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Chalabi Told Iran U.S. Broke Its Codes
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Arabia
Yemen: Suspects Admit Plot to Murder US Ambassador
Amidst intensified security measures, the Sana’a Criminal Court started the first hearing of a group of 15 suspected terrorists. The prosecution charged the fifteen suspected terrorists with blowing up the French Oil Tanker in Mukalla in October 2002, carrying out several bombings in Sana’a, killing one soldier and plotting to blow up the US, UK, French, German and Cuban embassies in Sana’a as well as plotting to kill the US Ambassador to Yemen Edmund Hull. 14 of the accused were present at the court, although the 15th, Yasser Ali Salem, has yet to be arrested.

When the prosecutor said the name of Limburg, the suspected terrorists shouted “Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar,” a tone showing happiness of victory. The prosecutor Saeed al-Akil said before the court judge Ahmad al-Jermuzi the suspected terrorists rented a house in Hadramaut to store explosives and another to get the boat prepared; he said the boat cost was $20,000. They also bought two tons of explosives where they stuffed the boat with an amount ranging from 1150-1250 kilo of TNT and 20 kilo of C4 plus a number of flashtubes. The operation against the tanker left one dead and caused, according to the prosecutor, an environment catastrophe. He also accused some of them, mainly Fawaz al-Rabee of firing against the helicopter owned by the US Oil Company Hunt wherein one of the crew was wounded. He said seven rockets were launched against the plane in addition to over 150 bullets fired by Hizam Mujali. The prosecution also accused them of carrying out several terrorist explosions in different parts of the capital Sana’a including the office of the intelligence and house of one of its directors. The charges also included a plot to blow up the US, UK, French, German and Cuban embassies in Sana’a as well as killing the US Ambassador to Yemen Edmund Hull.

Some of the suspects denied the charges but some admitted them, mainly the plot to kill the US Ambassador. Saleem al-Dailami said that they wanted to restore the dignity of the government by killing Edmund Hull and take revenge for Abu Ali al-Harithi who was killed by an American drone in the desert of Marib in November 2002. “We have gathered around as friends and plotted to kill the US Ambassador, we talked about that,” he said. The leading member of the group Fawaz al-Rabee was accused also of killing one soldier along with Hizam Mughalis when he tried to arrest them as well as throwing a grenade at policemen in Sana’a. However he denied and refused to talk unless he gets an advocate.
"I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!"
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 9:11:11 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
plotting to blow up the US, UK, French, German and Cuban embassies

This is the second posting where I've seen that Cuba is being targeted by Moslem terrorists. Does anybody know the story about that? The other posting indicated to me that the cause involves some Moslems imprisoned in Cuba.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 06/02/2004 23:46 Comments || Top||


Saudis to Tighten Control Over Charities
The Saudi government, in an effort to prevent charitable donations from bankrolling terrorism, is creating a commission to filter contributions raised inside the kingdom to support causes abroad. As part of the plan, announced Wednesday at the Saudi Embassy, the government is dissolving a large Riyadh-based Muslim charity, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, along with other Saudi charities and is folding their financial assets into the new Saudi National Commission for Relief and Charity Work Abroad, officials said. Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah, estimated that about $100 million a year might flow through the commission.

The action, which comes in the aftermath of terror attacks in the kingdom over the weekend that left 22 dead, was welcomed by the Bush administration. Attorney General John Ashcroft called the Saudi plan "a positive step in the global effort to stem the flow of monies that finance terrorist organizations." He said in a written statement that U.S. investigators and prosecutors "continue to scrutinize records obtained from a recent search warrant executed on the Al-Haramain offices in Medford, Oregon."

"I think it is an important step," said Fran Townsend, the White House's homeland security adviser. "I think what we've got to do is work with the Saudi government and see how they implement this announcement today," she added. "I think that's where the real test is _ in the implementation of the announcement." The U.S. government, as part of its anti-terrorism strategy after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has sought to cut off the sources of financing for terrorist organizations. The commission "will take over all aspects of private overseas aid operations and assume responsibility for the distribution of private charitable donations from Saudi Arabia," the Saudi Embassy said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 8:59:43 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


"Aftermath of Terror"
The Houston Chronicle has a story with photos of the aftermath of the terrorist attack at the Oasis in Saudi Arabia. The slideshow is linked in the sidebar at the right. Some of the photos are pretty graphic.

This photo, of a sink covered in blood, would have been our cheerful morning wake-up, if our paper hadn’t gone AWOL again.

The first time I clicked on the link to the article, it let me through, but when I tried again, it wanted me to register, so beware.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 06/02/2004 12:25:21 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Saudis Kill Militants Allegedly Tied to Khobar Attack
Saudi security forces Wednesday killed two key militants with alleged ties to a shooting attack and hostage-taking in eastern Saudi Arabia that killed 22 people, the Interior Ministry said. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified one of the dead as Abdul Rahman Mohammed Yazji, No. 25 on a list of Saudi Arabia’s 26 most-wanted militants. The other man could not be immediately identified.
"But he was a mean 'un! You betcha!"
The Saudi security official said the two militants opened fire from their car at a security checkpoint Tuesday evening. The ministry, in a statement reported by the official Saudi Press Agency, said security forces surrounded the two men in a remote area in al-Hada, on the Taif-Mecca highway in western Saudi Arabia, and killed them after they threw grenades and shot at the troops. The statement said one of the men was in drag disguised as a woman. It said there were no injuries among security forces. Police found weapons and ammunition, plus a number of cellular phones in the car the men were using, the official added.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 9:53:23 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Taif-Mecca highway
in the sunshine,
where the days are longer
the nights are stronger than moonshine...
Posted by: Raj || 06/02/2004 12:20 Comments || Top||

#2  ahhhh, Raj, the old alk-runner story re-emerges, huh?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 12:29 Comments || Top||

#3  I saw the wreck on the highway
but I didn't hear nobody pray

I didn't hear nobody pray dear allah
I didbn't hear nobody pray

When whiskey and blood run together
but I didn't hear nobody pray.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:13 Comments || Top||


Saudis kill 'two siege suspects'
Saudi security forces have killed two suspected militants said to be linked to the weekend gun and hostage-taking rampage in Khobar that left 22 dead. The two were hunted down in the remote Hada region of Taif in the west of the kingdom after they attacked troops.
These were the guys they caught up with near Mecca we reported on yesterday.
In a separate incident in the capital Riyadh, two cars carrying US military training personnel were shot at. The violence follows fresh threats by al-Qaeda to "cleanse" the Arabian peninsula of non-Muslims. It is not clear how the men killed on Wednesday were linked to the carnage in Khobar, but Saudi-owned television station al-Arabiya said the pair were al-Qaeda gunmen.
And they wouldn't lie
Guns and ammunition were found on their bodies and one of them was in drag disguised as a woman, al-Arabiya reported.
That sounds like them.
Kinda makes you wonder exactly how many Soddy women are really women, doesn't it?
A driver was slightly hurt in the Riyadh shooting, when attackers hiding behind a row of parked cars opened fire on two vehicles coming out of the Eskan training base. The vehicles were carrying US military advisers working with the Saudi National Guard who sped back into the base after the attack. The gunmen escaped.
Of course they did, it's Saudiland
Three militants were reported to have slipped through a security cordon after the Khobar attack which ended on Sunday. A tribal lashkar massive manhunt is under way, as more details emerged about how they had escaped a siege by large numbers of security forces. A security adviser to the Saudi royal family, Nawaf Obaid, said the Saudi authorities had been fooled into believing that accomplices would blow up the entire housing compound where the militants were holding dozens of hostages. "It was a deal, and the orders came from senior people who said: 'Let them out'," he said in remarks quoted by Reuters.
Nobody does nothing without orders from on high in the Magic Kingdom
"It was basically a call between storming the compound and having more hostages die, or doing the bargain they did."
Thereby having more hostages die later...
The attackers had already killed 22 people with guns and knives, most of them foreigners whom the attackers had identified as non-Muslims. It is still not clear how the gunmen entered the heavily fortified luxury Oasis Resort compound, where most of the victims died.
It's just such a mystery...
The leader of the gunmen was wounded and arrested, the Saudi interior ministry has said.
Never to be seen again, at least by anybody we can trust
Posted by: Steve || 06/02/2004 9:35:22 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Guns and ammunition were found on their bodies and one of them was disguised as a woman, al-Arabiya reported.

You can hide a lot under a black tent.
Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 10:52 Comments || Top||

#2  There's always this undercurrent of dressing like a woman that I find interesting (not that interesting) I'm starting to think a massive drop of 1967 Sears Roebuck catalogs might be in order.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:16 Comments || Top||


Saudi Gunmen Fire on Car Carrying American
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Gunmen opened fire Wednesday on a car carrying at least one American in western Saudi Arabia, a Western diplomat said. The diplomat, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, had no further information, including where the attack took place. However, the diplomat’s account came shortly after reports that gunmen opened fire on a car carrying at least one American outside a compound in the Saudi capital of Riyadh that is used by members of the U.S. military. "The car was coming out of the compound with three passengers when small arms fire opened up on the vehicle," Dow Jones Newswires quoted an unidentified security official as saying. It said the official had spoken to residents of the compound. The passengers weren’t believed to have been injured, he was quoted as saying. The attack took place at the Iskan compound, on the southern outskirts of Riyadh, where some U.S. military advisers to the Saudi National Guard live, Dow Jones said. An assault last weekend killed 22 people at a compound where many foreigners live in Khobar, the latest in a spate of attacks in the last six weeks that have left 35 people dead, mostly foreigners. The attacks have come despite an aggressive government campaign to root out terrorism.
Here we go again....
Posted by: Anonymous4617 || 06/02/2004 4:36:34 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The attacks have come despite an aggressive government campaign to root out terrorism.

Obviously, that government "campaign" wasn't aggressive enough....
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 20:27 Comments || Top||


BBC Analysis: Saudi Security Questions
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 03:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Shaken expatriates rethink Saudi future
.com's info confirmed by al-Guardian.
Foreign companies in Saudi Arabia are offering to repatriate the families of their staff in the wake of the bloody weekend rampage by militants that left 22 dead, most of them foreigners. As new clashes between suspected militants and security forces were reported in the west of the country, several Japanese companies joined Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, in offering to pull relatives out of the kingdom. As the ineffectual hunt for three terrorists militants responsible for the attack in Khobar continued, Saudi Arabia's entire Eastern province was placed on red alert. Arab News, the Jeddah-based newspaper, reported yesterday that security had been intensified around the cities of Dammam, Khobar, Dhahran, Jubail, Ahsa and Qatif.
Thus making it twice as hard for terrorists to slip into compounds of ex-pat workers.
Last night, the Saudi security forces fought a gun battle with suspected militants near the city of Taif, in the west of the country after gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint.
... thereby drawing attention to themselves.
Must not have been any infidels nearby.
Key installations and business premises were heavily guarded and police battalions were on patrol. Police in some areas have asked companies employing western staff to keep their main gates closed during working hours, and for employees to remain indoors so that they may be more easily herded and slaughtered. A spokesman for the Japan External Trade Organisation in Riyadh told the Associated Press news agency that four or five companies were sending relatives home "to be on the safe side". He said Nippon, Sojitz and Idemitsu Kosan were among them. There are 700 Japanese in Saudi Arabia. Some families are considering relocating to neighbouring Bahrain. Estate agents and international schools there reported an increase in interest after the recent attacks. Kevin Rosser, an analyst at the security consultants Control Risks, said the latest attacks would probably accelerate the transfer of expatriate staff to other Gulf states that are considered safer. "Keeping everyone inside for a few days will help to calm frayed nerves and give the authorities a chance to escort these guys outta the country round these guys up," he said. The Foreign Office said yesterday it had no figures to suggest there would be a wide spread flight from the country.
And they won't ever have figures, either.
The Asian community suffered the most casualties in the Khobar attack, with 13 people killed, but many said that returning home was not an option, for financial reasons. "They killed many Indians. They didn't differentiate between them and westerners," Manoj Kumar, an IT manager, told the news agency Reuters. "Even extra security will not protect us; if they want to kill us, they will. We are no longer safe here." A team from the British anti-terrorist group SO13 has flown to the country. A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said the team was "offering assistance and support to the Saudi authorities". It was also gathering information about Michael Hamilton, the Briton killed in the Khobar attack. Four of the five major attacks in the past year involved militants known to the authorities, he said. But Mustapha Alani, a security expert at the Royal United Services Institute, believes there could still be 500-700 people associated with al-Qaida in the country.
Betcha Prince Najaf knows 'em all.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/02/2004 12:06:25 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ".com's info confirmed by al-Guardian."
But that was yesterday! WTF has he done for me today?

"Betcha Prince Najaf knows 'em all."
I'll bet you're right, Dr S. Sigh. Y'know, I don't wanna have to kill 'em, but with friends like Nayef, they be lookin' like toast to me. I've asked The Religious Policeman to try to explain the Abdullah, Nayef, and Turki situation, any way he sees fit. If he ever answers, I'll post it. Meanwhile, back at the armory...

Thx for the post, Dr Steve, this is one of the pieces I read confirming that many Expat groups are doing their best Snagglepuss imitation:
"Heavens to Murgatroid! Exit, double quick time, stage right!"
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Thus making it twice as hard for terrorists to slip into compounds of ex-pat workers.

But Steve, what's 2 x 0?
Posted by: Edward Yee || 06/02/2004 0:53 Comments || Top||

#3  500 to 700 hundred? Sounds low for an industrialized country, in the heart of an industrialized mideast happy place.

Dot, how could anyone stay without being rambo ready?
Posted by: Lucky || 06/02/2004 1:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, there are 4 types of American Expats there (I won't speak for people from other societies, adjust to taste):
1. Money Whores
2. Exiles - IRS, Divorce Alimony, Suit Judgements, etc.
3. Incompetents
4. Adventurers

There are some pretty compelling reasons there, and each has varying degrees, and someone could have more than one reason. Only a #1 who's done most of what he set out to do or a #4 who's seen enough weirdness can reasonably say, "Well, that's enough of that! I'm outta here! The others? What's their desperation quotient? Note that #3's won't help the Saudis keep things going, either.

Problem is, you aren't allowed to be armed - that's a very paranoid society. They're overflowing with arms, obviously, coming in from Yemen, etc. but YOU aren't allowed any! I had a hickory axe handle in my car. Best thing I could lay my hands on.
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 1:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Anyone see parallels with the end of the Shah's regime in Iran? Or am i just being paranoid?
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 06/02/2004 2:13 Comments || Top||

#6  Excellent observation and question. (This is off the top of my head, so be tolerant!) And not an easy one except in the patronage system. In Saudi there are so many Royals, each with overlapping allied tribes and clans. I don't think the Shah had anywhere near as many people directly dependent upon him remaining in power for their status and livelihood. In Saudi, the Wahhabis are really outsiders in this game who've been bought off. They command the restless youth, mainly, while the Royals control the top tier of tribes who control the next tier, etc - of the parents of these jobless cannon fodder kids. The under-25's, though, are over 50% of the population... So it's a demographic powder keg - with very tight wrapping (alliances / loyalties)... that usually means a big boom, no?

That's all observation - ramifications, depth of loyalty, etc? Over my head. I think you need a lifer or a native to tell us how thick - or thin - those lines are, heh.
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 2:26 Comments || Top||

#7  This post by the Religious Policeman strongly implies that the majority of Saudis support al Qaeda, and also support terrorist activity in SA as long as Muslims are not targeted. The #6 comment indicates this also - if Wahhabis command the restless youth, they command the majority of the population. I think the current regime will be replaced by Taliban-style rule. #4 has shed some light on the continuing puzzle of why any "infidels" dare to live in SA at all.
Posted by: Tresho || 06/02/2004 5:01 Comments || Top||

#8  NMM, I think Eastern Europe is a better model. Perhaps Romania - progressively more brutal repression of overt dissent, then it just crumbles in a few of days. Watch for Princes heading for the airport. I also think a Yemeni style civil war is a distinct possibility.

BTW the media is completely ignoring the real reason why SA is inherently unstable, which is the number of princes that need to put on the royal payroll is exploding.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 5:20 Comments || Top||

#9  NMM: Anyone see parallels with the end of the Shah's regime in Iran? Or am i just being paranoid?

No parallels - the Shah was secular - the Saudis are Wahhabi. Instead of backing him up with arms shipments and American troops, Jimmy Carter persuaded the Shah to leave. GWB will *not* allow the House of Saud to fall to al Qaeda.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/02/2004 9:46 Comments || Top||

#10  Tresho: I think the current regime will be replaced by Taliban-style rule.

No chance of this happening. The US military will intervene to prevent al Qaeda taking over. An al Qaeda state with a hundred billion dollars of annual oil revenue will be able to stage attacks that make 9/11 look like a minor incident.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/02/2004 9:49 Comments || Top||

#11  #4 Well, there are 4 types of American Expats there (I won't speak for people from other societies, adjust to taste):
1. Money Whores
2. Exiles - IRS, Divorce Alimony, Suit Judgements, etc.
3. Incompetents
4. Adventurers


Ain't so. I wasn't any off the above when I lived and worked there. Being an engineer-constructor building the most complex infrastructure, power and hydrocarbon projects in the world at the time seemed pretty patriotic. US companies, US expats, US benefits. Where do you think the great preponderance of imported oil comes from? Would you rather have had French or German or Russian companies designing, building and managing the Soddy works and now be dependent on their compentency and influence? How much are you prepared to pay for gasoline? Your comments are a little disingenous to the great, patriotic, loyal American teachers, engineers, managers and contractors working around the world not just Soddy. Yes the money is great but so is the work and technical challenge we face everyday. Plus while there we aren't a bunch of Stockholmers - we are showing the strength of a free, market oriented democracy that is America. What better way to demonstrate the values of the American principles we are all expounded everyday here on Rantburg.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/02/2004 10:03 Comments || Top||

#12  well if the sauds do fall you will see the US taking a 100 mile swath of arabia!
Posted by: Dan || 06/02/2004 11:40 Comments || Top||

#13  I understand Jack is Back! So there are five categories, with the addition of the "Good Guys." But the Soddys don't see it your way. American ingenuity is just an "opportunity" to them--something they can use to their advantage and something they probably feel entitled to.
Posted by: ex-lib || 06/02/2004 11:44 Comments || Top||

#14  #1. .com thanks for asking the Religous Policeman to comment on the Abdullarah, Nayef, and Turki situation. I just checked his posting for today and found this poem which explains the surrounded, but never captured stories from SA.
"Tho' many be surrounded,
and the surrounding be complete,
all shall escape
but the one with bad feet".
The Sage of Riyadh
Posted by: GK || 06/02/2004 12:59 Comments || Top||

#15  . . . our country could be the next beneficiary of the United States' unique approach to "winning hearts and minds". However we'd only have ourselves to blame.

Sometimes through the thickest headdress, some insight filters in.
Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 13:59 Comments || Top||

#16  I wonder if anyone in the CIA has been predicting a Saudi fall for, say, two years.

If they had then the attack on Iraq takes on another dimension.

(note: I'm not a "Blooood for OOOiiillll!!!!" groupie)

If the fall of SA is predicted as likely then GB had little choice. Loss of ME oil and unlimited funds for the terrorists places an intolerable risk upon the Western economies and people. Folks outside of the US should be thanking it for doing what is necessary.

-a Canadian
Posted by: Anonymous5099 || 06/02/2004 14:10 Comments || Top||

#17  .com in reply to NMM
Excellent observation and question

Is it me or is really kinda chilly for June? ;>
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:34 Comments || Top||

#18  Jack - Heavy sigh. You're offended, I take it? Hmmm. This is touchy - cuz I really don't mean to offend, but I believe your response is at least a tad disingenuous and simplistic. On a personal level, the just you talking level, you went to work in Saudi Arabia solely because you are a patriot? You worked for whom? A US or multinational firm -- or a Saudi firm? It didn't appeal to your bank account or your sense of adventure? Those were my reasons in 2000, especially the latter as I was making 6 figures here in the US - it was the weirdness I sought. There was a touch of challenge - the offer was, officially, to "come and drag these guys into the 21st century in web technologies" - heh, that certainly appealed to my vanity regards my expertise.

Mainly, however, I have the adventure gene and it decides to wriggle, now and then, of its own accord. Ok, no offense intended, I will take your statement at face value, but you stand alone among all I have every conversed with who were there. C'est la vie, eh?

ZF - "GWB will *not* allow the House of Saud to fall to al Qaeda." -- I'll agree with one proviso: if time allows. If it happens fast and the Royals hop into their fleet of jets and bail for Switzerland, Dubya will have no one to save from AlQ... and it could happen very quickly, indeed, since they're cowards. Even though it appears that Nayef is somewhat allied with the Wahhabis, I have my doubts that he'd be the last one out, the guy who turns off the lights, when the zipperheads charge the Palace(s). Things are moving in slow motion now, but... BTW, I believe it will happen, and within the next 18-36 months. It would be very handy to complete the Iraq mission, tip the Mad Mullahs (minimal boots) and be flush with boots positioned and ready. Perhaps this topic has been discussed, already, by the US & Royals? Lol! I guess we know it has, complete with BS posturing from the Royals. My question would be, "Was there anyone present or privvy who can filter their BS so we got the truth of their intentions (fight / flight thresholds) and can "feel" the pulse of their current level of panic. It will happen. We live in interesting times! Lol!

GK - He rocks - and I know of no one who could possibly explain, in our terms, WTF is really afoot in the Royal Maze of Motivations. Sigh. I hope he chooses to respond in his blog.

Ship - At the time he posted it, he hadn't begun his screeching routine. It was a rational question - and it was not layered in the LLL tripe, so I thought I'd reply in kind. He's not stupid - it would be nice if he'd start acting not stupid and drop the Talking Points foolishness. Then I'd have no beef with him. Sigh.
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 15:44 Comments || Top||

#19  You're a softie .com :)
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 18:10 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Hezb, Aussie MP meet criticized
Australia’s foreign minister sharply criticized an opposition party lawmaker on Tuesday after a news report said the legislator met in Lebanon with the leader of Hezbollah in 2001. "A member of parliament who meets with a terrorist organization needs to reflect on the victims of that terrorist organization," said Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, referring to longtime Labor Party lawmaker Leo Mcleay. Hezbollah’s armed wing has been listed as a terror organization by Australia and the United States, but the Lebanese government says it represents legitimate resistance against what Lebanon regards as Israel’s occupation of territory on the Lebanese border. Channel Nine television reported Tuesday McLeay met Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah on July 10, 2001, during a trip assisted by Australia’s embassy in Lebanon.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 3:13:06 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Man charged over net incitement
A SYDNEY man (Bilal Khazal)has been charged over terrorism activities on the internet. Australian Federal Police (AFP) said the 34-year-old man, who allegedly published documents inciting terrorism on the internet, was charged with one count of collecting or making documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts. He was arrested outside his home at Lakemba, in Sydney’s south-west, this morning. The AFP said he was the first person to be charged with the offence since the introduction of Commonwealth counterterrorism legislation in 2002.

The AFP said a number of documents and a computer hard drive were seized during a search of the man’s home today. It is alleged that among the documents was a book called Provisions In The Rules of Jihad - Short Wise Rules and Organisational Instructions Which Is The Concern of Every Fighter and Mujahid Against the Infidels. The man allegedly compiled the book and then posted the material on the internet in late 2003. Its publication was an offence under commonwealth law, the AFP said. The man was due to face Sydney’s Central Local Court later today. His arrest followed a lengthy investigation involving officers from ASIO, NSW Police and the AFP.
Posted by: tipper || 06/02/2004 3:21:44 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Im want this guy to talk to boris.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:37 Comments || Top||


Europe
Kurd Rebels Attack Turks, Ending Truce
Kurdish guerrillas attacked Turkish troops in the southeast Wednesday, a day after the rebels announced an end to a five-year unilateral truce, the news agency Anatolia reported. The rebels opened fire on Turkish troops in the southeastern province of Tunceli, wounding a noncommissioned officer near the town of Ovacik, Anatolia said. Although there has been sporadic fighting since the rebels announced a cease-fire in 1999, the attack in Ovacik were the first clashes between the rebels and soldiers since the end of the truce. Hundreds of Turkish commandos reinforced the troops from the air with attack helicopters, launched an operation to hunt down an estimated 150 Kurdish rebels hiding in rugged area, a local military official said on condition of anonymity. The official said the offensive came to a halt at nightfall but he indicated that the operation might continue later. Kurdish rebels fought a 15-year war for autonomy before declaring a cease-fire shortly after the capture of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, by Turkish forces in 1999. Some 37,000 people died in the war. The rebel group said Tuesday it was ending the truce and warned foreigners and investors to avoid Turkey, saying the government has failed to respond to their truce.
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 9:02:29 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The question is, what do the Kurds in the autonomous zone in Iraq think about all this? Are they willing to put all their hard-earned progress on the line over this? Or not? This could get interesting.

Turkish authorities have recently complained the United States failed to act against the Kurdish rebels holed up in mountain bases in northern Iraq despite promises.

Three words: No Northern Front.

Sorry Turkey, but that's how the ball bounces.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 21:39 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
US Treasury appoints adviser on Islamic finance
The U.S. Treasury, which some Muslim groups have accused of bias, on Wednesday said it had appointed an Arab economist as its first in-house scholar to boost understanding of Islamic banking. The move follows concerns after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that terrorist financiers could be using Islamic institutions such as banks, charities or informal money brokers to move, store or launder funds destined for militant attacks.

The Treasury said Mahmoud el-Gamal, an economics professor at Rice University in Texas, would be the principal adviser on Islamic finance to senior Treasury officials and liaise with international groups seeking to monitor and create standards for Islamic finance. "With the recent growth of the Islamic finance industry, deeper understanding of Islamic finance is a priority for this administration," Undersecretary for International Affairs John Taylor said in a statement.
Islamic financial institutions range from banks, which operate in accordance with Muslim Sharia laws to traditional "hawala" brokers who generally work on an honor system with little or no paper trail.

Since the Sept. 11, attacks, the Treasury has sought to dry up the sources of terrorism funding, moving to block the assets of more than 300 groups and people -- many of them Muslim -- believed to have committed, threatened or supported terrorism.
The United States, along with other governments, has also pushed to register "hawalas" it believes may also be a conduit for terrorist funds around the world. Many Muslim groups feel they have been singled out for scrutiny by U.S. officials, including the Treasury, since the Sept. 11 attacks and some charities have accused the government of staging a "witch hunt" against them. The Treasury denies such accusations and says it has reached out to the Muslim community to ensure better understanding and cooperation.

Salam al-Marayati, who heads the Muslim Public Affairs Council advocacy group, said he hoped Gamal’s appointment would help iron out some of the problems faced by Islamic groups in the post-Sept. 11 era. "We welcome the appointment. This is a positive response to our call for the Bush administration to appoint American Muslims to policy-making positions in government," he said. Treasury said Gamal would conduct workshops for U.S. government agencies on Islamic finance, including overviews of the industry, prudent supervision and regulation, accounting standards, government practices and debt management.

While mainly practiced in the Middle East and Asia, the Islamic finance industry is growing in Europe and North America, Treasury said. Islamic banks are banned from many conventional financial instruments by religious strictures. For example, Islamic laws forbid the payment of interest, which is considered usury, and Islamic banks cannot invest in interest-bearing instruments.
Gamal has previously worked as an economist at the International Monetary Fund and taught at the University of Wisconsin, California Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 8:56:28 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So how does "Islamic banking" work better than normal banking if the banks can't make money through interest? And aside from that, is "Islamic banking" any different than "normal banking"? Do their collection agents blow themselves up at your house if you don't pay on time? Or is "Islamic banking" a euphemism for what's been called the "money-favor nexus," what the Middle East calls "Business as usual for those in power" and we call "corruption"?
Posted by: The Doctor || 06/02/2004 21:42 Comments || Top||

#2  They don't charge interest. Although, interpretation of what constitutes interest varies. E.g. a discount note technical doesn't charge interest, although effectively it does. So is it allowed?

From a practical perspective, banking is not possible without interest. Islamic banking is a oxymoron. The so called Islamic banks are either venture capital type entities (i.e. not banks) or they charge some kind of hidden interest as in my discount note example.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 22:16 Comments || Top||

#3  I read an article once that explained how a "pious" Moslem could buy a house without paying interest. I'm no financial expert, but it was evident even to me that it was a huge con game, I suppose aimed at fooling Allan. They still paid more than the purchase price of the house - they just called it something else.

Nice religion - you lie to yourself and try to fool your diety. Sure, I'll sign right up. (NOT)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/02/2004 23:31 Comments || Top||


U.S. Raids N.Va. Office of Saudi-Based Charity
WJLA-TV. Hat tip: LGF.
Alexandria, Va. (AP) - Federal agents have raided the Alexandria headquarters of a Saudi-based charity founded by a nephew of Osama bin Laden. The Washington Post reports that the FBI, immigration agents and the Joint Terrorism Task Force raided the World Assembly of Muslim Youth on Friday.
Together, they put the whammy on WAMY.
All the office’s files and computer hard drives were seized, and the group says a volunteer board member was arrested on immigration charges. The charity strongly denies any terrorist ties
[my surprise meter reads "off scale low"]
and says the government had told them the probe is focused only on "immigration issues." The group acknowledged that bin Laden’s nephew, Abdullah bin Laden, was involved in forming its branch in Northern Virginia, it says people shouldn’t assume that means it has any terrorist connections.
Posted by: Mike || 06/02/2004 6:40:20 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
The group acknowledged that bin Laden’s nephew, Abdullah bin Laden, was involved in forming its branch in Northern Virginia, it says people shouldn’t assume that means it has any terrorist connections.
Hahahahahahahahaha!

Thanks - I needed a good laugh.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/02/2004 18:47 Comments || Top||

#2  The group acknowledged that bin Laden’s nephew, Abdullah bin Laden, was involved in forming its branch in Northern Virginia, it says people shouldn’t assume that means it has any terrorist connections.

Actually, I assumed they had ties to terrorism when I saw the words "Saudi", "charity", and "Muslim". Hell, any two of those is enough to make you suspicious; all three should be sufficient grounds for a search warrant.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 06/02/2004 19:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Remember the 3 Sod princes that mysteriously died within a year after 9/11?
(Buzz on the smarter streets like RB was that they were offed because of their terrorist connections.)
Well, one of them was head of WAMY.
Posted by: Jen || 06/02/2004 19:43 Comments || Top||

#4  The group acknowledged that bin Laden’s nephew, Abdullah bin Laden, was involved in forming its branch in Northern Virginia, it says people shouldn’t assume that means it has any terrorist connections. Please see our ad in the Sunday Washington Post about our "sponsoring landmarks" in Washington DC.
Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 19:50 Comments || Top||


Bush to give major Iraq speech at AF Graduation, approx 10:15AM PST
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 13:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  it's on, now
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 13:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Can someone give some 'talking points' for us who don't have access?

Would hate to rely on CNN....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 13:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Frank G- Crazy Fool speaks for all of us who are "Access challenged"
Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 13:31 Comments || Top||

#4  spoke of the sacrifices made, but more importantly, he noted that the offensive was the only way to win the WOT. No backing down. Noted that we are in the ME for the long term and those countries who aide, abet, shelter terrorists (hint, hint: Iran and Syria) will pay the consequences.

IMHO, the speech was an answer to those who want to withdraw, and a response to Kerry, who's been trying to appear to the right of Bush in the Iraq war, at least the last couple weeks, and with a wink/nod to his lefty supporters. Bush does best when he articulates strength and resolve - he was on that today, standing O' from the graduating Cadets
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 14:06 Comments || Top||

#5  ..The best part for me was watching LTGen John Rosa, who was my boss for a while at Shaw AFB, doing his thing for the first time as Superintendent. I have NO doubt that he threw a lot of air-waisters out on their pointy little heads and is getting the Academy back to where it's supposed to be.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/02/2004 14:20 Comments || Top||

#6  here's Fox's take on it
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 14:23 Comments || Top||

#7  I was reading drudge and would think that the graduating class (and most of the military) was one step away from mutiny. "The new Air Force officers will enter a military strained by an occupation of Iraq that has become increasingly violent in the past two months." Oh my why did they even join up unless it was going to be picnics and dance socials. Of course the military is strained DUH it called a WAR you IGITS and by the way war is DANGEROUS.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) || 06/02/2004 15:20 Comments || Top||

#8  Cyber Sarge, love your comment about the picnics and dances! LOL...
Drudge how has as his big "shocker" headline:
BUSH COMPARES WAR ON TERROR TO WWII!

Well, DUH, Drudge! What's the shockeroo about that?
I knew this on 9/11.
What's up with the Left that they find this "startling?"
Posted by: Jen || 06/02/2004 18:23 Comments || Top||

#9  More gas-baggery. Americans paid almost $120,000,000,000 to create a power vacuum for human garbage like al-Sadr and his Iranian masters, to fill. For 10 months, al-Sadr terrorists were allowed exclusive patrol "rights" in large sections of Baghdad. When al-Sadr began his terror campaign, he built up support which now reaches 67%. (Iraqi Center for Research and Strategic Studies: 32% "strongly support" al-Sadr, while 35% "somewhat support" the terrorist.) Why not? Become a al-Sadr supporter and your city will become an American free-zone. And this farce will go nation wide, when Bush completes the beginning of his policy of giving Iraq to the terror entity of Iran.
Posted by: Dog Bites Trolls || 06/02/2004 18:36 Comments || Top||

#10  WWII: Pearl Harbor attacked by planes (no warning).
WOT: WTC attacked by planes (no warning)
WWII: Despot megalomaniacs bent on our destruction
WOT: Islamofacists (and France) bent on our destruction.
WWII: U.S., UK on winning side.
WOT: U.S., UK kicking ass and taking names.
WWII: Left-wing idiots protest against war.
WOT: Left-wing Liberal protest war.
Yes I can see a comparison. But many can’t!
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) || 06/02/2004 19:07 Comments || Top||


Army Issues Order to Stop U.S. Soldiers from Leaving
EFL
The U.S. Army has issued an order preventing thousands of soldiers designated for duty in Iraq or Afghanistan from leaving the military even when their volunteer service commitment expires, officials said on Wednesday.
Here is where I have a question...
The move to extend the service of some soldiers involuntarily was the latest sign of increasing stress on the Army as the Pentagon strives to maintain adequate troop levels in the two conflicts.
Is this "increasing stress" a butt-munches’ journalists’ version of reality? What gives?
Posted by: Dragon Fly || 06/02/2004 11:43:33 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now we're going to hear the Kerry screamers: "The Draft! The Draft!"

Why is the Army having trouble with adequate numbers?
Posted by: ex-lib || 06/02/2004 11:47 Comments || Top||

#2  The military has hit all of their reenlistment numbers. This report seems to come from an alternate reality. More likely it is mean to say that tours in Iraq and Afghanistan are extended, not that the actual enlistement term has been extended which would seem illegal to me.
Posted by: ruprecht || 06/02/2004 11:57 Comments || Top||

#3  As soon as I saw "reuters.html" in the referring URL, I knew all I needed to know.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 12:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Rereading the story it sounds like normally short timers get cushy stateside duty when their units go overseas. This is no longer going to happen. Not really a big deal, although I'm sure a few short timers and families aren't happy about it.
Posted by: ruprecht || 06/02/2004 12:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Folks should also remember that anybody who enlists has something called a military service obligation of six years,regardless of the length of the enlistment. Most of those who hit the stop loss list already owe the government the time. Last itme I checked there was a standing list of several thousand retirees willing to accept recall. Recruiters/reenlistment are hitting their numbers...where is the story?
Posted by: TopMac || 06/02/2004 12:37 Comments || Top||

#6  Whether Reuters is spinning the "increasing stress" on the Army is a moot point. The fact remains that their are currently 2 bi-partisan supported bills sitting on the Congressional back burners which call for the re-institution of the draft in early 2005 after the November election.
One is H.R. 163 and the other is S.89:
http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR00163:@@@L&summ2=m&%3E%20%20-%20S.89%20%3Chttp://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SN00089:

http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SN00089:
Posted by: rex || 06/02/2004 12:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Isn't this a variant of the "stop loss" orders that have been out for a while, as they were during Desert Storm. Neither an alternate reality or a big deal, but worth reporting.
Posted by: VAMark || 06/02/2004 12:39 Comments || Top||

#8  Unless they've changed things since I was in, there's no such thing as "involuntary" service. Its part of the contract you sign. In my case, it was an 8 year committment, a portion of which was served on active duty, the balance in something called "Individual Ready Reserve." One could (and I was, for Desert Storm) be recalled to active duty off IRR at any time.

As I understand it, this sort of thing is part of the contract as well. Even if you've fulfilled every day of the time you signed up for, if Uncle Sam has a compelling reason to keep you beyond your period of enlistment, he can. Its all written down, and none of it is "involuntary." If you don't like the terms of the contract, don't sign it!
Posted by: mva30 || 06/02/2004 13:54 Comments || Top||

#9  They changed the period of service obligation from 8 to 10 years back in the late 80s, early 90s.
Posted by: Don || 06/02/2004 14:05 Comments || Top||

#10  The fact remains that their are currently 2 bi-partisan supported bills sitting on the Congressional back burners which call for the re-institution of the draft in early 2005 after the November election.


Neither of which have a snowball's chance in Key West of becoming law.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 06/02/2004 14:18 Comments || Top||

#11  rex #6
Long URLs screw up the margin and make the whole page hard to read. Try this to reduce the length of the internet addresses...
http://tinyurl.com/
Hmmm... moot reuters... I like it.
Posted by: Larry Everett || 06/02/2004 14:19 Comments || Top||

#12  Geez, you guys and your spin. These guys want out. The Pentagon is in over their heads with this abortion in the sand, and our guys don't want to participate in this folly any more.

If you signed up for 4 years, you expect to get out in 4 years - "cushy" position or not. If the US were in danger, like in WWII, it would make sense. We're not even marginally at risk - never were - with Iraq.

Here's a non-Reuters (AP-sourced) link for you spin doctors:

http://tinyurl.com/3ala7

Posted by: The Other Mike S. || 06/02/2004 16:46 Comments || Top||

#13  OMG, I go away for awhile because we had a power failure here in my city for 18 hours and RB gets taken over by Leftist trolls!

OIF is going fine--it's just that the Pentagon is not going to rotate people out (We just did a major troop rotation, the largest since WWII, a few months ago) and take them out of the theater of battle at one of the most crucial times of the mission.
We've got to get Iraq through the transition and beyond.
Who knows what the Bad Guys will do once the transition happens?
We don't need a draft.
We may need to re-create more divisions in our Armed Forces--you know, the ones Crinton dissolved to "balance the budget" and create more of a (false) surplus.
One of our logistical problems at the moment is that it takes awhile to train today's combat ready soldier and we're using most of our trained people now.
It was an unseen situation before 9/11.
Even if we got a draft tonight, the troops wouldn't be trained and ready to go to Iraq and Afghanistan anytime soon.
The Left would love to have the draft so that they could then use it as a big club to bash Bush and start their John Kerry/Jane Fonda/Woodstock/Chicago '68 crap again.
Posted by: Jen || 06/02/2004 17:19 Comments || Top||

#14  Um, regarding those draft bills. Snowballs chance in hell. Military doesn't want the draft. Draft age people don't want the draft. Baby boomers saw the draft and don't want it. That leaves Rengal and Hollings. Two votes isn't gonna cut it.
Posted by: ruprecht || 06/02/2004 19:10 Comments || Top||

#15  Okay, I take that back, there are numerous cosponsers, all of whom are far left of center.

Rep Abercrombie, Neil - 1/7/2003 [HI-1]
Rep Brown, Corrine - 1/28/2003 [FL-3]
Rep Christensen, Donna M. - 5/19/2004 [VI]
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy - 1/28/2003 [MO-1]
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. - 1/7/2003 [MI-14]
Rep Cummings, Elijah E. - 1/28/2003 [MD-7]
Rep Hastings, Alcee L. - 1/28/2003 [FL-23]
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila - 1/28/2003 [TX-18]
Rep Lewis, John - 1/7/2003 [GA-5]
Rep McDermott, Jim - 1/7/2003 [WA-7]
Rep Moran, James P. - 1/28/2003 [VA-8]
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes - 1/28/2003 [DC]
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete - 1/7/2003 [CA-13]
Rep Velazquez, Nydia M. - 1/28/2003 [NY-12]
Posted by: ruprecht || 06/02/2004 19:13 Comments || Top||

#16  Can someone explain why we are restocking the draft boards instead of just abolishing them? Military doesn't want draftees, the board can be created ad hoc faster than we could implement a full scale draft anyway. What's the point?
Posted by: ruprecht || 06/02/2004 21:01 Comments || Top||

#17  nice list of first boarding party on the Ship Of Fools, Ruprecht

BTW - the link to your site doesn't work
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 21:06 Comments || Top||

#18  Remember the Kennedy Year? Back in '62, just after turning down the chance to serve in a "friendly foreign country" and get combat pay (!) a lot of my outfit had their enlistment extended a year COG (convenience of the government). When you sign up to serve, you get to serve-- sometimes a little longer than you had planned.
Posted by: Anonymous5101 || 06/02/2004 23:30 Comments || Top||


Department of Justice Accessed Al-Masakin
TUCSON, May 30 (MNA) -- A routine audit of our weblog at Al-Masakin has revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice has once again made a complete review of Al-Masakin Online. The DOJ investigated Al-Masakin Online in response to demands made by several Zionist racists that frequent the “Little Green Footballs” webpage.
Bwahahahaha! The lizard minions at LGF strike again!

Since the beginning of the Masjid Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, Zionists have been using all manner of cyber attacks against the Muslim and anti-imperialist media. Cyber attacks against the Muslim and anti-imperialist media have taken the forms of hacking, spamming, petitions to webpage host servers, and petitions to government organizations like the FBI. Israeli Zionists first petitioned the FBI against Majdur Travail -- then of Marxist-Leninist Newswire -- in 2002 after MLN declared its support for the Islamic resistance movement Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine simultaneously.

The current investigation comes at the hysterical urging of certain fascists alarmed by our principled stance on the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. The Ku Klux Klan Act, 42 U.S.C. 1983, prohibits private use of the criminal justice system to deprive an individual of 1st Amendment rights. The current DOJ audit is routine.
Tip of the hat to Little Green Footballs for their control of the DOJ.
Posted by: Steve || 06/02/2004 10:38:36 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The DOJ investigated Al-Masakin Online in response to demands made by several Zionist racists that frequent the “Little Green Footballs” webpage.

Nothing gets a faster dismissal than a complaint containing the term "Zionist".
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 12:12 Comments || Top||

#2  In other surprising news, sources revealed that DOJ employees accessed Google, the ESPN Fantasy Baseball site, eBay, and Amazon.
Posted by: Mike || 06/02/2004 12:54 Comments || Top||

#3  The Lizardoids are everywhere!
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 06/02/2004 13:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Sssssaasssha livesssss
Posted by: Sssshipman || 06/02/2004 14:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Well I hope they really panic when I take a look at them from DIA.
Posted by: Lilly || 06/02/2004 20:33 Comments || Top||


Sides debate role of free speech in Al-Hussayen trial
EFL from WND
Attorneys on Friday sparred over the role First Amendment protections for free speech would play when jurors begin deliberating next week in the case of accused terrorist supporter Sami Omar Al-Hussayen. "It is impermissible to base criminal punishment on protected speech," lead defense attorney David Nevin told U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge. Nevin called the government’s case against the University of Idaho graduate student an attempt to "hook criminal responsibility on the expression of speech." But Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Lindquist argued the defense’s proposed instruction to the jury would shift the focus of the trial to whether the information Al-Hussayen posted on the Internet was protected instead of whether he knew posting it would foster terrorism. "This tells the jury they have the right to litigate the legal issue of the First Amendment" when that was not the case the government charged or presented, Lindquist said. "This puts a whole new spin on things." Lodge urged the lawyers to find a compromise, but by day’s end Nevin agreed with Lindquist that "we’re just at odds on this particular thing. It’s one of those irreconcilable situations." Lodge said he would consider arguments from both sides as he drafted the instructions over the weekend. Closing arguments are set Tuesday, with the case expected to be in the jury’s hands by the end of the day. The trial began April 13. Al-Hussayen, a 34-year-old Saudi national only months from his doctorate in computer science, is charged with using the Web sites of the Michigan-based Islamic Assembly of North America to encourage people to contribute to or join terrorist groups.
-snip-
I visited my parents in Akron, Ohio over the weekend. My mom, a librarian, always brings a stack of back issues of Commentary Magazine for me to read when I visit. I checked to see whether their articles were available Online - they aren’t. If you are interested in this topic, I recommend checking out the current issue of Commentary next time you are in the library for Justice for Terrorists: Can we afford to try members of al Qaeda in ordinary civilian courts? by J. Andrew Kent. I backs up the contention that all accused terrorists should go to military tribunals to prevent disclosure of classified materials. In another example for Former Asst. DA Andrew C. McCarthy provides an example of evidence that he provided to the blind sheik’s defense attorney being found in the Sudan by those trying to track down UBL.
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 1:22:24 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Some Republicans Say It's Time to Rethink TSA
WASHINGTON — The anti-terrorism agency that Congress rushed into existence just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks to protect America's planes, trains and trucks is shrinking, and could all but fade away. The Transportation Security Administration, which hired some 65,000 employees and has spent more than $10 billion over 3 1/2 years, has been beset by complaints about its performance, leaving it vulnerable to congressional Republicans who want to reduce the size of government. After the terrorist attacks, "people were panicked to put in place a massive bureaucracy," said House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica. The Florida Republican says the time has come to rethink TSA and cut it back.

The federal air marshal program which places armed, undercover officers on select planes, already has been transferred elsewhere within the Department of Homeland Security, for instance. Also, TSA has cut its work force of passenger and baggage screeners — who make up the bulk of its employees — from 60,000 to 45,000. Mica and other Republicans, who were never entirely comfortable with creating a new bureaucracy, want to return all airport security screener jobs to the private sector, where they were before Sept. 11, 2001. If so, the federal screeners would get the first opportunity to apply for the private jobs. Mica argues that private companies will do a better, more efficient job at the screening that currently is the TSA's primary function.
Highly debatable, but neither the private companies nor the TSA seemed to inspire much confidence.
Mica plans to meet with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge soon to talk about reorganizing TSA. The law creating the Homeland Security Department has a sunset provision for the transportation security office. It says the TSA has only to be maintained as a distinct entity until November 2004. TSA Deputy Administrator Stephen McHale said he wasn't aware of any plans to change the agency's status as a separate entity. But, he acknowledged recently, "I'm not saying such a plan won't develop." But many Democrats believe the federal agency is needed to protect travelers. They say Republicans set it up to fail by refusing to give it enough money. "I helped to create TSA, which is now being disassembled," said Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, ranking Democrat on the aviation subcommittee.
I wouldn't advertise this in your re-election bid, congressman.
Recent reports by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general and the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, showed that passenger and baggage screening remains lax despite the TSA's efforts. Still, Democrats say private screeners will do worse and have pledged to fight for TSA. In the meantime, other TSA responsibilities are being whittled away — its grant-giving authority was transferred and its research and development functions will be consolidated elsewhere within the Department of Homeland Security. Though Congress originally charged the agency with protecting all modes of transportation, it has done little beyond aviation. A full 98 percent of its $5.3 billion budget request for next year is devoted to air transport. Mica sees TSA's future as a limited agency that retains influence over the air security system. "The TSA should set policy, do oversight, conduct audits, possibly do background checks," he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/02/2004 12:31:36 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Recent reports by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general and the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, showed that passenger and baggage screening remains lax despite the TSA's efforts.

But, but, they're Federal employees now! They're supposed to be better! (even tho they were pretty much the same people as before)

Still, Democrats say private screeners will do worse and have pledged to fight for TSA.

Typical. Always trying to keep the bureaucracy in its money-consuming, running order.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes--and according to a recent Time magazine article Wyoming gets more money than NYC to cope with terrorism--that makes sense given the GOP agenda which--let's face it hate's NYC more than any other city on the planet but Paris
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 06/02/2004 1:08 Comments || Top||

#3  More Republican owned banks and businesses in NYC than any place on earth, Repub Mayor, Repub Gov, hmm - lets see, that makes you about full of sh*t NMM.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/02/2004 1:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Old Spook--last time I looked NYC was 80% for the Democratic party--and if you think Bloomberg or Pataki have anything in common with DeLay and the GOP agenda--get off your crack pipe--and go to your nearest underfunded VA hospital
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 06/02/2004 2:18 Comments || Top||

#5  One question NMM: Where's Hillary?
Posted by: RMcLeod || 06/02/2004 4:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Hey Genius,

Wyoming gets mor PER-CAPITA than NYC.

Wyoming 2002 Population: 498K
NYC 2000 Population: 8 Mil

Your statement that Wyoming gets more money than NYC, corrected to say PER CAPITA, means that NYC, which already has a pretty extensive security infrastructure, could still get 16 times the amount Wyoming gets from the federal government.

Posted by: mjh || 06/02/2004 8:59 Comments || Top||

#7  mjh - don't bite on the troll's bait - either NMM is unwilling or congenitally incapable of understanding 'per capita' - either way, don't waste your time with the fuckwit. He's off his meds and Mom's not home to police the keyboard., apparently
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 9:46 Comments || Top||

#8  NMM: Old Spook--last time I looked NYC was 80% for the Democratic party

1 out of every 6 NYC residents is on welfare. Who do you think they'll vote for? If al Qaeda attacks NYC again, it'll be the biggest urban renewal project the city has ever seen. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/02/2004 11:21 Comments || Top||

#9  oh per capita, that's like a ratio man...
math is so hard
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:45 Comments || Top||

#10  that makes sense given the GOP agenda which--let's face it hate's NYC more than any other city on the planet but Paris

Uh, I seem to remember the GOP is having their convention there this year. Must hate them a lot to spend those kind of bucks and attract all those nuts. Why not go somewhere more cordial to the GOP like Houston or Dallas or Phoenix? Anyway, how many of the terrorist of 911 originated in NYC? How about those guys in Portland, Buffalo area, Florida and Minnesota flight schools, the San Diego area cells, etc. Do you really think that if NYC is the target but the bullet originates another place, you get more bang for the buck by putting it all there? Yeah, for more stretchers and body bags.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/02/2004 16:46 Comments || Top||


FBI Issues Alert for Stolen Propane Tankers
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - FBI agents in Texas issued a nationwide alert on Tuesday for two stolen propane tanker trucks, laden with thousands of gallons of the volatile liquefied gas. A San Antonio gas company discovered the trucks, one carrying 3,000 gallons and the other carrying 2,500 gallons, had been stolen after employees returned on Tuesday from the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, the FBI said. The thefts could have occurred as early as May 25, FBI Agent Patrick Patterson said.
"Propane is one of the elements that terrorists have been trained on, so we’re very concerned about it," Patterson told a news conference...The FBI and San Antonio police said propane thefts were common in south Texas, given its proximity to northern Mexico...A tanker was converted into a truck bomb for the Khobar Towers apartment bombing in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, nearly eight years ago...
No worries. Probably some friendly Mexicans are loading up for the upcoming babecue season. When is the WH and Congress going to get off their butts and militarize our borders? Where is the political will to take our sovereignity [which impacts significantly on national security] with something more than a wink to Presidente Fox? It’s ironic that our tax dollars are paying for our marines to control Iraq’s border whereas Jose and Abdullah and their extended families and their cats and donkeys can cruise right through our southern border 24/7 with impunity.
TRUCKS HAVE BEEN FOUND: Two stolen propane trucks stolen from San Antonio were located Wednesday morning, KSAT 12 News reported. Pat Patterson, FBI Agent-In-Charge, of San Antonio, confirmed to KSAT 12 News that the trucks were found abandoned 2 miles east of the Laredo on Highway 359. "They're being processed," Patterson said in a telephone interview with KSAT 12 News.
Patterson said a resident noticed the trucks from news reports and notified authorities. When asked if the trucks may have been headed to Mexico, Patterson said, "that's a good assumption." The tanks appeared to still have propane in them, Patterson added. "We're very relieved about that," he said.
Posted by: rex || 06/02/2004 12:00:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So with all the Wahabi bucks floating around this country, they can't just BUY a tanker? Why alert the authorities by stealing a tanker? Was the Khobar tanker stolen? ( I really don't know...just asking...)

I reckon the FBI can't take a chance and not pay attention to this theft...just in case...however, I believe our enemies are much smarter than this alert indicates.
Posted by: Quana || 06/02/2004 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Stolen stuff has a more invisible tag. But could just be Mexicanos.
Posted by: Lucky || 06/02/2004 0:36 Comments || Top||

#3  One way to make the Mexicans a little more responsive to our demands for them to keep their people in Mexico, threaten to seize the Mexican oil platforms in the gulf of Mexico. I think that would get there attention, and it would also pay for alot of the crap that is being ripped off from you and me as American tax payers.

I hope your right that it is just some Mexicans looking to fill there BBQ propane tanks.
Posted by: Long Hair Republican || 06/02/2004 0:45 Comments || Top||

#4  The 'two tanker' theft senario seem very plausible, terrorists could repaint them to look like milk carriers, and in a synchronized attack, use the first to breach the limit barrier, and the second to hit the prime target directly. Be worried!!
Posted by: smn || 06/02/2004 0:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Mexicanos may be theives, who among us is not, in some way (OK back off)! But they are not jihadies, although they, criminals, can be a little cut-throat, and money makes the world go around...the world go around.

But if it is a code red...!?
Posted by: Lucky || 06/02/2004 1:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Do not forget the 9000 gal gasoline tanker trailer stolen in New Jersey in April, and still missing.
Posted by: rich woods || 06/02/2004 1:27 Comments || Top||

#7  Thank heavens we have Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft on top of their game to protect us! I'm sure WHEN the next attack happens it will be Clinton's fault
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 06/02/2004 2:23 Comments || Top||

#8  a) Re: my "no worries" comment...I was being facetious and mocking the fact that our southern border is so porous, that Mexican gangs operate fearlessly between the 2 borders stealing and re-selling propane. If Mexicans are so non-plussed about border gaurds, why wouldn't Abbdullah or Mohammed try the illegal border crossing gambit, too? When the Egyptian terrorist shot up the Israeli airlines ticket counter at LAX on July 4 a couple of years ago, the FBI spokesman at first told CNN that they could not verify whether the shooter was Hispanic or Middle Eastern. There are some similar physical traits...swarthy, dark hair, brown eyes...

b) The missing propane tanks is very worrisome. Propane is very explosive when combined with oxygen. From another site, I learned that
the energy in terms of effective TNT yield for these tanks can be estimated by multiplying the number of gallons by 42. Therefore, these 2 propane tanks falling into terrorists' hands could potentially produce a 42 X 5500= 213,000 lb plus TNT explosion.

After the Oklahoma City bombing happened investigators initially suspected that a gas which was heavier than air had been added to the ventilation system.

c. Re: the Khobar propane tank bombing on June 25, 1996, the explosion killed 19 U.S. Air Force personnel and wounded 372 other people. I'm not sure if the tanker truck was stolen. My guess is yes.
Posted by: rex || 06/02/2004 3:37 Comments || Top||

#9  NMM - indirectly, yes. He could have had Bin Lden DEAD had he only asked. But he was too busy getting serviced in the Oval Office, and squandering the "peace bonus" (while gutting the armed forces close to 30% across the board and spending those savings on social programs).

So Yes, Bill does have a large share - we are still paying for his mistakes in the 1990's - the way the US paid for Johnson's mistakes long after he was out of office (and the Vietnamese and Cambodians paid an even higher price for the combined effects of Johnson and Nixon well after both of them were gone from office).

If you want to look at the antecedents, even Ronald the Great bore some blame for leaving Beruit on bad advice from the State Department [they gave CLinton bad advice, and now are doing the same to bush - bunglers in State need to be cleaned out]. This led to the subsequent rise of Hamas in Lebanon under Syrian guidance) instead of flattening it after the bombing there. And the Syrians were too weak and let the Iranians get in the door with a rival gang, Hezbollah.

Nasty bit of history - and its firmly against Billy Blowjob.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/02/2004 3:42 Comments || Top||

#10  Hank Hill would be very upset
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 9:20 Comments || Top||

#11  NMM: Thank heavens we have Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft on top of their game to protect us! I'm sure WHEN the next attack happens it will be Clinton's fault

If Clinton had killed bin Laden and other al Qaeda operatives when he had the chance (before they grew strong and well-funded), we wouldn't be fighting a War on Terror today. Ashcroft and Ridge can't prevent terror attacks - terrorists *always* have the initiative, although I suspect al Qaeda has been deterred from another attack on US soil by both Afghanistan and Iraq. Instead of gaining their political objectives, al Qaeda are now embroiled in two other costly wars - in terms of men and material - on top of the costly war they are waging in Chechnya. If there is another attack on American soil, expect another vigorous round of American operations on Muslim soil, perhaps in Iran or Syria.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/02/2004 10:05 Comments || Top||

#12  Police are distributing wanted posters of a man wanted for questioning:

Posted by: gromky || 06/02/2004 11:44 Comments || Top||

#13  It may be time to consider placing location transponders on all bulk flammables carriers. A simple all-frequencies "squawk" beacon should activate if any tampering with the transponder itself occurs (plus engine disable, as well). It's no major invasion of privacy to make firms track the transportation of such dangerous loads. We already have this policy in place for all modern aircraft so it's not a huge leap.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/02/2004 12:06 Comments || Top||

#14  jeebus, nobody at Homeland Security's heard of Lo-Jack?

p.s.: Gromky watches King of the Hill too
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 12:18 Comments || Top||

#15  Rex, All:
Illegal aliens from Mexico will stop comming when we stop hiring them and paying for their medical care! We can't have it both ways: either we pay $5.00 more to get our lawns mowed, vote to be mean to pregnant Mexican women, and suffer a major political backlash as the media screams and screams and screams.... or we just leave it alone.

Guess which one its going to be.
Posted by: Secret Master || 06/02/2004 13:35 Comments || Top||

#16  I'm surprised Hank hasn't blamed it on some band of and I quote

"Curvey knifed rascalls"
fecit Hank Rantburg 2004
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:48 Comments || Top||

#17  Ahiee Carumba, Frito Bandito,
these trucks are hotter than my
mamma's Tamales!
Better "run for the border"
(Copywrite infringement warnings to Frito Lay and Taco Bell"
Posted by: Capsu78 || 06/02/2004 15:27 Comments || Top||

#18 
Illegal aliens from Mexico will stop comming when we stop hiring them and paying for their medical care! We can't have it both ways: either we pay $5.00 more to get our lawns mowed, vote to be mean to pregnant Mexican women, and suffer a major political backlash as the media screams and screams and screams.... or we just leave it alone.

Well quite frankly, employers aren't supposed to hire illegal aliens anyway. Maybe if the government went after those employers that don't bother checking immigration status with a little more gusto then part of the problem would be addressed, no? As for all the other stuff, it's time to get serious. Being reasonable or nice hasn't paid off, so now it's time to take off the gloves. If given the choice of leaving it alone or fighting back, I choose to fight back, regardless of the possible outcome. Better to fight and maybe lose, than to just be steamrolled without so much as a whimper.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 20:52 Comments || Top||

#19  Seize the Mexican oil!! They can pound sand if they don't like it!!
Posted by: Long Hair Republican || 06/02/2004 23:41 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Brahimi calls Bremer the ‘dictator’ of Iraq
UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Wednesday responded to criticism of US involvement in the nomination of the new Iraqi government by stressing Washington was still the dominant force in the country. “I would remind you the Americans are governing the country so their point of view was certainly taken into consideration,” he said at a news conference. “I don’t think he’d mind my saying this: Bremer is the dictator of Iraq. He has the money, he has the signature,” said Brahimi after stressing he had been invited to choose the new cabinet at the request of the Americans and the now-disbanded Governing Council.

The final line-up was the product of haggling, notably between the US-led coalition and the council. The sides formed a working committee along with Brahimi to vet the list of contenders, the envoy said. Representing the Governing Council in those talks were Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, Shiite and Communist party leader Hamid Majid Mussa and Sunni tribal sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, the envoy said. But he admitted that the new Iraqi executive unveiled Tuesday was not ideal and stressed its members would have to work hard to earn legitimacy. “None of us should forget that ultimately it is only an elected government that can legitimately claim to represent the people of Iraq,” Brahimi said. “This government will therefore have its work cut out for it. It will not be easy for them to prove the sceptics wrong.” Prime minister Iyad Allawi’s government will be tasked with bringing security back to the war-torn country and organising free elections next year. “Nobody would expect the rich diversity of Iraq to be fully represented to the satisfaction of every ethnic group, every province, every religious group and every one of the several hundred political parties,” Brahimi said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 9:29:22 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  well then Brahimi should have no problems cleaning Bremer's latrine, since he's up on the situation
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 21:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Brahimi has to maintain his anti-American stance or he loses the UN match on his 401K plan.

Bremer should respond, "Brahimi is my b@#$ch and I don't think he mind me saying that."
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 22:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Sounds like Brahimi's a bit miffed about not getting his way.

“None of us should forget that ultimately it is only an elected government that can legitimately claim to represent the people of Iraq,” Brahimi said.

Oddly, this was not his stance over a year ago, and it isn't his stance in regards to the other nations in the region.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 06/02/2004 23:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Said the unelected Brahimi who until a few days ago was trying to select a government for Iraq.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 23:18 Comments || Top||

#5  I like the way this guy stood up with some stones and told it like it is. Give the guy a high five. At least he is telling the truth and not trying to BS with typical UN gibberish. He might be a the bitch, but at least this man appears to have a set.
Posted by: Long Hair Republican || 06/02/2004 23:27 Comments || Top||

#6 
Bremer is the dictator of Iraq
My, how diplomatic. How nuanced.

What a jerk.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/03/2004 0:00 Comments || Top||

#7  Are you saying Brahimi is being a hypocrite? Well he does represent the UN so that should not come as any suprise....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/03/2004 0:51 Comments || Top||

#8  He certainly earned his UN paycheck, no? It is rather unbecoming, however, to allow your raw jealousy to show through quite so clearly, lol!
Posted by: .com || 06/03/2004 1:30 Comments || Top||


Benon Sevan blames the UNSC (NYT)
"There was a fire! An earthquake! A terrible flood... IT’S NOT MY FAULT!"
Posted by: mojo || 06/02/2004 11:52:18 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mr. Sevan did not explain in his e-mail message how the Security Council had hampered him from effectively administering the sprawling program. But diplomats and United Nations officials said it was what one called "common knowledge" that member states were ignoring the widespread complaints about kickbacks and payoffs by Saddam Hussein's government so that their companies could continue being part of the lucrative program.

I knew we couldn't trust Brazil, Algeria and Benin. Bastards!!!
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 15:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Gotta love obscure movie references. Thanks, Jake!
Posted by: Raj || 06/02/2004 16:09 Comments || Top||

#3  OK Benon, if you are going to point fingers, a bit of documentation would help. Surely you tried to stop or protest the interferences while you ran the show?
Posted by: john || 06/02/2004 21:17 Comments || Top||


UN contributes to Afghan Poppy Erdication
Snip - I have shaved almost the entire article to get to the money quote:
A spokesman for the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, UNODC, in Kabul said, "UNODC is fully supportive of transparent and legal efforts by the Afghan government to address the problem of opium poppy cultivation."
The UN Office of Drugs and Crime? It’s kind of late in the game to be changing the name of Oil-For-Food. [rimshot]
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 2:53:13 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OK-you've got a poppy problem in Afghanistan and human extermination in Darfur, and which one do you put on the ASAP UN action list? Poppy eradication. One more example of the UN's amazing inability to prioritize.
Posted by: jules 187 || 06/02/2004 10:13 Comments || Top||

#2  there's no bribes/booty in genocide. How much of the crop here will turn up elsewhere or be *cough* overlooked?
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  *cough* How depressing. The UN should have better *cough* thinks to think about *cough cough*.
Posted by: Chris W. || 06/02/2004 10:56 Comments || Top||

#4  If the UN does as well at poppy extermination as it does at peacekeeping, we should expect a bumper crop this year.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/02/2004 11:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Puppy eradication? muck4doo's gonna be bummed, man...
Posted by: Raj || 06/02/2004 12:55 Comments || Top||

#6  You guys wanna see a doctor, or take some cough drops or something? Before you spread that *cough" everywhere?
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 06/02/2004 14:04 Comments || Top||


The ambulances-for-terrorists scandal
via Townhall.com
Michelle Malkin is like a bull terrier - and has been keeping FoxNews TV viewers up to date on the various shenanigans of the UN. She rocks.

Michelle Malkin - June 2, 2004
The United Nations and Red Cross have been providing cover for terrorists -- literally. And American taxpayers are footing some of the bill. Last week, an Israeli television station aired footage of armed Arab terrorists in southern Gaza using an ambulance owned and operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Palestinian gunmen used the UNRWA emergency vehicle as getaway transportation after murdering six Israeli soldiers in Gaza City on May 11. The footage shows two ambulances with flashing lights pull onto a street. Shots and shouts ring out during the nighttime raid. A gang of militants piles into one of the supposedly neutral ambulances, clearly marked "U.N." with the agency’s blue flag flying from the roof, which then speeds away from the scene. AccessMiddleEast.org, a nonprofit global news monitoring service, posted the video (shot by a Reuters TV cameraman) on its Web site last week. To date, Access Middle East managing director Richard Bardenstein in Israel informs me, not a single U.S. television news station has expressed interest in showing the footage to American viewers.

Why should we care? Because since 1950, the U.S. has provided UNRWA with $2.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies -- about one-third of the relief agency’s total budget. And because instead of investigating this latest black eye-inducing scandal, the U.N. is blasting American troops for defending themselves against such outrageous tactics -- now being emulated by Iraqi guerrilla warriors sniping at our men and women from ambulances in Fallujah. International relief officials are in stubborn denial about the abuse of their emergency vehicles and hospital credentials by terrorists. They claim the videotaped May 11 ambulance-assisted attack was an isolated incident and that the driver was forced to transport the gunmen. But this ambulances-for-terrorists program has been going on for years. And "humanitarian" workers have been willing collaborators. According to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (CSS), senior UNRWA employee Nahed Rashid Ahmed Attalah confessed to using his official U.N. vehicle to bypass security and smuggle arms, explosives, and terrorists to and from attacks. He was in charge of distributing food supplies to Palestinian refugees. Nidal ’Abd al-Fataah ’Abdallah Nizal, a Hamas activist, worked as an UNRWA ambulance driver and admitted he had used an emergency vehicle to transport munitions to terrorists.

U.N. vehicles aren’t the only ones being used by terrorists. An intensive care ambulance carrying the acronym of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was used to deliver an explosive belt found underneath a stretcher on which a sick child was lying in spring 2002. Female suicide bomber Wafa Idris, who blew herself up in a January 2002 attack in Jerusalem, was a medical secretary for the PRCS. Her recruiter was an ambulance driver for the same organization. PRCS receives financial support from governments and organizations around the world, including the American Red Cross and International Committee of the Red Cross. The UNRWA has long been suspected of providing aid and comfort to terrorists. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, recently documented how "buildings and warehouses under UNRWA supervision are allegedly being used as storage areas for Palestinian ammunition and counterfeit currency factories." Cantor’s 2002 report also noted that UNRWA hosts summer camps in martyrdom for young terrorists-in-training. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., has also lobbied for increased scrutiny of UNRWA funding, which has been used to publish anti-Semitic textbooks and posters in schools that "glorify homicide bombers and the slaughter of innocents."

Moreover, according to Rep. Smith, a UNRWA school hosted a Hamas rally by a key Hamas leader in July 2001 and another UNRWA employee praised homicide bombers, proclaiming: "The road to Palestine passes through the blood of the fallen, and these fallen have written history with parts of their flesh and their bodies." While jihadists gain shelter in its emergency vehicles, the U.N. continues to lambaste the U.S. for assorted wartime "atrocities." Not one more American dime should go to fund the bloody self-righteousness of the world’s most generous terrorist relief organization.
©2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
It’s becoming hard to identify an Int’l Organization that hasn’t been marginalized, if not hijacked outright, by some insane group of ideologues.
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 1:47:33 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not to mention their black helicopters circlng the globe
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 06/02/2004 2:26 Comments || Top||

#2 
A couple months ago I saw Brian Lamb interview Michelle Malkin on BookTV for an hour, and it was one of the most interesting interviews I have ever watched. She has a great future as a polemicist. I've read her column regularly ever since then, but I have been disappointed that she has written so little about our country's weak immigration policies, which had been her primary subject. (This article here is much better than most of her recent articles.)

Welcome back, NotMikeMoore, but try to make more sense.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 06/02/2004 2:54 Comments || Top||

#3  The UN is corrupt, incompetant, unaccountable and out of control. The USA really should get it out of New York. I hear Mogadishu is nice at this time of year.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 4:50 Comments || Top||

#4  so long as we stay in the un it remains incompetant and useless, the moment we leave it will turn into the anti-american league... I don't like that we are in the un, but I'm not sure leaving is a good idea either
Posted by: dcreeper || 06/02/2004 7:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Witout U.S.funding the U.N. ain't going to be doing much.
Posted by: Raptor || 06/02/2004 8:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Mike, read her book 'Invasion' (I am reading it now) about how the U.S. had (and still has) wide open immigration policies and how politicians (Clinton/Gore and yes even Bush) are putting politics before national security.

dcreeper, in other words the moment we leave it it would stay the way it is... an anti-american league...

Phil, I always said to put the U.N. smack in the middle of one of its greatest achievements.... the biggest mass grave in Iraq....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 10:05 Comments || Top||

#7  CF the UN's most important achievment of modern times is Rwanda. Half a million dead and Kofi was directly responsible. This is the UN where no failure goes unrewarded so they make him the boss.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 10:19 Comments || Top||

#8  D'oh! I double posted this - looked for it under Israel-Paleostine, not UN-NGO's, my bad, Fred
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 10:20 Comments || Top||

#9  Where's the news here? They've been doing this for years -- probably for over a decade.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 06/02/2004 10:36 Comments || Top||

#10  Maybe even worse, Phil B -- it was closer to a full million dead than a half, wasn't it?
Posted by: docob || 06/02/2004 12:45 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli troops kill 2 Hamas militants
Israeli troops overnight killed two armed Hamas militants as they were en route to attack a convoy near the controversial Netzarim Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, sources on both sides said on Wednesday. The soldiers spotted the pair armed with an anti-tank rocket launcher approaching from the road connecting Karni, an entrance point between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and Netzarim. The troops shot and killed the men and later found three rockets as well as automatic weapons near the bodies, Israeli military sources said. The armed wing of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed that two of its members had been killed. Tarek Sobhi Timraz (21), and Hosssam Ahmed Hammad (22), had been on their way to commit an attack on a “convoy carrying Zionist usurpers”, it said. Another suspected Palestinian militant was wounded in the leg by Israeli army gunfire in the Deir al-Balah area of southern Gaza as he approached a fence surrounding another Jewish settlement in the area, Israeli sources said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 9:27:24 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Hamas militant" is redundant.
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 22:44 Comments || Top||

#2 
armed wing of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas
That would be all of the Palis, including the children.

Two more down, thousands to go. Keep it up, IDF.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/02/2004 23:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Everytime I here of an IslamoNazi getting the pink slip on life, I think it's been a good day.
Posted by: Long Hair Republican || 06/02/2004 23:30 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Immediate expulsion order for JI expert
The United States Wednesday criticized Indonesia’s decision to expel an American expert on that country’s terrorist groups and separatist movements. The State Department said the move runs counter to recent progress in Indonesia in democracy and free expression. The State Department said that it is "very concerned" by the Indonesian government’s action against Sidney Jones, the Southeast Asia director for International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based private study organization that monitors world trouble spots.
Ms. Jones and an Australian colleague were told last week that their work permits and residence visas were not being renewed. She is still in the country, but said that she has to leave by June 10 and may not return in a working capacity. Ms. Jones is an expert on the Indonesia-based terrorist group Jemaah Islamiya and has also written reports critical of the Jakarta government’s handing of separatist movements in Aceh and Papua provinces. At a news briefing, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States does not necessarily endorse all of Ms. Jones’ and her colleagues’ analyses. However, he called the ICG’s work in Indonesia "very valuable" and said he is unaware of any action by her or the group that the might warrant an expulsion. He added that the action would be particularly disappointing because it would run counter to "impressive progress" by Indonesia in recent years in developing a democratic civil society with freedom of expression.
“We’re intending to endorse the right of scholars, academics, [and] analysts to do analysis, to do serious work, and to publish the results, publish the information, their conclusions,” he said. “We think there has been a noticeable increase in freedom of expression in Indonesia and this step of asking the head of this organization’s office to leave would stand in contrast to that.” Mr. Boucher said U.S. diplomats have repeatedly raised the pending expulsion with authorities in Jakarta and will continue to do so.
Ms. Jones has attributed the action against her to the director of Indonesia’s state intelligence agency, General Hendropriyono, who has criticized her work and accused a number of non-governmental groups including the ICG of endangering national security in advance of presidential elections July 5. The action by Indonesian authorities has also sparked protests from human rights groups and others who have compared it to tactics used during the authoritarian rule of the Suharto era.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 10:02:53 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Prior stories leading up to this sad development were posted here and here on Rantburg. The actual expulsion now of Sidney Jones (ICG) is a really bad event, and probably reflects some highly political gamesmanship in advance of the Indonesian presidential elections. Still, even so, if anyone feels inclined to write Indonesian officials about this development, I would strongly suggest (because of the Indonesian/Asian mindset) being very polite and simply pointing out that this expulsion will only serve to embolden the terrorists and to embarrass Indonesia in the long run. Rants (especially scathing ones, highlighting folly) would only tend to goad Indonesian officials into defending the expulsion.
Posted by: cingold || 06/02/2004 23:46 Comments || Top||


Fearful Buddhists rally in Thailand’s Muslim south
Buddhists in Thailand’s Muslim-dominated south have gathered for a morale-boosting rally after the beheading of a Buddhist man this week stoked fears of sectarian conflict in the restive region. Tension between Muslims and Buddhists, who are the overwhelming majority in Thailand but are outnumbered four to one in the deep south, is on the rise after five months of attacks on government officials, teachers and security forces.

The Thai government called off talks between the military and a Muslim separatist group on Tuesday because of the beheading and an attack on a Chinese shrine popular with Buddhists. Some Buddhist temples have been ransacked and three monks killed this year.The unrest burst into major bloodshed on April 28 when police and soldiers killed 108 Muslim attackers, including 32 who had taken refuge in a mosque. "In the past, when monks went out for alms, children helpers followed to help carry food," said Phrakru Praphassorn Sirikul, abbot of the temple that hosted the gathering to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha."But nowadays when they go out, soldiers carry M-16s to protect them. This is very ugly," he said

The 1,000-strong rally of mainly government officials and students in Narathiwat, 1,200 km south of Bangkok, was billed as a morale booster for the region’s nervous Buddhist population. Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the situation appeared to be improving after Bangkok sent in military reinforcements although authorities remain fearful of infiltration by foreign Islamic radicals and their ideas. "There is some influence from outside but we are trying to explain to our people what is the correct thing in the Koran," Chavalit told Reuters Television. Despite his assurances, Thais are evacuating the region. "Wealthy Buddhists have already fled their homes and the middle-class people are joining them," the abbot said. "Only the poor can’t afford to leave and they can barely nourish Buddhism. We may soon become another Indonesia where there are many Buddhist structures, but few followers."
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 10:46:20 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The religion of peace? Yeah, and what is the tie that binds Bali, Thailand, Iraq, Tunisia, the US, Israel/Palestine....?
Posted by: jules 187 || 06/02/2004 11:33 Comments || Top||

#2  There goes the neighborhood.
Posted by: Lucky || 06/02/2004 12:06 Comments || Top||

#3  jules, dont forget Sudan, Somolia, Nigeria, etc....

Does Islam have a 'border' where it is not practicing holy murder of Infidels?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 12:14 Comments || Top||

#4  the Sunni/Shiite border
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 12:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Antisemite--it's all Israel's fault isn't it?
Posted by: BMN || 06/02/2004 12:20 Comments || Top||

#6  "the Sunni/Shiite border"

Checked out the news from Pakistan lately. The internal borders are just as bad.
Posted by: VAMark || 06/02/2004 12:45 Comments || Top||

#7  acknowledged VAMark, and they might contort "infidel" to mean each other as well. I hope they achieve their goals of killing each other to the last idiot
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 13:06 Comments || Top||

#8  The Thailand situation illustrates that Islam is on the move globally. It has little or nothing to do with supposed US imperialism or other grievances, but rather is itself a war of Islamic imperialism. The case of Thailand should make it obvious that their motivation is simply to impose Islam by force on non-Muslim people.
Posted by: virginian || 06/02/2004 18:47 Comments || Top||

#9  virginian - completely agree.

anyone else see the future (currently underway?) world war: islam v. everyone else?

of course, it's everyone else's fault islam is so suppressed, so i guess we deserve it. (sarcasm.)
Posted by: nada || 06/02/2004 22:44 Comments || Top||


Police raid Islamic militant kiddie training camp in Bangladesh
Police raided a jungle camp in Bangladesh that an outlawed Islamic militant group was using to train Muslim students how to fight, officials said on Wednesday. Police have arrested three people and seized 24 wooden practice rifles, four target boards, four spears and some military boots during Tuesday’s raid in southeastern Chittagong district, a police official said on condition of anonymity.
The raid came on tips that the Harkatul Jihad militant group was running a training camp in the area, 215 kilometers southeast from national capital Dhaka, the official said. The group has used the camp to train dozens of Islamic students this year, according to intelligence officials cited by the newspapers Bhorer Kagoj and Daily Star. Harkatul Jihad, a little-known group, allegedly wants to stage a revolution to establish strict Islamic rule in the country.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 10:36:13 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  . . .wants to stage a revolution to establish strict Islamic rule in the country. . .

Back of the line is over there, wait your turn, meanwhile, get offended:
(The Age)
Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 10:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Police have arrested three people..

So what's next? Some phony-ass "trial", or do these characters have the Big Hurt in their future?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 15:37 Comments || Top||


Philippines arrests suspected al Qaeda "missionary"
Philippine authorities have arrested an Arab missionary who is suspected of being a member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in the southern island of Mindanao, military officials say. The man, Hassan al-Bakre, 55, was detained by teams of immigration and security officials on suspicion of providing funds to Muslim rebels, said Marine Corps commandant Major-General Emmanuel Teodosio. "He is a suspected member of al Qaeda," Teodosio told reporters on Wednesday in the southern port city of Zamboanga. "We will provide you with more details about the arrest after al-Bakre's initial beating debriefing is completed." Another security officer said al-Bakre was believed to be a Saudi Arabian but authorities were still trying to confirm his nationality.
Arab missionary = cleric. Providing funds = Saudi.
A spokesman for a Philippine Muslim rebel group said al-Bakre was an Egyptian and he had no connection with them or any other militants.
Him? Nope, don't know him, who we talking about again?
Al-Bakre is the fifth foreign Muslim missionary arrested recently on suspicion of links to al Qaeda or its southeast Asian wing, Jemaah Islamiah. Teodosio said al-Bakre, who was placed under surveillance a month ago, was arrested on Tuesday in a village known as a stronghold of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Muslim separatist rebels.
Been watching him for a month, keeping track of who he met.
The military said al-Bakre had made trips to Camp Omar, a rebel enclave in the Mindanao region, three months ago where he taught Arabic, Islamic studies and bomb-making.
Ah, yes, the holy trinity of Islam
"Based on his own accounts, more than 500 students completed the courses he had supervised," a senior navy official, who declined to be identified, told reporters. He said al-Bakre had identified five Egyptian and seven Indonesian instructors at the MILF camp.
Guess that "de-briefing" is going well
But a rebel spokesman said al-Bakre was a fisherman who had lived in the area for a long time and was married to a Philippine Muslim woman. "We have nothing to do with him," said the spokesman, Eid Kabalu. "He's not even a missionary." "He's not a terrorist," said Kabalu. "He's a simple-living man. People there know him to be a fisherman, not a bomb-maker."
"Of course, fishing with high explosives is a local tradition."
Four Turkish missionaries at a state-funded Islamic school in Cotabato City in central Mindanao were arrested two months ago. Teodosio also said authorities were investigating to see if al-Bakre had any links with the Abu Sayyaf Muslim militant group.
Posted by: Steve || 06/02/2004 8:39:01 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Moves to Ban Kurdish Political Parties
The Syrian authorities have told Kurdish activists their political parties are banned and should cease all activities, Kurdish politicians said yesterday. The officials from various Kurdish parties described the move as a major setback in relations between the authorities and the Kurdish minority and vowed not to give in to the decision.
Fouad Alyco, politburo member of Yikiti Party, said he and officials from two other parties were summoned on Monday to intelligence service headquarters to meet a senior officer.
“They told us that there was a decision from the leadership banning political and party activity of the Kurdish parties,” Alyco told Reuters by telephone. He said the parties were not given a deadline but were told: “We hope that you would have a (positive) reaction.”There was no immediate comment from the Syrian authorities. “This is a major backward move...,” Alyco said. Officials from other parties confirmed the order.
“We will carry on with our political activity and if they want to arrest us let them arrest us,” Alyco said. “We did not set up political parties after a decision from the authorities and we will not disband them after a decision from the authorities.” Kurds make up about two million of Syria’s mainly 17 million population. They have often demanded the right to teach their language and the right to Syrian citizenship for some 200,000 stateless Kurds. About 30 people were killed in unprecedented clashes between Syrian Kurds and police in northern Syria in March after a soccer match brawl. “We hope that they would not push the Kurds toward opposing the regime,” Saleh Keddo, senior official of the Kurdish Progressive Democratic Party, said of the latest move.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 9:34:52 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Whoever ordered this ban must have money invested in stationery futures. The organization names will change, but the offices and people will remain the same.
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 22:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Wonder if we should give the Syrian Kurds any encouragement about joining up with their neighbors in Iraq.

Wonder if we should encourage them to start thinking about being part of an autonomous "South Kurdistan" within a federated Iraq.

Wonder just how many Middle Eastern leaders would blanch.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/02/2004 23:10 Comments || Top||


Syria’s Assad Praises Spanish PM Zapatero (Two of a Kind)
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Wednesday that Syria is interested in resuming peace talks with Israel. However, he predicted the peace process will remain dormant until after the U.S. presidential election in November. "We are definitely interested in a comprehensive peace process, but you can all see what is happening on the Israeli side - systematic killing of Palestinian citizens," Assad said at a news conference after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. "We think there will be no effort to reactivate the peace process until the elections are held," Assad said. "However, we are prepared to undertake any attempt, any effort aimed at achieving peace. And when we are all prepared to reactivate the peace process through the different mechanisms, of course we are going to have a clearer view and there will be time to do all this." He called for Europe to take a more active role in the peace process. Zapatero offered to help kickstart stalled talks between Syria and the European Union on an economic partnership agreement, held up by Syria’s rejection of a clause obliging it to renounce weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.
"A mere trifle!"
Assad also praised Spain’s new Socialist government for withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, saying the decision had enhanced Spain’s gullibility credibility in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. "The withdrawal of the troops has restored international equilibrium and strengthened the Spanish position in the Arab world," Assad said.
Yass, the whole Arab world now knows how to move Spain.
"The Syria-EU dialogue process is a positive process," Zapatero said. "Spain is going to relaunch it so that it can be completed in a reasonable timeframe." Assad said Spain understood Syria’s position on the talks, which have dragged on since 1998, and the two countries had agreed on the need to close a deal. "We have asked our Spanish friends to help us in this area," Assad said.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 06/02/2004 5:27:25 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Assad also praised Spain’s new Socialist government for withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, saying the decision had enhanced Spain’s gullibility credibility in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

"The withdrawal of the troops has restored international equilibrium and strengthened the Spanish position in the Arab world," Assad said.


Hey Zapatero, was Assad smirking when he said that? Whatcha gonna do about it? Lick his boots before you get hit with another terrorist attack?

Haaaahahahahahahaha, what a moroon.....
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 20:16 Comments || Top||


Iranians Face Crackdown on ’Immoral’ Behavior
Iran’s feared morals police have launched a crackdown on "social corruption" such as women flouting Islamic dress codes, newspapers reported Tuesday, in what analysts said may reflect a changing political climate. "A serious fight has started to tackle the spread of social corruption in society, especially the improper dress code," Tehran’s Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi was quoted by Seda-ye Edalat newspaper as saying.

Enforcement of strict moral codes governing women’s dress, Western music and mingling of the sexes has become more lax since President Mohammad Khatami’s election in 1997 on a platform of social and political reform. Emboldened young women have steadily tested the barriers of permissible attire, wearing gradually more colorful, tighter and more revealing coats and scarves and more obvious make-up. Many young couples in the capital even dare to hold hands in public, in defiance of Islamic rules which prohibit physical contact between unrelated members of the opposite sex.

Religious hard-liners accuse Khatami of encouraging what they deem "immoral behavior" by Iran’s youth. Islamic conservatives who swept aside reformists in a February parliamentary vote Khatami’s allies called a "sham," have said they do not intend to roll back social freedoms. But analysts said the conservatives must play a delicate balancing act between upsetting their loyal supporters and provoking unrest by taking a tough line on social offences. "This (crackdown) is a display of their power," said one political analyst who declined to be named. "The conservatives have to satisfy the people who elected them." Tehran residents have noted an upsurge in arrests for "immoral behavior" in recent weeks. Islamic volunteers and morals police have stepped up raids on illegal house parties where young people meet to drink alcohol and dance to Western music -- both illegal since the 1979 Islamic revolution. And along Tehran’s Jordan Avenue -- a popular place for young Iranians to cruise in their cars at night -- plain-clothes security men have been stopping cars and arresting occupants for a variety of offences. "My car was confiscated for three months because they found illegal music cassettes and my girlfriend was in the car," said Arshia, a 32-year-old architect.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 1:00:27 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  All that's needed is a nice push. Is anyone in the Bush Administration paying attention to these developments and readying their plans? Do they even have a plan?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 13:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Ok, i understand that Bush cannot do anything before novemeber.
But could Iran be next in line, please?
Posted by: Anonymous5098 || 06/02/2004 13:42 Comments || Top||

#3  "All that's needed is a nice push. Is anyone in the Bush Administration paying attention to these developments and readying their plans? Do they even have a plan?"

See Allawi, friend of CIA, new PM in Iraq. See plan for very large US embassy in Baghdad. See recreation of Iraqi intell service, with historic penetration of Iran. See Karbala and Najaf shrine cities, with constant movement of pilgrims to and from Iran, an eary route for moving agents. IF they have a plan, the infrastructure looks like its starting to come into place.

Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 13:44 Comments || Top||

#4  yes it is libhawk....these things take time and unfortunetly we live in a society used to immediate results..thus we have people crying about quagmires...things are getting worse ect...stay the course and we will prevail.
once the mad mullas are out - either internally or externally - we will see the benifits of our policy over the last 4 years..
Posted by: Dan || 06/02/2004 13:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Next: a airlift and dropping of millions of issues of 'Playboy Special Edition: The Girls of Iran (gone wild!)'.....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 14:03 Comments || Top||

#6  See Allawi, friend of CIA, new PM in Iraq.

I would trust this "friend" about as far as I can throw him. What real friends we do have there are not likely to be this visible.

See recreation of Iraqi intell service, with historic penetration of Iran.

Recreated with what? Former Baathists? If such is the case (and it would have to be to a certain degree if this "historic penetration" is to be exploited), then how many of them could be really be considered trustworthy, given that the possibility of Saddam-style punishment for perfidy no longer exists? How can one be reasonably confident at this early point in a dictator-free Iraq that an intel agent is going to put their country before themselves and/or their tribe (or religion even)?

See Karbala and Najaf shrine cities, with constant movement of pilgrims to and from Iran, an eary route for moving agents.

What does this mean? Agents don't spring up from the ground. This stuff takes time to organize, and the time that's passed (a year, at best) can't possibly be enough. The Mad Mullahs are no doubt hurrying along their nuclear program and by the time an effective cadre of agents are in place, it may be too late to avoid a very messy situation. The longer that people in Washington sit on their hands with regard to Iran, the more dangerous the situation becomes.

Now if some third party decides to take out Iranian nuclear facilities, then going the patient route is perfectly fine, but that's something that shouldn't be counted on.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 14:50 Comments || Top||

#7  "A serious fight has started to tackle the spread of social corruption in society..."

Infidels! The affrontery of your wicked Western ways! Next thing you know, women will be demanding vaginal delivery for male babies! The world is going to hell!
Posted by: jules 187 || 06/02/2004 15:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Lol! I LOVE the Black Hats! Their "do the wrong thing at the wrong time" batting average is 1.000. Truly amazing.

Hey, keep it up guys! Close those city parks where the lovers and potential lovers meet. Cut everyone off from the Internet. Strictly enforce your barbaric flavor of Islam. Buy missile tech from NorK and upgrade your missiles so they can reach Israel. Beg, borrow, and steal centrifuge tech and parts. Frantically seek to make your own fissile material while claiming you need it for energy generation. Build a nuke pkg to tip your Shahab-3/4/5 missiles. Publicly threaten that you will, immediately upon acquiring a deliverable nuke, wipe out Israel. Force even the lapdog IAEA goofs to report you're liars, recipients of all sorts of proscribed nuke tech, and a threat to the region.

Now pretend you're innocent victims. Right.

Yep, you've covered all the bases, alright. Somebody, somewhere, is gonna hang your dumb asses from Teheran's lampposts. BTW, Thx!
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 16:12 Comments || Top||

#9  bomb - im not saying that as of today, there is an Iraqi intell service that is competent, loyal, and is running hordes of agents into Iran. I was responding to your nice push suggestion. If thats ALL thats required, we're very close to it I think. Perhaps thats NOT all thats required. In which case a different kind of plan would be required. Perhaps I simply dont understand what you mean by "a nice push".
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 17:03 Comments || Top||

#10  When I say push, I mean to make it nice and clear that the U.S. supports the Iranian's growing desire to be free of their mullahs, and to make public pledges of assistance, if necessary, which just might spur the Iranians to throw off mullah rule. I mean, nothing inspires confidence more than knowing one has the support of the heavyweights, no? The more the mullahs resort to ever more repressive measures to keep their citizens under their thumb, the closer that day comes when the Iranians will have had enough of it and decide to take matters into their own hands. I'd like to see that date moved up a bit. Normally, I'd agree that taking our time would be a prudent course of action, but the mullahs' efforts to get their hands on nuclear weapons doesn't give us that luxury. Either we start stirring up Iran very soon, or we end up dealing with them after they have a working Bomb. That the latter scenario is something that can't be allowed to happen is beyond question.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 21:31 Comments || Top||

#11  They are just following the Wahabi playbook.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 23:21 Comments || Top||


ETA links to Hizbollah mar Syrian visit
The Syrian government ordered the Lebanese terror group Hizbollah to cut contact with ETA to any avoid embarrassment while the president of the Arab state was visiting Spain, it was reported Wednesday. The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the Syrian intelligence service ordered Hizbollah to cut ties with the Basque terrorists while President President Bashar al-Asad, of Syria, and his wife, Ashma visited Madrid. The Syrian premier was meeting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Wednesday as part of a two-day visit to reinforce bilateral relations.
Our boy Zappy never fails to live down to our expectations.
Asad was received by the Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia Tuesday at a gala dinner in his honour. The Italian newspaper claimed the Syrian regime, which is said to finance the Lebanese terror movement, wanted to stop embarrassing revelations from emerging during the visit.
And we can't have that, can we?
During the 1970s, ETA had contacts with a number of Middle Eastern terrorist groups in order to obtain arms. It is thought these links still exist.
You go where the funding is.
And the Spanish daily El Mundo claimed that ETA also had links to the Algerian terrorist organisation, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) which is notorious for their brutal campaign in their own country. It printed extracts from secretly taped conversations between two ETA terrorists made in jail, in which they discuss working with GIA after the 11 September terror attacks in the United States. Meanwhile, The Spanish king said the United Nations must become involved in seeking a solution in Iraq, adding that UN resolutions are the "way to achieve that just and comprehensive peace that we all yearn for" in the Middle East. The monarch said the latest developments in the Middle East are being followed closely in Spain and said that his country, "like Syria, is convinced that peace can only be reached through a comprehensive and just solution."
Then his lips fell off
The king, who expressed his appreciation for Syria's show of support after the March 11 attacks in Madrid, said "no country is free from the threat of terrorism." The monarch, who in October made a three-day state visit with the queen to Syria, reiterated Spain's support for the Arab country. But critics claim the Syrian dictatorship has supported terrorism for many years.
Really? We hadn't noticed.
Posted by: Steve || 06/02/2004 10:19:05 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "...The Syrian government ordered the Lebanese terror group Hizbollah to cut contact with ETA to any avoid embarrassment while the president of the Arab state was visiting Spain..."
----------------------------------------

I think this means that after the visit they can resume terrorism
Posted by: mhw || 06/02/2004 10:51 Comments || Top||

#2  a temporary time out and everyone treats the Baby Assad like a prince - he should be isolated and abused at EVERY opportunity. Did Zappy or Juan Carlos get a promise those WMD's in Bekaa won't make their way to a crowded train in Madrid? Didn't think so....
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 11:35 Comments || Top||

#3  The Syrian premier was meeting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Wednesday as part of a two-day visit to reinforce bilateral relations.

Of course, Zapatero needed to be softened up a bit first before Assad would go to Spain ....
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 13:03 Comments || Top||

#4  I thought the Hizbollah office in Damascus was closed. Must have renewed the lease.
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 15:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Can someone please tell me why Assad and his buddies are still alive?
Posted by: anymouse || 06/02/2004 15:35 Comments || Top||


Iran says it is building a stealth missile
Iran is producing its first stealth missile, a rocket that can evade electronic detection, the Iranian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The missile, named Kowsar after a river in paradise, will be capable of hitting ships and aircraft, Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Reza Imani told The Associated Press.
A combination surface-to-air and anti-shipping stealth missile, is there nothing they can't learn from the Koran?
He refused to give the missile’s range or provide other details. Features of the Kowsar, such as its guidance and positioning systems, are currently on show at an exhibition in Tehran that is open only to select government officials.
Private showing, black turbans only.
Iranian state television announced the Kowsar Tuesday while screening pictures of a missile flying through the air. Iran manufactures various missiles, chief among them the Shahab-3 whose range of 1,300 kilometres makes it capable of reaching Israel.
Posted by: Steve || 06/02/2004 9:26:08 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  they can base them at the large paved parking lot Khomeini Airport. Iranian tech woo hoo!
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 9:41 Comments || Top||

#2  ...a rocket that can evade electronic detection, the Iranian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The missile, named Kowsar after a river in paradise, will be capable of hitting ships and aircraft...

ECCM capabilities no doubt provided by those transistor radios that Russian guy sold to Saddam right before the war - you remember, the ones that could make LGBs and GPS guided bombs miss?
The code on the guidance system has gotta be impressive too:
001: KILL ALL JOOOOOS
002: KILL ALL INFIDELS
003: ULULATE
All kidding aside, a combination SAM/SSM isn't that far outta whack - the USN's Standard SAM had a secondary SSM capability long ago, and there is a land attack variant of the current service version(http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/lasm.htm), but to the best of my knowledge has never been used that way. Now - keep in mind the old Imperial Iranian Navy had a bunch of Standards shipped to it in the good old days...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/02/2004 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  huh. They're doing all that without Juche?
Posted by: BH || 06/02/2004 9:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Iran is producing its first stealth missile, a rocket that can evade electronic detection, the Iranian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Yep, it's so tiny it can evade detection. Only problem? It packs no punch.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 10:25 Comments || Top||

#5  So if one of our planes or boats gets boomed, can we just assume Iran did it?
Posted by: JerseyMike || 06/02/2004 10:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Just begging Israel to to give them the whipping they so much deserve.
Posted by: Tom || 06/02/2004 10:56 Comments || Top||

#7  The missile, named Kowsar after a river in paradise

How do we know all the geograpic names of places in paradise? Who went? How did they then came back and made a report?

#s 5,6 - Exactly - in one way or another - BOOM! -
Mullahs in Paradise.



Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 11:30 Comments || Top||

#8  According to the folks at the Buffalo Naval Park & Museum, the 1959-vintage Talos missiles on USS Little Rock had a secondary anti-ship capability.
Posted by: Mike || 06/02/2004 11:33 Comments || Top||

#9  SEND IN VIRGINS
From “Khatami In Paradise”

Sung to :
“Send in the Clowns”
By Stephen Sondheim

Isn't it nice?
Bombs in the air?
Me here in heaven right now,
and Khomeni down there.
Where are virgins?
Send in virgins,
They have to be here!

Just when I stopped,
Sending missiles,
Finally finding the one,
That’d smash Zionists.
But entering airspace,
with their new fighter planes.
Things went K-boom.
Now everyone’s here. . .

Isn't it rich?
Iran’s no more
Losing the Persians from,
Maps after 3000 years,
But where are virgins?
Send in virgins.
Well, maybe ... next year.
Posted by: Oge_Retla_2004 || 06/02/2004 11:34 Comments || Top||

#10  "Features of the Kowsar, such as its guidance and positioning systems..."

Probably stamped "Frabrique en France."

As others have noted, you can use a SAM to attack surface targets, but the warhead is too small to do much damage. OTOP, against a really soft target, you might not need much to do a lot. Remember that the HMS Sheffield was sunk by a dud Exocet (the rocket motor caused the fire; the warhead never went off). An oil tanker probably could withstand a few hits. An LPG tanker though ... BOOM!

Of course, "stealth" is not an all-or-nothing thing. Reduced RCS is a typical design goal of cruise missiles and not hard to achieve. It IS harder on SAMs because they have to go so fast that an aerodynamically inefficient shape really hurts your range.

Anyway, a reduced RCS does not make the missile invisible; it only reduces the range at which a given radar system can detect it. That does hurt defenses (less tracking time and you need a faster intercept). The only question I would have is: how much is the RCS reduced? 10%, 90%, 99.99%? To an extent, using it against ships might not matter so much as we can turn up the power on the Aegis (for ships with it). Heck, that radar can practically burn out the missile by itself. It does mean that the Phalanx or RAM will have less time to shoot the thing down.

Now, a "stealth" SAM makes less sense. First of all, how do you guide it? With a built in radar, like AMRAAM/ERAM? Well, then who cares how "stealthy" your airframe is when you are blasting out radar waves? A passive IR system would eliminate that problem, but that's really only reliable for a short range. It might be usable for point defense, but not area defense. Oh, you could make it a semi-active system like Standard, but then your guidance station on the ground becomes a HARM target.

(Guess where I work.)
Posted by: Jackal || 06/02/2004 13:00 Comments || Top||

#11  Prevent Estes from selling them the "D" engine. The proliferation must stop!!!
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 15:11 Comments || Top||


More highly enriched uranium found in Iran
United Nations nuclear inspectors have found more traces in Iran of highly enriched uranium that could be bomb-grade, the UN atomic energy agency said, ahead of a meeting on US allegations that Tehran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has also admitted to importing parts for sophisticated P-2 centrifuges, which can enrich uranium to bomb-grade levels, going back on claims that it had made the parts domestically, according to a confidential report by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei.
El admitted to finding something?
And while Iran has insisted its P-2 is a research program, the IAEA said Iran had asked through a European intermediary about the possibility of buying 4,000 special magnets, or enough for 2,000 centrifuges.
Is that all? Nothing to worry about then, right?
Posted by: Steve || 06/02/2004 9:11:29 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh, you mean THAT Uranium. We just have that for physics experiments by professors at universities.
It is not important. Really, its not. The Joooos have no reason to send any UAVs to check it out. Remember we have "Stealth" missles too!
Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 13:11 Comments || Top||


Iran Admits Importing Parts for Uranium
In a reversal, Iran has acknowledged importing parts for advanced centrifuges that can be used to enrich uranium, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Tuesday in a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press.
Thus confirming what we already knew.
The report by the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency credited Iran with more nuclear openness but said questions remained about nearly two decades of covert activities first revealed nearly two years ago. The dossier was issued for the June 14 meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors that has wrestled for more than a year about what to do about what that the United States and its allies say is a weapons program. In an interview with The Associated Press before the report was leaked, U.S. Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton accused Tehran of engaging in "denial and deception." "We are and have been for some time convinced that they are pursuing a clandestine program to acquire nuclear weapons," he said. Bolton, who was at a review conference of the U.S.-launched Proliferation Security Initiative to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, said Washington was determined to have it answer to the U.N. Security Council. While the report did not appear critical enough of Iran to marshal strong support at the board meeting for such a move, it also was far from the clean bill of health Tehran had hoped for in making a case that the books should be closed on its nuclear activities. Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA chief, said earlier Tuesday his agency had not found proof to date of a concrete link between Iran's nuclear activities and its military program, but "it was premature to make a judgment."
Did he take lessons from Blixie, or vice-versa?
Posted by: Steve White || 06/02/2004 12:03:10 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  i wonder if they imported said equipment from Iraq.
Posted by: Anonymous || 06/02/2004 1:15 Comments || Top||

#2  yes anonymous--along with yellow cake from Niger
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 06/02/2004 2:31 Comments || Top||

#3  NMM, I prefer Devil's Food cake myself. I worry not about the Iran bomb. Israeli security is tight. US security is getting tighter. The Persians are most likely to blow up Arabs or Europeans who seem quite happy to arm the Mullah's. The Iranians will have trouble with their delivery system because most rudimentary nuclear weapons cannot be mounted on a motorcycle of death. If the Iranians decide to use a missile, they will be using NK guidance technology. If Israel is the target, the Israelis are quite safe but the Syrians and Saudis should be quite concerned. By the time our guidance technology trickles down to NK through China by way of the EU, the death-star will be operational.

As for the ambivalence of the leaders of the countries that most are most likely too get the gamma dose, I chalk it up to the old saying: “The gods blind those they want to destroy.”
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 3:14 Comments || Top||

#4  The equation is very simple: if Israel takes a WMD attack then Bye, Bye Mecca and Medinah.
Posted by: JFM || 06/02/2004 14:23 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
A Memo To Osama...
...From the always worth reading Belmont Club: Outstanding piece, especially this part:

"..That leaves us with this tantalizing question. Having gone so far on September 11, can we not go further? Will one more push topple the rock? The answer is yes, but only if the push is sufficient and it leaves the Left which is the spirit of suicide, in control. This latter condition is essential. The fundamental fact is that the triumph of the Jihad must be momentarily preceded by the ascendance of the Left. Only the Left will pick up the gun, put the barrel to the temple of the Western mind and pull the trigger without hesitation. But their ascendance will only be momentary, and I for one delight in imagining how we will kick them as they squeal about their rights and their sexual entitlements once there is no one left to protect them...."

As the saying goes, Read The Whole Thing.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/02/2004 2:17:49 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yes, Mike - Rather spooky!
Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 14:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Isn't that what we are watching in Spain?
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 14:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Given the current media and the size-power-by-any-means left this is a distinct possibility.....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 14:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Now ive admired Wretchards posts on Iraq. Not sure about this one though. Presumably by the left wretchard means folks who would withdraw from Iraq now. only Pres nominee to stand for that is Nader. Does Wretchard think that a Terract in the US would elect Nader? does he think anyone in AQ thinks that?
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 15:52 Comments || Top||

#5  LiberalHawk. *If* such a thing (massive chemical attack on a US city) happened under Kerry's watch do you think he would hesitate to seek 'consensus' with the UN and try to understand 'why do they hate us' and then withdrawl from Iraq like Clinton did in Somolia? I think he would withdrawl so fast the soldier would suffer from whiplash.

He has already practically promised Iran and Kimmie-boy that he would 'appease' them and let them have their way. (and trust Kimmie-boy like Clinton did in 94).

Did you hear his mouthpiece Kennedy say that the U.S. military was 'as bad a Saddam ever was.' and that 'only the management had changed' at the prison?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 16:17 Comments || Top||

#6  He's right - this is the "negative" end game. The "positive" one is that they attempt something really big and we stop them in their tracks with the cameras rolling and the reports breathless in their epiphany. But that is growning less likely since maggots flock to shit and that for the time being is Iraq where the "false negative" is dominant. This protects the left and their LLL ilk from having to go under the knife of a "true negative" outcome here. Like the priest in Maine said in his poetic sermon: "There is no guarantee of freedom of speech, assembly, press except by the soldier." The LLL supports the troops but not the war which shows how contemptible they really are. I for one would enjoy seeing the LLL with about 10 days of talibanbinladensiddiqi rule as long as I can watch it on CNN (Fox won't be allowed to broadcast) from Aruba!
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/02/2004 16:23 Comments || Top||

#7  CF. Err, no, I dont think so. Clinton withdrew from Somalia because there was NO support for staying, from right or left. If there were conservatives at the time who called for staying in Somalia, id like a cite. And i dont see Kennedy as Kerrys mouthpiece. Kennedy is Kennedys mouthpiece.

In any case I though wretchard was talking about an attack BEFORE the election. Which might help Kerry to win, but only if he played it hawkishly.

Re Kerry on Nkor - ive already said that his position troubles me. It does not however indicate that hed withdraw from Iraq due to a CW attack on the US.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 16:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Liberalhawk, carrying Clinton's water as usual?
Clinton pulled those guys out of Mogadishu in a hell of a hurry and he left them under "U.N. control" or auspices, too.
It wouldn't have been any big deal to have done the opposite:
Ordered more troops, under his command (*shudder*) and fully supported the mission militarily.
Don't remember what went on in Congress, but the President can instigate a war operation and doesn't have to go to Congress for 60 days (something Bubba had no problem doing for Kosovo).
The Somalia force wanted to stay and fight, but they weren't given the equipment or the men for the mission because it was defined as a "U.N. peacekeeping mission."
I find it hard to believe that U.S. Senators and Congresspersons (even some Dimocrats) weren't pretty upset by what they were seeing on CNN about the Mogadishu incident and I have no doubt that they were prepared to help deliver the usual strong U.S. response to an attack and an ambush on our soldiers in which 18 men were killed had Clinton only given the right orders as Commander in Chief (shudder again--can't help it! The idea of Draft Dodger King being CiC still makes me crazy).
Oh, and would it have made any difference to Billary to know that it was Osama Bin Laden who armed those Somalians and taught them to attack the Americans?
Posted by: Jen || 06/02/2004 17:33 Comments || Top||

#9  "i dont see Kennedy as Kerrys mouthpiece. Kennedy is Kennedys mouthpiece. "

Guess you've been in a coma, Libhawk (yeah, right).
Kennedy is Kerry's "coach" and has been for 40 years.

And I'm convinced that Kerry would pull the U.S. out of Iraq, too, and not have our military go anywhere else, except for 3rd world hellholes where there's a "humanitarian" interest at stake, not a U.S. security one and he'd do it, not like Somalia, but exactly like Vietnam, which Kerry knows so well.
He'd negotiate with Osama and AlQ, agree to "terms" like world-wide shari'a and all American women wearing burkas, and then pull the whole country ashamedly back to lick our collective wounds.
In my mind, I call the Kerry scenario "Duck and cover."
It would only be a matter of time until the next massive attack on this country.
Once OBL had us out of his backyard and was no longer busy defending himself and on the run and saw that the U.S. was indeed weak and vulnerable, he'd have to come over here and make his victory complete by taking control over here.
Posted by: Jen || 06/02/2004 17:41 Comments || Top||

#10  Kerry won't need no chemical attack to pull out of Iraq. His glory days was the good ole days when the "people" reversed US policy and we tuck tail and run out of Vietnam. If Kerry and the beautiful folks win this election, our tail will be so far betwixt our legs that it'll tickle our chin.
Posted by: Hank || 06/02/2004 17:51 Comments || Top||

#11  I am not a big fan of Wretchard. He has some good ideas, but tends to not think them through. The interesting thing about the pair of articles is that he points OBL and AQ are 'vicims' of the 'law of unintended consequences'. And his view is US-centric.

If I look back at the last two years or so and ask what brought us closest to the edge, then the answer is SARS. Forget anthrax - infect a couple of dozen people with SARS and get them riding mass transit in major Western cities. In the last month there was an 'accidental' outbreak of SARS in China. You could buy the infectious agent for a few hundred dollars and a reasonably competent organizer could infect thousands and potentially millions.

The unitended consequence would be that most of those millions would be in Africa and the ME, where states and conformance to civil society are weak. I.e the collapse would not be in the West but the Moslem world.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 17:59 Comments || Top||

#12  "If Kerry and the beautiful folks win this election, our tail will be so far betwixt our legs that it'll tickle our chin."

Hank, as usual, has it right again. The election of Kerry will assure US and Western retreat in all fronts of the war. We will retreat, unilaterally weaken ourselves through the folly of appeasement, and then ultimately have to fight back. Only by then our military and tech advantage will be less, the fight will be more difficult, it will cost more in dollars, and it will cost more in lives and human sacrifice. But worse yet, who is to say we will win then? Will we?
Posted by: Jake || 06/02/2004 18:13 Comments || Top||

#13  "If Kerry and the beautiful folks win this election, our tail will be so far betwixt our legs that it'll tickle our chin."

Hank is right, but Jake's scenerio may be overly optimistic. "The election of Kerry will assure US and Western retreat in all fronts of the war." Jake is right about that. "We will retreat, unilaterally weaken ourselves through the folly of appeasement, and then ultimately have to fight back." Jake is right that we will weaken ourselcves unilaterally, but he is probably wrong in saying that we will ultimately fight back.

If Kerry get elected, and we tuck our tail "so far betwixt our legs that it tickles our chin" then there is a good chance that we will have lost. There will follow a devasting attack on a US city (do you think they won't do it?) and that attack will cripple the US and world economies like we have not seen since the 1930s. We'll be energy-less, demoralized, and totally engrossed in our own problems. And for the Islamist world, their living standards will not change from their current condition, but they will complete the process (begun with our withdrawl from Iraq) of unification under and Islamist totalitarian Caliphate. They will possess nuclear weapons, and control oil supplies, but that will not enable them to advance beyond their 8th Century society. We will then co-exist on an equal footing.
Posted by: RobertF || 06/02/2004 18:33 Comments || Top||

#14  How awful. I think Kerry would fight back. He did in Vietnam. He didn't support the war, but he fought fiercely. What makes you think he would do less against the Muslims?
Posted by: Jennifer || 06/02/2004 18:48 Comments || Top||

#15  Oh I don't know. How about his statements that he "would do everything possible to remove american troops from Iraq" to "make the world like us more", his endorsements from the likes of Iran and other european countries, how bout like suggesting what defense item he actually ENDORSED? Hm...you cant really defend a country when you vote against just about every single piece of military hardware that ever was contemplated.
Posted by: Valentine || 06/02/2004 19:07 Comments || Top||

#16  Jennifer, Kerry 'fought in Vietnam' so he could be more like John Kennedy (right down to commanding a 'PT' boat). And according to his commanders he fought 'too fiercely' and to his 'own' agenda ( and not necessarily to that of the group) -- he was a loose cannon.

Check out the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth website.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 19:37 Comments || Top||

#17  Goerge Washington was the last President to lead troups into battle as commander-in-chief. Fact is, he was the only one to lead the troups hisself. Kerry ain't gonna go fight them Muslims hisself. Fact is, he Kerry will raise that old white flag. Ever thing he's stood for since he done his fightin has been the contrary of fightin. He thinks the US is evil, and he don't trust us. He thinks just like the Eurpeans, and you cain't tell the difference tween his policy beliefs and that of the French.
Posted by: Hank || 06/02/2004 20:25 Comments || Top||

#18  We will then co-exist on an equal footing.

No we won't. They will have a handful, at most, of nucs. This will deter nobody but the French.

If Kerry is elected and what you predict happens, Kerry will be just as quickly ousted or executed and our arsenal will be deployed with extreme predjudice against ALL who oppose. Count on it!
Posted by: spiffo || 06/02/2004 20:48 Comments || Top||

#19  Hey, spiffo, why don't we give all that mess a miss and just RE-ELECT PRESIDENT BUSH?!
Posted by: Jen || 06/02/2004 21:00 Comments || Top||

#20  "He thinks just like the Eurpeans, and you cain't tell the difference tween his policy beliefs and that of the French."

Hank nails it again. Kerry is an appeasor and so are the "Eurpeans" and especially the French. Using their refined and subtle approach to diplomacy, they appeased Hitler at the cost of the Czechs. Then when they declared war on Germany in Sept 1939, they boldly did nothing until the next thing they knew they were watching Germans dance into Paris. They voted for fighting before they were against it- sound familiar. Just like Hank said, Kerry thinks like the "Eurpeens" which means he distrusts the US, thinks we are arrogant cowboys. Deep down, he believes we are the root cause of the Islamist movement because our capitalist system has allowed us more than our fair share.

Hank, did I get that right?
Posted by: Rock || 06/02/2004 21:04 Comments || Top||

#21  Hank,

Maybe I'm wrong but I think President James Madison actually rode out with the troops v the Brits during the War of 1812.

T'Otherwise, I think your comments here are spot on...I see a Kerry Presidency being potentially more crippling to both the US and the world than even Jimmah Carter's and that's saying something.

I'm not saying it for the sake of partisan hyperbole. I really, really dread Kerry as President.
Posted by: JDB || 06/02/2004 21:15 Comments || Top||

#22  JDB - Now I wasn't around then, but I don't recollect readin about Madison actually ridin with the troops. Madison was a tough little guy though. Washington sorta naturally thought as the commander-in-chief he ought to lead the troops. Thats what he done before.


Rock - "Deep down, he believes we are the root cause of the Islamist movement because our capitalist system has allowed us more than our fair share." You hit the nail on the head. That insight is true goin back to kerry's protestin days - like I said he thinks like the Eurpeens, and they tend to be a little socialistic in their thinkin.
Posted by: Hank || 06/02/2004 21:38 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
‘JI might be involved in Karachi killings’
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Wednesday said that religious extremists or the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) could be involved in the recent wave of terrorism in Karachi.
Gee. Golly. Who'da thunkit?
“The terrorist attacks in Karachi will only benefit the traditional hidden hand of religious extremists. The JI’s response to the attacks is also very dubious,” MQM Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly Farooq Sattar told a press conference. He said that the operation against terrorists in Wana and the return of militants from Kashmir might also be a reason for the attacks in Karachi. Terrorists has once again chosen Karachi as their home target and the recent acts were part of a well organised conspiracy to destroy the city’s peace and weaken the provincial and federal governments, the MQM leader said. Mr Sattar said governor’s rule, a military operation or imposing a state of emergency in Sindh would not serve any purpose. The JI and other conspirators did not want democracy to continue in Sindh, he alleged. He said the working of the provincial and federal government could not be judged solely by the recent terrorist attacks. Conspirators were trying to create sectarian disharmony among Sunnis and Shias, he said, accusing JI Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed of making baseless allegations against the MQM. He said the JI chief had accused a sector incharge of the MQM, Khalid Mehmood, of involvement in the murder of Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai. Mr Sattar said the late Mr Mehmood was a great admirer of Mufti Shamzai and died while digging the religious scholar’s grave. He said a statement by Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad had created confusion about a military operation in Karachi. He called for cooperation between the federal and provincial governments on the issue. Mr Sattar also told reporters that MQM chief Altaf Hussain would return to Pakistan at an appropriate time.
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 9:17:43 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistan Top Cop Fired Following Unrest
The Karachi police chief was fired Wednesday, and the government promised more changes after three days of unrest that has left at least 26 people dead and brought Pakistan's largest city to a standstill. Government officials struggled to explain what was behind the wave of violence, with one accusing al-Qaida of trying to spark sectarian fighting between the Sunni Muslim majority and the Shiite minority. The chief minister of Sindh province, Ali Muhammad Maher, met with security chiefs to discuss the worsening situation in the city of 14 million people, triggered by the assassination of a prominent Sunni cleric Sunday and the suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque a day later. The death toll in the mosque attack rose to 21 on Wednesday, after a 30-year-old man died of his injuries. No one has claimed responsibility for either attack. Rioting by Sunni and Shiite mobs followed the attacks, with most violence aimed at hundreds of riot police deployed in different neighborhoods. Shops, cars, buses and government buildings were set afire. Four people, all civilians, died in exchanges of gunfire. Karachi police chief Asad Malik and two other senior officers were transferred Wednesday, police spokesman Mughis Pirzada said. No explanation was given and no replacements announced.
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 9:08:22 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: North
Algeria Bad Guyz Kill 10 Soldiers
Bag Guys Insurgents ambushed an Algerian military convoy in eastern Algeria Wednesday night, killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding 45 others, medical officials said. It was the deadliest such attack this year. The attack was apparently carried out by the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, or GSPC, which is known to operate in the region, some 160 miles east of Algiers. The group is thought to have links to al-Qaida. Algeria's official APS news agency reported the attack, but provided no casualty figures. The military convoy was returning from a clean-up operation when it was set upon in a surprise attack by an armed group, witnesses said. The injured, some of them in serious condition, were taken to several hospitals, including the military hospital of Algiers, the medical officials said. Military trucks rushed to the site of the attack near Beni Ksila, in the Bejaia region, which borders the Mediterranean. A similar ambush killed seven soldiers in February, in approximately the same location.
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 8:54:17 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
U.S. GIs, Shiite Militants Clash in Iraq
American troops clashed with Shiite militants in Najaf on Wednesday — six days after a truce was supposed to have taken effect.
That's what usually happens with hudnas...
At least five Iraqis were killed and more than 40 were wounded. Another Iraqi was killed and three others were injured as militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr exchanged fire with American soldiers in Baghdad's Sadr City. No U.S. casualties were reported in either city. In Kufa, several Iraqis said they were wounded when mortar rounds struck their neighborhood. They suspected the Shiite militiamen fired the rounds at the Americans but missed.
That's what I suspect, too...
There have been daily clashes in Kufa since Shiite leaders announced an agreement May 27 by al-Sadr to end a standoff with the Americans here and in nearby Najaf. Both sides agreed to leave the two cities, which contain some of the most sacred Shiite shrines in Iraq, and U.S. commanders promised to end "offensive operations" there. But U.S forces have insisted on their right to patrol Kufa — a move the Shiite militia claims is a provocation.
Posted by: Fred || 06/02/2004 8:45:12 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I realize that we are walking a tightrope doing a ballet while being shot at, but al-Sadr needs to be popped, if nothing but a parting gesture.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 06/02/2004 21:16 Comments || Top||


Contractors in Iraq work in gray area
The parallel work of battle and reconstruction has swelled demand for former military personnel and law enforcement officers to fill roles that a downsized military no longer can or wants to do. Contractors are protecting key leaders, escorting convoys, guarding military installations or oil pipelines, training Iraqi forces, interrogating prisoners. Far from simple guard duty, some have become entangled in firefights, pressed into the work of war.

Critics say the pendulum has swung too far. The use of armed "private military" in Iraq discards a long-standing U.S. military doctrine not to use contractors for "mission critical" tasks in war, said Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar..."The military has been put in a position where it’s had to basically ignore that doctrine," said Singer. "The scope of functions that have been turned over to private contractors really pushes the envelope way beyond anything we’ve seen before."

In the first Persian Gulf War, the ratio of "private military" to U.S. military was one in 100; in Iraq now, it’s one in 10, he said. Private and military personnel frequently work in tandem, under two separate chains of command. The extent of private security work in Iraq has been largely a mystery even to members of Congress. Some are now calling for stricter oversight. Defense officials say they don’t track the number of individual security personnel in Iraq. The 20,000 figure for private security workers is a loose estimate of both U.S. and foreign workers, including more than 6,000 Americans. Their death toll is pegged at more than 50. "There’s no way of knowing how many people the companies who have received the contracts will employ. Their mission is to get the job done," said Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood. A plan to address accountability concerns is under way, said Flood, but "it’s just not ready for prime time yet."

Critics see an invitation for abuse with little fear of discipline, either for security workers or the firms that hire them. Even in egregious cases, rarely do firms lose their big government contracts. They point to civilian contractors with DynCorp who escaped prosecution despite accusations in 2000 of running a prostitution ring in the Balkans. DynCorp is among scores of firms providing security and other services in Iraq. Contractors don’t come under the military justice system, and they fall outside of the definition of "combatant" in the Geneva Conventions, leaving them in a legal gray area. A law passed in 2000 permits the Justice Department to prosecute Pentagon contractors and subcontractors who commit crimes on foreign soil, but it is largely untested. It also applies only to major crimes.

In the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, for instance, it remains unclear whether the contractors will face any punishment for their reported involvement in humiliating prisoners. "I think the American people are going to call for change," said Philip Coyle, an undersecretary of defense under President Clinton. "Congress, whether they like or not, is going to have to clarify what the rules are for these contractors. But more than that, re-examining the roles contractors are playing on the battlefield, and whether or not that’s what we really want."
But of course, Philip Coyle, speaking from his air conditioned DC office with his tassled leather shoes on his desk, would love love to see more RULES and REGULATIONS passed by Congress and applied to contractors so they play fairly with the barbarians.

And if contractors no longer want to take dangerous jobs in the ME, no problemo, Congress just passes H.R. 163 and S.89, which have bi-partisan support and which are simmering on the backburners, for the draft.

Then we can send hundreds of thousands of scared and poorly trained young men and women to secure the peace with the barbarians. Sounds good to Philip Coyle because his children are way too young to be affected by the draft.
Posted by: rex || 06/02/2004 11:03:42 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Or because it would turn these poor souls into anti-war activists ...
Posted by: Edward Yee || 06/02/2004 19:27 Comments || Top||

#2  "I think the American people are going to call for change," said Philip Coyle, an undersecretary of defense under President Clinton.

Under his boss' watch, much needed divisions were cut from the military. We do not need a draft of marginally trained personnel. We need to enhance our existing professional military in ways that would meet the needs of the mission. We are having contractors there now because we do not have enough of the regular military to go around.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 06/02/2004 19:54 Comments || Top||

#3  At the risk of stating the obvious. Private companies not operating under US legal jurisdiction are much harder for the Left/Media to manipulate than the government.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 20:36 Comments || Top||


A (newly) sovereign Iraq
David Warren’s latest, via LGF comments. EFL.
The formal transfer of power from Paul Bremer’s occupation authority to the new Iraqi government waits till the end of the month, but with the self-dissolution of the interim Iraqi Governing Council, we have witnessed an effective transfer. The region’s governments, including nefarious Iran and Syria, will know it’s too late to sabotage the hand-off -- because it has already occurred, by surprise, ahead of deadline.

No one else will say this, so I will. The Bush administration has handled the transfer of power in Iraq more cleverly than anyone expected, including me. The summoning of the U.N. envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, looked like very bad news. In grim moments, I believed the Bush people were cynically using him to wash their hands of Iraq, and as it were, dump the quagmire back in the swamp of the U.N. Instead, they froze the ground beneath Brahimi’s feet, and skated rings around him, haggling behind his back with Iraq’s new political heavyweights to leave him endorsing a fait accompli. If it were not vulgar, I would say the Bushies suckered the U.N. into signing on to the New Iraq through Brahimi.

On the ground in Iraq, it is obvious from the range of sources the Western media do not bother with, that things are still going exceedingly well. There are more than 8,000 municipalities in Iraq, and serious violence in only five or six. Free elections for local governments have taken place or probably will in most of the others. The foreign troops are already out of sight and out of mind in much of the country, where crops are growing, generators are humming, and people are going about their lives.
RTWT, as they say.
Posted by: someone || 06/02/2004 4:01:31 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I would say the Bushies suckered the U.N. into signing on to the New Iraq through Brahimi. Thats my assessment also despite the spin of the media.
Posted by: Phil B || 06/02/2004 19:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Concur on "use" of the UN for our own (and Iraq's) purposes. Someone with inside skinny might know for sure, but specifically I read the introduction of bogus "UN mediation" as a smokescreen allowing Sistani et al to save face while abandoning their stupid insistence on instantaneous elections -- which they did abandon. Meanwhile, anyone notice that the "advisory council" slated to be SELECTED in July will probably approximate the caucus-selected group originally proposed by CPA? The new group will not be the executive authority, and the original plan was clearly excessively complicated, but it's not a stretch to say that Bremer's original formula has been realized in its essentials, and Sistani's objections all recanted -- all with the thinnest veneer of UN involvement. Iraq and the coalition are the worse for Sistani's bungling, but such is life.

The prime objective was achieved a year ago, and things have gone reasonably well since, within the constraints of the dysfunctional Iraq we have to work with. Of course, that's only clear if you have any knowledge of history, military affairs, strategy, and economics -- so the media and most the "experts" it quotes and many opposition pols will continue to labor in their own special darkness.
Posted by: Verlaine || 06/02/2004 22:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Excellent point by Verlaine.

I would add that if Sadr and the Fallujah savages from April represented the best Syria and Iran could bring, then we, and the Iraqis, are in very good shape vs. reasonable expectations.

Probably too good to be true.
Posted by: JAB || 06/02/2004 22:35 Comments || Top||


They were begging for their lives
From the letters section of the Weekly Standard, what really happened to the American contractors:
Jonathan V. Last asked why Americans were able to take the pictures of mutilated contractors in Falluja "in stride." I didn’t; I am still deeply offended by what happened to our people. However, I do have a possible answer. Our media sanitizes such news about Americans. For example, I read an account of the incident on the website of the major newspaper in Johannesburg, South Africa. It reported that at least some of the American contractors were still alive when, begging for their lives, they were doused in gasoline and burned to death. This was not reported by any media outlet in the United States. If Americans are not given the whole story, how can we be expected to do anything except take the news "in stride."
--Jim Nowicki
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 06/02/2004 6:24:52 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Our invasion of Iraq made them angry at all Americans. We need to think more about what the consequences are when we decide to take over a nation. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the American contractors derserved it or anything, but we turned Iraq into a terror hotbed. At least under Saddam there was peace.
Posted by: Jennifer || 06/02/2004 20:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Jennifer, don't give all of we "Jens" a bad name with your Leftist/Liberal whining!
We thought PLENTY about going to war in Iraq.
It was in the air for discussion among the American citizenry for 18 months (the so-called "rush to war") and it was voted on by Congress shortly before a Congressional election.
Iraq was a hotbed when SADDAM took over (if not long before. Check your Bible for details about Babylon.)
Iraq is where we need to be and where we're making our stand against Islamist terrorism.
You clearly don't read any Iraqi blogs--the majority of Iraqis are glad we came and got rid of Saddam and are looking forward to a better, democratic future for their country.
Meanwhile, back here at home, we haven't had any big attacks here because the terrorists are busy trying to stir up the al-Sadr uprising.
Unless or until sKerry wins (knock on wood and crossing myself that he does not), you Lefty appeasement-junkies and apologists for terrorists should shut the hell up!
Posted by: Jen || 06/02/2004 20:57 Comments || Top||

#3  bad choice "Jennifer" -I'll keep the comments to the fact that you haven't a clue
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 21:02 Comments || Top||

#4  I have a clue. I read the papers too. True we did talk about invading Iraq for about a year before, and true Congress did authorize the war. But you know why. Someone exagerrated the threat of terroism and Saddam. The Democrats had to vote in favor of the war because there was an election. Most Democrats were not really really in favor of the war. The rest of the world was against us and there were no weapons of mass destruction.
Posted by: Jennifer || 06/02/2004 21:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Jennifer, President Bush didn't exaggerate the threat at all and it was based on the best intelligence that everyone in the world had.
The fact that we haven't found Saddam's WMDs doesn't mean they weren't there.
And the burden wasn't on Bush to find the WMDs but on Saddam and his breach of 17 UN resolutions to PROVE that he had destroyed the WMDs he was already caught having by UNSCOM.
The Dimocrats up for reelection were perfectly free to vote against the war in the fall of 2002 and some of them did and many of them lost their reelection bids, because the American people are behind their President.
But the fact of the matter remains that the Dims screamed about voting on it, no matter when, and so President Bush made his case and let them vote.
And Leftist shills like you just have to suck it up and live with it.
Posted by: Jen || 06/02/2004 21:40 Comments || Top||

#6  "The Democrats had to vote in favor of the war because there was an election. Most Democrats were not really really in favor of the war."

Jennifer obviously is not the sharpest nail in the barrel, but she stumbled into a truth. Most Democrats were against the war but voted for it because of politics. Does that surprise anyone? The depth of their thinking went like this - "Bush is for the war so I'm against it, but the people are for it so I will vote for it so they will think I'm for it."
Posted by: Jake || 06/02/2004 21:54 Comments || Top||

#7  At least under Saddam there was peace.

And Mussolini made the trains run on time and Hitler turned the German economy around. We should just ignore their other little faux pas, shouldn't we Jennifer?

Yes, Iraqis had peace - the peace of the mass grave.
Posted by: sc88 || 06/03/2004 0:02 Comments || Top||

#8  Terrific comment, Jennifer. Peace in our time. It can still be achieved.
Posted by: Rafael || 06/03/2004 0:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Jennifer, I have asked several times and on several blogs -- When has Bush or his administration lied? Perhaps you can answer.

And please... no 'opinion polls' or 'they said so on the News!' or quote from some talking head or one of the steford anchors or other BS. Plain facts. Where in any of his statements or speeches did he lie?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/03/2004 0:48 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Three Foreign, Two Afghan Aid Workers Gunned Down
Five aid workers, including three foreigners, were killed on Wednesday when gunmen opened fire on their car in the northwestern Afghan province of Badghis, the worst attack on the aid community since the fall of the Taliban. Amir Shah Nayebzada, police chief of Badghis, said he suspected remnants of the ousted militant Islamic regime were behind the killing, although Taliban insurgency has been mainly concentrated in the south and east of the country. "This horrific incident happened just before dusk," he told Reuters. "It seems to be a politically motivated act, most probably carried out by Taliban fighters, for we see no reason why other people would do it. "The Taliban just want to destabilize the country ahead of the elections." Badghis governor Azizullah Afzali said the five employees of the medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) were leaving their office in a vehicle near the provincial capital of Qalaye Naw when unidentified gunmen opened fire. He said that two Afghan men, a Belgian woman, a Dutch man and a Swiss man were killed. A spokesman for MSF in Kabul said a car carrying five employees was involved in an incident, but he declined to give details of what happened and the condition of those in the vehicle.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 2:11:38 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Five Killed, 37 Wounded in Baghdad Car Blast
A car blew up in a busy northern Baghdad neighborhood on Wednesday killing at least five people and wounding more than 35, police and hospital officials said. A small explosion occurred shortly after a U.S. military convoy passed, wounding a woman passer-by, witnesses said. As a crowd of people rushed to help her, a second, more powerful explosion went off, causing much worse casualties. Abdul Basset Fathi, a doctor at al-Namun hospital in the Aadhimiya district where the blast occurred, said five people were killed and 37 wounded in the attack. Reuters Television pictures showed a burned-out shell of a car flipped over by the explosion, a large crater and pools of blood on the street in the predominantly Sunni Muslim district. Police said the road was packed with pedestrians and workers when the explosion went off at mid-morning. In a separate incident in a western district of Baghdad, one Iraqi was killed when a small roadside bomb went off as a U.S. military convoy was passing. The military said it suffered no casualties in the attack.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 11:13:24 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm listening to Brian Suits, A radio host in Seatle who is in Iraq as a 2nd LT, US Army. He feels a corner has been turned regarding how things are going. He spends most everyday out in the boonies doing nation building.

Says that 90% of roadside bombs are reported to them by Iraqis. That the amount of brave ambush fodder is fast being depleted. Many are now just going back to being civilian.

Says the bombing in Baghdad is due to the journalist who stay there so the reporting will be shrill. Says Taters militia is fading away (killed also) and that he has lost almost all credibility with the folks. Overt hostility to him.

Suits is cool, he's a great radio host and he misses it badly. You can hear his wearyness. But he does say that he will not be a 1st LT. He's had enough. I don't blame him, he's a bootstrap LT and has been in three hot zones already.
Posted by: Lucky || 06/02/2004 12:26 Comments || Top||


Egyptian, Turkish Man Kidnapped in Iraq
Masked gunmen displayed a Turkish and an Egyptian captive in videotape obtained Wednesday, saying the two truck drivers had been kidnapped for working with the U.S.-led occupation. The video showed the two purported hostages seated on the floor in front of five masked gunmen. Both men, who appeared unharmed, displayed their passports and ate food from plates on a carpet. The tape was obtained in Ramadi, 100 miles west of the capital Baghdad. The foreigners identified themselves as Bulent Yanik, a Turk born in 1969, and Victor Tawfiq Jerges, an Egyptian born in 1959. They spoke in Turkish and Arabic. One of the gunmen read a statement saying "our Jihad brothers" had captured the two drivers "while they were providing the American army with supplies and goods." The camera zoomed in on a document reading "ESS company vehicle list." ESS, formerly known as Eurest Support Services, is a food supplier to the U.S. military in Iraq and a division of Britain-based Compass Group. He did not say where or when they were seized. A similar tape was broadcast by Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. "We are going to treat them in accordance with Islamic law, and we warn everyone who is assisting the Americans that they will meet the same fate," the gunman added. "Also, we hold their governments responsible for their actions." On Tuesday, two Polish contractors and five Kurdish employees were abducted near an American compound close to Baghdad. However, one of the Poles managed to escape, a spokesman for their company said. They were taken from their office around noon by people who drove up in vehicles, a spokesman for their Jedynka construction company told Polish television.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 10:01:17 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Update:
The Al-Arabiya announcer said the two men had been accused of treason.
Al-Jazeera's announcer said that the kidnappers demanded the Egyptian and Turkish governments condemn actions, such as working for the American army, in order to secure their release.
"Death will be the fate of these people if their governments don't condemn the occupation," said a masked man holding an assault rifle as two men stood crouching before him holding up their passports.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_798360,00050006.htm
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 06/02/2004 15:21 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Ulema see US, Jewish lobbies' hand in terrorism
Noted ulema and other prominent figures at a condolence meeting held to pay homage to Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai at Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia, Binnori Town, here on Tuesday , endorsed the call given by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for a day of protest and peaceful strike on Friday. The protest day would be observed against the assassination of Mufti Shamzai in a terrorist attack on Wednesday. Speakers at the meeting appealed to the people to join in the nation wide peaceful strike to demonstrate that they stood against terrorism and the hostile forces' nefarious designs aimed at undermining Islam.
Nefarious designs, insidious plots, must be them Joos again
"Plots to the left of me! Plots to the right of me!"
They held the US and Jewish lobbies responsible for the elimination of great Ummah leaders one after the other as well as for acts of terrorism targeted at mosques and Imambargahs. Lackeys of rulers, they said, were trying to give the bombings at places of worship a sectarian colour in line with the US agenda. Stressing the need for keeping an eye on certain multinational companies, NGOs and missionary institutions, they described the arrest of opposition activists and supporters in such cases as 'provocation'.
"Don't provoke us, you won't like us when we're provoked!"
They told the government to uphold the sanctity of funeral rites and make sure that use of force, like teargas shelling, firing, lathicharge etc., was avoided during such processions.
Lathicharge?
Mssrs. Merriam and Webster don't know the word, but the Times of India does refer to it, in a way, sorta. Perhaps it's related to seething, eye-rolling and making faces.
The meeting adopted a resolution which paid glowing tribute to the services of Mufti Shamzai in spreading knowledge and promoting jihad and tableegh, besides providing a great deal of assistance to oppressed people in Islamic world.
Good ol' Shamzai, he'll be missed. Well, no.
Posted by: Steve || 06/02/2004 9:18:03 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lathicharge - (noun) - What happenths when a collie chargeths.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/02/2004 9:35 Comments || Top||

#2  If I remember all those stories that Kipling wrote about India, a "lathi" is a long staff, or baton, used as a weapon by a building night-watchman, or the local constables. Think Robin Hood and Little John, bashing each other about.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 06/02/2004 11:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Lathicharge - a depthcharge for ..um....lathes?

These lunatics are so out of it, I won't lose a wink of sleep as they kill each other while blaming us, the Joooos, or sinister Halliburton companies . What is interesting is how much their moonbat conspiracy theories would be appropos in the DU commentaries
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 11:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Lathicharge - (noun) - What happenths when a collie chargeths.

So Mike, how has life treated you so far? ;)
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:01 Comments || Top||

#5  So when the weapon in question hits it's target it known as lathi come home.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:03 Comments || Top||

#6  What's that about bandwidth theft?
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:04 Comments || Top||

#7  Aw hell, I'm sorry, but would it be better to have a lathicharge or a Kimalist Thought Klub?
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:06 Comments || Top||

#8  Shipman -
Been treating me just great thanks - I'm here till Thursday, try the veal!!!

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/02/2004 14:13 Comments || Top||

#9  Sgt Mom is right..
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 06/02/2004 19:43 Comments || Top||

#10  They held the US and Jewish lobbies responsible for the elimination of great Ummah leaders one after the other as well as for acts of terrorism targeted at mosques and Imambargahs.

All these Islamist assholes can all go straight to hell. The constant drumbeat of complaints of U.S. this, U.S. that, Jew this, Jew that, Zionist this, Zionist that, is getting really, REALLY, tiresome.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 20:25 Comments || Top||

#11  Example of a lathi charge
Posted by: Tresho || 06/03/2004 2:24 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
UNRWA Ambulances used by Paleos to ferry arms, terrorists
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 09:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Concerning a video showing Ambulances of the 'United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)' being used to ferry arms and palistinian 'militants'....

To date, Access Middle East Managing Director Richard Bardenstein in Israel informs me, not a single U.S. television news station has expressed interest in showing the footage to American viewers.

No bias here... move along...

Cantor's 2002 report also noted that UNRWA hosts summer camps in martyrdom for young terrorists-in-training. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., has also lobbied for increased scrutiny of UNRWA funding, which has been used to publish anti-Semitic textbooks and posters in schools that "glorify homicide bombers and the slaughter of innocents." Moreover, according to Rep. Smith, a UNRWA school hosted a Hamas rally by a key Hamas leader

The United States gives this UN relief agency about 1/3rd of its Budget.

Oh and what Michelle thinks of the U.N.?
" Not one more American dime should go to fund the bloody self-righteousness of the world's most generous terrorist relief organization.
Right on target.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 9:55 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Baath water to be fully tossed?
EFL... Sorry ’bout the excessive title.
WASHINGTON—The new Iraqi prime minister is committed to civilian control over the military and will not reconstitute the Iraqi Baath party defeated last April by coalition forces, according to Iraq’s leading human rights activist, Kanan Makiya. Mr. Makiya told The New York Sun yesterday said he had received assurances in a three-hour meeting last month from Iyad Allawi that he would not take steps to allow senior Baathists into the new government, an important pledge given Mr. Allawi’s background as the leader of the Wifaq, a collection of former Baathist officials who fell out of favor with Saddam Hussein.
That’s good news, if true (it was a month ago).
Mr. Allawi told reporters at a ceremony unveiling his new government that he believed American soldiers would be a necessary partner in bringing stability and security to his country. “We will need the participation of the multinational forces to help in defeating the enemies of Iraq. We will enter into alliances with our allies to accomplish that,” he said.
I suspect that’s why he was picked.
After prevailing over the wishes of Mr. Brahimi and the White House over the appointment of the largely ceremonial presidency, the IGC dissolved itself, a full month ahead of when the new regime is expected to take power. In the coming month, the new government is expected to convene a large caucus to choose an interim legislative branch.
So who issues the silly proclamations this month?
The new interim government will be headed by Mr. Allawi, along with tribal chief Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer as president; the leader of the Shiite Muslim Dawa party, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, as one vice president; and the deputy of the Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani, Rowsch Shaways, as the other vice president. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s chief administrator, Barham Salih, accepted, after initially rejecting, the post of deputy prime minister for National Security.
And now for the testimonials...
The vice president of the American Enterprise Institute for foreign and defense police studies, Danielle Pletka, said she “almost fell out of my chair,” when she heard the head of the interim government would be Mr. Allawi. “I thought the U.N. and the U.S. wanted a technocrat with credibility in Iraq and we got a fixer whose best friends are in Langley, Va., not Baghdad, Iraq.”
Ouch.
A former CIA operations officer who worked in Iraq, Robert Baer, told the Sun yesterday that Mr.Allawi was “not an agent of anyone.” Mr.Baer said, “He is in the same category of Chalabi, he’s an exile who wanted to go back.” He added that Mr. Allawi “had a more pragmatic vision for Iraq” than Mr. Chalabi, who wanted to foment a popular, democratic uprising against Saddam. Mr. Allawi, according to Mr. Baer, “would have been happy to reconstitute the army and create a military government in Iraq.”
Happier than working towards free government? Let’s hope not.
Mr. Makiya said he believed the interim government would be competent. “I think it is very good government. It has good and capable people. I am very glad the governing council has played a role in shaping it and I am glad the United States chose to go down that road instead of working behind the scenes through (chief administrator) L. Paul Bremer.”
Posted by: someone || 06/02/2004 1:49:21 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  note well - Makiya was also a member of Chalabis Iraqi National Congress, but unlike Chalabi, was less a wheeler dealer and more a very serious academic - Makiya taught at (yes) Brandeis University, and wrote "Republic of Fear", and is now working on a project to document Saddams atrocities. If Allawi is good enough on debaathification for Makiya, hes good enough for me.

Pletka (of the neo con friendly AEI) seems to be playing the DC game of neocons vs CIA. Interesting to see Darlings take on it, as he used to be very anti-Chalabi, but now works at AEI.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 10:14 Comments || Top||

#2  The new Iraqi prime minister is committed to civilian control over the military ...
That can't be good for us or am I missing something?
Posted by: rex || 06/02/2004 11:43 Comments || Top||

#3  To add to liberalhawk -

This seems a natural progression. The Ba'ath party was simply the embodiment of the personae of Saddahm (dug out of a hole-awaiting trial) and his demon seed (now room temperature). It had no philosophy. So it is, of course, no longer needed.

Wifaq, the people who fell out of favor with ol' "lice-bait", if they have reasonably clean human rights records could present themselves an a sort of centrist technocratic group. They could say that they are able to run the new bureaucracy in partnership with others, and based on experience.
Posted by: BigEd || 06/02/2004 11:44 Comments || Top||

#4  The new Iraqi prime minister is committed to civilian control over the military ...
That can't be good for us or am I missing something?


Civilian control over the military is the American way, since the Declaration of Independence ("he (king George) has rendered the military independent of, and superior to, the civil authorities....")
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 13:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Thanks #4. I misunderstood Allawi's intent. I thought Allawi meant that OUR military would be under the control of Iraqi government officials. That nonsensical idea surfaced last week. If I'm not mistaken, Tony Blair agreed with Iraqi officials that coalition troops would come under Iraqi control after elections. Then he quickly back peddled when Colin Powell protested.
Posted by: rex || 06/02/2004 23:13 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
IWPR: Afghan Voter Intimidation Effort Uncovered
The poor quality of this threat note demonstrates that the Maddrasses provide inadequate level of education for jihadis. I call for the Ford Foundation to pony up some funds so that these poor Taliban minnions can have a hope of obtaining graduate degrees in the US.
The letter from Chak, now held by IWPR, was written in ink on A4-size paper in ungrammatical Pashtu and signed by someone claiming to represent the Jamiat-e-Akhwan-ul-Muslimin, Society of Muslim Brothers. Under the headline, "Announcement: In the Name of God, the Compassionate and Merciful", the poster read:
"Dear compatriots,

"1. You are informed that you should not co-operate with the present government in any affairs that are against Islamic law.

"2. Those who work in government official organisations are seriously warned to quit their jobs, otherwise they will be responsible for what happens to them.

"3. The workers with the UN in the UNAMA [United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan] election process should quit their jobs. Otherwise they will be responsible for what happens to them.

"4. Those women’s centres set up with the support of UNAMA are providing a facility for sexual relationships for [members of] UNAMA. They [the women in the centres] should stop their activities, otherwise they should be ready for death.

"5. Those who indirectly support UNAMA policies or who are a link between our group and UNAMA are warned that they should save themselves."
Posted by: Super Hose || 06/02/2004 2:42:25 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
NYT About Chalabi and Broken Iranian Code
From The New York Times
.... American officials said that about six weeks ago, Mr. Chalabi told the Baghdad station chief of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security that the United States was reading the communications traffic of the Iranian spy service, one of the most sophisticated in the Middle East. According to American officials, the Iranian official in Baghdad, possibly not believing Mr. Chalabi’s account, sent a cable to Tehran detailing his conversation with Mr. Chalabi, using the broken code. That encrypted cable, intercepted and read by the United States, tipped off American officials to the fact that Mr. Chalabi had betrayed the code-breaking operation, the American officials said. .... The Iranians sent what American intelligence regarded as a test message, which mentioned a cache of weapons inside Iraq, believing that if the code had been broken, United States military forces would be quickly dispatched to the specified site. But there was no such action.

The account of Mr. Chalabi’s actions has been confirmed by several senior American officials, who said the leak contributed to the White House decision to break with him. .... The F.B.I. has opened an espionage investigation seeking to determine exactly what information Mr. Chalabi turned over to the Iranians as well as who told Mr. Chalabi that the Iranian code had been broken, government officials said. The inquiry, still in an early phase, is focused on a very small number of people who were close to Mr. Chalabi and also had access to the highly restricted information about the Iran code. Some of the people the F.B.I. expects to interview are civilians at the Pentagon who were among Mr. Chalabi’s strongest supporters and served as his main point of contact with the government, the officials said. So far, no one has been accused of any wrongdoing. ....

Mr. Chalabi’s allies in Washington also saw the Bush administration’s decision to sever its ties with Mr. Chalabi and his group as a cynical effort instigated by the C.I.A. and longtime Chalabi critics at the State Department. They believe those agencies want to blame him for mistaken estimates and incorrect information about Iraq before the war, like whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 06/02/2004 7:26:59 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ummmmmm..... BTW they broke the new one too.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:50 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
After Gitmo, A Talib Takes Revenge
The U.S. military has taken heat lately for holding and in some cases abusing innocent civilians in its prisons abroad. But at least one Guantanamo detainee, Taliban commander Mullah Shahzada, has proved anything but harmless. Soon after he was released last July — military officials believed there was no cause to hold him — Shahzada seized control of Taliban operations in southern Afghanistan. He recruited fighters by telling harrowing tales of his supposed ill-treatment in the cages of Guantanamo. He proved to be an effective insurgent. A Taliban source told TIME that it was Shahzada who masterminded a jailbreak in Kandahar in October, when 41 Talibs tunneled to freedom as bribed guards turned a blind eye. Several weeks ago, he and his gang nearly took the town of Spin Boldak, a smuggler’s haven in the southeast, according to a security source in Kabul. His fighters, that source says, overran Afghan outposts and even planted bombs in the town, but French commandos and Afghan militiamen thwarted the offensive. Shahzada was finally killed in action three weeks ago. Afghan militia in Kandahar learned from informants where he and two of his comrades were hiding and passed the news to U.S. special forces, who prepared an ambush, according to Razzaq Sherzai, a militia commander whose troops took part in the mission. A memorial service for Shahzada in Quetta, Pakistan, last week drew many Taliban leaders wanted by the U.S., Sherzai says.

But why was Shahzada freed in the first place? The Taliban considers photos un-Islamic, making it difficult to identify its senior commanders. The Pentagon doesn’t comment on its Guantanamo detainees, but a Taliban source tells TIME that Shahzada convinced his captors he had been picked up by their Afghan allies only because he was Pashtun, a rival ethnic group. Afghan minister Gul Agha Sherzai, who has helped battle the Taliban, insists that if Afghan officials had been allowed to vet Guantanamo captives, Shahzada would never have been freed. "We know all these Taliban faces," he says. Repeated requests for access, he claims, were turned down.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 06/02/2004 4:41:02 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Catch and release. This will be our undoing. Whack 'em and stack 'em is the only way the terrorists will be defeated; why on freakin' Earth are we giving our enemies second chances?

...but French commandos and Afghan militiamen thwarted the offensive.

Glad to know my surprise meter's still working!
Posted by: Raj || 06/02/2004 12:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Is it photos or images that are taboo. If it's photos we could recruit 300 or 400 hundred art gals to do decent charcoal or pastels. I expect Lucky has some thoughts on this.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/02/2004 14:10 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Interim Iraqi government - Starting Lineup
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 02:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Reports: Chalabi Told Iran U.S. Broke Its Codes
WASHINGTON — Ahmad Chalabi, the former Iraqi exile once regarded as a friend of the Bush administration, revealed to Iran that the United States had broken the code of its intelligence service, according to broadcast and published reports. CBS News reported Tuesday that Chalabi had told an Iranian intelligence official that the United States had cracked its codes, allowing U.S. agents to read Iran's secret communications. By revealing such information, Chalabi would have exposed one of the United States' most important sources of information about Iran.
If true, that's it for him.
The New York Times, quoting anonymous U.S. intelligence officials, reported on its Web site Tuesday that Chalabi told the Baghdad chief of the Iranian spy service that the United States was reading its communications. The Iranian spy described the conversation in a message to Tehran, which was intercepted by U.S. intelligence. A CIA official declined to comment on the reports Tuesday night.
"We will say no more!"
The American officials quoted by the Times said the Iranian spy, in the message to Tehran, reported that Chalabi had said he had gotten the information from an American who had been drunk and stupid. CBS reported that FBI agents are questioning Defense Department officials in an effort to find out who gave such information to Chalabi. The Times reported that the FBI expects to interview civilians at the Pentagon who were strong supporters of Chalabi.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/02/2004 12:15:41 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Drunk ya say? I hope that some day I can read the history regarding Chalabi.
Posted by: Lucky || 06/02/2004 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  If gave away that we broke their codes, then shoot him.

And shoot anybody foolish enough to tell a non-citizen like him that we had broken the codes.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats || 06/02/2004 0:45 Comments || Top||

#3  "The Iranian spy described the conversation in a message to Tehran, which was intercepted by U.S. intelligence."

Now this is a classic f**kin' duh! moment!
Posted by: .com || 06/02/2004 0:46 Comments || Top||

#4  I wonder if Iranian intelligence made this story up and sent it in a message with the intention that we intercept and read it.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 06/02/2004 1:01 Comments || Top||

#5  #2 is dead on; Chalabi shold be 'spanked on the hands' and moved out of theatre. The true Traitor should be shot for his National Security breach!
Posted by: smn || 06/02/2004 1:02 Comments || Top||

#6  You know why BinLaden is so f**king hard to find?

The Boston Globe. They published a story that we were intercepting his satellite phone calls. As soon as that hit the press, he abandoned satellite phones from what I heard outside of channels. All because some idiot wanted to make points with a reporter - and the dumbass reporter wanted a story and didnt even think of the repercussions.

And less than 2 years later, 9/11.

Along those lines, if Chalabi leaked this, he deserves to be shot. Dead. Now. He just enabled the Iranians to cost us more lives in Iraq by way of securing the comms for infiltrators and we will be unable to counter them in advance. The traitorous ass - he just sold his own people out.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/02/2004 1:06 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh - and the American who leaked to him?

Prison. For Life. Leavenworth. No appeal, no parole. Hard Labor.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/02/2004 1:08 Comments || Top||

#8  They published a story that we were intercepting his satellite phone calls. As soon as that hit the press, he abandoned satellite phones from what I heard outside of channels.

If OBL was using satellite phones, then he hasn't been paying attention to his Chechen brothers. The Chechen rebels stopped using satellite phones when they started correlating satellite phone usage with bombs being dropped on their heads within 10 minutes of such phone use. Needless to say, there are no satellite phones now being used in Chechnya.
Posted by: Rafael || 06/02/2004 1:23 Comments || Top||

#9  Rafe - this was back in the late 1990's that the story was leaked.

Back when Clintoon and his happy-assed gang of idiots didnt give a squat about leaks unless it was one of Bill's lies or Hillary's girlfriends.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/02/2004 1:28 Comments || Top||

#10  This is either more CIA/State misinfo to discredit Chalabi or the worst intelligence snafu since Ames.
Posted by: PBMcL || 06/02/2004 1:56 Comments || Top||

#11  ...and if it is true then both Chalabi and his "drinking buddy" should have a really terrible "accident." Real soon.
Posted by: PBMcL || 06/02/2004 2:00 Comments || Top||

#12  PBMcL his drinking buddies? you mean Cheney and the neo con agenda running this war?
Posted by: Not Mike Moore || 06/02/2004 2:29 Comments || Top||

#13  Welly, welly, well...NMM. Since when did American lives ever matter to you. Let me be the first to invite you to piss off.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 06/02/2004 2:42 Comments || Top||

#14  Hey NMM, since when did John F Kennedy's political points of foreign policy become "neocon"?

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. "

"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own. "

For a Democrat, he talks awfully tough and uncompromising when it comes to liberty and the duty we have to bear the burdens it brings...

And there are those pesky references to God. (Well, pesky to you liberals anyways)

Kennedy would have a hard time talking that talk in the Demo party today - he'd be running as a Republican, given his strong defense, and his across the board tax cut policies.

note: And FYI for the liberal types:

ANY FOE (of Liberty) includes Saddam, his baathists, the Iranians, Bin Laden, the Taliban and those other bastards we are fighting now. And ANY BURDEN means giving up social programs to pay for the war until its done.

As for paying ANY PRICE - I gave up years of my life carrying a rifle, and was prepared to pay the ultimate price. Providence kept me here to father my son, who will be joining the long line of our family in service to our nation. And we are not unique, just fortunate: there are monuments with the names of those who were not as fortunate as I - from me in Grenada and Desert Storm (missed Panama), going back to WW2 fought in the recent past by my father, my older brothers in Vietnam, my Uncles in Korea, and my grandfather in WWI, and his father's father in Cuba, and our ancestors in the Plains and in the Civil War (right after we got off the boat). We who serve KNOW the price because we signed up to pay it.

By the way, NMM - what are YOU doing for your country compared to those who serve now and have served in the past and some of us older ones who continue to serve in different roles today?
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/02/2004 4:11 Comments || Top||

#15  Old Spook, bless your heart. And thanks for the service to the nation and to liberty your family provided.

The revelation of Chalabi telling the Iranians their codes had been broken dovetails well with this Abu Ghraib incident. I am talking about many of the photos we know to be faked. Seems much more likely now they were planted. We may well still have a rat in the house, though. I hope not.
Posted by: badanov || 06/02/2004 7:01 Comments || Top||

#16  NMM is playing nice, hold back the dogs a little eh ? no need to make things icky folks
Posted by: dcreeper || 06/02/2004 7:57 Comments || Top||

#17  Spook:

Pass this along to your son:

Good luck, good hunting, and get home safe.
Posted by: Mike || 06/02/2004 8:19 Comments || Top||

#18  I'm nowhere near an expert in covert intel stuff, but to me - if the fundamentals of the story are true - it almost smells like disinformation fed to Chalabi to confirm a leak (like "markers" used in various medical imaging tests). It would have the positive side-effect of making ALL the ME intel groups wonder about their codes.

Or am I just being paranoid?
Posted by: Xbalanke || 06/02/2004 9:58 Comments || Top||

#19  NMM's mommy apparently left the computer on and the password disabled. Piece of Shit
Posted by: Frank G || 06/02/2004 10:13 Comments || Top||

#20  I'm sort of surprised at everyones reaction to the news that we can decode Iranian msgs. I always thought it was common knowledge that we can do that with pretty much any nations coms. I'd be this upset knowing that we couldn't.
Posted by: Anonymous5095 || 06/02/2004 10:14 Comments || Top||

#21  The timing of his arrest -- just before turning over Iraq -- makes me wonder if we had been 'running' Chalabi to feed Iran false information for some time and, with the turnover near at hand, need to remove him before he can do some real harm....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/02/2004 10:18 Comments || Top||

#22  3 and 4 make good points. Your the Iranian intell station chief in Baghdad. Your pal Chalabi tells you that the Americans have broken the Iranian intell code. Now for Iran to know, this, and the US to NOT now that Iran knows, is valuable to Iran. You can give out disinfo, before you switch codes on em. Maybe you can use other means of communication for awhile.

So what does our Baghdad Iranian station chief due - he immediately sends a message back to Teheran Center, in the broken code, telling them that the code is broke AND that Chalabi was the source Hmmm?

Possibilities
1. The Iranian Station Chief in Baghdad is simply not the sharpest tool in the shed. Youd think this would be THE priority assignment for Iranian intell, but maybe thats just me
1A. The Baghdad station chief paniced, and didnt now how else to get through to Teheran Central.
2. The whole Chalabi is an Iranian mole thing is itself a story planted by Iranian intell, to discredit Chalabi
2A. Chalabi was an Iranian mole, but the Iranians are dumping him now that his usefulness is exhausted
2Ai - theyre dumping him because they think he was about to turn back to the Americans, and thus its particularly essential to discredit him now.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 10:24 Comments || Top||

#23  anon 5095 - we can LISTEN to any nations comms, and i assume easily defeat the common encryptions used commercially. I would think that breaking the more complex encryption used by intell services would be a non-trivial task to the say the least, though we do have the worlds best pros at that game down at the "puzzle palace"
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 10:26 Comments || Top||

#24  The New York Times, quoting anonymous U.S. intelligence officials

I can see two reasons to not believe this story right there: NYT and anonymous sources.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 06/02/2004 10:31 Comments || Top||

#25  Dang it - I didn't realize I was listed as Anonymous5095 (cleaned off my box so I guess I lost my settings) I wanted to get my handle on my post. Anonymous5095 on #20 = Yosemite Sam
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 06/02/2004 10:43 Comments || Top||

#26  Drunk you say.... hmmmm. Now, who do we know in the Seante who drinks alot and can't shut the F%$k up....

Someone who sounds like "Mayor quimby" from the simpsons....looks like a barrage balloon in a bill blass suit.. whats his name......

Posted by: Frank Martin || 06/02/2004 10:57 Comments || Top||

#27  Xbalanke: Devious thought there. I like it.
Posted by: Mike || 06/02/2004 11:30 Comments || Top||

#28  I note that Patrick Belton of Oxblog has just posted virtually the same things I did in #22. Does he read Rantburg (then he should have given credit here - i myself admit to being inspired by Dot Com) or is it simply that great minds think alike?
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 06/02/2004 14:10 Comments || Top||

#29  We need an executive branch pogrom!
I will clean out the neo cons and make them wish
they'd never seen the inside of a dossier!

I will tatto their asses, wrap them in bacon and send them back to the nether regions of the think tanks.
Posted by: Heinz Kerry || 06/02/2004 14:55 Comments || Top||

#30  OldSpook, thank you for your family's services to our country, and for your own. Don't mind I quote you here?

Liberalhawk, that's some hard thinking you've been doing! I never would have thought of all those possibilities *blushes*

*just rolls eyes at Heinz Kerry*
Posted by: Edward Yee || 06/02/2004 22:35 Comments || Top||

#31  By the way, OldSpook, this is OT, (on Freep it'd be called Catholic ping), but the new King Arthur movie has him as a Christian (and Catholic, since it's right around the time of the Nicene Creed) and in the trailer he specifically prays to God to "guide [his] hand and Excalibur" ...
Posted by: Edward Yee || 06/02/2004 22:44 Comments || Top||


Key Points of Proposed Iraq Resolution
Key new points in a revised U.N. draft resolution on Iraq that was introduced by the United States and Britain:

- The Security Council declares its readiness to terminate the mandate of the multinational force "if requested by the elected transitional government of Iraq." The transitional government is to be elected by Jan. 31, 2005.

- The mandate for the multinational force in Iraq "shall expire upon the completion of the political process." This process ends with the election of a new government under a new constitution by Dec. 31, 2005.

- It notes "that the presence of the multinational force in Iraq is at the request of the incoming interim government of Iraq" and anticipates a request from the incoming Iraqi interim government to keep the force there. It leaves room for the date of that request to be included in the resolution.

- The council "welcomes efforts by the incoming interim government of Iraq to develop Iraqi security forces, which will operate under the authority of the interim government of Iraq and its successors, and which will progressively play a greater role and ultimately assume responsibility for the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq."

_It starts out with a new declaration "marking a new phase in Iraq's transition to a democratically elected government, and looking forward to the end of the occupation and the assumption of authority by a fully sovereign Interim Government of Iraq by June 30, 2004."

_It reaffirms Iraq's unity as well as its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

_It reaffirms "the right of the Iraqi people freely to determine their own political future and control their own natural resources."

_It stresses "the need for all parties to respect and protect Iraq's archaeological, historical, cultural and religious heritage."

- It decides that the United Nations will operate in Iraq "as circumstances permit" and play "a leading role" in assisting the convening of a national conference to select a Consultative Council, advising and supporting the interim government on the holding of elections, and promoting national dialogue on the drafting of a new constitution.
Plenty of wiggle room for us, I think.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/02/2004 12:03:00 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Plenty of wiggle room for us, I think.

As long as it's the corrupt, inept UN that we're dealing with, these resolutions aren't worth the effort expended to produce them.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 06/02/2004 0:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Anytime we get involved with the UN it ends up hurting us and our image. I really dont see the need for any resolution.

I kniw some believe that we get "more help" in Iraq if the resolution passes, but I for one dont believe it.
Posted by: busybody || 06/02/2004 9:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Just read this on the beeb news website:

Mr Chirac thought the plan was a "good basis for discussion" but that oil resources, security and the length of the multinational force's mandate needed discussion, his spokeswoman said.

Now, WHO is in it for the oil?
Posted by: jules 187 || 06/02/2004 16:49 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2004-06-02
  Chalabi Told Iran U.S. Broke Its Codes
Tue 2004-06-01
  Padilla wanted to boom apartment buildings
Mon 2004-05-31
  Egypt to Yasser: Reform or be removed
Sun 2004-05-30
  Khobar slaughter; 3 out of 4 terrs get away
Sat 2004-05-29
  16 Dead in Al Khobar Attack
Fri 2004-05-28
  Iran establishes unit to recruit suicide bombers
Thu 2004-05-27
  Captain Hook Jugged!
Wed 2004-05-26
  4 arrested in Japanese al-Qaeda probe
Tue 2004-05-25
  Sarin confirmed!
Mon 2004-05-24
  Toe tag for 32 Mahdi Army members
Sun 2004-05-23
  Qaeda planning hot summer for USA?
Sat 2004-05-22
  Car Bomb Kills 4, Injures Iraqi Minister
Fri 2004-05-21
  Israeli Troops Pulling Out of Rafah Camp
Thu 2004-05-20
  Troops Hold Guns to Chalabi's Head
Wed 2004-05-19
  Nek Muhammad back on the warpath

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