Efforts by Russian Muslims to counter the rising tide of anti-Muslim items in the Russian media are often so unprofessional, emotional and grotesque they increase anti-Muslim sentiment in Russia and abroad, says a leading Moscow specialist on Islam. Roman Silantyev, who serves as secretary of the Inter-religious Council of Russia and also as the chief specialist on Islam in the Patriarchate's External Relations Department, makes precisely that argument in the current issue of the Russian Orthodox Church's Tserkovniy vestnik. Silantyev notes Islamophobia is increasing in Russia -- a view shared by most participants in a roundtable organized by the editors of NG-Religii in its Dec. 1 issue.
I guess one man's "Islamophobia" is another man's cool-eyed assessment of who his enemies really are...
And that makes countering this form of bigotry -- and doing so successfully -- all the more important.
If they're attacking you, and killing your children like dogs, how does that make it bigotry? Sounds like a pretty reasonable reaction to me.
In his article "Several Thoughts About Islamophobia," Silantyev notes there are many responsible defenders of Islam in Russia both among the country's Muslim leadership and in the media. But at the same time, he suggests the fight against Islamophobia in Russia is all too often dominated by "doubtful" people. Sometimes these "defenders of Islam" expect non-Muslims to accept that "Islam is a religion of peace because it is peaceful," a circular argument he suggests is just about as impressive to non-Muslim Russians as were Soviet-era claims the teachings of Karl Marx "are all-powerful because they are true."
The "religion of peace" bovine waste wore out shortly after 9-11 in this country. I think it went totally out of style in Russia about the time of the Nord-Ost theater atrocity. It's currently going the way of the passenger pigeon in Europe, the result of 3-11 and van Gogh's murder. And there will be more of those little incidents to help the process along.
On other occasions, he says, the self-styled defenders of the faith engage in nasty personal attacks such as suggesting one or another writer should be examined by a psychiatrist or should be ostracized because of positive attitudes toward Israel.
... or must be killed. Don't forget that approach to civil, well-reasoned discourse...
Or they make irresponsible claims about the size of the Muslim community in Russia or the number of ethnic Russians who have supposedly converted to Islam. Silantyev is especially critical of Russia's largest Islamic information Web site, Islam.ru. He writes the editors of this portal have managed "at one and the same time" to launch suits against Izvestiya for xenophobia and to post often vicious attacks on Jews and Orthodox Christians. Moreover, Silantyev notes, this site seems to spend much of its time attacking leaders of the Russian Muslim community such as Ravil Gainutdin and Talgat Tadzhuddin, the head of the Union of Muslims of Russia -- actions that only encourage hostility toward Muslims by non-Muslims.
Not blood-thirsty enough, huh?
What those who want to fight effectively against Islamophobia must do, Silantyev maintains, is "to create a positive image of Islam in the eyes of Russian society by stressing historical examples of the peaceful coexistence of Muslims and Christians, their joint opposition to the godless power in the past, and their common struggle against non-traditional religions and new religious movements in the future."
... rather than acting like they'd normally act, especially in any area where they might outnumber the infidels...
But none of that will matter, Silantyev concludes, unless Muslim scholars and Muslim commentators provide a satisfactory answer to "the principled question: why do the overwhelming majority of terrorist groups now acting in the world associate themselves with Islam and why does not a single terrorist organization act in the name of Orthodox Christianity?"
... or Buddhism. Or Confucianism. Or Lutheranism. The best they can come up with is the IRA.
Not surprisingly, Silantyev's ideas have been attacked by those he criticizes, a development not unexpected but one that may receive greater attention than would otherwise be the case because of the opening in New York of a U.N. seminar devoted to the question of how best to counter Islamophobia and promote tolerance. The response of the editors of Islam.ru to Silantyev's article was immediate and -- at least from the point of view of Silantyev -- compelling evidence of some of the problems he points to. In often extremely sharp and personal terms, Islam.ru's Abdulla Khasinov argues Silantyev is illiterate on Islamic questions, his statements about Islam.ru are both ignorant and unprofessional, and he has rendered himself unfit to serve as secretary of the Inter-religious Council of Russia. Indeed, Khasinov concludes the only thing that Silantyev could possibly be fit to serve the members of that Council is tea "because for that he would only need to smile."
At least he didn't issue a fatwah against him. He won't be killed. For now.
Many Russian Orthodox clergy and laity will read Silantyev's article, but few will see Khasinov's response. By Khasinov's own admission, Islam.ru has only some 8,000 subscribers, and beyond any doubt most of them are Muslims who already agree with the site's point of view. That imbalance in access to the mainstream media, the Internet's tendency in many cases to reinforce the views of surfers rather than promote dialogue among them, and the equally nasty comments of some of those who attack Islam all help to explain some of Khasinov's anger. But Silantyev is surely right that getting angry won't solve anything and that those who do want to combat the evil of Islamophobia will never be able to do so until and unless they overcome these limitations and answer the challenge he has posed.
We've been building to this point since 2001. An arrogant, violent, xenophobic subcult of Islam announces its opposition to all other religions and declares war on the rest of the world. The rest of the world, having outgrown comic books, space opera, and the novels of Sax Rohmer, doesn't take them seriously. They can't be serious, can they? And even if they are, the police will come and arrest them. Nothing will happen to us...
After awhile the booms add up. There are too many corpses to be ignored. It really can happen here: 9-11, Bali, Nord-Ost, Madrid, van Gogh, Casablanca, shootouts and head choppings and booms in Soddy Arabia, bus after bus in Israel, continuing carnage in Kashmir, children slaughtered in Beslan, 70,000 dead blacks in Sudan, the meat-grinder of Chechnya... And always, every day, plots unearthed, spittle-spewing imams, oily princes, corpulent holy men, money flowing in all directions, International Men of Mystery, ruthless henchmen, all in the name of the Religion of Peace. Eventually, even in a peace loving, short attention span world, people start to catch on. Eventually critical mass will come and they won't take it anymore, no matter how many symposia are held trying to figure out how to stamp out Islamophobia. It's not a phobia when the fear's legitimate.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2004 9:09:04 PM ||
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its ISLAMOMISIA not islamophobia--we don't have an irrational fear of these fucks--we hate them
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/09/2004 1:43 Comments ||
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#2
*Applause* Top ranting.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
12/09/2004 6:06 Comments ||
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#3
All these"be tolerant of Islam"bullshit,but never a "be tolerant of Christians and Jews",What a bunch of crap!
#4
Eventually critical mass will come and they won't take it anymore
If they don't like it now when we're just mad at them, they really won't like it when the general public acually becomes scared. Civilized nations can do ugly things when they're afraid.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/09/2004 9:05 Comments ||
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#5
The total of fear and civility is a constant. The Islamists get to set the proportion by their behaviour. I'd say we're at 2% fear at the moment.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 9:09 Comments ||
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#6
I'd like to know what percentage of the members of the Religion of Peace⢠would like to see the Jews exterminated.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/09/2004 9:32 Comments ||
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#7
New York of a U.N. seminar devoted to the question of how best to counter Islamophobia and promote tolerance
*scoff* Gosh...here is an idea: How about promoting tolerance for groups other than yourselves? Naaah.
want to know the problems with mean and intolerant jokes like this one? intolerant joke
They are too true to be really funny.
#8
Dateline: Paris, 1943. Hermann Goering announced the opening today of the world's first symposium on combating Naziphobia...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/09/2004 10:52 Comments ||
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#9
Perhaps Prague or Warsaw, not Paris.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 11:00 Comments ||
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#10
It's the "We're the Victims Show" again. There is that fundamental disconnect between cause and effect. It will cost the Muslims big time if they don't get the connection. It's up to them. I don't see President Bush doing his RoP thing so much any more, either, FWIW.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/09/2004 11:09 Comments ||
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Two North Korean diplomats have been detained by Turkish authorities on charges of drug smuggling, the Associated Press reported yesterday from Istanbul. The North Korean diplomats, based on Bulgaria, were arrested after a raid on Sunday in Istanbul, according to Turkish police. The diplomats were suspected of smuggling hundreds of thousands of narcotic pills into the country.
The North Koreans are accused of smuggling fenethylline, a synthetic drug more commonly known as Captagon, from Bulgaria, a police source was quoted by AP. They were attempting to deliver the drugs to two Turks who were also arrested. According to the AP report, a photo of their confiscated car appeared in yesterday's edition of the Turkish newspaper, Milliyet. The car reportedly had diplomatic license plates. Turkish authorities reportedly investigated the case for six months. It remains unclear how Turkey will deal with the North Koreans. Turkey has diplomatic relations with the North, but there is no North Korean embassy in Istanbul.
North Korean diplomats have been detained in various places around the world on drug trafficking charges in the past. Pyeongyang uses its diplomats for drug smuggling operations to raise hard currency, largely aimed at funding its military operations, according to testimony of defectors.
"State-owned assets, particularly ships, have been used to facilitate and support international drug trafficking ventures," the report said.
Posted by: RWV ||
12/09/2004 11:30:57 AM ||
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South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun made a surprise visit to his troops in northern Iraq on his way home from a European tour. Lee Byung-Wan, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said the visit had been kept secret for security reasons. "President Roh Moo-Hyun has just concluded a visit to the Zaitun (South Korean military) unit in Arbil, Iraq, on his way back home from Paris," Lee told reporters. South Korean media pool reports from Iraq said Roh, wearing an army jacket, had meals and chats with troops during his 120-minute stay. "Thank you all so much. It may be a short meeting, but it is such a happy time," he was quoted as telling the soldiers at a mess hall. "I'm so proud of you."
#5
This will give them a little experience in peace keeping in a hostile overthrown country, that'll help when they have to move into North Korea. I'm surprised the Norks haven't figured that out yet.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/09/2004 13:12 Comments ||
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In a fresh sign of lingering tensions over the Iraq war, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell Thursday rapped European allies who declined to assist a NATO-led Iraq training mission as "hurting the credibility and cohesion" of the military alliance. A half dozen NATO members have flatly refused to allow officers assigned to NATO bases to participate in the training operation -- a move that U.S. officials said was unprecedented. Even as the 26-country alliance decided Thursday to expand the small operation in Iraq from 60 to 300 people, officials from the recalcitrant nations -- which include France, Germany and Spain -- held firm. "We will send no troops to Iraq," said German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. He said this position has been clear since the training force was established last June. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told reporters that "given the current security situation, we think it is more efficient and useful if training takes place outside of Iraq."
The transatlantic rift emerged as U.S. officials have signaled a new approach in their dealings with Europe. The White House announced Thursday that Bush will visit NATO and meet with European leaders on Feb. 22, in what Powell called an effort to "mend these breaches." NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Poland, Hungary and the Netherlands had agreed to send more staff for the mission, which is located inside the heavily fortified area in Baghdad known as the Green Zone. NATO also plans to set up a military academy outside Baghdad, but has received no commitments of staff yet. But Germany provides a disproportionate share of the international command staff, so its directive to German NATO officers could hamper the operation. Joining Germany, France and Spain in refusing to provide staff for the training operation were Greece, Belgium and Luxembourg. The usual suspects. Old Europe.
snip
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 6:32:29 PM ||
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Riddle me this: When is an "ally" no longer an ally? When is an "alliance" no longer an alliance?
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/09/2004 23:27 Comments ||
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President Bush will visit NATO and the European Union on Feb. 22 in a move to rebuild transatlantic relations at the start of his second term, European NATO diplomats said on Thursday. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is in Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers' meeting, said on Wednesday that Bush planned to make the first overseas visit after his inauguration next month to Europe but gave no date. "We are reaching out to Europe and we hope that Europe will reach out to us," he said in a public lecture, appealing for more European help to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan
A NATO official said it was too early to say whether the visit would be billed as a fully-fledged summit. "All I can confirm is that President Bush has stated his intention to come. I would expect a summit but I would have to wait to confirm that," said the official, who declined to be identified. The NATO session on Thursday is expected to be the last attended by Powell before he hands over to successor Condoleezza Rice.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/09/2004 8:55:34 AM ||
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No summit! Peak only.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 9:00 Comments ||
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#6
Or just use some of my supplements; you'll be goin' yard 70 times a year in no time!
Posted by: Barry Bonds ||
12/09/2004 16:51 Comments ||
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The timing puts Pres.Bush in Europe after Iraq elections and during Islamic holy month of Ramadan. I wonder if instead of Pres.Bush going to Europe to mend fences,he is going to see if he can get any support for dealing w/Iran once and for all.
Posted by: Stephen ||
12/09/2004 19:10 Comments ||
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As international attention remains occupied with the terror murder of Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh by an Islamic extremist, and the long-term implications of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism within Europe, Greece continues to be roiled by a debate over the proposed construction of the first state-recognized mosque in the vicinity of Athens in modern times.
The Islamic Center in the Athenian suburb of Peania, more than 15 miles northeast of Athens near the new international airport, will be financed directly by the King Fahd Foundation of Saudi Arabia. According to the Arab News, an English-language Saudi daily, some 8.5 acres were donated by the Greek government for the structure. Foreign assistance for the radicalization of Islam in Greece will inevitably be a central element of the activities at the mosque, which will be very large, intended, it is said, to accommodate all of the estimated 120,000 Muslim faithful in the capital city. The total number of Muslims in Greece is estimated at more than 500,000.
A major portion of the current Greek nation-state was still under the Ottoman Empire less than a century ago. Western European journalists who have tended to report the debate over the mosque as if it stemmed entirely from the fact that the Ottomans ruled Greece for more than 400 years are wrong. Rather, the problem has everything to do with the international spread of Wahhabism, the violent, exclusivist, and fanatical Islamic sect that is the state religion in Saudi Arabia.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
12/09/2004 4:09:58 AM ||
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Kofi should go to Greece to help them with their rampant Islamophobia.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 9:02 Comments ||
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As international attention remains occupied with the terror murder of Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh by an Islamic extremist,..
"International" meaning other nations besides the U.S. As far as I can tell, our press hasn't had much to say about the subject of van Gogh's murder....
Taken from the writings of Rachel Corrie
MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE
Directed by Alan Rickman
07 April 2005 - 30 April 2005
Evening Performances - Monday — Saturday 7.45pm
Saturday Matinees - 16, 23, 30 April 4pm
Press night(s) - Thursday 14, Friday 15 April 7pm
Why did a 23-year-old woman leave her comfortable American life to stand between a bulldozer and a weapons smuggling tunnel Palestinian home?
The short life and sudden death of Rachel Corrie, and the words she left behind.
MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE has been developed by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner, in collaboration with the Royal Court International Department. With the kind permission of Rachel Corrie's family only because it furthers the lie.
Cast: Megan Dodds.
Come one, come all. Donations of maple syrup are accepted at the door.
Posted by: Korora ||
12/09/2004 12:03:47 AM ||
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My name is Rachel Corrie. I am a pancake now because I am stupid. I thought I wuz stronger than a bulldozer, but I guess I wuznt. Oh well, at least I am good with syrup now.
#3
You know, there are a few things in life that you must find out about, "the hard way". Like those curious little holes in the wall, where your mother plugged things in, when you were a little kid. It's pretty much of an accepted fact, that every kid will sooner or later stick something metal in the electrical outlet, and shock himself/herself. But, learning a VERY valuable lesson.
That being said..... Standing in front of the "business end" of a bulldozer that ain't stoppin', is NOT one of those things that you have to experience to know NOT to do it. You can pretty well bet that you're going to end up a greasy spot on the road. Man,....if you play with fire, you're going to get burned.
#6
The short life and sudden death of Rachel Corrie
Hopefully the play is as short and sudden . Dunno how they gonna fit a bulldozer on the stage though . Health and Safety Executive would have a field day over here in England :P
#7
is she related to edward arlington robinson's richard corey--both outwardly admired--both verry daid
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/09/2004 1:54 Comments ||
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#8
"Hi, Rachel, my name is Bull, Bull Dozer. May I call you 'Pancake?'"
Posted by: Mike ||
12/09/2004 6:08 Comments ||
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#9
Natural Selection continues apace..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
12/09/2004 6:45 Comments ||
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#10
If Rachel Corrie had lived during the Nazi era she would fit right in with the worst of them.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
12/09/2004 8:07 Comments ||
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#11
A friend saw it. Said it left her flat.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 8:14 Comments ||
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#12
Mrs D - add *rimshot*
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2004 8:18 Comments ||
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#13
Liberals should borrow from the Catholic Church and have their own saints and feast days. I forsee:
Big breakfast get-togethers on St. Rachel-Corrie-the-Pancake Day.
Dress down on St. Michael Moore Day.
Turned-up collars and frizzy hair on St. Tuh-Ray-Zuh Day.
A Halloween-type theme on St. sKerry Day.
Underwater swimming events on St. Teddy Day.
I don't even want to contemplate what happens on St. Slick-Willie-the-Bubba Day.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/09/2004 8:18 Comments ||
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#14
bobbing for bananas apples
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2004 8:20 Comments ||
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"Why did a 23-year-old woman leave...."Short answer=stupid,dumb-ass c%^nt.(apollogy to all the brilliant,level-headed women here.not a word I like to use)
Rachel Corrie went to Palestine
to free the Arab mob,
burning flags and sleeping round
and acting like a yob.
She sought to save the pimps and punks
and generate a sob,
but a D-9 ended that.
[chorus]
Rachel Corrie got run over,
Rachel Corrie got run over,
Rachel Corrie got run over,
a D-9 ended that.
She climbed atop a mound of dirt
to stop the dreaded foe.
Her heart was full of hubris
her enemy named Moe.
The D-9 was large and loud
and so she turned to go
but a D-9 ended that.
[chorus]
Now Rachel lies flattened
beneath the Army tread.
Her pimps and pushers honor her
repeating what she said.
But nothing makes up for the fact
that she's really, really dead.
A D-9 ended that.
#17
Horst Wessel was born September 9, 1907, in Bielefeld, Germany. Wessel dropped out of law school and defied his mother by joining the Nazis, becoming an SA storm trooper. He lived in a Berlin slum with a former prostitute. On February 23, 1930, someone (different accounts say it was a political enemy, the woman's former boyfriend, or perhaps her pimp) broke into Wessel's apartment and mortally wounded him.
Joseph Goebbels, the Nazis' propaganda chief, claimed Wessel was murdered by a Communist, and made him a martyr in the party's struggle with their Communist opponents. Wessel was given an elaborate funeral, which was interrupted by stone-throwing Communists. The murder and reaction helped turn public opinion in favor of the Nazis and against the Communists.
A poem Wessel had written was put to music and became the marching song of the SA and later the official song of the Nazi Party and unofficial national anthem of Germany.
The Sage continues with a new name and a new mythology.
Posted by: Don ||
12/09/2004 9:29 Comments ||
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#18
sorry, meant Saga continues...
Posted by: Don ||
12/09/2004 9:46 Comments ||
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#19
The actress they got doesn't even look like her. They'll need lots of Pancake.
#22
Hi, my name is Rachel Corrie and I am an idiotarian.
In fact she was more than that. She didn't go to Tibet, she didn't go to Saddam's Iraq, she didn't go to Sudan. She didn't went into any of the hellholes where people are killed in droves, she wasn't for relieving those wgo really suffer. She went to the fashionable, the thing who got you media exposure, she didn't mind to help babykillers and that means whe was a babykiller too. She was repugnant, utterly repugnant.
#23
Sage words from you all. Chuck, love the lyrics! Raptor, sometimes only strong words suffice,and I'm sure the brilliant Rantburg ladies will forgive you. I do, too ;-) Darn it, Seafarious, did you have to mention Galaxy Quest? Its one of the few movies we actually own! I really wish those who work in the entertainment fields would accept that we only want them for their bodies artistic abilities, and stop pretending that anyone cares what they think!
#24
I really wish those who work in the entertainment fields would accept that we only want them for their artistic abilities, and stop pretending that anyone cares what they think!
I care. Keep yapping, useful idiots. You can't buy publicity this good.
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
12/09/2004 15:28 Comments ||
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#25
Raptor-No worries-no offense. Occasionally, not often, I've seen much worse on this site, and in those instances being offensive has nothing to do with using profanity.
She's just one in a long line of moron martyrs.
Last night on Cspan there was an absolutely sickening panel talking about how we're all supposed to just plunge on ahead with Palestinian negotiations, ignoring suicide bombings that take place during the process.
OK-so let's see-you have an enraged, self-victimizing culture that is going to enter negotiations to see a Palestinian state delivered.
Conditions:
If you bomb, you get your country
If you don't bomb, you get your country
If you're angry and violent already, what incentive do you have to stop killing Israelis if you get a country either way?
Honestly, you would think the people charged with moving the peace process ahead haven't learned even the most basic facts about human nature and basic motivational techniques.
#26
Don't laugh at 2 space. Rachel "the Bird" Corrie has adapted well to Flatland but was last seen teasing a Frank J 2 space Catepillar. If she gets run over here I guess she becomes a segment of our imagination.
The RCMP has warned its investigators to be on the lookout for cleverly disguised messages embedded by al-Qaida in digital files police seize from terror suspects. An internal report obtained by The Canadian Press gives credence to the long-rumoured possibility Osama bin Laden's terrorist network and other extremist groups are using a technique known as steganography to hide the existence of sensitive communications.
Steganography, from the Greek word stegos, meaning covered, and graphie, or writing, involves concealing a secret message or image within an apparently innocuous one. For instance, a seemingly innocent digital photo of a dog could be doctored to contain a picture of an explosive device or hidden wording. "Investigators in the course of their work on terrorist organizations and their members, including al-Qaida and affiliated groups, need to consider the possible use of steganography and seek to identify when steganography is known or suspected of being used," the report says. It recommends investigators consult the RCMP's technological crime program for assistance, including "comprehensive forensic examinations" of seized digital media.
A heavily edited copy of the January 2004 report, Computer-assisted and Digital Steganography: Use by Al-Qaida and Affiliated Terrorist Organizations, was recently obtained from the Mounties under the Access to Information Act. The RCMP seems especially concerned, however, about digital steganography - the use of special computer programs to embed messages. "There now exist nearly 200 software packages which perform digital steganography," the report says.
A limited number of publicly available software tools are designed to detect the use of steganography, but the "success rate of these tools is questionable," the RCMP adds. Some only detect the use of specific software, while others are useful for scouring only certain types of files in which the secret message may be hidden. There have been numerous media reports in recent years that terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, were using steganographic techniques. The phenomenon is "deeply troubling," said David Harris, a former Canadian Security Intelligence Service officer now with Ottawa-based Insignis Strategic Research. He suggested any delay in detecting disguised messages could be disastrous. "We're talking very often about time-sensitive issues: where is the bomb? Who's operating in connection with whom?" he said. "On that kind of basis, this is really, really disturbing as a development." Harris also questioned whether western security agencies have sufficient personnel and resources to uncover the messages.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/09/2004 3:32:40 AM ||
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"The threat, however, is SO serious, that the RCMP feels it necessary to examine every pornographic digital image on the Internet for hidden messages."
#2
Steganography is a real technique, really being used by Bad Guys.
Posted by: too true ||
12/09/2004 9:47 Comments ||
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Not clear to me why they would bother considering the quality of standard encryption methods that are readily available.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/09/2004 9:51 Comments ||
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#4
There are many ways to do this. A simple-minded method would use two files, one a 24 color BMP, the other a 2 color BMP of equal dimensions where the message is typed in using the text tool of Windows Paint (or drawn if it is a schematic). You can use Imagemagick tools to zero out the least significant bit in the red value of every pixel of the 24 color BMP. You then go pixel by pixel in the 2 color BMP, and where it is black, you set the least significant bit in the red value of the corresponding pixel in the 24 color BMP. The change in color intensity is so slight, one wouldn't normally notice.
To reproduce the message, start off with a blank 2 color BMP of the same size as the 24 color BMP, go pixel by pixel in the 24 color bmp, and if the red value of the pixel's color is odd, set the corresponding pixel in the 2 color BMP.
The use of the BMP (or TIFF) file is a giveaway, since the lossy compression in JPEG or PNG files would add noise, if not destroy, the embedded message. There may be ways around this, such as using all three colors instead of just red, and using a majority vote algorithm for each pixel.
#5
Tom, the idea is to not convey the impression that a message is being sent: If they send an encrypted message, then our guys may not know what the message is or be able to crack it, but traffic analysis will tell our gyys whether something big is coming up. a couple of the last orange alerts were partly due to detecting elevated levels of message traffic. Messages hidden in porn pics would be lost in the vast traffic in them in the internet.
#6
Simpler ways to get around traffic issues too. I can put an encrypted file on my web site and anyone who knows it's there can call it up from any library, Internet cafe, or other public Internet access point. It can be self-decrypting with a password and I can change the contents anytime I please. I could also slip the same file onto any website that I can gain access to, such as a corporate website where I work.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/09/2004 14:34 Comments ||
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#7
Or you have one Hotmail account that everyone has access to. Just leave messages in the draft folder and never send them, just post, read or delete.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/09/2004 15:35 Comments ||
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#8
*nods* not any different from the spy-novel drop location.
#9
Ptah, do you think we're more vulnerable or less vulnerable today to cyber-attacks of the sort Richard Clarke was always hollering about five years ago?
#10
lex, 'cyberattacks' are like Y2K, good for scaring the masses, but really don't stand up to serious scrutiny. You want to lie awake worrying about something, then worry about a coordinated attack with an infectious agent bringing down the healthcare system.
Congress' new blueprint for U.S. intelligence spending includes a mysterious and expensive spy program that drew extraordinary criticism from leading Democrats, with one saying the highly classified project is a threat to national security. In an unusual rebuke, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, complained Wednesday that the spy project was "totally unjustified and very, very wasteful and dangerous to the national security." He called the program "stunningly expensive." Rockefeller and three other Democratic senators _ Richard Durbin of Illinois, Carl Levin of Michigan and Ron Wyden of Oregon _ refused to sign the congressional compromise negotiated by others in the House and Senate that provides for future U.S. intelligence activities. The compromise noted that the four senators believed the mystery program was unnecessary and its cost unjustified and that "they believe that the funds for this item should be expended on other intelligence programs that will make a surer and greater contribution to national security."
"We can't tell you anything about it, but it's evil. Trust us!"
Each senator _ and more than two dozen current and former U.S. officials contacted by The Associated Press _ declined to further describe or identify the disputed program, citing its classified nature. Thirteen other senators on the Intelligence Committee and all their counterparts in the House approved the compromise. Despite objections from some in the Senate, Congress has approved the program for the last two years, Rockefeller said.
So it's a old program?
The Senate voted Wednesday night to send the legislation to President Bush. The bill is separate from the intelligence overhaul legislation that also won final congressional approval Wednesday.
Ah, so this is different bill than the one the 9-11 Commission jammed down our throats
The rare criticisms of a highly secretive project in such a public forum intrigued outside intelligence experts, who said the program was almost certainly a spy satellite system, perhaps with technology to destroy potential attackers.
It's the space-based Zionist Death Ray! I was hoping that would be funded this year.
They cited tantalizing hints in Rockefeller's remarks, such as the program's enormous expense and its alleged danger to national security. First the Dhimmicrats make it a national scandle that the 9/11 commision recommendations aren't passed. Then they whine when it is passed because it includes things they lost on in a majority vote. They sound like all whiners all the time. They need to start doing something positive or they will get as much attention as a 5 year old whiner. snip
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 11:30:21 AM ||
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#1
Not being privy to the details, I have to rely upon the signs and tell-tales...
If Rockefeller *spit* and Levin *gag* are against it - charter members of The Utterly Partisan Self-Serving TV-Interview-Hound Assholes Union, well - that prolly means it's a good thing. These buttwipes would give away the intel farm to our enemies for a favorable interview and some political points.
#3
Called positioning, I believe. They know they are cannot stop the bill so they make an issue of an obsure clause so that down the road a few years when there is a screw-up they can jump up and say "We told you so".
Posted by: john ||
12/09/2004 15:50 Comments ||
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#4
The only thing hazardous to national security is the self serving politicos in the democratic party. While I enjoy the self destruction taking place, it is not good in the long term to have a country that can only rely on one party for national security.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
12/09/2004 20:47 Comments ||
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#11
This could be good. We could be treated to another picture like that one of the soldier shaking hands with Hillary while crossing his fingers behind his back.
Unfortunately I suspect that there will many hints to the grunts to "be nice" from above.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
12/09/2004 11:59 Comments ||
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#12
Want to bet?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 12:01 Comments ||
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#13
Will Luvvy be along to entertain the troops with her Sam Kinnison imitation?
A senior CIA operative who handled sensitive informants in Iraq asserts that CIA managers asked him to falsify his reporting on weapons of mass destruction and retaliated against him after he refused. The operative, who remains under cover, asserts in a lawsuit made public yesterday that a co-worker warned him in 2001 "that CIA management planned to 'get him' for his role in reporting intelligence contrary to official CIA dogma." The subject of that reporting has been blacked out by the CIA, and the word "Iraq" does not appear in the heavily redacted version of the legal complaint, but the remaining language and context make clear that the officer's work related to prewar intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
In the lawsuit, the officer asserts that CIA managers retaliated against him for refusing their demands by beginning a counterintelligence investigation of allegations that he had sex with a female asset and by initiating an inspector general's investigation into allegations that he stole money meant to be used to pay human assets. Those investigations, the lawsuit asserts, were "initiated for the sole purpose of discrediting him and retaliating against him for questioning the integrity of the WMD reporting . . . and for refusing to falsify his intelligence reporting to support the politically mandated conclusion" of matters that are redacted in the lawsuit. The lawsuit marks the first public instance in which a CIA employee has charged directly that agency officials pressured him to produce intelligence to support the administration's prewar position that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were a grave and gathering threat, and to suppress information that ran counter to that view. "Their official dogma was contradicted by his reporting and they did not want to hear it," said Roy Krieger, the officer's attorney.
Anya Guilsher, a CIA spokeswoman, said the agency could not comment on the lawsuit but added, "The notion that CIA managers order officers to falsify reports is flat wrong. Our mission is to call it like we see it and report the facts." The unnamed operative is a 23-year officer of Middle Eastern descent who spent much of his career on secret and covert operations to collect intelligence on and interdict weapons of mass destruction, the lawsuit says. In 2002, the lawsuit says, the CIA officer "attempted to report routine intelligence" from a human asset "but was thwarted by CIA superiors." It goes on to say that he was subsequently approached by a senior desk officer "who insisted that Plaintiff falsify his reporting," and that when he refused, the "management" of the CIA's Counterproliferation Division ordered that he "remove himself from any further 'handling' " of the unnamed asset, who is referred elsewhere in the document as "a highly respected human asset."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington on Friday and placed in the public court docket yesterday after a judge said it could proceed using a pseudonym for the plaintiff, says his superiors falsely promised him that they would report his findings to President Bush and falsely claimed that they had disseminated some of his other reports through normal channels. In 2003, the lawsuit says, the CIA officer learned of the counterintelligence investigation of allegations that he was having sex with a female asset. Five days later, it says, he was told that a promotion was being canceled "because of pressure from the DDO [Deputy Director of Operations] James Pavitt." Pavitt declined to comment.
In September 2003, the CIA placed the officer on administrative leave without explanation, the lawsuit says. Eight months later, it says, the inspector general's office advised him that he was under investigation for "diverting to his own use monies provided him for payment to human assets." The document says the allegations were made by the same managers who had asked him to falsify reports. In August 2004, he was terminated "for unspecified reasons," the lawsuit says. It requests that his employment, salary and promotions be restored and that the CIA pay compensatory damages and legal fees. In a letter to CIA acting general counsel John Rizzo dated Dec. 6, Krieger requested a meeting between the officer and CIA Director Porter J. Goss because of "the serious nature of the allegations in this case, including deliberately misleading the President on intelligence concerning weapons of mass destruction."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/09/2004 3:20:01 AM ||
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This article would be a lot better if it were referring to a former employee. This guy is a jerk either way. If true why didn't he say so at the time instead of now? Just a future ex-employee trying to negotiate a beter severance package.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 8:21 Comments ||
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#2
Article: The unnamed operative is a 23-year officer of Middle Eastern descent
#4
I think all these allegations needs to investigated. In turn, if this guy has an alterive motive then he needs to be prosecuted. It is not good for the future leadership of this country to have these allegations lingering around. If the American people can't trust our CIA, FBI, Nxx's, then we have a major problem. Porter Goss cleaning house is definitely a good start.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 11:39 Comments ||
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#6
Was this the same operative that provided intel to the Russian, French, German, and British intelligence offices that came to the same conclusion that Iraq probably had WMD? Need to expand the number of collection points fellows.
Posted by: Don ||
12/09/2004 12:52 Comments ||
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#7
The CIA's war against Bush continues apace. Time to accelerate that purge, Mr. Goss.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/09/2004 12:56 Comments ||
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#8
Yeah, NO WMDS IN IRAQ = NO WMDS IN IRAN = NO WMDS IN NORTH KOREA...SYRIA...CUBA...AFRICA...LOWER AMERICAS.....@, even iff several or many world INTEL services andor UNO Resolutions, etc. say otherwise!? War for Socialism-Communism-OWG = meritorious state/region-specific defense against America and only America, as honest injun and equalist as the pro-Communism and pro-anti-American Clintons being what they are UNILATERALLY, UNCONDITIONALLY, and UNDENIABLY justifies absolute belief that it was America and Dubya that conspired for 9-11 and the resultant "unjust' "immoral" "illegal" war against Islamic states, where absolutely obeying the UNO and world community = absolutely disobeying the same. THE FAILED LEFT'S BIGGEST, ULTIMATE, ALL-ENCOMPASSING SINGLE JUSTIFICATION FOR SUPERGOVT AND SUPER-REGULATION IS ITS OWN PRO-DEMOCRACY = ANTI-DEMOCRACY,.......et al. LOGIC AND ACTIONS.
#9
And even iff these did have WMDS, they don't threaten Dubya and America because we're all, directly or indirectly, Republicans and Rightists anyways whom under CLINTONISM and CLINTONIAN NATIONAL UNITARIANISM are SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, still deserving of destruction.
#11
Joseph, you sound like very pissed. Fortunately, the only Clinton's agenda seems that was to get mostly some suction rather than any action to endow a collectivistic paradise. I was worried. But luckily, the providence had mercy on us.
All things considered, it could have been all worse.
#12
How can the President have any confidence in anything coming out of this agency? Wrong on fall of SU, wrong on first Gulf War, wrong on ObL, wrong on Saddam's WMD, and through all this, practically blind in the middle east.
Really, why is it not better to shut it down and start over? Can't a hard core of trusted, hand-picked good officers be housed in another agency while the re-building takes place?
From an e-mail posted by Hugh Hewitt:
The number ONE request at Walter Reed hospital is phone cards. The government doesn't pay long distance phone charges and these wounded soldiers are rationing their calls home. Many will be there throughout the holidays. Really support our troops --Send phone cards of any amount to:
Medical Family Assistance Center
Walter Reed Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001
They say they need an "endless" supply of these -- any amount even $5 is greatly appreciated. Walmart has good prices on AT&T cards, Sams Club is even better, if you are a member. I am sure you would feel better about doing this, than to buy something for a third cousin, find it on the closet shelf six months later, and wonder where it came from. C'mon, Rantburgers - I'm sure most of us could afford at least one $5 card. I'm a Sam's member and will be stopping by this weekend to pick up some cards. (And this is in spite of needing $3600 to replace my furnace.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/09/2004 12:12:27 PM ||
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Which is better, several small denomination cards or one large one? Me thinks many smaller ones, but, what do I know.
I don't have stamps or anything else I need to do this, I do everything over the 'Net, but it rings true - and the address being Walter Reed gives me sufficient confidence it's legit.
Thanks, again, Barb, heh. I'll get out there today and give this a shot!
Maybe if the wounded have access to computers, they will learn about us, come here, and realize they're respected and not alone.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/09/2004 16:35 Comments ||
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#9
Not to pass the buck but the major telcos really should be stepping up and offering free calls to these soldiers. The cost to the carriers is next to nil anyway.
I've emailed the PR folks and corporate foundation types at Verizon and SBC. Let's hope they step up.
#10
# 9 correct. Several phone carriers open up there lines to those in the military to CALL HOME
for FREE. You may also contact Radio stations
as they make public service announcements between music request's for any soldier. As a matter of fact I heard one last night from a Natioanl Guard Member who is in Iraq being sent to a family member in Boston. Many can call over the internet as well. I will send a couple phone card's to Walter Reed. I'm a giver NOT a taker.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
12/09/2004 19:13 Comments ||
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...the hell? I've never paid long distance charges since the day I bought my cell phone! There's got to be some way of getting some cell phones to these guys--like a central hospital pool of phones they can share--so they can call anywhere nationwide without incurring LD charges. With Sprint, I have unlimited calls on weekday nights after 7pm and all day on weekends and holidays with no LD charges, and that's only one of the smaller $30/month plans (there are probably cheaper plans as well). That's early enough in the evening for plenty of quality chat time on the east coast, and with Walter Reed being in the EST that works fine all night long for soldiers calling their relatives back west as necessary.
If we could donate to a fund for such a cell phone pool it'd save tons o' $$$ in the long run over the pre-paid LD cards.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/09/2004 19:46 Comments ||
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#12
Bingo. Long distance is almost costless. Phone cards are the wrong way to go.
#13
You are correct, but who is going to police all the cell phone usage ?? The short staffed nurse's?? What about stealing cell phones??
I can picture that happening. I think calling card's are the safest way. Let the radio stations know and allow some air time for our soldier's. Our local T.V. station in Springfield Mass gives air time as well. I think the FOX network does this as well.
ANdrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
12/09/2004 20:39 Comments ||
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#14
Andrea--Picture this: you want a phone, you check it out using your military ID, or more preferably a credit card. It's available after 7pm and must be returned by, oh, say, midnight. Calls are free between those hours, so abuse can't take place. Lose the phone, you're billed for it and any overage charges--unless you notify the center immediately so they can contact the provider and remove the phone from service. Then you're just billed for the phone.
A limited number of phones would likely be in demand, so a signout sheet can be used to reserve a phone for some future evening. Then it's yours for the evening, or less if you want to return it early.
Yeah, it'd take more organization and effort than handing out long distance cards, but it's not all that complicated. Any volunteer or candy-striper could handle this and probably enjoy it--you'd be pretty popular handing out phones for making free long distance calls.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/09/2004 21:08 Comments ||
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#15
hey Dar- go to hell! How many in a hospital have a credit card available? The dog will eat the sign out sheet- volunteers are NOT plentiful.
I suggest you call someone who cares! Not this gal** Good night you are giving me a headache
with your rhetoric!!
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
12/09/2004 21:18 Comments ||
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On January 6, 2004, Anti-CAIR published a Press Release concerning Minhaj Arastu, the lead contact for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter in Columbia, South Carolina. Why are we revisiting this issue? It's the result of a complaint Anti-CAIR (ACAIR) received from the parent of an Irmo High School, Columbia, SC student. Why is Irmo High School important? Mijhaj Arastu is the teacher the parent is concerned about. In his capacity of teacher at Irmo High School, Mr. Arastu:
1. Required the students to create a pamphlet which would teach people about Islam.
2. Spent an inordinate amount of time discussing the "5 pillars of Islam".
3. Had an "Orthodox Christian" priest speak to the class who informed the students that all religions are based on Islam.
4. Told students that the United States is a Judeo-Christian-Muslim "nation"according to the beliefs of the founding fathers.
5. According to the student, Arastu is a passionate Muslim and is the sponsor of the school Muslim student group and was instrumental in having a portion of the school library set aside for Muslim students to pray each day. (There are no such accommodations for other faiths.)
So we have a CAIR officer, sponsoring the school's Muslim student group, bringing in speakers who falsely claim that the founding fathers desired the fledgling United States to be a "Judeo-Christian-Muslim nation" requiring students to create Muslim pamphlets and learning about the five pillars of Islam. Just when do we Americans wake up to the threat of militant Islam in our public schools? When is "enough" enough? What will it take to get parents, teachers, administrators, and the public incensed to the point where positive steps are taken to protect our children from the false indoctrination and perversions of radical Islamists?
We saw with our own eyes the evil of radical Islam on 9-11 we're seeing militant Islam rear its filthy head in Europe on an almost daily basis, Our soldiers are returning to our country in body bags as a result of militant Islamists hell-bent on earning a place in paradise by killing infidels. Just why do we put up with militant Islam in the United States? At what point will the straw break, and what will happen when it does? We invite our readers to read an excellent article by Dr. Daniel Pipes on the issue of Islamist influence in the public schools. The gist of Dr. Pipe's article is that Islamists are deliberately targeting our school systems in an attempt to spread propaganda to students on the tenets of Islam. Read his words carefully,you'll never be able to say you weren't warned.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/09/2004 10:01:04 AM ||
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#1
This wouldn't surprise me much in California or Vermont, but in South Carolina?
#2
The author's a tad overwrought. The prospect of an Islamist takeover of the South Carolina public schools is about as likely as the prospect of Hillary Rodham Clinton winning the Daytona 500 next year.
#3
Take a look at teacher retention rates, student demographic changes, and non-native populations in schools in SC. I only have a vague sense of what is happening there (no statistics, just kind of in-the-field observations), but South Carolina appears to be struggling in the educational arena.
The US passport is about to go electronic, with a tiny microchip embedded in its cover. Along with digitized pictures, holograms, security ink, and "ghost" photos - all security features added since 2002 - the chip is the latest outpost in the battle to outwit tamperers. But it's also one that worries privacy advocates.
The RFID (radio frequency identification) chip in each passport will contain the same personal data as now appear on the inside pages - name, date of birth, place of birth, issuing office - and a digitized version of the photo. But the 64K chip will be read remotely. And there's the rub.
The scenario, privacy advocates say, could be as simple as you standing in line with your passport as someone walks by innocuously carrying a briefcase. Inside that case, a microchip reader could be skimming data from your passport to be used for identity theft. Or maybe authorities or terrorists want to see who's gathered in a crowd and surreptitiously survey your ID and track you. Suddenly, "The Matrix" looks less futuristic. I would hope that the information would be encrypted but this is the state department.....
The State Department maintains that such scenarios are outright fiction.
"A person can't be tracked," says Kelly Shannon, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department. "It's not as if the information is going to broadcast and anyone with a receiver can be picking up that signal. There isn't a signal."
The passport, issued to officials and diplomats in early 2005 and to the public by the end of the year, is accessed using a reader that "pings" the microchip in order to release the data, much like proximity cards used for workplace ID badges. What prevents surveillance is that "the passport can only be read at a distance of 10 centimeters or less," explains Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, an industry association that represents the four companies that produced prototype chips for the State Department.
"It's perfectly reasonable that the government wants a machine-readable photograph," says Bruce Schneier, a security guru and author of "Beyond Fear." "I just worry that they are building a technology that the bad guys can surreptitiously access."
The State Department says it's just following international standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), under the umbrella of the United Nations (Oh shit - I thought I smelled something). In May 2003, the ICAO specified the RFID and facial biometric or digitized head shot now being adopted by other countries at the behest of the United States. All countries that are part of the US visa-waiver program must use the new passports by Oct. 26, 2005.
Although the data on the chip will not be encrypted, for the sake of easing "interoperability" across international borders, Ms. Shannon says, the government does plan to incorporate a security feature that will largely prevent skimming. Embedded fibers in the front and back covers will shield the passport from electronic probing, at least while it is closed. Other security features in the new passports include a digital or electronic seal that will ensure the document is authentic and smart-card technology that renders the chip inoperable if it is tampered with using energy waves or radio waves.
Posted by: CrazyFool ||
12/09/2004 9:52:07 AM ||
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Digitized head shot. Interesting term.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/09/2004 11:31 Comments ||
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#2
So what's going to happen to the old passports? I can't imagine starting over again from scratch with a new one devoid of stamps...
#3
I remarked 20 years ago that smart cards are a solution in search of a problem. The main problem with them is authenticating their origin. If crooks can make fake credit cards (with smart chips) then they can make fake passports, and they can. I hope that smart cards are being used for an improved identity system and the security comes from databases that track their use.
#4
BaR, when you get your new passport, ask for your old one back. The clerk will punch a hole through the old one, to show that its not to be used, and you can then store it with your favourite treasures ;-) Passports need to be replaced every 10 years anyway, and this article, at least, doesn't say that everyone will have to get new passports ahead of schedule. And anyway, if the new world standard is based on US requirements for foreigners travelling here, its only fair that citizens comply as well.
#1
For "mired" write "involved." Better. "It is time we admitted that we are not at war with 'terrorism.'" OK. "We are at war with Islam." No-: just some sects of Islam. Get it right or you don't have a chance of getting anybody to help clean the Muslim house.
We need a good propaganda campaign, and it has to go beyond "Americans are fine people." Somewhere there are Muslim scholars who can counter Qtub and Wahhab and Khomeini: is there some quiet way of getting their voices widely heard in the Muslim world? Strangling Saudi funding of the extremist teachers would be a good start, but I don't think it would be enough: they've got too much of a head start.
Posted by: James ||
12/09/2004 13:32 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, we are at war with all of Islam. I disagree that we are at war with some sects and not others. Why, because general Islam is the soil from which this particular form or terrorism and islamism grew.
What we need to make clear is a distinction between the sanctity of the lives of law abiding muslims and their ideas. This is a war which on the one hand requires that we physically combat those who intend to kill us and one which on the other hand is a war of ideas. While we must be clear of our opposition to the islamic concept that all spheres of life must be governed strictly and directly by a state religion, we must also make it clear that we will not wage that war on the persons or livelihoods of law abiding muslims.
We combat lies by telling the truth without reservation or apology and the truth is that the only way to success and happiness for mankind is a principled separation of church and state and a principled application of Western style capitalism.
You'll note my use of principled. As a Christian, I believe that as individuals we must apply our Christian ethics to all that we do. Morality is the province of individual conscience and the state as a entity needs to stay the hell out of that province. We have the Christian faiths hard won wisdom to thank for this wall between an individuals application of a religious code and the state's power. And we have Jesus directly to thank when he instructed his disciples to "render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's and render unto God what is God's"
Long and disturbing article. Don't know if any of it is true.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/09/2004 2:04:27 AM ||
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#1
Saw this on Drudge yesterday. I'm hoping that it isn't true. (Think of "Falling Down" where Michael Douglas's D-FENS character runs into a homeless man who claims to have been in Viet Nam. He asks him: "What were you? A drummer boy?" To which the man shakes it off and says "I meant the Gulf War, man...")
Still, it isn't out of the realm of possibility. Sad to say.
#2
I worked at homeless shelters for years as a volunteer and I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that the main reason why anyone winds up in a homeless shelter is (In order of likelyhood) :
1) Drug/alchohol Abuse.
2) Mental illeness.
The homeless vet bullsh*t is just what it is: bullsh*t. The only reason why someone winds up in the street is fully by choice in 99 percent of the instances.
Sniff at this 'news', yawn and move along. Nothing to see here.
#3
badanov: My wife's an RN and worked in homeless outreach for three years. What you said.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/09/2004 9:35 Comments ||
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#4
It appears our wonderful VA is still non-proactive. [BTW - if you want Hillarycare, just look what a good job our VA does cause that is what you're going to get at best. Note well how much real concern expressed in funding dollars the Dems, champions of government healthcare, have had for the VA. Guess there are not enough votes there.] Unfortunately, the VA is not part of DoD and, once the individual passes from uniform authority, its a matter of two non-coordinating bureaucracies shuffling paper. Maybe this will light a fire under someone's ass to 'make it work'.
Posted by: Don ||
12/09/2004 9:41 Comments ||
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#6
Steve White: Homeless Iraq vets showing up at shelters
There are a lot of homeless people claiming to be vets of one kind or another. A tiny minority are actual vets with substance abuse problems - the majority are frauds with substance abuse problems.
Cue auto article-generator:
- psychotic vets freaking out upon return home
- divided families
- Kerryite "dissident" soldiers testifying to "war crimes" etc
A gunner's mate for 16 years, Arellano said he adjusted after serving in the first Gulf War. But after returning from Iraq, depression drove him to leave his job at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He got divorced.
#10
Arellano said he adjusted after serving in the first Gulf War. MSM sub-text: No problem with this war: Multilateralism, good.
But after returning from Iraq, depression drove him to leave his job MSM sub-text: Uh-oh: Unilateralism, bad. And no doubt he was deranged by the insufficiency of armor for Humvees.
#11
Maybe this fellow's depression came from listening to the press lie about what he'd accomplished?
(But, generally, it's safest to bet bums are lying about being vets.)
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/09/2004 10:50 Comments ||
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#12
Is mental illness a "choice"?
Is it possible these vets got hooked on drugs after onset of post-traumatic stress disorder from combat?
I knew a man who was a medic in Vietnam. To most in the community, he was a well-respected carpenter/architect. A "lucky" few of us saw the inner demon still haunting him-a violent, angry former soldier whose disorder was never healed.
IMO Trauma tends to screw with peopleâs ability to regulate and process emotion, and can set up dysfunctional motivational and information processing loops that negatively impact a personâs ability to cope with the demands of life. That said, the choice to not seek help for the problem is what most likely leads to failures to thrive in society. Mental illness, which correlates highly with failures to thrive in society, is simply a constellation of symptoms resulting from dysfunctional ways of dealing with life.
Why people donât seek help (from psych professionals, priests, pastors, family, friends, etc.) most likely has to do with habits regarding social support. Those habits relate most strongly to upbringing (i.e., whether you grew up in a loving, open family).
I would guess war is traumatic. Traumatic events are stress producing events that carry a high risk of personal harm and/or result in actual personal harm.
The risk of war leading to mental illness is probably the highest for soldiers who come from an unsupportive upbringing, and donât have a good head on their shoulders before going to war, and then donât have a good support system after returning from war. The risk of mental illness following war is probably not higher than the same type of person undergoing any similar traumatic event (i.e., rape, incarceration, poverty and violence, police work, fire fighter work, etc.).
#15
Yes, you have to be careful on who we are truly dealing with. When you claim to have fought to serve our country, so many will run to assist.
You see this on the street in Manhattan often.
Many work 9 - 5 Monday to Friday and on weekends or week night's they go out and pan handle. This is tax free money folks** Think about it if you dress and play the role of a homeless bum
and take home $200.00 each week (many of them make more if they bring along hobo the dog or felix the cat) to gain sympathy from passer by
times 4 weeks- simply $800.00 each month extra tax free dollars for the CON ARTIST.
It is a true story. I dated a N.Y.C Cop and he told me himself- that is what is going on. Many run to Salvation Army, by wigs, old clothes and scruff themselves up in order to make extra money.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
12/09/2004 19:44 Comments ||
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#16
# 12 you are correct. If this is true which I feel some of it could be, we are going to see a social crisis with our veterans. A few month's ago I noticed in our local daily paper there was a story or two about a soldier who came home on leave and it was "SO BAD" over there the soldier committed suicide. My uncle was a VIETNAM vet and to this day he WILL NOT TALK ABOUT NAM.
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
12/09/2004 19:52 Comments ||
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#17
#13 PLEASE educate yourself on DEPRESSION.
WHen diagnosed with clinical depression, it is difficult to tend to lifes most simplist tasks.
I have friends who suffer and I work with handicapped client's- for some getting out of bed is impossible. When your brain is "out of balance" your WHOLE BODY IS OFF.
ANdrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
12/09/2004 19:57 Comments ||
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#18
When ever ima feel blue I buy a 2 dollar toemaytoe and slice it up and share it with my cat lizzie.
#19
# 14 you left out genetic predisposition. I have a hard time comparing WAR to any other stress. Many turn their back to our veteran's
mainly the U.S. Government- who sent them there in the first place! A real nice Thank You**
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea Jackson ||
12/09/2004 20:02 Comments ||
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#20
Why does this patter have such a familiar ring to it? I think I'm having deja vu all over again - haven't we been here before and heard this same voice and story before?
#24
Present policy at the VA is that claims from vets of Iraq, Afganistan & those identified as homeless are fast-tracked. The higher ups are watching this very closely. Both VA & service organizations like VFW, American Legion, etc., have outreach programs for homeless vets. The case load is huge though and the process can be slow. Vets need to do their part too. If you don't show up for exams or provide info required by law we can't award you benefits. And if we don't have a clue as to where a vet is, we can't send benefit checks.
What should we use to judge them, Kofi? Forced conversions? Honor killings? Their propensity for intolerance? Their propensity for either tin-hat dictators or rule by holy men? Dropping brick walls on homosexuals? Slavery? Genital mutilation? How about the elevated status of women in Islam as a whole? None of those are acts of terrorism per se. Instead, they're the cultural background that gives rise to terrorism's henchmen.
Like I say, if the fear's justified, it's not a phobia. I don't have a rabid dog phobia, but I'm afraid of rabid dogs.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2004 10:58:21 PM ||
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#1
Right. I guess Kofi is looking for a new income source to make up for the oil for food thing which has dried up.
#2
I don't have anything else to judge them by. Every thing I hear or see about them is not good. Of all the many religions of the world including satanism, Islam is the only one I know of which says that I must consider myself inferior to a muslim, convert or die. It's a religion born of war and murder as far as I can tell. Oh yes I forgot I am supposed to believe it's a religion of peace. They must mean the peace of the dead.
Sorry Kofi I don't trust them anymore than I trust you.
#6
SPOD...Of all the many religions of the world including satanism,
It is really a sad statement that Islam - a religion that is practiced by billions of good people (yes, I mean that), is far more deadly and evil than Satanism.
#7
This is from Scrappleface, right? How about a seminar on anti-semitism? How about a seminar discussing how Islam might enter the modern world and stop making war upon every one of its neighbors from Nigeria to Holland to Russia to Indonesia?
#8
Kofi's plagiarizing himself. This speech is almost identical to the speech he gave saying we shouldn't judge UN leaders by the amount of money they've stolen.
Some House Democrats are coming to the defense of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan after several Republican lawmakers called for his resignation because of allegations of corruption in the organization's oil-for-food program. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, sent a letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Colin Powell, saying criticism of Annan is "disgraceful and premature." "There has been no hint of impropriety on the part of the secretary-general, who on numerous occasions has proven his honesty and integrity," the letter said.
It was signed by 19 Democrats and independent Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. On Monday, Democratic Reps. John Conyers of Michigan and Donald Payne of New Jersey sent a letter to House colleagues in support of Annan. "To decide that the secretary-general must resign is an absolutely premature conclusion to draw when there is no evidence or even allegations that the secretary-general profited from the oil-for-food program," they said. The program allowed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to sell oil and use the proceeds to buy food, medical supplies and other humanitarian items. Congressional committees are investigating allegations that Saddam manipulated the program to generate illicit income and win influence with foreign officials.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 8:18:53 PM ||
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#1
"There has been no hint of impropriety on the part of the secretary-general, who on numerous occasions has proven his honesty and integrity,"
Mr. Annan's competence, however, has yet to be proven.
#3
Conyers, Kucinich? Oh there's a pair to draw to. More like the usual suspects showing up to pay obeisence. Ramsey Clark must be in the wings.
Posted by: Jim K ||
12/09/2004 8:40 Comments ||
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#4
Here's the whole list. (Actually 20 wingnuts.) Sure are a lot of Caliphornians. It would be interesting to leatn the extent to which these folks represent districts that include institutions of higher learning.
Joining Kucinich on the letter were Reps.
Watson (D-CA),
Lee (D-CA),
Davis (D-IL),
Hinchey (D-NY),
Woolsey (D-CA),
Solis (D-CA),
Brown (D-OH),
McDermott (D-WA),
Clay (D-MO),
Filner (D-CA),
Stark (D-CA),
Serrano (D-NY),
Baldwin (D-WI),
Farr (D-CA),
Olver (D-MA),
Sanders (I-VT),
Miller (D-CA),
Rodriguez (D-TX),
Kleczka (D-WI),
Jackson-Lee (D-TX).}
Â
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 8:54 Comments ||
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Whew - glad to see my congresscritter ain't on there. He's in a "safe" seat, which seems, statistically, to encourage drooling idiocy in the professional chattering class. But evidently he's not that crazy...yet.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2004 11:41 Comments ||
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#7
Same old, same old. Baghdad Jim McDermott, Sheila "Do You Know Who I Am" Jackson-Lee. Every election cycle there seems to be fewer of them. I wonder why that is?
#11
George Miller (D-CA) is Berkeley's member of the house. Well, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, and Albany to be exact, but you get the picture. A real burned out Marxist-hippie type whose top priorities seem to lie somewhere between taking away your hunting rifle and taking away your SUV. In short, very representative of his district but getting ever older....
George old boy the ash bin of history awaits your sorry ass. Go grim reaper go!
#12
So when are KOFI & SON gonna start acring like NANCY PELOSI, weirdly and mysteriously post-elex acting demure, non-combative, and almost a woman, as the Clintons-led DEMS = PARTY OF REASON, FAIRNESS, AND JUSTICE, aka the, SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH, "NEW GOP/RIGHT" or" REAL GOP/RIGHT", subaka PARTY OF PROPRIETY,... ever since O'REILLY indic Hillary for 2008 has to remake herself into BETTY CROCKER. * LOW BLOW, O'REILLY, linking Commie Hillary to a beloved American product.
#2
I'd stand and applaud for hours as well if I had a percentage of that scam known as the UN. Well, maybe not.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/09/2004 1:18 Comments ||
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#3
ya know at a meeting of all the capos the capo da tutti cappi always gets a standing ovation--afterward they all retired to eat pizza, red wine and cannolis
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/09/2004 1:47 Comments ||
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#4
See what happens when you offer to redecorate the offices? Morale goes through the roof.
I wish Giuliani were still in ofice to "supervise" the approval and inspection of the renovations of the UN building. Perhaps he might find it unsuitable for human habitation and condemn it for use as public housing.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 8:40 Comments ||
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#5
He'd have to move fast. Those Turtle Bay staffers are quick to grab the silverware.
Attempts by Indonesian prosecutors to link a radical Muslim cleric to terrorist bombings suffered a blow on Thursday when five people convicted over the blasts failed to implicate him. Abu Bakar Bashir, 66, is on trial for inciting followers to carry out the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings in which 202 people died, and plotting an August 2003 attack on the Jakarta Marriott hotel in which 12 were killed. Police and prosecutors claim he heads Jemaah Islamiyah, a group said to have links to Al-Qaeda and blamed for attacks including the Bali and Marriott blasts and the September bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. If convicted he faces a maximum death penalty.
The case is seen as a test of new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment to tackling extremists in his country. Foreign governments, who view Bashir as a major threat, are keen to see a conviction. But in a succession of testimonies, five prominent figures convicted over the Bali and Marriott bombings all denied knowledge of Bashir's involvement. Among those giving evidence were key Bali bomber Idris, alias Mohammad Ikshan, and Rusman Gunawan, the younger brother of alleged Jemaah Islamiyah mastermined Hambali -- who is currently in US custody. Also appearing were self-confessed group members Adhi Suryana and Utomo alias Abu Faruq and Samuri, convicted for harbouring terrorist fugitives. Gunawan, serving a four-year term for helping fund the Marriott strike, told judges he had never met Bashir although he encountered the cleric's son in Pakistan before he (Gunawan) was deported last December on suspicion of terrorism. "I have never received any assistance (from Bashir)," he said.
Idris, sentenced to 10 years for the Bali bombing, admitted he had met the suicide bomber in the Marriott attack and knew Azahari Husin, a Malaysian explosives expert who allegedly helped make the Marriott and Bali bombs. But he said although he had studied at Bashir's Islamic boarding school in central Java, he had no direct knowledge of the cleric who had "never" ordered the bombings. "I don't even know him. How could he have given me an instruction?" Idris told the court.
Witness Suryana, a Jemaah Islamiyah member who trained for eight months at a camp run by Muslim rebels in the southern Phillipines, also said he had "never heard anyone talk about" Bashir's role in either bombing. Prosecutors say Bashir, as head of he terror group, visited a Philippine rebel training camp in April 2000 and relayed a "ruling from Osama bin Laden which permitted attacks and killings of Americans and their allies." Suryana said he had neither been inspired by Bashir's sermon nor received instructions from the cleric to attack the Marriott hotel. Bashir was cleared last year by an Indonesian court of leading Jemaah Islamiyah, which seeks to create an Islamic fundamentalist state in Southeast Asia, but police say they have new evidence of his leadershop role. The cleric was arrested a week after the Bali blasts and has remained in detention ever since. Prosecutors have said in their indictment that he orchestrated the Marriott bombing from his cell. Bashir has described the indictment as "legal fiction" and said he had nothing to gain from acts of terrorism since they would only fuel interference in Indonesia by Washington.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/09/2004 10:33:05 AM ||
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Is anybody surprised?
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
12/09/2004 20:48 Comments ||
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Let this maggot walk, just so long as we have a nice welcome wagon waiting for him across from the jailhouse gates. If Bashir ever draws a breath outside of prison walls, it should be his last.
From Geostrategy-direct, requires subscription
It sounds incredible but a Lebanese militia has managed to achieve effective deterrence against the most powerful military in the Middle East. Israeli commanders have acknowledged that Hizbullah has acquired a missile and rocket arsenal that is so large that the Jewish state does not want to provoke the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group. The commanders said Iran has obtained up to 15,000 short, medium and long-range rockets that could cover most of the country. This is very disconcerting. I would like to see some independent verification.
As a result, Hizbullah calls the shots along the Israeli-Lebanese border. The Shi'ite group decides when to attack Israel and how. If Hizbullah wants to conceal its fingerprints, it merely hires Palestinian mercenaries to fire rockets inside Israel. "We can fight and beat Hizbullah," a senior commander said. "That's not the issue. The issue is the cost. Large parts of the north would be destroyed and the casualty rate could be enormous." How enormous was the subject of study recently submitted to Israel's Defense Ministry. It found that Hizbullah could wipe several Israeli communities off the map with a rocket and missile barrage. And Hizb'Allah gets its resources from Iran. It all goes back ultimately to Iran.
Even more dangerous was the vulnerability of Israel's northern city of Haifa to Hizbullah rockets. In an assertion supported by military commanders, the study found that Hizbullah could destroy chemical facilities in Haifa that would kill everybody for miles around. Quietly, the General Staff is warning the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that such a threat cannot be tolerated. Senior commanders warn that in any war with Syria, Hizbullah could flatten northern Israel and create a second military front that must be reckoned with. It seems that neutralizing Syria as a base for Hizb'Allah would go along ways in drying up this threat.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/09/2004 4:43:06 PM ||
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#1
Looks like pulling out of southern Lebanon has worked out really well for Israel. < NOT > They really need to move the border to the outskirts of Tripoli and Damascus over in Syria. Let those cities stare out at a pile of artillery pieces and rocket launchers for a while.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
12/09/2004 16:58 Comments ||
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#2
I would like to thank Ehud Barak for bending over (not backwards) and giving up the Golan Heights.
If I were to ever meet you, I will buy you a drink. < NOT >
#5
" As a result, Hizbullah calls the shots along the Israeli-Lebanese border "
Do you really think Isreal lets Hizbullah call the shots on the border ?
That is a statement like the Insurgency calls the shots in the Sunni Triangle.
#6
Don't assume those JDAMs were for Iran. Syria command and control centres are also held at risk. The missle threat is real but over-rated, they're gone in 48 hours and N. Israel build houses thick.
#7
I call shenanigans. This seems a bit pessimistic. I liken this situation to that of N. Korea attacking the South, only on a much smaller scale. The first hour (few minutes in the case of Israel) would be bad, but the attackers would be destroyed in the next hour or two (15 minutes in the case of Israel). It may be that this is too high a price for a small country like Israel. However, it does make the case for preemption more compelling.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/09/2004 18:02 Comments ||
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#8
There is a down side for Hizbullah here also.
They become hostages for Lebanon's stability. The govt of Lebanon/Syria needs stability to have economic growth and they need Hizbullah to be quiet to have stability.
One thing I'm not sure of is the cost Hizbullah bears to keep all their missiles and launchers in good condition.
#9
We are talking a high concentration of missiles in a relatively small area, mostly the Bekaa Valley. The logical counter would be to use air-dropped pressure munitions, like propane bombs, that would cause sympathetic detonations over a wide area. Even in bunkers, each bomb might set off well over 100, 1000 or more missiles. This is assuming that they are properly stored and separated, which they probably aren't.
#10
The analogy with Korea is apt. The author, Jack Wheeler, of the article at the link believes that both the USA and Israel have the means to deal with massive artillery, missile/rockets & troops in a border situation near cities. Also the smart spears might be a solution to the Iranian nuke problem. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/30/30344.shtml
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 19:19 Comments ||
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#12
All the more reason for making it crystal-clear to Iran that any massive offense by Hizbullah will result in Kargh Island or some other vital Iranian asset being crippled. That Israel should have to constantly fight a proxy war with Iran is becoming ridiculous. Especially so, in light of Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and their avowed intention of instigating an atomic war in the Middle East.
A new paramilitary group is sparking a skirmish between Iranian hardliners for power and position in the run-up to next year's presidential elections. The Units for the Protection of Society is a little-known civil defense militia recently established by the Iranian judiciary, a body dominated by so-called "traditionalist conservatives." The militia, relatively unknown by most Iranians until recently, was first proposed by Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudithe, the chief of Iran's judiciary, In January 2004. Shaikh Sadi, a mid-level cleric who heads a 10'000-member-strong branch of the Units militia in the southeastern province of Khoozestan, describes the group's goals as crime fighting, intelligence gathering, and providing religious guidance. "When various crimes and laxities go on unhindered in our neighborhoods, our youth don't often know what they should be doing to confront them," Sadi told the Iranian Students' News Agency on 3 December. "That's when the Units for Social Protection would go into action."
Ah, so it's a islamic Hitler Youth
That job description has put the Units in direct competition with the Basij, a neo-conservative-aligned militia that has existed for 25 years as Iran's only volunteer paramilitary group. At Its peak, during the war with Iraq, the Basij numbered more than 1 million volunteers; today, it has an estimated membership in the hundreds of thousands, though the Iranian government puts its membership at 10 million. But politics lies at the heart of much of the Basij's activity - and its suspicion of an alternative volunteer group like the Units.
It's the SS vs the SA, who's got the popcorn?
Iranian hardliners have traditionally presented a united front for taking on policy questions or political adversaries. But with the ousting of reformers following last February's parliamentary elections, that unity has begun to crumble. Differences have centered around negotiating tactics with the International Atomic Energy Association, the direction of the country's economic policy and the May 2005 presidential elections. In the last two elections, Basij and its parent organization, the Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran (RGCI), have played a considerable role in the election of a large pool of neo-conservatives to parliament as well as to Iran's city councils. Both groups have promised to repeat their electoral success in next year's presidential race. In this scenario, the Units could emerge as a powerful competitor. Yet, their backing by the judiciary, a pivotal force In Iranian politics, means that neo-conservatives have until recently expressed their objections mildly. It is believed that the formation of such a sizable new paramilitary force must also have had the approval, at least tacitly, of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If the militia has Ayatollah Khamenei's approval, most observers believe that It was given to counterbalance the increasing power of the neo-conservatives, a fact that has apparently alarmed the traditionalists. So far, however, Ayatollah Khamenei has refrained from making any direct statements about the controversy surrounding the Units. That has left the path open for the neo-conservatives to take their own stabs at the group. While praising the new militia's motives as "quite commendable," Mohammad Dehghan, rapporteur for parliament's neo-conservative-dominated judicial committee, told the Fars news agency on 20 November that "its rules and its constitution show that it suffers from serious defects and shortcoming that could strike a blow against the prestige and the existence of our Islamic order". National oversight on religious matters, Dehghan went on to say, "is referred to the law only and is not the purview of the judiciary branch". As if to reinforce that message, parliament has expanded funding for the Basij, recently passing a resolution that called for the allocation of an additional US$350 million to the volunteer group. The sum, financed by Iran's Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund, will go toward "reinforcing" Basij's military bases and providing necessary equipment for disabled war veterans, Iran Daily reported.
At the same time, the Basij has begun to change tactics toward the Units. After a period of self-imposed silence, Brigadier General Seyed Mohammd Hejazi, the militia's leader, told members that the rival militia could cause many problems. "This scheme lacks expertise and professional groundwork," the ISNA and Fars news agencies quoted Hejazi as saying on 17 November. "It has been implemented in Khoozestan province. It has had many shortcomings there and they have had serious problems with it." The past two years have seen a dramatic increase in Basij's level of activism. Its volunteers can be found in most workplaces, schools and neighborhoods. Ostensibly, the reason for this expanded role is Iran's heightened state of alert in response to US operations In Iraq and Washington's criticism of Iran's nuclear ambitions. As if to reinforce the Basij's official role in countering external threats to Iran's Islamic regime, Khamenei has termed the group "Iran's atomic bomb" for a 25 November rally of tens of thousands of Basij volunteers staged In Tehran on the eve of an IAEA meeting. But the Supreme Leader's show of support may do little to deflect the Units' rise. As the campaign for the presidential elections gets underway, acrimony is expected to only increase between the two hardliner camps. So far, two provinces in addition to Khoozestan have completed the preliminary work for organizing their own local Unit for Social Protection militias, with much more work promised in the near future.
I'm rooting for a bloody confrontation between two groups of Black Turbans
Posted by: Steve ||
12/09/2004 10:11:30 AM ||
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Interesting how the author continues to use "neo-conservative" in describing a hitlerian style Islamofacist youth unit
#2
Interesting how the author continues to use "neo-conservative" in describing a hitlerian style Islamofacist youth unit
Orwellian, really. White is black.
It's the US neo-cons who are the most prominent advocates of liberal democracy in the world today. It's the European "democratic left" that is the western world's strongest advocates for Islamo-fascism.
#3
true! MSM standard stylebook neocon = Joooooooo (see: Wolfowitz)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2004 11:59 Comments ||
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#4
Its important to understand Iran functions a lot like a comunist era state. This development may signal an ideological split along the lines of the Lenin/Trotsky split in the Soviet Union. Resulting in major purges.
Iran's Intelligence Minister Ali Younessi has denied claims by the judiciary that members of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network have been tried and sentenced. "Probably the judiciary in Tehran was speaking about the sentencing of Al Qaeda sympathisers and not their principal members," Younessi was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA. On Tuesday, a Tehran justice department official told AFP that "sentences have been pronounced" on Al Qaeda suspects detained on Iranian soil in a case handled by a special judge. But the official refused to say who the accused were, how many of them there were, nor what verdicts were reached or sentences handed out.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/09/2004 3:28:31 AM ||
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[I]n a stark testimony to the difficulties ahead for the new Palestinian leadership, Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia stayed away from the largest refugee camp, Ein el-Hilweh, home to rival Palestinian factions.
Under heavy guard, the leaders instead laid a wreath at a martyrs' monument in the southern city of Sidon before going to Rashidiyeh, a camp of 17,000 people dominated by their Fatah loyalists. Hundreds of uniformed and armed guerrillas were deployed in the narrow streets of Rashidiyeh, near the port city of Tyre, to protect the leaders. It was the first visit to Lebanon by senior Palestinian officials since PLO guerrillas were driven from the country in 1982. Crowds of men, women and children, estimated at about 5,000, carried Palestinian flags or pictures of Abbas and Yasser Arafat. Children fresh from classes joined the elderly at a playground for the Fatah-arranged rally, applauding repeatedly on hearing Arafat's name.
Both Abbas and Qureia reassured the crowd the new Palestinian leadership will not compromise their rights. "We cannot fill the vacuum left behind by Yasser Arafat," said Abbas. "We will try through the institutions to fill this vacuum and continue the mission and fulfill the trust." He said all Arafat's principles — including establishment of an independent Palestinian state and the right of return — "amounted to a will that must be complied with by every Palestinian." Qureia said: "We will not compromise over this (return) right. We will cling to it and we will struggle for it." He reiterated that east Jerusalem should be the capital of any future Palestinian state.
Although the refugees cannot vote, their sheer numbers — 350,000 in Lebanon alone — and the fact that their cause has been at the center of the political dispute makes them a crucial constituency. "We support the good man," said 88-year-old Saeed Ghrayel, who fled his home near Lake Tiberias in 1948. "We are with Fatah and the PLO. We put our trust in them. They are responsible for us," he said.
#1
It still is unbeliveable to me that the Paleos are still enthralled with the Arafish, especially after he abscounded with Billions of their money. Bunch of Moroons. Good luck to the PLO in finding the Arafish cash stash, heh heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/09/2004 16:59 Comments ||
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From Drudge Report:
From: [Chattanooga Times Free Press military reporter] Pitts, Lee
Sent: Wednesday, December 8, 2004 4:44 PM
To: [Chattanooga Times Free Press staffers]
Subject: RE: Way to go
I just had one of my best days as a journalist today. As luck would have it, our journey North was delayed just long enough see I could attend a visit today here by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. I was told yesterday that only soldiers could ask questions so I brought two of them along with me as my escorts. Before hand we worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armor their vehicles going into combat have. While waiting for the VIP, I went and found the Sgt. in charge of the microphone for the question and answer session and made sure he knew to get my guys out of the crowd.
So during the Q&A session, one of my guys was the second person called on. When he asked Rumsfeld why after two years here soldiers are still having to dig through trash bins to find rusted scrap metal and cracked ballistic windows for their Humvees, the place erupted in cheers so loud that Rumsfeld had to ask the guy to repeat his question. Then Rumsfeld answered something about it being "not a lack of desire or money but a logistics/physics problem." He said he recently saw about 8 of the special up-armored Humvees guarding Washington, DC, and he promised that they would no longer be used for that and that he would send them over here. Then he asked a three star general standing behind him, the commander of all ground forces here, to also answer the question. The general said it was a problem he is working on.
The great part was that after the event was over the throng of national media following Rumsfeld- The New York Times, AP, all the major networks -- swarmed to the two soldiers I brought from the unit I am embedded with. Out of the 1,000 or so troops at the event there were only a handful of guys from my unit b/c the rest were too busy prepping for our trip north. The national media asked if they were the guys with the armor problem and then stuck cameras in their faces. The NY Times reporter asked me to email him the stories I had already done on it, but I said he could search for them himself on the Internet and he better not steal any of my lines. I have been trying to get this story out for weeks- as soon as I foud out I would be on an unarmored truck- and my paper published two stories on it. But it felt good to hand it off to the national press. I believe lives are at stake with so many soldiers going across the border riding with scrap metal as protection. It may be to late for the unit I am with, but hopefully not for those who come after.
The press officer in charge of my regiment, the 278th, came up to me afterwords and asked if my story would be positive. I replied that I would write the truth. Then I pointed at the horde of national media pointing cameras and mics at the 278th guys and said he had bigger problems on his hands than the Chattanooga Times Free Press. This is what this job is all about - people need to know. The solider who asked the question said he felt good b/c he took his complaints to the top. When he got back to his unit most of the guys patted him on the back but a few of the officers were upset b/c they thought it would make them look bad. From what I understand this is all over the news back home.
Thanks,
Lee
Posted by: Steve ||
12/09/2004 12:17:05 PM ||
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thanks Lee,.... dickhead
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2004 12:30 Comments ||
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#2
Can we get this guys home address? I want to order a tanker full of fresh effluent and have it pumped through his mail chute.
#3
This is another of the "He's not anti-war, he's on the other side." examples.
There will be a reckoning with these people, somewhere, sometime down the road. Everyone who did their bit to undermine morale, give aid and comfort to the enemy, chip away at the foundations of Freedom, whether by flushing their supposed journalistic neutrality or by partisan political acts - they will be held accountable.
#5
I disagree. If our troops feel they need better armour for their vehicles they should get it. And it should be made public to put pressure on the decision makers to get it done. This isn't anti-war it's about making our troops as safe and overwhelming as possible.
A lot of troops obviously agreed with this assesment or he wouldn't have gotten the applause. Just because someone questions how we're handling a situation or whether we're making the right decision doesn't make them the "enemy" or anti-war. You guys really need to differentiate between who is the enemy and who you just disagree with...
#7
DPA - true, true. But the presenttion of this question by the MSM - lacking other photos showing the enthusiasm that the troops had for Rusfeld - is one reason why I trust individual bloggers and distrust anything I read in the mainstream press. That's a problem for the press, because I don't even bother to pick up papers left on the Metro. It's not that I don't want to read them, it's just that they are so lame, it's not worth it to bother.
I'm just the tip of the iceberg. They are the Titanic.
#8
The bad guy here is not the MSM, but rather inability of the Army to armor ALL the vehicles.
Does anyone in their right mind really believe that this mighty country, industrialized country cant turn out more then 450 armored vehicles per month?
Hell, get GM, F, DCX etc to make less SUV's and MORE armored vehicles.
It is sickening to send these guys in unprotected.
You can bet Rummy went into Kuwait with armor on his limo.
This is America, we should be getting 5,000 or more vehicles per month, as many as needed!
1) Do you know there were "cheers so loud that Rumsfeld had to ask the guy to repeat his question" - or are you relying upon this reporter's account? Did you see a film clip? Read another report of the same event by a reliable source?
2) Do you find the reporter's attempt to set Rumsfeld up acceptable? Is this reporter to be given credence when he actually conspired to create a scene? If nothing else sways you from thinking this reporter is an asshole, this should.
I am certainly for getting the troops everything we can lay hands upon for their safety. This was far less about that, than scoring points.
From this asshole's actions we can clearly see the real problem:
What and whom to believe...
#11
Hmm--there are some comments and quotes on Instapundit today that reflect an entirely different attitude. I, for one, agree with the poster Sgt. Missick that the real signicance of this event is that the SoD was willing to stand there and field questions--questions that were NOT pre-screened--from the rank and file. He demonstrated that he respects the troops and was willing to risk exactly this kind of manufactured media B.S. to let them air their concerns before the cameras.
Even Lee's article above states that the soldier who asked the question felt better afterwards, and he should--he just put the SoD on the spot and got a response. If this leads to the transfer of those armored Humvees from DC and elsewhere to Iraq where they're more sorely needed, then it was worthwhile.
Unfortunately, the MSM will, as usual, completely ignore the larger significance, but focus on any one negative aspect to make Bush and Co. look bad. But none of us here are surprised.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/09/2004 13:21 Comments ||
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#12
.com, I generally agree with, but in this case I think you are wrong. It's the proper function of the media to raise issues of concern. Thats what the reporter did, and as a result Rummy will work on improving the situation. I suspect your real issue is not what the reporter did, but the fact the MSM will now use this incident to push its agenda.
#13
I'm agnostic on the issue of whether the reporter performed a service or disservice to the troops. To me, the bigger issue here is the same ol' same ol: bloggers need to source, scoop, and create their own stories and not merely react to the agenda set by the MSM.
#14
The reason this Drudge story is important is that it refutes the MSM story. The MSM story was that the soldiers grilled Rumsfeld. This was an Important, Legitimate Story because it implied a lack of support from the troops for the civilian leadership. But now we know that it was the media grilling Rumsfeld, through a soldier who agreed to read a reporter's question. That is not the story the MSM put out. Once again, the MSM is pushing a false story for political purposes.
There was a great deal of frustration in the voice of the soldier who asked questions regarding vehicles being up-armored, and the hangar did erupt in applause after he spoke, but I wouldnât translate one very tough question into a grill session by American forces.
The question addressed a concern that is apparently shared by many soldiers over there. I think the MSM is wrong to focus solely on it and make it look like such a fiasco, but I don't blame Lee for it. I think Lee is genuinely concerned:
I believe lives are at stake with so many soldiers going across the border riding with scrap metal as protection. It may be to late for the unit I am with, but hopefully not for those who come after.
And I like that he got to tell the NYT reporter to shove off and do his own work.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/09/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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#16
This remark captures the motivation of the Chattanooga hack:
I have been trying to get this story out for weeks- as soon as I foud out I would be on an unarmored truck
#17
.com, I caught the whole thing from my roost here in Europe. CNNi broadcast it. BLUF: the guy was hard to hear. What amused me was CNNi's build up of this event as somewhat atagonistic to Rummie. It wasn't. (not sure if you guys saw the Chaplain asking Rummie to fly the troops to Disneyland).
As for armor. Real nice to have. I'm not going to take anything away from Soldiers deployed in theatre, but as a recently returned NCO related:" If you're worried about IEDs, you're in a world of hurt" (I.E., if the IED goes off, the battles been lost. Wretchards piece on the Russians in Grozny writ small).As the Isreali's, Russians (sort of) and others have learned, the key is to disrupt the enemy before they lay down the IEDs. Daisy chain some 155 mm shells togehter, and an M1 is going to have a bad day. My thinking, we're going to have a bad day, as long as:
The Pasdranan are active.
Saddam's kid(s) are active.
AIRSTRIP Syria is active.
#18
If anyone is looking for information about this issue, I have covered it in detail and here are some links to my sources: Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4
This issue is whether or not EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE is armored, from the fuel tankers, to the PLS, to the stake trucks, etc. Each vehicle presents its own armor problems. Units leaving Iraq are leaving their armored vehicles behind to assist incoming units.
#20
If the issue was the procurement problems with getting equipment, then the reporter had better get his ass back to DC and start putting Representatives and Senators in the public hot seat for all the laws and regulations they impose on the procurement process. Having done time the bowels of procurement, a lot of process and paperwork is generated to satisfy requirements of the legislative branch. No one wants to go before a Congressional committee to explain to some Pol seeking public spin time that all the regulations and the laws they wrote where being followed. $500 hammer? Maybe because you made it a crime to go down to Sears and buy it locally, because Sears doesn't feel like hiring a ton of employees to fill out compliance reports to satisfy some federal regulations. So you force the procurement officer to use an existing contract which carries lots of overhead expense which you by law authorize the contractor to charge. However, it will be the procurement office's butt on the hot seat, not the representatives who made the process that way. Let's look at laws that require the Army to buy specifically from someone or have to use outside sources for programs above a certain financial level. If you dealing with the Army, you are buying a lot of armor kits and that financial level gets crossed rather quickly. When you want to do it fast, you have to go sole source. There is no competion and Congress makes it as hard as possible to do it that way. Lots of paper, lots of mother-may-I's. The normal delay for a competitive contract takes months, which is not supportive of the Joe in the field. And just wait till one of the bidders or even potential bidders challenges it. More calendar time.
This was just a cheap shot by the reporter. If he was truely concerned with the troops, he should have followed the 'money trail', tracked back the process to identify the real problems contributing to the delays. Instead this was a chance to get his byline across the wire. Nothing more.
Posted by: Don ||
12/09/2004 14:01 Comments ||
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#21
gimpy - Thx - and thanx to everyone commenting on this piece, regardless of the POV and assessment. This does go to the heart of the problem of our baseline information, upon which we rely to draw our own private conclusions and judgements. It doesn't help to have a Fifth Columnist MSM.
There are multiple wars, to go with the multiple battles of the War on Terror / The Caliphate / Socialism / Communism / Maoism / Enemies of Freedom, and maybe the biggest and most important one of all is the information war.
lex is dead right in that we need unfiltered sources and a reliable means of accessing that information. It's the difference between voting for a traitor (Thank You Swift Boat Vets!) and a true leader. It's fundamental to our society and our freedom. We definitely need un-staged reporting, no matter what the reporter's POV - let the troops decide what they want to ask and let their reps in Washington answer them - face to face. I care about our troops - been there and done that before there was diddley-squat for personal protection - maybe the reporter does care too, but I question his motivations, ethics, and politics.
re: the concerns, keep in mind this is a national guard unit that has NOT YET BEEN IN IRAQ. In other words, they are sitting in Kuwait and have concerns.
Fair enough, but not quite the same thing as a unit in-theater giving first hand feedback.
Re: IED's, we're doing a lot to find and blow them up before our vehicles get to them. Some we miss. Meanwhile, Sen. Dodd's political posturing is just that - posturing. It's absurd to imply that soldiers can be kept 100% safe. We do what we can, but there are risks involved.
Hell, there are risks involved in training - guys die right here in the US in training accidents and have every year for a long time.
Rummy's right: you do what you can, to the best degree you can --- but meanwhile, you keep fighting the war you need to fight.
Posted by: too true ||
12/09/2004 14:11 Comments ||
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#23
This was just a cheap shot by the reporter. If he was truely concerned with the troops, he should have followed the 'money trail', tracked back the process to identify the real problems contributing to the delays
Yes, but that's d i f f i c u l t. It requires the hack to actually do research, develop some expertise in a process, present a complex issue in depth.
Much more fun to grab a coupla soldiers and the dude handling the mike, and play Gotcha!
#24
Phil_B...that's interesting regarding Armor HOldings' ability to expand capacity, and would appear to contradict Rumsfeld. However, couldn't the bottleneck be w. Armor Holdings' suppliers or at another point in the supply chain?
#25
Interesting that he got a reservist to do it. After Vietnam, the military structured itself so that we could not go to war without calling up reserve units in order to assure popular support for any war we went into. Given the performance of the reserves in the last two Gulf wars is the military giving any consideration to changing this structuring?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 14:20 Comments ||
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#26
My two cents:
I hope (and believe) that the soldiers in question would have balked at a question that they didn't feel was relevant. And the armor question appeared to be so.
Having said that, I am appalled that reporters are still doing this crap, because NEXT time they may find a soldier who will read a question that is NOT relevant (and is pure "gotcha").
I have seen video of the event, and read descriptions of it...and they vary like night & day. Anybody who just READS the descriptions, or listens to a talking-head "describe" it, is NOT getting the truth!
#27
Personally, I prefer news reporters to news-making reporters, but the troops did cheer the question and, at this point about 20 months after the war started, I think its a fair question and the answer was poor.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/09/2004 14:41 Comments ||
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#28
What Justrand said. Again, bloggers need to offer video and audio as well. Screw the MSM.
Actually, a national guardsman. And yes, there is a great desire to integrate support w/ operational forces in active duty units. How to do that given the gutting of both in the 90s is a real question. So too is what roles can reasonably and usefully be "outsourced" either to contractors (c.f. food delivery in major encampments) or to technology (c.f. the use of UAVs and ground robots for some recon and surveillance work).
Re: Tom's comment, well ... sure the question was fair and sure they would cheer. They were poised at the border of Kuwait to go into Iraq. but Rumsfeld's reply - while it may not be popular here or there - is dead on.
Posted by: too true ||
12/09/2004 15:11 Comments ||
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#30
Froggy Ruminations on griping as a way of life in the military:
Much has been made of Donald Rumsfeld's "talking to" by a disgruntled National Guardsman in Kuwait yesterday. Believe me, this is nothing new. When I was at SEAL Team FOUR in Little Creek, VA the entire base was compelled to attend a CNO's (Chief of Naval Operations) Call at the base theater. We all sat in the back and settled in for an hour or so of boring speeches by high ranking Navy muckety mucks. We were wrong. After a canned speech by the CNO, he opened the floor to questions from sailors much in the same way Rumsfeld did. What happened next will forever live in my memory.
First, some 3rd Class Petty Officer complained to the CNO that he had been passed over as LPO (Leading Petty Officer) of his division. He explained the situation in excruciating detail, remembering to point out the the Leading Chief who had promoted another 3rd Class who was a few months below him in rank to the vaunted LPO slot. Witnessing this idiot making a complete ass of himself was akin to watching an impending car wreck in slow motion. I have been admonished for jumping the Chain of Command before, but this was amazing to watch. I barely remember the CNO's response, because I was so busy laughing my ass off while trying to keep quiet.
But that was only the beginning. After 2 or 3 more asinine complaints similar to the above mentioned, another 3rd Class dropped a bomb that left me on the floor. She stood up in front of hundreds of sailors and described how she and her compatriots had spent the entire day cleaning up their building and adding that they had been forbidden from using the restroom all day so that it would not be sullied on the off chance that the CNO would stop by for a visit. But she wasn't done, not by a long shot. She then added that it was very inconvenient that high ranking officers always pick Friday afternoons for these sort of visits, and inquired as to why this was the case since she had better things to do. She wrapped up by asking if he, the CNO, was actually going to visit her command after the substantial labors she and her comrades had endured on his behalf. I $hit you not. I do remember the CNO's answer to that one. He asked her who her CO was, and she proceeded to point directly at a man wearing khaki that was at this point cowering behind the seat in front of him. The CNO promptly motioned for the CO to join one of his staff officers offstage, and assured her that he would, in fact, come by to inspect the building. By this time a pall of silence had decended upon the entire building, and several hundred people mouthed the words, "No F*cking Way!" in silent unison.
The highlight of the session was something that I will remember as one of the coolest moments I have ever witnessed in my life. At the time, the Navy was drawing down post-Gulf War, and there was a 15 year retirement option available to sailors. A Chief stood and told the CNO that his wife, another Chief, had recently died of cancer. He went on to say that he was at 14 years, six months of service and had two chidren at home who were mourning the recent loss of their mother. The Chief said that his unit was scheduled to deploy soon, and that although he had requested to stay home to care for his children, his CO refused and was compelling him to either deploy or leave the Navy. Once again, there was a pall in the room, but this time the air was thick with derision and scorn for a CO that would do such a thing. The CNO once again asked this Chief to point out his CO in the crowd, and with a snap of his fingers he dispatched another aide to start heading in his direction. While the aide was enroute, the CNO said, "Chief, you're retired." The audience immediately erupted with cheers and applause that did not relent for several minutes.
I am not going to criticize this National Guardsmen for having a legitimate complaint about the equipment he must use to fight in Iraq, but taking it up with the SECDEF on TV is unsat. Does he really think that Rumsfeld wouldn't rather have 2 armored hummers for every soldier? Like he said, it's a matter of physics rather than a matter of desire. There is a time and place to make these kind of inquiries, but this was neither.
#32
I'm with Don on the procurement issues: I've been on the contractor side, and the whole process is a nightmare. Overheads are high partly because of:
1. The need to retain the necessary personnel qualified to perform the work.
2. The requirement to maintain production/assembly lines in a ready-to-run state. You let them fall apart, there'll be delays as you have to repair them.
3. The need to maintain compliance infrastructure. As Don said, the process is so involved, so byzantine, that you need full-time trained people just to keep the company out of beaureaucratic hot water.
Credit VP Cheney during his tour at Halliburton for SOME amelioration of this mess: He was the one, I believe, who came up with the One Point Of Contact Supplier idea, which employs a standing contract, authorized personnel make requests, and Halliburton does the footwork to deliver the goods and services. However, this contract is restricted to certain goods and services selected so as to minimize the chances of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse, as well as to amplify the ability of the auditors to cover a lot more ground than they normally would. The MSM and lefties howled a lot about the price of gas from Kuwait delivered by the contract, for instance, but they knew about it only because the system DID work and the auditors caught it, and it WAS being investigated.
I can't say anything about my fellow workers, but I KNOW that I and all the veteran workers busted our tails, worked long hours, and loved hearing from the soldiers on how our stuff worked in the field.
Damn, just thinking about it makes me want to quit and go back.
#33
I thought the exhange was quite remarkable. An ordinary soldier asking the top defense dept official a hard question, and getting a good response. Where else do you see that? Crticizing the reporter for feeding the question to the soldier is off base. It was a good question. If I were a soldier, I like to think I'd ask the same question - and I know I would want to know the answer. Since when are American officials exempt from either criticism of difficult to answer questions. I admire Rummy's fielding open, unscreened questions and generally giving straight, good answers.
Now is the MSN slimey for the way the story was reported? Yes, but who is surprised?
Posted by: Henry ||
12/09/2004 17:33 Comments ||
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#34
Note that every aspect of this story-- identifying the topic, arranging for the Q to be posed to Rumsfeld, taping and playing back his answer, and then delving into the related issues with informed commentary-- can be handled by the blogosphere without the intervention of the MSM.
Source these stories ourselves. Smash the MSM. Let a thousand blogs contend.
#37
Sorry, Andrea--Dropping planeloads of origami swans was tried already. Didn't work. Back to bullets.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/09/2004 19:37 Comments ||
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#38
THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY TO FIGHT THIS WAR.
I agree. And there is. But you probably wouldn't like it.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/09/2004 19:43 Comments ||
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#39
Andrea has a nice personality.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 19:44 Comments ||
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#40
Grandstand play by the reporter?Yep.A question which needed to be asked?Yep.A piss poor response by Rumsfeld in light of Bush ,at outset of war,saying"Our soldiers have everything they need?"Yes.Does your hatred of the MSM outweigh the need for soldiers to actually have everything Bush said they do?I hope not.
Posted by: Me ||
12/09/2004 20:17 Comments ||
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#42
It would be nice if everyone had a tank, but it's all relative. In RVN I drove around in a jeep with no top and no doors. Even a standard Humvee is a tank by comparison. Add to that the night vision equipment, pression guided bombs, etc, etc. etc. It could be a lot worse.
#43
It was a good question made in a most stupid manner and at the wrong time. There are 30 guys in that soldier's chain before Rummy. Any company grade or field grade could've answered that one. I trust that the head-shed up in the Pentagon are doing their best to get us what they need. Someone needs to cold cock congress if anything. Don, Ptah - good info on procurement and acquisitions - thanks.
Another way to put it, my grandfather (God rest his soul) fought in WWII and dealt w/the Sherman tank. We could've produced better tanks then the Sherman, but due to logistics push capabilities at the time we could throw more Sherm's in the ETO then bigger, better tanks. In the end it turned out to be the right move though I'm sure many grunts would've wanted Tiger II equivalent US tanks. So there's always "the rest of the story." The bottom line is you fight with what you got, at the time the fight is on. At the same time you attempt to develop and push the best technology to the front line folks to counter whatever tactics the enemy is throwing at them. This is happening. I don't know what this guardsmen was talking about, we've been "field hardening" our vehicle assets since Christ was a corporal. We used sand bag 5-tons every time we went out on a convoy to counter possible mines. It wasn't full proof. That's just how it goes, plus, you beat IED's by running compass watch and other counter measures. The hummer chassis was not meant to hold excessive armor to the degree to counter a 155mm IED.
#44
Jarhead, I gotta disagree with you on the Sherman tank example. IMO, that was the biggest miscalculation on the part of the allies prior to the D-Day landings. Americans should have produced a better tank. When they encountered the Tiger, the result was that it took 4 Shermans to destroy one Tiger: the first three were sacrificed so that the fourth could go in for the kill. Many tank crewmen felt that they were "expendable". We were lucky that the Germans could not produce the Tiger in bigger numbers. It should be assumed that the powers that be at the Pentagon have learned these lessons.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/09/2004 21:38 Comments ||
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#45
[rant]
Now come on. You know, it would be precisely the same thing to demand of Rumsfeld: "Why don't we use armed UAV's for everything? Send no troops at all - just wave upon wave of hovering UAV's firing Mavericks at everything that moves... and everyone stays in Kuwait. Why not that?"
Of course, the adult would carefully explain to the child that you can't fucking have everything you want immediately. Everything has trade offs. We live and learn what works.
What we should be thankful for is that we had people who would climb into a Sherman and into a submarine with defective torpedos and do the job while things were being improved. Everything out there on the battlefield started at some point - and probably sucked. Everything gets improved - or dropped from the inventory. People die until we work out arms, strategies, and methods. Then they still die. Damnit.
[/rant]
#46
Actually Raf, as a logistics guy the Sherm was easier to ship in cargo holds then a bigger tank. We would have had to refit the shipping, could it have been done and we still made the D-Day landing and we kept the tempo & the intiative on the Germans? Maybe, maybe not. Hind sight being 20/20. Could we have waited on a bigger tank? Debateable. I don't disagree that the Sherman was far inferior to the Tiger. We traded armor and fire power for speed, mobility and diesel efficiency. Such is life and death in war. I hear Marine whine about the Osprey as I'm sure Marine's bitched about the first Jolly Green's and then the CH-46 Phrog, so on and so forth. .com kind of summed it up good. Everything starts at some point and usually sucks. Look at the fiasco the first piece of shit M-16s were.
Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims have announced a broadly-based alliance ahead of next month's key elections, which is backed by their highest religious leader but excludes radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Sucks to be you, Tater. And you could have been a contender
"It contains parties and political currents as well as independent figures of different confessions and ethnic groups and takes into consideration the demographic and geographic balance in Iraq," Dawa's Ali Adib said. The list also contains Sunnis, Yazidis, and Faili (Shiite) Kurds. Iraqis are to elect 275 members of a national assembly in the vote planned for January 30, the country's first free and multi-party polls in half a century. Representatives of Iraq's influential Shiite religious organisations have vehemently opposed calls by some parties for the vote to be postponed over security concerns. Ayatollah Sistani is one of the most powerful and popular figures in the country and commentators say any list endorsed by him should stand a good chance in the polls.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/09/2004 12:09:02 PM ||
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maybe Sadr asked for too many, and too highly placed spots on the list? This happens all the time in prop rep countries like Israel. OTOH, the other post implies Sadr IS supporting this list. Why? Too late to run his own? Still trying to stay in Sistanis good graces for now, but ready to call it all illegitimate later? Sadrs playing games, but im not sure exactly which ones.
Posted by: Bismarck ||
12/09/2004 13:49 Comments ||
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#4
I would not say that Sistani is da man, but I will say that Tater is lucky not to have taken a load of lead pills, after being so incredibly stupid with his Army of Tater Tots. Sistani must feel that the best way to deal with Tater is to keep him alive and to rub his nose in the dirt at any time he can. Tater off the List is a great start.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/09/2004 16:18 Comments ||
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A Shiite official Thursday announced a coalition of 228 candidates backed by leading cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to contest Iraq's Jan. 30 elections. The coalition, called the United Iraqi Alliance, includes two major Shiite political parties — the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Dawa Party — and the Iraqi National Congress, led by former exile and one-time Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi, Dawa party official Ali al-Adeeb told a news conference. Independent Sunni Muslims belonging to various tribal groups are included on the list, but no major Sunni political movements were named.
In the first popular vote since Saddam Hussein's ouster, Iraqis will choose a 275-member assembly that will write a permanent constitution. If adopted in a referendum next year, the constitution would form the legal basis for another general election to be held by Dec. 15. Under an election law adopted this year, there will be no electoral boundaries for the January vote, with the entire country treated as a single constituency.
Major parties representing Iraq's 20 percent minority Sunnis have called for the vote's postponement because they say the country is not secure enough. Sunni clerics from the Association of Muslim Scholars urged Sunnis to boycott the election to protest last month's U.S.-led assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. The influential religious group reiterated its call for Sunnis to boycott the polls, describing as "madness" plans to hold them in January. "The association's stance toward the elections is firm and unchanged — we will not take a part in these elections because ... no elections can be held under the pressure of the Americans and the ... deteriorating security situation," said Sheik Mohamed Bashar Al-Faidhi, an association spokesman.
Kennel your dogs, then, and the security situation goes away. Oh wait, you're the minority party. You don't want the security situation to go away.
Farid Ayar, spokesman of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, said the party of Sunni politician Adnan Pachachi, who supported the call for postponing the elections, was among the first to register after the sign-up process began Nov. 1. He added, however, that the party — the Independent Democratic Movement — has yet to submit a candidates' list. Pachachi was not immediately available for comment.
"We'll get back to you, k?"
A member of the six-member committee that drew up the United Iraqi Alliance list, nuclear physicist Hussain al-Shahristani, said the movement of firebrand anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had been left off the list because it is no longer relevant has not registered with Iraq's electoral commission. "The Sadrist movement announced that it supports the religious authorities and its call for Iraqis to hold elections," al-Shahristani added. "It also supports the list."
"Like Tater's opinion matters...don't make me laugh."
Al-Sistani, an Iranian-born cleric, has been working to unite Iraq's majority Shiites ahead of the vote to ensure victory, plus include representatives from Iraq's other diverse communities. Al-Sistani has been overseeing the work of top aides to compile the list for the national elections, which Shiite parties are expected to perform strongly in. "The different parties and the national figures asked the religious authority to help it form an alliance that represents the Iraqi spectrum with its various religious, ethnic and geographic components," al-Shahristani said.
Well, now. Sounds like progress. Unless all the unity talk is just a smokescreen for the "Extremely Islamic and Quasi-Democratic Shi'a Republic of al-Sistani."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/09/2004 10:19:43 AM ||
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The Sunnis have never grasped the principle of cause and effect. They are about to receive a lesson that should "sear" it into their memories.
Iraqi interim President Ghazi al-Yawar has told CNN the country's insurgents are in no way similar to the Viet Cong and can be quelled within a year. "They know they are fighting a losing battle," al-Yawar said of the rebels in an interview. "We're not fighting a Viet Cong, which has principles and popular support. ... I'm sick and tired of them." While he said he foresees U.S. forces remaining in Iraq until enough Iraqi forces have been recruited and trained to replace them, al-Yawar said it was a mistake to disband the Iraqi military. He said the new army's ranks should be opened to former members of the Iraqi military under Saddam Hussein who are now loyal to the new government.
With very good backround checks
With regard to reported meddling by Iran in the run-up to Iraq's election scheduled for Jan. 20, al-Yawar said he had confidence the resistance of Shiites in the south, who he said are "skeptical of the Iranian role in Iraq." "We in Iraq have one platform that brings us together -- the Iraqi identity," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/09/2004 9:48:43 AM ||
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Article: al-Yawar said it was a mistake to disband the Iraqi military.
But of course - if the military had been left intact, the Sunni minority would hold absolute power, perhaps with the Sunni al-Yawar as president-for-life.
#2
I saw al-Yawar on Charlie Rose last night and he convinced me he is the type of guy who should be in high public office in Iraq. Rose threw at him all the LLL arguments about the war and he shot every one of them down. Not only that, he told Rose to "...record this. We will never, never go back to one-man rule." Never droned and complained about Haliburton, plastic turkeys, etc. He was only forward looking and reiterated how much he wants Iraq to join the free world. US action in taking down Saddam is like when we took down Hitler. Iraqis consider Americans in this light. ETC. Only positive, anti-MSM, information. Many good things about Syria and Iran. He knows who the trouble makers are and wants to get rid of them, dead or alive.
Only slight negatives were his disagreeing with disbanding Iraqi military because it threw out the baby with the bathwater, but he didn't express bitterness or sarcasm. Also would have preferred more proportional force in Fallujah, but, again, not a contestation of cleaning the place up. Kind of like on a scale of 1-10, he scored it a 9 (My interpretation) Non-violent democratic action is the only solution, and all communities there understand that. What's there to complain about?
Summary: We're turning the corner. Nothing will stop elections. MSM is only paying attention to the small, small proportion of the Iraqi population that consists of Baathist dead-enders.
So, ZF, I respectfully disagree with your comment. This guy only came back in April, 2003, gave up his business career to become president (thus putting a big bullseye on his back, BTW), and is not a confidant of the Saddam's military henchmen. He just thinks it would have made better security sense to have left the military intact, but get rid of bad apples.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
12/09/2004 12:49 Comments ||
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#3
cm: This guy only came back in April, 2003, gave up his business career to become president (thus putting a big bullseye on his back, BTW), and is not a confidant of the Saddam's military henchmen. He just thinks it would have made better security sense to have left the military intact, but get rid of bad apples.
I guess what I'm pointing out is that there are large numbers of would-be Saddams in Iraq. Saddam came to power not because he supported his predecessors, but by killing them. There is no league of evildoers in Iraq - just a bunch of independent operators who have seen Saddam (and his predecessors - including all of Mesopotamia's kings) - in action and have thought to themselves - hey, I could do that job. There are many Iraqis fighting US forces who don't support Saddam - they just want to be king.
#2
Anti-Americanism keeps intruding in the new book. There is a very irrational paragraph on nuclear strategy that stoops to lampooning Bushâs pronunciation â ânucularâ
âIâm not particularly proud of being visceral, but I am admitting it. My attacks on George Bush have nothing to do with science or the scientific method. I just canât stand the manâs style, the way he swaggers and struts and smirks and the way he looks sly and deceitful and the way Americans canât see it. Iâm irritated by the way they think heâs just a regular guy you can have a drink with.â
As Orwell said, "Only an intellectual can say such things. No one else would be so stupid."
#3
This is the jackass who wrote a letter to Clark County OH voters urging them not to vote for Bush because his foreign policy was the equivalent of shooting an intruder in your house.
nb Clark County was the only OH county to shift sides between 2000 and 2004, moving from pro-Gore to pro-Bush.
#5
Amusing that our Darwin apostle's haute disdain for Bush stems from a rather atavistic, pre-evolutionary reaction to Bush's facial movements and physical characteristics.
Dawkins is so over the top, I find it hard to believe he's not getting kickbacks from the RNC.
#6
Amusing that our Darwin apostle's haute disdain for Bush stems from a rather atavistic, pre-evolutionary reaction to Bush's facial movements and physical characteristics.
Dawkins is so over the top, I find it hard to believe he's not getting kickbacks from the RNC.
#9
Yes, B-a-R, that's my point. This man is so obtuse that he in his infinite smugness thought his analogy was witty, wise and utterly convincing. As I say, an intellectual moron.
Algeria will boost its police force by 30 percent to 180,000 members and install surveillance cameras in main cities to ensure security amid a war against Islamist rebels, local media said on Wednesday. "It's part of a government plan to cover the entire national territory ... and ensure security," Police Chief Ali Tounsi was quoted as telling reporters by government daily El Moudjahid. "The war on terrorism has been almost won but Algerians, particularly in big cities, keep complaining of insecurity," an Algiers-based senior police officer said. "The number of policemen has been insufficient for a country with 32 million people," he said.
Recent attacks in the capital, including a car bombing of a key power plant in June, and the infiltration of militants, have rattled authorities. In coming months 160 surveillance cameras will be installed in Algiers and more will be set up on other major cities, Tounsi said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/09/2004 3:39:47 AM ||
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Looks to me like an opportunity for jihadis to infiltrate.
Almost a quarter of a century after his death, an Iraqi Shiite theologian is inspiring a generation of democrats in the Middle East. Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr, executed by Saddam Hussein in 1980, advocated constitutionalism, democracy and the rule of law—the same values the United States says it wants to spread in the region to help stamp out terrorism. A group of leading Arab lawyers, thinkers and democracy activists, is hoping to engage Washington to develop the US initiative, called the Partnership for Peace in the Middle East and North Africa.
Chibli Mallat, the Arab group's strategist, is the prize-winning author of a biography of Sadr, written in English but widely translated into Arabic. Sadr was the uncle of Moqtada al-Sadr, the young cleric who led two Shiite revolts this year against US-led forces in Iraq. He lacks the wide respect his uncle commanded. Mallat says Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr was the main intellectual power behind the Constitution of Iran, which includes Ayatollah Ruhallah al-Khomeini's own theory of the velayat-e faqih, or rule of the jurist—the doctrine that an eminent Shiite cleric can be the absolute legal authority. "Sadr was a subtler, more innovative and dynamic thinker than Khomeini," said 43-year old Mallat, the founder of the School of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at London's prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies. "In his work you find a streak of democratic majoritanism and readiness to espouse democracy without the direct rule of the clergy. Politically, Khomeini was more effective."
In discussions about a new Iraqi constitution, no senior Shiite figure has called for velayat-e faqih but rather for reconciling Islam with popular sovereignty. The most influential cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has stressed the importance of elections, which are due in January. The main Shiite parties planning to take part in the elections—Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq—are Sadr's political heirs. Dawa's draft election manifesto reads in many parts like that of a Western social democrat party and invokes Islam to stress human rights. "Sadr was the embodiment of Iraq. His work and ideas are fundamental to a democratic Iraq," said Iraq's Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who heads Dawa.
Sadr's body was exhumed last year from an unmarked spot and moved to a new grave in Wadi al-Salam (the valley of peace), the sprawling cemetery of Najaf. The body of his sister, killed at the same time, was never found. Zuhair al-Amidi, the man who buried Sadr's body after he was executed, kept the place secret until Saddam was toppled last year. "If people had known where the grave was it would have become a shrine and the authorities would have razed it immediately," he said.
Even Khomeini, whose relationship with Sadr was uneasy, mourned him when he was killed and described him as the mentor of all Shiites. Khomeini spent many years in exile with Sadr in Najaf, a center of Shiite scholarship. US influence could help realize what Sadr envisioned, although he resented Washington's support for authoritarian forces in the region. The United States lobbied hard at the G-8 summit in June to pass the Partnership for Peace in the Middle East and North Africa. The administration started to push Arab states after the September 11, 2001, attacks on US cities to accept the initiative, which includes economic reform, education and political participation. European countries felt the initiative ignored their own efforts to advance reform in the Middle East, known as the 1995 Barcelona declaration, but backed it after Washington included a stronger commitment to a fair peace between Israeli and the Palestinians.
The Arab democrats group, which includes Bahaaldin Hassan, head of the Cairo Centre for Human Rights, Saudi dissident Abdul Aziz al-Khamis and Kuwaiti writer Mohammad al-Rumeihi, want the initiative to hold Arab rulers accountable for human rights and push for the rotation of power. "All prisoners of conscience must be released, while former presidents turned into retired citizens, and leaders responsible for crimes against humanity put behind bars," said their declaration, drafted by Mallat, and issued before they met senior G-8 officials in New York two months ago.
Just before the US invasion of Iraq, Mallat organized a petition of Arab thinkers that called for the focus on Iraq to be switched from the issue of weapons of mass destruction to human rights and the rule of law, including stationing international human rights monitors in Iraq. Mallat made his first visit to Najaf earlier this year, a Maronite Christian welcomed in the homes of senior Shiite clerics who knew that his first port of call was the grave of Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/09/2004 3:16:14 AM ||
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Article: Mallat says Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr was the main intellectual power behind the Constitution of Iran, which includes Ayatollah Ruhallah al-Khomeiniâs own theory of the velayat-e faqih, or rule of the juristâthe doctrine that an eminent Shiite cleric can be the absolute legal authority.
I guess this derives from the Old Testament Book of Judges. You gotta love these guys. Forget democracy - use Judaism as your inspiration, but claim that Jews were really Muslims.
The Al Qaeda network is capable of fighting a long battle and it is as 'a big power' as the United States, said Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani, the former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, on Wednesday. If Al Qaeda could organise attacks like 9/11 it could also fight the US-led war on terror, he told Daily Times in Peshawar. Asked where Osama could be hiding, the former ISI chief said he could be in Afghanistan or Pakistan. However he added that Osama could be hiding in a place that neither the US nor its allies suspect. "People are saying that Osama may be hiding in tribal areas. But I think Osama can hide in urban cities as well and nobody could expect this" said Lt Gen Asad. "I would not say it is difficult to hide him in a tribal zone. But his men will not keep him in an area, which is under the spotlight."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/09/2004 3:14:05 AM ||
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Sounds like the ISI has even bigger credibility probelms than the CIA. Perhaps we could have a Superbowl of the Spies with the Madrassa Grads of ISI facing off against the Ivy Leaguers of the CIA with cudgels and chainsaws for a fight to the finish on Pay Per View. Survivors to be sent for an al expenses paid vacation in Pyongyang.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 8:36 Comments ||
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Sounds to me like the ISI is making a public pitch for dropping Musharrif's alliance w/ the US and openly backing al Qaeda instead.
Posted by: too true ||
12/09/2004 9:41 Comments ||
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There were already two big Al-Q style hits since 9/11, but they weren't in the United States (Bali and Spain).
They would if they could, but they didn't because they couldn't. *blinks*
On the other hand, we can pretty much go anywhere in islam-land and pretty much do anything we want.
We can if we wanted to, but we don't because we decided not to.
#4
It seems that if they can't do it, then they talk it to death. It must mean that we are doing something right. Can't let our guard down, though. Must keep up the pressure. Waziristan needs a Marine-type hosing, for sure.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/09/2004 11:03 Comments ||
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Asad Durrani need to be wacked, I wonder when Musharrif is going to make it happen?
#6
How many times has AlQ - and their symps - with great fanfare claimed they were gonna do this to us and teach us a lesson with that? How many of them have happened? Wankers and twits.
I want some of Gen Durrani's meds. They're obviously more entertaining than mere caffeine and nicotine.
#7
Ptah: They would if they could, but they didn't because they couldn't.
Are they physically able to? I think they are. Are they afraid of the consequences of another attack on US soil? You betcha. And that is why it hasn't happened. They ain't seen nuthin' yet.
#8
Osama was Western-educated and traveled around - for all we know, he's prob unshaven, clean-cut, wearing a 3-piece Italian dress suit and attending/teaching classes at Penn State.
WASHINGTON - The military planned to conduct the first full flight test of its national missile defense system in nearly two years, with the test coming possibly as early as Wednesday evening. Weather conditions at an Alaska launch site would determine when the test will go forward, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency.
The $85 million test comes as the military is in final preparations to activate missile defenses designed to protect against an intercontinental ballistic missile attack from North Korea (news - web sites) or elsewhere in eastern Asia. During the test, a target missile will be launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, and an interceptor missile will fire from Kwajalein Island in the central Pacific Ocean. Because the launches will test several new aspects of the missile defense system, Lehner said the interceptor actually shooting down the target is not a primary goal of the mission.
The test is the first in which the interceptor uses the same booster rocket that the operational system uses, Lehner said. It is also the first in which a target missile is launched from Kodiak. In earlier testing, which critics deride as highly scripted, the interceptors went five-for-eight when launched with the goal of hitting target missiles. Two previous tests scheduled for this year were delayed due to technical problems. The next test, which will attempt to hit a target missile, is scheduled for early 2005.
In April, the then-chief of missile defense programs, Air Force Lt. Gen. Ron Kadish, said failures in upcoming tests could mean "big problems" for the controversial program.
Sometime this month, the military expects to announce the missile defense system is operational. It is initially built around six interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, as well as radars in the Aleutians, in California, and on warships at sea. In addition, two more interceptors will be placed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Kwajalein interceptor site is for testing only.
The first Vandenberg missile was scheduled to go in its silo Tuesday, but Lehner said that was delayed, and that it is now expected to be in place on Thursday. Lehner said the missile defense system it technically functional except for mechanical blocks that prevent interceptors from being fired. Senior military officials are still working out chain-of-command authorities over who could order an interceptor launch during an attack, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/09/2004 2:09:07 AM ||
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Could we use it in bad weather if needed?
Most likely, yes. When you are doing a test, you don't want any outside elements to mess up your data. Plus, you have the luxury of waiting till conditions are right. In case of a real attack, they'd launch right through a howling blizzard. Plus they'd ripple fire multiple interceptors, just to make sure. Is it 100% fool proof? No, but it's better than laying back and taking it.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/09/2004 9:18 Comments ||
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Can you launch the strike missile in bad weather?
Missles must experiecne turbulence and lighting strikes just like any other object flying through the sky... Any rocket scientist on the board?
#4
You can launch any time. But when you test, weather can be the cause of the test being unsuccessful. This doesn't imply that the test would otherwise have been sucessful. Sooting on a clear day means any failure is more likely due to the system rather than an exogenous variable. After you can make it work in good weather, you should test it in bad, but it is hard to control weather conditions for a test.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/09/2004 9:37 Comments ||
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All tests are photographed]filmed]recorded from multiple angles. If there is a failure, you may need visual evidence of the cause. Hard to get that through clouds.
Weapons systems are tested at increasing levels of difficulty, on the principle that you need to learn how to walk before you learn how to run. This is the clear weather test. The rough weather test will happen - just not this time around.
#7
As a rocket scientist (though not this kind), I can state that most of the special conditions are necessary for the test and evaluation equipment.
Remember that horrible NYT story about the "rigged" test with a beacon placed on a target for an EKV launch? In fact, the beacon was so that our instrumentation could monitor the target independently of what the EKV or the target was reporting back.
Sometime in a test we lose telemetry from the weapon or the target. Having visual and radar tracks helps reconstruct the event so we don't have to spend mucho bucks to do it all over again.
If you look at the reports of tests of weapons, you'll see quite a few scrubbed because the drone acted funny, the launch plane had an engine problem, a tracking radar went down, or some #$%^&* hikers wandered onto the test range.
Similarly, for this test we want clear weather so that ground and satellite monitors can see as much as possible of the test so there's a visual record to go along with radar and TM. Storms can mess up TM. (especially if lightning strikes your antenna...)
#10
Hey, that's actually a good idea. I've noticed that all the tests seem to be targets fired from the US and interceptors from an island in the Pacific.
Is this so that any debris comes down in the Pacific (rather than California)?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
12/09/2004 17:36 Comments ||
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Mainly it's because these are midcourse or terminal interceptors, so the missile has to go a ways.
If we did it the other way around, certain countries might be concerned if we shot an ICBM from California headed westward across the Pacific.
I suppose we could launch from Florida and shoot it down over China Lake...
French sources say Mr. Chirac would like to establish various forums or "talking shops" on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Iraq, at which France could exercise influence and promote its role.
Not to worry, Jacques. There will always be a role for weasels in the Middle East.
Diplomats cite Mr. Chirac's visit to Libya and his treatment of the illness and death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as perhaps the most significant recent moves targeting the Arab world. Mr. Arafat had been transported in a French military plane for medical care in France and treated as a head of state after his death. Although appreciated by the Arab world and by the 5 million Muslims in France, the gesture was insufficient to turn France into a major player on the Middle Eastern scene, diplomats said.
Kissing the arse of dying dictators gets you nice headlines. Deploying heavy artillery and helicopter gunships gets you respect and a seat at the policy table.
Mr. Chirac's visit to Libya also failed to generate significant political dividends despite a pact on "strategic cooperation and political consultation" signed by the two countries. Traveling with Mr. Chirac to Tripoli last month were about 20 leading French businessmen searching for joint ventures as Libya emerges from international isolation.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/09/2004 1:39:07 AM ||
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Keep talking Butch Jacques, it's what you do best.
#5
Mr. Chiracâs visit to Libya also failed to generate significant political dividends Ghadaffi still holding a grudge from when you destroyed a big percentage his airforce and armor. I'm surprised (not).
(2004-12-07) -- Hot off the success of his U.S. 'Vote or Die' ad blitz, rap star Sean "P. Diddy" Combs has reportedly inked a deal with radical Sunni clerics in Iraq to appear in a series of broadcast ads before the scheduled January 30 national elections.
The Sunni 'Vote-n-Die' campaign aims to reach out to young, hip, urban Muslims encouraging them to refrain from voting on election day.
A spokesman for Mr. Diddy said the performer was delighted to join the Sunni effort which he considered "an extension of my work to elect John Kerry as president."
Posted by: Korora ||
12/09/2004 12:21:17 AM ||
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haha this serious or a joke ?!
If serious , is a blessing > enough sunni stay away and not vote , shia gonna walk it surely :)
What sort of idiot comes up with a name like P. Diddy anyway , what a fookwit .
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun made a surprise visit to his troops in northern Iraq on his way home from a European tour. Lee Byung-Wan, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said the visit had been kept secret for security reasons. "President Roh Moo-Hyun has just concluded a visit to the Zaitun (South Korean military) unit in Arbil, Iraq, on his way back home from Paris," Lee told reporters. South Korean media pool reports from Iraq said Roh, wearing an army jacket, had meals and chats with troops during his 120-minute stay. "Thank you all so much. It may be a short meeting, but it is such a happy time," he was quoted as telling the soldiers at a mess hall. "I'm so proud of you."
Some House Democrats are coming to the defense of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan after several Republican lawmakers called for his resignation because of allegations of corruption in the organization's oil-for-food program. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, sent a letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Colin Powell, saying criticism of Annan is "disgraceful and premature." "There has been no hint of impropriety on the part of the secretary-general, who on numerous occasions has proven his honesty and integrity," the letter said. 
