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531688 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 76 articles and 464 comments as of 10:29.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion           
25 killed in attack on Mosul funeral
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 00:00 Sherry [] 
75 00:00 .commissioner [1] 
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92 00:00 Fred as himself [] 
5 00:00 plainslow [] 
1 00:00 Chuck Simmins [] 
9 00:00 JosephMendiola [1] 
11 00:00 Thraing Hupoluper1864 [] 
90 00:00 Gromons Gloper2496 [] 
5 00:00 mojo [] 
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1 00:00 .com [] 
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6 00:00 Phil Fraering [] 
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1 00:00 Sock Puppet 0’ Doom [1] 
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10 00:00 juche large [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
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3 00:00 Raj []
6 00:00 Frank G [1]
4 00:00 .com []
5 00:00 VAMark [1]
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6 00:00 Steve White []
7 00:00 Liberalhawk []
3 00:00 Glenmore []
2 00:00 Alaska Paul []
4 00:00 Shipman []
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5 00:00 Spoluck Snineck8032 []
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2 00:00 RWV []
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7 00:00 trailing wife []
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9 00:00 thibaud (aka lex) []
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6 00:00 ed []
8 00:00 Liberalhawk []
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7 00:00 Bulldog []
1 00:00 .com []
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3 00:00 Seafarious []
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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6 00:00 eLarson []
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7 00:00 Old Patriot []
4 00:00 mom []
4 00:00 .com [1]
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7 00:00 mhw [1]
Page 4: Opinion
1 00:00 Liberalhawk []
Minor changes to comments...
I've replaced the ASP comments page with a PHP version. You may see a few error messages until it's thoroughly debugged. Within a day or so I hope to have the main part of the site independent of ASP. If I've missed any places where the ASP page is called, let me know.
Fred, comments not working for me. I left you a note...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 2:15:32 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's better.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 14:33 Comments || Top||

#2  There might be a bit of cookie illness associated with the switch. It should all shake out in a day or two, though.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 14:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Purdy, Fred.
Posted by: badanov || 05/02/2005 14:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Me want cookies!!
Posted by: Cookie Monster || 05/02/2005 14:38 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought they put you on tofu?
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 14:39 Comments || Top||

#6  That's odd -- Firefox lists the comments in reverse order on the comments page. Is that part of the cookie illness?
Posted by: Jonathan || 05/02/2005 15:09 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm getting dizzy with all these changes...
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/02/2005 15:13 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm getting dizzy with all these changes...


riiiggghhhtt - from a guy who sleeps under the O-club pool table.
Posted by: Frank G || 05/02/2005 15:43 Comments || Top||

#9  Actually I would like to see the comments listed in reverse-time order - makes it easier to see the latest posts of a conversation.

The comments page looks nicer.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/02/2005 16:18 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm going to screw up the comments, hopefully only for a few minutes, as I put another piece in. Bear with me...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 16:22 Comments || Top||

#11  Hokay. Lets see how bad this breaks...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 16:32 Comments || Top||

#12  Not a problem.

Notice: Undefined variable: HC in C:\web\rantburg\www\poparticle.php on line 198

Notice: Undefined variable: HC in C:\web\rantburg\www\poparticle.php on line 198

Notice: Undefined variable: HC in C:\web\rantburg\www\poparticle.php on line 200

Notice: Undefined variable: HC in C:\web\rantburg\www\poparticle.php on line 202

Notice: Undefined variable: HC in C:\web\rantburg\www\poparticle.php on line 204
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 16:32 Comments || Top||

#13  Try, try again... It seems to have problems with apostrophes. I'll have to handle them, too...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 16:34 Comments || Top||

#14  I think I just fixed that horrible collection of error messages. I guess well find out, wont we?
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 16:39 Comments || Top||

#15  And another piece in place...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 16:45 Comments || Top||

#16  Does it handle apostrophe\'s?
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 16:45 Comments || Top||

#17  doesn\'t seem to save my email in the cookie...
Posted by: Frank G || 05/02/2005 16:59 Comments || Top||

#18  Aaar... Back to the ASP processor for a bit, until I find a bug or two... I'm not exactly sure where it is, though...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 17:29 Comments || Top||

#19  See if hat fixed it.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:05 Comments || Top||

#20  See if hat fixed it.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:06 Comments || Top||

#21  It didn work...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:07 Comments || Top||

#22  See if this makes a &difference&...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:09 Comments || Top||

#23  Another &try.& I&m gettin& discouraged now...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:10 Comments || Top||

#24  Another 'try'...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:16 Comments || Top||

#25  Apologies to Seafarious. This is ed. I am not able to post comments under my (or random) names. Is there now an approved list posters have to get on?

Notice: Undefined variable: query in C:web
antburgwwwcommPreview.php on line 110 Error in query: . You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'where poster='ed_in_disguise'' at line 1
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 18:18 Comments || Top||

#26  I think that's under control now. I'm sure there'll be other bugs that show up, but if ASP hangs now, we can keep on commenting. Sorry for the mess.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:19 Comments || Top||

#27  Try it now...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:21 Comments || Top||

#28  It's not easy to debug a system in use, Fred. Kudos to you!
Posted by: rkb || 05/02/2005 18:21 Comments || Top||

#29  I wish I had some hair left to pull out...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:22 Comments || Top||

#30  Is anybody else having cookie problems?

The new page is going to forget your email and web info in the transition. Once you re-enter it, it should stay there, though.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 18:23 Comments || Top||

#31  Lol! I guess that means you don't need a
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:25 Comments || Top||

#32  Fred, this is ed again. I still have the same problem on hitting the comments
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 18:25 Comments || Top||

#33  Reinstalling cookie....Emily.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 18:26 Comments || Top||

#34  Can't use double quotes - it truncates the post, as you see in #31.
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:27 Comments || Top||

#35  My cookie is stable, now to get ed to stop impersonating me...

:: waves hi to ed...you look kinda cute in that dress! ::
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 18:28 Comments || Top||

#36  Do not use double quotes - it truncates the post, as you see in num 31, above. The number sign may cause issues, too. The SQL is kicking this poast back to me. Sheesh!
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:28 Comments || Top||

#37  My cookie is stable, now to get ed to stop impersonating me...

:: waves hi to ed...you look kinda cute in that dress! ::
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 18:28 Comments || Top||

#38  Ed again. The comment also got truncated. Below I will add some words in quotes. I think that is where the comment got truncated.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 18:29 Comments || Top||

#39  After posting, I get a view of the SQL Insert statement - so I thought it was not working, but it was - sorry for the multiple posts about the double quote problem.
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:31 Comments || Top||

#40  This is actually Fred. Let me see if I can duplicate the problem.

.com, I hope there wasn't a word on the end of that sentence...
Posted by: ed in disguise || 05/02/2005 18:32 Comments || Top||

#41  I think the bug is dead. The SQL was turned on to help me find it. But what's the problem using
Posted by: ed in disguise || 05/02/2005 18:33 Comments || Top||

#42  Okay. I see the
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 18:37 Comments || Top||

#43  I'm confused, frightened and frustrated. I'm also testing to see if I can use apostrophes (
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/02/2005 18:38 Comments || Top||

#44  My apologies Sea. The only way I would post to the Complaints Desk was to pick a name that worked, and yours was the last successful post. Things are now looking much better.
Posted by: ed || 05/02/2005 18:38 Comments || Top||

#45  Try it again: I see the
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 18:38 Comments || Top||

#46  Re
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:39 Comments || Top||

#47  Except that we've got to get the
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 18:39 Comments || Top||

#48  Wow... double quote marks blew it away... and now it's lost my cookie...
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/02/2005 18:39 Comments || Top||

#49  See if a
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 18:41 Comments || Top||

#50  All the insanely funny wit, timless and profound, lost because I enclosed it in double quotes. *sniff*

We're talking major loss to mankind, here, folks.
;-)
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:42 Comments || Top||

#51  See if a
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 18:42 Comments || Top||

#52  Not only timless, but timeless, as well. Heavy Sigh. *hyperventilates*
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:43 Comments || Top||

#53  What did you do with Timmie, you brute????
Posted by: rkb || 05/02/2005 18:44 Comments || Top||

#54  Looks like the Server Encode on the various form strings isn't working - still appears that double quotes are truncating the comment, Fred. Or you've developed a stutter...
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:44 Comments || Top||

#55  No problem, ed. Assuming that's really you, and not Dave D. posing as you posing as me.

Why are you all looking at me like that?
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 18:45 Comments || Top||

#56  See if a
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 18:45 Comments || Top||

#57  I've turned off the last PHP module, and we're now back to using ASP. I'll have dinner, then figure how to kill that nasty
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 18:48 Comments || Top||

#58  Okay, everybody back into the time machine!

Well, rkb, you can hear the sordid tale
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:52 Comments || Top||

#59  Fred,
Thanks for all your hard work!
Posted by: ed || 05/02/2005 18:53 Comments || Top||

#60  ...at this URL which got whacked cuz it had the dreaded double quotes...

http://www.degaillo.com/mp3/Buoys_-_Timothy.mp3
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:53 Comments || Top||

#61  I echo what whatever poseur posting as ed, said, Fred.
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 18:56 Comments || Top||

#62  !!!
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/02/2005 19:03 Comments || Top||

#63  You can't get there from here, sonny.
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 19:04 Comments || Top||

#64  please fred make the pain go away i am afraid to use any kind of punctuation i can not even quote anything i can not use contractions please gimme my freakin apostrophe key back you are doing this deliberately arent you?
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/02/2005 19:05 Comments || Top||

#65  LOL, are you all having fun?
Posted by: SwissTex || 05/02/2005 19:07 Comments || Top||

#66  Does this put everything back?

''Quoted string goes here.''
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 19:08 Comments || Top||

#67  Dave, the apostrophe (single quote beneath the double quotes - i.e. lower case on same key) works okay for me. Whew!
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 19:09 Comments || Top||

#68  He used double quotes, heh.
-Beavis
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 19:10 Comments || Top||

#69  As of right now everything seems to work. Are we on ASP or PHP at this point?
Posted by: Steve White || 05/02/2005 19:13 Comments || Top||

#70  Oh shit, another adult. Damn!
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 19:14 Comments || Top||

#71  When I clicked submit on my comment above, I got this:

Notice: Undefined variable: rtext in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 13

Notice: Undefined variable: sName in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 19

Notice: Undefined variable: rdate in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 20

Notice: Undefined variable: sMail in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 21

Notice: Undefined variable: sWeb in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 28


I think the two void comments after me are a result as well.

I'm posting from my work Mac using Safari.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/02/2005 19:14 Comments || Top||

#72  I managed to leave 1 multiple post, an ''oops'' and then 3 blank posts (one per populated post) in the Blair/Brown thread.

My apologies all 'round. I wish I could just edit/delete my own mess, but I can't.

AAR:
1. I saw the error message the first time and figured I'd better try again: ''maybe if I take out the carriage return and make the email address non-null.''
2. Same set of error messages.
3. Left an ''oopsie'' meaning to be a call for cleanup on aisles 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. (2, 4 and 6 being blank posts... not sure why those are there.)
Posted by: eLarson || 05/02/2005 19:15 Comments || Top||

#73  Here's a comment with Safari imitating MSIE v6.

By the way, the e-mail line remains blank even though I filled it in.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/02/2005 19:15 Comments || Top||

#74  grr.. there's another (and no doubt another right after this one)

Firefox 1.0.3 on WinXP here, if that matters one way or another.

Also, the ''Website'' field is NOT being remembered, but the ''Your Name'' field is being consistently remembered.
Posted by: eLarson || 05/02/2005 19:16 Comments || Top||

#75  eLarson...I'd take it personally if I were you. Everyone else is...
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 19:17 Comments || Top||

#76  It's getting sp-p-p-p-p-pooky in here...
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/02/2005 19:18 Comments || Top||

#77  It is getting sp-p-p-p-p-pooky in here...
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/02/2005 19:18 Comments || Top||

#78  That's okay about the Website field... I haven't managed to blog in several days anyway. No offense taken. :)

by the way this is being posted with the comments.php version for whomever was asking.
here's the link as it appears in my address tab
Posted by: eLarson || 05/02/2005 19:22 Comments || Top||

#79  .skcus sihT
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/02/2005 19:32 Comments || Top||

#80  Sorry for multiple posts elsewhere. Did not know that despite error message, it posts, with another blank post. Fred, you must be tearing your hair in patches. I think it is a woodoo to do this stuff on windoze box.
Posted by: Sobiesky || 05/02/2005 19:35 Comments || Top||

#81  My cookie is stable, but im still roonery, o, so rooery...

chek for presistence...
Posted by: juche large || 05/02/2005 19:42 Comments || Top||

#82  Try it again, with ''quotes''...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:07 Comments || Top||

#83  Gee, Fred, what did you do to get the Computer Gremlins angry with you? DO you want me to burn some sassafrass root and bear grease (on a bolluxed hard drive) to drive them away?
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/02/2005 21:32 Comments || Top||

#84  Got these errors by hitting ''Prevew''. The post actually took when I hit ''Submit'', but didn't include my email or my website. You really, REALLY po'd the computer gremlins, didn'yt you? The sassafrass is burning...

Poster:
Notice: Undefined variable: sName in C:web
antburgwwwcommpreview.php on line 32

E-Mail:
Notice: Undefined variable: sMail in C:web
antburgwwwcommpreview.php on line 36

Website:
Notice: Undefined variable: sWeb in C:web
antburgwwwcommpreview.php on line 44

Comment:
Notice: Undefined variable: rText in C:web
antburgwwwcommpreview.php on line 47
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/02/2005 21:35 Comments || Top||

#85  I think you tried that as I was writing it.

The ugly thing should work now. Whether it'll stay working or not, I dunno. I think the Pentium gods are cheesed at me.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:00 Comments || Top||

#86  But you're right. It did forget my website.

After all this mess, that's a minor problem.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:01 Comments || Top||

#87  Correction. It retained the cookie with my website, but it didn't put it in the comment.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:08 Comments || Top||

#88  YaY! I didn't lose my cookies. All looks ok so far......preview ok.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/02/2005 22:33 Comments || Top||

#89  Paul said, ''YaY! I didn't lose my cookies. All looks ok so far......preview ok.....''

Trying quotes.....preview works....
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/02/2005 22:34 Comments || Top||

#90  Works great so far, Fred. Reinsert torn hair, cancel the panic.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/02/2005 22:35 Comments || Top||

#91  I think we're supposed to wait until the last bug is exterminated, then say, gee Fred, I liked the old site better.
;-)
Posted by: .commingler || 05/02/2005 22:50 Comments || Top||

#92  Use it and enjoy. I don't think any of the bugs left are show stoppers.

I don't think they are...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 23:04 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
US Attack on NK Needs Consensus From South Korea
Any military action against North Korea will be conducted based on a consensus between South Korea and the United States, Gen Leon J. LaPorte, commander of the United States Forces Korea (USFK), said Monday.
Attending the inauguration ceremony of a lawmakers' forum on security issues at the National Assembly in Seoul, the USFK chief said the U.S. administration will inform the South Korean government of any possible plan on military actions against the North before implementing it, according to Rep. Song Young-sun of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP).
Song also quoted LaPorte as saying that the U.S. has no "intention" to conduct a preemptive strike on Pyongyang, stressing the Bush administration's position that the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons programs should be resolved through dialogue.
Song, a member of the Assembly's National Defense Committee, leads the National Assembly Security Forum. The group has 13 members including Reps. Park Jin of the GNP and Yoo Jay-kun of the ruling Uri Party.
LaPorte's remarks came amid controversy over a military contingency plan, which has been pursued by the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) since last year.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/02/2005 11:21:28 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any military action against North Korea will be conducted based on a consensus between South Korea and the United States, Gen Leon J. LaPorte, commander of the United States Forces Korea (USFK), said Monday.

The possibility of the current SK leadership (if it can be called that) actually endorsing such an action is very, very small, practically microscopic.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 05/02/2005 11:53 Comments || Top||

#2  That's why it's time to withdraw our troops if the Japanese agree. That's probably the big problem, the Japanese don't want the Chinese to pick up the pieces of the dagger pointed at Japan. Whatta mess.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 12:14 Comments || Top||

#3  That pretty much screws the element of surprise.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 05/02/2005 12:25 Comments || Top||

#4  So if we look over and Seoul's glowing under a mushroom cloud, should we consider that a "yes" or a "no"?
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/02/2005 13:25 Comments || Top||

#5  "no"
Posted by: Steve White || 05/02/2005 13:59 Comments || Top||

#6  I emagine that request from the US leadership to the S. Korean leadership in a time sensative moment sounds like the one we will give Canada on the Ballistic Missle Shield with incoming. Ya know one of those dear (S. Korea / Canada) we will be hitting targets in about -10 responce ehhh, answer glad you agree now this is phase 2.
Posted by: C-Low || 05/02/2005 16:25 Comments || Top||

#7  May be that consenus is ''required'' at issue is whether the consensus is before or after the NK bombing. I prefer after.
Posted by: Captain America || 05/02/2005 19:21 Comments || Top||

#8  ''Okay, I think the entire Nork Political and Military Leadership is vaporized.''

''I agree. It was total.''

''Yep, looks that way from here, too.''

----

Now that's a consensus.
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 19:29 Comments || Top||

#9  The SoKors prefer to be left alone iff they had anything to say - glitch is, neither many of SK's politicians nor the officer and senior NCO classes of their armed forces trust the Norkies even the two Koreas did reunify. The US will not have a problem getting Seoul's permission to attack the North - US policy is an escalatory, retaliatory one, not a pre-emptive or first-strike one; and second, many of the generals, colonels, and senior NCO's are veterans of the Cold War. The USDOD is perfectly content to let the Norkies starve and implode themselves - nothing will happen unless a severe ''event'' takes place, e.g. a new 9-11 and or a WMD
''decapitation'' strike aimed at Dubya and the bulk of the US GOP-Right national leadership! Kerry, Gore and Dean are there to PC fail and destabilize America, not to succeed.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/02/2005 23:50 Comments || Top||


Europe
Kurdish Group Claims Bloody Explosion at Turk Resort
A Kurdish separatist group yesterday claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in a western Turkish resort town that killed a police officer, a news agency known to have close links with the group reported. A spokesman for the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK), a group known to carry out urban attacks for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was quoted as telling the Europe-based Mezopotamya News Agency that the TAK was behind the bomb blast in Kusadasi on Saturday.
In that case, hunt them down and kill them.
Four policemen were wounded in the explosion that occurred when they investigated a suspicious package next to a statue of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the town center. Police were setting up a security cordon after a report of the package in front of the statue when the explosion happened. The spokesman also said the group was behind two incidents last week in Istanbul where police defused bombs placed under a bridge and at a municipal bus park. The spokesman said the organization was planning urban attacks and warned the "Western tourists to stay away from Turkey".
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Spain could be European base for US special forces
The United States is considering a plan to concentrate its special forces units in Europe, at present scattered across the continent, at its base at Rota, near Cadiz in southern Spain. The Spanish daily El Pais reported that at present marine, army and air force special forces units are stationed in Britain, Germany and Italy. A possible regrouping of the forces at Rota could be discussed during a visit by Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono to the United States this week, his first since the Socialist government came to office in 2004 and pulled its forces out of Iraq. He is due to meet US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday in Washington.
So this might just be wishful thinking for the benefit of the Spanish press.
According to El Pais, General James Jones, commander in chief of US forces in Europe, plans to create an "advance post" for US special forces somewhere in southern Europe to "confront the emerging threats in eastern Europe, the Caucasus and in a large part of Africa." Such a move would be in line with the Pentagon's decision to regroup its forces in Europe and cut back the number of its bases on the continent. The move would also bring US special forces closer to Africa. Recently they have conducted manoeuvres or training missions in Morocco, Algeria and various countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Any of you milBurgers have some thoughts on this?
Posted by: seafarious || 05/02/2005 8:53:44 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sticks. Carrots. Pick one, Spain - but this offer expires shortly.
Posted by: too true || 05/02/2005 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  It's a wrong answer. One point of failure in case of a suitcase nuke or biological attack. (IMHO)

Considering the cost of security/operational loss, time and money to replace those special types of troops.
Posted by: 98zulu || 05/02/2005 9:13 Comments || Top||

#3  This would be the same Spain that yanked their troops out of Iraq from sheer spite, immediately following their election? The same Spain that voted in the dhimmi opposition in response to the 3/11 passenger train bombing? I assume that if the Special Forces are to be based there, that they will wear their special invisibility paint... and use the same to paint the entire base, so as not to upset tender Spanish sensibilities.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/02/2005 9:17 Comments || Top||

#4  What a dumb idea.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 9:18 Comments || Top||

#5  What's wrong with Italy? They're more centrally located and don't have a Vichy government.
Posted by: Jackal || 05/02/2005 9:33 Comments || Top||

#6  I agree having them all in one place is a bad idea.

Also - why not base them with one of our allies? This is almost as dumb as basing them in France or Turkey.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/02/2005 9:43 Comments || Top||

#7  " somewhere in southern Europe to "confront the emerging threats in eastern Europe, the Caucasus and in a large part of Africa."

Therefore Spain? Inane.

Croatians were selling islands in Adriatic sea for peanuts. There may be something available to buy or lease.
Posted by: Sobiesky || 05/02/2005 9:57 Comments || Top||

#8  ..at its base at Rota, near Cadiz in southern Spain.

Uhhh, no. Find another place.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 05/02/2005 10:03 Comments || Top||

#9  Maybe this is another iteration of the "fly paper" strategy - station troops in an enemy country to draw out the opposition.
Posted by: BH || 05/02/2005 10:22 Comments || Top||

#10  This only makes sense if the operations are going to be in Spain or against Spain. Not that we would ever consider such a thing.
Posted by: Matt || 05/02/2005 10:28 Comments || Top||

#11  This is absurd. Our operations in Africa are trivial compared to those in the theater that really matters, the middle east. In almost every other case our European forward deloyments are moving east, from Germany to Romania and Bulgaria for instance. Why would we move these particular forces west?

What is the source for this tripe?
Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) || 05/02/2005 10:53 Comments || Top||

#12  Is the source for this the Greater Andalusian Development Council?
Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) || 05/02/2005 10:54 Comments || Top||

#13  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Juan TROLL || 05/02/2005 12:01 Comments || Top||

#14  I think most of the comments here miss a dimension of this story. In a lot of countries like France and Spain, the military are measurably more supportive of the US than their governments or public opinion shaped by government-owned media.

The possibility of being around and perhaps training with elite Special Forces will have value to the Spanish military. This is the "carrot" portion of the scenario. I personally haven't written off Spain as an ally ... just this government.

Oh ... and just because we have a lot of troops / bases going east doesn't mean we shouldn't retain a serious rapid-deployment capability in the west of Europe, especially given what is going on in the horn of Africa and elsewhere there.
Posted by: too true || 05/02/2005 13:25 Comments || Top||

#15  Juan try something weird? Comments seemed fine.

Hang in the Juan.
Posted by: Shipman || 05/02/2005 14:08 Comments || Top||

#16  Definately a dumb idea.

Spain is selling arms to Chavez in Venezuela and sucking up to Castro.Until there is a change of government, Spain is not our friend.

Italy is the place to be.
Posted by: Juan || 05/02/2005 12:01 Comments || Top||

#17  too true: Horn of Africa's east of the easternmost EU state. Unless AQ recently made the Azores its principal staging ground, it makes little sense to move our troops so close to the Atlantic.
Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) || 05/02/2005 14:35 Comments || Top||

#18  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 14:59 Comments || Top||

#19  GG2496 comments via Oxford, England.
Posted by: one of the moderators || 05/02/2005 15:12 Comments || Top||

#20  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 15:15 Comments || Top||

#21  All these countries have civilian controlled militaries. What the militaries think is irrelevant. In fact, the militaries should start to get the message loud and clear that we are prepared to write them off if their countries go dhimmi.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 15:19 Comments || Top||

#22  Fear not GG2496.
Posted by: Tkat || 05/02/2005 15:23 Comments || Top||

#23  GG2496. Why so sensitive about having an ISP in Oxford? Couldn't get into Cambridge?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 15:24 Comments || Top||

#24  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 15:28 Comments || Top||

#25  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 15:29 Comments || Top||

#26  But I would just like to mention that shortly we will have a EU Army

Yeah - heres the flag the EU Army will march under...

Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 05/02/2005 15:33 Comments || Top||

#27  Better tell him. He is Bwitish...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/02/2005 15:33 Comments || Top||

#28  1. Newspapers are always speculating. take this as such
2. OTOH, who says we are going to have only ONE spec forces base? I thought the whole direction was towards larger numbers of smaller bases. In that context, a spec ops base in Spain, for west and northwest Africa makes sense, and is quite compatible with also having other spec ops bases further east.

3. I am not glad that Spain no longer with us in Iraq. They are not there to help the Iraqi people in their march to democracy. But that doesnt ipso facto make them would be "dhimmis".
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/02/2005 15:33 Comments || Top||

#29  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 15:41 Comments || Top||

#30  I'm Bwitish nothing frightens me. But I would just like to mention that shortly we will have a EU Army,which will only operate outside the EU with the approval of the UN (real approval of course) we don't need foreign troops on our soil.

Make sure you all bring plenty of white flags. Wouldn't want you all to run out or anything.

This forum seems a little right wing and out of touch with reality.

Then clarify your reality, rather than express a sense of disdian, or is that too far out of reality for you?
Posted by: badanov || 05/02/2005 15:45 Comments || Top||

#31  watch it - he's got a fork EU Army!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/02/2005 15:46 Comments || Top||

#32  GG2496 you needn't be so twitchy as it suggests fear of one sort or another. The thought of an "EU" army to operate outside the EU and only with "real" UN approval sounds out of touch with reality. Ah well, Oxford is nice enough whereas the countryside surrounding it is quite beautiful. Which institution do you attend?
Posted by: Tkat || 05/02/2005 15:47 Comments || Top||

#33  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 15:52 Comments || Top||

#34  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 15:54 Comments || Top||

#35  Don't they teach html skills at Oxford or are they too busy teaching you how to cater to France?
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 05/02/2005 15:55 Comments || Top||

#36  not twitchy...bitchy. Thanks for the history rewrite. I can only guess you are an "Academician"..Tenured? You'll fit right in...
Posted by: Frank G || 05/02/2005 15:55 Comments || Top||

#37  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 15:56 Comments || Top||

#38  Enjoy being protected by an army that needs Kofi's permission to defend you, GG2496.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 15:59 Comments || Top||

#39  Question - What makes Juan a troll? Looks like GG 2496 is suffering from the typical LLL mental disorder. Why not her/him?
Posted by: SR-71 || 05/02/2005 16:02 Comments || Top||

#40  Another day of insurgent violence left at least 11 people dead and 23 wounded in three car bomb attacks in Baghdad today

If Spain had stayed and lost more men this would not have happened.
Posted by: juriseqs || 05/02/2005 16:02 Comments || Top||

#41  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 16:03 Comments || Top||

#42  1. i very much doubt all that many people in the EU, or just about anyone in the UK, wants to give up their national militaries.
2. In the unlikely event they did, the EU would undoubtedly use it in their own perceived interest, without regard to UNSC votes. I point to Kosovo, which had support from all european NATO members, despite lack of a UNSC resolution.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 05/02/2005 16:04 Comments || Top||

#43  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 16:05 Comments || Top||

#44  EU Army,which will only operate outside the EU with the approval of the UN (real approval of course)

So its not really the EU's Army, its an army funded and manned by the EU and controlled by the UN, and we all know how dependable, honest and trustworthy the UN is.

Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 05/02/2005 16:06 Comments || Top||

#45  The Brits have 2 soveriegn bases on Cyprus which are legally part of the UK. US forces are already stationed there - a small USAF reconnaisance unit. It would seem to me to be a better choice. The downside is it will upset both the Greeks and the Turks, or maybe thats a feature?
Posted by: phil_b || 05/02/2005 16:06 Comments || Top||

#46  Neville would be so proud of you GG. Nazis and Islamists have butt buddies since 1939. So I can see where you would be insensed that a Nazi-inspired, Stalinist-influenced, >1,000,000 murdering, cult-of-personality dictatorship has been overthrown and the Iraqis given a chance for a democratic government.

So which are you, a Nazi or Islamist? Or are you a sore loser Marxist who thinks a 100 million body count the last century is not enough? Still gotta break a few more eggs for that utopian omlette?

None of the commenters at Rantburg worry about the EU army rampaging outside of western Europe (unless to run away). They are going to have their hands full with the head choppers in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and London.
Posted by: ed || 05/02/2005 16:10 Comments || Top||

#47  SR, It's been a bit boring around here without AK. I thought GG was his replacement.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 16:12 Comments || Top||

#48  Thanks, Mrs. D. LOL
Posted by: SR-71 || 05/02/2005 16:15 Comments || Top||

#49  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 16:16 Comments || Top||

#50  "I thought GG was his replacement."

AK was intelligent and informed, though intensely irritating and immature. This fellow is just dull-witted.
Posted by: Sneting Angavique2705 || 05/02/2005 16:17 Comments || Top||

#51  [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted]
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 TROLL || 05/02/2005 16:22 Comments || Top||

#52  At least two of these groups will be ready to deploy at 15 days� notice to humanitarian or peacekeeping emergencies, primarily in Africa.

Perhaps there will still be somebody alive in Darfur to rescue by then. If not, the Balkans should need them by then; that was an all Euro show, wasn't it GG?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 16:23 Comments || Top||

#53  Oh, no! Not the dreaded Depleted Uranium!
Haven't heard that one in a couple of weeks...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/02/2005 16:23 Comments || Top||

#54  BRITAIN is to commit more than 2,000 troops to a new 18,000-strong European Union army

We've got high schools bigger than that. Better armed, too.

At least two of these groups will be ready to deploy at 15 days’ notice to humanitarian or peacekeeping emergencies, primarily in Africa.

Wow. Fifteen days' notice? Is that AFTER the UN finishes its planning meetings, or DURING the UN planning meetings? Because after the tsunami, while the UN was still trying to plan the meetings to plan the meetings to plan how they were going to take credit for the relief effort, the US and Australia (India, too, I believe) had already put men and equipment in place to help.

And it was there in less than 15 days.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 05/02/2005 16:24 Comments || Top||

#55  Maybe these nations would approve us using them so that the vaunted EU Army could hitch a ride from the USAF to go wherever it is the UN has approved them to go? Or will the UN air force handle that?
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/02/2005 16:40 Comments || Top||

#56  a new 18,000-strong European Union army

Since when is 18,000 an "army?" Sounds more like a weak division with no ability to get anywhere without US sea/air transport.

They could always buy Eurail passes and ride to the Islamic riots in Paris or Amsterdam, though.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 05/02/2005 16:42 Comments || Top||

#57  tu3031 - Sorry, I didn't see your post when I was typing up the same jab. :)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 05/02/2005 16:43 Comments || Top||

#58  They will fly to combat in A-380\'s.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 16:45 Comments || Top||

#59  Six car bombs exploded in separate locations in Baghdad and in the northern city of Mosul . Mission Accomplished. If only Spain had not taken out their one-thousand men we could have won the war by now.
Posted by: juriseqs || 05/02/2005 16:48 Comments || Top||

#60  Comical thread.

juriseqs is desperately trying to start a fight and no one seems to care.

GG is paranoid about the moderator\'s post in this tiny venue, yet blindly trusting the corrupt UN to run the world.

Pretty funny shit.
*applause*
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 17:10 Comments || Top||

#61  Hey, Fred. Looks like someone stole your tag.
I\'m thinking GG.
It\'s not nice to screw with Fred...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/02/2005 17:17 Comments || Top||

#62  Nothing surprising, asstard. You\'re today\'s entertainment.
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 17:21 Comments || Top||

#63  For Neville and the British WW11 started in 1939 so you can hardly claim that he was an appeaser. I'm neither Islamic or a Nazi and I must say it's quite amuzing to hear right wing Americans accuse people of being a nazi since Bush and his junta are the closest we've seen to the Nazis since 1945. Iraq is a far worse state now than it was pre-illegal invasion, no electricity, poluted water, depleted Uranium and 50% un-employed.

You don't read much history at Oxford, do you GG? Nazis, like you, were Socialists. Every ask why Germany and the Soviet Union were such good allies of convenience, and even invaded Poland a week apart? The main differentiators were the Nazis allowed private companies, but under the strict direction of government (that's called Socialism), and the paramount of race in Nazi ideology. You would have fit in quite well under either Hitler or Stalin. They each had no regard for the truth.

Iraq:
Electricity Prewar: 3600MW with supplies stolen from the rest of the country to feed Baghdad
Electricity Present: >6500MW (2006 goal: 10000MW as plants under construction come online)
http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iraq/181393

Water Prewar: No investment. Non-potable water and open sewers the norm. Many towns had no running water at all.
Water Present: Iraqi Ministry of Water: http://www.iraqi-mwr.org/English.htm
See the lower left for lists of projects under contruction or tender. There are hundreds of multi-million dollar projects, including a $1 billion project.

This in the face of Baathists and Islamists trying to blow up electric and water production. Why is it that your jihadi heroes want to deny electricity to the iraqi people?


Depleted Uranium: The danger of depleted Uranium is mechanical (have a tank shell gop through your body) or chemical. It is a heavy metal (like lead bullets) and should be treated with the same care. If you want to ban bullets, be my guest. Just have your country go first.
Who Report: http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/pub_meet/en/Depluranium4.pdf

Employment Prewar: Gov salaries (a good barometer) about $6/month. (Not counting all the Baathists could steal.)
Employment Present: Gov salaries about $2-300/month and rising fast
From the CIA Factbook:
GDP: purchasing power parity - $89.8 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 52.3% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,500 (2004 est.)
With the economy growing at 50+% a year, it's obvious the USA is raping Iraq for all it's resources.

Enjoy your EUrabia induced stupor into oblivion.
Posted by: ed || 05/02/2005 17:33 Comments || Top||

#64  "Apologies to Fred,Gromons Gloper2496 doesn\'t work."

So you type in a nym obviously already in use?

You must the the Oxford Town Fool... Or pure Troll.

I'm thinking both.
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 17:38 Comments || Top||

#65  Brits love to bring up the fact that Uncle Sam did not enter WWII until Pearl Harbor. Thats better than the British record. It did not assist the Chinese effort against Japanese invasion until British possessions in the Far East were invaded. Before Pearl Harbor, Uncle Sam had volunteer pilots and huge sums of money invested in the Chinese military to counter Japanese advances.

Britain stayed out of WWII until the Germans invaded France and directly threatened an English Channel crossing (fine from a national interest standpoint, but not exactly the altruistic image Brits have of themselves), and stood by as Poland was partititioned and Czechoslovakia was annexed to Germany, despite British guarantees (fine from a national interest standpoint, but not exactly a model of altruism). By comparison, Uncle Sam spent 80% of its war effort fighting Germany despite never having been attacked by Germany, and never having had any of its territory at risk from German conquest.

Further, Uncle Sam spent big chunks of cash and threw large numbers of men into fighting the Japanese in the Pacific, trying to liberate the Philippines, which was scheduled to become independent, even as Britain sat on its hands and left its East Asian colonies to rot under the depredations of Japanese rule, such that 1 to 2% of those populations were slaughtered.

Of the major combatants involved in WWII, only the US and Canada were not under existential threat. Canada joined in to help the mother country. Over a century ago, Uncle Sam had fought to get the mother country out of his affairs. That the US joined in the fight against Germany is a tribute to Uncle Sams willingness to forgive and forget.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/02/2005 18:05 Comments || Top||

#66  If the comments thread seems discontinuous, it's because I cleaned up after our Oxford tourist, who hasn't been banned at this point -- but also hasn't learned how to debate in a useful way, it would appear.
Posted by: rkb || 05/02/2005 18:11 Comments || Top||

#67  Don't get me wrong. Brits are good guys. But they are nitpickers, and never get the big picture. They'd rather spend their time trying to make themselves look good and finding fault with others than in getting things done. That's not the American way. We get things done, figure out what went wrong and chalk any mistakes up to inexperience and the typical frictions of coalition warfare. Brits engage in self-glorification, denigrate their allies and learn absolutely nothing from their past mistakes, because they spend so much effort pumping themselves up and sniping at their teammates.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/02/2005 18:17 Comments || Top||

#68  Quote
So its not really the EU's Army, its an army funded and manned by the EU and controlled by the UN, and we all know how dependable, honest and trustworthy the UN is.


Ummmm, isn't that the definition of ''Mercenary'' and aren't those types of armies historicly untrustworthy?
Posted by: Angereth Gliling8519 || 05/02/2005 19:27 Comments || Top||

#69  Angereth? Um, your comment is spot-on, it's your nym. I'm totally jealous. A classy verb? Whoa. I want one, too!
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 19:31 Comments || Top||

#70  Gromons Gloper2496 seems to be a delusional twat, but is there a reason why he/she has been labelled 'TROLL'? I had a quick look in the sinktrap but didn't see anything OTT.
Posted by: Bulldog || 05/02/2005 19:41 Comments || Top||

#71  Brits love to bring up the fact that Uncle Sam did not enter WWII until Pearl Harbor. Thats better than the British record.

Delusion abounds tonight, it seems. ;)
Posted by: Bulldog || 05/02/2005 19:43 Comments || Top||

#72  Gigi, you picked a bad day to be your first day. Stop in tomorrow and we'll have some fun.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 19:49 Comments || Top||

#73  Bulldog, I wasn't the moderator who marked GG a TROLL, but I did delete his subsequent posts using Fred's name.

The TROLL designation may have been for his link to the stars and stripes swastika . But I can't say that for sure. The other comments were deleted for deliberately misuing Fred's name to continue a pissing match.
Posted by: rkb || 05/02/2005 19:52 Comments || Top||

#74  'Twas me wot hit the troll button, and only when he started posting as ''Fred.'' I didn't know at the time that there was a problem with the cookies. When the dust from the code issues settles, perhaps he might come back and we could have a proper debate. My apologies to Gromons Gloper2496 for inconvenience, but using other posters' names is severely frowned upon, and a bannable offence. Particularly if you expropriate Fred's identity.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 20:23 Comments || Top||

#75  Tried to post earlier about GG's statement that ''Neville wasn't an appeaser''. He has always been the definition of appeaser - Munich and peace in our time.
Posted by: SR-71 || 05/02/2005 22:22 Comments || Top||

#76  Pay attention me! Me! Me! I'm posting lame stuff, trying to start an argument! Pay attention to me! Me! Me! Me!
Posted by: Jury-sex || 05/02/2005 22:54 Comments || Top||

#77  Ah, our replacement 3 yr old has arrived, lol! Welcome! Please remember: only poop in the corner, K?
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 23:10 Comments || Top||

#78  Definately a dumb idea.

Spain is selling arms to Chavez in Venezuela and sucking up to Castro.Until there is a change of government, Spain is not our friend.

Italy is the place to be.
Posted by: Juan || 05/02/2005 12:01 Comments || Top||

#79  As a European I think the US Special Forces should stay out of the EU completely.
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 14:59 Comments || Top||

#80  Is it normal for the Moderators to give out personal information about those who make comments?
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 15:15 Comments || Top||

#81  I'm Bwitish nothing frightens me. But I would just like to mention that shortly we will have a EU Army,which will only operate outside the EU with the approval of the UN (real approval of course) we don't need foreign troops on our soil. NATO should be disbanded.
This forum seems a little right wing and out of touch with reality.
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 15:28 Comments || Top||

#82  Oxford is far superior Mrs Davis, perhaps the Moderator would care to tell me where you are from.
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 15:29 Comments || Top||

#83  Nice flag, I prefer it to this one.
http://nsmnc.20fr.com/images/ancient-white-aryan-swastika-with-updated-stars-and-stripes.gif
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 15:41 Comments || Top||

#84  "Make sure you all bring plenty of white flags. Wouldn't want you all to run out or anything."

Oh please do me a favour,that's good coming from a citizen of a nation that stayed on the sidelines in WW11 until attacked by Japan and then having no choice. Even against a 5th rate military state like Iraq you are in trouble. The only time you were successful without British help was when you invaded Granada.
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 15:52 Comments || Top||

#85  32 "GG2496 you needn't be so twitchy as it suggests fear of one sort or another. The thought of an "EU" army to operate outside the EU and only with "real" UN approval sounds out of touch with reality. "

Surely you understand that's a reference to Iraq and the illegal oil war.

Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 15:54 Comments || Top||

#86  #35. I love France and the French, I go there about 4 times ayear.
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 15:56 Comments || Top||

#87  I believe in abiding by International Law and the Geneva Convention. I certainly trust Kofi more than the Texan Cowboy. But in any case I did write that the EU would only operate OUTSIDE the EU with UN approval and that would not be necessary in defending the EU.
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 16:03 Comments || Top||

#88  "If Spain had stayed and lost more men this would not have happened."

It wouldn't have happened if Iraq had not been invaded for the oil.
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 16:05 Comments || Top||

#89  Britain joins EU army
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1368150,00.html



BRITAIN is to commit more than 2,000 troops to a new 18,000-strong European Union army that will be deployed as a peacekeeper to the world’s trouble spots, write Adam Nathan and Nicola Smith.
Despite concerns within the military about overstretch, ministers will announce this week that at least one battle group will be ready by January.



They will also say the force will expand by 2007 to comprise a multinational force of up to 12 elite rapid-reaction battle groups — each with 1,500 soldiers. At least two of these groups will be ready to deploy at 15 days’ notice to humanitarian or peacekeeping emergencies, primarily in Africa.



Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 16:16 Comments || Top||

#90  "Neville would be so proud of you GG."

For Neville and the British WW11 started in 1939 so you can hardly claim that he was an appeaser.
I'm neither Islamic or a Nazi and I must say it's quite amuzing to hear right wing Americans accuse people of being a nazi since Bush and his junta are the closest we've seen to the Nazis since 1945.
Iraq is a far worse state now than it was pre-illegal invasion, no electricity, poluted water, depleted Uranium and 50% un-employed.
Posted by: Gromons Gloper2496 || 05/02/2005 16:22 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
US Spy Drone Crashes in Mindanao, Philippine Rebels Say
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
U.S. searches for pilots of two missing jets
A search is under way for the pilots of two Marine Corps F/A-18 jets that were lost Monday while flying in support of the war in Iraq, Navy officials said.

Navy officials told CNN they believe the jets collided with each other in bad weather during the routine mission.

The crew of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson lost contact with the planes about 10:10 p.m. (2:10 p.m. ET), a U.S. military statement said.

"There was no indication of hostile fire in the area at the time contact was lost," the military statement said.

The statement did not say if the planes were over land or sea when they lost contact.

The Boeing-built F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather fight and attack aircraft that can carry either one- or two-person crews. The aircraft, with a price tag of $35 million and up, have been in service since the 1980s.

Eight bombings in one day
Eight bombings in Iraq killed at least 13 Iraqis and wounded 50 others Monday.

More than 100 Iraqis, most of them security forces and civilians, have died in attacks since Thursday's election of a new Cabinet by the transitional National Assembly.

Hours after six car bombs rocked separate locations in Baghdad and Mosul, two more exploded late Monday, including one targeting a U.S. military convoy near the Abu Ghraib prison, Iraqi police said.

The bombings came a day after a suicide attack during the funeral of a Kurdish official killed about 25 people.

In the bombing near Abu Ghraib, police said a suicide car bomber apparently was trying to target a U.S. convoy when his vehicle detonated around 8:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. ET).

The U.S. military said the car bomb detonated prematurely, killing only the attacker, and no U.S. personnel were wounded.

Less than an hour later, a car bomb blew up at an Iraqi national guard checkpoint south of Baghdad, near a highway ramp on the way from Yousifiya to Mahmoudiya. One Iraqi guardsman was killed and six were wounded, police said.

Earlier in the day, four car bombs exploded in separate locations in Baghdad, and two more in the northern city of Mosul, officials said.

A car bomb exploded around 10 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) Monday outside a building in the Karrada neighborhood of the city's south-central region, killing nine Iraqi civilians and wounding 12 others, said an official with Baghdad's emergency police.

About 10 minutes earlier, a car bomb in northwest Baghdad's Hurriya neighborhood wounded two Iraqi commandos, the official said.

The leader of Baghdad's commando forces, Maj. Gen. Rasheed Aflayeh, was in the convoy but escaped unharmed, the official said.

About two hours later, two Iraqi policemen died when a car bomb exploded in east-central Baghdad's Zayouna neighborhood, the emergency police official said. That explosion wounded 11 others.

In northern Baghdad's Tarmiya area, a car bomb targeting an Iraqi army convoy exploded, wounding four people, the Baghdad emergency police official said.

The U.S. military reported the attacks in Mosul killed a child and wounded 15 civilians.
Posted by: God Save The World || 05/02/2005 7:21:10 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  About this last sentence The U.S. military reported the attacks in Mosul killed a child and wounded 15 civilians.
From a list from Michael Yon of http://www.michaelyon.blogspot.com/
''There is much fighting here in Mosul. Today, a suicide car-bomber attacked one of our Strykers in a neighborhood where kids were playing on the street. (Soldiers were throwing candy to the kids.) The bomb was large but only two soldiers were lightly wounded. They are spending tonight in the hospital and will come back to work tomorrow. But the neighborhood itself was a horrible scene. The soldiers are extremely upset about the enemy attacking through a group of kids. The soldiers loaded up the kids they could get and took them to our hospital. Is very depressing.''

Check him out, he's in Mosel -- we may have another Lt. Col hero LTC Erik Kurilla.
Posted by: Sherry || 05/02/2005 23:19 Comments || Top||


As the cookie crumbles
Today's cookie issues brought to you by the letters A, H, P, and S. Here's a little light entertainment for Rantburg while Fred labors to do something or other under the server hood. Feel free to use this thread to test your cookie recipes.
Posted by: seafarious || 05/02/2005 6:21:30 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My name was available but not my website. Food for thought, anyway.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:08 Comments || Top||

#2  And it appended ''http://'' to my website that time. I wonder what will happen now.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:08 Comments || Top||

#3  And it appended ''http://'' to my website that time. I wonder what will happen now.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:09 Comments || Top||

#4  And it appended '' h t t p : / / '' to my website that time. I wonder what will happen now.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Ooh, each one of those it was showing an error message instead of showing that the message had been posted.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:10 Comments || Top||

#6  It seems to show two ''comments'' for each comment I try to make, as well.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:11 Comments || Top||

#7  PHP got your tongue?
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 19:11 Comments || Top||

#8  Seems like it, .com. Although you notice the not-real blank comments don't have a ''comment'' link available?
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:12 Comments || Top||

#9  Curiously, the ''quotes'' work in the O Club routine, but not here. I'd guess it has something to do with the fact that it's previewing data posted on another page. ASP doesn't gag on it, but PHP does...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 19:19 Comments || Top||

#10  Fred, do I need to be on the .asp pages, or the .php one? I'm in .asp right now.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:29 Comments || Top||

#11 
Hey, Sea. I'm just borrowing your color for a second so I can test how my usual quoting shorthand works.
You can walk in these shoes? Impressive. When I try I just trip and faaaaaaaaa
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:32 Comments || Top||

#12  Is that a picture of Fox News' Laurie Dhue with the accordian?
Posted by: Tom Dooley || 05/02/2005 19:40 Comments || Top||

#13  Fred, looks like an empty comment is being inserted into the database following each valid one. I'm cleaning them up in the other comment threads just to keep things readable, but leaving them here for you to look at when you get back.
Posted by: rkb || 05/02/2005 19:42 Comments || Top||

#14  I never mess with H, it'n an arrogrant lettre.
Posted by: juche large || 05/02/2005 19:43 Comments || Top||

#15  That would make my current programming language "PP"
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:05 Comments || Top||

#16  So that might isolate the problem to the
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:06 Comments || Top||

#17  This appears to control the problem, which I'm guessing lies on the PHP version of the preview page. I'm going to leave things this way, while I build an off-line toy to preview stuff and then somehow get it saved. We're writing the comments now in PHP, previewing in ASP, then writing in PHP.

I'm so confused... Sorry for all the mess and inconvenience.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:11 Comments || Top||

#18  Damn. And now I've lost my cookie...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 20:15 Comments || Top||

#19  hmm?
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/02/2005 20:23 Comments || Top||

#20  hmm?

Notice: Undefined variable: rtext in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 13

Notice: Undefined variable: sName in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 19

Notice: Undefined variable: rdate in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 20

Notice: Undefined variable: sMail in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 21

Notice: Undefined variable: sWeb in C:web
antburgwwwcommwArticle.php on line 28
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/02/2005 20:23 Comments || Top||

#21  I have to keep inserting my email addy, but the nombre is bueno
Posted by: Frank G || 05/02/2005 20:27 Comments || Top||

#22  Nice legs, Phil. It's easier to walk in those if you turn your toes in just a little bit.

Much better.

Now how do you do that color quote thing? Melike!
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 20:28 Comments || Top||

#23  Em, I put up the snippet of html (which I more-or-less customize as I go along, depending on what background or foreground color I want to use... in the latter case, I also add a font thingey...) over in the O-club.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 20:41 Comments || Top||

#24  Test entry...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:43 Comments || Top||

#25  And I'm still getting strange blank repeat comments after the initial ones. I am using Firefox 1.0 on MacOS 10.3. (I might go try safari in a sec).
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 20:43 Comments || Top||

#26  I'm trying to figure that right now...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:44 Comments || Top||

#27  For some reason I'm not getting them...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:44 Comments || Top||

#28  OK, I just reset my cookies to see what would happen. - pgf
Posted by: Slong Thotle1838 || 05/02/2005 20:51 Comments || Top||

#29  I've set the comments to bypass preview...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:53 Comments || Top||

#30  The blank appears to be associated with an error message. Note the time is missing, too...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:54 Comments || Top||

#31  Well, could you switch it back? I now have Safari open, and it would be useful, I suspect, to see if this is a firefox-on-macos-only bug. - pgf
Posted by: Hupeash Chaling3986 || 05/02/2005 20:55 Comments || Top||

#32  Soon as I track down the bug...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:56 Comments || Top||

#33  When I submitted that comment, I wound up with a blank browser window.
Posted by: Uniger Slolurong7488 || 05/02/2005 20:56 Comments || Top||

#34  Soon as I track down the bug... A second try at that one...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:58 Comments || Top||

#35  DUH! It would help, I suppose, if I had cookies enabled in Safari. (Done.) - pgf
Posted by: Angiling Elmereth6111 || 05/02/2005 20:58 Comments || Top||

#36  I had to turn off the redirect for a moment. Found that little bug...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 20:59 Comments || Top||

#37  It kinda grinds to a halt without cookies.

Single quotes: 'Here are single quotes.'

Double quotes: ''Here are double quotes.''
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:01 Comments || Top||

#38  Both worked, and no blank posts. How y'doin', Phil? Are you yerself again?
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:01 Comments || Top||

#39  I think I'll just redo the preview function to take it out of the sequence. It'll be simpler that way, anywhich.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:02 Comments || Top||

#40  I can see your name. What happened to your text?
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:03 Comments || Top||

#41  That last one wasn't a php bug... I hit enter early. I'm not used to this browser.

Cookies are set on full bore no-restrictions now. Let's see if it remembers my name this time...
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 21:04 Comments || Top||

#42  No, it didn't. I had to type it in again. I think the bug's on this end, though.

I think I'll download vanilla mozilla and see what happens with _it_.

(Could it be the cookie for the ident is issued somewhere in the preview page?)

(Irony: Pink Floyd's ''Brain Damage'' is playing on my computer now. Just remember, there is no dark side of .php... it's all dark!
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 21:06 Comments || Top||

#43  OK, this comment (and the following one) will be used to check whether rantburg will remember my identity in Mo' Zilla. I have cookies set to ''originating site only.'' Here we go...
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 21:14 Comments || Top||

#44  Cookie's issued by the preview page. I have to move it to the write page.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:15 Comments || Top||

#45  And it didn't work. Switching to ''ME LIKE COOKIE'' mode and retyping my name and website...
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 21:15 Comments || Top||

#46  and that didn't work. OH, I just saw Fred's message. Thank you for fixing this...
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 21:17 Comments || Top||

#47  I moved the setcookie routine to the write page...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:18 Comments || Top||

#48  One last piece moved in before I rebuild the preview page...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:21 Comments || Top||

#49  Hmmm...
<




and that didn't work. OH, I just saw Fred's message. Thank you for fixing this...


Posted by: Phil Fraering  
2005-05-02  
2005-05-02 21:17  


Posted by: Cheaque Tholurt9471 || 05/02/2005 21:47 Comments || Top||

#50  Now what happened?

I'm definitely becoming an alcoholic...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:48 Comments || Top||

#51  Perl single-pass eval. Heh. Dead meat.

Not that I would...
Posted by: Cheaque Tholurt9471 || 05/02/2005 21:52 Comments || Top||

#52  (Sorry. Went to Rand's site to check out the Space Access news, since I wasn't able to make it this year).

Anyway, what happened was that cookies didn't work *that* time. I'm on Camino now, and I'll try two posts to see if cookies work this time.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 21:52 Comments || Top||

#53  O FRABJOUS DAY! CALLOO! CALLAY! The cookie got saved!
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 21:53 Comments || Top||

#54  Now trying it with mozilla...
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 21:56 Comments || Top||

#55  Well, that's a good thing. Preview is now a popup you can use before hitting submit.

I think I might leave it that way, if this interation works.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 21:57 Comments || Top||

#56  And Mozilla worked too. What do you people think about Empress Hillary's plans to conquer France?
Posted by: Bearded Evil Phil || 05/02/2005 21:58 Comments || Top||

#57  just posted a Islam-Polio story weith no apparent glitches
Posted by: Frank G || 05/02/2005 22:00 Comments || Top||

#58  I'm also kinda-sorta debating using this image or one like it in future Nuggets From Pravda:
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 22:01 Comments || Top||

#59  SIGH... I meant this image:
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 22:04 Comments || Top||

#60  OK... so I'm doing images wrong. Or something.

It's 9:17 and I haven't eaten yet. Fred, if you want me to try anything else, mail me or page me in the o-club...
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 22:07 Comments || Top||

#61  You put two single quotes in to delineate the url, instead of either a single quote or a double quote.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:11 Comments || Top||

#62  Two single quotes at the start, and two single quotes at the end? (are you saying that's what I should do, or what it looks like I did do? they were plain double quotes when they left here).
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 22:13 Comments || Top||

#63  They came through as two pairs of single quotes.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:15 Comments || Top||

#64 
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:17 Comments || Top||

#65  Worked normally for me, using single quotes. But I notice some times are coming through as zeroes.

Doesn't look like I'm going to do much posting tonight.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:19 Comments || Top||

#66  Look, I'll send some money via Paypal when I get paid in full for last week. Which should be sometime next week. (I'd link to that image myself, but everything gets screwed up.)

Since I haven't used this browser much on this machine, it may be a problem _here_. I can double-check everything on my NORMAL machine tomorrow during lunch at work. (Another fact that makes me want to link to the above image).
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 22:21 Comments || Top||

#67  Given all the other bugs that have crawled out today, I suspect it's something included in the PHP version...
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:22 Comments || Top||

#68  Thanks for posting the image of my little aluminium bird at the club, Fred. Next will be a holographic fly-thru.

[prieview worked, now I will hit submit query]
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/02/2005 22:23 Comments || Top||

#69  Autospellchecker failure....heh heh. did not reload my name and email address for next comment.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/02/2005 22:24 Comments || Top||

#70  I've cleaned up as much of the damage I did today as I could find. But it looks like some pages are still producing comments without dates. I've got to track that down.

The plane's okay, maybe a few bears, but NO CATS!
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:35 Comments || Top||

#71  OH DRAT. My power cord just broke on the laptop.

I *really* have to go now. TTYL.
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 22:36 Comments || Top||

#72  I hate it when that happens. See you tomorrow, if there's anything left here then.
Posted by: Fred as himself || 05/02/2005 22:43 Comments || Top||

#73  Ferd Fred, don't overdo it. I put a few stories in the hopper for midnight...
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/02/2005 22:44 Comments || Top||

#74  Can I comment now?
Posted by: Jury-sex || 05/02/2005 22:49 Comments || Top||

#75  No.
Posted by: .commissioner || 05/02/2005 22:51 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Afghan Voter Registration Begins
Registration began on 30 April for those seeking to run in Afghanistan's local and parliamentary elections scheduled for 18 September. Election officials have announced that those wishing to run have until 19 May to register. Between 5,000 and 10,000 candidates are expected to run in the elections.
Election officials have called on all Afghans -- men and women -- who wish to run in the elections to submit their candidacies in the next three weeks. A final list will be approved and issued on 12 July.
Bismillah Bissmil, the chairman of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) has called the upcoming elections a major turning point in Afghanistan's path toward democracy and lasting stability.
"With these elections," Bissmil said in a statement, "we shall finally have a democratic, representative government and end the rule of the gun."
All Afghans who are 25 years old or over and obtain the signatures of 300 supporters can run for the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga. Candidates for provincial councils must be 18 years old or over and must gather 200 signatures.
Would-be candidates must pledge to abide by a code of conduct and officially declare that they do not belong to or have any ties to militias or unofficial paramilitary groups. People who have been officially accused or convicted of crimes are not eligible to run as candidates. Public officials and military personnel must resign their positions if they intend to run for office.
The JEMB's senior media relations officer, Bronwyn Curran, tells RFE/RL that interest in the elections has been high since day one. She said: "We've had reports coming in from each of our provincial offices spread across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan that hundreds of people have been coming in to collect candidate-nomination kits which they take away with the intention to come back when they fill it in and go through the nominations process."
So far more than 65 people, including 15 women, have applied to run as candidates for parliament. Out of the 249 seats in the Wolesi Jirga, 70 seats are allocated for women. The United Nations and the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs have called on political parties to promote and support female candidates.
The vote for the lower house of parliament was due to take place at the same time as the presidential election. However, the parliamentary polls were postponed several times due to security concerns and technical problems. Afghanistan's first direct presidential election was held successfully in October, despite threats by the Taliban to disrupt the vote and the killing of more than 10 electoral workers.
In recent weeks, several attacks by Taliban supporters and insurgents have been reported in southern Afghanistan. In the most recent violence, a remote-controlled mine today killed at least two policemen and wounded four others in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar Province, a former Taliban stronghold.
JEMB media officer Curran says that, so far, there have been no direct threats to disrupt the upcoming elections.
"We are not aware of any recent direct threats against the elections," she said. "These elections are building on presidential elections, so we prepared to anticipate that there might be some kind of threat or some unrest targeted at these elections by small antigovernment groups."
More than 8,000 NATO-led forces are stationed in Kabul, Herat, and some northern areas. NATO is expected to increase the number of its troops for the September polls.
A campaign to raise voters' awareness about the vote have been launched by the Afghan government and NGOs in different provinces.
Fatima, a resident in the Behzoud district of Afghanistan's Wardak Province, tells Radio Free Afghanistan that high illiteracy rates mean many people -- especially women -- have very little knowledge about the parliament.
"They don't understand the meaning of Wolesi Jirga -- at least they should know the work of the Wolesi Jirga," Fatima said. "It has these responsibilities, this is its goal, but right now many of our people do not even understand the meaning of the term [Wolesi Jirga]. So how can we come and discuss elections?"
Many observers believe that the elections for parliament -- as well as those for provincial councils -- will be more complicated and more difficult to police than the presidential elections, as they could inflame local rivalries. It is expected that some local warlords will pressure voters to vote for them.
Nearly 70 political parties have registered to run in the elections. Many of them are run by former members of the mujahedin who fought the Soviets as well as the Taliban.
The JEMB has asked donor countries for $148 million to fund the elections.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/02/2005 3:53:48 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Soldier's Rescue Man Blackmailed Into Suicide Bombing
Posted by: legolas || 05/02/2005 13:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More proof of how screwed up and evil the terrorists are.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 05/02/2005 13:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Instances like this have been happening over the past year. Think it will make the evening news?
Posted by: ed || 05/02/2005 14:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Of course it won't make the news. It doesn't fit the plot, so they'll ignore it.

Just this morning I heard a talking head saying the terrorists are "increasingly sophisticated". No definition, no evidence, just an assertion. It sounds good, it fits the plot they have in mind, so it gets on the air. Facts don't matter.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 05/02/2005 14:09 Comments || Top||

#4  I have been reading here and there (mostly here) about willing jihadis getting pretty thin on the ground for suicide bombings; remember the incident on election day of the kidnapped, mentally-retarded kid? And there was at least one incident of someone being fooled into driving an truck full of explosives... and an insurgent following along behind detonating it remotely. I should't be surprised at all to find out that a good few of the recent suicide-bombers were forced to do it, through kidnapping and threats to family members.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 05/02/2005 14:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Just goes to show how easy it is to get "minutemen". And Ted Kennedy marks the anniversary of Abu Garib and the sexual inuendo's that went on there. He needs to mark this anniversary.
Posted by: plainslow || 05/02/2005 16:11 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Pakistan Arrests Alleged Taliban Fighter
Intelligence agents raided an Islamic seminary in southern Pakistan and arrested a suspected Taliban fighter wanted by Afghanistan in the 2001 killing of a pro-U.S. Afghan leader, officials said Monday. The suspect, identified as Sirajul Haq, was detained late Sunday in eastern Karachi along with another man, an intelligence official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in accordance with the policy of Pakistani intelligence officers not to make their names public.

Haq, an Afghan national, is wanted in the death of Abdul Haq, a pro-U.S. Afghan leader who was captured and killed by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan in 2001.
Abdul Haq, had he lived, probably would have become the Afghan leader. He was caught and immediately hanged from the nearest tree, while the rest of the world wrings their hands in angst that Guantanamo captives have only the freshest toothpaste to shove up their asses.
The two are not related.

The Taliban captured Abdul Haq, 43, when he slipped into his homeland from neighboring Pakistan on a secret mission to try to incite a rebellion against the hard-line Islamic militia. Haq, a prominent guerrilla commander who fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, was executed in October 2001. A U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban regime in late 2001 for harboring al-Qaida.

Another Pakistani intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the suspect arrested at the seminary was an official in the Taliban-run administration of the southern city of Kandahar, the Taliban's stronghold, but was not a senior figure in the militia. The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, could not confirm Haq's arrest and officials at the Interior Ministry were not immediately available for comment.

In Afghanistan, a spokesman for Din Mohammed, governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar and Abdul Haq's brother, declined to discuss the arrest. Officials in Afghanistan's national government in Kabul did not respond to requests for comment. One of the intelligence officials in Karachi said Afghan authorities had been offering a reward in exchange for information leading to Haq's arrest, but it was not clear how much was offered.
This article starring:
Abdul Haq
Din Mohammed
SIRAJUL HAQTaliban
Posted by: ed || 05/02/2005 10:10:09 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Obiously one's a right wing Haq and the other a left wing Haq
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 05/02/2005 13:14 Comments || Top||


Explosion of Hidden Arms Cache Kills 28, Injures More Than 70 in Afghan Village
An arms cache hidden by an Afghan warlord exploded in a bunker beneath his home early Monday, killing 28 people, injuring at least 70 and devastating surrounding buildings, officials said. The weapons were stored in Bashgah, a remote village in Baghlan province, 75 miles north of the capital, Kabul, Interior Ministry spokesman Latfullah Mashal said. It was not known what triggered the blast, official said.
"Hey! Where'd Mahmoud go with my cigars?"
Afghanistan is awash with old weapons, many of them stored during the resistance against occupying Soviet forces during the 1980s. The explosion "damaged the whole village, including the mosque and six houses," Mashal told The Associated Press.
It's prob'ly our fault, you know...
Mashal said the cache was hidden in a bunker under the house of a warlord and former government militia commander named Jalal Bashgah, apparently to conceal the weapons from a U.N.-sponsored disarmament drive.
"You'll take my guns when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers! Or maybe when the house goes up!"
The cache included a large number of rockets and dated from "a long time ago," Baghlan police chief Gen. Fazeluddin Ayar said, adding that the commander had given up only a portion of his weapons to the disarmament program, which has so far demobilized more than 50,000 former militiamen.
"A long time ago"? You mean, like when the earth was young?
Bashgah's house was destroyed and he was believed to be among those killed, Mashal said, forecasting that the overall death toll would rise. Police and emergency teams rushed to the scene and evacuated those injured in Monday's explosion, the ensuing fire and a series of secondary blasts.
You mean, from the other houses that were storing explosives?
The U.S. military and the separate NATO-led force in Afghanistan report the discovery of old weapons caches almost daily. Accidents are frequent and have inflicted casualties on foreign troops and Afghans alike. Explosions involving land mines and unexploded ordnance strewn across the country during more than a quarter-century of conflict also are common. Eight U.S. soldiers were fatally wounded in Ghazni province in January 2004 when a cache of arms they were preparing for disposal exploded accidentally.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/02/2005 10:55:28 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Whoops! I do understand the warlord's reluctance to disarm himself completely -- what if the Americans leave, and then the country reverts to all against all?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/02/2005 11:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't know if I can fix that old house, Jalal..
Posted by: Bob Vila || 05/02/2005 12:11 Comments || Top||

#3  So Warlord Guy went up with it? At least he gets spared filling out all that paperwork from Mutual of Kabul.
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/02/2005 13:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Mom always told me to hide my cache of unstable rockets, mortars and arms under my enemies' house....I nominate Jalal for an early '05 Darwin award
Posted by: Frank G || 05/02/2005 13:41 Comments || Top||

#5  If it happened by accident, award d'Darwin.

Or perhaps this was helped along, pour encourager les autres to disarm. Probably not, but one can dream ....
Posted by: too true || 05/02/2005 13:46 Comments || Top||

#6  You can do it Bob, inshallah.
Posted by: Shipman || 05/02/2005 14:01 Comments || Top||

#7  "Or perhaps this was helped along, pour encourager les autres to disarm. Probably not, but one can dream ...."

In that part of the world, rumor can be as "solid" as fact. And that WILL be the rumor.
Posted by: Dave || 05/02/2005 14:01 Comments || Top||

#8  But never mind Bob, time for the premier of This Olde Bunkere.
Posted by: Shipman || 05/02/2005 14:02 Comments || Top||

#9  I don't think Bob Vila's up to the task. Steve from "Monster House", maybe.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 05/02/2005 14:10 Comments || Top||

#10  Hmmmm...
Sounds like they finally got the bugs out of the old C4 destabilizing ray. We'll know, based on developments tomorrow, As the Worms Squirm.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/02/2005 21:46 Comments || Top||

#11  well at least he's dead too
Posted by: Thraing Hupoluper1864 || 05/02/2005 22:17 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
25 killed in funeral bombing
A car bomb obliterated a tent packed with mourners at the funeral of a Kurdish official in northern Iraq on Sunday, killing 25 people and wounding more than 50 in the single deadliest attack since insurgents started bearing down on Iraq's newly named government late last week.

The blast capped four exceedingly violent days in which at least 116 people, including 11 Americans, were killed in a storm of bombings and ambushes blamed on Iraqi insurgents, believed largely populated by members of the disaffected Sunni Arab minority.

The Sunnis were dominant for decades under Saddam Hussein but were mainly shut out of the new government announced Thursday. The skyrocketing violence since then is viewed by some as a response to political developments that the United States and the Shiite-dominated power structure had hoped would tamp down the bloodshed.

Despite the unrelenting violence, Iraq's national security adviser said Sunday the fledgling government was making progress against the insurgents.

"There is no shadow of doubt in my mind that by the end of the year, we would have achieved a lot," Mouwafak al-Rubaie said in an interview with CNN's "Late Edition." "Probably the back of the insurgency has already been broken."

Iraqi militants also released a video purporting to show Iraq's latest foreign hostage — an Australian married to an American and living in the San Francisco area. Douglas Wood, 63, was shown seated between two masked militants pointing automatic weapons at him. His wife, Pearl, told The Associated Press she saw the tape and the man being held was definitely her husband. She said he had been in Iraq about 18 months, working as an engineer.

The car bomb attack occurred in Tal Afar, 93 miles east of the Syrian border, the U.S. military and a provincial official said. Mourners had gathered for the funeral of Sayed Talib Sayed Wahab, an official of the Kurdish Democratic Party, said deputy provincial governor and party spokesman Khisru Goran, speaking from nearby Mosul.

Goran said a car plowed into the funeral tent and exploded, but the U.S. military said it was not a suicide attack. About 25 people were killed and more than 50 wounded, the U.S. military said.

U.S. troops, Iraqi police and ambulances raced to the carnage, but unidentified gunmen blocked the road and fighting broke out, Goran said.

At least six other car bombs — one of them a suicide attack — and five roadside explosions hit Baghdad on Sunday, killing six Iraqis, wounding more than 20 civilians, six Iraqi police officers and five U.S. soldiers.

In one blast, the attacker failed to fully detonate the explosives inside his car outside an American base in Baghdad, the military said in a statement. U.S. soldiers pulled the driver out of his burning car, and the man later said he was forced to carry out the attack to protect kidnapped family members, according to the statement.

Five more explosions rocked the capital late Sunday. Two roadside bombs detonated near a small amusement park in central Baghdad, killing one Iraqi and wounding two others, while two more roadside bombs targeting police patrols in western Baghdad wounded six officers, they said.

Police had no immediate information on the fifth blast.

Insurgents also ambushed an Iraqi checkpoint on a small road near Diala Bridge in eastern Baghdad, killing five policemen and injuring one, police said. Insurgents in a pickup truck started firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades early Sunday, police said. Other insurgents appeared from behind nearby trees and joined the attack.

Six more policemen and two civilians were injured when gunmen fired on two separate patrols, police said.

U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped to dent support for the militants by including members of the Sunni Arab minority in a new Shiite-dominated Cabinet that will be sworn in Tuesday. However, the lineup named by incoming Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari after months of political wrangling excluded Sunnis from meaningful positions and left the key defense and oil ministries — among other unfilled posts — in temporary hands.

Since the late summer of 2003 and just a few months after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam, insurgents have used spectacular attacks and hostage takings to drive home their opposition to U.S.-led forces and their Iraqi allies.

In the videotape announcing Wood's capture, he appealed to President Bush, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Californian Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to order coalition forces out of Iraq and to let Iraqis look after themselves, saying he did not want to die.

"My captors are fiercely patriotic. They believe in a strong united Iraq looking after its own destiny," Wood said on the tape.

A militant group calling itself the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The group previously said it abducted a Turk, who was freed in September.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Monday he would not negotiate with Wood's captors. Within days, Australia will have more than 1,300 troops in Iraq.

"We can't have the foreign policy of this country dictated by terrorists," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since Saddam's regime collapsed in April 2003. More than 30 hostages have been killed by the captors.

The British Foreign Office, meanwhile, announced three arrests in the abduction of a British aid worker believed slain last year, saying they were made after an early-morning sweep of an insurgent area 15 miles south of Baghdad.

An intelligence official with the Iraqi Interior Ministry said five Iraqi suspects were apprehended and confessed to a role in killing Margaret Hassan, the director of CARE International in Iraq. Martin Cronin, first secretary at the British Embassy in Baghdad, said he was not aware of any confessions.

U.S. and Iraqi forces also recovered items apparently related to Hassan, the British Embassy said in Baghdad. The items included a purse, a woman's clothing and CARE documents signed by Hassan, the Iraqi official said on condition of anonymity.

Hassan, 59, who also held Irish and Iraqi citizenship, was abducted in Baghdad on Oct. 19 on her way to work. Her captors later issued videos showing her pleading for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw troops from Iraq and calling for the release of female Iraqi prisoners.

On Nov. 16, the Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera said it had received a video showing a hooded militant shooting a blindfolded woman in the head. British officials said they believed the woman in the video was Hassan, and her family said they believed she was dead, but no body was found.

Also Sunday, the Italian government said its report on the killing of an Italian intelligence agent by U.S. soldiers in Baghdad would show problems of coordination with authorities in Iraq and with rules of engagement for checkpoints.

The Foreign Ministry in Rome said the Italian report will be made public Monday, providing its own version of the March 4 "friendly fire" shooting death of agent Nicola Calipari, who had just won the release of an Italian hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena.

In its report on the incident released Saturday, the U.S. military cleared American soldiers in Calipari's death and recommended no disciplinary action. The Americans contend the car Calipari was riding in as he headed to Baghdad airport with the ex-hostage did not slow down at the checkpoint.

The two Italian experts who participated in the joint U.S.-Italian probe of the shooting refused to sign off on the Americans' conclusions.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/02/2005 1:06:39 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  he appealed to President Bush, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Californian Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenneger??? Somebody's been spending too much time watching American films.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/02/2005 6:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Somehow, I've got the gut feel no one is telling the turth about what happened with the shooting of the Italian agent. I'm beginning to think we should plaster the Italians with the truth of what happened, 'cause, like the hedgehog and the fox, we may have some minor problems they've got one real big problem.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 05/02/2005 6:32 Comments || Top||

#3  he appealed to ... Californian Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

I believe the guy lives in Cali with his American wife.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/02/2005 11:21 Comments || Top||

#4  True SteveS, but what could a State governor do about a kidnapping on the other side of the world?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/02/2005 11:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Him and Ol' Painless are gonna go put a hurtin' on them boys...
Posted by: mojo || 05/02/2005 13:33 Comments || Top||


Aussie PM won't negotiate with terrorists on hostage release
SYDNEY- Australia's leader said on Monday he would not bow to kidnappers' demands for the country to withdraw troops from Iraq despite a videotape showing an Australian man appealing at gunpoint for US-led forces to leave the violence-ravaged Arab country.
Quite right, even if painful.
The tape, obtained Sunday by Associated Press Television News, shows a man who identifies himself as Douglas Wood, 63, an Australian who resides in California and works in Iraq as an engineer. He is shown seated between two people wearing masks and pointing automatic weapons at him. On the videotape, the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq claims responsibility for the kidnapping.

"Everybody knows the position of the Australian government in relation to hostage demands," Prime Minister John Howard told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "We can't have the foreign policy of this country dictated by terrorists."

Wood's wife, Pearl, told The Associated Press she had seen the tape and that the man being held was definitely her husband. She said he had worked in Iraq as an engineer for about a year and a half. In the tape, Wood said he did not want to die and appealed to US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Howard to pull their soldiers out of Iraq and leave the country to his captors Iraqis as their feifdom to look after themselves.

Howard said Monday that Australia had established a special task force to try to secure Wood's release, but would not elaborate on what actions it might take. He said under no circumstances would Australia negotiate with terrorists. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the task force, made up of federal police and officials from the foreign and defense ministries, would head to Iraq as soon as possible to begin working for Wood's release.
How about the Special Boat Service?
Downer said that while refusing to meet demands to withdraw troops, Australia would do all it can to secure the captive's freedom.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/02/2005 12:16:21 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
Three rockets hit Waziristan
LAHORE: Unidentified assailants fired three rockets at a house in the Sirarogha area in South Waziristan on Sunday morning, reported Geo news channel. Official sources said that terrorists fired three rockets at Dost Ali's house and bravely fled. Fortunately the rockets landed in a nearby ground and caused no damage, said the report.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Three rockets hit Waziristan"

Finally found a target big enough to actually hit, huh?

Out of how many fired?
Posted by: .com || 05/02/2005 2:51 Comments || Top||


Militants attack Mufti's relative
SRINAGAR: Two suspected militants on Sunday shot and critically injured a close relative of the chief minister of the held Kashmir as he left a mosque after praying, police said. The attackers escaped after firing at the relative, who is not involved in politics, said Aijaz Ahmed, a deputy superintendent of police. The victim is the third relative of Held Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to be attacked in the past year by suspected insurgents. The latest attack took place in Bijbehara town, 50 kilometres south of Srinagar.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 00:00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


U.S. Frees 85 Afghans From Military Jails
The U.S. military released 85 Afghans from its jails in Afghanistan on Sunday after deciding they posed no threat and hearing them swear loyalty to the government. Seventy men were brought from the main American base at Bagram to the capital and freed after a closed-door ceremony, Rahmat Nadim, an Afghan intelligence service official, told The Associated Press. Fifteen more were released from a base near the southern city of Kandahar, where they received gifts and cash as well as a warning not to side with Taliban militants. "We hope you will go back to your families, live a quiet life and not cooperate with the Taliban," Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha Sherzai told the men before they were released. "If you work with the government and the coalition, your country will progress." There was no apology for the 15 released in Kandahar, but the governor handed each of them $234 and a new turban as well as a letter from the U.S. military confirming their release.
I dunno about giving them new turbans. I'll bet they'd be more peaceful and productive if they were given fedoras, or derbies, or Stetsons, or sombreros. I realize pork pie hats are probably un-Islamic...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder how many of these guys have been turned.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/02/2005 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  $234 and a new turban.

I thought Fred wrote that one, but then I noticed that it was not highlighted. LMAO!
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 05/02/2005 0:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, maybe if they make sure the new turbans are not too tight, it might make them a little calmer.
Posted by: Jackal || 05/02/2005 8:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Turbans with a built-in GPS transponder?
Posted by: SteveS || 05/02/2005 11:14 Comments || Top||

#5  I prefer a beanie with a propeller>
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/02/2005 12:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Maybe the turban needs to be tighter to keep all the extremist thoughts out?
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/02/2005 19:52 Comments || Top||


Machh grid station, rail track, attacked
Unidentified people fired three rockets targeting a grid station in Machh and injured a man, while a bomb exploded on a railway track near Sibi, officials said on Sunday. The rockets were fired from nearby hills in the Machh town, 60 kilometres south of Quetta. Two rockets fell in the grid station area while one fell out of the boundary and injured a man. However, power installations remained safe in the attack. Baloch Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the attack. A man who identified himself as Azad Baloch told authorities by phone that the attack had been carried out by BLA activists who demanded more rights for the Balochistan province. A railway track was damaged when a bomb exploded on the track between Sibi and Bakhtiarabad, around 140 kilometres southeast of Quetta. Railway authorities said that about one-and-half feet track was damaged. No body has claimed responsibility so far, they said. Another bomb was found about one kilometre from the site of the explosion and was defused, an official said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
25 killed in attack on Mosul funeral
Twenty-five people were killed and 30 were injured on Sunday when a suicide car bomb ripped through the funeral of Kurdish official Taleb Sayed Wahba in the northern Iraqi city of Tall Afar, said Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official Khusru Khan. Khan, who is also Nineveh deputy governor, said the bomber blew up his vehicle as a large number of people were gathered to attend the funeral of a Kurdish official gunned down in Mosul on Saturday. "Armed men then blocked the road and prevented ambulances from reaching the victims who needed to be evacuated and clashed with the police and army," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I guess no one knows who these armed men were or are? The sectarian shit is going to hit the fan.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 05/02/2005 1:13 Comments || Top||


Africa: North
226 Arrested After Cairo Attacks
Egyptian authorities detained some 226 people yesterday for questioning from the home villages of the three extremists responsible for the twin attacks in Cairo, police officials said. Police said that the detainees, mainly from the villages of Al-Ammar, Ezbet Al-Gabalawi and the district of Shubra, were arrested for investigation by the state security to determine whether there were more members of the group behind the deadly blast that rocked a central Cairo bazaar on April 7 which killed three tourists and a bomber. "We are also looking for the driver of the car that drove the two veiled women to the scene of the shooting yesterday," said a security official who asked to remain anonymous. "We are afraid that there might be some more members on the run, especially after we found in one woman's bag a piece of paper saying 'we will continue to sacrifice our lives to let others live'," the official added.
Is anybody but me suspicious that a wave of horrific bombings/killings hits Egypt just at the time Hosni's under pressure to lift the state of emergency and lighten up the repressive political atmosphere?
Egyptian authorities had previously identified the bomber as 45-year-old Ihab Yousri Yassin, a fugitive member of the group which planned the April 7 bombing. They also said that the two women were Iman Ibrahim Khamees, Yousri's wife and Nagat Yosuri Yassin, his sister.
"Eh! Most of our genitalia's been lopped off. We might as well kill ourselves!"
Yousri's sister shot and wounded Khamees before shooting herself dead when police chased them after they opened fire on a tourist bus in southern Cairo near Salah Eddin Citadel, a popular tourist destination. All three were related to Ashraf Said, a suspect in the Khan Al-Khalili bazaar blast who died in police custody a few days ago.
Cue theme from "It's a Family Affair"...
Authorities said the attacks were "apparently acts of revenge for Said who they think was tortured to death during the investigation."
"Oooch! Ouch! Aiiiieeee! Rosebud!"
Essam Al-Erian, a leading member of Muslim Brotherhood, said the government's theory seems to be quite plausible as it was the first time in Egypt that women have carried out terrorist attacks. "They might have been totally convinced that they were subjected to injustice and that their relative was a victim so they sought vengeance," he explained. The crude, homemade bomb injured three Egyptians and four foreigners. According to the Ministry of Health, three foreigners left hospital yesterday while the rest are in a stable condition.
Tourist damage kept to a minimum. Makes sense in a perverted, dictatorial sort of way...
Dia Rashwan, an expert on terrorism at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, agrees. "These attacks are very amateurish and all the Islamist movements in Egypt have quit violence after the government cracked down on them and after realizing that they were turning the public against them," Rashwan said. "This is of course dangerous because we cannot find any traces of a real group or any kind of organization which makes it hard for the government to fight them," he told Arab News.
"No, certainly not!"
Islamist lawyer Montasser Al-Zayat has long posited the rise of "freelance jihadists," unaffiliated agents that stage attacks out of sympathy with Al-Qaeda, the Iraqis or the Palestinians. Despite the fact that attacks were clearly against foreigners and Egypt's tourism industry, officials and experts alike said the industry will continue to boom. Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif said tourism is safe as the attacks do not signal the return of violent militancy.
See? A perverted, dictatorial kind of sense, though not sense as we'd see it. Come on: Who's up for a trip to Egypt? We'll see the sites, the pyramids, the belly dancers, maybe take in a genital mutilation or a pogrom, bag a few Copts... Uhuh. Didn't think so. Miami's safer, isn't it?
"I do not think any Egyptian agrees with such incidents which destabilize security and attempt to threaten the Egyptian society and one of the sources of its livelihood, which is tourism," he told reporters. "I do not think this will be a pattern in Egypt. I am positive that our society and the security services are able to maintain security and safety."
"Remain calm! All is well! All is wellllll!"
Some of the embassies have already posted statements on their websites advising anyone traveling to Egypt to be "aware of the risks."
Miami's great this time of year...
Meanwhile, Ali Gomaa, the grand mufti of Egypt, condemned the attacks calling them "treacherous crimes that are totally against Islam and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad."
"Yeah! The Profit (PTUI!) never woulda done nothin' like that!"
"People who think about carrying out similar attacks must realize that they are not doing something heroic but are committing a great, unforgivable sin since Islam is totally against terrorizing people," said Gomaa. "Now I repeat it again for everyone
those who blow themselves up and kill innocents are not martyrs but infidels," he told Arab News.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 00:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ahhhh,RB.
So these buttwipes,try to kill a bunch of tourists out of revenge for the toture death of a relative by the goverment.Idiots,wankers,barbarians....

Did anybody else have a proble getting RB yesterday?
Posted by: raptor || 05/02/2005 6:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Yesterday early morning I just couldn't get through.
Posted by: SwissTex || 05/02/2005 7:11 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm slowly rewriting the site in PHP, because ASP stops without warning. Eventually I'll have the entire site rewritten, or I'll have rewritten the piece that's causing the problem and the instability will cease.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 8:22 Comments || Top||

#4  BTW, usually when the site is hung, you can get in using http://rantburg.com/index.php, though the comments won't work. I'm working on converting comments to PHP even as we speak blog.
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 8:28 Comments || Top||

#5  The little things count Fred. Thanks much for the "usual suspects" photo from Casablanca
Posted by: sea cruise || 05/02/2005 8:30 Comments || Top||

#6  I add my thanks,too,Fred.Your efforts at keeping RB up&running and constant work at improvement are much appreciated.
Posted by: raptor || 05/02/2005 9:14 Comments || Top||

#7  You're better than you think, Fred. I actually use the URL you mentioned as My "normal" method, and comments seem to work just fine. (At least I can see them...)

Or do you mean that if the rest of the site is hosed, this address will work sans comments?
Posted by: Jackal || 05/02/2005 9:21 Comments || Top||

#8  Personally I'm waiting for CAIR to denounce these indiscriminant roundups of peace-loving muslims.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 05/02/2005 11:30 Comments || Top||

#9  index.php called an ASP page, so if the ASP portion of the site was down you wouldn't have been able to enter comments, only to read the articles.

I still have another piece to write on the comments to make the switch. Then I'm going to break the PHP main page into Page 1, Page 2, and Page 3. Only the data entry pages for articles will be in ASP, and they'll convert one by one...
Posted by: Fred || 05/02/2005 14:38 Comments || Top||

#10  Of course! It's obvious! Why's the type so small? Is it mine diet?
Posted by: juche large || 05/02/2005 19:48 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2005-05-02
  25 killed in attack on Mosul funeral
Sun 2005-05-01
  Mass Grave With 1,500 Bodies Found in Iraq
Sat 2005-04-30
  Fahd clinically dead?
Fri 2005-04-29
  Sgt. Hasan Akbar sentenced to death
Thu 2005-04-28
  Lebanon Sets May Polls After Syrian Departure
Wed 2005-04-27
  Iraq completes Cabinet proposal
Tue 2005-04-26
  Al-Timimi Convicted
Mon 2005-04-25
  Perv proposes dividing Kashmir into 7 parts
Sun 2005-04-24
  Egypt arrests 28 Brotherhood members
Sat 2005-04-23
  Al-Aqsa Martyrs back on warpath
Fri 2005-04-22
  Four killed in Mecca gun battle
Thu 2005-04-21
  Allawi escapes assassination attempt
Wed 2005-04-20
  Algeria's GIA chief surrenders
Tue 2005-04-19
  Moussaoui asks for death sentence
Mon 2005-04-18
  400 Algerian gunmen to surrender

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