January 04, 2003

Instapundit.com:
Professor Glenn Reynolds opines, along with blogger and dead tree columnist Virginia Postrel that being a "trial lawyer," a la Dimocrat Presidential Candidate John Edwards, will be seen by "many" Americans as a Martha Stewart-ian "good thing:"with all due respect to the Godfather of Blog, about 97.98% of the American populace not just hate, but loathe lawyers!
I know I do and not only do I think I have NOT been personally "helped" by one, but I've actually been fleeced for thousands of dollars by several who "helped" themselves to my money in exchange for which I got bupkus!
John Edwards's candidacy is doomed based on this career choice alone, but even if he weren't an ambulance chaser, he's patently a lightweight who's been getting by on his looks all his life--Give it up!

UK troops 'to join Gulf build-up'

Britain is reportedly planning to announce the deployment of thousands of troops to the Gulf to join the build-up of American forces preparing for a possible war on Iraq.

Reports of the move, which could be officially made public next week, come amid contrasting claims that British ministers believe the threat of war has receded since Christmas.
[...]The Daily Telegraph newspaper says the UK is preparing to send 20,000 regular troops and 7,000 reservists,including a Royal Navy force, to the Gulf.

In our time of need when Western Civilization is threatened, it's good to see the United Kingdom so united with us in the War on Islamofascist Terror in this new chapter of that Special Relationship.
Welcome aboard, John Bull!

January 03, 2003

"Kiting in Korea"
Look at how David Warren solves the nuke proliferation problem with NorK creatively!
Here's the best part:

"What I expect to happen, after the proper face-saving pause on all sides, is
direct negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea that will scandalize
every "conservative" in the States, just at the moment when they are busy
congratulating Mr. Bush for finally proceeding with the necessary in Iraq.
The U.S. will come to the table saying (and I am translating in advance from
diplomatic Newspeak):
"The nuclear weapons aren't the real point, since you have them already.
We are willing to live with your existing weapons as a starting position.
We will also be willing to restart our fuel shipments to you, and provide
additional foreign aid for your economic development in line with South
Korea's "Sunshine Policy", together with the non-aggression pact you demand,
in return for one and only one non-negotiable concession.
You must stop trading in genocidal weaponry with Pakistan, Iran, and the rest of the Middle East. And you must allow us to see that you have stopped this trading, by letting us spot-check the shipments that come and go, including
those through China. We would also appreciate your help in tracing where
previous shipments went, and of what they consisted."

Behind this would be a recognition that North Korea is not a threat to the
U.S. or to the West. That threat -- a willingness to actually attack the
Pentagon and Manhattan -- comes from fanatical "Islamism" and the regimes
that succour it, not from Pyongyang's ludicrous "juche" ideology -- a flag
which no one salutes outside North Korea itself. The aggressive stance is a
desperate bid for survival, rather than any practical aspiration to
hegemony. The politburo in Pyongyang may be crazy, but it is too
pre-occupied with immediate survival to even think about offence. Even the
conquest of the South is beyond its practical aspirations. It might be able
to annihilate the South, in an act of murder-suicide, but it could not
possibly conquer and then govern the South.

How will the U.S. then ensure that North Korea doesn't pull the same trick
as before, unilaterally ripping up the agreement, and telling U.S. or U.N.
inspectors to go fly?

My guess, and here I'm thinking my way further out on a limb, is that the
answer to this may prove to be a tactical withdrawal of the U.S. military
presence in South Korea, possibly even written into the non-aggression pact.
For once this is removed, American freedom of action is substantially
enhanced, and the Americans are no longer held hostage by both North
and South Korea. The U.S. would no longer require South Korean
permission to act militarily in any crisis; and the North Koreans would no
longer be in a position to threaten South Korea as a U.S. proxy.

I love this plan!
Although to be honest, when I first read it, I thought David was more than a little crazy. Sorry David.
When I gave it some thought, it hit me that he was exactly right--the North Koreans aren't a threat to the U.S.A. (at least not yet).
And in terms of using their nukes to threaten their neighbors--like Russia and China, not to mention a U.S.-backed South Korea-- those neighbors will always have bigger nukes, which they wouldn't hesitate that long to use in the event their borders were invaded.
Pulling our troops out of Korea works with for every body and certainly makes sense for the U.S.: it's expensive in terms of manpower and taxpayer dollars and at a time when our troops are needed much more elsewhere...and it also is a time of rising anti-American sentiment in South Korea.
If we're not wanted there and if the presence of our troops as a "trip wire" on the 53th Parallel is just making the NorKs rattle sabers more and if, all things considered, our military needs to be somewhere else, then why not?
Like the ABM Treaty with the former Soviet Union, arrangements, pacts and treaties for a post WWII-world need to be re-evaluated, changed and in some cases, like this one, discarded.
NorK is obviously desperate and their public drive to get nukes is their way to play their only trump card: by volunteering to be the "arsenal of evil" (a reverse and perverse version of America's early role in WWII as the Arsenal of Democracy) for the Axis of Evil.
If we can convince them that they are "with us" in the Bushian sense, then the world and the Bad Guys, i.e. the IslamoFascists, will see that they are NOT "with the terrorists" and that they can no longer count on North Korea to be their Armory.
Perhaps then Kim Jung-Il and his successor (the man's no spring chicken, ya know!) can turn the attention and energy of the North Korean people to another industry besides armaments and the military, like food production!

Soldiers Cheer Commander in Chief; Unending 'Hooahs' Herald Bush Visit

There was no mistaking that America's soldiers are firmly behind their commander in chief during a presidential visit to the Army's Fort Hood, Texas, today.

The troops there interrupted President Bush's short speech no less than 24 times with that unique Army seal of approval -- "Hooah!"
[...]
Bush reminded the soldiers why America is fighting a war against terrorism. "(The terrorists) don't value innocent life. They're nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded killers, and that's the way we're going to treat them," he said to rounds of hooahs. "They reach across oceans to target the innocent. They seek weapons of mass murder on a massive scale. The terrorists will not be stopped by mercy or by conscience, but they will be stopped.

"And they will be stopped by the will and the might of the United States of America," he said. The continuing roars of approval -- "Hooah! Hooah!" -- were deafening.

Isn't it good to see the military's morale so high
on the eve of battle?
And I've said it before, but it bears saying again, how good it is to have a Commander in Chief who respects and takes pride in our military and an army that feels the same way about their CiC.
At no time in our history has the homeland been so threatened and never have I felt so dependent on these brave men and women to protect our land itself and defend our Liberty where its destruction is being plotted overseas, but it's also heartening that these are fine and good men and women, too, who are volunteers (Thanks, but no thanks on that "draft proposal," Charles Rangel.) and proved themselves fit in rigorous training.
They're our first line ambassadors and represent some of the best of American values of duty, honor, country and courage.
Thank you, U.S. military and our CiC: we're proud of you and support you! Hooah!
To our military being "shipped out," we wish you God Speed and Good Hunting.
Come home to us soon safe, sound and victorious!

Gunfire erupts in Venezuela clashes

Gunfire has erupted in the Venezuelan capital Caracas during clashes between supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez.

Demonstrators and security forces ran for cover as several shots were fired outside the city's military headquarters.

At least one police officer was reported wounded in the incident, but it is not clear who opened fire.
[...]The skirmishes broke out as anti-government demonstrators marched to the city's main barracks to urge the armed forces to join their protests against President Chavez.

They also called for the release of a dissident officer, General Carlos Alfonso Martinez of the National Guard.

They were confronted by pro-Chavez protesters, who began throwing stones, bottles and fireworks.

The demonstration comes as a crippling strike aimed at forcing Mr Chavez to step down or call early elections is now in its second month.

As the protests continued, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Cesar Gaviria, said on Friday that talks between Mr Chavez's government and the opposition had failed to produce a firm agreement on holding a referendum on Mr Chavez's rule.

Mr Gaviria, who is mediating in the talks, said that there would be further meetings on Friday to discuss whether Venezuela's electoral council has the constitutional right to call for an early referendum.

Mr Chavez's government has maintained that it has no such authority.

The Venezuelan leader has suggested the formation of a "group of nation friends", comprised of representatives from the Americas and Europe, which would enlist diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis.

But the Bush administration has already rejected this call, saying mediation attempts by the OAS should suffice .

Mr Chavez has also urged Venezuela's neighbours to come to the rescue of its beleaguered oil industry, by forming a "Latin Opec" or a regional cartel of oil exporters, comprised of state oil firms from Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.
[Uh-oh! Now he's done it! The member-states of the "real" OPEC aren't going to care for this idea in the least! I think he'd better make sure he's written a will, if you know what I mean.--J.T.]

Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter, and the 32-day-old stoppage has helped push oil prices to two-year highs as US stockpiles have fallen to 26-year lows [Anyone know if this "fact" is true? I don't think it is.--Jen].

But the alliance of business, trade unions and opposition parties who want early elections to remove him from office have issued tough public statements.

His opponents have even threatened a tax revolt, a dire prospect in a country where vital oil revenues have collapsed.

I don't think Chavez is going to survive this fight!
The momentum for his opponents seems to be growing and is sounding more and more like a real popular revolution.
Chavez is going to have to decide whether he's a democratically-elected leader who rules or resigns at the behest of the electorate or if he's a brutal dictator who rules by force, but he can't do both!
IOW, he shouldn't put down this popular revolt by use of force, while harping on the legitimate mandate the voters gave him in the last election.
(Although this vote/violence system works for Saddam in Iraq--as long as you can force the people to vote for you in the first place, huh?)

France joins Korea diplomatic push

France is to add its weight to the growing diplomatic pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme.

Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is to visit China, Russia and South Korea - all of which are at the heart of efforts to persuade Pyongyang to stop the relaunch of its nuclear programme.

North Korea has said it wants unconditional and direct talks with the United States with whom it had a previous aid-for-nuclear-freeze deal, objecting to the involvement of other nations.

But South Korea has been trying to enlist the support of Pyongyang's long-time allies China and Russia to help it to avert a looming crisis.

The new involvement of France could be another part of that plan.

Paris takes on the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for January and fostered close links with Russia and China during negotiations about a resolution calling on Iraq to disarm.

I suppose we bloggers and/or Simpson fans have joked long enough about the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" (or have we?), but who better to tell the NorKs how to give in gracefully in their game of nuclear chicken than our friends and allies, the French?
(You don't suppose the French sold those NorKs any of that equipment for those nuclear plants, do you? Nahhhhhh.)

Readers' Favorite Blogs
I've gotta send a big thank you to Cynthia Webb who kindly mentions this blog in today's WaPo Tech News column on blogging!
And welcome new readers who clicked over from the Post--stay awhile, check out the archives and if my blog doesn't suit you, please click on one of the many other wonderful blogs in the "Blog Reads" list on the left!

January 02, 2003

This went up yesterday (Jan.1), thanks to British blogger Phil Gylford and I'm adding it to my blogroll:The Diary of Samuel Pepys
Here's the story on History's first would-be blogger and how his diary got made into an actual blog:
'Why I turned Pepys' diary into a weblog'

...and you thought Professor Glenn Reynolds was the Grand Old Man of Blogs!
I think reading Pepys's diary of daily life in 1660 will help keep 2003 in perspective!

Elderly man stoned to death in Jordan Valley

After an arduous 12-hour search of the Jordan Valley using jeeps, helicopters, and dogs, security forces on Thursday discovered the mutilated and charred remains of Massoud Mahlouf Elon, 72, of Menahemya. Police believe he was killed by Palestinian terrorists.
[...]Elon's family first reported his disappearance near midnight Wednesday to Tiberias police. Before dawn on Thursday, police began a feverish search of the area, which Elon regularly visited to distribute clothing among Beduin[sic] children.
With foreign media reports trickling in of an Israeli killed by Palestinians, police almost immediately suspected foul play and by Thursday morning Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades began circulating leaflets taking responsibility for the murder. The leaflets claimed the group had avenged the IDF's killing of one of its members in the nearby Palestinian village of Tammun.

At the same time, the pan-Arab satellite station, Al-Jazeera, began reporting that Palestinians had shot and killed an Israeli and showed a blurred image of what was supposed to be an Israeli ID card.
[...]...Search teams arrived at Elon's car to find his body almost completely incinerated and his face bashed beyond recognition, making it difficult for police to identify him. Witnesses said it appeared he had been stoned to death.

Elon had roamed the area for years selling used clothes to local Beduin at low prices, said police. His son, Ya'acov, denied this, saying his father traveled the area in order to donate the clothes to locals.

"I begged him not to travel there," he added.
Both agreed that Elon enjoyed very friendly relations with the local Beduin, but according to police sources, Elon was an easy target. The amiable septuagenarian was known to have very poor eyesight.

I heard this story first on FoxNews...made me both sick to my stomach and outraged and just when I thought I was "immune" to outrage at "Palestinian" terrorism in Israel, too.
Rest in peace, Mr. Elon--you didn't deserve an awful death like this for your charity and kindness to "Palestinian" children.
Of course, I don't have to remind you that the Al Aqsa "Martyrs" Brigade are Yasser's boys, do I?
He hasn't disavowed terrorist murder for a minute as not only a tool, but the tool to accomplish his aims to wipe out the Jews and grab all of Israel's land for his precious "Palestine."

Yemen Rounding Up 'Scores' of Islamic Militants

The two men accused of killing three American missionaries and a prominent Yemeni politician may be part of a larger terrorist cell that planned to attack foreigners and secular leaders in Yemen, a security official said Wednesday.
[...]
Yemeni officials said Tuesday that they have strong suspicions Kamel, the suspect in the missionaries' killing, is linked to the Al Qaeda terror group. Yemen is Usama bin Laden's ancestral homeland and has been a fertile recruiting ground for Al Qaeda.

At a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the government urged police and security forces to redouble their efforts "to trace those connected with these horrible criminal acts," Saba reported. It also called on religious leaders to preach sermons that support "moderate Islam."
But anti-American sentiment is high in Yemen over Washington's perceived support for Israel and the standoff with Iraq.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the most effort we've seen an Islamic country make in the War on Islamist terror and I like it!
(It should be noted that Indonesian Muslims made somewhat of an outcry over the Bali bombings in October, but Yemenis seem to have done a much more impressive job of "rooting out" the "evildoers" in this case.)
I don't know if our release of that ship bearing Scuds to Yemen "helped" our partnership along, but they're making the right kinds of moves now after these 3 murders of American Christian missionaries, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole and the attack on the French tanker.
The call for the clerics to preach "moderate Islam" is the most important thing to me, as the love for jihad and killing infidels is obviously coming out of the the Wahabbist mosques (funded by our "friend" Saudi Arabia, next door, natch!), as is their rancor against our support for Israel.
I'm sure that they view solidarity with Saddam as a "Pan-Arab", Muslim thang, too. Too bad.
Let's hope these arrests aren't just for show and that the Yemenis are really serious about stamping out extremist and radical Islamist terrorists!

New Senate GOP Leader Aids Victims at South Florida Wreck Scene
Incoming Senate majority leader Bill Frist, a surgeon, helped tend to six victims of a rollover accident on a Florida highway New Year's Day, earning praise from paramedics for stabilizing some of the four survivors.
Oh, no! What'll the Dims do now?
Just when they were getting ready to really go to work on demonizing Sen. Frist, he has to go and be a real HERO!
Darn those Republicans!
[I love it! Frist strikes me as a true healer and humanitarian...he should be just the man to heal the wounds caused by Trent Lott's remarks, too!
Another great political call by President Bush!]

Road to Kandahar: Letterman's Trip Planned by U.S.O.

David Letterman’s stealthy, whirlwind Christmas visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan was a surprise even to people close to the Late Show host. Accompanied by Paul Schaffer and stage manager Biff Henderson, Mr. Letterman left New York on Monday, Dec. 23, and traveled to Kandahar, where he spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with members of the armed forces.
[...]
"This was a very personal affair for Dave," said U.S.O. director of entertainment Mitch Marovitz, who helped orchestrate Mr. Letterman’s visit and accompanied the Late Show trio to the U.S. base in Kandahar. "He just wanted to go out and say thank you. He certainly didn’t want anyone to have the slightest inkling or feeling that he was doing this for publicity. This was personal."

Mr. Letterman was clearly moved by the experience. "These people over there truly are America’s best," he said when he talked about the trip on the Late Show. With Mr. Henderson, a Vietnam veteran, seated beside him, he showed off a handful of snapshots he took himself and joked that the troops were unimpressed by his show-business background.

Mr. Letterman’s trip was arranged on very short notice—barely two weeks. In December, his agents at C.A.A. contacted the U.S.O. about a possible visit to troops overseas, said Mr. Marovitz. The Pentagon was thrilled about the idea, Mr. Marovitz continued, and a Christmas visit was scheduled, since it coincided with a break in Mr. Letterman’s Late Show schedule.

Mr. Marovitz said that Mr. Letterman flew himself, Mr. Henderson and Mr. Schaffer to Oman on Dec. 23 via private jet. From Oman, the Late Show group hopped a ride aboard a fat-bellied C-130 military transport plane and arrived in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve night. Once they were there, Mr. Letterman spent a lot of time talking to soldiers and obliging photograph and autograph requests. A number of soldiers brought him Top 10 lists, some with jokes not suitable.
[...]
Mr. Letterman also brought gifts: 5,000 T-shirts with "LATE SHOW AFGHANISTAN" printed on them. And, though it might pain his cardiologist even further to hear, he delivered something else for the troops: cigars.
[...]
Though Mr. Letterman has a history with the armed forces—he has featured troops in his shows and is known to enjoy having the enthusiastic servicemen and -women in his audience—this was his first official troop visit through the U.S.O., Mr. Marovitz said. And since Sept. 11, Mr. Letterman has shown a particular passion on issues related to the War on Terror, from his poignant Sept. 17, 2001, broadcast to his continued bookings of journalists, authors and other non-showbiz guests to discuss the current unrest.

You know, I haven't been a huge Letterman fan in the past, but I think this is a wonderful thing for him to do and I'm going to be watching him more often in the future because this shows that he's a "big" person and a great American, especially given the public (mis)-behavior of his fellow bloviating "stars" who shrilly indulge in gratuitous Bush-bashing in the name of "peace" like Babs Streisand, Woody Harrelson and Jessica Lange along with the anything but helpful "Not in Our Name" gang of celebrities.
Bob Hope's U.S.O. Christmas shows are a hard act to follow, but let's all thank Dave for giving up his comfy hearthside holidays to entertain our sons and daughters, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters in the military when they're "in country" in Afghanistan at Christmastime, far from kith and kin.
Appreciation also should go to comedienne Kathy Griffin for doing the same Afghan U.S.O. gig--I think she's really funny and from the reaction of the guys over at Logwarrior, they think she's hot, too!

Thanks to reader Mike Daley for urging me to do this post: I'd been meaning to ever since I heard about Dave's trip!

December 31, 2002

From The Greatest Jeneration to the new Greatest Generation
of Freedom-loving People everywhere:

N Korea threatens to ditch treaty

A senior North Korean envoy has said his country is unable to meet its obligations under a key nuclear non-proliferation pact because of threats from the United States.
Pak Ui Chun, Pyongyang's ambassador to Moscow, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying the US had followed moves to cut off fuel oil supplies by "threatening us with a preventative nuclear strike".

"In these circumstances, we also cannot fulfil the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the basic clause of which is the obligation of nuclear states not to use the nuclear weapon against states which do not possess it."

Correspondents say this is the clearest indication yet that the secretive state - which has announced the reactivation of its nuclear programme - may pull out of the NPT, which it joined in 1985.

What?!?
I know the NorKs are crazy *and* they're speaking a foreign language, but even with the English translation, they don't make any sense... but then again, I don't think they're supposed to.
Don't look now, but I think our U.S. policy of giving them the angry silent treatment is working!

*Do we have what was ancient Iraq to thank for that whole Tower of Babel thing, BTW?

December 30, 2002

Another must read on the "not a crisis"/crisis around moves by the NorKs towards nuclear proliferation by THE Man Steven Den Beste:
"Fighting in two theaters"

[...]
The one thing that the North Korean governing elite apparently wants is to remain in power. If they attack, their regime ends and they know it. And they all die, and they know it. If they launch a nuke-tipped missile at anything, anywhere, they all get vaporized and they know it. If they back down, there might still be a chance to stay in charge. So I think that if we ignore them that they will back down. The only reason they might try to increase the pressure would be if they thought there was a chance that we'd crumble. It is at least conceivable that trying to look dangerous could be to their advantage, but if they actually launch an attack all scenarios lead to their doom.

And they know it.

As long as we remain strong and patient and apparently unafraid and unimpressed, and as long as we refuse to even negotiate with them (so that they cannot even deliver their demands) then it leaves them alone, screaming into the wind, growing increasingly frustrated as their situation deteriorates. Eventually they'll give up on what they're doing now and try something else, and then we'll see.

As strange as it may sound, time is actually on our side. The actions of the North Korean government right now are all aimed at trying to convince us otherwise, and the Bush administration quite correctly isn't falling for it. When Powell says that there is no crisis, he's quite correct: North Korea has a crisis. We do not, and we can't allow them to make their crisis ours too.

I cut to the chase and quoted the last, best part of his essay, but do yourself a favor and read it all!
No-one in print or on TV can touch SDB, in my book!
His reasoned, thoughtful analysis of complicated situations help me sleep..and I've been pretty nerved up about this situation with the NorKs!
I heard WaPo syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer on FoxNews last night bemoaning U.S. "vulnerability" and our "weak" response to NK's aggression and he made it sound as if the U.S.A. was a good as nuke-ya-ler toast!
After reading Den Beste's cool rationale backing up both Colin Powell's and Donald Rumsfeld's responses, I had my first moments of personal peace about the whole affair.
Thank you, Steven! You're a Great American!

The Twenty Most Annoying Liberals In The United States For 2002

"If being annoying was a crime, there are a lot of liberals who would be sitting on Death Row in Texas waiting for them to crank up "Old Sparky." But until now, these "serial annoyers" have never gotten their proper due. Well, RWN thinks that's a crying shame. That's why we've punched up a list that's designed to celebrate annoying lefties. So get ready, because it's time for the first annual, "Twenty Most Annoying Liberals In The United States For 2002."

Go read the rest...it'll make your year!

The inimitable Bleeding Brain puts the outstanding results of the recent election in Kenya of Mwai Kibaki in complete perspective:

Democracy gaining ground.
Kenya looks like it is going to dump it's Kleptocratic Government. A smooth transfer of power is likely and my congratulations to them all.

The Kenyans deserve this break for the better. They have been stoic and long suffering through the 24 year regime that brought the hopeful country to ruin.

They remained an orderly society long after many other nations would have fallen into anarchy. They have taken many nasty hits including the al Qaida strikes on the U.S Embassy that killed more than 200 people and the Jewish hotel in Mombasa. They have suffered through two terrible droughts and have also absorbed thousands of refugees from Sudan, Ethiopia and Somali.

Hope and pray that they are able to re-gain the path to a prosperous future.

I echo your hopes and prayers, BB!
Bravo, Kenya--you're on your way to a better day!

FEDS RACING TO THWART 19-MAN 'TERROR TEAM'

Up to 19 men of Islamic background have entered the United States illegally in the last few days on a possible terror mission, law-enforcement sources told The Post yesterday.

Pictures of five of the men wanted for questioning are posted on the FBI's Web site.

Those five and the remaining 14 are believed to have reached the United States by using phony IDs to travel through Britain and then Canada, the sources said.
[...]But The Post's sources said the 19 are believed to be scattered through several U.S. cities, including New York.

The group planned to be in place in the United States today, said the sources.

The men are believed to come from Pakistan and "surrounding countries," the sources said.

Publicly, the FBI says it is looking for just five men,...
[...]The bureau said it was working with Customs, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Transportation Security Agency to find the men.
The FBI said it has alerted law-enforcement agencies around the country and the world. "Anyone with any information pertaining to these individuals is asked to contact their nearest FBI office," the bureau said.

The FBI also takes tips through its Web site, www.fbi.gov.

The NYPD is making a special effort to find the men, and a bulletin will be distributed with information to help officers identify them, the sources said.
[...]It's not unusual for terrorists to try to strike over the year-end holidays.

No sh*t, Sherlock!
We've got New Year's Eve celebrations in NYC's Times Square, among other places, tomorrow night!
Heads up, America!
You could be the one to spot one or more of these killers and save lives, your own and your fellow citizens, so you know what to do!

Paris suspect 'had bomb ready to use'

A baggage handler at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, arrested after a weapons cache was found his car, had a bomb that was ready to use, say French sources.

Police say five cakes of plastic explosives, two detonators and two automatic weapons including a machine gun were found in his car, which was parked at the airport.

French media, quoting sources close to the investigation, said the cache included a bomb that was "ready to use".
[...]
The suspect, Frenchman Adberrazaq Besseghir, is of Algerian origin.

He was arrested late on Saturday after a tip-off from a member of the public, who saw a weapon in the car boot.

There may be more to this civilians TIPS program than we're giving it credit for!

Paris police have made several arrests in the past two weeks of suspected Islamic militants. The authorities say some were planning an attack on the Russian embassy in the city.

I wonder why the Islamists have been picking on the Russians of late so often?
Is it simply because their targets are "softer" or what...?

As a baggage handler, Mr Besseghir has security clearance for several restricted areas of Charles de Gaulle airport, one of Europe's busiest.
Police said before Christmas that they had found bomb-making equipment during raids on at least one of the addresses searched in the Paris suburbs.

In total, nine arrests have been made since 16 December, when four people were arrested in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve.[Lest we forget, La Courneuve is the preferred Parisian banlieu of Islamist "militants" everywhere and also where the Ayatollah planned the Iranian Revolution of 1979 while he was in exile.--Jen]

All those arrested are said to be of Algerian or Moroccan origin.

The arrests stem from an investigation into possible connections between Islamic militants in Europe and Chechnya.

Fearing a possible attack over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, the French Government has ordered an extra 1,000 police and troops on to the streets of Paris.

This story makes me totally frightened, that 16 months after 9/11, there are still sleeper agents in strategic places like international airports who have obtained access to restricted and supposedly "secure" areas where they can wreak the most damage.
Of course, it is France...but it sounds as if even the laissez-faire French have gotten deadly serious about hunting these killers down.
Note the Algerian/Moroccan origins of the terrorists; they are on the same page as all the rest of the world's Islamist terrorists but with a special beef against the French government for their alleged misdeeds when they ruled those North African countries as colonies.
Also notice the mention (again) of Chechnya as an Islamist terrorist hot-spot.
In addition to "Palestine," Chechnya and Kashmir are the Islamists' current favorite locales to cause trouble, incite Islamist revolution and just plain kill people.
Speaking of which, check out this story:
Chechnya bombing death toll rises

The death toll from a suicide bombing at the headquarters of the pro-Russian Government in Chechnya has risen to 80, according to Russian television reports.

Rescuers on Sunday called off the search for survivors, two days after the attack devastated the compound in the Chechen capital, Grozny.

As the body count rose, a top Russian prosecutor said he was preparing to charge personnel who failed to stop the attackers getting through the fortified site.

Pro-Russian officials in the breakaway republic have blamed rebel Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov for the attack, but Mr Maskhadov has denied any involvement.

Authorities in Russia have also suggested Islamic extremists might have been behind the bombing, blaming the attack on "international terrorism".

Doesn't that kind of editorializing just kill you?!
The BBC makes it sound as if blaming Islamist terrorism is no more credible or responsible in this case than blaming Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.

US doctors killed in Yemen

Three American doctors have been shot dead in Yemen.

A fourth was wounded in the attack at a missionary-run hospital in the southern town of Jibla, Yemeni officials said.

The attacker - described as a suspected Islamist - was subsequently arrested.

I can't believe the BBC forgot those quotation marks around "suspected Islamist!"

[...]
The lone gunman has been identified as Ali Abdulrazzak al-Kamel from Damar province.

He reportedly entered the Baptist hospital in the province of Ibb, about 170 kilometres (105 miles) south of the capital Sana'a, posing as a relative, according to the AFP news agency.

Mr al-Kamel allegedly opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle as the doctors were having a meeting.

After being arrested he told police that he had shot the two men and two women to "cleanse his religion and get closer to Allah," unnamed Yemeni officials told Reuters news agency.

What can you say about horrible murders like these?
Some reports have it that the Yemeni people are also very upset by this attack and that they consider al-Kamel an extremist, radical Islamist, which most of them are not.
I'd like to believe that's true, but I really don't know.
In the meantime, it seems that Christians (especially American Christians) are every bit the targets of Islamist terrorists now as the Jews and Israelis.
Well, R.I.P., sir and ladies (2 of the dead were women)--you are martyrs for the Lord.
At this moment, I'm kind of proud to say that the Southern Baptist denomination was the faith of my childhood and my family.
These missionaries were a wonderful Christian witness and stood for America's great spirit of giving and huminitarian service!

Give yourself a holiday treat and read the entire FT interview with one of the Greatest Warriors in the War on Islamist Terrorism, La Divina Fallaci!
FT.com Home US

[...]
What she wanted to talk about - what ignited the rage and the pride of her book - was the serious threat she believes Islam poses to the west.

"Wake up, folks, wake up!" she wrote, warning of a "reverse Crusade" that "aims at the conquest of our souls and at the disappearance of our freedom. A war which is conducted to destroy our civilisation, our way of living and dying, of praying or not praying, of eating and drinking and dressing and studying and enjoying life".

The book is tough on her native Italy, its changing values, and its leaders' unwillingness to confront the threat of Islam. But Fallaci is harshest on Islam and Arab immigrants, the "intruders" and "invaders" who are defiling the culture she treasures.

Mille grazie, Signora Fallaci, for *your* Rage and your Pride!

December 29, 2002

'Terror cordon' plan for UK cities

New laws allowing police to enforce "emergency cordons" in major British cities in the event of a terrorist attack are being considered by ministers.

The Cabinet Office refused to say whether they would be a response to a threat from biological or chemical weapons.

But a spokesman confirmed the plans were being looked at as part of new civil contingencies legislation.

It is likely that any such measures would be overseen by the police rather than the army.

The new laws would allow police to stop the spread of infection by throwing "health cordons" around areas hit by biological or chemical attacks, according to the Sunday Times newspaper.

It said that people would be prevented from escaping from the affected area.

Specially trained armed police and military units would be sent in to enforce the cordons and control any outbreak of disorder including looting.

The Ministry of Defence told the newspaper that a new civil contingency reaction force would have the option of using live ammunition.

The 7,000-strong force is to be deployed to 14 regions next year. [When next year--January? February?--Jen]

The new laws are expected to form part of a new "civil contingencies" bill to be published shortly.
[...]
The government is currently stockpiling 60 million doses of smallpox vaccine - enough for the whole of the UK's population.

Oooh! I'm scared!
This follows Britain's move only last month to put air marshals on planes, apparently after they'd had one terrorist scare aloft too many:
Armed air marshals for UK flights

Armed undercover police have been trained for use on UK passenger flights, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has announced.

The news came the day after a senior Whitehall source said there was a "high probability" international terrorists would sooner or later launch an attack on the UK.

DUH.
Especially when you have some of the *worst* Islamist terrorist instigators living right there in London, eager to kill "infidels" and set up a shar'ia government at Number 10 Downing Street!
But I don't much like the sound of these "health cordons" (Dare I launch into a Monty Python skit and babble about "boncentration bamps" at this tense time?)
Really, the potential abuse of British civil liberties is pretty broad in the name of National Health and Security, isn't it?
I hope the crew over at Samizdata are all over this like a cheap suit!
Not only are they talking about "detaining citizens by force" but using live ammo to enforce the cordons, which for gun-averse Britain is pretty serious!
If the U.S. has a plan like this in the event of a biological attack or a dirty bomb, I'd like to know about it (I think...)!
Either someone is pretty worried about an imminent attack or those Socialist/Tranzi-crazed Brit pols are eager to get control of the sheeple without a lot of problems...
We live in scary times. No doubt about it!

U.S. Sharply Increasing Forces Near Iraq -Officials

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed an order to move thousands of additional U.S. troops, dozens of strike aircraft and likely two more aircraft carrier battle groups to the Gulf beginning in early January for possible war with Iraq, U.S. officials said on Saturday.

The defense and administration officials told Reuters the movement of armored, infantry and airborne troops would be significant -- at least doubling the 50,000 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps personnel already near Iraq -- and was a clear signal of President Bush's intent to end Baghdad's chemical, biological and nuclear arms programs.

The officials, who asked not to be identified, confirmed a Washington Post report on Saturday that Rumsfeld signed a detailed, classified order on Tuesday to send the forces and put two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups on active alert that they could soon join two American carriers already in the Gulf and Mediterranean within striking distance of Baghdad.

In addition to about 150 strike and support aircraft aboard two extra carriers, the new order includes preparations to send thousands of Marines from Camp Pendleton, California, and units from five wings of Air Force strike jets, heavy bombers and unmanned spy drones, officials said.

Officials confirmed to Reuters on Friday the military hospital ship Comfort would likely leave its home port of Baltimore for the Indian Ocean as early as Monday.

In reaction to the order, U.S. officials said the Army had alerted the 1st and 3rd brigades of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, that they were likely to go soon to Kuwait. The division's 2nd brigade is already in Kuwait.

Defense officials also confirmed the Post report that the 101st Airborne Division [Go "Screaming Eagles!"--Jen], based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was likely to deploy beginning next month as well as the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force of some 17,500 troops from Camp Pendleton, California.

U.S. troops from the 1st Armored Division and 1st Infantry Division had also been put on alert in Germany for possible deployment, officials said.

Experts say that when the Pentagon sends out the hospital ship, as they've done now, it's Wartime for real.
Well, God Speed to all our fine men and women of the U.S. Military!
Our thoughts, prayers and hopes for a safe, victorious return go with you!
We are so proud of you and we also send you out with our undying thanks for defending America and our lives of Liberty!
God Bless you!
Let's Roll and as General Schwartzkopf wanted to say in 1991, "It's (finally) on to Baghdad!"

Prince Charles not welcome, says US

Prince Charles has dropped plans to visit the United States because the White House, apparently unhappy with his views on Iraq, has signalled that he would not be welcome, the Mail on Sunday newspaper reported.

In a front-page report, it said that 'senior figures in the Bush administration' had indicated that it would be 'very unhelpful' for the trip to proceed due to the Prince's reported concern that a war would lead to a dangerous rift between the West and the Muslim world.

'A week-long tour was in the diary for February or March 2003,' it quoted a senior British government official as saying.

'But the prince has been politely informed that his views on the current Iraq crisis might not go down well.'

Whoo Hoo! Viva Bush!
Why kiss some figurehead's butt, particularly one who is as moronic and wrong-headed as Prince Chuck, when you don't have to?!
I take it that this would go double for that Hollyweird gang that has taken to Bush-bashing in public like Redford, Jessica Lange, Babs Streisand, and the gang of Dimocrat Liberal thespians from the cast of "The West Wing!"

WTC Steel Sent to Shipyard, to Build USS New York

Steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center was headed to a Mississippi shipyard Saturday for use in the USS New York, a warship named in honor of those who perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

It was the Navy's idea to incorporate the steel into the vessel, said Capt. Kevin Wensing, a Navy public affairs officer in Washington.

He said the steel was removed Friday from the New York landfill that holds much of the debris from the twin towers and was being shipped to the Northrop Grumman shipyard at Pascagoula, Miss.[Ed. note: Looks like Trent Lott rode that Pork Train as long as he could!], where construction of the warship is to begin next year.
The USS New York will be the fifth of 12 amphibious assault ships in the San Antonio class, which the Navy calls one of its most technologically innovative. The 684-foot vessel will carry a crew of 402 plus as many as 800 Marines.

If the trade center scrap meets specifications, it will be melted down and used to configure the leading edge of the ship's bow, said Northrop Grumman spokesman Jim McIngdale.

The $800 million vessel should be ready for active duty in 2007.

[...]The structural steel, primarily from a section of beam about 20 feet long and weighing 20 to 30 tons, was part of the wreckage taken across New York Harbor to the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island after the Sept. 11 attack. It is believed to have been part of the south tower, the second of the twin skyscrapers hit by airliners hijacked by terrorists but the first to collapse.

I can't wait to see this beauty on the high seas, flying our "Don't Tread on Me" flag and atttended by the angels of all 2,800 souls who died at the WTC on 9/11!
God Bless and God Speed, U.S.S. New York!

Fuel shipment arrives in Venezuela

Venezuela has received its first shipment of petrol from abroad, as a general strike which is paralysing its own oil industry threatens to continue for a fifth week.
[...]
The world's fifth-largest oil exporter has been forced to import food and fuel due to worsening shortages.

Opposition groups, trade unions and business leaders have vowed to continue the stoppage which began on 2 December until President Chavez steps down.
But Mr Chavez remains defiant.

"We haven't yet obtained victory but we are going to win the battle for [state oil company] PDVSA, the battle for Venezuela," he said in a speech in Puerto La Cruz.

The government says troops and loyal oil workers are moving tanker ships and restarting halted production wells - a claim disputed by striking oil executives.

Oil executives say the Brazilian shipment will not go far in alleviating the crisis, as it is only little more than a normal day's demand of 400,000.

One strike leader, former PDVSA executive Juan Fernandez, compared it to "emptying a bottle of water in the desert".

The head of PDVSA, Ali Rodriguez, has said a further 400,000 barrels will be imported from Trinidad.

But another strike leader, Horacio Medina, told Union Radio that five million barrels of petrol were needed to get the situation back to normal.
Mr Rodriguez says about 700,000 barrels of oil are being produced each day - compared to normal levels of 3.1 million.

However, strikers have scorned that claim, saying the real figure is closer to 200,000 barrels per day.

Food supplies have also been severely affected by the strike and the government says it has been forced to import 180,000 tons of food from neighbouring Colombia.

If Chavez were a smart leader--which he's obviously NOT--he'd listen to the strikers and move to take his country's oil industry back to the private sector.
It seems he has bought what loyalties he still enjoys from the nation's poor by giving them free homes when he came to power in 1998, one presumes from "excess profits" in the state treasury from oil sales...
Like his idol Fidel Castro, Chavez also spoke on TV this month for five hours, rumor has it. Glad I don't live there!
Venezuela should be a cautionary tale for Saudi Arabia, viz. an OPEC country that has squandered its hefty oil revenues due to a corrupt oligarchical régime which has nationalized that industry.
And Saudi doesn't have the arable land or neighbors with arable land that Venezuela does, either!
The economies in Brazil (now led by another Communist like Chavez) and Colombia cannot be depended on by Chavez for long, either.
Not to mention how totally crazy it is for an oil-rich country to be forced to pay top dollar to import oil!
Meanwhile, back in the U.S.A, where we import 14% of our oil from Venezuala, the winter has just begun with a major snowstorm in the North East and we're going to war with the world's 2nd largest oil producer, so we need Venezuelan oil and gas now more than ever!
And after the mess Chavez has made of this country, they're going to need the USA, too,...especially a strong dose of American free-market capitalism and democracy!
Simon Bolivar lives...but he wouldn't know Hugo Chavez!

US warns N Korea of economic collapse

The Bush administration is threatening North Korea with economic collapse if the communist state continues with its nuclear programme.

In a process it defines as "tailored containment", the US says it will call on North Korea's neighbours and allies to cut economic ties with the country.

It says it will also urge the UN to impose sanctions - calling for the organisation to discuss the matter on 12 January.

The UN's nuclear watchdog on Saturday declared North Korea to be in "complete defiance" of its international obligations, after Pyongyang ordered the expulsion of its nuclear observers.
[...]

US officials say they will ask Japan, South Korea, China and Russia to isolate the North economically.

The US has also raised the possibility of using its warships to intercept any North Korean arms shipments to reduce the country's income from arms sales.

This halting of warships is a most wise move, given the fact that 99% of NorK's arms are more likely than not going to Iraq, or Iran, or their Islamist friends like Syria and Egypt!
(Why the West, in the guise of the U.S. and Spain, let that NorK ship loaded with Iraq-bound Scuds go free in Yemeni seas, I have no idea but one hopes we have our reasons...)
Stay tuned: this NorK nuke situation will probably get worse before it gets better.
I'm thinking that in the end, it will come down to our bombers making a strategeric run on these plutonium-making plants, if you know what I mean and I think you do.
I don't think that China and Russia are going to be of much help to us regarding this--but with those 2, you never know.
Only if they feel that their interests are threatened enough will they lean on NK.
Japan will work with us heartily, however, as will the South Koreans.
As for U.N. sanctions against NorK, don't make me or Kim Jung-Il laugh!

Saudi Arabia Said to Assure U.S. on Use of Bases

Saudi Arabia has told American military officials that the kingdom would make its airspace, air bases and an important operations center available to the United States in the event of war with Iraq, senior military officials say.

Saudi Arabia was the main staging area for American forces in the 1991 Persian Gulf war, but conflicting public statements by top Saudi officials over the past several months have cast doubt on Saudi Arabia's support for military operations against Iraq this time around.

American commanders now say they have been given private assurances in recent weeks that they will be allowed to run an air war against Iraq from a sophisticated command center at Prince Sultan Air Base outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital. It is the same command post that ran the air campaign in Afghanistan.
Because of its nearness to Iraq and large, modern facilities like the Prince Sultan base, Saudi Arabia offers crucial advantages as a staging area for military operations. But because of uncertainty about Saudi cooperation, the Pentagon proceeded with plans to build an alternate air command post in Qatar, where the overall American command for Iraqi operations will be headquartered.
[...]"I firmly believe the Saudis will give us all the cooperation we need, and every indication I have is we're getting pretty much what we've asked for," Gen. John P. Jumper, the Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview.
[...]Given the past uncertainty regarding the Saudi position on use of their bases, however, the Pentagon made contingency plans in the event American forces' access was restricted.

The military built its alternate air command center at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. It is just a few miles from the Central Command headquarters at Camp As Sayliyah where Gen. Tommy R. Franks, commander of American forces in the Persian Gulf region, would direct at least the early phases of any war.
The United States and Britain are stationing dozens of aircraft at a necklace of bases in Persian Gulf countries, including Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. American officials are negotiating with Turkey for use of several bases there and plan to station B-2 stealth bombers overseas for the first time, at Britain's Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.

This must be true, because it's in the NYTimes!
I'm glad to hear it, even though I wouldn't trust these camel-herding cutthroats any further than I could throw them, because let's face it, all we need when we take out Saddam is to have this next-door neighbor and our #1 supplier of crude oil against us!
But don't rest too easy, House of Saud: if there's Justice and Truth in the world, you're next!
Hence the great wisdom and foresight in our building the new base in Qatar and keeping War HQ there, Saudi cooperation or no.
Meanwhile, gaddabout and jetsetter Prince Bandar and his 12 wives (count 'em! Apparently, terrorist-funding Princess Haifa is only the most public wife) are living Large on the slopes in Aspen!