Board members of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency approved a deal Thursday that exempts Saudi Arabia from nuclear inspections, despite serious misgivings about the arrangement in an era of heightened proliferation fears.
Although the Saudis resisted Western pressure to compromise and allow some form of monitoring, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency had no choice but to allow it to sign on to the agreement.
Called the small quantities protocol, the deal allows countries whose nuclear equipment or activities are thought to be below a minimum threshold to submit a declaration instead of undergoing inspection.
#3
I almost crapped myself when I saw this - I have Jorge Posada on my baseball rotisserie team, and good catchers are hard to come by! Fortunately this has nothing to do with baseball.
Russian prosecutors have determined that a former separatist Chechen official who was the subject of a book by U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov ordered his murder, a spokesman said Thursday, announcing the resolution of one of the highest-profile killings in Russia in a decade.
Vasiliy Lushchenko, a spokesman for prosecutor general's office, identified the suspected mastermind as Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev.
He said a total of four people are suspected of involvement in the killing; two are in police custody and two are still at large.
Klebnikov, a 41-year-old American of Russian descent who was editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition, was gunned down last July outside the magazine's Moscow offices.
Alexander Gordeyev, a colleague from the Russian edition of Newsweek who came to Klebnikov's aid, told The Associated Press then that the dying journalist couldn't say who could have been behind the attack.
At the time, speculation was rife about a connection with Klebnikov's work at Forbes, which two months earlier had published a list of Russia's 100 wealthiest people that was said to have annoyed many in the nation's secretive business elite.
But there was also ample speculation on Klebnikov's book, "Conversations With a Barbarian," which cast Nukhayev and other Chechen rebels in a sharply negative light. The book was based on his interviews with Nukhayev, a former deputy prime minister in the Chechen separatist government.
"From the point of view of logic, the most obvious trail is the Chechen trail," said business commentator Yulia Latynina, who theorized that the book was seen by Nukhayev's circle as a stain on his honor.
But Oleg Panfilov, director of the Center of Journalism in Extreme Situations, cast doubt on the likelihood that Nukhayev was behind Klebnikov's killings. "My main argument is that there have been lots of bad books written about Chechens," Panfilov said. "Why go after Klebnikov?"
He suggested that prosecutors had announced a resolution to the case in hopes of heading off pressure from the U.S. authorities, who have been pushing Moscow to investigate the case thoroughly. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists is planning a conference in Moscow in July to focus on journalists who have been killed on the job, which Panfilov said could have provided another impetus to prosecutors to close the case.
Authorities have said two Chechens, Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhayev, were in custody. Investigators revealed last week that the two were also believed to have been involved in the slaying in Moscow last year of Yan Sergunin, a former official in Chechnya's Moscow-backed government.
Klebnikov also was widely known for a book about controversial tycoon Boris Berezovsky. After Klebnikov wrote a profile of Berezovsky for Forbes in 1996, Berezovsky filed a libel suit against the magazine in Britain. He withdrew the suit in 2003 after the publication acknowledged it was wrong to allege he was involved in the murder of television personality Vladislav Listyev.
This article starring:
Chechnya
KAZBEK DUKUZOV
Chechnya
KHOZH AKHMED NUKHAIEV
Chechnya
MUSA VAKHAIEV
Chechnya
Paul Klebnikov
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/16/2005 13:19 ||
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South Korea urged North Korea to help end their Cold War as the two sides glossed over an international nuclear dispute Wednesday to celebrate a landmark 2000 summit that warmed ties but failed to bring them much closer to reunification. Since North Korea's Kim Jong Il met then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung _ the only such talks since the Korean War ended in a 1953 cease-fire _ Seoul and Pyongyang have boosted trade, staged reunions of 10,000 separated family members, and launched the construction of railways and roads connecting the Koreas. But five years on, North Korea menacingly boasts that it has nuclear bombs, the border remains one of the world's most heavily armed, and Kim Jong Il has failed to visit Seoul as promised.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe they should bring up Madam Halfbright!
Kimmie-boy-the-baby-killer really likes Halfbright - he was really taken in by her broach! I'm sure she can arrange an agreement which Kimmie-boy will honor -- there won't even be any need for verification. (for about 10 minutes...)
If S. Korea thinks they can trust anything Kimmie says they probably deserve what they get.
#2
Iranian minister reportedly claims that Iran halted its plutonium-based nuke devprogs/research in 1998, 5 years after first claiming it'd stopped in 1993. On the other hand, Vlad Putin unilater announced that Russia is not like Africa in that Russia has no tradition of eating its enemies, prob due to hints in the Russian Net that hunger [and homelessness] is spreading fast in Communist-controlled, alleged "Rightist/
Fascist" Russia, despite the efforts of Putin-babe and Moscow to increase state-wide food supplies. The Net is also reporting lowered total internat investments and capital flight as the State continues to exert more Cold War-style controls and demands. GETTIN' TIME FOR THE SUPER-LEFTIES AND ANTI-US AGENDISTS TO CHOOSE BETWEEN HAVING A SHARP SWORD IN COMPETITION WITH THE USA, OR THEIR MASSES EATING THREE SQUARES-OR-LESS A DAY, BETWEEN DESTABILIZING AND SUBORNING THE USA UNTO SOCIALISM VERSUS JUST SIMPLY BEING ABLE TO EAT, ANYTHING!? Iff the Failed Left wants America and the Western world to justify everything and every -ism and modernize the world, for them, but at our time, our costs, and our warriors'/ civ blood, at least have the decency or self-worth to stop whining and conspiring and perverting and subverting, and get the hell out of our way so that we can do for your own people what they in reality want us to do which Socialism can't!
On the eve of Iran's presidential election, President Bush said the voting has been designed to keep power in the hands of a few rulers "through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy."
"The Iranian people deserve a genuinely democratic system in which elections are honest — and in which their leaders answer to them instead of the other way around," Bush said in a statement released by the White House Thursday. "And to the Iranian people, I say: As you stand for your own liberty, the people of America stand with you."
"Iran is ruled by men who suppress liberty at home and spread terror across the world," Bush said. "Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy. The June 17th presidential elections are sadly consistent with this oppressive record."
Some 500 people demonstrated in front of the main radio and television building in Tehran Thursday, calling on Iranians to boycott the polls because the process is unfair. But other reformists have urged against disillusionment, warning that a boycott could pave the way for a totalitarian state and help hard-liners consolidate their grip on power.
Bush said Iranians are heirs to a great civilization and deserve a government that honors their ideals with a free press and economy, freedom of religion and assembly and an independent judiciary.
"Today, the Iranian regime denies all these rights," Bush said. "It brutalizes its people and denies them their liberty."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/16/2005 14:52 ||
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#1
Good for Bush.
No doubt he will be denouced by the EUrowimps and a few dhimmis.
Damn! I got a dentist appointment that day! Damn!
SAN FRANCISCO, June 15 - Organizers of a celebration here to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations had expressed concern for weeks that the Bush administration would shun the event as a snub to the world body. Damn! The dog ate my plane tickets! Damn!
On Wednesday, organizers learned that big-name invitees - among them, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - would not attend. Yeah, sorry about that. We're...ummmmmmmmmmmmm...washing our hair. Give our 15 course meals to some homeless guys...
In their place, said Nancy L. Peterson, president of the United Nations Association of San Francisco, the administration indicated that it would send Ambassador Sichan Siv, the United States representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Guess the White House Dog Shit Picker Upper Guy had another commitment or else he'd be going.
"I am just reading into this that the administration is taking a very dubious stance symbolically toward the importance of the United Nations to the American people," she said. That's very perceptive of you, Nancy.
A State Department spokesman confirmed that Mr. Siv would attend the event, which will be held on June 25 and 26, citing scheduling conflicts for Ms. Rice and for Robert B. Zoellick, the deputy secretary of state. "Secretary Rice and Deputy Secretary Zoellick have numerous commitments and invitations," the spokesman, Noel Clay, said. "At times, they will conflict, but it is not a slight whatsoever." Noooooooooooo! Certainly not! We love you thieving, anti-American bastards over there at Turtle Bay!
Posted by: Tommy Hook: Whistle Blower ||
06/16/2005 12:48 ||
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#1
"I'm sorry you're all a bunch of worthless douchebags."
#5
How the LLL and MSM must be twisting off at this news. Bush should give Bolton a recess appointment and then send him there with instructions to look mean.
#7
About 17 percent of Plano residents are foreign-born, and roughly 30 percent identify themselves as a racial or ethnic minority, according to the 2000 census. Area Ismailis hail largely from East Africa, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
I don't know much about Ismailis but they must have heck of a lot of funding to afford a complex worth $6.5 Million, and this is not the first such structure. Also I had no idea that Plano, TX had such a high influx of foreign born residents (outside Hispanics,of course.
Ismailis are quite simply the descendents of the arch-heretic sect of the Assassins. They have calmed since the Crusades. They are a branch of shiism and if my memory is any good, they don't turn toward Mecca for prying and dont pry 5 times a day. I also think their women have a liberty unheard in Islam and they aren't against alcohol.
They are headed by the Agha Khan, a millionaire who is a prominent figure in horse races.
"Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and other Idiots Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee (sic) were conducting a public lynching forum Thursday, prompted by documents that have surfaced from inside the British government about pre-war planning."
After which they will no doubt declare Bush 'Hitler' and pronounce him guilty. The Republicans refused to let Conyers conduct his witch-hunt on Capital Hill so they slithered over to the DNC HQ to do this in public. I wonder if CSPAN or CNN will cover this live?
"Bush should respond to questions raised by the Downing Street memo, says a letter signed by Conyers and over 90 other members of Caucus of Idiots Congress, as well as a half-million Americans LLLs."
This dovetails nicely into the latest screed that equates our troops at gitmo as Nazi SS, Pol Pots killers, and the KGB. Someone should ask the Dems: "Do you really want to run on that platform?" I can't see how this will prove to be a winning strategy for them. The only people who will even pay attention to this are:
1) Rantburgers who love to make fun of them
2) Kool Aid drinkers
3) The Tin Foil Hat squad
4) Phrance
#1
Conyers is in the running for biggest traitor in Congress. Unlike, say, McKinney, he doesn't believe most of the far-out stuff. He just uses it to destroy the USA.
Since I am in the Ninth Circuit, which says death threats to the President are protected speech, is it OK to call for Conyer's death? Or is the server located in a different circuit? Wouldn't want to cause Fred any trouble.
I guess Bush should have backed Katherine Harris, after all. Sen. Mel Martinez, the Senate candidate Bush backed instead of Harris, has become the first Republican to call for shutting down Guantanamo. Martinez hasn't said where the 500 or so suspected al-Qaida operatives currently at Gitmo should be transferred to, but I understand the Neverland Ranch might soon be available. Maybe Sen. Arlen Specter — the liberal Republican Bush backed instead of conservative Pat Toomey, which still didn't help Bush in Pennsylvania — will step forward to defend the Bush administration. That Karl Rove is a genius.
Martinez explained his nonsensical call for the closing of Guantanamo by asking: "Is it serving all the purposes you thought it would serve when initially you began it, or can this be done some other way a little better?"
There are Arabs locked up at Guantanamo, no? Admittedly, not enough. (And not under what any frequent flier would describe as "harsh conditions.") Still and all, Arabs are locked up there. That is what we call a "purpose."
By becoming a focus of evil for human-rights groups, Martinez suggested, Guantanamo has become a recruiting tool for al-Qaida: "It's become an icon for bad stories," Martinez said, "and at some point you wonder the cost-benefit ratio." (I've been wondering the same thing about Mel Martinez.) This is preposterous. NBC's "The West Wing" is an icon for bad stories; Gitmo is a place where we keep an eye on evil, dangerous people who want to kill us.
Martinez was borrowing a point from Sen. Joe Biden — which is always a dangerous gambit because you never know who said it originally. The "Biden" version was: "I think more Americans are in jeopardy as a consequence of the perception that exists worldwide with its existence than if there were no Gitmo." So if people around the world believe that if they try to kill Americans they might go to a bad, scary place called Guantanamo, that will make them more likely to kill Americans? How about doing a cost-benefit ratio on that analysis?
Let's also pause to ponder the image of the middle-of-the-road, "centrist" jihadist who could be "recruited" to jihad by reports about abuse at Guantanamo. You know — the kind of guy who just watches al-Jazeera for the sports and hits the "mute" button whenever they start in about the Jews again, already. Liberals want us to believe such a person exists and that he is perusing newspaper articles about Guantanamo trying to decide whether to finish his coffee and head off to work or to place a backpack filled with dynamite near a preschool.
Note to liberals: That doesn't happen.
What happens is this: There are thousands of Muslim extremists literally dying to slaughter Americans, and only three proven ways to stop them: (1) Kill them (the recommended method), (2) capture them and keep them locked up, or (3) convince them that their cause is lost. Guantanamo is useless for No. 1, but really pulls ahead on No. 2 and No. 3 (i.e., a "purpose"). Let's just hope aspiring jihadists are not reading past the headlines and discovering that what Amnesty International means by "the gulag of our time" is: No Twinkie rewards for detainees!
That's not a joke. As described in infuriating detail by Heather MacDonald in the Winter, 2005, City Journal, interrogators at Guantanamo are not allowed to:
yell at the detainees, except in extreme circumstances and only after alerting Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld — and never in the ears;
serve the detainees cold meals, except in extreme circumstances;
poke the detainees in the chest or engage in "light pushing" without careful monitoring and approval from the commander of the U.S. Southern Central Command in Miami;
reward detainees (for example, for not throwing feces at the guards that day) with a Twinkie or a McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwich in the absence of express approval from the secretary of defense. (I suppose it goes without saying, "supersizing" their order is strictly forbidden under any circumstances.)
Without careful monitoring, interrogators aren't even allowed to subject the detainees to temperature changes, unpleasant odors or sleep cycle disruptions. But on the bright side, they are allowed to play Christina Aguilera music and feed the savages the same food our soldiers eat rather than their usual orange-glazed chicken. That isn't sarcasm; these are the rules.
No cold meals, sleep deprivation or uncomfortable positions? Obviously, what we need to do is get the U.S. Army to serve drinks on commercial airlines and get the airlines to start supervising the detainees in Guantanamo. American soldiers make do with C-rations. Dinner on an America West flight from New York to Las Vegas consists of one small bag of peanuts. Meanwhile, one recent menu for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo consisted of orange-glazed chicken, fresh fruit crepe, steamed peas and mushrooms, and rice pilaf.
Sounds like the sort of thing you'd get at Windows on the World — if it still existed.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2005 10:53 ||
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#1
"Sounds like the sort of thing you'd get at Windows on the World â if it still existed." Ouch!
But Ann - what about the FBI guy who saw the freezing and roasting guys chained in the fetal position? That made me feel bad. Now the orange-glazed chicken - that sort of takes the edge off.... But I bet the peas slopped over into the rice pilaf. I hate that!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2005 11:15 Comments ||
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#2
No, I like my peas mixed with the rice. But you can have all my mushrooms...I'm allergic to them.
#4
I can only eat peas if the are mixed with a starch and I HATE fungus on my plate. I probably wouldn't touch the fresh fruit crepe because it sounds phrench to me and I don't eat phrench phood. One thing I can say after 20 years in the service is that the Air Force has the best food of the three.
Interrogators are now authorized to use the following phrases:
1)"Pretty please"
2)"Pretty, pretty please"
3)"Pretty, pretty, pretty, please"
3)"Would you like the non-alcohlic Martini
shaken, not stirred?"
Note: Authorization to hold a cute puppy dog next to your face while you say it only authorized if it has been determiuned that the detainee does not have and never has had allergic reactions to dogs of any type. Also, said dog requires a Top Secret clearance, a mandatory debrief, and After Action Review session after every interrogation.
NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO - The salmon-hued structure housing the city police headquarters appeared tranquil in the afternoon heat, guarded by white columns and swaying palms. On an archway, the last governor's bold exhortation to fight corruption was displayed in 2-foot-high letters.
But few among the hundreds of blue-uniformed city police officers gathered in an open-air courtyard felt much like battling crime Tuesday. They seemed angry, resentful and bored. Their weapons had been taken away, their patrol cars locked up. Many were wondering whether they still had jobs.
Their new chief was assassinated June 8, hours after he took the oath of office. And 41 of their fellow officers were detained Saturday and flown to Mexico City for questioning after they had stopped a convoy of plainclothes federal investigators and wounded an agent. A presidential spokesman accused the police force of being in the pocket of two powerful drug cartels fighting to control the smuggling routes that run from this city of 500,000 into Dallas and beyond...
Since the Saturday confrontation with the agents of the Federal Investigative Agency, or AFI, the city's 750-member police force has been disarmed, forced to undergo drug tests and ordered to remain at headquarters. State police, federal agents and army troops performed law enforcement duties in Nuevo Laredo on Tuesday.
While their personnel files were examined and drug-testing samples analyzed at headquarters, many of the officers spent the day reading newspapers, consuming cold drinks and waiting for the word to go back to work. Many, such as Lt. Florencio Flores Guzman, 60, expressed sadness over the federal crackdown. But he also looked for a silver lining in it. A purge of corrupt officers, he said, may help restore public confidence in the force. Officer Martha Evelia Rivera, who was standing next to Flores, agreed. Salaries of police average just $600 a month, a wage that has not increased in several years, she said.
"The pay is very low, and it should be higher," she said. "That's the reason police ask for money — the salary." Still, she thinks the federal investigation is necessary "so the bad ones will go." And how many of the 750 police are bad?
"Five hundred," she replied.
As the police officers remained inside headquarters or at smaller satellite stations around town, state police investigated two new homicides, including a 29-year-old bus driver shot five times. The body of another man was found in a car that had been set afire.
Local newspapers reported that the two homicides were the latest of the nearly 70 reported since the beginning of the year. The violence was sparked by a turf war between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf Cartel.
Laredo has been spared much of the violence. Still, U.S. agents working the international bridges connecting the two cities have heightened security. At Bridge No. 1 in downtown Laredo, all U.S. Customs officers on duty wore blue body armor over their uniforms. One agent said they had been ordered to wear the bulletproof vests until the situation in Nuevo Laredo stabilizes.
#2
The microcosm which is reflective of all of Mexico.
Until they have a [violent or peaceful] revolution, Mexico will never meet the expectations of a great nation and will continue to unload the resultant unemployment and dissatification on the US. The people themselves hide this abject failure behind a false honor which further impedes the reform that is necessary if real reform is to come. The only alternative for the US is to build a wall like Israel along the border to end the dumping which burdens America's own hospitals, schools, and justice systems.
#4
They seemed angry, resentful and bored. Their weapons had been taken away, their patrol cars locked up. Many were wondering whether they still had jobs.
This is what happens when corruption isn't dealt with decisively.
#8
I don't doubt it. Mordida is an expected payroll supplement in Police hiring/workers....and that was BEFORE the Narcotraficantes with their millions
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/16/2005 19:58 Comments ||
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LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) - Two more Los Alamos National Laboratory employees are suspected of fraudulent purchasing activities, just months after two former employees were sentenced in a purchasing scandal, the nuclear weapons lab said Wednesday.
One of the employees is accused of misusing credit cards meant to purchase gasoline for lab vehicles. Officials at the northern New Mexico lab said the employee admitted to buying about $3,000 worth of gas for acquaintances in exchange for money. Another employee is accused of operating what appears to be a fraudulent purchasing scheme in which payments were collected for purchases.
Earlier this year, two former Los Alamos employees accused of being part of a purchasing scandal that rocked the lab in 2002 were sentenced to prison for conspiracy and mail fraud charges. Peter Bussolini and Scott Alexander were accused of putting hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable purchases on the lab's account, including television sets, barbecues and hunting gear.
Since then, the lab has changes its policies and added computer software to track purchases as well as manage payroll and vacation time.
Worked well, huh.
Los Alamos spokesman James Rickman said the lab is cooperating with law enforcement but he declined to release further details Wednesday about the investigation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2005 00:26 ||
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#1
Isn't it true that the lab is actually run by the University of California? If that is true, it would explain a lot of the troubles the lab is having.
#3
The national laboratories are contracted out because they wouldn't be able to attract 'top' talent on Civil Service pay scales. Up until recently one of the California universities had the contract which no one bothered to contest cause of costs/benefits issues and political influence. With the numerous problems identified at LANL, a real request for bids is now out and a Texas university is very interested in the contract. Actually, most of the work can be distributed among the other labs, Livermore, Sandia, Oak Ridge, and Argonne. We're still operating the same number of laboratories as when we had a far larger defense establishment 70-80s, than we have today. No need now. The only function LANL is as a holding site for medium and high level radioactive materials, which are awaiting the Nevada storage site to be completed for transfer.
The executive who wrote an e-mail memo suggesting that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan may have known about a U.N. contract awarded to the company that employed his son denies that he, personally, ever discussed the firm's bid with the U.N. chief, his lawyers said Wednesday. The memo written by Michael Wilson describes a brief encounter in which officials from the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection S.A. discussed the company's bid for the contract with the secretary-general "and his entourage" during a summit of French-speaking nations in Paris in late 1998. The London law firm Schillings issued a brief statement on behalf of Wilson, who was a vice president of Cotecna at the time and is a friend of both the secretary-general and his son, Kojo. "Mr. Wilson never met or had any discussion with the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on the issue of the bid for the U.N. contract by Cotecna at the Francophone Summit, during the bidding process, or at any time prior to the award of the contract," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
steal BILLIONS from the mouth of destitute women and babes.. who me???
#3
So gee whiz, who do we believe? The fucking memo by Wilson himself back in the good old days of unfetterd graft, or the new, improved "memory", [in your best WC Fields] "I remember it clearly, yes. It was back in '98, a mere 7 years ago, a late summer's day as pretty as a picture, yes. We were having fondue down on the beach... I preferred the bread cubes in chocolate while Kofi had a weakness for young native boys strawberries, yes."
C'mon, let's get this over with. It's a dead rat on the kitchen floor. Sweep it out, already.
#4
The DemoLeftft > is just ever-more proof upon proofs of lying, unreliable,................... Americans and America, and why Washington must Must MUST M-U-S-T-T-T defer all matters and polices to the new OWG and Socialist order, BY FORCE IF NEED BE. * "The world just can't allow America to be governed by Americans, D *** YOU"
WE AMERICANS NEED TO BE ATTACKED AND WIPED OUT LIKE SO MANY ALIENS ON "BABYLON FIVE", BUT ONLY AFTER AMERICA FIRST MODERNIZES AND PAYS FOR EVERYONE, EVERY -ISM, AND THE WORLD COMMUNITY, ESPEC RUSSIA-CHINA!
A government plan to share tsunami relief aid with Sri Lanka's separatist rebels drove a Marxist party from the government Thursday, a move that could threaten the ruling party's hold on power. The Marxists said they would leave the government if President Chandrika Kumaratunga did not back down on the plan to share the disaster aid with the Tamil Tiger insurgents, who have been waging a separatist war for two decades.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Are the Tigers Trotskyites or something, that the Marxists reject them so harshly?
#2
Well, for real doctrinaire Marxists, everything is based on the Class Struggle™, on economic classes. People organizating on racial or religious grounds are showing a false conciousness. Mainstream Democrats follow many of the precepts of Marxism, too, as in the recent book What's the Matter with Kansas.
#3
The Marxists are more like National Socialists, in that they are made up strictly of Sinhalese, and are ultra-nationalists who will accept no accomadation with the Tamil Tigers. The JVP were responsible for most of the anti-Tamil pograms during the seventies.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
06/16/2005 17:38 Comments ||
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In that case, they're not really Marxists, then. A true Marxist will murder people regardless of race, sex, color, or religion.
National Socialist sounds right, though. They tend to put "race" (in some weird definition of "race" that works to their advantage) one step above economic class.
IF the polls and pundits can be believed, Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani will move a step closer to regaining the presidency of Iran in tomorrow's national elections. And while the Iranian people will view the results with a mixture of resignation and boredom (turnout is unlikely to top 30 percent), Mr. Rafsanjani's rehabilitation will be welcomed in Paris, London, Berlin and, most unfortunately, Washington.
The Western powers are betting that Mr. Rafsanjani, a billionaire businessman who was Iran's president from 1989 to 1997, will either win an outright majority tomorrow or be elected in a two-candidate runoff on July 1. They feel that he - _unlike the current, "reformist" president, Mohammed Khatami - may cut a deal to give up Iran's nuclear weapons program. Such hopes are profoundly misplaced.
Ever since the trans-Atlantic meltdown over the American-led invasion of Iraq, European leaders have been eager to prove the value of so-called soft power: that supposedly magic mixture of diplomacy, economic incentives and cultural coercion. So for more than a year Britain, France and Germany have been negotiating with Iran, trying to get the mullahs to stop producing enriched uranium and dismantle their illicit nuclear program.
Unsurprisingly, the Iranians have toyed with the Europeans, making agreements, breaking them, making more and then threatening to break those, too. By this spring it was all too clear that the regime didn't take the process seriously. Then Mr. Rafsanjani came back on the scene, offering the Europeans a lifeline.
"I believe the main solution is to gain the trust of Europe and America and to remove their concerns over the peaceful nature of our nuclear industry," he told reporters upon announcing his candidacy in May. European diplomats quickly let it be known that negotiations were on hold until their man was back in office.
Washington sipped the Rafsanjani Kool-Aid more warily, but so far it has offered no better way forward. President Bush was right to induct Iran into the axis of evil in 2002, but he has yet to come up with a coherent policy. There has been no real outreach to the opposition; no plan to contain Iran's regional designs. The Europeans' game is the only game; and if they like Mr. Rafsanjani, so do we, apparently.
The Iranian people, however, are less easily had. In his first tour as president, Mr. Rafsanjani cemented a reputation as a corrupt and power-hungry wheeler-dealer. He crushed personal freedoms and presided over a sharp economic downturn. He ushered in a particularly aggressive phase of Iranian sponsorship of terrorism - including alleged roles in the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed more than 80, and in the assassinations of several Iranian exiles, including former Prime Minister Shahpur Bakhtiar in 1991.
Few in Iran lamented the end of his tenure in 1997, and in 2000 a thinly disguised account of his regime's brutality became a best seller. That year he was humiliated in parliamentary elections, finishing 30th in his district, and his political career seemed over.
His comeback is due not to popular demand, but to the machinations of the mullahs. Of the thousand-plus registered candidates for the presidential election, all but eight were disqualified by the unelected Guardian Council. A spokesman for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remarked that with a Rafsanjani victory, "We will finally be able to have for ourselves the atomic bomb to fairly stand up to Israeli weapons." And we expect to catch a break from this man?
Let's face it: scheming to make deals with the mullah of the moment is not policymaking. Yes, Iran is a thorny problem. But it is best tackled through a robust program to support the rights of the Iranian people, including imprisoned journalists and beleaguered women; of diplomatic isolation for Iran's dictators; of zero tolerance for the sponsorship of terrorism (even if this means freezing bank accounts, closing off borders and denying visas); and of more aggressive efforts to cut off the shipments of missile and nuclear technology and hardware into Iran.
Such policies may rub our allies the wrong way, but they have more potential value than the empty promises and false charm of the man known in Iran as "the Shark."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/16/2005 12:28 ||
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apparently Rafsanjani is especially disliked by the merchantile class because he and his minions have skimmed off a lot of the businesses for his own pockets
the nickname 'shark' would correspond to 'babyface' since the term came about because of Raf's sparse facial hair.
#2
Years ago, "Spy" magazine ran a 'separated at birth' series showing him looking much like Peter Sellers, as Inspector Clouseau in disguise with a bulbous speckled nose.
From a former intel operative who still has more than a few contacts 'in country'.
Two US citizens, Ebrahim Yazdi and Houshang AmirAhmadi, have registered as candidates in the June 17, 2005, Presidential election in Iran. They have, however, about the same chance of approval to be on the ballot as the low level factory guard, Abolghassem Khaki, from a remote desert town of Mehbod, or Ebrahim Sarraf (name means moneychanger...
{article summarizes just about everyone from monarchists to the MEK to the Islamists to the psuedo reformers]
One of four hard-line candidates withdrew Wednesday from Iran's upcoming presidential election, heeding a call by religious leaders that too many conservatives in the race might hurt their chances, state television reported. Mohsen Rezaei, the former head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, became the first hard-liner to drop out of the race ahead of Friday's election. "Based on the opinions of senior religious leaders, I'm withdrawing from the race to avoid diversity of votes," the television quoted Rezaei as saying in a statement. Rezaei had little chance of winning, and other hard-line candidates have said they do not intend to withdraw. Those remaining are former radio and television chief Ali Larijani, former national police chief Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, and Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Hard-line strategists appear to favor Ali Larijani.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Lol! I love these guys. Transparent as PPG float plate glass. You'd think this "election" actually meant something - if you're as gullible and sympy as the MSM, that is.
DOHA - Syria insisted on Wednesday it had fully withdrawn from Lebanon despite US accusations that intelligence agents remained in the country. "I assure you that we don't have any ... security individuals, or military individuals. We have Syrians who are visiting Lebanon because 30 percent of the families of those countries are related," Moalem told Reuters on the sidelines of a Group of 77 summit of developing countries in Qatar.
"And they're all members of the, um, Syrian-Lebanese friendship society. Yeah, that's it."
"Now, if you consider pressure or not, we fulfilled what was concerning Syria on Security Council Resolution 1559. Because we need to give a message to the Security Council, to the U.N., that only through fulfilling Security Council resolutions can stability in the region be achieved," he said.
The United Nations is checking reports Syria may still have intelligence agents in Lebanon.
Oh boy, do we assign Hans Blix or Carla del Ponte to this one?
Asked if Syria believed it could satisfy Washington's demands, Moalem said: "It's up to them, nobody can predict what they want ... We have no dialogue with them -- they have their own policies, we have our own.
"And ours aren't looking so good right now!"
"What we say is the only civilised way is to tackle this gulf that exists between Syria and the United States through dialogue between two equal states and for mutual interest."
The United States has kept up pressure on Damascus since Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon. "We are ready, but you need two to dance," Moalem said, commenting on whether Damascus was prepared to boost ties with Washington.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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But we're not equal states, mouthpiece. That's kinda the point.
Iran has admitted to processing plutonium, a potential material for atomic bombs, more recently than it originally reported, according to the draft of a report to be made to the UN nuclear agency and obtained by AFP yesterday. The International Atomic Energy Agency "has been pursuing with Iran the dates of its plutonium separation experiments" and Iran has admitted to purifying plutonium in 1998, the text said. This was a revision of Iran's previous statement "that the experiments were completed in 1993," according to the draft for a speech to be delivered to the IAEA's board of governors today by deputy director for safeguards Pierre Goldschmidt. A diplomat close to the IAEA said the agency therefore "wants to know whether Iran is still processing plutonium."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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*snicker*
The IAEA investigates! W00t!
Batten down the hatches, mates, I feel a stern letter coming on.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/16/2005 2:03 Comments ||
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I've been out for a while, but this reminds me of what I heard on Medved yesterday. He had Kenneth Timmerman on his show (he's written a new book...something like "Countdown to crisis") and Ken said that he had a source from the Iranian Army that's since come out and told his story. This source was head of security for the Iranian gov't and told Ken that Top dogs of Iran met w/ Al Qaeda in Jan/Feb of 2001 to discuss a hit on the US homeland (even made it sound like he knew an approximate date). This guy heard it, left, went to Azerbijan to the U.S. Embassy, told the CIA Station Chief about this meeting and he didn't do anything w/ the info. 8-9 months later, we saw the effect of this meeting. Source now claims that bin Laden is in Iran w/ gov't approval. So, not only are they the only gov't in the world who opens each session of their "congress" w/ shouts of "Death to America", this Army source says each day before training they burned a cross and a US flag. One footnote: Sean Penn is now in Iran reporting for the SF Gate/Chronicle (whichever) and has been quoted as saying he understands why the mullahs shout "Death to America" (and that they don't mean it literally). The MSM and Hollyweirdos in bed w/ the mad mullahs. Final take (Ken's take): It's only a matter of months now before Israel takes out Iran (if we don't move first). Overall, pretty interesting interview. I'm sure some RB'ers have heard the Iran/AQ connection story, but it was a first for me (at least a first that proved the connection).
Posted by: BA ||
06/16/2005 8:04 Comments ||
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#1
I am not so pessimistic--I see an evolution from the superb Bremer policies into the next phase of what Iraq needs. Bremer set up a "top down" economy, creating a grand engine to power Iraq in the future. Things such as triple-A banking, financial and stock markets, with a dominant currency to insure that Iraq can be a powerhouse in the future. But now these models need to seek a lower level in the economy. Mid-sized and small business, decentralization into federalism and regional authority, the reorganization of government to also serve the people, not just the economy. In this way, they are evolving from idealism to realism on the ground. And this is inherently a more difficult, longer process, and yet one that both connects the government to the people, and turns the people into a nation.
Warning:"Performance Artist" at work.
Kerry Skarbakka does not fall to his death - he just pretends.
Skarbakka is a "performance photographer" who was inspired by the nightmare of 9/11 to don a business suit and mimic the desperate plunges of those who went out the windows of the doomed World Trade Center on that awful day. "It was such a tragic event for me," he said. "I was in Chicago and I watched it all on television." For his next project, maybe he can have a building collapse on him and vaporize himself.
Tuesday he put on a harness and had himself dropped, again and again, from the roof of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, tipped head-down and pinwheeling his arms for added effect while confederates snapped pictures that sell - he says - for thousands of dollars. "I can't afford the work I make," he quipped. Anybody seen PT Barnum around?
For Skarbakka, 34, who now lives in Brooklyn, the event is only one facet in a schtick of photographing himself falling under various circumstances - down staircases, over railings. We'll call this "Spaz Art".
"Falling is such a metaphor for life in general," he sighed, forgetting that falling was, for some people, not a metaphor at all but a cruel and pitiless reality that ended their lives and condemned their loved ones to a hell of grief. It kicks me in the gut to think about the still-grieving family members of those who faced that awful decision - death by fire or a fatal leap - who now have to see their personal tragedy converted into cheap street theater by a posturing poseur. Kerry don't use the harness next time. And go off of the Sears Tower. Really get into the experience.
I asked him what he had to say to those family members who might not appreciate his art as much as he does. Skarbakka quickly deflected the subject. "I have to be prepared for that," he said, and then talked about himself some more. "I had to express what I was feeling. I saw the people leaping from the building, felt so much admiration and a desire to understand how and what it would take to do that at that last moment ...." I speak "performance art" so I can translate. "Screw them. This is about ME! Look at ME! I'm an ARTISTE! ME! ME! ME!"
He went on, mentioning existentialism and Bush and the war, but you get the idea. Skarbakka was tired Wednesday after his ordeal of miming the tragedies of others. "Oh man, I'm emotionally bereft," he said. "I'm so spent from yesterday's giving of myself. It was really hard." Will somebody in Chicago please, PLEASE, go kick this guy's ass!
To be frank, that people will naturally be aghast at his artwork isn't what I find really gross about Skarbakka. I can't do what I do and condemn a guy for offending the public, no matter how cavalierly. What really astounds me is the falseness of what he claims to be doing. "The work is about control and lack of control," he said. Which is where we find the sickening lie. Because Skarbakka never loses control of the situation the way the 9/11 victims did. Just the opposite, he is creating a charade and passing it off as something genuine. A stock in trade of your "performance artist". That, and not getting a real job...
It is like putting on pale makeup and a hospital gown and pretending that you've touched upon the essence of being gravely ill. Not only does it not approach the reality of being sick, it misses by so much it ends up mocking those who are. Skarbakka aping something that is all too real for too many would be bad if he did it without any artistic pretense. But by pretending he is capturing a higher truth, he ridicules the fallen. Were he sincere, he'd go off the roof without a harness.But he isn't. Which also adds to the offense to those who think and feel for others. That's why performance art is invariably so lousy - it spits in the face of honest human reaction, all those trust fund frauds locking themselves in a bathroom and claiming it is in solidarity with actual prisoners who don't have Guggenheim fellowships. ...or NEA grants.
If Skarbakka is so confident, I wanted to know, would he restage his spectacle in New York City? "No, no," he said. "I don't think it would be in my best interest." It's really hard to do my "art" with a caved in face.
That being the case, I'm tempted to jump into the performance art world myself. I'm in the conceptual stages of a piece tentatively called "The Wrath of the Caring Human Being." It's still sketchy, but I know it will involve a performance artist -I'm holding out for Kerry Skarbakka - stripped to the waist and chained to a ring set in the sidewalk in front of the Daily News on W. 33rd St., while I stand over him with a cat o'nine tails, delivering a suitably symbolic number of lashes.
That, I believe, would be a piece of performance artwork that the average New Yorker could appreciate this morning. Sounds good. Set it up and I'll be there. I'll make a point of it to be there.
#3
His art gives me greater appreciation for the efforts of the famed Monkey Nut Nudger.
Now that he is finished with his latest opus, he can return to trying to ram Lindsey Lohan's vehicle. I, personally, am against legalizing drugs, but give this guy whatever he wants. With enough of a ready stash, I'm sure he will return to doping himself into somnabulance in his parents' basement where he belongs. Nobody affected by 9-11 should have to deal with any follow-on project from Kerry. Give him a hefty bag full of weed and don't spare the paraquat.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/16/2005 21:01 Comments ||
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i'm not in chicago but if my airfare is payed for would gladly kick the shit out of him
FREED Australian hostage Douglas Wood flew to a secret Middle East location last night as his relieved family prepared to make a $100,000-plus donation to Iraqi charities.
Now that's nice, and an upstanding thing to do.
The 63-year-old engineer was recovering in hospital, but doctors said he was in surprisingly good shape after his 47-day ordeal. As his family celebrated his release, details emerged of the physical and mental degradation he suffered while held in various Baghdad locations. Mr Wood, who was kidnapped on the way to work on April 30, was handcuffed and bound for much of the time he spent in captivity. His captors also "badly corrupted" information about outside relief efforts, according to Nick Warner, the head of the Government's emergency response team in Baghdad. Mr Wood's elated wife, Yvonne Given, said her husband looked "great" despite his ordeal. Mr Wood had told her: "I'm healthy; when are you going to come and get me?"
"I thought he would be weak and he sounded just up and just my Doug," she said from the couple's home in California.
Looking surprisingly strong and in good spirits, the Australian engineer celebrated the end of his incarceration with a thumbs-up and asked Australian officials in Baghdad for a beer. "God bless America. You don't know how pleased I am to see you," he told his rescuers after a morning raid by Iraqi troops on a house in the northern Baghdad suburb of Ghazaliya. As the news of his rescue beamed around the globe, Mr Wood told of the fear he felt in his final moments of captivity. "I wasn't sure what was happening," he recalled. "The first thing is there was a bit of shooting outside, then they came and covered me over with a blanket. And then there was still a lot of yelling and screaming. And then a gun, they actually fired inside the room. "That was a bit scary. I heard my fellow patient -- or whatever he was -- still alive and I'm still alive." Mr Wood even described his treatment as being "pretty fair", although he said he had been kicked in the head soon after being kidnapped enroute to a business meeting in the Iraqi capital on April 30. "I'm extremely happy and relieved to be free again and deeply grateful to all those who worked to bring about my release," he said.
#5
Just heard an Australian government minister say "All the details that can be made public, have been made public." He then went on to make a statement about the 'mufti' that strongly implied Wretchard is close to the truth and the 'mufti' inadvertantly led them to the kidnappers (probably using somekind of high tech surveillance based on what the minister said about the American role). My 2cworth is Wretchard has been told the true story and he is deliberating obfuscating (as he should).
#6
I'm glad he's alive, but now we can all expect to see more people taken so the terrorists can do it again.
Why are all of these un-military types over in Iraq anyway? Shouldn't we ensure that the area is safe before we bring in all of these other folks? We should let the Iraqi people rebuild their own. Use their people and their companies.
I would like to see all of the weapons taken out of the hands of everyone that isn't military. I don't care how lesser of a man it makes them feel.
It's a good thought anyway....
Posted by: Jan ||
06/16/2005 22:13 Comments ||
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Senior members of a Shiite-dominated committee drafting Iraq's new constitution reached a compromise Thursday with Sunni Arab groups on the number of representatives the minority will have on the body drafting the charter.
The agreement broke weeks of deadlock between the 55-member committee and Sunni Arabs over the size of their representation.
The stalemate had threatened to derail Iraq's political process as it was about to enter its final stretch, with two key nationwide votes later this year — a constitutional referendum and a general election.
Under the deal, 15 Sunni Arabs would join two members of the minority already on the committee. Another 10 Sunni Arabs would join, but only in an advisory capacity.
News of the deal was announced by two lawmakers who sit on the committee — Shiite Bahaa al-Aaraji and Sunni Arab Adnan al-Janabi. Both have led contacts with the Sunni Arab community over the size of their participation in the constitutional process.
They also attended a meeting Thursday with 70 representatives of the Sunni community over the issue.
The United States and the European Union have called for the inclusion of the Sunni Arabs in the drafting of the constitution to ensure the credibility and success of the process.
Al-Aaraji and al-Janabi said Sunni Arabs would submit a list of their candidates next week, and that parliament would subsequently issue a statement welcoming the expansion of the constitutional committee.
"It was a cordial meeting," al-Aaraji said. "They will set up a five-member committee to draw up a list of 15 candidates which they will submit to us in three days."
Because the 15 Sunni Arabs to be added are not elected members of parliament, they would join the committee's 55 legislators in a parallel body. That 70-member body would make decisions by consensus and pass them back to the 55 lawmakers for ratification.
The 15 new members are two more than what the chairman of the constitutional committee, Shiite cleric Hummam Hammoudi, had proposed Wednesday.
Leaders of the Sunni Arab community had wanted 25 people to join the two legislators already on the committee, but Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers balked at the demand. They argued that such a large number could be taken as a tacit acknowledgment that the minority was larger than estimated.
The compromise would give them two seats less than the Sunni Arabs, whose share of the population is equal to theirs.
Iraq's 275-seat parliament, elected in historic January elections that were boycotted by most Sunni Arabs, has until Aug. 15 to prepare a new constitution that will be put to a nationwide referendum two months later. If approved, it will serve as the basis for a new general election to be held in December.
A Sunni Arab boycott allowed the Shiites and Kurds to win the majority of seats in parliament. There are only 17 Sunni Arabs on the body.
The deadlock over Sunni Arab participation in the constitutional process has stoked sectarian tensions in Iraq and coincided with a marked escalation in the two-year, Sunni-dominated insurgency.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/16/2005 14:44 ||
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The group of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's pointman in Iraq, launched a scathing attack on the Al-Jazeera satellite TV network on Thursday. A message posted to several Islamic websites read: "Al-Jazeera television besmirches the image of the mujahadeen in the eyes of its viewers, using the language of the United States." It is signed by Abu Maysira al-Iraqi.
"We have had enough of al-Jazeera's bias - and of the efforts you make to kowtow to the crusaders and the traitor government (of Iraq). Publicise the fact that you sit on the fence, why your channel is the mouthpiece of the Americans, and that you do not transmit the true words of the mujahadeen," the message continued.
"Your systematic distortion of the image of the mujahadeen is nothing more than an attempt to discredit us. Your brothers at al-Qaeda's information division in Iraq will continue to tell the truth and broadcast it," the message said.
Earlier this year, al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad terror formation posted a similar website message condemning al-Jazeera's rival, the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV.
This article starring:
ABU MAISIRA AL IRAQI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/16/2005 14:44 ||
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#1
...and the paranoia gets a little deeper.
Gonna miss your buddy there, Shieky?
#4
Later when asked about the report Ted Turner commented:
"Hey I got rid of CNN and all of it's worldwide subsidaries long ago. Any internal squabbles they may have need to go through either CNN headquarters, the NYT, or the LA Times. Now beat it, I have to look at myself in the mirror again."
SAMANA, Patiala, India, June 13, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) — The sleepy north Indian town of Samana, 28 kilometers from Patiala in the north state of Punjab, could become a major pilgrimage center for Shiites in the Indo-Pak Subcontinent following the discovery of a tomb said to belong to a son of Imam Ali Rada, the eighth descendant of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The tomb was discovered by chance during the visit of Lahore High Court Judge, Shabbar Rizvi, to Samana about three months ago, when the stone at the shrine was cleared.
Just "happened" to find it, huh?
Rizvi, whose family emigrated from Samana at the time of Partition, told the local administration that a great saint lies buried at the place and asked them to clear the place. Upon clearing it the inscription emerged. The tomb is located in a large compound which is about four kilometers outside Samana town. It has an impressive Mughal style gate but the structures inside are in need of urgent repair. A number of graves are found all over the place.
The Persian epitaph planted in the wall facing the grave seems to be recent and made by a novice, according to IslamOnline.net's correspondent.
Recently carved, huh? Why, then it must be true.
It reads: "Tomb of Hazrat Imam Mash-had Ali son of Imam Ali Moosa Rada. Built by Ajruddin Khan Mughal son of Bakhsh Allah Khan in the month of Blessed Ramadan 967 Hijri corresponding to Year 4 of Emperor Akbar."
The Chief Minister of the Indian state of Punjab, Captain Amrinder Singh, has ordered the concerned authorities to start working on the site immediately so that it could be declared a tourist atraction sacred place.
Since its discovery, the tomb has been thronged by a host of important Shiite dignitaries, including scholars from Lucknow and diplomats from the Iranian embassy in Delhi. They are now working on plans for its restoration and renovation and the Punjab State Waqf Board has appointed a caretaker to stay at Samana to take care of the tomb.
Some scholars say Imam Sayyid Mash-had Ali was buried here about 1200 years ago and the town of Samana also takes its name from his mother, according to IOL's correspondent. Facts related to this have been confirmed with old religious books, sources argued.
Translated by equally old religious scholars
Our correspondent says he did not find Mash-had as one of the sons of Imam Ali Rada who, according to historical sources, had only two sons: Ali (the ninth Shiite Imam) and Moosa. According to some sources, he also had a third son called Yahya.
But why let facts get in the way of a new holy site of Islam
A team comprising Indian Shiite scholar Maulana Kalbe Jawwad and two functionaries of the Iranian Embassy in Delhi accompanied by Dr Nasir Naqvi, a teacher of Punjabi University, visited the tomb a few days ago.
Jawwad told IOl that while visiting Delhi recently he was told that there existed a tomb of a "saint" who is said to be from the pedigree of the Eighth or the Ninth Imam of the Shiites. He added that the tomb exists from the time of Emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbär, who was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from the time of his accession in 1556 until 1605. During his visit to the place, the Shiite scholar was told that Sayyids [ the title often given to descendants of Prophet Muhammad] were living at the place but after Partition it was ruined as the Muslim inhabitants emigrated to Pakistan.
Jawwad said that he would be leaving for Iran on 11 July to track the history of the tomb and if proved it would be the greatest religious site of Shiite Muslims in the Subcontinent as there is no proof that any descendant of the Prophet is buried in South Asia.
Like I said, why let a little thing like proof get in the way
He is thinking of facilitating the transfer of about 5000 Shiite families to Samana in order to inhabit the place and take care of the tomb.
The Iran Cultural House in Delhi is planning to hold a seminar on this discovery in Chandigarh.
First a holy site, then a Shiite community then a demand for a seperate state
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2005 11:49 ||
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#9
"The Persian epitaph planted in the wall facing the grave seems to be recent and made by a novice"
LOL -- Where's your "handwriting on the wall" graphic, Fred?
Posted by: Tom ||
06/16/2005 20:10 Comments ||
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#10
Lets ensure those pedigrees are validated... another saint might be hidden in there too!
June 16, 2005: Car bombs have, over the past two years, become the favorite weapon of terrorists in Iraq. Since July 2003, when the first one was used, there have been (as of June 5th) 278 such attacks. These caused 9,167 casualties (2,818 people dead, 6,349 wounded.) That's an average of 33 casualties per car bomb. Not all were suicide car bombs, 42 percent were set off by remote control. Nearly all the drivers of the suicide car bombs have been foreign Arabs, mainly from Saudi Arabia. The worst month ever for car bombs was May, 2005, with 32 attacks and 1,300 casualties. This was not the largest number of attacks (that was in September, 2004, with 34), but it was the largest number of casualties. The Sunni Arabs preferred the roadside bomb, 20-30 a day being used against coalition and Iraqi forces. Currently, only about a quarter of those bombs actually do any damage to American and Iraqi troops, the rest are discovered first.
Car bombs really got going in early 2004, when Iraqi terrorists (Sunni Arabs, particularly former Saddam thugs) joined forces with al Qaeda. The Sunni Arabs had the money and the connections (with Sunni Arab tribal and religious leaders) to build lots of car bombs. All that was required was money (the Saddam crowd had lots of that), and explosives (Iraq was overflowing with the stuff). Pay the money to a garage owned by Sunni Arabs and you get a car bomb, and some Sunni Arabs grateful for the work. Building car bombs paid well, up to $20,000 per job (usually using a stolen car). If the car bomb could not be parked, and then set off by remote control or timer, al Qaeda could provide a suicide volunteer, willing to drive the car, and detonate the explosives at the most appropriate place.
Better yet, it didn't take a lot of organization to carry out a terrorist campaign with car bombs. Once the Sunni Arab and al Qaeda leaders agreed on what types of targets to go after, the bagmen were dispatched to deliver the money to the bomb builders. When the car bombs were ready, "delivery teams" picked it up and "delivered" it. This meant parking the car as close to the target as possible, getting out of the way, and setting it off. The suicide car bombs were used for the more difficult targets, like those that did not allow just anyone to park a car in the area. Suicide car bombs were also preferred for use against moving targets (military or police patrols or convoys.)
Your average car bomb had several hundred pounds of explosives, either in the form of artillery or mortar shells, or bulk explosives. Detonators on the shells, or stuck into the blocks of explosives, were connected to a electromechanical switch, a wireless device or a timer. The quality of the car bombs kept improving until about a year ago, then it began to decline, as more and more garage owners and mechanics backed away from the car bomb business. Hundreds of these guys were getting busted, and any property or tools they owned taken or destroyed. Baath raised the rates, but this wasn't worth the loss of property, or freedom (and months or years in jail.) So more amateurs got involved. This led to more duds and accidents (premature detonations.) Actually, it appears that some 500 car bombs have been built so far, with over 200 being seized, or destroyed, before they could be used. Several dozen such car bombs were taken, or bombed, in the November battle of Fallujah.
Security around American military bases was always tight, and the car bombers were rarely able to even get close. In the last year, Iraqi government and police locations became just a difficult to get near. So the car bombs more frequently went off among civilians. This made the car bombers, and the people behind them, increasingly unpopular. That became a growing problem. It was harder to keep car bomb building, and the activities of the "delivery teams," secret. Most Iraqis wanted nothing to do with the car bombers, now that just about anyone could become a victim. Many Iraqis began reporting suspicious activity, that might involve car bombs. The result has been less well constructed car bombs, and less reliable delivery teams. The operation is more dependent on al Qaeda supplied suicide drivers. Even the quality of these volunteers has declined, with several later identified as retarded, and apparently convinced to do something the "martyrs" could not really understand.
One thing that's made it easier for the car bombers has been the explosive growth in car ownership in the last year. The Iraqi economy is booming, and that means lots more vehicles on the roads. Thus it's easier for the car bombs to just get lost in the traffic. It also means many exasperated, or nervous, suicide bombers setting off their explosives while stuck in a traffic jam. Traffic is becoming a more important factor for terrorists, as much of the car bomb construction has been moved to rural areas, to avoid the attention of police informants. Thus the car bomb has to be moved longer distances, exposing it to greater chance of detection, or breakdown.
The car bomb campaign will continue until nearly all Sunni Arabs refuse to support it. Al Qaeda cannot carry out many of these attacks on its own, because nearly all al Qaeda members in Iraq are foreigners. These people stand out in Iraq, and if known to be dangerous, turned in, or otherwise "taken care of."
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2005 09:06 ||
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...easier for the car bombers has been the explosive growth in car ownership...
June 16, 2005: After more than three years of development, an American firm (Ionatron) is shipping, to Iraq, ray guns, for detonating roadside bombs. The million dollar devices, called JIN (Joint IED Neutralizer) use "artificial lightning" to cause the detonators in enemy bombs, especially IEDs (roadside bombs), to go off. The JIN is mounted on a remotely controlled vehicle, as the range of JIN is not sufficient to have troops use it directly. The remotely controlled vehicle gets within JIN range, and then zaps the suspected IED. If it is an explosive device, JINs "directed electrical discharge" will cause the detonator, which is normally set off with an electrical signal, to go off, thus causing the explosives to, well, explode. The JIN and the robot it rides on are expected to survive most of these explosions with little or no damage.
Since IEDs come in a wide range of sizes, you never know how big it is until it goes off. JIN will be a big help to the combat engineers who take care of IEDs that are discovered. Most IEDs are found before they can be used. However, the engineers (either American, Iraqi, or foreign contractors) have to dispose of the device. IEDs are often controlled by wireless devices (cell phones, garage door openers, Etc.), but sometimes they are rigged with timers, or to an electrical wire (going back to someone who can set it off.) Until JIN came along, engineers had to use a robot to investigate suspected bombs. Often, if it was a bomb, the enemy would set it off to destroy the robot. Sometimes the terrorists would set the bomb off if they thought the investigating soldiers or police were close enough. Sometimes the bomb was detonated if curious civilians came across it and gathered around. Engineers had electronic jammers that could block detonation signals, at least long enough for the robot to place an explosive charge next to the bomb, so that the IED could be destroyed. With JIN, identifying and destroying IEDs will be a lot faster and safer. Each JIN costs about one million dollars. The official name, JIN, is a clever play on words, as it sounds like the Arabic word for "genie", a legendary spirit creature with magical powers.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2005 09:03 ||
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#1
Wouldn't and incendiary rifle rounds or shotgun slugs be longer ranged, cheaper, more effective and just a whole lot more fun to use?
Posted by: ed ||
06/16/2005 9:17 Comments ||
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#2
During the Algeria war, the French managed to have the rebels "get" a batch of grenades who detonated prematurely. It would be nice if the same tactic were used in Irak.
#3
JFM,
The special forces did something like that in Vietnam. They would take the rounds out of the AK-47s and replace the powder in two or three of them with C4. They would then reload the magazine with the "modified" rounds 5 or 6 places deep and leave the AKs for the VietCong to find. Then, in the middle of a firefight, BOOM! Takes off their hands and they can't fight anymore.
BRUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday admitted for full hearing a writ petition challenging the appointment of a brother of the leader of the opposition Maulana Fazlur Rehman as project director in the Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees (CAR). A two-member bench comprising Justice Qaim Jan Khan and Justice Ejaz Afzal ordered that the writ petition should be fixed for final hearing within a fortnight. The bench also issued notices to the respondents including the Ministry of State and Frontier and Region and the provincial government.
The petition has been filed by Major (Retd) Fayyaz Durrani, who was replaced as project director (Repatriation), CAR, by Mr Ziaur Rehman, brother of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The petitioner has stated that the appointment of Mr Zia was politically motivated. The ministry of Safron has already conceded in its comments that the appointment of Mr Zia was against the prescribed rules and regulations. The ministry admitted that it had not given any approval for replacement of the petitioner. The petitioner has challenged the March 28 order issued by the NWFP chief secretary whereby Mr Zia was appointed as project director (Repatriation), a lucrative post in the commissionerate.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:14 ||
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CANBERRA - Australia is considering sending troops back to Afghanistan by early next year to help stabilise the country and continue the war on terrorism, the Australian newspaper reported on Thursday. The paper said the government was considering the new troop deployment, which could be a force of between 250 and 700, along with more civil aid for Afghanistan's reconstruction. A decision would be made in July.
Prime Minister John Howard's office had no comment on the report, but the centre-left Labor opposition party said it would support a new troop deployment. "The opposition is prepared to engage in a discussion with the government on this matter, if the government wants to have it," Labor leader Kim Beazley told reporters.
A new analysis of Australian views on international security, from the influential Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has found 58 percent of Australians supported military assistance to the war on terrorism, while only 14 percent disagreed.
The deployment would come at a busy time for Australia's defence forces, which have about 1,700 personnel deployed an overseas operations, including about 1,400 in and around Iraq.
They just ended the East Timor deployment which helps. Thank you Australia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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A round of Foster's for the lot of 'em.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/16/2005 2:08 Comments ||
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I don't think we could afford to buy Aussies all the beer they can drink;)
#3
âThe opposition is prepared to engage in a discussion with the government on this matter, if the government wants to have it,â Labor leader Kim Beazley told reporters.
Blimey! It sounds like their opposition party is polite and accommodating! Can we trade Beasley for a Dean, a Kennedy, two Clintons, and a player to be named later?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2005 12:11 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM - Israel and Egypt have agreed in principle to deploy Egyptian soldiers on the Gaza border in the framework of Israel's pullout from the Palestinian territory this summer, an Israeli official said on Wednesday. "Israel and Egypt have agreed in principle that an Egyptian force would deploy along the border with Gaza, but a certain number of details still need to be ironed out," said the senior official.
"Israel agreed for Egypt and the Palestinian Authority to control the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in the future, but on condition that they prove their efficiency in the fight against arms smuggling," he added.
The Paleos will interpret 'efficiency' as digging a double-wide tunnel.
The source said Israel would sanction the deployment of only 750 Egyptian guards because a larger build-up would have to modify the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty that declares the entire Sinai peninsula a demilitarised zone.
Israel would leave Gaza but initially keep forces in the so-called Philadelphi corridor between the Palestinian territory and Egypt, paving the way for joint Egyptian-Israeli control of the border, the official said. The Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Shalom Cohen, had said talks were focusing on a 750-strong contingent to man the 15-kilometre (10-mile) long corridor.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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Muslims in Andhra Pradesh may enjoy five percent reservations in education and jobs from this year as the Backward Classes Commission has supported such a move in its report.
Now, that kind of pragmatism fair takes my breath away. Talk about calling a spade a spade...
The commission headed by Justice D. Subrahmaniam submitted the report to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Though the commission refused to divulge the contents of the report, it is understood that it recommended reservations for Muslims. The government had in July last year issued an order declaring Muslims a backward community and providing five percent reservations to them in education and jobs.
I'm kind of a sink-or-swim kind of guy myself, but simply admitting that turbans are generically backward has to take guts.
This sparked off a controversy with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Hindu right-wing groups challenging the move in the high court.
Ummm... VHP members might need their own reservations, I'd think...
On Sept. 21, a five-judge bench of the high court quashed the order. The high court directed the state government to reconstitute the commission in three months and seek the body's opinion for the inclusion of the Muslim community into the list of backward classes. The four-member commission, set up in November, studied the socio-economic and educational status of Muslims, met people from all walks of life and visited several places in the state.
Then they decided they could ride the National Short Bus.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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Next thing you know, they are gonna open casinos and sell cut rate cigarettes and booze.
Posted by: ed ||
06/16/2005 8:51 Comments ||
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I'm wondering what the "Backward Classes Commission" can do for me and my people.
Former Pakistani Army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg yesterday confirmed that the country's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, ran a training camp for militants fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir. "I was the army chief in 1991 when Sheikh Rashid used to run the camp for Kashmiri militants, some 16 km from Islamabad," Beg said here.
Kinda throws a bit of doubt of the ol' Sheikh's statement that it wasn't him, doesn't it?
"Lies! All lies!"
The controversy surrounding Sheikh Rashid, who plans to travel to Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, on June 30, erupted following a statement by the Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik here last Monday. Yasin, who heads his own faction of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and currently is visiting Pakistan, said Sheikh Rashid used to run a training camp in the initial days of the Kashmir movement and about 3,500 boys were accommodated at his farm house for the purpose.
Brief, sternly suppressed vision of jihadis sleeping 300 to a bed... Naked...
Yasin said they came to Pakistan for military training in 1988 and Sheikh Rashid used to take them to the Northwestern Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan for various assignments. Sheikh Rashid's intended Kashmir visit may be jeopardized following Yasin's statement.
Oh, gosh! Y'think?
Sources in Delhi said yesterday the authorities had decided not to allow Sheikh Rashid to travel to Kashmir on the June 30 Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus. Though Sheikh Rashid had tried damage control by saying Tuesday "there were many Sheikhs in Rawalpindi", the Indian authorities aren't satisfied. The External Affairs Ministry has already expressed concern on the issue.
Aslam Beg, another loose cannon, isn't going to help matters...
Yasin, through his statements, has been attracting a lot of media attention ever since he landed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir June 2. Immediately after crossing the Line of Control (LoC), Malik had "thanked the people of Azad Kashmir" by calling every house in Pakistan-administered Kashmir a "base camp for the pro-independence JKLF". Known for bold and unreserved comments, Yasin is seen in Kashmir as the "pro-active separatist leader who is a hardliner among the moderates".
You don't see statements making that kind of sense every day, do you?
Meanwhile, the Dawn daily reported yesterday Yasin has been advised complete rest after he collapsed due to fatigue.
"Shut him up! Somebody shut him up!"
"Mahmoud! The needle!"
"What? Hey! Ow! That hurt!" [Groan! Thud!]
The nine-member delegation of separatist leaders from Jammu and Kashmir on a two-week visit to Pakistani Kashmir and Pakistan were attending a lunch hosted here Tuesday by the Senate Foreign Relations committee when Yasin collapsed. The doctor who attended Yasin blamed the illness on fatigue due to the hectic schedule of the Kashmiri leaders who arrived in Pakistan-administered Kashmir June 2.
"Yasss... He's very fatigued. We're giving him the needle every two hours now. Just ignore anything else he says. He's delerious..."
Mohammad Rafiq Dar, secretary general of the JKLF faction in Pakistani Kashmir and Pakistan, said Yasin was likely to cancel yesterday's trip to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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300 naked jihadi boys to a bed? They'd be so busy pinching and poking one another and giggling about it, they'd never get any sleep! ;-)
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/16/2005 3:18 Comments ||
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There are reports that Yasin Malik suffered a stroke. Whether or not it was ISI induced was not stated.
Posted by: john ||
06/16/2005 6:44 Comments ||
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Rashid had Jihad links: Ex-ISI man
Former ISI (Inter-State Intelligence) functionary Khawaja Khalid has corroborated Yasin Malik and Mirza Aslam Baigâs assertions that Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed ran militant training camps near Islamabad from 1989 to 1991. "Sheikh Rashid is a mujahid and played a great role in jihad. I would like to meet him and ask him why he is denying his involvement in training mujahideen. I had personally visited Rashidâs camp," he said.
Posted by: john ||
06/16/2005 7:06 Comments ||
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Glad I'm not the one who has to wash the sheets.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would name a vice president after the September presidential election for the first time in his 24-year rule. Soliman Awad, the presidential spokesman, said Mubarak is keen on carrying out this plan and this is an indication of Mubarak's intention for true political reforms. Egyptian expert Muhammad Al-Sayyed Said of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies said the recent announcement is an indication that Mubarak will run for a new term in office. "It also shows that Mubarak plans for the succession after his new terms ends," he told Arab News.
The president's son, Gamal Mubarak, denied all rumors that he will succeed his father in office. "I am absolutely clear in my mind and the president's mind that this story of father and son has nothing to do with reality," he told British journalists. "There are much more important things that we are discussing." He said the question of dynastic succession should finally be "put to bed" by his father's decision to open up this year's presidential elections to opposition candidates. The upper house of the Egyptian Parliament, the Shoura Council, approved the draft law regulating the country's first multi-candidate presidential elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2005 00:00 ||
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"Just as soon as I can find a suc...er, um, suitable candidate."
#2
this is an indication of Mubarakâs intention for true political reforms...The presidentâs son, Gamal Mubarak, denied all rumors that he will succeed his father in office
Quite frankly I'd rather not have "political reform" in Egypt just yet. Who would be elected - unpredictable wackjob jihadists? I think Mubarak's strongman son would be a perfectly A-okay successor, thank you very much.
Giving itself a year to stamp out militancy in Kashmir, the army on Wednesday said it will have to tackle the threats of fresh infiltrations and the terrorist infrastructure across the border for the return of peace in the Valley. Northern Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Lt Gen Hari Prasad said about 60 per cent of militancy has already been wiped out and its top leadership eliminated.
Syed Salahuddin's still in business. Qazi's still in business. Hafiz Saeed's still in business. If they wipe out terrorism in Kashmir in a year, you'll see that my hair's grown back, thick and wavy, and my gut's disappeared, to be replaced by a rippling six-pack...
Mebbe they're sending Qazi a message ...
He, however, said there is "no let up in the attempts to infiltrate into J&K from across the border.
Bingo. Even if the Paks were to try and crack down in really good faith, Hafiz Saeed wouldn't. They'd keep running business as usually, just without gummint support. The fundos within Pakland are too powerful to screw with, so there wouldn't be anything effectively done to stop them.
General Prasad said the militants, whose top commanders have been eliminated during the past year, are frustrated and are now targeting innocents -- children, women and the elderly.
Basically the same people they've been bumping off all along...
There's a reason why we have the 'Kashmir Korpse Kount' ...
He was referring to the Tuesday's car bomb attack outside a school in Pulwama that left 15 dead. "No religion targets innocents. Targetting of civilians is a sign of cowardice," he added.
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.
Board members of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency approved a deal Thursday that exempts Saudi Arabia from nuclear inspections, despite serious misgivings about the arrangement in an era of heightened proliferation fears.
South Korea urged North Korea to help end their Cold War as the two sides glossed over an international nuclear dispute Wednesday to celebrate a landmark 2000 summit that warmed ties but failed to bring them much closer to reunification. Since North Korea's Kim Jong Il met then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung _ the only such talks since the Korean War ended in a 1953 cease-fire _ Seoul and Pyongyang have boosted trade, staged reunions of 10,000 separated family members, and launched the construction of railways and roads connecting the Koreas. But five years on, North Korea menacingly boasts that it has nuclear bombs, the border remains one of the world's most heavily armed, and Kim Jong Il has failed to visit Seoul as promised.
"Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and other 
I guess Bush should have backed Katherine Harris, after all. Sen. Mel Martinez, the Senate candidate Bush backed instead of Harris, has become the first Republican to call for shutting down Guantanamo. Martinez hasn't said where the 500 or so suspected al-Qaida operatives currently at Gitmo should be transferred to, but I understand the Neverland Ranch might soon be available. Maybe Sen. Arlen Specter — the liberal Republican Bush backed instead of conservative Pat Toomey, which still didn't help Bush in Pennsylvania — will step forward to defend the Bush administration. That Karl Rove is a genius. 
NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO - The salmon-hued structure housing the city police headquarters appeared tranquil in the afternoon heat, guarded by white columns and swaying palms. On an archway, the last governor's bold exhortation to fight corruption was displayed in 2-foot-high letters.
The executive who wrote an e-mail memo suggesting that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan may have known about a U.N. contract awarded to the company that employed his son denies that he, personally, ever discussed the firm's bid with the U.N. chief, his lawyers said Wednesday. The memo written by Michael Wilson describes a brief encounter in which officials from the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection S.A. discussed the company's bid for the contract with the secretary-general "and his entourage" during a summit of French-speaking nations in Paris in late 1998. The London law firm Schillings issued a brief statement on behalf of Wilson, who was a vice president of Cotecna at the time and is a friend of both the secretary-general and his son, Kojo. "Mr. Wilson never met or had any discussion with the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, on the issue of the bid for the U.N. contract by Cotecna at the Francophone Summit, during the bidding process, or at any time prior to the award of the contract," the statement said.
A government plan to share tsunami relief aid with Sri Lanka's separatist rebels drove a Marxist party from the government Thursday, a move that could threaten the ruling party's hold on power. The Marxists said they would leave the government if President Chandrika Kumaratunga did not back down on the plan to share the disaster aid with the Tamil Tiger insurgents, who have been waging a separatist war for two decades.
DOHA - Syria insisted on Wednesday it had fully withdrawn from Lebanon despite US accusations that intelligence agents remained in the country. "I assure you that we don't have any ... security individuals, or military individuals. We have Syrians who are visiting Lebanon because 30 percent of the families of those countries are related," Moalem told Reuters on the sidelines of a Group of 77 summit of developing countries in Qatar.
The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday admitted for full hearing a writ petition challenging the appointment of a brother of the leader of the opposition Maulana 
CANBERRA - Australia is considering sending troops back to Afghanistan by early next year to help stabilise the country and continue the war on terrorism, the Australian newspaper reported on Thursday. The paper said the government was considering the new troop deployment, which could be a force of between 250 and 700, along with more civil aid for Afghanistan's reconstruction. A decision would be made in July.
Former Pakistani Army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg yesterday confirmed that the country's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, ran a training camp for militants fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir. "I was the army chief in 1991 when Sheikh Rashid used to run the camp for Kashmiri militants, some 16 km from Islamabad," Beg said here.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would name a vice president after the September presidential election for the first time in his 24-year rule. Soliman Awad, the presidential spokesman, said Mubarak is keen on carrying out this plan and this is an indication of Mubarak's intention for true political reforms. Egyptian expert Muhammad Al-Sayyed Said of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies said the recent announcement is an indication that Mubarak will run for a new term in office. "It also shows that Mubarak plans for the succession after his new terms ends," he told Arab News.
