UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the slaughter in Darfur was triggered by global climate change and that more such conflicts may be on the horizon, in an article published Saturday. "The Darfur conflict began as an ecological crisis, arising at least in part from climate change," Ban said in a Washington Post opinion column.
UN statistics showed that rainfall declined some 40 percent over the past two decades, he said, as a rise in Indian Ocean temperatures disrupted monsoons. In Roman times Tunesia was the 'breadbasket' of the Empire.
"This suggests that the drying of sub-Saharan Africa derives, to some degree, from man-made global warming," the South Korean diplomat wrote. To some 'degree' - or fraction thereof, global warming is likely man-made. To a larger 'degree' it is likely not - witness climate change on Mars, for instance.
"It is no accident that the violence in Darfur erupted during the drought," Ban said in the Washington daily. Siberia and Canada should be awash in immigrants eager to exploit the more comfortable and productive climate there.
When Darfur's land was rich, he said, black farmers welcomed Arab herders and shared their water, he said. With the drought, however, farmers fenced in their land to prevent overgrazing. I have seen it written that deforestation of the tropics leads to drought leads to further deforestation; does an analogous process operate through overgrazing?
"For the first time in memory, there was no longer enough food and water for all. Fighting broke out," he said. Is the issue less food and water, or more mouths?
A UN peacekeeping force may stop the fighting, he said, and more than two million people may return to rebuilt homes in safe villages. "But what to do about the essential dilemma: the fact that there's no longer enough good land to go around?"
"Any real solution to Darfur's troubles involves sustained economic development," perhaps using new technologies, genetically modified grains or irrigation, while bettering health, education and sanitation, he said. But genetically modified grains are against nature/Allan/whoever and/or are part of a western genocidal plot, aren't they?
Sudan is not the only country with such problems, Ban said, and pointed to Somalia, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso as African countries with "food and water insecurity."
Khartoum agreed this week to accept 23,000 UN and African Union peacekeepers after four years of fighting, which has killed at least 200,000 people.
Posted by: Glenmore ||
06/18/2007 07:35 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
I don't think so: why in Darfur, but not everywhere else?
He's tiptoeing around the 5 letter "J" word that ends with "D".
#2
Yeah, it's going to get real friggin' hot in that part of the world when Iran gets the bomb. My forecast: Mushroom clouds, thousand mile-per-hour winds, firestorms, high of 5000 fahrenheit, 60,000% sunshine.
US out of UN, UN out of US. Move these useless vermin to Greenland or somewhere so they can overpark their Mercedes and patronize whores somewhere else.
#7
Actually Rome got most of its wheat (staple) from Egypt. But most of Africa fed itself AND exported food to Rome and other places (Persia). Everywhere you see famine, economic standstill, and violence can be directly linked to either Communism or Islamism rulers. And of course it's the U.S. fault we need to unilaterally take out bad goverments/leaders....oh wait only if there is a consensus. How about all those blowhard leaders in the unsc step up to the plate and take care of what is a very small problem that will give them big kudos in the end? Calling Russia, France, China, et al.
#9
I guess he also believes that the US was responsible for the political climate change that turned Rhodesia, the breadbasket of Africa, into Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, home of Farmin B. Hard.
#11
In Roman times Tunesia was the 'breadbasket' of the Empire.
I thought Egypt was the granary of the Roman empire? Better to have more than one, I suppose.
I have seen it written that deforestation of the tropics leads to drought leads to further deforestation; does an analogous process operate through overgrazing?
That's certainly my understanding. The expansion of the Sahara desert to the south had for decades been blamed on an excess of goats, which eat even the thorny bushes that are the last defense before the sand blows over everything. Of course, that was before it was realized that global warming resulted in the spontaneous generation of goats from wind-blown dust particles.
#13
The UN headquarters should move to Darfur--great idea whose time has come. That should save the U.S. a lot of money and get some "carbon credits" for us.
#14
Early in the empire, Egypt was the major supplier, but when the Empire split into East and West Constantinople took Egypt for its own. Rome and Italy then used Tunisia, Libya, and Sardina for its supplies.
Excavation shows Rome was producing crops so far into the desert that annual rainfall was less than an inch a year.
#15
Fascinating, Oldcat. Of course the Romans were fabulous engineers, and presumably devising irrigation systems is much like devising aqueduct systems, in principle at least.
#17
TW: Related ( i think) goat story: Seattle has hired goats to act as eco-mowers along the various hillsides. Your comment about them eating everything was one of my first thoughts when our Dreaded Western Washington Rain Festival (Jan. 1- Dec. 31) begins and we experience massive mudslides....
#19
Sort of topical since the NYTimes Sunday Magazine has two recipes for goat. Probably a big hit as canapes on the West Side chattering class circuit.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/18/2007 14:59 Comments ||
Top||
#20
They're using goats in California to clear out invasive non-native plants like the eucalyptus, too, USN, Ret. Apparently they're quite effective for that purpose, but perhaps in your part of the world sheep would be a better choice. I'm under the impression that sheep don't graze quite so close to the ground, leaving a little something to hold the hillside to the hill.
#23
In the 80s desertification was credited with poor farming practices and overpopulation. Now we blame global warming because it takes the heat off the ignorant third worlders and puts it on the USA. Clever, if perverted.
#24
TW: as part of the goat-spin, the Seattle DOT was doing some actual mechanical mowing and hit a bum sleeping in the tall grass. while it kilt him, there has as yet been no word as to the condition of the mower. and all the liberals are up in arms about this, and how the DOT needs to be more sensitive and provide more warning, etc, etc.
so am I, blood is corrosive, hope they washed it off in time. and upgrade to NERF blades.
#25
3dc - sheep and goats do not taste awful. You must not be preparing them properly. Best to eat them while they're young and tender though (lambs & kids.)
#27
Ban Ki-Loon seems to be following the distinguished tradition of former UN Secretary Generals
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/18/2007 23:40 Comments ||
Top||
#28
I am with 3dc. Goats and sheep have a smell that my nose does not agree with, no matter how well prepared. Game (deer, reindeer, moose) has its own smell and taste, but that does not bother me.
Abayas or burqas have been made mandatory for women who wish to perform Haj in 2007, Religious Affairs Secretary Wakeel Ahmed Khan said on Sunday.
Allan be praised.
Khan told a seminar here that for the last three years, the Saudi Arabian government had been objecting about the way Pakistani women dress during Haj. This is why we will provide abayas to women who will go for Haj in 2007 under the governments Hajj scheme, he said. Moreover, people designated to take care of the Hujjaj there (Khuddam) will be asked to ensure that Pakistani women there do not get out of their houses and hotels sans abayas. When the Haj scheme is announced officially, private Haj operators will also be made to follow this rule, he added.
BRITAIN joined the US in ousting the Taliban in 2001 because it feared America would "nuke the sh-t" out of Afghanistan, the former British ambassador to Washington has reportedly said on a TV documentary.
In comments published in advance in the Daily Mirror tabloid today, Christopher Meyer said fear explained why Prime Minister Tony Blair chose to stand with US President George W. Bush in his decision to invade Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - to temper his aggressive battle plans. "Blair's real concern was that there would be quote unquote 'a knee-jerk reaction' by the Americans ... they would go thundering off and nuke the shit out of the place without thinking straight," Mr Meyer reportedly told the documentary, according to the Mirror.
Why would we do that? We knew we could take them down, and we did it.
In other excerpts of the documentary, printed in The Observer newspaper yesterday, members of Mr Blair's inner circle said the Prime Minister agreed to commit troops to the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq despite believing that the US had failed to prepare adequately for post-war reconstruction.
Britain's Channel 4 will air the first part of The Rise and Fall of Tony Blair on Saturday.
#2
While it was obviously not necessary to do so, one can only imagine how badly Islamand especially theocratic Islamwould have been brought up short by such an unequivocal demonstration of our displeasure. It still remains to be seen if anything less will ever manage to serve adequate notice to the MME (Muslim Middle East) with respect to their incessant crapulence. I'm beginning to doubt it myself.
#3
Clue #1: This article is based on something that will be published in the Daily Mirror , a left-wing Brit tabloid.
Clue #2: The gaseous quote is allegedly uttered by a British diplomat. The history of post-WWI British diplomacy, is, shall we say, almost amusing when not utterly grotesque.
#4
Al Mirror, the prole's Guardian. This is a bigot bloviating for bigots. When is this stupid cowboyism and Texophobia going to be recognized for what it is?
#7
What kind of diplomat, current or former, uses that kind of language in a public statement, whether print or film? I can't be bothered to google the gentleman in question, but I have to wonder how long he was allowed to hold his post in capitol of one of Britain's key allies, were he given to such utterances.
#8
Any British diplomat using such coarse language should be debagged and duly briced. Sceptical.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/18/2007 9:17 Comments ||
Top||
#9
Ah, the irresistible Chris Meyer. Old Soviet hand (possibly turned?), bloviator extraordinaire, likes to kiss and tell all then kiss again for more juice. Even has a French education. A known and well publicized anti-Israel left-wing nut of the first order. Too bad there isn't a garter for that. But he is a perfect fit for Channel 4 and John Snow, right Howard?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/18/2007 9:31 Comments ||
Top||
#10
This Daily Rag just can't get over the fact that we could have nuked the shat out of it, but we took it down with few men and airpower.
#12
Britain's Channel 4 is the worst of the worst of the worst..
It regularly excretes a blend of Classic Commie Rat Bastard and Islamist Populism into long anti-American and anti-Capitalist Turds.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
06/18/2007 10:33 Comments ||
Top||
#13
This could be read as a warning to the ME that if we have to come back, it won't be as a kinder, gentler country. We're crazy and we'll use these things if they go to far. Not bad to have them thinking we almost did last time.
#15
Last week a Kabul mob formed after a US soldier accidently shot someone between him and a terror target. At best, they barely tolerate us. Jihadism is like breathing to Muslims.
Nation building in Vietnam and elsewhere, was somewhat effective, until external forces subverted same. I have become convinced that we should have approached 9-11 interests with only self-interests in mind. Any success that appears apparent in the occupied countries, has been transient because the Muslim mindset rejects peace and security. It has to be imposed on them by means of harsh occupation, without turkey shoot patrols among the hostile majority.
#20
We have never really stepped hard on muslim nuts. As the result we don't get any respect or fear.
This remains a central problem. Islam is a profoundly intolerant and very violent creed. It has only two modes; Hudna and War. This totalitarian ideology has now entered a terminal phase involving skirmish level asymmetrical warfare while it simultaneously attempts to acquire nuclear weapons.
Western powers have yet to realize that there is no peace or accommodation with Islam. Despite a nearly constant stream of low level aggression, they continue to mistake the last several centuries of Islamic stagnation as peaceful coexistence. Islam's stalwart refusal to get along is not taken seriously by those who, instead, have been suckered by a modern public relations campaign worthy of Madison Avenue. If ever there was a wolf in sheep's clothing, it is The Religion of Peace [spit].
It is the West's fundamental inability to recognize Islam's intransigence that forestalls what would otherwise be a glaring need for swift and decisive action. There is no perception that the humanitarian outlook we prize so highly is essentially alien to Muslims. Unable or unwilling to perceive the exceptionally violent core of Koranic doctrine, we continue to fool ourselves that good will and kindness will be rewarded.
A primary foundation of Hudna is to pervert the enemy's humanity and civility into weapons of assault against them. Islam's strategists prize this stunning degree of ingratitude as an honorable tactic and extremely powerful lever. The credulity of Western leadership allows them to dismiss this astounding perfidy as something lost in translation. They refuse to comprehend the serious implications of such treachery and thereby overlook a vital coefficient of all Islamic law.
It is qisas or "retaliation". Much of shari'a law centers upon this principle. The West's essential humanity cannot conceive of how thoroughly imbedded this concept is throughout Islam. Qisas represents a fulcrum upon which societal balance is maintained in Muslim cultures. It has nothing to do with incentives or carrots, it is all stick.
Islam's pursuit of global domination carries before it the inherent notion of primacy and a total disdain for all other philosophies. Since we do not base our decision making process upon Islams tenets, our responses are essentially meaningless. The West rapidly must begin to refocus its strategy for fighting terrorism over to one that employs Islam's own internal calculus.
The equations involved are ones of retaliation and collective punishment. Eschewed by the West, they nonetheless remain as the only legal tender that Islam will accept. The time has come to repay Islam in its own coin. They will recognize no other currency, not now, not ever. Muslims must be made to feel our pain. Only when equal or greater numbers of them suffer for every atrocity their fanatics commit will they finally take action against the jihadis.
Our unfamiliarity and lack of comprehension make it impossible to identify and isolate Islam's jihadist fanatics. Taqiyya and Hudna all serve to prevent this. Only Muslims have the ability to differentiate between those who would rehabilitate Islam and those who cannot abide any such change. If Muslims refuse to accept responsibility for this crucial task, then by default they side with the jihadists.
This must be made unequivocally clear to Islam's followers. Either they clean their own house or all of them will begin to suffer for their slovenly treatment of other cultures. Time is running out for both the West and Islam itself. The jihadist fanatics have zero scruples about ratcheting up their violence until it attains nuclear proportions. Once that threshold is crossed, this world will stand on the precipice of a Muslim holocaust. For Islam, it is an all-or-nothing equation. The worlds population will submit to Allah or die. Either we take them seriously and begin making this irreconcilable difference a source of immense suffering for Muslims, or we open the door for nuclear attacks against the West which will most likely lead to total annihilation of the MME (Muslim Middle East).
#24
#19 Nuke Mecca, huh? Maybe you should be nuked.
Posted by: Phinenter Guelph1359
Hey A**wipe, Let's review current history:
Muslims killing Muslims
Muslims killing Jews
Muslims killing Christians
Muslims killing Hindus
Muslims killing the INFIDEL
All around the world right now
Hundreds are being murdered by Muslims
Thanks for playing, here have a cookie child.
Posted by: Get your gun ||
06/18/2007 19:35 Comments ||
Top||
#25
Why would Blair have cared?
Because he has a lot of Paki-Waki's in Britain, and the might have become restive in the event of us lighting up their backyard. Funny that, because sooner or later we're going to light up their front yard. Among other things.
Things will start to happen quickly going forward, and it will all go over the edge in the blink of an eye. Enjoy the ride.
#26
Get your gun, I take serious issue with your list.
You left out the Thai Buddhists ...
Things will start to happen quickly going forward, and it will all go over the edge in the blink of an eye.
All that really remains to be seen is whether Europe shifts their Muslims into Auschwitz-Treblinka overdrive before a few nuclear hits on America inspire us to become the world's leading glass producer.
#27
All that really remains to be seen is whether Europe shifts their Muslims into Auschwitz-Treblinka overdrive...
For that to happen, the feminized everyman will have to grow a set and lynch their political class. Which, BTW, can't wait to crawl into bed with the Islamists.
These idiots are somehow mesmerized by something the Arabs have been feeding them or telling them.
#28
#19, Phinenter Guelph1359, we all know you would if you could. That's why so many of us think we should do unto you before you do unto us. Give us one good reason why we shouldn't. I bet you can't.
A Kurdish rebel leader has warned Turkey that it faces disaster if its troops and tanks cross into northern Iraq, amid growing concern of a big Turkish operation to hunt down Kurdish guerrillas holed up across the border.
The Turkish army faces "a political and military disaster" if its generals give orders for a cross-border offensive, Cemil Bayik, one of the two most powerful figures in the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, told the Guardian at a hideout in the Qandil mountains on the border with Iran. Mr Bayik said his units did not seek a fight, but "would defend ourselves if attacked". It could become "a quagmire for them [the Turkish army] and create space for Iran to interfere in Iraq also," he said.
Over the past month, tensions have been rising in Iraqi Kurdistan, with the Turkish army massing thousands of troops and tanks along the 238-mile border and its hawkish chief of staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, repeatedly pressing a reluctant government in Ankara for permission to go in after the PKK. Turkey says the group, which is regarded as a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Turkey, is launching attacks from its mountain hideouts in Iraq. It accuses Iraqi Kurds of helping them. The rebel group is thought to have 2,000-3,000 well-trained but lightly armed fighters inside Iraqi territory, where its strategic leadership also resides. The bulk of its membership is on Turkish soil, many in poor city suburbs.
Interesting how the 'strategic leadership' of these movements never quite seem to put themselves in danger. Must be too important.
Mr Bayik, who together with fellow rebel chief Murat Karyilan tops Turkey's list of most wanted, said the Turkish chief of staff was "playing a dangerous game" that threatened to undermine democratic politics in Turkey by ousting the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK party from power and at the same time destabilising Iraq's Kurdistan region. He said the general was using the issue of the PKK's presence in Iraq as an excuse to "annihilate Kurdishness".
"Gen Buyukanit wants everyone to be a happy Turk. And those who don't agree he brands as a traitor. He wants first to smash the Kurdish regional government in Iraq. He wants second to ruin any chances of a referendum being held on Kirkuk, and the PKK issue is really only third on his list of priorities."
He said the PKK had announced no new ceasefires, as reported last week, but that the previous "unilateral" ceasefire... announced late last year, still held. "So far we have heard nothing positive from the Turkish side, which makes us wonder whether they really do want peace, or just continue into a destructive war to serve the military's own purposes," he said. "We are not a terrorist movement, we condemn attacks on civilians. We are freedom fighters," Mr Bayik insisted, saying he would work to convince the international community of his group's commitment to peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question. "We are open to dialogue and we welcome it," he said.
"We're freedom fighters, dammit! That's why we set off bombs on the streets of Istanbul, and .. um, .. oh forget it!"
Until recently the PKK's main camps lined the steep valleys and ravines near the group's headquarters on Qandil mountain. But now the camps have largely been abandoned, say PKK sources. The fighters are on the move, staying in the same place for barely more than a night.
Mr Bayik said the PKK, which began life 30 years ago advocating a pan-Kurdish Marxist-Leninist state, was no longer a separatist movement. "We are not looking for independence, we are not even looking for federalism like the Iraqi Kurds have. The solution lies in granting the Kurds of Turkey language and cultural rights and freedom of speech."
He also dismissed the idea of a general amnesty for PKK rebels in Turkey unless it was accompanied by genuine reform. In the past few years Turkey has granted its Kurdish population more cultural rights, but critics say the reforms are paper thin.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Jean-Louis Bruguiere, who for many years was France's leading anti-terrorist judge, failed Sunday in his bid to win a parliamentary seat for the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Bruguiere was beaten by the Socialist candidate in a constituency in the Lot-et-Garonne department of southern France. Seen as close to President Nicolas Sarkozy, Bruguiere left his magistrate's job earlier this year and had hoped to embark on a career in poltics.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
You'd think Sarkozy could find him a position where he could still do some good. His party has some Herculean tasks ahead.
#2
How do you get to be a judge in France? Could Sarkozy re-appoint him?
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
06/18/2007 8:33 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Napoleanic law. Magistrates or Judges are both prosecutor, investigators, grand juries and cops all wrapped up in one. Sarkozy will find a spot for him in the Interior Ministry which he use to head and sort of reformed a bit.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/18/2007 9:34 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Bruguiere's defeat is as deputy not as judge.
In France judges are selected through exams. In other words you become judge by pleasing the examinator and the people be it directly through elections or indirectly through appointments by elected officials have zero saying on it.
BTW, Bruguiere is not the white knight of anti-terrorism you seem to thhink. Lately he has been very busy trying to whitewash French politicians involved in funding and arming of the former genocidical but pro-French Rwandan regime.
#6
Napoleanic law. Magistrates or Judges are both prosecutor, investigators, grand juries and cops all wrapped up in one. Sarkozy will find a spot for him in the Interior Ministry which he use to head and sort of reformed a bit.
What you are describing is the "juge d'instruction" who directs the investiagtion but does not take part in the trial.
However in French system the jury is composed of three professional judges and from six ordinary citizens. Because the six don't know one another it is usually not difficult for the three professionals to get two citizens in their side and get a majority and a sentence going thgeir way.
#7
As an addenda bout how judges are selected there is aslo how they can be fired.
Elected bodies have no saying in firing judges (prosecutors is another matter). No impeachment like in US. They can be fired by the Conseil de la Magistrture ie a body formed by other judges and who doesn't answer to the people.
That is ho we have had, for instance, a judge who ever ruled innocent whatever the crime or evidence.
The award of a knighthood to the author Salman Rushdie justifies suicide attacks, a Pakistani government minister said today. "This is an occasion for the 1.5 billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister, told the Pakistani parliament in Islamabad. "The west is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."
The comments follow other condemnation of the award for Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses provoked worldwide protests over allegations that it insulted Islam. He received the knighthood for services to literature in the Queen's birthday honours list published on Saturday.
Earlier today Pakistani MPs demanded Britain withdraw Rushdie's knighthood. A government-backed resolution condemning the author's knighthood was passed unanimously by the lower house of the Pakistani parliament amid angry protests across the country. MPs said the honour was an insult to the religious sentiments of Muslims. In the eastern city of Multan, hardline Muslim students burned effigies of the Queen and Rushdie, chanting "Kill him! Kill him!"
Pakistan's minister for parliamentary affairs, Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, who proposed the resolution condemning the honour, branded Rushdie a "blasphemer". She told MPs: "The 'sir' title from Britain for blasphemer Salman Rushdie has hurt the sentiments of the Muslims across the world. Every religion should be respected. I demand the British government immediately withdraw the title as it is creating religious hatred."
Also today, Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said many Muslims would regard the knighthood as the final insult from Tony Blair before he leaves office next week. "Salman Rushdie earned notoriety amongst Muslims for the highly insulting and blasphemous manner in which he portrayed early Islamic figures," Dr Bari said. "The granting of a knighthood to him can only do harm to the image of our country in the eyes of hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world. Many will interpret the knighthood as a final contemptuous parting gift from Tony Blair to the Muslim world."
Yesterday, Iranian politicians accused Britain of insulting Islam by awarding the knighthood to Rushdie, who was forced into hiding for a decade after the country's late spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for his assassination. Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, said the decision to honour the novelist was an orchestrated act of aggression directed against Islamic societies. He said Rushdie was "one of the most hated figures" in the Islamic world. "Honouring and commending an apostate and hated figure will definitely put the British officials [in a position] of confrontation with Islamic societies," Mr Hosseini said.
"This act shows that insulting Islamic sacred [values] is not accidental. It is planned, organised, guided and supported by some western countries."
"This act shows that insulting Islamic sacred [values] is not accidental. It is planned, organised, guided and supported by some western countries. Giving a badge to one of the most hated figures in Islamic society is ... an obvious example of fighting against Islam by high-ranking British officials."
The Iranian government formally distanced itself in 1998 from the original fatwa against Rushdie, issued in 1989 by Khomeini. But shortly after it disavowed the death edict under a deal with Britain, the Iranian media said three Iranian clerics had called on followers to kill Rushdie, saying the fatwa was irrevocable and that it was the duty of Muslims to carry it out.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the honour was "richly deserved" and the reasons for it were "self-explanatory". In a statement after the announcement of his knighthood on Saturday, Rushdie, 59, said he was "thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/18/2007 11:37 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
"The west is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."
In fact, islam is a religion full of humor, simply, it's not intentional.
#5
"The west is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."
It isn't the idea of a Muslim exploding a bomb on his body that we in the West find so appalling. It's his insistence on doing so in the midst of innocent men, women, and children.
#7
"The west is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."
Should this Pakistani threat come to pass, I care not who does itBritain, America or the Man in the Fucking Moonbut Pakistan should have the crap bombed out of it. This is a "religious affairs minister" fer fuck's sake. He's openly addressing the damned Pakistani Parliament!
If Pakistan cannot bring themselve to censure such blatant warmongering, then war is what they need to get. This Islamic crapulence MUST END.
#13
Anyone else have the feeling that things are likely to get *really hot* this summer? If some of these r-tards start booming in the West, it could be ... bad.
And as for burning an effigy of the Queen - we are not amused!
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
06/18/2007 20:07 Comments ||
Top||
#15
If only the Brits really had intended to give offense I would be so very pleased. I want them to take offense, to be offended and act out their true nature in every possible opportunity. The only hope we have it to make out deluded bretheran of the left, sunk so very deep in the intoxicating pig wallow of self-rightous political correctness, see up close and personal how dangerous these people really are. Through kitman and taqquiya they have painted a face of civil discourse and cultural maturity, disguising the true face of their totalitarian war-cult, their intolerant world agenda, their determined colonization and occupation of the West. Sadly, the Brits didn't really have the stones for it, it was just a sad error and there will be yet again some artful compromise, veiled in rhetoric and fawning tripe.....
The longer we postpone the butcher's bill, the uglier this gets. Couple this with the budding national explosion as the administration and the cowards in the senate again try and sell out our national heritage, our treasury and our most precious possessions, our very nation, from udner us in a sullied attempt to but votes from people whoe only goals are our wealth, out lands, and their reconquista!
#16
The longer we postpone the butcher's bill, the uglier this gets.
While the rest of your somewhat garbled post is just as relevant, JAE, the above remains as a lasting statement of exactly what awaits both the West and Islam as well. Either we begin to enact collective punishment in the form of disproportionate retaliation, or we may as well sit back and watch this whole shitheap slide off the ledge into annihilation on a massive scale.
Here's the kicker:
THE CHOICE IS OURS, NOT ISLAM'S.
Is-fucking-Lam hasn't a damned clue. It is only the more enlightened Western nations that have sufficient scruples to implement the drastic measures which will bring Islam back into line before we throw up our collective hands and simply glass over some BILLION people and their arid domain.
Clerics on Sunday warned the government against any move to break a peace deal signed last year to bring an end to fighting in the tribal region.
The government and local Taliban struck the deal in the restive North Waziristan tribal region on September 5, which brought an end to continued fighting in the region.
The agreement also called for an expulsion of Al Qaeda-linked foreigners from the region to halt their incursions into Afghanistan from the Pakistani tribal region.
Members of the peace committee, who resigned last month to protest against an army attack without their consultations, asked the government not to commit the mistake of ending the peace deal.
Any move to end the peace deal will have disastrous consequences, clerics Maulana Ramzan and Hafiz Noor-Allah told a news conference here. They said the region had become peaceful after the accord, but accused the government of attempting to break the agreement under different pretexts.
We are receiving indications that the government is bent upon breaking the agreement. If that happens, thousands of tribesmen will face dire consequences, they added.
The clerics said the people of Waziristan were honouring the agreement and the government must also reciprocate the gesture. They said the government had planned the establishment of more security check posts, which they said violated the deal as it had called for the removal of all roadside army check posts.
They also complained that the authorities were distributing compensation funds among people who did not need it while the people who had been most affected by military operations were being ignored.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
BAGHDAD - Iraqis slowly began returning to the streets of Baghdad when a curfew was lifted on Sunday, four days after the bombing of a revered Shia Muslim mosque to the north sparked fears of reprisal sectarian attacks.
But a curfew remained in place in the city of Samarra where the bombing of Al Askari mosque was carried out by suspected al Qaeda militants. The curfew in Baghdad largely kept a lid on retaliatory attacks in the capital but a number of Sunni Arab mosques were torched or blown up elsewhere in Iraq.
While cars and people returned to Baghdads usually hectic streets after the curfew was lifted at 5 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Sunday, residents said the capital was quieter than normal as some were still fearful of revenge attacks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Speaking of Baghdad, Bubba Watson acquitted himself pretty well over the weekend.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/18/2007 9:35 Comments ||
Top||
(IsraelNN.com) Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that Israel should "encircle Gaza and bring about the downfall of the Hamas government, both economically and diplomatically." "We cannot accept the existence of an Iranian entity on the outskirts of Beersheva and Tel Aviv," the Likud chairman and former prime minister said.
Netanyahu added that the current situation was "the result of diplomatic mistakes made by Israel's prime ministers over the past few years."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/18/2007 11:29 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#3
I always have to remind myself that he's a politician. I'd feel a whole lot better if he said these things as PM, not opposition leader. A lot of Israelis I've read feel he went soft when he was elected previously.
#7
Netanyahu has the cajones that W does not. Cut them off. Period. Let them eat Katyusha rockets, RPG's and AK shells. Where is Rachel Corrie when you need her?
A school and convent belonging to the Gaza Strip's tiny Roman Catholic community were ransacked and looted during clashes around a major security headquarters, the head of the community said Monday. Crosses were broken, a statue of Jesus was damaged, and prayer books were burnt at the Rosary Sisters School and nearby convent, said Father Manuel Musallem, head of Gaza's Latin church. SOP c. 650 AD
The damage took place on Thursday, but wasn't reported until days later because of the chaos that has prevailed since Hamas militants wrested power in Gaza, Musallem said. The religious compound is located near a key security headquarters Hamas captured Thursday on the final day of its Gaza takeover. Gunmen used the roof of the school during the fighting, and the convent was "desecrated," Musallem said. "Nothing happens by mistake these days," he said.
Doesn't seem to, does it.
The doors of the convent were knocked open with mortars and furniture was damaged. Prayer books in the chapel were burned, crosses broken, and a statue of Jesus was damaged. Seven computers were removed, but three were brought back after the vandalism was reported to the deposed prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh.
Haniyeh condemned the attack on the religious compound and President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah movement said in statement late Sunday that the "barbaric" attack was the act of Hamas' militia. "There may be some in Hamas who wanted to cause strife between Muslims and Christians," Musallem said. That is a bravely-spoken understatement. Not a jot of Seattle-like gobbledygook sentiment to be found in Gaza today.
Hamas lawmaker Salah Bardawil denied that Hamas had a hand in the vandalism. "The Christians are our brothers in Gaza and everywhere, and we will protect their holy places and school, as we do our Islamic schools," he said. "But there are some dirty elements who work to harm Hamas' image ... and relations, but this will not happen."(AP) Yessir. Just belly up to the bar, grab the nearest glass of Ol' Grandad's Taqqiyah, an' down the hatch.
#5
"The Christians are our brothers in Gaza and everywhere, and we will protect their holy places and school, as we do our Islamic schools,"... Provided the infidel make their weekly jizya payments in a timely fashion AND if we feel in the mood to give protection to the so-called koranic people of the book.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
06/18/2007 12:47 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Crosses were broken, a statue of Jesus was damaged, and prayer books were burnt at the Rosary Sisters School and nearby convent...
The outrage in the muslim community in the U.S. and in the MSM will begin in 10, 9, 8 ......Nevermind. Good thing I didn't hold my breath. I'd start turning blue.
#8
Yo! Paging Pope Benedict to the white courtesy phone. This is your cue to highlight Islam's abject refusal to engage in reciprocity, follow its own doctrine or allow for any religious freedom. You remember, don't you, how you were railing about the "lack of religious freedom in some countries"? Well, what about it. Are you going to stand up for your flock or not? Afraid some Islamo-nut is going to pop a cap in your estremità?
#10
I'll grant that Benedict has shown some real spine where all of his predecessors most definitely did not. I've already made my admiration for the man quite clear. However, as leader of the most powerful church on this planet, he owes it to his flock to call Islam on its crapulence whenever and wherever it happens. He must not just be a shepherd but the domini canis, his flock's watchdog. If Benedict flinches at wielding his potent influence, how can anyone expect those in lesser stations to do half as much?
Only by assiduously taking Islam to task for its endless atrocitiies will public opinion finally be molded around a core of adamant opposition to Muslim predation. Other religions have the most to lose with respect to Islamic domination. It's time they began acting like it. Any sort of flaccid response gets you what's happening in Thailand.
#11
Zenster, the Roman Catholic Church has been dealing with militant Islam for almost 1500 years. In that time hundreds of thousands of Christians have been martyred, tortured, and enslaved by the self-proclaimed slaves of Allah. Benedict is only the most recent Pontiff to confront this menace, and yet for all its suffering the Church not only endures, but thrives. Christianity is outpacing Islam in Africa, and probably in Asia.
The virulence of the Islamic reaction to modernity and Western philosophies, I believe, is an admission of its own feebleness and the strength of the Church's message of Christ's love for all mankind. And that love embraces Muslims, too. As a Christian, I believe that the Church will survive, because Love is the greatest power on earth. It will defeat death, and the cults of death.
While I laud your optimism, a vigorously militant response at all levelsbe they spiritual or strategicwill be needed to overcome Islam's aggression. I also think that before the church begins sending martyrs evangelists to convert Muslims, there needs to be several waves of devout reformationist imams that should throw themselves on that grenade first.
On Friday afternoon in Manar Square, for example, I ran into Ohad Hemo, an acquaintance who covers Palestinian affairs for Israels Channel 1 news. By then there was finally some media-worthy action. A few dozen Fatah-aligned fighters had shown up in the square, most traveling on the back of pick up trucks. They wore combat-style uniforms, although some wore street shoes instead of army boots. Their faces were covered in ski masks and they brandished weapons in what the Times called a a show of force by Fatah. That sounds very dramatic, of course, but the reality was not very impressive: again, I felt as though I were watching a parody of machismo that seemed a bit silly, if not comic.
Other than stare into the camera and pose, the fighters didnt do anything at all. It was all pure theatre: I listened and watched as the various foreign television reporters positioned themselves in front of the masked gunmen and spoke seriously to the cameras about the rising tension in Ramallah, trying their best to make it sound as if they were in the middle of a war zone. But if their cameramen had panned out for a wider shot they would have shown crowds of mostly young men hanging around, eating snacks, buying cold drinks from vendors, and taking photos with their mobile phones. There was no sense of fear or menace at all. I even saw one photojournalist, who works for an American newspaper, giggling a bit as she aimed her camera at a masked fighter who was posing as if he were having his portrait painted, his eyes stonily focused on the horizon.
If those cameramen had panned out for a wider shot, they might even have seen me and Ohad speaking to one another in Hebrew. Or better yet, they might have caught a rather amusing exchange between Ohad and a middle aged local Palestinian man. Hearing Ohad speaking Hebrew, he walked over, extended his hand with a friendly smile, and said in fluent Hebrew with an Arabic accent, So, how are things in Israel? What are they saying about us over there? Ohad switched to Arabic, which he speaks fluently, and told the man that the Israeli media was already referring to Gaza as Hamastan, and to the West Bank as Fatahland. They continued chatting in this vein for another minute or two, and then parted with another friendly handshake.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/18/2007 09:14 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Fatah
#1
LOL!
Sigh, its always like this with the ME. Almost always.
Folks on internet cites (other than this one) hear about goings on and say things like "lets nuke both sides" or "its such a horror, how can anyone live there, why do the Israelis stay there?"
Meanwhile I have friends in Israel, and their big issues are the cost of housing, wrestling with the socialist bureaucrats in the health system, etc, etc. People dont realize how much normal life goes on.
#4
Somebody should do a video pretending to be a reporter for CNN while wearing a Palestinian kaffiyeh covering his face, while standing on a normal and busy street in the US. He "reports" about carnage, bloodshed, massacres, and how it is all the fault of the US.
Then, after he signs off, he puts a CBS or NBC sticker on his microphone, and does the same speech.
#6
What's your point, Pappy? You know damn well I don't want to see it happen, but what do you see as preventing such an outcome? Time's short for tonight, so I'll only ask that you please consider addressing this topic elsewhere. You've slammed me often enough while giving other more drastic people a free ride. I'm eager to hear what you have in terms of actual rebuttal. Islam is begging for nuclear retaliation, even without launching a nuclear attack themselves. While we should avoid granting their most fervrent wish, it may well become necessary. Do you not agree?
GAZA - Radical Islamists in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip destroyed a cement statue, long considered a symbol of Palestinian hopes for statehood, because they see the depiction as a violation of strict religious laws. A Hamas security source said those who attacked the statue were members of the so-called radical Salaf group, which abides by strict religious edicts. The whole issue is under investigation. We do not agree with what happened, the Hamas security source said.
Real translation: in your face, Mahmoud!
For many Palestinians, the cement statue for the Unknown Soldier has been a symbol of the Arab fight against Israel. It was erected during Egyptian rule in Gaza in the 1950s but was destroyed by Israel. Arafat rebuilt it in the 1990s. The Gaza City statue stood as memorial to Palestinian and Egyptian soldiers killed in the fight against Israel in the 1948 Middle East war. It is a focal point for officials and ordinary Palestinians, especially during national holidays.
So much for any thought of working together with the now-surrendered Fatah boys.
But radical Muslims say statues are sacrilegious because non-believers who pre-date Islam used to worship them as idols instead of worshipping God.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Next, knock down the Pyramids. Those symbols of pre-Islamic cults. And blow up the Kaba. That Coptic cube.
#2
Gotta love the way these Hamas idjits unleash their "more Islamic than thou" crapulence at the very first opportunity. I predict their popularity in Gaza will skyrocket over the next few weeks. There's something deeply satisfying about seeing the Palestinians get their lust for terrorism rammed up their asses jammed down their throats. I can only hope that Israel makes themselves availble to help pound some sand along with it.
#6
I think it is time for the salafists to quit using that unIslamic electricity, an invention of the Christian West supplied to them by Israeli Jews. Israel should stop supplying water, electricity, food, and fuel to Gaza and close all gates to Israel. Let the Egyptians deal with Gaza. As for the rockets, set up counterbattery radars and send back a 155mm shell to the site of every launch.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas swore in a new cabinet on Sunday and immediately outlawed rival Hamas movements fighters after their bloody seizure of power in Gaza.
Abbas actions have completely cut off Gaza from the outside world with Israeli troops adding to tensions by moving troops into the north of the Gaza Strip in what Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh said was a preventive action. After swearing in the new 12-member emergency cabinet headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Abbas swiftly declared Hamas illegal and issued a decree stating that all supporters of Hamas would be persecuted. Hamas, meanwhile, dismissed the new government as illegitimate. Palestinian officials are hoping that the creation of the emergency cabinet without Hamas will lead to the lifting of a Western aid boycott that was imposed after the new government took power in January 2006.
Israel must reinforce the isolation of the Gaza Strip and not let anything pass except electricity and water, Israeli Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told army radio, while a spokeswoman for Dor Alon, an Israeli fuel company, said fuel was now only being provided for Gaza power stations.
Senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said he had asked Israel to allow fuel and raw materials to continue reaching Gaza. Israel, meanwhile, indicated its support of Abbas new regime and suggested it would release hundred million dollars in custom revenues owed to the Palestinians if the new cabinet cooperated with them.
The global community welcomed the new government and urged rival factions to restore order in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
As always, a day late and a dollar short. I guess Abbas didn't have any problems with Hamas so long as they were only killing the dreaded Jews. Once their gun barrels swung around that all changed.
Not quite. Abbas, notwithstanding his comfort with corruption, his neutrality on anti semitic text books and radio broadcasts, his verbal support for forceable repatriation of Paleo refugees to Israel proper, etc., has always disliked Hamas.
He has criticized Hamas numerous times (although its the 'this terrorism makes us look bad' kind of thing).
Even if he isn't a brilliant fellow, I'm sure he knew that there was a good chance that Hamas was eventually going to take over Gaza and maybe he is even comfortable with it since it gets many Hamasistas out of his real territory.
#3
Note: IIUC he has only outlawed the Military wing of Hamas, not Hamas as a political party/"charitable" organization. OTOH some Fatahniks on the ground have been "overzealous" and HAVE attacked Hamas pols, etc. Abbas has denounced this, but AFAIK has done nothing to stop it.
It does seem that now that Abbas isnt trying to keep control over Gaza, he has a freer hand to be anti-Hamas. OTOH to the extent that he wants to get back into Gaza, or feels insecure in the WB, he will have to balance between cracking down on Hamas for his own safety, and not alienating the Pal street by too harsh a crackdown.
Gazans rushed to stock up on petrol and food yesterday as Israel cut fuel supplies in its first concrete response to Hamas's seizure of power in Gaza.
The Israeli embargo applied a telling squeeze to petrol supplies in Gaza. Vehicles queued to stock up on fuel and some stations ran out within hours. Dor Alon, the private Israeli fuel company that supplies Gaza, said it would only send shipments to Gaza's power stations. Many areas of Gaza have been without electricity since power cables were damaged in last week's fighting. Gazans also stockpiled food, emptying supermarket shelves of food and contributing to price rises.
Workers at Gaza's only fuel warehouse told the Associated Press that supplies had run out. Early yesterday, the owners of 15 petrol companies came to the warehouse and purchased the last 30 tonnes of fuel. Asef Hamdi, a worker at a Gaza petrol station, feared what the end of the fuel shipments would mean for the territory. "The results will be Gaza in full darkness, with no cars," he said. "In simple words ... welcome to the Taliban lifestyle".
You wanted it, you got it!"
The Karni crossing, through which Gaza's imports and exports flow, is closed; it is not clear when it will reopen. A few hundred Gazans attempted to escape Gaza through the Erez crossing into Israel but most were denied entry. Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to maintain order in the tunnels that lead to the Israeli checkpoint.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#2
Next shut off the water, 1/4 turn on the valve per day, bwahahahahahaha......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/18/2007 0:53 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"In simple words ... welcome to the Taliban lifestyle".
It couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of terrorist morons. Soon enough they'll all be begging and pleading with Israel to occupy them once again. I can only hope that Israel has forever learned their lesson on this subject.
#4
They voted for Hamas to thumb their nose at the West. Well, enjoy your democratically elected govt.
They only forgot one thing. We don't HAVE to give them that money, we just did it to try to help them build a successful society.(which failed miserably, in every aspect).
#7
Fuel only to power stations, yet many areas w/out power due to damage to supply lines; how long before the power station fuel convoys get attacked? i give it 36 hours.
Assyrian International News Agency, but a Mcclatchy Newspapers journalist. Consider the source...
Nobody used the word "crisis" when the first wave of Iraqis fled the war and settled here. But the word definitely applies now, as shellshocked Iraqis of all backgrounds pour into Syria at the rate of nearly 1,000 a day. In fact, "crisis" may not be strong enough, as the flow of Iraqis becomes a torrent. At least 1.2 million are already here, according to the United Nations. Each has a story of terror and trauma and a need for services that is stretching Syrians' patience. Many believe the number may be higher.
"What's their future, the 2 million Iraqis here? They can't work, they have to renew their residency cards, they live in poverty. It's an explosive situation," said Lourance Kamle, 32, a Syrian relief worker whose agency focuses on Iraqi refugees. "Make a war? Fine. And what comes after? The Americans should come here and see all these poor people because that's the result of their war."
"After all, a dictatorship that sponsors terrorists is sooo much better. Look at us here in Syria..."
As there are no refugee camps, Syrian schools and hospitals are overrun with Iraqis. Housing prices have soared, sowing resentment and anger among Syrians who can no longer afford to live in their neighborhoods. Iraqi refugees have turned the districts of Qudsiya, Jaramana and Sayeda Zeinab into "Little Baghdads," right down to replica restaurants, cafes and clothing stores. Each of Iraq's discordant factions has established a satellite presence in Damascus; many even boast public offices. There's the old Baath Party, the new Baath Party, the Muslim Scholars Association, the Mahdi Army, the Badr Brigade, the Islamic Army, the Chaldean and Assyrian clergies, the artists and intellectuals, and a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading Shiite cleric in Iraq.
Just a little piece of old disfunctional home...
Until they fled Baghdad at the end of May, Rifah Daoud and her family had been the last remaining Christians on their block in the deadly neighborhood of Dora. Daoud, 53, said her family had held out hope that the neighborhood insurgents, the local Sunnis they call "the honorable resistance" for targeting only U.S. troops, would prevail over the al-Qaida-allied strangers who were challenging their shaky control of the area.
Nothing like rooting for the home team...
One day, Daoud said, the nationalist insurgents broadcast a message from the mosque promising to protect Christians and ordering them to stay put. The next day, Daoud's family received a letter that told them to vacate their home and turn the keys over to the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group for Sunni extremists. Daoud said it was clear who ran her block: al-Qaida.
"Living is better than dying, and those were the options: death or leaving," Daoud said. "Three hours later, we went to the border." After the family had fled to Syria, neighbors called from Baghdad to let them know al-Qaida had come back, looking for the washing machine.
"And the satellite dish! Where is the satellite dish?!!"
Posted by: Pappy ||
06/18/2007 00:15 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Consider it a 'swap' not 'swamp' - these are what Syria got in exchange for all the terrorists they sent into Iraq to aid the destabilization.
#3
Now, if I was Assad, I would get his Parliment to consider a "comprehensive immigration bill" that would make them instant Syrians thereby building up further his base. He could also press them into his army and airforce creating a real monster in terms of numbers. He could then send them to Lebanon to augment the Hizzies. Then the Israelis would have to take them out. Problem solved.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/18/2007 9:40 Comments ||
Top||
#4
"Nobody used the word "crisis" when the first wave of Iraqis fled the war and settled here."
Of course not. The first wave was mostly affluent, educated, and only margainly pissed off. Oh yeah, those suitcases full of dough didn't hurt either. The next wave...well...not so much.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said here Sunday that talks with US on detained Iranian diplomats in Iraq is not currently on agenda. Hosseini made the remark at his weekly press conference in response to a question whether Iran had conditioned continuation of talks on release of its five diplomats arrested in Iraqi city of Erbil in January.
In response to a question whether Iraqi officials have once again invited Iran and the US to hold their second round of talks, he said, "The Iraqi statesmen have expressed their readiness to hold the next round of talks." He stressed, "We intend to sum up and evaluate the first round of talks."
Hosseini stressed Iran has made other efforts to free the diplomats, adding it recently sent the second note to the United Nations and the UN Security Council in protest at their discriminatory attitude.
Posted by: Pappy ||
06/18/2007 00:10 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
I like the fact that the word "diplomat" is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Note that the foreign service community of the world has yet to take exception with Iran on describing these guys. Big mistake because it will forever link them to terrorists in disguise much like the Soviet diplomats were linked to spying, etc.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/18/2007 9:42 Comments ||
Top||
#2
they AREN'T diplomats. Quit the spin
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/18/2007 9:43 Comments ||
Top||
#3
that wasn't a response to you, Jack. I agree
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/18/2007 9:44 Comments ||
Top||
DAMASCUS - Syrian Vice President Faruq Al Shara met an envoy from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday for talks on the crisis in Gaza following the territorys takeover by Hamas Islamists.
Shara told Abbas Zaki of his regret at the situation in Gaza, where more than 110 people have been killed in fighting between Hamas and president Abbass secular Fatah movement over the past week, the official SANA news agency reported. He called during the meeting in Damascus for an end to escalation and avoidance of provocations which divide the Palestinian people, according to the agency.
Zaki presented a message for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad from Abbas, who on Sunday named an emergency cabinet to replace the Palestinian unity government dominated by Hamas. He said that Syria, where several senior Hamas figures including its political supremo Khaled Meshaal are based, had an important role to play in supporting inter-Palestinian dialogue and finding solutions.
"Please don't let them kill us!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Abbas ought to borrow a hundred thousand of the Iraqi refugees for the Fatah resistance.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/18/2007 9:43 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Shara told Abbas Zaki of his regret at the situation in Gaza
Iran accused Britain yesterday of insulting Islam by awarding a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses prompted the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his assassination.
Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, portrayed the decision to honour the novelist as an orchestrated act of aggression directed against Islamic societies, describing Rushdie as "one of the most hated figures" in the Islamic world. "Honouring and commending an apostate and hated figure will definitely put the British officials [in a position] of confrontation with Islamic societies," he said. "This act shows that insulting Islamic sacred [values] is not accidental. It is planned, organised, guided and supported by some western countries."
To tell the truth, we do insult you. We dunnit and we're glad!
The Islamic republic's government formally distanced itself in 1998 from the original fatwa against Rushdie, issued in 1989 by Khomeini, who said the book committed blasphemy against Islam. But shortly after it disavowed the death edict under a deal with Britain, the Iranian media said three Iranian clerics had called on followers to kill Rushdie, saying the fatwa was irrevocable and that it was the duty of Muslims to carry it out.
Rushdie was the most high-profile of the 946 people honoured in the Queen's birthday list, drawn from nominations by the public or expert organisations. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the honour was "richly deserved" and the reasons for it were "self-explanatory".
Mr Hosseini added: "Giving a badge to one of the most hated figures in Islamic society is ... an obvious example of fighting against Islam by high-ranking British officials."
In a statement following the announcement of his knighthood on Saturday, Rushdie, 59, said he was "thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour". Literary supporters said the decision to include the novelist among 21 knighthoods was overdue, claiming the British establishment had for many years been reluctant to be associated with the controversial figure.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/18/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
"This act shows that insulting Islamic sacred [values] is not accidental. It is planned, organised, guided and supported by some western countries."
This isn't much of a stretch. Islam's ability and willingness to be insultedintentionally or notis essentially limitless. Even a totally comatose person could probably figure out a dozen different ways. They just wouldn't have as much fun doing it.
#6
Scr*w Islam. They have a long, illustrious history, starting in Medina with the support and encouragement of their Prophet, of murderous thuggery and assasination of troublesome politicians, poets, and writers who mocked Mohammed and his message. The day is long past due "when you just have to spit on your hands, hoist the black flag, and start slitting throats." (H.L. Mencken)
#7
Zenster certainly does have his moments. A quick question to help our discussions, Apostate, if you would be so kind. Based on your own experience, what would you estimate to be the percentage of Muslims that are quietly apostate -- either non-believers, atheists/agnostics, or actual converts to other religions -- wherever you live (ie US, Canada, Britain, since I've no idea where you are)? I think we need to have a better understanding of the relative ratios of active jihadis to passive supporters to passive/active enemies of the jihadi mindset.
#8
Mohammad Ali Hosseini, I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
#9
Like TW, I'd also like to know about quiet apostasy among Moslims. I have begun to think lately that it must be happening often enough to really shake the confidence of the various Islamic leadership cadres, and perhaps that's why this outburst of ferocity, of late.
(Wrote about it here and here)
You are all a bunch of pedophile, baby goat raping, man-less parasitic wastes of oxygen and the faster you all die under a pile of pig entrails, the better.
#12
Should I add this to this list, sir?
Sure, Johnson. Why the hell not. What are we up to now?
I don't remember, sir. I'll have to run the algorithm.
#15
Carpet bomb Qom and Iran will collapse. Coast inoffensively until the Democrats put a putz in the White House, and future generations will spit on our graves.
#18
I think traditional barbarian Islam is on its last legs, however, it does love death more than life. With access to much of the world energy supply and nukes besides, will it take the rest of the world with it as it dies?
#20
Ah, that's nothing. Wait till they find out he's married to that Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef. Letting his woman run around with all them tight clothes on has to make their turbans get in a tizzy.....
#21
Thank you TW... I thought that working from the assumption that Islam is hollow within, and on the verge of falling apart just explains certain things... like the extreme reaction to any sort of criticism.
And looking at something as relatively trivial as the falling membership for CAIR, and the disputed numbers of Moslems actually in the US, one can have cause to wonder if Islam is really desperatly trying to seem bigger and more monolithically ferocious than it actually is!
#22
On the apostate issue, like others I wonder about this.
There are some interesting websites like Islam watch and faith freedom that are mostly the product of apostates from Islam. However, I don't think it is really possible to get any hard numbers on this and I wouldn't trust anybody who said they had hard numbers.
#23
Well, as I pointed out in my essay... because the penalty for straying from Islam publically is death, and the penalty for urging conversion is also death, everyone involved in converting from Islam has a damn good reason for staying very quiet and laying very low. Absolute figures would be about impossible to come by, with the usual means for figuring out this sort of thing.
Me, I've always wondered --- if there are so damn many people converting to Islam --- why have I never met any of then? I know its one of those logical faults to assume trends based on ones' own experience, but still...
The converts that I read about are either prison inmates (don't know any of those) or people who give the impression of desperatly shopping around for some kind of religious meaning for their life, and I don't know many of those, either. I don't think I have lived a particularly sheltered life, but if Islam is the coming thing, religiously speaking, it must be in circles that don't include me.
#24
#23: "if Islam is the coming thing, religiously speaking, it must be in circles that don't include me"
Me neither, Mom - and my circles ain't all that small.
I could get people to "convert" to the Religion of Barbara if they knew I would kill them if they didn't, and that no one would stop me.
As for the losers inmates and other assorted detritus, if that's the best i-slam can do where they aren't allowed to force "conversions" under threat of death - well, they're welcome to them. I'd be embarrassed if that were the best I could do, but apparently their mileage varies.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/18/2007 18:29 Comments ||
Top||
#25
I just wanted to congratulate Sgt. Mom on her linked composition about Islam. That bit about the "psychic ATM" was some pretty fine wordsmithing. You go, Gal!
#26
Thank you, Z... given some exasperated indignation, some concentrated running-time (or stuck at the traffic-light commute time) and about a glass and a half of cheap chablis I can come up with some very vivid phrases.
I am wondering today how many hours it will be for the usual suspects to start whanging away on us about picking up the poor, persecured Palestinians, kissing their owies and promising to turn on the money spigot and make it all better.
You can probably tell from this that I spend too damn much time hanging around the 'Burg.'
#27
the threats to Rushdie are an interesting problem to our lefties... on the one hand Rushdie is a leftie who was frequently an apologist for the commies and an apologist for the Paleos, etc.
on the other hand the islamofascists, the current leftie heros hate him
well when it comes to choosing between loyalty to old friends and to the fashionable new heros, I think they'll line up with the Islamofascists
Iran said Sunday it had received indications from Russias president that he would not follow through with an offer to allow the US to use a radar station in neighbouring Azerbaijan for missile defence against Tehran.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Washington use a radar station in northeast Azerbaijan rented by Moscow to counter a potential threat from Iran, a surprise counteroffer to US plans to install a missile defence shield in eastern Europe to protect NATO allies against a missile launch by Tehran.
But Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Sunday that Russia officials had indicated to Tehran that Putin would not allow the plan to go through. It seems Russia does not plan to make decisions that may cause instability and insecurity in the region, where it (Russia) is located said Hosseini. Azerbaijan shares borders with both Russia to the north and Iran to the south.
Russia has not publicly altered its offer for the US to use the Gabala radar station and had no immediate comment Sunday on Irans claim. ap
Hosseini said Iran had summoned the Russian and Azerbaijani ambassadors to Tehran to discuss Putins proposal. He said Iranian ambassadors in Moscow and Baku, Azerbaijans capital, had also discussed the issue with their host countries.
The US made the formal request in January to place a radar base in a military area southwest of Prague, Czech Republic, and 10 interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland as part of plans for a missile defence shield.
But US plans have brought a strong reaction from both Iran and Russia, which accuses the US of threatening Russian territory and of trying to start a new arms race.
Washington has insisted that deployment is not about Russia but about the potential threat from Iran or North Korea. Iran has rejected any possible threat to the West by its missile program, going so far as to call US plans for a missile defence shield a joke because Tehrans missiles do not have the capability to reach Europe.
Iran is known to possess a medium-range ballistic missile called the Shahab-3 that has a range of at least 1,300 kilometers (800 miles), capable of striking Israel. In 2005, Iranian officials said they had improved the range of the Shahab-3 to 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles). With this range, Tehran could strike Eastern Europe, but Western Europe would be out of reach.
Although Western experts believe Iran is developing the Shahab-4 missile, thought to have a range between 2,000 and 3,000 kilometers (1,200-1,900 miles), Iran has not confirmed such reports. Iran initially acknowledged in 1999 it was developing the Shahab-4, but claimed it would be used only as a space launch vehicle for commercial satellites.
#1
That's okay. The missiles and radars newly installed on the space station and the THOR battlesats we launched from Vandenburg last week can do the job all by themselves, no problem.
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.
Abayas or burqas have been made mandatory for women who wish to perform Haj in 2007, Religious Affairs Secretary Wakeel Ahmed Khan said on Sunday. 
A Kurdish rebel leader has warned Turkey that it faces disaster if its troops and tanks cross into northern Iraq, amid growing concern of a big Turkish operation to hunt down Kurdish guerrillas holed up across the border.
(IsraelNN.com) Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that Israel should "encircle Gaza and bring about the downfall of the Hamas government, both economically and diplomatically." "We cannot accept the existence of an Iranian entity on the outskirts of Beersheva and Tel Aviv," the Likud chairman and former prime minister said. 
Other than stare into the camera and pose, the fighters didnt do anything at all. It was all pure theatre: I listened and watched as the various foreign television reporters positioned themselves in front of the masked gunmen and spoke seriously to the cameras about the rising tension in Ramallah, trying their best to make it sound as if they were in the middle of a war zone. But if their cameramen had panned out for a wider shot they would have shown crowds of mostly young men hanging around, eating snacks, buying cold drinks from vendors, and taking photos with their mobile phones. There was no sense of fear or menace at all. I even saw one photojournalist, who works for an American newspaper, giggling a bit as she aimed her camera at a masked fighter who was posing as if he were having his portrait painted, his eyes stonily focused on the horizon.
GAZA - Radical Islamists in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip destroyed a cement statue, long considered a symbol of Palestinian hopes for statehood, because they see the depiction as a violation of strict religious laws. A Hamas security source said those who attacked the statue were members of the so-called radical 
Gazans rushed to stock up on petrol and food yesterday as Israel cut fuel supplies in its first concrete response to Hamas's seizure of power in Gaza.
Nobody used the word "crisis" when the first wave of Iraqis fled the war and settled here. But the word definitely applies now, as shellshocked Iraqis of all backgrounds pour into Syria at the rate of nearly 1,000 a day. In fact, "crisis" may not be strong enough, as the flow of Iraqis becomes a torrent. At least 1.2 million are already here, according to the United Nations. Each has a story of terror and trauma and a need for services that is stretching Syrians' patience. Many believe the number may be higher.
DAMASCUS - Syrian Vice President Faruq Al Shara met an envoy from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday for talks on the crisis in Gaza following the territorys takeover by Hamas Islamists.
Iran accused Britain yesterday of insulting Islam by awarding a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, whose novel 
