Apparently the Saudis have been using their new anti-terrorism laws against converts to Christianity. Several Saudi Christians have been detained on suspicion of aiding Al-Qaeda. The conditions under which the Christians are being held are harsh, with beatings and torture routine. This is still better than the official penalty for leaving the Moslem faith, death. Those converts who agree to return to Islam are usually freed. The entire drill is apparently an attempt to appease Islamic conservatives unhappy with the government crack down on pro-al Qaeda Islamic radicals. President Bush is said to have brought this up at his recent meeting the Saudi Crown Prince.
Posted by: ed ||
05/04/2005 8:48:58 AM ||
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The Soddies are a$$holes, but we knew that already. What I want to know is where is the outcry from the UN, ICRC, AI, HRW, CAIR etc. when Christians' rights are violated?
*chirp, chirp*
I thought so. Wankers.
Al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia have become clumsier and less capable of major attacks, but the kingdom remains vulnerable to strikes like those recently seen in Egypt, a top Saudi official said on Tuesday.
Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, said a crackdown on domestic militants after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had eliminated the top tiers of their leadership, disrupted supply lines and communications and curbed their ability to raise funds or recruit members.
"It is very clear that their capability is not what it was three years ago. Their ability to conduct large, spectacular attacks is not what it was before," Jubeir told Reuters in an interview in Washington.
Jubeir said the remaining militants had become sloppy and were now leaving behind "tell-tale signs, which implies they're more clumsy, less trained." He said their ability to put up a fight against security officers had also waned.
"Have we turned the corner in our war against the terrorists? Absolutely. Are we out of the woods yet? No. We still have a ways to go to roll up any remaining suspects who are involved in this," Jubeir said.
He said recent attacks against tourists in Egypt -- which authorities believe were carried out by small groups rather than large militant networks -- were a reminder that even isolated or weakened actors were a security threat.
"That's what I meant by 'we're not out of the woods yet.' Another concern you have is of copycats," Jubeir said. "A lot of people in Saudi Arabia have arms. You could have a deranged individual who decides, 'Why don't I go into a shopping mall and shoot people?'"
Critics say Saudi Arabia is partly to blame for its militancy problem, saying the country's strict Wahhabi school of Islam promoted intolerance and provided an environment in which militancy flourished.
But Saudi officials say the criticism is unfair. They say the kingdom had launched a series of steps to fight terrorism, including education reforms, a crackdown on preachers inciting violence and tough measures to keep groups from funneling money to militants.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:58:01 AM ||
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DOHA (Qatar) May 3 (Bernama) -- Saudi Arabia's Haj Ministry has written to ask the Haj authorities of 62 Muslim countries to send their pilgrims for the annual Haj earlier than usual. According to the UAE-based daily, Gulf News, the move which is part of safety measures, would in effect allow pilgrims to spend more time in the Magic Kingdom Holy Land.
So far, pilgrims -- especially those arriving by air -- have been required to arrive in the kingdom by the 20th day of the lunar month of Dhu Al Qa'da, the month preceding the Haj. The Haj Ministry now wants pilgrims to start arriving from the first day of Dhu Al Qa'da, or Dec 3 this year.
Separately, the Saudi daily Arab News reported that the Haj Ministry had engaged an information security firm to implement measures to prevent pilgrims from entering the kingdom on forged Umrah visas. Umrah pilgrims with bona fide visas will be issued a special numbered code in advance, which will give the authorities access to full details of the pilgrims.
Among the new measures announced recently by Haj Minister Dr Fouad Al Farsy to curb the number of overstaying pilgrims is that Umrah pilgrims from certain countries will be allowed to come only in groups. A second group will be allowed to enter only after the return of all pilgrims in the first group.
Posted by: Pappy ||
05/04/2005 12:36:14 AM ||
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pilgrims from certain countries will be allowed to come only in groups
Heh.
Can we see a list of the, er ''less favored nations?'' And which favors/bribes/visa expediting type activities allows a country to earn back its ''most favored nation'' status?
#2
It just occurred to me that there must be a lot of Arab Israelis who want to go on Haj, and can afford it. I wonder how the Saudis square that particular circle.
The U.S. intelligence community has determined that Al Qaida plans to attack Western aircraft in or around Saudi Arabia. U.S. officials said the intelligence community has obtained evidence that the Al Qaida network in Saudi Arabia intends to strike Western airliners traveling to the kingdom or neighboring Gulf Cooperation Council states. They said Al Qaida has regarded such an attack as a demonstration of its resurgence after most of its leadership was killed by Saudi security forces in 2005. "This particular [Al Qaida] threat appears to be focused on Westerners in the Arabian peninsula," U.S. Homeland Security Department Brian Roehrkasse spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Saudi security officers have been determined to play a major role in Al Qaida's network in Iraq. U.S. officials said Saudi nationals, including members of the kingdom's security forces, have played a major role in Sunni insurgency attacks in Iraq. They said hundreds of Saudi nationals accused of participating in Al Qaida-aligned attacks have been arrested in Iraq over the last year. In all, about 2,000 Saudi nationals have been recruited into the Sunni insurgency, many of them in the network led by Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi. They were said to have included hundreds of members of the Saudi National Guard, commanded by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, who met President George Bush in Crawford, Texas in April. Officials said Saudi nationals comprise a leading element in the foreign insurgency presence in Iraq. They said the majority of the foreign fighters come from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria and their numbers are growing.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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With ''W'' holding hands, and these new admissions coming forth, I see new material being integrated into Michael Moore's second 9/11 saga!
Those of us who work on the gloomy side of the prediction industry about Iraq, the prospects for Middle East peace, and the sanity of the Bush administration, have been given plenty to think about lately. On the one hand, on Monday the 87th British soldier was killed in Iraq, while suicide bombs and armed clashes have accounted for more than 40 Iraqi deaths since last week. On the other, the Bush administration is in triumphalist mode. A friend who visited the White House recently described the president's buoyant account of his Iraqi crusade, which highlighted the fact that a national government has been formed. Some progress is claimed towards normalisation in Shia and Kurdish regions. Syrian withdrawal gives Lebanon a chance of making something of democracy. Washington asserts that it is involving itself more than ever in the Middle East peace process.
None of these claims should be dismissed out of hand.
In fact, Max, they're manifestly true. A new government is in place. Lebanon is in the process of healing itself. Kurds and Shi'a are getting along. What's not to like about this?
The greatest danger for those of us who dislike George Bush is that our instincts may tip over into a desire to see his foreign policy objectives fail. No reasonable person can oppose the president's commitment to Islamic democracy.
But a lot of unreasonable ones are opposed, and Bush's reasonable opponents haven't separated themselves from the moonbats and kooks very well.
Most western Bushophobes are motivated not by dissent about objectives, ...
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2005 12:14:56 AM ||
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Excellent in-line, there, Dr Steve!
We've all guessed it must suck to have a few neurons but be caught up in the BDS Kool Aid Krowd. Here we have some proof. There's more angst and prevarication than fact in this piece - demonstrating the presence of multiple, if still misfiring, neurons. There's also a big dose of MSM ego which still blinds the author to the answers, but he is beginning to realize crow pie is on the menu. His dilemma is to try to continue the BDS bravado and bullshit while, simultaneously, picking out the feathers stuck in his teeth.
#2
Good ideas are always simple and facts are always facts. Nuance is a state to which those whose ideas can not be reconciled with the facts, retreat.
#3
A ''Bushophobe?'' Haven't heard that term yet, but I like it. It's about time they should be scared of us members of the VRWC.
Posted by: BA ||
05/04/2005 9:09 Comments ||
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The key question, surely, is how far the Shia and Kurd majority is moving towards the creation of a working society. Evidence on this is mixed. Journalists are able to travel so little outside the Baghdad enclave that the world depends for information chiefly on western military and diplomatic sources.
Dumbasses.
Colombian police arrested two U.S. soldiers for alleged involvement in a plot to traffic thousands of rounds of ammunition ââ¬" possibly to outlawed right-wing paramilitary groups, authorities said Wednesday. The two soldiers were detained during a raid Tuesday on a house in a gated community in Carmen de Apicala, southwest of the capital and near Colombia's sprawling Tolemaida air base, where many U.S. soldiers are stationed.
National Police chief Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro said the two U.S. Army soldiers, whose names and ranks were not disclosed, were arrested at the house where a large cache of ammunition was discovered and that three Colombians were also involved. The Colombian attorney general's office said the arrested American soldiers had been in contact with a former Colombian police sergeant linked to paramilitary groups. The former policeman was also arrested, a spokeswoman for the attorney general said.
The cache was composed of 32,000 rounds of ammunition sent to Colombia by the United States under its Plan Colombia aid program, aimed at crushing a leftist insurgency and the drug trafficking that fuels it, the attorney general's spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
05/04/2005 6:23:00 PM ||
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What. The. F***.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
05/04/2005 18:46 Comments ||
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Russia is working to create weapons that no other country possesses, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily.
"Many countries are working onâŠmodern weapons systems, including us. Naturally, not a single partner or ally of ours knows anything about it and nor will they until they are tested," he told the paper.
Ivanov said that modern Russia does not need the kind of army that the Soviet Union used to have. "We do not want and we will not be a scarecrow for the whole world," he stressed.
In recent years Russia's army has been reduced from more than three million servicemen to 1.2 million, and the military forces should be developed not by increasing the number of soldiers but by high-tech weapons, the minister said.
Russia yields to no one with regards to nuclear weapons, Ivanov believes. He explained that Moscow is not an aggressor as it was portrayed during the Cold War. However, although the possibility of a nuclear war is minimal, to ensure Russia's security the development of nuclear weapons will not be halted, he stated.
He said that power is respected by everyone, and Russia has to be a powerful military state relative to its size. "Some say 200,000 (servicemen) would be enough, like in European countries. But let's look at a map and compare their territory and their neighbors with ours. This is a geopolitical answer," the minister said.
In Ivanov's opinion, the armed forces should be modified depending on the kind of threats the world faces. After the end of the Cold War "the abruptness factor has increased many times in size", and no one knows where the next local religious or ethnic conflict will arise, he said. A vertiable Counselor Troi for stating the blindingly obvious.
#3
That pesky abruptness factor! Gets me every time. Doesn't matter who's ruling, those people just loooove intimating about their newest secret weapons! I suspect Sergei is making reference to the K-IX AWSPBDW (anti wahabbie suicide pitbull dog weapon). Consists of a scent trained doggie dragging a 122mm rocket warhead for martyrdom tricks. The delivery vehicle was carefully chosen for maximum psycological and physical impact.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2005 14:13 Comments ||
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Let's see, they would obviously involve using the other inventions the Russians are noted for, including baseball and the airplane. Hmmmm, what could they be?
Nine militants have been detained in Chechnya in during the past two days, spokesman for the regional headquarters of the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax on Monday.
Shabalkin said the detentions were the result of a number of energetic efforts meant to guarantee public security and neutralize militants. He said public support facilitated the success of the pinpoint actions.
Three of the militants were seized in Grozny. Two of them are suspected of organizing and perpetrating terrorist acts against the authorities and federal troops in the Vedeno and Shali districts. The third, a resident of Urus-Martan district, was part of a militant group in the Urus-Martan and Achkhoi-Martan districts.
Shabalkin said one more militant was captured near Grozny. A resident of Starye Atagi and a member of Isa Sadayev's armed group, he is suspected of several crimes, including armed attacks on civilians.
Five more militants were captured in operations in Petropavlovskaya, Novoterskoye, Gudermes and Urus-Martan. Detectives say they are suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks, and shooting at servicemen, Shabalkin said.
He said the situation in Chechnya during the weekend was generally calm due to the the precautions taken by the authorities to guarantee public order and security.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 1:05:32 AM ||
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A Kazakh opposition leader who said he intends to run against the ex-Soviet republic's veteran autocratic leader narrowly escaped being beaten by several dozen men while meeting activists in a southern town, his opposition alliance said on Tuesday. Zharmakhan Tuyakbai and other opposition leaders escaped by jumping from a second-floor balcony of a cafe in Shymknet on Monday after a group of young men broke into the building and chased them, verbally abusing and throwing chairs, plates and empty bottles at them, hi alliance, called For a Fair Kazakhstan, said in a statement. It was the second attack on Tuyakbai in the past month.
The alliance said one opposition activist was beaten and hospitalised with a fractured rib and injuries of internal organs. "It was a thoroughly planned action carried out by the authorities," said an alliance leader, Altynbek Sarsenbayev.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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"Food chain" should unfortunately be interpreted literally here ...
If North Korea is one of the world's most impoverished countries, then those living in cities in the isolated communist state are close to the bottom of the food chain.
Trapped between vicious inflation and uncertain paydays, the 60 percent of North Korea's 22.5 million people that aid workers estimate live in urban settings are a new underclass in a country where the daily food ration is equal to about two bowls of rice.
"New vulnerable groups are emerging because of economic changes," wrote Kathi Zellweger of the Catholic charity Caritas in a report outlining a $2.5 million appeal.
The outside perception might be that those groups most at risk were largely in the countryside. The reverse is true; urban poverty is a growing concern for aid workers. Yet despite the trend, few believe the poverty gap will cause social unrest.
Caritas says North Koreans in general are among the most marginalized people in the world because of the closed nature of their communist system. Stop-start economic reforms have pushed many further to the fringes, notably in cities.
"The gap between rich and poor is widening," Zellweger said. "There is little opportunity for such dense and urbanized populations to directly engage in food production."
Of course, poverty is a relative term in a country with a per capita income of $818 in 2003. That compared with $14,162 last year in unabashedly capitalist South Korea, Asia's third-largest economy and the North's neighbor below the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone frontier that bisects the peninsula.
"Most urban residents are constantly living on the edge," said Richard Ragan of the World Food Program, which is studying the problem to work out how best to help further.
"They don't eat enough, and their diet is very narrow; typically cereal -- rice or maize -- and vegetable soup and kimchi. Very little protein. Very little fruit."
Kimchi is a Korean dish usually made from cabbage and radish.
Those most vulnerable in North Korea spend 70-80 percent of their meager wages on food, Ragan said in an e-mail interview. Runaway inflation means little is left for non-food items. Electricity is short. Homes are cold in winter.
World Food Program assessments consistently show urban residents are at a disadvantage compared with those on the land, particularly cooperative farm families who get more than twice as much food because they are allowed to keep some of their crops.
Ever resourceful and often desperate, many North Koreans trade goods and gather wild foods such as grasses and acorns. But city dwellers have to forage further, almost always on foot, and compete with other city residents for the available flora.
Some city residents have plots of land. Many do not and have to rely on the Public Distribution System, which is the main source of staple food for 70 percent of the people but has all but collapsed as a reliable conduit because of crop shortfalls.
Others are getting an unexpected flavor of country life because they are being redeployed from idle factories to help on farms where fuel shortages mean most work is not mechanized.
Most have to trek to and from their city homes, and they do not necessarily benefit from the surplus crop handouts, which are a reform spin-off in the countryside. There is little upside from market reforms for average people in the cities.
At the other end of the scale, those in the political and military elite with access to hard currency have little trouble shopping at high-price markets and dining in new restaurants in Pyongyang, visitors to the North Korean capital say.
"The time of shared hardships is long gone," said the Brussels-based International Crisis Group in a report on the North's reforms. "North Koreans doing best now are the ones who are quickest to adapt to the new system, but most people inside and outside the bureaucracy are struggling to keep up."
Those struggling the most include the old, nursing mothers and children. Pyongyang is a showcase, although not immune to hardship. Regional cities, notably in the East, fare worse.
"The further you get from Pyongyang, the worse the poverty becomes," said Dong Yong-seung, head of the North Korea team at the Samsung Economic Research Institute.
An influx of South Korean video tapes and recorders, for example, has exposed many North Koreans to life outside their bubble. Word is also traveling faster these days about the positive market-reform effect on the elite. But if the rest of the people resent it, they have yet to show it.
Zellweger said most people were too busy figuring out how to find food or medicine to consider protests against the system.
"I don't know if there's much energy left to think about much else," she said by telephone from Hong Kong.
"It is also very hard to say when they reach the bottom line; how much belt-tightening they could do. They would say to us, 'We are used to a tough life. We can cope with this'."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 1:47:04 AM ||
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Are they still having crop failures?
I saw that they were trying to learn how to grow potatoes a year or so ago. That might keep the rural folks alive if they can keep enough plants hidden; but I doubt it'll help the urban poor much.
Posted by: James ||
05/04/2005 14:43 Comments ||
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SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea should realize that a logjam in crucial talks on its nuclear weapons programs cannot go on forever, and should stop making unreasonable allegations, South Korea's foreign minister said on Wednesday.
The harsh remarks by Ban Ki-moon reflected growing frustrations over communist North Korea's refusal to return to the disarmament negotiations. Talks involving the two Koreas, the US, Russia, China and Japan, aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear ambitions, have been stalled since last June.
All the concessions and cash haven't worked, eh?
"Concerns both at home and abroad are growing because of undesirable measures by North Korea," said Ban, adding that efforts to peacefully resolve the dispute are at a "crucial phase."
"North Korea should realize the current situation in which the six-party talks are not taking place cannot go on aimlessly, and should stop hanging onto unreasonable allegations," Ban said in a regular briefing.
There's going to be some spittle on that one.
North Korea further raised tensions by apparently test-firing a short-range missile toward Japan on Sunday, a day after the country called the US President George W. Bush a "hooligan" and rejected any solution to the nuclear dispute as long as he was in the office.
Sure, no probs, how's the grass soup?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2005 12:00:28 AM ||
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I can't wait for the collective jaw dropping and crapping thats going to occur when the NORKS detonate their Trinity Yield for the first time; I'll be among the first to get my bunker ready again!
#3
The have demonstrated that they can successfully a target as small as the Sea of Japan ... as long as the gerbil powering the inertial guidance is well fed.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/04/2005 22:42 Comments ||
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The son of an Iraqi diplomat at the centre of a storm over New Zealand's border security says his father has been unfairly singled out.
Zuhair Mohammed Al-Omar had his visitor's visa revoked on Monday after an Immigration Service investigation revealed he entered New Zealand in breach of a policy banning former officials in deposed dictator Saddam Hussein's regime. Al-Omar was identified after a search prompted by claims by NZ First leader Winston Peters that a former minister and senior member of Saddam's Baath party was in the country.
But Al-Omar's son, Omar Zuhair Al-Omar, said yesterday that his father was not the man Mr Peters referred to, but a career diplomat who had spent most of his life outside Iraq. He had declared his past when he and his wife applied to come to Auckland to see their son, a New Zealand citizen.
Mr Al-Omar Jr said his father's career began in 1964 — the year after a Baathist coup in Iraq was defeated and four years before the party finally seized power. Mr Al-Omar said his father served under both regimes and was posted to Cuba, Bangladesh, America, Yugoslavia and South Africa, where he was ambassador during the United States-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
His father had a police clearance from the present Iraqi regime, as well as clearances from the countries he worked in. His father declined requests for an interview yesterday, and his son said he had yet to decide whether to appeal against the order to leave. He has 12 days left.
Posted by: Pappy ||
05/04/2005 12:53:17 AM ||
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Let's see - that nanoviolin must be around here someplace.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2005 11:11 Comments ||
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The poor misunderstood Soddy's, on the terrorist watch list, and enroute to Mexico City via KLM were only going to see their father who lived there, too. Close families.
The Government has been forced to admit serious problems with New Zealand's border security after two men with links to deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein slipped through the same overseas immigration post. An embarrassed and angry Immigration Minister Paul Swain yesterday admitted a former Iraqi minister was in New Zealand, a day after a former diplomat's presence was uncovered by accident during the search for the minister...
He said he had lost confidence in the service's ability to screen applicants at overseas posts, particularly Bangkok, where the two Iraqi men were processed. That post gave a visitor's visa to the former diplomat last year, even though officials knew of his past. Mr Swain said the former minister got a visa after officials failed to make proper background checks.
The diplomat's presence was uncovered by accident after NZ First leader Winston Peters claimed a former minister was in New Zealand. Dominion Post inquiries have established the former diplomat is Zuhair Mohammed Al-Omar, a career diplomat whose last posting was to South Africa. He was in that post when the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam began in March 2003.
In Parliament yesterday, Mr Peters named the former minister as Amer Mahdi Saleh Khashaly, also known as Amer Mahdi Alkhashali. Mr Peters poured scorn on the Government for failing to track him down... Labour Department workforce deputy secretary Mary Anne Thompson said Khashaly entered New Zealand on an Iraqi passport, but used a UN passport to support his visa application. She could not confirm reports that the UN passport was out of date, though she did confirm that Khashaly's wife came in on a current UN passport. The department was working on Khashaly's whereabouts. Mr Swain said he was not a security risk.
In February 2003, a Dominion Post investigation led to a Bangkok employee being sacked after allegations he was running a cash-for-visas ring. Ms Thompson said the office had been strengthened since then.
Posted by: Pappy ||
05/04/2005 12:49:48 AM ||
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Its news to me that the UN can issue passports. In fact I reasonably sure they can't. What they can do is issue travel documents to stateless persons.
While googling this I came across this gem. In exchange for a 'donation' you can get a diplomatic pasport from these entities, SDG (USD 50.000 to USD 5.000.000 and they can have you made an ambassador to or from any major country with complete immunity),
The Holy See of Antioch (Consul-General, Consul or Vice-Consul, which are needed everywhere. The promised donation from USD 10.000), The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (only USD10.000).
#6
Cheers for the link, Phil_B,! (Within your gem). Now I can get a Rhodesian Camoflauge Passport and prepare to re-enter from Mocambique. Believe me, the last thing anyone would have wanted is a Rhodesian Passport. Anyway, most times we didn't need one, did this
http://www.lewrockwell.com/peirce/peirce53.html
instead.
The Foreign Affairs Minister says he cannot stop the family of an Australian hostage in Iraq paying a ransom if one is asked for, but he is not in favour of it. An Australian emergency response team is now in Baghdad gathering information that may help to free 63-year-old Douglas Wood, who has been kidnapped by insurgents. Alexander Downer says it is believed Mr Wood could have been captured up to 48 hours before the release of a DVD, in which he pleads for American, Australian and British troops to withdraw from Iraq.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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An al Qaeda cell based in France planned a chemical attack on a U.S. naval base in Rota, Spain, newspaper ABC reported on Tuesday. Algerian Said Arif, extradited to France from Syria last year, has admitted his cell was plotting a chemical attack on the southern Spanish base controlled by the United States since 1953, the Spanish daily reported. However, authorities did not know how they were going to carry out the attack, ABC said.
No one at Spain's Interior Ministry was available to comment on the report, which did not cite sources. The paper said Arif was considered a lieutenant of Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq. Zarqawi himself was accused of planning a chemical attack last year in his native Jordan, which authorities thwarted.
Arif was extradited to France last June from Syria, where he had fled after escaping French police raids in December 2002, the Spanish daily said. He was linked to a group of suspected Islamists arrested in Barcelona in January 2003, the paper said. The government said at the time those suspected al Qaeda members were planning a chemical attack.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda
SAID ARIF
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 1:00:12 AM ||
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Turkey has been hosting a major NATO exercise. For the first time, Turkey has been hosting NATO's Tiger Meet-05 air force exercise. The annual exercise, termed NTM-05, began on April 30 in the northwestern city of Balikesir. The exercise includes members of the NATO Tiger Association. In addition to Turkey, the association includes Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and Slovakia. Officials said NTM was meant to train pilots in tactical air operations. They said the exercise would end on May 9.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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...IIRC, Tiger Meet has always been more of a working holiday than a real exercise - but a couple dozen of NATO's best (all of which must have tiger markings of some kind on the aircraft) that close to Iran must have some turbans twirling.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/04/2005 7:18 Comments ||
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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has dismissed recent media reports in which some government officials said the al Qaeda threat to the United States has diminished and that the terror group is focusing mostly overseas.
"I believe to the contrary, that despite our successes, the threat posed by al Qaeda and other similar groups is still very real," Gonzales said in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday morning to a law enforcement conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Gonzales mentioned no particular stories but said he had read some "very recently" in which "certain government officials [are] saying that we have been so successful that al Qaeda longer poses a real threat to our homeland, that instead they are focused on our interests overseas."
The Bush administration has argued the continuing terror threat is the key reason Congress must renew certain portions of the Patriot Act, the key anti-terrorism legislation passed in the weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks. More than a dozen parts of the act will expire at the end of the year unless they are renewed by Congress.
For several weeks Senate and House committees have been holding hearings examining those various expiring provisions.
A broad coalition of liberal and conservative activists have argued those provisions -- such as one allowing a search of a broad array of business records and another allowing searches in terrorism investigations to be conducted without notifying the target ahead of time -- can be eliminated or sharply curtailed without endangering the United States.
Last month, Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee he is "open to suggestions" on changing the Patriot Act but would oppose any alteration that reined in the law enforcement powers.
"Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups still pose a grave threat to the security of the American people, and now is not the time to relinquish some of our most effective tools in this fight," Gonzales said.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that counterterrorism officials said reports documenting credible terror threats against the U.S. homeland were at their lowest level since the September 11 attacks.
Gonzales and other law enforcement officials have expressed some concern the United States is becoming complacent to the terror threat since there has been no other attack on U.S. soil since the 2001 hijackings.
"We cannot afford to grow complacent. We cannot dare to assume the quiet of today will mean peace for tomorrow," the attorney general said in his prepared remarks. "All of us in the justice community are keenly aware of the continuing threat posed by terrorists."
A State Department report issued last week said the fight against international terrorism remains "formidable" for the United States and its allies. And statistics from the National Counterterrorism Center showed no attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2004, though about 10 percent of the 651 significant attacks worldwide targeted U.S. interests.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:06:42 AM ||
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A New Ipswich officer arrested Ramirez last month after seeing his car stopped on the side of the road.
And he had a valid driver's license? From where? Mexico? New Hampshire?
After a decade of silence, Terry L. Nichols, who was convicted in the Oklahoma City bombings, has accused a third man of being an accomplice who provided some of the explosives used to kill 168 people at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building 10 years ago.
Nichols, in a letter written from his cell at the U.S. government's Supermax prison in Colorado, said Arkansas gun collector Roger Moore donated so-called binary explosives, made up of two components, to bomber Timothy J. McVeigh that were used in Oklahoma City, as well as additional bomb components that recently were found in Nichols' former home in Kansas.
The claim that a third man — in addition to McVeigh and Nichols — was involved in the plot comes as a California congressman has begun pressing for answers to lingering questions about what, until Sept. 11, 2001, had been the worst terrorist attack in the United States.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), chairman of the investigative arm of the House Committee on International Relations, has been collecting new evidence in the bombing and said he would announce soon whether formal hearings would be opened into the April 19, 1995, tragedy.
He believes Nichols' knowledge about other potential conspirators is central to his investigation, especially since the components found in March in a crawl space below Nichols' former home remained undetected for nearly a decade.
The congressman said it was important to determine whether others were involved beyond Nichols and McVeigh, two Army pals who became antigovernment zealots.
"That this mass murder of Americans was accomplished by two disgruntled veterans acting alone seems to be the conclusion reached by those in authority," Rohrabacher said recently on the House floor, referring to the FBI's investigation of the bombing.
"However," Rohrabacher said, "there are some unsettling loose ends and unanswered questions."
Nichols has been convicted twice — in federal and Oklahoma state courts — and is serving multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.
For 10 years, he has kept his silence. His recent revelations are considered particularly significant because they came in letters he sent to a woman named Kathy Sanders, who lost two grandchildren in the bombing.
Having turned 50, Nichols said he wanted to begin speaking out about the bombing because the 10-year anniversary last month honoring the victims had passed and he "felt the record should be set straight."
Repeated attempts to find Moore, an itinerant gun dealer who has lived in Arkansas and Florida, for comment on Nichols' allegations were unsuccessful Tuesday.
The FBI, in the early stages of its investigation, took a hard look at Moore because of his antigovernment views and his close relationship with McVeigh.
McVeigh often stayed at Moore's home in Royal, Ark., and the two had exchanged letters sharing their views about the government.
In past interviews, Moore has steadfastly denied any involvement in the bombing. He maintained that in the period before the explosion, he was robbed at gunpoint by a masked man who stole dozens of firearms and other weapons worth about $60,000 from his home in Royal.
The FBI and government prosecutors later proved that McVeigh sold the firearms to raise money to purchase bomb ingredients, and prosecutors long asserted that it was Nichols who had robbed Moore.
In past interviews with The Times, Moore said he took a lie-detector test that convinced the FBI he was not involved in the bombing.
"Everything they asked was 100% right," said Moore, who was 60 at the time of the bombing. "They told me that."
Nichols' letter to Sanders was dated April 18, the day before the 10-year anniversary. In it he said the government knew that others were involved but would not prosecute them, and he wanted to work with Rohrabacher and Congress "to help expose the gov't coverup in my case and thus reveal the truth in the OKC bombing."
He said ongoing FBI tests of the components found at his house in Herington, Kan., would support his allegation that the material came from Moore and his friend, Karen Anderson.
"That case of nitromethane came directly from Roger Moore's Royal, Arkansas, home, and his prints should be found on that box and/or tubes, and Karen Anderson's prints may be there as well," Nichols wrote.
Anderson also could not be found Tuesday.
"Moore provided McVeigh with the binary explosives known as KINE-STIK (aka-KINE-PAK) which consist of 2 components — ground ammonium nitrate and nitromethane — and is approx. the size of a stick of dynamite."
Nichols added in the letter: "Moore testified in open court that he did not know what KINE-STIK nor KINE-PAK was. He was clearly lying!
"Kinestik that McVeigh got from Moore was used in the OKC bombing! ⊠The Fed Gov't knows of Roger Moore's corrupt activities and they are protecting him and covering up his involvement with McVeigh at the OKC bombing!"
The two components of the binary explosives — ground ammonium nitrate and nitromethane — are chemicals that explode when combined and ignited.
An FBI spokesman in Kansas City, Mo., Jeff Lanza, said Tuesday that 300 blasting caps found in the Nichols home had been positively traced to a nearby Kansas quarry from where agents believed Nichols and McVeigh stole some of the bomb components.
Lanza said other material, which he declined to identify, found at the home was being examined for fingerprints and other evidence at the FBI crime laboratory in Quantico, Va.
"I'm not going to deny that they were there," Lanza said of the Kinestik and Kinepak described by Nichols. "But we just haven't made any conclusive determination" about where those explosives came from.
Despite her personal loss in the Oklahoma City bombing, Sanders has befriended Nichols over the years, while conducting her own investigation into the bombing. She said the letter he wrote her showed that he was eager to talk now that his trials were over, the anniversary had passed and Congress was considering hearings on Capitol Hill.
"He was a quiet, introverted little fellow before the Oklahoma City bombing," she said. "He's been sitting in his cell now for 10 years alone. He's very timid; he's not good in social circles.
"But he is starting to want to tell everything."
McVeigh was considered the bombing mastermind. Nichols helped him assemble the bomb in Kansas but stayed home while McVeigh drove the rental truck to Oklahoma City.
McVeigh was executed in June 2001, and any secrets he might have had died with him. That makes Nichols all the more interesting to Rohrabacher and Sanders.
She recently wrote a book, "After Oklahoma City," and met with the congressman to share some of what she had turned up in her quest to find others besides Nichols and McVeigh who might be responsible.
In other letters from Nichols, which she shared with The Times, he described his solitary life amid unending conspiracy theories such as whether a gang of Midwestern bank robbers were involved, whether there was a German or Middle Eastern connection to the bombing, and whether a figure known as John Doe No. 2 accompanied McVeigh to the truck rental store.
In March 2000, Nichols wrote Sanders that God had changed his outlook on life.
"I wish I would have known these truths myself years ago, for it would have prevented me from making numerous mistakes in my life," he wrote. "But that's the past and no one can change it."
In a letter dated April 6 this year, he denied that he had hidden the explosives at his home so they could be used for another bombing at the Murrah site on the 10-year anniversary. He said another inmate at his prison told authorities that story to try to win a reduced sentence.
"The devil is twisting the truth," Nichols wrote.
He added: "Pray that the truth be revealed."
In his April 18 letter alleging the connection between Moore and the explosives, Nichols included this line: "There's much more I would like to sayâŠ. Please pray that the truth finally comes out."
And in a final letter dated April 24, which Sanders received Monday night, he urged her to seek clearance from prison officials to meet with him. "I would be more than willing to discuss with you my knowledge of the OKC bombing," he said.
Sanders said Rohrabacher had made inquiries about meeting with Nichols. If he convenes formal hearings, the congressman could subpoena Nichols to appear in Washington as a star witness.
In his House floor speech April 19, the congressman suggested that Nichols held many of the answers for those who doubted he and McVeigh had acted alone. The congressman also wants to review government documents and 23 surveillance tapes of activity around the Murrah site on the morning of the bombing.
The tapes have not been released to the public, even though the trials are over and the FBI says its investigation is closed.
"This is a free society," Rohrabacher said. "And if the public is to have faith in their government, we cannot keep secrets like this."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 3:11:16 AM ||
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When I first saw the headline, I thought maybe the middle east connection had been made. Then, I realize 007 was involved (Roger Moore). Rohrabacher is right, they should release the tapes. I'm not usually a Conspiracy Theorist, but the investigative reporter there in OKC who's turned up several interesting leads that may connect the ME with this bombing peeked my curiousity after 9/11. I believe she even thinks John Doe #2 was middle eastern and the threat of jihadis hooking up with homegrown kooks scares the daylights out of me.
Posted by: BA ||
05/04/2005 9:19 Comments ||
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He's full of it, and trying to make himself look better for his appeal.
''It wasn't me! It was the other guy!''
Posted by: Chris W. ||
05/04/2005 13:58 Comments ||
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What BA said. From what I understand this Moore guy knew Nichols and McVeigh, didn't like the gummint (which I might mention is a tradition, not a crime, in America), and got robbed by them. End of story.
#4
FOX did a special on this and the ME connection was Iraqi Republican Guards coming in as relocated refugees. The midwest bank robbing to finance it isn't unbelievable, either, especially when you realize the militias and neo-Nazi's thrive in rural areas. The Father of the American Nazis is from Lincoln, Ne and frequently travelled to Germany where he was indicted over inflammatory literature about this same time period. Don't remember where but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Hamburg or some other Muslim community. I do think Janet Reno and the FBI shut this investigation down. The same liberals that oppose the death penalty didn't say a word when McVeigh was rather quickly executed, considering the usual appeals process that allows death row inmates to die of old age. For a real conspiratorial twist, they should look at the Arkansas connection. Is Royal anywhere near Mena?
#5
Gerhard Lauck - is one sick individual.
He used to try to recruit folks on the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) campus in the early to mid 70s.
Some of us would run into the piece of shit once in awhile but unfortunately thought he was a harmless nutcase.
Lauck shot his brother (didn't kill him but shot him) when he wouldn't give him a six pack of beer.
I remember one time a bunch of us were sitting in the student union getting ready to go to a big party. I looked over and saw these NAZIs in SS uniforms talking about having blue and red wargames in the park.... I figured somebody must have slipped me some really strong drugs so I turned to my close friend (a black vet with 3 years in the delta in Nam) and asked ''Could you pinch me please? I am seeing NAZIs over there and it is just not possible.'' He replied: ''I was just going to ask you to pinch me.'' The lot of us were bigger and tougher but decided not to beat them up rather to head to the party. We should have cracked their skulls!
With Columbine, Sept. 11 and the Russian school massacre of last summer seared in their memories, New Jersey educators need few reminders that the worst case can conceivably become their case at any time.
It troubles administrators like superintendent Kevin Brennan in Greenwich Township, who admits sometimes losing sleep over what could happen to his two-school district in Warren County, safeguards and all.
Police officer Keith Holley wears a bullet-proof vest to his job as school resource officer in West Orange, not sure who exactly the villains are anymore, gangs in the community or something more sinister from outside.
"I wear it every day," he said, tapping his chest, "because you never know."
They were among more than 200 school and law enforcement officials who gathered at Rutgers University yesterday for what was billed as the Governor's School Security Summit, led by acting Gov. Richard Codey.
Codey has made school security a centerpiece of his brief term in office, invoking especially the terrorist massacre of 300 adults and students in Beslan, Russia, last August. He has pledged all 3,700 public and private schools in the state would be inspected for their vulnerabilities by law enforcement officials by next fall.
"We have seen how terrorists operate," he said yesterday. "Terrorists are constantly trying to stay ahead of law enforcement. To stay safe, we have to be more vigilant, even more inventive and creative than they are."
Some school officials wondered who would pay for security measures when and if they are needed in the schools. Codey said he hoped federal money could be secured, hopefully without putting additional burden on local taxpayers.
"Safety audits" in the state's schools hav seen a slow start. Just a handful have been evaluated so far as state officials said they want to pilot the process before going statewide. But they said training is finished with more than 1,000 local officers and administrators conducting reviews and the program should go full throttle by mid-May.
One of the first audits took place at South Toms River Elementary School this week, where a local officer toured the school for more than 60 items on the state's checklist, from secure doors to teacher training to crisis planning. Each audit takes two to four hours, depending on the school, officials said.
"We felt pretty good about it," said William Cardone, assistant superintendent of the Toms River Regional Schools district. "But I also have to admit it's probably easier in an elementary school than it will be in the larger middle or high schools."
Codey also announced yesterday that the state would provide some help in developing a curriculum for teachers to be trained in security procedures, be it as undergraduates or once on the job.
Teachers know their evacuations and lockdowns, one official said, but what if a sniper is at the back of the school shooting into windows?
"These are the kinds of things teachers don't know, but they really are crying out to know," said Dennis Quinn, who is coordinating much of Codey's initiative as assistant to state Attorney General Peter Harvey.
Held in the New Brunswick campus' student center, the daylong summit was sobering in its warnings and scenarios of attacks by bombs, guns and even computers.
Sidney Casperson, the state's director of counterterrorism, went into detail about al Qaeda terrorists' intent to take on any target available. He said training tapes have been found that depict school settings, and cited the information about two New Jersey schools found on suspicious computers in Iraq last fall.
His biggest word of advice was vigilance on the part of everyone in the school community.
"I don't want to upset you, but there are a lot of people out there who want to hurt us," he said. "The best way to protect ourselves is to use all the eyes and ears we have."
With regard to the question of who would pay for additional security measures, a school official of the Metuchen diocese suggested a per-student security fund be allotted by the state, similar to that for technology. "A lot of these things could be taken care of, and this issue wouldn't be just used for political purposes," said Frank Heelan, the diocese's assistant superintendent.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:12:11 AM ||
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Jeez, what is it, ''Warren County, NJ Day'' in the news? All of a sudden we hillbillies are famous for some strange reason.
In Iraq, there were the days that ran together in a never-ending stream of patrols, mission after mission that left him cursing the superiors who sent him out into the teeth of the insurgency. There were the nights when mortars crashed nearby, close enough to smell the sulfur. And there was the question that went unanswered every time a friend was ripped by shrapnel or cut down in an ambush: Why are we fighting this war?
Yet when the time came for Sgt. Jason Waits to decide what he would do when his tour in the Army National Guard ended, he barely paused. Before he even left Iraq, Sergeant Waits reenlisted. And if he is sent back, he "won't have a problem."
It is a glance at one of the most unexpected developments of the war in Iraq. Even as the conflict drags on, undermining recruiting efforts and testing the patience of the nation, American soldiers are so far continuing to reenlist at levels that surprise the Pentagon and pundits alike. To the head of the National Guard, this is the legacy of America's "next greatest generation": a band of soldiers more sophisticated than any before in history, which has been asked to adapt to a new style of warfare and often serve multiple tours - all as a volunteer force.
At a time when Army soldiers are under international scrutiny for roadside shootings and prison abuse, comparisons to the generation that landed on the shores of Normandy might seem curious, but they are more than mere rhetoric, analysts say. The American soldier's commitment to the cause in Iraq and Afghanistan has been historic and decisive, allowing the United States at least a measure of success in an engagement for which it was not prepared.
"The design of the all- volunteer force [after Vietnam] was to make this kind of [open-ended] commitment difficult," says Thomas Donnelly, a military expert at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "But there have been some extraordinary levels of motivation going on, in terms of serving the country in a time of crisis."
The motivation is different from what it was 60 years ago, to be sure. The clear menace of the Axis powers has been replaced by the specter of terrorism, as indefinable as it is dangerous. Today's soldiers are more likely to patrol an Iraqi neighborhood in an armored Humvee than to take a far-off hill at a huge loss of life. As a result, the shift in threat has meant a shift in national response - while nearly 1 in 10 Americans served in World War II, only about 1 in 500 is fighting the war on terror.
"To compare our generation to the World War II demographic would be grossly misleading," says Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution.
But the task of this generation of soldiers, he says, is "every bit as demanding, and they're doing it as volunteers."
What is perhaps most significant is that they continue to volunteer. In a normal year, the Army National Guard expects 18 percent of its soldiers to leave because of retirement, injury, and death, or because they do not reenlist. This year, the attrition rate is only 18.9 percent. Meanwhile, reenlistment rates for the Army and Marines are either exceeding goals or are within a few percentage points of them. Some data even show that reenlistment rates are higher for units deployed overseas than for those that have remained at home.
In some ways, this is the first prolonged test of the all- volunteer military, so experts didn't know what to expect. But clearly, the response has exceeded expectations. "It's a little bit surprising, frankly," says Mr. Donnelly.
Particularly for the National Guard - not only because members of the Guard have to balance their military service with civilian lives, but also because the Guard was the first force called into action after Sept. 11, 2001, and has been continuously deployed since.
In the three years since he joined the California National Guard, Sgt. Dennis Sarla has already finished two deployments: one for guard duty at a chemical weapons plant in Tooele, Utah, and another for a one-year tour in Iraq.
Yet, like Waits, he reenlisted for another six years before he left the Middle East. For both, there is the understanding that six more years in the National Guard will move them closer to a military pension and a more secure retirement. There is also the $15,000 tax-free bonus that each will receive for reenlisting. But there is also something beyond a new truck or a refurbished kitchen - there is a sense of duty, a feeling of belonging, and a deep love of the job.
"I reenlisted not only for the retirement," says Sergeant Sarla, who spent eight years in the active Army before leaving in 1983 to raise three children, "but it is a way of life I like ... the discipline, the camaraderie."
"There is a satisfaction in putting on the uniform," adds Waits.
Sarla still can't explain the geopolitics that led A Company of the 579th Engineers to Iraq, where three members of his unit were killed. But he remembers the day the company returned home to Santa Rosa, Calif., accompanied by a police escort and greeted by throngs of well-wishers.
"Seeing little kids and old guys salute as we came back made me feel so good," he says. "It made me feel that I was doing something that was important and good for the world."
This is Lt. Gen. Steven Blum's "greatest generation." The chief of the National Guard Bureau has used the phrase repeatedly, and he is convinced that this generation of soldiers - especially members of the Guard and Reserve - are worthy of the title. Without their commitment, the war in Iraq would be all but impossible. Some 45 percent of the troops in Iraq are members of the Guard or Reserve, giving them an unprecedented share of the war effort.
Some, like Sergeant Sarla, joined after Sept. 11 and are motivated by it. Others, like Waits, left the active Army as the military shrank at the end of the cold war, lending the Guard and Reserve an invaluable core of experienced soldiers. The trends have created a unique Guard and Reserve, where many are willing and capable of taking on responsibilities that have traditionally fallen to the active services. In this conflict, that means adjusting to developments that seem to have caught the US by surprise.
Originally, the 579th was supposed to rebuild bridges and schools in Iraq - the sort of mission befitting an engineering corps. Instead, they spent the entire year as "international cops," Waits says, patrolling Iraqi roads and raiding houses where no one spoke a word of English. "The type of soldiering that's being done right now is PhD-level work," General Blum told Congress last month. "That man or woman has got to be a combat soldier in a moment's notice, and then the next minute he may be a goodwill ambassador, a social worker."
For now, American soldiers are adapting to the task. "This is the best trained set of soldiers we have ever sent to war," adds Blum in an interview. But some experts and military officials wonder if the military can sustain such retention levels, suggesting that dependence on the experience and commitment of the citizen soldier is a worrisome way to wage a war.
"I still think this is a potential point of failure," says Donnelly. "You can't expect people to do extraordinary things."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:02:42 AM ||
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I think that the solution to the recruiting problem is right here. Get these guys out in the community -- not in the recruiting offices, but on speaking tours like during WWII. Give them blogs, send them to high schools to talk. Let them share their experiences. From a marketing perspective, the disconnect is occurring when the 18 year olds watch the slick commercials then see what is being shown on TV. Deep six the commercials and put the veterans on. Then recruiting numbers will go up.
We've had three great recruiting years for the academies and I know that for mine, we tell the kids that after four years they are going to go to war and get shot at. It doesn't scare anyone off except the opportunists
#2
Leave it to the freakin' CS Monitor to misquote/slant quotes in the first paragraph...''Why are we fighting this war?'' and then basically say at the end, none of these volunteers are smart enough to do what's demanded of them and also be surprised at the levels of re-enlistment. They still don't get it, never will! This rag isn't worth wiping my hind quarters with!
Posted by: BA ||
05/04/2005 8:33 Comments ||
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How in the hell did the boomers breed the next greatest generation?
Proof positive that kids' do almost anything to differentiate themselves from their parents.
#4
The mil blogs are a great idea. I read a few of them daily and it is just incredible stuff. Not only do you get a real sense of what is going on, but your admiration for these guys just skyrockets.
#5
On Monday I rode on a plane with 8 kids from Texas on their way to Great Lakes. My impression is that the recruiters are getting the right guys and enough of them. Recruiting on Ivy League campuses is a waste of resources.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/04/2005 22:49 Comments ||
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#6
What have you been up to Super Hose? Haven't seen much of your comments for a while?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/04/2005 22:59 Comments ||
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02.05.2005 at 0215 LT at Lagos Anchorage, Nigeria. Two robbers armed with knives boarded a chemical tanker during STS cargo operations. They threatened duty a/b with knives, tied his hands and legs and gagged his mouth. Robbers tried to break into storerooms but could not succeed and left empty handed.
30.04.2005 at 2300 LT in position 08:22.7N - 107:14.2E, South China Sea. Two small unlit crafts with high speed approached a tug towing a manned crane barge underway. One craft disappeared from radar screen but the other stayed within 700 metres at port side. Later the craft passed stern of barge and proceeded north.
30.04.2005 at 2300 LT in position 00:24S - 118:12E, Makassar Straits, Indonesia. Three unlit wooden fishing boats approached a general cargo ship underway. Master raised alarm, crew mustered and directed searchlights. After 35 minutes boats moved away.
30.04.2005 at 2030 LT in position 02:49.70S - 105:54.90E, Bangka Straits, Indonesia. Six robbers armed with long knives and guns boarded a container ship underway. Master raised alarm, switched on deck lights and crew mustered and robbers fled.
30.04.2005 at 1230 LT in position 08:07.24N - 076:43.33E, off Trivandrum, SW coast India. Two robbers boarded a barge under tow and stole stores. Earlier four robbers in a boat had made two attempts to board at 0630 and 0930 local time.
29.04.2005 at 0315 LT at Taboneo Anchorage, Banjarmasin, Indonesia. Two robbers armed with knives boarded a bulk carrier at forecastle. They broke into forepeak locker, stole ship's stores and were about to lower them into a boat waiting with two accomplices. Alert crew challenged robbers, d/o raised alarm and crew mustered. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped.
And in the "let's try something new" department:
27.04.2005 at 1945 LT in position 21:57.7N - 060:46.9E, Oman. Offshore supply ship received a distress call "crashed fishing boat" from a fishing boat. Master proceeded towards the position and on arrival at scene found no men in water. Ship received another distress call and proceeded towards that position about 3 nautical miles away. Master suspected something amiss during conversations with the skipper of fishing boat and he felt this was a piratical trap. Ship moved away from the area at full speed and warned vessels in the area on VHF [radio].
Posted by: Pappy ||
05/04/2005 12:21:04 AM ||
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An Indonesian court has sentenced to prison a man convicted of hiding two key members of the gang that carried out an August 2003 car bomb attack on a Jakarta hotel and other deadly attacks. Including the suicide bomber, 12 people died in the attack on the J.W. Marriott hotel, which police say was the work of the Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah.
Ismail, who is also known as Edi, was found guilty of hiding the two men who are believed to have been key players in all the attacks: bomb maker Azahari Husin, and the group's treasurer, Nurdin Mohammed Top. Both are believed to be senior members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional militant group that police and intelligence agencies say has links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
Ismail was sentenced to three years in prison and is the 12th person to be convicted of involvement in the J.W. Marriott bombing, but the two alleged leaders, Indonesia's most wanted men, remain at large.
Terrorism experts say the only way they could have escaped capture so long is because they have an extensive network of sympathizers willing to shelter them from the police.
Sidney Jones is the head of the Southeast Asia office of the International Crisis Group, and a leading expert on Jemaah Islamiyah. She says the group is particularly strong in central and eastern parts of Java island. "As long as the organization continues to exist in those two core areas of Java, it is going to be very difficult to prevent another incident from taking place because there is that network of support and shelter," she said.
But the investigations continue, and police have announced three more arrests. They said the men had been found in central Sulawesi, where both Christian and Muslim militants have been accused of fueling a long-running conflict.
This article starring:
AZAHARI HUSIN
Jemaah Islamiyah
ISMAIL, WHO IS ALSO KNOWN AS EDI
Jemaah Islamiyah
NURDIN MOHAMED TOP
Jemaah Islamiyah
Sidney Jones
Jemaah Islamiyah
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 1:23:10 AM ||
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The teaching and learning of Islam in national schools do not hinder efforts to make them more attractive to non-Malay students, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Tuesday. He said it was a policy matter that could not be reviewed and would be continued.
"I don't think this (religious learning) is an obstacle, as long as we don't go overboard to the extent of creating an environment not conducive for non-Muslim students," he told reporters...
Najib was asked to comment on Gerakan president Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik's proposal that national schools be separated from any kind of religious influences to encourage more non-Malay parents to enrol their children in such schools.
"We hear all sorts of views about how to improve national schools to make them the school of choice of all Malaysians but there are certain fundamental matters that cannot be reviewed as they are policies," he said.
The important factor to consider in attracting more non-Malays into national schools was to enhance their quality of education, he said. The government would also employ more non-Malay teachers to balance the composition of teachers in national schools.
Posted by: Pappy ||
05/04/2005 12:29:10 AM ||
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The Malaysian Deputy PM is a proselytizing Muslim pig-dog, who chooses duty to his religion over duty to his office.
After seeing a significant erosion of Syrian influence in Beirut, underscored by the recent Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon, Iranian leaders are working vigorously to preserve Tehran's geopolitical position in the Middle East. In recent weeks there has been an upsurge in talks involving officials from Iran, Syria and Lebanon. On April 20, for example, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with the Iranian ambassador to Beirut, Masud Edrisi, to discuss the future of Lebanese Hezbollah, IRNA reported. The official Iranian news agency suggested that Iran would accept the Lebanese people's decision concerning Hezbollah's fate. Several days prior to the Mikati-Edrisi meeting, news that Iran had withdrawn most of the estimated 2,000 Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon began to circulate. Tehran had never formally acknowledged the Revolutionary Guards' presence.
Hezbollah is a militant Shi'a organization, designated by the United States as a terrorist group, set up by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in 1982. It remains unclear whether Hezbollah will seek to legitimize its activities and participate in Lebanon's political process, or retain its militant character. Iran as come under increasing international pressure to help promote Hezbollah's disarmament. What is more certain is Iranian officials want to bolster the electoral chances of Lebanese Shi'as when parliamentary elections are held in Lebanon starting May 29. Up to 40 percent of Lebanon's population is Shi'a Muslim.
In late April, Iranian President Mohammed Khatami held meetings with prominent Lebanese political figures, including Sheik Abdel Amir Qabalan, deputy head of Lebanon's Supreme Shiite Council, and Walid Jumblatt, the leader of Lebanon's Druze community. Following the meeting with Jumblatt, Khatami warned of the possibility of civil war in Lebanon. He also expressed concern that the upcoming elections could escalate tension among various interest groups in Lebanon, adding that upheaval in Syria, an Iranian ally, would "a catastrophe for the region," the Iran Students' News Agency reported April 24.
The February 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri forced Iranian leaders to re-evaluate their regional policies. Hariri's death set of the chain of events that led to Syria's military withdrawal, completed on April 26. As Syrian troops departed Lebanon, officials in Damascus and Tehran maintained close contacts. Following a Syrian-Iranian diplomatic meeting in early April, for example, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazzi noted the "importance of maintaining the security, stability and civil peace that Lebanon has known" since the 1989 pact that ended the Lebanese civil war.
While much of the international community saw a Syrian hand in Hariri's murder, the prevailing view in Iran held that the United States was responsible. Official Iranian statements indicated that Hariri had been targeted by Washington, and its closest regional ally, Israel, as part of the US effort to reshape the political map of the Middle East.
Some political observers believe that recent events in Lebanon have served to strengthen Iranian and Syrian cooperation. In a February 16 statement, Iranian Vice President Mohammed Reza Aref noted that "Syria and Iran face several challenges," going on to suggest the establishment of a "common front." Other analysts, though, suggest the ties that bind Iran and Syria may be loosening, rather than becoming tighter.
Syria was the only Arab state that sided with Iran during the latter's war with Iraq during the 1980s. However, the ouster of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein removed the common foe that had originally brought Tehran and Damascus together. The erosion of Syrian influence in Lebanon could cause Tehran to effectively write off its partnership with Damascus.
"Iran will not give Syria wholehearted support ... precisely because its alliance with Damascus is built around cold calculation rather than ideological fervor," Iason Athanasiadis wrote in a commentary published April 29 by the Daily Star, a Lebanese English-language newspaper. "Sending material support to Syria - or for that matter to Hezbollah now that the Syrians have completed their withdrawal from Lebanon -- would over-extend Iran at a time when the US military is camped to its east, west and north, in Afghanistan, Iraq and in several former Soviet republics."
There are voices in Iran that have been openly critical of some of Syria's latest political moves. Some Iranian analysts now believe that Syria might opt to make peace with Israel if a solution can be found to the Golan Heights issue. That would leave Iran further in the cold in the delicate balance of power of the Middle East. Accordingly, the sentiment in Iran is that relations with Syria are far more dispensable than that with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is after all a brainchild of the Iranian Islamic Revolution. The problem for Tehran is that the fate of Hezbollah can be seen as closely connected to that of Bashar Assad's Syria. Syria's fading position in Lebanon leaves Tehran little option but to court its natural Shi'a allies in that country more vigorously.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/04/2005 9:48:24 AM ||
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With the world watching its every nuclear step, Iran declared Tuesday that it is determined to pursue all legal areas of nuclear technology, including uranium enrichment.
Addressing a U.N. conference on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said his government is "eager" to provide guarantees that its nuclear-fuel program will serve only peaceful purposes, as sought in talks with European governments.
Washington contends Iran's uranium enrichment program is aimed at building nuclear weapons, and President Bush has proposed banning such technology to all but those countries that already have it. Enriched uranium also can be used to generate electricity, which Iran says is its only aim.
"It is unacceptable that some tend to limit the access to nuclear technology to an exclusive club of technologically advanced states under the pretext of nonproliferation," Kharrazi said.
He also told delegates from more than 180 nations that the United States and other nuclear-weapons states should make legally binding assurances to non-nuclear states like Iran that they will not be subject to nuclear attack.
The U.S. and other nuclear arsenals are "the major sources of threat to global peace and security," Kharazzi said. He called on the conference to begin negotiation of a treaty requiring nuclear powers to guarantee non-nuclear states like Iran against nuclear attack.
In Tehran, meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Tuesday the government would resume some nuclear activities — but not uranium enrichment as long talks continue with European governments to resolve the dispute.
France, Britain and Germany, acting on behalf of the 25-nation European Union, are seeking guarantees from Iran that it will not use its nuclear program to make weapons, as Washington suspects. The latest round of talks yielded no results.
On Monday, opening day of a monthlong conference reviewing the workings of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, U.S. delegation chief Stephen G. Rademaker demanded that Iran shut down and dismantle its enrichment equipment.
"The treaty is facing the most serious challenge in its history," the assistant secretary of state told delegates.
Because of the Iran dispute, treaty members still had not agreed on a complete agenda as of Tuesday afternoon. Conference organizers reported the Iranians were resisting a reference in the document to "relevant developments" — diplomatic code, in this case, for Iran's nuclear program. Organizers hope to have agreement before the nuts-and-bolts work of committees begins next week.
Under the 35-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, states without nuclear arms pledge not to pursue them in exchange for a commitment by five nuclear powers — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — to move toward nuclear disarmament. Three other nuclear states — Israel, India and Pakistan — remain outside the treaty.
The treaty is reviewed every five years at conferences whose consensus positions give valuable political support to nonproliferation initiatives. At the 2000 meeting, the nuclear powers committed to "13 practical steps" toward disarmament, but critics complain the Bush administration — by rejecting the nuclear test-ban treaty, for example — has come up short.
"We are greatly disappointed" by "unsatisfactory progress" toward disarmament by the big powers, said New Zealand's Marian Hobbs, speaking for a coalition of disarmament-minded states.
Rademaker said, however, the Bush administration is "proud to have played a leading role in reducing nuclear arsenals," via the 2002 Moscow Treaty, for example, under which the United States and Russia are to cut back deployed warheads by two-thirds, to between 1,700 and 2,200 each, by 2012.
That agreement has been criticized for not requiring destruction of excess warheads taken off deployment or providing a transparent timetable and open verification of reductions.
Rademaker sought to focus attention instead on Iran, saying, "We dare not look the other way."
The Iran question hinges on the treaty's Article IV, which guarantees nonweapons states the right to peaceful nuclear technology, including uranium enrichment equipment to produce fuel for nuclear power plants.
That same technology, with further enrichment, can produce material for nuclear bombs. Tehran denies that is the purpose of its long-secret uranium-enrichment program, but in his keynote address Annan said states like Iran "must not insist" on possessing such sensitive technology.
Following Annan to the U.N. podium, Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, renewed his call for a moratorium on new fuel-cycle facilities while international controls are negotiated.
ElBaradei has proposed putting nuclear fuel production under multilateral control by regional or international bodies. Rademaker reaffirmed President Bush's proposal for an outright ban on nuclear fuel technology, except in the United States and a dozen other countries that have it.
The Tehran government is negotiating on and off with Germany, France and Britain about shutting down its enrichment operations in return for economic incentives.
Meantime, Tehran has proposed establishment of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East, a move that would require Israel to give up its nuclear arsenal.
North Korea pulled out of the treaty in 2003 and said in February it has already built nuclear weapons. But the review conference is not expected to focus heavily on this first treaty defector, in order not to complicate efforts to draw Pyongyang back into the treaty fold through now stalled six-nation talks.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 1:49:35 AM ||
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WASHINGTON - Pressing Syria to end its residual presence in Lebanon after Damascus' troops pullout last week, the US and France have affirmed their continuing support for Lebanon's aspiration to achieve complete independence and sovereignty. The two countries issued a joint statement after a meeting between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier on Monday. The statement followed Lebanese Prime Minister's remarks in an interview that Syria still had soldiers on his country's soil.
The end of any residual Syrian presence or continued interference in Lebanon is necessary to establish a balanced and equitable relationship between the two countries, the US and France said.
The two countries, who led the passage of a UN resolution last year calling upon Syria to end its deployment in Lebanon, also said they awaited UN verification of Damascus" pullout.
We expect the full implementation of all provisions of the (UN) resolution, the statement said. We expect all parties to cooperate fully to this end within the ongoing political process.
The joint statement also welcomed the new Lebanese government's commitment to move ahead as scheduled with parliamentary elections in late May. The US and France also stated their willingness to assist the sovereign Lebanese government that emerges from those elections.
Maybe some "technical advisors" for the Lebanese Army as they move to secure the Bekaa?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Ok my bet on the Prediction Market at Strategy Page is comming up. Which is it. Are they in or out?
When General Michel Aoun returns on Sunday, May 7 he will be greeted by hundreds of supporters eagerly awaiting him in Martyrs' Square, said Elias Zoghbi, information officer of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), during a news conference Tuesday. The FPM has organized a popular concert in Martyrs' Square where Aoun will meet his supporters for the first time in 15 years. Many of the biggest names in Lebanese pop, such as Wadih al-Safi, are expected to sing at the concert. An employee at the Beirut International Airport, who asked to remain anonymous, said airport security will be extremely tight on the day of Aoun's arrival, in anticipation of the large crowds expected to gather to welcome him back.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Key Lebanese opposition leader Walid Jumblatt met with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in a bid to diffuse tension within opposition circles on the eve of today's deadline to approve a new electoral law ahead of this month's polls. Speaking after his meeting with the opposition figure, Jumblatt said: "We want an electoral law which satisfies all the members of the opposition, from the Qornet Shehwan Christian gathering to slain Premier Rafik Hariri's bloc to Sfeir." But he added: "We also want an electoral law which reassures the loyalists, meaning Hizbullah and Amal Movement."
Jumblatt is at the center of a row between the various opposition factions after giving what appeared to be tacit approval for the election to take place under the aegis of the 2000 electoral law, which many in the opposition believe favors the pro-Syrian loyalist groupings. Jumblatt was also criticised for meeting with leading loyalists Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and former Prime Minister Omar Karami last week in a move that wasn't sanctioned by his opposition colleagues. Jumblatt insisted yesterday he had followed international advice to meet with Berri and Karami in order to reach a compromise on the electoral law to ensure elections took place as scheduled at the end of May. He said: "UN envoy Terje Roed Larsen told me that in order to reach this compromise I should visit both Berri and Karami."
If Speaker Nabih Berri doesn't call upon the Parliament to convene today to discuss and approve a new electoral law, the controversial electoral law of 2000 will be used as the basis for Lebanon's May parliamentary elections. According to the country's Constitution, today is the final day Parliament can convene and issue an electoral law if elections are to start on May 29.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Jordanian Prime Minister Adnan Badran held talks Tuesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad on ways "to boost and develop relations in all fields" and delivered a message from Jordan's king, Syria's official news agency reported. SANA said the talks also covered regional issues, but did not elaborate. It said the message from Jordanian King Abdullah II dealt with consultation and coordination between the two countries. Earlier in Badran's visit, he and Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otari signed an agreement on civil defense and protection of civilians.
Badran said his talks with Assad on Tuesday gave a "very strong momentum" to the bilateral ties between the two countries, notably in the setting up of free trade zones. For his part, Otari stressed the need for continued meetings between the two governments.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
God, I love that picture. Bashar has his thinking cap on today...
Syria, which ended 29 years of military presence in Lebanon last month, said yesterday a joint Syrian-Lebanese military committee would check to see if an old Syrian border post was on right side of the frontier. An Arab satellite channel has shown footage of the post near a village in the Bekaa Valley and said Syrian troops were still present in Lebanon. "An official source said that the general command of the army and armed forces has decided in coordination with the leadership of the Lebanese Army to form a joint military committee that includes officers and topography experts to probe this issue," the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
The agency said the source was commenting on reports that said "a number of Syrian soldiers have crossed the Syrian-Lebanese border in the area of Deir Al-Aashaer and the east of Kfar Kouk". The post has been near the village of Deir Al-Aashaer since before 1976 when Syria rushed troops into Lebanon to help end the 1975-1990 civil war. Some Lebanese say it is about 300 meters inside Lebanon, others say it is in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Israel's Defence Minister has frozen the handover of West Bank towns to Palestinian security forces, saying the Palestinians have failed to honour their commitment to disarm militants.
The Palestinian security chief has acknowledged he has no intention of stripping the militant groups of their weapons.
Since an informal cease-fire came into place several months ago, Israel has transferred control of two West Bank cities - Jericho and Tulkarem - to the Palestinians.
But speaking at a meeting of Israel's security cabinet, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said he was freezing the handover of other West Bank towns because the Palestinian security forces had failed to disarm militant groups.
At a news conference in Gaza, Palestinian security chief Rashid Abu Shbak said he had no intention of disarming the militants.
Instead, he is calling on them to honour their cease-fire commitment.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/04/2005 7:52:41 PM ||
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A military judge has declared a mistrial in the case of Lynndie England, a key figure in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, after evidence at her trial undermined her deal with prosecutors to plead guilty.
"This trial is going to stop today and pick up at some time in the future," the judge, Colonel James Pohl, told the military court.
"There can be no findings of guilty that can be declared at this point."
Judge Pohl had repeatedly interrupted proceedings to warn that testimony by England, 22, and other witnesses speaking on her behalf, which was meant as mitigation to secure a shorter prison term, was verging on a statement of her innocence.
"Both sides have indicated to me there is no way to resolve this inconsistency," Judge Pohl told the court after a recess to discuss the issue.
The case will be sent back to the military's convening authority which will restart the process, which could take months.
Pictures of England smiling as she stood with naked and humiliated Iraqis, including one in which she held a detainee on a leash, are the most prominent images of the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad which dates from 2003.
Seven other guards involved have already pleaded guilty.
Graner's evidence
The judge acted after hearing evidence from convicted abuser Charles Graner which he said undermined her acceptance of guilt.
"There is evidence being presented that you are not guilty," Judge Pohl told England.
Graner, England's former lover and father of her child, said one of the central acts of the case - in which England appeared holding a naked prisoner on a leash - was a legitimate prison procedure.
"If you don't believe you are guilty, if you honestly believe you were doing what Graner told you to do, then you can't plead guilty," the judge said.
Under her deal, England had pleaded guilty to seven counts of abuse in return for a shorter sentence and the dropping of two charges.
In a televised interview last year, England said she was just following orders, and took a similar line when the judge first asked her about her guilty plea on Monday.
"I assumed it was OK because he [Graner] was an MP [military policeman]. He had the background as a corrections officer and with him being older than me I thought he knew what he was doing," she said.
Graner outranked England in Iraq, but his rank was reduced to private as part of his sentence.
'Horns and goatee'
Graner, addressing the leash incident in court for the first time, said the prisoner involved had repeatedly threatened and assaulted Americans.
"I had wrapped what I call the tether around his shoulder and at that point it slid round his neck. I asked [England] to hold the tether and I took three quick pictures," he said.
Referring to his time as a prison officer in Pennsylvania, Graner said: "I tried to bring what we would have done at Pennsylvania." Explaining the photographs, he said: "Since we had a planned use of force, I documented it."
As part of her plea deal, England had accepted a sentence, still undisclosed but substantially below the 11-year maximum allowed by the charges.
The military panel would have been able to reduce that sentence but may not increase it.
England's mother attended the hearing and brought England's seven-month-old baby by Graner to the courthouse.
At one point, England turned to the courtroom sketch artist preparing to portray Graner on the witness stand and said: "Don't forget the horns and the goatee."
Publication of the photographs in early 2004 hurt the credibility of the US military at a time the United States was being criticised around the world for the Iraq invasion.
To date, high-ranking officials have not been charged in the abuse scandal even though details of harsh practices across Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have emerged.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
05/04/2005 7:50:14 PM ||
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The U.S. military has cleared a Marine who shot three unarmed insurgents in a mosque at the height of fighting in Fallujah, Iraq, in November. Marine Cmdr. Lt. Gen. John Sattler has ruled the soldier involved fired his weapon in self-defense ââ¬" and no charges will be filed against him.
The shootings occurred at a mosque during an intense street-to-street battle for Fallujah. Caught on tape by an NBC camera, a squad of Marines entered the mosque to investigate reports of enemy gunfire. Inside, they found four enemy insurgents, wounded in a firefight the day before.
A Marine corporal who notices one of the insurgents is still breathing raises his rifle and fires a single shot into the man's head. Military officials now report that same corporal shot three of the unarmed insurgents inside the mosque. But after an exhaustive five-month investigation, Sattler ruled the Marine had fired his weapon in self-defense.
Sources tell NBC News the decision was based on the fact the Marines had been warned that the enemy would feign death and booby-trap bodies as a tactic to lure Marines to their deaths. The sources said the corporal apparently feared for his life when he fired the shots.
But the investigation is not over. At least one other Marine remains under investigation for shooting a fourth unarmed insurgent in that same mosque. The mosque had been used as a safe haven for insurgents firing on Marines, and the U.S. military found a large stockpile of weapons inside upon securing the building.
Posted by: ed ||
05/04/2005 7:19:55 PM ||
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The most innovative feature of the 1.6-tonne Cartosat-1 is its pair of cameras, which will give stereo images of the earth's surface that can distinguish features down to 2.5 metres across. They will directly generate three-dimensional maps that have until now been achievable only indirectly, by combining data from a large number of satellite passes over the same place.
"Such a stereographic imaging system does not exist in the civil sector anywhere else," says Mr Nair, chairman of the Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). "It will give information about heights that will be very useful in applications such as planning power lines."
Or mapping attack routes and id'ing targets on mountain sides near Kashmir.
Cartosat-1 will join what is already the world's largest cluster of non-military remote sensing satellites. Six Indian spacecraft are already observing the earth with a wide range of instruments.
Posted by: john ||
05/04/2005 18:51 Comments ||
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Some more birds being built
Launch of CARTOSAT-2 likely by year-end
Tirupati, May 3: CARTOSAT-2, the second mapping satellite with a spatial resolution of about one metre, was expected to be launched by the year-end, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said today.
The ISRO was also planning to launch the 3,800 kg INSAT-4A in July or August this year, he told reporters here.
The launch of Astrosat was slated for 2007, he said.
RISAT: New remote sensing satellite
M D Riti in Bangalore | June 09, 2003 17:23 IST
The Indian Space Research Organisation is developing a microwave remote sensing satellite, RISAT, which enables observations even during night and under cloudy conditions.
The Radar Imaging Satellite, as this new satellite will be called, will be launched in 2006, from Sriharikota, on India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. It will have a mission life of 5 years.
As of now, work on developing this satellite is under way at ISRO's Satellite Centre in Bangalore.
The main purpose of the RISAT is to support and augment the country's operational remote sensing programme by enhancing agricultural and disaster related applications.
RISAT will carry sophisticated radars, scanners and other scientific instruments. The RISAT is to be launched into a polar sun-synchronous orbit of 609km.
PSLV-C3 launched three satellites -- Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of Belgium - into their intended orbits on October 22, 2001.
TES (Technology Experiment Satellite), weighing 1108 kg, is an experimental satellite to demonstrate and validate, in orbit, technologies that could be used in the future satellites of ISRO. Some of the technologies that are planned to be demonstrated in TES are attitude and orbit control system, high torque reaction wheels, new reaction control system with optimised thrusters and a single propellant tank, light weight spacecraft structure, solid state recorder, X-band phased array antenna, improved satellite positioning system, miniaturised TTC and power system and, two-mirror-on-axis camera optics. TES will also carry a panchromatic camera for remotesensing experiments.
TES might be the prototype of an indian military reconnaisance satellite.
Posted by: john ||
05/04/2005 18:57 Comments ||
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#3
The ability to place three satellites in different orbits from the same launch vehicle suggests technology applicable to MIRV capability on future missiles.
Posted by: john ||
05/04/2005 19:05 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A majority of Americans do not believe it was worth going to war in Iraq, according to a national poll released Tuesday.
Fifty-seven percent of those polled said they did not believe it was worth going to war, versus 41 percent who said it was, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 1,006 adults.
That was a drop in support from February, when 48 percent said it was worth going to war and half said it was not.
It's also the highest percentage of respondents who have expressed those feelings and triple the percentage of Americans who said that it was not worth the cost shortly after the war began about two years ago.
#2
It would be nice to know the internals - how many Democrats sampled and how many Republicans, and how many Democrats and Republicans from blue states (which tend to be more liberal). Without these numbers, the polls are meaningless. Besides, the only polls that matter are the ones we have in November on even-numbered years.
#5
To extrapolate the opinions of 1006 Berkeley students pollsters to the general population ('a majority of Americans') is statistical sleigh of hand worthy of Paul Krugman.
#6
given the numerous suicide bombings and the way the media play these up, this number is expected
however, it is also interesting that the people who were pushing the 'the war was OK but Bush screwed up the occupation' line have pretty much ceased this
it seems obvious now that nothing we could have reasonably done (shoot looters, not abolish the Iraqi army, not abolish the Baathist party, more troops) could have prevented the intense suicide bomb war
in retrospect, we probably should have killed many more Sunnis, we should have arrested many more Sunnis and we should have kept these protokillers in prison with no hope of parole -- we should also have banned Al Jazzera within a week of the Saddam statue falling
we also still need a way to protect recruitment centers and we ought to require all non Iraqis to wear GPS broadcasters internally so we know where they are when they are kidnapped
#7
These numbers don't surprise me given the MSM's focus on suicide bombings. Its time to intensively sweep Sunni areas (using Shiia and Kurd militias) and lock up anyone who can't prove they are Iraqi, has handled explosives or is suspect for any reason. Keep doing it until the violence stops and it will when the Sunnis get the message that things will continue to get worse until they stop supporting terrorism.
#9
Also need to know the intensity of the opinions expressed. I suspect the war's proponents are still strongly in favor of the war, whereas most of those opposed are only lukewarm in their opposition. A case of battle fatigue, for most.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/04/2005 21:10 Comments ||
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#11
..and we ought to require all non Iraqis to wear GPS broadcasters internally so we know where they are when they are kidnapped
Or in the case of coalition partner citizens working for contractors, either bring in arms-capable employees or train them in their use. No one should be kidnapped without a fight.
FORT HOOD, Texas (Reuters) - A military judge on Wednesday rejected a guilty plea by Lynndie England, a key figure in the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, after evidence in her trial indicated she considered herself innocent. Two days after initially accepting England's plea of guilty to seven of nine charges, which was submitted after negotiations with the prosecution, Judge Col. James Pohl told the court: "The plea deal is canceled."
Poor Lynndie, can't even cop a plea correctly.
He had repeatedly interrupted proceedings to warn that testimony by England, 22, and other witnesses speaking on her behalf, which was meant as mitigation to secure a shorter prison term, was verging on a statement of her innocence. "Both sides have indicated to me there is no way to resolve this inconsistency," Pohl told the court after a recess to discuss the issue on Wednesday afternoon.
Goody, goody, now can we try her and lock her up for years?
Pictures of England smiling as she stood with naked and humiliated Iraqis, including one in which she held a detainee on a leash, are the most prominent images of the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/04/2005 3:37:22 PM ||
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#1
nice job, asshats. The budget Johnnie Cochran in the gold lame and spiked heels just cost her years in jail...
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2005 15:48 Comments ||
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#2
Talk about felony couture....I thought they stopped making stuff in that color in the 70ies.
#3
Don't be too quick to judge. Military courts are rigorous in their rejection of BS, stuff that civilian courts are too quick to embrace. They want *justice*, not legal smoke and mirrors, and will bluntly beat up on *anybody*, attorneys included, who try to skunk them. They are the very best court to stand in front of if you are innocent, or have a damn good excuse; and yet they are merciless if you are wrong and criminal. It is not unusual, nor is it incorrect, for a court martial judge and his board to prosecute the case better than the JAG prosecutor and defend the case better than the JAG defense counsel. This is what *real* trial by a jury of your peers looks like, and it is head and shoulders over the civilian version.
#4
She reminds me of the 60s era terrorists here in California that copped a plea and said because she would never get a ''fair'' trial. The Judge ordered her back to jail to stand trial for attempted murder and conspiracy to commit against a peace officer after rejecting her plea. She then copt another plea and confessed to each and every one of the charges in open court. This will make it easier to dismiss her request for clemency becuase she did not know what she was pleading to. I'll bet Lyndie was copping a plea in court and professing her innocence outside court. She will go down hard (like before) for playing games with a Military judge.
#6
I've also heard that if you are enlisted, never, ever, ask for a jury of enlisted personel, stick with officers. The most hard-ass sergeants that can be found will be gathered to render you into meat judgement.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/04/2005 17:50 Comments ||
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#7
Laurence: Everything varies. Under some circumstances, it would strongly be to an enlisted man's advantage to have enlisted on his board. The biggest one of these is when there is a problem ''because of a breakdown in the NCO chain-of-command'', which is every NCO's nightmare. Officers might not ''get it'', but I have seen a CSM turn pale in such a circumstance. A private might be seen as no more responsible for *anything* that happens under such a condition, any more than you would punish a four year old child for finding a handgun and firing it to some damage. Literally, enlisted personnel on the board could find mitigation in that case for damn near anything, though an officer might just shrug.
#8
From the blurb I saw it appeared that Grayner was trying to say that Lyndie's collar technique was an approved method for removing a recalcatrant prisoner from a cell so she was just following orders.
I guess he neglected to specify just who ordered a day-shift file clerk to moonlight on the mid watch cell extraction team.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/04/2005 22:15 Comments ||
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#9
well he's just protecting the mother of his evil spawn baby
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2005 22:18 Comments ||
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EFL
The arrest of Abu Farraj al-Libbi, a Libyan who is also wanted in two attempts to assassinate Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, is seen by U.S. officials as significant because of his alleged control over the daily operations of al-Qaida.
President Bush called the arrest a "critical victory in the war on terrorism."
In Pakistan, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that "this arrest gives us a lot of tips, and I can only say that our security agencies are on the right track" in the search for bin Laden.
U.S. officials tell NBC that al-Libbi might know at least the general whereabouts of bin Laden because part of his responsibility was to manage the courier networks delivering messages, video and audiotapes.
According to U.S. officials, al-Libbi is thought to have become al-Qaida's operations commander after the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in March 2003. Mohammed was later handed over to U.S. custody and his whereabouts are unknown.
The operations commander is thought to be third in line at al-Qaida after bin Laden and al-Zawahiri. Al-Libbi is also alleged to have earlier been Mohammed's deputy and to have had a role in planning the Sept. 11 attacks.
Al-Libbi was arrested earlier this week, Ahmed said, but he would provide no details on where al-Libbi was captured or where he is being held.
But three Pakistani intelligence sources said al-Libbi was one of two foreigners arrested Monday after a firefight on the outskirts of Mardan, 30 miles north of Peshawar, capital of the deeply conservative North West Frontier Province.
One of the officials said 11 more terror suspects — including three Uzbeks, an Afghan and seven Pakistanis — were arrested before dawn Wednesday in the Bajor tribal region. The official would not say what prompted authorities to launch the raid or whether it was linked to al-Libbi's capture.
The intelligence officials said authorities were led to al-Libbi's hideout by a tip that foreigners had been spotted in the area. The suspect was held overnight at a military facility in Mardan, then transferred by helicopter to the capital, Islamabad, the officials said.
Al-Libbi reportedly spent time in South Waziristan, a tribal region along the border with Afghanistan that is considered a likely hideout for bin Laden. But he fled following a series of military operations in the area last year. Authorities had said privately in recent weeks that they believed they were zeroing in on his location.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 3:42:00 PM ||
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#1
Get a list of couriers out of him and follow them back to their sources. Even if the couriers go to ground for a while they've got to re-emerge eventually because they're al Q's sole source of secure communications.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
05/04/2005 15:53 Comments ||
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''Osama bin Laden and al-Zawahiri have disseminated 29 taped messages since September 11.
How come there has not been a single instance of interception of any of these couriers from al-Qaeda by the Pakistani security agencies?
Who are the couriers used by al-Qaeda for carrying the tapes of bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to al-Jazeera correspondents without being intercepted by the police or detected by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation?
What is so special about them that they are able to evade detection so successfully?
They are not ordinary couriers. They are special. Very special. They are the serving and retired officers of the Inter-Services Intelligence''
Posted by: john ||
05/04/2005 21:37 Comments ||
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#5
I have read one of the Shieks in Qatar hands them to Al Jizz.
The Pakistani military, working with the U.S. military and U.S. intelligence, has captured Abu Farraj al-Libbi, a man both U.S. and Pakistani officials believe is the current operations director of al-Qaida the successor to 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the man who they believe is responsible for planning al-Qaida attacks on the United States.
But what else is known about al-Libbi? Here's a primer:
Why he is significant:
⢠Al-Libbi, a Libyan citizen who has long worked with Osama bin Laden, is believed to have taken over the No. 3 job in al-Qaida with the capture of his mentor Khalid Sheik Mohammed in March of 2003, a senior U.S. official tells NBC News.
⢠Al-Libbi is in charge of all al-Qaida's U.S. and U.K. operations, including any current plots.
⢠Al-Libbi knows at least the general whereabouts of bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's No. 2.
⢠He is believed to be the mastermind of the Dec. 14 and 25 assassination attempts against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
⢠Al-Libbi is believed to have played a role in organizing the 9/11 attacks as Mohammed's top deputy.
⢠Al-Libbi was previously the director of al-Qaida's North African operations.
Pakistani officials tell NBC News that Musharraf has told confidantes, "We will get him." Pakistani officials released a wanted poster of the country's "most wanted terrorists" offering rewards of 20 million rupees [$340,000] for the capture of al-Libbi and another man, Amjad Hussein. Smaller rewards are listed for four others. Pakistani officials have set a higher reward on al-Libbi and Hussein because of their role in the attempted assassinations. Hussein was later killed by Pakistani forces. All but al-Libbi are Pakistani citizens.
Al-Libbi is about 40 years old, slightly built and has a skin condition possibly psoriasis that makes him highly recognizable.
Pakistani officials said that al-Libbi is also known as "Dr. Taufeek."
U.S. officials have long believed he operates out of the tribal areas of western Pakistan, like bin Laden and Zawahiri, but that he moves more freely than the other two, who Pakistani officials believe are living and traveling separately in the province of South Waziristan, near the Afghanistan border. Pakistani officials believe he is accompanied, as are all top al-Qaida officials, by security and financial advisers.
Capturing him had become a top priority of intelligence agencies in both Pakistan and the United States. Although he has been known to intelligence officials for several years and has been a top target since the capture of Mohammed, capturing him has taken on a new urgency with the discovery of surveillance reports and other intelligence.
The discoveries, on the hard drives of computers of three al-Qaida operatives, have provided the United States and Pakistan with a trove of material regarding al-Qaida plans. Much of what is known about al-Libbi comes from al-Qaida detainees, both those captured in 2003, like Mohammed, and those recently captured.
Al-Libbi is more low-key than Mohammed and slightly older. And unlike Mohammed, he is not familiar with the West, which U.S. officials believe put him at a disadvantage compared with his predecessor and mentor. He is typical of the new group of leaders in the terrorist organization, say U.S. officials, not as capable as their predecessors, but dangerous nonetheless.
"Khalid Sheik Mohammed was a full-service terrorist," said one U.S. official. "He taught al-Qaida operatives how to act in the West. Abu Farraj cannot do that, but he does have the trust of Osama bin Laden."
In early 2003, shortly after the capture of Mohammed, he was known to have been staying in Lahore with a Pakistani physician, who Pakistani officials arrested for harboring him and others. Among those who were known to have traveled with him then were Abu Yasir Al Jaziri, identified as an Algerian or Moroccan, Assadullah and Sheikh Said Al-Masri, both listed as Egyptians, all now known to have been security or financial officials in al-Qaida.
This article starring:
ABU FARRAJ AL LIBI
al-Qaeda
ABU YASIR AL JAZIRI
al-Qaeda
AIMAN AL ZAWAHIRI
al-Qaeda
AMJAD HUSEIN
al-Qaeda
ASADULLAH
al-Qaeda
DR. TAUFIK
al-Qaeda
KHALID SHEIK MOHAMED
al-Qaeda
SHEIKH SAID AL MASRI
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 3:39:45 PM ||
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Britt Hume had an interesting guest that pointed out that the AQ Ops guy gets iced often because he has to actively work the comms web.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/04/2005 22:18 Comments ||
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23-thousand salamis. That's the goal for brothers Marc and Michael Brummer, co-owners of Hobby's Deli in Newark. The Brummers hope to provide a taste of home for each soldier in 42nd Infantry Division serving in Tikrit, Iraq.
The brothers loaded the first two-thousand salamis--about 2 tons in all--onto a truck yesterday in the first phase of what they dub "Operation Salami Drop." The dried meat could arrive Over There as early as this weekend.
Almost eight-thousand more salamis are in the pipeline, all of which have been purchased with donations of ten bucks per salami. A 13-year-old Warren County girl donated one-thousand dollars from her bat mitzvah money to the cause.
Marc Brummer says: "You have to do something. I can do salamis." Those things are huge.
#5
Katz's Deli here in NYC (the place with the fake orgasm scene in ''When Harry Met Sally'' still has WWII era signs, and sells T-shirts, that read ''SEND A SALAMI TO YOUR BOY IN THE ARMY.''
To the sheik Abu Ahmed, may God keep him: (Quranic verses)
I advise myself first and then advise you to fear God in private as in public and that you don't worry about blame from anyone. I urge you that you let nothing stop you from jihad (holy war) for the sake of God ... and that you take refuge in God in all situations, in easy times and in difficult ones. ....
The Islamic nation is waiting for the establishment of an Islamic state that rules by God's laws and carries out his punishments and is waiting for the men who can protect its honor, which is being violated every day. This is the path, but where are the men? We ask God to guide them. What has happened to me (and to?) my brothers is an unforgivable crime. ...
By God, the one and only God, you (will?) ask about what happened to us, because you didn't ask about the situation of the immigrants. ... But morale is weakening and there is (unclear word: either "exhaustion" or "confusion") among the ranks of the mujahedeen, and some of the brother emirs are discriminating among them. God does not accept such actions. ...
What happened is that he (not identified in the text) said: 'Either you carry out a martyrdom operation or you go back home.' We were told that there is an order from the sheik (presumably al-Zarqawi) for us to return. Some of the brothers have returned. Others have signed up to become martyrs. Still others were waiting for God's comfort, but this came after humiliation and rude treatment and many other things. Who can tolerate all this? ... There are brothers that are oppressed, brothers that are persecuted and brothers that are helplessly jailed with no one to meet with them or to ask about them. The situation is not the way it used to be in Fallujah, when you used to come and visit us and we used to enjoy sitting with you. The situation has completely changed. Thanks be to God for everything.
The most important thing, oh sheik, is that you are there and that you remain a thorn in the mouths of the Americans and a thorn in the mouths of the apostates. May God keep you.
The most important thing is that you don't hear from (only) one side, even if it were the closest person to you. Hear from all sides so that the truth can become clear to you. We have found emirs who are not fit for leadership. We are not the ones who can determine who is fit and who isn't, but we are witnesses of God's people and we are the ones who have experienced and know them. ...
Oh sheik, test those who are below you. Some of them are ... oppressors and some of them are not so.
This is my last request: to meet you, because there are many things that are secret and the truth is that I no longer trust any person who says that he is coming from the sheik's side. We are tired and we have suffered a lot. Thanks be to God.
I ask the great God, the honorable God of the throne, to make his religion victorious and to raise his word and to strengthen his worshippers, the mujahedeen, everywhere and to humiliate all kinds of disbelief in God and to destroy America and its supporters soon without delay.
Abu Asim al-Qusaymi al-Yemeni
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 11:41:35 AM ||
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The most important thing, oh sheik, is that you are there and that you remain a thorn in the mouths of the Americans and a thorn in the mouths of the apostates.
I heard news reports yesterday where they said that this line was praise for Zarqawi's continuing efforts, but it reads to me like an admonition from someone who has doubts. Especially when followed by this line:
The most important thing is that you donât hear from (only) one side, even if it were the closest person to you. Hear from all sides so that the truth can become clear to you.
Sounds like he's disappointed with Zarqawi and asking him to step it up.
#2
al-Yemeni you say? From the Basra al-Yemenis? When Iraq becomes the premier middle eastern power, there is going to a day of reckoning for those countries that sent all those suicide bombers and head choppers.
Posted by: ed ||
05/04/2005 12:19 Comments ||
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#3
It seems to indicate alot of problems. Disappointed jihadi syndrome is just around the corner for the letter's author unless he was already capped.
#4
Yes, yes. Very impressive. Peace be upon you. The Struggle is very hard but we will persevere.
Goddammit, is there anybody in Teheran that can fix the damn sattelite dish so the friggin porn channels aren't all staticy!
I hate this war and I need your help. I saw that you have a book about pissed off soldiers. I was hoping that you could take my letter and send it to as many people as possible about this war.
Thank you for your help in our cause.
Signed: Abu Asim al-Qusaymi al-Yemeni
Text below...........................
To the sheik Abu Ahmed, may God keep him: (Quranic verses)
I advise myself first and then advise you to fear God in private as in public and that you donât worry about blame from anyone. I urge you that you let nothing stop you from jihad (holy war) for the sake of God ... and that you take refuge in God in all situations, in easy times and in difficult ones..................
#6
The situation is not the way it used to be in Fallujah, when you used to come and visit us and we used to enjoy sitting with you. The situation has completely changed.
Now, you dont even call, dudele. Would it be so hard to call, maybe once a week? I mean I know you're very busy, and don't have time for your old liebling, but maybe you could have rachmanes for a sick, old person? Ach, I never should have moved to Miami.
Thanks be to God for everything.
Still, I dont complain. Not me. If youve got youre health, youve got everything, right? Oy, but my leg is killing me. But I shouldnt go on, I know how BUSY you are, sweetie. But maybe you could call, no?
#7
''The situation is not the way it used to be in Fallujah, when you used to come and visit us and we used to enjoy sitting with you.''
I think this verse right here should be posted on the wall of leadership in Washington on proof positive on why you dont fight war with boarders and never allow your enemy to have a safe place were he can rally. The best thing I heard when this war started was Bush ''We will attack the terrorist and all who support or aid the terrorist anywere they are'' Not exact quote but general point and that is how you win a war you kill and chase the enemy anywere everywere. When from day one you have to hide 24/7 like a roach and the meeting place always is chagin the last one got busted the faces always changing some dead some surrendered some captured and ratting makes a dangerous immoralizing feeling when you never know who is going to rat you out or who you can trust will the place I layed down last night be safe today. 24/7 pressure unlimited and the terrorist is feeling the heat. I tell you what it sure sucks when you jump on a paper tiger to only find out that the paper tiger was really a Lion the size of a elephant with bear claws rhino skin and porkupine stickers all over it that loves to eat those who attack it.
May 4, 2005; The capture of al Qaeda leader Abu Musab Zarqawi's laptop computer last month has led to a series of additional raids, which resulted in many al Qaeda members killed or captured, and the seizure of still more documents. Among those documents was a letter from one of Zarqawi's subordinates to his boss. There are complaints of poor leadership and lack of direction. The letter writer says that all Zarqawi calls for are more and more suicide bomb attacks, without any apparent strategy. The subordinate complains that he does not even see Zarqawi anymore. This is understandable, because the growing number of Sunni Arabs disenchanted with terrorism, have been giving more and better tips to the Iraqi police. This has led to more raids that are getting closer to nailing Zarqawi himself, who is spending most of his time evading capture. Tellingly, some American intelligence officers in Iraq have set up a betting pool on when Zarqawi will be caught.
Meanwhile, Zarqawi has plenty of money (from the Baath Party), volunteers (Islamic conservatives who want a religious dictatorship) and explosives (left over from the enormous quantities Saddam bought during the 1980s for the war with Iran, and held on to after that war ended in 1988.) But many of Zarqawi's subordinates, the guys who recruit, equip and train the suicide bombers, are dismayed at the lack of progress. For them, all their efforts are simply making them unpopular. In the Baghdad area, for example, where many Sunni Arab terrorist supporters live, during the last six months, there have been about twenty attacks a day against Americans. But only about one in ten of these attacks will result in an American getting killed, compared to a much larger number of terrorists and Iraqi civilians. Many potential recruits have backed off because they do not want to get themselves killed while murdering civilians, or in futile attempts to kill Americans. Al Qaeda has become like a cornered beast, mad with rage and snapping at anything within range, including its own young. Al Qaeda in Iraq has no future, and a present that is increasingly unpalatable to its own members.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/04/2005 9:54:27 AM ||
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without any apparent strategy. Random terror doesn't work. All it does is increase hostility towards the terrorists.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2005 11:19 Comments ||
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#5
That's it! I am withdrawing my support of Zarqawi to be the next Secretary of State. A man who cannot conduct a large-scale terrorsits operation doesn't deserve to become the Countries top diplomat.
P.S. I deliverd supplies to the insurgents in Iraq when I was swift boat commander in Vietnam.
Posted by: John F. Kerry ||
05/04/2005 13:40 Comments ||
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#6
It's obvious that a man like Z cannot be allowed to take the position. He wasn't nice to his subordinates!
And she's been wasting it ever since. More at link, if you care.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/04/2005 9:22:49 AM ||
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That's why she repeatedly disregarded orders, huh?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/04/2005 9:39 Comments ||
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#2
Why do they even try to raise that kind of crap to mitigate? I'd opt fot the higher end of the sentencing range just for the idiocy of wasting time raising the bogus issue. Her counsel is a fool.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
05/04/2005 13:51 Comments ||
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#4
Tkat __ did you see the picture in the article of her counsel(s)? I'd sure love to go up for sentencing and have my mouthpiece show up in a gold lame suit........
I'd not only up her sentence for such a lame defense, I'd jail the lawyer too.
Or maybe the lawyer is trying to prove the defense - you'd have to be oxygen-deprived to retain such someone that trashy-looking.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2005 14:19 Comments ||
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#6
Ouch. ''My eyes, my eyes, make it go away!'' That's a whole lot worse than I thought cu6620! The Honorable Judge O'Keefe would rip her a new one (and rightfully so) the second she opened the door to his courtroom.
#7
Dennis Miller:
Fox TV has announced plans to make a movie about Lynndie England's story. Playing the part of England? 80's heartthrob Lou Diamond Phillips.''
#1
Sigh. Sometimes Debka's just a little too much like StratFor on acid. I almost always get this funny urge to frag the lot of 'em. Reminds me of some movie I saw where there was an insane aunt kept in the attic cuz, even though she was correct in her ranting sometimes, she wasn't safe or fit to be let out in public. Debka. Solely interested in keeping the pot stirred. Whether right or wrong, they're a sort of soul-less Muck-o-Matic.
In 1965, the U.S. Army published a detailed manual on how to build and hide booby traps, complete with detailed diagrams illustrating various means of wiring detonators to explosives, and advising on the best locations for concealing the deadly bombs along roadways and elsewhere.
Two decades later, the Iraqi military issued its troops an Arabic version of the same manual, copying not only the wording but also many of the drawings. Dated March 1987 and stamped "confidential," the manual includes a message from Saddam Hussein, then Iraq's supreme ruler, underscoring the importance of perpetual learning.
The existence of the Iraqi copy highlights the degree to which U.S. military techniques and technology found their way into Hussein's military even as relations between the Iraqi leader and Washington eventually deteriorated into all-out war. With members of Hussein's former military and security groups now powering much of the insurgency in Iraq, U.S. forces find themselves confronting an enemy trained, at least in part, in U.S. military methods.
Concern that Iraqi rebels may be drawing on U.S. bombmaking tactics prompted investigators last year to "pull off the shelves" for review all the manuals that the Iraqis may have had access to, according to a colonel in Washington familiar with the effort.
A common connection could be turned into a U.S. advantage, said electronics and weapons specialists at this New Jersey base, where much of the Army's intensified research on countering roadside bombs is located.
"The upside is, if you know what their training manual is, then you know what you're up against," said one senior civilian official here. "Having them use our tactics, techniques and procedures isn't necessarily a bad thing."
The official, who first studied the U.S. bombmaking manual as a young Army recruit in the Vietnam War era, said it has limited application in the current conflict in Iraq. He said Iraqi insurgents are employing more modern methods, particularly in their choice of electronic detonators that enable the remote triggering of explosives.
Still, he estimated that 10 percent of the bombs planted in Iraq use the pressure-detonation techniques detailed in the U.S.-conceived document.
The Army stopped issuing the 1965 manual in 1986, said a spokesman for the Army Training and Doctrine Command. But the document, titled "Boobytraps" and designated Field Manual 5-31, remains easily available through commercial outlets.
W. Patrick Lang, a former Defense Intelligence Agency expert on the Middle East, said the existence of the Iraqi version is not surprising.
"I'll tell you how they got it," he said. "They had students in our military service schools until the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, and they'd just take the manuals with them."
In the 1980s, when Iraq was battling Iran in a long war, the United States provided Iraq with limited assistance in the form of satellite imagery showing the location of Iranian forces. But Lang, who met with Iraqi officers periodically during that time, said he frequently heard them express a high regard for U.S. military techniques and technologies.
"Once you transfer this basic methodology, it lives forever and people build on it," Lang said. "That's one of the arguments for not making the transfers in the first place."
A copy of the Iraqi manual was made available to The Washington Post by Tim Brown, a senior fellow at GlobalSecurity.org, who said he found it several years ago while rummaging around a military surplus store in Los Angeles. He recognized its similarity to the U.S. manual, which he said he had obtained years earlier at a gun show.
Roadside bombs -- the military calls them "improvised explosive devices," or IEDs -- continue to rank as the number one killer of U.S. troops in Iraq, according to Pentagon figures. About half of all combat casualties in Iraq are attributed to them.
Countering them has become a top Pentagon priority. At the Army's Communications-Electronics Command here, more than 80 engineers and other specialists are engaged in the effort. Throughout the military, dozens more also are working on the problem, with hundreds of millions of dollars now devoted to the project, defense officials said.
"This is a long-term threat, not just to our armed forces but I think to our citizens," Gordon R. England told a Senate panel last week at a hearing on his nomination to become deputy secretary of defense. "If there's ever an attack, it will be this kind of attack -- or potentially this kind of an attack -- in America."
England said there have been discussions with the White House, the national academies of engineering and science, and others to undertake "some fundamental research across America" aimed at defeating the threat.
In recent months, the U.S. military has employed different ground-based and airborne jamming devices with some success at thwarting roadside bombs. One set of jammers, known as the Warlock series, emits radio frequencies to interfere with the signals used to detonate IEDs. These devices are modified versions of a system known as Shortstop that was devised to explode incoming artillery and mortar rounds before they struck.
According to Army figures, about 30 to 40 percent of IEDs are now found and rendered safe, and those that do go off are causing fewer casualties. But the number of IED incidents has steadily climbed and currently exceeds 30 a day, the Army says.
The devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated as U.S. specialists find ways to jam them. Early models, which relied on such triggers as garage door openers, wireless doorbells and car alarm remotes, have given way to ones detonated by cell phones and other devices with more complicated frequencies.
U.S. officials here with access to intelligence reports on insurgent tactics said no single bombmaking mastermind appears to exist in Iraq. Rather, they said, the bombs being made appear to reflect the signatures of various regional designers.
"It's still all over the map, how they build these things, depending on their level of training," the senior official said.
While the detonating devices vary, the types of explosives used tend to be predictable, consisting largely of dynamite, land mines or old artillery shells. U.S. investigators have uncovered no sign of more powerful munitions, such as HMX or RDX. The disappearance of nearly 400 tons of these explosives from Iraq's Qaqaa weapons facility shortly after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 caused a stir last October when it was revealed, raising speculation that the material could find its way into IEDs against U.S. and allied troops.
"Electronic warfare is often referred to as a chess game, and EW players are called knights of the chessboard because they have the ability to jump over others," the official here said. "It's a game that goes on forever. When we defeat one method, a smart enemy will move on to something else."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 2:09:48 AM ||
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Isn't that the W. Patrick Lang who's a registered foreign agent for Syria?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/04/2005 11:19 Comments ||
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A letter to terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi from a key lieutenant complains of low morale and incompetent leaders in waging war against American and Iraqi government troops in Iraq.
The U.S. military recovered the letter in a Baghdad raid last week and released a translated version yesterday. Officials said the letter shows Zarqawi's al Qaeda organization in Iraq may be weakening.
The network principally relies on foreign jihadists to drive bomb-laden vehicles near mosques, schools, military recruiting centers, open-air markets and other targets. The suicide attackers stepped up bombings in the past two weeks, killing scores of Iraqis.
The letter was written in Arabic by Abu Asim al Qusayami al Yemeni, a veteran terrorist in Zarqawi's network who fought in Fallujah last fall.
He wrote to Zarqawi that he could no longer trust people who say they were representatives of the terror master and wanted a face-to-face meeting to discuss setbacks. It is not clear whether Yemeni believed there were traitors within the organization who wanted to capitalize on a coalition reward of $25 million for information leading to the capture or killing of Zarqawi.
The letter, dated April 27, was seized in a raid on a house in Baghdad that also netted the coalition other documents, including a list of possible targets.
"The morale has weakened and lines of the mujahidin have become separated due to some leaders' action," Yemeni wrote. "God does not accept such actions and that will delay victory. We do have big mistakes where some of us have been discarded."
Yemeni quoted one leader as telling recruits "you carry out a martyr [suic[]ide] operation or go back to your family."
He said he wanted a meeting to verify whether that order came from Zarqawi.
"Some of the brothers had returned back, some were recorded as martyred and the rest were hanging around and did not know what to do, besides they were humiliated and immorally treated," Yemeni wrote.
He said Zarqawi used to visit his fighters in Fallujah before a joint U.S. Marine and Army force captured the city in November in fierce building-by-building fighting.
U.S. officials have told The Washington Times that Zarqawi fled the city well before the November assault. As of last week, Zarqawi was believed to be back in western Iraq.
Marines and special-operations troops came within minutes of capturing Zarqawi near Ramadi in February. A tip led forces to his hideout, but he and senior lieutenants left before the raid and traveled in a convoy spotted by a Predator drone. By the time troops stopped the convoy, Zarqawi had leapt from a truck and escaped.
With Zarqawi on the run, he has left day-to-day operations up to leaders of his various cells.
"We have leaders that are not capable of being good leaders," Yemeni wrote. "We are not accusing them without reason, but we have tested them and found them incapable."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:55:41 AM ||
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complains of low morale and incompetent leaders
So why should an irregular Arab military unit be any different than the regulars?
The entryway of the Nablus police headquarters is plastered with posters memorializing dead comrades. Some were killed by Israeli tank fire. Others were picked off by Israeli army sharpshooters. In addition to being police officers, most were members of Palestinian militant organizations.
In the drab hallways of the Nablus station house, the policemen on the posters are considered heroes, resistance fighters who died defending their homeland against an occupation army.
In Israel, they are considered terrorists.
For Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, no issue is more pivotal to his support from the outside world -- or more treacherous to his stature with his own people -- than Israeli and U.S. demands that he reform Palestinian security forces and disarm and disband militant groups. His key plan for accomplishing those tasks is to integrate the fighters into official Palestinian security agencies, with the ultimate aim, Abbas says, of creating "one law, one authority, one weapon."
The Israeli government, which wants Palestinian forces to crack down on suicide bombers and prevent militant attacks, opposes any integration proposal that would keep weapons in the hands of men it considers terrorists. Palestinians, who want their police to protect them from crime as well as Israeli invasions, generally favor the idea.
The dispute is one of many that have stalled progress in Abbas's reform plans, contributing to the perceptions of Palestinians and Israelis alike that, almost four months into the job, Abbas has not done enough to overhaul the Palestinian security forces and has no strategy to accomplish more.
The issue is particularly pressing because of Israeli plans to withdraw troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip this summer. Many are concerned that Palestinian security forces will not be strong enough to restrain armed groups during the pullout or be able to control Gaza afterward.
"He seems to be the type who believes that with enough goodwill, everything will work out, and that's turning out not to be the case," said Mouin Rabbani, a Middle East analyst with the International Crisis Group, an organization based in Brussels that involves itself in conflicts worldwide.
Militants have stormed meetings across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, demanding more rights and a greater voice in Abbas's government. The old guard of political leaders and security officials who grew up under Abbas's predecessor, Yasser Arafat, are clinging stubbornly to power, undercutting Abbas's reform efforts. And Israeli officials accuse Abbas of doing nothing to disarm militants, and have frozen promises to turn over more West Bank cities to Palestinian control and to coordinate the Gaza withdrawal.
Abbas, known popularly as Abu Mazen, has rejected Israeli demands to go after the armed groups militarily, saying it is better to co-opt them.
"The big achievement of Abu Mazen is that he's been able to shift the whole thinking in the Palestinian arena from military options to the option of negotiations by peaceful means," said the Palestinian Authority's deputy foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah. "He's been able to influence Palestinian militant groups to follow" a more conciliatory style of Islam "rather than the bin Laden style," he said, referring to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Abbas's reform mission is daunting: reorganize an octopus-like police and military apparatus created for political expediency rather than security; revamp an institution of 58,000 people that has been a critical employment agency for a financially feeble government with few social safety nets; and find a balance between the demands of armed groups for a role in the new Palestinian government and Israeli ultimatums that they be stripped of their weapons.
But for many Palestinians as well as Israelis, it is often difficult to distinguish between Palestinian militants and Palestinian security officers.
"We're part of Fatah -- we're already part of the security forces," a senior Nablus commander in the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Abbas's Fatah political movement, said of the president's proposal. The commander declined to be identified by name because he is wanted by Israel.
The difference between the Israeli and Palestinian views of the security issue was starkly illustrated on a recent night when Israeli troops drove into Nablus, stopped in front of the police station and began "shooting randomly," according to Col. Bassam Darweesh, a deputy commander of the Nablus police force. "We got reports of five robbery cases and we were not capable of doing anything because we were trapped."
Israeli military officials said the soldiers were hunting wanted militants.
During the 4 1/2 -year Palestinian uprising, or intifada, the Israeli army has demolished the headquarters of the Palestinian security organization, destroyed its vehicles and prohibited Palestinian police from carrying weapons. That was enforced throughout the West Bank with orders to shoot to kill anyone seen on the street openly carrying arms -- the assumption being that anyone with a weapon was a terrorist. And in some cases, Palestinian security officers were militants who participated in attacks on Israeli civilians, settlers and soldiers. In one case, a Bethlehem policeman blew himself up on a city bus in Jerusalem in January 2004, killing 11 people.
For the Israeli public, the weapons ban effectively equated Palestinian police with terrorists; for Palestinians, it undermined the authority of the police, because every time a police officer spotted an Israeli patrol, whether or not he was a militant, he ran to hide.
"The security services proved a failure in confronting the situation," said Abu Hamad Masaem, a political activist in the Balata refugee camp on the edge of Nablus. "If they can't protect us from occupation, how the heck can you come and tell us what to do? So they lost their power."
Militants themselves are not fully behind Abbas's integration plan.
"The backbone of al-Aqsa see themselves as involved in a political struggle," said Rabbani, of the International Crisis Group. "They took up arms against the occupation, and the idea of disarming before the underlying causes are addressed -- telling them, 'Lay down your weapons and we'll give you a salary' -- is insulting."
Almost three months ago, Israeli officials said they would return security control to Palestinian forces in five West Bank towns, but after making the transfer in Jericho and Tulkarm, they have delayed handing over authority in the final three. The Israelis said the Palestinian side had not lived up to its part of the agreement by collecting weapons from wanted militants in Jericho and Tulkarm, but Abbas disputed that assertion, saying last week that weapons had been collected from all wanted militants in the two cities.
After repeated pledges to consolidate the 12 unwieldy Palestinian security forces into three main branches -- an effort Abbas began two years ago when he served briefly as the appointed prime minister under Arafat -- Abbas recently named three new chiefs to preside over a reorganized security apparatus with three divisions.
In an effort to remove a top layer of long-entrenched officers, Palestinian lawmakers approved a mandatory retirement age of 60 for security officials. Foreign ministry official Abdullah said that 1,076 officers are currently being retired and that an additional 1,000 will be ordered to retire in a second phase.
Abbas also has asked lawmakers to impose a law that would allow commanders to serve in the same position for no more than four years, but the proposal has yet to be voted on by the legislature and is opposed by senior security officials.
Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians' chief negotiator with Israel, said complaints that Abbas was not moving quickly or forcefully enough were "nonsense."
"We've done so many things . . . as far as aborting suicide attacks and other attacks, and they know it," he said. "The quiet and cessation of violence is Abu Mazen's doing, stopping the rockets in Gaza, reconfiguring the security operations in Gaza, preparing for legislative elections. I'm not saying we've done everything or that we've finished, but it's a start."
But Israeli officials say the administrative and bureaucratic reforms, while a step forward, are not enough.
"They don't fight the terror infrastructure, the terrorists themselves," said an Israeli defense official who declined to be quoted by name. "They are trying to solve it in a peaceful way, and the result is that they do nothing active against terrorists."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:50:38 AM ||
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#1
I'd say Abbas has a 'crisis of substance', i.e. his inability to anything of substance.
#2
I'm boggled. How low can WaPo ''journalism'' and moral equivalency go? Now I know. Not to put too fine a point on it, but in a generous mood one could say that WaPo has something of a crisis in credibility. More accurately and honestly. WaPo has none. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.
Anyone currently working there with the slightest notion of honor or honesty should bail. Didi mao, chop chop. The ground is coming up fast.
The difference between the Israeli and Palestinian views of the security issue was starkly illustrated on a recent night when Israeli troops drove into Nablus, stopped in front of the police station and began ''shooting randomly,'' according to Col. Bassam Darweesh, a deputy commander of the Nablus police force. ''We got reports of five robbery cases and we were not capable of doing anything because we were trapped.''
Israeli military officials said the soldiers were hunting wanted militants.
WaPo takes the Paleo murderers' words at face value - equivalent to the Israeli Govt. Hunting terrorists, militants my ass, realistically begins with the farce of Paleo ''security forces''. It's clear that the vast majority of ''reporters'' and ''editors'' at WaPo are terrorist symps. apologists, and enablers. This piece reeks of it.
The first members of a democratically elected government in decades took office Tuesday in Iraq against a backdrop of surging violence, pledging one by one to serve honestly, defend the nation and its people — and keep peace.
But despite months of tortuous negotiations, there was no final decision on seven Cabinet positions — including the key oil and defense ministries. More critical still, the partial Cabinet fails to give the country's disaffected Sunni Arab minority, believed to be driving the insurgency, a meaningful governing stake.
Many lawmakers skipped the ceremony, which took place in a half-empty conference hall deep within Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports. Among those absent was the government's most senior Sunni member: Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer.
According to Strassman, there will be no honeymoon period for this new government: There's a Cabinet to round out, a constitution to write and a civil war to avoid.
Investigators concluded that two missing U.S. Marine fighter jets likely collided over southern Iraq, a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday at the Pentagon. U.S. officials in Baghdad said the body of one pilot was found and that the search for the planes was continuing.
U.S.-led forces have recovered a letter they believe was addressed to Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about low morale among his followers and the incompetence of leaders in his terror network, the military said Tuesday. The authenticity of the letter could not be independently verified. The letter was seized during an April 28 raid in Baghdad, which also yielded an undated document listing targeting information and sketch maps for kidnappings and bombings, the military said in a statement.
In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen killed three Iraqi policemen in three separate attacks, police 1st Lt. Qassim Mohammed said.
Three roadside bombs targeted police patrols in western Baghdad, injuring four officers, police Maj. Musa Abdul Karim said.
Near the Syrian border on Monday, coalition forces tracked down and confronted suspected members of al Qaeda in Iraq, the U.S. military said. The fighting, which included a U.S. airstrike, killed 12 militants and injured a 6-year-old girl, the military said. Six coalition soldiers also were wounded, it said, without specifying their nationalities.
A car bomb exploded in western Baghdad, killing two Iraqis and wounding two others, the U.S. military said. Also in western Baghdad, three roadside bombs targeted police patrols in western Baghdad, injuring four officers, police said.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari played down the disputes still roiling his government more than three months after millions of Iraqis risked their lives to vote in landmark parliamentary elections on Jan. 30.
He blamed the delay in finalizing Cabinet's members on Sunni infighting and said the matter would be resolved in two to three days.
"But we are not in a hurry," he told reporters after Tuesday's ceremony. "We want the choice to be accepted by all the Iraqi people."
Al-Jaafari's government has less than eight months left to complete its main tasks: draft a new constitution by mid-August and submit it to a referendum no later than Oct. 15. If approved, new elections must be held by Dec. 15, under Iraq's transitional law.
Al-Jaafari pledged to get to work confronting the "heavy legacy" left by Saddam Hussein — a country afflicted by poverty, corruption and mass graves.
"This government belongs to the Iraqi people," he said. "Iraqis will reap the fruits of their sacrifices. These sacrifices have not gone in vain."
But even with some Sunnis in government, insurgents have made it clear there will be no letup in the violence tearing at the country, unleashing a torrent of bombings, ambushes and other attacks that have killed nearly 150 people since the National Assembly approved the partial Cabinet lineup on Thursday.
Violence continued Tuesday, including scattered bombings and a gunbattle in Ramadi that the U.S. military said killed 12 suspected militants.
Still, as Strassmann reports, Iraqi police are making progress. In Baghdad, police found a car packed with explosives. By one Iraqi intelligence estimate, in Baghdad alone, at any one moment there are 70 car bombs ready for targeting.
Al-Jaafari had promised to form a government that would win over the Sunnis, offering them six ministries and a deputy prime minister's slot. But members of his Shiite-dominated alliance rejected candidates with ties to Saddam's regime, which brutally repressed the majority Shiites and Kurds.
Further complicating negotiations were demands by Kurdish leaders for the human rights ministry, which al-Jaafari had intended to offer to a Sunni, lawmakers said. There has also been competition within al-Jaafari's own alliance for the electricity and oil ministries.
The Cabinet that took office Tuesday includes 16 Shiite Arabs, nine Kurds, four Sunnis and one Christian. Two deputy prime minister's slots — including one al-Jaafari hopes to offer to a woman — were left vacant and five ministerial portfolios are in temporary hands.
Al-Jaafari himself will be acting defense minister, a post he hopes to fill with a Sunni. And former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi, a Shiite Arab and one of four deputy prime ministers, has temporary responsibility for the oil ministry.
The new government will hold its first meeting within days, al-Jaafari said.
Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite whose caretaker government took charge of the country while al-Jaafari struggled to form his Cabinet, did not attend Tuesday's ceremony. His office said he was out of the country, but declined to specify where.
Allawi's Iraqi List party was not included in the new Cabinet, but has said it will work with the government from the opposition.
Also absent Tuesday was al-Yawer.
"If al-Yawer attended the ceremony, it would have been the end of him politically," said Mishaan al-Jubouri, head of a disgruntled Sunni coalition that had hoped for more seats in Cabinet. "I entered the hall and went out again on purpose, just to show them that I am not agreeing with what is happening."
Meanwhile, insurgents attacked a checkpoint in Mosul, 70 miles west of Baghdad, and a gunbattle ensued that killed 12 militants, the U.S. military said. One Iraqi soldier and a civilian died in the fighting and two soldiers were wounded. Two U.S. Marines were also slightly injured, the military said. Five militants were captured, the statement said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:37:23 AM ||
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A United States intelligence expert and former ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Princeton Lyman, has said that after the dreaded Middle East terrorist group, Al-Qaeda was chased out of Afghanistan, it has shifted base to Nigeria in which its influence is growing by the day.
Lyman in a report on the American television news station, CBN News, quoted a United Nations investigation which he said uncovered al-Qaeda's surreptitous training and building bases in Nigeria in support of his conclusion that the country is a natural target for terrorists seeking to expand their operations.
Lyman, said, "You have 60 million or more Muslims in Nigeria. It is the most populous state, and it is a country in which there has been a long history of religious tension, sometimes well-managed, sometimes not well-managed. If you wanted to target a state in West Africa, that's the one you target."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:09:46 AM ||
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#1
Very informative! The second look at Tim McVeigh's accomplices said they were Iraqi Republican Guard that came in as refugees relocated after Desert Storm and AlQaeda is also said to have approached the Salvadoran gang MS13for coming in across the southern border. We have a lot of African immigrants coming in and they generally outside our mental profiling as extremist Muslims. We have the ''Mother Mosque'', or the first mosque in the US here, and they often send Muslims erroneously thinking the Bosnians and Nigerians have something in common and will get along well in Iowa. We also had an Arab master forger arrested here after 9/11 and he had lived in the same apartment in Chicago as on of the hijackers, but he cooperated with the FBI, claiming he was a starving student. I think the insane ICE has to be blamed if we don't get control of our borders and know who exactly is in our country.
In a statement issued May 1, 2005 from al-Qaeda in Iraq entitled: "A Statement from al-Qaeda Denying the Media Comments about the Speech of its Leader," the group's official spokesman, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, responds to media interpretations of Abdul al-Rahman al-Iraqi's message concerning attacks upon the White House and Vatican.
As reported by the SITE Institute, Abdul al-Rahman, the Deputy Emir (Prince) of al-Qaeda in Iraq, allegedly voiced an audio message issued on the Internet April 30, 2005 declaring unwavering support for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In the course of his speech, he stated: "If you lead us to the White House and the fortress of the Vatican, we will be patient and endure with you." Al-Maysara's statement refutes the media's assertion that this is a threat upon the White House and Vatican, although he says that "it will be great to do so, to please AllahâŠ." The message states that "the oppressors of the truth misrepresented it" and he only meant that "even if he [Zarqawi] had to cross the ocean, or walk to Washington and Rome he will do so, and we will be with him."
On the jihadist message board on which the statement was posted, one member agrees that the media perpetrated a "misrepresentation of the facts, in the manner that serves their benefits," and another adds that they are "reshaping it so it can serve their dirty goals." Both members, however, are agreeable about "a take over of the Vatican" and explain: "our Prophet had promised us that the Muslims will be able to take over Rome, and Allah willing, that will be soon⊠we are coming, we are coming."
This article starring:
ABDUL AL RAHMAN
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU MAISARA AL IRAQI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/04/2005 12:07:44 AM ||
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#1
I'm sure the new Pope Benedict XVI would have something to 'say' about such a ''take over''! It would take little for God's Rottweiler to awaken the masses of millions to a Holy Christian Crusade, in defense of the faith!!
#4
Yeah, Rex, they're only apologizing for being caught! I can't find any other way to interpret those quotes (on audio in his voice, no less) except as a threat to the WH and Vatican. To say ''Sorry, what we meant was XXXXX, but I'm o.k. with storming the WH and Vatican'' is not an apology or retraction, but an affirmation of what he meant.
Posted by: BA ||
05/04/2005 8:37 Comments ||
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Glad we got that clarification. Thanks alot spokesman for the Shite-head laplion of the thugadeen between the two open sewers.
ISLAMABAD — General elections would be held in 2007 but could be deferred till 2008 if certain political forces did not behave and continued to create trouble, Pakistan Muslim League chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said.
"So shut yer fudge!"
He also expressed the hope that the Kashmir issue would be resolved during the tenure of the PML government before 2007.
And I'm going to lose fifty pounds before 2007.
Talking to newsmen at a reception he hosted in honour of a delegation of members of 'Bangladesh Peace Initiative' that aims at promoting peace in the region, Shujaat said some political forces were trying to disrupt the prevailing situation. He said the Pakistan People's Party was never in contact with President Musharraf though PPP leaders have been contacting government emissaries. He said PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto is welcome to participate in politics but would have to face court cases if she returns to Pakistan.
Come into my parlour, the spider said to the fly ...
Shujaat said Asif Ali Zardari is waging a politics of advancing personal interests in the cover of the process of political reconciliation. President Musharraf, he said, wants to create political harmony in the country for smooth functioning of democratic institutions and good governance. However, Zardari and his party is trying to give it a twist to promote their own interest by creating a perception that they may capture power with the help of the army. This is unacceptable, he added.
Shujaat said President Pervez Musharraf would address the combined session of parliament this month. He said President Musharraf had taken important decisions for the solution of Kashmir issue and hoped that the Indian government would also reciprocate in a positive manner.
The PML chief said that he was willing to talk to all political parties, including the PPP, PML-N and the JI in the national interest. Shujaat said that talks with Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti were going on smoothly.
"Smoothly" is a relative term, of course.
Earlier Shujaat had a detailed meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to discuss current political situation and PML's strategy for the upcoming local bodies' elections. Party sources said the affairs of PML in Sindh in the backdrop of continuing clash between the chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and his sacked minister Imtiaz Sheikh also figured during the meeting. Shujaat favours Sheikh and has been able to stall all proceedings against him.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan yesterday reiterated that it would not sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) unless it is recognised as a nuclear weapon state. "We sign the NPT only as a nuclear weapon state," foreign office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani declared at his weekly news briefing while responding to newsmen's questions on Pakistan's stance at the upcoming UN meeting on the NPT.
The spokesman dismissed reports that President Pervez Musharraf had assured Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi of his 'positive sentiments' towards Japan's quest for a permanent seat in UN Security Council (UNSC), during Koizumi's trip to Pakistan that ended on Sunday. Jilani said that Pakistan's position on UN reform package is that it is opposed to creating any new centres of privileges. "We articulated this position during meetings with Prime Minister Koizumi," he said while underpinning the excellent relations that exist between the two countries which received further impetus during the visit.
Answering questions on latest statements by Pakistan's leaders including ruling party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed that Kashmir dispute would be resolved by 2007, the spokesman said the impetus given to the dialogue process by top level meetings in recent months have given rise to optimism that the issue is nearing a resolution. "We hope that dispute would be resolved as soon as possible in keeping with the wishes of the people of Kashmir," Jilani said while dismissing the perception that Pakistan has given up its fundamental positions on the issue.
He also rejected Kashmiri leader Syed Gillani's statement that the governments of India and Pakistan have already worked out a Kashmir plan which involved Pakistan's compromise on its basic stance. "There is no pre-conceived Kashmir plan," he said while reiterating that Pakistan is seeking to include the Kashmiri leadership in the process of evolving a settlement plan.
He told a questioner that India-Pakistan talks on Siachen and Sir Creek would be held next week and reiterated that Pakistan wants implementation of the understanding reached in June 1989 for redeployment of troops in Siachen to their original positions that existed before start of new hostilities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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KATHMANDU - Hundreds of Nepali journalists marched in the capital on Tuesday demanding the removal of curbs on press freedom and the release of detained colleagues, three days after the king ended emergency rule in the kingdom. About 1,000 journalists participated in the rally in Kathmandu to mark World Press Freedom day as riot police, armed with bamboo batons, kept a close watch but did not intervene. "Stop the crackdown on the media and guarantee uninterrupted press freedom," read a placard held up by one demonstrator. "Release the jailed journalists," others said.
Funny, not a single sign that read, "Kill the Maoists Before They Kill Us".
"Press freedom in Nepal is facing the most serious crisis in its history right now," Taranath Dahal, the chief of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), told a meeting after the march. Dahal said curbs on the press were still in place and that 10 journalists had been detained since the state of emergency came in force. Authorities have refused to comment on the detention of journalists. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has urged the royalist government to lift press curbs and release journalists under detention in the impoverished country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Are these the same right wing religous guys that are too pure to serve in the Israeli Army or hold a job and stone people driving cars or going to movies on Saturday? (the equiv.. of welfare folks elsewhere?)
US spy chiefs ordered agents to deliver Osama Bin Laden's severed head in a box of dry ice and hoist heads of other Al Qaeda leaders on pikes, retired field officer has disclosed. As America reeled in shock days after the September 11 attacks in 2001, former CIA officer Gary Schroen was sent to Afghanistan to help the opposition Northern Alliance to topple bin Laden's hosts the Taliban. He told National Public Radio (NPR) in an interview broadcast on Monday and Tuesday that he stopped by the office of then Director of the CIA counter-terrorism center Cofer Black for final instructions. He was told: "Your basic marching orders are to link up with the Northern Alliance and get their cooperation military and they will take on the Taliban. When we break the Taliban, your job is to capture Bin Laden, kill him and bring his head back in a box full of dry ice."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
God, I hope that 'directive' is still tenable; such a showy event if made public, in my opinion would only be rivalled by David's display of Goliath's head, from antiquity! Remembered for generations!!
#4
The problem is the Failed/Angry Left wants America to ''obey the world community'', the UNO, and espec the UNIC, and basically to ignore any and all new 9-11'a or other events in favor of SSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, more domestic Regulation, super-Regulation, Protectionisms, and Big, Bigger, B-i-g-g-g-......-e-r
Government!? Dubya and Amerika has to Regulate and Protect, Tax and Spend, the way Mom and Betty Crocker can - the Left wants America to modernize the world and create new Global Empire, NOT rule or govern its new Empire!
#5
Ortega and Castro, etal. began to behave themselves once they realized they're biggest and best defense was the Democrats and aligned pols in Washington, DC not in Moscow or Beijing or the Soviet AIrborne-Spetznatz.
#13
To be hung in an iron cage on the road from Dulles or RR National?
Nah, nailed over the gate to the Crawford ranch. It'll make a great first impression on anyone invited for lunch.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/04/2005 10:21 Comments ||
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Spiked on one of the fence-posts around the White House would be a bit Celtic... but ultimatly rather satisfying. My personal fantasy about Bin Laden is that he be captured alive, but suffering from some obscure, painful and lingering disease, which requires lots of painful and intrusive treatments. And in captivity, he is cared for by one of the very few medical experts specializing in this disease. An American woman doctor...who is also Jewish.
And a very butch lesbian.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/04/2005 10:37 Comments ||
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LOL, Sgt. Mom.
Works for me! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2005 11:15 Comments ||
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...with a very shaky control of the endoscope.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/04/2005 11:18 Comments ||
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I have daydreamed about an early morning mission to New York where a handful of guys hop out of a truck at the World Trade Center and erect OBL's head on a pike. The world wakes up to see his head on display on the morning news. Icing on the cake would be if Ayman's was there too.
#20
I still like TGA's idea of a few bungee-cord practice runs at dropping him off a tall building, preferably whatever replaces the WTC. Followed by the flaming finale.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/04/2005 11:36 Comments ||
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Nail his intestines to a post at the top of the freedom tower and toss him over -- with a parachute so he can enjoy the ride down.
The NYC residents will do the rest. (if there's anything left of him that is.)
#22
he is cared for by one of the very few medical experts specializing in this disease. An American woman doctor...who is also Jewish.
And a very butch lesbian.
Sounds like the University of Texas softball team...
Posted by: Ted Williams ||
05/04/2005 12:55 Comments ||
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hoist heads of other Al Qaeda leaders on pikes, retired field officer has disclosed
Pikes are good but I'd settle for a decent spear. Short and all, but it's hard to find a good old fashioned pike these days outside of the Ren Faire and the parts of Pakistan that love Binnie.
#25
You know, the Vlad the Impaler bit is a good idea. He certainly freaked the Muslim's out during his time, perhaps we should start leaving forests of impaled Jihadis' and start rumors that old Vlad is back.
#26
Only if the impaling sticks are coated with pig fat on the points to start the process properly.
Although in NYC the resident vermin would shorten the process considerably.
But this is vicious nonsense. The American Armed Forces don't do things like that. Not even the Special Forces types... not even the interrogators. And the CIA hasn't even considered such a thing in decades, I suspect.
President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday said Islam taught tolerance and moderation and clerics and intellectuals should play an active role in spreading this message. Addressing an international clerics' conference titled "population and development" arranged by the Ministry of Population Welfare, the president said that clerics and intellectuals should educate people about population welfare issues such as child and mother care and gender equality especially in education. He reiterated that Islam stressed sectarian harmony and peace among various sections of society.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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MIRANSHAH: Islamic militants in western Pakistan have ordered hotels and music shops to stop showing television and selling movies or face dire consequences. In a leaflet distributed overnight in Miranshah town and signed "from Al Qaeda group and Taliban group", the militants gave businesses five days to stop showing movies and television. "Remember this is not an idle threat. Do not dismiss it. Also stop showing sexy movies or else there will be a strict punishment after five days," the militants said in a hand-written leaflet, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
What about Mullah TV?
Miranshah is the main town of the remote and completely largely lawless North Waziristan tribal agency on the Afghan border. The owner of a Miranshah shopping plaza assembled all the shopkeepers and urged them to follow the instructions, a witness said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Energy giant Royal Dutch/Shell on Tuesday announced a long-term deal with Libya to explore for gas in the energy-rich north African country. The deal, which could see Shell invest as much as $637 million, followed an agreement with the Libyan government 13 months ago to establish a long-term strategic partnership following the former pariah state's return from international wilderness. "The National Oil Corporation of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (NOC) and Shell Exploration and Production Libya have reached a long-term agreement for a major gas exploration and development deal," a statement issued by Shell said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali promised Tuesday to back and consolidate press freedom in his country but human rights activists, journalists and political opponents painted a darker picture of the reality of the right to freedom of expression. "We shall continue to support our national press so that it is better suited to translate the deep changes on the road to democracy and modernity in our society," Ben Ali told heads of reporters' associations and editors in a message to mark international press freedom day.
But critics, joined by non-governmental organizations, called for a week of demonstrations on the state of "freedom of expression, creation and communication" including the right to Internet access from the country. The week began with a petition and appeal on behalf of Islamist journalist Abdallah Zouari, condemned in 2002 to 13 months in prison and now exiled to a place 500 kilometers from his home where he is under permanent police surveillance. Also highlighted will be the plight of the "Internet users of Zarzis," a town in southern Tunisia not far from the island of Djerba, where a group of young people have been given heavy prison sentences for visiting web sites judged to be subversive.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Radical Afghan clerics Tuesday unveiled plans to launch the country's first Islamic television channel since the fall of the fundamentalist Taliban regime more than three years ago. A group of hard-line religious scholars, or mullahs, based in the capital Kabul said the station would counter what they say are immoral and un-Islamic programs being broadcast by other channels. "We plan to launch our own TV channel and through this channel we will broadcast Islamic programs," said Qyamuddin Kashaf, a spokesman for the Ulema Council, the group behind the plans.
"Yes! We can well compete with MTV and jiggling Indian bosoms by putting ourselves on the teevee to drone the Koran over and over! How can we lose?"
Watch their turbans unwind when they find out that television is unIslamic. I have a fatwa that says so right here.
Afghanistan has witnessed a rapid growth in television stations since the fall of the hard-line Taliban in late 2001, which banned all cinemas and television during its 1994-96 rule. The Taliban itself last month launched a pirate radio station operating from a secret mobile transmitter which broadcasts religious material as well as invective against the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai. The clerics, who are not linked to the ousted regime, have not yet chosen the TV channel's name but they said it would start transmitting in the near future.
In addition to state-run TV, four television channels run by local warlords and private companies are operating in Afghanistan, and there are also several cable providers. Most private stations run Western music videos and movies and have come under criticism from conservatives who call the programs un-Islamic.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
PTMG (praise the moon god) The people who will watch this crap don't have much brain left.
#14
''Today'' with Katie Couric. Except that Katie gets that colonoscopy everyday... and can't flash those ''not bad for an old broad'' wheels anymore.
#17
Afghanistan has witnessed a rapid growth in television stations since the fall of the hard-line Taliban in late 2001, which banned all cinemas and television during its 1994-96 rule.
If they were overthrown in 1996, who was it our 100 or so Special Forces (w/ credit to the Northern Alliance) overthrew? Looks like this ''newssite'' is in par w/ Mullah TV!
Posted by: BA ||
05/04/2005 15:19 Comments ||
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#22
hehe great thread > just got back from work (2.00am) > needed something to free the stress , so to speak , and this thread has done that :)
Cant wait to see their version of Dallas , Dynasty and gawd forbid .... Songs of Praise :p
Western Sahara's independence movement is considering resuming its armed struggle against Morocco if they aren't immediately given everything they want there is no breakthrough in UN-led peace talks in the next six months, its chief negotiator said yesterday. A frustrated Security Council on Thursday renewed a plea to Morocco and the Polisario Front independence movement to end their decades-old dispute over the future of the desert land, which was seized by Morocco after colonial Spain left in 1975. A UN peacekeeping mission, which has served for the past 14 years in the sparsely populated northwest African territory, was again extended for six months amid an impasse in one of Africa's longest-running conflicts. "We gave 14 years to find a peaceful solution but the time has come to do something if nothing happens within six months," Emhamed Khadad, the Polisario Front's negotiator, told Reuters. "We are ready to defend ourselves with military action but I hope a peaceful solution will prevail... The key element on whether we return to war depends on whether the UN can solve this issue," he said in a telephone interview from Tindouf. The self-proclaimed government in exile calling for Morocco's withdrawal from Western Sahara is based in southwestern Algeria where over 150,000 Sahrawis indigenous people live in refugee camps.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika yesterday kicked off a campaign to win support for a referendum on a general amnesty to end a decade-long militant uprising that has cost the lives of up to 200,000 people. It was the first time Bouteflika called on Algerians to vote in favor of a so-called national reconciliation plan to end a conflict, which began in 1992 following the army's cancellation of legislative elections an Islamist party was set to win. "A referendum on national reconciliation will be organized. The Algerian people are sovereign and will choose what they want, and we will be at their service to carry out what they want," said Bouteflika in his first direct call for a referendum.
Wonder if the pied-noirs will be allowed back in?
Militants have stepped up their attacks on civilians and the authorities in recent weeks to try to scupper the amnesty project. Bouteflika, praised for helping restore stability to the oil-rich North African country, did not give a date for the referendum or say who would benefit from the amnesty. But human rights groups expect it to take place this year and target hundreds of militants and security forces members suspected of criminal acts since the early 1990s. Last month, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Human Rights Federation criticized the plan, saying it would brush crimes under the carpet. Bouteflika said an amnesty was the only way to achieve peace after violence that isolated Algeria for almost a decade. "What strengthens our hope and boosts our optimism about reaching reconciliation is that the Algerian society is known for its tendency towards supporting peace and reconciliation. Does it have other choices rather than peace?" he asked.
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A top US senator yesterday praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a tremendous leader in the face of fierce criticism of Abbas by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist described Abbas as a "bold leader" whom the United States encouraged to continue to lead "as we proceed along the road map".
Had to swallow hard to say all that, did he?
"He has shown tremendous leadership," said Frist, reading a statement to reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. During hour-long talks with Abbas on Monday, the senator said he "commended the president for his strong leadership, for his commitment to the Palestinian people and to his commitment to reforms," both economic and security. "It's been a pleasure to be here today to express the support of the (US) president (George W. Bush) and his Cabinet," Frist said.
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05/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in yesterday amid escalating violence. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari pledged to unite Iraq's rival ethnic and religious factions and fight terrorism. "You all know the heavy legacy inherited by this government. We are afflicted by corruption, lack of services, unemployment and mass graves," Jaafari told lawmakers after taking the oath of office before the National Assembly. "I would like to tell the widows and orphans ... your sacrifices have not gone in vain."
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New Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will take part in a summit of Arab League and South American countries May 10-11 in Brasilia in what would be his first major foray into foreign affairs, Brazilian government officials said Monday. Eight of the 22 Arab League heads of state have confirmed their attendance, including the kings of Morocco and Jordan; the emir of Qatar, the Algerian, Iraqi, Palestinian, Comoros and Djibouti presidents. The heads of government from Syria, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are also expected. Ten of the 12 South American leaders invited are expected to attend.
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will host the even in Brasilia in an effort to step up developing world contacts. Four Arab states will send their foreign ministers: Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and Mauritania; Oman will send its Economy deputy minister, and Libya its ambassador in Brazil. It was not yet known what representation would come from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Yemen or Kuwait.
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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.
Saudi security officers have been determined to play a major role in Al Qaida's network in Iraq. U.S. officials said Saudi nationals, including members of the kingdom's security forces, have played a major role in Sunni insurgency attacks in Iraq. They said hundreds of Saudi nationals accused of participating in Al Qaida-aligned attacks have been arrested in Iraq over the last year. In all, about 2,000 Saudi nationals have been recruited into the Sunni insurgency, many of them in the network led by 
Russia is working to create weapons that no other country possesses, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily.
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea should realize that a logjam in crucial talks on its nuclear weapons programs cannot go on forever, and should stop making unreasonable allegations, South Korea's foreign minister said on Wednesday.
When General 
Key Lebanese opposition leader 
Jordanian Prime Minister 
Syria, which ended 29 years of military presence in Lebanon last month, said yesterday a joint Syrian-Lebanese military committee would check to see if an old Syrian border post was on right side of the frontier. An Arab satellite channel has shown footage of the post near a village in the 
KATHMANDU - Hundreds of Nepali journalists marched in the capital on Tuesday demanding the removal of curbs on press freedom and the release of detained colleagues, three days after the king ended emergency rule in the kingdom. About 1,000 journalists participated in the rally in Kathmandu to mark World Press Freedom day as riot police, armed with bamboo batons, kept a close watch but did not intervene. "Stop the crackdown on the media and guarantee uninterrupted press freedom," read a placard held up by one demonstrator. "Release the jailed journalists," others said.
President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday said Islam taught tolerance and moderation and clerics and intellectuals should play an active role in spreading this message. Addressing an international clerics' conference titled "population and development" arranged by the Ministry of Population Welfare, the president said that clerics and intellectuals should educate people about population welfare issues such as child and mother care and gender equality especially in education. He reiterated that Islam stressed sectarian harmony and peace among various sections of society.
MIRANSHAH: Islamic militants in western Pakistan have ordered hotels and music shops to stop showing television and selling movies or face dire consequences. In a leaflet distributed overnight in 
Energy giant Royal Dutch/Shell on Tuesday announced a long-term deal with Libya to explore for gas in the energy-rich north African country. The deal, which could see Shell invest as much as $637 million, followed an agreement with the Libyan government 13 months ago to establish a long-term strategic partnership following the former pariah state's return from international wilderness. "The National Oil Corporation of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (NOC) and Shell Exploration and Production Libya have reached a long-term agreement for a major gas exploration and development deal," a statement issued by Shell said.
Tunisian President 
Radical Afghan clerics Tuesday unveiled plans to launch the country's first Islamic television channel since the fall of the fundamentalist Taliban regime more than three years ago. A group of hard-line religious scholars, or mullahs, based in the capital Kabul said the station would counter what they say are immoral and un-Islamic programs being broadcast by other channels. "We plan to launch our own TV channel and through this channel we will broadcast Islamic programs," said 
Algerian President 
A top US senator yesterday praised Palestinian President 
Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in yesterday amid escalating violence. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari pledged to unite Iraq's rival ethnic and religious factions and fight terrorism. "You all know the heavy legacy inherited by this government. We are afflicted by corruption, lack of services, unemployment and mass graves," Jaafari told lawmakers after taking the oath of office before the National Assembly. "I would like to tell the widows and orphans ... your sacrifices have not gone in vain."
New Iraqi President 
