Bang and Burn

The Front Page

September 28, 2006

Iraq terror leader recruits scientists
AP

CAIRO, Egypt - In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West. "We are in dire need of you," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir — also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri — the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.

"The field of jihad (holy war) can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them."

--- I'd like to know what kind of benefits they offer. In this life.

In the audio message, al-Masri also offered amnesty to Iraqis who cooperated with their country's "occupiers," calling on them to "return to your religion and nation" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which Sunnis began observing in Iraq on Saturday and Shiites on Monday.

"We will not attack you as long as you declare your true repentance in front of your tribe and relatives," he said. "The amnesty ends by the end of this holy month."...

--- This guy's far more entertaining than Zarqawi was.

He urged insurgents to capture Westerners so they could be traded for the imprisoned Egyptian sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to blow up New York landmarks.

"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," the voice on the tape said...

--- This really sounds like desperation, dude.

Analysts said al-Masri's statement appeared aimed at burnishing the group's image.

--- You need to have free giveaways or something. You guys are losing. We just need patience.

September 26, 2006

Islamic Militiamen Fire At Crowd in Somali Port-- Residents Were Protesting Takeover of City
Reuters

KISMAAYO, Somalia, Sept. 25 -- Islamic fighters in this Somali port city opened fire Monday toward residents who were burning tires, throwing stones and chanting to protest the takeover of the city hours earlier by the Islamic Courts militia.

A 13-year-old boy was shot dead and two other people were injured as violence raged for several hours in Somalia's third-largest city, witnesses said. "We have been taken over by extremists. The Islamic Courts have taken us by force, and now they are firing at us," protester Dahabo Dirie said.

--- Such brave terrorists, killing 13 year olds... and a nun last week. Kill women and children first.

Ministers accused the militia of mounting the offensive with fighters from Eritrea, Pakistan and Yemen. "There are foreign forces . . . which attacked Kismaayo," Interior Minister Hussein Farah Aideed told the al-Jazeera television network.

Witnesses said Ethiopian troops were heading to Baidoa, the only town the government controls, to bolster President Abdullahi Yusuf's weak military capacity. Residents in the town of Berdale, about 40 miles from Baidoa, said they saw about 400 Ethiopian soldiers.

The Ethiopian government denies it has troops in Somalia...

--- I admire the Ethiopians. I love the game they're playing. No troops here!

Kismaayo residents, near the border with Kenya, said some of the militiamen stirred up an already tense mood by burning the Somali flag and raising an Islamic one, after taking the city hours earlier without firing a shot.

--- Oh nice. An Islamic flag. An Islamic flag?

Wikipedia says: "An Islamic flag is flag that complies with Islamic rules. Islam doesn’t associate itself with any symbols or colour or non-Islamic subjects. Islamic Flags are required to be free of symbols, unique land marks, idols, or picture of living animals. Traditionally Islamic flags were made from solid colour. Most favoured colours were Black, White and Green. However, other plain colours can be adopted. A bicolour or tricolour flag can also be adopted as an Islamic Flag (compare the French Flag)."

September 25, 2006

After the war, Hizbullah reevaluates
Christian Science Monitor

LABBOUNE, LEBANON - A massive slab of reinforced concrete pokes from the stony earth of this desolate hillside like a broken tooth. It's all that remains of a dynamited Hizbullah bunker built just 100 yards from the Israeli border.

--- Awwwwww.

From this sprawling network of bunkers and tunnels, Hizbullah fighters withstood massive Israeli airstrikes during the recent war. It allowed the Lebanese guerrillas to fire rockets at northern Israel right up to the Aug. 14 cease-fire.

But the deployment of up to 15,000 foreign troops and another 15,000 Lebanese soldiers into south Lebanon, as well as tightened restrictions at Lebanon's sea and land entry points, suggests that Hizbullah will be unable to revive its well-entrenched military presence along the border with Israel, casting into doubt a future role for its vaunted military wing...

--- Don't you just love the Christian Science Monitor?

Hizbullah officials admit that there can be no going back to the situation along the border before the war. While insisting that the group will not disarm, Hizbullah's military commanders are currently reassessing the group's future.

"This transitional period takes time and thought regarding the form that the resistance will follow. Things have changed and we must have time for some introspection," Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hizbullah's deputy secretary-general, said in a recent interview with the London-based Ash Sharq al-Awsat newspaper...

--- Introspection. Yeah.

The UN force in south Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, is being rapidly expanded, more than doubling since the cease-fire to more than 5,000 by the end of last week. Domestic political constraints will further hamper Hizbullah's ability to resume for now even its occasional assaults in the Shebaa Farms...

--- What? They're being hampered? Awwww. By the UN? Yeah, right. Objective journalism? Definitely.

"If Israel violates the cease-fire and Hizbullah helps the Lebanese Army's legitimate response to that violation, I think it would be very hard for UNIFIL to intervene," says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese expert on Hizbullah.

--- Duh.

September 22, 2006

---I really recommend reading Hindustan Times, an excellent Indian newspaper in English. It's different. And they have a section called Surfers' Corner, which currently contains some interesting stories. These are not written by the Hindustan Times, but where else can gems like this be found?


From the story "Who Are the Foes of Islam"

UPDATE: They removed the links! Sorry.

In the reply to the controversial statement given by Pope Benedict, the Muslim leaders began to give examples of Hitler and Mussolini. There is no doubt that Muslims are facing hard times. However they can neither deny nor ignore the facts of Islamic history ie 1,400 years of Islam are littered with examples when so many Muslim kings and rulers have blemished Islam by their aggressive actions and cruelty much like Hitler and Mussolini...

In the 1,400 years of Islamic history, there was no era when a Muslim ruler had not been synonymous with terror.

We may talk of Hajjaj who was governor of Iraq in the 7th century or the ruler called Valeed, who collected all the Christians in a church and burnt them to death. In 1033, 6,000 Jews were killed in Morocco during the Muslim rule. Ebak in 1202 and after rulers like Iltutmish, Alaudin Khilji and Taimur in 15th century all did the same. After that Zahiruddin, Mohammad Babar who founded the Mughal dynasty in India, Sikander Lodhi, Mehmood Ghaznavi and in the present times Idi Amin, the ruler of Uganda, Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussain and the Taliban have ruled to destroy, kill, cause devastation and spread corruption.

They were responsible for religious extremism in the name of Islam which to this day is harming Islam.

Because of all this the Muslim community is suspected and opponents of Islam directly associate the activities of these cruel rulers with that of Islamic teachings.

To avoid such allegations, there is a way out. Islam should be freed from those cruel and wicked people who are Muslims but are affronting the Muslims because of their anti-Muslim actions...

Until this pious religion is associated with Yazeed to Laden and Mulla Umar, nobody can stop the fingers being raised against Islam. This is a pious religion that has got its inspiration and energy from Prophet Mohammad, Hazrat Hussain, Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani, Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, Hazrat Nizammudin, Amir Khusro, Baba Sheikh Farid and many Sufi saints.

The need of the hour is for Mohammedans from the entire world to try to live with the feelings of cooperation, brotherhood and mutual harmony among the people of all religions and sects.


From the story "Dilemma of an Indian Muslim"

I write in response to the sad truth about Muslim rage and Islamism in India.

What can we do? It is not easy being a Muslim in India. He has to contend with dilemmas at all levels -- fight battles at home and wage war with the outside world. Today, Muslims in India live at the intersection of two worlds, one modern and secular and the other traditional and religious. They belong to a generation that escaped the bloody partition but faced riots and subtle discrimination...

But all these facts of life of Indian Muslims do not justify killing innocents in temples in Gujarat or Varanasi. There can also be no justification for killing a professor in Bangalore or shoppers in New Delhi or commuters in Mumbai.

Such barbaric and wanton acts of violence should be condemned by one and all. The mainstream Muslims (most Muslims in India) need to do more. They should understand that preachers of hatred play on their feelings of despair to build the forces with which they can impose their writ on a world where liberty is crushed and inequality reigns.

Muslims need to challenge the imams in every mosque to preach universal values and not hate-mongering. The message should be loud and clear: nothing, not even despair, justifies choosing darkness, totalitarianism and hatred.


From the story "Time ripe for Islamic renaissance"

Today the Muslim world is facing the most critical era of its history. Poverty, illiteracy, irrational behaviour, sectarian prejudices and indifference to scientific pursuit are the main ingredients of the declining Islamic society. Add to this, the extremists have hijacked religion.

Recent meetings of Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) have repeatedly appealed to Muslim Ummah to "promote tolerance and reject extremism". What Muslims need today is not the traditional Islam but Islam based on the ecstatic mysticism of universal love on one hand and on the other scientific approach to worldly problems.

In the well known Islamabad Declaration of OIC, it's standing committee called upon all Muslims, men and women, "to acquire and assimilate scientific knowledge to re-kindle the flame of inquiry and innovation (Ijtihad) in the Muslim Ummah and to harness science and technology for the good of mankind, within the value framework of Islam "The conference urged 'all Muslims to work for the transformation of the Ummah into an enlightened, scientifically creative and innovative society' and stated that 'scientific renaissance constitutes an essential element in Islamic resurgence.'"

--- I'm encouraged. Very encouraged.

Thousands rally against pope in Mideast
AP

JERUSALEM - Thousands of Muslim worshippers staged marches against Pope Benedict XVI in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza on Friday, waving green Hamas banners and denouncing him as a "coward" and an "agent of the Americans."...

--- This is just going to go on and on and on. So I'll keep making fun of it.

At Islam's third-holiest shrine, the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, hundreds of worshippers hoisted black flags and banners that read, "Conquering Rome is the answer." Protesters chanted, "The army of Islam will return." The march dispersed peacefully.

--- It dispersed peacefully! Ok, let's go home. Back to welfare.

More than 500 supporters of a coalition of six Islamic parties, called Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, or MMA, demanded the pope's removal and accused him of supporting the policies of President Bush.

"If I get hold of the pope, I will hang him," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior MMA leader, told protesters in Islamabad, who carried placards reading "Terrorist, extremist Pope be hanged!" and "Down with Muslims' enemies!"

--- Peace be upon you too!

Malaysia's opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party staged demonstrations outside mosques nationwide, calling for the pope to fully retract his remarks. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, some 150 party members chanted "Stop the insults" and held a banner that read "We Muslims are peace-loving people."

--- Yeah, you're real peace-loving hippies. Flower power. This is absolutely insane. I'm still waiting to hear from the "moderates." Yes, millions of moderates, the moderate Muslims of the world, denounce this insanity and sit and let's talk, let's reason together. Hello? Anyone?


The Holly Prophet? Always spell check before protesting!

September 21, 2006

Pakistani Muslim clerics call for Pope's removal
Reuters

LAHORE, Pakistan - A convention of Muslim clerics organized by a charity that Washington has branded a terrorist group called on Thursday for the removal of Pope Benedict for fuelling enmity between faiths with his comments about Islam last week.

"Pope Benedict should be removed from his position immediately for encouraging war and fanning hostility between various faiths," said a declaration issued at the end of the convention attended by hundreds of clerics in the central Pakistani city of Lahore.

The declaration was given by Tehrik-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool, (Movement for Respect of Prophet), but the convention had been organized by Jamaat ud-Dawa, a charity Washington branded as terrorist in April for its ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group focused on fighting Indian rule in Kashmir...

--- Kiss my Roman Catholic ass. Yeah, the Pope is "fueling enmity between faiths." Right. He wants to dialogue, you want to destroy the West.

A speech by the Pope, in which he used medieval quotes portraying a violent Islam, has provoked al Qaeda groups to declare war on the Church, Iraqis to burn the Pope's effigy and Turks to petition for his arrest...

--- And Bush is the devil!

"Jihad for the sake of Allah is not terrorism. Jihad is waged to rid an area, state or the world of oppression, violence, cruelty and terrorism and bring peace and relief to the people," it added.

--- I thought jihad was an "inner struggle." That's what our sophists say... while they're still alive. Guess not. I never would have guessed.

I love this picture. Burning an effigy of Pope Benedict, with the sign "Jihad is our way" in the background... upside-down. That says it all.


!toidi nwod-edispu si ngis ehT

September 20, 2006

Indonesia militant cleric targets steamy TV shows
Reuters

JAKARTA - Indonesian TV shows that feature scantily dressed women are more dangerous than bombs, a militant Muslim cleric [Abu Bakar Bashir] who served a jail term for links to the Bali bombings was quoted as saying on Wednesday...

--- More... dangerous than BOMBS? Well, scantily dressed women are more expensive!

"If you ask which are more dangerous, half-naked women or the Bali bombs? The answer is of course women who bare their bodies," Bashir was quoted as saying by Antara news agency...

--- Such moral clarity, don't you think? Blowing people up, half-naked women; of course half-naked women are worse. He doesn't even mention whole-naked women, presumably because that would be too gruesome.

Television programs in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, are increasingly liberal. Private channels offer late night comedy shows featuring scantily-dressed women.

--- I find it odd to say, but truly I say unto you, scantily-dressed women shall undermine militant Islam in Indonesia. Praise the Lord for scantily-dressed women. I'm serious.

Bashir, 67, left a Jakarta jail on June 14 after serving time for being part of a conspiracy behind the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Indonesian and Western officials had described Bashir as the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah.

Jemaah Islamiah is an armed movement backing the creation of an Islamic superstate linking historically Muslim Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Philippines and southern Thailand.

--- Impressive resume! Also a nutjob.

I had his picture up before, this guy, 'member?


So we killed a few people. We're surrounded by half-naked women!

U.S. Policy on Iran Evolves Toward Diplomacy
Washington Post

...With the United States ensnarled in an increasingly difficult campaign in Iraq, war is no longer a viable option. Instead, the administration is struggling with the difficult and messy business of diplomacy. That often means accommodating the interests and demands of other countries, even backtracking on what had been firm positions...

--- I don't believe this bull about war with Iran no longer being a viable option because of Iraq. The condescending Washington Post is funny though. Our policy has "evolved" into accommodating the interests of other countries... such sophistication. And people call the President a terrorist. He's a teddy bear! At least he was at the UN.

As recently as a month ago, the administration firmly demanded that Iran must first suspend its nuclear activities before the United States would join negotiations on the nuclear programs, but now U.S. officials have quietly acquiesced in a European-led effort to find a face-saving way for the talks to begin...

--- I wonder if this is all about gas prices and the upcoming election. Or we've just caved to Europe. I don't know.

Bush, in his speech, used notably mild language when he discussed Iran, suggesting that the two countries one day will "be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace." ...

--- Didn't I say before that he's turning into John Kerry? The carrot, the stick, I know it's hard, but he must have hated saying that. Close partners with Iran?

Bush, in his speech, also emphasized that U.S. officials "have no objection to Iran's pursuit of a truly peaceful nuclear power program." This is a reversal from the policy in the first term, when U.S. officials loudly proclaimed that a country with such vast oil and gas reserves had no need for a nuclear program. Under pressure from Europeans, the administration dropped that argument late last year...

--- I hope the administration knows what it's doing.

The administration has learned that building coalitions for peace, not war, is hard work.

--- A nice touch of sarcasm mixed with arrogance, courtesy of the elite Washington Post.

September 18, 2006

Iraq Al Qaeda Says Pope, West Are Doomed
AP

CAIRO, Egypt — An Al Qaeda-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence.

The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes Al Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified.

The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."

--- They forgot to mention that George Bush is the real terrorist! The West, on the edge of annihilation, and we're busy arguing about the rights of captured al-Qaeda.

I'll take the sword. I won't convert.

September 14, 2006

Latest al-Qaeda tape made France a target: report
Reuters

PARIS - Deputy al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged a militant Algerian Islamist group to punish "Crusader nation" France, even though it vehemently opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, a newspaper said on Thursday.

The Le Figaro daily cited a security expert who had reviewed the entire tape, released on Monday, in which Zawahiri called on the Algerian GSPC group to become "a bone in the throat of the American and French crusaders."

He also urged the GSPC -- the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat -- to sow fear "in the hearts of the traitors and the apostate sons of France" and to crush the "pillars of the Crusader alliance."...

--- Congratulations France!! Your gift for opposing the Iraq war!!

Many French people believe their country is less of a target for Islamist-inspired attacks because of France's stance over Iraq, but officials say that cuts no ice with militants.

--- I know I shouldn't laugh, but it's tempting. Learn from your mistakes France. We in the West are ALL infidels.

A ban of the traditional Muslim headscarf in secular state schools, close French intelligence links with its former North African colonies combating Islamist extremists, and its role in NATO operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban militia, have secured France's status as a "Crusader nation," experts say.

France is also dispatching some 2,000 troops to join a peacekeeping force in its former protectorate Lebanon, putting it in the front line of a mission that Zawahiri has denounced.

On Monday, Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, head of the DST domestic security service, said the threat of terrorist attack remained "very high and very international."

"For our Islamist adversaries, our country is frankly in the Western camp, the crusaders in their words, and we will be spared nothing," he told RTL radio on Monday.

--- There may be hope for France. Welcome to the War.

September 12, 2006

Bush invokes 9/11 to argue for Iraq war
AP

WASHINGTON - President Bush is invoking the memory of Sept. 11 to defend the war in Iraq, drawing protests from Democrats who say he politicized a national day of mourning.

In a prime-time speech broadcast on Monday's anniversary of the terror attacks, the president described a brutal enemy still determined to kill Americans, perhaps with weapons of mass destruction if they get the chance.

"If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons," Bush said. "We are in a war that will set the course for this new century and determine the destiny of millions across the world."...

--- First, it's two years too late for this speech, Mr. President. The damage is done because you let Michael Moore and his kind walk all over you. Better late than never though. Second, it was brilliant, because Democrats look stupid. When they come out complaining about politicizing a national day of mourning, they are politicizing a national day of mourning. Nevertheless, though it appears to be a calculated rally for the 2006 elections, it sure is good to hear the administration actually talking to the people about the war. Let all the clueless delusional reality deniers whine on about all their freedoms being taken away, and let them go on about 9/11 conspiracy theories and see that gem of a movie "Death of a President" (which is not an assassination wish fulfillment, according to its director; some of these people were seriously mentally damaged by 9/11)... You guys keep yelling in your echo chamber while some real adults deal with reality.

"Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone," Bush said from the Oval Office, with a photo of his twin daughters and the American flag behind him. "They will not leave us alone. They will follow us. The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad."

While Democrats have been using public opposition to the Iraq war to argue for a change of leadership in Congress, Bush's prime-time address showed how he has been able to use the power of incumbency to command public attention and make his points. Democrats objected to the tone.

--- Fuck you, you object to the tone. Some of these nutjobs call Bush Hitler and dream of assassination. That's some fucking tone.

Excuse me.

Bush said Iraq is part of the United States' post-Sept. 11 approach to threats abroad. Going on offense against enemies before they could harm Americans meant removing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, pursuing members of al-Qaida and seeking regime change in Iraq, Bush said. At least 2,670 U.S. servicemen and women have died in Iraq.

"I am often asked why we are in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks," Bush said. "The answer is that the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat.

"America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over. So do I," Bush said. "But the war is not over, and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious."

--- Sure he's made some mistakes, but boy am I glad he's in charge.

Although his administration has been criticized for trying to link Osama bin Laden to Baghdad, Bush made further comparisons between the al-Qaida leader and Iraq. The president quoted bin Laden as saying the battle in Iraq is the "Third World War" that could bring America's "defeat and disgrace forever."

"If we yield Iraq to men like bin Laden," Bush said, "our enemies will be emboldened, they will gain a new safe haven, and they will use Iraq's resources to fuel their extremist movement. We will not allow this to happen."

--- Finally!!! I knew he had a pair! Just please keep this up, even after the election.

September 11, 2006

September 1, 2006

Howard's Muslim comments spark race riot fear
al-Reuters

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has called on migrants, particularly Muslims, to integrate into Australian society by quickly learning English -- sparking warnings his comments may lead to race riots.

--- Read that again. Yes. Race riots because he told them to learn English.

The head of the government's Muslim advisory committee, Ameer Ali, said on Friday that Howard's comments could fuel race riots like those at Sydney's Cronulla beach last December.

"We have already witnessed one incident in Sydney recently in Cronulla, I don't want these scenes to be repeated because when you antagonize the younger generation ... they are bound to react," Ali told local Sydney radio.

--- Antagonize? Telling them to integrate is antagonization?

In December 2005, Howard said some Muslims were "raving on about jihad." Days later violence rocked Cronulla, when white Australian youths clashed with Lebanese-Australians.

In February, Howard again angered Australia's small Muslim community by saying he was concerned about extremist Muslim immigrants bent on jihad.

On Thursday, Howard told Sydney radio that migrants, particularly hardline Muslims, needed to conform to Australian values by learning English and treating women with respect.

--- Oh the cruelty. They behead people. We tell them to integrate. Obviously, we've got to treat them better!

His latest comments angered Muslims, but the prime minister said he would not apologize.

"I think they are missing the point and the point is that I don't care and the Australian people don't care where people come from," Howard told reporters on Friday.

"There's a small section of the Islamic population which is unwilling to integrate and I have said generally all migrants ... have to integrate," he said.

--- Thank God for this guy. I love John Howard.

Almost a quarter of Australians were born overseas. Muslims have been in Australia for more than 200 years and make up 1.5 percent of the 20 million population.

--- And they're 99% pain in the ass.

Visit the John Howard Shrine

August 31, 2006

Iran welcomes showdown on deadline day
AP

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's president defiantly refused to compromise as a U.N. deadline for his country to stop enriching uranium arrived Thursday, saying Tehran would not be bullied into giving up its right to nuclear technology.

Iran's refusal to heed the U.N. Security Council demand to stop enrichment will be detailed in a confidential IAEA report to be completed Thursday and given to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35 board member nations. That is likely to trigger council members — by mid-September — to begin considering economic or political sanctions...

"The Iranian nation will not accept for one moment any bullying, invasion and violation of its rights," Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh.

--- Poppycock! It's fun to say that.

He also said enemies of the country were trying to stir up differences among the Iranian people, but "I tell them: you are wrong. The Iranian nation is united."

--- Or else!

"They claim to be supporting freedom but they support the most tyrannical governments in the world to pursue their own interests," he said, referring to the United States. "They talk about human rights while maintaining the most notorious prisons. Those powers that do not abide by God and follow evil are the main source of all the current problems of mankind."...

--- Notorious prisons, right. I'm sure Iranian prisons are luxurious gold-plated palaces decorated with handmade Persian rugs and overflowing with the sweet fragrance of hyacinth.

The West has struggled for years over carrots and sticks to persuade Iran to roll back its nuclear program. But Tehran has time after time played the game by its rules and kept its eyes constantly on a long-term prize: forcing the world to accept its nuclear ambitions.

Iranian leaders have indicated they are willing to bear the economic blow of whatever sanctions are passed rather than give up enrichment.

That means Thursday will hardly be a climactic milestone in the long-standing tussle between Iran and the West. Iran can go on putting forward diplomatic initiatives to try to divide the big powers and keep room for maneuver, said one analyst, Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"This deadline will invariably be followed by another deadline and another," he said. "This is a game that will play out over five years, not a game that will play out tomorrow."

--- Five years of this crap. Oy vey. Congratulations, Mahmoud. You run the world.


I love me!

August 30, 2006

Rumsfeld Assails Critics of War Policy
Washington Post

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned yesterday that "moral and intellectual confusion" over the Iraq war and the broader anti-terrorism effort could sap American willpower and divide the country, and he urged renewed resolve to confront extremists waging "a new type of fascism."

Drawing parallels to efforts by some nations to appease Adolf Hitler before World War II, Rumsfeld said it would be "folly" for the United States to ignore the rising dangers posed by a new enemy that he called "serious, lethal and relentless."

In a pointed attack on the news media and critics of President Bush's war and national security policies, Rumsfeld declared: "Any kind of moral and intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can severely weaken the ability of free societies to persevere."...

Rumsfeld obliquely acknowledged mistakes and setbacks in Iraq, quoting the French statesman Georges Clemenceau as calling all wars "a series of catastrophes that results in victory." Moreover, in a reference to recent charges of war crimes against U.S. troops in Iraq, Rumsfeld said that "in every army, there are occasionally bad actors -- the ones who dominate the headlines today -- who don't live up to the standards of their oath and of our country."

Rumsfeld stressed that it is misguided for Americans to fall into self-blame and to "return to the destructive view that America -- not the enemy -- is the real source of the world's trouble." He blamed the U.S. media for spreading "myths and distortions . . . about our troops and about our country."...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, addressing the same audience later, sounded similar themes. "The dream of some, that we could avoid this conflict, that we did not have to take sides in this battle in the Middle East, that dream was demolished on September the 11th," Rice said.

Rice said in a radio interview that "we cannot fall prey to pessimism about how this will all come out," adding that "the really devastating problem for the world would be if America loses its will."

--- I'm swooning. This needs to be repeated every day, to counter the relentless attacks on The War. Bush should appoint someone to do this all the time. That would be his/her only job. Christ, why don't you guys think of these things?

August 29, 2006

Ex-Iran President Khatami gets U.S. visa
AP

WASHINGTON - Despite intense disagreement over suspected nuclear weapons programs and terrorism, the Bush administration decided Tuesday to allow former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to visit the United States.

A visa was granted Tuesday to Khatami and several Iranians who will accompany him on the visit early next month, said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

There will be no restrictions on his travel.

Khatami plans to attend a U.N. conference Sept. 5-6 in New York to promote dialogue, then speak at the Washington National Cathedral on Sept. 7. on the role of Islam, Christianity and Judaism in shaping peace.

--- Letting a former president of a country that chants "Death to America" constantly into America to talk about peace. In the National Cathedral. Because he's a "moderate."

I'm sure Iran will then invite Christian and Jewish leaders to Iran to speak in a mosque about the equality of the three Abrahamic faiths. To promote dialogue.

The Bush administration, turning into the Carter administration. I'm gonna heave.

August 22, 2006

Pictures of the Week/Month, Whatever



Inspiring, isn't it? Brings tears to my eyes.


U.K. terror suspects. I'm sure they look better in this picture than they do in real life. Can't you just be like other normal young people and just party and get drunk and take meth?


Women (!) activists of a Pakistani religious party chant slogans during a rally to show their support with Hezbollah and Hamas, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006 in Karachi, Pakistan. Equal opportunity "activists".

Iran offers 'new formula' for solution
AP

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran formally responded Tuesday to a package of Western incentives aimed at persuading Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment, with officials saying it has offered a "new formula" to resolve the dispute.


How do you do that Vulcan thing? Live long and destroy Israel? I forget how that goes.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, hand-delivered Iran's response to the Western package of nuclear incentives to ambassadors from Britain, China, Russia, France, Germany and Switzerland, state-run television said, without disclosing details.

Officials close to the meeting said Iran's response offered the "new formula" to resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear activities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

--- Your days are numbered Mahmoud. And I'm not talkin' 'bout the Apocalypse.

Indian police say they've foiled attack
AP

BOMBAY, India - Police killed a Pakistani and arrested another in a shootout Tuesday that authorities said foiled a terrorist attack in India's financial capital a month after a series of train bombings that left more than 200 people dead.

Mohammad Riyaz Nawabuddin was arrested by a police anti-terrorism squad after detonators, a pistol and ammunition rounds were recovered from the car he was driving, police investigator K.P. Raghuvanshi said...

Nawabuddin led officers to an abandoned building where he and his associate had been hiding in recent days, said police chief A.N. Roy.

A second Pakistani national, identified as Mohammad Ali Osama, was killed in the building after he opened fire on police who had ordered him to surrender. An automatic rifle and ammunition was recovered from him, Roy said...

Nawabuddin, 21, was taken into custody and he faces charges of planning to carry out a terrorist act and possession of arms, ammunition and explosives.

Police inspector S. Deshmukh said a railway timetable and suburban train tickets were found on Nawabuddin. Police "learned that Pakistan-trained terrorists had entered Bombay, have arms and explosives and have vehicles," Deshmukh told a judge.

Police are investigating whether the two men also had a role in the July 11 bombings of Bombay's rail network that killed at least 207 people and injured more than 700 others.

--- Obviously, this is a ruse orchestrated by Dick Cheney to get Joe Lieberman reelected. Oops, wait, wrong template. Go India!

August 18, 2006

France Declines to Contribute Major Force for U.N. Mission
Washington Post

UNITED NATIONS -- France on Thursday rebuffed pleas by U.N. officials to make a major contribution to a peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, setting back efforts to deploy an international military force to help police a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, according to U.N. and French officials.

French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France would contribute only 200 additional troops to the U.N. operation in southern Lebanon, which the Security Council wants to expand from 2,000 troops to 15,000. Chirac said that a force of about 1,700 French troops and crew members on warships off the coast would provide logistical support.

--- Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww, what's the matter Jacques? Afraid your cities will burn again?

For London's Muslims, Fear Of a Backlash -- Many Say They Feel Alienated In Wake of Foiled Airliner Plot
Washington Post

--- I'm not even going to read the fricking story, the headline's enough. Alienated victims. They're all alienated. They're all victims. Sorry, no sympathy left.

Judge Rules Against Wiretaps -- NSA Program Called Unconstitutional
Washington Post

A federal judge in Detroit ruled yesterday that the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program is unconstitutional, delivering the first decision that the Bush administration's effort to monitor communications without court oversight runs afoul of the Bill of Rights and federal law.



U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ordered a halt to the wiretap program, secretly authorized by President Bush in 2001, but both sides in the lawsuit agreed to delay that action until a Sept. 7 hearing. Legal scholars said Taylor's decision is likely to receive heavy scrutiny from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit when the Justice Department appeals, and some criticized her ruling as poorly reasoned...

--- I shouldn't judge the judge based on her looks. But just look at her. It figures.

...Taylor said that the NSA wiretapping program, aimed at communications by potential terrorists, violates privacy and free speech rights and the constitutional separation of powers among the three branches of government...

"It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights," Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion. ". . . There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all 'inherent powers' must derive from that Constitution."...

--- No kings in America, just a queen bitch in robes with talking points. Uh, yeah, specifically what's the problem? Unfettered control, Bill of Rights... I like the "powers not created by the Constitution" part.

"Regardless of what your position is on the merits of the issue, there's no question that it's a poorly reasoned decision," said Bobby Chesney, a national security law specialist at Wake Forest University who takes a moderate stance on the legal debate over the NSA program. "The opinion kind of reads like an outline of possible grounds to strike down the program, without analysis to fill it in."...

--- Ok Mr. Man! Are you saying Queen Taylor is dumb because she's a woman??? You're just part of the hegemonic patriarchal conspiracy! No Kings!! Just Queens!!

The decision shows that "no one is above the law," Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said.

--- Still mad that the election was stolen from you? Really, how can BushCo run a fascist dictatorship with you guys making all this noise? Watch out, or else Bush will cause a hurricane with his "device" and wipe you guys out.

August 16, 2006

Cameron attacks Blair over terrorism fight
Daily Telegraph (UK)

The united front in the battle against terrorism was shattered yesterday as David Cameron accused the Government of not doing enough to fight Islamic extremism. Ministers immediately accused him of "playing politics" with national security.

--- He wants a MORE united front, I believe. Maybe playing politics, but so what. I like Blair but this guy sounds better.

The Conservative leader, making his first political intervention since returning from holiday, launched an outspoken attack on the Government's security record in the wake of the alleged attempt to blow up transatlantic passenger jets. He praised the police and security services but called for an urgent rethink of the "bizarre" decision by Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, to freeze the Home Office budget for the next three years.

--- That does sound bizarre.

Mr Cameron criticised the delay in making intercept evidence available in court in trials of terrorist suspects and accused Tony Blair of failing to implement a 12-point security plan announced after the July 7 bombings last year and the recommendations on community cohesion.

--- Well, I can't really see what's wrong with this kind of criticism. All we hear in the US is just the opposite; leftist blabber about Bush being a fascist.

US refuses to blame Al-Qaeda for UK terror plot
Hindustan Times

The United States has refused to blame Al-Qaeda for a plot to explode US-bound airliners, which Britain claimed it had thwarted last week.

"It looks like something Al-Qaeda would do," White House spokesman Tony Snow said on Tuesday, speaking to reporters after President George W Bush visited the US National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington.

"But our intelligence, at this point, does not permit us to say with confidence that that was the case," Snow said.

Snow acknowledged there have been public accusations of Al-Qaeda for the plot, which Britain said on Thursday it had foiled, and reports of foreign governments blaming the terrorist network.

"Before we actually claim Al-Qaeda, we want to make sure that we ... Could prove it to you," Snow said.

On Monday Bush himself had cautiously echoed the remarks of his Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, who last week said the plot bore the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda.

"It looks like the kind of thing Al-Qaeda would do," Bush said after working meetings on national security.

But, he added: "I'm not going to say it until we have absolute proof.

--- Does it really matter that much? Geez, "it's something Hitler would do, but we're not sure it's the Nazis." I don't get it. Come out and say they're inspired by Al-Qaeda or Islamic ideology anyway, and tell us you're going to smash them to pieces. What the hell? The Bush Administration has gone bananas.

August 15, 2006

Ahmadinejad says Hezbollah victorious
AP

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Hezbollah has "hoisted the banner of victory" over Israel and toppled U.S.-led plans for the Middle East.

Iran and Syria are the main backers of the Islamic militant group. Ahmadinejad struck a tone similar to an earlier address in Damascus by Syrian President Bashar Assad, who said Washington's plans for the region have become "an illusion" after the 34-day conflict in Lebanon ended Monday with a cease-fire.

"God's promises have come true," Ahmadinejad told a huge crowd in Arbadil in northwestern Iran. "On one side, it's corrupt powers of the criminal U.S. and Britain and the Zionists .... with modern bombs and planes. And on the other side is a group of pious youth relying on God."

Both sides claimed success after more than a month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah ended Monday with a cease-fire. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah declared "strategic, historic victory" against Israel. But Israel and its main backer, the United States portrayed the Islamic militant group as the loser — and by extension, its main backers, Iran and Syria...

He said the Hezbollah resistance also destroyed the image of Israel as an unbeatable military power.

--- Israel blinked. I don't get them. I know there's a lot going on behind the scenes, and maybe they did score some points, but Ahmadinejad just looks stronger thanks to all this. And the U.S., Christ, a President Kerry would have done just about the same thing in all this. I didn't vote for you W to accept multilateral UN-imposed cease fires.

Israel begins troop pullout from Lebanon
AP

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel began slowly pulling out forces from southern Lebanon and made plans to hand over territory Tuesday on the first full day of a tense cease-fire that already has been tested by skirmishes and rocket fire.

But Israeli and Hezbollah forces avoided any escalation, raising hopes that the U.N.-imposed pact could stick, as governments rushed to assemble international troops to deploy in southern Lebanon and firm up the peace.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, meanwhile, said America's plan for a "new Middle East" collapsed after Hezbollah's successes in fighting against Israel, and warned the Jewish state to seek peace or risk defeat in the future.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said early in the war between Hezbollah and Israel that any settlement should be durable and lead to a "new Middle East" where extremists have no influence...

--- 1) 1000 people killed, nothing really changed. Israel backs down, Hezbollah rallies, an international force will move in and... isn't that what was there before? It will be bigger, it's said. Oh. Hezbollah's still there! It was assumed that civilian casualties were bad, but worth it if they could oust Hezbollah. But they'll just regroup and continue. 2) Lost the propaganda war. Once again, Israel and the U.S. can't fight a propaganda war. New Middle East my foot. If you started this, finish it. How idiotic to decide to go to war and then cease fire when it's a tie!

The U.N. Security Council blueprint calls for Lebanese forces to join up with another 15,000 soldiers in a strengthened U.N.-backed military mission. Their job would be to patrol a 18-mile buffer zone from the Litani River to the Israeli border.

The Lebanese defense minister said "there will be no other weapons or military presence other than the army" after Lebanese troops move south of the Litani. But he said the army would not ask Hezbollah to hand over its weapons — which remains an extremely volatile issue that no one is yet ready to touch.

--- Yeah. Uh-huh. What a waste of time, money, LIVES.

August 10, 2006

2 Men in Ohio Found With Airport Security Information, Held on Terror Charges
AP

WASHINGTON — Two men were charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism after authorities said they found airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car.

Deputies stopped Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of Dearborn, Mich., on a traffic violation Tuesday. They found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in the car, said Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks.

Prosecutor Susan Vessels declined to say how the phones, cash or flight information involved terrorism.

Abulhassan and Houssaiky admitted buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio, said sheriff's Maj. John Winstanley. The men said they sold the phones to someone in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb.

--- More wonderful news. Airplane security checkpoint information, $11,000, and 600 phones? Muslims? It's time to seriously consider more radical measures. We may need to start deporting Muslims. We can't just keep letting them in, not knowing where they are, insisting that there are only a few bad apples. They will eventually be a large minority population in this country, and it will just keep getting harder to fight terrorism. Sorry, the good apples might have to go back to their hell holes, otherwise America will be a hell hole. Unfair, but necessary for survival. Random searches of old white ladies and banning all liquids on planes is nutty when we're looking for MUSLIMS!

London Police Disrupt Terrorist Plot to Blow Up Aircraft in Mid-Flight
AP

LONDON — British authorities said Thursday they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in hand luggage, averting what police described as "mass murder on an unimaginable scale."...

--- Taking 'em down. Before it happens. Makes me so proud.

Two U.S. counterterrorism officials said the terrorists had targeted United Airlines, American Airlines and Continental Airlines. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

A U.S. intelligence official said the plotters had hoped to target flights to major airports in New York, Washington and California, all major summer tourist destinations...

--- Down Dick!! Down Boy!!


Dick's temperature is rising!
British Home Secretary John Reid said 21 people had been arrested in London, its suburbs and Birmingham following a lengthy investigation, including the alleged "main players" in the plot. Searches continued in a number of locations.

The suspects were "homegrown," though it was not immediately clear if they were all British citizens, said a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. Police were working closely with the South Asian community, the official said...

--- Ok, I heard somewhere that they were of Pakistani origin. Homegrown British Pakistanis. How surprising. Not confirmed though. What's the difference, they're fricking Muslims. Who else? They're just following their consciences as formed by the Blessed Qu'ran, the blessed book of blessed Islam.

"It was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope. It was in some respects suggestive of an Al Qaeda plot," [U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael] Chertoff said, but he cautioned it was too early in the investigation to reach any conclusions...

--- Mr. Understatement!

Passengers in Britain faced delays as tighter security was hastily enforced at the country's airports and additional measures were put in place for all flights. Laptop computers, mobile phones, iPods, and remote controls were among the items banned from being carried on board.

Liquids, such as hair care products, were also barred on flights in both Britain and the U.S., raising the possibility that authorities were searching for a liquid explosive.

In the mid-1990s, officials foiled a plan by terrorist mastermind Ramzi Youssef to blow up 12 Western jetliners simultaneously over the Pacific. The alleged plot involved improvised bombs using liquid hidden in contact lens solution containers.

--- So it's not a new idea. I'm somewhat relieved that this seems to be the worst they can come up with. We're expecting nukes or bioweapons. Not that I don't think they are planning that.

SOMEWHAT RELATED STORY

Pakistani Pilot Suing JetBlue for Discrimination
AP

NEW YORK — A Pakistani-born pilot is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) for discrimination, claiming the airline rescinded a job offer and told him it was because of his background.

Faisal Baig, a U.S. citizen who was raised in Yonkers, claims in the suit that an airline manager told him in March that he was a "security risk."

According to the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Baig asked, "Are you saying that you are not hiring me because of my name or my religion? ... Are you saying you are not hiring me because of where I'm from?"

The manager answered, "Yes, and JetBlue considers you a security risk," according to the suit.

--- In extraordinary times, this isn't the worst thing that could happen, Mr. Baig. Who cares if you're a U.S. citizen, you fit the profile of a terrorist. Discrimination against a Pakistani-American on the one hand, versus the possibility of many civilian deaths... unfortunately, discrimination seems like the less wrong thing to do here.

Baig claims he was offered the job in February and had already received a ticket to attend the airline's training school in Orlando, Fla. The 40-year-old, a Muslim, had previously flown for Independence Air for nearly six years.

"I was devastated," he said. "I've been living in this country since I was 7, and now somebody's telling me I'm not a good American."

--- Those were good Brits, all those nice British Pakistanis who killed 52 people in London? War is hell buddy.

August 4, 2006

Hardliners want war on Israel
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)

About 1500 hardline Indonesian Muslims called for holy war against Israel on Friday as they rallied outside the US embassy to protest the country's military offensive against Lebanon and Gaza.

The protestors burned a US flag and brandished images of children killed in Lebanon along with banners calling on Indonesia to "Sever ties with the United States, the boss of Israel!"

"We have to wage jihad (holy war) against Israel. We have to support Hezbollah and Lebanon because it is the obligation of Muslims across the world," one protest leader, Anwar Islam, told the crowd from a podium.

"We must destroy the United States because not only is it a nation that believes in capitalism, it is a nation full of lies."

--- This is Indonesia. Home of peace-loving moderates, not crazy psycho extremists. Our friends in World War IV.

A former member of parliament in the world's most populous Muslim nation, Ahmad Sumargono, told the crowd: "We all know that the United States is the force behind Israeli attacks on Lebanon and it is a crime against humanity.

"Are you ready to be sent to Lebanon and Palestine?" he asked. The crowd responded with cheers.

--- Maybe if we're nice to them they'll leave us alone. That always works in life.

About 500 police stood guard over the demonstration but the atmosphere was relatively relaxed, with protestors kept well behind concrete barriers and a vehicle carrying water cannon parked nearby.

The rally was organised by the Jakarta-based Forum of Muslims, a coalition of about 15 Islamic organisations grouping both moderate and hardline groups, including Hizbut Tahrir.

--- Oh, how about that. Moderates and hardliners agree. Fancy that, you propagandists for Multiculturalism Over All.

The radical group's spokesman Muhammad Ismail Yusanto said during the rally that the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono "must send soldiers from the Indonesian armed forces to wage a jihad and dispel Israel" from Lebanon.

"The government and leaders from other Islamic countries must freeze diplomatic ties with the United States and its allies," Mr Yusanto said.

He also called for countries which share borders with Lebanon to open their borders for jihad warriors and allow them to enter the strife-hit nation...

--- Time to level the Muslim world back to the Stone Age. Oh, they're already there! Sorry.

Ok, here's the punch line.

The overwhelming majority of Indonesians practise a moderate form of Islam.

--- Oh obviously! Repeat after me 100 times in monotone. Majority... of... Muslims... Peaceful... Only... Handful... of... Extremists...

Indonesia has suffered repeated bomb attacks blamed on Islamic radicals, including the 2002 Bali bombing, which killed 202 people, mostly Western holidaymakers.

--- Why were they allowed this "peaceful demonstration" then? Why did police stand guard over the demonstration? I don't believe a whit that Indonesia's government is serious about cracking down on these handful... of... extremists...

August 3, 2006

Ahmadinejad: Destroy Israel, end crisis
AP

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis is to destroy Israel. In a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders, Ahmadinejad also called for an immediate halt to fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

"Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented," he said...

--- Why at this stage, what stage is the bozo talking about. We want to destroy Israel, but not now?

What about the real objective, a two-state solution? That's all the Palestinians have wanted all these years, right? No? Oh, thank you Mahmoud for telling us what Muslims really want.

The goal for us then should be the destruction of Hezbollah. And that will mean the defeat of Iran. Which means war with Iran is the only solution, I'm afraid. We're trying to avoid it, but...

Ahmadinejad accused the United States of using Israel to try to control the Middle East and its oil wealth.

"Today the Americans are after the greater Middle East," he said. "The Zionist regime is used to reach this objective. The sole existence of this regime is for invasion and attack."

--- Sure.

He urged Muslim states to "isolate" the United States and Britain, accusing them of supporting Israel's military offensive and saying they should be expelled from the U.N. Security Council.

--- Grrrrrrr. The world would go along with it too.

Ahmadinejad also rejected proposals for deploying international troops along the Israeli-Lebanese border to separate the warring parties.

"Peace and security in Lebanon and its borders has to be preserved by the Lebanese government and people. Deployment of foreign forces is not acceptable in any shape unless it is just, based on U.N. rules and preserves the unity and territorial integrity of Lebanon," he said.

--- What do you care about Lebanon, you thuggish manipulative tyrannical bastard. Lebanon was fine until the PLO and Syria and your Khhhhezbollah turned it into a staging ground to destroy the "Zionist terrorist state."

August 1, 2006

Ahmadinejad Rejects U.N. Resolution Threatening Sanctions
AP

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution that would give his nation until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment.

Instead, Ahmadinejad insisted Tehran would pursue its nuclear program...

--- I'm shocked. Shocked.

Throughout Iran, there is one slogan: 'The Iranian nation considers the peaceful use of nuclear fuel production technology its right,"' Ahmadinejad said.

--- The U.N. continues to be a completely pathetic and irrelevant bloated bureaucracy that deserves to be ignored, even by Iran.

July 27, 2006

Al-Qaida calls for holy war against Israel
AP

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader issued a worldwide call Thursday for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Israel and join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq."

In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahri, second in command to Osama bin Laden, said that al-Qaida now views "all the world as a battlefield open in front of us."...

--- When are we going to shut down Al-Jazeera? The first thing Israel did was take out all communications in Lebanon. When do we fight a propaganda war?

"It is a jihad (holy war) for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," al-Zawahri said. "We will attack everywhere." Spain was controlled by Arab Muslims for more than seven centuries until they were driven from power in 1492.

--- Why is the AP title not "Al-Qaida declares war against the world"? Israel is just the current front.

He said Arab regimes were accomplices to Israel. "My fellow Muslims, it is obvious that Arab and Islamic governments are not only impotent but also complicit ... and you are alone on the battlefield. Rely on God and fight your enemies ... make yourselves martyrs."

He also called for the "downtrodden" throughout the world, not just Muslims, to join the battle against "tyrannical Western civilization and its leader, America."

--- Oh yes, free us from the tyranny of democracy and bring us sharia! Bring back stonings, beheadings, autocracy, and cover up all the women and keep them in closets! That's what Allah wants, I'm sure. I like how he uses code ("downtrodden")to get all the communists and other various malcontent tyrants to join in the fight against evil Western Civilization. Words, words. Hey Ayman, why don't you fight? Come out of the cave you maggot.

Al-Zawahri wore a gray robe and white turban in the video. A picture of the burning World Trade Center was on the wall behind him along with photos of two other militants. One appeared to be a bearded Mohamed Atta, the Egyptian ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks. The other was Mohammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former top lieutenant of bin Laden who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in November 2001...

"The shells and rockets ripping apart Muslim bodies in Gaza and Lebanon are not only Israeli (weapons), but are supplied by all the countries of the crusader coalition. Therefore, every participant in the crime will pay the price," al-Zawahri said.

"We cannot just watch these shells as they burn our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and stand by idly, humiliated," he added.

--- You're a crazy dude, man. Let Spain go. Oh, no, Allah says once you rule a land, it's yours forever. Allah wants Spain back.

Spain? Any comments? You'll probably just surrender anyway.

July 24, 2006

War Taking Toll on Marriage, Too - Iraqi Officials Say Divorces Have Doubled Since 2003 Invasion
Washington Post

At least 301,446 divorces were registered in Iraq during the past two years -- nearly half the number of marriages recorded during that time -- according to statistics compiled by the Justice Ministry.

More than twice as many marriages are ending in divorce as before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, according to ministry and court officials, social workers and divorce lawyers, though no reliable data are available from the earlier period. The twin stresses of perpetual violence and a stagnant economy -- along with the loosening of certain social stigmas -- are taking a toll on one of Islamic culture's most sacred institutions.

--- Here's the real problem with the phony war for oil, dude! We're like, totally destroying the family, that sacred institution!

You'd think liberals would be happy about that.

"It is an explosion of failed marriages. It has never been like this," said [Family Court Judge Salim] al-Moussawi, who has sat on the bench for 40 years and said he now spends nearly as much time ending marriages as he does formalizing them. He called divorce "the most despicable hallal," meaning the worst thing permissible under Islam...

--- Things were like WAY more stable under Saddam. Families remained intact, until the Bush-Cheney junta came and... caused divorce!!

July 21, 2006

Merkel strongly rejects Iranian leader's letter
Reuters

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday forcefully rejected a letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeking cooperation with Germany, saying it did not even deserve an answer.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki delivered the letter to the German embassy in Tehran earlier this week. A German government official who saw the letter told Reuters it criticised Israel and said Germany and Iran should cooperate in dealing with Zionism and solving the Palestinian problem.

"He's repeating the old thinking, which is totally unacceptable to us," Merkel told ZDF state television.

--- Crazy Mahmoud. I mean he just looks like your crazy uncle, doesn't he?


Heeeeeeeeeee heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhahahahahahahahahaha. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
"Israel's right to exist is a key part of our state policy and he calls this into question time and again; and at the same time our offer -- an offer which really gives the Iranian people hope for the future -- is not mentioned once," she added.

"That's not in order and thus does not need to be answered."...

--- Does Germany really believe that Iran would rather get some goodies than destroy Israel? It's the Iranian regime's only goal in life... oh, there's another goal, destroy America. But they'll be persuaded not to destroy Israel if they get some money.

A German government official gave Reuters more details of the letter, on condition of anonymity.

"It talks about how both Germany and Iran have been victims of historical developments," he said. "It also says 'we have to find a solution to the Palestinian problems and Zionism and so on. It's rather weird," he added...

--- Weird because you don't understand them. You expect them to be reasonable.

Several thousand people demonstrated in Berlin on Friday against the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. Protesters shouted "Allahu Akbar" -- "God is Greatest" in Arabic -- and carried posters with slogans like "Israel drinks the blood of our children."

--- In Berlin, several thousand people (they mean Muslims but they don't want to say it) are advocating the destruction of Israel. Surreal.

Israel troops massing on Lebanese border
AP

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel massed tanks and troops on the border, called up reserves and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared Friday for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone.

The army's chief of staff said forces would conduct ground operations as needed in Lebanon, but they would be "limited." Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz also said nearly 100 Hezbollah guerrillas have been killed in the offensive in Lebanon...

--- Don't stop till you get enough. No more negotiating.

"We will fight terror wherever it is because if we do not fight it, it will fight us. If we don't reach it, it will reach us," Halutz said in a nationally televised news conference. "We will also conduct limited ground operations as much as needed in order to harm the terror that harms us."

--- Sounds good to me.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Thursday of a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and called for an immediate cease-fire, even as he admitted "serious obstacles" stand in the way of easing the violence...

--- Yes, Annan is one of the serious obstacles. I am Kofi, and I am an inertiaholic.

Israel invaded Lebanon again in a much bigger operation in 1982 when its forces seized parts of Beirut. It eventually carved out a buffer zone that stopped at the Litani. That zone was reduced gradually but the Israeli presence lasted until 2000, when it withdrew completely.

--- And Hezbollah moved in. It happens every time they give back land.

July 20, 2006

Somali Islamists vow holy war on Ethiopia troops
Reuters

MOGADISHU - Somalia's Islamists vowed a "holy war" on Thursday against Ethiopian troops crossing into the Horn of Africa nation, while Addis Ababa threatened to "crush" any attack on the interim government it supports.

The aggressive rhetoric -- combined with this week's military moves on both sides -- have heightened fears of a new war in Somalia, plagued by violence and without central rule since the 1991 ouster of a military dictator.

--- Kick ass Ethiopia. They have to do it because no one else will.

Independent analysts believe Addis Ababa has sent up to 5,000 troops into Somalia, and is massing many more on the border, as a deterrent to any more advances by the Islamists, who took Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords last month.

The regional power, Ethiopia backs the interim government of President Abdullahi Yusuf, based in the provincial town of Baidoa because it lacks the strength to move into Mogadishu.

Addis Ababa earlier said it would stop any move by the Islamists to attack Yusuf's government. "We will use all means at our disposal to crush the Islamist group if they attempt to attack Baidoa," Information Minister Berhan Hailu said.

--- Yeah, crush them. Sounds good.

Nominally Christian-led Ethiopia, which condemns the Islamist leaders as "terrorists," is fearful of having a hardline Muslim state on its doorstep.

--- Reuters is shocked that they called them terrorists. Outrageous. And what do they mean "nominally Christian-led"? First it's bad English... nominally Christian? Oh, nominally led by Christians. 60% Christian, 30% Muslim is the approximate figure, and that's nominal?

It is also anxious at possible Islamist aspirations to establish a "Greater Somalia" which would incorporate areas inhabited by ethnic Somalis such as Ethiopia's Ogaden.

--- Is it possible that the Islamists would want to ... EXPAND????

In Neutral Switzerland, A Rising Radicalism - Islamic Extremists Newly Seen as Threat
Washington Post

...As they have elsewhere in Europe, Islamic radicals are making inroads in Switzerland. Last month, Swiss officials announced the arrests of a dozen suspects who allegedly conspired to shoot down an Israeli airliner flying from Geneva to Tel Aviv. In a related case, a North African man has been charged with organizing a plot from Swiss soil to blow up the Spanish supreme court in Madrid.

--- How nice. Neutrality keeps you out of trouble right? Sure.

For years, even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Swiss officials assumed that their country was one of the last places Islamic radicals would look to attack. Long considered a slice of neutral territory in a world full of conflicts, Switzerland trades on its status as home to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other diplomatic institutions....

--- Awwwww. It couldn't have happened to a more self-righteous people.

In an intelligence report completed in May, the Swiss Federal Police reversed previous assessments that the domestic risk of terrorism was nearly nonexistent. The report concluded that Switzerland had become "a jihadi field of operation" and predicted that terrorist attacks were "an increasing possibility."...

--- When do they round up all of the Muslims and drop them in Saudi Arabia? That's the only hope for Europe.

In Sweden, another country with a long history of neutrality, prosecutors last month convened a top-secret closed trial of three terrorism suspects in the southern city of Malmo. Authorities have not identified the suspects or disclosed any evidence. But Swedish media have reported that the arrests were made at the request of British counterterrorism investigators.

In Denmark, counterterrorism authorities say they remain on high alert after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that spurred boycotts, death threats and violent protests in Islamic countries.

And in the Netherlands, the Dutch government has classified the risk of a terrorist attack as "substantial," a threat level proportionally higher than in the United States, where homeland security officials judge the risk as "elevated." The Dutch government established its threat-ranking system in November 2004, when an Islamic radical killed the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh...

--- Sigh. Why didn't we see this coming? The whole Islamic menace. I used to think they would assimilate and make nice citizens too. I guess some do. But the leaders are busy spreading Islam through violence. It makes me long for the good old days of the Cold War. Sure the Soviets were barbaric... but these Islamists are completely deranged. They brought back beheadings. Islam's contribution to the world!

An estimated 350,000 Muslims live in Switzerland, constituting about 5 percent of the population. Swiss officials said they have done a better job integrating foreigners into the population than other European countries and have fewer radical mosques and organizations.

But "we have seen early signs now of anti-Swiss propaganda on the Internet," [Jacques] Pitteloud, a former coordinator of the Swiss intelligence agencies, said. "We have our fair share of radical Islamists, there is no doubt, many of whom we don't know what to do about because many of them are refugees and we can't just kick them out."...

--- Oh well. Nice knowing you Switzerland.

July 18, 2006

Iran's Hizbollah says ready to attack US, Israel
Reuters

TEHRAN - Iran's Hizbollah, which claims links to the Lebanese group of the same name, said on Tuesday it stood ready to attack Israeli and U.S. interests worldwide.

"We have 2,000 volunteers who have registered since last year," said Iranian Hizbollah's spokesman Mojtaba Bigdeli, speaking by telephone from the central seminary city of Qom.

"They have been trained and they can become fully armed. We are ready to dispatch them to every corner of the world to jeopardise Israel and America's interests. We are only waiting for the Supreme Leader's green light to take action. If America wants to ignite World War Three ... we welcome it," he said...

--- They, Iran, already are part of the World War, whatever number you want to call it. They're emboldened because everyone is trying to appease them. We'd better take out their nukes, because they will use them. Every day they continue to get closer to da bomb. If they ever get to use one, thousands upon thousands dead. Then we drop one on Tehran.

Yeah sure. The West will never do it. Didn't we learn anything from World War II? You can't appease fascists.


Reuters calls this a "protest." Notice the picture of the White House and the caption "Islam will dominate." Will our country eventually be called "The Islamic States of Mexico"?

July 17, 2006

Bush utters expletive on Hezbollah attacks
AP

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - It wasn't meant to be overheard. Private luncheon conversations among world leaders, picked up by a microphone, provided a rare window into both banter and substance — including President Bush cursing Hezbollah's attacks against Israel.

Bush expressed his frustration with the United Nations and his disgust with the militant Islamic group and its backers in Syria as he talked to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during the closing lunch at the Group of Eight summit.

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over," Bush told Blair as he chewed on a buttered roll...

--- This is top headline world news people. Bush says s---! Big f------ deal.

The unscripted comments came during a photo opportunity at the lunch. The leaders clearly did not realize that a live microphone was picking up their discussion.

Asked about the microphone mishap during his final briefing of the summit, Blair quipped that it was "all about transparent government." He smiled and tapped the microphone in front of him...

--- I wish he accidently said "we should eradicate Hezbollah and bomb Iran's enrichment sites, goddamn motherf-----s." That would be a story.

A stickler for keeping to his schedule, Bush could also be heard telling Russian President Vladimir Putin, "We've got to keep this thing moving. I have to leave at 2:15. They want me out of town so to free up your security forces."

Bush also remarked that some speakers at the meeting talk too long.

--- Hell yeah. Read some more overheard remarks. WARNING: Satire

July 14, 2006

Quiet fear hangs over Indian Muslims after blasts
Reuters

MUMBAI - It appears like any other day in Bhendi Bazaar, one of Mumbai's predominately Muslim quarters...

--- Here we go, Reuters. The "poor Muslims" story. 200 Indians were killed, but the Muslims are being treated unfairly.

The narrow streets, lined with tea shops, sweet stalls and stores selling everything from second-hand electronics to mangoes, are bustling, but an underlying sense of tension prevails because Muslim militant are prime suspects...

--- GASP! We know, most of them are not terrorists. But what are they supposed to do? Searching for the culprits involves searching for Muslims.

But in a city wrought by Hindu-Muslim tensions over the last 15 years, with a history of riots, and bombings that have been blamed on Islamic extremists, Mumbai's Muslims fear a backlash from hard-line Hindus.

--- Uhh, I think Islamic extremists took responsibility for previous bombings; they weren't "blamed." Maybe Mumbai's Muslims should be speaking out, rather than hiding and acting like victims.

To which you'll say, "they're terrified to speak out, because Hindus might get violent against them, and if the Hindus don't the terrorists will. But they bear a responsibility to distance themselves from terrorists, as much as we should have restraint and avoid treating all Muslims as terrorists. This Reuters-enhanced victimology is no defense.

"If they are saying Muslims did it, then I am worried," says 48-year-old horologist Salim Rehman tending to a clock in the confines of his tiny, cluttered shop.

"It will incite those who do not like us and there could be trouble -- some people will want to use us as targets and for their own political gains," he adds.

Others have more practical fears, concerned they will be discriminated against in terms of getting good jobs, housing and places in schools for their children.

--- I swear, to suffer discrimination is worse than being killed by bombs. This is the argument? Those dead Indians certainly suffered discrimination of the worst kind. Killed for being infidels.

Islamic leaders say police have been too quick to point blame for the attacks and have unfairly reinforced the view that all Muslims are terrorists.

--- No, but most terrorists are Muslims, you fricking morons. Who else bombs subways these days?

"Police are just guessing about such things. We must have a thorough investigation," Maulana Jalaluddin Umri, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, told Reuters.

--- Just a totally wild guess out of thin air, that Islamic extremists are behind this. How unfair. This is why they're called Al-Reuters? Propaganda wing of Islamic Expansionism? Those jokes about bombing Al-Jazeera, and by extension perhaps Reuters... they are not just jokes. We're seriously losing the propaganda war because of these maggots.

July 13, 2006

Defiant Iran threatens to quit nuclear treaty
AFP

TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that Tehran could halt UN inspections and quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if subjected to increased pressure over its disputed nuclear programme.


"Baby you can drive my car, da da da da da, Yes I'm gonna be a star, da da da da da, Baby you can drive my car..."
The threat came Thursday just hours after world powers referred the crisis back to the Security Council for possible sanctions over a failure by Iran to respond to demands that it suspend work that could lead to the production of nuclear weapons...

--- Just buying time. Long enough to make a bomb. Because the UN is pathetic.

But on Wednesday the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany decided they had lost patience with Tehran.

"The Iranians have given no indication at all that they are ready to engage seriously on the substance of our proposals," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in a statement agreed with his colleagues from the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia and China...

--- Whoa! Watch out. The French dude is mad! And he didn't blame the Jews?

But Ahmadinejad told the world powers to "be patient and not disturb the current climate", arguing that Iran was still looking into the offer.

"We will try to conduct a positive examination (of the offer) and will give our reply at the end of Mordad," the Iranian month that ends on August 22, he was quoted as saying.

"We want to solve the problem calmly," he said, rejecting Western accusations that Iran's hardline leadership was merely trying to buy time and exploit international divisions.

--- Mahmoud may not be as smart as I thought. The West is just stupid. A French guy crying that "he's not being fair" just makes us look, well, stupid.

350 detained in Bombay blasts probe
AP

BOMBAY, India - Police on Thursday detained about 350 people for questioning in the Bombay train bombings amid suspicion that Kashmiri militants could be linked to the attacks that killed at least 200 people.

The detentions came as a man claiming to represent al-Qaida said the terror network had set up a wing in Kashmir and praised Tuesday's bombings.

A senior intelligence official said the government was taking the claim seriously and authorities were trying to trace a call the man made to a Kashmiri news service...

--- Why do I feel like I'm documenting the Apocalypse?

There have been allegations that Islamic militants fighting to wrest predominantly Muslim Kashmir from India have ties to al-Qaida, but Thursday's statement would be the first time Osama bin Laden's network claimed to have spread to Indian territory...

--- Who knows. They all have the same goals.

The purported al-Qaida member, who identified himself as Abu al-Hadeed, appealed to Indian Muslims to take up jihad and said "whosoever has carried out the attacks in Bombay we express our gratitude and happiness." It was impossible to verify his identity or his claims independently.

The train bombings "are a reaction to what is happening to the minorities, especially Muslims in India," the man said in a statement read over the phone to Kashmir's Current News Service.

"We appeal to Muslims in India to fight for freedom and Islam and choose jihad as their way to achieve freedom and establishing Islamic ways," he was quoted as saying.

The Current News Service said the man spoke in Urdu, the language of most Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, though he identified himself with an Arabic name.

"Today a unit of al-Qaida has been established in Jammu and Kashmir which shall henceforth be called al-Qaida Jammu and Kashmir," the man said. "We shall be giving out statements regularly and will soon announce our aims and objectives."

--- The guy may just be delusional. Or it may be true. We are in World War IV after all, to remind those of you who are in denial. We're only fighting half-heartedly.

Israeli warplanes attack Beirut airport
AP

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel intensified its attacks against Lebanon on Thursday, blasting Beirut's airport in its heaviest air campaign against its neighbor in 24 years. Four dozen civilians had died in the violence following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, officials said.

After warplanes punched holes in the airport's runways just south of Beirut, Israel's army chief Brig. Gen. Dan Halutz warned that "nothing is safe" in Lebanon. He said Beirut itself — particularly offices and residences of Hezbollah officials — would be a target...

Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israeli towns and said it was using a new missile that appeared to be more advanced than previous models. One Israeli was killed and at least 12 were injured...

--- Yes, Hezbollah controls parts of Lebanon and the Lebanese government is too afraid to control them. Mr. Abbas, don't you have any control over these guys? What is your function? Syria needs to be slapped around. Iran is also helping. There will never be a two state solution, because they don't want it. We've got to do something about these "militants."

July 12, 2006

Israel kills 18 in Gaza, targets Hamas commanders
Reuters

GAZA - Israel killed 18 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday including nine members of one family in an air strike that destroyed a house where top Hamas commanders were believed to be meeting.

The air raid was among a series of attacks that coincided with an armored sweep into central Gaza, as Israel broadened an offensive aimed at freeing a captured soldier and halting cross-border rocket fire.

Israel's military said the strike on a three-storey building near Gaza City wounded Mohammad Deif, leader of the governing Hamas movement's armed wing. The Hamas armed wing denied Deif had been hurt and vowed a "painful" response...

On Israel's northern border, the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed up to seven Israelis in violence further inflaming Middle East tensions.

Palestinian militant groups in Gaza and the occupied West Bank welcomed the latest abductions. Islamic Jihad activists distributed sweets to passersby in Gaza's streets to celebrate.

--- They give out candy. Nice. And they expect "the occupiers" to just sit and take it?

July 11, 2006

Up to 100 feared dead in Bombay blasts
AP

BOMBAY, India - Seven explosions hit Bombay's commuter rail network during rush hour Tuesday evening, killing as many as 100 people, the city's police chief said. Chaos engulfed the crowded rail network in India's financial capital following the blasts that ripped apart train compartments.

Doors and windows were blown off the train cars, and luggage and debris were strewn about.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for what appeared to be bombings, but the blasts came in quick succession — a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants that have repeatedly targeted India's cities.

--- My, those Islamic militants sure keep the world busy! Those hijackers of such a peaceful religion!

Notice how today's 7/11, a mishmash of 9/11 and 7/7? Spain was 3/11. These bastards think they're funny.

At least 8 dead in Kashmir grenade attacks
AP

SRINAGAR, India - A series of grenade attacks killed eight people and wounded more than two dozen in the main city of Indian Kashmir on Tuesday as Islamic militants pressed their fight against New Delhi's rule over the Himalayan region, police said.

Two of the five attacks targeted the region's vital tourism industry and killed at least seven visitors from other parts of India.

The attacks came as violence surges in Kashmir despite peace efforts between India and Pakistan, which both claim all of the predominantly Muslim region that is divided between them.

The deadliest single attack Tuesday took place when suspected militants tossed a grenade into a minibus carrying Indian tourists through Srinagar, the summer capital of India's part of Kashmir, said police officer Farooq Ahmed.

Five of the tourists, including four women, were killed in the blast and two later succumbed to their wounds while being treated at a hospital, he said. Another 12 people were wounded.

--- Well, after all, the honor of Allah is at stake. So a few tourists were killed, they were infidels anyway! That's how they see it.

Russians hail death of 'our bin Laden'
AP

MOSCOW - Russia's defense minister on Tuesday hailed the killing of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev as a just retribution to "our bin Laden," but said his death doesn't mean an end to the fight against rebels.

Speaking on a trip to the Chechen capital of Grozny, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov compared Basayev to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and said he was the last of a string of Chechen rebel leaders who had initiated a separatist drive for the Caucasus Mountains region nearly 15 years ago...

--- Rebels, yeah. Muslims. Kill infidels. Period.

Basayev, the ruthless warlord who orchestrated Russia's worst terrorist attacks, including the bloody 2004 Beslan school siege, was killed Monday when a dynamite-laden truck in his convoy exploded in Ingushetia, a Russian province west of Chechnya...


I used to eat kids for breakfast, but now I'm toast
He terrorized Russia with savage attacks that observed no limits — targeting hospitals, a theater and, in his most infamous plot, schoolchildren in the southern Russian city of Beslan.

The September 2004 attack on School No. 1 in Beslan shocked Russia and divided the rebel movement because civilians, including women and children, were taken hostage. There were 331 children killed in the siege.

The June 1995 attack on a hospital in the southern Russian town of Budyonnovsk, in which some 1,000 people were taken hostage and about 100 killed, was Basayev's first major terror attack. Dozens more were killed when Russian troops unsuccessfully stormed the hospital.

--- Oooh what a big man. Killing sick people and little kids. Really tough. Good riddance. Russia's not like a decadent European postmodern fluffypuff country. They won't give an inch.

July 7, 2006

Report: FBI Used Web to Break Up NYC Terror Plot
Fox News

WASHINGTON — FBI agents disrupted a terrorist plot to attack New York City's transportation system after monitoring Internet chat rooms used by foreign extremists, law enforcement officials said Friday.

FOXNews has learned that the main target of the plot was the heavily-traveled underground PATH train system that connects lower Manhattan and New Jersey's suburban communities. The system carries more than 215,000 commuters daily.

--- We will continue to be relentless, and hopefully a little more brutal. Within reason of course.

"We have disrupted a terrorist network that was in the planning stages of an attack," said a statement released jointly at midmorning by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. The statement said the investigation "ongoing."

The plot was intended to several of the city's vital transportation networks and strike a blow at the city's economy, possibly by flooding the Wall Street Financial District, one official said...

FBI and DHS said in their statement that "a significant development in this investigation was the arrest of a key suspect by Lebanese authorities."

One of the alleged plotters was arrested a month ago by Lebanon authorities at the request of U.S. law enforcement agencies, one Lebanese security official said. The suspect is identified as Amir Andalousli, the other official said. But the Lebanese security official said his real name is as Assem Hammoud, and that the native of Beirut admitted to the plot.

--- I hope they tortured him. He'll make the claim anyway. Sic him Dick!


Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Londoners mourn victims of 2005 bombings
AP

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair, police and survivors bowed their heads for a nationwide two-minute silence Friday commemorating the anniversary of suicide bombings on London's mass-transit system that killed 52 people and wounded more than 700.

Makeshift shrines and piles of roses and daisies adorned the front of the Kings Cross rail station, one of the sites of the July 7, 2005, coordinated attacks on three subway trains and a bus. Mourners started laying the first flowers at 8:50 a.m., the exact time of the first attack.

Tim O'Toole, the London Underground managing director, laid a wreath with a note reading, "We will never forget. We shall continue to serve."...



"This is a time when our country unites across all races, religions and divides and stands in solidarity with all those who have suffered so much, in sympathy with them and in defense of the values which we share," Blair said.

"It is also an opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary efforts of our emergency services, transport staff, health workers and members of the public, whose courage, professionalism and humanity won the admiration of the world."

--- We stand with you Tony!

July 5, 2006

Israelis to step up Gaza ground offensive
AP

JERUSALEM - Israeli leaders on Wednesday authorized troops to move into residential areas of the Gaza Strip — ratcheting up pressure on Hamas after militants fired a long-range rocket into the heart of the Israeli city of Ashkelon.

The Security Cabinet's decision to step up the ground offensive in Gaza indicated that Israel could be prepared to partially reoccupy the coastal strip less than a year after withdrawing all troops and settlements from the area...

--- I never understood why they got out of Gaza in the first place. Obviously it stopped the violence, not.

Israel occupied a small strip of southern Lebanon for 18 years before withdrawing in 2000. A similar occupation in northern Gaza could risk bloody street battles if the zone were extended beyond abandoned former settlements along the border to include Palestinian towns Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun.

--- Oh no, if they reoccupy, there might be more violence. Uhhhhh. You know, this foolish mentality is part of the reason that Muslims are signing up to become suicide bombers worldwide. It works! Israel and the US are the only countries who really take a stand. Mostly Israel actually; what the hell are we doing? Appeasing Iran and ignoring Somalia, and well, Iraq is a mess. I still support the Iraq mission, but what the hell. Oh yeah, Great Britain and Australia are alright too. And several other countries, but I'm talking like those who are at the forefront. Oh and Russia now too, now that they had hostages killed in Iraq (after all they did for Saddam!)

Israel launched its offensive into Gaza last week after Palestinian militants kidnapped Shalit during an attack on a military outpost. The army has been operating in Gaza, but has avoided sending troops into the strip's dense cities. The rocket attack on Ashkelon changed the equation.

Before Wednesday's ministerial meeting, Israeli aircraft targeted the Palestinian Interior Ministry for the second time in a week, the military said. Witnesses said missiles hit the main structure and damaged a building next to the ministry. Rescue workers said five people were wounded.

The two top floors of the main building collapsed, and the second building, which provides housing for ministry employees, was set on fire, witnesses said.

Israeli aircraft also fired missiles at a Hamas camp in southern Gaza and a Hamas-affiliated school in Gaza City, and shelled open areas in the north.

--- I'm shocked that Israel has the gall to defend itself. They should bend over like Europe and take it like real cowards.

2 Somalis killed for watching World Cup
AP

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Radical Islamic militia fighters in Somalia shot and killed two people who were watching a banned World Cup soccer broadcast, a radio station reported Wednesday.

The hard-line Muslim fighters, who have banned watching television, opened fire after a crowd of teenagers defied their orders to leave a hall where a businessman was showing Tuesday's Germany-Italy match on satellite television, according to Shabelle Radio, an independent local station. It said the businessman and a teenage girl were killed.

Hard-line Muslim fighters, who wrested control of the Somali capital from warlords in June, have forbidden people from watching television or movies in line with their strict interpretation of Islam.

--- GODDAMNED THUGS. Hello, Mr. Bush?? Either with us or against us? Remember? Anybody going to do anything, at least verbally? Al-Qaeda hot spot! Bin Laden keeps talking about Somalia. We're too busy bribing Iran and worrying about psycho Kim Jong Il... They killed a TEENAGE girl for watching soccer. Anybody out there??

June 29, 2006

Supreme Court Blocks Guantanamo Bay War-Crimes Trials
AP

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court delivered a blow to the Bush administration's anti-terror policies Thursday when it ruled that the president was out of line when he ordered military war-crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees who have not been declared prisoners of war.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the opinion, which said the proposed trials were illegal under U.S. law and Geneva conventions.

A huge question in this case was whether the Geneva Conventions applied to prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. The Bush administration argued that these detainees were not prisoners of war and therefore, not eligible to treatment under the Geneva agreement.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a strongly worded dissent, saying the court's decision would "sorely hamper the president's ability to confront and defeat a new and deadly enemy."

The court's willingness, Thomas said, "to second-guess the determination of the political branches that these conspirators must be brought to justice is both unprecedented and dangerous."...

Ret. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, who just returned from Guantanamo Bay, said every government branch needs to be on the same page as to how to deal with terror suspect in the United States.

"the American people and the Supreme Court and the rest of people in the enlightened world ... have to decide for themselves, are we in a state of war or are we not in a state of war?" Scales said. "The enemy is using our confusion about the conditions in the world today to their advantage and ultimately, we're going to end up with innocent dead in Europe, the United States and elsewhere in the world."

--- This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

- T. S. Eliot, The Hollow Men.

June 28, 2006

Somali Islamists extend olive branch to Washington
AFP

MOGADISHU - The supreme leader of Somalia's Islamic courts union, which has seized control of Mogadishu from a US-backed warlord alliance, said he was ready to work with arch-foe the United States but demanded it respect the sovereignty of the African nation.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a hardline cleric designated a terrorist by the United States for suspected links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, also criticized Washington for supporting warlords in their battle with Islamic militia.


Terrorist? Or a computer science professor with an orange beard?
"We are ready for partnership with the Americans. We would like to work with them if they respect us and stop interfering with Somali internal affairs," Aweys told AFP by telephone from central Somalia's Galgudud region.

"America should know that all people are equal and that no one has a right to dictate policies to others, including how to administer a nation. It is our right to impose the laws that we want to govern our country. If we follow Sharia law, it is not America's problem," added Aweys who is the head of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts (CIC).

"I am not against the US or any other country, but I will prioritize the interest of Somalia, the guidance of Allah and His commands," he added.

--- We're supposed to believe this guy? How can we trust this cheerleader for sharia, especially when he dies his beard orange. I mean really.

Iraq captures alleged Shiite shrine bomber
AFP

BAGHDAD - Iraq has said it has captured a Tunisian Al-Qaeda militant allegedly behind the February bombing of a revered Shiite shrine that unleashed a massive wave of sectarian violence...

Iraqi national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said "we managed to capture Abu Qudama al-Tunisi, a Tunisian, recently and he has taken an active part in blowing up the Golden mosque."...

--- Good, you caught the bastard. Honestly, how can these supposedly religious thugs blow up mosques?

Rubaie said the mastermind of the Samarra attack, Iraqi Haitham al-Badri, was linked to the previous regime before joining Ansar as-Sunna and ultimately Al-Qaeda. He said Badri remains at large.

Badri led a cell that included Abu Qudama, four Saudi nationals and another Iraqi, Rubaie said...

Badri was personally responsible for the killing of an Iraqi female journalist and two members of her crew working for Dubai's Al-Arabiya television who had gone to Samarra to cover the bombing of the Askari and Hadi mosque and shrine on February 22.

--- But the master bastard is still at large. He won't last long.

Court quashes Britain's anti-terrorism orders
Reuters

LONDON - Britain's High Court ruled on Wednesday that "control orders" confining six terrorism suspects to partial house arrest breached their human rights, throwing out a key plank of Prime Minister Tony Blair's security policy.

--- Breached their human rights. Sure.

Under the orders, terrorism suspects who have not been charged with a crime have been electronically tagged, confined to their houses for most of the day and banned from using computers and phones or meeting people without permission.

--- How horrific! They can't use their cell phones!!

"The six control orders are incompatible with the respondents' right to liberty under article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights," said Justice Jeremy Sullivan.

--- Goddammit, screw the rest of Europe. They're finished anyway. Well, some of Europe anyway.

"It follows that the Secretary of State had no power to make the orders and they must therefore all be quashed."

--- Your ass oughta be quashed when they blow you to bits.

Under the European Convention, a country may not deprive people of their liberty without trial unless the country first declares an emergency and "derogates" from the convention, ordering the suspension of basic rights.

Blair's 2005 law would allow the government to derogate from the convention in an emergency, but the government has not declared one, arguing that its partial house arrest powers do not amount to depriving suspects of their liberty.

Lawyer Natalia Garcia, who represents two of the six suspects, said the judge's ruling showed that the government had attempted "derogation by sleight of hand."

"What they have done is to impose conditions of such draconian severity as to be a deprivation of liberty."

"It is heartening that courts will still act as a check against the government when it seeks to ride roughshod over basic human rights and civil liberties," she said.

--- Lawyer scum. Draconian severity? I need a drink.

9 await honor-killing sentence in Denmark
AP

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - A court in Denmark was expected Wednesday to sentence nine people convicted of murder or accessory to murder in the killing of a 19-year-old woman gunned down by her older brother two days after her wedding because her Pakistani family disapproved of her choice of husband.

--- I don't know Denmark. You are not following Allah's will.

On Tuesday, a 12-member jury returned guilty verdicts against the nine, all family members or friends, for the murder of Ghazala Khan.

Khan, who was born in Denmark, was shot and killed Sept. 23 in Slagelse, 62 miles west of Copenhagen, two days after her wedding. Her husband was shot twice in the stomach but survived.

At least two people — Khan's older brother and her father — face the maximum sentence of life imprisonment, which under Danish law is automatically commuted to 16 years...

--- That's an interesting line. Life imprisonment is automatically commuted to 16 years in Denmark?

The trial, which began in May, has highlighted disparate views on marriage between some immigrants and Danes in this country of 5.4 million people...

--- Now that's the understatement of the year!

June 26, 2006

Saddam thinks U.S. will beg for his help
AP

AMMAN, Jordan - Saddam Hussein believes the United States will have to seek his help to quell the bloody insurgency in Iraq and open the way for U.S. forces to withdraw, his chief lawyer said Sunday.

Khalil al-Dulaimi argued in an interview with The Associated Press that the former leader is the key to returning stability to Iraq.

"He's their last resort. They're going to knock at his door eventually," the lawyer said. Saddam is "the only person who can stop the resistance against the U.S. troops."...

--- I just spit out my coffee, which I've been drinking out of my "Neocon Conspirator" coffee mug, all over the monitor because I laughed so hard!

Al-Dulaimi said Saddam brought up the topic during a meeting Tuesday, and indicated he would be willing to help the United States — "for the sake of saving both peoples — the Iraqis and Americans."

He quoted Saddam as saying:

"These puppets in the Iraqi government that the Americans brought to power are helpless. They can't protect themselves or the Iraqi people. The Americans will certainly come to me, to Saddam Hussein's legitimate leadership and to the Iraqi Baath Party, to rescue them from their huge quandary."

--- What a bozo. No thanks there buddy. Is anybody monitoring his medication?

When Saddam mentioned he expected the Americans to seek his help, al-Dulaimi said he asked the former leader if he would really be willing to help the country who toppled him from power.

Saddam replied that he would, said al-Dulaimi, a Sunni who considers Saddam to remain Iraq's legitimate president.

"We will do that for the sake of preventing more bloodshed, for the liberty of all Iraqis," al-Dulaimi quoted Saddam as saying.

--- Isn't he sweet? He cares about the liberty of the Iraqis. Uncle Saddam, tell me the story about how you invented the internet again...


Me. Me. Me me me me me, me me me, me me; me me me me! Me? Me!

June 23, 2006

Seven Indicted for Alleged Terror Plot to Hit Sears Tower, Other Buildings
Fox News

...The men — five of whom are American citizens — along with others yet unknown, set out to "combine, conspire, confederate, and agree to provide material support and resources" to Al Qaeda "by agreeing to provide personnel, including themselves, to work under Al Qaeda's direction and control, knowing that Al Qaeda has engaged or engages in terrorist activity," according to a four-count indictment handed up Thursday against the seven men...

--- The other part of the story; at least one was a "temporary guest worker," or pick your euphemism.

During a press conference later in Miami, Jonathan Solomon, FBI special agent in charge of the Miami office, stressed that the indictment is against individuals, "it is not an indictment against any religion or segments of our community."

Is that a preemptive strike? I'm sure lefties are gonna scream racism and Islamophobia. These guys are lucky to be black.


Patsies for the racist neocon warlord cabal who are taking over the world and are just pretending that these guys are terrorists to boost support for the Bush-Cheney junta, or something

Teen: I'll marry man I met on MySpace.com
AP

GILFORD, Mich. - A teenager who flew to the Middle East to be with a man she met on MySpace.com said Friday she intends to marry him.

"I love him very much," 17-year-old Katherine Lester said of Abdullah Jimzawi, 20, who works in his father's business delivering goods to West Bank convenience stores.

Lester appeared on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" with her father and stepmother. Jimzawi also spoke with ABC during a taped portion of the segment, describing how the pair "can't live without each other."

--- Remember when you were 17 and you thought you were in love? With someone you've never met? Why does "Good Morning America" care? Because he's a Palestinian?

After hearing what Jimzawi said, Lester began weeping.

"It's true," she said. "I love you. That's all I can say."

The two first encountered each other about seven months ago on the social networking web site but have never met face to face.

--- How incredibly naive. And ABC just has to exploit it. But it gets more... deranged...

Lester, who turned 17 on Wednesday, was en route to Israel earlier this month when she was intercepted in Jordan by U.S. authorities who seized her passport and put her on a flight back to the United States.

Jimzawi has told The Associated Press that the two planned to marry and that Lester planned to convert to Islam. Lester, a Christian, declined to say Friday whether she intended to convert...

--- Uhhhh. More naivete. Let's see what her parents think.

"Our initial reaction was to isolate her, to lock her up and just keep her safe here in America," said her father, Terry Lester. "But that's unrealistic because you can see the love they have for each other."

--- You can see the whaaaaattt??? The love they have for each other?? There are some serious emotional problems in this family.

Authorities filed a runaway juvenile petition against Lester earlier this week, and a judge ordered her to give up her passport and undergo counseling. If the judge finds that Lester was a runaway, she could be placed under court supervision until she turns 18.

--- Yeah, counseling might just help. I think dad should get the most. ABC has no shame.

7 men charged in alleged U.S. terror plot
AP

WASHINGTON - A group of young men seized in a Miami warehouse have been charged in a federal indictment with conspiring with al-Qaida to "levy war against the United States" by committing acts of violence including blowing up Chicago's Sears Tower...

--- They keep trying. Too bad guys, but we will destroy you, just like the Nazis and the Communists.

According to the indictment handed up Thursday, a young man identified as Narseal Batiste, beginning in November 2005, recruited and trained the others "for a mission to wage war against the United States government," including a plot to destroy the Sears Tower.

To obtain money and support for their mission, the conspirators sought help from al-Qaida, pledged an oath to the terrorist organization and supported an al-Qaida plot to destroy FBI buildings, the four-count indictment charged.

--- You idiots think we're stupid. We infidels are smarter and tougher than you think.

Batiste met several times in December 2005 with a person purporting to be an al-Qaida member and asked for boots, uniforms, machine guns, radios, vehicles and $50,000 in cash to help him build an "'Islamic Army' to wage jihad'," the indictment said. It said that Batiste said he would use his "soldiers" to destroy the Sears Tower.

--- Islamic army. Sure. Scumbag.

In February 2006, it said, Batiste told the "al-Qaida representative" that he and his five soldiers wanted to attend al-Qaida training and planned a "full ground war" against the United States in order to "kill all the devils we can." His mission would "be just as good or greater than 9/11," the indictment accused Batiste of boasting...

--- Except he was talking to a spook. Not a very bright soldier of Allah.

In addition to Batiste and Augustin the defendants were identified as Patrick Abraham, or "Brother Pat"; Stanley Grant Phanor, or "Brother Sunni"; Naudimar Herrera or "Brother Naudy"; Lyglenson Lemorin, also known as "Brother Levi" or Brother Levi-El"; and Rotschild Augustine, or "Brother Rot."...

--- Oh brother. How pathetic. I can't wait till they release their pictures.

Of course, now I get it. They're patsies set up by Karl Rove in order to prop up the unpopular neocon cabal that is taking over the world by waging "terrorism" against anyone who dares to mess with Dick Cheney's personal oil supply. Obviously.

UPDATE: The Reuters version of the story ends with the following paragraph.

It was unclear what impact if any the arrests might have on public opinion ahead of mid-term congressional elections in November, and amid a deep slump in President George W. Bush's popularity and in public support for the Iraq war.

--- Thank you Reuters for the self-parody! It's all about approval ratings... and Dick Cheney's oil.

June 22, 2006</