An interesting little analysis from the Wall Street Journal. Registration required, so presented here complete.
Important detail was missed in much of the reporting of the death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia on Monday. Carried by the Saudi Press Agency (www.spa.gov.sa), it was information in the new official biographies of the new King Abdullah and his designated successor, Crown Prince Sultan. Why does this matter? It is because both men are lying about their ages--and age (of senior princes) is the key to understanding Saudi Arabia over the next few years.
When I wrote a book--"After King Fahd: Succession in Saudi Arabia"--in 1994, I spent months checking the years of birth of the sons of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, often known as Ibn Saud. Since his death in 1953, the kingdom has been ruled by his sons, in descending order of age. First Saud (1953-64), then Faisal (1964-75), then Khalid (1975-1982) and, most recently, Fahd (1982-2005).
Precise birthdates are usually unknown, just years of birth. In itself that has potential for confusion because Ibn Saud, by virtue of having four wives at any one time, sometimes fathered as many as three sons in the course of a year. (Ibn Saud had 22 wives during his lifetime; births of daughters are even more imprecisely recorded but, for the purposes of this discussion, do not count.) I am confident that I pinned down the real birth years of all 44 sons. (One British Arabist, close to the Saudi royal family, would only confirm correct years, crossing out wrong ones, and leaving me to do the extra research to correct my mistakes.) Fahd was born in 1921, Abdullah in 1923 and Sultan in 1924.
On Monday, the Saudi Press Agency said Fahd was born in 1923 and noted that Abdullah was born in 1924 and Sultan in 1930.
1930!? Sultan is just 75 this year! I must admit I laughed on reading this. For years I have noticed that Sultan has understated his age, but 1930 set a new record. In the Saudi system, age brings seniority, a key qualification for succession. But old age also suggests infirmity, a possible disqualifying factor. (Fahd's detached confinement to a wheelchair was an embarrassment that the royal family likely does not want to repeat.) Sultan appears to have been shaving years, allowing himself to slip below a couple of half-brothers who, by virtue of temperament or lack of qualifications, are not in the running for the leadership, but still retaining an edge over a bevy of contenders born in 1931. It is the Saudi metaphorical equivalent of hair dye, although Sultan's black hair is not genuine either (and a senior British official who met him recently said he was wearing makeup, too).
Do not expect much discussion of this issue. The House of Saud is sensitive to being caught out. Most media will veer away from a confrontation. Expect even less discussion on the health of the two men. Abdullah is said to be reasonably fit, but Sultan had stomach cancer last year--the same senior British official who saw him said he then "looked like death"--and now reportedly walks around with a colostomy bag.
So Saudi Arabia is facing a future of kings with short reigns. They will probably be dubbed "Saudi Brezhnevs," after the increasingly decrepit leadership in the final years of the Soviet Union. It was entirely predictable: 12 years ago, a former British adviser to the Saudi royals preferred a Monty Python metaphor, "The parrots will fall off their perch in rapid succession."
The logical way around this problem is for the House of Saud to choose a significantly younger king--although for him to be called a "Saudi Gorbachev" would give Riyadh heartburn. Within the line of sons of Ibn Saud, Interior Minister Prince Nayef (born 1933) and the governor of Riyadh Province, Prince Salman (born 1936), would be contenders. Dropping a generation is often mentioned, but would probably be too contentious--which group of grandsons would benefit, to the consternation of their cousins?
Even this scenario could be upset by contenders dying "in the wrong order." When Sultan was thought to be on death's door last year, the U.S. war-gamed what would happen if he died before Fahd. The cautious conclusion was that Abdullah, described as leading the reformist wing of the House of Saud, would strengthen his position. This might have been wishful thinking.
Despite Abdullah's reputation for reform, the spectrum of differences on policy within the royal family is probably quite narrow. Personality differences and succession rivalries provide added frisson. Is cautious reform better than very cautious reform? And does reform actually mean change? The House of Saud knows it has to stand together. Oil policy is not contested. Nor is the Saudi leadership role in the Islamic world. Neither, frankly, is the need to maintain links with the U.S., despite this being inflammatory to Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda affiliates.
For the U.S. to involve itself in the succession process is high-risk, but the priorities of oil and improving Saudi cooperation in the war against al Qaeda are vital. Washington makes little secret of not wanting either Sultan or Nayef to become king. Neither is considered modern enough; both are thought to have made past compromises with al Qaeda to redirect the threat to the kingdom onto U.S. interests. But when U.S. Ambassador Robert Jordan reportedly suggested at a 2003 Riyadh dinner party that after Abdullah, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, a son of King Faisal, would be a good choice, there was uproar. Mr. Jordan was leaving anyway. Sultan and Nayef were probably glad to see the back of him.
Although the next generation like Saud al-Faisal are unlikely to gain power for a while, they could be kingmakers. Former ambassador to Washington Prince Bandar is also a player, as is his half-brother, Khalid, Saudi commander in Desert Storm. Both are sons of Prince Sultan. Saud al-Faisal's brother Turki is also significant--he has just been nominated to replace Bandar in the U.S. But King Abdullah's son Mitab now has additional influence and could see himself as an emerging contender. All are rivals.
Another mainly overlooked news story on the Saudi Press Agency wire on Aug. 1 was titled "Royal Order." It said that King Abdullah had declared that "all current Cabinet members [would] continue in their present posts." So Abdullah retains the position of commander of the Saudi National Guard while Sultan is still minister of defense. The immediate issue for royal family politics is competition for a reallocation of cabinet posts and greater involvement of next generation princes.
Al Qaeda appeals to a section of Saudi public opinion because of resentment of the royal family's domination of power and business, as well as corruption. The next few years in the kingdom are going to be difficult enough anyway because of the declining years of Abdullah and Sultan. Gridlocked palace politics could turn instability into disaster.
Mr. Henderson is a senior fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
#1
beware of azouzi--fahd's favorite son--and an sob islamist supremacist if there ever was one
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
08/03/2005 2:41 Comments ||
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#2
...This really shouldn't BE a surprise, Ibn Saud was at best a bit fuzzy on where and when his boyz were fathered; my understanding was Faisal was the only one whose birthdate could be ascertained with any certainty at all.
And perhaps .com can chime in on this - had heard when I was there that at least a couple of the boyz weren't fathered by Ibn Saud at all.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/03/2005 7:39 Comments ||
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#3
The problem with reform is that a public entrenched in Islam could decide that the rulers are infidels trying to convert them to the impure ways of the infidel West. For a time, it was far safer to move towards Islam, where unquestioning obedience towards earthly rulers was held to be a virtue, as long as they were Muslim. Until al Qaeda came along and held themselves to be superior alternative Muslim rulers to the existing bunch. That was when Islamization went too far, and it is why the Saudi rulers will continue with reform - to defuse the idea that the ideal state is one with Islam left, right and center. The Saudi royal family is not personally devout enough to fulfill that requirement - they are too wedded to their alcohol, their bling bling and their bouts with European escorts on the Riviera.
#4
Heard similar rumors, MK. Hey, he prolly lied about chopping down that date palm, too...
I did see some of the original pics and footage in the Royal archives since I was in on a software thingy to preserve it all. You oughta see the vaults they keep the stuff in, heh. There's an 8MM loop of him opening the valve to the first tanker... it's like crossing the Delaware in a snowstorm, in a Saudi sort of way. No pix of him staining dresses, perjuring himself on video, or playing hide the sausage, however. The legend (marrying 26 wives to unite the tribes, blah³) prolly doesn't match the family tree, but they believe what they want to believe, just as here.
#5
It would be so much simpler if King Abdullah would abdicate and the Kingdom become democratic, with equal status for all the warring sibs but noooo, they will battle one another to the death. This could get really bloody. Maybe we should covertly arm their wives and let the women rule. Most of their wives really are young and would be around long enough to provide stability!
#10
Danielle: It would be so much simpler if King Abdullah would abdicate and the Kingdom become democratic, with equal status for all the warring sibs but noooo, they will battle one another to the death.
Elections could bring to power al Qaeda. I think the sad fact is that in Saudi Arabia, it's the population that we need to worry about, not the rulers.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it will not renew permission for ABC-TV to operate in the country after the network broadcast an interview with a notorious Chechen warlord. In a statement, the ministry said ABC would be considered "undesirable" by all Russian state agencies because of an interview with Shamil Basayev, which was broadcast last week on "Nightline."
I'm with the Rooskies on this. One man's genocidal mass-murdering sociopath is *not* another man's Emmy award-winning telecast. For shame, ABC.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
There is a total boycottt of all things ABC at my house currently. You do not give a genocidal mass-murdering sociopath a platform to speak from. Russia is totally within it's rights to do whatever it sees fit to do, including prosecuting ABC and the persons who did the interview in their courts.
#2
The informational content of the broadcast could have been quickly (a mere minute or less when you cut away the BS) and easily conveyed without giving PR time for Ol Nasty Pegleg. Journalism? No, attention grabbing BS for all three parties concerned. One should know better. How do they feel about having given a mass murderer of school children in a school a soapbox?
Breaking its public silence on nuclear disarmament talks, North Korea said Tuesday it wants to narrow differences with the United States but still insisted it won't give up its atomic weapons program until Washington withdraws alleged threats. The main U.S. envoy said talks were nearing their conclusion — possibly within days — with delegates from six countries set to submit final comments Wednesday on a draft proposed by China for a statement of principles to guide future arms negotiations.
However, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill raised the possibility the discussions might break off without an agreement, with envoys heading home for further counsel. "Whether we have a draft that everyone agrees on, or whether it's decided that there should be a recess of some kind, we don't know yet," Hill said, adding negotiators were "close to the end of this round" after eight days of talks. Hill said the latest version of the statement was "a good draft" that he had submitted to Washington for review, but he didn't know how other delegations would respond. He declined to give any specifics of what the document contained.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Breaking its public silence on nuclear disarmament talks, North Korea said Tuesday it wants to narrow differences with the United States but still insisted it won't give up its atomic weapons program until Washington withdraws alleged threats.
Bullshit. The NorKs would be stupid to give up nuclear weapons capability in any scenario; it's the only thing they got. Take it away, and then what?
#3
And should the talks result in an agreement providing him a few carrots why wouldn't he simply resort to being the nutty baddman in order to get more later. A little bit is never enough for folks like Kimmy. He can't do for himself or his people so the only alternative is to act the part to get the handouts. Feed the alligators (or in this case the squirrel) and they'll be back for more sooner or later at which point they'll be likely to bite if denied. Even squirrels can be exceptionally nasty and rude when denied their quickly acquired subsistence entitlement.
Australia - BOMB Squad officers in Perth are removing an explosive object from underneath a bench in an inner-city park, police say.
The object was not a bomb, a police spokesman said, describing it instead as military or commercial ordnance. The object was found under a chair at Langley Park, between Perth CBD and the Swan River about 11am (WST) today. Police closed a section of Plain Street between Adelaide Terrace and Riverside Drive while dealing with the incident.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
08/03/2005 02:20 ||
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#1
"military or commercial ordnance"
Hmmm, do they have "commercial grenades" ?
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
08/03/2005 10:27 Comments ||
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#2
I suspect what they are saying is that they found explosives, perhaps Dynamite like you might legitimately use for lets say clearing stumps on a ranch, without a detonator or timer hence its not a bomb. At the same time who the hell leaves a bunch of explosives under and bench! I suspect that getting commercial explosives is just as hard as it is in the US and you have to show a legitimate reason, provide ID, an address etc and this all needs to be checked out. You are then hardly going to walk home with your explosives, stop to feed the pigeons, and then forget your package of TNT. Definitely something fishy. Probably some jihadi thought he got burned and dumped his package.
Posted by: Robi Sen ||
08/03/2005 17:02 Comments ||
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#3
Yep, we gotta sign an affa david about birds and varmints, still dynamite purdy hard to come by unless you live near Ludawicci.
Hardline Muslim fundamentalists are targeting mosques, universities and high schools across Melbourne in a battle for the hearts and minds of local Muslim youth. Mainstream Muslim leaders have identified three groups operating in Melbourne promoting radical forms of Islam and who they fear may turn rhetoric into violence. One of the groups is building a mosque in Broadmeadows, another is a radical group of young Bosnians loosely attached to high-profile radical cleric Mohammed Omran, and the other comprises local members of the radical international political organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir.
One Muslim leader warned that some more extreme elements had left Sheikh Omran's group, claiming it was not radical enough. These were mostly Arabs, Algerians and Somalis. Another political leader told The Age that radicals were causing problems and grief at mosques across Melbourne. "They are trying to take over executives, pamphleting, trying to recruit outside mosques," he said. "They are full of vitriol and poisonous rhetoric, and see the rest of Islam as corrupted." Several local mosques have succumbed to the radicals in recent years, including Preston mosque, one of Melbourne's most prominent. Leaders of other suburban mosques say they continually have to fend off attempts by hardliners to take control.
Three weeks ago members of one of Sheikh Omran's groups, the Islamic Information and Support Centre of Australia, were asked to leave the Doncaster mosque after distributing leaflets to members as they came to pray, according to the mosque's secretary, Rahil Khan. "We are very, very strict on that, based on experience," he said. The Bosnian mosque in Noble Park took out an intervention order against members of the same group in 2000 after disturbances prompted by radicals handing out leaflets, books and videos preaching hatred against the West. Imam Ibrahim of the Noble Park mosque said: "They are hardliners. They tried every mosque, but it depends on the imam. If he is strong and stable and has followers, there is no problem." At Preston, the radicals engineered an election and amended the constitution in the 1990s while the imam, Sheikh Fehmi el-Naji, was away on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Supporters of Sheikh Fehmi, Melbourne's most prominent imam, worked hard over the next decade to regain ground, and members say there is now an uneasy balance. But Sheikh Omran claims his supporters still control Preston mosque. "Nothing has changed since that day," he told The Age. Of the wider cultural war among Melbourne's Muslims, Sheikh Omran said: "I would say I'm winning. The Muslims are winning, and Islam in the end. Our message is winning hearts."
An imam said radical youths spoke to people coming to pray. "They tell them there's an attack on Muslims everywhere and a violent response is needed. If it's public, these guys are shouted down and kicked out. But if it's a conversation between two people who happen to be praying and one is an agitator, that's more sinister," he said. Few leaders were willing to be named. One said: "A lot of people are scared of these people. The same sect is blowing places up around the world, and it wouldn't be too difficult here."
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/03/2005 00:49 ||
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#1
It's shouldn't be to difficult to turn them into the police then if they are well known. Oh I forgot you are muslims and can't do that. You are doomed them.
#2
I opposed the indulgence of suicide preacher, Jim Jones, prior to his kool-aid death wish in Guyana in the seventies, because I don't waste respect for freedom-of-conscience on animals like him. Similarly, Muslim imams are nothing but unflushed sewage, and deserve nothing but contempt.
Grand contradiction: Muslims are condemning the treatment of the Guantanamo Bay terrorists, as abuse of "muslims" while claiming that terror is against Islam. But if terrorists act against Islam, then why the hell are they recognized as "muslims." Answer: because Muslim leaders in the West and elsewhere, approve of the strategic use of terror, while they only condemn nominal tactical errors. Muslim = Terrorist
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
08/03/2005 2:38 Comments ||
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#3
Nice, better it be known, not to push the Aussies too far; they may just push anyone just shy dark of a sheet of paper right of that continent!!
The next test is to see if the community ignores them or starts going to them.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/03/2005 7:38 Comments ||
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#6
One Muslim leader warned that some more extreme elements had left Sheikh Omran's group, claiming it was not radical enough. These were mostly Arabs, Algerians and Somalis. Another political leader told The Age that radicals were causing problems and grief at mosques across Melbourne. "They are trying to take over executives, pamphleting, trying to recruit outside mosques," he said.
So stop talking and DO something about it.
"They are full of vitriol and poisonous rhetoric, and see the rest of Islam as corrupted." Several local mosques have succumbed to the radicals in recent years, including Preston mosque, one of Melbourne's most prominent. Leaders of other suburban mosques say they continually have to fend off attempts by hardliners to take control.
They must not be very effective if they're losing ground, which the article seems to indicate.
Dozens of Islamic extremists are involved in terrorist cells in Australia, the federal police commissioner confirmed Wednesday after a former spymaster claimed it was only a matter of time before an attack in Australia. Michael Roach, a senior official who recently retired from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, said Australia is facing an imminent risk of a terrorist attack and has called for more extreme counterterrorism powers. He said Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are home to Islamic extremists who have received specialized training from terrorist groups overseas. "Perhaps the number is around 50 or 60 in Australia that are working in separate cells," Roach told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. late Tuesday. "The threat is real. It's a matter of when this (an attack) will happen."
The would-be terrorists had developed a high degree of precision in their methods of assault, Roach said. Mick Keelty, the commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, confirmed Roach's allegations about the number of suspected terrorists operating in Australia, saying the figures were "not news to the intelligence community."
"We are focused on the people who we are aware have trained overseas, we are focused on the people who we know have a propensity to do something wrong. We're not focused on the Islamic community," he said. He also said Australian police and intelligence agencies are reviewing their counterterrorism powers after the July terrorist attacks on London's public transport system. "The reality is this is a moving feast — we are challenged by different moves by the terrorist groups, by each interest group, every time they attack," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Just a matter of time.
They'd only want to hit sydney, no point hitting anywhere else. Sydney is the beating heart of Australia.
Graveyards desacrations seem to occur more and more frequently in La Belle France. Such class, such bravery...
From Adam Sage in Paris
SCORES of British war graves were vandalised at a cemetery in northern France yesterday, provoking outrage from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and French authorities.
In what gendarmes said was one of the worst acts of vandalism they had witnessed on British war graves, 42 headstones at the First World War Albuera Cemetery in the village of Bailleul-sire-Berthoult, near Arras, were toppled over.
Most had been kicked down, officers said, and one was charred after a fire was lit next to it. The register and the visitorsâ book were also burnt.
Gendarmes said that they had found beer bottles in the cemetery, and believed the damage was the result of mindless vandalism.
âThere is no grafitti and no sign that anyone was trying to make a political message,â said an officer. âWe are working on the theory that this could have been carried out by drunken youths.â
Christopher Farrell, administration manager for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in France, said: âThis cemetery should be a haven of peace, and obviously any reasonable person would find this shocking.â
He said that acts of vandalism were rare in the 2,915 Commonwealth military cemeteries in France, and tended to involve only a handful of headstones when they occured. âIn my time here, I donât think I can remember as many as 42 being vandalised,â he said.
âThe French authorities are being very supportive about this and want to make it clear that they wonât accept any form of vandalism. We saw the village mayor and he cannot believe it happened in his village, especially because every year the council lays a wreath in the cemetery on Armistice Day.â
Michel Dupuis, Mayor of Bailleul-sire-Berthoult, which has a population of 1,148, said: âWe are completely sickened by what has happened. It is scandalous to have done such a thing. We hope for only one thing, that those responsible are arrested.â
Hamlaoui Mekachera, the French Minister for Former Soldiers, expressed very strong indignation after the desecration. Describing the attack as barbarous and shocking, he spoke of the âundying gratitude of the French people for the soldiers of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth who came to fight by our sides during two world warsâ.
He said police had been ordered to step up surveillance of cemeteries after a series of politically motivated attacks on Jewish and Muslim graves.
The Albuera Cemetery is the burial place of 253 Commonwealth servicemen and one German. British troops first began burying their dead there during the Battle of Arras in the spring of 1917. But after the Armistice, soldiers who had died at other battlefields were brought for burial at Bailleul-sire-Berthoult as well.
In 2003 ten headstones were stolen from the nearby Hiberts Trench Cemetery by thieves believed to have taken them as garden ornaments. Earlier that year protesters daubed slogans condemning the war in Iraq at Etaples Cemetery, which contains 11,000 graves. âBut by and large, thereâs relatively little vandalism of this sort in France,â said Mr Farrell.
#1
Btw, I forgot, I dont have the exact numbers in mind coz I'm weak and stoopid (and badly need penis-enlargement pills), but I'm absolutely certain that the vandalizings of christian places of worship and christian graveyards dwarf the ones directed at jewish or muslim ones, all this in an absolute MSM silence. A christian graveyard desacrated is vandalism, barely worth of mention in the local newspaper, a muslim one is hate crime, covered by national teevee.
Note that in almost all recent cases, the perps who have been caught after having vandalized muslims graveyards were... north africans muslim, usually designed as "mentally ill"!...
Still, even in regard with that, somehow, I doubt synagogues are being firebombed by jews, and I doubt churches are being used as public toilets by christians.
In this case, northern France plus beer plus fire (a firebomb?), in my bigoted mind, would perhaps point to "racailles", that is muslim juveniles, rather than leftists.
#2
As much as I dislike the cowardly French nation, on every trip I have made to the Northern coast, the people had a deep respect for the Britts, the US, and the price "we" paid for "their" freedom. I can only hope it was just a few drunk idiots and not some growing trend on the northern coast. If there is a change of heart up there we have lost the only logical people in France.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
08/03/2005 21:59 Comments ||
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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Lawmakers in Sweden and Finland have opted for tougher anti-terrorism laws. Sweden's Justice Minister Thomas Bodstrom has signaled he wants to introduce a new bill to fight terrorism this fall, the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported Wednesday. The Social Democrat minister said the role of the military in case of a terror attack needs to be strengthened, and authorities should be able to preventively listen in on conversations.
A similar bill was introduced five years ago, but did not pass because of citizens' rights concerns, the newspaper said.
In Finland, new police laws have come into effect this month. Finnish authorities are now able to preventively bug phones to listen in on conversations of potential terrorists. Authorities have also used parts of the European Union's Schengen agreement to introduce tougher sea and air border controls before and during the 10th IAAF World Championships, which start in Helsinki next weekend.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2005 08:56 ||
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#1
Yep, you never know when one of those blond haired blue eyed Finns will fly a jet liner into a skyscraper. That's why they need to be subject to just as much attention as, say, a young arabic male without luggage and carrying a backpack, and with a head band proclaiming "Death to Israel and The Great Satan".
I think this guy says the things more clearly than most politicians of the Anglosphere. Following is my translation of the beginning of the interview. Remainder at link
It would be time politicians stopped saying that everyone is nice and that is just western society who has perverted a certain number of individuals. Bombings weren't the result of this. We are fully immersed in a Stockhom syndrom. But we are not those "bastards" who should "expy" (NDT: for their sins or crimes). This speech I have heard in the mouth of certain heads of government, must not make us forget that we are in a new war, declared by the islamo-fascists (NoT: Yes, he used the word) united under the Al-Quaida label. Their vindication is not religious but politic. They say: "We will set a society who will be at our image", a society, where believe me, woman will not be queen and where it will not be easy to hear mass on Sundays. A country of Westen europe has everything to fear, specially when it has a foreign policy worth to be named.
Background: This guy is a former anti-terrorist judge. Presently he is a right wing representive in French parliament and upon the request of the PM (Villepin) has written a report titled "The EU and the fight against terrorism". The interview has been published in Le Figaro Paris conservative journal
#1
Give this man a ClueBat and let him at the leaders of the West!
This is the first time I have seen the left described as having the Stockhom syndrom, and I believe it fits.
Good Job.
#3
JFM -- I think that the word you wanted was expiate, where you wrote expy. If only we'd stayed longer in Brussels, I would have had a chance to learn French, darn it! Thank you for the translation -- it is very good to know the French mainstream media is allowing such voices to be widely heard.
#5
France is run by a small elite who attended the ecoles superieur (sp?) It's as if the US were run by Harvard and Yale grads exclusively, not that we aren't close. Average Jean Table Wine has never been as screwed up as his elite leadership.
If guys like this are starting to say these things in public, and getting press, I interpret it to mean that the elite has strayed too far from what Jean Table Wine will accept and that they are now afraid of a Le Pen really taking over. So they are starting to break ranks, especially those on the lower rungs who see this as a way to catapault up the ladder.
Finally, as Kissinger observed, it has the advantage of being the truth. Let's hope France is really waking up and getting a smell of the coffee. Better late than never.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/03/2005 13:01 Comments ||
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#6
"Welcome to the party pal!"
- John McLeod, Die Hard
In the months following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, Canadian police and intelligence officials fanned out across Ontario and Quebec in search of an alleged homegrown al-Qaeda "sleeper" cell.
The Ottawa-based RCMP investigation -- Project A-O Canada -- would eventually take officers to a small, nondescript apartment complex just a 10-minute drive from Toronto's soaring downtown office towers.
It was here, the Citizen has learned, that the Mounties, secret search warrant in hand, descended in January 2002.
It was one of seven warrants executed that day. At the same time in Ottawa, officers were busy rifling through the residence of Abdullah Almalki, a Canadian citizen who spent two years locked up in a Syrian prison and claims to have been tortured.
As with the Almalki raid, police were searching for detailed banking records, travel documents and information about explosives and government buildings. But with the shock of 9/11 still setting in, Toronto officers were looking for more.
Newly released court documents show that, in addition to papers and instructions relating to Osama bin Laden, his al-Qaeda terrorist network and the 9/11 attacks, police also sought general information about "jihad and holy wars," airline information and aviation instruction and training manuals.
Whether they found anything remains a state secret. The Citizen has obtained the name and address of the warrant target, but cannot publish either. The target moved out of the apartment in December 2004, and couldn't be reached for comment.
Interviews with former neighbours paint two different pictures of the target. To those who knew him as just another tenant passing in the dim hallways, he was polite, quiet and kept to himself.
One neighbour who frequently spoke with the man called him "odd," however. Telling her he was an Egyptian engineer, the target explained his sometimes lengthy travel was the result of a career with the Canadian government.
The man's name isn't currently listed on a federal employee database.
The neighbour, speaking on condition her name not be used, added that the target "liked a lot of women," and often went to a nearby gym to work out.
Without being told of the secret warrant, the woman said she was aware of a police raid at the apartment. Some residents understood agents with Canada's spy agency, CSIS, had stopped by earlier and told building managers they "would be around."
She added in the months leading up to, and following, the search, strange things were happening.
"There was a guy who used to sit outside in a beat-up old Jeep, and no matter what time of day it was, he was there," she said.
The neighbour considered calling the police on several occasions, but eventually came to suspect it was spies at work.
Then, on two separate occasions, the intersection in front of the building was shut down and "everyone was there," including the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police, Toronto police and others.
Despite documentary proof that an RCMP raid took place, one angry building manager said the suspect was a "very nice man" and denied police had ever been to his property.
Four years after Project A-O Canada was launched, it remains shrouded in mystery. The RCMP insists near-blanket secrecy over the warrants is necessary to protect an ongoing operation, but a legal challenge by the newspaper continues to provide new details.
The search in Toronto and another at Abdullah Almalki's residence are the only two revealed thus far in court papers. A Citizen investigation revealed late last year that CSIS was tipped off days after Sept. 11, 2001, about activity at a townhouse belonging to Mr. Almalki's brother, Nazih Almalki. A suspicious neighbour claimed to have called the spy agency and later watched a police raid there. Nazih Almalki couldn't be reached for comment.
Maher Arar, an Ottawa man secretly shipped by the United States to a Syrian prison and an acquaintance of the Almalki brothers, has confirmed he later learned about a search at the townhouse.
Mr. Arar was released last year after his case mushroomed into a full-blown international incident. A public inquiry is currently examining the role of Canadian officials (including members of A-O Canada) in the case.
None of the men targeted by the 2002 warrants has been charged with a crime, and none of RCMP's allegations against them have been proven in court.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/03/2005 00:17 ||
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If you're gonna hunt AQ, don't forget your flashlight and bullets.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2005 2:33 Comments ||
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There has been a problem as the Canadian Entemologists and Environmentalists lobby complain that people have to be careful to understand that al-Qaeda is to be attacked, not Cicada...
The whole anti-terror thing will be put on hold for a few months so that the bureaucracy has enoough time to explain this to every citizen...
Despite its mainstream and wholesome appearance, the Council on American-Islamic Relations is the leading Islamist apologist in the United States and, as such, is a major influence on the enemyâs side in the war on terror.
Here is the link to the full 13 page report in .pdf format.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2005 09:44 ||
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It's on their website, click on the title, then home. I also hotlinked their name directly to the homepage. Don't know about a magazine, first time I've been there.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2005 12:23 Comments ||
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#5
I have said for years (about 4 years to be exact) that it will probably take one more good terror attack to get people pissed off enough to shut down these kind of bastards. Sad, but true.
#7
Every time I hear a CAIR spokesman I get a little more suspicious. Not sure how you can shut them down, but a number of associate members are now in jail for various crimes. I know that the term moderate Muslim seems like a myth to many but I have met and worked with them. They are NOT the kind that would join a group like CAIR or any other group like them. Since Islam doesnât have any central figure we have to evaluate these groups one at a time and I think CAIR deserves a lot of scrutiny.
#8
CS: If you read Daniel Pipes for any length of time, you'll begin to see that he's Israel first, then the US (not that that's a bad thing). That being said, he makes MANY great points and has his ear to the grindstone (and tracks) these guys. Very closely associated with Steve Emerson (his was the 1st book I picked up after 9/11 and opened my eyes completely to the goons in our midst), but he's right on the money with this. Something like 5-6 of their former/current leadership have been charged or are under investigation for ties to terror (financial, ideological or otherwise). In fact, Pipes' latest article was on CAIR's "slander" lawsuit against Anti-CAIR (ACAIR), which they're close to settling. If you look at the charges the guy at ACAIR charged them with originally, and they've since backed away from fighting in court, it speaks volumes ($ to Hamas/Hezbollah, Terror ties here in the States, them stating publicly they want to overturn the US gov't with an Islamic one, etc.). Very good read.
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2005 14:26 Comments ||
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#9
BA, I am one of those fool Neocons that believe that Israel and the U.S. have a joint future so I can appreciate Daniel Pipes article spin in that direction. Every time I see a CAIR spokesperson interviewed they make allowances for suicide attacks on Israel but not the rest of the world. What kind of wapred sense of reality do they live in? It is precisely because we let the attacks to go on in Israel for this long that we now have them in our back yard. Up till 9/11 we were quite happy that to let Israel fight a front line war against Islamo-facists. Now it's here in the west and we can't afford to let some organization with quasi ties to terror groups to exists withing our borders. Like I said I know and work with Muslims and they feel the same disgust I do when they hear about homocide bombers. Pipes is correct that prior to 9/11 this group and others would speak openly of Islamic domination of the west. Not exactly the Knights of Columbus.
#10
It is precisely because we let the attacks to go on in Israel for this long that we now have them in our back yard.
Agreed, CS. If the petrowhores of the EU had put their foot down and declared suicide bombing unacceptable, and had stopped paying them off simply to assure a steady flow of oil, islamic terror would never have gotten this far. Can't have it one way in Israel and another way in the rest of the world.
#11
CS, PD: I wasn't meaning to make it sound like I was arguing for sticking it to Israel. Personally, I'm all for standing by Israel, and backing them militarily if needed. Their fight has now become our fight. Was just pointing out that he tends to be "Israel can do no wrong" in some of his articles, but I personally get his articles via e-mail and soak them all up. I'm all for shutting down CAIR and quick!
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2005 21:18 Comments ||
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[July 29 2005] at 1445 LT in position 12:24N - 050:30E, off Caluula, NE coast of Somalia. Five pirates armed with guns in a white speedboat fired upon a bulk carrier underway. Crew mustered, activated fire hoses and fired rocket flares. Master increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres and moved away from the coast. Attempted boarding was averted. No injuries to crew.
[July 29 2005] at 0300 LT in position 01:27.39S - 116:45.76E at SPM terminal, Lawi-Lawi, Balikpapan, Indonesia. Robbers boarded a tanker during cargo operations. They broke into three storerooms and stole safety equipment and property and escaped.
[July 28 2005] at 0415 UTC in posn 04:08.5N - 049:49.3E, off east coast Somalia. Six pirates armed with guns in a white hull speedboat fired upon a bulk carrier underway. Alert crew mustered and boarding was averted.
[July 26 2005] at 2000 LT at Georgetown port, Guyana. Five robbers armed with guns boarded a container ship departing with pilot on board. They held a crew at gunpoint and broke padlock of forward storeroom. The crewmember managed to escape and raise alarm. Robbers left empty handed.
[July 26 2005] at 1110 UTC in position 03:09N - 048:47E, 90 nm miles off east coast of Somalia. Eight pirates armed with machine guns and RPG in two speedboats approached a product tanker underway. One boat came within 30 metres and fired shots at the tanker. Crew mustered and activated fire hoses. Master increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres, increased speed and proceeded away from the coast. Boats aborted attempted boarding. Boats were white hulled with blue stripes and each boat was manned by four persons. No injuries to crew and no damage to ship.
#1
90 nm miles off east coast of Somalia. Eight pirates armed with machine guns and RPG in two speedboats approached a product tanker underway . . .
What kind of range does a speedboat have? Somehow, I doubt they have a 90-100 nm radius of action. There has to be a mother ship somewhere close by.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/03/2005 10:13 Comments ||
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#2
range is determined by the amount of fuel they carry and the horsepower. I did some checking and found this review of a 21 foot Boston Whaler Outrage:
* Over 350 mile cruise range with 225 4stroke (150 mile tuna trip only burned 47 gallons; with near 80 gallons in reserve).
So 90nm is nothing, drug smugglers do more than that with extra tanks all the time.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2005 10:40 Comments ||
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#3
Thanks, Steve.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/03/2005 11:03 Comments ||
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#4
I wonder if any of those steely-eyed Lloyds of London gents read Rantburg? ;-)
A man accused of co-ordinating the 2004 bombings of the Australian embassy in Jakarta in which nine people were killed claims that Osama bin Laden provided the money for the explosives, but while not ruling out this possibility a Jakarta-based security expert has urged more caution in what he says are crucial investigations in determining who is financing terrorism in the region. According to a report in the daily The Australian on Monday, Iwan Dharmawan, also known as Rois, shortly after his arrest las Novemeber told Indonesian authorities that he received 10,000 Australian dollars from a courier sent by Bin Laden.
âI can't exclude that al-Qaeda financed the [9 September 2004] Australian embassy bombings, but I surely can't affirm it. The matter is still open, " security expert Ken Conboy, who is the author of the book "The Second Front: Inside Asia's Most Dangerous Terrorist Network", which focus on Jemaah Islamiyah - the radical islamic group fighting for the establishment of an Islamic state in South East Asia - told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Rois says he learnt that Bin Laden had provided the money from Azahari bin Husin, a Malay suspect beleived to be behind all the major terrorist attacks carried out Indonesia in recent years. Azahari bin Husin and his assistant, Noordin Mohammed Top, are still on the run.
âFinding the sponsors of terror is crucial if we are to lower the intensity of the security threat against Jakarta, â Conboy told AKI.
âUntil 2003 it was quite clear that the money came from Pakistan, but that channel has been blocked. Nobody can now say for sure who finances terrorism in Indonesia. Rois' statement is just a supposition among others, â Conboy said.
Whaterver the source of the fundings, law enforcement agencies must focus their efforts in identifying then, the security expert stresses.
âAs long as money is available [to the terrorists], the risks of another attack in Jakarta is very high,â he said..
Rois, whose case is currently being judged in a Jakarta tribunal, is accused of having organised the logistics behind the attack against the Australian embassy. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
Despite the fact that Rois has denied being a member of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the radical islamic group is considered responsible for the Australian embassy attack, as well as those against several discos in Bali in 2002 which killed 202 people, and against Jakarta's Marriott hotel in 2003 which killed 12.
Jemaah Islamiyah, which means in Arab "Islamic community", has not been outlawed in the country and the organisation is supported by local madrassas, or Islamic institutes, especially those located in the region of Central Java.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/03/2005 02:09 ||
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No doubt the most hard line Muzzi nation in SE Asia would back pedal about any firm AQ link. Quick, send out an expert to cast doubt. Would not want to piss off the muzzie savior BL and start a civil war.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
08/03/2005 22:07 Comments ||
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They're so stinkin' nuanced they have no idea what the hell they're doing...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Good thing we have nothing at all to worry about from the Iranians for at least 10 years. I don't know about the rest of you but I'll sure sleep better at night after hearing about that new national intelligence estimate.
#4
Belgian 1st hairdresser Brigade: aka 'The Big gay ones" (1) then there is the 101th: "Screaming scissors". That will make Mullahs shake in their boots.
(1) I don't know in America but in France the profession is reputed to have a high proportion of gays.
#7
Appears they're tone deaf.
Send a squadron of Tornadoes breaking the sound barrier at treetop down the middle of Ayatollah Khomeini Boulevard during morning rush hour. That might wake them up.
Because they're laughing at you right now...
#8
France, Britain and Germany hardened their tone toward Iran on Tuesday, warning that Tehran risked triggering an international crisis and could face U.N. sanctions if it follows through with a threat to resume its nuclear program.
Yep, the tone was "toughened". Juuuust a little, to be sure.
#12
Yup. You can almost hear Kofi and son opening new off-shore bank accounts already, can't you? Oil for Food II anyone?
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2005 14:14 Comments ||
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#13
Toughened tone: the new and improved Hans Brix.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/03/2005 16:01 Comments ||
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the European Union was prepared to offer extensive economic incentives to Iran,
Um, I'm running a nuclear program too, in my backyard. It's for peaceful purposes, rest assured. I want to get off the grid and produce my own electricity. Honestly. Now, can I have some money from you guys? I'll take 1/100th of what you're offering those Iranian guys. Maybe even less if the negotiations don't go right. Ok, I'll settle for a brand new Softail Springer Classic. How about it?
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/03/2005 16:10 Comments ||
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#15
"This Iranian affair is very serious," said French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. "It could be the beginning of a major international crisis."
Today's leading entry in the Statements of the Blindingly Obvious contest.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/03/2005 16:11 Comments ||
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UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is deeply troubled by reports of an attempt underway "to overthrow the Government of Mauritanian President Ould Taya by force," said a statement released by United Nations spokesman St{phane Dujarric. "The Secretary-General condemns any attempt to change the government of any country unconstitutionally and stresses that political disagreements should be settled peacefully, through the democratic process," Dujarric said.
Boy! Talk about quick and decisive action!
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 21:28 ||
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"The Secretary-General condemns any attempt to change the government of any country unconstitutionally and stresses that political disagreements should be settled peacefully, through the democratic process," Dujarric said.
So when do I get to vote on who gets the office of Secretary General?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/03/2005 22:13 Comments ||
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GULU, Uganda, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The leader of a Ugandan murder cult that uses child soldiers is closing ranks as the International Criminal Court prepares to issue an arrest warrant. Joseph Kony, a self-styled prophet who has led the Lord's Resistance Army for 19 years, doesn't appear interested in an amnesty Uganda has offered for LRA members, The Telegraph reported Wednesday.
Joe is one of those folk what needs killin'
He is aware the court is investigating the abduction of some 20,000 children, but uses the isolation of his officers and child soldiers to intimidate them into believing they will go to jail if they surrender, the London newspaper said. Kony claims he wishes to rule Uganda according to the Ten Commandments, and justified murdering his own Acholi people with biblical references and accusations that they have failed to support his cause. At the Children of War Rehabilitation Centre in Gulu, 13,000 of Kony's abductees have received counseling and care in the past decade.
I'm sure he's trembling in his boots over this arrest warrant
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2005 13:27 ||
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Once again, THAT'S NOT ME!!!
I'm dead dammit!
Posted by: Rick James ||
08/03/2005 14:11 Comments ||
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In February and April 2003 Foundation Watch opened a window on George Sorosâ radical agenda for America. We followed his money, which supports programs intended to push the U.S. legal system, media, and society far to the Left. Our report looked at Sorosâ support for activists who work to eliminate the death penalty, make imprisonment an unacceptable crime control measure, push for absolute abortion rights, legalize marijuana and hard drugs, give entitlements to immigrants regardless of legal status, and shift public opinion to approve physician-assisted suicide. But this does not begin to encapsulate Sorosâ left-wing politics.
#4
Hey Poison Reserve, WTF? What do Rabin, Barak and Peres have to do with Soros?
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/03/2005 13:28 Comments ||
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#5
Tibor,
There are Jewish Leftists that sold their souls and sold out Israel for the "common" good. Google them. Then you will know what I am talking about. I will stand by what I said.
BTW, I also strongly disagree with the Gaza pullout. I am against Sharon on this one. I fully support the Israeli "Women in Green."
#6
Most Leftist Jews, including Soros, care nothing for Israel because they are secular. Every Jew in the world has a God of Israel mandated responsibility to support Israel. Since Soros is an active Leftist and a Jew, IMVHO, is a danger to the U.S. and Israel and must be stopped politically. Again, this is my viewpoint. I will stand by what I say.
#7
When the World Bank cut the funds and loans to India for the underground testing of a nuclear bomb. The Indian Govt. informed all Indians across the world to send money and invest in the Indian economy. Almost all Indians across the world heeded the call and invested massive amounts of money in India.
The World Bank saw what happened and pretty much put their hands up. The world found out real quick not make monetary threats against India.
This is the same way that all Jews around the world should support the state of Israel and stop appeasing terrrorism. Unfortunately, I don't see a collective love among Jews.
#8
Soros has been recently organizing some 70 ultra rich "progressives" into the Phoenix group...
*snicker* Here we have a compulsive gambler that is down some 400 million and he's rounding up players for a new game. You just have to wonder, who among those 70, are the suckers from whom he intends to win back his losses.
Golleeeee! Mister Soros is asking me to play. Well Shucks, I do indeed flatter myself to be a bit of a player. Oh lookie here..I seem to be on a winning streak. I won the first two hands. Maybe I'll risk a bit more this time.
#10
Okay, PR. I just wasn't sure how we switched from Soros wasting money on ACT and other things to leftist Israeli politicians.
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/03/2005 15:44 Comments ||
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#11
When the World Bank cut the funds and loans to India for the underground testing of a nuclear bomb
SOB! This sucker is on to us! Is there anyway to hide the FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS from the hoi or the poli? Can we kill their vote? Are concentration camps a possibility? What about thousands and thousands of little tiny goyem robots? Is it possibole? We have the technology!
#3
I did notice quite a few of them, in specific areas (e.g. Indonesia) are Muslim on Muslim. One addition that I'd make (if I were running the site) would be to add a column w/ a link to news about that specific attack, in case readers wanted to follow-up. There are several attacks that were very vague on details, and he called them jihadi attacks. Not that I doubt they truly were, but more info could be helpful. Another thing that struck me was how many LARGE attacks occurred in Russia (besides the Moscow theater and Beslan). I counted 2-3 attacks on trains I hadn't heard about. And, of course, we have Casablanca, Bali, Madrid, London, several attacks in Saudi, the D.C. sniper, etc that made big press. Wonder if there's a counterpart to this site pre-9/11 to show how asleep we were as a nation, going back to Iran-hostage and even prior, to the Israeli olympic athletes being gunned down. Another trend, which we're all aware of, was attacks in Sudan by janjaweed. MANY of those attacks were very large (entire villages killed), and yet, the UN sits around. Sudan and Iran are Bolton's two top jobs in my mind at the U.N. (as well as N. Korea).
Posted by: BA ||
08/03/2005 9:45 Comments ||
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#4
If this doesn't look like world war, I don't know what does!
The new Iraqi constitution to be presented later this month will not resolve many of the most difficult questions that threaten to split the nation along ethnic and sectarian lines, key participants in the process say.
Rather, the parties expect to meet an Aug. 15 deadline for drafting a basic law by deferring tough decisions on the details of the role of Islam, women's rights, oil-revenue sharing and federalism until after a new legislature is elected in December.
Not everyone is happy with that decision, taken in the face of strong U.S. pressure to meet the Aug. 15 deadline and keep Iraq's progress toward a permanent government on track. The last possible moment for seeking an extension was midnight Monday.
The Kurds, in particular, strongly oppose any delay in a final decision on the future of the northern city of Kirkuk, their role in the future of Iraq and ownership of Iraq's natural resources.
They have proposed that the constitutional drafting committee expand the provincial borders of Kurdistan and are vehemently opposed to a Sunni proposal that would recognize Iraq as an Arab nation. Kurds are not ethnically Arab.
The Sunnis, meanwhile, worry that excessive decentralization will take power from the Sunni center of the country, while Shi'ites, backed by some Sunnis on the committee, are pushing for a greater role for Islam in the nation's laws.
Women's groups are worried that their rights will be shoved aside in the rush to meet the deadline.
"Many Iraqi women are outraged by the idea that [the current draft of the] constitution refers to Islamic Shariah [law] as the primary legal source, especially as it relates to the personal-status law," said Manal Omar, regional representative of Women for Women International.
Under Shariah law, women inherit half of what men inherit, and may lose their equal rights in divorces.
"Many women are not against Islamic law in the constitution, but feel that safeguards need to be put in place with regard to interpretations and applications of an overarching Islamic Shariah," Miss Omar said in a telephone interview from Jordan.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said after meeting with women's groups yesterday that equality for women "is a fundamental requirement for Iraq's progress."
But an Iraqi official in contact with those drafting the constitution said the Shi'ites -- who have a majority in the interim legislature -- were unlikely to agree to any rights for women that were not acceptable under Shariah law.
"We have to respect the realities of Iraq," he said, adding that women "have to be patient and accept the reality. ... We will not put articles in against women, [but] we can just not topple this one overnight."
Once the new constitution is completed, Iraqis will have two months to debate its terms before approving or rejecting it in a national referendum.
If it is approved, a second national election will take place on Dec. 15, and a permanent government will be seated by Dec. 31. If voters reject the constitution, the committee will go back to the drawing board.
The hope in Washington is that if everything goes on schedule, support for the Sunni-led insurgency will dissipate and U.S. troops will be able to begin coming home early next year.
Neil Kritz of the U.S. Institute of Peace, which is advising the Iraqi parties in the drafting process, said that it is important to keep the political momentum going, even if many of the toughest decisions are deferred.
"In that sense, it would almost be an interim constitution. You can decrease support for the insurgency by drawing others into the political process, and [you] can set up a new time line to review it within two years," said Mr. Kritz.
A U.S. source close to the drafting committee said that U.S. political considerations rather than Iraqi political needs appear to be driving the push to finish quickly.
"The U.S. is putting on pressure because it is viewed as tied to troop withdrawals," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/03/2005 02:00 ||
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#1
I believe the Kurds will not (and should not) be denied and screwed over, this time. To be honest, they are the only group in that entire region I give a flip about. I'll add the Persian people if they throw off the Mullahs and their yoke of councils and thugs. The Kurds truly deserve their own state. Period. The Iraqi Arabs? Jury's still out - and it's not looking like they "get it" at all, assuming the elected reps actually do represent the wishes of the Iraqi Arabs.
#4
Our Constitution guarantees equal rights and justice for all, regardless of religion, sect, race, or gender, is already written so it can meet the deadline, and has worked well even for a nation formed of every imaginable religion and ethnicity for over 200 years. It seems to be a no-brainer but the obvious is always overlooked.
#6
Why does it seem like basic principles like negotiation and compromise are beyond the ME thinking. I firmly believed democratic principles where desired by all people, but now I am not so sure. I am not advocating rushing anything, but it always seems like the wheels keep spinning without any traction.
#7
"But an Iraqi official in contact with those drafting the constitution said the Shi'ites -- who have a majority in the interim legislature -- were unlikely to agree to any rights for women that were not acceptable under Shariah law."
I thought they were drafting with a new start. A shame that they are bringing to the table old laws to live by that not everyone approves of.
Posted by: Jan ||
08/03/2005 12:50 Comments ||
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#8
Danielle, you seem to forget that our constitution avoided some contentious issues regarding a peculiar institution. As a result we killed 500-600,000 of our brothers. Sometimes that 's what you have to do to resolve contentious issues. Other times it's better to avoid them. I vote they avoid some if that's what it takes to start down this liberal republic thing.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
08/03/2005 13:10 Comments ||
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#9
It also took some 12 years to get the US Consitution together. The Iraqis have, what, less than a year?
#13
Mebbe they could use the EU model? I hear Chirac is through with it.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2005 21:39 Comments ||
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#14
wooda let them borrow ours.
You've got that right Bobby! And the same goes to the EU. Such small and petty minds that can't rise above the political rhetoric to embrace the near miraculous convergence of circumstance and genius that created a near flawless documents solely dedicated to liberty of man, ...rather than to the ambitions of small men.
Once again, I am reminded why George Washington was once called the Father of our Country. Twice, in full control of the power, he was willing to give it up for the good of all men. What a freak he was. Thank God for freaks.
Haroon Rashid Aswat - the man believed to have co-ordinated the London bombings in which 56 people died - is known in Fordsburg, Johannesburg, as "a nice family man".
Aswat made his living selling Islamic CDs and DVDs at fleamarkets around Joburg and in neighbouring countries, a business associate said yesterday.
Ahmed Al Arine, who says he was interrogated for three days by South African intelligence agents last week, said he had helped Aswat sell CDs from a stall on Fordsburg Square and was shocked by the allegations levelled against him.
Al Arine, a refugee from Jordan seeking asylum in South Africa, described Aswat as "a nice person" and said he had never expressed any interest in radical Islam in the five months he had known him.
London police, however, are determined to question him because the July 7 bombers allegedly made about 20 calls to his cellphone shortly before the bombings.
US authorities also want to question him about an al-Qaeda-style training camp they say he tried to establish in Bly, Oregon.
Aswat has been described by US and British media as a senior
al-Qaeda figure and the ringleader of the July 7 attacks.
Quoting intelligence sources, the Times last week reported that, prior to the deadly bombings, Aswat visited the home towns of all four bombers as well as some of the London targets. He is also believed to have flown out from Heathrow hours before the four suicide bombers killed 52 rush-hour commuters on the transport system.
Zambian police are holding Aswat, who was arrested on July 20 in Lusaka. He was due to be extradited to Britain after Zambia's interior minister yesterday signed a document handing over custody of the suspect to Britain.
British newspapers reported at the weekend that Aswat had told his Zambian captors he was once a bodyguard for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Al Arine is in hiding after he claimed he was subjected to intense interrogation sessions at a police station in Pretoria.
He said he was arrested on July 24 without a warrant and was duped into giving police a blood sample for DNA purposes.
Al Arine's apartment in Randburg was searched and CDs, DVDs, documents and his computer hard drive were taken, all without a warrant, he claimed.
He has laid a complaint with the police's Independent Complaints Directorate.
His alleged ordeal has, however, allowed a snapshot of Aswat to emerge, which shows he has business dealings that require him to move across borders and in and out of Islamic communities with relative ease.
Aswat has family in South Africa and is believed to have left the country about a month ago, ostensibly to make business contacts on the fleamarket circuit in Botswana.
Al Arine said yesterday he had been introduced to Aswat by his grandmother and had known him to be a soft-spoken man "of good habits", who was very private.
"He was a quiet person. He didn't like anyone to interfere in his life. He always was very secretive, but he was very nice and he was fair with everything that he did with me," Al Arine said.
Aswat had been introduced to him as Yahya and he had called him by that name in the five months he had known him, he said.
"Sometimes I heard his family call him Haroon, and his granny said to me that this is because he looks like another Haroon in the family," Al Arine said.
Asked if Aswat had ever spoken to him about al-Qaeda or radical Islamic issues, Al Arine said: "Never. He didn't speak about these things. He was only concentrating on business: DVDs and CDs. It was for me to manage Joburg, and he had all the fetes and stalls outside Joburg and in Botswana," he said.
Aswat left for Botswana about four weeks ago and suddenly "disappeared". Al Arine started getting phone calls from Aswat's worried family, wanting to know if he had heard from his partner.
All of Al Arine's calls to Aswat went unanswered.
Al Arine was arrested nine days ago as he, his wife and young daughter went to Joburg International Airport to pick up a friend.
Five cars surrounded him and about 25 policemen from the Crime Intelligence Unit climbed out, pointing assault rifles at him.
Al Arine was forced to the ground, and when he wanted to know what he had done wrong, the police told him the orders to arrest him had "come from the president".
He was taken back to his flat and the police seized all kinds of documentation and carted them off.
His wife was told that if she ever wanted to see her husband again, she must not tell anyone of the arrests, Al Arine added.
While he was being interrogated, Al Arine was asked if he knew Ibrahim Abubaker Tantouche.
The US has accused Tantouche of being Bin Laden's banker, which he denies. Tantouche manages a stall in Fordsburg Square next to Al Arine's stand, but they were only passing acquaintances.
Al Arine at first denied knowing Tantouche, because he knew him only by one of his names, Ibrahim. But his interrogators were adamant, showing he had made a phone call to Tantouche.
Al Arine realised who the police were talking about only when they showed him a photograph.
Abeda Bhamjee, Al Arine's lawyer from the Wits Law Clinic, said she was concerned about the way the rights of Muslim and other foreign nationals were being infringed by police action.
Safety and Security Department spokesperson Director Sally de Beer refused to comment yesterday.
But Trevor Bloem, from the Ministry of Safety and Security, said no police action was above the law and he would be very concerned if human rights were being abused.
Al Arine has since been released and says all his documentation - other than his computer hard drive and his car registration papers - have been returned.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/03/2005 00:42 ||
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What a joke. All these bums are "shocked" by what Asswat did. Really? What page from the AQ manual does "shocked" show up?
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2005 2:31 Comments ||
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#2
taquiyya for the kufr--ho chi minh worked in the bronx--mao was an agrarian reformer--fidel was an existential rebel--ask c. wright mills----move on dot orgy of violence
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
08/03/2005 2:44 Comments ||
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#4
Scroll more than halfway down: Page 25
AL-AQSA is active in South Africa since 1992, with the visit of Sheikh Muhammed Mahmoud SEYOM (the former Imam of the Grand AL-AQSA MOSQUE in Jerusalem, in 1988 he was banned to SUDAN where he opened a similar office) was accompanied by Abu YUSUF (director of the "PALESTINE AND LEBANON RELIEF FUND"). Abu YUSUF opened a few mosques and addresses in Walmer Estate, Woodstock.
This organisation is a front for HAMAS in South Africa. The political wing of HAMAS are in control of this office. It is important to note that South Afican Al-Aqsa International foundation forms part of a network: AIF ISLAMABAD - AIF JORDAN - AIF SOUTH AFRICA.
AL-AQSA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION offices in South Africa:
AMOCA GARDENS BUILDING
2de Floor Mint Ave 40 (- 14)
Fordsburg Johannesburg
P O BOX 421082
FORDSBURG 2033
Fax : (011) 8342918
South African AL-AQSA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION board of Trustees exist out of the following individuals:
Whadan Amin Aref KHUNFUR a Abu Ahmed
SAI GABRIELS
Dr. E Muhammed - Muntuz UL - Moulana Mumzal AL HAQ.
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This front organisation has a bank account at First National Bank, Industria account nr 9000028878. Funds are deposit in South Africa by supporters of HAMAS, where after these funds are being transferred to HAMAS in their struggle against Israel.
Funds are being channelled from the USA through AIF to organisations who:
There is this link which I cannot get to: Rantburg: Never forgive, never forget!...
The newspaper said that Fordsburg doctor Feroz Ganchi and Laudium student Zubair ... as a hangout for smugglers and terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. ...
rantburg.com/index.php?HC=1&D=2004-08-24 - 410k
It has taken a long time but maybe now the Brits will realise that all the different terrorist groups, no matter where they're from get together through the al Queda Franchise
.
LATE LAST MONTH an Algerian-born terrorist named Ahmed Ressam received a commuted sentence of 22 years (prosecutors had recommended 35 years) in prison for his role in planning to blow up the Los Angeles airport. His sentence infuriated many since his involvement in the plot against LAX was immediately transparent. After all, he was captured in December 1999 after driving off a ferry from British Columbia in a vehicle laden with bomb-making explosives.
Ressam received a commuted sentence after providing investigators with good intelligence about the al Qaeda network which spawned the plot. (Ressam has since stopped cooperating.) Indeed, Ressam's failed attempt against LAX was part of a series of al Qaeda-related attacks against targets around the world (in Jordan, Australia, and elsewhere) at the turn of the new millennium. There is still much about these planned attacks we do not know.
Ressam's story, like that of so many other al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists, contains an endless list of murky connections to a host of nefarious people and groups. The most troubling of these ties is to al Qaeda's Algerian affiliates, the Armed Islamic Group (aka the "GIA") and its descendant, the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat (the "GSPC"). The history of the GIA is an especially violent one and Ressam is just one of many terrorists to have operated under its auspices. Indeed, the Algerian tentacle of the vast terror network executed scores of lethal attacks spanning more than a decade.
IT IS A CURIOUS FACT, then, that Saddam Hussein financial assistance to the GIA when it was in its earliest stages of germination. There is still much we do not know about Saddam's relationship with al Qaeda's Algerian affiliate. But, Iraq's relationship with the GIA warrants further investigation given its tortuous history.
THE ROOTS OF SADDAM'S RELATIONSHIP with the GIA trace back to the 1991 Gulf War. The group's early history is particularly useful in understanding why Saddam would offer the GIA his support.
As the war approached, Saddam sought and received support from a conspicuous group of Islamist radicals. Among them was the Sudanese leader Hassan al-Turabi and an Algerian Islamist named Abbas Madani, both of whom traveled to Baghdad in the months prior to the war and declared their support for Saddam.
Madani was then the leader of Algeria's Islamic Salvation Front (the "FIS"), which was a consortium of four Islamist parties formed to obtain democratically-elected political power. Madani was somewhat more tempered in his support for Saddam than his cohort, Ali Benhadj, because he feared (correctly) that support for Saddam would end Saudi financial support for the FIS. Benhadj overcame Madani's reticence, however, and moved the FIS firmly into Saddam's camp. According to Gilles Keppel (Jihad, The Trail of Political Islam), Benhadj--who was accompanied by "a detachment of Afghan-garbed jihadists fresh from Peshawar"--took to the streets and "delivered a harangue in front of the [Algerian] Ministry of Defense in which he demanded the formation of a corps of volunteers to join the forces of Saddam Hussein."
Writing in Al Qaeda's Armies, Middle East expert Jonathan Schanzer explains that as the Gulf War neared the "FIS became increasingly pro-Iraq and anti-U.S., as seen through their slogans, protests, and even training camps for volunteers to fight for Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The U.S. conflict with Iraq was a powerful symbol of FIS's soaring popularity."
INDEED, the FIS leadership leveraged popular support for Saddam within Algeria to the point that it was on the verge of taking power in 1992. To avoid a takeover by the Islamists, however, the ruling Algerian government and army cancelled the final round of elections. Martial law was imposed, Madani and Benhadj were thrown in jail, and the more radical elements within the FIS, including many former Arab Afghans, left its ranks to join the burgeoning GIA.
The "Arab Afghans" were among the earliest leaders of the GIA. Bin Laden's patronage of the group proved especially beneficial as hundreds of former veterans from the war in Afghanistan were soon redeployed to Algeria to swell the GIA's ranks. By some accounts, bin Laden is said to have personally arranged for the financing and necessary travel documents to be provided to upwards of 1,000 or more "Arab Afghans" who returned or relocated to Algerian soil. Al Qaeda's number two, Ayman al Zawahiri, is also said to have played a vital role in the group's formation.
Bin Laden did not just finance the building of the GIA with money from his own pockets or his wealthy benefactors, however. He also received help from Saddam Hussein: At least one former CIA official has confirmed that some of the money bin Laden funneled to the GIA came from Saddam's Iraq.
In a USA Today article from December 2001, Stanley Bedlington, a senior analyst in the CIA's counterterrorism center until he retired in 1994, explained, "We were convinced that money
from Iraq was going to bin Laden, who was then sending it to places that Iraq wanted it to go." He added, "There certainly is no doubt that Saddam Hussein had pretty strong ties to bin Laden while he was in Sudan, whether it was directly or through (Sudanese) intermediaries. We traced considerable sums of money going from bin Laden to the GIA in Algeria. We believed some of the money came from Iraq." [emphasis added]
Later, in an interview with THE WEEKLY STANDARD's Stephen Hayes, Bedlington elaborated on the relationship. "Osama bin Laden had established contact with the GIA," Bedlington explained, "Saddam was using bin Laden to ship funds to his own contacts through the GIA."
THE EXTENT of this financial arrangement is not clear. Declassifying the evidence of Saddam's financial relationship with bin Laden collected by the CIA in the early 1990s, as cited by Bedlington, would be a good start to answering these questions. It is likely, however, that we will never know the true extent of Saddam's support for the GIA. This is particularly troublesome since the GIA went on to become one of al Qaeda's most prolific affiliates; a brief review of the terrorist dossier compiled by the GIA and its descendant, the GSPC, demonstrates that further investigation of Saddam's support for the group is warranted.
Upon its inception in the early 1990s the GIA declared a "jihad" against the Algerian government and a civil war ensued. That war has ended at least 100,000 lives, including many foreigners operating on Algerian soil. The GIA's efforts in this war and abroad were directly aided by the core of al Qaeda. In his testimony ("Algeria's Struggle Against Terrorism") before Congress's Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation earlier this year, Lorenzo Vidino explained,
The Islamists were not alone in their violent struggle against the secular government. Throughout the 1990s they received financial and logistical support from al Qaeda, as hundreds of Algerian militants trained in al Qaeda training camps in Sudan and Afghanistan. And while battling the secular government at home, the GIA established a strong presence in Europe, where its cells interacted with other Islamist groups and provided the militants fighting in Algeria with money, weapons and false documents.
Indeed, the GIA's strong presence in Western Europe played a vital role in al Qaeda's planning and execution of a number attacks. One such incident proved to be an eerie forerunner of the events of September 11, 2001. Four GIA terrorists hijacked an Air France flight leaving Algiers in December 1994. Their goal was to force the pilot to fly the plane into the Eiffel Tower. Their plan failed when the plane landed in Marseille and French Special Forces overtook it, killing the hijackers in the process.
In addition to the Air France hijacking in 1994, investigations into a series of bombings on French soil throughout 1995 led to the convictions of several GIA terrorists. Another bombing in France in 1996 turned up leads to the GIA; the GIA left its fingerprints on countless other plots throughout the mid-1990s.
By 1998, however, support for the group within Algeria began to wane after years of brutal attacks on civilians, so one of the GIA's former leaders reconstituted the group as the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat (the "GSPC"). The GSPC subsumed much of the GIA's international network and terrorists operating within the GSPC's sphere continued to assault the western world.
Members of the GSPC have been connected to terrorist plots and attacks in Belgium, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere, several of which are particularly noteworthy.
The aforementioned plot on LAX at the turn of the new millennium is thought to have been spawned within the GSPC's Canadian presence, which it inherited from the GIA. According to Lorenzo Vidino, "A GSPC cell in Europe is believed to have planned to kill President Bush at the G8 meeting in Genoa in the summer of 2001." According to Schanzer, two members of the GSPC provided passports to the assassins of bin Laden's main nemesis within Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Massoud, just two days prior to September 11, 2001. "Massoud's assassination," Schanzer notes, "was likely designed to weaken the Northern Alliance with the full expectation that the U.S. would require its help in the post-September 11 invasion of Afghanistan."
The GSPC has also been an especially vocal supporter of the terrorist assault, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in Iraq. It was no surprise, therefore, when Zarqawi's al Qaeda branch claimed responsibility for taking two Algerian diplomats hostage in Iraq late last month. Zarqawi's group explained, according to a translation provided by globalterroralert.com, that the diplomats were taken hostage as direct retribution against the Algerian government for supporting the "Jews, Christians, and every country that wounds the people" of Zarqawi's group. The GSPC lauded the kidnapping and accused the Algerian government of "aiding the apostate Iraqi government and the crusader alliance their battle against the mujahideen."
Did Saddam continue to financially support al Qaeda's Algerian affiliate throughout its reign of terror? We do not know. Given the GIA's, and then the GSPC's, long history of terrorism around the world, it deserves further investigation.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/03/2005 00:39 ||
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The preliminary finding by Italian investigators that those who took part in the attempted bomb attacks on London on July 21 were probably unconnected to any larger terrorism network raises a concern for intelligence and security services world-wide: there is a new breed of Islamic terrorism that has no link to old al-Qaeda structures.
According to western security officials, the topic of home-grown, radicalised Muslim extremists shifted near the top of counter-terrorism agendas more than a year ago during regular bilateral discussion between the US and the UKâs homeland security services after a series of arrests of domestic terror suspects in both countries.
The concern was heightened by US intelligence, which says the senior leadership group surrounding Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, remains isolated, unable to direct or to commission specific attacks on western targets.
According to US intelligence officials, several al-Qaeda affiliates have had operations delayed because of a failure to receive instructions from the networkâs senior leadership. That, they believe, illustrates Mr bin Ladenâs increasing role as a propagandist rather than as an operational leader.
Cofer Black, who recently stepped down as the State Departmentâs top counter-terrorism official, told Congress last year that US-led efforts to cut off al-Qaedaâs senior leadership had produced a second tier of leadership, less sophisticated and less well-trained, degrading the groupâs capabilities.
Not all officials agree. Retired Admiral James Loy, former number two at the US department of homeland security and senior counsellor at the Washington-based Cohen Group, believes the new leadership is potentially as dangerous, since it remains largely unknown to intelligence officials and is widely dispersed.
âI liken that to the drug wars of the 1980s when there were five or six cartels in Colombia and we took them down,â said Adm Loy. âUnfortunately, [the result] was that instead of five in-command families, all these lieutenants came up. So instead of five in-control families, there are 50. Unfortunately, thatâs what is happening now, and thatâs a scary proposition.â
Of equal concern, say experts and officials, is the belief that Mr bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, may be using a recent campaign of audio and video tapes in order to radicalise western Muslims resident in targeted countries.
These locals, disillusioned by US and British policy in Iraq, could be further influenced by recent admonishments by the al-Qaeda leaders that âthe most pressing duty after faithâ is to fight as part of a global jihad, officials argue.
âOsama bin Laden has relied on Muslim resentment towards US policies in his call for a defensive jihad to oppose an American assault on the Islamic faith and culture,â vice-admiral Lowell Jacoby, head of the Defence Intelligence Agency, told Congress this year.
âHe contends that all faithful Muslims are obliged to fight, or support the jihad financially if not physically capable of fighting.â
Federal Bureau of Investigation officials have said that while overseas al-Qaeda members remain their biggest concern, last yearâs Madrid bombings heightened attention being paid to the potential effect al-Qaeda propaganda may have on âradical American convertsâ.
âThe potential recruitment of radicalised American Muslim converts continues to be a concern and poses an increasing challenge for the FBI since recruitment is subtle and, many times, self-initiated,â Robert Mueller, FBI director, said in an unclassified report to Congress.
US authorities have already charged a handful of local Muslims with terrorism-related charges, including Ali al-Timimi, an American-born imam sentenced last month to life in prison for recruiting Muslims in his northern Virginia community for Taliban training camps in Pakistan.
Ernest James Ujaama, an American-born Seattle resident, was sentenced last year to two years in prison for attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon.
UK authorities last year arrested eight Britons of Pakistani decent in a raid that uncovered hundreds of pounds of fertiliser that police suspected was to be used to build a bomb.
Some experts think al-Qaedaâs Pakistan-based leadership still controls terrorist operations. The July 7 London bombings, they say, had hallmarks of the old leadershipâs operations.
âBin Ladenâs role is really that of a venture capitalist,â said Dominic Armstrong, director of research and intelligence for Aegis Defence Services, a London-based private security group. âIf he likes the idea, he can provide funding, training and expertise.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/03/2005 00:17 ||
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#1
The preliminary finding by Italian investigators that those who took part in the attempted bomb attacks on London on July 21 were probably unconnected to any larger terrorism network
this only increases my concern that perhaps the 7/21 bombing was a planned diversion.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/03/2005 9:07 Comments ||
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#3
I believe his theory is that 7/21 was a diversion from 7/7. Since the 7/7 bombs all went off, there's a lot less forensic evidence and no bombers to interrogate. Sending some mooks out with duds gets the authorities concentrating on the mooks instead, in the manner of the old "looking where the light is" joke.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/03/2005 9:16 Comments ||
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#4
The fact that the experts agree that the "Mother of Satan" homebrew has a short shelf life unless sealed air tight means nothing to the conspirisy types. Sometimes things are as simple as they seem.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2005 11:33 Comments ||
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#5
Steve, I'm not proposing that 7/21 was IN FACT a distraction. I'll agree with you that usually a cigar is just a cigar, as it may well be in this case.
However just saying "Occam's Razor" doesn't make it go away that anyone who is smart enough to pull off an event of this magnitude is smart enough to create a diversion to lead the police in the wrong direction after the fact. In fact, any good criminal or terrorist worth his salt would probably make that an obligatory part of his plan.
#6
On the other hand, they've never tried to deflect attention before, at least not like this.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/03/2005 12:04 Comments ||
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#7
I'm too lazy and don't have time to research this, but I think it was Phil who once posted a great article about the first WTC bombing and in my original comment a couple of days ago I was commenting that in in the first WTC case, (was it Yassin??), one of the players suddenly found himself stranded with no money and no way out of NYC. A patsy?
It seems like there are a few possible trends from that first attack that I've seen in other attacks. The terrorists are operating right under feds noses, but then the feds either stop watching or lose track of one or two important players right before the big attack. Certain players fly out of the country hours before the attack and now I'm musing on the possiblity that they leave a patsy behind to lead the investigation away from the light.
I'm not trying to win any converts to a conspiracy theory. I'm just commenting on it to see if others have had similar thoughts. Don't hold me to proving it - it's just a damn comment - a thought. I'm not trying to prove ANYTHING!
#8
I think one of the reasons these guys involved in the 7/21 bombing (and others) got picked up so easy can be traced directly back to the islamic mindset of not thinking for yourself. They exercise strict top-down command and control, follow orders blindly, no individual inititive, submission, etc. You see this fault in the Arab armies all the time, same here.
Look how long it takes to plan and execute every big attack, 2 to 3 years is the average we keep hearing. Always a controller and a "mastermind" who pulls the strings from afar. Lot's of travel to far away places to consult higher-ups. Long distance cell phone calls to receive orders, even after they know they could be traced. The only reason I can see is they are incapable of acting any other way.
When things went south on them and they were left on their own after the bombs failed, they were lost. Controller and mastermind had already left, no one to tell them what to do. So they panicked and did stupid shit. We still got lucky the Italians were watching that guys brother, or he might still be in the wind.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/03/2005 12:51 Comments ||
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#9
So they panicked and did stupid shit.
If there is one thing that stands out most about the foot soldiers in this war, it is that they do some stupid, stupid things. If we didn't live in a PC society that was always willing to look away and excuse away their glaringly obvious behavior (take for example that lender who tried to help the terrorist adjust to this country after he threatened to slit her throat), this war would have been over before it even started.
#10
This article seems to be based on the current work product of Italian intelligence. Wasn't it these yabbos who were snookered by the infamous yellowcake forgeries? Color me unimpressed by the collective analytical prowess of Italian intelligence. Sometimes it seems like the Italians are too busy indicting CIA agents and botching ransom attempts to find their own asses.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/03/2005 16:20 Comments ||
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#11
The theory that 7/21 was a distraction does not seem to have much basis especially when you consider how much it has cost these guys. Also the idea that there is no link to Al Queada is just silly. Just look up Aswat . There is now way Aswat or any of these guys decided to risk themselves just to distract people. Nope this was just a botched operation thatâs costing these people far more than they planned.
Posted by: Robi Sen ||
08/03/2005 17:08 Comments ||
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#12
...in the first WTC case, (was it Yassin??), one of the players suddenly found himself stranded with no money and no way out of NYC.
Was it the same one that tried to get the deposit back from the van that blew up?
#14
RE: #8. they exercise strict top-down command and control, follow orders blindly, no individual inititive, submission, etc. You see this fault in the Arab armies all the time, same here.
Wasn't this also claimed about the Ruskies?
Occam's Razor! (Sorry)
I remember reading a long ways back about the escapades of the assassins of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. Tried, failed, stumbled across their target later in the same day, improvised, succeeded. If Oliver Stone had been around then, he could've written a conspiracy theory to make JFK look like child's play!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2005 21:27 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:01 ||
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ok--we'll expell them after beheading season
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
08/03/2005 2:24 Comments ||
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#2
Wouldn't expect less of American universities if they were asked to do the same. In fact, I'd expect they'd be petitioning some judge for an injunction so they could hold on to their sacred cash cows, but arguing about its all an issue of 'freedom'.
#3
Which is exactly what they did post-9/11, Thruper, when they were required to report whether their foreign students were actually taking classes and passing them. Although their claim was that they couldn't possibly do something so difficult anyway, even were it not unethical to tattle on some of their students.
Thousands of Kurds displaced from this northern city by Saddam Hussein began formally registering Tuesday as residents of Kirkuk in a bid to make themselves the majority in the province and bolster their claims to this oil-rich region. The move came as Iraqi officials are trying to draft the country's new constitution that is widely expected to turn Iraq into a federal state. Kurds would like to incorporate the Kirkuk area into their self-ruled region — a move opposed by Arabs, Turkomen and the Turkish government in Ankara. An estimated 80,000 Kurds were displaced by Saddam in the 1980s and registered as residents of the Kurdish-ruled provinces of Irbil and Sulaimaniyah. They were replaced by Arabs as part of Saddam's campaign to change the demographics of the province of 850,000 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Saddam Hussein's lawyers will not take part in legal proceedings until the Iraqi tribunal acknowledges he was attacked in court and guarantees the safety of all defendants and attorneys, a lawyer for the former dictator said Tuesday. Members of Saddam's defense team claimed Saturday the former Iraqi president was attacked during a court appearance last week. The government and the Iraqi Special Tribunal said there had been no attack.
But Khalil al-Dulaimi, a lawyer for Saddam who attended the court appearance, insisted the allegation was true and demanded the government acknowledge it. He also insisted the tribunal apologize, guarantee the safety of Saddam and other former regime figures, and punish the attacker. He said Saddam's lawyers would stop attending any further proceedings "until our demands are met."
I'm not sure not showing up in court is the best way to win your case. In fact, I'm sure it's not.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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As you'll all be shocked to hear, Saddam's defense team is an asshat festival on wheels. First he was "attacked"; then they backed down on that, but insisted that still, somehow, there was something to apologize for. There's video -- trust me, nothing of significance happened.
In a way, it's a shame that Saddam won't have an F. Lee Bailey, but instead a gaggle of William Kunstlers. One of the most valuable things about the trials will be documenting the record of horrible crimes and abuses, and the best way to cement a solid case is to have it vigorously, intelligently, and unsuccessfully challenged. As this little episode shows, we're not likely to see much of that .....
#4
These threats against our legal system are only the beginning.
Let's just put Saddam back in that hole they found him in, we shouldn't have "rescued" him.
If they don't return get a court appointed lawyer?
Posted by: Jan ||
08/03/2005 13:14 Comments ||
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#5
The last thing this trial will be about is Sammy. We got a bunch of lawyers lined up who want to become the Johnny Cochrane of Muslimland, not to mention Ramsey Clark and whatever US lefty bozos he drags over there with him. Think OJ was a circus? Might be nice if Sammy has a heart attack in his sleep.
#6
Beyond political rhetoric and 3rd ring in the circus stunts there isn't a whole lot to do on behalf of folks like Saddam. What's the defense? I was just following orders. The columbian, shia, and amish (notorious king abner stolfus ring) drug gangs did it. I was sooo crazy I didn't comprehend my own evil ways. Self defense (gotta try real hard to keep the sociopathic smile off your face when you try that one). National security (mine not yours mr joe shia and kurd). Entrapment (Rummy made me do it I tell ya). The "Real Killers" TM did it and nobody cares. Damn Kuwaitis framed me. The loss of the potential entertainment of the absurd will be offset by reduced time and costs.
Armed groups in Iraq that oppose the U.S.-led coalition are committing war crimes by killing civilians, taking hostages and torturing and slaying defenseless prisoners, the human rights group Amnesty International said.
Wowzers! Even Amnesia International noticed?
The London-based organization also said it recognized that many Iraqis believe U.S.-led troops also have committed grave human rights violations. But it denounced the Iraqi insurgents for a "failure to abide by even the most basic standards of humanitarian law."
I think we've mentioned a time or two here how gleeful they are in flouting minimal standards of decency, but we're a bunch of infidels, so what the hell do we know?
"There is no honor nor heroism in blowing up people going to pray or murdering a terrified hostage. Those carrying out such acts are criminals, nothing less, whose actions undermine any claim they may have to be pursuing a legitimate cause," Amnesty said. The Amnesty International report — "In Cold Blood: Abuses by Armed Groups" — said insurgents were guilty of direct attacks intended to cause the greatest possible loss of civilian life, indiscriminate attacks resulting in the deaths of civilians, targeting humanitarian organizations, abductions and killing captured and defenseless police and military personnel. The report, released last week, said it was impossible to calculate how many civilians had died in Iraq as a result of these attacks. "We urge armed groups to immediately cease all attacks against civilians and all other abuses," Amnesty International said. "Armed groups, like other parties to the conflict in Iraq, are required to comply strictly with international law in all their acts and remain accountable for their actions."
Naturally, the AP article goes on to bitch about the U.S. standards of conduct, but you probably guessed that.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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What next? ACLU?
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2005 2:34 Comments ||
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I am stunned and amazed AI finally got around to mentioning the carnage and brutality.
"We urge armed groups to immediately cease all attacks against civilians and all other abuses,"
Call me sceptical, but I just don't see this having much effect on vermin who happily engage in mass slaughter. Certainly not a much as, say, a trained Marine sniper, or a pre-dawn police raid.
#5
And thus they toss out a smoke screen of balance.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/03/2005 9:11 Comments ||
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#6
Glad we have the folks at AI to keep it sorted. Perhaps they could describe the role of apologists and others in supporting the commission of "war crimes" through issuing a really special report.
#7
That's just what the islamonuts have been waiting for, I'm sure - AI's perspective on their approach. It's a spit in the ocean, and they're on the other shore.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2005 12:03 Comments ||
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#8
All in all this comes pretty close to a 10.0 on the "Drop-my-jaw-o-meter". But will it make a difference? Not f*****g likely
An Islamist who observes the activities of "Al-Qaeda" organization believes that its "offspring" consider the internet their sheikh and not Osama Bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Right. All bow down to the Great Machine...
Dr. Hani al-Sibai, director of the London-based Al-Maqrizi Studies Center, told Asharq al-Awsat, "The new generation of Al-Qaeda organization in the West and East does not have a sheikh that it receives instructions or orders from. This "generation's" sheikh and leader is not Al-Zawahiri or Bin Laden but the jihadist instructions on the fundamentalists' websites and also the photos of the massacres in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine."
That's what they use to fire up the rubes. What do they use to finance operations? Pay Pal?
He said the problem now is that Al-Qaeda's new generation does not trust the sheikhs who are in the West and considers them loyal to the Western authorities in Britain, the United States, France, and elsewhere "and they therefore act alone without consulting or seeking a fatwa (religious ruling) from any sheikh and herein lies the danger."
Correct me if I'd wrong, but aren't the "fatwahs" pretty much pro-forma statements of what the Krazed Killers want to hear? You guys have fatwahs flying in all directions, without much rhyme or reason, so you can pretty much pick and choose...
Al-Sibai believes there is no ideological connection between "Al-Qaeda's" new generation in the various countries hit by the terrorist operations - Egypt, Britain, and Turkey - but "they share one concern and one idea, namely, that the West is insulting Islam and humiliating its sons."
So the obvious answer isn't to try and outperform the decadent West, but to blow stuff up. That makes sense. Not a lot of sense, but sense. In an Islamic sort of way...
He added that Al-Qaeda's new generation surpasses the old fundamentalist organizations like the Egyptian "Islamic Group", "Jihad", and others because they are born in the West, are proficient in modern sciences like chemistry and physics, speak several languages, and are proficient in using computers and the internet. He says: "It is obvious that they know how to design websites for spreading their ideas and also to air tapes, sermons, and films that they obtain or are published by some media organs."
They can't produce modern technology, but they can figure how to make it blow up...
He called Al-Qaeda's new generation "a transcontinental generation that went beyond some of the local jihad groups in some Arab countries."
That's kind of the basis of al-Qaeda, isn't it? In fact, that's what al-Qaeda means...
He noted that "Al-Qaeda's" new grandchildren have never met Bin Laden or visited Afghanistan or Iraq, barely know how to use a machine gun, and are not known to the security services and therefore pose a danger that is not easy to pinpoint and hence confront. He added "They take their guidance from the internet, videotapes, and satellite channels. They speak Arabic and are proficient in English. What is their understanding of Islam? It is a mixture of the anger and disappointment that characterize their generation." He pointed out that "Al-Qaeda's" new generation have superb ability to move freely because of the various nationalities they have and also do not have black records with the local and international security circles.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Fred, did you ever read a short story called "The Country of the Kind?"
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/03/2005 0:46 Comments ||
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#2
So basically we own their new Sheik. Works for me.
" Now go jump off a bridge and explode to show your faith! "
Posted by: Charles ||
08/03/2005 1:22 Comments ||
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#3
So we turn control over the internet to UN? Nope
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/03/2005 2:38 Comments ||
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#4
tim berniers lee shaik of shaiks
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
08/03/2005 2:59 Comments ||
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#5
That's what they use to fire up the rubes. What do they use to finance operations? Pay Pal?
#6
So, in the end, it is America's fault. Time to issue the Death Sentence to the ISP's cooperating with jihadis - it's the right thing to do to atone for our frivolous egalitarian management of the 'Net.
"Honey, this year, why don't we take our vacation in Pakistan? Their tourism minister said — "
"Oh, he's dead now, dear! Didn't you hear?"
"Well, I'm sure the new one will be just as nice!"
LAHORE: The election campaign in Union Council 105 was disrupted on Tuesday when supporters of two candidatesâ parties, including Tourism Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, opened fire at each other after exchanging harsh words.
"Yer mudder wears combat boots!"
"Hypocrite!"
"Heretic!"
"Apostate!"
"Go fer yer guns, Mahmoud!"
A bullet hit the ministerâs car and also injured an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) during the crossfire.
Somehow, we just knew JI would be involved...
Both the parties blamed each other for the incident and submitted their applications with the concerned police station for the registration of a case.
"You started it!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Liar!"
"Infidel!"
"Go fer yer guns, Ahmed!"
Former district nazim Mian Amir Mehmood said in a press conference on Tuesday at the Lahore Press Club that the tourism minister was on his way to visit a hospital project when he got into a clash with JI supporters. The matter was resolved in a mosque but JI supporters opened fire when the minister came out of the mosque.
"Well, sorry for the misunderstanding, Mahmoud! Glad we got that worked out!"
"Duck!"
The JI wanted to disrupt the peace of Lahore, Mian Amir said adding, no political party or religious force could be allowed to violate the law. He also said that authorities should take notice of this incident. The former district nazim said that the party responsible for the incident had been identified and an FIR had been filed against them. He said the people who initiated the crossfire were JI supporters.
The JI? Oh, come now! Pshaw!
The JI could indulge in such things only in Karachi but they could not be allowed to do the same in Lahore, he added.
"We got lawnorder up here, by Gar!"
"Look out!"
He also said the incident showed that JI were aware of their weak position in the upcoming local council elections. On the other hand, a JI press statement blamed the leaders of Watan Dost Group (WDP) for the confrontation.
"Yeah! It wudn't us! They dunnit!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
JI said that Muhammad Saleem, candidate for nazim, and Abid Mir, activist of Shabab-e-Milli and candidate for naib nazim at Union Council 105, had arranged a meeting at their election office on Tuesday. The tourism minister, whose brother is Abid Mirâs counterpart in the upcoming local council elections, and his supporters opened fire at them before the meeting and injured an activist, Adeel, the JI said. Muthida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Lahore President Hafiz Salman Butt said that the JI was not responsible for the incident.
"[Sniff!] Certainly not!"
It was Mian Aslamâs political strategy to get the sympathy of the voters of the area, he added.
The one with the most casualties wins?
He also said that the minister, who had been in charge of his brotherâs election campaign, arranged this drama when he realised that his brother was not in a position to win.
"It wuz all trumped up! The ammunition was hardly even live!"
Eyewitnesses said that the minister, accompanied by his bodyguards, was going into a local mosque to say his prayers when JI supporters confronted him and they got into a scuffle. The matter was resolved peacefully inside the mosque and the minister came out of the mosque after the JI supporters, eyewitnesses said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2005 00:00 ||
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FredMan breaks out, freaks out the oldies, the newbies, and the behind in the rents.... September, I swear.
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.
Breaking its public silence on nuclear disarmament talks, North Korea said Tuesday it wants to narrow differences with the United States but still insisted it won't give up its atomic weapons program until Washington withdraws alleged threats. The main U.S. envoy said talks were nearing their conclusion — possibly within days — with delegates from six countries set to submit final comments Wednesday on a draft proposed by China for a statement of principles to guide future arms negotiations. 
[July 29 2005] at 1445 LT in position 12:24N - 050:30E, off Caluula, NE coast of Somalia. Five pirates armed with guns in a white speedboat fired upon a bulk carrier underway. Crew mustered, activated fire hoses and fired rocket flares. Master increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres and moved away from the coast. Attempted boarding was averted. No injuries to crew.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is deeply troubled by reports of an attempt underway "to overthrow the Government of Mauritanian President Ould Taya by force," said a statement released by United Nations spokesman St{phane Dujarric. "The Secretary-General condemns any attempt to change the government of any country unconstitutionally and stresses that political disagreements should be settled peacefully, through the democratic process," Dujarric said.
GULU, Uganda, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The leader of a Ugandan murder cult that uses child soldiers is closing ranks as the International Criminal Court prepares to issue an arrest warrant. Joseph Kony, a self-styled prophet who has led the Lord's Resistance Army for 19 years, doesn't appear interested in an amnesty Uganda has offered for LRA members, The Telegraph reported Wednesday. 
Saddam Hussein's lawyers will not take part in legal proceedings until the Iraqi tribunal acknowledges he was attacked in court and guarantees the safety of all defendants and attorneys, a lawyer for the former dictator said Tuesday. Members of Saddam's defense team claimed Saturday the former Iraqi president was attacked during a court appearance last week. The government and the Iraqi Special Tribunal said there had been no attack.
An Islamist who observes the activities of "Al-Qaeda" organization believes that its "offspring" consider the internet their sheikh and not Osama Bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri.
LAHORE: The election campaign in Union Council 105 was disrupted on Tuesday when supporters of two candidatesâ parties, including Tourism Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, opened fire at each other after exchanging harsh words.
