Pro-Taliban, but still interesting reading.
Any resistance movement is generally only as good as the weapons it uses, and that is something that has bedeviled the poorly-equipped Taliban-led anti-US forces in Afghanistan for a long time.
The resistance has steadily taken steps, though, to beef up its arsenal to include modern automatic weapons and ground-to-air missiles. This it has done in part by forging closer links with the resistance in Iraq, as well as with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka.
According to intelligence sources who spoke to Asia Times Online, al-Qaeda concluded that its attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 was a failure, even though 17 American sailors were killed. As a result, al-Qaeda sent a team to the LTTE to gain expertise in maritime combat operations. The LTTE, as part of its longstanding battle against the Sri Lankan government, has developed a relatively sophisticated maritime wing.
The interaction was brief and inconclusive, and al-Qaeda subsequently rejected the idea of maritime combat, deciding instead to fight the United States on land. Nevertheless, the links established between the two groups were to prove useful in another way.
Pakistani intelligence sources say that al-Qaeda now works with the LTTE to get weapons, including automatic arms and ground-to-air missiles. The weapons are paid for in cash, as well as in drugs originating from Afghanistan, according to the sources. The drugs primarily are sent to Scandinavian countries and Thailand, the latter being a traditional base from which the LTTE has smuggled weapons.
"This is a perfect arrangement as resources are complemented - the Tigers get ideological support, while regular arms supplies on the other hand go to al-Qaeda, which ultimately feeds its fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan," said the source.
"The smuggling channels are the same that the Tamil Tigers have adopted for years [with international arms cartels]. The latest weapons originate through arm dealers, as well as those stolen from arms depots and shipped from South America and Lebanon. They are transferred from ship to ship and sometimes offloaded at small ports, and from there, using various channels, they reach the final destination," the source said.
In the firing line In the mountains and on the plains of Afghanistan, the resistance operates in several ways, ranging from suicide bombings to attacking convoys and brief pitched battles.
"But an air defense system [ground-to-air missiles] can break the back [of the enemy] in low-intensity conflicts," a top Pakistani security official told Asia Times Online.
"The resistance movement in Afghanistan has now acquired that system in bulk. There are possibilities that some pieces will also have been supplied to Iraq. As soon as this system comes into full action, drastic results will come," he said.
After the Taliban retreated in the face of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, the Afghan resistance was largely scattered. The Taliban did preserve some heavy weapons, but these could not be easily accessed due to the strong US military presence, and many caches were seized.
Furthermore, some of the armory, especially missiles, required special storage facilities to prevent exposure to harsh climatic conditions, but this was not possible, and the weapons were damaged.
Slowly, as the resistance took firmer root and with the help of money from foreign Arab fighters who had fled to the tribal areas of South and North Waziristan in Pakistan, the resistance acquired missiles, guns and ammunition from the indigenous home-made arms industry at Dara Adam Khel near Peshawar.
However, these arms were of poor quality and simply not good enough to take on the US-led forces in Afghanistan. For instance, the home-made M16 rifles were only semi-automatic and the G-3 rifles lacked the original specifications and accuracy which had made the original version of the weapon popular. Locally-made rockets did not fly properly and lacked sensors, which made them all but useless.
Authentic weapons are, of course, expensive. Now the Taliban has solved this problem by tapping into Afghanistan's - and the world's - richest cash crop, poppies. Using contacts among the warlords who control the drug trade, the Taliban are able to divert some of the money, which is then earmarked for weapons purchases.
With the drug money and the networks of the LTTE, the Afghan resistance is now well positioned to sufficiently arm itself to take its war with foreign forces in Afghanistan to a new level.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/24/2005 10:20 ||
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Authentic weapons are, of course, expensive.
Yep, but worth the price, else you end up with country-made.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/24/2005 11:38 Comments ||
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KABUL- The newly elected chairman of Afghanistanâs parliament has said he will resign as leader of the opposition and will support U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzaiâs efforts to rebuild the country after a quarter century of war.
There's something to be said for backroom deals. And I trust Qanouni to keep his word a lot better than I'd expect Rasool Sayyof to...
The announcement by Mohammad Yunus Qanuni at a press conference late Thursday was a major boost for Karzai, who hopes to form alliances between his government and rival ethnic and political factions in the legislature. Qanuni was one of Karzaiâs primary political rivals, having finished second to him in the presidential elections in October last year.
Kind of a remote second, but still second...
He resigned his post of education minister, which he was given by Karzai, so that he could challenge Karzai for the presidency. He was narrowly elected chairman of the assembly in a vote Wednesday. âI cannot be the chief of the parliament and the chief of the opposition,â Qanuni told reporters. âSeveral times, I said that if I became head of the parliament ... I would resign from being the chairman of the opposition party. Now, I am abiding by my promise.â
An honest politican? What next, a charitable banker?
He said the new opposition leader would be Burhanuddin Rabbani, a fellow ethnic Tajik and former president during a destructive civil war in the 1990s. The two men are old friends and Rabbani withdrew his own candidacy for the chairmanship of the parliament last week in favor of the younger Qanuni. âMy belief is that the parliament of Afghanistan should support the positive policies of the government,â Qanuni said. âIn the national interest, the parliament, the judiciary and other arms of the government should cooperate. This cooperation will help the people of Afghanistan.â
"And of course, me and my pal will keep in touch. Over golf."
He said that in the past four years, since the Taleban was ousted in 2001, âthere has been no change in the lives of the Afghan people,â despite billions being spent on foreign aid.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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Uncanny.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/24/2005 7:43 Comments ||
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Same movie, but I was thinking of someone else:
A spokesman of Egyptâs Islamist opposition Muslim Brotherhood retracted yesterday a remark made earlier by the groupâs top leader that the Holocaust was a âmyth.â In his weekly article posted Thursday on the groupâs website, the groupâs leader Mohammed Mahdi Akef had described the holocaust as a âmyth.â
âAmerican democracy is a democracy (that endorses) a single perspective and attacks anyone who disagrees with the vision of the sons of Zion concerning the myth of the Holocaust,â Akef wrote in echoing similar controversial remarks recently made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But Essam El-Eriane, a Brotherhood spokesman, yesterday retracted the remark, adding that it was âonly a minor part of Akefâs article.â El-Eriane told Deutsche-Presse Agentur that the use of the word myth was âinappropriate.â âThe Holocaust happened to the Jews like it happened to other groups and we canât deny that,â El-Eriane said.
"No matter how hard we try..."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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Television footage of radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, in which he apparently predicts terrorists would strike on the British mainland, has been aired in England. The tape was shot several months before the July 7 bombings that targeted London's public transport system and killed 52 people. However Mr Bakri, who is the exiled former spiritual leader of Al-Muhajiroun, denies he knew the bombings were being planned.
A Syrian Lebanese national, Mr Bakri lived in Britain from 1986 until he was stripped of his British residency in August as part of London's bid to remove radical Islamic leaders. The footage is reportedly circulated on the Internet, on a website of a group calling itself the 'Saved Sect'. In it, Mr Bakri warns his followers to "take precautions" for the possibility of terrorist attacks in Britain. "The mujahedin are everywhere. They are everywhere around, fighting," he said. "And don't worry, they are causing enough anarchy around the world to put everybody down on their knees. When it becomes anarchy, it becomes one... becomes 'nobody governs', becomes 'fight for your lives', and that is exactly what is going on around the world now. It's going to happen, but don't worry. You see, if it happens or don't happen, nothing can happen that deceives Allah. If Allah destines then it is going to happen. But take your precautions. Be aware."
But when interviewed Mr Bakri says he would have tried to stop the London bombings had he known of them. "I believe [the July 7 bombers] are terrorists, no doubt about it. Even [Osama] bin Laden is terrorist, I always believe so," he said. "I always said, if I knew about anybody planning any form of bombing in London, I will stop him and I will call on the Muslim community to stop him."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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Coincidentally, Bin Laden had predicted terrorist attacks in New York & Washington before September 11. And in another eerie coincidence, Saddam had predicted the invasion of Kuwait before it happened. Man, those Islamic fascists are good at predictin'! Miss Cleo - eat your heart out.
SIX men suspected of recruiting Islamist radical volunteers to fight in Iraq and other countries were placed in custody today in Madrid on terrorist charges, legal sources said.
The men were carrying out "operations of proselytism and recruitment of people who after the necessary indoctrination would have been sent to 'Islamist' conflict zones," according to senior magistrate Fernando Andreu.
The aim, he said, was that "either they became 'martyrs' in suicide attacks or joined insurgent terrorist groups in Iraq, Chechnya, Kashmir or selected places in Asia."
Three are accused of "membership of a terrorist organisation", among them Hiyang Maan alias Abu Sufian, 25, an Iraqi suspected of heading the cell and being in contact with Abu Mussab Al-Zarkawi, head of the Iraqi section of the al-Qaeda network.peThe other two are Andrey Misura, 30, also known as Amin Al Anari, a Belarussian considered a chemical weapons expert who underwent military training in Chechnya, and Osama Agharbi, 22, a Moroccan student.
The three others â Mohammed Srifi Nali, Bouchaib Kaka and Spaniard Jose Antonio Dona Martin â were placed in preventive detention for "collaboration with a terrorist organisation."
Spanish police detained 16 men on Monday in nationwide swoops in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands: eight Moroccans, an Algerian, a Belarussian, an Egyptian, a Frenchman, a Ghanaian, an Iraqi, a Saudi and a Spaniard.
Two other Moroccans turned themselves into the police and they and 10 of those detained on Monday have been provisionally freed.
According to Andreu their investigations took police to a mosque in Malaga in southern Spain where a radical version of Islam was preached and recruitment activities carried out.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/24/2005 10:33 ||
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The Dutch immigration minister says she will look into the legality of banning the burqa, the robes worn by some Muslim women to cover their bodies. Rita Verdonk made the pledge after a majority in parliament said it would support such a ban.
Smart move. Cuts one explosives transport mechanism...
The proposal was put forward by independent politician Geert Wilders. "That women should walk the streets in a totally unrecognisable manner is an insult to everyone who believes in equal rights," he said. "This law is a comfort to moderate Muslims and will contribute to integration in the Netherlands," he added in a statement.
That's assuming they want to be integrated, of course. I'm sure there'll be worldwide protests. What's next? Banning Muslim men from wearing brassiere cups on their heads?
His proposal is supported by two of the parties in the governing centre-right coalition, as well as the opposition right-wing party founded by the late Pim Fortuyn. Mrs Verdonk did not say when she might complete her investigation. If the Netherlands does decide to ban the burqa, it will be the first European country to do so.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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NEW YORK - The National Security Agency has conducted much broader surveillance of e-mails and phone calls â without court orders â than the Bush administration has acknowledged, The New York Times reported on its Web site.
The NSA, with help from American telecommunications companies, obtained access to streams of domestic and international communications, said the Times in the report late Friday, citing unidentified current and former government officials.
...
But the Times said that NSA technicians have combed through large volumes of phone and Internet traffic in search of patterns that might lead to terrorists.
The volume of information harvested from telecommunications data and voice networks, Does this require a warrant? Seems more like a 'stakeout'? without court-approved warrants, is much larger than the White House has acknowledged, the paper said, quoting an unnamed official can't anybody keep their mouth shut?.
The story quoted a former technology manager who should soon take up residence at a federal penitentiary at a major telecommunications firm as saying that companies have been storing information on calling patterns since the Sept. 11 attacks, and giving it to the federal government. Neither the manager nor the company he worked for was identified.
#1
Classic NYT, well classic for the last 5 years, anyway. Original bogus ancient (held for publication, doncha know) "news story" not working, so ramp it up and provide some more unnamed sources and the not very subtle suggestion, but no proof as per usual, of sinister acts, effects, and conspiracies.
So much spaghetti thrown at the frdge door over the last 5 years, so little sticking. Must really suck to believe in your agenda to the point of destroying the credibility of the Old Grey Lady and, yet, failing to succeed. Pich, Old Boy, you and your minions are well and truly screwed. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of Kool Aid addled Moonbat morons.
I think BA's Classic bit about Papa John's appropriately and effortlessly decimates the mega-resources expended by the NYT on this one, ROFL.
A Canadian terror suspect alleged to have fuelled al-Qaeda with weapons -- and who has admittedly rubbed shoulders with Osama bin Laden -- was denied bail by an Ontario judge yesterday because he poses a flight risk.
"[Abdullah Khadr] has high-level links to al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization without scruples," said Madam Justice Anne Molloy of Ontario Superior Court. "That organization could well assist him in escaping this jurisdiction."
She said the 24-year-old, who has spoken publicly about his hope to die for Islam, "is not a person I would trust to abide by any restriction I would impose upon his release."
Mr. Khadr, who faces extradition to the United States on charges of conspiracy to murder Americans abroad and possession of a destructive device, stared straight ahead as the judge read her ruling. In the court, his younger brother nervously bit his finger, and his grandmother wiped her eyes.
Mr. Khadr will remain in custody until his extradition hearing early next year and is scheduled to appear for a brief remand hearing on Jan. 10.
Crown prosecutor Robin Parker said outside the courtroom that she opposed Mr. Khadr's release on all three grounds on which someone can be refused bail: the risk of flight, the chance of committing further offences while on bail, and that their "detention is necessary to maintain confidence in the proper administration of justice."
"The allegations [against Mr. Khadr] are extraordinary. It's a rare day in Canada when we see these kinds of allegations being talked about in our courtrooms," she said. "It's a very serious case."
Mr. Khadr's defence lawyer said his client, the eldest son of a top al-Qaeda financier, "is obviously disappointed, but it's the early stages and we'll be moving on."
Dennis Edney added that he will consider appealing the bail decision. "There are many steps to take so that we can show that Mr. Khadr will get full justice -- and he will in Canada. We have a tradition of justice."
An affidavit filed to the court by FBI special agent Gregory Hughes alleges that Mr. Khadr admitted buying $20,000 worth of bullets, grenades and explosive materials for al-Qaeda to use against Americans and coalition forces in Afghanistan in 2003, and admitted taking part in a plan to assassinate Pakistan's prime minister.
But in Mr. Edney's final submissions, he argued Mr. Khadr did not pose a flight risk because his family lives in Scarborough and "he has simply nowhere else to go."
Ms. Parker also brought up a letter signed by United States Attorney Michael Sullivan that stated Mr. Khadr had bought a fake Pakistani passport for 30,000 rupees ($585) that he believed his sister was holding for him in Canada.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/24/2005 10:18 ||
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The National Security Agency has conducted much broader surveillance of e-mails and phone calls â without court orders â than the Bush administration has acknowledged, The New York Times reported on its website.
The NSA, with help from American telecommunications companies, obtained access to streams of domestic and international communications, said the Times in the report late Friday, citing unidentified current and former government officials.
The story did not name the companies.
Since the Times disclosed the domestic spying program last week, President Bush has stressed that his executive order allowing the eavesdropping was limited to people with known links to al-Qaeda.
But the Times said that NSA technicians have combed through large volumes of phone and Internet traffic in search of patterns that might lead to terrorists.
The volume of information harvested from telecommunications data and voice networks, without court-approved warrants, is much larger than the White House has acknowledged, the paper said, quoting an unnamed official.
The story quoted a former technology manager at a major telecommunications firm as saying that companies have been storing information on calling patterns since the Sept. 11 attacks, and giving it to the federal government. Neither the manager nor the company he worked for was identified.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/24/2005 10:25 ||
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Amazing! I actually beat Dan to a story. Must be because of the internet problems this morning.
#2
Those internet problems are hacker boy trying to access my Word Press files. Presumably they can be exploited. Since there aren't any, each request errors out.
After Xmas, I'm buying a hardware firewall, which should cut out some of that crap, though this bunch uses IP cloaking.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2005 11:22 Comments ||
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combed through large volumes of phone and Internet traffic in search of patterns that might lead to terrorists
#6
I wouldn't care if they date mined every citizens (and non-citizen) in the country. I also think Bush's ratings would go up if that were announced. Nobody had hit us since Sept 11 and the data mining hasn't effected my life in any noticable way. Go for it.
#11
NY Times continues to work on behalf of the Islamist enemy. Pinch & co. breathed in the vaporized remains of their neighbors slaughtered on 9/11. I bet much of their leadership is even Jewish. How can they not understand what will happen if 'their' side wins?
I haven't read it all but this quote from the NYT jumped out at me.
What has not been publicly acknowledged is that N.S.A. technicians, besides actually eavesdropping on specific conversations, have combed through large volumes of phone and Internet traffic in search of patterns that might point to terrorism suspects. Some officials describe the program as a large data-mining operation.
I'll suggest the eavesdropping on specific conversations bit has been made up by the reporter or relates to some thing other than the DM, because it would be like examining a single snow flake to see if there was enough snow to ski on, i.e. a complete waste of time.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha accused President Bush on Wednesday of being dishonest with the American people by equating the war in Iraq with the nation's response to 9/11 as part of the war on terror. Murtha was careful not to directly accuse Bush of lying about the war, but criticized the "dishonesty of the administration" for lumping together the two events. "They're mischaracterizing the facts," the Johnstown Democrat said at a news conference in Johnstown. "They do it very shrewdly. They say 9/11. Then they say Iraq. They're giving people the impression, in Iraq we're fighting terrorism."
He said sending troops to Afghanistan was a direct result of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The war in Iraq was based on faulty intelligence and U.S. troops are battling an insurgency, not terrorism, he said. Murtha is pushing his demand for a redeployment of American troops in Iraq and a timetable for bringing soldiers home. He said military commanders on the ground in Iraq -- and in the United States -- have confided in him that U.S. forces could remain in Iraq for another 10 to 15 years. Murtha, who voted to go to war, broke with the president Nov. 17 by coming out against the fighting and calling for an immediate withdrawal of American forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2005 00:13 ||
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I question Murtha's sanity.
BDS is such a ugly affliction. And apparently incurable, too.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/24/2005 0:25 Comments ||
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I respect his former service but..
Murtha has his head firmly up his ass on this one. A reserve Colonel from a LOSING war 35-40 years ago (politically lost, not militarily) knows precisely JACK SH*T about this one. And he is talking out his ass when he says something like this. He needs to shut his partisan pie-hole if all thats going to spew out of it is disinformation and crap like this. Does he have a tumor? Is he gone mental? Doesnt he realize he is giving aid and comfort to the enemy as surely as Jane Fonda did in his day? Does he place the MArines and other troops below his politics?
Sure as hell looks that way. Grandstanding asshole bastard.
Come on Gi-reens, get your brother Jarheads together and straighten out this sad excuse for a former Marine. OR be faced with another Ritter... this time, a worm inside our own congress shielding himself the Eagle Globe and Anchor.
This from an old Dog Soldier who respects all the Marines he served with.
#3
The war in Iraq was based on faulty intelligence and U.S. troops are battling an insurgency, not terrorism, he said.
So, those AL Qaueda people who are doing the organzing and bombing, led by Jordanian Al Zarqarwi and staffed by Morroccans, Iranians, Syrians and Iranians are an INSURGENCY?
What a MORON!
Murtha, if you had any honor left, I'd call you out old man to old man. But that credits you with still being a man; as you've shown you are a craven little butt-monkey carrying water for the loony left at the expense of men. Men and women who are far better and braver than you, the ones who are carrying Liberty's light into the darkest corners of the middle east's nest of terroists, dictators and islamofascists.
With lies like that one, you are just another lying piece of liberal sh*t, worthy of nothing other than contempt.
Yes, I've had it with this assclown and the whole host of dimwits on the left. They aapparently wouldn't know reality if it walked up to them and slapped them in the face with its **ck.
Murtha deserves a trip over there and to be cut loose with the brave men he insults every day with partisan political White-Flag Defeatist Democrat crap like this.
Blanket party time.
(yeah I've had a few. so Im less polite than usual. too bad. C**kbites like Murtha deserve every bit of sh*t we can heap on them).
Murtha's plainy not a very bright guy-- earnest, but not very bright. But because he said things that some *bright guys* at the NY Times etc. liked, they pushed this old man onto center stage where, of course, he is daily making a public fool of himself.
The sad part is the abuse of this old man. The funny part is that, by pushing such sad sacks as Murtha and Sheehan forward as their spokesmen, the *bright guys* at the NY Times etc. end up making their message look like a message from and for sad sacks.
#5
As a fellow Marine currently in the sandbox, Murtha's comments sadden me. OS is quite right as to Murtha needing to take a trip here to see for himself that his accusations do not hold up against the facts. The permanent elections went way better then expected and Bush received a spike in his approval ratings as a result. My disdain for the msm has only grown since my deployment. I would go into that but it would be too long for this particular thread.
Anyhow, Murtha's recent diatribes are too bad really, I'd love to believe that this is just a case of an old man fighting irrelevance and losing perspective. I hope that it is not a case of grand standing. Either way I think Murtha is wrong & I don't give his comments much weight for the reasons I give in the following paragraphs.
Bush never put forth the case that Saddam and Al Q were in bed over 9/11. Bush distinctly said that Al Q & Saddam had "tenuous ties" at best wrt Zarqawi receiving medical help in Baghdad. Additionally, I believe based on my studies that Saddam did give tacit (i.e. plausibly deniable) support to training Al Q operators in Iraq on a limited basis.
I don't think Iraqi Intel had any sort of strong quasi-like American/British alliance w/Al Q. I do believe they were aware that Al Q trained from time to time in Iraqi space and they gave them limited access to Iraqi territory for this purpose. By this way, Hussein kept tabs on his potential enemy in Bin Laden and created the politics make strange bed fellows scenario. Bush also never said Saddam was a big Osama benefactor.
Murtha's trying to suggest that since there are some Americans who are ignorant enough to believe that Saddam had a direct link to 9/11 that this is Bush's fault. I've definitely heard the admin say that Saddam's removal makes the U.S. safer from another 9/11 type event - that is true, his removal does. However, that's not the same as saying Saddam had a direct link to 9/11. The fact that people confuse that is not the fault of the president. Stupidity & a lack of attention to detail is a bitch, but not the fault of the C-N-C.
For the record, I'm not sure Saddam had direct knowledge that 9/11 was in the works before it happened though it would not surprise me if he did have some intel on it. I also don't think he was directly involved in it - though I have no empirical data to back that assertion either. However, by the very nature of us being in Iraq terrorism is being dealt with in a very direct, real, and efficient way. We are killing them here. We have "fly papered" a majority of the ass holes in the region and are burying them in the Iraqi desert.
OS, drink a few more spiked egg nogs for me. I won't be tasting any of the fine spirits until March.
#6
But-- of course-- the reason that the *bright guys* in the media give star status to such non-entities as Murtha and Sheehan, is that they have purely symbolic power: it's their personal histories, they say, that compel us to pay attention to what they say: on account of their personal histories, they're to be regarded as sooth-saying icons.
Well, setting aside the fact that a large majority of folks with personal histories similar to Murtha's and Sheehan's have a point of view exactly opposite to theirs-- haven't the *bright guys* noticed that obvious fact?-- isn't it kinda odd that that *bright guys* have chosen purely symbolic figures to advance their ideas?
If the *bright guys* really had any ideas, they could find smart people to argue for them, and not have to rely on cheap symbolism....
John Murtha is infected big time, those who are infected seek face time no matter what the cost.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha accused President Bush on Wednesday of being dishonest with the American people by equating the war in Iraq with the nation's response to 9/11 as part of the war on terror.
that is dishonest.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/24/2005 4:09 Comments ||
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that is dishonest.
that is a dishonest accusation by Murtha
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/24/2005 4:12 Comments ||
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BH6,
Solid, well written analysis. Thanks for that, and for your service to our country. Merry Christmas and come home safely! Semper fidelis, Marine.
Posted by: mac ||
12/24/2005 7:11 Comments ||
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Stay safe BH6, Merry Christmas and stay paranoid.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/24/2005 7:48 Comments ||
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If I could sit down and easily list forty good reasons why invading Iraq was an essential step in the GWoT, what's Murtha's excuse? Is he really so stupid he can't figure it out like most of us here on RB already have? Or is Murtha just dishonest?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/24/2005 8:47 Comments ||
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Remember why Murtha's on the whine path -- he didn't get the face time with the president he thought he deserved. It's all wounded ego and self-puffery for him.
And notice the press lying, again, by saying Murtha "broke with the president". BS -- he'd been a defeatocrat longer than that.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/24/2005 8:48 Comments ||
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Rep. John Murtha
After terrorists attacked U.S. troops in Mogadishu, Somalia 12 years ago, anti-Iraq war Democrat, Rep. John Murtha urged then-President Clinton to begin a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the region.
Clinton took the advice and ordered the withdrawal - a decision that Osama bin Laden would later credit with emboldening his terrorist fighters and encouraging him to mount further attacks against the U.S.
"Our welcome has been worn out," Rep Murtha told NBC's "Today" show in Sept. 1993, a month after 4 U.S. Military Police had been killed in Somalia by a remote-detonated land mine.
The Pennsylvania Democrat announced that President Clinton had been "listening to our suggestions. And I think you'll see him move those troops out very quickly." Link
Posted by: Fed Up ||
12/24/2005 9:27 Comments ||
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Great thread, great comments. Spot-on and deadly to the seditious charade that Murtha should be countenanced, as a traitor to his service - and every American who served, or listened to for his cowardly "advice". He was stuck on stupid decades ago, as Fed Up points out.
Only those involved know what constitutes each asshat's 30 pieces of silver, but these traitors (Murtha, Wilson, Gore & his Lick, Dickie, Bergler, Weasley, etc) trotted out by the Dhimmidonk spin masters, Moonbats, LLLs, Tranzis, Clintoonian image polishers, et al, should be more than simply hounded for their sedition. Selling out the entire country for a moment's fame, a book deal, some TV face time, an OpEd appearance, whatever. Every one of them should share Cunningham's fate.
It's one thing to screw yourself in your greed and malice. It's far beyond that to screw all of America.
BH6 - take care of yourself and your troops. You guys are doing fantastic work. Its amazing the changes from a while back to now - no more corkscrew flying into Baghdad airport from what I hear. A short while ago (you guys may have noticed I didnt post for a while, and I really cannot say much more), I had a brief excursion to LSAA (Sherpa. Doha. excitement.) and got a chance to daytrip to the green zone and back in an Army Blackhawk. One personal observation struck me more than any other: flying over the rooftops and seeing the kids and now the parents come out to wave!
We're winning, even if the press over here isn't getting that message out, the troops are thanks to the internet giving them a voice as never before. The PAOs really ought to be encouraginging blogging or email, OPSEC permitting of course.
Between you guys and the Dogs and the Zooms and even those nasty Swabbies, we will win this in spite of the press' slanted coverage and the left's politically motivated disinformation campaign.
Keep the faith brother Leatherneck. Let your guys know there's a whole host of people back here rooting for them even if they dont get to hear about us nor we about them.
You're already going to come home as a winner, so "enshaAllah", Come home safe!
Merry Christmas over there in the FOBs and in the rear with the gear!
#17
BH6, thanks for the thoughts: always spot on. Stay safe and thank you AGAIN for protecting us.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2005 11:59 Comments ||
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#18
Murtha's "analysis" is always prefaced by his military service, so, just like with Kerry, you're not supposed to question his moral or intellectual authority. When he demens that service by his defeatism and BDS and press-hugging, then I can question his morals AND patriotism. Putting partisan gain above national security ("but of course I support the troops!") puts him in the Pelosi/Reid traitorous crowd
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2005 12:57 Comments ||
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#19
Murtha is suffering from "Cindy Sheehan Syndrome", the desperate desire to extend his 15 minutes of fame to 16. The poor man just seems senile in his public pronouncements. Were I a Pennsylvania Democrat I would be thinking about how to shut this guy up before November.
#22
"But-- of course-- the reason that the *bright guys* in the media give star status to such non-entities as Murtha and Sheehan, is that they have purely symbolic power: it's their personal histories, they say, that compel us to pay attention to what they say: on account of their personal histories, they're to be regarded as sooth-saying icons."
Spot on.
This media treatment you describe is classic post-modernist tripe. It's all about the na-a-a-a-a-rative, doncha know. Facts and real-world implications need not apply.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/24/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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#23
"badge of authority" , Time dickwad? Bush and his admin execute authority via teh constitution, something you're only temporarily associate with, I'd wager. Bet you took 92-00 off. Tool
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2005 16:48 Comments ||
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#24
I question Murtha's sanity.
His intelligence is what should be called into question.
#26
"badge of authority" , Time dickwad? Bush and his admin execute authority via teh constitution, something you're only temporarily associate with, I'd wager. Bet you took 92-00 off. Tool
The quote said "moral or intellectual authority". Just where is moral or intellectual authority mentioned in the Constitution (capital "C")?
Posted by: TIME ||
12/24/2005 18:51 Comments ||
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#29
Next to the amendment prohibiting criticism of the president.
Posted by: TIME ||
12/24/2005 19:21 Comments ||
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#30
ROFL. No one prohibits criticism of the President (capital "P"), lol. That's pretty much all the Kool Aid addled zoomers do, in fact. That you are apparently similarly addled and intellectually debilitated is no recommendation. Don't you have anything besides your BDS to keep you warm?
#31
Criticism? thats fine. Nobody is complaining about LEGITIMATE criticism, the kind aimed at solving a problem, winning the war, etc (like the criticism over body armor, etc),
Repeatedly lying about things the way Murtha and the Dems do - i.e. saying things they know are false and doing it to make a political stand? Thats NOT fine.
Then there is giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war. Thats TREASON and that IS in the Constitution. As a matter of fact, it is the ONLY crime delineated in the Constitution.
Article III, Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
So as Reagan said, there you go again... (being wrong as usual).
And also - stay on topic. the topic is Mertha's insanity/dishonesty, and seditius acts and remarks. You want to talk about Bush, post your own article here and defend it.
#32
Mods, please close my 'strong' tag above - I left off the closure tage at the end of the Italicised contents quoting the Constitution. Once thats done, please delete this post.
#36
That's a fancy interpretation of the Constitution, Oldspook, regarding the "aid and comfort". But in general I have no quarrel with what you said.
I'm not sure why the personal attacks started. That's so DU. My original comment wasn't even that controversial...just an observation (which may have proved correct just now).
Posted by: TIME ||
12/24/2005 19:56 Comments ||
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#37
we've jumped to the wrong conclusion
Actually, you have. Bush deserves his fair share of criticism. You obviously disagree. Any more personal attacks?
Posted by: TIME ||
12/24/2005 20:00 Comments ||
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#38
Lol. Faux Clever 101 - *applause*
Happy, now? Lol. You're too subtle for me. No fire. No conviction. No actual logic, just whiney semi-sarcasm. You were trolling for a bite. Be happy, lol.
#39
yes, when you self-identify as Time person of teh year, you deserve all the bitch-slapping you get. It's not funy, ironic, or tied to the topic. It's simply asking to get treated as a punk - have a Merry Christmas :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2005 20:08 Comments ||
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#40
And all you have is personal attacks.
Posted by: TIME ||
12/24/2005 20:09 Comments ||
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#41
Same to you Frank :-)
Posted by: TIME ||
12/24/2005 20:11 Comments ||
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#42
Aid and comfort: the comments that the US cannot win, that we are losing, that its an insurgeny, that its not external terrorists...
Thats all straight from Al Qaeda propaganda. Thats directly promoting the viewpoint/propaganda of the enemy, and damaging the morale of our troops. And doing so whilst lying (i.e. deliberately and knowlingly stating something he knows to not be true, and knows is harful to our troops and war effort).
That pretty much spells out aid and comfort to the enemy in most people's books.
Murtha appears to be doing it all for the sake of trying to make political hay and grab publicity for himself, at the beck and call of Moveon.org and Howard "the Coward" Dean part of the liberal left.
Another way of looking at it is: rank cowardice in the face of casualties, like Murtha's previous cut-and-run remarks on Mogadishu could be construed as encouraging Al Qaeuda's 9/11 attacks and now his current remarks encourage the continuation of the terrorism by Zarqai in Iraq.
Either way you slice it Murtha is disingenuous at best, and traitorous at worst. No matter how you look at it, you cannot deny that Murtha is not acting in the best interests of the nation nor its troops.
#43
rank cowardice in the face of casualties, like Murtha's previous cut-and-run remarks on Mogadishu
I have a different take on that. Remember Bush's remark that US troops are for fighting wars and NOT for keeping the peace? If you're not kicking jihadi ass, then get the troops out. My frustration peaks every time I hear that a patrol got wiped out by an IED. Senseless. Any way you look at it, the IED attacks should be gradually decreasing over time. If they aren't, someone, somewhere is doing a lousy job, and you can't really blame people for wanting to get the troops out.
Posted by: TIME ||
12/24/2005 20:34 Comments ||
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#44
Don't be sad TIME, Mother Sheehans coming down the steps with something special.
The Central government on Friday granted an additional Rs 400 crore to the Indian Space Research Organisation, which is likely to be spent on Indiaâs first naval satellite.
The clearance was given on Thursday night by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended by the defence, home and finance ministers along with their secretaries.
Though Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that the allocation was for space development programmes, it is understood that the resources have been sanctioned for making Indiaâs first naval satellite for which the navy has already prepared the ground work in consultation with ISRO. The budget document shows that there is no head called space development programme.
Though normally, ISRO budgets for civilian space projects are sanctioned either by the Union Cabinet or Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, this time the CCS has approved the funds.
According to naval sources, ISRO might take 30 months to make the satellite, which is likely to be used for communication among battleships and surveillance.
Posted by: john ||
12/24/2005 11:06 ||
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This announcement follows the George Bush- Manmohan Singh agreement on US-India space cooperation.
ISRO has been reluctant to develop satellites for military use.
The Indian TES recon satellite has been used for military purposes but remains civilian controlled.
With the agreement on cooperation with the US, ISRO seems to have lost its shyness.
Posted by: john ||
12/24/2005 13:34 Comments ||
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The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will resist any attempt by the government to delete the method of prayer from school curricula, said Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, on Thursday. Rehman said he had been shocked when he heard Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi say the method of prayer would be removed from the Islamic studies syllabus. This was tantamount to âattacking one of the main pillars of Islamâ, he said.
He said seminaries would not register with the government unless their concerns were addressed. The MMA will not accept restrictions on the movement of clerics and their arrests and classification as criminals, he said. Prayer leaders will condemn the governmentâs ârough treatment of clericsâ in their Friday prayer sermons today.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2005 00:13 ||
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The Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT) protested and blocked GT road on Thursday to condemn Javed Ashraf Qazi, the federal education minister, for making secular changes to the educational curriculum, said Zubair Ahmad Gondal, the IJT central chief.
The students chanted slogans and displayed banners inscribed with statements against the federal governmentâs pro-US policies and frequent changes in the educational curriculum. Said Rasool, a protestor, said that after 9/11, the government was bent upon secularising the education system in the country by various tactics. He said the introduction of the Aga Khan Board and deletions of Quranic verses pertaining to jihad were part of such tactics.
The protestors demanded the federal government expel Javed Ashraf from the cabinet for his secular and anti-Islamic ideas and practices. They threatened that if the secular changes made recently in the curriculum were not reversed, they would start an unending series of protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2005 00:14 ||
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Next thing you know, they'll want to waste students' time with courses in math, science, and economics.
Posted by: Curt Simon ||
12/24/2005 13:17 Comments ||
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(AP) Iraq's leading Shiite religious bloc said Friday it is ready to discuss Sunni Arab participation in a coalition government, while thousands of Sunnis and some secular Shiites demonstrated in the streets claiming election fraud.
Reacting to growing protests over the Dec. 15 ballot for a new parliament, Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari urged Iraqis to have faith in the electoral process. He made the call after meeting with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who announced the first of a possible series of U.S. combat troop reductions next year.
About 20,000 people took part in a mass demonstration organized by 35 Sunni Arab and secular Shiite political parties after Friday prayers. More than 2,000 people also demonstrated in Mosul, where some accused Iran of having a hand in election fraud. About 1,000 people demonstrated in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown.
Many people outside the governing Shiite religious-oriented political bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, allege last week's elections were unfair to Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups. "We refuse the cheating and forgery in the elections," read one banner at the protest in southern Baghdad.
Sunni Arab and secular Shiite factions are demanding that an international body review the fraud complaints, warning that they may boycott the new legislature. The United Nations rejected an outside review. The demand was issued after preliminary returns indicated the United Iraqi Alliance was getting bigger-than-expected majorities in Baghdad, which has large numbers of secular Shiites and Sunnis. About 1,500 complaints have been lodged about the elections, including 40 or so that the Iraqi election commission said are serious enough to change the results in certain areas. The protesting groups have demanded the disbandment of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, accusing it of covering up ballot box stuffing and fraud.
The prime minister defended the commission Friday, saying the government does not meddle in its affairs. "Our victory as a government, our real victory, is that the election process included all political groups," al-Jaafari said. "Those who have complaints should contribute to this feeling and to be confident that their complaints will be listened to."
Religious parties based in Iraq's Shiite majority called on Sunni Arabs to accept the election results and consider joining a coalition government after the final results are released in early January. "We are very close to our Sunni brothers, more than other groups, and with them we can form a national unity government," said Bahaa al-Din al-Araji, a senior member of the United Iraqi Alliance. "These results reflect Iraqi reality and they have to accept this reality," he added.
The U.S. Embassy has said it is in the Iraqis' interest to create a broad-based government.
Political councilor Robert Ford said he was heartened by strong voter turnout in places such as the Sunni-dominated western province of Anbar, where more than 50 percent voted last week compared to just 2 percent in last January's election of an interim legislature. "There is real progress, there is something to build on even in the most hard Sunni Arab places such as Anbar. We would like a government that capitalized on that and which fosters a sense of national reconciliation," Ford said.
It only took to Dec 23rd, but CBS News finally said something positive about Iraq in 2005.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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Thank you NYT for publishign the "Truckload of Ballots" story before completely fact checking it.
Bastards tell lies of omission at NYT< and the troops and locals elewhere pay the price.
When wil the NYT be held responsible for the messe it has caused with its slanted and incomplete reporting, its complete lies?
RAMALLAH - Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei has decided to abandon his bid for a seat in parliament less than two weeks after resigning to contest, senior Palestinian officials said on Friday.
They said Qorei had sent a letter to President Mahmoud Abbas to say that he wanted the elections postponed and that he opposed a plan to merge two rival lists of candidates from the ruling Fatah movement -- a bid to heal a party rift. Qoreiâs letter said he wanted to withdraw as a candidate. He was not immediately available for comment.
"Please don't let them kill me!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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IRAN'S BELLIGERENT foreign policy toward Israel is among the more puzzling issues in international relations. At a time when most Arab governments, including the elected Palestinian leadership, have come to accept Israel's existence as an unalterable fact, non-Arab Iran continues to call for eradication of the Jewish state. Over the course of the last several weeks President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran attacked Israel as a ''tumor" that should be ''wiped off the map of the world" and asserted that the holocaust was a ''myth." Despite widespread international criticism, the Iranian president has been unrepentant, saying, ''Western reactions are invalid. . . . My words are the Iranian nation's words." In actuality, however, the Middle-Eastern country where Ahmadinejad's declarations resonate least is Iran.
There are contending explanations why he chose such a sensitive time in Iran's nuclear negotiations to engage in such inflammatory rhetoric. Since his surprise election in June, there has been a subtle attempt by the elders of the revolution to curb Ahmadinejad's powers, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei even giving his rival, former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, an expanded role in setting the national course. What's more, contrary to the recommendations of the president's more hard-line followers, Iran has decided to resume its long-suspended nuclear negotiations with the Europeans. By provoking a crisis, Ahmadinejad may be seeking to not only scuttle such negotiations, but to reassert his control over the state machinery and regain the political influence he has steadily lost over the past few months.
In the past, Iranian factions have often provoked international crises to advance domestic political agendas. The hostage crisis of 1979 was not just a strike against America, but an attempt by Ayatollah Khomeini to radicalize the population and firmly implant the foundations of Islamic rule. Beyond such domestic political considerations, Ahmadinejad and the hard-liners have long bemoaned the loss of revolutionary fervor and Iran's seeming abandonment of the pan-Islamic dimension of Khomeini's vision. A persistent slogan of Ahmadinejad's campaign was the need to return to the ''roots of the revolution," and rejuvenate its grandiose ambitions. By pressing a dogmatic position on Israel, Ahmadinejad may perceive an opportunity to rekindle the long-extinguished revolutionary fires and reclaim Iran's leadership of radical Islam.
Whatever the calculations of Iran's new president, throughout nearly three decades of calls for the ''liberation of Jerusalem," Iran's revolutionary regime has never come to terms with an essential reality: There exists no inherent reason why the Israeli-Palestinian struggle should be an overriding concern to the average Iranian. Iran has no territorial disputes with Israel, no Palestinian refugee problem, a long history of contentious relations with the Arab world, and an even longer history of tolerance vis-Ã -vis the Jewish people. To this day, the Jewish community in Iran is the largest in the Middle East outside of Israel.
Beset by practical concerns such as double-digit inflation and unemployment, Iran's youthful population is well aware of the fact that the ideological hubris of their parents' generation -- often a half-baked hodgepodge of anti-imperialism, anti-Zionism, Islamism, and Marxism -- has borne the country little fruit apart from a soiled international reputation and political and economic isolation. During the 2003 summer student protests, one popular slogan, delivered in lilting Persian, was ''forget about Palestine, think about us!"
Much of Iran's political elite has also come to terms with the fact that the regime's rhetoric toward Israel is self-defeating. As revolutionary-cum-reformist leader Ali Reza Alavi-Tabar told us a few months back, ''We need to reinvent ourselves. We shouldn't be chanting 'death to Israel'; we should be saying 'long live Palestine.' We needn't be more Palestinian than the Palestinians themselves." The popular reformist party, the Islamic Participation Front, quickly criticized his comments, saying, ''When the country is facing an international crisis, such expressions impose a heavy burden on the country's political, security, and economic interests." In a surprising convergence of views, even the conservative lawmaker, Heshmatollah Falahatzadeh, similarly claimed, ''Our officials should realize that there are many facts in the world that we should not pass judgment on in a way that the world finds fault with."
Increasingly isolated abroad and beleaguered at home, Ahmadinejad would be wise to remember that his electoral mandate was not to fight Israel, but rather to alleviate an economic situation that, for many Iranians, teeters between subsistence and poverty. In making blusterous statements that only increase Iran's isolation, however, Ahmadinejad's impact will likely tip that balance toward greater poverty. In their relentless calls for justice and democracy in the holy land, Iran's leaders incorrectly assume that the Iranian population wants more for the Palestinians than they want for themselves.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/24/2005 10:41 ||
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Lebanese Druze leader and anti-Syrian MP Walid Jumblatt has accused Syria of âterrorizingâ Arab countries and urged Arab League chief Amr Moussa to intervene with Damascus.
Ummm... Wally? Has Amr Moussa's intervention ever accomplished anything? Anywhere?
âAmr Moussa must go to Damascus to stop the murders in Lebanon,â Jumblatt told the private Lebanese satellite channel LBCI on Thursday night, from his home in Mukhtara, southeast of Beirut, where he has been living in fear of his life.
Right. He'll make Baby Assad sit right up and listen...
Earlier this month, Moussa went on a fence-mending mission to Beirut and Damascus, in the aftermath of the assassination of press magnate and anti-Syrian MP Gebran Tueni.
A pity he didn't do that before Tueni was blown to smithereens...
Many Lebanese blame the murder on Damascus, which has denied any involvement in it or three others that began with the February assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. Moussaâs âproposal to âstop the political assassinations in exchange for a halt to the media campaignâ (against Syria) means stifling the media,â Jumblatt said. But the Arab League chief denied he was pushing any diplomatic initiative. âI am simply settling for transmitting different points of viewâ between Lebanon and Syria, Moussa told LBCI.
"I'll continue to dither ineffectually while drawing a substantial salary..."
Jumblatt charged that Syrian President Bashar Assad controls a variety of âinstruments and terrorist factions capable of scaring Arab regimes. The Syrian regime has chosen to shelter behind Arab initiatives in order to avoid (compliance) with the international probeâ into the Hariri murder, Jumblatt added. âThe terrorist Syrian regime is carrying out political assassinations in order to shut up the (anti-Syrian) parliamentary majorityâ in Lebanon, he added. Jumblatt leads the parliamentary majority along with Saad Hariri, the son of the slain ex-premier, whose killing led to protests and international pressure that forced Syria to end its 29-year military occupation of Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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TEHERAN - Teheranâs newly appointed on Friday prayer leader said that his countrymen will defend their countryâs right to nuclear technology to their last drop of blood after talks with the European Union was revived two days ago. âThe Westerners should know that during the eight years of imposed war -- the Iran-Iraq war 1980-88 -- we did not give up an inch of our land so in the matter of nuclear energy they should know that our people will defend it to their last drop of blood,â Hojatoeslam Ahmad Khatami said in his sermon broadcast live on state radio.
But not a drop of Khatami's blood, of course; it's precious.
Khatami, a conservative cleric and a member of the Assembly of Experts -- the body which selects the supreme leader and supervises his activities -- was appointed by Iranâs Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei less than a week ago. âWe are not any seeking special status for ourselves, nor we will accept any oppression. As the signatory of Non-Proliferation Treaty we have been committed to it, and according to it we have rights and we will not give up our legitimate right,â he added.
"We have a right to nukes! We have a right obligation to boom the Jooos! It's in our holy book, you could look it up!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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To the last drop of blood? It may well come to that.
Posted by: mac ||
12/24/2005 7:14 Comments ||
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#2
To the last drop of the MadMullahs' ™ blood, maybe.
I expect most of the Iranian people have more sense. (If they're really smart, they'll do the blood-spilling themselves. Soon.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/24/2005 11:28 Comments ||
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#3
This is crazy. Acountry that has dedicated its existance to destroying the west is about to become nuclear? Good god, at what time do we dive in and stop this?
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/24/2005 15:08 Comments ||
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#4
Make it so
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/24/2005 15:48 Comments ||
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#5
Good god, at what time do we dive in and stop this?
You are dependent on the Shia to keep a hint of peace in Iraq. The Shia are now (after multiple assasinations of all opponent and violent oppression by private Shia militias) dominated by the Iranian-bought faction.
Thusly American can only attack Iran if either:
(a) The Bush administration lets go of its need to show a scene of false improvement and false stability in Iraq. Unlikely to the extreme. or
(b) The Iranian-bought Shiite faction is overthrown by the alliance of secularists and Sunnis that is trying to make its first moves.
I'm here hoping with all my heart for (b). Unfortunately there's a catch. To have the secularists' coalition to succeed, means that the recent elections will have to be shown as fraudulent and corrupt. And thus it means that (a) will be partially defeated, that Iraq has *not* yet progressed to the point that the Bush admin wants to show it as having progressed.
Or to put it in another way: for the Iraqis to truly achieve democracy, everyone needs to realize that they haven't achieved it yet. For America to succeed in promoting the same, it needs to realize it hasn't succeeded yet.
Posted by: Dr. Seuss ||
12/24/2005 18:48 Comments ||
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#7
Perhaps it's a cultural difference, but when someone wishes you Merry Christmas and you insult him without explanation in return, ain't that considered just a tiny bit rude?
During world war two American troops away from home for Christmas were entertained by Marlene Dietrich, Bing Crosby and the Marx Brothers. Even in Vietnam Bob Hope was guaranteed to put in an appearance. But soldiers in Iraq are more likely to get a show from a Christian hip-hop group, a country singer you have probably never heard of and two cheerleaders for the Dallas Cowboys.
Just as the seemingly intractable nature of the war has led to a growing recruitment crisis, so the United Services Organisation, which has been putting on shows for the troops since the second world war, is struggling to get celebrities to sign up for even a short tour of duty.
It is a far cry from the days following the September 11 2001 attacks, when some of the biggest names in show business, from Jennifer Lopez to Brad Pitt, rallied to the cause. "After 9/11 we couldn't have had enough airplanes for the people who were volunteering to go," Wayne Newton, the Las Vegas crooner who succeeded Bob Hope as head of USO's talent recruiting effort, told USA Today. "Now with 9/11 being as far removed as it is, the war being up one day and down the next, it becomes increasingly difficult to get people to go."
Newton said many celebrities have been wary of going because they think it might be seen that they are endorsing the war. "And I say it's not. I tell them these men and women are over there because our country sent them, and we have the absolute necessity to try to bring them as much happiness as we can."
Fear is also a factor. "They're scared," country singer Craig Morton, who is in Iraq on the USO's Hope and Freedom Tour 2005, told USA Today. "It's understandable. It's not a safe and fun place and a lot of people don't want to take the chance."
Which is really sad, since the odds of something bad happening are pretty darned low.
The USO was founded in 1941 as a way of boosting morale for the military. For most of that time Bob Hope, who made his first appearance in 1942 and his last in 1990, was its most recognisable face, famed for putting on Christmas extravaganzas on aircraft carriers and American bases during the Vietnam war. Thousands of performers signed up to play the "foxhole circuit" during the second world war, but the USO has a much smaller list.
Some of the entertainers still willing to travel are die-hard true believers - rock musician Ted Nugent carried a Glock handgun to shows in Iraq last year and said in a radio interview that he manned a machine gun on a Humvee. But many of the USO's regular performers are fierce critics of the war, among them the comic and star of Good Morning Vietnam, Robin Williams, who told USA Today he would like to return to the Middle East in the spring for what would be his fourth tour since 2002. "I'm there for the [troops], not for W," he said in a reference to the president. "Go, man. You won't forget it. You'll meet amazing people," is his message to stars that ask him about the tours. But the comedian said he mostly tries to keep politics out of the show after he did a few jokes about Bush's brainpower at a base in 2003 and got a chilly reception.
Tossed those cue cards quick, huh?
Other critics of the war who regularly perform include the leftwing comedian Al Franken (who is headlining the current tour along with Christian hip-hop group Souljahz) and the punk legend and actor Henry Rollins, one of the Bush administrations most vocal critics.
Al Franken is over there? I'll have to think slightly better of him.
I believe he's been there several times.
The tradition of beautiful women thrilling the troops has continued - although while Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell showed up in Korea and Vietnam could boast Raquel Welch, in Iraq they have had to make do with sometime pop singer and reality TV star Jessica Simpson.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2005 00:00 ||
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Newton said many celebrities have been wary of going because they think it might be seen that they are endorsing the war.
Fine, stay the hell away then. They don't need anything from your kind. Phuquing idiots.
#2
The Al Guardian? Oh a wellspring of truth. Drudge is pushing this crap on his front page. More than half of these "stars" I have never even heard of.
Bruce Willis, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, Wayne Newton, Drew Carey, Gary Sinise, Ben Affleck, James Avery, Kid Rock, Henry Rollins, Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw, David Letterman, and "Soprano's" stars James Gandolfini and Tony Sirico, Hootie & the Blowfish, Rich Little, Al Franken, Keni Thomas,50 Cent & G-Unit,Miss Universe 2004,Roger Clemens, Sugar Ray Leonard, Emeril, "JAG" stars Karri Turner and John Jackson, Robin Williams, and Rachel Proctor. Longtime USO entertainers, such as the Dallas Cowboys' Cheerleaders and Joan Jett, and more continue to donate their time and talents to entertain the troops.
Posted by: Fed Up ||
12/24/2005 10:40 Comments ||
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Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/24/2005 11:25 Comments ||
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#14
We know what side of the fence most of Hollywierd sits on. I agree with BoR and hope the actors that do not support the effort have the integrity to just stay the hell away! Our soldiers would much rather see a troop of grandmothers handing out cookies that honestly love and support them rather than some Hollywood hypocrites. Of course it would not be so bad if the grandmother is Jamie lee Curtis and escorted by Jessica Simpson!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/24/2005 11:39 Comments ||
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Interesting list. Heck of a mix: Toby Keith and 50 Cent. Go figure.
"Go, man. You won't forget it. You'll meet amazing people"
I'll say this for Robin Williams - he may talk the talk for "the other side" (politically), but he at least does walk the walk supporting the troops no matter what others of his political tilt do.
Franken surprised me a bit. Any of the Hollywood types that talk up support for the troops (on either side) should be ashamed that they are being out-done by Al Franken.
There are others that go over there sort-of on their own - like Charlie Daniels who has been there with the CDB several trips. And Charlie Daniels even goes out to "Indian Country" like the FOBs. He even came under fire, yet he keeps going back, as old as he is. He shames a lot of people.
Have to give proper thanks to all those who go over there and bring a bit of a break, and a smile to our people in harms way. No matter what their politics, they put thier money where their mouth is. That, in my book, makes them worthy of thanks. Yes, even Al Franken.
#16
Oh Hollywierd, during WWII and the Korean War, Hollywood produced blockbuster films in support of our military warriors.
Today, we get gay cowboys.
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/24/2005 22:46 Comments ||
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#17
Spot-on, CA. Gay everything. They can't seem to find anything to make that isn't gay-centric, lol. Yawn. The box office stories we've seen indicate they didn't catch on quickly enough... targeting the tail doesn't make the rest of the dog wag.
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.
KABUL- The newly elected chairman of Afghanistanâs parliament has said he will resign as leader of the opposition and will support U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzaiâs efforts to rebuild the country after a quarter century of war.
A spokesman of Egyptâs Islamist opposition 
Television footage of radical Muslim cleric 
The Dutch immigration minister says she will look into the legality of banning the burqa, the robes worn by some Muslim women to cover their bodies. 
The 
The 
RAMALLAH - Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei has decided to abandon his bid for a seat in parliament less than two weeks after resigning to contest, senior Palestinian officials said on Friday.
has accused Syria of âterrorizingâ Arab countries and urged Arab League chief 
TEHERAN - Teheranâs newly appointed on Friday prayer leader said that his countrymen will defend their countryâs right to nuclear technology to their last drop of blood after talks with the European Union was revived two days ago. âThe Westerners should know that during the eight years of imposed war -- the Iran-Iraq war 1980-88 -- we did not give up an inch of our land so in the matter of nuclear energy they should know that our people will defend it to their last drop of blood,â Hojatoeslam Ahmad Khatami said in his sermon broadcast live on state radio.
During world war two American troops away from home for Christmas were entertained by Marlene Dietrich, Bing Crosby and the Marx Brothers. Even in Vietnam Bob Hope was guaranteed to put in an appearance. But soldiers in Iraq are more likely to get a show from a Christian hip-hop group, a country singer you have probably never heard of and two cheerleaders for the Dallas Cowboys.
