No surprise here. The trick is to kill more of the enemy than you lose of your own.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
And Tony won't put more troops in because the lefty-muslim-apologists at the Beeb will crow about it for weeks. Tony needs to grow a set of kahunas fast and the Beeb need a large cup of STFU. Otherwise, as someone presciently noted on this site, it's Custer time in Helmand.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/03/2006 4:05 Comments ||
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Custer? More like Isandhlwana. Just hope there's no Elphinstones in the command.
MOGADISHU - Osama bin Laden has training bases in Somalia and is intent on plunging the Horn of Africa country into further chaos, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said late on Sunday.
Is that possible?
There's a street corner in Mogadishu that still has one brick sitting on top of another ...
Gedi was responding to a purported audio recording by the Al Qaeda leader that said a US-backed bid to deploy foreign troops to Somalia would be part of a crusade to crush Islamic rule.
It is clear that bin Laden is strongly involved in some areas in Somalia and has militant training bases, Gedi told a news conference in Baidoa, seat of Somalias interim government. Bin Ladens not a Muslim leader, hes an extremist. Bin Laden is trying to plunge Somalia into chaos.
They'd have to improve to get to chaos
Gedi said the government would forcibly expel any foreigners found to be Al Qaeda agents inside the Horn of Africa country.
The TFG (transitional federal government) and Somali people will kick out these foreigners from Somalia, he said. The interim government however has limited authority over Somalia. Formed in 2004, it has been based in the southern provincial town of Baidoa since February, too weak to move to the capital.
Bin Laden warned the United States and other countries against sending soldiers to Somalia, where Islamist militia won control of Mogadishu from US-backed warlords last month. Despite the message, the African Union agreed on Sunday to send troops to Somalia, which descended into lawlessness in 1991 when warlords ousted military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. A resolution adopted unanimously at a summit in Banjul said an AU peace and stability mission would be deployed in the wake of peacekeepers from the east African regional body IGAD.
Bin Laden also urged Somalis to back the Islamist movement which has also sought to extend its authority across the country and to fight interim President Abdullahi Yusuf and his allies. The Islamist movement, known as the Council of Islamic Courts of Somalia, also oppose foreign forces, but were quick to distance themselves from bin Ladens comments. Despite appointing hardline cleric Shaikh Hassan Dahir Aweys -- on a US list of Al Qaeda associates -- as its leader, the Islamist movement denies links to terrorism or that it wants to impose Taleban-style rule in Somalia.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/03/2006 09:05 ||
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MOGADISHU - A powerful Islamic group in Somalia on Sunday distanced itself from comments made by Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who voiced his support for the Islamists and warned against deploying international forces in lawless Horn of Africa nation.
The comments made by Osama bin Laden are like any other statement made by politicians or any other person who is expressing his views on the change of political landscape in Somalia, said Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the former leader of the Islamic courts. These are personal comments and we have nothing to say at this point, he told reporters in the capital Mogadishu.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain ...
The Islamists, grouped under the newly-formed Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia, headed by radical cleric Sheikh Hassan Darir Aweys, is accused by the United States of having ties to Al Qaeda. The Islamists, who stepped into the the power vacuum, have prompted fears the country may become a breeding ground for terrorists. The Islamists insist that they are only interested in restoring peace and order in the shattered African nation.
Under their rule, of course, using the al-QaedaTaliban Islamicist guidebook.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Me thinks the so-called "charm offensive" is over
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/03/2006 0:59 Comments ||
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Mogadishu is the 19th province of Ethiopia.
Posted by: ed ||
07/03/2006 1:00 Comments ||
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#3
That towel so doesn't match that shirt.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/03/2006 5:47 Comments ||
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Howard UK, cut him some slack. It's laundry day, and that's the only clean towel and shirt he's got. Sheesh, tough crowd.
#5
The AQ PR dance has started. Gotta give it to them, the AQ handbook plays our press better than we can. Next thing you know MSNBC will be doing a special of how the AQ brought peace to the war torn Somalies. The whole time blaming the US for the issues. Just wait! You heard it here first!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/03/2006 9:27 Comments ||
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So, now OBL is a "politician"? Interesting new twist. Is this recognizing islamism as a politicial ideology?
#7
On Ed's comment: Seems that the Ethiopian military is crossing the border to give the Islamists some "insight" into not crossing the new gov't. Me hopes the Ethiopians succeed, although, I'm no where near holding my breath on that one.
Posted by: BA ||
07/03/2006 11:39 Comments ||
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It's not as if the Ethiopian army is a fearsome, unstoppable juggernaut ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2006 13:35 Comments ||
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TW2142, I b'lieve Osama is now classified as 'statesman'.
#11
The Ethiopian Army may not be a juggernaut compared to the US Army, but in comparison to the Islamists' gunnies, it would be like being on the receiving end of a WWII German Blitzkreig. The Ethiopians have basic integration of armour, artillery, and APC-mounted infantry in their military whereas the gunnies run around in Mad Max truck rigs.
First say "pretty please," then grovel. Than stand on your head and spit quarters.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan tried on Sunday to persuade Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir to reverse what he calls his "incomprehensible" opposition to a U.N. force to stop heavy bloodshed in Darfur. Annan, who officials said was meeting Bashir on the fringes of an African Union summit, said on Saturday that Darfur was "one of the worst nightmares in recent history." No details were immediately available of the meeting.
The summit in Gambia's steamy seaside capital has been dominated by the intractable Darfur crisis and rising tension in Somalia after Islamist forces conquered Mogadishu. AU Commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare said at the summit opening that the 53-nation pan-African body must take urgent action to deal with the two conflicts. Annan and the AU hope to persuade Bashir to allow a strong U.N. force to take over peacekeeping duties at the end of September from an overstretched, under-resourced African force which has been unable to stem the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
African leaders agreed on Sunday to extend their military mission in Darfur, after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan failed to persuade Sudan to allow in international peacekeepers to try to end years of bloodshed. But Annan said he expected a U.N. peacekeeping force, widely seen as the only way to end a crisis in which tens of thousands have died, to be deployed eventually.
I don't. More importantly, Omar doesn't...
Annan met Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir on the fringes of an African Union summit in Gambia dominated by the bloodshed in Sudan's huge western region. He failed to reverse Bashir's repeated rejection of a U.N. force but did persuade the summit to extend the mandate of the overstretched, 7,000-strong AU force in Darfur.
AU chairman Denis Sassou Nguesso told reporters after the two-day summit ended: "On the request of the secretary general, the African Union will continue to fulfil its mission until the end of the year." The AU had wanted to pull its force out on September 30 and have it replaced by U.N. troops. Even if Bashir agreed, it would take many months to deploy U.N. peacekeepers. Annan told a news conference the United Nations would work with the AU to strengthen its force, which has failed to stem the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where three years of murder and rape have pushed 2.5 million people out of their homes and into squalid camps.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA! Kill them and eat them! The Evil Bush demands it to quench our blood lust!
LONDON (AFP) - People in Britain view the United States as a vulgar, crime-ridden society obsessed with money and led by an incompetent president whose Iraq policy is failing, according to a newspaper poll. Damn. How do we survive?
The United States is no longer a symbol of hope to Britain and the British no longer have confidence in their transatlantic cousins to lead global affairs, according to the poll published in The Daily Telegraph. The YouGov poll found that 77 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement that the US is "a beacon of hope for the world". Did they ask who they thought was? I'd be interested in those answers. Continued on Page 49
#1
And how many Americans would look at Brits as vulgar, asthmatic, sexually inhibited, inferiority-complexed and neurotic, and led by a weakling, but totalitarian socialist government that ignores what a government is supposed to do in favor of obsessing over the minutiae of people's lives?
Americans are the cowboy in the outer office who says to Britain: "Arthur Pewty! Are you a man... or a mouse? You've been running too long, Arthur Pewty; it's time to stop. Time to turn and fight like a man! Go back in there, Arthur Pewty! Go back in there and pull your finger out!"
#4
US President George W. Bush fared significantly worse, with just one percent rating him a "great leader" against 77 percent who deemed him a "pretty poor" or "terrible" leader.
Wonder what results the REAL "Great Leader," Kim Jong Il got? Oh yeah, he's the "Dear Leader," silly me, I always get those titles confused. And, I've gotta wonder if "the anti-Christ" was even an option for the YouGov pollsters?
More than two-thirds who offered an opinion said America is essentially an imperial power seeking world domination. And 81 per cent of those who took a view said President George W Bush hypocritically championed democracy as a cover for the pursuit of American self-interests.
This coming from a nation that was TRULY an imperial power at one time? And, how dare we (Americans) act in our own self-interest? I guess we're only "good for them" when we're handing out free money. Sorry to our British RBers across the pond, but this is just pure hogwash, as we say here in da South.
Posted by: BA ||
07/03/2006 11:50 Comments ||
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O'it's Yankie this,
An' Yankie that.
O'what a loutist brute,
But he's our dearest friend
When the guns begin to shoot.
(Sorry 'bout that Rudyard. I couldn't help myself.)
#6
I thought those 'tabloid' papers were pretty popular in GB? They'd come across as pretty vulgar anywhere in the US.
And cruel? 'A Clockwork Orange' was set in GB for a reason.
#7
And the Brits opinion in 1944 was that the Yanks were oversexed, overpaid, and overhere. To which the Yanks replied that they thought the Brits to be undersex, underpaid, and under Monty.
#8
A massive 83 percent of those questioned said that the United States doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks.
I wish...
No, no, they do care in the blue European colonial enclaves like Boston, New York, Washington, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, etc. Its just the rest of the [Red] Inland that dont care after forking over billions and billions of taxes dollars and maintaining an unnatural peacetime draft to defend an ungrateful Europe which is suffering a severe bout of intellectual depression and realization of its pending mortality. Honestly, does anyone like a party pooper. Oh, and a note to our European brethren, Jerry Springer is not America. Its entertaining because it is extreme even for us.
#9
Look at who is responsible for creating and exporting the really vulgar things that are associated with America culture. Its people that are aligned with the political left of American politics: for example Hollywood, the television industry and the music industry. Ironic isnt it?
Posted by: Canaveral Dan ||
07/03/2006 12:57 Comments ||
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Lemme see...Yes. It was US citizens that rioted with Germans over soccer a week ago. And yes, it was US citizens that are banned from Europen travel for drunken, brawling rioting across Europe. Damn those Americans!
#11
vulgar, crime-ridden society obsessed with money and led by an incompetent president And don't forget armed to the damned teeth with a short attention span.
#14
Anytime I hear "polls" or opinions like this (childish, spoiled, "look at me" type comments), I always think back to my childhood and think of two comments we always had to commentary like this:
(1) Oh yeah, well whadya gonna do about it?
(2) Oh yeah, you and what army?
And, I do know (like polls taken here) that this doesn't represent the entire British population. I mean the average Brit could probably care less about a "YouGov poll", so (like here) it skews the #s to those who just want to rant and rave like a 2 year old (Donks here in the States). It's just the #s are so skewed (and 7/11 was not that long ago), you'd think the "average" Brit would be cheering us on, I know their comrades in arms in Afghanistan do.
Posted by: BA ||
07/03/2006 13:43 Comments ||
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It was written way back during the Eeeevil Empire of Ronald Reagan by P J O'Rourke in his book "Holidays in Hell", but I believe our rebuttal to this poll would be something like this:
"A John Wayne movie," I said. "That's what you were going to say, wasn't it? We think war is a John Wayne movie. We think life is a John Wayne movie -- with good guys and bad guys, as simple as that. Well you know something, Mr. Limey Poofter? You're right. And let me tell you who those bad guys are. They're us. WE BE BAD.
"We're the baddest-assed sons of bitches that ever jogged in Reeboks. We're three-quarters grizzly bear and two-thirds car-wreck and descended from a stock-market crash on our mother's side. You take your Germany, France, and Spain, roll them all together, and it wouldn't give us room to park our cars. We're the big boys, Jack, the original giant, economy-sized new and improved butt-kickers of all time. When we snort coke in Houston, people lose their hats Cap d'Antibes. And we've got an American Express credit card limit higher than your piss-ant metric numbers go."
"You say our country's never been invaded? You're right, little buddy. Because I'd like to see the needle-dicked foreigners who'd have the guts to try. We drink napalm to get our hearts started in the morning. A rape and a mugging is our way of saying 'Cheerio'. Hell can't hold our sock-hops. We walk taller, talk louder, spit further, fuck longer, and buy more things than you know the name of. I'd rather be a junkie in a New York City jail than King, Queen, and Jack of all you Europeans. We eat little countries like this for breakfast and spit them out before lunch."
Of course, the guy should have punched me. But this was Europe. He just smiled his shabby, superior European smile. (God, don't these people have dentists?)
#17
Ok, I'm gonna put my oar in here, and some of it is going to be rambling...
YouGov is like any self-selecting poll, you get the people that want to make a thing of it participating and skewing the results accordingly. It's exactly like all the exit polls after elections, and we all know what happened in 2004 and 2000 don't we?
I've been on Rantburg since soon after 9/11 and I'm not ashamed to admit it, but I do think it's helped me retain my sanity in the crazy times we've had since then. Since then, I have learnt a huge amount about what makes America America and am convinced that it *is* the best hope for freedom and ultimately humanity in the world. I am also convinced that sometimes America's 'PR' is not what it could be/should be - for instance, the American government gives more in aid than any other government, but private individuals give more than the American government - how many people know that?
I have also become convinced of this idea of 'Americans born outside America', by which I mean those people who have 'American' ideals of freedom, liberty and self-reliance, but who might find themselves born in a country where those values are lambasted, denigrated or simply not allowed. Those people exist in every country (don't believe me, look at the makeup of America - all nationalities are represented), and you'll have seen plenty of them here on the 'Burg. Unfortunately, you get the converse, where people born in America aren't really Americans - some examples are; Mother Sheehan, the NYT editors, Micheal Moore, some elected officials and anti-American events such as the Kelo decision.
I've met many Americans, and so far, have always been treated with courtesy and politeness. Ok, there was one store guy in Santa Barbara in 2000 who, on finding out I was from England said, with a rather pronounced sneer, "what's Great about Great Britain?". I replied with "Not much, but we do tend to side with America". He wasn't impressed - I put it down to him being an asshole.
So there you are, don't believe all you read in the press, being American is more a state of mind than anything else (except those living in the US obviously have a head start) and the vast majority of Americans I've met have been pretty ok people, and certainly didn't give me the impression they were after an empire - after all, what did Colin Powell (full quote at the link) say? .
...put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own, you know, to seek our own lives in peace, to live our own lives in peace.
One last question; an asteroid is approaching Earth. It's gonna to hit. Who you gonna call? Not the EU that's for fucking sure...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/03/2006 15:48 Comments ||
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#18
Funny I ever thought the country who invented Punks was the epithome of vulgarity.
Ah yes, British sophistication - all those bands saw the Ramones and missed that they were kidding.
#19
Please ignore my fellow Brits, our brains have been eaten away by years of socialism and EU serfdom. The parlous state of our national psyche is revealed by our favourite tv program, Big Brother, which allows us to feel better about ourselves by giving us the opportunity to gloat over the suffering of mentally ill "contestants". And we're rubbish at sport as well, which doesn't help.
#22
A loong time ago I was statitician and the first thing you are teached ias that this kind of polls has zero (zero as in zilch, nada) value. That is because they are highly vulenerable to militancy factor. In fact as predictor of elections outcomes or as an indicator of tastes of the populace or its opinions (even on non-political subjects) they have ever been beaten by those surveys where statistican selects randomly or near randomly (the quota method) the people who will be interviewed.
People who vote at YouGov have too much time in their hands and 90% of these are leftists.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/03/2006 18:27 Comments ||
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#7 And the Brits opinion in 1944 was that the Yanks were oversexed, overpaid, and overhere. To which the Yanks replied that they thought the Brits to be undersex, underpaid, and under Monty.
Actually, it was "undersexed, underpaid, and under Eisenhower. :-)
#25
Brilliant comments, y'all. Swamp Blondie, I've saved the PJ O'Rourke quote to my PalmPilot. I'm sure it will help me through difficult moments in the future. Tony (UK), I've enjoyed and learnt from you since I found this wonderful site sometime after you, but today you outdid yourself. JFM, thank you for once again giving a factual basis for our innate understanding.
The United States has stepped up its schedule to begin operating its military mobile X-band radar system in northeastern Japan to monitor missile activities in neighboring North Korea and China. X-band radar is an advanced new surveillance system designed to detect and track ballistic missiles. A test-run of the system is to begin this week at the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Shariki base in Tsugaru.
South Korea is seeking to buy 48 sophisticated defensive missiles from the United States and install them in the country's Ageis-equipped KDX-III destroyers, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Monday.
According to a DAPA spokesman, negotiations are underway to buy the Raytheon Systems' SM-2 Block IIB Tactical missiles in a deal worth some $111 million. SM-2 missiles are effective against cruise and airborne missiles and for striking aircraft.
The Navy has built three 3,000 ton-class KDX-I destroyers and five 4,000 ton-class KDX-II destroyers. It plans to build one more KDX-II this October. Three 7,000 ton-class KDX-III vessels, planned for launching by 2012, are expected to have the new missiles installed as the primary defensive system for anti-missile ship protection, a Navy spokesperson said.
Continued on Page 49
#3
Doc I think it's unlikely that the TD-2 would be aimmed against SK. The SM-2 would have little chance against it but that's beside the point, the SM-2 is aimed at theatre ballistic missiles, and it's supposed to be pretty solid.
#4
Thanks 6. I had understood the SM-2 to be a more theater-type ABM system and when I first read this I thought, 'wow, that's one serious upgrade!' Now I understand better.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2006 13:37 Comments ||
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Har har har! Flashback a few years when President Bush pulled the US out of the ABM treaty so they could get to work on this project. Remember all the whining, crying, seething, etc? I've heard less and less of that over the years since then. And even less from the MSM. Neener neener. Gloat.
Posted by: grb ||
07/03/2006 15:47 Comments ||
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#6
This should be a definite turn down. If they want to be under the umbrella, they should pay for the period covered. Whether to us or the Japanese is immaterial. We should not give them this weapon or, probably any others.
#7
SM-2s are primarily anti-air and anti-anti-ship and anti-ship missiles. Though they probably have a rudimentary anti-missile capability able to intercept shorter ranged BMs like the SCUD variants that NK would fire at SK. SM-2 Block IVs are the theater level anti-missile variant. SM-3 are exoatmospheric (100+ miles high) hit to kill missiles designed for theater and above missiles, like the No Dongs or TD-1&2.
Some models of the Aegis radars need only software upgrades while other smaller models do not have the capability to track theater level ballistic missiles. I don't know which models SK bought, but it is a moot point for them, since NK missiles will enter SK from overland and land based ABM systems are required. The Skors already operate SM-2 Block IIIA (the SKors are buying Block IIIB, not IIB) and together are enough for the anti-air role.
So SK is suddenly in the market for Patriot PAC-3s. They figured out that US PAC-2 and PAC-3s are there to protect US assets and protection of Korean cities is incidental. With the consolidation of US forces to the south, the SKors realized their forces (and Seoul, not that it really matters) will be without Patriot protection.
Posted by: ed ||
07/03/2006 16:21 Comments ||
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#8
Dubya, etal. know any US defeat or retreat unto isolationism > will be interpreted by Amer's enemies as de facto loss of US power-influence, regional andor global, which in turn means the clock is ticking for when hostile, enemy armies will show up in CONUS's backyards and main streets, ergo better "over there" than over here, both for America + Allies. Amer enemies > WOT is FOR CONTROL OF THE WORLD vv first defeating, suborning, or destroying hyperpower Clintonian Fascist-Nazi = HalfCommunist, Federalist = Centralist-Socialist, Libertarian = Totalitarian, etal, Democratic America = Socialist-[Pre/Pseudo]Communist Amerika. Will say again the irony for the Koreas here is that any surreal Norkie missle may be North Korea's only viable opportunity to break free from the iron grip of Communist China and Beijing, before China begins to exert itself militarily agz America in the Asia-Pacific region.
IFF THE COMMIES HOPE TO PAR OR SURPASS AMERICA BY 2050, THEIR ONLY REALISTIC OPTIONS IS MASSIVE NATIONAL LIBERALIZATION [IMPLOSION?], VS. DE FACTO WAR AGAINST AMERICA. TO MAKE AMERICA AS WEAK AS THEY ARE.
On Foxnews TV (not yet on website) - just came over the wire - apparently Kimmy's upset his missile isn't forcing us to the 1:1 negotiation table - developing
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2006 09:01 ||
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#1
Yup, wants his spotlight back.
Where's he at with this missile? Wasn't it fueled some time ago? Shouldn't it either be defueled or launched by this time?
Is that why NORAD is stepped up - he's gotta let fly or dismantle? I haven't heard an update recently.
Poor Kimmy - missile all perpendicular and thrusting to go and no-one paying attention.
#2
AP Story - North Korea is ready to answer a pre-emptive U.S. military attack with an "annihilating strike and a nuclear war," the state-run media said Monday. The Korean Central News Agency, citing an unidentified Rodong Sinmun newspaper "analyst," accused the United States of increasing military pressure on the isolated communist state.
The North Korean threat of retaliation, which is often voiced by its state-controlled media, comes amid U.S. official reports that Pyongyang has shown signs of preparing for a test of a long-range missile.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2006 10:28 Comments ||
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#3
Wasn't it fueled some time ago? Shouldn't it either be defueled or launched by this time?
I too am wondering just how much longer the duct tape is going to hold.
#6
Unfortunately, our best bet is to allow the NKs to evolve out of fuhrer-communism, as did the Soviet bloc and China. Our real target should be Iran, and the rest of the terrorist entities who retired Dutch lab worker, A.Q. Khan (AKA: hero of Pakistan) passed information for money. The Islamofascists can only evolve into a genocidal threat to Homeland US. Diplomacy is not an option against Ahmadinejad.
#7
NK is not threat to the US. Kimmie is bottled up and NKors on ther verge of starvation. Urge the Skors to quit feeding, funding and enabling Kimmie while the US spreads dissent and propaganda of a post commie NK to the masses. Meet any aggressive moves by destroying NK fuel assets.
Posted by: ed ||
07/03/2006 16:42 Comments ||
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#8
I wonder if Kimmie has ever flown over the US. It's big. Yeah, there are some tender spots, but you'll need a lot more than what he'll ever have to take it out of action for any length of time. That stuff is probably meant for NorK consumption, but they've got to be tired of hearing it by now. And even if there were a big red button to push, even he would have to hesitate no matter how long he'd been drinking water plumbed in through lead pipes. Kind of makes me wonder what sort of military advice he's been getting.
Posted by: grb ||
07/03/2006 19:25 Comments ||
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#9
Anginens Threreng8133...we need to take an iranian oil terminal. hit the black hat pocket book.
#10
They only advice Kimmie gets is what his leadership thinks he wants to hear.
Posted by: john ||
07/03/2006 20:01 Comments ||
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#11
North Korea > controlled by China > Norkie threat of nuke strike/war is synonymous wid Chicom threat of same, just that the Chicoms prefer NOT to be the initial, sadly expendable North Koreans whom will die first. Its a quandry - how to feed the starving NK people + Army while modernizing the NK econ without democracy, de-regulation, or powersharing, and also while officially pretending NK is sovereign and independent from China-CPC/CCCC while preventing either the Chicoms andor the West from making NK per se glow in the dark vv asymmetric People's War of [anti-US] Resistance = Chicom War for China- and Communism-centric Asian-Pacific hegemony. NOW LETS ALL BE LIKE MAVERICK'S CARRIER CO IN "TOP GUN" AND SMOKE A HEAVY CIGAR WHILE LOOKING AT THE SKY!?
#5
Could be fallout ... but, these types of games are far more common around procurement time as purchase price negotiating tactics. This strikes me as more whining from the party, but you have to keep in mind JSF variant 1 is almost ready for prime time so we enter that time when these games will be played.
#6
Considering the most probable targets of the Dutch Air Force in the next 20 years - rioting Muslim youths and Islamic terrorists, the F-16 is a fine aircraft. May want to add a few A-10s to the mix, just in case the local jihadis try to rig up some boilerplate armour.
Facing a stronger-than-expected Democratic primary challenge and sagging poll numbers because of his support of the Iraq war, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Monday hell collect signatures to run as an unaffiliated candidate if he loses next months primary.
While I believe that I will win the Aug. 8 primary, I know there are no guarantees in elections, Lieberman told reporters on the steps of Connecticuts statehouse. No one really knows how many Democrats will come out to vote on what may be a hot day in August.
Lieberman said he will still be running as a Democrat even if hes not the partys nominee and plans to remain part of the Democratic caucus in the Senate if re-elected.
Posted by: ed ||
07/03/2006 18:42 ||
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#1
Yes! Split the Dems and make way for Republican victory!
#3
Lieberman comes from the sane wing of the Democratic party (currently on the endangered species list). A part of the party that used to be mainstream and included the likes of Truman and JFK. I'd rather have a Lieberman than say a Ted "The Internet is a Tube" Stevens.
h/t Pajamas Media
Did a media leak of classified information allow the deaths of Marines (and soldiers) twenty-three years ago in Beirut?
KATHARINE GRAHAM, the publisher of The Washington Post who died in 2001, backed her editors through tense battles during the Watergate era. But in a 1986 speech, she warned that the media sometimes made "tragic" mistakes.
Her example was the disclosure, after the bombing of the American embassy in Beirut in 1983, that American intelligence was reading coded radio traffic between terrorist plotters in Syria and their overseers in Iran. The communications stopped, and five months later they struck again, destroying the Marine barracks in Beirut and killing 241 Americans.
Couldn't have been, says Jeff Goldstein sardonically, since "surely the terrorists must have known we were listening in on them. Thats what our spy agencies do, after all."
In his long piece on the subject, AJ Strata points out that "the media now has a self documented history of getting people killed."
Posted by: Mike ||
07/03/2006 15:50 ||
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As the U.S. continues to express concern about the possibility of a North Korean missile test directed toward American territory and the rest of the world holds its breath over a close encounter with an asteroid, several U.S. air bases are on heightened alert. But no one is talking about why.
The Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, which houses NORAD charged with monitoring the North Korea situation is now at "Bravo-Plus." Other air bases in Colorado, California and Florida are also on heightened alert status. There are five levels of alert: normal, Alpha (low), Bravo (medium), Charlie (high) and Delta (critical). "Bravo-Plus" is slightly higher than a medium threat level.
The Bush administration has urged North Korea to abandon its plans to test a long range missile. The Pentagon believes the missile is capable of reaching the United States. NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado would play a big role in both detecting and responding to a missile launch if it ever occurred.
The U.S. missile defense system is only a few years old, but could be tested if North Korea chooses to act.
#1
This really isn't a big deal. Every time the soviets and then the russians declare a launch, bravo alert is issued. It just means that someone in the world is doing something that might endanger the US.
#2
And in further alarming news, the Pentagon and White House refused to comment on persistent stories that Bush had unilaterally refused to negotiate with Throg, captain of the alien vessel that wiped out North Spoon, Kansas last night.
#3
There are five levels of alert: normal, Alpha (low), Bravo (medium), Charlie (high) and Delta (critical). "Bravo-Plus" is slightly higher than a medium threat level.
That's not a operational alert level, that's the Force Protection Condition (FPCON). What they used to call THREATCON. The Force Protection Conditions (FPCON) system is mandated by Department of Defense directive. It describes progressive levels of security measures in response to Force Protections to U.S. Army personnel and facilities. The FPCON system is the baseline and foundation for development of all force protection plans and orders. Declaration of a particular FPCON and implementation of appropriate security and protective measures may be decreed by higher headquarters (Department of the Army, Military District of Washington), or the garrison commander following receipt of intelligence through official sources or following an anonymous threat.
They're on a slightly elevated terrorist threat level, happens all the time.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/03/2006 12:51 Comments ||
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#4
Ima at
Tuna Case +5
Wild Turkey is nominal.
CastNet Out of Storage
FishHooks at Hold
A Web site run by the US State Department that is "designed to bring international terrorists to justice" fails to identify the perpetrators of suicide bombings and other attacks in Israel as Palestinians, The Jerusalem Post has found.
The Rewards for Justice website is part of a program administered by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. It offers rewards "for information that prevents, frustrates or favorably resolves acts of international terrorism against US persons or property worldwide" and gives details of terrorist attacks in which US citizens were kidnapped, injured or killed. While the site includes names, photographs and background information about terrorists wanted for attacks in places such as the Philippines, Yemen and Italy, it does not provide a single name, biographical detail or even organizational affiliation for Palestinian terrorists involved in the murder of Americans. Instead, the site obliquely refers to them as "individuals and groups opposed to Middle East peace negotiations" or as "terrorist individuals and groups opposed to a negotiated peace."
Since the the Oslo accords were signed in September 1993, dozens of American citizens have been killed in Palestinian terrorist attacks. These include three Americans murdered in the October 2003 assault on a US diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip and five US citizens who died in the July 2002 Palestinian bombing at Hebrew University. Asked to explain why the perpetrators are not identified as Palestinians, even though Palestinian organizations often claim responsibility for attacks, State Department spokeswoman Andrea Rogers-Harper said, "The United States government will pursue the perpetrators of terror attacks against Americans carried out by any group opposed to the peace process regardless of their ethnicity."
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#3
There are no Palestinian terrorists because there are no Palestinians. The term "Palestine" was used by Roman Imperialists to name a province that covers much of the region on both sides of the Jordan River. It was revived by British imperialists to describe the Holy lands, in which members of the 3 Abrahamic faiths resided. Ergo: Jewish and Christians were both classified as "Palestinians." Arab residents are certainly a settler class, unrelated to Assyrian, Hebrew or Phoenician peoples. The above were all settlers, with Hebrews migrating from the upper region of Mesopotamia. Arabs - which should not include Egyptians, Berbers or any of the current Arab speakers of the Levant - migrated with the jihad conquests. The actual homeland of Arab speakers, on the West Bank or in Israel, is the Red Sea gulf region, to Yemen.
By the way, the only means against Arab terror that have ever worked is: disproportionate retaliation, targeted killings and punitive destruction of family homes of terrorists. It is State Department pressure that prevents further Israeli use of those tactics. I thought that the Vietnam experience would anathemize unwinnable-war.
#6
I don't know Anginens Threreng8133's source, Fur Trapper, but a good broad history reference is the British historian Paul Johnson's A History of the Jews (ISBN # 0-06-015698-8). He also wrote a really good history of Christianity, although doesn't spend much time on Orthodox Christianity. You also might check out the Israeli embassy's website, although I'm sure your opponants will claim their information is fatally biased. ;-) Good luck!
#7
First we won't classify the Taliban as terrorists (the protectors of Osama Bin Laden). Now we won't call the Pallies terrorists because a reward isn't offered? Somebody at State is trying mightily hard not to offend; that's a PC maneuver straight out of the EU and UN handbooks. Sounds like we're taking marching orders from others in this WoT.
Refusing to identify the enemies of America and our allies puts more American lives in danger. Hope somebody is documenting this stupidity and treachery.
#11
Fur Trapper:
Sorry for the delayed response. Although Jewish histories rely mostly on the Old Testament, the fact that that document sources Jewish culture in Mesopotamia and accurately names the old cities of the region, leads me to believe that accounts of a massive population shift to the Levant did occur. ("Hebrew" means: he who crossed the river) The Assyrian shift towards the Mediterannean is known through tablet sources. There are references to Roman and Byzantine trade contacts with what is known as the "Hijaz" region of what is now Saudi Arabia, although most contacts were with Bedouin Arabs who encroached on the Empire. Muhammad, the self-proclaimed "prophet", was an Arab trader with the Byzantines, whose contacts with Christians and Jews furnished his concoction of the Koran fiction. Arabs have never had a homeland in the Levant.
A "Palestinian" is a UN invention, propped by the West's refusal to properly put down Arab belligerence.
#4
Sy is a favorite leak point for a lot of long-time Washingtonians, and he probably does have real, informed, sources for this article. In fact, I would be shocked if there were not a substantial number of State and Intelligence people who believe an air attack on Iran will not work - it certainly MIGHT not work, and that contingency has to be on the table.
That said, it still has to be a serious concern to both the Administration and to 'thinking' Americans that State secrets just can't seem to be kept SECRET.
#7
heh- if I was in charge, I'd think that hersch is a perfect conduit to put out any misinformation I'd want to get out there. I'd get joy out of it too. The thought of the little tool excitedly writing exactly what I want him to write in the belief that he was a rebel and renegade would give me evil joy.
But then, sigh, that's why I'd NEVER want to be involved in that clandestine world of cross/triple cross/quadruple cross. Nah, the simple life for me. But I can dream, can't I.
#8
Apparently James Dunnigan of Strategypage.com, who's hardly a moonbat, has the same view, so I wouldn't get too harsh on Hersch quite yet.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/03/2006 9:11 Comments ||
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#9
Hersh was on the Today program about day three of the Afghan operation describing it as a disaster. His 'sources' said that everything was going wrong. Today, any rational person recognizes otherwise. Even the lefties dont talk Afghanistan anymore. Why do they keep bringing up the same old journalistic failures. One decent shot and then living for decades on it, does not a pretty sight make. If MSM had to meet the same standards of purity in reporting that food processors have to make in what they sell us, thed been put out of business a long time ago.
To get the job done in Iran will require some actions on the ground at some sites.
If we don;t care about civil society (and want to shut off all near-term possibility of a revolt against the mullah-ocracy) we can simply take down the power grid. Hit the main plants and power distribution centers with guided munitions, and the local neighborhoods and transmimssion lines with mylar to short them out. Every time they restart one, we blast it.
Welcome Iran back to the 1880's and gaslights.
Problems: civilian populaiton and refugees coming into Iraq. Disrupting oil production that the Euros depend on disrupting world supplies. And many other smaller concerns.
However, ALL of that can be planned for if we can properly prep a "revolution" and uprising against the central government - there are ethnic lines that can be exploited to fracture Iran, as well as political and economic ones. And targeting all the governmental and military command nodes weould be highly effective at destabilizing ht e regiem and allowing such opponents to act.
Hersh simply emphasizes all the negative that he can wring out of his sources, and ignores any positive.
#11
I'm beginning to think Bush has never intended to take kinetic military action against Iran. Instead,in a delicious irony, we are going to use the oil weapon. Have the UN impose sanctions that cut off gasoline imports. Oh, and former regime elements from Iraq may be captured after what little refining capacity Iran has is destroyed with IEDs.
It would be nice to see Iran break apart so that the Mideast political map could be reasssembled on a more rational basis.
#12
My favorite Hersh moment came when he wrote a piece about the first Ranger raid on an airfield in Afghanistan in Oct 2001 and claimed we had 16 AC-130s up at the same time but it was still not enough to handle the Lions of Islam the Rangers encountered on the ground and the SOF teams ran into at Mullah Omar's crib. Anybody fact checking this guy would realize there is no way we have basically 1/2 of our AC-130s in the same place at the same time. Subsequent accounts revealed he got most of the other details wrong too. But nobody fact checks him since he won a Pulitzer.
Apparantly W refers to him as a "f---ing liar." Sounds about right to me.
#13
lol, JAB! That "cowboy" sure does talk rough about our enlightened, suave, nuanced Mr. Hersh, does he not. One of the reasons I love our Prez...he says what he means and means what he says (unfortunately, that's led me to disagree with him a lot lately...spending, illegal immigration, not smacking-down Iran/N. Korea already, etc.). I know though, that their time will come.
Posted by: BA ||
07/03/2006 11:24 Comments ||
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#14
Yeah, that Pulitzer's makes life easy.
Posted by: Walter D Esq. ||
07/03/2006 13:32 Comments ||
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#15
Besides turning off the juice in Iran, shut down their gas refiner/y/ies and make the entire country a no-fly zone (except for birdies). Tell them we'll ease the pressure when they get rid of the mullahs, renounce nuclear weapons, have their government apologize for seizing our territory in 1979, and pay the US a very substantial penalty for so doing. Otherwise let the whole country pound sand indefinitely. The ensuing oil crisis would be nothing like the crisis that would happen after the mullocracy uses its nukes for the first time. In any case, we will either pay now or pay later.
"Really, you should be blaming Israel. Or India. Or Samoa. But not Syria."
The Arab League yesterday called on the United States to revise its position after its ambassador to the United Nations held Syria partly responsible for a crisis over a captive Israeli soldier. The United States, as a large power and a permanent member of the Security Council, must revise its position and assume its responsibilities with regard to international law, the 22-member blocs assistant secretary-general, Ahmed Ben Helli, told reporters.
Ben Helli called on Washington not to stir up these questions because it is the Palestinians who are subjected to the aggression. During a Security Council debate on the standoff over the Israeli corporal held in the Gaza Strip, US Ambassador John Bolton held Syria partly responsible for the raid in which the soldier was seized last Sunday . We would not be where we are right now if it were not for Syrias support and harboring of terrorists, Bolton said, calling on President Bashar Assad to hand over for prosecution Hamas exiled supremo Khaled Meshaal. Syrian Ambassador Milad Attieh retorted at the meeting that the allegations were baseless and unacceptable.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Ho-K how aboout us blaming the real sources islam and despots who are islamic then?
#2
When I read nonsense like this, I remember the old Star Trek joke:
The Saudi ambassador, a huge Star Trek fan, had cornered Gene Roddenberry at a formal dinner. He was going on about how impressed he was with the wide variety of racial, ethnic, and national origns represented in the Enterprise crew, but he said that his grandson wanted to know why there were no Arabs on the crew. Roddenberry thought for a minute and then replied, " Well, that is because the story takes place in the fututre."
Is there anything that doesn't foster anti-US sentiment? Anyone? Bueller?
A summit of African leaders opened yesterday with a special welcome for the firebrand presidents of Iran and Venezuela, each visiting the poorest continent to win support for their anti-American agenda. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh hailed the presence of Venezuelas President Hugo Chavez and Irans President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the summit of the 53-nation African Union as a morale booster as well as an assurance that Africa can make it.
Ahmadinejads visit was seen as an attempt to bolster Iran in its standoff with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program. The Iranian president has made several high-profile trips to Asia, where he drew crowds of Muslims cheering Tehran for defying the West. He prayed with African Muslims at Banjuls main mosque Friday, encouraging Gambian Muslims to come together on the path of Islam to God. Ninety percent of Gambias 1.6 million people are Muslim, and Islam is a powerful force throughout much of Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Let Chavez and Imanutjob provide foreign aid. US dollars are too precious to throw into a blackhole.
Posted by: ed ||
07/03/2006 1:06 Comments ||
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#2
Both Hugo and Mahmoud in the same grid? What a missed opportunity.
July 3, 2006: While the suicide bomb attacks against Shia Arabs get lots of attention, hardly any notice is paid to the increasing number of smaller attacks against the Sunni Arab community. As a result, there is growing panic among Sunni Arabs. This has reached the point where even Osama bin Laden, in one of his latest taped messages, calls for the Islamic world to come to the rescue of Iraqi Sunni Arabs. Similarly, elected Iraqi Sunni Arab politicians are refusing to participate in the government unless the violence against them is halted, or at least reduced.
The Kurds, and especially the Shia Arabs, after decades of Sunni Arab terror, are in payback mode. Big time. But since this terror largely involves cars or trucks loaded with gunmen, not suicide bombers, it is only really noticed by the Sunni Arab victims. And on the streets of Baghdad, and other Sunni Arab towns, the terror is there. You can feel it. And it does not appear to be going away, no matter how diligently Sunni Arab leaders negotiate for some kind of amnesty. The government is offering amnesty, but on the street, vengeful Kurdish and Shia Arab death squads continue taking revenge.
The government is looking to Algeria, where, after over a decade of Islamic terrorism, the rebels were defeated and an amnesty deal imposed. But many Algerians are not ready for amnesty. Islamic radicals killed most of the 100,000 people who died during the violence, and vengeful kin watch amnestied rebels walking the streets. In Iraq, the government fears that the Kurds and Shia Arabs are not ready for amnesty either. The continuing Sunni Arab terror attacks, and the anti-Shia pronouncements of international Islamic terrorists like bin Laden, have made Sunni Arabs unwelcome in Iraq. After all, many Iraqi Sunni Arabs have made no secret of their goal of eventually regaining control of the country. Sunni Arab governments in neighboring countries have openly admitted they would prefer that. Al Qaeda has long preached, and practiced, violence against Shia (who are considered heretics). As a result, many Kurds and Shia Arabs would be content to see Iraq free of Sunni Arabs. That, however, would be a nightmare. Shoving four million Sunni Arabs into neighboring countries (mainly Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) would create vengeful refugee populations (Arabs are reluctant to absorb refugees) that would cause problems for generations.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/03/2006 09:20 ||
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#1
Shoving four million Sunni Arabs into neighboring countries (mainly Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) would create vengeful refugee populations (Arabs are reluctant to absorb refugees) that would cause problems for generations.
Only for a single (short-lived) generation. I doubt Shias and Kurds would display the same patience and restraint that Israel has exhibited towards the Paleos.
#2
After all, many Iraqi Sunni Arabs have made no secret of their goal of eventually regaining control of the country. Sunni Arab governments in neighboring countries have openly admitted they would prefer that. Al Qaeda has long preached, and practiced, violence against Shia (who are considered heretics).
Crikey, no wonder the Shia are in payback mode...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/03/2006 16:20 Comments ||
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Earlier this year, at the request of the local Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) and Shabak communities of the Nineveh Plain, and the local police force of the Hamdaniya and Telkaif districts, the Ministry of Interior gave the order to assign approximately 800 new policemen from the local communities in the two Nineveh Plain Districts. This was long overdue as these two districts have a substantially low number of policemen to maintain security in the region. In addition, over fifty percent of the anemic police force in this region is made up of Kurds from outside the area who are loyal to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
The first order from the ministry was handed down on March 14th, 2006. With a second official order dated April 6th, 2006, the approved applicants were asked to report for duty immediately. However, the Provincial Council of Nineveh, headed by Police Chief Wathiq Muhammad Abd Al-Qadir, has continually delayed the implementation of the ministry's order in the hopes of maintaining KDP control over the region. The Provincial Council of Nineveh is dominated by the Kurdish KDP even though the majority inhabitants of the area are Sunni Arabs, Shiite Shabaks, and ChaldoAssyrian Christians,
After several complaints from the locals, the order was finally implemented on June 14th, 2006, but with the modification that the Nineveh Plain approved applicants report for duty not in their Nineveh Plain hometowns but instead in the most troublesome neighborhoods in the city of Mosul.
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#1
Nonetheless, the KDP got most votes in the election in Nineveh province (38%) and as more Kurds expelled by Saddam return (and as the constitution specifically states they can), will doubtless increase it's vote.
#2
This seems more to be that the Kurds, so long a persecuted minority in Iraq, are taking the opportunity to discriminate against an even smaller minority.
#4
Kurds and Assyrian Christians are traditional enemies. While everyone knows about the massacre of Armenians, the Kurds killed about half the Assyrians in Iraq in the early 1920s while the Brits ignored it.
This is disappointing, sincee I had heard that the Kurds were actually paying Christians to move into Kurdistan.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/03/2006 10:16 Comments ||
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#5
Ancient manuscripts tell of very early Christians bravely venturing into Koordestan to spread the news to vicious cannibals, and even the Apostle Paul was warned away from the area. The Kurds must be genetic cousins to the Afghans who charged tanks on their horses and skinned people alive. With such ancient prejudices, how can they ever grasp such concepts as equality and true justice?
#6
Turkey, Kurdistan, Iraq, and Iran have all practiced depradations against the Assyrians and other minorities. The Turks continue to enlist the aid of Kurds to drive Surian Christians from villages around Urfa. The Surians, few as they are, become pawns sacrificed in a political battle to appease Kurdish tribal leaders. "Drive these guys out, and we'll give you their land if you behave."
If the world isn't going to turn back the clock on this and related land, money, and power grabs, then logically speaking, no one should have any objection to the Isrealis keeping their place in the sun.
There's a good account of this in Dalrymple's 1997 book, "From the Holy Mountain" (he's no fan of Israel, but inadvertantly argues for that country's ultimate success). Ironically, it's only in Syria that Middle Eastern Christians are reasonably treated anymore. The minority Alawite government uses the multi-denominational Christian minority plus the Druze and Shiite minorities to buttress its numbers against the Sunni majority. "Do anything you want, so long as you stay out of politics."
#1
Driving a car bomb is classified as 'possession of illegal weapons' and the sentence is 15 years. Somehow that just does not seem to adequately describe somebody on his way to blow up a marketplace or a mosque. To me 'possession' ought to mean having an RPG or a mortar or such, not a suicide bomb.
(KUNA) -- Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwaffaq Al-Rubei announced Sunday a list of 41 people involved in insurgency acts in Iraq. The new list by the Iraqi official includes former vice president and Ba'ath official Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, the new Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Ayub Al-Masri a.k.a Abu Hamzah Al-Mouhajer, Lebanese politician Maan Bashoor as well as Saddam's Daughter Ragad and his first wife Sajida Khairallah.
The official told KUNA that the list includes other people who committed numerous crimes against Iraqi civilians adding that the list includes persons operating within Iraq and from outside the country. A bounty of USD 50.000 to USD 10 million will be rewarded to anyone who provides information that helps capture these 41 wanted people, said Al-Rubei. He added that any person who was not mentioned in the list will have a chance to benefit from amnesty as part of a National reconciliation initiative declared by Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki a week ago. The insurgents who are operating form abroad will be apprehended with the help of the Interpol, he said.
When asked what would be the position of his government if Amman refuses to hand over Raghad Saddam Hussein, he said relations between Baghdad and Amman are good "and I don't believe it would desist from handing over wanted people to the interpol."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent
The fear that last week's kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit could become a model adopted by terrorist organizations in Arab states has caused others of these countries to become involved over the weekend in the effort to arrange Shalit's return. Senior Saudi officials, for instance, spoke with Syrian and Lebanese leaders to determine their ability to influence the kidnappers and/or to moderate the urgings for them to stand fast that are emanating from Hezbollah and other organizations.
In other words, the Arab Leadership is caught between their own anti-Israel propaganda and the knowledge that local Islamists will try to kidnap them if the local Islamists see the Hamas kidnapping as being a success - poor babies.
#1
Hey Arabs? you created the beast and now you're afraid it's gonna bite back? Tough shit.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/03/2006 8:37 Comments ||
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#2
Very telling that their worry and opposition comes from being afraid they might be kidnapped instead of being against the sale of human beings. Comparison of cultures: wheat vs. chaff.
#4
Terrorism and Jihad are Frankenstein monsters that always turn on those that foment it. But they never learn. The ideology of Jihad is uncompromising and demands escalation and cultivating and enforcing greater hatred so that no one may stand up to and speak moderation or logic. No one can say "hey wait a minute...is this such a good idea...". No one, that is, who is not armed to the teeth and ready to fight to the death.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned yesterday that the coming hours were critical, sensitive and serious to resolving the crisis, appealing for negotiations to continue, as an official said the soldier whose abduction sparked Israels invasion of Gaza is alive and in stable condition.
Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters exchanged fire for several hours yesterday afternoon when Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossed the border with Gaza and began razing farmland east of the town of Khan Younis. Palestinians shot an anti-tank rocket at one of the vehicles. The army responded with gunfire and a missile launched from an unmanned plane. No major injuries were reported on either side. The fighting took place north of the position Israeli troops have occupied since they entered Gaza on Wednesday. The army said it was carrying out a limited operation in the area and the soldiers were expected to leave soon.
No sign has been seen of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, since he was abducted a week ago during a Palestinian raid on an Israeli Army post just outside Gaza that killed two soldiers and two of the attackers. The Hamas-affiliated fighters holding Shalit initially said they would trade information about him for all Palestinian women and underage prisoners being held in Israeli jails. They raised their demands yesterday, calling for an end to the Israeli offensive and the release of 1,000 additional prisoners held by Israel, including non-Palestinian Muslims and Arabs. The new demands were also rejected by Israel. They appeared aimed at rallying support in the Arab world. Israel has ruled out any compromise with the kidnappers, saying it would only encourage more abductions.
Ziad Abu Aen, a Palestinian deputy minister and a Hamas official, said yesterday that mediators told him Shalit had received medical treatment for the wounds he sustained in the raid and was in stable condition. He has three wounds, Abu Aen said at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah. I guess shrapnel wounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, has strongly condemned the Israeli war crimes that are presently being committed against Palestinians, in the on-going siege of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In a statement issued yesterday, Al-Awda said, We call upon the international community to take up their responsibility in protecting the Palestinian people from this aggression, and terminating the continuing Israeli policy of collective punishment. Since military operations began on June 27, Israel has destroyed bridges, roads and water and electricity plants in the occupied territories.
More than two-thirds of the people have been denied access to water and electricity. Children, the sick and elderly are the first to be affected. Israel, the US and European Union governments have put the Palestinian people under siege for the past few months as collective punishment because these countries did not approve of the results of the democratic elections held by the Palestinian Authority, continued the statement.
The statement added that the Palestinians felt that the Israels withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last year was a means of turning the area into the largest open prison with the largest population of prisoners in the world. The acquiescence of world governments to this indicates complicity in these war crimes.Nothing justifies the Israeli savagery, including the destruction of water and electricity plants. Racist media coverage in North America has been trying to minimize the importance of these war crimes, Al-Awda said. Al-Awda has called on supporters of the Palestinian struggle, the international community, activists and Arab organizations to demand an end to the siege.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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Let us know when they condemn Hamas' daily rocket attacks, kidnappings, and murders...
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday denounced Israels offensive in the Palestinian territories and the arrest of dozens of Palestinian politicians as a disproportionate and mistaken response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. I find it hard to understand the abduction of (Palestinian politicians) and cannot see it as a contribution to Middle East peace, Erdogan told reporters in Ankara, the Anatolia news agency reported. It is a very, very mistaken attitude, he added.
Lots of us don't see daily rocket attacks and occasional kidnapping campaigns as conducive to Middle East peace, either. Lots of us, in fact, have a hard time seeing how Hamas' war mongering is remotely connected with Middle East peace.
Following the capture of the Israeli soldier in a Palestinian raid on an army post near Gaza last Sunday, Israel hit back with a massive ground and massive offensive in the Gaza Strip, an area it evacuated only nine months ago. On Thursday, the Israeli Army rounded up 64 politicians from the governing Islamist movement Hamas, among them eight Cabinet ministers and 24 Islamist MPs, in a massive sweep in the occupied West Bank. It is not right to kidnap a soldier, but should the price of that be the abduction, capture of parliamentarians and local administrators? Erdogan said.
Sure, when the kidnapping not capture, but kidnapping is the result of either government policy or government connivance.
He also criticized Israels airstrikes in Gaza, which has knocked out bridges and a power station.
So what's his opinion on the daily rocket attacks? Or is he like Kofi, in the dark about them?
In Amman, visiting Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar yesterday condemned Israels ongoing military operation as a provocation, and demanded the release of Palestinian officials detained by Israeli troops.
Kidnapping campaigns and rocket attacks aren't provocations, of course...
What is going on in the Palestinian territories is disappointing and a provocation which is out of proportion to the event which sparked the Israeli attack, Albar said.
I guess proportion must be in the eye of the beholder...
Albar urged Israel to release Palestinian ministers and lawmakers including the mayor of Jenin, Hatem Jarrar. This Israeli provocation will only lead to the deterioration of the situation in the Palestinian areas, he said.
Eventually you reach a point where a situation can't deteriorate any further.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
No, Sunshine, the world is just tired of the Palestinians' crap, and wouldn't mind seeing them get stomped a bit. Your clue detector is not functioning correctly.
#5
I wouldn't say we're slow to react. You wouldn't want to see us react quicker. In fact, I believe Israel's doin' a bang-up job for reacting for all of us right now. Faster, please.
Posted by: BA ||
07/03/2006 11:31 Comments ||
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#6
I think world should be a loooooooooooooooooooooooot slower to react to Gaza and a loooooooooooooooooooot faster to react to Arab atrocities in Sudan. Or and while we are at it how about the Arab world using a bit of its ill-gained oil-money to compensate the Kurds?
#7
I really don't give a monkeys about what the Arab league (surely an oxymoron if ever there was one) thinks about the world's response to the Gaza 'situation'.
TW2412 has exactly the right idea; renounce violence, recognise Israel and keep to agreements.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/03/2006 16:37 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- The Palestinian government has been cooperating with all Palestinian and Arab parties to rescue the region from unrest, said Sunday Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya. Haniya, whose compound was attacked by at least one Israeli missile earlier today, was referring to the Israeli military operations in Gaza within the abducted Israeli soldier dilemma.
In a statement to reporters, Haniya accused Israel of foiling efforts to solve the abducted soldier issue. Israel refused yesterday the abductors' demand to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for information about the kidnapped Israeli soldier.
Haniya received today a solidarity delegation from the Democratic Front to Liberate Palestine and the Popular Front to Liberate Palestine. In a statement to reporters, the delegation strongly condemned Israel's hostel policies and military escalation against Palestinian people and their infrastructure.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Release Shalit, execute those who murdered the Israeli teen, give your daughters into vani to the local synagogue and beg the Israelis to spare your worthless lives. How's that for a solution?
Posted by: ed ||
07/03/2006 1:20 Comments ||
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#2
It's not an "abducted soldier issue". It's a "terrorists running amok issue".
Posted by: grb ||
07/03/2006 3:17 Comments ||
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#3
It's not a "terrorists running amok issue", it's "the government's irregular forces obeying orders" issue.
#8
Stamp your little foot. Good! Now, poooch your lips out. Gimmee a real purty pout. That's it! Now say, "Everybody keeps hitting me back!" No, no more whimper and whine in the delivery. Try again... excellent!
Now put it all together for me. "Superb!" Roll camera one, please.
#9
In a statement to reporters, the delegation strongly condemned Israel's hostel policies and military escalation against Palestinian people and their infrastructure.
And, here, I didn't even know they had hostels in Israel. Learn somethin' new every day from these wacky Paleos, don't we? And I give grom our own fred award for the best re-write of the headlines of the day! Hear, hear!
Posted by: BA ||
07/03/2006 11:29 Comments ||
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#10
Back to #3 by trailing wife, it wouldn't surprise me if Hamas is turning lemons into lemonade by using this situation to "prove" that the military arm is not under the political arm's control.
Posted by: grb ||
07/03/2006 13:24 Comments ||
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Calling for it is another way of saying you don't have it now ...
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Hindus on Sunday called on the government to guarantee the right to freedom of religion, which they say is being trampled on by conservative Islam in the mainly Muslim country.
A. Vaithilingam, the president of Malaysia Hindu Sangam, which represents over 1,000 Hindu temples and associated communities, said the group issued the demand at their annual general meeting on Sunday. We unanimously endorsed that the federal government should take this matter seriously and see that part of the constitution is implemented, Vaithilingam told AFP.
The countrys constitution affirms freedom of religion for Malaysians, but Hindu Sangam and other religious minority groups say growing Muslim conservatism is eroding their rights. Very often the authorities are ignoring the fact that there is something known as freedom of worship, said Vaithilingam.
Religious tensions have been on the boil since December, when an ethnic Indian moutaineering hero M. Moorthy was buried as a Muslim over the protests of his Hindu wife, who said he never converted. Moorthy was ruled a Muslim in an Islamic or sharia court, in which his wife had no say as a non-Muslim.
She's lucky they didn't just kill her.
Hindu Sangams call comes amidst a crucial hearing in Malaysias highest court to decide whether Islamic courts have the exclusive right to rule on whether Muslims can legally convert. The Federal Court decided it would rule on the matter following the case of a Muslim woman who appealed to have her former religion struck off her identity card after converting to Christianity.
Lina Joy, an ethnic Malay, was originally known as Azlina Jailani but changed her name when she converted in 1997. The National Registration Department granted a card with her new name in 1999 but refused to remove her religion, stated as Islam, saying it needed permission from a sharia court.
Vaithilingam said freedom of religion was the crux of the matter and that judges in Malaysias lower courts had so far ruled against Lina Joy. The person has clearly stated she is a Christian, but the judges are ignoring that part of the constitution, he said. We are still very hopeful that the federal court judges will be in favour of Lina Joys claim, he added.
Hope all you want ...
Malaysias 26 million people are roughly 60 percent Muslim Malay, with mostly Hindu Indians making up eight percent of the population and ethnic Chinese most of the remainder.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/03/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Religious minorities are poorly treated in all Muslim majority countries. In stark contrast, our Muslim leaders want their colleagues to have free reign in jihad advocacy.
How many of our Christian leaders identified the Jim Jones suicide group, with Christianity? Zero. Yet nobody from CAIR, AMC or ISNA will pronounce the Gitmo terrorists as anything other than Muslims. In fact, Muslim leaders agitate for free Korans, prayer rugs and halal foods, for Gitmo internees.
#2
Staying on-track for Mahmoud's mid-August "destroy Israel" date. I would have expected more outbursts from Ahmadinnerjacket on the Palestine "seige" by now. Funny he is so quiet and sticking to original plan. Still waiting for the nukes to arrive from NK?
Kimmy should take over deflection again for a week or two, then back to the posturing of "considering" until Aug 22.
But now we have the actual date (unless he surprises by striking within the next 2 weeks).
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.
MOGADISHU - A powerful Islamic group in Somalia on Sunday distanced itself from comments made by Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who voiced his support for the Islamists and warned against deploying international forces in lawless Horn of Africa nation.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan tried on Sunday to persuade Sudanese leader 
African leaders agreed on Sunday to extend their military mission in Darfur, after U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan failed to persuade Sudan to allow in international peacekeepers to try to end years of bloodshed. But Annan said he expected a U.N. peacekeeping force, widely seen as the only way to end a crisis in which tens of thousands have died, to be deployed eventually.
A Web site run by the US State Department that is "designed to bring international terrorists to justice" fails to identify the perpetrators of suicide bombings and other attacks in Israel as Palestinians, The Jerusalem Post has found. 
The 
(KUNA) -- Iraqi National Security Advisor 
By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned yesterday that the coming hours were critical, sensitive and serious to resolving the crisis, appealing for negotiations to continue, as an official said the soldier whose abduction sparked Israels invasion of Gaza is alive and in stable condition.
(KUNA) -- The Palestinian government has been cooperating with all Palestinian and Arab parties to rescue the region from unrest, said Sunday Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya. Haniya, whose compound was attacked by at least one Israeli missile earlier today, was referring to the Israeli military operations in Gaza within the abducted Israeli soldier dilemma. 
