Cynthia McKinney refuses to apologize for assaulting a police officer and Nancy Pelosi says "It's no big deal"
Friday, March 31, 2006
Pinhead of the Week
Cynthia McKinney refuses to apologize for assaulting a police officer and Nancy Pelosi says "It's no big deal"
American death toll in Iraq hits 2-yr. low
More evidence of a weakened insurgency. Also the Iraqis are assuming a greater % of combat duties and the coalition forces are providing more of a logistical support function.
WASHINGTON - U.S. casualties fell to their lowest totals in two years this month as Iraqis increasingly aimed attacks at each other rather than coalition forces, the U.S. military said yesterday.
Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch noted "a decrease in the number of casualties of the coalition forces and a significant increase in Iraqi casualties, both security forces and innocent men, women and children."
Figures from the Pentagon and watchdog groups showed that, through yesterday, 30 U.S. troops had been killed in March, the lowest total since the 20 who died in February 2004.
The number reflected a six-month downward trend since 96 troops were killed last October. At least 2,327 U.S. troops have lost their lives in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion and more than 17,300 have been wounded.
WASHINGTON - U.S. casualties fell to their lowest totals in two years this month as Iraqis increasingly aimed attacks at each other rather than coalition forces, the U.S. military said yesterday.
Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch noted "a decrease in the number of casualties of the coalition forces and a significant increase in Iraqi casualties, both security forces and innocent men, women and children."
Figures from the Pentagon and watchdog groups showed that, through yesterday, 30 U.S. troops had been killed in March, the lowest total since the 20 who died in February 2004.
The number reflected a six-month downward trend since 96 troops were killed last October. At least 2,327 U.S. troops have lost their lives in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion and more than 17,300 have been wounded.
Jill Carroll--Something Not Adding Up
By now all of you know that Jill Carroll has been released by her captors and appears she is completely unharmed. According to reports relating to her debriefing concerning her captors, she has been "somewhat uncooperative" In addition she has made some pretty curious statements saying she was never threatened and praising her captors for the treatment she received.....
"They never said they would hit me, never threatened me in any way.""I was kept in a very good, small safe place, a safe room, nice furniture," she said, adding that she was given clothing and plenty of food. "I was allowed to take showers, go to the bathroom when I wanted," she said.
This has led some to speculate that she is suffering from "Helsinki Syndrome" (that's Helsinki Finland not Sweden). I am not buying it.
Just what are her beliefs? This from the Jordan Times
The kidnappers who abducted her could not have chosen a more wrong target. True, Jill is a US citizen. But she is also more critical of US policies towards the Middle East than many Arabs.
Though as a reporter she always complies with the strictest requirements of objectivity and impartiality, Jill has been from day one opposed to the war, to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. More than just being sympathetic with average Iraqis under war and occupation, Jill is a true believer in Arab causes.
and this from ITalk News.....
She is considered one of the best journalists who stood against the American occupation of Iraq and she focused her articles on telling the world about the Iraqi people’s suffering.”
From what we know of Jill Carroll it is not unreasonable to conclude that she is a left leaning pascifist who's sympathies clearly lie not just with with the Arab people but also the insurgency. It appears that in her mind support for both are neither inconsistent or mutually exclusive, but rather, intertwined.
The motivations for her statements concerning the kidnappers is further drawn into question by the fact that her translator was brutally executed by these very same people she now chooses to defend. We also remember the infamous video shortly after her capture where she weeps through a statement as several AK 47s trained on her head. Seems a bit inconsistent with her declaration that "she wasn't ever threatened".
What exactly is going on with Jill Carroll remains difficult to decipher with what we know so far. One thing for certain, her behavior, demeanor and public statements are not squaring with the facts as we know them.
Is she just the typical closet peacnik masquerading as a journalist who blames America for everything and refuses to accept the evil that is the terrorist insurgency? Or is her inexplicable behavior being made under duress or just a symptom of the mental anguish brought on by her captivity. At this point it's all speculation but one thing for sure, this story is not over.
"They never said they would hit me, never threatened me in any way.""I was kept in a very good, small safe place, a safe room, nice furniture," she said, adding that she was given clothing and plenty of food. "I was allowed to take showers, go to the bathroom when I wanted," she said.
This has led some to speculate that she is suffering from "Helsinki Syndrome" (that's Helsinki Finland not Sweden). I am not buying it.
Just what are her beliefs? This from the Jordan Times
The kidnappers who abducted her could not have chosen a more wrong target. True, Jill is a US citizen. But she is also more critical of US policies towards the Middle East than many Arabs.
Though as a reporter she always complies with the strictest requirements of objectivity and impartiality, Jill has been from day one opposed to the war, to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. More than just being sympathetic with average Iraqis under war and occupation, Jill is a true believer in Arab causes.
and this from ITalk News.....
She is considered one of the best journalists who stood against the American occupation of Iraq and she focused her articles on telling the world about the Iraqi people’s suffering.”
From what we know of Jill Carroll it is not unreasonable to conclude that she is a left leaning pascifist who's sympathies clearly lie not just with with the Arab people but also the insurgency. It appears that in her mind support for both are neither inconsistent or mutually exclusive, but rather, intertwined.
The motivations for her statements concerning the kidnappers is further drawn into question by the fact that her translator was brutally executed by these very same people she now chooses to defend. We also remember the infamous video shortly after her capture where she weeps through a statement as several AK 47s trained on her head. Seems a bit inconsistent with her declaration that "she wasn't ever threatened".
What exactly is going on with Jill Carroll remains difficult to decipher with what we know so far. One thing for certain, her behavior, demeanor and public statements are not squaring with the facts as we know them.
Is she just the typical closet peacnik masquerading as a journalist who blames America for everything and refuses to accept the evil that is the terrorist insurgency? Or is her inexplicable behavior being made under duress or just a symptom of the mental anguish brought on by her captivity. At this point it's all speculation but one thing for sure, this story is not over.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Feingold Asks John Dean To Testify On Censure Resolution
One of the most blatantly disingenuous and might I add lame schemes to portray President Bush in a negative light to date. This rather juvenile attempt to associate Bush's NSA wiretapping and President Nixons Watergate coverup illustrates perfectly the depths to which Democrats will sink to weaken this administration.
WASHINGTON /AP-- Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold is calling on Watergate's John Dean to testify at a hearing Friday on the senator's censure resolution.
Dean testified before the Senate committee investigating the events that eventually led to President Nixon's impeachment.
Dean recently wrote a column comparing President Bush's conduct to that of Nixon's. Dean thinks both presidents authorized warrantless wiretapping and that both broke the law.
The hearing has been called by Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, a Republican who strongly opposes Feingold's censure resolution.
WASHINGTON /AP-- Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold is calling on Watergate's John Dean to testify at a hearing Friday on the senator's censure resolution.
Dean testified before the Senate committee investigating the events that eventually led to President Nixon's impeachment.
Dean recently wrote a column comparing President Bush's conduct to that of Nixon's. Dean thinks both presidents authorized warrantless wiretapping and that both broke the law.
The hearing has been called by Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, a Republican who strongly opposes Feingold's censure resolution.
US to Test 700-tonne bomb
Just to give you all a little perspective.......The largest conventional bomb we have had to date was the MOAB. The yield of the MOAB is approximately 10 ton. That puts this device at 70 times the explosive yield of the MOAB. The smallest known nuclear bomb -- the Davy Crockett fission bomb -- has a 10-ton yield. For comparison, the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of 14,500 tons of TNT This bomb has a yield of 700 tons or 5% the Hiroshima nuke.
The US military plans to detonate a 700 tonne explosive charge in a test called "Divine Strake" that will send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, a senior defense official said.
"I don't want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons," said James Tegnelia, head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
Tegnelia said the test was part of a US effort to develop weapons capable of destroying deeply buried bunkers housing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
"We have several very large penetrators we're developing," he told defense reporters.
"We also have -- are you ready for this - a 700-tonne explosively formed charge that we're going to be putting in a tunnel in Nevada," he said.
"And that represents to us the largest single explosive that we could imagine doing conventionally to solve that problem," he said.
The US military plans to detonate a 700 tonne explosive charge in a test called "Divine Strake" that will send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, a senior defense official said.
"I don't want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you'll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons," said James Tegnelia, head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
Tegnelia said the test was part of a US effort to develop weapons capable of destroying deeply buried bunkers housing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
"We have several very large penetrators we're developing," he told defense reporters.
"We also have -- are you ready for this - a 700-tonne explosively formed charge that we're going to be putting in a tunnel in Nevada," he said.
"And that represents to us the largest single explosive that we could imagine doing conventionally to solve that problem," he said.
Most Better Off Today Than 4 Years Ago
This surprises me....
March 30, 2006/Rasmussen--Fifty-five percent (55%) of Americans say they are better off today than they were four years ago. A Rasmussen Reports national opinion poll of 5,000 adults found that 36% disagree and say they are not better off.
The sense of progress is found across most demographic groups. Fifty-six percent (56%) of men and 54% of women say they are better off today. That view is shared by 55% of white A
mericans, 52% of black Americans, and 58% of all other Americans.
There are some difference--retired Americans are less likely than working age Americans to say they are better off.
This sense of progress comes at a time when only one-third of Americans rate the U.S. economy as good or excellent.
Talk about a disconnect. This is classic "I'm fine but the other guys hurting." Don't believe your lyin eyes and oh, btw, pay know attention to the man behind the curtain. That's the sort of scenario you get with a relentlessly hostile press and a gullible public all too happy to buy into their propaganda.
March 30, 2006/Rasmussen--Fifty-five percent (55%) of Americans say they are better off today than they were four years ago. A Rasmussen Reports national opinion poll of 5,000 adults found that 36% disagree and say they are not better off.
The sense of progress is found across most demographic groups. Fifty-six percent (56%) of men and 54% of women say they are better off today. That view is shared by 55% of white A
mericans, 52% of black Americans, and 58% of all other Americans.
There are some difference--retired Americans are less likely than working age Americans to say they are better off.
This sense of progress comes at a time when only one-third of Americans rate the U.S. economy as good or excellent.
Talk about a disconnect. This is classic "I'm fine but the other guys hurting." Don't believe your lyin eyes and oh, btw, pay know attention to the man behind the curtain. That's the sort of scenario you get with a relentlessly hostile press and a gullible public all too happy to buy into their propaganda.
SAUDI ARABIA: TERROR ATTACK ON OIL REFINERY FOILED
This is the second attempt to blow up Aramco's world's largest oil crude oil facility. It's obvious that the terrorist leadership has made accomplishing this task a real priority. Let's hope the Saudi govt. is up to the task as a successful attack would likely trigger panic in most major markets.
Riyadh, 29 March (AKI) - Saudi security forces have thwarted a terrorist attack on Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery Abqaiq, the second in two months, according to media reports. The Kuwaiti news agency KUNA and the Iraqi Radio Nawa report that police discovered two car bombs in the area. Local daily al-Riyadh reports that Saudi police on Tuesday carried out house searches in the al-Mantar area of Abqaib, where some employees of Saudi oil giant Aramco live, arms and explosive were discovered in one of the homes and one man was arrested. Reports say that the vehicles to be used in the attack bore the company logo.
On 24 February Saudi Arabian security forces opened fire on at least two cars apparently commandeered by would-be suicide bombers, thwarting an attack on the Abqaiq oil processing plant in the east of the country. The cars exploded near gates leading to the facility, Saudi officials said.
The oil output at the plant, the largest of its kind in the world, was not affected by the incident, Saudi state television reported. The attack is the first directed at crude oil facilities since al-Qaeda militants launched a suicide bombing campaign against the Kingdom's pro-Western leaders in May 2003. Abqaiq handles about two-thirds of Saudi's petroleum output.
Riyadh, 29 March (AKI) - Saudi security forces have thwarted a terrorist attack on Saudi Arabia's largest oil refinery Abqaiq, the second in two months, according to media reports. The Kuwaiti news agency KUNA and the Iraqi Radio Nawa report that police discovered two car bombs in the area. Local daily al-Riyadh reports that Saudi police on Tuesday carried out house searches in the al-Mantar area of Abqaib, where some employees of Saudi oil giant Aramco live, arms and explosive were discovered in one of the homes and one man was arrested. Reports say that the vehicles to be used in the attack bore the company logo.
On 24 February Saudi Arabian security forces opened fire on at least two cars apparently commandeered by would-be suicide bombers, thwarting an attack on the Abqaiq oil processing plant in the east of the country. The cars exploded near gates leading to the facility, Saudi officials said.
The oil output at the plant, the largest of its kind in the world, was not affected by the incident, Saudi state television reported. The attack is the first directed at crude oil facilities since al-Qaeda militants launched a suicide bombing campaign against the Kingdom's pro-Western leaders in May 2003. Abqaiq handles about two-thirds of Saudi's petroleum output.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
FISA judges say Bush within law
Here's something that has gone pretty much unnoticed by the EM, wonder why....
A panel of former Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges yesterday told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that President Bush did not act illegally when he created by executive order a wiretapping program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA).
The five judges testifying before the committee said they could not speak specifically to the NSA listening program without being briefed on it, but that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not override the president's constitutional authority to spy on suspected international agents under executive order.
"If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now," said Judge Allan Kornblum, magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida and an author of the 1978 FISA Act. "I think that the president would be remiss exercising his constitutional authority by giving all of that power over to a statute."
HMMM, sounds like what we've been saying all along.
A panel of former Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges yesterday told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that President Bush did not act illegally when he created by executive order a wiretapping program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA).
The five judges testifying before the committee said they could not speak specifically to the NSA listening program without being briefed on it, but that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not override the president's constitutional authority to spy on suspected international agents under executive order.
"If a court refuses a FISA application and there is not sufficient time for the president to go to the court of review, the president can under executive order act unilaterally, which he is doing now," said Judge Allan Kornblum, magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida and an author of the 1978 FISA Act. "I think that the president would be remiss exercising his constitutional authority by giving all of that power over to a statute."
HMMM, sounds like what we've been saying all along.
Carter slams US-India nuclear deal
Mr Irrelevant is at it again....
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former US president Jimmy Carter criticized Washington's civilian nuclear deal with India, saying it was "just one more step in opening a Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation."
"Knowing for more than three decades of Indian leaders' nuclear ambitions, I and all other presidents included them in a consistent policy: no sales of civilian nuclear technology or uncontrolled fuel to any country that refused to sign the NPT," Carter said in an opinion piece in The Washington Post.
India has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and developed nuclear weapons on its own.
US President George W. Bush clinched the landmark nuclear deal with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a visit to New Delhi on March 2 and is pushing Congress to amend the US Atomic Energy Act, which currently prohibits nuclear sales to non NPT signatories, to make the agreement effective.
It would give energy-starved India access to long-denied civilian nuclear technology in return for placing a majority of its civilian nuclear reactors under international inspection.
Someone needs to tell that him they already have the bomb, and not just a puny A bomb but an H bomb. Hey Jimmah, you might want to keep your mouth shut considering your track record concerning nuclear proliferation. The North Korean deal you so vigorously supported worked out well, didn't it.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former US president Jimmy Carter criticized Washington's civilian nuclear deal with India, saying it was "just one more step in opening a Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation."
"Knowing for more than three decades of Indian leaders' nuclear ambitions, I and all other presidents included them in a consistent policy: no sales of civilian nuclear technology or uncontrolled fuel to any country that refused to sign the NPT," Carter said in an opinion piece in The Washington Post.
India has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and developed nuclear weapons on its own.
US President George W. Bush clinched the landmark nuclear deal with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a visit to New Delhi on March 2 and is pushing Congress to amend the US Atomic Energy Act, which currently prohibits nuclear sales to non NPT signatories, to make the agreement effective.
It would give energy-starved India access to long-denied civilian nuclear technology in return for placing a majority of its civilian nuclear reactors under international inspection.
Someone needs to tell that him they already have the bomb, and not just a puny A bomb but an H bomb. Hey Jimmah, you might want to keep your mouth shut considering your track record concerning nuclear proliferation. The North Korean deal you so vigorously supported worked out well, didn't it.
Christian Convert Has Left Afghanistan
One down, who knows how many thousands to go.
KABUL, Afghanistan - The man who faced the death penalty after converting from Islam to Christianity left Afghanistan on Wednesday, and Italy said it granted him asylum and expected him to arrive "soon."
Abdul Rahman, 41, left Afghanistan early in the day, an official closely connected to the case said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Update: Berlusconi says Rahman already in Italy.
KABUL, Afghanistan - The man who faced the death penalty after converting from Islam to Christianity left Afghanistan on Wednesday, and Italy said it granted him asylum and expected him to arrive "soon."
Abdul Rahman, 41, left Afghanistan early in the day, an official closely connected to the case said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Update: Berlusconi says Rahman already in Italy.
Brussels Prosecutes Aramaic Priest and Fugitive for Islamophobia
My grandparents stopped returning to their birthplace in Ghent back in the 60s because they said "We can't take it anymore, they're all communists". Now it appears they have become fascists as well.
One of the rare Belgian churches that is packed every weekend is the church of Saint Anthony of Padova in Montignies-sur-Sambre, one of the poorest suburbs of Charleroi, a derelict rust belt area to the south of Brussels. Holy Mass in Montignies is conducted in Latin and lasts up to four hours. Yesterday over 2,000 people attended the service by Father Samuel (Père Samuel). The priest’s sermon dealt with his persecution. The Belgian authorities are bringing the popular priest to court on charges of racism.
Father Samuel has been prosecuted for “incitement to racist hatred” by the Belgian government’s inquisition agency, the so-called Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (CEOOR), because of a remark he made in a 2002 television interview when he said:
“Every thoroughly islamized Muslim child that is born in Europe is a time bomb for Western children in the future. The latter will be persecuted when they have become a minority.”
Last Thursday the Belgian judiciary decided that the priest will have to stand trial before the penal court in Charleroi.
One of the rare Belgian churches that is packed every weekend is the church of Saint Anthony of Padova in Montignies-sur-Sambre, one of the poorest suburbs of Charleroi, a derelict rust belt area to the south of Brussels. Holy Mass in Montignies is conducted in Latin and lasts up to four hours. Yesterday over 2,000 people attended the service by Father Samuel (Père Samuel). The priest’s sermon dealt with his persecution. The Belgian authorities are bringing the popular priest to court on charges of racism.
Father Samuel has been prosecuted for “incitement to racist hatred” by the Belgian government’s inquisition agency, the so-called Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (CEOOR), because of a remark he made in a 2002 television interview when he said:
“Every thoroughly islamized Muslim child that is born in Europe is a time bomb for Western children in the future. The latter will be persecuted when they have become a minority.”
Last Thursday the Belgian judiciary decided that the priest will have to stand trial before the penal court in Charleroi.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Majority of Iraqis Endorse Election and Show Optimism
Considering the preoccupation of the Entrenched Media with polls, I'm sure this will be headline news.
The majority of Iraqis overall view the recent parliamentary elections as valid, are optimistic that their country is going in the right direction and feel that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein has been worth the costs. Sunnis, on the other hand, overwhelmingly reject the validity of the elections, see the country going in the wrong direction and regret the overthrow of Saddam. This pervasive pessimism challenges hopes that the alienated Sunni Arab minority, which boycotted Iraq’s first post-Saddam elections a year ago, would feel empowered by participating in last month’s elections.
The poll was conducted for WorldPublicOpinion.org by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland and was fielded by KA Research Limited/D3 Systems, Inc. Polling was conducted January 2-5 with a nationwide sample of 1,150, which included an oversample of 150 Arab Sunnis (hereafter simply called Sunnis).
Iraqis overall have a positive view of the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Asked, “Thinking about any hardships you might have suffered since the US-Britain invasion, do you personally think that ousting Saddam Hussein was worth it or not?” 77% say it was worth it, while 22% say it was not.
Overall, two out of three Iraqis (66%) believe that the recent parliamentary elections were free and fair. Approximately the same number (68%) say “that the government to be established by the newly elected Parliament will … be the legitimate representative of the Iraqi people.”
The majority of Iraqis overall view the recent parliamentary elections as valid, are optimistic that their country is going in the right direction and feel that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein has been worth the costs. Sunnis, on the other hand, overwhelmingly reject the validity of the elections, see the country going in the wrong direction and regret the overthrow of Saddam. This pervasive pessimism challenges hopes that the alienated Sunni Arab minority, which boycotted Iraq’s first post-Saddam elections a year ago, would feel empowered by participating in last month’s elections.
The poll was conducted for WorldPublicOpinion.org by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland and was fielded by KA Research Limited/D3 Systems, Inc. Polling was conducted January 2-5 with a nationwide sample of 1,150, which included an oversample of 150 Arab Sunnis (hereafter simply called Sunnis).
Iraqis overall have a positive view of the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Asked, “Thinking about any hardships you might have suffered since the US-Britain invasion, do you personally think that ousting Saddam Hussein was worth it or not?” 77% say it was worth it, while 22% say it was not.
Overall, two out of three Iraqis (66%) believe that the recent parliamentary elections were free and fair. Approximately the same number (68%) say “that the government to be established by the newly elected Parliament will … be the legitimate representative of the Iraqi people.”
Punks mar hero’s memorial
Detestable cowards. The mentality of kids ringing doorbells and then running away only one helluva lot more ignorant and hurtful.
The heartbroken family of a fallen Bay State soldier was devastated yesterday to find his memorial defaced by callous anti-war vandals who scrawled “Oil” and “Christian Crusade” on a sign commemorating his sacrifice.
“I was enraged,” said Lou Petithory, whose son Daniel, 32, was killed in Afghanistan Dec. 5, 2001. “My main concern is that my son’s memory was attacked.”
It is a memory that Green Beret Sgt. Daniel Petithory’s parents have struggled to preserve amid the politics over the war on terror. They have stopped reading newspaper editorials and watching TV news shows; not because they disagree with debate, but because they believe the truth about their son and his service is lost in the middle of it.
“He had been in the military for 14 years, so he was one of the older guys on his team,” Lou Petithory recalled after scrubbing the vandalism off his son’s memorial. “They made military history. They were 200 Green Berets inserted into Afghanistan, and within two weeks the Taliban was gone.”
Yup, we're going to be drilling for a lot of oil in Afghanistan alright.
The heartbroken family of a fallen Bay State soldier was devastated yesterday to find his memorial defaced by callous anti-war vandals who scrawled “Oil” and “Christian Crusade” on a sign commemorating his sacrifice.
“I was enraged,” said Lou Petithory, whose son Daniel, 32, was killed in Afghanistan Dec. 5, 2001. “My main concern is that my son’s memory was attacked.”
It is a memory that Green Beret Sgt. Daniel Petithory’s parents have struggled to preserve amid the politics over the war on terror. They have stopped reading newspaper editorials and watching TV news shows; not because they disagree with debate, but because they believe the truth about their son and his service is lost in the middle of it.
“He had been in the military for 14 years, so he was one of the older guys on his team,” Lou Petithory recalled after scrubbing the vandalism off his son’s memorial. “They made military history. They were 200 Green Berets inserted into Afghanistan, and within two weeks the Taliban was gone.”
Yup, we're going to be drilling for a lot of oil in Afghanistan alright.
Credit Where Credit is Due
Our friend and the source for all the released Iraq document translations we've quoted is getting some well deserved recognition via an interview from the New York Times.
I'm trying to pick up documents that shed light on the political debate," said Joseph G. Shahda, 34, a Lebanese-born engineer who lives in a Boston suburb and is spending hours every evening on translations for the conservative Free Republic site. "I think we prematurely concluded there was no W.M.D. and no ties to Al Qaeda."
Mr. Shahda said he was proud he could help make the documents public. "I live in this great country, and it's a time of war," he said. "This is the least I can do."
Joe (jveritas) is a nice guy and a true patriot. In an E-mail he sent me last week he said this:
"I just did a little effort on my part to do the translation. Our brave troops are the ones who are doing the great efforts and sacrifice to protect us."
Amen Joe, and thanks for a job well done.
I'm trying to pick up documents that shed light on the political debate," said Joseph G. Shahda, 34, a Lebanese-born engineer who lives in a Boston suburb and is spending hours every evening on translations for the conservative Free Republic site. "I think we prematurely concluded there was no W.M.D. and no ties to Al Qaeda."
Mr. Shahda said he was proud he could help make the documents public. "I live in this great country, and it's a time of war," he said. "This is the least I can do."
Joe (jveritas) is a nice guy and a true patriot. In an E-mail he sent me last week he said this:
"I just did a little effort on my part to do the translation. Our brave troops are the ones who are doing the great efforts and sacrifice to protect us."
Amen Joe, and thanks for a job well done.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Moussaoui says he was to be part of 9/11 attacks
So much for the defense.
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Zacarias Moussaoui said on Monday he was supposed to fly a fifth airplane into the White House as part of the September 11 plot and he knew that two planes were due to fly into the World Trace Center.
In testimony at his sentencing trial, Moussaoui -- the only person charged in the United States in connection with the September 11 attacks -- said "shoebomber" Richard Reid was to join him as part of the crew in the suicide mission. Moussaoui said he did not know the date of the planned attacks when he was arrested in Minnesota on August 16, 2001. He faces the death penalty.
This puts a dent in the Chimpy McBushHitler /Zionist/Halliburton/Illuminati conspiracy executed by the CIA under the direction of Carl Rove and the Trilateralists.
Fox has more.
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Zacarias Moussaoui said on Monday he was supposed to fly a fifth airplane into the White House as part of the September 11 plot and he knew that two planes were due to fly into the World Trace Center.
In testimony at his sentencing trial, Moussaoui -- the only person charged in the United States in connection with the September 11 attacks -- said "shoebomber" Richard Reid was to join him as part of the crew in the suicide mission. Moussaoui said he did not know the date of the planned attacks when he was arrested in Minnesota on August 16, 2001. He faces the death penalty.
This puts a dent in the Chimpy McBushHitler /Zionist/Halliburton/Illuminati conspiracy executed by the CIA under the direction of Carl Rove and the Trilateralists.
Fox has more.
Condoleezza Rice sees significance in the Saddam documents.
I think the good Secretary is playing a coy little game of "Where's Waldo". Personally I believe she knows full well that there are some blockbuster revelations in these documents and she's letting the blogosphere root em out.
SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE on Sunday contradicted claims from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that documents captured in postwar Iraq and now being posted on the Internet will not contain anything new or significant.
"We're going to find some important and surprising things in these documents," Rice said in an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press.
Rice also addressed revelations, important but not surprising, that former Russian ambassador to Iraq, Vladimir Teterenko, passed the U.S. war plan to Iraq shortly before the war began. The charges, based largely on two Iraqi documents captured in postwar Iraq, came in a report issued by the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and released by the Pentagon late last week. Rice said she is not in a position to confirm or deny the claims but vowed to take "a hard look at the reports" of Russian betrayal.
SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE on Sunday contradicted claims from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that documents captured in postwar Iraq and now being posted on the Internet will not contain anything new or significant.
"We're going to find some important and surprising things in these documents," Rice said in an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press.
Rice also addressed revelations, important but not surprising, that former Russian ambassador to Iraq, Vladimir Teterenko, passed the U.S. war plan to Iraq shortly before the war began. The charges, based largely on two Iraqi documents captured in postwar Iraq, came in a report issued by the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and released by the Pentagon late last week. Rice said she is not in a position to confirm or deny the claims but vowed to take "a hard look at the reports" of Russian betrayal.
Alec Baldwin v. Sean Hannity in Radio Donnybrook
Now this I wish I had heard.....
Hollywood liberal Alec Baldwin stormed out of an in-studio radio interview Sunday night after he was confronted on the phone by radio hosts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.
Baldwin was 30 minutes into a planned two-hour-plus sitdown with WABC Radio's Brian Whitman when Hannity called in.
HANNITY: Alec, I wanted to give you an official WABC welcome considering you were supposed to come on my program last week and you didn't show up. What happened?
BALDWIN: No, I wasn't supposed to come on your program, Sean Hannity.
HANNITY: No, actually you were supposed to come on the program because a deal was made with your agent that if you were going to come on with Brian, first you'd come on with me.
BALDWIN: I wouldn't dream of coming on your program, Sean Hannity. I'm here with Brian. I'm here with a really talented broadcaster.
HANNITY: [Crosstalk] that you are, you don't tell the truth.
BALDWIN: Why would I want to come on the show with a no-talent, former construction worker hack like you?
HANNITY: Are you the guy that said of our vice president, while we're at war, while we're leading troops in harm's way - are you the reckless, third-rate Hollywood actor who said that Dick Cheney is a terrorist? Are you the guy . . .
BALDWIN: Yes I am.
HANNITY: . . . . who said to stone Henry Hyde to death? Are you the guy who said our president is a CIA mass murderer? I wanted you to come on the program and defend that, you gutless coward.
BALDWIN: At first I thought this was a joke. But you can hear all the acid venom spewing hatred. It is Sean Hannity. [END EXCERPT]
The exchange got even hotter when Mark Levin joined in.
LEVIN: We've only just begun - are you 40 or 50 pounds overweight now?
WHITMAN: Oh, C'mon now . . . .
HANNITY: Once and for all you need to be challenged. You want to call our vice president a terrorist - fine. You want to talk about stoning people to death, say it on my program. If you want to be irresponsible and call our president a mass murderer while he's at war leading troops in harm's way . . . .
BALDWIN: And what are you gonna do about it, Sean Hannity?
HANNITY: You don't have the courage to answer questions.
BALDWIN: And what are you gonna do? And what are you going to do about it, Sean Hannity. If I come on your program, what are you going to do?
LEVIN: He's going to show that you have a two digit IQ - that's what he's gonna do.
BALWIN: What are you going to do?
LEVIN: I just told you - you've got a two digit IQ.
BALDWIN: And who's that - who's your little cabin boy there with you.
LEVIN: I'm not a cabin boy, butt-boy.
BALDWIN: What are you doing there, cabin boy? . . . . I now dub you Sean Hannity's cabin boy.
LEVIN: And you know what you are? You're 'Brokeback Alec.' [END EXCERPT]
The confrontation continued to spiral out of control, with Whitman intermittently trying to make peace and Baldwin repeatedly urging him to move on to other callers.
BALDWIN: Listen, Sean - you incredibly ignorant boob from Long Island . . .
HANNITY: Oh, ouch, Alec.
BALDWIN: No, no, no, you've spoken, let me talk, Sean. Cause you've been spewing your . . .
HANNITY: You're a third rate Hollywood egomaniac.
BALDWIN: You're a no talent ignorant fool from Long Island. You should go back to building houses in Hempstead.
LEVIN: Why was your [former] wife [Kim Basinger] so pissed off at you, anyway?
WHITMAN: Now, c'mon guys.
BALDWIN: OK. We're done. [Gets up and leaves the studio]
WHITMAN: Come back. Come back. Alec? They're gone. Alec? Alec has walked out of the studio. Alec, please come back.
Hee Hee, that hit a nerve.
Hollywood liberal Alec Baldwin stormed out of an in-studio radio interview Sunday night after he was confronted on the phone by radio hosts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.
Baldwin was 30 minutes into a planned two-hour-plus sitdown with WABC Radio's Brian Whitman when Hannity called in.
HANNITY: Alec, I wanted to give you an official WABC welcome considering you were supposed to come on my program last week and you didn't show up. What happened?
BALDWIN: No, I wasn't supposed to come on your program, Sean Hannity.
HANNITY: No, actually you were supposed to come on the program because a deal was made with your agent that if you were going to come on with Brian, first you'd come on with me.
BALDWIN: I wouldn't dream of coming on your program, Sean Hannity. I'm here with Brian. I'm here with a really talented broadcaster.
HANNITY: [Crosstalk] that you are, you don't tell the truth.
BALDWIN: Why would I want to come on the show with a no-talent, former construction worker hack like you?
HANNITY: Are you the guy that said of our vice president, while we're at war, while we're leading troops in harm's way - are you the reckless, third-rate Hollywood actor who said that Dick Cheney is a terrorist? Are you the guy . . .
BALDWIN: Yes I am.
HANNITY: . . . . who said to stone Henry Hyde to death? Are you the guy who said our president is a CIA mass murderer? I wanted you to come on the program and defend that, you gutless coward.
BALDWIN: At first I thought this was a joke. But you can hear all the acid venom spewing hatred. It is Sean Hannity. [END EXCERPT]
The exchange got even hotter when Mark Levin joined in.
LEVIN: We've only just begun - are you 40 or 50 pounds overweight now?
WHITMAN: Oh, C'mon now . . . .
HANNITY: Once and for all you need to be challenged. You want to call our vice president a terrorist - fine. You want to talk about stoning people to death, say it on my program. If you want to be irresponsible and call our president a mass murderer while he's at war leading troops in harm's way . . . .
BALDWIN: And what are you gonna do about it, Sean Hannity?
HANNITY: You don't have the courage to answer questions.
BALDWIN: And what are you gonna do? And what are you going to do about it, Sean Hannity. If I come on your program, what are you going to do?
LEVIN: He's going to show that you have a two digit IQ - that's what he's gonna do.
BALWIN: What are you going to do?
LEVIN: I just told you - you've got a two digit IQ.
BALDWIN: And who's that - who's your little cabin boy there with you.
LEVIN: I'm not a cabin boy, butt-boy.
BALDWIN: What are you doing there, cabin boy? . . . . I now dub you Sean Hannity's cabin boy.
LEVIN: And you know what you are? You're 'Brokeback Alec.' [END EXCERPT]
The confrontation continued to spiral out of control, with Whitman intermittently trying to make peace and Baldwin repeatedly urging him to move on to other callers.
BALDWIN: Listen, Sean - you incredibly ignorant boob from Long Island . . .
HANNITY: Oh, ouch, Alec.
BALDWIN: No, no, no, you've spoken, let me talk, Sean. Cause you've been spewing your . . .
HANNITY: You're a third rate Hollywood egomaniac.
BALDWIN: You're a no talent ignorant fool from Long Island. You should go back to building houses in Hempstead.
LEVIN: Why was your [former] wife [Kim Basinger] so pissed off at you, anyway?
WHITMAN: Now, c'mon guys.
BALDWIN: OK. We're done. [Gets up and leaves the studio]
WHITMAN: Come back. Come back. Alec? They're gone. Alec? Alec has walked out of the studio. Alec, please come back.
Hee Hee, that hit a nerve.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Iraqi authorities warn of exploding candy distributed by gunmen in Baghdad
Just when you thought the terrorist insurgent scum couldn't sink any lower.....they do.
BAGHDAD, March 26 (KUNA) - Iraqi Ministry of State for National Security on Sunday warned of touching explosive-packed candy bars found on Baghdad streets.
The ministry said that unknown gunmen threw candy bars that contain explosive materials nearby schools and residential areas in Yarmouk Neighborhood.
It cautioned citizens against touching these candy bars, asserting that the first layer of which contained cocoa, while the second layer contained explosives.
BAGHDAD, March 26 (KUNA) - Iraqi Ministry of State for National Security on Sunday warned of touching explosive-packed candy bars found on Baghdad streets.
The ministry said that unknown gunmen threw candy bars that contain explosive materials nearby schools and residential areas in Yarmouk Neighborhood.
It cautioned citizens against touching these candy bars, asserting that the first layer of which contained cocoa, while the second layer contained explosives.
Dressing Down the Media
It's so refreshing when the Entrenched Media get theirs...
NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell's producer was given some basic instruction in humanity by conservative commentator Cam Edwards Friday. Mitchell's producer showed up at a rally for Adbul Rahman, the Afghan facing death for leaving Islam, outside the Afghan embassy in Washington, D.C. The producer was apparently trying to incite anti-Bush quotes from the protesters.
Read the rest at Bluto's digs.
NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell's producer was given some basic instruction in humanity by conservative commentator Cam Edwards Friday. Mitchell's producer showed up at a rally for Adbul Rahman, the Afghan facing death for leaving Islam, outside the Afghan embassy in Washington, D.C. The producer was apparently trying to incite anti-Bush quotes from the protesters.
Read the rest at Bluto's digs.
Case Dropped Against Afghan Christian
A predicted, the external pressure forced the Afghani govt. to navigate a way out. If the Taliban had been in charge this guy would be hanging by his ankles in the town square as we speak.
AP--An Afghan court has dismissed case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity for lack of evidence, an official said Sunday.
The court, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, had been under intense international pressure to drop the case against Abdul Rahman, who faced a possible death sentence for his public conversion.
Some Islamic clerics had called for his execution, saying Rahman would face danger from his countrymen if he were released.
On Sunday, he was moved to a notorious maximum-security prison outside Kabul that is also home to hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida militants. The move to Policharki Prison came after detainees threatened his life at an overcrowded police holding facility in central Kabul, a court official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
AP--An Afghan court has dismissed case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity for lack of evidence, an official said Sunday.
The court, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, had been under intense international pressure to drop the case against Abdul Rahman, who faced a possible death sentence for his public conversion.
Some Islamic clerics had called for his execution, saying Rahman would face danger from his countrymen if he were released.
On Sunday, he was moved to a notorious maximum-security prison outside Kabul that is also home to hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida militants. The move to Policharki Prison came after detainees threatened his life at an overcrowded police holding facility in central Kabul, a court official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Saddam Regime Document Dated 2001 Shows Chemical Platoon Still Exists And Active (Translation)
Our good friend jveritas at Free Republic is at it again and has unearthed some interesting info on Saddam's WMD (chemical) progam circa 2001. You know, the one he dismantled years earlier......
Document CMPC-2004-000404 dated 2001 indicates that Saddam Regime still has an Active Chemical Platoon in Al Qadisia Air base. In fact the first page of the document lists the results “open tournament” i.e. “open training tournament” for the members of the Chemical Platoon. Page 8 and Page 9 show tables that list the status of “Specialized Vehicles” used by the Chemical Platoon. On the top of Page 9 the year 2001 is shown and this proves that this document was written in 2001. Also page 8 and page 9 show the name and signature of the same guy who is the Commander of the Chemical Platoon at Al Qadisia Air Base, his name is Captain is Mohamad Taha Hassan. The remaining pages show the name of soldiers and their vacation time.
This document is a clear indication that Saddam never stopped his WMD program at least up to the year 2001 as the document show because there was still and active Chemical Platoon in Al Qadisia Air base.
Partial Translation from Page 8 that list a table of the Specialized Vehicles of the Chemical Platoon and its status
The Status of the Specialized Vehicles for the Chemical Platoon the command of Al Qadisia air base
1. The type of Vehicle: Surface vehicle, The Working Status: Working.
5. The type of vehicle: Shower vehicle, The Working Status: Working.
End of Partial Translation
Additional translated document concerning "The Chemical Group"
If you read these documents closely it appears that the groups purpose is NOT likely to be defensive in nature. There is nothing however in either document that definitively proves that it's purpose is offensive.
Document CMPC-2004-000404 dated 2001 indicates that Saddam Regime still has an Active Chemical Platoon in Al Qadisia Air base. In fact the first page of the document lists the results “open tournament” i.e. “open training tournament” for the members of the Chemical Platoon. Page 8 and Page 9 show tables that list the status of “Specialized Vehicles” used by the Chemical Platoon. On the top of Page 9 the year 2001 is shown and this proves that this document was written in 2001. Also page 8 and page 9 show the name and signature of the same guy who is the Commander of the Chemical Platoon at Al Qadisia Air Base, his name is Captain is Mohamad Taha Hassan. The remaining pages show the name of soldiers and their vacation time.
This document is a clear indication that Saddam never stopped his WMD program at least up to the year 2001 as the document show because there was still and active Chemical Platoon in Al Qadisia Air base.
Partial Translation from Page 8 that list a table of the Specialized Vehicles of the Chemical Platoon and its status
The Status of the Specialized Vehicles for the Chemical Platoon the command of Al Qadisia air base
1. The type of Vehicle: Surface vehicle, The Working Status: Working.
5. The type of vehicle: Shower vehicle, The Working Status: Working.
End of Partial Translation
Additional translated document concerning "The Chemical Group"
If you read these documents closely it appears that the groups purpose is NOT likely to be defensive in nature. There is nothing however in either document that definitively proves that it's purpose is offensive.
Left Wonders How this Could Happen - Abdul Rahman
Selective recall dominates the thinking of the left when it comes to the American experience. Have they forgotten, or maybe they're just being obtuse, but for the first 70 years or so we allowed slavery to flourish in our democracy. At least as repugnant as the religious intolerance being exhibited in Afghanistan today.
Why these imebeciles think that installing a Democracy will instantly transform a country politically, socially and culturally into a mirror image of Des Moines Iowa boggles the mind.
Maybe this comes from growing up in a society of instant gratification or maybe it's just more disingenuous noise to delegitimize the Preidents efforts at Democratizing the world. Whatever it's motivation it's nonsense and should be identified as such.
Why these imebeciles think that installing a Democracy will instantly transform a country politically, socially and culturally into a mirror image of Des Moines Iowa boggles the mind.
Maybe this comes from growing up in a society of instant gratification or maybe it's just more disingenuous noise to delegitimize the Preidents efforts at Democratizing the world. Whatever it's motivation it's nonsense and should be identified as such.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Russians Passed Sensitive Invasion Data to Iraq
This sort of thing makes the story of Russian/Iraqi transfers of WMD to Syria and Lebanon seem a good deal more plausible.
WASHINGTON -LA Times -- Russian diplomats passed detailed — though sometimes inaccurate — tactical information about American troop movements to senior Iraqi officials as U.S. troops closed in on Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to Iraqi intelligence documents captured by the American military that raise new questions about Moscow's role in Iraq.
One of the documents, which purports to be a summary of a letter sent to Saddam Hussein's office by a Russian official, claims that Moscow had "sources inside the American Central Command in Doha" — the U.S. military's headquarters during the war — which Russia used to convey AmericanRussia had well-known and extensive diplomatic and economic ties to Baghdad prior to the U.S.-led invasion and occasionally clashed with the Bush administration during the international debate over how to deal with Hussein's regime.
But the documents, made public in a study of the Iraqi military's decision-making during the war that was released by the Pentagon today, are the first to assert the passing of sensitive military intelligence to Baghdad during the war.
Analysts said the revelations could be some of the most damaging to bilateral relations since the end of the Cold War, and while they cautioned that Moscow may have an explanation for the disclosures, they noted that some of the details were so sensitive that they would be hard to justify. intentions and troop movements to Baghdad
WASHINGTON -LA Times -- Russian diplomats passed detailed — though sometimes inaccurate — tactical information about American troop movements to senior Iraqi officials as U.S. troops closed in on Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to Iraqi intelligence documents captured by the American military that raise new questions about Moscow's role in Iraq.
One of the documents, which purports to be a summary of a letter sent to Saddam Hussein's office by a Russian official, claims that Moscow had "sources inside the American Central Command in Doha" — the U.S. military's headquarters during the war — which Russia used to convey AmericanRussia had well-known and extensive diplomatic and economic ties to Baghdad prior to the U.S.-led invasion and occasionally clashed with the Bush administration during the international debate over how to deal with Hussein's regime.
But the documents, made public in a study of the Iraqi military's decision-making during the war that was released by the Pentagon today, are the first to assert the passing of sensitive military intelligence to Baghdad during the war.
Analysts said the revelations could be some of the most damaging to bilateral relations since the end of the Cold War, and while they cautioned that Moscow may have an explanation for the disclosures, they noted that some of the details were so sensitive that they would be hard to justify. intentions and troop movements to Baghdad
Pining for a Negative
CNN headline:
"At Long Last, a New Home Sale Slump"
Now is there any doubt these people are hoping dare I say praying for any snippet of negative economic news?
Look for "At Long Last Civil War Erupts in Iraq"coming soon to a paper near you.
"At Long Last, a New Home Sale Slump"
Now is there any doubt these people are hoping dare I say praying for any snippet of negative economic news?
Look for "At Long Last Civil War Erupts in Iraq"coming soon to a paper near you.
Saddam General: Newsweek Translation of Saddam Tapes Wrong
Let's see, wasn't it Newsweek confirming the flushing of the Koran down a toilet at Guantanamo not long ago?
Former Iraqi Air Force Gen. Georges Sada claims that Newsweek's translation of some of Saddam Hussein's tapes is wrong. Newsweek reported that the Saddam tapes include statements that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Speaking on Fox News Channel, General Sada said that the tapes were not translated correctly and his translation is that Saddam Hussein did have WMD. Why would Newsweek publish an erroneous story? Sada believes they used unqualified translators who confused Arab dialects. Others believe Newsweek may have a vested interest in perpetuating the story that Iraq had no WMD.
General Sada also says that chemical or biological weapons were flown to Syria in 56 flights, but was unable to confirm it.
General Sada's allegations are confirmed by others. A Pentagon official, John A. Shaw, who was responsible for keeping track of Iraq’s weapons programs, claims that special Russian troops in civilian clothes supervised the transfer of Saddam’s WMDs into Syria. An Israeli general, Moshe Yaalon, has made a similar claim. The general in charge of Pentagon spy satellites has admitted observing large truck convoys from Iraq to Syria before the war began.
Yet most of the 2 million documents have not been explored or even translated. It’s almost as if the CIA and the Pentagon don’t want to know what they contain.
According to the Boston Herald, the CIA’s clandestine war against the White House means the agency cannot be trusted for an honest account of what’s in this material.
Many believe that Congress should make sure that an independent body, with no ax to grind, checks the documents and releases every last one that can be made public safely.
And then theres this....9/11 Commissioner and Former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey: Iraq-al Qaeda Docs "Tie [Saddam] into a Circle that Meant to Damage the United States"
Read this article, a little lightbulb has gone on above at least one 9/11 commission members head, expect more.
Former Iraqi Air Force Gen. Georges Sada claims that Newsweek's translation of some of Saddam Hussein's tapes is wrong. Newsweek reported that the Saddam tapes include statements that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Speaking on Fox News Channel, General Sada said that the tapes were not translated correctly and his translation is that Saddam Hussein did have WMD. Why would Newsweek publish an erroneous story? Sada believes they used unqualified translators who confused Arab dialects. Others believe Newsweek may have a vested interest in perpetuating the story that Iraq had no WMD.
General Sada also says that chemical or biological weapons were flown to Syria in 56 flights, but was unable to confirm it.
General Sada's allegations are confirmed by others. A Pentagon official, John A. Shaw, who was responsible for keeping track of Iraq’s weapons programs, claims that special Russian troops in civilian clothes supervised the transfer of Saddam’s WMDs into Syria. An Israeli general, Moshe Yaalon, has made a similar claim. The general in charge of Pentagon spy satellites has admitted observing large truck convoys from Iraq to Syria before the war began.
Yet most of the 2 million documents have not been explored or even translated. It’s almost as if the CIA and the Pentagon don’t want to know what they contain.
According to the Boston Herald, the CIA’s clandestine war against the White House means the agency cannot be trusted for an honest account of what’s in this material.
Many believe that Congress should make sure that an independent body, with no ax to grind, checks the documents and releases every last one that can be made public safely.
And then theres this....9/11 Commissioner and Former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey: Iraq-al Qaeda Docs "Tie [Saddam] into a Circle that Meant to Damage the United States"
Read this article, a little lightbulb has gone on above at least one 9/11 commission members head, expect more.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Bush Makes Me Sick!
Troops free three Western hostages in Iraq
Once again coalition soldiers risk their lives to rescue those who would spit on them.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and British troops Thursday freed three Christian peace activists in rural Iraq without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman, said the hostages were being held by a “kidnapping cell,” and the operation to free the captives was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier.
No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into a house in western Baghdad. The captives’ hands were tied, Lynch said.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said the captives were rescued northwest of Baghdad between the towns of Mishahda, 20 miles away from Baghdad, and the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, 12 miles away.
British officials in Baghdad said those freed were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men — members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams — were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox.
Here is the Statement By Christian Peacemaker Teams......
Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved ones and community......
Read the whole thing. Nowhere is any credit or even thanks for thast matter given to the brave troops who were responsible for freeing them, nor do they fix blame onto the kidnappers. From reading the statement one might assume that they had escaped completely on their own. My suggestion....give them back.
Update: Jawa has the latest roundup of blog reax .... more ingratitude at Stop the ACLU.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and British troops Thursday freed three Christian peace activists in rural Iraq without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman, said the hostages were being held by a “kidnapping cell,” and the operation to free the captives was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier.
No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into a house in western Baghdad. The captives’ hands were tied, Lynch said.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said the captives were rescued northwest of Baghdad between the towns of Mishahda, 20 miles away from Baghdad, and the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, 12 miles away.
British officials in Baghdad said those freed were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men — members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams — were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox.
Here is the Statement By Christian Peacemaker Teams......
Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved ones and community......
Read the whole thing. Nowhere is any credit or even thanks for thast matter given to the brave troops who were responsible for freeing them, nor do they fix blame onto the kidnappers. From reading the statement one might assume that they had escaped completely on their own. My suggestion....give them back.
Update: Jawa has the latest roundup of blog reax .... more ingratitude at Stop the ACLU.
Missouri Radio DJ Fired For Slip of Tongue
This is unfettered political correctness at it's worst....
A Missouri radio station sacked a newly-appointed talk show host for a racial slur as he talked about secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.
Dave Lenihan, only two weeks into what he said was his “dream job”, apologised on the air immediately after making what he said was a slip of the tongue yesterday.
St Louis-based KTRS radio station’s president and general manager Tim Dorsey agreed the remark was accidental, but said it was nonetheless “unacceptable, reprehensible and unforgivable”.
Lenihan had been heaping praise on Rice, who has said she aspires to run the National Football League one day but has more recently ruled out seeking to replace retiring NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
“She’s been chancellor of Stanford,” Lenihan said on the air. “She’s got the patent resume of somebody that has serious skill. She loves football. She’s African-American, which would kind of be a big coon. A big coon. Oh my God. I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that.
”He said he had meant to say “coup” instead.
I love Condi and if I had the slightest inclination to believe that this was intentional or malicious, I likely would be on the other side of this issue. This however, was an obvious slip of the tongue, something that all of us do daily. From the context of the statement, it appears that he iadvertently mixed together two words "boon" and "coup" and ended up with "coon" Personally, I do it all the time. The mind can't decide in milliseconds which word is the most appropriate so it sends both signals to the mouth and you end up with a "hybrid".
Compare this to statements made by the left about Colin Powell and Condi. Uncle Tom, house ni%%er. plantation slave. Those statements were all intentional and malicious yet these slanderers were not even chastened let alone fired.
I hope someone steps up to the plate and hires this guy fast, he is guilty of nothing more than being human.
A Missouri radio station sacked a newly-appointed talk show host for a racial slur as he talked about secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.
Dave Lenihan, only two weeks into what he said was his “dream job”, apologised on the air immediately after making what he said was a slip of the tongue yesterday.
St Louis-based KTRS radio station’s president and general manager Tim Dorsey agreed the remark was accidental, but said it was nonetheless “unacceptable, reprehensible and unforgivable”.
Lenihan had been heaping praise on Rice, who has said she aspires to run the National Football League one day but has more recently ruled out seeking to replace retiring NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
“She’s been chancellor of Stanford,” Lenihan said on the air. “She’s got the patent resume of somebody that has serious skill. She loves football. She’s African-American, which would kind of be a big coon. A big coon. Oh my God. I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that.
”He said he had meant to say “coup” instead.
I love Condi and if I had the slightest inclination to believe that this was intentional or malicious, I likely would be on the other side of this issue. This however, was an obvious slip of the tongue, something that all of us do daily. From the context of the statement, it appears that he iadvertently mixed together two words "boon" and "coup" and ended up with "coon" Personally, I do it all the time. The mind can't decide in milliseconds which word is the most appropriate so it sends both signals to the mouth and you end up with a "hybrid".
Compare this to statements made by the left about Colin Powell and Condi. Uncle Tom, house ni%%er. plantation slave. Those statements were all intentional and malicious yet these slanderers were not even chastened let alone fired.
I hope someone steps up to the plate and hires this guy fast, he is guilty of nothing more than being human.
South Park: Scientology and Chef Get Skewered
Over the years South Park has roasted just about everybody and everything. Politics, religion, race, you name it, nothing is sacred in the little town just outside of Hells Pass Colorado. Aside from being pretty damn funny, I have always respected the show for two reasons. First, they refuse to moralize at the expense of being funny and second they are equal opportunity offenders.Last night was no exception. They took aim at Chef (Isaak Hayes) and his hypocritical reaction to South Parks terrific satire of Scientology in the episode titled "Trapped in the Closet".
The premise was that Chef had been brainwashed by a group calling itself the "Super Adventure Club". Unlike the "Adventure Club" which is a group of kayuk enthusiasts, the "Super Adventure Club" devotes it's efforts to the worldwide pursuit of pedophelia. The groups founder was an explorer who was always "second" " when it came to exploring and discovery so he devoted his life to being "first" at having sex with underage children in remote locations throughout the world.
The groups leader attempted to defend their charter against the SP kids characterization of it as being "retarded" by trying to make a moral comparison between it and Judaism/Christianity (a God giving his own son up for crucifixation). "No" Stan says, "Your group is way WAY more retarded"
Later in the episode Chef dies in by far the funniest death scene ever. In eulogizing their friend Stan states that Chef has been a terrific friend and advisor to the kids and" it's just too bad that his mind had been scrambled by a fruity little group"
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are really geniuses in the art of exposing hypocrisy through pure satire. The Press could learn a lot from their even handed approach to ridicule. Take your shots, but apply them equally and across the board.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Reid criticizes President Bush as 'dangerously incompetent'
I think it's time the Republicans resurrected that old tried and true label so deftly exploited by the left....."mean spirited". If ever there was a time it fit, now is it.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called President Bush "dangerously incompetent" on Wednesday and said the administration ought to be doing more to prevent increasing sectarian violence in Iraq.
"Where is (Secretary of State) Condoleeza Rice? Why isn't she over in the Middle East, as the chief diplomat of this country should be, trying to get the political forces to form a government over there?" Reid told The Associated Press.
Reid said the U.S. was "failing three different ways in Iraq." Military efforts have lagged, the economy is crippled by decreased oil and electricity production, and attempts to form a representative government are behind schedule, he said.
Reid criticized Bush for a series of recent appearances in key political states in which the president defended his Iraq war policies.
"Why isn't he spending time with these leaders in the Middle East trying to get this government formed?" Reid said.
Well there you have it, the Democrats plan for America, degrade, demean and defile. Other than that they have nothing and they know it. If they believe these pathetic attempts at demonizing Bush will win them elections in 06, brother are they in for a shock. It serves to galvanize the Republican base and does nothing to energize their own. Wait and see, if they continue throw turds and offer nothing in the way of a viable alternative, they are in for a major thumping.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called President Bush "dangerously incompetent" on Wednesday and said the administration ought to be doing more to prevent increasing sectarian violence in Iraq.
"Where is (Secretary of State) Condoleeza Rice? Why isn't she over in the Middle East, as the chief diplomat of this country should be, trying to get the political forces to form a government over there?" Reid told The Associated Press.
Reid said the U.S. was "failing three different ways in Iraq." Military efforts have lagged, the economy is crippled by decreased oil and electricity production, and attempts to form a representative government are behind schedule, he said.
Reid criticized Bush for a series of recent appearances in key political states in which the president defended his Iraq war policies.
"Why isn't he spending time with these leaders in the Middle East trying to get this government formed?" Reid said.
Well there you have it, the Democrats plan for America, degrade, demean and defile. Other than that they have nothing and they know it. If they believe these pathetic attempts at demonizing Bush will win them elections in 06, brother are they in for a shock. It serves to galvanize the Republican base and does nothing to energize their own. Wait and see, if they continue throw turds and offer nothing in the way of a viable alternative, they are in for a major thumping.
U.S., Iraqi Forces Capture 50 Insurgents in Gunbattle
Waterboarding anyone?
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. and Iraqi forces responded to an insurgent attack on a police station Wednesday, fighting a two-hour gunbattle that ended with the capture and detention of 50 of the gunmen.
Four police died in the seige, the second attack on police compounds in two days in Iraq. Another 5 police were wounded.
According to police, about 60 insurgents were involved in the attack on the police station in Madain, south of Baghdad, that invloved rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.
The insurgents were caught in the crossfire once U.S. troops and members of a special Iraqi police unit arrived on the scene, police said. None of the attackers were killed, and a Syrian was among the 50 captured.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. and Iraqi forces responded to an insurgent attack on a police station Wednesday, fighting a two-hour gunbattle that ended with the capture and detention of 50 of the gunmen.
Four police died in the seige, the second attack on police compounds in two days in Iraq. Another 5 police were wounded.
According to police, about 60 insurgents were involved in the attack on the police station in Madain, south of Baghdad, that invloved rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.
The insurgents were caught in the crossfire once U.S. troops and members of a special Iraqi police unit arrived on the scene, police said. None of the attackers were killed, and a Syrian was among the 50 captured.
SUSPECT ATOMIC BOMB LINK
According to the left, the threat from al-qaida is "overhyped" don'tcha know.
One of the suspected terrorists on trial for allegedly plotting a nationwide bombing campaign has been linked to a nuclear weapon.
The Old Bailey jury was told that Salahuddin Amin had been involved in discussions to buy a nuclear bomb.
The prosecution said contact had been made with the Russian mafia in Belgium, from whom they wanted to buy a radio-isotope bomb.
Yesterday, jurors heard the prosecution outline its case that the seven-strong gang - all British citizens - planned to blow up pubs, nightclubs, trains and also considered hitting the UK's power infrastructure.
One of the suspected terrorists on trial for allegedly plotting a nationwide bombing campaign has been linked to a nuclear weapon.
The Old Bailey jury was told that Salahuddin Amin had been involved in discussions to buy a nuclear bomb.
The prosecution said contact had been made with the Russian mafia in Belgium, from whom they wanted to buy a radio-isotope bomb.
Yesterday, jurors heard the prosecution outline its case that the seven-strong gang - all British citizens - planned to blow up pubs, nightclubs, trains and also considered hitting the UK's power infrastructure.
Blogspot Problems
I am having trouble with blogspot again. Keep the faith, I'll be back up as soon as possible.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
JERSEY JOLT FOR HILLARY
Not a good sign for the Hildebeast.....
March 21, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - The Garden State spells big trouble for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who gets clobbered in 2008 New Jersey test runs by Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, a new poll shows.
Giuliani slams Clinton in New Jersey 53 to 39 percent and McCain wallops her by 54 to 39 percent in the Quinnipiac University poll.
The poll could fuel Democratic doubts about Clinton because Democrats have been winning there. In his losing 2004 bid, John Kerry comfortably beat President Bush in New Jersey 53 to 46 percent.
Clinton gets clobbered despite the fact Bush is now very unpopular in New Jersey, with 65 percent of Garden Staters turning thumbs-down on the president.
Both McCain and Giuliani beat Clinton among women as well as men but she's weakest with men, losing to McCain by nearly 2-1 among men
March 21, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - The Garden State spells big trouble for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who gets clobbered in 2008 New Jersey test runs by Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain, a new poll shows.
Giuliani slams Clinton in New Jersey 53 to 39 percent and McCain wallops her by 54 to 39 percent in the Quinnipiac University poll.
The poll could fuel Democratic doubts about Clinton because Democrats have been winning there. In his losing 2004 bid, John Kerry comfortably beat President Bush in New Jersey 53 to 46 percent.
Clinton gets clobbered despite the fact Bush is now very unpopular in New Jersey, with 65 percent of Garden Staters turning thumbs-down on the president.
Both McCain and Giuliani beat Clinton among women as well as men but she's weakest with men, losing to McCain by nearly 2-1 among men
Bush Presser at 10:00 AM ET
I will be post the high points as well as any Gregory inanities as they happen.
Update: Pretty standard speach recapping Iraq successes, upbeat and confident.
Questions:
AP reporter asks if he agrees with Alawi that Iraq has fallen into civil war. Prez cites other Iraqi voices who do not agree. Nice snark about knowing Allawi and his thoughts better than most.
Gregory is a no show today, too bad, was looking forward to a smackdown.
Helen Thomas asks: "What was your REAL reason for going to war?"(implying of course that he hasn't been honest with us on the real reason. What a venomous hag) Then she goes further..... she calls him a liar and says he wanted to go to war from the minute he walked into the White House. Prez says To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen". She tries to interrupt. He shuts her down. Explains how he changed after 9/11 then effectively rebutts her saying "I did not want war - no President wants war"
Bush explains to the press corp that the terrorists are blowing up people so the media will report on it in an attempt to get us to pull out and lose the war. (The mere fact that Bush has to "educate" the media on this fact speaks volumes.)
Unknown reporter "Would you benefit from any changes to your staff"?
Bush: "I have a staff of people who place their love of country over their self interests...I am satisified with the people i have surrounded myself with, we are remarkably stable"
Unknown reporter: "Polls show Americans don't like you, do you mind?" (What a marroon)
Bush:"The job of the President is not to worry about short term attitudes. The job of the President is to confront important issues."
CNN "Do you tihnk rumsfeld should resign"
Bush: No I dont think rumsfeld should resign..."
Karl Cameron raises the issue of censure. Bush says no one on the dem side got up and called for the end of the NSA program. They ought to take their case to the people if they don't think we should be doing it. Cites Reid saying "we killed the Patriot Act." Nice slapdown on both issues.
Bush is treating the press corp like a classroom full of unruly schoolchildren (and quite rightly so). He has had to discipline them several times for yelling, interrupting etc.
Update: Pretty standard speach recapping Iraq successes, upbeat and confident.
Questions:
AP reporter asks if he agrees with Alawi that Iraq has fallen into civil war. Prez cites other Iraqi voices who do not agree. Nice snark about knowing Allawi and his thoughts better than most.
Gregory is a no show today, too bad, was looking forward to a smackdown.
Helen Thomas asks: "What was your REAL reason for going to war?"(implying of course that he hasn't been honest with us on the real reason. What a venomous hag) Then she goes further..... she calls him a liar and says he wanted to go to war from the minute he walked into the White House. Prez says To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen". She tries to interrupt. He shuts her down. Explains how he changed after 9/11 then effectively rebutts her saying "I did not want war - no President wants war"
Bush explains to the press corp that the terrorists are blowing up people so the media will report on it in an attempt to get us to pull out and lose the war. (The mere fact that Bush has to "educate" the media on this fact speaks volumes.)
Unknown reporter "Would you benefit from any changes to your staff"?
Bush: "I have a staff of people who place their love of country over their self interests...I am satisified with the people i have surrounded myself with, we are remarkably stable"
Unknown reporter: "Polls show Americans don't like you, do you mind?" (What a marroon)
Bush:"The job of the President is not to worry about short term attitudes. The job of the President is to confront important issues."
CNN "Do you tihnk rumsfeld should resign"
Bush: No I dont think rumsfeld should resign..."
Karl Cameron raises the issue of censure. Bush says no one on the dem side got up and called for the end of the NSA program. They ought to take their case to the people if they don't think we should be doing it. Cites Reid saying "we killed the Patriot Act." Nice slapdown on both issues.
Bush is treating the press corp like a classroom full of unruly schoolchildren (and quite rightly so). He has had to discipline them several times for yelling, interrupting etc.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Chirac urges no sanctions on Palestinians
Jacques Chirac, the undisputed standard bearer for the Vichy school of submissive capitulation.
French President Jacques Chirac on Monday urged the international community to avoid punishing the Palestinians even if Hamas offers no clear, quick responses to demands that it renounce violence and recognize Israel.
Chirac spoke after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II, who said the region could plunge into a decade or more of violence if the Palestinians do not have their own state within two years.
The meeting with the king reflected Chirac's long-standing efforts to court Arab countries and project himself as a force of moderation between the West and the Muslim world.
"We must find a way to pursue European aid to the Palestinian people ... without it being sent where it shouldn't be," Chirac said.
Oh they've given a clear quick response alright. They have emphatically stated that they will continue to do anything and everything in their power by whatever means neccessary including terrorism to wipe Israel off the map.
French President Jacques Chirac on Monday urged the international community to avoid punishing the Palestinians even if Hamas offers no clear, quick responses to demands that it renounce violence and recognize Israel.
Chirac spoke after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II, who said the region could plunge into a decade or more of violence if the Palestinians do not have their own state within two years.
The meeting with the king reflected Chirac's long-standing efforts to court Arab countries and project himself as a force of moderation between the West and the Muslim world.
"We must find a way to pursue European aid to the Palestinian people ... without it being sent where it shouldn't be," Chirac said.
Oh they've given a clear quick response alright. They have emphatically stated that they will continue to do anything and everything in their power by whatever means neccessary including terrorism to wipe Israel off the map.
OBL Sought 'Joint Operations' with Saddam
Drip...drip....drip
An Iraqi intelligence document released last week indicates that Osama bin Laden sought to conduct "joint operations" with Saddam Hussein's regime six years before the 9/11 attacks - and was given the green light by the Iraqi dictator.
The document, detailed in the March 27 issue of the Weekly Standard, describes a Feb. 1995 meeting between bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence that was personally approved by "the Honorable Presidency" - an apparent reference to Saddam.
"We discussed with [bin Laden] his organization. He requested the broadcast of the speeches of Sheikh Sulayman al-Uda [who has influence within Saudi Arabia and outside due to being a well known religious and influential personality] and to designate a program for them through the broadcast directed inside Iraq, and to perform joint operations against the foreign forces in the land of Hijaz [Saudi Arabia]."
The document goes on to note that "the Honorable Presidency was informed of the details of the meeting in our letter 370 on March 4, 1995."
An Iraqi intelligence document released last week indicates that Osama bin Laden sought to conduct "joint operations" with Saddam Hussein's regime six years before the 9/11 attacks - and was given the green light by the Iraqi dictator.
The document, detailed in the March 27 issue of the Weekly Standard, describes a Feb. 1995 meeting between bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence that was personally approved by "the Honorable Presidency" - an apparent reference to Saddam.
"We discussed with [bin Laden] his organization. He requested the broadcast of the speeches of Sheikh Sulayman al-Uda [who has influence within Saudi Arabia and outside due to being a well known religious and influential personality] and to designate a program for them through the broadcast directed inside Iraq, and to perform joint operations against the foreign forces in the land of Hijaz [Saudi Arabia]."
The document goes on to note that "the Honorable Presidency was informed of the details of the meeting in our letter 370 on March 4, 1995."
Iraq President Says New Agreements Disprove "Civil War" Fears
Appears that the left, the Entrenched media and a few bedwetting RINOs are wrong again. Wishing for something doesn't make it so.
WASHINGTON, March 19, 2006 – Agreements announced today regarding Iraq's unity government "prove that the civil war is out of the question and that the Iraqi people will not accept [for] a civil war to take place," Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said during a Baghdad news conference today. Talabani's assessment came on the third anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and corresponded with agreements on the policy statement for national unit government and on the concept of a political national security council to participate in running the country's affairs.
Only minor issues regarding the council's powers have yet to be worked out, he told reporters today.
"We reached an agreement on the major issues," Talabani said. "We have also discussed other issues on proposed amendments to the laws in the future."
Talabani declared the agreements a big step forward for the country.
"We have passed through difficult times, during which the situation in the country was tense," Talabani said. He credited the Iraqi people, who he said in concern for their national unity have "foiled the attempts of those who sought to foment sectarian sedition."
"We are far from a civil war," the Iraqi president said. "We are also heading toward a complete and comprehensive national accord [and] we will also form a national unity government soon."
It would seem that Talibani's optimism is reinforced by, of all outfits, the NYT.
WASHINGTON, March 19, 2006 – Agreements announced today regarding Iraq's unity government "prove that the civil war is out of the question and that the Iraqi people will not accept [for] a civil war to take place," Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said during a Baghdad news conference today. Talabani's assessment came on the third anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and corresponded with agreements on the policy statement for national unit government and on the concept of a political national security council to participate in running the country's affairs.
Only minor issues regarding the council's powers have yet to be worked out, he told reporters today.
"We reached an agreement on the major issues," Talabani said. "We have also discussed other issues on proposed amendments to the laws in the future."
Talabani declared the agreements a big step forward for the country.
"We have passed through difficult times, during which the situation in the country was tense," Talabani said. He credited the Iraqi people, who he said in concern for their national unity have "foiled the attempts of those who sought to foment sectarian sedition."
"We are far from a civil war," the Iraqi president said. "We are also heading toward a complete and comprehensive national accord [and] we will also form a national unity government soon."
It would seem that Talibani's optimism is reinforced by, of all outfits, the NYT.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Quote of the Day
Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," Vice President Cheney responded to host Bob Schieffer's remark that Kennedy, D-Mass., had said on the third anniversary of the Iraq war: "It is clearer than ever that Iraq was a war that never we should have fought.
Cheney responds: "I would not listen to Ted Kennedy for guidance and leadership on how we ought to manage national security."
Amen Mr. Vice President.
Cheney responds: "I would not listen to Ted Kennedy for guidance and leadership on how we ought to manage national security."
Amen Mr. Vice President.
EU to refuse entry to Hamas
EU actually exhibiting something resembling a spine.....
If Hamas representatives come to Brussels to participate in an EU parliamentary gathering at the end of the month they will "not be let into the building," European officials have informed their counterparts in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Post reported Friday that one of the five Palestinian Legislative Council members due to attend the EU's Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) is Mahmoud Ahmad al-Ramahi, a Ramallah anesthesiologist and the PLC's secretary-general who, although not a Hamas member, was No. 8 on the organization's Change and Reform List.
If Hamas representatives come to Brussels to participate in an EU parliamentary gathering at the end of the month they will "not be let into the building," European officials have informed their counterparts in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Post reported Friday that one of the five Palestinian Legislative Council members due to attend the EU's Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) is Mahmoud Ahmad al-Ramahi, a Ramallah anesthesiologist and the PLC's secretary-general who, although not a Hamas member, was No. 8 on the organization's Change and Reform List.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Rioting in Paris.....again
This is being spurred by a new employment law known as the "new jobs contract," it is meant to increase employment among less privileged youths by making the labor market more flexible. However, it does away with classic protections. (ie. it allows someone to be fired in the first 2 years after being hired GASP!) Students fear the jobs law will leave youths more vulnerable than before, and eat away at long-standing measures that protect employees as France attempts to better compete in a global market.
Jaafari Out?
IRAQ: DEAL ON NEW PRIME MINISTER, SAY REPORTS
Baghdad, 17 March (AKI) - The representatives of the Kurdish list, the Sunni Iraqi Concord Front and much of the Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) have reportedly reached an accord on a new prime minister. Their agreement not to reconfirm Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister and instead nominate Abdel Mahdi, a leading SCIRI figure and currently vice president, was reported by the al-Arabiya network and confirmed by Sunni deputy, Salman Jumeiri. The nomination of a new prime minister is the main sticking point in efforts to forge a new government in Iraq after the elections in December.
The representatives of these lists have the parliamentary majority needed to reconfirm president Jalal Talabani as president and nominate Abdel Mahdi as prime minister.
The line-up of those endorsing Abdel Mahdi - who lost narrowly to Jaafari in an internal vote on a prime ministerial candidate - may well exclude MPs from the faction of radical Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr and those of the Islamic party Dawa, led by Jaafari.
The choice of a new prime minister has become the crucial obstacle in forming a new national unity government, following last December's elections.
If this proves out it's terrific news. Abdel-Mahdi, an economist, was favored by the Sunnis and the Kurds because of his secular credentials. Jaafari ,an impotent administrator, was aligned with radical Sadr who was widely known to have had close ties to the Ayatollas in Iran. This move serves to isolate Sadr from the Shia bloc. Other than Sadr being worm food, this is the best possible scenario.
More on Abdel-Mahdi.
Baghdad, 17 March (AKI) - The representatives of the Kurdish list, the Sunni Iraqi Concord Front and much of the Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) have reportedly reached an accord on a new prime minister. Their agreement not to reconfirm Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister and instead nominate Abdel Mahdi, a leading SCIRI figure and currently vice president, was reported by the al-Arabiya network and confirmed by Sunni deputy, Salman Jumeiri. The nomination of a new prime minister is the main sticking point in efforts to forge a new government in Iraq after the elections in December.
The representatives of these lists have the parliamentary majority needed to reconfirm president Jalal Talabani as president and nominate Abdel Mahdi as prime minister.
The line-up of those endorsing Abdel Mahdi - who lost narrowly to Jaafari in an internal vote on a prime ministerial candidate - may well exclude MPs from the faction of radical Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr and those of the Islamic party Dawa, led by Jaafari.
The choice of a new prime minister has become the crucial obstacle in forming a new national unity government, following last December's elections.
If this proves out it's terrific news. Abdel-Mahdi, an economist, was favored by the Sunnis and the Kurds because of his secular credentials. Jaafari ,an impotent administrator, was aligned with radical Sadr who was widely known to have had close ties to the Ayatollas in Iran. This move serves to isolate Sadr from the Shia bloc. Other than Sadr being worm food, this is the best possible scenario.
More on Abdel-Mahdi.
U.S., Iraqi Troops Extend Assault Against Insurgents
It is important to remember that this operation was started with Iraqi intelligence assets, planned and coordinated by Iraqi's and conducted as a joint operation by the Iraqi's.
BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi-U.S. operation targeting insurgents in the vast hardpan desert northeast of Samarra has led to the capture of a possible ringleader of the bombing of the Gold Mosque,
Iraqi officials said today.On its second day, Operation Swarmer resulted in 48 arrests and the discovery of at least six weapons caches consisting of mortars, AK-47s and insurgent training manuals, officials said.
The most important capture may be a leader of the group responsible for the bombing of the Golden Mosque, which set off a wave of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites. More than 500 have been killed and hundreds more wounded. The insurgent group was also believed to be involved in the killing of a journalist for Arab television.
One thing that has been nipping at my brain for some time now is the number of arrests that are routinely made of "insurgent/terrorists". Over the course of the war it has been thousands upon thousands. Compare that with WWII in the Pacific where committed Japanese rarely were taken alive. Almost invariably they either perished in a "suicide assault" or killed themselves prior to capture, and they didn't have the 72 virgins to look forward to. Is our enemy in Iraq somewhat less committed to their mantra and their cause than we have been led to believe?
BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi-U.S. operation targeting insurgents in the vast hardpan desert northeast of Samarra has led to the capture of a possible ringleader of the bombing of the Gold Mosque,
Iraqi officials said today.On its second day, Operation Swarmer resulted in 48 arrests and the discovery of at least six weapons caches consisting of mortars, AK-47s and insurgent training manuals, officials said.
The most important capture may be a leader of the group responsible for the bombing of the Golden Mosque, which set off a wave of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites. More than 500 have been killed and hundreds more wounded. The insurgent group was also believed to be involved in the killing of a journalist for Arab television.
One thing that has been nipping at my brain for some time now is the number of arrests that are routinely made of "insurgent/terrorists". Over the course of the war it has been thousands upon thousands. Compare that with WWII in the Pacific where committed Japanese rarely were taken alive. Almost invariably they either perished in a "suicide assault" or killed themselves prior to capture, and they didn't have the 72 virgins to look forward to. Is our enemy in Iraq somewhat less committed to their mantra and their cause than we have been led to believe?
Friday, March 17, 2006
Sen. John Kerry: N.Y.C., Boston Gone by 2036
To think that this imbecile came within an eyelash of the Presidency of the United States.....
Failed presidential candidate John Kerry offered a startling prediction Friday morning: If the U.S. doesn't change its global warming ways, New York City and Boston will be destroyed by flooding by 2036.
"I can say to an absolute certainty," Kerry told radio host Don Imus, "that if things stay exactly as they are today absent some unpredictable change in what's going on, within the next 30 years the Arctic ice sheet is gone.
"Not maybe, not if - the Arctic ice sheet is gone," the Massachusetts Democrat insisted, before offering his hair-raising prediction.
"Already you have the Greenland ice sheet beginning to melt . . . If that melts, you have a level of sea level increase that wipes out Boston Harbor, New York Harbor - I mean, it's just stunning what we're looking at."
Failed presidential candidate John Kerry offered a startling prediction Friday morning: If the U.S. doesn't change its global warming ways, New York City and Boston will be destroyed by flooding by 2036.
"I can say to an absolute certainty," Kerry told radio host Don Imus, "that if things stay exactly as they are today absent some unpredictable change in what's going on, within the next 30 years the Arctic ice sheet is gone.
"Not maybe, not if - the Arctic ice sheet is gone," the Massachusetts Democrat insisted, before offering his hair-raising prediction.
"Already you have the Greenland ice sheet beginning to melt . . . If that melts, you have a level of sea level increase that wipes out Boston Harbor, New York Harbor - I mean, it's just stunning what we're looking at."
Tom Cruise Blackmails Comedy Central Over Scientology South Park
More Hollywood hypocrisy. Freedom of expression is inviolate unless of course it happens to be their ox being gored.Tom Cruise reportedly got Comedy Central to cancel Wednesday night's cablecast of the controversial "South Park" episode about Scientology by warning that he'd refuse to promote "Mission Impossible 3," reports today's Page Six.
Paramount, the film company who holds Cruise's contract, is counting on "MI3" to bring in blockbuster profits this summer, and Paramount is owned by parent company Viacom, which so happens to also own Comedy Central.
The "South Park" episode entitled, "Trapped in the Closet," takes jabs at Scientology and shows Cruise, John Travolta and R. Kelly (who is not a Scientologist, but has a song called "Trapped in the Closet") literally in a closet.
The episode, which first aired last November, was suppose to rerun on Wednesday night, but was mysteriously yanked at the last minute.
Hollywoodinterrupted.com reports that Cruise went straight to the top - to the execs at Viacom - and warned he'd boycott the promotion for "MI3" unless the "South Park" episode was pulled, reports Page Six.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Dayton assails Feingold's call for censuring Bush
It's nice to see Sen. Dayton come out from under his desk long enough to actually sound sensible. Not overly couragious though considering he likely had to consult the polls before making this pronouncement. That or he's playing the shill for Hil.
WASHINGTON - Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton Thursday strongly criticized fellow Democrat Russ Feingold's resolution to censure President Bush over domestic spying.
"It's an overreaching step by someone who is grandstanding and running for president at the expense of his own party and his own country," Dayton said of Feingold, a Wisconsin senator and potential 2008 presidential candidate.
"I think it's a very dangerous territory for the democracy that we have in this country to be playing around with those kinds of resolutions, without any consultations from his colleagues. I think it was irresponsible."
Dayton is a member of Feingold's own party from a neighboring state, and has himself been one of Bush's harshest critics.
Dayton said he and his Democratic colleagues were "blindsided" by Feingold's proposal, made on ABC News on Sunday.
WASHINGTON - Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton Thursday strongly criticized fellow Democrat Russ Feingold's resolution to censure President Bush over domestic spying.
"It's an overreaching step by someone who is grandstanding and running for president at the expense of his own party and his own country," Dayton said of Feingold, a Wisconsin senator and potential 2008 presidential candidate.
"I think it's a very dangerous territory for the democracy that we have in this country to be playing around with those kinds of resolutions, without any consultations from his colleagues. I think it was irresponsible."
Dayton is a member of Feingold's own party from a neighboring state, and has himself been one of Bush's harshest critics.
Dayton said he and his Democratic colleagues were "blindsided" by Feingold's proposal, made on ABC News on Sunday.
Afghani Taliban Consul Spoke of a Relationship Between Iraq and Bin Laden
The tenacious fact seekers at Free Republic are at it again and this time Freeper jveritas has done the research and translation to uncover this.....
The documents of pre-war Iraq were published this morning on the Pentagon website, I did a quick search and I found a very interesting document written in Arabic and not yet translated to English. I did the translation and I found the following:
This document is a letter written by a member of Saddam Intelligence apparatus (Al Mukabarat) on 9/15/2001 (shortly after 9/11/2001) where he addressed it to someone higher up and he wrote about a conversation between an Iraqi intelligence source and a Taliban Afghani Consul. In the conversation the Afghani Consul spoke of a relationship between Iraq and Osama Bin Laden prior to 9/11/2001, and that the United States was aware of such a relationship and that there is a potential of US strikes against Iraq and Afghanistan if the destructive operations in the US (most probably he is referring to 9/11 attacks) were proven to be connected to Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban.
Below is a translation from Arabic to English of CMPC-2003-001488 document that was posted on Pentagon Website regarding the pre-war Iraq documents. (http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products-docex.htm#iraq).
Text of the document in English translated from Arabic.
In the Name of God the Merciful
Presidency of the Republic
Intelligence Apparatus
To the respectful Mr. M.A.M
Subject: Information
Our source in Afghanistan No 11002 (for information about him see attachment 1) provided us with information that that Afghani Consul Ahmad Dahestani (for information about him see attachment 2) told him the following:
1. That Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan are in contact with Iraq and it that previously a group from Taliban and Osama Bin Laden group visited Iraq.
2. That America has proof that the government of Iraq and Osama Bin Laden group have shown cooperation to hit target within America.
3. That in case it is proven the involvement of Osama Bin Laden group and the Taliban in these destructive operations it is possible that American will conduct strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4. That the Afghani Consul heard about the subject of Iraq relation with Osama Bin Laden group during his stay in Iran.
5. In light of this we suggest to write to the Commission of the above information.
Please view… Yours… With regards
Signature:……, Initials : A.M.M, 15/9/2001
Foot note: Immediately send to the Chairman of Commission
Signature:………….
The documents of pre-war Iraq were published this morning on the Pentagon website, I did a quick search and I found a very interesting document written in Arabic and not yet translated to English. I did the translation and I found the following:
This document is a letter written by a member of Saddam Intelligence apparatus (Al Mukabarat) on 9/15/2001 (shortly after 9/11/2001) where he addressed it to someone higher up and he wrote about a conversation between an Iraqi intelligence source and a Taliban Afghani Consul. In the conversation the Afghani Consul spoke of a relationship between Iraq and Osama Bin Laden prior to 9/11/2001, and that the United States was aware of such a relationship and that there is a potential of US strikes against Iraq and Afghanistan if the destructive operations in the US (most probably he is referring to 9/11 attacks) were proven to be connected to Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban.
Below is a translation from Arabic to English of CMPC-2003-001488 document that was posted on Pentagon Website regarding the pre-war Iraq documents. (http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products-docex.htm#iraq).
Text of the document in English translated from Arabic.
In the Name of God the Merciful
Presidency of the Republic
Intelligence Apparatus
To the respectful Mr. M.A.M
Subject: Information
Our source in Afghanistan No 11002 (for information about him see attachment 1) provided us with information that that Afghani Consul Ahmad Dahestani (for information about him see attachment 2) told him the following:
1. That Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan are in contact with Iraq and it that previously a group from Taliban and Osama Bin Laden group visited Iraq.
2. That America has proof that the government of Iraq and Osama Bin Laden group have shown cooperation to hit target within America.
3. That in case it is proven the involvement of Osama Bin Laden group and the Taliban in these destructive operations it is possible that American will conduct strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4. That the Afghani Consul heard about the subject of Iraq relation with Osama Bin Laden group during his stay in Iran.
5. In light of this we suggest to write to the Commission of the above information.
Please view… Yours… With regards
Signature:……, Initials : A.M.M, 15/9/2001
Foot note: Immediately send to the Chairman of Commission
Signature:………….
US Air Assault in Iraq
FROM SKY NEWS
Thursday March 16, 2006
The US military says it has launched its biggest air assault in Iraq since the invasion in 2003.
It says the operation involves more than 50 aircraft and 1,500 Iraqi and US troops as well as 200 tactical vehicles.
The target is suspected insurgents operating near the town of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.
In related news David Gregory trying to do his best Helen Thomas on crack impression charged the President with "authorizing this bloody attack" (as if it was a bad thing) and also clearly insinuated it was done so as to "improve his poll numbers"
Thursday March 16, 2006
The US military says it has launched its biggest air assault in Iraq since the invasion in 2003.
It says the operation involves more than 50 aircraft and 1,500 Iraqi and US troops as well as 200 tactical vehicles.
The target is suspected insurgents operating near the town of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.
In related news David Gregory trying to do his best Helen Thomas on crack impression charged the President with "authorizing this bloody attack" (as if it was a bad thing) and also clearly insinuated it was done so as to "improve his poll numbers"
Inflation slows sharply in February
AP/Washington MAR. 16 9:03 A.M. ET Inflation slowed sharply in February as food costs moderated and the price of gasoline, natural gas and other energy products posted big declines.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that its closely watched Consumer Price Index posted a tiny 0.1 percent increase last month after having jumped 0.7 percent in January. The slowdown in price pressures was certain to be welcomed at the Federal Reserve, which has been boosting interest rates since June 2004 to make sure inflation does not get out of control.
In other economic news, the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits edged up to 309,000 last week, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week. Even with the slight increase, analysts said the level of claims was still signaling a strong labor market.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that its closely watched Consumer Price Index posted a tiny 0.1 percent increase last month after having jumped 0.7 percent in January. The slowdown in price pressures was certain to be welcomed at the Federal Reserve, which has been boosting interest rates since June 2004 to make sure inflation does not get out of control.
In other economic news, the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits edged up to 309,000 last week, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week. Even with the slight increase, analysts said the level of claims was still signaling a strong labor market.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Carlie Brucia's killer sentenced to death
SARASOTA, Fla. - The 39-year-old former mechanic convicted abducting, raping and killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia was sentenced Wednesday to death.Joseph P. Smith, whose abduction of the girl two years ago was caught by a security camera and subsequently aired on TV, showed no emotion after state Circuit Judge Andrew Owens gave the sentence for first-degree murder. Smith was sentenced to life in prison for both his kidnapping and capital sexual battery convictions.
Terrorist-murderer Quntar awarded honorary Palestinian citizenship
This sort of thing has become so common-place it hardly qualifies as news anymore. What does that say about the modern day world when the glorification of child murderers has become such an acceptable attitude that it scarcely warrants mention.
Societies measure their heroes in different ways. Some societies honor athletes or performers. Others celebrate caregivers and humanitarian workers. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have consistently chosen to honor murderers as their national icons.
The Palestinian Authority has announced that it was granting honorary citizenship to two Arab terrorists who killed Israelis – a Lebanese terrorist, Samir Quntar, and Jordanian terrorist, Sultan Al-Ajaluni. Both are serving life sentences in Israeli jails.
In 1979 Lebanese terrorist Samir Quntar murdered Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter, Einat. Danny's daughter Yael, aged two, suffocated while hiding in a crawl space with her mother. Quntar is serving multiple life sentences totaling 542 years in prison.
Societies measure their heroes in different ways. Some societies honor athletes or performers. Others celebrate caregivers and humanitarian workers. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have consistently chosen to honor murderers as their national icons.
The Palestinian Authority has announced that it was granting honorary citizenship to two Arab terrorists who killed Israelis – a Lebanese terrorist, Samir Quntar, and Jordanian terrorist, Sultan Al-Ajaluni. Both are serving life sentences in Israeli jails.
In 1979 Lebanese terrorist Samir Quntar murdered Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter, Einat. Danny's daughter Yael, aged two, suffocated while hiding in a crawl space with her mother. Quntar is serving multiple life sentences totaling 542 years in prison.
The Feingold Resolution and the Sound of Silence
You've heard about not wanting to touch something with a ten foot pole......
Democratic senators, filing in for their weekly caucus lunch yesterday, looked as if they'd seen a ghost.
"I haven't read it," demurred Barack Obama (Ill.).
"I just don't have enough information," protested Ben Nelson (Neb.). "I really can't right now," John Kerry (Mass.) said as he hurried past a knot of reporters -- an excuse that fell apart when
Kerry was forced into an awkward wait as Capitol Police stopped an aide at the magnetometer.
Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) brushed past the press pack, shaking her head and waving her hand over her shoulder. When an errant food cart blocked her entrance to the meeting room, she tried to hide from reporters behind the 4-foot-11 Barbara Mikulski (Md.).
Like trying to hide a whale behind telephone pole.
Democratic senators, filing in for their weekly caucus lunch yesterday, looked as if they'd seen a ghost.
"I haven't read it," demurred Barack Obama (Ill.).
"I just don't have enough information," protested Ben Nelson (Neb.). "I really can't right now," John Kerry (Mass.) said as he hurried past a knot of reporters -- an excuse that fell apart when
Kerry was forced into an awkward wait as Capitol Police stopped an aide at the magnetometer.
Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) brushed past the press pack, shaking her head and waving her hand over her shoulder. When an errant food cart blocked her entrance to the meeting room, she tried to hide from reporters behind the 4-foot-11 Barbara Mikulski (Md.).
Like trying to hide a whale behind telephone pole.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Iraq Foils Plot to Put Terrorists at Posts
Was this the so- called "Tet" offensive we have been hearing so much speculation about?
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi interior minister said Tuesday that authorities had foiled an al-Qaida plot that would have put hundreds of its men at critical guard posts around Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the U.S. and other foreign embassies as well as the Iraqi government.
A senior Defense Ministry official said the 421 al-Qaida fighters were actually recruited to storm the U.S. and British embassies and take hostages. Several ranking Defense Ministry officials have been jailed in the plot, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, in an interview with The Associated Press, said the 421 al-Qaida recruits were one bureaucrat's signature away from acceptance into an Iraqi army battalion whose job is to control the gates and main squares in the Green Zone. The plot was discovered three weeks ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi interior minister said Tuesday that authorities had foiled an al-Qaida plot that would have put hundreds of its men at critical guard posts around Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the U.S. and other foreign embassies as well as the Iraqi government.
A senior Defense Ministry official said the 421 al-Qaida fighters were actually recruited to storm the U.S. and British embassies and take hostages. Several ranking Defense Ministry officials have been jailed in the plot, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, in an interview with The Associated Press, said the 421 al-Qaida recruits were one bureaucrat's signature away from acceptance into an Iraqi army battalion whose job is to control the gates and main squares in the Green Zone. The plot was discovered three weeks ago
Is Bush Worn Out?
Listening to Dick Morris last night I began to wonder what exactly is wrong with George Bush.
He ran a really terrific campaign to defeat John Kerry in the 2004 election. The war was not going well in Iraq, the economy was showing signs of a comeback although the jobs numbers were not great and he had a vicious press beating up on him relentlessly yet he managed to pull off a decisive victory.
Maybe he was a bit too cocky after the election boldly claiming a mandate and launching into the historically dangerous areas of SS reform. When he could not accomplish the sweeping changes he sought, the wind seemed to go out of his sails. Considering that no President has accomplished this since it's inception (most never even attempted it) he should have accepted this defeat as the likely outcome.
From that time on Bush and his PR corps have steadily been buffetted by the prevailing tides rather than maintaining at least a partial contol of them. They are behind the curve on almost every issue and their plan of action seems to be that of assuming only a posture of defense and deflection.
The few times he has gone on offense, ie. disputing the NSA wiretapping issue and the "He lied us into war" canard, he has benefitted greatly. Unfortunately he has only done this as a last resort and when there was no other choice but to do so. Morris said last night that Clinton did this constantly 24/7 and it was the only thing that kept his numbers up. If he had operated as Bush is presently, the impeachment and subsequent removal from office likely would have been successful.
Allowing himself to get pummelled for so long on the Iraq war, then Katrina and a host of smaller issues, this President has allowed himself to become politically weakened. He didn't spend his political capitol, he passively let it to be stolen from him.The latest political screwup was the DPW deal. Any political advisor worth his salt would have perceived the potential danger of this and councelled Bush to speak with the UAE months ago about withdrawing the US ports portion of the deal and have offered "private incentives" and stipens in exchange for it. We would have both been happy and no one would have been the wiser. As it turned out neither party came out smelling very good.
So, to get back to my initial question, what's wrong with Bush? Is this docile almost submissive attitude a result of complete incompetence on the part of his PR people or a symptom of a 2nd term President who is tired of fighting the odds and is essentially burned out. We better hope it's the former because that can be fixed. If it's the latter we are all in for a very long and painful 3 more years
He ran a really terrific campaign to defeat John Kerry in the 2004 election. The war was not going well in Iraq, the economy was showing signs of a comeback although the jobs numbers were not great and he had a vicious press beating up on him relentlessly yet he managed to pull off a decisive victory.
Maybe he was a bit too cocky after the election boldly claiming a mandate and launching into the historically dangerous areas of SS reform. When he could not accomplish the sweeping changes he sought, the wind seemed to go out of his sails. Considering that no President has accomplished this since it's inception (most never even attempted it) he should have accepted this defeat as the likely outcome.
From that time on Bush and his PR corps have steadily been buffetted by the prevailing tides rather than maintaining at least a partial contol of them. They are behind the curve on almost every issue and their plan of action seems to be that of assuming only a posture of defense and deflection.
The few times he has gone on offense, ie. disputing the NSA wiretapping issue and the "He lied us into war" canard, he has benefitted greatly. Unfortunately he has only done this as a last resort and when there was no other choice but to do so. Morris said last night that Clinton did this constantly 24/7 and it was the only thing that kept his numbers up. If he had operated as Bush is presently, the impeachment and subsequent removal from office likely would have been successful.
Allowing himself to get pummelled for so long on the Iraq war, then Katrina and a host of smaller issues, this President has allowed himself to become politically weakened. He didn't spend his political capitol, he passively let it to be stolen from him.The latest political screwup was the DPW deal. Any political advisor worth his salt would have perceived the potential danger of this and councelled Bush to speak with the UAE months ago about withdrawing the US ports portion of the deal and have offered "private incentives" and stipens in exchange for it. We would have both been happy and no one would have been the wiser. As it turned out neither party came out smelling very good.
So, to get back to my initial question, what's wrong with Bush? Is this docile almost submissive attitude a result of complete incompetence on the part of his PR people or a symptom of a 2nd term President who is tired of fighting the odds and is essentially burned out. We better hope it's the former because that can be fixed. If it's the latter we are all in for a very long and painful 3 more years
Monday, March 13, 2006
Ex Supreme Court Justice O'Connor Bashes Pro-Life Advocates on Terri Schiavo
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor used a speech at Georgetown University to attack pro-life lawmakers who sided with Terri Schiavo's parents in their efforts to prevent their daughter's euthanasia death. She claimed a Congressional effort to have federal courts review the case was a first step towards a dictatorship. (Errr, last time I checked "Dictators" were not elected by the people. elected representation is called a Democracy. Dictatorship would be more appropriately applied to an unelected person(s) making laws irrespective of the majorities wishes.....you know, like an overzelous Judiciary)
O'Connor, who backs abortion, announced her retirement last year and was recently replaced by federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito, who pro-life advocates hope will be more open to upholding laws that protect the right to life.
"We must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary," she said of the pro-Terri Schiavo lawmakers.
By "those" you must be referring to "the people" Ms. O'Connor.
O'Connor, who backs abortion, announced her retirement last year and was recently replaced by federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito, who pro-life advocates hope will be more open to upholding laws that protect the right to life.
"We must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary," she said of the pro-Terri Schiavo lawmakers.
By "those" you must be referring to "the people" Ms. O'Connor.
Iran Death Wish?
Vicious rhetoric coming out of Iraq is one thing, bonafide tangible logistical support for our enemies is quite another. First the nukes, now material support to those who would kill us. This thing is coming to a head, and fast.
BUSH SAYS COMPONENTS FROM IRAN INCREASINGLY MAKE UP BOMBS FOR IRAQI INSURGENTS
Breitbart has more
BUSH SAYS COMPONENTS FROM IRAN INCREASINGLY MAKE UP BOMBS FOR IRAQI INSURGENTS
Breitbart has more
Push By Feingold to Censure Bush Could Backfire
The left appears intent on self immolation as again they overplay their very tenuous hand....
A new call to censure President Bush for authorizing warrantless wiretapping of Americans as part of the war on terror may have less impact on Mr. Bush than on contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, such as Senator Clinton, according to political analysts.
Senator Feingold of Wisconsin, who is among the Democrats exploring a presidential bid, said he will introduce a censure resolution in the Senate today.
"It's an unusual step," Mr. Feingold said yesterday on ABC's "This Week" program. "It's a big step, but what the president did by consciously and intentionally violating the Constitution and laws of this country with this illegal wiretapping has to be answered."
This issue has been as continues to be a political loser for the Democrats. Why they insist on pressing this issue defies logic or explanation.
A new call to censure President Bush for authorizing warrantless wiretapping of Americans as part of the war on terror may have less impact on Mr. Bush than on contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, such as Senator Clinton, according to political analysts.
Senator Feingold of Wisconsin, who is among the Democrats exploring a presidential bid, said he will introduce a censure resolution in the Senate today.
"It's an unusual step," Mr. Feingold said yesterday on ABC's "This Week" program. "It's a big step, but what the president did by consciously and intentionally violating the Constitution and laws of this country with this illegal wiretapping has to be answered."
This issue has been as continues to be a political loser for the Democrats. Why they insist on pressing this issue defies logic or explanation.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
We heard you loud and clear
I hate to say I told you so but......I TOLD YOU SO. This is one of the very few times I have been truly ashamed of my party, it is the only time I have been truly ashamed of many of my fellow conservative bloggers. Intellectual myopia has not been an affliction commonly attributable to the conservative blogospere.....untill now that is. Being on the same side as the Democrats should have been the tip-off but alas rationality was cast aside and the PMS mentality ruled the day. Revel in the victory as it will be short lived.
According to a Gulf News poll, 64 per cent of readers say the DP World affair "changed their opinion for the worse" about investing in the United States. A number of businessmen told the newspaper yesterday that Arab investors would think about other destinations. The majority agreed that DP World has been forced out of the US port operations due to "racism".
President George W. Bush admitted Congress has sent the "wrong message" to the rest of the world.
We don't feel that DP World lost. It in fact won the respect of the international business community when it won the bid to acquire the British P&O Company. It gained the admiration of the political community when it showed the maturity to bow out with grace.
Nevertheless, the whole affair served as a lesson for other Arab companies who may have thought of investing in what has proved to be a hostile US atmosphere. All the free trade talk proved to be just empty rhetoric. Another irony is that the Democrats, the supporters of globalisation, were the key opponents of the deal. There must have been something else behind the sudden change of heart.
This is only the beginning of folks. Our actions against DPW are just starting to pay negative dividends and they will for many years to come.
Update: Read this dead on letter to the American people from a prominent UAE blogger.
According to a Gulf News poll, 64 per cent of readers say the DP World affair "changed their opinion for the worse" about investing in the United States. A number of businessmen told the newspaper yesterday that Arab investors would think about other destinations. The majority agreed that DP World has been forced out of the US port operations due to "racism".
President George W. Bush admitted Congress has sent the "wrong message" to the rest of the world.
We don't feel that DP World lost. It in fact won the respect of the international business community when it won the bid to acquire the British P&O Company. It gained the admiration of the political community when it showed the maturity to bow out with grace.
Nevertheless, the whole affair served as a lesson for other Arab companies who may have thought of investing in what has proved to be a hostile US atmosphere. All the free trade talk proved to be just empty rhetoric. Another irony is that the Democrats, the supporters of globalisation, were the key opponents of the deal. There must have been something else behind the sudden change of heart.
This is only the beginning of folks. Our actions against DPW are just starting to pay negative dividends and they will for many years to come.
Update: Read this dead on letter to the American people from a prominent UAE blogger.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Slobodan Milosevic Found Dead in Cell
Good riddance to bad rubbish. A gift to the Hague tribunal considering the trial was going nowhere after a ridiculous 4+ years.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Slobodan Milosevic the former Yugoslav leader who orchestrated the Balkan wars of the 1990s and was on trial for war crimes, was found dead in his prison cell near The Hague, the U.N. tribunal said Saturday.
Milosevic, 64, apparently died of natural causes, a tribunal press officer said. He was found dead in his bed at the U.N. detention center.
Milosevic has been on trial since February 2002, defending himself against 66 counts of crimes, including genocide, in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
The trial repeatedly was interrupted by Milosevic's poor health and chronic heart condition. It was recessed last week until Tuesday to await his next defense witness.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Slobodan Milosevic the former Yugoslav leader who orchestrated the Balkan wars of the 1990s and was on trial for war crimes, was found dead in his prison cell near The Hague, the U.N. tribunal said Saturday.
Milosevic, 64, apparently died of natural causes, a tribunal press officer said. He was found dead in his bed at the U.N. detention center.
Milosevic has been on trial since February 2002, defending himself against 66 counts of crimes, including genocide, in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
The trial repeatedly was interrupted by Milosevic's poor health and chronic heart condition. It was recessed last week until Tuesday to await his next defense witness.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Bogus Press Polls and Prognostication
Bush's Approval Rating Falls to New Low
WASHINGTON - More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of
President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.
Nearly four out of five Americans, including 70 percent of Republicans, believe civil war will break out in Iraq' — the bloody hot spot upon which Bush has staked his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of people say the U.S. is on the wrong track, a 6-point jump since February.
By a 47-36 margin, people favor Democrats over Republicans when they are asked who should control Congress.
OOOOOOK lets flashback to May 2004........
Worst Poll Numbers Ever For Bush
President Bush's overall job approval rating has slipped to an all-time low of 41 percent and has shown the first significant signs of undermining his support among Republicans, according to the latest CBS News poll.
While more than half of Americans now believe the economy is in good shape, fully 65 percent still think the country is on the wrong track – matching the highest number ever recorded.
The last time this many Americans disapproved of the direction of the United States it was November 1994, and the Republicans were about to take back the Congress after 40 years of domination by the Democrats.
These are the worst poll numbers of Mr. Bush's presidency.
In spite of Sen. John Kerry remaining unknown to a third of the American electorate, the poll found that he holds an 8-point lead over Mr. Bush, 49 to 41 percent in a head-to-head match-up. The last CBS News poll measuring the head-to-head contest, in April, showed Mr. Bush leading Kerry, 43 to 41 percent.
It's De-ja-vu all over again. We all know how it really turned out don't we. Be sure and tune in for more of this expert media prognostication as the next election approaches, same bat time, same bat channel.
WASHINGTON - More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of
President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.
Nearly four out of five Americans, including 70 percent of Republicans, believe civil war will break out in Iraq' — the bloody hot spot upon which Bush has staked his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of people say the U.S. is on the wrong track, a 6-point jump since February.
By a 47-36 margin, people favor Democrats over Republicans when they are asked who should control Congress.
OOOOOOK lets flashback to May 2004........
Worst Poll Numbers Ever For Bush
President Bush's overall job approval rating has slipped to an all-time low of 41 percent and has shown the first significant signs of undermining his support among Republicans, according to the latest CBS News poll.
While more than half of Americans now believe the economy is in good shape, fully 65 percent still think the country is on the wrong track – matching the highest number ever recorded.
The last time this many Americans disapproved of the direction of the United States it was November 1994, and the Republicans were about to take back the Congress after 40 years of domination by the Democrats.
These are the worst poll numbers of Mr. Bush's presidency.
In spite of Sen. John Kerry remaining unknown to a third of the American electorate, the poll found that he holds an 8-point lead over Mr. Bush, 49 to 41 percent in a head-to-head match-up. The last CBS News poll measuring the head-to-head contest, in April, showed Mr. Bush leading Kerry, 43 to 41 percent.
It's De-ja-vu all over again. We all know how it really turned out don't we. Be sure and tune in for more of this expert media prognostication as the next election approaches, same bat time, same bat channel.
Job growth steady, wages keep rising
And the Hoover economy continues to rock....
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers added a stronger-than-forecast 243,000 jobs in February and average hourly pay posted the largest annual increase in 4-1/2 years, the Labor Department said on Friday in a report likely to keep inflation concerns simmering.
The monthly report showed the unemployment rate edged up to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent in January. Economists had forecast that 210,000 jobs would be created in February and that the unemployment rate would hold steady.
The February job gain followed a revised 170,000 new jobs in January that had originally been reported as 193,000. Employers have increased their payrolls every month for the past 2-1/2 years, an indication that economic growth is vigorous enough to keep policy-makers on edge about the possibility of inflationary wage and price rises.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers added a stronger-than-forecast 243,000 jobs in February and average hourly pay posted the largest annual increase in 4-1/2 years, the Labor Department said on Friday in a report likely to keep inflation concerns simmering.
The monthly report showed the unemployment rate edged up to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent in January. Economists had forecast that 210,000 jobs would be created in February and that the unemployment rate would hold steady.
The February job gain followed a revised 170,000 new jobs in January that had originally been reported as 193,000. Employers have increased their payrolls every month for the past 2-1/2 years, an indication that economic growth is vigorous enough to keep policy-makers on edge about the possibility of inflationary wage and price rises.
13 Attend Invitation Only Necktie Party in Iraq
20 years of death row appeals......fugetaboutit.
BAGHDAD, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq hanged 13 insurgents on Thursday, a government statement said.
The insurgents were convicted of the terrorist crimes,including murder, kidnappings and bombings, the state television quoted the statement as saying.
"They were hanged after they confessed to committing terrorist crimes resulting in the killing of dozens of innocent Iraqis," the statement said.
"Shukar Ferid, one of the hanged insurgents, confessed he was recruited to spread the chaos through killing and bombing," the statement said.
Three members of the al-Qaida-linked Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna were hanged on Sept. 1, 2005, the first executions being carried out since Iraq reinstated death penalty in June 2004.
BAGHDAD, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq hanged 13 insurgents on Thursday, a government statement said.
The insurgents were convicted of the terrorist crimes,including murder, kidnappings and bombings, the state television quoted the statement as saying.
"They were hanged after they confessed to committing terrorist crimes resulting in the killing of dozens of innocent Iraqis," the statement said.
"Shukar Ferid, one of the hanged insurgents, confessed he was recruited to spread the chaos through killing and bombing," the statement said.
Three members of the al-Qaida-linked Islamist group Ansar al-Sunna were hanged on Sept. 1, 2005, the first executions being carried out since Iraq reinstated death penalty in June 2004.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Iran: Police Attack Women's Day Celebration
Ahmadinejad's idea of a warm and fuzzy.....
New York, March 9, 2006) – Iranian police and plainclothes agents yesterday charged a peaceful assembly of women's rights activists in Tehran and beat hundreds of women and men who had gathered to commemorate International Women's Day, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack took place shortly after participants in the celebration assembled at Tehran's Daneshjoo Park at 4 P.M. on Wednesday, March 8.
"The Iranian authorities marked International Women's Day by attacking hundreds of people who had peacefully assembled to honor women's rights," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Once again, Iran's government has signaled that it is ready to use violence to suppress peaceful public assembly of any sort."
Eyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch that plainclothes agents, anti-riot police and Revolutionary Guards surrounded the park where hundreds of activists gathered to mark International Women's Day.
"This was a completely peaceful gathering with no political overtones or slogans," one participant told Human Rights Watch. "We just held up signs in solidarity with the international women's rights movement."
New York, March 9, 2006) – Iranian police and plainclothes agents yesterday charged a peaceful assembly of women's rights activists in Tehran and beat hundreds of women and men who had gathered to commemorate International Women's Day, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack took place shortly after participants in the celebration assembled at Tehran's Daneshjoo Park at 4 P.M. on Wednesday, March 8.
"The Iranian authorities marked International Women's Day by attacking hundreds of people who had peacefully assembled to honor women's rights," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Once again, Iran's government has signaled that it is ready to use violence to suppress peaceful public assembly of any sort."
Eyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch that plainclothes agents, anti-riot police and Revolutionary Guards surrounded the park where hundreds of activists gathered to mark International Women's Day.
"This was a completely peaceful gathering with no political overtones or slogans," one participant told Human Rights Watch. "We just held up signs in solidarity with the international women's rights movement."
Dubai threat to hit back
This should come as no surprise to anybody. My displeasure is directed at Michelle Malkin, BDP and a veritable host of other bedwetting conservatives who self righteously condemned the Dubai deal as a catastophic reduction of our national security. I expected hysterical rantings from disingenuous Democrats motivated by political expediency. What I hadn't counted on was the knee jerk internationophobic hyperventilation from the rank and file.
Well you wanted it, now your gonna get it. We're not talking about theory here, we're talking about the potential for real people to lose real jobs. We're talking about serious economic consequences for the United States in dealing with anyone in the Mideast or for that matter, any country having more than a token Muslim population. We're talking a strategic blunder not seen since the Carter administration. Take advantage of being stupid, fat and happy now because it ain't gonna last. The chickens are coming home to roost and there going to be laying nothing but big fat turds on your misguided hyper-protectionist dreams for a more secure America.
Dubai is threatening retaliation against American strategic and commercial interests if Washington blocks its $6.8 billion takeover of operations at several U.S. ports.
As the House Appropriations Committee yesterday marked up legislation to kill Dubai Ports World’s acquisition of Britain’s Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation (P&O), the emirate let it be known that it is preparing to hit back hard if necessary.
A source close to the deal said members of Dubai’s royal family are furious at the hostility both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have shown toward the deal.
“They’re saying, ‘All we’ve done for you guys, all our purchases, we’ll stop it, we’ll just yank it,’” the source said.
Retaliation from the emirate could come against lucrative deals with aircraft maker Boeing and by curtailing the docking of hundreds of American ships, including U.S. Navy ships, each year at its port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the source added.
UPDATE: Breaking: The CEO of DPW just made a statement reported by CNBC that DP may be willing to transfer the US ports to American control.
Fox confirms
Frankly, if I were DPW I would have told us to stuff it. We may come out of this without major damage but mark my words, this WILL leave a mark on our reputation internationally especially throughout the mideast. Countries will think twice about doing business with us as a paranoid leadership might put the kabash on any deal for any reason.
This was the height of short sighted reactionism and it will come back to bite us in the a$$, it's just a question of when.
Well you wanted it, now your gonna get it. We're not talking about theory here, we're talking about the potential for real people to lose real jobs. We're talking about serious economic consequences for the United States in dealing with anyone in the Mideast or for that matter, any country having more than a token Muslim population. We're talking a strategic blunder not seen since the Carter administration. Take advantage of being stupid, fat and happy now because it ain't gonna last. The chickens are coming home to roost and there going to be laying nothing but big fat turds on your misguided hyper-protectionist dreams for a more secure America.
Dubai is threatening retaliation against American strategic and commercial interests if Washington blocks its $6.8 billion takeover of operations at several U.S. ports.
As the House Appropriations Committee yesterday marked up legislation to kill Dubai Ports World’s acquisition of Britain’s Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation (P&O), the emirate let it be known that it is preparing to hit back hard if necessary.
A source close to the deal said members of Dubai’s royal family are furious at the hostility both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have shown toward the deal.
“They’re saying, ‘All we’ve done for you guys, all our purchases, we’ll stop it, we’ll just yank it,’” the source said.
Retaliation from the emirate could come against lucrative deals with aircraft maker Boeing and by curtailing the docking of hundreds of American ships, including U.S. Navy ships, each year at its port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the source added.
UPDATE: Breaking: The CEO of DPW just made a statement reported by CNBC that DP may be willing to transfer the US ports to American control.
Fox confirms
Frankly, if I were DPW I would have told us to stuff it. We may come out of this without major damage but mark my words, this WILL leave a mark on our reputation internationally especially throughout the mideast. Countries will think twice about doing business with us as a paranoid leadership might put the kabash on any deal for any reason.
This was the height of short sighted reactionism and it will come back to bite us in the a$$, it's just a question of when.
TOP JAIL IMAM IN HATE TIRADE
FYI this man is in uniform, wears a badge issued by the city of New York and has the rank of a NYPD Captain.
March 9, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - The head of Islamic chaplains in the New York City Department of Correction said in a recent speech that the "greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House," Jews control the media, and Muslims are being tortured in Manhattan jails.
The outlandish remarks were made by one of the city's most prominent Islamic leaders, Imam Umar Abdul-Jalil, the executive director of ministerial services for the city Department of Correction. He spoke at a conference of Islamic leaders in Tucson, Ariz., and was secretly recorded by the counterterrorism organization The Investigative Project.
The recordings capture Abdul-Jalil - speaking at two separate symposiums on Islam in America held by the Muslim Students Association on April 15 and 16 last year - making incendiary charges and espousing extremist views.
What's most disturbing is this guy deals with inmates. Could there be anything more dangerous than one religiously intolerant America hating loose cannon pouring gasoline on an already flammable group of malcontents?
March 9, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - The head of Islamic chaplains in the New York City Department of Correction said in a recent speech that the "greatest terrorists in the world occupy the White House," Jews control the media, and Muslims are being tortured in Manhattan jails.
The outlandish remarks were made by one of the city's most prominent Islamic leaders, Imam Umar Abdul-Jalil, the executive director of ministerial services for the city Department of Correction. He spoke at a conference of Islamic leaders in Tucson, Ariz., and was secretly recorded by the counterterrorism organization The Investigative Project.
The recordings capture Abdul-Jalil - speaking at two separate symposiums on Islam in America held by the Muslim Students Association on April 15 and 16 last year - making incendiary charges and espousing extremist views.
What's most disturbing is this guy deals with inmates. Could there be anything more dangerous than one religiously intolerant America hating loose cannon pouring gasoline on an already flammable group of malcontents?
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Sources: 2 arrested in Alabama church fires
Russell DeBusk lower right.CNN) -- Two people have been arrested in connection with 10 church fires in Alabama last month, federal law enforcement sources told CNN Wednesday.A third person is being sought, the sources said.
The two people arrested will appear in federal court in Birmingham at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. ET), the sources said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) made the arrests, according to the sources.
Nine of the fires -- five on February 3 in Bibb County and four on February 7 in west Alabama -- have been linked. Another church fire on February 11 in Lamar County has been ruled arson, but investigators haven't determined if it was connected to the others.
UPDATE: Fox has the names: Ben Moseley, 19, and Russell Debusk were taken into custody early Wednesday, officials said, and charged with conspiracy and individual counts in the arsons at five Bibb County churches and four in west Alabama.
Moseley and Debusk are students at the Birmingham Southern College and are expected to appear in federal court today.
It would appear from the sound of those names that an "Islamic terrorist" motivation is unlikely.
UPDATE II: Pic above leaves little doubt at least one of the suspected perps is a Bubba.
Nine doctors killed in Mosul; 60 others flee
Innocent women, children and now doctors. Is there any form of life lower than than these murderous scumbags.
Violence has claimed the lives of nine medical doctors in the northern city of Mosul, prompting many others to flee.
The head of Mosul Medical Syndicate Mahmoud Qassem said the doctors “have been liquidated” in the midst of violence that has gripped the city since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
He said the “cold-blooded killings” have terrified the medical staff forcing at least 60 other doctors to leave.
“Some of those who have left abroad or their families were abducted and only set free after paying huge amounts of money,” said Qassem.
Qassem urged the government to do something or risk losing more medical specialists.
Mosul is renowned for its top medical doctors and hospitals.
Mosul University’s Medical College was a leading medical institution in the Middle East. The nine doctors killed were medical professors who also taught at the medical college.
Mosul doctors and nurses went on strike last month and threatened not to report to work unless the government provides suitable protection.
Qassem said if the authorities cannot protect the doctors they should allow them to carry guns to defend themselves.
Violence has claimed the lives of nine medical doctors in the northern city of Mosul, prompting many others to flee.
The head of Mosul Medical Syndicate Mahmoud Qassem said the doctors “have been liquidated” in the midst of violence that has gripped the city since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
He said the “cold-blooded killings” have terrified the medical staff forcing at least 60 other doctors to leave.
“Some of those who have left abroad or their families were abducted and only set free after paying huge amounts of money,” said Qassem.
Qassem urged the government to do something or risk losing more medical specialists.
Mosul is renowned for its top medical doctors and hospitals.
Mosul University’s Medical College was a leading medical institution in the Middle East. The nine doctors killed were medical professors who also taught at the medical college.
Mosul doctors and nurses went on strike last month and threatened not to report to work unless the government provides suitable protection.
Qassem said if the authorities cannot protect the doctors they should allow them to carry guns to defend themselves.
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