MOGADISHU - Somalias dominant Islamic militia on Sunday seized control of a central township near the coastline that has been a base of piracy and dozens of hijackings of ships in the Indian Ocean, officials and residents said. The Islamic courts are in full control of Haradere and we were welcomed by its inhabitants, who were forcefully ruled by pirates, Sheikh Said Ali, an Islamic courts official, told AFP of the township that lies about 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Mogadishu.
I'm sure they welcomed a bunch of spittle-spewing holy men with lots o' guns ...
"All your base belong to us"
The era of banditry and piracy is over. People can now live peacefully and get money by fishing and doing other businesses, but not piracy. The pirates have mistreated people in the territorial waters of Somalia and damaged our credibility, he added.
Residents said the pirates, calling themselves the Defenders of Somali Territorial Waters and loyal to regional warlord Abdi Mohamed Afweyne, ran away fled before the Islamic militiamen and battlewagonspickup trucks mounted with machinegunsarrived at the dusty outpost in the countrys Mudug region.
"Four wheel drive don't fail me now!"
Last month, the Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the head of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS) which controls the capital and much of southern Somalia, said he would forcefully stop all acts of piracy in Somalia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2006 00:00 ||
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There were no piracy reports last week. Maybe it's a good sign.
HT to Captain Ed
A senior Venezuelan opposition leader has escaped from a military prison, the country's attorney general has said. Carlos Ortega was sentenced to almost 16 years in jail last year after being convicted of inciting unrest during a strike that began in late 2002.
Opposition leader doing hard time in prison for leading a strike? Sure sounds 'democratic', doesn't it?
He escaped along with three military officers and may have been aided by some authorities, Venezuela's attorney general said. hmmmm...had military help?
Ortega is known as a fierce opponent of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. In his role as a key union leader, Ortega, 59, played a central role in the 63-day strike that aimed to oust Mr Chavez from the presidency. He was arrested last March after returning to Venezuela from Costa Rica, where he sought asylum after the strike ended.
Attorney General Isias Rodriguez told Venezuelan TV that Ortega had escaped from prison. "Effectively at this moment the people who appear to have escaped are not in the Ramo Verde prison," he said.
That's usually what they mean when they talk about an 'escape'.
He had been jailed at the military prison, some 40km (25 miles) outside Caracas, for his own security, officials said.
Why, Hugo was going to beat him up? Civilians in a military prison, sounds like something a banana socialist state would do.
Ortega's lawyer, Carlos Roa, expressed "surprise" at the news and said he had doubts about the truth of the story, the EFE news agency reported.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2006 10:03 ||
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"Jaaaaaaaaaaaail - break!"
Posted by: Angus Young ||
08/14/2006 10:20 Comments ||
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The Russian Air Force is all set to deploy latest S-300 air defense systems during a five-day combined air defense exercise in the south of the country this week, a military spokesman revealed on Monday.
"The active phase of a command-and-staff exercise at the Ashuluk test range on August 15-19 will be supervised by Colonel General Yury Solovyev, the head of the Russian Air Force Special Command," Alexander Drobyshevsky said.
The official said 10 S-300 air defense systems and more than 30 aircraft, including MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker fighters, would participate in the exercise.
S-300 Favorit (NATO designation SA-10 Grumble) air defense system can simultaneously engage up to six targets at altitudes from 30 feet to 16.7 miles.
Russia completed in May 2006 the delivery of S-300 systems to Belarus to improve the effectiveness of the Integrated Air Defense System of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Of course, if a stray Iranian missile just happens to go off course and head to Moscow on the 22nd, it will just be pure luck that they were all there doing a live-fire exercise.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has made his first public appearance since his country test-launched a barrage of missiles more than a month ago, official media reported Sunday. Kim visited a farm run by an army unit and was accompanied by top generals, according to KCNA. As usual with such reports, the exact time or location of the trip were not given.
Kim's last reported public appearance was July 4, a day before Pyongyang launched seven missiles, including a new long-range model believed capable of reaching the U.S. that failed shortly after takeoff. Kim's absence from public view had fueled speculation of a possible crisis in the country in the wake of the missile tests and international reaction.
However, Kim has dropped from sight before for longer periods of time: In 2003, he was not reported to have ventured out for seven weeks after the country quit the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the United States moved toward invading Iraq.
In the latest visit, Kim toured a rabbit and goat farm producing food for the military - the focus of his ``songun'' policy that gives soldiers first priority for the country's scarce resources. ``As our country has many mountains, it is possible to raise goats and rabbits and other grass-eating animals in every part of it,'' Kim said, according to KCNA.
Provided your citizens don't get to the grass first.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2006 00:00 ||
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Juan Cole, LinkTV, Mulsim groups join together to provide this video propaganda site. One must always be aware of what the 5th coulmn is up to so I felt this unified left/islam/anti-tech site needs awareness.
Example of opinion topics surrounding the video topics:
* Arabic Media Internet Network contributor Uri Aveney wonders So What Has Happened to the Israeli Army? This question is now being raised not only around the world, but also in Israel itself, writes Aveney. Clearly, there is a huge gap between the army's boastful arrogance, on which generations of Israelis have grown up, and the picture presented by this war.
* Juan Cole, President of the Global Americana Institute, reacts to the UN Ceasefire with a blog entry titled Israel Kills 38 Civilians on Eve of Ceasefire.
* Link TVs Director of Middle Eastern Programming and Mosaic: World News from the Middle East Producer Jamal Dajani explores A Refugees Lament for Beliefnet. There is something universal about refugees, says Dajani. The longing for ones home and birthplace never dissipates. Ive seen this with my parents, my Armenian friends, my Jewish friends, my Vietnamese friends, and the list goes on.
*
Forward, a high-profile American weekly newspaper committed to covering the Jewish world, is featuring A Perfect Storm of Clouded Judgment, written by Steven Simon. The article address a look at the conditions that merged to fuel the typhoon offers a sense of just what it will take to get through the situation. Aging revolutionary movements feel compelled to prove their continuing relevance and vitality, especially as they begin to fade into a quotidian political landscape, writes Simon. Call it the last fling of a mid-life crisis. The current tempest resulted in part from four such movements going through this phase simultaneously.
* Link TVs Director of Current Affairs David Michaelis discusses his recent trip to his home country in a blog post on Israel Rude Awakening. Peace is a term not used in the public space in Israel anymore, says Michaelis. No one expects any dialogue on a real practical level. The military always offers a shortsighted immediate way out. The wish to identify with the power of the gun and the uniform is still alive in Israeli tribal DNA. Revenge is a word not used in the open; it is there in the undercurrent of the emotions expressed by the public, our bombardment of Gaza had the same motive behind it.
Anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan was hospitalized Friday evening for dehydration and exhaustion after fasting for more than a month and protesting earlier this week in 100-degree weather, friends and relatives said. Sheehan was listed in stable condition at Providence Health Center in Waco. Brenda Mauk, a nursing supervisor, declined to release additional information.
Sheehan, 49, was hospitalized after friends picked her up Friday afternoon at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where she arrived after spending several days in Seattle at the Veterans for Peace convention, said friend Tiffany Burns.
Sheehan, who has been on a Jamba Juice and Smoothie liquid diet as part of the nationwide "Troops Home Fast" hunger strike, had been treated and released from a Seattle emergency room Thursday night. On doctors orders, she ate for the first time in about 37 days, Burns said.
And her first solid food is hospital fare!
Sheehan also underwent additional tests for uterine bleeding, her sister Dede Miller said. Hmmm. Looks like BDS is'nt doing her health much good.
Sheehan was to spend Friday night in the Waco hospital but planned to attend some war protest activities Saturday at the 5-acre lot she bought last month in Crawford, President Bush's adopted hometown, about 20 miles from Waco. "She's in good spirits, but she's sad she can't be at Camp Casey," Burns told The Associated Press.
I call bullshit. She conveniently checks into the hospital for 'dehydration' after chugging every smoothie in sight? She's ordered to eat solid food? Next is a press release telling us how she's sorry but she's under "doctor's orders" to pig out at the Burger King.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2006 10:31 Comments ||
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#2
Which is why It's kinda cool that she's here. BTW, it was 101 yesterday, with a forecasted high today of the same. It's been at or near 100 degrees for a couple of months now. Enjoy Cin, and welcome to Texas. Nuttin' but love for ya.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2006 (UPI) -- U.S. governors strongly oppose a pending bill that would allow the president to take control of the National Guard during a national threat or emergency.
In a letter to be sent to Congress, the governors will ask a House-Senate conference committee to strike down that provision from the House-approved National Defense Authorization Act, reports The Washington Post. The provision will apply in the event of a natural disaster or a threat to homeland security.
"This provision was drafted without consultation or input from governors and represents an unprecedented shift in authority from governors as commanders in chief of the Guard to the federal government," the Post quoted the letter as saying.
An official with the National Governors Association said, "Any effort to take that authority away from governors at the very least confuses the chain of command and at the worst could severely hamper state efforts to respond to emergencies."
#1
Notice no where in this do the 'Governors' admit they kept their mouths shut while the Gov of Louisiana screwed up royally and then along with the MSM tried to put the blame on the sitting President. This is the result of playing cheap short term politics. They don't like the shift in power, but they certainly made the reason for this change possible. Now learn something. Quit being stuck on stupid.
A raging war between Israel and the radical Shiite movement Hezbollah in Lebanon; a de facto civil war in Iraq more than three years after the U.S.-led invasion; mounting conflict over Iran's nuclear program; recent reports over terrorist plans for spectacular attacks against transatlantic aviation; NATO's faltering war in Afghanistan... All of them taking place simultaneously, are these indications that the world is heading for a fresh world war? This is the talk of the day here.
But intellectually, the strongest ideas on where the world is standing with respect to a global conflict, or what the United States should do, came from Richard Holbrooke, a top diplomat during former President Bill Clinton's tenure and hoping to join the next Democrat administration, British military historian John Keegan and Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a leading hawk on foreign policy.
"Two full-blown crises, in Lebanon and Iraq, are merging into a single emergency. A chain reaction could spread quickly almost anywhere between Cairo and Bombay," Holbrooke wrote in an Aug. 10 article in The Washington Post. He then went on to compare the present threat with how World War I broke out, referring to historian Barbara Tuchman's classic, 'The Guns of August,' which recounted how a seemingly isolated event 92 summers ago -- an assassination in Sarajevo by a Serb terrorist -- set off a chain reaction that led in just a few weeks to the world's first global conflict.
"There are vast differences between that August and this one. But Tuchman ended her book with a sentence that resonates in this summer of crisis: 'The nations were caught in a trap, a trap made during the first thirty days out of battles that failed to be decisive, a trap from which there was, and has been, no exit,'" Holbrooke said. He said preventing just such a trap must be the highest priority of American policy. He called on President George W. Bush's administration to contain the ongoing violence in the first place, also urging Washington to engage in talks with Syria and even Iran.
In a counter-article in The Washington Post on Aug. 11, Gingrich mostly agreed with Holbrooke's analysis on the present situation, which he called "an emerging Third World War," but the two men's solution offers diverged greatly. He rejected Holbrooke's calls for dialogue with Iran and Syria, saying the "architect of Bosnian peace" represented the diplomacy first-diplomacy always school. Needless to say, U.S. foreign policy hawks agree with Gingrich's 'go-for-it' approach, and calls by Holbrooke and other Democratic and centrist analysts to engage in talks with Iran face deaf ears from Bush's administration. And Gingrich's position is what the centrists and liberals would call a provocation for the new world war.
As for Keegan, he sees the comparison between today's threats and World War I's outbreak in the eyes of a pure military historian, declining to offer any solutions.
Keegan said: "If the Middle East descends into mutual aggression as a result of the present crisis, it will not be because of similarities or analogies with World War I, but because leaders of states and non-state organizations are willing to run terrible risks."
#1
Just can't STFU, can he? Holbrooke is another Clintoonian with no actual skills except Gov't BS - drooling over a return to relevance and polishing his resume for the 2008 Dhimmi candidates.
There is no trap, just multiple fronts in the same war. The ONLY thing that can go wrong is a failure of nerve that leads to reinstalling this sort of moron to power and resuming the idiot's approach that the Law Enforcement model can deal with terrorism.
#2
This is really way overstated. For something comparable to WWI and WWII to occur, there have to be two roughly evenly-matched alliances facing off. Today, we have, at worst, the US alone, squaring off against the Muslim world as a whole. It's a complete mismatch. Only in Holbrooke's dream world does it resemble WWIII.
#4
Muslims chose global regime change when Abdullah Azzam formed al-Qaeda at-Jihad in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1989. In 1995 Saudi Sheiks al-Hawali and al-Awdah took the globalist message to Teheran (and were jailed for 5 years for so doing), and a joint Sunni-Shiite undestanding on taking war directly to the enemy was settled. However, when the Taliban took over Afghanistan Osama bin Laden placed al-Qaeda on a Wahabi footing (Azzam, a Muslim Brotherhood member, was murdered in November 1989), and Shiites financed the Northern Alliance campaign, as did Pakistan and Saudi Arabia back Taliban/al-Qaeda.
After 9-11, the US exhonerated Pak-Saud terror financing as long as they moved against Wahabi al-Qaeda, while Teheran re-activated its relations with Zawahiri-al-Qaeda. Russia and India, who also financed the Northern Alliance, allied with Teheran, and sell massive amounts of weaponry to the Islamic Republic. In its relations with Iran, Russia invokes counter-balance to the US alliance with Sunni Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. It is a fact that these alliances undermine Western Civilization. The US must unite the Free World against Islamic tyranny.
Of late, Condi Rice is attempting to create yet another suicidal Sunni alliance - including Syria (!) - against Iran. She does that even as US/UK occupied Iraq is under Shiite mastery. However, Hizbollah's effective defense-in-depth strategy - as cooked in Teheran - has taken away IDF blizkreig capacity, and has led to a new Sunni-Shiite understanding on the destruction of Israel.
The Genocide-Alliance against Israel will work to treat the US as wallpaper, as a total missile threat is employed.
Unless the Bush government drops both the Middle East Democratic Initiative, and its indulgence of Iraq Shiite majority rule, the nuclearization of Iran will effectively eliminate all American power in the Middle East. By that time, Europe will be under Iranian extortion. American influence will be reduced to the Americas. But even here, Latin American alienation is manifesting in the rise of the same Leftist tyrannies that Reagan Foreign Policy suppressed in the eighties. Ahmadinejad's happy derision of American power, reflects actual weakness projected by the US.
The President's linkage of the enemy - "Islamofascism" - with the World War adversaries that we slaughtered by the millions, is a step in not only the right direction but the only direction that the US can take. If President Bush does not eliminate the Ahmadinejad threat by the end of September, then he will go down in history as the President who put future generations of Americans in the ICBM target jeopardy of the worst genocidal tyranny since the Nazis. We saw Perle/Frum Bush when he gave his eloquent National Cathedral speech on Sept. 14, 2001. We need to see that GWB, and not the Norquist-Powell Bush who catered to the Muslim enemy.
#8
I've found Keegan entirely too "Britain won WW2 all by itself" for my taste.
However, for pure information and a different perspective I would highly recommend him. He is also highly respected among most military history circles.
#9
After 9-11, the US exhonerated Pak-Saud terror financing as long as they moved against Wahabi al-Qaeda, while Teheran re-activated its relations with Zawahiri-al-Qaeda. Russia and India, who also financed the Northern Alliance, allied with Teheran, and sell massive amounts of weaponry to the Islamic Republic. In its relations with Iran, Russia invokes counter-balance to the US alliance with Sunni Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. It is a fact that these alliances undermine Western Civilization. The US must unite the Free World against Islamic tyranny.
This ideal solution faces one central problem; Much of the Free World has become so complacent reliant upon America's policing of world affairs that, while secretly glad for it, they nonetheless willingly project themselves as critical of the United States and thereby appease potentially hostile replies from staunchly anti-American regimes (read: "Islamic ruled nations").
This duplicity needs to end. So far, only Australia and Britain have demonstrated anywhere near the unalloyed solidarity needed to pose a cohesive front against the terrorist sponsors. Others here at Rantburg have already mentioned a new NATO-sort of alliance whereby signatories all enjoy a mutual anti-terrorist umbrella of cross-protection once they make and keep their commitments in quelling terrorism.
Those nations who have already shown themselves to be so lackadasical in their condemnation of terrorism and any countering thereof must undergo a sort of embargo where they no longer benefit from America's superpower umbrella of protection. The rug needs to be yanked out from under these spineless parasites who constantly undermine our efforts with cries of unilateralism whilst simultaneously enjoying the threat of American intervention should they be attacked. The post-WWII model of NATO in Europe largely describes this same current state of affairs.
We need to establish this group quite soon and somehow rally these resources into a truly nasty set of consequences for those who oppose it.
All of my personal dislikes of G.W. Bush aside, I do not think that he truly possesses the personal charisma or ultimate leadership necessary to convince and recruit this assemblage of foreign powers. I'd love to be proven wrong by the man, but his current waffling regarding Lebanon leaves great doubt in my mind. That said, this administration needs to cobble together a package of sufficiently desirable benefits and long-term gains to dangle in front of prospective new allies. Those who continue to sit on the fence must be confronted with the loss of support in times of peril.
Opinions, embellishments, criticisms and enhancements upon the above are all welcome. We need something substantial and we need it d@mn soon. Iran is cranking up the meat-grinder and unless we subject them to their own devices an age of darkness will descend upon us, not soon to be lifted.
Came down on Friday.
Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- An appeals court said New York police can make random searches of passengers' bags and backpacks at subway entrances, upholding a year-old practice.
The searches were instituted July 21, 2005, two weeks after terrorist bombings of London's public transport system killed 52 people. The New York Civil Liberties Union sued the police commissioner and the city on behalf of five New Yorkers, claiming the searches violated their right to privacy. The police argument that the searches are narrowly tailored to prevent or detect attacks was upheld today by the appeals court.
``We agree that the search program serves a special need and, on balance, is reasonable,'' Judge Chester Straub of the in New York federal appeals court wrote for a three-judge panel. The appeals judges' 25-page decision, upheld a trial judge's ruling.
The decision sanctioned searches for the special purpose of preventing attacks rather than gathering evidence in criminal investigations.
``We have no doubt that concealed explosives are a hidden hazard, that the program's purpose is prophylactic, and that the nation's busiest subway system implicates the public's safety,'' Straub wrote.
The court ruled a day after U.K. police said they foiled a plot to blow up aircraft bound for the U.S. That announcement was accompanied by heightened security measures at airports in both countries.
The judges said subway stations and other mass- transportation hubs made attractive targets for terrorists. The court noted that people can refuse to be searched by leaving the subway and that officers limit inspections to bags big enough to carry explosives.
``This critical affirmance will help the NYPD continue to keep the transit system safe, especially in light of ongoing and critical events like the airline threats yesterday,'' Michael A. Cardozo, the city's chief legal counsel, said in an e-mailed statement.
The plaintiffs argued the program was intrusive without being useful against terrorism. I haven't noticed an NYC subway being blown up lately. But maybe it happened and Rove covered it up...
``It is troubling that the court's opinion fails to closely scrutinize the effectiveness of the program, which has resulted in police searches of hundreds of thousands of innocent New Yorkers and which even the city's own experts admitted leaves the subway system wide open to terrorist attack,'' Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in an e-mailed statement. He said the group is considering its options.
At airport security checkpoints in Knoxville, Tenn. this summer, scores of departing passengers were chosen to step behind a curtain, sit in a metallic oval booth and don headphones.
With one hand inserted into a sensor that monitors physical responses, the travelers used the other hand to answer questions on a touch screen about their plans. A machine measured biometric responses -- blood pressure, pulse and sweat levels -- that then were analyzed by software. The idea was to ferret out U.S. officials who were carrying out carefully constructed but make-believe terrorist missions.
The trial of the Israeli-developed system represents an effort by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to determine whether technology can spot passengers who have "hostile intent." In effect, the screening system attempts to mechanize Israel's vaunted airport-security process by using algorithms, artificial-intelligence software and polygraph principles.
The Israeli-developed system combines questions and biometric measurements to determine if a passenger should undergo screening by security officials.
#3
This should be mandatory before marrage. They need to put and angery ex wife filter on it. There are many an ex that would never be allowed on a plane if they could read her anger and intent.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/14/2006 10:42 Comments ||
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I would have liked to seen the results if this had been conducted on real passengers in Knoxville. I would imagine it would be hard to score with the responses being only, a.)"None of your g**-d**n business" or b.)"Kiss my Dixie-white a$$".
#5
I hope it's not too dependent on lie-detector technology. They can be beaten pretty reliably if you have been trained how to do it. Since sociopaths (where most terrorists belong IMHO) feel little if anything when they lie, quite a few can slip by, too.
But at least the ACLU is predictable in their zeal to defend a terrorist's right to get on a plane and bomb it without the indignity of racial profiling.
#6
Here in Knoxville, we seem to be the one of the guinea pigs for whatever brainstorm-of-the-week the TSA loosers come up with.
It looks to me like an automated polygraph station. And it is probably about as effective.
IMAO, all this box does is give TSA some legal insulation when they start profiling for muslims. Joy.
Oh, well. At least they are trying, in their inept way.
Posted by: N guard ||
08/14/2006 11:12 Comments ||
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"IMAO, all this box does is give TSA some legal insulation when they start profiling for muslims. Joy."
Yeah, if it stopped there. My bet is they'll inflict it on 85 year old WWII veterans in wheelchairs.
#9
After flight delays, no AC in the airplane, seats designed to fix 5'6" anorexic victims (not me), expensive beer...shall I go on?...Yer damn farkin' straight I have "Hostile Intent" TM.
LRR
It was the last week of July, heading into the lazy dog days of official Washington, but Michael Chertoff was suddenly busy.
The homeland security secretary discreetly asked subordinates about plans developed months or even years ago, focused on aviation safety, threat levels and other minutiae. In briefings, he quizzed staffers about responses to an aviation threat: What was the default plan for going to "orange alert"? What items can we ban from airplanes if we need to?
Those taking the questions -- including many of Chertoff's closest aides -- had no idea what was really going on, two senior counterterrorism officials said.
Chertoff's stealthy information-gathering was just one example of the U.S. government's secretive response to an emerging terrorist plot, in which at least 41 suspects were arrested in Britain and Pakistan in connection with alleged plans to blow up jetliners as they flew from London to the United States.
Until the last hours, details of the British probe were confined to a limited coterie of U.S. Cabinet members and senior officials, according to interviews with more than a dozen people who were involved or have since been briefed. The approach ensured that no advance word of the operation leaked out -- but also meant that airlines, airports and even the Transportation Security Administration had only a few hours to ramp up sweeping new measures after being alerted to the threat late Wednesday night. . . . Go read the rerst of it. It sure seems like DHS handled the situation properly. Note in particular the emphasis on operational security--neither the bad guys nor the New York Times (but I repeat myself) got wind of what was coming down.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/14/2006 07:25 ||
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neither the bad guys nor the New York Times got wind of what was coming down
Correction is in order: the bad guys (including the New York Times) got no wind of what was coming down.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Homeland Security Department on Sunday reduced the threat level for U.S.-bound flights from Britain from red, for ``severe,'' to orange, for ``high.'' All other flights operating in or destined for the United States remain at orange.
``The security measures already taken have allowed us to address an imminent threat of attack for flights between the United Kingdom and the United States,'' Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement. ``Let me be clear: This does not mean the threat is over. The investigation continues to follow all leads.
``In particular, we are remaining vigilant for any signs of planning within the U.S. or directed at Americans,'' Chertoff said.
Earlier Sunday, air travelers were handed new rules, given permission to carry small amounts of liquid nonprescription medicine onto a plane and instructed to remove their shoes during security checks. The shoes have to be placed on an X-ray belt for screening before passengers can put them back on. The eased restrictions on medicine and the mandatory shoe removal were among several measures the Transportation Security Administration ordered Sunday in response to the thwarted terror plot in Britain involving U.S.-bound airplanes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2006 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD, 15 August 2006 President Gen. Pervez Musharraf conferred the Hilal-e-Pakistan upon Crown Prince Sultan on Pakistans 60th Independence Day.
According to a press release, President Musharraf also conferred the Hilal-e-Pakistan upon the Kingdoms ambassador to Pakistan, Ali Awad Al-Aseeri. The Saudi ambassador was recognized for his outstanding services to the people and government of Pakistan during last Octobers earthquake.
Others awarded the Hilal-e-Pakistan by Musharraf included ambassadors from the US, Turkey, Cuba and Bosnia. In addition, he presented a number of awards, both civilian and military, to people who provided earthquake relief and rehabilitation services and to military personnel who served in Waziristan and Dera Bugti.
The District Coordination Officer of Dera Bugti, Abdul Samad Lasi, also received an award.
Last night in an address at the Presidential Palace, President Musharraf said that Pakistan was a nuclear power which would never be the victim of aggression. He also listed accomplishments made during his time as the countrys leader.
Posted by: john ||
08/14/2006 21:28 ||
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#1
Does it come with the beauty queen sash that Perv wears?
Posted by: john ||
08/14/2006 21:33 Comments ||
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#2
Halal? Is he edible now?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2006 21:46 Comments ||
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The suspected ringleader of the alleged plot to blow up flights out of Heathrow has provided details that directly link the conspiracy to al-Qaida in Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said yesterday. The interior minister, Aftab Sherpao, said Rashid Rauf had given investigators "many, many clues which link this plan with Afghanistan, especially the al-Qaida of Osama bin Laden". He said Mr Rauf had been brought before a court and had been remanded in custody for a further two weeks.
Mr Rauf, a British citizen, was held last week in Pakistan and has been pinpointed by security sources in the UK and Pakistan as the plot's prime mover. British officials said moves were under way to extradite him to Britain. Intelligence sources suggested that Mr Rauf was believed to have spent time in Lahore with members of the radical group al-Muhajiroun, now a proscribed organisation in Britain.
Educated in all the right places.
Members of the group, who were supposedly in the country to do welfare work with earthquake victims, were required to leave when it transpired that they were British citizens. The foreign ministry spokeswoman described reports of how the alleged plot had been funded by an earthquake charity as "speculation and fabrication".
"Lies! All lies!"
Reports in Pakistani newspapers yesterday that Mr Rauf had "broken" under interrogation were described by a Pakistani human rights group as confirmation that he had been tortured. Asma Jehangir, of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said that it was obvious how the information had been obtained. "I don't deduce, I know - torture," she said. "There is simply no doubt about that, no doubt at all."
Tsk, tsk, real shame, my heart bleeds ... no wait, that's the ball park frank ...
She said it was difficult to get information on the identities and circumstances of those held. "Gone are the days when you could take at face value what the government was saying." She said often detainees' families were not notified of their whereabouts and they might be provided with lawyers who were close to the government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#4
Human Rights activists always care about the life of terrorists, but never about the life of the innocent people those terrorists are trying hard to destroy.
CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq (AP) - Retracing her path to becoming a brigadier general in Iraq, Rebecca Halstead remembers her first command back in 1981 where, as a freshly minted lieutenant, she was teamed with a sergeant who had served in Vietnam.
It was a rough beginning. After a month at the U.S. Army's base in Vicenza, Italy, Halstead pulled the sergeant aside and outlined two of the three strikes she thought he held against her:
She was yet another officer for him to train; she was from West Point; and - as the petite Halstead stood on a rock to look the sergeant in the eye - she told him strike three was that she's short.
"And he just started laughing because I know he thought I was going to say (it's) 'because I'm a woman.' And that probably was what the issue was," Halstead recalled during an interview at her office on this base 50 miles north of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Having to overcome being West Point must have been one hell of a struggle. Most of the good ones I knew hid their rings and changed the subject. The bad ones were so rotten that they didn't bother to hide the fact.
#2
Yes sir'ee, she squared that old Vietnam vet (stupid, sexist, male, dinasaur) away. He was laughing because he knew he was PHUECHING WASTING HIS TIME with you dingbat. Her favorite hip-pocket lecture story..... when she was a no-nothing 2LT. Then twenty plus years later and several plume schools and assignments, War College, maybe a BZ promotion or two or three (no gendor preference or quotas of course) and.... shazam, a general officer in a combat zone. Her book will be out soon no doubt. Yep, quite an "inspiration."
#3
Does the army still have that ticket punching system in place ?
Every idiot officer gets a chance at every position, and so long as he or she doesn't screw up real bad, they are evaluated too well and moved along. Recipt for disaster. By now the army should have come up with some way of finding the exceptional combat officers and keeping them where they can do the most damage to the enemy.
#4
Or something. I've nothing against a woman General as long as she's qualified to lead troops in combat and I don't hear Helen Reddy songs in the background.
#5
Besoeker, wxjames -- maybe it would be worthwhile if you had some actual specific data to base your snark on.
I've met BG Halstead. She's earned her rank, and her soldiers -- and more importantly, the battlefield commanders who rely on her to ensure their units have the logistical support they need -- think very highly of her. Her unit is strac in the right ways - i.e. for effectiveness, not for show - and she has been personally in the middle of the fight on more than one occasion.
Moreover, she comes from a family with a lot of Army service. Her cousin's a field grade officer of my acquaintance and there have been combat-experienced officers in her family for a good while.
It's all well and good to bemoan loss of standards etc. It's even better if you do it when it applies.
#6
I second LOTP's statement. While I have not had the privlidge of meeting her in person, I have seen the results of her works. She's one of the good ones.
Posted by: N guard ||
08/14/2006 9:33 Comments ||
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#7
Forgive me, Besoeker, but I have the feeling that General Halstead could rip you a new one.
And perhaps should.
I don't like seeing our good military people beng disrespected. So put a sock on it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2006 9:33 Comments ||
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#8
In defense of Besoeker and Wxjames, while the military is not academia, there are politically-correct types there, there is ticket-punching, there is an attitude (among some, not most, but some) of "evening things up."
General Halstead may have come up the hard way and be as good as any other General and better than most.
But, the corrosive effect of affirmative action puts a shadow behind her before she even gets a chance to do what she does. It's the same way as a black or hispanic who gets into a high-ranked college. He may be better-equipped than most people and blow the curve. But, since we know they are giving preferences to less-capable people for "diversity," people will naturally be skeptical.
#9
True nuff, Jackal. But maybe after a couple decades of women with commissions, and 5 years of active combat operations, it's time to set some of that presumption aside -- at least, start with the NEUTRAL assumption that women MAY have earned their rank.
These aren't the Clinton years. While any organization tends towards politics for top level promotions, a lot of people are getting their rank right now because they're doing things that matter where the bullets are flying and IEDs exploding. The knee-jerk assumption of politically-correct promotions based on affirmative action is getting pretty threadbare at this point.
SGT Hester earned her silver star the hard way. BG Halstead earned her rank too. They're not the only ones out there.
#10
I dont know too many NCOs that have been straightened out by a 2Lt but I am sure they exist. Not to nit pick the story too much but I have always found logistic officers a lower anal retentive species and the real work is done by the Senior NCOs. Anyone that has had to draw gear and turn it in will understand my statement (the paperwork is often heavier than the gear). Also the more anal the officer the quicker they are promoted! Logistics officers love rules, regulation, and TONS of paperwork.
#11
I know a bunch of the Army people who did the logistical analysis for the invasion of Iraq and afterwards. I can say from personal experience they, at any rate, were neither anal nor nitpicking. Instead, they were figuring out how to flow critical materiel through very extended supply lines in the face of rapidly changing battlefield conditions.
Conditions in Iraq have shifted since then, but the challenges are still quite real. We're not talking low-level paperwork here, Sarge -- we're talking something a little closer to the leadership and incisive analysis that earned George Marshall his stars in WWII and made him so indispensable that Eisenhower was given command in the European theatre instead under Marshall as Chief of Staff -- despite the belief by both FDR and Churchill that Marshall was a brilliant and courageous leader.
And that work - which was based very much on Marshall's genius as a logistical analyst and leader - is what earned him his 5 stars.
As the quintessential logistics leader, Marshall was scarcely an anal, paperwork kind of guy. Nor was he a "didn't make waves" kind of promotee.
long excerpt deleted. But those who don't know how absolutely central Marshall's leadership and vision were to our victory in WWII should check out speech about him at the link.
.
I'm not saying Becky Halstead rises to that level --- very very few people do. But I'm suggesting she's of that school a lot more than she is of the paper-pushing, account for each roll of toiletpaper school.
#12
Annecdote about Marshall and logistics. FDR called both Marshall and Leahy(chief of naval operations) to ask them what they needed to be ready for deploying troops to Europe.
Marshall, who needed to reconstitute a hollowed out army quickly, listed his top priorities, how much he needed when and what units he could have ready by what date.
Leahy, who wasn't nearly so well prepared, went back to his staff and said, "Gentlemen, I'm not sure what this logistics stuff is all about but the Army has it and we need some too."
Told to me by a close friend who is *retired* navy. LOL
#13
Marshall was scarcely an anal, paperwork kind of guy.
He certainly did not hide behind paperwork as a defence for shortcomings, but there was this little black book he kept while commander of the GSCS...
And Forrest Pogue has this to say:
"The surprising thing is not that initially the two men held eachother at arm's length, but that Roosevelt had ever selected Marshall as Chief of Staff. In temperament, methods of work, approach to domestic and international problems, general viewpoints, even forms of relaxation, they differed remarkably. Roosevelt's mercurial nature, flashy intuitiveness, and helter-skelter handling of administrative problems contrasted sharply with Marshall's reserve, careful judgements, and passion for orderliness. Regarding clearly defined channels of authority and tidy organization almost as articles of faith, the Chief of Staff was appalled by Roosevelt's policy of retaining subordinates who quarreled among themselves and who gave only a dubious loyalty to the President himself."
#14
This article sucks! She comes from a generation of West Pointers that handcuffed women to toilets and harassed them, shes the first Woman to make general, so what!!! She is a survivor and not a woman card whistle blower, hat tip to her but again so what. She deserves more credit for her actions, not for getting in the limelight for straightening out an old NCO and for being a woman. This degrades her and just pisses me off. All those F$%king Helen Reddy types revel in - this woman overcame the obstacles - crap and missed the point that this Officer comes from a long line of officers and is not only supporting a very complex combat environment, logistically, but doing it well. Do the math, the log toads are getting hit almost every day. They are completely engaged in the fight. And when in this war did you hear of a troop in need? You havent. Lets not confuse a soldiers love to complain with the reality. This war is not being fought like Gulf I where dock workers were in new desert BDUs and the troops out front were in woodland BDUs. Every single slice of support available for the troops gets to the front lines first. When soldiers have complained about lack of equipment it was not due to the rear guard wearing it all, its because there wasnt any available, period. This officer has done a great job in her career and should be noted for it, the author of the article should be jack slapped.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/14/2006 12:23 Comments ||
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#15
My only beef is that the article emphasises her being female, not the quality of her service. For a blanket-folder to run a base in a hot zone, and do it well is a hell of an accomplishment, to do it over there in Iraq is even more. That's the real "heroic" thing here - she's making logistics work in a pretty nasty place. I've been to LSAA (Balad) and its a nasty place - used to be called "Mortaritaville" - the prior commander was truly a blanket folder. When I was there they still needed someone to secure the place properly though. OPSEC precludes me from talking any further, but they had some major screw-ups in the security setup and plan, mistakes that an combat arms officer would never have made. Apparently she may have fixed some of that or else was in a tenant unit there.
FYI - "blanket folder" is a somewhat derisive nickname we had for logistics officers - and perhaps I should not have applied it here.
We never applied that term to our supply NCO's - those guys kept us rolling, and they could trade snowballs to the Eskimos and come up with parkas in return. No better friends to have in the S-4 than the supply Sgt and the cook.
#16
Agreed on both points - the article's slant is lousy.
And NS, do you really WANT a mercurial, disorganized quasi-aristocrat actually planning and executing things??? ;-)
But what I was really pointing to in the excerpt I originally included was that Marshall wasn't afraid to make waves by challenging the consensus agreement - including when he was a much more junior officer, disagreeing with seniors publicly. He could be pretty confrontational, but he tended to have his facts and figures analyzed before he did it and could make the case for his position.
Yes, he was appalled by the infighting that Roosevelt encouraged "tolerated". But he was also quite loyal and accepted the chief of staff role when EVERYONE, from Churchill and Roosevelt down through the ranks, though he was the obvious best to lead the invasion. It was a real disappointment to him to be asked if he would accept the staff job instead. He could easily have demanded and gotten the job that went to Eisenhower and noone but he himself would probably have criticized him for it.
Of course, the Army wouldn't have been trained, supplied and deployed nearly as well as it was if he had done so ...
#17
Ok Dr. Steve, she can "rip me a new one" right after she finishes counting canteen cups and picking rags, and telling stories about the enlisted Vietnam vets she squared away. You can come along to assist. See you on the drop zone mate.
#21
Well, duh! It goes both ways: without leadership the enlisted aren't an effective army either.
And while the NCO role is crucial, it is NOT the totality of leadership. Both non-commissioned and commissioned officers are needed, both should be respected for their leadership roles IMO.
WRT her impact in Iraq, OS what I've heard is that the base was a lot tighter and more combat effective after her than before her and that the difference was due in part specifically to her.
#23
Besoeker - don't trash someone you don't know.
I have been to Balad ("Camp Anaconda"), and 3rd SupCom is doing damn good work (as long as they stay out of the JSOC compound, heh). I had no idea its commander was a female until I read this article - and she's doing a better job than the previous (male) base commander who was an idiot looking for a ticket punch and who had no concept of how to secure an area. If she managed to keep her units going and secure the place better than the previous commander then BZ to her.
On a more personal note:
As for her "counting canteen cups" - kiss my ass and hers too. Those supply people were under 24*7 intermittent harassment fire from mortars and sniper fire from the ville (as were all at the base); when they left on supply runs, they ran a gauntlet of IEDs, ambushes and so on. Id like to mash your face into the bloodstains on those demolished vehicles sitting at the wrecking yard on the west side of LSAA across the runways (anyone that has been there can back me up on this - the Army doesn't publicise it, but they are there). Those kids put it out there, and she apparently did a good job commanding them. As for "meet me on the DZ", pray that the logistics people like her have proper riggers, or you're going to get to the ground a lot faster than me.
So from this riled up old soldier and old spook: you just back the f*ck up - if you can't apologize then just shut up.
#24
humor .... hmmm. Do they issue that standard???
LOL. Guess I got a little intense on this one. It just pissed me off when a really talented, brave and effective officer got dissed right out of the box because some idiot reporter's slant fit so well with prejudices.
BTW I mentioned this discussion over lunch today with a woman O5 I know who is a pilot and one of the first female grads of some of the Army's more advanced combat courses. Her comment: "Oh for goodness sake, people aren't still stuck on THAT sort of thing, are they?"
#26
My turn: while the comments regarding PC/gender-based quotas for promotion are true, it is also true, at least in the Navy I was part of, that eventually the system worked. Now whether the system was the official one or the real one is up for another discussion, I have both worked for and had women work for me that were true professionals. There were also some of those quota fillers but we usually got them washed out before they did too much damage. The fiasco with fighter pilots and the loss of life and aircraft frying to force feed unsuitable individuals into the cockpits has, to a large extent, been rectified.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Civil Service side of the gov't. The loser I had to work under in another life made a bad job unbearable and it took the TSA over 2 years to figure it out and move her to a job she was better suited for ( pushing paper in Seattle, rather than phuequing up a whole airport.
Don't denigrate her unless you have walked in her shoes.
#27
She's a class act and she does her job right. What else matters?
Posted by: Mike ||
08/14/2006 14:39 Comments ||
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#28
Spook: Been to Balad my damn self and will be going back again soon as well! I'm not saying nothing about the Spt Cmd, I never mentioned it. I've counted my share of kit as well. Crack troops that enjoy quota promotions, assignments, and play Rambo are my beef, along with wise cracks and crappy war stories about.... telling soldiers off as a stumpy 2nd LT. A senior officer should pick a career story or target other than combat veteran enlisted man. I'll match my jump log with yours, shake your chute, and buy the beer if I lose.
#29
When the tanks were lined up for Gulf I the med helos went cross flot to wait on any injured. Makes sence to only fly cross flot one time when the fighting starts. They sat outside Bagdad, the closest any conventional forces ever got to Bagdad, for that war anyway. There was a female pilot in one of the aircraft relaying the fact that the support went deeper into the fight and that a woman was with them deeper that the main battle force. There are also stories of the fuelers bypassing the Division so the tanks could ROM, again with women in the ranks. In more current ops both my in country contact and guide were women who risked everything fo us.
Lets not confuse what we want with the reality. I do not want women in combat. I am a bigot in this regard and feel it is no place for a lady. My govenment feels differently. I don't like it, too bad, I soldier on. But the women I have worked with both in combat and out performed as well as any other soldier and as in the 50 plus that have paid with their lives.
Besoeker, your just wrong on this one.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/14/2006 14:44 Comments ||
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#30
Of course combat is no place for a lady! She can be a lady before, and again after, but during combat she damn well better be a soldier just like everyone else wearing a uniform. ;-)
#32
A senior officer should pick a career story or target other than combat veteran enlisted man.
Based on my limited experience being interviewed, and then reading the results, there's a very good chance BG Halstead never said things quite the way they were reported. I've had quotes pulled out of context and used to make exactly the opposite point from what I clearly intended -- even had it done with AUDIO, which is a lot harder than a print story to edit that way.
I agree with you 100% on one thing, Besoeker -- the story as written is condescending towards a veteran who earned the right to be treated and spoken of with deep respect. I should have made that clear up front.
While my generation and their kids have mostly served as commissioned officers, my father and his brothers saw combat in WWII as enlisted and junior NCOs. Of those who stayed career after WWII not one accepted an offer to "upgrade" to a commissioned status. The one highly decorated combat veteran in my close family - Silver Star, multiple Bronze Stars, 3 Purple Hearts all won during the fiercest fighting at Bastogne - was a young SGT at the time. Years later his youngest brother served as a senior NCO in Nam. I respect them deeply and you're right to take offense at the dismissive attitude the writer shows towards a Viet vet. Just don't assume that reflects Becky Halstead's attitude accurately.
#33
One more comment before I go, an example... only one. When I went in the "fireman's carry" was a mandetory event on the PT test. Why you ask? because it was deamed essential that YOU be able to pick up your buddy and pull his wounded ass out of the line of fire. The fireman's carry is no longer a Physical Training requirement. Most wouldn't even know what you're talking about... unless you're a fireman. A lot of other standards have been dumbed down over the years in an effort to be more "inclusive" more available to wimin. Combat ain't for wimin, sorry. And assymetric warfare has the potential to make the entire planet a combat zone. It ain't likely to change, I know that. That don't mean I have to like it.
#34
Well, how far back should I go ?
The Civil War ? How about WW2 ? Ike sat Patton in the corner and let Mark Clark get 8,000 American men killed at Angio. Then, there was Nam.
Officers and politicians alike had Americans killed by the hundreds for assinine decisions.
I guess the army learned real well during all those years of peace....doubt it. There may be some great combat officers around, but the whole idea of officers and gentlemen (you know the college elite) vs. the common grunts sucks. And today, there is the practice of making the decisions while well behind the action. No Chesty Pullers here. I'll believe it when I see it. Till then, it's the army of Nam in my mind.
Snarking at a particular woman in uniform who is doing a great job and earned her rank -- and the respect of those she leads and those who depend on her leadership for the wellbeing of their own units -- is quite another thing.
Hold whatever views you want on women in combat. But if you're going to spew uninformed snide snark about someone whose service I and OS and others KNOW to be superlative, you will be called on it again and again.
#36
Wow, wxjames -- and that's all Halstead's fault?
today, there is the practice of making the decisions while well behind the action
Read OS's comments above, wxjames. Halstead has been leading from inside the zone that's getting regular fire. She's leading soldiers who are under fire daily. And her command's effectiveness is not only recognized, it's highly appreciated by the combat commanders in theatre.
I'll say to you what I've said to Besoeker -- hold whatever opinions you want in general, but when you dismiss the service of someone I know to be an outstanding officer I'll call you on it.
#38
When soaked in gas it's not smart to play with matches there B. Someone get a chain and restrain Lotp. LOL
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/14/2006 15:47 Comments ||
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#39
I only met Halstead once, about two months ago, while we were waiting for a the Palace exit to open again during one of the closures for bomb scares around the parking lot that are becoming more frequent. Had a nice brief chat, asked her about convoy security and the level and kind of attacks they were seeing now.
I remember that she was very friendly and smart, very short, had two stars, and I had never seen her before (which is unusual around here, where you get used to recognizing most of the brass).
I have to second all those here who salute her service and that of her people, who face most of the s**t this place has to offer and keep everyone so well supplied. I have nothing but gratitude, respect, and affection for everyone in uniform out here.
#41
No need for chains, 49Pan. B's attitude is neither unique nor particularly provocative at this point. As my pilot friend said over lunch today, "Oh for goodness sake, people aren't still stuck on THAT sort of thing, are they?"
I do take exception, though, when it results in direct dissing of a fine officer.
Verlaine -- thanks for reminding me. I did see Halstead's name on the Major General promotion list, forgot about that.
#43
Lotp, the LOCs around the world were outlined probably during the Spanish American War. The world hasnt gained any new oceans, seas, or rivers. Yes there is an Air component but that is marginal compared to Sealift. Logistic Officers have very little to do unless they are making life tough on the enlisted force. Planning for deployments and re-supply is done at the Pentagon and not in Iraq. General Nuisance is only there to (hopefully) smooth over any wrinkles that may gum up the Logistics trail and possibly to foster some cooperation within Iraq with the locals. Yes the troops working in Logistics are tops (as are all today) and you cant run an Army without them, but most of the orders/shipments (work previously done by Officers) are handled by computers which leaves the Officers free to help load or keep out of the way. If I am wrong please correct me and give me the daily routine of your typical supply officer.
#44
Stand down about those milk tarts I made, Besoeker dear, or I won't let you have any. Lotp doesn't have time for such things just now -- she's got people to train now that you may well appreciate later.
#46
Read OS above, Sarge, as to what MG Haltead's troops actual do in Iraq -- and what they face.
As far as the planning goes, as I mentioned I know some of the analysts involved. It isn't QUITE as simple as "computers do it all". A complicating factor right now is the move to the brigade as the deployable unit of action, unit as opposed to single soldier rotation and the rapid rotation of reserve and national guard units who will use some of the equipment left behind and who have very little in the way of organic logistics capability or experience.
Now, on a daily basis, what that means is, we move over 120 combat logistics patrols. That is, on average, over 17,000 trucks a week. We produce over 7 million gallons of bulk water a day. We distribute over 1 million gallons of fuel, over 9 million short tons of ammunition and over 80,000 cases of water. That's a day.
Now, I am pleased to report, however, that we have just begun production of water at our second water bottling plant in Iraq.
... We also prepare over 500 pallets of supplies that are flown each day. ... In the month of March, for instance, we reached an all-time goal of moving over 16,000 pallets by air. . ...
Another aspect of our mission is to support and train the Iraqi security force. As you would imagine, there are different levels of logistics units in the Iraqi army, just as we have in our own forces. So in the 3rd COSCOM, our mission is to partner with the Iraqi army's motorized transportation regiments. We call those MTRs. We also provide technical support and assistance to the Iraqi army national depot and the regional support units. They provide maintenance and supply support.
... We receive MTRs when they are 85 percent equipped and manned and when they've completed their individual training. So then our focus becomes on the unit level collective training, and that is everything from transportation operations to maintenance to force protection to soldier discipline. Our goal is to bring them to a higher level of readiness in preparation for them being assigned to their Iraqi army division.
...For the (Iraqi) national depot and the regional support units, our focus is mainly on training them on warehousing operations, assisting them with the development of their logistics concepts for their support systems, like ordering parts and supplies, prioritizing their work and their maintenance and coordinating the distribution to support their army units and sustain their readiness
This is happening, as a reminder, in Iraq and headquartered at Balad. (REF: OldSpook re: casualties her troops absorb due to IED, mortar and other attacks.
#48
I've never met the general in question so I can only go off what those of you say who have met her. I usually get sick of articles based on gender and the whole overcoming obstacles bullshit. Just tell me how she improved the situation on the ground for those in the fight and she will have my respect regardless of what she has or doesn't have between her legs.
BTW - I'm prolly one of the most un-p.c. neanderthal guys you'll ever meet. I did a tour in Iraq and am looking to go back again next year for another. I have no issue with any Marine of any background who can pack their gear, and that includes females. However, I will admit I personally have seen at Recruit Training how standards are physically different for women. (they get to climb the knotted rope, do the flexed arm hang, only have to run 31 minutes for 3 miles to pass a pft, etc.) I do not condone lowering (or the p.c. differing standards due to body type horse hockey) for one sex and not the other if we are working toward the same promotion as well as wearing the same title. I believe standards should be congruent no matter what the sex as a bullet does not discriminate. From personal experience, I am not an advocate of women in the Marine Corps as I've seen many in just the past couple years get pregnant over and over to avoid deployment - yes, a lot of you won't believe that but it is 100% true. I have also met those females that pound for pound were more mature, more articulate, and could multi-task better then their male counterparts. I have met many who are very earnest about their job and are proud to serve. I absolutely have no issue w/those that do their job in that manner, but I think the sytem is not built for them, nor are they built for the sytem, and nor really should it be. The military in a lot of respects has turned into a daycare center. In general I'm a huge fan of women and when I was single I slept w/as many I could ;) However, I am not sold on them in a deployed environment though I know first hand as anyone who has been there can attest those who did perform well under fire.
BTW - I also think it is silly at least from a Marine perspective to bitch about logistics officers or REMF's. I saw a lot of Marines in support MOS's take a helluva a lot of fire, IED dets, and UXO cleanups while I was deployed. I've also deployed w/the grunts and can attest to the MOS expertise of both types. I've seen every stereotype and cliche of the pogue who never goes to the front but wears the best gear as well as I've seen grunts who whine about every goddamned thing under the sun. So as my ole' man used ta say: if they ain't bitchin' they ain't happy. It's when they stop bitchin' and get real quiet ya need to be worried.
#49
The pregnancy-to-get-out-of-deploying happens in the Army too sometimes, I'm afraid. Totally unprofessional and inappropriate -- not to mention that the women in question usually are not mature enough to make good mothers in any case.
#50
lotp, don't jump to conclusions. I made only 2 comments, and never blamed anything on this lady general. Let's just say with me, respect must be earned, and by army officers, twice.
Throughout our history, we have a dismal record of bad officers getting their men killed in battle. I'm not aware that has changed. I would like to be wrong, but things tend to stay the same.
#51
Broadhead6: The gals are fully capable of meeting and exceeding the most stringent PT standards--given the right training. Check out the "Nasty Girls" workout video. These ladies have smoked many a PT bad ass:
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/051204.wmv
Even the moms and daughters will make it up the unknotted rope if you train 'em well:
#54
lotp, I concur. I encourage my single first termers to stay single. I also tell them not to buy a new car from one of the rip off dealers out in town but they often do not listen. Unfortunately a lot of them get married too early, have kids they cannot afford, & make poor economic decisions (or their economics are dictated by the aforementioned factors).
#55
I guess we'll learn how this plays out over time. I do understand both your experience and your concern Broadhead. Whatever else, the mission must not be sacrified.
OTOH I also know one of the women who have now graduated from air assault school, in almost entirely male cadre and meeting the exact same requirements as the men. Those 10 days aren't exactly a cakewalk for most soldiers, although I would *not* want to get into the Army vs. Marine comparison .... ;-)
Thanks for your comments on this thread, all. An important topic and one in which the data are still out I suspect -- for either side.
So we'll see how this plays out over time. And male or female, I am deeply grateful to ALL of you who sacrifice and serve.
JERUSALEM -- Ariel Sharon's condition has deteriorated, according to the hospital where the ailing former Israeli prime minister is being treated. A spokeswoman wouldn't say whether Sharon's life was in danger, but said doctors were treating him with broad-spectrum antibiotics and steroids.
A new scan showed a deterioration in his brain function, ... Maybe he really was able to sense this so-called cease-fire, and it is something his brain just can't handle.
... his urine output has decreased significantly and a chest scan showed that he has a new infection in his lungs, according to Anat Dolev, spokeswoman for the Chaim Sheba Medical Center.
southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Monday just as the ceasefire between Israel and the Hizballah terrorist organization was beginning to take hold.
But even before the ceasefire, a Hamas columnist said that Palestinians would be the greatest beneficiaries of what he called the Hizballah victory. He said it paved the way for a third Palestinian uprising.
Writing in the Hamas paper Al-Risala, columnist Ibrahim Abu Heija said that the "Palestinian resistance" [a euphemism for terrorism] would be the "greatest beneficiary" of what he called Hizballah's victory. "This is an important moment that the Palestinian resistance must seize," wrote Abu Heija in the paper, which is published twice weekly and distributed in the Hamas power base of Gaza. Palestinian groups "benefited" from a similar moment six years ago, at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa intifadah, Abu Heija said.
Hizballah congratulated the Lebanese people on their "big victory" over Israel in a leaflet distributed to citizens on Monday. Hizballah claimed victory when Israel withdrew unilaterally from a south Lebanese security zone six years ago, in May 2000 - a move that inspired Palestinians to launch their violent uprising later that year.
More than 1,000 Israelis - many of them civilians - have been killed since then in Palestinian terror attacks.
"And now, after the ceasefire [hudna] has been tried and the experience of changing the [Palestinian] Authority reached its peak, the door will be opened for a third Palestinian intifada, that will transform the resistance from the stage of reaction [to Israeli] actions to [resistance] that is carried out at our initiative," he said, according to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute. "In general, it is important for the Palestinian resistance to exploit the effects of the victory in Lebanon for its own interests in order to achieve its rights and move forward towards its objectives, and to encourage the whole public to unite behind its program," he wrote last week.
#2
Deport them so they can see the destruction first hand.
Posted by: ed ||
08/14/2006 18:58 Comments ||
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#3
You could nuke these morons and still have them declaring some sort of "victory." Deterence is not an option with psychotics of this type. Only death cannot be misinterpreted as anything but defeat. Let them die, faster please.
In a state as vulnerable as Israel is, this kind of discord between civilians and military is a disaster.
Relations between the country's political and military leadership are at the lowest point in the country's history, on the verge of a crisis. In addition, there is a growing lack of confidence between Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, the first CoS to hail from the air force, and many of his general staff colleagues from the ground forces, who say he and his "blue clique" [blue being the color of the air force uniform-ed] do not fully appreciate the nature of ground warfare. Here's an interesting aside about the planning by the IDF for the Lebanon operation.
Senior IDF officers have been saying that the PM bears sole responsibility for the current unfavorable military situation, with Hezbollah still holding out after almost a month of fighting. According to these officers, Olmert was presented with an assiduously prepared and detailed operational plan for the defeat and destruction of Hezbollah within 10-14 days, which the IDF has been formulating for the past 2-3 years.
This plan was supposed to have begun with a surprise air onslaught against the Hezbollah high command in Beirut, before they would have had time to relocate to their underground bunkers. This was to have been followed immediately by large scale airborne and seaborne landing operations, in order to get several divisions on the Litani River line, enabling them to outflank Hezbollah's "Maginot line" in southern Lebanon. This would have surprised Hezbollah, which would have had to come out of its fortifications and confront the IDF in the open, in order to avoid being isolated, hunted down and eventually starved into a humiliating submission.
According to senior military sources, who have been extensively quoted in both the Hebrew media and online publications with close ties to the country's defense establishment, Olmert nixed the second half of the plan, and authorized only air strikes on southern Lebanon, not initially on Beirut.
Although the Premier has yet to admit his decision, let alone provide a satisfactory explanation, it seems that he hoped futilely for a limited war. A prominent wheeler-dealer attorney-negotiator prior to entering politics, he may have thought that he could succeed by the military option of filing a lawsuit as a negotiating ploy, very useful when you represent the rich and powerful, as he always had. Another motive may have been his desire to limit the economic damage by projecting a limited rather than total war to the international financial powers that be. Read the whole thing, which is immensely depressing. This clown Olmert has tossed away strategic surprise for Israel, and the next time it's going to be much, much harder.
#2
This is what would have played out if Igor had been Prez on 9/11. The Taliban and Al Qaeda would still be in power in Afghanistan and god only knows what more terrorist acts would have been directly carried out against Americans in their homeland while we all awaited the next non-event at the UN.
#3
Don't see this as a crisis. Israelis know they've been hosed and will find good leadership. Their lives depend upon it.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/14/2006 13:04 Comments ||
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#4
I recognize that plan from someplace a few weeks back...
All that aside, if we can come up with it here on the Burg, Israel has no excuses, but only blame to apportion. If Olmert were given this plan and an army ready to execute it, and he then turned it down for the piece-meal crap he put into operation, then Olmert deserves to be bundled up and dropped into the middle of Teheran. He deserves to stay with them more than with the nation he is supposed to, but faield to, defend well.
INTERNET users have slapped down Irans President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his own online poll which went live with the fiesty leaders blog overnight.
Iran state-TV encouraged Iranians to visit President Ahamdinejads blog, announcing that it had gone live on Sunday night.
Early voting was split, with 65 per cent voting no, but hours after US site Fox News ran a story on the Presidents blog, only 2 per cent of voters agreed with Ahmadinejad.
An online poll on the Presidents blog asks visitors: Do you think that the US and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another word (sic) war?.
The Presidents first post is not for the time-challenged. In a 2300 word tract, Ahmadinejad veers between autobiographical snippets During the era that nobility was a prestige and living in a city was perfection, I was born in a poor family in a remote village of Garmsar, and occasional takes on Irans history. I was born fifteen years after Iran was invaded by foreign forces - in August of 1940 - and the time that another puppet, named Mohammad Reza the son of Reza Mirpange- was set as a monarch in Iran.
He talks of himself as a gifted intellect. Despite being only in first grade at the time, Ahmadinejad writes of the late Ayatollah Khomeini speeches: His message was invitation to the belief of monotheism - Unity and Oneness of God - and also justice, elimination of oppression, injustice and sedition in the world.
It was towards the end of his schooling that his intellect began to shine: I prepared myself for university admission test-conquer, he writes. And later on that year, I took the test. Although I had nose bleeding during the test, but I became 132nd student among over 400 thousand participants.
He is scathing of the United States, not suprisingly, usually choosing to use the phrase Great Satan USA.
Iran has come down heavily on bloggers in the last six months, with some reports suggesting up to 50 have been jailed since President Ahmadinejad announced the crackdown. Blogging experienced huge growth in Iran under the moderate regime of President Mohammad Khatami.
After 2300 words, many typos and oddly translated grammar ("Our Revolution was unique in its own kind"), President Ahmadinejad promises: From now onwards, I will try to make it shorter and simpler, and assuring readers that there will be more, but not as much as his opening post: I intend to wholeheartedly complete my talk in future with(in) allotted fifteen minutes.
IT was supposed to be the day the maligned Lebanese army took control of the country's borders and policed the UN ceasefire. Instead, the military commanders were left humiliated and troops stranded as Hezbollah told them not to disarm its fighters.
The first infantry units were preparing to head south when Hezbollah showed who controls the area by announcing it would not surrender its weapons.
General Michel Sleiman, commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army, and his lieutenants had been invited to join cabinet meetings to finalise plans to deploy the 15,000-strong force south of the Litani River. But they were lectured by Hezbollah's two ministers in the coalition Government on what the army could and could not do.
In Beirut, Western diplomats said the standoff raised concerns about the army's ability to deal with Hezbollah. The Lebanese Government is left struggling to maintain a united front after unanimously backing the UN resolution on Saturday. "The Government can't force Hezbollah to abide by the ceasefire," Economics Minister Sami Haddad said. "It's unnatural to have an armed political party in cabinet that does not abide by what the Government of Lebanon wants."
Unnatural, that pretty well describes the Hezbies.
Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Lebanese parliament and the Shia politician best placed to negotiate with Hezbollah, asked for 48 hours to broker a deal.
The standoff came after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would respect the ceasefire, describing the deployment of Lebanese and foreign troops to the south as "an honourable move". But without Lebanese troops or the planned international force in the intended demilitarised zone, there is little prospect of the ceasefire holding.
There were optimistic murmurs about trying to integrate Hezbollah fighters into the army. But Hezbollah seems to have decided that the demand for its fighters to disarm and leave the 20km arms-free zone would show it as losers in the conflict.
Defence Minister Elias Murr said in the early days of the war: "We will defend our land until the last soldier, and we will pay any price for our land." But troops retreated to their barracks or lounged on armoured vehicles in a token effort to police checkpoints around the capital or protect key buildings.
Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese general, said: "Sending 15,000 troops south is a political solution, not a military one. It's more a PR stunt. The army needs the international force to help it.
"The key objective is to keep the army united and not have it split on factional lines, as it did in the civil war."
The army's equipment is poor, and no match for the Israelis. Lebanon has no air force or navy.
One soldier said Hezbollah was better armed and organised, and that he was reluctant to confront "the resistance fighters". Another soldier said his brother and a cousin were fighting for Hezbollah. "I can't turn a gun on the resistance, because they are family," he said.
Posted by: Evil Elvis ||
08/14/2006 13:28 Comments ||
Top||
#2
signing an agreement with muslims is like writing on water.
thay have a religious law which allows them to cheat dhimmies and lie to any Kafir.
Mark my words, there will be another big conflagration within 6 months from today !
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
08/14/2006 14:49 Comments ||
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#3
signing an agreement with muslims is like writing on water.
Well said!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/14/2006 14:53 Comments ||
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#4
Leb Army Can't Won't Disarm Hezbollah Fighters
There - fixed that for ya'.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/14/2006 16:48 Comments ||
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#5
Leb Army Can't Disarm Hezbollah Fighters
Which gives Israel the unabashed right to shut off each and every conduit for weaopns reaching Hezbollah. This includes Lebanese military depots, all trans-border rail connections and paved roads plus each and every donkey trail through the backwoods and mountain passes. A massive bombing campaign should proceed to eliminate all of these resupply paths and then rekindle a renewed thrust against Hezbollah while they are still on the ropes to finally put paid to these scumbags.
Lebanon (and Syria) must be confronted for their complicity in Hezbollah's constant attacks against Israel. Having terrorists sitting in your government and its committees is something all other civilized countries must not countenance. Such validation of terrorism brings us one step closer to appeasing negotiating with them as legitimate arbiters of politics, which they must never be.
Hizbullah distributed leaflets on Monday congratulating Lebanon on its "big victory" and thanking citizens for their patience during the 34-day war with Israel.
Supporters of the guerrilla group were seen passing out leaflets to cars heading south on the Zahrani highway, which connects the hard-hit southern cities of Nabatiyeh, Tyre and Sidon.
"Congratulations to you on the big victory, with the support of God, the mujahedeen (holy warriors) and your patience," it read.
The flyers also warned people not to touch any suspicious objects, which could be unexploded ordnance. Predictable.
#1
We won! We stopped Israeli advances by hiding behind the innocent women and children that we kidnapped so they wouldn't join the refugee lines. And our ability to hide and launch missiles among civilians, allowed us to pose our dead shields for Eurabian atrocity propaganda. While assuming the propaganda highground, we attacked civilians with anti-personnel ordenance, and we torched over half million trees in Israel, lebanon and the West Bank. And we kept Teheran's ill-gotten oil money coming our way. True, we agreed to a ceasefire that prohibits re-armament, but unless the frontier with Syria is monitored constantly, anything can and will come our way. And our new status of symbol of resistance to America, will cause Israelis to emigrate en masse. We made Iran the new regional power, and the US is too obsessed with making the Iraq mess work, to challenge it.
----------------------
That is what they are thinking, folks. I can think of a huge cure for their optimism...
#4
the bar for Islamic victory is set waaayyyyyy low
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/14/2006 7:34 Comments ||
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#5
We won! We stopped Israeli advances by hiding behind the innocent women and children that we kidnapped so they wouldn't join the refugee lines
Would'nt they have stopped the Israeli advances by not attacking the Israeeli's? And then Lebanon would not have billion's of dollars in reconstruction to boot.
#6
I find this hard to stomach, but it is a victory for Hezbollah. They are still here. They still have massive weapons caches with which to threaten Israel. Israel is no more secure. Lebanon and Hezbollah are now one and the same. The UN force will prove to be as ineffective as they have been for the last 28 years. Olmert and Peretz have led the war as PR specialists, not warriors in defense of the Jewish state, and have cow-towed to the anti-Israel Euro lobby in the UN.
Of course many Hezzies were killed and many of their hideouts were flattened. Of course Southern Lebanon's infrasturcture is decimated. But the Hezzies are still breathing air. In the inimitable words of Douglas MacArthur, "In war, there is no substitute for victory".
#7
Is there anything more ridiculous than Islamists boasting? Honestly, for folks who are perpetually consumed with "humiliation", they certainly are unaware of how ripe they are for ridicule. They need a better rear-view mirror.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands ||
08/14/2006 9:47 Comments ||
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#8
Jules, I agree. But what's even more ridiculous is that they are still conscious.
#9
I should stop posting after midnight as I can't see what I have typed.
The tribalist islamc world sees this as a victory. It will spread far and wide that they beat Israel.
What can you do against a world view that stands in the rubble of their civilization and society and declares it a victory,
The only way to deal with them is to wipe them out entirely. That is the only way you can ever beat them. We have not learned this lesson. We will continue to 'lose' to them until we do.
The world's deepest oil fields are believed to be in Kurd majority sections of Iraq, and only 15% of the country has been fully surveyed for oil. All the more reason why the Iranian terrorist entity wants to destablize Kurdistan (Iraq). All the more reason why we must have regime change in Iran. All the more reason why the we-don't-do-that mentality is moronic.
8/13/2006 KurdishMedia.com - By Dr Saman Shali
...Turkey wants to destabilize the area further by starting a war against the Kurds and occupying Southern Kurdistan because the Turkish government feels threatened by the flourishing economy and stability that Kurds have fostered. They fear that these successes will incite the Kurds in Turkey to seek federalism too. Turkey is pressuring the U.S. to support its action against PKK and is accusing the U.S. of having a double standard policy with regard to the Kurdish issue. Turkey is drawing an analogy between the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is supported by the U.S., and opposing action against PKK, which Turkey and Washington both consider to be a terrorist organization. The U.S. ambassador in Ankara Ross Wilson, has noted that the connection Turkey is attempting to draw is a falsehood and completely arbitrary. He stated: "These are two different cases, they should be judged from different perspectives"
#1
Destabilize Iran, break it apart and join southern and eastern Kurdistan as an independent entity. (I think that Azeris would like a Greater Azerbaijan too).
As for western (Turkish) Kurdistan, hmmm... either Turks would agree to federal arrangement at some point, or Turkey may become a bit smaller.
Tehran, Iran, Aug. 13 Iran threatened on Sunday to discontinue its membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the international community tried to deprive it of its nuclear rights.
The threat came from Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel who is a close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran will not accept a suspension of [uranium] enrichment, Haddad-Adel told an open session of Majlis.
If Irans membership in international organisations including the International Atomic Energy Agency means that we will be deprived of our inalienable rights then we will have no reason to continue our membership in these organisations, he told Iranian lawmakers.
Separately, hard-line lawmaker Mahmoud Mohammadi told reporters in Majlis that Tehran had serious doubts about continuing its cooperation with the IAEA. Mohammadi, who is a key member of the Majlis National Security Committee, said, This resolution proved that the IAEA does not act responsibly to guarantee the rights of its member states. The Islamic Republic of Iran will never accept these pressures and threats and it rejects them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Can we just bomb them now just so I do not have to here anymore of their BS.
#3
Whether or not they pull out of the non-proliferagtion treaty is not material. They are still the enemy and still a threat. They will still develop their nuclear arsenal whether there is a treaty or not. They view treaties as a way to bide for time to gain advantage. They view treaties as something to be broken. Why bother with treaties with them?
#5
We have the planes. We have the ordnance. We have the fuel. We have the bases. We have the carriers. We already know the targets. We're already deployed in the region. We have the manpower. Sounds good to me.
#6
We aren't quite ready. We found out yet again, that aerial bombs simply don't touch underground bunkers/tunnels. The ones the Iranians constructed in Lebabnon were like their own, but not as deep. We can't touch them in Iran until we develop munitions which can actually destroy deep tunnels. Or decide to really go after them with large nukes, and just get rid of their population.
#9
We found out yet again, that aerial bombs simply don't touch underground bunkers/tunnels.
Use localized drops of fuel-air ordnance to suck the air out of these installations. Cripple all of their environmental control systems, which must be near the surface for heat exchange reasons, and then go after all of the access and egress points pertaining thereto.
Wait for several hours after the first wave of bombings and then come back to bat clean-up on all emerging wounded and other hostiles. This wave should also manage to catch some doors open whereby further administration of fuel-air bombs will evacuate the atmosphere from these already damaged facilities. Those who are inside of the bunkers are among our primary targets in that they represent the most highly trained nuclear technologists that Iran possesses.
More importantly, any attack must be coordinated with a comprehensive decapping of all Iranian leadership. This must be a top-down affair that strips out all of mullahs, their material wealth and whatever fallbacks they have amassed.
Finally, a simple notice that any further resistance will be met with a complete and total crippling of their petroleum industry.
This is doable. We have no options. Israel could only achieve similar results through the use of nuclear weapons and that is not a valid approach at this time. Iran must be taken down.
JERUSALEM - The European Unions foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Sunday that international troops would deploy in south Lebanon soon as part of a UN resolution to end the month-old war in the ravaged country.
We have already prepared to be there in a short period of time and for the UN to deploy 4,000 troops in a very, very short period of time, Solana told reporters at a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. He did not elaborate.
"I can say no more!"
"I don't know anything more. Actually, I don't know anything at all."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/14/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
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#1
So, Javier, will you lead them in as they attempt to deploy under fire? You've heard what Nazirallah said, right? There won't be any "ceasefire", shithead. Still think you're relevant? Go suck Prodi or something.
#3
LOL 4000 troops. You are going to need 15,000 and you will not be able to deploy them unless you do a Normandy type landing and fight your way in. Hizb'allah has pulled the plug on your 'ceasefire.'
No matter how many time you EUropeans bend over and kiss islamic ass you are never going to learn. It's not about talking about it, it's not about process, it's about getting it done. EUrope and the UN can't get it done. STFU, sit down and get the hell out of the way!
#5
And the 4,000 are all combat troops with an aggressive ROE as required, right, Mr. EU Foreign Policy Chief? Which ountry did you say was providing those ready troops? Because I was under the impression that both France and Britain were just about overstretched with current responsibilities in Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia and for France, scattered about former colonies in Africa. But perhaps I misunderstood -- I am, after all, just a little American suburban housewife, not chief of anything except my tea table.
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.
MOGADISHU - Somalias dominant Islamic militia on Sunday seized control of a central township near the coastline that has been a base of piracy and dozens of hijackings of ships in the Indian Ocean, officials and residents said. The Islamic courts are in full control of Haradere and we were welcomed by its inhabitants, who were forcefully ruled by pirates, Sheikh Said Ali, an Islamic courts official, told AFP of the township that lies about 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Mogadishu.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has made his first public appearance since his country test-launched a barrage of missiles more than a month ago, official media reported Sunday. Kim visited a farm run by an army unit and was accompanied by top generals, according to KCNA. As usual with such reports, the exact time or location of the trip were not given.
Anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan was hospitalized Friday evening for dehydration and exhaustion after fasting for more than a month and protesting earlier this week in 100-degree weather, friends and relatives said. Sheehan was listed in stable condition at Providence Health Center in Waco. Brenda Mauk, a nursing supervisor, declined to release additional information. 
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Homeland Security Department on Sunday reduced the threat level for U.S.-bound flights from Britain from red, for ``severe,'' to orange, for ``high.'' All other flights operating in or destined for the United States remain at orange.
The suspected ringleader of the alleged plot to blow up flights out of Heathrow has provided details that directly link the conspiracy to al-Qaida in Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said yesterday. The interior minister, Aftab Sherpao, said 
southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Monday just as the ceasefire between Israel and the Hizballah terrorist organization was beginning to take hold.
IT was supposed to be the day the maligned Lebanese army took control of the country's borders and policed the UN ceasefire. Instead, the military commanders were left humiliated and troops stranded as Hezbollah told them not to disarm its fighters. 
Tehran, Iran, Aug. 13 Iran threatened on Sunday to discontinue its membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the international community tried to deprive it of its nuclear rights.
JERUSALEM - The European Unions foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Sunday that international troops would deploy in south Lebanon soon as part of a UN resolution to end the month-old war in the ravaged country.
