Hug a vet, wear a poppy â if you can find one anymore. And remember those who could have led long, happy, satisfying lives, but didn't, because they had more important things to do. Next time someone tells you that America has no heroes, mention Bastogne and Iwo Jima. Then mention the Chosen Reservoir, Tet, and Desert Storm.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:10 am ||
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Don't forget Flt. 98, Fred!
Posted by: Jack ||
11/11/2002 9:36 Comments ||
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Source: Daily Ausaf, Translated By Jihad Unspun
From news across the border, coalition forces deployed on Jalalabad Airport raided the Sarafa Bazar market and arrested Haji Ghulam Ullah, an important member of Hizb-e-Islami who also happens to be a close companion of Beelzebub Engineer Gulbadin Hekmatyar Khan. The other individual arrested is Haji Ghuljay who is said to be an Afghan companion of Osama bin Laden. Apparently these two have been accussed of working to destabilize the Afghan currency. A little Islamic counterfeiting, is it?
Haji Ghuljay is accussed of terrorist activities while Haji Ghulam Ullah is said to be working on the foreign signals to financially harm the Karzai Administration.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 10:00 am ||
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Daily Times (Pakistan) and IslamOnline
Russia is said to be working in tandem with some Iraqi generals to oust President Saddam Hussein, as it believes that if the Iraqi leader stays in power, the US will launch an invasion of the country, which could destabilise the entire region and make the Muslim masses everywhere rise in protest. The Russian intelligence services are believed to be active in pursuit of this objective, namely the removal of Saddam Hussein in a coup. According to sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the matter with US President George W Bush. I guess Putin suggested giving doing it on the cheap a try. Likely somebody will end up hanging on a meat hook — whether this is a true report or not. Can't afford to take any chances, y'know. Heh heh...
However, there are two problems with this scenario. First, the only Iraqi leaders powerful enough to oust Hussein are his own relatives, they being the only generals Saddam trusts. The US would not accept a regime in Baghdad that keeps members of the Hussein family in power. The successor, on the other hand, could be dislodged much more cheaply, couldn't he?
Secondly, Moscow wants to ensure that the future regime in Baghdad will remain pro-Russia. According to Stratfor, a strategic news and analysis service, so far Putinâs pro-Western strategy has yielded few dividends from Washington. To secure the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Moscow gathered and shared crucial intelligence with US commanders and was influential in securing the cooperation of the Northern Alliance with US forces. It even contributed troops, which suffered casualties in the fighting but there has been little appreciation by Washington of Russiaâs contribution. I'd say that's simply not a true statement. Though I would like to see a more definite statement of opposition to the Chechen thugs, and I'm sure Putin would, too...
Moscow has no guarantees that Washington will safeguard Russiaâs interests in Iraq once Saddam Hussein is out of power. Moreover, Putin fears that Bush will not look kindly on a Russian-organised coup in Baghdad, perceiving it as an attempt to steal a US victory. If Iraqi generals backed by Moscow succeed in replacing Hussein with one of his relatives, that alone would not eliminate the likelihood of a US attack. Nope. Not at all. But it would be an indication of really close cooperation between the two. The Russers have the successor to the KGB, which, for all its ruthlessness, was damned effective in the area of operations like this. It's also not hamstrung by congressional resolutions and tight oversight, like the CIA is. It would make a good proxy in a specialized situation like this, and sharing out the spoils of Iraq isn't as complicated as some would like to make it out.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:10 am ||
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Didn't they try something close to this in Kosovo when they commandeered the airbase under Nato's nose and that wrinkled British general didn't want to start WW3 over it. It wouldn't surprise me if the Ruskies try to pre-empt our bad medicine routine with a "patient is cured" strategy.
Posted by: Jack ||
11/11/2002 9:40 Comments ||
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Well, the key difference from Kosovo is that this time (if one can believe the source - I'd double- or triple-check anything from a source like ummahnews.com), the Russians are consulting the US on what they're considering.
Truthfully, I've heard a lot of worse ideas in my time than turning the KGB's successor loose on Saddam. As Ptah noted, the Russians have several good reasons to want Saddam out, all of which, in the end, come down to economics (just as the French have good reasons to want to maintain Saddam, all of which come down to economics). All in all, I'm just a bit more sympathetic to the Russian desire to keep oil prices at a level where they can make some money than I am to the French desire to keep selling Iraq assorted implements of destruction...
#3
If I were an Iraqi general(and thank God I'm not),it would make more sense for me to wait for the Americans rather than risk my life and health.Plus Saddam probably has their families as collateral somewhere.
Posted by: El Id ||
11/11/2002 11:16 Comments ||
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The ruskies have three good reasons: Any puppet government they set up will pay them money owed. Secondly, that government would honor contracts Hussein signed in a desperate bid to buy a UN Security Council Veto that never came. Thirdly, the ruskies have to keep control of the Iraqi Oil wells out of US hands. Otherwise, the US would pump up production, smash OPEC, and drag the price of oil down so low, the Ruskies couldn't make money on their oil (which is paid for in hard currency).
More than 300 natives of Chechnya, who are Russian citizens, have amassed near the Brest customs post. "Polish border guards stopped the admission of ethnic Chechens on October 26 in light of the hostage crisis in Moscow," the press centre of the Belarusian Border Committee said on Monday. "The presence of a large number of Chechens in the border zone complicates the crime situation at checkpoints and in Brest," deputy head of the Belarusian interior ministry's passport and visa department Valery Kozlovsky said. This category of people may settle in Belarus or try to cross the state border illegally, he said. "Despite the right of Russian citizens, which the Chechens are, to reside on Belarusian territory permanently, the local authorities will prevent the settling of a large Chechen group in Brest for fear that it may endanger law and order," Kozlovsky said. They could be perfectly nice people — but Maskhadov and his minions have given them a reputation as crooks, terrorists and nuts. Who wants to take the chance?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:17 am ||
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As a follow up, Putin had a pointed response to a typically beligerent question from a typically beligerent Froggie journalist yesterday when queried about Chechanya:
""If you want to become a complete Islamic radical, and are ready to undergo circumcision, then I invite you to Moscow. We're a multidenominational country. We have specialists in this question as well. I will recommend that he carry out the operation in such a way that after it nothing else will grow."
Posted by: Jack ||
11/12/2002 7:18 Comments ||
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Was it Robert Harris in Archangel or Martin Cruz Smith in Polar Star that had this scene of Chechens on the Polish border but they were running a class A weapons and stolen car flea market.
Posted by: Jack ||
11/11/2002 9:42 Comments ||
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In case you haven't seen it yet. About a dozen "salaams" are edited for the sake of clarity...
The Messenger of Allah said, "The Deen is advice: We asked to whom O Messenger of Allah? He replied: To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims and the Muslim masses."
It is quite clear from the election results that the Ummah wants the implementation of Islam and liberation from the American Raj. In the light of the Shari'ah rules, as derived from the Seerah of the Prophet, we understand that the implementation of the Islamic system is not possible through democracy. The bitter experience of the Islamic parties of Turkey and Algeria demonstrates the same point. Legislation in a democratic system requires a 51% majority, a condition which contradicts the Islamic ruling system. Making the acceptance by the majority of the people, or their representatives, a necessary condition for implementing the commandments of Allah and His Messenger is in reality snatching sovereignty from the hands of Allah and passing it on to man. However, Allah has not given man any right to make law.
The divine right to make law resides in the hands of proper holy men, with turbans and automatic weapons. The duty of the unwashed is to obey â or have their heads cut off. "Dialogue"? Gimme a break.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:44 am ||
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Damn right I didn't give my human slaves the right to make laws. I made you and I can break you. No more five salats a day for you. If you want the 72 houris, then prostrate yourselves and give me fifty!!!
Fred: your judgement day account is in the red.
Posted by: ALLAH the One and Only ||
11/11/2002 17:36 Comments ||
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IAP News
The Islamic Jihad resistance organization has vowed to avenge the murderous assassination by Israel of Iyad Sawlaha, the Islamic Jihad's top military commander in the northern part of the West Bank. Sawalha was murdered by Israel at his home in Jenin Saturday for alleged connections with resistance operations against Zionist targets. Islamic Jihad spokesman in Gaza Abdullah al Shami said his organization would retaliate for the assassination of Sawalha sooner or later. "We will bear all the consequences of our most noble fighting for our freedom. The Zionists shall not rest as long as they continue to usurp our homeland and torment our people." On Saturday, Islamic Jihad fighters killed an Israeli occupation soldier and wounded another in an attack outside the settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip. The group said it would carry out further attacks against Israel. "That's cuz killing people is what we do, k'know?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:09 am ||
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The Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement claimed responsibility for the attack, in which a gunman cut through the security fence meant to shield the kibbutz from the adjacent West Bank. Within minutes, he had slipped into a nearby house, where he took point blank aim at two children sleeping in their beds, also killing the mother of the boys, Matan, 4, and Noam, 5.
Before making his escape into the darkness of the agricultural backyard of the village, he also gunned down a woman strolling nearby, and traded fire with and shot dead the secretary of the kibbutz, the communal village's most senior official.
The Palestinian Authority condemned Monday morning the deadly attack on Kibbutz Metzer in which five Israelis were killed, and one source in PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah party called the attack a "mistake." Killing civilians, including a couple little kids, might be termed a "mistake," yeah...
"Harming Israeli and Palestinian civilians and turning them into targets of terror attacks is disgraceful," a statement issued by the PA said. Putting it mildly...
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which is linked to Fatah, claimed responsibility for the shooting attack. They're "linked" to Fatah, but apparently aren't paying any more attention to anything Yasser says than anybody else is...
The PA statement condemned the attack on Kibbutz Metzer, inside the Green Line, but added that at the same time Israeli tanks and helicopters were killing Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority offered its condolences to the families of the victims, and called on the Israeli public to take steps to stop the "Israeli war machine." The "Israeli war machine" operates as it does because of things just like this. ("Cause? Effect? They're related?")
In private talks, Fatah officials condemned the attack. According to the officials, the Fatah organization has clear political guidelines that oppose terror attacks inside the Green Line. "There is no doubt it was a mistake," one of the officials said. Thought they were in New Jersey, did they?
Last week the newly-appointed Interior Minister Hani al Hassan, who is in charge of the Palestinian security apparatus and Fatah, said that he objects to terror attacks inside the Green Line, but said he could understand attacks against Israeli occupation and the settlers. "What's a few dead infidels? There's no other way to achieve our political goals than killing them, right?... Talks? Discussions? Negotiations?... Nah. That'd never work."
Arafat said Monday that the perpetrators of the attacks wanted to sabotage the dialogue taking place in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas in an attempt to stop suicide bombings inside Israel. Arafat said that he would establish a committee to examine whether the perpetrators of the attack were indeed Fatah members. Establishing a committee is much more effective than arresting them and giving them one of those famous PA trials...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 10:30 am ||
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"Arafat said Monday that the perpetrators of the attacks wanted to sabotage the dialogue taking place in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas in an attempt to stop suicide bombings inside Israel"
Didn't Hamas say that they weren't going to stop bombing? And Al-Aqsa is Arafat's tool, so he hasn't stopped....so who was proposing a dialogue?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/11/2002 17:12 Comments ||
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Luwaran
Classified reports have quoted highly reliable sources that a new state will be created in Mindanao, south of the Philippines, which will be composed of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, and Sabah. Something along the lines of a declaration of independence by MILF, I take it? That'll call for support of their "just claims" by the Islamic bloc, led by an Arabian proxy...
Sabah is part of Malaysia, which the Philippines has a standing claim since 1962. The claim hinges on the historical assertion of the Sultanate of Sulu that Sabah is part of its ancient territory. The rest of it hinges on the "just aspirations" the Muslims in the Philippines, who can't seem to get along with the rest of the country because of their liking for cutting people's heads off...
The documents also stated that the Philippine government is aware of this development but keeps mum on this for the moment, either for fear or it is also serving its higher or strategic interests. "A third foreign country is behind this move; in fact, a military training for what is to become its army has been going on for sometime not only in Sulu but now already in Palawan," the source added. I have a hard time seeing how lopping off a part of the Philippines would serve its strategic interests. I'd guess rather that the Learned Elders of Islam see it is a weak, not very warlike country, where they can gnaw off a rich and tasty section for themselves...
But the 'foreign power' behind this grand design, the report further indicates, will use the Dansalan Declaration in 1935 to justify the creation of this new nation and state. It will also use the various treaties entered into by the various Moro sultanates with foreign powers including the Wilkes Treaty in 1842 between Sulu and the United States to further argue the case. The Dansalan Declaration was by hajjis, imams, and other Muslim notables, addressed to the President of the U.S., and said they didn't want to be part of an independent Philippines because their Christian brothers wouldn't cut them in on the swag...
No foreign state has been identified, but the report clearly indicated that the move was tied up to the US-led war on "international terrorism". It has also to do also with the huge deposit of oil in the Sulu Sea and in the state of Sabah. Oil, as we all know, is the root of the war on terror, which is driven by Texas oilmen. Best to let it be controlled from Arabia, where they know about these things...
However, the reports did not indicate whether those training in Sulu and Palawan are part of the military preparation of the so-called Royal Army of Sulu, which earlier claimed to be raising an army for the invasion of Sabah. Malaysia, the reports said, is aware of this serious development, which led to speculations that the massive repatriation of Filipinos from Sabah this year is directly linked to this development. This little item is maddeningly detailed and at the same time maddeningly vague: whose report? Which "foreign power" — we can guess Arabia, but it could just as easily be a proxy state...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:09 am ||
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Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
The Muslim leader accused of terror links with the al-Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) Abu Bakar Bashir risks deportation to Malaysia, Singapore or the U.S. if he is stripped of his Indonesian nationality, sources said Sunday, November 10. Singapore and Malaysia have in the past urged Indonesia to arrest Bashir for his alleged role in terror activities on their soil. Bashir is accused by Singapore of being the spiritual leader of the JI while Malaysia has him high on the terror list allegedly for connections with the Malaysian Mujahidin Movement (KMM). I'd go for Singapore, myself...
The U.S. is also after Bashir, who heads the Indonesian Mujahideen Movement (MMI), and has placed him on top of International terrorists sought by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The U.S. would be good for interrogation purposes, but if he were to be sent here the Chomsky crowd would be kicking in to get him a good lawyer before he hit the tarmac...
The Indonesian authorities are considering stripping him of his citizenship based on evidence he once held a Malaysian passport while he was in exile in Malaysia. Indonesia is finding it hard to proceed with the prosecution of Bashir, sources close to the ageing leader told IslamOnline on Sunday, adding that he risks being sent to Malaysia as soon he is stripped of his nationality. "Hot! Hot! Hot potato! Pass it on!"
Prosecuting Bashir in Malaysia or Singapore would be smoother and less risky though it still exposes the Indonesian government to a possible backlash from Bashir supporters and other Muslims in the country. Unless they let him go with an apology and a pension they're going to get that, anyway...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:09 am ||
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Singapore? They whip graffiti artists there. I wonder what they do to terrorist killers?
Jakarta Post
A legal team will travel to Bali Monday in an attempt to represent detained Bali bombing suspect Amrozi, El Shinta radio station reported. Lawyer Suyanto said the team have secured a letter from Amrozi's family designating them as the family's legal representatives. Police appointed a lawyer to accompany Amrozi during the investigation for prosecution, claiming Amrozi himself refused to apppoint a lawyer. "We will point out to the police that we were appointed by the family," Suyanto said. He said the lawyers hope to meet directly with Amrozi to clarify whether he accepts the police-appointed lawyer or wants their services. Took 'em long enough, didn't it? How long does it take to wire money from Arabia?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:09 am ||
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A top al-Qaida official suspected of having planned the Sept. 11 terror attacks also plotted to kill Pope John Paul II during a trip to the Philippines in 1999, a British newspaper reported Sunday. Quoting documents from Philippines intelligence services, The Sunday Times said Osama Bin Laden's lieutenant, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, planned on killing the pope with a pipe bomb planted in a park where John Paul was to speak, or if that failed, with high-velocity rifles equipped with laser scopes. The plot was aborted when the pope's visit was canceled, the newspaper said. That's an attack that would have been nothing but mindless bloodthirst — a slap in the face of Catholics worldwide, all political loss and no military gain...
Philippines police have already named Mohammed as the prime suspect behind a 1995 plot to kill the pope in the southeast Asian nation. Abdul Hakim al Hashim Murad, a Pakistani, was arrested in Manila in 1995 for his alleged involvement in that plan. Mohammed evaded capture but returned to the Philippines four years later, months before the pope was due to visit Manila for a canonization, The Sunday Times said. The newspaper quoted the intelligence documents as saying Mohammed might be in Pakistan but warning that "he may attempt to leave the country to elude arrest as well as conduct terrorist activities." Since that's his profession, that's probably a pretty good bet...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/11/2002 09:30 am ||
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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? Wasn't he elected as an MMA parliamentarian in Balochistan?
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.