Anybody else find this odd?

Iran's Agriculture Jihad Ministry is determined to reduce the countryÂ’s heavy reliance on imported edible oil, said the official in charge of implementing the national oil seed production scheme.

What sort of crazy Iron Chef Iran is this? Does the loser get beheaded? Just asking...

2:00PM Update: This was just begging for some visuals...

Posted by: MattWMD at 07:32 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Don't you get it??? It's a stuggle for the inner edible oil.

Posted by: Carlos at May 17, 2005 08:44 AM (8e/V4)

2 or maybe it's an inner struggle for oil?

Posted by: Carlos at May 17, 2005 08:44 AM (8e/V4)

3 I knew oil was involved somehow...

Posted by: Matt Hurley at May 17, 2005 08:49 AM (vQcWL)

4 Allah hates the imported cooking oils... ?

Posted by: Hoodlumman at May 17, 2005 08:49 AM (1iJzK)

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It's late, and the great ululation of Newsweak-bashing may have grown dull in your ears. Yes, yes, Newsweak bad, you say, though you are not especially surprised at the way things have turned out.

Still there are two more posts I recommend, especially if you hail from the Bear Flag state or attended college there. The first is Jeff Harrell, again, with a revealing anecdote about what Newsweak's Mark Whitaker isn't doing tonight at Stanford.

The second, longer piece is by State Department mystery blogger New Sisyphus, who has a harrowing story about a murder at UC Berkeley and what makes such an event into a "story". I will let him connect it to the Newsweak matter for you.

Finally, in the extended entry, a note for the illumination of my Chomskyite interlocutor "Actus": more...

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The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in March 2001 has had far-reaching implications. Today, the Dalai Lama personally defecated in the smoking ruins of a blood-smeared Uighur mosque, the latest sad, sad, completely fictional happening in an ugly campaign of anti-Muslim violence that has shaken the world since the venerated statues of the Buddha were destroyed by Taliban iconoclasts. "Karma's a bitch, ain't it?" said the sprightly, grinning hierophant, cleansing himself with the tattered turban of an elderly imam.

UNESCO director Koichiro Matsuura said at the time, "As inexcusable as this action is, I hope that it will not provide fanatics elsewhere with an excuse for acts of destruction targeting Muslim cultural properties". Little did he realize the extent of the horrendous wave of riots, lynchings, and desecrations the Taliban's actions would engender. Some moderate Buddhists have condemned the Dalai Lama's harsh words, but have largely been intimidated into silence by a small band of noisy extremists--who do not represent mainstream Buddhism-- that marched through major Asian cities in million-strong protests this week. There is little the frightened moderates can do to stop the worldwide wave of sectarian Buddhist violence, often by itinerant bands of kung-fu-fighting Shaolin monks, against symbols and practitioners of the Islamic faith.

"Buddhism is a religion of peace, but we were provoked," said Drunken Monkey Master Qong Xi. "Their chickens have come home to roost, and are being methodically Kentucky Fried. What did they expect when they defaced these important cultural symbols of our religion? Besides, these Bamiyan statues were one of a kind, irreplaceable works of art, not the sort of thing that has been reproduced millions of times the world over."

Western human rights activists were flummoxed by the ongoing devastation and seemed generally baffled when asked for comment. "Buddhists v. Islam...Not touching that one with a ten-foot pole," confided one UN official.

UPDATE: Jeff Harrell has photoshopic evidence of efforts to accommodate Buddhist (and American) rage.

Posted by: seedubya at 07:56 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Is it possible there could be consequences for a major Media Outlet ie. Newsweek to engage in shoddy reporting? I looked outside and saw no flying pigs nor did the weather forecast say anything about hell freezing over, but here it is....

Per WND:
A major Boston talk-radio station cancelled Newsweek's weekly program due to the magazine's false report that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Quran at Guantanamo Bay by flushing one in the toilet.

Newsweek On Air" no longer will be broadcast on WRKO-AM, the station said in a statement today, according to a report by radio blogger Brian Maloney.

WRKO's schedule now shows "TBA" in place of the Newsweek program in its Sunday 9 p.m. timeslot.

Not a lot but it's a start

Posted by Traderrob

Posted by: Traderrob at 04:50 PM | Comments (31) | Add Comment
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Per Fox: Newsweak brings out the cane and yanks its false Fire-in-a-crowded-theater Koran-flushing story back into the fever swamp from which it emerged. It will now attempt to put toothpaste back into the tube.

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Mookie Al-Sadr, paunchy moderate-cleric-murderin' city-attacking Shiite rabble rouser, floated up from his hidey-hole and criticized the US and Saddam. He's been scarce since a warrant went out for his arrest in connection with the murder of a rival cleric.

Buddy, try the Al-Atkins

Yeah, he's a creep. The actual news here is that Ahmed Chalabi is helping him negotiate the dismissal of the indictment. I am conflicted about Chalabi's role in Iraq; people who know far more about Iraq than I do are sharply divided about whether Chalabi is a true Iraqi patriot or a self-dealing opportunist. The Fox article is a little vague about Chalabi's role, but any association with al-Sadr looks bad for him.

Let's remember what else al-Sadr did besides allegedly arranging the murder of a respected, moderate Shiite cleric and being a suspect in assorted other assassinations and sundry other anti-US activities. He also destroyed a Gypsy village (Qawliya) for immorality back in 2004. His mob leveled the town with machine guns, RPG's, and mortars when the village refused to give up a woman to stand trial for prostitution in Sadr's kangaroo religious court. An excellent dossier on all his Sadrmizing can be found in, of all places, Newsweek.

This murdering thug must not be allowed to return to a place of public power and respectability in Iraq.

UPDATE: CAPTION MOOKIE!
e.g., "We must sit on the American Infidels and crush them beneath our enormous Islamic butt!"

Posted by: seedubya at 04:03 PM | Comments (19) | Add Comment
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has been released.

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By Matt from WMD:

From Reuters:

Kuwait's parliament passed a law on Monday granting women the right to vote and run in elections, for the first time in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state.

Kuwaiti women lining the podium burst into cheers when parliament speaker Jassim al-Khorafi said the legislation had been passed by a majority of the all-male parliament to grant full suffrage to women.

"We made it. This is history," said prominent activist Roula al-Dashti. "Our target is the parliamentary polls in 2007. I'm starting my campaign from today," she told reporters.

There were 35 in favor, 23 against, and one abstention on the vote that had met fierce resistance from Islamists and other MPs.

This is a step in the right direction for the Middle East.

Does anybody think this sort of thing would be happening if Saddam were still in power?

Visit Matt's home blog: Weapons of Mass Discussion

Posted by: MattWMD at 12:41 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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Quite fortuitously, Chad at inTheBullPen has a post that's a good match for my previous diatribe on the Muslim culture and mindset. Chad posts that, "Despite the fact that Newsweek has said their report concerning the alleged flushing of the Koran was erroneous, the same Islamic clerics who want the interrogators shipped to an Islamic country for trial now say they do not believe NewsweekÂ’s retraction. Shocking? It shouldnÂ’t be."

“We will not be deceived by this,” Islamic cleric Mullah
Sadullah Abu Aman told Reuters in the northern Afghan province of
Badakhshan, referring to the magazineÂ’s retraction.

“This is a decision by America to save itself. It comes because of American pressure. Even an ordinary illiterate peasant understands this and
won’t accept it.”

Chad notes that "this comes not only from a group already believing the United States is in a war against Islam, something the MSM and several Left-leaning politicians and pundits advance ‘unwittingly’, but it also comes from people that only have the slightest clue of what a free press is. The lack of understanding that Newsweek is not controlled by the government is partially responsible for the same non-believing that a retraction was not pushed by the Bush administration."

Chad's take on the Muslim culture and mindset is much kinder than my own, but having previously written that the mindless, tantrum-like violence sparked by the false story has shown us the true face of the Islamic culture today - the face of a sick and violence-prone society, enveloped and characterized more by hate than by love of God and humanity, and badly in need of reform, I'll just leave it at that. If the entire situation wasn't so damned dangerous and have such grave repercussions, the Muslims as a people and their reactions to the non-event would be laughable.

Cross posted at Hyscience

Posted by: Richard@hyscience at 11:10 AM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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I've waited several days to post on this, hoping someone else would comment on it - but I guess I'm the only one that considered what has happened across the Muslim world over the past few days as the tantrums of a sick culture. Sure, Newsweek did what the mainstream media does best in a world that places more importance on getting the story out first than on getting the story out right;  they researched, wrote a piece, trashed the administration and our country, trashed the reputation of our military, and got the story out to the world - wrongly.  Subsequently, sparked by a single paragraph in Newsweek alleging that US military interrogators had desecrated the Koran, a wave of anti-American demonstrations swept the Islamic world from the Gaza Strip to the Java Sea. In the past week it was condemned in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and by the Arab League, and on Sunday, Afghan Muslim clerics threatened to call for a holy war against the United States. Think about it, this is from a sub-population of our planet that refers to themselves as peaceful? What does this say about their culture, their thoughtfulness, their mindset, and their suitability to join in the rest of mankind in making our planet a better place to live ? One can only describe the Islamist's and Muslim's reaction as tantrums - child-like fits, mindless violence, and just plain old lack of class and respect for life and other people's property.   

Frankly, I don't give a damned what anyone does to the Koran. My opinion(personal viewpoint - not an expert opinion) is that it is a work of fiction, half-truths, and  distorted facts, written by 'who really knows how many people' to control a population, and the toilet is just as good a place for it as a book shelf or night stand. But the toilet episode never occured in the first place, Newsweek got it wrong, the Arab press never bothered to verify the alleged toilet episode any more than did Newsweek, and the mindless, tantrum-like violence sparked by the false story showed all of us the true face of the Islamic culture today - a sick and violence-prone society, enveloped and characterized more by hate than by love of God and humanity, and badly in need of reform.

Posted by: Richard@hyscience at 09:27 AM | Comments (27) | Add Comment
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By Matt from WMD:

Some startling news about our neighbor to the north was reported in the Hindustan Times among other sources.

Canadian intelligence experts believe that converts to Islam in the country are becoming a major source of Al-Qaeda combatants and pose a risk to security.

An intelligence report from Canada's spy service, released to a daily said "there is a direct threat to Canada and Canadian interests from Al-Qaeda and related groups," and that those groups are attempting to expand their support in Canada.

"Converts are highly prized by terrorist groups for their familiarity with the West and relative ease at moving through Western society," the recently declassified Canadian Security Intelligence Service report said.

"The perception that the West is attacking Islam on multiple fronts continues to anger the Muslim world and contributes to support for radical views. Converts in particular are prone to extreme views because of their new-found zeal."

When CSIS Director Jim Judd testified recently before the Senate committee reviewing Canada's anti-terrorism legislation, he noted there were now suspected terrorists in Canada that "have had no discernible previous link of any kind with the terrorist networks."

Visit Matt's home blog: Weapons of Mass Discussion

Posted by: MattWMD at 09:18 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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Ace of Spades has been griping for a long time about how there's no noun available to replace the dreadful neologism "blogosphere". It's easy enough to ignore Ace, but now Maserati-drivin' Cornerite Warren Bell complains about it as well. Since both of these guys are apparently screenwriters of somewhat varying degrees of success, my sympathy is limited. Just make up your own word and stick to it, fellas.

Nonetheless, these simpering weiners may have a point. "Blogosphere" sounds sufficiently nerdy to describe most electronic media, but it doesn't go far enough. Too often we're grasping for a word that includes more than just blogs, and encompasses all the fast-turnaround pixel-based publications that fling new ideas and breaking news around like poo in a monkey house, leaving the old-fashioned media in the dirt. Drudge, Lucianne.com, Free Republic, NRO, Fark, Tech Central Station, DU, Best of the Web, all these need a word that distinguishes them, along with blogs, from those old-fashioned print and TV outlets creeping along in the left lane with their blinkers on, blissfully causing riots in Afghanistan and correcting them a week later, shaking their liver-spotted fists at us whippersnappers in our Maseratis passing them on the right.

So that word is: "The Immedia".

Yeah, Google gives many hits on "immedia" already. ("The Immedia" gets much fewer.) Someone's probably even copyrighted it. But who cares? The word does what it's supposed to do and there's no reason it can't be pressed into service, immediately.

Posted by: seedubya at 05:10 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Actually this is being hinted at in a few different places, but let's make it explicit:

Newsweek ran a story based on mistaken information about flushing a Koran. As a result of their mistake, people died and America's reputation suffered abroad.

George Bush invaded Iraq based (in part) on mistaken information about WMD's. As a result of his invasion, people died and America's reputation suffered abroad.

Of course, Iraq did have WMD production capabilities, they did sponsor terrorism, they did violate UN resolutions and international law, they did prosecute a genocide against the Kurds and killed thousands upon thousands in a nightmarish totalitarian state. And Iraq now has a fledgling democracy. And America clearly demonstrated its resolve to avenge the attacks of 9/11. But all that's not important right now.

What is important: Newsweek did exactly what the left accuses Bush of doing. Can the left defend Newsweek without implicitly defending Bush as well?

Posted by: seedubya at 01:21 AM | Comments (31) | Add Comment
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1 You pawn. The fact is that every US home (almost) has a flushable toilet. The production capability was there, and right-wing US bloggers regularly sponsor extremist right-wing behaviour - noting Blog-ads to left; "Victor Davis Hanson at his best", "Politically Incorrect - The Coolest Right Wing Shirts", "Military News and Discussion" (echo chamber) glorification of dark side etc. Newsweek pre-emptively broke a headline that was waiting to happen. Newsweek are committed in their foresight and commited in alerting their audience to risk. Anyway, if you still think "the left" read Newsweek you probably need re-educative instruction. The left read and write everything. Including rightwing spoofs like this sit...woops, cat got out of bag again.

Posted by: Republican at May 16, 2005 07:29 AM (zPCEz)

2 Newsweak lied, people died.

Posted by: Carlos at May 16, 2005 08:55 AM (8e/V4)

3 "What is important: Newsweek did exactly what the left accuses Bush of doing. Can the left defend Newsweek without implicitly defending Bush as well" And can the right attack newsweek without implicitly attacking bush as well? Paralyzed we are.

Posted by: actus at May 16, 2005 09:14 AM (Ygl+x)

4 actus, a valid point if Bush had relied only on a single unnamed source. In other words, Bush would have made a better journalist than Michael Izikoff.

Posted by: Carlos at May 16, 2005 09:18 AM (8e/V4)

5 "a valid point if Bush had relied only on a single unnamed source. " Then rusty's analogy also fails. I'm assuming it doesn't.

Posted by: actus at May 16, 2005 10:01 AM (Ygl+x)

6 actus, relying on a single solitary anonymous source is a lot closer to lying than relying on multiple foreign and domestic intelligence sources.

Posted by: Carlos at May 16, 2005 10:49 AM (8e/V4)

7 "relying on a single solitary anonymous source is a lot closer to lying than relying on multiple foreign and domestic intelligence sources." and going to war and killing lots of people and using billions of dollars is a lot different than printing words on paper. but we can still use analogies.

Posted by: actus at May 16, 2005 11:13 AM (Ygl+x)

8 actus, but causing deaths in order to further U.S. interests is a lot different than causing deaths just to hurt Bush.

Posted by: Carlos at May 16, 2005 11:26 AM (8e/V4)

9 "but causing deaths in order to further U.S. interests is a lot different than causing deaths just to hurt Bush." The analogies rise and fall together, as they are mirrors of each other. Do you really hold newsweek morally culpable for those deaths? if a koran had actually been desecrated, would you hold that desecrator as culpable?

Posted by: actus at May 16, 2005 11:30 AM (Ygl+x)

10 Do you really hold newsweek morally culpable for those deaths? if a koran had actually been desecrated, would you hold that desecrator as culpable? actus, I would consider Newsweek morally culpable for reporting it even if it were true, because they reported it based on either A) malice against Bush, regardless of the consequences, or B) without malice, but with reckless ignorance of the consequences. That kind of ignorance is culpable. Newsweek was motivated either by malice or extreme ignorance of the consequences. And anybody that ignorant should not be reporting world news. I find it hard to believe Izikoff is that naive. But given that the accusations aren't true, Newsweeak is double and triple culpable. The interrogator, on the other hand, is not morally culpable because A) flushing Koran pages down a toilet isn't immoral, anymore than some Liberal atheist flushing pages of the Bible is immoral. It was merely an interrogation technique not consisting of torture, and not meant for publication by ignorant malicious journalists. Or the interrogator not culpable because B) he never did flush Koran pages down a toilet.

Posted by: Carlos at May 16, 2005 12:14 PM (8e/V4)

11 "Newsweek was motivated either by malice or extreme ignorance of the consequences." What if they knew the consequences? How do you get malice? how can this be pinned on bush?

Posted by: actus at May 16, 2005 12:22 PM (Ygl+x)

12 This is part and parcel of the MSM actions to abuse their role in our society to attempt to not merely inform, not merely debate but to undermine our government with false stories.

Posted by: Robin Roberts at May 16, 2005 01:48 PM (xauGB)

13 "This is part and parcel of the MSM actions to abuse their role in our society to attempt to not merely inform, not merely debate but to undermine our government with false stories." Do you really think that desecration of the koran does not happen?

Posted by: actus at May 16, 2005 06:21 PM (Ygl+x)

14 "Do you really think that desecration of the koran does not happen?" I couldn't care less if it does happen. Bibles and buddhist statues are desecrated 24/7 by these muslim sub-humans, and we don't fucking riot and kill people over it. If someone riots because of a desecrated Koran he should be shot like a mad dog.

Posted by: Carlos at May 16, 2005 07:04 PM (8e/V4)

15 Actus- Yes, I really think desecration of the Koran does NOT happen at the hands of our civilian interrogators or soldiers. I think anyone who did so would face severe discipline. For very good reasons, as the recent riots have demonstrated. I expect that, in line with the "fake menstrual blood" incident, it would be within the rules of engagement to desecrate a fake Koran. I have no knowledge of that, of course, and whether it would be effective I am quite doubtful.

Posted by: See-Dubya at May 16, 2005 07:04 PM (KO8iS)

16 "Yes, I really think desecration of the Koran does NOT happen at the hands of our civilian interrogators or soldiers. " Woah.

Posted by: actus at May 16, 2005 10:35 PM (Ygl+x)

17 Actus, do you know something I don't, or do you just have a much lower opinion of our troops than I do?

Posted by: See-Dubya at May 16, 2005 11:19 PM (qf8md)

18 "Actus, do you know something I don't, or do you just have a much lower opinion of our troops than I do?" I'm assuming our troops act a lot like prison guards -- which aren't nice people. I don't think that mishandling a Koran is that big of a deal -- in the humane treatement sense -- and I'm assuming that our troops don't either. Not the kind of thing I would do, but I've never had to run a prison/ detention system. I'm also going by the fact that before this there have been other reports of desecrations, and other religious offenses being used. Are you really surprised to find out that, in a prison, jailers act like prison guards?

Posted by: actus at May 17, 2005 01:47 AM (Ygl+x)

19 "by these muslim sub-humans"--Carlos Carlos shows us his true colors. He believes one fifth of the world is comprised of sub-humans. He probably thinks the same of Africans and Orientals. Carlos is a racist. This is a racist war.

Posted by: greg at May 17, 2005 10:52 AM (/+dAV)

20 greg, it's true, I do believe they're sub-humans. But it's not racism, it's religionism. And it's no different that how you Leftists see us christians. (and I don't care if you're not a Leftist-- given your views, you might as well be.)

Posted by: Carlos at May 17, 2005 12:15 PM (8e/V4)

21 and ps., greg, YOU are the racist for holding Arabs to such low expectations of their behaviour. You think it's fine when they act like savages because after all they're only Arabs-- the little brown people (said with an Irish brogue). YOU are the racist for always giving the little savages a pass, while holding christians, Israelis, Americans, westerners to unrealistic standards of perfection.

Posted by: Carlos at May 17, 2005 12:32 PM (8e/V4)

22 "it's true, I do believe they're sub-humans. But it's not racism, it's religionism."-Carlos It is racism and furthermore you insult God by saying so. These are the sons and daughters of Abraham. "And it's no different that how you Leftists see us christians."-Carlos I am a Christian. You're talking out your ass.

Posted by: greg at May 17, 2005 01:27 PM (/+dAV)

23 greg, do you believe in the divinity of Christ, and his claim that there is no way to the Father but through him (Jesus)?

Posted by: Carlos at May 17, 2005 02:27 PM (8e/V4)

24 Yes, as a matter of fact I do.

Posted by: greg at May 17, 2005 02:42 PM (/+dAV)

25 well good for you greg. You've just risen a few notches in my estimattion of you. But your Leftist buddies can still suck eggs.

Posted by: Carlos at May 18, 2005 12:53 AM (8e/V4)

26 Carlos, You insult God by calling His creations sub-human. I don't think you can receive salvation unless you rid yourself of this sickness.

Posted by: greg at May 18, 2005 08:33 AM (/+dAV)

27 Greg I am serioulsy getting fed up with all the crap about religion. It is not a Religious war The terrorist may like to think it s a religious war but its not. The Coalition forces are not fighting a religion they are fighting idiotic brainwashed fools who ought to know better. thats all folks........

Posted by: sparky at May 18, 2005 01:27 PM (F1nba)

28 Sparky, Take a deep breath, now exhale. That's it, inhale, exhale.

Posted by: greg at May 18, 2005 01:30 PM (/+dAV)

29 PHeeeewwwwww Thats better PMT!

Posted by: sparky at May 18, 2005 07:50 PM (F1nba)

30 Very useful comments - good to read

casinos in linea

Posted by: casinos in linea at July 01, 2005 09:41 PM (MHDX6)

31 all of u dumb ass u cant blame bush for all of this he just did what he that was right and could help and protect our country. If Keery would have done somthing like this u would have been for him so shut up. But hey Kerry Isnt president so u cant say ne thing.

Posted by: adam at November 03, 2005 08:27 PM (xBEg9)

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Palominas has a post up about Hilary's comments on the Real ID act.

Apparently, since members of the public like us, who take time to read the fine print and worry what kind of precedent a bill like this will set have voiced objections to the bill, Hillary is against it too.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This woman is dangerous and cunning. She will stop at nothing to sway public favor in her direction and win power. DO NOT TRUST HER.

PS-if you don't know anything about the Real ID act, I wrote a post last week about it.

Cross-posted at Ze Uzzer Blog

Posted by: Suzanne at 12:39 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Mark Coffey at Decision '08 has an eloquent post on the grave situation in North Korea.

Go check it out. It's a worthwhile read, like all his work.

Cross-posted at Suzanne's blog

Posted by: Suzanne at 12:17 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The video is now up. Thanks to Ian of The Political Teen with help in compressing and editing the video.

What is disturing about this video, though it should not surprise anyone, is that they drag out dead and injured bodies into a pile and then shoot them. There is not any footage of Saito nor his capture therefore I presume they are saving that footage for later as that is their method.

You should notice two white splotches in the video which were not added by myself or Ian. They were included in the original video. What do they conceal? My guess is these splotches cover up the vehicles used by the terrorists or another distinguishing characteristic of some of the terrorists and/or methods. This is the first I've seen in a terrorist video where they have intenionally blotted out something.

You can download the video here.

Posted by: Chad at 04:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Well, if they didn't lie exactly, as Traderrob points out below, their mistake did lead to murderous riots and widespread unpleasantness. Malkin, with the roundup.

But, friends, I ask you, should we be so quick to judge?

more...

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It was one small seemingly insignificant paragraph to Isikoff, but the results were significant and deadly.

The unrest began this week after Newsweek published an allegation that American military interrogators had desecrated the Islamic holy book in an effort to rattle detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The report said that they had placed the Koran on the lavatory inside inmates’ cells and had “in at least one case, flushed a holy book down the toilet” .

AT LEAST nine people were killed yesterday as a wave of anti-American demonstrations swept the Islamic world from the Gaza Strip to the Java Sea, sparked by a single paragraph in a magazine alleging that US military interrogators had desecrated the Koran. lts were devastating.
Now it's beginning to become clear that the "devastating" paragraph wasn't true.

On Saturday, Isikoff spoke to his original source, the senior government official, who said that he clearly recalled reading investigative reports about mishandling the Qur'an, including a toilet incident. But the official, still speaking anonymously, could no longer be sure that these concerns had surfaced in the SouthCom report. Told of what the NEWSWEEK source said, DiRita exploded, "People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?"

Another reliable "anonymous" source. To make a contention with this sort of potential impact Isikoff should have had at least 3 sources two of which would be willing to go on the record. Don't these people have the slightest concern for the consequences of their actions. Are they so myopic in their zeal that thinly verified assertions are synonomous with fact.

The pen is mightier than the sword and when used indiscrimantly equally as deadly.

Update: Newsweek apologizes....sort of:

Last Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told us that a review of the probe cited in our story showed that it was never meant to look into charges of Qur'an desecration. The spokesman also said the Pentagon had investigated other desecration charges by detainees and found them "not credible." Our original source later said he couldn't be certain about reading of the alleged Qur'an incident in the report we cited, and said it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts. Top administration officials have promised to continue looking into the charges, and so will we. But we regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst.
Posted by Traderrob

Posted by: Traderrob at 09:42 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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This story comes to us from Armies of Liberation, who asks that we have a link fest on this one, gather support for getting the word out on this story, and watch it  unfold over the next few days.

ThereÂ’s an al-Qaeda jihad against the Zaidis in Yemen, and many of the al-Qaeda jihadists are leaders in the Yemeni government and security forces. They've bombed civilians, closed schools, trashed libraries, had mass arrests, prohibited Zaidi sermons, dragged charred bodies through the streets, and more.

Nabil al-Wazer is prominent in the Popular Forces Union, a Zaidi party with a secular basis. HeÂ’s also related to the partyÂ’s leader. Just like they bombed the Zaidi region (Saada), now its the turn of the Zaidi party to be attacked. Its part of the jihad against the Yemeni Zaidis (shia). Otherwise the government would return him safely to his family.

Nabil al-Wazer is being held by Houssain Abo Dunya in Hajja since Tuesday. Kidnapped. HeÂ’s kidnapped. His location is known. Since Tuesday. Not a police in sight. Nothing. 

The kidnapper is asking for approximately $50,000 US dollars.

So the Yemeni government can do mass arrests and arbitrary arrests, but not legitimate arrests. It can target its citizens but not protect them. It can arrest women, and boys, and old men, but not criminals. One would think that if a citizen is kidnapped, the law enforcement would go recover him. So is the Yemeni government a state, or is it a mafia if they donÂ’t perform even the most basic functions like hostage recovery?

Unless theyÂ’re in on it. LetÂ’s all watch and see what happens next.

Related reading - Why Al-qaeda survives in Yemen.

Cross posted at Hyscience

Posted by: Richard@hyscience at 11:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yo peeps. I'm blogging from an underground bunker deep in enemy territory. And by that I mean 'a squalid Capital Hill basement apartment. Unfortunately it's the place the Professor Chaos calls home.

The first thing you notice when coming from the backwoods of a Red State to the nation's capital are all the self-important looking young people. Wannabes of all sorts come to this modern Babylon to climb, claw, and sleep their way to the top. In many ways this place reminds me of L.A., my home town, with its hordes of young people willing to do just about anything to make big in Hollywood. But at least L.A. has a socially valuable product that people are willing to pay for.

This town is worse than Rome. At least Rome had some pretty interesting entertainment--you know, with that whole Colliseum thingy.

Here the goal is power. Here they forcefully rob the nation of its wealth and redistribute it amongst themselves.

In the Bible Rome is personafied as a whore. A whore is far too wholesome to represnt this town. Whores give you something in return and the exchange is voluntary.

What best represents D.C. then? A Rapist.

Posted by: Rusty at 09:34 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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