NO, NOT THE OIL! #155 (1/4)
R Kym Horsell
Reserch Senter(*)
OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #155
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In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant
to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere
(validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra).
Our Home Page: <http://www.chickenhead.com/loserscopes/>
The Undeniable Evidence: <http://www.evil-doers.org/evidence>
Even More Uneniable Evidence: <http://www.abc.net.au/cnnnn/profiteering/terrorthon/>
US Centcom News Releases: <http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/release_list.asp>
Iraqi Body Count: <http://www.iraqbodycount.net/> [7,968+ as at 13 Jan 2004].
UN Mailing List: <http://www.kymhorsell.com/UN/>
Some Of The News, Some Of The Time: <http://www.chaser.com.au/default.asp?check=No>
This Stuff Blogged: <http://kymhorsell.blogspot.com/>
Also Kindly Archived: <http://www.kymhorsell.com/OIL/>
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Selecting latest news stories and other data for you...
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Out policy's been inconsistent on this... and, believe me, other
countries will point that out.
-- US weapons insp David Kay, 12 Feb 2004.
International credibility. While Kay agrees with calls from Pres
Bush to limit nuclear proliferation, he says the US has little
credibility on the issue.
There is a community perception... this super scheme is too generous.
-- Aussie PM John Howard, 13 Feb 2004.
Mighty back-flip. After Opp'n leader Latham signalled he'd move to
cut pollie super from 60% to 9%, the PM was forced to change his
position. Despite numerous challenges since 1948 the conditions
had appeared to be set in stone.
[...] it might have made a mistake when decided to support the Iraqi campaign.
-- Spanish press sec Eduardo Zaplana, 10 Feb 2004.
The Spanish govt is re-thinking its support for GWII. On the up
side, it will get a citizen back this wk from Guatmo.
Wherever we see a spark, we have to dampen it quickly.
-- anon snr Coal'n official, 10 Feb 2004.
Civil unrest. Relations between Iraq's ethnic groups are on a knife edge.
It's to inform Iraqi leaders so they can help protect against the
ethnic warfare that Zarqawi wants to provoke. [...] so ethnic leaders
won't be provoked into reprisals.
-- Coal'n rep Dan Senor, 10 Feb 2004.
Call to arms. The Coal'n has released a letter apparently calling
for al-Qaeda to come to Iraq to foment civil war before Jun.
Americans are voting for change. East and West, North and now ... South.
-- Sen John Kerry, 11 Feb 2004.
Kerry has swept 12 out of 14 Dem polls for the nomination.
These dealers are motivated by greed, fanaticism or both.
-- Pres Bush Jr, 11 Feb 2004.
Proliferation. While Pres Bush had ordered new nuclear weapons
developed for the US arsenal, he's now launched a fight against
proliferation. Bush criticises proliferators for being more
interested in money or ideology than... er... anything else.
There's work in oil, which one of your country's contractors is
already involved in, there's a lot of work in electricity, there's
work in water which is both potable water and sanitary and ... we have
transportation and communications.
-- Adml David Nash, Canberra, 12 Feb 2004.
Contracts. Aussie companies have been urged to tender for $US19 bn
of Iraqi reconstruction. Everything seems to be busted.
[The committee will] investigate the issue of fuel sales to Halliburton
and its subsidiary KBR, and the Kuwaiti intermediary Altanmia.
-- public letter, 11 Feb 2004.
Halliburton inquiry. 20 Kuwaiti MP's have urged a judicial inquiry
into suspected gouging in Iraqi reconstruction.
We do not trust that senior [Kuwait Petrol Corp] officials will send all
the necessary documents pertaining to the scandal to the judicial inquiry.
-- MP Musallam Al Barrak, 11 Feb 2004.
Hostile witness. Kuwaiti MP's are calling for wrong-doers within
the govt or public service to be sacked.
Anybody but Bush. I'd vote for the devil.
-- Chuck Edwards, 10 Feb 2004.
Poll ratings. Bush's ratings have dropped amid questions about his
use of US intel in deciding to go to war in Iraq. A gap in his
military records, and string-pulling to get him into the Texas Air
Nat'l Guard haven't helped.
These documents outline the days on which he was paid. That means he served.
-- Whitehouse mouth Scott McClellan, 10 Feb 2004.
About the money. In a rush to fit requirements, McClellan
re-defines national service.
The handful of documents released today by the Whitehouse creates more
questions than answers.
-- Dem Nat'l Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, 10 Feb 2004.
Q & Q. Lt Bush appears to have been paid for 50 days service after
he left Houston, but no-one seems to remember seeing him again
before his discharge, around 1 y later.
{Hotly} I have this question... do you think by changing the super
scheme, you'll get better MPs?
-- Treas Peter Costello, 12 Feb 2004.
Within hrs, PM John Howard announced the generous super would be
scrapped and the std 9% system implemented for MPs and Senators
from this y.
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Wed, 11 Feb 2004.
OPEC cuts oil production, US scolds
Algiers (Reuters). OPEC on Tue announced a surprise cut in oil
supplies from Apr, propelling crude prices higher and drawing a
caution from the US that it risked stunting world economic growth.
The deal slices 4% from production limits for the group
that controls half the world's oil trade, to 23.5 mn bpd effective Apr 1.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would
also seek immediately to eliminate 1.5 mn bpd of
leakage being pumped above existing supply quotas.
For consumer nations the pact looks like a threat to world economic
recovery and is a reminder that OPEC appears prepared to defend
prices above its official $22-$28 target range.
In a strong warning to the cartel, US Treasury Secretary John Snow
said any decrease in crude oil output by OPEC producers would be
"regrettable," and would effectively be a tax on American consumers.
Speaking to reporters in Florida, Snow said energy costs were not as
significant a%age of US economic output as in the past, but
added that "energy price increases are certainly not welcome."
Oil prices spiked on the agreement that underlines OPEC's capacity
to pull a surprise after an unexpected supply reduction last Sep.
At the NY Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for Mar delivery
settled trade up $1.04, or 3.2%, at $33.87/bbl, valuing
OPEC's reference basket of crudes well above its $22-$28 target range.
"Doing what they've done today clearly shows they want to support a $28
basket, rather than $25," said Nauman Barakat of brokers Refco in NY.
Leading producer Saudi Arabia said action was needed to prevent a
price crash as demand slackens and world oil inventories build after
the N hemisphere winter.
"The inventory, where it is now, is fine, we don't want to see it
building," said Saudi Oil Min Ali al-Naimi. "We don't want to
see a precipitous fall in prices."
* CREDIBILITY ON THE LINE
Dealers said the agreement would protect OPEC against a price slump
but could undermine cartel credibility because of the ballooning gap
between official quotas and actual output.
"It's a clever move by OPEC, giving the market some support before
Q2," said Oystein Berentsen, head crude trader at
Norway's Statoil.
"But given the amount they are leaking people will want to see how
much of the cut they implement. There's a question mark over their
credibility."
The decision casts doubt on assurances from Riyadh that it wants no
more than $25/bbl for OPEC benchmark crude.
"It's a big call," said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish. "Our
own view is that OPEC does not need to cut by as much as it appears
to be aiming at."
Saudi had appeared to soften its tone on oil price policy since OPEC
last met. Naimi said at a Dec meeting that higher prices were justified
by the impact of the weak dollar on producers' spending power.
Since then, and again in Algiers, he has made a point of
re-emphasising Riyadh's commitment to OPEC's central $25 target.
Naimi said cuts were justified by projections for a
heavier-than-normal seasonal Q2 fall in demand "We cannot countenance
a reduction in supply of 3 to 4 mn bpd and not take action at this
meeting -- that would be too late," he said.
The Internat'l Energy Agency, adviser on energy to 26 industrialised
nations, provided OPEC with plenty of ammunition for its decision.
The Paris-based IEA is forecasting demand will undercut world supply
in Q2 by as much as 4 mn bpd, more than double the normal seasonal gap.
Arabs, Westerners deny supporting Saddam for oil
Amman (AP). Arabs and Westerners accused by Iraqis of receiving Iraqi
oil proceeds in exchange for supporting Saddam Hussein denied Tue they
had accepted bribes or participated in illicit deals.
The accusations surfaced this wk in a report by one of the dozens of
new newspapers that have begun publishing in Iraq since Saddam was
ousted last Mar. Since, members of the new provisional Iraqi govt and
Saddam opponents have distributed a list of the accused, based on
documents from the Iraqi Oil Ministry.
About 270 former Cabinet officials, legislators, political activists
and journalists from 46 countries are on the list, suspected of
profiting from Iraqi oil sales that Saddam had allegedly offered them
in exchange for cultivating political and popular support in their countries.
In Jordan, former parliament member Toujan Faisal, who is on the list,
said she never took Iraqi bribes, but had served as an intermediary
between the Iraqi govt and a Jordan-based oil dealer.
"I wanted to help this dealer who happened to be a good of friend of
mine do business in Iraq," she told The Associated Press.
Mrs Faisal, suspected in the selling of 3 mn barrels of Iraqi oil,
said the deal was brokered in late 2001 and her friend sold 1 mn
barrels for a commission that didn't exceed 3 cents for each barrel.
"I had nothing to do with this," said the former lawmaker, who visited
Iraq several times after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and who was
known for her support of the Saddam regime. A framed portrait of
Saddam hangs in the living room of her Amman apartment. She once told
an AP reporter that the Iraqi leader gave the photograph to her daughter.
Former French Interior Min Charles Pasqua, among Europeans on the
list, on Tue denied receiving bribes from Saddam.
"That's far-fetched," said the conservative hard-liner who headed
France's Interior Ministry in the late 1980s and early 1990s. "First,
I was never interested in oil. Second, I am not a friend of Saddam
Hussein and I do not see how my name came to be in this," he told
Europe-1 radio.
In Baghdad, Iraqi Oil Ministry Undersecretary Abdul-Sahib Salman Qutub
said the provisional govt found documents proving the alleged bribes.
He threatened to "sue those who stole the money of the Iraqi people."
"These documents show that the former regime spent lavishly Iraq's
wealth here and there on persons, politicians, head of parties and
journalists who were backing its corruption," he said.
Iraqi Nat'l Congress rep Entifad Qanbar, speaking to reporters in
Baghdad, said his party had the list of people allegedly bribed with
Iraqi oil in return for support to Saddam.
"We have 1000s of pages of Iraqi intel documentation which back up
those lists. What you are seeing in those lists is only the iceberg of
what you are going to see in the future," he said.
Qutub, the Iraqi oil ministry undersecretary, said some of the
documents had been stolen to "avoid any condemnation to persons who
were collaborating with [Saddam's] regime."
The documents, as published in the Iraqi Al-Mada newspaper, showed
people who allegedly received Saddam's graft came from 46 countries,
including Arab states, Europe, Asia, Africa, and N and S America.
UN rep Stephane Dujarric in NY said he wasn't aware of any
investigation related to the UN oil-for-food program, which had
allowed the Saddam regime to sell limited quantities of oil to raise
funds to help the Iraqi population. The program ended 3 m ago.
"The oil-for-food program has been repeatedly audited by internal and
external auditors. It has been satisfactorily audited both internally
and externally," he said.
Jordanian businessman Fawaz Zreiqat, who's on the list of accused,
told AP he had sold Iraqi oil for 5 y starting in 1998. But he said
all his deals were conducted under the UN oil-for-food program.
"Selling Iraqi oil is a legitimate business, it's not like selling
drugs," he said. "All my deals were done with the approval of the UN
and the money I received was from internat'l firms I had sold the oil
to and not from Iraq."
He said his profit was marginal and did not exceed 10 cents/bbl. He
declined to say how many barrels he had sold.
In Cairo, Abdel Adhim Manaf, editor in chief of Sawt al-Arab
newspaper, an Egyptian newspaper published in Cyprus, told AP: "I have
official letters from Iraqis offering me this issue (oil), but I
turned them down and I have documents to prove that."
"Even if I had received [oil], what's the problem?" he asked. "The
Iraqis are saying the Arab oil is for all Arabs. This is not a crime,
this is not forbidden. I have always supported Saddam and believed in
him, and I still do. I will never backtrack."
Wall Street stocks advance
US markets await Greenspan address.
NY/SYD. US share markets remain somewhat cautious ahead of
semi-annual testimony to Congress tonight from the head of the US Fed
Reserve, Alan Greenspan.
On the corporate front, media company Viacom has announced plans to
spin off its 81% stake in unprofitable video rental giant Blockbuster.
Both companies have reported losses for the latest Q.
On the NY Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones industrial average has closed
35 points higher at 10,614.
There has also been a moderate advance among high-tech shares on the
Nasdaq exchange.
The Nasdaq composite index is ahead 15 points at 2,075.
The Brit market has reversed the gains of the previous day.
London's FT-100 index has fallen 29.5 points to finish at 4,405.
Yesterday, the AUS share market barely made headway.
The profit reporting season is underway in earnest.
Foster's disappointed with its 2.9% lift in underlying profit for the
1st half, but Boral brought joy to investors with a 29% surge in net profit.
Wesfarmers' shares jumped 35 cents to $28.20 after a record $601 mn
1/2-y result.
The All Ords rose one point to 3,301.
The gold price is this morning sitting at $US406.50/oz.
West Texas crude has jumped to $US34.08/bbl in response to OPEC's
decision to reduce production quotas by 2.5 mn bpd.
WTO rules in favour of Canada wheat trade
Washington (AP). The Canadian govt does not violate internat'l law in
its wheat trade with the US, the World Trade Organisation has ruled.
Still, US officials said the decision was a partial victory for
American farmers.
Canadian Wheat Board officials announced Tue that a WTO panel has
"dismissed the heart" of a US complaint against the board.
The Winnipeg, Manitoba-based wheat board buys wheat and barley
produced in Canada's W prairie provinces, at a price fixed by the
Canadian govt. American farmers argued that Canadian producers are
being indirectly and unfairly subsidised.
The WTO panel determined, however, that farmers -- rather than the
Canadian govt -- control the wheat board, the board's officials said.
"This is a victory for W Canadian farmers and we are very proud,"
Larry Hill, a farmer and chairman of the Canadian Wheat Board's trade
committee, said in a conference call.
A 2nd part of the ruling, however, said Canada unfairly blocks US wheat
from freely entering the Canadian market, Sen Kent Conrad, D-ND, said Tue.
Conrad called the decision a "split ruling" showing that WTO rules
regarding state-run trading enterprises "are not clear or tough enough."
The N Dakota Wheat Commission and other trade groups triggered the
trade complaint. They have argued for y that the Canadian Wheat Board
under-cuts the price of its wheat to gain market share around the world.
"We feel we put another hole in the armour of the Canadian Wheat
Board," said Neal Fisher, administrator of the N Dakota Wheat Commission.
A US trade official said the WTO panel determined that Canada's
practice of handling US wheat differently when it is imported north of
the border was inconsistent with Canada's WTO obligations.
Previous WTO rulings have said countries may not give special
treatment to their own products by placing additional regulatory
hurdles on foreign products, the official said.
The panel's decision has not been made public but was delivered to the
parties involved. It could be appealed.
Ken Ritter, the Canadian Wheat Board chairman, said the decision shows
"what we have known all along -- that the complaints ... are just
politically motivated rhetoric."
"We are fair traders, with full legal rights to exist and operate as
we currently do," Ritter said.
The US Internat'l Trade Commission voted last fall against a permanent
duty on imports from Canada of durum wheat, a variety used to make
pasta. The commission did vote to keep a 14.15% duty on Canada hard
red spring wheat imports.
The N Dakota Wheat Commission is appealing the ITC refusal to impose
tariffs on durum, while the Canadian Wheat Board is challenging the
ruling on hard red spring wheat.
WTO says US injury claim vs Canada lumber invalid
Ottawa (Reuters/AFP). The World Trade Organisation struck down US
Internat'l Trade Commission claims of injury to industry from Canadian
softwood lumber imports, a Canadian official said on Tue.
US rallying nations for US-style free trade
Tokyo. The US' top trade envoy has met Japanese officials to discuss
rallying nations for a global trade liberalisation treaty. [Provided
the US doesn't have to let anyone into its sugar or beef markets]. US
Trade Rep Robert Zoellick -- fresh from his success at gaining
unlimited access into Aussie markets for US manufacturers and the
heavily-subsidised entertainment industry -- will ask Tokyo to drop a
ban on US beef imports after a single MCD case in Washington state.
Zoellick is to seek support for a US proposal that will assemble the
146 members of the WTO for a new round of talks. Washington is trying
to meet a 2004 deadline for a treaty set when WTO members launched
their current trade talks in Doha, Qatar, in 2001.
Aussie dollar on the rise
AUD hits new high.
Sydney (ABC, Adrian Thirsk). The AUD has broken new ground above 78
US cents overnight. The local currency reached a peak of 78.37 US
cents in offshore trade, its highest level against the American
greenback since May 1997. Dealers say the dollar's climb continued a
trend seen since Mon. European authorities have been sending out less
aggressive messages about curbing the rise of the euro since the G7
meeting at the weekend. At the same time, investors have been more
keenly seeking high-yielding currencies such as the NZ dollar, the
Brit pound and the AUD. About 9am (AEDT), the local currency had
dropped back to 77.93 US cents, just a fraction below yesterday's
local close. On the cross-rates, it was at 0.6150 euros, 82.59
Japanese yen, 41.71 pence Sterling and $NZ1.116.
Consumer confidence remains steady
Consumers still find reasons to buy.
Canberra. A key measure of consumer confidence is still showing its
strongest reading in almost a decade. AUS households appear
unperturbed by the outlook for official interest rates. This m's
reading of the Westpac/MEL Institute index of consumer sentiment is
unchanged from Jan, when it registered a surprisingly strong increase
to its highest level in 9-and-1/2 y. Westpac snr economist
James Shugg says it is now sitting at 118. "Consumers seem to have
pretty much shrugged off the impact of the Nov and Dec rate rises," he
said. "They're very confident about their own personal finances and
also very upbeat the outlook for the economy over the next 12 m."
Spain regrets supporting Iraqi campaign
[Translated from Russian by Maria Gousseva].
Madrid (Pravda). Like many other countries, Spain believed Iraq had WMD.
The Spanish Govt has admitted for the 1st time that "it might have
made a mistake when decided to support the Iraqi campaign," govt'l
press secretary Eduardo Zaplana says.
The Europa press agency reported on Sat that the statement was made
because the opp'n insisted that documents of the Spanish Nat'l Intel
Center must be de-classified.
The opp'n states that as well as America's CIA, the Intel Center of
Spain did not inform the govt that Iraq had WMD or that Saddam Hussein
was connected with al-Qaeda.
Nevertheless, the Spanish authorities voiced their support to the
Iraqi campaign and tried to convince the population of WMD being held
in Iraq and of Baghdad's contacts with Osama bin Laden.
Eduardo Zaplana admits that the govt of Spain might have been mistaken
as it acted consistently like many other countries that believed Iraq
had WMD. The press secretary of the govt says the assurance was based
upon reports of UN monitors who, as Zaplana adds, "never claimed Iraq
had no weapons of mass destruction."
TV presenter apologises for backing weapons claims
Washington (Reuters). A conservative TV news anchor in the US has
apologised to his viewers for supporting pre-war claims that Iraq had
WMD. Bill O'Reilly is the anchor of his own show on Fox News. He
says he is sorry he gave the US Govt the benefit of the doubt over
claims that Saddam Hussein's weapons program posed an imminent threat
to the world -- the main reason cited for going to war. Mr O'Reilly
says he has become much more sceptical about the Bush Admin since
former weapons inspector David Kay said he did not think Saddam had
any WMD. However, while critical of Pres George W Bush, Mr O'Reilly
says he does not think the Pres intentionally lied. He instead blamed
CIA director George Tenet, who was appointed by former Pres Bill Clinton.
Rumsfeld "unaware" of WMD claim
Washington (BBC). The 45-minute claim was publicised in the run-up to
war US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld says he cannot remember hearing the
claim that Iraq could launch WMD within 45 minutes. The claim, part
of the UK Govt's case for war, was made in its Sep 2002 Iraq arms
dossier presented to Parliament prior to the conflict. It came from
Iraqi intel sources but last y its use in the dossier was criticised
by a committee of MPs. The claim is at the heart of recent debate in
the UK about the invasion. Asked his opinion of the claim, Mr
Rumsfeld told reporters at a Pentagon briefing: "I don't remember the
statement being made, to be perfectly honest." Last wk PM Tony Blair
said he had not been aware the relevant weapons were not long range
and capable of hitting Brit interests, such as military bases on
Cyprus. In fact the claim only related to battlefield munitions such
as mortars and shells.
French MPs approve ban on head scarves
Paris (Independent). The lower house of the French parliament adopted
by a crushing majority yesterday a law banning Muslim headscarves and
other obvious religious symbols in schools, but the controversy is
unlikely to end.
After a wk of debate, the nat'l assembly voted, by 494 to 36 with 31
abstentions, to ban all "ostensible" religious signs and forms of
dress from state primary and secondary schools. The Senat, the upper
house of the parliament, is expected to approve the law by a similar
majority next wk.
The new rules will be enforced -- almost certainly with new difficulties
and legal challenges -- from the beginning of the school y in Sep.
The vast majority of members of Pres Jacques Chirac's centre-right UMP
party and the main opp'n party, the Socialists, voted in favour of the
law, which is supposed to clarify and protect the principle that state
schools are secular and recognise no religion. The centrist and
Catholic UDF party and the Communists abstained or voted against.
Critics complain that the law barely changes the legal status quo, which
outlaws "ostentatious" religious dress in schools but leaves the final
decision on whether to bar pupils to head-teachers and school boards.
A spate of disputes is inevitable as pupils try to test the new
wording -- "ostensible" religious symbols. In French "ostensible"
means "intending to be noticed or seen". Could the law, in some
circumstances, ban children or teenagers wearing beards or bandanas,
as Luc Ferry, the Education minister, has suggested? There may also be
a formal challenge to the law under the European Convention on Human Rights.
During the parliamentary debate, the govt insisted that the law was
not an attack on religious freedom and certainly not an attack on Islam.
It was intended to re-inforce the principle -- at the heart of the
French Republic -- that France was a secular country, which permitted
all religions but encouraged none.
However, a number of speakers from the UMP muddied the waters by
talking of the need to draw the line against the rise of extremist
forms of Islam.
The haste in pushing through the law is seen as an attempt to reduce
the vote of the far-right Nat'l Front in regional elections next m.
Some political commentators predict that by magnifying the apparent
problems posed by the Muslim minority of 3.7 mn the headscarves row
will help the Nat'l Front.
Moderate Muslim leaders said that they would encourage their followers
to respect the law. Mohammed Latreche of the extremist Parti des
Musulmans de France (PMF) said that France had turned itself into a
"banana republic" which trampled human rights.
A survey by the newspaper Le Monde found that almost all Muslim pupils
barred from state schools for wearing headscarves under the existing
law had struggled to find other means of education.
Saudi Arabia enrages Yemen with fence
Yemen (Independent). Saudi Arabia, one of the most vocal critics in
the Arab world of Israel's "security fence" in the W Bank, is quietly
emulating the Israeli example by erecting a barrier along its porous
border with Yemen.
The barrier is part of a plan to erect what will be an electronic
surveillance system along the length of the kingdom's frontiers --
land, air and sea. The project, involving fencing and electronic
detection equipment, has been in the planning stages for several
ys. It may cost up to $8.57 bn. Behind the plan is a deep-seated
lack of trust in the Yemeni authorities' ability to arrest
infiltrators before they make it into Saudi territory.
A Yemeni delegation arrived in Jeddah for emergency talks on the issue
yesterday, after submitting an official complaint. Saudi officials
have combated drug, alcohol, luxury-goods and arms smuggling across
the mountainous and porous border with Yemen for ys. And they have
paid a high price in their battles with the smugglers.
In 2002, 36 Saudi border guards were killed in Jizan, a S Saudi border
town. The govt says the smugglers provide the explosives and weapons used
by radical Islamists inside the kingdom, who carried out 2 suicide attacks
against civilian targets last y, killing more than 50 and injuring 100s.
The perpetrators of earlier terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia,
spanning at least a decade, also used explosives from Yemen,
state-controlled Saudi media has reported. They include the 1993
attack in the Bahah region, 200 miles S of Jeddah, in which 10 people
were killed after a bomb was thrown into a mosque during Fri prayers,
and a blast in Riyadh, the capital, in 1995 at an American compound,
which killed 9.
Since the bombings on 12 May last y, Saudi border patrols have
continued to seize large quantities of weapons and explosives daily --
including more than 90,000 rounds of ammunition, grenades, more than
2,000 sticks of dynamite, 100s of bazookas and more than 1,200 other weapons.
Sa'ada, 25 miles S of the border, has the biggest of Yemen's numerous
arms souks. Here an 85 mm surface-to-surface missile can be bought for
$2,500. Anti-aircraft missiles are no longer on display, but they can
still be had for the right price. The row of shops attracts 1000s of
buyers each day for weapons from China, Russia, Belgium, Spain and
even Israel -- a country Yemen does not recognise or trade with. There
are about 60 mn weapons owned by the 20-mn strong Yemeni population.
Osama bin Laden's roots straddle both sides of the border. He was born
and raised in Saudi Arabia, but has strong ancestral ties to Yemen --
a tribal and largely lawless country, where all males past puberty
outside the main cities openly bear arms. Yemen remains the place that
al-Qa'ida operatives see as home. But Saudi Arabia is the source of
ideological inspiration and financial support. Many are products of
the Saudi education system, which breeds extremism.
Al-Qa'ida's leader in Yemen, the Saudi-born and educated Mohammed
Hamdi al-Ahdal, who was arrested last y, is a case in point. He has
revealed under interrogation to Yemeni authorities that Saudis and
Yemenis were involved in funding 2 major terrorist attacks in Yemen --
against the USS Cole in Oct 2000, which killed 17 American sailors,
and the French supertanker Limburg in Oct 2002.
But Saudi-Yemeni tensions long pre-date the "war on terror". Saudi
Arabia has a history of supporting tribal and other disaffected Yemeni
groups to keep unstable a country they see as a security threat.
The ruling family, Al-Saud, who sponsor the Wahabi school of Islam
that damns Shias as infidels, even gave military assistance to the
hereditary Shia ruling family of Yemen when it was deposed in a coup
in 1962. The country split in 2 soon after into a traditionalist N Yemen
and Marxist S Yemen, but reunited in 1990, despite official Saudi opp'n.
In the 1990s they increased clandestine funding to various Yemeni groups
leading to local conspiracy theories that the Saud paid tribal leaders
to kidnap foreign tourists. This destroyed Yemen's tourism industry,
but there is no evidence that the Saudi ruling family was involved.
John Kerry wins Va, Tenn primaries
Washington (AP). John Kerry vanquished his Dixie-bred rivals in
Virginia and Tennessee on Tue, all but unstoppable in his march toward
the Democratic nomination with a S sweep that extended his dominance
to every region of the country.
"Americans are voting for change -- East and West, North and now in the
South," Kerry declared to the roar of supporters in Fairfax, Va,
chanting, "Kerry! Kerry!"
John Edwards, Wesley Clark and Howard Dean clung quixotically to the
hope that Kerry would stumble on his own or by scandal, but party
leaders began pressing for the nomination fight to end.
The fourth-term Massachusetts senator pocketed half the vote in
Virginia -- with Edwards of N Carolina a poor 2nd and Clark of
Arkansas a far-distant third. Kerry crushed Edwards and Clark in
Tennessee.
With 2 3rd-place finishes, Clark stiff-armed advisers who suggested
he drop out, saying he'd decide his fate Wed.
Dean, the fallen front-runner, finished in single digits in Virginia
and Tennessee, the latter the home state of political benefactor Al
Gore. Dean had already retreated with his staggering campaign to
Wisconsin, site of a Feb. 17 primary.
Edwards tells voters at every stop that he is the only candidate who
could beat Texas-reared Pres Bush in his own backyard, the South, yet
he lost to a Massachusetts Brahmin in Dixie. The freshman senator will
remain in the race, aides said, pointing his troubled campaign to
Wisconsin and Mar 2, when 10 delegate-rich states hold elections.
"We're going to have an election, not a coronation," Edwards told
cheering supporters in Milwaukee.
With some S comfort, Kerry has won 12 of 14 contests -- 7 by nearly
half the vote -- on the E and W coasts, in the Midwest, the Great
Plains and the Southwest.
Awash in confidence, Kerry planned to take Wed and Thu off to nurse a
cough and make telephone calls from home in Washington. He focused on
Bush, not his party foes.
"The wreckage of the Bush economy is all around us," Kerry told
supporters as some party elders said it was about time to rally behind
a nominee.
"My hope is that the winnowing process begins right after tonight,"
said New Mexico's Democratic governor, Bill Richardson.
Voters in the 2 states, like those in most of the 1st dozen contests,
said the ability to defeat Pres Bush was the top quality they sought
in a candidate -- and they sided 6-to-1 with Kerry, according to exit polls.
"Anybody but Bush," said Charles Edwards, 50, of Falls Church, Va, who
decided to vote for Kerry as he entered his voting booth. "I'd vote
for the devil."
Bush's poll ratings have dropped amid questions about his use of US
intel in deciding to go to war in Iraq. As Democrats cast their votes,
the Whitehouse released pay records and other info to answer
questions -- echoed by Kerry -- about whether the Pres fulfilled his
Vietnam-era commitment to the Nat'l Guard.
The subject didn't come up Tue night, though Kerry said he and his
fellow Vietnam veterans are still fighting for their country.
"For more than 3 y, this Admin has failed to tell the truth about
their economic record," Kerry told supporters.
He said it's not up to him to decide whether his foes should stay in
the race. Still, his every strategy was designed to dispatch his
rivals with Tue's triumphs, victory next wk in Wisconsin or a
nail-in-the-coffin showing Mar 2.
"What we showed today is the mainstream values that I've been talking
about, fairness and hope and hard work and love of country, are more
important than boundaries and birthplace," the Massachusetts senator
told The Associated Press.
"People want change in the country. They want to move forward in a new
direction and I think I'm articulating what that new direction can
be," Kerry said. "It's crossing all lines ... without regard to region
and other labels."
With 99% of the vote in Virginia, Kerry had 52%, Edwards 27%, Clark
9%, Dean 7%, Al Sharpton 3% and Rep Dennis Kucinich of Ohio 1%. In
Tennessee, with 96% reporting, Kerry had 41%, Edwards 27%, Clark 23%,
Dean 4% and Sharpton 2%.
Virginia and Tennessee had 151 delegates at stake.
An AP analysis shows Kerry has piled up more than twice as many
delegates as his closest pursuer. Counting results from Tue's races,
Kerry has 507 delegates to Dean's 182, with Edwards at 163 and Clark
at 96. A total of 2,162 are needed to nominate.
Kerry finished strong across all demographic groups and regions, with
one potential weakness as he looks toward a general election race in
the South: He finished 1st among white voters, but didn't fare as well
as he did among black voters, according to exit polls conducted for
The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Media Research
and Mitofsky Internat'l.
8 in 10 voters said they were angry or dissatisfied with Bush, and
Kerry finished strong among them.
"I like the fact that he's a war hero," said Celia Ambrester, 69, of
Knoxville, Tenn. Kerry won 3 Purple hearts, one Bronze star and one
Silver star in Vietnam. "We need someone in office who's been in war
and knows the issues."
For Edwards, Clark and Dean, the temptation to stay in the race is
strong because the front-runner has not been tested by scandal or
miscues thus far in the primary season. Kerry's foes also point out
that the crowded election schedule has not left much time for voters
to take a 2nd look at the front-runner.
Some voters were already looking. Bob Casey, 68, of Memphis, Tenn,
sided with Clark after calling Kerry a liberal "from back East."
Eugene Robinson, 32, of Richmond, Va, voted for Clark because "he
wasn't some smarmy politician who was ready to talk about all the laws
he's passed and all the committees he's been on."
Though both Clark, Edwards and Dean have denied any interest in a
V-Presid'l nomination, their future viability may come into play as they
decide how long and hard to fight Kerry.
Whitehouse releases Bush military record
Washington (AP). The Whitehouse, trying to end doubts about Pres
Bush's Vietnam-era military record, released documents Tue that it
said proved he had "met his requirements" in the Texas Air Nat'l Guard
despite long, unexplained gaps in his service.
"These documents outline the days on which he was paid. That means he
served," said Bush rep Scott McClellan. However, Democrats were
dismissive of the newly released records.
"The handful of documents released today by the Whitehouse creates
more questions than answers," said Democratic Nat'l Committee Chairman
Terry McAuliffe.
McAuliffe had helped re-ignite the story earlier this m when he charged
Bush had gone "AWOL." With Vietnam War veteran John Kerry emerging as
the Democratic presidential front-runner, Democrats have been trying
to stoke longstanding questions about Bush's service in the Guard
during the war.
Bush joined in 1968, and spent most of his service time based nr
Houston. But in May 1972 he requested and received a temporary
assignment with the Alabama Nat'l Guard so he could serve as political
director on the Senate campaign of Winton "Red" Blount, a family
friend. Bush says he recalls showing up for drills in Alabama, but his
supporters have struggled to prove it.
Bush was not paid for any service during a 5-m period in 1972, from
May through Sep, according to the records released with Bush's
approval Tue.
He was paid for 2 days in Oct and 4 days in Nov and none in Dec
1972. He was not paid for Feb or Mar 1973.
The records do not indicate what duty Bush performed or where he was.
Nevertheless, rep McClellan repeatedly held up the 13-page packet his
office had released, and he declared in his televised briefing, "I
think these documents show that he fulfilled his duties."
At the same time, Whitehouse officials were careful to stop short of
claiming that the records proved definitively that Bush had shown up
for all the Guard duties he was expected to.
Indeed, the payroll documents and annual service "point summaries"
could throw new fuel onto a story the Whitehouse wants to quench this
election y.
McClellan expressed a note of frustration at the persistent questions
on the matter. "It just kind of amazes me that some will now say they
want more info after the payroll records and the point summaries have
all been released."
"Now people are trying to move the goal post even more," he said,
adding that Whitehouse officials smelled politics. "It's just really
a shame that people are continuing to bring this up."
Kerry stayed silent on the subject Tue.
"I just don't have any comment on it," he told reporters between
campaign stops in Tennessee and Virginia. "It's not an issue that I
chose to create. It's not my record that's at issue and I don't have
any questions about it."
But Kerry has not answered Republicans' urging that he condemn
criticism like the McAuliffe "AWOL" remarks. On the stump, he opens
his appearances by saluting his audiences -- a reminder of his
military service and 3 Purple Hearts.
While Kerry surrounds himself with fellow veterans on the campaign
trail, the Whitehouse has not been able to produce fellow guardsmen
who could testify that Bush attended meetings and drills. "Obviously we
would have made people available" if they had been found, McClellan said.
Retired Brig Gen William Turnipseed [OUCH!] was a cmdr at the base Bush was
assigned to and has previously said he never saw Bush appear for
duty. But he told The Associated Press on Tue he wasn't sure whether
he was on the base at the same time as Bush.
Moreover, he said, "in 1972, I didn't even know he was supposed to
come. I didn't know that until 2000," he said. "I'm not saying that he
wasn't there. If he said he was there, I believe it. I don't remember
seeing him."
Turnipseed told the AP last wk he donated money to the Republican
Nat'l Committee last y, and said he is a Bush supporter.
Retired Army Col Dan Smith, a 26-y military veteran, questioned the
usefulness of the latest info released by the Whitehouse.
"Pay records don't mean anything except that you're in or you're out,"
said Smith. "It doesn't necessarily reflect what duty you've actually
performed because pay records simply record your unit of assignment
and then all of your pay and benefits per pay period."
Lt Col Scott Gorske, a 23-y Guardsman with experience in personnel
issues, said there is no requirement for Nat'l Guard members to drill
every m. They are required to train a certain amount of time each y.
It appears Bush met that requirement, said Gorske, who reviewed the documents.
A memo written by retired Lt Col Albert Lloyd Jr. at the request of
the Whitehouse said a review of Bush's records showed that he had
"satisfactory years" for the period of 1972-73 and 1973-74 "which proves
that he completed his military obligation in a satisfactory manner."
Putin the finger
The (temporary) disappearance of the Russian presidential candidate
Ivan Rybkin has spawned a rash of conspiracy theories.
Moscow (Guardian). A Moscow politician goes missing. A murder inquiry
is opened. Then closed.
Then opened again, as a missing persons inquiry. Then he turns up in
Ukraine, and jumps on a plane home, presumably dreadfully sorry to
have caused everyone so much bother.
In the background stand an exiled media tycoon, a rep for the ousted
Chechen separatist leader, an alleged conspirator in a show trial and
a presidential election.
This is a join-the-dots conspiracy theory for Russia, a country where
heaping up disparate events into an edifice of sinister state (or
anti-state) machination is a nat'l sport. And with reason: the media
are largely under Kremlin control and parliament is a rubber stamp to
the president, who has built an Admin and political ideology around
the view that the most able and dependable components of the old
Soviet Union were the secret services.
The absentee politician is Ivan Rybkin, a veteran of the centre left
and an outside candidate for the tiny Liberal Russia party in the
presidential poll due in Mar. There are no inside candidates apart
from the incumbent, Vladimir Putin, himself a former KGB agent, who is
expected to win by a landslide.
Rybkin disappeared without a trace last Thu. Prosecutors initially
said that a murder inquiry had been opened, but retracted once it was
pointed out that there was no evidence of a murder. The ensuing
manhunt got off to a slow start after a member of parliament from the
majority party loyal to president Putin told journalists that Rybkin
was in fact safe and well in a health spa W of Moscow. The MP later
retracted, saying that he was only joking, or rather repeating a joke
made to him by security sources.. So far so cynically incompetent.
The tycoon is Boris Berezovsky, one of the circle of financiers and
media magnates who bank rolled the presidency of Boris Yeltsin and
benefited from vastly lucrative privatisation deals, also known as
"the oligarchs".
Pres Putin has waged a high-profile campaign against the more
vociferously independent oligarchs, bringing fraud charges against
them and taking their media assets back under state control. Fearing
prison, Berezovsky left for London, from where he finances a tiny
political party: Liberal Russia.
The rep for the ousted Chechen leadership is Akhmad Zakhayev. He is
wanted by Russia on terrorism charges related to the decade old
separatist war in the Caucasus, but he has been granted political
asylum in the UK.
Zakhayev has an ally in Berezovsky, who, as a former deputy secretary
of Russia's security council, has long-standing contacts with the
Chechen rebels.
Rybkin, meanwhile, is one of a handful of Russian politicians who
openly calls for negotiations with Zakhayev's boss, Aslan Maskhadov,
whom Putin denounces as an out-and-out terrorist. The missing
candidate has shared a platform with Zakhayev in London and launched
his campaign with a fierce attack on the sitting president as "the
biggest oligarch in Russia".
Putin, he said was "practically destroying the constitution and
plunging Russia again into darkness".
The man in the show trial is Alexander Vinnik, a little known
political fixer charged with paying for the murder of Sergei
Yushenkov, former leader of a tiny political party: Liberal
Russia. Yushenkov was a politician with a rare reputation for
integrity, who was gunned down in broad daylight outside his apartment
in Apr last y. That investigation, like most of the inquiries into the
numerous slayings of Russian politicians, seemed to be getting
nowhere. Until very recently, that is, when Vinnik and another
defendant -- colleagues from a rival faction of Liberal Russia --
turned up in court waving full confessions. Rybkin is due to testify
in the case.
To add grist to the conspiracy mill, Yushenkov was one of just a few
Russian politicians willing to give credence to the view, frequently
expounded by Berezovsky, that Russian security services deliberately
blew up apartment buildings in 1999 in order to justify a renewed war
in Chechnya and a khaki election for then PM Vladimir Putin.
Berezovsky is convinced, to what some observers deem a paranoid
degree, that Russian agents want to silence him. This was the basis
for his own successful asylum claim in the UK.
Thus the chain of connections, subterfuge, allegation and speculation
goes on. What was Rybkin doing in Ukraine? And why did he not tell his
wife or any member of his campaign team or friends he was going?
Surely he was caught up in a tangled web of secret service vendettas,
political-financial-terrorist plotting and double crossing?
Counting against the conspiracy theorists is the fact that Rybkin
stands next to no chance in the presidential election. Had "the
power", as Russians like to refer to the invisible machinery of the
state, wanted to silence him, it could have done so by simply
disqualifying him from the electoral roll. It might still do so. The
electoral commission has already fired shots across the bows of his
campaign by questioning the validity of some of the signatures
collected in support of his candidacy.
There is even a counter-conspiracy theory that the whole thing was a
PR stunt, orchestrated by Berezovsky to turn his candidate briefly
into a martyr and generate a free media circus around him.
In the still anarchic and often lawless Russian capital people
sometimes simply go missing. Businessmen get kidnapped, politicians
get murdered, as do countless anonymous members of the public,
although those cases do not make headlines.
Even though Rybkin has turned up alive, and by all accounts well, the
theorists will carry on re-joining the dots in more and more fanciful
configurations. Only 2 things are certain: the definitive version of
events will not be known for a very long time, and Vladimir Putin will
win the election.
Coalition forces in the firing line
*** WARNING KNUCKLE-DRAGGERS:
WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE LEARNIED IN STATS 101 AHEAD! ***
Deaths by month, Coal'n forces in Iraq:
2003
Mar 92 Apr 79 May 41 Jun 36
Jul 48 Aug 43 Sep 33 Oct 45
Nov 110 Dec 48
2004
Jan 50
Total 633
While the dataset is too small to correct for autocorrelation, there is a
superficial negative correlation with time. I.e. there is a superficial
decline in fatalities over the period Mar 2003 to start Feb 2004.
Approx 1.3 fewer soldiers have died each month, on average.
However, the probability -- based on an a simple regression -- this could be
due to chance alone is about 36%. Statisticians would therefore not judge
the numbers to be good evidence there is a decline in fatalities over time.
Two throws of a coin could come up heads -- and it doesn't really show the
coin is biased.
A more foolproof Spearman rank test is even more pessimistic.
A random dataset would be 94% likely to show a similar relation between time
and fatality distribution, as the above data.
Suicide bombing in Iraq kills up to 53
Iskandariyah, Iraq (AP). A suicide bomber blew up a truckload of
explosives Tue outside a police station S of Baghdad, killing up to 53
people and wounding scores -- including would-be Iraqi recruits lined
up to apply for jobs.
The explosion reduced parts of the station to rubble and damaged
nearby buildings. The street in front of the station was littered with
the wreckage of shattered vehicles as well as pieces of glass, bricks,
mangled steel and pieces of clothing.
"It was the day for applying for new recruits," said policeman Wissam
Abdul-Karim, who was thrown to the ground by the blast.
"There were dozens of them waiting outside the police station."
It was at least the eighth vehicle bombing in Iraq this y and followed
warnings from occupation officials that insurgents would step up
attacks against Iraqis who work with the US-led coalition, especially
ahead of the planned Jun 30 transfer of sovereignty to a provisional
Iraqi govt.
The blast in this predominantly Shiite Muslim city followed the
disclosure Mon of a letter from an anti-American operative to
al-Qaeda's leadership asking for help in launching attacks against the
Shiites to undermine the US-run coalition and the future Iraqi govt.
Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld told reporters Tue in Washington that the
attack appears generally in line with plans outlined in the
letter. Attacks on Iraqi security personnel have not deterred more
from wanting to join, Rumsfeld said.
"We find people are still lining up, volunteering, interested in
participating and serving," he said.
But many angry townspeople blamed the Americans for the blast, and
some claimed that a US air attack was to blame.
"This missile was fired from a US aircraft," said Hadi Mohy Ali,
60. "The Americans want to tear our unity apart."
Iraqi police had to fire weapons in the air to disperse dozens of
Iraqis who stormed the shattered remains of the station hrs after
the explosion.
No US or other coalition forces were hurt, said Lt Col Dan Williams, a
military rep in Baghdad.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry and the local police chief said the
bombing was carried out by a suicide driver who detonated a red pickup
truck at razor wire and sand-bagged security barricades in front of
the station.
However, Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt said it was unclear whether the bombing
here was the work of a suicide driver or whether the vehicle was
parked and then detonated.
Casualty figures varied.
The US military command reported 35 dead and 75 wounded but said those
figures could be low since Iraqi authorities were handling the
investigation. The Iraqi Interior Ministry said 40 to 50 people were
killed and up to 100 wounded, including 4 policemen.
However, a local hospital director, Razaq Jabbar, put the number at 53
dead and 60 wounded -- all believed to be Iraqis.
"This figure might increase," he said. "There were some body parts
that haven't been identified yet. Some more bodies may be trapped
under the rubble."
Insurgents have mounted a string of car and suicide bombings in recent
wks. The deadliest so far has been in the N city of Irbil on Feb. 1
when 2 suicide bombers blew themselves up at 2 Kurdish party offices
celebrating a Muslim holiday, killing at least 109 people.
On Jan. 18, a suicide car bomb exploded nr the main gate to the US-led
coalition's HQ in Baghdad, killing at least 31 people.
No group claimed responsibility for Tue's bombing, but Kimmitt said
the attack "does show many" of al-Qaeda's "fingerprints," including
the size of the bomb -- which he estimated at 500 pounds -- and the
large number of civilian casualties.
In Baghdad, however, Iraqi police Lt Gen Ahmed Kadhum Ibrahim said the
engine number of the pickup indicated it once belonged to an intel
officer in Saddam Hussein's regime.
On Mon, US officials said a letter seized last m from an al-Qaeda
courier asked the terrorist leadership to help foment civil war
between Shiite and Sunni Muslims to undermine the coalition and the
future Iraqi leadership.
The purported author of the letter was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a
Palestinian-Jordanian suspected of al-Qaeda links and believed at
large in Iraq. The author boasted of having organised 25 suicide
attacks in this country.
US administrator L Paul Bremer released the al-Zarqawi letter to
Iraq's Governing Council on Tue and said they planned to release it to
the Iraqi public.
"It's to inform Iraqi leaders so they can help protect against the
ethnic warfare that Zarqawi wants to provoke," said coalition rep Dan
Senor, and "so ethnic leaders won't be provoked into reprisals."
Gen Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in
Washington that of the letter is authentic, it showed al-Qaeda
involvement in Iraq but also revealed how desperate the group had become.
"I think the obvious points from it are, one is that the coalition and
Iraqis themselves are being very successful, because one of the things
they discussed in the letter is a desperate tactic of trying to get
Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence," Myers said.
However, many townspeople here blamed the Americans for the attack Tue.
Dozens of people stormed the wrecked police station late Tue but
scattered when police fired in the air. They chanted: "No, no to
America! The police are traitors; not Sunnis, not Shiites! This crime
was by the Americans!"
The rumours, which local Iraqi officials dismissed out of hand,
underscore the deep distrust between many Iraqis and the American
occupation force nearly a y after the collapse of Saddam's regime.
Abbas Hassan, 31, said the Americans hand out applications for the
police force every day but "today, they didn't. It was all arranged by
the Americans."
Saleh, the police cmdr, said the rumours about the Americans were "an
excuse" to draw attention away from "the real terrorists."
"This is terrorism that targeted the people and the police," he said.
2nd suicide attack kills 36 in Baghdad
Baghdad. Suicide bombers have struck at 2 symbols of co-operation with
the US-led Coal'n in the past 24 hrs. Earlier, a suicide attack in
Iskandariyah killed around 55 people lined up outside the C police
stn, waiting for work. At around 7.40 am this morning local time
[2.40 pm AEDT] a suicide attacker blew up a car packed with explosives
outside an Iraqi recruiting centre in Baghdad, killing at least 25
people waiting in line to enlist in the New Iraqi Army. A US military
rep says initial estimates are that 20 to 25 Iraqi civilians were
killed in the attack.
Letter to Al-Qaeda seeks help in tearing Iraq apart
US forces seize the letter by an operative, which lends credence to
claims about Saddam's terror links.
[Or the opposite].
Baghdad (LA Times/AFP). US forces have intercepted a letter believed
to have been written by a terrorist operative seeking Al-Qaeda's help
in inciting violence between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims in Iraq, the US
military confirmed on Mon.
The letter, believed to have been written in Iraq, outlines a plan for
"provoking ethnic sectarian warfare...in the hope of tearing this
country apart", said Mr Dan Senor, a rep for the Coalition Provisional
Authority.
The discovery of the 17-page letter was 1st reported by the NY Times.
"We believe the report and document are credible. We take the report
seriously," said Brig-Gen Mark Kimmitt, a US military rep. He said the
letter would be made public later.
The letter, military officials believe, was written by Abu Musab
Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian suspected of having ties to Al-Qaeda. Reports
indicated that the letter was intended for senior leaders of Osama bin
Laden's terrorist network.
* "BY GOD, THIS IS SUFFOCATION"
Extracts of the translated version of the letter:
* The writer, who sees little chance of the Americans being forced
from Iraq, wants them dragged into a sectarian conflict:
"So the solution, and only God knows, is that we need to bring the
Shia into the battle...It is the only way to prolong the duration of
the fight between the infidels and us. If we succeed in dragging them
into a sectarian war, this will awaken the sleepy Sunnis who are
fearful of destruction and death at the hands' of Shi'ites."
* He offers his group's services to the recipients of the letter, who
US officials contend are Al-Qaeda leaders:
"You noble brothers, leaders of the jihad, we do not consider
ourselves people who compete against you, nor would we ever aim to
achieve glory for ourselves like you did... So if you agree with it,
and are convinced of the idea of killing the perverse sects, we stand
ready as an army for you to work under your guidance and yield to your
command."
* He indicates he directed 25 suicide bombings inside Iraq:
"We were involved in all the martyrdom operations -- in terms of
overseeing, preparing and planning -- that took place in this
country. Praise be to Allah, I have completed 25 of these operations,
some of them against the Shia and their leaders, the Americans and
their military, and the police, the military and the coalition forces."
* He says the Iraqis are not receptive to the idea of hosting the
insurgents:
"Many Iraqis would honour you as a guest and give you refuge, for you
are a Muslim brother...However, they will not allow you to make their
home a base for operations or a safe house."
* He shows exasperation with what he contends could be a losing
battle:
"We can pack up and leave and look for another land, just like what
has happened in so many lands of jihad. Our enemy is growing stronger
day after day, and its intel info increases...By God, this is
suffocation!"
"We are persuaded that Al-Zarqawi was the author of the letter. It is
our understanding that this letter was being taken out of the country
for delivery abroad," Brig-Gen Kimmitt said.
Mr Senor said the document detailed "a strategy of provoking violence,
targeted at Shi'ite leaders, that would result in reprisals against
other ethnic groups within the country".
The US authorities blame Al-Qaeda, loyalists of deposed Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein and other groups for the ongoing attacks on American troops.
On Mon, 2 US soldiers were killed and 5 wounded in an explosion as
they disposed of weaponry in Sinjar, about 120 km west of the N city
of Mosul.
The blast brought the US death toll in Iraq to more than 530 since the
Mar invasion, according to an AP tally.
A previously published report indicated that the letter from
Al-Zarqawi, which was on a computer disk, expressed concern that
religious extremists were failing to attract support in Iraq.
The document requested help in directing attacks against Iraq's
Shi'ite majority in an effort to trigger counter-attacks against Sunni
Muslims, sparking a "sectarian war" that would draw Iraqi Sunnis
closer to the extremists.
"In many ways, this guy is disappointed at his lack of success,"
Brig-Gen Kimmitt said.
"It is almost a sign of desperation."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the letter gave "some credence"
to US pre-war claims about Saddam's links with the group. But he
added: "We're still looking for those connections and to prove those
connections."
The memo, he continued, was "very revealing" because it showed
Al-Qaeda's "weaknesses that they have in their efforts to undercut the
coalition's effort".
"But at the same time, it shows they haven't given up," he said.
Middle E experts said the letter's contents were not surprising.
"Removing Saddam Hussein created a power vacuum that Al-Qaeda feels it
can use to enter Iraq," said Mr Charles Pena, director of defence
policy studies for the Washington, DC-based Cato Institute.
=== end 1/4 ===
Iskandar Baharuddin
Salaam & Shalom
Izzy
" Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results. "
a m a z u r e ²°°4
| Why do you bother?
|
| Salaam & Shalom
|
| Izzy
Why do you bother... (again ;-)
| " Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and
| expecting different results. "
Stuck your foot in your own trap... admitting to insanity...
Think before you type dude.
(I warned you that MoSly would send you insane...)
Regards.
Iskandar Baharuddin
" a m a z u r e ²°°4" <ama...@islandparadiseproject.com>
wrote in message news:402efd8f$1...@news.comindico.com.au...
posts is handcrafted in response to what has gone before.
Unlike those who regularly post:
"Asshole!"
"Nazi!"
"Bahaaawaaa"
"*plonk*"
and the like.
Izzy
a m a z u r e ²°°4
|
| " a m a z u r e ²°°4" <ama...@islandparadiseproject.com>
| wrote in message news:402efd8f$1...@news.comindico.com.au...
| | "Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in
| message news:402c21b0$1...@news.highway1.com.au...
| | | Why do you bother?
| | |
| | | Salaam & Shalom
| | |
| | | Izzy
| |
| | Why do you bother... (again ;-)
| |
| | | " Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and
| | | expecting different results. "
| |
| | Stuck your foot in your own trap... admitting to insanity...
| | Think before you type dude.
| |
| | (I warned you that MoSly would send you insane...)
| |
| Have you not noticed that I never repeat myself?
It does not say or suggest verbatim.
While trying to use wit against Kym,
you caught yourself :-)
<quote>
" Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results. "
</quote>
| Each of my
| posts is handcrafted in response to what has gone before.
You repeatedly keep trying to get Kym to stop posting...
... Did yourself like a dinner...
... You'll need MoeSLY logic
to escape from the hole you've dug yourself...
| Unlike those who regularly post:
|
| "Asshole!"
|
| "Nazi!"
|
| "Bahaaawaaa"
|
| "*plonk*"
|
| and the like.
|
| Izzy
Irrelevant... whoever 'those' are...
What is the sound of someone getting caught in their own trap...
( think Homer Simpson ;-)
Iskandar Baharuddin
time.
| | Each of my
| | posts is handcrafted in response to what has gone
before.
|
| You repeatedly keep trying to get Kym to stop posting...
| ... Did yourself like a dinner...
| ... You'll need MoeSLY logic
| to escape from the hole you've dug yourself...
|
| | Unlike those who regularly post:
| |
| | "Asshole!"
| |
| | "Nazi!"
| |
| | "Bahaaawaaa"
| |
| | "*plonk*"
| |
| | and the like.
| |
| | Izzy
|
| Irrelevant... whoever 'those' are...
|
| What is the sound of someone getting caught in their own
trap...
|
| ( think Homer Simpson ;-)
|
You really make no sense.
Izzy
a m a z u r e ²°°4
It still fits the situation...
| | | Each of my
| | | posts is handcrafted in response to what has gone
| before.
| |
| | You repeatedly keep trying to get Kym to stop posting...
| | ... Did yourself like a dinner...
| | ... You'll need MoeSLY logic
| | to escape from the hole you've dug yourself...
| |
| | | Unlike those who regularly post:
| | |
| | | "Asshole!"
| | |
| | | "Nazi!"
| | |
| | | "Bahaaawaaa"
| | |
| | | "*plonk*"
| | |
| | | and the like.
| | |
| | | Izzy
| |
| | Irrelevant... whoever 'those' are...
| |
| | What is the sound of someone getting caught in their own
| trap...
| |
| | ( think Homer Simpson ;-)
| |
| You really make no sense.
|
| Izzy
... Like fitting almost Five Grand in a sock...
... Pretty sure you understand that !!
Without comprehenzion there iz no senze... Try Some ;-)
Iskandar Baharuddin
response to asinine comments.
Izzy
a m a z u r e ²°°4
Like the asinine comments
about not being able to fit
near $5K into a sock...
<hysterics>
Iskandar Baharuddin
sock, and the sock was supposed to be in a shoe!
You seem to be one of those people who will not take 'yes'
for an answer.
Izzy
a m a z u r e ²°°4
"Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in message news:4030...@news.highway1.com.au...
You must wear those really short girly-socks.
Mens socks go up out of the shoes more than a bit,
and $5K is not very thick if it is in $100 bills...
| You seem to be one of those people who will not take 'yes'
| for an answer.
|
| Izzy
Considering the asinine arguments used,
which were easy to discredit yet they
kept coming, then certain people
have the hide to call others
comments asinine...
Iskandar Baharuddin
terms of *hiding* the money in the sock, and did not
envision being stuffed in the sock above the shoe. Which
wouldn't be very well hidden, would it?
It *is* asinine to carry on and on when you have scored a
point. But, then, that is a rare event for you.
Izzy
a m a z u r e ²°°4
Anyone who used a bit of thought, logic & common sense
would have realized... And stopped making asinine arguments.
| Which wouldn't be very well hidden, would it?
Did anyone suggest he was wearing shorts,
and even if he was, it could easily fit in the fold
of the socks without being to obvious,
unless they were 'girly' socks...
| It *is* asinine to carry on and on when you have scored a
| point. But, then, that is a rare event for you.
|
| Izzy
And some just go on and on and on and on,
even beating MoSLY in the posting stats,
exausting more bandwidth than those
whom they whine & whinge about...
Iskandar Baharuddin
" a m a z u r e ²°°4" <ama...@islandparadiseproject.com>
wrote in message news:4030...@news.comindico.com.au...
| "Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in
message news:4030...@news.highway1.com.au...
snip
|
| Did anyone suggest he was wearing shorts,
| and even if he was, it could easily fit in the fold
| of the socks without being to obvious,
| unless they were 'girly' socks...
|
| | It *is* asinine to carry on and on when you have scored
a
| | point. But, then, that is a rare event for you.
| |
| | Izzy
|
|
| And some just go on and on and on and on,
| even beating MoSLY in the posting stats,
| exausting more bandwidth than those
| whom they whine & whinge about...
|
In the interest of conserving bandwidth I abandon this
idiotic exchange.
Izzy
R Kym Horsell
[usual 50 line quote]
> You really make no sense.
" Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results. "
-- quoted by "Izzy", 5 mins ago
===================
$ You will be pleased to know that you have the honour of being the only
$ person in my kill file.
$[Goes on to reply to same poster several more times in following hour].
-- "Iskandar Baharuddin" , Mon, 12 Jan 2004
Iskandar Baharuddin
"R Kym Horsell" <k...@kymhorsell.com> wrote in message
news:ec0895b2.04021...@posting.google.com...
Kym, how about getting stuck into me on a point of substance
rather than style?
Izzy
a m a z u r e ²°°4
|
| " a m a z u r e ²°°4" <ama...@islandparadiseproject.com>
| wrote in message news:4030...@news.comindico.com.au...
| | "Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in
| message news:4030...@news.highway1.com.au...
|
| snip
| |
| | Did anyone suggest he was wearing shorts,
| | and even if he was, it could easily fit in the fold
| | of the socks without being to obvious,
| | unless they were 'girly' socks...
| |
| | | It *is* asinine to carry on and on when you have scored
| a
| | | point. But, then, that is a rare event for you.
| | |
| | | Izzy
| |
| |
| | And some just go on and on and on and on,
| | even beating MoSLY in the posting stats,
| | exausting more bandwidth than those
| | whom they whine & whinge about...
| |
| In the interest of conserving bandwidth I abandon this idiotic exchange.
|
| Izzy
[... .... ..... ...... .......] Minta ampun!
I am heartily sick of seeing page after page of prior messages
followed by asinine one liners."
-- Iskandar Baharuddin, 11 Jan 2004
=============================================
$ No wonder its completely unemployable.
-- "Rod Speed" <rod_...@yahoo.com>, Wed, 12 Mar 2003
=============================================
a m a z u r e ²°°4
Hypocracy is alive & well... Mosley would be proud ;-)
R Kym Horsell
>[some projection from izzy dizzy eh?]
> Hypocracy is alive & well... Mosley would be proud ;-)
It must be the hours they both seem to keep. ;-)
==================================
Iskandar Baharuddin
Your sig shows a lack of imagination.
Izzy
R Kym Horsell
"Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in message news:<40357bac$1...@news.highway1.com.au>...
$ You clearly suffer from a humour deficiency.
-- Iskandar Baharuddin, 25 Feb 2004.
===================
Mee tooo #1923456:
$ "Thanks for changing the sig."
-- Iskandar Baharuddin, 24 Feb 2004
Iskandar Baharuddin
| An asinie 1-liner for every occasion:
Top-poster!
Actually, I think mine is the shortest one-liner on record.
Izzy
R Kym Horsell
"Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in message news:<403ecf63$1...@news.highway1.com.au>...
$ My son, who is a "bouncer", would agree.
-- Iskandar Baharuddin (bren...@mcpc.net.au), Feb 2004
==================
Quoted (you should do this when repeating yourself):
$ " Insanity: doing the same
$ thing over and over again and expecting different results. "
-- Iskandar Baharuddin, 12 Feb 2004
Iskandar Baharuddin
"R Kym Horsell" <k...@kymhorsell.com> wrote in message
news:ec0895b2.0402...@posting.google.com...
| Asinine 1-liner for every occasion:
| "Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in
message news:<403ecf63$1...@news.highway1.com.au>...
| > "R Kym Horsell" <k...@kymhorsell.com> wrote in message
| > news:ec0895b2.0402...@posting.google.com...
| > | An asinie 1-liner for every occasion:
| > Top-poster!
| > Actually, I think mine is the shortest one-liner on
record.
|
|
| $ My son, who is a "bouncer", would agree.
| -- Iskandar Baharuddin (bren...@mcpc.net.au), Feb 2004
|
| ==================
| Quoted (you should do this when repeating yourself):
| $ " Insanity: doing the same
| $ thing over and over again and expecting different
results. "
| -- Iskandar Baharuddin, 12 Feb 2004
How on earth do you find the time to read my stuff?
Izzy
Jean Paul Turcaud
Why don't you go out and do some real work, instead of being scotched to
your keyboard all day long ?
Too lazy for that ? Hey ?
Or are you on the dole, bloody bludger, that you can afford to waste your
time, and our time too, with your ineptness ?
Hey by the way, from what are Island are you from, Islandar ? Ceylan ?
--
Sir Jean-Paul Turcaud
Australian Mining Pioneer
Hydro & Mining Prospector _ Senior Geologist
Discoverer & Legal Owner of Telfer; Kintyre & Nifty Mines
The Great Sandy Desert.of Australia
Discoverer of the South Atlantic Submarine Gold Placers
( 40 Millions Tons estimate )
Founder of the TRUE GEOLOGY
~~Ignorance Is The Cosmic Sin, The One Never Forgiven ! ~~
"Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> a écrit dans le message de
news:4042b689$1...@news.highway1.com.au...
>
snipped Islandar 's stupid rant
R Kym Horsell
"Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in message news:<4042b689$1...@news.highway1.com.au>...
> "R Kym Horsell" <k...@kymhorsell.com> wrote in message
> news:ec0895b2.0402...@posting.google.com...
> | Asinine 1-liner for every occasion:
> | "Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in
> message news:<403ecf63$1...@news.highway1.com.au>...
> | > "R Kym Horsell" <k...@kymhorsell.com> wrote in message
> | > news:ec0895b2.0402...@posting.google.com...
> | > | An asinie 1-liner for every occasion:
> | > Top-poster!
> | > Actually, I think mine is the shortest one-liner on
> record.
> | $ My son, who is a "bouncer", would agree.
> | -- Iskandar Baharuddin (bren...@mcpc.net.au), Feb 2004
> | ==================
> | Quoted (you should do this when repeating yourself):
> | $ " Insanity: doing the same
> | $ thing over and over again and expecting different
> results. "
> | -- Iskandar Baharuddin, 12 Feb 2004
> How on earth do you find the time to read my stuff?
Having established I can type 10 times faster than
a knuckle-dragger can read, I also figure I can read 10
times faster than you can type?
I can also spot neurotic self-contradiction.
==============
Iskandar Baharuddin
Unlike certain other posters I will not speculate on the
possible reasons.
Izzy
infidel
Did you ever consider remaining a typist?
Perhaps you missed your calling.
http://www.kymhorsell.com/
FA
I.
R Kym Horsell
<som...@nowhere.con> wrote in message news:<eFU1c.87682
> Did you ever consider remaining a typist?
> Perhaps you missed your calling.
> http://www.kymhorsell.com/
Thanks for the web-page plug Johhno.
Not that I need the extra traffic, these days.
================================
$ Your quals are useless in the real world.
-- "infidel" , Wed, 29 Jan 2003
$ As a physicist I know!!
-- "infidel" , Fri, 31 Jan 2003
$ Honest people have nothing to hide!!!!
-- "infidel" , Sun, 31 Aug 2003
$ I occasionally lecture theoretical physics at
$ university. The journey of the mind is the greatest journey of
$ all. But sometimes the necessity to act cuts the journey short.
-- John ("roly") Wojdylo, 10 Dec 2002
infidel
| Another "me too" from "honest john" Wojdildo the infidel
| <som...@nowhere.con> wrote in message news:<eFU1c.87682
| > Did you ever consider remaining a typist?
| > Perhaps you missed your calling.
| > http://www.kymhorsell.com/
|
| Thanks for the web-page plug Johhno.
| Not that I need the extra traffic, these days.
|
Google can't find.
Google does nicely on my real name.
*Girlie*, your typing may be fine but plse check your reading speed.
As a knuckle-dragger, you know it doesn't enhance your finger nails!
When are you going to post you star sign again?
Viva Latrobe Uni! <big grin>
For your memory Girlie.
*"Having established I can type 10 times faster than
a knuckle-dragger can read, I also figure I can read 10
times faster than you can type?
I can also spot neurotic self-contradiction."*
R Kym Horsell
FA
I.
Iskandar Baharuddin
"infidel" <som...@nowhere.con> wrote in message
Kym, we have had our differences, but in this case I am
totally on your side.
No one should be subjected to such abuse.
Of course, no one should indulge in self-aggrandizement.
Izzy
infidel
This is Kym's post!
*"Having established I can type 10 times faster than
a knuckle-dragger can read, I also figure I can read 10
FA
I.
"Iskandar Baharuddin" <bren...@mcpc.net.au> wrote in message
news:4052b6dc$1...@news.highway1.com.au...
RT
infidel wrote in message
<6vy4c.101397$Wa.6...@news-server.bigpond.net.au>...
>I can also spot neurotic self-contradiction."*
>R Kym Horsell
Yep - that's the ole Russel Kym all right....... he's "projecting" again
:-)
infidel
"RT" <r.th...@cqu.edu.au> wrote in message
news:c2uoqs$220m35$1...@ID-194795.news.uni-berlin.de...
Do a Google on R. Kym. Horsell.
Try http://www.kymhorsell.com/
How does this fit?
http://kymhorsell.blogspot.com/
I wonder how Latrobe Uni, a celeron institution, puts up with kym.
FA
I.
R Kym Horsell
[... having probs with google ... ]
Tropical North Queensland looms large in my spirit, I have worked
there on banana plantations on and off, "humping" bananas. Yes it's
painful sometimes.
-- "infidel", 2002.
==============================
$ Honest people have nothing to hide!!!!
-- "infidel" , Sun, 31 Aug 2003
$ If you got [sic] nothing to hide, they [sic] you would post
$ under your real na me.
-- Mosley hiding out as "DemSoc", 30 Dec 2002
R Kym Horsell
Funny. For people that are so GOOD at projecting, you're all
still awfully bad at detecting it.
=====
Woger's KILLFILE:
$ So have fun with Roddles and Muttley in my killfile.
-- Roger Thomas, 17 Dec 2001
$[proving again that RT's killfile aint what he cracks it up to be:]
$ Roddles, sweetie, it's less effort for me to add an alias to my
$ killfile than it is for you to generate it,
-- Roger Thomas, 7 Jan 2002
$ That's the sort of reason JGG gibbers away to Roddles in my killfile.
-- Roger Thomas, 22 Jul 2002
$ [...] prove me wrong or you join the JGG and Roddles in the killfile.
-- Roger Thomas, 29 Jun 2002
Iskandar Baharuddin
news:<c2uoqs$220m35$1...@ID-194795.news.uni-berlin.de>...
| > infidel wrote in message
| > <6vy4c.101397$Wa.6...@news-server.bigpond.net.au>...
| > >I can also spot neurotic self-contradiction."*
| > >R Kym Horsell
| >
| > Yep - that's the ole Russel Kym all right....... he's
"projecting" again
| > :-)
|
|
| Funny. For people that are so GOOD at projecting, you're
all
| still awfully bad at detecting it.
|
You alternate between 100K posts of publicly available news,
and one liners.
Yet you froth at the mouth when others fail to snip, or post
their own one liners.
Talk about "projecting...."
Izzy