Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, the president and founding father of the United Arab Emirates, one of the richest countries in the world, died. "The president's office mourns with the people of the United Arab Emirates and the Arab and Islamic nations the leader of the nation and president... His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, who passed away on Tuesday evening, November 2," his office announced. Television across the Emirates cut into normal programming to air verses from the Koran, the Muslim holy book, after the brief announcement carried by the official media. The ailing Sheikh Zayed, who was in his late 80s, had governed the seven-member oil-rich OPEC member since its birth in 1971 and was genuinely loved by his people. His death came a day after the announcement of the first cabinet reshuffle in the desert country in seven years. Zayed's heir apparent is his eldest son and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.
Born "around 1918" according to official documents, the UAE leader had his share of health problems over the past few years, undergoing neck surgery in 1996 and a kidney transplant four years later. He was one of a number of ailing rulers in the oil-rich Gulf monarchies where power remains the preserve of royal families. Sheikh Zayed, who was genuinely loved by his people for using oil money to turn his desert country green, played a key part in creating the UAE on December 2, 1971 following Britain's pullout from the Gulf. That was five years after he had been proclaimed ruler of Abu Dhabi, which became the wealthiest emirate of the federation and accounts for some 80 percent of the UAE's oil production, currently standing at about 2.5 million barrels a day. The oil boom enjoyed by Abu Dhabi spread through the six other emirates after their rulers chose Sheikh Zayed as the first head of the UAE federation in 1971. His first five-year mandate was systematically renewed since.
Analysts said Monday's cabinet reshuffle, which brought in a new energy minister and a woman into government for the first time, had been in the works for months and signalled that times were changing in the UAE. "It has been cooking for some time," a source close to government circles told AFP. The reshuffle saw the naming of Mohammad bin Dhaen al-Hamli -- an oil industry veteran who sits on the UAE's Supreme Petroleum Council-- as a new energy minister. It also saw Sheikha Lubna al-Qassemi, a US-educated businesswoman, take over as economy and planning minister, the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the Gulf federation. "It is a profound and sensible change... providing evidence of a long-term strategy, mainly in economic planning," said an Abu Dhabi-based Western diplomat ahead of the announcement of Zayed's death. The cabinet resuffle made the UAE the first member of the Gulf Cooperation Council to put a minister in charge of GCC affairs at a time when the six-member bloc is trying to move toward economic integration.
#1
The UAE is the most livable, tolerant Gulf Cooperation Council country. Visit visa I have was free, good for 10 years, and I didn't even go to the embassy to pick it up. If only Saudi had a tenth of what Zayed had set up. Sure he had his drawbacks. I'm pretty sensitive about anti-Semitism these days, but the place astounded me the three time I've visited.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
11/02/2004 16:20 Comments ||
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#2
I'm not Mark, but I have some background in this.
Say oil go up? Oil go up.
Oil should be down... oil down...
Oil steady and ready.
For serious investors I advise a major buy into the Erie System we are heading for Albany!
Posted by: Daniel Drew ||
11/02/2004 16:30 Comments ||
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#3
I was reading that al-Nahayan did not have a successor. But it sounds like they will work it out. A woman running the economy and planning mimistry sounds like they are light years ahead of Saudi Arabia. Any thoughts, .com?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/02/2004 17:40 Comments ||
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#4
Should the houris be removed? I also thought the UAE was the bright star in Arabia.
Posted by: ed ||
11/02/2004 17:47 Comments ||
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#5
Let an old man have his dancing girls, is my motto...
Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for last month's Beslan school hostage-taking, warned Sunday that he was ready to fight Russia for a decade and insisted that civilians remain a fair target. But Basayev also said the rebels would observe "international law" if Russia also made such a commitment. The Chechens have accused the Russians of human rights violations and war crimes. "If [President Vladimir] Putin doesn't want peace, we'll wait until he leaves or if we can we'll send him directly to hell," Basayev said in an interview published on Chechenpress.com, a Chechen Web site. "Five years of war have gone quickly; another five or ten years will go just as fast."
The interview dated from Oct. 14 featured Basayev's responses to e-mail questions posed by Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper to another Chechen Web site, the site said. There was no way to independently confirm the authenticity of the interview. "Our aim isn't to kill people, especially children, but to stop the genocide of the Chechen people and defend freedom and independence," Basayev reportedly wrote. "Therefore, we are forced to resort to extremes, which we are not ourselves happy with."
Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded Sunday outside the Chechen capital's main hospital, injuring 17 people in an attack that apparently targeted members of a Chechen security force bringing their wounded for treatment after an earlier explosion, officials said. The first explosion struck a vehicle carrying the Chechen security troops on a highway in the outskirts of the capital, Grozny, Federal Security Service spokesman, Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin, said on Russia's NTV television. Then, as the injured were being taken into Grozny's hospital No. 9, a second car exploded outside the building, he said. Thirteen of the wounded in the second attack were members of the Chechen presidential security service, headed by Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, said Maj. Igor Golubenko, a duty officer for the Chechnya Emergency Situations Ministry in Rostov-on-Don. The other victims were three hospital workers and a child.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2004 2:22:36 AM ||
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A new book, entitled Shadow of Swords, claims the former head of the Australian branch of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) was also a senior member of al-Qaeda. Author Sally Neighbour has alleged that Abdul Rahman Ayoub ran the Australian branch of JI from Sydney with his brother before returning to Indonesia after the Bali bombings. Ms Neighbour has described Mr Ayoub as a very experienced militant. "He had been in Afghanistan for five years - had fought alongside Osama Bin Laden, knew senior figures in the al-Qaeda leadership personally and quite well, and also helped to write the al-Qaeda training manual on terrorist warfare," she said. "So the Australian branch was no remote offshoot. It was very directly and intimately connected at a high level with both JI and al-Qaeda."
Ms Neighbour said she has based a lot of the book on interviews. "And that is interrogation reports or interviews of the Bali bombers, for example, and other arrested JI figures," said Ms Neighbour. "They've been my main source. I've also had a lot of assistance from Australian authorities."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2004 1:54:08 AM ||
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The finale to a children's pantomime of Aladdin at a New Zealand theatre was Osama bin Laden belting out the Frank Sinatra hit "New York, New York". At least one parent has lodged a complaint with Auckland's Southern Stars Charitable Trust, which commissioned the show, dubbing it "unbelievably offensive and inappropriate" and "a callous, calculated political statement", the New Zealand Herald reported. He said the character later signed books with "Love Osama".
Quick! Somebody make popcorn! The Easily Offended meet the Tactless and Stoopid...
The show's director, David Coddington, said the finale was not intended to have relevance to the September 11 attacks on the US, adding: "If I have caused anyone offence I apologise, I'm sorry that's happened. It was very much tongue in cheek." The show was held to raise money for Radio Lollipop, an in-house station at Auckland's children's hospital and other charities.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/02/2004 2:15:41 AM ||
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#1
Why, that's just kooky. If yer gonna have an Osama puppet in yer show, he should be singing "My Way".
AUSTRALIA'S overseas spy agency, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, has been warned that offering informants passage to Australia or lavish gifts may be illegal. A review of ASIS by the nation's intelligence watchdog reveals at least two areas where methods may overstep "legality and propriety". The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Ian Carnell, has expressed concern in his annual report over the "extent to which ASIS might seek to influence immigration applications" and the "extent to which a case officer could or should assist a human source to obtain particular goods".
His comments came as ABC TV's Four Corners program made fresh claims last night that an alleged high-level mole inside ASIO, the domestic intelligence agency, had passed operational secrets to the Soviet Union for more than a decade during the Cold War. Mr Carnell's report does not go into detail, but intelligence experts told The Australian that ASIS practices that may be legally questionable include promising a foreign informant that an application for a visa to relocate to Australia will be successful. And when an agent develops a professional relationship with an informant, lunch or small gifts may be acceptable but larger gifts and cash are in a legal "grey area". The Intelligence Services Act provides agents with broad powers to carry out their roles, but inducements could be banned.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/02/2004 1:50:24 AM ||
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#1
G'day Mate! How about a little G2 for a brand new Holden and case of Fosters?
Posted by: Mr. C. Dundee ||
11/02/2004 10:29 Comments ||
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A children's pantomime of Aladdin, staged in Auckland at the weekend, ended with the character of Osama bin Laden belting out a rendition of Frank Sinatra's New York, New York.
A Mt Eden parent who took his two pre-schoolers to the play at the Logan Campbell Centre on Saturday said he was appalled when "bin Laden" appeared at the end of the play - just as the wicked uncle Jasar was transported back to the cave by the genie. Later the character signed books with "Love Osama", a reference to the al Qaeda terrorist leader who appeared in videotape which emerged at the weekend and electrified the United States presidential battle.
The parent who saw the Auckland pantomime has complained to Southern Stars Charitable Trust, the organisation which commissioned the play and donates the profits to Radio Lollipop. The inclusion of "bin Laden" was callous, he said, a "calculated political statement". "It was totally out of context and bizarre," said the parent. "I spoke to a few people afterwards and they couldn't believe it.
"I'm sure those who lost loved ones in New York, Bali and Madrid would agree."
"We had gone expecting a bit of escapism in the afternoon. It was meant to be real kids' stuff ... then Osama bin Laden started singing New York, New York. It was unbelievably offensive and inappropriate. There was just a stunned silence."
Director David Coddington said the item was intended as a spoof. Bin Laden was hiding in the same cave as the wicked uncle and no longer wanted to be a terrorist but a singer. Mr Coddington said the bin Laden character had appeared in the production two years ago without complaint. That time he wanted to be Britney Spears. "The play is aimed at kids but because parents are there too this was just an aside joke at the end that parents would catch on to. It would be over the children's heads."
Mr Coddington was surprised at the complaint and said the Sinatra song was not intended to have any relevance to September 11.
Then why not have him sing "Tiny Bubbles"?
"It wasn't meant to be offensive. If I have caused anyone offence I apologise, I'm sorry that's happened. It was very much tongue in cheek."
A spokeswoman for Southern Stars Charitable Trust said she had received only one complaint about the play, which had raised $71,500 for Radio Lollipop, the in-house radio station at Starship Children's Hospital, KidzFirst at Middlemore and the Manukau Super Clinic.
In many countries of Europe, former inmates of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been relishing their freedom. In Spain, Denmark and Britain, recently released detainees have railed in public about their treatment at Guantanamo, winning sympathy from local politicians and newspapers. In Sweden, the government has agreed to help one Guantanamo veteran sue his American captors for damages.
Not so in France, where four prisoners from the U.S. naval base were arrested as soon as they arrived home in July, and haven't been heard from since. Under French law, they could remain locked up for as long as three years while authorities decide whether to put them on trial -- a legal limbo that their attorneys charge is not much different than what they faced at Guantanamo. Armed with some of the strictest anti-terrorism laws and policies in Europe, the French government has aggressively targeted Islamic radicals and other people deemed a potential terrorist threat. While other Western countries debate the proper balance between security and individual rights, France has experienced scant public dissent over tactics that would be controversial, if not illegal, in the United States and some other countries.
French authorities have expelled a dozen Islamic clerics for allegedly promoting hatred or religious extremism, including a Turkish-born imam who officials said denied that Muslims were involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Since the start of the school year, the government has been enforcing a ban on wearing religious garb in school, a policy aimed largely at preventing Muslim girls from wearing veils.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
11/02/2004 2:12:29 AM ||
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#1
Guilty until proved otherwise. The Napoleonic code has it's pluses. Don't get busted in Mexico. It's pretty harsh on women and inheritance as well.
#2
The French may be a bunch of arrogant assholes whose default position is to be an enemy of the U. S. but they are not stupid.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/02/2004 8:29 Comments ||
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#3
Overseas, the French are pr*cks toward Uncle Sam; at home, the French are pr*cks toward their domestic jihadists. They are not our ally but there's much we can learn from them.
#5
It depends on what to goal is. If they want to assimilate them it is stupid. If they want to drive them out of the country, it is smart. I suspect the veil thing is the start of a legal ethnic cleansing program that will never be identified as such explicitly. If subtlety and nuance don't work, there's always the St Bartholomew's option.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/02/2004 14:00 Comments ||
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#6
Lex
On the front of the veil it is _you_ who should learn. It is not about the freedom of the girls, it is not even about the freedom of the parents, it is about islamists threatening the parents (remember what happens to appostates in the religion of peace?). It would be a betrayal of hundreds of thousands of North-Africans who are adepts of sufism (who happens to be domlinant between North-Africans at least for those speak Berber) or not religious to not counter the islamists and let them force their discriminatory ideas. During the eighties France looked the other way about female genital mutilation between girls of sub-saharian origin. It was a shame, a shame perpetrated by the left in the name of tolerance, multiculturalism and similar drivel. I don't want to have France abandon those poor girls to the islamists as it did with the sub-saharian girls. The only thing I regret is the lack the lack of strong sanctions against parents and instigators.
#7
So W's going into Iraq has not really lessened cooperation between perfidious France and US intel services. I remember Mark Shields on Newshour flitting about how France would give some payback by witholding intel to the US since we did not follow Frog dictates on Iraq. Leftist/K boilerplate.
So here's what I think: We need to be ready to work with whomever on domestic/international terrorism, but don't listen to France, Egypt, KSA, Jordan, etc as they hand out advice on how to proceed militarily in Iraq and elsewhere.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
11/02/2004 15:12 Comments ||
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#8
Thanks JFM, didn't realize that Sufism was dominant in Berberland.
#9
Berber activist websites complain that the Algerian governemnt is doing its utmost to replace their suffi imams by wahabists. Wahabism strives for arabization of the local populations and this pleases the pan-arabist governemnt of Algeria
#10
JFM:
I'm with lex; the anti-veil policy creates more problems than it solves by actually oppressing Muslims (and Jews, Christians, and Sikhs.... but that's another issue). I say don't give them anything to hang their burkas on.
#11
I'm with JFM on this. Also take away their welfare checks. Force them to keep a dog and pig in every home. Make it uncomfortable enough so the Islamists can't wait to go back home.
Posted by: ed ||
11/02/2004 17:59 Comments ||
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#12
Secret master
Forgive me if I don't shed tears about those poor people not being allowed to oppress their women.
If these guys bwant to mutilate their women or force them to don veils they are free to do it as long as it is out of France. If they want to remain in France they would be better westernizing and fast. There is no place here for people who want to live in 8th century. BTW there was a French minister who told something similar, did I tell you he was Black and born Congolese.
From Tim Blair... THE NAUGHTY SHE-GOAT
Al-Jazeera has released a complete translation of Osama bin Laden's latest video. In it, the cave-hopping beardo lists his trusted journalistic contacts:
This is the message which I sought to communicate to you in word and deed, repeatedly, for years before September 11th.And you can read this, if you wish, in my interview with Scott in Time Magazine in 1996, or with Peter Arnett on CNN in 1997, or my meeting with John Weiner in 1998.You can observe it practically, if you wish, in Kenya and Tanzania and in Aden. And you can read it in my interview with Abdul Bari Atwan, as well as my interviews with Robert Fisk.The latter is one of your compatriots and co-religionists and I consider him to be neutral. So are the pretenders of freedom at The White House and the channels controlled by them able to run an interview with him? So that he may relay to the American people what he has understood from us to be the reasons for our fight against you?
Congratulations, Robert! At least one person on this planet considers you to be neutral; too bad he's a psychopath. More from your friend:
So the war went ahead, the death toll rose, the American economy bled, and Bush became embroiled in the swamps of Iraq that threaten his future. He fits the saying, "Like the naughty she-goat who used her hoof to dig up a knife from under the earth ... "
" ... with her stunning hindquarters raised tantalisingly towards the village chieftain." Also in Osama's speech: a telling pop-culture reference to "black gold".
Posted by: dennisw ||
11/02/2004 5:16:15 AM ||
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Any chance this could be "Beat-me" Bob's downfall?
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
11/02/2004 9:58 Comments ||
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Nah. For most of Fisk's fans, props from Osama are a plus.
#3
Vermin like Fisk, Pilger, and MOAB Vagina-Bomb (Charlotte Raven of Al Guardian) have sown the wind, let them reap the whirlwind. Gideon-Phoenix NOW!
#4
I don't believe for a second that this was prepared by an arab, let alone by Osama. This one stinks even more than Rathergate. As Tim B points out, there are "telling pop culture reference[s]" scattered throughout this piece: "Black gold"? "playing on the same team"?
This paragraph, especially, is so banal and lifeless that I cannot believe Osama wrote it:
"It is true that this shows that al-Qaida has gained, but on the other hand, it shows that the Bush administration has also gained, something of which anyone who looks at the size of the contracts acquired by the shady Bush administration-linked mega-corporations, like Halliburton and its kind, will be convinced."
This doesn't sound at all like Osama the Terrible. Or for that matter, any jihadist. Do jihadists really make distinctions between yoru average $30B corporation and "mega-corporations"? The participial modifier (administration-linked) also sounds distinctly western. In any case, Osama's prose used to be considered elegant and classical, by arab standards; why does he suddenly sound like your averagea US editorial writer?
"And it all shows that the real loser is ... you"
This is the most suspect of all. When did Osama discover the smart-ass US college student's trope of using ellipses?
#5
lex has put his finger squarely on what's wrong about this thing. Waay too many vernacular and idiomatic references. OBL is known for his arcance religious references in elaborate prose, not his hipness nor his interest in current events and name-dropping. I would love to hear the unvarnished version of the various intel agencies' analysis. Surely some people are in serious head-scratching mode, if not something much more outspoken.
It stinks of an elaborate sham. How I dunno. Why is obvious.
#6
This phrase could have been lifted from a Rock the Vote ad: "And it all shows that the real loser is ... you"
The only thing missing is the epithet, "DUDE!!!"
Also bizarre is the sudden interest in economics and economic warfare, with "bankruptcy" a central trope.
Huh? We've never seen the slightest attention devoted by any jihadist to economics. They have no economic program, and any delight at causing economic damage could not even begin to compete with the rapture that comes from slaughtering people and knocking down iconic symbols of the west. Osama's not an accountant. He doesn't read Krugman's column. Since when is the apocalyptic struggle between the House of Faith and the House of Unbelief all about ledger balances?
This thing was definitely not written by a true jihadist, let alone Osama.
#7
This script could not have been written by the same man who spoke eloquently of people's reactions to "the strong horse" and "the weak horse", the man who taunted DefSec William Perry in a direct letter.
This tape is jokey, adolescent, rambling, irrelevant. Can't be from Osama. It's as if Victor Davis Hanson suddenly started using the language and tropes of Seinfeld or Dr Phil.
The FBI has appealed to the public to help identify a man who appeared on a video threatening to attack the US. The man, who used the alias Azzam the American, was shown on US TV network ABC last week with his face bravely covered. He claimed to belong to al-Qaeda. The FBI has put a statement on its website asking for help to find the "self-proclaimed American jihadist".
"We hope you might recognise him from his voice, his body language, or the style and content of his speech." The FBI has put clips from the man's video interview on its website, alongside transcripts of his message. The suspect, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, speaks English with a trace of a foreign accent as he threatens a new wave of terrorism in the US. In what he calls his message to America, he refers to President George W Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. "My fellow countrymen you are guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty," he says. "You are as guilty as Bush and Cheney. You're as guilty as Rumsfeld and Ashcroft and Powell. After decades of American tyranny and oppression, now it's your turn to die. Allah willing, the streets of America will run red with blood matching drop for drop the blood of America's victims."
He appears on tape with a black-and-white Arab headscarf covering his face, holding a rifle and wearing a vest with ammunition pouches. The FBI said the man might have left the US but hopes someone may be able to identify or locate him.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2004 1:52:03 AM ||
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#6
Right, Tipper. I had read about this Californian as you did a few days ago. Of course, BBC doesn't mention this.
BTW, he does not necessarily "speak English with a trace of a foreign accent". Rather, he could be a native speaker with a trace of an accent, due to all the non-English speakers he's been dealing with in Pak and Afghanistan all these years.
After teaching many years in Araby, and having to adjust my speech for the target audience, I spoke/speak a little differently than the average midwesterner without my realizing it. A lot of folks wanted to know if I was Irish or Dutch.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
11/02/2004 15:51 Comments ||
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The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has said that the surge in demand for UN peacekeeping forces around the world has reached a 10 year high. Speaking earlier this month in Ireland, he said that new operations had been authorised in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Haiti and Burundi. The UN was also planning a substantial mission in Sudan, he said, and was looking to strengthen its force in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In total, he said that the UN would need an additional 30,000 uniformed personnel on top of 50,000 already deployed.
So far, it has been poorer countries that have contributed most of those men. Bangladesh and Pakistan have the largest contingents on UN Missions by far. Between them they have deployed nearly 17,000 troops. The United States in comparison has provided 430.
For Bangladeshis, the peacekeepers - who are on duty in 12 countries across three continents - are a source of pride. "It is giving a good exposure to our country," said Flight Lieutenant Abu Saleh Mohammad Mannafi, a helicopter pilot with Bangladesh's air force. We're earning a good name and fame for the army, air force and navy as well as contributing to our economy. So it is doing a world of good for our country."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/02/2004 12:24:33 AM ||
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A top aide to Iran's so-called supreme mullah leader declared on Monday that Tehran did not fear being taken to the Security Council over its nuclear programme and warned that if the UN imposed an oil embargo world prices would go above 100 dollars a barrel. Mullah Nateq-Nuri, one of mullah Ali Khamenei's closest advisors, dismissed as "ridiculous" some suggestions from Europe aimed at persuading Tehran to end uranium enrichment to avoid being summoned by the Security Council. But mullah government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said Tehran saw "positive signals" from the three European countries -- Britain, France and Germany -- with whom it has been negotiating to try to close its file with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "If we had not received positive signals, we would not continue negotiations," he said.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/02/2004 2:04:32 AM ||
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#1
Why should the MMs fear UN sanctions? China will keep their asses out of the sling. China needs Iranian oil---big time.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/02/2004 2:19 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/02/2004 2:26 Comments ||
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#3
Right-o Mark. I posted the article yesterday on the $70 bn deal with the Chicoms. That is why the MMs do not have to worry about sanctions. We are in a race between nuclear weapons acquisition by the MMs and toppling the reigime. The stakes are enormous, especially for Israel.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/02/2004 9:31 Comments ||
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A veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, Hamid Nikpour took a lot of convincing that paintball was an activity to be taken seriously.
Now a self-confessed addict of the high-tempo hide-and-seek game, in which players do battle with compressed air guns firing capsules that splatter colorfully on impact, Hamid has opened the world's largest single paintball court in Iran.
et in the heart of the leafy Enqelab Sports Club in northern Tehran, a peaceful haven for the well-off and well- connected in the capital city of 12 million people, Matrix has everything that the budding paintballer could need.
State-of-the-art equipment, protective clothing, a computerized scoring system and refreshments are all provided on site.
And at just 90,000 rials ($11.25) for a three-hour session, it could well be the cheapest place to play anywhere in the world.
Women will not be allowed to play at first, although Nikpour insists this was not an imposition by Iran's sometimes strict religious authorities.
"We just want to build things up slowly, although we will never have mixed-sex games," he said.
Social mixing between unrelated men and women is forbidden in Iran and most sports facilities are segregated.
Posted by: ||
11/02/2004 2:02:33 AM ||
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I give it a week before the Mullahs either assign somebody to monitor the place, or more likely, shut it down.
Iran's hardline judiciary ordered the conservative-run news web site Baztab to close after receiving complaints that the site was "publishing false news," contrary to Iran's security guidelines, student news agency Isna reported yesterday. "Baztab was ordered to shut by the judiciary prosecution's inspector over complaints that the site was publishing false news contradicting the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) guidelines and contrary to the country's internal and external interests," Isna said, quoting a judiciary official. The report added that the head of Baztab "claimed that the SNSC had ordered his site to be filtered, because of it publishing material regarding Iran's nuclear case ... adding that he had only published material found in the rest of the Iranian media." The former head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezaie, is believed to run the web site.
A little in-fighting, eh?
Iranian authorities have in recent weeks clamped down on what they call illegal web sites, detaining a number of reformist journalists. "These measures have caused us problems in foreign affairs and in diplomatic attitudes towards us," government spokesman, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh told reporters. The European Parliament expressed alarm on Thursday at the deterioration in human rights in Iran, in particular over Press freedom and the death penalty.
And they'll express "continued alarm" real soon now, just you wait.
A motion passed by the parliament drew attention to the cases of eight journalists working for the electronic media, imprisoned for unknown reasons at an undisclosed location. Ramezanzadeh also expressed concern about the journalists' detention and their lack of access to lawyers. He said the government found instances of human rights violations "unjustifiable". "We have disagreements with the Europeans on human rights, there are things that we consider as violation in their countries but certain acts executed in the country can not be defended in our foreign policy," he said. A check by AFP showed that Baztab was still functioning yesterday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/02/2004 12:58:40 AM ||
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Hundreds of people in Iranian town of Hamadan took part in mass disturbances on 20 October, caused by police attack on two women who did not wear yashmaks compulsory for this time of year. According to Shari'a law that has been Iran's legislation since 1979, it is forbidden to eat, drink, smoke or wear ordinary clothes during day-light hours in the holy month of Ramadan. Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran reported that news of the attack on women without yashmaks quickly spread around the town, and young people took to the streets. They set fire to car tyres, threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police vehicles. Several people on both sides were injured.
The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corp (IRGC), Brigadier General Yahya Rahim Safavi, said on 8 October that U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are merely the foundations of an expansionist U.S. military strategy to subdue the entire Middle East, the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) reported. Safavi added: "If this strategy fails heavily in Iraq, it will, undoubtedly, stop. Otherwise it may extend to neighboring countries."
This line of thinking reflects Iran's fear that it is the next candidate for regime change in the context of the White House's "axis of evil," and it explains regime hard-liners' efforts to undermine U.S. objectives in Iraq. From the hard-liners' perspective, the survival of the Islamic Republic is at stake. The IRGC -- constitutionally designated to be the guardian of the Islamic revolution and Iran's territorial integrity, and which is believed to control the country's nuclear and ballistic-missile programs -- therefore has a unique responsibility, and this arm of the regime has found itself to be in the ascendancy as pressure piles on Iran. In contrast with the IRGC's apparent policy of brinkmanship -- senior IRGC official Hassan Abbasi cited "a strategy drawn up for the destruction of the Anglo-Saxon civilization" -- more moderate political figures like President Mohammad Khatami emphasize the peaceful nature of the country's nuclear program, underscore the defensive nature of Iranian military doctrine, and argue that the ballistic-missile program is only a deterrent... Article is by a Jane's IG analyst via RFE/RL.
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In contrast with the IRGCâs apparent policy of brinkmanship -- senior IRGC official Hassan Abbasi cited "a strategy drawn up for the destruction of the Anglo-Saxon civilization" -- more moderate political figures like President Mohammad Khatami emphasize the peaceful nature of the countryâs nuclear program, underscore the defensive nature of Iranian military doctrine, and argue that the ballistic-missile program is only a deterrent...
The head of the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees accused Israel on Monday of a smear campaign against his agency and crippling its work by destroying its property, blocking aid convoys, and keeping Palestinians from work.
In extremely candid remarks, Peter Hansen said Israel incited distrust toward the UN Relief and Works Agency with a barrage of accusations the group is never given a chance to respond to. "We are working under very dangerous circumstances and we don't need false stories to make these circumstances even more dangerous than they already are," Hansen told a breakfast meeting with members of the UN Correspondents Association.
Hansen has asked for - and so far has not received - an Israeli apology after it admitted it wrongly accused the agency of allowing an ambulance to be used to smuggle Palestinian rockets and had claimed he was anti-Israeli.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has backed Hansen in the dispute, what a surprise and Hansen rejected the notion that he or his agency - known as UNRWA - was biased. "We aren't anti-Israel, we hate all Jews equally."
"They call me a hater of Israel," Hansen said. "If they are drawing a caricature of me, the caricature has to have a certain likeness to reality. I don't find any likeness between the caricature they're drawing of me and when I look at myself in the mirror. Of course not. To do that there would have to be a reflection.
He also said his complaints were perfectly reasonable and questioned whether Israel would ever find anyone else acceptable for the job. Probably true. Nobody acceptable would want to take on that job.
"Many have told me - and I tend to agree - that anybody doing it with conscience could not have done things much differently than I have," he said. So you are saying you have no conscience?
The agency provides health, educational and other services to some 4.2 million Palestinians and their descendants scattered across the Middle East.
Israel has long accused UNRWA - and the United Nations generally - of bias toward it. On its Web site, the Israeli mission says many UN agencies spread anti-Israeli propaganda and accuses the UN General Assembly of undercutting the Middle East peace process with frequent resolutions condemning Israel, which pass thanks in part to the heavy influence of Arab and Asian nations.
Among the allegations Hansen leveled against Israel were blocking Palestinian teachers from going to UN funded schools, costing them about 200,000 teacher days of class. He repeated previous complaints that Israel delays hundreds of containers of relief goods and has detained UNRWA staff without charges.
The latest affront, Hansen said, was that Israel has distributed a 29-slide PowerPoint presentation, received by at least four nations' foreign ministers, attacking UNRWA. "Needless to say nobody from Israel ever showed us the slide show," he said, offering to make a point-by-point refutation of the Israeli claims. Ah. His complaint is that he's not in the loop.
Hansen made the remarks several hours before delivering his annual report on UNRWA's work to a General Assembly committee. Dated to June 30, 2004, it accuses Israel of violating international law, including the Geneva Convention and the UN Charter by its movement restrictions on UNRWA personnel. But the Palestinians operate well within International Law. Got it.
An Australian incarcerated in the US military camp at Guantanamo Bay on terror charges has told his family that he is on the brink of madness. "I feel as though I am teetering on the edge of losing my sanity," wrote David Hicks in a letter dated in August but only recently received by his family. He wrote of confusion and mood swings brought on by his detention.
Mr Hicks, 29, made his second appearance before the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay on Monday. His lawyers are arguing that his military trial, scheduled for 10 January, should be dropped. The charges against him include conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder and helping the enemy during the 2001 US-led war in Afghanistan. "I feel as though I'm teetering on the edge of losing my sanity after such a long ordeal, the last year of it being in isolation," Mr Hicks wrote to his father. "I've reached the point where I'm highly confused and lost, overwhelmed if you like. I suffer extreme mood swings every half hour, going from one extreme to another," he continued. "The decisions I'm making, which are no doubt important, are often done without thought or sometimes care. All decisions are made in chains, including being chained to the floor." Why doesn't somebody misplace a belt or a shoelace in his cell? In a couple of minutes, no more depression, and dinner with Allah...
There have been widespread reports of routine harsh treatment at Guantanamo, including isolation from the outside world, the use of bright lights and loud music, and limited exercise. No mention of videotaped beheadings...
But Mr Hicks' family were surprised to receive the letter as previous correspondence from their son has been heavily censored by the US military authorities. "Depression seems to be their preferred order of the day," wrote Mr Hicks. "I spend an average of 350 hours by myself between brief visits. No doubt this situation has negative psychological effects which will also permanently scar me." Permanently scar him? Oh, heavens, no!
David Hicks has pleaded innocent to charges brought against him by the US military. The Muslim convert and former abattoir worker faces a maximum of life imprisonment. He is one of two Australian citizens held at Guantanamo Bay. The other, Egyptian-born Mamdouh Habib, was arrested in 2001 in Pakistan. His family denies he has any links with al-Qaeda, saying he was captured while looking for a school for his children. Yeah, hate when that happens, right, Mamdouh?
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So that no one need ask, abbatoir. Everything sounds classier in French.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/02/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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losing his sanity? Conversion to Islam? Coincidence? I think not
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/02/2004 13:45 Comments ||
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What's to lose? He was a fucking moron long before he made his way to Gitmo - which, BTW, took considerable effort on his part to be where he was, doing what he was, given where he began. He's a fool-tool jihadi fodderboy.
Life's a bitch. And she gets really cranky when you're dumber than dirt.
#5
I am trying but I can't seem to muster up any sympathy for terrorists. Also the Habib story is sounds pretty good too. Seems that these idiots were all too proud to tun off and join the Taliban but now they all act like they got lost on the way to the market. Should have just dispatched them in Afghanistan and we would have to do trial or listen to this drivel.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/02/2004 15:23 Comments ||
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Hicks is just upset because he cannot use his abattior skills like he wanted to for jiihad. I will tell you, folks, it is brutal and all that, but for every hostage killed, we ought to airdrop 10 of these scum on Fallujah or other terrorist hot spot. We will not win by being nice.
Dad had to roast Japanese soldiers alive with a flamethrower in the Pacific in WW2. Eventually enought of them were roasted that they started giving up. It was dirty work, but it got the job done, and helped to win the war.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/02/2004 16:39 Comments ||
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#11
didn't think about the consequences of his actions too well did he? and by the way there are alot of prisoners world wide who go through the same things or worse so get over yourself
Posted by: Eleanor R ||
11/02/2004 19:00 Comments ||
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#14
sarcasm has it's limits. AP's Father did what he had to, and I'm sure there was no pleasure in it - "Eleanor R" - sometimes humor doesn't work....I should know
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/02/2004 19:14 Comments ||
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Good thing Franklin was in charge back then, eh?
#16
We damn well could use a lot more people like AP's father. They did what they had to to win that war. It's never pretty. The sKerrys in this country today couldn't win a poker game, let alone the WOT. Polls are closing and I've got to tell you: I am very much afraid that our survival depends on a coin toss.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/02/2004 20:02 Comments ||
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After initial concerns that the recent video message from bin Laden might contain "trigger" messages to "sleeper" cells within the USA , Al Jazeera released only an edited version last Friday after a U.S request.
Since then suggestions have circulated that the omitted footage contained specific threats against individual states of the U.S.A.To curtail this speculation the full transcript has now been released.
In the full transcript bin Laden makes it clear that the Al Qaeda strategy is to bankrupt the U.S.A.He claims that there are clear indications that he and Al Qaeda have been successful so far.
Full unedited transcript of the recent Osama bin Laden tape below.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
11/02/2004 9:25:45 AM ||
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#1
Bankrupt the U.S.???? The man is an ignorant fool. Not just because of the size of the economy in question, or that it is the most active in the world these days. But because of the freedom to create, which means that the people who proviously developed Ginsu knives and fantastic bagless vacuum cleaners have now turned their attention to inventing tiny tracers, chemical/biological detectors, anti-IED armor, and even more esoteric toys. And shortly, each one of those is going to be the seed of a new industry, as once the computer and the internet were.
I apologise to fellow pedants for the run-on sentence, but even I , in my abysmal ignorance of all things economic, know this much. If Bin Laden thinks to open a second front against the U.S. in this manner, he's already lost -- as badly as Hitler when he started toward the Russian border. And unlike the Russians, the Yanks will enjoy this particular battle.
#3
The video's bogus. Osama's famous for eloquent rhetoric and fluid, classical arab prose. This tape's jokey, adolescent, rambling, irrelevant. When exactly did these diehard warriors suddenly develop such a strong interest in economics? He's never said a word about any economic program or theory, let alone a strategy for economic warfare.
And then you have the script's syntax and banal, leaden style. It reads like your average editorial from Cincinatti or San Diego. That is, when it's not stealing lines from Mikey Boy, Rock the Vote, and The Beverly Hillbillies ("black gold" - ha!).
My money's on some lefty hack from Britain, perhaps an Arab who lived in the US for a few years. Regardless we can be 99% certain that this did not come from Osama's hand.
#4
Lex/NSA spook. A lot of what you say makes sense. Alot of sense. But the CIA gave it a probably rating. Don't they do a voice print on the audio to confirm it isn't an imposter?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/02/2004 17:42 Comments ||
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No NSA spook, just a former English major (also History) who knows sh*tty prose when he sees it. This is not the work of an eloquent, confident, visionary warrior. It is a hack job by someone who'd trying to rip off anti-Bush memes from MTV, Mikey and the OpEd pages.
I mean, really, when did Osama start reading Krugman? He may be nutty but he's not stupid.
For all you shooters out there
A rifle-mounted scope designed to enhance enemy visibility on the battlefield saved the life of a Marine during a Sept. 17 firefight on the outskirts of Fallujah, but not the way intended. Sgt. Todd B. Bowers, a member of the 4th Civil Affairs Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, spotted enemy snipers during a security patrol outside the restive town of Fallujah. While returning fire, a sniper-fired round hit Bowers' advanced combat optical gun site, mounted on his M-16A2 service rifle. Fragmentation from both the ACOG and the bullet were peppered across the left side of Bowers' face. "It was about a four-hour firefight. Bullets were flying everywhere, and as I returned fire, it felt like my weapon blew up," said Bowers, 25, a native of Washington, D.C.
A Navy corpsman removed a piece of fragmentation and applied a pressure dressing to his left cheek. As the corpsman began calling for a medical evacuation, Bowers refused and kept on fighting alongside his fellow Marines. "After he was cleaned up, I knew he would be okay, but I was surprised that he didn't want to leave on a medical evacuation," said Sgt. Jung Kil Yoo, a member of 4th CAG. Small pieces of fragmentation can still be seen on the left side of his face. "Luckily, I had my ballistic goggles on to protect my eyes, without them I probably would not be able to see out of my left eye," said Bowers.
He can still see the bullet lodged in his scope, which was given to him by his father, John Bowers, two days before leaving to Iraq. "The last time I saw my dad was the day he handed me the scope," said Bowers. His dad was a former sergeant in the Marine Corps, who didn't want to see his son go into combat without a useful piece of gear. "The ACOG was the best purchase I have ever made in my life," said John to his son during a phone conversation.
Continued on Page 49
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"He can still see the bullet lodged in his scope, which was given to him by his father, John Bowers, two days before leaving to Iraq. âThe last time I saw my dad was the day he handed me the scope,â said Bowers. His dad was a former sergeant in the Marine Corps, who didnât want to see his son go into combat without a useful piece of gear."
Next time you hear school teacher/administrator complaining about having to hold a bake sale/drive for school equipment, please remind them that the men and women in our services pay for gear out of their own pockets too and deal with 'take home' work all the time. There's no social promotion escape for the work environment these dedicated men and women face everyday.
Posted by: Don ||
11/02/2004 12:33 Comments ||
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God help those Marines.
I will be out the rest of the day and probably tomorrow to help out a Marine. He's one of "my kids" that I helped in youth group (as a drill intructor then later as a Big Brother). He is coming home from Al Anbar province in Iraq. He was one of the best and brightests kids I have ever known, someone who made the world a better place.
His funeral is tomorrow.
I know I shouldnt post when I'm this messed up. But,
KILL EVERY FUCKING ONE OF THOSE MONSTERS!
DROP THE DAMNED BOMBS UNTIL THE RUBBLE BOUNCES. THEN SALT THE GROUND. THEY DESERVE NO QUARTER, NO MERCY. ONLY EXTERMINATION.
#9
OS, once president Bush is reelected, the order will be given and his fellow Marines will execute. My sincerest regrets for the loss of a good man. The last Marine funeral attended was my cousin's in 67. I hope to never attend another.
November 2, 2004: Pentagon officials are concerned that precision weapons aren't living up to their potential, citing problems with targeting, weapons reliability, and battle damage assessment that need to be fixed. Currently, 29 different organizations are involved in collecting data for a cruise missile strike or other precisions weapons attack. The information isn't well organized and planning needs to be streamlined. Putting lead agencies in charge of different aspects of targeting is one option under consideration as is a web site "portal" for targeting information is envisioned to give users rapid access to data.Â
Rapid battle damage assessment (BDA) has been a shortcoming since the 1991 Gulf War, often taking days to make an estimate of inflicted damage. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, BDA took between 24 to 48 hours to generate after an attack, in one case delaying an army advance. BDA is currently too dependent on imagery and doesn't address secondary strike effects that aren't visible. One Army general has suggested that BDA could afford to be more aggressive given the effectiveness of the U.S. military over the past 10 years.Â
Other aspects that officials want to fine-tune are surge procurement and communications bandwidth. Officials are debating whether to create an inventory of long-lead items, typically parts that take up to a year to construct, in case there is a need to rapidly rebuild stockpiles in case of a major conflict. Finally, most of the existing communications infrastructure was designed for voice, not digital networked weapons. The military wants to be able to communicate with hundreds of reprogrammable weapons in flight, but doesn't currently have the capability to do so. Some creative juggling, such as sequential launching, may be able to work around some of the problem, but a long-term fix will require deploying more capable communications gear and more satellites. — Doug Mohney
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/02/2004 7:11:58 AM ||
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And they have good reason for doing so, though the circumstantial evidence is clear as can be to anybody who's paying attention. All the same, I think Mubarak has his own reasons for wanting to keep this under wraps for not jeopardizing the extremely tentative truce he's been able to strike with his own jihadi community.
Egypt's interior minister has said on Monday those behind the deadly bombings in Red Sea resorts in October did not belong to the Al-Qaeda terror network. "The investigation proved that this group is not linked to a larger movement inside the country or abroad or other Al-Qaeda cells," Habib al-Adli said, quoted by the Mena news agency.
On October 25, Adli announced the arrest of five of nine people suspected of being behind the October 7 bombings, in which 34 people were killed and 105 wounded. Two are on the run and a Palestinian and an Egyptian were killed in the explosion of one of the three booby-trapped cars placed in front of the entrance to the Hilton hotel in Taba, according to Egyptian authorities. Adli said he is convinced that those held were involved in the attacks. "The evidence is clear. The statements of reliable witnesses, materials indications all stand up and the confessions of the accused are continuing before prosecutors," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2004 2:11:30 AM ||
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#1
Debka has an interesting post on this
take with a pinch of salt
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/02/2004 13:50 Comments ||
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1)Not linked to a larger movement inside Egypt. Check
2)Not linked to a larger movement abroad. Check
3)Not linked to other AQ cells. Check
Not inside Egypt, not outside. What's left physicists? So these guys came from an Atlantis-type civilization resting under the Gulf of Aqaba?
#3 catches my attention. "Other", as in the Taba crew WAS AQ and there were no connections with other AQ pals? Freudian slip Mr. Min. of Int? Or were these guys just copy-cats doing a very one-off just for the thrill? Or maybe political prisoners the govt. is forcing to confess under pressure of blackmail? Or a pure monetary transaction? For example, you guys take the fall and we will provide opportunities of better lives for your destitute family members? Very possible. Remember how Rommel was given a chance to save his family as long as he killed himself.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
11/02/2004 14:53 Comments ||
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The United States is opening a second front in Afghanistan, moving from a war on terror to a war on drugs that it hopes will lead to indictments of Afghan heroin millionaires in U.S. courts within months, diplomats say. After three years of letting Afghanistan's narco-economy go from strength to strength, Washington has heeded warnings that the Islamic nation's transition to democracy will go badly wrong if drug money is allowed to take over the system. Unlike Colombia, there are no drug cartels, Western drug enforcement agents say, but the United States has identified a handful of potential Afghan suspects for prosecution. "The United States would like to find a way to indict if it can gather intelligence that establishes a nexus between individuals in Afghanistan and drugs trafficked into the United States," according to a Western diplomatic source.
Officials say the speed with which Afghan traffickers have ramped up output is remarkable. There was a 64 percent increase in the area that was harvested this year and opium production is moving back toward the 1999 peak of over 4,500 tonnes. Western governments, led by Britain, and now backed by U.S. muscle and money, have come up with a three-pronged strategy to reverse the trend -- arrests, eradication and alternative livelihoods for poor farmers. The fresh impetus comes as President Hamid Karzai prepares to form a new cabinet after winning a historic election on Oct. 9 that will bring down the curtain on the interim government he has headed since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. The interim government was cobbled together when the priority was the war on terror following the downfall of the Taliban militia. That compulsion forced Karzai, with U.S. backing, to include men known as warlords and drug runners in his cabinet.
Karzai has said the time for coalitions is over, warlords are Afghanistan's number one enemy and the cabinet's new blood will be drug free. But until he is inaugurated and announces his cabinet, police will be careful who they go after. "I'll tell you the names (of the suspects) once we have an elected president," said Major General Sayed Kamal Sadaat, director general of operations at the interior ministry's department for counter-narcotics. Washington has no extradition treaty with Afghanistan, but there are moves afoot to put the legal machinery in place, and diplomats say the first indictment in the United States could happen in months. The U.S. campaign to net one of the big fish must start with arrests in the United States, checks on phone records and so forth until the heroin trail is traced back to the source. Officials have identified at least two individuals with net worth of over $100 million who could be targets. Much of their funds are believed to be invested in construction and real estate in Dubai. While a handful of people have become drug millionaires there are some two million people in rural households who rely on growing poppy for their livelihood. Weaning them onto other crops will be a priority come the new year, when officials expect eradication to begin in a big way.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/02/2004 1:56:07 AM ||
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#1
Can we put the defeated Senator Kerry in charge of this effort? Sort of a special prosecutor under Ashcroft's supervision. Despite a hiatus of 20+ years, K. once was very successful in fighting organized crime, or so he claims. This way he can fight the War on Terror as he believes it ought to be fought -- in the courtroom -- and do something useful, for a change.
#2
Sorry, TW, but he would probably plea bargain them into a second class misdemeanor much like he did with OC in Mass! In fact, if he is elected do not be surprised he attempts to negotiate with OBL and offer him some reduced sentance like Israel.
#3
My philosophy is that every human should find some useful role to play, and thus far Kerry hasn't done that. I'm sure you're right, JFK, but I'll keep trying, 'k? (I freely admit that my role seems to be to inadvertantly amuse those more knowledgable than I. I'd have loved to play a more impressive part, but such is life ;)
The bin Laden name has become infamous, but one family member is trying to give it a different odor. Osama's older half brother (they share the same father) has just put his name on a new perfume, a jasmine-heavy scent dubbed Yeslam. Bin Ladin (his spelling), a resident of Geneva who has dual Swiss-Saudi citizenship, spoke with TIME's Scott MacLeod in Paris.
Aren't people going to say, "Come on, a perfume from Osama's brother"? I'm not only a bin Laden. I am Yeslam bin Ladin. I have my own identity. It is my perfume, my creation. I was about to do it several years ago, but then I had to stop because of the events of Sept. 11. I expect people out of curiosity will try it, and they will find the smell out of this world.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OSAMA's LATEST VIDEOTAPE?
It was upsetting.
It's the violence. It wasn't a surprise to know that he was still alive. I always thought that if he was killed, everybody would know it. It seems that he might have seen the Michael Moore movie Fahrenheit 9/11.
WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING A BIN LADEN AFTER 9/11?
Very difficult. I had to defend myself. The Attorney General of Switzerland decided to come one day uninvited. He took away cartons and cartons of documents. I understand that after Sept. 11 there was lots of suspicion and that everybody wanted to check everything. The investigation has finished, the file has been closed, and nothing was ever found.
IS IT HARD TO MAKE PLANE OR RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS?
Luckily, when you go out in public, nobody knows who you are. You walk the street like everybody. I've heard comments when I make reservations. If I am going to have lunch with somebody, the reservations would be in his name.
IS OSAMA STILL CONSIDERED PART OF THE FAMILY?
I think every person is responsible for his acts. If somebody has done something that is illegal, nobody on earth will help him or stand by him. The family will not be responsible for the acts of one of its members.
WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP?
He was more religious than the rest of us.
He was one of the very few who did not leave Saudi Arabia to study. I don't know him very well. I think I saw him before he left [for Afghanistan in the 1980s], and I haven't seen him since. The only memory is that he didn't want music on in the house. He wanted it off. It wasn't "ethical." I thought that was weird.
ANY BROTHERLY FEELINGS?
It has become a name in a newspaper. The story has become ink on paper.
WHAT ABOUT MICHAEL MOORE'S COMPLAINT THAT LOTS OF BIN LADENS FLED THE U.S. AFTER 9/11 WITHOUT BEING QUESTIONED PROPERLY BY THE FBI?
They did not feel welcome anymore in the U.S. at that time. I want you to put yourself in their shoes. Many senior members of the family were interviewed by the U.S. authorities prior to 9/11. [Those authorities] knew everything about the family before. I have been interviewed by the U.S. authorities.
DO ANY BIN LADENS STILL SUPPORT OR SYMPATHIZE WITH OSAMA?
I don't think so. What he has done hurts the family. Financially, if somebody wants to work with you, they think twice. I have been investigated for the past three years because of that. Should ever anybody help him, that person will be responsible for his actions.
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO THE 9/11 ATTACKS?
Innocent life is sacred.
I was shocked. My mother that evening fell ill with the news.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/02/2004 2:30:02 AM ||
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The mother of a teenage suicide bomber who blew himself up and killed three Israelis in Tel Aviv has criticised the militants who recruited him. More than 30 others were wounded when 16-year-old Amer al-Fahr detonated about 5kg of explosives in a shop in the Israeli city's busy Carmel market. The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said one of its members had carried out the attack. The teenager's mother, 45-year-old Samira Abdullah, criticised those who had sent her son to his death. "It's immoral to send someone so young," his mother said. "They should have sent an adult who understands the meaning of his deeds." ("They should have sent an adult" so that's ok? .......madness!)
His father Abdel Rahim, 53, said his son had woken him on Monday morning to ask for two shekels before leaving. "Two shekels, that's what boys ask for - it's not money for men," he said.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/02/2004 2:19:23 AM ||
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#1
I have zero sympathy. Knock down the houses of their clan and drive them into the desert.
#2
We are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ...
No we are the Peoples Front for the Liberation of Palestine ...
Wait .. we are the Popular Peoples Front for the Liberation of Palestine ...
Oooh well we are the Palestine Peoples Popular front
Time is running out for Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, each of whom have put themselves into a small corner while the 2005 budget and possibly the entire government hang in the balance. Netanyahu insisted Monday he will keep his promise to quit the government in nine days if the Prime Minster does not agree to conduct a national referendum on the disengagement plan. Sharon repeatedly has said he will not change his mind, even if the only alternative is new elections. But Silvan Shalom, Sharon's Foreign Minister who stole the limelight last week by convincing some anti-evacuation Likud MKs to vote for the program, said he plans to try to twist the Finance Minister's arm. "I think our objective is to preserve the unity of the government," he said. Shalom planned to meet with him today and tomorrow.
Netanyahu delivered the ultimatum, in the name of himself and several other Likud ministers, last week. Education Minister Limor Livnat withdrew the same threat, saying that "when I saw that the majority did not support this (referendum) initiative, I changed my mind." The other ministers also have backed down, leaving Netanyahu alone. On Netanyahu's side is the 2005 budget which the Knesset is to vote on next week. Its passage is not certain, and a defeat of the budget in a no-confidence vote would bring down the government. His resignation also would severely upset the financial markets, where Netanyahu has been given high marks for his economic reforms. Furthermore, replacing him with a new finance minister would weaken Sharon's ability to resist Labor demands on next year's planned expenditures.
Prime Minister Sharon, who has been Netanyahu's political rival for several years but who has been allied with him on economic issues, is said to be willing to have Netanyahu remain in the government. Political analysts say that Sharon knows that Netanyahu will be more of a political threat to him if he quits the government and then openly opposes Sharon. Netanyahu has significantly more support among the Likud Central Committee membership than does the Prime Minister.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/02/2004 1:55:52 AM ||
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Osama the historian and economist:
The Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera released a full transcript Monday of the most recent videotape from Osama bin Laden in which the head of al Qaeda said his group's goal is to force America into bankruptcy. ... "We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy. Allah willing, and nothing is too great for Allah," bin Laden said in the transcript. He said the mujahedeen fighters did the same thing to the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, "using guerrilla warfare and the war of attrition to fight tyrannical superpowers." "We, alongside the mujahedeen, bled Russia for 10 years until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat," bin Laden said. Mr. Bin Laden, the USA is not the old Soviet Union, and not the present Russia as well.
... As part of the "bleed-until-bankruptcy plan," bin Laden cited a British estimate that it cost al Qaeda about $500,000 to carry out the attacks of September 11, 2001, an amount that he said paled in comparison with the costs incurred by the United States. "Every dollar of al Qaeda defeated a million dollars, by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs," he said. Oh crap he's an accountant too.
"As for the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers estimated to total more than a trillion dollars." The total U.S. national debt is more than $7 trillion. The U.S. federal deficit was $413 billion in 2004, according to the Treasury Department. "It is true that this shows that al Qaeda has gained, but on the other hand it shows that the Bush administration has also gained, something that anyone who looks at the size of the contracts acquired by the shady Bush administration-linked mega-corporations, like Halliburton and its kind, will be convinced. I think he's jealous. Maybe all Osama wants is a job at Halliburton, or a contract. Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/02/2004 12:42:02 AM ||
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#1
He clearly doesn't have a grasp of the US economy. Maybe he needs a nice, Jewish accountant to help him?
#2
Osama doesn't undesatand this either the US has something in the ground here that is better than Oil. Gold, silver and platinum. We can mine something he and his turban headed buddies just go nuts over gold. We don't have an "economic" problem we can't solve. Most of the gold bearing land is owned by the US government. The guy is a nutter. The whole world can go into the economic crapper and we could still mine our way out of it.
#3
"And it all shows that the real loser is you," he said.
Oh, yeah? I'm living in a secure, comfortable suburban home with electricity, hot and cold running water, and public sewer service. The pantry and oil tank are both full and I am unafraid to make phone calls any time I please. How are you doing, Binny?
Posted by: Tom ||
11/02/2004 9:36 Comments ||
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#4
When even our poorest people are often over weight and live in air conditioned homes - I'd say we don't have too much of an economic problem here. F*ck you Bin Loser, 6'6" walking pussy.
#5
I hope you are right, SPOD, because I confess, I am worried about the US deficit too.
The US dollar is falling and may lose world reserve status in the next 5-10 years. The reason it has fallen so much is Alan Greenspan has led the fed through 10 years of easy monetary policy and increased the money supply exponentially.
The world was awash with US dollars, printed to offset crises (asian meltdown, russian ruble, LTCM, predicted Y2K) and maintain liquidity in international markets.
This fed the tech bubble which ended as all bubbles do, so Greenspan printed more cash and kept monetary policy easy and interest rates low.
SO now the US has a housing bubble, a huge deficit and a depreciating dollar.
It is a real worry for me a) because I want America to stay strong and lead the free world and b) for selfish monetary reasons of my own.
The US is the engine of world growth. With a declining US economy, demand for imports from asia slows. That means demand for raw materials from my country slows. Australia goes into bad recession.
If interest rates in the US rise, Australian reserve bank has to follow suit sooner or later. We also have a housing bubble, many people overextended debt at low interest rates. rate rise = blood on the streets.
Islamists study us. They see these factors. Dr Mahatir, ex-leader of Malaysia and offensive disgusting Islamic nutter wants the Islamic world to dump the US dollar and trade to a gold standard.
They may never do that but they may dump it and trade in Euro. It is a worry.
#6
If they trade in Euro then Euro will end up being the reserve currency. Who would you bet on right now USA or USE. I don't think it's even close. You wory to much Anon1. Now the election, that's something to worry about. Kerry might try to join the Euro just to make Jacques happy.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/02/2004 16:57 Comments ||
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#7
Sorry, folks, but this "Osama" video's bogus. The style, syntax, lame adolescent jokeyness-- all of it points to a western hand.
As to this video's BS about "bankrupting" the US, when did the jihadists become so keen about economics? Neither Osama nor Jawahiri nor Muhammad Khalid nor any of these apocalyptarian warriors has ever shown the slightest interest in economics or economic theory.
They're not about economic warfare; they want to saw off heads, make blood flow, burn people, and blow things up-- especially big big big big towers. This script came from a lefty hack, American-bred or American-based. The notion that this is Osama's handiwork is about as convincing as saying a Seinfeld episode was written by Victor Davis Hanson.
#8
wants the Islamic world to dump the US dollar and trade to a gold standard.
Uh yeah. Go ahead and do it. 'Til one day someone asks the question, "is there really enough gold to trade in for my Dinars???", and they're back to square one.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/02/2004 17:11 Comments ||
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#9
lex i do think you could be right about it being bogus.
Firstly , nothing has been heard from OBL that is verifiably him for ages: I thought he was dead.
Secondly, you are right, he never cared about economics except as a means to an end (hit the finance centre of america, along with the white house and pentagon was the 9/11 plan to cripple the country).
Bin Laden only used it as a tool for his major goal: radical Islamisation of the world.
His speeches were full of Islamist references.
This one has only praise be to allah, and a lame throw in about a goat digging up a knife.
But on the other hand, his movement is versatile and they study us. that is their strength. they change tactics to suit the situation.
If he is still alive could he not purposely be playing it this way, trying to debunk the true image of him as an Islamozoid nutbag in an effort to make americans think it plausible that the moonbat leftie view (helpful to OBL) is correct?
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