LEBANON'S Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia claimed today to have hit the Israeli army's northern headquarters twice in two hours with mortars, causing casualties.
The Israeli army confirmed a mortar shell had hit the Branit army base near the Israeli border town of Netua, but said no one was injured. Branit is the headquarters of the army division in charge of the Lebanese border.
After the second attack, the Shiite militia boasted of having "once again bombarded the Branit base."
Hezbollah's armed wing, the Islamic Resistance, said it had "bombarded the command centre of the Galilee contingent with artillery and rockets in retaliation for the continued aggressions by the Israeli army."
"The post took a direct hit and there were losses in enemy ranks," it said in a statement.
An Israeli army spokesman said a second mortar shell had landed inside the Israeli army headquarters. "There's been another mortar shell, but so far no injuries or damage."
A bomb dropped by an IAF warplane destroyed the Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City early Thursday, wounding at least three people and causing widespread damage in the area.
The IDF confirmed it carried out the airstrike noting that it is "led by Hamas."
The wounded were in neighboring buildings, and it was not known if anyone was in the ministry at the time. Ambulances and rescue services raced to the scene.
Houses and cars in the area were badly damaged by the force of the blast, and the third and fourth floor of the foreign ministry building were destroyed
#3
Dang it Uri I TOLD you that a 1,000 kg bomb wasn't big enough.
Next time use the 2,000 kg model.
Dang smart aleck pilots. Give em an F-16 and they think they know every frickin' thing.
#4
My only regret about the current festivities is that it wasn't done during Arafat's infatada and we didn't get to turn that terrorist @##@!@#$ into raspberry jam with a JDAM
#6
Why at night? The people that need killing would be there during the day.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/12/2006 20:49
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#7
About bloody time.....yes? Let's see if the Bush Administration trys to talk Israel into "a measured approach and diplomacy". It has often been my mantraa that if we left the Israeli's to their own devices in the '67 six day war the world at large and the middle east in particular would not be in the condiiton they are today.....just my humble opinion.
New Delhi, July 12 (PTI): In the midst of controversy on the OBC quota in elite educational instituions, HRD Minister Arjun Singh today said that Muslims could be given reservation under the Constitutional norms of backwardness.
At the same time, he made it clear that there was no plan to give reservation to any community on religious basis.
Talking to reporters at the conclusion of a two-day meeting of National Monitoring Committee of Minority Education here, the HRD Minister said "under the Constitutional norms, Muslims can get reservation".
He gave this reply when asked whether Muslims can get reservation under the proposed OBC quota as also whether reservation to minorities was possible in the wake of the Andhra Pradesh High Court judgement striking down such a move.
Singh sidestepped the demand of the Kerala Government for inclusion of the controversial Self Financing Colleges Bill, passed recently by the State Assembly, in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.
"There are Constitutional matters and should be taken up in a Constitutional manner. There is a procedure and the Home Ministry handles the whole thing. Centre-States matters should not be discussed and decided like this. It needs careful examination", he said.
The Kerala Bill had come under attack from section of Muslim and Christian communities which are running such institutions in the State.
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006
18:32 ||
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Do they mean land grant reservations, such as the Native Americans have by treaty in the US, or quotas for jobs, university places and business contracts for government work to make up for communal disabilities?
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - A Hamas militant leader who has topped Israel's most-wanted list for a decade was badly wounded and underwent four hours of spinal surgery Wednesday after an Israeli F-16 warplane dropped a quarter-ton bomb that killed nine members of one family, security officials said.
The top fugitive, Mohammed Deif, could end up paralyzed, Palestinian security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his condition. Wednesday's blast marked the army's fourth attempt to kill Deif, held responsible for suicide bombings in Israel. In a 2002 missile strike, he lost an eye.
An eye here, a spine there ...
Wednesday's airstrike on a home in a crowded Gaza City neighborhood was by far the deadliest in Israel's 15-day military campaign in Gaza, launched after Hamas-allied militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Israel's air force targeted the two-story house of Nabil Abu Salmiyeh, a Hamas activist and university lecturer, after getting intelligence information that the leaders of Hamas' military wing, responsible for the abduction of the soldier, were meeting there. Palestinian security officials said seven or eight top Hamas officials were present.
The blast wounded 37 people, three critically, said Health Minister Bassem Naim. Hospital officials said Raed Saad, a top Hamas operative, was among the wounded, but details of his condition weren't released. Abu Salmiyeh, his wife, and seven of his nine children, ages 4-18, all died.
Hamas initially said its leaders had emerged safely from the 2:30 a.m. attack, but Palestinian security officials later said Deif and several other leading militants were hurt.
Anyone 'stable'?
Hamas militants took over the intensive care unit at Gaza's Shifa Hospital on Wednesday. Several people were being treated, including some in critical condition, medical officials said. Black-uniformed Hamas gunmen stood guard. A large bearded man blocked people from entering, permitting only a team of doctors and top Hamas officials such as Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar to pass. The guard angrily declined to say who was being treated.
"None of your bidness! Amscray!"
Israeli officials accused the militants of using civilians as a shield by meeting in a private home. ``Israel is compelled to take action against those planning to unleash lethal terror attacks against Israeli citizens,'' said David Baker, an official in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. ``Palestinian terrorist leaders continue to take refuge among and hide behind their own civilians.''
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
18:05 ||
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#1
How many hospitals can he be in in hellhole gaza? Watch it and helizap ALL ambulances leaving.
"seven of his nine children, ages 4-18, all died."
Not good.
He shouldn't have been around them. He was a legitimate target; being around civilians puts the blame for their deaths on him.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/12/2006 20:57
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#12
I'm sure he's filled with elation shame. Scumbag should be sterilized so he can't kill any more children by his activities
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2006 21:19
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#13
Moral of this story: 500 pounders are good for one story concrete structures. Next time use a 1000 pounder, or a 2000 pounder and be certain.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 22:00
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#14
Zark took 2 ea 500 lb bombs and lived for a bit afterward. These guys take a lickin' and keep on tickin', at least for the time it takes their mainsprings to run down.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2006 22:26
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#15
when your higher thinking is in your ass and cortex, it takes a thumping to terminate....like roaches
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2006 22:40
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WASHINGTON, July 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer released the following statement today condemning Hezbollah for seizing two Israeli soldiers:
"The House Democratic leadership strongly condemns the seizure of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah terrorists operating from Lebanon. This action, following so closely the seizure of an Israeli soldier by Hamas terrorists operating from Gaza, further dims the prospects for peace in the Middle East. Countries with influence over Hezbollah, particularly Syria and Iran, must move quickly to bring about the return of the soldiers and the end of rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. The Palestinian Authority, and countries with influence over Hamas, must take similar action in Gaza.
"Those who finance, direct, or otherwise support acts like these need to understand that they have produced an extremely dangerous situation and that they are responsible for the consequences. Israel has an inherent right to defend itself, and the United States supports our ally. The sooner the soldiers are returned and those who seized them brought under control, the better for everyone concerned about the future of the Middle East."
OK, who are you and what have you done with our Nancy?
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
17:50 ||
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#1
Woah! Either it is a sign of the End Times or there is a Nancy-shaped pod lying in a basement somewhere in Washington.
#2
And no linkage to other issues. Both hostage takings could only be achieved through government financing. That is: Iran.
We have an interventionist, pro-Israel (to a point) President who doesn't have to play to another electorate. At the last election, Bush said that he won "political capital" and was going to spend it. Yes, now stop shopping.
#8
Can't help but remember Rove's speech in New Hampshire, speaking of the Democrats and war, "They may be with you for the first shots," Rove said of such opponents. "But they're not going . . . to be with you for the tough battles."
#14
They know the most of the people in the US support Israel's right to exist. Talk is cheap, and it pays to be on the right side, at least verbally. I would not like to be Israel and depend on people like Pelosi for my life.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2006 22:29
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#15
Nuke halflife>>> greater than Donk/Pelosi support halflife, which averages about half the time to the next poll
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2006 22:41
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#1
Eastern Europe seems like it has an affinity for the U.S. They seem to be eager allies. Quite a difference from western Europe.
Western Europe can get their own goddamned interceptors for all I care.
Of course they are so much more intelligent than us, they can probably bring down ICBM's with a focused beam of hauteur.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
07/12/2006 20:02
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#3
Eastern Europe all has the same theme: for all those years we were under the thumb of Russia, and only America said anything in our behalf. We knew there wasn't much they could do, but they were always hoping that we could become free again.
We also remember how contented western Europe was for us to live under Russia's boot.
Here is a picture by a Hungarian artist depicting President Nixon as a Moses-like figure, leading the Hungarian people out of bondage.
It's a SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM so I'm not sure whether to take with a grain or a shovel full of salt, but y'all judge for yourselves.
Iranian military representatives attended North Korea's Taepodong-2 missile launch, according to Japanese news reports.
At least 10 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attended the Taepodong-2 intermediate missile launch. Japan's Sankei Shimbun and South Korea's official Yonhap news agency reported the IRGC personnel were senior engineers who sought to learn from Pyongyang's missile program.
Yonhap reported on July 1 that the IRGC engineers participated in the preparation for the Taepodong launch. The news agency said the IRGC has been examining Chinese-origin missile technology for Iranian procurement.
South Korean sources said Iran and North Korea could be planning a project for the joint development of new liquid missile propellant. Yonhap quoted the sources as saying that the propellant could be used for both Iranian and North Korean missiles.
Teheran and Pyongyang were said to be major partners in missile and nuclear weapons development. Western intelligence sources said Iran has been financing North Korea's intermediate-range ballistic missile program.
In December 2005, a North Korean ship docked in Bandar Abbas and was said to have unloaded about a dozen intermediate-range missiles. The missiles were identified as a variant of the Russian-origin SS-N-4, which could be fitted with a nuclear warhead.
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela-owned Citgo Petroleum Corp. has decided to stop distributing gasoline to some 1,800 U.S. stations, shedding a lackluster segment of its business while forcing the owners of those stations to find other suppliers.
While it may create some logistical headaches for gasoline retailers in the short term, the move should not have any impact on the nation's overall fuel supply.
Citgo, which is wholly owned by Venezuela's state oil company, currently has to purchase 130,000 barrels a day from third parties in order to meet its service contracts at 13,100 stations across the U.S. This is less profitable than selling gasoline directly from its refineries.
Instead, the Houston-based company has decided to sell to retailers only the 750,000 barrels a day that it produces at three U.S. refineries in Lake Charles, La., Corpus Christi, Texas and Lemont, Ill., according to a statement late Tuesday.
That will mean that over the next year Citgo will cease distributing gasoline in 10 states and stop supplying some stations in four additional states, Citgo spokesman Fernando Garay said Wednesday.
Chavez has long claimed that parts of Citgo's business produce losses for Venezuela and constitute a subsidy for the U.S. economy.
Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has also charged that Citgo isn't profitable enough and that its parent, state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, could at some point sell off some of the company's refineries.
However, in a sign of the apparently lucrative relationship between the two companies, PDVSA announced Wednesday that it has so far earned $400 million in dividends this year from Citgo.
The states where Citgo will stop selling gasoline are: Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Dakota. A limited number of stations in Illinois, Texas, Arkansas and Iowa will also be affected.
Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and the U.S. is its top buyer. The United States relied on Venezuela for about 11 percent of its oil supply in 2005.
1:16 PM (ET)
QASMIYEH, Lebanon (Reuters) - Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed at least seven on Wednesday in what Israel described as an act of war by Lebanon that would draw a "very painful" response. The sources said the Israeli soldiers had been seized at around 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) across the border from Aita al-Shaab, some 15 km (nine miles) from the Mediterranean coast.
Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the two soldiers had been seized to force Israel to release prisoners. "What we did today ... is the only feasible path to free detainees from Israeli jails," he told a news conference in Beirut, proposing "indirect" negotiations, not confrontation.
He said the operation had been in the works for five months. The Shi'ite movement has made two previous failed attempts to catch Israeli soldiers for a prisoner swap in less than a year.
Hizbollah's bold cross-border attack returned it to the frontline of the Middle East conflict. It inflicted the heaviest losses Israel has suffered on its northern border since it withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, and drew Prime Minister Ehud Olmert into a second crisis over captured Israeli soldiers.
Lebanese civilians braced for Israeli bombs, but many people in the mainly Shi'ite south expressed defiance. "The resistance has given us a balance of power and Israel will pay the price for any retaliation," said Hussein Mohammed, 55. Two Lebanese civilians were killed in an Israeli air raid on a coastal bridge at Qasmiyeh. Bombs hit eight other bridges in the south and 16 Lebanese were wounded, security sources said.
The Israeli army confirmed that two Israeli soldiers had been captured and at least seven killed on the Lebanese frontier. A military source said the toll could rise.
Hizbollah supporters set off firecrackers and distributed sweets in the streets of Beirut in celebration.
Israeli ground forces crossed into Lebanon to hunt for the missing soldiers, Israeli Army Radio said. Nasrallah said Hizbollah fighters had repelled the incursion. Nasrallah said one Hizbollah fighter was killed in Israeli air raids, along with several civilians. Nasrallah said the Israeli captives were in a secure place, but gave no details on their condition.
Traffic was thin on roads in the south amid sporadic Israeli shelling of border areas. An Israeli rocket hit a car carrying a crew from Lebanese New Television, wounding all three.
Israeli troops have not struck deep into Lebanon since they withdrew six years ago after an 18-year war of attrition by Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbollah fighters. "It is an act of war by the state of Lebanon against the state of Israel in its sovereign territory," Olmert said of Hizbollah's action, threatening a "very painful" response.
In 2004, Hizbollah swapped a kidnapped Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers for more than 420 Arab prisoners after German mediation. Germany said on Wednesday it was contacting Middle Eastern capitals about the two captured Israeli soldiers, but declined to say if it was prepared to mediate again. Hizbollah, the only Lebanese faction to retain its weapons after the 1975-90 civil war, is also a political party with 14 members in the Beirut parliament and two cabinet ministers.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan led widespread international calls for Hizbollah to free the captured Israelis. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice condemned the Hizbollah attack, urged all sides to show restraint and asked Syria "to use its influence to support a positive outcome."
In Gaza, Israel killed nine members of a Palestinian family in an air strike that destroyed a three-storey residential building where top Hamas commanders were believed to be meeting.
The bombing was among a series of attacks that killed a total of 22 Palestinians as Israeli forces swept into central Gaza on Wednesday, broadening an offensive aimed at freeing a captured soldier and halting cross-border rocket fire. The Israeli military said the air raid wounded Mohammad Deif, leader of the governing Hamas's armed wing. A spokesman for Hamas's Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades denied Deif was hurt.
Israel's ground campaign in Gaza, the first since it left the territory last year, has killed about 78 Palestinians.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has vowed that "no-one can make India kneel", a day after a series of train bombings in Mumbai killed 200 people. In a TV address, Mr Singh said those affected by the rush hour attacks had responded with "courage and humanism". "I urge each one of you to remain calm," the prime minister said. "Do not be provoked by rumours. Do not let anyone divide us. Our strength lies in our unity."
Mr Singh commended the work of police, firefighters and medics and said his country would not be cowed. "No-one can come in the path of our progress," he said. "The wheels of our economy will move on.
"India will continue to walk tall, and with confidence."
Maharashtra deputy chief minister RR Patil told the state assembly the death toll had risen overnight, with 200 bodies now pulled from the wreckage. But on Wednesday morning, the commuter trains, which carry six million people to work every day, were up and running again and crowded as usual with passengers. "I will go on the train today again. I am not afraid of death," said Prashant Singh, a software engineer who was on the train that was bombed at Bandra station.
While the front pages of local newspapers carried stories detailing the terrible carnage, inside the headlines emphasised Mumbai's "invincible" spirit. Correspondents also report long lines of Mumbai's minority Muslims queuing to donate blood to some of the 714 wounded in the blasts.
Meanwhile India's stock market confounded predictions, rising three percentage points on the morning after the bombings.
But tensions became apparent on Wednesday, when a spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry accused Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri of an "appalling" attempt to link the bombings to the failure to resolve the dispute over Kashmir. Spokesman Navtej Sarna also urged Pakistan to "dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism" on territory under its control.
Pakistan's foreign ministry later rejected the accusations in a statement, saying Mr Kasuri's remarks had been misreported and denying he had drawn a link between the bombings and the Kashmir dispute. It insisted Pakistan was "in the forefront of international efforts to fight [the] menace" of terrorism.
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006
16:13 ||
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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has vowed that "no-one can make India kneel", a day after a series of train bombings in Mumbai killed 200 people.
Okay. That's a good start. Now what is to be done?
#4
--"Americans have a severe disease worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex," he said. "You want an American style-democracy here. That will not work."--
Why not and what kind of "democracy" does he envision?
Irans national security adviser Ali Larijani flies to Damascus aboad special military plane Wednesday night as war tension builds up around Hizballah kidnap of 2 Israeli soldiers
Larijani is also Irans senior nuclear negotiator. He will remain in Damascus for the duration of the crisis in line with the recently Iranian-Syrian mutual defense pact. His presence affirms that an Israeli attack on Syria will be deemed an assault on Iran. It also links the Israeli hostage crisis to Irans nuclear standoff with the West.
The White House released a statement holding Syria and Iran responsible for Hizballah abduction and demanding their immediate and unconditional release.
Continued on Page 49
DEBKAfile reports: Irans national security adviser Ali Larijani flies to Damascus aboad special military plane Wednesday night as war tension builds up around Hizballah kidnap of 2 Israeli soldiers. Larijani is also Irans senior nuclear negotiator. He will remain in Damascus for the duration of the crisis in line with the recently Iranian-Syrian mutual defense pact. His presence affirms that an Israeli attack on Syria will be deemed an assault on Iran.
Kind of like a Austria-Hungary attack on Serbia was deemed an assault on Russia. And we all know how that worked out.
It also links the Israeli hostage crisis to Irans nuclear standoff with the West. The White House released a statement holding Syria and Iran responsible for Hizballah abduction and demanding their immediate and unconditional release.
So, we're playing the part of.....Germany? Better dust off the von Schlieffen Plan, Herr Rumsfeld
The Syrian army has been put on a state of preparedness.
And Belgium Lebanon is nervous.
DEBKAfiles military sources add that the Iranian air force, missile units and navy are also on high alert.
Mobilization starts, trains begin to roll, I've seen this movie.
DEBKAfiles counter-terror sources report Hizballah acted on orders from Tehran to open a second front against Israel, partly to ease IDF military pressure on the Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This was in response to an appeal Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal made to the Iranian ambassador to Damascus Mohammad Hassan Akhtari Sunday, July 9.
DEBKAfiles Iranian sources report Tehrans rationale as composed of three parts:
1. Iran shows the flag as a champion and defender of its ally, Hamas.
2. Sending Hizballah to open a warfront against Israel is the logical tactical complement to its latest order to go into action against American and British forces in southern Iraq.
3. Tehran hopes to hijack the agenda before the G-8 summit opening in St. Petersberg, Russia on July 15. Instead of discussing Irans nuclear case and the situation in Iraq along the lines set by President George W. Bush, the leaders of the industrial nations will be forced to address the Middle East flare-up.
Following in the long tradition of starting a war to avoid solving a problem at home
Any Israeli decision taken at prime minister Ehud Olmerts high level consultation in Jerusalem Wednesday night must take this turn of events into account before deciding on limited air strikes against Hizballah and Lebanese civil targets without delay.
Our sources also report that immediately after Nasrallahs statement to the media, Hizballahs leaders went into hiding, their bases were evacuated and their fighting strength transferred to pre-planned places of concealment. Ahead of the abduction, Hizballah ordnance and missile stocks were transferred to the Palestinian Ahmed Jibrils tunnel system at Naama, 30 km south of Beirut, which was built in the 1980s by East German engineers.
Manning the Maginot Line, so to speak.
The Israel navy has long tried to smash this coastal underground fortress from the sea without success.
Israel began calling up an armored division, air crews and technicians from the reserves Wednesday night.
Can you say, Blitzkrieg?
DEBKAfiles military experts: If Israels leaders opt for an anti-Hizballah operation on the lines of Operation Summer Rain against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the IDF can expect the same measure of success as it has had in recovering Gilead Shalit and ending the Qassam missiles barrage.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
16:02 ||
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#1
Sigh, third in line. That's what I get for being creative.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006 16:36
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#5
Hezbollah was conceived in 1982 by a group of Muslim clerics after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It was close to a contingent of some 2000 Iranian Revolutionary guards, based in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, which had been sent to the country to aid the resistance against Israel.
In 1983, militants who went on to join Hezbollah ranks carried out a suicide bombing attack that killed 241 US marines in Beirut.
#6
Nah, I think this is part of a Syrian plan to re-occupy Lebanon. They have Hezbollah precipitate the Israeli action and then Syria comes to the "rescue" to "defend" Lebanon from an Isreali action that Syria itself precipitated in order to justify that re-occupation.
#13
The trip was planned before the kidnapping. I smell a link.
Rantburg posters aren't happy with IDF operations in Gaza. They could find the rockets, and Hamas and al-JIhad safe houses, etc by using strategic detentions. Seize 100 Palestinians, and at least one will be fed up enough with the leadership, to start pointing fingers. Would that be kidnapping? Not under US law; investigative detentions are legal (Terry v Ohio) as long as the person is held only during investigation. Internationally, short duration custody would probably be acceptable.
I know its frustrating to hold territory where offensive weapons are stashed, while not being allowed to conduct effective searches.
As I have mentioned in other posts, Ahmadinejad has been holding mass anti-Israel rallies all over Iran. Something is in the air.
#14
What was in the trucks that left Iraq for Syria ahead of the invasion? Where is it now? What does Iran mean when it warns Israel of 'devastating attack from afar'? Is that the sharia-required 'warning'?
This is a set-up that has been waiting some time for a 'trigger' - it is hard to miss the similarities between the assassination of 'one man' by an 'unaccountable' foe in 1914 and the kidnapping in a similar situation in Gaza. Triggers that lead to essentially pre-ordained catastrophe - for one or both sides. I fear there may be no good way out.
#15
"Iranian National Security Advisor in Damascus"
One word: TARGET.
At this point it wouldn't surprise me if he takes the two kidnaped Israeli soldiers back to Iran as human shields for his centrifuges.
#18
Glenmore's thinking along the same lines as I've been. We don't know what was in those trucks, but I can guess what the Iranians and Syrians WANT it to have been.
#19
Once again Iran has manufactured a diversion to keep attention focused away from its nuclear program. Because Ali Larijani will be 'pre-occupied' with the 'crisis' and because he is the one who is to respond to the nuclear package I can see the Iranians with Russian and Chinese help delaying a resolution for at least a month.
Posted by: DanNY ||
07/12/2006 22:36
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Israel has ALWAYS kicked butt in battle. Out come has always been way lop sided in favor of Israel.
Syrai and Iran had better realize, they do not need the wrath of Israel to break out upon their asses.
In the last twenty-five years the Muslim world has witnessed a very significant increase in the appeal of Islamism among their people. The overthrow of monarchy and the emergence of the masses-based leadership of the ayatollahs in Iran; the demand for incorporating Sharia as the law of the land; the appeal to incorporate Nizam-e-mustafa in Muslim countries; the vehement opposition to Western military attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan among Muslims all over the world; the global Muslim backing to Iran in its effort to develop nuclear technology, indicates that this trend is proving to be a viable rallying point for mobilizing the Muslim masses.
Muslims the world over do not form a homogenous community. Apart from differences in languages and cultures the class divisions and economic inequalities are wide and sharp. Islam is not an autonomous and independent category but only one of the many factors which shape the attitudes of Muslims wherever they may be.
To understand the reasons for the resurgence of Islam as a political system in recent years one should review the background of the Muslim societies in the preceding decades, which may be surmised as follows.
Substantial economic gain in the middle-eastern countries due to increased oil revenues did not result in reducing socio-economic inequalities in Muslim societies. The dispossessed and alienated classes in the Muslim societies who are in majority have chosen Islam as a vehicle to express their discontent. They feel that Western liberalism is opposed to the Islamic way of life. The assessment of a vocal majority in the Muslim world has resulted in the condemnation of past ideologies. The failure of socialism, Marxism, liberalism, Western capitalism in military, economic, political and social fields encouraged the search for a different ideological framework for political movements. The people of West Asia are returning to the all embracing ideology of Islam which once permeated all aspects of their lives and struggles.
The credibility of the Muslim champions of Western liberalism who criticize the Islamic ideology has plummeted in the Muslim world. In the absence of other channels mosques have become viable means of expression of the popular resentment of the masses against Western imposition of their culture in Muslim societies.
It is interesting to note that the content of Islamism differs from country to country. In Iran it was the basis for the struggle of the masses against monarchy. In Afghanistan it was first the basis for nationalism against the Soviet occupation and later a basis for restoring law and order. In Pakistan it was first a tool for legitimizing the rule of the army junta and later a movement to restore democracy. In Egypt it is an effort to promote democracy against an authoritarian government. In Saudi Arabia it is a plea for keeping the royal family in power. In Morocco and Tunisia it means the condemnation of modernism. In Turkey the conservative party leaders want to use Islam for partisan politics. In Sudan it is the basis for keeping the country from breaking apart under the strain of tribal rivalries.
The diverse application of Islamism brings up the need to understand the ideology of this movement. Based on the observations of various social scientists the following could be construed as the elements of Islamism.
Islam is a comprehensive way of life and is integral to politics, state, law and society.Muslim societies have failed in recent times because they departed from the understanding of Islam and followed Western secular and materialistic values. Islamic renewal calls for an Islamic political and social revolution that draws its inspiration from Quran and prophet Mohammad who led the first Islamic movement. To establish Allahs rule a Western inspired civil law must be replaced by the Islamic law which is the blueprint of a Muslim society. While the Westernization of Muslim societies is decried, modernization is not. Science and education are accepted but they are to be subordinate to Islam in order guard against the infiltration of Western social values. Establishing an Islamic system of government is not simply an alternative but an imperative.
That brings us to the inevitable question of the future of Islamism as a movement in Muslim societies. It is a grim reminder of the historical fact that Muslims are no longer in-charge of their own destiny. It is the realization that efforts to modernize and protect societys cohesion requires a serious re-examination of the Islamic heritage as a potential mode of action.
The term Islamism suggests not a program but a style and above all a mindset. The preoccupation of the critics of the Islamic movement with programs and solutions that leave the movement open to accusation of naiveté is misplaced. Even the most benighted rulers whether Muslim or not will usually respond to pragmatic concerns. Whatever one might think of the Islamic government of Iran, the heritage of Ali, Hasan, Husain, the Sharia and the Shia-Sunni theological conflict, it remains true that the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran are managing a democratic state.
The fact that the rulers of Iran are animated by Islamic convictions does not seem to be leading to the downfall of the regime in a situation where Western powers are openly targeting Iran with a well-planned hostile action from the outside and well orchestrated internal subversion.
The fear of those who see in Islams resurgence some great revolt against modernity is mistaken. Whether Muslims respond to the Islamic message on the material level of class and social interest groups, or the ideal level of spirit and mind, nothing suggests that the crisis of identity which inspires the message is near an end. For this reason it is most useful to view the Islamic revival movement not as a narrow and specific programmatic entity with discrete beginning and ending points, but as a broad endeavor which Muslims are pursuing as a necessary aspect of contending with the bad situation of Muslims in the contemporary world.
There is no predictable conclusion to the movement. Whether it will bring joy to its adherents or it is another attempt to regain equal footing with the Western system is hard to say. What we are more likely to see is the emergence of a heterogeneous multiplicity of social character within the world of Islam.
The writer is a community activist in Washington DC. He can be reached at: kaleemkawaja@hotmail.com
Mr Kawaja lives in Washington DC where he works as an engineering manager in the Space Science program of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Mr Kawaja is originally from Kanpur, India. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brooklyn Polutechnic Institute, New York.
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006
16:02 ||
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#7
It was a viable political system when people were covered with hair, lived in caves, and hunted mastadons. Well, maybe not mastadons. There is no mention of them in the Koran, so they never existed.
#8
The failure of ... Western capitalism in military, economic, political and social fields
Atta maroon! Countries of the Western civilization--the more capitalistic, the more this applies--are the only viable and thriving part of the world! The rest compete for the title of biggest shithole!
A senior British banker who was questioned by U.S. authorities in connection with the Enron scandal has been found dead, British media reported Wednesday.
Humm, that makes at least two dead bodies linked to Eron
The Metropolitan Police said a man's body was found Tuesday in a park in east London, but declined to identify him. The force said the death was being treated as unexplained, and homicide officers were investigating.
Could be a heart attack, there's a lot of that going around
The British Broadcasting Corp. and other outlets identified the dead man as a senior banker with the Royal Bank of Scotland who had been questioned by the FBI in the case of three British bankers facing Enron-related fraud charges. The FBI said it would not comment on any aspect of the case. David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby, all former bankers with the RBS-owned National Westminster Bank, are due to be extradited Thursday to the United States to face charges of defrauding their ex-employer of $7.3 million. The three men have denied charges that they attempted to sell a part of the U.S.-based energy company Enron Corp. for less than it was worth.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
15:49 ||
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#1
I bet the conspiricy / Nutroots types are going to be even foamy-er than usual this week. Extra spiitle with only intermittant coherency.
Posted by: N guard ||
07/12/2006 16:25
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As an HIV prevention counselor, Sharlene Miles knows a thing or two about slowing the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Still, she was one of hundreds of Washington, D.C., residents waiting in line recently to get a free rapid HIV test. The attendees were there to help kick off Washington's new push to encourage doctors to routinely screen everyone between the ages of 14 and 84 for the virus that causes AIDS.
Her test came back negative, and Miles wasn't surprised. She said she doesn't practice any of the behaviors that put people most at risk. However, she did say knowing your status whether you are HIV positive or negative is important.
Along with Washington's new screening program, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release similar guidelines this summer that would expand HIV screening to all adults in the United States
If this happens, it means that just about anybody over the age of 13 could be asked by their doctor, "Would you like an HIV test?"
In Washington, which has one of the highest rates of new AIDS cases in the country, the capital's department of health has encouraged primary care providers, community health clinics and emergency departments to routinely screen patients for HIV. It is the first location to do so, according to Dr. Gregg Pane, the department's director.
'Almost Criminal' to Not Test
But there's benefits to a nationwide program too, experts said. At least 25 percent of Americans infected with HIV are unaware of their status, according to the CDC.
Unlike the early days of the virus in the 1980s, HIV testing is today more accurate, and the disease itself can be treated as a chronic disease, meaning people can live a normal life span, said Dr. Michael Saag, the director of the University of Alabama's Center for AIDS Research in Birmingham.
"Today, in my mind, it would be almost criminal to not test more widely for HIV. The reason people are dying today [from HIV/AIDS] is that they are diagnosed late. The best thing we can do is increase the amount of screening," said Saag, who explained that patients who are diagnosed early have stronger immune systems and the possibility of living longer, healthier lives compared with patients diagnosed late... No, what's criminal is wasting vital health care money on a useless publicity stunt when there is a major epidemic around the corner, that we are woefully unprepared for.
#1
"Today, in my mind, it would be almost criminal to not test more widely for HIV. The reason people are dying today [from HIV/AIDS] is that they are diagnosed late."
Oh barf! The reason people (care to state which people in particular, hmm?) are dying from HIV/AIDS has nothing to do with inadequate testing and a hell of a lot more to do with recklessly dangerous drug use, prison sex, promiscuous sex, and overall poor health habits (again, drug use).
#2
Twenty years too late, care of the gay advocates of the 80s who successfully fought against doing this back then. When it could have been useful to id and isolate carriers, just like the old TB cases and other similar diseases. Meanwhile the advocates only succeeded in killing hundreds of thousands of those whom they claimed the represented by blocking this step. Now the much heralded hetero pan-epidemic, as touted by such renowned journals as Time and Newsweek, never materialized in the US, they want to bring this back. Hey, guys, the puritanical behavioral inheritance of the culture somehow has greatly assisted in reducing the effect of the retrovirus which runs rampant elsewhere in the world. Behavior as a means to combat disease and illness, what a concept.
'Almost Criminal' to Not Test
Why not go back through the records and indeed publicly flog those, if they're still alive, and their enablers [MSM] for the obstruction twenty years ago.
Larijani is also Irans senior nuclear negotiator. He will remain in Damascus for the duration of the crisis in line with the recently Iranian-Syrian mutual defense pact. His presence affirms that an Israeli attack on Syria will be deemed an assault on Iran. It also links the Israeli hostage crisis to Irans nuclear standoff with the West.
The White House released a statement holding Syria and Iran responsible for Hizballah abduction and demanding their immediate and unconditional release.
The Syrian army has been put on a state of preparedness.
DEBKAfiles military sources add that the Iranian air force, missile units and navy are also on high alert.
DEBKAfiles counter-terror sources report Hizballah acted on orders from Tehran to open a second front against Israel, partly to ease IDF military pressure on the Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This was in response to an appeal Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal made to the Iranian ambassador to Damascus Mohammad Hassan Akhtari Sunday, July 9.
DEBKAfiles Iranian sources report Tehrans rationale as composed of three parts:
1. Iran shows the flag as a champion and defender of its ally, Hamas.
2. Sending Hizballah to open a warfront against Israel is the logical tactical complement to its latest order to go into action against American and British forces in southern Iraq.
3. Tehran hopes to hijack the agenda before the G-8 summit opening in St. Petersberg, Russia on July 15. Instead of discussing Irans nuclear case and the situation in Iraq along the lines set by President George W. Bush, the leaders of the industrial nations will be forced to address the Middle East flare-up
Any Israeli decision taken at prime minister Ehud Olmerts high level consultation in Jerusalem Wednesday night must take this turn of events into account before deciding on limited air strikes against Hizballah and Lebanese civil targets without delay.
Our sources also report that immediately after Nasrallahs statement to the media, Hizballahs leaders went into hiding, their bases were evacuated and their fighting strength transferred to pre-planned places of concealment. Ahead of the abduction, Hizballah ordnance and missile stocks were transferred to the Palestinian Ahmed Jibrils tunnel system at Naama, 30 km south of Beirut, which was built in the 1980s by East German engineers.
The Israel navy has long tried to smash this coastal underground fortress from the sea without success.
Israel began calling up an armored division, air crews and technicians from the reserves Wednesday night. DEBKAfiles military experts: If Israels leaders opt for an anti-Hizballah operation on the lines of Operation Summer Rain against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the IDF can expect the same measure of success as it has had in recovering Gilead Shalit and ending the Qassam missiles barrage
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/12/2006
15:27 ||
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#1
They've started hitting Naameh by air and by sea.
#5
Thanks, you're right ,CF. Five hundred BLU-109 'smart' bombs, caplable of penetrating seven feet of reinforced concrete, sold to Israel in Sept. 2004. Telegraph article here.
Mogadishu, 12 July (AKI) - The Somali provisional government and some of the so-called 'warlords' will soon form a military alliance against the Islamist militias which control the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and almost all towns, Somali sources told Adnkronos International (AKI) on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. The sources explained that the new alliance's chief objective will be to gain control of the military airport of Baledogle, west of Mogadishu - Somalia's only functional airport - and then to take the city of Jowhar, some 90 kilometres north of the capital.
According to the sources, the former warlord of Jowahr, Mohammed Deere, will be the main tribal leader taking part to the alliance with the provisional government. Three more warlords - Mohammed Qaniare Afrah, Bashir Rageh and Muse Sudi Yalahow - will be involved in the deal. Deere was welcomed by a minister on Tuesday in Baidoa, the southern provincial town of Baidoa, 200 kilometres from Mogadishu, where the provisional government is based. His whereabouts had been unknown for several weeks.
Deere had lost control of Jowahr to the Union of the Islamic Courts (UIC) on 13 June. In contrast to what happened in the capital, in Jowhar, the Islamist group kept its troops outside the city-boundaries and achieved control over the city through negotiations with the chiefs of the local tribes. Jowahr had hosted the headquarters of the provisional government and of the parliament together with Baidoa from 2004 until February this year. In early 2006, to solve a long-running dispute over the location of the parliament's headquarters which had stalled the peace process for years, it was decided the body would meet only in Baidoa, which greatly disappointed Deere.
Nowadays, Deere and the provisional government appear to be convinced that the only way to prevent the UIC from becoming the only rulers of Somalia is to join forces and fight together.
"Then, we'll fight over what's left. It's da Somali way!""
Winning control of the airport of Baledogle would be crucial from a strategic point of view, the sources said. The only airport that still operational in Somalia, it has an annual turnover of over 10 million dollars.
On Tuesday, some 500 Somali fighters loyal to the last member of an alliance of warlords in Mogadishu, Abi Hassan Awale Qeydiid, surrendered. The final two-day battle between the Islamists and the warlords in Moghadishu killed almost 100 and injured some 200. The UIC control now nearly 95 percent of Somalia's towns.
The UN Security Council is considering a proposal by the British government to lift the arms embargo on Somalia, and allow an African peacekeeping force into the country.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
15:21 ||
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All things considered, it is probably better for us if the Islamofascists regroup in Somalia than Afghanistan - shorter flights from the aircraft carriers, and don't need mid-air refueling.
PUTRAJAYA: Islam is not about turban and beard, said the Federal Court in dismissing the appeal of three pupils who were expelled from school for refusing to take off their "serban" nine years ago.
The three-member panel (Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Abdul Malek Ahmad, Justice Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamed and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim) was unanimous in their decision that not everything that the Prophet Muhammad did or the way he did it is legally or religiously binding on Muslims, or even preferable and should be followed.
Infidels! They must be killed!
Abdul Hamid, in his written judgment, said the practice of wearing a turban was of little significance from Islam's point of view, what more in relation to under-age boys.
"As far as I can ascertain, the Al Quran makes no mention about the wearing of turban. "I accept that the Prophet wore a turban. But he also rode a camel, built his house and mosque with clay walls and roof of leaves of date palms and brushed his teeth with the twig of a plant.
"Does that make riding a camel a more pious deed than travelling in an aeroplane? Is it preferable to build houses and mosques using the same materials used by the Prophet and the same architecture adopted by himduring his time?"asked Abdul Hamid in the judgment which was delivered by Federal Court deputy registrar.
"The question is whether the wearing of turban by boys of the age of the appellants is a practice of the religion of Islam. Islam is not about turban and beard. The pagan Arabs, including Abu Jahl, wore turbans and kept beards. It was quite natural for the Prophet, born into the community and grew up in it, to do the same"...
#1
"As far as I can ascertain, the Al Quran makes no mention about the wearing of turban. "I accept that the Prophet wore a turban. But he also rode a camel, built his house and mosque with clay walls and roof of leaves of date palms and brushed his teeth with the twig of a plant.
"Does that make riding a camel a more pious deed than travelling in an aeroplane?
#3
"Is it preferable to build houses and mosques using the same materials used by the Prophet and the same architecture adopted by himduring his time?"
Sounds like a plan to me.
Start in Arabia. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/12/2006 18:46
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I know its a boring post, but it is worth downloading for use when Muslimaniacs try to enforce Sharia in your neighborhood.
THESE were two or three incidents that were quite unrelated to each other. They were symptomatic. In the first, a posse of ISI officials picked up a retired brigadier, his daughter-in-law and his grandsons from their Islamabad home and took them to some place and beat them up. Another was far more serious and portentous. Headlines spoke of a big military operation in Dera Bugti in which the real target was Sardar Muhammad Akhar Khan Bugti. Twentyfive persons died. In yet another incident 23 Bugti tribesmen have been killed. The real target apparently remained the Bugti chief who happily has survived both attempts, though still somewhere in hiding. The question is: are there any similarities or common elements in these incidents?
Insofar as the first one is concerned, it merely shows that how hollow and petty the senior officers of the ISI are. Apparently, a few boys came to blows on the playing field in Islamabad. The one who seems to have received more beating was the son of a senior officer in the secret service, who (the father) sent a squad of ISI personnel under a major who did what has been reported. It just shows the way ISI operates right in the heart of the capital, picking up a retired and decorated brigadier for a trivial reason and beating him and his progeny. The illegality and the high-handedness, not to mention the petty arrogance of the senior officers of the service, have been disclosed.
If a secret service could do this to a retired army officer in Islamabad, how have they been behaving in other parts of the country where less privileged people live? It shows that the intelligence services are now becoming far too lawless. A lot of people complain that these secret agencies are becoming a state within the state. It would seem that they are justified. It underlines the feeling that the country lacks rule of law altogether where some people with authority think themselves to be above the law. This needs to be checked. There must be some accountability for secret services.
This incident was indeed a small one, if also symbolic. Far more serious is a large number of "disappearances" of Pakistan citizens, not to speak of unexplained killing or harassment of journalists. In all these cases people were picked up by the intelligence services and have not been heard of since. No one knows how they are being treated or where they are being kept, with no contact with their families and relatives. It is commonly believed that intelligence agencies are doing this as a matter of policy. Which may be the reason why they think of themselves as being the real ruling authority with no check on them and thus they behaved the way they did in Islamabad or elsewhere.
Who is responsible? Every country has intelligence agencies. Their secret services do not behave like this. What is so peculiar about Pakistani agencies? Peculiarities of Pakistan politics are responsible for it. How does this happen? There is nothing obscure about it. What the country has is a facade of democracy, not the real thing.
Intelligence agencies behave arrogantly simply because they have unchecked power and unaudited money at their disposal for dubious purposes. They are not answerable to any elected authority. The regime is using them as the main political instrument. That is the reason. Since the government does not draw its strength from the people and the source of its power is the army, therefore, the ultimate responsibility is that of the Pakistan army as an institution. It can't be true that its intelligence services are manipulating the army or the country. Somebody has to be held responsible. The tail does not wag the dog.
This consistent pattern of "disappearances" has reduced Pakistan to a Banana Republic. In the Banana Republics of Latin America, dictatorships were working in close cooperation with the US. Indeed the US was playing one against the other all the time and selling arms to combatants in various nationalistic wars. It does look as if Pakistan has also acquired some of the characteristics of the politics of those Banana Republics.
As for the specific incident of the attack on the Bugtis, it was a shameful act, targeting an individual who has not been adjudged guilty of some heinous crime. It becomes a murder attempt. It could not have been done by any military unit on its own; here the responsibility will have to travel upward. A state cannot behave like a murderer. Nor does a responsible state mount military operations against its own people. We know what happened in East Pakistan in 1971. It is playing with fire.
True, Balochistan may be geographically big but its population is only a 5 per cent. True also, Balochistan is not East Pakistan. But Balochistan has as developed a nationalism such as East Pakistanis did not have. Who is Bugti? He is not a mere individual. He is now a symbol of Baloch nationalism and represents its honour. This is a war between Islamabad and Balochistan Liberation Army. No matter which side kills how many, it will still be Pakistanis being killed. This is madness and the healing touch of statesmanship is needed.
The Pakistan government cannot behave like Herr Olmert or Sharon have been toward the Palestinians. Military operations within the country simply show political bankruptcy and foolishness. As it happens, the military leadership has unwittingly started two or three insurgencies that are going on in the country. BLA's war on Islamabad's alleged exploitation of Balochistan resources is one.
The Pakistan army, 80,000 of them, are supposed to be engaged in flushing out foreign militants, supposedly linked to al-Qaeda. Then Pakistan has been fighting and negotiating with the Taliban. In addition there are the political connections: those who created the Taliban and are its progenitors are governing the Frontier and Balochistan provinces. Insofar as the various Agencies of FATA are concerned, the country should be told as to who precisely is being punished. Who are the criminals targeting the Army and the various paramilitaries? Are there militants other than al-Qaeda and Taliban? The word "miscreants" have been used. Sometimes Taliban have executed robbers and criminals. What kind of criminals were they?
There is another dimension that has grown and grown. It is the sectarian polarisation. The Shia-Sunni tension and clashes in the Frontier areas and in the rest of the country have grown into a serious political threat to Pakistan. Now a new one has been added: It is between the Barelvis and Deobandis. The question is: how long can the army alone handle NWFP's FATA and Balochistan?
All said and done, the army is an instrument for defending a place or attacking others. Peacemaking is not done by the armies; it is done by politicians. Are there any politicians in this country who are trying to make peace? While we are on the subject, it is necessary to ask what is the precise nature of relationship today between Islamabad and the Taliban. Are they trying to make up or are they at war with each other? Have Taliban finally gone out of control and severed contact with the Islamabad? Or is a rapprochement being negotiated?
MB Naqvi is a leading columist in Pakistan.
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006
14:25 ||
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JERUSALEM, July 12 (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz on Wednesday authorised a campaign of air strikes in Lebanon that would target both Hizbollah guerrilla installations and Lebanese civilian infrastructure, Israel's Channel 10 said.
The television station described the planned blitz as part of Israel's response to the capture of two of its soldiers and killing of several others in a Hizbollah border raid earlier in the day. Israel's military had no immediate comment. Channel 10 said Peretz also ordered Israel's homefront command to prepare northern communities, including the port city of Haifa, for possible Hizbollah rocket strikes. Residents of Israeli border towns had already received orders to take shelter.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
12:50 ||
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#3
"Cleared Hot!". This is what should have happened after the Marine barracks bombing back in 1982(?). Use white phosphorous and make it a WMD attack too!
Posted by: NOLA "Victim" ||
07/12/2006 13:25
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#4
Israel is not wasting time. They've already struck hard and we're only on comment #4. Of course maybe they were striking as they released this.
WASHINGTON Two groups of tourists were robbed at gunpoint on the National Mall, just hours after the police chief declared a crime emergency in the city in response to a string of violence that included the killing of a British activist. The activist, Alan Senitt, was attacked in the Georgetown area on Sunday, his throat was slit and police say the attackers attempted to rape his companion. It was the 13th homicides in the city this month. Robberies are up 14 percent, and armed assaults have jumped 18 percent in the past 30 days.
Quagmire! Redeploy our troops to North Carolina!
On Wednesday, U.S. Park Police were looking for connections between the latest Mall robberies and three similar incidents in the area in late May. There have been no arrests in any of those cases.
On Tuesday night, two women from Texas were robbed at gunpoint by two men dressed in all black, said U.S. Park Police Sgt. Scott Fear. About 15 minutes later, a family of four from Missouri was robbed by suspects with the same description, he said. Though no one was injured, Fear said there were similarities to three violent attacks on the National Mall in May. In one case, a 17-year-old woman was sexually assaulted. "We try to prevent this from happening,'' Fear said. "We're going to reallocate our resources. We're going to see what improvements we can make.''
District of Columbia Police Chief Charles Ramsey declared a crime emergency in the city after Senitt, a volunteer for the potential presidential campaign of former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, was killed. The crime emergency declaration allows commanders more flexibility to adjust officers' schedules and reassign them to high-crime areas.
Gonna ask the governor to send in the National Guard? Oh, wait...
The tourist-friendly National Mall, which is under the jurisdiction of Park Police rather than D.C. police, is usually considered safe. But the recent crimes against tourists have raised calls for a larger police presence. Police are asking Mall visitors to "be our eyes and ears,'' Fear said. "We're going to ask them to be vigilant.''
Asking tourists to spy on D.C. residents? Did you clear this with congress?
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
12:05 ||
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Quagmire! Redeploy our troops to North Carolina! LOL!
It kinda ticks me though that they only decide to take action when a gov's aide is killed. Be nice if they did it for all of the rest of us citizens too. Whatever it takes, I suppose.
Throat slit makes me wonder if it was "disaffected youths".
#2
The Capitol Police are far too busy looking out for Congresscritters McKinney and Kennedy (both of them) to be bothered taking care of a few tourists.
#3
1. DC does too have a National Guard unit, though I believe the mayor does not have authority to call them up.
2. Even before 9/11, DC was the capital of Cops Sitting Around in Squad Cars Waiting For Something To Happen, and it has truly gotten ridiculous ever since. There are a phenomenally large number of them posted around and near the Mall, at the monuments, near Congress and near the White House. Fleets of them, in fact.
3. It's very disturbing if not entirely surprising that these incidents are happening, DC had been improving tremendously and I'm not keen to see the regression.
4. We're due for a new mayor in the fall, and I'm not really impressed with the contenders.
Part of the reason behind DC's slight improvement, although July '06 has gotten off to a rotten start, is that a lot of the criminals have shifted on over to next door Prince George's County. That county's annual homicide totals have gone from 70 in 2000 to a record-shattering 175 in 2006.
A Clarkson man who once headed a Liberian political party a group accused by some human rights activists of atrocities against civilians was arrested today at his home on federal immigration-related criminal charges.
Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement allege that George S. Boley, 56, is illegally living in Clarkson. Agents arrested Boley, a married father of seven, at his home at 630 Lawton Road today, and accused him of fraudulent use of visas and other immigration documents to travel to and from the United States. He was released on his own recognizance after a late afternoon hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Feldman.Much more info at the link
MOSCOW Russia will use robots to defend its borders, and President Vladimir Putin does not remember the first time he had sex.
After wrapping up an online conference last Thursday, Putin took a few minutes to answer several of the most-popular questions sent in by Russian Internet users, Kommersant reported Friday. The two journalists who hosted the 130-minute webcast had largely ignored the top-rated questions submitted online from around the world, focusing instead on foreign and domestic policy issues.
Yes, we will use the latest technical devices. Already now they are being stationed, for example, in the southern parts of our country, Putin said when reporters asked him after the conference whether Russia planned to use gigantic, humanoid war robots to defend itself.
Asked to elaborate about what he meant, Putin said: These are unmanned aerial vehicles. And maybe the time will come for gigantic robots. However, so far we have put our main hope on people namely border guards, Putin said, Kommersant reported.
Asked about the possible awakening of the giant mythical octopus Cthulhu, the fourth-most popular question among the more than 150,000 sent to Putin, he said that he believed something more serious was behind the question. Cthulhu was invented by novelist H.P. Lovecraft and was said to be sleeping beneath the Pacific Ocean.
Putin said he viewed mysterious forces with suspicion and advised those who took them seriously to read the Bible, Koran or other religious books.
When did you start to have sex? Kommersant reporter Andrei Kolesnikov then asked, verbalizing a question that was on the minds of 5,640 Internet users.
I dont remember when I started. But I can remember the last time, Putin said.
I always thought he was a satanist... but now I'm not so sure (from an hollow earth/compared mythologies guy who runs a swell fortean ML in which he quotes WND).
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has denied that Chris Charlier, the Belgian chief inspector for the Iranian nuclear programme, has been pushed to one side.
The denial came after a German newspaper reported on Sunday that Charlier had been removed from his post at the insistence of Iran. Belgian media then ran with the story also.
Charlier was quoted as saying that Iran had pressured the IAEA into sidelining him, claiming also that agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei personally intervened in the matter. The Belgian is the head of a team of 17 inspectors that has been examining Iran's nuclear activities since 2003.
But an IAEA spokesman has denied he has been pushed aside. The agency stressed that Charlier still has the same function and leads the inspection mission.
However, it has been confirmed that Charlier has been barred entry to Iran since April and that the Iranian government is displeased with his activities.
The IAEA denied that it had yielded to Iranian pressure and said it regrets inaccurate media reports, news service VRT reported.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet with Iran's top negotiator on Tuesday. He is expected to press Tehran to accept a package of incentives aimed at halting its uranium enrichment programme.
Iran insists it will make no final decision before August, but the EU has said it expects a "substantial response" from the Brussels meeting. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has also urged Tehran to respond to the offer.
Using the active ingredient in illegal hallucinogenic mushrooms, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have induced a lingering sense of spirituality that they believe has the potential to help patients struggling with addiction or terminal cancer.
Researchers said that the 36 subjects in the tightly controlled experiment none of whom had ever taken the drug before already had deep religious convictions, which primed them for a mystical experience.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/12/2006
10:59 ||
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#1
Mmm... north facing sheep pasture in October. Three months and counting.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2006 13:02
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#2
We are constantly surrounded by massive amounts of sensory input. We can only make heads or tails out of reality by ignoring most of it. Then from that fraction we allow in, we have to further discriminate by interpreting that fraction with very strict abstracts, such as size, shape, color, etc.
If it can't be made to fit our abstracts then we ignore it. Then, finally, that little bit that is left goes into the memory and computational part of our brains. And both of those are very lossy and prone to error.
Drugs can interfere with this carefully tuned system, and briefly remind us that we don't have a clue to what is really going on around us.
Some years ago, a very potent anti-depressant, desipramine hydrochloride, was approved for use in the US as one of the few anti-depressants they had back then. Even though it had all sorts of serious side-effects.
The Japanese continued to test this drug long after as many as 2 million Americans had been taking it. They reached the disturbing conclusion that the drug "softened" those rigid abstracts that we use for perception, with utterly unknown and unpredictable consequences.
In real terms, by injecting this drug into the optic center of the brain of ordinary cats, within a few weeks the cats' brains were re-taught to see with monocular vision. Their other eye still worked, and still sent signals to the brain, but those signals were utterly ignored.
That powerful. It is still prescribed in the US, in much reduced quantity from its heyday. And we still have no idea as to its long-term consequences.
Question though ... how can it "make" them spiritual if they already hold deep religious convictions. Sounds like it just allows them to escape the bonds of their bodies and get closer to the spiritual world.
Soo...the Indians and other ancient tribes were on to something!
#9
"If you take psilocybin and go watch 'Friday the 13th,' I can guarantee you won't have a mystical experience," he said.
Unless you're Charles Manson.
These drugs are tools - very powerful tools. Their effects run the gamut from the most harrowing paranoid nightmares to the most beatific bliss. And most people significantly adjust their worldviews accordingly after especially powerful experiences.
Google "DMT" and "god molecule" for more related info.
My best New Years ever - A South China Sea beach, an M16, and magic mushrooms.
And they can be a hell of a lot fun under the right circumstances - or so I've heard.
IDF tanks and ground troops entered Lebanon in response to the kidnapping of two soldiers and killing of 7 others. The army is calling up reserves to report to Israel's northern border. Air Force planes bombed bridges leading northward from Lebanons southern border with Israel, in order to prevent the movement of the kidnappers. Meanwhile, IAF helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were combing the air above Lebanon searching for the captured soldiers as well.
By mid-day Wednesday, Israeli bombers were spotted flying over the Lebanese capital of Beirut. Massive shelling by IDF artillery on both land and sea was reported striking at least 17 targets across southern Lebanon. Defense officials reportedly are seeking approval for a much wider offensive, which may be granted following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's emergency Cabinet session scheduled for Wednesday evening. Sources in the IDF Chief of Staff's office quoted COS Dan Halutz calling for Lebanon's infrastructure to be reverted back fifty years.
This is the first time the IDF has launched a large-scale re-entry into Lebanon since then-Prime Minister Ehu Barak initiated a unilateral IDF retreat from the region in May, 2000. Since then, Hizbullah has kidnapped three soldiers, launched several cross-border attacks and fired missiles at northern Israeli towns. The group has thousands of missile batteries deployed all along the border facing Israel.
As of noon, a full IDF division had already received their "Order 8s" - immediate emergency call-up orders for reservists. The IDF Spokesman's office refused to confirm the report, but did confirm that individual units were being called up.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
10:04 ||
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#1
Go get'em boys! Let's hope they keep the intiative and keep rolling all the way through Syria.
Posted by: NOLA "Victim" ||
07/12/2006 10:12
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#2
Speaking of Syria, what units are sitting on the eastern border?
#3
It will be interesting to see what Syria does. For defense (or a suicidal offense), they might be inclined to move more troops to the Golan. If they don't then that would be a good sign they will sit this out.
Or they might move troops to east, to grab Lebanese territory again.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/12/2006 10:20
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Pound these bastards hard. If Syria moves troops, do we reinforce from Iraq ? Any opportunity to eliminate more of these worthless fools is a good one.
#7
And where does this put Iran what with Hizbullah connections to Iran? WIth the discussion yesterday, of bringing on full force, this may be the beginning of the fight in the Middle East that these idiots have been wanting.
Rummy did just suddenly and quietly slip into Afgran and Iraw.
#9
I did not think Olmert had it in him. This is a pleasant surprise. If he can destroy a few billion dollars of Lebanese infrastructure, I think they'll think twice before pulling something like this in the future.
#10
How long can Israel keep the reserves called up? It doesn't sound like they called up everybody, but even a few has got to have a strong effect on the economy since they are so small.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/12/2006 12:36
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#11
"How long can Israel keep the reserves called up?"
How long does it take to bounce rubble or melt sand?
There you again, with your "bomb -empty- buildings" theory. Before you start passing out the CMH to Olmert, read this. You can learn the extent of the incompetence of the Israeli PM and DM.
The only thing the Islamists understand is mass death and mayhem and Israel should deliver. Where is Bibi when we need him. Oh! I forgot, the LLL's in Israel voted for Kerry.
#16
Iran's Ahmadinejad has been promoting his genocide line before huge crowds, all over the Ayatollah terrorist entity. Where a people are brainwashed, massive carpet bombing, etc is legitimate. Frankly, I would nuke Qom in a manner that would make it uninhabitable for hundreds of years. The second the Ayatollahs appear vulnerable, they would lose support. Secular and anti-Islam exile movements openly refer to the Mullahs as: "Arabist parasites." Given access to Iran media, it would not be difficult to exploit the depravity of the slavish state of the descendents of the Persian empire in deference to Arabs, a parasitic people who have done little to advance humanity.
AOL won't let me tag-link, but please cut and paste this:
http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/iran_news.shtml
#17
I very much doubt Syria will get involved directly. It supports Hezbollah to avoid a full-scale war that might end up with Israeli tanks in Damascus. Israel has to go after Hezbollah in South Lebanon. Bomb the bridges over the Litani, destroy every weapon they have and take 1000 prisoners. They we can start negotiating.
#22
I have been trying to get details of the Hizbollah attack. A Hizbollah supporter from Iraq, posted the following on a forum.
"This morning, Wednesday 12.07.06, Hezbullah ambushed an Israeli military convoy on the Lebanese border killing three Israelis and taken two others as prisoners. When the Israelis rushed with their tanks, huge road-side bombs exploded destroying two tanks and killing an additional four Israeli soldiers. This attack was preceded by at least 30 missiles fired at Israel command and control posts. Hezbullah seems to launch its operation in support of the besieged Palestinians in Gaza whom are being killed, point blank, by Israeli Tank fires. In his news conference this afternoon, Sheikh Nassurallah hinted of the need to exchange prisoners and announced his readiness to confront Israel if Olmert choses to escalate. Many believe that the consequences of Hezbullah attacks may be the fuse to cause the Islamic explosion promised by Ahmedinejad, if the Israelis do not stop their massacres against Palestinians.
Let Condoleeza play her fiddle (Piano) while the Middle East (Rome) is burning. Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Palestine and now Lebanon are united in fighting the USraeli crusaders. Let the USraeli agressors be victims for a change."
-----------------------
I don't like using enemy sources, but this sounds credible. The IDF did lose a tank, and a powerful planted bomb (not an IED) could do it. A co-ordinated attack by overwhelming forces, could halt a convoy and enable attackers to kill or capture soldiers. And use of diversion by the terrorists would prevent effective confrontation.
Folks, stop talking about beating this enemy, piecemeal, and annihilating them wholesale. Without mullah leadership and jihad ideology, Muslims would abandon Islam when they learn of its utter worthlessness in advancing humanity. It is us v them; now or never. Diplomacy can't trump sharia; total war can remove the Muslims ability to make terror.
Hundreds of people bare their behinds to them in the 27th mooning of trains.
LAGUNA NIGUEL - Dismiss them if you like, but these people baring their behinds to passing trains are your neighbors, your children's teachers, your attorneys, your policemen, your World War II veterans and yes, even your mothers! My brother lives in Laguna Niguel. I wonder if he's down there?
Once they were a bunch a small bunch of crazies. Now they are a nation.
You had ladies from the Red Hat Society standing next to members of the Hessians motorcycle gang, standing next to a group of nudists, standing next to a 70-year-old (normally sedate) mom standing next to an avowed libertarian.
All laughing, chatting and waving. With their pants down. And their behinds up against a chain-link fence every time an Amtrak train passed.
"It's the greatest feeling in the world," said Robin Felton, 52, of Anaheim, a manager for ICC in Cerritos. "I pay my taxes. I follow the laws. I pay the high gas prices. This is my one day to say, 'I live with it, but you know what guys? Here. Have a little of it back. Here's to everything I don't like.' "
Legend has it that this all began as a dare 27 years ago in the Mugs Away Saloon on Camino Capistrano. Patron K.T. Smith vowed to buy a drink for anyone who'd join him mooning the train across the street. A handful did. A tradition was born. On Saturday, that handful had grown to an estimated 5,000 people.
Kids sold lemonade. Motor homes raised American flags, tiki torches flared and smoke issued from barbecue pits. Rock bands drove in from Vegas,. Vendors hawked jewelry and T-shirts from booths.
Nobody organizes this thing. Nobody promotes it.
"It's an amazing group of people," said Christine Anderson, manager of Mugs Away Saloon. "From World War II vets to Korean and Vietnam vets to currently enlisted men, to policemen, firemen and U.S. Customs. There are generations of families here."
Not to mention women like Wanda Brace, 66, of Anaheim, a queen mother of the Red Hat Society known more for tea parties than moon parties.
"It's just pure fun and losing one's inhibitions," said Brace, who wondered aloud if her Anaheim chapter might get expelled for its actions.
No matter. After the third train mooning, she turned and mooned the crowd.
"You wouldn't believe how many people have stopped and asked to take our picture," she said. "We're just older ladies out having fun like them. There's not that much difference between us."
By noon Camino Capistrano was packed with pedestrians. Each distant whistle would evoke the shout of "Train!" Followed by another. Followed by cheers and a swelling of the crowd toward the hurricane fence: Those propped up against it, waiting. And those watching, cameras held high.
Many trains slowed as they passed. Passengers waved and snapped pictures. A few mooned back, according to those at the fence.
For some, this was a first-time experience.
"It's something you have to do before you die," said Ronni Armstrong, 70, a retired loan broker who drove from Sun City without telling her kids.
For others, it was long tradition. Attorney Charlene Dryer, 59, of Newport Beach attended the very first Amtrak mooning 27 years ago and returned Saturday for "good, clean fun."
Mooning is not condoned in public, yet not really harmful, many said, making it just rebellious enough to unite them. A backward nation maybe, but a nation nonetheless.
July 12, 2006: After over a year of testing and further development, the U.S. Marine Corps are sending the seven ounce Wasp Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Wasp is a flat, rectangular "flying wing" (13 inch wingspan, about seven inches long), that can stay in the air for about 90 minutes. Once the battery powered propeller is spinning, the operator throws Wasp into the air, and off it goes, usually at a 100 foot altitude. You land it by pressing the autoland button, after you have entered GPS coordinates of where you want it to return to. The propeller often breaks off when it lands, but the Wasp was designed for that, and you just snap on another propeller. The $5-10,000 MAV can survive about twenty such landings.
The MAV is controlled via a hand held ($30,000) device that looks like a Gameboy, but has a seven inch color screen and controls laid out for easy use. Operators do require more training than most other UAVs, because the Wasp travels closer to the ground, and the system is designed to let one operator control several Wasps at once. The Wasp carries a GPS, and microprocessor that keeps it stable in flight. It can also hover like a helicopter, a very useful capability for urban combat. The operator can also select a route via GPS coordinates, and order it to circle an area at any time. Two color video cameras are carried (one looking forward, and one looking to the rear), and then the Wasp is a hundred feet up, you can make out people below, and whether they are armed. The Wasp moves at a speed of 35-75 kilometers an hour (or about 9-19 meters a second). The controller can remain in touch with a Wasp that is up to ten kilometers away, after which the operator losses control, and the video feed. The controller, which is the same one used for larger micro-UAVs like the Raven and Pointer, which makes training easier. The version going into action is waterproof and has a night (infrared) camera.
The major shortcoming of the Wasp is the difficulty of using it in windy or stormy conditions. This is a problem with all lightweight UAVs, and is particularly bad with the tiny Wasp. The troops, however, are happy to have it. The system is rugged, lightweight and simple to use. When the air is fairly still, the Wasp can go up and provide the troops with a major battlefield advantage. The army Special Forces have had success in the field with a 12 ounce micro-UAV, so the marines are confident they will be able to get some use out of the Wasp. The U.S. Navy is also testing the Wasp on ships, where it can be used for ship security while in port, or for checking out suspect ships and boats during interdiction operations.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
09:33 ||
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#1
I...consider...this...a...war crime!
And a personal insult!
#11
wxjames: you know that years ago, they tried making a frisbee-like explosive throwing weapon? That didn't work out, so they went down the list from lacrosse sticks to jai alai scoops to baseball grenades. They never did come up with anything very satisfactory.
#14
why not get reg hand controlled airplanes and put a small cameram on them? wouldn't it be alot cheaper
That's what this thing is, basicaly. Only it is the Millspec version.
Without going into a long, complicated discussion of why millspec is a good and necessary thing, you may rest assured that these drones are as cheap as we can make them. The hand controller and related bits, OTOH, are veddy 'spensive.
Having used the raven (army) version myself, these small drones will wind up being one of the most useful bits of gear to come out of this war. I just hope they don't get too gold plated to use.
Posted by: N guard ||
07/12/2006 16:10
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why not get reg hand controlled airplanes and put a small cameram on them? wouldn't it be alot cheaper
Let's say you get 20 flights from a Wasp. That's probably a safe average -- some will be lost earlier, some will break earlier, and some will fly as long as a B-52. That comes out to $500 a flight.
A small RC helicopter is about $200 -- no camera, no controller with integrated screen. Decent cameras are expensive; small decent cameras are even more expensive.
Doesn't seem too expensive, considering the improvement in capabilities it gives.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
07/12/2006 17:37
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"A small RC helicopter is about $200..."
Have YOU, ever flown a R/C Hellicopter? There is a really, really steep learning curve, and even decent pilots crack them up from time to time.
An actual obit he wrote himself. A little different from those lefty, "His only regret was that he didn't live long enough to see Bush assassinated" obits...
Frederic Arthur (Fred) Clark Frederic Arthur (Fred) Clark, who had tired of reading obituaries noting other's courageous battles with this or that disease, wanted it known that he lost his battle as a result of an automobile accident on June 18, 2006. True to Fred's personal style, his final hours were spent joking with medical personnel while he whimpered, cussed, begged for narcotics and bargained with God to look over his wife and kids. He loved his family. His heart beat faster when his wife of 37 years Alice Rennie Clark entered the room and saddened a little when she left. His legacy was the good works performed by his sons, Frederic Arthur Clark III and Andrew Douglas Clark MD, PhD., along with Andy's wife, Sara Morgan Clark. Fred's back straightened and chest puffed out when he heard the Star Spangled Banner and his eyes teared when he heard Amazing Grace. He wouldn't abide self important tight *censored*. Always an interested observer of politics, particularly what the process does to its participants, he was amused by politician's outrage when we lie to them and amazed at what the voters would tolerate. His final wishes were "throw the bums out and don't elect lawyers" (though it seems to make little difference). During his life he excelled at mediocrity. He loved to hear and tell jokes, especially short ones due to his limited attention span. He had a life long love affair with bacon, butter, cigars and bourbon. You always knew what Fred was thinking much to the dismay of his friend and family. His sons said of Fred, "he was often wrong, but never in doubt". When his family was asked what they remembered about Fred, they fondly recalled how Fred never peed in the shower - on purpose. He died at MCV Hospital and sadly was deprived of his final wish which was to be run over by a beer truck on the way to the liquor store to buy booze for a double date to include his wife, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter to crash an ACLU cocktail party. In lieu of flowers, Fred asks that you make a sizable purchase at your local ABC store or Virginia winery (please, nothing French - the *censored*) and get rip roaring drunk at home with someone you love or hope to make love to. Word of caution though, don't go out in public to drink because of the alcohol related laws our elected officials have passed due to their inexplicable terror at the sight of a MADD lobbyist and overwhelming compulsion to meddle in our lives. No funeral or service is planned. However, a party will be held to celebrate Fred's life. It will be held in Midlothian, Va. Email fredsmemory@yahoo.com for more information. Fred's ashes will be fired from his favorite cannon at a private party on the Great Wicomico River where he had a home for 25 years. Additionally, all of Fred's friend (sic) will be asked to gather in a phone booth, to be designated in the future, to have a drink and wonder, "Fred who?"
Since the obituary appeared in the newspaper, the family has been flooded with e-mails -- a few from old friends, but most from people who never knew Clark but were touched by his final words. In addition to Alice and Fred III, he is survived by son Dr. Andrew Clark and his wife, Sara.
"He was a person who loved his family, and that was his life's focus," Fred III said. "You have to read the humor for what the humor was, but that's what he was like."
Clark's obituary harkened back to a rowdier man.
"In his younger days, he fancied the bourbon much more than later days," Clark's son said. "In fact, I don't know when was the last time he had a bourbon."
But one detail is 100 percent true: Clark's ashes will be shot from a cannon this summer at a family gathering.
He's going out with a bang.
"It's not a huge cannon, not one of those old military cannons," Clark's son said. "It's just 2 or 3 feet long. But it's enough to make a good noise."
SRINAGAR - Police in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir said on Wednesday they had killed a commander of a militant outfit blamed for grenade attacks that killed eight tourists in the region a day earlier. Weve shot dead a top operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba in (southern) Anantnag town ... (and) are investigating whether he had a role in the grenade attacks, said a police official.
Police have blamed the grenade attacks on Lashkar, which is based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is one of the main Islamic militant groups fighting to end New Delhis rule in Indian Kashmir. Police earlier said the group may have been responsible for a wave of explosions that ripped through commuter trains in Indias financial hub, Mumbai, late Tuesday killing 183 people dead.
Eight tourists were killed and nearly 40 people were wounded in the five grenade attacks in Srinagar, the summer capital of Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir where a separatist insurgency has raged since 1989.
Police said the militant, identified as Qari Anas from Pakistan, was killed Wednesday when they raided a rebel hideout on a tip-off from a suspected Lashkar militant arrested in Srinagar soon after the grenade attacks. Police said the arrested man confessed to hurling one of the grenades. Lashkar denied its involvement in the grenade attacks, telling reporters the arrested man did not belong to their group. The group has also denied any involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
Police said another member of Lashkar was killed in Doda district, further south of Anantnag, and offered a 500,000-rupee (10,800-dollar) reward for the capture of another Lashkar militant, accusing him of masterminding recent grenade attacks in Kashmir, including those on Tuesday.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
09:26 ||
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#1
I'm always amazed at how countries can do nothing, and then within a day or two after an incident, capture or kill people who they knew wanted to cause an incident.
What info do they get after this bombing to find him they did'nt have before?
#2
What I want to know is if they gave him medical aid and were sensitive to his muslim cultural and religious needs before he paased into to the benevolant hands of allah.
Posted by: kelly ||
07/12/2006 10:23
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#3
Get some of the RAB boyos in from Bangla to show 'em how it's done. They'll probably have to provide their own Shutter Guns, though.
#4
What I want to know is if they gave him medical aid and were sensitive to his muslim cultural and religious needs before he paased into to the benevolant hands of allah.
No need.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police are predominately muslim.
This makes it a halal shooting...
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006 15:16
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A suicide bomber has driven a taxi into a convoy of US-led troops in Afghanistan, killing himself and a child, officials say. Officials say that the attack happened in the Yaqubay district of Khost province, and that two US soldiers and three other children were injured. Officials blamed the attack on al-Qaeda and Taleban militants, who have mounted a series of attacks throughout 2006.
Officials say that Wednesday's attack took place while the US convoy was parked near a government building in the eastern province of Khost. "The suicide attacker was blown to pieces and a 12-year-old was killed on his way to school," the administrative chief of Yaqubay district, Mirza Jon Nimgari told the Reuters news agency.
Correspondents say that until recently suicide bombings in Afghanistan were rare. Wednesday's attack brings the number of suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year to nearly 30, more than the total for all of 2005 and dwarfing the figure for 2004.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006
09:14 ||
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#1
More like dumbfart attack! Steve, post up the Dumbfart grave-site pic!
Long before 9/11, jailer Louis Pepe was savaged by a terrorist, but he refused to yield. Severely disabled, he has had to fight for assistance. Long, sad and infuriating...
#1
He arrived at the hospital with the knife's black handle still jutting from his eye, quivering. "Louis refused to be carried out," recalled his sister, Eileen Trotta. "He wanted to walk out to show the terrorists that we won, meaning the U.S.A., and that he did not give up."
#2
At Supermax ol Salim will suffer a fate worse than death.
One thing this war has shown is the compassion Americans have for each other. Now that his story is out it won't take long before someone with means will see to his needs.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 9:20
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#3
WTF? Is the LA Times trying to be more patriotic now days?
#5
The slant of the story, that Mr. Pepe has somehow been financially let down, is somewhat misleading. He gets disability of 2/3 of his old salary. He has a free $2,800/month apartment, which has space for his mother, in a highly desirable neighborhood. He got a new van in return for his old clunker. His attacker got 32 years in Supermax with no parole.
I'm not trying to disparage the formidable challenge of living with a severe brain injury. I'm saying the article unjustly implies that Mr. Pepe has been forgotten and mistreated by his neighbors and his government.
A series of technical problems at the central Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz appear to have slowed down its nuclear fuel-enrichment program and put on hold plans to expand it, it was reported on Tuesday.
In April, Iran succeeded in operating a cascade of 164 centrifuges, an amount sufficient to fuel nuclear power plants, but far short of the threshold of several thousand needed to build a nuclear bomb. A second round of feeding uranium into centrifuge enrichment machines began on June 6.
According to one diplomat, several unconfirmed reports state that the first cascade, basis for Iranian plans to install 3,000 centrifuges by 2007, had a failure rate of up to 50 percent, Channel 2 reported. He said the centrifuges seemed to be showing fragility after being spun at supersonic speeds, and the nature of materials injected into them - which could involve impurities in the uranium - could be damaging too.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006
07:59 ||
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...Well, IIRC the raw nuclear material is corrosive to an unbelievable degree - this was a problem during the Manhattan Project that nobody foresaw. Now, add to that the fact that most - if not all - of the centrifuges may have come from other countries (indicating that the MMs either can't make their own or are unable to make/maintain many) and that gives Amidinnerjacket a real problem. He's been making promises with his alligator mouth that his canary ass won't be able to keep.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/12/2006 8:43
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#2
Interesting. I was not aware thet 164 centrifuges are "far short of the threshold of several thousand needed to build a nuclear bomb". I thought it would just take more time that way. Experts?
Also interesting to consider this as disinformation and contemplate the source, timing, and the potential reason for it.
#3
I wonder how much these problems are due to "foreign powers" using front companies to provide substandard materials, etc? Remember the doctored nuke designs that the CIA was peddling? Now about those "fragile" centrifuge tubes...
#6
164 centrifuges are "far short of the threshold" for single pass bomb enrichment. But the output can be fed back multiple times to get high enrichment. But it can be impractical due to time requirements.
Previous articles have said the Iranians used Russian supplied UF6 in the centrifuges for their show and tell earlier this year due to contamination in domestic production. But it's a temporary problem. Gas purification has well known solutions. What's new is the high stated failure rate of the centrifuges. Still with 50% failure, they will have to test each centrifuge individually and build twice as many. So build 6,000 to get a 3,000 cascade. The Iranians are planning to intall 50,000 in Natanz alone.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 10:37
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#7
how can this be? the Iranians do not have a nuke enrichment program, only peaceful research. the press clippings are right...around.....here.. somewhere........I think I left them in my pants and they went thru the laundry, nothing left but worthess pulp.
#8
I still think the easiest bet would be to smuggle a very toxic, but otherwise odorless and tasteless chemical into those facilities with a battery powered vaporizer.
Something that will slowly contaminate the entire place so that in a week or two, everybody will die, and the facility will be so contaminated that it can't ever be used again. There are many industrial chemicals that would work, and would irrevocably destroy the liver of every person in there.
This would wipe out most of their nuclear scientists and it would close their facilities.
actually, if the technos aren't careful and/or the cetrifuges have leaks there may already be some nasty levels of rad and toxic stuff in the room and as Mike K says, the technos probably are under considerable pressure to keep the machines spinning
The EU fined Microsoft Corp. $357 million on Wednesday and threatened new penalties of $3.82 million a day beginning July 31 because it says the software maker failed to obey a 2004 antitrust order to share program code with rivals. Microsoft immediately said it would appeal the fine in court.
The EU said the new fines would take effect unless the company supplies "complete and accurate" technical information to developers to help them make software that works smoothly with its ubiquitous Windows operating system. Fine LVMH $500 million for not sharing their ugly logo, for regional chauvanism for claiming only their nation makes champagne. Fine Porsche $1 billion for not sharing 911 engines with Ford. What a golden opportunity to zero out the trade deficit.
Posted by: Jared ||
07/12/2006
07:38 ||
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#1
Europe is just angry that the americans are still kicking the economic crap out of them.
#3
That would be great to see. Microsoft is probably big enough to be able to survive a move that removes them from the EUrabian market for good too.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/12/2006 10:57
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#4
Wow, the EU insists that you help your competitors make better software to compete against you.
I must say, that really sucks ass.
No wonder the european economy is in the crapper. With thinking like that, It will stay there.
#9
Note to Bill: halt all shipments to EU countries and install a "By The Minute" tech support center for already in-country MS units. Wiat for Native EU-ites to holler and when the fines are dropped, provide a 'gift' to them to restart their sorry computer industry. Don't forget that early Airbus ( another fine EUbased product) had several crashes when their software would not allow the pilots to do their flying thing and instead let them ride the jets into the ground. That must be MS's fault too, right?
#13
But if we are talking API, howscome no one else is complaining? All that much, anyway.
Complaints have gone back best part of twenty years that MS uses unpublished APIs in its products (Office, etc.) to give them an unfair advantage. Which is why the DoJ wanted to split MS into two companies - and OS company and an Office products company.
It would have made a difference 10 years ago, but is largely irrelevant today.
BTW, watch out for the PS3. It's going to blow a large hole in MSoft's business.
Israel launched air strikes and sent troops and tanks into southern Lebanon Wednesday, after Hezbollah television said its guerrillas had abducted two Israeli soldiers along the border.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the Hezbollah attacks as an "act of war" by Lebanon and promised a "very painful and far-reaching" response, The Associated Press reported.
Hezbollah is demanding a prisoner exchange for the soldiers' release. In a later claim on its television network, Hezbollah said it had "destroyed" an Israeli tank crossing into southern Lebanon. The fate of the tank crew was not known.
The valleys along the Israeli-Lebanese border thundered with artillery fire and clouds of blue-gray smoke could be seen rising above Lebanese positions.
Israeli military sources confirmed a troop build-up on the northern border and said preparations were being made for possible call up of reserve soldiers.
"This morning there was an attack on civilians and soldiers in the north. At this moment there are Israeli security forces operating inside Lebanon," Olmert told reporters.
"The government will convene this evening for a special cabinet meeting. I want to make clear that the events this morning are not a terror attack but an operation of a sovereign state without any reason or provocation."
The Israeli Cabinet is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. (noon ET), according to Olmert's office.
"The Lebanese government, of which Hezbollah is part of, is trying to undermine the stability of the region, and the Lebanese government will be responsible for the consequences," Olmert said.
The abduction of the soldiers would open a second front after Israel sent tanks and troops into the Palestinian territory of Gaza following the abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants. Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, was abducted in a raid on an Israeli military post in southern Israel on June 25.
The militants holding him have demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel in exchange for Shalit. Israel has flatly refused.
Responding to the most recent incident along the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said in a statement: "The State of Israel sees itself free to use all measures that it finds it needs and the (Israeli Forces) have been given orders in that direction.
"If the soldiers are not returned we will turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years," Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz to Israeli Channel 10.
Israeli forces, observers said, were bombing roads, bridges and guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon an attempt to prevent guerrillas from moving the troops deeper into Lebanon.
Israeli forces are also responding to rocket attacks fired by Hezbollah into northern Israel, according to the army.
Four Israeli civilians and six soldiers have been wounded in the fighting so far, according to the Israeli military.
The IDF instructed citizens in northern villages to take shelter as the violence escalated.
It is the latest skirmish between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose forces traded cross-border fire in late May following the assassination of an Islamic Jihad official in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.
Mahmoud Majzoub, also known as Abu Hamza, was killed in a car bombing, which Islamic Jihad blamed on Israel. Israel denied any involvement in the incident.
Hezbollah is designated a terrorist group by the United States and Israel but is a significant player in Lebanon's fractious politics.
Israel set up a security buffer zone in southern Lebanon from 1978 until 2000.
I hope hizbollah gets *full* unexpected consequences out of this... since apparently the arab-muslim way of war is to attack an opponent while pretending not to, and asking for said opponent to act with restraint and not to defend himself... all this in a state of constant aggression with intervals of tactical hudnas... a perpetual "asymetrical war" 180° from the western way of war.
#2
Level everything, scrape the ground clean and annex. Hizb'allah can spend all their time feeding and housing the refugees.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 7:58
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#3
What we need to see is peace through superior firepower - plus annexing troublesome territories and then some judicious ethnic cleansing - give the residents checks to get the hell out; hell give them a vehicle as well; it's cheaper in the long run.
It's now clear to me that the solution is a (much) bigger Israel.
And as I regularly point to you guys, Israel is our Vienna, Lose Israel and the Barbarians are that much closer to the gates.
#4
Israel has the ability to take care of these long-festering problems in Lebanon,Gaza, and Syria. What's the downside? Middle east war? That is already going on. Solves some of our problems in Iraq too.
A great deal of Israel's economy is directly dependent on trade with EU countries, who already lean towards the Palestinians politically. A boycott of Israeli goods, which IIRC has been threatened in the past, would be devastating to that small country.
As long as hizbollah can act and talk sh*t without consequence, it will go on with shelling, incursions,... same as hamas.
They need to be taught a real lesson, something that will hurt them enough to make them think again before keeping on with that Cycle Of Violence routine.
Btw, frenhc lci channel is implying the kidnaped isareli soldiers were of course on the lebanese side, plus the usual innuendo about mean Israel (they shelled villages and bridges, you know, while hizbollah launched rockets at "military outposts", even if civilians were hurt collaterally)... I remember a couple of days ago the "acknowledgement" by Israel that force had failed, and the gaza raid only strenghtened the hamas, and they were gonna swap prisoners any time soon... this pisses me off, not to mention the fact the *french* tv talking head pronounce "hamas" and "hizbollah" the arab way, a phenomenon dating back to a few years (post 9/11???).
#7
Lose Israel and the Barbarians are that much closer to the gates.
Scrub that. The barbarians are already inside the gates. Lose Israel and the barbarians inside the gates will be emboldened to a degree you can't imagine.
#8
A boycott of Israeli goods, which IIRC has been threatened in the past, would be devastating to that small country.
So Europe can only get tough with the Jews? Europe is the major ally of the Paleostinian enemy, the political wing of Hezbollah, as it were. Israel has the choice of being bled by the certainty of a thousand knife cuts from the Paleostinians or possibly starved by the racism of EUropeans. I'm not sure it's that tough a choice, or that it gets better with age. What are they going to do when it's their trade with EUrabia that's threatened?
#9
It does not appear that the islamofacists understand anything but total war, complete defeat, and complete domination. Only then one might begin to get their attention and dictate terms.
#10
It's now clear to me that the solution is a (much) bigger Israel.
Perhaps as large as the biblical borders of the "promised land"... from the Nile to the banks of the Euphrates.
Posted by: Evil Elvis ||
07/12/2006 9:03
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#11
At some point the Israelis need to tell the world to pound sand and go Old Testament on the Palestinians: Kill every male above the age of 12 and drive the rest over their borders into Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Level the countryside. Disinfect and resettle with sane people willing to live in peace. The Palestinians as a people are beyond redemption.
#12
DEBKAfiles military sources report Israel is calling up armored infantry and air force reserves. Israeli helicopters drop special forces over Beirut area midday Wednesday to prevent Hizballah kidnappers going to ground with Israeli hostages in Shiite district. Arabiya TV claims the two kidnapped soldiers are Druzes. Israel reports 6 soldiers injured, 3 critically, and 11 civilians wounded.
Israeli reinforcements are streaming north. The Israeli force is running into roadside bombs and heavy anti-tank rocket and missile fire in the chase for the Hizballah kidnappers who snatched two soldiers early Wednesday, 12 July.
Israel warplanes are striking bridges and Hizballah command posts. Naval ships are bombing Hizballah coastal positions.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006 9:26
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#13
This was the match boys. ITS ON!
Irans fingers are all over this. They know full well we were going to attack them and the rest of the Muslim world would yawn like when we hit Saddam. By forcing Israel to jump through their proxy Hezbollah the Iranians/Syrians can now join in resulting in US jumping in making the Muslim street really pop because the propaganda of it being a Israeli/Muslim war will be believable.
We waited to long I called this along time ago that Iran would use Hezbollah to flip the script. I just dont think the self-defense fuzzy we will get will matter with the LLL's anyway but turning it into a Israeli/Muslim conflict through Hamas/Hezbollah Iran got a PR boost and major support as the Muslim leader not just some dictator of Iran beefing with the US.
#14
Israel has the choice of being bled by the certainty of a thousand knife cuts from the Paleostinians or possibly starved by the racism of EUropeans. I'm not sure it's that tough a choice, or that it gets better with age. What are they going to do when it's their trade with EUrabia that's threatened?
Oh, I agree NS. But it's naive to think that Israel will only suffer VERBAL actions from Europe. Their necessary self-defense actions may well bring them to the point where their economic as well as military survival is threatened. Those who support their response to Lebanon - and I am one - need to be willing to push the White House and Congress to support this tiny country in more economic ways, if necessary.
#15
UPDATE to article:
The fresh crisis developed even as the situation continued to deteriorate in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian militants are still holding Gilad Shalit, an 19-year-old Israeli corporal seized on June 25.
His capture, which was claimed by three groups including the armed wing of the governing Hamas, sparked the worst crisis in the region since the Islamist movement had its cabinet sworn in last March.
In an interview, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said his mediation efforts for Shalit's release had been sabotaged by an unnamed party. (Wonder who that could've been?).
In the remarks published Wednesday, Murabak said he had reached a deal with Israel for "a large number of prisoners" to be released but added that Hamas came under fresh pressure and the mediation was scuppered. (Oh, there's our answer...I assume that Iran's/Syria's fingerprints are all over this, eh, Hosni?)
Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah have repeatedly urged Hamas not to release the Israeli soldier, arguing that his capture was the best bargaining chip for the release of Palestinian and Arab prisoners.
The three groups detaining Shalit in the Gaza Strip have demanded the release of 1,000 Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and other prisoners.
Israel has so far refused to negotiate and launched a large-scale operation against the Gaza Strip, killing more than 60 Palestinians in the past 10 days and pounding the territory's infrastructure.
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 9:38
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#17
See it your way, C-Low, but I don't think this has been a great week for the axis of evil. Going from East to west, Norks missles fizzle, Japan talks re-armament. Muzzies blow up Mumbai trains in Madrid replay and push India to brink of action against Pakistan. India also needs to look macho afte missiles fizzle. Taliban perks up spring offensive and draws more British troops in, revealing Brit lack of CAS. Everybody's getting fed up with Iran. Iraq is plodding along with Maliki starting to get fed up with Iranina puppet Sadr. Israel buzzing Damascus and taking out Hezhbollah.
Seems like the coalition of the willing got some recruits and spine. That offsets any temporary PR problem. Doesn't looks quite so bad as it did a month ago.
#18
Those who support their response to Lebanon - and I am one - need to be willing to push the White House and Congress to support this tiny country in more economic ways, if necessary.
#20
So where does Israel go from here? They would be foolish to give in to exchange demands. If they do, they will face continued kidnappings forever. Seems to me Israel needs to go forward with this harshly and aggressively. They need to put the fear of God into Iran and Syria and their puppets. Enough screwing around. Islamofacists want Israel destroyed. That is the end goal. They need to act accordingly. The U.S. needs to support this effort completely.
#22
So where does Israel go from here?
Take hostages. Send the female relatives of Hezbollah to brothels. It's the Chicago islamic way.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 10:23
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#23
Nimble
Not saying that this will change the final outcome. We are winning we will win in the end (well as long as we can keep the LLLs out of power here at home).
What I am saying is we just got flanked on the PR front. A war between the US & Iran would have got some protest from the Arab street and Hezbollah and Hamas strikes after we attacked Iran would have shown them for what they are Iranian/Proxies. But now Iran/Syria will come to the Hezbollah/Hamas/Muslim support.
This will make this war that was coming anyway an Israeli/Muslim WAR. At least on the PR front.
I was going to happen anyway but perceptions are crucial and the perception in the Muslim world will be Israeli/Muslim war with Iran/Syria backing Muslims and the US/willing backing the all hated Jooooos.
We got flanked by Iran. In the name of a useless effort to appease the LLLs by not taking the initiative and being the aggressor in the coming war we sacrifice the initiative and a HUGE PR advantage to the Iranians. We f*cked up. We will still win but it will now be a lot more bloody and a lot harder than before. Our allies in the ME and Iraq are going to be hard pressed to support the US in a war between Israel & what looks like Muslim world aka Hamas/Hezbollah/Syria/Iran/AQ ect
I had feared Bush had become so beaten by the LLLs that he would do this in a useless attempt to appease the LLLs at the cost of our troops and the war effort. The LLLs will still blame Bush whether we are attacked first or attack first it was a useless effort but costly one to choose.
I predict before the end of the month Syria and very likely Iran will declare war on Israel. Which of course when Iran sends planes or Missiles through Iraqi airspace we will be at war two? We got flanked and now its just a matter of how is Iran going to hit our forces in Iraq directly all out or try to send missiles over the airspace towards Israel?
We allowed ourselves to be Flanked on the PR front.
#24
I recognize that there may be economic downside to this, but, let's be realistic.
Suppose the Canadians came across our border and kidnapped one of our soldiers, or attacked and killed a handful of soldiers and kidnapped two of our soldiers.
Screw the economics! There would be serious hell to pay.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 10:41
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#25
Hizbullah's spiritual leader, Sheikh Hassan "Nasrallah, lauded the Hizbullah for the attack in which seven IDF soldiers were killed and two others kidnapped. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, he warned Israel that the Hizbullah would only release the captives in exchange for security prisoners." (Jerusalem Post)
Sometimes it sure sucks to be a soldier. There is only one way Israel should release the requested prisoners - with a time bomb implanted in their guts.
"There were also signs that Egypt was growing impatient with Syria in the crisis. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak implicitly accused Damascus of wrecking his attempts to mediate a deal for the release of Cpt. Cpl. Gilad Shalit, snatched by Hamas-linked militants on June 25.
Hamas was subjected to "counter-pressures by other parties, which I don't want to name but which cut the road in front of the Egyptian mediation and led to the failure of the deal after it was about to be concluded," Mubarak told Cairo's Al-Ahram Al-Massai newspaper.
Mubarak spoke by telephone Wedneday with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, as well as Jordan's King Abdullah II over the violence. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit flew to Damascus and met with Assad, the Egyptian news agency said. "
Israel should not try to occupy the entire ME, kill everyone, etc. Israel faces an axis of Iran-Syria-Hezbollah-Hamas. Iran is the strongest, but is beyond Israels ability to take down. Hamas and Hezb are proxies, and subject to manipulation. The weak link, the key, is Damascus. The key is to take actions that will further isolate Damascus. Israel shouldnt send Lebanon back to 20 years, but should threaten to do so, and perhaps take the first steps, to make it clear to any fence sitters in Lebanon the dangers of playing with Hezbollah. And make it clear to the Euros the need to keep the pressure on, in fact to go beyond prior acts, to break Hezbollah, whether Syria accepts that or not. The goal is an empowered Lebanese state that takes full responsibilty for actions on its territory. A lebanon thats moving ahead in Beirut, at the price of free rein for Syria-Iran-Heszbollah in the south, is not acceptable.
And for these reasons AS well as economics, Israel must keep a weather eye on EU opinion. Which theyve largely done so far in Gaza - despite the screaming in the press, if you watch the casualty figures, you can see how restrained this operation has been.
#27
and in case anyone misunderstands - when I say "make clear to the Euros" I dont primarily mean verbally. Make clear by threatening their interests in the region. Thats the real meaning of Halutz's statement about sending Leb back 20 years. The Cedar revolution was a big gain for France, in particular, and has given France a new stake in the region. Halutz's statement is basically telling France, that if Israel is not secure, France's interests in Beirut aren't either.
"Dozens of families were seen leaving some villages and heading to seek temporary refuge at the homes of relatives in Tyre.
"We used to flee directly to Beirut, but now we may not be as welcome because there is no more consensus in Lebanon on Hezbollah's resistance since the Israeli troop pullout from Lebanon in 2000," after 22 years of occupation, said one southern resident.
"Some people now do not want war any more, and they want to disarm the Resistance," he said, referring to domestic calls echoing UN demands for the disarming of Hezbollah
#30
Good stuff, liberalhawk, thanks. I'm very reluctant to see regular Lebs pay for Hezb because I've long wondered how much the regular guy there actually supported Hezb, if at all. Seems to me they can't resist them because they're well armed, organized, and funded. It would be like trying to resist the National Guard...
But the word "Resistance" (they even capitalized it) is the key, I think. Sure, that came from an article, but when Joe Leb openly calls Hezb terrorists or Iranian thugs, at least, then they'll be ready for their new-found freedom from Damascus.
I hope Israel can do the nearly impossible in the heat of war and differentiate between Joe Leb and Hezb. Failing will guarantee they never drop the BS "Resistance" view. Succeeding will guarantee that eventually they will, or so I believe.
#31
"A boycott of Israeli goods, which IIRC has been threatened in the past, would be devastating to that small country."
No chance europe would do such a thingy! ovens and unfair treatment of jews are still in living memory, you'd be amazed at the unspoken support for Israel within the european populace.
Proportional response its what our fathers taught us.
#32
perhaps Europe would like the French Wine Boycott treatment? It can be arranged, and on a much larger scale. No tourism? No purchases of Euro products? Think twice you sanctimonious asshole antisemites. We can make your economy dive
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2006 21:52
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#1
I didn't look at the pictures - but the constant and brutal death of white farmers in SA is like the constant and brutal death of Christians world wide. It's not considered newsworthy by any major paper anywhere. Yet fail to provide air conditioning to prisoners at gitmo and watch them all light up 24/7 and go completely apeshit over the human rights abuse.
Something is seriously wrong with the mass media. It's all very bizarre.
#3
I wonder if the farmers ever courted the idea of arming themselves, heavily. They most of the victims look to be old people,women and kids. Typical of the breed, I guess.
A couple's plans for a £5,000 wedding at Alton Towers were thrown into confusion yesterday after it emerged that the theme park had double booked them with a fun day for 20,000 Muslims.
Amanda Morris, 30, and her fiance, Scott Lee, 31, have been told that if they go ahead with the ceremony they will not be allowed to go on celebratory rides together.
Furthermore, Miss Morris and her female guests will have to cover up to be in line with guests of Islamic Leisure wearing hijabs. "I've been looking forward to this day for 18 months, and suddenly it's in ruins," she said yesterday.
"Everything was booked - the photographer, the hotel rooms, everything. Then some of our guests started getting letters saying they would have to cover up because it was a Muslim event.
"Alton Towers haven't even had the decency to let us know they had hired it out. It's not the Muslim event - it's not their fault that Alton Towers have double booked.
"The people with Islamic Leisure want their day as much as we do. I don't blame them at all. But Alton Towers shouldn't have done this. They should at least have rung us to discuss it."
Miss Morris, a recruitment sales advisor, and her fiance, a market trader, booked their wedding in the Emperor's Suite last year.
The bride-to-be said: "It's a nightmare. We have been planning this for so long and now this happens nine weeks before the ceremony.
"People are ringing us saying it must be a joke. I don't know what we are going to do now. I would still like the wedding to go ahead, but I just don't know how it will all work out. I'll be gutted if I have to cancel it now."
The couple, who live in Leeds, chose Alton Towers as the venue for their wedding because they have previously enjoyed staying in the complex's hotel.
At the time they made the booking the only date available was Saturday, Sept 16. They were happy to accept it, believing that they and the 60 guests for whom they had booked 20 rooms would be able to enjoy the following day on the rides.
Since then, however, Alton Towers have hired out the complex for its first Muslim fun day.
Believing that they and their own guests had the complex almost to themselves, Islamic Leisure drew up a list of requirements.
These included the provision of prayer areas and bans on music, alcohol and gambling. In the Muslim tradition, women would also need to cover their bodies, as well as going on rides separately to their menfolk.
The couple have since contacted Islamic Leisure, whose staff confirmed that the wedding party would be asked to adhere to their conditions.
Yaseen Patel, the organisation's director, confirmed: "The body will have to be covered, (though) they do not have to wear the hijab."
An Alton Towers spokesman said staff would be discussing "the options available" with the couple.
She claimed it was a condition of the Islamic Leisure booking that wedding and hotel guests would be exempt from the Muslim dress code.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 10:52
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#5
Alton Towers will probably decide this will be their last "islamic fun day".
No bar sales. No income from gambling. The islamists will bring their own food and will not buy even that on the grounds. The bathrooms in the hotel rooms will be awash in filth and the rooms trashed by any islmaists who stay in them in the ususal "family group" of 23 to a room. Islamists don't tip either.
Mind you, the eerie sight of black burka clad figures riding a silent roller coaster, like so many penguins on parade, might be worth sticking around to see for Miss Morris.
#7
Muslim Fun Day? Sign me up for the Interactive IED Construction Jahid-Headband Badge, the "Babes In Burka's On Parade" show, and, of course, the Death To Infidels Kum-by-ah sing-along.
#10
If somebody wants to buy out Disneyland for a day and say everybody has to wear Mickey Mouse Ears, it's OK with me. How's a Burka different from Mickey Mouse Ears?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2006 13:45
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#12
Nimble:
The difference is that someone would be paying for my ticket and as a condition of them paying for me, I would wear their stupid Mickey Mouse ears. I doubt that the Islamic Fun group is paying for the wedding party. And besides, I would assume that I would be told before I committed anything that the Mickey Mouse ears were part of the deal, not after I was halfway to Disney World with the family and already paid.
#15
Muslims + wedding ceremony normally equals an airstrike.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006 15:17
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#16
I'd go ahead and go, but dress as scantily as I could. And, I'm male, lol!
On a serious note...if the wedding goes on as proceeded, she does NOT have to abide by their rules. PERIOD. Does make me wonder if there will be gun sex allowed though, as celebration for the wedding.
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 15:31
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#17
There were no amusement parks when mo was alive so they can't go on the rides.
Note: Irna is the official Ayatollah tyranny media organ. And genocide incitement is issuing from it. I support Zionism, as a nationa movement of a people who needed emancipation once, and now need only security. It's: SHOWTIME!
Ahmadinejad: Wrap up Zionism before it is too late Tehran, July 12,
IRNA
President Ahmadinejad, on a visit to the northwestern city of Maragheh, said that supporters of Zionism should now wrap it up before it is too late.
Speaking before a huge crowd of local residents, the president said that the problems of of the world can be traced to people's obsession for the mundane things of life, adding that the Zionist regime is the perfect example of a world government with an extreme love for materialism.
#3
"the pent-up anger of inhabitants of the the region could erupt anytime"
And that would differ from the rocket attacks, suicide bombers, and perpetual seething in what manner???
#4
End Ahmadinejad before it is too late. We have been fiddly farting around with this barbaric regime since Khomeni took hostages from our embassy for 400 + days. Doing nothing just emboldens these boneheads.
#6
Agreed, we only need two or three nights of specific targeting to end this 27 year bull with Iran.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 15:11
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#7
I just have to keep wondering, and I know Navy and Air Force folks are doing great work in the wars already. But, when people say we are so already strained, we can't fight anywhere else. Seems to me, we got a lot of folks, with a lot of power that could make a difference. But then, I only watch war movies and the Military Channel, so what do I know?
Are we really stretched? Knowing that Iran would first go after us and the British folks setting on the border with Iraq, I just feel like there are lots of Navy and Air Force folks just itching to get into some trouble. But then again, I have and can be wrong. I know football (real US football) tactics, but not much about military tactics, except to admire you all from a distance!
#8
Howzabout we end this nut job before it's too late?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/12/2006 18:47
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#9
Sherry - bombing capability isn't stretched - Diego Garcia to Iran requires refueling and no overflights - things we are perfectly capable of doing.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2006 19:41
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#10
Thanks Frank. I needed to hear that -- I just can't believe these guys have anyway of doing anything. But hey, they are good at kidnapping! But then, I hear, got to have boots on the ground and we don't have them. Hum.... Shock and awe seemed to work in Germany and Japan... and we got even more stuff now.
And I just know, deep down in my heart, that just has to be about million of our "retired warriors" still in good enough shape, with the will, to be ready to add their experience in about a month. Question might be, do we have enough guns, bullets and beans for them?
But it's still, as Rove said in a speech in New Hampshire, speaking of the Democrats and war, "They may be with you for the first shots," Rove said of such opponents. "But they're not going . . . to be with you for the tough battles."
. . . as long as Im feeling screedy: Its the hapless and jape-free Joel Stein, writing about finding a flag planted on his lawn. Its called Eek! A flag on my lawn, which suggests that the entire column was dictated from a chair on which Mr. Stein stood, shifting from leg to leg in panic. Anyway, he dithered about how to dispose of the flag, until
my wife, Cassandra, got sick of this conversation. So she plucked the flag out of our planter and threw it away, not even in the recycle bin. This is a woman who hates both political parties.
Id say she hates a bit more than that. We continue:
It threw me into a moral tizzy. Why didn't I want a flag in front of my house? Why didn't I ever have one before?
Substantial moral issues rarely manifest themselves in a tizzy, but we are in Eek! Territory. . . .
Go read it all; 'tis a shining example of the Art of the Fisking, and includes a hilarious imagining of "the patented Hugh Hewitt death-by-literal-interpretation radio interrogation."
Posted by: Mike ||
07/12/2006
06:52 ||
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#1
Funny, but what flag is never stated. I get the feeling Joel would've been comfortable if it had been a simple white flag with no markings on his lawn.
#2
Shining through was his attitude that being an American is his self centered right and he can distain it all he wants. It was clear he does not understand the responsibility associated this nation and democracy.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 7:49
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#3
Nah, he'd never think about the responsibility part. That implies he'd have to, you know, do something, and that would just totally cut into his time listening to NPR. Can't have that.
#5
I think Hugh Hewitt did interview Stein last year. A righteous flaying, as I recall. Gerard Van der Leun did a number on him not long ago with a title something like "The Cry Of The Neuter".
#10
what we used to call a bunch of old "sourpusses". Bet the neighborhood kids love putting cherry bombs in their mailbox. Of course, times have changed. Now the muslims put c4 and antrhax in them. Much as things change, they stay the same.
#12
One thing you gotta say about ol' Joel. He doesn't even try to qualify his elitism and tranziism. In a strange sort of way, it's refreshing after reading and hearing the holier-than-thou "how dare you question my patriotism" whine of the NY Times set.
#13
I got to spend my 4th with my wifes family in Omaha, Nebraska. My sister-in-laws husband always bragged about how conservative Omaha was and I got a taste as I drove to their house. A Real Estate company had bought and placed a small American Flag in front of every house. They had done that days before my arrival and I could not see one that was removed.
IMHO, while the proliferation of small arms is a real problem in failed/failing States (and the main culprits are Russia and china here), the RTKBA is a *real* basic human right.
Note that disarmement of citizenry in Europe is not so old, it dates back to the 20-30's, when the gvt feared populist movements; before that, AFAIK, gun ownership was pretty free in most european countries, in late 19th/early 20th, french military rifles were sold to average civilians without any restriction, this was even encouraged by the authorities, to militarize society in view of a war vs Germany.
The old "Manufrance" catalogs are testimony of that bygone era, with service rifles for sale to all.
And access to gun is getting stricter every year (back in late 80's/early 90's, one could buy 12 gauge pump shotguns in the supermarket without any registration), because the Enlightened Elites are afraid of their people again... all this while heavy weaponry, automatic firearms and Rpg, abound in the 'hoods.
#3
Nations by boldly reminding them that in the United States we do have a right to possess firearms. Bolton caused further consternation when he told the gathering that the administration would not allow the international organization to diminish that fundamental right. The audience visibly gasped at the audacity displayed by this upstart diplomat. The anti-gunners (gun grabbers) are insidious, constant, and naive simpletons. They will try any ploy to disarm this country. The Second Amendment makes this country fairly unique and provides a line of protection between citizens and thugs, terrorists, and anyone else with evil intentions. The UN would like to make over countries in their image, bloated, ineffectual, elitest, do-nothing, and corrupt. Our freedoms were costly and came from the blood of our citizens.
#4
As much as I applaud our "holding that line", I cannot agree that a stalemate is a win. When someone tries to sneak something unreasonable past you, or tries the gradualism trick, the *only* effective technique is to counterattack--to drive them back.
In this case, the US should push for an international right to bear arms. Slap the UN with statistics that show how a well-armed citizenry protects itself from crime and violence.
Push them on the issue of allowing the widespread legality of licensed and concealed firearms by private citizens.
This would frighten them so much they would drop the whole issue permanently, out of fear that the US might actually win.
#6
I don't see many pictures of Armalite rifles and Colt pistols being carried around by insurgents and terrorists. Every one of them has an AK-47. Now lets see, who could have made and sold them an AK. Russia, China, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia? Why don't the candy asses at the UN go dick them around.
#8
IIRC, Bros. Judd had an interesting article last week(?) about Brazil.
The UN and about 500 gun-grabbing orgs tried to pass a major gun-grab measure. Until 3 weeks before the vote, 70% of the public was for it.
Then came the commercials.
It wasn't about guns, it was about their rights, no references to America, but showed Tiannamen and other areas of the world. Voted down almost 2-to-1.
#9
Why don't the candy asses at the UN go dick them around.
Because that wasnt the point of the whole thing Big Jim. This was supposed to be a big PR poke-in-the-eye to neanderthal Americans like you and me: why else schedule it to begin on the 4th of July? The UN doesnt oppose violence of any kind. Simply put, it opposes the sort of individual freedoms championed by American society.
Jeb Bush for vice president? The governor just smiled Monday when asked about teaming up with Arizona Sen. John McCain as Republicans hope to come up with a ticket to keep the White House -- now occupied by Bush's older brother.
"I like Sen. McCain. I think he's a good guy," Bush said.
Bush has been the subject of recent speculation that his popularity in vote-rich Florida, his image as a conservative tax-cutter and his age (53) could prompt the 70-year-old McCain to welcome him as a running mate.
"There's all sorts of time to worry about the 2008 election," he said.
#2
"There's all sorts of time to worry about the 2008 election," he said.
If he is anything like his brother, who had the republican primary sewed up before primary season had even begun, that has got to rate right off the irony scale.
I suspect Jed is going to sit this one out, figuring that America has "Bush fatigue" after eight years.
The real finesse comes in for the 2012 elections, how he might position himself for best effect.
#3
I'll do you one better BH6, I won't vote for McCain. He lost me years ago. The GOP needs to have a better plan than to nominate a RINO, or I'll be gone for good.
#6
Jersey, I personally don't like McCain either so I don't disagree about not voting for him but that all depends on who the competition is. I voted for W twice and before him Perot twice. (Looking back it was dumb not to vote for Dole who I know more about now - ahh, youth.) I have no problem voting third party if I have to. I'd vote Libertarian but they're usually weak on the border situation so I'll have to see what their candidate does this time around.
#7
I would vote for another Bush ong before I vote for a Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Biden, Reid, or Kennedy. If McCain gets the nod (and that is a BIG if) I would vote for him long before I Indy or Dhimi.
#8
Well for what its worth, I've been trolling around the Constitution Party site and forums. They are unfortunately beset by internal strife over abortion since a sizable part of their memebership seems to be fundies. But as far as the rest of the platform goes it really gets back to the basics, which I would love to see.
Have a look:
#10
Voting Indy is the same as voting for a Dem. FYI Bill Clinton NEVER got over 50% of the popular vote in either election. 3rd party poopers skim off just enough votes to give him the edge in key states.
Britain's lower house of parliament will hold an emergency debate on Wednesday on the case of three former bankers, just hours before they are due to be extradited to face trial in the United States.
MPs will focus attention on an extradition treaty which critics say is unfair because America does not have to provide evidence to support a request for extradition of suspects from Britain.
The three men -- David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby -- worked for NatWest bank, now part of Royal Bank of Scotland, and have been dubbed the "NatWest Three" by British media. They face fraud charges related to the collapsed energy company Enron.
Theirs is the first high-profile case under a new extradition treaty with the U.S. in force since January 2004, designed to speed up extradition of terrorism suspects.
Critics say the law lacks balance because while the U.S. can seek extradition without having to present evidence to a British court, Britain has to provide more evidence to the U.S. before being allowed to extradite suspects from there.
Alun Jones, a lawyer for the three, described the treaty as "draconian" and "deliberately designed to be lopsided".
"The real question ... here is what business is it of the United States to be prosecuting three UK citizens accused of defrauding their own bank in London when that bank has never alleged it's been defrauded and never commenced criminal proceedings," he said on BBC radio.
Wednesday's parliamentary debate comes too late to have any effect on the case of the NatWest Three, who are due to be handed over to U.S. marshals at London's Gatwick Airport on Thursday and put on a flight to Houston, Texas.
Washington's ambassador to London, Robert Tuttle, defended the extradition arrangements, insisting they were broadly equal. "The evidentiary standards are roughly the same ... and that is how it should be," he told BBC radio.
Tuttle also said he was "optimistic" that the treaty, which has yet to be approved by the U.S. legislators, would be ratified sometime this year.
Pressure groups, business leaders and Britain's opposition Conservative Party have sought to intervene and have the NatWest Three prosecuted in Britain, but the government has said there is no basis to stop the extradition.
#1
Yet they've gotten the sign off from every level of the British judiciary, which I presume is no more conservative than our own. I must admit to being somewhat confused about this. Some great handwaving going on.
And who is committing this Fraud? Could it be Muslims? Wasn't each and every act of terrorism, including the tunnel-conspirators, mosque basd? Radical alien Muslims + impressionable minds = terrorism
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has found a special visa program for religious workers is riddled with fraud, the Boston Globe reported Tuesday. The newspaper obtained a redacted version of the department's report on an internal investigation. Investigators who audited 220 applications for religious visas found that more than a third included fraudulent information.
The program allows religious organizations, including churches, mosques and synagogues, to bring in foreigners to fill specific positions. Religious worker visas can be temporary ones for three years or green cards allowing immigrants to remain in the United States permanently. The audit found an especially high rate of fraud in applications from heavily Muslim countries. In one case, an Egyptian national living in the United States filed applications for 82 visas for religious workers.
While critics say the program could allow terrorists easy entry, many religious groups find it vital. Margaret Perron, director of religious immigration services for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, told the Globe the U.S. church has an acute shortage of priests and nuns.
#1
I guess they are just going to keep pushing until we push back. What's amazing to me is their inability to grasp the eventual consequences of their actions.
But I don't know why I'm amazed. I mean - it's not like we don't have whole volumes of history too see exactly where this is headed. I guess I just thought they would have gotten a clue - what with all this modern technology and all. It's not like they don't have access to the same information.
#8
Send all the fraudsters home with a permanent bar to ever come back to the US. Summarily expel all those connected to the fraud, like that Egyptian idiot mentioned in the article. Clear the deck of all who came illegally, then we can get to work on those of the enemy who came legally.
Former CBS newsman Dan Rather says he'll have complete editorial control over the content of the weekly newsmagazine he will kick off for Mark Cuban's HDNet in October.
"News at its best is a wake-up call, not a lullaby, and I'm not in the lullaby business," Rather told reporters Tuesday at Summer TV Press Tour 2006.
Three weeks after being shown the door by the broadcast network's news division, Rather appeared before TV critics here to discuss details of his new three-year pact with billionaire Cuban.
Rather, 74, said he was relieved to be moving from news "defined by the economics of the corporation presenting the news" to "independent journalism."
The longtime anchor, who left CBS News last month after he and management could not agree on his future role there, said that "nothing I say here is designed to be critical of CBS."
Then he came out swinging.
"CBS is a large organization . . . with a chain of command that looks like the wiring of a nuclear plant. . . . The difference [at HDNet] is that the chain of command begins and ends with me. With 'Dan Rather Reports' I have creative and editorial control."
When he left CBS, Rather already had relinquished his anchor chair at "CBS Evening News" and was reporting for "60 Minutes"; his final year had been marked by controversy over the network's discredited story on President Bush's National Guard tenure.
Rather acknowledged he comes to HDNet with "baggage."
"Yes, I have baggage -- I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam," he said.
He also acknowledged he was "biased -- I have a very strong bias toward independent journalism."
"Some of what you describe as 'baggage,' " he told one critic, "comes from people who have the following view: Their view is, 'You report the news the way I want it reported or I'm going to make you pay a price and hang a sign around your neck saying you're a bomb-toting Bolshevik or something.' "
Dallas Mavericks owner Cuban, who sat nodding during most of Rather's comments and even applauded him once, has his own equally colorful reputation as a rabble-rouser; he's been fined for bad behavior courtside during games.
This, he suggested, makes him the perfect employer for Rather.
"I've been painted into so many corners, I'm out of corners," Cuban told the critics. "I'm not concerned at all because the work will speak for itself." He said he'd already been inundated with e-mail from Rather detractors and assumed they were pretty worn out by now.
Cuban said he was thrilled to have Rather on board: "Now that he is finally released from the ratings-driven and limited-depth confines of broadcast television, I am excited about the impact Dan can have on the future of news."
Rather choked up several times during the more than hour-long Q&A session, when talking about his legacy and specifically about his role model, Edward R. Murrow.
He declined to comment on a report in the Hollywood Reporter that he's in discussions with American Online about doing work for its Internet news service, other than to say he was interested in other opportunities. However, he said, that his first, second and third priority is HDNet, which is available in about 3 million homes.
#1
Dan Rather's "baggage" is more like a 40-foot steel container with hazmat placards.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/12/2006 6:47
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#2
Yes, I have baggage -- I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam," he said.
Always comes back to that don't it? Like a 3-legged yellow dawg limping back to the pig carcasss under the trailer steps.
#3
I didn't think my opinion of Dan could get any lower.
Then ... Yes, I have baggage -- I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam," he said.
Now it's all so clear!
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/12/2006 6:55
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#4
HDNet, which is available in about 3 million homes.
By any count 3 million is such a tiny market that it looks like they hired him just for the splash, not any real content. He is done and HDNet is just using him to get circulation. Pathetic.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 7:28
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#5
Cuban: another idiot who doesn't understand the economics of the new media.
#9
"I have the baggage of being a graduate of the journalism school of South Vietnam,"
How very Kerry-esque. Will we be hearing this in every interview from now on?
"I have a very strong bias toward independent journalism."
Tough talk from one of the liberal media's long-time corporate pawns. Personally, I don't count slanderous reports based on forged documents to be journalism, but that's just me.
#10
yawn. What are they calling the show? DAN RATHER'S INFOMERCIAL TO PROMOTE FAILED 20TH CENTURY IDEALS?
I wonder whose informercial will get better ratings? The preacher with the bad toupee who will pray for you if you send money; the ladies selling skin cream that will instanty make you thin, beautiful, and wrinkle free; or Dan.
#1
Wow. Another poster child for the far left. Maybe she could join Sin-dee in her "fast"?
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/12/2006 7:02
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#2
Good news that UA forced her out. Good job to all the folks that sent emails of protest, it worked. Now we gotta get that moonbat that says 911 was an inside job.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 7:34
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#3
Now we gotta get that moonbat that says 911 was an inside job.
Errr... which one? There is a lot of them, out there...
#5
Interesting thing to note over at DKos: there's a "diary" (blog entry) up condemning Deb Frisch, and all of the commenters are pretty much in agreement:
I hope we'll all second your motion to denounce that kind of behavior. Too bad that Deb Frisch had to stoop so low.
I don't care WHOSE children are in question, this kind of crap is unconscionable.
Before this comment, I would have never imagined a so-called left winger promoting this type of violence (against an innocent, that is). I'll take a conservative jerk over a leftwing nutjob anyday.
There's a couple of expressions of skepticism, and one half-hearted attempt at moral equivalence, but nobody really sticking up for Frisch--and since the post is several days old, I don't expect we'll see anything more added to it.*
I yield to no one in my disdain for the Kossacks, but if you're gonna slag 'em when they're wrong, you gotta be big enough to give 'em props when they get it right. Give them credit for policing their own, at least this time.
*There appears to be nothing on the whole affair over at DU. Oh well, at least they're not starting a Deb Frisch Defense Fund, so I suppose that's positive.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/12/2006 9:09
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#6
Mous5089 the guy from Wisconsin that is teaching Islamic relations at one of the colleges there. He said 911, the embassy bombings, and all the AQ IEDs are a secret government Army plot. The trouble with this jerk is he is teaching this crap at a land grant college and our taxes are paying for it. I think creitical analysis of our government is necessary but this is just crap.
But then your right, I'm sure there are hundreds out there that agree with him.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 9:33
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#7
I also think I need to learn to spell! LOL!!!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 9:34
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#8
So, a left winger crashes and burns and the 'movement' remains motionless. You see, kids, there is no real movement toward the liberal side of things, there is only rhetoric, bloviation, and criticism of the right. The nut cases have joined the left long ago, and now there are not enough thinkers left to mask the oddballs. Yall should have seen it coming when Slick Willy was face bangin the teeny bopers.
#9
Btw, notice how the article itself is biased toward giving the impression there's a moral equivalency there, as JG points out with the curious choice of the "I'll just shoot you" quote (not mentioned in phone) and wrong time frame by the journalist?
#10
Mous5089 the guy from Wisconsin
49Pan, the one talked about here a few days ago with his teevee interview, ok I remember.
Still, I agree with you, there's a whole industry on that conspiracy theory; by the way, I'm pretty sure there is some uncovered truth about the 9/11, some cover ups, some nasty secrets by the US authorities, but IMHO, this goes rather in the way of the actual State sponsors (Pakistan, Iraq and Iran?), the identity of the famous "speculators" who played the markets (soodies and/or islamic financiary orgs?) along with the fact it SHOULD have been prevented except for the PC-induced intelligence ineptness coming from the Clinton's 90's,... rather than the typical NWO drivel, which is lacking in its most basic motive : why the 9/11???
If this was a conspiracy, then it was the most unsuccessful, costly, elaborate, and unbalanced in the mean/result department conspiracy ever.
My own CT is I think we're being hidden the scope of the attack, IE we're not just at war with AQ and "terror", but with a whole part of the arab/muslim world, and the stakes are much higher than a "simple" terror wave, it's survival of the western civilization against the "3rd jihad" which is in play.
#11
Blog BLUNDER? Blunder?? Please. That wasn't a blunder, it was mental illness in action. Maybe Goldstein didn't feel threatened but he should have. Lots of people say lots of bad things they shouldn't say (including myself) becuase of the anonoymous nature of posting on the internet - especially late at night or maybe after one drink too many - but that wasn't an anonymous threat - it was specific, targeted and personal.
I think she should be prosecuted. The FBI gets involved over throwing a bullet ridden Koran at a mosque - but this was a much more serious and real threat. The woman is deranged and dangerous. Does she have to hurt someone before they take serious such an obvious fact?
Russia and China seem to have the United States -- at least publicly-- flummoxed. In recent days, President Bush has praised China as "a good partner to have at the table with us" regarding North Korean negotiations. This week, he has cited his "good friendship" with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yesterday, Bush praised Putin for his "helpful role" in diplomacy on the same day it was revealed that the Russian government forced Russian radio stations to stop broadcasting news from Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. And, since 2001, Bush has talked about America's "strategic partnership" with Russia.
It is true that often diplomacy requires a statesman to insincerely publicly express friendship with nations that are well understood not to be friends. Such public diplomatic utterances become of concern only if they betoken an actual assessment of the nations' relationships. In the cases of China and Russia, there is evidence that our government still sees them as partners in a dangerous world.
We all should wish that they were partners -- or could be in the future. I am not in the camp that sees either of those great powers as inevitable enemies. And we should constantly direct our foreign policy toward gaining as amicable relations as possible with each of them (while, of course, being ever vigilant and prepared to deal with their hostility as it may emerge).
But it is becoming increasingly suggestive that currently it would be a miscalculation to premise our actions on the assumption that either Russia or China view themselves as our partners in any meaningful use of that word.
Regarding the North Korean missile controversy, China would appear to be opposing our aims. While China told us before the missile launches that they were pressing North Korea not to launch, North Korea's non-compliance would suggest that China did not really insist. After all, China can turn on and off the energy and food spigot to impoverished North Korea. While one cannot be sure of these things, the better judgment is that China is perfectly happy to have their ward, North Korea, continue to show up American impotence. Each time we make and then withdraw various deadlines, American diplomatic credibility is reduced worldwide. (As we pointed out last week in a Washington Times editorial.)
Whether it pleases China to let this humiliation continue, or whether China finally enforces its mandate on North Korea (perhaps in exchange for an American concession to China on some unrelated economic or foreign policy matter), the conclusion must be accepted that China is not "our good partner to have at the table."
The sad fact is that America currently is not able to stop North Korea short of military action -- which at this moment would be an act of wanton recklessness on our part. It is true that we have been and continue to be squeezing North Korea semi-covertly through economic, naval and other means -- which may over time coerce North Korea to more acceptable behavior. But such factors will not be determinative in the current missile controversy.
Thus our government looks increasingly foolish and pathetic as we plead to "our partner," China, to bail the world out. Rather, we should start, and then ratchet up, our public criticism of China for not being a responsible member of the international community. They should pay an international price for their irresponsibility. With their Olympics coming up, they may even give a damn for a while.
With Russia, the story is a longer and sadder one. After the fall of Soviet Russia, there were high hopes in the West that Russia would become what it had never quite been: a part of the West. And after Sept. 11, 2001, there seemed a genuine opportunity to unite with Russia in common cause against our mutual mortal threat: radical Islam. But whether due to high-handed American foreign policy and annoying demands for American-style democracy in Russia, or whether out of Russia's historic otherness, it is now quite clear that Putin's Russia is ably crafting an independent stance.
Those who thought Russia would ever become our junior partner in the western alliance were probably never realistic. When I was last in Russia, before Christmas last year, meeting with leading politicians, academics and media people to discuss my book on Islam and the clash of civilizations, the central point made by almost all my interlocutors was that Russia was its own civilization -- not part of the West.
Across the partisan and ideological Russian spectrum, their deep Russian pride -- and their fury at what they saw as America's exploitation of their temporary weakness after the fall of the Soviet regime -- made it clear to me that Russia intended to chart a fully independent course. Ironically, the high oil prices caused in part by the Middle East turmoil has made it possible for Russia to finance such an independent foreign policy.
This doesn't make Russia our enemy. But it requires us to recalibrate our expectation that Russia will behave like a partner in seeing their own interest advanced by advancing our common international interests. We may well have common ventures with Russia, but they will be hammered out on a case by case basis -- not as friends or enemies -- but dispassionately as two independent peoples who do not see a common path to a common future.
It would be dangerous to be in a world without partners. But it would be more dangerous to see friendship where none exists.
Posted by: DanNY ||
07/12/2006 6:34
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#2
They're competitors desperately searching for some sort of international Sherman Anti-Trust Act and the means to enforce it. The UN and behind the scenes trading and bartering is the best they can come up with. The alternative [gasp] would be to offer a better service or product. Unfortunately, such an item is an anathema to their being.
What is this assumption that Russia and China will carry our water. Nations have permanent interests, not permanenet allies.
China is not the problem, North Korea is. China may not have much more leverage on Korea than we, It's just not as transparent. We could as easily quarantine NKor as China could cut off the trains. But if China destabilizes Norkland, the starving millions head to China for a meal. Why is it in their interest to destabilize Nork?
Likewise Russia doesn't have its act together. That's news? That doesn't make them an enemy, or even a player.
I can't believe Blankley ever took the "partner" BS to heart. He knows how long partnerships last.
#4
"Rusland bleibt Rusland" (Russia remains Russia) -- an old German saying.
No matter how much Russia might be tempered with its very new experiment with democracy, both it and China have a tremendous amount of historical baggage that will never free them from their unpleasant behavior.
This ingrained breeding goes right over the heads of the internationalist intellectuals, who believe that if they just have enough committee meetings and dedicated bureaucrats, then pigs shall soar aloft with the seagulls.
But the bottom line is that it just isn't natural.
Russia and China will retain their essential character, even if it destroys them, as it well might. But theirs has never been a way of partnership. It is unnatural to them. They might embrace it momentarily, but soon it becomes intolerable, and they revert to xenophobia and isolationism.
In its own way and right, the US is the same with asserting its prerogatives. But the US has the double advantage of not having an ancient history, nor having only a single ethnic or cultural background. Thus the US never fully partners, nor does it become fully isolationist any more.
#5
Russia can only look at envy towards Germany and Japan. They at least got to be reconstituted by the US after they lost their wars to it and they still have American occupation troops keeping the peace 60 years later. Russia's big mistake was not to ask to be occupied and reconstituted by the US in 1991.
#7
"Why is it in their interest to destabilize Nork?"
The options on North Korea are limited. If anyone has the chance to change the governments in North Korea without destabalizing it China is the one. An invite to Kim to visit China, a word to a top general while he's out of town. Coup's happen.
The other option is the collapse of North Korea, the eventual reunification of Korea (with nukes) and a remilitarized Japan.
Given the two options China would be idiotic not to attempt a coup, work to unifying the Koreas on their terms so that it becomes a client state (the young in South Korea already buy the propoganda) or at least a neutral, non-nuclear, state.
#8
Assume the ChiComs and Russkies will oppose us diplomatically on every relevant issue.
Next?
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 17:33
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Russia is still still pissed-off about our interference in the Ukraine, Georgia, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria issues. Putin wants to put the Soviet Union back together so bad he can't stand it. So now we get a little payback for that. As for NKor, I don't believe there will be an attack from us. We will simply help our allies, Japan,Skor,India,Australia, and Taiwan build their armies with technology and cooperation. A backbreaking,nerve racking game of chess to be sure, but the only one that has a reasonable outlook. Utter annihilation of NKOR is not really something that would be charactaristic of us. Unless he starts throwing around WMD's, then all bets are off.
Sixty-one years after the end of World War II, Japan is on the verge of becoming a mature, responsible democracy.
Once Japan's troops raped and murdered their way across China, enslaved women as prostitutes for their soldiers, and starved, beat and worked Allied POWs to death. Taken with Germany's blitzkrieg and Holocaust, it stands as history's most naked, unbridled and unprovoked case of aggression.
At war's end the Japanese, finally brought to submission by two atomic bombs, got religion. It was a rebirth, one of the most remarkable transformations of history, as the chastened Japanese and Germans foreswore the projection of military might. Their once war-obsessed people became some of the noisiest advocates of peace in the world, presuming even to lecture the United States on the subject, ignoring the glaring irony that the United States had been compelled to level their cities to end their warmongering and then took on the costly burden of defending them from the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.
Japan was content to allow the United States to handle its defense for six decades, while Japan prospered and assumed the appearance of a leading nation in the world. Japan was in fact a nation-sized factory and merchandizing operation. With the exception of some aid programs, Japan's primary contribution to world stability has been to act as a convenient naval port and airfield for American forces off the coasts of North Korea and China.
That has been shifting slightly. There has been talk for the last couple of decades of Japan assuming more responsibility for its own defense and Japan has shown increasing interest in the plight of poorer natins. Then, to howls of domestic protest, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took the audacious step in 2003 of dispatching military engineers -- strictly non-combatant and defended in no subtle irony by Australian troops -- to give the people of Iraq clean water.
But North Korean despot Kim Jong Il has at longlast provided the impetus for what could be a sea change in modern Japan's role in the world. In 1998, North Korea fired a missile through Japanese airspace. Last week, the Taepodong II -- purportedly an intercontinental ballistic missile -- was test-fired and crashed into the Sea of Japan, along with half a dozen Scuds. These incidents followed several decades of the unimagineable national insult and injury of North Korean agents abducting Japanese youths from Japanese beaches, to be used in spy programs against Japan.
The July 4th launches were seen as a message to the United States, another effort to boost Kim Jong Il's international prestige and angle for attention and aid. But the chances that North Korea will credibly threaten the United States in the foreseeable future are remote. Japan is demonstrably already in range, and Japan's government is in no mood to play games with Kim.
Japanese officials said Monday they believe negotiations may not be the answer to the Korean problem. Dawn over Tokyo.
"If we accept that there is no other option to prevent an attack ... there is the view that attacking the launch base of the guided missiles is within the constitutional right of self-defense. We need to deepen discussion," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said.
"It's irresponsible to do nothing when we know North Korea could riddle us with missiles," said Tsutomu Takebe, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. To legally allow such an attack, he said, "We should consider measures, including legal changes."
Japan's military currently remains on a defensive footing, and would at best be strained by the execution of such a plan. A Japanese ramp-up to offensive capability probably could be achieved in relatively short order, once legal issues are resolved. Japan may then also have to tackle the issue of whether to go nuclear, as an added defensive measure in a bad neighborhood that includes two aggressive nuclear players -- China and North Korea. These are not only reasonable steps for a mature democracy to consider in that kind of environment, they are vital to stabilizing a region where the United States has not only had to provide security but is regularly blamed for creating tensions it is there to defend against.
As Japan mulls its right to projecting military power in its own self-defense, expect an uproar from homegrown peace advocates who believe that pacifism is the highest international virtue, and fail to recognize that mature, responsible democracies must be prepared to act aggressively in defense of themselves and others.
Jules Crittenden is a Boston Herald city editor and columnist for bostonherald.com. Crittenden has covered foreign policy, military affairs and social issues in India, Pakistan, Israel, Kosovo, Armenia, Iraq and Kuwait.
This is purely personal opinion and mostly to see what sort of response might be forthcoming from RBers. I'm no expert on Korea. Just a guy who's read a bunch of stuff. Here's what I've taken away from that spotty self-education. I'm sure there are all sorts of solid objections out there, but this is how it appears to me today.
Seoul.
Seoul translates to "capitol". Due to its proximity to the border, Seoul has been vulnerable to NKor artillery attack since the ceasefire of July, 1953. There is some off and on political will (proponents: Park, 1978; Roh, 2002) to relocate "Seoul" to the Chungchong region (in the center of SKor) by 2014. Looks like that's going to be too late, IMO and it's far easier said than done. Greater Seoul is actually 13 adjoining cities, IIRC, represents 12% of SKor territory, approx 25% of the population, and approx 50% of the economic output. It is now vulnerable to SCUDs, (Nodongs, Rodongs, DingDongs) as well as artillery.
When NKor could only threaten SKor, Seoul in particular, it made strategic sense to have US troops there to deter attack and to make it clear Seoul, though extremely vulnerable, would be the tripwire and would be defended at all costs. It was an effective deterrent. SKor was satisfied with this arrangement since they almost universally harbor a deep desire for reunification and were willing to live with the situation and walk the tightrope of Seoul's vulnerability in hopes of finding a route leading to that end.
53 years of stalemate have passed without reunification. Nothing has actually changed except NorK has acquired far more dangerous weapons than artillery and SCUDs.
The equation has also become regional, since NKor can now threaten Japan - and soon the US. Japan is enough, however, to change the military picture and the US has been reassessing the situation since learning of NKor advances in nuclear weapons and delivery systems. Adding in the political changes in SKor further alters the logical US view and position regards defending Seoul with US forces. Seoul is no longer the only "asset" under threat and the present tripwire is an obsolete response.
Before NKor can effectively deliver on the threat beyond Seoul, it must be neutralized. Utterly and completely. Permanently.
Will NKor attack Seoul if attacked? Almost certainly. The decades of stalemate have yielded no reasonable chance of a reunification other than capitulation by SKor. The SKor gambit has failed. Even if SKor were to suddenly begin serious efforts to reunify, it would not change the threat situation as no one could reasonably believe that NorK would disarm and Japan would still be vulnerable. On the contrary, that is most likely what Kim Jong Il prays for: SKor capitulation saving his regime and fanatical cult military and boosting his technological and industrial capabilities 100-fold.
Should we wait for him to perfect missiles that can reliably hit Japan and the US with nuclear payloads? That is his clear intention. He has the nuclear warheads, we're told. We can see he's working on the delivery systems. He'll eventually create a working package that will truly threaten the existence of Japan and the Western half of the US. There is nothing to stop him, except either being militarily destroyed or sealed off via some impervious layered ABM systems. The problem is that an ABM system would not be a solution, since none are perfect and we are talking about nuclear weapons. It would merely be more stalemate, more stop-gap. Another decade, perhaps much less, of makeshift defense from an insane regime which would be busily working to overcome the ABM systems. And what if there was a sudden reunification, voluntary or not? That would likely accelerate events dramatically. Trusting the SKor population not to do the stupidest thing imaginable is not something I care to do.
The threat grows every day. Japan is already under the gun. Trying to perfect systems which will be able to shoot down NorK missiles is not a permanent answer. Kim Jong Il will not disarm or cease attempting to become a global nuclear power. We have but one alternative that can be termed a real solution.
Time's up. Game over. Obliterate everything in NorK. Seoul is forfeit. Always has been.
My $0.02.
P.S. Another amateur opinion: Start selling any stock in SKor companies whose manufacturing facilities and equipment yards are within 200-250 miles of the DMZ. I'm not talking about HQ offices - I mean the real stuff, the equipment, the rolling stock, the plants. Perhaps, if you're a real smart gambler, start buying stock in construction (road, and rail, for example) companies whose equipment and manufaturing facilities are beyond 200-250 miles from the DMZ. They'll have to rebuild.
#1
Will NKor attack Seoul if attacked? Almost certainly.
They could shoot salvos of missiles for generations into Seoul. When I was stationed at Camp Casey, between Seoul and the border, I always suspected that wed be sacrificed because the politicos wouldnt allow us to deploy in order not to provoke the Nkors when things started getting hot. . So, wed know they were coming when the first round of firing came crashing into our position. Theyve had decades to get the exact position of every building on the compounds. When I was there the whole compound conducted an exit exercise. Using the >two< gates, it took over 24 hours to move all the personnel and equipment out. Casey was nicely tucked into a topographical cul-de-sac.
The problem for the Nkors is that theyd largely be limited to rocket and artillery. When Skor had very little in the way of a trained Army, it took the commies days to get into Seoul . Today, not only do the Skors have a real army as things are ajudged these days, but Seoul itself is one major metro complex. The topography leading into Seoul channelizes the routes and the terrain offers great opportunity to establish hard defensive positions. Unless you have the training and technology the Americans have, city fighting is going to be a bitch and because you quickly end up compartmentalizing the battlefield, the fight can only be pushed by local initiative, something a mother may I command system can not effectively apply. Yes, you can push bodies into the fight, but it is just a meat grinder like WWI. That approach is further undermined by the American/western concept of deep battle which would be attacking and attriting the follow on reserves in those geographical lanes to the city. Battle doesnt continue if you have nothing to throw in.
How many and what yield are the Nkor's nukes [note well, they haven't been 'proofed' yet]? And Seoul like Nagasaki has some topography issues which will mitigate some effects. One or two can do some serious damage, but anymore than the Kobe earthquake did to that city? Some of this may just be the Hollywood scare effect.
#2
Quarantine Nkor and its economy collapses and its exports of weapons end. No need for violence beyond boarding parties. If the Norks want to start the artillery barrage because of that, Sorks should do something now.
#3
Let me add something to the discussion, which may or may not be worth the bandwidth.
I think SKor wants the status quo to continue indefinitely. Sure, they don't want Seoul getting shelled, nor do they want to be ruled by Kim Jong-Il; nobody in their right mind wants either of those things to occur.
But . . . they also don't want Kim to go down, because then they (at least think they) get saddled with the rebuilding costs for NKor. They look north and see a giant vacuum cleaner ready to suck the life out of their economy. Therefore, cold-hearted as it may seem--those are fellow Koreans starving up there, after all--the inertia is all on the side of, well, inertia.
That worked just fine for 53 years, when SKor's self-interest was most at stake, but once Kimmie attains the capability to hit Tokyo and Harbin and Seattle, there are other calculations of self interest by other countries that come into play. I doubt the Japanese can be persuaded to risk Osaka to protect Seoul, and China (at least) is cold-blooded enough to trade away collateral damage to Seoul to eliminate a threat to Mukden.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/12/2006 10:25
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#4
Quarantine Nkor and its economy collapses and its exports of weapons end.
Credibly announce that any attacks by N. Korea or by others with arms from or built with the assistance of N. Korea will earn a military response against China and you do the same.
#5
I doubt the Chinese would stop running the trains based on that threat. They'd know it was hollow when they heard Hagel/McCain/Lugar condemn it on the Sunday morning shows and threaten the president with impeachment.
#8
If we have a way to take out Kimmie and the leadership, we should do it now. China is not about to lose us as a trading partner and after Kimmie there is no power left and whomever took over would not have the cult appeal and little following.
#9
In the inscrutable game, China must understand that if Nkor collapses and leaves the field to Skor, the Americans will leave the peninsula. So, why doesnt China want the Americans to leave? They must understand by now that the policy is only making the Japanese-American alliance tighter not weaker. Keeping the Americans around only means more obstruction concerning Taiwan. So why are they doing these things to keep the Americans around? Something is going on here that is not apparent, because their actions mean they want the Americans around.
yoo hayte jews? fite me asshaolez! im not even jewish. ima mexican, but my kidz are half jewish. kep talkerin thes krap, and ima gonna shuve yore ballz up your unkles ass before shovin em down yore fatherz throat. kapisce?
Pat Buchanan's little vanity newsletter (TAC) is anti-Semitic.
Sun rises in East.
Grass grows.
Water runs downhill.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/12/2006 6:46
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#4
Sun rises in East.
Well, technically speaking, it doesn't rise. The Earth rotates. How comfortable we still are with geo-centric pre-Renaissance concepts. ;)
A world view that fits Messr. Buchanan well.
#6
The final solution has just started and I don't think its the solution the anti-Semites were wetting themselves over.
Instead it will mean the destruction of the tyranny in Syria replaced by either an Israeli occupation force or anarchy. It will eventually lead to the expulsion of Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza as things escallate and the Pals continue to make the absolute wrong decisions.
Well, it does NOW in most places. But you apparently never saw the river in Pittsburg that BURNED a handful of decades ago. I've seen industrial wastewater that not only could run, it could do marathons ... LOL
4th of july piece, missed it at the time. HT the fine folks at No Pasaran!
From the desk of Paul Belien
When the Emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed in 476 the Roman Empire ceased to exist. The dark ages descended upon Europe. Christian civilisation in the West collapsed. The second christening began about one hundred years later from an area that had itself been christened by Roman missionaries but had geographically never been part of the Empire because it was situated across the sea, even more to the west than the Western outskirts of the Empire had been. From here the Saints Columba and Aidan and other holy men travelled east to bring the ancient heritage back to the lands where they had originally come from.
History never repeats itself, and yet similarities are often so striking that in a way there is nothing new under the sun. In the 17th and 18th centuries North America was colonised by freedom loving people who brought the political institutions and traditions from Europe to a new continent across the sea. Many of them had left Europe because they wanted the freedom to live according to their own conscience instead of the conscience of the centralist absolutist rulers of the new age that was sweeping across Europe from the 16th century onwards. Their traditions were rooted in the decentralised traditions of the late Middle Ages and the Aristotelian philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Europes Middle Ages had been characterised by an absence of central power, while man was bound to multiple legal systems: the legal order of his city, that of the land, that of his guild, that of the church. There was not one monopolistic ruler, as in China or in the Muslim world, but many, which guaranteed greater freedom for the individual. The philosophy of Aquinas, moreover, was centered on the individual. God had called man to be free from sin, but in order to be free from sin he had to be virtuous, and in order for virtue to have any value it had to be voluntary, implying that the virtuous man had to be free in every aspect of his life including, as Aquinas followers later pointed out, his economic activities.
Hence the paradox came about that the civil society developing in the new continent was in a sense older than the new Modern Age of the absolutist monarchs governing Europe. When the Americans rebelled in 1776 they rebelled against absolutism in order to keep their old freedoms. Theirs was a conservative revolution. Europe had its own series of revolutions from 1789 onwards, but these were revolutions of a different sort. They toppled the ruling absolutists to replace them by absolutists of an even extremer form: totalitarians. These were not satisfied with controlling their subjects political and economic lives but also wished to control their minds and souls, i.e. to become their god.
The different historical evolution of Americans and Europeans has greatly influenced them. American society is a society whose culture and view of mankind resembles that of the old mediaeval Europe from which it organically evolved. It puts man before the state because it accepts that man should come to God as a free being. Europe, having lived through the perversions of the Modern Age, has absorbed much of the absolutist and totalitarian spirit. Though the state was rendered democratic in the second half of the 20th century an event, moreover, that would not have been possible without American assistance it has in fact developed into a totalitarian democracy. Europeans still tend to put the state before man, still see the government as a god (a benefactor who feeds and supports his people), while the real God He who wants people to come to Him freely because otherwise their choice for Him is no choice at all has almost totally disappeared from present-day European society.
Americans have never lost the vital understanding that freedom has to be indivisible in order that man may lead a virtuous life. Democracy and freedom of expression represent only the political and moral-cultural fields of life. There is a third important field of social life: economics. In this field the Americans have adopted a system that allows citizens the greatest possible economic freedom and severely restricts the power of the government. It is called capitalism, which to most Americans is something positive, while to most Europeans it appears deeply repulsive.
The strength of America's political system lies in the fact that ordinary Americans have never underestimated the supra-economic function of their economic liberty. One way or another, consciously or unconsciously, ordinary Americans have always felt economic liberty to be an indispensable guarantee of their democracy and freedom. Most ordinary West Europeans do not. In welfare state Europe, capitalism is a dirty word, as despicable as communism. Its euphemistic equivalent is free-market liberalism. But many West Europeans aren't even in favour of that. Economic freedom in Western Europe is severely restricted by a multitude of regulations and laws. Although these are designed to protect the citizen against risks, they discourage him from taking risks altogether and thwart his prosperity.
Hence Western Europe's economy stagnates while Americas keeps growing. This causes jealousy, which reinforces the political frustration Western Europe already has towards its Atlantic partner. Many Europeans compensate for their frustration by feeling culturally and morally superior to the Americans, whom they regard as backward. Though the Americans live in the so-called new continent, they represent the old, pre-modern Europe: They believe in God, they refuse to realise that the state can be a benevolent institution and subsequently distrust it. Large parts of the West European population consider Americans to be naive, simple, unsophisticated, even dumb a nation without any real culture or significant history. Such views are held not only by ordinary West Europeans (who get their political education in state run schools and from state run and/or state controlled media), but also by many intellectuals who ought to know better.
Europe, however, is being overrun by barbarians. Its populations are dwindling, its welfare systems are collapsing and its old religion, Christianity, which the Europeans had cast aside, is being replaced by another one: Islam. If Europe is to be saved it must return to its old heritage which has survived in the land across the Ocean. We need to bring Americas values to Europe. These values are our own lost heritage. To survive as Europeans we have to become Americans. It is time to save ourselves by establishing a Society for American Values in Europe.
#1
As good a summary of the why and how of Euroland's impending extinction as I've seen.
Two threads came out of the Enlightenment period - the American Revolution one and the French Revolution one. The former has had numerous faults over the years - slavery, Jim Crow, non-universal suffrage, mistreatment of native people - but slowly over time we're working it out, and we find ourselves today in a strong and improving situation. We don't pretend to be perfect, but we're aiming to get better. True tolerance of religion and trust in entrepreneurship are the hallmark of this thread of the West.
The latter has spawned the Terror, Bonapartism, communism, fascism, and the current extinction-bound version of socialism/welfare state capitalism that dominates in Europe and in much of the current Democratic party in the United States. This thread is headed AND populated by folks who think of themselves as godlike and perfect. Contempt for and even bigotry towards devout Christianity/Judaism and deep mistrust of entrepreneurship are pretty much required to be a member.
Most of the violent death and oppression of the twentieth century - worldwide - can firmly be laid at the feet of the French Revolution thread, and now they are in the process of demographic self immolation.
The problem is technology. In an age of nuclear weapons, decaying civilizations like Europe are a deadly wild card. America has its work cut out for it if we are to guide Europe through these dangerous times without conflagration. Colonization of the continent may some day become necessary.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
07/12/2006 6:47
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#2
The former (the American Revolution) has had numerous faults over the years - slavery, Jim Crow, non-universal suffrage, mistreatment of native people
First thing the French revolution did was to have non-universal suffrage on the basis that the people was not learned enough. Second thing: Was to close the free schools who had florished during the XVIIIth century (the revolutionaries considered that instruction was bad for the people)... Also most of the revolutionaries and of the French enligtenment philosophers were for slavery and slavery was abolished only because the weakening of the once fearful French Navy had made impossible to defend French colonies. Let's also remind that French ships were prominent in the smuggling of negro slaves during XIXth century, that their captains didn't have qualms about throwing negros over the board when pursued by British ships enforcing the slave trade prohibition and that French public opinion supported the murderous captains.
Also Napoleon (ie the heir of Revolution) created the "livret Ouvrier", a booklet that industrial workers had to present to employers and police when they moved or changed compeny and where employers and police wrote comments on their behaviour.
#4
I have often felt that the French Revolution was a travesty and a disaster for the world. I believe that the French Revolution is the point of origin for the disaster that is the world today.
Yes, I suppose we will have to save Europe eventually but, as is with my errant brother-in-law, I really don't want to. The only reason I can see for doing so is that it is in my own self interest.
Posted by: kelly ||
07/12/2006 12:03
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#5
One thing he didn't mention, but which I feel is necessary to re-establish in today's world is that each human has been given a free will.
That means each of us makes his own choices in life. Not Allan, not Mohammed, each by himself can choose to act, or not to act; to kill or not to kill; to pray or not to pray; to laugh or not to laugh. Every human, eveny man, woman, and child posesses free will.
The Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah says it has captured two Israeli soldiers during clashes across the Lebanese-Israeli border. The announcement was made on the group's television channel, al-Manar.
Rockets and mortar rounds were fired from Lebanon towards the Israeli town of Shlomi and at Israeli outposts in the disputed Shebaa farms area.
The shelling was accompanied by automatic gunfire and at least four people were wounded, reports say.
Israel and Hizballah forces are battling each other on both sides of the border at the Yakinton post in the central border sector and around Hizballah positions on Lebanese side. A number of Israelis wounded in battle. The incident was sparked by a Hizballah anti-tank missile attack on an IDF jeep patrolling the border in attempt to abduct the soldiers. The Lebanese terrorists also fired Katyusha rockets at Zarit and Shetula, hitting one house. Six civilians injured in these attacks. Northern Galilee residents ordered to bomb shelters.
The IDF confirmed Wednesday morning that two soldiers were missing after a Hizbullah attack on the northern border. Hizbullah's Al Manar TV broadcast that the organization had kidnapped two soldiers.
Hizbullah launched a heavy barrage of Katyusha rockets and mortar shells at IDF positions and communities along the northern frontier on Wednesday morning starting about 9:15 a.m. One rocket scored a direct hit on a house in Shtula. Magen David Adom said they were treating four people, one who was in moderate condition and three lightly wounded. All the wounded were being evacuated to Nahariya hospital.
IDF sources estimated that the attack was a Hizbullah response to Israel's early Wednesdayattempted strike on top Hamas terrorist Mohammad Deif in Gaza.
IAF helicopters were returning fire and had reportedly blew up a bridge inside Lebanon.
Residents of the Western Galilee had entered their shelters, and in the community of Shlomi, residents were asked to enter fortified rooms.
The northern border has been on high alert since Operation Summer rains began.
Two weeks ago, IAF planes buzzed Syrian President Bashar Assad's summer palac reportedly while he was in residence. A month and a half ago, Israel launched a massive retaliatory strike after Hizbullah fired a series of Katyushas at Israel.
#4
Damn. I hope this will blow up good, but not in the way hizbollah and hamas wish. So far, the latter is getting what it wants, with the measured and gradual israeli offensive, but this up the ante, and Israel definitively got to respond tenfold to make that counterproductive for theses bastards. I still think retreating out of gaza was a mistake, like the retreat from southern lebanon, I hope the joooos will stop pussyfooting around and hit them hard with targeted helizappings and "defensive shield"-like infrastructure demolishing large scale moves. As for hizbollah and iran, I can't wait for them being smacked into oblivion.
#5
I hope the Israelis really polish the floor with these asshats - 'til it shines. They won't get these troops back in one piece so they should have some fun taking down the Hamas/Hizb leadership one by one - day by day. Get stuck in.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2006 5:00
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#6
Bombing Pencil Neck's palace with him inside would be a nice way to get the ball rolling.
#9
There's already been heavy fighting, and 7 soldiers have died in the fighting. Thats all the media is reporting. No word on how many Hard-boys are dead, but if the media aren't even mentioning it then must be high.
Posted by: Charles ||
07/12/2006 7:01
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#10
It's time to heavily bomb all major population centers in Lebanon. This is an outright act of war and the response needs to be quick, decisive, and overwhelming.
#11
Israeli defence forces are now conducting airstrikes inside lebanon. If the soldiers are not returned Israel voes to turn lebanons clock back 20 yrs... LoL
#18
#16 On second thought, it's more of a "hell no". I'm not entirely sure that declaring war on Iran is a course open to us today.
Posted by Seafarious 2006-07-12 09:05
Sea:
We're not serious. I've noticed as well as anyone with an IQ above room temperature, a shift to a more "nuanced" approach to Islamo-Fascism, inaccurately called "terrorism." Tragically, this nuanced approach appears to have de-balled the Israelis as well us. Hamas-controlled Gaza should have been reduced about two weeks ago. Instead, by dithering and blowing up empty buildings, the Israelis have invited this attack today on their northern border. So far, seven IDF troopers are dead, two HUMVEES and one Merkava tank destroyed. Not a good start.
Todays WAPO reports on the changing shift in treatment accorded terrorists captured on the battlefield. Great! The administration has had to comply with the Supreme Courts recent catastrophic ruling.
Kim Im so rhonely Ill fires off missile after missile, and what do we do? Head off to the U.N. What lesson is the kook over at Iran learning from this?
Train bombing in India. Will Pakistans ISI be held to account? Nope, not anymore than theyve been held to account for the masses of Taliban-whack-jobs crossing into Afghanistan on a daily basis.
President Bush realistically has two years to run the table on the Axis of Evil. And if the November elections go really, really bad for the Republicans, hell be fighting off impeachment charges from the Fifth Column enemy within. Things do not look good.
#20
#19 Lancasters, loose the negativity, dude.
The American people aren't that dumb any more.
Posted by wxjames 2006-07-12 09:49
I'm trying wxjames, I'm really trying ... but ...a little more muscle on the warfront will help. How about the IAF following through on its promise to "bomb Lebanon back 20 years"? (Is that all? I was hoping more like back 800 years.)
And then President Bush announcing that he'll take a page out of Andrew Jackson and how Old Hickory told off Justice Marshall. Ahhh, in a more perfect world!
#21
LOD, ask yourself this, Would you rather be in Ahnmedinajihad's burka? Things don't look so good from the MM perspoective either; Maliki starting to take on Sadr, Hezhbollah getting defanged, pencil neck getting buzzed, 2 million gallons of $0.35 subsidized gasoline being smuggled into Iraq daily, drug use increasing 10% a year. Things get that way in war time. I'd like to think it's 1945, but it has more the feel of 1938-39.
#22
I'd like to think it's 1945, but it has more the feel of 1938-39.
Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-07-12 10:05
Excellent point, Nimble Spemble. That's exactly how I see it. We're in the beginning phase and unlike December 7, 1941, when the American people en masse recognized the reality of being at war, September 11, 2001's impact did not have the same effect.
Yes, yes, I know, Japan was a nation-state subject to declaration of war and such while A-Qaeda is a stateless entity. However, that's not my point. Something has happened over the last 40 years or so that has produced a situation in which many Americans act as if 9-11 either occurred a million years ago or was a singular, anomalous event.
What happened? No easy answers but Id like to suggest that were in the throes of the 40-year culture war launched by the Leftist counterculture, and though in the past decade or so, patriotic Americans have begun a counter-offensive, the outcome remains in balance. See new book:
John Harmon McElroys Divided We Stand: The Rejection of American Culture since the 1960s, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006
#24
Disproportionate retaliation has been the most effective means against terrorism. Actual details concerning the numbers of terrorists that Hizbollah sent across the border, are sketchy. The fact that 7 IDF soldiers were killed, suggests hundreds. Every one of those terrorists would have paraded down public streets at one time or another. Instead of letting Hamas and Hizbollah do terror preening, these gatherings of scum should be attacked. The diplomats don't want to see these animals die; I do.
The Army is discontinuing a controversial but highly successful multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, a decision that could cut deeply into the firm's dominance of government contracting in Iraq. The choice comes after several years of attacks from critics who saw the contract as a symbol of politically connected corporations profiteering on the war.
Under the deal, Halliburton had exclusive rights to provide the military with a wide range of work that included keeping soldiers around the world fed, sheltered and in communication with friends and family back home. Government audits turned up more than $1 billion in questionable costs. Whistle-blowers told how the company charged $45 per case of soda, double-billed on meals and allowed troops to bathe in contaminated water. I think it's called non-potable water.Not a lot of prestine water in Iraq. Non-potable is a third the cost, and better than NO water. Ever try a waterless shower? Or waterless toilet flush?>
The Army official, agreed yesterday. "Halliburton has done an outstanding job, and reimbursed contested charges, under the circumstances," he said. But what do they know, they're just doing the bleeding and dying.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), an avowed communist andfrequent Halliburton critic, said he would like to see even more companies included as winners in order to increase competition as work arises. But he welcomed the move away from the exclusive contract with Halliburton as a good first step. "When you have a single contractor, that company has the government over a barrel," Waxman said. "One needs multiple contractors in order to have real price competition. Real competition saves the taxpayer money.".... and that's what warfare is all about eh Henry, saving the taxpayer dough?
#1
I think the light dawned that while Halliburton is good, what is not good is that there are only two companies in the world that do what Halliburton does, and the other is French.
In other words, we have what amounts to a monopoly in a business that is far too simple to support a monopoly. We need other corporations getting into the act, and yesterday.
Using civilian contractors is obviously the wave of the future.
#2
Bechtel? Fluor? Morrison Knudsen? These seem like the kind of folks big enough to play in this area and with plenty of government expertise. Why don't they bid? Or give them a capped cost plus to enter the business so it isn't all sole source.
#3
Dyncorp is another. But I bet they give it to some French or Dutch company. Tha Army just awarded a 300+ helicopter contract, LUH, to a French company! Worse yet there were American companies with lower bids and better performing aircraft.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 10:19
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#4
The Army is discontinuing a controversial but highly successful multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, a decision that could cut deeply into the firm's dominance of government contracting in Iraq.
You mean the one first set up by VP Al Gore to support operations in the Balkans. [Where's the Dem's pull out plan for the one year er two year deployment initiated by Clinton?]
Other companies with both the manpower and experience to effectively support the troops without any irregularities? I smell pork, big pork.
Anyone run Army contracts before? It's not going to be pretty, efficient, or on time. But hey, that's not the objective is it?
#5
Trying to get contractors to work together is a costly event in time, dollars, and frustration. I would say the USG should compete this as an IDIQ type contract with a dollar cap and/or a five year term.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 11:23
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#6
Dyncorp is another. But I bet they give it to some French or Dutch company. Tha Army just awarded a 300+ helicopter contract, LUH, to a French company! Worse yet there were American companies with lower bids and better performing aircraft.
I'm beginning to think that contract and the other two helicopter contracts they got are meant to be bribes re: bringing Iran to the security council.
#7
It sniff of that to me also. As far as I'm concerned I will never fly a French helicopter with US Army on the side of it. This is just wrong.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 12:52
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#8
It just seems a bit of a coincidence that EADS won three of them in a row... there seems to be no concern whatsoever to even keeping the locals in business.
(And then there's the matter... if you're dead set on buying European, there's a European-owned company in Arizona that arguably has superior technology).
#9
Government audits turned up more than $1 billion in questionable costs.
So, does this mean that New Orleans residents will be required to return their big screens & reimburse Uncle Sam for their vacations? Ooops, wrong MSM article.
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 16:02
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#10
AS, who would that be? The only ones I know of is Boeing and MD helicopters and both are now US owned.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 20:39
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#11
I would say the USG should compete this as an IDIQ type contract with a dollar cap and/or a five year term.
#12
Right but the contract was sole source awarded. Meaning no other company got to compete for it. I probably should have added that in my comment lotp. Thanks.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 21:03
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Only hours before Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hopped a helicopter to the coalition base in Kandahar, an Army Chinook took small-arms fire and crash-landed. No one was hurt. But it was further proof that Southern Afghanistan is a very dangerous place where U.S. and NATO forces are engaged in an all-out war with the Taliban.
They do not want a country like Afghanistan to become a successful democracy, Rumsfeld said during his visit here. They would like to do everything they can to stop it. They're not going to succeed.
But Lt. Gen. Carl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, says that for now, the Taliban is back, and in some respects, bigger than ever. The Taliban is more organized than they were last year, Eikenberry says. And they have more fighters in certain areas."
Pentagon and military officials say they are taking the Taliban head-on as a result of an aggressive new offensive by U.S. and coalition forces called Mountain Thrust. designed to flush the Taliban out of its strongholds in four southern provinces.
But there's increasing evidence the Taliban is cashing in on Afghanistan's $2 billion-per-year heroin trade. Retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an NBC military analyst, thinks a lot of drug money is flowing into the Taliban. We're seeing among the Taliban now shiny new weapons, McCaffrey says. Commercial camping gear, civilian-purchased communications equipment.
Rumsfeld, however, sees bright spots, like the town of Qalat in the southern province of Zabul, where coalition reconstruction is taking hold and Taliban influence is waning. Also, the number of NATO forces in Afghanistan will soon double to 16,000.
But what does that mean for U.S. troops? Some 23,000 American forces are in Afghanistan today. As much as Rumsfeld may want to start bringing them home, U.S. military officials say with the recent surge in violence and a determined Taliban, it's not likely anytime soon.
But Rumsfeld remains optimistic the Taliban will be defeated. There isn't any reason in the world why this country cant succeed, he says.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 10:47
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#3
BTW: Eikenberry is great, saw him recently.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 10:48
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#4
Eikenberry was my boss before he left for Afghanistan. Agreed, I really respected him.
But since the FU**ing NYT outed the money programs we will never know where the funding for all this really cool, read threat to Americans, gear came from.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 15:17
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#1
The Indians have done well in both infiltrating terrorist groups, or fleshing out informants. Yes, some Muslims have a conscience. These attacks - one day after China received oil supply commitments from Iran - is foreign in origin, and part of a de-stabilization campaign.
Let's do the math: only 1% of Pakistanis are Hindu; 13% of Indians are Muslim. Which country would find it easier to infiltrate terrorists into the other? AOL won't let me tag-link, but check out this Hindu' anti-Muslim website.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned a series of bomb blasts on commuter trains in the Indian city of Mumbai, describing the attacks as a despicable act of terrorism.
Pakistan strongly condemns the series of bomb blasts on commuter trains in Mumbai, India, a foreign ministry statement said. This despicable act of terrorism has resulted in the loss of a large number of precious lives, it said.
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also strongly condemned the attacks and offered condolences over the loss of life, the ministry said. Terrorism is a bane of our times and it must be condemned, rejected and countered effectively and comprehensively, it said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2006
00:10 ||
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Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2006 7:47
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#7
That's exactly what I would say if people that I trained and funded commited an act like this. Pakiland openly funds the militants in Kashmir, now they want them to believe that they are in no way connected with this.
July 09 2006 at 0750 UTC in position: 12:28N - 045:10E, Gulf of Aden. Two speedboats, turquoise hull, length 10 metres and each manned by three persons followed a container ship underway. Ship increased speed, raised alarm; crew mustered and informed ships in vicinity via VHF. After 10 minutes boats moved away.
Recently reported incidents
July 04 2006 at 1450 UTC at Texaco berth, Guyana. One robber boarded an LPG tanker preparing to depart from berth. He stole ship's equipment and escaped in a motorboat waiting with four accomplices.
July 04 2006 at 0430 UTC at Santos anchorage no. 3, Brazil. Two robbers attempted to board a container ship via anchor chain. Alert crew raised alarm and boarding was aborted. Port control informed.
July 01 2006 at 0330 LT at Bonaberi berth no.52, cement berth, Douala port, Cameroon. Three armed robbers boarded a bulk carrier and threatened duty A/B with knives. They stole ship's stores and escaped. Port control and harbour police informed.
Headlines like this are common in Mog these days ...
MOGADISHU - At least 140 people were killed in two days of fighting in the Somali capital, which ended after one of the citys last holdout warlords surrendered to Islamist militias, a hospital official said on Tuesday. Approximately 140 people have died and 150 were injured. It was a very heavy exchange with most of the people dying outside hospital, Ali Moallim, a senior administrator at Mogadishus Madina hospital, told Reuters.
Moallim said casualties from the two days of fighting, which started on Sunday and ended late on Monday when militia loyal to warlord Abdi Awale Qaybdiid began surrendering, would probably rise as many had not yet been taken to hospital.
The fighting pitted Islamist militias who control most of Mogadishu against gunmen backing Qaybdiid, a member of a routed alliance of quasi U.S.-backed warlords, and those of Hussein Aideed, a warlord and deputy prime minister in the interim government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2006
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#1
I believe militant Islam is fighting every religion on the planet at this moment. They seem to be hurting everywhere except Somalia. I don't want to save Aideed's ass, but Somalia has strategic value.
#2
casualities ... when ... militia loyal to warlord Abdi Awale Qaybdiid began surrendering, would probably rise as many had not yet been taken to hospital
Many of those surrendering had not yet been taken to the hospital? Don't they just usually impose sharia law and wack their necks?
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/12/2006 6:31
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This is the same crap that happened in Afghanistan after the Russians left. This is going to get ugly for us in a few years.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 7:38
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I don't mean to sound ignorant but what is the strategic value of Somalia? What happens if this place goes over even more to the side of darkness (Islamic fundamentalist stronghold? Does this mean this place becomes another Taliban type Afghanistan where the Islamicfacists train and turn out more terrorists? If that is the case, I would agree it has strategic value.
#7
Somailia's north border is a choke point for trading and oil. It also is also a gateway to Africa from Yemen and Saudi. It's a great safe haven and it's very close to Saudi financing.
#12
The strategic parts are in the relatively sane and autonomous north (Somaliland and Puntland). They are going to declare independence and leave the south to abort itself.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 11:09
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It's not whether or not Somalia has strategic value in itself, but that we don't want Al Qaeda to have a safe haven where it can train new cadres to replace those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and those arrested in Europe. Afghanistan, too, appeared unimportant until the 9/11 attacks were launched from there.
#15
Somalia sits right on top of major shipping lanes through the Red Sea and along the coast of Africa. We've already seen problems with Somali-based pirates. It will be very difficult to distinguish between some warlord's entourage and a terrorist training camp. This is DEFINITELY not good.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/12/2006 13:58
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The US Navy is on pirate patrol off Somalia, according to one of the mothers trailing daughter #2 carpools to summer school with -- her daughter's boyfriend is over there now.
#17
I do not see nation builing there. I see periodic hammering of Al Q assets in Somalia. Saudi money is behind this. We are right back to following the money issue and taking out the financiers. Everything else is treating the symptoms of the disease. We will not win this war until we deal with the key issue: FINANCING.
This goes for Saudi Arabia and this goes for Iran. People like Kimmie and Pencil Neck are clients of terrorist money. They will fall when the kingpins fall.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2006 16:20
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Take your pick: Saudi and Iranian money, Iranian, Pakistani, Yemeni, Egyptian, Soudanese advisors and volunteers, Chinese suppliers and technical support.
#19
Use UAV's and Hellfires from Djibouti - what? Worried the Somali air force will take them out? The Islamists will ban kites...nothing to worry about
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2006 21:20
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At least 135 people were killed and hundreds injured in seven bomb explosions on packed commuter trains and stations on Tuesday in Mumbai, India's financial hub, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the evening rush hour attacks, the worst in the city for more than a decade. But suspicion was likely to center on Muslim militants fighting New Delhi's rule in disputed Kashmir, who have been blamed for several bomb attacks in India in the past.
That's who it usually is. The commies don't like the spectacular bloodlettings the turbans go for...
City Police Commissioner A.N. Roy told Reuters 135 people were killed while Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the state's top elected official, said 300 people were injured in the blasts, which took place in the space of around 10 minutes. "We are not sure if it is RDX or not," Roy said, referring to the possible use of high-powered plastic explosives.
Commuters fled suburban rail stations in panic after the explosions and mobile phone lines were jammed. Television pictures showed twisted rail carriages and people in torn and bloodstained clothes carrying the dead and wounded on stretchers as steady monsoon rain fell. A policeman was shown carrying two white, blood-stained bundles of what appeared to be body parts. Dazed survivors with wounds from injuries to heads, legs and hands waited at railway stations, with little sign of any emergency medical aid. Local media said the blasts appeared to have targeted first-class compartments. "The blasts happened when the trains were most crowded," D.K Shankaran, chief secretary of the state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, told Reuters.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for calm and Sonia Gandhi, leader of the ruling Congress party, expressed her grief. "I urge the people to remain calm, not to believe rumors and carry on their activity normally," Singh said in a statement, calling the explosions a "shameful act".
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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The Indian government is considering using the air force to launch a counter-insurgency offensive in held Kashmir following increased militant activity and a series of blasts in Srinagar. Following the example of the Israeli offensive against Palestine, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has submitted a doctrine suggesting ways to force militants out of the dense forest cover and engage with the Indian Army on the ground. The doctrine called low-intensity conflict operations (LICO) shows how the air force can help in combat operations against militants with tactical air support including electronic jamming of the communication links used by militants.
According to the doctrine, the air support can provide interceptive dominance through electronic warfare and its airborne command posts can keep tabs on militant movement. The air force can cut down communication delays during ambushes and their electronic jamming would block communication between militants, the doctrine said. Intelligence gathering by the air force will reinforce army surveillance and provide real-time photography, terrain mapping and intelligence on militant movement and hideouts, the doctrine said. The air force has also proposed tactical support for army troop movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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10 Iraqi soldiers were killed in clashes with armed groups in the Shargat area south of the northern city of Mosul. According to unconfirmed reports, a well known terrorist known as Abu Abdallah Al-Shafei and allegedly the head of the Ansar Al-Sunna group was also killed in the clashes. Police reports said the clashes occurred between a garrison in charge of protecting oil installations and the armed insurgents. A large number of terrorists also perished in the clashes. Their bodies were left on the ground at the scene of the incident. Abu Abdallah Al-Shafei is high on the official wanted list, which includes 42 people.
This isn't the first time that Shafei's been reported as titzup. He was the (operational) head of Ansar al-Islam before the U.S. invasion, scuttled out through Iran as Ansar's little Islamic Wonderland was being B52'd, and then turned up again as part of the insurgency. He's not in quite the same class with Zark and Shamil, but I'd spend a few minutes ululating if he's really a goner.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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I'd spend a few minutes ululating (emit long loud cries)...
Will this be recorded and posted?
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 0:25
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Ah another notch? This has been a great summer.
#10
No? How about swapping the video and the recording of the ululating for a spare heads up display circuit board for an interdimensional transport unit? I'll even throw in the molecular stabilization and genome mapping software
#11
No can do, Sock, but if you send in a couple of box tops plus the 6-packs they were attached to, I think there's a couple of Rantburg chip clips in the back of the prize closet...
China condemned a Japan-sponsored U.N. resolution to slap sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests on Tuesday, calling it an over-reaction that would split the Security Council. The statement came as a top U.S. envoy flew into Beijing, seeking a briefing on China's urgent efforts to resolve the crisis by diplomatic means. The U.N. Security Council delayed a vote overnight on the resolution to impose sanctions on the isolated state to allow time for a high-level Chinese delegation to talk to Pyongyang. "The Chinese side thinks the concerned draft resolution is an over-reaction. If approved, it will aggravate contradictions and increase tension," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference. "It will hurt efforts to resume six-party talks as well as lead to the U.N. Security Council splitting."
Chinese President Hu Jintao told visiting North Korean parliamentarian Yang Hyong Sop that China opposed any action that would stoke tension on the Korean peninsula. State media said he urged all parties to take steps conducive to peace and stability.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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Personally I can't wait to see the Chinese overreaction to the coming development of a robust offensive capability by the JDA.
#2
This coming from the same ChiComs which held our flyboys over a so-called intrusion on their border.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 11:04
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Watch your ass Hu. You ain't seen nothin' yet. How old are you ? Apparently you weren't around in 1933-34, and maybe don't recall your history so well.
The Taliban's spring offensive in Afghanistan is now three months old. It is the biggest ever mounted against foreign forces in the country since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, and it has taken a heavy toll on insurgency as well as coalition forces. And, according to one of the Taliban's top 10 commanders who spoke to Asia Times Online, the rising spiral of death is just the tip of the iceberg and the coalition's "Operation Mountain Thrust" in the southwest of the country will be severely challenged.
Mullah Gul Mohammed Jangvi (the last name means warrior) said by telephone from Afghanistan the Taliban would once again alter their tactics. Jangvi is one of the 10 members of the command council of the Taliban. "We have had some initial successes, which boosted our morale. Tarood, Sangeen and Musa Qila districts in Helmand province are our recent victories," Jangvi said. "We have set a few priorities, top-most of which is to fight only with foreign forces and avoid fighting Afghans. However, there are Afghans who are top of our [hit] list, like Gul Afghan Sherzai [governor of Nangarhar province], [President] Hamid Karzai and the members of parliament."
Jangvi dismissed a question that perhaps the Taliban were on the back foot as they were frequently changing tactics. "In the past few weeks we narrowed down our targets and we are aiming to hit those targets which give us optimum results. In the recent past we tried to attack Kandahar airport and US military bases. This is aimed at rooting out American air power in these stations so that they would not be able to shield their ground troops in a short span of time. In the coming days you will see more and more attacks on airfields, and once air cover vanishes from over the heads of coalition troops, they will be trapped everywhere like sitting ducks."
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#4
This would be the time for the world Muslim community to understand that jihad in Afghanistan has reached a significant level and it is time again to help the resistance with manpower and money.
Another damned fundraising appeal. Sheesh.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/12/2006 7:06
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Sounds like the opium crop is good this year and this guy is the product tester.
#6
as taken a heavy toll on insurgency as well as coalition forces.
What a piece of tripe. Ok, give us the raw numbers of Taliban killed and Coalition killed to include separation of international and domestic Afghan forces. Betcha when you do, you find the big numbers in the Taliban column and the next biggest in the Afghan column. However, in the usual MSM slight of hand, we see the implication that international forces are suffering 'heavily'. Wonder what they'd do if they had to earn a honest living.
#10
I don't want to dis Michael Yon but my Landlord, who has been in Afghanistan since last November) tells a slightly different story than Yon. He says the Taliban are really taking a beating and things are going pretty well. Note: He's in Civil Affairs.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/12/2006 11:51
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THE HAGUE -The trial of Croatian journalist Josip Jovics on charges of contempt of court opened at the UN war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia here Tuesday after a weeks delay because the defendant failed to show.
He's on trial for contempt and he fails to show ...
On Tuesday Jovic was in court and took the stand to testify. He is the editor of the Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija and has been charged with contempt because he revealed that Croatian president Stipe Mesic testified during the 1997 trial in The Hague of Bosnian Croat general Tihomir Blaskic as a protected witness. The confidentiality measures for Mesic have since been lifted, the prosecutor said Tuesday.
Jovic testified Tuesday that he had not obeyed an order of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to stop publishing the name of Mesic as a protected witness. It is quite obvious that I flaunted the order but what was not clear to me is whether as a resident of the republic of Croatia I was bound to obey the order, Jovic said Tuesday.
"So howdja them apples, huh?"
Jovics defence stressed that Mesic did not ask for protective measures from the court and has nothing against his testimony being made public. If convicted, Jovic could be sentenced to up to seven years imprisonment or fined up to 100,000 euros (128,000 dollars).
Or he could be taunted by Carla del Ponte.
In March former Croatian intelligence chief Markica Rebic and Ivica Marijacic, editor-in-chief of the Hrvatski List newspaper were fined 15,000 euros (18,150 dollars) for contempt of court. Rebic was convicted of supplying Marijacic with the name of another protected witness who also testified in the Blaskic case in 1997. Hrvatski List published the name in November 2004.
Witness protection is a key focus of the ICTY as it tries to gather evidence of war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.
I'm sympathetic to protecting witnesses, but this whole series of trials long ago descended into farce.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2006
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It is quite obvious that I flaunted the order but what was not clear to me is whether as a resident of the republic of Croatia I was bound to obey the order, Jovic said Tuesday.
#4
Im in a quandary here. The journalist who insist that Americans be beholding to international law are themselves doing what they denounce the US for. On the other hand, it seems consistent with the view that journalist by definition are elitist - one set of rules for us and a separate set of rules for everyone else. Then again hes tell the ICT [which, note very well Hamdan SCOTUS, is not a court approved by Congress in legislation or treaty] to go stuff it. Not being a leftist, I cant hold two opposing thoughts in my head at the same time without it hurting. Excuse me while I get some aspirin.
HT to Michelle, who links to others...
I find traveling out of the country very challenging being on a fast. When I was on a layover in Madrid on my way to Venice, Italy yesterday, the closest thing I could find to a smoothie to get a little protein was a coffee with vanilla ice cream in it.
The extra-large coffee with a pint of vanilla ice cream ...
Traveling for 22 hours is very taxing under normal circumstances--but then again, when have we had normal circumstances since the 2000 and 2004 successful coup attempts that have brought BushCo into power?
I deeply sympathize. I'm fasting, too. Work is very taxing, of course, but luckily I was able to pick up an Eskimo pie and some Tastykakes on my way home.
I traveled from Venice to the frontier of Italy to the province of Udine which is right at the foot of the pre-Alps. I am here for a huge youth festival which includes many elements of social justice and peace work. It is beautiful and the air feels different from other places that I have travelled. It is strangely soft and gentle as is the natural light. However, there is not a Jamba Juice on every corner, so blended juice drinks with protein powder are impossible to find.
To quote Michelle Malkin, "How much weight does she plan on gaining during this deprivation campaign?"
We don't have Jamba Juice stands on every corner around here, either, so I stopped at Captain K's and had a rack of ribs. This fasting thing is hard on a man!
I have also received so many emails from worried, wonderful, and well-meaning friends and supporters in the US who are concerned about me and all of the others who are fasting. I don't like being on this fast, trust me, but 3 Marines were killed in Iraq today---3 unsuspecting families are about to head into a tailspin of senseless grief and we won't ever get an accurate count of the Iraqis who were killed today. It is going to be 112 degrees in Baghdad tomorrow. The occupiers and the occupied are suffering terribly.
Yes. I had a little problem at work today. My soul was very tried. Fast Eddy's does make a good pit beef sammitch, though, so that helped me withstand the rigors and the unrelenting pressure. A half box of Whitman's chocolates helped, too, just for a little quick energy...
It is important to keep our focus on saving the people of Iraq and our soldiers. It is important to keep our focus on ending the war crime in Iraq.
A slice of coconut cream pie helps now and then, too...
The Troops Home Fast is a moral response to an immoral act. We can, and must be, morally strong so we can feast on the day that the last troop is brought home from the war crime in Iraq.
I agree. I'm planning a magnificent feast for that great day. Until then, I'll scrape by with just a quarter watermelon and maybe a nice dish of plain vanilla ice cream. And maybe some snickerdoodles.
Then our focus can change to holding BushCo responsible for the war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace and focus on never allowing this to happen again. Come to Camp Casey. August 16 to September 2nd.
Cindy Sheehan began her hunger strike against the war in Iraq on July 4th. I don't think a hunger strike means what she thinks it means
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2006
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I don't like being on this fast
Keep up the good work Cindy. Remember food and nutrition are NOT your friends. Eat the yellow snow only.
#2
You'd lose more weight eating 3 times a day at Subway. Call me Cindy and we'll do lunch.
Posted by: Jared ||
07/12/2006 0:35
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Time for Cindy to be put to rest on the RB. Only post her obit
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 0:37
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When the just retired elementry school teacher next door hear of this "fast" She said "What is this CRAP?" She then went after all the Hollweird stars and Al Sharpton who are joining "Cindy". She could easily tear Cindy a new one.
#5
Wouldn't it be interesting if her close relatives decided to have her committed? I have seen people less emotionally disturbed and deranged put away for 3-6 months...
BTW, I wonder if we should tell her what the "protein powder" is made of, LOL.
#9
"Coup attempts" - yep, the arty says "coup"!? Saint Bill admits to being POTUS by elex fraud, ergo name a CVN21 US Navy carrier after him. No 9-11's for five years under Dubya ergo good Fascists-Nazi Americans = Half-A-Commie/Stalinist i.e. Good Nazis-Hitlerists, Amerikans demand to be attacked, D *** it, since yesterday.
#10
Ummm, isn't the point of a hunger strike to put time pressure on the gov't -- to force them to respond to your grievances before you croak? She may as well point a child's plastic toy gun at her temple. Well, a fake protest for a fake grievance. I wonder if Ghandi is laughing hysterically or shaking his head in pity.
Posted by: ST ||
07/12/2006 4:39
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//#10 Ummm, isn't the point of a hunger strike to put time pressure on the gov't -- to force them to respond to your grievances before you croak? //\
#12
#3 Time for Cindy to be put to rest on the RB. Only post her obit. Yeah, and I would certainly never read anything about her anyplace else. But here, with the in-line perspective, it's interesting!
Snickerdoodles? The secret's out!
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/12/2006 6:45
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The "Skating on Casey's Bones Tour" rolls on.
Venice is beautiful.
Thanks, Casey
#14
Always bringing it into perspective TU3031! As I laughed at Cindy and her antics and the rest of the RB'r jokes you brought the reality of her actions back in focus. God rest his soul.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/12/2006 7:56
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I keep wondering when some vet puts a bullet in her to get her to finally shut up and go away.
#25
To quote Michelle Malkin, "How much weight does she plan on gaining during this deprivation campaign?"
Too funny. Yeah, blame her crap on the protein powder...
Tu, how true that she is 'vacationing' on her son's memory. This is so wrong.
Posted by: Jan ||
07/12/2006 11:37
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#26
Another instance of the news resembling Scrappleface parody.
#28
In the future, when we're all wearing identical fashionable metallic unitards and eating pills for our meals will that be considered fasting as well?
And Cindy, a coup that succeeds is not an attempt. You got things backwards, the coup attempt failed and Gore/Kerry were sent packing.
#30
Coffee and vanilla ice cream on a fast? That's not a fast.
If she were serious, like hunger strikers in Turkey, and not simply trying to pull a media stunt, she wouldn't be complaining about how challenging travel is while on a fast because she really wouldn't be worried about eating.
What a fraud.
Call me when she's on Day 180 of a water fast.
Posted by: Azad ||
07/12/2006 16:21
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LOD that picture was taken right after someone force-fed her 1/8th teaspoon of my Satan's Toe Jam hot sauce. (Thanks to Shipman) :~)
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/12/2006 21:23
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gotta sign in to read the arty; but then again, any landing you can walk away from is a good one, but one where you can re-use the airplane is a great one.
(KUNA) -- Iraqi forces will take formal control of a British-controlled area of the country this week, Britains Defence Secretary Des Browne indicated Tuesday. Browne told MPs he expected Iraq's new government to announce the handover of the relatively-peaceful al Muthanna province this Thursday. And he said he would be disappointed if announcements on two further areas did not follow "relatively soon." "As far as I understand it, the Iraqi government intends to formally take over responsibility for al Muthanna province on the 13th," Browne said.
The widely-expected takeover of the first province is the first step in moves to transfer control of all 18 over the next year to 18 months. Giving evidence to the parliamentary Defence Committee, Browne said "significant progress'' had also been made in relation to Maysan and Dhi Qar provinces. The Iraqi foreign minister has confirmed Maysan would be next in line for transfer, allowing UK troops to be redeployed elsewhere in the southern region.
Browne said he recognised there were still challenges in terms of the support needed by the Iraqi forces. "I recognise there are still challenges in relation to logistics but I am satisfied that we are making progress with regard to them," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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The al Muthanna province turnover was greeted with bitter howls of derision from the left. They are very predictable in squealing like stuck pigs when they suffer a bad loss--in this case, an obvious example of winning in Iraq.
When those two other provinces are turned over, hopefully soon, it will be time to start rubbing it in. The left should be made to feel some real pain over their bad decisions.
From that point, the new media should do everything it can to let the public know that we and the Iraqis are winning. To seize the debate with "winning" as the axiom, not letting the left keep hammering away with "losing" as the axiom.
Instead of us having to "prove" that we are winning, they should have to "prove" that we aren't winning--something they can't do.
PARIS - A French public prosecutor called on Tuesday for five former Guantanamo Bay inmates to be jailed for a year for their links to Al Qaeda and said there was not enough evidence to convict a sixth defendant.
Sonya Djemni-Wagner condemned the mens detention at the U.S. military camp on the Caribbean island of Cuba but told a terrorism trial at the main Criminal Court in Paris that the men had to pay for their actions. I do not approve of Guantanamo and I cannot but take into account the detention they endured there. But that detention does not wipe out the wrong they did, Djemni-Wagner told the court. Whatever they did, these men did not deserve the fate that was reserved for them, which is unworthy of a democracy, she said.
Ah, shuddup and jug 'em. Save the politicizing for your next campaign.
Should presiding judge Jean-Claude Kross and his two assessors follow her recommendation, the accused will be freed even if convicted because they have spent between 12 and 18 months in French prisons on their return from Guantanamo.
And 12 months equals five years in Y'urp detention time.
The prosecutor said five defendants had gone to Afghanistan via London, had been taken in hand by aides to Osama bin Laden and underwent military training in Al Qaeda camps.
Sounds like five years in American jug time to me ...
Djemni-Wagner said investigators had failed to prove the guilt of the sixth defendant, Imad Achab-Kanouni, 29. He denied going to Afghanistan to join Al Qaeda training camps, saying he went there only to receive fundamentalist Islamic instruction.
Which is one and the time, but the French court can't bear to admit that ...
Djemni-Wagner requested terms of four years in prison, three of them suspended, for Khaled ben Mustapha, Mourad Benchellali, Nizar Sassi and Redouane Khalid. She further sought five years in jail, with four suspended, against Brahim Yadel, the only one of the six men held in custody throughout the trial.
I mean, why make an example?
Lawyers for all six men say their clients should be freed as the case against them was based on secret interviews conducted by French intelligence agents while the men were held at Guantanamo Bay.
Make sure their friends all know they sang like canaries ...
French courts have already ruled detention in the U.S. military facility illegal in their effete opinion, and a report that French intelligence agents had interviewed the men at Guantanamo disrupted the trial on its second day.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement last week it had made no secret of three administrative visits to the camp.
"We done it in the open!"
Presiding judge Kross refused to suspend hearings and said he would take the matter into account at the end of the trial.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2006
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Sounds like Gitmo was on trial and found guilty.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 0:35
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French courts have already ruled detention in the U.S. military facility illegal
SCOTUS says the detention is legal, just the court proceedings now need new Congressional paperwork to cover their ass.
#3
French courts have already ruled detention in the U.S. military facility illegal
Well, the Gendarmes will have to go to Gitmo with Belgian warrant in hand and take possession of the terrorists.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 10:44
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(KUNA) -- The Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Tuesday night condemned and denied involvement in the Mumbai serial blasts and five grenade explosions in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (JK). While at least 137 people were killed and 300 others injured in seven explosions in local trains in Western Indian city of Mumbai, eight tourists were killed and more than 40 injured in the Srinagar grenade blasts. In a telephonic statement to several media organisations in Srinagar, Lashkar spokesman Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi condemned in strongest terms, the serial blasts both in Mumbai and Srinagar, news agency United News of India reported. "These are inhuman and barbaric acts. Islam does not permit killing of an innocent person," he said. Dr Ghaznavi said those who have perpetrated such "dastardly acts were enemies of humanity''.
He's a professional spokesman, his lips are welded on.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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So.. Lashkar now volunteers at Mother Teresa's hospice?
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006 6:53
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"These are inhuman and barbaric acts. Islam does not permit killing of an innocent person,"
Gettin a little sick of hearing that particular bullshit...
The Bush administration is preparing a crackdown on intelligence leaks to the media and will try to pursue prosecutions in some recent cases, the chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. Michigan Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra also suggested some unauthorized leaks could have been deliberate attempts to help al Qaeda.
"More frequently than what we would like, we find out that the intelligence community has been penetrated, not necessarily by al Qaeda, but by other nations or organizations," he said. "I don't have any evidence. But from my perspective, when you have information that is leaked that is clearly helpful to our enemy, you cannot discount that possibility," he added.
If you don't have evidence then keep quiet. This just raises the temperature without providing added illumination. Ranting is our job.
In recent months, two major intelligence operations were leaked to the media: the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program and the Treasury Department's tracking of international banking transactions. "There will be a renewed effort by the Justice Department in a couple of these cases to go through the entire process ... so they can prosecute," Hoekstra said in a speech to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Justice Department officials were not immediately available for comment.
Hoekstra also said the newly-installed CIA director Michael Hayden was conducting aggressive internal investigations against leakers.
#2
No evidence, yet he's bleating aloud? Has Hoestra been talking to that Yuropean clown Marty?
I'm for closing the leaks by closed court prosecutions - of all involved, but this looks like pure grandstanding - and Hoekstra has proven himself less than reliable recently.
#4
Bush has no stomach for the fight. He fears the NYT and LAT more than the muzzie terrorists. He at least brings fire down on them. He just talks mean about treason during time of war.
AUSTIN Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is suing to keep secret the details about his investigation of indicted former House majority leader Tom DeLay. The Houston Chronicle filed a request under Texas' open records law in March seeking vouchers, hotel and airfare receipts, budget documents, memos and e-mails describing the expenses for the DeLay inquiry and related investigations.
DeLay, indicted last year on conspiracy and money laundering charges connected to the financing of 2002 state legislative races, resigned from Congress on June 9. Earle, in his attempt to keep details of his investigation out of public view, appealed to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, arguing that releasing the information could compromise the prosecution. The state's lawyer, who reviewed examples of the information, generally ruled that Earle didn't have to disclose secret information related to grand jury investigations. But the attorney general noted that the public records law requires disclosure of "information in an account, voucher, or contract" relating to the expenditure of public monies, the Austin American-Statesman reported Tuesday.
Earle sued last week to overturn the legal opinion. "The first obligation of law enforcement is the protection of the public," Earle said in a statement Monday. "This opinion makes that job harder."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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Somone needs to run that criminal Earle out of office. Sue him for prosecutorial misconduct.
Probably end up having to do it at gunpoint - that asshat ignores the law and breaks it when ti suits him, so when he's removed he will hole up like Koresh.
Hey Earle - you CANNOT hide your criminal misconduct - the State Attny will not let you.
Sucks to be you, f*ckwad. I hope DeLay sues you when he is exonorated, and takes you PERSONALLY for all you have.
#2
Well -- having been around this guy for years, (standing off on the sidelines of a very high value target of the politicians of this state) this guy went after my brother-in-law to get to his then wife (high value target politician)... he does what he does... and has costs lots of folks lots of money... but, in the end, the talley of just what he has cost the county (tax payers) with all his law suits, and all that he has lost (brother-in-law came out okay), folks might just take a different look at his success rate. He's lost more than he has won. Court cost after court cost, after court cost, attempting to get what he wants. Mighty expensive to maintain. But, it is Travis County, and this liberal bastion of the Democrat party lets him do his thing, then, attempts to deal with the "crazy uncle." He's here, till he is gone.
Humm... a new project... To take all the numbers of all the costs of his suits, weighted against what he has won and what he has lost.. and his record would be one, any CEO would have long ago fired.
#4
We need to overhaul the Judiciary system in this country. This jerk and Elliot Spitzer of NY are both out of control. They slander and advance charges against otherwise normal people, and use the PR to advance themselves and bring down innocent victims. Further, lawyers in general can cause massive costs by filing motions endlessly. The Clintons managed to escape prosecutions and still do, by the endless delays. This is not justice, and a mature America should not accept it any longer.
All future cases should be swift and all involved, even the judge should pass a lie detector per each case.
KHAR: Suspected Islamic militants shot and killed a pro-government tribal elder and an off-duty soldier in Bajaur Agency, an official said on Tuesday. The attack on the home of Fateh Khan occurred on Monday night in Babara, a village in Bajaur, local government official Abdul Qayyum said. The assailants fired assault rifles at Khan's home from a nearby hill, killing him and the soldier, who was visiting Khan as a guest, Qayyum said.
A relative of Khan was wounded in the shooting and has been taken to a hospital in Peshawar. No one claimed responsibility but Qayyum blamed Islamic militants for the attack in the village, about 35 kilometres west of Khar, Bajaur's main town. "This is the work of enemies of the country," Qayyum said, referring to local and foreign militants suspected of links with Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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Islamists now in full control of the Somali capital vowed Tuesday to "destroy" all resistance to their religious rule as the city's last secular warlord fled after surrendering in fierce battles. Islamic militia scoured southern Mogadishu for weapons still outside their hands following the defeat late Monday of warlord Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydiid in bloody clashes that killed at least 77 since the weekend.
"I am urging all armed militiamen who are not working with the Islamic courts to surrender their weapons immediately," said Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, executive chief of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS). "You cannot have weapons and act against the Islamic courts," Ahmed said. "Any group that tries to fight the Islamic courts will be destroyed. The Islamic courts have overcome the infidel stooges."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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S'pose ya gotta be a bit sentimental bout this last warlord with turban in hand......nay
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 0:15
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#3
I don't see why we cant just sell these failed states off at auction. Just like the local governments do when nations become failed states just have a open auction for either all or pieces of the territory.
Highest bidder takes it.
I would bet Ethiopia would pay a sweet penny for the chance to have a port again.
According to sources, RDX was been used in the improvised explosive devise (IED). The police have at least some clues about the two men who they suspect may have planted the explosives on the train which exploded at Borivali. A fair, young, wavy-haired with a straight nose and a slim youth wearing a checked shirt got into the Virar bound train at Bandra and got off in a hurry at the Andheri station. The police are making his sketch based on the description.
Another suspect, who got into the train at Dadar, was wearing a police uniform. Sources said that it is an unusual time for a policeman to leave, as the duty does not get over at that time. He may have disguised himself in police unifrm. His nameplate had Sawant written on it, said a senior police official.
Heavy rain, barely an hour after the explosions, affected rescue operations. Locals and representatives of social and political organisations joined efforts to rush the injured to hospitals.
At Matunga station, the blast was so powerful that it not only ripped through the first class coach but also blew off a portion of the platform roof. Bodies were seen scattered on the tracks while many injured, some of them profusely bleeding, were attended to by fellow travellers on the platform before being rushed to nearby hospitals.
As the blasts ripped apart train compartments elsewhere, mangled bodies of passengers were hurled out and survivors, many of them bleeding profusely, jostled to come out.
Those injured at Santa Cruz station were taken to the nearby V N Desai hospital. Some were taken KEM hospital in Parel. Mumbai airport was put on high alert after the blasts, but flight operations were not affected.
Police suspect that its a pre-planned subversive plot similar to the explosions that had rocked Mumbai in 1993, 2002 and 2003. Since all the explosions took place when the trains were either getting into or leaving railway stations, investigators suspect that either the explosive devices were remote-controlled or timed ones.
Confusion and panic gripped commuters who got stuck after train services on the Western railway line were stopped. Police Commissioner urged people to use the Central Railway line. The government also pressed into service additional buses, but the roads were choked till late evening.
This is the worst terrorist attack in Mumbai after the 1993 serial blasts which killed over 250 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
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"Straight nose", can't be many of those
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 0:19
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I think 'fair' (skinned) and straight nose is the equivalent of the Australian 'of middle eastern appearance'.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 8:05
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#5
I'm beginning to believe that Islam is not compatible with western civilization. I don't know what that means for the future, exactly - but it's becoming more and more clear that we will eventually have to choose between the openness and freedoms of our society and their desire to see all infidels wiped from the face of the earth.
I'm not going to convert to Islam and I don't expect them to convert from Islam. That's fine - but it does mean that we can't be neighbors unless I'm willing to accept their constant attacks as a way of life. Um... no. Sorry.
#9
Government accounts of terror killings are usually lower than real numbers. One rumor mill says that "475" perished. AOL won't let me tag-link so please cut and paste:
http://p081.ezboard.com/fhinduunityhinduismhottopics.showMessage?topicID=32519.topic
PESHAWAR: Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Orakzai said on Tuesday the government was close to achieving durable peace in North Waziristan. "The government is close to a final settlement of the Waziristan issue," Orakzai told a tribal jirga from Khyber Agency.
And I'm pretty near skinny as a rail. Really. And I could touch my toes if I wanted to. I just don't want to.
Posted by: Fred ||
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They kill all the tribes and hang the Mullahs - followed by carpet bombing and dusting the whole place with radioactive material?
Car explosion kills seven, wounds 13 Iraqis in Baghdad
(KUNA) -- At least seven Iraqi civilians got killed and another 13 wounded when a booby trapped car exploded Tuesday in Saydia area in Baghdad, while gunmen in Tikrit assassinated the spouse of Salah Eddin's governor. Iraqi Interior Ministry source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that security authorities closed the explosion location, allowing only ambulances into the area to transport victims to nearby hospitals.
Saydia area also witnessed earlier today a suicide attack on the National Police Commandos headquarters, killing at least 15 national policemen.
In Tikrit, gunmen bombed the clinic of Dr Amira Al-Rabiey, the spouse of the governor of Salah Eddin Hamad Al-Shabti, Interior Ministry source to KUNA. The explosion immediately killed Dr Al-Rabiey and wounded four patients, added the source.
16 people killed in double suicide bombings in green zone
(KUNA) -- The US military said on Tuesday that a double suicide bombings targeted the heavily fortified green zone in the Iraqi capital killing 16 people, among them one police officer. The US military said two terrorist bombers wearing explosive belts detonated their bombss amidst customers in two small shops and in front of a check point north of the green zone entrance. Earlier, Iraqi police said at least 25 civilians were injured and seven were killed in the attack which involved a parked car near a restaurant.
Car bomb explodes at Iraqi police check point
(KUNA) -- A suicider in a car attacked on Tuesday a building which belongs to Iraqi special police forces in Al-Saidiah south of the capital. Iraqi police source said the attack caused heavy damages to the building and that rescue teams were still trying to recover victims trapped underneath the rubble.
An Iraqi police source said mortar shells targeting the police building caused havoc along with injuring four of its soldiers minuets after the car exploded to level the building to the ground. It is still not clear how many of the police special forces were killed, but first estimates suggest death casualties to 15.
Suicide bomber detonates his car close to Iraqi police check-point
(KUNA) -- A suicide bomber blew his improvised car bomb up on Tuesday close to Iraqi commandoes checkpoint south of the capital. Iraqi security source said the explosion targeting a police checkpoint was also close to a Shia shrine in Al-Aamli area which resulted in injuring eight people, three were Iraqi commandoes and five civilians. The explosion caused damage to several parked cars nearby. Baghdad was witnessing two other heavy explosions earlier resulting in killing seven Iraqis and injuring 25 others.
Ten civilians, ten soldiers killed in unrest in Iraq
(KUNA) -- Ten Iraqi civilians were killed or injured in various acts of violence in the governorate of Diali, east of the capital Baghdad, Iraqi police reported. One of the 10 casualties was killed while three others were injured in an armed attack, which took place in the Souk area, inside the city of Baaqouba, which is the main city in the Diali governorate, the police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Seems like KUNA just reports the news. No commentary. No "swelling, surging, soaring, staggering sectarian, impending civil war" adjectives used here!
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/12/2006 6:38
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I believe what we are seeing is the last gasp desparate attempt to stir up a civil war by Zark's boys.
I'd say based upon Tater Sadr's call for unity the AQ's are running out of time.
North Korea accused the United States of running a "massive" military exercise off the Korean Peninsula, which Pyongyang's vice foreign minister said was a "serious violation of the principles of sovereignty".
But Kim Hyong Jun repeated in Pretoria, where he is on an official visit to South Africa, that North Korea would return to six-party disarmament talks if Washington agreed to drop economic sanctions against the secretive state. "At the moment the US is conducting massive military excercises in the waters off the Korean peninsula... with South Korea and Japan," Kim said after talks with his South African counterpart, Aziz Pahad. "These exercises are a serious violation of the principles of sovereignty, equality, reciprocity and non-interference," Kim said.
His comments came amid another flurry Tuesday of shuttle diplomacy to address the crisis in the wake of last week's seven missile launches. Separate talks between North and South Korea, and China and the United States were held, a day after a vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution on possible sanctions against Pyongyang was postponed. The North Korean official defended the missile launches, saying his country "has to defend its rights".
"The latest missile launches are part of routine military exercises to increase our capability for self-defence," Kim said. "Our military is involved in these missile launches as part of an exercise to contain aggressive threats from the outside and increase the nation's military capability."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Our glorious leftwing thinks like this:
You are violating someone else's rights if you defend yourself...
however,
If they conduct offensive military action with possible nukes, well they are merely defending themselves.
A) You are NOT the moral, economic, military, or territorial equal of the United States of America.
B) You are not the diplomatic equal of the United States of America.
C) You are not the reciprocal, parochial, or scientific/technological equal of the United States of America.
D) You are not the social equal of the United States of America.
What your failed state and your vaunted dictator truly are is a flyspeck feasting upon the vulgar leavings of the citizens of the United States of America through the auspices of your Chinese masters whom with we trade to the tune of billions of dollars, some of which inevitably and regrettably flows to your sorry 20-lbs of sh*t in a 10-lb bag country.
You are a fly feasting upon our droppings.
You are nothing.
We can erase your entire country without hardly blinking an eye and do it in under thirty minutes, tops. Your "sea of fire" rants to the contrary there's not a damned thing you could do to stop us from doing it either.
You guys better get a grip and rein in your out of control dictator or one of these days you're going to cross a line you (and everyone else in the world) should be afraid of crossing - because then you're going to see us when we're seriously pissed off.
Oh, and,
E) You're pushing that line really, really hard.
Don't make us angry. You wouldn't even friggin' recognize us when we're angry.
#4
"sovereignty, equality, reciprocity, and non-interference" - you know, Commie unilateralism and West-only concession, unconditional submission, and appeasement, etc.
#5
FNC the other day had pundits analyzing reports that NK may indeed have 4-13 nuke devices - the Norks + China have gotta know any nuclear detonation agz Japan invites immediate unilater Japanese rearmament, so these alleged 4-13 NK nukes, or most of them, in all probability may end up being detonated on Norkie soil proper, which suits the Chicoms just fine.
#6
Of course it violates their God given sovereign rights. Is there any other option when you are looking to prop up your lame negotiating hand? Yada yada yada. But the US and the world isn't going to fall for it again, right?
#8
Back in the day when the Boers ran South Africa, the Israelis tested their nuke in the Kalahari. Do you suppose that the Norks are discussing testing one of theirs with the current management? Perhaps trying to set up a marketing conduit to sell nukes to anyone with the necessary cash? If so, they should remember that President Bush is in office until January 2009.
#11
"These exercises are a serious violation of the principles of sovereignty, equality, reciprocity and non-interference," Kim said.
FOTSG's rant sums it up nicely. However, I find it a SUPREME example of projection for a "secretive" State like NKor to "demand" equality and reciprocity. Do they REALLY want reciprocity? If so, let's "test" some missiles their way, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 15:37
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Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D) failed to appear at two televised debates over the weekend, fueling criticism from two opponents who are challenging the controversial incumbent in a July 18 primary in the Georgia's 4th District.
CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY reports: DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson and architectural firm project manager John Coyne, who are challenging McKinney, debated Saturday on WSB-TV and also participated in a second debate Friday that was sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club and which will air tonight at 7 p.m. Johnson's campaign said that McKinney's absence was a "slap in the face" to her constituents.
McKinney prob'ly has nothing to worry about, having a firm lock on the 2-digit IQ vote in her district.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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Maybe she was really there in mind only
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 1:00
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Hey - she was busy! It takes a professional team hours to get her hair to look like that!
#3
If she were to be tragically killed in a fully televised, firey I-285 high-speed crash tomorrow morning, she'd she still win re-election. She's the Robert Mugabe of Atlana.
#6
She got un-elected back in the 2002 primary, but the lady who unseated her (can't recall the name; by all accounts, she's a grown-up, rational liberal Democrat) ran for senate instead of for re-election, and Cynthia sneaked back in.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/12/2006 10:07
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#7
Well, if I looked like that I wouldn't want to be seen in public let alone on TV!
Posted by: Gir ||
07/12/2006 11:17
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With a little luck maybe she won't show up for the election either.
#9
Mike, that woman was Denisse Majette. Many speculate the only reason she won (the primary, where she beat McKinney for the Donk ticket) was because enough North DeKalb voters switched parties (from Repubs to Demos) and voted in the Donk primaries. Georgia law allows you to "switch" parties (if you're a registered member) and vote in the other party's primary.
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 14:07
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#10
1 - meets the critera of 'People may think you're stupid, but once you open your mouth, you remove all doubt'.
2 - if Georgia has the option of write in, how many 'empty chair' votes will be cast?
(KUNA) -- Pakistan Tuesday ruling out the possibility of sabotage in Mondays plane crash that had no survivor, said a Dutch team of experts will help it investigate the "accident."
"I can not say at this time what caused the plane crash but it was an accident, believe me", Federal Defence minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal told newsmen after inspecting the site of the plane crash in central city of Multan, about 450 kilometers from here. He said a joint team of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) was conducting inquiry, adding that a Dutch team of experts would also reach Pakistan to investigate the incident. Some members of the team have arrived and remaining would reach soon, he said. The minister said that the inquiry would hopefully be completed within two and a half month time and its report would be made public. "We will investigate it thoroughly."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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"I can not say at this time what caused the plane crash but it was an accident, believe me"
Man, this guy's sharp...what's his name again? I want him running the Big Dig.
Israeli tanks and troops moved into southern Gaza early Wednesday in a new phase of a two-week offensive aimed at militants holding a captured soldier and firing rockets, Palestinians and the military said. The Israeli military confirmed its forces were operating in southern Gaza, but gave no details.
On Tuesday, Israeli leaders ordered the army to expand the Gaza offensive, moving into areas of the territory they have not yet entered. Palestinians said they saw Israeli bulldozers leveling farmland and tanks moving across the border near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The military ordered Palestinian security to leave their forward positions in the area. The Israelis have not entered Khan Younis during the current offensive. Before Tuesday, Israeli forces had entered southern and northern Gaza and have approached Gaza City.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defense minister, Amir Peretz, ordered the new incursions into Gaza after Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Monday he would not free the captive soldier, 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit, security officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation. Mashaal called Shalit a prisoner of war and demanded a prisoner swap which Olmert has ruled out.
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#2
"There are shortages of food, fuel and essential needs of Palestinian citizens," he told his Cabinet, calling on the United Nations, Arab League, Muslim countries and the rest of the international community to help.
#3
Everything that comes out of the paleomedia machines and its western proxies (I watch lci's reports on that, and it's infuriating, really, and it's not the worst coverage...) is a lie. They're all playing the propaganda war to the hilt, paleos and accomplices, in true subversive leftist fashion.
#4
"There are shortages of food, fuel and essential needs of Palestinian citizens," he told his Cabinet, calling on the United Nations, Arab League, Muslim countries and the rest of the international community to help.
#5
Anyone noticed that the deafening silence of the nazi-left about the deliberate staving perpetrated against Black sudanese populations, or in fact their deafening silence about anyone else that those whose goal is to exterminate the Jews?
#6
"shortages of food, fuel and essential needs of Palestinian citizens,"
I dodn't undesratand why he uses the long "essential needs" instead of the shorter "explosives" who is about the only "essential need" those bastards care
#7
The deafening silence is indeed pleasant.
The left has only one goal, and they can't formulate a plan for the greater War on Terror unless their one goal is achieved. Bush
(KUNA) -- Police has arrested 15 militants involved in an attack on provincial Chief Ministers residence, rocket firing, bomb blasts and other subversive activities in the insurgency-hit Baluchistan province, said an official on Tuesday.
Inspector General (IG) Police Baluchistan, Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqub, addressing a press conference said that these men were involved in an attack on residence of Chief Minister Mir Jam Muhammad Yousaf in Kalat, bomb blast in Baluchistan High Court and blowing up of railway tracks. He said that police also arrested a Baluchistan University Graduate Zakir, who had joined fugitive training camp at an annual pay of Rs. 6000 (US100) after graduation in 2003.
The IG said that millions of rupees are being spent annually on these terrorist training camps in the province, which are funneled from London and Abu Dubai through money laundering. He added that the law enforcing agencies are planning a big operation against these camps.
Posted by: Fred ||
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One thousand people are currently being held in detention by the United States as part of its "war on terror," a legal adviser with the Department of Defense said on Tuesday. "I would say it's probably in the order of about 1,000," said Daniel Dell'Orto, principal deputy general counsel at the Department of Defense, in testimony before a congressional committee. Dell' Orto said the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba held some 450 prisoners, implying that 550 others were being held in other centers around the world run by the Central Intelligence Agency. He did not disclose where these prisoners were being held, or procedural details about their detention. A Council of Europe report published last month said that Romania and Poland probably sheltered clandestine detention centers run by the United States, although it acknowledged that it lacked formal proof for this. Both countries have denied running such centers on US behalf.
I've had the suspicion for some time now that Guantanamo is a lightning rod. Not being the New York Times, I haven't said anything. But I do know how to add and subtract, assuming my shoes are off for the bigger numbers.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Prepare for the next volley of indignation.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 0:49
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Fooey. There are military detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan. We know, because there was a group escape from one of them a bit ago.
#3
TW is right. I presume the 1000 doesnt include prisoners in Iraq, but it could include the prisoners at Bagram - isnt that a DoD facility? (the detention center i mean, not the airbase)
#4
It would make me happy to think that Gitmo is a lightning rod. It would mean that our war planners are using the NYT (etc) as predictable dupes.
It's a clever idea. Put a bunch of nobodies at gitmo, treat them well and let the press have a hissy fit over the fact that they don't have ac and prime rib every monday. They press looks foolish but is happy. The BDS sufferers get to shake their heads, moan and wail over it. Average Americans get annoyed and begin to wave off any talk of "torture". And the military gets to do what it needs to do without interferrence.
Let's hope they are doing the same with the leaks.
#5
The US needs to transfer prisoners of intelligence value from Gitmo to detention centers in terra incognita while the rest can fester at Gitmo until the LLL win their release.
PS Each attorney fighting for their release should be required to house these wacky/terrs for 30 days as part of their rehab.
#6
I'll bet there aren't any prisoners of intelligence value at Gitmo. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Gitmo was designed from day 3 to be a PR sink for the LLLs. Better to give them a bone to chew on than have them running all over the neighborhood looking for one.
#7
The problem is you are being rationale, using facts and logic.
Since when has the propagandists used either?
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 11:11
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#8
I'll bet there aren't any prisoners of intelligence value at Gitmo
And you'd win. If you look at all the guys they've identified as being there, they're all low-level cannon fodder for the most part. Biggist guy ID'd was Binny's ex-driver.
The really big fish kind of disappear into a black hole. A few may be in Bagram in Afghanistan, but that appears to be only for those captured locally. Rumor has it there's a big holding tank on an "Indian ocean island that must not be named", but that's never mentioned officially. The press doesn't even seem to talk about it, they're too busy looking in Europe for secret camps. Guess the lunches are better there.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006 15:02
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#9
What's the price of a .308 cartridge these days? A buck? Fiddy cents? C'mon, DOD, I'm in for a few dollars.
Can we get a check-off box on next year's 1040 to help fund this project?
#10
"although it acknowledged that it lacked formal proof for this."
Erm! we made it all up to encourage controversy. look it was good for our domestica chances of being reelected, just chill you don't take this shit seriously do you?
KUWAIT - Kuwaits new cabinet approved on Tuesday a draft law that would reduce the number of parliamentary constituencies in the Gulf Arab state, the official news agency KUNA said. The move meets popular demands for electoral reform, the core of a dispute between the government and parliament, which led to the dissolution of the house in May. Opposition MPs say the reform would guard against vote buying.
The Council of Ministers approved a draft law to divide Kuwait into five electoral constituencies, KUNA said. The cabinet sent the draft to the emir for approval before sending it to parliament for a vote, it said. The move comes a day before the new parliament, dominated by reformist MPs, convenes to elect a speaker.
The government had proposed a bill that sought to reduce the number of constituencies to 10 from 25. The measure failed to impress reformists who insisted there should be five constituencies to make elections easier to monitor. Some MPs in the previous house had even submitted an unprecedented request to grill Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah over the disputed draft law.
Next thing you know they'll want to elect the prime minister from amongst the MPs. Recapitulating English history one step at a time.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2006
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But you see two Spaghetti Eating in a Burka techniques here. On the left, the up and under, on the right, the over the top. I'm going with the chicky on the left.
#7
Expecting a "sternly worded letter"(tm) to the leaders of this country (wherever it is) from NOW in 3, 2, 1...
Oops,
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 14:48
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#8
Meant to add "...crickets chirping."
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 14:49
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#9
Seems to me that one of the Arab bloggers, Religious Policeman, maybe, mentioned just this difficulty once, complete with description of the two techniques.
They seem fully acquainted with spaghetti-eating procedures (including rolling it up, which I have never been able to master). So were they new to their "liberating" outfits?
The woman on the right looked like she was snorting it up her nose.
(KUNA) -- Terror on Tuesday struck Indian cities Mumbai and Srinagar, situated 1,600 km apart in Western and Northern India respectively, killing at least 174 people, the majority of them in the country's financial capital. The blasts began in downtown Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, Tuesday morning, killing eight people and injuring 40 in five blasts. Most of the killed were tourists from Eastern Indian city of Kolkata, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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Death in India. Itll be interesting to see how much this atrocity registers in the West. Not much, I fear, and I doubt itll be added to the string of 21st century attacks - New York, Madrid, London. Itll be seen as mad people doing daft things in a strange crowded place in a part of the world where the trains always have nine thousand people hanging off the sides, and theyre like all totally about cows being holy.
The idea that this was an assault on a highly developed democratic civilization - which had the effrontery to prosper without the guidance of Sharia will probably be lost in a blur of oddly-named factions and Kashmiri hairsplitting.
When someone blows up the Tokyo or Moscow subway, therell be a thumbsucker on the front page: Coordinated bombings of Mass Transit systems: Is There A Pattern? The article will probably reassure everyone that while the bombings appear similar, the motives differed. And should the next attack fall here, itll probably be blamed on Iraq, since the intelligentsia seems to have concluded that the Iraq Theater has as much to do with fighting Islamic terror as invading Peru to root out Branch Davidians.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/12/2006 12:01
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SUKKUR: At least 9 people were killed and 12 injured in a clash between two rival tribes in Kandh Kot on Tuesday. Armed tribesmen of Teghani clan attacked a village of their rival Ogahi tribe. The attackers used automatic guns, rocket launchers and other weapons during the attack, due to which Gul Hassan Oghai, Shabir Ahmed were killed, while many were wounded. Men belonging to Oghai tribe promptly retaliating the onslaught of the Tifani tribesmen; killing six people and injuring 10. More firing incidents in the area are still being reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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DUBAI - Qatar shrugged off on Tuesday Saudi Arabias reported plans to block the completion of a US$3.5 billion (euro2.7 billion) natural gas pipeline. Saudi Arabia reportedly said last week that the pipeline - due to bring gas from Qatar to the neighbouring United Arab Emirates - crossed its underwater territory and that it would object to it.
A senior Qatar energy official laughed off dismissed these reports. We dont think it is very serious. We have been working for a long time on this, and too much expenditure has been made, the official was quoted as saying by the regional Zawya Dow Jones news service on Tuesday.
"Them and what army?" he added.
The sub-sea pipeline is being laid by Dolphin Energy and is 51 percent owned by Abu Dhabi, along with US-based Occidental Petroleum and France-based Total. It is due to provide 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day from Qatar to the Emirates and Oman by 2007.
Qatar has not received official notice from the Saudi government that the Kingdom would block the pipeline, Dow Jones quoted the official as saying. Dolphin Energy also said in a statement Tuesday that it hadnt received any objection or protest from any state concerning the pipeline.
An Emirati official, who declined to be named, said Dolphin plans to complete the pipeline within a few weeks. He said partners of the Abu Dhabi-led project had thoroughly checked all paperwork before investing.
The dispute between the Emirates and Saudi Arabia stems from a 1974 border treaty. Abu Dhabi officials claim the treaty gives the Emirates underwater rights of passage through the stretch of Saudi territory that the Dolphin pipeline crosses, making it unnecessary to obtain Saudi approval ahead of construction.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2006
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#1
"Underwater territory? Station some troops there and we'll talk."
#3
Come, come. Aren't you Bushies just the teensiest but disillusioned about your boy by now? Aren't you the slightest bit angry about the enormous waste of life and money in Iraq? Don't any of you ever look at a relative dying of cancer and think "What if the money had gone there?" Or at a child that you can't afford to send to college... (Coincidentally the funds for student loans shrink JUST shen they need more soldiers). Aren't you angry about this deficit? Doesn't it ever BOTHER you that the man sounds like a simpleton every time he opens his mouth?
#4
Grinetle Jesh2417:
Yes, I am a little bit angry about the enormous waste of life and dollars, but I don't blame Bush!!! He's a casualty of subversion, too, and the anti-American trans-nationalists are trying to make him (+ Cheney & Rumsfeld) the fall guy(s). If you have spent any time at all on the Burg, you'd know what you read in the MSM just isn't so, and would cry out for the real traitors to be prosecuted, preferably by a Sharia court.
#5
I think "What if Bill wasn't getting the million dollar blow job and did his presidential job instead, would the World Trade Centers still be standing and bin Laden be just a red stain on some Sudanese sand?". So many regrets GJ.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 10:57
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#6
Grinetle Jesh2417
If wishes and wants were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 11:09
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#7
Well, at least Clinton was getting a blow job by a real human being instead of oil corporations! Bush still has not taken down Bin Laden after five years, (a little distracted by that imminent threat, Saddam). If the leadership of the country, Dem or Republican, had spent the billions on alternative forms of energy instead or Iraq, we wouldn't need to BE in the Middle East at all, and we wouldn't be shipping all our oil money there either--one of the ways the terrorists are funded. Without our money they would be the poor nomadic tribes they were before. If we didn't need their oil we wouldn't be interested in being there on their lands--the thing that seems to piss them off, despite the Republican rhetoric that "They hate us for our freedoms".
#10
US missed three chances to seize Bin Laden
PRESIDENT Bill Clinton turned down at least three offers involving foreign governments to help to seize Osama Bin Laden after he was identified as a terrorist who was threatening America, according to sources in Washington and the Middle East. Clinton himself, according to one Washington source, has described the refusal to accept the first of the offers as "the biggest mistake" of his presidency.
The main reasons were legal: there was no evidence that could be brought against Bin Laden in an American court. Claiming credit for 2 embassy bombings not enough evidence or just not enough to tear Bill's brain away from Monica's face? But former senior intelligence sources accuse the administration of a lack of commitment to the fight against terrorism.
When Sudanese officials claimed late last year that Washington had spurned Bin Laden's secret extradition from Khartoum in 1996, former White House officials said they had no recollection of the offer. Clinton lied, thousands died. Senior sources in the former administration now confirm that it was true.
An Insight investigation has revealed that far from being an isolated incident this was the first in a series of missed opportunities right up to Clinton's last year in office. One of these involved a Gulf state; another would have relied on the assistance of Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 11:46
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#11
Did Clinton Ignore Khartoum Offer to Help Stop Bin Laden?
Posted by: Oracle Jones ||
07/12/2006 12:20
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#13
When Sudanese officials claimed late last year that Washington had spurned Bin Laden's secret extradition from Khartoum in 1996, former White House officials said they had no recollection of the offer. Senior sources in the former administration now confirm that it was true.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 12:22
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#14
If only we had the Allah Fish Carburetor, but nooooooooooo! Big oil knocked over the Allah Fish Inventor and destroyed the electric railways while giving us sorry F.I.A.T. money! Death to Abarth!
Posted by: Oracle Jones ||
07/12/2006 12:22
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#15
Link for The Sunday Times of London article referenced in #10 & 13: US missed three chances to seize Bin Laden
Notice the date is Jan 6, 2002 while the date of the article referenced by GJ in #11 is Dec 7, 2001. After a few months of lies by former Clinton officials, the they were forced to admit the truth. But for Clinton officals, a few months of stonewalling, while the WTC wreckage still smoldering, was a new record for truthiness. When Sudanese officials claimed late last year that Washington had spurned Bin Laden's secret extradition from Khartoum in 1996, former White House officials said they had no recollection of the offer. Senior sources in the former administration now confirm that it was true.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 12:35
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To #11 Grintle Jesh -- Strange, the link you provided doesn't support your contention. While there's a lot of he said/ she said confusion about what Sudan offered, the link does seem clear that the US failed to request extradition of Bin Ladin so that when he was booted out of the Sudan he was free to set up shop in even more inaccessible Afghanistan. This was malfeasance and the buck stops at the top on an issue of this magnitude.
#17
So, I assume GJ's open to us drilling in ANWR and pursuing our (domestic offshore) own petroleum resources? Or, heck, I'm even to the point of accepting wind power off Nantucket.
/crickets chirping/
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 15:46
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#18
Oh yeah, meant to add...I bet GJ wants a pony too! Now, be nice to him boyz. Makes me long for the days of .com, lol!
Now, I'll quit feeding the troll.
Posted by: BA ||
07/12/2006 15:49
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#19
How was it that Joe Wilson got to go on a fact finding trip to Niger?
Chechen fighters will continue their "jihad" against Russian forces following the death of rebel warlord Shamil Basayev in an explosion, a spokesman for the separatist movement said Tuesday. "A new generation of Muslims who will never give up on their jihad and who know their enemy will replace those who leave. The jihad continues," Movladi Udugov said in a written statement published on the Kavkazcenter.com website used by separatists.
"The OSCE, Council of Europe, the US president, Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia's chief rabbi, the Russian Orthodox church and other infidels have expressed their joy," said Udugov, a former deputy prime minister of Chechnya's separatist government believed to be living in hiding outside Russia. "So it must be because we are enemies," continued Udugov, calling Basayev "a hero" and "a martyr." For more than a decade, Basayev helped mastermind Chechnya's independence struggle, routing Russian troops in numerous battles, and also claiming responsibility for a series of bloody terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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#1
gettin blown up purdy fun ifn ya gotter rite kwipment...
#2
Remember Beslan - the Chechen cause lost any credibility it possessed when that school was attacked. We should provide the Russians with any help they need in exterminating these dicks. Accept nothing but total submission from the Chechen population.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/12/2006 7:00
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Chechni sounds like a wonderfull place to raise a family. Jihad until the end of time, destruction, unemployment, poverty, death, desease.
Yeah, sounds like paradise, actually, it sounds like every other place in the world where you find "devout" muslims.
Israel battered the Gaza Strip with more air strikes on Tuesday as the government gave the green light to intensify the offensive that has killed more than 50 Palestinians in a week. A Palestinian security officer was killed and six people were wounded in the latest Israeli air strikes hitting northern Gaza, medical sources said. The dead man was named as Ahmed Shahid.
Very appropriate.
Medics said he was struck by a missile fired towards a car. The army said the attack targeted a vehicle used to get to a rocket-launch site and loaded with rockets in the Beit Hanun area. The air raids which the Israeli military said targeted rockets and a "cell about to launch them" came just one day after nine Palestinians died from Israeli fire elsewhere in the impoverished and radicalised Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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#1
Ah, the humanity
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/12/2006 0:26
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He didn't have no rockets, he was just out for a moonlight drive in the Gaza Strip.
The largest Sunni bloc in parliament said on Tuesday that it will lift a legislative boycott after a call for unity by a radical Shia cleric and promises that a kidnapped legislator will be released. Moqtada al-Sadr has called for unity and a leading Sunni politician said the bloc was responding, in the first sign of accommodation by both sides amid a sharp rise in sectarian tensions. We have decided to attend the meetings as of tomorrow in response to the call by Moqtada al-Sadr, Adnan al-Dulaimi said. Two of al-Mashhadanis guards were released last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Well this should clarify things regards Tater.
He's the power behind the throne. The Mullahs' enforcer inside the Shia "government". And the Sunnis get it, since he's playing the age-old power game they understand. Why, he's a friggin hero. Total impunity.
And, although he can arrange the release of the kidnapped MP, that doesn't mean he's involved. Nope. 'Course not. That's silly.
#3
Just my take, but I suggest you reread the story, GG. Sounds to me like Moqtada's in the driver's seat and playing statesman because it suits him, not because of any pressure. Fact is, the Sunnis could boycott from now until the end of time - and affect absolutely nothing, as they max out at about 20%-22% of the Parliament.
This proves that Eastern Civilization is declining more than the West. But I prefer to hear of the incident where tough guy actor, Robert Conrad, beat up a Christmas Party Santa Claus.
Jackie Chan disrupted a concert by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jonathan Lee and exchanged insults with the audience, a news report said Tuesday. Ming Pao Daily News quoted the 52-year-old action star as saying onstage that he was drunk.
Chan suddenly jumped on the stage Monday night and demanded a duet with Lee. He then tried to conduct the band but stopped and restarted the music several times, the newspaper reported. As the awkward interruption dragged on, audience members started to heckle Chan, who replied with an insult, according to the report...
Singh Vows Terror Fight as Governments Condemn Mumbai Attacks India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to tackle terrorism with ``all possible measures'' as governments across the world condemned the worst attack in Mumbai in 13 years. At least 163 people were killed.
I'd suggest killing large numbers of turbans, but that doesn't seem to be politically possible for anybody...
``We will work to defeat the evil designs of terrorists and will not allow them to succeed,'' Singh said yesterday after seven blasts on the suburban rail network in the country's commercial hub.
Britain will ``stand united with India'' in a ``shared determination to defeat terrorism,'' Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement. ``The terrorists to blame for carrying out this evil act must receive the harshest punishment,'' Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
//I'd suggest killing large numbers of turbans, but that doesn't seem to be politically possible for anybody... //
doent say that. sadlee reminz me of em jakass hoo killt that sikh in AZ shortlee after 911.
#3
I believe he may be a Sikh. Sikhs wear turbans as a matter of religious observance, but they're not generally "turbans" in the "turbans and automatic weapons" sense.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/12/2006 10:59
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#5
Singh = Sikh. Also that turban is a Sikh dastar.
Posted by: ed ||
07/12/2006 12:56
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#6
Found out that Singh has a PhD in Economics, and the Indian president (Kalam) has a PhD in Nuclear Physics. Talk about qualifications to run a country...
The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (head of government) is a Sikh - PhD in economics
(note the turban - Sikhs must not cut their hair, hence the need to wrap it).
The Army chief - General JJ Singh is also a Sikh
The Indian President Abdul Kalam (the head of state) is a muslim
He is NOT a nuclear scientist, as is sometimes written in the press. He is a rocket scientist - the designer of India's first satellite launch vehicles and ballistic missiles. He is good at project management and was in overall charge of the 1998 nuclear tests at Pokran.
The real power in Delhi is actually a woman - the head of the congress party - Sonia Gandhi - a christian
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006 15:32
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#8
Though Kalam is referred to as "Dr", these are honorary doctorates (he was chancellor of a university).
He has just a first degree in aeronautical engineering.
He never bothered to obtain a PhD - too busy building rockets and overseeing military projects.
Werner Von Braun visited him in India, complimenting him on the SLV rocket. That speaks for itself.
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006 15:44
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#9
thanks for setting me straight john... i was misinformed on Kalam's education.
Kabir Bedi is an Indian international film actor, most famous for his roles of Sandokan in the TV series Sandokan, Prince Omar Rashid in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful and Gobinda in the James Bond film Octopussy.
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006 18:14
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#14
On the topic of turbans: in India turban wearers are actually less likely to be muzzies. The muzzies usually wear caps like this:
In the village where I lived in India, almost all of the local Hindu farmers wore turbans - none of the local muzzies did.
#15
That BTW (for those who may not know) is Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
Here is a fascinating article from a 1947 interview of Jinnah by Margaret Bourke-White, correspondent and photographer for LIFE magazine during the WW II years...
Posted by: john ||
07/12/2006 19:44
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#16
The Army chief - General JJ Singh, is one cool looking, spiffy dude. At least from his looks, he looks like an a$$-kicking guy. Only thing that worries me is those rose-colored shades he's wearing. Anyway, that's my take on the pic. My photo interpretation, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/12/2006 21:32
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#17
Hey john you'r overinformed, if you ever want to join a pub quiz team just let us know.
Nepal's Maoists have revealed for the first time number of soldiers they have - 36,000 - in remarks published on Tuesday, a week after Kathmandu invited the United Nations to monitor arms of insurgents and the state army. "We are about 36,000 (fighters) in the People's Liberation Army now," Bibidh, a Maoist commander was quoted by the Nepali daily, Kantipur, as saying. "This keeps on changing at the time of fighting." Nepali security officials have estimated rebel strength at around 15,000 combatants versus a government army of 100,000 besides thousands of police.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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The State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, The Associated Press has learned. Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive U.S. information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said U.S. officials familiar with the hacking. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the widespread intrusions and the resulting investigation.
The break-ins and the State Department's emergency response severely limited Internet access at many locations, including some headquarters offices in Washington, these officials said. Internet connections have been restored across nearly all the department since the break-ins were recognized in mid-June. "The department did detect anomalies in network traffic, and we thought it prudent to ensure out system's integrity," department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said. Asked what information was stolen by the hackers, Cooper said, "Because the investigation is continuing, I don't think we even know."
Tracing the origin of such break-ins is difficult. But employees told AP the hackers appeared to hit computers especially hard at headquarters and inside the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, which coordinates diplomacy in countries including China, the Koreas and Japan. In the tense weeks preceding North Korea's missile tests, that bureau lost its Internet connectivity for several days.
Continued on Page 49
#7
A little respect if you please -- some of the names on the invitee list are spies for our side, some are spies for the other side, and some we're trying to discretely seduce. We like to play Happy Families with all of them together at the summer picnics...
#11
Manolo says: "The people that manage these systems are either incredibly stupid, or they are traitors.
Oh...wait...never mind."
Actually, if you knew the inside story (which I can't talk about), you wouldn't be so quick to insult. Not everyone in the DoS is a lefty loonie. SOme of them are rantburgers.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/12/2006 21:53
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#13
Negative.
OT, but after I read the article this morning, I think I know who leaked the story to the press. The guy is a lefty loon willing to do anything to embarass the Bush admin. He is also a former journalist who brags about his exploits and is currently a low level loudmouth in the department. I have no proof, but only certain people had pieces of the puzzle that was indicated in the article. Additional info not mentioned in the article, he didn't know. Wouldn't bet my life on it, but would bet a shiny nickle.
The Ministry of Defence informed a Sindh High Court (SHC) bench on Tuesday that it had no operational control over the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI) and therefore could not enforce the courts direction on both agencies in detention matters.
Hokay. My mind just boggled at such an admission. They're officially rogue agencies?
In his comments in six detention petitions, ministry representative Lt Col Mohammad Iqbal Sahboo said that the ministry could only pass on to these agencies every direction received from the court for strict compliance, and replies on receipt were submitted in court. The SHC bench comprising Justice Anwer Zaheer Jamali and Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro heard on Tuesday petitions challenging the detention of Saleem Baloch, Saeed Brohi, Rauf Sasoli, Afan Leghari, Munir Mengal and Tariq Alam, and deferred the matter until July 19.
In its comments, the Defence Ministry said that the ISI and MI, which are only under its administrative control, had been tasked to present the detainees in court, but had denied detaining the people in question. They had said that the men were not wanted in any case, the Defence Ministry representative told the court. He said that the agencies had said that the task of locating or recovering missing people did not fall under their purview.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2006
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#1
Dear Ministry of Defence,
Stop signing the damn checks! If they still don't cooperate, place them under arrest.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Regards,
The Civilized World
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
07/12/2006 1:50
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#2
Stop signing the damn checks! If they still don't cooperate, place them under arrest.
#3
Oh come on - we've known for a long time that it's the ISI that has operational control of the Ministry of Defense, not vice-versa. Administrative control just means the MoD provides clerk-typists.
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.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - A Hamas militant leader who has topped Israel's most-wanted list for a decade was badly wounded and underwent four hours of spinal surgery Wednesday after an Israeli F-16 warplane dropped a quarter-ton bomb that killed nine members of one family, security officials said. 
WASHINGTON, July 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer released the following statement today condemning Hezbollah for seizing two Israeli soldiers:
A senior British banker who was questioned by U.S. authorities in connection with the Enron scandal has been found dead, British media reported Wednesday. 
JERUSALEM, July 12 (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz on Wednesday authorised a campaign of air strikes in Lebanon that would target both Hizbollah guerrilla installations and Lebanese civilian infrastructure, Israel's Channel 10 said.
SRINAGAR - Police in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir said on Wednesday they had killed a commander of a militant outfit blamed for grenade attacks that killed eight tourists in the region a day earlier. Weve shot dead a top operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba in (southern) Anantnag town ... (and) are investigating whether he had a role in the grenade attacks, said a police official.
A suicide bomber has driven a taxi into a convoy of US-led troops in Afghanistan, killing himself and a child, officials say. Officials say that the attack happened in the Yaqubay district of Khost province, and that two US soldiers and three other children were injured. Officials blamed the attack on al-Qaeda and Taleban militants, who have mounted a series of attacks throughout 2006. 
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Only hours before Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hopped a helicopter to the coalition base in Kandahar, an Army Chinook took small-arms fire and crash-landed. No one was hurt. But it was further proof that Southern Afghanistan is a very dangerous place where U.S. and NATO forces are engaged in an all-out war with the Taliban.
Suspicious crafts
At least 135 people were killed and hundreds injured in seven bomb explosions on packed commuter trains and stations on Tuesday in Mumbai, India's financial hub, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the evening rush hour attacks, the worst in the city for more than a decade. But suspicion was likely to center on Muslim militants fighting New Delhi's rule in disputed Kashmir, who have been blamed for several bomb attacks in India in the past. 
Commuters fled suburban rail stations in panic after the explosions and mobile phone lines were jammed. Television pictures showed twisted rail carriages and people in torn and bloodstained clothes carrying the dead and wounded on stretchers as steady monsoon rain fell. A policeman was shown carrying two white, blood-stained bundles of what appeared to be body parts. Dazed survivors with wounds from injuries to heads, legs and hands waited at railway stations, with little sign of any emergency medical aid. Local media said the blasts appeared to have targeted first-class compartments. "The blasts happened when the trains were most crowded," D.K Shankaran, chief secretary of the state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, told Reuters.
10 Iraqi soldiers were killed in clashes with armed groups in the Shargat area south of the northern city of Mosul. According to unconfirmed reports, a well known terrorist known as 
China condemned a Japan-sponsored U.N. resolution to slap sanctions on North Korea over its missile tests on Tuesday, calling it an over-reaction that would split the Security Council. The statement came as a top U.S. envoy flew into Beijing, seeking a briefing on China's urgent efforts to resolve the crisis by diplomatic means. The U.N. Security Council delayed a vote overnight on the resolution to impose sanctions on the isolated state to allow time for a high-level Chinese delegation to talk to Pyongyang. "The Chinese side thinks the concerned draft resolution is an over-reaction. If approved, it will aggravate contradictions and increase tension," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference. "It will hurt efforts to resume six-party talks as well as lead to the U.N. Security Council splitting." 
The Taliban's spring offensive in Afghanistan is now three months old. It is the biggest ever mounted against foreign forces in the country since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, and it has taken a heavy toll on insurgency as well as coalition forces. And, according to one of the Taliban's top 10 commanders who spoke to Asia Times Online, the rising spiral of death is just the tip of the iceberg and the coalition's "Operation Mountain Thrust" in the southwest of the country will be severely challenged.
THE HAGUE -The trial of Croatian journalist Josip Jovics on charges of contempt of court opened at the UN war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia here Tuesday after a weeks delay because the defendant failed to show.
(KUNA) -- Iraqi forces will take formal control of a British-controlled area of the country this week, Britains Defence Secretary Des Browne indicated Tuesday. Browne told MPs he expected Iraq's new government to announce the handover of the relatively-peaceful al Muthanna province this Thursday. And he said he would be disappointed if announcements on two further areas did not follow "relatively soon." "As far as I understand it, the Iraqi government intends to formally take over responsibility for al Muthanna province on the 13th," Browne said.
The Bush administration is preparing a crackdown on intelligence leaks to the media and will try to pursue prosecutions in some recent cases, the chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. Michigan Republican Rep. 
AUSTIN Travis County District Attorney 
The Houston Chronicle filed a request under Texas' open records law in March seeking vouchers, hotel and airfare receipts, budget documents, memos and e-mails describing the expenses for the DeLay inquiry and related investigations.
KHAR: Suspected Islamic militants shot and killed a pro-government tribal elder and an off-duty soldier in Bajaur Agency, an official said on Tuesday. The attack on the home of Fateh Khan occurred on Monday night in Babara, a village in Bajaur, local government official Abdul Qayyum said. The assailants fired assault rifles at Khan's home from a nearby hill, killing him and the soldier, who was visiting Khan as a guest, Qayyum said.
Islamists now in full control of the Somali capital vowed Tuesday to "destroy" all resistance to their religious rule as the city's last secular warlord fled after surrendering in fierce battles. Islamic militia scoured southern Mogadishu for weapons still outside their hands following the defeat late Monday of warlord Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydiid in bloody clashes that killed at least 77 since the weekend.
According to sources, RDX was been used in the improvised explosive devise (IED). The police have at least some clues about the two men who they suspect may have planted the explosives on the train which exploded at Borivali. A fair, young, wavy-haired with a straight nose and a slim youth wearing a checked shirt got into the Virar bound train at Bandra and got off in a hurry at the Andheri station. The police are making his sketch based on the description. 
North Korea accused the United States of running a "massive" military exercise off the Korean Peninsula, which Pyongyang's vice foreign minister said was a "serious violation of the principles of sovereignty". 
Rep. 
(KUNA) -- Pakistan Tuesday ruling out the possibility of sabotage in Mondays plane crash that had no survivor, said a Dutch team of experts will help it investigate the "accident." 
Israeli tanks and troops moved into southern Gaza early Wednesday in a new phase of a two-week offensive aimed at militants holding a captured soldier and firing rockets, Palestinians and the military said. The Israeli military confirmed its forces were operating in southern Gaza, but gave no details.
(KUNA) -- Police has arrested 15 militants involved in an attack on provincial Chief Ministers residence, rocket firing, bomb blasts and other subversive activities in the insurgency-hit Baluchistan province, said an official on Tuesday.
One thousand people are currently being held in detention by the United States as part of its "war on terror," a legal adviser with the Department of Defense said on Tuesday. "I would say it's probably in the order of about 1,000," said Daniel Dell'Orto, principal deputy general counsel at the Department of Defense, in testimony before a congressional committee. Dell' Orto said the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba held some 450 prisoners, implying that 550 others were being held in other centers around the world run by the Central Intelligence Agency. He did not disclose where these prisoners were being held, or procedural details about their detention. A Council of Europe report published last month said that Romania and Poland probably sheltered clandestine detention centers run by the United States, although it acknowledged that it lacked formal proof for this. Both countries have denied running such centers on US behalf. 
KUWAIT - Kuwaits new cabinet approved on Tuesday a draft law that would reduce the number of parliamentary constituencies in the Gulf Arab state, the official news agency KUNA said. The move meets popular demands for electoral reform, the core of a dispute between the government and parliament, which led to the dissolution of the house in May. Opposition MPs say the reform would guard against vote buying.
SUKKUR: At least 9 people were killed and 12 injured in a clash between two rival tribes in Kandh Kot on Tuesday. Armed tribesmen of Teghani clan attacked a village of their rival Ogahi tribe. The attackers used automatic guns, rocket launchers and other weapons during the attack, due to which Gul Hassan Oghai, Shabir Ahmed were killed, while many were wounded. Men belonging to Oghai tribe promptly retaliating the onslaught of the Tifani tribesmen; killing six people and injuring 10. More firing incidents in the area are still being reported.
Chechen fighters will continue their "jihad" against Russian forces following the death of rebel warlord Shamil Basayev in an explosion, a spokesman for the separatist movement said Tuesday. "A new generation of Muslims who will never give up on their jihad and who know their enemy will replace those who leave. The jihad continues," Movladi Udugov said in a written statement published on the Kavkazcenter.com website used by separatists. 
The largest Sunni bloc in parliament said on Tuesday that it will lift a legislative boycott after a call for unity by a radical Shia cleric and promises that a kidnapped legislator will be released. 
India's Prime Minister 
Nepal's Maoists have revealed for the first time number of soldiers they have - 36,000 - in remarks published on Tuesday, a week after Kathmandu invited the United Nations to monitor arms of insurgents and the state army. "We are about 36,000 (fighters) in the People's Liberation Army now," Bibidh, a Maoist commander was quoted by the Nepali daily, Kantipur, as saying. "This keeps on changing at the time of fighting." Nepali security officials have estimated rebel strength at around 15,000 combatants versus a government army of 100,000 besides thousands of police.
The State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, The Associated Press has learned. Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive U.S. information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said U.S. officials familiar with the hacking. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the widespread intrusions and the resulting investigation.
