U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich is running for president yes -- of the United States.
Hell make it official Tuesday from Cleveland City Hall, the site of his political birth and his biggest public embarrassment. For those who don't remember: As mayor, KooKoolAidnich ran Cleveland into default, the only major American city to default since the Great Depression.
Kucinich, who was easily re-elected to Congress in last month, ran unsuccessfully for president in the 2004 presidential primary. He was among the last to drop out despite winning only a handful of delegates.
Although Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are sucking up media attention, Kucinich is sure to grab some because he becomes only the second Democrat to officially declare his presidential bid. Iowas outgoing governor Tom Vilsack announced earlier this month that wants to live in the White House. Kucinich, who began his political career as a city councilman in 1970 and later watched the city slide into default as mayor, has earned a national reputation for his anti-war stance and a proposal to create a cabinet level department of peace.
Israels prime minister Ehud Olmert embarks on a European tour this week that takes him first to Rome and the Vatican, then to Berlin Tuesday, Dec. 12.
In an interview with the German Der Spiegel , Saturday Dec. 9, he expressed the hope that the international community would take firmer action against Iranian president Ahmed Ahmadinejad for seeking to wipe Israel of the map. Such talk is criminal, he said.
Questioned on Irans nuclear program, Olmert said he does not object to the proposal to engage Tehran in direct talks if they lead to the programs suspension.
As to an Israeli pre-emptive military attack on Iran, the prime minister said: I rule nothing out.
Friday, in a phone conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Olmert said he hoped for progress towards a Security Council vote on sanctions against Iran.
DEBKAfiles analysts liken these wishy-washy phrases to the way US president George W. Bush used to talk in reference to the Iranian nuclear issue. This outdated verbiage from an Israeli leader is worse than useless; it conveys the impression that Israeli has been left with no nuclear deterrence policy, since designated US defense secretary Robert Gates blew Israels nuclear ambiguity cover at his Senate confirmation hearings last week. He succeeded in arbitrarily terminating 40 years of a posture which neither admitted nor denied its nuclear capabilities, with the United States playing along.
The incoming defense secretary took this another step: He made it clear that no one can promise that Iran will not use nuclear weapons against Israel.
In other words, the US has washed its hands of responsibility for stopping Iran nuking Israel (or anyone else for that matter); indeed in a nuclear confrontation, the United States will stand aside.
His words evoked no clear response from government officials in Jerusalem. Maybe they were struck dumb. Or more likely, Israeli official spokesmen have not yet caught onto the fast-moving changes in their countrys strategic values.
This was apparent at a high-profile US-Israeli get-together at the Saban Forum in Washingtons Brookings Institute. The subject: How Israel should deal with its neighbors was put before a star-studded roster of participants: President William Clinton, Israeli vice premier Shimon Peres, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Israeli minister for strategic affairs Avigdor Lieberman, US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, Israeli foreign minister Zipi Livni, Israeli minister of education Yuli Tamir, former Shin Bet chief and MK Ami Ayalon, as well as the US secretary of states senior adviser on Iraq David Satterfield, former CIA director George Tenet, former Israeli national security adviser Giora Eiland and Israeli military intelligence director Amos Yadlin.
Yet in their discussions did not scrutinize the fallout from the Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq submitted last Wednesday, or the implications of its proposal for Washington to open a diplomatic track with Tehran. No imprint was left by James Bakers revelation to the Senate Armed Forces Committee Thursday, Dec. 7 of the message to Tehran that, subject to certain caveats, Washington would accept the continuation of Irans nuclear activities in return for help in securing an orderly US military withdrawal from Iraq.
The venerable Israeli statesman Shimon Peres alone voiced mild criticism of past and present US policy on Iran when he said the Islamic Republics strength derives from the weakness of the international community and its inability to pull together on the Iranian nuclear threat.
His words contradicted the Olmert governments stance which shifts the onus for dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat to the international community.
Robert Gates won bipartisan acclaim in the US Senate for a new path which presages drastic US policy changes in three spheres which bear profoundly on Israels military and diplomatic situation: Iran, its nuclear program and a Middle East nuclear arms race.
If Olmerts Der Spiegel interview is Israels definitive commentary on the new ground Gates has broken in US foreign policy, Ahmanidejad may be forgiven for assuming that Israel has nothing to say to his threats and Putin for believing he can get away with evasions on effective sanctions against Iran.
Timid diplomatic rhetoric will no longer serve. DEBKAfiles military sources say the time has come for Israel to talk as though it has arrows in its quiver and is capable of using them. Its vanished deterrence can be retrieved, for instance, by press leaks or even an announcement that a new surface missile has been launched, which foreign media would disclose is capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, or the firing of a new Israeli cruise missile from a Dolphin submarine cruising at the Indian Oceans point of convergence with the Arabian Sea.
This is the sort of publicity tactic Tehran employs; it works. The effectiveness of its provocative talk depends on Israel shrinking back, instead of marching forward and hitting back in kind.
Irans radical leaders dont always bother with new or even true shockers. Saturday, the Iranian president recycled an oft-used claim that Iran has started installing 3,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment at a plant in central Iran, the first step towards industrial production. Nuclear experts immediately seized on the threat embodied in this statement (as was intended) and predicted that within two years, if the centrifuges spin smoothly, Iran will be able to turn out 3-4 small nuclear bombs a year.
Iran, still far from possessing an independent nuclear bomb, has big-mouthed itself into the position of a nuclear power, while Israel, which is the genuine article, is brushed aside as a non-player.
In the past, there was a certain amount of free interplay in public discourse among civilian and military officials on strategic matters. Not today. Olmert exercises tight control over all pronouncements and holds them strictly to his guidelines. Since innovative thinking is not exactly the prime ministers forte, as indicated by his messages to Putin and Der Spiegeli , public discourse in Israel is starved of dynamic ideas.
#1
If Debka is right, this could mean that the US has decided to give up on the Arab world and Iran, and once we leave the place, letting the Israelis annihilate them.
Well, it boils down to this: how many American lives is it worth to keep them from destroying themselves?
Once we leave Iraq, and if a democrat is elected President, no US soldier will want to remain there, it will be another decade before we will have any inclination to involve ourselves with any overseas adventure.
So what will be the price? Tehran, Damascus, Qom, maybe part of Lebanon, maybe Cairo, Mecca, Medina, Riyadh, Tripoli, Amman, who knows? They might just choose the top 200 Moslem cities in the world.
#7
Israel should just go ahead and list the countries that they will target in response to a nuclear strike. That list should include Russia and China. And maybe France. That might could make those countries a leetle more serious about Iran's nuclear program.
#8
Clintonian Amerika, the world-ruling USSA = weak and anti-sovereign OWG Global SSR/USR, is not even officially Communist or Socialist Amerika yet and we've already lost 200Milyuuhn + 1/2 of CONUS-NORAM MINIMA as far as the Chicoms + PC/Deniable Russians are concerned, and before we're even de facto invaded. So, iff Amerika has allegedly lost the above or is STate-PLanned to lose the above, what makes Amers think that the WOT > ONLY A MERE "LIMITED WAR/ATTACK" MEANT ONLY TO HURT-HARM AMERICA = AMERIKA IN A LIMITED, ISOLATED = "CONTAINED" WAY, HENCE NOT A WAR FOR SURVIVAL = NOT A WAR TO THE DEATH! THe only thing I see is that Amer-invading Enemy Armies WILL BE RE-LABELED AS UNO PEACEKEEPERS ON THE MISSION TO PC "SAVE [ANARCHIC/SECTARIAN/CIVIL WARRING]AMERICA = FASCIST AMERIKA FROM ITSELF"!?
Finally, he added, Shiite Muslim cleric Moktada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army numbers in the tens of thousands, will be captured, beheaded and buried with 72 virgin hogs at a pig farm in Israel. The video will be posted at YouTube.com.
"Go Pershing" on the bastards. Gotta love it!
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/11/2006 23:38
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RAMESWARAM: The Indian Navy on Sunday seized two more live rockets and accessories near the coast off Rameswaram. This is the second seizure within four days.
Navy personnel recovered the rockets from a boat (RMS 2935) near the second islet well within the Indian waters at 5 a.m. when they were conducting random checks of fishing boats.
Area Commander (South) and Officer-in-Charge, Naval Detachment, Rameswaram, U.C. Barman, told The Hindu that the personnel who intercepted the boat and sought the registration certificate and licence from fishermen, found two wooden boxes with the live rockets.
They were brought to the Naval Detachment at 5.30 a.m. on Sunday.
The fishermen said that they had netted the rockets at the second islet around 11.30 p.m. on Saturday. A Navy party, including intelligence personnel, inspected the spot where the rockets were netted.
The rockets were packed in two wooden boxes, along with cartridges and propellant materials.
The rockets were two-and-half-foot long and half-a-foot wide. The details of their dimension, usages and technical information were found in the paper pasted inside the wooden box.
Mr. Barman said there was not much difference between the rocket seized on Tuesday and Sunday's seized rockets. They could be among the same lot. Though the fishermen pleaded innocence, they would be interrogated.
Ballav Biswal, Executive Officer, Naval Detachment, said a detailed report had already been sent to the Naval State headquarters in Chennai. The details of the rockets particularly the manufacturer and place of manufacture would be known only after proper examination.
Asked whether the rockets were meant for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem, Mr. Barman said nothing could be ruled out.
Experts at the Naval Armament Depot at Visakapattinam were examining the rocket seized a few days ago. Further details would have to await the team's findings, he added.
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006
18:12 ||
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#1
Tamils smuggling arms to their friends in Sri Lanka?
#3
He chose the venue, Truman Library, to convey his "A good US is the US that does the UN's bidding..." message. Phony. Panderer. Pilferer. Plunderer. Pirate. Punk. Perv. Prick. Putz. Party-grrl. Prostitute. Politician.
(I hope that last one doesn't get me sink-trapped. It's purdy graphic...)
#8
When the U.S. "appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused," he said.
It's the friends abroad part that I'm troubled and confused by. There seems to be precious few of them and it has nothing to do with GWB or Iraq. I think the cancer on Turtle Bay Kofi is in charge of is the root of that problem.
#9
I am very busy today but felt the need to come to Rantburg to say "F** You" to Kofi.
The Secretary General of the UN is basically a functionary atop a bureaucracy constructed along the lines of a corrupt, Third World (sorry for the redundancy) Ministry of Agriculture.
He has no real power as the Security Council, comprised of the victors of WWII (Ghana was not among them), makes the real decisions.
Yet our leftwing, "transnational progressive" media treats this lazy, corrupt functionary as though he is legitimately president of the world and we'd best follow his commands. After all the UN flag is a nice shade of blue and has a dove on it so whatever he says must lead to peace and tranquility.
Ironically, the cover provided by Kofi's corrupt, incompetent bureacracy to the world's tin pot dictators actually increases the likelihood of armed conflict since it is so perfectly incapable of confronting threats before it becomes necessary for us to destroy them.
It's really a damn shame we cannot have a serious, effective multinational organization. I wish the US would just exit the UN and try to form a "League of Democracies" interested in seriously dealing with threats to global security. The Proliferation Security Initiative is about the closest thing on the planet to this ideal. But it was started by Bush and Rumsfeld so it must be a bad idea.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty has long been a source of great comfort for the United Nations, and almost no one else. The world's biggest proliferator, China, is a signatory. Another member, Iran, is building a weapons program and professing to play by the rules. So it's encouraging to see the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly ditch the pretense that the NPT should somehow constrain its relationship with India, arguably America's most important strategic ally in Asia, alongside Japan and Australia.
We're referring to the U.S. Senate's passage of a peaceful atomic energy pact with India on Saturday. The bill, which sailed through the House and now goes to the White House for President Bush's signature, revokes America's 1980 ban on selling civil nuclear fuel and technology to the world's most populous democracy. It also marks the first time that Washington has struck a nuclear deal with a non-NPT signatory. It's a neat circle, given that the U.S. helped India develop its nuclear program from the mid-1950s and that it was India's "peace bomb" in 1974 that inspired the creation of the world's voluntary export control club, the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Since then, India has used its nukes for deterrence in a rough neighborhood. Unlike neighboring Pakistan and China, India has kept tight controls over its nuclear know-how. Unlike Pyongyang, New Delhi hasn't engaged in nuclear blackmail for food and energy. And unlike Iran, India didn't sign up to the NPT and pretend to comply; it stood on principle and never signed up in the first place. While that's not the tack we'd want every democracy to take, at least it was honest.
By inking the deal, Congress has persuaded India to open its doors to IAEA inspections of its 14 civilian facilities. Eight military reactors won't be subject to inspection, but they weren't before the Congressional bill, either. And India has now given more assurances about its intentions by reaffirming its commitments to nonproliferation efforts, such as the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, and a self-imposed moratorium on future nuclear tests. The U.S. deal can be canceled if India tests another bomb, or is found guilty of proliferation.
Critics worry that the deal's tacit acknowledgment of the NPT's irrelevance will set off an arms race in Asia. That logic doesn't hold up. Rather, it's the aggressive actions of authoritarian states, such as North Korea and China, that have the potential to spark such a race. Will Japan, for instance, reword its constitution and build a nuke because India is buying civilian reactors, or because Pyongyang lobs a missile into the Sea of Japan?
The U.S.-India atomic energy pact is the cornerstone of deepening ties between the two countries that carries huge strategic significance. India sits astride the world's hotspots in Iran, Pakistan and China. While its interests are for peaceful relations with its neighbors, New Delhi has shown that it is on the side of the world's democracies by voting in favor of IAEA and U.N. curbs on Iran's illicit weapons programs -- despite dependence on Iranian crude oil.
Which brings us to another reason to cheer the U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal: It provides clean energy for India and lessens New Delhi's need to turn to Russia and Iran for energy. The latter is a real concern. India's ties to Iran run back centuries, and New Delhi has voiced support for Iran's mullahs before. India's government promised not to pass the U.S. deal unless it had assurances that its relations with Iran wouldn't be put under the U.S. aegis. The bill's language is a compromise and doesn't do that, and nor could it, anyway: India's foreign affairs are under India's purview.
For those worried about proliferation, a best deterrent isn't a piece of paper, but efforts to give democratic countries -- and their voters -- the benefits of behaving responsibly. The total value of U.S.-India trade has doubled since 2001, and should double again within the next few years. Credit New Delhi and Washington for figuring out that they share much, much more than nuclear weapons.
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006
14:01 ||
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Damm Patriot Act and CIA wiretap program! They're listening to everyone! Oh, wait...
Conspiracy theorists are again working overtime after new revelations concerning the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Reports out of Britain say U.S. secret service agents were eavesdropping on Diana's phone calls the night she died in a Paris car crash almost a decade ago. London's Observer newspaper claims the disclosure is among the findings from a new report by Metropolitan Police Chief John Stevens into Diana's death to be published on Thursday. The paper says the reason for the phone tapping remains a mystery and occurred without the knowledge of Britain's own MI-6 spy agency.
Hillary was afraid she was sleeping with Bill
The Observer also reports the intelligence shed no light on Diana's fatal car crash in Paris the night of Aug. 31, 1997.
The 36-year-old princess, her friend, Dodi Fayed, 42 and driver Henri Paul, 41, died when the Mercedes Benz they were riding in crashed inside Paris' Pont d'Alma tunnel on Aug. 31, 1997. The car was being followed by media photographers.
While a French investigation concluded in 1999 that the death was an accident, and that Paul was drunk, conspiracy theories have since swirled around the deaths.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
12/11/2006
13:42 ||
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Lol. Well, I thought he was always in competition with Diane Sawyer for the "I care. So very Deeply. More Deeply than Anyone. Else." and "I am sooo Sincere. No, really." awards...
;-)
#4
"God is sitting this one out" - oh Gawd no. MEL GIBSON > SIGNS movie = "Maybe there are NO COINCIDENCES?". Iff MADONNA, OSAMA + WHITNEY, and OLIVER STONE, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,@etal. can be envisioned since the 1960's, so also is this WOT.
SECULARISM/SECUL ATHEISM-INTELLECTUALISM says
Nature = Natural Universal forces is NOT Sentient = NOT capable of Rational = Irrational, Moral = Immmoral, Emotional = Un/Non-Emotional, Linear = Un/Non-Linear, Singular = Multi-Dimensional, etc. thought + existence. NOSTRADAMUS > refers to a SOUL-SPIRIT that moves from Lifetime to Lifetime, where each Lifetime is a TEACHER'S LESSON/WORK-IN-PROGRESS TOWARDS THE PERFECTION THAT IS GOD = GOD HEAD/TRINITY. ONLY GOD CREATED HIM, AND ONLY GOD CAN DESTROY HIM, NOT MORTAL MAN. HE SEES THE PAST AND PARALLEL AS EASILY AS HE DOES THE FUTURE = MULTI-FUTURES. God wants MADONNA'S + SIBLINGS' DADDY to rule = lead = advise the world AGAIN as he did many times before, the ALPHA = OMEGA, but Daddy keeps arguing wid God WHY SHOULD HE???
#5
Thats where Madonna's GREAT MOM/MOTHER" comes in -Mom's job is to pull Daddy by the ears and drag him kicking and screaming to the next higher level(s) of MORTAL-BASED/ONLY Universal Development.
#1
"The advent of blogs in the past few years, however, has reshaped the playing field.
The technology that has empowered unknown students in closed societies to speak to the world also gives readers everywhere the ability to rally together to protect free expression."
I like the fact that they have this outlet, however it would be good if they could be more discreet with their identities and not use home computers. Or are they caught some other way?
We are so very fortunate to live in the freedom of america. Don't I know it.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
12/11/2006 13:52
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#2
There is no such thing as Anonymous on the internet. People really need to get that through their heads.
#3
However, in the US it is an important legal defense to note that an IP number is NOT a human being.
For example, if you are sued by the RIAA for music piracy, and you use this defense, they will immediately drop their lawsuit against you, strongly wishing to avoid setting any precedent.
This is especially true if your computer is part of an unsecured WIFI network. This is why unless you have the item in question on your computer or backup media, you can usually walk.
For the government, it is even worse. For example, the two prime sources for child porn convictions are individuals who used their credit cards to order over the Internet, and individuals whose computer is brought in for maintenance, and the offending images are discovered by the repair service.
So far, for all their efforts to force the creation of online records, they generally haven't used such records in court.
In Macleans magazine last month, Mark Steyn wrote a plaintive piece about how his new book, America Alone, was unavailable in Canadian bookstores an apparent victim of a fear of militant Muslim reprisals.
The Chapters-Indigo chain subsequently insisted it wasnt giving Steyns book the Mein Kampf treatment (banned from being sold in the chain by the boss, Heather Reisman), but that they hadnt anticipated the popularity of America Alone (a best-seller) and hadnt ordered enough copies.
Last I heard, the book was in its fourth printing and, happy to say, a phone check with Chapters indicates theyve now got plenty of the books. Good news, because in my view, America Alone is not a polemic against Muslims in the way that the late Oriana Fallacis The Force of Reason or Melanie Phillips Londonistan are.
Rather, Steyn seems to be saying the rise of militant or extremist Islam is partly our fault the non-Muslim worlds passivity or acquiescence to outrageous acts or intemperate demands.
True, he sees Europe being overwhelmed by Muslims not because of violence, but because of Europes declining birthrate and the high fertility rate of Muslims. Thats a far cry from legions of jihadists sweeping over the continent, intimidating all in its path.
For a stable population that is, no growth a country has to have a fertility rate of at least 2.1 live births per woman. Of all developed countries, only the U.S. meets that standard. Canadas fertility rate is 1.48 while Europe as a whole is even lower at 1.38. Japans is 1.32, Russias 1.14, and so on throughout Europe. Steyn calls it the self-extinction of civilization. In other words, there is no population bomb that many saw threatening the world and its resources.
But Muslim countries have a live birth rate ranging from five to seven per woman that already has had a dramatic effect on Europe.
For example, 10% of Frances population is Muslim.
Yet of citizens under the age of 20, 30% are Muslim.
In the cities that ratio rises to 45%. So when the youth of Paris and other centres erupt in violence and burn cars, rampage the streets, rape and vandalize, statistically its mostly young Muslims.
Huge problem
In Britain and Europe, around 15% of the population is under 15 years old, while in countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, 40% to 50% of the population is under 15. Its going to be a huge problem for all countries when the grandparents outnumber the grandkids.
Demographically, Steyn feels groups with soaring birthrates will eventually dominate todays developed world. Without a shot being fired.
With the U.S. about the only country with a viable birthrate that will keep its population from stagnating, the developed world has virtually surrendered to Muslim militancy.
As a people, we may fret that moderate Muslims are reluctant to speak out against Muslim terrorism and intimidation when they occur, for fear of reprisals.
But non-Muslims are even more loath to risk controversy. So how can moderate Muslims be blamed for their silence?
Steyn is more hawkish than many, especially in the media. Generally, most of the media dont want trouble, or to appear insensitive or intolerant. After 9/11, most media tried to keep things in perspective, and not incite vengeance or reprisals on Muslims.
Fair enough. World leaders made pilgrimages to mosques to set an example.
Cartoon fiasco
While that discouraged anti-Muslim hysteria, it didnt alleviate anti-West passions. Rather, it increased intimidation witness scurrying for cover over the Danish cartoons fiasco, which was never about religion, but about politics and ideology. Today, not much has changed.
We still try to show sensitivity and understanding.
Often, cowardice is camouflaged as principle. Its also a rule of nature, that if you can be intimidated, you will be intimidated.
That doesnt affect the demographic reality that the worlds population will peak before 2050 and then start to decline. Read Steyns book for his answer to the worlds most aggravating problem.
#1
Cultural death by fertility rate only applies if multiple cultures are competing over the same geography. Even then, it is not clear that winning by increased fertility actually constitutes a victory, since a population increase may kill the culture in order to save it.
There is an alternative path to winning the demographic culture war - instead of increasing the fertility rate of one culture, decrease the rate of the competitor(s). At the very least, don't subsidize your competitor/enemy by giving him the food and medicine he is unable to provide for himself. And when the culture war transitions to a shooting war, don't tie one hand behind your back to make it 'fair' - go for the kill.
#2
A substantial drop in world oil production will cause population drops (by starvation) within a year or two of the drop in production. This could happen, say, with a few nukes on oil fields. Oil fuels the cultivation, processing, and delivery of food world-wide.
BERLIN (Reuters) - German police have uncovered a radioactive trail linked to what prosecutors believe could be a possible suspect in the murder of a former Russian spy in London last month. Police said on Monday a BMW used to pick up Dmitry Kovtun at Hamburg airport on October 28 had traces of polonium 210, the same radioactive substance used to poison Alexander Litvinenko.
Kovtun, 41, was one of two Russians who met Litvinenko at a London hotel on November 1, the day the ex-KGB agent and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin fell ill. "Contamination was also found in a second car, a Chrysler" used by Litvinenko, a police statement said.
Leaky container or was Comrad Kovtun careless with the polonium?
The radioactive trail linked to Kovtun goes further. Kovtun's ex-wife, her current partner and their two young children all tested positive for traces of polonium 210, the statement said. Kovtun spent the night of October 28 at his ex-wife's Hamburg apartment, it said.
Perhaps Kovtun decided to off the ex-wife
It was unclear if the contamination of the four people was internal or external, police said. They were brought to a special hospital ward for people with radiation sickness.
Litvinenko died on November 23 from a lethal dose of polonium 210. In a statement released after his death, he accused Putin of killing him. Moscow has denied any involvement but Litvinenko's slow, agonising death has sparked police investigations in London, Moscow and Hamburg, scorched Russia's reputation and revived memories of Cold War revenge tales.
Kovtun is being investigated in Hamburg on suspicion of illegally handling polonium 210, a highly radioactive material that is potentially lethal when ingested, Hamburg's Chief Prosecutor Martin Koehnke told a news conference on Sunday. Koehnke said there was reason to suspect that Kovtun, who was questioned by British investigators in Moscow last week, may have been among those responsible for Litvinenko's death.
Kovtun, who has denied any part in Litvinenko's poisoning, has developed symptoms of radiation poisoning, according to Russian prosecutors, but there are conflicting reports about his exact state of health.
"He's not quite dead, Jim"
Hamburg police said on Monday an investigator from Scotland Yard had arrived to pursue the German angle in the investigation and was working out of the police headquarters. Separately on Monday, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported that Andrei Lugovoy, who was also at the November 1 meeting in London with Litvinenko and Kovtun, had been questioned by Russian and British detectives.
"I was giving testimony purely as a witness," Tass quoted Lugovoy as saying on Monday. He said that Russian detectives conducted the questioning in the presence of British police colleagues. The session lasted more than three hours.
Yeah, I'm sure the Russian detectives will conduct a full, fair independant investigation
The Interfax news agency reported that Russian detectives may fly to London by the end of the week to conduct their own investigation into Litvinenko's murder. "The exact date of their departure depends on when the work in Moscow on investigating the death of Litvinenko is finished," an unidentified source told Interfax.
"Could take awhile"
A spokeswoman for Russia's Prosecutor-General confirmed that a Russian team would go to Britain if needed but she could not say when and for what exact purpose.
To see what the British know, of course
Additional:
BERLIN, December 11 (RIA Novosti) - The ex-wife of a witness in the case of a former Russian security officer, her two children and boyfriend have been hospitalized in Germany with suspected polonium-210 poisoning, the head of the investigation team in Hamburg said Monday. He said a medical examination will show if their organisms contain a dangerous concentration of the radioactive element. Authorities did not identify them by name.
Businessman Dmitry Kovtun met with defector Alexander Litvinenko around the time of his poisoning at the beginning of November. Litvinenko, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin's administration and a close associate of fugitive oligarch Boris Berezovsky, died in a London hospital after four days in a critical condition. His body was found to contain a lethal dose of radioactive polonium-210. Kovtun is now reported to have been hospitalized with similar symptoms.
Investigators also said traces of polonium-210 have been found on Kovtun's clothes and some articles in the former wife's Hamburg apartment, as well as in other apartments in Hamburg which he visited from October 28 till November 1.
Representatives of the investigative team also said "they have almost no doubt that Dmitry Kovtun brought polonium from Moscow."
"Here, Dmitry, take this vial and spray it on the traitor Litvinenko's food. Don't worry, there is no danger to you. Trust us."
British detectives, currently in Moscow for their probe into Litvinenko's murder, earlier spoke with Kovtun through their Russian counterparts. A team of investigators from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office began questioning Andrei Lugovoi, another key witness in the Litvinenko case, December 8 in the presence of Scotland Yard experts.
After they and Andrei had been coached on what questions were to be asked by the KGB.
Lugovoi went to see the former Russian agent in London together with Kovtun.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/11/2006
13:01 ||
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#1
I figger we'll be hearing about this for at least 138.376 days. I blame Madame Curie.
#2
I have this vision thingy about the old KGB guys sitting around some Moscow strip club (which they own, of course)... it's about 11:00 am and the place is mostly deserted... they're having coffee, chewing the fat... sure, the day-today wetwork is okay, but... like that reporter being gunned down on the stairs... now they're laughing about Georgy and the ricin pellet in the umbrella thingy... snickering about Litvinenko and the Po210 vial thingy... and wondering what they can do next for Pal Putty and the KGB Kombine to top it...
Sheikh Mohammed Hajj Hassan, who heads the anti-Iranian Free Shiite Movement, has held Hizbullah responsible for any assassination attempt that might target any of the group's leaders. He accused Hizbullah and other factions of forcing members of his clan to sign a "petition disavowing from us."
"We fear that this is the beginning of assassination attempts that could physically target us and we hold Hizbullah fully responsible for any harm that could happen to any of the movement's leaders," Hajj Hassan told reporters on Sunday. "Also responsible will be those who signed the petition," Hassan said after a meeting with Druze leader Walid Jumblat in Moukhtara.
He slammed Hizbullah's "hegemony" over the Shiites, saying "what we see in Beirut streets is a dangerous indicator and exposes national unity and peace."
"This is what (Syrian President) Bashar Assad has promised to do, and unfortunately destruction has begun on the hands of the Lebanese," Hassan added.
He declared opposition to what he dubbed "Farsi project" Iran is allegedly seeking to impose on Lebanon with the backing of the Syrian regime.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/11/2006
12:46 ||
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#1
If Assad ever stumbles, the Syrian Sunni will slaughter his Alawite Shiite sect with particular ferocity. And, all things considered, they deserve it.
Pakistan's appeasement of Taliban sympathisers has resulted in a base in its tribal areas that fighters are using to destabilise Pakistan and Afghanistan, a think-tank says.
Really? People get paid to state the obvious?
It's a think tank ...
So you gotta have a tank and be able to think?
They tried a hot tub, but the fat guys wouldn't fit.
"The Musharraf government has tried first brute force, then appeasement. Both have failed", Samina Ahmed, International Crisis Group's South Asia project director, says. The ICG has suggested in a report published on Monday that instead of appeasing fighters, Pakistan must impose the rule of law in its semi-autonomous tribal lands on the border, where Taliban and al-Qaeda sympathisers have sheltered since 2001, disarm the fighters and shut their training camps. "Islamabad's tactics have only emboldened the pro-Taliban militants," Ahmed said.
The government, which made deals with pro-Taliban groups in 2004 and 2006 in South and North Waziristan respectively, has released militants, returned their weapons and agreed to let foreign terrorists stay on a promise to give up violence, the report says.
"Pretty please?"
The ICG states that this has simply given pro-Taliban elements licence to recruit and arm, resulting in a serious increase in cross-border attacks against US, Nato and Afghan forces.
We noticed...
Pakistan's seven tribal agencies have never been brought under the writ of any government, including British colonialists who saw the mountainous region as a buffer on the northwestern border of their Indian empire. The region, which was a base for US- and Pakistan-backed Afghan mujahidin fighters in the 1980s, became a refuge for Taliban and al-Qaeda after US-led forces ousted Afghanistan's Taliban rulers in 2001.
According to ICG, Pakistan, a major US ally in the war on terror, launched "badly planned and poorly conducted" military operations in 2004 to deny al-Qaeda fighters sanctuary and stem attacks into Afghanistan. After clashes in which hundreds of Pakistani troops were killed, Pakistani authorities forged pacts aimed at ending attacks on Pakistani forces and raids into Afghanistan. The pacts, however, served only to strengthen tribal fighters, and "pro-Taliban elements now have a free hand to recruit, train and arm, said the report.
"The militants now hold sway in South and North Waziristan Agencies and have begun to expand their influence not just in other tribal agencies such as Khyber and Bajaur but also in NWFP's settled districts," it said, referring to North West Frontier Province.
Cancer is like that..
The seven tribal districts, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), are ruled by repressive colonial-era administrative and judicial systems inherited from Britain, the think-tank said. The ICG says the US and EU must tie their support for Musharraf to political reform. "The state's failure to extend its control over and provide good governance to its citizens in FATA is equally responsible for empowering the radicals." The area has to be integrated into Pakistan's system of provincial governments and its inhabitants given political rights. Broad-based development also has to be generated, the ICG report says.
The Pakistan government has defended the pacts saying they were struck with tribal elders and are aimed at reinvigorating tribal power structures and isolating the tribal fighters. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, has spoken about the need for reform in the tribal areas and the need to promote development.
ICG further stated that the US and EU need to tie economic and diplomatic support to Musharraf to reform and free, democratic elections in 2007.
They have a free, democratic election in Pakiland, they'll vote in the hardline jihadis, and that'll be the last free, democratic election.
"The US and Europe need to realise that democratic, civilian government, not military rule, is their best and natural ally against extremism and terrorism", Robert Templer, ICG's Asia director, said.
Ahmed said: "These border areas are still run under colonial-era laws that make their people second-class citizens in Pakistan. Unless the government institutes real democratic change, extremism and terrorism will quickly overtake the entire region".
Posted by: Steve ||
12/11/2006
12:17 ||
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#1
I will never understand why we don't level that whole area. We have taken our lumps wrt world opinion on Iraq, but don't we still have moral authority pursuing Al Qaeda? Are we afraid to destabilize the oh so stable Pakistan?
#2
The biggest problem is that we still haven't proven to these gasbags that we're really the baddest of the bad. We need to run ARCLIGHT strikes down through the Tribal Agencies every day for a month, then ask whoever survives if they want to continue to support the Taliban. Bomb from southwest of Quetta to northeast of Peshawar. PROVE to the Taliban that we can be the most heartless bas$$$$s on the globe if we have to be. Give them three days to surrender after the bombing stops. If there's no surrender, expand the strike zone to include all of Pakistan, and don't put a final time limit on the bombing.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/11/2006 14:46
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#3
we still haven't proven to these gasbags that we're really the baddest of the bad
#4
The policy makers at the state department value Pakistan's geo-strategic utility (ally with a voice in the muslim world, keeping it from embracing China too closely, as a counterweight to India) more than they do the war on terror itself.
As long as they do that calculus, Pak is safe.
Recall that they knew all about the AQ Khan network and preferred to let pak go nuclear rather than rein it in.
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 15:47
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#5
"After clashes in which hundreds of Pakistani troops were killed, Pakistani authorities forged pacts aimed at ending attacks on Pakistani forces.."
But it's the Americans who can't stomach a fight.
Give the area, independence. Then we can bomb it everyday of it's existence. Give it back to the Paks when we are done. Never mind, the dems are in control.
#6
what OP, john, UB, plainslow, and Shipman said..
"A man with a salad fork who wants to see the color of your insides is going to win nine out of ten over the guy with the .45, the M-16, the Abrams tank, the F-22 fighter, the Aegis cruiser and the W-80 nuclear warhead, but who can't stand the sight of blood."
Dateline San Francisco
(Deep in Injun Territory)
Just last week on Mike Medvid I heard BDS sufferer and politburo member of the LLL Mo0b@ts David Swanson opine: There is a definite majority in favor of impeachment. David was also advertising the Impeachment Rallies scheduled for December 10, 2006 around the country. From New York to San Francisco (and damn few places in between) there were rallies scheduled that would hopefully spawn a grass roots effort (I am sure there was plenty of grass at the rallies) that would lead to the impeachment of Bush/Cheney and mark the ascension of Nancy Pelosi to the highest office in the U.S.
Well if the Rally in San Francisco was any indication Bush and Cheney neednt worry. On my morning news show it was reported (with photos) that only a dozen people showed up for a rally slated for hundreds (if not thousands). One ardent protester explained that she was in favor of impeachment because Bush is the most unpopular President ever. I guess the woman still thinks that her opinion is popular? I tried (in vain) to get information on rallies in other cities, but there is nothing. I was wondering if my fellow Ranters had any info on local happenings.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
12/11/2006 14:01
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#8
On the one hand, Hamas is a lying bunch of crapweasels who make stuff up all the time and couldn't be trusted if they told you the sky was blue, and none of the Dem bigwigs has been to Europe lately AFAIK.
On the other hand, the left side of the Dem party is full of crapweasels who would look at Hamas as an ally, and probably would want to work with them ("the enemy of my enemy is someone I can do business with").
On the other other hand, this is WND reporting what Hamas said.
On the other other other hand . . . oh, hell, life's too short. Until someone puts forth names and dates, especially names, we'll never know.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/11/2006 14:56
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GOLAN HEIGHTS If Israel does not vacate the Golan Heights within months, a guerrilla organization allegedly formed in Syria will soon launch "resistance operations" against Israeli positions and Jewish communities in the Golan, an official from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath party told WND in an exclusive interview.
"If in the coming months an agreement is not forged between Israel and Syria [for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan], the Committees will begin attacks," said the official, who spoke on condition his name be withheld during an in-person interview with WND and with the G. Gordon Liddy national radio show.
The official was referring to the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights, a Hezbollah-like guerrilla organization Baath party sources claim was formed in Syria to attack Israeli positions in the Golan.
The Baath official told WND Syria learned from Hezbollah's military campaign against Israel that "fighting" is more effective than peace negotiations with regard to gaining territory.
#2
The stench emanating from this shitpile is growing daily. I did not realize what a muzzie outpost was located in Tucson?Phoenix. Jackal, are locals aware of this in your midst ? Are there any calls for ousting these scumbags. Definitely fifth column. I hope FBI has these fools under surveillance 24/7.
#3
"Omar Shahin, the imams spokesman and also president of the North American Imams Federation? He is a native of Jordan, who says he became a U.S. citizen in 2003. From 2000 to 2003, Shahin served as president of Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT), that citys largest mosque."
How does this happen, after 9-11? At the same time they kick put the WTC widow (and her American-born daughter) because her residency permit expired with her husband.
#4
The mosque should not be held accountable for former members who may have engaged in terrorism after they left Arizona, he told the Post in 2002. Al-Qaida nests in America? All of these, they make it up, he told the Arizona Republic shortly after 9/11.
No need to "make it up" about these terrorist allies. Their modus operendi on the plane absolutely confirms all of the lingering suspicions about them. This bucnh of asssholes have more in-depth connections to some of the very worst terrorist operatives that there is no way their acts weren't another probing of our security precautions.
Every single one of these shits had better be under the microscope from now on. That any of them has been granted American citizenship is reason enough for some firings at the State Department. There needs to be a permanent ban on any immigration, even for purposes of asylum, from all Muslim majority countries.
#5
Our local papers are somewhat to the left of the Washington Post. They printed the Imam's tale, but have buried the facts. After all the moskkks here are full of unicorns moderate progressive moslems.
While everyone has been focused, and rightly so, on the danger that a nuclear Iran would pose to the future of Israel and the West, there is another side effect of the international community's ongoing inaction that has been largely overlooked.
And that is the arms race that will inevitably result throughout the Persian Gulf, and the entire Middle East, should Tehran be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.
Indeed, the first signs of it have already begun to appear.
Just yesterday, at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh, six Arab states - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates all declared that they too now have atomic ambitions, and would like to obtain the technology necessary to start producing nuclear energy.
Of course, they were quick to insist that it would be for "peaceful purposes" only, but no one can really take this claim very seriously.
Why the sudden interest in nuclear research? Well, it really isn't too hard to guess the answer: all six of the countries involved live within range of Iran, which is busily speeding forward with impunity towards joining the nuclear club.
In other words, by allowing Iran to go nuclear, the world is setting the stage for a mad arms race throughout the entire region, as country after country seeks to protect itself from the threat posed by atomic ayatollahs.
It should be clear what this would mean not only for the safety and security of Israel, but for that of the entire Western world.
Just one more reason why it is time for the US and/or Israel to bomb Iran, sooner rather than later ..
#1
The same notion occurred to me. The Arabs have known or at least suspected for a very long time that Israel has nukes. They also know (or suspect) that Israel won't resort to the Sampson Option unless Israel is facing extinction. Knowing this they (the Arabs) did not build nukes.
(Did they buy a nuke? I don't know but I doubt it if someone thought the nuke could be traced to it's country of origin).
Only thing that is different now is that Iran is building a nuke(s). Now the Arabs want there own.
Does this sudden Arab interest in nukes tell us anything about how close the Persians are to having their own nukes? Does the sudden interest tell us anything about what the Arabs think the Persian intent is for Iranian nukes?
There is a story on RB today where we learn the intel experts in the USA use (if not rely on) google. I'm of the opinion (but can't prove) that the Arabs have better intel inside Iran than does the USA or any Western power. What does the House of Saud know that the USA does not?
What does this sudden Arab need for nuclear power tell us about Iran? The lack of Arab interst in having their own nukes when they knew Israel had them says one thing. The Arab need for nukes now that Persia is building 'em tells us something else.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
12/11/2006 12:04
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#4
Note the discussion of Po 210 in that previous video.
Iran trying to produce it for an a bomb initiation in particular. Does this tie into the London 210 stuff?
#5
Muslim/Islamic govts know world Islam is in dire need of reform + modernization, and they also must be aware that Radical Iran wants to be the SOLE SOURCE, REGIONAL = GLOBAL, of pan-Islamic thought and power. Iff Radical Iran devs nukes, ISTANBUL, CAIRO, + MECCA, ETC. KNOW THEY"LL BE SO MUCH FUTURE GLOWING DEADMEAT AS ISLAMIC CENTRES OF INFLUENCE. They also know any surreal ISRAEL = USA's destruction DOES NOT MEAN ANYONE IS SAFE. POL PRAGMATISM/REALISM > means an ARMS RACE, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/11/2006
10:40 ||
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#1
Why didn't they try modifying the old Spruance Destroyers or OHP frigates instead of using them for target practice? Wonder if they even considered that
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
12/11/2006 12:22
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#2
Sorry for the dupe post, but I couldn't find this article before posting and I can't find it now. I submitted this yesterday, thinking it was relevant and on-topic, but it never made it onto the site, so I resubmitted it today figuring most admins were enjoying a Sunday off.
Which reminds me, I've frequently noticed a "division by zero" error on the search results page when executing a search that generates no hits. I've never reported it because it's fairly innocuous, but I should mention it.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/11/2006 15:19
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Yosemite Sam,
The article seems to be a little misleading. The ship pictured at the top is the new National Security Cutter, intended to replace the 40-year-old Treasury class high endurance cutters. The Perry would have been an excellent replacement for the Treasuries, but let's face it - one doesn't make a reputation by refitting old ships, you make it by getting NEW ones built. The ship in question is actually the 123-ft patrol cutter (http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/guard.htm) which is the backbone of the USCG fleet - they serve on every coast. The idea was that a 13-ft extension would be put into the hulls, bringing them to 123 ft - and it appears that the USCG and teh shipbuilders bollizxed this one up from start to finish. My dad was Chief Damage Control Engineer for the USCG's 9th District back in the 80s, I am going to ask him for some further insights as to how ad this is.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/11/2006 16:05
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Why didn't they try modifying the old Spruance Destroyers or OHP frigates instead of using them for target practice? Wonder if they even considered that
It would have been a stop-gap measure in any case.
Iraq may already be in a civil war or just on the brink of one. But whatever it is, the focus is Baghdad, where all aspects of life are ever more disrupted by sectarian violence and its people ever more weary and afraid.
Drive around this city of 7 million in daylight and the signs are clear -- rows of shuttered shops, barricaded roads, empty homes, bustle that is brief and subdued. At night, under curfew, gunmen take command. Talk to the people of Baghdad and one hears the voice of a fractured, terrified community. "We're afraid, depressed, frustrated," said one woman for whom this month should have been among the happiest of her life.
Lina -- who like most in the city on the banks of the Tigris River is too frightened to use her full name -- is about to be married but the 33-year-old said: "I feel such a burden when I think of what might happen on our wedding day."
This year, weekly death tolls in the capital have risen from the dozens to the hundreds, notably since February's destruction of a major Shi'ite shrine in Samarra touched off a wave of reprisals.
Two weeks ago, bombs that killed over 200 people in the capital in the worst attack of the conflict caused another quantum leap in the fear factor, driving the mildest of men to take up Kalashnikovs and roam the streets to defend their homes.
#2
Couldn't be written better by a Baathist stringer. I'm sure times are tougher for Sunnis now that they are experiencing what Saddam's henchmen and secret police practiced daily upon Shiites and Kurds. When its visited upon others you don't have a tendency to notice it during the 'golden years' do you?
#1
Lesson: In the eyes of our enemies, Americas decency and honor, our rules of engagement even at war, is our weakness. When at war with terrorists, we can not afford to assume that anyone who appears to be a threat is anything less than a fatal threat. We must be willing to act before being fired upon again and again.
There is an important corollary to this lesson; viz, when the enemy responds to revised rules of engagement by sending in women and children for the slaughter we have to reject any responsibility for the consequences of that decision. The rules of war make it clear that over and over again it is our adversaries who make illegal and immoral sacrifice of their dependents. Yet to our press it is always we who are to blame. It is this last factor which is losing the Long War for us despite our strength. It is only when we demand moral clarity that we will succeed. Otherwise we risk losing civilization for want of rebutting what should be considered as nothing more than a lame debating point.
#2
"What must change to survive such an enemy? The fastest way to win any fight is to take the enemy out of the fight. The best way to do this is to take the fight out of the enemy, immediately, unconditionally and forever.
#3
A movie or two showing the jihadists using these tactics would go a long way. Show the war in Chechnya, portray the Chechnyans as heros if you must to get it made, but show how they hang wounded Russians in front of machine gun nests and hide behind their women and children to make sure the point gets through. Then have a western journalist portray them as heros and the Russians as savages for the times they respond with overkill.
#5
What is needed first is to take media out of fight. I suggest any info flow out of combat zone be controlled by combatant armies. refusal to comply results in instant death. For instance, all Iraq is a combat zone . If Al-Jiz refuses orders and proceeds in, bring batlle tanks up and proceed with concentrated fire until ibjective disappears. Then, take the fight to the enemy properly. Only statement would be "2300 enemy fighters and supporters were eliminated today in Ramadi".
#6
In traditional ME warfare, however imperfectly women and children were protected or to be kept as "war prizes/booty". SALADIN, etal Muslim conquerers punished or executed any Islamic warrior or sub-leader whom wilfully slaughtered women and children without cause-merit, or ditto whom wilfully placed them in harm's way. BY SALADIN'S, etal. standards, FOR MUSLIM MEN TO WILFULLY AND COMMONLY SEND IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN UNTO HARM OR DEATH BEFORE THEMSELVES IS AN INSULT TO GOD WORTHY OF BEHEADING OR OTHER IMMEDIATE EXECUTION. The only military or martial merit would be to save Warriors for a great/decisive battle, but even for the latter would be "pushing it", or viewed as "extremist", as such was never or rarely needed before. Iff any "great/decisive battle" ultimately proved victorious for the Muslim side, returning warriors would have no wives + children to continue their lineage, i.e. to continue Society, save those taken from the Infidels. TO WILFULLY PUT WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN HARMS WAY = DEATH OFTEN/ROUTINELY > PROOF THAT WOT = WAR TO THE DEATH, AND NOT MERELY PC = POLITIX " AS USUAL". WOULD BE AKIN TO JAPAN'S WW2's "GYOKUSAI?" COMBAT TACTIC, i.e. "BREAKING THE JEWEL", where every Japanese soldier = organz Unit(s), including Walking Wounded andor Combat Disabled, WOULD WILFULLY DESTROY THEMSELVES IN HUMAN WAVE, "BANZAI/KAMIKAZE" ATTACKS, TO THE LAST MAN, AND NO MORE RETREATS OR FALL-BACK. NO ONE COMES BACK ALIVE OR AT ALL, NOT EVEN THE GENERALS OR COLONELS OR REAR ECHELONS. The minutae handful whom manage to survive are those whom the Amer soldiers either captured alive [usu. wounded?], had failed to die or kill themselves, or the Amers chose not to kill off-hand in the heat of battle.
This sounds like a football coach losing 42-0 in the fourth quarter yelling at the reporters on the sideline that he could still win if they just didn't keep putting the score up on the scoreboard. Although his game plan was awful and he got trounced on the field, he keeps yelling at everybody that they are quitters and monkeys. There isn't enough time to win anymore. The game has been lost for quite some time now, but we still have the raving coach saying we could win if we just throw a couple of more bombs.
No, it's more like a football coach winning 14-13, despite the opposing team fans helping the opposing team on the field and interfering on the field, and calling the victory a defeat while the referees let it all happen, and the sports reporters listening only to the opposing team's fans for sports journalism.
Keep your ass and your sports analogies away from football. You might get hurt... Headline fixed. AoS.
#2
As said times before, before 9-11, before Year 2000 elex, afore everything was GOVERNOR DUBYA'S FAULT, NOT PREZZIDENT/LDR-OF-AN-ENTIRE NATION-PLUS- WESTERN DEMOCRATIC WORLD CLINTON, WOT > BE-ALL, END-ALL, PRIMARY = ULTIMATE REAL BATTLEFIELD/WAR is for America + Washington DC, NOT THE ME.
All together, men, wid feeling, Song - "LANCELOT LINK, SECRET CHIMP ....................".
#3
Call me weird but I don't recall RUSSIA-CHINA warning the world that "War is not only possible but desired" agz any Muslim = Asian = African = Central-South nations, i.e. agz mad Mad MAD M-A-D MMMMMAAAAAAADDDDDDDDD, D *** you, Mad Camels and Mad Water Buffaloes/Carabaos and Mad Polar Bears-Whales etal., do you??? TWAS AGZ AMERICA, AND ONLY AMERICA.
What's interesting is that when I first heard about the opening of the trial on teevee, it was just after an another segment in which CGT (paleo-commies union) thugs were on trial for having torched the regional HQ of the MEDEF (corporate CEO union)... and the asked sentences were suspended 4 months, all this while 4000 CGTinistas demonstrated outside, clamoring "justice shouldn't criminalize union actions" (because torching buildings during riots, excuse me, demonstrations, is a legitimate union tool, of course).
SEVRIER, France: A court on Friday convicted three former soldiers and a soccer hooligan of fire-bombing a mosque and a Muslim prayer hall in the French Alps two years ago.
The criminal court in the town of Sevrier, a suburb of eastern Annecy, handed down sentences of up to five years in prison for the four men, who are suspected of having ties to far-right groups. The men, all in their 20s, were convicted on charges of religiously motivated attacks that seriously damaged an Annecy mosque in March 2004 as well as a makeshift prayer hall in a garage in the Annecy suburb of Seynod.
At the time, President Jacques Chirac condemned the attacks as "odious acts," and hundreds of people held a silent vigil in protest.
Michel Guegan, a 25-year-old former soldier in France's elite Alpine unit who is now homeless, was given a five-year prison sentence for his role as the alleged ringleader. Nicolas Paz, 29, a former hooligan in a Paris Saint-Germain fan club, was also sentenced to five years in jail, with one year suspended. Anthony Savino, 24, another former soldier, was given five years, with two of them suspended. The fourth man, Damien Gallaud, 25, considered a "consenting follower," received a three-year sentence with two years suspended.
A fifth man, 23-year-old former soldier Bruno Abello, received an eight-month suspended sentence for helping to cover up the crime.
Before the ruling, the four main suspects expressed their regrets to the Muslim community. The sentences were lighter than that sought by Prosecutor Herve Lhomme, who had asked the court to send a "strong signal toward all havens of intolerance" with prison sentences of up to nine years. Btw, torched mosque was NOT a "real" mosque, it was a technical local of some sort, and was... under salafist control.
#1
Why not send this Guegan fellow, and maybe Savino too, to Afghanistan to serve out a reduced term of sentence 'Dirty Dozen style? He seems to know who the enemy is, and is not a coward, which does set him apart from the greater EU community. If he can just better focus his efforts we all benefit.
#2
What is wrong in France ? These fellows ahould have been awarded a Service medallion for good works to the state. I see nothing but dhimmitude across France, Belgium and now Britain. Very odious. What will it take to effect a change ? Total servitude ?
#5
The MEDEF (ex CNPF, it was renamed in... 1993? 1995? to include entrepreneurship in its name, a tribute to "anglo-saxon"-type business) is the union of the "bosses of the bosses", IE representing mostly the french corporate world and its symbiosis with the statist frame of post-WWII France, not individual entrepreneurs (entrepreneur being a french word, by the way) and independent workers.
It pursue the big business' interests, and is also involved in the gestion of the social system along with other "representative" syndicates (IE the one allowed by law to be the only interlocutors with the gvt, even if representating only 7% of french workers).
#1
We need tougher laws, but that directly contradicts our open society,"
Your open society, based on a civil, homogenous population has been shattered forever. Your nirvana has disappered. You had better get with it, or you will just become another hell hole playground for these barbarians. Wake up.
#4
He was extradited to Sweden, where he finished his sentence he served no extra time for the escape and was released June 17, 2005.
This isn't lenience, it's naiveté on a grand scale. Scandahoovia should be proud of their heritage as an open society. It has produced some great minds and important contributions to science, art, music and a host of other cultural treasures. That said, they have brewed up a recipe for disaster by not controlling immigration or tightening up law enforcement.
In many ways it is a real pity to see the end of such innocence. Anyone who has even been to Copenhagen during the last century found an idyllic metropolis of enchanting beauty filled with cordial honest folk. Sadly, Europe's own steadfast refusal to envision the darker side of reality is now coming back to bite it rather hard.
This century will be far less kind to those who cannot adequately cope with the elements of darkness that threaten to wash over defenseless shores. There is simply too much evil afoot for such blithe mentalities to go on unharmed. Islamic terrorism and Eastern European gangsterism will either teach this lesson or ascend to power over those unable to learn it.
A POLICE force failed to investigate properly the violent robbery of a showjumper which led to murder because its officers were busy inquiring into stolen chickens. Documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal Derbyshire police assigned only one detective to investigate the brutal beating and robbery of riding instructor Tania Moore, 26, in June 2003. She was attacked by a pair of thugs wielding baseball bats who had been recruited by her former boyfriend Mark Dyche. He went on to shoot her dead nine months later.
By contrast, the force deployed up to 40 officers, including an undercover team disguised as painters and decorators, to investigate the theft of chickens by staff from a poultry processing plant owned by a prominent businessman and former councillor, according to previously undisclosed documents.
A police source said: The chicken job came down from on high to the officers who had to investigate they were told to do it and give it the emphasis it got. Even Detective Constable Louise Howarth, the sole officer assigned to investigate the attack on Moore, was subsequently told to focus on the hunt for the chicken thieves instead.
Moores mother Stella said yesterday: Everyone suspects that the police prefer to solve easier crimes rather than tackle the really vicious criminals. In my daughters case, the results have been devastating. The police decided to investigate the missing chickens, possibly because it appeared more straightforward rather than finding out who was targeting my daughter, and as a result she was murdered.
The questions seemed innocuous. One group of female students was asked about their telephone service, while another group was asked their views on co-ed housing.
Both groups were then asked how pleasant it would be to listen to music for a class assignment, to analyze a poem, to solve an equation or to take a calculus exam -- questions that tested their preference for math or the arts. Students were assigned to the groups at random, so you would expect similar answers from both groups, right?
Wrong.
As tens of thousands of high school, college and university students receive grades for their work in the fall semester this week, there might be more to the grades than whether the students spent the semester partying or studying. A number of experiments show that subtle cues can alter academic preferences -- and test performance -- without anyone being aware of it.
The women in the group who were asked about co-ed housing expressed a greater preference for the arts compared with the women who were asked questions about their telephone service. Researchers believe that reminding the students about their sex -- as a question about co-ed housing would do -- subtly activated an association with the sexual stereotype that the arts are feminine, and math is masculine.
Before we go any further into these troubling waters, let us halt for an important caveat: This phenomenon does not explain all differences in test scores or academic preferences. People clearly do have different temperaments, and talent and application matter greatly. If you spent the last semester tuned out, that provides a simpler explanation for poor grades than the activation of subtle stereotypes.
But the research does raise troubling questions for academicians and parents, not least because the cues we are talking about are so commonplace. Indeed, the research study on the arts-math preferences, conducted by psychologists Jennifer Steele at York University in Toronto and Nalini Ambady of Tufts University in Boston, proved that cues do not have to involve explicit questions.
In another part of the study they recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, two groups were told to focus on a plus sign on a computer screen. Periodically, they would see flashes on the right or left.
What the students did not know is that the flashes displayed a word for less than one-tenth of a second, followed by a string of "X's." The word was presented too quickly for the undergraduate women volunteers to be aware of what it said -- but it was enough to make a difference at a subliminal level.
When words with feminine associations such as "doll" or "lipstick" or "skirt" were flashed, students were more likely to express a preference for the arts over math compared with those who were flashed the words "hammer," "suit" or "cigar."
"It is disturbing to think I can show you words outside your awareness and that can influence your preference," Steele said.
Women are not the only ones affected in this way, of course. Reminding white men of the stereotype that Asians are better at math can lower the performance of the white men in math tests.
Again, no one is saying such cues turn brilliant students into dullards, but the cues do cause measurable differences in scores. "Sometimes it is a couple of questions, but when you are talking of acceptance into top universities, one or two questions can make a huge difference," Steele said.
Ambady is currently studying how to address these issues, which obviously have implications for fairness. It gets very complicated: When 5- to 7-year-old and 11- to 13-year-old Asian girls are subtly reminded of their Asian identity, they do better at math tests; when subtly reminded about their sex, they do worse. In other words, both positive and negative stereotypes have effects, and both can be activated simultaneously-- meaning that people seeking to fight stereotypes are well-advised to be cautious.
Ambady said that drawing attention to the girls' individuality -- by asking about their favorite book or movie, for example, or asking them to list a few things about themselves that they liked and disliked -- caused them to do much better on math tests compared with girls primed with a negative gender stereotype that subtly reminded the girls of their group identity.
In another intriguing study, David Butz, a psychology graduate student at Florida State University, found that displaying the American flag in a room when students are asked to solve math problems or anagrams can influence performance. As with other experiments, the students themselves were not aware that the subtle cue made a difference -- in fact, most said they did not even notice the flag.
Butz designed the study after Florida law mandated that an American flag be hung in public classrooms. He found that the flag boosted the performance of white students but not minorities. White students given a math test in a room without a flag solved 44 percent of the problems. Those shown the flag solved 51 percent. Minorities solved 42 percent of the problems without the flag and 41 percent with it -- no difference.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it, about the hidden power that lies in the ordinary things around you? Gee, is there an application to polling in this study?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006
06:55 ||
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The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that spectators at a murder trial were free to wear buttons bearing a picture of the victim in front of the jury that convicted the defendant.
The justices ruled in favor of California prosecutors who said the buttons were a harmless expression of grief by family members at the trial of Mathew Musladin.
It was the first time the justices ruled on whether the conduct of courtroom spectators deprived a defendant of a fair trial, which in this instance resulted in a conviction that was reversed by an appeals court[9th Circuit US Court of Appeals].
Nowadays murder trials seem biased in favor of the defendant, the victim usually doesn't count until sentencing is considered. People are far less rational than they like to pretend.
#2
IOW, once again, in a GENDER-NEUTRAL/NONEXISTENT ENVIRO, yet another survey shows females will pick dolls over tonka trucks = toy soldiers. FILM AT 11.
[In the latest version of The Flag, a regular newsletter of the Flame Lily Association, they list the amazing achievements of Robert Mugabe.
Take a look at the excellent effects of Mugabenomics. I used to think Colonials were capitalist scumbags stripping Africa of everything. But Mugabe's form of economics has me convinced that he knows the way forward for black Africa. Well done Uncle Bob, I hope the whole of Africa follows in your footstep - REALLY I *DO*. Jan]
ZIMBABWE LEADS THE WORLD:-
o Highest inflation at around 2000%
o The IMF predicts 4000% inflation in 2007.
o The world's fastest shrinking economy.
o Lowests life expectancy - 34 for women, 37 for men (Source: UN)
o Highest number of orphans per capita (Source: UNICEF)
o Death Rate 3,500 per week - exceeds: Darfur, Iraq & Afghanistan. (Note they don't specify the source whether it is from AIDS/Starvation or a combination of the two).
o 80% unemployment
o 80% live below the poverty line
o Half the population starving (Note: They would be dead if the WFP weren't sending them food).
o 24% HIV+
o 90% HIV infection rate in the army.
#3
Granted inflation is a major concern, but I would have to believe that the government's confiscation and subsequent mismanagement of most income producing sectors of the economy was the root cause of inflation and the death of the economy.
#7
Why is Mugabe still in power? The answer is another question: who is going to assume all the liabilities by kicking a$$ and taking names?
What country or organization is going to take this humanitarian Chapter 11 country and pour billions of its own treasure into deposing the tyrants and rebuilding the country?
They have good farmland, anything else of value? I hear no rumblings from the UN-ZimBob is their kinda guy, one of the brothers. The former colonial masters are not volunteering, they're broke.
The people will not grab their pitchforks, macheties, and such stuff and take ZimBob down, so why should the rest of the world. If they did something, maybe others would help out.
It is a tragedy, especially for children. I do not see any way out of the abyss, except for for the populace to do something for themselves.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2006 17:01
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You should not read books, magazines or newspapers. You should sell your computer. The money you save could be used towards finding a minder.
I have no further advice.
You should offer no more advice. At that point the internet will be in equilibrium, or steady state. If you ever open a book, newspaper or magazine the world will shift towards disequilibrium. It will be your fault and yours alone. If ever in the future the world has wars, pestilence or plague it will be your fault for reading. And don't get on the internet again. For that we will probably lose a city.
And never confuse an opinion with fact again. Grow truffels and raise pigs. It is your want
#12
OregonGuy
I realize that you have/grow white truffles in Oregon but what's your problem with what Bright Pebbles said?
One speculates that his family exited the nation they used to live in when the world did nothing about an Islamic Cannibal. When one of the world's poorest countries couldn't stomach all the bodies flowing down its rivers and invaded... the Cannibal got to live out his life in luxury in a mansion in SaudiLand.
Of course that could be speculation on my side you fricking idiot.
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 10 -- Rep. William J. Jefferson may be a pariah in some Washington political circles, but voters in this storm-battered city weighed in over the weekend with their own verdict regarding their scandal-plagued congressman: He's still our guy.
Voters gave the Louisiana Democrat an emphatic reelection victory over state Rep. Karen Carter, even though his campaign had been weighted with revelations that federal authorities had videotaped him taking $100,000 in alleged bribe money, and that $90,000 of it had been found inside a freezer in his apartment in the District. The investigation led House colleagues to dump him from a key committee, donors abandoned him and the state Democratic Party switched its allegiance to his opponent.
But before cheering supporters at a hotel room on election night, Jefferson called his win "a great moment" and said, "I thank almighty God for making it possible." He declined to discuss the probe.
Louisianna, as usual, goes for the best government money can buy.
Divinely inspired or not, his victory now poses a quandary for Democrats, some of whom have shunned him politically, and possibly also for the city. Leaders here seek to project an image of civic probity as they lobby for more federal money for recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006
06:48 ||
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#1
He has not been convicted of any crime, nor even formally charged, despite over two years of investigation. Because of that, many people assume the stories of his corruption are just that - stories.
I want to know what the hold-up us? Why has he not been charged? Does he have some dirt on those who would be doing the charging? Are they still rolling back other lines of investigation? Did they just want to see him re-elected in order to embarass the Dems (not that embarassing them is possible?)
It was not strictly a racial election - he received 21% of the white vote, and his opponent is also black.
#3
Old Louisiana meme. Remember “Vote for the crook, not the Nazi”?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/11/2006 9:50
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#4
No Eric, the slogan was 'Vote for the Crook, It's Important.' And the choice was between Edwin Edwards and David Duke. Much as I don't care for Karen Carter, she's neither a Duke nor an Edwards. Jefferson seems to come pretty close to an Edwards, but without the panache.
#8
Of course he got re-elected, ya damn fools. People gots lots of money invested in a politician, they don't wanna hafta go buy a new one all over again. Besides, folks down here gots plenty worse things in their freezer than stacks of frozen money.
#3
Surely, if there's a weapons shortage in Iraq, eventually that will percolate down to the shop floors in Peshawar, despite the muscularity of the indigenous weapons manufacturing sector. Is the weapons market is fungible, like oil and other commodities?
#4
The left, having won a US election, no longer sees the need to continue to support the terrorists in Iraq and are now diverting their money to the US.
#5
Surely, if there's a weapons shortage in Iraq, eventually that will percolate down to the shop floors in Peshawar, despite the muscularity of the indigenous weapons manufacturing sector. Is the weapons market is fungible, like oil and other commodities?
This peshawar thing was an inside joke, be it for true old-timers, or for encroaching parazites like me.
Meaning = "you're strafing off topic, keep focused on the nuts and bolts of the GWOT", often reduced to the single "peshawar" word, usually by Liberal Hawk .
#6
I know, a5089 dear, but you very cleverly raised a legitimate point -- if weapons have, due to the number of pre-invasion caches destroyed in place by Coalition and Iraqi forces (I assume it isn't just the US guys who get to have the fun of making massive explosions), become so much more rare as to drive the price up locally, what effect will that have elsewhere? I s'pose I should have added an appreciation to your reference, because I was smiling as I typed. I do apologize.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
12/11/2006 13:55
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#8
Absolutely bizarre. Weapons prices are going up and the leftards at the IHT blame it on US mismanagement essentially increasing the supply! Are they really that stupid?
#10
You expect actual thought from the International Herald Tribune, now that it's become a reporter-free, next day, shrunken New York Times? That just isn't fair, Atomic Conspiracy!
From VDare, a website I do like, but some here might find too rightwing. See original article for various linked materials
By Scott P. Richert
The arraignment Friday December 8 of a Muslim convert on charges of planning an act of "violent jihad" at the largest mall in Rockford, Illinois, has left many people asking how such a thing could happen in this "middle-sized town in the middle of the Middle West."
They shouldnt be so surprised.
For almost five years now, Ive been writing about the presence of Islam here in the Heartland, most recently in the December issue of Chronicles. Yet even today, people want to believe that the Islamic threat is entirely external. After all, President Bush and supporters of the war in Iraq have told us that "Were fighting them over there so that we dont have to fight them over here."
Apparently, someone forgot to explain that to Derrick Shareef.
Tonights main column, Jihad in Rockford, IL: What the MSM Wont Tell You, is about your typical Muslim-American terrorist who hates America, hates Christians and Jews both, hates white people, and wants to blow them up.
But theres one thing more: he hates Christmas.
Yes, according to the documents filed in Federal Court in Chicago, Derrick Shareefa sought to to disrupt Christmas, by putting bombs in the CherryVale Shopping Center in Rockford, although apparently he was multiculturally sensitive enough to refer to it as the holiday season.
This is an unusually violent case of War Against Christmas, beyond anything the ACLU is likely to do, but it still qualifies as part of the seasonal attack.
#2
CW-II---it's coming, and soon. If you're smart enough to be reading RB, you should be smart enough to have already started stockpiling food, water, medicines, weapons and ammunition.
Get to know your neighbors and start thinking about how you're going to defend your neighborhood, purify your water, and keep your family warm when it's cold. I think the right side is going to win but it's not going to be a walk in the park, particularly when lots of local governments simply disintegrate and the civil services vaporize with them.
Remember what happened in NOLA after Katrina: it can happen in your town too. The ghouls are just waiting for the lights to go out, and if you're not ready for it when it happens, you, and quite probably your family, won't survive.
Posted by: mac ||
12/11/2006 9:01
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#3
The ghouls are just waiting for the lights to go out, and if you're not ready for it when it happens, you, and quite probably your family, won't survive.
I agree with everything you say. One addition though: There is a definite upside to the coming disaster. No need to spell it out. All I will say is that two men enter, one man leaves.
LONDON, Dec.9: A guide to Islam is being given to primary schools across Britain containing a headscarf, a prayer mat, a prayer cap, sacred Ihram clothing worn during the pilgrimage to Makkah, a poster of the Muslim prophets and a compass to locate the direction of Makkah.
According to Daily Express the teaching resource, provided by the Muslim Council of Britain, is intended to provide children aged seven and 11 with information about true Islamic beliefs.
The pack, described on Friday by one head teacher as a "three-foot by three-foot plastic box", also contains CDs, videos, children's books and pamphlets and model kits of a mosque and Islam's holiest site, the Ka'bah.
Sir Iqbal Sacranie, of the MCB, said: "We believe education is the key to creating a vibrant and understanding society.
"We want to ensure that every schoolchild has access to high quality Islamic resources in their schools." Colin Manning, head teacher of North Reddish Junior School in Stockport, which has only four Muslim pupils, said: "The future is in the hands of young people.
The better they understand each other, the more secure that future will be." Tahir Alam, education spokesman for the MCB, added: "We found that schools were using books that were not accurate about Muslim traditions and beliefs so we put this pack together.
#1
And of course, muslim schools are keen to teach their pupils about other beliefs? Cluebat for Britain, please.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
12/11/2006 8:06
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#2
I put together a classroom packet on Hanukkah for the trailing daughters' elementary school before they moved up; it contained a few age-appropriate storybooks, a background sheet on the history of the holiday printed off the internet, a Channuka menorah (it has nine branches instead of the usual seven) and a box of candles, several dreidels, and a write-up of the rules of the draydle game. I figure that if any of the children want to learn more about the beliefs of the Jewish religion, they can do further research at the library.
/lots of alternate spellings when words a transliterated from a different alphabet. ;-)
#5
"A guide to Islam is being given to primary schools across Britain containing a headscarf, a prayer mat, a prayer cap, --- a compass to locate the direction of Makkah."
Why not a map of the London Underground, a oneway ticket to Kings Cross, a will kit, a copy of Aftenposten (cartoon edition), a "Europe Is Cancer - Islam Is Answer" poster to protest cartoons, a Bible to lift their legs on, and a set of forged passports.
#6
Meanwhile in UK a different Islamic organisation is attempting to get a message to young Muslims that dying while fighting for, not against, the British armed forces is an act of martyrdom.
#8
They might want to take a really hard look at the CD's, videos, pamphlets and books. Somewhere in there is an expression of "true islamic beliefs". At the very least will be the clear understanding on islamic beliefs vis a vis infidels. And doubtless a charming depiction of jooooos. There will be content that will be startling and the muslims won't see the problem.
Just another "convert or die" kit. Offered to the kiddies.
#9
# They might want to take a really hard look at the CD's, videos, pamphlets and books. Somewhere in there is an expression of "true islamic beliefs".
As with the anti-Australian video in the East Preston Islamic "College" library.
Islamic boys told of 'evil' Aussies
Cameron Stewart
December 07, 2006
STUDENTS at the Islamic school from which two boys
were expelled for desecrating the Bible were shown
videos of a banned cleric calling Australian
Christians "evil" and non-Muslim schools "sewers".
[...]
#10
I cant stand how 'hip' Islam is to the permafried elite. Being open minded is one thing... this is just plain stoopid. Its like cigarettes; they make you look real cool but then enslave you, eventually killing you.
#11
What is so comedic, bool, is that these very elites would be the first to be extermintaed once the Caliphate conquers. Observe who's assasinated in Iraq. Observe who's leaving in droves. The educated elites. They know their fate under jihadists. Yet the fools of western upper crust think they're above the fray. Such pitiful asstards. Probably don't even know how to fire a weapon in self-defense.
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq - Insurgents observed emplacing an improvised explosive device were killed Friday in Saqlawiyah, west of Baghdad.
Three insurgents were killed and two vehicles were destroyed when Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 observed insurgents emplacing an improvised explosive device beneath a tractor trailer and a large Bongo truck. The Marines engaged the insurgents with small-arms fire and destroyed the vehicles with air delivered precision-guided munitions, which triggered multiple secondary explosions.
Sniff, I love a happy ending
There were no reports of civilian casualties. No casualties or damage to Coalition Forces were reported.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006
06:35 ||
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#1
And just down the road, more of the same:
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq-- Coalition forces observed insurgents detonating an improvised explosive device Saturday night in Ramadi.
Coalition forces engaged the enemy with aircraft gunfire and a precision guided munition. The strikes killed two insurgents and wounded two other insurgents.
There were no reports of civilian casualties and no coalition casualties.
While conducting a series of cordon and knocks ... I guess that's more PC than "Search and Destroy".
... throughout Baqubah Friday, Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Iraqi Army, with support from 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, discovered an improvised explosive device factory inside a house. The factory contained more than five rocket-propelled grenades, small arms munitions, 1,000 pounds of fertilizer, blasting caps and timers, fuel containers, several hundred feet of detonation cord, two compressed air tank IEDs ... that's a new one AFAIK
... and other IED-making materials. "It is believed that the IED factory used by the terrorists was intended for attacks on Iraqi Security Forces and local citizens based on its proximity to other recent attacks in the area," said Col. David W. Sutherland, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division commander and senior U.S. Army officer in the Diyala province. "The terrorists are using these materials to kill those that desire a safe and secure Iraq. Their goals have no political, economic or religious objectives - only death," Sutherland added. Upon discovery, the unit requested support from a coalition forces explosive ordinance disposal unit. The EOD unit determined the material was too unstable to move and conducted a controlled detonation on site.
Before the controlled detonation, the Iraqi Army soldiers, with support from Coalition Forces, went door to door to ensure the community was informed about the IED factory and cleared from their homes.
"The 5th Iraqi Army Division conducted and led this operation in a very deliberate manner focused on substantiated intelligence on specific targets," Sutherland said. "Their individual performance was respectful to the people in the area and their collective performance is showing improvements in their abilities as a professional security force."
The cordon and knocks were conducted as part of a continuous operation focused on targeting suspected terrorists responsible for kidnapping, murder and IED placement.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006
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#1
All sorts of good IED news this morning to compensate for the tragic loss of several more of our soldiers to these bastards this weekend.
#2
Upon discovery, the unit requested support from a coalition forces explosive ordinance disposal unit. The EOD unit determined the material was too unstable to move and conducted a controlled detonation on site.
Blew up the house, did they? Good.
Arrest the dude who comes in demanding reparations...
First David Duke and now this, it's turning into quite a social event, a veritable who's who of leading edge Jew-hate.
Australian Holocaust-denier Fredrick Toben and controversial socialite Michele Renouf are reportedly among guests at an Iranian conference questioning the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is expected to meet delegates to the conference Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision which begins in Tehran on Monday. The ne plus ultra of target rich environments.
Dr Toben, who has faced court in Australia and been jailed in Germany for his comments on Jews and the Holocaust, is the founder of the Adelaide Institute and says he is looking forward to meeting the Iranian president.
"I would be disappointed if I was not to meet him, although I can't tell you any more than that," Dr Toben told Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper. "It's like meeting the Queen of England, I wouldn't comment on it beforehand." The Queen would have you dragged to the Tower and beheaded if it weren't for the lamentable softening of British justice, you fool.
Dr Toben said Gold-digging hooker Lady (Michele) Renouf was expected to be among those attending. Lady Renouf, a former beauty queen who received her title from a brief marriage to New Zealand tycoon Sir Frank Renouf, attracted headlines when she supported historian David Irving at his trials for denying the Holocaust. Attracted rich Muslim johns suitors as well, I'll wager.
Dr Irving was sentenced to three years' jail in Austria. "I understand she (Lady Renouf) is on a flight already. It will be her first visit to Tehran," Dr Toben said. I would say "F*** you" to Renouf, but she might try to take me up on it.
I don't know what is on the menu for the glittering banquet that will undoubtedly accompany the conference but it should definitely include that wonderful new Russian dish we've heard so much about, asparagus a la polonium. I hear it is just to die for.
#1
"Never in your life with you find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." - Obi-Wan Kenobi
Twenty years ago, I could not have imagined that I would someday call for lethal; indeed, diabolical; weapons to be used against an international conference of academics, authors, and media figures, but so I have.
The more the better.
#2
Regarding frenchies, I wonder if
- dieudonné (black stand up comedian, leftist "antizionist" turned FN's supporter, in a nice anti-US & anti "establishment" convergence),
- alain soral (commie antifeminist pamphlet writer, turned adviser and speech writer to Jean-Marie Le Pen and the FN, and now rather big among certain nationalist circles, if only for his "antizionism" and anti-americanism),
- and their pal thierry meyssan (bona fide subversive, originator of the "no plane on the Pentagon - 9/11 inside job by a "neoconservative cabal", wink wink, islamist tool and owner of the rumor-mill "réseau voltaire" news-agency) are going to show up?
I'm a bit confused here, I think they already went to an iran-backed conference (meyssan is a big friend of the MM, dieudonné and soral went to lebanon to hail the Great Victory of the hezbollah, first sign of the coming defeat of the Empire), but I may be mistaken. Anyway, it really wouldn't surprize me if they went there for this one.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2006 9:30
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#10
cheap , quality , countryside housing , good food produce , and french women combined with sun
French women are an attraction? I never knew so many British men hated themselves. Good god man! I would think the British women are bad enough! I
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/11/2006 9:30
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#11
I see that more than half have gone to former British colonies. Makes sense -- English language, common law, etc. With the exception of Australia (whose "colonists" didn't have much choice in the matter), I wonder if Brits go to those former colonies with any sense of storied tradition -- i.e., bugging out when things become intolerable. It's hard to tell from the numbers why they're leaving, but I sure would be interested to know.
#12
One of the factors has to be the recent relative prosperity of the UK. Some of the ex-pats have moved away on business. Some have moved because they can finally afford it -- many weren't wealthy enough to go anywhere during the times of the World Wars. Some may be moving because the UK is going nuts.
#14
I have noticed In London Whites are moving out of the city in record numbers as 1.Housing too expensive.2.Crime level is high.3Poor schools.4.Poor transportation.5.Too much stress
6.High levels of Immigration.
Overall better quality of life outside the big cities/Country!!!!
#16
French women are an attraction? I never knew so many British men hated themselves. Good god man! I would think the British women are bad enough!
The loss of the French woman to Eurabia will be the most painful and sorest loss Western Civilization will experience. Don't rag on the French women then it's the men who are all screwed up!
I remember laborously translating and reading an article in a prominent French magazine of the French equivalent of the head of the Women's movement there. She said, in effect, that the French women already had it made when it came to the romance and male/female relationship aspects, and labelled her American counterpart as crazy if they were going to ape the American war between the sexes in France. Their biggest beef was equality of wages and promotion opportunities for equal/similar work. I can't remember the adjective she used, because the distinction is important, but I DO remember thinking, "More power to ya, sister!"
The FrenchMEN should STFU, stop the car, get into the back seat, and let the Frenchwomen drive.
#17
I moved out of the UK in 1998, its not that its a bad place ok the food sucks, its just there is no brits left . I not being racist but its really spot the white man now, if you are in london you have to go to a friends house to find someone who speaks english. The indians we are happy to keep they put some spice in the food and have 24 hour shops the rest can get the hell out. I give it 20 years all those that can afford to leave will have gone by then and the name will change to UNITED ASYLUM KINGDOM
Posted by: alex ||
12/11/2006 12:12
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#19
The loss of the French woman to Eurabia will be the most painful and sorest loss Western Civilization will experience. Don't rag on the French women then it's the men who are all screwed up!
My comment was in reference to them being just as plain Jane (read: ugly) as they're English counterparts. They're even worse if you consider the non shaving thingy.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/11/2006 15:25
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#20
Mike N--Well, considering such gems as Sophie Marceau, Melissa Theuriau, and other fine mademoiselles (such as the girl from La Frette sur Seine I met when I was 19, who helped me...um..."re-enact" the American invasion of French territory in a beachhouse in Normandy), if you don't want them I'll take them!
Posted by: Dar ||
12/11/2006 16:05
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#21
Mike N
Now I am sorry to shatter your dreams about hairy women but in fact French women not only shave (I can testify for it) but are between the most self-conscious in world.
Now I will tell you the origins of the myth: after D-DAY and specially when Paris was liberated (wheree Hemingway told that no GI slept alone that night) a number of French woma=en were say... a bit enthousiastic about American soldiers who a) were unconceably rich in French terms b) had fabled goods the half starving French women had forgotten about the existence like chocolate or nylon stockings c) were young and physically fit (America was not scrapping the bottom of her manpool) d) had a quality of naivete, or innocence or straightforwrdness who was welcome change (*) e) last but not least the joy of liberation who incites to do a number of folish things.
Now do you think that when Gis returned to America they told to their wives/fiancees: French girls where the prettiest I have ever seen and just at the night Paris was liberated I cheated you with three different women?" Of course no, the girl would have torn his eyeballs! He will tell something like: "French women are butt ugly and don't shave legs I was never tempted by them you are sooooo much prettier."
(*) From the autobiographic "Diary with four hands" from Benoite and Flora Groult where one of the sisters tell after accepting a GI having a shower in her house: "he just had his shower and left, a Frenchman would have understood I was offering him my bed". She is troubled by the GIs "purity", she manages to meet him a second time and they become lovers but she doesn't accept his proposal of marriage: mostly due to the fear of being despised by American women.
#23
Okay, I'll bite, iff the French State can't afford to bury French dead, as been reported by various sources, shouldn't it be the other way, i.e. French traveling to Britannia???
Q. On arrival in the US, I started offering my prayers facing South Eastern direction, but recently I was with a group of people who offered their prayers facing the North East. They argued that it was the more accurate direction to the Kaaba. After some argument, it appeared that both views have some solid argument in support. Please comment.
A. Siddiqui
A. This is a recent problem that started when some people in North America suggested that the shorter distance between their hometown and Makkah is to fly over the North Pole. This may be so, but it seems to be a route with a bend that changes direction.
The question is whether we can draw a straight line that connects Makkah to an American city and passes by the North Pole.
If such a line is shorter than a direct line southward, then it is the better direction. If this is not possible without a curve that changes direction, then the southward way is better. It needs to be looked into very carefully.
An important point that needs to be considered is the route airlines take when they travel from, say, Canada to Jeddah. If they fly over the North Pole, then it could well be the better direction to face in prayer, but if they fly southward, then that is the right direction.
#1
These tools are a little short on their Euclid. The shortest distance between you and your Temple of Elemental Evil is neither a straight line on a map nor those apparently bendy lines followed by aircraft over the Pole. It is, rather, a straight line through the Earth's crust/mantle. This should be obvious to the average Morlock but they may find they need Eloi tech to get their new compass directions right.
#4
I can't find the article, but I covered this in a sermon a few years ago. I even covered the issue of praying to Mecca from orbit. These guys are amateurs.
#5
You guys think that you know all the answers, try finding the right direction to Mecca when you are at the point diametrically opposed to Mecca on the other side of the world. It is similar to the problem of which south do you pick when at the North Pole, and someone tells you to head south.
#6
Can you attach the picture of the guy in the loincloth standing on his head?
Posted by: James ||
12/11/2006 12:06
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#7
For ed, the Acme Klein Bottle Company. I got one for my baby brother the supercomputer guy for Hanukkah a few years ago, and another for Mr. Wife. Ours still appears embedded in our particular bit of the space-time continuum, but I'd be a bit concerned were we to live in an area with an earthquake problem. ;-)
Last year, only about 2,500 foreign visitors came on Christmas, but, he's counting on the usual bus loads of Christians from nearby Palestinian towns to boost turnout.
Before the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, Bethlehem drew more than 90,000 pilgrims a month. With just two weeks to Christmas, Bethlehem is only sparsely decorated. A few neon stars are nailed to storefronts on the main streets. The only decoration on the Lutheran Christmas Church in a busy market area is spray-painted graffiti below the pointed steeple that reads 'Islamic Jihad'. Perhaps that's why the town isn't so decorated?
In Manger Square, next to the Church of the Nativity, built over Jesus' traditional birthplace, only two of six souvenir shops and a small cafe were open on a recent afternoon. Many other nearby shops were closed as well. A few tourists who sat outside a cafe, braving the dreary weather, were thronged by peddlers trying to sell bobble head Jesuses olive wood crucifixes. "The wall stopped tourists and Arabs from Israel," a local said, referring to the separation barrier, which is meant to stop Palestinians, but also cuts across Bethlehem's main trade artery. Gee, that's too bad. Gosh. Darn. Golly.
The economic squeeze has driven away growing numbers of Christians, already a minority of 35 percent in this town of 30,000. Sucks to be a dhimmi, huh?
"I appreciate it, because Bethlehem is the symbol of peace," another Palestinian said.
The acting finance minister, Samir Abu Eisha of Hamas, said he'll write dlrs 50,000 check out of his graft money in the coming days. Last year, the outgoing government run by Hamas' archrival, the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, didn't give Bethlehem any money and the town had to rely mostly on international donations. The year before, it received dlrs 20,000 from the government. The Widows Ammunition Fund, however, was fully funded.
"We don't fund any Islamic celebrations, but we want to fund this Christian festival, which is a special part of Bethlehem," said Abu Eisha. "As a Palestinian government, we hope our Christian brothers have a happy celebration. They are an integral part of Palestinian society." "As long as they remember their place."
#2
The only decoration on the Lutheran Christmas Church in a busy market area is spray-painted graffiti below the pointed steeple that reads 'Islamic Jihad'.
The world's largest trimaran will soon arrive in Darwin to take on an Australian Customs contract patrolling the country's north coast. The three-hulled warship will be fitted with two 0.5-calibre machine guns to help deter and seize illegal fishing boats. It will carry 28 armed customs officers. Geoff Hart-Davies says his company, Gardline Australia, will supply a crew of 14, as well as the boat.
"The vessel is unique - it's at just under 100 metres," he said. "The Triton is the world's largest and in fact first trimaran warship.
'Trimaran Warship' has a nice ring to it...
"She was built by the commercial arm of the UK Ministry of Defence." Mr Hart-Davies says the boat comes with high recommendations from the US Coastguard. "For those reasons we suggested that the Australian Government through Customs finally settle on this ship," he said. The boat will arrive from the UK in mid-January to start work immediately.
#2
Hey! That's my boat!
Available on VHS, DVD, and now Blue Ray. Makes a great Christmas gift!
Posted by: Kevin Costner ||
12/11/2006 15:09
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The USN is also investing in Trimaran hull R & D, for the day in the far Far FAR future when multi-purpose, multi-capable SEABORNE BATTLE STATIONS = FLOATING/OCEANIC DEATH STARS becoms a reality. FBM subs will be what UAVS are today. Arise, CORSICANT, Arise.
With the threat of nuclear destruction hanging over us, it makes sense to conduct a debate about an Israeli second strike. While such a discussion will not dissuade Iran's fanatical leaders from attacking Israel with nuclear weapons, it could influence the Iranian nation to rise up against their leaders. Caroline Glick is a good writer, but prone to emotional outbursts. On the surface, it appears that the Ayatollahs are being given a free hand. However, when the President mentioned his responsibility to future "generations," in context of Iran's genocidal policies, I red-flagged a hidden agenda. And it should stay hidden until Dooms-Day. Then we break out the bubbly.
I dunno. Mahmoud's been handing out warnings and 'invitations to convert' like chocolate candies lately. Making sure the Mad Mullahs understand explicitly what would happen seems like a good idea to me. Sometimes you rattle the sword as you draw it.
Moreover, such a debate could influence other regimes in the region like Saudi Arabia which today behave as if Israel's annihilation will have no adverse impact on them. Americans like Baker, Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and their European friends need to understand that as goes Israel so go the Persian Gulf's oil fields. Such an understanding may influence their willingness to enable Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
Tragically, in these perilous times, we are being led by the worst, most incompetent government we have ever had.
Prime Minister Olmert's way of dealing with the Iranian threat is to pretend that it is none of his business. During his visit to the US last month, Olmert abdicated responsibility for safeguarding Israel from nuclear destruction to President Bush. It didn't bother him that Bush didn't accept the responsibility. By mindlessly adhering to non-existent cease-fires with Iranian proxies in Gaza and Lebanon and squawking about peace with them, Olmert continues to behave as if this is someone else's problem.
#2
anon5089:
Ouch! I post a duplicate. Caroline Glick answers her e-mails: caroline@jpost.com
I never supported the 2 state policy. It is dead. Forget cut and run rhetoric; the Dems will come to their senses. Iran poses a future ICBM threat to the US. They will be taken out.
That was Borat, not Jimmy Carter, who urged a crowd of lounge lizards in Tucson to join him in singing, "Throw the Jew Down the Well."
Carter has the same message, but (without the spoof) his narrative comes in a book that's just being released and is titled Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
Apparently the written word is not enough, so Carter has taken his grudge against Israel on tour. There he is with his brotherhood on National Public Radio, NPR, where Israel-bashing is always welcome; and here he is on C-Span; and he keeps on going and won't stop until he's got us all signing up for Holocaust Part 2.
Historians tell us that Pharaoh was the first to stir up the multitudes against the Jews, and we have it from Scripture that a new Pharaoh will arise to torment us from generation to generation. Carter knows his Bible and the part where Pharaoh says: "Come, let us deal craftily with this people."
So it shall be written, so it shall be done.
Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz has already ripped Carter's book by chapter and verse, so that's the place to go, Dershowitz, to find point-by-point where Carter turns history on its head, truth inside out. That's where we find exactly how Carter casts five and half million Israelis as villains against 300 million peace-loving Arabs.
Carter embraces Hamas, which openly calls for the destruction of Israel, and Carter reminds us that the Israelis never want peace, never make concessions. The fact that Israel gave up the Sinai and more recently gave up Gaza - well, all that makes no difference once you've got your mind made up and your heart is brimming with hostility, hatred and bigotry.
The credit for peace, by Carter's definition, goes to someone like a 67-year-old grandmother who blows herself up on a suicide mission and is then cheered by her family, friends and neighbors. Checkpoints to stop such behavior are, in Carter's terminology, "apartheid." Along the TV and speaking circuits, Carter seldom misses a chance to inventory his grievances against the Jewish State and to promote his Mein Kampf, his struggle to enlist the rest of us in joining his campaign to blow down the single house the Jews built to spare themselves further pogroms and genocides.
Carter's Protocols have already, and quickly, found enough readers to make it a best-seller. But Professor Kenneth W. Stein is not buying. Stein, an associate of Carter's for some 23 years, has now disassociated himself from Carter, citing the book's "factual errors" and "glaring omissions" and "invented segments." Stein adds that the book's "one-sided nature" is "meant to provoke."
For some time, word circulated about a certain ex-president who actually helped Yasser Arafat write his speeches in order to polish that mass murderer into a more presentable figure for the American people. Americans couldn't stomach Arafat's own kampf to "drive the Jews into the sea," so Jimmy Carter, it was said, changed that - only the words, not the intent - to, "We want peace."
Many of us found that hard to believe about an ex-president "who builds homes," and it is still difficult to prove, but now, with this book, we can believe anything. The unintended subliminal message from the pages of this updated Mein Kampf is that, with people like Jimmy Carter on the prowl, the need for a strong Israel, supported by righteous Jews and true Christians, is more urgent than ever.
That we Americans survived a man like this as president says much for the strength of our country. Yes, we survived and so will Israel.
If you can't read Carter's book, read his lips, as I did on C-Span.
WASHINGTON - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Vice President Cheney went quail hunting last week, and the senator lived to tell the tale. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford joined Cheney and Graham for two days of hunting on a private plantation that friends of Chambliss own in southern Georgia.
He's slipping, damnit. Graham would've been worth the publicity hit.
The outing was only Cheney's second hunting trip since he accidentally wounded a close friend, Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, last February by spraying shotgun pellets into his face, neck and chest.
Even though almost 10 months have passed since the embarrassing episode, it was fresh on the minds of the Cheney group - and still remembered by some of the folks they met.
A local gun-shop owner cracked a joke about the incident when Cheney and the rest of the hunting party walked in, Graham said.
"It was brought up a couple of times," Graham said in an interview. "He [Cheney] makes people feel comfortable so they can joke about it."
Cheney broke up other guests at a dinner by recalling President Bush's reaction when the vice president returned to the White House after the incident.
"Dang, Dick, you shot the only trial lawyer who supports me!" Bush mock-scolded Cheney.
Not Scrappleface, alas. But an interesting look at the flabby underbelly of our current intel ops. And 'scuse me while I go get my tinfoil hat, d'ya think Google could and would monitor and tinker with search queries originating from Fed IPs?
When the State Department recently asked the CIA for names of Iranians who could be sanctioned for their involvement in a clandestine nuclear weapons program, the agency refused, citing a large workload and a desire to protect its sources and tradecraft. Frustrated, the State Department assigned a junior Foreign Service officer to find the names another way -- by using Google. Those with the most hits under search terms such as "Iran and nuclear," three officials said, became targets for international rebuke Friday when a sanctions resolution circulated at the United Nations.
Policymakers and intelligence officials have always struggled when it comes to deciding how and when to disclose secret information, such as names of Iranians with suspected ties to nuclear weapons. In some internal debates, policymakers win out and intelligence is made public to further political or diplomatic goals. In other cases, such as this one, the intelligence community successfully argues that protecting information outweighs the desires of some to share it with the world.
But that argument can also put the U.S. government in the awkward position of relying, in part, on an Internet search to select targets for international sanctions.
Continued on Page 49
#1
European officials said their governments did not rely on Google searches but came up with nearly identical lists to the one U.S. officials offered.
So Google worked as well as all those highly paid professional (Euro) spooks.
#2
Millions of ethnic minorities and ideological opponents of the Ayatollahs, are more than willing to inform on the Arab wannabes. Intelligence vacuum? Not where you have what the Spooks call "walk-ins."
#4
I'm sure Fred could be convinced to share Thugburg with them. For a reasonable fee, of course.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/11/2006 8:28
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#5
So the CIA does not want to work with a junior State dept guy. Agency fears are probable well founded, just by the nature of this report getting out it shows the state still can't keep its mouth shut. This is not an issue of seams between agencies and the CIA closing the door on our State Dept. The State Dept has a great track record of blowing classified info out into the public sector.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/11/2006 8:39
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#6
I'm still convinced that the most cost-effective way of neutralizing much of Iran's nuclear program is to smuggle some devices into the facilities that quietly sprays enough highly toxic agent to kill everyone inside and make the place totally unusable.
Not only would the facility be ruined, but the vast majority of Iranian nuclear physicists would be killed, a brain drain.
Polonium 210 would be just perfect for that exercise, don't you think?
#11
Couldn't we just send them 100+ lbs of Pelosium?
Sorry, SteveS, that would be considered an attack by weapons of mass disruption. You'd get the entire US sanctioned for that.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/11/2006 13:54
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#12
Bleeding Heart, did your mother never teach you that it's rude to insult your hosts? Obviously you aren't Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Indian... Would any of Rantburg's Spanish speakers like to help poor Mr. Bleeding Heart understand in his native tongue? His English skills are clearly quite weak, based on the sentence structure and mixture of grammatical formulations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006 20:35
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#26
Handy thing, this google.
There were 5 hits for "google is communist," including one from a chap who says that MIT is the center of the communist universe and should be firebombed.
"Google supports terrorism" returned 38 hits.
"Google supports Islam" got 29 hits.
"Google is subversive" also returned 5.
The ever popular "google sucks" and "F*** you, google" returned 37,100 and 5,570 respectively.
Again, there's no suitable category, We need History and Science, IMO.
A True American Hero. Well done, Virginia - and Thank You for your bravery. R.I.P.
BALTIMORE - In 1942, the Gestapo circulated posters offering a reward for the capture of "the woman with a limp. She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies and we must find and destroy her."
The dangerous woman was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore native working in France for British intelligence, and the limp was the result of an artificial leg. Her left leg had been amputated below the knee about a decade earlier after she stumbled and blasted her foot with a shotgun while hunting in Turkey.
#1
Another distinguished SOE agent was Noor Inayat Khan, an Indian Princess (born in the Kremlin Palace in Moscow), the great-great-grand-daughter of the legendary muslim king Tipu Sultan (who resisted the British conquest of India).
Her mother was American, the niece of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. Her father was a sufi mystic.
Given the code name 'Madeleine' she did poorly in one part of her training, a mock interrogation.
She found it difficult to lie and was terrified throughout the session. The trainer reported that she lost her voice and 'was trembling and quite blanched' He also made a comment: 'Not overburdened with brains but has worked hard and shown keeness, apart from some dislike of the security side of the course. She has an unstable and temperamental personality and it is very doubtful whether she is really suited to the work in the field.'
Betrayed by a member of the resistance, she was held by the Gestapo for over 10 months. Despite brutal torture she didn't reveal a single piece of information, not even her name.
She was shot by the SS at Dachau in 1944 along with three other SOE agents - Madeleine Damerment, Elaine Plewman and Yolande Beekman.
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 7:07
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IIRC Virginia Hall's full story can be found in A Man Called Intrepid.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/11/2006 15:51
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Excerpt:
"On the global warming front, Senator Snowe co-chairs an international climate change group created by two left wing think tanks backed by Mr. Soros. Through the group Senator Snowe has worked to repudiate President Bush's market based approach in favor of heavy handed regulation to ration energy and raise energy prices- in other words, more green nanny state and less economic freedom and growth. Senator Snowe has been unwilling to honestly answer two basic questions: How much global warming will her policies avert (none) and at what cost (1-3% of GDP)? The lack of honesty, the attacks on freedom and Mr. Soros' involvement suggest that climate change policy is a battlefront in the culture war."
#1
The lack of honesty, the attacks on freedom and Mr. Soros' involvement suggest that climate change policy is a battlefront in the culture war."
well, duh!!
Only a blithering moonbat would not concede that even if global warming is caused and can be tempered by human involvement ( which I do not believe that it is or can be ) the solution is anathema to a free society and would be far worse than the disease: socialist and confiscatory regulation of a market economy.
#2
The unfortunate truth about a select group of "Republicans" in the northeast is that they are not conservative at all, but holdovers of the blue-blood country-club Yankee busybody crowd - and their acolytes - that predates Prohibition. These are the "Republicans" who do not detest leftists for their social policy but rather envy them for being able to get "credit" for carrying it out.
While they often times nominally support free-market causes, they almost universally are cultural Marxists. Sadly, Snow has now even given up on the free market and has crossed to the dark side. Association with Soros is a sure sign of that.
If you've spent any time amongst Northeast Republicans, you'll find that while the rank and file are staunchly conservative/libertarian, the leadership tends to be a lot more like Snow.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/11/2006 6:50
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The good news is that if the best the Kyoto crowd can do is get Olympia Snowe as their front man, they're doomed.
The sun wouldn't rise in the east if self-important fools like her were put in charge of the matter.
The sterile, confused lame-duck session of the Republican-controlled 109th Congress ended with a quiet victory by reformers that staved off an estimated 10,000 earmarks. But it could not be called a farewell to pork. As the House approached adjournment Thursday, Democrats signaled they may countenance a return to free and easy spending ways when they assume the majority Jan. 4.
The hero of the lame-duck session was freshman Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina. He was instrumental in blocking a Senate-House conference on a military construction appropriations bill, which would then be used as the last train out of town to carry pork. But just as the reformers were cheering Thursday, a coalition of Republicans and Democrats defeated a procedure designed to inhibit Pentagon earmarks.
That leaves an unanswered question for the new Democratic majority. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the dynamic new member of the House Democratic leadership, has exhorted colleagues not to forget that their campaign against the Republican "climate of corruption" brought them into power. But does Emanuel's concept of reform go beyond new lobbyist control regulations and extend to the bipartisan addiction to pork-barrel spending?
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Woohoo! Let the Looting (Phase II or II, hard to tell) begin!
BAGHDAD: Iraq is failing to spend billions of dollars of its own oil revenues that have been set aside to rebuild its damaged and looted infrastructure, even as American financial support dwindles and this nation prepares to ask the international community to help pay for a sweeping new phase of reconstruction.
Iraqi ministries are spending as little as 15 percent of the 2006 capital budgets they received to do that rebuilding with some of the weakest spending taking place at the Oil Ministry, which relies on damaged and decrepit pipelines, wells, refineries and pumping stations to move the oil that provides nearly all of the country's revenues.
In essence, the money is available but the Iraqi system has not been able to absorb enough of it to generate reconstruction projects.
Continued on Page 49
Note the Beeb headline doesn't say Paleo gunmen shoot three children. That would mean they are 'insurgents', causing way too much cognitive dissonance.
Gunmen outside a school in Gaza City have shot dead the three children of a Palestinian intelligence chief linked to the Fatah party. One adult was also killed in the attack, which took place in a street crowded with children. The children's father was named as Baha Balousheh, said to have led a crackdown on the Hamas movement 10 years ago. Anyone notice the resemblence of the Paleos to the average organized crime syndicate? Killing the children of a rival. How brave. How noble. Rat bastards.
Monday's attack took place as children were arriving at a street lined with several schools in Gaza City's Rimal district. The gunmen fired dozens of bullets at the vehicle in which Mr Balousheh's children were travelling. The adult killed in the attack is said to be their driver. According to the Associated Press news agency, the attack left the vehicle with at least 30 bullet holes, covering its seats and a school bag with blood.
Fatah supporters gathered in the streets vowing revenge for the attack. "We shall have Dire Revenge!"
#1
very nice. The Paleos return to their old habits of targetting and killing children. This time it's their own. Before, it was just Jooooos. Do the EU/HRW/AI/assorted Paleo apologists have any rationalizations? Or will they sweep this into the MSM/Memory black hole?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2006 6:46
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#2
Damn. The Mafia at least left the little kids alone.
#3
Shit, the Mafia sent a lot of neighborhood kids to college. Kept the families bought and paid for, but at least there was something in it for them. What's in it for Paleos?
#6
I see. Microbiology and genetic research, eh? Would it be cynical of me to wonder if Kamal is interested in the exciting field of bioweapons engineering?
Also, please note how the headline leaves plenty of room for people to assume that these kids were snuffed by Israeli troops. Perish the thought that such a heinous crime be attributed to the media's Palestinian darlings.
From Compass Direct
Islamic authorities in Malaysia gave up their claim to the body of a Muslim convert yesterday, ending a nine-day dispute with the family. The authorities had planned to give Rayappan Anthony a Muslim burial despite his conversion to Christianity.
The 71-year-old Rayappan (his surname, first in order for names in Malaysia) died of complications from diabetes on November 29 after spending a month at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
On November 30, when Rayappans family tried to claim his body for burial, officers from the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (JAIS) stepped in. The Islamic authorities claimed that Rayappan was a Muslim and produced a document issued by JAIS dated June 2005 to substantiate their claim. Rayappans family, however, said he had returned to Christianity in 1999 and was a Christian at the point of his death. The National Registration Department (NRD) issued him a new identity card in 2000 that showed him as Christian. .....
Continued on Page 49
#1
In the mid-Sixties, a handful of ethnic Chinese citizens of Indonesia made the mistake of supporting Red China. Result: 300,000 murdered. (debt-holders over Indonesians were often killed, even where they had proven capitalist credentials)
MUNICH: Helga Schandl says she has nothing against Muslims. For three decades, she worked in Munich's wholesale food market, where many of her colleagues were immigrants from Turkey. "I have experienced integration first hand," she said. They were faking it; Muslims want Shariah, not Schnitzel.
Yet Schandl, a 67-year-old Bavarian, is leading a fierce campaign to halt plans to build a mosque in a working- class district here. "It is a provocation," she said of the mosque, which would sit across a graceful square from her Roman Catholic church - its minarets an exotic counterpoint to the church's neo-baroque steeples. "The mosque doesn't have anything to do with religion," she said. "It is a power play."
In the many ways that Christians and Muslims rub up against each other in this country, the construction of mosques has become one of the most contentious. Symbols of a foreign faith, rising in the middle of German cities, they are stoking anti-foreign sentiment and reinforcing fears that Christianity is under threat.
Why, Schandl asked, do the Turks want to build their mosque right here, on a site opposite St. Korbinian? Like churches everywhere in Germany, it is struggling to survive in a secular society. A few empty churches are being converted into banks or restaurants. Why? Because the Big Mosques will become mini-Reichstags. Then they take Berlin.
For Onder Yildiz, a soft-spoken but intense leader of the Turkish community, the answer is simple: "A mosque next to a church helps intensify dialogue between the religions," he said. Yah, c'mon over for some pork ribs and Shine.
On one level, Yildiz is right: St. Korbinian, and the mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, have welcomed the mosque, which would be the third, and most prominent, in Munich, the heartland of German Catholicism.
But a vocal minority of residents has resisted, holding protest meetings, collecting signatures, and filing a petition with the Bavarian Parliament. "Bavarian life," the petition declares, "is marked by the drinking of beer and the eating of pork. In Muslim faith, both are unclean and forbidden." Already American Muslims have attempted to interfere with Campus drinking. The West is Dar-Harb (House of War) to the slaves of allah.
With the support of Bavaria's conservative state government, the residents have been able to tie up the project in court. Mosques have existed in Germany for decades, but only in recent years has there been a building boom as it were. There are now 150 mosques in Germany, in addition to some 2,000 Muslim prayer rooms in cellars, warehouses and other converted industrial spaces. The Holy Ghost and Yahwah and Krishna disapprove.
#6
Every mosque constructed ourisde a muslim land must fund the construction of an alternate house of worship in a muslim land and pay for its protection and upkeep.
#7
Turkey has waged a relentless attack against Christianity within its borders. Both Orthodox and Catholic congregations have been refused building permits for new structures and have even been denied permission to repair existing buildings. Three Catholic priests have been attacked in the last two years (one of them was shot to death), by assailants screaming Islamic slogans. The Turkish government still refuses to allow the Ecumenical Patriarchate to re-open an Istanbul seminary closed in 1972.
Christian clergy are routinely denied a religious status by Turkish civil authorities; this requires non-Turkish priests to enter and leave the country on tourist visas.
It is time the EU put its foot down hard on Muslim building projects within its jurisdiction. More power to the Bavarians for standing up to "dialogue"-demanding immams whose native lands openly repress Christianity and Judaism.
The same reason there is a mosque opposite, to the side of, or built right on top of Hindu temples throughout India.
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 14:49
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My quote vanished Why, Schandl asked, do the Turks want to build their mosque right here, on a site opposite St. Korbinian?
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 14:54
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#11
A mosque next to a church helps intensify dialogue between the religions,"
No, it indicates that Islam is supplanting the old region. It is a sign of conquest
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 14:56
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#12
Empty churches, secular society equals low birth rate equals Eurabia equals decline of Western Civilization. Germans should go back to church and start making more babies. Maybe if someone threatens to take their beer they'll wake up.
Picture courtesy Human Rights Watch. Go take a look at some of the others...
Gunmen on horseback attacked a truck carrying medicine and aid in Sudans war-ravaged Darfur region and killed around 30 civilians on board, some of whom were burned alive, the United Nations said on Sunday. The African Union had earlier put the death toll at 22 and said 10 others were wounded on Saturday when gunmen attacked the vehicle near Sirba, 45 km north of El Geneina, capital of West Darfur state and close to the Sudan-Chad border.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006
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ENTHUSED BY India's remarkable success in emerging as the second fastest growing economy globally in recent years, Morocco is keen to emulate the Indian experience in reforms and development of human capital so as to be on track for sustained growth in the medium and long term. It comes as no surprise that India has been designated as the `Country of Honour' at Morocco's ongoing fourth international conference on `Fundamentals of Investment,' having selected it as the role model for its giant strides in the services industry, the information technology sector in particular.
Morocco, the kingdom in northern Africa with a population of about 30 million, has come to realise that the best bet to usher in investment is the development of human capital in keeping with market needs. In this regard, education, training and employment remain a prime challenge, as the country's literacy rate is at a low of 40 per cent. However, what comes as a boon is its vast French-speaking population which can cater to the needs of IT-enabled services such as call centres and BPO (business process outsourcing) for France and other countries.
Alongside, what comes as an incentive for Indian corporates is that Morocco also presents itself as an export gateway, the country having entered into free trade agreements (FTAs) with the US, the European Union, and several other countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. In the event, this makes joint ventures in the manufacturing and other sectors quite attractive. Besides, Morocco offers a number of fiscal incentives, the most important one being a five-year tax holiday and corporate taxation at the marginal rate of 35 per cent on 50 per cent of the revenue earned thereafter.
Stressing the urgent need for development of human capital as the major challenge while inaugurating the conference here, the Moroccan Prime Minister, Driss Jettou, noted that such a strategy alone could help the African state in staying ahead of the competition. Just as the large pool of English-speaking manpower in India has put the country on top with regard to IT services and software development for the world at large, Morocco, he said, could cater in a big way to the French-speaking nations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006
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I lived in Rabat, Morocco for six months in 1976. I liked it. A lot of Europeans come to the beaches at Agadir. About half the ladies wore veils, but many of the younger generation wore jeans.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006 6:18
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Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2006
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[SERIAL TROLL]
Posted by: Rafael TROLL ||
12/11/2006 0:15
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#2
Saoodis becoming concerned that the Mad Mullahs may nuke them if they ever perfect a bomb ? I thought Sauds provided funding for Pakland to acquire ChiCom nukes. Why don't they smuggle a couple over ?
FIJI'S military rulers are cracking down on dissent, making house calls on those who dare criticise the new regime. Only a night after their illegal takeover last Tuesday, the army was flexing its muscles -- well before yesterday's declaration it would interrogate anyone suspected of inciting opposition to the new regime.
Former minister Kenneth Zinck, who called Commodore Frank Bainimarama a coward in a roomful of people on Wednesday night, was arrested shortly after and forced at gunpoint to jog around the parade ground at Suva's Queen Elizabeth Barracks. Mr Zinck said he was also made to stand under a bright light while his interrogators stood behind him so he could not see their faces, before being released with a warning. "(They) warned me not to speak out against their commander again and for me to watch out," he said.
Critical letter writers to the country's main newspaper, The Fiji Times, have found soldiers knocking on their doors, warning them not to criticise the new regime. "They picked me up from work and took me down to the base here in Nadi," one letter writer told The Fiji Times. "They asked me about my letters and said that this was a verbal warning." The man said that the soldiers were courteous and told him they were acting under orders from Suva.
On Saturday night a house just outside Suva, strung with pro-democracy banners, had its windows smashed and the signs torn down. "We had some eyewitnesses who said they were in civilian clothing," said democracy campaigner Petrina Zinck, the daughter of Kenneth Zinck. The young pro-democracy campaigners had been told by the military to pull down the banners but had refused. The military have denied having anything to do with the attack. That's how you know when a coup has failed: when the coup plotters deny committing acts of terror on those who oppose them. Talk to Pinochet (ooops, can't now) about this; when he staged his coup, his boyz went door to door, kicked ass, rounded up the opposition and tossed them into soccer stadiums for further processing. And he didn't care one whit who knew it.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Don't mess with Commodore Frank.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2006 11:44
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he'll mess you up!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2006 16:44
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(Xinhua) -- A senior leader of the governing Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) called on Sunday on Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas to resign, accusing him of being responsible for talk failure on national unity government. Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas block chief in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), made the call while talking with reporters, after the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)executive committee recommended to Abbas to call for early presidential and legislative elections to end the growing crisis and the embargo imposed on the Palestinians.
Abbas "is held responsible for the failure of the talks on forming the national unity government" and he should leave his post. Abbas wants "to drag the Palestinian people to his program."
Al-Hayya told the reporters that President Abbas "is held responsible for the failure of the talks on forming the national unity government" and he should leave his post. Abbas wants "to drag the Palestinian people to his program", said al-Hayya, ruling out the possibility that holding early elections would help in ending the governmental crisis. "It is really impossible that every time the president disagrees with the government, he calls for early elections. It's better to quit the proposal because it is a waste of time and a waste of money," said the Hamas leader.
In a reaction to al-Hayya's call for Abbas' resignation, Nabil Amer, a top aid to Abbas, told reporters that "going for early elections or a referendum is the ideal solution to get out of the crisis that the Palestinians are facing." "Saying that the ballot is a coup d'etat on democracy is totally wrong, because all nations on earth go for early elections as soon as they reach to a deadlock and huge crisis," said Amer.
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Lebanon's feuding pro- and anti-Syrian factions looked set for a compromise after an opposition rally drew protestors on to the streets of Beirut in numbers the army said were "unprecedented." An Arab League envoy was due in Beirut Monday after announcing he had received a positive response from the pro-Syrian opposition to proposals to end a political crisis which has paralysed the government and raised fears of a return to civil strife. The envoy, Mustafa Ismail of Sudan, told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television that he had received the "agreement in principle" of Shiite militant group Hizbullah, which has been spearheading the 10-day-old opposition protests, and was returning to Beirut for further talks.
The opposition has been demanding that the Western-backed cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora make way for a government of national unity. Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah confirmed that the movement's leader Hassan Nasrallah had given a positive response to the Arab envoy. "Nasrallah has informed Mustafa Ismail that Hizbullah sees positively any initiative that includes the formation of a government of national unity which secures a blocking minority," Fadlallah said. "But in the end our position will be decided after being discussed among opposition leaders," he added.
The opposition accuses the government of weakness and corruption, and says it no longer represents the people after the six pro-Damascus ministers submitted their resignations last month.
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Many North Koreans are now aware of the poverty of their country and are voicing discontent after years of near-starvation, according to the fullest study yet conducted of refugees from the Stalinist dictatorship.
While the popular image of North Koreans is of a nation living in blissful ignorance of the outside world and unquestioning loyalty to the leadership of Kim Jong-il, refugees interviewed while in hiding in China reported that there were increasing signs of dissent.
Kimmie's survived coup attempts before, when he had the Chinese solidly in his corner. Wonder if they're still there, and whether he'd survive another coup attempt?
Eighty per cent of those questioned said North Koreans no longer believed official propaganda that living standards were better than in capitalist South Korea. In reality, income per head is 20 to 30 times higher in the South. Nine in 10 of the refugees agreed that inside the country "North Koreans are voicing their concerns about chronic food shortages".
"Resentment toward the North Korean leadership for the continued hardship in the country is high," they said.
If Ronald Reagan were around today he'd find a way to nudge the North Koreans and give Kimmie a push.
Televisions remain tuned to one government channel and other sources of information are tightly censored, but news about life in neighbouring China, where living standards have fast outstripped their own, was seeping through by word of mouth.
The findings match other reports that radios are illegally altered to pick up South Korean broadcasts, and mobile phones smuggled over the border from China enable some people to speak to relatives outside.
Make sure we broadcast how the nuke program has been cutting into the food aid. Make sure in particular that the NKor Army knows it.
The 1,300 people questioned by the bipartisan US Committee on Human Rights in North Korea revealed harrowing details of the hunger, imprisonment, and torture they had suffered and witnessed. Ten per cent of respondents reported having been in prison or labour camps. Of those, nine out of 10 had witnessed someone dying of starvation, three quarters someone dying under torture, and seven per cent a case of infanticide.
Whoever pushes Kimmie out is going to be a hero. Might as well be us.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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As an XPert(s)-alleged CRIMINAL/MAFIA STATE + REGIME, the NorKors are the only Nation/State-level, Global? "Syndicate" or Mafia, etc. thats starving beyond starving.
#2
Whoever pushes Kimmie out is going to be a hero. Might as well be us.
Wasn't the same thing said about Sammy?
BTW: Where's the Human Rights Commission on this? Wheres Human Rights Watch? Where's AmNasty International? Too busy complaining about the temprature in a GITMO interrogation room I guess...
And since North Korea has no 5-star hotels (with 24 hour catering) the Vampire Vulture Elite of the UN don't give a shit either.
People will think Rwanda was a walk in the park when North Korea finally opens up and they see the truth.....
#3
The mentality seems to have 2 primary components:
1) You touch it, you own it. That implies nation-building - and I'm sure we're out of that business... at least until we have a DhimmiDonk Prez, then it'll be okie-fine.
2) Everyone waits for us to act because they're incapable of acting... which is beyond convenient when you haven't the stones in the first place which is why you haven't the capability in the second.
We are in a lose-lose position until we make it clear we are NOT the World Police and that we are permanently OUT of the Nation-Building game. We'll break what we find that's dangerous, and repeat as necessary. That's it.
#10
Crazy Fool, what do you mean? They have that giant hotel in the middle of the capital. You must have seen the pictures!
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/11/2006 14:00
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That giant hotel was never finished, the interior of the part that was finished is decaying, and the elevators are an iffy proposition. Which means if you are above the fifth floor, sucks to be you. Oh, the water supply in the Pyongyang is questionable too - all sorts of microbal visitors come in each glassful.
#12
Seems to me that with our technology we should be able to use the NKor's own radio and TV frequencies and override their own broadcasting facilities in order to share the real news.....even if they were to shut down or attempt to jam, we would still control it.
and Kimmie thoughtfully provided all those receivers already!!!! no need to air drop or otherwise smuggle any in!
A solution to the political crisis in Lebanon appeared close Sunday after the opposition and coalition majority announced their willingness to discuss a compromise proposed by the Arab League. Mustafa Ismail, envoy to the Arab League secretary general and foreign affairs adviser to the Sudanese president, is expected to arrive in Lebanon on Monday to promote the plan. In an interview Sunday night to Al-Arabiyah television, Ismail said that both sides had expressed their willingness to discuss the proposal.
Under the proposal, the number of Lebanese cabinet ministers would increase to 30. Of these, 19 would represent the parliamentary majority and 10 would come from opposition parties. The remaining minister would be proposed by the opposition and be subject to majority approval. In addition, the new cabinet would approve the creation of an international court to deal with the murder of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The Arab League proposal does not entail replacing President Emile Lahoud, who does not have majority parliamentary support.
Ismail said Sunday that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was expected to summon the parties to discuss the terms of the proposal. The Arab League envoy said all parties were willing to stop their street protests. "Hassan Nasrallah informed me that he is not interested in a revolution or in changing the current regime," Ismail said. He added that the Hezbollah leader would be willing to accept Prime Minister Fouad Siniora as the head of a unity government. The Arab League proposal does not contradict a Lebanese Christian initiative according to which the Christians would decide Lahoud's fate.
Sunday's surprising development came on the heels of a huge opposition rally in the center of Beirut, during which speakers predicted Siniora's imminent resignation and threatened to establish a shadow government if he was prevented from stepping down. Christian leader General Michel Aoun declared Sunday that if a solution satisfactory to the opposition was not found, it would declare the creation of an alternate government that would take action toward holding new elections.
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Tehran, Iran, Dec. 10 Irans annual revenue from oil and gas sales has reached 120 billion dollars, state television reported on Saturday. The report, which quoted the head of the Majlis (Parliament) Energy Committee, said that $45 billion from the income was being allocated for government subsidising of goods, in particular gas.
There's both the problem and the opportunity, which regular readers know well. $120 billion is a lot of cash for financing terror, nuclear weapons development and military purchases. It also buys off a fair part of the populace, and gasoline subsidies are a part of that. Make it difficult for the Iranians to import gas and you start creating problems for the Mad Mullahs.
Irans hard-line cabinet has faced strong criticism by many economists who say the sharp rise in government spending, financed by the countrys burgeoning oil revenues, is fuelling inflation; thus, leading to more poverty.
Despite Irans huge oil revenues, poverty and homelessness are ubiquitous features of the Iranian metropolis, with thousands of homeless persons spending the night in the bitter cold without any shelter. Irans state-run media call the homeless kartonkhabha, literally meaning those who sleep on cardboards.
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Does it pay for the drug habits of the huge numbers of addicts in Iran?
#5
The answers to the problem are clear. Is there a point at which citizen's militia will have to charter a boat, tool up and take out Kharg Island independently?
(Xinhua) -- Militants attacked a crowded passenger train Sunday afternoon in central Indian state Jharkhand, said the local police. A group of militants hijacked the passenger train with about 1,000 people on board when the train, from Jamshedpur in Singhboohm district of Jharkhand, was traveling in the dense forest near the border with neighboring state West Bengal, Shailendra Warnwal, deputy superintendent of Police of Singhboohm, told Xinhua.
The militants looted four rifles from the policemen on the train and left and all passengers were safe, he said. Eyewitnesses said the militants stayed on the train for more than half an hour. This is the third incident of train hijacking in the last few months in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The only time my two boys dress up reasonably decently is just before we go to Church on Sundays. It is on those days that my wife decides to take photos.
The "gentleman" in the photo displays the same attitude that they do when getting their photos taken.
#5
They were CPI(M) - Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres
Posted by: john ||
12/11/2006 14:47
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An armed citizenry is the cure to brazen banditry. If you know you won't be facing any guns, it's easy to rob others. If you knew the minute you stepped on board that train that as many as one-third of the passengers were packing heat, you'd be far less likely to play bad man.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/11/2006 14:48
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Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has come under attack for his views on the Holocaust from an unexpected quarter - a Palestinian activist recently freed after 18 years in an Israeli jail.
A two-day conference on the Holocaust, starting in Tehran tomorrow, has attracted considerable suspicion abroad. The Foreign Affairs Ministry, which is running the event, says 67 international researchers will attend, including some from Britain and Germany. Mr Ahmadinejad has been condemned on the eve of the conference by Mahmoud al-Safadi, who was sentenced to 27 years by Israel for throwing Molotov cocktails during the 1988 intifada. In an open letter to the Iranian president, he says that Mr Ahmadinejad's stance is a "great disservice to popular struggles the world over".
"Perhaps you see Holocaust denial as an expression of support for the Palestinians," he writes. "Here, too, you are wrong. We struggle for our existence and our rights, and against the historic injustice that was dealt us in 1948.
"Our success and our independence will not be gained by denying the genocide perpetrated against the Jewish people, even if parts of this people are the very forces that occupy and dispossess us to this day."
Mr Safadi says that reading the works of Arab intellectuals helped convince him that the Holocaust was a historical fact.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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The Foreign Affairs Ministry, which is running the event, says 67 international researchers will attend, including some from Britain and Germany.
Hmm, I'd have thought the French would have been in attendance as well.
I am coming more and more to the personal feeling that people who deny the Holocaust should be gut-shot. Those who think that they can support the Jews, but not Zionists, are cowards who wish for the Jews to be easy targets who can't shoot back.
A standard answer to those people who say "I am not antisemitic just antizionist" is ask them why they seem not care about ANYTHING else but Israel. Why not about say Soudan? There are more than 200 two hundred more Blacks killed in Soudan but none of our "anbtizionists" care baout them? Why? Because theyt are untermenschen to our libs or because they aren't "interesting" because contrarily to teh Palestoinins they don't plan to exterminate the Jews.
After WWII it became very politically incorrect to be antisemitic but by feigning to be moved by the "plight" of the Palestinians it became possible again to be antisemitic. More than that: to secretly aspire to Jewish extermination, except that this time it would not be directly at the hands of the Europeans but of the Arabs.
It is significative that the first terrorist group to ally itself with teh Paleos was the German Baasder Meinhoff: feigning to believe the crap about Jewish opressing the Palestinans allowed those descendants of Nazi voters to get rid of any feeling of guiltiness.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has left on a six-day visit to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The visit is part of the government's endeavours to forge closer interaction with brotherly countries in the Middle East. Frequent high-level contacts are the hallmark of the fraternal bonds. During the visit to Yemen, the prime minister will hold extensive talks with his counterpart Ba Jamal and call on President Saleh.
Posted by: Fred ||
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And I'll bet a rogue SUV helped in his escape.
ROSEVILLE, Mich. -- Roseville police said a man carrying "the biggest gun they've ever seen" robbed a convenience store on Masonic Boulevard on Friday. The man walked into the store, took a bottle of beer out of the cooler and pointed the gun over the counter at the clerk, police said. The robber grabbed money out of the cash register, and while doing so he glanced at the surveillance camera.
The man is carrying a nickel-plated revolver, possibly a .44 or .357-caliber Magnum, police said. He is described as a black man in his 20s, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, and was last seen wearing a leather Pelle Pelle jacket. One clerk refused to cooperate: (see pic)
COTABATO, Philippines - Three heavily armed men raided the provincial prison in this southern Philippine town, liberating an inmate jailed for the bombing of the city airport, police said.
One jail guard was wounded in the gunbattle when the three men, dressed like soldiers and carrying assault rifles, swooped down on the jail, freeing Badrudin Dalungan, a suspected Muslim extremist who was being held for the 2003 bombing of the Cotabato airport. It was one of a series of bombings that racked the southern Philippines and which were seen as attempts to divert the governments attention from its offensive against guerrillas of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Dalungan and the men who freed him are believed to be a member of a special urban operations squad of the MILF, said city police chief Superintendent Peraco Macacuja. However MILF spokesmen have never admitted Dalungan was a member of the group. "Lies! All lies!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
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I need a coffeee i was sure that said, 'special turban operations squad of the MILF.'
At least four civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike in Laghman province while six militiamen were killed in a remote-controlled explosion in Paktia province. Separately, two NATO soldiers were injured in a clash with the Taliban in Mizan district in Zabul province. The civilians were killed on Saturday in an airstrike that was part of a "mid-scale" operation against militants in Laghman province, local police chief Abdul Karim Omeryar said. In another incident, a remote-controlled bomb killed six militiamen fighting Taliban rebels in Paktia.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Thousands of civilians were on the run on Sunday in Sri Lankas restive northeast after heavy artillery exchanges left over 85 people dead, according to the Tamil rebels and government forces.
Nearly 3,000 people took shelter in schools and Buddhist temples after fleeing rebel artillery fire in northeast Sri Lanka, officials said on Sunday, as a second day of fierce fighting killed and wounded dozens.
Several hundred civilians arrived in the government held town of Kantale southwest of the strategic harbour of Trincomalee in the far northeast on Saturday, and nearly 2,000 more joined them on Sunday, officials said.
They (the Tigers) attacked civilian villages, so these people came to Kantale and we are looking after them, said Trincomalee Government Agent Ranith de Silva, the districts most senior civil servant.
The Defence Ministry said that 40 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and another 40 were wounded when troops retaliated against Tiger artillery attacks on Saturday. It said government forces lost two soldiers and that another 37 were wounded.
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ZIMBABWE has the highest inflation and lowest life expectancy in the world, not to mention the highest percentage of orphans. So desperate is the shortage of food that President Robert Mugabe's guards have been spotted shooting squirrels in Harare's botanical gardens.
Mugabe has done "so many wonderful things" for Zimbabwe it was likely delegates to the conference would appoint him for president for life.
However, Mr Mugabe, 82, may be rewarded by being made president for life at his party's annual conference this week.
The very idea kinda takes your breath away, doesn't it?
Could always root for another case of intestinal cancer ...
Among the main proposals to be discussed is postponing the next presidential elections from 2008 until 2010. The powerful National Security Minister and secretary for administration in the ruling Zanu-PF party, Didymus Mutasa, said last week Mr Mugabe had done "so many wonderful things" for Zimbabwe it was likely delegates to the conference would appoint him for president for life.
Posted by: Fred ||
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So, somebody there show some balls and help him end his presidency on his terms... (^8
From the CIA World Factbook, updated 30 November, '06:
Transnational Issues Zimbabwe
.......
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; children may be trafficked internally for forced agricultural labor, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation; women and girls are lured out of the country to South Africa, China, Egypt(????, WTF?), and Zambia with false job or scholarship promises that result in domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation; there are reports of South African employers demanding sex from undocumented Zimbabwean workers under threat of deportation; women and children from Malawi, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo transit Zimbabwe en route to South Africa; small numbers of South African girls are trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic labor.
btw, a big thank you for your welcome to my friend RPG, she has seen a lot. Appreciated, and I'm sure she can illuminate the subject probably better than I.
#6
rhodesiafever, Zenster was speaking for all of us; we like new voices... when they have intelligent and useful things to say, as she does. Please tell RPG so.
#7
Wow! Thank u one and all for your warm welcome to the site, and I will endeavour to do my utmost to keep up with the high standard of postings that I have seen on this site since my first post.
Fever u actually had me blushing buddy - so I am now going to return the compliment by saying - it was thru guys such as yourself, and many others, some sadly who lost their lives for what they believed in, you are the ones that kept us safe and secure for so many years, so that we could be here today to give our side of the story - so for that I can only salute u, and to all who lost their lives - "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM"
"Once in lifetime
a light shines so bright,
so pure That darkness is defeated in its presence.
Once in a lifetime
will an individual,
beyond all odds,
rise to meet the challenge.
Once in a lifetime
we will be given the opportunity
to honour them.
Let it not pass us by
Let us shine brightly
Once in a lifetime.
Let us help all to remember
That within the human spirit lives the ability to rise up and overcome all odds
if but once in a lifetime"
(Author unknown)
I left Zim in 2001 & have seen my beloved country reduced to wrack and ruin - and left behind numerous family and friends, who through no fault of their own - either have no financial means of leaving or are just unable to get out! and it is all thanks to one man and his rabid followers!
Now I have to read that he could be there for life - omg! - my blood pressure is rising rapidly, so best I end off.
#8
"all thanks to one man and his rabid followers"
Well, you can thank the UN, too, rpg7... Such Thugocracies are sanctified and protected by the General Assembly - and the Secretariat.
Thanks for your comments. It's impossible to imagine the pain. We may find out when we find ourselves in CW-II. Since you're nearby, now, we'd be happy if you lent us a hand, so we can give Zim a hand... and a future. Regards.
Some good news in here once you get past the hand wringing.
RAMADI, Iraq -- The soldiers swallow diet pills and slurp can after can of Red Bull, fighting to stay awake as they peer from armored Humvees into the pre-dawn darkness. Twangy country music pours from some vehicle sound systems, angry rap from others.
Every few minutes, an explosion is heard, but it's only the Marines blowing down doors as they storm from house to house, searching for sniper rifles, bomb-making materials and suspected insurgents.
"Operation Squeeze Play" is proving easier than expected considering this 20-block section of southeastern Ramadi _ known as "Second Officer's District" because it's home to so many former leaders of Saddam Hussein's army _ was not so long ago a no-go zone for U.S. troops.
"You used to look at a map and it'd be like the Columbus-era, 'South of here lies dragons,' because nobody ever went there," said Capt. Jon Paul Hart, assistant operations officer for the Army's 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment. "All we knew was that it was really bad, really dangerous."
Ramadi, the capital of the western, overwhelming Sunni Arab province of al-Anbar, has seen some of the bloodiest street battles of the war. Sunni insurgents remain well-entrenched here and continue to move freely through parts of downtown where Americans often dare not set foot.
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi prison chief and his deputy were under arrest on Sunday after Saddam Husseins nephew, accused of funding the Sunni insurgency, escaped jail a day earlier, sparking a huge manhunt by police.
Ayman Al Sabawi, the son of Saddams half brother, Sabawi Ibrahim Al Tikriti, escaped Badoush prison near the northern city of Mosul on Saturday after the jails night watch commander told colleagues he was transferring him to another prison.
Interior Ministry officials said they believed the commander had been bribed to help Sabawi escape. The night watch captain, whose family has also disappeared, convinced guards to free Sabawi after showing them a forged transfer form, they said. Gee, an inside job. Whoda thunk it?
The interior minister has ordered that a committee be formed to investigate (the escape) and the arrest of the head of the prison and his deputy, ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Kareem Khalaf told state television. Mosul police said the two officials had been detained late on Saturday night and were being questioned on Sunday.
Khalaf said officials thwarted a previous attempt by Sabawi to escape about a month ago. He said that plot had been engineered by a group of Saddamist sympathisers calling themselves Aawda (the Return Group).
Sabawi, who was captured in a village near Mosul in 2004, had been serving a six-year sentence for funding the insurgency but was also wanted in connection with other crimes.
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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh Sunday, and addressed the attempt to ignore the Palestinian issue over the past 60 years. He promised that "through a struggle, the Palestinians can retrieve all their territories, each and every part, and can establish a Palestinian government on them. No doubt It will happen."
IRNA news agency, the official Iranian news agency, reported Khamenei's words. The Iranian leader said that "the Palestinian nation is taking a step forward each day and I am sure that the day will come when that land is run by Palestinians."
Khamenei expressed Iran's support for the Palestinian government following statements made by Haniyeh over the weekend, including saying that his government will not recognize Israel, or any agreements signed by Israel.
Haniyeh chose his words carefully, both in the political aspect and the religious one. Haniyeh told Khamenei that he would "continue in the path of Imam Khumaini, you have always supported the Palestinian people and I hope to meet you at al-Aqsa mosque in the near future." Haniyeh continued to say that "the generation that is fighting the Zionists today and that started the first and second intifadas is a young, highly motivated generation. This is the generation that will free Palestine."
The Palestinian PM emphasized that the current Palestinian government would never recognize the Zionist regime. According to Haniyeh, the armed struggle against Israel is part of Hamas and the Palestinian people's strategy: "The resistance is the only way to free Palestine. All the Palestinians chose this way as serious, and not tactical."
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"It will happen" > To liberate "PALESTINE" = also to "Liberate" TAIWAN + JAPAN, etal. as well.
As said before this summer, just becuz many in LEBANON + SYRIA dislike = hate ISRAEL doesn't mean Lebanon-Syria will win agz Radical Iran. Radical Iran may hate Israel, but it is NOT for Lebanon andor Syria, etal. escaping per se Iranian control + regional "satrapy".
At least 26 people were killed on Sunday in Iraq, including nine Shias in sectarian attacks on two Baghdad families, a security official said. Also, police found the bodies of 60 more apparent victims of sectarian killings gripping the capital.
In the attack on the families, gunmen broke into a home in the southwestern Jihad neighbourhood and killed five Shias brothers, one of them a policeman, after separating them from their sisters, the official said. The women were unharmed.
In another similar attack, gunmen entered a house of another Shia family in the same area and killed a man and his three sons. Both were Shia families, the official said, suggesting the attack was sectarian in nature and carried out by Sunni extremists. The two families were unrelated, the official added, and it was not known whether the gunmen were from the same group.
Five people were killed and six wounded in clashes between Shia militiamen and members of the Sunni Janabat tribe in the nearby Al-Amil neighbourhood on Sunday. The official added that the area had now been secured by Iraqi police.
Southwestern Baghdad is a mixture of affluent Sunnis, poor Shias and then farther to the south, Sunni tribesmen resulting in constant clashes between Sunni and Shia gunmen.
In the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, nine people were killed on Sunday, police said. Seven of those, including a policeman, were shot in a series of attacks in the provincial capital of Baquba, while in Abu Saida gunmen killed two children. Five other people, three of them children, were wounded in the Abu Saida attack, police said, adding that they were all in the same car.
Police Colonel Yarub Khazal from the security team of former deputy prime minister Ahmed Chalabi was shot dead by gunmen as he was driving his car in west Baghdads Yarmuk neighbourhood, the security official added. In the same area a roadside bomb exploded as an Iraqi army patrol passed, wounding three soldiers.
In the central city of Tikrit police said gunmen shot dead a security guard from a local hospital while he was on his way to work, while in the northern oil city of Kirkuk gunmen shot dead a barber.
The US military said joint US and Iraqi forces launched an operation in Baghdads restive northern Sunni district of Adhamiyah on Sunday to try to reduce sectarian violence and insurgency activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006
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In an almost refreshing change of pace, this news:
--Robbers disguised as Iraqi soldiers rob bank truck in Baghdad.
At least four and as many as 25 people were killed and four houses demolished in an armed clash between two rival groups of Khyber Agency on Sunday. One of the groups, Lashkar-e-Islami, claimed to have killed several people from the rival Ansarul Islam group. The Lashkar said it had also destroyed the house of Ansarul Islam leader Maulana Mastameen. Mastameen said that his house had been destroyed, but denied that his group had suffered any casualties. We retaliated successfully and killed four of the attackers, he said, adding that his group also held a rival hostage. He said that his group had demolished the houses of three people from the Lashkar-e-Islami. The fighting reportedly took place in Kamarkhel, housing an army camp, close to the Pakistan-Afghan border.
SANA adds: A government official said on condition of anonymity that at least 25 people had been killed in the clash. He said that he could not give the exact death toll because it was difficult to access the area because of heavy snowfall. Firing started between the two groups on Saturday when one of them opened fired at the security pickets of the other. The gunbattle was continuing till Sunday evening. Local sources said that several people had been killed from both groups. The local political administration and the FATA Secretariat refused to comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Next up: The Yanomamo acquire nuclear weapons and decide to mix-and-match atomic tribal warfare with hallucinogenic ebene snuff. Progressives everywhere are horrified as tropical rain forest becomes collateral damage and America's strategic Jamba Juice reserves are compromised.
(Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya said on Sunday that holding early elections, as proposed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), will lead to chaos, the official IRNA news agency reported. This is as opposed to the current situation, which can best be described as... ummm... something else.
"The recommendation of PLO executive committee runs counter to the legal rights of the Palestinian government," Haneya told reporters before wrapping up his four-day visit to Iran. The PLO's recommendation is considered as the "beginning of chaos in Palestine," Haneya was quoted as saying. "While safeguarding integrity and solidarity is important to us, we oppose any political despotism. Ever since the Hamas government took office, we feel that some individuals are unjustly stabbing us from behind."
After a series of meetings, the PLO executive committee on Saturday recommended Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to hold early parliamentary and presidential elections. It is still not clear whether Abbas would adopt the PLO's recommendations to call early elections.
Haneya, who arrived in Tehran on Thursday to pay a four-day visit, is on his first tour abroad since he took office in March in a bid to rally support for the Palestinian cause and break up siege imposed by the West and Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said on Sunday that al-Qaeda-affiliated militants had plotted to disrupt the 12th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cebu. Eid Kabalu, MILF spokesperson, told the Inquirer by phone that their field commanders monitored the plot, which was hatched by militants active in Mindanao.
The ASEAN meet was moved to January next year because of threats from Typhoon Seniang (international code name: Utor) and not because of terror threats, according to Malacañang. But the day before organizers announced the postponement of the Summit, the United States, Britain, Australia and Japan warned of imminent terror attacks in Cebu.
Kabalu said the intelligence reports filed by MILF field commanders were not verified but said it was good the summit had been moved to another date so that security could be further tightened. "It was difficult to verify the threat but we monitored it," he said.
Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), admitted that militants identified with the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya, who are operating in the region, remained capable of launching attacks outside Mindanao. The Abu Sayyaf and the JI could easily hire somebody to carry out the attacks for them," he said.
But he said the ARMM police had not monitored any plot to disrupt the ASEAN Summit. "We have not monitored reports about terror threats to the ASEAN summit. We have direct contacts with the MILF and those with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)," Goltiao said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Cebu is a wonderful coastal city with great diving and hotels. Unfortunately half the city is infested with NPA and the other is infested with MILF/ASG. The ferry bombing originated from Cebu and it took a while to figure out if the Abu Sayyaff did it or the NPA did it to make them look bad. Hosting the ASEAN summit there is a dumb idea, but not surprising.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/11/2006 8:54
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This headline is misleading. When I saw "MILF Bares" my mind thought the story was about some sexy 30-something actress posing in Playboy. Let's see more of that.
Posted by: Tibor ||
12/11/2006 13:17
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MILF is trying to position itself as the "responsible Muslim alternative" in the PI. That is why they are ratting out the Al-Q boyz. Also, MILF does NOT want the formal US Known Terrorist Organization designation put on it, they have been pushing the idea that they are an insurgent group and not terrorists.
#4
On the surface you are correct Shieldwolf. But like most everything in Asia the surface is just good face. The MILF wants no part of being on the list, it will end the million of USAID and World Bank dollars filtering into the MILF in the form of seaweed farm grants and other free dollars that filter back to the MILF. The arms to farms programs are nothing more than a retirement plan for the MILF. Ask USAID how many of the MILF farmers that got grants are over 30 years old, the answer is none. The retired MILF fighters then send parts of their earnings to the MILF in support.
All the while the MILF scream AQ and the ASG are not being supported by them. This is crap. the ASG are given safe passage by the MILF as are the AQ. The ASG and AQ, actually JI, are proteted by the MILF as evident by the MILF providing sanctuary and movement for the ASG when they held the Burnhams. The AQ/JI camps are all in MILF territory.
Last but not least. The MILF do give up a token member now and again in an effort to gain good press. They allow a mule to be part of a operation and later let them get arrested. They know nothing of the inner workings of the MILF, JI, or ASG. Key leaders are never caught or turned in. Kaddafi Janjalani or Hapilon are still at large and protected by the MILF. If the MILF were legit about their wanting a Moro homeland and they want the US and the world to take the ARMM serious they would hand over KJ and Hapilon.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/11/2006 21:45
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Britains Foreign Office is urging government officials to stop using the US term war on terror amid concerns it angers British Muslims and undermines government aims, a weekly newspaper said Sunday. The government wants to avoid reinforcing and giving succour to the terrorists narrative by using language that, taken out of context, could be counter-productive, a Foreign Office spokesman told The Observer. The Foreign Office has sent the same message to cabinet ministers as well as diplomats and other government representatives around the world, according to the report. We tend to emphasize upholding shared values as a means to counter terrorists, the spokesman was quoted as saying.
Many British officials and experts, the weekly said, suspect that Islamist extremists find it easier to recruit followers when western governments speak of a war on terror, by suggesting it is actually a war against Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
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It definitely is a war on Islam. Who gives a rat's ass if they seethe ? Oh, you're worried you've let so many in that you can't control them ?
Everyone take a deep breath here. Zenster, you're getting tiresome. The regulars can prolly write your posts for you, n00bz are being underwhelmed by your wit.
We are all fully cognizant of the danger we face; irrational genocidal blabber is strictly not serving the side of Civilization.
#12
What is #11? Like a final warning before sinktrapping? A kind of Pergatory prior to entering the holy land (sinktrap)?
Posted by: BA ||
12/11/2006 15:48
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No, that was a sinktrapping; Seafarious whacked 'im.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2006 16:09
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Thank you for the advisory. I will refrain from such strong commentary in the future. My apologies to the board. I've just had it up to here with Islam's predation upon our world.
I would like to clarify upon what I posted. My statement was NOT a call for the slaughter of all Muslims. Repeat NOT. Evidently, it was able to be interpreted that way and, therefore, I will still voluntarily retract it for that reason. Had it been a call to genocide, the world "Islam" would have been replaced with "Muslims". That was most definitely not the case.
My statement was a call to end Islam's existence as a religion. It belongs on history's scrapheap every bit as much as Calvinism, Puritanism and a host of other severe and outdated creeds.
Again, my statement was not a call to genocide and I want to make that very clear. I do not expect Rantburg to put up with such actions and neither do I promote them.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The Pentagon will not try to use emergency powers to build a compound to hold war crimes trials at Guantanamo Bay, according to a member of a Senate panel that oversees funding for military construction projects.
The U.S. Defense Department notified Sen. Dianne Feinstein that it canceled a contract solicitation to build the new courthouse complex at the isolated base in southeast Cuba because of concerns about the location and funds for the facility, according to a statement from her office. ``I thank the department for postponing plans to build a permanent courthouse at Guantanamo Bay,'' Feinstein, a California Democrat, said in the statement late Friday. ``It's important this courthouse proceed through regular order, with public hearings, so that there is full knowledge of what is intended.''
The Defense Department recently sent a letter to Congress announcing its intention to fast-track the Guantanamo complex by reallocating $102 million of its authorized funds by invoking its emergency powers to bypass congressional approval, Feinstein said.
A Pentagon spokesman gave no specific details about the cancellation, which was first reported by The Miami Herald on Sunday, but said that due to the scope and complexity of the trials for terror suspects, additional infrastructure and personnel remains a much-needed addition at Guantanamo. ``We will continue working with the Congress to ensure that unlawful enemy combatants at Guantanamo can be brought to justice as expeditiously as possible,'' Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon said in an e-mail Sunday. ``We do not want a lack of facilities to be a reason for delaying the process of bringing these dangerous enemy combatants to justice.''
Posted by: Steve White ||
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``We do not want a lack of facilities to be a reason for delaying the process of bringing these dangerous enemy combatants to justice.''
Right. A courthouse is certainly not necessary. Just need an old cargo plane with rear ramp that can get to 16-18000 feet. Just a short ride northeast, dump, return for next load.
Posted by: Dan Cooper (ret.) ||
12/11/2006 8:10
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WTF are we doing spending $102 million on a courthouse, no less some super-swank megaplex that will be nicer than any post courtroom where we court-martial our own soldiers?
I'm sure a lot of the cost is for security measures. But they've been doing status determination hearings for quite some time now with no problem. If you have three desks and a set of leg irons, you have a courtroom. Whatever happened to improvise, adapt, and overcome?
Oh, right. This is the master race we're dealing with here. The little princesses might feel the pea under the mattress.
Calling the Iran Block's bluff. Check the box. Move on to the next step.
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The U.S. and its closest Western allies may soon call a vote on U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran, even at the risk that Russia and China may abstain or veto the measures, officials said Sunday.
"They're talking about a vote as soon as possible," a U.S. official said of plans by the Americans, French and British. He and other diplomats and representatives of Western governments spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge Western strategies on Iran.
The decision to risk a Russian and Chinese veto would reflect recognition by the five permanent Security Council members that they cannot agree on a common approach to dealing with concerns that Iran might be seeking to develop nuclear arms. Risk? What risk? How does their veto compare to the issue of allowing them to stonewall the issue any longer? So give the fantasy up and move on.
#2
"Ayatollah recklessness"- Dead on, SNEAZE. PC goes both ways, and iff Russia-China won't go for sanctions all Dubya has to do is let Moud do his thing. RUSSIA's own nukeperts say Moud = Radical Iran will be self-sufficient, however roughly, in peaceful = weapons-making nuke materials next Spring 2007. Iranian "self-sufficiency" will undoubtedly motivate smaller Muslim nations, + minority groups within Russia-China, to exert their preceived rights as backed up by nuke tech. ALL DUBYA HAS TO IS SIT BACK, AND BLAME RUSSIA-CHINA, ANTI-US EUROS, + AMER POLS FOR BOTH NOT SUPPORTING HIM, RUMMY, + BOLTON AT UNO PLUS EMPOWERING ANTI-US/DEMOCRATIC GLOBAL NUKE PROLIFERATION. Dubya > iff these guys want POLITIX = PC so much, and forever,lets be political, and technical, and legalist like they are. ONCE MUSLIMS START HAVING NUKE ARMS, HONEYMOON = LOVE AFFAIR OF CONVENIENCE IS OVER BETWEEN SECULAR SOCIALISTS + GOD-BASED SOCIALISTS.
*SNIFF, SNIFF, first CONDI + LAVROV, now MOUD + RUSSIA-CHINA, FRANCE, etc. > BAD DAY FOR A WEDDING [Billy Idol]. HOW CAN LOVE SAVE THE WORLD???
Bangladeshs president has deployed army troops throughout the country in order to control escalating political violence after his interim government failed to end a continuing political standoff over electoral reforms, the home ministry said.
President Iajuddin Ahmed "has ordered deployment of army in aid of the civil administration to protect public life and property," the ministry said in a statement late on Saturday. The order came after days of often violent street protests by an alliance of 14 political parties demanding electoral reforms ahead of next month's general elections. The order for the deployment of troops was made even though the 14-party political alliance pushing for electoral reforms postponed its planned protests around the presidential palace to give the government more time to make the changes, an alliance spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(Xinhua) -- Lebanon on Sunday witnessed two conflicting mass rallies: one in downtown Beirut demanding ouster of current government and another in the northern city of Tripoli pledging support for it. People worry that the two contradicting rallies might widen the sharp split among the rival politicians and their supporters.
The anti-government rally began at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT). The protestors gathered in the Squares of Riyadh al-Solha and Martyr in downtown Beirut, waving Lebanese white-and-red national flags and chanting anti-government slogans. "Change is coming," read banners carried by the demonstrators.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said the protest promised to be larger than the rally on Dec. 1 that kicked off the opposition campaign. "This is a sea of demonstrators unprecedented in the history of Lebanon," an army spokesman was quoted as saying, estimating that "hundreds of thousands" had gathered in the heart of Beirut and on access roads to the city center. While addressing the protestors, Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem called on Prime Minister Fouad Seniora to "resign to preserve your dignity and honor, and Lebanon's honor..."
He also vowed that the protest, launched on Dec. 1, would continue for as long as 10 months until the anti-government factions achieve veto-powered partnership in the cabinet. Shortly before the anti-government protest was launched at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT), Beirut looked more like an army barracks with military vehicles manning crossroads.
In Tripoli, 80 kilometers north of Beirut, hundreds of thousands of government sympathizers cheered as parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri stressed through a telephone connection that "the government would not fall. (President Emile) Lahoud will collapse."
Saad Hariri, the son of ex-premier Rafik Hariri who was assassinated by a huge blast targeting his motorcade in Beirut in February 2005, reminded sympathizers that Lahoud's mandate in office was extended for three years by an illegal constitutional amendment under Syrian pressure in 2004.
Observers here see no end to the conflicting mass rallies in the near future, worrying more violence, or even a civil war will be if the political crisis deepens.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The customary Cursing of the Mustaches before the shoes start to fly...
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will try to convince Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq to join the religious alliance in its campaign against the Womens Protection Act (WPA), MMA sources told Daily Times on Sunday.
The sources said that the MMA would contact Haq in a couple of days to seek his partys support against the WPA. They said that after postponing their decision on resignations from the National Assembly, MMA leaders had decided to contact opposition parties against the WPA.
Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl had agreed at an MMA Supreme Council meeting on December 7 to postpone decision on resignations from the assembly to muster maximum support from the opposition parties against the WPA. Now the party will step up its campaign to contact religious and political parties against the WPA, a senior MMA leader said.
MMA Supreme Council Member Qari Gul Rehman said the alliance would try its best to save the sanctity of religion, adding that the opposition was being contacted against the WPA. He said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had responded positively to their suggestions.
Samiul Haq said his party always sacrificed for the MMA, but it got nothing from the alliance in return. The MMA has always supported the government through underhand deals, Haq said. He said the JUI-S would start an anti-WPA campaign on its own that would be effective than that of the MMAs.
Posted by: Fred ||
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ISTANBUL: Singapore Airlines said it might buy more Boeing 777 airplanes so it could continue to grow if there were further delays with the Airbus A380 superjumbo jet. "Boeing 777-300ERs, in our experience, would be a useful alternative to A380s," Chew Choon Seng, the airline's chief executive, said in an interview Saturday. "We could upsize the order if there are further delays with the A380."
Singapore Airlines has 10 firm orders for Airbus's 555-seat A380, the world's biggest commercial aircraft, and said in July that it intended to buy nine more. Since then, Airbus has pushed back the delivery date because of wiring problems, and the carrier does not expect to get the first of the planes until next October, rather than this month as originally scheduled.
Singapore Airlines placed a $3.6 billion order in August 2004 for 18 777- 300ERs and has the option to buy 13 more.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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I wonder will the death of Airbus kill the "EU Project"?
Airbus would have been a viable business if it wasn't for state interferance, and the US people would have benefitted from having a decent plane market.
#2
..And apparently, a new version of the 747 has just been purchased by Lufthansa:
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-12489362.htm (That link is to the original story, I have seen a couple articles today that say the sale went through but can't find the new link)
If that doesn't kill the A380 once and for all, it's unkillable. Their best option at that point may be to build a few cargo versions for the EU military and call it a day.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/11/2006 9:13
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Once the bugs are worked out, the A380 will do fine, though not as profitable as Airbus hoped. It will have the cachet of being the largest passenger aircraft, much like in the heyday of the 747. But the A380 is a poor freighter, where economics rule. Too heavy and burns too much fuel. The 747-8F or future 787F and follow ons will have better economics.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2006 9:28
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Screw the Airbus. The fricking tails fall off. No way to check the structural wear on composites aside from literally banging on them with a hammer.
Security officials say a wanted terror suspect arrested in Bethlehem on Sunday is implicated in the killing of three Israel Defense Forces soldiers. Khaled Salhat, a Fatah operative, was arrested in a joint operation by the police, Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces. Salhat was involved in the killing of an IDF soldier in a shooting attack on October 2, 2000, near Bethlehem. On October 17, 2000, he orchestrated a shooting attack on Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood. A Border Police officer was critically injured in the attack. On November 1, 2000, he carried out a shooting attack near Bethlehem in which an IDF officer and soldier were killed and three others were injured. Security forces thwarted a kidnapping attack that targeted an IDF officer. Salhat was the main suspect in the incident. Salhat has been remanded for interrogation.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Five people including a four-year old girl died while thousands fled to evacuation centres set up mostly in public schools as typhoon Utor ravaged southern Philippines, downing power lines, radio reports said yesterday.
Utor reaching 136 kilometres per hour, killed a four-year-old girl in Tacloban City and four others in Capiz while injuring six in the Visayas region. Tacloban police identified the four-year-old girl as April Felicen who was pinned to death by a falling tree that hit her home and also injured her six-year-old brother John Rey.
66,787 people, mostly in Albay province, fled their damaged homes and are now staying in evacuation centres.
Most of the fatalities were hit by falling trees, reports from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.
The NDCC said more than 66,787 people, mostly in Albay province, fled their damaged homes and are now staying in evacuation centres. Albay was the hardest hit by a previous typhoon that buried villages and left more than 1,000 people dead or missing. Utor displaced 3,000 families and destroyed infrastructure estimated at $653,061 in different parts of eastern Visayas alone, according to initial reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
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136 kilometers per hour? Wow. That's nearly .... ummm... lemme see... 85 miles per hour!
One foot = 0.3048 meters; 1 km = 3,280.839895 feet; 1 km = 0.6213711922 miles, more or less....
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006 6:11
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SECRET talks in which senior US officials came face to face with some of their most bitter enemies in the Iraqi insurgency broke down after two months of meetings, rebel commanders have disclosed. The meetings, hosted by Iyad Allawi, Iraq's former prime minister, brought the country's insurgent commanders and the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, together for the first time.
After months of delicate negotiations Dr Allawi, a former Baathist and a secular Shi'ite, persuaded three rebel leaders to travel to his villa in Amman, the Jordanian capital, to meet Mr Khalilzad for talks in January. "The meetings came about after persistent requests from the Americans. It wasn't because they loved us but because they didn't have a choice," said a rebel leader who took part in the talks.
The revelations came as a US Defence Department spokesman confirmed Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew to Iraq over the weekend in a surprise trip to thank troops for their service just days before he steps down from his post. Mr Rumsfeld resigned in November, the day after President George W. Bush's Republicans lost control of the US Congress with voter frustration over the Iraq war dominating the election.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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Secret? They were reported. Negotiations with terrorists - especially where they are driven by religion - can't work.
#4
.Com, while you may not think it important, you just passed a major Moderating Hurdle with me. No acknowledgement necessary, that would be ridiculous. Appreciation, yes.
Iraq's president Jalal Talabani, a key ally of the US, yesterday delivered a thunderous rejection of the bipartisan US Iraq Study Group, describing its findings as "dangerous" and saying that its recommendations were "dead in the water".
At his heavily fortified residence on the banks of the Tigris, Mr Talabani told the Guardian that the key suggestions of the long-awaited report by James Baker and Democrat Lee Hamilton were "the wrong medicine for the wrong diagnosis" and called them an unwarranted interference in Iraq's internal affairs that undermined the war-torn country's sovereignty at a crucial time. "As far as I am concerned it is dead in the water," he said.
Mr Talabani added that calls for US sanctions against the Iraqi government if it failed to meet a timeline for a series of milestones were "an insult".
Mr Talabani added that calls for US sanctions against the Iraqi government if it failed to meet a timeline for a series of milestones were "an insult".
Launched last week amid much fanfare in the United States, the bipartisan report on the next step for the US in Iraq outlined among other things the "grave and deteriorating situation" in the country. It expressed deep concern over the weakness of the national unity government, advocating strong centralised rule.
Mr Talabani's strident response followed another weekend of sectarian-inspired violence in Baghdad and a surprise farewell visit to US troops in Iraq by the outgoing US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, one of the chief architects of the US-led invasion.
The findings of the Iraq Study Group have already met considerable vocal opposition in Iraq, but Mr Talabani's comments are the loudest so far. The head of the Kurdistan Alliance, Mr Talabani is one of the country's most influential figures, a broker among the feuding factions in Baghdad. His vehement opposition to the report could be decisive.
"To hear such comments from anti-US figures like Moqtada al-Sadr is one thing, but to hear it from President Talabani is something else."
A western diplomat in Baghdad said: "To hear such comments from anti-US figures like Moqtada al-Sadr is one thing, but to hear it from President Talabani is something else."
The Iraqi president said he would send a letter to President George Bush outlining the government's thinking about "the main issues" contained in the Baker-Hamilton document.
We have many former Iraqi army officers, good patriotic professional army men who were against Saddam Hussein. Why can't we bring those people to the army, to help train and develop and lead?"
The former Kurdish guerrilla leader said he was particularly alarmed by the recommendations for Iraq's security structures, including the fledgling Iraqi army and the police. The ISG suggested withdrawing US troops from a frontline combat role by 2008, and increasing the number of US soldiers embedded with the Iraqi army from 3,000-4,000 currently to 10,000-20,000.
But a clearly agitated Mr Talabani said: "They want to embed thousands more US army officers in Iraqi army units from small squadrons to whole divisions. If our army became a tool in the hands of foreign officers, what would that say about Iraqi sovereignty? We have many former Iraqi army officers, good patriotic professional army men who were against Saddam Hussein. Why can't we bring those people to the army, to help train and develop and lead?"
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After a fiery ascent that turned night into day, space shuttle Discovery and its crew headed to the international space station yesterday to rewire the orbital outpost. Astronauts were to spend yesterday in orbit inspecting the shuttle for potentially critical heat shield damage.
Discovery will dock with the space station today, and the intricate work will begin. Three complicated spacewalks are planned to rewire the space station from a temporary to a permanent power source. Nasa had to beat the odds to get off the launch pad on Saturday in the first nighttime launch in four years. After only a 30 per cent chance of good weather earlier in the day and a two-hour delay in fuelling, Discovery streaked through a moonless sky at 8:47 pm.
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Posted by: ed ||
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#1
Eighty percent of Baghdad is mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods. Pacification without domination, is impossible. Shiites in the Iraq parliament, openly supported Hezbollah terrorists in the Israeli intervention in Lebanon. The US has had good relations with Sunni majority states and secular controllers of Shiites (Monarchial Iran), but never with a Shiite majority state. Iraq Shiites are only using the Coalition, to prep for total domination and integration with Iran's Ayatollahs.
#3
And the sunnis, SS, have been supportive of the "insurgency", being resentful of having been knocked off of the top-dog spot in Iraq. Saddam served them well, and they're pissed that they can't command the first and the best of the goodies. So they tacitly support the "insurgency", looking the other way when IEDs are emplanted or mortars fired. Seems to me they're reaping what they sow, but even speaking of that sort of karma gives some people the hives.
There isn't a civil war: what we have are people getting even: a trait that Islam, as a religion, refuses to condemn.
Earlier this year, bird flu panic was in full swing: The French feared for their foie gras, the Swiss locked their chickens indoors, and Americans enlisted prison inmates in Alaska to help spot infected wild birds.
The H5N1 virus - previously confined to Southeast Asia - was striking birds in places as diverse as Germany, Egypt, and Nigeria, and a flu pandemic seemed inevitable.
Then the virus went quiet. Except for a steady stream of human cases in Indonesia, the current flu epicenter, the past year's worries about a catastrophic global outbreak largely disappeared.
What happened?
Part of the explanation may be seasonal. Bird flu tends to be most active in the colder months, as the virus survives longer at low temperatures. 'Many of us are holding our breath to see what happens in the winter,' said Dr. Malik Peiris, a microbiology professor at Hong Kong University. 'H5N1 spread very rapidly last year,' Peiris said. 'So the question is, was that a one-off incident?'
#2
The assumption that evolution will always produce the most advantageous end result is a commonly held but incorrect understanding of the process.
Biologists sometimes describe this as the wheel problem. Plains animals would be best served (in terms of mobility) by having wheels instead of hooves. It would give them a huge advantage. But that doesn't mean that that is what WILL happen, because mutations are random.
It would certainly advantage the avian flu virus to infect humans more easily and therefore increase its own population, but evolution is random, and that means it may or may not happen.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/11/2006 7:26
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#3
Earlier this year, bird flu panic was in full swing
Earlier this year, the Main Stream Media induced faux bird flu panic was in full swing.
See, fixed it. No blood, no guts, no panic, no fear means no sales. Fake but True.
Deimos and Phobos the patron saints gods of yellow journalism.
#4
no mo uro: mutation may be near random, but natural selection isn't. Various strains of avian flu virus compete among themselves for the best characteristics to insure their spread.
Typically, this means lower mortality, longer incubation periods while evading immune response, upper respiratory tract virus density, and a bunch of other things.
To accomplish this, even viruses rely on lots of tricks. Mutation is just one. RNA piracy from related viruses and host cells is another. Different effects with different species is another.
This can be terribly complex. For example, they have just learned that African HIV virus uses the protozoan disease malaria to indirectly spread itself. With malaria infection, HIV blood density skyrockets for a time, making it much easier to spread.
Now whether this is intentional, or just good luck on the part of HIV, the effect is the same, the virus is propagated.
Avian flu is cyclic. Right now, in its "dormant" winter phase, new strains are being generated at an astounding clip throughout Asia. And even when it finally breaks out in a human epidemic, it will begin with a vicious outbreak followed by a pause in which they think they have stopped it somehow.
Then a second wave will hit. And another pause. And only with the third or fourth wave will it suddenly explode.
#5
"And only with the third or fourth wave will it suddenly explode."
Perhaps, and perhaps not.
Look, I'm not trying to say that avian flu cannot mutate to become widespread and dealy in humans, because that is certainly a possible outcome. I'm saying that it isn't a sure thing. Just because a hypothetical mutation would grant great competitive advantage to an organism is no guarantee that it will happen.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/11/2006 12:29
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#6
That's "deadly"...........
I WILL use preview..........................
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/11/2006 12:30
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#7
A'moose - you better bookmark this page so you can say, "I told you so".
I hope you're wrong, but it sure does sound credible!
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/11/2006 12:30
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#9
no mo uro and Bobby: The cyclic waves of flu are typical for influenza. They are purely a product of both spread of the disease and incubation period.
For example, when the major epidemic hits, which it almost has to, eventually, because of the vast number of animals that are acting like small computers to generate the best strain; the progression will go like this:
1) Some small Asian village will almost be wiped out by the disease. However, unlike in the past, there will be a huge government response.
2) The disease will appear to be contained, and two weeks will pass without any new appearance of the disease in the area.
3) A few, sporadic cases will appear in outlying areas, and they will be quickly quarantined. Two more weeks pass.
4) Some larger outbreaks happen in the region, but it appears unlikely they have any relationship with "village zero".
5) A major city in the region gets a massive outbreak. Huge numbers of casualties, with national quarantine and international panic.
The trick of influenza is that it is working two stages ahead of where it *appears* to be working. So any response is already too late.
#11
Mutations are random, yes, but sexual selection - an aspect of natural selection - is not. It is for this reason that hypothetical wheeled charismatic megafauna make a poor analogy for variation in viral strains.
#12
On the plus side, there are several things that can be done to prevent the disease. First and foremost is when you are out in public during an outbreak, to use hand sanitizer about six times a day. This is because it was recently proven that most colds and flus are spread by hand contamination.
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) (NOT vitamin D2), has recently been found to cause the body to secrete a chemical that erodes the casings of some viruses, which destroys them. Most people are vitamin D deficient.
Ordinary cranberry juice, taken in considerable quantity, has been proven to strongly limit virus adhesion to human cells, for certain viruses and bacteria. Unknown for the flu.
Zinc gluconate lozenges (Cold-eeze brand only), have been proven to strongly inhibit reproduction of viruses in the sinuses. Ordinary zinc supplements do not produce this effect, because their form of zinc is not readily uptaken by the mucous membranes.
Other ionic metals such as colloidal silver also have a reproductive-inhibition effect, but it has not been determined how they could be used for this purpose.
Weird one: The British recently did a study of how temperature relates to colds and flus, and discovered that only the feet seem to matter. That is, if a person's feet are cold, they have a significantly greater chance of catching colds and flus. No other body part even comes close.
However, the "cytokine storm" effect has been confirmed with the avian flu, so under NO circumstances should you take immune system enhancing chemicals. The storm effect happens when your immune system overreacts in fighting a virus and kills you.
(Xinhua) -- Two buses carrying employees from a U.S. construction company were attacked west of the Algerian capital Algiers on Sunday, said reports reaching here from Algiers. At least one Algerian driver was killed and another injured in the attack in Bouchaoui, 15 kilometers (9 miles) west of Algiers, near a forest on the coast, witnesses were quoted as saying. According to media reports, the attack took place when the two buses were carrying employees of the U.S. company, Brown Root and Condor, to the Sheraton hotel where they were staying on the Algerian coast.
Brown Root and Condor, or BRC, is a joint venture between Halliburton's Brown & Root and Condor Engineering SPA with contracts in Algeria's oil industry.
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AUSTRALIA'S most watched woman, Rabiyah Hutchinson, and her eldest daughter were once at the apex of Jemaah Islamiah's first known attempt at setting up a terror cell in Australia. An investigation by The Australian has revealed that Ms Hutchinson, who married JI leader Abdul Rahim Ayub, also married off her eldest daughter to her husband's twin brother, the Afghani-trained jihadist Abdul Rahman Ayub. The Australian has been told the daughter was about 16 at the time of the marriage to her uncle, who had been sent to Australia with his brother to set up the JI cell known as Mantiqi4. When approached by The Australian last week, Abdul Rahman Ayub refused to comment on the marriage. It is understood the marriage was shortlived and that the couple had no children.
"So why'd you get a divorce, Abdul?"
"I hated her guts."
It has also been discovered that Ms Hutchinson, now 53, has been married eight times -- twice to suspected terror leaders. When she married in 1984, Abdul Rahim Ayub was her third husband.
The one before that was the guy with the hat.
After they broke up in 1996 she remarried several times. In 2000 she married an al-Qa'ida member and confidant of Osama bin Laden, the Egyptian-born Mustafa Hamid, or Abu al Walid al-Masri. At the time, Hamid was a senior member of al-Qa'ida and worked closely with bin Laden, but later split with him over ideological differences.
"Binny! Are you tryin' to get us all killed?"
"If y'don't like it, get the hell out!"
"Well, I don't like it!"
"Throw him out, boyz!"
The blonde Ms Hutchinson's marriages, her good looks and startling blue eyes have prompted some to refer to her as the Elizabeth Taylor of JI. But a member of the Islamic community in which she lived in Sydney said Ms Hutchinson was widely disliked and her views were considered archaic. "She was very anti-Western," he told The Australian. He said there was also an oft-recounted story about her days in Afghanistan in the 1980s during the war against Soviet forces. "She was considered such a troublemaker the mujaheddin wanted to kill her," he said.
"Mahmoud! Let me borrow your rocket launcher! I'm going to kill that woman!"
"But why, Ahmed?"
"I hate her guts!"
The story went that it was her brother-in-law, Abdul Rahman Ayub, who saved her. On another trip to Afghanistan at the time, Ms Hutchinson was accompanied by her then husband, Abdul Rahim Ayub. Ms Hutchinson, through her lawyer Peter Erman, has declined to comment on the revelations but she has previously denied any involvement in terrorism.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
"She does not wish to assist you in publishing more lies about her by giving you a detailed response," Mr Erman said in an email.
"I got nuttin' to say to youse! Nuttin'"
Inquiries by The Australian have revealed that Ms Hutchinson was born Robyn Mary Hutchinson in Mudgee, central-western NSW, in August 1953. The Australian has been told that her parents have died and that her siblings have spread across Australia but she is no longer in touch with them.
"They don't like her, either!"
After what friends described as an unhappy life she headed to Bali on a holiday in about 1970. She loved Bali, married a Buddhist and stayed on the island. Despite the birth of a daughter, the marriage did not last.
The Buddhists couldn't stand her, either, huh? I think we can see a pattern emerging...
She moved to Jakarta and then married another Indonesian man, named Bambang Wisudo, and they had two daughters together. The oldest, Suniyah, is living quietly on Sydney's northern beaches, but she does not attend the local mosque or mix with the Islamic community as her mother and stepfather once did.
"They remind me too much of me Mum."
Suniyah's younger sister, Rahma, was born in 1982 at Manly hospital on Sydney's northern beaches. Rahma was married in 1999 at the age of 16 to Khaled Cheikho, one of the 22 men arrested in Sydney and Melbourne last year during the counter-terrorism Operation Pendennis. Ms Hutchinson married Abdul Rahim Ayub in 1984 and she lived in the Jakarta areas of Tanah Abang and Depok. It is understood Ms Hutchinson speaks Indonesian as well as Arabic and spent much of her time in Indonesia undertaking dawa, or Islamic missionary work.
"It's her again, Bambang!"
"Close the windows! Pretend we ain't home!"
"Gawd, I hate that woman!"
Nasir Abas, a former JI member who has turned informer, said he was aware of Rabiyah but knew little about her. "It is the JI culture -- you never know the background of others' wives," he said.
"Every once in awhile, of course, you had to ask yourself: 'Where do they get these people?'"
Ms Hutchinson and Abdul Rahim Ayub had four children: Mohammed, 21, and Abdullah, 19, Mustafa, 16, and their sister, Aminah. They live together in Yemen with stepsister Rahma. Mohammed and Abdullah and their friend Marek Samulski were released from a Yemeni jail last week seven weeks after they were arrested on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities. No charges were laid against them.
"Yez got nuttin' on us, coppers! Da witnesses is all dead!"
Mohammed and Abdullah were born in Darwin after Ms Hutchinson and Ayub had returned to Australia in 1985. The family moved to Melbourne, staying in Footscray and West Sunshine until 1990. They moved to Sydney, where she met Jack Roche, the Islamic convert from Perth who became the first person jailed in Australia for terrorism-related offences. After the couple separated, Abdul Rahim Ayub moved to Perth before fleeing the country in the days after the 2002 Bali bombing. Abdul Rahman Ayub was deported to Indonesia on immigration visa offences.
"AND STAY OUT, DAMMIT!"
Ms Hutchinson then travelled extensively overseas with her children, including visits to Egypt, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Where'd the money come from? Air travel isn't free.
She spent several years in Afghanistan, working as a midwife, until the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. During her time there, she was a conduit for Australians arriving in Afghanistan, and she met "Jihad" Jack Thomas and his wife, Maryati. Since returning to Australia, she has been under constant surveillance by ASIO and has moved at least five times in the past few years. At one of those addresses, in Wiley Park, southwest Sydney, the tenants complained they were still receiving letters addressed to her from Centrelink two years later.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Sounds like she can qualify for "The Bitch from Hell" award.
#4
AH9418---You do NOT want to look at her, or a graven image thereof. VEDDY BAD JUJU!!! You'll turn to a pillar of salt or something. Explore the universe and all its wonders, but do not visit or gaze upon Rabiyah Hutchinson. You have been warned.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2006 11:24
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#5
Alaska Paul's challenge made me search and search, but no internet pics of this chick are available, at least with English subtitles. One article said she wore a full burqa, so she could be any burqa-bag lady anywhere at this moment. Her own landlord admits he's never seen her face.
Also, she did more than work as a midwife:
Hutchison's marriage to Hamid elevated her to the most trusted ranks of the al-Qa'ida network. She was so well regarded that in 2001 she was picked by bin Laden's deputy, the Egyptian physician Ayman al-Zawahiri, to help run a new hospital in Kabul.
Thomas told the AFP that Zawahiri had discussed Hutchison with him when they met in the southern Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, after Thomas completed his training at Camp Faruq.
Zawahiri was planning to build a new women's hospital and wanted Hutchison to help him run it. Thomas said Zawahiri asked him for a "character reference" for Hutchison, which Thomas was happy to provide.
But the hospital plan was abandoned when the US launched its bombing raids on Afghanistan after the attacks on the US of September 11, 2001.
In the chaos that followed, Hutchison and her two sons fled Afghanistan, travelling to Iran and then home to Australia. Her travels finally came to an end when ASIO cancelled her passport, deeming her a security risk.
Unfortunately, I lost the link to the source of the above quote while researching this.
(Xinhua) -- At least 12 soldiers were killed and 51 others injured Sunday in clashes between the government troops and the Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, defense officials said. Prasad Samarasinghe, the military spokesman said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels had fired mortars and artillery fire at the military presence at Kajuwatta in the eastern Batticaloa district.
He said the military had retaliated with heavy fire towards the rebels and they may have also suffered heavy casualties. Samarasinghe also said that the LTTE had continued mortar and artillery fire from Vakarai region in the east on the majority Sinhala community villages of Somapura, Sirimangalapura, Serupura and Mahindapura in the multi-ethnic district. More than 2,000 civilians were displaced while two soldiers and a civilian were killed in the attacks on Saturday. The rebel mortar and artillery fire on the villages began on Dec. 7.
The LTTE sources said that the troops advanced well into their territory and the retaliatory fire caused the deaths of at least five soldiers on Saturday with no casualties to them. They claimed that military mortars and artillery had landed on at least two refugee camps in areas under their control killing several civilians. On Thursday the rebel gun fire landed on a school killing at least four civilians including a teacher, which drew a condemnation from the U.S. government.
The international community has been appealing to both sides to stop violence and return to talks. The weekend clashes came after the Norwegian special peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer Friday failed to break the deadlock between the warring parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Yossi Baidatz, head of the Research Division at the Military Intelligence Branch, told the cabinet Sunday that Syrian President Bashar Assad was working on two different fronts simultaneously the diplomatic and the military one. "On the one hand, he (Assad) doesn't rule out the possibility of a diplomatic settlement with Israel, but on the other hand he is preparing his forces for a military confrontation, by enhancing the production of long-range missiles and moving antitank missiles close to the Golan Heights border. From his point of view, the two do not contradict each other," Baidatz explained.
During his briefing, Baidatz said that Damascus was still involved in developments in Lebanon , and that the country was concerned regarding the international tribunal on former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murder. Baidatz stated that the Syrian President has been conducting intensive diplomatic negotiations in the last two weeks, in hope of capitalizing on what he believes is an international opening for talks. The senior official has also referred to the Palestinian and the Lebanese arena and the Iranian issue. Speaking of Iran, Baidatz said that Tehran was preparing for December 25, at which time the UN Security Council is set to decide whether to impose sanctions on Iran .
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
It is scandalous to find that countries - especially enemy states - are stronger now than were they on 9-11.
We never ask ourselves, what did we do to let this happen?
#4
Actually, not also invading Iran and Syria played into Iran and Syria's hands.
From the little I remember reading here after the ousting of sammy, the MM and bashir boy when crapping their pants.
But, since then :
- their meddling in iraq affairs has not been punished (starting with the WMD issue and syria, or iranian shiite powerplays),
- their quasi-open "proxy" warfare with the USA has not been punished,
- their terror enabling has not been punished, their arm race (including the nuke issue) has not been punished,
- iran's increasingly aggressive and warmongering rethoric has not been punished,
- iran's bullying and misleading of the West and forging of anti-western alliances have not been punished, not even diplomatically.
As a result, they really feel they are WINNING, being emboldened by all these perceived victories, and the weakness of their foes. Even Israel looks ripe for plucking, after the disastrous perception of the summer war, whatever might have been the actual consequences for the hizbollah.
Add the MM's eschatological worldview to this perception of being on the verge of chasing the USA out of the ME and building their regional empire, of blackmailing and intimidating EUrope into submission (with the growing tumor muslim community as a lever, and with nukes too), and of finally destroying Israel (thus taking control of the now Supreme oummah), and things can go out of control really fast.
#5
Right on 5089---There are clearly no consequences for the actions of the MMs and Syria, so they are on a roll. And the Baker led ISG Report wants negotiation with these terror enablers. The authors are either crazy, delusional, or in the pocket of outfits like the Saudis. I take all the above, with an emphasis on No. 3.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2006 11:35
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#6
The authors are either crazy, delusional, or in the pocket of outfits like the Saudis. I take all the above, with an emphasis on No. 3.
From an email forwarded to me (no source, so keep critical, I guess)... :
The Baker-Saudi Arabia Connection
* In the past few years, Baker Botts--which employs about 700 lawyers, has had annual revenues of about $365 million and operates offices in Austin, Baku, Dallas, London, Moscow, New York, Riyadh and Washington, DC.
* In 2005, the firm expanded its presence in the region by opening an office in Dubai to complement the existing office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
* As Secretary of State in the first Bush Administration, Baker was a regular visitor to the House of Saud.
* George H.W. Bush and Baker helped convince their pal and hunting buddy Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the longtime Saudi ambassador to the United States to invest in their companies.
* When two of the most powerful members of the House of Saud--the Saudi defense minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and his brother, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the governor of Riyadh--needed lawyers to defend them against a lawsuit brought against them and other Saudis by survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Sultan and Salman hired Baker Botts.
* The Baker Botts legal team has openly acknowledged in their brief that Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud has for the past 16 years approved regular payments of about $266,000 a year to the International Islamic Relief Organization- a large Saudi charity whose U.S. offices were last year raided by federal agents.
* George H.W. Bush met James Baker on the tennis courts at the Houston Country Club in the 1950s.
* On June 6, 1962, when he was 15 years old George W. Bush went to work in the mailroom of Houston's oldest and most prestigious law firm, Baker Botts.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. Vanishing students. Dead bodies. Fears something sinister is lurking in the shadows. A string of college student drownings across the Midwest has all the makings of great mystery. Or does it?
Rumors have persisted for years that a serial killer is prowling Interstate 94, hunting young men in college bars and plunging them underwater. Investigators, though, say there's no evidence of foul play. They say the victims were so drunk they fell in the river and died.
#2
The narrow racial and age profile of the victims raises a lot of questions. Has the FBI's profiling team been handed this set of cases yet? If not, why not?
I wonder how the incident levels compare to other river basins with numerous college towns. Is this really a statistical cluster, or could one make a similar case with possibly different demographics in another area?
I don't know nearly enough about these cases, but I'm reminded of the Erin Brokovich (spelling?) case where the patterns she purportedly found were not that anomalous when the sample size was enlarged. Then again, a serial killer who thinks he has it all worked out, may be picking victims in a way to maximize the indications of accident/suicide.
If not, why not... Cuz there are, literally, thousands of new cases everyday? I'm just sayin' it's waay easy to criticize from the BlogLounge - and there are nowhere near as many wizards in the Real World... Same goes for every other venue criticized to fucking death for not being as prescient and wizardly and bold and brave...
Let's NOT become the Lions of BlogLounge, k? I don't wanna be painted with that brush, thanks. A few Really Good Plans to hit the Most Important Shit, will do nicely.
Mohammed Dahlan, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council from the Fatah faction, has received an offer to resume his former post of Palestinian Authority national security adviser. If Dahlan chooses to accept the national security adviser post, he will have to relinquish his seat in the PA parliament. To date, the position of national security adviser to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has been filled by Abu Hisham.
Dahlan will most likely coordinate the various Palestinian security organizations and will be responsible for liaising with Israeli security forces. Palestinian sources told Haaretz that while Dahlan had not yet officially accepted the appointment, he was already receiving security-related authority and dealing with security issues.
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Unknown Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Sunday afternoon at Interior Minister Said Siyam's motorcade, causing no injuries, Palestinian officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal dismissed the shooting as a random attack and denied that the target was Siyam. The men, driving in a nearby car, apparently shot at a car in the motorcade, but not at the vehicle carrying Siyam, he said.
The incident marks yet another escalation in the tense relations between Fatah and Hamas; Palestinian security officials are continuing to protest over unpaid salaries for the second consecutive day. Hamas blames Fatah for being the driving force behind the protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A man was shot and killed on Saturday night during a wedding ceremony in the Shadbagh police precinct. A police constable was also injured in the firing. According to police, Babar Gujjar was at his cousin Shafique Gujjars wedding where members of the Baloch Group, a rival gang of Babars, were also invited. During the ceremony, both groups started firing into the air. One of them turned a gun towards Babar and shot him too, killing him instantly.
Constable Muhammad Saleem was injured by the gunfire. However, he was taken to the Mayo Hospital, and his condition is reported to be stable. All guests at the wedding, scared by the incident, fled the scene, while the assailants danced over the corpse before they escaped while firing in all directions. The body has been sent for autopsy and cases have been registered against Kali Bloch, Muniri Bloch, Shabbiri Baloch, Waheed and Asif Jutt.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
...Ya know, given all the stories we see along these lines, getting married in that part of the world seems to be even more dangerous than it already is.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/11/2006 9:06
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I know a Marine. He sits in a bar in North Carolina. He came there by way of Fallujah. The same close-cropped blonde fuzz glimmers on his head in the dim light as burned under the hot sun of Iraq. Hes the greatest storyteller I know, spinning tales about his overseas exploits, both combat and otherwiseonly with the express permission of the mixed company present, of course.
He speaks with a wit and color that would surprise John Kerry. He is not a quiet man. But I wonder what he would say this week. I wonder what he would say to the Iraq Study Groups proposed change in the primary mission of U.S. forces in Iraq that will enable the United States to begin to move its combat forces out of Iraq responsibly.
I imagine hed just shake his head at me. He knows what the new primary mission is, as does anyone whos even skimmed the report, and its not the type of mission Marines are accustomed to. The mission is to lose. Lose slowly, lose responsibly, lose diplomatically, but lose without a doubt. My lively Marine friend would likely be disgusted into silence.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Eighty percent of Baghdad is mixed neighborhoods. If the US took the conflict to that level, US troops would no longer be only an occasional target.
What do we do?
1. Hand the keys to Iraq, to Iran's Ayatollahs?
2. Cut and run, leaving the Sects to fight for dominance?
3. Allow Iran and Turkey to slaughter Kurds?
4. Let China and Russia divvy up the ME oil patch?
5. Take sides with one Sect, and let them pacify the other, as was it done under the Saddam Hussein regime?
6. Impose a Secular Constitution on Iraq, and liquidate the aggressive clerics?
We have no alternative but to pick #5, and eliminate Iran power as a precondition.
#2
The ISG; composed of Generals, Mid-E experts, and cultural professors? Nope.
Composed of folks who've never been on the ground there or in the fight at any level? Yep.
Taking the ISG seriously is like asking me and my drinking buddies to form a study on the macro economic solution to the U.S.'s trade-deficit problems.
If I want to know stuff about the Supreme Court I'll ask Sandra Day, if I want to know stuff about advising a pres maybe I'll ask James Baker; otherwise the ISG is mostly shite.
The United Nations' top food aid official arrived Sunday in the former breadbasket of Africa Zimbabwe where close to two million people are in need of emergency aid, a spokesman said. James Morris, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP), is scheduled to meet Monday with the heads of UN agencies, non- governmental organizations and government ministers in Harare. He will assess the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, said Michael Huggins, the WFP's public affairs officer for southern Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Zimbabwe will insist that the food be distributed through the government and hence not to any of the opposition that he is currently trying to starve.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Major partners in Iraq's governing coalition are in behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid discontent over his failure to quell raging violence, according to lawmakers involved.
The talks are aimed at forming a new parliamentary bloc that would seek to replace the current government and that would likely exclude supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is a vehement opponent of the U.S. military presence.
The new alliance would be led by senior Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who met with President Bush last week. Al-Hakim, however, was not expected to be the next prime minister because he prefers the role of powerbroker, staying above the grinding day-to-day running of the country.
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#3
What Iraq needs most at this point is their own version of Abraham Lincoln. Or Al Capone. I'm still undecided.
One thing is for certain, this guy aint either one of 'em.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/11/2006 9:24
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#4
I'm guessing that we'll witness a new Saddam installed sooner than we'd like. Seems as though the democracy thingy just isn't going to work. That society requires an iron fist to keep order.
Posted by: ET ||
12/11/2006 12:17
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#5
Seems as though the democracy thingy just isn't going to work. That society requires an iron fist to keep order.
A belief in the rule of law is required to keep order--Islam obliterates any belief in the rule of law in that it puts the true believer into the position of deciding which laws are "holy" enough to merit his observance.
And if we aren't impressed with this latest threat / tantrum?
(Xinhua) -- Iran on Sunday warned the UN Security Council against adoption of any resolution that would impose sanctions on the Islamic republic, threatening to drop out cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "If the UN Security Council adopts a resolution against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran will revise its policies on the level of its cooperation with the IAEA," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini told his weekly press briefing.
He also criticized Britain, France and Germany for choosing a "very wrong course" in dealing with Iran on its nuclear issue. "The three European countries have taken up a very wrong course and we hope that they revise their policies and return to the talks," Hosseini said.
Britain, France and Germany circulated on Friday afternoon to UN Security Council members a revised draft resolution which imposed sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. "The present draft is more in line with the U.S. interfering policies," Hosseini said.
According to a copy of the draft resolution obtained by Xinhua, it urges Iran to suspend all enrichment activities as well as all heavy water related projects. It bars Iran from importing or exporting key materials and technology related to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Meanwhile, the text, drafted by the three European countries, also imposes financial and travel restriction on persons and agencies involved.
However, the new text is still far from Russia's expectation, a UN diplomat said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "Without further revision, it is really hard for Russia to endorse it," he added.
The six major powers -- the United States, Russia, China and the three EU countries -- are set to resume talks on the text on the table Monday morning, according to the diplomat, who disclosed that the West is pushing hard for the adoption of the draft resolution before the Christmas.
Enough DiploDink dithering.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2006
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Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane. All together now..."Awwwwwww" Where's my femtoviolin?
Rudolph wrote that he spends 23 hours a day in his 7-by-12-foot cell, his only exercise confined to an enclosed area he described as a "large empty swimming pool" divided into "dog-kennel style cages." Yup, that's Supermax. Make the U.S. government your enemy, and the U.S. government might just take you up on your offer.
The newspaper reported today that it has corresponded by mail with Rudolph for more than a year, and prison officials have refused the paper's request to interview Rudolph. The Gazette refused Rudolph's request that it publish his writings in their entirety. The newspaper said if it published any articles, it would print portions of the letters as long as they were not hate literature or libelous. What is this where newspapers fall all over themselves to publish the works of murderers?
Rudolph, an anti-government extremist, pleaded guilty in April 2005 to setting the bomb that killed one person and wounded more than 100 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and three other bombings, including a fatal explosion at a Birmingham clinic. It's good that that fat security guard who lived with his mother got what he deserved...wait, was that fake news?
#1
What is this where newspapers fall all over themselves to publish the works of murderers?
The press loves nutjobs, malcontents, murderers, and thugs because they get to express their true opinions without needing to write it themselves and while hiding behind a (thin) veil of deniability.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/11/2006 7:53
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#2
They want to make him into another Mumia.
Mumia BTW murdered a cop in cold blood during a routine traffic stop. Then he played the 'race card' which the media lapdogs ran with.
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.
BERLIN (Reuters) - German police have uncovered a radioactive trail linked to what prosecutors believe could be a possible suspect in the murder of a former Russian spy in London last month. Police said on Monday a BMW used to pick up Dmitry Kovtun at Hamburg airport on October 28 had traces of polonium 210, the same radioactive substance used to poison Alexander Litvinenko.
Iraq may already be in a civil war or just on the brink of one. But whatever it is, the focus is Baghdad, where all aspects of life are ever more disrupted by sectarian violence and its people ever more weary and afraid. 
A POLICE force failed to investigate properly the violent robbery of a showjumper which led to murder because its officers were busy inquiring into stolen chickens. Documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal Derbyshire police assigned only one detective to investigate the brutal beating and robbery of riding instructor Tania Moore, 26, in June 2003. She was attacked by a pair of thugs wielding baseball bats who had been recruited by her former boyfriend Mark Dyche. He went on to shoot her dead nine months later.
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 10 -- Rep. William J. Jefferson may be a pariah in some Washington political circles, but voters in this storm-battered city weighed in over the weekend with their own verdict regarding their scandal-plagued congressman: He's still our guy.
Voters gave the Louisiana Democrat an emphatic reelection victory over state Rep. Karen Carter, even though his campaign had been weighted with revelations that federal authorities had videotaped him taking $100,000 in alleged bribe money, and that $90,000 of it had been found inside a freezer in his apartment in the District. The investigation led House colleagues to dump him from a key committee, donors abandoned him and the state Democratic Party switched its allegiance to his opponent.
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq - Insurgents observed emplacing an improvised explosive device were killed Friday in Saqlawiyah, west of Baghdad. 
Last year, only about 2,500 foreign visitors came on Christmas, but, he's counting on the usual bus loads of Christians from nearby Palestinian towns to boost turnout.
The world's largest trimaran will soon arrive in Darwin to take on an Australian Customs contract patrolling the country's north coast. The three-hulled warship will be fitted with two 0.5-calibre machine guns to help deter and seize illegal fishing boats. It will carry 28 armed customs officers. Geoff Hart-Davies says his company, Gardline Australia, will supply a crew of 14, as well as the boat.
WASHINGTON - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Vice President Cheney went quail hunting last week, and the senator lived to tell the tale. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford joined Cheney and Graham for two days of hunting on a private plantation that friends of Chambliss own in southern Georgia. 
The sterile, confused lame-duck session of the Republican-controlled 109th Congress ended with a quiet victory by reformers that staved off an estimated 10,000 earmarks. But it could not be called a farewell to pork. As the House approached adjournment Thursday, Democrats signaled they may countenance a return to free and easy spending ways when they assume the majority Jan. 4.
FIJI'S military rulers are cracking down on dissent, making house calls on those who dare criticise the new regime. Only a night after their illegal takeover last Tuesday, the army was flexing its muscles -- well before yesterday's declaration it would interrogate anyone suspected of inciting opposition to the new regime. 
(Xinhua) -- A senior leader of the governing Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) called on Sunday on Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas to resign, accusing him of being responsible for talk failure on national unity government. 
(Xinhua) -- Militants attacked a crowded passenger train Sunday afternoon in central Indian state Jharkhand, said the local police. A group of militants hijacked the passenger train with about 1,000 people on board when the train, from Jamshedpur in Singhboohm district of Jharkhand, was traveling in the dense forest near the border with neighboring state West Bengal, Shailendra Warnwal, deputy superintendent of Police of Singhboohm, told Xinhua. 
"Perhaps you see Holocaust denial as an expression of support for the Palestinians," he writes. "Here, too, you are wrong. We struggle for our existence and our rights, and against the historic injustice that was dealt us in 1948.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has left on a six-day visit to Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The visit is part of the government's endeavours to forge closer interaction with brotherly countries in the Middle East. Frequent high-level contacts are the hallmark of the fraternal bonds. During the visit to Yemen, the prime minister will hold extensive talks with his counterpart Ba Jamal and call on President Saleh.
COTABATO, Philippines - Three heavily armed men raided the provincial prison in this southern Philippine town, liberating an inmate jailed for the bombing of the city airport, police said.
At least four civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike in Laghman province while six militiamen were killed in a remote-controlled explosion in Paktia province. Separately, two NATO soldiers were injured in a clash with the Taliban in Mizan district in Zabul province. The civilians were killed on Saturday in an airstrike that was part of a "mid-scale" operation against militants in Laghman province, local police chief Abdul Karim Omeryar said. In another incident, a remote-controlled bomb killed six militiamen fighting Taliban rebels in Paktia.
Thousands of civilians were on the run on Sunday in Sri Lankas restive northeast after heavy artillery exchanges left over 85 people dead, according to the Tamil rebels and government forces.
ZIMBABWE has the highest inflation and lowest life expectancy in the world, not to mention the highest percentage of orphans. So desperate is the shortage of food that President Robert Mugabe's guards have been spotted shooting squirrels in Harare's botanical gardens. 
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi prison chief and his deputy were under arrest on Sunday after Saddam Husseins nephew, accused of funding the Sunni insurgency, escaped jail a day earlier, sparking a huge manhunt by police.
At least four and as many as 25 people were killed and four houses demolished in an armed clash between two rival groups of Khyber Agency on Sunday. One of the groups, 
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The Pentagon will not try to use emergency powers to build a compound to hold war crimes trials at Guantanamo Bay, according to a member of a Senate panel that oversees funding for military construction projects.
The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) will try to convince Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq to join the religious alliance in its campaign against the Womens Protection Act (WPA), MMA sources told Daily Times on Sunday. 
Security officials say a wanted terror suspect arrested in Bethlehem on Sunday is implicated in the killing of three Israel Defense Forces soldiers. 
Five people including a four-year old girl died while thousands fled to evacuation centres set up mostly in public schools as typhoon Utor ravaged southern Philippines, downing power lines, radio reports said yesterday. 
Iraq's president 
Earlier this year, bird flu panic was in full swing: The French feared for their foie gras, the Swiss locked their chickens indoors, and Americans enlisted prison inmates in Alaska to help spot infected wild birds.
(Xinhua) -- At least 12 soldiers were killed and 51 others injured Sunday in clashes between the government troops and the Tamil Tiger rebels in eastern Sri Lanka, defense officials said. Prasad Samarasinghe, the military spokesman said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels had fired mortars and artillery fire at the military presence at Kajuwatta in the eastern Batticaloa district. 
Mohammed Dahlan, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council from the Fatah faction, has received an offer to resume his former post of Palestinian Authority national security adviser. If Dahlan chooses to accept the national security adviser post, he will have to relinquish his seat in the PA parliament. To date, the position of national security adviser to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has been filled by Abu Hisham. 
officials said. Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal dismissed the shooting as a random attack and denied that the target was Siyam. The men, driving in a nearby car, apparently shot at a car in the motorcade, but not at the vehicle carrying Siyam, he said. 
A man was shot and killed on Saturday night during a wedding ceremony in the Shadbagh police precinct. A police constable was also injured in the firing. According to police, Babar Gujjar was at his cousin Shafique Gujjars wedding where members of the Baloch Group, a rival gang of Babars, were also invited. During the ceremony, both groups started firing into the air. One of them turned a gun towards Babar and shot him too, killing him instantly. 
The United Nations' top food aid official arrived Sunday in 
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Major partners in Iraq's governing coalition are in behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid discontent over his failure to quell raging violence, according to lawmakers involved.
Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph laments in a series of letters to a newspaper that the maximum-security federal prison where he is spending the rest of his life is designed to drive him insane.
