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"I thus have a compromise suggestion; let's agree to end waterboarding and instead put al-Qaida terrorists in a room with Hillary Clinton; a far worse punishment than any technique employed by the CIA. When Bill Clinton experienced this torture he cracked and confessed to Mrs. Clinton his involvement with Monica Lewinsky. In this way, we can get the prisoners to spill the beans much faster, and teach them a lesson to boot. Just ask Bill Clinton, who must be pleased to be roaming free these days, as his nominal wife crisscrosses the globe," Klayman said.lulz
During his first 100 days as president of the United States, Barack Obama revealed how different he is from all the white men who preceded him in the Oval Office, and the differences run deeper — in substance and style — than the color of his skin.The only part of this article that doesn't make me want to gag is at the end:
Barack Hussein Obama is the nation’s first hip president.
This, of course, is subject to debate. But watch him walk. Listen to him talk. See the body language, the expressions, the clothes. He’s got attitude, rhythm, a sense of humor, contemporary tastes.
“Hipness is what it is! And sometimes hipness is what it ain’t,” goes the famous song by Tower of Power. “There’s one thing you should know. What’s hip today might become passé.”
Speaking at a Holocaust Days of Remembrance ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, Obama warned against what he called the dangers of silence.Yes, we should prevent another Holocaust but your ideas on this is not too comforting to Israel. You want a two state solution with those who don't recognize Israel. Twenty years of listening to Reverend Wright must have worn on your soul sir.
"Every day," he said, "people should resist the urge to turn away when scenes of horror unfold across the world and fight the impulse to turn the channel when we see images that disturb us or wrap ourselves in the false comfort that others' sufferings are not our own.
The president also urged people to make a habit of empathy, "to recognize ourselves in each other."
The Obama administration agreed late Thursday to release dozens of photographs depicting alleged abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. personnel during the Bush administration.We are moving in a dangerous direction. Pre-9/11 mentality is nothing compared to this. Damn them, damn them all.
At least 44 pictures will be released by May 28 ?[unknown what the question mark denotes...ed] making public for the first time images of what the military investigated at facilities other than the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Defense Department officials would not say exactly what is contained in the photos, but said they are concerned the release could incite a backlash in the Middle East.
The photos, taken from Air Force and Army criminal investigations, are apparently not as shocking as the photographs from the Abu Ghraib investigation that became a lasting symbol of U.S. mistakes in Iraq. But some show military personnel intimidating or threatening detainees by pointing weapons at them. Military officers have been court-martialed for threatening detainees at gunpoint.[
"This will constitute visual proof that, unlike the Bush administration's claim, the abuse was not confined to Abu Ghraib and was not aberrational,"said Amrit Singh, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the agreement as part of a long-running legal battle for documents related to Bush-era anti-terror policies[...]
"My sense is the president was trying to please a lot of audiences at one time and that over the last (week) he has totally failed to put the mind of the intelligence community at ease," said Mark Lowenthal, a former senior adviser to one-time CIA Director George Tenet. "He is going to end up with a national clandestine service that will not be willing to do anything because they feel he will not be there for them when they need him."
Republicans—including former Vice President Dick Cheney—have urged the Obama administration to release other, still-secret documents detailing what intelligence was gained from the controversial interrogation techniques.I repeat, damn them, damn them all.
"I think you have an obligation to release the rest of the memos," said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.
Holder said he wasn't sure exactly which memos Cheney is referring to, because he hasn't seen them. The attorney general suggested such classified documents may exist at other agencies.
"I'm the attorney general and I don't control many of the memos you might be talking about," said Holder.
When the Obama administration released the memos last week, the president declared no CIA operatives who followed the memos' instructions would be prosecuted. The administration has not offered the same assurances to the memo authors or the Bush officials who oversaw the program.
Congressional Democrats have expressed a strong desire to conduct their own investigation of those officials.
At Thursday's hearing, members of both parties asked Holder if he plans to seek charges against those officials.
"I will not permit the criminalization of policy differences. However, it is my responsibility as attorney general to enforce the law. It is my duty to enforce the law. If I see evidence of wrongdoing I will pursue it to the full extent of the law," Holder said.
Officials are still awaiting the results of an internal Justice Department investigation into the actions of the memo-writers.
Al-Qaeda's North African[AQIM] branch on Wednesday released in Mali two Canadian diplomats, a German and a Swiss tourist kidnapped several months ago, but held on to two other Europeans.I pray for the safe release of the others.
The kidnappers released Robert Fowler, UN special envoy to Niger and his assistant Louis Gay, who were snatched in December last year in Niger and two female tourists out of a group of four nabbed in January.
"Four of the six hostages were released," said a security source in the northern town of Gao, speaking on condition of anonymity[...]
Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb has said it intended to unify armed Islamist groups in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco as well as emerging groups in countries bordering the Sahara.
They include Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.
The North African branch has raised concerns among Western countries after claiming a series of deadly suicide bombings in Algeria and other attacks in the region as well as several kidnappings.
Janet Napolitano Blames Entry Of 9/11 Hijackers On.....CanadaGawd, how did we end up with this person....errr, nevermind.
The furor began when Napolitano was asked to clarify statements she had made about equal treatment for the Mexican and Canadian borders, despite the fact that a flood of illegal immigrants and a massive drug war are two serious issues on the southern border.
"Yes, Canada is not Mexico, it doesn't have a drug war going on, it didn't have 6,000 homicides that were drug-related last year," she said.
"Nonetheless, to the extent that terrorists have come into our country or suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across a border, it's been across the Canadian border. There are real issues there."
When asked if she was referring to the 9-11 terrorists, Napolitano added: "Not just those but others as well."
'Cowardly' troops refuse Afghan fight'Apparently when asked by the Brits to fight terrorists, Czech troops refused.
When asked by the Britons to attack Afghan rebels, the commander of a special operations unit (SOG) said "we're not going to, it's dangerous,'' then ordered his men to get in trucks and return to the base.I believe they have some splainin to do.
On another occasion, an SOG commander decided that the task the Britons had set ran counter to the unit's mission.
Yet another time, a commander said he could not help as his soldiers were on vacation.
"I find it hard to recover from the news I get about this unit. It harms the reputation of the army,'' Czech Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova told the daily.
[...]Now, field officers are more careful. They want guidance from headquarters. They need legal advice. I'm told that in the case of an al-Qaeda suspect seized in Iraq several weeks ago, the CIA didn't even try to interrogate him. The agency handed him over to the U.S. military.Hope/Change indeed.
I love Somali Pirates so much I did this just for them...
Remember that song "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits? You know...I want my MTV and all of that? Sure ya do! So I wrote this here song through the sand-filled eyes of Iranian Freedom Fighters (AKA: terrorists) Abdul and Mohammad, on location (redeployed) in Iraq...
Obama has said he doesn't support charging CIA agents and interrogators who took part in waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, acting on advice from superiors that such practices were legal. But he also said that it is up to the attorney general whether to prosecute Bush administration lawyers who wrote the memos approving these tactics.Former VP *Dick Cheney has officially asked to have all memo's declassified in order to show what was gained by those interrogations. Indeed, this is important. All eyes are on the "cough" brutal interrogation techniques and none on what was learned. This reminds me of a cat and mouse game being played out here. BDS vs Bush administration.
"One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort," Mr Cheney said. "
What is behind this Piracy phenomenon, what lays ahead if the international community intervenes and what could develop in that region if the latter is late to intervene or doesn’t meet the challenge? It appears the strategic challenge is even bigger than the mere piracy. Indeed the strategy now contemplated by regional powers could become a major military debacle. Here is why:In other related news:
These so-called Somali pirates are strategically different from their historical predecessors in the Caribbean or from their contemporary colleagues in archipelagoes around the world. They aren’t a vast collection of individual thugs, acting as bands replicating what successful sea gangs have accomplished for centuries before them. They are too many, operating from extremely long shores, all using similar methods, and are backed from hinterland forces.
They may seem like pirates as they seize ships and negotiate for the ransom. But these water thugs actually belong to a wider chess game. The grand ensemble of the army of little boats is in fact part of a regional Jihadi apparatus being deployed in the horn of Africa and beyond. The Jihadi grand circle building in the region is not limited to the pirates but involves hostile forces from the mid Red Sea to East Africa. The Somali pirates are merely one facet of this grand circle.[...]
The so-called pirates are being used by land-based forces to drag the enemy into a wider war in the region, with all probabilities and possibilities open. To each decision made by the West and its allies, a counter plan will be applied. These are the types of complex threats that twenty-first century terror forces will develop to upset the balance of forces. For by challenging a previously stable area of transportation and commerce, the forces behind the Qursaan will be scoring a major victory. If the foe negotiates, they win, and in their view also, if the foe engages militarily, the Jihadists win too.
Frank Lindh, the father of the man commonly known as the American Taliban, spoke to Lecturer Richard Flynn's English 1B classes in a teleconference on Thursday morning.
Kirkuk, Iraq: Iraqi security forces have arrested four children who were recruited by Al Qaeda to carry out suicide attacks in and around the northern city of Kirkuk, an army general said yesterday.It is common belief that the souls of "shuhada"(martyrs) are carried in the hearts of green birds.
“Special forces units have arrested an organisation of children consisting of four individuals under the age of 14 who call themselves the ‘Birds of Paradise’,” General Abdelamir Al Zaidi said.
“The group relies on children and is connected to Al Qaeda. It works to recruit children and young people to carry out suicide attacks and to aid the terrorist groups in detonating roadside bombs,” he said.
The name of the group likely comes from the traditional Islamic belief that when children die they become birds in paradise.
The Obama administration is watching more than just pirates in Somalia. Officials have been tracking a Somali terrorist group and are weighing whether to strike some of its training camps. The fear is that the group, al-Shabab, could join forces with al-Qaida[?] and target the U.SAl Shabaab intentions are to spread Taliban style Islamic law. They have already pledged allegiance to alQaeda and alQaeda warmly welcomed them.
A senior government official tells NPR that because the U.S. military is worried about al-Shabab, all options are on the table — including a military strike. The official said the most likely scenario would be an attack from the air, not boots on the ground.
Until now, the group has concentrated its efforts in Somalia, but officials, including National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter, worry about al-Shabab's future intentions.
"As a general matter, the focus has remained in Somalia. But I am not in a business where I am willing to bet the farm that it will remain that way," Leiter said in a speech before the Aspen Institute earlier this month.
The State Department put al-Shabab on its list of terrorist organizations last year. Some critics say the listing ended up giving the group prestige it didn't deserve.Just young hip-hop teens out for fun...right. They behead, dismember, flag, stone women etc. The author also appears to worry about the missing Somali American youth:
Al-Shabab means "The Youth" in Arabic, and in many ways, that describes the militia perfectly. The members are young and portray themselves as a kind of jihadi hip. The recruiters who try to convince new soldiers to come into the fold look like young men who have just barely entered their teens, and the group's recruitment videos are filled with hip-hop music.[One video so far]
That raises another problem for U.S. planners mulling a military strike: If American citizens are on the ground, could they carry out a military attack? Killing American teenagers from Minneapolis could be a political nightmare.They are terrorists in training, not hip-hop teenagers looking for adventure.
Kirkuk, Iraq: Iraqi security forces have arrested four children who were recruited by Al Qaeda to carry out suicide attacks in and around the northern city of Kirkuk, an army general said yesterday.
“Special forces units have arrested an organisation of children consisting of four individuals under the age of 14 who call themselves the ‘Birds of Paradise’,” General Abdelamir Al Zaidi said.
“The group relies on children and is connected to Al Qaeda. It works to recruit children and young people to carry out suicide attacks and to aid the terrorist groups in detonating roadside bombs,” he said.
The name of the group likely comes from the traditional Islamic belief that when children die they become birds in paradise.
“The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.” – Saul AlinskyExcellent article, be sure to read it all. Birthers, it should be mandatory reading for you. Know your enemies...
For years, the "9/11 Truth" movement -- which claimed George W. Bush knew about, or even perpetrated, the 9/11 attack -- enjoyed a friendly home in the far-Left's netroots. As the netroots consolidated their grip on the Democratic Party, "troothers"were left behind. Now, many of the same personalities are behind a movement demanding to see Barack Obama's birth certificate, a coalition in which a surprising group of leftists rub elbows with LaRouchies, Klansmen, Holocaust deniers, and discredited conspiracy theorists of all stripes.
After years of quietly tolerating the troothers in their ranks, Democrats changed tack as the 2008 election season began. On October 19, 2007, Democrat Bill Maher chose to take demonstrative action -- famously launching himself at a gaggle of troothers heckling from the audience of his TV show shouting “out, out, out!” Four days later Bill Clinton challenged troother hecklers, saying, “An inside job? How dare you. How dare you. It was not an inside job.”
Their twin demonstrations worked as intended. Troothers walked away from the Democrats and went to the presidential campaign most friendly to them—that of Texas Republican Ron Paul. (An October 20 article posted on InfoWars even denounced Maher as “an apologist and advocate for the criminal cabal.”) With two short strokes the Democrats not only removed an albatross from their neck but hung it on the other party.
It didn’t take long for the word to get to the troother rank-and-file. As if ordered by Clinton and Maher, Pennsylvania Democrat Phil Berg, a former deputy attorney general, dismantled his website www.911forthetruth.com in October 2007. (It is now available only on the Wayback machine.) Berg is now a leading Obama ‘birther’ who has filed several bogus lawsuits challenging Obama’s eligibility even as he quietly pursues conspiracy-related 9/11 litigation.
The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist attack on April 19, 1995 aimed at the U.S. government in which the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, an office complex in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was bombed. The attack claimed 168 lives and left over 800 people injured. It was the largest terrorist attack on American soil in history before the September 11 attacks. It remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history.ROP
Family and friends of those affected by this are in my thoughts and prayers today.
On April 18, 1983, our friends, the Iranian Mullahs funded a Hezbollah suicide bomber. He attacked the US Embassy in Beirut and killed a total of 63 people.
Wiki:A total of 63 people were killed in the bombing: 32 Lebanese employees, 17 Americans, and 14 visitors and passersby.[3] Of the American dead, eight worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, including the CIA's top Middle East analyst and Near East director, Robert C. Ames, and the entire Middle East contingent of the CIA.[4] An additional 120 or so people were wounded in the bombing.A pro-Iranian group calling itself the Islamic Jihad ("Islamic Struggle") Organization took responsibility for the bombing in a telephone call to a news office immediately after the blast. The anonymous caller said, "This is part of the Iranian revolution's campaign against imperialist targets throughout the world. We shall keep striking at any imperialist presence in Lebanon, including the international force."[6] (The group had earlier taken responsibility for a grenade attack in which five U.S. members of the international peacekeeping force had been wounded.)
Judge John Bates of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. September 8, 2003, awarded $123 million to 29 American victims and family members of Americans killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut. Judge Royce Lamberth of U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. May 30, 2003, had determined that the bombing was carried out by the militant group Hezbollah with the approval and financing of senior Iranian officials, paving the way for the victims to seek damages. The trial had opened March 17
.
I would link to the memorial site, unfortunately it has malware. Some areshole has managed to screw with it."WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is starting a broad effort in Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from using radio stations and Web sites to intimidate civilians and plan attacks, according to senior U.S. officials.In regards to the radio stations watch this video: Children of the Taliban. The Pakistani's are afraid to miss a broadcast for fear they may be killed.
As part of the classified effort, American military and intelligence personnel are working to jam the unlicensed radio stations in Pakistan's lawless regions on the Afghanistan border that Taliban fighters use to broadcast threats and decrees.
U.S. personnel are also trying to block the Pakistani chat rooms and Web sites that are part of the country's burgeoning extremist underground. The Web sites frequently contain videos of attacks and inflammatory religious material that attempts to justify acts of violence.
China's official media and outspoken bloggers on Friday protested over a German advert promoting the use of condoms which shows revolutionary leader Mao Zedong as a sperm cell alongside Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden.[...]Here is Osama, click the image for Hitler and Mao.
Not all Chinese appear to agree with the official line of anger.
"I am a former worker who is now 70. I have thought about it a lot and I still cannot understand why these people defend Mao so strongly," said one comment on the sina.com website.
Some 18 ships and over 310 crew members are believed to be held by pirates off the coast of Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau, NATO and others. A look at the ships still being held:Link to rest on the list.
— AUG 4: Pirates seize a Nigerian tug, the Yenagoa Ocean, with 11 crew members.
— NOV. 10: Pirates hijack a Philippines chemical tanker, the MT Stolt Strength, with 23 crew members.
— DEC. 16: Pirates seize a Malaysian tugboat with 11 Indonesian crew members.
During the recent Somali pirate standoff with U.S. forces, when American sea captain Richard Phillips was being held hostage, Fox News analyst Charles Krauthammer confidently concluded that “the good news is that these [pirates] are not jihadists. If it’s a jihadist holding a hostage, there is going to be a lot of death. These guys are interested not in martyrdom but in money.”Well worth the read.
In fact, the only good news is that Richard Phillips has been rescued. The bad news is that what appears to have been a bunch of lawless, plunder-seeking Somalis “yo-hoing” on the high seas is, in fact, a manifestation of the jihad — as attested to by both Islamic history and doctrine. more...
President Hugo Chavez, Vice-President Vicente Rangel, Ministers Moncada and Isturiz, invited guests,comrades. I’m honored and humbled to be here with you this morning. I bring greetings and support from your brothers and sisters throughout Northamerica. Welcome to the World Education Forum! Amamos la revolucion Bolivariana![...]
Let those of us who are gathered here today read this poem as “The Teacher’s Obligation.” We, too, must move in and out of windows, we, too, must build a project of radical imagination and fundamental change. Venezuela is poised to offer the world a new model of education– a humanizing and revolutionary model whose twin missions are enlightenment and liberation. This World Education Forum provides us a unique opportunity to develop and share the lessons and challenges of this profound educational project that is the Bolivarian Revolution.
Viva Mission Sucre!
Viva Presidente Chavez!
Viva La Revolucion Bolivariana!
Hasta La Victoria Siempre!
Rarely has such disgusting “ass kissing” of a communist dictator so voluntarily been given. You are unique Ayers - I’ll give you that!
A senior Saudi Arabian al Qaeda operative has called on Somali jihadists to step up their attacks on "crusader" forces at sea in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, and on land in neighboring Djibouti, which hosts France’s largest military base in Africa.Pirates alQaeda link:
"To our steadfast brethren in Somalia, take caution and prepare yourselves," Sa'id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri (aka Abu Sufian al-Azdi) says in a new audiotape acquired by CBS News. "Increase your strikes against the crusaders at sea and in Djibouti."
Shihri warns Somali militants against a conspiracy led by "the crusaders, the Jews and traitor Arab rulers," to put an end to the Muslim extremists' progress in Somalia.
A maritime intelligence source tells CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar that interaction between pirate groups and Somalia's al Qaeda-linked groups was first noticed about nine months ago, and has been on the rise.I have always felt alQaeda linked al-Shabaab was getting a take from the pirates booty.
The source said it was now "inconceivable" to Western intelligence agencies that al Qaeda would not be getting some financial reward from the successful hijackings. The question, says the intelligence source, is whether that cut will remain sufficient to keep the Islamic extremist group satisfied as piracy gains public attention, and bigger ransoms.
Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents say the incoming NATO chief is the “major enemy” of Muslims for defending the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad when prime minister of Denmark. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Danish prime minister until earlier this month, is due in August to become secretary-general of NATO, which leads a 56,000-strong international force fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.Note to Taliban: You are insulting Allah by killing of innocents and children. Allah didn't send children to be used as sacrificial lambs.
In an article posted on the Taliban’s Web site (http://alemarah1.org/english/), the insurgent group said Rasmussen’s appointment would “further strenghten[sp] the faith of the Muslims” to fight against NATO and would lead to “intensification of war” in Afghanistan.
“The major enemy of Islam’s Prophet ... has become the secretary general of NATO,” said the undated article.
(CNN) -- The head of the U.N. Children's Fund has expressed concern over a Saudi judge's refusal for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man.The report further goes on to say the child, upon reaching puberty, can file again for a divorce. By that time the pervert will have consummated their marriage, if he hasn't already.
"Irrespective of circumstances or the legal framework, the marriage of a child is a violation of that child's rights," said Ann Veneman, executive director of UNICEF.
"The right to free and full consent to marriage is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Consent cannot be free and full when either party to a marriage is too young to make an informed decision."
The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, seeking a divorce for her daughter
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”
She was under 18 at time of the alleged crime*Don't expect NOW (liberals need only apply), or UN HRC (they remain silent on this issue, want to criminalize anyone speaking bad of Islam) to do crap. Apparently some groups prefer to look the other way instead of speaking out about human rights violations in Iran.
NCRI - The mullahs' Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Delara Darabi, a 23-year-old female artist. She will face the gallows soon.
Darabi has been serving time since she was 17. The ruling clerics first tried and sentenced her to death in Juvenile Court in the northern city of Rasht.
However, the human rights activists managed to force the mullahs' judiciary to put a temporary hold on her death sentence.
Her paintings have drawn considerable attention both domestically and internationally. Human rights activists have been instrumental in holding exhibitions of her arts to help her case.
Ms. Sarvnaz Chitsaz, Chair of the NCRI's Women's Committee, described Darabi's death sentence as criminal since she was under 18 at the time of the alleged crime. She also called on all international human rights organizations and women's rights activists, in particular the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to adopt urgent binding measures to stop Darabi's execution.
An American ship captain was rescued unharmed Sunday in a swift firefight that killed three of the four Somali pirates who had been holding him for days in a lifeboat off the coast of Africa, U.S. officials said.This indeed is a wonderful Easter.
Capt. Richard Phillips' crew, who said they escaped after he offered himself to the pirates as a hostage, erupted in cheers aboard their ship docked in Mombasa, Kenya. Some waved an American flag and fired a flare in celebration.
A U.S. Defense official said Phillips was in "imminent danger" of being killed before the rescue.
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said Phillips was resting comfortably on a U.S. warship after receiving a medical exam.
A Somali negotiator said Friday pirates holding American ship captain Richard Phillips hostage want a $2 million ransom and are ready to kill Phillips if attacked.Terrorist pirates using hostages of other ships is certainly dangerous for us. Who in the hell knows how China, Russia, etc will react to save their hostages let alone Captain Phillips.
The announcement by the unidentified Somali, who helped negotiate a ransom paid last year to pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks, comes the same day Phillips was recaptured after he made an escape attempt from the life boat where he is being held hostage.
The negotiator said he has spoken with a pirate leader on the ground in Somalia who is coordinating action on the lifeboat adrift in the Indian Ocean. He says the plan is to get the hostage to shore to negotiate from a better position.
Sometime overnight, captain Phillips got away for a short period, and jumped off the lifeboat in an attempt to swim away, probably managing to escape through the lifeboat's backdoor. The drama was witnessed at some distance by the U.S. Navy, but it reportedly happened so quickly they could not provide assistance.[WTF?]
Defense officials said that one of the pirates fired an automatic weapon when Phillips tried to swim to safet,[sic] but it was not clear whether the pirate fired at the fleeing hostage, or into the air.
Also on Friday officials said other pirates sought to reinforce their colleagues by sailing hijacked ships with other captives aboard to the scene of the standoff.[...]
Mohamed Samaw, a resident of the pirate stronghold in Eyl, Somalia, who claims to have a "share" in a British-owned ship hijacked Monday, said four foreign ships held by pirates are heading toward the lifeboat. A total of 54 hostages are on two of the ships — citizens of China, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Tuvalu, Indonesia and Taiwan.
juxtaposes a picture of a sealer clubbing a baby seal with a photo of a police officer clubbing a civil rights protester."WTF?
The idea would be to let visitors "explore ways . . . to promote nonviolent and non–exploitive relationships with all the living beings in this diverse world – regardless of race, religion, ability, gender or species.'"
BERLIN -- A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
The show features star defense attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.(Also note, Spong is supporting legal action against Geert Wilders)
Anders Fogh Rasmussen sought to smooth Muslim reservations during first international appearance after being nominated to become Nato’s next leader
Former Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen reiterated today that he condemns the demonising of cultural groups, but did not fulfil expectations that he might issue an apology for the 2005 publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.
Rasmussen was nominated as Nato’s next secretary general on Saturday after weeks of Turkish reservations about his handling of the Muslim protests of the cartoons’ publication, and it was expected by some in the Muslim world that as part of a tit-for-tat deal to secure Turkey’s support he would apologise during a scheduled appearance at the UN Alliance of Civilisations conference in Istanbul today.
But Rasmussen said his position had remained unchanged.
Islamic extremists placed a $1m price on his head after he dared to mock Muslim suicide bombers by depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.Good to see Mr Rasmussen didn't let Westergaard down.
For three years he was forced underground to avoid would-be assassins.
But Mr Westergaard has decided that he will hide no more.
"I am 73 years old," he says.
"Most of my life is over. I am too old to be afraid. I have complete faith in PET [the Danish Secret Service]."
Not only has he emerged from hiding but he has also gone on the offensive, contributing to a recently published Danish book. His new cartoons are not as provocative as the Muhammad bomb but they satirise Islam and politicians who appease the mullahs.
PESHAWAR: Chand Bibi, the young girl who was shown being flogged by the Swat Taliban in a videotape aired on television channels, gave a statement to a Qazi, or judge, on Sunday, denying the incident.There is a lot of controversy over this issue. For instance, terrorist propagandist Samir Khan aka Inshallahshaheed has been working hard to clean up the image of the Taliban since this first aired:
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the NWFP information minister, told our sources that she made the statement to Mohammad Riaz, the judge of the Qazi Court for Matta Tehsil, and the commissioner of Malakand division, Syed Mohammad Javed, both of whom visited her village, Kala Killay, in Kabal Swat district on Sunday.
Quoting the commissioner, Mian Iftikhar said the girl, Chand Bibi, made it clear that she was indeed married to Adalat Khan and everyone in the village knew about it. She refuted the reports that both of them were flogged by the Taliban as punishment for maintaining illicit relations and then forcibly married.
The Times of India have reported that the woman in question that was supposedly flogged, came out and confirmed - just as Haji Muslim Khan said - that the video was a fabrication; her husband also said the same. If this is true - and seeing that this is an official incident with the courts - what does that tell you?Taliban/terrorist sympathizer Inshallahshaheed sucks the testes of of those he follows as well as those who believe his propaganda. It's the teh ghey way....
It tells you to stop talking about this issue and move on.
Two young Americans who left their homes to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in Somalia held a rare “press conference” in Southern Somalia on Monday, saying they want to be killed “for the sake of God,” according to a U.S. law enforcement official and a video posted on a Somali news Web site.American traitors flaunting they have joined alQaeda's Somalia affiliate while sending a message to other "youth to come join the jihad. I would hope sadly a few of us are dead will deter others from joining them.
Last month, a source familiar with the FBI investigation told FOX News that “several” of the men had returned to the United States, while others “are still there [in Somalia]." Today is the first time any of these men have spoken publicly.
"We came from the U.S. with a good life and a good education, but we came to fight alongside our brothers of al-Shabaab … to be killed for the sake of God,” one man said in the video, as translated by Omar Jamal, the executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
In the video, two men, identifying themselves as Abu-Muslim and Abu Yaxye, say they are “Somali youth” from the United States who are now stationed near the city of Kismayo, more than 300 miles southwest of Mogadishu, according to Jamal. The men say they are talking to media for the first time so others can learn why they joined al-Shabaab, he said.
At their press conference, the men did not say exactly how many other U.S. citizens have joined al-Shabaab, but they insisted that “many” Somali-Americans are now “all over Somalia to join the Jihad,” according to Jamal's translation.
“Some of us are still in training, others are on the frontline of the Jihad,” Abu-Muslim said in the video, according to Jamal. “Sadly a few of us are dead, one of whom carried out a suicide bombing.”
Sorry. You gun-clingy guys own this one.Friggin idiot.
tbogg
Mr. Perkovic and other former classmates said they were surprised by this morning's events. Mr. Perkovic said Mr. Poplawski was opposed to "Zionist propaganda" and was fearful that his right to own weapons would be taken away but he wasn't a member of an organized group or militia.Read the rest, Elder of Ziyon has link to MySpace page of Poplawski's friend Perkovic. Quite the evil Zionist Juice hater.
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A 911 call that brought two city police officers to a home where they were ambushed, and where a third was later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a dog urinating in the house.Crazy bastage. Will the moonbats now blame dog lovers for the senseless murder of these officers?
The Saturday morning argument between Margaret and Richard Poplawski escalated to the point that she threatened to kick him out and called police to do it, according to a 12-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed late Saturday that contains her account.
When officers Paul Sciullo III and Stephen Mayhle arrived, Margaret Poplawski opened the door and told them to come in and take her 23-year-old son, apparently unaware that he had grabbed a long rifle and was standing behind her, according to the court papers. She told investigators she heard gunshots, spun around and ran to the basement, shouting, "What the hell have you done?"
Shortly before Markos Moulitsas blamed Glenn Beck for instigating the senseless shooting of three Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, police officers on Saturday, the proprietor of the far-left website Daily Kos said that conservatives would rather shoot cops than organize to win the next election.Classy Markos considering you didn't comment when the Oakland police officers were murdered. You know the one, where arseholes were honoring the bastage that did it.
How many teleprompters does it take to screw in Obama's lightbulb? 12
Some 200 mosques in Islam's holiest city, Mecca, point the wrong way for prayers, reports from Saudi Arabia say.heh
All mosques have a niche showing the direction of the most sacred Islamic site, the Kaaba, an ancient cube-like building in Mecca's Grand Mosque.
But people looking down from recently built high-rises in Mecca found the niches in many older mosques were not pointing directly towards the Kaaba.
Some worshippers are said to be anxious about the validity of their prayers.
No object entered orbit after North Korea's launch of a rocket it claimed was sending a satellite into space, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials said Sunday.
NORAD and USNORTHCOM, which monitored the launch, said in a statement that they acknowledged Sunday that North Korea launched a Taepodong-2 missile at 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, which "passed over the Sea of Japan and the nation of Japan."
"Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean," they said. "No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan.
Ayatollah Khamenei advised all countries which are able to access the nuclear energy to gain the technology and said, "as the oil revenues are limited and for proper exploitation of the new energies we should get nuclear technology as the safest way for producing energy."Viva la Islamic Revolution
The Islamic Revolution Leader termed the level of cooperation between Iran and Venezuela as good and said that the capacities of the two countries for expansion of ties are great and these mutual ties could be changed into multilateral ties at the international and regional arenas.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that confidence and support of the Venezuelan people for their president is a great blessing and opportunity and said," every popular government could resist firmly against powers and these conditions and divine blessings are existed in Venezuela and Iran."
President Hugo Chavez for his part expressed his satisfaction over another meeting with the Islamic Revolution Leader and named himself as follower of the Islamic Revolution and its leaders saying,"we have taken many lessons from political experiences of the Iranian government and nation for resisting against enemies and imperialism and will continue firmly our fight to preserve our independence."
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suicide bomber blew himself up in an upper-class neighborhood of the capital on Saturday night, killing at least eight paramilitary security officers posted at a camp set up on a main road for the protection of the area’s foreign diplomats and well-to-do residents.Crossposted at Jawa Report
Also on Saturday, an American worker for the United Nations kidnapped near the Afghan border more than two months ago was freed, according to Jennifer Pagonis, a United Nations official. Ms. Pagonis said that the worker, John Solecki, had been released south of Quetta.
Mr. Solecki was seized Feb. 2 by gunmen who killed his driver in the southwestern city of Quetta in Baluchistan. A suspected separatist group, the previously unknown Baluchistan Liberation United Front, claimed responsibility and threatened to kill Mr. Solecki if the government did not release more than 1,000 imprisoned members of Baluchistan separatist groups.
A intelligence official in Quetta said no prisoners were released to free Mr. Solecki.
[...]The suicide attack occurred at 8 p.m., when many families were gathering for dinner in nearby houses, and after senior police officials had been warning for more than a week that suicide bombers had entered the city.
Pakistani officials were especially unnerved because the attack appeared to have been slightly more involved than other recent suicide missions here that were thought to have been carried out by lone bombers, according to an official with the Interior Ministry who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The attack on Saturday appeared to include at least two people, one of them a gunman who the official said fired shots after the bombing.
The extremist cleric Abu Qatada has issued a 6,000-word rallying cry to his followers from inside one of Britain’s most secure prison units.This is nucking futz.
The Palestinian preacher hails the “victory” of the Mujahidin and claims that his treatment has helped to radicalise a new generation of young British Muslims.
Despite demanding his freedom, he says that “the gift of prison” has helped him to lose more than 50lb (22kg) in weight.He even suggests that a vigorous exercise programme appears to have cured his diabetes and back trouble.
The cleric boasts of being told by Bilal Abdullah, the NHS doctor jailed for the car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow in 2007, that he was heavily influenced by the cleric’s taped sermons. He describes the bomber, who narrowly failed in his attempts to blow up a nightclub and airport terminal, as “truthfully a man from the men of Islam, in knowledge, action, steadfastness and manhood”
His communiqué was smuggled out of Long Lartin high-security jail, Worcestershire, and is circulating on jihadi websites and forums, where it is attracting widespread comment.
