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Khost capture was Zawahiri deputy?
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Fifth Anniversary of Fall of Talibs
Celebration filled the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, five years ago today as members of the Northern Alliance rolled into the city, driving the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies into hiding places in the south.

Newsreels showed Afghans reveling in the fall of the regime that had oppressed them since 1996. Afghan men shaved their beards, women abandoned their head-to-toe burqas, children flew kites, and people played music on the radio -- all activities forbidden under Taliban rule.

More at link
Posted by: Bobby || 11/14/2006 06:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I blame the Bush administration."

--Mullah Mohammed Omar
Posted by: Mike || 11/14/2006 9:07 Comments || Top||

#2  RETREAT!!!!!!!!
Posted by: ARMYGUY || 11/14/2006 11:30 Comments || Top||


Job Fair in Afghanistan
KABUL , Afghanistan – The Afghanistan Engineering District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held an open house for contractors Nov. 8 designed to mentor local Afghan companies on doing business with the district office. The conference attracted more than 80 companies – more than half Afghan – and more than 200 contractors.

"The AED staff went through significant effort to put on a world-class show for our contractors," said Col. William E. Bulen, commander of engineering district. "I've had multiple contractors express their appreciation for the opportunity to learn more on how to conduct business with AED." AED is estimating that $1.8 billion will be allocated for Afghan engineering projects in fiscal year 2007.

The event also served as a method of exchanging information and ideas from the Afghan company representatives, which will help AED tailor acquisition packages to specifically target Afghan companies.

The open house covered such topics as quality control, technical requirements, scope of work and details on the Afghan First Program, which seeks to preference local Afghan talent as a means of reviving the Afghan economy.
Posted by: Bobby || 11/14/2006 06:21 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Muslim veil breaches 'norms of decency': Anglican archbishop
The second-highest figure in the Church of England waded into the row over Muslim veils, saying they did not conform to “norms of decency” in Britain, in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Doctor John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, questioned whether Muslim women should expect public acceptance for wearing the veil in Britain.

He told the Daily Mail, “Muslim scholars would say three things. First, does it conform to norms of decency? Secondly, does it render you more secure? And thirdly, what kind of Islam are you projecting by wearing it? I think – in the British context – it renders you less secure because you stick out and it brings unwelcome attention. On the first question (of whether the veil conforms to norms of decency) I don’t think it does conform.”

The Ugandan-born 57-year-old archbishop said he removed his cross when visiting a mosque or a synagogue and covered his head in Sikh temples “because I am going into someone else’s home”.

“I can’t simply say: ’Take me as I am, whether you like it or not’. I think the thing is in British society you can wear what you want, but you can’t expect British society to be reconfigured around you. No minority can expect to impose this on the public or civic life.”
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  By using their own criteria, he is giving them the diplomatic option to downplay it as a cultural, but not religious thing. Which it is.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/14/2006 8:25 Comments || Top||

#2  It's neither cultural nor religious. It's an implement of gender apartheid, and it's systematically used to undermine our freedoms in our own land.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 11/14/2006 10:55 Comments || Top||

#3  One could argue a Ku Klux Klan get-up is both a product of religion and culture. My culture demands people wearing Klan masks get a swift kick to the head.
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/14/2006 11:13 Comments || Top||

#4  It's neither cultural nor religious. It's an implement of gender apartheid

Ah wrong. First of all Islam is not a religion but a cult of personality built on and around Muhamhead. And both Islam and the Arab culture demand women be treated as last. Muhamhead said that the majority of people in hell are women, husbands are to beat their wives as needed, husbands are to kill their wives if they leave Islam.

Hope this clears this up for you. That being said I'm waiting for the porKoranimals to start burning cars over Sentamu's honest remarks.
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/14/2006 13:43 Comments || Top||

#5  I think veils are sexy.

Picture
Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 || 11/14/2006 22:14 Comments || Top||

#6  the veil's not the NSFW part...lol - yes it is sexy
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 22:17 Comments || Top||


UK Moonbats: Islamophobia Causes War
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  rofl , an all star cast of nutjobs ..

Speakers include:
Tony Benn
Moazzam Begg, Guantanamo detainee
Jeremy Corbyn MP
David Edgar, playwright
Noreen Fatima, NUS London Metropolitan University
Lindsey German, Convenor Stop the War Coalition
Kate Hudson, Chair CND
Mohammed Abdul Khar and Abdul Koyair, brothers wrongly arrested in Forest Gate police raid
Paul Mackney, joint Gen Sec UCU
Sami Ramadani, Iraqi academic and journalist
Yvonne Ridley, Islam Channel
Mark Steel, comedian and columnist
Anas al Tikriti, British Muslim Initiative
Walter Wolfgang, Labour Party NEC
Salma Yaqoob, Respect councillor
Posted by: MacNails || 11/14/2006 4:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Perhaps I should turn up with "The Koran causes war", being arrested for "thought crime" might be fun.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 11/14/2006 9:48 Comments || Top||

#3  no Galloway or Red Ken?
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 9:57 Comments || Top||

#4  I saw Arachnophobia. It turns out the spiders were just player for time with the whole Munich thing.
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/14/2006 11:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Even Galloway and Red Ken may give this lot a wide berth ! for fear of tarnishing their impeccable records *chuckle*
Posted by: MacNails || 11/14/2006 11:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Instead of Muzzies just taking over?
Posted by: gromgoru || 11/14/2006 20:19 Comments || Top||

#7  How about vampirism? Or lycanthropy?

Well, if the war is caused by one mythical disease, why not two or three?
Posted by: Jackal || 11/14/2006 21:53 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Japan can legally be allowed to possess nuclear arms, gov't says
TOKYO — Japan can legally be allowed to possess nuclear arms as long as they are at a "necessary minimum" level for its self-defense, the government said Tuesday. The cabinet made public the view in a position paper in response to a written question by House of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki.
"One for each major city in North Korea and China sounds about right."
From a purely legal standpoint, the paper said the war-renouncing Constitution "does not necessarily ban the country from possessing any weapons, even though they are nuclear ones, if they are the necessary minimum for self-defense." But the paper also says that Japan will never possess nuclear weapons, noting that the country maintains the decades-long three-point nonnuclear policy that bans Japan from possessing and producing nuclear weapons as well as from allowing such arms to be brought into its territory.
Times change, as do policies.
Posted by: Steve || 11/14/2006 09:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  thanks Kim, you little asshole!
Posted by: Hu Jintao || 11/14/2006 9:44 Comments || Top||

#2  This will get Chinese panties in a wad!
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/14/2006 10:03 Comments || Top||

#3  I imagine Honda could start cranking out nukes next week.
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/14/2006 11:33 Comments || Top||

#4  A necessary minimum is a lot more than a necessary maximum too.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 11/14/2006 11:39 Comments || Top||

#5  I imagine Honda could start cranking out nukes next week.

...And with direct to buyer rebates, they'll sell like hotcakes.
Al kidding aside, I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the Japanese government's last warning to the Norks and ChiComs. There had better be some distinct, verifiable improvement, and damned fast, or there won't BE another announcement, other than to say the first Japanese IRBMs have stood up.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/14/2006 13:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Yup, Mike. Japan is running a big red banner up the flagpole. If China refuses to comprehend and does not rein in its Rottweiler, North Korea, then nuclearization will proceed apace. Too bad that Japan does not have the ostiones to contrive a mutual defense pact with Taiwan, South Korea and the Philippines. Post WWII memories are probably way too strong for any of that.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/14/2006 14:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Zenster-
Sir, you have a wonderful idea there - if the Japanese could throw in some trade and business deals too, I think Taiwan and the PI would seriously consider it but the memories of Japanese occupation in Korea go back several generations past WWII. The Taiwanese especially would put the ChiComs in one hell of a bind by placing themselves under the shadow of an Asian bomb.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/14/2006 14:55 Comments || Top||

#8  The Taiwanese especially would put the ChiComs in one hell of a bind by placing themselves under the shadow of an Asian bomb.

Bingo, Mike. Nothing like a homegrown defense structure to cut the legs out from under any Chinese communist protests regarding American hegemony. Sadly, the collective memory of historical trauma imposed by the Japanese probably precludes it.

You're dead on with the trade package idea, though. The Philippines desperately needs some sort of economic boost to reignite foreign investment. Their own internal corruption has just about killed off any inflow of outside capital.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/14/2006 16:19 Comments || Top||

#9  Yuk, Yuk. Trains on the track. Will be leaving the station soon.
Posted by: SpecOp35 || 11/14/2006 18:22 Comments || Top||

#10  As a US servicemember-commentator implied on STARS-AND-STRIPES, COMMIE CHINA MAY WANT REGIONAL HEGEMONY = EMPIRE, BUT SHE STILL HAS TO AFFORD = PAY FOR IT, to pay for her own ambitions. RUSSIA in a quandry becuz they know, be it via future EURO-ARABIA = SINO-ASIA/PACIFIC, unless something changes their $$$ profits in LT will go down once the regressions + local sectarianisms/civil wars begin [again]. FASCISTS-FOR-COMMUNISM RUSSIA AT HEART WANTS TO BE THE [SOLE] RECEIVER, BOT A GIVER, IFF THEY CAN HELP IT - like China, Russia must afford her own hegemonic/new empire ambitions.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 21:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Forgot to say that, besides NORTH KOREA + TAIWAN + TOBET issues, Beijing does NOT wholly trust either MANCHURIA or MONGOLIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 21:24 Comments || Top||

#12  Forgot to say that, besides NORTH KOREA + TAIWAN + TIBET issues, Beijing does NOT wholly trust either MANCHURIA or MONGOLIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 21:24 Comments || Top||

#13  The Greater East Aisa Co-thingy?
Nah...

Taiwan is a divided mess.
KMT split into 3
Taiwan Nats into a couple of parties.

Current Prez is a Kaohsiung mobster turned Pol. (Not from the Bamboo Gang)
He would love to integrate into a Japan Sphere but he doesn't have the money to pull it off. Taiwan's big money is invested in South China.
Commie party is strong in North China.
South China has always been biz men and would like to be cozy with Taiwan. North China has always been PARTY and Mil. They don't get any KumShaw (money benefit) out of the deal so they rattle their swords (just like our gens sometimes do) and defense money flows into their pockets.

Taiwan has a real outsourcing problem just like the USA. All their jobs are going to China so wages are depressed for everybody not the capitalist owners in Taiwan. That mixes the broth even more.

To top it off... 20-1 they have had nukes since the late 70s.

Posted by: 3dc || 11/14/2006 22:33 Comments || Top||

#14  Somehow I think Japan will start seriously reconsidering its pacifist position now that the Donks are in power here and ready to kick the financial legs out from under the WOT (in order to aid their allies the terrorists.... (why yes, as a matter of fact I do question their patriotism!))

I think they had an almost front row seat to what happened in Vietnam and then Cambodia after the democrats kicks the financial legs out of our support there.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/14/2006 23:53 Comments || Top||


North Korea nuke talks to resume by mid-December
South Korea's nuclear envoy said Tuesday that he expects the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program to resume by mid-December. North Korea agreed earlier this month to return to the negotiations with China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States after staying away from the talks for a year. A specific date of resuming the talks has yet to be set. The need for reopening the negotiations took on added urgency after the North's first-ever nuclear test on Oct. 9. "I think it's possible to resume (the talks) by mid-December," said Chun Yung-woo, Seoul's chief negotiator to the talks, on South Korean radio channel PBC.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More time to really improve their enrichment + missle techs.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 0:13 Comments || Top||


Europe
Zapatero Asks for International Intervention in Palestine
The European Union has reacted to the Israeli massacre in Beit Hanoun Gaza where 19 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced that the EU would soon launch an initiative to tackle the problem.
Words! Firm words! Stern, firm words! Demarche! Deplane! Deplane, boss!
Zapatero, who arrived in Istanbul as part of the Alliance of Civilizations initiative, met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his office in Besiktas, Istanbul. Zapatero drew attention to the Israeli massacre and said that they were working on a plan within the EU to prevent more tragic events in the region.

Reiterating his support for Turkey’s EU bid, Zapatero stated that they would favor the continuation of membership negotiations with Turkey at the EU’s December summit. In reference to the Greek Cypriots’ reluctance to resolve the Cyprus issue, Erdogan said that attempts were being made to blur the collective memory of the Greeks’ refusal of the U.N. plan.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A twit!
Posted by: 3dc || 11/14/2006 1:06 Comments || Top||

#2  His solution is the same old European and Spanish one, persecute and kill Jews.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 11/14/2006 1:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Alliance of Civilizations initiative = Eurabia agenda enlarged and incorporated into the "international law", pushed by the Eucrats and kofee and co.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/14/2006 10:37 Comments || Top||

#4  "Pay attention to me! I'm just as important as those French critics! PAY ATTENTION!"

That is what I got from this article.
Posted by: Charles || 11/14/2006 14:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Andalusia is just asking for about 4 million "Palestinians".
Posted by: ed || 11/14/2006 15:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Bomb Brussels. With this twit in attendance. The EUcrats are no longer have never been on our side.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 11/14/2006 15:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Sure, we could intervene. We'll load up the cluster bombs on the B-52s right away.
Posted by: Jackal || 11/14/2006 21:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Poll: Most doubt Dems have plan for Iraq
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 19:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WTF?

Then why the f**k did you vote for them? I mean, really?
Posted by: The Doctor || 11/14/2006 20:03 Comments || Top||

#2  my thoughts exactly...
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 20:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Cuz they saw The Punisher, methinks, and now they wanna be bad-asses, too.
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 20:10 Comments || Top||

#4  They have a plan:

Retreat!

That was their plan 40 years ago and it's their plan now.
Posted by: badanov || 11/14/2006 20:24 Comments || Top||

#5  I really hate to say this but the avg voter has a 30 second attention span, is willfully ignorant/naieve, seems to be emotionally volatile, and believes the constant stream of b.s. coming out of the msm vice fact checking on their own like those of us on this site do.

The msm is a huge reason the trunks lost. I was in a Iraq, going back for round two in a couple months. I know we were making progress and doing good things. I know for a fact 70% of Iraqis do not hate us as that out of touch wind bag Chuckie Rangel would like the avg idiot to believe. I know we are winning. God damn, we own 90% of the real estate - that's called a win where I come from. People think we're losing because the retards at the msm say we're losing. In the context of history, 3,000 dead in almost 4 yrs is super small. By contrast, we've killed the shit out of the terrorists. Unfortunately the avg voter either doesn't understand history and posterity or is just too fucking stupid to connect the dots.

Iraq a side, it also didn't help that our last congress failed on the border, had several scandals and was weak on cutting spending while earmarking pork. Even w/that said I voted "R" in all the big elections because contemplating voting the alternative is damn near criminal.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 11/14/2006 20:26 Comments || Top||

#6  "Poll: Most doubt Dems have plan for Iraq"

-shit, these assholes don't even have a plan for America much less Iraq.

/OR/ they have what we in the USMC sometimes call the "no-plan plan" - it's where you just show up and execute a flail ex. Kind of like the dems will do over the next two years when their not investigating how many times Rummy wiped his ass over the past six.

Posted by: Broadhead6 || 11/14/2006 20:30 Comments || Top||

#7  Somehow, US milfors RETREATING + NEW/RE-DEPLOYMENY over to the dunes + hills in SO-CLOSE-YET-SO-FAR neighboring ME? nations is supposed to entice Radical Islam's armies of mad Mad MAD M-A-D-D-D, D *** you, rampaging "CAMELS FOREVER" CAMEL-KAZES from going for the REGIONAL = OWG GLOBAL CALIPHATE/SULTANATE!? They caused a Global SUPERPOWER = HYPERPOWER + CRUSADER OPPRESSOR OF MUSLIMS to leave a battlefield, ergo stop now so that Muslims can be oppressed again but from afar, from a distance??? WOULD YOU STOP!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 20:40 Comments || Top||

#8  No NO NO the Dems have a plan and it is very clear and very direct.... DEFEAT THE REAL ENEMY OF THE WORLD '''''THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

And Don't you DARE question thier Patriotism they have members who did a stint in the military before becoming TRAITORS I mean Desenters.
Posted by: C-Low || 11/14/2006 20:42 Comments || Top||

#9  Remember now, not just the ME but also ASIA-PACIFIC in the entirety > THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT AMERS HAVEN'T HEARD YET ANY ANTI-US RANTS FROM THE PENGUINS, WHALES, + SEALS, ETAL. AT THE HORTH-SOUTH POLES. Does anyone know iff NORCOM, SPACECOM, + AIR DEFENSE COM , etal. have enuff anti-Air batteries to shoot down hordes of attacking, invading Penguins, or deal wid DEADLY WHALE COMMANDOS???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 20:46 Comments || Top||

#10  I am the Walrus. And I blame Bush.
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 20:50 Comments || Top||

#11  If the US walks out of Iraq, then Iran walks in. There is an Arab Shiite belt around the entire Persian Gulf (or "Arabian Gulf") over which the Ayatollahs will invoke Anschluss claims. If Iran captured the Gulf, missile placement at the Strait of Hormuz could neutralize Carrier task forces.
Dems can and must be put under extreme public pressure to serve American security interests. Cut and run won't wash.

Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 11/14/2006 21:02 Comments || Top||

#12  The only plans the Dems have is to be first at the trough now and forever.
Posted by: RWV || 11/14/2006 21:08 Comments || Top||

#13  Joe - you said Camel-Kazes! Brilliant. I'm stealing that one. Fricken' hillarious. From now on ole' bh6 will refer to all splodeydopes as "Camelkazes".
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 11/14/2006 22:02 Comments || Top||

#14  Camel-Kazis is a winner. Ima stealing it too. I figure the JoeBot won't notice
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 22:12 Comments || Top||


Whodathunkit?: WaPo slams Murtha and Pelosi
LOYALTY IS an admirable quality, but sometimes it can be taken too far. Except by us Media Pukes who can hide all sorts of stuff about our Dhimmicrat allies before the election but then use it to skewer them right afterwards That is the case with the decision by the incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), to offer a public endorsement of the bid of Pennsylvania Rep. John P. Mad Dog Murtha (D) to become majority leader. Ms. Pelosi's preference for Mr. Murtha was no secret; he managed her campaign for minority leader against Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), now Mr. Murtha's rival for the majority leader post. What was surprising was that Ms. Pelosi would weigh in publicly on Mr. Murtha's behalf, albeit -- as she pointedly noted at the beginning of her letter -- in response to his request.
Mr. Murtha's candidacy is troubling for several reasons, beginning with his position on the war in Iraq. A former Marine, Mr. Murtha deserves credit for sounding an alarm about the deteriorating situation a year ago. But his descriptions of the stakes there have been consistently unrealistic, and his solutions irresponsible. Just last week he denied that the United States was fighting terrorism in Iraq, though al-Qaeda is known to play a major part in the insurgency. He said the United States should abandon even the effort to train the Iraqi army and should "redeploy as soon as practicable," an extreme step that most congressional Democrats oppose. He claimed that "stability in the Middle East, stability in Iraq," would come from such an abrupt withdrawal; in fact, virtually all Iraqi and Middle Eastern leaders have said that it would lead to a greatly escalated conflict that could spread through the region.

Mr. Murtha would also be the wrong choice as majority leader after an election in which a large number of voters expressed unhappiness with Washington business as usual. Mr. Murtha has been a force against stronger ethics and lobbying rules. He was one of just four Democrats whose votes helped kill a strong Democratic package of lobbying reforms this spring.

As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, he has been an avid participant in the orgy of earmarking, including numerous projects sought by a lobbying firm that employed his brother. During the Abscam congressional bribery investigation in 1980, Mr. Murtha was videotaped discussing a bribe with an undercover FBI agent. ("You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't, you know," Mr. Murtha said.) He wasn't indicted, but it's fair to say the episode raised questions about his integrity.


Posted by: DanNY || 11/14/2006 04:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Saved America = Amerika, USSA =USR/SSR, from WW1 + WW2 > will save us from WW3/4.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 4:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Rep. Michael E. Capuano (D-Mass.), a Murtha supporter, said he was not aware of the ethical issues around the lawmaker. but said they will have little impact on Democrats as they gather Thursday to choose the next majority leader.

"The bottom line is, Nancy has decided what team she wants," Capuano said. "What members have to ask themselves is whether they want a unified leadership team or a fractured leadership team. That will make a difference in the next two years."


From a related article at WaPo, here
Posted by: Bobby || 11/14/2006 5:55 Comments || Top||

#3  said he was not aware of the ethical issues around the lawmaker. but said they will have little impact on Democrats

And there on a nutshell is the Denocratic party.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/14/2006 6:18 Comments || Top||

#4  From the Washington Times. Link

Most notably, Mr. Murtha was an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the Abscam scandal of the 1980s when FBI agents posed as emissaries of an Arab sheik and lured several congressmen into a Capitol Hill town house to hand out $50,000 bribes. Mr. Murtha was among those offered money, but he declined.
"I'm not interested. I'm sorry," he said, adding: "You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't."
The following year, the ethics panel in the then-Democrat-controlled House declined -- on a "near party-line vote," according to press accounts at the time -- to file ethics charges against the Pennsylvania Democrat.
More recently, according to press reports and a dossier compiled by CREW, Mr. Murtha abused his position as ranking member of the defense appropriations subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee to benefit clients of his brother, Robert "Kit" Murtha, who is a registered lobbyist. The $417 billion defense appropriations bill that went through the subcommittee in 2004 benefited at least 10 companies represented by Robert Murtha's firm, which lobbied the congressman directly, according to the group.
"Future House Speaker Pelosi's endorsement of Rep. Murtha, one of the most unethical members of Congress, shows that she may have prioritized ethics reform merely to win votes with no real commitment to changing the culture of corruption," Ms. Sloan said.
Pelosi spokeswoman Jennifer Crider dismissed the concerns and said Mr. Murtha "has addressed these issues."
"Leader Pelosi will show that Democrats will change the way business is done in Washington," Ms. Crider said.
But many Democrats adamantly oppose Mr. Murtha and say Mrs. Pelosi blundered badly by throwing her public support behind a tainted figure just one week after winning so many campaigns that promised to clean up corruption in Washington.
"This is cloakroom conversation," one Democrat said. "This sends a very bad message as the first thing she's gotten involved in. The whole Abscam thing is a problem, and so is the whole wheeler-dealer thing."
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who now holds the whip position, has said he has the votes needed to win the majority-leader post in this week's elections among Democrats. Hoyer allies say he has the support of 13 of the 19 top Democrats in the House and public statements of support from at least 28 of the 40 new members.
Posted by: SwissTex || 11/14/2006 7:59 Comments || Top||

#5  The Culture of Greater Corruption[tm]

Done by professionals on a closed circuit. Do not attempt this at home.
Posted by: Procopius2K || 11/14/2006 8:40 Comments || Top||

#6  OK where was all this when Irey was pointing it out? Nice of the WaPo to wait till AFTER the election to finally print all this.

Partisan assholes.

I hope Murtha gets in there - he'll be a shining example of what the PRESS wants in office, and of how the Dems work.

"said he was not aware of the ethical issues around the lawmaker. but said they will have little impact on Republicans Democrats"

Thats exactly how the Republicans went about losing their majority and their conservative mojo - and the American Public's support.

Add in some earmarks and pork, and a tin ear regarding Immigration/Amnesty and the War on Terror, and BINGO, you'll have all the stuff that cause the voters to show the Repubs the door. Major exception is they don't have Dubya's unpopularity to fight against like the Repubs did, but they will instead have Hillary a a burden on the national ticket in 08.

So GO Murtha GO! Murtha for Majority Leader!

Show America how little the Dems care about prok, earmarks and corruption, show them how they voted for Cut-N-Run Jack, and the San Francisco Values.

The funny thing remaining is how the WaPo all of a sudden got religion about Murtha's idiotic "Okinawa" stance and his corrput background and pork budgeting -- when they had been fawning all over him the past couple years. Fekking hypocrites.
Posted by: OldSpook || 11/14/2006 8:59 Comments || Top||

#7  combine this with the elevation of Alcee Hastings - an impeached judge, removed for accepting bribes, to the intel committee head, and you have an excellent 30 second ad
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 9:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Assuming, as anticipated, that Murtha loses, his post election press conference ought to be a doozy.
Posted by: mhw || 11/14/2006 10:19 Comments || Top||

#9  MSM - they eat their young....
Posted by: Glavique Snomolet4823 || 11/14/2006 14:14 Comments || Top||

#10  wapo was always for Steny Hoyer, a good DLCer. No change. My expectation is Hoyer will win.

After than Harman should go after Hastings.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 11/14/2006 14:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Steny's a local boy, his district borders DC. His constituents receive their WaPo on the front porch every morning, assuming they still subscribe to any paper.
Posted by: Seafarious || 11/14/2006 15:29 Comments || Top||

#12  Pelosi couldn't restrain herself for even one week before tipping her true hand. No poker player she. That's OK. It just means a standoff with nothing being accomplished for two years. This is a great outcome for taxpayers. After two years of commie leadership, voters will be ready to support Pubs again. Hopefully, a real Pub candidate will emerge. Not the two faced ass from Arizona.
Posted by: SpecOp35 || 11/14/2006 18:21 Comments || Top||

#13  The election's over. That's why it's OK for the WaPo to write this.
Posted by: Danking70 || 11/14/2006 19:12 Comments || Top||

#14  In 2008 all these issues will disappear. Suddenly Murtha will be just what the House needed. It's OK to tell the truth, but not if it would influence an election.
Posted by: Jackal || 11/14/2006 21:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
US: Immigrants May Be Held Indefinitely
WASHINGTON (AP) - Immigrants arrested in the United States may be held indefinitely on suspicion of terrorism and may not challenge their imprisonment in civilian courts, the Bush administration said Monday, opening a new legal front in the fight over the rights of detainees.

In court documents filed with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., the Justice Department said a new anti-terrorism law being used to hold detainees in Guantanamo Bay also applies to foreigners captured and held in the United States.

Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, was arrested in 2001 while studying in the United States. He has been labeled an ``enemy combatant,'' a designation that, under a law signed last month, strips foreigners of the right to challenge their detention in federal courts.

That law is being used to argue the Guantanamo Bay cases, but Al-Marri represents the first detainee inside the United States to come under the new law. Aliens normally have the right to contest their imprisonment, such as when they are arrested on immigration violations or for other crimes. ``It's pretty stunning that any alien living in the United States can be denied this right,'' said Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney for Al-Marri. ``It means any non-citizen, and there are millions of them, can be whisked off at night and be put in detention.''
That's one of the protections of being a citizen -- you enjoy the rights of the Constitution. We're magnanimous enough to extend those protections to permanent residents and certain other non-citizens, but we're not obligated to do so.
The new law says that enemy combatants will be tried before military commissions, not a civilian judge or jury, and establishes different rules of evidence in the cases. It also prohibits detainees from challenging their detention in civilian court.

In a separate court filing in Washington on Monday, the Justice Department defended that law as constitutional and necessary. Government attorneys said foreign fighters arrested as part of an overseas military action have no constitutional rights and are being afforded more legal rights than ever.

In its short filing in the Al-Marri case, however, the Justice Department doesn't mention that Al-Marri is being held at a military prison in South Carolina - a fact that his attorneys say affords him the same rights as anyone else being held in the United States.
The government says differently; but we'll see what the Supremes say.
The Justice Department noted only that the new law applies to all enemy combatants ``regardless of the location of the detention.'' The Bush administration maintains that al-Marri is an al-Qaida sleeper agent. The Defense Department ordered a review of Al-Marri's status as an enemy combatant be conducted if, as requested, the case is thrown out of court.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  HAFETZ's comments are hilarious > might as well go full-fledged SHARPTONIAN ala KATRINA-GATE and fully declare that NON-LEGAL ALIENS-CITIZENS IN AMERICA HAVE THE ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO LIVE OFF AND DEPEND FOREVER ON THE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PAID FOR BY DE FACTO US CITIZENS AND LEGAL RESIDENTS, AND TO DO SO WITHOUT HAVING TO DECLARE THEIR CITIZENSHIP OR LOYALTY TO AMERICA OR AMER LAWS. BLACK AMERS have the right to stay on Govt-subsidized public assistance forever whether they qualify or not, so why not illeeeeeeegaaawls. And once again, the Left fails to demand that US citizens have the same rights in other nations. SO WHOM HERE IN RANTBURG OR AMERICA = AMERIKA, the WORLD-MIGHTY USSA = WEAK ANTI-SOVEREIGN AMER IKAN SSR/USR, IS IN FAVOR OF MAKING SHARPTONISM/KATRINISM A DE FACTO AMENDMENT TO THE US CONSTITUTION??? LAW ABIDERS PAY FOR EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING, NON-LAW ABIDERS DON'T HAVE TO DO OR PAY JACKSHIT.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 0:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Our hand is forced: national security over some personal freedoms. Blame the enemy.
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 11/14/2006 0:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Al-Marri attended the same university I did. He came back in 2000 or 2001 for "graduate work" that consisted of credit card fraud, a handful of classes, and collecting cash to hand out to the next al'Qaeda operation.

He should have been executed a long time ago.

BTW -- the Saudis produced an extra set of documentation to get his wife out of the US, despite her being subpoenaed for the trial.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 11/14/2006 6:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Watch the Donks and ACLU whine and moan about this scumbags rights. Bush should continue to let them prove themselves unserious about protecting American citizens
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 8:51 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm sure Qatar would extend me full rights of citizenship if I were picked up over there, right?
Posted by: mojo || 11/14/2006 11:04 Comments || Top||

#6  He should have been executed a long time ago.

Correct. And the Saudi diplomat mission expelled along with the witch they granted diplomatic impunity.
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/14/2006 11:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Al-Marri attended the same university I did

If your uni had a 'militant wing' in the same way as Hamas, for example, then you all could have whacked him yourselves. Not that I'm advocating such behaviour since that isn't the way we do things here. I'm just pointing out the interesting and unique cultural differences between Us and Them.
Posted by: SteveS || 11/14/2006 16:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Gulags. How cool.

I'm sure Qatar would extend me full rights of citizenship if I were picked up over there, right?

Qatar has many other attributes worth emulating. Maybe we should look into them.
Posted by: Uloluth Chinetch5315 || 11/14/2006 17:01 Comments || Top||

#9  Great tactic. Get it out there. Let the bitching and moaning begin. After a few months of upchucking by Dummocrats, it may slip through anywhoo.
Posted by: SpecOp35 || 11/14/2006 18:25 Comments || Top||

#10  Qatar has many other attributes worth emulating. Maybe we should look into them.

Name a few or shut up. Otherwise, this is simply a straw man argument.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 11/14/2006 18:28 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
JI convention on Bajaur and Dargai today
PESHAWAR: The Jamaat-e-Islami will hold a convention on November 14 (today) to discuss the Bajaur madrassa raid and Dargai suicide bombing, and a 'Protect Tribesmen Conference' on November 19.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Deported model's bail plea rejected
(IANS) A court here Monday rejected the bail petition of Tariq Ahmed Dar, the model from Jammu and Kashmir arrested by the Bangladesh police and now lodged in Tihar Jail,
"I'm a model and you know what that means"
after police here sought more time for investigations.
"And I do my little turn on the catwalk"
Dar's name had figured in the confessions of two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants nabbed here.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Seema Maini rejected the bail plea, noting the Delhi Police had requested for more time to complete their probe after Dar's name had figured in the confessions of two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants nabbed here.
"Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah
I do my little turn on the catwalk"

Tariq was arrested in Dhaka Sep 16 by the Bangladesh Rapid Action Force that charged him with possession of fake documents and of being an agent of RAW.
Tariq was arrested in Dhaka Sep 16 by the Bangladesh Rapid Action Force that charged him with possession of fake documents and of being an agent of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He was remanded in police custody in Bangladesh for a month and following his deportation to India he is now lodged at the Tihar Jail here after Indian security agencies said he had links with the LeT. His counsel told the court that the charges against him were false and police had not been able to prove them.
"Yer honor, my client's too sexy for this court!"
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Models: Why do they hate us?
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/14/2006 11:28 Comments || Top||

#2  think about how much they'll save on feeding her, tho!
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 11:46 Comments || Top||


Shaukat Aziz asks US to think about exit strategy from Afghanistan
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday politely asked the United States to think about an exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Thereby leaving Afghanistan in the care of Pakland...
In an interview with the Washington Times, Aziz gave an implicit reminder that the US must leave Afghanistan eventually, in consultation with the Afghans, their neighbours and myriad stakeholders. "History is full of examples where we didn't focus too much on exit strategy," Aziz said. "A good exit strategy is one which leaves that country, that area, peaceful, economically and politically empowered. ... We are the most important stakeholder, and we are there for life. We cannot take off; countries cannot change their neighbours."
Withdrawal from Iraq's on the table, so the Paks are looking forward to what comes next.
The Times quoted the PM saying Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terror, welcomes an expected reappraisal of US policy in Iran and Afghanistan, and thinks military action alone is "not the answer" to the threat posed by extremists in the two countries."
"We can handle things here. Y'all can go home and ummmm... do whatever it is you do."
Shaukat Aziz told the newspaper that he would like to see a more nuanced approach to battling extremism, which includes massive investment and economic assistance to the two countries in order to build a sense of well-being for the poor and disenfranchised.
Not only "get out and let us play the Great Game in Afghanistan," but "give us the money to do it."
In New York for meetings at the United Nations, Aziz also said the world needs to focus more seriously on Afghanistan's narcotics trade, which is becoming an increasingly important source of terrorist financing. By some estimates, the trade accounts for half of Afghanistan's gross domestic product. An American commission headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton is expected to recommend strategies for the Iraq war before year's end, a development that Mr. Aziz welcomed.
... since he expects them to be weak as water...
"We believe that conflicts like Iraq, Afghanistan and so on need to be carefully reviewed because military action is not the answer or the solution to such a crisis," he said. "We must work on winning the hearts and minds of the people.
Whenever they bring up the "hearts and minds" approach they don't want to do anything. "Hearts and minds" don't involve imposing your will on people.
"We have to involve the people, to give them the sense that the world cares and their future tomorrow will be better than yesterday."
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don't forget "USA get out of ASIA-PACIFIC" as well, ala NORTH KOREA. Full-scale geopol retreat and isolationism saved America from WW1 + WW2, and D*** NG it can save us from WW3/4??? BORDER FENCE > "WE HERE, THEY'RE THERE, WE WANT THEM OVER HERE"??? ARABIAS FOR ARABS, ASIA FOR ASIANS, D **** IT, ERGO THE CHICOMS WANT UP TO 1/2 OF CONUS-NORAM + ELIMINATE 200M OF 300M Americans = Amerikans, POLITELY BUT NECESSARILY OF COURSE. The Commies want big smiles + group hugs + waving hands on our group photos before we happily enter the gulags-death chambers.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  He is missing a bet, here. Instead of talking withdrawl, he should be talking about evolving from military involvement to economic development. That would be getting his cake and eating it, too.

By not stressing economic development, he puts himself in the same catagory as those who thrive on poverty: religious extremists, mafias and other organized crime, and warlords.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/14/2006 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Do the Pakiwakis have an exit strategy? I suggest we propose to exit Afgan when Pak does.
Posted by: Spot || 11/14/2006 8:32 Comments || Top||

#4  "History is full of examples where we didn't focus too much on exit strategy," Aziz said

German, Japan. Tell me about it. American boots are still on the ground of two peaceful prosperous nations in the top 10 GDPs and per capita not driven by oil. Yep, that's a future you don't want.
Posted by: Procopius2K || 11/14/2006 8:34 Comments || Top||

#5  PAkistan should think about an exit strategy of the NWFP: the Durand treaty has eqpired since 1999.
Posted by: JFM || 11/14/2006 9:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Ahh, nooo. We don't have to do any damn thing, including consulting with you. We can pack our asses up anytime we choose. Don't aggravate us. We should Agent Orange every poppy field and poppy planter walking around your disgusting backward little piece of shit country.
Posted by: SpecOp35 || 11/14/2006 18:30 Comments || Top||

#7  How about this strategy:
We march to the SSE until we hit water, destroying any Taliban, terrorists, or anyone who fights us.
Posted by: Jackal || 11/14/2006 21:59 Comments || Top||


Bedlam revisits NA over prayers for dead Talibs
Intense bedlam on Monday revisited the National Assembly because of Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain’s firm stand not to allow prayers for those killed in Dargai and Bajaur Agency. Resultantly, slogans like “Go Musharraf Go, America’s friend is a traitor” followed at a sonorous pitch from MNAs belonging to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Some Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) members also joined the protest in a low profile.

When the MMA MPs insisted on offering “Fateha” for those killed in Bajaur Agency and Dargai, the speaker adjourned the proceedings in a huff for 15 minutes so that order returns. The opening of the proceedings was sombre and smooth as the speaker, according to the out-of-House understanding, permitted opposition MPs to pay glowing tributes to deceased former MNA Abdus Sattar Afghani of Jamaat-e-Islami that he had not permitted on the first day of the session.

After commending Afghani’s services, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed started offering “Fateha” for him and others. As he mentioned in his “Dua” those killed in Dargai and Bajaur, Chaudhry Amir cut him short, switching off his mike and gave the floor to another MMA MP, Qazi Gul Rehman.

Hafiz Hussain asked his colleague to continue “Fateha” that he did, and at the end, he also mentioned those who fell victim in the Bajaur Agency airstrike. The speaker abruptly deferred the sitting for 15 minutes and retired to his chamber. The MMA MPs gathered before his rostrum in his absence and chanted slogans for 20 minutes. Chief whip Nasrullah Dareshak tried to pacify the agitators but none paid any heed to his meek efforts. When the speaker returned to the House after the interlude, he deeply regretted the protesters’ attitude and approach and said it disgraced and humiliated the House. It was against the rules, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bedlam seems to be the natural condition in the NA
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 9:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Much like "in a huff". I love truth in reporting.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 11/14/2006 21:33 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Piracy Report 1-13 November 2006
Chittagong Anchorage Tally: Forty-one incidents have been reported since January 28 2006.

Recently reported incidents:

November 5 2006 at 0730 UTC, Malacca straits. One wooden boat with blue hull and yellow wheelhouse approached a general cargo ship underway and a robber with face mask attempted boarding. Master raised alarm and carried out zig zag manoeuvres. The pirate aborted boarding.

November 5 006 at 1930 LT off Elmann, Somalia . Six armed pirates boarded and hijacked a general cargo ship off Elmann. Pirates ordered master to sail north destination Obbia.

At 1800 LT on November 2nd, pirates demanded a ransom for the release of the ship and crew.

It is reported that on November 7th, 15 armed Islamic courts men intercepted the ship and successfully fought against the hijackers and handed over command to the master. No injuries sustained to crew and no ransom was paid.

November 08 2006 at 0202 LT, 6 miles off Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. One robber boarded a container ship waiting to embark pilot. Alert crew raised alarm and the robber escaped empty handed.

November 08 2006 at 0302 UTC, Kutubdia Roads, Bangladesh. Ten robbers armed with steel bars and knives in a wooden boat boarded a bulk carrier at the stern. They broke into lockers and stole ship's stores. Deck Officer raised alarm and robbers escaped. Local authorities informed.

November 09 2006 at 0200 UTC, Luanda Anchorage, Angola. Two robbers in a small open boat boarded a LPG tanker at the forecastle. They broke into bosun’s store and compressor room. Alert crew raised alarm and robbers escaped with ship’s equipment.

November 13 2006 at 0010 UTC, Tema Outer Roads, Ghana. Ten robbers armed with knives boarded a refrigerated ship at anchor. They overpowered a crew member and assaulted him. However, he managed to raise the alarm and alerted other crew. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped in a small boat with stolen items.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/14/2006 22:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Last Week's Weekly Report on Iraq (State Dept.)
Highlights:

There was a 41% drop in sectarian killings in Baghdad for the week of October 24- 30 which included the days immediately following the end of Ramadan and the Eid al-fitr holiday. IED activity was at its lowest level in seven months.

During the week of November 1-7, electricity availability averaged 8.6 hours per day in Baghdad and 12.1 hours nationwide. The Sunday Washington Post said Baghdad was lit up only 2.3 hours (something like that) per day. Wonder where they got their data? Electricity output for the week was three per cent below the same period in 2005.

The government of Iraq announced October 31 an initiative to increase the Iraqi military by approximately 18,700 troops. This initiative, which reportedly will be financed solely by the government of Iraq, will provide the IA with three additional division command headquarters, five additional brigade command headquarters, additional battalions, and one additional special operations battalion.


This new initiative is in addition to a previously announced plan from Prime Minister Maliki to add an additional 12,000 troops to the force structure, allowing the 112 existing combat brigades to each be staffed to 110 percent of their current authorized levels to offset temporary absences created by attrition and leaves.

If you can wade thru all the stuff at the link, you might get the impression Iraq is a functioning country, with trade shows, securities markets, and even new membership in the UN Economic and Social Council, receiving 181 of a possible 191 votes.

Posted by: Bobby || 11/14/2006 06:36 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "41% drop in sectarian killings in Baghdad for the week of October 24- 30 . . . IED activity was at its lowest level in seven months."

Is this what the Dems want to cut and run from? Or will they say it happened because they took power?

Al
Posted by: frozen Al || 11/14/2006 13:17 Comments || Top||

#2  They'll prolly claim that Al, 'cept it was before the election.....
Posted by: Bobby || 11/14/2006 15:19 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Shabak Chief Warns - Again - of Gaza-Initiated War
by Hillel Fendel

Yuval Diskin, head of the GSS, tells Knesset Members yet again that Israel faces a massive military offensive initiated by increasingly-armed Palestinian terrorists in Gaza.

Appearing this morning (Tuesday) before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Diskin said that the terrorists in Gaza are preparing and arming themselves for the coming clash. The extremist factions in particular are strengthening themselves, he said.

Diskin told the MKs that the terrorists in Gaza are carefully studying the lessons of the recent war in Lebanon, and are receiving mass quantities of weapons smuggled in from Egypt. He added that terror experts are also making their way into Gaza in various clandestine ways, as part of the preparations for the frontal clash with the IDF.

The General Security Service chief said that Israel will be left with no choice but to preempt the attack with a large, comprehensive offensive in Gaza. He added, however, that now is not the time for an offensive. Instead, he proposed that Israel enable Fatah to be strengthened at the expense of Hamas.

Diskin has long painted a grim picture of the situation in Gaza. He told the same committee this past August, “Samaria has become the land of Islamic Jihad following the Disengagement,” noting that Judea and Samaria have become much harder to control since four Jewish communities in northern Samaria were destroyed by the Israeli government in 2005. He said that Hizbullah is becoming a greater threat than even Fatah and Hamas within these areas.

A week earlier, the Shabak chief told the government ministers that the "intensification of terror infrastructure in Gaza is a strategic problem which, if not treated properly, will result in a situation just like in Lebanon.” He said that "tons of explosives and hundreds of weapons have been smuggled in recently through the Philadelphi Corridor [on the Gaza-Egyptian border].”

In response to Dichter's comments, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has been asked to initiate a public investigative committee to review the decision-making process that led to the Disengagement from Gaza. An organization named "The World Task Force for the Nation and the Land" demands an investigation into how such a decision could have been made in the face of strong security warnings and the firing of Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Yaalon, who opposed the plan.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/14/2006 10:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Knesset Storm: Deputy DM Notes "Cultural" Differences w/ Arabs
Deputy Defense Minister Sneh (Labor) evoked a storm of protest from Arab MKs by saying, "If we kill civilians, we accept blame, but when you kill civilians, you take credit; it's a cultural thing."

Yesterday's stormy Knesset session began when Arab MK Honeh Soueid (Hadash) delivered a speech, harshly condemning Israel for what he constantly called the "massacre and slaughter" of 20 Arabs in Beit Hanoun last week. The incident occurred when IDF artillery fire designed to thwart ongoing Kassam rocket fire in Gaza accidentally hit a residential building.

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh then took the stand, beginning by thanking MK Soueid "for bringing up the issue so that I can straighten out the story accurately." Excerpts from the session:

Soueid: People were killed and you want to be accurate...?

Sneh: You think that if you interrupt me, I won't say what I want to say? ... I can promise you one thing: You won't like 90% of what I have to say... Why did we start the military offensive in Beit Hanoun? To protect the citizens of Israel, to attack those who fire Kassams and who store up war material to use it against us. This was the objective; there is nothing more legitimate than that.

Arab MK Muhammed Barakeh: Little children [who were killed] are terrorists?! [screaming wildly] It's a shame and a disgrace! [continues to scream out at Sneh]

MK Moshe Sharoni [Pensioners Party]: You just want to get your picture in Al Jazeera.

Barakeh: Shut your mouth, stupid!

[more screaming, Barakeh is finally ordered to leave by Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik]

Barakeh to Sharoni: Shut your mouth!

Sharoni [in Arabic, apparently a bit taken aback by Barakeh's furious hostility]: Out! Out!

[This exchange is repeated several times, until finally Barakeh is taken out, while continuing to yell]

Speaker Itzik [with a sigh]: Then they talk about the 'image of the Knesset' and that we 'have to come towards...' You heard [that exchange], MK Gal'on [of the radical left-wing Meretz party]?

MK Gal'on: I didn't see you 'come towards' when Barakeh was talking...

Itzik: Oh, really? OK, OK... Deputy Minister Sneh, please continue.

[Arab MK Ahmed Tibi starts screaming...]

Deputy Minister Sneh resumes speaking: "On Nov. 7, from an orchard on the outskirts of Beit Hanoun, rockets were fired towards Ashkelon. On the next morning, we received warning that it would happen again, and therefore two artillery volleys were fired [by the IDF] to that spot. As a result of a technical fault in the second volley, tens of innocent people were hit. We see this as a grave issue, a catastrophe, and a failure. I assume that those who fired the rocket on Ashkelon, if they would have hit dozens of innocent people, they would have seen it as a success.

MK Tibi screams: You're just clearing yourself! [unintelligible]

Sneh: No, no, Tibi - that's the difference of our cultures; that's the whole thing; that's the difference in our values.

[Tibi and other Arab MKs start yelling wildly]

Sneh: I promised you that you wouldn't like what I had to say. ... You cannot evade the point that when we hit civilians, we see it as a failure, but those who shoot at us see it as a success; that's the difference, you cannot evade that! [more screaming] I came to speak here in order to respond [to the charges of slaughter] and there is a limit to what we are willing to hear. [Tibi and others keep screaming]

Sneh: ...After the extent of the catastrophe became known, we enacted a series of urgent humanitarian measures. The worst of the injured were taken to hospitals in Israel, and even though it was a battle zone, we allowed in trucks of medical supplies, we opened the Rafah crossing, and we did whatever possible to alleviate the unjustified suffering of these people.

Tibi: And then these Palestinians didn't even say thank you, what nerve of them!

Sneh: We didn't expect a thank you, we did what we thought we had to do.

[more interruptions]

Sneh: We didn't expect a thank you, I don't think we even deserved it. I think that we were responsible militarily, and we did what we had to do.

[Tibi continues screaming, Speaker Itzik threatens to remove him]

Sneh: Now that I have said what I wanted to say regarding military responsibility, I will discuss the moral responsibility. [raising his voice] Those who turned Gaza into a launching ground of Kassam rockets against a civilian populace, are responsible for those who were killed. Last September, we left Gaza, and we didn't leave a single thing - not a house or even a guard booth. What justification is there for what you are doing?! [Quiet] Why are the Rafah and Karni crossings half-closed?! Because the people sent by the terror organizations always want to blow up these places, the arteries that provide life to Gaza! They build a 600-meter tunnel - what are they thinking when they dig them?! Who will benefit if they blow up the Karni Crossing and Israelis and Palestinians are killed? And then later they'll complain that there's no milk or flour... What are they thinking? [quiet] Who destroyed Erez [Industrial Zone], where 5,000 Palestinians worked and made a living? Who destroyed it? The terrorists!

More at the link

Posted by: 6 || 11/14/2006 06:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When I read this, I think there is still hope for Israel.
Posted by: phil_b || 11/14/2006 8:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Arab MKs...those damn Zionists...it's a plot to allow ...wildly screaming ...er ..nevermind
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 8:32 Comments || Top||

#3  There are cultural differnces: Jews have a culture.

Posted by: JFM || 11/14/2006 9:24 Comments || Top||

#4  There are cultural differnces: Jews have a culture.

Posted by: JFM || 11/14/2006 9:24 Comments || Top||

#5  There are cultural differnces: Jews have a culture.

Posted by: JFM || 11/14/2006 9:24 Comments || Top||

#6  I think that need saying more JFM.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 11/14/2006 9:50 Comments || Top||

#7  Ditto to JFM.

More proof that the Arabs are little more than knuckle dragging barbarians with no culture and morals.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/14/2006 10:05 Comments || Top||

#8  Sneh demonstrated moral clarity. The Arab MKs either don't understand it, don't have it, or don't want it. Whichever it is, they're despicable.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 11/14/2006 10:50 Comments || Top||

#9  And those are the educated muzzies.
This is so obvious. Why is it that most of the civilized world is not aware of the coming clash ?
I understand the trick of the macaca media, but why ? Why participate in this bullshit screen to hide the truth of Islam from the world ? What the phalk is there to gain ?
If they believed the pen as mightier than the sword, then why not write to change the minds of the muzzie lunatics ? But no, they use their pens to interfere with the use of the sword, and in the big ending, the sword will make the pens bleed.
Posted by: wxjames || 11/14/2006 12:41 Comments || Top||

#10  If I were an Arab MK, I would be deeply offended in that "you": ...when you kill civilians, you take credit

That is, I would point out that we Arab Israelis were not the terrorists, were not the ones firing rockets.

But that didn't seem to be their concern. Huh.

More at the link

Errr, link?
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 11/14/2006 12:48 Comments || Top||

#11  Fixed.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 13:05 Comments || Top||

#12  DV! How dare you! Take that back right now!
You have just insulted knuckle dragging barbarians everywhere.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 11/14/2006 16:09 Comments || Top||

#13  Sorry. I didn't mean to insult Fred.
:D
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/14/2006 16:36 Comments || Top||

#14  I think that need saying more JFM.

There are more books translated to Spanish in one year than in Arabic since Gutenberg

There amore books sold in Israel than in the whole Arab world (at least if we put away the Koran).

Do I need to provide more examples?
Posted by: JFM || 11/14/2006 17:13 Comments || Top||

#15  yeah, but they sell a helluva lot of Hostage Beheading™ DVDs in the Arab world. That's gotta say something, right?
Posted by: Frank G || 11/14/2006 17:35 Comments || Top||


Fatah appoints Abbas overall head of movement
A key Fatah body elected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday as overall leader, officials said, in a bid to revitalise the movement hit by the election success earlier this year of rival group Hamas. Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, a key decision-making body within the faction, voted in the West Bank city of Ramallah in favour of appointing Abbas as overall commander. This is the same position that leader Yasser Arafat held before his death in 2004, officials said, placing Abbas at odds with members of the old guard.

Farouk Kaddoumi, an exiled hardliner living in Tunis, was elected Fatah’s secretary general but not overall head of the faction after Arafat’s death, they added. “This (decision) strengthens Abu Mazen’s political and reform programme within Fatah,” said senior Fatah official Hussein al-Sheikh, referring to Abbas’s nickname. “This gives him powers in the Central Committee (the faction’s governing body) of which he is a member and strengthens Fatah,” he added.

There was no immediate comment from Kaddoumi on the decision. Kaddoumi, considered pro-Syrian and co-founded Fatah with Arafat in 1965, rejected interim peace deals signed by Arafat with Israel in the 1990s.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The surprise meter I stole from Fred's box shortly after I started visiting the 'Burg is reading nil. I sure hope I didn't take one of the broken ones . . .
Posted by: The Doctor || 11/14/2006 8:36 Comments || Top||

#2  I made my own and it's not reading. I tested it over the Auburn/Georgia game and it works.
“This (decision) strengthens Abu Mazen’s political and reform programme within Fatah,” said senior Fatah official Hussein al-Sheikh,
Now he can off all the people he doesn't want in politics and has the blessing of the Fatah heads.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 11/14/2006 12:11 Comments || Top||


EU: Palestinian unity gov't must recognize Israel
The European Union will insist that any new Palestinian unity government respects international demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and commit to new peace talks, a top EU official said Monday. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner welcomed reports of an agreement between Hamas and Fatah on naming a US-educated professor to head a new unity government. At talks in Brussels, EU foreign ministers were to urge Hamas and Fatah to seek an "early engagement" of peace talks with Israel.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Or else?

Here comes the strongly worded memo.
Posted by: Jackal || 11/14/2006 8:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Or we will give you more money, grant you citizenship and run non-stop anti-semitic propaganda on our state news services!
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/14/2006 11:13 Comments || Top||


Hamas: PA gov't won't recognize Israel
Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy to the Damascus-based Hamas political bureau leader Khaled Mashaal, said Monday night that the planned Palestinian unity government would not recognize Israel and was not required to. The announcement came after Fatah and Hamas came to a groundbreaking agreement earlier Monday on the formation of a unity government after months of negotiations and setbacks. Recognition of Israel has been one of the international community's requirements for any Palestinian government.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Shabir accepts PM position, kinda
US-educated university professor Muhammad Shabir accepted the Palestinian government's offer to nominate him as the next prime minister, a Hamas official said Monday. Fatah and Hamas negotiators had reportedly agreed to name Shbair as the new PA prime minister. Shbair's name appeared on a Hamas list of candidates for the premiership that was presented to PA Chairman Abbas last week.

Although Shbair is not formally a member of Hamas, he is regarded as being closely affiliated with the Islamist movement. For nearly 16 years, the father of six served as president of the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University in Gaza City. "I don't belong to any Palestinian political faction," he said. "So far, I haven't received an official request to head the unity government. I'm prepared to take the job, but first I want to see what is required of me."

Shbair, whose father was one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood Organization in the Gaza Strip in the 1950s and 1960s, expressed hope that Fatah and Hamas would reach an agreement soon on the formation of a unity government so that the international community would resume financial aid to the Palestinians.

However, former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei, who has been holding intensive talks with Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip on the formation of the unity government, said it was premature to talk about names of potential candidates for the premiership. "I'm not aware of any list of names that was presented to President Abbas," he said. "The identity of the next prime minister has not been agreed upon yet."
Paleo PM needs lots of extra eyes. Some to watch overhead for the shadow of a Zionist drone and a bunch more to watch your back in case a True Believer decides to harvest your kidneys without anesthesia...
Qurei, who heads the Fatah team in the talks with Hamas, said he did not expect a breakthrough before the end of this week. "The most serious discussions will take place on Thursday and Friday," he said. "That's when we're expecting real progress and a major breakthrough that will alleviate the suffering of our people."
Buckle your seatbelts, Israel.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I fail to see how these "most serious discussions (that)will take place on Thursday and Friday" will result in "real progress and a major breakthrough that will alleviate the suffering of our people". How often has talk rather than actions alleviated anything?
Let's see.....
Muslim holy day (Friday) - check
Outside of the prohibited holy months - check
Waning crescent moon - check
Crapulent rhetoric - check
If they weren't such incompetant losers I'd be worried they were about to pull something off.
Posted by: Gladys || 11/14/2006 5:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Lol, and we know this because it has never stopped them before... ;-)
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 7:04 Comments || Top||


Nobel winners petition Israel to outlaw targeted killing
JERUSALEM - Hundreds of Israeli peace activists, joined by three foreign Nobel laureates, Monday asked the nation’s high court to rule against targeted assassinations carried out by the army in the Palestinian territories, saying the attacks were killing civilians.
The Paleos kill civilians too, as I recall, and they favor women and children, the IDF being a little out of their league.
The petition, signed by 10 peace groups and 200 individuals, urged the supreme court to rule immediately on the issue in light of last week’s Israeli fire in Gaza’s Beit Hanun that killed 19 people, mostly women and children. ‘How many more children need to die before the high court judges rule on the matter,’ it said. ‘If a ruling is not handed down immediately, this will cause the deaths of more innocent people, as was the case several days ago in Beit Hanun,’ a town in northern Gaza, it said.
Unfortunate, and no one feels worse than the trigger-pullers on that one.
The signatories included Harold Pinter, winner of the Nobel literature prize in 2005, and Betty Williams and Mairead McGuire, the founders of an organisation that promoted peace in Northern Ireland and who won the Nobel peace prize in 1976.
“he signatories included Harold Pinter, winner of the Nobel literature prize in 1985 and all round wanker, and Betty Williams and Mairead McGuire, the founders of an organization that promoted peace in Northern Ireland and who won the Nobel peace prize in 1976.
Nice job then, nut jobs since.
Since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the Israeli military has killed hundreds of Palestinians in targeted strikes, aimed at hitting militants but often leaving civilians dead.
Since the brave Heroes of Islam™ have a disturbing tendency to hide amongst civilians.
More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli strikes since late June, after a soldier was seized by militant groups in the coastal strip.
No word yet on whether Harold Pinter will intervene on his behalf.
A recent report by the socialist group Physicians for Human Rights said that more than 60 percent of those killed were civilians and more than 20 percent minors.

The targeted assassinations have been condemned by the international community and by human rights groups inside the Jewish state.
Few of whom are at any risk of being blown up on a bus or in a pizza parlor.
In January 2002, Israel’s supreme court rejected the first appeal over the strikes, filed by an Israeli Arab MP. A second appeal over the policy was filed more than four years ago in April 2002, with the justices yet to issue a ruling.
There we go, just string this one out just like the last one.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  more twits
Posted by: 3dc || 11/14/2006 1:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Its just toooooooooooo h-a-r-r-r-d to publicly ask the Paleos to do the same thing vv ordinary Israelis + non-aligned Muslim moderates/neutrals.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 2:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Wid all this problem-solving, Unilateral, EQUALISM how is it that Jews + Muslims still can't get along???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 2:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Given the apparent level of critical thinking ability these Nobel laureates are displaying, it kinda makes me wonder why I don't have a closet full of Nobel Prizes.
Posted by: gorb || 11/14/2006 2:22 Comments || Top||

#5  First it was indiscriminate killing thats bad now its discriminate killing thats bad. Come on guys make up your minds, which one can't be used for self defense?
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 11/14/2006 3:04 Comments || Top||

#6  gorb, two words--specialized idiots.

They don't have any comprehension of anything beyond their discipline.
Posted by: twobyfour || 11/14/2006 4:24 Comments || Top||

#7  BrerRabbit, they made their mind already, jooos shall not kill indiscriminately nor discriminately.

As for killing jooos, they don't seem to oppose any method of killing.
Posted by: twobyfour || 11/14/2006 4:27 Comments || Top||

#8  "Mairead McGuire, the founders of an organization that promoted peace in Northern Ireland and who won the Nobel peace prize in 1976"

Those were the years with the MOST terrorsit acts.

Following utopianist "peace" (in actual fact surrender) plans is SUICIDE.

People who not only won't defend themselves, but try to remove the ability of others to defend themselves are DANGEROUS.

The right to defend yourself is the #1 right, as without it no other rights are possible.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 11/14/2006 5:27 Comments || Top||

#9  I think our new lawmaking body should go ahead and handle this Israeli/Paleo thing for us. They're so smart and clever this should be easy money for them.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 11/14/2006 7:33 Comments || Top||

#10  And yet Nobel prize winners are so obviously in favour of targeted stupid.
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/14/2006 11:18 Comments || Top||

#11  Alrighty then, indiscriminate it shall be.
Posted by: texhooey || 11/14/2006 12:40 Comments || Top||

#12  They don't have any comprehension of anything beyond their discipline.

Ah, that's my problem! I'm more of a generalized idiot! :-)
Posted by: gorb || 11/14/2006 14:32 Comments || Top||

#13  Betty Williams and Mairead McGuire, the founders of an organisation that promoted peace in Northern Ireland and who won the Nobel peace prize in 1976.

Northern Ireland has been peaceful since 1976?
Posted by: gromgoru || 11/14/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||

#14  Harold Pinter, winner of the Nobel literature prize in 2005

Litrature
Posted by: gromgoru || 11/14/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||

#15  Cluster bombs aren't truly "targeted" in the sense they mean. So they should be fine.
Posted by: Jackal || 11/14/2006 22:01 Comments || Top||

#16  targeted assassinations work.
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 11/14/2006 23:19 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
BBC frightened of criticising Islam, says archbishop
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has accused the BBC of bias against Christianity and says the broadcaster fears a terrorist backlash if it is critical of Islam. The archbishop, the second most senior figure in the Church of England's hierarchy, said Christians took "more knocks" than other faiths at the hands of the BBC.
No, the BBC would do that?!
"They can do to us what they dare not do to the Muslims," he said. "We are fair game because they can get away with it. We don't go down there and say, 'We are going to bomb your place.' That is not in our nature."
I hear Paris is very warm this year, couldn't be the "religion of pieces..
The Ugandan-born archbishop nevertheless said Christians must be more forceful in promoting their beliefs. Blaming the "chattering classes" for undermining traditional Christian culture, he said: "They see themselves as holding the flag for Britain and that Britain is definitely secular and atheist. I want them to have their say but not to lord it over the rest of us." In an interview with the Daily Mail, he called for a return to family values and an end to the tyranny of materialism, especially at Christmas.
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/14/2006 13:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Criticize Christianity? You get a laugh track.
Criticize allan-ism? You get a knife in your back.
Posted by: anymouse || 11/14/2006 16:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder if Christians can threaten to bomb the BBC without being arrested?
Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 || 11/14/2006 18:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Archbishop, thank you for your comments. Very helpful. I doubt they are afraid. Take that back , they probably are wetting their pants. Anyway, they don't want to criticize their Moon bat buddies. Christians should attack and burn down every lasting item of BBC property. Quit worrying about repercussions. Just do it.
Posted by: SpecOp35 || 11/14/2006 18:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Christianity and Judaism doesn't retaliate like Islam does.
Posted by: PlanetDan || 11/14/2006 19:31 Comments || Top||

#5  True, but it's not retaliation if it's done in self-defense........
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 11/14/2006 20:32 Comments || Top||

#6  The BBC is fully on the islamo-fascist side, check out their content, it's almost all islam all the time. Naturally the muslim are alway victims of guess who, the Jooos and the US of A.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 11/14/2006 21:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Christians should attack and burn down every lasting item of BBC property. Quit worrying about repercussions. Just do it.

I heard that! Let's see, they could call themselves the Militant Christian Fundimentalists, or something along those lines. Yeah, Militant Christianism. They accuse Christians of all kinds of horrible things, maybe it IS time to go Crusader on some folks.

Posted by: Mick Dundee || 11/14/2006 21:29 Comments || Top||

#8  C'mon. Let's just quit fuc***g around with these barbaric islamo-pterrs. Use the resources we have to verify the threat, move our peeps out of the way, and JUST COMMENCE TO FRY THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS!
Posted by: AT || 11/14/2006 22:41 Comments || Top||

#9  I'm sorry, AT, but I'm getting CogDis: fuc**g and then MOTHERFUCKERS?

Consistency is a Good Thing, bro, lol. ;-)
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 22:51 Comments || Top||

#10  Mick:

True Christians won't attack first. But, as one myself, I'd say, God help your soul if you attack first and push us too far. We don't bully others into our belief system, we try and explain it rationally, and let God take care of convincing others. But, with the Pope getting the Catholics in line, and then recently, many British Christians starting to vocally spout off against Islam, and now the Archbishop of York? I'd say bad days are ahead, for the RoP, if they continue to push us (and they will). Everywhere I look in muzzie-lands, I see backwards communities, ruled over by two-bit dictators, who use fear of the sword to institute Shari'a, but then have that whole on/off I'm superior/I'm a victim thingy goin' on. NO progress, NO technology and NO freedom. Like someone else here said more eloquently, there's gotta be a reason the only nations with nukes are Judeo-Christian at their roots.
Posted by: BA || 11/14/2006 23:22 Comments || Top||

#11  "tyranny of materialism"
yum yuum Mr. can i have logic with that?
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 11/14/2006 23:25 Comments || Top||

#12  "#7 Christians should attack and burn down every lasting item of BBC property. Quit worrying about repercussions. Just do it. "

is it just me or are we lacking christian tolerance here, LA LA LA burn the infidel.
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 11/14/2006 23:30 Comments || Top||

#13  christian mongol kisses
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 11/14/2006 23:40 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Nasrallah Denies Involvement in Lebanon Crisis
(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah has denied that his party is involved with the resignation of five Cabinet ministers from the Lebanese Cabinet, according to Syrian Arab News Agency. Two of the ministers are from Hizbullah and three are from the pro-Syrian Amal faction. Anti-Syrian elements have accused Syria and Iran of being behind the resignations in order to topple the government, following the refusal of Beirut to agree to Hizbullah and Amal demands for more representation.
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 13:46 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Six cabinet ministers have resigned (out of 24 seats). One report stated that if 3 more go, there won't be enough ministers to make a quorum.

A constitutional nicety that stands between Hez, Syria, Iran, and the looming Hariri international tribunal. Unless, of course, Hez goes Peckinpah and reaches for its guns.
Posted by: mrp || 11/14/2006 14:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Whatever. How can you tell if a muslim cleric is lying?
Posted by: anymouse || 11/14/2006 16:23 Comments || Top||


Iran Says Nuke Program Is Near Complete
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
The Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday said Iran would soon celebrate completion of its controversial nuclear fuel program.

"With the wisdom and resistance of the nation, today our position has stabilized. I'm very hopeful that we will be able to hold the big celebration of Iran's full nuclearization in the current year," the hard-line president said referring to the country's nuclear fuel program.

Iran's current calendar year ends on March 20.

The hard-line president also claimed that the international community was caving in to Tehran's demands to continue its nuclear program.

"Initially, they (the U.S. and its allies) were very angry. The reason was clear: They basically wanted to monopolize nuclear power in order to rule the world and impose their will on nations," Ahmadinejad said.

"Today, they have finally agreed to live with a nuclear Iran, with an Iran possessing (the whole) nuclear fuel cycle," he said, without elaborating.

Iran has been locked in a standoff with the West over its nuclear program. The United States and its European allies have been seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing impose sanctions on Tehran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.

Russia, which is backed by China, has opposed tough action advocated by the U.S., Britain and France, and its amendments to a Western draft resolution would reduce sanctions and delete language that would cut off Iran's access to foreign missile technology.

The U.S. and some of its allies allege that Iran is developing nuclear weapons and are suspicious of its intentions after Tehran concealed parts of its nuclear development from U.N. inspectors for many years.

But Tehran claims its program is peaceful and for generating electricity.

Uranium enrichment at low levels can be used to produce fuel to generate electricity but at higher levels can be use to make atomic bombs.

Iran has said it will never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel. Officials have said they plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy in the next two decades.

Ahmadinejad said he will soon send a message to the American people in an apparent attempt to influence the U.S. public opinion over President George W. Bush's policy toward Iran.

"We will issue a message to the American people ... many Americans have asked me to talk to them and offer my opinions to them. This message is being drawn up," he said.

In August, Ahmadinejad called for a televised debate with Bush months after he wrote a letter to the U.S. president that Washington said was irrelevant and not addressing the key issue of Iran's disputed nuclear program.

Iran also recently has said it would consider negotiating with the U.S. over Iraq and other regional issues if Washington proposes having talks. But has hinted that it would not drop its refusal to talk about its nuclear program.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/14/2006 10:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This calls for immediate talks.
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 11:49 Comments || Top||

#2  This calls for immediate talks surrender
Posted by: Intrinsicpilot || 11/14/2006 13:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Lol, IP!
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 13:42 Comments || Top||

#4  But Tehran claims its program is peaceful and for generating electricity.

Blowing Israel to kingdom come would be in the interest of peace in the ME, wouldn't it?
Posted by: gorb || 11/14/2006 14:30 Comments || Top||

#5  The U.S. and some of its allies allege that Iran is developing nuclear weapons and are suspicious of its intentions after Tehran concealed parts of its nuclear development from U.N. inspectors for many years.

No, we're absolutely certain of its intentions - and would be even if Iran hadn't made their plans explicitly clear.

I just love this phony objectivity used by the MSM.
</sarc>

<nitpicking rant>
At least they got the use of allege right. It's one of my pet peeves when reporters misuse it. E.g.: "The woman was allegedly shot by a man who was later arrested."

No, the woman was in fact shot. The only thing alleged is that the man arrested did the shooting. Legally, the sentence is good enough to pass muster, but it's sloppy usage and symptomatic of the casual attitude toward facts rampant in the MSM.

Local reporters are the worst about this, but I've seen it in national media too. They've obviously had it drilled into them by the corp. lawyers that they must use "allege" without really understanding its usage.
</nitpicking rant>
Posted by: xbalanke || 11/14/2006 14:34 Comments || Top||

#6  I just had a terrible thought. There were all those carrier groups off Iran at during the election. Could the plan have been, if the GOP kept power, "retard" the Iranian nuclear program, but if they lost, give up and let the DEMs deal with it? Someone please explain why this just couldn't be.....
Posted by: Unolurt Snairong1374 || 11/14/2006 14:34 Comments || Top||

#7  This calls for SANCTIONS! Oh...

Oops, Maybe we'd better just make THAT MINI--sanctions...

Asymmetrical Triagulation (at)
Posted by: AT || 11/14/2006 22:15 Comments || Top||

#8  U.S.: How about this: With the pubs still in charge till Jan, we go ahead with your proposed retardation of Iran's nuke power program, Then let Nancy deal with the fallout ? (sorry, no pun intended)
Posted by: USN,Ret || 11/14/2006 22:44 Comments || Top||


Olmert and Bush Agree: No Nukes for Iran
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/14/2006 10:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Great. Now what?
Posted by: Jonathan || 11/14/2006 10:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Exactly. Now what?
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/14/2006 11:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Generic response to the "Now what?" question...

Well, you could whip out your personal peevy schedule and send it to the WH for immediate action. That'd prolly work, doncha think? Seems to be a mighty popular view these days. What with all the real-world restraints we suffer from in the blog-o-gubment. Can't Bush, like, microwave shit or sumthin?
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 11:57 Comments || Top||

#4 
Four out of five dentists recommend X for their patients who chew gum.
Posted by: Master of Obvious || 11/14/2006 12:08 Comments || Top||

#5  This shit is a perfect example of the US diplomatic problem.

Unlike TRs "Talk softly....." we constantly yell. We HAVE the big stick but if we yell about it all the time people stop worrying.

We need to spend a lot less time threatening in public and a lot more time deciding when and how to do our threatening in private. Then, if the threat doesn't work, break out the big stick.

Of course this would mean the basic renunciation of all those international talking shops. Rather then leading the UNSC and trying to pass resolutions; just speak privately. If we don't like the result, cast a veto with no explanation. If the situation worsens; show the flag a little. No explicit threat just a quiet "Don't forget the stick".

Posted by: AlanC || 11/14/2006 13:16 Comments || Top||

#6  What matters to the ISOLATIONISM = SOCIALISM, EMPIRE = SOCIALISM, dialectic waffle-happy Lefties is that someone else gets the blame = bills for averything, and Gummint/Gubmint put in charge of everything + everyone except themselves.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 21:09 Comments || Top||


Lebanon's Factions Edge Toward Renewed Hostilities
Posted by: mrp || 11/14/2006 10:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Do not forget to target UNIFIL personnel.
Posted by: gromgoru || 11/14/2006 17:35 Comments || Top||


Lebanon approves UN tribunal for Hariri's killers
Lebanon's government approved a UN plan for an international tribunal for the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri - despite the objections of the president and the resignation of six ministers. The draft document now returns to the Security Council for endorsement, but its final approval by the weakened Lebanese government is far from certain owing to the resignations and threats from Hizbullah to call mass protests unless it and its Shiite Muslim allies gain effective veto power in the Cabinet.
Convenient timing, ain't it?
Monday's vote in the Cabinet was a small victory for Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is facing both the Hizbullah challenge and the objections of President Emile Lahoud.
Since it's likely Emile will be one of the indicted...
All 18 ministers remaining in the Cabinet voted for the UN plan, which begins the process of prosecuting Hariri's alleged killers in a court with international legitimacy. "We tell the criminals that we will not give up our right, no matter what the difficulties and obstacles are," Prime Minister Fuad Saniora told reporters after the three-hour Cabinet meeting. "Our aim is to achieve justice and only justice."
Posted by: Fred || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Lebanon Muslims outnumber Christians 2 to 1: survey
BEIRUT - Lebanon’s political system, which is once again in crisis, aims to share power equally between Christians and Muslims, but a survey published on Monday shows that Christians form only 35 percent of the population.

Private statistician Youssef Al Duweihi, a Maronite Christian, said his figures were based on identity registration records and electoral rolls throughout the country. ‘This is scientific, not political,’ he told Reuters by telephone from his north Lebanon home. ‘I want to tell the Lebanese this is Lebanon and if there is a problem, resolve it.’
"So please don't kill me!"
According to his survey, published in the independent an-Nahar newspaper, Lebanon has 4.855 million people, of whom just over 35 percent are Christian, 29 percent Shia Muslim, 29 percent Sunni Muslim and 5 percent Druze. Such figures are so sensitive in Lebanon that the last official census was conducted in 1932 during the French Mandate, which said Christians made up 55 percent of the population.

Duweihi, a mathematician, said his survey showed Lebanon’s demography was at odds with the power-sharing setup. ‘It’s time to discuss the political system and the electoral law,’ he said.

The Taif agreement which ended the 1975-90 civil war modified the complex religious power-sharing system, set up at the birth of modern Lebanon in 1943. Taif gave Muslims and Christians equal representation in parliament instead of the 6 to 5 advantage Christians had enjoyed previously. It stipulated that the president should remain a Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni and the parliament speaker a Shia , while calling for the eventual abolition of the system that distributes state posts among Lebanon’s 17 recognised sects.

Duweihi’s figures show the number of Lebanese entitled to passports, not the number actually residing in the country. Lebanon also hosts more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees and a substantial number of Syrian and other guest workers.
It all makes sense. A lot of Lebanese Christians have left the country, and the birthrate amongst the Shi'a is very high. The previous model isn't going to work, and the Hezbies want the whole place to themselves.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe true, but its also HIGHER than during the Cold War or even last 25 years.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Given the Judaio-Christian roots of Western Civilization one would think we would do more for these groups in the Middle East.
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 11/14/2006 0:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Difference being that muslims breed like rats as they have no job aspirations!!!!
Posted by: Cheregum Crelet7867 || 11/14/2006 11:43 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm sure the muzzies will kickoff their campaign to kill all the Christians as soon as possible.
Posted by: wxjames || 11/14/2006 13:07 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Iran plotting to groom bin Laden's successor
By Con Coughlin and George Jones, Political Editor

Iran 'is training the next al-Qa'eda leaders'

Iran is trying to form an unholy alliance with al-Qa'eda by grooming a new generation of leaders to take over from Osama bin Laden, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Western intelligence officials say the Iranians are determined to take advantage of bin Laden's declining health to promote senior officials who are known to be friendly to Teheran.

The revelation will deal a major blow to Tony Blair's hopes of establishing a "new partnership" with Teheran.

Addressing the Lord Mayor's banquet in London last night — an occasion traditionally used by the Prime Minister to set out the Government's foreign policy — Mr Blair said he wanted to launch a diplomatic initiative to secure peace in Iraq by establishing dialogue with Iran and ending threats of military force against the regime.

He confirmed that a major rethink of strategy was under way on both sides of the Atlantic as he offered Iran a partnership rather than isolation if it stopped supporting terrorism in Lebanon or Iraq and halted attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

With the British and American governments looking for an exit strategy from Iraq, the Prime Minister admitted that they needed Iran's co-operation to prevent the country descending into civil war and to secure an overall Middle East peace settlement.

But the revelation that Iran is working hard to establish a closer relationship with bin Laden's fanatics, who provoked the war against terrorism with the attacks on September 11 2001, is likely to undermine severely Downing Street's attempts to effect a rapprochement. Iran is also suspected of arming insurgent groups in southern Iraq – many of which have links to al-Qa'eda – that have been responsible for many of the roadside bomb attacks against British troops.

But intelligence officials have been most alarmed by reports from Iran that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is trying to persuade al-Qa'eda to promote a pro-Iranian activist to a senior position within its leadership.

The Iranians want Saif al-Adel, a 46-year-old former colonel in Egypt's special forces, to be the organisation's number three.

Al-Adel was formerly bin Laden's head of security, and was named on the FBI's 22 most wanted list after September 11 for his alleged involvement in terror attacks against US targets in Somalia and Africa in the 1990s. He has been living in a Revolutionary Guard guest house in Teheran since fleeing from Afghanistan in late 2001.

Alarm over al-Qa'eda deepened yesterday with a Foreign Office warning that the group was determined to acquire the technology to carry out a nuclear attack on the West.

A senior Foreign Office official said that the terrorists were trawling the world for the materials and know-how to mount an attack using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

The official said: "We know that the aspiration is there, we know attempts to gather materials are there, we know that attempts to gather technologies are there."

In last night's speech, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to see constructive engagement with the whole of the Middle East.

"A major part of the answer to Iraq lies not in Iraq itself but outside it, in the whole of the region where the same forces are at work and where the roots of this global terrorism are to be found," he added.

"That is what I call a "whole Middle East" strategy.

"There is a fundamental misunderstanding that this is about changing policy on Syria and Iran. First, those two countries do not at all share identical interests. But in any event that is not where we start.

"On the contrary, we should start with Israel/Palestine. That is the core. We should then make progress on Lebanon. We should unite all moderate Arab and Muslim voices behind a push for peace in those countries but also in Iraq. We should be standing up for, empowering, respecting those with a moderate and modern view of the faith of Islam everywhere."

But Mr Blair's hopes of a dialogue with Teheran were dealt a further blow last night when President George W Bush rejected the notion that talks with Iran were the key to undermining the Iraq insurgency.

He insisted that Iran should pay the consequences for continuing work on its nuclear enrichment programme.

"It's very important for the"threat to our world security". Last night he was more measured on Iran.

"To be fair, they have a genuine, if entirely misplaced fear, that the US seeks a military solution in Iran. They don't," Mr Blair said.

Iran had already rejected the US's offer of the first direct talks for 30 years if it abided by the UN demand to suspend uranium enrichment. It was now using "pressure points" in the region to thwart America and Britain.

"So they help the most extreme elements of Hamas in Palestine; Hizbollah in Lebanon; Shia militia in Iraq," said Mr Blair.

He said Iran faced a clear choice: help the Middle East peace process, not hinder it; stop supporting terrorism; and abide by, not flout, international obligations.

"In that case a new partnership is possible, or alternatively they face the consequences of not doing so: isolation," he added.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/14/2006 10:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the Daily Telegraph thinks Tehran might not be serious with Blair?

And they think the Sunni jihadists are gonna jump onboard a Shia - Qom dominated version of alQ?

Wowsers, ya can't slip anything past these guys.
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 12:04 Comments || Top||

#2  what's more of a wish

- that Iran would help Britain and the US in Iraq or

- that Iran would succeed taking over Al Q
Posted by: mhw || 11/14/2006 12:29 Comments || Top||

#3  More of those "unknown unknowns", methinks.
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, if Iran succeeds in taking over Al Qaeda, and AQ does something big to the US or its allies, then Iran is a sponsor, and thus responsible...does anybody see where I'm going with this?
Posted by: Jonathan || 11/14/2006 12:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Time for some glass making.
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/14/2006 12:47 Comments || Top||

#6  I'll bet the DhimmiDonks will need some help with that, Jonathan... They have this ignore it, mebbe it'll go away approach to reality. Prolly congenital, so we can't blame the poor darlings, of course.
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 12:54 Comments || Top||

#7  "to groom bin Laden's successor"

I have this mental image of the mullahs sitting around picking lice out of some mook's hair. Kinda like the monkeys do.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 11/14/2006 12:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Since when has Labour served Kool Aid at official functions?
Posted by: doc || 11/14/2006 13:05 Comments || Top||

#9  Iff the numbers of subordinate henchmen = appratchiks being killed or captured is any measure, Osama & Sons/Sons-in-law are gonna be around for awhile yet.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 20:50 Comments || Top||

#10  this redeployment they keep talking about... perhaps it could be through Qom and on to Tehran?
Posted by: eLarson || 11/14/2006 21:48 Comments || Top||

#11  Exactly, eLarson. And, (as before the election), I've gotta ask...Why this article NOW? WTF is up with the MSM? It's almost as if they had all these "bad" stories waiting until the day after the election to make President Bush look bad.

Crucifying Rummy, then next, talks of surrender, then Ahamdinijad spouting off that they're "almost done" with the nuclear weapons, then North Korea spouts off, then Japan says it's (almost) ready to go nuclear, and now, Iran is grooming binny's successors? All this gloom and doom, did they NOT get the memo that Shi'as and Sunnis can't work together (a'la Iraq), or that the Secularists (Saddam) can't work with the Fundies (al Qaeda)? Someone needs to pound these fools hard, and the average American Joe even harder for following these MSM convoluted/non-logical stories. Jeebus, I'm so pissed off, I think I may start typing in all caps, like Joe M!
Posted by: BA || 11/14/2006 23:15 Comments || Top||


AQ seeking nuke kit for attacks: UK Official
I know, it's al-Rooters, but I find it interesting they'd post this right after the Donks won.
You didn't think they'd post before the election, did you?
LONDON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda is trying to acquire the technology that would enable it to use a nuclear device to attack Western targets including Britain, a senior British official said on Monday. "We know the aspiration is there. We know attempts to gather materials are there, we know that attempts to gather technology are there," the senior Foreign Office official told reporters.

The comments at a briefing came days after the head of Britain's domestic spy agency said Muslim extremists were plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain which could involve chemical and nuclear devices. The Foreign Office official, asked whether there was any doubt that Al Qaeda wants to gather nuclear material for use against Western targets, said: "No doubt at all."
More at linky.
Posted by: BA || 11/14/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I question the timing.

Retreat? No, nuk'em. (Do we have microwave guns yet?)
Posted by: twobyfour || 11/14/2006 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  SPECTATOR + THE SCOTSMAN > eechoed one week apart. No longer just Britain but the West in general. OK, NANCY + MURTHA + HILLARY, YOUR UP, WHATS DA PLAN TO SAVE AMERICA = AMERIKA??? MARK STEYN > as Euros leave Europe for better pastures around the world, EUROPE will slowly but steadily become Islamized. In 20 years, iff one sees CIVIL WARS + ANARCHIES on TV, the odds are it will be [future] Muslim Europe, still mostly desperately poor + kiling each other instead of working together to solve their probs. DON'T FERGIT, IT'LL STILL BE DUBYA'S FAULT AMERICA FAILED TO SOLVE ISLAM'S PROBLEMS FOR ISLAM BY NOT CONQUERING THE MUSLIM WORLD WHEN IT HAD THE CHANCE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/14/2006 4:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Joe---I find it hard to believe, but that last paragraph made sense, and it really was not convoluted STOP But the caps, they remind me of copying Morse code in my younger days STOP
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/14/2006 11:00 Comments || Top||

#4  reminds me of the dude outta "The Usual Suspects"
Fred Fenster

That being said , I really enjoy reading Joe's comments . Kinda flexs the brain into action first thing in the morning
Posted by: MacNails || 11/14/2006 11:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Jeebus:

I posted that one from work yesterday, and then today, I can't post a comment at work. Either the mods are working overtime, or my worky-no-likie the 'burg, lol!
Posted by: BA || 11/14/2006 22:44 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Glenn Beck showing "Exposed: The Extremist Agenda" this Wednesday
Posted by: Angung Craitle1103 || 11/14/2006 12:12 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can't believe that Beck got permission to show this on CNN (aka Al Jazeera West).
Posted by: DMFD || 11/14/2006 19:15 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sure the permission was based on airing the show sometime after the election.

It is CNN, after all.
Posted by: eltoroverde || 11/14/2006 22:57 Comments || Top||

#3  They sacrificed everything for the DhimmiDonks... sanity, truth, ratings, the worx.

Feeding time.
Posted by: .com || 11/14/2006 23:01 Comments || Top||



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Tue 2006-11-14
  Khost capture was Zawahiri deputy?
Mon 2006-11-13
  Palestinians agree on nonentity as PM
Sun 2006-11-12
  Five Shia ministers resign from Lebanese cabinet
Sat 2006-11-11
  Haniyeh offers to resign for aid
Fri 2006-11-10
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Thu 2006-11-09
  Indon Muslims on trial over beheading young girls
Wed 2006-11-08
  Israeli Forces Pull Out of Beit Hanoun
Tue 2006-11-07
  Al Qaeda terrorist captured in Afghanistan
Mon 2006-11-06
  Pakistani AF officers tried to kill Perv
Sun 2006-11-05
  Saddam Sentenced to Death
Sat 2006-11-04
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Fri 2006-11-03
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Wed 2006-11-01
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