - always have been. BW walks a fine line, and when Iraqi "officials" are eagerly quoted by the MSM and anti-Americans like Spike, I cringe at the razors' edge they must deal with. It's one thing for a loser pork-laden congressman from PA to denounce our soldiers, who will take up the BW defense? I will, against scumbags like "our" Spike and his ilk.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/09/2007 21:42 Comments ||
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#63
That's Rantburg's way of dealing with people like me who argue against the rabble here.
What do you mean? I argue against the rabble all the time, they don't moderate me.
(Oh, unless I use words like f..k or s..t...)
Admit it, you're living for the chance that you might be moderated so you can run around yelling "Help! I'm being oppressed!"
#64
That's Rantburg's way of dealing with people like me who argue against the rabble here
Umm ... no. Mike, you're fucking up so hard as to make yourself irrelevant. Total bullshit. You wouldn't even be reading my post right now if Fred wasn't one of the most fair-minded individuals on the entire net.
You want proof? I'll give it to you.
Over three years ago I made a commitment to make a donation to Rantburg. Untoward circumstances prohibited me from following through with the commitment I made. Did Fred stop me from posting? NO HE DID NOT. Fred has been incredibly gracious in allowing me to post wholly opposite positions at this site even though it was only recently that I managed to make some sort of substantial financial contribution. You have no idea of how incredibly grateful I am that this site's owner was decent enough to allow me complete and total access despite my lack of financial contribution. Fred will soon be receiving some of the very finest coffee in the entire world because I feel so intensely grateful about his incredible decency regarding having a chance to participate here. Mike, that you have been banned should speak volumes to you. Notice how many others accuse me of being a troll? Count yourself DAMN fortunate that you've been readmitted at this site.
#65
Rantburg's way of dealing with people like me who argue against the rabble here
Mike, I did not resort to name calling in challenging your opinion. I simply pointed out that I've been there, that you haven't, and that you only think you know what's going on there. This opinion's impeachable source? The MSM.
"Rabble"? How so? A derogatory term for the common man, inferring that you are not common? How so? Here's an idea: How about PROVING your allegations through hard evidence or through personal observation rather than dropping meaningless names on well-intentioned people? Just a suggestion.
Waiting for the next disparaging remark in 5....4....3....2....1....
#66
Hokay, last whack (I think): Mike S, you make a few claims here of which I'm skeptical, to say the least:
1) the BW guys started spraying innocents without provocation. That's an allegation, not proven. Now mind, a few might be innocents -- remember our terrorist buddies like to hide behind women and children while shooting at the good guys. But all the deaders as innocents? I think we know enough how the terrs operate, and how our guys (whether military or BW) operate, to know that likely isn't true.
2) After BW leaves, there will be a stampede for the contract. I doubt it: I think Old Spook is more on the mark. There aren't that many professional security companies that provide this kind of service in that kind of environment. BW is one of the better ones. I rather doubt that multiple other companies will go after the contract, but we'll see soon enough, won't we.
3) you're about to be moderated for speaking against the 'rabble'. First, who you calling 'rabble'? And while it's possible for you to be moderated, it won't be for arguing against others here. That happens all the time, and people who argue well, with wit, facts and verve, do just fine.
People who are a pain in the ass, on the other hand, just might get moderated. By me.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2007 22:52 Comments ||
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#67
Re #66 (Steve White):
The future will tell what the US Government has concluded and will do in this matter.
And the future will tell whether the US Government has extraordinary problems finding companies willing to bid on Blackwater's former contracts for business in Iraq.
Then we will see who is right.
The "rabble" are the people here who launch constant personal and vulgar attacks on people with whom they disagree.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/09/2007 23:16 Comments ||
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#68
Oh, I'm sure they'll find _companies_ willing to bid.
It's just that those companies will be finding their personnell to be suddenly more expensive.
KUT, Iraq: The United States has found an unlikely ally in the struggle to block what U.S. commanders contend is Iranian weapons smuggling in this rural agricultural region south and east of Baghdad: soldiers from the former Soviet republic of Georgia. At a time when other countries are pulling troops out, Georgia has more than doubled the level of its forces here, from 850 to 2,000 soldiers, and redeployed them from the Green Zone in the capital to a region along the Iranian border.
After a ceremony to mark the formal start of their mission Monday, during which Georgian soldiers knelt and were sprinkled with holy water by their Eastern Orthodox priest, the tiny Caucasus Mountain nation has become the United States's second-largest ally in Iraq, behind Britain.
But it is hardly fear of Iran that is impelling the Georgians to contribute so significantly to the war, even as other nations pull out. As the United States is searching for allies, so is Georgia, a country that aspires to NATO membership as a security guarantee against a resurgent, oil-enriched Russia. "As soldiers here, we help the American soldiers," Corporal Georgi Zedguidze said, peering out past the sun-scorched checkpoint he was guarding at a bridge over the Tigris River. "Then America as a country will help our country."
I'd like to think that's true, but you guys should take care not to antagonize the big bear too much.
#1
"the people of those two small regions have made it clear that they don't wish to be part of Georgia."
No, the people of Abkhazia used to be in their majority *Georgians*. Abkhazians were a minority in Abkhazia itself, until with Russian help they ethnically cleansed the Georgians.
And now the Abkhazians themselves, in their Russia-backed protectorate, are less free and have less of a democracy than they ever had under Georgia's central control. When an "election" in Abkhazia didn't go Russia's way (Sergey Bagapsh won in favour of the Russia-backed Raul Khajimba) Russia simply growled Abkhazia's way and an accomodation that placed Khajimba in charge was found more quickly than you could say "charade".
The calls for Abkhazia's and South Ossetia's independence are nothing more than a repeat of the Sudetenland's call for "independence" from Czechoslovakia -- they are nothing but a huge imperialism using a minority in a nearby country to slice it up. The minority in question ends up in a worse situation than previously.
#2
Ughandans pulled guard and DCAC duty at Anaconda. Appeared to do a pretty good job of it. Had some Romanians down south, excellent by all accounts. Bring on the Georgians. We need all the help we can get.
#5
Not sure how "unlikely" an ally Georgia is. Seems pretty unsurprising - then again per the prevailing delusion amongst most media types, any cooperation with the US is "unlikely" (though it's massive, probably greater than ever, behind the scenes).
The Georgians I met seemed pretty basic and straightforward as soldiers - just what's needed in Iraq. Probably not too many grad degrees among the officers.
Taking into account all I don't know about the relevant details of what Iran's doing and what we may already be doing about that, I still say the heat should be turned way, way, way up. IGRC members, including seniors, dying in significant numbers INSIDE IRAN is the essential missing ingredient. Border stuff is fine, but about 5% of the solution. This will lead to tensions with the Shi'a Iraqis, you say? Good. Iraq consists of nothing but bluffs waiting to be called (OK, a few jihadi nutcases and clueless Sunnis aside) - our refusal to even consider calling them gives you years of "twilight struggle" against the most pathetically weak and unimpressive adversary we've faced ... ever?
Most British troops could be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of next year under an exit strategy outlined by Gordon Brown yesterday. The Prime Minister said British troop numbers would be halved to 2,500 by next spring when a further decision on the next phase would be taken.
Ministry of Defence officials said that all British troops could be out by the end of next year, although Downing Street expressed caution about the prospect.
However, Mr Browns announcement was marred by a political row over the total number of troops that will be left in the region this Christmas. Last week during his visit to Iraq Mr Brown said 1,000 troops would leave by Christmas. It then became clear that the departure of 500 of them had already been announced. Yesterday it emerged that while a further 500 will leave Iraq by Christmas another 500 support and logistical staff will be sent out to Kuwait at the same time, leaving the total number in the region at 5,000.
Mr Brown said that provincial Iraqi control would be established in Basra in the next two months. Troop numbers would then be reduced from the 5,500 in the summer to 4,500 in December. Early in the new year the figure would be 4,000. In the second stage of overwatch, where the coalitions main focus would be on training and mentoring, the troop number would come down to 2,500 with a further decision about the the next phase made then. The latter statement was assumed to mean that in the next phase it was possible that the final drawdown could begin. Certainly at this stage there is no guarantee that they are going to be there beyond the end of 2008. The policy will be made in the spring, one MoD official said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
But they're increasing (doubling?) the number of their best sent to Afghanistan, where apparently they've been terribly useful.
#2
JIM BOHANNON SHow > Bohannon quipped that Brits wanna withdraw from Iraq is due to comparative quiet in Brit sector, + economic troubles [read -$$$ = Govt-Mil downsizings] back home. GUAM K57 segment > Unlike USA, Britain Govt = Pols actually listen to their political CENTER + VOTERS, which desire to Govt to refocus on domestic welfare agendas, NOT Iraq or WOT or Muslim World???
(AKI) - Iraq's minister for defence Abd al-Qadir al-Ubaydi has discussed the creation of two new platoons of Kurdish fighters or Peshmergas with the Kurdish regional government in a bid to boost Iraqi security. The Iraqi defence minister met the Kurdish minister for Peshmergas to discuss the plan, according to the website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
The website said the parties were considering the details for the creation of two new military platoons and the transformation of old Peshmerga forces in regional patrols, as sanctioned under the constitution. The site stressed that the parties had decided in their agreement to nominate representatives among them, who would carry out their decisions in a bid to build military cooperation.
In the Iraqi army, there are three Kurdish battalions in the autonomous region. In the last few years they have been stationed in various parts of Iraq including Baghdad, Mossul and Kirkuk, to promote security and protect petrol plants and electricity networks.
This article starring:
head of the Iraqi army Babakr Zebari
head of the multinational forces, Michael Barbero
minister for defence Abd al-Qadir al-Ubaydi
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1 views]
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#1
The Kurds should spend every spare dime on building up their military forces. They should just be bristling with weapons and training like there could be no tomorrow.
#3
two new military platoons and the transformation of old Peshmerga forces in regional patrols
Working to bring the peshmergas into the regular forces. Which would, among other things, allow them to patrol in Basra or Baghdad. IIUC the ex-peshmerga have been quite effective in places like that.
#4
Outside of the U.S. military, the Peshmerga might be the most effective fighters in Iraq. Expanding their role would be great provided the Kurds also make more of an effort to rein in the PKK.
#5
WINDS-OF-CHANGE > MICHAEL TOTTEN.com article > claims that large percentage of local Iraqi police force are unreliable for various reasons. MOST RELIABLE [Police units] ARE THE ETHNIC KURDS.
#1
Does this suicidal idiot actually think that having ensconced Palestinian neighbors won't be a "tear-soaked struggle"? Is Olmert channeling Israel's Islamic enemies or is he just plain incredibly stupid? It's getting really difficult to tell the difference.
#3
It's been a tear-soaked struggle since 1948--not likely to improve by granting statehood to Palestine. Ohmert must realize the struggle will go on because the islamofacistnutjobs want Israel to cease to exist. They cannot be appeased. He must be playing to the world press.
JERUSALEM (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert underwent police questioning at his Jerusalem home Tuesday as part of a bank fraud investigation.
The probe is into the privatization of Bank Leumi in 2005 when Olmert was finance minister, Haaretz reported.
National investigators were looking into the terms of the sale to determine if Olmert arranged for bidding to be advantageous to a personal friend, Australian businessman Frank Lowy. Lowy ultimately dropped out of the bidding, the Jerusalem Post said.
Olmert has denied any wrongdoing and reportedly cleared his schedules for Tuesday and Thursday, when more questioning was booked, Ynetnews said.
Haaretz said investigators acknowledged it would be difficult to make a criminal case against Olmert, as there was no evidence he received anything from Lowy. The report said the prime minister's worst-case scenario appeared to be charges of breach of trust for his alleged role in altering the bidding process.
Balad Chairman and former MK Azmi Bishara met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported Monday. The newspaper did not say where and where the meeting was held or what was discussed, nor did it reveal the source of the information.
Bishara visited Lebanon some two weeks ago. During a stop in the village of Nabatiyeh, Bishara called for a global front to prevent a regional war. The Israeli Arab newspaper A-Sinara had reported in the past that Nasrallah denied Bishara's request for a meeting.
Bishara is accused of security and financial-related crimes, and as a result fled Israel several months ago and currently resides in Jordan and Qatar.
This article starring:
HASAN NASRALLAH
Hezbollah
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
Hamas now has complete control over the smuggling routes from Egypt, having forced the clans that previously controlled these routes to take orders from it, say senior officers in the Israel Defense Forces.
The officers said there has been a sharp increase in the quantity of explosives, including various types of rockets, smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Egypt over the last few weeks. They added that the arms smuggling has expanded markedly since Hamas seized control of the enclave this summer and ousted forces from the rival Fatah party that had previously been stationed along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
We eliminate the middleman and pass the savings onto you!
(AKI) - A number of new Islamic militant groups committed to enforcing Sharia law have appeared in the Gaza Strip since the takeover by Hamas in June this year, according to Arabic TV channel 'al-Arabiya'. "Sword of Islam", "Al-Qaeda in Palestine" and the "Islamic Army" are among the new groups to have emerged in Gaza since the June takeover and are seeking to impose Islamic Sharia law and stop young people from following "Satan".
'Al-Arabiya' says these armed groups are committing crimes and assassinations, with the aim of installing Sharia law in the Gaza Strip, now ruled by the Islamist Hamas. On Sunday a Christian leader was abducted and killed, for allegedly preaching the evangelical gospel to Gaza residents.
In Gaza, there also appears to be a morality police, or "authority for the propagation of morality and the prohibition of vice," a name frequently used by Saudi Arabia's religious police and used by Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, to impose and respect Islamic rules.
Al-Arabiya says this new group has announced the beginning of its activities in the Palestinian entity, where it aims to "fight those who are being corrupted by Satan, and do not observe Sharia law." One of their first objectives was to attack a singer while he left a wedding party, where he had been called to entertain the guests. "We have begun our work in all of the Gaza Strip," says a pamphlet distributed in the city of Khan Younis, "We have already expelled from our area two men who were begging, and we have beaten up some youth who followed Satan".
The Gaza Strip, due to its geographical separation from the more secular and cosmopolitan West Bank, is considered to be more radical about Islamic issues than its neighbour . Some sources believe Gaza's historical link with Egypt and its cultural, religious and geographical separation from the West Bank means it is more influenced by the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS > PALESTINIAN STATE OR TEAR-SOAKED STRUGGLE. Israel must create a Paleo State or else face bitter struggle = conflict; + THE WAR/BATTLE FOR JERUSALEM HAS BEGUN. IMO by extens also be ascribed/relabeled as WAR FOR ISRAEL = DEFENSE OF ISRAEL HAS BEGUN??? See other articles also in same Net edition today.
#2
Sounds like a plan. Get them all concentrated in smaller & smaller locations then build a fence and starve them out........or just blow the s*** outta them.
#5
It might not be feasible, but I would prefer to see Israel mass expel Palestinians from these territories (no matter how bitterly the world moans) rather than helping to establish a Palestinian state which will undoubtedly serve as a staging area for missiles and jihad directed against them.
A solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict necessarily requires the establishment of a Palestinian State with its capital in all of east Jerusalem and any accord short of that will not work, the Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Affairs said Monday.
The comments by Adnan Husseini, who previously served as director of the Islamic Wakf which administers the Temple Mount, only served to highlight the immense gaps that exist between the two parties regarding Jerusalem, and cast doubt on whether Prime Minster Ehud Olmert's longstanding proposal to cede Arab neighborhoods on the periphery of the city as part of a final peace agreement could serve as basis for such an accord. "The outline for Jerusalem is very clear," Husseini told The Jerusalem Post. "East Jerusalem is for the Palestinians and west Jerusalem is for the Israelis," he added.
The division of the city which would leave Jewish neighborhoods under Israeli control and put Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian control was the basis of former US President Bill Clinton's peace plan for Jerusalem which was rejected seven years ago by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David. /big>
The division of the city which would leave Jewish neighborhoods under Israeli control and put Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian control was the basis of former US President Bill Clinton's peace plan for Jerusalem which was rejected seven years ago by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David.
The newly appointed Palestinian Minster for Jerusalem Affairs said that he had "no information" about a reported agreement between Olmert and the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas which would reportedly give Jordan control over parts of the Old City - inlcluding the Temple Mount - as part of a peace agreement.
The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi Arabic daily reported that Abbas and Olmert have agreed to make Jordan a guardian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, while such an arrangement would be supervised by Jordan, Israel, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations. Husseini said that there was "not a problem" between Palestinians and the Jordanians over who would run the Muslim holy sites, noting that such a situation actually exists today and stressing that the problem was over the future of the city. Wakf officials declined comment Monday on the report.
Olmert has said that he is willing to cede at least six outlying Arab neighborhoods in the city to the Palestinians as part of a final peace treaty. Husseini however scoffed at such an offer calling it "a street here and a street there."
But the issue of who will be in charge of Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem actually pales in comparison to the difficulty in finding a solution for the Old City, and particularly its holy sites, which will be acceptable for both sides. The Temple Mount, which is Judaism's holiest and Islam's third holiest site, is currently under Israeli sovereignty, although a very delicate status exists at the bitterly contested Jerusalem holy site whereby Israeli police are in charge of security at the compound, and the Islamic Trust or Wakf administers the site.
The issue of who will control the Temple Mount, which is known as the tinderbox of the Middle East, is considered to be one of the single hardest issues in any future negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel has long preferred Jordanian involvement in the goings-on on the Temple Mount, considering the Jordanians to be more moderate than the Palestinians. A team of Jordanian engineers recently repaired a bulge on the southern wall of the Temple Mount after two years of wrangling between Israeli and Palestinian officials over which side would fix the ancient wall.
Last year, a study by a liberal Israeli think tank concluded that Israel and the Palestinians should allow the international community to oversee the administration of Jerusalem's holy sites, including the Temple Mount. The study, by the European Union funded Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies offered five different solutions to the bitterly contested question of sovereignty of Jerusalem's holy sites: full Israeli control over the sites; full Palestinian sovereignty over the area; Territorial division of the basin between the two sides, with international supervision to help monitor and settle disputes; a distribution of powers in the basin between the two sides, with international backing; entrusting the authority of the historical sites to an international body, which can delegate powers to both sides in certain aspects. The study states that full Israeli sovereignty is likely to be rejected by the Palestinian and the international community, while Palestinian sovereignty would likewise be rejected by Israel.
The researchers concluded that entrusting the authority of the holy sites to an international body is the preferable and the most realistic option provided that both sides can put their faith in an international body and in its ability to run the holy sites fairly.
In contrast, former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk has said that the thorny issue of sovereignty over Jerusalem's holy sites as part of any future peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians is best left untouched since there is no solution that will be agreeable to both sides. "In the Middle East and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular some problems do not have solutions," Indyk, who served as Ambassador during the failed Camp David talks, said in a Jerusalem address last year. "You should leave well enough alone."
This article starring:
Adnan Husseini
Islamic Wakf
Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies
Martin Indyk
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Kewl, end all Palestinian claims upon Jerusalem so they cannot be more disappointed
#2
I wonder if the paleo's in Jerusalem really want to be in that "Palestinian State"? That would be just short of suicide stupid on their part. However, stupid does seem to be ingrained in their culture. Has anyone really asked them?
#3
I'm probably just talking through a hole in my foot here, but why not have The Vatican oversee the sites with the Swiss army as their muscle? The paleos get along fairly well with The Vatican, and nobody doubts that the Swiss are neutral.
Or, hell, how about having a nation oversee the sites that could a damn about Islam, Judiasm, or Christianity? Like Japan or Mongolia.
#6
Israel makes the same terrible mistake, over and over, of allowing *any* territorial claims over *any* place in Israel by any foreign power or religion.
As with every other nation, they should claim absolute sovereignty. From that point on, they can be very liberal as to who they allow to *use* such sites; but they are forevermore owned by Israel.
#7
Why don't the Israelis do what the Palestinians always accuse them of? Expel the Palestinians from Jerusalem and resettle it with Jews. Of course, since the Israelis are civilized, they would compensate the paleos for their land instead of trying to kill them on the way out like Arabs do to Jews and Christians.
#10
A lot of Israelis would love to divest themselves of E. Jerusalem (as long as the Temple Mount stays under Israeli sovereignty).
I don't think the Paleos have control of the Temple Mount. It was my impression Jordan has control of it. They probably use Hamas to run the thing though...
Posted by: Charles ||
10/09/2007 13:40 Comments ||
Top||
#11
why not have The Vatican oversee the sites with the Swiss army as their muscle? The paleos get along fairly well with The Vatican, and nobody doubts that the Swiss are neutral.
The Palestinians have as happily desecrated and destroyed Christian holy sites and archaeological sites as well as Jewish ones, Secret Master. Anyway, Fatah has no control over the behaviour of the majority of Palestinians, so whatever respect they might have for the Vatican is moot. As for the Swiss being neutral where Jews are concerned, remember that the Red Cross refuses to recognize Israel's red Star of David -- in use since 1948, I believe -- alongside the cross and the crescent, although they recently voted under U.S. pressure to allow some sort of neutral symbol for those branches neither Christian nor Muslim. Not to mention the long-standing fight of Swiss banks to keep the contents of Nazi-era accounts from Jewish heirs... to the point of mass destruction of records.
Separately, Drudge links to an article that most Israelis will not accept the division of Jerusalem, nor turning over supervision of holy sites. link
#12
As for the Swiss being neutral where Jews are concerned, remember that the Red Cross refuses to recognize Israel's red Star of David -- in use since 1948, I believe -- alongside the cross and the crescent, although they recently voted under U.S. pressure to allow some sort of neutral symbol for those branches neither Christian nor Muslim. Not to mention the long-standing fight of Swiss banks to keep the contents of Nazi-era accounts from Jewish heirs... to the point of mass destruction of records.
Good on you, trailing wife. NEVER EVER let the Swiss off the hook for collaborating with the Nazis and the banks' subsequent attempts at covering their tracks regarding theft of Holocaust assets. It is difficult to imagine a more ghoulish bunch of bloodless greed-driven shits than the Swiss. NEVER FORGET!
Separately, Drudge links to an article that most Israelis will not accept the division of Jerusalem, nor turning over supervision of holy sites.
Thank you, too, for that ray of hope and sanity as well.
#13
A solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict necessarily requires the establishment of a Palestinian State with its capital in all of east Jerusalem and any accord short of that will not work...
Good! I guess that does away with any (foolish) notion of a Palestinian State!
#14
Thank you, too, for that ray of hope and sanity as well.
My pleasure, Zenster dear. We all need such rays just now to keep our sense of proportion, as things appear to be getting intense again. I was particularly happy to run across that article after reading mhw's post #8 above.
#15
Zenster... remeber, I'm here for you, and I've chucked my last pack of Ricola's and a half jar of Ovaltine into the rubbish bin. There, I HOPE you are satisfied!
#17
remeber, I'm here for you, and I've chucked my last pack of Ricola's and a half jar of Ovaltine into the rubbish bin. There, I HOPE you are satisfied!
Dude, I'm just glad you're back in one piece. Hope you're getting all settled in.
#18
Good on you, trailing wife. NEVER EVER let the Swiss off the hook for collaborating with the Nazis and the banks' subsequent attempts at covering their tracks regarding theft of Holocaust assets. It is difficult to imagine a more ghoulish bunch of bloodless greed-driven shits than the Swiss. NEVER FORGET!
Actually, what the Vatican has is the Swiss Guard. It's a 501 year old unit, originally mercenary. However, one of the requirements is that the applicant be Swiss.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office on Monday morning denied the report in Al-Quds al-Arabi that he and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had agreed to transfer the Temple Mount's holy sites to Jordanian custody. The Prime Minister's Office said that no agreement had been reached on the holy sites in Jerusalem.
According to the report in the London-based newspaper, Olmert and Abbas had agreed that the Temple Mount sites would be under Jordanian jurisdiction in a final peace deal, and Jordanian citizenship would be granted to 90,000 east Jerusalem residents. The report also said it was likely that a supreme supervisory commission would be established, which would include representatives from the UN, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the PA.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Just bulldoze the Temple Mount to a plain level with the surrounding area and put a parking lot on it.
The air force uncovered on Monday a new unmanned aircraft, the 'Eitan,' which is able to fly for over 24 hours straight, Army Radio reported. The new aircraft can reach a maximum altitude of 45,000 ft. and can carry equipment with a total weight of up to a ton. The plane's wingspan, 26 meters, is equal to the wingspan of a Boeing 737, security officials said, and it is 14 meters in length.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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INDONESIA'S Attorney-General has backed away from supporting capital punishment and indicated the executions of the Bali bombers will be delayed.
Whoa, nobody saw that coming ...
Hendarman Supandji's comments in an interview with the Herald also offer hope for six Australian drug couriers on death row in Bali, but they came as Kevin Rudd was mired in a damaging crisis over a Labor frontbencher's declaration that the bombers' lives should be spared.
Congratulations Mr. Howard on your forthcoming re-election ...
Opponents branded the Labor leader weak and insincere for reprimanding his foreign affairs spokesman, Robert McClelland, over a poorly timed speech articulating Labor's policy of universal opposition to capital punishment - including for the bombers, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.
Last night Mr Rudd would not guarantee Mr McClelland would retain his portfolio if Labor won the election, saying only he would "be part" of the frontbench team.
That was positively .. Hillary-esque ...
Friday will be fifth anniversary of the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people but Mr Supandji's remarks bring hope to six of the "Bali nine" on death row, several of whom have challenged the constitutionality of capital punishment. I'm sure the aussie druggies's death sentence will eventually be ruled fully constitutional and applied; not so sure about the bali boomers.
A Constitutional Court ruling is imminent and Mr Supandji said the Government would implement its decision if it ruled against executions. However, the possibility of other Australian prisoners, including Schapelle Corby, returning home to serve the rest of their sentences had receded because negotiations on a prisoner-exchange treaty had stalled, Mr Supandji said.
Abdul Rahman Saleh - who Mr Supandji replaced earlier this year - strongly advocated capital punishment before the Constitutional Court. Executing drug traffickers was "essential" to deter drug use, he said. But Mr Supandji said Mr Saleh's remarks were "the personal opinion of the former attorney-general. It depends on the community in Indonesia as a whole, because the legislation is the product of parliament. "However, there is still controversy among the community about capital punishment. I leave it up to the people. If the Indonesian nation rejects it, as Attorney-General I have to follow it."
Internationally, nations were tending to abolish capital punishment and the issue needed to be carefully considered, he said.
The Constitutional Court would decide if its decision applied to people already sentenced or only future cases, Mr Supandji said. He dismissed calls to immediately execute the three convicted Bali bombers, Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron, before Friday's anniversary. First the trio must receive a copy of the rejection of their final appeal, then they would be asked if they would appeal for clemency. "This will prolong the process," Mr Supandji said.
On Monday night, Mr McClelland said if Australia were to lead a regional movement to abolish capital punishment, it must oppose capital punishment in all cases. He singled out for criticism John Howard's support for the execution of the Bali bombers, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, saying it undermined attempts to save Australians abroad from death row and persuade other nations to abolish executions.
As Bali victims and their families reacted angrily, Mr Rudd said Mr McClelland's speech was insensitive because of the approaching anniversary of the Bali attacks. As well as berating his frontbencher, Mr Rudd blamed staff members, including his own, for not vetting the speech.
He rejected Mr McClelland's suggestion Australia form a coalition of like-minded nations to stamp out capital punishment in Asia, saying the United Nations was the preferred vehicle. Mr Rudd has long opposed capital punishment globally but was forced to talk tough to try to dampen the crisis. "I believe that terrorists should rot in jail until the next Ramadan for the term of their natural lives and then one day be removed in a pine box," he said. The Government said he was weak because Mr McClelland was simply articulating Labor policy.
"Mr Rudd doesn't even have the courage or the decency to stand by his own policy [because] the so-called timing is inconvenient," the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, said. "How can you run a country like that. You need to be a person of principle."
The Prime Minister said Mr Rudd was blaming others when he should accept responsibility. Mr Howard also opposes the death penalty but said he would never argue for clemency for a terrorist. Trying to spare the bombers was "distasteful".
The Treasurer, Peter Costello, accused Labor of supporting the bombers. "Let's have some sympathy for the 88 [Australians] dead and their families rather than sympathy for those people who cruelly and cold-bloodedly decided to kill them for no reason other than they were Australians."
Mr Rudd rejected these assertions as "absolute nonsense" and "pre-election politics". "No diplomatic intervention will ever be made by any government that I lead in support of any individual terrorist life," he said.
Mr Supandji said the three Bali bombers technically had no further right to appeal. He said they could attempt to have a district court reopen their cases and if it did "then we have to wait again". Lawyers for the men have indicated they would attempt to stretch out proceedings. "I cannot give any kind of estimate about when the execution will take place, but you can see from the process that it will take longer," he said.
#1
INDONESIA'S Attorney-General has backed away from supporting capital punishment and indicated the executions of the Bali bombers will be delayed.
Qu'ell surprise! The Ramadan Reformatory Reduction Revue strikes again. Would be too much to hope that the next time Bashir visits these maggots an asteroid stikes the prison?
#3
All corruption in Indonesia can be represented by matrices with family name on one side and position in government on the other. The intersection gives you the ideal bribe. (this from my long dead father-in-law who had the misfortune of trying to build a plastics plant there.)
So money trail and family name with entry at Attorney-General level should be an easy trail to follow or assume.
The three Bali bombers on death row in Indonesia are ready to face their imminent execution, a report said here Monday.
Then get on with it. Less talk, more gunshots.
"This is the happiest period for us, because we are soon to die as martyrs," Ali Ghufron, the eldest of three bombers, told the Koran Tempo daily from his jail off the southern coast of Java island.
So far, it's the happiest period for the rest of the world, barring the lurking unease that they might be pardoned for Ramadan or something. But we're gonna be even happier, maybe even delirious with joy, once they're beyond all cares and woe.
Ghufron, 47, his younger brother Amrozi and another man, Iman Samudra, were convicted of the nightclub bombings on the resort isle in 2002 that killed 202 people. The attacks were blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant network linked to Al-Qaeda. Indonesia's Supreme Court in August rejected their appeal and the men have been quoted as saying they would not seek clemency from the president, their last avenue of appeal.
Good idea. You wouldn't want his clemency, anyway. It'd be yucky. Better to just bite the bullet, so to speak.
Achmad Michdan, one of their lawyers, could not be immediately reached for confirmation the three had waived their rights to demand a presidential pardon. No date has been released for the executions, which could take place at any time and are expected to be carried out by firing squad. Last month, the three men signed a final statement reported to read: "If we are executed, then the jets and drops of our blood will, God willing, become a ray of light for Muslims and become hell for infidels and hypocrites." The statement also said that they would continue to engage in jihad -- holy war -- if they were pardoned and released from prison.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jemaah Islamiyah
#1
Bali bombers ready to die
Especially seeing as how one more fifteen second long Muslim holiday will see all of them pardoned even if they slew Mohammad himself.
#2
We have seen it time and again: Muslims who perpetrated crimes against infidels get pardonned during Ramadan.
Also Ramadan is not a times of peace for all men of goodwill but the best month for waging Jihad. It conmemorates the first Muslim "victory".
Muslims attacked a small caravan (five men) whose memembers travelled unescorted and unarmed becuase there is a universal truce that even the most hardened criminals respected. After the facts Muhammad had a oh so convenient dream (it happenned every time where his intgerests ir lust conflictyed with law, like for the marrying of 6year old Aisha) where God allowed Muslims to break the truce. Notice that there were no witnesses of his dream. Only his word.
Since then Ramadan is considered teh best month for Jihad.
The fragmentation of the Islamic terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiah, poses a major new security threat for Indonesia and its neighbors, according to terrorism expert, Sidney Jones.
Jones, director of the International Crisis Group's South-East Asian office, says JI is no longer the biggest threat to Western targets and civilians but a number of splinter groups are now capable of causing serious attacks. "The risk of an attack on civilians endorsed by the JI leadership is now very low," Jones told The Australian, a national daily. "The biggest threat now is that the younger militants of JI could be used as a recruiting pool for splinter groups like that of (Bali bomber) Noordin Top." Top, an explosives expert, was alleged to be one of the masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombing which killed 202 people and injured over 200 others. Top is still a fugitive and among the most wanted men in Asia.
Jones told The Australian that Top and his followers were still interested in launching attacks on Westerners. Since the 2002 attack, more than 400 members of the terrorist organisation are reported to have been arrested across four countries.
Ken Conboy, an author who has written about terrorism, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the splinter groups could put together a team like the one that carried out the small scale bombings in Bali in 2005. On October 1 2005, bombs exploded at two sites in Jimbaran and Kuta, in Bali. Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks. Conboy, the author of 'The Second Front - Inside Asia's Most Dangerous Terrorist Network', says the Indonesian police have done a good job in cracking down on terrorists. "It is right to praise the Indonesian police that in the last two years has managed to stop any attacks," he told AKI.
This article starring:
International Crisis Group
Ken Conboy
NURDIN TOP
Jemaah Islamiah
Sidney Jones
Jemaah Islamiah
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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TEHRAN: Students staged a noisy protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Iran's top university in Tehran on Monday, likening him to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
In scenes rarely witnessed in Iran, scores of university students chanted anti-Ahmadinejad slogans, clashed with pro-government militia and made public a highly critical letter addressed to the Iranian leader.
Riot police barred the group of chanting students from leaving the Tehran University campus, where Mr Ahmadinejad was giving a speech marking the start of the new academic year.
"Ahmadinejad is Pinochet! Iran will not become Chile," the students shouted.
The demonstration was organised by Tahkim Vahdat, the student union organisation. Many of its leaders were arrested this year and three remain behind bars.
The semi-official Fars news agency said the demonstrators at Tehran University, Iran's top academic institution, were calling for the release of students detained since May for publishing writings considered insulting to Islam.
The demonstrating students were also confronted by a rival group of supporters of the hardline president who shouted, "Shame on you hypocrites! Leave the university!"
Last December, Iranian students disrupted a speech by Mr Ahmadinejad at Tehran's Amir Kabir university, setting fire to his picture and shouting "death to the dictator".
Mr Ahmadinejad, an ultra-conservative who won a shock election victory in 2005 on a wave of popular support, responded then by describing those students as an "oppressive" minority.
In recent months, Mr Ahmadinejad has also faced mounting criticism of his Government's economic policies.
The protest came just two weeks after Mr Ahmadinejad addressed New York's Columbia University during a highly controversial visit to the US for the UN General Assembly.
"Why only Columbia? We have questions too," read banners brandished by the students at Tehran University.
Mr Ahmadinejad was treated to a humiliating and public dressing down at Columbia, where he was described as a "petty and cruel dictator" by the university president.
Zen, Syria is bit shortchanged on "vast quantities of natural gas and that doesn't even begin to include their petroleum reserves". However, spending billions on purchses of Russian Potemkian weaponry does not apparently leave much for improving infrastrucure.
#15
twobyfour, my comment wasn't referring to petroleum products at all but your observations are still most welcome. Assad is living proof regarding how very abundant natural gas is in the Arab world.
2007.10.07- Reports public in Iran indicate that economic and social pressures are the main goals of the terrorist activities and social disturbances in recent weeks.
A young cleric who was sent to the town of Khash for the Ramezan ceremonies was killed by the staffing bullets of automatic weapon while climbing the pulpit of a mosque in the town. A week earlier, another young cleric was shot at in a similar manner in the city of Ahvaz, and survived.
According to the semi-official Fars news agency two men on motorbikes entered the mosque and killed cleric Mehdi Tavakoli who had been sent from the town of Zahedan in south east Iran. The Islamic Republic News Agency immediately attributed the shooting to agents supported by the White House. After last weeks assassination too it was officially announced that the bullets that took the life of sheikh Samir Doorakvandi had come from Israel and the United States and other invaders of Iraq.
Last year too, after a number of explosions and assassinations shook the city of Ahvaz, intelligence officials arrested a number of suspects on charges of engaging in espionage for foreigners, and executed them.
In this latest assassination, the statement that was published on news sites had raised questions such as why must the people of Khuzestan province which has a sea of expensive oil underneath it be not paid as much attention as a single village.
Other acts that demonstrate the public discontent occasionally appear on Internet news site, despite the government attempts to suppress them. Just last month a series of kidnappings took place in a school in East of Tehran.
Posted by: Pappy ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Assassination of Clerics work of White House Agents
And theiras usual worthless shitheaded Islamicpoint is?
#2
Mullahs would definitely need some WH sponsored wetwork. But in this case, looks like Baluchi Liberation Front and Back enjoys offing clerics as they come.
White House Agents? Somebody has to be blamed, especially when clerics are dropping like flies. Admitting that it is BLF&B's doing would not look too good for mullahcracy, afte certin point.
#6
A young cleric who was sent to the town of Khash for the Ramezan ceremonies was killed by the staffing bullets of automatic weapon while climbing the pulpit of a mosque in the town. A week earlier, another young cleric was shot at in a similar manner in the city of Ahvaz, and survived.
A pity about the cleric shot last week.
That he survived.
Every time there's a big debate between Zenster et Al. about how to handle Islamism, I keep coming back to THIS as the only viable option between supine surrender and the "Nuke 'em all" attitude. It is relatively cheap costwise, requires the use of highly trained young men motivated to live a James-Bond like life (of which we have an abundance raised from childhood), AND has the added benefit of being targeted. I mean, how much of ANY language do you need to know to ID a cleric who screams "DEATH TO AMERICA!" or "DEATH TO ISRAEL!"
To those objecting to Assassination as a means of warfare, consider that assassination is the most moral method for eliminating a leadership that, if done efficiently, minimises the number of deaths of civilians. JDAMs and hellfires, while satisfying in their own way, are not moral enough to handle the gibbering coward who surrounds himself with under-age human shields, as do many terrorist leaders in Gaza.
I can hear the liberal asshat demanding "Would I like it if my pastor was assassinated?" Funny how quickly that liberal would applaud and rejoice if a bigoted christian pastor calling for the execution of homosexuals were beaten, arrested, or assassinated. If my pastor was spouting sermons advocating Taquyya, dhimminitude, the monkyness or pigness of jews and Christians, and demanding the deaths of Jews and Americans to pay for the humiliation of being more advanced than the Muslims, well I would EXPECT him to be a target of assassinations.
Would I like it if my President was Assassinated? No, but that's a risk he took on when he ran for president, and a risk I expect him to take measures to eliminate or mitigate.
And I am sure some idiot is going to call this Terrorism. Terrorism is targeted killing of CIVILIANS. Leadership and soliders ARE NOT CIVILIANS, and so killing them is not terrorism. It's called WARFARE. (Which is why I was not upset as much with the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11 than I was with the attack on the Twin Towers: The Pentagon is a legitimate target, while the Twin Towers, and all four of the aircraft used, were not.) Given the fact that Islam is a STATE religion, that makes the clerics employees of the state, and thus legitimate targets.
#7
Ptah, "clerics employees of the state, and thus legitimate targets"
I figure it's more like the state administrators are employees of the clerics. Doesn't that mean that, since they are a religion, they are not legitimate targets?
(channeling liberal academicians.)
#8
Over two years ago, about a year after the successful invasion of Iraq, some 8,000 men who had prior backround in languages and "experience" in the Middle East were culled from files available to the US govt. A large number were older men who had retired from military work in the region, some few were notorious individuals who had spook or worse capabilities. Some were not nice people. Some were people you didnt want to hire for any reason unless you wanted to break several laws. CIA did not get these people, DoD got these people. CIA was not told. Gates knows, but Gates doesnt want any paper to cover any of it. Certainly nothing with his name on it. Rumsfeld gives parties at his home and puts ice in your drink. He is a "private individual" now and he smiles and puts ice in your drink. As it should be in spook work. Let Gambone handle it and then fugedaboutit.
These men were invited to come to Washington at govt. expense where they were interviewed. Then about half of these were sent to Eglin, again at govt expense to be interviewed again and given "orientation". They would be hired after that IF they agreed to the conditions.
If they signed then they would be run through a training course at Bragg. There would be no allowances for age at Bragg. The only concession is that the older men would be checked by a doctor every day while they went through the same training as the younger men. The attrition rate here was another 60%. Out of 8,000, cut to 4,000 at Eglin the numbers now were down below a thousand.
Bragg was harsh in critical appraisal by the instructors, as well, all the men were appraised for leadership skills and character. The appraisals were sometimes frank, loud and very personal. There were two review levels at phases through the training. About a third of the men were rejected due to deficiencys in "interpersonal skills". Sometimes the instructors referred to some of the men being put through this special program as the "Dirty Dozen". Upon graduation from Bragg some were sent to Explosives, some were sent to armory school, and some were sent to Fort Lewis ( not Huachuca) for Intell course work. Most of them didnt need the "refreshers" but it made it all official.
Khash is a village, the cleric was machinegunned while he was climbing into the pulpit...its THAT sort of work. ZAHEDAN. There has been quite a bit of "wet work" in and around Zahedan. Have you people been paying attention? The Governor of the Province there was shot in his car as were all of his security detail. A busload of Padaran were blown up by "men on motorcycles" 0ver 300 Pasdaran have been killed around Zahedan over the past year, one at a time here and there steadily. A US Navy gunboat detail is providing security for the smuggling of guns from the Musandam to Jask. These guns are going "somewhere" in Iran. The heroin trade could provide all the cash one would need for special Ops, and you can pay for that with guns. But dont tell my mother.
The 13 man teams which were sent into Pakistan with various covers about two years ago, Earthquake Relief and Business enterprises had some friction with the local security and with the other covert activists who smelled a rat. Some of the men with notorious backrounds were spotted and recognized. One was spotted and he seemed to be running a "trucking Company". His trucks went all over pakistan and Iran. How convenient. He had been trucking supplies into the Earthquake regions who needed help in rebuilding. But he also seemed to be sending several trucks down into the Baluch, Afghan, Iran triangle...to Zahedan. The Poppy crop in Kandahar can be sent to the refineries in pakiland and then distributed for all the happy souls with needles in their arms in Teheran. And the 300,000 Iranian prostitutes exported every year have to be shipped out to somewhere..Karachi seems to be convenient.
Then Bush passed through Karachi ( remember that ) and the teams with various covers vanished that very day. Somebody push a button. What IS that smell?
They are all in Iran now. Nobody will believe this BS, right? Good, I wouldnt want to deceive anyone.
If you see Zahedan in the news every now and then, remember to eat your popcorn.
#14
Ptah, you know how I love it when you think aloud, as you do so rarely here these days. Angleton9, you could make an entire best-selling series of novels out of that post, and fuel an adorable conspiracy theory cult as well. May I suggest you get together with our own rjschwarz to write a couple of scripts?
#15
wetworx -- good to go. Harder/faster mesays. Also repeal the assassination of foreign leaders law. See how many islamic leaders get their pucker factor up if that happened.
Israeli President Shimon Peres launched a blistering attack on arch-foe Iran, calling the Islamic republic 'the centre of global terror' aiming to dupe the world on its nuclear programme.
'The leading government nurturing terror and financing it with money and weapons is Iran, with (President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad at its head,' Peres told the opening of parliament's winter session. 'Iran is the greatest terrorist centre in the world today,' he said, adding that 'it is openly building an arsenal of long-range missiles and, secretly, nuclear weapons. If Iran attains nuclear weapons, they are likely to reach terrorists, because Iran is also the centre of global terror. The world will then become chaos.'
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#3
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah endured a fiery rage of backlash following his speech on Friday, in which he suggested ditching the constitution, and passed the blame of assassinations to Israel. Leaders from the ruling March 14 coalition lobbed sharp criticism at Nasrallah for his proposal that people be allowed to elect a president directly.
Without making any mention to Nasrallah, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora criticized those who would pardon the assassins of former Premier Rafik Hariri. Saniora stressed at an Iftar dinner on Sunday that March 14 will uphold their "national commitment" no matter what the cost.
In a speech Friday marking Jerusalem Day, Nasrallah said Israel of being behind the serial killings in Lebanon to facilitate creation of an international tribunal that would be used to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Nasrallah also called for direct popular elections to choose the next president if political parties failed to reach consensus on a candidate.
Al Mustaqbal Movement leader and MP Saad Hariri said from Washington that such a proposal risks dragging Lebanon to the unknown. He said the Hizbullah-led opposition "should stop making such suggestions because the Lebanese constitution is clear. We don't fear a referendum, and we could, if one was fulfilled, get a president elected." Hariri reiterated that March 14 "will not abandon" the constitution or the Taif Accord "which ensured civil peace. This is not the time for proposals that take the country to the unknown."
Hariri held a phone conversation with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is visiting Geneva, and discussed the outcome of his talks in Washington. The daily An Nahar on Monday said that "communication channels" were opened over the past few hours between Beirut, Washington and Geneva against the backdrop of Nasrallah's controversial remarks. It quoted parliamentary and political sources as saying that Nasrallah's speech was "about" to torpedo Berri's latest initiative since the ruling majority thought it targeted the speaker's proposal. An Nahar, according to the sources, said March 14 had raised questions as to whether Nasrallah's remarks represented the views of the various opposition factions.
One of the strongest attacks against Nasrallah came from Democratic Gathering leader and MP Walid Jumblat, who accused the Hizbullah chief of turning into a "spokesman for Syria and Iran. Nasrallah says, 'if you want an international probe expect more assassinations.' He also said 'if you want freedom, sovereignty and independence, we won't stand for it and we will impose a consensus candidate' by which he means a head of state who rejects all international resolutions."
Presidential hopeful and March 14 MP Nassib Lahoud said that there is no way to change the rules of the game on the eve of presidential elections. "Changing the Lebanese political system to allow the election of a president directly from the people is complicated and requires other adjustments to the system as well," he said.
President Emile Lahoud backed up Nasrallah's proposal to reach a consensus presidential candidate. Lahoud, however, emphasized the need to agree on electing a president through "democratic competition" in accordance with constitutional norms, if rival groups fail to agree on a consensus head of state.
Asked why March 14 lawmakers are the only MPS threatened with their lives, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh rebuffed Nasrallah's allegation that Israel was behind the political assassinations in Lebanon. "I don't see a single opposition legislator in danger," Hamadeh told Future TV on Sunday. "Does this mean Israel is their ally and it doesn't threaten them but only kills us? This is a question I would like to put to Sayyed Nasrallah."
Hamadeh said that March 14 "knows Syria will continue with the assassinations," for which reason the majority has taken preventive measures and is looking forward to see the formation of the international tribunal very soon. On Nasrallah's demand for direct elections, Hamadeh asked: "Is there a country in the world that elects a president based on opinion polls?"
Presidential hopeful Butros Harb said Nasrallah's proposal was a breach of the Taif Accord. Harb said that Taif "maintained a consensus formula based on a multi-confessional" Lebanon, adding that resorting to direct elections would "topple this formula." Presidential candidate MP Robert Ghanem agreed, saying the time was not a suitable to demand direct popular elections.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah lawmaker Hussein Hajj Hassan defended Nasrallah's remarks, saying the Hizbullah chief suggested, only in the event consensus was not reached, that democratic options "that are available all over the world" be considered.
This article starring:
Al Mustaqbal Movement leader and MP Saad Hariri
Democratic Gathering leader and MP Walid Jumblat
Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah
Hussein Hajj Hassan
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri
Premier Rafik Hariri
President Emile Lahoud
Presidential candidate MP Robert Ghanem
Presidential hopeful and March 14 MP Nassib Lahoud
Presidential hopeful Butros Harb
Prime Minister Fouad Saniora
Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
The Palestinian Authority (Fatah) daily newspapers political cartoon today illustrated a prayer for the killing of Americans. A Muslim is shown kneeling in prayer facing a US B-2 Stealth Bomber. The words of his prayer are encased in missiles aimed at Americans:
"Allah, scatter them!
And turn their wives into widows!
And turn their children into orphans!
And give us victory over them!
This curse for the death of Americans is a special prayer for Al-Qadr Night (the 27 th day of Ramadan, noted in the corner of the cartoon), when Muslims customarily pray in mosques throughout the night.
This continues the identification by the PA and Mahmoud Abbass Fatah faction with those who fight and kill Americans. The most recently published 12 th grade PA schoolbooks, for example, call those who fight American soldiers in Iraq "brave resistance. [Click here for full PMW report on PA schoolbooks]
#2
And we contribute millions of dollars worth of taxpayer money in financial support to these worthless bastards for exactly what reason? Remember, Fatah are supposedly the "good terrorists". Condie needs to go straight to hell with her continued advocacy for this collection of subhuman scum.
#6
An excellent reason to start a leaflet campaign designed to irritate the piss out of Muslims.
Flyers that say that Muslims are cursed by Allah because they are violent, ignorant, and stupid. If they would stop wanting to kill everyone, then their lives would be good. Instead their lives are cursed by their own foolishness.
Point out that the more peaceful a Muslim is, the more Allah smiles on him. That a violent Muslim is lower than a pig or a dog in the sight of Allah. And those that murder and oppress others, even infidels, are condemned to Hell. Those that tell them to murder and oppress others, even infidels, are eaters of the dead and demons who want them to sacrifice their souls.
#10
Strapping dynamite to their chests and blowing themselves up on a crowded Israel street would be a problem. Lobbing rockets or mortar shells into Israel would be a problem. Committing a terrorist act against US or Israeli interests would be a problem.
Praying to the figment-o-the-imagination death-cult Moon-god? Definitely NOT a problem.
#12
The Koran has the Old Testiment in it. So "Thou Shalt not Kill" is in there.
No, it's not. In fact, phrases like "strike them about the neck" -- meaning "behead them" -- is in it. Ol' Mo' was running a band of thugs; the Ten Commandments would have been out of place.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
10/09/2007 21:19 Comments ||
Top||
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - A Pakistani military helicopter escorting President Pervez Musharraf crashed in Pakistani Kashmir on Monday killing four soldiers. Although the head of the Pakistan army public relations wing, ISPR, General Waheed Arshad, said that the crash was caused by "a technical fault," journalists based in Pakistani Kashmir said that the incident was really an attack on US ally Musharraf, who was re-elected president only two days ago. 
Opposition party leaders in the NWFP Assembly termed the chief ministers advice for the governor to dissolve the Frontier Assembly another political drama staged by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) with the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) leadership.
PPP chief Benazir Bhutto is likely to acquire a foreign security detail as President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has done, since threats to her life have assumed worrisome proportions with her return to Pakistan just 9 days away.
BAGHDAD (UPI) -- The Iraqi government wants Blackwater USA to pay $8 million to each of the 17 families whose relatives were shot to death in Baghdad last month.
Most British troops could be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of next year under an exit strategy outlined by Gordon Brown yesterday. The Prime Minister said British troop numbers would be halved to 2,500 by next spring when a further decision on the next phase would be taken.
(AKI) - Iraq's 
JERUSALEM (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert underwent police questioning at his Jerusalem home Tuesday as part of a bank fraud investigation.
The three Bali bombers on death row in Indonesia are ready to face their imminent execution, a report said here Monday.
Hezbollah chief 
One of the strongest attacks against Nasrallah came from 
