Mogadishu is a place most Americans would rather forget. During the 1990s, the "Black Hawk Down" debacle symbolized the dangers of dabbling in far-off lands we don't understand.
Some of us took a different lesson from that shameful incident. The rest of us re-elected Billy Bob "Too Busy Getting BJs" Clinton.
TV images of a half-stripped GI being dragged through the dust by gleeful Somalishe was one of 18 U.S. Army Rangers killed in a botched effort to arrest a warlordbecame an emblem of American vulnerability. But Mogadishu, it seems, won't be forgotten. Somalia is erupting in violence again. And with little warning, Americans find themselves once more in the middle of battles they only dimly comprehendand may well be losing.
Last week, for the first time since the early 1990s, much of the Somali capital was engulfed in bloody fire fights. By all accounts, a jihadist militia of the so-called Islamic Courts Union was gaining ground on an alliance of secular warlords who have received U.S. backing. Observers say the Union has been winning adherents by casting its enemies as stooges of Washington, especially since the U.S.-friendly warlords formed a group called the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism last winter. The revived fighting inside Somaliaa lawless state on the Horn of Africa with no central governmenthas raised new questions about America's global war on terror, which is being fought mostly out of the public eye.
The interior minister and also the deputy prime minister of the Transitional Federal Government Hussein Mohamed Aideed has for the first time talked about the violence in Mogadishu between the rival sides overnight saying he was deeply concerned about the clashes in the capital which causes the death many innocent people, urging both warring parts of Islamic militiamen and secular anti terror alliance to comply with ceasefire calls. "I am sorry about what is happening in Mogadishu, it is misfortune that fighting resumed in Somalia after 15 years of crisis, I appeal to all sides to stop the battle and come to the negotiation table to sort out their conflict," said Hussein Aideed who is in Dubai of UAE, where he said doing national activity for the TFG.
In interview with Somali Horn Afrik Radio in Mogadishu overnight, Mr. Aideed denied that US government had involvements in Mogadishu's clashes. "I have no information that Americans funded Somali leaders to fight against terror cells in Somalia. That is baseless assertions" Aideed said adding "there are no terrorists currently available in Somalia, the Islamic courts are not terrorists, and they are working on the peace and tranquility as relevant with the charter of the transitional federal government. The US government had several times contacted the government of Somalia and there no lists on wanted terror suspects they submitted so I can say Washington has nothing in common with faction leaders". But Aideed's comments are contradicting with his earlier remarks that he mentioned Somalia became haven for terrorist cells who might be threaten to the stability of the horn of African nation.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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CAIRO, 29 May 2006 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is to launch a drive to bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders back to the negotiating table next weekend by hosting a first summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Officials in Mubaraks and Olmerts offices said the two leaders would meet at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday, June 4, for their first talks since the Israeli premier won a March 28 general election.
President Mubarak will hold important talks with the Israeli prime minister next week in the first meeting between them after (Olmert) won the elections and the formation of his government, said Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad without giving a specific date for the meeting.
The talks will focus on the situation on the Palestinian and Israeli fronts and ways in which to push forward the peace efforts in preparation for a three-way summit to be attended by President Mahmoud Abbas, Awad said. A spokesman in the Israeli prime ministers office confirmed that Olmert will meet President Mubarak at Sharm El-Sheikh next Sunday.
Abbas chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said that the Palestinians were grateful for the efforts of Mubarak. We do appreciate all the efforts from the Egyptians, he said.
"Please don't close the gate again!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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DOHA The fury of Muslims is directed not against the "West" but rather it is against America, Americans and those in the West who choose to ally themselves with America, according to Louis J Cantori, a noted US-based scholar and researcher.
Cantori, was speaking at a session on the forum on "Islam and the West" which concluded at the Four Seasons Hotel yesterday.
"It is the American and Americans who provide the provocation for the acts of violence carried out by extremists who themselves don't speak for or act in the name of majority Islam . Therefore the claim that this fury is directed against the West and western culture is patently false as is the assertion that it is "Islam" that is the author of violent acts," he said.
While a militant minority may be engaged in a sustained attack upon America and Americans, it is also the case that the moderate majority of Muslims are themselves engaged in the pursuit of democracy, he noted.
"The question of democracy is not only a matter of difference of meaning, but also by the fact that democracy is also a means to the spreading of American control and hegemony. This can be termed "democracism" that is the use of the ideology of democratisation in order to achieve domination and control," said Cantori.
He said, democratisation in the Middle East is proceeding on two simultaneous levels. "There is the level of American force and policy pressure and there is the level of tyrannical regimes "protective coloration" in the face of American pressure and far more important and widespread, there is the level of Islamic political oppositions and Islamic intellectuals," he added.
#1
Louis J Cantori is full of crap. It's in their book Read their book. We have 1400 year of experience to go by. It's not "Just the US." We really have to set this imbecilic talk aside and deal with the facts. Very few on the left have proven themselves capable. Louis J Cantori is a prime example.
#2
Oh really? Were Salman Rushdie and the Danish cartoonists on the State Department payroll? And how many Americans were killed in Bali? And what did bin Laden mean when he said that Spain is an "apostate nation". And why are mullahs getting kicked out France for spreading jihadi ideology there? This guy is an agent for the Islamists, driven by anti-American hate. When muslims elect pro-American governments, as in Indonesia and Afghanistan, they are being "controlled" by the US through the "ideology of democratisation".
#7
Good. You can tell a lot about a country by looking at who its enemies are. If true, this speaks well for the USA.
1. Various head cutting, primitive Islamo-facists.
2. Iran, the Mullahs, and Ahmadinnerjacket.
3. Czar Putin, (closet) dictator of Russia.
4. Expansionist Red China.
5. Chavez and his fellow socialist nutjobs.
6. Jimmuh Carter ans Noam Chomsky.
No joke. Chirac's attitude tpwards US goes far beyond De Gaulle's movements of independence: his biographer gives prophs that Chirak looks the US as an enemy
#9
JFM, IIRC Mitterrand (loathsome little toad of a man who was french president from 1981 to 1995) had a similar view, stating that the "real ennemy" was in fact the USA.
Of course, he was an ex-Vichy collaborator and a socialist, while Yacoub Ben Shiraq once sold himself as an atlantist free market conservative...
Btw, regarding France, Mitterrand, who was a wise man, despite his moral rot, supposedly said "we are partying on a plane which is soon going to crash". How prescient.
#10
Terms such as "scholar" have become completely devalued. It's a bit like antibiotics. Penicillin is now a basic food group for many biotics. People who mumble semi-articulately, whether it's halfwit drivel or fundamental profundities, are "experts" and "scholars" now. Perhaps it will evolve semantically as "star" has. Everyone's a "star". Super, Mega, Ultra, Hyper, etc are needed to make a point anyone will note.
Ginormously Stupenderiforous Holysmokusmonsterian Scholar [insert twit here] InstasagelyWisdomified today that, well, we asked for it, that it's all our fault, especially Bush, and that we. the GreatSatanCrusaders should just do the sheep thing. Other MegaSuperUltraHyper Experts agreed, according to Wellplacedandconnected sources.
#11
Much worse than "full of crap" this so-caled scholar must be deranged.
I can't do the whole globe at the moment, but if it is all the US what do attacks on places like Bali, MAdrid, Beslan, Mindanao,
Thailand, India, mean ?
How does the so-called scholarregard the Islamisation of Europe or the de-Bhudda-station of Thailand Afghanistanindonesiamayalasia and the rest of the PAcific rim
play into his onedimensional theory ?
#12
I agree, the French are enemies. France has never been a friend of the USA. They only used us when it suited their interests. But they are not particularly relevant now since their goose is being cooked by their own Islamonuts.
#19
Anyone with a little knowledge of terrorism knows this idiot is full of it.
The Internet is rapidly making these clowns irrelevent. You can read newspapers from all over the world, unfiltered by editors at AP, AFP, BBC, CNN. Blogs are rendering newspapers themselves irrelevent.
Knowedge is power and even the powerful get their information from the net:
This is Former Deputy National Security Advisor Robert D Blackwill:
While I was preparing for my Senate confirmation hearing in early 2001 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I started to read regularly the Indian press. It was then that for the first time I encountered the devastating fact of terrorism against India. Sitting in my office at Harvard, I began to keep a daily count of those killed here by terrorists. Three on Monday. Seven on Tuesday. Fourteen on Wednesday. Five on Thursday. Two on Friday. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Indias death toll from terrorism mounted as the snow fell and melted in Cambridge, and that New England winter turned to spring. And I became more and more angry. Innocent human beings murdered as a systemic instrument of twisted political purpose.
Terror against India that rose and fell with the seasons, year after year after year. By the time that I left the United States for India in the summer of 2001, this very personal death count that I was keeping had reached hundreds. And, for me, these were not abstract and antiseptic numbers in a newspaper story. Each death, I forced myself to remember, was a single person an individual man, woman, child with family, loved ones, friends. They each have a name. Just like us, they each had a life to lead. These are our mothers, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters, our babies, and our friends. Each had laughs to laugh. Tears to shed. Loves to love. Meals to eat. Accomplishments to record. Setbacks to overcome. Places to go. Things to do. Prayers to offer. All snuffed out by the killing hand of terror.
On September 11 in America. Nearly every day in India. No respectable religion could excuse these merciless acts. No moral framework could sanction these abominations. No political cause could justify these murders of innocents. And yet, they go on. But, my friends, these terrorist outrages against my country and against yours will not continue indefinitely. We know this from the Ramayana, and many other holy books. Good does triumph over evil, although it sometimes takes more time than we would like.
We will win the war on terrorism, and the United States and India will win it together - because we represent good, and terrorists are evil incarnate. God will make it so.
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 20:12 Comments ||
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#20
It should be mandatory that every article has a comments section attached so late arrivals can read how stupid the article is before they read it like here at RB. That would cure the MSM ricky ticky.
I recently filled in one of those republican party surveys, and under 'What is the greatest challenge facing America today ?'
I wrote: Islam has declared war on us as we sleep.
The survey didn't have the words Islam nor Muslim in it anywhere. The clueless are still in DC, but after giving border control to Foxy, their days may be numbered.
#21
"We will win the war on terrorism, and the United States and India will win it together - because we represent good, and terrorists are evil incarnate. God will make it so."
-I like that. However, God will only make it so if we down here still have the nuts to see the job through.
Via JihadWatch
TWENTY major conspiracies by Islamist terrorists in Britain have been uncovered by the security services, John Reid, the home secretary, has disclosed. Reid said that the existence of so many plots means that the police and MI5 are fully stretched and cannot divert their precious counter-terrorism resources to a lengthy public inquiry into last years London suicide bombings.
Reid revealed the existence of the plots far more than have previously been reported at a meeting with some of the victims relatives and survivors of the attacks last week. He failed to give further details but the claim appears to fit in with briefings by MI5 which suggest that as many as 1,200 potential terrorist suspects may now be in the UK. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
05/29/2006 00:22 ||
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#5
Recommended efficiency moves:
Shoot them before reading Miranda. Bury bodies in landfill. Process paperwork as if all are but one case...same names, dates, etc. Close the case because the perps have left the country.
More than 1,000 members of the British armed forces have deserted since that start of the war in Iraq three years ago, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported on Sunday. The BBC did not say how it arrived at the figure. Earlier this week, Labour Party lawmaker John McDonnell told the House of Commons that the level of desertion had tripled since 2003. However, the Ministry of Defence said the army knew of only "a handful" of deserters since 1989, and said there had been no significant increase in the number of soldiers going absent without leave.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
*snort*
*giggle*
They just can't quit trying the same old template, regardless. After this "mass desertion" thing failed spectacularly in the U.S., they are now trying it out on the brits?
Come on, trying the same thing while expecting different results is a sign of either willful stupidity or insanity. Kind of like John Kerry.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/29/2006 0:27 Comments ||
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#4
OH come on guys you are knocking them down too quick. At least let them rant for a solid week and then dissect them. The BBC, like the MSM, haven't learned that they cannot float these turds by the blogosphere and get away with it.
#7
Yes, blogs and the internet in general is IMHO a sniper rifle, while the msm are massed artillery. The first can do things the later cannot dream of, but, at the end of the day, its shock value cannot be overcame.
And I'm talking about the english-language (conservative) blogosphere, which has been a real eyes-opener for me... the french internet/msm is even more unbalanced.
Her Majesty's Armed Forces are as motivated and dedicated as OURS - in some cases, more so. In a give year, the number of deserters in the USAF alone can be counted on the fingers and toes of both hands - I sincerely doubt that the number in the British Army is much greater than that.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/29/2006 14:35 Comments ||
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#9
The BBC is counting those AWOL. Typical leftist bullshit. The hard left tried the same smear last year in the US. 2000 US personnel go AWOL every year, but very few desert. "The Ministry of Defence said the army knew of only "a handful" of deserters since 1989" is accurate.
Posted by: ed ||
05/29/2006 14:57 Comments ||
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#10
A long time ago, in a galaxy very much like this one, I used to read the BBC news on the web every day. That stopped about the time the war on terror began to kick into gear.
Praise be to Allan (may his statistics be valid) for Rantburg! And Fred, too!
Police arrested 50 youths at a station in Schiedam on Friday after a train carriage was severely vandalised. A conductor contacted the police on discovering the damage to the interior of the carriage of a Rotterdam-Delft train at 5.30am. The doors were damaged and several of the seats were thrown through the windows.
The train was halted at Schiedam Central where the alleged perpetrators were arrested.
Police spokesman Huub Veneman said the group consisted mainly of underage boys. It is believed they were returning home to Delft after a night out in Rotterdam. Whether they were under the influence of drink or drugs had not been clarified at the time of their arrest. "But you don't commit these sorts of deeds if you are clearheaded," Veneman said. They were brought to court at 7am.
The exact extent of the damage was unclear. "I can only say there are reports of major damage," he said.
Maybe these were drunk white kids. Seems to me, though, that I remember rampaging gangs of French 'youths' who trashed trains a few months ago, and they weren't reported as being intoxicated on alcohol or drugs ... just ideology &/or their power in a state that won't deal with them effectively.
#1
You're referring to the attack of the Nice train the 31 december/1st january, as this was unusual in its scale and duration, but suburban train being stoned and/or trashed by dozens of "youths" is SOP in France, part of the background noise of everyday intifada.
US President George W. Bush signed a law that bans protests at military funerals, in a bid to counter a group that has staged anti-gay demonstrations at ceremonies for soldiers killed in Iraq. Mr Bush signed the law, already passed by Congress, as the US marked Memorial Day, a national holiday devoted to commemorating the country's war dead from all conflicts. The White House said Mr Bush had signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, which follows months of controversial protests by a hardline group of Baptists from Kansas. The group has turned up at scores of funerals across the country holding banners saying the war dead are "God's wrath" at US tolerance for homosexuals. Politicians and veterans groups have expressed disgust at the protests.
The new law "prohibits certain demonstrations at cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration and at Arlington National Cemetery, and provides for punishment of such demonstrations as misdemeanours," the White House said. "I'm pleased the president has acted so quickly to sign this bill so that we can ensure families are able to honour their heroic loved ones in peace and with the dignity they deserve," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said in a statement.
The measure bans protests within 100m of the entrance of a national cemetery and 50m from a road into the cemetery. The ban applies an hour before until an hour after a funeral. The law allows for a fine of $US100,000 ($132,000) and up to a year in prison for violators. It does not name any group but is clearly aimed at the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, which has achieved worldwide notoriety through the protests.
#3
There protests are a way for Phelps and his spawn to make money. All 6(?) of his brood are lawyers and were licking their chops at the thought of citizens going off on them. With this law, Phelps is now place under financial jeopardy. Best that can be hope under the circomstances.
Posted by: ed ||
05/29/2006 14:11 Comments ||
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#6
Colorado has a new law that went into effect May 26, 2006. The law requires protesters to stay back 100 feet from a funeral and people using bullhorns could be kept 150 feet away. It makes interfering with a funeral a misdemeanor punishable by three to 12 months in jail and a fine of $1,000. Each mourner can also sue to recover damages up to $1,000 plus attorney fees.
Seafarious,the ACLU in Colorado said it won't challenge the law until authorities try to enforce it. They went after Kentucky over a similar law earlier this month. So you're right to expect Phelp's buddies to work their way to up to SCOTUS.
#8
Sea, could be an interesting case for the Supremes. Will the Roberts' court try to make new law or simply interpret it (as in accordance with the Constitution)?
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/29/2006 16:18 Comments ||
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#9
Should have signed a law allowing the use of baseball bats on moonbats protestors. Could call it the MFP (Moonbat Funeral protestor) hunting season. DV could bag his limit plus a few reportrs for good measure.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/29/2006 17:39 Comments ||
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#10
Let me get this right. Judges have issued restraining orders on spouses and on groups protesting around abortion clinics, but the legislative branch can't do basically the same thing? Something is wacked here [Yeah, I know, the judiciary and the ACLU]. I expect his new law to be enforced about as effectively as our border security. It'll take 'vigilantes' to get the government to do their job.
#11
simply remove the police presence and don't respond to calls. Once every one of these geniuses suffers from fatal axe-handle headache , call in the ME. "They're dead, Jim"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2006 18:24 Comments ||
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#12
Personally, I think the lost art of tarring and feathering should be brought back (including any ACLU pukes who try to interfere.) If that fails, then I ditto Frank.
#13
I told my brother and buddies that if I get whacked in Iraq and these assholes show up to my funeral they are to quickly and quietly set down my casket and commence the ass kicking of a lifetime on these jokers. Once said ass-whipping has been dealt out then said ceremony should reconvene as if nothing ever happened. That will be written into my will.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is seeking congressional approval for development of a new weapon able to strike distant targets an hour after they are detected, a newspaper reported on Monday. The International Herald Tribune said the weapon would be a non-nuclear version of the submarine-launched Trident-2 missile and be part of a president's arsenal when considering a pre-emptive attack.
The report quoted military officials as saying it could be used to hit terrorist camps, enemy missile sites, suspected caches of weapons of mass destruction and other urgent threats.
General James Cartwright, head of the U.S. Strategic Command, said the system would allow U.S. forces to attack targets conventionally and precisely and "limit the collateral damage". The Pentagon would like the system available in two years, the report said.
But the program has run into resistance from lawmakers concerned it could increase the risk of an accidental nuclear war. Under the Pentagon plan, both non-nuclear and nuclear-tipped variants of the Trident-2 missile would be loaded on the same submarines. "There is great concern this could be destabilizing in terms of deterrence and nuclear policy," the newspaper quoted Senate Armed Services Committee member Jack Reed as saying. "It would be hard to determine if a missile coming out a Trident submarine is conventional or nuclear," the Rhode Island Democrat said.
The House Armed Services Committees have asked the Bush administration to develop a plan to minimize the risk.
Don't see that it's possible. This is another idea like the 'nuclear rifle' of the 50's -- sounds good at first blush but completely impractical.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Doable--definately!
I like it!
It will make all the other nuclear powers (russia, china, et. al.) sweat the idea that we could kill or degrade to unuseability their nuclear capability conventionaly. All the while piously making pious "no first use" noises in the appropriate venues.
One of the reasons I support this capability is in no small part the fact that we can take the "no first use" and related mantras--and ram them right back down their (the ususal suspects') throats.
Remeber also that china, If I Recall Correctly has >100 ICBM launchers on alert. 3-5 c-trident loadouts, and no more meaningful deterrent.
While Russia has a lot of legacy holes in the ground left over from soviet days, I wonder how many active ICBMs they actualy have on alert? (Old Spook, who would try to track this for us?)
And neither one has a realistic global launch detection system that can cover all threat bearings....
Expect something like the nuclear freeze movement shortly, aimed at this capability.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/29/2006 0:42 Comments ||
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#2
Just what exactly does a nation think when they see an ICBM launch from a marine platform? Nuclear or conventional? Do you think they will wait for it to land to find out?
This is a very expensive delivery system to use for a conventional warhead. It's a very destablizing use as well. Store this idea in the circular file.
Just what exactly does a nation think when they see an ICBM launch from a marine platform? Nuclear or conventional? Do you think they will wait for it to land to find out?
I agree it is a very expensive delivery system to use for a conventional warhead however on the plus side, it can be used immediately.
#4
N guard is right on both counts. SPoD, I agree this is potentially destabilizing and I think the Pentagon knows it might be as well. So why do you think they want the system?
Sometimes perception changes reality. And often having a capability means, paradoxically, having less need to use it.
In this case, having the requested capability in our arsenal a) gives a non-nuclear capability to destroy deeply buried nuclear facilities b) on an hour's notice c) without committing troops. If we don't get cooperation from the Russians, Chinese or Europeans for dealing with Iran and their ilk, we're carrying the burden ourselves and need to use our advantages to the fullest in doing so. Plus, there is little "stability" to preserve in international affairs if those other parties are not willing to deal with destabilizing forces like Iran's nuclear push.
#5
Somebody must have a lot of confidence in our BMD.
If we're that confident, how about going conventional only? It is very difficult to see any circumstances in which we would go nuclear first or anyone who could credibly threaten us with nukes. Even if a terrorist set off a nuke in a U. S. city, I think we would not respond with a nuclear strike anywhere. Nuclear weapons are a greater threat to us than they are to our enemies. Better to disarm unilaterally and let the technology wither if our conventional alternatives are this good.
#6
N S, I must respectfully disagree with your assertion that nukes are more dangerous to us than to the other states.
Anything less than a civilization-shattering attack on us merely guarentees a devastating response. And most other states/cultures in the world are either too physicly small to soak up an attack (England, or france G_d forbid), or are too brittle and or too poor to survive either decapitation or the massive economic hit. (Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, etc.)
Imagine for a second that the Chi-coms went nutz and launched an attack on us. They would hurt us--bad. No two ways about it. But it would not be a fatal blow! We have too much built in redudndancy to be that easily shatterd.
Our counterstrike would probably (hand waving lots of variables here) end the Peoples Republic, and possibly end any recognizable chineese state for the next 50 yrs or so.
Russia is an interesting case, in that they have (potentialy) a large legacy force left over from the Soviet era, but I would like to know how much of that legacy force is actualy opreational. Still, they are too centralized, too brittle. Too vulnerable to decapitation. And their economy is still a sick joke.
As a snarky aside-- speaking of decapitation, there are quite a few congress critters that could stand to be removed from office for getting too comfortable in their jobs. Hopefully they will, but not with violence!
Posted by: N guard ||
05/29/2006 11:01 Comments ||
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#7
Huh?
Weve already used sub launched cruise missiles against terrorist camps. They already have delivery capability. The only difference is time on target. However, if you carefully examine the process youll find the problem is not the technology it is the decision making. All that time could be saved by authorizing someone at a far lower level to execute the mission. However, the natural micromanagement process means that senior decision makers want both absolute proof and mother may I power. That eats up a lot of time that otherwise could be eliminated from the entire action. Get people in place you trust and give them the power. Understand that means sometimes youre going to have an oops moment. Then again, the present system shows that you dont really have the will to actually carry out what needs to be done. So what is being proposed here is technology to paper over will. Sorta of like our southern border issue. That is spelled politician.
I agree that it would be very difficult for an enemy to disable the U. S. Particularly to the extent that we would be unable to respond with greater lethality on the nation state aggressor, even without the use of nuclear weapons. Therefore, there is very little risk that a significant rational nation state will attack us and that we will need nuclear weapons to respond.
You say, "Imagine for a second that the Chi-coms went nutz". Why? That seems so remotely unlikely that you need to provide some justification for making the assumption other than that it is a metaphysical possiblity. So where does the risk to the U. S. from nukes arise? From already nutz wackos who will not act rationally, whether Norks, Iranian 12th Imams, Hugo Chavez or their terrorist henchmen. The wackos would use terrorists because they would know we can't respond against any nation state or do it themselves because they are so irrational they don't fear our response. People that irrational don't run nation states.
Thus, I see it as much more likely that we would suffer a nuclear attack from wackos than that we would ever use nukes, even in response to a nuclear attack.
We spend a boat load of money on nukes and researching ever better nukes, weapons we will not use. And we spend boatloads on operational nuclear weapons, delivery systems, security, etc. All for weapons that will never be used. What a waste when these resources could be far more profitably utilized on measures that are much more likely to be used and benefit us.
Finally, I wonder if a nuclear weapon has ever been independently developed by any power other than the U. S. We know that the Russian bombs are derivative of U. S. designs. I believe the Chinese is derivative of the French design. I would not be surprised to learn that the French, Chinese and Israeli designs are derivative of U. S. or Soviet designs. So we keep spending all this money to develop all these designs for weapons we won't use for our enemies to steal and produce. I'm not sure it makes sense.
I agree fully on the Congresscritters, and if the collateral damage could be limited to the District, Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties I might agree to their use, but ballots will probably be cheaper and more effacacious.
#9
We have never used sub launched cruise missiles, because we just acquired that capability on retrofits of two Los Angeles class subs recently. If we use missiles, it would not be a very likely scenario that it would be ICBM. Too esay to detect. However, Trident retrofits would be ideal. Hard to detect, short TOF to target anywhere worldwide.
We need to push the "whack-em" authotiy a LOT closer tot he asset and the onsite commander - and make lateral comm links to support that.
I know of many times in Iraq and the 'stans where targets have been dropped due to the need to go up then down 2 sets of chains of command.
Following based on several scenarios I've either witnessed, been in, or have people I personally know that have been there. This kind of stuff happens *every* day in Iraq. Luckily our infantry is just that damn good that they can get the job done in spite of the command.
Hadji holed up and we can't get to him without huge amount of casualties? Call a up to company to get air support - just need a hellfire and some chain on target. So you call up to company net from squad/platoon. Give them a 10 digit GPS, a description of the Hadjis, and the building they are in, facine, weaponry, etc. And then you wait.
Then company "2" and cmd elements take it to BN net. They go back and forth with the BN officer detailign position, target, reason for strike and type of strike needed. Battalion says standby, then they confirm and prioritize your company cdr's call. Approve or deny.
If approved, Bn calls up to brigade/area command and requests helo Bn send over air support - they exchange the same intel you gave to the company net: target type, strike needed and location. Brigade Combat Team (BCT) prioritizes and tells BN if or what/when he's getting. BN reiterates target grids type and action eeded, BCT confirm and then dispatchs an OPORD to the Aviation Bn, raidos down to you BN and says birds onthe way where/when. They finally relay all that to yor company commander, who then gets the platoon leader who relays it to your pinned down squad.
Avn Bn looks at its assets, forms up the strike package and vectors the birds. Can take them 10-20 minutes to get on station from wheever they are.
Birds arrive. ROE prevents them from firing unless they can ID the target. By now Hdji is letting the barrel cool on the MMG he has been keeping you pinned with. He is looking for ways to sneak out. So the Helos call BN, who gives them comms for the company net - helos have misidentified the building and target (somehow it got garbled in the umpteen exchanges like telephone tag up and down the chains of command). The Company Commander tells them put a hellfire thru the window they see fire coming thru, but is VERY specific to identify your building as a non-target (so you dont eat it). The Helo guys slam a hellfire into the WRONG building because some dumb Hadji just decided to take a potshot at a goat from there. Now they mark "target destroyed". You call up and tell them they hit the wrong target - company relays your info. SO the pilots FINALLY observe the RIGHT target. But now, Hadji knows they are in the hood, and hs snuck out the back or the sewers. Helo observes no hostile fire or personnel, and will not engage (ROE prevents it). After hanging aroudn for a few more, he has other fire misions so departs the AO.
Yor squad assaults up while the helo is still avial. Finds casings, etc from Hadji, but him and his MG team are long gone.
Net effect: Your squad gets to eat dirt and ricohets for 30+ minutes while chain of command dicks everything up. Helo guys mark off ornance exended on non-essential target. Company CO has to radio in null effect, BN thinks you Company calls are now more likely to be bogus, BCT will give your BN less weight for support calls.
And fucking Hadji gets away with a heavy weapon, to use it again against your squad and platoon tomorrow.
SO yeah, Tidents woudl be a nice thing for fast tgt of opportunity.
But not until they get the lateral chain of command issues solved.
Funny thing is: if its USAF on station, its faster and easier to get a full up hit exactly where you need it from an orbiting F-16 with a 500 or 250 lb PGM. They go direct to the local commander's radio now.
#11
N S, I was just using the Chi-coms as a semi- abstract example of a nuclear power capable of (and potentialy motivated to!)hitting us with more than 1 or 2 bombs. I did not want to use the russians, because of my uncertainty of how many useable delivery systems they actualy have, and because there is too much culterual baggage (for me) from the cold war to make them a useful abstract example.
I concurr on the use of ballots to remove corrupt congress critters! Much preferred to violence. A pity that primary season is over where I am.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/29/2006 11:56 Comments ||
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#12
O S, You're preaching to the chior here. One of the things I noticed in IZ was that Hajji had our reaction time down to the second. Very frustrating.
I consoled myself with the knowledge we had managed to kill off the overly aggressive and or stupid ones early on. And we did have our informers and elint to track down the survivors.
Now, if we could get over our squeamishness WRT killing in cold blood, we might make a real dent in the terrorist population.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/29/2006 12:02 Comments ||
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#13
OS, glad to hear the USAF is doing the ground support thing well. But can you imagine how far up the chain you would have to go to get a D-5 launched? And is this going to be a single shot warhead or a MIRV?
#14
By all means, fix the comm and command issues OS has identified. But I still think a non-nuke warhead on a Trident is a bad idea: I don't want to lose whatever stability is out there amongst the nuclear powers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/29/2006 12:22 Comments ||
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#15
NG sad to hear its not atypical. Hadji aint no dummy. And the above was santized - not snythign that isnt already out on the net or that Hadji doenst know. He knows the way we operate, so that's why (in the scenrio that I outlined) he knew when to run.
Anyone still active or over there, remember: OPSEC first. If you feel liek you shoudlt talk about something, then don't. Either simply answer another part of the topic, or give no answer, or a simple "I dont feel comfortable discussing that" -- all those are good replies. If parts of the military are doing better, we don't want Hadji to know it, if not and its not publicly known, then we dont want him to know that either. Only if its realtively public and relatively well known in unclass circles, then is it OK to yakk it up here.
Back to the original off-topic topic -- grin.
Best way to kill Hadji is to get the locals on him - they can go mideavel on him, and go tribal on his family if he's a local national. And if hes foreigner, they'll simply arrange an accident after interrogation (or prior if they arent well trained and well led - Syrians and Saudis end up dead a lot - they dont bother surrendering to Iraqi units, Iraqis HATE those guys almsot as much as they hate Iranians).
Second best way is to use our stuff. And I'm not going to mention electronic assets for intelligence. Don't want to give anyone any clues if you get my drift. We just need to get more integral assets and get them cross-attached at the company level, at least in terms of communications and having the BN in contact control them, and the company in contact command them. Thats one place where Arty was a great responsive asset, and its kinda sad we really cannot use it like that in this kind of war.
Only place I've ever seen it differ was in the independent (Armored) Cav regiments. Because the support was organic, we worked that stuff down to the Troop level ALL the time - it was routine that we'd go troop commander or even to a scout team leader with "eyes on" to talk direct to assets in the AO. Could be that because the Cav has always been self-contained: always had its own aviation lift and attack, arty, combat engineers, MI, logistics, medical and even chemical! And mission may have played a role in the decades of development of Cav doctrine (Going back to The Duler in the 2ACR in the early 1980's): the Cav has always operated as an economy of force element or else a screening element. Those two things may be why the cav just does it the best way (Right Way, Wrong Way, the Army way, and ... "This is how we do it the Cav, trooper"). Then again, I might be biased, being Cav.
(A cav troop is a "company" sized element for you regular army non-hackers. And remember - If you aint Cav, you ain't shit [as I adjust my hard earned stetson and look at my spurs cert on the wall])
Hey BH6, you're a jarhead and have been in a smilar sized manuever element, right? Observing OPSEC first and foremost (as always), can you say that the crotch has similar lateral issues as us dogs? Just curious, and feel free to neither confirm nor deny.
#16
I've seen it work in the Gulf during Earnest Will, but it was essentially a self-contained unit.
I've also seen it not work; the comms were fine, but teh command was lacking. By the time permission was granted, the target was in unapproachable territorial waters.
#19
What's new are the veritical launchers on the SSGNs. BTW, the new Virginia class are built with 12 vertical launchers.
Posted by: ed ||
05/29/2006 14:15 Comments ||
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#20
Seems like the appeal of the non-nuke ballistic missile is not time-to-target - there are other cheaper ways to do that, with less potential cold-war era side-effects (artillery, F-16, etc.) What you are looking for is penetrating power - more burrowing and less blasting. Cruise missiles and conventional bombs don't (generally) deliver that. Perhaps a task-specific ballistic missile warhead could recapture a lot of the energy expended in lifting it up against gravity and use it to punch into the ground over a hardened bunker before detonating (analogous to 'shaped charge') - phase one penetrates energy absorbing cover (dirt) and phase two tries to crack the hard shell. Probably too fragile, but possibly phase 3 charge follows phase two detonation on a harmonic time delay - x microseconds, but I'm just making this up as I go along.
If so, it might work even better to launch such a penetrating ballistic missile from an airborne platform (B-52?) - add rocket thrust TO gravity - if you can keep it on target and not burning up it will pack some kinetic energy. Man-made asteroid impact. Followed by a ton of chemical boom power. And no mis-interpretable 'signal' of a nuclear ICBM launch.
#21
Finally, I wonder if a nuclear weapon has ever been independently developed by any power other than the U. S. We know that the Russian bombs are derivative of U. S. designs. I believe the Chinese is derivative of the French design. I would not be surprised to learn that the French, Chinese and Israeli designs are derivative of U. S. or Soviet designs.
Venn diagram displaying the historical sharing of nuclear weapons knowledge.
The number of explosive nuclear tests performed is given in parentheses.
Area of overlap is not strictly proportional to the degree of knowledge sharing, as this is difficult to quantify
Paine Christopher and M. G. Mckinzie, "Does the US Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship Program Pose a Proliferation Threat?", Science and Global Security, 1998, Vol. 7, pp. 151-193.
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 15:09 Comments ||
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#22
I wonder how many active ICBMs they actualy have on alert?
ICBMs. Russia currently deploys 549 operational ICBMs, down 36 missiles from a year ago. In 2005, Russia disbanded two missile divisions but formed more than 20 new units (probably regiments), according to Solovtsov. [9] He later added that in 2006, Russia plans to increase "the number of launching sites and missiles provided by the [defense] industry . . . by 10, 12, or 15," but that money was an issue. [10]
The last 15 rail-based SS-24 M1s, the division at Kostroma, were withdrawn from service, leaving four ICBM types: SS-18s, SS-19s, SS-25s, and SS-27s. Significant changes are expected in the next four years. Russia will likely retire approximately 40 SS-18s produced in the early 1980s and up to 400 warheads. Some 45-50 newer version SS-18s and approximately 30 SS-19s will undergo modifications and upgrades to extend their service lives for another 15 years. Eventually, Russia will deploy only two types of ICBMs: Topol-Ms and Topol-M1s.
The fifth Topol-M regiment entered service in December 2005 with the Tatishchevo division in the Saratov region, bringing the number of operationally deployed SS-27s to 44. The new regiment appears to be equipped with less than a full complement of missiles due to a lack of funding. Deployment of the Topol-M began at Tatishchevo in 1997. Russia's 2006 budget includes funds for six Topol-Ms. [11] Russia plans to deploy three Topol-M1s later this year at Teykovo (near Moscow) and six more in 2007.
Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). The strategic submarine fleet has shrunk from a Cold War high of 62. Today 12 boats--six Delta IVs and six Delta IIIs--are deployed with two of Russia's four fleets. Of the Delta IVs, the Verkhoturye, Yekaterinburg, and Novomoskovsk are active, and the Tula, Bryansko, and Karelia are undergoing overhauls. Work on the Tula was completed last spring, but by the end of 2005 the boat had not yet returned to service due to a contract dispute. All six are with the Northern Fleet and based in Gadzhiyevo on the Kola Peninsula.
Of the 14 original Delta III subs, six remain:
Two Borey-class subs are under construction at the Severodvinsk shipyard on the Kola Peninsula--both of them behind schedule. The military has pushed back the service entry of the initial boat, the Yuri Dolgoruki, until 2007,
Each Borey-class sub will carry 12 Bulava missiles,
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 15:16 Comments ||
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#23
The Russians, flush with oil money, have begun to reestablish their military satellite network.
Expect to see Chinese, Indian and Israeli early warning satellites within the decade...
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 15:34 Comments ||
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#24
If so, it might work even better to launch such a penetrating ballistic missile from an airborne platform (B-52?) - add rocket thrust TO gravity - if you can keep it on target and not burning up it will pack some kinetic energy
Max payload for B-52: 77,000 lbs
Weight of a Trident 2 (D5): 133,000 lbs
Apart from weight there would be serious issues with counterthrust for any airborne platform. The B52 and other bombers are designed primarily for airdrop munitions.
#25
Only the US and Russia have a launch on warning capability.
The Chinese warheads are kept apart from their liquid fuelled missiles (which are kept in the unfuelled state).
So Russia would be expected to object to such a weapon if they percieved it as allowing a decapitation strike on Moscow or on military command centres.
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 15:47 Comments ||
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#26
"Anything less than a civilization-shattering attack on us merely guarentees a devastating response."
And even a "civilization-shattering" attack would not prevent the US from delivering a devastating response!
Provided of course the ability to order a launch by submarine forces was not decapitated.
#27
Only way to take out the submarine retalitory strike commands would be to : A) sink all US boomers simultaneously; or B) take out Cheyenne Mountain and the ELF array simultaneously; or C) all of the above. Ain't gonna happen.
#29
I would have put the Pakistan set totally within the chinese one since it is now conclusively known (from the Libyan case) that the Pak bombs are Chinese designs. This paper was 1998 though..
While knowledge may be taken to mean direct warhead design info shared between states, there is in fact indirect US sharing of knowledge with all other states. Without the manhattan project, there would be no bomb. As the decades have passed, knowledge of the physics and simulation techniques has spread.
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 17:20 Comments ||
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#30
Also, many ideas are only "obvious" after they have been first described by someone.
Take an Indian bomb designer. He would have read about the Cox report (on the Chinese theft of the W87 warhead).
What does he now know? Well... the secret of the US 200 kg RVs, their miniturization, is generally described - a spherical secondary, an oblate primary with a radiation case called the peanut.
Rather broad, general knowledge.. nothing useful to you or I.. but to a bomb designer ??
He now has the idea.. even if there are deliberate inaccuracies, he will use his mathematical simulation capabilities to design a physics package.
So even open source "sharing" may be useful...
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 17:30 Comments ||
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This counter-strike capability has worked for 'rational actors', such as the Russians and Chinese. It's debatable as to whether it would work with Islamists.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/29/2006 17:36 Comments ||
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#32
Arms control experts are divided over the plan. Steve Andreasen, a former defense specialist on the staff of the National Security Council, said the program would undermine U.S. security by eliminating the taboo about the use of long-range missiles and diverting funds from other pressing defense needs.
"Long-range ballistic missiles have never been used in combat in 50 years," Andreasen said. "Once the U.S. starts signaling that it views these missiles as no different than any other weapon, other nations will adopt the same logic."
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 17:44 Comments ||
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The 500-strong Minuteman III force remains basically unchanged from last year. Under START I, the air force downloaded the 150 missiles located at Warren AFB to single-warhead configuration in 2001. With START II's ban on multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) now a dead letter, U.S. officials revised earlier plans to download all Minuteman missiles to a single-warhead configuration. Although the air force plans to reduce the operational warhead loading on Minuteman IIIs to 500, it is considering keeping as many as 800 warheads for the Minuteman force.
The entire force of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) is now comprised of Trident II D5 missiles. When missile conversion is completed in 2008, the United States will have 336 Trident II D5 SLBMs on 14 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), which is the force level decided on in the 1994 NPR; the missiles will be armed with approximately 2,000 warheads
The primary goal of the shift is to increase coverage of targets in China, according to navy officials. (Pacific-based SSBNs also target Russia and North Korea.) The buildup of the more capable Trident II D5s in the Pacific additionally "enhances system accuracy, payload, and hard-target capability, thus improving [U.S.] available responses to existing and emerging Pacific theater threats,"
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 17:47 Comments ||
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#34
Tony (UK) - On a personal note, I though you'd like to know that your idea yesterday about getting big donations to the Minuteman Fence from oilmen has already borne some fruit. I've already heard back from one fellow, who promptly challenged me to put my money where my mouth is, so typical, so we're each going to ante up $10K immediately. He's far wealthier, lol, and he'll check them out and give more, perhaps a lot more, if he likes what he sees - and also spread the word. Your idea lit the fuse. Simcox owes you a debt of gratitude, lol. Cheers. My apologies for being off-topic.
#35
OS4619, I am absolutely gobsmacked by that and tremendously pleased that you think those guys in Arizona might start to get the support they need and deserve.
Please let us know how it all plays out? - for sure, we'll get no sensible information from the MSM...
Are you 'Slolulet Sletch7958' from yesterday perchance? - excuse the flowery language, there's been an entire weekend of Sherlock Holmes on the tube here, and it does tend to seep in ;)
Cheers to you too,
Tone
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/29/2006 18:25 Comments ||
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#36
Lol, Tony. Yes - I am all of those names - and more. I do not know why I didn't think of it, since I had contributed myself before, but your idea hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks - credit goes to you.
I've been vacationing here at my son's place in the splendid isolation of Lake Tahoe for the last couple of months. I'm using his machine and it's setup to use an anonimizer system, which suits me just fine, lol. I'll be around for a little while longer, but no guarantee what name I'll be using, lol.
Thanks, Tony. It was a great idea and I think it will grow and spread!
#37
Ok OS,HW and more, I'll just keep an eye out for those auto-genned names Fred has cooked up ;) - hope it all goes well in Arizona, and please do keep us informed as to progress?
I can take very little credit though, you know where the thought came from? The oil guy in the Simpsons ;)
cheers, tone.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/29/2006 19:26 Comments ||
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#38
Uh oh, I'll have to admit I've never seen the Simpsons, so the reference went over my head.
The biggest drawback to the Minutemen funding is that it can't be done anonymously, it is not tax-deductible, nor is it eligible for "gift" tax breaks. It's just cash that goes poof.
Some of these folks, as do I, must take some care to avoid political blowback, too. We often find ourselves in very awkward positions when politicians come to call. And you can bet the powers that oppose the Minutemen will be able to get access to the donors list for purposes of intimidation, once way or another. I predict many donations will come via sons-in-law who have no obvious connection to the actual donor's name. :)
I'm not sure I'll be in a position to give useful updates since I'll be returning to my usual button-down world soon. And I'm not sure I'll be privy to who and how much is given outside of my personal friends. Some folks are touchy about finances!
I need to set up this anonimizer system on my personal machine, lol. My employees and competitors would give me no end of hell for my honest comments.
#39
I believe the Pentagon intended to use this new weapon on our seventh century enemy, not on a stable nation state. This would go well with unmanned drones crusing the countryside looking for terrorists camps and caravans smuggling guns.
Sounds like one of Rummy's efficiency moves to utilize current systems with little retooling costs.
At least 600 people, many chanting Death to America, rallied on Sunday in northwestern Pakistan to condemn a US decision to designate two Islamic charities as terrorist groups. The protesters in Balakot, a town in the North West Frontier province, also carried signs some of which read We do not accept the sanctions, local police official Mohammed Javed said.
The two charities - Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq - had set up camps to give free food and medical help to victims of a massive earthquake last year that ruined Balakot, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of the capital Islamabad.
Dawat-ud-Dawa said in a statement that thousands of people attended the anti-US rally. But Javed said about 600 supporters of the charities and quake victims from several nearby villages turned up.
Hundreds, thousands, dozens, doesn't matter, just need to get the rubes whipped up ...
Last month the US Department of State branded Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq as terrorist organizations for being aliases of Lashkhar-e-Tayyaba, an outlawed Islamic militant group.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa emerged in 2001 after Pakistan banned Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, which is fighting for the independence of the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
Changed their name but not their spots ...
The State Department said Jamaat-ud-Dawa set up Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq as a charity that it utilizes to collect funds and undertake other activities.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/29/2006 02:21 ||
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Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday said that Pakistan and Bangladesh were bound in enduring ties of shared faith, history and culture and both countries were determined to further strengthen their bilateral relations.
Talking to Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Bangladesh's Minister for Social Welfare, at the PM House on Sunday, he said as the members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) it was the responsibility of both Pakistan and Bangladesh to project Islam in its true light to the world so that misperceptions about Islam were removed.
Federal Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education Zobaida Jalal, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan Shamim Ahmad and social welfare and special education secretary also attended the meeting. Mr Mojaheed conveyed the greetings of the Bangladesh prime minister to Mr Aziz and said both the countries had strong historical ties and were contributing towards peace and development in South Asia.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
both the countries had strong historical ties and were contributing towards peace and development in South Asia.
What?
strong historical ties?
They were once the same country until the Pak army murdered 3 million easterners.
What does islam say about genocide? They should try to project that.
Posted by: john ||
05/29/2006 15:31 Comments ||
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Federal Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao on Sunday ruled out Upper Dir becoming the next battleground in the search for Osama Bin Laden and his associates following a report by an American television channel claiming the Al Qaeda chief's presence in Pakistan. "There is no iota of truth in the news report depicting the presence of Bin Laden in NWFP. The residents of the area need not to be worried by such baseless reports," the interior minister told reporters after attending a tribal jirga from Mohmand Agency here at People's House.
The minister also ruled out any US attack in the area to hunt down the Al Qaeda head. "These are mere speculations generated by irresponsible statements made by the Afghan leadership," he said, and added that Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government should put their own house in order instead of levelling allegations against Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
prove it
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/29/2006 0:26 Comments ||
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#2
Can't prove a negative, make them provide some body part as evidence, say his head?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/29/2006 10:50 Comments ||
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#3
A severed head would do nicely. Poetic justice in a way ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/29/2006 12:38 Comments ||
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#4
If Sherpao knows he is not somewhere then he must know where he is. So tell us Sherpao. We are all ears. Coords are?
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israel's U.N. ambassador, in unusually blunt comments, criticized Russia, China and Qatar on Monday for disappointing the Jewish state in their role as U.N. Security Council members this year.
But Ambassador Dan Gillerman, addressing a New York meeting of B'nai B'rith International, a Jewish humanitarian organization, heaped praise on U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, jokingly describing him at one point as a secret member of Israel's own team at the United Nations.
Noting that just five diplomats worked in the busy Israeli U.N. Mission, he told the group: "Today the secret is out. We really are not just five diplomats. We are at least six including John Bolton."
A European Parliamentary group condemned on Monday an attack earlier in the day on a passenger bus in Iraq which left more than a dozen killed and at least 15 wounded.
On Monday, a bus transporting Iraqi workers from the town of al-Khalis, northeast of Baghdad, to Ashraf City, the main base of the Iranian opposition People Mojahedin (PMOI/MeK), was targeted by a roadside explosive device killing 13 people and wounding 15 others, according to a statement by the Friends of a Free Iran.
"This terrorist attack comes in the wake of several threats made by the Iranian regime on the Iraqi authorities regarding the presence of the PMOI inIraq and has all the characteristics of the recurrent terrorist attacks masterminded by the Iranian regime in Iraq ", the statement said, highlighting that the attack was carried out just one day after Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki visitedIraq.
The EU parliamentary group expressed its condolences to the Iraqi authorities, the MeK, the people of al-Khalis, and the families of the victims of the attack.
It urged the European authorities to press the Iranian regime to "step down its policy of promoting terrorism in Iraq" and called on the Iraqi government to grant political asylum to members of the MeK in Ashraf City.
#1
But..but..didn't they just get done making nice about the Iran-Iraq border? This implies that the moolah regime cannot be trusted...oh my.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/29/2006 14:42 Comments ||
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#2
Plenty of use of the word 'terrorist' there. Could there be a squadron of porcine aviators on the runway? Is the EU about to grow a spine?
Enquiring minds need to know...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
05/29/2006 18:32 Comments ||
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#3
PMOI/MeK are commies are they not? That is why the EUorpeans said anything. A TRANZI is a TRANZI after all. If it were a Democratic group they would have remained silent
The Iraqi parliament remained deadlocked Sunday over who should lead the country's critical security ministries, but lawmakers agreed that each of the 275 members needs two new cars.
Responding to the danger all Iraqi politicians face -- many have been threatened or attacked -- some members suggested that everyone receive a $100,000 grant to purchase two armored cars, according to lawmakers who attended the closed-door meeting. This was quickly shot down by others who said handing out cash might anger constituents. "We cannot award a car to a member of parliament, or simply a grant for $100,000, because this cannot be sold to the public," Abdul al-Hassani, a member of parliament, said in a telephone interview. "The reputation of parliament would be dented."
Thus showing more sense than half the US Congress.
After much debate, the lawmakers decided the government would purchase cars and give them to lawmakers. The make and model, and whether one or both cars would be armored, was left up to the parliament speaker and his two deputies. But it is clear that the project will be an expensive undertaking, especially if the cars are armored, as Hassani prefers.
Let them have the cars, it's cheap considering everything else that's going on.
The U.S. company Black Armor, whose Web site asks, "Are you important? Do people wearing ski masks have a propensity to discharge firearms in your general direction?" charges $142,000 for a handsome, bulletproof Mercedes S500. Less expensive models include the Chevy Suburban ($110,000), the Lincoln Town Car ($100,000) and the Jeep Grand Cherokee ($95,000).
How 'bout an armored Saturn?
Even if the Iraqi government could get the cost down to $50,000 per car, the measure would cost the state $27.5 million.
The need for the cars gained broad support among the Shiite Muslim, Sunni Arab, Kurdish and secular factions of parliament, who said they were still troubled by the decision. "We really face a dilemma," said Hassani, a Shiite politician. "We need a car for the lack of security. We need something to protect the members of parliament, to fill our obligations to the nation. On the other hand, the people of Iraq will see that it is really extravagant to use it for our own interests."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/29/2006 02:22 ||
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The foreign minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian government has dismissed a threatened referendum on a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel.
Mahmoud Zahhar insisted the vote would be a waste of time and his cash-starved administration had no funds to hold it.
"Nobody can trust Israel... Nobody will recognise Israel," he said in Malaysia.
Earlier, he left a Non Aligned Movement meeting in protest at the presence of a top member of Fatah, the rival faction which proposed the referendum.
"I can't stand side by side with a man who is not representing the Palestinian government. He is playing a dirty game," Mr Zahhar said.
He was referring to senior Fatah official Farouk Kaddoumi, who had presented himself as head of the Palestinian delegation and added insult to injury by announcing he intended to "train" Mr Zahhar in diplomacy.
heh
Last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, gave Hamas 10 days to adopt an 18-point programme agreed by various faction members jailed by Israel - or he would instigate a referendum. The plan includes recognition of Israel and acceptance of a two-state solution as the basis for a peace deal.
Mr Zahhar laughed when asked to comment on the plan, saying: "Nobody will recognise Israel. There is no need for a referendum... The people will give to him our answer."
He added that Hamas - which advocates the destruction of Israel - was not afraid of a vote, but said it was a waste of time and a waste of money when the government had no money. He also dismissed international demands led by the US for Hamas to soften its anti-Israeli stance, by renouncing violence and recognising the Jewish state.
"What type of moderate system would America like? To accept the occupation of our land and annexation of Jerusalem?" he said.
And he called Mr Abbas's goal of a negotiated two-state deal, with Israeli withdrawing from all the land occupied in the 1967 war, "unrealistic".
"He is believing in political methods which, from our point of view, are unable to be implemented."
Mr Kaddoumi arrived in Putrajaya as representative of the umbrella Palestinian Liberation Organisation, in which Fatah is the dominant faction but which Hamas has refused to join. The Fatah veteran, who lives in exile in Tunis, told reporters: "I have had 30 years of experience. This is the first day he is coming to such a conference.
"I told him, I would train you and then I will turn over the whole process to you. And you be the minister of foreign affairs."
The BBC's Jonathan Kent in Kuala Lumpur where the conference is being held, said Mr Zahhar appeared less than impressed at the comments.
Malaysia's foreign minister, Syed Hamid Albar, attempted to play down the row and said Mr Zahhar would be attending "bilateral" meetings at the gathering of 116 developing nations.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/29/2006 17:46 Comments ||
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#2
Must be nice - HAMAS = post-USSR Commies > Israel = USA-West > must be destroyed, or at least $$$ take care of HAMAS, while HAMAS reserves its unilateral, unconditional, unequivocal, and undeniable, but only coincidental and circumstantial and surreal, right to kill us later at their leisure. HAMAS = FAILED LEFT > HELP ME SAVE MYSELF, JUSTIFY MYSELF AND -ISMS, AND CARE FOR ME AT YOUR TIME AND YOUR OWN COSTS, BUT I STILL GET TO KILL YOU LATER!?
As if the Palestinian issue needs more complications, there are growing indications that Al Qaeda is penetrating the Palestinian territories to set up a presence in the heart of the Middle East conflict.
The indications, although hazy, are nevertheless raising serious questions and concerns over what an added Al Qaeda factor would do amid inter-Palestinian tensions, deteriorating economic conditions and a comatose peace process.
Despite widespread doubts that Al Qaeda has set up local cells in the West Bank and Gaza, the political, economic and social conditions in the territories are conducive for its successful penetration and the network will not ignore any opportunities.
#7
Fuel Air Explosives, jim and TW. Basically, discharge a large volumen of a highly flammable substance quickly, then ignite it. A 200lb FAE bomb has the same concussion factor as a 2000lb conventional bomb.
We used to make 'em at home using a sparkler, a bag of flour, and an M-80 firecracker. It'll take your eyebrows off and 15 feet, if you're not careful. I speak from experience.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/29/2006 22:41 Comments ||
Top||
The Palestinian government's Hamas foreign minister walked out of a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference in Malaysia on Sunday after the arrival of the rival Fatah faction's leader as head of the delegation, his office said. Mahmud al-Zahar, the head of Hamas in its Gaza Strip stronghold, quit the delegation in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the opening of the summit after Faruq Qaddumi arrived in the Malaysian capital. "Dr Zahar will not participate in the conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday," his office said. "He will not take part in the activities of the conference after the surprise arrival of Qaddumi." The move comes amid a fierce power battle between Hamas and Fatah, the party which dominated Palestinian politics until losing a January parliamentary election. Qaddumi is based in Tunis, having refused to return to the Palestinian territories along with the rest of the exiled leadership in 1994. He also doubles up as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) politburo, a position he has previously used to pull rank on representatives of the Palestinian Authority government. Qaddumi was billed by organisers of NAM as Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday pledged to push through with his plan for a referendum unless the factions resolve their differences, brushing aside protests from Hamas. Abbas, who was to host a meeting with representatives from the governing Hamas movement later in the day, said he was not prepared for the bickering between the Islamists and his own Fatah party to continue for much longer. The Palestinian Authority president dropped a political bombshell last Thursday at the start of two days of cross-party talks when he announced that he would call a referendum in 10 days to endorse a program drawn up by imprisoned faction leaders unless the factions settled their differences.
The talks ended on Friday evening without any major breakthrough although there was an agreement to set up a higher committee to intensify efforts to reach common ground. The two factions have been involved in a series of deadly clashes in recent weeks that have left at least 10 people dead.
The document at the center of the possible referendum advocates a national unity government and Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem. A recent opinion poll found that 80 percent of the Palestinian public supported the document which was drawn up earlier this month by senior figures in all the factions, including Fatah and Hamas, who are currently serving time in Israeli prisons. Were Hamas to accept the document, it would amount to an implicit recognition of Israels right to exist.
Interior Minister Said Siam reflected a sense of anger within Hamas over Abbas tactics yesterday by warning against trying to impose any solution. We have always supported any initiative to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people but not the imposition of other peoples opinions and a special agenda, Siam told reporters.
Abbas however said he would act as he saw fit rather than bow to the will of the factions. I speak in the name of all the Palestinian people and whats important for me is the position of all the Palestinian people, not the parties, he said on a tour through Ramallah which saw him visit victims of a recent Israeli Army raid in hospital. While Abbas is committed to negotiating a peace agreement with Israel, Hamas remains committed to the Jewish states destruction a stance which has seen it boycotted and branded a terrorist organization by the West.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Link to a small vid about the "Trophy" system, already evoked here. Sounds too good to be true (of course, this clip is more an ad than anything else). Any thought about it from knowledgeable persons?
#1
Actually, this system is almost ready to deploy. The radar can detect incoming threats and fires a screen of small metal darts at the missile. There is concern about it in urban settings, since it has the ability to harm bystanders.
Missiles are definately becoming obsolete. What they are developing now is high speed inert metal darts to destroy targets. Imagine a DU dart traveling at mach 2 hitting a tank. Oooh Rah!
#3
Different issue between defending against RPGs and defending against missiles.
For rockets / artillery / mortars, expect to see tactical lasers deployed in 2007 or so. They've performed well in operational tests this year.
RPG fire consists of much smaller targets. The tradeoffs (laser beams travel a long way if they miss their targets, can hit copters etc.) are different for RPGs.
TWO Filipinos will share a 500,000-dollar reward from the US government for a tip that led to the arrest of a key terror suspect in the southern Philippines last year, the US Embassy said Monday.
Hilarion del Rosario Santos III, the alleged head of the Rajah Solaiman Movement, a group of Christian converts to Islam that has been closely associated with Al Qaeda-linked militants, was arrested in southern Zamboanga city in October together with six other suspects.
His group is believed to have links to Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf, which is operating in the southern Philippines, and was suspected in the February 2004 bombing of a ferry in Manila that killed 116 people and the simultaneous bombings in Manila and other cities a year later, which killed eight people.
He also was connected to plots to attack the US Embassy in Manila and American citizens, the embassy said.
It said the money, to be presented Wednesday, comes from the US State Department "Rewards for Justice" program, which provides cash rewards for information leading to the arrests of terrorists involved in acts against Americans.
The US government has already paid hundreds of thousands of dollars (euros) in rewards for the capture and killings of Abu Sayyaf members and leaders.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/29/2006 02:19 ||
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U.S., Russian, Chinese and European officials plan to sign off this week on a package of incentives and penalties meant to reward Iran if it gives up uranium enrichment and punish it if it doesn't, diplomats said Monday.
Agreement by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany could open the way for sanctions if Tehran remains defiant and refuses to abandon technology that can be used to make the fissile core of nuclear warheads. Their meeting was set for Thursday in Vienna, said the diplomats, who demanded anonymity for divulging the confidential information.
Tehran appeared unimpressed: One official repeated that Iran is permitted to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Another announced that his country had experimented in technology that can be used to make the hydrogen bomb.
The Security Council gave Iran until the end of April to suspend all such activities. Instead of complying, Iran announced last month that it had for the first time successfully enriched uranium and was doing research on advanced centrifuges to produce more of the material in less time.
Indirectly linked to any possible deal for Iran would be agreement on a resolution tough enough for Washington but acceptable to Tehran ally Moscow, a dispute that has hobbled action by the Security Council's permanent members for months.
If Iran remains defiant, the proposal as outlined to AP by diplomats familiar with the text calls for a resolution imposing sanctions under Chapter VII, Article 41 of the U.N. Charter. But it avoids any reference to Article 42, which is the trigger for possible military action to enforce any such resolution.
The proposal also calls for new consultations among the five permanent Security Council members on any further steps against Iran a move meant to dispel complaints by the Russians and Chinese that once the screws on Iran are tightened, the council would automatically move toward military involvement.
Among the possible sanctions are a visa ban on government officials, the freezing of assets, blocking financial transactions by government figures and those involved in the country's nuclear program, an arms embargo and a blockade on the shipping of refined oil products to Iran. Nice. While Iran plans to nuke us, we plan to deny them visas.
If Tehran agrees to suspend enrichment, enter new negotiations on its nuclear program and lift a ban on intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, rewards would include agreement to "suspend discussion of Iran's file at the Security Council," as well as help in building a peaceful domestic nuclear program that uses an outside supply of enriched uranium.
Posted by: ed ||
05/29/2006 13:39 ||
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#1
Have we really, truly and closely looked at the pony option? Maybe 60 or so well behaved Mistys with quality tack could turn the corner on this nightmare.
A leading Iranian parliamentarian on Sunday warned President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad he would need to spend an extra $5bn this year to pay for subsidies on sales to motorists of imported petrol and diesel to avoid politically sensitive rationing.
Kamal Daneshyar, head of the parliaments energy commission, told Reuters the government needed to withdraw the money from the Oil Stabilisation Fund (OSF), which collects windfall oil revenue for contingencies and investment. He later told the FT this was in addition to the $2.5bn (2bn, £1.3bn) already allocated in the budget for the year March 2006-March 2007.
But the allocation of OSF funds to maintain subsidies would fly in the face of Mr Ahmadi-Nejads promises to maximise spending on capital projects, especially in Irans regions.
Current government spending is already due to rise 20.5 per cent in the current year, according to Iran Economics, the leading Tehran monthly. With inflation put officially at 13.5 per cent, this represents a significant increase in real terms.
The fiscal pressure over petrol imports results from the antiquated state of Irans refineries and subsidies which keep the price for motorists at 9 cents a litre.
Despite having the worlds second-largest proven crude oil reserves, Iran imports around 40 per cent of its petrol. So while rising global oil prices boost Iranian coffers and are celebrated by Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, the subsequent rise in imported petrol prices has become a domestic issue.
Little progress has been made on a $15bn plan to revamp five existing refineries, build three new ones, and so increase production over five years from 40m litres a day to 92m litres.
Mr Daneshyar ruled out an earlier proposal, discussed in government and parliament, for two-tier pricing later in the year to sell imported petrol at cost to motorists. He said this would be illegal as the government lacked time to meet 25 targets set by the energy commission, including improving public transport.
With more and more cars throttling Tehrans streets and the average motorist using 10 litres per day, double the world average, the World Bank in March estimated total losses from air pollution in Iran at $10.3bn by 2009, $14bn in 2014 and $19.2bn in 2019.
But many politicians oppose higher petrol prices as either inflationary or politically sensitive, even though around 8m litres of subsidised petrol are daily smuggled into Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Turkey and the UAE.
With Mr Ahmadi-Nejads popularity holding up, his centrist opponents are discussing plans for a common front against him.
The Iranian media reported on Sunday that three leading figures including two former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani plus Mehdi Karrubi, former parliamentary speaker were discussing a common slate for both Novembers election for the assembly of experts, which chooses Irans supreme leader, and for local elections next March.
#1
"...Little progress has been made on a $15bn plan to revamp five existing refineries, build three new ones, and so increase production over five years from 40m litres a day to 92m litres."
--------------------
and the existing refineries produce a heavily leaded fuel with high sulfur which is put in cars, many of which have no pollution control;
#6
Give 'em a few more days and they'll claim they're just enriching uranium so they can power electric cars. Then Gore will rush over there to kiss Ahmanutjob's arse.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Germans they should no longer allow themselves to be held prisoner by a sense of guilt over the Holocaust and reiterated doubts that the Holocaust even happened.
In an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, Ahmadinejad said he doubted Germans were allowed to write "the truth" about the Holocaust and said he was still considering traveling to Germany for the World Cup soccer tournament.
"I believe the German people are prisoners of the Holocaust. More than 60 million were killed in World War Two ... The question is: Why is it that only Jews are at the center of attention?," he said in the interview published on Sunday.
"How long is this going to go on?" he added. "How long will the German people be held hostage to the Zionists?... Why should you feel obligated to the Zionists? You've paid reparations for 60 years and will have to pay for another 100 years."
#2
Ahmadinejad's concern is misplaced. Perhaps the Germans and the Axis powers should pay to relocate Palestine rather than disrupt a resettled Israel, and truly honor all those who died defending liberty.
Iran's fearless supreme leader on Sunday ruled out backing down in a dispute over his country's nuclear programme, as top Russian officials made a fresh bid to find a diplomatic solution to the worsening crisis. The young Iranian engineers, with their successes, have guaranteed the long-term energy future of the country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said of Irans progress in nuclear fuel cycle work, seen in the West as a cover for weapons development. We must not lose this at any price, because any retreat would be a 100 percent loss, Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television.
His comments came as Russian National Security Council chief Igor Ivanov and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak held a series of meetings with top Iranian officials. Russia believes that the nuclear question cannot be solved by anything except dialogue, and any violent measures would complicate the situation more, Iranian state television quoted Ivanov as saying in a meeting with Ali Larijani, Irans top negotiator.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Russia believes that the nuclear question cannot be solved by anything except dialogue, and any violent measures would complicate the situation more,...
That depends on what the definition of "complicate" is.
#3
I make nothing from these talks other than solidifying economic contracts (read: bribes) and safeguarding nuke development when the shit its the fan.
The same Ruskie circular dialog: Moolahs refuse to give up nukes after exhaustive dialog, threaten West and Israel with retaliation, Ruskies call for more dialog.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/29/2006 16:36 Comments ||
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#4
You know Radical Iran = Patrick Henry > GIVE IRAN NUKES + EMPIRE, OR GIVE AMERICA-WORLD DEATH.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an active worldwide network of Zionists was trying to prevent his possible trip to Germany for the World Cup and expressed new doubts over whether the Holocaust happened. In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, Ahmadinejad also said he doubted Germans were allowed to write the truth about the Holocaust and said if Nazi murder of European Jews really happened, Jews should be moved from Israel back to Europe. We say if the Holocaust happened, then the Europeans must accept the consequences and the price should not be paid by Palestine, he said in a rare interview with Western media that was published on Sunday. If it did not happen, then the Jews must return to where they came from.
I believe the German people are prisoners of the Holocaust. More than 60 million were killed in World War Two. The question is; why is it that only Jews are at the centre of attention? he queried. How long is this going to go on? he added. How long will the German people be held hostage to the Zionists? Why should you feel obligated to the Zionists? Youve paid reparations for 60 years and will have to pay for another 100 years.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
More than 60 million were killed in World War Two.
Yep, and 20+ million of them were Russians, of which maybe 800,000 were Jews. About 8 million were German soldiers (no Jews), and another three or four million were German civilians (mostly from Allied air strikes). The concentration camps killed six million Jews, another million gypsies, homosexuals, and whoever else Hitler wanted to round up. Almost two million of the dead were people in the occupied countries of WESTERN Europe. Another two million were Allied military personnel, and three million were Italian military (plus a number of Italian civilians - I've never heard an exact number). Almost ten million were killed in the Far East (mostly Chinese), and had nothing to do with either Hitler or Jews. Ahmedinsanedude needs to get out more - he's not only arrogantly stupid, but he's also dead-horse dumb.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/29/2006 22:58 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
CAIRO, 29 May 2006 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is to launch a drive to bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders back to the negotiating table next weekend by hosting a first summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Officials in Mubaraks and Olmerts offices said the two leaders would meet at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday, June 4, for their first talks since the Israeli premier won a March 28 general election.
More than 1,000 members of the British armed forces have deserted since that start of the war in Iraq three years ago, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported on Sunday. The BBC did not say how it arrived at the figure. Earlier this week, Labour Party lawmaker John McDonnell told the House of Commons that the level of desertion had tripled since 2003. However, the Ministry of Defence said the army knew of only "a handful" of deserters since 1989, and said there had been no significant increase in the number of soldiers going absent without leave.
The group has turned up at scores of funerals across the country holding banners saying the war dead are "God's wrath" at US tolerance for homosexuals. Politicians and veterans groups have expressed disgust at the protests.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday said that Pakistan and Bangladesh were bound in enduring ties of shared faith, history and culture and both countries were determined to further strengthen their bilateral relations.
Federal Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao on Sunday ruled out Upper Dir becoming the next battleground in the search for Osama Bin Laden and his associates following a report by an American television channel claiming the Al Qaeda chief's presence in Pakistan. "There is no iota of truth in the news report depicting the presence of Bin Laden in NWFP. The residents of the area need not to be worried by such baseless reports," the interior minister told reporters after attending a tribal jirga from Mohmand Agency here at People's House. 
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israel's U.N. ambassador, in unusually blunt comments, criticized Russia, China and Qatar on Monday for disappointing the Jewish state in their role as U.N. Security Council members this year.
The Iraqi parliament remained deadlocked Sunday over who should lead the country's critical security ministries, but lawmakers agreed that each of the 275 members needs two new cars.
The Palestinian government's Hamas foreign minister walked out of a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference in Malaysia on Sunday after the arrival of the rival Fatah faction's leader as head of the delegation, his office said. Mahmud al-Zahar, the head of Hamas in its Gaza Strip stronghold, quit the delegation in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the opening of the summit after Faruq Qaddumi arrived in the Malaysian capital. "Dr Zahar will not participate in the conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday," his office said. "He will not take part in the activities of the conference after the surprise arrival of Qaddumi." The move comes amid a fierce power battle between Hamas and Fatah, the party which dominated Palestinian politics until losing a January parliamentary election. Qaddumi is based in Tunis, having refused to return to the Palestinian territories along with the rest of the exiled leadership in 1994. He also doubles up as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) politburo, a position he has previously used to pull rank on representatives of the Palestinian Authority government. Qaddumi was billed by organisers of NAM as Foreign Minister of the State of Palestine.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday pledged to push through with his plan for a referendum unless the factions resolve their differences, brushing aside protests from Hamas. Abbas, who was to host a meeting with representatives from the governing Hamas movement later in the day, said he was not prepared for the bickering between the Islamists and his own Fatah party to continue for much longer. The Palestinian Authority president dropped a political bombshell last Thursday at the start of two days of cross-party talks when he announced that he would call a referendum in 10 days to endorse a program drawn up by imprisoned faction leaders unless the factions settled their differences.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Germans they should no longer allow themselves to be held prisoner by a sense of guilt over the Holocaust and reiterated doubts that the Holocaust even happened.
Iran's 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an active worldwide network of Zionists was trying to prevent his possible trip to Germany for the World Cup and expressed new doubts over whether the Holocaust happened. In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, Ahmadinejad also said he doubted Germans were allowed to write the truth about the Holocaust and said if Nazi murder of European Jews really happened, Jews should be moved from Israel back to Europe. We say if the Holocaust happened, then the Europeans must accept the consequences and the price should not be paid by Palestine, he said in a rare interview with Western media that was published on Sunday. If it did not happen, then the Jews must return to where they came from.
