Security forces in Saudi Arabia defused two truck bombs outside of Riyadh, a security source said on Tuesday, bringing the number of car bombs seized in the kingdom in the past week to five.
Do they ticket cars that don't have explosives or something?
The vehicles were discovered late Monday at Shuaib Juraidal in Rumhiyah village, 56 miles (90 kilometers) east of Riyadh. After the two vehicles were found, security forces and helicopters searched the area for armed men, who fled the area in a Jeep, residents told Arab News.
That's what usually happens...
On Sunday, an Interior Ministry official announced the arrest of eight suspects linked to recent deadly clashes with security forces and car bombs. The Saudi Press Agency quoted the official giving details of three seized vehicles packed with thousands of pounds of explosives, including one vehicle authorities had been searching for since February. Saudi police have set up several checkpoints in Riyadh. And the pucker factor just keeps increasing for Saudi Arabia. In light of the monsters theyâve bred up, this is one hell of a surprise.
Police in the north of England have arrested 10 people on suspicion of terrorism, thereby reportedly foiling a suicide bomb attack aimed at a packed soccer stadium. Greater Manchester Police said Monday the raids included searches of a number of buildings and businesses. The 10 were detained "on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism." The Sun newspaper reported Tuesday that the suspects planned to set off bombs during a match between Manchester United and Liverpool this weekend -- one of the biggest games in the English soccer calendar. The paper quoted an unnamed police source as saying the suspects had bought tickets for seats in the 67,000-capacity Manchester Unitedâs Old Trafford stadium. The arrests reportedly made after months of surveillance and eavesdropping on cell phone calls, the paper said. Six have since been charged with explosives or terrorism offences. A Canadian, Momin Khawaja, has been named as a co-conspirator in the case.
Hmmmm... Just as he was in the last case...
Although police have not released details of the allegations in that case, the fertilizer seized has fuelled speculation a bomb attack was being planned on a civilian target. A fertilizer suicide bomber wouldnât be that effective unless he looked like the Michelin man. I think they must have had commercial explosives and the journalist doesnât know what he is talking about as usual. BTW, this boom would have been live on TV and watched by at least a hundred million people.
I think the writer ran this bust together with the previous bust, which did involve fertilizer bombs...
A TERROR plot to bomb a target in Greater Manchester was uncovered today. Ten people - all with apparent links to extreme Islamic groups - were arrested in co-ordinated raids early this morning. Special branch officers confirmed they had arrested nine men and one woman. Seven addresses were targeted and seven people arrested in Greater Manchester. Three further people were arrested in the West Midlands, Staffordshire, and South Yorkshire. Those being questioned today are Iraqis, Kurds and north Africans.
Tap, nope, didn't twitch.
Police said they would neither confirm not deny rumours about possible targets.
A total of 400 officers from the four forces were used in the co-ordinated swoops. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police, which oversaw the operation said: "All those arrested are being held on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism." It is the climax of a lengthy surveillance operation involving Special Branch and the security services, during which a number of messages have been intercepted.
Lot's of documentation.
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/20/2004 5:02:36 AM ||
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#1
One possible MO - Small Suicide bomb or bombs set off in the stadium itself, then a much larger explosive or explosive devices are detonated outside the stadium as the crowds leave (possibly in vehicles driven up to exits soon after the first blasts). No need to risk smuggling more than a small amount of explosives past the stadium's security personnel.
#2
Hitting football grounds would stir up massive problems for muslims in the UK - remember the Oldham riots started by Stoke City thugs? If I were a travelling die-hard fan I could think of doing nothing better than smashing up a few corner shops when visiting Bradford / Oldham / Burnley / Blackburn / Derby / Leicester/ Leeds etc... Is this their aim?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 5:26 Comments ||
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#3
Is this their aim?
Of course it is. The more Muslims are radicalized the better.
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/20/2004 5:31 Comments ||
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#4
Then it's a pretty fucking stupid one cos their communities will be trashed every other Saturday.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 5:38 Comments ||
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#5
Is this their aim?
You betcha. And the sort of attitude you describe would be dancing to the jihadists' tune. They would send a lot of weak-minded folks running into the hands of the BNP and vigliante groups, which would generate a corresponding whole lot more support for Islamist-inspired violence within the Muslim community. A widespread recourse to bloody, racist stupidity would show that an Islamist cell could manipulate British society just as they did the Spanish.
Bombs of whatever size in a packed sports stadium would be guaranteed to cause a significant number of casualties through panicking crowd action alone. If I was Asian, I would think twice before going to a high profile match like this, for fear of being lynched in the chaos that would ensue a terrorist attack.
#6
The average British football fan is not known for his reserve and shrewd objectivity. The proverbial shit would hit the fan in a large way. I think this may finally prompt the 'normal' Muslims into getting rid of the loonies in their midst so as to avoid swathes of the inner cities being reduced to rubble. It's hi-ho back to 2001 we go...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 5:49 Comments ||
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#8
UPDATE: The Sun has a bit more detail on the apparent intentions of the terrorists. They had bought tickets for seats dispersed around the stadium, so that a number of suicide bombers could strike separately, maximising the number of casualties.
You're right, Phil B - this would have required plastic explosives, and would have been a media spectacular.
#9
Maybe they were genuine Man Utd fans trying to have a go at the Scousers?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 7:37 Comments ||
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#10
I'm sorry, but I don't understand:
Yes, this would have inspired a lot of soccer hooligans to commit violence against Muslims.
Yes, that would have inspired a lot of Muslims to be even more radical.
But what good would that have done them, considering the lynch mobs rounding them up and hanging them from lamp posts?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 8:05 Comments ||
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#11
RC - Bullseye. The only opposition I've seen to islamo-fascism in the UK came, unsurprisingly not from the Anti-Nazi League, but from a cadre of football fans who turned up to an Al-Muj demo in Trafalgar Square and scared them out of their turbans. They should be careful how they choose their enemies.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 8:24 Comments ||
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#12
But what good would that have done them, considering the lynch mobs rounding them up and hanging them from lamp posts?
Ah, but that is exactly the image they want, run over and over on all arab networks. The muslims living in Britian would suffer, sure, but that would be outweighed by all the converts to their cause (they hope) that would flock to their ranks after seeing innocent muslims lynched by a western mob.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 8:43 Comments ||
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#13
It's worth bearing in mind that the majority of British muslims reject terrorism and are far from radical. Turning the general population anti-Muslim would have the effect of swelling the Islamic extremists' ranks with more than the number which would end up swinging on lamp posts, IMO.
Whilst British muslims are living here peacefully, gradually integrating into British society and culture, many losing their religion, they're effectively being lost to the Islamists. A polarisation of British society would perhaps be a gamble, but in the eyes of the jihadists, preferable to doing nothing at all.
When Islam's in a losing situation, you can expect violence.
#14
A spot of footy violence may put an end to the seeming ambivalence of the many though... they're very good at policing their own and this may force them to do it.. would be a total bloodbath for a bit tho'
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 9:02 Comments ||
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#15
It's worth bearing in mind that the majority of British muslims reject terrorism and are far from radical.
And yet they do little or nothing to expose the terrorists, and like US Muslims, let the extremists be their spokesmen.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 9:03 Comments ||
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#16
I think this may finally prompt the 'normal' Muslims into getting rid of the loonies in their midst so as to avoid swathes of the inner cities being reduced to rubble.
It would appear as though it will take a few incidents like this (and likely the loss of much innocent life) before western Muslims realize that all violent jihadis must be reported to the authorities. Merely expelling such thugs from their respective religious communities will probably not suffice any more as there will always be rabid Imams willing to counsel violent jihad.
Again, this is just the first of many wake up calls for Western Muslims. It's time for them to get the message and hang up the phone.
And yet they do little or nothing to expose the terrorists, and like US Muslims, let the extremists be their spokesmen.
#17
"And yet they do little or nothing to expose the terrorists, "
How, exactly, do we know this? Presumably the police in the UK and the US dont publicize their use of informants, tips, etc within the muslim community. On a related topic, how do you think the Israelis knew where Rantissi was?? The one story that no one has focused on WRT Gaza is how the deaths of Yassin and Rantissi reveal the strength of the informant network Israel has in Gaza.
#18
Muslim leaders have, especially recently, been speaking publicly denouncing terrorism and reaffirming their commitment to work with British police and security services.
You don't see as many public displays of rejection of terrorism from the general muslim population as I'd like to see, but then we haven't had a serious attack on UK soil yet. I don't recall hearing too much protest from the British Irish population when the IRA's thugs were on the rampage, either, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen, or that British people suspected the majority of that population were supporting or harbouring terrorists.
The fact is, the extremist minority, however small, always get a disproportionate amount of press attention. Even if 99 % of Muslim clerics denounced terrorism every Friday, it simply wouldn't be newsworthy.
1. I just watched the BBC international news and this story didn't merit a mention. I wonder why?
2. I was a long time supporter of the IRA and they never represented the same existential threat that Islamics terrorists do.
3. Israel is using electronics to monitor what is going on in the Paleo terrortories. They don't need informants, but I am sure they have them.
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/20/2004 11:31 Comments ||
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#20
I was a long time supporter of the IRA and they never represented the same existential threat that Islamics terrorists do.
Um, existential to whom, Phil B? They killed hundreds of men, women and children, and on one occasion very nearly wiped out the British government. I'd say there are a lot of grieving relatives still around who are painfully aware of human existences the IRA snuffed out. The IRA may not have been as intent on transforming (mainland) British society as the Islamists, but they've killed a lot more of us than the latter group have managed to, so far. My point is not what threat the IRA posed, but how the British community treated the average Irishman who, like the average Muslim, bears no guilt-by-association with killers who may happen to claim to be acting in their 'name'. The idea of collective blame, where only a minority is responsible, is mediaeval to say the least.
Israel has a massive informant network. They don't thwart the majority of attempted suicide bombings through luck or technology alone...
#21
Yes, this would have inspired a lot of soccer hooligans to commit violence against Muslims.
Yes, that would have inspired a lot of Muslims to be even more radical.
I'm not so sure about this. I think a bombing carried out by extremists, followed by reprisals agains uninvolved muslims would force UK muslims to have to chooose between their current way of life (upwardly mobile, living in a free society, etc.) vs. supporting a small band of terrorists whose raison d'etre (pardon my french!) is questionable, at best. Mainstream UK muslims don't agree with the tenents of the extremists. being attacked for being muslim ain't gonna sway 'em.
In fact, I think they'd actually become more activist AGAINST the extremists.
#22
I agree with PlanetDan. Lenin, who was the first to successfully radicalize a population and exploit it to his advantage was careful in the events leading up to the October revolution to not engage in atrocities. Instead, he leveraged off the foul ups of the existing government, promising to stop atrocities and shortages if he was in power.
The Islamists would certainly isolate the UK Muslim population, and perhaps radicalize it, but by initiating the atrocity themselves, they would alienate large portions of the Muslim population and almost 100% of the non-Muslim population. The best outcome that they could hope for would be something akin to Malaysia in the 50's when the Chinese minority went over to Communism and started a guerilla war. If, according to Mao's dictum, the guerilla is the fish and the people is the sea, then the Jihadis would be operating in a very shallow sea and would be easily picked off.
On the continent, the Muslims have been so marginalized, that I think that guerrilla war has a chance. Unlike the UK where Muslims and Hindus have been successful in business and government, the continental Muslim is still ghetto-ized. An atrocity against a weak goverment like Spain's might convince Muslim fence sitters that the power challenge dialectic (see Pryce-Jones' The Closed Circle) could be successfully imported to Europe and used to destroy a weak European culture.
BTW: There has been much questioning here why the Brits haven't shut down the Islamist networks. In WWII, the UK never shut down Hitler's intel networks. They infiltrated them and turned them. Every one. 100% success. An intelligence success like today's represents that sort of effort.
#23
I was a long time supporter of the IRA and they never represented the same existential threat that Islamics terrorists do
Never been in central London and caught in a bomb alert have you? C*nt.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 15:45 Comments ||
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#24
If you are a long time supporter of the IRA then you obviously support the Taliban etc as the IRA targetted the civilian population just like the Taliban etc do, you tosser. They hid sorry still hide in holes just like the Taliban do. Do you even know why you support the IRA or are you just trying to be clever. Think again if that is possible for you. Its not clever and whilst there are idiots around like you that support such movements they shall expand and continue
#27
IF it turns out that Phil B is a Yank, I want to take this opportunity to do what too many muslims fail to do - to distance myself entirely from his support of the IRA. I am ashamed that some of my countrymen did so, and that some of our politicians countenanced it.
I confess to not having done anything about it, or to have worried much about it, prior to 2000.
IIUC the US has been firm on fighting the Real IRA in recent years, and the IRA, whatever its violations of disarmament accords, has not gone back to terror bombings - its more like the PA than like Hamas now (actually better behaved than the PA) What would you have the US do differently now?
#28
IMHO, the US should have been prosecuting anyone supporting the IRA -- and we should seriously consider prosecuting NOW anyone whose support hasn't been eclipsed by the statute of limitations.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 16:36 Comments ||
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#29
IF it turns out that Phil B is a Yank, I want to take this opportunity to do what too many muslims fail to do - to distance myself entirely from his support of the IRA. I am ashamed that some of my countrymen did so, and that some of our politicians countenanced it.
I, too, am obliged to echo Liberalhawk's sentiments.
#33
Phil B, you're an a**hole. You're a hypocrite! How can you sit here and rant, pardon the pun, about jihadists, while all along you support the I.R.A. And YOU posted this news article. What if the I.R.A. was the group behind this attempted slaughter of innocents? Would you have supported that? What if Howard UK or any of our other U.K. posters were at that match? You're a terrorist, fifth columnist, etc. I'll be watching you.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 17:50 Comments ||
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#37
In defence of Phil B, he did say he was a long term supporter of the IRA, implying that he no longer has such sympathies. So long as his support, while it lasted, didn't extend beyond the moral variety, I'm personally content to let bygones be bygones.
I don't think Phil's American - I think he's from the UK (possibly N Ireland?) originally.
#38
1. I think anyone planning to set off a dozen or so suicide bombs in any soccer stadium had better pray the bomb does not malfunction. He/she/it should also not have any living relatives in Western Europe - not just "not in England", but not anywhere where a few Manchester fans (or fans from whatever local team is playing at the time) can get to. Not, that is, if they have any care for their families at all.
2. While it would be deplorable, I think a good, raging mob ripping the throats out of a few hundred Muslims, destroying the local mosque, and rampaging through the streets of a British city may send the best message possible to the people of the Middle East - "push us too far, and we'll not only do this in our country, but after we finish, we'll come do it in YOURS".
My dad's family came from Scotland in the 1730's, my mom's family from Ireland in the 1840's. Neither have any great love for the British. There are still some lingering harsh feelings, based on legitimate grievences. The British have never been lily-white and simon-pure in dealing with their subject peoples, and seemed to reserve their harshest animosities for those closest to them. There is probably still a number of issues they should be held to answer for. Terrorism - acts of random violence against innocents, especially women and children - is NEVER the right answer to any injustice. I can understand the frustrations of the Irish, but I cannot support their methods.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/20/2004 18:24 Comments ||
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#39
Never been in central London and caught in a bomb alert have you? But I have been caught in bomb blast in Belfast.
Note that the currently most popular political party amoung N. Ireland Catholics is Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing.
Also note the Troubles started becuase of legitimate issues; the B specials, absence of one person one vote, and widespread discrimination especially on employment.
The Brits made a serious error in demonizing the IRA. It blinded them to its popularity and its perceived legitimacy in the eyes of many NI catholics. Many times I was met with shocked disbelief when I told british people that the IRA is genuinely popular.
Anyway my point was that to equate the IRA and Islamic terrorists is a serious error. There was always political accomodation with the IRA. There is no accomodation with Islamic terrorists.
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/20/2004 19:08 Comments ||
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#40
Anyway my point was that to equate the IRA and Islamic terrorists is a serious error. There was always political accomodation with the IRA. There is no accomodation with Islamic terrorists.
Phil B, sorry, but that's not enough. Do you, or don't you, condemn the IRA's tactic of killing innocents? Inquiring minds want to know.
#41
Noraid is still raising money. Perhaps now it really does go for humanitarian purposes only.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
04/20/2004 19:24 Comments ||
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#42
It's a different culture. The IRA is a legitimate freedoming fightin baby killing outfit. And also get style points for Trinity. Jeez.... Freepers.
#43
On the Phil B. kerfuffle (apologies to J. Taranto), I agree with the thoughts expressed by others that a terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist.
On the UK soccer thugs, I say we should put their anger to good use. Send a brigade or two of them over to Iraq to thrash the Mahdi "Army."
On UK and US muslim "leaders" who fail to apologize for or even acknowledge the depravity of their brethren, they remind me of NARAL's position on abortion -- giving one inch (acknowledging that partial birth abortion is a gruesome, unnecessary procedure) leads to the ultimate erosion of your position. If Hussein Ibish (what a fat toad -- Ed.) were to ever criticize the Paleoboomers, al Qaeda, etc., he would forever lose the moral "high ground."
Posted by: Tibor ||
04/20/2004 20:08 Comments ||
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#44
Yoiks! CNN mentioned it but didn't say it'd be like bombing a Cowboys-Redskins NFL game. I've got tickets to see Man U v Bayern Munich this summer in Chicago! Nothing had better happen to them. Last year, they traded Beckham before I could see him play in Philadelphia.
Mainstream UK Muslims are kuffir to these zealots and are expendable so ethnic strife is exactly what they're after.
As an American of Irish Catholic ancestry, I'm proud to say I never gave a nickle to the IRA ever despite the 'browbeating' of NORAID creeps in pubs from Boston to LA.
Now I just tell them, "Dublin takes orders from Brussels, London takes orders from Brussels. history's passed you by. You still want 'freedom'? Bomb the Belgians."
August 27 - For more than 30 years, Earl Mountbatten of Burma had spent every August in the quiet fishing village of Mullaghmore, County Sligo in Ireland. He and his family were familiar faces and well-liked by villagers with whom they mixed freely. He never felt the need of a bodyguard.
It was the middle of the morning when Earl Mountbatten and members of his family drove from their Irish home, Classiebawn Castle, down to the harbor and set out for a day's fishing in their 30-foot boat, Shadow V.
The boat had hardly left the harbor mouth when it was ripped apart by an IRA bomb. Earl Mountbatten, aged 79 was killed instantly. His grandson, Nicholas, aged 14, and a 17 year old boatsman also died in the blast. Lord Mountbatten's daughter, Lady Brabourne, her son Timothy and her mother-in-law, the Dowager Lady Brabourne, were all said to be "critical" in an intensive care ward.
Eyewitnesses described a roaring explosion which blew the boat high in the air, smashing it into tiny pieces of wood. In a statement tonight, the IRA claimed responsibility for "the execution of Lord Louis Mountbatten" and said that the boat had been blown up by remote control.
#47
That prick's death was just a small pay back for what the Brits have pulled in Ireland--anyone remember the potato famine--and the extermination of the Gaelic language the Brits pulled there--"Nothern Ireland" is a rump state created by a fading Empire that didn't want to cut free the Protestants from Scotland they suckered into moving there--IRA I don't blame them and they are not comparable to Al Qaeda in any sense
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
04/21/2004 1:47 Comments ||
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#48
NMM, you're a piece of work.
Your heart is harder than granite.
And just as you take the side of the Irish, the British feel equally deeply that Northern Ireland is theirs by right of running it, developing it, and making it productive.
And the IRA has been training with AQ and the Islamist terrorists so don't go there.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 2:43 Comments ||
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#49
NMM is siding with the French and the suicide bombers tonight. Who are you picking in the Branch Davidians versus Reno's Rampaging Feds? I'm sure that you can come-up with something controversial to get Jen riled up. How about between Larry Flint and the Barnyard animals he assaulted - I don't really have a dog in that fight either - but go ahead and shock me. Do your best. Got an opinion on Michael Jackson and Peewee Herman in a wrestling match over a jar of Vaseline while they watch the Romanian Women's Gymnastics team Jello wrestle. Come on NMM. Turn it up to eleven.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/21/2004 3:11 Comments ||
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#50
Sorry, Super Hose!
You saved RB by staying sane, of course.
It's just that having just heard about the 3 simultaneous bombs in Basra, NMM's Leftist whine was getting on my t*ts!
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 3:36 Comments ||
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#51
Jen, thanks for the compliment. Sane was the last thing I expected to be called after posting a comment that included Peewee, the King of Pop, Larry Flynt, and an obscure reference to the movie This is Spinal Tap. Life is full of surprises. :-)
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/21/2004 4:04 Comments ||
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#52
Too cool, SH!
PeeWee was a prophet (May peace and bowties be upon him!)
and "Tap" is the nuts, so...no problem! ;-)
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 4:07 Comments ||
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#53
That prick's death was just a small pay back for what the Brits have pulled in Ireland--anyone remember the potato famine...
Er, no. Everyone involved in that died generations ago... So how exactly did the 79 year-old Second World War veteran Lord Mountbatten, his 14 year-old grandson and a 17 year-old boatmen bear moral responsibility for that? You're a sad waste of a human life, NMM.
#54
Cheers, Bulldog, for saying what I was too upset to say.
Terrorists are terrorists, no matter how "just" they think their cause is or be they Al Queda or the IRA.
Blowing people up and murdering them is the wrong way to attain your political goals regardless of how "righteous" the perpetrators think they are to justify this slaughter.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 4:22 Comments ||
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Brazil's refusal to allow the U.N. atomic agency to fully inspect one of its nuclear facilities has led to frustration within the organization, even though its officials do not believe the country is hiding a weapons program, diplomats said Monday.
Of course not, why would the IAEA start looking for a weapons program now?
The diplomats, who are familiar with the International Atomic Energy Agency's work, suggested the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog is more annoyed than worried about Brazil's decision to deny access earlier this year to uranium enrichment centrifuges at a facility being built near Rio de Janeiro. "It's not a question of suspecting that Brazil has a covert nuclear weapons program," said one of the diplomats, who all spoke on condition of anonymity. "It's more a question of principle." Although Brazil signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1997 and said its nuclear program has purely peaceful objectives, questions about its commitment have simmered for more than a year. The government earlier this month confirmed that IAEA inspectors were denied access in February and March to centrifuges at the facility, in the town of Resende. It cited the need to protect industrial secrets and said the centrifuges were, and will remain, off-limits for visual inspection. The diplomat in Vienna, however rejected that argument. "The agency monitors some 900 facilities around the world with a myriad of technologies and has a good record of protecting those trade secrets," he said.
"Look how well we protected Iraq, Iran and North Koreas secrets."
Another diplomat said Brazil's argument could set a worrying precedent at a time the agency is fighting to gain full access to Iran's nuclear secrets to test Tehran's assertions that it was not pursuing a weapons program.
Say, where does Brazil get it's oil, anyway?
Iran became a focus of world concern after last year's discovery that it was assembling thousands of centrifuges for uranium enrichment, which has uses ranging from generating power to making nuclear weapons. Iran denies any weapons ambitions, saying it only wants to produce electricity. "Brazil's reticence could lead other countries to follow suit," and make the agency's job of policing nuclear programs more complicated, said the diplomat.
Maybe that's the idea.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 9:34:28 AM ||
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#1
Anything to distract the world from how the IAEA is effectively green-lighting Iran's nuclear weapons development.
#3
"In other news, the IAEA announced today that it would be expanding its inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities just as soon as it completes its work in Brazil."
#4
just as soon as it completes its work in Brazil
Of course, that could take awhile. The scenery on beaches of Brazil is much nicer than that in Iran.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 15:07 Comments ||
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#5
The US gets more grief from not signing treaties than other countries do for signing and then ignoring treaties. Perhaps we should just sign away like everyone else.
#7
Brazil can thumb their noses at this---they don't have oil--so are not on the radar screen of the Rice/ Perle/Cheney/Wolfowitz AXIS of REAL evil
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
04/21/2004 1:53 Comments ||
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#8
I love all of the Bush Administration including Dr. Rice, Mr.s Perle and Wolfowitz and Vice President Cheney and think they are fine, intelligent and wise people.
Brazil is on our radar screen: it's a large, populous country, rich in resources and people and the Socialist Lula has been toying with the idea of getting nukes and it's in this hemisphere.
If you weren't so busy calling Republicans names, you might see that the United States is trying to live peacefully in a world full of problems.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 2:46 Comments ||
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EFL:
It takes some doing to find a country whose citizens risk their lives thousands of miles from home, bringing hope to the wretched people of a war-ravaged land, only to be treated as personae non gratae on their return. Last week, that country was Japan.
al-Guardian seems to be upset, wonder why?
Relief that three of its nationals were released unharmed by Iraqi militiamen late last week has quickly given way to criticism of the hostages for putting themselves in harm's way.
Ah, that's why.
For a few days, though, it was not only the hostages' wellbeing that was threatened. TV footage of three young Japanese kneeling blindfolded on the floor of a dark room, surrounded by armed men, did not just horrify their compatriots; it plunged the prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, into a crisis many said he would be lucky to survive. The gunmen, members of a previously unheard of group calling itself the Mojahedin Brigades, had threatened to burn the hostages alive unless Tokyo withdrew its 550 ground troops from Iraq within three days.
Which... uhhh... didn't happen.
Mr Koizumi's position looked near-impossible. As an unstinting supporter of the US-led war in Iraq and of a more visible role for Japan in even the messiest international hotspots, he was never going to bow to the kidnappers' demands. Yet the alternative to deal-making looked equally unpalatable: three executed civilians, including a woman and a teenager who had left school only weeks earlier.
Break out the hankies.
As the deadline approached, thousands took to the streets to call for an immediate troop withdrawal. Peace campaigners kept vigil outside the prime minister's office, and the hostages' relatives appeared on television to urge Mr Koizumi to swallow his pride and spare their children. An opinion poll suggested fewer than half the population was behind their leader. Last Thursday, despair turned to joy as news broke of the hostages' release following the intervention of the Muslim Clerics Association, a moderate Sunni organisation.
They're the bunch that organized the late festivities...
Soon after, two other Japanese - a freelance journalist and a human rights activist - were also released. It was an ending Mr Koizumi would not have dared envisage a few days earlier. He not only survived the biggest test of his three years in power, but emerged with his international and domestic standing enhanced. Newspaper poll results released this week show a clear majority of Japanese - between 62 and 74% - backed his hardline stance on the hostage takers' demands.
And there is the reason for al-Guardians depression.
Though doubts persist about Mr Koizumi's handling of the economy, his domestic reform programme and his support for George Bush's foreign policy, it is the image of a man prepared to face down terrorists that will be freshest in the minds of voters when they go to the polls, first in three lower house by-elections this Sunday and then in nationwide upper house elections in July.
Japan ain't Spain.
For the hostages, though, the happy ending turned sour almost overnight. No sooner had they tasted freedom than Liberal Democratic party figures and rightwing editorial writers were queuing up to label them reckless and irresponsible, even self-righteous, for ignoring warnings not to travel to Iraq. They have been prevented from answering their critics, silenced, for now, by stress and their legal advisers.
Oh, the poor misunderstood hostages, brutally supressed and villified by the Republicans and Rush Limbaugh.......sorry, wrong country.
Even their relatives, figures of sympathy a week ago, have been vilified. Along with the thousands of supportive emails they received were those telling them, in no uncertain term, to stop whining. The message, though couched in more polite terms, was the same in the editorial pages of the conservative press.
They have a different take on family honor in Japan.
The parents of 18-year-old Noriaki Imai, who had planned to produce a picture book about Iraqi children poisoned by depleted uranium shells, were called irresponsible as a weekly magazine poured scorn on their leftwing credentials.
Bet it would make the NYT bestseller list.
I think the Japanese are on to the goobers' connivance in their own kidnapping.
As the crisis entered its final two days, the families' tactics changed. There were no more angry demands for a troop deployment; no more calls for a personal meeting with the prime minister. Just personal pleas, and thanks for the efforts being made on their behalf. Their cause was not helped when two of the hostages - aid worker Nahoko Takato and Soichiro Koriyama, a freelance photographer - said, in telephone calls to their families, that they wanted to stay on in Iraq to complete their work. "No matter how much goodwill they might have had, how can they say such a thing after so many people in the government went without food and sleep to secure their release," Mr Koizumi fumed.
Hummm, depends on what they are really working for. If it is to really help Iraq become a better place, then I applaud them. If it is to try to undermine the US war effort (if those rumors about faking their capture are true), then I don't. Still should have gone home first and thanked everyone, Japanese are very big on that.
Praise for the hostages came from an unlikely source. "If nobody was willing to take a risk then we would never move forward, we would never move our world forward," the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, said in a television interview in Washington. Now that all five hostages are home, the media is turning its attention to the process that led to their release. While the intervention of the clerics association was instrumental, there is media speculation that a ransom was paid - a claim angrily denied by officials in Tokyo.
Yes, there is that. That would also be the Japanese way, a polite payoff that is denied.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 9:57:28 AM ||
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While the intervention of the clerics association was instrumental, there is media speculation that a ransom was paid - a claim angrily denied by officials in Tokyo.
It sounds like Japan may have had some consiglieri advising them.
EFL
PRIME Minister John Howard has condemned Spainâs decision to pull its troops out of Iraq, saying it would ensure encourage further terrorism in the country. The news came as Australian Defence chief General Peter Cosgrove warned Australian troops could remain in Iraq for a considerable period, after an Iraqi request that they stay on. I wish to replace Canada with Australia.
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
04/20/2004 7:18:10 AM ||
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I want to replace Massachusetts with Australia.
#2
The Brits colonized Australia with Irish and left the French in Canada. Should anyone be surprised at the differences in two former colonies? The Aussies kick ass and take names while the Canucks are cheese-eating surrender beavers.
#3
but they do have Moosehead beer....so ya gotta grant em that as a plus
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 10:37 Comments ||
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Too bad. I thought I thought it was Howard Dean who had decided to help in the WOT. He would just have to utter his world-renowned scream: "Aaaaaaaarrrrr"
and Zapatero would have sent the whole Spanish Armed Forces to Iraq.
#5
ya moosehead is good beer - but i refuse to buy it anymore - there are plenty of good US brands of the same caliber to drink....
Economically in the long run we could get by without canada (yes I know canada is our largest trading partner - but the exports account for roughly 20% of the US economy) but the canadians would be doomed. Thier economy is above 50% dependent on the US. That is why they make a big fuss for few but shut up and hunker down pretty quick.
Posted by: Dan ||
04/20/2004 10:51 Comments ||
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#6
I second what shipman said in #1. I often feel like I'm living in enemy territory.
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar ||
04/20/2004 14:55 Comments ||
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#9
What you said, OP!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/20/2004 17:42 Comments ||
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#10
Just wait till the next election in Australia--another war-mongering proBush neo-con agenda supporting government turned out of power
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
04/21/2004 2:01 Comments ||
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#11
That's right NMM. Get the actions guys out and bring on the clowns who can watch a genocide an not be moved to intervene. That's what the world needs - more politicians that think Uday's raping parties are a spectator sport.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/21/2004 3:14 Comments ||
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#13
Shipman--who said anything about Jewish people--but you? What does being Jewish have to do with Australian elections since they are a small minority in that country?
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
04/21/2004 23:09 Comments ||
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#14
NMM - you are so yesterday, figuratively and now, literally
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 23:11 Comments ||
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An Algerian-born Muslim cleric who said wife-beating was justified in cases of adultery has been detained and will be expelled from France, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday. The announcement about Chirane Abdelkader Bouziane, an imam in the Lyon suburb of Venissieux, came after France deported another Algerian-born imam who was accused of preaching radical Islam. Bouziane was detained hours after Justice Minister Dominique Perben said he may have to answer for his remarks.
"The government cannot tolerate remarks in public that are contrary to human rights, detrimental to human dignity and in particular to the dignity of women, (or) calls of hate, violence or defense of terrorism," the ministry said in a statement.
French elections coming up, French women vote.
In the April edition of the magazine Lyon Mag, Bouziane said he favors wife-beating "under certain conditions, notably if the woman cheats on her husband." He claimed the Quran, the Muslim holy book, authorizes such punishment - an interpretation rejected by moderate Muslims.
Cheating on your spouse being very French, no wonder they reacted.
Bouziane also said a woman should not work alongside a man because "she could be tempted by adultery," according to Lyon Mag.
SEE: Cheating on spouse; French.
In its effort to fight the spread of Muslim fundamentalism, France has been cracking down on imams who preach violence or values that run counter to the mainstream. On Thursday, France deported Algerian-born imam Abdelkader Yahia Cherif for allegedly preaching radical Islam at a mosque in the Atlantic coastal city of Brest. The Interior Ministry said he gave a sermon last month that urged jihad, or holy war, and expressed support for the March 11 railway bombings in Madrid, Spain, that killed 191 people. The Interior Ministry statement said Bouziane had been placed on an expulsion list on Feb. 26 for disturbing public order and that officials had now decided to speed up the case, the ministry said.
If he had just stuck to critizing US policy.......
Also this year, France passed a law passed a ban on Islamic head scarves in public schools despite protests at home and abroad that it was discriminatory. President Jacques Chirac said the law was needed to protect the principle of separation of church and state to stop the spread of Muslim fundamentalism in France.
So, what's the over/under on the first jihadi boomer in Paris?
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 2:43:44 PM ||
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Well, the battle lines are being drawn in France. It is soon becoming time to defecate or decommodeâ¢. Maybe there is some hope for France. I would hate to see the Islamist take them down the tubes. We will see if the govt has any resolve to a threat to their existance.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/20/2004 15:58 Comments ||
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This article forgot to mention that the ban on headscarves is not just a ban on Muslim women wearing headscarves...it's a ban on any overt signs of religious affiliation, such as large crosses, Jewish yamikas (excuse the spelling)and Muslim headscarves. This article makes it seem like the crackdown only targets Muslims, and Alaska Paul, give me a break...what was the last time those weenies did anything to protect themselves?
#3
ima ima worr ima ima woorried worried worried bout this this this this this this
Posted by: Last Shaker In France ||
04/20/2004 20:07 Comments ||
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Give France credit for cracking down on the religious nutz--now if the US would just do the same with Mr Speaking in Tongues prayer meetings in the DOJ Ashcroft we might equal the French's enlightened attitude
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
04/21/2004 2:07 Comments ||
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#5
Attorney General Ashcroft has done nothing wrong.
He keeps his Faith away from his job (and even if he didn't, Christianity isn't a religion of hate and murder).
Stop the Christian bashing!
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 2:40 Comments ||
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I hope that the South and Central American countries that stick with the coalition are duly rewarded by Congress.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/20/2004 15:11 Comments ||
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"Senores, my explanation was best stated by the American singer Johnny Horton some years ago:
Well, I ran through the briars
and I ran through the brambles
and I ran through the brushes
where a rabbit couldn't go
I ran so fast that al Sadr couldn't catch me
On down the Tigris River to the Gulf of Per-si-o."
Posted by: Matt ||
04/20/2004 15:27 Comments ||
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SH..I hope those that don't are not.
Posted by: B ||
04/20/2004 15:31 Comments ||
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John at Iberian Notes wonder if a deal was cut w/the commies and republican lefties and this was payment for their "support."
"We loaned them these nice silk neckties so they would look well dressed in court and they kept on bombing us anyway. Now they are going to have to pay us good money for them!"
A Spanish judge Tuesday indicted four Algerians for belonging to a terrorist group linked to al Qaeda. The alleged leader of the group is also accused of having knowledge of cell phone detonation devices similar to those used in the Madrid and Bali bombings, according to a copy of the court order obtained by CNN. The four, who were already in custody, also had materials capable of being converted into "homemade napalm," according to an FBI analysis in 2003 that had been requested by the Spanish judge. The FBI analyzed chemical materials seized by Spanish police who searched the suspects' property.
The Spanish cell also provided logistical support to a suspected terrorist cell, arrested earlier in France, that had plotted an attack in Strasbourg during the 2000 Christmas season and "which aimed to carry out attacks with toxic, chemical or bacterial products against European targets," the court documents said. Judge Baltasar Garzon issued the indictment against the four Algerians, identified as Mohamed Tahraoui, 31, the alleged cell leader; Smail Boudjelthi, 29; Ali Kaouka, 30; and Mohamed Nebbar, 33. All four have Spanish residency documents, according to the court documents. "For all of this, there should be no underestimating this new class of delinquency, its methods and its firm decision to attack human targets in a totally indiscriminate manner in any part of the world," the judge wrote in the 14-page indictment order. The four suspects indicted Tuesday were already in Spanish custody. They were among 16 men arrested in Spain in January 2003, linked at that time to possible Islamic terrorist activities, a court official told CNN.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 21:03 Comments ||
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Interesting how the French stuff was stopped dead in its tracks--but the French don't know nothin' 'bout fighting terrorism?
Posted by: Not Mike Moore ||
04/21/2004 2:19 Comments ||
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NMM, Been to France? Do you know all the stories coming out of Europe to be true?
SHUT UP.
All you trolls do is praise who you like (the bad guys) but mostly whine and complain and name-call about those you don't (the good guys).
Don't you know there's a war on?
And guess which side I think you're on?
Posted by: Jen ||
04/21/2004 2:49 Comments ||
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Finlandâs Minister of Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja (soc dem) Tuesday sternly spoke out against Israelâs assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi on Saturday. Tuomioja writes in his website that Rantissi certainly is guilty of horrific crimes against humanity but that this does not make a second unlawful execution a just nor a wise act.
"Far better to let him continue what he was doing. What's a few dead people? There's lots of people in the world. Eventually they'll all be dead, won't they?"
The minister points out that the murder took place immediately after Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs Washington visit. From this Tuomioja infers that the act got -- at least an indirect -- carte blanche from the United States.
It came three hours after the Erez Crossing boom. Y'don't think that might have had something to do with it?
"One should not wonder if this kind of action by one of the two leading military mights in the world leads to a situation where hundreds of Palestinians and Muslims want to share Rantissiâs martyrdom -- as they see it -- by committing acts of terror on innocent people", Tuomioja writes.
"Best not to antagonize them. It'll just make them more murderous..."
Rantissiâs murder nor any other factor does not, however, justify a single terror attack or other form of violence, he adds.
"Violence, as we all know, is very bad..."
Those who commit such deeds should be treated as criminals in accord with principles of jurisprudence, said Tuomioja.
I must have missed it when they swore out the warrant for Rantissi...
"But also those who use means at odds with the tenets of international law and jurisprudence are in part responsible for terrorism", he nevertheless retorted.
"Really. You bring it on yourselves, y'know?"
"At the moment the events in the Middle East and Iraq can only increase terrorism, surely according to Osama Bin Ladenâs wishes."
"And then the Terrorists Will Have Won™..."
Tuomioja has gained notoriety as a vocal critic of Israelâs policies. An earlier comment where the minister compared Israelâs methods to those used by Nazi Germany provoked diplomatic uproar and a subsequent official apology to Israel was issued. Tuomiojaâs article was also published as a column Tuesday in daily Hufvudstadsbladet.
Posted by: TS ||
04/20/2004 10:47:38 AM ||
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And Tuorrnioja has proof? He'd best show it or else he is a flat out liar, and is falling prey to an old logical fallacy called Post Ho Ergo Propter Hoc. Thats the basis for witchdoctors and voodoo, not modern statesmnaship.
#5
Finnish cheese sucks. The only good cheese is imported.
If moose meat is your bag, or salmon, its the place to go.
The asshat ratio in their government is also distressingly high.
Posted by: Baltic Blog ||
04/20/2004 11:32 Comments ||
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#6
glad i got rid of my nokia phone!
Posted by: Dan ||
04/20/2004 11:39 Comments ||
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#7
The minister points out that the murder took place immediately after Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs Washington visit. From this Tuomioja infers that the act got -- at least an indirect -- carte blanche from the United States.
Wouldn't it be slghtly ::cough:: hypocritical ::cough:: if we didn't green light the execution of major terrorist figure heads? After all, that's exactly what we're trying to do. This horseradish about the White House being "deeply disturbed" over Yassin's vaporization really needs to end. The gloves need to come off.
A lot of people need to stop mincing words.
It's best to mince one's word rather finely
it makes them so much easier to eat afterwards.
#12
Wherever you find war you will find Finnish, Norwegian & Swedish diplomats pushing "peace", but they always justify terrorism. I think there's more Scandinavian justifiers of Islamic terrorism than there are "Continentals." It's because they're all anti-semitic. They're all bleeding heart liberals for the most part. And Shipman, I'm assuming your #11 comment is in jest. Hey, OldSpook, Latin isn't a core subject anymore. I don't think anyone under 40 knows what the hell "Post Ho Ergo Propter Hoc" means. They teach Spanish in school now, not Latin.
#14
Tuomioja writes in his website that Rantissi certainly is guilty of horrific crimes against humanity but that this does not make a second unlawful execution a just nor a wise act.
Ther's that "but" again.
If Rantisi is "certainly guilty" of horrific crimes, then he deserved what he got, PERIOD.
Italy is prepared to pay a ransom to free three security guards who were kidnapped in Iraq more than a week ago. Barbara Contini, the Italian in charge of the southern city of Nasiriyah, suggested today that a ransom could be paid since kidnappings were common in Iraq. âEvery one pays. Itâs been done for centuries and centuries,â Contini told the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera. âI am convinced that weâre dealing with local bands. People organised in tribal ways, who have the culture of kidnapping in their blood but with whom you can negotiate. There are no insurmountable barriers,â she said.
Posted by: TS ||
04/20/2004 10:09:47 AM ||
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You never get rid of the Dane.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 10:20 Comments ||
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The problem is that paying ransom just encourages them. As RC just said, "You never get rid of the Dane."
Then again, if you pay the ransom to get your guys free, then catch the kidnappers and hang them from lampposts, that might work...
Posted by: Kathy K ||
04/20/2004 10:26 Comments ||
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âEvery one pays. Itâs been done for centuries and centuries,â Contini told the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera.
And with this newfound wealth, the kidnappers used that ransom money to turn Italian hostage taking into a new profit center for their village.
People organised in tribal ways, who have the culture of kidnapping in their blood ...
Someone needs to tell the Italians how that type of blood poisoning is supposed to be fatal, since it is so often accompanied by a case of lead poisoning as well.
#4
âI am convinced that weâre dealing with local bands. People organised in tribal ways, who have the culture of kidnapping in their blood but with whom you can negotiate. There are no insurmountable barriers,â
The sheer stupidity of that remark is incredible.
Perhaps some of that kidnappin', murderin' blood ought to be spilt on the local streets to discourage this age-old tradition of crime-and-reward? No, instead lets make Italians the most valuable perambulating commodity in the whole frikkin' Middle East.
It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
To call upon a neighbour and to say:--
"We invaded you last night--we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away."
And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you've only to pay 'em the Dane-geld
And then you'll get rid of the Dane!
It is always a temptation for a reach and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:--
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the
time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away."
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.
It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:--
"We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!"
#6
People organised in tribal ways, who have the culture of kidnapping in their blood but with whom you can negotiate.
Italian government needs to outsource this problem to the Sicilians. They have their own cultural skills in bloody tribal negotiation.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 11:21 Comments ||
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#7
Or Palermo ... Italy's parliamentary anti-Mafia committee reported that American dons/capos were outsourcing whackings to youths from Palermo, declaring American hitmen to be unreliable ...
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
04/21/2004 0:13 Comments ||
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Police in southern Italy say they have seized a large illegal arms shipment from Romania destined for the US. Customs officers in the port of Gioia Tauro, in Calabria, discovered 7,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles after noting irregularities in the documentation. The cargo, estimated to be worth some 6m euros (£3.9m, $7.15m), was declared as arms for civilian, not military, use.
$7.15 million divided by 7000 = $1,021 each.
The weapons were discovered on board a ship flying a Turkish flag that had departed from a port in Romania. An American company was reportedly due to receive the cargo. Italian customs police say the ship was bound for New York. The cargo was searched because of discrepancies between the customs declaration, which said the rifles were for civilian use, and the weapons themselves. The load included accessories - bayonets and reloading devices - and has now been confiscated. Although some states allow the purchase of Kalashnikov rifles by collectors, the sheer number of the guns has prompted a judicial inquiry into whether they were in fact destined for military use.
Sounds like they grabbed a load of semi-auto Kalashnikovs. At over a grand apiece, bayonet and reloading devices included, sounds about right for a brand new civilian model AK. Remember, the bogus assault weapons ban was not renewed, will expire soon. Sounds like someone is stocking up for back to school sales.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
04/20/2004 8:34:29 AM ||
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Don't know about Europe, but used full-auto AK-47's were running for about $400-$500 each in Middle East. There is a glut on the market for those. These sound like brand new semi-auto versions for the legal civilian market. Nice polished metal parts, matching varnished wood with all the accessories. Legal always costs more, and collectors will be lined up ready to pay. Bet this was going to a major wholesaler, 7000 guns spread across the entire US market is a drop in the bucket. The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban expires on Sept 13, 2004.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 10:45 Comments ||
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According to the travel documents, the arms belong to a large U.S. company with headquarters in the state of Georgia. "We know that the destination was North America, but we don't effectively know if that's where the arms were going," a customs official told RAI state television on Tuesday. The arms were found inside three containers during a routine customs check earlier this week. They were confiscated due to discrepancies in the customs forms, but the news was only made public on Tuesday. The customs office said the weapons had been described as "common guns" instead of assault rifles and longer-range combat arms in the travel documentation.
Somebody screwed up the paperwork.
The weapons had been modified and were declared as being destined for civilian, rather than military, use. Italian magistrates suspect the rifles had been modified to dodge international laws on the sale and transport of arms.
Just like I thought, modified or remanufactured for semi-auto operation.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 12:13 Comments ||
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The AK's at the gun shows in Texas only run for about 300-400$. but used though. I would love to have a fully auto one though.
Posted by: Bill ||
04/20/2004 12:19 Comments ||
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#5
Man, and they just missed the NRA show in PA! Imagine if a band of NRA members came knocking on UBL's cave door with some mighty fine looking weapons like that!
Posted by: BA ||
04/20/2004 15:00 Comments ||
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#6
discovered 7,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles after noting irregularities in the documentation
Contents: Ululators, Kalashnikov
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 15:16 Comments ||
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Swedish police say they have arrested four people suspected of links to Muslim militants. They were detained in operations in the capital, Stockholm, and the city of Malmo late on Monday, police said. Officials said the four have links with "Islamic extremism" outside Europe - but gave no details. According to Swedish media, the suspects are of foreign origin and were detained in connection with attacks on US-led forces in Iraq. One newspaper said the arrests were made "based on information that US authorities sent to Sweden".
Posted by: Bulldog ||
04/20/2004 5:47:55 AM ||
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Didn't happen to find that missing truckload of explosives, did you?
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 8:50 Comments ||
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#2
wasn't that Norway?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 10:39 Comments ||
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#4
I figure since it has not turned up in Norway, they may have taken it out of the country. Long common border between Norway and Sweden, bet there is little security and many back roads.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 11:27 Comments ||
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But Sweden's neutral and they gave that Iranian woman the Nobel prize. Surely the terrorists will respect them for making such a gesture on their part. They did in Spain, didn't they?
Adds a bit to yesterday's coverage...
The body of a police special forces officer who died when Islamic terrorists blew themselves up in Madrid was taken from its grave, mutilated and burnt yesterday. The coffin and body of special agent Francisco Javier Torronteras were pulled from the tomb in Madrid Sur cemetery in Carabanchel and pushed 1,000 yards in a wheelbarrow before being doused with petrol and set alight. The body was found with a pick driven into its head and a spade dug into its chest. Although no motive was immediately apparent, police speculated that it could be the work of sympathisers of the Moroccan terrorist group that carried out the train bomb attacks in the Spanish capital on March 11, killing 192 people and injuring 1,900. The interior ministry said the act of desecration could have been part of "an Islamic rite of revenge."
Agent Torronteras, 41, was killed leading a Special Operations Group team to dislodge terrorists suspected of the Madrid massacre last month. Police said the attack on the grave was carried out by at least two people who prised the marble headstone off with a jemmy. Security was strengthened at the cemetery, where the smell of burning still lingered yesterday afternoon.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 1:14:59 AM ||
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Excerpt from Daily Press Briefing
QUESTION: You are, presumably, relying on Hamas to play if not a constructive role, if and when the Israelis withdraw from Gaza, at least to not play a destructive role during that period when the Palestinians -- or if they, in fact, do regain control. How does this help your cause of getting, you know, a sustainable, reliable --
MR. BOUCHER: I think itâs a wrong presumption that youâre making. The United States has and continues -- has considered and continues to consider Hamas a terrorist organization. We continue to believe that the way to make this progress possible, the way to make the Gaza withdrawal a success for all the parties, is for the Palestinian Authority to take authority, to take authority in Gaza, but also take authority now in ending terrorism. And if the activities of terrorists and terrorist groups are brought to an end, that is the best thing we can do to try to start -- to try to get more progress and to make the withdrawal from Gaza successful.
QUESTION: Well, why then are you gravely concerned? I donât get it then. Why are you gravely concerned for peace and stability if killing Hamas leaders is not really a problem in terms of the withdrawal from Gaza? -snip-
QUESTION: I donât understand your answer to Arshadâs question about the -- hoping that Hamas, once the withdrawal takes place, the action which you say is so welcome, finally action not words, that youâre not hoping that they would play a constructive rather than destructive role. So your saying that you consider them now and have always considered them to be terrorists doesnât seem to be -- I mean, you used to consider the PLO a terrorist organization. You used to consider a lot of groups terrorist organizations which you no longer do. MR. BOUCHER: We especially consider groups that are actively blowing up people to be terrorist organizations. Hamas, unfortunately, qualifies as such.
QUESTION: Yeah, but --
MR. BOUCHER: Weâre not counting on Hamas to do something in terms of the Gaza withdrawal. Weâre looking for people to put Hamas out of business. That has been true and will be true, and we, I think, can make clear, have made clear, that the Gaza pullout is going to go more smoothly and be more successful if Hamas is not around at all.
QUESTION: Yeah, but, Richard, though --
QUESTION: Well --
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/20/2004 4:14:03 AM ||
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I keep having to remind myself: these are the dorks who in college, majored in Journalism. On the evolutionary ladder, that's one rung up from the zoned-out, screwed-up misfits who majored in Film.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/20/2004 9:27 Comments ||
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#2
Journalism sounds more like a disease than a profession.
Posted by: dorf ||
04/20/2004 9:36 Comments ||
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#3
"Yeah, but -- "
That statement pretty much defines the press corps.
As always, they convey the professionalism of parents who go bezerk at their children's soccer games when the ump makes any call, no matter how slight or fair, against their own team.
#5
I'm watching Rummy right now deal with the press corps. These guys ask a question and then follow up with responses that make them look soooo dense.
It's fun to watch. Like a fencing match. Actually, more like a Bruce Lee flick - where Rummy enters a room full of goons and knocks them down, smashes their heads and leaves them flat, one by one.
Posted by: B ||
04/20/2004 13:46 Comments ||
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Hat tip Dissecting Leftism Abstract
Despite its presence within all religious traditions, extreme self- sacrifice is by no means easy to explain. We rightly view most people who seek pain or death as mentally ill. Yet studies refute the seemingly obvious conclusion that religious self-sacrifice is likewise rooted in depression, obsession, or other forms of irrationality. Economic theory suggests ways in which many forms of sacrifice (such as restrictive diet, dress, and sexual conduct) can help groups produce collective goods and services otherwise lost to freeriding, but self-sacrifice aimed at injuring others has yet to be adequately explained.
Injury-oriented sacrifice can be modeled as a market phenomenon grounded in exchanges between a relatively small supply of people willing to sacrifice themselves and a relatively large number of âdemandersâ who benefit from the sacrificersâ acts. Contrary to popular perception, it is on account of limited demand rather than limited supply that markets for âmartyrsâ so rarely flourish. Suicidal attacks almost never profit the groups best equipped to recruit, train, and direct the potential martyrs. Once established, however, a market for martyrs is hard to shut down. Supply-oriented deterrence has limited impact because:
· In every time, place, and culture, many people are willing to die for causes they value.
· Policies that target current supplies of martyrs induce rapid substitution toward new and different types of potential martyrs.
Demand-oriented deterrence has greater long-run impact because:
· The people who sacrifice their lives do not act spontaneously or in isolation. They must be recruited, and their sacrifices must be solicited, shaped, and rewarded in group settings.
· Only very special types of groups are able to produce the large social-symbolic rewards required to elicit suicide.
· Terrorist âfirmsâ must overcome numerous internal and external threats, and even when successful they have trouble âsellingâ their services.
· Numerous social, political, and economic pathologies must combine in order to maintain the profitability of (and hence the underlying demand for) suicidal attacks.
Extract
"It is the contrast between violent Islamic militancy and non- violent Christian activism that deserves our attention, not the few strained similarities. And here again, demandside market factors hold the key. Among the evangelical Christians and orthodox Catholics in America, many millions view the act of abortion as murder, the acceptance of abortion as immoral, and the legality of abortion as grossly unjust. Anti-abortion theology is fully-developed and routinely preached in churches all over America. And tens of thousands of anti-abortion âtrue believersâ already devote substantial portions of their time and money to anti-abortion activities. Thus the potential supply of militant anti-abortion âmartyrsâ is vast.
But the actual supply remains effectively zero, because no Christian organizations have entered the business of recruiting, training, and launching anti-abortion militants. The absence of effective demand is certainly not rooted in Christianityâs unshakable attachment to non-violence. Rather it reflects contemporary realities â social, legal, economic, and political â that make religiously-sponsored violence unprofitable for American religious âfirms.â Any church or preacher advocating anti-abortion killings, much less planning them, would suffer huge losses in reputation, influence, memb ership, and funding, not to mention criminal prosecution and probable imprisonment. Disaster would likewise befall religious firms seeking to profit from virtually any form of criminality or violence in America and, indeed, in much of the world.
The âmarket conditionsâ insuring the non-profitability of religious militancy exceed the scope of this paper but merit careful study. Nevertheless, changing market conditions provides the only true solution to the problem of suicide bombing and militant religious radicalism. Other approaches (such as targeting firms, leaders, and recruits) raise operating costs and induce substitution but leave in place the underlying demand, and hence the underlying profit opportunities, associated with this line of business. This does not mean that the only effective policy goals are tantamount to turning the Middle East into a vast region of prosperity, democracy, capitalism, and liberty. After all, suicide bombing scarcely exists in numerous countries and regions that enjoy none of these blessings. Insights from economics and the sociology of religion help us understand why the âmartyrdomâ market can flourish only when numerous exceptional conditions combine. Moreover, they suggest that relatively small changes in those conditions may dramatically disrupt the market. The imperative is to understand the market well enough too identify the relatively small structural changes and activities most likely to reduce cooperation within terror firms, increase damaging competition between firms, and undercut the firmsâ ability to collect payment for services rendered, and above all diminish the underlying demand for those homicidal services."
Posted by: tipper ||
04/20/2004 12:34:18 AM ||
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Interesting analysis! Leads to kill all the Mullahs who advocate 'martyrdom' and destroy the property of families of 'martyrs' and ensure they do not materially benefit. So Israel should demolish homes of the Mullahs as well as the homes of the 'boomers'. Might as well demolish the mosques as well.
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/20/2004 1:15 Comments ||
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*shakes head* I respect "dissecting leftism", and link to it from my blog, but this article proves my contention that it is futile to try to understand what is fundamentally religiously motivated behavior through explicitly non-religious glasses.
The talk of the society rewarding the suicide bomber with approval clearly misses the obvious fact that a SUICIDE bomber is DEAD, and cannot enjoy any verbal or monetary claps on the back. There IS the possiblity that benefits to SB's family post suicide plays a large factor, although it appears that supporting this idea implies the truth of the Golda Meir statement of peace coming when Arabs love their kids as much as the Jews do. Certainly, they need to love their kids more than money: EVERYONE condemns westeners who do so, but there is silence when it comes to palestinians who were paid off by Saddam for what their spawn did...
The real reason? Get inside the religion's head to understand how they motivate their followers. It is no secret that there are Fatwas and clear statements in the Koran that those who die in battle defending and promoting Islam go straight to heaven. Additional myths and accretions, BTW, have added the 72 virgins. There are no Christian Abortion suicide bombers, because suicide is expressly forbidden, and most works-oriented religions state that suicide is clearly a murder from which the murderer cannot repent (being dead from killing themselves). Neither is there an incentive comparable to what exists in Islam, because 1) salvation comes by faith, not by works, so fighting the pagans doesn't give you credit, and 2) there is no indication that marriage, (and presumably sex as we know it now,) plays a part in the Christian afterlife. (C.S. Lewis argues that it will probably be replaced by something better, since there will always be a need for an act that two individuals deeply in love can indulge in for mutually bestowed pleasure.) No incentive==no market.
It is the promise of the afterlife that is the market incentive for the suicide bomber. They may die for a mistaken belief, but even people when buying in the marketplace buy things that have no value in the mistaken belief that it does have value. Even then, there is always the seed of doubt, and the factories that produce the suicide bombers have mostly to work on breaking down the normal instinct of self-preservation through intense religious indoctrination: Many of those who chose to live instead of self-detonate appear to have not been given adequate preparation or indoctrination.
The method of suicide being chosen not only maximises Israeli fatalities, but also benefits the Suicide bomber, since it is obvious that the suffering of the individual at the epicenter of the blast is extremely short. That is, if it is felt at all: I'd think the blast front would destroy the brain long before the pain signal gets to the spinal column.
Perhaps we should target, in addition to the leaders, the instructors in charge of producing the suicide bombers. This would be analogous to the bombing during WWII of germany's factories to hinder the production of war materiel feeding their armies.
#3
Phat, I think that the point of the article was that suicide bombing should be looked at from a supply/demand perspective.
The authors contention was that we should move from the supply side (suicide bombers) to the demand side (those who finance/pay for them)
Target the consumers( hose who pay) rather than the supplier (suicide bomber) I agree with that analysis, and if you think about it, it will require a sea change (paradigm shift?) in how we handle terrorism.
As in everything else, there is a need to do a cost benefit analysis.
Imagine if you had $86 billion, and applied this strategy!
I can't see how it would fail.
I can see how applying it to a supply side might fail, though.
EFL
Just days after being declared a terrorist suspect, Indonesiaâs most prominent militant Muslim cleric yesterday endorsed the bombing of US interests in Iraq and called the Bali bombers misguided but praiseworthy fighters. "Well, since itâs official and all. I might as well letâer rip!"
Abu Dabba Doo Bakar Bashir, accused of leading the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network and who will soon complete time in jail for immigration offenses, also indicated attacking the US government on American soil was acceptable. "...And, what the heck. I am already in jail. Kill all the American Infidels!"
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
04/20/2004 11:07:32 AM ||
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Indonesiaâs most prominent militant Muslim cleric yesterday endorsed the bombing of US interests in Iraq and called the Bali bombers misguided but praiseworthy fighters.
The only reason Bashir calls them "misguided" is because he still has his panties in a wad over how the bombers let two people walk away from the bar before they triggered the detonators.
This guy desperately needs a case of fast onset lead poisoning.
Decimated by two years of U.S.-backed assaults, the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf is reviving itself as the "Islamic Movement," returning to fundamentalist roots and plotting urban bombings to lure recruits and foreign funding, security officials say. The Muslim extremist group, with a 13-year history of kidnappings-for-ransom and beheadings, appears to be trying to shed its image as a band of criminals and focus more on bold attacks facilitated by radical Islamic converts, authorities told The Associated Press.
Not just criminals, but Islamic criminals, by Gawd!
Abu Sayyaf is now trying to attract recruits and funding from foreign Muslim organizations like the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, security officials told AP. "It's like a last hurrah. They want to say they're still around and that they're not irrelevant," Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita told AP.
Look at me! I'm still Mr. Big!"
"They don't need an army. It just takes a man to mingle in a crowd, take out a grenade from his pocket and cause trouble," Ermita said. Several former hostages have said many Abu Sayyaf members appear to be peasants motivated more by money than religious convictions, though leaders appear committed to the Muslim separatist agenda. The leader of Abu Sayyaf's main faction, Khadaffy Janjalani, is apparently trying to bring the group back to its religious moorings. Janjalani is reviving the group under its little used, alternative name Al Harakatul Al-Islamiyah - the Islamic Movement - with recruits trained by foreign and Filipino insurgents in guerrilla warfare and urban bombings, say ex-hostages, captured guerrillas and security officials. "They're trying unsuccessfully to shed the bandit tag," said a senior security official, who has monitored the Abu Sayyaf for years. It continues to plan kidnappings, however, to raise money, he said.
"We'll never forget our roots!"
Janjalani's faction is based on Basilan and Jolo islands, but has established alleged links with a growing number of radical Muslim converts on the main northern island of Luzon. These northern recruits could use their familiarity and underground connections in the Christian-populated region, including the bustling capital of Manila, to mount attacks, according to a government security report seen by AP. Abu Sayyaf guerrillas arrested last month allegedly belonged to a terror cell that was plotting to bomb the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Manila, malls, passenger ships, an oil depot near the presidential palace, a power plant north of the capital, TV stations, hotels, churches and airports, according to the government document seen by AP. Some of the suspected would-be bombers allegedly told investigators they failed to execute the attacks because they were waiting for operational funds, police officials said.
Can't go bombing on an empty wallet, you know.
Janjalani allegedly designated a Filipino emissary to al-Qaida who arranged entry of three Middle Eastern militants in 2001 who trained recruits in explosives and gave $10,000 to Janjalani, the security official said. The emissary, Arshaf Kunting, was arrested in 2001 and turned over to the Philippines, he said. Former hostages reported seeing training in Jolo last year by two Indonesians, believed to be from Jemaah Islamiyah, who taught recruits to make bombs set off by cell phones or alarm clocks. Security officials say one man arrested in the Manila plot got such training.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 12:00:49 AM ||
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I'm in need of some links that show a lack of connection between Abu Sayyaf and the Bali bombing. I know that JI trained up Abu Sayyaf and the MILF in bomb making, but I could use something to show that there was no major cash or materiel flow back towards JI, if possible. Links demonstrating that JI received its financing and bomb making supplies from al Qaeda would be great. Thank you in advance if anyone could post about this.
2. They ridicule the deen of Allah (swt) and his commands.
3. Alliance with the Mushriks and Kuffar
4. They embrace the deen of Democracy
5. They commit shirk by committing sarf and âataf
6. They legislate kufr constitutions This is pretty bare. There's no context, so it's confusing. So here's a bit more extracted, just to clarify things...
We worship Allah [God] (swt) [(cheese and crackers)]by making takfeer [bean soup] - declaring a person to be Kafir [a midget].
"We worship God by declaring that other people don't."
At-Takfeer [bean soup] is an obligation upon all Muslims. Those who do not make takfeer [bean soup] are Mushriks [walrus snouts] as the first pillar of Tawheed [ladies' underwear] requires one to make takfeer [bean soup] by declaring those who Allah [God] calls Kafir [a midget] to be Kafir [a midget]. Those who do not make takfeer [bean soup] upon those who Allah [God] does are ridiculing Allah [God] (swt) [(cheese and crackers)] and his kalaam [armpit]. The one who does not make takfer [bean sop] is making takdheeb (disbelief) in Allah [God]. Takdheeb (disbelief) is opposite to Tasdeeq [wheel bearings], which is to believe in Allah with certainty.
Got all that? How's your turban sit now?
How does a person disbelieve in Allah [God] by not declaring the one who Allah [God] calls a Kafir [a midget] to be kafir [a midget]?
I dunno. How does he?
Simply because when we believe in Allah [God], we do not just believe in his existence, but also his words. If he declares the Jews and the Christians to be Kafir [a midget] and those who ridicule, mock, implement kufr [midget] law to be in the same category, we become disbelievers by not calling them Kafir [a midget] as the prerequisite for believing in Allah [God] is to believe in his words, names, attributes, actions etc.
"Since we're right, never been wrong, that's the way it is..."
We MUST make Takfeer [bean soup] in order to worship Allah [God] and purify our Aqeedah [pickled beets]. To say the rulers of Muslim countries are not kafir [a midget] has serious implications. It means that any person can change their deen [loose trousers, such as worn by M.C. Hammer], kill Muslims, ridicule Allah [God], his messenger, the Muslims, the 'Ulema [eleven guys with turbans], the Mujaahideen [tough guys with turbans] and still remain Muslim; this means there is no boundaries of kufr [midgetry], a person can do whatever they want and never become Kafir [a midget].
By Jove [Allah], I think he's got it! "A person can do whatever they want..." What a marvelous idea!
It also means that we must have Wala [farting contests] with them, we must defend them, protect them and obey them. Clearly, beyond doubt, all the rulers of Muslim countries are Kafir Murtad [midgets with curly-toed slippers]. In order to purify our 'Aqeedah [pickled beets] and Tawheed [bean soup], we must declare them Kafir [a midget] or we too may fall under the banner of kufr [midgetry].
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 12:12:40 AM ||
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WTF is this. Forgery attempt? Look at the name...
#2
They commit shirk by committing sarf and âataf
Good old Al-Muhajiroun. Ha ha ha!! Whey don't they just write the whole lot in arabic/urdu-whatever - I feel like I'm being goaded. I know what a kufr is cos I am one, apparently.
Is that 'shirk' as in 'to shirk one's responsibilities' ?
What are 'sarf and ataf'? sex acts?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 4:34 Comments ||
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They do not fulfil the Pillars of Tawheed...
Whoa, I'll have some of what's in his hookah!
I think I might've sarfed at the weekend, but it was all a bit hazy after the seventh pint. I've got the chafing, sure enough.
#6
They commit shirk by committing sarf and âataf
I let a massive sarf yesterday. I really should avoid refried beans for lunch. And after I had some asparagus for dinner my 'ataf had the oddest smell...
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 8:28 Comments ||
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#7
My posting ended with the sixth item. Everything after that was added by someone else.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 9:01 Comments ||
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#8
Farting contest - a Muslim sacrament? I must convert.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
04/20/2004 9:10 Comments ||
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#9
This is the thanks we get from Houndouras for allowing in their illegal immigrants and allowing them to send money back home to prop us that 3rd world shithole. Same for Mexico which never even sent troops or help to Iraq and undermined us in the UN on Iraq votes.
#12
actually the apparently bizarre mixture of English and Arabic makes sense for a discussion of Muslim law/theology (though this particular discussion is wahabi-jihadi-loony and not approved by all Muslims)
In discussions of a non-western religious legal tradition, there are inevitably phrases that dont translate well. Example - "While I am sure the Orthodox will never sanction gay unions, I fully expect that the Conservatives will Posek that some form of gay union is acceptable, but wont consider it I>Kiddushin
and to get there they'll have to drash the Tanaach in ways that the Orthodox would not consider Kosher. .
And that would be from a purely English speaking background. And Im NOT using some of the more technical terms, which I cant recall off the top of my head. AMong the ultraorthodox, who tend to come from a Yiddish speaking background, they tend to discourse on Jewish legal matters in whats called "Yeshivash" - probably about 30% Hebrew/Aramaic legal terms, about 30% yiddish, and the rest English. Utterly incomrehensible, I find it.
YESHIVISH TRANSLATION
Be'erech a yoivel and a half ago, the meyasdim shtelled avek on this makom a naiya malchus with the kavana that no one should have bailus over their chaver, and on this yesoid that everyone has the zelba zchusim. We're holding by a geferliche machloikes being machria if this medina, or an andere medina made in the same oifen and with the same machshovos, can have a kiyum. We are all mitztaref on the daled amos where a chalois of that machloikes happened in order to be mechabed the soldiers who dinged zich with each other. We are here to be koiveia chotsh a chelek of that karka as a kever for the bekavodike soldiers who were moiser nefesh and were niftar to give a chiyus to our nation. Yashrus is mechayev us to do this... Lemaise, hagam the velt won't be goires or machshiv what we speak out here, it's zicher not shayach for them to forget what they tued uf here. We are mechuyav to be meshabed ourselves to the melocha in which these soldiers made a haschala--that vibalt they were moiser nefesh for this eisek, we must be mamash torud in it--that we are all mekabel on ourselves to be moisif on their peula so that their maisim should not be a bracha levatulla-- that Hashem should give the gantze oilam a naiya bren for cheirus-- that a nation that shtams by the oilam, by the oilam, by the oilam, will blaib fest ahd oilam.
As an example
"that Hashem(God) should give the gantze oilam (the whole world) a naiya bren ( a new "burn" IE a new birth) for cheirus (freedom)"
#14
shirk -- apostasy
tawheed -- the oneness of Allah
deen -- belief ("spirit of belief" might be better)
takfeer -- denouncing someone as a kafir. "excommunicating"
As-Sarf is where sorcery is used to make someone, who is liked, become hated.
Al-Ataf is where sorcery is used to make someone, who is disliked, be liked.
tasdeeq -- affirmation
takdheeb -- disbelief, declaring something that is agreed upon to be false, denial
aqeedah -- The firm creed that one's heart is fixed upon without any wavering or doubt. It excludes any supposition, doubt or suspicion.
I used Google to put this together. There is a lot of thoughtcrime in Wahhabism. Use at your own discretion, kafir.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2004 14:23 Comments ||
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This sounds like reaally bad sci-fi.
"Fraz, Mahmoud! You know it is shirk to covet the sacred Fiznack of Ebnzir! Now we must buzit the deen, or the Blens of Morglar will karf us with zim-zim!"
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar ||
04/20/2004 15:12 Comments ||
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Allanâs distinctions explained by the Followers of Ahl us-Sunnati wal-Jamaaâah
.... There are two types of terrorism, one that is praised by almighty Allan Allaah (swt) and one that is dispraised and worthy of severe punishment in this life and the hereafter. Violence is also of two, one that is pro-life and one that is against life. Violence against aggressors, oppressors and tyrants is pro-life, whereas violence initiated (such as that by the US & UK in Afghanistan and in Iraq) against young women, children and the elderly is against life.
The form of terrorism used by the US, UK and its alliance is indeed aggression, crime, corruption and tyranny â worthy of severe punishment and disgrace by almighty Allan Allaah, due to it being directed at people who have sanctity for their lives, wealth and property (i.e. Muslims). Whereas the terrorism used by the Mujaahideen is the praised, exalted and blessed form of terrorism due to it being against people who have no sanctity for their lives, who support aggressors and tyrants and spread corruption and evil on the earth. Furthermore, it is in response to the command of Allan Allaah, who orders the believers to terrorise His (swt)âs enemies.
However, these acts of violence by the Mujaahideen are carried out against people who support, worship and obey Taaghout. It is also against people who they have no covenant of security with. Islaam condemns betrayal i.e. to live among people with whom you have a covenant of security and then to kill them and take their wealth. For those who have a covenant of security, such as those who have citizenship or an agreement with the regime they live under in countries such as the US, UK, Spain, Italy etcâŠ(as opposed to living under the apostate rulers in Muslim countries) it is completely prohibited to carry out any acts of violence against those whom they have a covenant with, and is in fact a great sin and considered to be betrayal in Islaam.
The definition of terrorism according to the kuffaar is irrelevant and insignificant for Muslims. This is because we only refer to Islaam as a marjiâ i.e. a reference point and furqaan (criteria). In any case their definition of terrorism is also applicable to themselves as they systematically use acts of violence against âinnocentâ people to further their own selfish political aims.
Muslims should not be afraid of being called terrorists, fundamentalists or extremists. Firstly, because it is just part of the disbelieverâs propaganda against Islaam and Muslims, which was also used against the messenger Muhammad (saw) and his companions; who were labelled as terrorists, extremists, magicians, liars and sorcerers! Secondly, because it is true; we are terrorists as Allan Allaah commands us to use terrorism. We are also fundamentalists, as we refer to the very fundamentals of Islaam, such as Tawheed and extremists, since we are extremely against pornography, alcohol, night-clubs, oppression, tyranny, corruption and crime etcâŠi.e. man made law.
The Muslims should be aware that the disbelievers will always play a war of terminology in order to silence the believers and make us appear to be the aggressors. However, this will never effect the Muwahhideen (those who love Allan Allaah more than anyone else and associate none with him) as they are aware that we are in a war between Islaam and kufr and the truth will always be among the minority. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 12:04:05 AM ||
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"Violence against aggressors, oppressors and tyrants is pro-life, whereas violence initiated (such as that by the US & UK in Afghanistan and in Iraq) against young women, children and the elderly is against life..."
Uh-oh, look out! These guys are going to attack the Palestinians, since those guys blow up kids and women and old people all the time!
Seriously, the actual default position of people like this is: "If we like it, then Allah likes it and has always liked it; if we don't, then Allah doesn't either, even if he liked it last week."
Posted by: Just John ||
04/20/2004 3:09 Comments ||
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From an article in The Arizona Republic by M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix physician and chairman of the Board of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy
... There is a confusion in the American mind of how the Muslim community regards those who would target and kill innocent noncombatants. It is not for want of spokesmen appearing on television or radio. That we have seen in abundance. Rather, what increasingly troubles Americans is the absence of any palpable mass movement in the American Islamic community condemning outright the targeting and killing of innocent civilians.
That is what we want to start changing. That is why, I, and other Muslims in the Valley community are sponsoring a rally at 6 p.m. April 25 at Patriots Square Park in downtown Phoenix.
We have only two goals. We want to reassure the American public that the great majority of Muslims condemn the targeting of innocents by virtue of the tenets of our faith. We also want to give hope and inspiration to faithful Muslims all over the country that this type of rally is possible. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 10:33:14 PM ||
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I want to see a lot more than one muslim community doing this. If the good ones do not speak up now, and nip the Wahabbis and Islamists in the bud, there will be HELL TO PAY for muslims if we get boomed again. Like Bush sez, you are with us or you are against us (or you are an appeasing wuss P.O.S.).
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/20/2004 22:54 Comments ||
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You know some @sshat mullah or imam or ayatollah (or whatever they call themselves) is going to issue a fatwa against this guy. "How dare you side with the infidels and the kaffirs!"
Posted by: Tibor ||
04/20/2004 23:32 Comments ||
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#3
Nothing like live'n is the USA. It's like a breath of fresh air, breath deep Zuhdi, thats freedom. Warts and all eh?
Conclusion of Pan-Arab Print Reportersâ Interview with Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State
QUESTION: One follow-up, sir, very quickly --
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Sure.
QUESTION: -- about human rights in Iraq. There have been civilian casualties, women and children, in Fallujah. How can you promote democracy in the Middle East when youâre sending out a message that itâs okay to shoot at children and --
DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Oh, stop. Stop. Shame on you. I hope you were screaming about human rights during the time of Saddam Hussein. I didnât hear many in the region.
We are the most humane military in the world. We punish our people when they exceed bounds, and we do it transparently. We regret every single civilian life which is lost, and we do our utmost, even putting our soldiers at risk, to prevent those.
It is true that there are civilian casualties and it is true that these scenes are shown over and over, particularly on our Arab friendsâ television networks. Now we spend enormous amounts of time and put our soldiers and Marines at risk in order to try to prevent it.
War is dangerous and it is difficult times, but when you ask that question, I would hope that youâd reflect on your own writing over the past, say, 30 years and see what youâve said about human rights in Iraq.
Thank you all very much.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 10:14:49 PM ||
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I'd pay money to see a joint press conference for Armitage and Rumsfeld.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/20/2004 22:20 Comments ||
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#2
Me too!
I want the popcorn concession. :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/20/2004 22:29 Comments ||
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#3
They could tag each other as they switched to address the assorted morons.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/20/2004 22:32 Comments ||
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#4
We need to have Bush make a presidential citation for Rummy and Armitage standing up and getting in the faces of these slimey media types. Way to go!!!!!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/20/2004 22:49 Comments ||
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#6
How nice to see someone spit out words whole instead of the usual mincing. It appears that several of them landed directly in that last reporter's eye. I'm confident that this will result in Mister Armitage laying awake during the long winter nights.
#8
I'd like to see more prominent ID (names, credentialing media names) on the reporters asking the stupidest questions....to brand their employers/media ID as "hiring the biased/handicapped"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/21/2004 23:17 Comments ||
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#9
Frank---those people are not handicapped, that is very insensitive of you. These reporters are truth challenged, don't ya know.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/21/2004 23:48 Comments ||
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#10
It's about sometime someone said something like that... I wish that was the reply of every state official everytime one of these "truth challenged" reporters asked a stupid question like that.
The UN called on Pakistan to close 15 refugee camps housing 200,000 refugees along the Afghan border within four months, saying the settlements are too close to areas rife with insurgent activity, AFP reported 19 April. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruud Lubbers, who spoke to reporters in Islamabad, Pakistan, said: "We are convinced we have to be...more clear on the need to close down certain camps.... and say âClose them down by the first of September,â" Lubbers said. He added that the situation is "not good for the people, itâs not good for Afghanistan, itâs not good for Pakistan." ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 10:07:15 PM ||
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Expressing pessimism over prospects of peace negotiations in battle-scarred Falluja, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday that a truce in the restive Iraqi city will not continue indefinitely. "The current state of affairs in Falluja will not continue indefinitely. Thugs and assassins and former Saddam henchmen will not be allowed to carve out portions of that city and to oppose peace and freedom," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon (news - web sites) briefing. He said days of talks involving Iraqi and Sunni Muslim leaders, Falluja officials and representatives of the U.S. governing authority in the city did not include Iraqi insurgents who have been confronting U.S. troops. "One would think not," Rumsfeld responded when a reporter asked if the United States was prepared to negotiate away the opportunity to arrest foreign fighters and others believed responsible for American deaths and mutilations. What sort of sh!thead asks a question like that? You, outta the pool!
"So the chances of those negotiations producing an outcome along the lines that youâve described, it seems to me, realistically, to be difficult," he added. Itâs why we sent in Marines instead of ballerinas, @sshole!
"I never rule anything out, and clearly the people in there that have been killing people and threatening the people of Falluja need to be brought to justice," Rumsfeld said. Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the militaryâs Joint Chiefs of Staff, said hundreds of U.S. Marines remained on alert in and around Falluja, giving political negotiations a chance. The Marines launched an assault on the city 32 miles west of Baghdad on April 5 after the killing and mutilation of four private U.S. security guards the previous week. Doctors say more than 600 Iraqis have died in fighting in Falluja since. At least it doesnât say "citizens" for a change.
More than a week ago, the U.S. military said it had suspended offensive operations in the city but would hit back if attacked. The talks to stabilize a shaky truce have led to relative calm interspersed with intense bouts of fighting and air strikes. Rumsfeld said the talks were seeking "an Iraqi-centered solution." Give up on that sh!t. Itâs showtime!
"But let there be no doubt: It is essential to hold to account those murderers with strong ties to Iraqâs deposed regime. ... Itâs also important to demonstrate to those Iraqis who may feel disenfranchised that there is a place for them in a new and a free and a peaceful Iraq," he added. There are currently about 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, and Rumsfeld said last week that the number would remain at about that level over the next three months instead of following a previous plan to draw down to 115,000 by the end of April. On Tuesday, Rumsfeld said no request had been received from U.S. commanders for an increase above 135,000, but that the Pentagon was ready with contingency plans if a request was made either to boost the number or continue the current elevated total beyond three months. Itâs about time our troops got something from on high. Any commitment to clearing out this ratâs nest must be completely vertical.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
04/20/2004 22:04 Comments ||
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#2
Crap, we're reduced to "signalling" now. This was stupid in Vietnam (and Korea), and it's stupid now. You don't wink and nod at somebody who is trying to kill you, you go for the jugular and get it over with as soon as you can.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
04/20/2004 22:33 Comments ||
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#3
The Iraqis will just try to negotiate Fallujah to death. I am encouraged that Rumsfeld emphasized that there is a limit to negotiation. We must always be in control of the situation, which will help make a favorable outcome. It will be good to confiscate all their weaponry, and we MUST NOT let these murderous gunnies get away this time.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/20/2004 22:46 Comments ||
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#4
We had to let the Iraqi clerics and local officials try. Once the rabid scum ignore them as well, the Marines will be able to scour the city clean. The locals may not be openly grateful, but they will not take up arms against us and, perhaps, may point out the ones that need killing.
Without firing a shot or shedding any blood, Marines struck a huge blow to the insurgency on Monday when they uncovered a sizeable cache of heavy weapons in a roughneck neighborhood in northwest Fallujah. Lance Cpl. Patrick Larson, 21, of Gowrie, Iowa, discovered the secret stash just before sunset on a drizzly, cold day while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables where he and other Marines had chased a grenade-toting rebel the night before. "I knew there had to be something over here," Larson said, obviously proud of his find.
He said he had just been complaining that he was fighting a war, "but I never get any glory." His discovery Monday made up for it, he said. He got kudos from superiors and watched with satisfaction as it took three Humvees to haul the loot away. He said he and fellow Marines Lance Cpl. Gene Rader, 21, of Marlton, N.J., and Lance Cpl. Jason Picchi, 21, of Chicago forced open a locked door and found a room full of rocket-propelled grenades, rockets and a complete 120 mm mortar tube and base plate. One room led to several more rooms where Marines from Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment found explosives, a huge military locker with bomb-making materials, bags of grenades and machine guns. Military officials said the biggest finds were the bomb-making materials and the 120 mm mortar. The shells fired by the mortar are considered to be in the category of artillery because of their size. The largest mortar used by the Marines fires an 81 mm shell, and their howitzers fire 155 mm rounds. Marines say they believe the insurgents in and around Fallujah only had a few of the 120 mm tubes in and around the city. "Now theyâve got one less," said 2nd Lt. Patrick Reddick, leader of Fox Companyâs 1st Platoon. "And theyâre going to be pissed!"
Marines are holding their ground in defensive positions in and around Iraqi homes and farm buildings in the northwest corner of Fallujah near the Euphrates River while they await orders. A weeklong cease-fire has calmed — but not ended — the fighting that began in Fallujah two weeks ago when Marines surrounded the city and penned in the insurgents. Talks between U.S. military officials and Iraqi civic leaders apparently yielded some compromises, including a weapons turn-in program in which insurgents who are not hell-bent on dying for their cause can give up their arms and blend in with the population, avoiding the destruction the Marines promise they will wreak if they have to take the town by force.
Publicly, Marine leaders say they are encouraged by the prospects of a political solution. But privately, most Marines on the front line say they have little confidence the Iraqi politicians have any control over the thousand or so Iraqi and foreign fighters thought to be trapped in the old Jolan neighborhood of Fallujah along the river. They expect most of those fighters to fight to the end — an end the Marines say theyâll be more than happy to arrange. Marine leaders said that while they will continue to scour the piece of Fallujah they occupy for more arms, they say the huge cache on the fringe only hints at what the insurgents have ready in the center of the cramped and irregular Jolan borough where they have had two weeks now to prepare for the final showdown. "I hate to say it," said Fox Companyâs commander, Capt. Kyle Stoddard. "But what this tells me is that thereâs a lot of fight left out there."
#1
awesome find! How long before those would've been surrendered under the cease-fire rules? How about..never?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 17:38 Comments ||
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#2
So many of the big media pieces drone on and on about the challenges facing our guys that it's good to find one that focuses (indirectly) on the problems facing the bad guys. Look at it from the point of view of an insurgent leader in Fallujah:
"Alright, boys, here's the plan. First we're going to dodge gun runs by more Cobras and Apaches than we can count, then we're going to hope that the AC130's don't chop us into dogmeat, and then we're going to go toe-to-toe with three battalions of the world's finest assault troops, who, I might add, are seriously pissed off at us. Any questions? Yeah, you in the back of the room?"
"Just one question, Mahmoud. Are you out of your effing mind?"
Posted by: Matt ||
04/20/2004 17:39 Comments ||
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#3
God willing, all those caches will make wonderful secondary explosions.
Here's a question -- is it possible to do traffic analysis on people walking around a city?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 17:40 Comments ||
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#4
"while he was setting booby traps near some brick stables where he and other Marines had chased a grenade-toting rebel the night before."
#5
Lance Cpl. Patrick Larson, 21, of Gowrie, Iowa, discovered the secret stash just before sunset on a drizzly, cold day while he was setting booby traps
LOL, not sure that will fly well with the whiney "be nice when you fight" types.
"Mahmoud, lookitthat! A Playboy magazine tied to a pineapple fruit! Let's grab'em before Ahkmed spots 'em!"
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/20/2004 17:46 Comments ||
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#6
They expect most of those fighters to fight to the end ---- an end the Marines say theyâll be more than happy to arrange.
#9
Can't we send these guys some portable magnetometers to find the big stashes? I don't think there's alot of rebar in your typical Iraqi housing area.
#10
It was a cold, drizzly day in Fallujah. A lone marine lance corporal was keeping himself occupied by setting booby traps, when suddenly he stumbled upon
A SHITLOAD OF WEAPONS AND MUNITIONS!
Good work, Marine!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/20/2004 19:46 Comments ||
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#11
I'ma thinking I ain't touching any sheep what wonders in from the occupied zone.
I'll give y'all one guess where they conceal the contact explosive.
#15
Anonymous4385, you might be suprised about rebar. When I was in India half of the buildings had rebar sticking out of the top floor (in case they decided to add a floor later I guess).
Iraqi leaders have set up a tribunal of judges and prosecutors to try ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, a spokesman announced on Tuesday. Salem Chalabi, a U.S.-educated lawyer and nephew of the head of the Iraqi National Congress, was named as general director of the tribunal, and he has named a panel of seven judges and four prosecutors, INC spokesman Entefadh Qanbar said. The tribunal has a 2004-2005 budget of $75 million, Qanbar said. A date has yet to be set for the trial of Saddam, who was captured by U.S. troops in December and has since been held by U.S. troops at an undisclosed location in or near Baghdad.
#6
There hasn't been any "unmitigated slaughter and decimation of Iraq" except by Saddam.
Of course, he'll get a fair trial, which is a hell of a lot more than he gave to the 800, 000-2,000,000 Iraqis he had murdered.
Antiwar, I'm sick to death of your knee-jerk Bush-bashing.
Start providing data and links to your alleged "truths" or get you gone!
Posted by: Jen ||
04/20/2004 21:40 Comments ||
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#8
And Antiwar, the international court is a joke!
They made fine work of both Pinochet (who I think slipped through their clutches) and Milosevich (ditto, who went on to win a seat in his parliament!).
The U.S. Congress would never approve of giving jurisdiction to any international court.
It's the way we are--get used to it.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/20/2004 21:46 Comments ||
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#9
"...sanctions of course and the two wars."
BULLSHIT.
"Sanctions" were just cover for the cruelty of Saddam and the current investigation of the UN Oil-for-Palaces program is proving that hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars were used by Saddam as he chose, with the UN looking the other way and collecting their considerable fees.
Nor do his wars account for all the corpses found in mass graves, either--he just plain murdered thousands of his own people for being "enemies of the state," something a Stalinist like you might be able to understand, but of course would wish to lie about.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/20/2004 21:50 Comments ||
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#10
AW - did you have to go to idiot school, or is this a natural talent?
1st Gulf war AND sanctions - can you say U.N.? And the truncated end of Gulf I, plus the sanctions that followed when Saddam went back on his word (like that was a big surprise), let Saddam continue slaughtering the Iraqi people even as he paid off the U.N. weenies.
If the left-over Baathists and the foreign fighters (Syrian, Palis, Saudis, etc.) would KNOCK IT OFF, Iraq could rebuild into a free, open, wealthy society. But we can't have that, now, can we?
Guess your motto is "no liberty for brown people." I'd rather there were liberty for all people. Even dorks like you.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/20/2004 21:53 Comments ||
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#12
Antiwar, sanctions were Saddam's punishment for losing the Gulf War, invading Kuwait, and defying the 16 UN sanctions.
You are so hell bent on making this a hate cult of personality against our American president and in particular GWB that you never let the facts of history get in the way.
"Third Way" freaks like you have got to decide whether you really back international institutions like the UN, as you claim to, or whether you don't.
You can't have it both ways.
The sanctions were a UN mandate.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/20/2004 22:00 Comments ||
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#13
Ahh .. come on guys ... who cares what AnitWar thinks ... his clitche reactions are not much different than my High School daughter's ... dern the NEA. Saddham is going to get a fair trial, and then a fair hanging. Hurrah!
#14
The best place for a trial is the international court with impartial judges.
I also thought this would be the best solution at first. Soon thereafter, I realized that the Iraqi people must have proper self-determination, and that includes trying Saddam. Let any international court (inIraq) address Saddam's crimes against Kuwait and Iran, perhaps even crimes against humanity for the insane pollution he caused in the Persian Gulf. That's as may be, Iraq still passes ultimate sentence on Saddam, and they do it in Iraq.
-------------
Btw when is Dubya's trial for the unmitigated slaughter and decimation of Iraq?
#16
I hope Saddam will be given a fair trial which is probably wishful thinking. The best place for a trial is the international court with impartial judges. Btw when is Dubya's trial for the unmitigated slaughter and decimation of Iraq?
#18
Jen Sanctions were because Saddam did not kneel and kiss the backside of (President's name here)The wars were for basically the same reason and for Iraq's oil. Anyway I have to go now as I have to get ready to go to work.
U.N. resolution would condemn all genius âextrajudicial executionsâ
The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations gave a spirited defense Monday of the weekend killing of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi, calling him a sh!thead "doctor of death" who did nothing to help the Palestinians advance the Mideast peace process. The speech by Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman came as the U.N. Security Council considered a resolution condemning Israel for every Arab problem throughout all history the Saturday killing. "He was a radical terrorist leader that joyfully and publicly celebrated the murder of innocent men, women and children, sought to destroy any peace initiative and called for the destruction of Israel by force of arms," Gillerman said. "He believed that violence was the âonly option.â " He added: "Rantisi was a trader in death, a doctor of death, and no one should be surprised that he is titzup paid the price for it."
Rantisi, who trained as a pediatrician, was killed in an Israeli helicopter attack on his car in Gaza City -- just four weeks after his predecessor, Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed (blind boy) Yassin, was killed in a similar fashion. Isarel and the United States have labeled Hamas a terrorist organization unlike the remaining Arab world. Rantisiâs killing sparked glee in Israel outrage in the Arab world, and tens of thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in protest.
Of course, they do that all the time. Hardly a day goes by, in fact...
The assassination came just days after President Bush endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs disengagement plan under which Israel would unilaterally pull out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank, but would keep certain settlements in the West Bank. Bushâs endorsement sparked seething anger from many Palestinians and other Arab leaders. U.N. mouthpiece Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the killing of Rantisi was a no-no and Israel is a big fat doodie-head breach of international law and called on Israel to end its existence assassinations. "The only way to halt an escalation of violence is for Israelis to nuke âem all and Palestinians to work towards a viable negotiating process aimed at killing all terrorists a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement," Annan weasled said.
A draft of the resolution before the Security Council makes ZERO mention of terrorism but condemns "the extrajudicial executions recently committed by Israel as way too scary for us bedwetters, the occupying power, as illegal, unjustified and counterproductive." Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian terror apologist observer to the United Nations, envied blasted Israel for its incredibly precise marksmanship "belligerent occupation" of Gaza and the West Bank. He said the Security Council must take action to "bring an end to America and Israelâs capable anti-terror programs the cycle of violence and bloodshed. The deliberate, excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force, including the extrajudicial executions, being carried out by Israel against the Palestinian civilian population constitutes pure fricking magic a grave breach of international law."
Rantissi's bonk came about three hours after a boomer killed one and injured four at Erez Crossing. What was that?
He also said any parallels drawn between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the global war on terrorism are f**cking spot on is "inappropriate and completely erroneous. Israelâs fabulously successful constant attempts to draw our fangs such parallels and to exploit the international fight against terrorism must be daubed over with Jewish blood rejected."
If Hamas isn't a terrorist organization there ain't no such thing...
Gillerman went on to say, "It is no good to affirm in theory Israelâs right to defend itself in this conflict, but then in practice seek to deny us the right to specifically target those illegal combatants directly responsible." Britainâs brain dead deputy ambassador, Adam Thomson, said his nation shares the European Unionâs routine condemnation of all Israeli actions the killing of Rantisi, and urged all parties to try to get the Mideast road map jammed up the Palestiniansâ @ss back on track. The United States, which has little love for Arabs anymore veto power as one of the five permanent members of the council, indicated it has no plans to vote for the resolution.
Sounds like someone sprouted a new set.
US forces besieging the Iraqi city of Falluja have issued an ultimatum to Sunni militants, urging them to give up their arms or face fresh fighting. Spokesman Gen Mark Kimmitt told the BBC that offensive operations would resume unless heavy weapons were surrendered. He was speaking after the US-led coalition announced measures to end the military stand-off there. These include shortening the curfew and allowing unfettered humanitarian access to the people of Falluja. Residents of Falluja contacted on Tuesday morning by Reuters news agency said there had been no fighting since the measures were announced on Monday. The agency also reported that civilians who had fled the fighting in the city were now trickling back - but were forced to do so on foot, as US marine checkpoints had turned back vehicles. Speaking to the BBC World Serviceâs World Today programme, Gen Kimmitt said the US did not know how many heavy weapons the Sunni militants had, but insisted that the "overwhelming majority" must be handed in.
"Well, if that antiaircraft gun was your grampaw's, I guess you can keep it. But y'gotta turn in the ammunition!"
"The ammunition? But that was Aunt Fatimah's! She set such store by it! Used to keep it in a glassed in bunker, off the dining room..."
He gave no timetable, but said the aim was to bring Falluja under coalition control. Gen Kimmitt also sought to play down reports of heavy civilian casualties in Falluja over the past two weeks, saying the reports needed to be verified by the Iraqi government. He also appeared to acknowledge that no direct talks had been held with the actual militants who, he said, included foreign fighters. The Falluja agreement came after days of talks between senior US officials and representatives of local Iraqis. Dan Senor, the US administrationâs chief spokesman, said the deal included:
Better access to local hospitals so the wounded could be treated, as well as for retrieving and burying bodies
Amnesty for people who hand in their weapons
Easy access for ambulances
Shortening the curfew by two hours
Regular joint patrols between US forces and local Iraqis
Reforming police and the Iraqi defence corps - which will be able to take over and pledge to eliminate "foreign fighters, criminals and drug users in Falluja", said Mr Senor.
It is not clear whether the Iraqi civic leaders taking part in the negotiations are able to control the insurgents. They have said they do not control about 20% of the population of the city, says the BBCâs Dominic Hughes in Baghdad, and the support of this percentage could be crucial to the future of the deal.
They're the ones who're gonna ambush and mutilate another Westerner...
The US offensive started early this month following the killing and mutilation of four US security contractors in Falluja. Hundreds of civilians are reported to have been killed in the fighting. An uneasy ceasefire has been in force for more than a week. Militants in Falluja - in the area known as the Sunni triangle - have spearheaded the Iraqi insurgency against the US-led occupation of Iraq, which has now spread south of Baghdad to include Shia militants loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr. The US-led coalition has also been involved in negotiations to resolve a stand-off in the holy city of Najaf with militias loyal to Mr Sadr. "Hundreds of civilians are reported to have been killed in the fighting." Iâm getting pretty sick of this banana oil. If our snipers were that incompetent, theyâd never have made it off of the range with any marksmanship certification. Itâs time to take names and kick some @ss.
"Hoo, boy! That was a close one! They almost got me! Grandmaw, have a peak and see what they're doing... Awwww! Mahmoud, see if you can snake Granny back into the living room, wouldja?"
Posted by: Zenster ||
04/20/2004 11:35:06 AM ||
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#1
I notice also that they never give a figure for wounded, just dead. Wounded should be running in the 8000-9000 range, based on the corpse reports.
#4
Ambulances leaving the area should be stopped and the casualty transferred to US custody. We'll give them better treatment AND prevent ambulances from being used to escape or transport weapons.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 15:28 Comments ||
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#5
Any wounded Arab male of fighting age should be detained for the length of their recovery. Ballistics tests should be performed on any bullet fragments recovered from their wounds. If they've been hit by American fire, into a compound they go for the duration. We should consider having a UV dye powder on all our bullets so we can determine who people were hit by.
#6
Zenster, that's an interesting Idea. Problem is the usual suspects will claim the powder is designed to ensure the target is dead, or some such foolishness.
#7
I wouldn't mind seeing a UV dye gun used to hit gunmen hiding behind women and children. Then when they're spotted later pretending to be innocents they can be dealt with appropriately.
#8
Hell, whenever they hide behind women and children, just hit the area with a barrage of paint pellets. Relatively harmless to the innocents, and if you use the right dye, everyone who was there is marked for a few weeks.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 17:44 Comments ||
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#9
RC, that could work, the paint pellets would need an "extra ingedient" though to incapacitate the attacker, any sugestions?
#12
Capsaicin is an interesting idea and is really noxious. But I like the idea of marking 'em with paint so that we can later identify the perp. If you use capsaicin or other noxious agent the LLL will complain that we harmed poor Aunt Fatimah and her kiddies as they were being used as cover human shields.
Mark 'em, and make sure the region knows how the paint can be seen by a Predator drone from 10,000 feet up.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2004 19:10 Comments ||
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#13
Capsaicin is an interesting idea and is really noxious
Well maybe if you drink it. It makes me sweat and smile and jump up and down AND DEMAND WATER I'M NEEDIN WATER HERE YOU BROWN BUGGERS WATER! IM NEEDING WATER. Excellent stuff. Milk be better cure tho.
#14
There is existing technology currently used for riot control with water cannons. A penetrating dye is infused into the monitor's reservoir and after hosing down a mob you can cull out any agitators who are males of fighting age. Capturing photo images of the crowd will assist with verification after detainment. Hoods aren't of any use in defeating this.
We need to start doing this right away. Sure would have been nice to pick out each and every b@stard who was cheering on that bridge. I can't imagine why they haven't imported said equipment into Iraq for this exact purpose.
An Iraqi insurgent leader says two German security agents were killed by his men at a roadblock in Fallujah earlier this month because they were "mistaken for Americans". Jabbar al-Qubaysi, head of the Iraqi National Patriotic Alliance, was quoted by Germanyâs Spiegel TV as saying he regretted the killings. "It is all very regrettable," he told the German TV show, produced by Der Spiegel news magazine. "Had the men stopped at the roadblock and identified themselves as Germans, my men would have spared them. "But they sped through the roadblock and were mistaken for Americans," he said. Regrettable, my arse. This guy sounds like heâs been taking elocution classes at the Axis of Weasels Center for International Pandering.
#1
I'm sure the GSG will be willing to let bygones be bygones. Adios, Mahmoud.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/20/2004 14:46 Comments ||
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#2
Too bad for Mr. Insurgent Leader, the German's might (meaning possibly) have let bygones be bygones, but we Americans will take note and kill him before he gets the chance to get it right. Thanks for the heads up.
Posted by: B ||
04/20/2004 15:25 Comments ||
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#3
Sefarious - the AWCIP!
Hmmm - Jabbar al-Qubaysi really sez:
"All white guys look alike to us! We didn't know."
#4
A lot more Europeans, Aussies and Kiwis are all going to be mistaken for Americans in the next couple of years (think "Bali"). Until they realize that terrorists do not give a fig about any confusion shown over who gets killed, the end game for crushing terror won't be clear. At least Australia gets the picture.
#5
Anon405...No, that's definitely not what he said.
The article reports that the Germans were at the end of a convoy, and that their bodies have not been recovered.
Mahmoud tipped the jihadis off and the ambush was deliberate. Meanwhile, al-Qubaysi "regrets" the "error", claims that "mistakes were made" and the media eats it up with a spoon. I'm not British, but "bugger all" really fits my mood today.
#6
Anon405...No, that's definitely not what he said.
The article reports that the Germans were at the end of a convoy, and that their bodies have not been recovered.
Mahmoud tipped the jihadis off and the ambush was deliberate. Meanwhile, al-Qubaysi "regrets" the "error", claims that "mistakes were made" and the media eats it up with a spoon. I'm not British, but "bugger all" really fits my mood today.
#12
Bomb-a-rama, I assume you are referring to me. Except I'M not the one who got it wrong you want to see who did? Wicked ( btw other people here can do the same with a few exceptions)Right get up walk to your nearest mirror and look into it. THAT'S who doesn't get the picture.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel would keep killing top militants Tuesday after the Jewish state assassinated two senior Hamas leaders in less than a month. "We got rid of murderer number one and murderer number two and the list is not short," Sharon said in a speech at the port city of Ashdod. EMPHASIS ADDED I like that part about the list.
I've got a little list,
I've got a little list,
And I know they'll not be missed!
From Jihad Unspun
The word on the street in Baghdad is that the the cessation of suicide car bombings is proof that the CIA was behind them. Why? Because as one man states, "[CIA agents are] too busy fighting now, and the unrest they wanted to cause by the bombings is now upon them." True or not, it certainly doesnât bode well for the occupiersâ image in Iraq....
When asked if the U.S. military were bombing civilians in Falluja, he [a doctor who asked not to be named] stated, "Of course the Americans are bombing civilians, along with the revolutionaries. One year ago there was no revolution in Falluja. But they began searching homes and humiliating people, and this annoyed the people. The people became angry and demonstrated, then the Americans shot the demonstrators, and this started the revolution in Falluja. It is the same in Sadr City. Aggression against civilians has caused all of this. Nothing happened for the first two months of the occupation. People were happy to have Saddam gone. And now, we hope for the mercy of God if the Americans invade Najaf."
Cluster bombs are reported to have been used commonly in Iraq both during the invasion and the occupation. Another doctor at Noman Hospital, who asked to remain anonymous, stated that he saw the U.S. military dropping cluster bombs on the Al-Dora area last December, "Iâve seen it all with my own eyes. The U.S. later removed the unexploded bombs by soldiers picking up the bomblets and putting them in their helmets."
He also believes that cluster bombs are currently being used in Falluja, based on reports from field doctors presently working there, as well as statements taken from wounded civilians of Falluja. He also claimed that many of the Falluja victims he had treated had been shot with âdum-dum bulletsâ, which are hollow point bullets that are designed to inflict maximum internal damage. These are also referred to as âexpanding bullets.â
Nearing the end of the discussion, the first doctor stated, "The U.S. induces aggression. If you donât attack me, I will never attack you. The U.S. is stimulating the aggression of the Iraqi people!"
A doctor who asked to remain anonymous at Al-Karam Hospital in Baghdad reported that another doctor from his hospital had just returned from Najaf. She was unable to work there, she told Al-Karam, because Spanish military forces had occupied its hospital. The roof of the Al-Sadr Teaching hospital in Najaf overlooks their base, so soldiers have taken it over for strategic purposes. The doctor at Al-Karam Hospital stated, "The Americans donât care what happens to Iraqis." ....
Hussein Kareem, the Assistant Administrator at the Mohammed Baker Hakim Hospital in Sadr City, said that while no soldiers had occupied or visited the hospital, U.S. soldiers shot one ambulance from his hospital, injuring the driver. He also stated that during the first day of fighting in Sadr City two weeks ago, he received 32 dead bodies, mostly of women and children, and 90 wounded....
At Yarmouk Hospital, a lead doctor discussed the situation in Falluja. .... He is outraged by the situation in Falluja, which he calls a massacre, "The Americans shot at some of our doctors who were traveling to Falluja to provide aid. One of our doctors was injured when a missile struck his vehicle. I have also been told by my doctors in Falluja that the Americans are shooting ambulances there, as well as at the main hospital there. My doctors in Falluja have reported to me that the Americans are using cluster bombs. Patients weâve treated from there are reporting the same. .... One of my doctors in Falluja asked the Americans there if he could remove a wounded patient from the city. The soldier wouldnât let him move the victim, and said, OEWe have dead soldiers here too. This is a war zone.â The doctor wasnât allowed to remove the wounded man, and he died. So many doctors and ambulances have been turned back from checkpoints there."
This same doctor reported that he saw American soldiers killing women and children, as well as shooting ambulances in Falluja. .... "What freedom did America bring us? Freedom of the machine gun? So I am free to take my gun and shoot you?"
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 2:08:18 PM ||
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#1
I keep reminding myself: the jury's still out on whether these people can be civilized. We need to keep trying, before we give up on them once and for all. Islam really is a religion of peace, we just have to give them a chance to rid themselves of the loonies. They're a different culture, be tolerant patient with them...
It's getting more and more difficult. And I have a growing suspicion that this war may not be over until Arabic is spoken only in Hell.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/20/2004 14:26 Comments ||
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#2
No evidence. You would think with all the women and children being killed someone would have a camera.....
#3
The claim about cluster bombs is an obvious attempt to cater to western collaborators. Various murder apologist "peace" groups, including the Mennonite Central Committee, have been running a campaign of lies and demonization against these weapons for several years. Humanity has nothing to do with this, since these groups bend over backward to justify the most barbarous atrocities by their side.
It has to do entirely with disarming the civilized world for the benefit of its sworn enemies.
#4
And I have a growing suspicion that this war may not be over until Arabic is spoken only in Hell.
I keep reading that the Arabic language has a lot of difficulties with things like differentiating between conditionals (this might happen if) and absolutes (this will happen). I even read somewhere that it's hard to accuse someone of lying in Arabic because saying, "I will do something" is indistinguishable from saying, "I might do something." The example used was the Six Day War and Nasser's radio broadcasts stating the the Egyptians were bombing Tel Aviv and had penetrated well into the Negev. The writer (I wish that I could remember the book) stated that in Arabic, it was impossible to discern whether the radio announcer was saying we are bombing Tel Aviv or we'd like to bomb Tel Aviv. I believe along with Orwell that culture shapes language and language shapes the way we think. You may be absolutely right, Dave D.
#5
Yeah, and this "Doctor's" last name doesn't happen to be Heinz-Kerry does it? Oh yeah, that was 30 some years ago in front of Congress about Vietnam, not current about Fallujah! Even if true, it gives me hope that we're pounding the savages, that's the only thing they understand is force.
Posted by: BA ||
04/20/2004 15:17 Comments ||
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#6
As an employee of an automotive manufacturer, I refuse to comment on whether car-bombing was devised to improve export sales.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/20/2004 15:20 Comments ||
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#7
"Iâve seen it all with my own eyes. The U.S. later removed the unexploded bombs by soldiers picking up the bomblets and putting them in their helmets."
This would NEVER happen. This line alone calls into doubt every remark the 'good Doctor' makes.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 17:48 Comments ||
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#8
I personally love this line The U.S. induces aggression. If you donât attack me, I will never attack you. The U.S. is stimulating the aggression of the Iraqi people!"
By telling us NOT to attack you you are stimulating our aggresive tendencies! You know...screw cause and effect..I'm wondering if the entire arab world has terminal cancer of the brain. This is simple logic they are failing to grasp.
EFL This is the Front Page article of âThe Seattle Timesâ.
Oh and I almost forgot: "YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIEEEEEE!!!!!!!"
By Nicholas Riccardi and Edmund Sanders
Los Angeles Times AKA the âNational Enquirerâ of LA
BAGHDAD, Iraq â At a sprawling desert camp in southern Iraq, U.S. soldiers sleep in trucks and Humvees because Iraqi merchants are afraid to deliver tents.
On a key road west through the Sunni Triangle, masked men with Kalashnikov assault rifles have occupied the concrete-block checkpoints the U.S. military once used.
At Baghdadâs airport, goods are piling up because Iraqi truckers refuse to brave the main highway to the capital or transport the material to other U.S. bases. Of all the sudden changes in Iraq during the past three weeks, control of the roads is among the most striking. The U.S.-led coalition has been unable to hold onto all of its supply and communication lines on vital routes leading from the capital. Insurgents have blown up key bridges and rocketed fuel convoys.
Although the U.S. military says there are no serious shortages, the perilous state of Iraqâs roads adds to a sense of chaos created by three weeks of Iraqi resistance that has left at least 99 U.S. service members dead, dozens of foreign civilian workers taken hostage and two allies, Spain and Honduras, announcing they will pull their troops out of the country.
The United States vows to retake the roads; meanwhile, it is flying in more material from Kuwait and altering convoy routes and times.
"In some cases, we have had to change the way we do business, but the bottom line is that critical supplies â food, water, fuel, ammunition, spare parts â are getting to the people that need them," said Army Maj. Richard Spiegel, of the 13th Corps Support Command, which is in charge of logistics in Iraq. "Example: Are some mess halls serving less variety of food? Yes, they are ... but there is still plenty of fresh food."
Still, insurgents only need to dent the supply lines to have a serious impact on the militaryâs ability to maneuver, said Charles Heyman, a senior analyst at Janeâs Consulting Group. "It looks like the opposition has gotten its act together," he said. "It is reducing the ability of the coalition to operate where ... (it wants) to."
The road to Baghdad International Airport, on the western edge of the capital, has long been the site of ambushes of U.S. convoys, but insurgents last week increased assaults on trucks and convoys and began handing out leaflets warning of more attacks.
That was enough for Qassim Kadhum, 43. Until Saturday, the trucker was still picking up goods at the airport. But after passing several burned-out cars that day, he said he understood why crates were piling up at the terminals with no one to move them. Kadhum decided he would join other Iraqis who had stopped hauling supplies from the airport. "We are worried weâll be targets," he said. "We are not only worried about our safety, but the future of our families."
Military buyers had signed contracts with local vendors to supply everything from water to portable tents. "When the security situation gets bad, they donât want to deliver, and thatâs whatâs happening now," said Army Capt. Ron Talarico, who is helping coordinate supplies. Seems like something we should fix.
On the other paw you have to wonder if they even left the hotel bar to get this story......
Material from The Associated Press, The Washington Post and Reuters is included in this report. Guess not...
Posted by: Chris W. ||
04/20/2004 13:56 Comments ||
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Note that this piece cites only vague generalities and a few anecdotes to support some very broad and generalized conclusions, and to invite broader inferences.
There are no facts about the overall situation, nothing on the real number of ambushes vs. the volume of traffic, no data on the actual effect this has on traffic flow, and no summary of shortages resulting from this activity. The strongly invited conclusion is that the rebels are winning, but no facts are presented to justify this.
Not all of Dr. Goebbel's spiritual children work for Al Jazeera.
LAT, for its part, is the paper of record for the media conformist culture.
By P. Mitchell Prothero, UPI. Hat tip: Michael Friedman ("The Fried Man"). EFL. In the tradition of Juggernaut and Danger: UXB . . .
. . . As we get out of the car in front of my hotel, an Iraqi tells Osama [the authorâs translator] what the roadblock is about; it seems thereâs a huge bomb in the road in front of our hotel. "Hey," Osama yells with a grin. "Want to go look for the bomb?" I shrug and grab my cameras, and we walk back out on to the road, which of course is deserted of cars but has significant pedestrian traffic, which means hordes of little kids playing up and down the block. Osama asks one boy of about 10 where the bomb is, and the kid nonchalantly points down the street toward a traffic circle some 500 meters away, where the Iraqi police are set up. So we begin to walk in that direction. About 100 meters down, while talking on my mobile phone with a source, Osama stops and begins to talk with some Kurdish militia members who are set up down one of the side streets. "Hey man," Osama interrupts my phone call. "I found the bomb."
Being on the phone, I motion for him to wait, until I see heâs pointing to an artillery shell embedded in concrete five feet away from us. Itâs huge -- a 155 mm artillery shell -- and there are wires and a homemade detonator sticking out the back. "Uhhh, I have to call you back," I say into the phone.
The Kurds are laughing hysterically at us at this point, oblivious to the fact that they themselves are only 30 feet away and will live only a nanosecond longer than Osama and me should it explode. I take some quick pictures, while both Osama and I try to play it cool for the Kurds. Being an Arab, he canât run for cover in front of Kurds, and I figure itâs too late for us if this thingâs going off anytime soon. So we move away from the bomb, which can easily kill or wound anyone within 100 yards should it go off. Just as we get to the street, a U.S. military Humvee comes tearing down the road full of members of the 1st Armored Division. As these are the intended targets of the bomb in the first place -- and having seen the remote detonator -- my cool evaporates as I wave them off. Luckily the 1st Armored guys have been in Iraq for a year and quickly figures out why Iâm waving. Rookie troops would have likely pulled over and asked me for my credentials. They set up a roadblock of their own a few hundred meters down the street, and Osama and I walk down to them. Along the way we encounter a bunch of Iraqi families who have come out for the show. Little kids are now running everywhere around the deadly device, and Osama tries to tell them to clear out. But the families tell him the bomb has been there for 24 hours and hasnât gone off yet, so whatâs the worry? A very typical Iraqi response to danger.
The soldiers ask me if Iâve seen the bomb, or in Iraq parlance, an Improvised Explosive Device. "You got a location on the IED?" one asks. When informed I can show him a picture, we retire to the shade of his armored Humvee to show an officer and sergeant. When they see picture on the small screen on the back of my digital camera, the sergeant starts yelling obscenities at me and in general. "Holy (expletive) (expletive) thatâs a huge one," he shouts. "What the (expletive) were you (expletive) morons doing that close to a (expletive) IED?"
I explain that we didnât actually know where the bomb was when we almost stepped on it. Now the soldiers are laughing and thanking us for finding it. One suggests that I might want to change my trousers.
As we stand a marginally safe distance away, one soldier explains that the Iraqis take a different approach to disposal of bombs than the Americans. "When these guys find a bomb or a (rocket propelled grenade) they carry it to our base," one says. "Weâll walk outside to talk to them and theyâll be swinging a huge shell out of the back of truck all proud that they helped. We freak out every time." As we talk about such matters, as if on cue, two Kurdish militiamen walk up to the bomb, as we watch incredulously. They poke it a few times and then actually try to pick it up. "If he gets that thing up and walks this way with it, so help me God I will shoot him," says one infantryman. "What we should do is just put a bullet in that beast from here and set it off."
Through an interpreter, a Kurdish leader explains that they tried that. "Weâve been shooting at it all morning, but it wonât go off," explains the Kurd. We just laugh at this point. Itâs just another morning in Baghdad.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/20/2004 10:57:27 AM ||
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Kurds, holy crap, f-ing with a 155 HE round!
Dunno if they have cojones the size of Coconuts or brains the size of peanuts (or both). Hard to figure if they are brave, tough or stupid, or some of all 3.
#3
If you are going to do SMUD with a 155 you need a .50 cal round with AP. The case is at least 3/4 inch steel. The alternative would be to put a charge of C-4 next to it.
Posted by: remote man ||
04/20/2004 11:57 Comments ||
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#4
It is beyond me why they just don't set an explosive charge near the shell with a three minutes fuse.
#5
Prothero's going to get his ass canned. He warned the troops about the bomb! Surely an objective, neutral reporter would've let them come up on it, allowing events to take their course, rather than interfering like this. Who does he think he is, Ernie Pyle?
#10
"#4 It is beyond me why they just don't set an explosive charge near the shell with a three minutes fuse."
I used to do that, until the time we found a 105 shell sitting out on the sand in the open, and it turned out it was the detonator for the 1,000 pound bomb just below it, out of sight. Even then, we weren't far enough away when it blew. Chalk it up to lucky. Bottom line; what you can readily see isn't always the problem.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/20/2004 16:02 Comments ||
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Slightly EFL, from NewsMax
The recent assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi had been predicted several weeks ago by a veteran Israeli diplomat.
"He has a big mouth and might wind up as Hamasâ shortest lived leader," the diplomat told NewsMax last month.
And sure enough...
Rantisi was killed as he left his home in Gaza on Saturday.
Witnesses claim a missile, supposedly fired by an Israeli helicopter, hit and destroyed his car. It was identical to an attack on Hamasâ founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin last month. The "Sheikh" was killed by an Israeli missile while travelling in his car in Gaza just after morning prayers. Reports from the scene claim that in both attacks Israeli choppers fired their rockets at a distance, supposedly off the Gaza coast, out of range of shoulder-fired missiles.
And out of earshot of the guys in the car...
What then accounted for the surprising accuracy of the Israeli hits? A senior Israeli government source tells NewsMax that the IDF helicopters did in fact have help "on the ground in Gaza." Recent reports claim that Israel Aircraft Industries has been producing "mini-drones" for use in such "specialized" missions. The mini-drones are akin to small model planes equipped with miniature TV transmitters. The midget planes fly almost undetected and can literally glide through windows into homes before they are noticed. The Israeli source tells NewsMax that mini-drones did in fact play a role in the recent Hamas assassinations... However, the source revealed that IDF helicopters also had "human" assistance on the ground. The Israeli claimed that his government has "been successful" in obtaining the "assistance" of Palestinians within Hamas. In short, the official claimed that individuals "sympathetic" to Israel have been key in helping Jerusalem "eliminate" the two former Hamas leaders. The official hinted that the "sympathetic" Hamas individuals may have actually planted homing devices in the cars of the two leaders, allowing the IDF to attack with stunning success. "Do not be surprised, we know more about their (Hamas) activities than most people know. And now, they (Hamas) have begin to realize it themselves."
Should be some amusing internecine bloodshed coming up soon...
Coincidentally, Hamas decided not to release the name of its newest leader, the third in less than two months.
It's Zahar, speaking for Boskone. Meshaal of the Eich is his immediate superior. Everyone knows that by now...
HA ha! Maybe the old myths about the skill of Israeli intelligence werenât exaggerations after all...
Even if they are, can the Paleos afford to assume they're not? Oooh! Is that a long knife? And night is falling...
Posted by: Chris W. ||
04/20/2004 10:43:35 AM ||
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"He has a big mouth and might wind up as Hamasâ shortest lived leader," the diplomat told NewsMax last month.
The man certainly has a way with words.
The Israelis already have a well established practice of "painting" apartment windows and other targets with IR lasers to pinpoint optically guided missiles. Someone on the street with a hopped up laser pointer could do it.
#3
the comments on human agents in the Hamas hierarchy is pure propaganda, which, heh heh , will likely lead to a purge of suspected Joooo spies (also known as a settling of minor scores)
please pass the popcorn?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 11:05 Comments ||
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Coincidentally, Hamas decided not to release the name of its newest leader, the third in less than two months.
They are in hiding for medical purposes. All new Hamas leaders will be surgically altered to resemble Saddam Hussein. That way Saddam's out-of-work doubles can find employment.
A barrage of 18 mortars hit a Baghdad jail Tuesday, killing 21 prisoners, the U.S. military said. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the mortar strike hit the Baghdad Confinement Facility run by the U.S.-led coalition. He told a news conference that preliminary reports said all the casualties were prisoners.
Oh. Shucks. Darn.
He said he did not know if the prisoners were suspected criminals or "security detainees," Iraqis detained on suspicion of involvement in anti-U.S. violence or in the remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime. He had no further immediate details.
Interesting. Why shoot up a jail full of presumed insurgents, rather than their jailers? Could it be somebody knew something?
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 9:52:13 AM ||
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I believe that in some circles incidents like this are referred to as "public service homicides."
Posted by: Mike ||
04/20/2004 10:24 Comments ||
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Why do I think there was probably a prisoner in there who 'knew too much'?
Posted by: Kathy K ||
04/20/2004 10:33 Comments ||
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#3
Kathy, I think you give too much credit to their aiming skills
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 10:43 Comments ||
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Kathy, IF there was a prisoner that âknew too muchâ a mortar would be the LEAST affective way of dealing with him. Why not just take him out and shoot him? Shoot him while trying to escape? God I love you kool aid drinkers, you make life (and politics) interesting! Is your real name McKinney?
#5
I thought the same thing as Kathy when I heard the story. Word leaks out that somebody is singing, and his erstwhile pals try to shut him up. Maybe it kills him, maybe it just scares him silent. If you can't bribe the guards and you have a few mortars in your kitchen cabinet . . .
Posted by: James ||
04/20/2004 13:55 Comments ||
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Who would have the motivation to blow up a bunch of prisoners? (1) their former compatriots who wanted to make sure they didn't sing, or (2) people who hated them and wanted them dead before they were imprisoned, and now have them targetted as sitting (imprisoned) ducks. Any other theories? This seems intriguing to me.
#7
3) numerous but not particularly competent insurgents, who see the prison as one of the few big signs of coalition authority in Abu Graib (fiercely anti-US town between Baghdad and Fallujah)
#8
Sounds more like a Jail-break to me. Remember about a 2 months ago terrorists broke out their friends and killed the defending IDF? They couldn't get they're physically, so they took the next option: Blow the walls down from a distance. Didn't quite work out the way they planned though.
Posted by: Charles ||
04/20/2004 17:52 Comments ||
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#9
The theory at which you arrive depends directly on how smart you think the mortar tossers are.
Jordanian police have killed three suspected militants, officials say. They say the three were shot dead on Tuesday in the capital, Amman, following a tip off.
"Shot Dead" has a nice ring to it.
The suspects belonged to "an armed group which had plotted to carry out terror attacks" in Jordan, according to a police statement.
Would that be the group planning the chemical attack? You know, the one that no one is talking about.
On Tuesday police stormed a house in eastern parts of Amman where the suspects had been hiding, the statement said. Officers urged the suspects to surrender, but they replied with gunfire, it added.
"This is the police! Come out with your hands up!"
"You'll never take us alive!"
"Ok."
An official quoted by the French news agency AFP said one of the suspects was Jordanian and the other two were foreigners.
Foreigners, huh? Like maybe, Syrian?
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 9:27:11 AM ||
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A couple of prisoners would be nice, guys. We get no intel from deaders.
#2
mojo - they didn't say when they were "killed". Could've been after a lengthy interrogation from lack of medical treatment, no? How did they know they were foreigners? Passports? not likely...
just thinking aloud with my cynical hat on....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 11:12 Comments ||
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BANGKOK: Thailand will withdraw its 451 medical and engineering troops from Iraq if they are attacked amid growing turmoil in the country, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said today.
Thanks, Thaksin. You just painted a giant bullseye on your countries troops.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 9:10:13 AM ||
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Thanks, Thaksin. You just painted a giant bullseye on your countries troops.
No surprises here. Thaksin's the king of denial. Yup, there are no Muslim terrorists in Pattani (southern Thailand).
#2
Thailand has survived for its recorded history by playing off the Great Powers one against the other and having no permanent alliances. I doubt that will work in a Pax Americana. If they ally themselves with the forces of terror and darkness, sooner or later the US will destroy them. If they try and remove themselves from the struggle, they will be ground to dust between American power and Islamofascist terror. All in all, the Thai government did a foolish thing in a stupid attempt to mollify their muslim extremists in the south.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 10:10 Comments ||
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Why do we even bother including these 3rd world shitholes in anything? For the appearance of unity in the the world? Who cares? If there is a job that needs doing, don't look to the UN, don't look to Spain or Thailand of France or any other self-serving head in the sand apologists. The fact of the matter is, there is a very narrow slice of the anglo-sphere that is whole heartedly involved and committed to victory in this war on western civilization (read the UK).
I'm on your side unless I get kicked in the balls by someone else and then I'll go home.
Bin Ladens offer last week to the Euro's is working in other areas of the world - they deserve what they get.
#5
JerseyMike: Why do we even bother including these 3rd world shitholes in anything? For the appearance of unity in the the world? Who cares?
Because it saves us money. Part of the reason some of these countries are balking is because we have not bribed them with additional aid programs to get them to contribute troops. The countries with troops in Iraq are truly showing their solidarity with the US. I think this posture is the right one. Iraq is the place where we get to find out who our friends really are.
The Palestinians blamed the United States Monday for everything emboldening Israel to assassinate Hamas leader Abdel Aziz (Pediatrician of Death) Rantisi by vetoing a Security Council resolution condemning last monthâs joyous "extrajudicial execution" of Hamasâ largest remaining sphincter founder. Israel countered that it has been forced to take "defensive actions," including killing Rantisi, because the Palestinian will never refuse to meet their international obligation to arrest themselves terrorists and get rid of extremist rectal cavities groups like Hamas. The exchange took place at the start of an emergency mutual masturbation session Security Council meeting sought by the Arab League to address incredibly well planned escalating Israeli military attacks and Rantisiâs killing in an Israeli missile strike on Saturday.
More than 40 countries publicly beat off spoke, and virtually all but the United States have sh!t for brains condemned Israel â including close U.S. ally Britain. Algeriaâs U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Baali, the only Arab member on the council, introduced his boy toy a draft resolution at the end of the meeting that demands an end to Israelâs "extrajudicial executions," a halt to "all acts of violence including all acts of even the slightest intelligence terrorism," and adherence to international humanitarian law as per the Iranian conference on April 25th. "In the Palestinian territory, in the Arab nation and in the Muslim world, we emotions are high and distress and frustration are our lot in life deep," Baali warned. "If no action is taken, and Israel gets away for the umpteenth time again with these highly successful snuff jobs horrendous crimes, the situation might very rapidly deteriorate and go ultimately out of any Arab control."
The United States used its veto power on March 25 to quash a resolution condemning Israel for killing Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the pedophile Hamas founder and masochist love slave spiritual leader. U.S. diplomats said the measure failed to do squat about mention the militant groupâs record of mass murder bombings and shooting attacks during 3 1/2 years of vicious slaughter Israeli-Palestinian violence. The toilet paper draft resolution circulated Monday also makes no mention of Hamas, and U.S. deputy ambassador James Cunningham said it would definitely likely face another U.S. veto. Council experts were expected to discuss Wednesdayâs lunch menu the text on Tuesday.
Posted by: Zenster ||
04/20/2004 1:10:51 AM ||
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Apparently the US would agree to a moral equivalency resolution condemning both Israel and Hamas but the Arab lobby and the EUdhimmis are too stupid to have such a resolution authored.
#4
Algeriaâs U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Baali, the only Arab member on the council, introduced a draft resolution at the end of the meeting that demands an end to Israelâs "extrajudicial executions,"
But Hamas's and the Palestinian Authority's extrajudicial executions of Israeli civilians can roll right along. After all, these aren't, strictly speaking, extrajudicial executions - they are acts of legitimate resistance. In the Muslim view, all non-Muslims are legitimate targets for Muslim jihadis, but no Muslim is a legitimate target for a non-Muslim. Sounds like they're trying to impose sharia on an international basis - Muslims can kill non-Muslims without penalty, but non-Muslims cannot kill Muslims for any reason whatsoever.
#8
Not to worry! President Kerry will: âWithin weeks of taking office, travel to the UN and formally rejoin the community of nationsâ (sic). Sounds like JFK wants to apologize for the US and then have a good ole UN circle jerk with the SC and Arab buddies. The first time we acknowledge their rhetoric we lose all credibility and moral standing.
#10
Aaahhh yes - "Community of nations despots"
The United NationsDictators. A group commited together to promote harmonyinsular interest of all nations.
This probably fails to meet the Rantburg criteria for ânewsâ. More like formalizing a de facto situation. The Palestinian Authority is considering canceling the position of Prime Minister, leaving the leadership entirely in the hands of the PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, the London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported Tuesdays. Officials in the PA claim that the position on Prime Minister was imposed on the authority by the United States, in an effort to reduce the power that lies in the hands of Arafat. The partner for negotiations is Arafat, the Palestinians say, as he is the Palestiniansâ elected president
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/20/2004 5:30:03 AM ||
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"...Yeah, and while we're at it, those democratic reforms that we signed on to, that was all the Americans' idea as well. let's scrap those too."
"I agree. This concept of a self determining people, with a freely elected government that has to answer to them, instead of the other way around, it's just so silly!"
"Heh, stupid Americans...who do they think they are anyway, the most powerful and succesful nation that ever existed on earth?"
#2
Didn't Bush make a leadership "untainted by terror" a prerequisite for our support of a Palestinian state?
Shouldn't this make it obvious the PA has no intention of giving up Jew-killing?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 8:03 Comments ||
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Robert, that's "Yes" and "Yes".
Posted by: Steve ||
04/20/2004 8:59 Comments ||
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Analogy to the PA's changing the wallpaper as it applies to sewage treatment:
When you recycle the same old s--t, you just get concentrated sludge.
The sooner all the money is dried up, the sooner the PA is gone and the Paleos can get off to a fresh, more healthy direction...
Or NOT.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/20/2004 9:47 Comments ||
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This just makes not having to negotiate that much easier. Israel WILL NOT EVER negotiate with arafart. And the US recently determined that arafart gave the go-ahead for the killing of the US representatives in Gaza.
Paleos have such a knack for making the wrong decision, don't they.
The differences among the component parties of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has heightened and anything can happen anytime, said Farid Khan Toofan, provincial general secretary of the Awami National Party (ANP), on Monday. It was always an unnatural alliance anyway, the only thing the Shiâite, Deobandi, Wahabi and Brevhli parties had in common was ignorance, corruption and violence.
Mr Toofan said Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, central leaders of the MMA, had been demanding the removal of the provincial governor for quite some time. However, a few days back when the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) provincial ministers refused to attend a cabinet meeting because of differences with Chief Minister Akram Durrani, Mr Durrani and Mr Rehman met the governor, patched up their differences and implicitly supported the Wana operation. Fazl has always been willing to make deals with the establishment, and it looks like he will do so once again. Qazi takes this whole Jihad thing a little more seriously.
In reply to their meeting with the governor, Mr Toofan said Qazi Hussain, who is also JI ameer, met the prime minister, despite the MMAâs boycott of talks with the government. He said Mr Rehman said that he was not one to be pressured and his messenger the provincial law minister to Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, federal minister for Water and Power. Following the meeting, rumours were ripe that the JUI-F, Pakistan Peopleâs Party-Sherpao and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam would form a coalition government in the NWFP, he said. Which would consist of a pro-Musharraf faction bought off from the MMA, another group bought off from the PPP, and a third group consisting of a half a dozen different Pakistan Muslim League factions merged together. Thatâs politics.
He said the JUI-F had designed a policy to entice the JI to quit the MMA on its own. Mr Toofan said the JI and the JUI-F recently led separate rallies against the Wana operation in Peshawar, despite having the same policy on it. He said the differences between both the parties would certainly affect the political situation in the province.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
04/20/2004 4:05:41 AM ||
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Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, may have helped sub-Saharan African countries develop weapons in clandestine exchanges for the region's uranium, it emerged yesterday. Dr Khan visited Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan between 1998 and 2002 in the wake of selling nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya in a black-market trade exposed this year. The disgraced scientist toured Africa with an entourage of aides and nuclear experts, indicating the network was wider than previously thought, according to an Associated Press investigation published yesterday. Citing hotel records and witnesses, it said the group used a hotel in Timbuktu, Mali, as a desert base for four trips to the region.
Some of the poorest countries in the world are on that list, but all rich in turbans...
That would be the hotel Khan built and named after his wife. The Pak Air Force flew a load of "furniture" to Timbuktu for Khan.
It's one of the Pillars of Islamâ¢: you have to give 2.5% of your nuclear knowledge and uranium to less fortunate Muslims.
Officials from the Bush administration said the United States was investigating whether Dr Khan had supplied others besides Iran, North Korea and Libya, the three countries he has so far admitted helping. However, there was no proof that the sub-Saharan visits were to tout nuclear secrets. Analysts said the purpose may have been to obtain uranium for Pakistan's atomic programme in return for helping the Africans with conventional technology such as ballistic missiles.
Which they could then presumably use against infidels...
Feted at home as the metallurgist who enabled Pakistan to match its rival India's nuclear bomb, Dr Khan horrified the rest of the world in February when news of his illegal deals broke. Accused of overweening greed and ambition, the 69-year-old admitted his wrongdoing on television and was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf after claiming Pakistan's authorities knew nothing of the black market network. The investigation by AP cast fresh doubt on the regime's innocence because it showed that Dr Khan and other "Pakistan nuclear chiefs" signed the guest log of a hotel in Timbuktu on February 16 2002 - a year after Islamabad said it had ended the scientist's nuclear trafficking. "It's up to a year after his removal and he's still going with his entire top staff ... to travel to Africa?" asked Gaurav Kampani of the Centre for Nonproliferation Studies, based in California. "What is he doing?" Since Sudan, Mali, Nigeria and Niger possess known or suspected uranium deposits, one theory was that he was shopping for raw material to make fresh atom bombs, either for his homeland or for his foreign clients.
Remember, the Bush SOTU speech mentioned Sammy was interested in uranium from a African country. Everyone just assumed it was Niger.
Analysts doubted the African countries had the expertise to enrich uranium and make their own nuclear weapon.
But they'd be able to run prebuilt, push-the-button operations, especially if they were able to hire Pak and/or North Korean techs. And all have Christian countries as neighbors. Nigeria even has a Christian south to practice on.
But in exchange for supplying Dr Khan, they may have been given tips on moving a step closer to that goal. Alternatively, they may have garnered non-nuclear military hardware, said Shannon Kyle of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Nigeria, which harboured ambitions to build a bomb in the 1980s, said last month that Pakistan would help it obtain nuclear power, but the admission was swiftly retracted as a "typographical error". The creaking governments of Mali, Chad and Niger are implausible nuclear wannabes.
But they have resources, and they'd fit into a Subsaharan Caliphate...
Particularly if they accept the guidance of the Master Race of Islam.
But Sudan is a hardline Islamic regime designated a terrorist sponsor by the US. "Sudan strikes me as the most worrying of the lot," said Susan Rice, assistant secretary of state for African affairs in the Clinton administration. But Sudan's foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, rubbished the notion that it had sought nuclear arms. "We have never tried," he said.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 12:25:28 AM ||
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But in exchange for supplying Dr Khan, they may have been given tips on moving a step closer to that goal. Who are they trying to kid. He probably got all the unranium he wanted for seven bales of blankets, seven velvet Elvi, a five pound bucket of assorted beads and a Hairdini.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/20/2004 4:40 Comments ||
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#2
"Elvises" is acceptable in informal speech, but one should always use "Elvi" in formal writing. In fact, I recall that the latter form is required in the Rantburg Style Manual.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
04/20/2004 7:47 Comments ||
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#3
Rantburg Style Manual. I want one!
Posted by: Phil B ||
04/20/2004 7:51 Comments ||
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Dr Khan visited Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan between 1998 and 2002 in the wake of selling nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya in a black-market trade exposed this year.
Odd we didn't hear about this from Wilson. It's almost like he went to Niger with no intention of finding anything.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 8:20 Comments ||
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Khan has admitted sales to Iran, NK, and Libya.
Money and the ideology of sharing the "Muslim Bomb" drove his quest.
Why no Iraq?
Posted by: Daniel King ||
04/20/2004 10:45 Comments ||
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#6
Just guessing here, but perhaps because Iraq was being closely watched by the Americans perhaps? It might be easier to visit other countries.
And offering such tech to Iraq might have hurt Khan's dealings with the actual axis of Terror -- Iran and Syria.
#7
Rantburg Style Manual? What about us commenters who ain't got style?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 11:36 Comments ||
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#8
What about us commenters who ain't got style?
That's why you didn't get a manual. Sheeesh.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2004 16:18 Comments ||
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Pakistan's pardon of Khan was one of the most unscrupulously transparent slap-on-the-wrists for someone who should have been jailed for life.
Khan's nuclear proliferation contributed to some of the greatest dangers this world will face since the Cold War. I'd really love to see this b@stard take the dirt nap.
A special operation is continuing in southern Chechnya to find and destroy a band that attacked the village of Ishkhoi-Yurt in the night of April 12. The operation engages special forces of the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service, the security service of the Chechen president and the military commandantâs office of the Nozhai-Yurt district, the districtâ administration head Vakha Magamgaziyev told Itar-Tass on Monday. He said woodlands, gorges and mountain paths had been blocked. The operation began over the weekend.
After Abu Walid's departure from the gene pool...
Police are carrying out passports checks in several residential areas. Magamgaziyev said local residents were giving active assistance to law enforcers in spotting people aiding rebel gangs and arms dumps. He said no restrictions on the movement of people were imposed during the passport checks. Senior officials of all power-wielding structures involved in the operation will hold a meeting on Monday. As for the news reports about the possible death of Arab-borne warlord Abu al-Walid in Chechnya, Magamgaziyev said it there was no certainty about that.
So, after reading all three articles, he is still listed as only "somewhat" dead.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 12:22:55 AM ||
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"Look who knows so much. Well, it just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Please open his mouth."
/Miracle Max
Posted by: Cthulhu Akbar ||
04/20/2004 14:52 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush named John Negroponte, the United States' top diplomat at the United Nations, as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq on Monday and asserted that Iraq "will be free and democratic and peaceful." Bush announced the nomination in an Oval Office ceremony.
At the United Nations, Negroponte, 64, was instrumental in winning unanimous approval of a Security Council resolution that demanded Saddam Hussein comply with U.N. mandates to disarm. "John Negroponte is a man of enormous experience and skill" and "has done a really good job of speaking for the United States to the world about our intentions to spread freedom and peace," said Bush. Regarding Negroponte's new post, the president said there is "no doubt in my mind he can handle it, no doubt in my mind he will do a very good job, and there's no doubt in my mind that Iraq will be free and democratic and peaceful."
In a statement issued at the United Nations, Negroponte said he expects his current assignment to have been a major help to his work in Baghdad because of the efforts of the Bush administration to work closely with other countries to further peace and stability in Iraq. "I expect the focus of our efforts to be on supporting a free and stable Iraq, at peace with its neighbors. Collaboration with the international community, especially the United Nations, will be a very important part of this endeavor," Negroponte said in a statement.
"I believe my work with Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi since 2001, as well as with other colleagues at the United Nations, has been very useful preparation in this regard." Annan sent Brahimi to Iraq to help in the transfer of control from the United States to Iraqis.
Negroponte's selection was widely praised. "I respect him as a professional and he's quite an experienced diplomat," said Russia's acting U.N. ambassador, Gennady Gatilov. "So I hope that this appointment will serve the interest of the Iraqi population." Germany's U.N. ambassador, Gunter Pleuger, the current Security Council president, said, "I think he is certainly the right person for this very difficult and also dangerous job."
Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Baali, the only Arab member of the Security Council, said Negroponte "has a great quality, which is to listen to other people, and I think that will help him a lot in his very, very difficult mission in Iraq." in Baghdad that will be temporarily housed in a palace that belonged to Saddam. When up and running, the embassy will be the largest in the world.
Negroponte would become ambassador in Baghdad when the United States hands over political power to an interim Iraqi government by a June 30 deadline. The current top U.S. official in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, is expected to leave the country once the political transition is completed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2004 12:20:43 AM ||
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hmmmm...Negroponte's selection was widely praised. "I respect him as a professional and he's quite an experienced diplomat," said Russia's acting U.N. ambassador, Gennady Gatilov.
According to Russian special services, Abu Al-Walid was a mastermind behind the February's metro attack in the Moscow metro. Apparently, he was awarded $4.5 million USD for the explosion. In addition, he was also held liable for several blasts in apartment buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk in 1999 as well as smaller terrorist acts within the Chechen territory and beyond.
Abu-Walid Al-Hamidi (Abul-walid Al-Ansari, Abu Al-Walid) was born in Autumn of 1967 in the town of Najran, located south of Saudi Arabia. He later served in elite National Guards. After successfully finishing courses of mine-layers, he was transferred to the Yemen border where he was helping Yemen liberation army to get involved in subversive activity against official authorities. Afterward, he got accepted to the National Guard Academy. During late 80s, he got acquainted with Osama bin Laden.
Abu-Walid arrived to Chechnya in the end of 1995 as a special messenger of some "unique organization" ("Al-Tanzim Al Haz") an International association of "Muslim Brotherhood". Not long after that, he became an assistant to one of the Arab assassin leaders. Later, together with Shamil Basaev, he formed an entire "army" of female suicide bombers, which consisted of relatives of killed insurgents.
Russian special services suspect Abu-Walid's connection to the explosion of the government house in Grozny, Chechnya and a hospital in Mozdok, terrorist acts in Kaspiisk, blast of the Moscow metro and other attacks. Federal authorities have been reporting Abu-Walid's death no less than five times already: in April and July of 2000, in September 2001, in May and June of 2002. However, there have never been any substantial evidences confirming the terrorist's death.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 12:20:54 AM ||
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Russian officials reacted cautiously Monday to reports that a Saudi-born rebel commander in Chechnya had been killed, while a rebel Web site said the zealous Muslim died from shrapnel wounds. Arab TV stations on Sunday reported that Abu Walid, also known as Abdul Aziz al-Ghamdi, had been killed by Russian government forces in Chechnya, quoting his brother. Badr Eldinne al-Chechani, a former deputy speaker of Chechen parliament and current director of the Jordan-based Arab-Caucasian Studies and Research Center, also confirmed the death in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
Kavkaz Center, a Chechen rebel Web site, quoted a rebel source as saying Abu Walid had been praying Friday at a rebel base in the mountains of Chechnya when a bomb exploded next to him. He died from shrapnel wounds to his spine, it said. But Russian officials, usually keen to trumpet the deaths of prominent rebel leaders, were notably cautious in their statements Monday. "We have no intention of commenting on guesses, rumors or assumptions spread by the mass media," Col. Ilya Shabalkin, the chief spokesman for Russian forces in Chechnya, said, according to the Interfax news agency. Akhmad Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed Chechen president, also would not confirm Abu Walid's death but said "if he really has been killed, we can only rejoice," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. Kadyrov said several rebels who appeared to be of Arabic origin had been killed recently. At the same time, he warned that reports of the rebel's death could be "false information spread to allow rebel leaders to escape," Interfax reported.
President Vladimir Putin's representative in southern Russia, Vladimir Yakovlev, voiced similar doubts, saying that reports about Abu Walid's death could be a "smoke screen" to help him flee. Abu Walid, an explosives expert believed to be in his 30s, had been reported killed five times before, the newspaper Kommersant said Monday. Russian authorities in November offered a $100,000 reward for the information on his whereabouts, Kommersant said. Russia's Federal Security Service has said that Abu Walid arrived in Chechnya after training in militant camps in Afghanistan and fighting alongside Muslims in Bosnia. It claims most of the suicide bombings in Russia in recent years were financed from abroad and organized by Abu Walid, whom it has called the head of al-Qaeda's "Arab emissaries" in Chechnya. Abu Walid was also seen as the money man for the rebels â receiving and distributing funds smuggled in from abroad to support the Chechens' fight.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 12:15:47 AM ||
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American and allied forces have choked the flow of foreign fighters coming into Iraq from Syria and Iran, curbing a small but persistent source of combatants that has fueled the insurgency, especially in the Sunni Muslim heartland, American military officers said Monday.
Along the desolate 350-mile frontier with Syria, the First Marine Expeditionary Force, which relieved the 82nd Airborne Division last month, has positioned units more than a third larger there and has stepped up 24-hour patrols.
Air Force U-2 spy planes and remotely piloted Predator reconnaissance aircraft soar over vast swaths of the western desert that smugglers have plied for centuries. Ground sensors are also being used along well-traveled routes, officials say.
To deter arms smugglers and foreign militants, the 101st Airborne Division built a 15-foot-high earthen barrier earlier this year along 200 miles of the border with Syria.
On the mountainous 500-mile boundary with Iran, Kurdish militia members patrol the north while North Carolina Army National Guard soldiers have joined some of the 17,000 new Iraqi border police officers to monitor important crossings to the south.
The number of foreign fighters and their significance in the insurgency has been a contentious issue, even among American officials, with some seeing the problem as much larger than others.
American commanders say, though, that some weapons and fighters are still slipping through the notoriously porous borders. Insurgents masquerading as Shiite Muslim pilgrims may have crossed from Iran.
The deaths of five marines in a 14-hour firefight on Saturday in Qusaiba, a remote town near the Syrian border, underscores the fierce resistance facing American troops in areas far from the fighting in Falluja, the Sunni town west of Baghdad.
The issue of border infiltrators has gained greater attention in recent days as some American officials fear that more foreign insurgents â from zealous untrained youths to veterans of the war in Chechnya â may be drawn to Falluja, a city that has become the icon of the resistance.
One senior officer said those fighters, though relatively small in numbers, might be providing "backbone" to that resistance.
But in interviews, several American officers said the virtually unguarded Iraqi borders that the United States-led occupation force inherited a year ago after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government have been significantly tightened, especially in the last month.
"We have mitigated a problem that we first recognized as soon as we kind of owned the country, and realized real fast that there were specific border areas that were wide open," said one senior military officer who watches border operations closely.
"When the marines came into the west they brought a larger force in than the one that they replaced," General Sattler said, declining to specify the increase on the border except to say it was more than one-third larger than the numbers of forces the Army's 82nd Airborne Division put there.
"Because they did have more forces and because the way that we continue to use our reconnaissance asset and our combined arms," he said, "they have been able to make that border region tighter."
About 1,000 marines are now based at Qaim, a restive border town near Qusaiba, and General Sattler said last week that the force had succeeded in destroying groups of insurgents in that area who were helping infiltrators. "We did find, fix and ultimately finish a number of cells that were out there, that were facilitating this type of movement," he said.
The extent of the problem has been a matter of debate. Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., the commander of 82nd Airborne, which last month handed over responsibility for patrolling much of Iraq's borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the marines, said last November that in seven months his forces had encountered only about 20 foreign fighters trying to sneak into the country to attack American and allied forces.
He said former Hussein loyalists and other Iraqis, not foreigners, had been responsible for attacks against his soldiers.
About the same time, though, in Washington officials estimated the number of foreign fighters in Iraq at 1,000 to 3,000, and the White House suggested that the foreigners were continuing to enter the country and mastermind many of the attacks, linking the war in Iraq to the global campaign against terrorism.
Fewer than 300 fighters from Syria, Sudan and other countries are in allied custody, and American military officials said they have no reliable estimates of foreign fighters in Iraq now.
But as Saudi, Jordanian and to some extent even Iranian authorities have tightened their borders, American officials say Syria still lags in cracking down.
Last week, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell issued a stern warning to Syria through the United States Embassy there, telling Syria that "it needs to control the transit of its border by terrorists and people supporting the insurgents in Iraq," said the secretary's spokesman, Richard A. Boucher.
The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has said there is little he can do, citing strong tribal connections between the countries and the vast desert areas on either side of the border. "Is the border totally shut down?" said General Sattler. "I won't make that statement."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 12:11:43 AM ||
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This, by far, was the biggest mistake we made durign the liberation of Iraq: we disbanded the Iraqi Army instead of sending it to secure the border areas - and we could have vetted the officers and men out in the border areas before we allowed them to retain their positions or return to central Iraq.
And we didnt have enough troops to roll up the Sunni triangle area quickly (mainly thanks ot the backstabbing cowardly Turks blocking the 4th ID's move into the area)..
Only now are we securing the borders agaions the terrorists from Syria.
Hopefully we will soon do the same against the Iranians ant the IRG infiltrators.
What would be good is to capture UNIFORMED Syrian military on the wrong side of the border and parade them on TV before we return them to Assad.
#2
OS, are we sure we could have maintained control of the Iraqi army if we had to remove 2/3 or 3/4 of its officers? And the ones who weren't thoroughly corrupt, I understand, were pretty incompetent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2004 0:44 Comments ||
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#3
"tribal connections"? -- Pure B.S.
"vast desert areas"? -- that's why land mines were invented. Surely a year was enough time to plant several million out there along those hostile borders.
#4
OS, I agree with you that we should have secured the Syrian border, but with Coalition forces. I remember very early in the game we knew about the convoys going from Iraq to Syria. WMD were suspected but nothing came of it. We knew there was cross traffic across the border. We had the hardware at the time to literally smash hell out of any border area that didn't look right. I'm sure Gen Meyers/Franks had a reason but I've often wondered why? The war was won early on and those two fine Generals knew it, even though the broke-dicks from the media didn't. Chine
#5
OS: I would nominate the failure to control the arms depots and ammo dumps after the war for mistake #1.
I think that the plan was that we were going to try to retain the Iraqi Army in some capacity. There were articles in the press that we had called all of these Iraqi generals on their cell phones and they were going to park their units, be given "honors of combat," and then be called upon to help after then invasion. In reality, all of the units just melted away. Mass desertion was the order of the day, not mass surrender. That was another cultural conceit of ours, I suppose. We thought that we were fighting European armies that would stand in formation and surrender their colors.
The problem with conquering an authoritarian society is that when you remove the apparatus of repression and control, things just explode. There are no community-based institutions to step up and maintain control when the state collapses. As we saw in the former USSR, often the only remaining institution capable of large scale, coordinated action is organized crime. I didn't fully understand this before Iraq. It's a hard way to learn.
#6
11A5S: That was another cultural conceit of ours, I suppose. We thought that we were fighting European armies that would stand in formation and surrender their colors.
Live and learn. Iraq may turn out to be a lot like Operation Torch in North Africa - a training ground for the next phase of the War on Terror. I'm just relieved that we've not suffered anything like the setback at Kasserine Pass.
#7
The deaths of five marines in a 14-hour firefight on Saturday in Qusaiba, a remote town near the Syrian border, underscores the fierce resistance facing American troops in areas far from the fighting in Falluja, the Sunni town west of Baghdad.
A little napalm should take care of that "fierce resistance".
#8
WOW! military patrols, drones, detectors can control the influx of illegal immigrants??? Where else could this be applied to?? hmmmmmmm
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 11:07 Comments ||
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I would love to see a military guy on the news smile and say, "hold your horses, no need to come to Iraq you rascals. We'll be over to Syria soon enough."
#10
Frank G : As a lifelong resident of Southern California, I say that you must be dreamin'. The ACLU will come out of their office in Beverly Hills and sob about Orwell and "1984" tactics.
The LA Mayor and his flunquis on the City council have this amnesty thing goin'. Very few people care to fight for some useful deployments of troops and drones.
It would be just like they did when we were getting our Terminatin' Governor. TRrying to convince courts people were "Disenfranchised because they are to stupid to vote" (oops - off topic)
#11
Anon4052 - lifelong resident of Chula Vista and Santee (San Diego suburbs)- so I know about what I'm talking here too. All it will take is one turban sneaking across the Mexican border to do a boom and it will be shut down - forever. This sick pressure relief valve for the Mexican incompetence will stop and be controlled., eventually, and the socialists and "immigration activists" be damned
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2004 18:23 Comments ||
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I'm not buying the "shoulda kept the old Iraq Army" story. The new volunteers won't fight, why would Sadaam's lackeys do any better. The only people in the country with any balls left are the Kurds and the fedayeen.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Iraq's multinational peacekeeping force scrambled to regroup Monday after Spain's announcement that it would pull out its 1,300 troops, with Albania pledging more soldiers but U.S. officials bracing for further withdrawals. Honduras followed suit late Monday night with President Ricardo Maduro announcing the pullout of his troops "in the shortest time possible," confirming U.S. fears.
Spanish troops will leave Iraq in less than six weeks, Defense Minister Jose Bono said Monday in Madrid, but it remains unclear who will take their place. The 9,500 peacekeepers under Polish command are charged with the south-central sector, where followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are waging a bloody rebellion. Polish officials said they thought greater United Nations involvement might help wavering countries make new troop commitments or at least follow through with what they have already promised. "A U.N. resolution would be a great help," Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski told Poland's TVN24.
Not if we give away Iraq's future to get it.
Szmajdzinski said Spain's decision caught him by surprise. "We are all working intensively on several variants on how to make up for the leaving troops," he told the Rzeczpospolita daily. "Perhaps we will have to reorganize the division."
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, sought to allay fears about the implications of the Spanish pullout, saying there would be no "security vacuum in that area at any time." "Numerically those are numbers (the Spanish contingent) that should be able to be replaced in fairly short order," Kimmitt said.
President Bush scolded Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero for the abrupt withdrawal, telling him in a telephone conversation Monday to avoid actions that give "false comfort to terrorists or enemies of freedom in Iraq." "The president urged that the Spanish withdrawal take place in a coordinated manner that does not put at risk other coalition forces in Iraq," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Zappie's precise intention is to disrupt.
Poland has the most troops, 2,400, in the 23-nation force, and Szmajdzinski said it could not send any more. But Albania immediately said it was ready to increase its presence. At the moment Albania's commitment is mostly symbolic, consisting of 71 non-combat troops patrolling the city of Mosul under U.S. command. Ukraine, Australia, Portugal, Slovakia, San Salvador and the Dominican Republic said their commitments to the force would not waver.
Honduras' 370 troops have been serving in Najaf under Spanish command, a situation that was thrown into doubt when Spain announced its pullout plan. The Honduran president's withdrawal announcement came hours after military spokesman, Col. Rafael Moreno said that his country's forces would remain in Iraq under Polish command. But Maduro said in a national television address that "I have told the coalition countries that the troops are going to return from Iraq." The president said the soldiers would return home "in the shortest possible time and under safe conditions for our troops."
Sounds like Zappie got to him.
San Salvador's 380 troops in Iraq will remain, and serve under Polish command, the Salvadoran military said Monday.
Aside from the U.S. and multinational forces, some 12,000 British troops and 2,700 Italians operate in the far south. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said that with Spain's withdrawal "we can take advantage of the fact that we are now considered the closest ally in continental Europe to the United States, which is the only world superpower," the ANSA news agency reported.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he spoke with Spain's ambassador to express his disappointment and worried that if other countries followed Madrid's example, "then Iraq would be left without security and Iraq would become a haven for terrorists." Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso, whose country has 128 police officers in Nasiriyah, said his government's position "won't change ... despite any difficulties which may arise," said Ukraine, the second-largest contributor of troops to the international sector with 1,650, also said its plans were not affected.
Slovakia's president-to-be Ivan Gasparovic, who once opposed deployment of his country's soldiers to Iraq, told The Associated Press the threat of worldwide terrorism now justified their presence. Slovakia has 105 soldiers in Iraq, most of them working in de-mining, and has said it remains committed to staying in Iraq. "Would it be better to withdraw from Iraq and leave free hands to terrorism and leave defeated or prevail and do everything possible to stop terrorism from spreading?" Gasparovic asked.
Tell Zappie, eh?
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/20/2004 12:05:08 AM ||
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Its to be expected. The South/Central American countries are supported logistically and organizationally by the Spanish Army - they have no capability to sustain troops in the field outside their country without the support they got from the Spanish.
Zappie is a coward, and a socialist first and foremost, and wants to stab Capitalism and the US in the back any way he can. His actions have spoken quite well for him.
I would not lable him coward, but nationalistic. He is following the wish of the Spanish people, I guess after Spain and Honduras more will follow, I bet on the Dutch and Japanese.
Posted by: Murat ||
04/20/2004 3:43 Comments ||
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#5
Sorry, wrong again, Murat!
The Japanese have said they will stay and the Dutch are staying at least until June 30, then it will be up to the Dutch people and Parliament to decide if they'll stay longer.
Posted by: Jen ||
04/20/2004 4:59 Comments ||
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#6
Murat, out of curiosity, what would you label the kind of people who do this to a corpse:
"The coffin and body [...] were pulled from the tomb [...] and pushed 1,000 yards in a wheelbarrow before being doused with petrol and set alight. The body was found with a pick driven into its head and a spade dug into its chest."
#7
I would call them deranged and desperate Bulldog, blinded by full hatred.
And Jen, yes I was betting wrong, Thailand looks to be going first, the Dutch probably will second them.
Since the Shia have achieved a kind of succes (pullout of Spain and Honduras) it will be logic that attacks on the smaller coalition troops will intensify, the Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra announced he will pull back his troops ass soon as there fall wounded.
Posted by: Murat ||
04/20/2004 7:05 Comments ||
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#8
Murat
Pleeaaaaaaaaaase. If Zapatero were nationalistic he would not be having Spain opening legs for Chirak and Schroeder.
#9
Murat, thanks for the answer. But I'm not sure what you mean by "desperate". What sort of "desperation" can be blamed upon a fifteen-day-old entombed corpse? That said, I agree with the term "deranged", completely.
JFM & Murat: I think Murat's confusing nationalistic and populistic. The nationalist acts in what he believes to be the best interests of his nation. The populist panders to the prevailing majority opinion, whether or not it's in the long-or-short-term best interests of the country. Zapatero is a populist, not a nationalist.
#10
Desperate of being so defenceless and powerless against a superpower that occupies ones land, I guess they vent their anger on corpses. I am not a psych to place the cause but I think I am pretty close.
Posted by: Murat ||
04/20/2004 8:32 Comments ||
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#11
JFM&Tibor,the Mexican variant is ponocha(single not plural).
#14
Murat, the corpse mutilation in question happened in Spain against the body of a policeman killed in a bomb explosion set off by Islamic militants.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
04/20/2004 8:54 Comments ||
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#15
Well, yes, Phil. You see, Andalucia is occupied by the superpower Spain. That's why they defiled that poor man's corpse. Either that, or Murat never bothered to read your link and was once more speaking out his ass.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/20/2004 9:00 Comments ||
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#16
Tibor: In Spanish, the word for "pussy" (meaning a coward, not a body part) is conejo (rabbit).
#19
heh, heh...looks like Zappy got left standing alone there. It's not like the 370 troops from Honduras were all that big a deal - no offense to the soldiers themselves, mind you.
Zappy's going to learn the hard way, like Chirac, that making nice with Islamists is like making nice with the mafia. Once you are in, there is no way out. The people of Spain, wonderful people, are sadly going to reap what he sows. I'd say they have only themselves to blame, but almost half of them didn't vote for him.
Murat hasn't confounded nationalist and populist. His idol is Mustapha Kemal and he knows well that
Kemal fought for Turks being proud of being Turks instead of kowtowing to the Arabs (eg he finished the braindamage of writing Turkish a vowel-rich language using Arabic scripting who hasn't vowels).
Zapatero's idea is to abdicate national identity in the EU and to revert Aznar's policy of no longer accepting to be treated as a minor partner by Germany and France. And he wants approval of the UN! Did you know how much a real nationalist like De Gaulle despised the UN?
Murat is mixing nationalism and systematic anti-americanism who are very different things (the very anti-American De Gaulle was the first to close ranks with America during the Cuban missile crisis)
#21
Murat: I would not lable him coward, but nationalistic. He is following the wish of the Spanish people, I guess after Spain and Honduras more will follow, I bet on the Dutch and Japanese.
I agree with Murat on this one. Zapatero's no coward. He's an enemy. Period. Should we apply the full force of American diplomatic and economic power to Spain? No - it wasn't very different in Vietnam either - and this was at the height of the Cold War.
No European country sent troops to Vietnam. Our primary allies there were South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the Philippines and various tiny detachments from the Asia Pacific region. All told, allied deployments amounted to less than 5% of the total international troop presence in Vietnam, or about 20,000 men at the most. In Iraq, roughly 15% of the troops deployed are non-US troops, and amount to almost 20,000 men. In neither instance have international troops made any decisive difference. And that's the nature of such alliances in limited wars - they are a means of showing solidarity rather than providing the margin of victory.
Should we boycott Spanish products? That's just silly - the Indonesians, the Chinese, the Indians, the Pakistanis, et al all opposed the US effort in Iraq and never sent troops at all. We should thank the Spanish for having had the fortitude to send troops in the first place. For this gesture, they have proven their solidarity with the US in ways that few other countries have done. If a boycott is in order, it is of Chinese, Turkish, Russian, French and German goods, not of Spanish goods. Think of that the next time you buy something from Walmart or look at buying a Volkswagen.
#22
Zapetero may be nationalistic, but he's on the road to changing the name from Espana to Andalusia. Funny, but I don't think that his socialists will do well in the new Eurocaliphate.
Who will answer his calls for help when the gathering storm breaks? France? Germany? Russia? I think that it will be a case of "you're on your own now, Bozo."
#23
RWV: Who will answer his calls for help when the gathering storm breaks? France? Germany? Russia? I think that it will be a case of "you're on your own now, Bozo."
That's a good thought, but there's no way we are going to cede Spain to Islam. We could do the Fortress America thing and withdraw from foreign entanglements, but the fact is that while we're engaged, there is no way we can allow the Spanish peninsula to turn green (as in the color of Islam).
#26
This is the thanks we get from Houndouras for allowing in their illegal immigrants and allowing them to send money back home to prop us that 3rd world shithole. Same for Mexico which never even sent troops or help to Iraq and undermined us in the UN on Iraq votes.
#30
Murat you are right. I can only pray that Australia leaves the coalition of the killing.
Haahahahaha, if only the terrorists/Islamozoids had the same tender mercies. They wouldn't hesitate to stick a knife in your back the moment you turned away.
#31
Man Murat and Anitwar in the same thread..... actually from force structure point of view these withdrawls are comparable to mice nuts!
Unfortunetly Spain will be paying dearly for thier transgressions...they still face the wrath of the jihadis without the support of the American govt. Bush has a very long memory! From the jihadis point it is not about iraq but about reclaiming territory they consider muslim and spain is smack in the middle of this!
As for kerry wanting more involvement of the un and other countries this will not be possible in any large numbers. To make a difference there would need to tens of thousands of troops. Combinded france, germany, italy and spain barely have tens of thousands of troops in thier militaries let alone enough forces to send even if they wanted to. It is all politics and nothing more. Historically the US has always been 90% of the forces deployed in a conflict fought with our allies (including the Brits). Even in the former Yugo, right in euros backyard, the afore mentioned countries could not mount effective operations. How could we expect anything different in iraq?
Posted by: Dan ||
04/20/2004 12:11 Comments ||
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#32
"I can only pray that Australia leaves the coalition of the killing."
Antibrainwar: Why haven't you changed your name yet? I've talked to you about this before. You are not anti-war. You are pro-jihad, pro -war.
Australia's doing the right thing for the right reasons.
The "coalition of the killing" can refer only to Islamo pseudo-men and their sickening idolatry. They worship violence and terror. So, who was that you said you were going to be "praying" to?
Posted by: Rafael ||
04/20/2004 19:05 Comments ||
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#34
Realistically, I would prefer that all the sunshine soldiers get lost immediately. Confronting evil is not for everybody. It is much better if there is no one in the war zone that is there for "political cover." I can not immagine the martial code that Thailand is trying to instill in its forces by announcing that they need only be attacked to insure their immediate withdrawal. That type of political stance is corrosive to the morale and espirit-de-corps of their troops. The Honduran, Thai and Spanish soldiers deserve better than their political leadership.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/20/2004 20:55 Comments ||
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#35
#10 Murat you are right. I can only pray that Australia leaves the coalition of the killing.
Newly re-elected President Abdelaziz Bouteflika took the oath of office, vowing to devote his second term to the quest for "true national reconciliation" in war-torn Algeria. Picking up on two other themes of the electoral campaign ahead of his landslide re-election victory on April 8, Bouteflika pledged to resolve a three-year-old crisis in the Berber homeland Kabylie and to emancipate women from a restrictive family code of law.
Going to become Moroccan, are they?
Peace and reconciliation "will allow Algerians ... to devote their energy and resources to the development" of the north African country, Bouteflika said at his lavish, televised swearing-in at a resort west of Algiers. Meanwhile the outgoing head of government Ahmed Ouyahia was appointed by Bouteflika to head the country's new administration.
"Meet the new government, same as the old government..."
But nobody's throat's been slit so far, so that's a good sign...
Bouteflika, 67, said the continuing struggle against Islamic extremist militancy would be "in the framework of the international mobilization against terrorism." The president also called for renewed dialogue to resolve a three-year-old crisis in Kabylie, the northeastern homeland of Algeria's Berber minority. "I am certain that an acceptable solution will be found," he added, calling for a return to the negotiating table between the government and traditional Berber leaders, known as aarches, who have not met together since talks collapsed in February 2002.
I suppose they could start by pushing Berber language and culture. Being Arabs hasn't worked out real great...
Bouteflika also vowed to free women from the yoke of the Islamic "family code." The president did not specify the changes that he has in mind for what women's groups have dubbed the "code of shame," voted into law in 1984 by the then sole ruling party, the FLN. The controversial code considers women to be minors throughout their lives and requires them to remain under the tutelage of a family member or husband. It also allows polygamy and makes divorce easy for men but nearly impossible for women, while inheritance laws award twice as much to male heirs as to female offspring. Bouteflika said: "Taboos remain to be overturned, especially in certain mentalities that do not manage to open up to modernity," in a reference to radical Islamists who are opposed to amending the family code as feminist and secularist groups demand.
Gee. Golly. Who could possibly benefit from such laws?
Ouyahia tendered his cabinet's resignation as required by the constitution in the wake of the president's swearing-in. But he was quickly appointed to head the country's new government. He is to enter consultations shortly to form a government, the president's office said. Ouyahia, head of the National Democratic Rally, had backed Bouteflika's campaign along with the moderate Islamist party the Movement for Society and Peace and one faction of the divided FLN. Another FLN faction backed secretary general Ali Benflis, who polled only 6.4 percent of the vote, to 85 percent for Bouteflika. He had been regarded as the most serious challenger to Bouteflika.
Getting a tenth of the vote wasn't much of a challenge...
The political bureau of the FLN, once the country's only political party, also offered its resignation, according to Abbes Mekhalif, president of the FLN parliamentary group at the national assembly. A provisional bureau has been set up.
Let the recriminations begin! Maybe we can loan them our 9-11 commission for awhile?
After winning a parliamentary majority and local elections in 2002, the FLN split when the issue arose of which candidate to support in this year's presidential election.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 12:07:09 AM ||
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#1
Add this to Libya, and you have a bit of a nice tide of democracy starting across North Africa.
Only problem is that it will break itself on the reefs at the edges of the core Arab world - Egypt.
#4
Don't believe a word of what this Bouteflika says He is corrupt. He is an a panarabist (like Saddam). He has tried very hard to make Algeria into a kind of light version of Saudi Arabia: he instated a family code who sharply reduced rights of women, he has removed French as co-official language (I know, I know, pmeople don't like French in this blog but in Algeria use of French was a window on western culture and a way for liberals and berbers to fight the arabization enforced by the government), he has cracked on manifestations of Berber culture, he has decreed the official language of Algeria will not be the dialecteal Arabic used in Mahgreb but the classic Arabic used in Arabia. And most significative: he has been supporting the introduction of wahabism between Berbers (Berbers have traditionally favoured Sufism)
Now he is trying to appease the Islamist guerrillas. But at which price? And why? They are no longer the threat they were. But Islamism is another way to enforce arabization of Algeria and to get money from the Saudis.
#5
JFM - so are you saying hes not serious about changing thw laws relating to women, or about negotiating with the Berbers?
OS - I think your strategic sense is correct - to broaden it, Id point out the new US attention to the Sahel, where most governments are anti-Islamist, but many are precarious. Also outreach to Sudan, a complex and difficult case. But the core arab world is still the hardest nut to crack, as you say.
#6
The controversial code considers women to be minors throughout their lives and requires them to remain under the tutelage of a family member or husband. It also allows polygamy and makes divorce easy for men but nearly impossible for women, while inheritance laws award twice as much to male heirs as to female offspring.
Sounds like one massive human rights violation to me.
The top American general in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, said today that Pakistan had successfully disrupted Al Qaeda's network in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and significantly affected its ability to support the Pakistani Taliban insurgency across the border. In an interview in the Afghan capital, General Barno commended the Pakistani military for its "bold moves" against foreign fighters in the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan in March, and said it had so far prevented an anticipated spring offensive by the Pakistanis Taliban in Afghanistan. "There have been some tough fights, so I give them great credit for making some bold moves over there," he said.
The Pakistanis' operation since January was different in quality and quantity from their previous activity, he said, and had disrupted what had been a very stable area for Al Qaeda's foreign fighters and senior leadership where they had lived and operated free of outside military pressure for two years. "That has had a significant unsettling effect on their organization over there and to some degree on their ability to support the Pakistani proxies in Afghanistan Taliban as well," he said of Al Qaeda. "But clearly they are concerned about what is going on over there." The Pakistani authorities estimate that there are 500 to 600 foreign Al Qaeda fighters in the tribal areas, including top Al Qaeda leaders. In fighting in March, they claimed to have killed some 60 people and captured 160 more, including Uzbeks and other foreigners. Nevertheless there was no sign that any Al Qaeda members had escaped into Afghanistan, he said.
They didn't have to. All they had to do was move ten miles north or south...
American forces positioned on the Pakistani-Afghan border to catch any fighters escaping the Pakistani operation, in what he has described as a "hammer and anvil" tactic, have seen little movement across the border into Afghanistan, he said. "Our sense is that anyone who is there, is still there," he said. And there was every sign that Al Qaeda fighters would stay in the Pakistani tribal areas and fight, partly because they knew it was "extraordinarily dangerous" for them to operate in Afghanistan because of the American presence, he said.
Right now they're riding around the countryside in their turbans and part of the tribal lashkars...
He described them as trained and experienced fighters, who had deep roots and had intermarried in Pakistan. "This isn't just a transient force, these folks are there for the long haul," he said. "Our sense is that that they are going to stay and fight the Pakistanis. I think ultimately they'll be destroyed regardless of which choice they make. But so far we have not seen them make any choice to come into Afghanistan. And if they do, we are certainly going to deal with them."
Of course they'll avoid engagement with our troops. They're protecting their high command, so they wouldn't want to expose it in the process. The tribal lashkar charade allows them to adjust their relations with the local Pak authorities and doesn't really present any danger to them...
Pakistan was showing a new determination, especially after taking casualties in the fighting in March, he said. "They are pushing forward and they are looking to finish this fight in the tribal area," he said of the Pakistani military. "Are they having setbacks? Absolutely. Are they continuing to press forward? Not really. Yes. Are they genuine in this? I think absolutely, yes."
Are they frightened they're going to get their noses bloodied? Yes. Are they going to make faces and issue blood-curdling threats, then wait until the heat's off and go home? Yes.
The Paks in Afghanistan Taliban, meanwhile, had failed to mount its threatened spring offensive in Afghanistan to date, partly thanks to the success of the Pakistani operation, General Barno said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/20/2004 12:04:45 AM ||
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FALLUJAH, Iraq ---- Ehaeb barely flinched Saturday when the rifles crackled nearby. As an interpreter for American forces in Iraq for the last five months, he says he has grown used to gunfire and recognized the shots as coming from American weapons. So, as the close crackle of gunfire continued, Ehaeb remained comfortably tucked into a soft chair in the living room of an Iraqi home reading an Arabic novel he found there when he and a squad of Marines took over the house during the heavy fighting in Fallujah last week.
When another shot rang out, however, this one sounding louder and sharper but just as near as the first volley, Ehaeb furrowed his brow and jerked to his feet. "Thatâs AK," he said, identifying the distinctive crack from a Kalishnakov assault rifle ---- the preferred weapon of the Iraqi insurgents. He rushed upstairs to investigate.
Ehaeb ---- whom the troops call "Johnny Five" after a curious robot character in the movie "Short Circuit" ---- is a native of Baghdad and a best friend to Marines fighting in Fallujah.
#2
Yep - AK sounds different from from M16/M4 and the SAW. Its the gas-operated design.
Glad to see some people are starting to pay attention to the fact that is only a hard core that hate the US, mainly Iranian backed fundies and Saddam Feydaheen. The majority of people htere just want he fighting to stop, and if the US cordons them off, they may finally get the lesson that THEY CAN stop these guys themselves.
And *THAT* will be the big turning point in thiw whole thing, ironically brought to you by Sadr, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Nothing like running off troublemakers themselves to make a people feel empowered.
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.
