An Afghan former intelligence chief went on trial on Monday accused of war crimes and torture during communist rule in the 1980s, the first such trial to be held in Afghanistan after decades of warfare. Assadullah Sarwari has been detained since 1992, when Mujahideen (holy warrior) factions overthrew a Soviet-backed communist regime.
He's been in jug for 13 years?
Prosecutors said Sarwari was arrested for conspiring against Afghanistan's Islamic government and was guilty of illegal mass arrests and executions. Now 64 and sporting a short grey and black beard, he served as head of intelligence when thousands of people were killed for opposing the government. Appearing before the national security court, Sarwari said his detention was illegal and he had no connection with war crimes. "I ... strongly reject the charges ... (and) consider them a political conspiracy," he told the court. Sarwari was given 20 days to prepare an affidavit. Officials said he would be sentenced to death if found guilty.
I think I'd rather be dead than spend 13 years in jug in Afghanistan, but I could be wrong...
... don't try to make me feel sorry for this torturing commie mook, because it won't work ...
After heading the intelligence network, he served as deputy prime minister and Afghanistan's ambassador to Yemen. His trial was the first for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan where successive regimes have been accused of abuses in 25 years of war that began with a Soviet invasion in 1979.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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I'd put this case on the slow track, have a local Mullah wait for the proper moon signs and then ignore them in favor of the Secret Writings of the Whopper.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 17:07 Comments ||
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The return of Abdul Aziz Al-Shambari, 37, to the Kingdom after working with Al-Islah (Reform) Movement led by Saad Al-Faqih in London was not part of any deal with the government, his brother Abdullah said. Shambari, who graduated from a US university, arrived at Jeddah airport on Sunday morning and was received by his family members including wife and three children. Saudi authorities did not arrest or interrogate him on arrival.
"Why didn't you arrest him when he got into the country, chief?"
"We can pick him up any time. Mahmoud's tailing him now!"
"But why, chief?"
"I want to see who he hangs around with, Ahmed."
âMy brother was very happy when he united with his family after two years and four months,â Abdullah told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News. âAbdul Aziz returned to the country after introspection. It was not the result of a government deal as some people try to propagate. He is ready to talk about his association with Al-Islah during the past two years,â Abdullah added.
"If he comes in and talks to us, there's lots he can tell us. If it ain't what we want to hear, then we take the pliers to him."
"Brilliant, chief!"
"And then after he's told us everything we want to know, maybe we can make a deal."
"But he won't have anyting left to deal with, chief!"
"Heh heh!"
"Ummm... Heh heh!"
Shambari has repented for every day he had spent with Al-Islah, an organization of Saudi dissidents, Abdullah said, adding that the group had cheated a number of Saudis by spreading false information. âAl-Islah intends to fish in troubled waters,â Shambari was quoted as saying.
"We got some troubled waters here in Soddy Arabia, Ahmed. Troubled. I'd like to catch some o' the big fish..."
Shambari said he took the decision to leave the organization on his own without any pressure from government or family. âAbdul Aziz is now leading a normal life. Yesterday he toured Jeddah with his wife and children who had come from Taif,â Abdullah said.
"Chief! This is Mahmoud! Looky, they're driving around Jeddah, the lot of 'em, in one car! Can I bring 'em in, chief?"
Shambari, a former employee of Saudi Arabian Airlines, left the Kingdom on Sept. 20, 2003. Abdullah, who had gone to London to accompany Shambari, said he had not met with Faqeeh. âMy brother had left Faqeeh long time ago when he discovered that his organization was false,â Abdullah said. âWhile Abdul Aziz was with Al-Islah, the government did not put any pressure on the family,â he said, adding that the authorities had issued passports to his wife and children when they wanted to travel. Abdullah said his brother had disclosed his intention to return about six months ago.
"Abdullah! I gotta get out! I can't take it no more!"
"You can't just walk?"
"I'm afraid they'll bump me off! I know too much!"
Um Nama, wife of Shambari, said the return of her husband was not a surprise for her as he realized that Al-Islah was working to undermine the Kingdomâs security and stability. âI hope he will be able to perform Haj this time in order to cleanse his sins and lead a new life,â she added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 10:58 ||
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ABU DHABI â The National Consultative Council (NCC) has called for declaration of an all-out war against terrorism and depriving any person who pledges allegiance to foreign (extremist) groups the right of citizenship and the honour of belonging to the UAE. The council proclaimed that it regarded links to such groups as high treason against the country.
The calls were spelled out at the second meeting of the 16th legislative chapter of the NCC, which was held here yesterday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2005 00:54 ||
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*slaps forehead*
Why didn't we think of that?
"High Treason" = Loss of UAE citizenship? Yeah?, then what? No more subsidized milk 'n cookies?
Foreign groups are extremist - okaaay - wotta 'bout domestic asshats? They're okie-fine, as long as they do the allegiance thingy? No cognitive dissonance happenin' here?
Hey, he said the words, check it off and move on to other, weightier, matters, such as traffic congestion.
Arabs. *heavy sigh* Somehow, I don't think they quite grasp some of the finer points. Perhaps it lost something in the translation. Then again, perhaps not. WYSIWYG.
Bahraini authorities have released Ayatollah Muhammad Sanad, a Shia cleric who was arrested after flying back from a visit to Iran, Aljazeera reported. Bahraini police had clashed on Sunday with demonstrators holding a sit-in at the Gulf Arab state's airport to protest against the arrest of Sanad. Police dispersed the protesters who were demanding the release of Sanad who, an Interior Ministry official said, was detained hours earlier on security charges, Aljazeera said.
Bahrain has a history of political tension over unemployment and alleged human-right abuses. The Gulf Arab state first witnessed political unrest in the 1980s and the 1990s by its Shia Muslim majority who were demanding more rights from the Sunni-led government. Since coming to power in 1999, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has introduced some political reforms, including pardoning political prisoners and exiled activists.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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Jatiya Party (JP-Manju) at a meeting with the prime minister yesterday said those who are accused of harbouring the militants should resign from the government and the administration for the sake of fair probe. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia assured the JP delegation that no one will be spared if the allegation against him of having links to the militancy is proved.
That's only once it's proven, of course. In the meantime, they can remain at their desks, greasing the release of as many hard boyz as they please. No such thing as admin leave while under investigation, I'd guess...
The 12-member delegation led by JP Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju also suggested the prime minister take measures to resolve the current political stand-off between the government and the opposition parties and hold talks on the opposition demand for reforms in the caretaker government and electoral systems. Referring to the Awami League led 14-party opposition alliance boycotting the national dialogue on militancy, the prime minister said, "I had invited all, but they did not come. Still I am ready to sit down with them."
"All they gotta do is call..."
"How can we hold discussion if someone doesn't even receive the invitation letter?" a JP leader quoted her as saying. In reply, the JP leaders requested her to continue the efforts to have the opposition at the negotiating table to discuss ways to hold the next election in a free and fair manner. Otherwise, they said, the elections will be meaningless.
You don't get the impression that's the way it's supposed to be?
At the meeting that went for about two hours, they also suggested the government take even tougher line on militants. "The government should take a deep look into the issue to find out whether the religious extremism is being carried to Bangladesh from other places," JP Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju said at the dialogue.
No! You don't really think it might be, do you? Certainly not from Pakland or Soddy Arabia!
Talking to reporters, Manju said he told the premier that she should take the initiative to have the opposition parties at the discussion table. JP Secretary General Sheikh Shahidul Islam said, "We don't have any specific information, but the government has. So they [the government] must act to curb the militants. We suggested that those who have been accused of militant links should resign from the government and the administration. A free and fair investigation is possible only if they stand down." On the first day of the dialogue, which began on December 12 amid boycott by the 14-party opposition alliance and pro-opposition professional bodies, Krishak Sramik Janata League suggested the prime minister purge ruling coalition partner Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh both from the government and the alliance for 'patronising the militant outfits'. Besides Jamaat, allegations have been levelled against a number of cabinet members of having links to the militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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Dr. M. Farqhuar. Mother of 3, friend of bats.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 14:30 Comments ||
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Education Minister Dr M Osman Farruk yesterday said those who want to suppress madrasa education and block its improvement are the enemies of Islam.
"As such, they must be killed!"
He said that the uni-track education system focused on improving madrasa education. "Those who are opposed to the uni-track education system are not aware of the system," he said.
"Liars, thieves and apostates, the lot of 'em!"
Addressing an opinion exchange meeting with principals and supers of Fazil and Kamil madrasas, the minister boldly supported the madrasa system, including the Kawmi madrasas. Madrasah Education Board organised the meeting with its chairman Prof Monirul Islam in the chair. About 500 principals and superintendents of madrasas from across the country joined the meeting at the Biam auditorium. Emphasising the religious studies, Dr Farruk stressed the need for developing the system and make it pragmatic to cope with the changing times. He said the uni-track education system was aimed at modernising the madrasa education. "But some people opposed it as they want to suppress madrasa education in the country," he said, adding "those who hinder improvement of the method are the enemies of Islam."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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The British Government has appealed against a recent court decision that found Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks has the right to become a British citizen. The government says an application from Hicks for British citizenship can be rejected because of the allegations against him, despite the fact his mother was born in Britain.
Hicks has been detained for four years since he was captured fighting against civilization in Afghanistan. Two weeks ago, the High Court in London said the government had no power to stop the Australian also being given a British passport. Supporters had hoped the ruling would oblige the British Government to work for his release, as it had done with nine former British detainees at Guantanamo. Hicks's legal team is pushing for him to be released under an agreement between the US and UK that no British citizen go through the US military commission process.
Hicks was initially denied citizenship by the British Home Office on the grounds that he was accused of committing acts that were "were prejudicial to the British Government". Hicks's legal team says it will try to defend the court decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 10:59 ||
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We can just kill him for you and be done with you know.
MUSLIM clerics would be subject to a strict new code of behaviour under a plan being devised by Islamic leaders in Australia to rein in the inflammatory language of some extremist imams. The head of John Howard's Muslim Advisory Council, Ameer Ali, told The Australian yesterday that guidelines to control religious leaders would be thrashed out at a special meeting next month. "At the moment, we have no control over these imams, we don't know what the credentials of these imams are, what their qualifications are -- everybody gives sermons," said Dr Ali, president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils. "So we want to have some sort of order in this chaos."
Like I've said on a number of occasions, any idiot can issue a fatwah, and many do...
Under the proposal, first discussed at a meeting of Muslim leaders in August, a new national board of imams would set guidelines for religious figures and monitor their sermons. Dr Ali said the board of imams would set "rules and regulations about sermons and who gives the sermons". The idea is believed to have the backing of many moderate Muslim leaders, but it has infuriated firebrand Melbourne cleric Sheik Mohammed Omran. "They don't have authority, they don't have the power, they don't have any licence to talk about that," he said last night.
No more license than the guys giving the jihad sermons, in fact...
Dr Ali's comments come a day after the defiant Sheik Omran told The Australian the Howard Government should be held partly responsible for demonising Muslims and promoting terrorism.
Keep in mind that as Moose limbs they're incapable of controlling their own actions...
Allan helps those who can't help themselves.
Sheik Omran, who was not invited to the Prime Minister's summit of moderate Islamic leaders earlier this year, said he was no more radical than many other imams in Australia, but accused other clerics of being too afraid to speak their mind.
That tells me only that he's not the only turban in Australia who needs to be examined and... ummm... dealt with.
But Dr Ali, spokesman for the Muslim Reference Group set up by the Howard Government to act as a go-between for the community and Canberra, said some clerics, including Sheik Omran, required "re-education" about their religion and advice on how to deliver sermons without encouraging "violence" or inciting young Muslims to extremism. "These (clerics) need some re-education about their own religion," Dr Ali said. "Not only in their subject matter, but how to communicate with youngsters; the language they use. In these sermons, these imams are not questioned. They have the monopoly, they say whatever they like and they get out of it."
I'm sure the stemwinder sermons are a lot more fun than the guys who drone on and on, just like in churches. The Paks are quite enamored of "fiery" preachers. But I somehow doubt that reeducation is going to work. Now, a plane ticket for Sheikh Omran, that might work.
While not singling out Sheik Omran, head of the Melbourne-based Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jamaah Association, Dr Ali yesterday raised the prospect of censoring clerics. "If, in the interest of the wider community, certain language and the way of speaking should be censored, you should do that," he said. But Dr Ali said of Sheik Omran: "I don't think he directly promotes terrorism in this country."
Not directly, of course. Indirectly is a different matter...
He said Sheik Omran and other clerics should be more "guarded" in their language. "Young people are gullible. They are ready to listen to people who have radical views and I suppose Sheik Omran in his sermons has used that language and wants that support."
I suppose he has and he does. It's part and parcel with the practice of moving in and setting up your own local caliphate. Once it's in existence and doing business, nobody can seem to figure how to get rid of it.
Dr Ali also criticised Sheik Faiz Mohamad, from Global Islamic Youth Centre in Sydney, for a lecture he delivered to a crowd of more than 1000 people in March, in which he said female rape victims had only themselves to "blame".
It's fairly common theme in sermons among the Faithfulâ¢, I believe.
"There's an imam in Sydney ... who made a statement that there are girls in this country that deserve to be raped -- that's all rubbish," Dr Ali said. Sheik Faiz reportedly told public followers at a public meeting in Bankstown: "A victim of rape every minute somewhere in the world. Why? No one to blame but herself. She displayed her beauty to the entire world. Strapless, backless, sleeveless, nothing but satanic skirts, slit skirts, translucent blouses, miniskirts, tight jeans: all this to tease man and appeal to his carnal nature."
"Milk-white bosoms and smooth, trembling thighs! Rounded buttocks! Pouty red lips and... and... I must shoot off! My gun! I must shoot off my gun! That's it...
The interpretation of certain aspects of Islam will also be discussed during a meeting of Muslim leaders, where the registration plan will be formalised. Mr Howard and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock will be invited to the meeting, scheduled to take place early in the new year. "How we interpret some of the concepts in Islam -- these are (also) the issues that the imams are going to discuss," Dr Ali said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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I'm sure the stemwinder sermons are a lot more fun than the guys who drone on and on, just like in churches.
It has ever been so Goodman Fred. My lighter standup act bombed, the Lord made me repent and rewrite.
Six weeks before the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics here, Italian authorities are conducting surveillance on at least 700 people to try to prevent a terrorist attack on the Games, a top Italian security official says. Luigi Renella, the Italian National Police's liaison to the U.S. government, won't characterize those under surveillance. But he says the operation reflects rising concerns that after recent terrorist bombings in London and Amman, Jordan, the Torino Olympics are a logical target for al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups. There have been no specific threats to the Games, he says, but Italy is a U.S. ally up until the Sgrena thing and the warrants against our CIA agents and Berlusconi trash-talkin' us in the elections in the Iraq war and has been a source of recruits and fundraising for al-Qaeda.
The surveillance is part of a security program for Torino that contrasts with the one used for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Before Athens, there were widespread concerns about the Greeks' ability to organize security. Athens wound up being protected by an armed, multinational security force; Greek units were bolstered by thousands of officers from NATO and the United States and other countries. In Torino, Renella says, security will be led almost exclusively by Italian forces - which fared well last April at the funeral of Pope John Paul II - and only Italian officers plus a couple Mossad agents for the Israeli delegation but we never mention that, K? will be allowed to carry weapons. The funeral drew 2 million grieving Catholics people to Rome; about 1.5 million are expected at the Torino Olympics on Feb. 10-26.
The United States, which sent nearly 1,000 agents to Athens from the State Department, the FBI and other agencies, will have fewer than half that many in Torino, says an Olympics security official with knowledge of the U.S. plan. The official declined to be identified because he is not allowed to speak publicly about U.S. preparations. The limited U.S. presence reflects the smaller scale of the Winter Games - about 2,500 athletes will compete in Torino, compared with 11,099 in Athens - and amounts to an acknowledgment of Italy's ability to secure major events.
(Former US Secret Service agent) Jarvis notes that besides terrorists, Torino security forces could face protests by anarchist groups and by radical environmentalists opposed to a high-speed rail line that would link Torino with Lyon, France.
Posted by: ed ||
12/27/2005 10:53 ||
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"The rage in the suburbs is only asleep," said Balastik, a French youth of Mauritanian origin who has been jobless since dropping out of school seven years ago and is dreaming of a career as a rapper with his band, Styladone. "It wouldn't take much to wake it up again."
Social workers and nongovernmental organizations working in the suburbs say they are managing the calm from one day to the next. The police are on high alert ahead of what promises to be a tense New Year's Eve in France, where even in normal years hundreds of cars are torched.
Looks like this comment is more appropriate here....
Based on "DP Gangsta" by Snoop Dog
Here's a little something about a rag'ed like me,
I never should have been let out the Mecca City you see.
Sommy Bin L. would like to say,
That Im a crazy motherf****r when Im playing with my AK!
Since I was a youth I smoked Jooooz out,
Now Im that motherf****r yall read about.
Smoking Joooz and Infadoooz, taking a life or two,
You don't like how Im living well f**k you!
This is my gang 'Qada - No Limit.
My Sommy Bin will blow you up in a minute!
With the pow pow boom boom and your dead,
And then we stamp that tank on your forehead!
#2
Ogretia, that's superb! We need to make you the Rantburg poet laureate!
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2005 14:32 Comments ||
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Ok, so these asshats represented in this article are soooooo Islamic that they seek careers as rappers, yeah um hu.
Go back to school and learn how to add you dipshits, when you do, you'll find that rapping and the sharia don't add up.
Welcome to the caliphate, now die. Freakin idiots. Obviously a genocide would be committed if we detonated a bomb that killed the egregiously stupid in one neighborhood in France, much less the entire Muslim world or the whole of France it seems.
No wonder the'yre pissed, I'd be pissed too if I was doomed to a life of stupidity by my own culture's ridiculous shortcomings.
Three women dressed in what was close to a burqa were giggling and chatting as prosecutor Koos Plooy addressed the court. âWhat a nasty man,â I heard one of the women say. The women were among the public present at the Hofstadgroup Trial in Amsterdam where fourteen Muslim extremists from the Netherlands are currently on trial (most of them are Dutch Moroccans).
The women arrived at the court house to show their solidarity with Hofstadgroup member Mohammed Fahmi Boughaba and another woman named Soumaya Sahla. Soumaya, just 17 years old, was not on trial this time (she had been convicted in a previous court case); she was now on the witness stand and therefore under oath. She was one of the girlfriends of 23-year old Nouredine el Fatmi (âFouadâ), a small and bearded fanatic occasionally displaying a sarcastic smile and born in Midar, Morocco. He is one of the most prominent members of the Hofstadgroup on trial in Amsterdam.
If he was born in Morocco, I'd say that makes him a Moroccan Moroccan, not a Dutch Moroccan...
Nouredine and Soumaya were arrested in the metro station of Amsterdam-Lelylaan on June 22, 2005. Nouredine was carrying a machine gun â an Achram 2000 â in his bag. His weapon was fully loaded and ready for use. El Fatmi, who does not have a residence permit in the Netherlands, liked to seduce young Dutch Moroccan women and then force them into an âIslamic marriage.â
I think that means he gets to bang 'em and then move on when he's tired of them...
Soumaya was already legally married to a Dutch Moroccan man in The Hague, but that did not deter El Fatmi who seeks new recruits all the time for his extremist âTakfiriâ version of Islam. His previous girlfriend was 16-year old Malika Shabi. Called to testify in court, Malika did not dare to speak after she had received death threats from somebody inside or close to the Hofstadgroup. She was so terrified that she avoided looking at him.
If you let that suff go on, there's not even a semblence of justice. But that's the sort of thing brownshirts, do, right?
Somewhere in April or May 2005, El Fatmi met Lahbib Bachar and Hanan Sarok, a young and happy Dutch Moroccan couple living in The Hague â they were not fanatics but moderate Muslims. Initially, El Fatmi was friendly, later he evolved into a real intruder, demanding that they no longer watch âSatanicâ television programs and listen to the radio. He even forced them to sell their furniture to a relative.
'Nother words, they let him be in charge of their lives because he was an arrogant prick and they were too scared of him to tell him to piss off...
There was no doubt that El Fatmi was interested in seducing the pretty and slim Hanan, but her loyalty to her husband proved stronger than anything else. El Fatmi then started to intimidate the happy young couple. He and Soumaya took Lahbib and Hanan to a forest in Amsterdam, opened his bag and suddenly produced his Achram 2000 machine gun. He aimed at a tree, pulled the trigger and fired twice. He then gave the automatic weapon to Soumaya who also pulled the trigger. El Fatmi turned to Lahbib and told him to do the same. Lahbib noticed that Fatmi was serious about it. He took the machine gun, and, aiming at another tree, he fired, too. He then gave the weapon back to El Fatmi who asked Hanan to try the weapon. She was terrified and refused. So far, she had never touched a weapon of any kind. But El Fatmi and Lahbib insisted. âI was afraid that he would shoot me dead, if I didnât do it,â Hanan later testified in court, sobbing repeatedly. Lahbib also felt completely intimidated.
"Lookit me! I'm a tough guy!"
Both Hanan and Lahbib were quite relieved when their dangerous young Moroccan friend Nouredine expressed the wish to go to Brussels to find an apartment for himself. Having no residence permit himself he forced Hanan and Lahbib to sign the contract and rent the apartment for him. Hoping El Fatmi would stay in Brussels and leave them alone, they obliged. But he did not stay there all the time. He forced them to accompany him on his trips to Holland and back to Brussels, during which he was often accompanied by Soumaya.
Who paid for all those trips? Who bought the machine gun?
In court, El Fatmi challenged Hanan asking: âWhy are you afraid of me?â
Because you're an intimidating asshole?
Sobbing again, Hanan said: âBecause of your extremist ideology.â She then told the court: âOn one occasion, he really threatened me in Belgium. I was in the hallway of the apartment in Brussels when he pointed a gun at me.â As Hanan was saying this, the judge noticed that El Fatmi was smiling.
Ah, sweet memories...
âWhy are you smiling?â the judge asked.
âShe is a liar,â he said.
âBut why did you smile?â the judge asked once more.
âI have the right to remain silent,ââ El Fatmi said.
Why do you think he was smiling, judge?
Lahbib Bachar told the court in Amsterdam he had also been threatened by El Fatmi. He was told once: âIf you refuse to do what I want, your hands will be tied and youâll have a bullet in your head.â Lahbib had seen at least three weapons in the Brussels apartment: a machine gun and a silencer, a baby uzi and a pistol as well as boxes filled with ammunition. âI have the right to remain silent,â El Fatmiâs girlfriend Soumaya Sahla said when prosecutor Plooy questioned her about the shooting exercises in the Amsterdam forest.
"Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!"
But in private telephone conversations with relatives, she used to be much more talkative. In June 2005, the Dutch Security and Intelligence Service (AIVD) tapped a telephone conversation between Soumaya and her brother. âI am walking with a 9 mm Achram 2000 machine gun,â she said. âBelieve me, everything will be reversed now,â she told her brother.
"I mean, Fatty's got him some manhood now!"
Both in her own court case and later in the Hofstadgroup Trial as a witness (and consequently under oath), she claimed that when she talked to her brother about weapons, she was just making fun. She had seen the weapon on a website when she looked over El Fatmiâs shoulder in an Internet cafe in Amsterdam. She further claimed she never saw El Fatmi carrying a gun or weapon.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
Nobody in the courtroom accused her of committing perjury. And in interrogations with the police she said: âHe is not the kind of man to carry a gun.â
Then her lips fell off...
In Holland, this kind of lying on the stand is not exceptional. Lying, moreover, is an integral part of the extremistsâ ideology and jihadist strategy.
It's a way of life...
As a Muslim, you are not obliged to tell the truth once an infidel is challenging you. Courts in Western countries are seen as Taghut, or unholy institutions. The extremists abide by their own laws only â the so-called sharia law which is applied by special sharia courts. In some Western countries there are shadow sharia courts and sharia judges (they usually are extremist Muslim clerics). In Britain, for example, there is âThe Sharia Court of the UK,â and I happen to know one of its âjudges.â Yet, there is some inconsistancy in the behavior of these extremists. They always seem to find the best lawyers for themselves.
Lawyers need to be paid. Who's paying?
After the arrest of other leading members of the Hofstadgroup, El Fatmi began to see himself as the new âemirâ -- or the leader. He had already written a martyrâs testament in 2003. And he met another condition for becoming a martyr: he married Soumaya only two months ago (Suicide terrorists usually marry shortly before they carry out their hideous plans). In court, El Fatmi repeatedly invoked his right to remain silent. By arresting him, plans for a terrorist attack in the Netherlands were frustrated. Apart from finding a machine gun in his bag, the police discovered that he was carrying two additional items in the same bag: a photo of Osama bin Laden and a so-called mediaplayer with a disk full of speeches of bin Laden and horror films on beheadings by men crying âAllahu Akhbar!â
Posted by: ed ||
12/27/2005 10:10 ||
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Filed under 'Europe' to fit with the companion piece. Fred, I think it's pretty clear now that the US was played on this one, though I also didn't make the connection last week. The Germans caved, and with Ms. Osthoff vowing to go back, my question is: do the jihadis have anyone else in a German prison that they want released?
Cairo - Archeologist and ex-hostage Susanne Osthoff who was freed two weeks ago in Iraq told Al Jazeera on Monday that she will return to the war-torn country.
Dismissing the threats foreign nationals are subject to in Iraq, Osthoff expressed her wish to continue her work as a bargaining chip archeological work on Iraqi sites.
Osthoff said she was well-treated by her kidnappers, especially after she discussed with them the fact that Germany is not part of the war coalition. Her abductorsâ realization that she was not a political figure eventually led to her release.
That and getting their pal sprung from prison. And the money.
She told Al Jazeera that her captors had first to verify her identity first and when they learned she was an archeologist, they transferred her to a safer and cleaner location. âWhen I spoke Arabic, they knew I was not their enemy and they had to return me to my embassy,â she said.
I'd be curious to know what she said in Arabic.
But her kidnappers wanted to make use of her being in their custody anyway, she said. They told her they did not want money, but did request Germany provide humanitarian aid to build schools and hospitals in the Sunni triangle. âI was glad because they were not criminals seeking money,â she said.
"They just wanted to get their comrade cousin released from that awful prison back home. And they wanted money for guns and ammo a hospital. They're just mis-understood, that's all," she added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2005 00:36 ||
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But why would the Iraqi Jihadis want or care about the release of some forgotten Hezbollah terrorist from the eighties?
Speculate away
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/27/2005 1:38 Comments ||
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Oops, posted before I saw Debka's take
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/27/2005 1:40 Comments ||
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#3
The Gobvernment of Iraq can bar her entry and should. Any government that pays ransoms or negotiates with terrorists is no friend of Iraq.People from those countries should be bared from entry.
#4
How dare she be allowed back into Iraq. To talk of how wonderfully she was treated, and released, not making mention of the terrorist that was released. To allow another bad guy out to kill more folks in her honor.
Why not allow Iraqi Archeologist's to work in their own country, why does she feel she has to be there?
Posted by: Jan ||
12/27/2005 9:23 Comments ||
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#5
I also note that the suicide boomers coincided with the check clearing after her release...
#6
Iraqi Sunni terrorists kidnap a woman, get a Lebanese Shiite terrorist freed from German prison. Whatever happened to non-cooperation between anti-American Sunnis and Shiites?
Ernst Uhrlau, Angela Merkelâs new head of the BND, Germanyâs foreign intelligence service, is revealed by DEBKAfileâs counter-terror sources as the man behind Berlinâs secret decision to trade German archeologist Susanne Osthoff kidnapped in Iraq on Nov. 25 for the jailed Hizballah terrorist wanted in America, Mohammad Ali Hammadi.
Ahah. That explains why he wasn't turned over to us...
Uhrlau attained international prominence as broker in the Hizballah-Israel prisoner swap and the failed effort to track down the missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad. Hammadi was serving a life sentence without parole for hijacking a TWA airliner to Beirut in 1985 and killing a Navy SEAL diver, Robert Dean Stethem, whom he threw out of the window. A US extradition warrant was on file in Berlin with a promise it would take effect if the hijacker were ever released. A few days after the terrorist was flown to Beirut, Osthoff was freed by her Iraqi insurgent captors.
Duh. I was watching the whole time and never made the connection...
This hostage-for-terrorist swap will no doubt raise storms of protest in Washington and Jerusalem and cast a shadow on relations with the Bush administration which Schroeder was at pains to mend.
1. It is the first time since al Qaedaâs 9/11 attacks in America that a senior European ally in Americaâs global war on terror has succumbed to enemy pressure and bought a hostageâs release by freeing a convicted terrorist.
2. DEBKAfileâs counter-terror experts recall that Hammadi was assigned to hijack the TWA airliner by the notorious Imad Mughniyeh, veteran head of the Hizballahâs âsecurity operationsâ and current organizer of al Qaedaâs infrastructure in Beirut. In the 1980s he specialized in hostage-taking, assassination, hijacking and bombing massacres against Americans and Israelis. Mughniyeh and Osama bin Laden have the same $25 m price on their heads. Hizballah repeatedly attacks Israel and its agents are planted deep inside Palestinian terrorist groups.
3. Hammadiâs repatriation to Lebanon shows that this country is still a haven and hub of operations for terrorists notwithstanding American clean-up efforts since the February assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
4. The swap of a hostage kidnapped by Iraqi guerrillas for a Lebanese Hizballah terrorist exposes for the first time the clandestine operational links between the Hizballah and Iraqi guerrillas and fellow-terrorists. It elevates the Lebanese Shiite groupâs standing in Europe to a higher league in a way detrimental to American and Israeli security interests.
5. The shakeup of German intelligence, according to DEBKA-Net-Weeklyâs intelligence sources, is the off-the-record motive behind the resignation of Detlev Mehlis as head of the UN team on the Hariri case. He made the decision shortly after Merkel reshuffled Germanyâs security and intelligence services, a step she took two days after sitting down in the chancellorâs office in Berlin on Nov. 30.
She made Uhrlau, who was the secret service coordinator in ex-chancellor Gerhard Schroederâs office, head of the BND. The other key appointment was her transfer of Klaus-Dieter Fritsche from the top post at Germanyâs domestic intelligence agency, the Verfassungsschutz, to secret services coordinator in the new chancellery.
Chancellor Merkel is clearly eager to bring into play the close and complex web of ties Uhrlau has cultivated over the years with top Iranian officials and intelligence chiefs, key members of the Syrian regime, Hizballah chiefs, and operatives of Islamist radical groups ideologically close to al Qaeda. Uhrlau came to international prominence as broker of the Hizballah prisoner exchange last year. The new German chancellor, by promoting him to director of the BND, shows she expects Iranian issues, the war on al Qaeda and the radicalized Middle East to stay at the center of international affairs during her five-year tenure.
Mehlis, an expert in his own right in the labyrinthine intelligence-cum-terror organizations of the Middle East, does not argue with this perception. But in the eight months he has led the Hariri inquiry, he concluded that the majority of the Syrian and Lebanese officials involved in the assassination of the Lebanese leader belong to intelligence or terror establishments with which Uhrlau boasts excellent connections. By pressing ahead with his probe, Mehlis feared he would prejudice the new BNDâs connections at the very moment that they might be of use to the new chancellor for promoting German influence in the Middle East. The German investigative prosecutor therefore decided to bow out rather than step into this minefield.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
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#1
Fine we know who decided on this now we must punish him. How I will leave up to you and your imiganation.
#2
Once again, Germany has it's own agenda and acts in its own self interest amid its good friends in the EU. Now that they know Germany will bend over in the face of force, every time they want something they will just abduct a german citizen and go straight to berlin.
#3
We need real costs to be felt by the actors in the EU. Unfortunately that takes a real dedicated and secret keeping intel org. Obviously the current CIA need not apply.
8 of the 11 Members of the court were appointed to it by Bush, so he ought to have a court that sees things his way.
But if one looks at those 8, 4 were appointed to their district court seats by Carter or Clinton giving the Carter/Clinton nominees a 6-5 advantage on the FISC. Someone in the WH really screwed up on nominating so many Clinton/Cater stooges to this court.
#1
The composition of this court is one thing. The other, perhaps more important factor, is the mission of this court. It's mission was established in a pre-terrorism era intended more for fighting domestic crime.
Courts and Congress are deliberative bodies that are inappropriate for homeland security.
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/27/2005 15:41 Comments ||
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#2
This court was created post-Watergate to hobble the executive's ability to use intelligence assets. The reason for this was that the executive had misused them for domestic political purposes. You don't really think anyone cared about crime or criminals, aside from those elected to Congress, when they set this up, do you?
#3
IMO Dubya's main prob is that the technology available is so superior/capable that it makes concepts or questions of "source", "purpose/
intent", andor "citizenship", etc. per se irrelevant. Dubya's second prob is that many Lefties quietly seek to PC extend US Constitutional and Federal limits and protections over non-American territories or world states, for the sake of Global Socialism and OWG.
#4
UT, last I checked Watergate was (is) a hotel/business complex and it was frequented by some group called the plumbers-- a two-bit cadre of criminals.
Now, there are often two or more tracks to everything done in DC. Sure the interest was in restricting the executive branch. The ebb and flow in the power of the executive branch rests with the presidents leverage.
Bush has been riding high post 9/11 which is acceptable to most Repubs (sans Specter, McCain, etc.), but entirely unacceptable to donks seeking to score wins in '06 and '08.
Donks are picking the wrong scab on the FISA issue, particularly if there is another terrorist attack in '06 through '08.
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/27/2005 22:42 Comments ||
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#5
FISA was established post-Watergate to provide an expedited way to allow the Executive to move quickly in Security/Intelligence matters without completely abandoning the principle of judicial review. It's track record was hardly that of a "deliberative" body and by definition it had nothing to do with criminal matters - they stayed in the regular courts.
And the idea that any judge appointed by Carter or Clinton is ipso facto an unworthy "stooge" is as idiotic as the idea that the Nixon appointees who voted against him in the key Watergate case in '74 were "Nixon stooges." With a few exceptions (like Harriet Miers) this WH has done a pretty good job of vetting appointees and getting what they wanted.
This program sounds like a reasonable emergency action post 9/11. To still be operating it on an emergency basis 4+ years later is not as wise. This administration got just about everything they wanted in the National Security area until the Patriot Act vote the other week. That they didn't think this would fly in that environment, or that they didn't want to bother, should raise the eyebrows of anyone who believes in limited government.
should raise the eyebrows of anyone who believes in limited government.
#6
GT - teh majority of judge decisions which I disagree with and which seem conjured out of thin air seem to come from Carter and Clinton appointees. Coincidence? About as coincidential as your using an anonymous nym to refute it. ( see: Liars and propagandists in the dictionary)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2005 23:30 Comments ||
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By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer
President Bush has been summoning newspaper editors lately in an effort to prevent publication of stories he considers damaging to national security.
The efforts have failed, but the rare White House sessions with the executive editors of The Washington Post and New York Times are an indication of how seriously the president takes the recent reporting that has raised questions about the administration's anti-terror tactics.
Leonard Downie Jr., The Post's executive editor, would not confirm the meeting with Bush before publishing reporter Dana Priest's Nov. 2 article disclosing the existence of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe used to interrogate terror suspects. Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, would not confirm that he, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Washington bureau chief Philip Taubman had an Oval Office sit-down with the president on Dec. 5, 11 days before reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau revealed that Bush had authorized eavesdropping on Americans and others within the United States without court orders.
But the meetings were confirmed by sources who have been briefed on them but are not authorized to comment because both sides had agreed to keep the sessions off the record. The White House had no comment.
"When senior administration officials raised national security questions about details in Dana's story during her reporting, at their request we met with them on more than one occasion," Downie says. "The meetings were off the record for the purpose of discussing national security issues in her story." At least one of the meetings involved John Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, and CIA Director Porter Goss, the sources said.
"This was a matter of concern for intelligence officials, and they sought to address their concerns," an intelligence official said. Some liberals criticized The Post for withholding the location of the prisons at the administration's request.
After Bush's meeting with the Times executives, first reported by Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, the president assailed the paper's piece on domestic spying, calling the leak of classified information "shameful." Some liberals, meanwhile, attacked the paper for holding the story for more than a year after earlier meetings with administration officials.
"The decision to hold the story last year was mine," Keller says. "The decision to run the story last week was mine. I'm comfortable with both decisions. Beyond that, there's just no way to have a full discussion of the internal procedural twists that media writers find so fascinating without talking about what we knew, when, and how -- and that I can't do."
Some Times staffers say the story was revived in part because of concerns that Risen is publishing a book on the CIA next month that will include the disclosures. But Keller told the Los Angeles Times: "The publication was not timed to the Iraqi election, the Patriot Act debate, Jim's forthcoming book or any other event."
Cassini: remember to put the URL of the article in the 'source' box. I did it this time, but in the future your posts may well be deleted. Thx. AoS.
#2
Anonymous: Whats next? Does President Bush start dictating to the so-called MSM what stories are or are not
advantageous to his Iraq War "Victory"?
Probably the first thing he would censure from front page coverage is the daily:
Iraq War: "U.S. Military Death & Casualty Report & Tally"
What's next is hopefully subpoenas to the journalists publishing classified material about ongoing intelligence operations so that their sources can be identified and prosecuted. Casualty figures are not classified. Intelligence operations are. Americans know what the casualty figures are. Note that the MSM will not provide casualty figures from all past wars for a full comparison - the figures from Iraq have to be presented on their own to have the desired negative impact - because figures from past wars are so much higher.
#3
It has occurred to me that GWB might be giving these people one last chance before he sends the Department of Justice against their reporters - to find out who their sources are. Reporters are self-selected *unelected* propagandists for the enemy. If they persist in breaking the law by publishing data harmful to America's national security - they should spend some quality time at Leavenworth.
#4
"Note that the MSM will not provide casualty figures from all past wars for a full comparison..."
Nor will it provide any other sort of contextual information-- such as the simple fact that all our casualties so far, after nearly three years in Iraq, add up to barely 2 weeks worth of U.S. highway deaths.
Apparently we're supposed to rush off in a full-bore panic about the former, while shrugging off the latter.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/27/2005 12:25 Comments ||
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#5
ZF, Agreed. This is a pre election effort get the MSM back on side and if it fails, post-election to deal with the MSM as on the other side. I doubt it would be limited to jailing reporters. I'd look for WH credential denial, perhaps by publication, and more explicit denial of stories and broad efforts to establish MSM non-credibility and enhance alternative media credibility.
Bush will use his lame duck period to do things he could do less easily while elections overhang. If the trunks do well in 2006, I hope he will be pretty agressive with the enemy MSM.
#6
Because it is national security when this info is leaked, perhaps if we had a Federal Holding facility in Northeast Alaska, the reporter could be transported there 'till he reveals his source. Then the source could be sent there for his prison sentence...
#7
Anyone remotely connected with the NSA intercepts knows full well the legality of that activity. The ONLY crime that was committed was when they let this information outside official channels. I still want to see the perps convicted and sentenced to a LONG prison term.
#8
Anonymous is, by posting this comment, at least a partial Kool Aid Kiddie - and also likely believes [some | all - Choose One] of the amazing tripe that is being pandered all over the Internet. There are an untold number of these toolfools who believe that BusHitler has already employed wildly draconian censorship and Gestapo tactics against the "watchdogs" of the MSM. They believe in an amazing fabric of conspiracies, Illuminazi Bilderbergian OWG nightmares - hell, you name it - they've already swallowed it whole. It started long ago and has been building up steam ever since. Bush has merely become the focal point.
If you don't already know about the true scope of the dementia, check out the Chomsky site as a single point in the tirade - it's only one of thousands of outlets for this BDS.
There is a HUGE industry cranking out conspiracy bullshit that is so patently and obviously untrue that it's breathtaking - and I encounter an endless stream of it in some venues I frequent - mostly "international" in makeup. When I challenge the screed, give them any flack for their delusional screeds, it brings the real hardcore wingnuts out of the woodwork - and the most egregiously insane among those are usually Americans.
So I'm saying the squirrels are not limited to the Indymedia, Kos Kiddies, or the DUmmies, not by a long shot. And what we see here in the 'Burg is, literally, nothing.
It would be beneficial for all Rantburgers to go check out some of the sites and see for themselves. Know Your Enemy, in other words. Employ whatever prophylactic seems apropos to you, lol.
If you choose to mix it up with them, lol, you will find out how deep the dementia runs. Don't confuse them with the facts - that this meme, among the legions of them being passed around in this delusional circle-jerk, is blatantly, obviously, and demonstrably untrue is not a point of discussion you can broach with these toolfools - it is an article of faith to them and most have moved well beyond into the truly fevered swamps of Black Helicopters and such. It'll be a bona-fide eye-opener for most, lol.
I invite those intrepid 'Burgers who already take the pulse of this mentally ill morass to post comments regards their excursions into the underbelly of insanity. After enough trips into the void, then they can tell me why my notion of CW-II is unfounded, lol. I'd love to hear their reasoning.
The laws on the books and the tools available have not yet been brought to bear upon the seditious assholes of the MSM and their co-conspirators. Why? I do not know - the laws are there for good reason and existed long before Bush became President. Not applying them, in a time of war, is absurd, IMHO.
#9
Dave: Nor will it provide any other sort of contextual information-- such as the simple fact that all our casualties so far, after nearly three years in Iraq, add up to barely 2 weeks worth of U.S. highway deaths.
The counter-argument is that US soldiers' lives are a bit more valuable than the average citizens', for reasons I think you can guess. When you compare a highway death to the death of a US soldier in combat, this comparison, in a sense, belittles that soldier's sacrifice.
.com: then they can tell me why my notion of CW-II is unfounded, lol. I'd love to hear their reasoning.
I'd be careful about wishing for a CW-II. If it happens, you better make sure that US patriots are in full control of the US military, because the other side will get an awful lot of help from the rest of the world. Some people outside the US are having wet dreams about just this sort of scenario.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 15:15 Comments ||
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#10
I agree, .com. I visit DU, the Daily Kos, and a few others and the depth of delusion is unbelievable. As you say, present facts to them and you just get called names. There is no reasoning with them and it really does worry me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/27/2005 15:29 Comments ||
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#11
.com, save your breath. Anonymous is our ol' buddy Left Angle. But you guessed that already, right?
#12
Rafael --- Wishing? Don't make shit up and attribute it to me.
Sigh. What's so hard about looking at what has transpired since the minions of Mohammed gained material wealth, what they have chosen to do with it, the effects of their actions - there would be no Rantburg nor a need for one, for example, and then projecting that Big Picture understanding into the easily foreseeable future?
Are you willfully obnoxious, truly blind, or just being argumentative?
It will be what it will be. I merely predict it, I do not wish for it. I suggest we will have a choice: join the dhimmis or fight them - and their Mohammedan Masters. My preferences are, and will be, insignificant. I also find your notion that the US Military will need convincing or to be controlled by the side desiring freedom rather comical. They already get it - in a deeper sense that my paltry words can express.
#13
The NY Slimes and WaPo are directing their war on terror at the Bush administration and the country.
The MSM wishes that they would have the same impact as they did with Viet Nam. So much so, that they are willing to put the country at risk to serve their own agenda.
With the disclosures over the past several months, they have crossed the line and the Department of Justice must take action.
Bush has stated repeatedly that he takes responsibility for safeguarding the country. He falls short if action against the Slimes and WaPo is not forthcoming.
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/27/2005 15:55 Comments ||
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#14
.com makes a very good observation and suggestion. Everyone should review one of these fever swamps every so often. If you never visit the sites you could be startled when you are confronted with a full-fledged kool aid drinking liberal. Donât fear them, just know where they are coming from and you have all the ammunition you need to disarm them.
#15
Are you willfully obnoxious, truly blind, or just being argumentative?
Of the three I'd probably choose argumentative. Your continuing discussion of a CW2 comes across as wishful thinking and reactionary, if only because it seems a bit far-fetched. You're focusing on a small subset, the weirdest of the weird, and you think there's a budding revolution in the works? You seriously expect the Cindy Sheehans of the US to pick up a gun? Yeah, anyway.
I'm sure the US military "gets it", you just missed the point of that statement.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 16:25 Comments ||
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#16
.com: The counter-argument is that US soldiers' lives are a bit more valuable than the average citizens', for reasons I think you can guess. When you compare a highway death to the death of a US soldier in combat, this comparison, in a sense, belittles that soldier's sacrifice.
I think the leftist argument is that traffic accidents are the unfortunate outgrowth of the fact that road accidents happen, but people need to drive to get to work, to school, et al. A leftist would say that we don't need to be in Iraq, which is why every American death there is completely unnecessary. Thus, in the leftist view, comparing the unavoidable deaths on our highways vs the avoidable deaths in Iraq is not only comparing apples and oranges, it disparages the real sacrifices made by our soldiers there.
This worldview rests on the basic premise that if we're not too involved overseas, we won't be attacked. I see where they're coming from. For over a century and a half after independence, we weren't involved in any major static alliances (like NATO or mutual defense pacts that we currently have with a number of countries) and certainly did not have any major issue with a foreign power that was solved by a static alliance. Our alliances were alliances of convenience.
Then WWII rolled around. In its aftermath, we signed mutual defense pact after mutual defense pact - static alliances (blank checks) that committed us to an open-ended defense of countries many Americans had never even heard of. We lost 100,000 men in Korea and Vietnam, twice as many as died fighting the Pacific War against the Japanese. Canada, Australia and New Zealand all fought in WWII, but they pulled back after that. You never hear of Canadians, Australians or New Zealanders targeted, do you? The leftist question is a good one - should we have a Canadian foreign policy? It would surely be a lot cheaper than having a globe-trotting military with far-flung bases and alliances that have to periodically be maintained with billions of dollars free stuff for our "allies".
Then WWII rolled around. In its aftermath, we signed mutual defense pact after mutual defense pact - static alliances (blank checks) that committed us to an open-ended defense of countries many Americans had never even heard of. We lost 100,000 men in Korea and Vietnam, twice as many as died fighting the Pacific War against the Japanese. Canada, Australia and New Zealand all fought in WWII, but they pulled back after that. You never hear of Canadians, Australians or New Zealanders targeted, do you? The leftist question is a good one - should we have a Canadian foreign policy? It would surely be a lot cheaper than having a globe-trotting military with far-flung bases and alliances that have to periodically be maintained with billions of dollars free stuff for our "allies".
The Australians have been targeted repeatedly; sometimes their support for the war in Iraq is given as a reason, and sometimes their efforts in East Timor is given as the reason...
Posted by: Phil ||
12/27/2005 16:36 Comments ||
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#18
ZF, it's also less expensive just to roll over and show your belly. How's that for a foreign policy?
BTW, that was my comment, not .com's.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 16:44 Comments ||
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#19
Rafael: ZF, it's also less expensive just to roll over and show your belly. How's that for a foreign policy?
BTW, that was my comment, not .com's.
But what is "rolling over and showing your belly"? What exactly has Canada lost with its foreign policy? Was Uncle Sam rolling over and showing its belly over the 150+ years after independence that it stayed neutral over foreign quarrels? Should Uncle Sam have jumped in and sent troops to prevent France and Britain from colonizing the Mid East after the fall of the Ottoman empire?
don't fool yourself into believing that our foreign policy is about goodwill alone as I'm sure you don't really believe that do you? As that would be folly. We've got our reasons, need I create a list for you?
And Canada is just resting on the fact that they have the strongest military neighbor one could hope for and the chance of a foreign army invading canada is nill as long as we remain the badasses on the block. Canadian liberalism aside, its a smart move on their part, we, however, have no such luxury.
And really, would a policy of isolationism protect us from enemies? Very doubtful and very unrealistic IMHO.
But I'm not hearing a logical repreentation of this view from anywhere nor have I ever, so I digress.
#22
But what is "rolling over and showing your belly"?
Turning a blind eye to Hitler and Communism would have been the equivalent of rolling over. Sooner or later, it would have affected you, very negatively. Unless, of course, it's what you would want.
It's not really necessary to debate Canada's foreign policy in this context.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 17:14 Comments ||
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#23
We lost 100,000 men in Korea and Vietnam, twice as many as died fighting the Pacific War against the Japanese.
Less than 50,000 US were killed in the Pacific? Live and lern.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 17:14 Comments ||
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#24
I believe, ZF, that you addressed me incorrectly in #16.
Rafael - You and I are at odds every time you address me - such is life. Enjoy.
I said what I thought, clearly enough for most, and meant what I wrote, that's all.
#25
Elvis: And really, would a policy of isolationism protect us from enemies? Very doubtful and very unrealistic IMHO.
Worked fine for us right up to WWI. Wilson got 100,000 American boys killed in WWI for nothing. Note that in the run-up to WWII, we were isolationist, but not weak. Japan could not invade Hawaii successfully even after Pearl Harbor, despite the fact that most of our military efforts were devoted to fighting the Germans, first in Africa, then in Italy and then in France. If we hadn't gotten involved in Europe during WWII, Germany and the Soviet Union would have spent many more years beating each other up in a bloody stalemate. I see no issues with fascists and communists slaughtering each other by the millions. Not. Our. Problem. If we had devoted our war effort to fighting Japan, our body count would have been 50,000 dead (including POW's slaughtered by them). As it was, we lost 250,000 dead to the Germans and Italians as well.
It was one thing for the Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders to get involved - the queen was their sovereign, and any of the leaders of these Commonwealth nations could technically have become the British prime minister. What symbolic value (with respect to WWII) was involved for Uncle Sam that wasn't involved in the various wars waged in Europe during the first 100+ years of America's existence?
#26
ZF, in what sense did Australia pull back after WW2,like Canada and New Zealand? Australia did it's share and more in Korea, Malaya and Vietnam, Gulf War 1, Iraq, Afganistan. Likewise in Bougainville, the Solomons and East Timor. I would say there are two countries in the world that have never doubted that freedom isn't free, and one of them is Australia.
#29
Elvis doen't understand that the Federal Reserve is determined to Plow Under Every 4th American Boy. Wake up and smell the imported coffee Elvis! Drop the imported bannana. Get a pure peanut butter sandwich and come to Pat.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 18:00 Comments ||
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#30
What symbolic value (with respect to WWII) was involved for Uncle Sam that wasn't involved in the various wars waged in Europe during the first 100+ years of America's existence?
I dunno. Stopping the holocaust may have been of some symbolic value. That was a WW2 first, the holocaust, I believe. But then again, that wasn't your problem. Have you not a heart, soul, or humanity in you, that you tolerate such evil? Do you not believe that they would come after you, after they were finished in Europe?
God I hate Buchananites.
.com: Rafael - You and I are at odds every time you address me
It's only because I feel that our fight against a common foe is slowly diverging. We're fighting the same enemy, but in different battles. How I wish it were not so.
Though your comment just now in another thread surprised me. It's not like you. I gotta read it again.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 18:04 Comments ||
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#31
LC: Less than 50,000 US were killed in the Pacific? Live and lern.
This figure includes non-combat and POW (over 13,000 POW's dead in Japanese custody, thousands massacred on the spot) dead. The Japanese had it tough - we duked it out with them in the skies, on the high seas and on various islands on the way to Japan. American domination of the skies and the sea prevented many Japanese outposts from either being reinforced or resupplied. And so they fell, one after another. Many ran out of food and water before they ran out of ammunition, which is when the suicidal banzai charges against American troops took place. After some initial hiccups, American technology totally dominated Japanese technology. Most Japanese tanks were Type 92 tin-cans vulnerable to American .50 caliber machine-gun fire. American fighters both outnumbered and outclassed the Japanese Zero, and survived multiple hits by the enemy, whereas many Japanese planes went down in flames after a single hit. American warships had better armor and fire control systems. Overall, it was just a complete mismatch. The only thing that held back the conclusion of the Pacific War was the devotion of three-quarters of the war effort to fighting Germany, which both inflicted and absorbed fearful casualties.
#32
When did this become a dialogue for the freak show.
Hmmm, Hitler's quest for World domination. maybe that was good enough reasoning for the European front in WWII. And had Soviet Russia whipped Germany's ass, well, we wouldn't call that a reasonably acceptable outcome either would we? You think isolationism was on their agenda?
Don't we all know better?
We didn't need any other reason, not one more.When was logic overcome by dumbassedry on the Burg? Did this happen while I was away, why didn't anyone warn me?
And for the historically challenged, the Holocaust wasn't common knowledge, even within US intelligence circles, until we finally conquered the Nazis. It may provide plenty of reason for those who don't mind meglomaniacal fascist takeover, and who needed other more openly ghastly reasoning for our sacrifices in WWII, but it wasn't a pretext for our involvement by any stretch of the imagination.
#33
LC: Elvis doen't understand that the Federal Reserve is determined to Plow Under Every 4th American Boy. Wake up and smell the imported coffee Elvis! Drop the imported bannana. Get a pure peanut butter sandwich and come to Pat.
Buchanan has strange and impractical ideas about economics and trade, and tends to blame America first when it is attacked by foreign enemies. He also happens to be a big-time anti-semite. My point is that Pat also puts on his pants one leg at a time. Doesn't mean we should all try to be different and slide both legs in simultaneously.
You don't have to be an anti-semite to suggest that the Holocaust was not our problem. The war in Europe cost 250,000 American dead. American lives are worth something, too. We could have stopped the slaughter of 1m Rwandans at the cost of less than a few thousand American dead. But we did not. We could have stopped the slaughter of 1m Cambodians by reinserting troops into Indochina and perhaps losing a few thousand men. but we did not. Does this mean we are anti-black or anti-Asian? No. It means that the lives of American soldiers are just as precious as the lives of the foreigners they could have been sent to save.
#35
Elvis: And for the historically challenged, the Holocaust wasn't common knowledge, even within US intelligence circles, until we finally conquered the Nazis.
I know that - but this is part of the ex poste facto reasoning by people who ask this question, namely "if you knew about the Holocaust, would you have supported the campaign in Europe?" My response is that it wouldn't have affected my view, for reasons I have explained above - American lives are worth something, too.
Elvis: It may provide plenty of reason for those who don't mind meglomaniacal fascist takeover, and who needed other more openly ghastly reasoning for our sacrifices in WWII, but it wasn't a pretext for our involvement by any stretch of the imagination.
The history of Europe is a history of wars for the total domination of the continent. Europe's history did not begin in the 20th century - a lot of European wars were fought that our presidents, in their infinite wisdom, chose not to become a part of. Believe it or not, a lot of European wars were fought prior to the founding of these United States. Hitler's desire for empire wasn't unique. And Germany was no threat to the United States. Note that by the time we declared war against Germany, the Battle of Britain had just concluded with a win for Britain. So Britain itself was not under threat.
#36
You don't have to be an anti-semite to suggest that the Holocaust was not our problem.
No, not an anti-semite...
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 18:40 Comments ||
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#37
a lot of European wars were fought that our presidents, in their infinite wisdom, chose not to become a part of.
Though none were quite like WW2, so maybe you should pick a better comparison...oh wait, there is none.
So Britain itself was not under threat.
??? LOL.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 18:48 Comments ||
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#38
should we have a Canadian foreign policy? It would surely be a lot cheaper...
To an economist this is known as a free rider foreign policy. It was easy for the U. S. to adopt it for its first 150 years because Great Britain maintained freedom of the seas and accepted (a large amount of) free trade.
Had we been cleverer in WWI and WWII we could still be free riding off the Royal Navy. But instead we decided to bankrupt Great Britain and forced her to prematurely disgorge her empire. As a result, there was no longer a great power to ensure the peace of the world and a lot more problems in it. And since we held all the marbles and had the most to lose from change, the responsibility fell to us.
Having made that bed, we must now sleep in it as best we can. We thought we had done it right with the UN and NATO, but they have proven to be as effective as a junior high school student council. So we must find another mechanism to share the burden with the remaining adults before they find free riding to be as pleasant as we found it for 150 years. The league of democracies or common law countries sounds like ok to me.
#40
badanov> Well I *could* discuss about how Buchanian isolationism feels to me to fit in with a global reactionary ideology supported by the most negative ideologies in a number of regions (black anti-white racism in Zimbabwe, Amerindian supremacist talk in Latin America, Russian neoczarism), and the transformation of Huntington's world view from a descriptive model to a prescriptive one, something that I consider very negative to the panhumane struggle for democracy and freedom...
... but when points of morality arise, points of political theory are secondary in importance. I stand with Rafael who has taken up the argument well. Allow me to rest from the forum today, badanov.
#41
GC8113: Had we been cleverer in WWI and WWII we could still be free riding off the Royal Navy. But instead we decided to bankrupt Great Britain and forced her to prematurely disgorge her empire.
No offense, but we protected the freedom of the seas for our merchant ships on our own. This is why we've had a pretty substantial navy for a big part of our existence. This is why Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet of sixteen battleships did its world tour 100 years ago - to show the flag (and their guns). America wasn't into fixed alliances, but it wasn't into pacifism, either. It is why we had, arguably, a more powerful fleet than Britain at the outset of WWII. Then, as now, it remains every man for himself. When a Taiwanese ship was hijacked off the coast of Somalia, Uncle Sam did not come running, did he?
As to the dissolution of the British empire, that came about because of a British fear of casualties, not any American pressure. The French came under the same pressure, tried to hang on, but ultimately gave up after tens of thousands of dead and billions in war expenditures. The Dutch did not give up Batavia (Indonesia) because they wanted to, or because of American pressure. They gave up because the benefits weren't worth the cost in lives or money. They took their lumps from the rebels for a while, packed up and decided to go home.
As to bankrupting Britain - nothing of the sort happened - it went through a major postwar boom. Leftists predicted that since European imperialists supposedly got rich off their colonies, decolonization should make the erstwhile conquerors much poorer. Instead they got rich, and living standards in Western Europe got much better in the post-colonial era. It was the colonies - with a few exceptions - that got a lot poorer.
As a subject of the Crown, you ought to know a little more about the Battle of Britain, and the strategic consequence of the outcome of that battle. By the end of that battle, the existential threat to Britain was gone. That's why Churchill said of the RAF - "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
#44
we've had a pretty substantial navy for a big part of our existence
We had virtually no navy capable of operating ourside our territorial waters in the 19th century. That is why when we finally developed one, Roosevelt sent it on a world tour to prove that the Spanish Ameican War was not just the defeat of a sixth rank navy by a third rank one.
That the U. S. did not free ride on the Royal Navy for 19th century freedom of the seas, suppression of slavery and piracy is ridiculous. It was our cheapskate policy then, but one to which we cannot return now.
As to bankrupting Britain - nothing of the sort happened
Britain's ambassador to the US, Lord Lothian, in late 1940, thought otherwise. Hence lend-lease.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 19:55 Comments ||
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#46
Franklin Roosenfield sent a cruiser to South Africa to pick-up the last of the UK gold reserves. It was the last great act of internal Zionism.
/geebus, do I have to?
The UK was not bankrupt, but was very much il-liquid.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 20:23 Comments ||
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#47
It has occurred to me that GWB might be giving these people one last chance before he sends the Department of Justice against their reporters - to find out who their sources are.
The DoJ needs to investigate every single leak that has occurred, root out the culprits, and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. The leakers and their comrades-in-arms in the media don't even deserve one chance; they know exactly what they're doing.
#48
doc: More than The White House are fed up with the antics of the NY Slimes and the Washington Compost.
I'm afraid Dow Jones and Co, publisher of the Journal, has followed a similar trajectory, from about $43 to $32, over the same period. The stock has perked up a little on buyout speculation. Fact is that Dow Jones and Co is less profitable than either WaPo or NYT, which is why it is a buyout candidate - potential acquirers probably see some room for cuts in the newsroom.
Liberals are scrooges when they run corporations. How do liberals reconcile this with their left-wing beliefs? I think the way they see it, it is the government's job to provide benefits for all the people they fire. This is why NYT and WaPo are best-of-breed investments, if you think the newspaper business has a future.
#49
the WSJ is totally liberal outside the editorial page
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2005 20:55 Comments ||
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#50
LC: Franklin Roosenfield sent a cruiser to South Africa to pick-up the last of the UK gold reserves. It was the last great act of internal Zionism.
LC is accusing me of being an anti-semite. I'm afraid he's the racist. We ignored a *lot* of people during WWII. Millions of Chinese died during WWII - estimates run as high as 20m, but Uncle Sam did not send troops to the Chinese mainland to evict the Japanese. Rescuing Jews or Chinese is not some kind of special obligation Americans have.
The Philippines was an American territory during WWII. It was attacked a day after Pearl Harbor. Thousands of American prisoners were being held there. And yet we liberated Paris in August 1944, but waited until February 1945 before liberating Manila. Hundreds of thousands of Filipino civilians were massacred during the Japanese occupation by the Japanese, who saw them as an inferior race. But no - Europe had to come first. This is why MacArthur raged against the Europe-first strategy - he saw this, rightly, as a betrayal of the Filipinos who had relied on us for their defense.
#51
FG: the WSJ is totally liberal outside the editorial page
Correct, but this is the paper conservatives buy - for business news and for the opinion section. And Dow Jones and Co is sliding along with NYT and WaPo. A lot of ad money is being diverted to the internet. People aren't reading newspapers as much as they used to because of free news on the internet. The loss of newsstand circulation added to the loss of ad revenue equates to lower total revenues. At some point, this may stabilize. But we are not there, yet. And all papers of all ideological stripes are being affected by this trend. This is why Canada's Hollinger Group, which publishes a bunch of conservative papers, went through significant financial problems and had a switch in ownership recently.
No, not an anti-semite...You're something worse, actually.
Rescuing Jews or Chinese is not some kind of special obligation Americans have.
No obligation. But it is kind of nice...and well, human. And whether it was the Jews, Chinese, or Filipinos, it's a good thing that at least one of the three was saved from more torment. At least it was good in my eyes, I don't know about anyone else.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 21:31 Comments ||
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#53
there's something about Americans - we actually do things for higher purposes at times, even if there's no benefit for us. Rescuing the Jews, Chinese, et al is such a case, and to do less would be...unamerican
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2005 21:43 Comments ||
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#54
HG8538: We had virtually no navy capable of operating ourside our territorial waters in the 19th century.
You may have heard of the Marine song:
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli (1805)
We fight our country's battles
In the air on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to bear the title
Of United States Marines.
Note that Tripoli is not a city in these United States. When we ran into trouble in the Mediterranean, it wasn't the Brits who helped us out - we had to send our guys out there to take care of business. The British Navy took care of its vessels. We took care of ours.
The Japanese definitely remember the Black Ships from 1853 - we gave them a ringing demonstration at Edo (now Tokyo). Fact is that our navies spent a lot of time shadowing each other, much as we did with the Soviets during the Cold War. Britain was the established Pacific power, and we were the up-and-comers, ready to reach for our slice if the European powers did partition China. And the only way to do this was with ocean-going warships. US Navy ships spent a big chunk of their time fighting pirates who preyed on American merchant vessels. (There are some fine accounts of some of this activity on the part of some of the Black Ships that showed up in Edo at this link - just click on the ships' names).
#55
Rafael: No, not an anti-semite...You're something worse, actually.
Well, I know what you are - you're someone out to save the world, right down to the last dead American. Me, personally, I don't really want to save the world - American lives are precious to me, as they would not be to a Canadian.
#56
Wow, our black ships scared the Japanese who hadn't seen them, or such ugly smelly crewmen, before and we sent some pretty courageous guys to knock heads with the Berber thugs who haven't changed much in the intervening two centuries, morally or technically.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the amphibiuos capabilities we demonstrated against the Mexicans and the destruction of the British fleet on Lake Erie.
The fact remains, we were a free rider in the nineteenth century. It's not really anything to be ashamed of. And other powers are today, especially as we allow them. And we don't have much choice in it.
#57
American lives are precious to me, as they would not be to a Canadian.
Oh no? Ah, so I see where the problem lies. This being an American forum, undoubtedly this scores you many points. Rest assured, to me, American lives are as precious as any other good human being's life. But since I do share a special connection with America, I'd be inclined to defend Americans more than anyone else perhaps, at this moment. America's well being is also my well being.
I'll defend anyone who stands for the good side. A concept that seems foreign to you, obviously.
Your values are completely alien to me.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 23:27 Comments ||
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#58
I don't think Canada's lost - just part is suffering from the EU disease. We need a few more states in the US....
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2005 23:37 Comments ||
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#59
A step in the right direction would be getting rid of Paul Martin and his ilk. Fat chance, however.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 23:45 Comments ||
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Government records show that the administration was encountering unprecedented second-guessing by the secret federal surveillance court when President Bush decided to bypass the panel and order surveillance of U.S.-based terror suspects without the court's approval.
A review of Justice Department reports to Congress shows that the 26-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court modified more wiretap requests from the Bush administration than from the four previous presidential administrations combined.
The court's repeated intervention in Bush administration wiretap requests may explain why the president decided to bypass the court nearly four years ago to launch secret National Security Agency spying on hundreds and possibly thousands of Americans and foreigners inside the United States, according to James Bamford, an acknowledged authority on the supersecret NSA, which intercepts telephone calls, e-mails, faxes and Internet communications.
"They wanted to expand the number of people they were eavesdropping on, and they didn't think they could get the warrants they needed from the court to monitor those people," said Bamford, author of "Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency" and "The Puzzle Palace: Inside America's Most Secret Intelligence Organization." "The FISA court has shown its displeasure by tinkering with these applications by the Bush administration."
Bamford offered his speculation in an interview last week.
The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, adopted by Congress in the wake of President Nixon's misuse of the NSA and the CIA before his resignation over Watergate, sets a high standard for court-approved wiretaps on Americans and resident aliens inside the United States.
To win a court-approved wiretap, the government must show "probable cause" that the target of the surveillance is a member of a foreign terrorist organization or foreign power and is engaged in activities that "may" involve a violation of criminal law.
Faced with that standard, Bamford said, the Bush administration had difficulty obtaining FISA court-approved wiretaps on dozens of people within the United States who were communicating with targeted al-Qaida suspects inside the United States.
The 11-judge court that authorizes FISA wiretaps has approved at least 18,740 applications for electronic surveillance or physical searches from five presidential administrations since 1979.
The judges modified only two search warrant orders out of the 13,102 applications that were approved over the first 22 years of the court's operation. In 20 of the first 21 annual reports on the court's activities up to 1999, the Justice Department told Congress that "no orders were entered (by the FISA court) which modified or denied the requested authority" submitted by the government.
But since 2001, the judges have modified 179 of the 5,645 requests for court-ordered surveillance by the Bush administration. A total of 173 of those court-ordered "substantive modifications" took place in 2003 and 2004 -- the most recent years for which public records are available.
The judges also rejected or deferred at least six requests for warrants during those two years -- the first outright rejection in the court's history.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said last week that Bush authorized NSA surveillance of overseas communications by U.S.-based terror suspects because the FISA court's approval process was too cumbersome.
The Bush administration, responding to concerns expressed by some judges on the 11-member panel, agreed last week to give them a classified briefing on the domestic spying program. U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard, a member of the panel, told CNN that the Bush administration agreed to brief the judges after U.S. District Judge James Robertson resigned from the FISA panel, apparently to protest Bush's spying program.
Bamford, 59, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran, likens the Bush administration's domestic surveillance without court approval to Nixon-era abuses of intelligence agencies.
NSA and previous eavesdropping agencies collected duplicates of all international telegrams to and from the United States for decades during the Cold War under a program code-named "Shamrock" before the program ended in the 1970s. A program known as "Minaret" tracked 75,000 Americans whose activities had drawn government interest between 1952 and 1974, including participation in the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War.
"NSA prides itself on learning the lessons of the 1970s and obeying the legal restrictions imposed by FISA," Bamford said. "Now it looks like we're going back to the bad old days again."
#1
James Bamford is an NSA critic who, like Kerry, joined the Navy during the Vietnam War to avoid being drafted into the combat infantry. I get the impression he never got over his near miss, and has spent much of his career catering to leftist delusions. This guy is an NSA expert in the sense that Noam Chomsky is an expert on American government.
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: The Foreign Office on Tuesday rejected an Indian statement about events in Balochistan as âunwarranted and baselessâ, APP reports.
India often shows an unacceptable proclivity to interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbours, Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam said after the Indian Ministry of External Affairs released a statement expressing concern about the âspiralling violenceâ in Balochistan.
Such a tendency is contrary to efforts aimed at building an environment of trust, peace and stability in South Asia, Aslam said. âThe statement is all the more surprising from the spokesman of India, a country that has long tried to suppress the freedom struggle of the Kashmiri people and has a record of systematic and serious human rights violation in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir,â she said.
The âheavy-handed methodsâ and use of force to quell unrest in the north east of India and the widespread violence afflicting many of its parts âare well known and need no commentâ, she said.
âWe are also intrigued by this provocative statement at this time when the two countries are engaged in the peace process to address all issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,â Aslam said.
âThe statement tends to vitiate the current atmosphere of improved relations that accords with the wishes of the peoples of the two countries,â she added.
Iftikhar Gilani adds: Earlier, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said India had been monitoring developments in Balochistan and asked Pakistan to âexercise restraintâ.
âThe government of India has been watching with concern the spiralling violence in Balochistan and the heavy military action, including the use of helicopter gunships and jet fighters by the government of Pakistan to quell it,â Sarna said.
âWe hope that the government of Pakistan will exercise restraint and take recourse to peaceful discussions to address the grievances of the people of Balochistan,â he said.
Posted by: john ||
12/27/2005 18:08 ||
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#1
âWe hope that the government of Pakistan will exercise restraint and take recourse to peaceful discussions to address the grievances of the people of Balochistan,â he said.
Payback for the jihad in Kashmir?
Posted by: john ||
12/27/2005 20:22 Comments ||
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#2
Except India doesn't train, arm and help infiltrate the "freedom fighters" into Balochistan. India ought to turn Jammu and Kashmir into a giant pig farm. They will get the Paks all twiterpated.
#3
Balochis, Waziris, Sindhis and Pashtos operate separate independence operations. Sindhis hold congress in the US every year.
Reminder: on Sept. 11, 2001, the Pak terrorist entity held less than US$500 million in foreign reserves. Because of the US embargo, they faced bankruptcy. Independentist movements flourished, as the Musharaf tyranny faced collapse. Why does the terrorist entity now hold US$12 billion in reserves, while Musharaf's own political party - Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid e Azam (great leader Jinnah) shares power with a pro-al-Qaeda party (Muttahida-Majlis-i-Amal) in Balochistan? Because Bush took dictation from Jamaat-Islami's US puppet Islamic Society of North America, and chose to end the embargo and prop the terrorist entity in exchange for an occasional meaningless arrest (Khalid Sheik Mohammed - and 4 other al-Qaeda terrorists were arrested in JI safe houses).
JI terrorist leaders - as Qazi Hussein Ahmad - move around Pakistan in a fleet of brand new Mercedes SUVs. Why? Under the Pakistan constitution, the 2 terrorist controlled provinces - Balochistan and NorthWest Frontier Province - receive over 20% of the portion of US aid to Pigistan.
As for the democraticization of Afghanistan, the Taliban animal who carried out the destruction of the Buddha statues, is now an elected member of the Afghan Parliament (read: Islamofascist Shura).
Pakistan has dismissed speculations of Iran being behind the deteriorating situation in Balochistan, saying Iran was a good neighbour and it was unimaginable that Tehran would be behind the situation in the province.
If it's "unimaginable," then they should clean out the foreign office and stock it with people who have a bit of imagination. Unlikely, perhaps: Iranian Balochistan has a somewhat unruly Sunni population, and having an independent or autonomous Balochistan next door to the east to fire them up would be nearly as bad as having an independent or autonomous Kurdistan next door to the west.
Addressing her weekly press briefing at the Foreign Office, FO spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said only a handful of miscreants were behind the deteriorating law and order in Balochistan. She said the miscreants had only one agenda, which was to damage the provinceâs development.
Unfortunately, that handful of miscreants includes some fairly powerful sardars, some of whom hold office. Ain't life in the caliphate grand?
She said Pakistan thought of Iran as a friendly neighbour having close bilateral relations. âWe canât imagine Iran being behind the situation in Balochistan,â she added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 10:58 ||
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The Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) activists expelled and rusticated from the Punjab University (PU) have been declared persona non grata, official sources told Daily Times on Monday.
That hasn't stopped them from tromping in and throwing their weight around before...
Sources said a circular issued by the administration declared PU IJT Nazim Tahir Farooq alias Allah Buksh Leghari (Islamic Studies), Muhammad Fakhar Manzoor alias Al-Mani (Institute of Business Administration), Muhammad Akhtar (Institute of Administrative Sciences), Muhammad Amer (Institute of Administrative Sciences), Qazi Imdadullah (Mass Communication), Salman Ayub (Institute of Statistics), Muhammad Awais (Mass Communication), Imran Ashraf (Institute of Education and Research) and Afzal Ahmed (Institute of Education and Research) undesirable. âTheir entry in the Punjab University is banned with immediate effect,â the circular said.
No more Double Secret Probation?
Copies of the circular have been sent to all deans of faculties, principals of constituent colleges, directors of institutes, chairpersons of departments, Students Affairs Adviser, Chairman Hall Council, Controller of Examinations, Inspector General of Police (Punjab) and Senior Superintendent Police (Operations).
Good idea. Send out a memo. That'll fix it.
Some university sources said the measure was merely eyewash and most of the expelled students were present in the campus.
No! Reeeeeeeaaaally?
They said the university had expelled only those students whose academic sessions had almost ended, and most of the rusticated and expelled students had already taken their final examinations. PU Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan confirmed that a circular had declared those students undesirable. He said the university had taken all precautionary measures but would continue its reforms to improve the environment. He said the university advised all students to pay attention to studies, and that no political party would be allowed on campus.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 10:58 ||
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ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said the two F-16 aircraft that landed in Pakistan on Tuesday were presented by the US as âa goodwill gesture and are probably freeâ.
BBC Urdu service quoted Rashid as saying on Wednesday that the delivery was part of the F-16 deal between the US and Pakistan, which was postponed by President Pervez Musharraf due to the October 8 earthquake.
ââThe planes have been given to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture and are probably free,â Rashid said,â BBC Urdu service added.
âHe said the deal could be delayed for two to four months,â it reported. daily times monitor
Posted by: john ||
12/27/2005 08:33 ||
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#1
The planes are absolutely free, but there is a 36-month service contract with heavy penalties for early termination.
Posted by: Jackal (from Moms house, like people on DU) ||
12/27/2005 11:29 Comments ||
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#2
:> Undercoating and codes seperate.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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In a move aimed at boosting defence cooperation with its eastern neighbors, India is hosting a multi- nation naval exercise off the Andaman coast from January 9 next year.
Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand have confirmed participation in the almost week-long multi-nation exercise dubbed `Milan-06', a naval spokesman said here.
He said some other Southeast Asian nations like Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and neighboring Sri Lanka will also participate in the exercises in which the focus would be on diasater relief, EEZ patrols and interdiction at sea.
The upcoming multi-nation exercises were slated to be held in January this year but were postponed because of the tsunami tragedy.
Posted by: john ||
12/27/2005 08:29 ||
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The Bush administration suggested Tuesday that prisons in Iraq where hundreds of detainees apparently were abused were only "nominally" under the control of the central government in Baghdad. This is a strange admission, but would cast some light on any new secret SCIRI/Badr prisons or any forthcoming reports regarding prisoner abuse.
While the central government, with U.S. help, is trying to take charge of these prisons the Interior ministry, which runs them may have its own way of doing things, suggested State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
"The problem has clearly not been solved and the problem is widespread," Ereli said.
"We and the Iraqi government continue to have concern about the way prisoners are treated in Iraqi facilities and in facilities nominally under the control of the Iraqi government," the spokesman said. Ah, the meat.
"And the United States, for its part, is going to do everything it can to ensure that the rights of Iraqi citizens are respected," Ereli added.
The statement acknowledged weakness in the Iraqi government, but also credited it with trying to address a problem that undercuts the administration's case that reform is taking hold since the toppling of President Saddam Hussein. Elvis's 1st recommended reform, kill Saddam.
"We are working with the Iraqi government to provide advice and technical assistance" to correct the prison situation, the U.S. spokesman said. "It is not easy, given the number of detainees, given the number of actors in this system." Capital punishment is an option.
One goal, Ereli said, is "not feeding detainees into a system where there is abuse going on." And, he said, "on a deeper level, working with the government to try to correct the system so that the kind of abuses and undermining of authority doesn't happen."
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said earlier this month that at least 120 abused prisoners were found in two detention facilities run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry.
Even before then, Sunni Arabs had complained about abuse and torture by Interior Ministry security forces. Boohoo, we know you'd never abuse prisoners would you Sunnis?
The U.S. military said Sunday it would not hand over detention facilities or individual detainees to Iraqi officials until they have demonstrated higher standards of care. I wouldn't expect this anytime soon. Their cultures care little for prisoners and less for treating the enemy in a humane fashion. I tend to agree with a few tenets of their philosophy regarding the enemy, especially in light of all of the revolving doors that develop in "civilized countries".
The last Ukrainian and Bulgarian troops have left Iraq, and Poland plans deep cuts in its deployment next year, the countries said Tuesday, the latest of several U.S. allies to draw down force levels as public demand weighs on government leaders. Poland's deputy defense minister said Tuesday that Poland would reduce troop levels in March, from nearly 1,500 to 900. The announcement came after Poland's government asked President Lech Kaczynski to keep Polish troops in Iraq for another year. There was no immediate reaction from the president, but it was widely expected that he would approve the extension, reversing the previous government's decision to bring troops home within the next few weeks. The deployment is unpopular, and 17 Polish soldiers have died in Iraq.
Poland has been a U.S. ally in Iraq, sending combat troops to the country and in September 2003 taking command of an international force that currently numbers some 3,000 troops, including the Poles. However, some in Poland have complained that they have not seen sufficient rewards -- for example, easier access to U.S. visas or more contracts for Polish companies in the rebuilding of Iraq.
#1
Keep ever in mind that they are doing exactly what they said that they would do from the beginning. Only Spain left early. All of our other allies have stayed as long or longer than they said they would.
#2
Article: However, some in Poland have complained that they have not seen sufficient rewards -- for example, easier access to U.S. visas or more contracts for Polish companies in the rebuilding of Iraq.
There is a a breed of internationalists that likes to think of our alliances as a kind of "Band of Brothers" arrangement. The reality is a lot more prosaic. The Poles were in it partially to cement an American military commitment to Poland in the event the Russians get frisky again, and partially for goodies from Uncle Sam. My impression is that Poles have now started to take Uncle Sam's protection for granted, much like most of our other "allies".
#3
The Poles were in it partially to cement an American military commitment to Poland in the event the Russians get frisky again, and partially for goodies from Uncle Sam.
Yeah, imagine that. They got less then Spain in terms of Iraq contracts, yet they still extended their mission. Boy, they must be really stupid.
My impression is that Poles have now started to take Uncle Sam's protection for granted
And we can't have that, can we? Be sure to do your damndest to fix this.
Read up on Kosciuszko, while you're at it, 'brother'.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 16:55 Comments ||
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#4
Hell of a fighter Rafael and a better engineer.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 18:07 Comments ||
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#5
If I didn't know better, I'd think CNN had a hidden agenda to demonstrate that it's a QUAGMIRE!! But no, CNN would NEVER become a cheap propaganda tool for the Defeatocrats.
In loving memory, regards Saddam
A mass grave has been discovered in the predominantly Shia city of Karbala in southern Iraq, police have said.
The bodies appear to be those of Shia rebels killed by Saddam Hussein's army in 1991 in reprisal for an uprising in the wake of the Gulf War.
Lawyers for Saddam Hussein have asked his Baghdad court for an independent investigation into claims by the ousted Iraqi leader that he has been tortured by his American captors. Chief defence lawyer Khalil Dulaimi said on Sunday that Saddam expects mounting psychological and physical abuse to prevent him from properly defending himself in court.
"I can't go to court with these panty scars on my head! What would my adoring public think?"
Ya get the idea that maybe Sammy's beginning to realize what's going to happen to him? Maybe it's the construction of the platform and trap in the courtyard outside his cell.
Saddam told a court hearing on Thursday he had been beaten by the Americans, but did not display any marks to the court. "I have lodged a complaint with the court to investigate the crime against my client and torture against him during and after his arrest," Mr Dulaimi told Reuters. "We have asked for an independent medical team to examine the president to examine the bruises inflicted on him which are still there on his body." The White House has already dismissed Saddam's torture claim as preposterous. The trial has been adjourned until January 24.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
During the break until January 24th, put him back in his spider hole that he lived in.
Posted by: Jan ||
12/27/2005 9:26 Comments ||
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Sheikh Khalaf al-Alyan, chairman of the (Sunni) National Dialogue Council (NDC), has threatened to ignite civil war if matters do not return back to normal and they (the Sunnis) are not given their elections rights. He accused persons in the Higher Iraqi Elections Commission and in the (Shiite) Unified Iraqi Coalition that is led by Abdulaziz al-Hakim who is also leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, of rigging the elections results and committing major violations. On his part, Dr. Hussein al-Hindawi, the Higher Elections Commission chairman, admitted that there were violations whose victims were the National Iraqi List that is led by Dr. Iyad Allawi.
Looks like they're chosing up sides now.
Al-Alyan's movement the NDC entered into an alliance with the People of Iraq Council that is led by Dr. Adnan al-Dulaymi and the Iraqi Islamic Party that is led by Hamid Abdal Muhsin and formed a broad Sunni coalition called Al-Tawafuq. He said, "We have informed the Commission of the violations that took place during the elections, especially in Baghdad. We also informed the US side, the United Nations, and the Arab League. Our stand is known: Either hold the elections again or change them to give us our rights."
I suspect there might be a shred of truth to what he's hollering about. I still don't discount the NYT story on the Medes and the Persians shipping stuffed ballot boxes to Iraq.
Speaking by telephone to "Asharq al-Awsat" yesterday, he said, "We are not going to let things go in the coming stage and there must be a solution. Either we obtain our rights of participation in the Assembly, as we deserve, or withdraw. We will not allow the formation of a national assembly and will not remain spectators or oppositionists but rest assured that it will turn into civil war, may God save us from its end. All the Iraqi nationalists will be in a resistance front against these tendencies (he meant the Shiite Coalition)."
Now the question becomes whether they're going to actually engage in Armed Struggle™ to gain their putative rights. While I don't discount the NYT story, it's also possible it was a setup for just this routine. They're not real big on the concept of "loyal opposition," but even in an Arab country they need some sort of pretext. But they could also be making faces and jumping up and down in their inimitable Sunni manner to exact concessions that they had no chance for in the actual balloting.
Al-Alyan added, "Our rights are known and we are convinced that the elections were rigged, especially in Baghdad where we had areas in the capital that were totally closed to us. We were excepting to exceed the Coalition by more than 300,000 votes. However, the result now is the Coalition exceeding us by 1 million votes and this is quite unreasonable. Our calculations were accurate and documented in the centers and from the first count. We do not accept any other result unless it tallies with the facts we know. We will not allow the formation of parliament or national government unless they give us back our rights, either by holding the elections again all over Iraq or in Baghdad. The important thing is to have our rights given back to us."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
..has threatened to ignite civil war if matters do not return back to normal and they (the Sunnis) are not given their elections rights.
Somehow, I get the feeling that it wouldn't be much of a contest, especially if the Kurds hook up with the Shiites.
#2
We did confiscate a truck coming from Iran w/ballots for the Shiite Coalition. Another truck was seized coming from Saudi Arabia w/counterfeit ballots but I was not told whether these wer pro-shia or sunni.
Hard to tell how many counterfeit ballots came in or if there was enough to sway the election in any way. I think complaints of voter fraud was actually comparatively low even to our own elections based on the number of votes cast. Maybe there is some truth to what this guy says even beyond the intel I have. I'm not in the local Baghdad AO.
I wonder if someone here on the 'burg who has the time could do some sort of empirical fact check. I'd be interested to see if the final results of elections reflect the demographics of the respective provinces in any way.
For all our sake I hope Iran didn't get lucky and stuff some ballot boxes under our collective noses. I hate those sons of bitches enough as it is. Though a civil war would probably just be another form of "due process darwinism" w/these assholes - I'm not too keen about trying to clean up that mess.
#3
"We were excepting to exceed the Coalition by more than 300,000 votes."
This shows the real problem. The Sunni Arabs have been holding the whip for so long that they actually believe they are a majority. Something tells me that these jerks aren't going to make peace until they are really SCARED what of the Iraqi army can do to them. A 1000-year tradition of rule-by-fear doesn't end in 3 years.
#6
Of course they are. They are going to threaten civil war EVERY time they don't get what they want. No matter how small the demand it's going to be that or civil war.
#7
Let them revolt. The Sunni minority have been lording over the region for far too long.
The Shia and the Kurds have the oil. Let the Wahabi Sunnis mine sand. They can sell it by the truckload. Should make a few cents per load.
Biggest oilfields in Saudi are also in traditional Shia areas IIRC.
Dismemberment of Iraq and Saudi would be a death blow to the Wahabi death cult. Take away their oil money and they revert to their natural state - desert savages nobody cares about. Can't fund madrassas when you don't have the cash. And nobody admires a pauper.
Of course that leaves the problem of Iran. Shia power would be an interesting change for the middle east except for the freaks that run Iran.
The mullahs in Iran have to go...
Posted by: john ||
12/27/2005 8:01 Comments ||
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#8
Let the Wahabi Sunnis mine sand.
LOL, each grain a prayer lovely seething bead to finger as they pound forehead 5 times a day.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/27/2005 8:36 Comments ||
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#9
I can see it now. A rich Kurd North, a rich (but supressed) Shite south, and a poor and suppressed
Syria East. What's wrong with that?
#11
Broadhead6, please check me on this but I thought I heard on TV that the ballot trucks were a hoax. As far as the Sunnis threatening civil war they really should read the story about Custer and his last stand. They still think of the Shites and Kurds as subordinate to them and that they should be in charge. They can't understand why they lost an election, after all they had been holding them for years and the Kurds and Shia had never come close to winning. Maybe they can have Tom Daschele come speak to them?
Does sound rather similar, doesn't it? That they're willing to burn down their own house in a fit of pique not only says a lot about themselves, but others of like mindset....*cDEoMOuCRgATSh*...
#13
Thanks, BH6. I thought the ballot stuffing story rang true. Dexter Filkin is a pretty good reporter, so I couldn't see him getting that snookered. I hadn't heard about the Soddy truckload, but since the methods ere similar my guess would be that they were actually Shiite ballots.
I'm wondering how closely the vote count tallies with whatever exit polling was done.
Having the stuffed ballot boxes allows a reasonably clean election process. The dirt comes at the counting stage.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 10:28 Comments ||
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#14
#10 Whenever the U.S. military finally withdraws from Iraq and turns over the reigns of power and security to the Iraqis, Civil War is inevitable.
Sounds like there won't be any civil war soon given the experience of Germany, Japan, Italy, Korea, et. al. But you are correct, the guys who have to watch out are the onw's left when the Amis scoot, the Vietnamese, Lebanese, and Hatians, etc.
#15
Dictionary definition of civil war: A war between factions or regions of the same country. Judging from the relatively low casualty rates, this ain't exactly the American Civil War, where 700,000 on both sides died.
Check the burg archives from last week if you get the chance. I'll do the same, but I thought someone posted turnout by province at least, I dunno about ethnic makeup though. My guess is that it is reflected in the balloting, but what kind of census data is really available. I mean, what's the registration process like in Iraq right now, walk up registration or what?
I'd like to get some clarity re: whether the story was a hoax or not regarding ballot box stuffing via Iran. I'm betting that it was real and more extensive then previously stated. Hell, with the resources Iran puts into counterfeiting, I'd have no doubt these bastards could pull it off.
That being said the Sunni rabble rousers should watch their P's & Q's. Their sabre rattling aside, they have some powerful allies in the secular Shiia and Kurdish communities who are echoing their statements, but I'd guess that most Shiia in Iraq would oblige them a nasty little Civil War if they continue the Sunni civil war rhetoric and splodeydopefullness. The Sunnis aren't exactly popular amongst the average Shiite, and their obvious support of murderous villians and their past rep with Saddam might just get them annihalated.
Hell of a shame that would be, comeuppins if'n you ask me.
A lawyer for Saddam Hussein and a Jordanian newspaper said on Monday that the former ruler's half brother rejected a purported US offer of a ranking Iraqi government position in exchange for testimony against the deposed leader. Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti allegedly made the claim Thursday in a closed-door hearing of the Higher Iraqi Tribunal which is hearing the cases against him, Saddam and five other co-defendants on war crime charges.
I might buy the idea of letting him off with something less than a stretched neck, but giving him a fat sinecure in the new Iraqi gummint somehow doesn't quite ring true.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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Via DhimmiWatch
Nothing new for those who have been paying attention. Still worth exposing to the light.
World leaders, media blame Israel for fleeing Christians
BETHLEHEM â With Christmas services here drawing far fewer tourists than in the 1990s and the town's Christian population now at an all-time low, many world leaders and hundreds of major media outlets this week blamed Israel for Bethlehem's decline â often citing false information â while a simple talk with the town's residents reveals a drastically different picture. They say Muslim persecution has been keeping Christians away.
"All this talk about Israel driving Christians out and causing pain is nonsense," a Bethlehem Christian community leader told WND. "You want to know what is at play here, just come throughout the year and see the intimidation from the Muslims. They have burned down our stores, built mosques in front of our churches, stole our real estate and took away our rights. Women have been raped and abducted. So don't tell me about Israel. It's the Muslims."
The Bethlehem leader, like many Christians on the streets here, would not provide his name for publication for fear of retaliation.
Bethlehem's Christian population has declined drastically after the Palestinian Authority took control in December, 1995. Once 90 percent of the city, Christians now compose less than 25 percent, according to Israeli survey information. Sounds like ethnic cleansing. Where are the UN resolutions? When does the bombing campaign start? Christmas celebrations this year attracted about 30,000 tourists â 10,000 more than last year but down from an average of 150,000 in 1994.
Many Christians told WND they face constant Muslim hostility.
One religious novelty-store owner cited examples of Muslim gangs defacing Christian property, the PA replacing Christian leaders on public councils with Muslims, and armed Palestinian factions stirring tensions. One such incident was last week's storming of Bethlehem's City Hall, across the street from the Church of the Nativity, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, by gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.
The store owner said "We are harassed but you wouldn't know the truth. No one says anything publicly about the Muslims."
Indeed many leaders in attendance at Christmas Eve Mass in Bethlehem last night took the occasion to blame Israel's recently constructed security fence in the area for Christian woes.
In a televised midnight Christmas speech, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said "Palestinians are seeking a bridge to peace instead of Israeli walls. Unfortunately, Israel is continuing with its destructive policy ... (and) transforming our land into a big jail."
Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, speaking at St. Catherine's Church, adjacent to the Church of the Nativity, called for Israel to remove its "separation barrier, which is causing all kinds of hardships and affecting normal life in Bethlehem."
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, urged Israel "to build bridges and not walls" and blamed Israel for "[compelling Christians] to leave the land of their birth for foreign lands on account of the political situation."
And a sampling of American media coverage of this weekend's festivities seems to find Israel mostly at fault for the decline in Christian living conditions and population figures.
A widely printed Associated Press article by staff writer Sarah El Deeb opens, "Thousands of tourists and pilgrims gathered in Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations Saturday, bringing a long-missing sense of holiday cheer to Jesus' historic birthplace. ... But Israel's imposing separation barrier at the entrance to town dampened the Christmas spirit and provided a stark reminder of the unresolved conflict."
Today's San Francisco Chronicle states, "For centuries, pilgrims from around the world converged on the Palestinian town of Bethlehem at Christmas, packing Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. ... In 2002, Israel began building a 25-foot concrete wall around the city, severing it from Jerusalem and the northern West Bank. Today, the streets of Bethlehem are quiet."
An earlier article by the Chicago Tribune blamed Israel's fence, constructed in 2002, for collapsing Bethlehem's economy and prompting Christians to leave, even though the mass exodus began seven years prior.
"A towering wall of gray concrete slabs, 30 feet high, cuts across what was once the main road into this town from Jerusalem. Just inside the barrier, past a new Israeli security terminal, a once-bustling neighborhood has become a ghost town. Shops are shuttered or empty, and the streets are deserted. ... The deteriorating economy has led to a steady exodus of the city's Christian residents," the Tribune article reads.
HonestReporting.com notes the various press accounts are factually inaccurate.
# Contrary to the Chronicle report and scores of other media accounts, there is no barrier that encircles Bethlehem. A fence exists only where the Bethlehem area interfaces with Jerusalem, and only a small segment of the fence is a concrete wall, which Israel says is meant to prevent gunmen from shooting at Israeli motorists.
# The Bethlehem economy the past few years has actually improved significantly. Tourism has doubled compared to last year, and Bethlehem's main industries are up: Textiles by 50 percent, stone and marble export by 40 percent, and commercial transportation 20 percent. The increases have reportedly brought an influx of millions of dollars into the Bethlehem local economy.
# Israel says the Israeli Defense Forces this year is making access to Bethlehem easier for tourists. IDF Lt. Col. Aviv Feigel said, "The military will try to speed the process by not checking every tourist bus, but conducting spot checks of random buses instead." The IDF also instituted a bus shuttle service to Bethlehem to speed travel time to the city.
For years, Bethlehem was largely Christian. But when the PA took control in 1995 it publicly expanded Bethlehem's boundaries reportedly to ensure a Muslim majority, incorporating into the city over 30,000 Muslims from adjacent refugee camps. Then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally replaced the Christian-dominated city council with a largely Muslim leadership.
Since then, there have been a steady stream of reported abuses and persecution.
Posted by: ed ||
12/27/2005 11:15 ||
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#1
Based on "DP Gangsta" by Snoop Dog
Here's a little something about a rag'ed like me,
I never should have been let out the Mecca City you see.
Sommy Bin L. would like to say,
That Im a crazy motherf****r when Im playing with my AK!
Since I was a youth I smoked Jooooz out,
Now Im that motherf****r yall read about.
Smoking Joooz and Infadoooz, taking a life or two,
You don't like how Im living well f**k you!
This is my gang 'Qada - No Limit.
My Sommy Bin will blow you up in a minute!
With the pow pow boom boom and your dead,
And then we stamp that tank on your forehead!
#3
"All this talk about Israel driving Christians out and causing pain is nonsense," a Bethlehem Christian community leader told WND. "You want to know what is at play here, just come throughout the year and see the intimidation from the Muslims. They have burned down our stores, built mosques in front of our churches, stole our real estate and took away our rights. Women have been raped and abducted. So don't tell me about Israel. It's the Muslims."
Is this guy a Christian Arab? I would suspect that he is.
I found this article in the Guardian after commenting on the other one. I'm leaving my comments there but this article has a different explanation.
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is to undergo an operation to repair a hole in his heart which doctors believe caused a mild stroke. Mr Sharon's doctors held a press conference yesterday to head off speculation about his health just over a week after he was admitted to hospital feeling ill and confused.
With elections due on March 28, the health of the prime minister has become a big issue. Haim Lotem, the head of cardiology at Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, said the hole, measuring between one and two millimetres, was a minor birth defect found in about a quarter of the population. Doctors would use a catheter to insert an "umbrella like" device that seals the hole, which is in the partition wall between the upper chambers of Mr Sharon's heart. The procedure, guided by a small camera inserted through the oesophagus, requires anaesthetic and takes 30 minutes.
This is different from the other article. Here goes:
This 'hole' is an atrial septal defect (ASD). In fetal life, we have a connection from the right atrium to the left to shunt blood away from the fetal lungs. In the first few minutes after birth, we close this hole. Failute to do so can be bad if the remaining shunt (flow through the ASD) is large, but not if it's small. Perhaps 1% of adults have a small ASD and don't know it, and usually it doesn't cause a problem. Back 20-30 years ago one needed major open heart surgery to close an ASD, so you did so only if it was a major problem.
The procedure here is relatively new but it works very well: you put a venous catheter in through the femoral vein (in your thigh) and advance the catheter to the right atrium. You run an umbrella through the catheter up to the ASD, and then lodge the umbrella in the hole. That closes it.
You watch this via a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE). That's also new in the last few years. It's an echocardiogram done with a probe in the mid-esophagus. It uses sound waves (not a camera as the Guardian idiot reporter says) to paint real-time pictures of the heart. That gives you a great picture of the heart from the back end, much clearer for an ASD than from the chest side as you get with a standard echocardiogram. You also get a Doppler flow measurement across the ASD with the TEE, and when the umbrella is in you can see the flow go away.
The hole was detected after Mr Sharon's stroke on December 18. Doctors concluded that the blood clot causing the stroke got lodged in the hole, restricting the flow of blood to his brain.
That's total crap. What happened is that Mr. Sharon had a right-sided embolus (that is, a clot that floated into the right atrium) that went from the right atrium to the left through the ASD, thence out the left ventricule and up to his brain. That can happen and it's one of the things we're taught to look for in someone who's had a first stroke -- look for an ASD. In this setting it makes sense to close the ASD even if it's 'small', especially if the embolus came from (for example) a deep vein thrombosis in the legs. In that setting, the risk of a new embolus (floating clot) at some point in the future is fairly high, even if you treat the patient with anti-coagulants (blood thinners). Closing the hole means the embolus goes to the lung instead of the brain (or kidney). That's not great either, but you have more reserve there. And it gives you more leeway in your anti-coagulant therapy, which may be needed if Mr. Sharon has other issues.
Although he had difficulty speaking during the stroke, tests found no injury to his brain. "The prime minister is in exactly the same state now as he was the day before he was hospitalised," said Tamir Ben-Hur, the head of neurology at Hadassah hospital. Despite the medical statement, doubts remain about Mr Sharon's health and a belief persists in the Israeli press that the doctors' revelations were designed to obscure the situation. The doctors said Mr Sharon's weight had fallen from 118 kilograms to 115 (18 and a half stone to just over 18), but the newspaper Ma'ariv says Mr Sharon weighs 142kg.
My educated guess: he's sicker than the press and goverment are letting on. He had a stroke and they think they have an explanation. They'll fix this, but he has underlying significant health problems. If I were an American government policy analyst, I'd start thinking, seriously and quietly, about life after Sharon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2005 00:56 ||
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#1
If they really wanted him to live, they would designate someone to be his Mom and constantly nag at him about his weight.
#2
lol, hey, why is it always "mom" that is looked upon as someone to "nag". Now come on here....
I do hope for the best for Sharon.
Posted by: Jan ||
12/27/2005 10:16 Comments ||
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#3
I watch the Yahoo! photo slideshow of "Mideast Conflict" from time to time. Lots of pictures of Hamas, al-Aqsa Martys Brigades, and PIJ parading, waving guns and chanting Death to the Zionists. And also tons of pix of Arik sitting in cabinet meetins, sitting at Knesset sessions, sitting at ceremonial functions. For a while (prior to this stroke) I'd been thinking he didn't look so good.
I'm also grateful that Dubya takes good care of himself.
CAIRO â Staff members at a Riyadh hospital got a surprise when they looked at the fine print on the paper cups they were using. Workers in a storeroom at another Gulf hospital were similarly shocked when they took a close look at the tags on a large shipment of uniforms, towels and sheets. The labels said âMade in Israel,â according to recent newspaper reports.
"Eeeek! Nurse! There's a Zionist in my sheets!"
Experts say the camouflaged trade â just a small portion of such imports that have received publicity â has been going on for years between Israel and its officially hostile Arab neighbours. The hidden trade is worth about US$400 million a year â about two and a half times what Israel sold to its official Arab trading partners, Egypt and Jordan, in 2004 â said Gil Feiler, the director of Info-Prod Research, a Tel Aviv consultancy specialising in Arab markets, and an economic professor at Bar Ilan University.
Others say such estimates are significantly inflated. âAll the figures are very sexy for the Press, but the reality is much less than what is written,â said Dan Catarivas, foreign trade director at the Israeli Manufacturersâ Association.
The true amount of Arab imports from Israel is impossible to establish because neither side makes it public, with Israeli-made goods moving to Arab customers through third countries â Cyprus or the Netherlands, for example, which list the shipments as local exports.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2005 00:50 ||
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#1
The Zionist entity contains the best breweries.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 6:44 Comments ||
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#2
Hmmm, maybe sew in some listening devices....
Posted by: Jan ||
12/27/2005 9:32 Comments ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:12 ||
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The Paleos do not exist as a state. They have no government, no order or control. They live in a state of anarchy, with even less than a tribal organization.
This being the case, until such time as someone, anyone, can dominate them as a group and maintain that dominance, no treaties, agreements, deals, accords, or anything else can be made with them.
The territories should be placed under the control of the United Nations, until such time as a leader can be chosen, and no armed insurrection or outside power exists to undermine or overthrow that leader.
#2
The UN should have nothing more to do with Palestine. They have fermented trouble where ever they have been, like al-ein-Hellhole.
The Paleostinians should suffer from violence until they choose to stop using it. When they've had enough violence, the rest of their problems will fall away. Until then, none will. This is unfortunate but true, as Sherman demonstrated in the U. S. The problem with violence thus far in Palestine is that it is primarily recreational as opposed to martial. A Sherman needs to descend upon the Paleostinian people and show them that war is Hell.
Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Kadima party on Monday at the Likud Central Committee meeting, saying the prime minister was "secretly planning" a unilateral withdrawal from 90 percent of West Bank.
Should have done that in '68.
"The real election is between our policies and policies ... that encourage terror," Netanyahu said of Kadima.
Netanyahu said this in his address to the Central Committee on Monday in its first formal meeting since his election to chairman of the party. As was widely expected, the Central Committee members voted to give Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom the number two spot on the party's Knesset list. The committee members also voted to postpone the Likud internal elections until January 12, due to changes in the party constitution that are supposed to prevent Moshe Feiglin, leader of the Jewish Movement within the Likud, from competing for a spot on the list.
Netanyahu also criticized the Palestinians, saying "We gave [them] everything, down to the last crumb, and they respond by firing Qassam rockets on Ashkelon," Netanyahu said. Two Qassam rockets landed in Israeli territory on Monday afternoon and evening. He said sources in the Palestinian Authority are trying to convince Hamas to abstain from initiating terror attacks until after Israel's general elections on March 28 in order to increase the chances that Sharon will win.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:12 ||
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to return to hospital early next month to undergo a minor heart procedure, his doctor has said. Professor Haim Lotan told reporters that Mr Sharon would undergo "a catheterism in the next two or three weeks." He said that a minor stroke which was suffered by the 77-year-old Mr Sharon on December 18 was caused "by a clotting of blood which came from the heart". The procedure would involve the insertion of a hollow flexible tube through a blood vessel into the heart.
This isn't minor. What they're suggesting is a common scenario: Sharon had an embolic stroke from a clot in either the left atrium or left ventricle. If he's had a heart attack or a history of congestive heart failure in the past, the clot is most likely in the LV; if not, it's more likely in the LA. Clots in the LV/LA tend to be unstable, and you can get a single piece breaking off, or showers of small clots over time.
The procedure is very likely an angiogram to see the clot, as an echocardiogram (non-invasive, which I'm sure has been done) isn't giving them the information they need. The catheterization itself is a straight-forward procedure, though I wouldn't describe it as 'minor' unless I were a lying press flack. The real issue is what to do if one finds a clot in the LV or LA. The usual course is anti-coagulation (e.g., with coumadin) once the danger of intracerebral bleeding from the stroke has passed. Sometimes surgery can be done to remove the clot; that's open-heart and a major step. Whether treated medically or surgically, this bodes ill for Mr. Sharon, particularly at his age.
The article I posted from the Guardian suggests something very different is going on, and the treatment for a LV thrombus (as the clot is called) is different in a number of ways than the treatment for an ASD.
During the course of the press conference, a team of four doctors released Mr Sharon's health records, a first for an Israeli prime minister. They reiterated that the stroke that he suffered eight days ago was "very minor". While Mr Sharon's powers of speech were affected for several hours, it had no impact "on his memory and other faculties".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Thanks for the insight, hope he does well.
Posted by: Jan ||
12/27/2005 10:06 Comments ||
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Palestinian guards have shot and wounded four farm labourers protesting against a plan to cut the number of days they can work at a former Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said. Greenhouses left by the settlers are central to Palestinian plans for boosting Gaza's dismal economy following Israel's withdrawal in September after 38 years of occupation. Workers cut off water supplies to the greenhouses at the former settlement of Netzer Hazani to protest against plans by the Palestinian Authority owned company to halve the number of days they can work at a daily wage of 60 Israeli shekels ($18). "We did this in a sign of protest, a peaceful protest, but guards opened fire," said one of the workers.
Officials of the Palestine Economic Development Company (PEDC) said they had launched an investigation. "We regret what happened but all of us should prevent anyone from sabotaging a national project," Amid Al-Masri, executive director of the project, told Reuters. He said workers attacked an engineer and hijacked a vehicle.
Mr Masri said over 3,000 workers were now employed, at higher wages than the settlements used to pay, and that it was no longer necessary to employ the full work force seven days a week because the greenhouses are now up and running. Palestinian officials said $45 million had been earmarked to develop the greenhouses, where settlers built a thriving industry exporting organic vegetables and house plants, particularly to Europe. The first load of peppers was shipped for Israeli markets this month. A second shipment of peppers, tomatoes and strawberries being sent on Monday. The greenhouses are seen as an important source of employment for the densely populated Gaza Strip, home to 1.4 million Palestinians.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Odessa Steps?
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 14:40 Comments ||
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#2
Konechno.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 17:29 Comments ||
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#3
Ah,..... of coruse, despertely googling.
Posted by: Leon Clavin ||
12/27/2005 18:10 Comments ||
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#4
well if they attacked an engineer, I hope they shot em dead and then shot em again
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2005 20:25 Comments ||
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Is there anything that doesn't anger Paleostinians?
The Ruling Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) says it will hold Israel responsible for any consequences of its decision to establish a buffer zone in northern Gaza. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, has ordered the army to establish a security zone in northern Gaza to prevent continued Palestinian rocket attacks, public radio reported on Sunday. Any Palestinian straying into the zone, the extent of which will be determined by Israel, could be shot by troops from across the border. The security zone would mainly envelop former Jewish settlements that were destroyed in August and September by the Israeli army.
Israel has threatened harsh retaliation after a new spate of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Fatah issued a statement on Monday in which it branded Israel's imposition of a buffer zone as a reoccupation attempt of the territories that it had evacuated.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Israel has threatened harsh retaliation after a new spate of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. Fatah issued a statement on Monday in which it branded Israel's imposition of a buffer zone as a reoccupation attempt of the territories that it had evacuated.
#2
Can't peek through the fence to watch the game anymore, ya gotta pay the price of being decent, peaceful Paleos but can they?
So now they have a so called excuse to hold Israel responsible for any consequences?
BS.
Posted by: Jan ||
12/27/2005 9:39 Comments ||
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#3
The Ruling Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) says it will hold Israel responsible for any consequences of its decision to establish a buffer zone in northern Gaza.
Yeah, Israel is responsible for everything that happens. Sure.
Got anything new?
Israel has threatened harsh retaliation after a new spate of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.
Why threaten? Just do it. They don't even deserve the benefit of a warning anymore.
Palestinian election authorities cleared the way on Monday for the ruling Fatah movement to merge rival lists of candidates for a January parliamentary ballot, thus ending a damaging split.
I think we guessed that would happen...
Rivals in Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' ruling movement had presented two candidate lists, then decided they wanted to merge them into one as a way to counter a challenge from surging rival Hamas.
"Never mind."
The ruling of the electoral court was needed because the official deadline for registering candidates was December 14. After an appeal, the court said it would reopen registration for a further six hours. It was not immediately clear when the six hours would begin. The justification was that operations were suspended for six hours by the elections commission during the registration process to protest attacks by gunmen on its offices. The gunmen were from Fatah.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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[Washington Times]
The Chinese companies involved in the transfers are the China National Aerotechnology Import Export Corp., known as CATIC; the missile exporter China North Industries Corp., known as NORINCO; Zibo Chemet Equipment Co.; the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group; Ounion International Economic and Technical Cooperative Ltd.; and the Limmt Metallurgy and Minerals Co.
The officials said that three of the Chinese companies have been sanctioned in the past for illicit arms transfers -- CATIC, NORINCO and Zibo. "NORINCO is a serial proliferator," one official said. "All these sanctions are for transfers to Iran."
...
The two Indian chemical companies that will be sanctioned are Sabero Organics Chemical and Sandhya Organics Chemical. The Austrian firm Steyr-Mannlicher, which makes high-quality assault weapons, also is being sanctioned.
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia's Aceh rebels formally disbanded their armed wing on Tuesday in a major step toward ending one of Asia's longest separatist conflicts. The announcement came shortly after rebel representatives met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province. ``The Acehnese national army, or the armed wing of the Free Aceh Movement, has demobilized and disbanded,'' Sofyan Daud, a former rebel commander, told reporters. ``The Aceh national army is now part of civil society, and will work to make the peace deal a success.''
Since the signing of a peace agreement in August, the former fighters have handed in all of their self-declared 840 arms and the Indonesian military has withdrawn nearly 20,000 troops from Aceh - with hundreds more scheduled to leave before the month's end.
840? How many thousands are buried in the jungle for future use?
With the sensitive phase of disarmament and decommissioning near completion, the government will start preparing laws giving the rebels the right to form a political party and cementing the region's right to greater autonomy and control of its natural resources.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2005 01:23 ||
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#1
Half the Aceh rebels were washed out to sea a year ago. The sad truth seems to be it was not a peace agreement by both sides wanting peace that brought this about. No one wants to go fight some insurgency when just surviving is difficult. We, the Western world, should be there in mass helping to nation build that area. Now is our chance. If we don't then Steve's comment will ring true, as soon as they can recover they will stand back up and fight.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/27/2005 8:31 Comments ||
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#2
I tend to disagree. If I am not mistaken, the Aceh rebel arguement is not with the West so our help won't do anything to mitigate the causes of the original conflict. The quicker they rebuild with our help, the quicker the conflict will resume. OTOH if the rebels and the gov't rebuild the country together, with all the accompanying difficulties, hard work, emotional and physical investment, Indonesia has a much greater chance of being unified. People place a greater value on things they worked for than things that were given to them.
Posted by: Scott R ||
12/27/2005 9:20 Comments ||
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#3
I couldnât agree with you more in that their fight is not with us. Their fight is with an indifferent and corrupt government. I should have highlighted the term ânation buildingâ. I think we have opportunity to go in there and help as they rebuild their nation and influence the way they rebuild, not a USAID handout program, but in an effort to build friendly relations in that area and drive a wedge between the Muslim people of Indo and the OIC.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/27/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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Walid Jumblatt, the veteran Lebanese politician and Druze leader, has accused the Shia group Hezbollah of helping to keep Lebanon a hostage of Syria. Jumblatt, the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party who of late has stepped up the rhetoric against Syrian influence over Lebanon's security and intelligence networks, on Sunday called on Hizb Allah to prove its loyalty to Lebanon above Syria.
Have somebody you don't like start your car for you, Wally...
Nevertheless, the two pro-Syrian Lebanese Shia groups, Hizb Allah and Amal, are reported to be poised to end their cabinet boycott. On Sunday, Fouad Siniora, the prime minister of Lebanon, held a meeting with the two groups as part of a continuing attempt to break the political deadlock.
They've got to want to break the deadlock. If the deadlock is a delaying tactic until their masters in Teheran and Damascus are ready to make a move, then they're not going to break it. If they're ready to do something terrible, then their proxies can move into a position where they can stand around and look innocent. This is Byzantine, but not big time Byzantine.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Grandfather Fouad Joumblatt was assassinated on August 6, 1931.
Father Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated on March 16, 1977
Walid Jumblatt, has survived at least three assassination attempts during Lebanon's bloody 1975-90 civil war, including a 1983 car bombing in which he was wounded.
For decades Wally has been a wily and lucky survivor. Considering the murder spree the Syrians are on Walid better continue being lucky, Byzantine crafty for awhile yet otherwise he'll end up like his daddy and grandaddy did.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
12/27/2005 8:27 Comments ||
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#2
Why not ask the US to send in the Marines to stabilize things for ya ? You might have them iron your forehead while they're at it.
Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear programme with any country, but that does not mean it is asking for permission for access to nuclear technology, Iran's foreign minister said on Monday. Iran's right to peaceful nuclear technology was supported by "many countries of the world", Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference during a one-day visit to the Afghan capital, Kabul. "We do not accept global nuclear 'apartheid' and scientific 'apartheid'," Mottaki said.
Iran was ready to discuss its programme. "But that does not mean that we are waiting for any country's permission for the the right of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic to enjoy nuclear technology," he said. Iran insists on its right to produce enriched uranium, vital for nuclear power plants or bombs, but swears its goal is solely to fuel an energy-hungry economy.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2005 00:00 ||
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LIMA, PERU â The prisoners at Huacariz penitentiary in northern Peru hold a dance at New Year's, says Mark Berenson: Someone beats out a tune, another sings out loud, and the rest shake their bodies, each alone in a cell, eyes closed - imagining, perhaps, happier years. It's not Mark who spends New Year's this way. No, he and his wife Rhonda are far away in New York City, and could, if they felt like it, go watch the ball fall in Times Square.
It is their daughter who is behind bars in Peru.
Right where she belongs.
"I have not celebrated New Year's since Lori went to prison," says Mr. Berenson, on the phone from his Gramercy Park apartment. "I don't feel right about it."
This year Lori Berenson is marking her 10th year in a Peruvian jail. She was convicted by a secret military tribunal of being a member of the terrorist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) in December 1995, at age 26, and sentenced to life without parole. A civilian court retried her in 2001 and found her guilty of a lesser charge - terrorist collaboration - reducing her sentence to 20 years.
But any hopes of further reducing her sentence were crushed in December 2004, when Latin America's top human rights court, the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights, rejected her appeal.
This means Ms. Berenson, who maintains her innocence - claiming she was working as a freelance journalist in Peru at the time - is scheduled to be released in November 2015, a few weeks after her 46th birthday.
Meanwhile, after years of agitation on her behalf, by everyone from President Bill Clinton to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel to more than half the members of Congress, it is clear that, today, while not exactly forgotten, the fiery Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) drop-out has certainly faded from view.
No doubt the Inter-American court ruling took the wind out of the sails of some of her supporters. But the real reason for the loss in appetite in appealing her case, say observers involved, is 9/11 and the war on terrorism. "To the extent anyone focuses on it anymore, they just think 'Ah, a terrorist. Well, we don't want to get involved on the wrong side of that issue,' " says Dennis Jett, US Ambassador to Peru from 1996 to 1999.
Something about watching 3,000 of your countrymen die does tend to mitigate support for terrorist supporters and sympths elsewhere ...
Some 70,000 people died here during violence between 1980-2000 instigated by the Shining Path rebels, and to a far lesser extent, the MRTA. The latter's most infamous operation took place a year after Berenson went to jail, when 14 rebels burst into a diplomatic Christmas reception at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, seizing 72 hostages and demanding the release of jailed guerrillas. Berenson was No. 3 on their list.
Ambassador Jett argues that there was "more than a whiff of racism" in the American reaction to the Berenson case during the 90s. "There was an attitude like, 'Look: the poor little funny brown people have a terrorism problem and have gone overboard in dealing with it,' " says Jett, now dean of the International Center at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Actually, you're the one that has a race problem: there's nothing wrong with a people, whether they're funny brown or pasty pink, deciding that they're not going to tolerate murderous terrorists in their midst. That's not over-reacting, that's survival.
"It was only when we had a terrorism problem [in the US] ourselves that we began to look at it differently." As a society, he says "the US has now gone as overboard in dealing with it as we once accused Peru of doing." Jett points, by way of comparison, at the way another young American terrorist, John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban," was treated by American media and public opinion. "We rallied for Lori - we threw the book at Lindh," he points out.
They got 20 years each!
"The US had a double standard for a long time," weighs in Admiral Luis Giampietri Rojas, former commander of Peru's Navy seals and one of the embassy hostages in 1996. "If [Berenson] had done such a thing in her own country she would have gotten a much stiffer punishment."
Mark Berenson, a professor at the Montclair State University School of Business in New Jersey, is dismayed by this hardening of opinion towards his daughter - and charges the Inter-American court was influenced by this mood when it turned down her appeal. "The court capitulated to pressure that they would be soft on terrorism. We are in the middle of fighting a global war on terrorism - so, who, at this time wants to be called soft?" he asks.
Who indeed? Perhaps there's a lesson in that for both you and your terrorist daughter.
Anibal Augusto Apari Sanchez, an MRTA member who was released 3 years ago after serving a 13-year sentence met Berenson in jail when he was going to the dentist, and she was on exercise hour on the prison patio. The two married soon after. He shrugs when as asked about the shift in attitude in post-9/11 world and the resurgence of terrorism in the country. He has a simpler explanation for the dwindling of interest in his wife's case: time.
"Lori worries that people think she is a monster," he says, speaking softly. "But the strange thing I found when I got out of jail was that people didn't know who she was anymore, or if they did, they weren't bothered," he says. "Life moves on. There are other problems now, more pressing ones."
And that's the fatal blow when it's supposed to be about you, all you, always you.
Mr. Apari visits his wife once a month, taking a 15-hour bus ride in each direction from Lima to reach Huacariz, in the northern city of Cajamarca. Her parents, who have spent their life savings trying to free her, also take turns coming to visit, three times a year each. But otherwise, days are routine and dull for the American prisoner. Berenson works 12-hour shifts in the prison bakery, making panetones, an Italian-style fruitcake popular in Peru in the Christmas season. She is becoming an expert cake decorator, her father says, and talks about studying nursing when she gets out. She would like to have a family still, he says, and "I would so much like to be a grandfather."
Perhaps you shouldn't have let her go to Peru to become a terrorist.
Reached at the bakery during the daily hour she is allowed to receive phone calls, Berenson declined to be interviewed. "She does not want to draw attention to herself," explains Apari. "She is just getting by day by day. Being out of the spotlight is OK."
Posted by: john ||
12/27/2005 08:50 ||
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#1
Funny how there was no reference to US racism against those "funny little yellow skinned" people, that is Fujimori, who was the President of Peru at the time. Well, that's just like Americans, so racist that they can't tell the difference between ethnic Peruvians and Japanese.
Personally, for insight into the psychology of Berenson, look to David Horowitz, another person who descended from lower east-side Jewish parents. Since the turn of the 20th Century, that place has been a cesspit of fanatical leftism.
#3
I recall this bitch screaming at the court during her hearing as well. Nice video. Sealed my opinion of her as a despicable daughter of affluent lefties - little rich girl having fun playing terrorist who got caught and didn't want to pay the price.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2005 12:36 Comments ||
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#4
It seems that this individual is referred to in many blurbs as an "activist". To me, the words "troublemaker" and "busybody" immediately come to mind.
Can't stay out of some Third World country's political conflicts? Then don't be surprised if you get picked up. But the most important thing to remember is that your rights that you took for granted as an American more often than not do not apply there, and whining isn't going to change that.
#5
My opinion on terrorists has been very consistant. I don't remember anyone I know crying for this Lori's release just like I don't know anyone that wept for the brat caned in Singapore for spray-painting cars. You break the law in a foreign country you shouldn't expect special treatment.
And that is exactly why European antiterrorist authorities have their eyes on thousands like her across the continent.
Ms. Fallot is a recent convert to Islam. In the eyes of the police, that makes her potentially dangerous.
The death of Muriel Degauque, a Belgian convert who blew herself up in a suicide attack on US troops in Iraq last month, has drawn fresh attention to the rising number of Islamic converts in Europe, most of them women.
"The phenomenon is booming, and it worries us," the head of the French domestic intelligence agency, Pascal Mailhos, told the Paris-based newspaper Le Monde in a recent interview. "But we must absolutely avoid lumping everyone together."
The difficulty, security experts explain, is that while the police may be alert to possible threats from young men of Middle Eastern origin, they are more relaxed about white European women. Terrorists can use converts who "have added operational benefits in very tight security situations" where they might not attract attention, says Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at the Swedish National Defense College in Stockholm.
Ms. Fallot, who converted to Islam three years ago after asking herself spiritual questions to which she found no answers in her childhood Catholicism, says she finds the suspicion her new religion attracts "wounding." "For me," she adds, "Islam is a message of love, of tolerance and peace."
It is a message that appeals to more and more Europeans as curiosity about Islam has grown since 9/11, say both Muslim and non-Muslim researchers. Although there are no precise figures, observers who monitor Europe's Muslim population estimate that several thousand men and women convert each year.
Only a fraction of converts are attracted to radical strands of Islam, they point out, and even fewer are drawn into violence. A handful have been convicted of terrorist offenses, such as Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber" and American John Walker Lindh, who was captured in Afghanistan.
Admittedly patchy research suggests that more women than men convert, experts say, but that - contrary to popular perception - only a minority do so in order to marry Muslim men.
"That used to be the most common way, but recently more [women] are coming out of conviction," says Haifa Jawad, who teaches at Birmingham University in Britain. Though non-Muslim men must convert in order to marry a Muslim woman, she points out, the opposite is not true.
Fallot laughs when she is asked whether her love life had anything to do with her decision. "When I told my colleagues at work that I had converted, their first reaction was to ask whether I had a Muslim boyfriend," she recalls. "They couldn't believe I had done it of my own free will."
In fact, she explains, she liked the way "Islam demands a closeness to God. Islam is simpler, more rigorous, and it's easier because it is explicit. I was looking for a framework; man needs rules and behavior to follow. Christianity did not give me the same reference points."
Those reasons reflect many female converts' thinking, say experts who have studied the phenomenon. "A lot of women are reacting to the moral uncertainties of Western society," says Dr. Jawad. "They like the sense of belonging and caring and sharing that Islam offers."
Others are attracted by "a certain idea of womanhood and manhood that Islam offers," suggests Karin van Nieuwkerk, who has studied Dutch women converts. "There is more space for family and motherhood in Islam, and women are not sex objects."
At the same time, argues Sarah Joseph, an English convert who founded "Emel," a Muslim lifestyle magazine, "the idea that all women converts are looking for a nice cocooned lifestyle away from the excesses of Western feminism is not exactly accurate."
Some converts give their decision a political meaning, says Stefano Allievi, a professor at Padua University in Italy. "Islam offers a spiritualization of politics, the idea of a sacred order," he says. "But that is a very masculine way to understand the world" and rarely appeals to women, he adds.
After making their decision, some converts take things slowly, adopting Muslim customs bit by bit: Fallot, for example, does not yet feel ready to wear a head scarf, though she is wearing longer and looser clothes than she used to.
Others jump right in, eager for the exoticism of a new religion, and become much more pious than fellow mosque-goers who were born into Islam. Such converts, taking an absolutist approach, appear to be the ones most easily led into extremism.
The early stages of a convert's discovery of Islam "can be quite a sensitive time," says Batool al-Toma, who runs the "New Muslims" program at the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, England.
"You are not confident of your knowledge, you are a newcomer, and you could be prey to a lot of different people either acting individually or as members of an organization," Ms. Al-Toma explains. A few converts feel "such a huge desire to fit in and be accepted that they are ready to do just about anything," she says.
"New converts feel they have to prove themselves," adds Dr. Ranstorp. "Those who seek more extreme ways of proving themselves can become extraordinarily easy prey to manipulation."
At the same time, says al-Toma, converts seeking respite in Islam from a troubled past - such as Degauque, who had reportedly drifted in and out of drugs and jobs before converting to Islam - might be persuaded that such an "ultimate action" as a suicide bomb attack offered an opportunity for salvation and forgiveness.
"The saddest conclusion" al-Toma draws from Degauque's death in Iraq is that "a woman who set out on the road to inner peace became a victim of people who set out to use and abuse her."
Posted by: john ||
12/27/2005 08:48 ||
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Females know who are the alpha males, and it isn't European males.
Posted by: ed ||
12/27/2005 10:22 Comments ||
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#2
"For me," she adds, "Islam is a message of love, of tolerance and peace."
Unfortunately, there are large numbers of Islam's followers that didn't quite get that message....
#5
she's still in the honeymoon stage or her relationship with Islam. Soon they will try to radicalize her. It's not that she's Eeuropean, the point is she's French. She live in a screwed up country. No real surprise she has converted, would you be surprised if all of Berkley turned to Islam? She just sounded lost and the Catholic church was not giving her what she needed. Now she's ripe for the extremists to chip away at.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
12/27/2005 10:54 Comments ||
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Technically, that's correct. Muslim women are breeders, and non-Muslim women are war booty. Donkeys, however, are sex objects.
Where's PETA when ya need 'em?!
Posted by: ST ||
12/27/2005 13:07 Comments ||
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#9
IMHO - these women are looking for the father figure to tell them what to wear, what to do, and Islam provides that, along with the requisite beatings to prove your love
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2005 13:34 Comments ||
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#10
It's the sort of thing you can expect to happen when you try to force a totally secular society down people's throats. The European governments don't seem to realize that most people need religion and need it to be a major part of their lives. Instead try to force religion out of their lives. In Europe they've made Christianity something to be ashamed of so people will start taking the path of least resistance which is Islam the religion that's been appeased by European governments for years. It's one of things that make the Muslim religion so dangerous.
#12
Maybe France is pushing their separation of Church and state a bit too far. The sentiment in France is clearly anti-Church. What else is there to turn to if the Catholic Church is looked down upon and the state is not doing so hot itself? Islam is the new fashion.
article: Christianity did not give me the same reference points.
Bullshit. You just chose to ignore them. In fact, you're the type of person who keeps hopping from religion to religion looking for God knows what (pun intended), without giving anything of yourself. Unfortunately, you picked the wrong religion to hop into because there's no turning back now (unless you don't value your life).
This is what happens when it becomes fashionable to attack the Catholic Church, or Christianity in general. People become lost.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 14:51 Comments ||
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#13
BillH, exactly.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/27/2005 14:53 Comments ||
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#14
"Islam is simpler, more rigorous, and it's easier because it is explicit."
So true. If you want rules, Isslam will give it to you. They may not be the right rules, or make any sense, but you will have lots of rules.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/27/2005 15:07 Comments ||
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#15
"I was looking for a framework; man needs rules and behavior to follow. "
Which is pr4ecisely what conservative Catholics have been saying for quite some time. the "loosey lefty" types that co-opted the church during the 1970's have had their effect on the Church. This woman is the outcome.
To paraphase: A Church that stands for nothing will fall to anything.
Now someone go beat the USCCB over the head repeatedly until they learn this (witha few select Bishops/Archbishops excluded).
And that somone should be Pope Benedict (via his various Papal offices on Doctrine and the bishops).
#16
Calm down guys, the number of European women converting to Islam is tiny. If it's more than the number of European-born muslim women leaving Islam I'll eat my own crap, although those women tend to keep quiet about it for obvious reasons. The solution to the problem of the radical groups is infiltration. If they start taking on white women for their operation, make sure that 30% of them are agents working for the government. I'm pretty sure the British are already doing this in a big way for men.
#19
IIRC, last year or earlier this year, the RG police intelligence estimated the number of ethnic french converts to about 50 000, a decent fraction of them for a very simple reason : they had married a muslim man or wimman, and thus "had" to convert to enable the marriage in the eyes of the family.
Thus, conversions to islam are quite real, and should not be underestimated, but are not that numerous in a 60+ millions country.
Still, pressure from muslim in islamized areas is severe on the remaining french minority, either in peer pressure (french youths converting because islam is the only visible religion left around, they need guidance, and all their muslim pals tell them it's the One True Religion), or either through "indirect" means (for example one recent article by center right "Le Figaro" cited the case of a young "gauloise", ethnic french woman, who thought about converting to escape sexual harassment and the perpetual risk of being raped).
Also, a lot of converts actually convert to salafist islam, not the "traditional" sufi version of North Africa (but "french" islam has in all effect been sold to Soddy arabia and the MB in the early 80's by the socialist gvt when it borrowed money from muslim bankers to avoid bankruptcy), but this is the same problem in the USA too I recon.
Apart from theses points, everything that has been said about the "alpha males", the french war against christianity in general and Catholic church in particular, and the pussification/leftism of the french catholic hierarchy is true... not to be conspiratorial, but french church is ripe with free-masons, IIRC bishops are to be okayed by the interior minister, who is *always* a mason... and main FM lodge in France is not "traditional" deist Free-masonry, but socialist, atheist "Grand Orient", heir of the 3rd Republic "republicanism" which is violently anti-catholic and secular, to the point of being a religion itself.
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.
An Afghan former intelligence chief went on trial on Monday accused of war crimes and torture during communist rule in the 1980s, the first such trial to be held in Afghanistan after decades of warfare. 
The 12-member delegation led by JP Chairman 
Education Minister Dr M Osman Farruk yesterday said those who want to suppress madrasa education and block its improvement are the enemies of Islam. 
The British Government has appealed against a recent court decision that found Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee 
"They don't have authority, they don't have the power, they don't have any licence to talk about that," he said last night. 
Three women dressed in what was close to a burqa were giggling and chatting as prosecutor 
The 
Lawyers for Saddam Hussein have asked his Baghdad court for an independent investigation into claims by the ousted Iraqi leader that he has been tortured by his American captors. Chief defence lawyer Khalil Dulaimi said on Sunday that Saddam expects mounting psychological and physical abuse to prevent him from properly defending himself in court. 
A lawyer for Saddam Hussein and a Jordanian newspaper said on Monday that the former ruler's half brother rejected a purported US offer of a ranking Iraqi government position in exchange for testimony against the deposed leader. 
Likud Chairman 
Palestinian guards have shot and wounded four farm labourers protesting against a plan to cut the number of days they can work at a former Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said. Greenhouses left by the settlers are central to Palestinian plans for boosting Gaza's dismal economy following Israel's withdrawal in September after 38 years of occupation. Workers cut off water supplies to the greenhouses at the former settlement of Netzer Hazani to protest against plans by the Palestinian Authority owned company to halve the number of days they can work at a daily wage of 60 Israeli shekels ($18). "We did this in a sign of protest, a peaceful protest, but guards opened fire," said one of the workers. 
Palestinian election authorities cleared the way on Monday for the ruling 
The ruling of the electoral court was needed because the official deadline for registering candidates was December 14. After an appeal, the court said it would reopen registration for a further six hours. It was not immediately clear when the six hours would begin. The justification was that operations were suspended for six hours by the elections commission during the registration process to protest attacks by gunmen on its offices. The gunmen were from Fatah.
Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear programme with any country, but that does not mean it is asking for permission for access to nuclear technology, Iran's foreign minister said on Monday. Iran's right to peaceful nuclear technology was supported by "many countries of the world", 
