Joshua Miner.
Note the low, heavy brow line; the prognathic jaw, the full lips, the minimal cranial dimensions, and the dull unfocused eyes.
What we have here is a captive Neanderthal man, (homo neanderthalis). It should be housed in a zoo or an anthropology museum, not running the streets like, say, a common midwestern moonbat, (lunachiropterans babbiticus familiaris). I also think that whatever demented pop-culturist or idiotarian teacher influenced him to do this should be tracked down and horsewhipped, at the very least.
(Indianapolis) Police have made an arrest in the vandalism incident that shocked many city residents last month.
On March 29th, a monument to Medal of Honor recipients that stands on the Canal Walk downtown was discovered to have been vandalized. Etched glass panes were smashed and covered in spray-painted graffiti.
Police say they've arrested a suspect, Joshua M. Miner, 18, of Danville. Miner faces a charge of criminal mischief, a D felony. He surrendered Friday afternoon.
Investigators believe the smashed glass and the graffiti occurred separately, and they are continuing to look into leads that may bring them to other suspects. Police say four people who were apparently with Miner that night are not suspected of any crime.
The defacing of the monument prompted many people to donate towards repairs. The IPALCO Foundation also offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the damage.
#1
AC - "lunachiropterans babbiticus familiaris" - lol!
If guilty, he should be prosecuted to the absolute maximum extent of the law. Unfortunately, it prolly doesn't include a firing squad at dawn. But I'll wager it does include hardcore prison time. Do it. Nail his fuckwit moonbat ass to the barn door. Big Bubba needs love too.
The spokesman of an American non-governmental organization that works for Islamic charitable organizations hinted yesterday that the closure of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation might have been politically motivated and linked to the US presidential elections last year. M. Wendell Belew, Jr., president of the Belew Law Firm and spokesman of Friends of Charities Association (FOCA), also announced that the Dutch government is understood to be unfreezing the assets of Al-Haramain Foundation, since it has not discovered any material evidence that would justify continued freeze on its assets.
Belew was speaking to the media after a press conference at which he spoke about the difficulties FOCA has been facing in representing the cause of the Islamic charitable associations. The press conference was held at the headquarters of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and attended by Dr. Saleh Al-Wohaibi, secretary-general of WAMY, Dr. Saleh Babaeer, assistant secretary- general, and the representatives of various Islamic organizations in the Kingdom. Referring to the closure of the Al-Haramain Foundation, Belew said: "Security was an important issue in the election and they wanted to show progress. Now I can't go into the thoughts of the policymakers, but I can certainly say that there was a temptation to take action that would show the war on terror. The fact that this process is closed and not subject to public scrutiny puts the government in a bad position of people assuming...it as a political motivation."
That's a fact, especially when there's princely largesse involved in shaping that opinion.
He also cited the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report according to which many of the US government's actions were motivated more by diplomatic reasons than by issues arising out of the war on terror. "My experience would tend to support the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission."
He's not doubt referring to us letting all those Soddies, including some of Binny's relatives, fly home when air traffic was reopened. That was pretty nice of us, not to intern them all for the duration of the war. It was done for political reasons, of course...
Significantly, following the closure of the Foundation's office in Riyadh, Minister of Islamic Affairs Saleh ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh said earlier this year that there were no plans for the closure of any charity and that no imams (prayer leaders) have been sacked this year for having ties with terror cells or helping terrorists.
This article starring:
AL BUTHI
Friends of Charities Association
M. WENDELL BELEW
Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation
M. WENDELL BELEW
Friends of Charities Association
SALEH AL WOHAIBI
World Assembly of Muslim Youth
SALEH BABAIR
World Assembly of Muslim Youth
Al Haramain Islamic Foundation
Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation
Al Muntada
Friends of Charities Association
International Islamic Relief Organisation
Makkah Al-Mukarrama Charity Foundation
Muslim World League
World Assembly of Muslim Youth
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Of course it was politically motivated. The pols were trying to protects their voters right to Life, Liberty and etc....
Legislators harmed their relations with the executive when they called a vote of no confidence in the health minister, Kuwait's prime minister said yesterday, in a comment seen as a warning that parliament might be dissolved. "We express our discomfort with the way the no-confidence motion was tabled," the Prime Minister, Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, said in a statement read out on state television. The prime minister did not reveal his intentions in the statement, but he said the no confidence vote was "damaging" to cooperation between the legislative and executive branches of government. It showed "negative indications that harm our national unity," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Legislators harmed their relations with the executive when they called a vote of no confidence in the health minister
#3
Y'see, this is why it's bad when the government already has all the productive resources in a country. When the state has no need to tax, sitting fat and happy on a vast lake of oil reserves, it has no need for a legislature to vote tax bills. No goddamn need at all, and when the state's pet assembly starts thinking it's got some sort of, y'know, mandate - well, just flush it down the toilet and go find some other hobby to keep its monstrous self amused. Maybe an ant farm.
It's no coincidence that the two Arab states with institutions most nearly resembling actual functional legislatures - Morocco and Jordan - are resource-poor, oil-less wonders.
Don't pester me with Egypt's big, fat counter-example. The absence of oil isn't a guarantee - just a initial requirement.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/08/2005 13:21 Comments ||
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Six political groups have warned the parliament against the adoption of anti-terrorism legislation proposed by the government, saying it would give authorities wide powers to restrict freedoms. The proposed Bill is a "conspiracy against the freedoms enjoyed by the people of Bahrain under the disguise of fighting terrorism," said a statement issued by the six societies, which include four opposition groups and two groups represented in the Council of Representatives. "The proposed legislation is a setback because it gives security bodies more powers, including the right to spy on citizens and infringe on their privacy," claimed the statement.
They're worried about this in a country that just approved having religious police?
The groups also complained of the "vague expressions" in the bill that "could open the door for the violation of human rights." They said the Bill was in contrast with the Constitution which stipulates that "no law should be introduced to restrict freedoms." The statement called for "a genuine dialogue" between the government and civic society organisations to consolidate freedoms and democratic principles. The proposed Bill was submitted by the government of the parliament last month. Sources say it was expedited in view of the latest terrorist attacks in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. Bahrain has not yet witnessed such attacks. The government stresses that the kingdom remains a safe place but new legislations were needed to prevent any threat to national security.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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DUBAI - Renowned Arab-American author Dr Salma Khadra Jayyusi has exhorted women to be prepared for the 21st century, which she called the century of women. "Don't neglect your own culture and rich heritage and blindly accept other cultures - you must have integrity," Dr Jayyusi, acknowledged worldwide as an Arab/Islamic cultural ambassador, told a gathering at the Dubai Women's College, hosted by its Unesco Chair for Communications Technology and Journalism.
Sounds good on the face of it, except what she's really saying is that Muslim women in the West have to be Islamic first. So then you don a veil so as not to be harrassed by the young hard boyz in the neighborhood, and it all goes downhill from there.
Dr Jayyusi, whose Project of Translation from Arabic (PROTA) organisation founded in 1980 with the mission of translating Arabic literature into English and other languages helped bridge cultural gaps, talked about the challenges she had faced as a pioneering Arab woman writer.
Strange, I thought the Quran was the only book needed. Obviously she's a deviant.
Often referred to as the 'one-woman cultural institution', Dr Jayyusi's contribution to shaping the Arab cultural landscape and its interface with the world spanned 50 years and crossed the boundaries of disciplines, geographies and human languages, said Reem Obeidat, the DWC Unesco Chair.
Just don't go getting any ideas that you'd live longer than a week in Pak-land, Salma.
"We are honoured to have Dr Jayyusi, an inspiration and role model for women all over the world visit Dubai Women's College," Obeidat said. "She has opened doors for Arab women through her courage, strength and wisdom. It is through her great passion and loyalty to the Arab world that she has enlightened so many about the extensive Arab/Islamic contributions to civilisation."
Unfortunately, she didn't open any doors for the young Pak doctor who was raped.
Dr Jayyusi is an innovative poet, leading literary critic, scholar, visionary cultural curator, and a humanist. Shocked at the fact that very little Arabic literature had been translated into leading modern languages, she founded PROTA, Obeidat said.
Which she did from the safety and comfort of the United States.
A Palestinian, Dr Jayyusi was one of the early innovators in the contemporary Arab poetic movement that first emerged after the Nakbah, entering effectively into the tumult of Arab critical debates on literature and its relationship to society.
Which worked real well, as I recall my history ...
Her literary criticism, which appeared in a range of significant publications, called for a literature which was both innovative and, at the same time, critically engaged with the issues of freedoms, social change and collective trauma and predicament that continue to be paramount in the Arab world today.
Her first collection, Return from the Dreamy Fountain, was published in 1960. In addition to the present anthology, she has finished editing two others: Modern Treaties with Infidels Arabic Fiction and Drama and The Short, Exploding Jihadi Literature of Modern Arabia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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...and collective trauma and predicament state-of-the-art victimhood and whine that continue to be paramount in the Arab world today
#2
Don't neglect your own culture and don't go to the cops if your husband beats you, smile when you only get one half of your heirloom or when your daughter is sold to a guy sixty years older than her.
The Irish Republican Army has said it will consider an appeal by Sinn Fein party chief Gerry Adams to renounce violence, a long-elusive goal in Northern Ireland peacemaking.
"Faith! Renounce violence? I dunno. Pat, what do you think?"
"I think we should kneecap somebody, Mike!"
In a brief statement, the outlawed IRA said it received advance notice of Wednesday's call from Adams, an alleged IRA commander, and "will give his appeal due consideration and will respond in due course". The IRA, which killed about 1800 people as part of a failed campaign to abolish Northern Ireland as a British territory, has been observing a ceasefire since 1997. But the underground organisation remains active on several fronts, particularly in running illegal rackets and promoting Catholic opposition to the province's police. The IRA's activities and refusal to disarm repeatedly undermined the central objective of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord: a joint Catholic-Protestant administration that included Sinn Fein. A four-party coalition collapsed in 2002, and efforts to revive the arrangement failed in December when the IRA refused to permit photos of its disarmament or to renounce crime.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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"IRA weighs call to give up violence"
How about disbanding altogether. I'll believe it when I see it.
#3
Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness sit on the IRA Army Council. This all appears rather schizophrenic at best and delusional madness at the worst. Meanwhile, the 'Real' IRA are apparently winding up to another mainland bombing campaign... pass me my tin hat someone.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/08/2005 5:01 Comments ||
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#5
Does anyone truely think that if the IRA achieved a United Ireland the violence would stop. The focus would simpily shift to Dublin. A united Ireland is not nessacarly in the Republic's interest IMO
#6
The IRA is no longer about a united ireland. It hasn't been for awhile. To what use have all those guns and weapons been put in the last ten years?!? Violent conflicts often give power to the moronic thug element that often doesn't really have any set ideology beyond perpetuating it's own power and the profit that can be made off it. It corrupts and corrodes legitimate political views. The IRA has become semi-organized crime with a thin political veil. Sinn Fein is the only thing that gives the IRA any claim to legitimacy and Sinn Fein can't bring itself to disown the sick dog. Republicans will continue to suffer this affliction until they gather the courage to cut it out.
#8
Does anyone truely think that if the IRA achieved a United Ireland the violence would stop. The focus would simpily shift to Dublin.
According to a now very-much-former Irish girlfriend (whose family were Provos), the eventual objective was establishment of a socialist government in Dublin. I saw that sentiment echoed in one certain pub we used to visit outside D.C..
I suspect that objective has been put off indefinitely, and the IRA become a "Family business".
Kyrgyzstan's parliament on Friday voted to strip the ousted president of his special privileges and guarantees. Lawmakers voted unanimously to remove provisions that would have given President Askar Akayev wide influence in this Central Asian nation after his resignation. Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was in parliament for the debate, now must sign the measure into law, something he is expected to do. Akayev fled the ex-Soviet republic on March 24 after protesters stormed his office and the opposition seized power. He has offered his resignation from Russia, and parliament is currently debating the terms of acceptance, with many lawmakers arguing against a dignified exit for a still reviled leader. The move cancels the president's right to address parliament, government sessions and state agencies, lifetime membership in the security council and free access to the media.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 10:53:34 AM ||
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what? No library card either?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — In the most sweeping re-examination of the U.S.-Japan security alliance in years, Japan and the United States are negotiating a military realignment that could move some or all of the nearly 20,000 Marines off the crowded island of Okinawa, close underused bases and meld an Army command in Washington state with a camp just south of Tokyo.
But something even more fundamental may be at stake.
With its own military spread thin, Washington appears to be trying to use the talks to nudge Japan out from under the U.S. security blanket and make Tokyo a much more active player in global strategic operations. Hellloooo Kimmie!
"The United States wants Japan to assume a role very much like the one it has vis-a-vis the British," said Tetsuo Maeda, professor of arms reduction and security at Tokyo International University. "The Self-Defense Forces would be regularly deployed overseas for military operations if this kind of realignment were realized."
It would not be an easy transition if the realignment is approved.
America's force of 50,000-plus troops in Japan dates back decades and has long been hailed by both sides as the key to stability in the Asian-Pacific region and a model of cooperation. In exchange for the security the U.S. troops provide, Japan pays a whopping $5 billion, an arrangement unparalleled anywhere else in the world.
But amid increasing calls in Japan for the U.S. to streamline its presence, and Washington's shifting focus from maintaining bases abroad to fine-tuning its deployments to respond quickly to specific flare-ups, topics are on the table that were long seen as virtually taboo.
Officially, there has been little comment.
"We are working very hard right now," Lt. Gen. Bruce A. Wright, said recently in his first news conference since assuming command of the U.S. Forces Japan in February. He said details of the talks will likely emerge this summer, though no deadline has been announced.
Few expect Japan to see the kind of drastic restructuring and downsizing that the U.S. forces in South Korea and Germany are going through. Wright stressed he did not expect a great change — up or down — in the overall number of troops here.
Their footprint may change substantially, however.
Wright acknowledged topics being discussed include relocation of Marine Corps Air Station, Futenma, a major cause of friction on Okinawa; possible joint use of this air base on Tokyo's western outskirts where U.S. Forces are headquartered; and integration of command functions for the Army's 1st Corps at Fort Lewis in Washington state with Camp Zama, just south of Tokyo.
According to reports in the Japanese media, based on anonymous government leaks, the idea has even been floated of moving the biggest contingent of Marines based permanently outside the United States from southern Okinawa to Japan's other extreme, the northern island of Hokkaido.
Reports have also speculated that the fighter wing of the USS Kittyhawk's battle group may be uprooted and sent south.
Ahead of a set of meetings in Hawaii this weekend, Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono said the future of unused or underused facilities would be discussed. But officials on both sides refuse to comment on specifics, saying only that a broad range of proposals are being considered and no final decisions have been made.
Wright said whatever changes come out of the talks will not weaken the United States' military readiness in Asia.
He said his objective was to safeguard the credibility and deterrent power of the alliance and bolster "interoperability" with the Japanese.
"Interoperability" — the focus on joint operations — underscores a change in the way Tokyo and Washington are viewing their military relationship.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been a staunch backer of President Bush and was the driving force in Japan's decision to send several hundred troops to Iraq. He also advocates a more active role for Japan's Self-Defense Forces and supports a revision of the post-World War II constitution, which bans the use of military force to settle international disputes.
Developments in Asia have strengthened his hand: communist North Korea's nuclear ambitions, China's rapid rise as the region's military and economic power, and the withering of Russia's navy in the Pacific.
At the same time, Koizumi is under pressure to lighten the burden borne by Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of the U.S. troops, and any troop reduction would be a political coup for him and offer a chance for Tokyo to use its own military to fill the void.
Still, Tokyo appears undecided on just how far it should go, and for good reason: Because of their country's disastrous pre-1945 experiment with expansionism, many Japanese remain deeply suspicious of any attempts to rebuild the military. Japan's neighbors, who suffered under Japanese colonialism, are also wary of the direction the talks are taking.
"The U.S. will definitely expect Japan to be actively involved in the political and military affairs in the region. This will probably prompt strong reactions from neighboring countries such as China and Korea," said Toshihiro Nakayama, a political analyst with the Japan Institute of International Affairs, a private think tank.
"They will perceive this as a new attempt by Japan to rise as a military power in the region." They should also view this as a consequence for their belligerence and intransigence in throttling NK. Woke up the wrong tiger
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2005 7:39:51 PM ||
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Hokkaido? At least they wouldn't be a tripwire for China or NK adventureism
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2005 19:49 Comments ||
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[P]rofessor of arms reduction and security ....
#3
Iff Japan is not for the overthrow or conversion of remaing mainland Communist regimes, then its only choice under OWG is whom it trusts more, America or the Commies, wherefore Japan can remain by and for Democracy and the Japanese people! Japan must choose between being a partner and ally of America, or being a glorified super-Noth Korea slave/proxy state with pseudo-manifest destiny under "Socialist" OWG andthe Commies, espec the Chicoms!? China and any Chinese- and Commie-centric East Asian hegemony does not and will not accept any sovereign, independent Japan, etal. under the Western tradition, no matter what Beijing and the CCP promise to the contrary! The Clintons are here to see that America, Americanism, and American sovereignty as we know it DIES ONCE AND FOR ALL - circa 2020 either America is under "Socialism" and "Socialist"OWG/NWO, or else America will be militarily destroyed, by any each and all means necessary and possible, be it patriotic or treasonous, which under Clintonism is one and the same thing - you know, Communism=Fascism = Capitalism, Criminal = good guy, Successful America = Failed USSR, .................etc!
President Bush has decided the United States and China should begin holding regular senior-level talks on a range of political, security and possibly economic issues, signifying both China's interest in the prestige of such sessions and the administration's efforts to come to grips with China's rising influence in Asia, senior administration officials said.
Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick has been assigned to head the U.S. delegation, and a Chinese vice foreign minister will be his counterpart, officials said. Regular meetings between the two countries have never been held at such a level.
Chinese President Hu Jintao formally asked Bush to consider engaging in what the Chinese call a "strategic dialogue" during an economic meeting in Chile last November. During a visit to Beijing last month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confirmed that the United States is interested in regular senior-level talks, but the administration has chosen to call the meetings a "global dialogue" because, officials say, the phrase "strategic dialogue" is reserved for close U.S. allies.
Bush came to office in 2001 suggesting China was a "strategic competitor," but cooperation between the two nations steadily increased after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In the past four years, China has emerged as a formidable power in Asia, wielding both economic clout and growing political muscle. China's rapid improvements in its military capabilities -- much of them aimed at the Taiwan Strait -- have greatly concerned Pentagon and White House officials.
Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith, in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in February, warned that China was "facing a strategic crossroads" and that "if it wants to continue to prosper, it will choose a benign path that will allow the world to accommodate its rise peacefully." Otherwise, he said, there would be "a truly gigantic problem in international affairs."
Experts say that with the United States distracted in Iraq, China has filled a vacuum in Asian leadership. "China has moved in and assumed a dramatic regional role," said Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a Clinton administration official now at the University of Michigan. "Everyone in the region believes the movement has shifted toward China in a way no one anticipated 3 1/2 years ago."
Reflecting the administration's concern, Rice initiated an effort during her trip to Asia to make India into a major world power and elevate Japan as a key ally on a range of international issues.
During Zoellick's meetings, U.S. officials expect to ask tough questions about China's rapid rise in military capabilities. "It will almost certainly be raised in the strategic dialogue," a senior administration official said. During Rice's visit to Beijing, she was "very direct in our concerns on their military buildup," he added.
Jing Quan, a Chinese diplomat who is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the talks with the United States would provide "a platform, a basis for the two countries to have direct, frank and deep dialogue." He said that "through such effective communication, both sides would be in the position to avoid actions and policies that would lead to misunderstandings."
Jing said China is especially interested in discussing the dispute over Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province. But U.S. officials have larger goals. They want to persuade China to adjust its policies in such flashpoints as Burma, Nepal and Sudan, where Chinese economic interests have been at odds with U.S. diplomatic efforts to deal with deadly internal strife.
Chinese officials "are more interested in optics and the prestige of being a player and power center in the world," the senior administration official said. "We are interested in a constructive and cooperative and candid dialogue. China is everywhere now, and we want to raise the bar of expectations on how they pursue their interests."
The talks are to be held periodically, but the timing and frequency have not been decided. The Chinese would like the first meeting to be held in Beijing, whereas the United States favors starting the sessions in Washington. China has initiated such discussions with France, India and other nations in recent years.
Posted by: ed ||
04/08/2005 11:54 ||
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#1
These trials worry me too, and not just in Europe. It seems that there's never "enough" evidence, or the "right kind" of evidence, or the trialee's "rights" are "violated" in some way.
#4
This has nothing to do with the law. The law would have allowed convictions. It has to do with non jury trials by leftist/socialist judges who are sympathetic with or supportive of the end goals of the terrorists. These are the same retardants who hand down 7 year sentences for premeditated murder.
#5
Let's not forget the German Hannibal Lecter who pulled down 8 years or so for his voracious act. Cannibals and Terrorists...simply misunderstood by the majority of reasoning society....someone has to defend them!
Posted by: Janos Hunyadi ||
04/08/2005 22:12 Comments ||
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#10
Any linkage to this? Greece identifies with U.S.
Trying to Uncle Sam to pick up responsibility for Greek defence? IMHO, both Greece and Turkey are as welcome as a pair of skunks to a garden party.
Posted by: ed ||
04/08/2005 12:30 Comments ||
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#11
Wow, that article is solid wishful thinking. You could drill for pixie dust and strike a fantasy bonanza in that kind of material.
Last time I checked, we don't *have* a Balkan strategy, aside from "maintain minimum obligations", support democratic trends, and "don't play favorites". It's sort of an anti-strategy - maintain a situation where economic reform and democratic give-and-take is taking up everyone's excess energies.
As for the Greeks having any utility in the Middle East - I can't imagine what the hell they're talking about. Our interest in Greece goes about as far as "don't go to war with your neighbors, or stir up trouble on Cyprus", doesn't it?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/08/2005 13:06 Comments ||
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#12
Maybe Chiraq could loan them the Charles DeGaulle?
The Stop CAT Coalition is issuing a call for all Palestine solidarity organizations and activists in the Midwest to join us in Chicago for the International Day of Action Against Caterpillar. Our action will take place at the Northern Trust Bank (50 South LaSalle Street) from 12 noon until 3 PM. . . .
Caterpillar equipment is being used by the Israeli Defense Forces to destroy roads, orchards, greenhouses, agricultural land and the homes of over 50,000 Palestinians. Dozens have died . . . . Rachel "Pancake" Corrie, a moonbat volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, was squished murdered on March 16, 2003, in Rafah when she was crushed underneath a Caterpillar bulldozer as she attempted to protect a terrorist facility stop an illegal home demolition. . . .
He seems to think that was a bad thing.
For more information, contact: info@stopcat.org or 773-489-3505
Visit: www.catdestroyshomes.org
Hopefully, someone like Protest Warrior will show up and counter-demonstrate.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/08/2005 7:05:34 AM ||
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#1
Hope somebody is taking pictures & making lists.
They've almost managed to make me feel sorry for a bank, lol! That takes some doin'.
All of their "actions" amount to poofery and puffery - much like bravely farting upwind. Foolishly, I have always associated "action" with "substantance". Silly me.
I also hope someone will take pix, in case they get really serious and make some paper mache Giants Puppets and Tanks or, better yet, Cat D-9s - with skeery skulls and crossbones, of course, to show how evil construction equipment really is. The sheeple ought to know the truth.
Nothing says serious like paper mache.
Upon reflection, methinks they should be holding this at the nearest House of Pancakes.
#3
Cold, .com, but funny. I've never been able to understand how people like these have been able to survive with such narrow tunnel vision, or how they can have such narrow vision.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/08/2005 8:13 Comments ||
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#4
She stood in front of a moving bulldozer. And it's the bulldozer's fault she died?
#5
Ah, beautiful .com. "Sheeple" mayhaps they be but still idiotic by any other name. Classic nutters all. While they are wound up and at it, they would do well to protest the parents' failure to teach their children not to screw around with heavy equipment unless you wish to be maimed or killed. Shaheed by a bulldozer? Does that count? Can I get a fatwa somebody!
#6
We'll see how this turns out. My office is only a couple of blocks away from the site. Most protests in Chicago are pretty boring (a few marchers with megaphones and signs) - nobody wants to get a "tune up" from the Chicago cops.
#7
I hope Caterpillar keeps ignoring these fools. They're definitely not the market for Cat's equipment, so they've got nothing to lose by doing so.
Posted by: Dar ||
04/08/2005 9:36 Comments ||
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#8
these pussies might impress me if they went to a Cat factory to protest...a bank? Hope the Chicago blues show no restraint, in fact, I hope the tellers, accountants and old security guard guys all come out to kick some moonbat ass
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2005 9:54 Comments ||
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#9
Caterpillars don't kill people; people kill people. A handy paradigm.
#10
Moonbats protesting at a CAT plant for this crap would be a sight to behold Frank G. The CAT boys are a proud and tough crowd who are not apt to suffer fools screwing with their time or mealticket needlessly.
#13
IIUC Cat is unionized, UAW. UAW afaik is having nothing to do with this moonbattery. As a liberal, I stand with unionized American workers, proudly making a quality product, and selling it abroad to our democratic ally (an ally which has national health care, by the way) - union made, American made, right on!
#15
I hope some knuckle dragging goons show up and beat the piss out of these stupid f***tards. These people need to be put into their place. That place is down with pond scum.
Typical jew hating leftists. Unfit to benefit from the bounties of western civilization.
#19
Here's a fun thought: get a D-9 and put it on a lowboy, then cruise back and forth on South LaSalle Street like you're looking for a job site to deliver it to.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/08/2005 14:26 Comments ||
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#20
How about listening to the Rachel Corrie Memorial I-Pod Playlist while you (counter)demonstrate?
Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company, "Caterpillar"
Jennifer Gentle, "Caterpillar Song"
Drive-By Truckers, "Bulldozers and Dirt"
The Scientifics, "My Bulldozer"
Iggy Pop, "Bulldozer"
Mojo Watson, "Run Rachel Run"
Donuts, "Caterpillar Blood"
Dave Matthews Band, "Crush"
Bruce Springsteen, "Crush On You"
Champ, "Squashed"
Badly Drawn Boy, "Rachel's Flat"
Posted by: Mike ||
04/08/2005 14:44 Comments ||
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OTTAWA — Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew on Tuesday telephoned his Iranian counterpart to demand the return of the remains of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi who died in Iranian custody. "This morning, I phoned the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran," Pettigrew told the House of Commons, a day after lambasting Teheran over its denial that the 54-year-old dual Iranian-Canadian citizen had been tortured and murdered.
Pettigrew said he told Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi that Iran should return the remains and permit an independent autopsy on Kazemi, who died in July 2003.
But it's not like they can actually do anything about it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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You will recall that Gorelick is the 9/11 Commission member and Clinton Administration Justice Dept. official who erected "the wall" between intelligence agencies and law enforcement that made keeping foreign terrorists out of the U.S. all but impossible.
EFL
Fannie Mae employees falsified signatures on accounting transactions that helped the company meet earnings targets for 1998, a "manipulation" that triggered multimillion-dollar bonuses for top executives, a federal regulator said yesterday.
Armando Falcon Jr., director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, said the entries were related to the movement of $200 million in expenses from 1998 to later periods. The result of the changes was an increase in Fannie Mae's 1998 earnings per share and the release of a $27.1 million bonus pool for senior executives.
Fannie Mae reported paying the following executive bonuses in 1998: chairman and chief executive James A. Johnson received $1.932 million; Franklin D. Raines, chairman-designate, received $1.11 million; Chief Operating Officer Lawrence M. Small received $1.108 million; Vice Chairman Jamie S. Gorelick received $779,625; Chief Financial Officer J. Timothy Howard received $493,750; and Robert J. Levin, an executive vice president, received $493,750.
*snip*
Posted by: Biff Wellington ||
04/08/2005 10:15:46 AM ||
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#1
Franklin Raines was the biggest rip off artist by a long shot
The company said that under the terms of his contract, Raines's pension payment would amount to $1.373 million a year for the rest of his life. But Raines "has asserted" that his retirement won't take effect for another six months, allowing him to collect an additional $600,000 in salary and boosting his pension payment to $1.396 million a year, the filing said.
#4
Johnson was a Kerry Campaign director as well....Don't count on prosecutions - Gorelick's been teflon coated for some unfathomable reason. She was the Clinton Administration developer of the "wall" between domestic and foreign intelligence sharing..we all remember how that turned out on Sept 11, 2001
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2005 11:28 Comments ||
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#5
She'll get a punishment that's not quite as draconian as Sandy Bergler got. Maybe $8000 fine and suspended security clearance for the rest of the current administration.
#6
The big punishment for bth is that they were on the fast track to cabinet appointments in the next Demo administration. They can kiss any job requiring Senate confirmation good-bye. Too bad they can't do the same for the nest two years of freedom.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
04/08/2005 21:30 Comments ||
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The Transportation Security Administration, once the flagship agency in the nation's $20 billion effort to protect air travelers, is now targeted for sharp cuts in its high-profile mission. The latest sign came yesterday when the Bush administration asked David M. Stone, the TSA's director, to step down in June, according to aviation and government sources. Stone is the third top administrator to leave the three-year-old agency, which was created in the chaos and patriotism following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The TSA absorbed divisions of other agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration only to find itself the subject of a massive Department of Homeland Security reorganization.
Itself not the brightest invention in Washington.
The TSA has been plagued by operational missteps, public relations blunders and criticism of its performance from both the public and legislators. Its "No Fly" list has mistakenly snared senators including ones who deserved to be snared. Its security screeners have been arrested for stealing from luggage, and its passenger pat-downs have set off an outcry from women.
Under provisions of President Bush's 2006 budget proposal favored by Congress, the TSA will lose its signature programs in the reorganization of Homeland Security. The agency will likely become just manager of airport security screeners -- a responsibility that itself could diminish as private screening companies increasingly seek a comeback at U.S. airports. The agency's very existence, in fact, remains an open question, given that the legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security contains a clause permitting the elimination of the TSA as a "distinct entity" after November 2004.
"TSA, at the end of the day, is going to look more like the Postal Service," ...
... that's a real endorsement ...
...said Paul C. Light, a public service professor at New York University and a Brookings Institution scholar who has tracked the agency since its birth in February 2002. Light calls the TSA "one of the federal government's greatest successes of the past half-century," and likens it to the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the late 1950s, which was also born during great public excitement to serve an urgent national need.
Dr. Light then toked up and wafted away from the interview ...
But the TSA's time in the spotlight is over and it should now step back to serve a more narrow role, Light said. "It's a labor-intensive delivery organization that is not going to be making many public policy decisions. Its basic job is to train and deploy screeners," he said.
Bush administration officials say they don't expect the demise of the TSA, adding they will know little about the future of the agency until new Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff completes his review of the department, which will likely prompt major changes. "TSA has taken significant steps to enhance the nation's transportation and aviation security over the course of the past two years, and TSA continues to have the confidence, not only of nation's air travelers, but of departmental leadership, to continue in this important mission," said Brian Roehrkasse, a Homeland Security spokesman. "Secretary Chertoff is open to adjustments in the way that DHS does business but will not advocate for or against any change until a thorough review of the changes is complete." The review is expected to be completed in May or June.
The government has pumped more money into airline security than any other Homeland Security effort. Much of it goes toward salaries for more than 45,000 security screeners at over 400 airports. Travelers know the TSA mostly by its operations at the airport security checkpoint, a highly public role that magnifies the agency's smallest blunders and often forces it to defend itself.
Agencies with a large public presence either have to become good at what they do (e.g., Social Security Administration) or take their lumps.
"Most Republicans didn't want to create this [agency] in the first place. Democrats see security as an easy target. So you don't have anyone to defend it," said C. Stewart Verdery Jr., a former assistant secretary for policy and planning at Homeland Security's border and transportation security directorate, which includes the TSA. "If someone sneaks a knife through an airport, it makes the news. If the Coast Guard misses a drug boat, no one hears about it."
The TSA won early plaudits for swiftly building the first new federal agency in decades and restoring confidence in the nation's aviation system. It achieved 51 goals demanded by Congress under tight deadlines and took over many responsibilities from the FAA, including the expansion and operation of a program of undercover air marshals. At its peak, it had 66,000 federal employees and met deadlines that were unthinkable by the federal government, installing luggage-scanning technology and hiring a new workforce of airport security screeners within a year.
Bit by bit, however, the agency's responsibilities have steadily dwindled through a succession of directors. Many of its operations have been folded into Homeland Security, which it joined in 2003. The TSA scrapped early plans to create a broad law-enforcement division. The air marshals, who lobbied to leave the agency, were transferred to the department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division -- to the dismay of TSA leaders. Next, the explosives unit left. Now, the agency's high-tech research labs in Atlantic City are also going to another division of the department.
Last week, momentum accelerated in the push to replace federal screeners with private contractors at the nation's airports. FirstLine Transportation Security, a Cleveland-area private security firm, became the first company to win approval for liability coverage under the SAFETY Act, which means that if the firm takes over checkpoints, claims will be capped in the event of a terrorist attack. The move clears a major hurdle in the return of private screening companies. The law creating the TSA allowed for federal screeners to be replaced by private companies after two years.
"We need to step back and look at the billions of dollars we spent on the system, which doesn't provide much more protection than we had before 9/11," said Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), referring to tests conducted by the Department of Homeland Security inspector general that gave a "poor" rating to TSA screeners for their ability to catch weapons at checkpoints. Mica, a key lawmaker who helped write the law that created the agency and chairs the House aviation subcommittee, would like to see private contractors take over screening jobs at airports. "TSA was something we put in place in an emergency, but it needs to evolve. You could whittle TSA down to a very small organization and do a much better job."
Leaving the private contractors to do a lousy job, which they did really well before. 400% annual job turnover doesn't do much to enhance security.
Each of the TSA's three leaders has had a distinct management style and approach to security, creating a culture of perpetual change. Its first leader, John W. Magaw, was a former head of the U.S. Secret Service who wanted to make the TSA into a broad law enforcement agency with police at every checkpoint and agents directing investigations at airports. After six months of protest from Congress and the airline industry, Magaw was replaced by a popular, industry-friendly former Coast Guard Commandant, James M. Loy. Loy spent much of his first year getting rid of what he called Magaw's "stupid rules" such as the secondary screening at the gates. Loy was so well liked that he was promoted to the number two job at Homeland Security, from which he resigned along with former secretary Tom Ridge earlier this year.
Stone, the TSA's current leader, is new to Washington and has been known for his cautious -- some say near paranoid -- approach to security. He presides over a much slimmer by Washington standards TSA, with 52,000 employees, and said he supports the president's proposed changes and is happy to give up programs -- even large ones. "I'm a big optimist," Stone said in a recent interview in his office, which looks out on the side of the Pentagon hit by an American Airlines jet in the 2001 attacks. "I'm not really concerned about turf if that's what is best for the American people. I want to look back 10 years from now and say we did it right at TSA."
Every morning, Stone begins a daily two- to four-hour intelligence meeting, in which he and 40 of his top managers review incident reports from the country's 429 major airports and from train, bus and trucking systems. They comb reports of evacuated terminals, unruly passengers and unattended bags, looking for the next big threat.
Travelers, airport workers and flight crew members involved in incidents are nominated to the government's "watch lists," meaning they will be singled out for extra screening the next time they arrive at an airport. So-called "selectees" wind up on the agency's secret list because they disrupted a flight -- not necessarily because they are viewed as terrorists. For at least six months, the selectees will be pulled aside for extra scrutiny every time they fly. Several thousand names are believed to be on the list.
Airlines have complained that hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent passengers, and even pilots, have been added to the TSA's selectee list or that some names are confused with those on the "No Fly" list, subjecting travelers to hassles. At a February meeting between the TSA and 18 major carriers, airline representatives were asked who had crew members on the list and "they all raised their hands," said one airline source who was present. Airline officials said crew members on the list must be stripped of their badges and cannot perform their duties, according to TSA rules.
Stone said "one or two" pilots who are approved to carry guns in the cockpit have been put on the selectee list in the past year. He said he recalls a "handful" of other pilots who have been added to the selectee list because they were involved in "outrageous" incidents. He cited an incident last year in which an intoxicated pilot punched a patron at a restaurant and threatened him. "We take all of these incidents seriously and we work to resolve them quickly because we know that people's livelihoods are at stake," said Mark Hatfield, a TSA spokesman.
Stone faces the challenge of keeping the TSA's workforce motivated. Many screeners took their jobs expecting that the new agency would provide a path to a federal career. At a recent hearing, Stone acknowledged that screeners suffer from low morale. According to an internal survey last year, 35 percent of employees are satisfied with their job.
So it's not different in any way from the private contractors.
Stone said other security directors sympathize with him, saying: "You've got the toughest job in federal government. You're under the gun for every little thing. You're constantly under the microscope."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2005 12:01:27 AM ||
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#1
Fact is the 9/11 terrorist attacks worked because of the element of surprise. On flight 93 where the passengers learned the fate of the other planes via cell phone they organized a counter attack against the hijackers and re-took the cockpit.
Today anyone trying to hijack a plane is more likely to be beaten to death with laptop computers and various pieces of luggage. Thousands Standing Around (TSA) searching little old ladies and confiscating medals of honor from veterans are not going to make us any safer than the pre-9/11 security measures.
Air Marshals are a good idea (though not with the stupid dress code the agency enforces). Better screening would work, but the ACLU would never allow it. Real security measures like El Al uses would work, but American travelers would never tolerate the delay.
#3
I'm reminded of that EIB adfake for TSA... the one with:
"I used to soil myself down at the bus station. This is much better."
I've seen the folks they put in uniform on my frequent (Chicago) Blue Line trips, and I didn't feel any safer knowing they were Federalized. Not really any less safe, either. You see, I never blamed them for 9-11, unlike a bunch of showboating Congressmen. (*cough*Mark Kirk*cough*)
#4
Real security measures like El Al uses would work, but American travelers would never tolerate the delay.
Ask the question of Americans in a straightforward manner: "Would you be willing to part with security in an effort to get to your destination faster?"
I'd guess the typical answer would be "no".
The question is, are El Al flights any more delayed than others? Seems to me they wouldn't be. El Al doesn't try to treat everyone equally; they profile, which is typically aimed at a small number of individuals.
I don't think El Al flights themselves are delayed more, but I do believe that the passengers have to report much earlier.
On the other hand, Israeli security doesn't waste its time ransacking the possessions of 80 year old women in wheelchairs and focuses on those who are the most likely to cause trouble.
In Israel that's called prudence. In the US it's called racial profiling.
#6
You need to arrive at Ben Gurion no later than 3 hours before your flight. No curbside check in and a total of 5 security stops, including one on the way into the airport.
(IO is a subscription service, but they have some tantalizing teasers.)
American intelligence has reportedly established fruitful contacts with Rifaat Assad, uncle of the Syrian president, who lives in exile in Marbella...
France's business intelligence companies will shortly find themselves under direct government control...
The U.S. Treasury Department is intent on becoming a fully-fledged member of the American intelligence community but is finding it hard to get started...
Running counter to its policy of out-sourcing operations to the private sector, the Pentagon plans to regain complete control of its telephone communications...
The British security group ArmorGroup has hired a former Raytheon executive to open an office in Washington and has hitched up with the Shi'ite Kubba clan in Iraq...
Fierce internal rivalry between political leaders in France has begun to weigh on the day-to-day operations of the intelligence agencies...
Briefly considered for the job of secretary for Homeland Security, Joe Albaugh, former chief-of-staff to George W. Bush, now finds himself working for Halliburton...
In response to the "anti-secession" bill adopted by China's parliament, Taiwan's secret service has asked the U.S. for help in detecting "fish on the seabed..."
The United States wants opposition forces in Syria to march under the Moslem Brotherhood banner...
Reeeaaalllly? Nobody here woulda ever guessed that!
Al Qaida has employed Iraq as a safe haven for insurgency operations in Saudi Arabia. Islamic sources said Al Qaida has brought thousands of Saudi fighters to Iraq for training and eventual return in a military campaign against the kingdom. They said the operatives have been shuttling between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, bringing weapons, funding and orders for insurgency attacks in both countries. "The [Saudi] security forces have succeeded in making life difficult for them," Saudi opposition leader Saad Al Faqih said. "But this has been counterbalanced by the fact that Iraq is acting as an effective shelter for about 3,000 Saudis opposed to the government." Other analysts assert that as many as 2,500 Saudi nationals have entered Iraq since 2003 to fight the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. More than 350 Saudis were said to have been killed in the fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
... as safe haven... lemme think...
HaHaHa, wouldn't that be 'safe heaven'?
(where hoofed, horned houris' have peculiar sexual apperites)
#2
This "safe haven" nonsense is actually a particularly stupid element of the generally clueless opposition argument to the US global offensive posture.
Let's see -- based on the 9/11 plot, I guess San Diego, New Jersey, and parts of Florida are "safe havens" for al-Qaida, too. Anywhere al-Qaida members draw breath, therefore, is a "safe haven".
This is absurd. Iraq is a place where the US has free reign with its conventional and unconventional forces, the support and cooperation of the national government, and the collaboration of increasing numbers of citizens who have problems with the national government. This is a "safe haven"? What would a hostile environment look like to al-Qaida?
This is a classic example of the upside-down thinking that holds that actually fighting the enemy in a war makes the enemy stronger, or somehow is responsible for the war's existence. The reductio ad absurdum of this illogical assertion -- which is obvious and arises nearly instantly -- would be that the best strategy for fighting the war is not fighting it.
When certain eventual death by HE concussive dismemberment or hot-lead to the head can be termed "safe haven" or "shelter", then the notion of sanctuary has truly undergone a pole-flip in the StyleBook. But then we've already come to understand that reality plays little part in the press version of events. Play up whatever angle suits your editorial agenda - hang the facts and the obvious flaws.
I'm picturing a whole herd of Saudi cats dancing on flypaper a hot tin roof.
#4
Honey, where did you put the Jumpin' Jihadi bug spray?
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/08/2005 20:00 Comments ||
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#5
".....analysts assert that as many as 2,500 Saudi nationals have entered Iraq since 2003 to fight the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. More than 350 Saudis were said to have been killed in the fighting."
So let's see. Almost a fifth of them killed in less than two years-- that's a "safe haven"?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party are leading Turkey towards a military and political disaster. Visibly distancing itself from and aligning itself against the US is not healthy in the modern world. The EU has negligible military power and its nation states fragile economies. It is hard to see how EU membership in 10 -15 years and the Chinese military will be a substitute for the US as an ally. As some of the Turks are speculating in their press, the US should replace its bases in Turkey with bases in Kurdistan and let the chips fall where they may.
Posted by: Murat ||
04/08/2005 4:35 Comments ||
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#3
Say your goodbyes to EU entry in that case.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/08/2005 5:05 Comments ||
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#4
Bye to US bases in Turkey, hello to US bases in Northern Kurdistan, after the Kurds rip their territory free from the grip of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. For it is no longer a forward looking modern nation called Turkey, its drifting into being a backward Arab-type Islamic republic.
Murat, you lose America, you lose the only thing holding the Kurds back from revenging themselves on Turkey for centuries of oppression and attempted genocide.
And there are now Free Kurds next door to supply them, train them, send them funds and armaments. Once they taste freedom and self government, they will never go back - and Ankara can kiss Eastern Turkey goodbye as it becomes part of Greater Kurdistan.
BWAHAHA
Posted by: Ghost of Kemal Attaturk ||
04/08/2005 5:38 Comments ||
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#5
And there are now Free Kurds next door to supply them, train them, send them funds and armaments. Once they taste freedom and self government, they will never go back - and Ankara can kiss Eastern Turkey goodbye as it becomes part of Greater Kurdistan.
So? What will be the difference, youâre already doing that, the US is the biggest bigot funding terrorism all around the world anyway.
Posted by: Murat ||
04/08/2005 7:04 Comments ||
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Posted by: Kemmalist Thought Club ||
04/08/2005 7:41 Comments ||
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#8
Saw a docu on Discovery Times(Must have different editors than the dead tree press)on Eur-a-peon Anti-Americanisam.Seems they do not consider the World a dangerous place and do not need a signifacant military.Ok,fine by me.Pull our military out(Eur-a-peon's do not need our protection anymore),disband NATO(What use is a military alliance that has no reason for being?).The corespondent met with the group who were most responsable for Euro pre-war demostrations.The part that sticks in my mind most is they feel that Liberty and Democracy can not be won through military force.Now picture this part in your mind:10 or 12 dweebs sitting around a table with the corespondent,they were asked(paraphrase)"Wasn't French Liberty won,twice in the same century,with the might of the American Military?"The way they jumped back from the table you would have thought they had just been slapped.Guess they do not like to be reminded of that little bit of history. JFM,TGA run don't walk to the nearest airport.I agree Mu-rat,move our bases to Kurdistan.Once U.S. bases are out,I wonder how long it will take before Turkey is fighting a massive Kurdish insurection,or an invasion from you brothers to the east(Iran).
France's Liberty was not saved twice in the same century by American military. The troops sent by America in 1918 were equipped mostly with French and in a lesser degree British armament (take a look at the TO&E equipment for World War II second line American units and you will find the 75 French gun of WWI fame). And even in November 1918 the American troops on the French front were still outnumbered by both France's and the Commonwealth troops (even if I think that the freshness of American troops, America's demographic pool who allowed to send only the fittest and youngest, and America's gun culture made them higher quality than the war weary French who in addition included a number of men in their fourties). While without the Americans the thing would have been dragged on and ended in a draw or even in case of victory left France still more exhausted I remind you that in WWI the Germans never took Paris.
But I certainly give more credit to the Americans for WWII than 99.9% of French.
the US is the biggest bigot funding terrorism all around the world anyway.
I have ever found curious than the supposedly Kemalist, at least that is what he said to use on one occasion, Turk named Murat ever, ever, ever posts a drivel who could have been written by an Islamist Arab.
#12
I would not argue much with you,JFM,you would know more about French history than I.However,IIRC,mutiny,incompentence,and adherence to old ways of fighting had desimated the French army.At the time the French .75mm field gun was considered the best in the world"6 rounds in the air,1 in the chamber".Also when U.S. troops started to arrive British and French generals did not want an American command,they wanted to strip American units for replacments for thier own armies.Armies that had been nearly destroyed due to incompetance at High Command.Fortunatly B.J.Pershing put a stop to that.
#13
Here's my understanding on WWI; feel free to correct me if you think I'm off:
In 1918, both the Allies and the Central Powers were nearly "burned out" in terms of manpower and resources. The entry of the US into the war forced the German surrender, not so much by the troops engaged, but by the prospect of more where they came from. The Central Powers couldn't match that, and they knew it.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/08/2005 12:43 Comments ||
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#14
I wargamed 1917-18 with the US removed. The Ludendorf offensive is able to get through because with just the French and Commonwealth in the line, they don't have enough reserves and replacements. The US didn't win the war alone, of course, but without them, it wouldn't have been possible that late (Russia already gone, and France/Britain have already thrown away their best troops in 1915-16).
#15
You play Europa too? I'd sure love to, I've got most of the games but its hard to find time and space to actually play them (or any other games, I also like GMT's SPQR and other Great Battle of History series).
MtV/Over There I've been wanting to play for a long time.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/08/2005 14:31 Comments ||
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#16
Raptor
I told a few days ago about the harm done to the French Army by the re-war purges of Catholic officers and the blatant favoritism toward religion hostile officers: in the first six months of war one half of French generals had to be fired for total incompetence and we can think that it was still worse at lower levels. I also spoke about the criminals who equipped the french army with navy blue jackets and bright red trousers in the era of machine guns.
However the mutinies in the French Army after the bloody failure of the Nivelle offensives were not of the same nature than the Russian mutinies. It was the reaction of people who were tired of being sacrificed stupidly but who still ardently wanted to win the war: they dragged on for months until the Germans attacked. That German attack had the effect of having the mutineers return to duty while in Russia they deserted.
BTW one of the things who helped to keep the mutineers in line was the nomination of a general who had got a reputation for getting the job done while sparing the lives of his soldiers. He also managed to keep the insurrection in line with a minimum of repression (around thirty executions for a mutiny encompassing over a million soldiers). That general was Philippe Petain. But the cult towards him between veterans (who felt they owed him their lives for his restraint in the mutiny and his economic tactics), had the effect that it was the people who should have been the natural leaders of resistance in 1940 (the veterans and specially the decorated ones) who were calling for blindly following Petain.
Now we'll get to the bottom of things, by Gum! Actually, even a UN team can't be any worse than Franjieh's energetic efforts, which as far as I know haven't produced any suspects nor even brought to light any evidence. Not finding one of the bodies on the site for a day or two was a police work classic...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Amid all the criticism of the US's faulty intelligence-gathering, a new concern is surfacing about America's premier national-security agencies - their vulnerability to counterespionage.
Because the US has reached such lone, superpower status, government officials say, at least 90 countries - in addition to Al Qaeda - are attempting to steal some of the nation's most sacred secrets.
It's not only foes, like members of terror groups or nations that are adversaries of the US, but friends as well. The top five countries trying to snoop on US plans and cutting-edge technology, according to an official who works closely with the FBI on this issue, are China, Russia, Israel, France, and North Korea. Others running close behind: Cuba, Pakistan, and India.
"With the end of the Soviet Union, people stopped taking counterintelligence seriously," says Patrick Lang, former head of Middle East intelligence at the Defense Intelligence Agency. "Not enough attention has been devoted to keeping people from getting into our secret store of knowledge."
The issue is getting more attention now. The Silberman-Robb commission, the latest to scrutinize the intelligence capabilities of the US, harshly criticized the US's counterintelligence efforts across the 15 agencies and recommended major changes. During the same week, the Bush administration released its National Counterintelligence Strategy of the United States. And top counterintelligence officials participated in a conference at Texas A&M University earlier in March.
A chief concern, officials say, is that Al Qaeda or other terror groups may try to infiltrate US national security agencies. Paul Redmond, a former CIA counterintelligence official who spoke at the conference last month, said it is an "actuarial certainty" that foreign spies have again infiltrated US national-security agencies.
The CIA, according to a recruiter at the conference, has already flagged about 40 applicants who they think may have tried to be double agents. This would fit Al Qaeda's pattern, according to Michael Scheuer, a former top CIA counterterrorism official. Al Qaeda operatives, he says, have already penetrated several security agencies in Middle Eastern countries.
The US has long had trouble with double agents. During the cold war, essentially every component of the US's national- security apparatus - with maybe the exception of the Coast Guard - was penetrated, experts say. Moles working for adversaries of the US stole closely guarded secrets, including details on nuclear weapons programs, cryptographic codes, and information on how the US spies on its adversaries.
Moreover, intelligence officials and experts say, this is an area where the US has never gained an advantage overseas, and it's becoming more difficult to operate in an ever-changing world.
For one thing, all 15 US intelligence agencies have ramped up their recruiting efforts - possibly opening the door to infiltrators - to support the government's policies in the war on terror. At the same time, the US has engaged in more information-sharing activities with allies - the coalition in Iraq, for example, and several other arrangements with foreign governments for strategic reasons.
The US shares critical technology and weapons programs with allies, like Israel. But in the past, and again more recently, the US has censured Israel for selling that technology to US adversaries, like China. Just last week, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, and reportedly made it clear that Israel was to stop selling US-originated weapons systems, like the HARPY unmanned aerial vehicle, to China.
"We continue to raise these concerns with allies, friends, and partners and look for them to take a responsible approach to arms sales to China," says Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.
But it is also difficult for Americans to become double agents and counter foreign spies because of cultural sensitivities. "We're never going to be as good at developing techniques and strategies [as] ... countries in opposition to us," says Peter Crooks, a 20-year veteran of the FBI's counterintelligence program.
He explains that countries like Cuba, former Soviet bloc countries, and several in the Middle East don't hesitate to use such tactics. But in the US, people find it distasteful, even dishonorable, to spy on neighbors or to try to turn them into informants.
Indeed, Mr. Lang tells the story of speaking on intelligence gathering at a recent conclave at Penn State. A South Korean in the audience, a member of that country's equivalent of the FBI, asked why the US is so bad at espionage.
Lang replied: "Well, we've got you here for two years, right? Wouldn't it be logical for us to put a couple of our guys next to you, recruit you, so that when you return home, you can provide us information from inside your government?"
The South Korean responded that would be perfectly appropriate: It's what other countries routinely do.
Lang says he paused a moment, smiled, then pointed out how uncomfortable the audience had become - most, he says, were squirming in their seats.
Yet experts like Lang and Crooks say that's exactly what needs to be done. The US needs to recruit members of the large immigrant communities in the US who travel back and forth to home countries and know the cultures.
The Silberman-Robb report called for more aggressive tactics, too. "Even as our adversaries - and many of our 'friends' - ramp up their intelligence activities against the United States, our counterintelligence efforts remain fractured, myopic, and marginally effective," the report states. "Our counterintelligence philosophy and practices need dramatic change, starting with centralizing counterintelligence leadership ... and taking our counterintelligence fight overseas to adversaries currently safe from scrutiny."
A recently released propaganda video by the Islamic extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is quite revealing. Not only does the video demonstrate the group's growing effort to package arguments in a manner designed to appeal to Westerners on the political left, but it also serves as a barometer of radical Muslim groups' broader shift in rhetorical strategy.
The video, "Iraq: Past and Present Colonialism," appears for the first twenty-seven minutes to be a standard leftist critique of the Iraq war, indistinguishable from Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. The slickly-produced video begins with the history of past colonialism in Iraq—including the Mongol conquest of the Middle East and British soldiers' triumphant march into Baghdad after World War I—and attempts to situate the current conflict within the same colonialist paradigm. In one scene, vivid footage of torture at the Abu Ghraib prison and Iraqi civilian casualties is interspersed with clips of George W. Bush and Tony Blair talking about how they will bring "freedom" to the Iraqi people. Another scene shows American soldiers roughly pushing Iraqi prisoners with bags draped over their heads down a nighttime street, the camera speed slowing down with each push to emphasize the excessive force.
As if Michael Moore's influence on "Past and Present Colonialism" weren't readily apparent, the video even lifts directly from Fahrenheit 9/11 the famous footage of American soldiers talking about how war is the "ultimate rush," and how a good song can get you "real fired up" for battle. To demonstrate, one wild-eyed soldier sings a few off-key lines from the Bloodhound Gang's "Fire Water Burn" ("The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire / We don't need no water, let the motherf----- burn / Burn, motherf-----, burn").
Posted by: ed ||
04/08/2005 8:49:59 AM ||
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Sure this wasn't produced by the DNC and their mascot Michael Moore?
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Cementing Iraq's first democratic government in 50 years, one of Saddam Hussein's most implacable enemies took his oath as president Thursday and quickly named another longtime foe of the ousted dictator to the powerful post of prime minister.
The new government's main task will be to draft a permanent constitution and lay the groundwork for elections in December, although some worry that the two months of political wrangling taken up in forming the leadership hasn't left enough time.
The swearing-in ceremony came just two days short of the second anniversary of Baghdad's fall to U.S.-led forces and underlined the growing power and cooperation of the Shiite Arab majority and Kurdish minority — groups that were long oppressed by Saddam's regime.
There were stumbles, though.
After his inaugural speech, interim President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, walked off the stage, and members of the National Assembly and onlookers began to disperse and television feeds were cut.
Talabani came back about 10 minutes later and had to shout to a dwindling crowd that the President's Council — Talabani and his two vice presidents — had, as expected, selected Shiite Arab leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari as interim prime minister.
Senior Kurdish official Barham Saleh blamed the misstep on miscommunication, saying lawmakers didn't realize the ceremony hadn't ended with Talabani's speech. Some Shiite lawmakers felt snubbed. "We hope that they forgot," said Abbas Hassan Mousa al-Bayati, a top member of al-Jafaari's Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance. "This happened because of bad management."
Al-Jaafari didn't seem upset, telling reporters afterward: "This day represents a democratic process and a step forward." "I'm faced with a big responsibility, and I pray to God that everyone will work hand-in-hand and that their efforts will lead to progress and development," he added.
Some Iraqis have expressed concern about al-Jaafari's close ties to the Islamic government in Iran and his work for the conservative Islamic Dawa Party, which has called for the implementation of Islamic law. But lawmakers didn't express any reservations Thursday.
Al-Jaafari said women will play a bigger role in his government, and he promised to fight the violence of the insurgency. "There are two kinds of terrorism: terrorism from inside Iraq — and these are criminals, some of them with ties to the former regime — and the other is the terrorism exported from abroad," he said.
Iraq's new leaders were longtime foes of Saddam, who watched a videotape of Talabani's election Wednesday but was not expected to be shown Thursday's ceremony. Al-Jaafari spent more than two decades in exile helping to lead anti-Saddam opposition forces among Shiite Arabs, while Talabani was one of the most influential leaders in the resistance of ethnic Kurds to Saddam as well as Arab domination.
Shiite Arabs and Kurds have worked together in putting the government together, and Talabani — whose post is largely ceremonial — reached out Thursday to Sunni Arabs, who are believed to make up the backbone of the insurgency and were the dominant group under Saddam.
"It is time for our Sunni brothers to participate in the democratic march," the president said. Lawmakers have appointed Sunni Arabs to several top posts in an effort to build a broad-based government, but prominent Sunni Arab groups have distanced themselves from the new administration.
Sunni Arabs have only 17 seats in parliament, largely because many boycotted the Jan. 30 elections or stayed home for fear of attacks at the polls. Shiites have 140 of the 275 seats in the National Assembly, while Kurds have the second largest bloc with 75 seats.
Al-Jaafari has a month to name his Cabinet, clearing the way for the new government to begin drafting a permanent constitution before an Aug. 15 deadline. If the constitution is approved in an October referendum, elections for a permanent government are to be held in December.
Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni Arab, urged Iraq's new leaders to begin immediately. "Your people are looking at you and waiting," he said. "So, work!"
Al-Hassani added that outgoing interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who took over from a U.S.-appointed National Governing Council in June, turned in his resignation Thursday. But he said Allawi was asked to conduct the day-to-day work of the government until the Cabinet is named.
Meanwhile, Iraq purchased 60,000 metric tons of U.S. rice, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday. Growers hope "that this is the first of many more export sales to this key market," said Lee Adams, chairman of the USA rice federation.
Iraq was once the No. 1 market for U.S. rice, buying 345,000 metric tons annually before the 1991 Gulf War.
{Reports of Violence deleted}
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/08/2005 1:01:21 AM ||
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The first group of 35 remotely-operated weapons for mounting on top of Humvees arrived in Iraq recently and the systems were divided among military police, Special Forces, infantry and transportation units. The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations, or CROWS as they are known, provide crews the ability to locate, identify and engage targets with better accuracy and improved range, while keeping the gunner inside, protected by the vehicle's up-armor.
The technology used on the CROWS is a variation of the remote-controlled crew-served weapons system already used on combat vehicles like the Bradley fighting vehicle and the M-1A1 Abrams tank. "We will be fielding, in the next two years, over 300 systems," said Maj. Frank Lozano, the program manager for the CROWS project on LSA Anaconda.
At LSA Anaconda, four CROWS were issued to 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Ar Ramadi and the 155th Brigade Combat Team on FOB Kalsu. Prototypes were installed on vehicles belonging to the 42nd Military Police Brigade in December, Lozano said. Since then, more CROWS have been installed, bringing the total up to nine systems serving troops at LSA Anaconda.
Presently in Iraq, CROWS are only assembled and fielded at LSA Anaconda. Crews are issued the system there and receive training on how to operate it, said Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Januchowski, the project's training developer.
The nearly $200,000 system is designed to replace the turret gunner on Humvees to improve combat effectiveness, Lozano said. CROWS allows Soldiers to operate successfully from within the safety of the Humvee's armor, without being exposed to the threat of improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire. "The important thing is increased survivability and increased lethality," Lozano said.
The system incorporates a 15-inch color monitor with live video from cameras in the daytime and thermal imaging cameras in darkness. Both cameras use a laser range finder, which allows the gunner to zoom on targets, lock onto them and maintain that lock accurately while the vehicle is in motion. The camera and the weapon can be used together or separately. The camera allows the gunner to look one way with the weapon pointed another. This feature becomes particularly useful when observing suspicious subjects from a distance, Soldiers said, adding that way people are not scared off by a weapon pointed at them.
The gun itself is controlled by a joystick which gives the gunner 100-percent functionality, allowing the operator to control the weapon with just one hand. The weapon can be aimed up to 60 degrees above and 20 degrees below in front of the vehicle and can turn a full 360 degrees, allowing the gunner to see almost any threat no matter where it is located in relation to the vehicle. With all the features used properly, the weapon can be used at 98-percent accuracy while the vehicle is in motion and the enemy on the run. "The weapon is smart enough to know your movement, the earth's movement and the enemy's movements," said Lozano.
CROWS is compatible with the M-2 .50-caliber machine gun, M-240B medium machine gun, MK-19 automatic grenade launcher and the M-249 squad automatic weapon. The weapons operate off of a larger ammunition supply than that of the standard crew-served weapons, Lazano said. He said with larger combat loads, the weapon is reloaded less, keeping the crew inside the vehicle.
The system keeps gunners like Sgt. Darrin Hill, 98th Cavalry, 155th Brigade Combat Team, out of the turret where he had spent his days since being deployed in support of OIF. "I think it's a great system. For one, it gets me out of the turret; it gets (me) out of the kill zone," Hill said. "I feel privileged to be able to learn how to use it."
#1
"The CROWS be peckin' at your flesh, and you got no control o'the situation."
--Ted Nugent
Posted by: Mike ||
04/08/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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Very nice system, but both expensive and heavy. Note that they will not be able to put this on many vehicles because of these traits. The weight is a significant issue for already overloaded rolling stock, especially HMMWV's.
There is an alternative that is about 1/3 the price and less than 1/3 the weight. It doesn't have all the features of the CROWS, but it is still very capable and enables the same value-add of getting the gunner down from the turret. If the Army is smart, they will add these smaller units as a complement to the CROWS so that the majority of the vehicle fleet, including logistics vehicles, have a remote weapon station on them.
#3
With Dubya, Cheney, and Rummy, etal. working to make GMD, METAL STORM, and US SATWAR/SPAWAR dominance a LT permanent reality, as per UAV's the next logical step is to dev rifle-mounted, HE/VHE, "smart" or "brilliant", fire-and-forget standoff micro-missles [smart bullets/grenades
/rockets] for the Marine and Army grunts, powerful enough to take out pillboxes, light to medium armor, and low-flying helos. The Grunts just shoots it, the TacLasers and overhead Satellites guide it to target. *DARTH VADER - "Stay on the Leader...I have You now". In the 1980's the Dem Congress shot down a similar concept, out of fear of provoking the Soviets and escalating the arms race.
Sudan's ruling National Congress has been holding rapprochement talks with the breakaway Popular Congress party of jailed leader Hassan Turabi, the opposition group said yesterday. Popular Congress number two Abdullah Hassan Ahmed told AFP he had met his counterpart from the ruling party, Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, on Wednesday and they had agreed to hold further talks. The meeting marked a sharp change in policy toward the Islamists by the increasingly isolated military-backed government in Khartoum, which last year rounded up much of the Popular Congress leadership on charges of taking part in an alleged coup. "Yes, I agree it could be a thaw," said Ahmed, who held a number of Cabinet posts, including finance minister, before the split between Turabi and President Omar Bashir in 1999.
Ahmed told AFP the overture had come from the ruling party "apparently as part of a bid by the National Congress to consult political forces on current issues." He said the talks had focused on implementation of a landmark peace agreement which the government signed with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement in January, ending two decades of civil war with the mainly Christian or animist south. He said he voiced "concern about the delay in implementing the agreement" which also provides for a new power-sharing government in Khartoum, involving not only the southern rebels but also other opposition groups. "But we are now optimistic after the meeting with Omar and another meeting on Wednesday with the visiting SPLM delegation, who said they were serious about implementation of the agreement," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Bucky Beaver there in the pic - separated from birth from JI "Spiritual Leader" Bashir in Indonesia?
Is there a difference between "shocked" and "surprised"? I thought there was...
A bomb attack in a thriving commercial hotspot in Cairo has shocked and angered Egyptians who had come to believe violence in their ancient city had been effectively dealt with in the 1990s.
That's why they let all those hard boyz out of jug a little while ago...
The al-Husain area — considered the heart of Islamic Cairo — was rocked by a grenade thrown at a crowd of tourists perusing the old bazaar. The blast killed at least two and wounded several others. General Fuad Allam, former head of Egyptian State Security, says terrorist attacks had been constrained and limited in Egypt and everyone was caught by surprise. "Possibilities for the occurrence of such an accident were far from possible," he said. He believes a minor terrorist cell gone astray may have been behind the attack.
I think the local hard boyz realize that a handful of people tossing bombs can disrupt an entire society. We're not the only ones who read the Pak press...
"It is obvious that it is not very well organised. Most probably it will be [a] locally made bomb." Egyptian media reported a bomb was hurled from a motorcycle, but police on the scene believe one of the dead may have been the bomber himself. "It included nails and other sharp objects designed to create maximum bloodshed when the gunpowder goes off."
Kinda like the Paleostinians are fond of using...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Egyptians shocked in blast aftermath
Is there a difference between "shocked" and "surprised"? I thought there was
correct, Fred. "Surprised" is what the Egyptian populace felt. "Shocked" is what the suspects will feel upon interrogation
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2005 9:59 Comments ||
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#7
A bomb attack in a thriving commercial hotspot in Cairo has shocked and angered Egyptians who had come to believe violence in their ancient city had been effectively dealt with in the 1990s.
Since violence in Egypt is only suppressed and not stamped out, it's not really "effectively dealt with". Sooner or later something will bubble to the surface from time to time.
Protests for reform in Egypt have drawn only a few hundred people at a time but they affirmed the right to demonstrate in a country where the authorities have severely curbed political rights, activists and analysts say. The protests, spearheaded by the 'Enough Movement', have also broken down a fear of criticising President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981 and is expected to seek a fifth six-year term in elections this year. "We succeeded in beating the culture of fear and we have won the right to demonstrate," said George Ishak of the movement, which wants reform to make it harder for incumbents to stay in power and the lifting of emergency laws in place since 1981.
The authorities have been unusually tolerant of a series of protests by the movement since December, but last week banned it from protesting outside parliament. A demonstration called by the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood was also blocked. But the frequency of the protests has raised the profile of opposition objections to an extension of Mubarak's rule or a transfer of power to his son, Gamal. "The need for change is so widely publicised that even though it's not a party -- it's a mood, a movement -- it has managed to put on the agenda our right to see serious change," said political analyst Mohamed Al Sayed Said. The demonstrations have directed unusual criticism at Mubarak, whom the dominant state media portray as a wise and benevolent leader. "Challenging the presidency in the open has broken another taboo," Said told Reuters.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Theoretically one should have faith,damino.
Posted by: con spirito ||
04/08/2005 0:32 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 ||
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This has been in the air for a while, hasn't it? I seem to remember somebody saying that the Shia were kind of pissed about the prospect, complaining that they weren't Afghani untermenschen, or something like that. Something about Khalilzad having a reputation for MacArthurism, I think...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/08/2005 8:11 Comments ||
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You knew one would eventually be coming, didn't you?
Sudan's foreign minister has offered to cooperate with the UN on prosecution of suspects accused of war crimes in the Darfur region, saying trials of the International Criminal Court could be conducted inside Sudan. Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail reiterated on Wednesday in Khartoum the government's rejection of trials of its nationals abroad but said: "We seek a balance between the red line that the Sudanese people have set and the implementation of the resolution in cooperation with the ICC. The law of the court gives Sudan the opportunity to try the suspects in Sudan." Ismail on Wednesday denied reports that a senior Sudanese leader was on the UN's list of 51 Darfur suspects.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
A Sudanese opposition leader, speaking to Aljazeera by telephone from Paris on Thursday, urged the government to respect the Security Council resolution. Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the Umma Party, said, "Sudan's government should abide by the resolution for the International Criminal Court to try criminals." He said the government lashed out at the party, in a raid on its headquarters in Omdurman on Wednesday, because of its stance on the Darfur trials. "There was a connection between suspending the party's legal status and the party's position toward the UN resolution about Darfur."
That's life in a dictatorship, isn't it? When your President-for-Life has big shoulder boards you can expect it.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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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.
The spokesman of an American non-governmental organization that works for Islamic charitable organizations hinted yesterday that the closure of the 
Legislators harmed their relations with the executive when they called a vote of no confidence in the health minister, Kuwait's prime minister said yesterday, in a comment seen as a warning that parliament might be dissolved. "We express our discomfort with the way the no-confidence motion was tabled," the Prime Minister, Shaikh 
The 
Kyrgyzstan's parliament on Friday voted to strip the ousted president of his special privileges and guarantees. Lawmakers voted unanimously to remove provisions that would have given President 
Al Qaida has employed Iraq as a safe haven for insurgency operations in Saudi Arabia. Islamic sources said Al Qaida has brought thousands of Saudi fighters to Iraq for training and eventual return in a military campaign against the kingdom. They said the operatives have been shuttling between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, bringing weapons, funding and orders for insurgency attacks in both countries. "The [Saudi] security forces have succeeded in making life difficult for them," Saudi opposition leader 
Sudan's ruling National Congress has been holding rapprochement talks with the breakaway Popular Congress party of jailed leader 
A bomb attack in a thriving commercial hotspot in Cairo has shocked and angered Egyptians who had come to believe violence in their ancient city had been effectively dealt with in the 1990s.
Protests for reform in Egypt have drawn only a few hundred people at a time but they affirmed the right to demonstrate in a country where the authorities have severely curbed political rights, activists and analysts say. The protests, spearheaded by the 'Enough Movement', have also broken down a fear of criticising President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981 and is expected to seek a fifth six-year term in elections this year. "We succeeded in beating the culture of fear and we have won the right to demonstrate," said George Ishak of the movement, which wants reform to make it harder for incumbents to stay in power and the lifting of emergency laws in place since 1981. 
Sudan's foreign minister has offered to cooperate with the UN on prosecution of suspects accused of war crimes in the Darfur region, saying trials of the 
