Nicaraguan police on Tuesday ruled out the presence of Al Qaeda in this Central American country. Police spokesman Marlon Montano told a press conference that there is no specific information that Al Qaeda has a presence in Nicaragua.
"Not specific information, anyway..."
Nevertheless, he said police have taken pertinent measures to prevent actions by any terrorist organization in Nicaragua, and the police intelligence office keeps contacts with its counterparts in the region in order to coordinate preventive actions. "We have heard of threats to the region by Al Qaeda, but we don't have official information about the existence of a terrorist presence in the region; nonetheless, we are working to collect more information," said Montano. He said that though there is no information about terrorist presence in Nicaragua or Central America, the police authorities do not rule out the possibility of international terrorism acting in the region or in Nicaragua. "We are convinced that international terrorism could pretend acting in the region, as they have done before in other regions. So it is our obligation to work to neutralize and prevent any actions in this sense," said Montano.
"Or, at least we'll pretend we will, so as to confuse the international terrroists who may be pretending to act here. We draw our example from the fine pretend work done by the Spanish!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2004 12:52:22 AM ||
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Seems like every time a country say they have no terriorists something happens?
#2
When I lived in Colombia I saw this one guy outside an Arabic restaurant in Bogota (pre-911, of course) with full Wahhabi-style white, flowing robes and a long headdress thingie and the guy had a frickin' pistol in a holster attached to his belt. The guy was wild lookin'. I still don't know how he had authorization to have that gun, because there is no universal right to carry arms in Colombia. He must've had some kinda permit. I remember reading pre-911 that the U.S. & Colombian governments had discovered that a multi-million dollar slaughterhouse built in the now defunct ceasefire zone for the F.A.R.C. rebels in southeastern Colombia that they enjoyed during the late 1990's (and I believe up until like 2000 or 2002) was actually funded and built by Iranian intelligence. Furthermore they believed there was ongoing military cooperation going on in the ceasefire zone between the F.A.R.C., E.P.L.N. & E.L.N. & the I.R.A. & Islamic terrorists from organizations that I do not specifically remember from the article. I do remember that the implication was that Iran was facilitating the operation. This ceasefire zone was a terrorist haven until it was taken back by anti-terrorist Alvaro Uribe, Colombia's current hardline President & ally of the Bush Administration. I should try and dig up that old article because it has new importance in the post 911 world. I just remembered it in the last couple minutes. This article somehow reminded me of that article. But I can guarantee you there are Wahhabis & Muslim fundamentalists & even Al-Qaida in Latin America!
Sudan said Wednesday it had closed its embassy in Washington after being unable to find a bank that would handle its financial matters. The Foreign Ministry said the bank that had handled the embassy's transfers from Khartoum for more than 30 years had closed Sudan's account, along with other embassy accounts, in July "because of difficulties it encountered." The ministry statement did not name the bank. The embassy has been the scene of daily demonstrations for several weeks in protest of Sudan's treatment of people in the western Darfur region. The ministry said it asked the U.S. State Department for assistance but "it failed to convince that bank or find another bank." A senior State Department official said on condition of anonymity that efforts were being made to find another bank. The ministry ordered the embassy to close this week because it cannot pay its employees or its utility or other bills. The statement blamed the United States, saying it was the responsibility of the host country to facilitate the mission of embassies. It said if the situation was not resolved after an unspecified period of time, Sudan would "be obliged to take specific measures as necessary."
By Ahmad Maher, IOL Staff Michelle Malkin is another American Islamophobic ideologue, who calls for extensive discrimination and racial profiling against Muslims and Arab-Americans in the United States .
I thought I just heard a piggy squeal...
A staunch advocate of right-wing extremist agenda, the Philadelphia-born American writer wrote a new book wondering why the US government cannot just imprison Arab Americans and Muslims as it did with tens of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II on the supposition that their ethnicity made them a national security threat. In her book entitled 'In Defense of Internment', Malkin argues that after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, racial profiling is a welcome tactic and even justified.
Not "racial," but cultural profiling. In her book, Malkin takes the position that the internment of the Japanese in WWII wasn't an incident of blind racism, but that it was based on a combination of common sense and intelligence. Since our enemies are making war on us because of our culture, it makes sense to respond by taking a close look at their culture and protecting ourselves against those most likely to represent a danger to us. There's no need for rioting in the streets, as Arabs and Muslims are so fond of doing. There's no need for vigilantes stringing up suspects from lamp posts. There's no need for any "racism" or other lunacy at all. What's needed is a cold-blooded, rational assessment of the threat, coupled with equally cold-blooded and rational measures for our own protection. That will be unpleasant in many respects, but mere unpleasantness shouldn't be a reason for government — instituted "to provide for the common defense" — to abrogate its responsibilities.
"If you want to read a book decrying the loss of personal freedom in wartime America, this is the wrong book. If you want to read a book about the history of institutional discrimination against minorities in America, you're out of luck again. 'In Defense of Internment' provides a radical departure from the predominant literature of civil liberties absolutism," read the book's prelude.
Malkin doesn't wear rose-colored glasses and she enjoys the burger of the sacred cow. Those are deadly defects in the eyes of Islam Online, right up there with her failure to hide her face. There are already lots of books decrying the loss of civil liberties and even more books about discrimination against minorities. There are precious few people who bother to actually think clearly on either subject. "Civil liberties," as opposed to "individual liberty," has become a growth industry, but hasn't actually added much to the quality of our national life, while it's managed to degrade the quality of our national discourse. I'm not even going to dwell on the growth and decay of the discrimination against minorities business. I try not to use too much bad language here.
Possibly — a remote possibility, I know — around the time I'm a little old man sitting on the front porch of the old folks' home, the two might be vanquished by the rise of Rationality. Call me a dreamer if you will, but I can envision a world in which costs and benefits are balanced, in which when diminishing returns show up we move on to the next task, in which thought actually consists of stringing facts together. In that world, children might point the finger and giggle at people who stand up and spew mumbo-jumbo, causing them to slink back into their navels and hide for a few more generations, perhaps even to wither away and die. I'm betting that if that remote possibility comes true, Michelle Malkin will be one of the early drivers...
Oddly enough, Malkin is the daughter of Filipino immigrants herself.
Which has nothing to do with the workings of her brain. The "unity in the community" approach to mental bonsai doesn't work with everyone. Simply belonging to an ethnic group doesn't determine objective truth. Unless, apparently, you're a Muslim...
Malkin also says it is "unwise" from the US administration to continue allowing Muslims to serve in the US army, particularly in the Middle East hotspots.
Not as long as we have holy men hollering that it's forbidden for American Moose limbs to take up arms against any other Moose limbs anywhere, no matter what they've done. If the holy men were split down the middle, with some saying yes and some saying no, it would be a different matter. If the holy men said things like "there's some things in this world that're right, and some things in this world that're wrong, and it's the task of good men to fight against the wrong" then it'd be a different matter. But they don't, so it's not.
She calls for "the strictest scrutiny" and thorough backgrounds checks for Muslim personnel not to mention army preacher on the basis of "race, ethnicity, religion and nationality". Urging President George W. Bush to follow the footsteps of World War II President Roosevelt, Malkin said she was compelled to write this book after watching ethnic activists, historians, and politicians repeatedly play the World War II internment card after the September 11 attacks.
It's called flogging the horse long after it's dead. If Islamists manage something awful, like destroying Harrisburg or Cleveland or downtown Washington D.C., it won't even be a matter for discussion. First you quarantine possible carriers, then you sort through them. You can't sort through them when they're spread out everywhere. The Japanese were interned in the Second World War, as were sizable numbers of Germans and Italians. There wasn't an awful lot of domestic sabotage, despite the presence of groups that were sympathetic to the Axis.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2004 8:18:08 PM ||
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and she enjoys the burger of the sacred cow.
In that world, children might point the finger and giggle at people who stand up and spew mumbo-jumbo, causing them to slink back into their navels and hide for a few more generations, perhaps even to wither away and die.
good rant. Attitudes are slowly changing...drip..drip..drip. Don't know if its good or bad, but I do know that they are changing.
Posted by: B ||
08/25/2004 22:30 Comments ||
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Malkin's book has served us all well if the Islamoids start to realize that the Americans are getting near the breaking point with regards to tolerating their use and abuse of our system.
#7
What is so evil about Discrimination aginst people who either 1) want to KILL YOU and all of your descendents. or 2) dont care (and secretly support) if the 1) people.
Edited for brevity.
The baseballs are lined up neatly, row after row, each in its own glass cubbyhole. At first glance, the display at Whitman [MA] Town Park looks like a trophy case, but a closer look reveals a more somber tribute: "Sgt. Michael L. Tosto, 6-17-03," "Pfc. Jason C. Ludlam, 3-19-04," "Sgt. Darrin K. Potter, 9-29-03." A memorial to the soldiers killed in the war in Iraq, the display is housed in a simple glass case 16 feet long and 6 feet high and stands just off the field of play on a ballfield in this suburb about 25 miles south of Boston.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/25/2004 11:25:09 AM ||
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Now I know we are doing something right!
Geneva-born Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan has said he is "in shock" that he will not be able to take up a teaching post in the United States after his visa was revoked. The US State Department said it had cancelled the visa at the request of the Department of Homeland Security. Ramadan who was granted the visa in February - had been due to start teaching at Notre Dame University in Indiana next week. "All our affairs are already in order in the US. My children are registered in American schools. I'm in shock," he said.
On Wednesday he told swissinfo that he had appealed to the Swiss authorities to put pressure on Washington to reverse its decision. "[Swiss Foreign Minister] Micheline Calmy-Rey has personally intervened, through the US embassy in Bern, to get an explanation," he said. "If the American administration realises that this file was badly managed, I am hopeful that it will quickly reconsider its decision," he added.
The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed that it was providing Ramadan with "consular support", but spokesman Christian Meuwly declined to give further details. Russ Knocke, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, said Ramadan's work visa had been revoked because of a section in federal law applying to foreigners who have used a "position of prominence within any country to endorse or espouse terrorist activity". He added that the cancellation of the visa was based on "public safety or national security interests".
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anonymous6134 ||
08/25/2004 8:59:22 AM ||
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Excellent news. Now go away, Tariq, and go away stupid.
#2
The guy is a strange one. Some say the only hope for Islam is the European Muslims here and here. Tariq is thought to be an example of the liberal moderate Moslem. His site indicates that he is an observant Moslem trying to reconcile the Koran and Western culture- a very difficult job. He is excellent TV material, very intelligent but very very different to the average European Muslim. From his writings I am sure he would not support Islamic terrorism but again I am sure Islamic terrorist would support him ( as they do for Sayyis Qutb) and Tariq would definitely not support any of the post 9/11 actions carried out by the US.
Posted by: Dave ||
08/25/2004 10:59 Comments ||
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Puzzling how, after having been effectively told that he is not welcome at this time, he is persisting in his efforts to gain entry into the U.S.
Were it to be made plain that I wasn't wanted in a place where I was seeking to go (especially if it wasn't essential that I get in), I sure as hell wouldn't keep on trying to go there.
#3
This investigation began when Kurtz called police about the unattended death of his wife. While in his home, police noticed enough that they called in the Terrorism Taskforce. The artist and his professor friend have been indicted for mail fraud and wire fraud, for lying in order to obtain the bacteria involved. NEA site does not turn up any hits for Kurtz or CAE. UB site shows Kurtz as an associate professor, hardly a ranking academic. His co-conspirator, Ferrell, is a full professor, in Human Genetics at the University of Pittsburg School of Public Health,
#5
Sung to "Three Little Maids from School"
From "Mikado" by Gilbert & Sullivan
Three little jihadis , paradise bound,
Come from Osamas training camp,
Ready to meet their 72 virgins--
Three little jihadis from Kabul!
Three little jihadis from Kabul!
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2004 00:05 ||
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Still undecided is whether prosecutors can admit more than 100 photos into evidence, including some of the notorious prison photos. The judge also is considering a defense request to include Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as witnesses.
Yes, Donald Rumsfeld had a secret plan that included unwritten instructions for all female soldiers who were assigned to daytime clerical functions to stay up all night performing demented acts with soldiers and upon prisoners - that's why he is a military genius.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/25/2004 3:33 Comments ||
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An awful lot of those ladies have been insubordinate by acting like real soldiers, then. Their courts martial should be veeeery interesting following on Ms. England's ;-)
#2
I was just wondering. Has there ever been any independent confirmation that the Philippines paid any ransom? As I recall the story had only appeared in 1 article.
(OTOH I remember reading an article (which appeared for a short time before being pulled) about a certain stained blue dress a year or so before the media 'discovered' Monica's dress....).
via WorldNetDaily.com
By Aaron Klein - August 25, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
Insisting again its nuclear program is peaceful, Iran repeated a warning yesterday that it would retaliate if Israel attacks any of its nuclear facilities. "If they would do that, we would react," Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said during a visit to New Zealand. "We have our defense capability and that certainly keeps others from exercising such a threat," he said. "They know what is our capability and how ... we react."
Kharrazi's comments come amid tensions between the U.S. and Israel toward Iran, particularly in recent weeks. Israeli suspicions continue to grow that Iran is pursuing a nuclear-weapons program in the guise of a peaceful nuclear-power industry. Kharrazi insisted: "Iran has no program to produce nuclear weapons. It is our legitimate right to have nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."
Posted by: .com ||
08/25/2004 1:54:05 AM ||
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,com, aren't the Syrians very quiet lately?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/25/2004 3:15 Comments ||
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SH - Lol, you're right! I guess the Mad Mullahs are unable to direct more than 2 programs at a time (Iraqi Tater & Tots debacle & Nuke Disinfo)... hell, they still have an airport to bring online, too! I'll bet that Baby Asshat is quietly thanking his Lucky Crescents... He'd better keep the Wedding Party / border issue quiet, and keep his paws off those Northern Syria Kurds, though, or he'll attract attention when the media catches up to current activity in Fallujah! The press is quite myopic, too.
#4
Yeah, Kharrazi, we know, we know... We've already heard about it from the Koreans: Nuclear Hell, Finger of God, Sea of Fire, Marsh of Misery, Butte of Bunions, Plateau of Pain, Hallow of Hangnails, Grove of Gout, blah, blah, blah... Save your breath.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/25/2004 8:44 Comments ||
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"...We have a PEACEFUL program, dammit, and we'll kill the first person who says otherwise!!"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/25/2004 9:57 Comments ||
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Heard on the Medved show yesterday from his guest, Victor Mordicai, that Iran has Russian subs, manned by paid mercenaries that may have nuke capabilities. He also said that Israel has subs as well and similarly armned. Intersting times methinks.
#12
The Ayatollahs have also gone to great lengths to warn that Iran can "hit anywhere in Israel" with its upgraded version of the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile.
Er - seems to me that we were discussing a beam weapon that the Isralei's had in their arsenal. Can anyone say, "MICROWAVE-A-MULLAH TIME"
Posted by: Murat ||
08/25/2004 8:27 Comments ||
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Link broken, shit-fer-brains.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/25/2004 9:00 Comments ||
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Difference between fuel for electricity and fuel for use in nuclear weapons may explain this.. I would agree - WTF! Why do we give these Allan-oriented-moonbats anything dangerous to play with - treat 'em like kids, I say. Theocracy eh? Tut!
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/25/2004 9:04 Comments ||
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Try this one mr dUcK: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/product/enduse/exports/c5070.html
Posted by: Murat ||
08/25/2004 9:08 Comments ||
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I see HTML has overwhelmed your extensive intellect.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/25/2004 9:16 Comments ||
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OK, I would like a rational explanation for why the hell we have sold "Nuclear Fuel Materials" to Iran for the last two years.
I'd like to believe that there is a rational explanation.
Anyone?
Posted by: Kelvin Zero ||
08/25/2004 9:40 Comments ||
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The question is, just what constitutes "nuclear fuel materials"? (sorry Murat, but nuclear fuel MATERIALS doesn't necessarily mean the fuel itself)
#8
Smart explanation Bomb-a-rama, so what is it then?
Destilized cooling water perhaps? :)
Posted by: Murat ||
08/25/2004 10:50 Comments ||
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The amount of dollars (below $2M each year) is fairly trivial. It could be radiation detectors, it could be decontamination software, it could be a lot of things.
#10
It could be radiation detectors, it could be decontamination software, it could be a lot of things. Correct, and what are the chances that some of those components are - oops! - defective. Of course then, there's sKerry who has already stated he would follow in Clinton's footsteps and practically give em the stuff.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/25/2004 12:24 Comments ||
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OMG! WE'VE GOT TO ATTACK IRAN IMMEDIATELY AND RECOVER THAT STUFF AND REPAIR THE DAMAGE WE'VE DONE!
Heh, works for me with the choppers we sold to Saddam that were use to Gas the Kurds.
#12
It could be radiation detectors, it could be decontamination software
Yeah buddy, I bet that's it! Strange that we call such stuff "nuclear fuel materials" instead of detectors or software. :) You guys make me laugh, must be American humor.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/25/2004 13:24 Comments ||
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Murat, where to you get this "we" stuff?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/25/2004 13:34 Comments ||
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Murat
You may not understand the way the Standard Industrial Codes work.
The US produces over one million types of products (and within a product, many brands).
The US govt (I presume the govt of Turkey works similarly) does not want to keep records on everything especially since new products are being introduced to the market every year. That's why they group products.
Even this isn't enough and every few years new product groupings need to be created.
That's why radiation detectors, decontamination software, radiation protectionware (in these three areas the US has some of the best products in the world), etc. is all grouped together. Without such grouping, the data collection would not be possible and it would also be a problem from the standpoint of propriatory information.
#15
Sure MHW, grouping all industrial products as fuel makes sense, especially nuclear fuel, come on you can do better.
Posted by: Murat ||
08/25/2004 13:44 Comments ||
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I looked thru the numbers again. I noticed that our exports of tobacco products to Iran has gone way up in the past two years. That may be because they were classified as something else the years immediately preceding the past two years.
Or the Mullahs may have recently taken american cigarettes of the harem list.
#17
Strange that we call such stuff "nuclear fuel materials" instead of detectors or software. :) You guys make me laugh, must be American humor.
"Materials" can encompass quite a number of things, which is why detail is necessary before coming to any conclusion of any value. You're only seeing the "nuclear fuel" part of "nuclear fuel materials". Which doesn't come as much of a surprise, really.
Look back over the export list again. Look at 21180 Industrial machines, other. That category contains all kinds of items.
Look at 21110 Food, tobbaco machinery. Again lots of products there.
It is not simply a matter of convenience that radiation protectionware is placed in nuclear fuel materials. It is also that the companies that produce nuclear fuel components also produce their own accessory items. Thus the company that makes Uranium dioxide pellets also has a line of items to help you handle their product (partly so they can sell their product, partly to make sure the govt. regulators will provide permits to the buyers of said products).
#19
Maybe it's the capitalism thingy that has Murat confused. However the same model works with Juche. Grass, tree bark and White Slag® are all Juche materials. While they do not of themselves constitute Juche, they are integral to the implementatioin of the Juche philosophy.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/25/2004 14:04 Comments ||
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Let's suppose you guys Bombarama and MHW are right then again why would America export materials wich have obviously some function with nuclear fuel, be it holders, radiation protectionware or else to arch-enemy Iran.
I see you guys are so soft hearted, you want to protect those poor Mullahs from eroneously shot DU amunition which lands on Iranian soil, am I right?
No, better is the next claim will be: (like WMD in Iraq) Iran is in posesion of nuclear fuel materials, we have proof cos we sold it!
Posted by: Murat ||
08/25/2004 14:05 Comments ||
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Sure MHW, grouping all industrial products as fuel makes sense, especially nuclear fuel, come on you can do better.
So you've never dealt with UNSPSC codes? They're a similar concept, if a bit more exact in the range of goods and services covered by each code.
I hope we never see anyone delivering services 92112100 or 92112403.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/25/2004 14:08 Comments ||
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#22
Let's suppose you guys Bombarama and MHW are right then again why would America export materials wich have obviously some function with nuclear fuel, be it holders, radiation protectionware or else to arch-enemy Iran.
Perhaps they were required to purchase it by the IAEA?
I see you guys are so soft hearted, you want to protect those poor Mullahs from eroneously shot DU amunition which lands on Iranian soil, am I right?
Perhaps that export code has a wider meaning than you think?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/25/2004 14:27 Comments ||
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#23
Murat,
1. it is a relatively trivial amount of product
2. a good reason to sell it to Iran is to facilitate decontamination work. If a site is too contaminated, the antiproliferation ops become very problematic; another good reason to sell it is prevent Iran from using the 'we can buy the stuff we need for nuclear electrical generation so we have to use the nuclear bomb stuff we can get from Pakistan' excuse.
#25
Murat,
Iran has several reactors, including a 5MW research reactor supplied under the Shah. It has no need for the US to provide fuel for that reactor since Argentina supplied over 100kg of 20% enriched uranium 15 years ago. In addition, Iran has a lot of uranium underground. What other countries cannot provide are spare parts or fuel rod containers (zirconium or other high temp ceramics) for that 5MW reactor. Since it is a research reactor, it undergoes thermal cycles more often than a commercial reactor, and the fuel elements and containers are more likely to develop cracks unless inspected and replaced.
From your link, the total value of nuclear exports to Iran 1999-2003 was $199,000. That seems a very low amount for spare parts to keep a even small reactor up and running. It indicates they had a lage stockpile of spares under the Shah or that Iran is making or buying eslewhere most of the spares and importing from the US only the most critical parts (e.g. Zirconium fuel containers). Personally, I would ban all nuclear material to Iran, safety related or not. But then I don't care if the reactor leaks and contaminates downtown Tehran.
Posted by: ed ||
08/25/2004 14:34 Comments ||
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#26
BTW -- export code 11300 also shows up in regards to..
What's also worth mentioning is that code 113 is labeled "Nuclear fuel materials and fuels", so it would seem to me that 11300 is the stuff associated with nuclear fuels (whatever that might encompass), and 113 would include the actual uranium pellets themselves.
#28
I wouldn't use the US foreign trade statistic code as a determinator of what was exported, unless you know what's classed as 'fuel materials and fuels' under 11300.
IMNSHO, a more accurate determinator would be the United States Harmonized Tariff Schedule B code (nuclear is 84XX series - I think).
Al Qaeda and anti-government elements are planning a series of bombings and rocket attacks in the country's major cities very soon, revealed reports to the Interior Ministry by the secret service, reliable sources told Daily Times. The secret services learnt of the attacks on a recent visit to the Iranian consulate when the consulate passed on information it had gathered, sources said. In light of these reports, the government has directed the chief secretaries, home secretaries and provincial police officers to tighten security around sensitive buildings, foreign missions and consulates and senior government officers. The government has also directed the authorities to install security cameras at sensitive government buildings. The Interior Ministry has requested the Ministry of Finance to grant Rs 35 million for the Diplomatic Protection Department to buy weapons, vehicles and other security equipment that would help law enforcement agencies be more efficient. The ministry has also directed the district administration and Capital Development Authority to speed up the installation of 90 security and traffic control cameras in various parts of the city. The district administration has contracted a Chinese firm to install the surveillance cameras.
Two more suspects were arrested over an alleged Independence Day plot to blow up government and military headquarters as well as the US embassy in Islamabad, a minister said on Tuesday. "There were a few more arrests on Monday in connection with the Independence Day plots," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said. "They are not the main culprits," he added. The "nine or 10" suspects already rounded up over the August 14 plots were still being interrogated, he said. "Those arrested for plotting Independence Day attacks are being questioned," Rashid said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2004 1:01:01 AM ||
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This sounds to me like Iran is the approved mouthpiece for AQ. They probably shouted down the hall to get this information--a veiled threat for Pak to back off.
Posted by: Capt America ||
08/25/2004 1:52 Comments ||
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Alternatively Iran could be keeping tabs on Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is known for both attacking Shias (and Iranians), and have also spearheaded most of the recent terrorist attacks within Pakistan.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/25/2004 2:53 Comments ||
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Capt America, seriously, you may have read one conspiracy theory too many... Iran tolerates AQ when its goals coincide with their goals, but if AQ crosses line, they are regarded as pests and no conscientious reflections about curbing the pest problem bother Ayatollahs.
In fact, they are just infidels to each other. Whatever deity is responsible for this status quo has my deserved appreciation.
When trying to explain the Islamists' global campaign of mass murder, both liberals and conservatives, despite their fierce mutual disagreements, make the same underlying mistake. People on the anti-war left believe that Al Qaeda attacked us because we're imperialist, or because we're racist, or because we don't do enough for Third-World hunger (yes, there are people who actually believe the hunger argument; most of them are Episcopalians). By contrast, many people on the pro-war right, especially President Bush, believe that the Islamists hate us for our freedoms, opportunities, and overall success as a society. In other words, the left believes that the Islamists hate us for our sins, and the right believes that they hate us for our virtues. Both sides commit the same narcissistic fallacy of thinking that the Islamist holy war against the West revolves solely around ourselves, around the moral drama of our goodness or our wickedness, rather than having something to do with Islam itself.
A very different perspective on the Islamist challenge comes from Mary Habeck, a military historian at Yale University. Speaking at the Heritage Foundation on August 13, Habeck said that the various jihadist groups base their war against non-Moslems on the Islamic sacred writings, particularly the Sira, which, unlike the Koran, tells the Prophet's life in chronological sequence. Using Muhammed as their model, the jihadis live and think and act within paradigms provided by the stages of Muhammed's political and military career. According to Habeck, this internally driven logic of Islam, and not any particular provocation, real or imagined, by some outside power, is the key to understanding why the jihadis do what they do.
More at the link.
A few days ago, there was a discussion on how much religion should be discussed at Rantburg. I think is about right: religion motivates people, so post articles that help us understand the religion enough to explain Islamist motives, tactics, and strategies. I comment more at my website.
Posted by: Ptah ||
08/25/2004 11:40:42 AM ||
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Good reading, Ptah. It looks like my theory of "us" vs. "not-us" was close-but-no-cigar. There are, in fact, two flavors of "not-us": the Greater and Lesser Unbelief. And that, in turn, is only one of the Methods that may be employed.
#2
Moslems are supposed to model their life after Mohammad. While this type of model is basically nonsense, it does explain the jihadi actions, especially if you take the warlike hadiths seriously.
#3
Good one Ptah, I'm sure, but not certain, "an eye for an eye" is a rockbed principle within islam. I'm afraid of sniping our interstates myself. Our borders have been so left unprotected. And those cadres are prolly in place.
In other words, the left believes that the Islamists hate us for our sins, and the right believes that they hate us for our virtues. Both sides commit the same narcissistic fallacy of thinking that the Islamist holy war against the West revolves solely around ourselves, around the moral drama of our goodness or our wickedness, rather than having something to do with Islam itself.
I was recently reading Ralph Peters' Beyond Baghdad. I was struck by his belief that monotheism is basically the cause of all of the world's ills. I certainly can't argue with this on one level. But I also think there is an inherent flaw in accepting, without question, the belief that monotheistic religion's "my way or the highway" mentality is the cause of all the worlds wars.
Rather, I believe that what we are seeing is the clash of good ideas v/s not as good. Western thought is based on the values of Christianity; faith, hope, charity, forgiveness - and these values allow one a greater chance of success in achieving a more fulfilling individual life. The greater the number of individuals participating in a set of healthy beliefs the greater the correlation to a healthy, prosperous, happy, society.
According to the quote above, I am falling prey to "narcissistic fallacy" by imposing my own beliefs.
Yet, I would disagree. Instead I would argue that, the very complaint that I am falling prey to a narcissistic fallacy, by putting forth my own belief that Christian values make for a better society), is itself, a "narcissistic fallacy" - the fallacy of "moral relativism.
I believe that some ideas are better than others. And to prove my point, look at Islamic based societies v/s Christian. One is based on blame and shame, another on helping one another and digging deep to forgive rather than to seek revenge.
I think we could even apply the same beleifs to left v/s right. Cultures whose values are based on shaming, blaming others for the source of their ills, simply do not fare as well as those based on the tenants of Christianity.
One set of ideas has a clear track record of success, one of failure. Screw the PC crap. This is a clash of better ideas challenging the staus quo of lesser ideas....be they cultural, religious or political. May the best ideas win.
Posted by: B ||
08/25/2004 14:13 Comments ||
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Hundreds of religious scholars and administrators from Islamabad and Rawalpindi met on Wednesday and criticised the government raid on two religious seminaries, Jaamia Fardiya and Jaamia Hafsa, reiterating their resolve to resist these moves. A gathering of more than four hundred ulema criticised the government's interference in seminaries' affairs on the directive of the US. They said that the government was attacking religious institutions in the name of an anti-terrorism drive. Later, while talking to reporters, Jamiat Ahle-Sunnat leader Qari Saeedur Rehman said that the ulema would not tolerate any raid or search operation on religious seminaries. "The seminaries are the biggest threat to anti-Islamic forces which have started implementing a plan to shut them down," he said. "The government is tightening the siege around religious leaders and seminaries through a string of allegations, court cases, and propaganda," he said. Qari Rehman said the government had started a propaganda campaign against the religious seminaries and former interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and former information minister Sheikh Rashid were trying to save their jobs while participating in the anti-madrassa campaign. Qari Rehman said Faisal Saleh Hayat was turning the military against religious leaders and demanded the government replace him with someone "prudent".
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2004 8:14:57 PM ||
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They said that the government was attacking religious institutions in the name of an anti-terrorism drive.
Sounds like a good idea to me.
"The seminaries are the biggest threat to anti-Islamic forces..."
Effect, meet cause.
Qari Rehman said Faisal Saleh Hayat was turning the military against religious leaders and demanded the government replace him with someone "prudent".
"prudent"=="blind in one eye and can't see out of the other"
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
08/25/2004 21:38 Comments ||
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Secular states a good thing.
Your religious schools are just schools of intolerance and terror.
I say they should be very well examined, after they are blown up, burnt down and the instructors killed. Examined a nail and splinter at a time.
Yea I am intolerant of asshats.
Darfur peace talks made little headway as Sudanese insurgents insisted they would not lay down their weapons until pro-government Arab militiamen stop targeting largely black African civilians in their country's troubled western region. The rebels' refusal on Tuesday to disarm came after a senior Sudanese official rejected the idea of an African peacekeeping mission to Darfur, where more than 30,000 people have been killed in an 18-month conflict and an estimated 1.2 million pushed from their homes. "We're an independent movement and we're fighting for our people and our rights. This force is our guarantee, how can we disarm them?" said Abdelwahid Muhamed El Nur, chairman of the Sudan Liberation Army rebel group.
The talks in Nigeria are an attempt to resolve the crisis in Darfur before the UN Security Council's Aug. 30 deadline for Khartoum to disarm the Arab militia known as Janjaweed or face economic and diplomatic sanctions. "The Janjaweed are carrying out ethnic cleansing and genocide. If there is a security arrangement, disarmament will come gradually. But now we are not ready to speak about disarmament," El Nur said before the African Union-sponsored talks got under way Tuesday. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also the AU chairman, pressed both sides to comprise, saying rebel disarmament is a key to lasting peace while warning the government against resisting an international presence in Darfur.
"Yeah! You should compromise! Maybe they can kill only some of you!"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2004 1:34:28 PM ||
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I thought that Ganjaweed was supposed to make a fellow mellow. I think they really smoking crack.
#2
Condi Rice has a great story about why she is pro-gun that comes from her childhood. Evidently the black community could not count on the police to protect them during a certain period of time. She remembers that her father and his friend patrolled the neighborhood with shotguns to protect their families.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/25/2004 18:49 Comments ||
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Palestinian legislators voted on Wednesday to back an anti-corruption reform package but feared nothing would come of it as President Yasser Arafat was withholding his stamp of approval. Rampant malfeasance in the upper echelons of Palestinian government has stirred unrest and disorder, underlined by a shooting attack on Wednesday that seriously wounded a Gaza security chief who is close to Arafat. The parliament voted 31-12 in favour of a report by a 14-member committee entrusted with overseeing the implementation of reforms approved in July by a majority of legislators. But while Arafat has admitted to "mistakes" and voiced support in principle for reforms, he has declined to sign a presidential decree needed to translate the legislators' recommendations into action.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2004 1:20:33 PM ||
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Just for laughs, Israeli officials ahould drop hints about "liquidating" Arafart. These same Palestinians who are frustrated that Arafart is standing in their way will then demonstrate their disconnect from reality by conducting mass rallies in the streets and declaring that Arafart is their leader and that they will stand by him no matter what.
#2
Arafat in action? Arafat inaction? Where's the news?
I'm with you Bar, make the Palestinians rally behind Arafat so they can enjoy even more misery, all courtesy of their precious parasite posing as a leader. I am beginning to think that the Israelis are doing everything right by waiting for the Palestinian terrorist factions to cap Arafat themselves. It will, for once and all, demonstrate to the outside world what necrophilic cannibals these walking pieces of human excrement are.
#3
I guess that the Paleostinian Parliament does not have the veto override power to go around the Arafish. Hell, they do not even have the ability to have a no-confidence vote and get the Arafish out and form a new government. So, unless they are willing to dump the Arafish, absolutely NOTHING will happen and the Paleostinians will do nothing but keep laying down undifferentiated midden, as the archaeologists say.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/25/2004 16:33 Comments ||
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By supporting that corrupt, slimy, greedy, egocentric terrorist, they deserve everything that befalls them. No sympathy.
Gal Friedman wins Gold
Gal Friedman won Israel's first Olympic gold medal ever in the 2004 Olympics Wednesday. Gal Friedman sailed a remarkably consistent regatta in the Mistral windsurfing competition, never finishing worst than eighth in the 11-race series. He placed second in Wednesday's decisive race. British windsurfer Nick Dempsey moved into first place with Gal trailing him by 18 seconds into the third float. The route had been shortened and ended at the 4th float, and Friedman advanced towards the finishing line neck-to-neck just behind Dempsey. Placing, however, was determined in relation to Brazilian Ricardo Santos, who placed 16th, and Gal placed first. He immediately pulled out his Israeli flag and draped it over himself.
. . .
Posted by: BigEd ||
08/25/2004 11:11:55 AM ||
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The IOC says
"Israel who???"
Peggy says,
"You know, the little country that lost its whole team of athletes in Munich?"
via New Scientist (h/t Lucianne)
Maggie McKee - 13:26 24 August 04
The same material that makes golf balls tough may soon make bullet holes vanish in "self-healing" aircraft fuel tanks, say US navy researchers. Recently, US scientists discovered that a commercially sold polymer - used to coat bowling pins, helmets, and golf balls - displays a curious property when shot at: it can immediately "pave over" the bullet holes. Now, a team led by Christopher Coughlin, a materials engineer at the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Maryland, is trying to understand why the polymer self-heals. He hopes one day it can be used to help aircraft fuel tanks recover quickly from enemy fire. "If you're 500 miles from your naval base - which could be an aircraft carrier in the ocean - you have to be worried. Are you going to have enough fuel to make it back?" Coughlin asks.
Pointy bullets
To test the self-healing behaviour, his team has been shooting various types of bullets at a 1.5-millimetre-thick sheet of the polymer, which is manufactured by DuPont and called Surlyn. The cleanest and quickest seals came after hits with a relatively small (5.6 mm), very pointy bullet, while larger, blunt-tipped projectiles - especially when shot from an angle - "chunked out" holes in the material. He presented the results Monday at the American Chemical Society meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He believes the melting properties of the material may explain why it self-heals. "It's not going to self-heal if you just poke a hole in it with an ice pick," Coughlin told New Scientist. "It's not going to get hot enough to melt." He says speeding bullets heat the Surlyn to around its melting temperature. "We're trying to understand how that affects whether things get stuck back together," he says.
The melting properties appear to depend on Surlyn's polyethylene chains and methacrylic acids. These comprise a random mixture of ionic and nonionic regions that each want to stay with their kind. "It's like chains of spaghetti where parts are stuck together, which changes how the material flows [when heated]," Coughlin says.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: .com ||
08/25/2004 2:41:53 AM ||
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.com, you don't think we are sampling the Juche, do you?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/25/2004 3:35 Comments ||
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Ha! How our "Their juche is shit, but our shit is juche!" We do field a lot of our white slag ideas...
The State Department said Tuesday it has information that terrorists may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan in early September during the country's Independence Day celebrations. The warning to Americans traveling or living in the Central Asian nation comes less than a month after triple suicide bombings at the U.S. and Israeli embassies and the general prosecutor's office in Tashkent. "The embassy urges Americans in Uzbekistan to exercise extreme caution, including avoiding large crowds, celebrations and public places where Westerners generally congregate," the State Department said in its statement.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/25/2004 12:58:05 AM ||
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A US defence contractor has received more than $1bn in funding to build a prototype unmanned fighter aircraft for the American military. Northrop Grumman will build at least three full-scale flight prototypes for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) over five years. The contract win will allow Northrop to continue work on its X-47B combat drone.
It is hoped that many unmanned fighters would be networked and controlled from land or from an aircraft carrier. Key missions envisaged for the vehicle include suppression of enemy air defences, precision strike, electronic attack and surveillance deep into enemy airspace. Boeing is already developing another drone called the X-45C under the same operational assessment phase of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) demonstration programme, led by Darpa. J-UCAS aims to find a stealthy, unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) with integrated sensors, navigation and communications that can operate in the network-centric battlefield of tomorrow.
Network-centric warfare involves gaining the upper hand against an enemy through information superiority, enabling resources to be deployed faster and more effectively than has been possible in the past. "The X-47B promises to be a highly capable air warfare system, well suited to support the full spectrum of military operations," said Scott Winship, Northrop Grumman's J-UCAS programme director. "It will be very stealthy and thus highly survivable. It will carry a wide variety of sensors with a large internal weapons payload and be fully networked into the military's emerging joint operational architecture." The award includes initial funding of $30m.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/25/2004 12:30:30 AM ||
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Here's DARPA's J-UCAS Overview page with specs, info, and photos of both UAV's.
#8
Here's a $64 question: why haven't they fielded a robotic Stryker yet? Smaller, faster, more heavily armored, more weaponry, lighter. I know that robotic tanks have been wanted since the German wire-guided mini-tank of WWII. If you want a happy medium, why not make a remotely controlled robot with just a single crewman for whatever special purpose?
#9
Anonymoose, be patient, they are on the way. Small remote vehicles with medium and light machine guns are close to being fielded. These are a nasty piece of kit. There are many UGV programs in the works right now and more and more of these are going to mount weapons. There probably won't be a remote vehicle with a weapon as large as the 120mm smoothbore of the Abrams for a long time due to safety considerations, but the smaller stuff is about ready to rock.
Posted by: remote man ||
08/25/2004 12:33 Comments ||
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Didn't I see Chevy Chase hawking these things a while back?...
Maoist rebels are to lift their blockade of Kathmandu from today after listening to requests from the business community, human rights activists and ordinary Nepalese.
Mighty charitable of them. Must be going soft.
The week-long siege of the capital has been maintained by the threat of violence, rather than physical roadblocks, but has been remarkably effective. Food prices have risen precipitously and there were concerns that the city would run out of fuel within days. But analysts said the guerrillas, fighting to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy, had begun to see support for their cause drain away as the blockade began to hurt Kathmandu's 1.5 million people. A statement issued by the Maoist leadership said: "The transport blockade has been postponed for one month, with effect from August 25." In an attempt to put pressure on the government, the rebels said the blockade would be reimposed if it continued to ignore their demands to free detained Maoists and investigate the killings of leftwing activists.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/25/2004 12:18:36 AM ||
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This is standard MO for Nepal's Maoists. Sort of a good cop/bad cop routine which might be genuine schizoid flip/flop (who knows what goes on in these nutters' minds) and might be cynical carrot and stick attempts at manipulating the resolve of the population. When I was there a couple of years ago a similar strike which would have shut down Kathmandu was called off at the last minute apparently due to protests that it would interfere with students' exams.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/25/2004 00:15 ||
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The International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday it was mounting a major airlift of relief supplies to Sudan's troubled Darfur region
So the janjaweed can have a better source of supplies, no doubt.
Or is the Red Cross also taking some big honkin' guns?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/25/2004 0:19 Comments ||
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How about starting an new NGO "www.GUNSARETHEANSWER.com"
A humanitarian orginization deticated to the outfitting and training of each and every village of civilians in the Darfur region?
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Tuesday he feared that the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan could potentially grow to the scale of Rwanda's 1994 genocide when more than 500,000 were killed.
A little late to the party, aren't you Jesse?
Jackson was visiting to draw attention to himself the need for urgent action on Sudan. "After the Rwandan crisis of '94, we said it will never happen again. But it could happen again unless there is immediate relief," Jackson told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from Benghazi, Libya where he was to meet later on Tuesday with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to discuss Sudan. "For too long the world was silent on Rwanda," Jackson said of the 100-day-long massacre of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates by Hutu extremists in 1994. "There is a paralysis of action on the growing crisis in Sudan."
The UN's involved...
Jackson said he planned to go to Sudan on Thursday and Friday to raise his profile and get on teevee visit the ravaged Darfur region and to meet with government officials in Khartoum and with U.N. officials. He did not say specifically what he would be asking of those officials. "Obviously this is a crisis of huge proportions. They need food and medicine and a safe passage to get those displaced people returned home," Jackson said.
Not to mention some security forces capable of killing the Janjaweed on sight.
#10
The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, a consortium dominated by the China National Petroleum Corporation constructed an oil pipeline from the Darfur area to Port Sudan on the Red Sea in July 1999, exporting crude petroleum (primarily to China and India). Last year, oil exports accounted for 70% of Sudan's export revenues.
Chevron estimates âSudan had more oil than Iran and Saudi Arabia togetherâ.
#12
Yes Jesse Black people (or would you call them African-Africans?) are being killed in Sudan FOR THE PAST DECADE! Got to be about the Oil. Look for an oil company to give Rainbow Push a big check if things simmer down.
#14
Barb, Perhaps he will tell them that he will make the 'UN' and those pesky Human Rights Organizations go away so they can murder, rape, pilliage and burn in peace....
#15
Warnings about the crises started months ago, and the outrage of black leaders in the US barely registered a blip on the cable circuit. Other than humanitarian impulse-of which he has some- why is Jesse Jackson entering the fray now?
Think. What will surround him if he goes there? Thousands of starving black Sudanese, some of whom have been gang-raped, some of whom have been mutilated, all around Jesse. Powerful visuals that will fly all over the Internet and cable TV, reinforcing his reputation. And what about the droning accusations on blogsites that America only gets involved when there is oil? Will he speak against or reinforce that fable-i.e., will he likely castigate America VIA THE MEDIA for going to Iraq and not going into Sudan?
Darfur is a crisis that needs addressing, but the same people that supported a policy of bluff, delay, and inaction at the UN re Iraq are the ones now decrying a lack of action in the Sudan. Diagnosis-schizophrenia.
#16
Barbara Skolaut: CF - How? The Sudanese government doesn't give a shit. They're helping in the genocide.
Simple - Jesse will provide a clean bill of health for the Sudanese government to Uncle Sam. This will help forestall any potential American intervention. Whatever problems the Arabs in Sudan have won't be solved by Uncle Sam bombing the crap out of them. To the blacks in Sudan a bombing campaign against the Arabs would be kind of like manna from heaven.
#17
Jesse's doing nothing but rebuilding domestic political credibility by playing the internationalist. His main competitor, the Rev. Al, didn't get much out of the Democrats.
Both the party and the Kerry campaign are going to need help. Jesse would like to be 'available' for that. If he can get something from the Sudanese, that's bonus.
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.
