June 08, 2006

Zarqawi al Qaeda's "Jeb Stuart"?

I'm somewhat tentative about referring to Musab al Zarqawi as al Qaeda's Jeb Stuart, because I don't want to be misunderstood as suggesting that the two are comparable in every respect. The two commanders were alike in the sense that they were important second fiddles, but there's no comparison in terms of their ethics and morality. The difference is quite uncomplicated: Jeb Stuart, while arguably a defender of slavery, never blew up or sawed the heads off innocent noncombatants. And his military successes can rightly be called that, rather than the sort of piddling incessant vandalism that has undermined as much as advanced Zarqawi's co-called "cause." But the two are alike, in spite of what "terrorism expert", Richard Clarke, says, because they were both irreplaceable in the hierarchy of their respective armies, and their deaths will be seen to have marked a turning point.
more...

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May 06, 2006

Five “Suspicious” Men Detained on AA Flight

The flight was originated in Dallas. An air martial noticed the men and the plane landed in Newark. No word yet on who they are or what made them suspicious. Five men, American Airlines, you get the idea.

AP Via Yahoo News: NEWARK, N.J. - Authorities on Saturday boarded an American Airlines plane and detained five men after it landed at Newark Liberty International Airport, according to a spokesman for the airport's operator.

The plane was bound from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport when an air marshal notified authorities of five men he considered suspicious, according to Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Port Authority police took the five men into custody immediately after the plane landed at 3:20 p.m., LaVorgna said.

WeÂ’ll update when more details become available.

Update : via Brignt and Early:

The men _ identified only as four Angolan military personnel and an Israeli _ were traveling back to their respective home countries after attending helicopter training school in Texas, said Steven Siegel, a spokesman for the FBI's Newark office.

Fellow passengers on Flight 1874, which had departed from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, became suspicious of the men because they were speaking in foreign languages and had "aircraft flight materials" with them, Siegel said.

Hey at least we know people are aware and watching. False alarm.

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April 23, 2006

New Bin Laden Audiotape Whines About 'Crusader War'

Al-Jazeera, the terrorists' voice of choice, has broadcast a new audiotape, purportedly from Osama bin Laden, in which the Saudi terrorist complains about the West's treatment of Palestinian terrorist government Hamas:

In the recording, aired on Sunday, the al-Qaeda leader said the isolation and cutting off of aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government reaffirmed that the West was at war with the Islamic nation.

"The blockade which the West is imposing on the government of Hamas proves that there is a Zionist crusaders war on Islam," he said.

This is the sort of twisted logic that appeals to the average ignorant Muslim on the street and in the terrorist-breeding madrassas, aided and abetted by "media outlets" like al-Jazeera. After whining about aid being cut off to the Hamas government, bin Laden then whines piteously about Western people supporting the War on Terror:
"They send their sons to armies to fight us and they continue their financial and moral support while our countries are burned and our houses are bombed and our people are killed."
The only people indiscriminately burning mosques and murdering civilians are his own supporters, but many, if not most, Muslims are either deliberately misinformed by Arab media or too intellectually dishonest to admit the truth.

The rationalizations in Osama's comments may be a signal that a new terrorist attack is planned, which he is trying to justify in advance.

Bin Laden also railed about the Danish Mohammed cartoons and urged Islamist terrorists to help out their buddies in Sudan.

Al-Jazeera, of course, is careful not to mention the words "terrorist" or "terrorism", referring to the world's most notorious terrorist as "the al Qaeda leader".

Via the Stop the ACLU.

Cross-posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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April 21, 2006

America's Sons Come Home After 62 Years

From a Department of Defense press release:

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
announced today that the remains of eleven U.S. airmen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are Capt. Thomas C. Paschal, El Monte, Calif.; 1st Lt. Frank P. Giugliano, New York, N.Y.; 1st Lt. James P. Gullion, Paris, Texas; 2nd Lt. Leland A. Rehmet, San Antonio, Texas; 2nd Lt. John A. Widsteen, Palo Alto, Calif., Staff Sgt. Richard F. King, Moultrie, Ga.; Staff Sgt. William Lowery, Republic, Pa..; Staff Sgt. Elgin J. Luckenbach, Luckenbach, Texas.; Staff Sgt. Marion B. May, Amarillo, Texas.; Sgt. Marshall P. Borofsky, Chicago, Ill.; Sgt. Walter G. Harm, Philadelphia, Penn.; all U.S. Army Air Forces.

On April 16, 1944, Paschal and Widsteen were piloting a B-24J Liberator with the other nine men aboard. The aircraft was returning to Nadzab, New Guinea after bombing enemy targets near Hollandia. The plane was last seen off the coast of the island flying into poor weather.

Most of the men will be buried today in Arlington National Cemetery. The families of three of the men have decided to bury them in their hometowns.

Cross-posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto, Stop the ACLU, and Vince Aut Morire.

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April 12, 2006

Police Detective's Death Attributed to 9/11 Dust Cloud

From the Associated Press:

A coroner's report released Tuesday found James Zadroga's death after developing respiratory disease was "directly related" to the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Zadroga, of Little Egg Harbor, N.J., died Jan. 5.

Researchers say it will take decades to determine which illnesses and deaths among ground zero workers were caused by their exposure to the asbestos-laden dust cloud.

Unfortunately, a few politicians took the opportunity of Zadroga's autopsy results to posture and shill for votes: more...

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March 30, 2006

Fidel Castro Reported Dead

Rumors have begun circulating in Spanish language publications that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has died. Cuban officials are denying the reports. Developing....

UPDATE: Okay, so the consensus is that those reports were wrong. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he? Plus, how often do you get to read a story where the translation talks about Fidel being castrated? Anyway, Gringo unleashed has a cleaner translation, with far fewer references to castration than Google's.

more...

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March 27, 2006

Abdul Rahman Released

CNN is flying a banner saying Abdul has been released from custody.

Developing...

FOXNEWS as well.

It was reported today that Rahman would seek safety outside Afghanistan. No word yet on what country, if any, he has been moved to.

UN via The TimesAdrian Edwards, a UN spokesman in Kabul, said that he expected that one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to the case would give refuge to 41-year-old Mr Rahman.

Ok, found the AP original Story and it says that Mr. Rahman was released just outside of Kabul. Hopefully this is a somewhat of a ruse and he was met there and taken to safety.

AP via Yahoo News : Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar Danish told The Associated Press that the 41-year-old was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the outskirts of Kabul late Monday.

"We released him last night because the prosecutors told us to," he said. "His family was there when he was freed, but I don't know where he was taken."

Does I don't know mean long gone? Does outskirts mean at the airport? It's possible the county that takes him may be a bit skittish about going public. I would hate to think of the other possibilities.


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March 24, 2006

Afghan Christian May Be Freed

Abdul Rahman, the Afghan who converted from Islam to Christianity and was threatened with death under sharia law for apostasy, may be released soon.

From Agence France Presse:

An Afghan Christian facing possible execution for converting from Islam was likely to be released from jail "soon," a senior government official said following huge Western pressure over the case.

"He is likely to be released soon," the official said, adding there would be a top-level meeting on the matter Saturday.

The sharia law against apostasy does not specify that a Muslim who converts only to Christianity must be punished. The "crime" is leaving Islam, regardless of what faith the apostate then embraces.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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March 22, 2006

Petition to Censure Jimmy Carter

I received a press release tonight from Move American Forward announcing their efforts to have Congress formally censure former President Jimmy Carter, who been behaving rather...erratically...of late. In fact, at times it seems that Carter doesn't realize that he's no longer an elected official, and has taken it upon himself to negotiate with foreign governments and campaign against UN resolutions that would serve America's interests. more...

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March 21, 2006

That's One Phat Bass

world_record_bass.jpgWorld record large mouth bass caught yesterday at Dixon Lake, in San Diego County by Mac Weakley. Yes, the world's biggest bass was caught in California. Take that Confederate Yankee. The fish weighed 25 lbs. 1 oz, breaking the previous record of 22 lbs. 4 ozs set by George W. Perry at Montgomery Lake in Georgia in 1932.

Unfortunately, this giant of a fish was "foul-hooked"--which means that it was hooked in a place other than in the mouth. In other words, Weakly's lure snagged the fish on accident. The IGFA rules, though, only disqualify the fish if it was intentionally fould-hooked. Regardless of its official position in the record books, this is the biggest bass ever caught.

My dad and cousin sometimes fish this lake, but I've never been. Suddenly I regret my decision to not join them. The San Diego Union Tribune is following the story here, here, and here.

UPDATE: Field and Stream seem to have the best account here.

Others: Wizbang discusses the ins and outs of the catch, Point Five's Cindy Sheehan take, Stix Blog--who seem jealous

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March 16, 2006

Large U.S. Assault Begins in Iraq

Good luck & God bless. I pray that our troops will rescue any hostages which may be held captive in the area. More here.

UPDATE: Start Cranking Out The Virgins
more...

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A Familiar Face

The Pentagon has just released to the public documents captured in Operation Iraqi Freedom. They can be accessed here in Adobe Acrobat format.

This one's interesting; the synopsis describes it this way:

ISGZ-2004-019920
2002 Iraqi Intelligence Correspondence concerning the presence of al-Qaida Members in Iraq. Correspondence between IRS members on a suspicion, later confirmed, of the presence of an Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Moreover, it includes photos and names.
The document hasn't been translated into English; many of the documents released are available only in Arabic. This one consists of photocopies of handwritten notes and photos, presumably of the al Qaeda members that Iraqi intelligence had listed as being in Iraq in 2002. Here's a detail from page 6: more...

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March 12, 2006

CIA Agents Named on Internet

(Washington. D.C.) The Chicago Tribune conducted a search on the Internet for CIA data and found "more than 2,600 CIA employees, 50 internal agency telephone numbers and the locations of some two dozen secret CIA facilities around the United States." All data were compiled from commercial sources.

Included in the virtual directory were the names and addresses of publicly-known employees, such as Director Porter Goss, and data regarding clandestine employees and front companies.

Holy moly! If the Tribune reporting is accurate, I'd surmise that the alleged outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent is nothing.

From Interested-Participant.

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March 11, 2006

Slobodan Milosevic Dies in Prison

Slobodan Milosevic(The Hague) Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in his prison cell at the UN Detention Center in The Hague.

From Focus-Fen.net:

"It is true," a source close to the government in Belgrade told AFP, when asked to confirm the report.

The source, who requested anonymity, refused to elaborate further.

Milosevic was standing trial at the Hague-based UN war crimes court on more than 60 counts including genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the Balkan wars, including the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica.

Milosevic was 65. Over 60 counts of genocide and he never gets convicted nor sentenced.

From Interested-Participant.

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Pakistani Forces Kill Islamist Terrorists

From Reuters:

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked a hideout of Islamist militants in a tribal region near the Afghan border, killing up to 30 guerrillas, the military said on Saturday.

Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said the overnight attack in the North Waziristan tribal region was ordered after intelligence reports suggested that militants were gathered in a compound along with a huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives.

There were reportedly "foreigners" among the dead. Enjoy your seventy-two raisins, scumbags.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

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March 09, 2006

DP World to Hand Over Ports to US Firm

We won't be letting the UAE run our ports after all.

CNN : Reading a statement from DP World on the Senate floor, Warner, a Virginia Republican, said the reason is "to preserve" the strong relationship between the UAE and United States... ...House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, delivered the news to Bush during a meeting Thursday at the White House, two Republican sources said
Good deal? I guess time will tell sounds better to me. I think the heavy public outcry is to credit for this. This shows that in America what the people really want they can get.

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March 08, 2006

Moussaoui's Target: The White House

From Reuters:

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui talked of his dream to fly an airplane into the White House more than a year before the hijacked aircraft attacks, a witness linked to al Qaeda testified in federal court on Wednesday.

Fazi Bafana, formerly a treasurer of a unit of Jemaah Islamiah, which is linked to al Qaeda, revealed discussion of that dream in videotaped testimony played during Moussaoui's sentencing trial.

"He told me he had a dream. He dreamed to fly an airplane ... into the White House," Bafana said. "He told me he informed (Osama bin Laden) what he dreamed and (bin Laden) said go ahead. He asked me to assist him."

When the defense cross-examined Bafana he said that he thought Moussaoui was "cuckoo". Of course the "cuckoo" defense might work better if jetliners had not, in fact, actually been flown into buildings on September 11, 2001.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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Teri Hatcher Reveals Past Sex Abuse

(Sunnyvale, California) Popular television and film actress Teri Hatcher (pic) has come forward and announced that she was molested by her uncle, Richard Hayes Stone, when she was a little girl.

Hatcher contacted Santa Clara County prosecutor Chuck Gillingham to help in convicting Stone, 67, for molesting 14-year-old Sarah Van Cleemput who later committed suicide. Gillingham needed Hatcher's corroborating testimony.

From MercuryNews.com:

"She asked what I thought," about coming forward, Gillingham said of Hatcher. "I said, 'I'm going to beg you to be involved, as hard as that is for you.'"

Gillingham flew down to Los Angeles with a Sunnyvale public safety officer to take Hatcher's statement.

"When we went to interview her, she almost canceled," Gillingham said. "But she had been with her daughter that morning and was thinking if, God forbid, something happened to her daughter that someone would come forward and do the right thing."

With a tape recording running, Hatcher explained in detail how her uncle -- the then-husband of her mother's sister -- allegedly molested her in the late 1960s and early '70s when she was no more than 7.

"Obviously she took a big risk doing the interview," Gillingham said.

After prosecutors gave the defense a transcript of Hatcher's interview, Stone pleaded guilty Oct. 24, 2002, leaving no need for a trial nor a court appearance for Hatcher.

Hatcher tells her whole story in the April issue of Vanity Fair Magazine.

From Interested-Participant.

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Suspects Arrested in AL Church Fires

(Washington) Two young men have been arrested in connection with the string of church fires in Alabama. Ben Moseley, 19, and Russell Debusk, 19, were taken into custody by federal agents. Both are being charged with arson and conspiracy to commit arson.

A third suspect is being sought in the fires at five Bibb County churches and four in west Alabama last month.


[Update 1230 EST]

The two suspects in custody are students at Birmingham Southern College. The third suspect is reported to be Matthew Lee Cloyd who is a student at the University of Alabama - Birmingham. I noticed that FoxNews now reports that the third suspect has been arrested.

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Iran Deploys New Sub in Persian Gulf

From the Gulf Daily News (Bahrain):

The Nahang (meaning whale) and was "built by specialists in the Iranian defence ministry and has the capability to carry multipurpose weapons for different missions", said Rear Admiral Sajjad Kouchaki.
Iranian plans to produce its own submarine were reported almost a year ago. At that time Iran was said to be planning a submarine "...designed to remain undetected and fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously."

Fears about Iran's quest for nuclear technology have focused on the No Dong missiles it obtained from North Korea. Iranian submarines designed for quiet running and capable of launching missiles may add an unwelcome new dimension to Iran's current nuclear brinksmanship.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

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