April 26, 2005
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The whole article is fascinating and gives a brief history of Baathism in Syria and how that country, like Hussein's Baathist Iraq, modelled their political system after the Soviet Union. Here are some key points about the expected move to multi-party elections and the parties that might be allowed to compete.
The article ends by claiming the move to multi-party elections are a response to a the 'Assistance to Support a Transition to Democracy in Syria Bill' which passed on March 8th. That Bill authorizes the President "to provide assistance and other support for individuals and independent non-governmental organizations to support transition to a freely elected, internationally recognized democratic government in Syria." The Baathists apparently believe that their decades of monopoly power and propaganda will be enough to keep them in power. We shall see.
A new Ba'ath Party law is to be created in Syria, breaking the socialist parties' monopoly over politics in that country, in place (with the exception of the years 1961-63) since 1958. The move is a calculated gamble on the part of the government, and will also challenge a US bill against Syria calling for "Assistance to Support a Transition to Democracy in Syria"....Hat tip to Simon's World. Coming Anarchy has related thoughts and a bigger picture view. 1972 notes that Assad has been claiming that things are going to change in Syria since March. I would point out the coincidence that this was when the U.S. law was passed encouraging democracy in Syria.For various reasons, that did not happen in 2001, but today it is almost certain in Damascus that a new party law will be created, and announced at the upcoming Ba'ath Party Conference in June, breaking the socialist parties' monopoly over politics in Syria. President Bashar Assad was very clear about that when speaking to Spanish journalists in Syria in March. He said, "The coming period will be one of freedom for political parties" in Syria....
Under the new party law expected in June, parties not affiliated with the NPF will be permitted to operate as long as they are not Islamic, or encourage sub-national loyalties (eg Kurdish, Circassian, Armenian, etc). The first party expected to receive a license is the SSNP. It is also the party expected to obtain the widest popularity in Syria.
Founded in Beirut in 1932, originally as a secret society of five intellectuals, by the revolutionary philosopher Antune Saada, it grew into an official party and became immensely popular in Syria from the 1940s onward. A radical and secular party, it originally flourished among students at the American University of Beirut and spread to other intellectual centers in Lebanon and Syria, calling for the unification of Greater Syria (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Jordan), and challenging the ideas of modern Arab nationalism that became popular in the 1950s under Nasser of Egypt. Meaning, the SSNP was uninterested in North Africa (Egypt included) or the Arab Gulf region....
Other parties expected to emerge are the Coalition for Union and Democracy, a Nasserite organization, and the Arab Socialist Union of Jamal al-Atasi, a party that is Arab nationalist in outlook, pro-Nasser, relatively popular in Syria, which deviated from NPF ranks for ideological reasons in the 1970s.
If the arrested Damascus parliamentarian Riyad Sayf is released from jail (his prison term ends in 2007), he will strive to re-establish his Movement for Social Peace. An unofficial party, it was created and abrogated in 2000, lobbying for the creation of a multi-party system, a release of political prisoners, and an end to socialism in Syria. If no legal obstacle prevents him from getting a license (he might be stripped from his civil rights), then Sayf might succeed and his party would win during election time, because he is popular in Damascus.
A moderate Islamic party might be permitted to operate under the leadership of Dr Mohammad Habash, the regime-friendly Islamist deputy in the Syrian parliament, but no license will be given to the Muslim Brotherhood, which tried and failed to topple the Assad regime in 1982, inflicting a lot of blood in Syria....
Probably, in a healthy political environment, independents will strive to re-establish the National Party of Damascus, loyal in the 1950s to Syria's late president Shukri al-Quwatli, who died in 1967, and others will work for the People's Party of Aleppo, whose president and co-founder Nazim al-Qudsi died in 1998. Both parties were non-ideological, unlike the Ba'ath and communists, but rather mirrored the socio-political interests of their respective communities, and promised to represent them adequately in parliament during the 1940s and 1950s....
In 2000, Paris-based Syrian businessman Umran Adham tried to re-establish Quwatli's National Party, but the project was delayed "because the state was unenthusiastic". A legal team was put in charge of paperwork, and the National Party's 1946 constitution was updated to apply to modern Syria. Adham had explained that the party should be ready by late 2001 and able to take part in the parliamentary elections of 2002. He then spoke to the Beirut-based Daily Star and said the project had been delayed "for another three to four years". He added that he had "sent out signals" showing that the project was ready and awaiting approval, and received "an extremely passive response" from senior state officials, showing that no Ba'athist leaders wanted to resurrect the National Party in 2001.
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CNN:
A U.S. military investigation has cleared American troops of any wrongdoing in the shooting death last month of an Italian security agent in Baghdad, according to a senior Pentagon official.Check out Sgrena's reaction. And yes, she should be charged with purgery. Times Online:The agent's death strained relations between the United States and Italy, two stalwart allies in the Iraq war.
The U.S. soldiers involved will face no disciplinary actions, the Pentagon official said Monday....
The investigators' report also said there appears to have been no attempted coordination on the part of the Italians to clear the U.S. checkpoint, the official said....
Italian media reported that while Italian officials participated in the U.S. investigation, it is unclear whether they would endorse the report. News reports in Italy also said officials there do not agree with the findings.
If the Italians don't endorse the report, its credibility would likely be hurt in Italy.
Italian magistrates are conducting their own unilateral investigation into the shootings and are being given access to the car that carried Calipari and Sgrena in hopes of determining how the soldiers fired on it.
An Italian journalist rescued from hostage-takers in Iraq last month has reacted angrily to a US military investigation absolving American soldiers of responsibility for killing the man who rescued her...Meanwhile the Italian political left is using the report to their advantage. Of course the report is unacceptable to them. Nothing short of Bush=Hitler would satisfy the left-wing nutjobs of Europe. Reuters:In a front page editorial in her left-wing daily Il Manifesto, Sgrena called on Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, to respond what she called a "slap in the face for the Italian Government".
Sgrena, a veteran war correspondent who was held hostage for a month in Iraq, wrote: "After the apologies comes the slap in the face."
She said that the Americans had not listened to either her testimony or that of another Italian agent, even though, she said, both had given the same evidence without discussing what had happened.
"Obviously, our two testimonies given to the American commission were useless. Or will I be charged with perjury?" questioned the journalist.
"The greatest disappointment would be if our authorities were to accept this insult without reacting."...
The Americans have offered to release the report, but Italy is blocking its publication while the Government works out its response....
It comes a very bad time for Signor Berlusconi, just when he's reforming his Government after disastrous losses in regional election," Owen said.
"It will also increase pressure on him to withdraw Italian troops as soon as possible."
Italian opposition parties branded a report that cleared U.S. soldiers of blame for the killing of an Italian agent in Iraq an insult on Tuesday and urged the government to press for a fuller investigation....Giuseppe Fioroni, a leader of the opposition centre-left Margherita party, urged the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to demand full cooperation from the U.S. authorities to determine who was responsible for Calipari's killing.
"A one-sided conclusion absolving anyone of blame that the Italian side does not accept is an insult to the truth and to the memory of Nicola Calipari apart from being a serious act of arrogance towards Italy," Fioroni said in a statement.
Gigi Malabarba, of the Communist Refoundation Party, alleged in a speech in the Italian Senate that the U.S. ambassador in Iraq at the time, John Negroponte, wanted Calipari killed for negotiating with hostage-takers. He admitted he had no proof.
Greens member of parliament Laura Cima called the findings "a big slap in the face for the Italian government" and said it should press for the truth "if it can find any pride at all".
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April 25, 2005
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Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.--{U.S. Constution, Article. III, Sec. 3}A Brown University student is speaking out about the war in Iraq. Guess which side she supports? Liz Sperber in Brown University's The College Hill Independent:
UNCONDITIONALLY-that's the way I support the Iraqi Resistance these days. While I do not offer political support to all groups involved in the anti-imperial struggle in Iraq, I work to support its collective purpose: forcing the troops out now. Forcing because the United States won't leave any other way.Nice. Even though we say we want to leave, and last time I checked by 'we' I mean EVERY POLITICIAN IN THE US, somehow this self-described student of African-Studies knows what our real motivations are.
Check out the three publications she lumps together. At least she gets that part right:
In this vein, it is clear that those reports in the Anglo-American media that cite a decline in insurgent attacks are relying on coalition force press releases. These reports have been directly contradicted by recent articles in Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, and even the New York Times ...BINGO!!
The first step towards adopting such a plan of action is understanding why supporting Iraqi resistance groups is the imperative flipside of our support for US troops-even if we don't know, understand, or agree with the politics of the resistance groups themselves.Um, excuse me Liz, but there is a word for someone who adheres to the enemies of the United States or gives them aid and comfort: traitor.
Ok, I know I've been pretty fast and loose with that term in the past. But what else do you call an American citizen who wants our side to lose?
We are in a shooting war, dearest. Even though the reason you say you want to support them is so you don't have to go to war, so what? And if my grandfather had wished Hitler a speedy victory before he got drafted?
"You know," says my grandfather, "I may have a few political qualms with Hitler, but I must say that these days I pretty much support him UNCODITIONALLY. I mean, if that's what it takes to drive the Yankee Imperialists out of Europe, so be it."
Oh, and look to the right to see the cartoon that was published with the editorial. Click it for the full size version. Now click here for a comparison. Ms. Sperber's freedom fighters are none other than Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq. That is a cartoon representation of the murderous group with Eugene Armstrong shortly before they cut off his head.
Ms. Sperber ought to take a gander at this post which shows her allies at work on Mr. Armstrong. Just keep scrolling down Ms. Sperber and then compare that to Abu Ghraib.
It just gets worse from here. This poor girl obviously has been paying attention in class, because she spouts off typical Chomskyian drivel. I'll skip to the treasonous portions:
Thus, while the ostensible savagery of targeting of civilians does help the US government label the freedom fighters of the present as terrorists, the simultaneous media censorship omnipresent throughout the war in Iraq blinds us to the equally if not more savage violence perpetrated by our state against the Iraqi civilians.She then goes on to repeat the lies of Giuliana Sgrena [see the lies she propogates here for instance] and the blood libel she, other leftists, and the terrorist supporting Arab press (e.g, al Jazeera, al Arabiya) have repeated.
In Fallujah, for instance, where reporters were prohibited for several months beginning in November 2004,Not true, as we reported here the AP had a photographer embedded with the terrorists in Fallujah. His name is Bilal Huessein.
65 percent of buildings were leveled to the ground and anywhere between 600 to 3,000 civilians were murdered, mostly by carpet-bombing, the increasingly favored technique employed in Iraq as manpower begins to dwindle. All of these conditions must be recognized when we consider our relation to the Iraqi resistance.For a more thorough examination of left-wing lies about the Fallujah campaign, see this post.
She then goes on about Iraqi self-determination, nowhere indicating that all polls from Iraq indicate that the Iraqis themselves don't want the U.S. to pull out immediately. Pull out, yes, but not now. All polls in the U.S. also agree that we should leave--but not yet.
If you couple the lies that she believes coming out of the left-wing media, than her conclusions are inescapable. If the U.S. really is as bad as al Jazeera reports it to be, then isn't it one's moral obligation to fight the evil Zionist crusador forces?
Rather, if we support the Iraqis right to self-determination, it must be because we identify a common, equal humanity between us; because we recognize that US occupation of Iraqi land and the US-sanctioned torture, rape, murder, and theft are unjust. That, in addition to the plight of our soldiers, which many of them argue is worsening every day, is why we must demand troops out now. For no other reason. Accordingly, since the Iraqi resistance is the force working to regain Iraqi sovereignty, we support them-unconditionally.That, Ms. Sperber, is treason.
The rest is just nonsense. Ms. Sperber would have us believe that Abu Ghraib was the worst of crimes while every day Geneva Convention violations by 'the resistance' (such as using children as combatents, intentionally murdering non-combatents, using the civilian population as human shields, not wearing uniforms, murdering colloborators, political assasinations, etc) are just minor incidents that are part and parcel to war.
Let me repeat these words: Ms. Sperber, you are a traitor.
Hat tip to John Little who innocently points out that you can contact Ms. Traitor at utnow@brown.edu">outnow@brown.edu.
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Anyway, there are a few interesting things out there that are Star Wars related. Disclaimer: Extreme geek alert! more...
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Bill from INDC Journal & Jeff from Protein Wisdom, asked me to come into a chat with both of them.Since I guess I'm partially responsible for this online meeting, let me just be the first to say ewwwwwwwwwwwww!!!
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U.S. patrol in Iraq spots car with anti-US slogans, finds grenades and a bloody machete in trunk, nabs terrorists. I bet it's guys like these that Zarqawi volunteers for suicide missions. Oh, and happy ANZAC Day to our Aussia and NZ friends!
A number of people have e-mailed me about the Kill Jews for Peace Website. My initial reaction was that it had to be a spoof. Beth thinks otherwise. If it's not, then why the hell does Cao get a death fatwa issued but not me!!
Why Lebanon Matters. I disagree that Lebanon is the key to resolving the Clash of Civilizations, but it is key in spreading democracy and further isolating Syria. Speaking of, Syria says that most of their troops are pulling out today. (Via Chad)
In Indonesia they give you 4.5 days in jail for every person you murder in the name of Jihad. On the other hand, if you're caught with some marijuana, you could just find yourself in jail for the rest of your life. Especially if you're a Westerner.
Saudis arrest 40 Christians for praying. Good thing they weren't trying to convert a Muslim, that could get your head chopped off!
Iran developing new bomb technologies.
Iraqis generally positive about prospects for future (via Ace).
Palestinians now starting blood-libel campaign against the U.S., says we grind the bones of Palestinian children and devour their eyes. Baseball, hot-dogs, apple-pie, and Pali-eyes!
AP stringer killed in Iraq, but it looks like the bad guys didi it this time (via LGF).
Is actor James Woods a CIA agent?
Domestic Dhimmis and Links of Interest
Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal says 9/11 was our fault. She'll fit right in in Hollywood. (via Say Anything)
Good riddance! Please don't come back.
Donald Rumsfeld does Dolly Parton. I'm serious.
In support of John Bolton. I said John, not Michael.
Trey Jackson has audio of DNC Chair Howard Dean impersonating Rush Limbaugh snorting cocaine. Notice the media outrcry over this one yet?
Report: Conservative Southern Democrats Disappearing
Sexual predators could be in your town. Scary thought.
When hunger strikes go terribly wrong!
Phin thinks we should invade the Vatican now! It's funny because it's true.
Markos "Screw Them" Zúniga is chosen as Jackass of the Week over at Decision '08. Persnonaly I'd like to nominate him for Jackass of the Century.
The guys get shirts! Or, the single fashion review ever written that doesn't sound gay.
Leopold Stotch proves he has poor taste by declaring ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 'the most inspiring show on television today'. Dumbass!
Apocolypse Now--The Llama Butchers ask the important questions: Whatever happened to Kelly McGillis? Meanwhile, Kevin Aylward asks the even more important questions: Whatever happened to Cory Haim?
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Iraqi police have detained a Reuters Television cameraman for more than 24 hours in the northern city of Mosul, with no details released of any charges, relatives and colleagues said on Sunday.UPDATE: And another one! An AP photographer was shot while another AP stringer was detained in the incident. However, the second photographer Mohammed Ibrahim was later released.The father of cameraman Nabil Hussein, 30, has also been detained since he tried to visit his son a few hours after the arrest. Relatives said about 20 policemen raided the home of Nabil Hussein on Saturday morning and then beat him, his driver and a fellow journalist before detaining them.The driver and the second journalist were released later on Saturday.
Driver Ismail Ibrahim and Hussein's brother, Namir, who said he also witnessed the arrests, said police did not state a reason for their actions and no charges were mentioned.
"They put bags on our heads and beat us," Ibrahim said, adding the men had been taken to Mosul's police headquarters.
Police and Interior Ministry officials in the city said they knew nothing of the detentions: "When I asked about my brother they said they did not know about it," Namir Hussein said.
Interior Ministry officials in Baghdad said they would inquire about the case....
Hussein was arrested before an Associated Press cameraman was killed and an AP photographer wounded in a shooting incident in Mosul on Saturday. The exact circumstances were unclear but Saleh Ibrahim died after going to cover an explosion.
Hussein, who is also a producer, has worked as a stringer for the London-based international news agency since 2003.
Mohammed Ibrahim, a photographer working for The Associated Press, was released Sunday by the U.S. military, which had held him after a shooting in which a television cameraman working for The AP was killed.Ibrahim was wounded when gunfire broke out after an explosion Saturday in the northern city of Mosul. Saleh Ibrahim, a television cameraman working for The Associated Press, was killed in the same incident. The two men were brothers-in-law.
Mohammed Ibrahim said U.S. forces escorted him and his brother, Wamidh, who contributes to European Pressphoto Agency, from the hospital hours after the shooting and released them after nearly 24 hours in detention.
A U.S. military official, who would not allow the use of his name, said the two men had been "caught up in the sweep after the situation."
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Thanks to the, literally, scores of people who e-mailed me about the story yesterday. Really, too many people to give the hat tip to right now. You can see images and a link to the video of the helicopter downing here.
Here is the original report of 6 men being caught followed by news that four more were nabbed. Boston Globe:
The suspects in the helicopter downing were caught after US soldiers from Task Force Baghdad were tipped off by an Iraqi civilian who told the Americans that he knew where insurgents had stashed a blue Kia pickup truck that was used in the attack and led them to the site, the military said in a statement.ABC News:Soldiers searched two nearby houses shortly after midnight yesterday, arresting three men and seizing bomb-making material in the first home. Three suspects were grabbed from the second residence, and all were being questioned, the military said.
The U.S. military said Sunday it has arrested four more suspects in Thursday's downing of a civilian helicopter north of Baghdad, bringing the number apprehended so far to 10. All 11 helicopter passengers and crew were killed, including one shot by insurgents....The American military said Sunday it detained the additional suspects in the downing of the helicopter during the past 24 hours. Iraqi civilians helped U.S. forces locate the first six suspects captured Saturday, the military said.
The Russian-made Mi-8 helicopter was shot down about 12 miles north of Baghdad. The dead included six American bodyguards for U.S. diplomats, three Bulgarian crew members and two security guards from Fiji, officials said.
Two militant groups claimed responsibility for the attack and released video to back their claims. In one video, insurgents are seen capturing and shooting to death the lone survivor, identified as a Bulgarian pilot.
The aircraft was owned by Heli Air of Bulgaria and chartered by Toronto-based SkyLink Aviation Inc.
The six Americans were employed by Blackwater Security Consulting a subsidiary of security contractor Blackwater USA of Moyock, N.C., which had four employees slain and mutilated by insurgents in Fallujah a year ago.
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Here are a few important points from The Institute for the Secularization of Islamic Society. Much of this report relies heavily on Vahakn Dadrian's work on the subject.*
During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid, the Ottoman Turks massacred over 200,000 Armenians between 1894-96. This was followed, under the Young Turk regime, by the Adana massacres of 25,000 Armenians in 1909, and the first formal genocide of the 20th century, when in 1915 alone, an additional 600,000 to 800,000 Armenians were slaughtered.21 The massacres of the 1890s had an "organic" connection to the Adana massacres of 1909, and more importantly, the events of 1915. As Vahakn Dadrian argues, they facilitated the genocidal acts of 1915 by providing the Young Turks with "a predictable impunity." The absence of adverse consequences for the Abdul Hamid massacres in the 1890s allowed the Young Turks to move forward without constraint.22Here is a report yesterday's anniversary from Radio Free Europe: more...Contemporary accounts from European diplomats make clear that these brutal massacres were perpetrated in the context of a formal jihad against the Armenians who had attempted to throw off the yoke of dhimmitude by seeking equal rights and autonomy. For example, the Chief Dragoman (Turkish-speaking interpreter) of the British embassy reported regarding the 1894-96 massacres:
"Â…[The perpetrators] are guided in their general action by the prescriptions of the Sheri [Sharia] Law. That law prescribes that if the "rayah" [dhimmi] Christian attempts, by having recourse to foreign powers, to overstep the limits of privileges allowed them by their Mussulman [Muslim] masters, and free themselves from their bondage, their lives and property are to be forfeited, and are at the mercy of the Mussulmans. To the Turkish mind the Armenians had tried to overstep those limits by appealing to foreign powers, especially England. They therefore considered it their religious duty and a righteous thing to destroy and seize the lives and properties of the Armenians..."...
The genocide of the Armenians was a jihad. No rayas took part in it. Despite the disapproval of many Muslim Turks and Arabs, and their refusal to collaborate in the crime, these masssacres were perpetrated solely by Muslims and they alone profited from the booty: the victims' property, houses, and lands granted to the muhajirun, and the allocation to them of women and child slaves. The elimination of male children over the age of twelve was in accordance with the commandments of the jihad and conformed to the age fixed for the payment of the jizya. The four stages of the liquidation- deportation, enslavement, forced conversion, and massacre- reproduced the historic conditions of the jihad carried out in the dar-al-harb from the seventh century on. Chronicles from a variety of sources, by Muslim authors in particular, give detailed descriptions of the organized massacres or deportation of captives, whose sufferings in forced marches behind the armies paralleled the Armenian experience in the twentieth century...
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April 23, 2005
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Caption this photo of an Iranian paratrooper unclear on the concept. Winners announced Monday.
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The defendants include Tayseer Alouni, a reporter for Arab TV channel Al Jazeera who interviewed bin Laden shortly after the attacks on New York and Washington.Now check this out. He was under house arrest. House-freaking-arrest! Too harsh? Ok, lets let him out for good measure. Gulf Times:Prosecutors accuse him of carrying money intended for Al Qaeda members during visits he made to Afghanistan for his journalistic work. Alouni says he is innocent.
Al Jazeera reporter Tayseer Alouni was temporarily released from house arrest on the first day of a high-profile terrorism trial here yesterday.Yeah, and by 'kill the Zionist Crusador infidels' he really meant 'let's have ice-cream'.Alouni will testify before the court on May 11 to defend himself against charges of belonging to Al Qaeda.
He had been shifted from prison to house arrest on March 17 on medical reasons.
“I am innocent. Whatever the outcome of the trial, I will maintain that until death,” Alouni said.
“The judge’s case always refers to circumstantial evidence, evidence taken from telephone calls in Arabic which were badly translated and even more badly interpreted by the police.”
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Norway's Supreme Court supported decisions refusing Conoco Phillips the right to fire two workers who surfed the Internet for pornographic images on company time.Look, all joking aside, you've got to draw the line between public and private behavior somewhere. The idea that an employee can't be fired for surfing for porn on company time is outrageous.The two workers on the Ekofisk field lost their jobs after being caught peeping at porn on the job in the summer of 2002. The pair took their case to court and won at both the municipal and appeals level, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) reports...
The Supreme Court has ruled that the firings were not justified and have awarded the two NOK 250,000 (USD 40,000) each in compensation.
Now excuse me as I go do some 'research' at Whitehouse.com.
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The three Romanian victims are Marie Jeanne Ion, Sorin Dumitru Miscoci, and Edward Ovidiu Ohanesian. The American is Iraqi born Mohammed Monaf. The terrorists belong to a group calling itself the Muadh ibn Jabal Brigades.
There was no audio broadcast, but al Jazeera says that reporter Marie Jeanne Ion reads a statement saying they will be killed if Romanian troops are not pulled out of Iraq in four days.
Read on for the Giuliana Sgrena angle. Boston Globe:
Three kidnapped Romanian journalists and their Iraqi-American translator say in a video that they will be killed by their Iraqi captors if Romania does not withdraw its troops within four days, Al-Jazeera reported Friday.What the AP omits from its story is that the terrorists have taken a chapter out of Giuliana Sgrena's playbook. The captive reporter pleas for the Romanian people to take to the streets and demand that their troops be removed from Iraq. Unlike Sgrena, though, who says it was her idea to make the video, the Romanian hostages talk to the camera with a gun pointed to their head. Further, it will should be noted that Sgrena's captors never threatened her life. Al Jazeera.com (unrelated to al Jazeera TV):In the video shown by the Arab satellite station, the Romanians two men and a woman sit cross-legged against a black background with their hands chained. A hand is seen on the right pointing a pistol at the hostages.
Reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, sitting between her two colleagues, is seen talking and gesturing with her hands to the camera. Prima TV cameraman Sorin Miscoci appears upset, possibly crying.
Al-Jazeera did not play the audio, but it quoted Ion as saying the Iraqi militants holding them had given the Romanian government four days from the date of the tape's broadcast to remove its 800 soldiers in Iraq. Otherwise, the captives will be killed, Al-Jazeera quoted her as saying....
The kidnappers identified themselves as the ''Muadh ibn Jabal Brigades,'' a previously unknown group. The name refers to a companion of Islam's prophet, Muhammad.
After the journalists were pictured, the video showed a man who appeared to be the translator, Iraqi-American Mohammed Monaf, sitting alone with his hands bound. He is also talking, but there is no sound. Gunmen stand on either side of him, pointing an automatic rifle and a pistol at his head....
Speaking to the camera, Ion gave the news of the ultimatum and called on the Romanian government to accept the kidnappers' demands.Another interesting note is that the American is shown seperate from the Romanians. A friend in Romania tells me that many in that country believe he may have been involved in the hostage crisis. I've reported on that here. I should note that both he and I are not convinced that the evidence that Monaf was somehow involved in the hostage-taking is really all that strong."The journalists appealed to the Romanian government to pull its troops from Iraq to ensure their release”, said the channel.
"Marie-Jeanne Ion, the female hostage, said that the kidnappers gave the Romanian government four days from the release of the video to withdraw its troops from Iraq or the journalists will be killed.
"She asked the Romanian people to organize protests in order to pressure the Romanian government in order to ensure that the kidnappers' demands are met," it added.
Others: Chad at In The Bullpen still thinks this might just be about money. Possibly.
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Treating terrorism as an ordinary crime makes no sense to me. What should we do to Moussaoui? I've no idea. But sending the man to jail just doesn't sit right.
Death penalty? Maybe. But even that is a punishment for a crime. Again, it's the language of the criminal justice system. As long as we use that language we are trapped in the sort of thinking that led to 9/11.
What we need is a new vocabulary to describe what should be done to terrorists who are caught. What that language should be is not quite clear.
The Global War on Terror rhetoric is a little more satisfying. If this is war then Moussaoui is an illegal enemy combatent. Caught without a uniform behind enemy lines, engaged in the plotting of acts of sabatoge, Moussaui would be subject to execution. But still, there is something missing here that I can't quite get my finger on......
The outcome of treating Moussaoui as a criminal or as an illegal combatent might be the same in both cases. However, the language we use matters. If he is to be killed, let it be by firing squad or at the end of a hangman's noose. He is not a criminal, he's worse. Let's treat him as such.
I'm not 100% sure how to describe a terrorist plotter like Moussaui, but there is something essentially wrong with the dialogue below. The back and forth as if Moussaui was an ordinary criminal who's rights must be protected at all costs. The judge covers all his bases so that Moussaoui will have no grounds for appeal.
Troubling.
WaPo:
Moussaoui, looking nothing like his ubiquitous prison photo, took a seat, then walked to the podium to answer the judge's queries.The California Yankee has more, including some of the indictment itself."You understand that all answers to this court's questions must be truthful?" U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema began, the first of many questions in one of the most extraordinary pleas in U.S. history. "It is understood," Moussaoui said in a thick French accent.
"You are aware that the first four counts essentially expose you to the possibility of a death sentence . . . ?" Brinkema asked.
"Yes, I read the document."
"Now, you do understand that you have the right to plead not guilty . . . ?" the judge asked.
"I do understand that," Moussaoui said, and on it went, questions as mundane as whether Moussaoui understood that he would be fined $600, and as grave as whether he was part of a terrorist conspiracy to attack the United States. At one point, Moussaoui said he planned to fly a 747 into the White House one day.
The dialogue between the two swung from cordial to combative to darkly humorous. Brinkema asked if Moussaoui understood that he was not giving up certain rights in the sentencing phase by pleading guilty. "That's what I'm saying," Moussaoui said. "That's what I'm saying, too," Brinkema said. Some people in the courtroom laughed.
At 3:50 p.m., Moussaoui began signing the documents that made formal his guilty plea. Peterson leaned in closer to see.
Then Brinkema began reading the six counts in the indictment, asking Moussaoui after each how he pleaded. "Guilty," he said over and over. "Guilty."
After making a byzantine argument about his case -- he cited Supreme Court cases, legal loopholes and mitigating factors -- Moussaoui was led from the courtroom. He raised one hand and shouted, "Lord! God curse America!"
UPDATE: I just had to include Will Collier's reaction that, "The needle is too good for him". Indeed.
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April 22, 2005
It's the Religion of Peas Roundup!Pakistani PM claims Islam is "religion of peace and moderation which abhors extremism". Doesn't consider Pakistani law which puts to death blasphemers, missionaries, or homosexuals extreme.
Moderate Muslim country of Malaysia sentencing people to jail for apostasy. See how moderate works in Islam? At least they weren't killed.
Zacharias Moussaoui tries to plea guilty on capital charges related to 9/11, lawyers claim he's insane in the membrane. Of course he's insane. He's a f*cking suicidal terrorist! Duh!! (via Slublog)
Spain begins trial of 9/11 telated terrorists. Each defendent could spend up to 40 years in jail for helping murder 3,000 people. Justice European style.
Shoe-bomber conspirator gets 13 years in prison. Ditto.
Pro-Syrian Lebanese PM promises May vote will not be rigged. [Insert laugh track here]
Catholic University bends over, hands KY to Mullahs, takes it like a good dhimmi.
Former Spanish President has new test for freedom in Islamic countries: When can I freely buy a beer in Tehran?
Scores of Shiite hostages still missing. You know, infidel, anyone who disagrees with my form of Islam.
Jane Galt on surgical warfare.
Domestic stuff and other linakge
VDH on lessons learned from Iraq: Do not look for logic and consistency in the Middle East where they are not to be found (Via Daily Pundit)
Take a Kennedy. Put him together with a Clinton. Indict him. What do you get? No. Media. Coverage.
Dean on the use of the word moderate.
Lileks gets Catholics better than many Catholics get Catholics (via Spoons).
A review of Microsoft's new blogging software.
Finally the Dread Pundit Bluto notices that we have a three-way going with Ann Coulter. Sorry man. I'm not into that kind of three-way!
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