Article

2007-06-25 Israel-Palestine-Jordan

BBC's Johnston fitted with explosive vest to prevent 'rescue'

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Posted by Seafarious 2007-06-25 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top
File under: Hamas

#1 Solution move Abu Qatada into a shared exercise area like that cannibal was in Wisconsin's fine jail.

Posted by 3dc 2007-06-25 00:05|| 2007-06-25 00:05|| Front Page Top

#2 Release him on the Great Barrier Reef at night after a rub down with the contents of a can of Starkist.

Posted by Super Hose 2007-06-25 00:12|| 2007-06-25 00:12|| Front Page Top

#3 Hang him with Chemical Ali.

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2007-06-25 00:15|| 2007-06-25 00:15|| Front Page Top

#4 It is sad by Geraldo Rivera probably makig inquiries about whether he can arranged to be held in Gaza. If he works a deal, he will demand the vest treatment.

Posted by Super Hose 2007-06-25 00:16|| 2007-06-25 00:16|| Front Page Top

#5 Obviously the only answer to the 'Belt' threat, is to put Abu Qatada in a bomb belt, and release a counter suggestion that he will splode if Alan Johnston splodes, then proceed with the rescue plans! "Tit For Tats" work great, Russia, China and Iran will vouch for that!

Posted by smn 2007-06-25 00:49|| 2007-06-25 00:49|| Front Page Top

#6 Dunno, something is not right in this story. My bullshit meter pegged a bit.

Here is my take:

1. Johnson did agreee to make a Paliwood production piece with his friends, and make a cut on the proceeds.

2. Hamas takeover created an unanticipated problem. They would use the situation for their own ends and that brings a degree of danger as Hamas can't accept any other group with a smidget of influence or power.

3. Johnson and his friends have no choice but to up the ante a tad, as the status quo was not in their favor. Not that it decreased the danger, but at least there is a shift of focus.

4. If AOI 'releases' Johnson, the next thing that happens is that Hamass will hand their ass to them. If they don't, Hamas may still get in and kill all of them including Johnson (as a collateral).

5. AOI may try to get some sort of deal, where they leave Gaza to save their behinds and get some relocation startup cash and when they are safe, they would hand Johnson to Hamas which would then turn Hamas propaganda machine into high gear.

6. In any case, Hamas is the winner, no matter whether Johnson ends up dead or not.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-06-25 01:23|| 2007-06-25 01:23|| Front Page Top

#7 This is amazing, both my "Pathetic" and "Hilarious" meters are pegging at the same time. As always with such an anomaly, I'm going for the "Hilarious" option and laughing myself silly. If only to prevent such a stupid git from profiting through his role in this theater of the absurd, I'm hoping Johnston gets to test drive his vest. Let's see just what sort of gloriously lucrative narration he can write about it afterwards. This turd went after a sensational and obviously pro-Palestinian story and needs to get one helluva a lot more than he bargained for.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-06-25 02:03|| 2007-06-25 02:03|| Front Page Top

#8 Right, Johnston, not Johnson. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. ;-)

I'd not say it is hilarious, but there is a great deal of irony in there. Pathetic, yewbetcha.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-06-25 02:15|| 2007-06-25 02:15|| Front Page Top

#9 I'd not say it is hilarious

Whenever a self-aggrandizing opportunistic pro-Muslim ~~journalist~~ tool is suddenly bemired after voluntarily traipsing into a bed of known quicksand for the purpose of interviewing some obviously rabid scorpions about who their next innocent victim will be, all I'm obliged to do is laugh and point.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-06-25 03:00|| 2007-06-25 03:00|| Front Page Top

#10 Can see your point. But I think this is all just kabuki and hence I can't bring myself to find it hilarious.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-06-25 03:08|| 2007-06-25 03:08|| Front Page Top

#11 From the tone of their coverage it seems like most BBC reporters wish they could strap on a bomb vest.

Posted by Glinesh Henbane7862 2007-06-25 03:22|| 2007-06-25 03:22|| Front Page Top

#12 I think this is all just kabuki and hence I can't bring myself to find it hilarious.

Then where is it at all "pathetic"? If this is merely charades on both parts, Johnston and Fatah alike, then all that is called for is outrage. Pathetic implies a modicum of due sympathy. There is nothing of the sort merited from what I can tell.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-06-25 03:37|| 2007-06-25 03:37|| Front Page Top

#13 Zen, maybe we both associate a somewhat different meaning with pathetic. In my case it is missing the modicum of sympathy, implied or otherwise.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-06-25 03:46|| 2007-06-25 03:46|| Front Page Top

#14 What? No decap video?

Posted by gromgoru 2007-06-25 06:58|| 2007-06-25 06:58|| Front Page Top

#15 Well, no matter what it is, I doubt it's turning out the way Al thought it would...

Posted by tu3031 2007-06-25 09:03|| 2007-06-25 09:03|| Front Page Top

#16 We shoot threaten to retaliate by blowing up the BBC is Alan Johnston is harmed in any way.

Posted by Excalibur 2007-06-25 09:17|| 2007-06-25 09:17|| Front Page Top

#17 Gordo Brown's first act as PM should be to effect a rescue mission as rapidly as possible. If that means the rescue doesn't quite work, but the belt does, well, so much the better.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-06-25 09:29|| 2007-06-25 09:29|| Front Page Top

#18 Don't tease me that way, Excalibur!

Posted by Bobby 2007-06-25 09:29|| 2007-06-25 09:29|| Front Page Top

#19 In my case it is missing the modicum of sympathy, implied or otherwise.

No harm, no foul, twobyfour.

PATHETIC

1. Arousing or capable of arousing sympathetic sadness and compassion

2. Arousing or capable of arousing scornful pity.

I suppose we're going with the "scornful pity" end of things. However, while the whole affair is pitiful, I really don't feel any pity for those involved.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-06-25 11:44|| 2007-06-25 11:44|| Front Page Top

#20 Here is an interesting possible future headline:

"BBC suicide bomber kills dozens of Hamas members."

Posted by mhw 2007-06-25 12:28|| http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/]">[http://hypocrisy-incorporated.blogspot.com/] 2007-06-25 12:28|| Front Page Top

#21 That *would* be an intriguing headline indeed.

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2007-06-25 13:38|| 2007-06-25 13:38|| Front Page Top

#22 And then there's this guy...

By Alan Hart

At a public meeting in London on Wednesday 11 April, I was asked for my thoughts (as a former ITN and BBC Panorama correspondent) about Alan Johnston's "disappearance" in Gaza. I said that I feared he could be dead, and that if he was, he might well have been shot in the head within minutes of being taken more than a month ago.

If Alan is dead, the truth about who killed him might be in accordance with the claim of the Tawhid al Jihad Brigades group that it was responsible; but it also might not be (repeat might not be).

The group which claimed responsibility in a fax to news agencies on 17 April is an Al Qaeda franchise (driven by events in Iraq), and was unknown in the Palestinian territories; and what can be said for certain is that the Palestinians were the party with absolutely nothing to gain and much to lose from Alan's permanent removal from the scene. And they had much to lose on two counts.

On Count One, Alan was not only the BBC's man, he was the only permanent foreign correspondent in Gaza. He was, in short, the best and most informed provider of news about the Palestinian side of the story; a story which, in many of its details, is an embarrassment to Israel and those governments, most notably the Bush and Blair regimes, which support Israel's efforts to break the will of the Palestinians to continue their struggle for an acceptable minimum of justice.

On Count Two, and if he has been murdered, Alan's death, if it could be blamed on a Palestinian or a pro-Palestinian Arab and/or other Islamist group, would be a huge political setback for the legitimacy of the Palestinian struggle and the present leadership of it. (The Al Qaeda franchise would not give a damn about harming the Palestinian cause).

There is a case for saying (repeat a case) that the party with most to gain from Alan Johnston's permanent disappearance was Israel. It would not be the first time that Israeli agents had dressed as Arabs to make a hit.

If Alan Johnston is dead, it's my hope that the BBC at executive management level will rise above its fear of offending Zionism too much and allow its reporters (Frank Gardner and Jeremy Bowen are second to none) to make a full, thorough and honest investigation.

Oh, don't worry, Alan. I'm sure the BBC will get by that Zionist bias of there's and get to the bottom of it...

Posted by tu3031 2007-06-25 13:58|| 2007-06-25 13:58|| Front Page Top

#23 There is a case for saying (repeat a case) that the party with most to gain from Alan Johnston's permanent disappearance was Israel. It would not be the first time that Israeli agents had dressed as Arabs to make a hit.

This is total anti-Semetic filth. If Israel has already whacked Johnston, I doubt Hamas and the Dughmush clan would be going through all these backflips over a rotting corpse. To review:

On Count One, Alan was not only the BBC's man, he was the only permanent foreign correspondent in Gaza. He was, in short, the best and most informed provider of news about the Palestinian side of the story; a story which, in many of its details, is an embarrassment to Israel and those governments, most notably the Bush and Blair regimes, which support Israel's efforts to break the will of the Palestinians to continue their struggle for an acceptable minimum of justice.

From the BBC's anti-Semetic tone, it sounds as if this world will be a lot better off if Johnston falls down and goes boom. He sounds like a prime enabler of terrorist Palestinian scum.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-06-25 15:00|| 2007-06-25 15:00|| Front Page Top

#24 I have long since given up caring what happened to a BBC reporter, no matter who or what they are.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2007-06-25 15:59|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2007-06-25 15:59|| Front Page Top

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