Thursday - October 20, 2005
The Arab “Street”
Here is an interesting cross-section of the trial of Saddam Hussein from the “Arab Street”. It looks like they each remember what they want to remember about ol’ Sod-Boy ... in spite of the facts ...
Arabs Still Divided Over Saddam’s Legacy
CAIRO, Egypt (AP)
To some, he is a wrongly accused Arab hero. To others, he is the embodiment of evil at last facing justice. As Saddam stood in the dock accused of murder and torture, one thing was clear: The former Iraqi leader can still rile emotions and cause division in this region forever changed by his 23 years of brutal rule.
Anyone in the Mideast within range of a television or a newspaper found the trial’s opening day hard to ignore Wednesday. The big satellite channels, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, broadcast the hearing from start to stop. The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat splashed it on its front page: “The trial of the 21st century.”
Those with a personal history were especially engrossed, particularly Iraqi exiles in neighboring Jordan and also Kuwaitis, who knew Saddam’s iron fist through his seven months of occupation before the first Gulf War. Their voices rang out in vengeance. “Saddam killed my uncle and my cousins. ... God willing, he will be executed,” said one, Mohamed Aziz, a 23-year-old Iraqi Shiite from Nasiriyah, now living in Jordan.
Another, Wadha al-Abduljader, a 48-year-old homemaker in Kuwait, said: “I hope before they execute him, they bring him to Kuwait, put him in a cage and drive him around so that we can hit him with shoes.” That is the ultimate Arab insult.
But opinions cut the other way, too. One former Iraqi soldier who went to Jordan two years ago looking for work, Mohammed Ali Kadhem, called the trial illegitimate and futile. “Saddam Hussein is not a criminal. He is a hero. I hope he will be acquitted and return to power,” he said. Khaled Abdul-Khader, a 40-year-old taxi driver in Amman, the Jordanian capital, also called Saddam a great hero. “He’s the only one who hit Israel. He’s the only one who said ‘No’ to America.”
In Israel, where Saddam fired 39 Scud missiles during the first Gulf War, the trial was viewed with obvious satisfaction and a look forward to what might happen to other Arab dictators. “I’m sure it will provide food for thought in Damascus. ... I’m sure (Syrian President Bashar) Assad is watching in trepidation,” said one Israeli, Yuval Steinitz, the chairman of the Israeli parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee.
But elsewhere, Palestinians, whose uprising against Israel had Saddam’s full support, mourned the Iraqi leader as a fallen savior. “He supported the martyrs’ (suicide bombers’) families and he helped many students in Palestine,” said one, Wael Naser, a 42-year-old Gaza vegetable-shop owner. Another, 32-year-old Palestinian taxi driver Saed Souror, was more ambivalent about Saddam but still strongly against his trial.
“I am not a Saddam supporter,” Souror said. “But I am against this trial because it came upon American orders. If Saddam was a murderer, what can we call the American acts there?” For their part, Iranians remembered the death and destruction they suffered after Saddam invaded their country in 1980, setting in motion a war that bled both nations for eight years.
- Go Read The Rest ...
Posted by The Skipper on 10/20/2005 at 07:46 AM
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Friday - October 14, 2005
Advice For Kings
Here’s our advice to King Abdullah: I don’t know about that “driving” thing, Chief. I mean hey, look at all the really bad women drivers we have to put up with over here. I haven’t met a broad yet who could parallel park to save her life ... and don’t even ask one of those hare-brained dames to read a road map properly or know how to use a turn signal. Don’t even get me started on the lame-brained females applying makeup while they drive. Damn!
Next thing you know, they’ll start speaking before they are spoken to and insisting on the right to vote. Before you know it the ditzy broads will be lining up for bikini wax jobs, protesting for equal wages and just generally stinking up the whole joint. You’re much better off to lock the dames in the kitchen - keep ‘em barefoot and pregnant and you can’t go wrong.
-- the preceding message was brought to you by Male Chauvinist Pigs Anonymous (MCPA) .. the Skipper had nothing to do with it!
Saudis: We May Eventually Let Women Drive
CAIRO, Egypt (AP)
The king of Saudi Arabia says women may eventually be allowed to drive in the kingdom. Saudi Arabia will fight the “madness” of Islamic terrorism for 30 years if necessary, but it will expand the rights of women and eventually allow them to drive, Saudi King Abdullah has told an American TV channel. In an interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters, the king denied assertions that his government finances schools that teach a fundamentalist philosophy of Islam which can lead to militancy.
Saudi Arabia “will fight the terrorists, and those who support them or condone their actions, for 10, 20 or 30 years if we have to, until we eliminate this scourge,” the king said, according to an ABC report of the interview which is due to be broadcast on Friday night. When asked why groups such as al-Qaida, the terror network led by the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, had taken root in the kingdom, the king replied: “Madness and evil, it is the work of the devil.” Foreign observers and liberal Saudis have long contended that the way Islam is taught in Saudi schools encourages attitudes that may lead students to become terrorists later.
“For those who level these charges against us, I say provide us with the evidence that this is happening and we will deal with it,” the king said. “It is not logical or rational for us to be supporting it. “We have also regulated our charities and we have closed offices around the world, and we have withdrawn support for institutions that we found to be extremist,” he added. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the kingdom took steps to prevent money collected by Islamic charities from being diverted to terrorist groups.
The kingdom was initially faulted for being slow to clamp down on militants and their financing, but it drastically stepped up its measures after al-Qaida-linked groups launched a series of terror attacks on Saudi soil in May 2003. Abdullah, who became king on the death of his half-brother Fahd in August, told ABC that he was committed to increasing the rights of Saudi women, who are currently not permitted to drive cars and who need a male relative’s permission to travel abroad or attend university. “I believe the day will come when women drive,” he said. “In fact, if you look at the areas in Saudi Arabia, the deserts and in the rural areas, you will find that women do drive.
Driving licenses for women “will require patience. In time, I believe it will be possible,” the king said in the ABC report, which was posted on the Internet. But when pressed on whether he would legalize female driving, Abdullah indicated Saudi men were too conservative for such a step any time soon. “I value and take care of my people as I would my eyes ... I respect my people,” he said.
Posted by The Skipper on 10/14/2005 at 12:09 PM
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Wednesday - October 12, 2005
Strike Fear In Their Hearts
“En Garde” from Cox & Forkum
Posted by The Skipper on 10/12/2005 at 07:40 AM
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Suspicious Suicide
Hmmmmmm ... Syria’s Interior Minister supposedly “commits suicide” just days before a UN report on Syria’s possible involvement in the assassination of a former Lebanese Prime Minister is due out? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what is going on here. Kanaan was obviously ordered to fall on his sword. Althouogh, I fail to see what harm a UN investigation might cause since the asshats at the UN couldn’t find a criminal act if their lives depended on it, especially if it involved a fine, upstanding country like Syria (pardon my dripping sarcasm over that last part) ...
Syrian Minister ‘Commits Suicide’
DAMASCUS (BBC)
Syria’s interior minister Ghazi Kanaan has committed suicide, the official news agency in Damascus says. He was reportedly questioned by a UN investigator last month over the murder of ex-Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. For many years Kanaan was Syria’s powerful intelligence chief in Lebanon, which was dominated by Syria until its military withdrawal earlier this year.
He returned to Damascus in 2002 as political intelligence chief and joined the cabinet in 2004. The United States froze his assets there in July saying he had aided terrorism in Lebanon. “Interior Minister Brig Gen Ghazi Kanaan committed suicide in his office before noon,” the Syrian Arab News Agency reported. The authorities are carrying out the “necessary investigation” into the incident, Sana reported.
The UN report on Hariri’s assassination is expected to be published before the end of October. Correspondents say it is likely to implicate Syria’s intelligence regime in Lebanon in the bombing, that killed 20 people in central Beirut in February.
Posted by The Skipper on 10/12/2005 at 07:05 AM
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Monday - October 10, 2005
CENTCOM Briefing
The recent earthquake in Pakistan that killed over 30,000 people has devastated that country. Now help is arriving from an unexpected quarter. Unexpected, that is, if you are an America-basher (I’m not naming names here but France, Germany, Russia, Iran, Syria and a few others come to mind). In the history of the world, how many standing armies would continue to fight a war against a deadly determined enemy with one hand and with the other extend aid, support, supplies and needed humanitarian assistance to a country close by which is full of people who hate the country the army came from? Answer: never before.
But that’s America. We aren’t over there just to kill people. We’re there to kill bad people. The rest of the population can expect a helping hand and any assistance we can offer in their time of need.
To all of the Muslims around the world and especially in the Middle East, I have only this to say: This is what we are and we aren’t going to change - our troops are the finest people in uniform today. Even now, there are thousands of American troops shuttling supplies to the stricken region and airlifting Pakistani troops into isolated regions to bring medical help and food as well as help dig out the survivors. What are Osama bin Laden and his murderous Al Qaeda thugs doing to help the stricken people of Pakistan? Absolutely nothing. They know only how to murder and destroy. America offers friendship and a helping hand. The choice is yours: death and destruction from Osama .. or .. friendship and assistance from America. Choose wisely ...
October 10, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-32
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FIRST U.S. HUMANITARIAN AIRLIFT REACHES ISLAMABAD
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A United States Air Force C-17 delivered the first relief supplies here within 48 hours of the devastating earthquake that has left thousands dead and thousands more injured and displaced.
The aircraft and its crew from the 7th Airlift Squadron, McChord Air Force Base, Wash., delivered 12 pallets—weighing almost 90,000 pounds—of food, water, medicine and blankets from Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan.
With only a few hours notice, Airmen and soldiers at Bagram, successfully worked to palletize the humanitarian relief supplies and prepare them for the flight. Three aerial port specialists were also on the flight to coordinate and manage the cargo once it arrived at Islamabad.
“This was a total team effort,” said Col. Mike Isherwood, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Vice Commander. “Our hearts go out to all those affected by the earthquake and we are thankful we were able to help out.”
Pakistan Army Brig. Gen. Imtiaz Sherazi, director of logistics, is coordinating the relief efforts as supplies arrive and ensuring rapid distribution of assistance to areas that need it most.
Said General Sherazi, “These items are very valuable to us because there are lots of people in great distress.”
As relief efforts are ongoing worldwide, United States Central Command will continue to identify and provide additional capabilities for airborne reconnaissance, heavy lift ground equipment, medical support, shelters, rations and water to aid and assist the people of Pakistan.
October 9, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-30
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STATEMENT FROM THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ON THE SOUTH ASIAN EARTHQUAKE
“On behalf of the men and women of the Department of Defense, I express my condolences to those affected by the earthquake in South Asia.
“The Department of Defense is working closely with the State Department, and affected governments, to provide assistance to ease the suffering and assist in search and rescue operations.
“General John Abizaid, the Commander of the United States Central Command, and others have been in touch with military officials in Pakistan, and is moving five CH-47 and three UH-60 helicopters into Pakistan immediately.
“Additional capabilities for airborne reconnaissance, heavy lift ground equipment, and medical support are being identified and dispatched from within the Central Command region.
“Today, I will designate a dedicated Task Force commander in the region to work with the affected governments, to help assess their needs, and to draw on U.S. military capabilities from inside or outside the affected region as may be available and required.
October 9, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-29
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION SENDS HELICOPTER SUPPORT TO ASSIST PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY
KABUL , Afghanistan - At the request of the Pakistan Government, Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan will send U.S. Army helicopters and support personnel to assist with emergency recovery operations due to the earthquake in Pakistan
Following Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s statement of support for relief, recovery and rescue operations, five CH-47 Chinook helicopters and three UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters with their associated crews should arrive Monday. They will provide rescue, recovery and logistics assistance.
CFC-A is in contact with the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad to provide planning assistance and technical guidance as required.
This support will not degrade the Coalition’s operations in the Global War on Terror.
(-- thanks to SPC Flowers at CENTCOM for keeping us up to date)
Posted by The Skipper on 10/10/2005 at 05:13 PM
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Monday - October 03, 2005
Be Gone Wth Thee, Pig
Toy pigs must go at council
ExpressAndStar
Novelty pig calendars and toys have been banned by bosses at Dudley Council in case Muslim staff are offended.
Workers in the council’s benefits department have been told to remove or cover up all pig products including toys, porcelain, calendars and even a tissue box featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.
It comes after a Muslim worker said they were offended by pig-shaped stress relievers delivered to the authority.
Muslims are forbidden from eating pork in the Koran and staff were asked to remove the items.
The partner of one of the members of staff in the Ednam Road department, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s caused a bit of an atmosphere in the office. The staff did comply but it’s just crazy - things like ornaments that have been on desks for years have had to be removed.”
Head of finance at the council Mike Williams, who is responsible for the department, said the member of staff said they were offended by the products in the run up to the Islamic festival of Ramadan.
He said a decision will be taken after the festival ends about whether the items are allowed back.
Asked what reason the member of staff gave in making the request for their removal, he said it “did not matter why it was considered offensive”.
He acknowledged that some members of the department had seen it as “political correctness gone barmy”.
Councillor Mahbubur Rahman, a practicing Muslim, said he agreed with the action taken.
“If it is a request made by an individual and other officers can reason a comprimise it is a good thing, it is a tolerance and acceptance of their beliefs and understanding,” he said.
“But if it were a blanket ban I don’t know how it would benefit the whole issue of working together.”
Posted by Drew458 on 10/03/2005 at 10:23 AM
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Sunday - October 02, 2005
Message From God
Memo To All Muslims in Europe and North Africa: God is currently deciding whether you have been good or bad. Tomorrow morning He will render His verdict. If He decides you have been bad, He will blot out the Sun and darkness will descend on the Earth. Night will fall in the middle of the day and the Unholy Spawn Of Satan will come up from Hades to kidnap your children and blight your crops during the darkness ....
(Hey! If Pat Robertson can get away with spouting this kind of crap then so can I! Besides, they might actually believe it!)
Rare Eclipse to Appear Over Europe, Africa
LISBON (AP)
A rare and spectacular type of eclipse will dim the morning sky across a strip of southwestern Europe and eight African countries Monday. During the event, called an annular eclipse, the moon will mask the sun like a black plate, leaving a bright, fiery rim. The moon will be too small to blot out the sun completely, as in a total eclipse, because its elliptical orbit has taken it too far from the earth. However, scientists say the daylight will fade and temperatures will drop slightly as the eclipse travels along a narrow band girdling almost half the planet.
The rim of fire that appears around the moon glows brighter than the corona which is seen during a total eclipse. “It’s quite spectacular,” said Dr. Stephen Maran, an astronomer with the American Astrological Society in Washington DC. “I wouldn’t miss it if I was over there, because it’s rare,” Maran said by telephone. The eclipse’s three-and-a-half-hour path first traverses Portugal and Spain, including the capital, Madrid. The Iberian peninsula hasn’t witnessed an annular eclipse since 1912 and won’t see another one until 2028.
The eclipse’s narrow corridor will also travel across mostly deserted parts of Africa, encompassing Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Outside that band, a partial eclipse will be visible through protective eyewear over most of Europe, the Middle East, India and a large chunk of Africa, though some cloud cover is forecast on that continent. Authorities are reminding the public to avoid looking at the sun without eye protection.
In Spain, where the event has stirred keen anticipation, opticians selling 1 million special protective glasses at $3.70 each said Friday they had virtually sold out. In Portugal, the General Directorate for Health was distributing free glasses with daily papers. The annular eclipse starts over the North Atlantic at 0841 GMT. It quickly tracks southeast, crossing the Iberian peninsula. At 0856 GMT, the eclipse will blanket Madrid for 4 minutes, 11 seconds.
It then crosses the Mediterranean into North Africa, covering the Algerian capital, Algiers. At 1031 GMT central Sudan will experience the event’s longest eclipse, lasting 4 minutes, 31 seconds. The eclipse passes over the coast of southern Somalia at 1110 GMT and concludes at sunset over the Indian Ocean at 1220 GMT.
Posted by The Skipper on 10/02/2005 at 10:33 AM
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Tuesday - September 27, 2005
Bill Clinton’s War
Forget the war in Iraq. What about the one Bill Clinton carried out on Yugoslavia? I don’t remember anyone protesting Slick Willy’s little excursion into that mess and nobody sure as hell is paying attention to what is going on over there, after US and NATO troops smacked down the Christians and gave Kosovo back to the Muslims. Would you like to know what happens when a country is over-run by members of the Religion Of Peace? This was Bill Clinton’s little war and this is his legacy ....
Ex-Security Chief Blows Whistle on UN’s Kosovo Mission
(CNS NEWS)
Following five years of United Nations control and billions of dollars of international aid, Kosovo is a lawless region “owned” by the Albanian mafia, characterized by continuing ethnic cleansing and subject to increasing infiltration by al Qaeda-linked Muslim jihadists. The U.N.’s repeated failure to act on received intelligence has allowed illegal paramilitary groups to flourish and engage in terrorist attacks aimed at destabilizing regional governments in the Balkans, said Thomas Gambill, a former security chief with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), self-described as the world’s largest regional security agency.
Gambill was responsible for overseeing the eastern region of Gjilane in Kosovo from 1999 until 2004 under the authority of the U.N. His criticism comes as the United Nations prepares to launch final status talks on the troubled province ofKosovo , which has been a U.N. protectorate since North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces bombed Yugoslavia between March and May of 1999 to compel the Serb-dominated government of Slobodan Milosovic to withdraw its forces fromKosovo. The U.S. mission in Kosovo alone cost $5.2 billion between June 1999 and the end of 2001, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The NATO bombings were also launched in response to reports of large-scale ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians by the Serbs. But as soon as the bombing campaign ended, ferocious, retaliatory ethnic cleansing allegedly took place with Albanians, who are predominantly Muslim, targeting Christian Serbs. The violence was witnessed and documented by the U.N. and OSCE. Following the NATO bombing of Kosovo, American troops under NATO command were stationed in neighboring Macedonia and Albania while then-President Bill Clinton decided on the size of the U.S. contingent to be deployed inKosovo. When U.S. troops entered the province in June 1999, the alleged retaliatory ethnic cleansing was already underway.
Incidents of sexual violence, torture, arson, murder, kidnapping, and verbal threats were allegedly widespread as part of an organized and successful campaign conducted “right under the U.N.’s nose,” said Gambill. Minorities targeted by ethnic Albanian extremists for expulsion or death included Serbs, Roma, Muslim Slavs, Turks and Croats. Reports filed by the OSCE indicate that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which had been trained and supported by the Clinton administration, was predominantly responsible for the ethnic cleansing. In April 1999, congressional Republicans also promoted legislation seeking U.S. military aid for the KLA, causing Michael Radu of the Foreign Policy Institute to warn of the consequences of such a move.
Other armed extremist groups also participated in the ethnic cleansing, said Gambill. The overall goal of the groups was the creation of an ethnically pure state that included Albania, Kosovo and parts of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia “They will push for more. That is the plan. It’s called Greater Albania,” said Gambill. OSCE documents reveal that elderly Serbs who were unable to flee were threatened and women were thrown down staircases. Others were tortured, beaten and murdered. Some elderly Serbs fled to monasteries for protection, but the monasteries were later attacked as well, including as recently as March of 2004, according to the OSCE documents.
Posted by The Skipper on 09/27/2005 at 03:03 PM
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Saturday - September 24, 2005
Israeli Retaliation
Missile Strike Kills 4 Hamas Militants
GAZA STRIP (AP)
Israel killed four Hamas militants in a missile strike Saturday and moved artillery cannons to the Gaza border, launching what it vowed would be a “crushing” response to a Hamas rocket barrage on Israeli towns. Israel also sealed the West Bank and Gaza, barring all Palestinians from its territory, within hours of the Hamas attack—the group’s first major violence since Israel withdrew from the Mediterranean coastal strip two weeks ago.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called his Security Cabinet for a meeting later Saturday to approve the military action, expected to last several days. A large-scale operation appeared unlikely but the timing of the meeting suggested a sense of urgency. The Cabinet session comes as Sharon faces a major leadership challenge in his Likud Party over the Gaza withdrawal, completed two weeks ago. Sharon’s challenger, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has warned the pullout will endanger Israel, and the barrage of 39 rockets, with five Israelis wounded, could boost his agenda.
The escalation followed an explosion Friday at a Hamas rally at a crowded Palestinian refugee camp that killed at least 15 Palestinians. Witnesses said the blast went off near a pickup truck carrying masked militants and homemade rockets. Hamas blamed Israel and said it fired rockets on Israeli border towns in retaliation. But the Palestinian Authority said the blast was an accident resulting from militants mishandling explosives. It renewed demands that armed groups stop flaunting their weapons.
In its struggle to bring order to Gaza, the Palestinian Authority won agreement from militant groups for a ban on displaying weapons starting late Saturday. Hassan Yousef, a Hamas leader, said the group would abide by the ban. “There will be no military parades in the streets and Hamas weapons will go into the shadows,” he said. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met Saturday with the army chief and the head of the Shin Bet security service to formulate Israel’s response. “We have to make it clear to the Palestinians that Israel will not let the recent events pass without a response,” Mofaz said in a statement. “The response needs to be crushing.”
Mofaz ordered large numbers of ground forces to deploy near northern Gaza, from where most rockets have been launched. Security officials said thousands of soldiers have been called up. On Saturday afternoon, Israeli aircraft fired five missiles at two cars in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, killing four Hamas militants, according to medics, witnesses and Palestinian radio reports. Nine people were wounded. Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath denounced the strike as an “act of criminal aggression” and accused Israel of trying to destroy a truce that largely has held since February.
In an unprecedented step, Israel also set up five artillery cannons on the Gaza border, guarded by seven armored personnel carriers. Soldiers appeared to be settling in, building a command post and rolling out barbed wire. Israel in the past retaliated for Palestinian rocket fire with airstrikes or ground incursions. Artillery fire is less precise, however, and artillery shells fired into densely populated Gaza could cause many casualties. Israel appeared to be signaling it is determined to stop the rocket fire at any price. At another border staging area, four armored personnel carriers, five tanks and four huge D-9 bulldozers joined a fleet of about 30 armored vehicles that are regularly deployed there.
Friday’s explosion brought a terrifying end to what became the last militant victory celebration of Israel’s Gaza pullout before the weapons ban takes effect. Abbas’ ruling Fatah movement canceled a final rally planned for Saturday. The exact number of casualties from the Jabaliya camp remained unclear Saturday. Doctors at two Gaza hospitals counted 15 dead and 83 wounded, but the Palestinian health ministry put the toll at 17 dead and 140 wounded, possibly due to duplicate hospital registration during the initial chaos. About 10,000 mourners attended prayers for 10 of the dead at a Jebaliya mosque Saturday. After the ceremony, the crowd split into three processions, with Hamas holding a separate march for four of its dead. Gunmen shot in the air, and women watching from balconies threw rice into the crowd.
The deadly rally appeared to put Hamas on the defensive for the first time since the Israeli withdrawal; it also gave Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas greater leverage to enforce the weapons ban. Islamic militants took center-stage after Israel’s withdrawal, holding military-style victory parades, and many Palestinians endorsed the militants’ claim that they had driven Israel out by force. Now, Israel’s reprisals have caused new hardships for Palestinian civilians, who might blame Hamas.
Israel’s indefinite closure of the West Bank and Gaza, imposed Saturday, means thousands of Palestinian laborers won’t be able to reach jobs in Israel. Many Gazans also had hoped for a return to calm after Israel’s pullout and might not be willing to tolerate a new era of airstrikes. Abbas, meanwhile, is under growing pressure to stop the rocket fire, with Israel demanding he deploy his troops in northern Gaza, the favored rocket launching ground. This could force Abbas into confrontations with Hamas that he has been trying to avoid.
Posted by The Skipper on 09/24/2005 at 09:01 AM
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Tuesday - September 20, 2005
UN-Rehearsed
Cox & Forkum
Posted by The Skipper on 09/20/2005 at 06:15 AM
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Thursday - September 15, 2005
They Cair What You See
What happens if a woman shows up for a CAIR photo-op without a hijab? No problem! They’ll just Photoshop one on!
(via Jihadwatch)
Posted by Drew458 on 09/15/2005 at 10:19 AM
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Monday - September 12, 2005
It’s A Start
Muslim Groups Help Hurricane Victims
Houston, TX (AP)
About 2,000 Muslim volunteers helped victims of Hurricane Katrina at the city’s downtown convention center Sunday, the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Muslim leaders from around the country who were in Houston for the volunteer effort said the anniversary was coincidental. But they welcomed the opportunity to highlight their faith’s true meaning.
“We’re not trying to prove anything, other than what our faith requires us to do,” said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Muslim American Society. “What goes with our faith is to help others, to respond and show compassion when people need it, and I’m glad we can do it.”
Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the board of the nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Muslim leaders viewed Sunday’s volunteer opportunity as another chance to show that the Sept. 11 attacks were carried out by Islamic extremists who do not represent the true meaning of their faith. Religious and community groups who volunteered to help at shelters picked through a random drawing what day they would work. Houston’s Muslim community got Sunday.
“If today not only happens to be a day where we are feeding people and helping people and doing our Islamic duties ... but at the same time it also presents an opportunity to dispel myths about Islam and terrorism, then so be it,” Ahmed said. CAIR, along with other Muslim groups such as Islamic Relief and the Muslim American Society, are part of the Muslim Hurricane Relief Task Force, which is raising $10 million for victims of Katrina. Ahmed said the groups so far have raised between $3 million and $4 million.
Anwar Ali, a computer consultant from Dallas, began his volunteer shift at 4 a.m. Sunday and was still working by mid-afternoon. He had brought carts filled with food to the cafeteria area and helped elderly people walk from one part of the convention center to another. “You find people of different faiths coming together, working together, feeding the poor. It’s amazing. It’s a wonderful feeling,” said Ali, 38, who already was scheduled to be in Houston this week on a work-related project but came to town late Saturday so he could volunteer.
Posted by The Skipper on 09/12/2005 at 11:41 AM
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Burning Down The House
Palestinians Set Fire to Empty Synagogues
NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip (AP)
Flames shot skyward from four abandoned synagogues in the Gaza Strip on Monday, as thousands of celebrating Palestinians thronged through former Jewish settlements and headed straight for the only buildings left standing. At Neve Dekalim, gunman from several militant factions stormed through after Israeli soldiers left Monday morning, completing the Gaza pullout. Some Palestinians planted a flag from the ruling Fatah movement on the roof of a rabbinical college for Jewish settlers, as others set a fire inside.
The synagogue in the isolated settlement of Morag in southern Gaza was set ablaze minutes after hundreds of Palestinians stormed in. “They (Israelis) destroyed our homes and our mosques,” said a man who gave his name only as Abu Ahmed. “Today it is our turn to destroy theirs.” The synagogues were a focus of Palestinian anger after 38 years of Israeli occupation, primarily because they were among the only buildings left standing. Shortly after removing the last of the settlers two weeks ago, Israel sent in bulldozers to level the houses, leaving only a few public buildings and the synagogues.
In Netzarim, the synagogue was on fire before dawn, with bright orange flames leaping through the roof and the walls. Helpless Palestinian police stood by and watched, admitting they were outnumbered by the crowds and had little motivation to stop them. An officer who refused to give his name said: “The people have the right to do what they are doing.” Israel TV said crowds of Palestinians entered Kfar Darom in central Gaza and set several fires, including in the synagogue.
As they left their homes last month, the settlers took the sacred Torah scrolls from their synagogues, as well as prayer books and other holy items—symbolizing the end of the use of the buildings as houses of prayer. Last year Israel’s Cabinet ruled the buildings would be torn down. Since the evacuation of the settlers, however, rabbis mounted a high-profile campaign to save the buildings, demanding the government see to it that they would be protected by the Palestinians or by international organizations. On Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet reversed itself, voting not to destroy the synagogue buildings.
The Palestinians refused to protect them, saying they wanted nothing that symbolized the occupation to remain. Early Monday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said the structures would be dismantled like all the others. “They left empty buildings that used to be temples, but they removed all the religious symbols, and they are no longer religious places,” he said. The United States issued a statement criticizing the Israeli change of policy, complaining that it put the Palestinians in a position “where it may be criticized for whatever it does.”
Posted by The Skipper on 09/12/2005 at 06:23 AM
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Tuesday - August 23, 2005
Freedom Of Speech, Abridged Version
The MOOS-Lims are up in arms over being characterized in a derogatory manner. They recently forced a radio station in Washington, DC (WMAL - an ABC affiliate) to fire talk show host Michael Graham for his remarks about Islam ....
Michael Graham’s suspension by management at ABC Radio’s WMAL/Washington for recent on-air comments in which he characterized Islam as a terrorist organization has turned into a permanent furlough for the controversial midday talker. The Council on American-Islamic Relations have continued to denounce Graham’s comments as “hate-filled” and have called for the talk host’s ouster ever since he made the comments on his program in late July.
In a statement released by Graham regarding his firing, the talk host said, “The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, DC. It appears that ABC Radio has caved to an organization that condemns Talk radio hosts like me but has never condemned Hamas, Hezbollah and wouldn’t specifically condemn Al Qaeda for three months after 9/11. As a fan of Talk radio, I find it absolutely outrageous that pressure from a special interest group like CAIR can result in the abandonment of free speech and open discourse on a talk radio show.”
In a related story, another Arab group forced the on-line version of Roget’s Thesaurus to pull its listing for “Arab” because of what they considered “derogatory synonyms” ....
An online thesaurus struck a listing Monday for the word “Arab” after Arab-American groups complained the entry listed derogatory synonyms. The entry, which appeared on thesaurus.com, listed the word as a noun meaning “beggar,” and gave 16 pejorative synonyms including “homeless person” and “welfare bum.”
The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee contacted the synonym book’s online publisher Friday to complain about the entry; the American Arab Forum also criticized the listing on Monday. “I looked it up and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Aref Assaf, president of the American Arab Forum, which is based in Paterson.
Several hours after Roget’s Thesaurus was called by The Associated Press, all entries for “Arab” had been pulled from the site. Barbara Ann Kipfer, editor of the third edition of Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus, said the entry had likely been on the site for years, but never made it into printed versions of the thesaurus. “We’re simply going to take it out,” she said on Monday. “The last thing you want with a thesaurus is to offend anyone.”
All I have to say about these two stories can be summed up in another entry in Roget’s Thesaurus ....
Main Entry: MORON Part of Speech: noun Definition: stupid
Synonyms: addle-pate, ass, blockhead, bonehead, boob, cretin, dimwit, dingbat, dolt, dope, dork, dumbbell, dumbo, dummy, dunce, dunderhead, fool, goose, halfwit, idiot, ignoramus, imbecile, lamebrain, loony, loser, lunkhead, mental defective, muttonhead, nerd, numskull, retard, simp, simpleton, stoop, stupid, tomfool, zany Source: Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1)
Posted by The Skipper on 08/23/2005 at 04:37 AM
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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.