In 1961, Phyllis Chesler agreed to marry her college sweetheart, a young, Westernized Muslim man who had come to study in the US. At his request, they married and lived in his home country, Afghanistan.
"When we arrived in the country they took my American passport away -- very typical with foreign wives," she says. "Then I found myself clapped up in very posh purdah. Here I was in this gorgeous country, but I wasn't supposed to go out without the chauffeur and without servants in tow and other women of the family."
"Of course, I made regular escapes and I saw how women were treated and I saw how the children of co-wives competed with each other for inheritance and attention. And I saw how women mistreated their female servants. I saw, at first hand, that polygamy was not a good thing. My father-in-law turned out to have three wives and 21 children. He was a very dapper fellow, also Westernized on the surface like my husband -- in America. But my husband became an easterner overnight in Afghanistan. I was really shocked," she says.
She returned to the US in December 1961 and, she has written, "kissed the ground at New York City's Idlewild airport."
Chesler's experiences in Afghanistan have helped shape her thoughts about the failure of feminism to engage with what she sees as the oppression of women in Islamic countries. After "40 years on the front lines" of feminism -- she is now emerita professor of psychology and women's studies at the City University of New York -- her current project means that she gets a "chilly" reception from fellow feminists. It does not help, perhaps, that her latest book is called The Death of Feminism.
Isn't the title somewhat stark? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say there are trends in feminism that she, personally, finds disturbing?
"I am still a feminist," she insists. "The reason that I have announced the death of feminism, which I agree is stark, is that from my point of view, looking at mainstream feminism in the West -- in the universities, in the media, among academics and the so-called intelligentsia -- there is a moral failure, a moral bankruptcy, a refusal to take on, in particular, Muslim gender apartheid. So you have many contemporary feminists who say, `We have to be multiculturally relativist. We cannot uphold a single, or absolute, standard of human rights. And, therefore, we can't condemn Islamic culture, because their countries have been previously colonized. By us.' I disagree."
MONOLITHIC?
But are the Islamic nations as culturally monolithic as Chesler suggests? Wasn't Saddam Hussein's Iraq, to take a particularly tendentious example, secular? And didn't it offer professional careers for women?
"I don't think that makes any big difference. Saddam's regime gassed Kurds and perpetrated genocide. His men kidnapped women and prostitutes off the streets and subjected them to private rape sessions. So merely because his Iraq was religiously secular, and women had certain rights, doesn't mean that we as intelligent Western publics should be condoning genocidal states," she says.
Western feminism's failure to confront the problems raised by Islam, Chesler believes, is a result of the creation of a hierarchy of sins, "an intellectual culture in which racism trumps gender concerns."
The example she cites as the embodiment of wrongheaded priorities is "gay and lesbian movement activists rooting for the Palestinians who, meanwhile, are very busy persecuting homosexuals, who in turn are fleeing to Israel for political asylum."
The result, she argues, is that "instead of telling the truth about Islam and demanding that the Muslim world observes certain standards, you have Westerners beating their breasts and saying: `We can't judge you, we can't expose you, we can't challenge you.' And here in the West you have a dangerous misuse of Western concepts such as religious tolerance and cultural sensitivity so that one kind of hate speech is seen as something that must be rigorously protected."
"That means, principally, lies about America and lies about Jews," she adds.
Chesler's critics say the vehemence of her language points to Islamophobia. A piece she wrote last month for the controversial Web magazine Frontpage.com suggested that "a small but organized number of Muslim-Americans and Muslim immigrants ... are currently seeking to begin the Islamization of America."
It went on to compare the Muslim academic Tariq Ramadan to Hitler. The blog Islamophobia Watch suggested that this signaled "the point of total dementia."
Chesler will not accept the Islamophobe label. She says it is a blanket term that silences those who portray Islam accurately, and bemoans feminism's embrace of what she sees as misguided causes.
"Feminism began to fail when they began to say, `We can't judge barbarism. We can't even call it barbarism, because the barbarians will be offended,'" she says.
JUST ONE PART
Feminism has become just one part of a wider anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist movement, "so much so that many feminists are now much more concerned with the occupation of a country that doesn't exist -- namely Palestine -- than they are concerned with the occupation of women's bodies worldwide."
But, paradoxically, Chesler's criticisms of feminist preoccupation with a wider world do not prevent her arguing for a feminist foreign policy; it's just that she believes the foreign policy should concentrate on the issues she is passionate about.
"American feminism hasn't taken on these international issues because of its fear of being branded racist," she says. "But many Muslim feminists and dissidents are totally supportive of what I'm trying to do, because they say that here is finally a Western feminist who will not abandon us on the basis of cultural relativity."
"The attention of the American feminist movement has been forced to focus for far too long on issues like abortion or gay and lesbian rights. I totally support this. But in so doing they have neglected other real issues, such as the needs of working people," she says.
"This is simply not enough, given the moment in history in which we find ourselves. What feminism must do is spell out something that might be called a feminist foreign policy. So that, for example, if we make a trade or a peace treaty with a country, we ought to build into that treaty a commitment not -- for example -- to genitally mutilate girls who live in that country," she says. "This is not easy. But I would like feminists to think very globally and very strategically and very long-term. It's one thing to write an article now and again, but what are we, as feminists, actually going to do?"
#1
Feminism is not the goal for this female. Euqality is the goal. Same chances, same need to prove worth. Women are a majority bya point or two. The only reason men haven't been taken out as a ruling class is the fact that women gave birth to these sons. And, generally we don't kill our opposers, we try to teach them.
Integrate - or go back to the shithole you came from.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/07/2006 19:58
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We should bring a common European imams' voice, because we are Europeans, so we need to create our [own] European Islamic jurisprudence specific to the areas where Islam is not an authority. How Muslims should behave and live in non-Muslim societies, what our rules and duties are, and what the duties of preachers and teachers are.
You should live and behave according to the laws and principles of the land youve chosen to join leaving your country, as unacceptable to you, behind. Your rules and duties are what the law and society tell you they are. And dont forget responsibilities, responsibilities are the part you always seem to miss in all this duty and submission nonsense.
All these issues will be discussed. I hope we'll create a permanent committee and this permanent committee will guide European Muslims in all daily issues, and also, dealing with authorities like the European Commission, European Council [comprising the heads of EU states], ministers, governments, because we are here to stay.
And be in total control too, I see. Sounds a lot like slavery to me, this guiding and dealing. Frightening cult, this islam.
We need to restrict ourselves, otherwise we all will be naked in this open and free world.
And there is the horror in a nutshell. The denial of freedom and truth the painful fear of them. And the demand to restrict ourselves burrowing in the ancient sands of this ignorance. Lest someone see a little titty. If not for the potential nakedness, would you truly embrace open and free? Or is the self-punishing restrict too strong a draw?
They are free to criticize Islam and Muslims without any problem, but with respect
Criticism is rarely offered in respect of its target.
Sajid: We do have an image problem. Why? Because Muslims do not control the press or media in this country [Britain]. Media [staff] mostly [come] from secular and nonreligious backgrounds and they have their own agenda
Yup, they show the film. (But dont worry, they dont really report all the real news.) Your countries dont show any film or report at all anything that isnt stamped Halal. Maybe the brief clips we see of foaming, frothing, violent, insane, rioters is what does it. Reality, Sajid. Its real.
Sajid: Well, Muslims are multifarious and multifaceted people throughout the world, and Europe is not separated from the world
And duplicitous. And invading.
Sajid: Well, Muslims are multifarious and multifaceted people throughout the world, and Europe is not separated from the world
#4
Thanks for the post Tipper. Euro weenies ought to pay very close attention to this kind of commentary. They have a cancerous growth in their system. As the cancer gets larger, it consumes more of the systems strength. It lives off the system, until it overtakes it and kills it. Excise the cancer now while you can. Start with this meeting of shitheads. Round them up. Get them on a flight to "somewhere". Make them disappear.
A serial killer targeting foreigners running small businesses claimed his eighth victim this week, leaving police baffled as to a motive.
A 39-year-old Turk found dead in his kiosk in Dortmund on Tuesday had been shot with the same gun used in the seven previous killings since September 2000, prosecutors said Friday.
All the victims except one were Turks. "In each case the killer visited his victims in their premises and shot them in the head several times," prosecutor Heiko Artkaemper said.
Nothing was stolen and the victims appeared to have offered no resistance. "The killings bear the hallmark of an execution," Artkaemper said.
Police have been unable to establish a motive for the crimes, which took place in five cities across the country, including Hamburg in the north and Munich in the south.
The victims appear to have been chosen at random, Artkaemper said. The only thing they had in common was that they were foreign and operated small businesses like fast-food outlets.
Police said there was nothing to suggest a political motive, blackmail or drugs involvement.
Authorities have offered a reward of 30,000 euros (36,000 dollars) for information leading to the arrest of the gunman.
SPAIN'S High Court has said overnight that it had quashed jail terms handed down to three of 18 Al-Qaeda operatives, including the Syrian head of a Spanish-based cell found to have helped to organise the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
According to court sources, the High Court freed Driss Chebli, Sadik Meriziak and Abdulaziz Benyaich after receiving notification from the Supreme Court that the trio's appeal would lead to their being absolved.
Earlier, at the Supreme Court, the state prosecutor accepted Meriziak and Benyaich should be freed and said doubts surrounded the conviction of Chebli.
Chebli was serving a six-year term for collaboration with a terrorist organisation but was due for release next year as he was only serving half the term owing to time spent on remand.
Meriziak and Benyaich were serving eight years for the same crime.
Article linked, it's nice to know some Brits have their head on straight. Via Lucianne and EU Referendum had it yesterday. Items below from EU Referendum:
...Shares of Airbus parent EADS have, in the last few days, tumbled on reports of serious technical problems with the A380, and new that core investors are jumping ship, having decided to slash their holdings in the Franco-German aerospace giant.
These are France's media group Lagardère and Germany's DaimlerChrysler, and each are to divest themselves of 7.5 percent of EADS shares....
And:
...It seems that the Franco-German pair signalled long ago that they would dispose of EADS stock, but this was not until the new A380 super-jumbo had been delivered to its launch customer, Singapore Airlines in December. But what Ambrose adds is that, six weeks ago, an A380 wing failed a stress test, having ruptured at 1.45 times the maximum design load, when the certification requirement is for it to be able to sustain a 1.50 load factor.....
The US military command in Iraq dispatched large-scale Marine forces with armor, tank and helicopter support to the two Shiite shrine cities south of Baghdad before dawn Friday, April 7. DEBKAfiles military sources report the action followed a threat by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to overrun the Shiite cities and Baghdads Shiite suburb, if the Americans force the Iran-backed interim prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari to step down.
Armed Shiite tribesman have smuggled senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and his staff out of the city and harms way, amid fears the Mehdi Army may take him hostage. The tribes have taken him under their protection.
While US forces took control of central Najef, they are keeping to Karbalas western suburbs; Sadrs men occupy the center and are building military positions.
In the summer of 2004, US and Iraqi forces crushed a rebellion staged by Sadr at the head of his militia. DEBKAfiles military sources reveal that since this defeat, the Mehdi Army has developed into the strongest and best equipped armed force in Iraq, outgunning its two Shiite rivals, the Badr Force and Wolves Brigades. The buildup is entirely the work of Irans Revolutionary Guards and undercover agents.
Saturday, April 8, formal talks aimed at breaking Iraqs political stalemate begin in Baghdad between a US delegation headed by ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and an Iranian delegation. Jaafaris refusal to stand aside is the main hurdle in the way of a unity government.
#4
get DNA to identify the corpse - he obviously has no dental records
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/07/2006 19:15
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#5
Jeez, Frank - that was mean.
I love it! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/07/2006 19:49
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#6
Iran's Mullahs want regional and ultimately global
Empire, so whether Sunni, non-Iranian Shia, Kurd or Palestinian, etal., any hope of sovereignty or democracy will be befuddled and compromised, i.e. squashed, under the PC label of [Iran-led] Universal/Global Islam. Occidental or Oriental, Westernist or Eurasianist/Asianist, etc. we're all future subjugated Iranian Shia peons iff the Mullahs succeed.
The US military command in Iraq dispatched large-scale Marine forces with armor, tank and helicopter support to the two Shiite shrine cities south of Baghdad before dawn Friday, April 7. DEBKAfiles military sources report the action followed a threat by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to overrun the Shiite cities and Baghdads Shiite suburb, if the Americans force the Iran-backed interim prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari to step down.
Armed Shiite tribesman have smuggled senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and his staff out of the city and harms way, amid fears the Mehdi Army may take him hostage. The tribes have taken him under their protection.
While US forces took control of central Najef, they are keeping to Karbalas western suburbs; Sadrs men occupy the center and are building military positions.
In the summer of 2004, US and Iraqi forces crushed a rebellion staged by Sadr at the head of his militia. DEBKAfiles military sources reveal that since this defeat, the Mehdi Army has developed into the strongest and best equipped armed force in Iraq, outgunning its two Shiite rivals, the Badr Force and Wolves Brigades. The buildup is entirely the work of Irans Revolutionary Guards and undercover agents.
Saturday, April 8, formal talks aimed at breaking Iraqs political stalemate begin in Baghdad between a US delegation headed by ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and an Iranian delegation. Jaafaris refusal to stand aside is the main hurdle in the way of a unity government.
How's this for an idea? Send the redirected aid to Iranian resistance groups? Or use it to establish free speech scholarships for Middle Eastern students? Anyone have any other bright ideas?
Posted by: Tibor ||
04/07/2006
17:24 ||
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#1
"My pocket" would work, Tibor.
As a alternate, they could send it to Fred, no strings attached.
That would certainly be a better use of our money.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/07/2006 19:51
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#2
Money is fungible. Whether it buys bricks or food, still goes to those who want to kill us. Send the money and Green Berets to southern Sudan.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2006 20:24
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From Vietnam to 9/11, remembering a true hero
Tribune Editorial
FORT BENNING, Ga. - The word ''hero'' has been so debased and overused in our modern society that it is almost meaningless when applied to the real thing.
This past week, here at the U.S. Army home of the infantry, several hundred people gathered for the dedication of a larger-than-life bronze statue of a real American hero named Rick Rescorla.
The statue is iconic: the young infantry 2nd lieutenant platoon leader leading the way in combat, his M-16 rifle with bayonet attached ready for use. It is based largely on the photograph on the cover of the book We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young, written by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and me, which tells the story of the deadly battles in the Ia Drang Valley in the dawn of the Vietnam War.
Rescorla was a hero of the battles of Landing Zone X-Ray and Landing Zone Albany. He earned a Silver Star, the third-highest military medal for heroism, for his sterling leadership of a platoon of Bravo Company 2nd Battalion 7th U.S. Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in those battles in November of 1965.
But that statue in the home and headquarters and training ground for the mud-foot infantry was the result of unvarnished heroism long after the British-born Rescorla left the Army, became an American citizen and retired from the Army Reserve with the rank of colonel.
The statue of the young Rescorla was born out of what he did as an older, heavier civilian vice president for security for Morgan Stanley in New York City. The brokerage firm occupied 22 floors of the south tower in the World Trade Center.
Ever since the failed terrorist truck bombing in 1993 in the basement of that building, Rescorla was convinced that the terrorists would come back to finish the job. He urged Morgan Stanley to build its own low-rise, high-security headquarters across the river in New Jersey, where most of its employees lived. Not possible, he was told, because the firm had a long-term lease on those 22 floors.
Rescorla fought for the time and money needed for half a dozen surprise full evacuation drills each year. And, yes, he knew how much it cost to pull a couple thousand stockbrokers off their telephones. He knew and didn't care.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Rescorla stood at the window of his office on the 66th floor and watched the tower across the way burn. The Port Authority Police squawk box on the wall urged everyone in the other buildings of the Trade Center to remain at their desks and not panic. You are safe, the reassuring voice said.
Rescorla responded with a curt word: ''Bull--!'' He grabbed his bullhorn and moved floor by floor, ordering Morgan Stanley's 2,700 workers to evacuate immediately. They knew where to go and how to do that, thanks to Rick. Two by two, the old buddy system, they began the long walk down the stairs to the street.
Halfway down, the second hijacked airliner plowed into their building. The building shook and swayed to the impact. Smoke began filling the stairwells. People were frightened. Rick Rescorla used his bullhorn again. This time he sang to the evacuees, just as he sang to his soldiers on a long night in Vietnam. He sang ''God Bless America.'' He sang the songs of the British Army in the Zulu Wars. He sang the old Welsh miner songs.
He got them all out and headed for safety down the streets away from the World Trade Center. Four of his own security people were still up clearing the Morgan Stanley floors, so Rick Rescorla turned and headed back up the stairs with New York City firemen. None of them made it out alive, and neither did Rick Rescorla.
His widow, Susan, spearheaded the drive to raise $100,000 to create that bronze image of her hero and ours. Eventually it will occupy a spot on the Walk of Heroes in a new $76 million Infantry Museum being built at the gates of Fort Benning. More than 500 people turned out to see it unveiled outside the Infantry Museum on the old Army post.
Among them were plenty of other real American heroes. There were three recipients of the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty. Scores of veterans of America's wars of the past half-century and more. Also, Gen. Moore and his sidekick, Sgt. Maj. Basil L. Plumley.
As I sat there looking at the statue of Rick, my mind carried me back 40 years to that terrible November in Vietnam and the words of the young Rescorla as he and his battle-weary soldiers strode into the surrounded position at LZ Albany to rescue their decimated battalion: ''Good, Good, Good! I hope they hit us with everything they got tonight - we'll wipe them up.''
You want a definition of the word hero? In my dictionary it says simply: Rick Rescorla.
Posted by: Abu Miner ||
04/07/2006
13:34 ||
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#1
Thank God for people like you and Rick. We need people like you now. Everyone has to realize what's at stake here, and get off their ass and do something, like Rick always did.
Al Gore brought corporate executives and environmentally minded investors roaring to their feet Thursday with multimedia images of an overheating planet and a call for Americans to reclaim their "moral authority" by tackling global warming. Bore does not understand the atmosphere, and climate dynamics. Antarctic cooling flatly contradicts the climate models that are the basis of the global warming hypothesis. The 1930s were warmer on the Arctic Rim than the 1990s.
"This is really not a political issue, it is disguised as a political issue," Gore said. "It is a moral issue, it is an ethical issue If we allow this to happen, we will destroy the habitability of the planet. We can't do that, and I am confident we won't do that." The moral issue is not global warming: It's immoral for a washed up, ignorant politician pandering to a scientifically ignorant crowd with biased, questionable data to resurrect a dead career.
As a U.S. senator, Gore gave global warming talks 15 years ago in Washington that relied almost entirely on scientists' best guesses and computer models. Homer Simpson: "Models! Is there anything they can't do?"
Now bolstered by real climate changes, he has gone Hollywood, with movies of collapsing ice shelves, then-and-now shots of vanishing glaciers and lakes, telegenic photos of dwindling wildlife species plus floods, tornadoes and, of course, hurricanes. Total BS. The current climate is still recovering from the last ice age. The Northern Hemisphere is emerging from the warm phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Think 1960s and 1970s.
"We have been blind to the fact that the human species is now having a crushing impact on the ecological system of the planet," Gore said. Only around 5% of the world's greenhouse gases are generated by humans. That's a second order effect.
After Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005, federal hurricane scientists used the Greek alphabet in naming tropical storms. This was anticipated as the Gulf of Mexico is undergoing it's warm phase.
"This is the first foretaste of a cup that will be offered to us again and again and again until we regain our moral authority," BS!! BS!! BS!!! Gore told members of Ceres, an organization of companies, investors and environmentalists pressing for greener behavior by corporations.
Gore's message is much the same as it was in the early 1990s, but his talk in Oakland comes at a political tipping point in the debate not about global warming, but what to do about it. Mother Nature is the first order effect. If you could decrease by 80% human contribution...which would cost the global economy over a trillion dollars...it would likely not be measurable. Humans are a second order effect.
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia now insist on some percentage of renewables for their energy. Washington state and Oregon are considering a carbon tax. California and a coalition of eight Northeast states are setting mandatory caps on greenhouse gases and moving toward carbon markets. Oakland and 217 other U.S. cities with a total population of more than 40 million have endorsed the Kyoto treaty's limits on greenhouse gases. BS!!! BS!!! BS!!!
More than 40 U.S. corporations in the Fortune 500 say they favor mandatory federal regulation of greenhouse gases, and many executives say they now see such emissions limits as inevitable within five to 10 years. They see it's easier to spend money "doing their part" than going into bankruptcy in lawsuits. It's called pragmatism.
In Congress, the number of bills dealing with climate change has rocketed from seven in 1997 to more than 100 this year, said Truman Semans of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. It's the sexy money magnet.
"It shows what politicians believe it's important to have a record on, and they believe it's important to have a record on climate change," he said Thursday. politicians can't spell science and wouldn't recognize it if it bit them in the butt.
New Mexico's U.S. senators, Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, who led the Senate last summer in passing a resolution favoring some form of regulation on greenhouse gases, on Tuesday held the first hearings in Congress on creating a mandatory cap on greenhouse emissions and setting up a carbon market to drive less carbon-intensive technologies. No one should be arguing that we should do nothing about the human contribution.
At those hearings, trade associations for the electric-power and mining industries opposed the new rules as potentially disastrous for the U.S. economy. But executives of General Electric, Wal-Mart, Duke Energy, Exelon and other companies urged the senators to move ahead.
If a carbon market were in place that could place a price on the right to release greenhouse gases, then technologies to curb those emissions would rise in value, and the corporate risks of those emissions could be quantified by financial markets, said Kaj Jensen of Bank of America.
"It's inevitable," Jensen told Ceres members. "The only real question we think is when we will have a market in place." That's insane.
Many of the answers increased energy efficiency, conservation, expanded use of alternative fuels already are in hand, Gore argued. No one is arguing that we should do nothing about the human contribution. But it is a flipping 2nd order effect for crying out loud!
"We already have everything we need to get started on solving this crisis. We can solve it," he said. The nation overcame slavery, gave women the right to vote, defeated global fascism on two fronts simultaneously and put a man on the moon, he said. "We can do this if we set our minds to this." I move we sew Gore's mouth shut as the hot air, and methane from the bovine excrement contribute to global warming.
The issue is politically charged and billions are riding on it. Nobody is talking about the record cold in Europe...the impact of the Gulf Stream shutting down...and the radical changes in the Arctic ice pack this winter that will have long term effects on the weather. Nobody is talking about the variation in solar constant.
#2
"Global warming " is no longer the operative phrase, Al. It's now "climate change". Say it with me..."climate change".
Cover your ass, no matter what happens. Didn't you get the memo? The "Pew Center on Global Climate Change" did.
#4
"We have been blind to the fact that the human species is now having a crushing impact on the ecological system of the planet," Gore said.
Oh, for cryin' out loud... just eat a bullet, Al. Really. Off yourself, and you'll have the satisfaction that you did your own little bit to improve life on this planet by no longer consuming precious resources and no longer generating hot air.
Plus, the rest of us will be able to enjoy what few days we have left before the oceans rise and drown us all, or famine hits, BECAUSE WE WON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO ANY MORE OF YOUR DAMN BULLSHIT.
Jeepers. Can you imagine what it would have been like if this dingdong had won in 2000??????
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/07/2006 18:23
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#5
www.junkscience.com is the best debunker of the shonky so-called science out there.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/07/2006 19:56
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#7
The Left > MANKIND MUST ABSOLUTELY AND UNDENIABLY CONTROL GOD + SUN, ETC. ERGO IS WHY WE'RE SENDING OUR MISSLES AND SPACESHIPS IN THE OTHER DIRECTION, D *** YOU!? Vote for the Dems in 2008, so that Americans in righteous indignation and moral outrage can work to save the Sun by not saving the Sun, ergo saving the Earth.
#9
What is it with washed-up donk politicians? Can they do anything but complain and curse the US government? Gore doesn't have the brains of a chipmunk, and wouldn't understand scientific discussion of global warming if you spoon-fed it to him. This is just another attempt to grab publicity and pretend you're still relevant. He needs to move to Vanuatu and help the inhabitants deal with geomorphic glacial rebound that's drowning the islands.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/07/2006 21:29
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#10
Sometimes I think there is deep meaning in what Joe says. Most days I think someone has written an AI and is having a little fun with us.
#11
Vanuatu and help the inhabitants deal with geomorphic glacial rebound that's drowning the islands.
OP, I assume you made that up, cos Vanuatu hasn't had glaciers in recent geological times and if it has isostatic readjustment (I think that's the term) would cause Vanuatu to rise (out of the ocean), not sink, because the weight of the ice has been removed.
#12
So, when big Al realizes that China is the major cause of greenhouse gases, is he heading off to Bejing with his anti-factorybreath sermon ?
I think not. And what happens if a volcano erupts causing a heavy does of greenhouse effect ? Will big Al throw himself in to please the volcano gods ? What about it, erh Al ?
A female suicide bomber blew herself up Friday in front of a mosque in the Black Sea city of Ordu, injuring one person, police said. Another bomb exploded in southeastern Turkey as a vehicle passed by, wounding two people, officials said. The explosions followed the worst street rioting in Turkey in a decade, which has left 16 people dead, mostly Kurdish rioters. A militant Kurdish group had vowed to step up attacks to avenge those deaths.
#2
The PKK used female (and child) suicide bombings throughout the 1990s. They're a Marxist cult that you can find a pretty good primer on here. The PUK has fought against them alongside the Turks on numerous occasions - their version of an independent Kurdistan would look something like Pol Pot's Cambodia.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006 13:24
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Every sensible immigration policy has two objectives: (1) to regain control of our borders so that it is we who decide who enters and (2) to find a way to normalize and legalize the situation of the 11 million illegals among us.
Start with the second. No one of good will wants to see these 11 million suffer. But the obvious problem is that legalization creates an enormous incentive for new illegals to come.
We say, of course, that this will be the very last, very final, never-again, we're-not-kidding-this-time amnesty. The problem is that we say exactly the same thing with every new reform. And everyone knows it's phony.
What do you think was said in 1986 when we passed the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration reform? It turned into the largest legalization program in American history -- nearly 3 million people got permanent residency. And we are now back at it again with 11 million more illegals in our midst.
How can it be otherwise? We already have a river of people coming every day knowing they're going to be illegal and perhaps even exploited. They come nonetheless. The newest amnesty -- the "earned legalization" being dangled in front of them by proposed Senate legislation -- can only increase the flow.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/07/2006
11:13 ||
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#3
You know, they aren't "undocumented". They didn't just leave their license at home in their other pants. They are here illegally. We should not allow immigrants to begin their relationship with this country by breaking the law.
What would be the down side to making it a felony to hire illegals? I have to fill out an I-9 form on every intern I hire.
I think that the only way to keep them out is to remove the reward for coming here. We could increase the number of people reviewing the I-9 forms, strive for a 30 day response and, when you find a suspected illegal, send an investigator who has the right to demand that the employee be produced under penalty of law to the employer.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
04/07/2006 15:16
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#4
Krauthammer hits on what I was saying here a month ago. Those who are opposed to any controls or restrictions on illegals try very hard to combine all the problems and all the solutions into a mountain that is unacceptable to anyone. An easy-to-understand, impossible to implement program.
They try to frame the argument into an "all or nothing" solution, that is practically impossible to carry out. This is a good tactic if you want nothing done.
So what is the reality? It's not hard to explain.
First of all, break the illegals down into two groups: the Mexicans, Central and South Americans who want to come to the US to work; and the others, non-hispanics and terrorists. Two different problems that need two different solutions.
The problem with the workers is sheer numbers, the problem with the others is that they have the financial resources to evade barriers. The wall is the solution to the workers, but it is not enough to keep out a dedicated person, say a terrorist, with money, who wants through.
This is why I proposed a bounty, paid to Mexicans who inform on non-hispanics that try to cross the border. Even a few hundred, or a few thousand dollars bounty, for an important terrorist, would stop any non-hispanic from crossing that border. It would seal that border from the South side. Ten thousand hungry eyes watching every non-hispanic North of Mexico City.
Second, as Krauthammer said, first a wall, and then amnesty. This recognizes a de facto situation, that Mexicans in the US are different from Mexicans in Mexico who want to be in the US.
The vast majority of Mexicans living in the US have integrated well since the 1940s. The US has proven itself capable of integrating millions of Mexicans, if given time. Were a wall to be built now, the Mexicans living in the US would be fully integrated in as little as ten or twenty years. That is, they would have no remaining ties with Mexico whatsoever.
There are two huge Mexican communities in the US, the legals and the illegals. But that is where the distiction ends. There are plenty of unsuccesful legal Mexican-Americans, who are just as poor Mexicans who have just crossed the border.
But, there are also a lot of successful, prosperous and hard working illegals who have quickly made a life for themself. They have a lot of equity in the US: a home, a car, a steady well-paying job, children in school, etc.
All-told, there are around 11 million illegals in the US, guilty of committing the misdemeanor offense of crossing the border.
Those who demand that they be forced to return to Mexico, most likely never to be able to return for a dozen years because of our limitations on legal immigration, are calling for a terribly unfair penalty.
Much like calling for someone to be deported for getting a parking citation. But more so. To be forced to give up any property and vehicle; to have their children, who may have never lived in Mexico and may not speak Spanish, taken out of school and pitched across the border with them.
Basically to destroy any life they may have made here, and for what? Some petty crime committed years before?
Yes, indeed they are different from Mexicans still in Mexico who want into the US. That is why that wall must be built ASAP.
#5
you make some good points, Moose. But you can't break the immigrants down into "two groups". Mexican immigrants here in the US don't break down into "two groups". Big Lizards tried to break them down into two groups today as well. It's bullhockey.
There are some who have lived and worked and been productive, some who have committed crimes, some who go back and forth across the border on a regular basis, some sell drugs, some are on welfare, etc. It's nothing personal and you make good points - but if I read that they can be broken down into groups terrorists v/s mom and pop, one more time today, I'm gonna barf.
#6
2b: The groupings are to both identify the problems and come up with the solutions. What these groupings are is less important than it is to realize that it is a case of multiple problems and multiple solutions.
That is why I point out how the disingenous try to lump the problems and the solutions together, and then demand one, simple and easy-to-understand program to take care of it all, once and for all.
They know that there is no solution of this type, which means that they get to keep the status quo.
However, there actually *is* one, big solution that by itself will completely change the equation for the better. That is the border wall. If it, and only it, is done, many of the associated problems will resolve themselves.
It will not solve ALL the problems, of course, but it will go a long way in solving many of them. It is by far the most important thing we can do; and many other things we can do are predicated on it being there first.
And those who do not want to reduce illegal immigration at all, also realize that the wall would create effective change in short order. So they try to change the subject to anything other than the wall, and use ridiculous and unsubstatiated arguments against it. Then they try to keep it off the table with other distractions.
The part about "groupings" you found so distasteful was actually based on some of these efforts to distract. When pointed out that the wall would keep out the vast majority of Mexicans, their response was "The wall won't keep out terrorists, so the wall won't work and we shouldn't build the wall."
You see the distraction? The effort to change the subject from keeping out illegal Mexicans to the War on Terror? They might as well said that the wall wouldn't keep out space aliens, so it won't work, so we shouldn't build it. The point is irrelevant to the argument.
But if you look to Washington right now, you will see that they really don't want to solve the problem. Those who want to build an effective wall are by far the minority in both parties. And those who want NO immigration controls are willing to spend the big bucks to keep their ultra-cheap labor force.
#7
My biggest gripe with Congress is their failure to understand that until you control the border, the problem only grows - by about 300,000 people a year. We've GOT to reduce that number. We will NEVER be able to keep ALL the illegals out, but cutting 300,000 down to 20,000 would make the problem a lot easier to deal with. A well-patrolled fence would do that.
I just posted an article on my weblog about how to handle the ones that are already here, and how to set a pattern for any future illegals. But Krauthammer is right - we've got to stop the contining flow if we're EVER going to be able to handle the ones that are already here.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/07/2006 22:24
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Although Iran said Wednesday that it had successfully test-fired a top secret missile, the third in a week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov does not believe Iran has such weapons.
I would like to assure everybody: Iran does not have intercontinental ballistic missiles, it has medium-range missiles. There are an ever-increasing number of states in the world who possess medium-range missiles and only two countries in the world Russia and the U.S. do not and cannot possess them, Ivanov said.
Ivanov also expressed the hope that the Iranian nuclear dossier would be settled through diplomatic efforts.
The report by Iranian state television called the last missile an ultra-horizon weapon and said it could be fired from all military helicopters and jet fighters.
Last week, Iran said it tested the Fajr-3 missile, which it said could evade radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.
Iran also has announced tests of two new torpedoes. Some military analysts in Moscow said the high-speed torpedoes were probably Russian-built and might have been acquired from China or Kyrgyzstan.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/07/2006
11:03 ||
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#1
Yeah, we know. We filed this claim right alongside the equally laughable Russian claims of last year.
#6
Will say again that with America in the process of deploying operational laser- and missle-based GMD, etal. traditional Cold War ICBM attacks are now mostly relegated to Second Strike/Follow-on Strike status, wilful "bolts-fron-the blue" mass saturation strikes notwithstanding. Priority for now goes to Commando-PYWAR + Land-Attack Cruise/UW land-attack nuke/NBC missle forces. Between now and 2015-2020 the preferred agenda is to destabilize America unto [Anti-Amer American]Socialism and OWG-SWO without necessarily destroying her. The Russo-Chinese "WAR ZONE/BATTLE ZONE" "local war" strategem emphasizes POLITICAL VICTORY-METHODISMS OVER MILITARY-VIOLENT - in essence, this means that America's enemies and aligned give higher support and priority to anti-American Americans/Fifth Columnists already within the NPE and Econ-Mil-Indus Sectors, etc. To paraphrase ANN COULTER on FNC, the Dems want to wait until America loses a city or cities before taking any action ion response, and even iff America does lose a city or cities wid massive casualties, its debatable whether the Dems and Left will still take any action to avenge America's losses!?
April 7, 2006: Civil war is again brewing in Chad, and here is a scorecard so you can tell who is who. Another civil war in Chard should not be surprising, as this is a nation with several dozen different ethnic groups, and a long history of factional fighting. During the 1980s, there was a civil war with fifteen different groups battling each other.
Currently, the biggest faction is the government forces, with about 20,000 troops. Most are poorly trained and equipped. One exception is the Rapid Intervention Force (Force d'intervention rapide, or FIR). Actually, this 5,000 man organization operates more like a Presidential Guard, and a guarantee that the rest of the army won't get out of hand.
The principal opposition is a coalition of rebel groups called the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC). There are at least eight groups in the FUC, but only two of them (SCUD and RDL) have significant numbers of armed men available. Even then, FUC can only muster a few thousand gunmen. SCUD is led by a disaffected relative of Chad president Deby, while the RDL is composed of people from eastern Chad who have been unhappy with Deby for a long time. RDL is believed to have received help from Sudan. Which makes it's alliance with SCUD interesting, as SCUD formed late last year because Deby refused to get involved in the Darfur war just across the border in Sudan. But that's the problem, as one of the tribes getting hammered are the Zaghawa, which also has branches in Chad, and which president Deby belongs to. The SCUD rebels believe that Chad should get involved in helping the Zaghawa people in Sudan. Does all that make sense? Well, it shouldn't, but that's the current state of politics along the Chad-Sudan border.
President Deby is corrupt, which isn't unusual in this part of the world, and is using the new oil money, and any other cash he can get his hands on, to keep people on his side. Deby doesn't want to get involved fighting in Darfur, as it would be expensive, and cause long term ill-will with the Sudanese. But tribal politics counts for a lot in Chad, and that is dragging the country towards another civil war.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
10:53 ||
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April 7, 2006: The royal family of Jordan has remained in power partly due to the creation and maintenance of a highly trained, and very loyal, Special Forces command (SFC). This organization is receiving lots of new equipment in the next year, and additional counter-terrorism training as well. About ten percent of the Jordanian armed forces are in the SFC, which consists of a ranger brigade, a paratrooper brigade, a special operations brigade and a newly formed aviation unit. By next year, the SFC will have a helicopter battalion with twelve MD500 light helicopters and a dozen UH-60 Blackhawks. The SFC is basically a light infantry organization. Trucks are more common than armored vehicles. To enhance that mobility, the Jordanians are buying Chinese 120mm mortars to replace the towed 105mm howitzers currently used.
The SFC contains a lot of Bedouins, an ethnic group that has long been very loyal to the royal family. In turn, the royal family takes good care of the SFC, treating them, "like family." But the SFC isn't the royal bodyguard. The SFC is meant to quickly deal with any armed unrest in the kingdom, no matter where the gunmen come from (inside, or outside of, Jordan.) Palestinians are a large segment of the Jordanian population, and have never been happy with the fact that Jordan has a peace treaty with Israel. Jordan is also a refuge for many Iraqi Sunni Arabs who supported Saddam, and are now in exile to avoid retribution for past sins. The SFC is there as a reminder that, no matter how much you may disagree with the king of Jordan, it's not a good idea to get violent about it.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
10:50 ||
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April 7, 2006: It's shaping up to be a bad year for al Qaeda in Iraq. For example:
@ Following months of rumors, it's pretty much been confirmed that al Qaeda-in-Iraq leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi has been demoted. An Iraqi Sunni now heads the operation, with Zarqawi just dealing with "military matters." Even in that respect, Zarqawi is probably on a short leash. His strategy of all out attacks on Shia Arab Iraqis didn't work, and angered many Sunni Arabs because they lost people as well. Even attacks on U.S. troops were a failure. The Americans were hard to kill, fought back with terrible effect, and many of the roadside bombs used went off in Sunni Arab neighborhoods. That was because the guys planting the bombs were less likely to be betrayed to the police in Sunni Arab areas. But when the bomb went off, the terrorists often did not warn nearby Sunni Arabs (because that would tip off the Americans, who were quick to pick on the meaning of no civilians along a stretch of road.) When Sunni Arab leaders asked Zarqawi to back off, Zarqawi went after the Sunni Arab leaders. That led to open warfare between Sunni Arab tribes and al Qaeda, with the terrorists losing. This, more than anything else, led to Zarqawi's demotion.
@ Last month, U.S. troops captured Zarqawi lieutenant Mohammed Hila Hammad Obeidi. This guy was, like many of the terrorists, a former intelligence officer for Saddam. Obeidi was believed responsible for kidnapping of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena last year, and organizing an assassination campaign against government officials. Obeidi is one of over a dozen key al Qaeda leaders captured or killed in Iraq during the past year.
@ Last year, al Qaeda boasted that they were going to establish a "liberated zone" in western Iraq. This is a thinly populated (mainly by pro-Saddam Sunni Arabs) area. A series of American offensives in the area kept al Qaeda groups on the run, and the local Sunni Arabs unimpressed with the ability of the terrorists to fight. Then Zarqawi's tactics turned the Sunni Arabs against al Qaeda, and by early 2006, most of western Iraq was lethally unwelcome for the terrorists. Sunni Arabs were openly welcoming the Americans.
@ You can't beat the trends. After three years of boating of big victories just around the corner, the Arab world has resigned itself to the fact that al Qaeda is all smoke and no fire. No one can deny that most Iraqis hate al Qaeda. Big time. This has become accepted wisdom throughout the Arab world. All the things al Qaeda promised to do (expel the Americans, stop elections and the formation of a democratic government, and so on) they have failed to do. No one likes a loser.
@ Al Qaeda is having a lot of trouble recruiting. No one wants to join a losing team. There are more Iraqi terrorists fleeing to Saudi Arabia, than are coming north to join the jihad. There are still volunteers coming over from Syria, but many more are getting caught, or turned in by Sunni Arabs who live along the border. The Americans are paying bounties for terrorist border crossers, and Sunni Arabs see this as a justifiable source of income.
On the down side, the gangs are still conducting an unprecedented crime wave. This got started during the 1990s, as the UN sanctions left more and more Iraqis unemployed, and desperate. Even Saddam could not halt the growing crime wave. Months before he was overthrown, Saddam opened the jails and freed thousands of the criminals he had not killed yet. It's still not clear why he did this, but it gave the crooks time to get organized, because after Saddam fell, the Sunni Arab secret police and organized street thugs, who kept the gangsters at bay, were gone. It's been gangster heaven ever since. While there are more and more police on the streets, and jails are filling up with more hoodlums than terrorists, the crime rate is still very high.
The corruption in the government is still a big problem. While there are billions of dollars in oil money and foreign aid coming in for reconstruction, Iraqis still see a lot of stealing. Then again, Iraqis are at least admitting that this is not the fault of the Americans. It's Iraqis stealing from Iraqis, and Iraqis have to solve this one.
The corruption has made politics more complicated than it has to be. Political differences are not as divisive as is the competition for key government jobs that give you the best opportunities to steal public money. The squabbling over which party gets what has prevented the new parliament from putting together a new government. It's inefficient, and embarrassing. And it's Iraqis doing it to Iraqis. This is very unpleasant for most Iraqis.
Religious zealots are often as bad as the gangsters, with their demands for "contributions," and physical violence against those who are not "Islamic enough." Iraqis know that they are descended from the people who first made beer and wine. Despite Islamic laws against alcohol, Iraqis like to enjoy a cold beer, or something stronger. But not if the Islamic lifestyle police are in the neighborhoods.
The corruption among so many Iraqi politicians, and maintenance of private armies, means that, while Saddam is gone, there are still Iraqis who would like to replace him as dictator. Democracy isn't something you just put on like a coat, and it works. You have to work at it, and while many Iraqis are, there are many more who would like to bring back the bad old days, just with a different cast of characters.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
10:42 ||
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The European Union has cut off direct aid payments to the Hamas-led Palestinian government because of its refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel, the EU's executive office said Friday.
Hamas said the decision amounts to collective punishment of Palestinian people. The 25-nation EU is the largest international donor to Palestinian Authority. "We call on the EU not to adopt such decisions and policies, which we consider collective punishment against the Palestinian people, because they exercised their democratic right through elections," said legislator Mushir al-Masri, head of Hamas' parliament faction.
European Commission spokeswoman Emma Udwin said some $36.9 million marked for release later this year was at stake. She added that the temporary aid cut-off would not affect humanitarian aid sent to non-governmental organizations or to U.N. relief agencies. "For the time being there are no payments to or through the Palestinian authority," she said.
The decision affects aid coming from the EU general budget, not individual European countries. EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss Monday how European countries should deal with aid in the long-term.
"The EU will need to develop some new strategy, some new measures, some new decisions," Udwin told reporters. "While this decision-making process is under way ... we are adopting a policy of maximum prudence." She said the Commission's decision to halt the aid did not prejudge the ministers' decision. But she noted that Hamas had failed to meet the EU's conditions for continued aid -- recognition of Israel, nonviolence and acceptance of existing agreements.
Since Hamas' victory in January parliamentary elections, the United States and the European Union have threatened to cut of $1 billion in aid unless the Islamic militant group changes its policies toward Israel. Canada became the first government besides Israel to cut off financial assistance the day Hamas formally took power.
The EU Commission front-loaded $143 million in urgent aid for to the former Fatah-led Palestinian government in February. It included $21.6 million in direct aid to the caretaker Palestinian government. The rest went to help pay energy and other essential utility bills and fund health and education projects through the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.
EU officials said it received a promise from the former Palestinian government and confirmation from the World Bank that the direct aid was spent before the Hamas-led government took office.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2006
10:42 ||
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#1
squeeeeeze
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/07/2006 10:56
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#2
"Hamas said the decision amounts to collective punishment of Palestinian people."
Wow! They actually get the message!
#3
EU officials said it received a promise from the former Palestinian government and confirmation from the World Bank that the direct aid was spent before the Hamas-led government took office.
On guns and ammunition, no doubt. Still, an unexpected and nice hairparting shot by the EU. Knowing that Fatah pumped itself up just before the handover almost makes me smile. [reaches for popcorn]
#4
and kudos to Condi Rice, for the ongoing diplo reconcialiation with the EU, and the Israeli govt, whose continued restraint in the face of provocation is paying dividends.
Of couse neither could have done it without the bullheaded stubborness of Hamas.
#5
The Palestinians, who are basically non-productive at best and collecting international welfare, democratically chose heightened levels of animosity and belligerence. And they are shocked -- yes, shocked -- that their welfare checks do not continue. Muslims are blowing up people in London, burning cars across France, and stalking cartoonists in Denmark, and the Palestinians, who are firing rockets into Israel, are shocked -- yes, shocked -- that their welfare checks do not continue. Their collective IQ must be about 11.
#6
Maybe the Palestinians will finally get a clue that they aren't global wards of other nations but a nation themselves. They elected Hamas to govern them. They got what they voted for. Besides, the EU is going to need that money to keep France afloat. Maybe next time they'll vote for someone who will provide them with services and jobs instead of promises to wipe Israel off the map.
#10
Believe me, they'll sell the indirect aid and use the proceeds to buy weapons. There was an article here or somewhere else a few months ago documenting that very thing: Paleos selling EU food aid for cash. Now the proceeds from those sales were probably lining the pockets of some Fatah fatcat. No doubt that the much less corrupt Hamas (rolls eyes, spits) will funnel the cash to the "resistance" instead. Not to mention all of the "zakat" that's still flowing to them from the Saudis and Iranians.
Beseige them and starve them. The ones that surrender can be put on barges. Tow the barges and anchor them in the middle of the Persian Gulf. If the Gulf Muslims love them so much, they can take them in.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/07/2006 19:52
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#12
Suddenly, I don't have anything to say.
Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 12:50
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#13
WOT? Now the so-called war on terror is starving a whole people. Give the Palestinians all that they need.
Only 1 person per day has died at the hands of terrorists, since 9-11. WOT is an expensive joke. WOT defenders are 100% crybabies, whose mothers spanked them into deviant obsessions. Peace.
Media reports to the contrary, Congress is not considering a key enforcement measure that the Border Patrol says would halt illegal immigration by 95 percent - a continuous 2,000 mile border fence extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
Even HR 4437, the bill passed by the House in December, proposes only a 700 mile barrier that would cover just the points where the illegal traffic is deemed the highest.
But according to the Border Patrol - a security fence is far and away the most effective way to halt the flow of illegals currently deluging the Southwest.
After interviewing border agents, National Public Radio reports that apprehensions of illegals plummeted after the border was fenced off in San Diego, dropping from 100,000 in 1993 to just 5,000 in 2005.
However, the decreased traffic in San Diego had been offset by higher numbers of illegals going around the California fence, exacerbating border problems in neighboring Arizona.
The "end-run" phenomenon makes clear the folly of having a partial barrier covering only high traffic areas. And yet even the allegedly "draconian" House bill proposes that only "parts" of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas be protected with a physical barrier.
Versions of the immigration bill currently under consideration by the Senate are even weaker on this key provision.
Sen. Jon Kyl, who's considered a border hawk, has offered an amendment calling for double fencing only in the urban areas of Arizona, which now have single fencing, plus a stretch of the border west of Naco.
But after the plan raised the hackles of environmentalists, Kyl removed the proposed fencing from a sensitive wildlife corridor.
Instead of following the Border Patrol's advice, Congress is insisting that a "virtual fence" - with high-tech motion detectors and surveillance cameras - will be an effective supplement to areas protected by a physical fence.
But as Human Event's publisher Terry Jeffries argues: "A virtual fence is specifically designed to force hands-on confrontations between Border Patrolmen and foreign nationals crossing our border. It would cause dangerous situations, where a real fence could deter and prevent them."
With Washington refusing to stop the bleeding, private groups are stepping into the breach.
The group "BorderFenceProject.com" has launched a civilian effort to seal off the entire Southwest border. "We are in the process of obtaining permits from the Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Land Management, and other government authorities to build a high-tech barbed-wire fence" the group says on its web site.
As the federal government continues to dither, groups like the Minutemen and the BorderFenceProject may be America's last hope for effective border security.
#3
We very well may have a third party by the 2008 elections if Congress doesn't shape up. The Permenent Revolutionary Party will have eclipsed the Greens by then.
#4
Rjschwarz-I don't know what it would be called, but I would heartily welcome it-and add even another. It is moronic that people feel trapped to vote for one of two parties. Kinda like a waiter with appetizers walking up to you saying, "would you prefer the boiled cockroach pate or the pureed eyeball pate"? I've lost my appetite for this menu.
#7
But according to the Border Patrol - a security fence is far and away the most effective way to halt the flow of illegals currently deluging the Southwest.
Thank you feckless, appeasing, politically correct Congress for fully avoiding the "most effective" solution.
#8
A viable third party would focus on the defense of the United States and leave those vexing social and cultural issues to the states -- as the founding fathers intended the system to work. It would admit that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are our enemies, and it would seriously tackle our energy reliance on nasty regimes. (One idea: massive income tax cuts for the middle class, to be replaced by massive taxes on imported energy, coupled with a major program to build new nuclear power facilities. Another idea: demand that Saudi Arabia immediately stop exporting Islamism and start acting like a normal country -- if not, a nice little Shiite-dominated US protectorate in the eastern oil-rich area of the country will soon appear on the map).
Posted by: Jan ||
04/07/2006 13:56
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#10
Sadly, I don't think that the democratic party can produce a serious candidate in the next several rounds. They have become a party controlled by raging moonbats with no serious plan for national security - no matter what rhetoric they try to cobble together.
A third party never does anything but split the vote in the general election. The best thing that could happen would be a serious republican candidate who will win the primary by standing for serious immigration reform. Time to get rid of the good ol' boy network in the republican party by voting out the dead wood in the primary elections. The immigration issue, and the Republican party's inability to address it, may just be the ticket that will finally do just that.
#11
For all his faults, Jesse Jackson did once say something that is cynically accurate.
"If you can get 100 businessmen to agree on something, it is the law."
Much of US law is indeed "business-centric" when the republicans are in charge, and "NGO (special interest group)-centric" when the democrats are in charge. In neither case do the interests of "the people" carry much weight because "the people" do not lobby, frame the debate, or really do much more than vote.
The political parties, business organizations, and non-governmental organizations all agree that the status quo, that is, the two existing political parties only, shall be maintained by law, no matter how unrepresentative or ineffectual they become.
So there is some truth when people say that there is no difference between the two parties. And yet they are profoundly wrong with what "no difference" means.
On this issue, this means that the republicans are split between the businessmen who want open borders, and their NGO factions that want the border closed. Conversely, the democrats NGO factions want the border open, and their business (union) factions want the border closed.
This split means that despite the bluster, dust and smoke, neither party intends to do anything, yet declare victory. Paralysis at the federal level.
However, this does leave an opening for border State governments and even private organizations to intervene. And this leads to considerable irony.
That being that there are ways to do this on a budget, that have not been seriously considered. Ways of dissuading illegals from crossing in the first place that are not terribly expensive and work. Tent cities, national guard, minutemen, Indian tribes, etc.
We, the people, might not have even bothered the feds in the first place, and handled the problem ourselves. So all we would really need is that the feds stay out of the way and not try to prevent us from restricting the border.
#12
If you're sick and tired of politics, wait until you get a taste of minority governments, which a viable third party would bring. Be careful what you ask for.
#13
With the majority of American citizens-voters in favor of immigration reform, no pol in his or her right mind would support this kind of a limited measure - methinks we should prob be interpreting this article as "Congress votes for Phase One Fence Construction. Phase Two Up for Vote after 2008".
#14
JEWISH WORLD REVIEW reports that CHavez of Venezuela may be providing $$$ support to Mexico's ultra-Left political opposition, includ for the upcoming Mexican elections for President.
SO we've got Radical Spetzlamists up north in CANADA endangering AMerica not only from radical terror but also from the Gorby-Yelstin-Putin Doctrine where Russia reserves its right to use military force to protect Russian citizenz/emigres anywhere in the world, and now Mexico potens succumbing to the Ultra-Left. AMerica is being surrounded, boyz, FTLG STAY ARMED AND READY!?
(CNSNews.com) - The man responsible for the "GodHatesFags.com" and "GodHatesAmerica.com" websites picketed the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Thursday with a dozen of his family members and followers. They carried signs stating "Thank God for Maimed Soldiers," "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "God Hates You." Fred Phelps, pastor of the independent Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., claimed the injuries and fatalities suffered by American military personnel are the product of God's wrath.
"God almighty is punishing this evil nation by killing their kids over in Iraq and by maiming, crippling and mangling their kids over in Iraq," Phelps told Cybercast News Service. "This nation is going to continue to be punished by God until they repent, but we don't believe they're going to repent."
Phelps believes military personnel share the blame for court decisions and legislation favoring homosexuality, even if those service members do not support that lifestyle. "It's irrelevant whether they as individuals support them. They joined an army and became a part of a military establishment, voluntarily, knowing that that military establishment was packed and jammed with homosexuals," Phelps argued. "If they join an army that they know is a sodomite army and fight for a nation that they know is a sodomite nation, they are equally guilty."
O.P. Ditch of Woodbridge, Va., retired from the U.S. Air Force, learned of Phelps' planned protest and displayed his own printed sign at the main gate of the Walter Reed hospital. "I disagree with anybody who comes to a military hospital and, you know, says trashy things like 'God Is America's Terror.' I'm reading their signs right now, 'Thank God for Maimed Soldiers,'" Ditch said "That's the same word that Code Pink uses -- 'maimed' soldiers. They said the soldiers were 'Maimed for a lie,' and this guy's using the same words."
As Cybercast News Servicepreviously reported, the anti-war group Code Pink began picketing Walter Reed in August of 2005. The group lost its permit to protest at the main entrance to the hospital last month.
Ditch held his sign, which stated, "Code Phelps -- Human IED," an acronym for "improvised explosive device." "He doesn't belong here," Ditch concluded. "If he wants to protest, go to the White House or to Capitol Hill and he can protest, but he shouldn't be here protesting the troops."
Wesley Cook of Philadelphia agreed, calling Phelps' and his followers' actions "a disgrace. "We have soldiers here that are healing. They need peace and quiet. Mr. Phelps, 'Pastor' Phelps, Mr. Phelps is just looking for publicity," Cook said. "I am also a Christian. He is not practicing a brand of Christianity that I recognize. I think he's shaming the name of Jesus Christ."
Don Smith of Maryland turned up the volume on his opposition to Phelps' protest. The owner of what he described as "the loudest Harley I know of," Smith brought his motorcycle and had other friends bring theirs to wait for Phelps' group. Shortly after Phelps and his followers marched into position -- singing "God Hates America" to the tune of "God Bless America" -- Smith and his friends started their engines. In law enforcement and military circles, the procedure is called "acoustical countermeasures." Smith referred to it as "protestus interruptus."
"I understand First Amendment rights, but my personal feeling is, there [is] a time and a place for everything," Smith argued. "These people are protesting at funerals of guys -- men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and outside a funeral or outside an Army hospital, holding signs that say 'God Hates Wounded Soldiers.' It's not the time or the place."
After approximately 30 minutes of no one being able to hear their chants and songs over the motorcycles, a large group of off-duty military personnel in civilian clothes approached Phelps' followers and began verbally challenging the anti-military signs. Phelps' group packed their belongings and walked away, followed briefly by the servicemen. Members of FreeRepublic.com and TroopsSupport.com immediately took up positions on all four corners of the intersection at the main gate to the hospital, waiving American flags and displaying signs supporting the troops.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
10:32 ||
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#1
I wouldn't want to be standing in Fred Phelps's shoes come judgement day...
#5
Fred Phelps picketed the funeral of my young friend Cpl. Reed last year. It was extremely hard on the family. It was almost impossible for me and the other Veterans attending to refrain from seriously cracking his head.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/07/2006 12:28
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It's time to pass some laws to make this illegal.
#13
Fred Phelps, pastor of the independent Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan.
I love how the MSM always reports this matter-of-factly, as if it's just another typical red state Christian church. When, in reality, it's a family cult with no standing in any Christian circles.
#14
No violence, please. Phelps' supporters have people videotaping each potential confrontation in hopes of violence, so that their slimy lawyers can then go to court and make more of a spectacle of themselves. Don't give them what they want.
I like the motorcycle dude's approach best.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2006 17:31
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I'd pay for a crop duster to spray them with liquified dogshit. I mean, what would it cost? A couple of thou?
#19
I encourage Fred Phelps to have a face-to-face with God. I don't think he'd survive. God does not like people like Fred Phelps. I will be praying that God corrects the attitude of this nutcase. Let no human hand intervene, but let God do what He will. I just want popcorn rites.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/07/2006 18:57
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No violence, please. Phelps' supporters have people videotaping each potential confrontation in hopes of violence, so that their slimy lawyers can then go to court and make more of a spectacle of themselves.
No violence? When was the last time you saw a 'slimy lawyer' suing a mafia family?
QAIM, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. Marines along the volatile Syrian border have largely abandoned big bases to fan out over a dozen smaller outposts within cities - part of a resurrected Vietnam-era strategy to live among civilians and mentor local soldiers. Hundreds of Marines now live in 13 "battle positions" in five riverside cities, near where the Euphrates River enters Iraq from Syria. The new positioning allows them to launch more patrols - especially foot patrols - but also increases their exposure to attacks because they travel in smaller numbers.
The strategy, implemented after a large-scale U.S. and Iraqi offensive in the area last November, is in part a reaction against a common U.S. military tactic in Iraq of relying on patrols that depart from sprawling bases on the edges of cities. "You've got to be in the towns, live among the people, eat with them ... until the people start telling you where the bad people are," said Lt. Col. Julian D. Alford. "If you live on the (bases) outside the city and come in for patrols, you're not going to win this."
It's the old "Hearts and Minds" program
But the new strategy also illustrates how the situation in Iraq varies dramatically from region to region. As opposed to most areas of Iraq where U.S. troops are starting to hand over bases to Iraqi troops, this majority Sunni far western portion of Anbar province lags behind - with sufficient numbers of U.S. and Iraqi troops having just arrived. U.S. commanders view the border region as key because they say foreign fighters coming from Syria can be intercepted here before they reach more populated parts of Iraq. Suicide bombings in Baghdad and other cities have dropped because of this strategy, commanders say.
Alford, who commands the 3rd Battalion, 6th Regiment that oversees this area, says the strategy of "spreading out" was modeled after the Vietnam-era CAPs program, or Combined Action Platoon. That program based small groups of Marines inside villages to train South Vietnamese soldiers who gradually assumed greater security responsibilities. Alford said he decided to implement the plan during a predeployment trip to the area last year. "It's worked to a 'T,'" he said.
Marines say the constant local presence helps with outreach efforts to local tribesmen who only recently actively supported the insurgency. Marines now hold regular meetings with tribal leaders and have started their first major reconstruction projects, beginning with a project that paid local workers to clean up debris from the November assault.
An Iraqi army brigade that arrived in October with about 2,000 soldiers has been dispersed across the area, and Marines have begun training the Iraqi soldiers - some fresh out of boot camp and most from the Shiite south rather than from the Sunni areas around here. So far, however, the Iraqis remain largely dependent on U.S. forces to lead missions and provide critical supplies such as food and ammunition.
In the city of Husaybah, Marines try to a have a foot patrol on the streets at all times, usually made of an equal number of Marines and Iraqis. They roam neighborhoods littered with rubble left over from fighting, and operate from two bases, including a U.S.-Iraqi base within an abandoned train station. Alford asserted that with additional training the current Iraqi soldiers could soon largely control the area with fewer American troops - as long as U.S. logistics support, airpower and reinforcements continue.
In addition to the Iraqi soldiers put here, police recruiting drives have drawn hundreds of local residents in recent weeks, part of plans to establish a force of at least 600 officers. Insurgent attacks in the area have sharply decreased since the November offensive, but violence still flares on occasion. One suicide car bombing last month killed two Marines. And near one American outpost in Husaybah, a rocket was recently found on a school rooftop and pointed at the Americans' location.
"There hasn't been that much activity since the operation, but they're trickling back," said Lance Cpl. Daniel Turner of Laurel, Md., as he searched other nearby schools. With the wide dispersion of troops, greater responsibilities have been delegated to young Marines who oversee their platoons on bases miles away from their commanders. Alford says his job is just to make sure the Marine outposts have food, water and general guidance.
"This is a sergeants' and lieutenants' war - they're the ones who are going to win this thing," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
10:25 ||
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#1
Devolving the war further into an episode of 'Cops'.
Once people get used to honest soldiers and police (with the US soldiers keeping them honest), it will be a lot harder to return to a state of corruption once it is Iraqi only. People will complain instead of shrugging it off.
At least 40 people have died in a suicide bombing attack on a Shia mosque in Baghdad, Iraqi police said today. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Buratha mosque in the north of the capital, one inside the building and the other outside, Reuters reported. Sky News said at least 47 people had been killed in the blast. Reports suggested between 35 and 40 people had been wounded in the attack.
Rat bastards.
The mosque belongs to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the most powerful party in the country's ruling Shia Alliance. Police Major Falah al-Mohammedawi said at least 30 people had been injured, based on casualty figures from three hospitals. Officials said shrapnel found at the scene suggested the blasts could have been caused by an explosive vest. However, some reports suggested the attack could have been a combination of mortar fire and a stationary bomb. They were dressed like women:
The three bombers were wearing suicide vests. One detonated an explosive inside the hallway of the mosque, another at the main entrance and the third outside the site as worshippers were leaving, police said. Police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said the blasts were caused by two suicide attackers wearing black abayas at the Buratha mosque, which is affiliated with the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the main Shiite party.
Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, the preacher at the mosque and one of the country's leading politicians, said there were three assailants. One came through the women's security checkpoint and blew up first, he said. Another raced into the mosque's courtyard while a third came to his office before detonating themselves, said al-Sagheer, who was not injured. He accused Sunni politicians and clerics of waging "a campaign of distortions and lies against the Buratha mosque, claiming that it includes Sunni prisoners and mass graves of Sunnis."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2006
10:23 ||
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#1
so where was Jalal? Not in his office or the courtyard or the mosque - not a scratch on him. And just as prayers ended. - his prayers one assumes. Seems way to "lucky" given the devastation.
#2
You know, I don't want to tell people how to run their religion, but a new paradigm on proper dress, and proper female dress in particular, might prove less deadly. I remember some story about the assassination of an Afghan leader whose killers hid swords under flowing robes. How's about bermuda shorts and a tee?
#4
I don't know why, but I suspect Tater's behind this one. SCIRI is trying to force Jafaari to step down, and that's Tater's main man. I'd be watching that sneaky SOB like a hawk if I was Sistani - and I'd keep him very, very close beside me at all times.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/07/2006 16:13
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Intersting speculation from Omar at Iraq the Model http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/
Iran has until the end of April to abandon its nuclear-weapons program and comply with international atomic energy agreements or face increased international sanctions, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday.
The U.N. Security Council's ability to come together and bring pressure on Tehran would reflect whether the international forum would play a major role in protecting the United States and its allies, Ambassador John R. Bolton told reporters at a State Department Correspondents Association breakfast meeting yesterday.
"Iran is a good test case," he said. If Iran refused to conform to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations, Mr. Bolton said, the likely next step would be a U.N. resolution that would be legally binding on Iran, followed by a resolution that would consider sanctions.
Mr. Bolton described the U.S. approach as "calibrated, gradual and reversible," but warned that if the U.N. council failed to deal effectively with Iran, Washington would have to look at alternatives.
"We are pursuing a variety of options outside the Security Council right now," he said, echoing statements he made to The Washington Times in November. "It is simply prudent planning to be looking at other options," he said yesterday.
Mr. Bolton said the United States could tighten sanctions against Iran that were eased under the Clinton administration, allowing for the import of Persian rugs and pistachio nuts.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/07/2006
10:21 ||
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#7
"Watch Out, Iran: Next Step Is To Sanction Your Nuts"
In a vise, I hope.
Oh wait, you meant pistacios.
I was thing of something a little different.... ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/07/2006 20:03
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Ah! I remember those old Khat Stevens lyrics from yester-year. For me, it was easy to see how early 70's pinko rock singers (with multiple hits) like khat; were treated like gods world-wide.They all had to flee somewhere I guess; but why did khat suddenly flee to the welcoming arms of allah. Git 'er done, motherfucker
Two suicide attackers wearing women's cloaks blew themselves up Friday in a Shiite mosque in northern Baghdad, killing at least 46 people and wounding scores, police said. It was the second major attack against Shiite targets in as many days. The violence came as U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned that Iraq faces the possibility of sectarian civil war if efforts to build a national unity government do not succeed, and that such a conflict could affect the entire Middle East.
Police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said the blasts occurred at the Buratha mosque, which is affiliated with the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the main Shiite party. First reports said the explosions were caused by mortar fire, but al- Mohammedawi said police had confirmed they were suicide attacks.
The attack occurred as worshippers were leaving at the end of Friday prayers, the main weekly religious service. Earlier Friday, the Interior Ministry cautioned people in Baghdad to avoid crowds near mosques and markets due to a car bomb threat. A prominent Shiite politician, Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, was among the worshippers but police said he was unhurt. Rescuers carried the bodies from the mosque compound on makeshift wooden wheelbarrows and loaded them on the backs of pickup trucks. The Baghdad city council urged Iraqis to donate blood for those wounded.
On Thursday, a car bomb exploded about 300 yards from the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf, the most sacred shrine in Iraq for Shiite Muslims. Ten people were killed, police said.
The attack Friday was likely to increase tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, already at a high level following the Feb. 22 blast at a Shiite shrine in Samarra and reprisal killings. That bombing triggered a war of reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics. "This explosion is trying to provoke Iraqis to sectarian sedition through bombing the mosques," said Salah Abdul-Razzaq, a Baghdad city council member.
The Interior Ministry, which oversees police, said it had received intelligence that insurgents were preparing to set off seven car bombs in Baghdad. Al-Mohammedawi said the alert would remain until the bombs were discovered and deactivated. Security forces were searching the city, with orders to protect holy sites and be on the lookout for suspicious cars, the statement said. Citizens were urged to "be cautious, and to avoid gatherings or crowds while leaving markets, mosques and churches."
The statement also warned that legal measures would be taken against "any security official who fails to take the necessary procedures to foil any terrorist attack in his area." The ministry faces accusations of militia infiltration in its ranks. Other car bombs were possibly heading to some southern Iraqi provinces as well, the statement said, putting security forces in the south on high alert.
Khalilzad, meanwhile, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that political contacts among Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders were improving, but that within the general population, "polarization along sectarian lines" was intensifying _ in part due to the role of armed militias. He warned that "a sectarian war in Iraq" could draw in neighboring countries, "affecting the entire region." "That's a possibility if we don't do everything we can to make this country work," Khalilzad said. "What's happening here has huge implications for the region and the world."
He said the best way to prevent such a conflict was to form a government including representatives of all groups. That effort has stalled over Sunni and Kurdish opposition to the Shiite candidate to lead the government, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Khalilzad avoided any criticism of al-Jaafari. He said there were many competent Iraqis capable of leading the government "and Prime Minister al-Jaafari certainly is one of them." Khalilzad said the international community must do everything possible "to make this country work" because failure "would have the most serious consequences for the Iraqis, for sure, but also for the region and for the world." Rising sectarian tensions _ worsened by armed, religiously based militias and death squads _ have emerged as a significant threat to U.S. efforts to form a stable society in Iraq.
Last month, Khalilzad said that "more Iraqis are dying today from the militia violence than from the terrorists," meaning Sunni-dominated insurgents. In the BBC interview, Khalilzad cited the role of armed militias in sharpening sectarian tensions. "There are lots of unauthorized military formation such as militias ... of course, the insurgent groups that are a kind of militia and then of course terrorists that everybody is united against," he said. "What I was saying to the Iraqis is that for the success of Iraq, this problem of unauthorized military formations have to be dealt with."
He said U.S. officials were working with the Iraqis to develop a plan for curbing militias and would insist that it be implemented. Khalilzad also confirmed the Americans had been meeting with groups linked to the Sunni-dominated insurgency. He would not specify the groups nor say when and where the meetings were held. But he said they did not include Saddam Hussein loyalists or "terrorists," presumably religiously based extremists of al-Qaida in Iraq or the Ansar al-Sunnah Army.
"We are talking to people who are willing to accept this new Iraq, to lay down their arms, to cooperate in the fight against terrorists," he said.
Khalilzad said he believed those contacts were responsible for a decline in the number of attacks against U.S. and coalition forces. Last month, they suffered their lowest monthly death toll in Iraq since February 2005, although the casualty rate has increased somewhat in the first week of April. But the ambassador also acknowledged that U.S. and Iraqi officials were "a long way" from an agreement with Sunni-led insurgents that might bring an end to the war.
U.S. officials have in the past confirmed contacts with people who claimed to have links with the insurgents. It was unclear whether these contacts included insurgent commanders or simply intermediaries who support the war against coalition forces.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
10:17 ||
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TEHERAN - Iran will defend its controversial nuclear program to its last drop of blood and refuse to suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the UN Security Council, a senior cleric said on Friday. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, meanwhile, were due in Iran later the same day to visit the Islamic republics uranium enrichment facility and other sites.
We want our rights and nothing more, and we will resist until our last drop of blood, Hojatoleslam Ahmad Khatami said in a Friday prayer sermon broadcast on state radio.
Ok, that works for me
They want to create a crisis. The Security Council, which ought to be an instrument of justice, wants to create insecurity and injustice, the ultra-conservative cleric charged. They have set a one-month deadline for us to suspend our research on enrichment. They can set a one-month delay, one for a year or whatever they want. We will not renounce our rights.
A non-binding statement approved unanimously by the world body on March 29 gave the Islamic republic 30 days to abandon the sensitive nuclear work, but without issuing a threat of sanctions. Iran has refused to freeze its nuclear research and development -- which includes uranium enrichment -- that it resumed in January, insisting on nuclear technology for peaceful purposes as its right. Teheran vehemently denies it has ambitions of building a nuclear bomb and says its nuclear energy program is purely peaceful.
Meanwhile, Khatami said the past week of Iranian military maneuvers in the strategic Gulf, in which missiles were tested, aimed to show that if the enemies try to attack Islamic Iran, they will receive a severe smacking.
The IAEA visit starting Friday was planned months ago and is not linked to the Security Council statement of late March, Aliasghar Soltanieh, Irans representative to the IAEA said, quoted by the semi-official news agency Mehr.
The inspections to be carried out in the coming days are routine inspections within the framework of the (nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty and not linked to the statement, he said.
IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said on Thursday he hoped for cooperation and transparency from Teheran over its nuclear power standoff. There are still outstanding issues in Iran that we need to clarify, he told a Madrid news conference. I hope we will get the maximum cooperation and transparency from Iran that will enable us to provide a positive report, but I can only tell you that when our inspectors come back, he said. We have seen issues in Iran that we need to understand before we can say that we are satisfied that all activities in Iran are exclusively for peaceful purposes, he added.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
09:48 ||
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#1
OK.
One last blood drop coming up.
Would you prefer cruise missles or B-52s?
We aim to please. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/07/2006 9:57
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#2
I don't believe that anybody has suggested denying them nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. One problem is that they refuse to allow the kinds of accounting and inspections that would verify their peaceful intent. Another is that their construction (bunkers, etc.) suggests military intent. Another is that their parallel programs (missiles, explosives, etc.) suggest military intent. Another is that their words suggest military intent -- very aggressive military intent. And finally, vowing to defend a peaceful nuclear energy program to your "last drop of blood" in a country that is rich in natural gas energy makes absolutely no sense at all. Bombs away.
#6
"They want to create a crisis" - NOOOOOOOOOOOO, Britney, by Madonna's underwear, JFK, and the band AEROSMITH and a Tehas/Texas-sized Asteroid, etal. in 1968 say it t'aint so!? How does Britney, D *** IT, keep getting herself into these things???
KUFA, Iraq - Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Friday blamed US-led coalition forces for the rampant violence across Iraq, including the deadly car bombing in the holy city of Najaf a day before. This is not the first time that the occupation forces and their death squads have resorted to killings, the cleric said during the weekly prayers at the mosque of Kufa, the twin city of Najaf. He was referring to Thursdays car bombing in Najaf.
Ten people were killed and 42 wounded when a car bomb exploded close to the revered Imam Ali shrine in the heart of Najaf and near Sadrs offices and those of top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani. The bomb went off in the parking lot near the entrance of the Wadi Salam (Valley of Peace) cemetery, forcing authorities to impose an immediate curfew in a bid to stem any outbreak of sectarian violence. Sadr also blamed the coalition forces for the sectarian strife, charging that they are killing religious Shiite clerics in order to start a sectarian strife.
US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad was particularly targeted by Sadr in his sermon. His (Khalilzads) presence in all the political meetings is a clear intervention of the US in Iraqi affairs, Sadr said. He also suggested a plan for a phased withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. To begin with they should exit the cities and take positions outside the cities and hand over security for the cities to the Iraqi forces, said the firebrand cleric.
In August 2004, Sadr led a bloody revolt against US forces in which hundreds of his Mehdi Army militiamen were killed. He has since adopted a political role and is one of the main supporters of incumbent Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
09:44 ||
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#1
Sadr = Murtha = Kerry
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/07/2006 10:38
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That Sadr's still breathing, years after he earned the dirt nap with his first assassination of a rival who wasn't a paid agent, "is a clear intervention of Iran in Iraqi affairs." Perhaps this time it will be finished properly.
DEBKAfile Exclusive: American troops pour into Iraqi Shiite towns of Najef and Karbala to meet radical Sadrist militia threat. The US military command in Iraq dispatched large-scale Marine forces with armor, tank and helicopter support to the two Shiite shrine cities south of Baghdad before dawn Friday, April 7. DEBKAfiles military sources report the action followed a threat by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr to overrun the Shiite cities and Baghdads Shiite suburb, if the Americans force the Iran-backed interim prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari to step down.
Armed Shiite tribesman have smuggled senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and his staff out of the city and harms way, amid fears the Mehdi Army may take him hostage. The tribes have taken him under their protection.
While US forces took control of central Najef, they are keeping to Karbalas western suburbs; Sadrs men occupy the center and are building military positions.
In the summer of 2004, US and Iraqi forces crushed a rebellion staged by Sadr at the head of his militia. DEBKAfiles military sources reveal that since this defeat, the Mehdi Army has developed into the strongest and best equipped armed force in Iraq, outgunning its two Shiite rivals, the Badr Force and Wolves Brigades. The buildup is entirely the work of Irans Revolutionary Guards and undercover agents.
Saturday, April 8, formal talks aimed at breaking Iraqs political stalemate begin in Baghdad between a US delegation headed by ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and an Iranian delegation. Jaafaris refusal to stand aside is the main hurdle in the way of a unity government.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
09:37 ||
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#1
Thank goodness for the MSM, which reported the problems posed by Sadr's militias, so that the military could act on that information.
#2
We may be headed to the bifurcation point with the radical elements. Who wins will determine th direction of Iraq...will it be Iran and his sock puppet Tater, or the Iraqi people? Time will tell.
#8
I suspect we left tater in just this position for the singular reason that we knew the Iranians would continue to use him as their tool. This now means that they have invested lots of money, resources and manpower into the spud that could have been directed elsewhere and to much greater damage.
Undoubtedly, we have also been keeping tabs on everything that surrounds tater. This means that when we move in, it will set back the Iranian schemes by at least a year.
#13
The US has no business being in Iraq. Only 1 person per day has died at the hands of a terrorist since 9-11. That is hardly reason for all the expense and deployment and human rights violations. No wonder you people are so paranoid and defensive. The WOT is indefensible. The Bush Crime Family are worse than gangsters.
There has been a suicide car bomb attack outside the US military base in the capital of the Afghan province of Helmand, Lashkar Gah, officials say. The provincial governor told the BBC the attack was aimed at Dyncorp, a US company training the Afghan police force in poppy eradication work. The US military says three US nationals suffered minor injuries.
The BBC's Alistair Leithead in Kabul says this is the first such attack on the US base in Lashkar Gah. Of the three injured Americans, two were military personnel and one a civilian contractor, a US military statement said. It said the attacker died in the blast which completely destroyed his vehicle and a nearby truck. Britain is preparing to deploy 3,300 troops in Helmand in the coming months. The governor said the attack was the work of "al Qaeda and terrorists".
"Genius Holmes! How do you do it?"
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
09:34 ||
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I take it the only death was the shaheed? Good.
Israeli helicopters have attacked several targets in the Gaza Strip, including offices of the armed wing of the Fatah movement. There were no reports of casualties after the three overnight air raids. They followed rocket attacks on Israeli towns, which Israel blamed on the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the armed offshoot of Fatah.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian man was killed overnight by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Nablus. Israeli military sources said soldiers exchanged fire with gunmen during an overnight raid to arrest wanted militants in the town, adding that two Israeli soldiers were wounded. Palestinian witnesses said the dead man was not known to be linked to any militant group, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Two of the Israeli air raids targeted offices of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Gaza City. The third raid was against a helicopter launch pad. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are the armed wing of the Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Israel blamed the group for firing several rockets at Israeli towns on Thursday. One of the rockets hit a factory near the town of Ashkelon, setting it ablaze. Another landed in the town of Sderot, but causing no injuries, the Israeli army said.
Additional: Israeli air force drops leaflets advising Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza to escape bombardment. Earlier Friday, two Qassam missiles were fired from N. Gaza after a night of Israeli Air Force strikes against Fatah offices in Beit Lahiya, missile sites, and helipad in Gaza City. The missiles landed harmlessly outside Carmieh and south of Ashkelon. Thursday, a Qassam missile from Gaza sets factory on fire at Kibbutz Zikkim south of Ashkelon. Wednesday, 7 missiles exploded on the Israeli side of the border.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
09:32 ||
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carpet bomb a stretch wider than Qassam's range and warn the rest - increase the range, we increase the bombing...oh, we also reserve the homes and offices of all terrorists, "armed wing" or not
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/07/2006 21:31
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The police in Lilongwe Thursday arrested three people in broad daylight at Lilongwe Hotel for being found in possession of male sexual organs.
It's illegal to have balls? What is this, the U.N.?
Do I have to check for cops when I go out to lunch today?
Only if you're meeting Patty Ann Brown at the Lilongwe Hotel. Papers please!
"Please! I should like to have my testicles returned to me!"
Sure, Dominique, here they are. How'd you notice they were gone?"
The parts, which included a penis and testicles, were oozing blood at the time of the arrest, police said.
I'd get that looked at if I was you
You may not believe this, but we've seen stranger things in an urban ER.
Central Region Police public relations officer Moyenda Chitimbe confirmed the development Thursday, saying the police arrested the three following a tip.
"Calling all cars! Be on the lookout for a bloody doinker and nuts! That is all!"
The three suspects were driving a saloon.
Britspeak for 4 door car
According to Chitimbe, the suspects wrapped the penis and testicles in a plastic bag to keep them fresh.
The penis and testicles looked so fresh because they were still oozing blood.
"And how much is that one?"
"Oh, Maudette! You don't want that one! It doesn't look fresh!"
"How about that one?"
"Now, that's fresh!"
"From the look of things, they must have been removed them from a man the same day in the morning, he said.
Oh, there were 3 guys with four sets of balls. Why didn't you say so earlier?
However, Chitimbe could not be drawn into disclosing names of the three alleged human parts traffickers for fear of jeopardising investigations.
There a big market in Lilongwe for those parts? Or would this fall into after-market upgrades?
It's very difficult as of now to actually give you more details on the matter because we are still liaising with officers that have gone flat out investigating the matter, said Chitimbe.
"They're taking this personally, y'know! 'There, but for the grace of God, go I. Or part of me.'"
But Chitimbe told The Daily Times that in the meantime, two of the three arrested have distanced the third person from any matter in connection with the arrest. The two, during interrogations at Central Region Police headquarters told the police the third man was just a mere taxi driver operating from one of the taxi ranks in the city. The third man confessed that he was just hired and he did not even know the people who hired him, said Chitimbe.
"Honest, officer! I wuz just sittin' at me hack stand, and these two guyz comes up and wanna go to the city dump! I din't do nuffin!"
Meanwhile, the police are still pressing the remaining two to substantiate their claim that they were just given the parcel containing the human private parts by another man.
"Really! It ain't ours!"
"Obviously not!"
"I mean, somebody give it to us!"
"And he seemed to be in an awful hurry, too!"
The two, at the moment, are still insisting that they did not know that the parcel they were carrying contained those items, said Chitimbe.
Yeah, I have people trying to give me bags of Bobbit takeout all the time.
"He told us it was a ham sammitch!"
Chitimbe asked this reporter to call him an hour later to check for more information on the matter.
"We posted a 'lost and found' notice. Somebody'll call, I'm sure, soon's they notice it's gone!"
"Yes, Dominique, we'll hold them for you. In a manner of speaking."
But Chitimbe could not be reached when called again.
"Tell 'em I'm not here!"
"He sez he ain't here!"
An eyewitness, an official from the hotel who refused to be named, disclosed that the two men had parked the saloon at the car park just close to one of the bars at the hotel. The two men except the driver came out and sat on the veranda along the pathway that leads to the hotels reception. They were seen to be busy trying to make some connections on the phone until two CID [Criminal Investigation Officers] appeared and arrested them.
"Mbongo! We got a hot schlong! You got a buyer?"
"Ixnay on the ongshclay! Good evening, officers!"
"They were taken to the saloon, ordered to open the boot where a plastic bag was found containing the private parts, said the eyewitness.
Perhaps this was a "Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" operation?
"Bring me the little head of Alfredo Garcia!"
Posted by: Steve ||
04/07/2006
09:10 ||
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#1
Testicles, mighty handy for my lock box.
-- Billary Clinton
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/07/2006 9:54
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#2
Outstanding commentary, guys. ROFL!!
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/07/2006 9:55
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#13
In Lilongwe's fair city,
Where girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Sitti Malone,
As she pushed her wheelbarrow
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Fresh Cockles and Testicles, alive, alive oh"!
Now she was a Tackle-monger,
And sure twas no wonder,
For so were her mother and father before,
And they each wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Fresh Cockles and Testicles, alive, alive oh"!
Chorus:
She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Sitti Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Fresh Cockles and Testicles, alive, alive oh"!
#14
Chinese blogs were reporting on the discovery by Chicom authorities of several dozen bodies wrapped in various covers and hidden in local moutain terrain. Some authorites believe these people/victims, both young and old and of different genders, were deliberately killed EITHER FOR FOOD, OR TO SELL THEIR ORGANS FOR FOOD = CASH.
Katrina. Such a pretty name to be forever marred by the disaster on America's Gulf Coast.
I've followed the Katrina / Rita / Wilma saga from the beginning. I've spent hundreds of hours tracking the numbers for the Americans Aiding Americans site, where I try to document the generosity of Americans, American businesses and groups with their donations for Katrina relief. I realize I slight those folks injured by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma but my simple view is that they are all victims of the Gulf Coast disaster called Katrina.
This makes the 149th entry in the Katrina Relief category on this blog. Some are short, others long. Many are just posts with news that you might not have seen. Some are my writings, trying to make some sense of the loss that our nation has suffered.
Folks complain that the war in Iraq isn't a real war because the President hasn't asked us to sacrifice. The devastation in the Gulf hasn't touched many of us in just that same manner, and it's far closer to home. Americans, your friends, families, neighbors, are homeless tonight and have been so for months. Have we sacrificed, or is this just a pretend catastrophe?
One of my Katrina posts today came closest to home for me, the wannabe photographer. HP is restoring photos that were damaged in the hurricanes. The woman whose story I featured had lost everything but a handful of old pictures. HP was able to give those memories, that reality, back to her.
About 30 students from St. John Fisher College, my alma mater and PG's as well, will be going south to help after school lets out in May. If you scan the news on Google, this is very common. Many students spent their spring break down there. Others will spend their summer. There's more than enough work for these young people, more than enough.
The billions of dollars that have gone and will go to the region have yet to make an impact. It will be years, decades, before economic and social health returns to coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Communities are gone, wiped away as if they never existed. Jobs, businesses, tax bases, infrastructure, all gone or damaged severely. The region will never be the same, and for many that is the greatest loss.
This is an event that will reshape the United States. Many of the people forced to leave their homes will not return. Thousands of businesses will never reopen. Communities will be rebuilt, with a different design, different structures, different politics.
The blame game will be played out, because that's all we seem to be able to do lately. The people who should lead will bicker and pout and obstruct and shame themselves and us by their petty and thoughtless behaviors. Chances will be squandered, money will be wasted, and life for the people of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida will never be the same. The people are the Katrina generation, forever condemned by the forces of nature and politics to a life of what might have been.
I will continue to write about this epic event in American history. Whether anyone believes me or not, this is as historically significant as few events in our history have been. Part of America in a few hours has been reduced to a poverty of place and hope and life unlike any we've seen since the Great Depression or the end of the Civil War.
These stories are about Americans. Proud, patriotic Americans just like you and me. We cannot forget them. We cannot abandon them. We must demand the best from all our leaders, the politicians, the community leaders. When people are homeless, give them homes. When people are jobless, give them jobs. Above all, give them hope.
I'm not calling for massive government. I'm calling for the vision in our leaders to lead, to open the way for those who can help, to make the paths smooth. Americans can rebuild if our leaders will let us.
#1
awesome Chuck! It's exactly what this country needs; someone to take the media focus away from blame and put the spotlight on all of the good. Blame is the most distructive force in our country right now. The media is its champion. It's not the American way. Time to get back to basics.
Sea of Fire - the second novel in my War on Terror series is now available online. I welcome feedback, especially about the plot. There are several aspects of the plot and the motivations of characters, I struggled over and I am not sure it is finished.
#3
Well, if he does quit writing and gets a real job, I'll send him a "Muglite" flashlight. Not only do I find them useful at work, they're fun recreational devices when you're off-duty.
I use the machined wolfmet HM 490 3-Z cell model, it just has that impact that's lacking in the cheap aircraft aluminum knockoffs. Of course the humans have trouble lifting it...
Shortly after September 11, the phrase "9/11 changed everything" got popular. I thought it a useful overstatement. More than anything we needed unity, and that helped. Almost five years later, it looks like an understatement. Politics in America, the law, the conduct of war, the West and Islam, U.S. allies past and present--all changed.
But there's a difference. Normally when something changes in the physical world we can see what replaced the old. In the post-September 11 world, about all we can see is that the old templates for understanding these things are under pressure and may be broken. But in nearly each instance, the new template for how we think about them isn't clear. Should prisoners from the terror wars be moved here from Guantanamo and put under established U.S. law, or is something less than that more appropriate?
In an important speech delivered Monday in London, the British Defense Minister John Reid suggested that we consider revising the Geneva Conventions regarding conduct in war. He wants to accommodate the altered reality of modern terrorism. "I believe we need now to consider whether we--the international community in its widest sense--need to re-examine these conventions," Mr. Reid said. "If we do not, we risk continuing to fight a 21st-century conflict with 20th-century rules." The Geneva Conventions were shaped 50 years ago, Mr. Reid said, but "warfare continues to evolve, and, in its moral dimensions, we have now to cope with a deliberate regression towards barbaric terrorism by our opponents."
This summary does not do justice to Mr. Reid's speech, which was at pains to seek a balance in the tension between a West that struggled to mitigate the savagery of armed conflict and an enemy that daily dishonors those principles. He is not suggesting that we adopt the enemy's methods. He is worried that the old rules are putting the soldiers on our side at unacceptable risk. "If we act differently today from how we behaved yesterday, it is not necessarily wrong. Indeed it may be wrong not to." . . .
. . . The central issue raised in the speech by U.K. Defense Minister Reid involves the tension between what up to now has been illegal in war and what in the future should be illegal, if the purpose of law is to protect the innocent against barbarism. My view is that the likelihood of the U.S. or the U.K. "losing its soul" if it upgrades the rules to suppress a shame-free terrorism is about nil. Yes, September 11 changed everything, and it's time to start talking about whether the changes are helping us, or them.
Those italics in the last paragraph (in the original) are the key point. The purpose of the law of war is to mitigate the effect of war on noncombatants. It does this by dividing the universe of potential targets into "combatants" (people you're allowed to deliberately shoot) and "noncombatants" (people you're not allowed to deliberately shoot), then requires the combatants to wear uniforms and carry arms openly. If a combatant follows the law of war in this respect, making himself distinct from a noncombatant, he gains certain protections for himself such as POW status.
The enforcement mechanism is not an "international tribunal" or some such, but reprisal. If a combatant violates the laws of war, by blurring the distinction between himself and noncombatants, or by deliberately targeting noncombatants, he loses those protections--that is, the Geneva Convention permits the opponent to then shoot prisoners and such. As countless old movies remind us, "spies" (i.e. combatants out of uniform) can be freely shot or hanged.
There have been various attempts, including a 1970s "amendment" to the Geneva Convention that the US never signed on to, to dilute these rules by giving "guerillas" a privilege to be pose as noncombatants, use civillians for cover, and so on. In the present conflict, the "antiwar" movement (i.e., folks rooting for the other side) has tried to do something similar, by repeatedly claiming that the US and coalition partners are bound to treat the terrorists as POWs, and so on, even though the terrorists have never observed the laws of war in the first place.
If that becomes the new rule, and there is no disadvantage to routinely violating the laws of war, then there is no incentive to follow them.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/07/2006
06:56 ||
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#1
Why can't people just grasp that morality must be based on reciprocity.
#2
The whole concept is stupid to begin with. Name one country the US has fought who obeyed the Geneva Conventions as well as we have? Our troops face barbarism if captured by *everybody* we fight. Only if we went to war against England would these be of any use.
If we are going to follow these stupid things then follow them to the letter. When they violate them then we are no longer bound by them either. Announce this publicly and repeatedly, then carry it out.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/07/2006 9:14
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#3
Well, Nazi Germany pretty well followed the Geneva Convention in regards to American troops, with one or two exceptions.
IIRC, they were the only ones we have fought in the last 70 years who did. Ironic, isn't it?
#4
Sgt. Mom: I believe you are correct. Imperial Japan, North korea, Vietnam, Saddam's Iraq, al-Qaida; all routinely violated the Convention with respect to POWs.
Note also that captured members of the uniformed Iraq army were accorded POW status in both GWI and the present conflict.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/07/2006 9:58
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#5
It's not about our enemies following the conventions, it's about a nation being able to look its self in the mirror. We should always hold the highground on this, without exception.
The geneva conventions has the points for dealing, or removing the rights, of combatants that do not comply with the rules of land warfare. We need to toughen up, regognise those rule don't apply to terrorists and not feel guilty or even debate our treatment of terrorists, just kill them. Civilized treatment is for those who act in a civilized manner, even during wartime.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/07/2006 10:09
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#6
Our gentleness invites their agressiveness. If we were brutally bloodthirsty, then the enemy would become meek. It's not rocket science.
#7
The ironic thing is, during the first Gulf War, the regular Iraqi army treated our POWs very well. Once they were handed off the the special police and Saddam's thugs, things went south.
But you guys are right. For the most part, we can't rely on countries/terrorists to treat our people well. The rules do not apply to the majority of the world.
#8
Japan and North Vietnam never signed the Geneva Conventions.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/07/2006 12:37
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49 - I agree with you about keeping the high road. But keeping the high road assures that barbarians are not free to roam at will, killing people in churches, mosques and just minding their own daily business. Life is about balance and balance requires tough choices on what you want to keep and what you need to give up. Saying that we don't have to stoop to barbarism is not the same thing as saying we need to find some sort of balance our fight against barbarians.
#10
The Geneva Conventions and the Treaty of Westphalia were rules adopted by a club of nations in response to a very specific set of circumstances and in congruence with a largely common culture. That same congruence has pretty much rendered war among the members of that club obsolete.
No nation outside of that club is ever going to adopt the rules without strong incentives (the fire and nuclear bombings of Japan come to mind). Enlarging the club is the real goal of this war. Terrorism is a violation of both Westphalia and the GC. So is burning down embassies. Rich, feudal, oil-rich entities sponsoring proxy armies and using religion and emmigration to subvert existing nation states is an even bigger violation.
I don't think that we need to change the GC or give up on the nation state. We need to severely punish the entities that don't adhere to them.
#11
2b your right. I am not saying we need to stoop to terrorists or adopt terrorist acts. The terrorists we are fighting do not adhere to the Geneva convention and are not afforded the protection of enemy combatants when captured. You are also right in that we whould not give one inch of ground to them, my position is to kill them. For example: when the IED's would go off in Bagdad people would come and jump on the vehicles and fire AK's into the air. That was until the Stryker BDE's began to ambush them and shoot them. Then the people quit taking part in the bombings. The fact that we would take action drove them away. This is a lesson we must take across the entire battlefield. They understand and respect someone who is not afraid of violence. We should give it to them.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
04/07/2006 15:59
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#12
Sgt. Mom,
I believe a number of Jewish US soldiers were sent to concentration camps.
Besides, there was the Malmedy massacre. That's more than one or two, I guess.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
04/07/2006 18:11
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#13
The Geneva Conventions and the Treaty of Westphalia were rules adopted by a club of nations in response to a very specific set of circumstances
Nice insight. T of Westphalia prevented serious horror war on civillians until 1914. (in Europe)
A militant of the gang led by filed commander Ruslan Gelayev was detained in the village of Aksai of Dagestans Khasavyurt region.
As Itar-Tass learnt at the press service of the Interior Ministry of the republic, the gunman was detained at home. According to the available information, the 36-year-old Dagestani underwent training in one of the camps of illegal armed groups in the village of Gekalovka in Chechnya under the command of Ruslan Gelayev, the Itar-Tass interlocutor specified.
According to the Interior Ministry, within Gelayevs gang, the detainee participated in combat actions against federal forces and is a follower of the Islamic extremist trend.
During an examination at the detainees house, which was conducted within the framework of a criminal case instituted in March this year according to the article robbery of the Russian Criminal Code, a RGD-5 grenade, a projectile for a VOG-25 under-barrel grenade launcher, 55 fire arms cartridges, two submachine-gun magazines, eight grams of marihuana and religious literature were seized.
The detainee confessed his participation in illegal armed groups. Investigators are engaged now in checking his involvement in acts of terrorism in Chechnya and Dagestan.
Criminal proceedings were instituted against the detainee.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
03:03 ||
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Iran has successfully developed ballistic missiles with the capability to carry nuclear warheads.
Detailed analysis of recent test firings of the Shahab-3 ballistic missile by military experts has concluded that Iran has been able to modify the nose cone to carry a basic nuclear bomb. The discovery will intensify international pressure on Teheran to provide a comprehensive breakdown of its nuclear research programme.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council gave Iran 30 days to freeze its uranium enrichment programme that many experts believe is part of a clandestine attempt to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran denies it is trying to acquire a nuclear arsenal. But ballistic missile experts advising the United States say it has succeeded in reconfiguring the Shahab-3 to carry nuclear weapons.
The Shahab-3 is a modified version of North Korea's Nodong missile which itself is based on the old Soviet-made Scud.
The Nodong, which Iran secretly acquired from North Korea in the mid-1990s, is designed to carry a conventional warhead. But Iranian engineers have been working for several years to adapt the Shahab-3 to carry nuclear weapons.
"This is a major breakthrough for the Iranians," said a senior US official. "They have been trying to do this for years and now they have succeeded. It is a very disturbing development."
The Shahab 3 has a range of 800 miles, enabling it to hit a wide range of targets throughout the Middle East - including Israel.
Apart from modifying the nose cone, Iranian technicians are also trying to make a number of technical adjustments that will enable the missile to travel a greater distance.
Western intelligence officials believe that Iran is receiving assistance from teams of Russian and Chinese experts with experience of developing nuclear weapons. Experts who have studied the latest version of the Shahab have identified modifications to the nose cone.
Instead of the single cone normally attached to this type of missile, the new Shahab has three cones, or a triconic, warhead. A triconic warhead allows the missile to accommodate a nuclear device and this type of warhead is normally found only in nuclear weapons.
According to the new research, the Iranian warhead is designed to carry a spherical nuclear weapon that would be detonated 2,000 feet above the ground, similar to the Hiroshima bomb.
Although US defence officials believe that Iran is several years away from acquiring nuclear weapons, they point out that the warhead could hold a version of the nuclear bomb Pakistan is known to have developed. Iran has acquired a detailed breakdown of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
The development of the Shahab-3 is just one element of a wide-ranging missile development programme.
In 2003 the Iranians concluded another secret deal with North Korea to buy the Taepo Dong 2 missile, which has a range of 2,200 miles and would enable Iran to hit targets in mainland Europe.
Earlier this week the Iranians announced that they had successfully test-fired a new missile, the Fajr-3, which has the capability to evade radar systems and carry multiple warheads.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
03:00 ||
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#1
An Iranian copy of a Nork copy of a Chinese copy of an 1980es Soviet missile.
#5
ITs Uranium, NOT Plutonium, etc. ergo NO WMDS IN IRAN, ergo the USA under Dubya-GOP is making yet another arrogant, Male Brute, America only, Fed only, Fascist = defective bratty Half-A-Communist, imperfect Socialist "mistake". See what happens, America, when Great/Saint Bill Clinton doesn't have a Mother around.
#6
But will it open up, swallow an Apollo capsule and return to the volcano fortress with the unfortunate captives inside? If not, they are only mostly evil....work on it MM's, and you can join the Truly Evil ranks
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/07/2006 22:08
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The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, has said US officials have held talks with some groups linked to the Sunni-led Iraqi insurgency. Mr Khalilzad told the BBC that, in his opinion, the talks had had an impact as the number of attacks on US troops by Iraqi militants had fallen. But he stressed he would not negotiate with "Saddamists" or terrorists seeking a war on civilisation.
Mr Khalilzad also warned a civil war in Iraq remained a real risk.
Mr Khalilzad would not specify which groups the US had had contact with other than to say it would not talk to people he called "Saddamists" or terrorists seeking a war on civilisation. That is usually a reference to al-Qaeda figures such as the Jordanian militant, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. However, the ambassador said militia groups, which he described as the infrastructure of civil war, were just as much of a problem.
Mr Khalilzad is seen as one of the architects of US President George W Bush's decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein three years ago. He has been more prepared than most US officials to admit things have not worked out as planned. He said the risk of sectarian war breaking out in Iraq remains if ethnic divisions between its Kurdish and majority Arab population developed, and warned it could turn into a wider regional conflict.
"Iraq must succeed," he said. "Not to do everything humanely possible to make this country work would have the most serious consequences for the Iraqis, for sure, but also for the region and for the world." With talks over forming a new Iraqi government still deadlocked almost four months after elections, the ambassador said the patience of the international community with the country's political leaders was running out.
Mr Khalilzad, who was born in Afghanistan, was the US ambassador there before his current posting. Asked if Iraq could do with a political figure who could reach across ethnic and sectarian divides, similar to the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, he agreed such a person would be an asset.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
02:58 ||
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An informed judiciary source has revealed the fate of nine Moroccan youths who were arrested in obscure circumstances in Moulay Rachid district, Casablanca, in the middle of last week. The same source says that the detained youths, who have been arrested by elements from the directorate of the security of the territory [DST, secret service] because of their links with an already captured Tunisian national, have been all brought before the investigating judge, in Sale court of appeal. The youths were investigated in detail in relation to accusations of setting up a criminal gang to prepare and use explosives, severely endangering public order and collecting money in order to finance acts of sabotage. The source adds that the Moroccan suspects as well as a Tunisian national called Mohamed Ben Hedi Msahel have been arrested in successive police raids after the discovery that the Tunisian national had been forging passports and had close ties with eight Moroccan youths.
Preliminary investigations showed that the nine arrested persons used to meet in circumstances described by the source as "suspicious", in a place rented by the Tunisian Mohamed Ben Hedi Msahel. The source further says that, in raids carried out in the work places of two accused and in houses in Moulay Rachid district, the police has found several cassettes, compact discs and Salafia Jihadia books which belong to the Tunisian national. The latter used to distribute them to the members of his group.
According to the same source, the Tunisian security services have asked their Moroccan counterparts to deport the Tunisian suspect to Tunisia, and it is quite possible that the Tunisian demand will be met given the existence of a memo of judiciary cooperation between Rabat and Tunis. However, the source rules out that the Tunisian demand will be met before the completion of the detailed investigations in Morocco, and the clarification of all facts regarding this case.
In this connection, the same judiciary source says that the police raids have been secretly prepared to ensure their success, and they came after the secret police had observed suspicious moves made by the nine arrested men. The latter have become closely connected and have started expanding their cell whose objectives remain unclear, so far. It is however assumed that the cell was busy making preparations for acts of sabotage against public services in Morocco.
Moreover, a source close to the family of one of the arrested men says that the police have arrived at his house in civilian clothes. They searched the house and took away with them Said Farez who was arrested while on his way to his vocational training school. The source adds that the police have arrested also Abdelhak Ettouri, Lahsene Mahater and Said Gharrar in the evening of the same day. The same source points out that the secret police men have used a kidnapping style in arresting the men in question, and this has led the relatives of the latter to take legal action and to ask the Ministry of Justice to launch an investigation into the kidnapping of the eight youths. This request was all the more relevant because the Ben Msik-Sidi Othman regional police directorate had denied any knowledge of the arrests of the youths.
The same source adds that, since they learned about the fate of their children and of the accusations made against them, their families have been in a state of shock and disarray caused by the arrests revealed by the judiciary authorities after indicting the nine detainees.
According to locals in Moulay Rachid district, this case came to the open early last week after the family of Said Farez had called for an investigation into his kidnapping by elements in civilian clothes who took him to an unknown destination. This case is the latest in a series of court cases brought before the judges of the Rabat court of appeal and involving the dismantling of terrorist plans at the stage of preparation.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
02:56 ||
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In coordination with the Rabat court of appeal public prosecution office, the national judiciary police brigade this week circulated a search warrant to catch an Algerian national called Amer Laarej. The latter is a member of the Algerian Salafia group for call and combat and is linked to a terrorist cell that has been dismantled by the Moroccan security services. Among the members of this cell figure a Tunisian national called Mohamed Ben Hedi Msahel and three Moroccans living in Italy and in France, who, according to the Moroccan police, have made plans to carry out terrorist attacks in Italy, France and Morocco.
Various border police stations have received photographs and information concerning the Algerian national who is wanted by the Moroccan police. This Algerian is known by aliases such as Ali El Jazairi and Slim El Ouahrani; he moves about with a false identity and, according to information received by the Moroccan national judiciary police, he lives in Italy and has links with members of Al-Qa'idah organization, with the Algerian Salafia group for call and combat and with the coordinator of Bin-Ladin's organization in Europe, a man known as Abu Hamza El Jazairi. He entered Morocco last February and infiltrated into Algeria from Morocco twice.
According to investigations carried out in Rabat, the Algerian Amer Laarej, whose photograph was found in the car of the Tunisian man currently under arrest, in the framework of this case, had a meeting with three Moroccans nationals in a cafe in Sale and he revealed to them the existence of a coordinated action between the Algerian group for call and combat and
illegal emigration networks to facilitate the infiltration of members of terrorist cells from Morocco into Algeria.
In this context, a suspect under arrest in Rabat admitted that Amer Laarej had infiltrated into Algeria for the first time with the help of a network specialized in illegal emigration and, for a fee, the latter took him to Maghnia, then to Oran then to a camp controlled by the Salafia group for call and combat.
Likewise, investigations conducted in Morocco with nine suspects revealed that the latter had made plans to attack the American Embassy in Rabat with explosives acquired by Amer Laarej alias Ali El Jazairi. The plan was for the explosives to be placed in a tunnel dug under the American Embassy, a feat that would have been strongly echoed and would have had powerful repercussions worldwide.
With regard to the acts of terrorism planned for by the Tunisian, the Algerian and the Moroccan national Anwar Mijrar in Europe, the Tunisian said, during police investigations in Rabat, that they included the blowing up of the headquarters of the French secret service, a restaurant and a cafe frequented by French Intelligence officers, the underground train line no. 14, the Francois Mitterrand library and La Defence trade centre in Paris. As for Italy, the terrorist cell led by the Tunisian national in question had planned to blow up the Bologna cathedral because, it is alleged, it contains caricatures
that are disparaging about the Messenger of God, may the prayers and peace of God be upon him. The same terrorist cell also planned to carry out acts of terrorism in Denmark. The Tunisian man had charged the Algerian Amer Taarej with the task of making the explosives.
Eight Moroccan nationals are on trial in the framework of this terrorism-related case, namely Abdelghani A, Abdelfattah H, Abdelhak T, Lahsene M, Adel G, A.K, Mohamed H and Said F. It is worth noting that Amer Laarej, together with the Tunisian national, infiltrated into Algeria last February and there they met a commander of the Algerian Armed Group, who handed them a letter meant to be delivered by the Tunisian, Msahel, to the commander of Al-Qa'idah organization in Europe, a man known by his alias: Abu Hamza El Jazairi. The letter makes it clear that Bin-Ladin approves of the terrorist operations planned to be carried out in Italy, in the other European countries and in Morocco.
The Algerian national now wanted by the Moroccan police read the above-mentioned letter and burned it in Algeria, but it was re-written by the Tunisian national during his interrogation by the Moroccan police.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
02:55 ||
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#1
I recall the discussions after the Madrid bombimbs and how the weak on WoT Socialists won when before the bombings Aznar was a shoo-in. Some of us predicted there would be pre-election terror attacks for years to come.
#2
Well, as I noted here, the Bad Guys were remarkably up front about what they were planning to do for those who were taking them seriously:
Therefore we say that to force the Spanish government to withdraw from Iraq the resistance has to measured by painful strikes against their forces and accompanying this a informative campaign clarifying the truth of the situation inside Iraq, and we must absolutely gain from the approaching date of general elections in Spain in the third month of the coming year. We believe that the Spanish government will not endure two or three attacks as a maximum limit because it will be forced to withdraw afterwards due to the popular pressure on it, for if its forces remain after these strikes it is almost certain the Socialist forces will win the elections, as one of the main goals of the Socialist party will be the withdrawal of the Spanish troops . . . the dominoes will fall quickly, although the basic problem will remain of toppling the first piece.
-Iraq al-Jihad, circa August 2003
There's an assumption in certain quarters that just because these people are crazy that they're also stupid. While a lot of them are, there's also some very cunny malevolence at work among al-Qaeda's deep thinkers.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006 3:16
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Completely agree Dan. A lot of them are smart and from their perspective fully justified in doing what they are doing.
#4
Oh my, I meant "cunning," not "cunny," which I believe may in fact be vulgar.
Okay, I'm going to bed now ...
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006 3:23
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The bombings in Madrid were known by the Socialists beforehand. I wish Spain has the balls to investigate that. The whole thing was a setup to get rid of Aznar.
Although the Pakistani government vowed to reform the country's 13,000 madrassas or Islamic seminaries, little has actually changed. After the London bombings in July, when it was confirmed that two of the suicide bombers had travelled to Pakistan before the attacks and one of them was also shown to have visited a Pakistani madrassa, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf said that all foreign students in the madrassas, some 1,400 of them, had to leave the country by the end of 2005. Months after the pronouncement, and after fierce opposition from Pakistan's religious parties, the reality on the ground is different.
"Visas are no longer issued to foreign students," Fayaz Ali Khan, the additional inspector general of police in the southern port city of Karachi told Adnkronos International (AKI). But Khan, head of the Special Branch, in-charge of intelligence and issuing the visas, admitted that "there are foreign students already present in the madrassas and they have been allowed to complete their studies".
However these steps back from the promises made to the West do actually correspond to an internal logic. Musharraf cannot deal with a full confrontation with the religious parties in the country that control the government in two out of four provinces and have a significant influence in the national parliament.
Currently, the federal government is in the middle of a troubling military stand-off, both in the south-western province of Baluchistan with clashes between Pakistani troops and tribal rebels as well as major offensives in the tribal region of Waziristan which lies on the Afghan-Pakistan border against pro-Taliban militants. The unrest can prove lethal for Musharraf, who the West see as the moderate force within Pakistan.
One of the more important madrassas in Karachi and among the largest in Pakistan, the Jamiatul Uloom Islamia of Binori Town, the school in which a large part of the Taliban studied, denies the pronouncements made by Islamabad.
"It is not true that foreign students are not allowed," said Abdul Razzak Sekandar, the elderly rector in Binori Town, in an interview with AKI. "Those who are already here remain and new students continue to arrive," he said.
Sekandar, who remembers his participation in 2004 at an Islamic religious seminar in Rome, also attended by Vatican and Italian government representatives, cites the UN charter which states that people should be allowed to study and practice their religion.
What's more, Sekandar argues, "foreign engineering and medicine students are allowed to come here to study, so why should be prevent those wishing to study religion."
To give an idea of the importance of Binori Town, the temple of the Deobandist school of Sunni orthodoxy - the most radical on the subcontinent - a few figures suffice.
Some 2,2000 students ranging in age from 5-20 years study and live on the premises. Binori Town alone controls another 16 major Koranic schools in Karachi and hundreds across Pakistan: It is an economically independent and hard to control entity, which has made its influence felt in the organisation of recent mass demonstrations against the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, published by a Danish newspaper, and deemed offensive to many Muslims.
"There were acts of violence, that is true" Sekandar admits, "but not by our students. On the contrary, the government appreciated our moderation."
However without calling into question the severe cordiality and good faith of Sekandar, not so long ago it was here that Osama Bin Laden reportedly met Mullah Omar, a regular guest was Omar Sheikh, the organiser of the kidnapping and killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl. Binori Town in recent years has had two of its mufti murdered, possibly victims of the unstoppable flow of reciprocal violence with the Shiite community, but also perhaps due to their own intransigence. The last rector, Nizamuddin Shamzai, killed two years ago on the steps of the madrassa, had issued a fatwa against Pakistani troops engaged alongside US forces hunting down Taliban and al-Qaeda figures in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. There are rumours that the powerful intelligence services (ISI) sent one of their hitmen to eliminate him.
Sekandar rejects any accusations of terrorism. "We believe in all the prophets and if a Muslim rejects one then he is outside Islam. The problem with the Jews and the Christians is that they believe in only one prophet. So who is the extremist?" He puts it down to "misconception" of madrassas by the West.
A similar concept was expressed recently by the religious affairs minister Ejaz ul-Haq, tasked with overseeing the reform of the madrassas. "No madrassa in the past has been involved in terrorism" he stated.
Ul-Haq, son of the late dictator, Zia ul-Haq, who from the 1970s began the forced Islamisation of 'Pakistan and gave a decisive push to the uncontrolled proliferation of the Koranic schools, also said that "the registration process is proceeding".
In reality, according to independent estimates, only 3,000 out of 13,000 madrassas have to date responded to the census imposed by the government.
This system grew beyond all reasonable control during the years of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan when, with the support of the various Pakistani regimes and funding from Saudi Arabia, hundreds of thousands of young mujahadeen were indoctrinated and sent off to fight the Russians.
Then after the 11 September, 2001 attacks in the US, the madrassas found themselves transformed overnight into dangerous jihadi assembly lines, in the eyes of the West, at least.
"Not all madrassas are extremist" said Pakistan's 'general-dictator', as Sekandar refers to Pervez Musharraf. The rector says he met the president several weeks earlier to discuss reforms and urged him to press the United Nations on the wave of the cartoon protests around the world, to adopt a resolution condemning blasphemy against all religions.
Musharraf is depicted as an enemy for his desire [so far not realised] to put the madrassas in order, keeping tabs on who studies there, obliging them to teach modern subjects such as English and science and making them provide information on where they receive funding. But he is also perceived as an interlocutor in the joint committee where representatives of government and of the five main theological schools that own madrassas meet to discuss the reforms.
'Planet madrassa' has become over the years an anomalous slice of Pakistan's non-existent welfare state, offering board, lodging and instruction, even if education is limited to studying the Koran, to 1.7 million Pakistani children, mainly from poor families.
It is free, as it is funded by Islamic charity, making up for the state' incapacity of provide education and support for Pakistanis of school age.
Children from five years of age learn the Koran by heart, repeating litanies of Arab verse, without understanding what it all means, only to have it explained through the filter of mullahs who are not always enlightened.
The equation madrassa = terrorism is undoubtedly a gross generalisation, but the problem remains serious, with the risks that generations of young people in Pakistan continue to grow up in a climate of diffidence and misunderstanding of the West- if not of outright hate towards all things Western .
The International Crisis group, a respected think tank which is generally attentive to and critical of power in Pakistan, wrote in a recent report: "Militancy is only one part of the madrassa problem. The jihadi phenomenon is independent of them and most jihadis do not come from these schools. The pro-jihad madrassas limit themselves to supporting the Jihadi movement, mainly in terms of recruitment. Most schools do not provide any military training, but sew the seeds of extremists in the minds of students."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
02:37 ||
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Seriously, did anyone really believe that Mushy was going to tackle this problem?
As reported in an Urdu daily newspaper, Maulvi Mohammad Afzal, 40, has succeeded in fathering 48 children off his four wives. The maulvi is a primary school teacher in Lahore and has been blessed with 24 pairs of twins, each wife having always given birth to two babies at a time.
The maulvi has now moved the Lahore High Court, through his learned council M D Tahir, advocate, to be allowed to take a further five wives so that he can father more pairs of twins with a view to entering the Guinness Book of Records. The maulvi has further petitioned the Government of Pakistan for a special and handsome stipend to support his burgeoning family.
The petition is now before the honourable judges of the Lahore High Court and they are considering the plea of the portly maulvi who in the picture accompanying the news report appears to be the very essence of piety with his flowing facial hair, skull cap and pudgy, frowning countenance.
Posted by: john ||
04/07/2006 20:51
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Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 5:03
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#7
MODERATORS:
Zenster's post has been copied and sent to Homeland Security's tip desk, as genocide advocacy. I see a lot of that here. "Glazed over" means: attacked by N-weapons. Fred Pruitt must wear a Nazi uniform in the privacy of his rooming house. What a fucking piece of shit. Fuck all of you degenerate freaks. No wonder Germans are attacking your website. You pigs deserve it, and each other. FUCK YOU ALL.
Britain's defense secretary says international terror has the potential to become civilization's most dangerous enemy because al-Qaida fighters have access to destructive modern technology.
Because of that, Secretary John Reid suggested Wednesday night, international law, including the Geneva Conventions that set the laws of war, should be strengthened and expanded, not abandoned.
As important as ideological and cultural aspects are to the conflict, Reid said, "the nature of the enemy and its tactics and philosophy" lead to "the utter lack of constraint. Legal, moral, conventional self-discipline."
Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, Reid said terrorists of the 20th century, such as the Nazis, similarly ignored society's norms.
"But what is new is the combination of wholesale license in the intention side and the use of indiscriminate violence allied to modern technological capacity and capability, at least potentially," he said.
Reid called al-Qaida and other terrorist groups "absolutely a threat which is potentially, I think, greater than any we have ever faced."
"While the evil intent was there in previous generations, constrained by relative inefficiency in technology," Reid said, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups have "potential access to modern destructive capacity (of) unimaginable scale in the form of chemical, biological and radiological weapons."
Reid said a major tactic of the al-Qaida network is to use the West's system as a weapon of war by counting on the press' freedom to wear down the civilian support for the fight.
"There would be no freedom of speech in a society ruled by al-Qaida," Reid said. "In this life-and-death struggle, they want both their hands free and ours tied behind our back."
On Iraq, Reid said other countries in the region _ Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey _ need to become involved in the country's recovery.
"The ultimate solution in that area would be to ensure that these countries of the region itself play an important role," Reid said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
02:34 ||
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"Secretary John Reid suggested Wednesday night, international law, including the Geneva Conventions that set the laws of war, should be strengthened and expanded, not abandoned."
Tell us John, if the terrorists do not follow any rules now, how will puttering about in the verbiage change anything? Other than tying our hands with new and different knots?
This is simply blind, ultra-dense, non-thought. Wanking for PC.
#2
Well, "strengthened and expanded" could involve spelling out what happens when an enemy purposely ignores the conventions. I would assume that they would be strengthened in the name of our cause, not theirs.
Of course, the changes must be negotiated amongst sane and rational countries... NATO + Japan + Australia + whoever... I guess there isn't much chance of that, though.
An uneasy calm prevailed Friday in a volatile tribal region in northwestern Pakistan where fighting earlier this week between security forces and suspected pro-Taleban militants left 40 militants dead, residents said. Friday marked the first time in the past 24 hours that the sound of gunshots hadnt reverberated around North Waziristan, of which Miran Shah is the main town, said tribal elder Subhan Allah. Elders were to meet later Friday to discuss how Pakistani military operations could be avoided in future, he said. Local authorities displayed only eight of the slain rebels bodies at a government compound Thursday, and relatives took them to neighboring South Waziristan for burial, said Allah.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
02:31 ||
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isnt' that headline the essence of every BBC, NPR and AP piece? Underneath the happy surface lurks a dark and sinister plot.
Sipah-e-Sahaba has thousands of members? Dear God ...
Thousands of activists from an outlawed Sunni Muslim militant group rallied in Pakistan's capital, calling for the establishment of an Islamic theocracy in the country and across the world.
Activists of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) openly distributed pamphlets preaching jihad, or holy war, and hatred against minority Shi'ites in Islamabad as their leaders delivered fiery speeches to a crowd of around 5,000 late on Thursday.
They also sold video compact discs of beheadings of American soldiers in Iraq, militant activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan at the rally, which they said was convened to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad this month.
One of the organisers thanked the Islamabad administration for allowing the rally, which was held under floodlights in a bus depot, with hundreds of riot police watching on.
The group is known to have close links with Jaish-e-Mohammad, a key militant group fighting in Indian-ruled Kashmir and an organisation that has forged links with al Qaeda.
The rally was also addressed by Zaheer-ul-Islam Abbasi, a former general who was sacked and arrested in 1995 for trying to topple the government of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the military's top brass with an aim to enforce a Taliban-like rule in the country.
"The concept of nation state is an obstacle in the way of establishment of Khilafat (puritanical Islamic rule)," he said.
"We will start establishment of Khilafat in Pakistan and then will do so across the world," he vowed.
Last July, President Pervez Musharraf ordered a major crackdown against clerics and organisations inciting sectarian violence, having already banned SSP, or "Army of the Companions of the Prophet Mohammad" in 2002.
Some of the crowd briefly chanted anti-Shi'ite slogans, until they were told to refrain by their leaders.
They also swore allegiance to their late leader, Maulana Azam Tariq, a fiery pro-Taliban cleric who was assassinated in Islamabad in 2003, and founder of their militant organisation, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, who was killed in 1980s.
On Thursday, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the southern city of Karachi after his car was hit by a remote-controlled bomb.
Authorities have launched several crackdowns on militant outfits since Pakistan joined a U.S.-led war on terrorism in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, but critics say that the steps taken have been half-hearted and many groups have resurfaced under new names.
Like other groups, SSP remerged under the new name of Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan or Islamic Nation of Pakistan.
Founded in the 1980s, it wants Pakistan to be officially declared a Sunni Muslim state.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
02:29 ||
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It's a good thing dogs can lick their own balls. That part about eating their own butt nuggets, however, is a bit much.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
04/07/2006 5:49
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The good news announces itself, Yusef Islam. The bad is what we need to keep track of, to know how the war is going against those who use terror in their efforts to expand the Ummah and establish the Caliphate. We welcome those Muslims who understand that their religion is as personal and private as whatever faith or non-faith others may choose, and that the rules of Islam must be subject to the secular laws of the nation. Those that insist that the laws of Islam (which I understand means submission, not peace) will rule over all, believers and non-believers alike, can go to Hell, or to a country more congenial to their way of thinking, whichever they choose. And those Muslims that try to proselytize me will be treated the same as anyone else who tries to pursuade me: I assess areas of ignorance and assign homework.
#6
'Those that insist that the laws of Islam (which I understand means submission, not peace)
It means both, IIUC, just as Shalom means peace, but is also fullness. completion Shalem. In Islam one attains peace by submission to Allah, just as in Judaism one attains peace, a state of completing oneself, by studying and following Torah.
If we misread that and think that the name of Islam is about political domination, then we have forfeited the meaning of Islam to precisely those like Sipah e sahaba who want to establish a caliphate, and we make it more difficult to reach out to those who dont.
#7
If we misread that and think that the name of Islam is about political domination,
I think the problem is that the clerics in the mosque misread it to mean submission and are preaching that worldwide in the mosques. It's a bit as if a good percentage of the local churches started preaching that the will of God was to kill Jews and Muslims and subject the government to the laws of the church and a good number of follwers began to implement their suggestions. That becomes a problem that needs to be identified and dealt with, and I think you'd have a problem with Christians doing that, even though its not the true meaning of Christianity. For some reason, you have deluded yourself that that is just not happening in mosques, since you don't want it to be so.
I agree with you that the majority of Muslims are just good, ordinary folks. That's not really the issue that faces us today in the form of suicide bombs, advances in nuclear technology and attempts to redefine our freedoms, repress free speech and allow for the subjugation of women here and world wide, now is it?
#8
As ive said before, only a minority of muslims beleive in the seperation of Islam and state. By the same token only a minority of muslims believe in reestablishing the Caliphate, or in forcing jews and christians around the world to dhimmitude. Rather most muslims living in muslim countries would like their countries to recognize islam as the official religion of the country, and recognize SOME aspects of Sharia, esp family and inheritance law, as state law. I dont like the latter, and i dont think the latter helps those countries to advance, but its NOT what the current war is about.
#9
Yeah, whatever. I wouldn't want to put a rain cloud over your happy world, LH. Everyone is good. No one is bad. Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.
#1
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Would you please ring up President Bush and offer him 20,000 freshly cut 10' Canadian fence posts and 25 semi truck loads of concertina wire? This would be a healthy start, and do a lot for his approval numbers as well!
#6
I find this heartening. I didn't expect a shift this soon. It's good. I think most Canadians would be happiest just slightly right of centre. If we can stop Harper from tilting too far right - sentiments can continue to improve.
With this upswing in numbers, we can hope that the America bashing will be dropped for the idiocy it is and an improvement in general relations. We're still cranky about some stuff, mind you. But here's hoping for a return to respect and friendship.
We've just got to keep Harper propped toward moderate sometimes.
President George Bush admitted on Thursday the US military made mistakes in Iraq but defended his domestic eavesdropping programme, insisting to a hostile questioner he had no reason to apologise for it.
Beset by low approval ratings dragged down by pessimism over Iraq, Bush also signalled impatience with Iraqi leaders and urged them to break their deadlock and form a national unity government seen as crucial to averting sectarian civil war.
Trying to rally sagging US support for the war, Bush went to a Republican Southern stronghold for the latest in a series of speeches meant to convince an increasingly sceptical public that he has a winning strategy in Iraq.
In some of his frankest language so far, Bush responded to a question on what he could have done differently in Iraq by acknowledging the United States could have moved faster in training Iraqi troops and police.
He said Iraqi security forces were originally trained to handle external threats but instead the threat came from inside the country, from al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"In retrospect, we could've done better," Bush said. But he insisted the overall US strategy in Iraq had been correct.
Bush said he was "just as disappointed as everybody else was" about erroneous pre-war US intelligence on Iraq.
US officials had said they had evidence that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction but none were found.
Bush also said the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison "hurt us in the international arena particularly in the Muslim world."
Bush played to a mostly sympathetic college audience of more than 900 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
But as he stood atop a stage in a town-hall format, one questioner launched into a scathing attack of the kind Bush has rarely faced at public events where attendance is often tightly controlled.
"You never stop talking about freedom, which I appreciate, but while I'm listening to you talk about freedom I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges," Harry Taylor told Bush to a chorus of boos.
He was referring to Bush's warrant-less domestic eavesdropping program, which civil liberties advocates have condemned as a violation of Americans' rights.
Taylor politely but firmly skewered Bush, telling the president he hoped he had "the grace to be ashamed of yourself."
Bush responded that he was doing what was necessary to protect Americans from another Sept. 11 attack by allowing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on domestic phone calls and emails that officials suspect are linked to al Qaeda contacts overseas.
"Would I apologise for it? The answer is absolutely not," he said.
Bush's comments were part of a new approach of mixing a more candid assessment of problems in Iraq while holding to an upbeat view of U.S. chances of success.
More than three months after parliamentary elections, Iraqi leaders have little to show for their efforts to forge the first full-term government since a US-led invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam.
Bush, speaking after a weekend visit to Baghdad by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart, Jack Straw, said Rice's message to Iraqi leaders was to "get moving" in resolving their differences.
"We're very much involved," Bush said. "The (Iraqi) people want there to be a unity government. It requires leadership, for people to stand up and take the lead. So we're working with them to get this unity government up and running."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
01:22 ||
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Harry Taylor = simpering @$$hat. Hero to the beef-witted.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/07/2006 1:29
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Hey look, they used the macro again, but, you know what I missed the first time through? The guy got booed. Times have changed, eh?
This is damage control for the fact that young people are booing guys like this. They try to make it sound like the audience was a tightly controlled Republican stronghold and only this brave soul got through and then talk about low poll ratings, etc. etc. to undermine the damage that caused.
I'm guessing this guy was a ringer whose beloved friends in the MSM knew was going to stand up and give his little preachy sermon. But they didn't expect him to get booed, live on TV. Bummer dudes. The times they are a changing!
#3
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'
When is listening to someone talking to another person in another country 'domestic'? Nothing like being presented with the BS identifier in the first line of an article.
And mistakes - go read An Army at Dawn. Based upon the standards demanded today, Roosevelt should have been impeached. Well, you know, since we're all ajudged today by actions of earlier generations. Like holding white Americans responsible for slavery in order to extort power and resource. Not that my post-Civil War legal immigrant ancestors had anything to do with it. But I am presumed guilty just the same. So how about a little post facto judgement upon Chimp-Stalinist-Roosevelt's performance too.
#5
It was a great thing, Yusef Islam. But Allah would be more pleased if the ISI would stop training and funding Talib and Kashmiri terrorists. Pakistan will never be allowed to have Afghanistan as its "Defence in Depth", nor will India ever allow Pakistan to take over Kashmir and [whatever the J stands for -- Jummah?], so they might as well stop wasting everyone's time, money and men.
#9
Related story: Bush admits mistakes on the MSM.
Today supporters of America, admitted that the Main Stream Media should have been beaten into submission fined for statements and positions which gave and continue to give moral support to America's enemies. It's not too late, however to kick the shit expose the MSM anti-Bush bias.
Iraq's embattled prime minister vowed Thursday to pursue his bid for a second term despite pressure from home and abroad to step down, signaling no early end to the standoff blocking a crucial national unity government.
Shiite politicians suggested they may turn to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the sole figure with the authority to make a decision that risks shattering Shiite unity.
In a brutal reminder of the stakes if Iraqi leaders cannot reverse the slide toward chaos, a car bomb exploded Thursday in the country's most sacred Shiite city, Najaf, killing 10 people and wounding more than 30.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari told reporters he would relinquish his mandate only if parliament refuses to approve him or if the seven groups within the Shiite alliance withdraw their nomination, which he won by a single vote in a caucus in February.
The Shiite bloc controls 130 of the 275 parliament seats, enough for first crack at the prime minister's job but not enough to govern without Sunni and Kurdish partners. But the Sunnis and Kurds demand that al-Jaafari be replaced, blaming him for the sharp rise in sectarian tensions that threatens to plunge the country into civil war.
Al-Jaafari has refused to stand down despite pressure from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who personally urged the Iraqis to break the logjam during a two-day visit this week.
Shiite officials fear a showdown over al-Jaafari could tear apart the Shiite alliance and risk a violent reaction from radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who runs the feared Mahdi Army militia and is a key supporter of the prime minister.
To break the deadlock, Sunni and Kurdish politicians suggested that parliament convene Wednesday to decide al-Jaafari's fate. But Shiite officials decided Thursday to delay the session until all Iraqi parties agree on nominees for other posts, including the national president and speaker of parliament, Shiite politician Khalid al-Attiyah said.
Al-Attiyah said the impasse had become very complicated and al-Jaafari's supporters within the alliance want to ask the advice of al-Sistani, the country's most respected Shiite cleric.
That would give Shiite politicians political cover and could avoid a showdown with al-Sadr.
It is uncertain, however, whether al-Sistani wants to become involved in an internal Shiite political struggle. Unlike his counterparts in Iran, he has long maintained that clerics should remain above politics and instead offer moral guidance.
Al-Sistani's aides have said the Iranian-born cleric has become frustrated with the performance of Shiite religious parties, which dominate the outgoing government, and with the rising tensions between Shiites and Sunnis.
But the weakness of Iraqi political institutions, which were revived only after the 2003 collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, has prompted al-Sistani to take stands on political issues, especially during the early months of the U.S. occupation.
Al-Sistani's repeated demands for elections forced several changes in the U.S. blueprint for restoring Iraqi sovereignty and prompted the Americans to speed up their timetable for the first nationwide ballot in January 2005.
Turning to al-Sistani, however, would be a tacit acknowledgment by Shiite political leaders that they lack both the stature and the political legitimacy to make difficult and potentially divisive decisions.
The Americans have long acknowledged his pre-eminent leadership role within the Shiite community, which accounts for about 60 percent of Iraq's 27 million people. Last month President Bush sent a letter to al-Sistani thanking him for appealing for calm.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has met with most top Iraqi politicians about forming a new government, but the ayatollah has steadfastly refused to meet with any American official.
During her visit to Baghdad, Rice praised al-Sistani for helping to curb Shiite reprisals against Sunni extremists responsible for car bombs and suicide attacks that have killed hundreds of Shiite civilians.
The latest attack occurred Thursday afternoon in Najaf, where al-Sistani lives in virtual seclusion 100 miles south of Baghdad. Police and witnesses said the blast took place about 330 yards from the Imam Ali mosque, the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law and one of the most sacred shrines for Shiites.
Police sealed off much of central Najaf and ordered people to leave for fear other bombs may be hidden there. Such attacks are rare in Najaf, which is tightly controlled by police and Shiite security guards, and are seen by Shiites as a grave provocation because of the city's stature.
In a statement, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack condemned the bombing but asked all Iraqis to exercise restraint in the wake of this tragedy, and to pursue justice in accordance with the laws and constitution of Iraq.
The bombing of the golden dome of a Shiite shrine in Samarra on Feb. 22 triggered a deadly wave of reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics.
At least 11 other people were killed Thursday across Iraq, including four Iraqi police and soldiers. The civilian deaths included five Shiite truck drivers ambushed south of the capital and two people shot dead in Baghdad, police said.
In addition, the bodies of five men four in Baghdad and one in Kirkuk were found Thursday, apparent victims of sectarian killings, police said. It was uncertain when they died.
Two Sunni Arab politicians Khalaf al-Ilyan, head of the National Dialogue Council, and Saleh al-Mutlaq said Thursday that close relatives had disappeared.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is behind this to put pressures on us to quit the political process as they previously threatened us not to take part in it, al-Ilyan told The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the arrest of an insurgent leader believed responsible for many of the attacks against Shiites and for the February 2005 kidnapping of Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena.
Mohammed Hila Hammad Obeidi, also known as Abu Ayman, was arrested last month south of Baghdad, but the announcement was delayed until DNA tests confirmed his identity, the U.S. statement said.
Obeidi, a former member of Saddam's intelligence service, allegedly commanded the Secret Islamic Army in Babil province south of Baghdad and is believed to have ties to the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Sgrena was freed after a month's captivity. The Italian agent who secured her release was killed by U.S. gunfire as they headed to Baghdad airport on March 4, 2005.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
01:20 ||
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That Sistani hasn't already acted against Jaafari and Jabr is telling. They're Qom moles. It's no secret Jaafari's less than worthless - Sistani should've acted long ago. It's now blindingly clear that Jabr's a Mullah tool, as well.
Sistani knows this. Knew this. Knows of more such agents. And yet his megaholiness sits on his hands. Gosh, wonder why. Shia twits. Sunni twits. Baathist twits. Foreign Caliphatist twits. Fucking Arabs. Fucking Islam. Disgusting worthless asshole scum the lot of em. Can't change their fucking diapers without help and don't have the simple sense to do it in the first place.
It must really suck like a bilge pump to have to make nice with creatures whose IQ is less than your shoe size, Condi. What a terrible job.
#3
"Al-Sistani's aides have said the Iranian-born cleric has become frustrated with the performance of Shiite religious parties, which dominate the outgoing government, and with the rising tensions between Shiites and Sunnis."
Maybe the Grand Ayatollah has figured out that squeezing all the Shiite parties together was a mistake? I think his fear was that if the Shiite parties went their own way, the only way to stop Sadr would be a coalition of anti-Sadr shia with the sunnis, seculars and Kurds. And he didnt want to rely on Sunnis and seculars. Esp Sunnis. So the UIA would give the Shia a dominant role, and force Sadr to support Sistanis people. Instead the UIA is being used by Sadr to subordinate Sistanis people to Jaafari, who has become Sadrs man. Sadr has checked Sistani, using Sistanis own game. The only way out is to give up on Shia unity, break the UIA, and accept the Sunni-secular-Kurd alliance.
#6
Oh, the sweet irony. He refused to take care of Tater in the beginning, now his tribe is against him and he needs Iraqis - people who want to modernize - for help.
Democracy makes strange bedfellows. Sistani's an old dog having to learn new tricks.
#7
Maybe Jaafari will cave, but Sadr'll refuse the offer. The Shiite martyr thingie. If we were dealing with Sicilians, this would be helluva lot easier.
#8
Oh, youre thinking of Sistani as the undertaker. And us as the Don. Hmmm. Diff is, Don Corleone can REALLY offer protection. While Al Khoie's blood lies unavenged. THAT was the first big disaster of the occupation.
#9
If youre the Don, and you want respect, you GOTTA protect anyone who gives you homage. Whatever it takes. We aint the Don of Iraq. No one is, right now.
#10
If we were the Don, we would have responded to our enemies' targeting of families by targeting families ourselves.
You can't say we're incompetent tribal dictators on one hand and then expect us to follow liberal-democracy (in the civilizational rather than political sense) rules of conduct in the other.
The Don didn't come from constitutional democracy, he came from a "Blood washes Blood" society.
Posted by: Phil ||
04/07/2006 10:45
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#11
And remember where the Mafia first took hold in the US: Post-reconstruction, Klan-run New Orleans.
Posted by: Phil ||
04/07/2006 10:52
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Actually, I think of Sistani as the Don. Who are we? I guess the Capos.
Italian authorities have thwarted terror plots against a church in Bologna and Milan's subway, the interior minister said yesterday, and a newspaper reported that the attacks were timed to happen before next week's elections.
"There was a terrorist plot that was to be carried out in our country and the monitoring and prevention action of our forces allowed us to thwart it," said Giuseppe Pisanu.
The plot involved seven people: three who had been expelled from Italy, two under arrest, one under surveillance and one at large, said Pisanu, speaking in Sardinia before the general elections on April 9 and 10.
Italians will be voting in national elections for the first time since the September 11 attacks in the United States. Bombings in Spain and Britain raised fears that Italy could also be targeted by Islamic terrorism because the country is part of the US-led coalition in Iraq.
The San Petronio basilica in Bologna, which was among the planned targets of the alleged plot, contains a fifteenth-century fresco Muslim groups have interpreted as insulting to Islam. Police arrested four Moroccans and an Italian at the basilica in 2002 and accused them of planning an attack there. The charges were later dropped.
The daily Corriere della Sera reported that the alleged plotters aimed to carry out the attacks before the elections.
The investigation stemmed from the arrest last month in Morocco of a Tunisian who lives in Milan, Corriere said. The man told investigators about the plan and Pisanu ordered the expulsions last week.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
01:13 ||
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Suddenly, I got nothin' to say.
Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 5:06
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Al-Qaeda sympathizers are living in New Zealand and could pose a security risk but the likelihood of an attack by Islamic extremists is low, the country's spy service said.
The Security Intelligence Service (SIS) said in its annual report that threats could come from within New Zealand as al-Qaeda often sought to inspire other radicals to carry out attacks.
"The inspirational approach means that the threat could come from individuals who are already living here," Director of Security Richard Woods said in the SIS annual report presented to New Zealand's parliament on Thursday.
"There are individuals in New Zealand who are sympathetic to al-Qaeda, have strongly anti-western views and have links to extremists overseas," Woods said.
People in New Zealand had joined "jihad" in places such as Bosnia and there were links between criminals and Islamic extremists in the country.
The report said the SIS was not aware of any specific terrorist threat, but there was a need for increased vigilance if New Zealand was to continue to be neither the victim nor source of terrorism.
Despite this, the SIS assessed the chances of a terrorist attack in New Zealand as low.
The report said most local Muslims and immigrants were law abiding and of no security concern. Moderate Muslims had sometimes moved to check the activities of more radical Muslims.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
01:12 ||
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#1
headline doesn't fit this article. It should read:
SIS says threats exist from individuals already living amongst us.
Or:
Director of Security Richard Woods says, "individuals in New Zealand sympathetic to al-Qaeda, with links to extremists overseas.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales suggested on Thursday for the first time that the president might have the legal authority to order wiretapping without a warrant on communications between Americans that occur exclusively within the United States.
"I'm not going to rule it out," Mr. Gonzales said when asked about that possibility at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
The attorney general made his comments, which critics said reflected a broadened view of the president's authority, as President Bush offered another strong defense of his decision to authorize the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls and e-mail messages to or from the United States.
Mr. Bush, in an appearance in North Carolina, told a questioner who attacked the program that he would "absolutely not" apologize for authorizing it.
"You can come to whatever conclusion you want" about the merits of the program," Mr. Bush said. "The conclusion is I'm not going to apologize for what I did on the terrorist surveillance program."
At the House hearing, Mr. Gonzales faced tough questioning from Democrats and Republicans but declined to discuss many operational details.
Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the Wisconsin Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee and one of the administration's staunchest allies, accused the administration of "stonewalling."
"Mr. Attorney General, how can we discharge our oversight responsibilities if every time we ask a pointed question, we're told that the answer is classified?" Mr. Sensenbrenner asked. "Congress has an inherent constitutional responsibility to do oversight. We are attempting to discharge those responsibilities."
The House and Senate have conducted limited inquiries into the surveillance program, which many Democrats contend is illegal.
Republicans on the Senate intelligence panel have agreed on measures to impose new oversight but allow wiretapping without warrants for up to 45 days.
Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has proposed that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court have a role in ruling on the legitimacy of the program. In the past, Mr. Gonzales and the administration have avoided discussing what they consider hypothetical possibilities in the face of Democrats' accusations that Mr. Bush has asserted unbridled authority to fight terrorism.
At the hearing, Mr. Gonzales inched closer toward acknowledging that intercepting purely domestic calls could be considered legally permissible in his view if the communications involved Al Qaeda.
"You would look at precedent," he said. "What have previous commander in chiefs done?"
Answering his question, he cited Woodrow Wilson's authorizing the interception of all cables to and from Europe in World War I "based upon the Constitution and his inherent role as commander in chief."
Mr. Gonzales said he would use that legal framework to decide whether intercepting purely domestic communications without a warrant was legally permissible. He would not say whether such wiretapping has been conducted.
The attorney general and other administration officials have said the National Security Agency eavesdropping was authorized just to monitor communications with one end outside the United States.
Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who raised the question with Mr. Gonzales, said the refusal to rule out purely domestic interceptions without a warrant was "very disturbing."
The position, Mr. Schiff said, "represents a wholly unprecedented assertion of executive power."
"No one in Congress would deny the need to tap certain calls under court order," he added. "But if the administration believes it can tap purely domestic phone calls between Americans without court approval, there is no limit to executive power. This is contrary to settled law and the most basic constitutional principles of the separation of powers."
The Justice Department later backed away somewhat from Mr. Gonzales's statement and said his comments should not be interpreted as a change in policy.
A department spokeswoman, Tasia Scolinos, said, "The attorney general's comments today should not be interpreted to suggest the existence or nonexistence of a domestic program or whether any such program would be lawful under the existing legal analysis."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
01:11 ||
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Have you ever wondered how loyalty among jihadists gets started? Usually, we think of them as a product of a highly contagious ideology. But the stretch of their loyalty has a lot to do with the skillful use of group power.
The idea is simple. If you want to bring about fundamental change in people's beliefs and behavior, a change that would endure and provide an example to others, you needed to form a group around you, where your beliefs can be practiced and articulated and nurtured.
This helps to explain why jihadists are required to attend regular meetings, say weekly or monthly, and to adhere to a strict code of conduct. If they fail to live up to the group's standards, they are reminded of these standards and even punished.
But what are the most effective groups that can bring about carnage?
The answer might lie in the arrests by the Indonesian police in mid-2003 of the first Bali bombers. Fifteen jihadists were directly related to the attacks, another 35 were guilty of harboring fugitives or withholding information, and another 30 possessed explosives or firearms.
In my reading, there are characteristics that distinguish each arrest. Those 15 jihadists who were directly related to the attack show us the fact that the group was aware that for a deadly operation, they had to keep themselves to a smaller group of people.
So they were close knit, which was very important for a successful operation. Imagine if the group got too large, then they would not be able to share things in common and they would start to become strangers. The operation would not work because they could not maintain the loyalty of each member.
In small groups, everybody knows each other and each person has a clear job distribution. As a result, most of the attacks, such as the JW Marriott Hotel, the Australian Embassy and the last year's Bali bombings, were carried out by a small group of hard-core loyalists.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said that Noordin and his followers remained hard to catch because they were "highly mobile and because they had a small team", allowing them to easily elude arrest.
While the other 35 who were guilty of harboring fugitives or withholding information in the first Bali blast may not have necessarily agreed with the attack, they shared some degree of loyalty to the group.
An example of this category is the grandson of Achmad Dahlan, the founder of Muhammadiyah, Achmad Roichan, alias Saad, who was arrested in April 2003 for withholding information on the whereabouts of Bali bomber Mukhlas.
Roichan is slender and composed. He talks slowly, with a slight Javanese accent. He has a kind of wry, ironic charm that is utterly winning. In my interviews with him in a Jakarta prison last year, he said he openly disagreed with the motive behind the Bali blasts. But he had fought with Mukhlas in Afghanistan from 1985 to 1988, and that created loyalty to the group.
Next on the list would be Herlambang, alias Subai, a 33-year-old Javanese who was arrested in December 2002 for harboring Bali bombers Sawad, Imam Samudra and Abdul Ghoni after the attack.
He is now in Krobokan Prison in Bali serving a six-year term. He was not directly involved in the attack and may have disagreed with it. But loyalty to the group triggered him to provide sanctuary for the bombers.
Psychologists here in Brussels tell us much about this phenomenon: When people are asked to consider evidence and make decisions in a group, they come to very different conclusions than when they are asked the same questions alone. Once we are part of a group, we are all susceptible to peer pressure and social norms.
"Peer pressure is much more powerful than a concept of boss. Many, many times more powerful. People want to live up to what is expected of them," these psychologists explain.
Historically, loyalty between members of regional terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah seems to have been assumed within the group and has adjusted to internal needs, external shocks and demographic changes.
For that reason, many who are familiar with the group's workings were not surprised to learn that Abu Dujana has become the reported current leader of JI. According to Petrus Reinhard Golose of Indonesia's counterterrorism task force, Abu Dujana is "the guy who leads and has good relations with al-Qaeda and is trusted".
Abu Dujana, who is originally from a stronghold of Darul Islam in West Java, has proved his unquestionable loyalty to the group. He fought in Afghanistan together with Hambali. He shared his skills as a military trainer in the group's camp in Mindanao and allegedly worked closely with Abu Rusdan, a senior member of the group, before Rusdan's arrest.
As a secretary for Rusdan, Dujana was deeply involved with the group, getting reports from members and arranging meetings.
As for the international community, the real challenge is not merely to counter specific terrorist groups, but to always anticipate those individuals who might join a terror campaign because of an imagined connection with other people's struggles.
These "emotional" connections represent one obscure but real and lasting legacy of events such as the current ethnic-religious insurgency in southern Thailand, the unfinished Moro movement in the Philippines, the ongoing Palestinian struggle in the Middle East and obviously the war in Iraq that has drastically boosted terrorism, instead of lessening it.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
01:08 ||
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#1
Dude are you for real or has Joe Mendiola found allah and meds?
I should have a free version up in a day or so. I'll post a link when I do.
BTW, they (jamestowm.org) are wrong about a single ship not being able to block the shipping channel at One Fathom Bank. The channel is 0.6 kilometers (600 meters) wide. A Very Large Crude Carrier of 250,000 tons is 330 meters long. Sink it sideways in the channel and you have blocked it.
#2
Terrorists could hijack an LNG [Liquefied Natural Gas] tanker and blow it up in Singapore harbor.
And to continue my nitpicking about the article. Singapore doesn't have a harbour, in the sense the word is generally understood (excepting Changi Naval Base). It doesn't need one. The waters of the Singapore Strait are sheltered and being on the equator, it doesn't experience high winds.
#3
Iff airports can X-ray/image both passengers and passenger possessions, seaports can do the same both during both loading and unloading, plus for tractor-trailers and aboard ship(s) itself.
#4
Joe, its happening. Largely un-noticed, there is a big effort to secure the supply chain. Such that the source of everything is known and no tampering occurs along the way.
Yemen, which has convicted many suspected militants, will soon put on trial another 172 people for suspected links with Al-Qaeda and terrorism, an official weekly said Thursday.
Security agencies have referred to the public prosecution files about 172 people suspected of affiliation to Al-Qaeda and other terror groups, said September 26, mouthpiece of the defense ministry.
Some of them were arrested on suspicion of plotting armed attacks against domestic and foreign targets in Yemen, it said, quoting a security source.
The report said the prosecution was about to wrap up the interrogations and the suspects would go on trial "in the coming days," but it did not give a specific date.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
00:58 ||
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#1
wow i read that as 1:72 AQ members go on trial. Didnt know airfix did that model set..
#2
They aren't away yet, Yusef Islam. And even once convicted, Yemeni authorities are fond of releasing those who say they've seen the error of their ways, or because it's Ramadan, or because a tribal elder did some horsetrading. But at least this 172 are off the streets for a while, which is something.
But overall, I am much comforted at the large number of wannabe jihadis who've been arrested, convicted, expelled, shot, exploded, and just plain disappeared over the last few years since the world has been fighting the War on Terror in earnest. The numbers are in the multiple tens of thousands in Iraq alone, let alone Europe, North America and the Muslim Ummah. Even assuming that 1-2% of Muslims are actively involved in terror-related activities, the ones taken out of the game thus far, whether temporarily or permanently, are the most dangerous because they are the best trained and most aggressive. Those replacing them are no doubt equally ambitious, but they won't have had a decade or more to learn their jobs, there's a lot less money as funding sources continue to be exposed and shut down, and they won't have had the advantage of training by, eg Saddam Hussein's specialists and the equipment at Salaam Pak... although they can still make the pilgimage to Iran for a bit longer.
So most of the time I do feel better. On bad days I read things like the Dan Simmons tale posted yesterday and the day before, and I mourn the death and destruction should the Muslim world insist on total war... which they cannot in the end win, no more than the National Socialists or the International Communists before them.
#8
Seems like the ayrabs are going to experience the opposite problem the Chinese and Indians have - after all the killing of islamofruitcakes, the number of eligible men will be about 1/3 the number of eligible women, and the ones left were either too intelligent to fall for the jihad stupidity or too stupid to do the job. That doesn't sound too thrilling for the ayrab women, but it will probably help speed the impending collapse of "arab civilization".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/07/2006 15:29
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#9
Suddenly, I got nothin' to say.
Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 5:40
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Al Qaeda sympathisers with links to overseas extremists are living in New Zealand and increased vigilance is needed to keep the country free from terrorism, the Security Intelligence Service warns. The spy agency says there are also people in New Zealand who have participated in jihad - holy war - in countries such as Bosnia. And it has investigated links in New Zealand to technology used to support weapons of mass destruction programmes in other countries and has checked out people trying to raise funds for terrorist organisations. The information was revealed in the SIS's annual report, tabled in Parliament yesterday.
But one security analyst suggested it was alarmist and self-serving. Political studies senior lecturer Dr Paul Buchanan said the number of dangerous extremists could be "counted on one hand".
SIS head Richard Woods said New Zealand could not afford to be complacent, even though the agency was not aware of a specific terrorist threat against the country. He said last year's London bombings - carried out by British citizens - showed that the threat now lies within countries. "Whereas terrorist acts were previously directed by the al Qaeda core, that core has now been largely disrupted and its role has become more inspirational rather than managerial. Local groups now act independently, but still with devastating results." Mr Woods said increased vigilance was needed to make sure New Zealand was neither a victim nor the source of an act of terrorism.
The SIS refused to elaborate yesterday on what form the increase in vigilance would take. Mr Woods did say that support and information from the public were vital. "But no one can guarantee that that goal [preventing terrorism in New Zealand] will always be achieved."
The report warns that al Qaeda's new "inspirational approach" meant the threat could come from individuals already living in New Zealand. "Overseas experience has shown that terrorist threats in any country can develop quickly." The report notes that the vast majority of Muslims in New Zealand are "law-abiding members of the community who are of no security concern" and said the Islamic community had kept a check on the activities of radical Muslims. The report said the agency has 144 staff and a budget of $20 million. In the year to June 30, 19 domestic interception warrants - to obtain all forms of communication - were in force.
Dr Buchanan, from the University of Auckland, said the SIS report was an exercise in "bureaucratic self-justification". "Within it there are certainly some nuggets of truth about individuals who may be dangerous given their ideological disposition. But I think we could count the number of those people on one hand."
He said New Zealand had no history of conflict with any Islamic country or group and could not be compared to Britain, which had taken part in the invasion of Iraq. "I think it is outrageously alarmist," Dr Buchanan said. "If we continue to scapegoat native-born Muslim men, particularly Arab men, sooner or later some youth will become enraged and do something."
Green MP Keith Locke said there was no visible evidence in New Zealand to support the SIS's claims. "I think he [Richard Woods] is crying wolf and scaring the New Zealand population unnecessarily. It seems to be more of a job justification exercise."
What the SIS has monitored:
* Activities in New Zealand of a foreign national assessed to be a close associate of Islamic extremists in a foreign country.
* Apparent links between New Zealanders and international terrorist activities.
* Activities of individuals thought to be Islamic extremists.
* People trying to raise funds for terrorist organisations.
* Links to technology used to support weapons of mass destruction.
* Covert work by foreign intelligence organisations in NZ.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006
00:57 ||
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#1
Problem is not attacks within New Zealand. Problem is that it's Australia's complacent neighbor.
#3
"But one security analyst suggested it was alarmist and self-serving. Political studies senior lecturer Dr Paul Buchanan said the number of dangerous extremists could be "counted on one hand". Yeah, well that one hand can fly two planes into two skyscrapers. What a nitwit.
DHAKA: Bangladesh's central bank has fined the country's top Sharia-based commercial bank, Islami Bank, for transactions linked to Islamist militants. "A 100,000 taka ($1,425) fine was imposed on the IBBL under the anti-money laundering act after we had detected some transactions by them in violation of banking rules," an official with the Bangladesh Bank told Reuters on Thursday. "Although the amount is small, it is significant as the first penalty of the sort imposed by the central bank, which is investigating suspicious transactions in a number of banks," said the central bank official, who asked not to be identified.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
00:52 ||
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I am impressed! But there are lots of Westernized Bangladeshis, who must realize that allowing their country to host jihadi, Saudi- or Pakistani-linked Muslim organizations cannot be good for their country.
QUETTA: Militants fired several rockets on security check-posts in Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Sibbi and Pir Koh on Thursday, but caused no casualties or major damage. The militants targeted security forces but the rockets landed in open spaces. The security forces retaliated but the attackers fled.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
00:28 ||
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QUETTA: Around ten thousand expelled Maisuri, Raiheja and Kalpar Bugti tribesmen have so far returned to their native villages in Dera Bugti, District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi told reporters on Thursday. Lsi said the returning tribesmen were being rehabilitated and the government was providing them tractors, seeds sheep and goats. Life has returned to the area and the civil administration has already been resorted in the district, he said. Schools and shops have also reopened in the area, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
00:27 ||
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ISLAMABAD: People trying to destabilise China using the "Tibet card" and "religion card" oppose regional peace and stability, and as such are Pakistan's enemies, said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) secretary general, on Thursday.
Mushahid said the PML felt a healthy relationship with China was important for Pakistan's economic development and regional role. He rejected fears that Beijing was a "regional threat to Islamabad", saying China was a peace loving country with good relations with Pakistan. He praised China's economic progress, particularly in lessening poverty. "Pakistan should take lessons from China, which has brought 300 million people living below the poverty line into the economic mainstream," he said. The PML leader hoped both countries would continue their long friendship. "We believe our all-weather friendship has been reinforced in several areas despite the changing regional scenario," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
00:25 ||
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#2
Tibet card? Ya, right. Hollyweird has been trying that for years, without success. The US is going for capitalism and free market. Can't have a solid dictatorship with a free market. Just doesn't work.
#3
Does this mean that Pakistan will be expelling all Uighur students from its madrassas? No more support for the "free eastern Turkestan'" movement seeking to to strip Xinjiang from China? Or is that religion card OK? I'm confused.
#4
The "China Card" is dated. A woeful attempt by a backward country to offset the "India Card".
Drop the card, WackiPacki and find binny and the doc.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/07/2006 9:46
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#5
Iff CHINA = IRAN succeeds in its ambitions for hegemony =empire, Pakistan should know there no seats on the Chicom Politburo or Presidium reserved for Pakistanis. Prob this article has more to do wid imploding China in the name of capitalism and capitalism-based modernization than anything else.
KARACHI: Two guards and a driver of Akhtar Mengal, the president of the Balochistan National Party, are in the custody of intelligence agencies and have yet to be produced before any court of law in Karachi, claimed MNA Abdul Rauf Mengal of the BNP at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday. Rauf Mengal said he and other party leaders had gone to the Darakhsan police station to see their men and obtain information on where they were going to be produced for remand. "But the SHO told us that all the men — Mehboob Ali, Haider and Nasrullah - had been taken away by the personnel of intelligence agencies," he added. Mengal said the charges against the three men were still unknown, as when they went to the police station they were told that intelligence officials had taken the 154 CrPC Book (FIR book) with them.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
00:23 ||
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MULTAN: The District Bar Association (DBA) in Multan has decided to send a lawyers delegation to Denmark to file a case against people who were involved in the publishing of caricatures of Holy Prophet (PTUI PBUH). Pervez Aftab will lead the delegation. DBA President Syed Athar Hussain Shah Bukhari told a Shan-e-Risalat Conference at the Bar Room on Thursday that the bar would give a Rs 10 million reward to a person who kills people involved in the publication of caricatures.
He said the Danish law did not allow any one to hurt others religious sentiments. He said enlightenment and moderation were the symptoms of Bush-flu and that Pakistani rulers were suffering from it. He said he was detained for 11 hours when the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal announced that it would take out a Namoos-e-Risalat rally. The delegation included Pervez Aftab, Mian Habibur Rehman Ansari, Abdul Sattar Goraya, Moulvi Sultan Alam Ansari, Senator Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, Javed Hashmi, Malik Sajjad Ahmed Chavan and Pir Akhtar Bodla.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
00:18 ||
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#1
It won't be long before an eye-for-an-eye comes into play.
Unless I-slamics find self restraint, they will find themselves on the wrong end of a vendetta.
Indias premier investigating agency the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested five people including three former naval officials in the Navys War Room leak case, more than a month after the Defence Ministry handed over the probe to the investigating agency. At least 17 places were raided countrywide after the agency registered a case against nine people, including Ravi Shankaran, a kin of navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, in connection with the case under the Officials Secrets Act.
Three people, Kulbhushan Parashar, a retired Navy officer, VK Jha and Vinod Rana, were arrested late Wednesday night and early morning and two more people, Mukesh Bajaj and Raj Rani Jaiswal, were arrested from Pune on Thursday afternoon. While Parashar was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport upon his arrival from London, Rana was nabbed from Dwarka in south west Delhi this morning and Jha was arrested from Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Parashar and Rana were produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Seema Maini at her residence, who remanded them to 14 days in CBI custody.
The others named in the war leak case include Kulbushan Parashar, Wing Cdr (r) S K Kohli and Wing Cdr (r) S Surbe. Places that were raided included the national capital, Goa, Chandigarh, Mumbai and Muzaffarpur. The Defence Ministry had asked the CBI on February 18 to probe the leaks from the naval headquarters, which had led to the sacking of three senior navy officials. The government had referred the case after reports suggested that the leaks pertained to a high-profile defence deal.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
00:14 ||
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MITHI: An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale jolted Tharparkar district and parts of the Indian state of Rajasthan across the border at about 5:30 pm on Thursday. Thousands of people in Mithi, Diplo, Nagarparkar, Chhachhro, Islamkot and Thariyo Halepota village came out of their homes and shops in fear. The epicentre of the quake was in the Runn of Kutch, an official of the Meteorological Department in Tharparkar said. No loss of life and property was reported.
Ummm... A little to the left, I think...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
00:01 ||
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The Palestinian prime minister has rejected a decision by the president to assume security control over the Gaza Strip's border crossings. The decision by Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday night highlights tensions with Hamas in the wake of the Islamist group's victory over the president's long-dominant Fatah in elections in January. Officials close to Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, said he had come under pressure from the European Union, which threatened to withdraw its monitors from the key Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt in response to Hamas's rise to power.
But Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister, said on Thursday: "The government does not accept the creation of parallel bodies that may take away its authority. This is an elected government, not an appointed one. Brother Abu Mazen confirmed to me more than once that he will not touch the authority of the current government." He said that he would meet Abbas later on Thurdsay to discuss the crossings and other security concerns.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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#1
Elections have consequences, Abby, like the bitch slap. Also consequences for the hamsters, as in no money.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/07/2006 9:49
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#2
This ongoing farce is starting to resemble Monty Python's "Fish Slapping Dance"...
At least 69 people have died after a boat carrying passengers to a traditional festival capsized in the Red Sea off the coast of Djibouti in East Africa. The wooden boat laden with construction materials and three times the passengers it was built for, sank just 100 metres from the port in Djibouti, a tiny Red Sea state, witnesses said. It was sailing for the town of Tadjoura, 35km northeast, when it went down shortly around 1pm local time on a pilgrimage known as Djamaad.
Ali Mohamed, a survivor told Reuters: "It was so quick that people were brought down by the materials which sank with them." The vessel was thought to have been carrying between 250 to 300 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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#1
pirate
then
Red Sea
then
Persian Gulf
then
pirate
then
Red Sea
so
Persian Gulf Next?
US Senate leaders have declared a breakthrough on a long-sought overhaul of the country's immigration law, clearing the path to possible citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, if among other things, they register for military service.
Bill Frist, the Senate Republican majority leader and Harry Reid, the leading Democrat in the Senate, said while some details still had to be worked out, they expected the Senate to pass a comprehensive reform package shortly. Frist, at a news conference with Reid and a dozen other Republicans and Democrats, said: "We've had a huge breakthrough ... that will lead us to the conclusion of passing a very important bill."
The deal centres on a compromise offered by Republicans that included a temporary worker programme backed by George Bush, the president. It also would allow illegal immigrants who have been in the US for more than five years a chance to become citizens, if they meet a series of requirements - including registering for military service - and pay a fine.
Twenty years from now they're going to be doing the exact same thing all over again, with many of the same players spouting exactly the same arguments.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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#1
I harbor mixed feelings about them enlisting:
if they are truly only joining to gain legal status and not really caring about their position in the service, would you want them watching YOUR back?
With the recent waves of protests with the Mexican flag being hailed, it's hard to know where their true allegiance is. Most being here for the jobs and free services that are provided them, not because they love america and are willing to die for this country.
Also remembering that these are folks that are here illegally and knowingly have broken the law.
It used to be thought that if you weren't smart enough to get into college you went into the military, not the case anymore. With all of the high tech stuff our military has now, you have to be fairly smart to join. Plus speaking english would be a plus huh? The educational level of most illegals is 2nd or 3rd grade I think.
Posted by: Jan ||
04/07/2006 1:06
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#2
also, integrity is a big deal to me. Folks that break the law by being here illegally, and think that they are getting their way by having protested as they did, is sending the wrong message.
Posted by: Jan ||
04/07/2006 1:09
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#3
Not really the brightest thing in the world to train self-proclaimed lawbreakers in the use of deadly force. But this bill will never get past the House. Unlike the House of Lords Senate, members of the House of Representatives actually have to face their constituents and be accountable for what they do. There are enough people (me included) who would go ballistic at any whiff of amnesty that no bill with amnesty in it will emerge from the House Senate conference.
#4
Despite the good and decent folk of this country we may yet lose this this war because we are governed by whores - as this story so amply demonstrates.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/07/2006 1:24
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#5
Sure makes Frist look weak. No leadership in the Senate.
#9
This actually makes me happy, because it means Frist just made himself unelectable in the primary for the next Republican presidental candidate - and he was shaping up to be a contender. I've never liked the cat torturer/killer and he is, IMHO, unelectable in the general election anyway. H'es just waaay too creepy to be in charge. Adios, Frist.
#10
This is simply more appeasment. Teddy had it so right! Not Kennedy, but Roosevelt!
Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
#13
Most senators have been playing politics with this borders issue. They bob and weave giving a little and taking a little. This is how they play their game. This works with senators, but these same honorable assholes don't realize that playing like this with the voters is suicide. Every day, 3 different organizations urge me to make calls or send faxs to the senate on the borders issue. I am to the point that I'm ready to march on Washington and capture the city. I urge everyone else to call all senators offices and send faxs to them. When 60 or 80 million calls a day are being made, then maybe they will stop playing politics with US and OBEY their employers like good little senators.
Seal the borders NOW !
#14
We've all heard that building a wall or watertight manned border security is logistically impossible; I'm not sure that's true. A smartly constructed electric fence might work and is easier on the eyes than concrete, though I am sure that those with MUCH greater technological expertise than I have (I have none) would have a way of realizing the same effect without an actual structure-kind of a tazer "zap-em" approach.
IMO, the temporary worker program, however, IS a logistical impossibility. Just going through the mental steps of how it would work is an exercise in comedy. Costly? How high can we count? Reliable? We're talking about humans with pieces of paper as proof of legality-pretty dam*ed unreliable, in my experience. The bulk of the workers are doing lower-paying jobs, is that correct? So companies and corporations, already with tight budgets and schedules, are going to go through the machinations of filing papers and waiting to hold on to these low-paid workers? Something stinks here. If we were talking about 6-figure executives keeping their jobs, I might be able to believe that companies would go through this temporary program, but not with lower-level workers. It sounds like a sham-and a pricy one-to me.
Priority: Secure the borders. Whatever you use-fence, electric currents, something else-I think this is what we all want most.
Next priority: assimilation. Require 4-5 years of ESL classes for all immigrants and require an exit exam of proficiency. Stop providing Spanish or English options on phones-one because it encourages Spanish-language chauvinism (which those of us in ESL have noticed for some time), and two, it creates a system of preference where immigrants of other languages aren't getting the same treatment as Hispanic immigrants. How many companies are offering Chinese language instructions by pressing 2? Or Vietnamese? Or Russian? There are hundreds of languages and dialects; if we believe in a land of equal rights, are we going to offer translations for every language? Of course not-it's ridiculous. So why are we doing it for Spanish? Because they are the largest minority is not a good answer.
I understand why fellow bloggers are upset about lawbreakers getting what amounts to amnesty-and do agree in principle. But HOW are we going to round up 10-20 millions illegals and deport them, and while we shout and stomp for this, are WE prepared to pay for it? WE would be paying for it. This is the toughest question.
How about this idea for the illegals already here-let each pay the fine and jump through the hoops for the opportunity to be a RESIDENT only? After 25 years or so, then they can jump through some more hoops and pay more fines to be citizens, if they've worked off their criminal debt. Would this work?
#15
Going to be a bloodbath like '94 for the trunks in 2006 and 2008. This is what happens when you fail to show leadership. The congress-critter DO think we are stupid. That is the whole problem.
#16
Breakthrough? What breakthrough? The bill wasn't even brought to a vote. The bill stalled because the Dem leadership objecteted to allowing ammendments to be brought to the floor. Can you imagine that a bill of this complexity is so perfect comming out of committee that it doesn't warrant offering ammendments? BTW, this bill was cobbled together on monday (one day) and final language (500+ pages) wasn't introduced untill Wednesday afternoon. I'm no fan of Sen.Sessions (R-AL), but I encourage everyone to read his top ten "loopholes" on this pending bill. IMO, even with ammendments, this bill looks really bad.
#18
Jules, I'm with you. Seal borders first, then allow them to blend in speaking english only and not voting. Tax them to pay for the border patrols. Also, count them as immigrants from Mexico and add them to the back of the line to become citizens, accept for those who serve in the military.
Now is that hard ? Why does it take the phukan senate years to get here ?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/07/2006 10:58
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#20
this is political suicide for both sides. These guys are like the hollywierd actors, they've forgotten that its the little people who make them what they are.
Few people are asking to round up and deport the hard working Mexicans who want to become productive citizens, they are welcome here. But if no wall is produced and the border isn't sealed, expect pitchforks and lighted torches in an upcoming election.
#21
Remember when Mexico was about to go belly-up financially in the 1990s? Remember when Clinton decided to bail out the Mexican government to prevent the Mexican economy from collapsing? Remember his reason for doing so? It was to prevent a tidal wave of illegals from heading north across the border.
Now picture this: if all the illegals are sent back, if the border is sealed preventing illegals from entering, if no guest-worker program is implemented, then at least one of two things would happen: the Mexican economy deteriorates over time to the point of destitution, and a possible civil war.
In either of the two cases, you will need several divisions along the border to stop that wave, but this time they would be called refugees.
The problem is not an unsealed border, but what lies on the other side of it, to the south: a corrupt economical and political system.
I think you should give the folks in Washington a little more credit. Emotional, short-sighted reactions will not solve anything.
#23
I agree with Jules earlier comment, that it would be a good idea to have them pay fines to be able to be residents only and not have the right to vote. At least for this very important first step in the process. I would like to see strong hoops of some kind to attain citizenship.
I also like the idea of not having everything in bilingual modes, it does seem to send the message that it isn't necessary to learn english.
Job issues aside, I would like to stop all of the free services we give these illegals. Stop the anchor baby law, and only keep services given to real emergencies.
Being able to attend schools needs to be looked at as well. I'm not quite sure what the answer is here but it isn't right to keep going the way we are with our school system. It's scary to look at the progression of our wanting to be PC, placing our flag as an equal to the Mexican flag. To allow illegals to feel comfortable in our american schools. Please check out the link below:
I still want a fence, this would be money well spent.
Posted by: Jan ||
04/07/2006 13:49
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#24
SA4511: "The problem is not an unsealed border, but what lies on the other side of it, to the south: a corrupt economical and political system."
True, that is a big part of the problem, 4511. But what is the solution? AN ACHIEVABLE, NON-'EMOTIONAL' SOLUTION? We gonna help Mexico become non-corrupt? From the movie 'The Big Easy': "you got your work cut out for YOU, sugar". Or, as I suspect, would you advocate a solution somehow involving "leveling the economic playing fields"? If that's the solution, I would say forget about extra divisions at our borders; get ready for civilian strife bubbling up right in the heartland. Non-emotionality is as important as not giving ourselves away.
#27
I don't know that I agree with the oft-repeated mantra that we couldn't deport 11 million illegal aliens. I just completely disagree with that premise.
If we built a wall, punished employers with prohibitive fines, and authorized local authorities to arrest illegal immigrants on behalf of the federal government, then we could complete the job in a few years. A combination of exclusion, enforcement and attrition would definitely take its toll. Think about how many arrests are performed every year by local police forces (for a reference point, 1.6 mil in 2003 for drug offenses alone). General local enforcement could be combined with targeted enforcement in large illegal alien areas (such as parts of Northern Virginia) If you empowered local authorities to enforce federal immigration law, and provided federal holding facilities in central locations with buses running back and forth to the border on daily deportation runs it could work. Am I missing something? Where does the idea that we CAN't POSSIBLY do this come from? I think it's another example of leftist dogma that conservatives have adopted in an effort to appear reasonable in their argument and, in so doing, giving up the argument. If nothing else, this model should at least be a starting point for negotiations...
#28
You'd have to deal with the "sanctuary" cities, not that cleaning those city governments out would bother me much. This we're so "moral" we're above the law insanity, ala the SanFran Tweekers, has gone on long enough.
#29
I feel we should at least START trying to deport them. Our not doing anything bugs the hell out of me. The catch and release attitude I'm sure drives our law enforcement folks nuts. Seeing illegals seemingly not worried about getting caught is a big deal.
Posted by: Jan ||
04/07/2006 14:19
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#30
How about this ?
Step 1. Close southern border.
Step 2. No more legal immigrants from Mexico after those already in the pipeline are processed.
Step 3. All illegals must register and be issued a number (not a Social Security number), told that they must have a job, place to stay, learn english, or join and be accepted by the military.
Step 4. Find and deport anyone without a number.
Step 5. Give community service time to all without a fulltime job.
Step 6. Put those who have full time employment, speak and read english, at the back of the citizenship line and process them into citizens after any fines are paid.
Step 7. Repeat steps 4 thru 6 until no more non citizens.
Step 8. If a company or farm wants green card labor, then that company brings them here and takes them home. If any fail to go home, that company loses it's priviledge to do so again and pays a fine so we can hunt down the illegal.
Re: The "Sanctuary" cities, think about the MASS migration of illegals FLOCKING to those cities in a scenario of aggressive deportation. Eventually, the strain on community resources from overloading the infrastructure (schools, hospitals, etc.) would be so great, either the local governments would have to levy huge taxes on local population to support them, the residents would vote in new leaders, or the entire place would collapse.
Any municipality who maintained asylum laws in the face of a coordinated deportation program would quickly come under seige from within which would eventually result in the deportation of those lawbreakers seeking asylum...
#33
Good point, mjh. Not sure how long it would take nor if you could keep like-minded state legislatures out of the equation so the implosion would occur without outside interference - I'm thinking El Lay and CA, of course.
lotp - Re: #25 - The bad shit is probably already happening - whether we leave them to their own devices (their feudal system) or [insert your plan here]. There is no easy answer and I don't accept your easy (rather cheap shot) criticism without at least the beginnings of a workable alternative. But controlling the border comes first or everything offered is a joke. Surely that makes sense to everyone but La Raza.
I've just completed a double shift and have to go home to eat and sleep. Have fun, folks.
#34
Wasn't meant as a cheap shot criticism, but just a warning. I don't disagree that we need to control the border. I just think that we all need to be very clear-eyed about the 2nd order effects of any serious crackdown.
The bad stuff that is 'probably already happening' could get a lot worse more quickly than we would be ready to handle it. Right now, for instance, we can't use UAVs in any significant number to monitor movements across the border because the technologies for "sense and avoid" are not developed - and that means they can't fly where general and commercial aviation flies.
We've waiting too long to deal with this - but realistically we are also stretched heavily in some areas. What is needed IMO is both to begin a crackdown on those we catch and ALSO to accelerate a build up of capabilities. Broadcasting a tough line we cannot enforce is counterproductive.
#35
lotp, given the involvement of the Federales, MS-13 and al-Qaeda in the drug trade, is there any doubt that the contacts have been made, even if they haven't formed a firm and fast alliance? If al-Q wanted to get across the border I have no doubt they could do so now in whatever numbers or with whatever weapons they wish simply by buying off whatever Mexicans they need to.
#36
Where does the idea that we CAN't POSSIBLY do this come from?
From the notion that greater men than you have tried and failed, in all sorts of places and in all sorts of political systems in the world. Migration, whether legal or not, is nothing new and there hasn't been a method developed yet to stifle it, although the Berlin Wall came close. Unfortunately, your border is a bit too long to implement such a solution without the necessary $trillion that it would take.
More realistically, and the snarkiness aside, what you are proposing is just a respite, trading the term illegal for refugee in the long term. If you think illegals have sympathizers on the inside, wait until they become refugees. This is fine if the number of sympathizers in the US is relatively smaller than the number of non-sympathizers (and the up-coming elections will show if this is the case). That's the sociological angle.
From the economical angle, there's also the notion of return on investment. Is it worth it to spend the billions necessary to make the border impassable? Can this money be spent more wisely elsewhere, such as the military or intelligence services? What impact will a reduction of illegals have on the US economy, without a guest-worker program as a substitute? And the all-encompassing...is it simply worth it?
As long as Mexico remains a basketcase, there is no simple solution.
#38
We could deport 11 million illegals the problem is that we would have to go seriously draconian to do it. Don't know if puplic would except that and spend the money to do it.
Give an example of "greater men than me" that have tried and failed? You have raised the tired Berlin analogy...without addressing the standard (and, in my mind,correct) rejoinder that the Berlin Wall was intended to keep people FROM LEAVING an oppressive state, and where people were willing to risk violent death at the hands of the regime they sought to escape. When illegal immigrants come here, they are not fleeing mortal danger.
I'll give you an example of where a wall has worked: Israel. It has achieved its purpose there, despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth that preceded its construction.
As for the cost of our wall, assuming that a wall would raise our border enforcement to 85%, I would guess that the per mile cost of a wall would be FAR less costly and more effective than providing sufficient staff and resources to ensure 85% success without a wall. (It's an arbitrary number, but whatever number you choose, it holds true)
Your sociological angle holds absolutely no water with me...I believe whatever policy that is designed can sufficiently disincentivize the hosting of "refugees" to make it a non-issue.
As for ROI, I heartily agree, but to make a full accounting, you need to take into account ALL costs and foregone revenue that result from the presence of illegals, including tax revenue that is not collected, the degradation of infrastructure and public services that occur due to the number of free riders, the opportunity cost of care not given to the citizens when warranted due to limited resources and any other externalities that occur due to illegals (for example, one that is not accounted for above in my list would be the cost of uninsured drivers who cause accidents). Finally, I would include the cost of incarcerating illegal aliens who, aside from their presence here, commit felonies and are hosted in our federal and state penitentiaries.
Assuming you are correct about the situation in Mexico, and the lack of a simple solution, who said my proposed solution was simple? It's not, it's complex. But it requires will and commitment to restore LAW and ORDER.
I don't disagree that the situation in Mexico contributes, but I do disagree with any implication (not sure that you were implying this, but...)that it is the job of the US to improve the situation in Mexico, that is the same logic of the Left that holds that Israel is responsible for the plight of the Palestinians...though I will say that the comparison is valid in that a wall worked there, and it can work here.
#41
An America that would round up 11 million people and ship them across a border wouldn't be America anymore.
1) Secure the border with an appropriate, physical fence from San Diego to Brownsville.
2) Institute a guest worker program that accomodates the needs of American business (unemployment is < 5%, so no nonsense about displacing American workers) and allows orderly entry into the country by foreign nationals (not just Mexicans). Foreign nationals who play by these rules get improved status for subsequence citizenship (those who join the US Army do even better). We can do this, and it pays dividends in the long term.
3) Regularize the status of illegal aliens by the methods proposed, including ESL, a monetary settlement, and a period of waiting. And of course, a renunciation of other citizenship claims when they become citizens here.
I don't see any other way that works.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2006 17:46
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#42
You have raised the tired Berlin analogy...
...as an example of what extreme (and very effective) border security looks like. This is not what the solution calls for in the US, but it's the sort of thing that would be required, in my opinion, if you intended to stop most illegal immigration from Mexico. A wall won't do it.
The question of leaving or entering is irrelevant. It's the border's porousness that is at question.
When illegal immigrants come here, they are not fleeing mortal danger.
But they are fleeing extreme relative poverty. The incentive to cross the border is just too great. Stop immigration completely, legal or illegal, and the incentive will turn into an even bigger necessity.
BTW, the vast majority of escapees from eastern Europe during the Cold War were economic and not political.
I'll give you an example of where a wall has worked: Israel.
You can't realistically compare Israel and the US. I have no idea what its length is, but let's assume a figure of 200 miles. This would hardly solve the problem in the US. In addition, a long wall without significant spending on maintenance, surveillance, countermeasures, etc., is useless. Israel is a microcosm of the situation in the US. In their case, a wall is feasible.
I would guess that the per mile cost of a wall would be FAR less costly and more effective than providing sufficient staff and resources to ensure 85% success without a wall.
I disagree. A physical obstacle without additional security measures is just as useful as no barrier at all. People can get very resourceful when pressed. Additional security measures add costs. In this case, I would prefer to spend the money on other means and resources, rather than a wall by itself.
Your sociological angle holds absolutely no water with me...
By sympathizers I was refering not only to people who actively help illegals, but also skeptics who see that a wall will not solve the problem, or even that it is necessary. I assume you can count most Democrats in that category, but again, the elections will provide more insight.
As for ROI, I heartily agree, but to make a full accounting, you need to take into account ALL costs and foregone revenue that result from the presence of illegals,
If you could legally import a class of people willing to do the same jobs under the same conditions, then you would find that these people incur the same costs to the American economy that you speak of. And unless you are not interested in a stable economy, such a class of workers is indeed needed in the US.
I don't disagree that the situation in Mexico contributes, but I do disagree with any implication (not sure that you were implying this, but...)that it is the job of the US to improve the situation in Mexico,
You will note my reference to Clinton and Mexico's financial crisis in the 1990s. Criticize Clinton all you want, but at least he (or his advisors) had the foresight to understand what would happen if Mexico went belly-up economically. So you see, the fact that the US is physically attached to the US, means that, from time to time, you indeed have to care about improving the situation in Mexico. It's my understanding that the loans provided by Clinton have since been forgiven. So there you have it.
Other than putting some sort of constant and meaningful pressure on the Mexican government, and I have no idea what that would be, there is very little that can be done. NAFTA was the big hope, but that turned out to be a big flop. This is just an unlucky circumstance of the world's biggest economy, sitting geographically next to...well...Mexico.
Lastly, this is just like the ports fiasco that the media, and people like Lou Dobbs, have latched on to. People are basing their opinions on emotions, without considering the entire long-run picture. (You know, the best thing that the anti-globalization crowd can do right now, is sit back, get some popcorn, and watch protectionism and overheated nationalism do its thing.)
Disclaimer: I am not for illegal immigration. I would rather things would be done according to the rules. But sometimes, life is just not fair.
#43
I think WXJAMES post #30 is pretty close to right on. We have to use the National Guard to close the border as step 1. We need to give those illegals that are here 6 months to register for either a path to permanent citizenship or as temporary guest workers. After the 6 months any business that hires an unregistered worker can be fined big dollars. This fine revenue will be shared between the state and local municipality where the infraction occurred (financial incentive for enforcement). The illegal would be deported and NEVER have the opportunity to be either a guest worker or citizen candidate. Same goes for any illegal found after the 6 month registration period.
With respect to the effect this will have on Mexico, my feeling is that only pressure will generate change there. The ruling elites of Mexico might rather see economic reform than to be disembowled by a raging mob. They have far more to gain by positive participation than by attempting to maintain the status quo.
#45
Step 3 of #30 above stays as is. Many of these illegals are now integral workers in their companies. Sending them home will add to the turmoil. They can stay put. They must register within 60 days, not 6 months. Why would they need 6 months. And finding those who don't register is as simple as offering a reward. $10 bucks per head would bring them in by the thousands.
My impression is that Mexicans are good workers and industrious, unlike some of our home grown minorities. Also, they have a moral compass and will fit in well if we help, rather than herd up in ghettos. Focus on regular work, communications in english, and accepting and following the rules we live by will allow them to melt, unlike Muslims, who don't want to lower themselves to our level. But I digress.
#47
In 24 years as president, Saddam Hussein managed to put at least 300,000 of his citizens in mass graves -- that's an average of at least 34 per day. He also spent eight years at war with Iran at a cost of perhaps 1.7 million lives. That's 582 per day. Where was your outrage then? STFU.
#48
Naomist - Fred Phelps has a place for you in his "church" - take it,you deserve it (and him).
TROLL
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/07/2006 19:49
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#49
Announce that illegal aliens caught will be organized and armed for the return tip. The Mexican government will seal the border the next day.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2006 20:13
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#50
Ed, there's an idea! ;-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2006 20:29
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#51
No real explanation in the comments above on how the guest worker program would actually work. From beginning to end, step by step, how would it work? Start with the illegal immigrant being here...
The Interior Ministry on Thursday cancelled the arms licenses issued to Sardar Akhtar Mengal, the former chief minister of Balochistan. A statement from the ministry said that licences issued to Mengal by the federal and the provincial governments stand cancelled. The licences were cancelled because security personnel have been manhandled and confined at the former chief minister's residence in Karachi, the statement said.
No elk hunting for Akhtar this year
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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The United States, with its human rights record under attack, has said it will not run for a seat on the new UN Human Rights Council.
Good idea. Let Sudan have it.
Some human rights experts say US abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and its treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, may have made it hard for Washington to win election to the council. Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said it was "childish" for Washington not to run for a seat, even though it risked the embarrassment of possible failure. "It's unfortunate that the Bush administration's disturbing human rights record means that the United States would hardly have been a shoo-in for election to the council.
We're busy doing things that are unpleasant, so that nitwits like Kenneth Roth can continue their lucrative ankle-biting careers. Guantanamo doesn't bother me a bit. Abu Ghraib was perpetrated by low-IQ sadists who're now in jug. HRW spends a lot of time criticizing the mote in our eye, while ignoring the beam in others'.
"Today's decision not to run seems like an effort to make a virtue of necessity," he said. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack explained Thursday's decision this way: Many democracies with strong human rights records had already put themselves forward for the May 9 election and "it's only fair that they have the opportunity to run for a seat on a council for which they have voted". The US would probably seek a seat on the 47-member council next year, but would meanwhile support the council financially and encourage it to address human rights abuses in Iran, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Sudan and North Korea, McCormack added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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#1
Considering that the UN Human Rights Council is another toothless feel-good UN sham, why should we waste time on it? Better to do what the rest of the world does, ignore it. Quite frankly, it is about time that we tell the rest of the world that we really don't care that much about their thinly disguised jealousy hypocritical criticism and will dispense with the notion that they can make rules that only we are supposed to follow. Most of the nations are like US Democrats, they only follow rules and obey laws that are, at the moment, convenient or when they can use them against their rivals.
#4
Yessirreee, Bubba, Christina and Glaze-Gate = killing fields of ..............@ - its Torture, D**** YOU, ABSOLUTE HORRIBLE TORTURE, T-O-R-T-T-E-R, Torture!? AND NO JELLO OR YOGURT, EITHER!
#5
The Un is a farce and a toy in the hands of the muslim world. They rule it. Declining is an honourable thing. I hope Canada would follow suit - but it won't.
Abu Graib over decades of slaughter and abuse and horror. Yeah, that's equivalent. time to pull out of the UN.
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday claimed to have found evidence that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was involved in the United Nations oil-for-food scandal in Iraq. Bhutto gave a $2 million commission to the defunct regime of Saddam Hussein to win contracts worth $115 million through two Sharjah-based companies she registered in 2000 and 2001, Hassan Waseem Afzal, NAB deputy chairman, told reporters here. He also released documents suggesting Bhuttos connections with international companies involved in the scam and facing prosecution in their countries.
He said NAB began suspecting Bhuttos involvement in the scam after the UN inquiry report into the scandal. He said that Petroline FZC, a Sharjah-based company involved in the scam, is owned by Bhutto and her aides Rehman Malik, former FIA additional director, and Hassan Ali Jaffery, her nephew. The Pakistan government will prosecute these three Pakistanis under UN guidelines. The second company, Tempo Global Gains FZC, is owned by Bhutto and her three children. This company appears to be the ultimate destination of all money siphoned off by Benazir and her aides, he said, adding NAB would ask the UAE government to freeze these companies accounts.
Afzal said that a report sent by Spanish authorities investigating Bhuttos bank accounts in Spain showed that she had received money from banks in Switzerland, the UK and US and companies involved in the oil-for-food scam. NAB would also ask Washington freeze Bhuttos accounts in the City National Bank, Florida, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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#1
Suddenly ? You've been posting the same lame statement all over the burg. Doesn't seem too sudden, seems like a plan. Premeditated. Insincere. Pointless. Dumb, even.
#2
wxjames, Yusef Islam's "Suddenly..." statement is not what he originally posted. But appparently he's been deemed a troll, and it amuses whichever moderator handled it to change the statements. I wonder if he really is Man Bites Dog/Listen to Dogs as someone suggested, or a poorly brought up Pakistani living in Europe as he claimed.
#3
He is LtD (MBD, etc. etc.) and his comments are no longer welcome here. A fact that he is well aware of. As such, he is cordially invited to go set up his own blog, where he'll never be bothered by the RB moderating staff.
#5
It was Eric Hoffer's belief that when dealing with complete fanatics, such constructs as "left" and "right" were, to a certain extent, illusions.
Watching a certain unwelcome individual here switching back and forth between the extreme left and the extreme right IMHO only illustrates a more extreme version of this idea.
Posted by: Phil ||
04/07/2006 12:30
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#6
Suddenly, I got nothin' to say.
Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 5:19
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QUETTA: A part of the main gas pipeline in Hub exploded late on Thursday. No casualty was reported and authorities are investigating the cause of the blast. Police officials said that a boundary wall near the pipeline had been damaged and small parts of the pipeline had spread in the area. They said that preliminary investigations revealed did not show any signs of sabotage. "The pipeline might have exploded because of the gas pressure," they added. Police and gas company officials from Karachi have cordoned off the area and repair has started.
Also, a man identifying himself as Meerak Baloch, a Baloch Liberation Army representative, claimed responsibility for the blast. He said that BLA activists had planted explosives around the pipeline and blown it up. Provincial government officials were not available for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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#1
why are they blowing up pipelines all the time in Pakistan?
What is the gain?
President George W. Bush faced a rare display of hostility from the public at a forum, when a man said he should be "ashamed of yourself".
The president, whose job approval ratings have sunk to all-time lows, had invited questions from the audience in a bid to show he was not out of touch with voters.
A man who appeared to be in his 50s and bore a slight resemblance to John Kerry, Bush's defeated Democratic foe in the last election, said: "Okay, I don't have a question.
"What I wanted to say to you is that I -- in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by, my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and ...," the man said, as the audience began booing.
"No, wait a sec -- let him speak," Bush said.
"I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself," the man said.
He did not mention the continuing war in Iraq, which Bush is seeking to justify, but criticized the administration's wiretapping without warrant, environmental policy and the president's restrictive views on abortion.
Bush defended the wiretapping as constitutional and authorized under the "war on terror".
"You said, would I apologize for that? The answer ... is, absolutely not," Bush said. Heh.
#1
That man has just become my newest personal hero. He's probably said just about everything I could say in the amount of time he could say it. the only saving grace of Bush is that he actually defended his right to say it. Bravo.
#2
Riddle me this GradStudent...why should the POTUS be ashamed of using every legitimate tool at his disposal to protect the citizens of this nation? Bush's views on abortion are his and he's entitled to them as you are yours. If this tool in the audience is your new personal hero - it's obvious that your true education is yet to come. Good luck - you'll need it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/07/2006 1:18
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#3
GradStudent06, you sound like someone getting a masters in education or ethnic studies, a course of study where you and your fellow students are cheerfully cocooned and kept isolated from the real world and the necessity to do something useful.
#4
grad student got it right. These reporters have got it down to one macro key that they use over and over again. This guy cut out everything but the key phrases they repeat like a mantra.
Low Poll Ratings, (this resonates with liberals because they are cattle) Out of touch with voters He's not cool, like grad student.
This is clean and neat, almost like a prayer or Hail Mary for liberals. Say the words, blame Satan Bush and viola! they have absolved themselves of any responsibility for these problems in the world.
He did not mention the continuing war in Iraq, which Bush is seeking to justify, but criticized the administration's wiretapping without warrant, environmental policy and the president's restrictive views on abortion. Bush defended the wiretapping as constitutional and authorized under the "war on terror". (notice the quotes)
What I find most interesting is that they dropped No WMD from the repetition. I guess they've been told to nix that one off the macro seeing as how its a bit inconvenient now.
#14
I used to think that you people live in a cacoon, isolated from mainstream America. After a while, though, I'm starting to realize there's a lot of experience and wisdom in the Rantburg community.
Gonna have to go think about all this - I feel my opinions changing when I come this way.
#17
I think that it is intolerable that we use such inflammatory and insensitive language when describing someone who is merely exercising their constitutional rights of free speech to seek redress for wrongs both committed and perceived.
#18
And suddenly, I find myself on a Chinese blog....where they change your entries if they don't like them. Hmm. Knew it was gonna happen sooner or later...didn't realize how soon.
"Didya see that? I Stuck It To the Man, man! I got right in Chimpy McBushitler Haliburton's face and Spoke Truth To Power! An' him an' his knuckle-dragging Christer jackbooted Rethuglicn stormtroopers didn' try to put me in a reeducation camp or nothin'."
"Duude, it's, like . . . woah!"
"I'm so proud of you, Mortimer."
"You are? Well, like . . . do you wanna sleep with me or somethin' then?"*
"Well, . . . ."
*-Because, after all, what's the point of Speaking Truth To Power and Sticking It To The Man if you can't score with the hippie chicks afterward?
Posted by: Mike ||
04/07/2006 10:11
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#20
Gonna have to go think about all this - I feel my opinions changing when I come this way.
I know for a fact that the moderators are too busy dealing with a DDoS attack today, but this is the day an atypical message has been posted under "Gradual Student"'s ID and then one posted accusing us of changing his message. (And the second one remains unaltered).
I think he or she is lying for the sake of causing trouble or being able to make an accusation. I think we should ban that IP, whoever it is.
Posted by: Phil ||
04/07/2006 12:55
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#24
It's "National F#$k with the Trolls Day" here at Rantburg. Carry on with your maintanence gentlemen, we'll handle the trolls out here.
Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 5:25
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#26
While this concern about freedom of speech impacts American political discourse, Indonesian Muslims have accepted the publication of the semi-pornographic journal, "Playboy." This proves that Muslims are going in a positive direction.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1816436
Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 7:13
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#27
[This comment not actually posted by RB regular]
Yesterday's outage was courtesy of bvoe.de (195.243.0.0/16 and 62.156.0.0/15), in Munich, who decided to send a continuous stream of queries to Thugburg for Abu Musab Zarqawi. Give them a big finger hand.
Another nominee for the Richard Cranium Award.
Followup:
I've blocked their access to the site, but they're hitting port 80 multiple times a second, trying to get in, from both servers. You should be able to get in without problem at rantburg.com:81 or rantburg.com:8080. Connecting to wotresearch.com (but without a port number) will also take you there.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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#1
I'm sorry that you constantly have to deal with these folks. Thanks for staying on top of it and keeping the 'burg open.
It's very much appreciated.
Jan
Posted by: Jan ||
04/07/2006 0:53
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#2
Nights like this, I think seriously of closing up shop. I used to have a life...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006 0:54
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#3
Little shitheads.
Anything we can do to help out, Fred?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006 0:56
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#4
Not much. I've literally been fighting this battle for a couple years.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006 1:07
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#5
One place that site visits a lot (other than the ones on the o-club) is:
http://www.mayang.com/
This guy has his wedding photos on the site. He is a Malaysian Muslim (gathered from the burka and styles)
look at the large amount of traveling this guy does. Although they may be visiting him for "TEXTURE FILES". Textures would make great "PADS" for encryption...
September - October 2005
Will and Mayang went to Denmark, Norway and Sweden
June 2005
Will and Mayang went to the Glastonbury Festival
June 2005
Mayang visited France
April 2005
Mayang visited Portugal
October 2004
We visited Morocco and spent some time in the Sahara
August 2004
We visited Thailand, Cambodia (including Angkor Wat) and Vietnam.
June 2004
We visited Sarawak, East Malaysia. See the pictures.
June 2004
We visited Sabah and climbed Mount Kinabalu. See the pictures.
May 2004
Our texture web site is now very popular. Statistics show that over 2000 people each day visit to download textures!
August 2003
We visited England again. See the pictures.
I think somebody should be profiling those servers and doing social network analysis on those servers... (HINT TO NSA)
#6
In all seriousness, if there are any particularly notorious folks who keep popping up, drop me an e-mail and I'll see if there's anything I can do.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/07/2006 1:10
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#7
Drop all requests from all German and French IP Blocks. To bad a few have to wreck it for everyone but that tough for the Germans and French.
Posted by: SPoD ||
04/07/2006 1:14
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#8
Fred my brother in law builds servers with various operating systems for businesses and data folks. I'll call him tomorrow or drive over and ask him about IP port attacks and what can be done. 'puters and software are *NOT* my field of expertise.
..........
The hit counter shows the current IPs onbord, does anyone else get pinged at RB besides me?
#13
domain: mayang.com
owner: william smith
organization: william owen smith
email: domainadmin@willsmith.org
address: the laurels
address: little bourton
city: banbury
state: oxon
postal-code: ox17 1rq
country: GB
phone: +44 1295 750000
admin-c: domainadmin@willsmith.org#0
tech-c: domainadmin@willsmith.org#0
billing-c: domainadmin@willsmith.org#0
nserver: b.ns.joker.com 159.25.97.69
nserver: c.ns.joker.com 207.44.185.10
nserver: a.ns.joker.com 194.176.0.2
status: lock
created: 2000-04-13 10:53:31 UTC
modified: 2005-06-17 18:20:07 UTC
expires: 2010-04-13 10:53:31 UTC
contact-hdl: domainadmin@willsmith.org#0
person: will smith
email: domainadmin@willsmith.org
address: the laurels
address: little bourton
city: banbury
state: --
country: GB
phone: +44 1295 750000
source: joker.com live whois service
query-time: 0.040898
db-updated: 2006-04-07 05:47:11
NOTE: By submitting a WHOIS query, you agree to abide by the following
NOTE: terms of use: You agree that you may use this data only for lawful
NOTE: purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this data to:
NOTE: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
NOTE: unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via direct mail,
NOTE: e-mail, telephone, or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated,
NOTE: electronic processes that apply to Joker.com (or its computer systems).
NOTE: The compilation, repackaging, dissemination or other use of this data
NOTE: is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Joker.com.
#22
I wouldn't block off at the country level, either Germany (TGA) or France (JFM): They're the poor people who NEED the information you provide and the insights we provide on this wonderful site of yours, Fred. Many, many thanks. Do know that you have an influence wider than you imagine.
#23
You should probably look at publish through proxy and/or packet filtering on your FW / DMZ.
Ultimatley you are going to have to use one of those sentinel generators, as RB allows query direct from web. We all know these, basically generates a random image with text in it, when you search you put that text string in and your params.
I doubt this is too much impact to real users of the site, as when a Human searches for something they really mean it, the bots are just trying DB / Connection DoS attack.
Anyway, you add the image generator to your search logic and this mostly goes away.
#24
Fred,
Your site is the finest and most complete open source site out there. Thats why they are after you. Hang in there, we need your services here.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/07/2006 9:09
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#25
I'm an amature at this but it seems you keep getting hit on the search end of the site, Thugburg etc... Password protect that part of your site and charge us to use it. Might stop the trolls from attacking.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/07/2006 9:12
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#26
Don't need to do that (user, pass, seurity), one little 4 or 3 char image generator is all that is needed.
The system generates an image with a word in it as part of the image, not text.
Humans can read this, and enter the word / chars. Bots cannot. Each time the search page is rendered, a new word is generated in the image.
The user then enters the word/chars generated plus their search params. This will kill DB DoS attacks in their tracks.
Another huge plus, Fred, will NOT have to maintain a user security module (passwords, etc).
These image generators are well known and proven to stop these types of attacks.
#27
Here is an example, ironic actually, but geektools had problems with their WhoIS DB being DoS and used for malicious reasons. They've recently gone to an image generator. Anyway, you can see what I am talking about in action here :
#32
Should this be reported to the relevent authorities? I mean this guy sure seems like a Zealot of some sort, the Osamanaut type. lol wouldnt it be funny if you read in a few years about the man they caught meddling with net sites and now sits in Gauntanamo Bay ,lol.
#33
trailing wife, "ping" is a Unix operating system term that describes one user port sending out a signal to detect if another specific port address on the system (or internet) is functioning / available. It comes from the old sonar term for bouncing acoustic signals off of an underwater object and looking for reflected signals in order to determine range and heading.
Some definitions: (from the e blogger site)
ACK /ak/ interj.
[from the ASCII mnemonic for 0000110]
1. Acknowledge. Used to register one's presence (compare mainstream *Yo!*). An appropriate response to {ping} or {ENQ}.
The opposite of ACK would be NAK or "not acknowledge".
#34
A good explaination of what is happening here.
I don't think it is those two sites (bvoe.de).
Symptoms sound like a reflection attack. See the link above for an explaination.
In a reflection attack you point to a null site, closed sockets or whatever as yourself.
(HE DID IT -->)
#35
I'm considering him a bad bot, rather than a DOS. I've seen him before, before I learned how to use IP Tables. He and a machine out of U. of Thessaloniki were the reason I had Thugburg closed down before. I reopened it after I banned Thessaloniki.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006 12:24
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#36
I banned Thessaloniki
Sounds like a first person tell all or an Ouzo Punk song.
#38
Send a nasty message to Deutche Telecom. The Germans have nasty laws about this kind of sh$$. They also have the option of pressing legal charges and HEAVY billing costs (EU3000/min) to someone doing this. They also have the NEED to put a stop to this, because it reflects badly upon them and their clients. Who knows, they may even decide to mirror your site for a year for free to recompense you for your troubles. Or, they might decide you're a nuisance and ignore you. If the latter happens, wait until you're hit again, and report it and DT GMBH refusal to do anything to the German government. SH$$ will REALLY happen, then. Oh, and they'll do the investigating to see if it's more than just a routine DoS attack.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/07/2006 15:22
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#39
Full sinktrap today.
Must have something to do with free speech advocating supressive lefty moonbat sun spot activity.
Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the sinktrap. Further violations may result in
banning.
I related the port attack problems to the brother-inlaw [the best I could].
He said bombays approach would work in most instances but that it would depend on the seriousness of the attack, you may eventually need a SonicWALL packet-filtering Gateway...
but if memory serves you purchased one a few months ago correct?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006 19:48
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#49
TZ-170. Good enough, usually. If anyone knows of better, specify. How much do you need?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/07/2006 20:26
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#50
To be honest, we had to ditch SonicWall in favor of Cisco because of problems with a full time VPN we needed to establish with LM (Lockheed). Security and Performance were far better as a side benifit, though cost was pretty high compared.
Anyway, you might want to look at PIX (there are some issues, but you can take care of easily via rules and proper setup). If you are considering a swap or addition give it a consider and let me know as I got some great vendors who can get you a deal on minimially used (ie. 6 months).
I don't do VPN so haven't had probs that I notice. TZ-170 is slow compared to others that cost more (packets processed/sec, yes?) but bang for buck is good all things considered for single server if not a bank. If Fred isn't doing VPN (Fred please correct), and is only doing this server, with those constraints (correctable by Fred) what is best then? I am ALWAYS willing to listen to others solutions who have same probs, and only want to help Fred here.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/07/2006 22:28
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#52
Suddenly, I got nothin' to say.
Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 5:46
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#53
Suddenly, I don't have anything to say.
Posted by: Yusef Islam ||
04/07/2006 13:20
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#54
[This comment not actually posted by RB regular]
The leaders of Egypt and Israel have announced plans to meet as soon as the Israeli prime minister puts together a government, officials say. Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president, called to congratulate Ehud Olmert on his being asked by the Israeli president on Thursday to head a government after winning the general election last month. A statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said: "The two agreed to meet immediately after a government is formed." Mubarak also wished Olmert good luck at forging a coalition.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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(ScrappleFace Network News Audiocast Transcript. To listen, scroll down, or subscribe to the ScrappleFace podcast at iTunes.)
Just a day after Katie Couric announced shell leave NBCs Today Show to host the CBS Evening News, CBS chairman Les Moonves said hes close to a deal to replace 60 Minutes reporter Mike Wallace with Wheel of Fortunes Vanna White. The world-famous letter-turner said, Im not really a journalist by training, but I might give it a spin.
-30-
The number of New York City residents on welfare fell to about 402,000 last month, the lowest level since 1964 down sharply from the peak of 1.2 million people in 1995. Upon hearing the news of growing employment and shrinking dependency on government, New York Democrats called an emergency summit to deal with the crisis.
-30-
Scientists have discovered a fossil near the Arctic circle which they say provides a missing link between sea-dwellers and land-based animals. The creature, with a head like an alligator and a body like a fish, may have been able to breathe air and even waddle across land for short distances. The journal Nature says the find is the most important evidence for evolution since the discovery of the jack-a-lope.
-30-
In an attempt to break the Senate deadlock on immigration reform, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel and Florida Sen. Mel Martinez proposed a bill today that would crack down on recent illegal immigrants, yet offer a path to citizenship for those who violated U.S. immigration law before January 2001. Under the terms of the measure, roughly six million undocumented workers living in the U.S. for five years or more would be granted guest worker visas and then hired to work for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. With the INS, they would try to find and deport six million others who broke U.S. law more recently. Sen. Hagel, reportedly a Republican, said putting our illegal amigos on the federal payroll, will help us keep track of them. As federal bureaucrats, their high pay and excellent government health insurance will keep them from becoming a burden on American taxpayers.
-30-
In related news, Sen. Hillary Clinton, of New York, said yesterday that under the immigration reform bill, already passed by the House, she could be jailed for giving assistance to undocumented workers who live among her constituents. It was not immediately clear if the senator would serve time in the same correctional facility as the Good Samaritan and Jesus of Nazareth.
-30-
The 2006 Congressional Pig Book hit the stores yesterday, with a list of $3.4 billion in Congressional spending for pork-barrel projects. A coalition of senators from the south immediately earmarked $14 million for a study to determine if next years Congressional Pig Book could be printed on domestically-grown tobacco leaves.
-30-
#1
Scientists have discovered a fossil near the Arctic circle which they say provides a missing link between sea-dwellers and land-based animals. The creature, with a head like an alligator and a body like a fish, may have been able to breathe air and even waddle across land for short distances. The journal Nature says the find is the most important evidence for evolution since the discovery of the jack-a-lope.
/we lived on jack-a-lope back in the winter of 19 and 21..ah the memories »:-)
The Arab League will send a delegation to the Iraqi capital next week to open an office in the city, paving the way for a stronger Arab involvement in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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#1
Arab holders of the Khaliphate did not do well by Allah. The restoration of the Khaliph must go to a Pakistani, for only Pakistan had the national will and scholarship to develop the atom bomb without the assistance of anyone. Lahore must be the new centre of the Muslim world.
#2
There will never be a Khaliphate, neither Pakistani nor Saudi, Salafi, Deobandi or otherwise. If we have to glass over the entire world to ensure it. Be wise, Yusef Islam, and explain this to your Muslim brothers so that they understand -- they will not succeed in imposing Islam on the world, neither by force, nor by pursuasion, nor by displacing Westerners by outbreeding them.
Dr. Khan stole the information needed to make the Pakistani nuclear bomb from the European laboratory at which he worked for some years. He did not develop the knowledge and techniques independently. If this little Midwestern housewife knows as much, Yusef Islam, why do not you also?
A car bomb has exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, killing at least 13 people and wounding about 40 others. Police said the blast occurred on Thursday between an ancient cemetery and the Imam Ali shrine, one of the most sacred Shia sites. The mosque was not damaged. "When the black Opel car exploded, I could only see human flesh flying in the air," said Mahmoud Mohsin, 38, a drinks seller, who was being treated in hospital for head wounds. Hospital officials said the bomb killed 13 people and wounded about 40 others, but police put the death toll at 15. A Reuters correspondent saw 10 bodies and body parts on the ground. Najaf is 160km south of Baghdad.
In February, the bombing of another Shia shrine in the town of Samarra touched off reprisals and pushed Iraq to the edge of a full-blown sectarian conflict.
And they're still trying, aren't they?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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Two people were killed and several injured when groups of Hindus and Muslims clashed over prayers at a Hindu temple in north India. Officials said the rioting erupted in a crowded neighbourhood of Aligarh town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday after Muslims objected to the use of loudspeakers overnight by Hindus, who were celebrating the birthday of the Hindu god-king, Rama. "Additional police, including riot police, have been deployed in affected areas and a curfew has been imposed," said S K Aggarwal, the principal home secretary for Uttar Pradesh.
Knives, bricks and bamboo sticks were used in the fighting, and police reported gunshots. Eight of the injured were in a critical condition, officials said. Aligarh, which has a large Muslim population, has been the scene of frequent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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Pakistani forces have killed at least 40 pro-Taliban militants in a tribal region near the Afghan border, the military said. Major-General Shaukat Sultan, a military spokesman, told Reuters on Thursday: "Latest information shows that at least 40 miscreants were killed." Army sources had earlier put the tally at 16.
Pakistani forces launched a counter-offensive using helicopter gunships on Wednesday after militants killed four paramilitary troops in an attack on their post in the Shawal area of North Waziristan. Shawal is about 50km west of North Waziristan's main town of Miranshah. A statement from the administration of tribal affairs in North West Frontier Province said 19 militants were arrested and they all came from North and South Waziristan. It said about 150 militants were involved in the fighting.
Tensions have been running high in North Waziristan since last month's clashes in which around 200 tribesmen were killed. The tribesmen were answering a call to arms by militant Muslim clerics after a special forces attack on an al-Qaeda camp.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2006
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Al Gore brought corporate executives and environmentally minded investors roaring to their feet Thursday with multimedia images of an overheating planet and a call for Americans to reclaim their "moral authority" by tackling global warming.
At least 40 people have died in a suicide bombing attack on a Shia mosque in Baghdad, Iraqi police said today. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Buratha mosque in the north of the capital, one inside the building and the other outside, Reuters reported. Sky News said at least 47 people had been killed in the blast. Reports suggested between 35 and 40 people had been wounded in the attack.
There has been a suicide car bomb attack outside the US military base in the capital of the Afghan province of Helmand, Lashkar Gah, officials say. The provincial governor told the BBC the attack was aimed at Dyncorp, a US company training the Afghan police force in poppy eradication work. The US military says three US nationals suffered minor injuries. 
The police in Lilongwe Thursday arrested three people in broad daylight at Lilongwe Hotel for being found in possession of male sexual organs. 
Britain's defense secretary says international terror has the potential to become civilization's most dangerous enemy because al-Qaida fighters have access to destructive modern technology.
QUETTA: Around ten thousand expelled Maisuri, Raiheja and Kalpar Bugti tribesmen have so far returned to their native villages in Dera Bugti, District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi told reporters on Thursday. Lsi said the returning tribesmen were being rehabilitated and the government was providing them tractors, seeds sheep and goats. Life has returned to the area and the civil administration has already been resorted in the district, he said. Schools and shops have also reopened in the area, he added.
ISLAMABAD: People trying to destabilise China using the "Tibet card" and "religion card" oppose regional peace and stability, and as such are Pakistan's enemies, said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) secretary general, on Thursday.
KARACHI: Two guards and a driver of Akhtar Mengal, the president of the Balochistan National Party, are in the custody of intelligence agencies and have yet to be produced before any court of law in Karachi, claimed MNA Abdul Rauf Mengal of the BNP at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday. Rauf Mengal said he and other party leaders had gone to the Darakhsan police station to see their men and obtain information on where they were going to be produced for remand. "But the SHO told us that all the men — Mehboob Ali, Haider and Nasrullah - had been taken away by the personnel of intelligence agencies," he added. Mengal said the charges against the three men were still unknown, as when they went to the police station they were told that intelligence officials had taken the 154 CrPC Book (FIR book) with them.
MULTAN: The District Bar Association (DBA) in Multan has decided to send a lawyers delegation to Denmark to file a case against people who were involved in the publishing of caricatures of Holy Prophet (
Indias premier investigating agency the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested five people including three former naval officials in the Navys War Room leak case, more than a month after the Defence Ministry handed over the probe to the investigating agency. At least 17 places were raided countrywide after the agency registered a case against nine people, including Ravi Shankaran, a kin of navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, in connection with the case under the Officials Secrets Act. 
MITHI: An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale jolted Tharparkar district and parts of the Indian state of Rajasthan across the border at about 5:30 pm on Thursday. Thousands of people in Mithi, Diplo, Nagarparkar, Chhachhro, Islamkot and Thariyo Halepota village came out of their homes and shops in fear. The epicentre of the quake was in the Runn of Kutch, an official of the Meteorological Department in Tharparkar said. No loss of life and property was reported.
The Palestinian prime minister has rejected a decision by the president to assume security control over the Gaza Strip's border crossings. The decision by Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday night highlights tensions with Hamas in the wake of the Islamist group's victory over the president's long-dominant Fatah in elections in January. Officials close to Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, said he had come under pressure from the European Union, which threatened to withdraw its monitors from the key Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt in response to Hamas's rise to power.
At least 69 people have died after a boat carrying passengers to a traditional festival capsized in the Red Sea off the coast of Djibouti in East Africa. The wooden boat laden with construction materials and three times the passengers it was built for, sank just 100 metres from the port in Djibouti, a tiny Red Sea state, witnesses said. It was sailing for the town of Tadjoura, 35km northeast, when it went down shortly around 1pm local time on a pilgrimage known as Djamaad.
US Senate leaders have declared a breakthrough on a long-sought overhaul of the country's immigration law, clearing the path to possible citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, if among other things, they register for military service.
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday claimed to have found evidence that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was involved in the United Nations oil-for-food scandal in Iraq. Bhutto gave a $2 million commission to the defunct regime of Saddam Hussein to win contracts worth $115 million through two Sharjah-based companies she registered in 2000 and 2001, Hassan Waseem Afzal, NAB deputy chairman, told reporters here. He also released documents suggesting Bhuttos connections with international companies involved in the scam and facing prosecution in their countries.
QUETTA: A part of the main gas pipeline in Hub exploded late on Thursday. No casualty was reported and authorities are investigating the cause of the blast. Police officials said that a boundary wall near the pipeline had been damaged and small parts of the pipeline had spread in the area. They said that preliminary investigations revealed did not show any signs of sabotage. "The pipeline might have exploded because of the gas pressure," they added. Police and gas company officials from Karachi have cordoned off the area and repair has started.
President George W. Bush faced a rare display of hostility from the public at a forum, when a man said he should be "ashamed of yourself". 
The leaders of Egypt and Israel have announced plans to meet as soon as the Israeli prime minister puts together a government, officials say. Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president, called to congratulate Ehud Olmert on his being asked by the Israeli president on Thursday to head a government after winning the general election last month. A statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said: "The two agreed to meet immediately after a government is formed." Mubarak also wished Olmert good luck at forging a coalition.
A car bomb has exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, killing at least 13 people and wounding about 40 others. Police said the blast occurred on Thursday between an ancient cemetery and the Imam Ali shrine, one of the most sacred Shia sites. The mosque was not damaged. "When the black Opel car exploded, I could only see human flesh flying in the air," said Mahmoud Mohsin, 38, a drinks seller, who was being treated in hospital for head wounds. Hospital officials said the bomb killed 13 people and wounded about 40 others, but police put the death toll at 15. A Reuters correspondent saw 10 bodies and body parts on the ground. Najaf is 160km south of Baghdad. 
Two people were killed and several injured when groups of Hindus and Muslims clashed over prayers at a Hindu temple in north India. Officials said the rioting erupted in a crowded neighbourhood of Aligarh town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday after Muslims objected to the use of loudspeakers overnight by Hindus, who were celebrating the birthday of the Hindu god-king, Rama. "Additional police, including riot police, have been deployed in affected areas and a curfew has been imposed," said S K Aggarwal, the principal home secretary for Uttar Pradesh.
Pakistani forces have killed at least 40 pro-Taliban militants in a tribal region near the Afghan border, the military said. Major-General Shaukat Sultan, a military spokesman, told Reuters on Thursday: "Latest information shows that at least 40 miscreants were killed." Army sources had earlier put the tally at 16.
