Louie is the real leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, with Muqrin, Saleh, and Co. as cheap stand-ins ...
A letter, written by Lewis Attiyatullah, a known al-Qaeda author, to British Prime Minster Tony Blair, "âŠwarn[s] of an incoming huge and spectacular [event]". The five page letter, which was posted on an al-Qaeda affiliated message board, is titled: "Yes, Blair, this is a historic war". The letter, addressed to the "clever and malicious" Tony Blair " a graduate of the international school of cunning and malice", references speeches made by both Blair and Henry Kissinger to state that Iraq represents the culmination of Western influence in Muslim nations. Attiyatullah writes that "âŠthe meaning of their [American] defeat in Iraq? It means their loss to all that they [the West] have achieved during five centuriesâŠ"
Attiyatullah promises that "âŠwe say with all confidence, that the worst of the incoming [attacks] hasn't happened yet, and that the West will pay a high price for all the crimes they committed against the Muslims during and before this century" He continues on scold Blair for his engagement in Iraq, stating "When you invaded Iraq, you thought that it would be a picnic, [now you] find out today that in Falujah, Baquba, Ramadi⊠that [the mujahideen] are the victorious⊠What is happening in Falujah today is not a usual thing, but it is a serious turnover in the struggle with West."
The letter draws a distinction between the actions of the mujahideen in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Attiyatullah writes "what is happening in Iraq is not a fight for stability and international political interests like what happened in the eighties in Afghanistan. ButâŠthe mujahideen push upon the infidels [Americans and American Allies]âŠand push them hardâŠWith the confession of the West itself, that [their problems] start from the mujahideen themselves, and not [from] computations of interests and stabilities, there is no better proof [that the fight in Iraq is different than the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan]âŠ"
Attiyatullah proposes a reason for the apparent weakening of the mujahideen, namely "⊠They did not confront America when it was in a hurry or a sudden attack when it was coming two days before from overseasâŠthey did not confront America when it was isolated and without logistical, moral or a fifth rank supporting itâŠBut they faced the Americans after they settledâŠAnd after America ensured financial, morale and political support and the cooperation of all traitor counties in the area, and after it insured the support of long lines of traitors inside and outside of IraqâŠThis means that America ensured that it killed the fighters, and cutoff access, not only the access to logistic support or weapons, but even [access to] the media and informationâŠSo this situation is a real strangulation [for the mujahideen], much tougher than [that of] our brothers in PalestineâŠ" However, despite their apparent weaknesses, Attiyatullah asks "how could all the traitors and heretics think that we were finished, when in reality we are increasing in growth and strength?"
The letter ends by telling readers to "Believe Blair and believe Kissinger [who said that a defeat of America is the defeat of the West]âŠbelieve them when they say that it is a historic warâŠThey have lied; victory is for us with the help and power of Allah!!"
This article starring:
British Prime Minster Tony Blair
Henry Kissinger
LEWIS ATTIYATULLAH
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 00:15 ||
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#1
So is he saying that they have lost in Iraq so are going to have a major terror attack against the UK which will somehow destroy the US?
His "logic" has left me confused. I don't follow it.
#2
...a graduate of the international school of cunning and malice...
Hot dayum! But that's good. This one's giving that NorK feller a run for his money. What was Fred saying the other day about the Blue Meanies or the Red 'Lectroids or the International Order of Moustache Twirlers or sumpin?
#3
If these morons do someting "spectacular" in the UK I am afraid they will find the UK has none of the restraint we here have shown. Look for a demonstration of Britanic power as only a true imperalist nation knows how to deliver.
Qatar has been cited for frequent abuses in human rights. In its first annual report, a Qatari human rights group said the emirate has engaged in illegal arrests and detentions. The Doha-based National Human Rights Committee cited the arrest and detention of people without cause. "There are cases where people are detained without trial or have been arrested without any apparent reason," Ali Bin Samikh Al Merri, secretary-general of the committee, said. "However, we have raised the issue with the Interior Ministry and we are confident they will follow up on the cases." The report said illegal detentions and arrests have been prevalent in 2004. The committee was approved by the emirate and issued its report on May 9.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Kuwait's parliament has granted women the right to vote and stand in elections for the first time in the Gulf state's history. The decision on Monday, finalised after several years of debate, was passed by a 35-23 vote after one legislator abstained. It was in an amendment to the conservative Gulf emirate's election law. The result, announced by the parliament speaker, was greeted with thunderous applause from the public gallery where supporters of the amendment, including women, were gathered. "I congratulate the women of Kuwait for having achieved their political rights," Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said. However, conservative Muslims included an article in the bill requiring that any female politician or voter abide by Islamic law. It was not clear what limits this may put on women's rights.
Since the Islamists will be the ones trying to interpret Islamic law, I'd say the limits will be significant.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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"However, conservative Muslims included an article in the bill requiring that any female politician or voter abide by Islamic law. It was not clear what limits this may put on women's rights."
Well, in all legal matters under Shari'a, a woman's testimony is only worth 1/4 of a man's. So they'll prolly keep women's votes on a separate tally and divide by 4, carry the 17, and...
#2
This gives the appearance of reform without actually changing anything. Islamic law servely limits, if not downright exludes, participation by women. It'll probably make the Moonbats feel better though. See, they are reforming!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/17/2005 11:48 Comments ||
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i see this as a big gain, and redemption for 1991. Remember when the left was complaining that we were "liberating" Kuwait, and Kuwait wasnt a democracy?
LONDON, May 17 (UPI) -- A British judge ruled Tuesday terror suspect Babar Ahmad can be extradited to the United States. Ahmad, 31, a computer expert from London, is accused of running U.S.-based Web sites supporting terrorism and encouraging Muslims to wage holy war. The case will now be referred to Home Secretary Charles Clarke for final approval and Ahmad has the right to appeal the decision to the High Court.
The U.S. government wants Ahmad on charges of "conspiring to support terrorism" dating back to 1997, saying he "sought, invited and solicited contributions" via Web sites and emails. It claims his Web sites urged Muslims to use "every means at their disposal" to train for jihad, or holy war. The Web sites allegedly called for support for terrorist causes in Afghanistan and Chechnya, and encouraged the transfer of money and equipment via the sites. Lawyers for Ahmad said if sent to the United States, he could be at risk of the death penalty or being imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.
Doubtful, he'll be tried in Federal Court and at the most could get life. Gitmo is for small fry caught in the field.
This article starring:
BABAR AHMED
al-Qaeda in Europe
Home Secretary Charles Clarke
Posted by: Steve ||
05/17/2005 8:59:37 AM ||
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Police and soldiers are trying to restore order in eastern Uzbekistan. So far, the security forces appear to have killed over 700 people, wounded over a thousand and arrested over 1,500. Over the past few years, Uzbek president Islam Karimov has been warned by the U.S. to either get with the democratic process, or risk getting overthrown. Even though the United States withdrew most foreign aid last year over this issue, Karimov believes that he can tough it out. But the United States has been funding pro-democracy political organizations in Uzbekistan, meaning that Karimov has to convince the world that he is fighting Islamic terrorists, not just Uzbeks fed up with his corrupt rule. Unlike neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where police and troops refused to fire on their countrymen, in Uzbekistan the security forces have, so far, remained loyal to Karimov, and done his dirty work.
Unless massive numbers of Uzbeks come out in the cities and confront the troops and police, and are not fired on, Karimov will remain in power. So far, the crowds have been either not there, or driven away by gunfire and the threat of arrest.
Posted by: ed ||
05/17/2005 09:18 ||
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#1
Then give the pro-democracy movement guns to even the odds.
#2
This is a tough spot. A lot of SOCOM support ops were run out of Uzbek territory, and they gave a lot of leeway to coalition forces there.
But the HMFIC is an ass, and has turned his "security" people loose on the population. Sure there are Islamic radicals there, but the internal police (like the old Soviet MVD) are pretty indiscriminate when it comes to who they beat or shoot. This has been all about retaining power.
The thing that has to happen here is for the US to manage to get a democracy and a stable one - and not let radical forces (Islam) and reactionaries (the mafioso strong-man types) get the upper hand - nor allow them to continue to disrupt the new government (cf: Iraq).
For 12-year-old Zaur Dzarasov, a survivor of last year's blood-drenched school seizure, there's only one punishment suitable for the only suspect to go on trial for the raid.
"I want them to cut his head off and throw it to the dogs," Zaur said Monday, bursting into tears and burying his sobs in his mother Emilia's arms outside the charred ruins of School No. 1, where his brother and hundreds of others died.
More than eight months after the standoff ended in a maelstrom of naked, bloodied children fleeing explosions and gunfire, residents and survivors are bracing for the anguish that will be dredged up when Nur-Pashi Kulayev goes on trial Tuesday on charges including terrorism and murder.
Kulayev, believed to be the only survivor of more than 30 militants who attacked the school in Beslan, was shown in television footage last year confessing to taking part in the raid. But he insisted he personally killed no one in the assault. Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for organizing the seizure of the school.
How the attackers were able to mount their well-coordinated assault undetected is a major issue among Beslan's residents.
Susanna Dudiyeva, head of the Beslan Mothers' Committee, which has criticized regional and federal authorities for failing to protect the school and in investigating the attack, said Kulayev's trial will be only a "spectacle," a distraction from bigger issues.
"We are more interested in who else will be charged. Who participated in the planning? Who was incompetent? Someone let them in the school. Someone helped them. Someone else did something very wrong," said Dudiyeva, 44, whose son died in the school.
"Who answers for the security of this country? The answer is out there in our cemetery," said another committee member, Rita Sydakova.
The prosecutor's office declined to comment ahead of the trial. Kulayev's lawyer, Umar Sikoyev, could not be reached.
For many Beslan residents, anger and raw emotion trump any talk of justice or presumption of innocence for Kulayev. Some fear the trial will reopen deep wounds.
Many resent that Kulayev, if convicted, would receive a sentence of no more than life in prison. Russia has had moratorium on the death penalty since 1996 as a condition of joining the Council of Europe.
"I wouldn't put him on trial. I'd just take him out and shoot him," said Zhanna Bigayeva, 45, whose 14-year-old son survived the takeover. "We don't need this trial. We're already living on nerves."
Still others said it was unlikely Kulayev would live for long in a Russian prison.
"The women of Beslan want him for themselves. We'll take him in our own hands and show him proper punishment," said Sydakova, wringing her hands and tearing at the air. "We'll give him what he deserves."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 01:13 ||
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"I want them to cut his head off and throw it to the dogs"
Thats actually pretty appropriate given the culture of the attackers. Excepting maybe feed it to pigs, not dogs.
THE sound of sporadic gunfire in the distance mingled incongruously with a bellicose chorus of croaking toads as 15 heavily armed commandos in camouflage uniforms and black masks loaded their assault rifles and set off on foot in the dead of night towards a remote village in Chechnya.
The men, members of an anti-terrorist unit of Chechen special forces loyal to Moscow, walked in silence, a few paces apart, through fields lit by a star-studded sky. I watched them as they crouched in the wet grass to avoid being spotted by enemy lookouts, exchanging hand signals and whispering urgent commands.
We leapt over ditches and barbed wire as the men completed the approach to their target, an unassuming single- storey brick house beside a dirt track in Vedeno, home village of Shamil Basayev, Russia's most wanted terrorist.
Basayev was the mastermind of the Moscow theatre siege in 2002 that ended with 171 dead, and of last year's attack on the Beslan school in which 330 were killed. There is a $10m (£5.4m) bounty on his head.
Inside the house, according to the commandos' informant, was a rebel loyal to Basayev and his fight for an independent Chechnya. He was also believed to be part of a gang that had murdered four women for the crime of having contact with pro-Russian Chechens.
The commandos had been hunting him for months. Now their quarry had been spotted returning to his home and a trap was about to be sprung.
While they were observing the house for signs of movement, the ground suddenly shook under the shuddering force of two artillery rounds fired into nearby hills by a Russian force engaged in a separate operation.
As if taking the explosions as a signal, five commandos sprinted across the track, their lithe shadows chasing one another across the wall of the building, and took up positions under the windows. It was shortly before 1am — time for the the commander, a bearded 27-year-old Chechen with hand grenades strapped to his waist, to give the order to storm.
These were the hardmen of Chechnya's Eastern Battalion, a 600-strong unit under the command of Russia's ministry of defence.
Based in Gudermes, 25 miles east of the bombed-out capital, Grozny, the battalion is led by Sulim Yamadayev, a 33-year-old Chechen who fought the Russians in the republic's first war from 1994-96 but changed sides and joined Moscow's battle against Islamic militants in the current conflict, which began in 1999.
Yamadayev's mission is to liquidate the radical Chechens and their Arab allies who are still fighting the Russians after six years. At the top of his hit-list is Basayev.
When the order came to move in, the commandos fired into the air from AK-47s as they crashed through a yard gate and on into the house, darting from room to room as a shocked elderly couple screamed for help.
A 15-year-old boy, his face white and petrified, was dragged out by his hair, crying for his mother, and was pinned to the ground with a Makarov pistol against his neck.
Next to him three men, one middle-aged and two in their twenties, were forced face down onto the ground with rifles pressed into their backs. The elderly couple — apparently the boy's grandparents — were warned off by an AK-47 round fired into the sky.
It soon became clear that none of those being held at gunpoint fitted the wanted man's description and, after retreating briefly to a nearby field, several commandos raced back inside. They returned a few minutes later, dragging the wanted man with his arms locked behind his back.
After a brief interrogation his head was covered with a sack and he was carried down the track on the shoulders of one of the commandos to the banks of a mountain river where armed men were waiting in two cars.
He was placed in the back of a military jeep and driven for two hours over treacherous mountain roads to a base on the Chechen plain. Rock music blared from the vehicle's speakers to ensure that he did not hear his captors' voices.
Back at the house, a sack containing two grenade launchers and an AK-47 was unearthed close by. The Chechens claimed he had hidden it there.
The raid in Vedeno was one of hundreds that have been carried out by Yamadayev's forces. More than 10 years after the beginning of the Chechen war, which has killed 100,000 people, large-scale military operations have ceased and life is slowly being rebuilt. But the deaths are far from over.
Thousands of Chechens are now fighting with the Russians against their former comrades-in-arms. Most are under the command of Razman Kadyrov, whose father, the pro-Moscow President Akhmad Kadyrov, was blown up by a bomb in Grozny last year.
Yamadayev has one of the most dangerous jobs in Chechnya: to kill Basayev before he can fulfil a pledge to carry out further attacks this summer.Almost every day Yamadayev's men penetrate the perilous mountain areas where Basayev is believed to be hiding.
For Yamadayev, killing the rebel leader is not only a question of honour. He is also driven by an ardent desire for revenge.
"I only have one nightmare: that someone should get to Basayev before me," he said, sipping tea and adjusting the pistol strapped to his waist.
"Hunting him down has become my mission, should it be the last thing I do in my life. He is evil and I won't stop until I have rid our republic of him. The knot is tightening around his neck and it's only a matter of time before we get to him."
Yamadayev's quest is profoundly personal. Two years ago his brother Dzhabrail, who led the unit that was to become the Eastern Battalion, was killed at the age of 33 in Vedeno after Basayev's men planted a powerful bomb under the couch where he slept.
President Vladimir Putin awarded Dzhabrail a posthumous Hero of Russia medal, the country's highest military award, and his brother took over the unit. Yamadayev has seen 68 of his men killed by the rebels.
The father of four small children, he says he has survived 16 assassination attempts in six years, the latest when his heavily armoured Lada 4x4 was hit by a home-made bomb.
Two earlier attempts left him wounded in one arm and a leg. The left side of his face also bears deep scars from an explosion he barely survived during a ferocious battle with the Russians back in the days when he regarded them as the enemy.
Yamadayev is guarded around the clock by more than a dozen Chechens with long black beards, AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades. His headquarters, which he recently kitted out with flat-screen televisions at his own expense, is guarded by armoured personnel carriers.
Even when he is 1,000 miles away in Moscow, he is constantly shadowed by armed guards.
That the Yamadayev brothers used to be close allies and personal friends of Basayev is characteristic of Chechnya's treacherously shifting allegiances. Although they became successful businessmen in the post-communist Moscow in the early 1990s, they returned home at the start of the first war of independence against the Russians. During that conflict, Yamadayev mounted a daring raid to rescue Basayev when he was surrounded by Russian forces in Grozny.
"It took us four days and we came under heavy fire, but eventually we got to him and helped him break out of the siege," he recalled. "He was so happy he was dancing and jumping up and down."
After the Russian forces were defeated and left Chechnya in 1996, the breakaway republic was plunged into lawlessness. Yamadayev, although a devout Muslim, became a fierce opponent of the extreme Wahhabi militants who began to take over much of the republic.
In July 1999, shortly before Russian troops were ordered back into Chechnya, Yamadayev made a defiant stand against Basayev, detaining some of his men and beating them.
In a letter sent to Yamadayev's elder brother Ruslan, who has since become a member of the Russian parliament, Basayev acknowledged that he owed his former ally his life. But he demanded an apology and $50,000 compensation for the maltreatment of his men.
"If you fail to fulfil even one of my demands I will take it as a sign that you want war," Basayev wrote.
The Yamadayevs' handwritten reply was curt and concise. "Shamil," it read. "We do not want war but if you ask for it you will get it."
Yamadayev, who has portraits of his slain brother in every room at his base, said that on two occasions he came close to crushing his enemy — but failed at the last moment. "He is smart, ruthless and very shrewd," he said. "He switches hideouts regularly.
"He only lets four or five of his most trusted men get close to him, so getting someone to betray his location is not easy. But we are working on it and his days are numbered."
As if Yamadayev's task were not complicated enough, Basayev is thought to have a network of informants in the security services.
While only about 20% of the local population is believed to sympathise with Basayev's cause, most are too terrified to come forward with information. Hundreds of Chechens who have co-operated with Moscow have been executed in cold blood by the rebels.
Yamadayev has had other successes, however, among them the killing last year of Abu Walid, a Saudi-born militant accused of organising the Moscow siege with Basayev. The militant's head was cut off and sent to a Russian forensic laboratory. Yamadayev is to be rewarded by Putin with a Hero of Russia medal of his own at a ceremony in the Kremlin this summer.
He estimates that Basayev has no more than 1,000 diehard radicals under his command. He disdainfully calls them shaitans, or devils with no faith. Nevertheless, they are experienced guerrilla fighters and know how and where to hide.
On another raid last week I escorted a group of 12 men in search of a rebel in a hamlet near Vedeno, a seemingly idyllic village where Basayev had kept a lavish red-brick mansion — until it was blown up by the Russians.
When they stormed one of the houses, the only person they found was the rebel's elderly mother, asleep in bed. They covered her mouth to prevent her from shouting as they searched from room to room. But the suspect had slipped away, leaving behind a machinegun with two full magazines and a pistol hidden in a flour sack.
"Until less than a year ago we used to get attacked as soon as we left base," said Mogomed, a 28-year-old veteran of the Eastern Battalion who fought the Russians in the first war. "Now we are winning this war and squeezing them.
"Sometimes I recognise on the walkie-talkie the voice of someone I fought alongside when we battled against the Russians. We insult each other and start firing at one another."
Back at one of Yamadayev's bases, the suspect in the murder of the four women was being interrogated in a dark, damp cellar, his face to the wall and his arms tied behind his back.
The man had been identified by other suspected rebels caught by Yamadayev's men. Looking shocked and speaking softly, he swore his innocence on the Koran and denied that the sack of weapons said to have been dug up near his house belonged to him.
The interrogator was unimpressed. "After a few days here people like him start to talk, and eventually end up singing like birds and crying like babies," he said. "If he took part in the murder of those poor four women he will pay dearly for his crimes."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 01:06 ||
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Chechnya's new rebel leader said on Monday his fighters would never ask the Kremlin for peace talks, ending his predecessor's policy of offering to meet at the negotiating table to end the province's decade-long war.
Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev took over as leader of the guerrillas when Aslan Maskhadov was killed in March. Analysts said prospects for a peace deal had largely died with the moderate former Soviet army officer.
Chechen rebels have been fighting for independence from Russia since 1994. "The leadership of the Chechen resistance is always open to a real political dialogue on the principles laid out by Aslan Maskhadov," Sadulayev said in a statement on rebel Web site www.chechenpress.com. "But all the same, we will never again ask the Kremlin for peace."
Maskhadov frequently said he was trying to initiate peace talks with Russia. Although Moscow always rejected his approaches, a video statement circulated in Chechnya after Maskhadov's death showed him saying "this day is already close".
Sadulayev said the rebel leader's killing -- in what Moscow described at the time as a targeted "special operation" -- showed Chechens could not trust Russians enough to come down from the hills and enter talks. "Maskhadov even moved to Chechnya's lowlands to activate the initiative of a peace agreement, although it was terribly dangerous for him," said Sadulayev, whose name is sometimes spelt Saidulayev. "On the evening of March 8, the whole world saw how Europe and Russia answered his longing for peace: the Old World with dumb silence, and Moscow with foul murder."
Sadulayev said Chechen forces would not target ordinary Russians, but would aim for Russia's weak points. "The Kremlin rulers do not have the political or moral will for peace, they do not want neighbourly relations with the Chechens. Our immediate aim is at the Achilles Heel of the Kremlin residents and their collaborators," he said.
This article starring:
ABDUL KHALIM SADULAIEV
Chechnya
ASLAN MASKHADOV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 01:03 ||
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#1
is always open to a real political dialogue on the principles laid out by Aslan Maskhadov,"
#2
Maskhadov didn't really matter alive or dead beyond providing a happy smilely face for window dressing on what was and is pig-ugly killing machine with grandiose dreams of a big caucus caliphate. Maskhadov had lost his grip on the leash of his various warlords and field commanders long before the war was renewed. Basayev and others made it clear they were doing a jihaad thing across the caucus and would agree to nothing more than a temporary ceasefire. How could Maskhadov negotiate in good faith without the ability to deliver the goods? They've effectively driven straight down a dead end street at a time when things are not going well militarily for them and the odds of the Russians walking away peacefully are diminishing. Outside jihaadis are not swarming to the cause. There's nothing to do but try to kill and die.
#7
Chavez may want to jump on the Juche bandwagon since it is working obvious wonders in Lil Kim's troll hermit kingdom. They do export Juche but haven't found a way to make it work or pay even after 50 years of benevolent beloved leader #1 and #2.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/17/2005 13:24 Comments ||
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#10
"Market reforms introduced in North Korea in recent years mean most people only get about half the food they need through the state and have to buy the rest themselves."
"But rampant inflation inside North Korea is making it increasingly difficult for people to make up that shortfall."
So there you have it -- the problem is "market reforms" and "rampant inflation". Clearly the fault of those capitalists and capitalist-wanna-be's. Standard communist crap -- missing the main points that (1) slaves to the state have no incentive to work hard only to lose their bounty and (2) inflation is due to demand exceeding supply, in this case due to slaves to the state having no incentive to work hard only to lose their bounty. Their system failed. South Korean fertilizer and food only delays the resolution of the problem and keeps the tyrants in power.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/17/2005 13:43 Comments ||
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#11
Our correspondent says that Seoul believes Pyongyang is raising nuclear tensions to extract a better aid offer.
Nuclear blackmail is not a very smart way to do that. Seems to me that calling on his Chinese protectors would be Kimmy's best bet....
#12
"Japan, the US and South Korea are key contributors to the WFP programme, but Mr Ragan says donations have slowed in the last two years. "
Notice who gives the aid? Why don't the Soddies and Brazilians and Iranians and Russians and French and the rest of the bloviating self-important bozo nations jump in? Gotta wait for Uncle Sap and friends yet again?
#17
Yet they can still afford their Nuclear program and keepup on their massive military.....
What utter BS. And of course the USA, SKOR and UN will finance their military by sending them food (so they can spend what money they have on the military) -- which either goes to their military, his thugs political party, or gets relabeled (as 'From Kim-the-savior') so that Kimmie-boy-the-baby-killer gets the credit for 'feeding his starving millions'....
#18
Actually nuclear blackmail was a trick they learned from the soviets. They never grew enough food to feed their people so they had to import. When threatened with sanctions, they would just build more bombs. Reagan not only slapped santions on them, he started an arms race for which they could not win. We all know hte outcome from that. If I were Bush I would tell Kimmie and the gang to go chew on those nukes until they are full. In addition I would throw up a blockade to stop any mamby pamby countries from giving them any aid (insert Phrance here). A couple of months we would be dealing with a whole new leadership in Pyonyang.
#19
For all his witlessness I think it was Catuh that laid on the wheat embargo. It didn't work. Wheat's fairly fungible too. Not to mention that you can sell in a lot of places liquid like.
#21
Kimmie's regime has been propped up over these years by aid from mainly:
1. Chicoms
2. Skor
3. USA.
The US govt finally grew a brain and stopped the aid. So now we have the Chicoms and SKor left. We do not have much leverage left with these guys. IMHO, a blockade won't do much as things will just get rerouted through China. If the Chicoms and SKor want to enable Kimmie, then there will be consequences in our relations with SKor and China, and we should make that clear, no nuancesâ¢. The world will not stand by a flegling parliamentary govt like Iraq, but they are content to stand by and say nothing about a murderous dictator like Kimmie.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/17/2005 20:18 Comments ||
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For the record, it is not the excellent Proche-Orient info that leaked the Obin report, but the anti-islamization site, http://www.france-echos.com/index.php (use search engine or browse the archives if you can read french and are willing to read it).
When muslim youngsters refuse to use the "+" sign, because 'it looks like a cross', when the shoa cannot be evoked anymore for fear or reprisals and students argue violently against a "christian history" unfavorable to islam, or try to enforce creationnism, then you know you have a problem, especially given the policy of denial and conciliation/appeasement promoted by the authorites.
Timebomb...
Guitta: Is Europe finished already?
Olivier Guitta writes in The Weekly Standard, "The Islamization of French Schools - A disturbing report is leaked - (is Europe finished already?"
Amid much diversity--some of the schools were rural, some urban; some had fairly homogeneous student populations, others immigrants from many different countries--the inspectors report two consistent findings: a marked increase in religious expression, especially Muslim expression,in schools; and denial on the part of officials at all levels--from the classroom, to the principal's office, to the regional administration--that this phenomenon is occurring.
The researchers began by studying the neighborhoods surrounding the schools. Mostly, these were depressed areas abandoned by anyone with a secure income. The report describes the flight of "French" residents and "European" shops--sometimes after they have been the targets of violence--in tandem with the arrival of immigrants and the collapse of real estate values.
Scores of informants told the Obin team that these neighborhoods were undergoing a "rapid and recent swing" toward Islamization, thanks to the growing influence of religious activists. These young men, intense and highly intellectual in their piety, are sometimes former residents of the neighborhood who have been to prison, where they were converted to Islam. More often, however, they are educated men with degrees from universities in France, North Africa, or the Middle East. They have come to be known as "bearded ones" (distinctive beards are a marker of Muslim purists and extremists--think of bin Laden) or "big brothers" (a name evocative of the worldwide jihadist movement's Muslim Brotherhood), and they offer young people a proud identity--Muslim--in place of the dismal identity of unassimilated immigrant.
The biggest social change entailed by this Islamization, Obin reports, is a deterioration in the position of females. Teenage girls are forbidden to play sports and are constantly watched by an informal religious police made up of young men, sometimes their own younger brothers. Makeup, skirts, and form-fitting dresses are forbidden; dark, loose trousers are the strongly recommended attire. To go to the blackboard in front of a class, some Muslim girls put on long coats. Often, they are forced to wear the headscarf, or hijab, and forbidden to frequent coed movie theaters, community centers, and gyms, or even to go out at all on weekends. Lots of young women were afraid to tell the Obin team what punishments are in store for them if they disobey. Not only female students but also female teachers, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are frequently subjected to sexist remarks by male teenagers....
Inevitably, the report records rampant "Judeophobia," to use the term in vogue in France. Among even the youngest students, the term "Jew" has become the all-purpose insult. Obin deplores the fact that principals and teachers do not strenuously object to this, treating it simply as part of the youth culture. Even more serious is the increase in assaults on Jews or those presumed to be Jewish. Usually the assailants are Muslim students. Sometimes the victims are, too: One Turkish high-school girl was relentlessly harassed and bullied at school because her country is an ally of Israel. The section of the report on anti-Semitism winds up with this sad conclusion: In France today, Jewish kids are not welcome at every school. Many are forced to switch schools or even conceal their identity to escape anti-Semitism.
Read it all (alas, the Weekly standard article is for suscriber only, that's why I'm linking the dhimmiwatch entry...).
Posted by: Anonymous5089 ||
05/17/2005 7:26:16 AM ||
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#1
So, how long till the first European country panics and tries mass deportations?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/17/2005 9:04 Comments ||
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#2
I give it 2-5 years before a country tries to expell all muslems. Sooner if attacks against the elites happens/continues.
#5
At what point do they creat an underground railroad to get the Islamic women who want out, the hell away from their family and honor killing relatives?
At what point do idiot westerners stop falling in love with Islamic men and become property.
At what point do the socialist wake up and realize that Islam is filled with homophobic, misongonistic, warmongering fascists far worse than even their dillusions of Bush.
At what point do we all treat Islam as an equal and hold the religion accountable for the actions of its members instead of giving them a pass for genocide and slavery because they had a tough life.
#7
rj when we finally get a free and decent press that reports the truth, instead of garbage, lies and stuck in the sixties self-destructive, failed ideas. These socialists are all just a bunch of drones... thinking that they are The Informed, smarter and better than the rest of us, cause someone on BBC and NPR told them so.
I was listening to music on NPR yesterday as I was stuck and lost in traffic and the woman who was announcing the classical music had one of those accents...god only knows how to describe it...one of those NPR accents...and I thought to myself...where did they find this woman? And where did she get this accent? It's not a european accent, though this woman clearly desperately wishes she had one. If she were to walk into the grocery store and talk that way, we'd all raise an eyebrow and think...loser. I mean..did they pull this woman from some kind of 1920's New England High Society cyrogenic lab and get her to announce this show?
I mean...sure, we are used to NPR people talking this way..but I have to believe that she probably leaves the station and talks with a thick New Jersey accent..but just does her little nasaly high-brow routine to keep her NPR gig.
#8
Who would have thought that the first Arab nation to have atomic weapons would be France?
Posted by: Random thoughts ||
05/17/2005 10:49 Comments ||
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#9
Sounds like something very profound is going on and the French are just beginning to understand the long term implications. Things will surely get uglier still.
Al Jazeera correspondent Tayseer Alouni told a court on Monday he delivered $4,000 to a man later charged with mass murder in the Sept. 11 attacks but said he was doing a favor for an acquaintance.
The Arab TV channel reporter testified in his own defense in the trial of 24 al Qaeda suspects, three of them charged with helping the hijackers in the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. Alouni, 50, a Syrian with Spanish citizenship, denied close ties to the alleged cell leader in Spain and central figure in the trial, Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas.
He said he had no knowledge of Barakat Yarkas recruiting "mujahideen" Islamist fighters. "Our relationship was never intense or continuous ⊠He seemed to me well-mannered, very friendly, helpful," Alouni said.
Prosecutors seek a 9-year prison term against Alouni, who faces a charge of belonging to an armed group based in part on the $4,000 Alouni gave to Mohamed Bahaiah in 2000 in Afghanistan. Prosecutors say Bahaiah, still a fugitive, was a holy warrior with access to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Alouni was beginning his stint as Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul.
Alouni said he gave Bahaiah $4,000 after Bahaia's associates handed $4,000 to Alouni's wife at their home in Granada, Spain. Bahaiah's wife raised the money by selling their earthquake-damaged flat in Turkey, Alouni said. "I told him (Bahaiah) that it was no problem because I got paid in Kabul and didn't need all of my salary," Alouni said.
Much of Alouni's testimony recalled how he stood firm when he interviewed bin Laden on Oct. 21, 2001. Messengers came to his Kabul residence unannounced, blindfolded him, changed cars and drove for several hours. "I took off my blindfold and there was Mr bin Laden," Alouni said.
But bin Laden refused to take questions on current events. This was 40 days after the Sept. 11 attacks and two weeks after the U.S. military had invaded Afghanistan. Bin Laden said "there are some questions I don't want to answer. So I told him there would be no interview," Alouni said. Alouni relented and interviewed bin Laden, but Al Jazeera refused to air it because of the conditions he had imposed.
This article starring:
IMAD EDIN BARAKAT YARKAS
al-Qaeda
MOHAMED BAHAIAH
al-Qaeda
TAISIR ALUNI
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 00:42 ||
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Lest anybody forget, Newsweek has a long and admitted history of being anti-Bush, or in the following case, pro-BushOpponent aka John Effin Kerry. Maybe Evan Thomas is the "unnamed" source in the Koran flushing story.
October 17 2004 Reliable Sources on CNN:
Host Howard Kurtz asked Thomas: "Well, it is a tight race. But do you believe that most reporters want John Kerry to win?"
Evan Thomas: "Yeah. Absolutely."
Kurtz: "Do you think they're deliberately tilting their coverage to help John Kerry and John Edwards?"
Thomas: "Not really."
Kurtz: "Subconsciously tilting their coverage?"
Thomas: "Maybe."
Kurtz: "Maybe?"
Thomas: "Maybe."
Kurtz: "Including in Newsweek?"
Thomas, nodding: "Yeah."
Kurtz reminded him: "You've said on the program Inside Washington that because of the portrayal of Kerry and Edwards as 'young and dynamic and optimistic,' that that's worth maybe 15 points. So that would suggest-"
Thomas: "Stupid thing to say. It was completely wrong. But I do think that, I do think that the mainstream press, I'm not talking about the blogs and Rush and all that, but the mainstream press favors Kerry. I don't think it's worth 15 points. That was just a stupid thing to say."
Kurtz: "Is it worth 5 points?"
Thomas: "Maybe, maybe."
And who can forget this little snippetin Newsweek's "How Bush Did It" story post-election:
For more than a year, NEWSWEEK followed the presidential campaigns of both men from the inside. Beginning in mid-2003, a team of NEWSWEEK reporters detached from the weekly magazine to devote themselves to observing, recording and shaping the narrative that follows. The reporters were granted unusual access to the staffs and families of both candidates on the understanding that the information they learned would not be made public until this Election Issue—after the votes were cast on Nov. 2.
Now let's all have a drink together to celebrate. Or, if you prefer, feel free to vomit into the receptacle of your choice.
More than two years ago, the Pentagon issued detailed rules for handling the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, requiring U.S. personnel to ensure that the holy book is not placed in "offensive areas such as the floor, near the toilet or sink, near the feet, or dirty/wet areas."
The three-page memorandum, dated Jan. 19, 2003, says that only Muslim chaplains and Muslim interpreters can handle the holy book, and only after putting on clean gloves in full view of detainees.
The detailed rules require U.S. Muslim personnel to use both hands when touching the Koran to signal "respect and reverence," and specify that the right hand be the primary one used to manipulate any part of the book "due to cultural associations with the left hand." The Koran should be treated like a "fragile piece of delicate art," it says.
The memo, written a year after the first detainees were brought to Guantanamo from Afghanistan, reflects what U.S. officials said was a specific policy on handling the Koran, one of the most sensitive issues to Muslims. The Pentagon does not have a similar policy regarding any other major religious book and takes "extra precautions" on the Muslim holy book, officials said.
"They're not supposed to in any way disrespect or desecrate the Koran, and there are a very specific set of rules the military has on handling the Koran," State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said yesterday. "We made it clear that our practices and our policies are completely different" from allegations in a Newsweek article that the magazine formally retracted yesterday. The Newsweek report said that U.S. military investigators had confirmed that a U.S. interrogator at Guantanamo had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet.
The Pentagon memo, among other directives, barred military police from touching the Koran. If a copy of the book was to be moved from a cell, the memo said, it must be placed on a "clean, dry detainee towel" and then wrapped without turning it over at any time. Muslim chaplains must then ensure that it is not placed in any offensive area while transported.
In an effort at damage control, the State Department transmitted the Newsweek retraction to all U.S. embassies in Islamic countries yesterday along with statements by top Bush administration officials about U.S. respect for the Koran.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 00:07 ||
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#1
"...a specific policy on handling the Koran, one of the most sensitive issues to Muslims. The Pentagon does not have a similar policy regarding any other major religious book and takes "extra precautions" on the Muslim holy book, officials said."
Bush will no doubt stick by his "Middle East Democracy" project through thick and thin, for the remainder of his term in office.
But by the time he leaves in January '09, I suspect most Americans will be damn sick and tired of Muslims and their "sensitive issues". I know I am, already-- and I've been a staunch supporter of this project so far.
But never again. If there's another mass-casualty terrorist attack on American soil, let's not waste any more of our soldiers' lives trying to address the root causes of Muslim pathology, OK? Because it's beginning to appear that the problem is intrinsic to Islam.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/17/2005 1:32 Comments ||
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#2
Dave D.: I feel your pain. This whole episode is threatening to drag me back to the "screw it, just nuke 'em all" camp.
#3
Well, I don't know about nuking 'em all, but that is one of the options.
Problem is, when you look at the entire range of possible responses to future terrorist attacks and enumerate our options, the resulting list is pretty short:
1. SURRENDER- One quick way to solve the Islamic terrorism problem would be to simply surrender to them: become Muslim, or dhimmis.
2. APPEASEMENT- Maybe they can be bought off, perhaps with lavish foreign aid; or maybe we could withdraw our support from Israel and give the Muslims free rein to indulge their passion for slaughtering Jews.
3. CRIMINAL PROSECUTION- We could round up terrorists one by one or in small groups and "bring them to justice"-- but only after they've done their damage, and only if we can find them, capture them, and gather enough evidence against them to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. And then come the appeals, and the ACLU...
4. LIBERATION & DEMOCRATIZATION- What we're doing now in Iraq and Afghanistan: seeing if Arab/Islamic society can be detoxified by introducing democratic self-governance. Maybe it can; maybe it can't. The jury's still out, at least for the duration of Bush's presidency. But it won't be out much longer than that.
5. CONQUEST & SUBJUGATION- The "Ann Coulter Option": invade their countries, execute their political and religious leaders, dynamite their mosques and madrassas, and rule them with an iron fist.
6. EXPULSION & QUARANTINE- Expel all Muslims from the U.S., make the practice of Islam within our borders a criminal offense, and refuse visas-- even for the briefest of visits-- to all Muslims and all citizens from Islamic countries.
7. COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT- We could respond to terrorist attacks on our cities by attacking Arab/Muslim cities in kind, a la Dresden. Or Hiroshima, for that matter. Tit for tat.
8. EXTERMINATION- No more Muslims = no more Islamic terrorism. One and a quarter billion people would have to be incinerated in a nuclear holocaust, but what the heck- can't make an omelet without breaking eggs, right?
And that's it.
Most of these options are bad-- VERY bad-- for either us, or them, or both. There's only one-- #4, what we're doing right now-- that creates any kind of "win-win situation"; and it doesn't appear to be going spectacularly well.
It's also the most laborious of all the options, and if future American presidents will take just one lesson from George Bush's travails, it is this: the American people do not have the stomach for any more "long, hard slogs". The anti-war camp is powerful and relentless; the Democratic Party will remain loyal only up until the next campaign season; the press will do everything possible to undermine and discredit everything our troops do; and the U.N. as well as most of our "allies" will work steadfastly against us, not for us.
Given all that, I suppose I wouldn't blame some future President for responding to another mass-casualty terrorist attack by choosing Door #7 or Door #8. What else could he do, really?
(Sorry for the bandwidth-busting comment, Fred; but this has been gnawing at me for quite a while)
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/17/2005 2:57 Comments ||
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#4
Word. In Spades. Awesome, President Dave.
Clean, tight, dead-center, dead-right. Q.E.D.
*standing ovation*
Now I know who I want calling the shots after Bush.
#7
Yeah, #2 and #3 were tried and failed; but practically the entire leadership of the Democratic Party thinks those things are EXACTLY what we should be doing.
The ironic thing is, the President most likely to reach immediately for The Big Red Button would be a Democrat: no stomach for a struggle, and anxious as hell to get the WoT behind him and turn the country's attention back to the time-honored business of pandering to parasites.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/17/2005 4:23 Comments ||
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#8
the American people do not have the stomach for any more "long, hard slogs".
I worry -- what does this mean for America if that is so?
I wonder if even a Republican president elected in 2008 will have the stomach. Rudy and Condi yes, but McCain doesn't ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
05/17/2005 8:34 Comments ||
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#9
Of course, the same rules must also apply for the handling of the most Holy Bible...don't they?
If not, they must be. Islam is NOT to be afforded more respect and deferance than any other religion.
there is also the containment until self distruction option
this is similar to the Cold War win
Islam is, in many ways, a brittle faith. If and when the mullarky falls and there are mass defections from Islam, the consequences in other parts of the Umma could be big. Similarly, Ibn Warraq's next book - provisionally called "What is Real Islam" will presumably show it as a complete fraud. That could start the ball rolling toward an end of the threat.
#11
"I worry -- what does this mean for America if that is so?"
What I think it means is that the next time, whoever's in charge might be very reluctant to attempt anything but a quick fix-- which means either craven appeasement or extreme violence.
Somehow, I kinda doubt the Dems and their cohorts in the MSM have thought this through-- they can't see beyond their desire to make U.S. troops, and a Republican president, look bad.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/17/2005 8:56 Comments ||
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#12
"there is also the containment until self distruction option"
Yep, that's one of the consequences I had in mind under "Quarantine", that if we could totally separate them from us they'd eventually collapse.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/17/2005 9:00 Comments ||
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#13
I offer for your consideration a simpler Option 5: destroy their military installations, their government buildings, their airports, their ports, their mosques, and their madrassas and then fly back home. Do it again in five years. No troops, no occupation, no humanitarian aid, no rebuilding. If they want to go back 14 centuries, they get their wish.
I've had enough of wasting troops and money. Dresden was obliterated to teach the Germans that they had best not ever rise up again. Afghanistan was conquered without the Dresden message and so we still have hostilities flaring, fanatical Islam tolerated, and poppies growing. Never again.
As for attacking in kind or "tit for tat", forget it. Muslims can play tit for tat for centuries. Up the ante: we lose a building to Muslim fanatics; Muslim fanatics pay with a major holy site. We lose a city; Muslim fanatics pay with a country (see simpler Option 5 above). [And don't think oil will save YOU, Saudi Arabia. YOU haven't paid for your role in 9/11 yet. If the next "9/11" is another Saudi-inspired attack, YOU can expect retribution that will be legendary.]
Severely damage a U.S. city and the George Bush you know to date will look like a whimp at a dude ranch compared to what will follow.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/17/2005 9:24 Comments ||
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#14
6 & 7 should have been our responses on the afternoon of 9-11, with 8 as the loudly broadcasted "Next Step" if there were any further attacks against the US.
Sounds horrible, I admit, but how many reports of these "sermons", and State-sponsered "sermons" do we have to read about where muslims call for genocide against Jews and Americans, and,when they're feeling a 'lil fiesty, the West in general?
Again and again we are supposed to take their barbaric behavior in stride, and impose rules on ourselves on how our soldiers are supposed to handle their "holy" book in front of POWs.
That is absolute insanity. How many of us are going to have to die before we wake up and fight this war for real.
Okay, now I need some toast calm down all that coffee I drank this morning...
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/17/2005 9:27 Comments ||
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#15
Wow! Is that the same Dave D that sleeps under the pool table? Still waters run deep. *applause*
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/17/2005 10:21 Comments ||
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#16
3. CRIMINAL PROSECUTION- We could round up terrorists one by one or in small groups and "bring them to justice"-- but only after they've done their damage, and only if we can find them, capture them, and gather enough evidence against them to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. And then come the appeals, and the ACLU...
Rethink this angle for a moment. If we actually criminally prosecuted hate-speech and attempts at treason in the Mosques of the US this policy might be effective. Certainly the Brits should be doing so. Instead throughout the West Islam gets a pass on hate speach while the rest of us bend over.
Add to that a rigorious search for anyone not in the country legally as well as policies to keep new illegals out, and perhaps a growing belief that the burdon of proof that Islam is a religion of Peace should be put upon the worshipers of Islam. Until then it should be refered to as a religion of Submission.
#17
I'm a Door #8 kinda guy. I just don't see the other options as anything other than delaying the inevitable. Their little book of wisdumb maps out what they want. They will always try again.
#18
Options 5 and 6 work for me. Pass laws declaring open season on Muslims in the U.S. and I suspect there won't be many left after very long. Those who can will run. Those who can't will die or convert. The Muzzies would understand this--it's just their own game turned around with the sharp end pointed toward them. Ferdinand and Isabella had the right idea, though.
Posted by: mac ||
05/17/2005 11:37 Comments ||
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#19
Wow. Lotsa ideas, all of them good...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/17/2005 12:09 Comments ||
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#20
I started at #7 on 9/12/2001 and hoped a strong object lesson would be enough. Admired W for trying #4. See #8 coming. The AH's are crazy and will never give up. 10% of one billion is a lot of terrorists.
Islam, by its nature, is in permanent competition with other civilizations. Harvard professor of government Samuel Huntington coined the phrase "Islam's bloody borders" - a reference to the fact that wherever Islam rubs up against other civilizations, wars seem to break out.
Posted by: dj ||
05/17/2005 13:23 Comments ||
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#22
I'm in the #5 category. It worked in Japan and Germany. I'd like to skip over #6 for the moment, or at least reduce it to 5.5 (no admittance, but no blanket expulsions). Perhaps combine #7 with #5: first attack -> we set up the REA, second attack -> Lebanon is a Christian nation, third attack -> the Road to Damascus leads to a Christian state.
OK gents, get out yer wallets. There was a fair amount of wagering on good ol' Gorgeous George. Will the interested parties please make themselves known... Moonbat Maverick British lawmaker George Galloway arrived in Washington on Monday and said he was determined to prove the "absurdity" of allegations that he benefited from the U.N.'s oil-for-food program for Iraq.
Note to al-Reuters...Galloway is no "maverick." He is a bought and paid for mouthpiece of Jihad Inc.
Galloway is set to answer questions on Tuesday at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which released documents it said showed ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein gave Galloway the rights to export 20 million barrels of oil under the now-defunct U.N. oil-for-food humanitarian program. Galloway said he was looking forward to telling his side of the story but had low expectations. "I have no expectation of justice from a group of Christian fundamentalist and Zionist activists under the chairmanship of a neocon (President) George Bush who is pro-war," Galloway told Reuters on his arrival in the United States.
His speech is right out of the Tranzi Taqiyya Big Book of Talking Points and The Idiotarian's Guide for Media Whinges.
"I come not as the accused but as the accuser," he added.
"J'cuse! You're really gonna get it now!""
Galloway was strongly critical of the committee's investigation into his activities and said he was never contacted or asked a single question about the allegations. "I'm not going there to change the minds of the committee, but to appeal to public opinion and to show just how absurd this report is," he said. "Justice George Bush style ... is what I expect from the right-wing hawks in Washington."
You're welcome, George. We aim to please.
Asked whether he had prepared a statement to present at the hearing, Galloway said he had formulated some thoughts but declined to say what these were.
"I'm off to have a few pints at the Four P's and get in line for Star Wars at the Uptown. Ask me later."
#1
Does anyone know where/when his appearance before the Congressional Committee will be televised? I want to watch the whole thing, if possible. Thanks in advance. :-)
#2
tw - I heard, in a promo on Fox today, that he was to testify tomorrow at Sen Norm Coleman's OFF inquiry. I'm sure it will be carried by Fox - and I'm sure they'll advertise when the coverage will begin.
#6
He was on the Beeb this morning bleating about Gitmo and Bagram being representative of American justice. I say give him Saddam's version of justice, or Taliban justice...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/17/2005 5:35 Comments ||
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#7
Uh oh, I seem to remember saying something about $50.
#12
Sorry, I should have said the broadcast is 'webcast' at or near the link I provided. Powerlineblog.com gives directions how to navigate to the webcast.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/17/2005 10:36 Comments ||
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#15
They are still laying out the evidence such as the ghost companies, complicity in avoiding the interdiction and the paperwork relationship between middlemen and allocation-holders.
I have not seen Galloway yet nor heard any mention if he is there. I keep watching the audience for sparks and steam. None visible so far.
#17
Galloway is there now...declaring he owns 'no company' that sells oil...he's full of fire...looking at him is like looking at evil...no shame, no remorse, boldly declaring his actions are without fault...not sure I can watch all of it...perhaps there will be a transcript.
#18
This guy makes my skin crawl. He is a very bad guy. I hope that he trips and hits his head on a rock. That or the Capitol police shoot him. In the head. Several times.
#24
Having read some of the quotes from the exchanges I find Curious Gorgeous George pretty underwhelming as an orator. He's got that seemingly sociopathic m.o. going though.
#26
Well, shit: he showed up, and he actually testified. Guess I'm out $50 now. Fred, the czech is in the mail...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/17/2005 16:38 Comments ||
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#27
Dave D - Did you put airholes in the box?
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/17/2005 18:07 Comments ||
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#28
$50 for me too. Fred wins, which means I win :)
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
05/17/2005 18:39 Comments ||
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#29
He sure loves these jihad causes
Complaint on use of funds prompts investigation and raises echoes of the past In the mid-1990s, he faced allegations that lobby groups he was involved with received £360,000 from the Pakistan government. BBC Newsnight said Mr Galloway received a cheque from the Benazir Bhutto government worth £50,000 for the National Lobby on Kashmir.
A further £10,000 was paid in cash to the group. Documents detailing the payments were uncovered by a Pakistani commission investigating Mrs Bhutto after she was ousted in 1996. The Bhutto government also agreed to pay a company of which Mr Galloway was a director, Asian Voice Ltd, £500,000 to set up a newspaper favourable to it. Around £300,000 was paid. The paper, East, ran into financial difficulty when Mrs Bhutto was ousted.
Secret payments were later funnelled to the Pakistan Projection Fund in London. Mr Galloway says he received no benefit from these monies, and the Commons standards committee cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Posted by: john ||
05/17/2005 19:15 Comments ||
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#30
I forgot to upgrade to the $3.00 PayPal satisfaction guarantee. I guess I'll have no recourse if Fred turns site ops over to Daily Kos.
Tehran, 17 May (AKI) - An agent from the Iranian security services is believed to have been arrested by the judicial police in Tehran in connection with the death in prison of the Canadian-Iranian photo journalist, Zahra Kazemi. Iranian websites say the agent had sent Canadian diplomatic representatives in Tehran, photographs and x-rays of Kazemi taken before her death during her period at the Baghiollah military hospital in the capital, Tehran.
A very brave man.
Kazemi, a 54-year-old Iranian-born Canadian photojournalist, was arrested in June 2003 after taking photos of demonstrations outside a Tehran prison. She died in the Tehran hospital two weeks later on 11 July 2003 after falling into a coma, believed to have been brought on by head injuries sustained during more than three days of interrogation.
According to the website Akhbar Rouz, the photos and x-rays taken during Kazemi's period at the hospital, are believed to document the torture and violence that was inflicted on her during her interrogation. The arrested agent, who has only been identified by the name Aref, is said to have obtained an immigration visa from the Canadian authorities in exchange for the documentation on Kazemi's case.
Trying to buy his way out with info, but waited too long.
The Canadian government recently accused the Iranian judicial authorities of injuring Zahra Kazemi during her interrogations. The Iranian judiciary maintains the head injuries were the result of an accident. The first hearing of Kazemi's case at Iran's highest appeals court case began on Monday behind closed doors, with neither the public or media allowed to attend.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/17/2005 12:24:35 PM ||
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#1
I don't imagine that there will be any x-rays taken of his injuries.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/17/2005 20:57 Comments ||
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A Syrian human rights organisation has called on President Bashar al-Assad to release detainees and put an end to illegal arrests. Syrian human rights activist and writer Ali Abd Allah was arrested overnight at his home near Damascus, rights organisations said on Monday. "Ali Abd Allah was probably arrested because he had read a message written by Ali Sadr al-Din al-Bayanuni, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, during a 7 May Atassi political dissident forum about reforms in Syria," said the Syrian Organisation for the Defence of Human Rights (SODH).
The Syrian government has banned most dissident political forums, and has prohibited opposition groups from operating, including the Muslim Brotherhood. However, intellectuals, activists and human rights leaders regularly attend discussion meetings at the home of Suheir al-Attasi, which has become known as the Attasi salon.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Campaigning kicked off yesterday for parliamentary elections in Lebanon as former civil war foes formed unlikely political alliances. The influential head of the Maronite Church, meanwhile, reiterated calls for efforts to ensure the polls are representative of Lebanon's different sects. In a move seen by the press as a step toward the first genuine attempt at national reconciliation since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, Druze chief Walid Jumblatt and Sunni leader Saad Hariri joined forces with former foes. Jumblatt and Sitrida Geagea, wife of the jailed leader of the disbanded Lebanese Forces Christian militia, Samir Geagea, have formed an alliance and announced a joint electoral list, pledging to "turn the page on the past".
The Lebanese Forces and militants from Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party fought ferocious battles for supremacy in the Shouf mountains, east of Beirut, during the war. Hariri, son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, picked Solange Gemayel, widow of slain former president and Christian warlord Bashir Gemayel, as the sole Maronite candidate on his electoral list for Beirut's three districts.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sharply criticized Syria on Monday for what she called unwillingness to close its borders to terrorists she said are to blame for some of the violence in Iraq. "Their unwillingness to deal with the crossings of their border into Iraq is frustrating the will of the Iraqi people," and leading to the deaths of innocent Iraqis, Rice said en route home from a surprise trip to see Iraq's new leaders.
She said the United States will try to enlist Syria's Arab neighbors to pressure Syria to clamp down. "We're going to go back and look again at what the neighbors can do to get the Syrians to stop support for these foreign terrorists who we believe are gathering on Syrian territory and coming across," Rice told reporters traveling with her.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#2
Asking Assad to close his border to terrorists is like asking Vicente Fox to help us protect our southern border from illegals. Rots of ruck with that request, Ms. Rice.
#3
Give the troops a chance to catch their breath before you send them off on their next mission, Mr. Meanie. As former President Clinton demonstrated so conclusively, shooting a few missiles is ineffective; it takes a light-up-the-night-sky barrage, probably with a boots-on-the-ground follow-up, to squeeze them hard enough that their hearts and minds will follow.
Oh, and the correct formulation is "should have", not "should of", use of which demonstrates misunderstanding of a regional pronounciation of "should've". If you are going to criticize another's rhetoric, you should more be careful of your own.
#5
Syrian to close its borders to terrorists, version 6.1.
Stop playing footsie and kick some Syrian tail. Hot pursuit is a good thang.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/17/2005 4:46 Comments ||
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#6
My take on this is that Condi is giving notice to Syria - a sort of diplomatic "Don't make us come over there!". And don't be surprised when we cross the border in hot pursuit of Bad Guys. Or engage in pre-emptive Predator strikes. Hey, we warned you.
#10
I'd like to know exactly how my post was "off topic", or "demeaning." Looks more like I tweaked someone's nose on another post. Trailing wife, since you were able to read my post to answer it, tell us, was that post off-topic or demeaning?
As for my grammar, it looks like you understood perfectly well what I meant, and really that's all that matters isn't it? Why should I waste my time checking my grammar or spelling to post on an internet message board? Methinks you were just collecting some brownie points; a typical strategy of those with weak arguments.
Back to topic, does anyone seriously believe the "war on terror" is going any further that this involvement in Iraq?
#11
does anyone think this war on terror is going further than Iraq. uh..yeah. The people who have brains and can add two plus two think so. but other than that. no. Red meanie...go back to reading about peace and love and how if nobody shows up for a war, there won't be one...ya sixties loser.
#12
oh...and red meanie..since you have so much time on your hands...don't miss jane fonda's latest flick. You know jane, sixties idol who was photographed on a communist anti-aircraft gun(those peaceful communists who killed hundreds of millions in their cause for peace) jane..the anti-capitalist feminist, who made millions on the exercise videos that told women that they needed to get in shape to be sexy for their men, who married Ted..the capitalist mogul.
and no..you're not &^%$^&ed up in your ideals. you have it all figured out. The islamists...they aren't mass murdering take-over-the-world-ambitious-wanna bees, who want to throw civilization back to the stone ages, they are hip and with it rebels...just like jane and her communist buddies. Power, baby power to the people. At least to the people who have the power. go sixties.
#15
Lebanon now stands half a chance of being free. What if it were considered a War on Tyranny?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/17/2005 21:39 Comments ||
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#16
Blah, blah, blah..yada, yada , yada.
Jdams should of begun dropping on Syrian targets on Nov 3, 2004.
Rhetorically, this administration is beginning to sound like more like Sadam's regime every day.
Lebanon has suspended another of its top security chiefs three months on from the murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri. Colonel Ghassan Tufeili, head of the monitoring services of military intelligence, was abruptly asked to stand down from his post yesterday afternoon, becoming the latest high-profile security figure to be suspended following the suspension of State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum last month. Tufeili's departure means Lebanon's head of the Presidential Guard, General Mustapha Hamdan, is the only senior security chief to remain in his post following Hariri's murder after opposition demands that the country's pro-Syrian security heads be sacked for failing to protect Hariri.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Saad Hariri, the son of slain former Premier Rafik Hariri, predicted Monday that the anti-Syrian opposition generated from the February 14 bomb blast would win a landslide in the upcoming parliamentary polls. In an interview with AFP, Hariri pledged a "white revolution against the police state which governed Lebanon during 15 years" - a reference to Syria and its allies. "The opposition will win between 80 and 90 seats," in the 128-member Parliament in the elections due to kick off on May 29, he said.
Hariri, 35, announced on Sunday a powerhouse list of 19 candidates for Beirut's three multi-member constituencies, which will be the first to go to the polls in Lebanon's phased elections. Ten of them are Christians and the rest Muslims, and they include a number of unlikely political alliances between former arch-foes from Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. Hariri's list includes Solange Gemayel, widow of slain president-elect and Christian warlord Bashir Gemayel, the only candidate for Beirut's Maronite Christian seat, and Hizbullah candidate Amin Sherri for one of the two Shiite seats. Saad Hariri's list is expected to sweep the capital's three electora
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Cabinet is expected to appoint a new director general to the Surete Generale and State Security agencies on Wednesday. Political sources said the top post at Surete Generale will go to Brigadier Adnan Laqqis, who holds a post at the Internal Security Forces, and who will be promoted to major general. Cabinet is also expected to appoint Brigadier Simon Haddad, who is an ISF inspector general, as head of State Security. Haddad will also be promoted to major general. The source added the soon to be vacant post of inspector General will go to Brigadier Ghassan Barakat, who is commander of Jdeideh's regional squad.
In the Southern Intelligence department, Major General Abass Ibrahim was appointed as head. In the Bekaa, Major General Ghassan al-Hakim was appointed, whereas in Mount Lebanon, Major General George Kahwaji was appointed. In the North, Major General Omar al-Halabi and in Beirut, Albert Karam remained as heads of intelligence. Meanwhile, the ISF Command Council led by Major General Ashraf Rifi and Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa met with President Emile Lahoud Monday, in addition to several security chiefs and commanders. During their meeting, Lahoud stressed the importance of the ISF's role during the elections, calling for the objective and strict protection of security inside polling stations.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Edited for brevity.
Border agents using gamma-imaging technology on an incoming freight train apprehended two Brazilian nationals trying to enter the United States illegally, authorities said Monday.
Nilson Giusti, 41, and Agiles Bezerra, 23, were found in two separate cars on the Black Rock Rail Bridge [near Buffalo, NY,] Saturday, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The two were returned to Canada. Inspectors use gamma radiation technology to scan rail cars, trucks and cargo containers for people, weapons and other contraband. I'm just happy to see that some int'l railcars are being scanned. Anyone know if this is being done (and if it is effective) with containers at ports?
Posted by: Dar ||
05/17/2005 15:18 ||
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#3
It is being done on containers at ports. I used to work for a company that makes the devices. It can also detect nasty things not mentioned in the article.
Posted by: jolly roger ||
05/17/2005 17:26 Comments ||
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#4
I know the Otay Mesa checkpoint (shipping/cargo) east of Tijuana has several container scanners
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/17/2005 17:53 Comments ||
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AMMAN, Jordan, May 17 (UPI) -- Jordanian authorities have indicted a group of Muslim extremists accused of planning attacks in Jordan and Israel, an official said Tuesday. Military Prosecutor Fawwaz Atoum announced the indictment of eight men accused of trying to find recruits for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to carry out attacks against Israel. Seven of the eight suspects are currently jailed in Jordan, while one suspect is believed to be hiding in Syria, he said.
All eight are charged with conspiring and planning terrorist attacks that would have exposed Jordan to danger and undermined its relations with a foreign country.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/17/2005 11:58:34 AM ||
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May 17, 2005: As of April 1, the number of Sudanese refugees now in camps in eastern Chad was 193,000. "Internally Displaced Persons" (IDPs, ie refugees still in Sudan) were estimated at 1.97 million people.
Some 1.6 million (in Darfur or Chad) people received food aid during the month of April 2005. Approximately 2.1 million people in the area needed food during that month. That means that either security issues (eg, militia activity) or lack of logistic capacity kept 500,000 from receiving food shipments.
One particular supply route as being particularly vulnerable: the main road connecting the towns of Nyala and Ed Daein in South Darfur. African Union (AU) peacekeepers can only escort one food convoy per week on this route. The AU force lacks sufficient ground and air transport to do much more.
May 16, 2005: The government strategy of delay and obfuscation appears to be working. Non-African peacekeepers are being kept out of Darfur, and the threatening presence of Arab militias are keeping the two million non-Arab refugees from returning home. That means that the Arab tribes will keep the land they have stolen from the non-Arab tribes. The refugees will become the UNs problem. If the UN won't feed and care for them, the government will let them starve, or move off to neighboring countries.
Posted by: ed ||
05/17/2005 09:07 ||
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#3
I'm sure the UN will jump right on this and schedule a conference in S. Africa and a luncheon in Paris to plan the next conference on how sternly to write the letter to the Sudanese government.
In the meantime non-muslim people in Sudan starve to death as well as get killed and raped by 'moderate muslims'.
But of course the false allegation of one Koran being flushed down a toilet is much more important then millions of deaths...
This Week's Palestinian Authority Sermon: We (Muslims) Will Rule America; Israel is a Cancer; Jews are a Virus Resembling AIDS; Muslims Will Finish Them Off
The following are excerpts from this week's official Friday sermon on Palestinian Authority (PA) TV. [1] The preacher is Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris, a paid employee of the PA. To view the sermon visit http://memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=669.
"Allah has tormented us with 'the people most hostile to the believers' — the Jews. 'Thou shalt find that the people most hostile to the believers to be the Jews and the polytheists.' Allah warned His beloved Prophet Muhammad about the Jews, who had killed their prophets, forged their Torah, and sowed corruption throughout their history.
"With the establishment of the state of Israel, the entire Islamic nation was lost, because Israel is a cancer spreading through the body of the Islamic nation, and because the Jews are a virus resembling AIDS, from which the entire world suffers.
"You will find that the Jews were behind all the civil strife in this world. The Jews are behind the suffering of the nations.
"Ask Britain what it did to the Jews in the early sixth century. What did they do to the Jews? They expelled them, tortured them, and prevented them from entering Britain for more than 300 years. All this was because of what the Jews did in Britain. Ask France what it did to the Jews. They tortured them, expelled them, and burned their Talmud, because of the civil strife the Jews wanted to spark in France, in the days of Louis XIX. Ask Portugal what it did to the Jews. Ask Czarist Russia, which welcomed the Jews, who plotted to kill the Czar - so he massacred them. But don't ask Germany what it did to the Jews. It was the Jews who provoked Nazism to wage war against the entire world, when the Jews, using the Zionist movement, got other countries to wage an economic war on Germany and to boycott German merchandise. They provoked Russia, Britain, France, and Italy. This enraged the Germans toward the Jews, leading to the events of those days, which the Jews commemorat today.
"But they are committing worse deeds than those done to them in the Nazi war. Yes, perhaps some of them were killed and some burned, but they are inflating this in order to win over the of the media and gain the world's sympathy. The worst crimes in history were committed against the Jews, yet these crimes are no worse than what the Jews are doing in Palestine. What was done to the Jews was a crime, but isn't what the Jews are doing today in the land of Palestine not a crime?!
"Look at modern history. Where has Great Britain gone? Where has Czarist Russia gone? Where has France gone - France, which almost ruled the entire world? Where is Nazi Germany, which massacred millions and ruled the world? Where did all these superpowers go? He who made them disappear will make America disappear too, God willing. He who made Russia disappear overnight is capable of making America disappear and fall, Allah willing.
"We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world — except for the Jews. The Jews will not enjoy a life of tranquility under our rule, because they are treacherous by nature, as they have been throughout history. The day will come when everything will be relieved of the Jews - even the stones and trees which were harmed by them. Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew." Peace is just around the corner.
Posted by: ed ||
05/17/2005 02:52 ||
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#1
Please move to Page 2: Israel-Palestine. Thanks.
Posted by: ed ||
05/17/2005 2:59 Comments ||
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#2
Pardon my ignorance of Middle East/Israel history and I don't want to sound facetious, but can anyone answer me this question: why did the Jews move into this bad neighborhood after WWII? What did they expect would be the ongoing reaction from the Arabs countries? Why did the Jewish Europeans not just start their lives over again in their former "home" countries pre-WWII? Europe was literally shell shocked after the war. Millions upon millions of non Jewish Europeans had their lives, homes, families devasted, many were completely displaced. But everyone else in Europe just started over again. Why did the European Jews migrate to the Middle East to start a new country in known hostile territory. I don't understand what the Jews hoped they would gain by building Israel in the midst of Arab/Muslim countries.
#5
I recognize that there is a biblical association for siting Israel where it is. But the European Jews in 1945 were not biblical aged Jews. They had established themselves in various countries over time. After the horrors of WWII, after suffering through the hatred of the Naziis, who were now vanquished, why not go back to their old lives? Why start anew in a hostile part of the world? Did they think the Arabs would change their attitudes over time? It's not like the Arabs were more progressive or welcoming to the Jews in 1945. The Arabs were as hostile in 1945 as they are today. My point is that if I had been a European Jew in 1945, who had just survived the Naziis, the last thing I'd do is move to the Middle East next door to Arabs.
Basically, all I'm saying is I agree with the sarcasm of #1 - peace will not be around the corner - but that's no change from 1945.
#6
That wasn't sarcasm, that was the poster of the article realizing this should've been placed on Page 2 - Wot Background. Look a tad closer. Another example of where the nym has some relevance.
#7
Part of the answer is that the move for Jews to return to Israel began well before WWII. After the Nazis, that movement grew rapidly, for obvious reasons.
Another part of the answer is that Jerusalem and its surroundings was a nearly rural area with virtually no economy or political action when the return began.
Posted by: too true ||
05/17/2005 6:19 Comments ||
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#8
I should add that I'm not Jewish nor am I an automatic defender of the Israeli state. But I've been there and I've seen photos of the area from the 20s and 30s. There were some towns and small cities along the coast, but much of what is now part of Israel was undeveloped and the local Arabs - some of whom were Christian at the time, now converted to Islam under threats or moved awsay - had little in the way of political or economic organization.
Posted by: too true ||
05/17/2005 6:21 Comments ||
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#9
What did they expect would be the ongoing reaction from the Arabs countries? Err, what neighbouring Arab countries? At the end of WW2, Jordan didn't exist, Lebanon and Syria were French colonies and Egypt while nominally independant was a British protectorate and the Sinai was not part of its contiguous territory since it was separated from Egypt by the British/French controlled Canal Zone (at the time not legally part of Egypt).
#10
I am Jewish. To enable naivesoul to understand the meaningfullness of my answer to him, I share the following: my German-Jewish mother (the family has records of residence in Germany dating back centuries) lived through the war in hiding in Holland; my Latvian-Jewish father escaped to Palestine in 1934, but almost all of his family was wiped out by antisemites -- whether Nazis, Latvians or Soviets, we don't know, nor does it really matter. Some of my mother's relatives did choose to remain in Europe after the war.
First of all, find a copy of Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad, and read the chapter on the Holy Land. Twain wrote this near the end of the 19th century. He writes of the emptiness of what is now Israel, of not seeing a single person outside the members of their touring party for days, as they rode around the countryside. He also writes of the wreck of the land itself, alternating between arid, rocky waste and swampland. Next, check out the history links at Little Green Footballs (look on the left side for "resources" as you scroll down). This will give you a good feel for the history of the region, including population changes over the last two centuries.
OK. Now that you've cleared your mind of misconceptions, naivesoul, you are ready for some answers.
Why did the Jews choose to settle in what is now Israel, and declare independent Statehood as a secular Jewish State? Very simply, because the world reaction to the Holocaust -- essentially, "So the Nazis are killing Jews wholesale? Somebody ought perhaps to do something, but don't let those dirty Jews into my country!" -- proved to those who had hoped for safety in universal suffrage and national citizenship (my German grandfather earned an Iron Cross fighting for the Kaiser in WWI, as did several of his brothers and cousins, my Latvian grandmother and her friends did the work to make Latvian a proper language -- defining grammar and vocabulary, writing poetry and literature -- which enabled Latvia to establish nationhood after WWI in the way that the peasant dialect it had been up to that point could not have) that in the end no matter how thoroughly they assimilated -- and of my mother's family half had converted to Christianity long before the rise of the Nazis-- they would still be rejected as alien, with all the risks that was demonstrated to entail.
The world proved conclusively Theodor Herzl's contention, that without a Nation of their own to flee to, the Jews of the Diaspora would never be truly safe at the hands of other nations. In other words, in this post-Holocaust world, Zionism is the only sane and moral response.
For naivesoul's separate question, why a Jewish State in the midst of the Muslim Arabs? First of all, the Jews never completely left Israel. There have been Jewish communities in continuous existence in Hebron, Tiberius, Jerusalem, among others, since long before the Roman Conquest. Second, it is certainly no less safe to live as a Jew in Israel than in, say, France, and considerably safer than in any of the Arab countries, from which Jewish communities that in some cases dated back to the time of King Solomon, or to the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E., were ejected with pogroms and plunder in the years following Israel's establishment in 1948. Of Israel's approximately 4 million Jews today, over half came from the Muslim world -- now happily Judenfrei -- not from post-Holocaust Europe. And finally, where else would you suggest an independent Jewish homeland be established?
I hope Rantburgers will excuse the longwinded yet necessarily incomplete answer. But naivesoul did ask politely, and I have tried to answer in kind.
#11
TW,
Thanks for responding much more eloquently than I could. The bottom line is that Jewish integration into European nation states did not work. They learned the hard way that they could only rely upon themselves to fulfill the most basic of state functions, the protection of their lives. The Germans had a lot of help in sending the Jews of continental Europe to the extermination camps.
Posted by: ed ||
05/17/2005 9:31 Comments ||
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#12
The Germans had a lot of help in sending the Jews of continental Europe to the extermination camps.
France, for example. Vichy rounded them up on their own.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/17/2005 9:36 Comments ||
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#13
Excellent response, TW!
I'd like to point out that the Persian Empire legitimately returned the Jewish people to their land, and other than the incident with Haman (which was recitifed in accordance to their customs and manner) had excellent relations with them. The Jews, in their own land, suffered worse under the hands of the proto-EUROS, the Greeks and the Romans. it appears to me that the current day Europeans and the new roman empire, the EU (complete with civil servants acting just like Roman Empire Era bureaucrats), somehow has decided that it is mandatory for them to enforce ancient Roman Empire edicts vis-a-vis the Jews. However, keep in mind that the Jews were tossed out of their own land by the Romans because they were under subjugation and were acting to free themselves.
I issue a challenge to the supposed spiritual heirs of Ghandi and Martin Luther King: YOU challenge the Palestinians to engage in NONVIOLENT and peaceful, non-inflammatory, civil disobedience and protest. 100% STOP suicide bombings. NO MORE Kassam rockets. NO MORE sniping at cars on the freeways. NO MORE bus bombings. CHALLENGE the Palestinians to challenge the Israelis to show themselves the betters of the Colonial British or Old South americans, or prepare to demonstrate that they are WORSE.
Surely the adherents to the RELIGION OF PEACE can show Black Christians and Hindu Indians how to really do it, hmmmm?
#16
Thank you trailing wife and others for your mini history lesson. I will do further reading of the history of the ME.
That wasn't sarcasm, that was the poster of the article realizing this should've been placed on Page 2 - Wot Background. Look a tad closer. Another example of where the nym has some relevance.
What are you talking about? The original article poster said at the end of the sheik's long rant, "Peace is just around the corner." I took that to mean that the poster was making a grim understatement.
#17
Why did the European Jews migrate to the Middle East to start a new country in known hostile territory. I don't understand what the Jews hoped they would gain by building Israel in the midst of Arab/Muslim countries.
#18
naivesoul - Sheesh - are you for real? I have to ask: Are you being willfully dense, argumentative for the helluvit, or just not paying attention?
In comment #5 you referred to comment #1: "Basically, all I'm saying is I agree with the sarcasm of #1 - peace will not be around the corner - but that's no change from 1945."
Comment #1 is the guy who posted the article, ed, requesting that the RB Editors move the story to Page 2. It was not directed to other commenters for their take or reaction.
Take note of the centered headers you find within the articles listed on the main page:
Page 1 - WoT Operations
Page 2 - Wot Background
Page 3 - Non Wot
Now, have you got it?
If you were referring to ed's inline comment, "Peace is just around the corner.", then why didn't you quote it (usually done in italics)?
Why did you refer to it as #1? "#1" is the comment I explained above.
Suggestion: STFU and lurk until you "get it" regards how a site works, its norms and conventions. If you just read RB for a few days, before dazzling us with you wit and wisdom, most all would be clear.
Other historical data - in some cases antisemitism continued in central and eastern europe even after WW2. There was a pogrom in Poland in 1946. Throughout the region Jewish homes and businesses were in the hands of gentiles, who didnt want the Jews back. In other cases homes and businesses had been destroyed, and peoples families had been destroyed. Often whole communities had been destroyed. Also Jews in eastern europe found themselves simultaneously persecuted by Communists (if they were religious) and blamed by the local gentile population FOR the Communists.
Basically returning to "normal" life wasnt real possible for most - prewar Jewish life in most of Eastern Europe was by no means normal, and it was less normal after the war.
Now let's look at numbers: where Jews had better chance of surival? In Denmark. But Denmark was a special case: technically it had never been at war with Germany (Germany acted like its troops were stationned in, instead of occupying, Denmark) and since Nazis considered Scandinavs as purer Arians than Germans themselves, the Danish authorities had a LOT more autonomy than the French ones. Then it is Italy, but Italy was an ally not an occupied country and until the string of defeats forced Mussolini into subordination (ie until end 1942) Italy was able to say NO to the Germans (neither Italy's monarchist army or the civilian Fascist state were specially anti-semitic). And in third place and first in the "really occupied" countries we have... France with a survival rate nearly two times higher than in Belgium, four times than in the Neterlands, not to mention Poland where survival rate was near zero.
And while France sharing borders with two neutral countries was a factor the basic reason is that what Laval told Germans he would do was not necessarily was what he ordered the ministers to do and still less what ministers ordered to the chain of command and so on until the basic policeman or gendarme who decided the execution of the order could wait another day. And quite simply about your average Jean or Jaques who "forgot" that shopkeeper he saw every day was a Jew (many examples of Jews living in plain sight in the small cities of Southern France).
Now, if you want to give examples of anti-semitism how about Croatia, Poland or Czechoslovakia where survival rate was close to zero, populace eagerly helped the Germans , at times massacred Jews directly and where pogroms continued well after German's withdrawal?
Take note of the centered headers you find within the articles listed on the main page:
Page 1 - WoT Operations
Page 2 - Wot Background
Page 3 - Non Wot
But this is the categorization methodology used on RB.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
05/17/2005 12:24 Comments ||
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#24
I have to confess I don't know much of the activity of the Vichy "governement" after Torch and German's occupation of the Free Zone aka Vichy. From vague memories this led to the end of the "Resistant Vichy": the people who dreamed that Vichy could be the instrument of a revenge of the Germans and who while being loyal to the idol Petain had provided information to the Allies or hid weapons for the future (when occupying Germans were surprised as how many had escaped their missions of disarmament, problem is that most of the AT guns were 25 mm, marginally useful in 1940 and a liability in November 1942). We can also guess that the 1942 invasion allowed entry in the government of the true collaborationists and antisemitics who were previously in Paris instead of Vichy. I don't know what happenned with the "true" Vichists: ie the ones who were fundamentally traditionalists, anti-Republic and "return to peasantry".
The best books about Vichy are not from French authors (the subject still hurts here) but from an American historian: Robert Paxton. Google about him if you are interested in the subject.
#25
Summing up: the simplest argument seems to be, "we can live in our own country with our own law and our own military, surrounded by people who hate us, or we can stay in countires like France where we have no law, no military, and are surrounded by people who hate us." What a no brainer.
Posted by: Weird Al ||
05/17/2005 16:48 Comments ||
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#26
interesting comments. Somehow missed tw's post earlier. great post!
#27
I thank you all for your more than generous praise. At Rantburg I have had the priviledge of sitting at the feet of masters (of many diverse and interesting things, and my vocabulary is greatly expanded as a result!), and I hope my posts reflect what I have learned here. But gromgoru speaks with the voice of a true Israeli -- succinct and backed by the weaponry to enforce it. ;-) Liberalhawk is more knowlegeable than I about many things Jewish, but his nym (is that term correct here, .com?) sometimes handicaps him here at Rantburg. And our darling .com seems to need a hug today.
Raj, Grand Island (in the middle of the Niagara River) was once -- truly! -- offered as a homeland for the Jews of America, but they weren't interested, being rather busy helping settle the rest of the continent at the time. And the Arabists of the British Foreign Office proffered Kenya as a substitute homeland, which would be less upsetting to their romantic Arab pets, but that offer was also not accepted. Part of the problem between the Arabs and the Jews with regard to Israel is that during WWII the British government promised the same land several times over, to the different groups that needed to be wooed to help... or at least not sabotage ... the war effort. And so the Jews accepted the promise, and sent troops and translators (my father, who was still too young to soldier, was sent off to the border between Persia and Russia as a translator), while the Arabs engaged not to openly support Hitler. Of course Yasir Arafat's uncle did broadcast propaganda from Berlin, and much of the antisemitic drivel coming out of the Muslim/Arab world clearly derives from Nazi memes and images, but what's a little blatant support between friends?
"Former Terrorism Suspect is Deported: Moroccan . . . Was Forced to Leave," screamed a sympathetic headline in Gannett's Detroit News, last week.
Problem is, the deportation of alleged Detroit terror cell member Ahmed Hannan never happened. Hannan is still here.
And other details in the apocryphal article by Detroit News reporter David Shepardson were also wrong or made-up. The May 3, 2005 article claimed that Hannan—who planned to blow up U.S. tourist sites and a U.S. Air Force Base in Turkey—was deported two weeks before the article ran. Yet, he's still here. The article also reported that Hannan's teeth were knocked out in a jailhouse fight, "last month." But the fight happened on February 10, 2005, three months ago.
Had Shepardson done the least amount of real reporting —ie., fact-checking with the jail and the federal government, in whose custody Hannan remains—he would have discovered the truth. But Shepardson relied exclusively on alleged terrorist Hannan's lawyer, Jim Thomas, for the entire story, and never checked a thing. (By the way, the sob-story Detroit News headline about Hannan being "Forced to Leave"? Hannan pled guilty to a federal crime. Should he be allowed to stay?)
Why is David Shepardson's phony story cause for concern? Because Shepardson is The Detroit News' primary reporter on the domestic War on Islamic Terror, in the heart of Islamic America. He is the News' primary reporter on Federal law enforcement, the Justice Department, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit. His stories get picked up and run all over America via the Gannett News Service wire.
The U.S. State Department said Monday Iran must make its ties with Iraq "transparent" and stay out of its neighbor's politics.
"Iran's relations with people inside Iraq are not transparent," spokesman Richard Boucher said. "They need to be made transparent."
The comments come a day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a surprise visit to Iraq where she urged the Shiite- and Kurdish- dominated government to include more Sunnis. Shiites are the largest faction in Iraq and are also a majority in Iran.
Boucher said Iran's relations with Iraq should be friendly but free of political interference.
"They need to be normal relations, friendly relations, between neighbors, but they shouldn't be in the nature of political influence, they should be in the nature of diplomatic relations," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 01:19 ||
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#1
State dept. officials are so full of great ideas lately. Rice tells Shiite and Kurd officials to involve blood thirsty sunnis more in Iraqi politics, even though it was the USA that removed the ruling sunnis from Iraqi politics just a year ago.
Then Boucher gives advice to shiite Iran ( a country which the USA does not officially recognize as existing) for the way it should conduct itself with a fellow shiite state, Iraq. What a laugh - like Iran and Sistani and Sadr are going to pay attention to a suit from DC.
More importantly, why doesn't Boucher counsel Saudi Arabia and Syria to stop supplying insurgents to Iraq, fighters who are blowing up our GI's everyday? A report just came out that 75% of foreign fighters come from those 2 countries. Iran was not mentioned as supplying any. Nada, zero.
#2
Editors, please check the IP address for the following posts. I'd wager they're all one and the same. I'm not objecting to the content, mostly making fun of our very "funny" State Dept, just the inane / stupid game of nym trolling.
#3
Here's your answer, sherlock. I'm the same person bottom four posted names. But I am not red meanie.
How is it objectionable to post with different names that suit the topic? Fyi, I don't get a name that the host's computer gives me as the same one every time. I get some kind of letters and #'s gibberish. So I thought I'd pick silly ones on my own. Sorry I offended your traffic cop self. From now on I'll take whatever gibberish the computer assigns.
If you're a fool fuckwit troll and merely wish to leave a trail of turds, well that's one thing. I hope they flush your ass.
If you're not and wish for a bit more from RB, then a single nym allows others to "know" you after awhile and engage you in discussions. Isn't that blindingly obvious?
#6
We expect people to stand behind their words. Putting a different name on every post makes that impossible; it's almost as if you don't want to stand behind them, making us wonder what game you're playing.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/17/2005 7:29 Comments ||
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#7
every idea should stand on its own merit - not on the reputation of the messenger.
breathe deep :-)
Posted by: deep thoughts ||
05/17/2005 8:41 Comments ||
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#8
I concur with the above, so-called Sybil (what a misnomer!)
The use of an alias on-line is traditional and time-honored. The use of multiple aliases is as trust building as a Paki with a suit-case of assorted-ly named passports. If you want to snark, then use [pseudo-html]pseudo-html[/pseudo-html] thusly.
Troll or newbie? Your choice, 'cause your previous posts eliminated all the others.
#9
every idea should stand on its own merit - not on the reputation of the messenger.
That is indeed true, but that is pontificating, not conversation. Once you have established yourself here, feel free to play all the name games you wish, to enhance the impact of your statements. In the meantime, constant name changing is much more likely to leave you ignored than engaged -- surely not what you intend?
#10
every idea should stand on its own merit - not on the reputation of the messenger.
No matter how meritorious the argument, if it's delivered by a guy in a clown suit with a rubber chicken hanging from his pants zipper, it's going to be treated as a joke.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/17/2005 10:00 Comments ||
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#11
'deep thought' isn't Sybil, but rather another regular contrarian at RB.
#12
unless the clown with the rubber chicken hanging from his pants says, "duck".
Posted by: deep thoughts ||
05/17/2005 10:34 Comments ||
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The comments come a day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a surprise visit to Iraq where she urged the Shiite- and Kurdish- dominated government to include more Sunnis.
This affirmative action mentality needs to be lost permanently. The importance of participation was made clear at the outset and the Sunnis decided that they wanted to boycott. Fine. They can now reap the rewards of their actions. If that sounds harsh, well, too damn bad. Either get with the program of be left behind.
#14
They are all right,if you want respect,good discussion and or perhaps get some new insight and knowledge,then pick a name and stick to it(you can change your name occasinally,just don't make habit of it).If you don't you will be relegated to the trash bin,besides it's just plain rude.I have been comming to RB for a long time now and have never changed my nom de'guere(hope that is the right phrase).I ain't the shinnist pebble in the box,and every once I will get soundly trounced and burned.But I like to think I have earned a little respect.
Civilians shopping at street markets, worshipping at mosques and mourning at funerals have become the prime target of insurgents in a two-week spree of carnage that many people think is linked to efforts by foreign extremists to plunge Iraq into civil war.
Now, with the bodies of 50 men found shot to death by unknown assailants and dumped across the country over two days, fears are rising that foreigners like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be making headway in their campaign to turn Iraq's fractious communities against each other.
There are worries the unexplained killings in Baghdad and other cities could be a result of angry Shiite and Sunni Muslims retaliating against each other's communities in frustration over two years of unrelenting insurgent attacks.
Religious leaders also have been singled out. Shiite cleric Qassim al-Gharawi died in a drive-by shooting in western Baghdad last week. Quraish Abdul Jabbar, a Sunni cleric, was reported shot dead and his body dumped behind a mosque in northeastern Baghdad on Monday.
"We are approaching a situation that is unstable, of a war of all against all, complete chaos, where the government is ineffective, the security is ineffective, and anybody can be killed at any time by anybody," said Kenneth Katzman, an expert on the Persian Gulf region with the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, made his intentions clear in a letter obtained and released last year by the U.S. government saying that causing sectarian fighting between Shiite and Sunni was the best way to undermine American policy in Iraq.
Most of the insurgent attacks aimed at civilians have been in neighborhoods whose residents are predominantly from Iraq's Shiite Arab majority or their Kurdish allies.
Many insurgents are thought to be from the formally dominant Sunni Arab minority, but many Iraqis blame foreign extremists for the assaults on civilians.
"This shows that the terrorists are in their last period. They weren't able to violate the security zone and therefore they started targeting schools, markets in order to kill civilians," the new defense minister, Saadoun al-Duleimi, said at a news conference Monday.
Al-Duleimi, a Sunni Arab, said insurgents killed 230 civilians last week alone, while only 13 Iraqi soldiers and policemen were slain.
The government's efforts to quell insurgent violence and keep Iraq's religious and ethnic communities from splitting could be complicated by the close relationship between the Interior Ministry, headed by Shiite leader Bayan Jabr, and the Badr Brigades, the militia of Iraq's leading Shiite group, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Concern was raised when the militia, once regarded as terrorist by U.S. officials, cooperated with security forces to capture four Palestinians and an Iraqi wanted for a bombing Thursday that killed at least 17 people at market in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad.
Al-Duleimi, the defense minister, has said he won't merge militias such as the Badr Brigades and the Kurdish Peshmerga into Iraq's army. The United States has called for the militias to be disbanded.
Despite the violence and communal frictions, Katzman, the analyst at the Congressional Research Service, doesn't yet see Iraq tumbling into a sectarian war.
"Some would define this as some kind of civil war, but we don't yet have entire distinct camps across the country opposing each other," he said.
Iraq's influential Shiite leaders, particularly Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, are also playing a key role in tamping down resentments that could erupt into civil war.
Laith Kuba, spokesman for al-Sistani, said Shiite retaliation against Sunnis over terrorist attacks could jeopardize the Shiites' new role as the strongest political group.
"There is an awareness among Shiites now that we have the larger presence in the country, run the state and can benefit most" from peaceful relations, Kuba said.
Shiites, who make up 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, were oppressed under Saddam Hussein, then emerged from the Jan. 30 elections with the biggest bloc in the National Assembly. They have allied with Kurds, who also were oppressed by Saddam, but have included Sunnis in the government in an effort to ease Sunni discontent over losing power.
One factor working against the effort by foreign extremists to foment civil war is the widespread belief among Iraqis that homegrown anti-U.S. insurgents, either fervent nationalists opposed to foreign occupation or former Saddam loyalists angered by their fall from power, would not turn their weapons on fellow Iraqis.
So many Iraqis aim their anger over the attacks at foreign extremists and allied Iraqis who follow the puritanical Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam.
"Civilians are always going to the easiest targets, and the Islamic extremists coming into the country are using them to try torpedo Iraq's political process," said Ismael Zayer, editor in chief of the Iraqi newspaper al-Sabah al-Gadeed.
"Civil war is the only scenario they have," Zayer said of the foreign terrorists. "These people have nothing else."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 00:54 ||
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#1
Interesting. Most of the quotes are from Iraqui government officials.
#2
It strikes me that the US forces are being somewhat selective in their attacks. One notes that in Matador militants in some areas were not pursued (to the frustration of the Marines on the line). Substantial efforts have been made since the beginning to entice the various non-AQ 'insurgents' to just back off and join the team.
I suspect the US actually does not want to 'crush' the 'insurgency' - rather, to modify it into a quiescent 'threat' to help keep the Shia-dominated government from becoming TOO strong, and also to give secular Shia a potential ally in the event an Iranian-theocratic Shia force takes power. (Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.)
A delicate balancing act.
#3
FOXNEWS and other medias have reported that most of the recent attacks have been carried out by Muslim foreigners/fighters NOT from Iraq, and that the overwhelming majority of Iraqi locals like and trust our warriors - iff true, the focii of these new attacks can only be to induce America and Allied CENTCOM to attack and invade IRAN, etal., where nuclearized IslamoCong will be waiting for America's volunteer Army, vv VOTE HILLARY '08! The Left for now prefers to internally destabilize and fractionalize America via mostly conventional, controlled/contained
"quagmire", or in the alt mostly conventional with limited [tac]nuke exchange. BILL MAHER > there are no Democrats-Lefties anymore in America, only alleged "Republicans" and "Rightists" for [global] Empire and [global] Socialism, aka "Regulation and Protection"!? As a new "Rightist" liberal, Maher is now lamenting the loss of Secularism thanx to GOP "emotionalism", while PAT BUCHANAN described NEOCONS as LeftLiberals and LeftConservatives, i.e. "Reagan Democrats", whom as a class are attempting to define and control the GOP-Right domin Conservative national movement in America. *FROM WITHIN, BOYZ, FROM WITHIN!
International terrorist Osama bin Laden and his Taliban associate Mullah Omar are alive, and a new cassette from the Al Qaeda leader is expected soon to prove his presence, according to a distinguished Pakistani journalist.
"Both Osama and Mullah Omar are alive. There is no evidence to suggest that Osama bin Laden is dead, and there is no doubt about the presence of Mullah Omar as he regularly sends audio cassettes and letters," journalist Rahimullah Yuzufsai was quoted as saying Monday.
Yusufzai, one of the few journalists to have met Osama in hiding, was interviewed by the BBC's Hindi-language service.
Yusufzai said both Osama and Mullah Omar are in the Afghan region but that Osama was finding the going "quite difficult".
"Mullah Omar has the advantage of being an Afghan, he knows the Pashto language and the world knows little about his appearance as very few of his photographs have been circulated.
"He is living in his country, within his own tribe and my knowledge is he does not have a major problem. There are active Taliban elements that would defend him at any cost. It is easy for him to be in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, and I think he does not have a problem in crossing over to Pakistan also."
In contrast, Osama had several handicaps, but also enjoyed "solid support", the journalist, who reports for the Pakistani daily The News and several western media organisations, said.
"He does not know either Pashto or Urdu. He merely speaks Arabic. Americans have kept a big reward on his head. Therefore his movements are restricted and difficult as compared to Mullah Omar, as he does not belong to the region.
"However, he does prove his presence by sending out regular video or audio cassettes either warning America of fresh attacks or praising Muslim militants. The last one was sent out in October, and we are expecting a fresh video or audio cassette soon now," Yusufzai, a noted Afghan affairs expert, said.
"It would not have been possible for Osama to remain elusive for such a long period without solid support, as Americans dug out (Iraqi dictator) Saddam Hussain in eight months.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 00:38 ||
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North Waziristan is a more serious challenge to the military in flushing out remnants of Al Qaeda and the Taliban than neighbouring South Waziristan, officials and tribal elders told Daily Times on Monday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials said that North Waziristan was a stronger base for militants due to the presence of a large number of seminaries and because around 70 percent of the local population supported jihadi elements. "It [North Waziristan] is a totally different case as far as the war on terror in the tribal belt is concerned," they said.
Since early 2005, the military has carried out a number of search operations, and killed and arrested a number of foreign militants and their local facilitators in North Waziristan after bringing the situation in South Waziristan comparatively under control. "The next six months in South Waziristan are critical for the government. If we cannot build on successes that the army achieved in the last quarter of 2004 then all the efforts will go waste," the officials said. The situation in South Waziristan appeared stable but the agency had frequent law and order problems, they said. The officials also feared that if the government did not investigate the "missing millions" distributed among former colleagues of killed militant Nek Muhammad immediately, the militants would resume their activities. The government paid Rs 50 million to five key militants of Nek Muhammad's group Haji Muhammad Sharif, Maulvi Abbas, Javed Karmazkhel, Haji Muhammad Omar and Maulvi Abdul Aziz to pay back loans they had taken from Al Qaeda during their association.
This article starring:
HAJI MUHAMAD OMAR
Wazir Taliban
JAVED KARMAZKHEL
Wazir Taliban
MAULVI ABAS
Wazir Taliban
MAULVI ABDUL AZIZ
Wazir Taliban
NEK MUHAMAD
Wazir Taliban
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/17/2005 00:29 ||
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The International Committee of the Red Cross has said a recent escalation of violence in the western Iraqi city of al-Qaim has resulted in very high numbers of civilian casualties and refugees. According to a statement published by the ICRC on Monday, fighting near the Iraqi border has forced hundreds of women, children and elderly persons to flee their homes and take refuge in surrounding areas.
The press release also urged "all those involved in the fighting to respect the basic rules of international humanitarian law" and called for an end to attacks on civilians, the poor treatment of wounded fighters and an end to discrimination in caring for the sick. The ICRC calls upon all those involved in the fighting to take every feasible precaution to spare civilians and to ensure that the principles of distinction and proportionality are respected in all military operations."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#4
It's interesting that the ICRC didn't show any concern when the jihadis controlled al-Qaim and were beating and killing the citizens of al-Qaim. When the vast majority of al-Qaimians welcome the Marines killing the Saudis, Syrians. et. al., then the ICRC has a problem. F*cking hypocrits.
Posted by: ed ||
05/17/2005 9:48 Comments ||
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The press release also urged "all those involved in the fighting to respect the basic rules of international humanitarian law" and called for an end to attacks on civilians..
Well now, aren't attacks on civilians considered to be terrorism? And aren't those who perpetrate such attacks terrorists??? C'mon Red Cross, you can say it - say, "terr-or-ists". And "terr-or-ism" is what terr-or-ists engage in. Got all that yet?
An Egyptian human rights group on Monday demanded the immediate release of about 500 people detained following demonstrations held by a banned, but tolerated Islamic group. The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) also called for an investigation into police violence that resulted in the death of one protester. EOHR's 35-page report listed the names of 498 Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters it said were detained after peacefully demonstrations in 10 Egyptian provinces in the first week of May. It said over 1800 demonstrators were detained. The report, "Muslim Brotherhood: Suspects Without a Crime," said the Interior Ministry should issue clear orders to security forces not to use violence to disperse protests. It cited the use of electric sticks, rubber-coated and live bullets, and said violators should stand trial.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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The recent capture of alleged Al-Qaeda No.3 Abu Faraj Al-Libbi has helped "break the back" of the group, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said in an interview to the Financial Times yesterday. The paper yesterday published extracts from an online-interview with Musharraf in which he claimed that the arrest of Abu Faraj Al-Libbi had severed the links between the central command and members on the ground. In his first interview since the arrest of Al-Qaeda's senior leader, Musharraf said: "We have broken their back. They cease to exist as a cohesive, homogenous body under good command and control, vertical and horizontal."
European security experts have been cautious about Al-Libbi's importance in the network, but Musharraf maintained that his capture was "very significant" and that it had led to other key arrests in some Gulf countries. "He is the man who was in charge of Al-Qaeda operations, internal and external and, of course, on a personal basis the man who masterminded the suicide attacks on me," Musharraf, the target of two assassination attempts in December 2003, told the Financial Times. "Whatever they are now capable of doing is individual and group actions divorced from central command and coordinated centrally. They are on the run in the mountains, not in contact with each other," he added. However, Musharraf added, the arrest had failed to produce any clues to the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden.
Meanwhile, the leader of opposition in the National Assembly, Fazlur Rehman, said the war on terrorism is a "discriminatory tactic" being used to target religious organizations. Stating that Islam was a moderate religion, Rehman dispelled any links between Islam and extremism. He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the South Asian Parliamentarians Conference organized by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) here Sunday. "South Asian countries must forge their efforts to form a regional alliance," Rehman said, reports Online news agency. He said South Asian countries would have to strengthen democracy in their countries to solve regional issues and also develop human resources. The South Asian Parliamentarians Conference would be supportive to achieve the common well being of the people of the region, he said.
Leader of the House, Waseem Sajjad, said there was a need to improve relations with the West and also to follow the European Parliament to strengthen the South Asian region's parliamentary system. National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, referring to the current talks between Pakistan and India on the Kashmir issue, said peace and security would return to the region only through dialogue. He said the meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries' speakers would be convened in Pakistan soon.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
"Pakistan renewed its demand yesterday that the United States conduct a thorough probe and share its findings into reported desecration of the Holy Qurâan, despite a clarification issued by Newsweek that its story may be wrong."
Fuck you; you don't need any investigation. What happened is simple: one or more Muslims lied about our treatment of them at Gitmo, knowing the lie would be believed by millions of ignorant, gullible savages who would then go berserk. THAT is what happened.
There's something ass-backwards about this whole thing: we're supposed to be making THEM worry about not pissing US off. What is this bullshit?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/17/2005 1:45 Comments ||
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I say we should hand over to the Pakis the fine Newsweek journalists, Izzakoff and Berry, who were responsible for this lie, who called fire in a theatre as another poster stated, so the Pakis can question these news sluts themselves and verify that it was all a lie. It might kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak. I guarantee you we'll have no future problems with yellow journalism spouted by our MSM at a time of war.
As for Izzakoff and Berry - oh well - war is hell, war is dangerous, war has casualties.
#4
Entrepreneurial idea - yours for free: print Koran verses on toilet paper. Dual use bathroom reading material. (And just to be fair, we wouldn't want to be unfair now, would we; print Bible verses too.)
#5
Some provisos I'd make on Glenmore's idea: Be sure to write dual translations of the Koran, in english AND arabic. JUST to make sure EVERYONE gets the message. You can skip the Greek and stick with the English for the New Testament, but I'm not cleared to clear anything for the Old Testament/Torah.
Also, I recommend putting both Bible and koran rolls in the same packages sold to institutions: the ACLU will have a coronary when, in saving the Koran, they'll be forced to save the Christian Scriptures.
Personal note: to me, the message is everything, while the medium is irrelevant. I have enough confidence, not only in the power of the Message, but in the Original Sender, that He can make good come from an Atheist wiping his ass on John 3:16.
#6
Ptah, the toilet paper venture would only be effective if Bible and Koran verses, with translations, are printed alternatively on the same roll. Else the Koran roll will be reverentially enshrined in the nearest mosque, while the Bible roll is used in the mosque bathroom. ;-) But reading before use could lead a person into new thought patterns, always a desirable thing.
#8
There's a fatwa that says that Muhammadans shouldn't use toilet paper, 'cause that's what Christians use. Pebbles, wood, mudballs--even a wall--are OK: but not bone (because it is food for the Djinn).
Posted by: James ||
05/17/2005 13:52 Comments ||
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#9
Exactly my point, TW. I have faith in the power of the message as long as the medium faithfully transmits it without distortion.
Well, in the case at hand, before use.
And you're right about the need to alternate translations and texts with the individual sheets, of course.
#11
You people actually think it's okay to print the Scriptures on toilet paper? You think that's the right thing to do?
Ptah, glenmore: Here's an idea--why don't we print your photos on toilet paper, and we can use your photos to clean feces and urine from our bodies--or would that in some way dishonor you?
Use you brains, people. You're acting like idiots.
Sunni Arab leaders called yesterday for an independent group — rather than Parliament — to write Iraq's new constitution, a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said minorities should play a greater role in drafting the basic law. "We propose forming a committee outside Parliament with representatives from across Iraq," Nasser Al-Ani, a spokesman for the Sunni Arab Iraq Islamic Party, said. "We want our Shiite partners to give us an expanded role in this process."
New Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari pledged Sunday to get more Sunnis involved in drafting the constitution after meeting with Rice during her surprise visit to Iraq. Parliament has just set up a committee to draft the constitution by a deadline of Aug. 15. The draft is then to be put to a nationwide referendum by Oct. 15 under a deadline set by the US-inspired transitional administrative law (TAL) currently governing Iraq. Favored under former President Saddam Hussein, Sunni Arabs, who account for about 20 percent of the population, provide the backbone of the deadly insurgency that has claimed more than 400 lives since the start of May. Shiite and Kurdish leaders, who swept to power in the landmark January elections, believe that involving Sunni Arabs in the new administration is essential to undermining support for the insurgents. But many of their own constituents, who suffered under Saddam, want revenge and have called for purging the administration of leading — often Sunni — members of the former ruling Baath party.
Because many Sunni Arabs boycotted the country's Jan. 30 election, they are currently under-represented with just 16 seats in the 275-member assembly. Following weeks of protracted haggling, they were given nine of the 36 Cabinet posts, including the powerful defense minister slot. But their lack of parliamentary representation has cost them dearly in getting a voice on Parliament's constitutional committee. The 55-member body includes just two Sunnis.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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"get more Sunnis involved in drafting the constitution"
Yes, of course. By all means. After all, who in Iraq knows more about what should be in the Iraqi Constitution than those who've fought this moment every step of the way? Brilliant (UK definition).
#2
Letsee - our infamous state dept as well as the Kurdish and Shiite politicians, who have US supplied bodyguards, think it's swell to involve more blood thirsty sunnis in drafting the constitution. But the ordinary shiite and kurds on the street who were and still are being victimized by sunni violence say that this idea stinks. Who makes better sense - hmmm(scratching of the head), why, the insulated politicians and state dept, obviously.
#3
We propose forming a committee ... with representatives from across Iraq
ROFL! That's what Parliament is, you idiot. Remember those elections you boycotted? You snooze, you lose. Deal with it.
#4
âWe want our Shiite partners to give us an expanded role in this process.â
How about voting like everyone else? No vote, no voice. That was your choice. Take a number; line forms right over there. We'll get back to ya in a few years...
#6
But their lack of parliamentary representation has cost them dearly in getting a voice on Parliamentâs constitutional committee. The 55-member body includes just two Sunnis.
Whose fault is that? Isn't the reason they have minimal representation because they refused to participate??
Life's tough, boys. It's even tougher when you're stupid.
Somalia's interim prime minister sacked his information minister, an aide said yesterday, underlining a growing split threatening the fledgling transitional government. The administration, tasked with ending 14 years of chaos in Somalia, is facing an acrimonious division over where it should be based after relocating from neighboring Kenya where it was formed at peace talks last year. "It's true that Mohamud Abdullahi Jama has been replaced as the information minister, I can confirm that," said Yusuf Ismail Baribari, a senior figure in the interim government, speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi. Jama said he had not been informed of his demotion.
Is there such a thing as a "crying stock"?
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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The administration, tasked with ending 14 years of chaos in Somalia, is facing an acrimonious division over where it should be based after relocating from neighboring Kenya...
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has canceled his annual visit to the United States.
Worried about coming home and finding somebody else living in his room, huh?
Officials said Mubarak would not fly to the United States this spring. Instead, the president would send Prime Minister Ahmed Nazief to present Egypt in talks with the Bush administration. They did not rule out a Mubarak visit to the United States in late 2005. On May 18, Nazief was scheduled to meet President George Bush and senior administration officials in Washington. This was the first time that Mubarak has canceled his annual trip to the United States and comes amid unprecedented opposition to his rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Perhaps he just doesn't want to personally hear what he knows George Bush will say.
#2
The alternative to Mubarak ain't pretty. Egypt is definitely not a place we want to hold democratic elections just yet. Maybe in another decade or four. Sticking with the despot known is a better bet than what the Egyptian voters would elect to office. Mubarak is like Mousharef in Pakistan -both are our little tyrants.
#4
Perv and Mubarak are totally different situations. Perv has only been around a little while, has little stability, has a demonstrated secular opposition which unfortunately was very corrupt, and a quasi alliance with Islamists - as well as a virtual civil war with more extreme Islamists.
Mubarak OTOH has a VERY stable regime - Egypt has had only 3 presidents in the last 50 years, and each of the last 2 was promoted from VP. And Egypt crushed the violent Islamists soundly in the 90's. So it might appear there is no threat to stability. OTOH keeping stable has been done at the price of some really nasty antisemitic propaganda, and has been associated with Egyptians going into AQ and messing around abroad. So there is real motive from the US POV to democratize Egypt. How strong the secular opposition is vs the Muslim Brotherhood, and the MB vs more overtly radical Islamists (the MB is wahabi, but doesnt advocate violence)is not clear, and wont be till theres a real election.
Israel on Monday banned former Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohammad, whose comments have in the past infuriated Jews, from entering Jerusalem while visiting the West Bank. Mahathir was delayed for an hour at the Allenby crossing from Jordan into the West Bank where Israeli officials banned him from going to Jerusalem or the city of Jenin in the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei said. "I want to say to the entire world that this is the political mind of the occupation," Qorei told a joint news conference with Mahathir in Ramallah. "This is an important man, an international man and the Israelis prevent him from going to Jerusalem, they prevent him from going to Jenin," he added.
Israeli authorities, who control entrance into towns throughout most of the West Bank, as well as the border into Jordan, said they had received no warning of Mahathir's arrival. "We received no request to facilitate the visit. We weren't aware he was coming, so we didn't deal with it," said a foreign ministry spokesman, pointing out that Israel has no diplomatic relations with Malaysia.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
ROFL!!! Moonbat Mahathir, "an important man", indeed, heh, when one is discussing the bottom of the barrel. Qorei, of course, welcomes him as a fellow Jooo-hater, Holocaust-denier, terrorism symp and enabler, and general wank-about-town.
Even if this POS announces his desire to the Israelis in advance of showing up, next time, I hope they tell him to piss off, lol!
#2
Jerusalem is part of Israel. I t will never be controled by arabs. At some point that "Dome of the Rock" will be demolished. The site wasn't even that important to "muslims" until the 1930s. No no citizen muslims should be allowed to enter it.
#4
You guys have no idea how often the populace in M'sia has had to put up with his sort of ironic hypocrisy in 22 years - usually done with that arrogant tilt of his head as can seen in the pic.
A man who understands little about justice cries the loudest about "injustice". A most axiomatic example if ever there be one.
#5
Well put, Duh. Mahthir is one of the best at his "art" of apology and hate... sort of the Chirac of SE Asia, IMHO. Malaysia could be a near-paradise, but for his ilk.
#7
Article: "I want to say to the entire world that this is the political mind of the occupation," Qorei told a joint news conference with Mahathir in Ramallah. "This is an important man, an international man and the Israelis prevent him from going to Jerusalem, they prevent him from going to Jenin," he added.
But of course - a mere Jew should kneel before his Muslim masters. Man, I can't get over how arrogant these nonentities are. A lot like John Kerry - "Do you know who I am?"
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.
Kuwait's parliament has granted women the right to vote and stand in elections for the first time in the Gulf state's history. The decision on Monday, finalised after several years of debate, was passed by a 35-23 vote after one legislator abstained. It was in an amendment to the conservative Gulf emirate's election law. The result, announced by the parliament speaker, was greeted with thunderous applause from the public gallery where supporters of the amendment, including women, were gathered. "I congratulate the women of Kuwait for having achieved their political rights," Kuwaiti Prime Minister 
A Syrian human rights organisation has called on President 
Campaigning kicked off yesterday for parliamentary elections in Lebanon as former civil war foes formed unlikely political alliances. The influential head of the Maronite Church, meanwhile, reiterated calls for efforts to ensure the polls are representative of Lebanon's different sects. In a move seen by the press as a step toward the first genuine attempt at national reconciliation since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, Druze chief 
U.S. Secretary of State 
Lebanon has suspended another of its top security chiefs three months on from the murder of former Premier 
Cabinet is expected to appoint a new director general to the Surete Generale and State Security agencies on Wednesday. Political sources said the top post at Surete Generale will go to Brigadier 
The 
An Egyptian human rights group on Monday demanded the immediate release of about 500 people detained following demonstrations held by a banned, but tolerated Islamic group. The 
The recent capture of alleged Al-Qaeda No.3 
Sunni Arab leaders called yesterday for an independent group — rather than Parliament — to write Iraq's new constitution, a day after US Secretary of State 
Somalia's interim prime minister sacked his information minister, an aide said yesterday, underlining a growing split threatening the fledgling transitional government. The administration, tasked with ending 14 years of chaos in Somalia, is facing an acrimonious division over where it should be based after relocating from neighboring Kenya where it was formed at peace talks last year. "It's true that 
Egyptian President 
Israel on Monday banned former Malaysian Premier 
