This headline can be read in a number of ways ...
Saudi Arabia is establishing a council on terrorism, (I thought they already had those in place...)
to be led by Interior Minister Prince Nayef, that will identify terror financiers and help implement policies to end such violence in the kingdom, a newspaper reported Thursday. The Shura Council - an advisory body that acts somewhat like a parliament - approved formation of the council on Wednesday, Okaz daily newspaper reported. Prince Nayef will lead the council, it said. The council will come up with a plan to implement Shura Council recommendations on handling terrorism in the kingdom, according to Okaz, which is close to Saudi Interior Ministry officials. It also will attempt to identify entities behind terror attacks and track sources of terror money internally and overseas, the newspaper said. No further details were given. mmmmmm
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 6:00:13 PM ||
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Saudi Arabia is establishing a council on terrorism, to be led by Interior Minister Prince Nayef.....
Chicken coop----Meet Mr. Fox! Even the MSM probably does not believe the Saudis anymore.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/15/2004 18:17 Comments ||
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#2
They're establishing a terror council, all right - to help the terrorists. Particularly against the US.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/15/2004 18:21 Comments ||
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Nayef is the number one terrorist in that terrorist entity. He was named in the "9-11 lawsuit" which Bush ordered his Attorney General to suppress.
#9
Nayef? He's the one who said Israel/Zionists were behind Sept 11. I'm sure he also thinks they are behind the Iraqi insurgency, the french hijab ban, Britney Spears' marriage, etc, etc, etc. . . .
A wanted Saudi man who disappeared four years ago after a brief imprisonment has turned himself over to the Saudi Embassy in Syria under a government amnesty, relatives said Thursday. They said Ibrahim al-Sadeq al-Harbi, 34, went to the embassy in Damascus after relatives notified Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef of his decision to surrender. "He is at the embassy and is scheduled to fly back home later today," Harbi's older brother Abdel-Ghaffar told Reuters. Harbi was the fourth person to surrender since Saudi Arabia announced on June 23 a one-month government amnesty aimed primarily at militants who have attacked Westerners, government targets and energy sites in the world's biggest oil exporter. Abdel-Ghaffar said his brother disappeared in 2000 after he was released from prison, where he was questioned about his visits to Afghanistan and Bosnia, where many Saudis had traveled to help fellow Muslims involved in military conflicts.
Working in a soup kitchen or tending baby ducks, I'm sure.
Abdel-Ghaffar said his brother was not linked to al Qaeda, but said authorities had confiscated his passport and forbade him to leave the country four years ago.
So, what's he doing in Syria then, Abdel?
Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2004 3:22:59 PM ||
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#1
heard the dinner bell?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 19:43 Comments ||
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What do you call a country where the US ransoms Saudi terrorists in exchange for 5 Brits, a Canadian and a Belgian hostage in jail on trumped up charges? The enemy.
Posted by: ed ||
07/15/2004 7:57 Comments ||
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#3
forms of labour exploitation that sometimes rise to slavery-like conditions (wink, wink)
IIRC, Saudi only outlawed slavery in the early 1960s.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 17:23 Comments ||
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#5
I had a coworker who was in Saudi for a while that ran over a guy that jumped out in front of his pickup to get slightly injured and collect insurance money. Only problem is that the plan went haywire when the Saudi got run over and killed. The Saudi police hauled him to jail and he was stuck there for 2 weeks while the company negotiated the $ amount for taking this guy out, even though it was not my friend's fault. Fortunately, the office folks brought blankets, food, etc for my friend, or he would have been in a world of hurt. If he did not have outside support, he would have been up s**t creek.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/15/2004 18:24 Comments ||
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#6
Spot - I heard (no link to offer) that they didn't outlaw slavery until 1974. Of course what's on the books and what happens in reality are two very different things.
AP - Just as there are different pay scales for the same job based upon country of origin, there are different "awards" due the family of someone who dies in SA. I recall that if you accidentally killed a USC (US/Canadian), the "price" was $100,000 USD. For a Brit and certain EU countries it was $90K. And so forth. For a PakiWaki, it was $10K. This whole bizarre scheme was based upon the (supposed) relative value of $ in each locale - what sort of lifestyle it would purchase. And your observation regards the comfort of a jail prisoner are spot-on. If someone doesn't come to take care of you, you are screwed. Note that this is part of the Arab family / clan / tribe thingy. Evidence abounds.
#7
AP and .com - our neighbor to the south - lovely land of illegals, has the same setup- you want to eat well (meaning adequately)? Get family to bring you the food...In my college days I lost a few lbs in the San Felipe lockup
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 18:57 Comments ||
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#8
Frank - You went partying solo? Or did you just outdrink 'em and move on? Lol! Sorry about the experience, tho - sure it wasn't fun.
A Moroccan arrested in Britain was linked to one of al-Qaida's top leaders in Europe and spoke to him shortly before the Sept. 11 attacks in language suggesting he may have known of the plot, prosecutors said Thursday. Farid Hilali, 35, telephoned Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, who is suspected of leading an al-Qaida cell in Spain, a few weeks before Sept. 11, 2001, said prosecutor James Lewis, who spoke for the Spanish government in its effort to extradite Hilali. The Moroccan told Yarkas "he had a month to go and that he had some important matters to do. ... Everything was going to be fine. ... He had entered into the aviation sector. ... He had slit the throat of the bird," interpreted as code for the United States, Lewis said. Authorities have said they intercepted and taped the call. Hilali allegedly spoke to Yarkas after the attacks of being "sick," code for under police surveillance, the prosecutor said.
District Judge Timothy Workman ordered that Hilali continue to be held without bail on the European arrest warrant issued by Spain. Britain has detained him for months for suspected immigration offenses and announced last month that he had been arrested on the Spanish anti-terrorism warrant. The warrant alleged that Hilali participated "in a commando (group) that is being trained on aircrafts, a few days before the attacks" of Sept. 11, 2001, and that he directed some al-Qaida activities. Lewis said Hilali had lived in Britain from 1987 to 1997 and then left for Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The prosecutor said Hilali had been detained in the United Arab Emirates in 1999 for using forged British documents. He then returned to Spain, was deported to Morocco, and re-entered Britain in September 2000, Lewis said.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 5:36:58 PM ||
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A Moroccan terror suspect being held in Britain and wanted by Spain on extradition charges was part of the commando group that led the September 11 terrorist attacks, a court in London heard on Thursday. Farid Hilali, 35, was a British link to the al-Qaeda terrorists who carried out Osama bin Ladenâs orders to attack the United States, the court was told. He was held in Britain last September under immigration offences but was re-arrested in June when Spain issued a European arrest warrant to extradite him for terror offences. The Spanish arrest warrant claims Hilali participated "in a commando (group) that is being trained on aircrafts, a few days before the attacks of 11 September, 2001", the court heard.
Hilali, alias "Shakur", was one of 40 people - including in his absence al-Qaeda leader bin Laden himself - charged by Spanish anti-terrorist judge Baltazar Garzon as part of investigations into the extremist network in Spain. He lived in Britain from 1987 to 1997 before travelling to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, lawyer James Lewis, acting on behalf of Spain, told the court in London. Lewis said Hilali was held in the United Arab Emirates in 1999 for using forged British documents. He then returned to Spain, was deported to Morocco, and hid in a ship to Gibraltar before re-entering Britain in September 2000. There he made contact with Imad Eddin Bakakat Yarkas, described in court as the European "centre-pin" for the attacks in the United States. Hilali made two telephone calls to Yarkas shortly before the strikes on New York and Washington, the court heard. Judge Timothy Workman remanded the suspect in prison until a further hearing on July 29. The extradition case is expected to be decided some time in September.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 3:20:15 PM ||
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"was part of the commando group that led the September 11 terrorist attacks"
Now they're commandos. Not terrorists, commandos. All part of the leftist double-speak intended to glorify who these rat bastards really are. But I forgot, George Bush is the terrorist, these brave lads are "commandos"...
A British government report made public yesterday provides new information showing that al Qaeda terrorists had contacts with Iraqi intelligence in developing chemical arms and that the group worked with a Pakistani nuclear weapons scientist. The special report by former top civil servant Robin Butler on British prewar intelligence found gaps in reporting on Iraq's weapons and also disclosed new details of terrorist activities of al Qaeda associate Abu Musab Zarqawi, who is leading attacks in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. On al Qaeda's efforts to obtain nuclear arms, the report stated that Osama bin Laden set up a laboratory in Afghanistan in 1999 and that a former Pakistani nuclear scientist, Bashir Mahmoud, was "associated with the Taliban or al Qaeda."
For al Qaeda's chemical arms development, the report said, intelligence reports from 1999 identified al Qaeda member Abu Khabbab&ID=38126">Abu Khabbab as "an explosives and chemicals expert who ran training courses which included information on how to make and use poisons." Those reports were confirmed after the ouster of the Taliban, when U.S. troops found videos showing chemical arms tests on animals and chemical arms training manuals. The British report also said Khabbab was developing biological agents, a claim that was confirmed by the discovery of a laboratory in Kandahar and evidence that scientists had been recruited for weapons work.
A March 2003 British intelligence report stated that Zarqawi "has established sleeper cells in Baghdad, to be activated during a U.S. occupation of the city." "These cells apparently intend to attack U.S. targets using car bombs and other weapons," the report said, noting that "it is also possible that they have received [chemical-biological] materials from terrorists in the [Kurdish Autonomous Zone]." The report also said that "al Qaeda-associated terrorists continued to arrive in Baghdad in early March."
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 8:45:00 AM ||
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Was the truck load of chemicals discovered in Jordan anything to do with Zarqawi? (He says naively..)
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/15/2004 8:53 Comments ||
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"[BNP leader] Mr Griffin accused the programme makers of selectively editing a speech he delivered in the film and challenged the authorities to prosecute him. "It's still not illegal to criticise Islam", he said. "If Mr Blunkett wants to put me on a show trial about whether we're entitled to warn about the dangers of Islam, I will be absolutely delighted." Any jury would see the full speech, in which he states that the BNP is not targeting individuals or communities, he added. The BBC was failing in its charter terms to represent the views of BNP supporters who now represented 5% of the electorate, claimed Mr Griffin."
It's a shame the issue of the problems with Islam is left to the racist thugs of the BNP, a party which is to politics what football hooligans are to ball sports. Nevertheless, I agree with his challenge to Blunkett - anyone should be free to criticise any religion.
Boasting about attacking a random Muslim (if that's what a BNP member claims to have done) and having 'squirted dog faeces through the letterbox of an Indian takeaway' are just the acts of twats as anathema to civilised society as the Islamists they hate...
#3
BNP = shithead NAZIS. However, I understand their rage and I don't think the Gandhi route will get us anyehere against the crazy Mullahs poisoning UK society.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/15/2004 9:02 Comments ||
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Asian states with troops in Iraq looked set to keep them there yesterday despite the Philippinesâ capitulation to hostage-taking Muslim militants yesterday. Like the Philippines, South Korea and Japan are United States allies which had bucked opposition at home to contribute troops to Iraq. But Seoul and Tokyo endured hostage crises without changing their policies on Iraq. A foreign ministry spokesman in Tokyo reaffirmed the 500 Japanese troops would remain in Iraq to rebuild schools, provide medical supplies and supply clean water. âWe consider it important to continue activityâ in Iraq, she said.
Iraqi militants had captured three Japanese civilians in April and threatened to kill them unless Japan withdrew the troops. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi refused to budge and the three hostages, along with two others taken separately, were later released. In Seoul, a South Korean government official who requested anonymity also said there was âno changeâ to the governmentâs position, in view of sensitivities, on sending 3,000 troops to Iraq next month. Seoul is still reeling from the beheading last month of a South Korean interpreter by militants in Iraq after the government rejected the kidnappersâ demand that it scrap the deployment and pull out about 600 military engineers and medics who have been working in the Middle-Eastern country since last year.
But in the Philippines - where the fate of truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, a father of eight, has gripped the nation - people praised the governmentâs decision to withdraw the troops as demanded by his hostage-takers before their deployment was scheduled to end on Aug 20. âThatâs good. The sooner the better,â said Mr Teddy Casino of the left-wing Bayan Muna party, a strong opponent of President Gloria Arroyoâs decision to send troops to Iraq in the first place. Mr de la Cruzâs family celebrated the announcement with a hearty breakfast of fish and fried chicken in their home province of Pampanga. âWe are happy that they are pulling out the troops already in exchange for my brotherâs freedom,â said Mr Feliciano de la Cruz, brother of the captive. âWeâre thankful to the President if they will indeed be pulled out. And once they complete the pullout, the captors should give my brother to the President.â
But Ms Lourdes Ruba, a Filipino worker in Hong Kong, worried that the government has set a bad precedent in dealing with terrorists. Another woman said there are no guarantees about how the Iraqi insurgents will respond. âThey can still behead the man,â said jeweller Erma Leung, 40.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 6:33:12 PM ||
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The U.S. army is reported to have developed a missile capable of destroying North Koreaâs suspected underground facilities of nuclear weapons. This new missile, according to a U.S. defense weekly, will first be deployed with U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, to bring about changes to the security situation on the Korean peninsula. American defense weekly, the Defense News says the U.S. army has successfully test-fired a missile that is designed to target North Koreaâs possible hidden nuclear weapons and facilities. In its Monday edition, Defense News reported, the new missile has been upgraded in its penetration ability to better detonate hidden targets. Quoting words from U.S. Department of Defense officials, it says U.S. forces serving in South Korea will be the first to be equipped with six of these missiles, when its development program ends in a year.
When discharged from an aircraft, the missile is apparently capable of penetrating hundreds of meters below ground in a second to instantly destroy the underground target with its warhead. The Defense News weekly says although the U.S. army has been mum on the exact target of this new missile, the general consensus is that North Korea is probably its main focus. It adds, with the possession of such weapons, the United States has secured a strategic upper hand in negotiations with North Korea as it is locked in a 21-month-old standoff over Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear ambitions.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 12:44:42 AM ||
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Don't forget to target various Iranian nuke sites.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/15/2004 0:58 Comments ||
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Already locked and loaded.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 1:00 Comments ||
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No they havn't, nope, move along. Nk safe, soups on.
#5
Is that the American-style sat phone (that tells us where he is so that the Predator can nail him) or the Israeli-style sat phone (3 ounces of C4 inside the earpiece)?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2004 1:39 Comments ||
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Wonder how many of these a B-52 can carry? 12 on the wings and 16 in the belly? Thirty or so BUFFs flying out of Andersen could do some serious renovation of the NORK infrastructure.
#7
Something smells about this.The US Army does not develope weapons for the USAF.Further missiles have motors,while bombs don't.(A missile you can fire from a distance,a bomb you kinda have to be overhead to drop.)This sounds like garbled account of weapon USAF huurriedly developed for Gulf War of '91.The US filled the barrel of US Army 8" artillery cannon w/high-explosives and a delayed fuse,making a 4,000lb.bomb.Possib a new version w/guidance package added has been introduced,and some were sent to Korea as PR to show Koreans we have "wonder weapons" to make up for withdrawing troops.If I remember correctly could only be dropped by F-111's(now retired) and F-15Es.The really large air-to-ground missile the USAF has are 2,000lb.cruise missiles that are used by bombers,and I find it hard to believe any USAF General would be stupid enough to base scarce bomber resources in Korea.Aside from anti-sabotage concerns,any NK agent w/binocs and cell phone could warn North bombers were launching from South.
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/15/2004 1:44 Comments ||
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Steve, let's give Dear Leader a call and find out.
#14
Steven-
Actually, the comment about the Army indicated to me that there really might be something here. What this sounds like to me is a project I had heard about some time before I retired that would put the GBU-28 BunkerBuster onto a booster assembly that would give it a standoff capability or enable it to be fired from a ground based launcher.
Yes, it would be a USAF weapon - but the US Army is responsible for the adminstrative procurement and manufacture of bombs, like the GBU-28.
And I agree with AzCat - hundreds of meters ain't gonna happen unless you drop it from orbit, but a high altitude boosted drop might get you a hundred meters of penetration. Also, the basing info makes no sense at all - but hey, if it drives Kimmie another few inches up the wall, I say tell 'em we're gonna base 'em in Itawewon..*S*
Mike
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/15/2004 11:37 Comments ||
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Yup. And read the last paragraph, which is where the meat is:
In 2001 Sandia completed work to qualify the B61-11 earth-penetrating bomb as meeting all requirements, resulting in its acceptance as a standard stockpile item. We made alterations to enhance the safety and security of all B61 bombs at field locations. In recognizing the efforts of the B61-11 certification team, the Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Command cited the weaponâs many advantages over the retired B53-1 bomb.
DOD synthetic environments are virtual representations of the physical and behavioral phenomena of complex military systems achieved through mathematical modeling, simulation, and simulators. This is the environment within which DODâs goal of "virtual prototyping" and "exploration of future warfighting concepts" will be accomplished. More importantly, this environment will be used in analysis and decision support for combat development, material acquisition, test and evaluation, and training processes. For the past several years, LANL has contributed MSA efforts to help develop DOD synthetic environments. USSTRATCOM has requested that LANL develop and provide them with a B61-11 engagement planning tool for use in end-to-end weapon/target engagement analysis.
when those tools are in place, as they would by by now based on the timing given in the article, it means the munition is really available for operational use.
#19
Mike K,after reading article again,you are most likely right.The article is describing a ground-based missile system of a weapon that is also air-launchable.I still think this is just PR to reassure SK's as it describes a weapon undergoing testing,and eventually several will go to Korea.The hundreds of meters penetration could be mistranslation back and forth of hundreds of feet penetration.(Unlikely,but NASA lost a Mars probe over similar kind of mistake.)
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/15/2004 14:05 Comments ||
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#20
I don't see where getting something pretty far underground is such a problem when the missile is traveling somewhere between Mach 6 and 15. At several thousand MPH, a well constructed penetrator should be able to do some deep digging. Hundreds of feet? Yes, easily. Hundreds of meters? Definitely maybe.
The X-43's evolutionary designs sound promising. Some of the illustrations at the link look like hot candidates for deep burrowing projectiles.
"... the X-43A is powered by an uncooled hydrogen-fueled scramjet engine, the X-43D would use a cooled, liquid-hydrogen-fueled scramjet. The upgraded engine would provide 10 seconds of power and be capable of accelerating to Mach 15."
I would like to see a nice hybrid package that delivered both trans-sonic cruise flight and Mach 15 termination velocity. The asset could be launched from a stand-off posture, then loiter over an enemy's conventional nuclear missile farm and selectively miscarry any ground based lift-offs. This sort of intercept-at-launch would be an ultimate defensive weapon.
An Australian policy paper on terrorism says the Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah still has the capacity to mount attacks anywhere in South East Asia. The White Paper says the group could hit soft targets, such as hotels and nightclubs, or hard targets like embassies and airports. It says the number of JI supporters is likely to grow because of the steady flow of extremists from radical religious schools. The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, says Australia is giving aid to Indonesiaâs departments of education and religious affairs to try to control radical Muslim boarding schools.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 5:39:03 PM ||
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The war on terrorism could last for another generation and an attack on Australia was a possibility, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. Launching the governmentâs white paper on terrorism, Mr Downer said it might take many years and billions of dollars before al-Qaeda and other terror groups were finally defeated. "The Australian government is ready to confront the terrorist threat but we cannot afford complacency," Mr Downer said. "An attack here is a possibility but one we will do everything in our power to prevent."
Mr Downer said contemporary terrorism differed from any threat previously faced by Australia and could not be ignored. "Far more civilians than soldiers have already lost their lives," he said. "Who knows what terrorist outrages, abroad and even at home, may lie ahead, or how many billions of dollars will have to be spent before we can safely say that al-Qaeda and its henchmen have been contained and eventually defeated? It may not happen for a generation." The white paper outlines the nature and international dimensions of the evolving terrorist threat to Australia.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 12:59:20 AM ||
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I agree with his assessment. But his name seems to fit doesn't it?
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
07/15/2004 12:34 Comments ||
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Prime Minister John Howard today maintained that intelligence at the time justified Australiaâs decision to go to war in Iraq and he would still make the same decision in the circumstances. A long-awaited report by former top British civil servant Lord Butler, released overnight, found some British pre-war intelligence was seriously flawed and unreliable, but found no evidence of deliberate distortion or culpable negligence. It discredited one key claim Blair used to justify the war in Iraq - that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in 45 minutes. No such weapons have been found more than a year after the invasion.
Mr Howard welcomed the findings of the Butler report, which said it was impossible to rule out the existence of WMD. "He said, and I quote, âIt would be a rash person to say at this stage that stocks do not exist and will not be foundâ," Mr Howard told Sky News. "My position remains that we had strong intelligence to justify our decision and nothing in the Butler report alters that position. "If weâd have had our time over again I would have taken the same decision."
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 12:38:11 AM ||
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#1
What was it that caused all the important intelligence ops to be so lame? I'm still good with the outcome though.
#5
Wha...? Much as I despise Antigum and her lunacy, I'm surprised to see her comment removed. She is not like that spamming bigot who posts totally OT and inflammatory drivel with the URL to his hate site. Isn't this going a little far?
Posted by: Dar ||
07/15/2004 11:31 Comments ||
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#6
What was it that caused all the important intelligence ops to be so lame?
My own guess, for what little it counts, is that this is what happens when you use intelligence gathering in order to justify a decision already made, rather than in order to actually determine your course of action.
There's also the conspiracy theory I've heard but like all conspiracy theories I would need more info in order to either believe or dismiss -- namely that the US and UK intelligence services were both hopelessly manipulated by double agents (working either as false informants or as actual agents) in order to throw USA against Iraq, with all the harm to the USA and good for Iran/Russia/China/Castro/the Martians, that this would entail.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 12:31 Comments ||
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Dragon Fly> The Iranians, because they believe they'll dominate a Saddam-less Iraq, not to mention that USA attacking Iraq meant that USA would for years be too tied-up to attack *them*. That's obvious.
With the Russians the conspiracy theory was quite a bit more complex, but it mainly involved the fact that Iraq made Europe and USA mad at each other and caused divisions even inside Europe. ("Thus the highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemy's plans; next is to attack their alliances; next to attack their army; and the lowest is to attack their fortified cities. -- Sun Tzu." According to that theory therefore, Russia managed to attack the West's alliances, by making it attack Iraq's armies and fortified cities.)
Also the possibility of a UN administration for the new Iraq, which Russia would basically control.
But as I told you that's just a conspiracy theory and rather far-fetched also -- so I would need more in order to believe it.
#11
The Iranians are punch drunk if they really believe that is possible. As for the Russians, well I am not that up to speed on them. However, I will say the rift between Europe and the US is hardly in shambles. So we lost a few shakey friends. We also made quite a few new ones in the East.
#12
Aris, there may be a better reason why western intel was, perhaps, incorrect. Saddam ran a paranoid murderous regime that was highly secretive and based upon clan ties. This type of organization is extraordinarily difficult to penetrate with agents in whom you have complete trust. There is also the difficulty of an Iraqi or an American of Iraqi descent filling this role. Could they penetrate to get the information? Would it be a death sentence? Who knows. I'm pretty sure that the odds would not be good.
Overall, western intelligence agencies human intelligence in key threat regions has been weakened significantly during the past 30 years. The result is that the intel we do have is poor or suspect and in hindsight often inaccurate. I don't think that a predisposition to kick Saddam out was what made the intel bad. No logical link there.
Posted by: remote man ||
07/15/2004 12:41 Comments ||
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trailing wife--Thanks for the tip. I don't normally check the Sink Trap nor do I have time to read every article, much less every comment. I can certainly understand now why Antigum's crap was removed!
Posted by: Dar ||
07/15/2004 12:48 Comments ||
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#14
" . . . it would be a very rash person who said that Saddam Hussain never had weapons of mass destruction and they wouldnât be discovered.ââ
#16
heard they had a bumper crop of hoses and chamois this year
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 16:11 Comments ||
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#17
The bulk of Saddam's WMD which could be shipped out of Iraq via truck, were, some weeks prior to the ground war starting. Syria paid Saddam & sons, some 31 million in U.S. currency & Euros.
Some of the WMD made there way to northern Lebanon under the control of Syrian-Hizballah 'overseers'.
This issue will only be resolved once the current dictatorships in Syria, and the Iranian backed & funded Hizballah infested rouge state in the Lebanon has be erased.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 17:56 Comments ||
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The UN has to take on a decisive role in resolving a dispute between Algiers and Rabat over the Moroccan territory of Western Sahara, Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said here Wednesday. "It is up to the United Nations to run the process... with the agreement of all parties" involved, Zapatero told a news conference in the Algerian capital at the end of a brief visit to the north African country. Algeria supports the Polisario Front independence movement in the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara located on its western border, and is home to thousands of Sahrawi refugees. Morocco - which annexed the region in 1975 after Spanish settlers left - has disagreed with the movement over plans to hold a United Nations-sponsored independence referendum following a five-year period of autonomy. As a result UN special envoy James Baker resigned last month after years of fruitless talks.
"After several years of failure... all the parties have to negotiate, the United Nations must explore all options," Zapatero said following talks with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, adding that to be legitimate a "road map" had to involve the UN and the international community. Zapatero received backing from Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, who said both sides wanted a "just and definitive solution within the framework of international law" for Western Sahara. "We want the process to remain with the United Nations and that it does not become" anyone elseâs responsibility, neither other Mediterranean, north African or Arab countries, Belkhadem stressed.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 6:37:06 PM ||
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#1
This sand is your sand!
this sand it my sand!
From the Atlas Mountains
to the Berber border!
This sand was made for you and me!
#2
Don't hold your breath for US support, Z-Man. We're busy picking up the slack from your last bug-out. Besides, right about now, Morocco looks like a more reliable ally than you. FOAD.
#3
Zapatero can bite the big one. Your on your own. You stabbed us in the back don't expect our help.
You must be new here the UN has been trying to solve this for years with no luck. You and you asshat friends the French what to play like you are big kids who can "counterweight the US" send you troops into Sudan and stop the genocide. Either wise STFU you littel cockroach.
A LETTER threatening EU institutions in Brussels and The Hague was received at United Nations headquarters in New York a few days ago, Dutch Interior Minister Johan Remkes said today. The Dutch news agency ANP said the letter was signed by the al-Qaeda terror group, which claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US. The letter is currently being examined by the Dutch intelligence service, AIVD, Mr Remkes told the commercial RTL4 television station. The Netherlands has held the rotating presidency of the European Union since July 1. The Hague, the countryâs seat of government, is home to the European police agency Europol and to the European crime fighting organisation Eurojust. Separately, Mr Remkes told the national ANP news agency that officials have tightened security around government buildings, after getting information last Friday about possible attacks from inside the country and abroad.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 6:23:11 PM ||
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#1
Whoever wrote that letter ought to be arrested and tried in the International Criminal Court in the Hague. This is an outrage!
/sarcasm
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/15/2004 18:30 Comments ||
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#2
my - bumped flight put you in a spunky mood ! heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 18:54 Comments ||
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"the letter was signed by the al-Qaeda terror group"
Police searched an Islamic cultural center and mosque in Cologne on Thursday after receiving a tip from immigration authorities that it might be being used to form a radical Islamic network, police said. City immigration authorities first became suspicious in November 2003 when many Moroccans and Tunisians requested lodging in the apartment of one of the associationâs members, a 28-year-old Moroccan, police said in a statement. Police searched both the offices of the Islamic Cultural Center of Cologne, the associated Al Tauhid mosque and the apartment on a warrant issued by a Cologne court. No arrests were made and "there is no hint that attacks were being planned in Germany or elsewhere," said police spokesman Wolfgang Baltes. At the center of the investigation is a group of 10 men and one women, ages 22 to 35, who were members of the cultural center, police said. "There is the suspicion that those concerned built a secret network of Arabic mujahadeen," a police statement said. Police said the Al Tauhid mosque preaches a strict version of Sunni Islam.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 5:50:12 PM ||
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The Spanish government deliberately ignored a mosque known for fundamentalist preachings and frequented by suspects in the Madrid train bombings because the facility was financed by Saudi Arabia, an academic expert testified Wednesday. Spanish authorities knew for years the city's largest mosque, the Islamic Cultural Center, adhered to the Wahabi fundamentalist movement sponsored by Saudi Arabia, Islam expert Jesus Nunez told a commission investigating the March 11 bombings. Authorities did nothing to monitor the mosque because Saudi Arabia provides Spain with oil, Nunez said.
I think the off-used phrase "No Blood For Oil" fits nicely here, don't you?
"Until now the West in general and Spain as part of it closed its eyes to what Wahabism means as a rigorous doctrine that violates human rights," said Nunez, who runs a Madrid think tank called the Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action. Spanish investigators have said key suspects in the bombings that killed 190 people prayed at the mosque. The suspects included Serhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, an accused ringleader who blew up himself and six other suspects April 3 as police prepared to arrest them.
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Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2004 9:27:05 AM ||
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#1
The perfect example of PC literally killing us.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/15/2004 11:12 Comments ||
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I dont know id say PC - according the article they didnt ignore the mosque out of cultural sensitivity to Muslims in general - they did so out of deference to KSA. Not so much PCness as old fashioned foreign policy misjudgement - mistaking an enemy for a friend.
#3
Wasn't there a report not too long ago that the French had deliberately fed Aznar false information about Basque involvement in the 3/11 boom in order to discredit him before the election?
#5
Until now the West in general â and Spain as part of it â closed its eyes to what Wahabism means as a rigorous doctrine that violates human rights.
I think we at Rantburg saw that a long time ago. Personally, I'd like to see this story: God: Muslim Religion Linked to Terrorism, Evil.
In a recent rare appearance, God, the Creator of the Universe, made the people of His Creation aware of the dangers of terrorism, in particular the strain that comes from Islam, one of the six major religions dedicated to worshipping the Almighty. He noted with extreme dismay the failure of His children to stand firm in the face of what He termed "the obvious manipulation of Satan," and highly recommended that Muslims begin to rethink their religion. "Or else I might just be forced to bombard you with lightning bolts," He went on to threaten . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
07/15/2004 14:13 Comments ||
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Way good Mr. Doctor.
I'm tempted to Pagemaker that into a front page NYT article.
#8
*Grins*.
Shipman, if you'd like to do that, I'd be happy to write a bit of a longer piece; there's a lot more that can go in there.
LH, I think it's because 65 years ago we had other men teaching them a lesson. There are a lot more today who seem to be saying that telling them that what they're doing is wrong, and, well, Someone needs to do it!
Posted by: The Doctor ||
07/15/2004 16:29 Comments ||
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LH, I think it's because 65 years ago we had other men teaching them a lesson.
Too late for my great grandpa - and the relatives of a lot of others whod ask the same question I did.
I have an idea - lets not think too much about lightning bolts, or G-d. Lets roll up and fight islamofascism - and lets include on our side Christians, Jews, atheists, and those who call themselves muslims but are willing to fight islamofascism.
and think about G-d all you wish in other contexts of course - far be it from me to discourage prayer, theology, or similar activities - but this is war.
#11
No disrespect is meant, LH. Quite the opposite, in fact, since they weren't afraid to put their lives on the line for what they believed in (which, from what I can tell, is far more than a lot of these lefties are willing to do). We have a lot of brave men and women doing that today, but I sometimes fear that their effort is diluted by the media and the very vocal and vacant-brained left. And I've had more than a couple relatives serve in the military myself, and my grandfather actually met my grandmother on a Florida base (I *think* he was recovering from an injury, but it's been a few years since I heard the stories). It was just a little bit of satire - remember that humor is apparently unIslamic. I'm with you on the rolling up your sleeves and fighting, but I like to try and do it with a grin on my face (it infuriates the enemy).
Posted by: The Doctor ||
07/15/2004 16:58 Comments ||
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Look in the mosque! Damn! Why didn't I think of that!
A young French woman who provoked a national outrage after she reported being accosted on a commuter train by men who mistakenly identified her as a Jew, fabricated the entire story, police said yesterday. "But this event should not be used to distract attention from the very real problem of anti-Semitism in France, a problem this French government is well aware of and committed to fighting," Jewish officials said.
Yeah. Except that she's a nut. Next time, when it happens for real, the victim will also be dismissed as a nut.
The 23-year-old woman, identified by the press as Marie Leonie, told police on Friday that a group of six men attacked her on a suburban train north of Paris. She said the attackers slashed her clothing with knives, lightly wounding her in the process, and drew swastikas on her stomach with a marker. The assailants also reportedly overturned the stroller of her 13-month-old child before they got off the train. Police began to doubt the account when video surveillance cameras did not record the presence of any men fitting Leonieâs description, and when no passengers on the train came forth to collaborate her account. A friend of Leonie said that the woman had a history of filing claims of being assaulted. "The first declarations of the young woman reveal that her accusations were lies and that she had been making it all up," the public prosecutorâs office said in a statement. The woman admitted to "having made knife cut marks on herself, cut off a lock of her own hair and drawn swastikas on her body," it said.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 1:32:53 AM ||
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Actually, Raj, I'm rather gratified to see it because it makes my point, that the hate crimes against French Jews are real and numerous.
Clearly, the woman behind the hoax was a nut job, but she based her hoax on a real incident where a Jewish man was attacked on the Metro and called a "dirty Jew."
And the quote marks in the title are for a real quote, not the sneers of the journalist.
Thanks for the post, Mark!
Posted by: Jen ||
07/15/2004 12:32 Comments ||
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#3
I ask (the French) to remind their children of the mortal danger of fanaticism, of exclusion, of cowardliness and resignation to extremism," Chirac said.
The irony of this statement is so thick that you could slice it with a knife before spreading it on freshly baked Parisian bread.
A Spanish judge has formally accused a 24th suspect in connection with the March Madrid train bombings, sending him to jail without bail. Reuters reports the man, Abderrahmed Hammadi Afandi, was arrested on Sunday in the suburb where seven other suspects chose to blow themselves up in April rather than surrender to police surrounding their apartment. Spanish media reports Afandi was a Spanish citizen of Moroccan descent. The investigating magistrate, Juan del Olmo, accused Afandi of collaborating with the perpetrators of the attacks on March 11. More than 50 people have been arrested in connection with the bombings, which killed 191 people on crowded commuter trains, and 24 people have now been accused.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 12:41:50 AM ||
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Two Sudanese men arrested at Brussels Zaventem airport at the weekend have been cleared of links to terrorist group Al Qaeda, it has emerged. Whew...I feel better now. Had me worried there for a minute.
The Belgian prosecutor leading the case on Sunday denied she had proof that the two men arrested during a passport check were part of Osama bin Ladenâs global network. "No, certainly not!"
Belgian TV networks RTL-TVI and VTM had reported on Saturday that the detainees had terrorist links, a report denied by the prosecutorâs office. Prosecutor Berangere Haegeman later said they stood accused of using false Belgian identity documents, "but at this stage of the investigation we have nothing about a link with terrorism." "Well, the forgeries werenât made in Pakistan, see..."
She told reporters that the men claimed to be from the crisis-stricken Darfur region of Western Sudan and that they were making their way to the UK as part of a people-trafficking ring. Thatâs a lame-o cover story. No way do the Darfur refugees have the means to board international flights to make their way to Abu Hamza-land via Abu Jahjah-land with forged documents.
According to television reports, the name of a known Al Qaeda member was found on a mobile phone carried by the men (!) and a baggage search turned up photos of extremists who had carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks. Haegeman said she had no knowledge of these reports. Ms. Haegeman...with all due respect, youâre an idiot.
The men were picked up after arriving on a flight from Greece, on a route regularly used by people-traffickers. Their case is being handled jointly by Haegeman and examining magistrate, Jeroen Burm, who has no specialist training in terrorism. Someone send them the link to Rantburg University, before Brussels goes down the tubes.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/15/2004 12:36:07 AM ||
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But FOX is not allowed ?
The Arabic Al-Jazeera network has been cleared for viewing by Canadians. In a decision bound to stir controversy, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the federal regulator, granted the network approval Thursday for distribution by cable companies. While cable companies want the network, the Canadian Jewish Congress and others argue that Al-Jazeera, often called the CNN of the Arab world, broadcasts anti-Semitic programs. The commission, in its ruling Thursday, said distributors of Al-Jazeera in Canada will be required to guard against the broadcast of ``any abusive comment.ââ That could mean editing or deleting some program content. Distributors will also have to record programming and keep the copies for a specified time, so the material can be assessed in the event of later complaints.
Support for broadcasting the network came from the Canadian Cable Television Assoc., including the powerful Rogers Cable, in part because the network can be picked up now using "grey-marketââ technology that the CRTC considers illegal. Al-Jazeera broadcasts 24 hours a day from Qatar on the Persian Gulf. The network regularly receives video and audio tapes said to have come from al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden and other prominent terrorists in the Middle East. While the CRTC approved the Arabic network, it turned down an application to offer Italyâs RAI International as a digital specialty service through cable or satellite. More than 100,000 Italian-Canadians signed petitions favouring the RAI application to broadcast 24 hours a day in Canada.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 6:28:29 PM ||
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Amazing. Can't watch Fox, but Canadians will be able to watch Jihad TV.
#2
You are suprized? We do get the CBC here most of the reporting is heavly anti US for no good reason. They gove very easy on their own asshats. Soon we will hear the CBC going on about the hundreds of thoudands of poor muslims the US kills everyday.
Ought right lies. If Canada thinks outright lies are "news" good luck.
A former Guantanamo Bay detainee has appeared in a Montreal court to testify that he knows precisely who in Canada has attended al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. If found credible, Abdurahman Khadr's assertion could throw a wrench into one of the government's national-security cases. Mr. Khadr, 21, has publicly renounced the views of his extremist Islamic family, who moved from Canada to Afghanistan in his childhood. He has been in court to fight a federal government decision to deny him a passport on national-security grounds.
But at a bail hearing for Adil Charkaoui in Federal Court in Montreal on Tuesday, Mr. Khadr presented himself as an authority on Canadians who have taken weapons and explosives training in Afghanistan. He said he saw Mr. Charkaoui for the first time in court this week. The government has presented evidence that says captured al-Qaeda figures have identified Mr. Charkaoui as an Afghanistan-trained operative. The 30-year-old Moroccan immigrant is accused of training in Afghanistan in 1998, three years after coming to Canada. Last year, the government jailed him and, deeming him a threat to Canada's national security, initiated deportation proceedings.
Mr. Charkaoui's supporters, who say they asked Mr. Khadr to testify after learning about his life story through media reports, regard his testimony as a coup. "He made a very good case about why he would have known people who came from Canada to train," said Mary Foster, a member of the group called Coalition for Justice for Adil Charkaoui. She said he spoke of how the Khadrs made a point of meeting the few Canadians who entered the tightly knit networks in Afghanistan. Mr. Khadr, who has spoken of his terror-camp training, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Ms. Foster said the government is trying to counter Mr. Khadr's testimony by attacking his credibility.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 8:40:48 AM ||
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Determined computer hackers broke through federal firewalls several times last year, gaining access to Defence Department networks. A newly obtained report on security breaches at the department in 2003 also reveals dozens of internal lapses. This is makes the public feel protected.
Computer security has become a high-profile concern in federal circles in light of cyber-terrorism, operations mounted by foreign intelligence services and, more often, the sloppy practices of employees. The Defence Departmentâs Computer Incident Response Team tracked a total of 160 events - from digital break-ins to dodgy e-mail procedures - last year. Located in Ottawa at the Canadian Forces network operations centre, the team defends department computers by monitoring intrusion detection systems, zeroing in on threats and issuing alerts. A declassified version of the teamâs report was released to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. It provides an indication of the difficulties faced by federal agencies such as the Defence Department in keeping their sprawling information holdings secure from interlopers.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 1:02:47 AM ||
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EFL [I]n intelligence briefings given here to the Tribune last week, the Tribune learned that recent information from Guantanamo has derailed plans for attacks during the Athens Olympics next month and possibly forestalled at least a dozen attacks elsewhere.
by Gerard Van Der Leun at American Digest. EFLâd to get to the good parts; worth reading the whole thing.
As a seafaring friend of mine once remarked, an aircraft carrier is not really listed on the books as a "ship," but as a "strategic asset." And when a country starts to move 7 out of 12 of these assets around on the global chessboard, it might betoken something more than just a summer âexercise.â Indeed, if this were wartime (What? It is? Who knew?) moving this much killing power out onto the seas would be thought of as a fleet surge.
Truman, Enterprise, Stennis, Washington, Kennedy, Reagan, Kitty Hawk. It could all be, of course, just prudent planning and practice. On the other hand, given the various signals being sent by Homeland Security, the nearness of the Olympics, and the advent of the elections, it may be a case of "Fortune favors the forward deployed." . . . Itâs also interesting that the same page: U.S. Navy - Status of the Navy tells us that 92% of our surface ships are currently underway or deployed, and that 91% of our submarine fleet is either underway or deployed. This is a lot of activity.
It would be interesting to know the last time these figures were achieved. Granted that in any navy there will always be a bit of moving about on the oceans. That is, after all, what the Navy does. But the percentages strike me as high, especially those of the submarine fleet.
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Posted by: Mike ||
07/15/2004 7:03:06 PM ||
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...I'm not sure the Trident SLCM conversions (officially the Florida class SSGN)are even out of the yards yet, much less deployed. IIRC only the first conversion has been funded, and it's still underway. Having said that, this is a hell of a lot of firepower running around loose.
Remember what I said when this first came up - two carriers is an exercise. Seven is a campaign.
Or a warning.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/15/2004 20:18 Comments ||
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#2
"154 Tomahawk cruise missiles"
Holy Shit! I didn't know they carried more than 1/3 this number! I gotta get on GlobalSec, StrategyPg, and a sub to Jane's and catch up!
#3
Good Post, Mike. My office in downtown San Diego looks sw, from North Island Carrier ports to 32nd street fleet base. In 6 years in this office I've never seen as much movement, practicing (off SEAL base in Coronado) and deployment of ships.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 20:22 Comments ||
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#4
Hell yes it's an exercise. What a bunch of chattering baloney. The Navy has been planning for years a shift to the "Fleet Response Plan" whereby instead of schedules written in stone, they can surge as many as 8 carriers on short notice. They have been planning this exercise for ages. You can check in daily on Summer Pulse '04 here. Any war we fight will be fought out in the political arena first. Remember the agonizing debates in 2002, early '03 over Iraq? You could see it coming like a freight train gaining speed. Congress will be consulted first. The US Navy will not fight outside of a joint war plan involving the other services. You can depend on the other services to demand a piece of the action. There are no surprises to expect this summer. Give it up. Wave off. Stand down the high hopes. Rig Rantburg for normal steaming. Stow the popcorn.
1)Simply an exercise to test new doctrine,w/warning to world as added bonus
2)Israel is about to hit Iran and fleet is at sea as backup
3)Somebody in CIA,DOD got really spooked by some intell,and fleet is at sea as deterent/retaliation-esp.if boomers being at sea was leaked intentionally
4)My personal guess-after election Bush is going after everybody w/terror connections,screw public/world opinion-and esp.if Kerry is elected.The fleet is doing dry run(and if Bush is going after laundry list,explains why carriers are spread all over place).Figure 2-4 weeks exercise,6-8 weeks to correct faults and incorporate new personel,weapons,etc,then a month leave,and then week or so getting strike a/c aboard.Fleet leaves port end Oct./begin Nov. w/cover story circulating of terror strike on elections and after week or so sailing arrives on station.I may be eligible for the old tin-foil hat,but increasingly I think Bush is going to go after all the camps and possib WMD sites after election.
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/15/2004 21:21 Comments ||
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#6
Boomers are still working on a fixed schedule as in days of old. Three weeks refit, 70 days on patrol, turn over to the other crew. Rinse. Repeat. They can not "surge" with such short refit cycles. When your in port for a year like the carriers, you can do it, not boomers.
Also, it is important that a certain number - the same number - of missiles be on station at all times. That means fixed cycles. Do 24 extra missiles at sea buy you any more capability if I have a fixed set of targets I want to hit at all times? Do we really want to have a time after the surge is over that some of those targets are not covered?
That ship status page this guy links is fubar confusing. It names 36 surface ships that are deployed, then states 158 ships are deployed. Throw in the 35 sewer pipes it says are deployed and I count 71 ships deployed. How do you get from there to 158 ships deployed? Also, deployed ships are a subset of underway ships. This guy added the two. He counted ships twice to get his 92% of surface ships out to sea. Confused yet?
This is an exercise to demo a capability. Other than having that capability in your back pocket, it is not part of any further geo-political plan.
#7
I take it back. Boomers can get underway early. I forgot my history. The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown did a refit in 72 hours after the Battle of Coral Sea to repair bomb holes in the flight deck allowing it to get underway for the Battle of Midway. If the Yorktown can do it, so can any boomer. The situation is everything I guess.
#8
Damn, Frank, wish I had your view. SD boy in exile, and though I get back often, it's never enough. I've noted for several years now how empty 32nd Street is, compared to the old days, when I sit on the left side of the plane landing at Lindbergh. Your view encompasses the best value public golf course in the US, at the base of the bridge. Was playing there a few July's ago, must have been July 2 or 3, and along the shoreline on the back 9 some navy personnel were rigging up pyrotechnic charges for the SEAL demo they do in Glorietta Bay on the 4th. They touched off one big flash-bang without warning, just as one of our foursome was teeing off. Hilarious -- we let him hit again. Then some enlisted guys with radios came running up, apologizing, and provided 10-second warnings of future blasts. Only in Coronado ......
#9
Any war we fight will be fought out in the political arena first. Remember the agonizing debates in 2002, early '03 over Iraq? You could see it coming like a freight train gaining speed.
Though you're probably 100% correct, this is also the best argument for not doing it this way next time. We probably missed Iraq's WMD while we putzed around with the UN. I doubt we'll make the same mistake next time.
Posted by: James ||
07/15/2004 13:53 ||
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That's a pretty disturbing story. I recall that James Woods, the actor, reported to the FBI that he was on a transcontinental flight shortly before 9/11 and observed some odd behaviour by Arab men, and I think he even identified 1 or 2 of the men as members of the 19.
Posted by: Tibor ||
07/15/2004 15:16 Comments ||
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#2
OK... I'm ready to consider not riding on a plane if groups of un-accompanied middle-eastern guys are on the same flight.
Disturbing is not strong enough words for this article.
#5
It is a scary article but I don't make much of it. If I was AL Queda I wouldn't do dry runs for a bomb deal, they didn't with the shoe bomber after all. If you get the parts aboard, and you assemble them, you use them.
On the other hand, if you wanted to spread terror, you might want to get a group onto a plane and have them act suspiciously. Let the word get out and the terror spread. You don't have to do anything and you haven't done anything illegal. You also force the yanks to put a bunch of Air Marshalls and whomever onto the flight to watch you. If that was the case you would want to use passports that would attract maximum attention. Perhaps Iran or Syria.
If I was Al Queda I'd set up lots of false alarms like this to waste American resources and spread terror with minimal effort. Then I'd attempt to load dozens, nay hundreds, of bomb laden suitcases onto planes around the US on the same day. I'd also consider setting a few to explode when tampered with. I'd do it through the checkin bags. Certain airports are sloppier than others and a few might get through. Those that don't get through will create terror when they are reported on the media. That would be a lot better than trying to get Al Queda's normal moronic thugs to assemble something mid flight.
Anyway, what are the chances these guys were praying to Mecca in the small area near the bathrooms? Your gonna have mecca time somewhere during your 4.5 hour flight.
#7
I share some of your scepticism, Yank, but IIRC, Shoebomber Reid flew all over the shop for weeks or months before actually getting caught. I think some of his flights were effectively dry runs. One of the shocks about that incident was the fact that mad-eyed, mad-bearded, mad-man Reid had travelled so extensively, especially as he had raised suspicions on previous flights. El Al had refused him transit on one of theirs.
Re. this artice: why, if there were Air Marshals on the flight, and if everyone was sure something dodgy was going on, did they not make any moves? That doesn't sound likely to me...
#8
Has anyone considered the fact that this might have been an actual attempt that was aborted -- recall the part about the guy coming out of the lav, touching his throat and saying "no"? TSA might have not told the true story (found a partially assembled bomb on an airliner) out of embarrassment or for other reasons.
One final thought, would al Qaeda really off 14 guys in one "martyrdom" operation? It seems unlikely. But then again, maybe the bomb, if any, was not meant to go off until a later flight (by which time these cats were out of custody).
Posted by: Tibor ||
07/15/2004 17:29 Comments ||
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#10
Regarding the 14 guys. If you were going to try a Sept 11 type attack you would want a lot of thugs to take over and protect the cockpit. If you were going to blow the plane up you wouldn't need 14 guys unless your bomb ws in 14 parts or some were distractions. Sounds like everything happened in the bathroom so distractions isn't a very likely idea.
#11
There's also this story from Eyewitness News about the arrest of a Syrian man on a flight who was found with a suicide note, and connections to a known terrorist.http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S1124.html?cat=1
Posted by: jawa ||
07/15/2004 21:04 Comments ||
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#12
If you were going to try a Sept 11 type attack you would want a lot of thugs to take over and protect the cockpit. If you were going to blow the plane up you wouldn't need 14 guys unless your bomb ws in 14 parts or some were distractions.
Perhaps the plan was to smuggle on a disassembled bomb just large enough to blow open the cockpit door in order to facilitate a 9/11 style attack. That would certainly explain 14 persons and assembling it in the front restroom. Once assembled, one brave jihadi could hold it against the cockpit door and press the button. Not much to be done about that.
EFL
Facing a fall off in donations since Sept. 11, 2001, local Muslim leaders asked federal officials Tuesday night to come up with a seal of approval that would assure potential donors that a group does not have ties to terrorism. Or maybe you could set up something like this: ECFA. *Wink, wink*
The Muslims said the matter was critical, because many immigrant Muslims are afraid that if they contribute to an Islamic group they may be accused at some point in the future of supporting terrorism. Charitable groups and mosques are hurting, they said. Shhhhhh: Donât tell anyone, but maybe thatâs part of the plan!
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
07/15/2004 7:01:55 AM ||
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Call me bigoted if you will, but I'm starting to think there are more Islamic terror-sponsoring groups than there are charities . . .
Posted by: The Doctor ||
07/15/2004 8:27 Comments ||
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Not a bad idea. It would require genuine monitoring of charities.
Ask the Tides Foundation to pay for the accountants and lawyers needed.
#3
If the Muslims do not actively clean up their "charitable" act, then it will be done for them. End of story. All of the Saudi PR campaigns are bearing fruit, rotten fruit.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/15/2004 11:03 Comments ||
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#5
Why don't these filthy muslims just come out and denounce terrorists? And keep denouncing them over and over again. That's all they have to do.
If they STILL refuse to denounce terrorists..... FUCK 'EM AND FEED 'EM FISH HEADS!
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
07/15/2004 13:00 Comments ||
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"FUCK 'EM AND FEED 'EM FISH HEADS!"
But they might like fish heads, HP. Of course, pig heads--now those would be another story! : ) and "oink"! (tangent: I was watching The Fellowship of the Ring last night, and near the start of the story, a hobbit lady walks by a hobbit guy who is pulling a big--and I mean big--pig along by the neck with a rope. Well, she gives the pig a "slappy-pat" on the rump as she walks by. And I thought of the WOT. Why? Because, in view of the current situation, it made me want to go and slap pig butts in front of every mosque. "The PigButt Brigade" . . . Ooops--how "culturally insensitive" of me. But see--that's how we Americans are: We think of slapping pigs to bug them, while they think of killing and maiming us, and of destroying Western civilization.)
Anway, I don't see why their complaining--HP's right, all they'd really have to do is "just come out and denounce terrorists . . . And keep denouncing them over and over again" like even the Moslems in Iraq are doing.
But, like "Antiwar(s)", they won't. Because . . . they forgot! Yeah. That's it. Or maybe they were too busy washing their dog cat, or they had to catch a plane (sorry), or they had to go to the dentist. . . So many reasons not to denounce terrorists--so little time to keep trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the West.
Hey! USA Mosque leaders! We're waiting . . . and waiting . . . and waiting . . .
#7
Excellent ex-lib.
Two things the French do well, staging bike races and raising hoawgs yesterday there was a helicopter shot of a 400 pounder (who had his own single-hog house) watching the peleton drag by.
Today of course 6 or so head of cattle broke into the middle of the peleton. LOL Crazy Funny.
A Yemeni held at Guantanamo Bay accused of being Osama bin Ladenâs driver has become the fourth suspect at the base to face charges. Salim Ahmed Hamdan is charged with conspiracy to attack civilians, to murder and to commit terrorism - charges that would send him to a military tribunal, the Pentagon said. His military lawyer, Navy Lieutenant Commander Charlie Swift, said Hamdan acknowledged being a driver for bin Ladenâs organisation in pre-Sept 11 Afghanistan. But he denied taking part in terrorist activities. A charge sheet issued by the Pentagon says Hamdan, also known as Saqr al Jaddawi, was a bodyguard and personal driver for bin Laden between February 1996 and November 24, 2001, when he was captured. The document alleges that he transported weapons to al Qaeda operatives, trained at an al Qaeda camp and drove in convoys that carried bin Laden.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/15/2004 7:56:37 AM ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers who experienced the dangers of anthrax firsthand sent President Bush legislation Wednesday to give private companies $5.6 billion in incentives to develop antidotes to biological and chemical weapons. ``This is the largest first responder program ever enacted in American history,'' Homeland Security Committee chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., said before the House voted 414-2 to pass the Project Bioshield Act.
Nothing like a brush with death to focus a politican. Now can we persaude them to remember the WTC?
Over the next 10 years, the act would give the pharmaceutical industry the financial guarantees it says it needs to research and produce vaccines and antidotes for bioterror agents. Otherwise, the industry said, such products would have little marketable value. ``What's the incentive today to develop a vaccine for Ebola or for the plague when there is no real market for such a vaccine in this country?'' asked Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., a chief sponsor of the legislation. Bush said in a statement that he looked forward to signing the bill, which would help protect the homeland and ``break new ground in the search for treatments and cures while strengthening our overall biotechnology infrastructure.'' With the House vote, Congress completed work on legislation Bush requested in a State of the Union speech 18 months ago.
More at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2004 12:32:32 AM ||
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#1
``What's the incentive today to develop a vaccine for Ebola or for the plague when there is no real market for such a vaccine in this country?''
How about people dying ass%^le.Ebola is about the nastiest disease on the planet,it turns the body into blody goo.Something like 98% of those who get will die.
#2
Um Raptor. Tauzin is FOR the bill. He asks a reasonable question in that there is NO economic motive for private business to develop these vaccines. "People dying" only cuts it if you're a charitable organization. No profit and high liability risks make for a strong disincentive, no?
Posted by: Alan ||
07/15/2004 9:29 Comments ||
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#3
AP's right--The bill is to provide "financial guarantees" so such companies will investigate developing an antidote that is not a profitable endeavor they would attempt on their own.
Posted by: Dar ||
07/15/2004 9:40 Comments ||
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#4
So what your saying,Alan,is that if the water supply of an office complex becomes cotaniminated with Ebola,then those people can just die because there is no profit in curing them.
raptor--How many Ebola outbreaks have there been in the US? What CEO in his right mind is going to direct his pharmaceutical company to invest MILLIONS of dollars in R&D to develop an antidote for something that, to date, has not been needed? It does not make fiscal sense!
Posted by: Dar ||
07/15/2004 10:12 Comments ||
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#6
Not including Outbreak. (Helluva movie to see on a plane...)
#7
We have Hemoragic fever(a variant of Ebola),and Bubonic plague in parts of Northern Arizona.I am not saying that pharmacutical companys break themselves or stock pile millions of doses of vacine.But to ignore the possability of an attack using Ebola(or one of the variants)in the name of profit is stupid if not criminal.They should at least have the ability to ramp-up production quickly.To my mind this is not much different than chargeing Americans 3 or 4 tmies the price for the same medicine that can be baught in Canada.
#8
raptor,
If I'm investing my money in a company I'm looking for a good return. In drug companies the money is in cures for baldness, obesity, and impotance. Serious diseases don't pay. Right now there are activists campaigning to strip patents from AIDS drugs so that they manufacture them cheaply to give to victims in poor countries. It's a noble sentiment. But if you steal the results of research from a drug company you won't find many responsible managers proposing to spend more money on AIDS research.
Imagine that you are a stock holder and the president of the company announces, "We're going to spend millions on Ebola research and if we get lucky and come up with a cure we're going to give the drug away." If you're paying attention you are either voting to replace that president or selling your stock and investing in something with a return.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
07/15/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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Formerly Dan :)
You will admit of course that a for profit drug company is at the very heart of the matter wrong.
It would be like making money selling caskets or somesuch. It would be like cutting down a 120 year old ash to make a Louisville Slugger. It would be like breaking the bonds on million year old carbon atoms to make a Gremlin!
#11
If there is no ebola vaccine, thank a lawyer and then the free-drugs advocates, the ones who do not want to deal with the underlying hygenic issues associated with an AIDS 'epidemic', but who want corporations give away their hard earned money to deal with AIDS.
#12
Shipman,
I don't agree that it is wrong at all. Human advancement has been driven by a basic desire to acquire stuff, work less, and impress the opposite sex. Money is the medium to do that and it is the perfect media for it. There are companies that make a lot of money selling caskets, a buddy works for one. Are you saying that drugs should be given to anyone who needs them for free? Why should I work for a company that won't make enough money to bring me my three desires (see above)? In your model the essential industries are somehow controlled by the public so that they are non-profit. This would give the result we see now. The smart, ambitious, clever people go into for profit industries and the less intelligent, lazy, and slower witted go into the protected industries or government. These public industries will not be able to develop or produce the products that you think are essential and you will find yourself driven to confiscate intellectual property from the free industries, driving them from that market. Whenever you think of "public" anything substitute rest room for that thing. Then you will see what your likely result is, dirty, neglected and inadaquate.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
07/15/2004 12:18 Comments ||
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#13
"You will admit of course that a for profit drug company is at the very heart of the matter wrong."
Let's put it this way. There is no economic incentive for a company to develop an Ebola vaccine. I don't think that is disputed. Should they do it because of moral obligation? No, no more than you should quit your job and help homeless or build schools in Tanzania. Probably less so, because you answer only to yourself, whereas a company bears a responsibility toward shrareholders. It is a societal good, therefore a public incentive is needed.
#14
raptor--I can't believe you expect a private enterprise to spend a bunch of money developing something for which they will never see a return on investment. That's why government is stepping in. Do you expect the business and its employees to survive on principle and good will alone?
Posted by: Dar ||
07/15/2004 12:43 Comments ||
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Raptor - that's what the CDC and Army disease research is for. Companies exist to make money. If it's by providing beneficial drugs, great
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 12:49 Comments ||
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Raptor, I don't think that Ebola can be transmitted in the water supply. However, if it can and can therefore be used as a terror weapon (again, weaponizing bio agents like this is no small trick) then therein lies the financial incentive to produce a vaccine.
There is a great deal of government-sposored research that takes place in the US and elsewhere. That could be one route to take if this is indeed a widespread potential threat. As it stands now, while Ebola is terrible, it affects only a small number of people in occasional outbreaks. I would say that there are bigger medical issues to deal with that will positively affect far more people.
Formerly Dan, the biggest selling prescription drug in the US is Lipitor and the biggest selling class of drugs is statins. These are used to reduce cholesterol and therefore the incicence of heart attacks. While the drugs may seem expensive, they are cheap compared to a 1 week hospital stay with surgery.
Posted by: remote man ||
07/15/2004 12:55 Comments ||
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Frank G - The land-grant, research universities, too.
#18
Formerly Dan, the biggest selling prescription drug in the US is Lipitor and the biggest selling class of drugs is statins. These are used to reduce cholesterol and therefore the incicence of heart attacks. While the drugs may seem expensive, they are cheap compared to a 1 week hospital stay with surgery.
That is true but that just means that raptor and his friends will decide that Lipitor is an entitlement too. Then there is no money in that either.
Stick with the Barbie drugs, those that help appearance and libido. People will pay anything for those.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
07/15/2004 13:14 Comments ||
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It is not unreasonalble to expect a profit for your investment. Doing the research for no profit is the govt.'s game and the majority of drug break throughs in the last 50 years have been facilitated by govt research.
The problem with access to health care is not the drug compainies but the many layers of the medical field , and the lawyers in between. Take out the obscene malpractice settlements and the insurance because of these settlements then health care would be much lower.
Not that that all drug companies are perfect but you cannot blame them for wanting a return.
#10 Ok"Profit is King"and if 100,000 people die because terrorist contaminate a small towns water supply"Oh well such is the cost of doing buisness".
the last time I heard it is the govt's job to provide security and not drug companies.
Posted by: Dan ||
07/15/2004 13:48 Comments ||
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Ebola is so virulent, it's unlikely to make a good bioweapon. The infected die too fast, and the disease spread burns itself out.
#21
Formerly Dan :)
You will admit that I deserved a pony back in 1967 won't you? Life turned unfair that year and it still smarts. And let's talk about insurance, I mean everyone needs free medical care, that's a given but what about car insurance? I am sick unto death of paying thru the nose to insure my male chilluns, I need a subsidy and a big one pronto. That ole SunBeam Tiger can't be all that dangerous.
A Filipino truck driver being held hostage by insurgents in Iraq said he was coming home soon and thanked his government for agreeing to withdraw its peacekeepers from the country, according to a video shown on Al-Jazeera television yesterday. In the video, Mr Angelo de la Cruz was no longer wearing the bright orange garment he had worn in previous videos. Other hostages killed by insurgents had been wearing a similar garment in videos showing their deaths. Mr de la Cruz told his family not to worry about him, pointing out that he had changed clothing, an apparent sign that he is no longer under threat of execution. âWait for me, Iâm coming back to you,â he reportedly said. His voice was not audible on TV; the newsreader narrated the video.
Mr de la Cruz thanked President Gloria Arroyo for her decision and asked her to uphold it, according to the TV station. The fate of the 46-year-old father of eight has gripped the Philippines since his kidnapping was revealed last week. The Iraqi Islamic Army-Khaled bin Al-Waleed Corps demanded that the Philippines withdraw its 51-member peacekeeping contingent by July 20 or it would kill him. The government at first refused, but said on Wednesday it was coordinating a withdrawal and had already reduced its forces to 43 members. The kidnappersâ demand has left Mrs Arroyo, fresh from winning a new term in office, walking a tightrope between demands at home to save Mr de la Cruzâs life and the wish to please ally Washington by remaining in Iraq. âIf it says it will pull out and it does not pull out, thereâs going to be hell to pay, not only with Angelo de la Cruz but every labourer, every Filipino who is abroad,â former economic planning secretary Solita Monsod told Reuters Television.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 8:58:12 PM ||
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It is the lost command of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and not the MILF itself, that is giving sanctuary to dozens of members of the Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (J.I.) reportedly undergoing training in the South, the military said Wednesday. âThey [MILF] have lost commands, and these are the ones helping the J.I. by providing places for their training,â said Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, chief of the Armed Forces public information office. âBear in mind that the MILF is not a homogenous organization. A faction or the lost commands are the ones giving sanctuaries to these terrorists,â Lucero added.
Lucero issued the statement after the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ISG) said in its report that Mindanao-trained J.I. members have boosted the J.I. ranks operating in Indonesia. It pointed to the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf bandits as the ones helping members of the Asian terror group. Despite the report, Lucero said the military is banking on an earlier agreement forged in May 2002, guaranteeing the MILFâs cooperation in the governmentâs antiterrorism campaign. The rebels committed to flush out foreign and local terrorists within the organization, and chase them out of territory it controlled.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 9:13:11 AM ||
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#1
Col Kurtz: "The horror, the horror"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 19:44 Comments ||
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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commended Wednesday the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the gradual withdrawal of the small Philippine military contingent to Iraq to save the life of a Filipino truck driver being held hostage by Iraqi militants. âWe appreciate the governmentâs move. Itâs a wise decision,â MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said in a telephone interview.
He said the government could have been pressured by militant groups and non-government organizations all over the country who are planning to launch mass actions if Iraqi militants would behead De la Cruz. The truck driver was abducted last week while delivering crude oil from Saudi Arabia. The Department of Foreign Affairs has made announcements about the pullout from Iraq. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said over the Al-Jazeera Arab television network that the Philippines will soon pull out of Iraq but gave no specific date. In a statement in the DFA website, Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said that she is âcoordinating the pullout of the humanitarian contingentâ with the Department of National Defense. As of today (Wednesday), the headcount has been reduced from 51 to 43, she added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 9:09:55 AM ||
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A Malaysian man accused of helping terror operations of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) in Indonesia was sentenced on Thursday to three years in jail. The South Jakarta court said in its verdict that Syamsul Bahri attended JI meetings at which terror plots were discussed. "(Bahri) helped perpetrators of terror crimes and hid information on those offences ... and was a foreigner who illegally stayed in Indonesia," said judge Aryansyah Dali. Prosecutors had said Bahri was a member of Jemaah Islamiah and had surveyed targets for the group's suspected master bomb-maker Azahari, who is also a Malaysian and is on the run.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 8:51:05 AM ||
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Add the flag of the Philippines to the International Hall of Appeasers. Sign up this pitiful nation for a lifetime membership to the Axis of Weasels. And remind me never again to brag about the proud fighting spirit of my ancestors. I never thought Iâd say this, but Iâm deeply, mortifyingly ashamed of my parentsâ native land. The island nation has gone and pulled a Spain (and a France and a Germany). Philippine president Gloria Macagapal-Arroyo has crumbled like a fried lumpia wrapper under pressure from radical Muslim terrorists.
The Battling Bastards of Bataan have given way to the Mollycoddling Milksops of Manila. And ultimately, we -- not just Filipinos, but all Americans and our allies battling Islamofascism -- will pay a grisly price for this disgraceful capitulation. Late last week, an Islamic terrorist group in Iraq kidnapped Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz. He was abducted near Fallujah while shipping fuel for an American company from Saudi Arabia to Baghdad. The sword-wielding kidnappers, calling themselves the Khaled Ibn al-Walid Brigade, have threatened to execute de la Cruz unless the Philippines immediately withdraws its 51-member contingent of police officers and soldiers from the multinational force providing security in Iraq (the troops were scheduled to be sent home next month, anyway).
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 12:29:27 AM ||
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While I feel Michaelle's pain (aka Clinton), this act of appeasement should not diminish the bravery of her ancestors. It's sad that a Bulgarian is beheaded at the same time that the Flipo's appease.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/15/2004 1:07 Comments ||
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#3
I didn't see this one coming. I cannot understand how they thought this was the better choice. Acceding to the terrorists' demands may or may not result in the release of prisoners but it will provide incentive for the jihadis to capture more. Pulling the rug out from a militarily-stretched America is going to mark the Philippines as questionable allies in American memory for a long time. I am very surprised.
Hundreds of alleged members of Al-Qaeda, including 18 of its top leaders, and other terror groups are living in Iran, some under tight security, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Thursday. "More than 384 members of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations are present in Iran, including 18 senior leaders of Osama bin Laden`s network," the London-based daily said, citing a senior source in the Iranian presidency.
The Saudi-owned newspaper said the terrorist leaders were living under tight protection, some of them in villas in the Namak Abrud region, near the town of Chalous on the Caspian coast, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Tehran. Others are living in Lavizan, in the north-west of the capital, and which also houses a large military complex, it added. The report could not be verified in Tehran. According to the source, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad convinced Tehran, during his visit to Iran early this month, of the "seriousness" of using Al-Qaeda elements in Iran as a card in its policy with the United States. As a consequence, Tehran handed over wanted Saudi militant Khaled bin Odeh bin Mohammed al-Harbi to the Saudi authorities, the source added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 2:07:47 PM ||
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#1
seems like one well-placed 1000 lb. bomb should do the trick.
#4
I don't think the major news outlets are pro-Iran, I think they are just anti-war at all costs. They don't want the US to recognize that there exist true causus beli with the mullahs that would justify a war today.
#5
1. You cant move around freely in Iran, so they have no direct coverage, no video, etc.
2. Iran isnt headline news anyway
3. The Admin isnt exactly playing this up - whether cause they want more solid info, or are waiting for Iraq to settle down, or till after the election, I dont know, but it doesnt matter, if the admin isnt making a big deal of this the MSM will assume its not credible.
#7
Hmmm...long-running and intense rivalry between Sunni Arab Saudi Arabia and Shia Persian Iran. And what? A Saudi-owned newspaper "scoops" the story of hundreds of al-Qaeda hiding out in Iran.
Canada recalled its ambassador to Iran on Wednesday after Tehran barred Canadian observers from the trial of an agent charged with beating a Canadian journalist to death in a jail. Intelligence Ministry agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi goes on trial Saturday, charged with "semi-premeditated murder" of Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian freelance journalist of Iranian origin who died July 10, 2003. Kazemi was detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during student-led protests against the ruling Islamic establishment. Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham asked Iran to allow foreign observers to attend the trial, and on Wednesday he voiced his "extreme outrage" at the Iranian decision. "They had promised that we would have three observers. This is completely unacceptable behavior on their part," Graham said. "It's a complete rejection of the rule of law. ... Justice will not be done behind closed doors in Iran."
Sure, but it's not like Canada is going to do anything about it.
A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry defended the decision on state television Wednesday. "Iran has no obligation to accept the request for the presence of Canadian observers in this trial," Hamid Reza Asefi said. "It is unacceptable and contrary to all international regulations." But Graham said international legal standards require the case to be an open trial "with the right, certainly, of the family to be present to assure that justice is done."
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Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2004 12:00:30 AM ||
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#1
Send in the Royal Mounted Camel Police. They always get their mullah.
#4
I guess if Canada gets really angry they could expell Iranian diplomats from Canada. That, however, is the Canadian equivalent of a doomsday weapon.
EFL Koranic verses, Hadith, sharia, etc on the subject (as well as some thoughts on why Moslems pretend that beheadings are not Islamic).
Yes, beheading is, of course, an Islamic justice to the infidels, criminals, and sinners. This cruel way of killing infidels is sanctioned by Islamic Sharia laws. Denial to the grotesque beheading of western Kaffirs by those Islamic terrorists (in Iraq) that it is not Islamic is yet another clear sign of ignorance, hypocrisy, or intellectual dishonesty by the defenders of Islam. Islamists are not ready to take the burden of ugly reality of the fact that human beheading is 100% consistent with the sacred Islamic Jihadi practices. Hatreds towards other religion such as Jews, Christians, Hindus and other polytheists are the ardent teachings of Islamic holy book Qurâan. Beheading was practiced by the Prophet Muhammad himself during the 7th century period of Islam and by the most Islamic rulers thereafter.
Posted by: mhw ||
07/15/2004 8:44:17 AM ||
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#1
He concludes:
Time has arrived now to identify and intervening the real cause of this ancient medieval stupidity. Real problem is with the ancient teachings of Islam (read Qurâan) which are outdated and no longer fitting the todayâs civilized world. Nothing can change this precarious situation of Muslims unless we realize the real problem and take care of it.
#3
I saw something on TV (last week?) where the new apologist line is that beheadings are actually a more humane form of execution, since death is quick. Someone forgot to factor in the horrific fear, blood, and slow sawing of flesh. Sorry, Gimpy, sanctioned by sharia or not, beheading is right up there with being burned alive and being shredded in grinders (NOT HUMANE, for the duller-witted).
Two Pakistani physicians were accused on Thursday of treating wounded al-Qaida and other extremist suspects in the southern port city of Karachi. Police arrested the doctors - brothers Akmal Waheed and Arshad Waheed - on July 2 in connection with an assassination attempt on Lt. Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hayat, Karachiâs top army general. Hayat escaped unhurt but 10 people were killed. The prosecution told a judge in Karachi it doesnât have "evidence to prove direct involvement of the two brothers" in the attack against Hayat, but that fresh information suggests they treated an al-Qaida suspect, Abu Musab, last year.
Qazi Chand, a senior police investigator, told The Associated Press that Musab escaped a police raid on a house in Karachi on January 9, 2003, despite being wounded in a shootout. "We know that he (Musab) was later treated by these two brothers," Chand said. The Waheeds also recently treated two members of a domestic extremist Islamic group, Jundallah - accused of launching the attack on Hayat - and another al-Qaida suspect wounded in Afghanistan in 2003, the prosecution alleged. Defence lawyer Abdul Qadir Jatoi, said the case against his clients is weak, and that the men committed no crime. "I will prove it in court," he said. The trial judge allowed police to hold the men for questioning until next Thursday.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 9:22:32 PM ||
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review their A-Q patients'Insurance Billings and Medical Charts..what's that? Cash from Saudi??
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 22:44 Comments ||
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US Marines clashed with insurgents hunkered down at a taxi stand yesterday in a city known as a stronghold of Saddam Hussein supporters, killing three of the attackers and wounding five others, hospital officials said. The Marines came under fire from the group of insurgents in Ramadi, the military said in a statement. The fighting left three Iraqis dead and five injured, local hospital official Saeed Ali said.
Elsewhere, insurgents blew up three liquor stores in Baqouba, a city north of Baghdad, amid fears that Islamic militants may be trying to impose their strict interpretation of Islam on the city, witnesses said. The blasts killed a taxi driver who happened to be passing by, said Dr Nassir Jawad from Baqouba General Hospital. Also yesterday, saboteurs attacked a natural gas pipeline that runs from the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk to a power station, an official with the North Oil Company said.Attackers planted a bomb near the gas pipeline in the Safra area, about 90km west of Kirkuk. The attack is likely to affect power supplies in the northern region of Iraq, but it was not immediately clear by how much. Pipelines canât fight back..real brave of the terrorists, most of which are not even Iraqis. Continued on Page 49
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07/15/2004 8:48:53 PM ||
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Having exchanged fire on 9-10 July and incurred casualties on both sides, Georgia and its breakaway Republic of South Ossetia have retreated from the threshold of an all-out conflict, agreeing during talks on 11 July in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali to "cease shooting and other provocative actions." And at a meeting in Moscow on 14 July of the Joint Control Commission tasked with monitoring the situation in the conflict zone, both Georgian and Russian representatives tentatively agreed on the need to demilitarize the entire region.
On 15 July, however, South Ossetian officials alleged that Georgia had sent an additional 200- 800 Interior Ministry troops into South Ossetia -- a claim that Georgian government officials dismissed as disinformation. But even if Georgia observes the informal ceasefire, the open contempt with which senior Georgian officials now refer to the South Ossetian leadership suggests that the former still expect the international community to step in and pressure Moscow either to abandon its support for the South Ossetians, or to persuade them to capitulate.
Georgian National Security Council Secretary Gela Bezhuashvili and Georgian Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava both told journalists on 14 July after the Joint Control Commission meeting that Georgia will insist on the total demilitarization of South Ossetia, ITAR-TASS reported. Interfax quoted Bezhuashvili as referring to the region as "an enclave of bandit groups, stuffed with weaponry" which, he added, poses a threat to Russia as well as to Georgia. He said the heavy armor currently deployed in South Ossetia should be put in storage and then scrapped.
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07/15/2004 8:02:23 PM ||
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The opposition in the Senate on Wednesday demanded of the government to declare its policy on sending troops to Iraq, and take the upper house into confidence about talks with visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Speaking on a point of order, PPP parliamentary leader Raza Rabbani said it would be better to wrap up parliament if the government continued to bypass it while taking decisions. "This house must be briefed whether there was a condition of sending Pakistani troops attached to the appointment of (Pakistan ambassador to US) Qazi Jehangir Ashraf as UN envoy in Baghdad and whether the Armitage visit to Islamabad has any link with it," he said.
Responding in the absence of Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad said it was up to the Foreign Office to decide which information it could share with the house and what could not be made public. "This is not the first visit of Mr Armitage as he is a frequent visitor to Islamabad and it is not necessary that every detail is made public," he said. Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq defended the raise in fares by PIA during Haj, saying the national flag-carrier was committed to flying the pilgrims on a no-profit no-loss basis.
He said up to 20 per cent raise in Haj fares was subject to review, and the total package for Haj would remain almost the same as it was last year. He said that despite the 20 per cent raise, PIA would lose Rs140 million in total expenditures due to the higher cost of petroleum products. As far as the PIA monopoly in carrying Haj pilgrims was concerned, he said it was due to an agreement between the airline and Saudi authorities that could be terminated only by Saudi consent. Earlier, the opposition agitated over raise in fares and demanded of the government to waive the ban on families taking children along with them for the Haj. The opposition also protested against the deportation of 110 Umra pilgrims on July 12 and demanded that the government immediately send them to Saudi Arabia at its own expenses.
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07/15/2004 6:41:42 PM ||
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The Al-Qaeda-linked militant group led by Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the killing of the governor of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, in a message released on an Islamist web site. "Your brothers ... have executed the apostate and traitor, the governor of Mosul, in an ambush," said the statement, issued in the name of "the military wing of Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War)", the name used by Zarqawiâs movement. The statement, whose authenticity could not be verified, was released on: http://www.ansarnet.ws/vb/showthread.php?t=11577.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 6:22:20 PM ||
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A U.S. Marine who disappeared in Iraq and turned up in Lebanon three weeks later arrived at a Marine Corps base south of Washington, D.C., on Thursday after six days of evaluation in a U.S. military hospital in Germany, a military official said. Lt. Col. David Lapan, a Marine Corps spokesman, said Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun would continue to undergo a "repatriation" process until it is determined he is fit and capable of returning to normal duty. He said the process could take from weeks to months. Hassoun was not made available at Quantico for questions from reporters. He left Ramstein Air Base in Germany on a morning flight aboard an Air Force C-5 Galaxy heavy transport plane and stopped first at Dover Air Force Base, Del., where he boarded an Air Force C-12 jet for the flight to Quantico.
A spokesman at Quantico, Marine Corps Capt. Jeff Landis, said Hassoun arrived at 3 p.m. EDT, and was received by a military support team that came from Hassounâs home base at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Quantico is home to the Marinesâ Officer Candidate School and is a focal point for the serviceâs leadership training and development of new warfighting concepts and technologies. The Navy has said it is investigating whether the kidnapping might have been a hoax, but the Naval Criminal Investigation Service is not expected to question Hassoun until his repatriation procedure is completed, the Marine Corps said.
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#3
I have offically started saving these short videos for a rainy day. Hey, that's a great idea to make Fred some money! Take all the clips we get, title them with a quick name, and burn them onto DVD's! Hours many hours of comedy would you pay for?
Posted by: Charles ||
07/15/2004 16:30 Comments ||
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#4
Die jihadi bastard...death looks good on you.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/15/2004 16:34 Comments ||
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#5
And this week's prize for best use of available cover goes to...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/15/2004 16:37 Comments ||
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#6
oh....and say "hi" to the Virginians for me.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/15/2004 16:44 Comments ||
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#7
Do you still get the raisins if Allah just knows you weren't even trying?
A headless body in an orange jumpsuit has been found in the Tigris River in Baghdad, the US military has said. A military spokeswoman said Iraqi police had discovered the body and handed it over to the Americans. It is not yet known whether the corpse belongs to a Bulgarian hostage beheaded by Islamic militants in Iraq on Monday. The captors have threatened to execute the dead man's Bulgarian colleague unless their demands for prisoner releases are met. Two of the foreign hostages killed by militants were wearing orange clothes in the videos showing their deaths. Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed diplomat at the Bulgarian embassy in Baghdad as saying he could not confirm if the body belonged to one of the Bulgarian hostages. The captors' deadline for the execution of the second hostage expired at 2000 GMT on Wednesday, but there has been no word on his fate.
Bastards
Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2004 2:33:28 PM ||
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#1
The world better wake up soon and understand those involved in these brutal acts of premeditated murder & terrorism are in a cult, a cult of death.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 18:11 Comments ||
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Morocco, which is home to most of the suspects in the Madrid train bombing. is teeming with some 100 al-Qaeda-linked cells that are capable of suicide attacks and pose Europeâs biggest terrorist threat, Spainâs leading anti-terrorism judge testified Thursday. Each cell has five to 10 members, "so we are talking about 900 to 1,000 people who could be sought by police now in Morocco," Judge Baltasar Garzon told lawmakers investigating the March 11 attacks, which killed 190 people. Garzon cited police and intelligence data. Yeah, but havenât the Moroccans jugged upwards of 1,000 hard boyz in response to the Casablanca booms? Granted, those arenât all terrorists but also the support folks and accompanying holy men, but it still looks like theyâve done a pretty good job of cleaning up their own domestic mess.
"In my opinion it is the gravest problem Europe faces today with this kind of terrorism," Garzon said, noting that many of those groups are in northern Morocco, with members who speak perfect Spanish and are able to slip easily in and out of Spain. The two countries are just a short ferry ride away from each other across the Strait of Gibraltar. The Tangiers cell at least appears to have followed this route in an effort to escape the Moroccan crackdown. Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 11:40:21 AM ||
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#2
When they holler and scream for help from the UN/US/or anyone else they perceive as their rescuer after they are attacked next time, how long should we wait to help (so that the necessary learning experience sinks in)? Two months? Six?
#5
My fear is that europe has become so weak in it's will that it will just roll over for Islam with out a fight. They will find some reason to give in and up because they lack the will to fight.
Look how they disparage the US because we will not compromise with the islamofacist movement and nations that sponsor terror like Iran.
#6
My fear is that europe has become so weak in it's will that it will just roll over for Islam with out a fight.
Funny thing is that I think a lot of Europe will be far less squeamish than the US in dealing with their internal problems ... once they actually admit to themselves that they have internal problems. E.g., look at the recent ban on Islamic headscarves in France. It may be mostly symbolic, but do you think we could get away with anything like that here in the US? Would our judiciary back it? Doubtful on both fronts IMHO.
Iraqâs Government will create a new security service specifically geared toward tackling the nearly 15-month-old insurgency in the country, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said today. The new service, the General Security Directorate, "will annihilate those terrorists groups, God willing," Mr Allawi said during a news conference. Since taking power, Allawiâs Government has made clear it intended to crack down on militants who have caused chaos with assassinations, bombings, sabotage and other attacks. The violence has hampered efforts to rebuild and recover after war and years of international sanctions. The Government has passed emergency laws giving Mr Allawi the power to declare curfews and impose limited martial law to curb the violence and has repeatedly threatened the militants. The new security service appears another step in the fledgling governmentâs efforts to tackle the violence.
Posted by: tipper ||
07/15/2004 11:39:24 AM ||
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#1
Does this mean the amnesty offer's no longer on the table?
A GROUP of female activists stripped before Indian troops outside a security office in far eastern Imphal city to demand action over the killing of a woman allegedly by paramilitary troops, a report said. "Rape us, kill us, take our flesh," the activists screamed after trying to storm the headquarters of the Assam Rifles anti-terrorism unit in Imphal, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency quoted officials as saying.
"Hokay."
The women were defying a ban imposed in Imphal, capital of far eastern Manipur state, on protests linked to the July 10 killing of the 30-year-old woman allegedly by Assam Rifles soldiers, the officials said. A number of the female protesters took off their clothes while others fainted in the demonstration to demand those responsible be brought to justice, PTI reported.
"Damn, Mukkerjee! Lookit them honkers!"
Manipur has been in turmoil since July 10, when troops identified the woman as an insurgent and said she had died in a gunbattle in the troubled state. Some 26 non-government organisations called a 48-hour general strike on Tuesday to protest over the womanâs death, which prompted state authorities to impose a ban on protests as a precaution against violence. The Assam Rifles unit wields enormous power to combat insurgent groups in six of Indiaâs seven far eastern states, and non-government organisations in Manipur have been demanding some military law provisions be scrapped, arguing they are used to harass citizens.
Posted by: tipper ||
07/15/2004 11:35:29 AM ||
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Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said Iraqi authorities had arrested some elements of the leadership of the militant organization al Qaeda, according to comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Thursday. Iraqi police netted more than 500 criminals in raids in Baghdad this week including suspected drug dealers and weapons traders.
"militant organization"? Oh, it's a Rooters story, never mind.
Allawi told al-Hayat of those arrested by Iraqi police: "Some of them are elements from the leadership of the al Qaeda organization." He did not name any of them.
"I can say no more."
He also said the detainees had begun to cooperate effectively and fully with the investigative authorities and that people loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein outside the country were sending money to fund their criminal acts in Iraq. "We are discovering that there is a sort of increasing cooperation between parts of the Saddam regime and elements of al Qaeda, for example Zarqawi," he added, referring to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the wanted Jordanian-born militant and suspected al Qaeda ally.
"suspected al-Qaeda ally"? Just what the hell does he have to do, wear a T-shirt that sez "I'm with Binny"?
He said he meant the relationship was developing into a form of cooperation on criminal activities, and human and information resources. A statement signed by Zarqawi and posted on an Islamist web site Wednesday warned he was still aiming to kill Allawi, and his Tawhid and Jihad Group has claimed responsibility for several suicide bombings and other attacks on Iraqi and U.S. officials in recent months. It also killed a Bulgarian, an American and a South Korean hostage in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/15/2004 9:51:32 AM ||
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#1
But there's no al-Qaeda in Iraq; Tom Brokaw said so.
#2
" . . . people loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein outside the country were sending money to fund their criminal acts in Iraq. "We are discovering that there is a sort of increasing cooperation between parts of the Saddam regime and elements of al Qaeda, for example Zarqawi" .
That is really interesting--makes a lot of sense. They'll keep trying until Sadaam is kapoot, I think.
Hundreds of militiamen loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are rearming in their sanctuary in the Shiite holy city of Najaf in possible preparation for a new offensive, say US and Iraqi officials here. As many as 80 Iranian agents are working with an estimated 500 Sadr militiamen, known as the Mahdi Army, providing training and nine 57-mm Russian antiaircraft guns to add to stocks of mortars, antitank weapons, and other armaments, according to Iraqi and US intelligence reports. Hmm, 80 Iranians were picked up in An Najaf the other day ...
"They are preparing for something, gathering weapons; people are coming in buses from other parts of Iraq," says Michael al-Zurufi, the Iraqi security adviser of Najaf Province. "The most important are the Iranians. The Iranian people are trying to reorganize Sadrâs militia so they can fight again." At the same time, heavily armed Sadr militiamen are waging fear tactics, kidnapping local Iraqi police and family members, occupying buildings, and arresting Iraqis deemed critical of Sadr or in violation of Islamic law, residents and officials say. Signs that the Sadr militia is regrouping after heavy losses in April and May come even as Iraqi leaders are attempting to nudge the firebrand cleric into the political arena. Uncertainty remains over whether the militia activity is unified and sanctioned by Sadr or primarily the work of factions of his lieutenants, the officials say. Both Iraqi and US officials are concerned about signs of significant Iranian influence with Sadrâs forces. "Sadrâs the wild card," says Maj. Rick Heyward, operations officer for the 25th Infantry Divisionâs I-14 battalion in Najaf.
In response, US and Iraqi commanders are fine-tuning contingency plans for possible attacks in the city, while bolstering newly recruited Iraqi police and national guard units with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. "Last week we bought $6,000 worth of heavy machine guns, RPG-7 rounds, AK-47s and ammunition," Najaf Province Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi said Wednesday. "We feel that this will help eliminate the threat." Still, the governor and other Najaf officials readily admit they seek to avoid a confrontation with the Sadr militia now if possible. "We need to build ourselves, our police, our prisons," says Mr. Zurufi, who had only 10 police on duty when he took office in Najaf on May 5. "We have nothing here in Najaf now," he says as the lights flicker on and off in his downtown office, heavily guarded by Iraqi and US forces.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 9:51:59 AM ||
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#1
It is not the policy of the government of the United States to assassinate foreign leaders. But turban headed rulers were made to be broken.
#2
i get the sense from the above that the Iraqi govt strat MAY be to seperate Sadr himself from the Iranians - is it better to be a midleague extremist pol and be independent, or to be the spearpoint for Iran, where if you win youre beholden to Teheran, and if you lose, youre dead? If they can do that, its harder for the 500 hard boyz in Najaf to reach out to Sadr City, or anywhere else for that matter. Then, when the IP and ING is ready enough, you go in.
#3
Anonymoose - he's not a gov't leader by any stretch, in fact he qualifies as a militia leader - unlawful combatant. Kill.Him.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 11:26 Comments ||
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#4
In a country with a shame based culture, sadr's recent career of 'heroic uprising leader of a milicia' to 'retreating leader' to 'uprisining with blood political leader' to 'uprising with protests leader' back to milicia leader (all in three months time)must make him something of a candidate for deep scorn.
#6
Put a 30 cal hole in between this MoFo'n Iranian surrogates eyes soon. Don't say crap about it when it happens. A 308 in the head and STFU about it.
"I know nothing"
At least 1,000 people calling for the death of detained former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein paraded through central Baghdad, displaying posters of relatives killed during his years in power. "Death to Saddam, death to the Baath party", they chanted as they marched down a main road in the Iraqi capital followed by others in trucks. Brandishing posters of executed loved ones and holding banners proclaiming "Our goals are peace and freedom", the protesters wound their way peacefully to gather around central al-Tahreer square. "No no Baath party! Yes yes Iraq!" they chanted, led by a band of men shouting into loudspeakers. Organised by a group of political parties including the Iraqi National Congress of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, the protesters demanded the death sentence for the detained dictator and warned any foreign lawyers planning to come to Iraq to defend him to stay away. Actually, I believe Allawiâs party is the Iraqi National Accord ...
"We want the new government to kill Saddam and other leading members of his Baath Party," shouted Mohammed Hussein Fadal al-Rubaie, waving a poster of his dead brother, Ali, 27, who he said was executed in 1983 for being a member of the then-outlawed Dawa party. One young boy at the front of the crowd of largely male protesters held a poster that read: "All Iraqis think Saddam brought shame to our country."
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 9:23:17 AM ||
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Good to see such a demonstration and, especially, that it is covered by the media. Still, I just can't picture the crowd chanting, "(news - web sites)!" Must be a cultural thing...
Posted by: Dar ||
07/15/2004 9:34 Comments ||
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#2
Actually "(news - web sites)!" translates roughly to Saddam s*cks in arabic.
#3
Iraqi National Congress of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
Of course Allawis party is the Iraqi National ACCORD, the Iraqi National CONGRESS is the party of Ahmed Chalabi - I wonder which party was really there? Idiot reporters!!!
#5
Muck...ya beat me to it! LOL! Oh yeah, remember antiwar's pathetic "Saddam, your people need you" Right....need him to die is more like it. Bet she doesn't touch this one, coward that she is.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/15/2004 13:08 Comments ||
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#6
Antiwar's such a fraud!
She wants to be the Rachel Corrie of Iraq, going around with a Kleenex box to dry the tears of all of Saddam's old fans, if only she weren't stuck in that Ozzie house she stole from the Abbos!
Posted by: Jen ||
07/15/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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#7
Good news! Looks like a fair number (majority?) of Iraqis don't like the AQ/Sadaam terrorists any more than we around here do. More power to 'em.
The situation in the Chechen village of Avtury, the scene of bitter fighting earlier in the week, has returned to normal, Shali district administration chief Akhmed Gutayev told Interfax. "The gas and power supply was restored early on Thursday, stores and market places reopened, and road traffic resumed," he said.
Gas pipelines and electric substations were damaged in the fighting. One public school was burned to ashes and another needs repairs, Gutayev said. A commission is estimating the extent of the damage. Significant efforts must be made to enable children to attend classes when the school year starts on September 1, he said. Despite the fact that they outnumbered district police officers holding one of the schools, the rebels failed to take the whole building, Gutayev said. The search for rebels and their accomplices in the village has been completed, and 10 suspects have been detained. The cordon around the village has been removed, he said.
Rebel leaders plan to move a group of mercenaries hired abroad into Chechnya this summer to stage terrorist attacks against organizations issuing compensation payments to people who lost their homes in the fighting, said an official in the regional headquarters for the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. They also plan to target federal troops and officials, he said. "Rebel chiefs intend to plunge the people of Chechnya into economic collapse, instill criminal law and make most people work as slaves for todayâs rebel chiefs Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev," he said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 9:02:34 AM ||
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#1
One of the 'other' jihads.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 20:54 Comments ||
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A car bomb has exploded early today near the main police station at Hadithah in western Iraq, killing 10 Iraqis, including Four police officers, and wounding at least 30 other people, an Iraqi Health and Interior Ministry official said. Col. Adnan Abdulrahman and the Interior Ministry, the attack targeted the station, destroyed it and caused serious damages in nearby shops. Hadithah is located 160 miles (260 kilometers) northwest of the Iraqi capital. The bombing came a day after another bomb exploded yesterday killing 10 Iraqis near the Green Zone in central Baghdad.
Late Wednesday, a mortar attack near the northern Iraqi town of Kirkuk killed five Iraqis and wounded two others, a police spokesman said. Col. Adel Abrahim, director of Rahimawa district police station, said that anti-government fighters were targeting his police station 200 meters away but missed, damaging a house in the district four miles (6 km) north of Kirkuk. According to Abrahim, Kurds were cleared from the Rahimawa district during Saddam Husseinâs era but have since returned.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 8:49:52 AM ||
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With its freshly-built roads, schools, clinics and wells, the tribal district of Mohmand along the Afghan border is a showpiece for the Pakistan armed forces. Just 200 kilometres further south in Waziristan, the military is engaged in a bloody conflict with local tribesmen sheltering Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who have fled over the border from Afghanistan. But in Mohmand, some 50 kilometres northwest of Peshawar, the soldiers see themselves more as aid workers than fighters. âWe have asked the Army to put help us out of our misery,â said local chief Mohammed Ali Halimazai in the village of Khalanai, which for the past year has been the local headquarters of the military. âOur children need development, we no longer want to be considered backward,â said the tribal chief, accompanied by around 20 other local chiefs who were invited by the Army to meet foreign journalists on a rare Press trip to the area. In the middle of this region of jagged peaks and arid plateau, some 400,000 people from six different tribes live in extreme poverty and isolation.
âFor decades we have been left alone, but now all that is gone,â explained Malik Ashraf, a wizened old man of 28 with a white beard and a revolver strapped to his waist. He is the chief of a village bearing his name, Ashrafabad, where he has given the military some land to build a school. The buildings has no furniture or teachers yet, but nonetheless around a dozen kids were lined up for the Press and military to recite the alphabet.
A few metres away, two wells are being dug. âBefore, the villagers had to walk 20 kilometres to fetch water,â said General Mohammed Iqbal, the commander of the brigade in charge of development aid for Mohmand. So far around 100 kilometres of roads have been built, along with dozens of schools and clinics, and around 200 wells. Most of the projects have been built and financed by the military. While the Army refuses to divulge figures, the local civilian administration estimates it has spent around 784 million rupees ($15.3 million) on development projects this year.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 8:47:00 AM ||
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Al-Qaeda and supporters of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein are using neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Syria to finance attacks in Iraq with a $1 billion budget, al-Hayat said, citing the Iraqi prime minister. Former members of the ousted Baath regime, who are wanted by the Iraqi authorities, are planning attacks in Iraq from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Greece and other countries, Ayad Allawi said in an interview with the London-based Saudi newspaper. The Iraqi government plans to issue arrest warrants for these former members of the Iraqi regime, he said. Iraqi security forces arrested in the past three days three leading members of an al-Qaeda cell in Iraq, including the driver of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian linked to al-Qaeda, Allawi said. The three are cooperating with the Iraqi authorities and are providing clues about coordination between al-Qaeda and former members of the Baath regime, he said. Allawi plans to go on a tour of Arab countries to discuss security in Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 8:39:18 AM ||
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#1
I see this as good news - a key resources (maybe THE key resource) has been identified, and can now be attacked. The arrest warrants are the first stage.
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi says Iraqi authorities have arrested some elements of the leadership of the militant organisation al Qaeda, according to comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. Iraqi police netted more than 500 criminals in raids in Baghdad this week including suspected drug dealers and weapons traders. Allawi told al-Hayat of those arrested by Iraqi police: "Some of them are elements from the leadership of the al Qaeda organisation." He did not name any of them.
He also said the detainees had begun to cooperate effectively and fully with the investigative authorities and that people loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein outside the country were sending money to fund their criminal acts in Iraq. "We are discovering that there is a sort of increasing cooperation between parts of the Sadddam regime and elements of al Qaeda, for example Zarqawi," he added, referring to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the wanted Jordanian-born militant and suspected al Qaeda ally. He said he meant the relationship was developing into a form of cooperation on criminal activities, and human and information resources.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
07/15/2004 8:37:02 AM ||
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A Saudi firm whose Egyptian employee has been taken hostage in Iraq says it will bow to the kidnappersâ demands and stop working in the country. "We are prepared to pull out of Iraq to save the life of the hostage," the firmâs owner, Faisal al-Neheit, told Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera. Mohammed Gharabawiâs captors have reportedly threatened to kill him within the next 72 hours. "We ask them to release him immediately," Mr Neheit said. He added that the kidnappers had also demanded a $1m ransom for the driver, but said the company would not pay. On Sunday, the firm said it was prepared to pay the militants $15,000.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
07/15/2004 5:42:05 AM ||
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#1
Let's see here....
$1,000,000 demand
$15,000 counter offer
66:1 dynamic range
Will need to see some intense negotiations to close the gap.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/15/2004 11:10 Comments ||
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#2
$15,000? It was an Egyptian.
BTW last year from AP above... a meme is noted. Folks, you are witnessing the evolution of the English language right smack dab before your eyes. Think about going up to someone and saying "peshawar" while they are rambling on about nothing.
Thursday, 15 July, 2004, 03:57 GMT 04:57 UK The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations has tried to play down claims that the UN envoy to the Middle East is banned from Palestinian territory. "We are not kicking out anybody. No decision was taken whatsoever," Nasser Al-Kidwa said. Earlier, Palestinian officials said the UNâs Terje Roed-Larsen was "unwelcome" after he criticised the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. He accused them of failing to establish law and order in the Palestinian areas. Mr Roed-Larsen described Yasser Arafat as lending only "partial and nominal" support to Egyptian efforts to reform Palestinian security services as part of the roadmap peace plan. Truth. It must be used sparingly in PaleoLand, else seething and banning ensue.
Posted by: .com ||
07/15/2004 12:57:10 AM ||
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#2
Maybe, .com. Someone has to try to save the Paleos from themselves. Who else would do it? Not Saudi. Would Jordan try?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/15/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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#3
Jordans gotten burned in the past, and sometime back in the '80s attempted to wash their hands of the whole thing. OTOH anarchy, or Hamas rule, in the West Bank is so threatening to them that they have a hard time avoiding being dragged back in. Its my impression that theyre looking at some role, but not as far along as the Egyptians.
Al-Qaida-linked militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi issued a Web site statement Wednesday claiming responsibility for an attack on a home used by Iraqâs interim prime minister. The statement, posted on a site known for such claims, promised to pursue Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who is seen by Iraqâs insurgents as a collaborator with President Bush and the 160,000 foreign troops in Iraq. "We would like to break the bad news to you -- Allawi -- that if the death rockets have missed you ... our quiver, thank God, is full of death arrows," said the statement, which carried al-Zarqawiâs signature. Four mortar rounds slammed into a neighborhood near Allawiâs home and his political partyâs headquarters last week, wounding six people. Allawi was not there at the time of the attack. "If an arrow misses its target, soon, with Godâs help, one is going to pierce your heart with a killing one ... We are after you." the statement said. It was dated July 8, one day after the attack.
In another statement, the military wing of al-Zarqawiâs group, Tawhid and Jihad, claimed responsibility for striking two American military bases and troops in Ramadi, a hotspot of anti-coalition activity west of Baghdad. The attack took place about 500 yards from an American base and destroyed a Humvee, witnesses said. The U.S. military said Monday that a car bomb exploded as an American convoy passed, damaging one vehicle. No U.S. troops were hurt. The two statements appeared on at least two Islamic militant Web sites, where al-Zarqawiâs previous claims have been posted. Their authenticity couldnât be verified.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 12:50:16 AM ||
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I'm betting that Allawi gets Zarqawi before Zarqawi gets him. Allawi has better ROE than we had and excellent motivation.
#1
The United Nations Security Council is discussing resolution drafted by the United States for an immediate travel and arms ban on the Arabic Janjaweed militia
#3
Uh-huh. I don't suppose they considered the damage that has been done and will continue to be done with the weapons they already have? No, that would be expecting too much of today's UN.
#4
...The UN is really starting to remind me of Count Floyd, the horror movie host Joe Flarhety used to play on SCTV - well dressed, utterly ineffectual, and with an indeterminate accent:
#6
I better hurry if I want to vacation in Sudan before the travel ban.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
07/15/2004 12:22 Comments ||
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#7
I'm sure these names strike fear in *someone's* heart, but when I see groups called "the ganjaweed militia" and "the MILF" I'm just not intimidated.
Palestinian Authority police are not on the beat in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Too busy lookin' for Jooooos to kill.
A United Nations briefing on the estimated 45,000 PA police and security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip informed the Security Council that PA police operate in only one city. UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said the PA police are on the job in Jericho in the West Bank. Jericho has been the scene of training of PA police by Britain and Jordan, according to reports by Middle East Newsline. "Jericho is actually becoming the only Palestinian city with a functioning police," Roed-Larsen said. The failure of the police has led to chaos throughout the PA areas, the council was told. Roed-Larsen warned of a collapse of the PA and said the worst-hit areas was Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and Nablus in the northern West Bank. "Clashes and showdowns between branches of Palestinian security forces are now common in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian Authority legal authority is receding fast in the face of the mounting power of arms, money and intimidation," Roed-Larsen said. "Lawlessness and gang rule are becoming common in [the northern West Bank city of] Nablus."
"But really, they're Palestinians so it's hard to tell."
The UN envoy said the PA "has made no progress on its core obligation to take immediate action on the ground to end violence and combat terror." Roed-Larsen also criticized what he called Israelâs failure to remove unauthorized Israeli outposts in the West Bank. "Despite a well-intended prime minister, the paralysis of the Palestinian Authority has become abundantly clear and the deterioration of law and order in Palestinian areas is steadily worsening," Roed-Larsen said. "The PA is in deep distress and is in real danger of collapse."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
07/15/2004 12:31:06 AM ||
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Roed-Larsen also criticized what he called Israelâs failure to remove unauthorized Israeli outposts in the West Bank. "Despite a well-intended prime minister, the paralysis of the Palestinian Authority has become abundantly clear and the deterioration of law and order in Palestinian areas is steadily worsening," Roed-Larsen said. "The PA is in deep distress and is in real danger of collapse."
How the f&%k is Israel's "failure to remove unauthorized Israeli outposts in the West Bank" at all connected to "the deterioration of law and order in Palestinian areas?" Any inablilty of the Palestinians to establish "law and order" (which seems to be a completely alien concept to them) relies not one whit upon Israeli outposts. The problem's core continues to be a morally bankrupt society being confronted with the requirement that they both police and support themselves in an appropriate fashion. Bazillions of other cultures have attained these bare minimums yet, somehow, the Palestinians just cannot seem to manage. Oops, my Frink-O-Matic⢠sympathy meter just imploded.
Posted by: Stephen ||
07/15/2004 1:21 Comments ||
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#3
When the Wall is complete, the collapse will be complete. The Israelis don't need Palestinian workers nearly as much as the Palestinians need Israeli shekels. The reduction of cash flow from Israel coupled with massive and continuing donor fatigue will leave Palestine literally and figuratively broke.
Actually a random thought from early in the morning. Maybe California could supply Israel with some of our surplus illegal immigrants for cheap labor. Good workers and more likely to get bombed on cerveza than to try and blow somebody up.
#4
The UN can't possibly criticize the Paleos without throwing in a few jabs at the Jews. It's all in the name of UN impartiality. It wouldn't be impartial to blame the Paleos trouble on themselves...remember, this whole mess is Isreal's fault.
#5
Speak of the Devil...check out this article that just appeared on Google News.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei hit back Thursday at the UN Middle East envoy who harshly criticized Arafat's inaction, terming his criticism "non-objective". Qurei said in a statement that Terji Roed-Larsen's criticism was "non objective" for he "has equaled the Palestinian victim with the Israeli aggressor."
When briefing the United Nations on Wednesday, Larsen harshly criticised Palestinian Yasser Arafat for his passivity and inaction in reforming the security apparatuses, a move called for by the international community as part of Palestinian efforts to revive the stalled Middle East roadmap peace process.
Immediately following Larsen's remarks, Palestinians officials voiced anger, announcing Larsen an unwelcome person to the
Palestinian territories.
#6
When I look at photos of the mideast, I see walls everywhere. Walls around houses, compounds, streets, cities. And for what? So their neighbors can't take a peek at their women? The Israeli's should just explain to the Palis that the wall is being built so that Jews will no longer be forced to look at Muslim women. The Palis will be supportive.
Posted by: ed ||
07/15/2004 8:07 Comments ||
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#7
from the formation of the PA - the police and security have been the gangs
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 8:58 Comments ||
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#8
#6 ed, The Israeli's should just explain to the Palis that the wall is being built so that Jews will no longer be forced to look at Muslim women.
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said today that ââit is not acceptableââ that people continue to die of militant killings in Kashmir and that he would ââtalk to Pakistanââ about this. Setting aside their hiccup over the 2003 ââbody-searchââ of former Defence Minister George Fernandes, the Indian leadership and Armitage today focussed instead on promoting bilateral relationship as well as discussing issues of global concern, including likely cooperation in third countries like Iraq. Sources said the two sides had also ironed out their problems over the transfer of high technology from the US to India as part of the ââquartetââ issues, including the sale of possible dual-use components from third countries to India.
US Ambassador to India David Mulford had told journalists here last week that while New Delhi was willing to give assurances that it would not use directly imported high-technology items in its space, nuclear and missile programmes, there still remained issues to be sorted out on imports from third parties. Armitage told reporters today that no more problems existed on this count, that it was a ââwin-win situationââ between India and US. On his first trip to India after the new government was sworn in, Armitage was also apprised of the various ideas that New Delhi was contemplating as part of its effort to participate in Iraqâs reconstruction. Armitage said he made ââno request for troopsââ to the Indian government, but pointed out that ââthere are many ways in which India thinks it can be helpful.ââ
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2004 12:16:03 AM ||
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#1
Sounds like someone noticed he is on the CIA Director short list.
Posted by: Capt America ||
07/15/2004 0:55 Comments ||
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#2
I've always have been impressed with Armitage. No spin, no pretty boy bullshit. I would sleep soundly with that man in charge.
Of course soon we'll hear about how he beats his wife. (the bitch)
#3
no way--i think he's single and adopts asian kids
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
07/15/2004 1:47 Comments ||
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#4
Forgive my late night chatter Mr Son, truley. I wouldn't be surprized about what you write about him.
I saw a C-SPAN speech he gave to some WaPo crowd soon after Afganistan. His comments regarding banks that played loose with the rules being ligit targets. He made no bones about it.
I sat up, bowed my head and thanked God that such men could be there when they were needed. If his star doesn't shine I will be glad for his being there then.
#6
Armitage would seal my support should he more publicly and loudly distance himself from the State Dept. permanent striped pants Arabist leaning. I haven't seen it. A house cleaning is in order
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2004 20:15 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations has tried to play down claims that the UN envoy to the Middle East is banned from Palestinian territory. "We are not kicking out anybody. No decision was taken whatsoever," Nasser Al-Kidwa said. Earlier, Palestinian officials said the UNâs 
