Voice from the Commonwealth Commentary, World Views and Occasional Rants from a small 'l' libertarian in Massachussetts
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams
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Praise for Voice
"A smart fellow...I do like, recommend and learn from Barbera's blog." -Roger L. Simon
"Your blog is bullshit"- anonymous angry French reader.
Ahhhhh.....I see. The 'interview' in which 'Mullah Omar' recently said that 'fire, hell and total defeat' await America in Afghanistan was not conducted in person. The paper submitted the questions in writing and the answers were given by his information advisor.
Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ras Al Khaimah Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler (that's his full title)of the United Arab Emirates, overseeing the 'No...No...Israel' festival which featured a football match and funeral ceremony for two 'martyrs'), told the gathered people that:
the facts on ground have recently proved the idea of the Arabs and Muslims making peace with Israel, but it is a mere daydream which will never come true.
And:
"The struggle between the Arabs, and Israel have been based on the right of existence, not borders, as it is truly a religious struggle or a struggle of civilisations. "The disgusting state terrorism Israel has been practicing on the Palestinians, will not just pass without a punishment, but justice needs time to be done, and the Arabs are too patient when it comes to their rights. "The current Israeli government is a government of war not a government for peace," he said, adding. At a time when the Arabs and the Muslims were making a peace plan at the Beirut Arab Summit, the Israelis were pointing their guns towards the Palestinian civilians and murdering them. Of course he forgot to mention that those guns were pointed as a result of the Netanya bombing. Seeing how much praise he has for the suicide bombers, I don't knowhow he failed to mention that 'blessed' event.
He also informs his audience:
"Through history, it is proved that the Jewish and Western mentality does not understand the logic of peace..." In other words, history has shown that those damned Westerners won't roll over and let us rule them. So it's okay to send suicide bombers at them.
This line speaks for itself:
"The U.S.A. should be more logical in handling the struggle in the region by adopting the policy of the honest implementation of the UN resolutions in line with the Palestinian cause."
The Ambassador of Belgium (the seat of the EU) was heaped with praise at the event for his nation's brave stand in cutting diplomatic relations with Israel.
Nothing that hasn't been said among the rational elemnts of the internet community before. The assasination of Masood was the first step in Bin Laden setting up a South Asian Caliphate.
"Their plan was to capture (northern) Afghanistan in one week after the assassination and -- maybe two to three weeks later -- capture Tajikistan and Uzbekistan," said Mohammad Arif, chairman of the government's National Security Directorate. As Massood's chief of intelligence, Arif ran spies inside the Taliban and received reports from interrogations of Taliban and other captured Islamic militants.
"The group around Osama thought up different scenarios. They imagined a Bill Clinton-type response," said an Afghan intelligence official, referring to a 1998 cruise missile strike in Afghanistan that Clinton ordered after the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa. "They could never imagine the response that took place" after Sept. 11, the official said.
Well someone in Norway is rational. The Prime Minister hassaid that he opposes sanctions against Israel. Some have called for a boycott, but I do not share such a view. And it is not the Government's policy.
A group of 20 'left wing extremists' stormed the Israeli Embassy in London today. They were scared off when the police showed up. More distrubing in this report is this little tidbit:
The attack occurred one day after a Sunday Times report quoted a leader of London-based fundamentalist group al-Muhajiroun as saying that the Israeli embassy in London and its employees were a legitimate target for suicide attacks.
This is the same group that last year called on Muslims to kill Tony Blair for his part in the war in Afghanistan. How a group calls for assasinations and suicide attacks in a Western Country and isn't shut down, is beyond me.
Wow, that's rough. A woman destroyed her son's $1.4 Billion dollar art collection. Why. Because he stole it all and she was angry when she found out he was an art thief.
This from our Friendly Neighborhood David Duke Fisker:
Here's the link to his website: David Duke, for those of you inclined to see the world view this guy is pushing. And here's the link to the essay itself: Israeli Terror. I've read this version of the essay a bit more carefully, and his argument that the Israelis somehow knew of the WTC attacks strikes me as utterly ludicrous, and incapable of withstanding minimal scrutiny. That the Israelis knew about or were somehow complict in the attacks is neither plausible nor an open question. As far as I'm concerned, his claims are just an extended exercise in undiluted anti-semitism, and should be readily recognizable as such.
I did some elementary digging with respect to some of the claims that Duke makes about Sharon, mainly because there have been severe (and what are known to be basically legitimate) criticisms about some of his actions in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebannon. Yet even here, Duke distorts what is known about Sharon's actions, and he does this just to make his larger point about how evil Israel is (and by extension, the Jews).
So here's some of what Duke says:
Duke states that on "the night of September 16, 1982, Sharon sent Phalangist murder squads into two Palestinian refugee camps, Sabra and Chatila. With Israeli tanks and troops closely surrounding the camps to prevent any of the Palestinians from escaping, the murder squads machine-gunned, bayoneted, and bludgeoned Palestinian civilians all that night, the next day and the following night; all while the Israelis surrounding the camps listened gleefully to the machine gun fire and screams coming from inside."
The picture here is of Sharon ordering the Phalangists into the camps to go kill women and children, with the Israelis listening "gleefully" to the massacre. So we're somehow supposed to believe that the Israelis actually enjoyed listening to a slaughter. But what's Duke's evidence for this? Does he cite any eyewitness accounts or refer to any other reports of this supposed Israeli response? The answer is no. He either made it up or is simply assuming it. What about Sharon giving orders to kill the civilians? Duke provides no support for this claim, only saying that "a formal Israeli Commission found Sharon personally responsible for the Lebanese massacres." The commission he cites is the Kahan Commision report. This is what the report actually says:
"The Commission determined that the massacre at Sabra and Shatilla was carried out by a Phalangist unit, acting on its own but its entry was known to Israel. No Israeli was directly responsible for the events which occurred in the camps. But the Commission asserted that Israel had indirect responsibility for the massacre since the I.D.F. held the area, Mr. Begin was found responsible for not exercising greater involvement and awareness in the matter of introducing the Phalangists into the camps. Mr. Sharon was found responsible for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and revenge when he approved the entry of the Phalangists into the camps as well as not taking appropriate measures to prevent bloodshed." Kahan Report
So while the report did not find Sharon to be completely blameless, and in fact severely criticizes him for what happened, it did not say that he was "personally responsible" for the massacres, nor does it say anywhere that he ordered the Phalangists to carry them out. As Defense Minister, he was the man in charge, and should have known better and taken necessary precautions with the Phalangists.
And, by the way, the Phalangists were an independent Maronite Christian group that had been involved in the Lebannese civil war, which, incidentally, started in 1975, seven years before Israeli invaded Lebannon. As the report points out, massacres were committed throughout the early years of that civil war by both sides, Muslim and Christian alike. It further points out that by the time of the start of Israel's 1982 war in Lebannon "the prevailing opinion among the Mossad agents who had maintained contacts with the Phalangist leadership was that the atrocities and massacres were a thing of the past, and that the Phalangist forces had reached a stage of political and organizational maturity that would ensure that such actions would not repeat themselves." Of course, you wouldn't know any of this from reading Duke's article. Yet this sort of information is directly relevant to a proper assessment of what happened at Sabra and Shatilla and of who was to blame. Go to the Dahan report and read it for a complete breakdown of what is known about what happened. (The report is incredibly detailed and thus quite long.)
Duke also makes a claim about the number of people massacred at Sabra and Shatilla. He claims that "at least 1500 Palestinian men, women and children were butchered, and perhaps as many as 2500. (An official Lebanese investigation set the figure at 2500) Even after the efforts of Sharon’s bulldozers, many Palestinians remained unburied, and Red Cross workers found whole families; including hundreds of elderly and little children, with their throats cut or disemboweled."
Duke provides no concrete references for these numbers. He does refer to an "official" Lebanese investigation, but doesn't cite any references so it can be independently verified by the reader. Also, by referring to what the Red Cross apparently found, the reader gets the impression that the Red Cross had also come to basically the same conclusion about the numbers of dead, and that it had found that the dead were primarily "elderly and little children."
(Note by the way how Duke conveniently tries to protect his claims of thousands dead with the phrase "[e]ven after the efforts of Sharon’s bulldozers, many Palestinians remained unburied..." So if it turns out that lots of bodies aren't in fact found -- evidence which would contradict his claims -- well, that must mean the bodies were buried by Israeli bulldozers. His claims thus take on an air of irrefutability. The evidence ceases to matter. What matters is what you *already* believe about the Israelis and what they're capable of. Nice touch, eh?)
This is what the Kahan Commission report concluded as to the numbers, conclusions based on independent reports, as you can see:
"According to a document which reached us (exhibit 151), the total number of victims whose bodies were found from 18.9.82 to 30.9.82 is 460. This figure includes the dead counted by the Lebanese Red Cross, the International Red Cross, the Lebanese Civil Defense, the medical corps of the Lebanese army, and by relatives of the victims. According to this count, the 460 victims included 109 Lebanese and 328 Palestinians, along with Iranians, Syrians and members of other nationalities. According to the itemization of the bodies in this list, the great majority of the dead were males; as for women and children, there were 8 Lebanese women and 12 Lebanese children, and 7 Palestinian women and 8 Palestinian children. Reports from Palestinian sources speak of a far greater number of persons killed, sometimes even of thousands. With respect to the number of victims, it appears that we can rely neither on the numbers appearing in the document from Lebanese sources, nor on the numbers originating in Palestinian sources. A further difficulty in determining the number of victims stems from the fact that it is difficult to distinguish between victims of combat operations and victims of acts of slaughter. We cannot rule out the possibility that various reports included also victims of combat operations from the period antedating the assassination of Bashir. Taking into account the fact that Red Cross personnel counted no more that 328 bodies, it would appear that the number of victims of the massacre was not as high as a thousand, and certainly not thousands."
These few examples should, I hope, make evident the kinds of distortions that are found in Duke's article. And these aren't necessarily even the worst ones.
Further examples of Duke’s selective use of facts:
There were many Israel nationals that worked in and around the WTC(Duke quotes 2000).
Yea, and so what? 50,000 people worked in the WTC -- that's of course not counting the thousands of visitors the WTC would get each day. Guess what the official death toll is now? It's just under three thousand. What accounts for the fact that 47,000 people got out alive? Well, by Duke's logic *they* must have had advanced warning too.
"The next thing I researched was to see if there were any confirmed warnings to Israelis prior to the attack. I quickly found an article in Newsbytes, a news service of the Washington Post, titled “Instant Messages To Israel Warned of WTC attack.”(35) The Israeli daily, Ha'aretz, also confirmed the prior warnings to Israel and confirmed that the FBI is investigating the warnings."(36)
Unfortunately, I couldn't verify the Ha'aretz story, since if you go to their website, their archives section is currently under construction. Duke does not quote directly from the Ha'aretz article. Given the free use he makes of sources -- as I pointed out earlier on Sharon -- excuse me if I'm more than a little skeptical. But even putting that aside, why would the Israelis advertise their supposed prior warning to the world by publishing it in one of their dailies? Moreover, how could the Mossad, which Duke describes as "a secretive, foreign intelligence organization" and as "one of the largest and most sophisticated intelligence organizations" let the supposed fact that Israelis were warned slip out into the press? If they can so skillfully infiltrate Al' Qaeda, why can't they keep a lid on one of their own papers?
Duke does go on to quote the Washington Post Newsbytes article, though. This is what he quotes:
Officials at instant-messaging firm Odigo confirmed today that two employees received text messages warning of an attack on the World Trade Center two hours before terrorists crashed planes into the New York landmarks.
But Alex Diamandis, vice president of sales and marketing, confirmed that workers in Odigo's research and development and international sales office in Israel received a warning from another Odigo user approximately two hours prior to the first attack.
Unfortunately, Duke conveniently ignores a subsequent article from Newsbytes on the Odigo text messages. Here's the link: Newsbytes 2
Why does he ignore it? Because of this little bit of information: "Diamandis today in a telephone interview also said the warning message did not identify the World Trade Center as the attack target. "
Also, Duke's reference to Ha'aretz suggests that there were "warnings to Israel," but in fact the latter Newsbytes article makes clear that Ha'aretz was simply referring to the same message that the two Odigo employees received at Israel offices.
Oh yea, Duke also claims that Odigo had "offices in both the World Trade Center and in Israel." He doesn't cite anything to show that they in fact did have offices in the WTC. He also claims that Goldman-Sachs and the Solomon Brothers, which he refers to as "two of the richest firms in New York," both "have offices in the Twin Towers." (Of course, the implication is that they're in cahoots with the Israelis). And again, he doesn't provide any references to show that they did. Guess what? According to this complete list of the tenants at the WTC, none had offices at the WTC: (Note: actually Salomon Smith Barney is a division of Citigroup, which did have offices in the WTC)
There was only one Israeli national killed, and none wounded, in the WTC attack.(Dukes numbers again, not verified).
Actually, thus far, there are two or three Israelis who died, depending on how you read the following official breakdown: Victim List The portion linked to lists the dead only "by birthplace," and thus doesn't list any Israelis among the dead. But a large portion of Israelis are immigrants, and thus have been born in different places, like the US and Russia. (In fact there's only one been one Israeli Prime Minister who was a native born Israeli.) (Note. Most Israelis I know are dual citizens and may have been listed as Americans)
Anyway, here's the conclusion Duke draws from the fact that there were so few Israeli's killed:
"When I found out the truth that only one Israeli had died, there could be no doubt that there had been a prior warning for many Israelis. Having only one Israeli casualty among the 4500 dead at the WTC is simply a statistical impossibility. Even if the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Jerusalem Post had grossly overestimated the number of Israelis in the World Trade Center by say 3,000 (400 percent), there still should have still been 1,000 Israelis there at the time of the attacks. Again, even if only a few hundred Israelis were present at the time of the attack, only one Israeli death occurring there is statistically absurd. Either September 11 had to be a big Jewish holiday, or a number of Israeli citizens had some advance warning of the impending attack."
I'm not sure what kind of statistical analysis Duke is applying here, but it's total bunk. Like I pointed out above, over 50,000 people worked in the WTC, and yet the official death toll now is just under 3,000. By Duke's own reasoning the fact that "only" 3,000 died must be a "statistical impossibility." So there must be some other, more nefarious, explanation of why 47,000 people lived.
"The Mossad is the most ruthless terrorist organization in the entire world. It is also one of the largest and most sophisticated intelligence organizations. No other nation comes even close to its scope and power in the Mideast region. It prides itself on infiltrating every sizable militant Palestinian and Arabic organization on earth. Knowing these facts, there can be little doubt the Mossad has deeply penetrated one of the oldest, largest and what is considered the most dangerous Arabic terrorist organization on earth; bin Laden’s al-Qaida."
Note first how he points out how the Mossad "prides itself" on infiltrating every sizable Arab militant organization on earth. Of course, he doesn't specify just what level of "infiltration" he's talking about; apparently that's supposed to be obvious. And he doesn't ask whether this pride is misplaced or not, or even whether the Mossad itself makes such claims. He doesn't support in any way the claim that they in fact have infilitrated "every sizable militant Palestinian and Arabic organization on earth." Yet the impression the reader is supposed to get is that the Mossad has in fact deeply infilitrated every sizable Palestinian and Arab militant group in the world -- so much so that the Mossad can instigate these groups do virtually anything the Israelis want them to do. (In which case, you'd think these groups wouldn't be around anymore.)
In any case, Dukes conclusion just doesn't follow: it simply doesn't follow that "there can be little doubt the Mossad has deeply penetrated" Al Qaeda. First off, note how he goes from "infiltrated" to "deeply penetrated" without so much as blinking, or arguing for the claim that the Mossad has "deeply penetrated" Al-Qaeda. Secondly, the inference to his conclusion is a bad one. I pride myself on being extremely good at every popular video game on the market, therefore "there can be little doubt" that I'm good at Asteroids. That just doesn't follow. That might provide *some* support for my being good at Asteroids, provided that my pride is not misplaced and I actually am good at every popular video game. But it could also be that my pride is misplaced, that I'm not good at *every* popular video game. In any case, even if I am in fact good at every popular video game in the market, I might happen to suck at Asteroids, because it's different from the other popular games out there.
So whatever support is provided by the antecedent claim, it can't give you virtual certainty. And the degree of support depends on how well-established the claims supporting your conclusion themselves are. In this case, those claims (e.g., that the Mossad basically has free reign within every sizable arab militant group) have virtually no support at all.
Of course, in the rest of his article Duke treats the claim that the Mossad infiltrated (oops, sorry "deeply penetrated") Al-Qaeda as established fact, and proceeds to draw conclusions from it.
Now notice the moves he makes below:
"Furthermore, the FBI and the CIA have clearly stated that the attack on the WTC and Pentagon was a huge covert operation using an international network of at least a hundred terrorists, spanning three continents. Could Mossad agents in al-Qaida as well as the rest of Mossad’s vast network of thousands of infiltrators and informants, not have known about the most extensive and ambitious Arabic terrorist operation in history?"
"But, powerful evidence is mounting that Israelis had foreknowledge of the September 11th attack on America. And, if indeed they had foreknowledge of these murderous acts of terrorism – and then had the cold-blooded mentality not to warn the United States because they saw a horrendous massacre of thousands of Americans as good for Israel - it follows that they would have felt no restraint from actually instigating and covertly aiding this terrorist plan through their own agent provocateurs."
He tacitly moves from the Mossad's having foreknowledge of the 9-11 attacks to their instigating them. Of course, he doesn't give an argument for this move, he just makes it. The closest he comes to giving an argument is the conditional (if-then) in second paragraph:
IF the Mossad had foreknowledge of 9-11 and didn't warn the US, then IT FOLLOWS that they would had no problem instigating and covertly aiding the planning of 9-11.
How is that supposed to follow? That claim is somehow supposed to show that they were *willing* to instigate and aid the planning of 9-11, simply because they knew before hand about 9-11 and they *willingly* didn't tell the US. Of course, this all depends on assuming that they did in fact have foreknowledge of 9-11. But his argument, which I went over above is pitifully weak. (His only support are those two articles, one from Newsbytes and the other from Ha'aretz.) In any case, even if they were *willing* to instigate and aid in the planning of 9-11, it doesn't follow that they had the capability to do so. It depends on their, first, having infilitrated Al-Qaeda, second, infiltrated the highest ranks of the Al-Qaeda, or the ones responsible for all the planning and decision making, and, thirdly, once infiltrated at this level, that they were able to "instigate" the decision makers and planners to go attack the WTC. Duke provides no support for any of this. But, then, again, how could he?
I was thinking about the war and the changes in its meaning, causes and outcomes/repercussions since the end of World War II. It seems that international intervention since 1945 has made war (conventional and unconventional) a radically different beast. It is no longer allowed to run its course to a distinct victor and loser and as a result thugs have been using it as a policy tool without fear of what will become of them if they lose.
The Arab nations know they can attack Israel (as they have in the past) and never have to fear a total defeat. The world community will step in before that happens and they will live to fight again another day. Heck, they won't even have to pay reparations or give up any territory (in fact they will claim back territory they lost in a war they started). The same goes for Saddam, Kim Il Jong, Pol Pot, Mugabe and countless others. Separatist movements (just or unjust) know they can be as brutal and murderous as they like and governments know they can be just as brutal suppressing those movements. There will always be some other country to stand behind them to rally the international community to call for truces, compromises, treaties and airing of grievances.
Without a clear loser, who must concede that their cause is lost, there will always be groups willing to charge into the breach, knowing that at worst they will probably face exile. Or at best a seat at the head of a government and a chance to speak to an enthusiastic UN General Council. There is nothing to discourage these thugs from starting wars. There are now murderous insurgencies and separatist movements everywhere and whether numbering tens-of-thousands or a hundred they cannot be completely crushed as international tut-tutting holds back the more rational less murderous side.
Obviously we can’t allow the world to fall back into the days of globe spanning World Wars with tens of millions dead. Nukes, biological and chemical weapons make the world too dangerous for that. Yet there must be a sea change in international attitudes. Aggressors and tyrants who murder their own and other populations need to be face dire and mortal consequences. Too many dictators and tyrants live out comfy retirements in another country or face a trial that makes a mockery of what they have done then live out their lives in comfy cell while showing that there really is not a severe penalty for genocide and war. This needs to end or we will have thousands of small scale wars for each group with a professed grievance.
Malaysia's PM said he would not oppose ousting Saddam, as long as civilians are not made to bear the brunt of the attack. "If you can overthrow Saddam, by all means do it. Just don't make the Iraqi people pay for it,"
It was not a 100% backing of action but it shows that even among Muslims Saddam is recognized as a threat and danger to his own people as well as the world.
The Catholic Church crisis is spreading. Now police in Hong Kong are reporting that the Church there is protecting pedophiles. I'm not sure what nationality the accused priests are or where they trained, it would be interesting to find out.
Kids are pouring back into school in Afghnistan reports the UN. Some 202,000 students are now enrolled in Kabul primary schools, he said, and 100,000 of them are girls — 42 percent more than anticipated.
Tony Blair is standing firm on adoption of the Euro. He maintains that it must be an economic decision not political.
``Should we stand apart from the alliance right on our doorstep as a country? It would be crazy to do that,'' Blair said in a British Broadcasting Corp. interview shown Wednesday. A transcript was released by the BBC before transmission. ``It is an economic union. We shouldn't, for political reasons, stand aside,'' he added. ``I don't believe that would be a fulfillment of our national interest. I believe it would be a betrayal of our national interest.''
Bush is proposing that Missle Defence be a joint venture with the Russians. Damn that unilateral cowboy Bush. I don't understand how people don't understand how important missle defence is, the former President of Iran has already said that as soon as they have a nuclear missle they will annihilate Israel. Does anyone believe that we would not be next on their list?
Jane's has an anlysis of suicide bombing. Read it, it is complete and doesn't leave much for me too add.
There are now 10 religious and secular terrorist groups that are capable of using suicide terrorism as a tactic against their governments and/or foreign governments. They are: the Islam Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad of the Israeli occupied territories; Hizbullah of Lebanon; the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) and Gamaya Islamiya (Islamic Group - IG) of Egypt; the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) of Algeria; Barbar Khalsa International (BKI) of India; the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of Sri Lanka; the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) of Turkey; and the Osama bin Laden network (Al Quaida) of Afghanistan.
There were also four pro-Syrian, Lebanese and Syrian political parties engaged in suicide terrorism in the 1980s, but they are currently inactive in the terrorist front. These groups staged around 25 suicide attacks in Lebanon. As more than one group claimed some of the attacks, perhaps to diffuse the threat to the group, it is difficult to identify the group responsible. The groups engaged in suicide operations in Lebanon alongside Hizbullah were the Natzersit Socialist Party of Syria; the Syrian Nationalist Party; the Lebanese Communist Party; and the Baath Party of Lebanon.
Driss, another Moroccan, who runs the halal butchers shop opposite the mosque, was one of the scores of thousands, including several Muslim leaders, who went to pay their respects at Fortuyn's emotional funeral. "No," he insists. "He wasn't a racist at all. It's true that this is a small country and he was right to say that it's full. I chose to live here because it's a good place and human rights are respected." He is confident that his aged mother will be able to join him here. But he firmly believes that there is no point in letting other immigrants in if they have no family. "That's not racism, but a question of keeping things as they are. I am going to vote not as a Moroccan or a Muslim but for whoever does the best job for this country."
A very good piece from Finland that studies anti-Western and anti-American feelings from 19th Century Russia to today's intelligensia. So it is not only fanatics like Osama bin Laden and Vladimir Zhirinovski who dream of the destruction of the Western great power. Opponents of the West also include a large number of key European thinkers.
Also, the article looks into the 'rise' of the 'right' in Europe:
"There are those who dictate what can be said, and those who will not say anything. However, they do go out and vote. If some area is shut outside all intellectual activity, then Western culture will have crossed an important threshold, and we are rather close to this right now." All possible attempts have been made to crush the xenophobic message of the far right in Europe. Parties have been banned, the opinions of right-wingers have been censored in the media; an entire country has been boycotted - but nothing has helped. "The lot of the reactionary is always a miserable one", Vihavainen says. "The right wing ideology is a new power on the political field, and all attempts to extinguish it will only strengthen it."
It looks like Palestinian insiders know that Arafat's authority is failing.
Reformers in Arafat's Fatah Party announced they have drawn up a plan that would loosen their leader's grip on the Palestinian Authority.
And, there is a scramble to be next in line.
Meanwhile, one Arafat crony was badly beaten and another fled abroad as fighting broke out between supporters of two men vying to succeed Arafat — Mohammed Dahlan, the Gaza Strip security chief, and Jibril Rajoub, head of security in the West Bank.
More evidence of the Bush administration's continuing nuanced foriegn relations. The warming of relations with Malaysia and the ability Bush has shown in his personal dealings with world leaders.
Saddam is moving troops and armour to the border of the semi-independent Kurd region. It is apparently a warning after the Kurd leaders' recent meetings with the CIA.
The Palestinian from the Church of the Nativity who is being sent to Ireland may get full resident status. Which means he can bring his family and become eligible for citizenship there. He will be entitled to local authority housing, unemployment benefit, health care with the usual provisions for his family, if he has one and they move to Ireland also.
A captured Nepalese Maosits rebel tells about life in the insurgency. ``I think more than 50 percent of people are forcefully taken by the Maoists,'' He said he was forbidden alcohol, radio and card games, but allowed to have forced sex with the group's female fighters, if he had desired it.
...it helped broker an Israeli-Palestinian agreement in Bethlehem. CIA agents carried offers and counter-offers between the two sides. They were present at Manger Square as the crisis wound down and Palestinians prepared to emerge from the church. When a last-minute hitch over the fate of the guns inside the besieged building held up the deal, the American agents solved it by taking possession themselves of the weapons.
Apparently they also have closer and more credible ties with Palestinian and Israeli security forces.
Chavez is still in big trouble as the opposition is now trying to oust him politically by changing the length of his term so that they can get a referendum to kick him out next year. Socialists, Communists, Conservatives and even Chavez defectors are joining forces to get it done.
In one statement the African National Congress managed to tell the US that they should stop meddling in the Middle East because we are 'blatantly' pro-Israel yet they called on the South African government to dispacth a delegation to meet with Arafat to express 'solidarity' with Palestinians. There was no call for showing solidarity for families of murdered Israelis.
They feel that the US should stop meddling and the UN should send a multi-national peace keeping force (on whose dime I wonder? It's pretty easy to say: give us the money to do what we want but, keep your mouth shut).
That Washington Post gives a good look at what average daily life is like in what Mr. Carter assures us is a Cuban Socialist Paradise.
In the meantime, he uses the refrigerator as a cabinet to store detergent and some beans. He has an ancient radio, no television set and a little two-burner stove. His bed is upstairs, in a makeshift loft, which has one barred window and a ceramic cat -- the only decoration in the place other than pictures of Jesus and of Socarras's three grown children. "Most people in Cuba live this way; you get used to it," Socarras said, sitting beneath a ceiling covered with plastic sheeting to catch the dust caused by the termites eating away at his loft. "I don't rob, I don't steal, I just struggle," Socarras said. "They say things will get better, but I don't see it. I am worried about the future."
Just listening to the radio up here in the Commonwealth and heard Congressman Ed "I won't run again because I believe in term limits (but the country so needs me I must run again), there was no threat to the White House or Airforce One on Sept. 11th and the Presiedent is a coward for not being there earlier" Markey on the radio. He just blamed the tax-cut for making us unable to spend money on securing America against terror.
He also dislikes the idea of earth penetrating low yield nuclear weapons.
For any that think that suicide bombing is brought on by 'desperation' and 'occupation' look to the situation in Yemen. An al-Qaeda linked group (with a name like "Sympathizers of the al-Qaeda Organization" it is tough to dispute their affiliation) is threatening "suicide attacks against anyone betraying his religion and his people"
They are looking for the release of 170 militants being held by the government.
Jaques Chirac sounding more and more like a 'cowboy' every day.
..."There can be no sanctuary for the terrorists. It is a war that we have embarked on and we will pursue, without respite, in France and overseas," "My determination, like that of the government, is total. We will not give in to either threats or blackmail," Chirac told the sombre crowd. "This is a fight for democracy and liberty. It is a fight by France, Europe, United States and their allies," Chirac said. "On our territory and and everywhere in the world our intelligence services, our police, our gendarmes are mobilised to protect the security of our compatriots."
The 'activists' don't only hate Israel. A Palestinian cabinet member, who helped make the publically unpopular deal to end Ramallah and the Church of the Nativity standoff, was attacked by five masked men last night. It may also be related to a turf war between two Palestinian 'security' chiefs.
The latest polls in Holland have put Fortuyn's party into second place and is projecting that they will capture 28 of 150 seats in Parliment. Unfortunately his murder has left the party without anyone who can match his abilites.
So, now the unliateral and simplistic Bush administration has managed to strengthen ties with India and Pakistan while the two remain at odds and now he has cemented realtions with Russia. While at the same time cutting massive numbers of nuclear weapons in each nation's arsenal. When exactly is the new arms race supposed to begin? I think it is scheduled for just after the 'brutal Afghan winter".
The North Korean woman whose two year old daughter stood watching as Chinese soldiers arrested her and her mother wrote of her escape.
"Rumor was that there was plenty to eat in China, but we could not stay in one place more than an hour because the Chinese authorities were chasing us," Lee wrote. After her husband fell seriously ill from a rat bite, Lee was faced a desperate decision: In order to raise money she had to agree to sell the baby to a Chinese peasant family for $200 or go to work in a tea house that was a front for a brothel. Although she had just given birth, she chose the latter. "If the North Korean people could eat, dress, live like people in other countries, we would not have to sell our baby or our body,"
Maybe Jimmy Carter and the others who like to tell us that totalitarian dictators like Castro, Saddam, Mugabe, Kim, Khameini and murderers like them are benevolent leaders who are dedicated to bringing top quality education and health care to their people, should explain how they can say that these things when the people living in these places tell us the exact opposite. Do they knowingly front for these killers or are they so ignorant that they honestly believe the propoganda and paid shills who give them the happy faces of these hateful dictators?
The leader of the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions was detained at the airport in Tel Aviv today as being the delegate of an organization hostile to Israel. And he was shocked and chagrined; mortified and stupefied.
-When we finally were allowed entry, we experienced severe harassment. All our belongings were emptied out on the table, Thoresen says to Aftenposten. But apparently Israel has no right to be upset about harrassment they receive from the Norweigian Union. Such as stopping produce trucks to remove any products that may have come from Israel.
Not only are they 'shocked', they feel they are more representative of the Israeli people than the freely elected government of Israel. -LO is in line with very many Norwegians and Norwegian organizations in urging Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian areas to achieve peace. I also registered that around 100,000 people demonstrated for peace in Tel Aviv Saturday, and we are in line with large parts of the Israeli public, Valla says.
CNN sat down and had a chat with Arafat. During which he said he was willing to accept an Israeli state. I don't know why they should even have to ask him that, I though that was part of the Oslo Accords, which bears his signature. Of course, the interviewer did not immediately follow this by asking him if this means that he will be changing the PA Charter. Beyond saying, on CNN, he was willing to accept the reality of an Israeli state, he doesn't know anything. Doesn't know who is carrying out attacks in Israeli and he doesn't know who bought the 50 tons of weapons that were on the Karine A.
The letters page in the LA Times has a couple of good ones about the mascot naming issue. One from a woman who is American and Canadian Indian.
Even if the majority of Native Americans in California are, in their bitterness of views, trying to eliminate Indians from being mascots, they do not speak for this proud Indian girl or many of my Indian friends, and I hope that they will not be successful in this endeavor.
I don't think it was US pressure that caused Sharon to call off a Gaza offensive. The move in the West Bank that, despite cries of 'war crimes', was very effective in it's stated goals proved that Israel was willing to do what was necessary. This is bolstered by the fact that the people were firmly behind the offensive.
No, I think there were some serious offers from Egypt, Jordan and the Saudis that they will lay it Arafat. Notice, that while the Israelis were preparing, we didn't see too much in the way of inflammatory rhetoric from him. I think he was dealing with some heavy flak from the Arabs. If the Israelis were willing to call of the attack, I expect we will see some things start to happen very soon. Hamas and the others will use this as a piece of propoganda. Proof that the Israelis are afraid of them and proof that more attacks are necessary.
Nearly 50,000 Israelis gathered for a demonstration supporting pullout of Israeli forces from Gaza and the West Bank. I agree with the sentiment but there has to be an agreement in place first and the amount of the withdrawl needs to be discussed. Of course, the important lesson of this story is that Israel is a society where this can happen. I am sure there must be 50,000 Palestinians, Jordanians, Saudis, Lebanese etc. who are horrifed by what they see Arafat and Hamas say and do. Could you imagine what would happen to them if they decided to protest those actions? That would be a lot of 'collaberators', 'marked' for punishment.
The thing that the media overlooks is that these people aren't necessarily peace-protestors. Just as the dissenting reservists are not against military action targeting terrorists. They just think security should be reduced within coherent barriers. A number of the people there are even supportive of recent military operations.
Israeli entertainer Dudu Topaz praised Sharon for the results of Israel's military offensive in the West Bank last month, when Israeli forces invaded Palestinian towns and refugee camps in an attempt to root out terrorists. "Sharon is good at wars," he said. "Prove you are good at peace."
Apparently, the Dutch professor I mentioned earlier was on the wrong side of the ocean with his comment on 60 million living in poverty. They are not in America they are in the EU. According to Miguel Molto, director of the Spanish representation to the European Commission. The story is in China's People Daily, so it should be taken
Update. I found this much out. The Christian Democrats (the party that Mr. Steiner belongs to) is considered far-right; issue-specific (immigration). For anyone who can read Dutch here is their website.
Another Update. Here is a good look at the political scene in Holland. And anbywhere else for that matter.
Another political attack in Holland. I can't find out anything about the politician who was attacked.
Stiener is a local politicain, so this probably isn't part of a larger plot, but it may well be a symptom of the growing intolerance of Leftist/Marxists.
Russia is building a Vodka Museum. There will be more than 800 different kinds available for sample.
I wonder why? According to the Centre for Alcohol Policy, each Russian man drinks the equivalent of 200 bottles of vodka annually, one of the world's highest rates of consumption.
Of course, there will be a bar attached to the museum, so that visitors may enjoy an "interactive educational experience", says a spokesman for the Mayor's office.
But, then there is this one. Apparently the Saudis and Egyptians have been pressuring Arafat to put an end to suicide bombings.
In "constant" calls, Saudi officials have been telling Arafat and Palestinian officials that if the US initiative is to take hold, the activities of groups such as Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as Hamas, and Islamic Jihad must be curbed, Faisal said.
"We all have been counselling that these efforts (suicide bombings) are not helpful to the peace process. ... Everybody is in constant contact," Faisal said in an interview with US newspaper correspondents. "The US can pursue the vision and restrain Israel. ... The Arab countries have to make clear that their pursuit of peace is unfettered. ... Violence has to stop on both sides."
Similar pressure has also reportedly come from Egypt. Earlier this week, the Arabic language Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that when Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher visited Arafat in Ramallah, he told the Palestinian leader that it was time to make a clear choice between pursuing peace or pursuing the uprising.
Hold that. Abdullah gave an interview and cleared things up:
Crown Prince Abdullah said: "The withdrawal of their (Israel's) forces will not be enough for itself. They must return to their pre-1967 borders, end their occupation of Jerusalem (Al Quds) and allow refugees to return to their homeland. Moreover, Syria should get the Golan Heights and Lebanon its remaining occupied land."
In other words, for winning every war we have brought against them the Israelis must give in to all Arab demands.
Egypt, Syria and the Saudis met and reiterated the call for acceptance of the Saudi peace proposal. Interestingly it looks like while holding to full withdrawl they are calling for 'resolution' of the refugee problem which is not the de facto re-settlement, that has been the cry in the past. They also endoresed the American proposed peace conference. This coming out today and the continuing delays on retaliation in Gaza make it look like there is some frenetic behind the scenes dealings going on.
In a further attampt to move his military away from fundamentalist influence. Musharref has declared that there will be a new anti-terror force created.
The proposed Central Investigation Unit (CIU) would be set up by drawing the most capable officers from the law enforcement agencies. This unit would be equipped with latest available technology. Members of this force would be sent to the United States, France, Japan and Britain for extensive training, he added. The interior secretary said that a strict criterion for selection of officers and staff to be inducted into the new unit would be adopted and those selected would be given special incentives in terms of foreign training and other facilities.
They are also nearly doubling Education spending next year.
"We the more fortunate, the enlightened, the powerful, must take stock of the present literary scenario of the country which explains that educating girls yields higher rates of return than any other investment available in the developing countries," she [Education Minister Zubaida Jalal] said. She wrapped up her speech with one of Quaid-i-Azam's sayings, "No sacrifice of time or personal comfort should be regarded as too great for advancement of the cause of education".
With some gentle and fairly hands off influence Pakistan could easily become a model Islamic nation. Pundits point to Turkey but, always fail to follow it up by reminding people that Arabs have no deep love for the Turks who, in the from of the Ottomans, ruled them with a heavy hand for a very long time.
Thie Dutch professor really should learn to check his facts before making such declarative statements.
First he repeats an urban legend that has been thoroughly debunked.
There was no visible impact of a plane crash at the Pentagon on Sept 11, the speaker revealed, expressing his doubt over the diversion of four civilian aircraft from their course on the day. "It was really very strange that two aircraft took off from Boston, were diverted from their routes, but the sophisticated air traffic control system and its authorities could not detect it. At the same time, two other aircraft were also hijacked and the calamity which followed changed the course of the world politics. There was a sharp reaction to the incident in the US, and of course the whole world, as Washington declared that the US was under attack. For the first time, the whole world was united against terrorism,"
Then he tells his listeners that apparently nearly 20% of America's population is living in poverty:
"The policies adopted by the US affected its own citizens, as about 60 million Americans live below poverty line," he maintained.
He must have been quoting from Chomsky's new book.
Evil American bringing war to peaceful Afghanistan which has resulted in terrible occurences such as:
Naqeeb and Shafiqa Moaber, another director of AWVC, had to take their training underground several times. Just four months before the collapse of the Taliban regime, both Naqeeb and Shafiqa fled to Pakistan for fear of getting caught and executed. When the Afghan Interim Administration (AIA) was in place, they returned and resumed their activities. They now have some 800 students at their training centre in Kabul and another 500 in Logar, between the ages of 10 and 45. Most of their funding comes from the British Government. The AWVC offers many courses including embroidery, carpet weaving, English and German.
According to Sally Austin, CARE's assistant country director for Afghanistan, CARE offers, among others, emergency response to assist communities affected by man-made and natural disasters, providing clean water and health education, assistance to widows and education for girls. They run several schools for girls in and outside Kabul.
Not to say there is not a tough battle ahead for their leaders:
"But anyone who hopes that the Lorga Jirga will create a Switzerland better go somewhere else. This is a long process. The Taliban were a low class who got to the top of the pyramid. They are no longer there and the pyramid has to regain its balance." Asked whether he was optimistic of the outcome, Brahimi says: "Well, yes. Otherwise I wouldn't be here."
As long as we and Afghanistan's otehr friends can keep them from falling into civil war again, I think they may have a chance. Once they have a taste of what can be and everyone makes an effort to help them on the path, the people should be able to look forward to self-determination and some degree of prosperity. Which are conditions that are conducive to stability.
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