(Jenna's last picture was Looney-Tunes: Back in Action.)
Some Jenna Elfman fans were startled by what the star had to say in a recent issue of Scientology's magazine Celebrity. The former star of "Dharma and Greg" is a devotee of the controversial religion, whose members also include Tom Cruise and John Travolta. "I intend to make Scientology as accessible to as many people as I can. And that is my goal," Elfman said. To do this, she says, it is my "duty to clear the planet." Hmmm, well she could always dust off some similar "planet-clearing" plans that were made in Germany 60 years ago. Oddly enough, the originators were a group that, like Scientology, is banned by the present-day German government.
By "clearing" she means to rid the world of "body thetans" aliens who Scientologists believe inhabit the earth from a nuclear explosion 75 million years ago. She continued that "the more successful I became, the more suppression I bumped into ⊠especially in the entertainment industry, which really is home to rabid suppression."
"Her comments seem to reflect an increasingly almost paranoid view of the world around her in which she appears to have cleared house of all the suppressive people," Rick Ross, who runs Cultnews.com, tells The Scoop. "Which to Scientologists would include all the people who are critical of Scientology."
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy ||
02/19/2005 1:47:42 AM ||
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#1
Hollyweirdists aren't the only ones advocating a final solution to the Thetan problem (anyone surprised at this alliance?):
#4
Someday soon, hideous but benign aliens will land on the Washington Mall and demand to see, not President Bush, but a really good tort lawyer.
Within days they will file thousands of defamation suits seeking compensation for anguish and suffering caused by false allegations of kidnapping, torture, cattle-rustling and air-traffic control violations.
#5
AzCat - ROFL!!! Thx! Ah, something insanely substantive, rather than insanely pointless such as "clearing the planet" (fung shue for off-center alien vibes?), to look forward to! W00t!!!
#6
â...the more successful I became, the more suppression I bumped into ⦠especially in the entertainment industry, which really is home to rabid suppression.â
#20
If you knew how many "body thetans" have to be cleared, you might get a little discouraged. Don't go here unless you are feeling strong: ;)
http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/htruebt.htm
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 13:06 Comments ||
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#21
I, for one, welcome our new body thetan overlords....
#22
I hope she would rather deport the illegal aliens backto either Mars, Titan, or Europa (Jupiter Moon, not Continent). Elswise we'd have to send them out of the solar system...
He he he he he - The place to send them can be identified in my post #19... He he he...
Keeping the Faith (2000)
B Stiller, J Elfman, E Norton
Jewish girl in real-life converted to Scientology portrays Catholic girl who converts to Judiasm. She's in love with a Rabbi.
#23
Laugh now but illegal alliens are already working at McRonalds where there 8 plams give them a competitive edge against the lexans. I say strap your blue mattress of love back on the side of your saucer and GO!
President Fidel Castro called the U.S.-led war in Iraq a "brutal bombing spectacle," and criticized the Bush administration for its spending on the war. In comments televised Friday from a speech two days earlier, Castro said the billions of dollars being spent in Iraq "won't cure AIDS, won't cure any disease, won't cure anybody." Meanwhile, he said in the speech to a workers' congress in Havana, Cuba exports thousands of doctors to needy countries. "Mr. Bush put forth 15 billion dollars, and with that the world moved on to the stage of the Iraq war, that brutal bombing spectacle," Castro said in remarks lasting nearly three hours. "But what is needed over there is a man, a revolutionary doctor who can save lives. And that's what we have."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Castro said the billions of dollars being spent in Iraq "wonât cure AIDS, wonât cure any disease, wonât cure anybody."
-thanks for the input.
"But what is needed over there is a man, a revolutionary doctor who can save lives. And thatâs what we have."
-hey, you can still have Howard Dean if you want him, sheesh.
#3
US budget $11,000,000,000,000 (2003 Est). Cuba Budget $11 and spare change. No, literally, spare change? Guess he's jealous. 'Course he'd just buy military unforms and award himself medals if he had it. The lack of fashion sense is odd, too, since he seems to have a Queer Eye thingy going on in the pic.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is disturbed that the Russian government is planning to deport Yuri Bagrov, a journalist who has covered the North Caucasus for The Associated Press and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in retaliation for his independent reporting on the war in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.
An official from the Interior Ministry's Passport and Visa Service in the North Ossetian capital of Vladikavkaz came to Bagrov's office today and summoned him to the passport office tomorrow morning to be informed of his pending deportation, Bagrov said in a telephone interview with CPJ today.
The official told Bagrov that the Federal Security Services (FSB) has issued a document declaring that he is "residing illegally in the Russian Federation," and that the Leninsky Court in Vladikavkaz will issue an order regarding his deportation. Bagrov does not know to where he will be deported.
In December, the Leninsky Court convicted Bagrov on criminal charges of knowingly using falsified documents to obtain Russian citizenship. The journalist appealed the verdict in January before the Supreme Court of North Ossetia but lost the appeal.
Bagrov has received death threats, is being prevented from working as a journalist by local authorities, and is unable to travel outside Vladikavkaz because government officials have invalidated and confiscated his identity documents.
"We are alarmed by the Russian government's efforts to deport Yuri Bagrov and call on President Vladimir Putin to ensure that local authorities protect him, provide him with identity papers, allow him to continue working as a journalist, and ensure that the charges against him are not politically motivated," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said.
On August 25, 2004, agents from the local FSB branch raided Bagrov's apartment, his office, and his mother's apartment.
FSB agents presented a court order authorizing them to search for weapons, ammunition, drugs, and forgery-related items. They confiscated Bagrov's passport and other personal documents, personal and work computers, computer disks, film, tape recorder and tapes, and his wife's diaries, according to local and international press reports.
Several unidentified men followed him for several days after the raid, Bagrov said. Also during that time, unidentified assailants stole his wife's passport.
Bagrov has reported for the AP since 1999, writing numerous stories that included closely held casualty figures for Russian military and police forces in Chechnya, information that sometimes differed from the official figures.
Bagrov is also known for investigative reporting, including a February 10, 2004, story on the radicalization of Chechen rebels and a May 24, 2004, story on a wave of mysterious abductions in the southern republic of Ingushetia.
A top Chinese Communist Party official on Saturday headed to North Korea on a diplomatic mission to draw the isolated Stalinist regime back to stalled disarmament talks. Wang Jiarui, head of the diplomatic department of the Chinese Communist Party, was flying to Pyongyang. During his visit, he was expected to try and persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table. It was not immediately clear how long the trip would be.
Restarting the six-country talks has taken on greater urgency since North Korea declared last week that it is a nuclear power. The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. North Korea says it is boycotting the talks until Washington abandons what the North says is a hostile policy toward the secretive nation. Washington hopes Beijing — Pyongyang's last major ally — will use its economic influence on North Korea to get it to stop developing nuclear weapons. China is an indispensable source of fuel and trade for the impoverished North.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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A top Chinese Communist Party official on Saturday headed to North Korea on a diplomatic mission to draw the isolated Stalinist regime back to stalled disarmament talks.
Why is it that the first image the comes to mind is of Darth Vader's initial visit to the Death Star?
#5
Why restart the 6 Party Talks? It just becomes a forum for the NORKS to rant and rave. The ball is in China's court. If they do not want a nuclear armed Japan AND Taiwan, they better shuffle on down to Kimmie Town and adjust his idle screw.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/19/2005 14:25 Comments ||
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#6
# 4 Shipman # 5 Alaska Paul- LETS HOPE FOR A GOOD FORTUNE INSIDE THE COOKIE, OR OUR COOKIES
MAY CRUMBLE!!
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/19/2005 14:28 Comments ||
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#7
I've given up my slave name, I'm now Flomoting Slolung7595
#8
China cooperates in squashing Kim or they lose access to Amercian markets!
THAT would eventually eliminate the Chinese Communists. It will soon be Kim or them. I really expect Kim to have an unfortunate accident in the next year or two. He has gone "beyond insane".
#1
Oops, page 2
The Indymediots are getting hysterical over the activities of the Protest Warriors and similar conservative groups. This once again proves that left conformists are very easily intimidated, probably the reason they are lefties in the first place:
Commies kill dissidents, Republicans don't; safer to be a commie.
Jihadis issue fatwas, Jews don't; better to support the jihadis.
#2
There is, in fact, a worldwide groundswell of resistance to leftist intimidation, lies, incitement, and mob rule.
Besides the PW and other campus dissidents, we have incidents like the Ward Churchill cancellations, the take-down of the lynched soldier effigy in Sacramento, and the quite amazing resistance put up by British oil traders to a GreenPeace invasion.
I think this is related to the ongoing collapse of the institutional media, whose authority has served as an impenetrable shield for leftist agitators for decades.
The truth about these depraved power-seekers, the pop-left axis, has always leaked out around the edges of the media shield. Now those leaks have become a flood and people are fighting back.
#4
Indy media isn't even a bad joke. They are as closed minded as they come. Mostly they serve as a front for international wannabe anarcho-terrorists and violent transnational socialists. When I read the claim that there is no liberal bias in higher education I stopped reading and started skimming. They make the same kinds of claims for the media having a âright wing biasâ. Now knowing the rest of the article would be a pile of unconnected facts strung together with fabrications to prove this fellows claims of a right wing âcorporatistâ plot against higher education I proceeded to skim. I also knew to this clown would claim conservative student groups are akin something as evil as fascists. These people hate it when people fight back. Their idea of free speech is shouting others down. A free press is vandalizing your paper rack or stealing your pamphlets. Free speech is roughing you up and trashing your signs. These Indy Media types are the guys wearing the black balaclavas, hurling bricks, rocks and fireworks at the police. They are the ones starting riots and looting stores at international conferences.
I am all for treating people in a civil way but in the case of these types, having been around them from my youth up until now. I say slug them first before they slug you. You can not trust one word they say as they are just trying to get over on you. They have no morals or scruples. Total wastes of human skin that it is not safe to turn your back on.
#5
I don't visit too many Leftwing sites, but I have been struck recently by how defeatist they are - 'We are losing and its going to get worse'. Well, for once I agree with them for the reason AC states.
#11
The left thinks it's the 1960's again. Unfortunately it's more like the 1930's / 1940's.
More like the 1770s.
I've been reading "Undercover", the story of an American immigrant who went under cover among the fascist groups in the US in the 1930s. The organizations he describes -- their tactics, language, anger, and organization -- more closely resemble the modern left than the modern right.
Heck, some of their rhetoric -- particularly their hatred of democracy and antisemitism -- sounds the same, too.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/19/2005 12:36 Comments ||
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SPOD -- Current leftist theory says there is no such thing as free speech. Their dogma states that free speech is actually a tool of oppression, since, if people are free to make their own minds up, they may come to conclusions that are against their own class/race interests.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/19/2005 12:38 Comments ||
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#13
"we're not leftists, we're progressives" who fight progress....riiiggghhtt
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/19/2005 12:45 Comments ||
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Police in Nepal arrested 57 opposition protesters Friday as King Gyanendra plunged the Himalayan country into a communications blackout, cutting phone service to thwart efforts to organize nationwide rallies against his recent seizure of power. The rallies, scheduled for Nepal's annual celebration of democracy called Democracy Day, were the first major protests planned against the king. Only eight protesters showed up in the capital, Katmandu, and they were promptly arrested. The poor turnout could be attributed to the king cutting phone services for almost 10 hours Friday and authorities detaining dozens of opposition leaders after he assumed power Feb. 1.
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on North Korea to return to nuclear-arms negotiations, saying the U.S. and its allies did not want to resort to ``other measures to force compliance. Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and their Japanese counterparts, meeting for security consultations today in Washington, issued a joint statement saying the six-nation series of talks was North Korea's only route to normal relations with the rest of the world.
``They ought to return to those talks so that people don't have to contemplate other measures, Rice told reporters during a question session at the end of the talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Defense Minister Yoshinori Ohno.
Dang, she's been taking speaking lessons from Rummie.
Tensions in the standoff increased earlier this month when North Korea publicly confirmed that it had built a complete nuclear bomb and wouldn't return to talks, accusing the U.S. of hostile policies. Former Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet told U.S. lawmakers a year ago that the intelligence agency concluded that North Korea already had nuclear bombs. The Bush administration has said that, although it has no plans to use military force against North Korea, it won't rule out future options.
Machimura joined Rice today in warning the North Koreans. ``Should we let the time slip by, I think it will only worsen the situation, he told the news briefing, according to a State Department translation. ``I'm sure that the international community will then become tougher with North Korea, Machimura said. ``And I believe that before it happens, the early return of the North Koreans to the negotiating table would be of interest for the North Koreans themselves, and I think they should be aware of that. See, we can be as tough as the female.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/19/2005 3:24:22 PM ||
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hi again all :) .Always lurking but rarely comment , through time restriction but this i had to comment on, how fantastic the 'Other Measures' threat is, how mysterious, kinda like we'll 'use the force' but more threatning and fun .They can keep thier 'Sea of Fires' and 'Great Satan' shit while we'll go with this. Wonder what Kimmie and the Mullahs too will say about this, (seething in 4,3,2,1...) . Other Measures eh, Atomic Measures? Hydrogen based Atomic Measures? On a side note how wonderfull America now has Condi in place of colleen, sorry colin powell, I think a betting system is needed, perhaps everyone gets 1 day to choose as thier date for anhilation of Iran, im serious i'll go with mmmmm, November 24th 2005 is my guess, whys that u shout, cos it my birhtday, don't know what i'll win but how about it Fred? we all pay in say a 10 dollers or whatever through paypal or something/ 50% goes to rantburg the rest to the winner who guesses the correct day? Sounds good to me and i bet others will enjoy it, could be a huge hit, i can see it now " Pick A Mullah Day". Have fun all , cya :)
Posted by: Shep UK ||
02/19/2005 16:23 Comments ||
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Iran has begun preparing for a possible U.S. attack, announcing efforts to bolster and mobilize recruits in citizens' militias and making plans to engage in the type of "asymmetrical" warfare used against American troops in neighboring Iraq...
"Iran would respond within 15 minutes to any attack by the United States or any other country," an Iranian official close to the hard-line camp, which runs the country's security and military apparatus, said on the condition of anonymity.
In recent days, Iranian newspapers have announced efforts to increase the number of the country's 7-million-strong "Basiji" militia forces, which were deployed in human wave attacks against Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. Iranian military authorities have paraded long-range North Korean-designed Shahab missiles before television cameras. Iranian generals have conducted massive war games near the Iraqi border.
One Western military expert based in Tehran said Iran was sharpening its abilities to wage a guerrilla war. "Over the last year they've developed their tactics of asymmetrical war, which would aim not at resisting a penetration of foreign forces, but to then use them on the ground to all kinds of harmful effect," he said on the condition of anonymity.
It remains unclear how much of the recent military activity amounts to an actual mobilization and how much is a propaganda ploy. Iranian officials and analysts have said they want to highlight the potential costs of an attack on Iran to raise the stakes for U.S. officials considering such a move and to frighten a war-weary American public...
Iran, in addition to developing plans for guerrilla warfare against an invading army, also is attempting to give the impression that it is bolstering its conventional forces. In December, Iran announced its largest war games "ever," deploying 120,000 troops as well as tanks, helicopters and armored vehicles along its western border. More recently, Iran's press reported that the Iranian air force had received orders to engage any plane that violates Iranian airspace. These reports followed the disclosure that unmanned American drone planes have been monitoring Iranian nuclear sites. "It is obvious that with Iran surrounded by the United States forces and America pressing the nuclear issue, Iran wants to make a show of force," said a Western diplomat from Tehran, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Iran's army includes 350,000 active-duty soldiers and 220,000 conscripts. Its eliteby non-Western standards Revolutionary Guards number 120,000, many of them draftees. Its navy and air force total 70,000 men. The armed forces have about 2,000 tanks, 300 combat aircraft, three submarines, hundreds of helicopters and at least a dozen Russian-made Scud missile launchers of the type Saddam Hussein used against Israel during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Iran also has an undetermined number of Shahab missiles based on North Korean designs that have ranges of up to 1,500 miles.
But both outside military experts and Iranians concede that the country's antiquated conventional hardware, worn down by years of U.S. and European sanctions, would be little match for the high-tech weaponry of the United States. "Most of Iran's military equipment is aging or second-rate and much of it is worn," military expert Anthony Cordesman wrote in a December 2004 assessment of Iran's military. He said Iran lost between 50 percent and 60 percent of its military equipment in the Iran-Iraq war, "and it has never had large-scale access to the modern weapons and military technology necessary to replace them."
Iran's highly classified Quds forces, which have a global network of operatives and answer directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, could create a myriad of woes outside Iran's borders. In neighboring Iraq, where the United States says Tehran already has been interfering, many brush off the current low-level infiltration as minor compared with the damage Tehran is capable of unleashing. "If Iran wanted, it could make Iraq a hell for the United States," Hamid al-Bayati, Iraq's deputy foreign minister, said in a recent interview.
#1
de Borchgrave, who has a "thing" for the Iranian regime - call it fear - as he did pre-Iraq and even pre-Afghanistan (Those winters, wow, nobody can take those!), sends someone to get a story tailored to his personal agenda and beliefs. Yawn. *golf clap*
I once respected this guy, thought he was pithy, insightful, learned, even wise. That was before I had the slightest inkling I was being manipulated. Now, well, now I think he's just a rather urbane cocktail circuit whore - smoother than the average MSM asshole, but no better or more ethical. Sad.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/19/2005 16:18 Comments ||
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It is so cruel that the Kurds in Iran have to go without natural gas when the mullahs get cold.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=6263
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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#6
How do you get 120,000 elite Revolutionary Guard troops from draftees? Geeze louise! Send over a few drones and satellite and they go bonkers. [Thought I imagine special forces clando ops are sticking in their craws]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/19/2005 16:32 Comments ||
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#7
As in Iraq, "elite" there obviously means something entirely different than "elite" here.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 16:39 Comments ||
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#8
I liked the part about the elite Revolutionary Guards... who are mostly comprised of draftees! LOL! Why is it all of these "elite" units aren't as good as the most broke-dick, undermanned, spent all Saturday night at drill drinking hooch, National Guard postal detachment? C'mon Arnaud. Most of us caught on to that one after the second time we crushed the Iraqi Republican Guard.
My guess is that no Basiji unit would even get close to launching a human wave attack. Our UAVs would spot them in their assembly areas and before they could say Allahu Akbar, they'd be clobbered with ICM.
As far as an insurgency, why would we even occupy the Persian heartland where we would be most exposed? Go in there in and take away the nukes, but all we really need to control are the Kurdish and Arab areas (especially the later, where all the oil is). After that, we wouldn't need to worry about a nuclear Iran. Do you think that Putin, AQ Khan, Kimmy and the rest are going to want to sell their technology for dirt, goats, and mountains?
#9
I think if an invasion occurs, this time, we'll make sure to wipe out the Iranian military. Every last one of them. But air attacks are much more likely. The regime will stay in place, but its military capabilities will be hobbled. Kind of like Saddam Hussein's before Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Article: "If Iran wanted, it could make Iraq a hell for the United States," Hamid al-Bayati, Iraqâs deputy foreign minister, said in a recent interview.
Somehow, I doubt this - as far as I'm concerned, the Iranians have shot their wad. But now we know whose side this guy is on.
#11
TGA . . . very, very good . . .I like that one . .
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/19/2005 17:58 Comments ||
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Eh, maybe they could make Iraq much more uncomfortable for us.. maybe we'd accept their DoW. I think they'd rather use Syria as a proxy to test what our response is.
#14
Human wave attack - I can't believe he even brought that up. Last I heard of that was some years back playing ASL....a replay of the fight for the tractor factory in Stalingrad. All it's good for is tying down a couple of HMGs...and that's only temporary. Stick to what you know Borchgrave - stay with the Sapphire.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/19/2005 22:23 Comments ||
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#15
Basij, meet Gatling.
Posted by: ed ||
02/19/2005 22:45 Comments ||
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#16
we oughta be broadcasting to the Basij the admin "human wave" comments along with the previous "success/caualty" rates for the waves against lesser trained and armed forces, along with video - I'm thinking a music video
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/19/2005 22:50 Comments ||
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#17
The Revolutionary Guards are paramilitary police, not a military force. Otherwise, the Mullahs are looking down the road and see they are going to lose Kurdistan and Khuzestan and they will go back to being the world's biggest exporter of pistachios.
#18
Didn't Iraq also prepare for a possible American invasion in early 2003? That worked really well for them, and Iran fought Saddam's army to a standstill.... Still, I suppose it gives them something to do while they wait, and it makes it easier for us to find their weapons when the time comes.
#19
Keep busy is all they can do - doesn't make a difference. The average recruit knows that we cut through Saddam's Iraq $h!t through a goose. That leaves only the fanatic, and that's just another term for fodder. The only real variable is how we decide to proceed.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/19/2005 23:41 Comments ||
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Saturday that popular agitation against Syria's grip on Lebanon after the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri could plunge the country back into civil war.
Opposition leaders are urging Lebanese to join a peaceful "independence uprising" to free their country from Syria's military and political dominance, intensifying a war of words after Hariri's assassination in a huge bomb blast Monday. "God forbid, if the roof collapses, it collapses on all of us," any way we can give that roof a little nudge? Nasrallah told tens of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims gathered for Ashura, the most solemn event in their calendar.
"Today we are responsible for a nation that came out of the civil war ... but we face acute problems, especially this year and in the past few months," the black-turbaned cleric declared. "As Lebanese, we have no choice for remedying our crises and problems except to discuss and meet, even if we are angry and tense," he said. "We must not repeat the mistakes of the past." yeh. there's all kinds of new ones to make.
Hizbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, is now a formidable Lebanese political party as well as an anti-Israel guerrilla force that still controls much of south Lebanon since helping end a 22-year Israeli occupation in May 2000. The death of Hariri, a wealthy Sunni Muslim businessman, sparked an outpouring of public grief mixed with anger against Syria, instinctively held responsible by many Lebanese.
The anti-Syrian sentiments now uniting many of Lebanon's Christians, Druze and Sunnis have not been voiced by Shi'ite leaders counted among the most loyal allies of Damascus. Shi'ites form the country's biggest religious community.
Hizbollah, the only militia to retain its guns openly since the civil war ended, could come under intense pressure to disarm, in line with United Nations.
Nasrallah called for a speedy investigation into Hariri's killing, but rejected international involvement in Lebanon.
The United States, which this week recalled its ambassador from Damascus in response to the bombing, told Syria Friday to cooperate in the investigation or face further sanctions. Washington imposed some economic sanctions in May, including a ban on U.S. exports to Syria other than food and medicine. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Syria could avoid further punishment by changing its policies. "We are not trying to isolate Syria, what we are trying to do is to get Syria to engage in more responsible behavior," she said. or else
The United States has not blamed Syria for Hariri's assassination and Damascus has denied involvement. publicly
Washington has previously told Syria to withdraw its 14,000 troops from its tiny neighbor, crack down on Iraqi insurgents and stop backing Hizbollah and Palestinian militant groups. The Beirut government has rejected U.S. and French calls for an international inquiry into Hariri's killing, but the United Nations has asked an Irish policeman to lead a U.N. team to report on its "circumstances, causes and consequences." Deputy police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald is expected to leave for Beirut in the next few days, a U.N. spokesman said.
The Bush administration wants Security Council members to consider measures that could be taken against Hariri's killers but it was unclear how many council members would agree. In September, France and the United States engineered a council resolution demanding Syrian troops get out of Lebanon. That measure, resolution 1559, squeaked through 9-0, the minimum number of votes required, with six abstentions. Nasrallah attacked the resolution as an Israeli-inspired measure that would not bring Lebanon sovereignty, freedom and independence, as some Lebanese imagined. "There is another viewpoint that says this resolution will ruin the country and make it hostage to international powers and enemy powers, specifically Israel," he said. "The demands made in 1559 are entirely Israeli demands." does syria script this stuff for him or do they just give him talking points?
Posted by: PlanetDan ||
02/19/2005 8:31:17 AM ||
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#1
Nowhere to run to, Nasrallah, if your little sandbox gets tipped over? Somewhere there's a Hellfire with your name on it.
#2
Iran might welcome him. Be nice to see him thinking he's got away, only to find himself swinging from a Teheran lamppost with the rest of the mullahs and ayatollahs, no?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/19/2005 11:51 Comments ||
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#3
Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Saturday that popular agitation against Syriaâs grip on Lebanon after the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri could plunge the country back into civil war.
There's nothing quite like endearing yourself to the local population...
#4
"does syria script this stuff for him or do they just give him talking points?"
I thought it was Iran that gave him his talking points. His organization is the biggest threat to a peaceful Lebanon. Why does this Fascist fear a free Lebanon? Because he has no place in one.
#9
Hezbollah has some interesting times in front of it.
Right now, they have fatwa upon fatwa that says they won't attack the Lebanese but their only real leverage is the thought that they would turn themselves into suicide bombers against the Maronites, Sunnis, Druse, etc.
BEIRUT - Opposition figures urged Lebanese to join what they called an independence uprising against Syria's grip on Lebanon on Friday, escalating a war of words after former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri's assassination.
Lebanese Tourism Minister Farid al-Khazen resigned in another sign of the country's political turbulence, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad named his brother-in-law, Major-General Asef Shawkat, as head of military intelligence to replace retiring Major-General Hassan Khalil.
Tighting up the loyal inner circle.
Khazen, a Maronite Christian, became the first minister to quit because of the assassination and said he had done so because the Syrian-backed government was unable to "remedy the dangerous situation in the country". "There is no substitute for national dialogue on the basis of the Taif agreement," he said, referring to the deal that ended a 1975-1990 civil war and committed Syria to moving the troops it keeps in Lebanon to the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and figures from the disparate opposition movement blamed the government and its Syrian backers for Hariri's death and called for its resignation. They urged Lebanese to back a peaceful "independence uprising" -- the first time they had used the term. It was not immediately clear what form of protest the uprising would take.
Parliament must also suspend all debate unrelated to the assassination, they told a news conference, until the truth about who killed Hariri emerged. "All the Lebanese are with Hariri, a free Lebanon and Syrian withdrawal," Jumblatt told reporters earlier. Hariri moved towards a similar position in the months before his death.
Lebanese of all religious beliefs have flocked to Hariri's grave to bring flowers and light candles since his funeral on Wednesday turned into a mass anti-Syrian street protest. Several hundred people marched towards the grave on Friday evening shouting independence slogans.
This is getting serious. The Djinn's outta the bottle.
Financial markets were busy but mostly stable on their first trading day since Hariri's death, despite tension and US President George W. Bush's latest demand for Syria to pull out its 14,000 troops. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States wanted to force Syria to change its policies, which would help remove the threat of further sanctions. "We are not trying to isolate Syria, what we are trying to do is to get Syria to engage in more responsible behaviour," Rice told reporters in Washington.
The United Nations said it had chosen an Irish deputy police commissioner, Peter Fitzgerald, to lead a UN team that is to report on the "circumstances, causes and consequences" of Hariri's assassination.
Oh, that'll work well.
Officials said President Emile Lahoud had finally gone to pay condolences to Hariri's relatives, who had refused to let him attend Wednesday's funeral. He told them he would do all he could to find the killers, a statement from his office said.
He's hiring O.J. to find them, what else can he do?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2005 12:55:00 AM ||
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"What a shithole. Where's the pub?"
Posted by: Peter Fitzgerald ||
02/19/2005 12:21 Comments ||
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#2
Jumblatt's turned against his patrons?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/19/2005 12:24 Comments ||
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Several European countries are involved in the groundbreaking project to construct a huge science and technology park in the north of Tehran, said a local official on Wednesday. Amir Hossein-Zadeh, deputy governor of Damavand for financial and planning affairs, told IRNA that private Iranian companies have pledged to contribute rls 250 bln (nearly $28 mln) to the project, which would be launched later this year. "European countries are assisting private companies in Iran in building the park," he said, stressing that the assistance will take the form of scientific cooperation.
Well, that's different then.
He further noted that Canada is willing to participate in a project to construct a tourist resort in Damavand, stressing that rls 2.5 bln (nearly $284,000) has been earmarked for conducting feasibility studies on the project. The official further noted that a foodstuff packaging unit has been constructed in northern Tehran."The city can now export agriculture products directly to other countries," he said.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/19/2005 12:35:43 AM ||
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#1
This 'soft power' solution is more expensive than we thought. But at least it comes with guarantees. Peace in our time!
Posted by: EU ||
02/19/2005 7:23 Comments ||
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#2
"...the assistance will take the form of scientific cooperation."
You know: splitting atoms, converting one element to another, separating isotopes, stuff like that.
#3
How nice, Canada building a tourist resort in Iran. Is that where the goons'll kill and beat the shit out of more of your citizen journalists with nary a peep out of you?
#5
Now we can expand on my target practice when I go can shooting.
Posted by: Nationalis ||
02/19/2005 13:21 Comments ||
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#6
Let's see: Euros put in $28 million, Canadians put in $284,000. We should top that. Hmmmm... What's the pricetag on a nuclear warhead? We'll throw in the ICBM delivery for free.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 13:28 Comments ||
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#7
Daisy Cutters are cleaner than nukes, Tom. I'm not sure about comparative effectiveness, though.
President Mohammad Khatami, whose regime is in the US firing line over its nuclear activities, voiced Iran's support Thursday for Syria and radical anti-Israeli groups. "We respect the Syrians who are in the frontline in the fight against the Zionist regime and we salute their legitimate struggle to recover their occupied lands," he said after talks with visiting Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri. "We support the resistance in Lebanon and all those fighting the (Israeli) occupation," he was quoted as saying. Otri on Wednesday said Iran and Syria should form a "united front" against threats from abroad, in an apparent reference to the intense US pressure against both regimes.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/19/2005 12:10:23 AM ||
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"Khatami backs Syria and anti-Israel groups"
In other news, a sharp-shinned hawk ate a chickadee.
Salameh Nematt Al-Hayat 2005/02/17 He wanted to be a Lebanese and Arab nationalist at the same time and so he walked on the rope, full of bombs, of the joint two tracks until it exploded. Perhaps he did not know that the beating heart of Arab nationalism, which he was disillusioned to think he can satisfy with the game of balance on ropes, had stopped some time ago and that its flame has moved to Baghdad⊠before it burnt out there when its advocate was found in a holeâŠ
He walked on a tight rope between two fires but unfortunately there is no middle ground between the paradise of the country and the hell of Arab nationalism: he opposed the extension of Lahoud's term and then signed the amendment of the constitution⊠so that he would not cut the rope. He played a biased game: for does the "trusteeship authority" accept middle solutions? He wanted to be a partner but they wanted him an agent or a supporter like the other "supporters" and it did not help him that his people and the world were along his side⊠for there is no balance in that dirty game, and no one is immuneâŠ
Who killed him? They are the same ones that filled up mass graves in Iraq. The same who seek to burn out every beam of freedom no matter from where it shines. The same people who fought to the death to foil the elections in Iraq and Palestine and seek to foil and forge it in Lebanon. Hasn't Walid Jumblatt finally made his decision between Arab nationalism and freedom? Was it his early decision that saved him from a definite fate, considering that making up his mind made the hunt difficult and would have exposed the hunter? We do not know. Nevertheless, the Lebanese know who assassinated the leaders of their independence from Riad Solh⊠to Rafiq Al Hariri. Yet, the killer is pursuing his crimes until the last breath, when he would collapse into his hole. It is sheer malevolence. Why do the remnants of the fallen regime in Baghdad continue their crimes after more than a year on the collapse and political bankruptcy of their leader?
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from Beirut's most recent crime; it is that there can be no truce with those that do not know the difference between partnership and political servitude. The reconcilers, in the name of brotherhood or Arabism, might benefit every now and then, yet, in the end, they dig their political graves with their own hands, at least in the eyes of their people who denounce them and look toward their natural right of freedom from servitude and guardianship.
The most important lesson for the Lebanese and others is that there can be no subordination and independence and that there is no difference between oppression by an occupying enemy and oppression by a neighboring brother. Oppression is one and the result is one no matter how numerous the reasons or different the conditions. It remains for the Lebanese people and the peoples under crises in the Arab region to become aware that the biggest problem is not with external enemies; real or imagined. The enemy lives within and inside anyone who justifies oppression and subordination as a way to fight an external enemy. He who is defeated from within can win nothing on the exteriorâŠ
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Apparently heâs willing to take the chance. Are we? I doubt it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
I doubt it as well, but there goes the security council resolution out the window. I can only imagine how hard the mullahs where shaking in their boots over the prospect of that.
Looks like sorting this out will be up to those damn crazy Cowboys and/or evil Jooooos.
#4
Putin needs foreign exchange and he needs to keep his nuclear industry active for future use. He's not afraid of Tehran -- he could wipe it off the map in 30 minutes if he needed to. Why would Iranian-supported nuclear terrorists attack a member of the Iran/Syria/Russia axis if they could attack the U.S./Israel axis instead?
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 12:47 Comments ||
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#5
Putin should go back to playing his part in Lord of the Rings.
Lebanon's political opposition has called for an "intifada for independence" as it stepped up it attacks on the government. In a significant escalation of its feud with the government in the wake of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, the opposition added that all parliamentary business is on hold until Hariri's murderers are identified. Speaking from Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt's residence in Clemenceau Qornet Shehwan Gathering member Samir Franjieh said: "In response to the criminal and terrorist policy of the Lebanese and Syrian authorities, the opposition declares a democratic and peaceful intifada [uprising] for independence." He added: "We demand the departure of the illegitimate regime." When asked why the opposition didn't resign from Parliament as many people had expected, Samir Franjieh said: "We will not grant the authorities our resignation. The parliamentary seats are the people's property."
Prime Minister Omar Karami responded by calling the opposition's demands "a project to topple the government." Speaking after Friday's Cabinet session, Karami said: "If the Syrian security apparatus leaves Lebanon, it would create chaos." The escalation of the current row comes at the same time as Lebanese Tourism Minister Farid Khazen resigned from the Cabinet, saying the government was not capable of running the country at this crucial period. Khazen said his resignation was due what he called his "personal convictions and my sense of national responsibility." Khazen said there is no substitute for dialogue based on the Taif Accord. He was replaced by Wadih Khazen, who is not an MP. Monday's upcoming parliamentary session looks set for chaos as the opposition insisted it will not discuss the draft electoral law until a full debate is held on Hariri's murder and the attempt on the life, last year of Chouf MP Marwan Hamade and Syrian troops are withdrawn from Lebanon. The refusal to discuss the electoral law could delay this May's parliamentary elections. Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh was dismissive of the opposition but still took time to warn them against inciting tensions in the wake of this week's tragic events. He said: "Should security be tampered with, the government will not stand unmoved, and the army will be given the order to act." But despite the warning he added: "It is not worth announcing a state of emergency."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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"In response to the criminal and terrorist policy of the Lebanese and Syrian authorities, the opposition declares a democratic and peaceful intifada [uprising] for independence." He added: "We demand the departure of the illegitimate regime."
Democratic and peaceful intifada....Interesting marriage of adjectives and nouns. Hope it works out. Demanding a departure of the illegitimate regime without some kind of a stick to back oneself up seems like an assisted suicide move, IMHO.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/19/2005 17:04 Comments ||
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I'm actually following this with glee and deep interest, since I don't think the Syrians actually did do it. I think it really was al-Qaeda, or more likely a spinoff of al-Qaeda, maybe some of the Ein el-Hellhole goons. Now Baby Assad's taking the heat. He earned the heat by playing in the terror game without having a talent for it. When the history books are written, this will likely be seen as the beginning of the end for the Baathists in Syria.
Lebanese opposition leader Walid Jumblatt said that assassinated former Premier Rafik Hariri had hinted to him that he may be killed days before his assassination. Jumblatt said he had had a meeting with Hariri two weeks ago. Jumblatt said: "Hariri told me something was going to happen and that it is either for you or for me." His comments marked a sharp escalation of his war of words with Damascus and the Lebanese government in which he directly blamed Syrian intelligence for the assassination. He added that Wednesday's huge funeral procession for Hariri showed that Lebanese people have now come together with one voice against Syrian interference in their affairs. Jumblatt said: "He got killed, and we are all on the list. There is no immunity." He added: "The problem is that if you say no in politics you get killed. There is no dialogue."
That's kinda the Muddle East all over, ain't it?
Commenting on the huge turnout for Hariri's funeral Jumblatt said: "They managed to hit the strongest chain of the opposition. But what they did not know, what the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence did not know is that they would unite the whole country against them."
Brilliant, wasn't it?
During an interview carried by the Hariri owned television channel Al-Mustaqbal Thursday night Jumblatt said Hariri's support for UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, was the main factor in his murder. He said: "For the last 10 to 15 years they have been controlling the country with an iron hand. Who could do this besides them?" Describing the number of anti-Syrian slogans that dominated the mourners cries during the funeral, he said: "The Lebanese people have proved how much Syria is responsible, they simply stated it for all the world to hear."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Eh, Jumblatt has a valid point, Who could do this besides them?
It might've just been a wink or a nod...
#3
Well I assume it was Syria. But Iran has more to lose if Syria pulls out. Iran has no other way to protect Hizballah. The Christians and Sunni sure as hell don't care for them. I am going for Iran/Hizballah with Syrian passive help.
#5
Y'know, if Jumblatt gets his timing just right, he can diss the Syrians as they leave, be seen to be laying a boot to their asses and appear a Lebanese National Hero, instead of a murdering factional scumbag.
#7
if imad mugnayah didn't do this--i'll jump off druse mountain--the iranians needed this instability to muddle the m/e while they centrifuge their way to nukedom--their syrian clients [mukhabbarat] had no way to say no since the family business was threatened--it goes all the way back to herodotus--tangled web--multiple objectives--overdetermined in the freudian sense--better plot than the davinci code
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/19/2005 4:27 Comments ||
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#8
Lets call it the Kurdistan Syndrome. Various groups have figured out that there may be an opportunity for their own quasi-state. Jumblatt is pitching for Druzistan.
Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah directly accused the Israeli intelligence of perpetrating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Friday, as the Prayer for the Absent, which is usually reserved for high-ranking personalities such as kings, was held on Friday in Mecca and all the Lebanese mosques to pray for the soul of Hariri and the victims of the blast. "Israel has exerted violence on the region since its establishment, and allied with the American intelligence in order to implement corruption through political assassinations and attacks on the people of many countries," Fadlallah said.
The cleric's statements came during his Friday sermon delivered at Al-Imamayn al-Hassanayn Mosque in Haret Hreik, in the presence of many political, social and religious figures. According to Fadlallah, the Israeli intelligence was responsible for Hariri's assassination because Israel "did not want Lebanon to be a secure and stable country," and was taking advantage of UN Security Council resolution 1559 to stir political conflicts. He added that Hariri's assassination was within the framework of the "American strategy of political violence" aimed at weakening the Arab world, which spread throughout the region following the American occupation of Iraq and the toppling of its totalitarian regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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He knows he is lying when he blames Israel. Too dumb to even be scumb. This is why were are going to have to reduce the population that buys into this death cult. It's a matter of self preservation.
#2
Of course it is the fault of the Jews: if the Jews of Medina just chopped Muhammad and his twenty followers into dog meat upon their arrival, none of this would be happening.
#6
I think the school is still out on the bomb. An analyst on Fox seemed to think there was evidence the bomb was burried under the road as it was a very big explosion. If that is true, my bet would be Syria with Iranian "go ahead".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/19/2005 8:56 Comments ||
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#7
Taking everything being said in the region with a large grain of salt. Deacon Blues is right, the jury is still out on it being a suicide bomb
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 11:05 Comments ||
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#9
Well at first blush I'd have to suspect the Syrians. WHY? Because Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's own people accuse the Syrians. Adding to that chorus, Christian Druze, Other Lebanese groups, western intelligence etc. BUT who the hell really knows with absolute certainty? >> GOD and *uckers who practice such unspeakable crimes.
#11
There is no way it was a car bomb. The crater (about the size from a JDAM, but not quite as deep) shows that the bomb was remotely detonated below ground, probably in a sewer line. The suicide video is designed to create plausible deniability for the Syrians.
Posted by: ed ||
02/19/2005 13:37 Comments ||
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#12
Tom, all accounts have this as a massive bomb, I haven't read or heard anything about it being a car bomb, the crater is way too big. the size and shape of the crater indicate a burried bomb.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/19/2005 13:41 Comments ||
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#13
*Yawn*
Big fat hairy deal.
Mullah Fidd-lah accuses Israel of breathing.
I accuse the mullah of being a pig's horse's ass.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/19/2005 14:05 Comments ||
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#14
# 13 Barbara *yawn* What is the diference between
a pigs ass or a horses ass? SIZE?? Horses tend to be cleaner, which is why I asked.
I just dont understand the part about "framework
of the American strategy of political violence".
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/19/2005 14:12 Comments ||
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#15
OK, Andrea, he's a pig who's also a horse's ass.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/19/2005 14:48 Comments ||
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#16
Barbara- that is a MUCH BETTER clarification.
Remember...ONLY A SKUNK SMELLS HIS OWN HOLE ALSO**
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/19/2005 14:53 Comments ||
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#17
Um..... pigs/swine given the chance are way the bejeus cleaner than horses. I've cleaned too much shit from horse hoofs to even aruge the point.
#18
Hey, now, I have 5 horses and a pig and I resent comparing their asses to Fadlallah. Sunshine, a very pretty little quarter horse, has a fine rump and Elsbeth the Pig is quite cute herself, just ask Half Empty!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/19/2005 16:45 Comments ||
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#19
Shipman I'll aruge the point. Horses in a stall do indeed require frequent cleaning of hooves. Horses in a pasture have several areas they have for equine bioefluent emissions and do not commonly walk in their own horsepookey.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/19/2005 16:48 Comments ||
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#20
#13 "Big fat hairy deal."
Ummm, Barbara,I believe that's a "big hat fairy deal".
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 16:52 Comments ||
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Interior and Municipalities Minister Suleiman Franjieh lashed out at the Progressive Socialist Party President and opposition member Walid Jumblatt, accusing him of holding weapons at his stronghold in Mukhtara despite the disarmament of political parties. Speaking following the Cabinet session on Friday, Franjieh defended Prime Minister Omar Karami and himself against what he called "criticism against their person," stressing that criticism can be addressed democratically but not against one's person.
The minister indicated that based on the opposition's approach, one can point his finger at Jumblatt immediately in case a member of the government was harmed. When asked why the government accused the opposition of collaboration, Franjieh defended the government, saying the opposition has previously called government officials "puppets." According to Franjieh, the opposition's escalation in the current phase meant civil war. "A major national catastrophe could lead the country to ruins," he said. Franjieh said he, as interior minister, assumes the political and moral responsibility for the assassination bid for neglecting security loopholes. "But, I will not accept to be held responsible for the blood of Hariri as the opposition claims," he said, adding that the opposition was "resorting to cheap exploitation of the incident to win parliamentary seats."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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oy yoi yoi--i'd be shorting beirut corniche property in a new york minute--get the green paint--that line is going to be drawn again--bets on who invades el hellhole to whack the palis and salafis--gonna be a run on geneva real estate around lac leman
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/19/2005 4:38 Comments ||
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Nothing like a common external enemy to unite otherwise fractious people.
More than 1 million Afghan refugees are likely to return to Afghanistan in two years with prospects of improved security, but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, says planning should begin soon for those who wish to remain in Pakistan and Iran.
Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday at a high-level meeting of officials from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, Lubbers expressed appreciation to donors for their assistance in the return of more than 3.5 million refugees to Afghanistan since a voluntary repatriation programme began in 2002 following the fall of the Taliban regime.
He said at the meeting co-chaired by UNHCR and the European Commission that it is "absolutely crucial" that donor commitment to the Afghan returns remains high, saying that successful integration is a longer task. "Millions of Afghans have come back to help rebuild their country and we must continue to help them help themselves," he said...
"In the area of security, we have seen improvements in the past few months. It is a step by step process, but slowly we are getting there," he said.
Some donor countries said the situation in Afghanistan has improved enough that it has become possible to discuss a future transition from humanitarian assistance to development activities... Meanwhile, despite an intensive search, armchair academics have yet to locate a single example of the Afghani Quagmire, an unpleasant creature which they expected to find in great numbers, but which has not been seen since the Taliban were forced from power.
Report documenting summary executions, torture, mass arrests and other human rights crimes carried out by former Iraqi government and Baath Party officials in southern Iraq in early 1999
Even I have a gun, like everyone else now. But I have locked it away, and I don't tell my family that I have it. If they find out that I have this gun, they will take it and use it to kill the Ba`th Party members that used to live here, because we know they were responsible for Mustafa's death. ...Even I could not control myself. I have lived my life and I have buried my son... I want justice.
The U.S. Army has only one armored cavalry regiment left, and it is scheduled to be converted to one of the new UA (units of action) brigades next year. That event has triggered a debate in the army over whether the traditional concept of, "fighting for information" is still valid. This approach involves using small units of tanks and other armored vehicles to fight your way into enemy territory, grab prisoners, documents or whatever, and bring it back. Along with your observations, photographs or whatever, you get a good sense of what the enemy is up to. The technique was developed by the Germans during World War II, and adopted by the other armies by the end of the war. The alternative, which is more frequently used, is called "sneak and peek". This means UAVs, aircraft and people on the ground who stay out of the way and just watch... A grievous error, because that is not the only tactical purpose of "light cavalry". Going back to the time of Napoleon, military units were ordered in a way similar to the pieces on a chessboard. Napoleon had some generals who were masters of this "military unit chess", and were able to optimize the use of each "piece" to amazing effect in both the capture of an enemy army at Ulm, and the subsequent battle of Austerlitz, perhaps the greatest maneuver battle ever fought, Napoleon's single army defeating four enemy armies. For you chess players out there, the effect might be to similar to trading in your rooks and knights for four more bishops. On the surface it looks powerful, but if your enemy discovers a flaw in your maneuver, you are defenseless. N.B.: the Soviets ruthlessly adhered to this concept, with such things as designing helicopters to perform the functions of heavy cavalry, and even integrating NBC war to fit this Napoleonic scheme.
#1
Cavalry units were the only integrated combat formation at the Brigade level with their own armor, infantry, artillery, and aviation assets. The new Brigade formations are basically the same thing. This is something that has been discussed for generations in the Army. It appears its what is now coming on line. The Brigades will have the same assets as the old Cav formations, they'll just pick up the 'unique' mission, screening, as another operational function.
#3
#1 mentioned another traditional light cavalry tactic, the screen. However, in combination with other "chess piece" units, they run circles around the more homogenous enemy. For example, light cavalry is superb at hit and run tactics against infantry, supply lines, and heavy (H-K) and headquarters units; finding and opening enemy line weak points; rapid encirclements; and heavy obscuration reconnaisance. As to this last, the *assumption* has to be that the enemy will plan for deception and obscuration, too, which can neutralize much air reconnaisance, and you can't tell for sure unless they lay down fire at you if they are really there or not. Committing a slower unit to finding out could result in their being wiped out. Once again, I would suggest reading a brief on the Ulm-Austerlitz campaign, to see a masterful use of maneuver against a far superior enemy.
#4
It's been more than 20 years since I served in a mechanized theater of operations, but - what are they talking about here? They are talking about converting the one remaining Armored Cav Regiment. What does that have to do with "The end of Armored Cav"? Are there not still Armored Cav squadrons at Division level?
The only isue here is about whether the Cav is grouped together at Division, Regiment, Squadron, or Troop level. Back in the cold war, when USAREUR had to defend from Denmark down to Austria, it pehaps made sense to have two ACR's - the 7th and the 11th - manning the border. And the 3rd ACR exploring the expanses of Ft. Hood. But - when you have smaller theaters of operation, the need for a larger formation under its own headquarters may no longer exist. Maybe better to send out smaller formations that report directly to the unit commander at their rear.
#5
The ACRs are extremely well armed and would have been the first units to fight Soviet tank divisions in Europe. An ACR also led the Army's 2003 drive to Baghdad. Heavy is good (and saves American lives) if you can logistically support them. An ACR has 1/2 the tanks of an armoured division and geared for high tempo combined ops. Though the new UAs seem to take to heart combined ops, an armoured UA seems to have about 1/2 the firepower of an ACR, which is OK if it has 1/2 the manpower. What concerns me is the medium weight Stryker UAs. The Strykers have a striking lack of firepower, and I think will suffer frightful losses if encountering mechanized or attacking dug in forces.
Posted by: ed ||
02/19/2005 21:12 Comments ||
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#6
Cavalry squadrons no longer exist as they once did. Since the division is being retired and the new modular brigade combat teams are coming on line, the divisional cavalry has been divied out between all the brigades and reconfigured to something between a real big troop or a very small squadron called a RSTA squadron (reconnaissance,surveillance,target acquisition). These units are dominated by sensors and are very light on scouts or serious fighting power. For a BCT to screen or guard, they have to use companies from a line battalion therefore depleting thier combat power for maneuver. The RSTAs are very good at "seeing" all kind of things, but there isn't a sensor that can't be decieved, and they just don't have that fighting combat ability.
Very shorly 3rd ACR will be the only true cavalry left and it is up in the air what will happen when they get back from their current rotation to Iraq.
I agree with ed, somebody better hope we don't have to fight somebody with strong mech forces or competent generals...but hope never was a plan.
Take heart however, there was a doctrinal conference recently at FT Benning to address the recon issue and it seems folks across the board are stepping back and taking another look at this monster.
#7
The real controversy is which service is gonna control the new armed UAVS - Army vs Air Force vs Navy. The USA is heading into space - soon enough even our tacair and LR control planes will control their own armed UAVS ags both enemy air and surface targets. What we call wing-mounted "smart" or "brilliant/genius" missles today will have their own submissles.
BAGHDAD — US senator Hillary Clinton, wife of former president Bill Clinton, is expected in Baghdad today, a source at the US embassy said yesterday.
Remember, Hillary, you let the enlisted personnel eat before you even think of picking up a spork.
The source said the five-member delegation would hold talks with Iraqi government officials and members of the national assembly, whose make up was confirmed on Thursday by the electoral commission. Heading the US delegation is John McCain, the Republican senator for Arizona and one-time rival of US President George W. Bush. McCain has been critical of the US administration's policies in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.
We noticed.
The delegation also includes senators Russel Feingold, Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2005 1:13:28 AM ||
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#1
Great, another security show while these people parade around and get their multi hundred thousand dollar pics taken with the troops. Methinks that a few of them will pose with Hillary and extend the knuckle of the middle finger ever so nuanced.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/19/2005 1:49 Comments ||
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#2
Why? Why are any of these grubbers going, wasting tax dollars by the planeload? Most prolly don't even like tea or speak any Arabic.
#5
Difference between a political hack and a real representative of the people - talk with the troops, get the name and address of their family members back home [my god, the 10th out of Fort Drum, New York, is deployed, you don't even have to leave the state to visit], go and talk one on one with a few, quietly, off camera. Go see widows privately as well and thank them for their sacrifice and devotion without publicity. You can get your photo opportunity on the base in front of the command building or 10th Mtn Div statue. The man you want to replace already has done something like this a number of times at other installations. Odds of the senator's staff having a clue?
#8
So Hitlary thinks she's learned her lessons after the last fiasco. OK then, let's see. I'm still bettng the her disconnect is so deep that she'll still end up 100 yr old egg on her face.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
02/19/2005 11:40 Comments ||
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#9
She'll end up being treated the way any other Senator who votes on appropriations but is otherwise despised by many of the individual members of the military gets treated; as briefly as possible.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/19/2005 11:45 Comments ||
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#10
"Hillary Clinton to visit Iraq"
Rumsfeld's reply: "Great, there goes the neighborhood! And we had such great hopes for Iraq!"
Posted by: BA ||
02/19/2005 12:08 Comments ||
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#11
If they had Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy on board, the Iranian air force would offer full protection from any American-fired ground launched missiles.
#14
I understand their egos are coming over by sea.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
02/19/2005 12:51 Comments ||
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#15
US senator Hillary Clinton, wife of former president Bill Clinton
Face it, Hildabeest, you're always going to be thought of as being where you are because of Boffing Billy's coattails.
Even your most Leftist admirers think that, because it's true.
You'll go to your grave knowing that everything you have, you got in the name of BILL CLINTON. And 50 years from now, his name will still be listed in the history books as a past President, while YOURS WON'T.
Have a nice flight to Iraq. And try to have the decency to let the "little people," who are actually protecting your freedom to be a self-centered asshole, eat first.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/19/2005 13:23 Comments ||
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#16
Yes, Barbara- the soldiers should eat first***
US Senator Hillary Clinton is trying hard to out shine her husband, Bill Clinton. Will she get elected the first U.S. President? "NO". About going to her grave...Many feel BILL CLINTON made a total ASS of himself with his behavior/ M.L. case. Many women admire Hillary for being able to hang in there or at least NOT give Monica Lewinsky what she was seeking~~
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/19/2005 13:41 Comments ||
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#17
Andrea - I'm in no way defending billyboy, just stating the fact that he was in fact (barf) elected President and she won't be.
I don't admire Hill for "hanging in there." If she has no respect for herself, why should I respect her?
Your mileage may vary.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/19/2005 14:20 Comments ||
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#18
Barbara- I'm not so sure about "hanging in there" and respect for herself. I think at that moment in her career, HILL had to be STRONG because her other half was NOT. Look at Jackie Kennedy Onassis and what she endured....
I am stating from a womens perspective. I think if you are in the eyes of the public- it would be worse to throw the towel in, like so many other women would do!
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/19/2005 14:24 Comments ||
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#19
Feingold's an honest man. I'll trust him to keep an eye on the Hildebeast.
The U.N. humanitarian chief urgently called on world leaders Friday to vastly increase the number of troops in Sudan's Darfur region to protect unarmed civilians and humanitarian workers facing a wave of murder, rape and looting. Jan Egeland depicted a crisis in which the number of people needing lifesaving assistance could jump from two million to four million if immediate action isn't taken.
Addressing a news conference, Egeland backed a recent U.N. report which found that war crimes and crimes against humanity had taken place in Darfur and called for the perpetrators to be sent to the International Criminal Court. "The armed men in militias are getting away with murder of women and children and it is still happening. Those who direct the militias, these forces are also getting away with murder. It's impunity what we have seen taking place in Darfur," he said. "There should be sanctions. Which ones and against whom? Not for me to decide. There should be more robust action." Egeland said the need for more African Union troops is urgent. While there are 9,000 aid workers in the western Darfur region, there are only about 1,850 soldiers from the African Union, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
But wait . . . I thought there wasn't any genocide . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
02/19/2005 1:12 Comments ||
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#4
They want us to go in and kick out the French and other peacekeepers to stop the genocide? I get the feeling the US military wouldn't mind that job.
#5
Jan Egeland depicted a crisis in which the number of people needing lifesaving assistance could jump from two million to four million if immediate action isnât taken.
#7
The accommodation facilities for UN coordinators who need to coordinate some coordination with lots of other coordinators are just horrible in Darfur.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi in Cairo Thursday to discuss the Middle East peace process, Iraq and a range of other regional issues, the official MENA news agency reported. The two leaders discussed "developments in the situation in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinian issue in light of the Sharm El Sheikh summit," said MENA. Egypt hosted a summit on February 8 at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, which ended with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas declaring an end to hostilities. "The discussions touched on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and how to maintain the momentum achieved" during the summit, presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad told reporters.
MENA said Mubarak and Qadhafi also discussed the situation in Iraq and Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur, where conflict between the government and local rebels has left tens of thousands dead. They "agreed on the need to support efforts by the African Union to resolve the crisis in Darfur within an African framework," said Awad, who added that they were against "internationalisation of the situation or crisis." They also reviewed conditions in the Arab world in the aftermath of the assassination Monday of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. After the one-on-one talks, delegations from both sides joined the meeting. Qadhafi, who arrived earlier Thursday on a three-day visit, was scheduled to hold further talks Friday with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif on boosting bilateral ties between Tripoli and Cairo.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Libya has declined to meet a deadline for a $540 million compensation payment to the families of the 270 people killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the lawyer for the families said Friday. Libya declined an offer to extend the deadline, which had been set for Thursday, according to James Kriendler, of a New York law firm. The government of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was apparently annoyed by what it considers the Bush administration's slow movement in lifting sanctions against Libya.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Looks like the colonel needs reinstatement of all sanctions until he pays his bills.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 11:03 Comments ||
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#2
Or a Maverick in the tent, just for old time's sake.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/19/2005 11:09 Comments ||
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#3
I didn't wanna say it.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/19/2005 19:58 Comments ||
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Kurds rejected the idea of an Islamic republic in Iraq following the victory of a conservative Shiite list in last month's historic elections.
"Sorry. No room for Shariah. We've got things to do..."
"Kurds will oppose setting up an Islamic republic if this question is asked by other political forces in Iraq," Adnan Mufti, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) headed by Jalal Talabani, said Wednesday. "Of course we are a Muslim people and we must respect our Muslim identity but we cannot pit religion against democracy," said Mufti, himself a candidate for speaker of the autonomous Kurdish parliament.
Freedom can't be confined to everything but religion. There's too much of everything else, and religion unchallenged becomes rapacious.
Sami Shursh, the unofficial minister of culture within the other heavyweight Kurdish party, Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), agrees. "What Kurds want is a republican regime founded on the principle of rotation of power, with a parliamentary system, a separation of powers and a separation of religion and the state," he said Wednesday.
Best way to preserve your freedom to practice your religion the way you see fit.
The vast majority of Kurds in Iraq are Sunni Muslims.
Mostly of the Sufi persuasion, however...
The PUK and the KDP swept to victory in the Kurdish provinces of Suleimaniya, Erbil and Dohuk, where they will control the autonomous parliament of 111 seats. Their alliance is also due to take 75 seats in the national assembly, having won the northern provinces of Tamim and Nineveh, home respectively to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and Mosul, Iraq's third city. Kurds want Kirkuk to be the capital of their autonomous region.
That's a thought that tightens the Turkish turban but it's not Turkey's real estate...
Several candidates on the winning Shiite list, backed by spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, have said they do not want to set up an Islamic republic in Iraq, but they have yet to dispel all fears. An aide to secular Shiite and outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi also advised Jaafari against the temptation of theocratic power. "Religion is a dangerous thing for Iraq... There are Shiites and Sunnis in the same tribes, in the same families, but if we go down this road, we will create divisions," said Imad Shabib Wednesday. He also warned Jaafari about the risks of siding with Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Well of course they do. They figured it out during the No Fly years. This Freedom and Capitalism shit is waay more fun than that Muzzy Govt shit. Waay more.
The US-run ads in the Pakistani media asking for leads to Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda operatives have yielded useful information, a US official said on Friday. The brief television spots flashed colour pictures of Bin Laden and his 13 most wanted henchmen while a voiceover in Urdu offered rewards of up to $25 million. "During the last couple of days, we got around 28 calls and a number of them gave useful information," US embassy spokesman Greggory Crouch said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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And you definition of "useful" is what, Mr Crouch?
How about your definition of "vacuous" when applied to public comments by diplomatic spokesdinks?
Dear Zarqawi I'm fine how are you?
I am still hiding out here(that much is true)
I'm a little malnourished but try to relax
Please boom those who put my face upon the milk carton backs
Send money.
#4
Big Ed- that is a good one! You forgot the pamphlets that go around in the mail seeking
to help find missing kid's** You might want to call John Walsh 1-800-good luck. in finding Mr. Bin Laden. Does anyone know if F.B.I. 10 most wanted is still on?
Andrea
Posted by: Andrea ||
02/19/2005 14:39 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
President Fidel Castro called the U.S.-led war in Iraq a "brutal bombing spectacle," and criticized the Bush administration for its spending on the war. In comments televised Friday from a speech two days earlier, Castro said the billions of dollars being spent in Iraq "won't cure AIDS, won't cure any disease, won't cure anybody." Meanwhile, he said in the speech to a workers' congress in Havana, Cuba exports thousands of doctors to needy countries. "Mr. Bush put forth 15 billion dollars, and with that the world moved on to the stage of the Iraq war, that brutal bombing spectacle," Castro said in remarks lasting nearly three hours. "But what is needed over there is a man, a revolutionary doctor who can save lives. And that's what we have."
A top Chinese Communist Party official on Saturday headed to North Korea on a diplomatic mission to draw the isolated Stalinist regime back to stalled disarmament talks. Wang Jiarui, head of the diplomatic department of the Chinese Communist Party, was flying to Pyongyang. During his visit, he was expected to try and persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table. It was not immediately clear how long the trip would be.
Police in Nepal arrested 57 opposition protesters Friday as 
President Mohammad Khatami, whose regime is in the US firing line over its nuclear activities, voiced Iran's support Thursday for Syria and radical anti-Israeli groups. "We respect the Syrians who are in the frontline in the fight against the Zionist regime and we salute their legitimate struggle to recover their occupied lands," he said after talks with visiting Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri. "We support the resistance in Lebanon and all those fighting the (Israeli) occupation," he was quoted as saying. Otri on Wednesday said Iran and Syria should form a "united front" against threats from abroad, in an apparent reference to the intense US pressure against both regimes.
He wanted to be a Lebanese and Arab nationalist at the same time and so he walked on the rope, full of bombs, of the joint two tracks until it exploded. Perhaps he did not know that the beating heart of Arab nationalism, which he was disillusioned to think he can satisfy with the game of balance on ropes, had stopped some time ago and that its flame has moved to Baghdad⊠before it burnt out there when its advocate was found in a holeâŠ
Lebanon's political opposition has called for an "intifada for independence" as it stepped up it attacks on the government. In a significant escalation of its feud with the government in the wake of the assassination of former Premier 
Lebanese opposition leader 
Shiite cleric Sayyed 
Interior and Municipalities Minister 
BAGHDAD — US senator Hillary Clinton, wife of former president Bill Clinton, is expected in Baghdad today, a source at the US embassy said yesterday.
The U.N. humanitarian chief urgently called on world leaders Friday to vastly increase the number of troops in Sudan's Darfur region to protect unarmed civilians and humanitarian workers facing a wave of murder, rape and looting. 
Egyptian President 
Libya has declined to meet a deadline for a $540 million compensation payment to the families of the 270 people killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the lawyer for the families said Friday. Libya declined an offer to extend the deadline, which had been set for Thursday, according to James Kriendler, of a New York law firm. The government of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was apparently annoyed by what it considers the Bush administration's slow movement in lifting sanctions against Libya.
Kurds rejected the idea of an Islamic republic in Iraq following the victory of a conservative Shiite list in last month's historic elections. 
The US-run ads in the Pakistani media asking for leads to Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda operatives have yielded useful information, a US official said on Friday. The brief television spots flashed colour pictures of Bin Laden and his 13 most wanted henchmen while a voiceover in Urdu offered rewards of up to $25 million. "During the last couple of days, we got around 28 calls and a number of them gave useful information," US embassy spokesman Greggory Crouch said.
