Pieces Emerge in Blackwater Shooting

BAGHDAD - Three black GMC Suburbans - each fitted with armored plates and bulletproof windows - made up the heart of the convoy. The front and rear were protected by Blackwater USA gun trucks, known as Mambas, each mounted with two belt-fed 7.62 caliber heavy guns.

The vehicles snaked through the checkpoints and blast walls of the Green Zone on another scorching morning. The temperature that day - Sept. 16 - would rise again above 100 degrees.

Kerry Pelzman, a USAID specialist on helping rebuild Iraqi businesses, schools and other infrastructure, rode in one of the Suburbans. Her appointment was about two miles from the nearest Green Zone entrance in a neighborhood of opulent homes once occupied by members of the Saddam Hussein regime.

Within a few minutes, Pelzman was again in a secure compound for a planning session on Izdihar - a U.S.-Iraqi joint venture company that was working to rebuild Iraq's badly damaged services and funded by USAID on a three-year contract. More

David Bromwich: Hillary Clinton Votes for War Again - Politics on The Huffington Post

Yesterday, by a vote of 76-22, the Senate passed the Kyl-Lieberman amendment in support of military actions against Iran. This is the second such endorsement of the president by a senate majority in just three months. In July, the Lieberman amendment to "confront Iran" passed with the far stronger majority of 97-0.

The original draft of Kyl-Lieberman had asked U.S. forces to "combat, contain, and roll back" the Iranian menace within Iraq. But the words "roll back" were all too plainly a coded endorsement of hot pursuit into Iran; and the senators did not want to go quite so far. To assure a larger majority the language was accordingly trimmed and blurred to say "that it should be the policy of the United States to stop inside Iraq the violent activities and destabilizing influence of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its foreign facilitators such as Lebanese Hezbollah, and its indigenous Iraqi proxies."

The inclusion of Hezbollah deserves some notice. It is part of a larger attempt, already apparent in the Lebanon war of 2006, to manufacture an "amalgam" of all the enemies of Israel and the United States throughout the region, and to treat them all as one enemy. Those who believe in the amalgam will come to agree that many more wars by the United States and Israel are needed to crush this enemy.

More provocative is a secondary detail of the amendment, which received less notice from the mainstream media. Kyl-Lieberman approves the listing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran as a "foreign terrorist organization." Now, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard is the largest branch of the Iranian military. By granting Vice President Cheney's wish (a distant dream in 2005) to put the Iranian guard on the U.S. terrorist list, the Senate has classified the army of Iran as an army of terrorists. The president, therefore, as he follows out the Cheney plan has all the support he requires for asserting in his next speech to an army or veterans group that Iran is a nation of terrorists.

It was said during the Vietnam War that "a dead Vietnamese is a Viet Cong." It will assuage the conscience for U.S. bombers of Iran to know that a dead Iranian is a terrorist. The Senate, by this classification, has absolved the bombers in advance. more

Miliband: We have alienated millions of Muslims over Iraq

David Miliband, the foreign secretary, yesterday attempted a break with a decade of Blairite foreign policy, admitting a scarred government needed to stop and think why its well-intentioned interventions had alienated millions of Muslims.

In a frank speech, he also admitted there could be no military solutions in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the government had found it hard to win peace in such countries. He repeatedly said the government needed to learn lessons as it launched a second wave of foreign policy in which there would be greater reliance on stronger multilateral institutions. More

Pope 'refused audience for Rice'

Pope Benedict XVI refused a recent request by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the Middle East and Iraq, Vatican sources say.

The Pope refused a request for an audience during the August holidays.

Senior Vatican sources told the BBC the Pope does not normally receive politicians on his annual holiday at the Castelgandolfo residence near Rome.

But one leading Italian newspaper said it was an evident snub by the Vatican towards the Bush administration.

Christian rights

There are at least two reasons why Pope Benedict may have decided peremptorily against a private meeting with Ms Rice.

First, it was Ms Rice who just before the outbreak of the Iraq war in March 2003 made it clear to a special papal envoy sent from Rome, Cardinal Pio Laghi, that the Bush administration was not interested in the views of the late Pope on the immorality of launching its planned military offensive.

Secondly, the US has responded in a manner considered unacceptable at the Vatican to the protection of the rights of Iraqi Christians under the new Iraqi constitution.

The Bush administration has told the Vatican that as coalition forces have not succeeded in securing the whole territory of Iraq, they are unable to protect non-Muslims.

Instead of meeting the Pope, Ms Rice had to make do with a telephone conversation with the Vatican's number two, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was visiting the US during August on other business.

U.S. seeks pact with Shiite militia

BAGHDAD -- -- U.S. diplomats and military officers have been in talks with members of the armed movement loyal to Muqtada Sadr, a sharp reversal of policy and a grudging recognition that the radical Shiite cleric holds a dominant position in much of Baghdad and other parts of Iraq.

The secret dialogue has been going on since at least early 2006, but appeared to yield a tangible result only in the last week -- with relative calm in an area of west Baghdad that has been among the capital's most dangerous sections.

The discussions have been complicated by divisions within Sadr's movement as well as the cleric's public vow never to meet with Iraq's occupiers. Underlying the issue's sensitivity, Sadrists publicly deny any contact with the Americans or British -- fully aware the price of acknowledging such meetings would be banishment from the movement or worse.

The dialogue represents a drastic turnaround in the U.S. approach to Sadr and his militia, the Mahdi Army. The military hopes to negotiate the same kind of marriage of convenience it has reached in other parts of Iraq with former insurgent groups, many Saddam Hussein loyalists, and the Sunni tribes that supported them. Both efforts are examples of how U.S. officials have sought to end violence by cooperating with groups they once considered intractable enemies. more

Poll: Bin Laden tops Musharraf in Pakistan - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf -- a key U.S. ally -- is less popular in his own country than al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to a poll of Pakistanis conducted last month by an anti-terrorism organization.

Additionally, nearly three-fourths of poll respondents said they oppose U.S. military action against al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan, according to results from the poll conducted by the independent polling organization Terror Free Tomorrow.

"We have conducted 23 polls all over the Muslim world, and this is the most disturbing one we have conducted," said Ken Ballen, the group's head. "Pakistan is the one Muslim nation that has nuclear weapons, and the people who want to use them against us -- like the Taliban and al Qaeda -- are more popular there than our allies like Musharraf."

The poll was conducted for Terror Free Tomorrow by D3 Systems of Vienna, Virginia., and the Pakistan Institute for Public Opinion. Interviews were conducted August 18-29, face-to-face with 1,044 Pakistanis across 105 urban and rural sampling points in all four provinces across the nation. Households were randomly selected.

According to poll results, bin Laden has a 46 percent approval rating. Musharraf's support is 38 percent. U.S. President George W. Bush's approval: 9 percent.

Asked their opinion on the real purpose of the U.S.-led war on terror, 66 percent of poll respondents said they believe the United States is acting against Islam or has anti-Muslim motivation. Others refused to answer the question or said they did not know.

"We failed in winning hearts and minds in Pakistan," Ballen told CNN. "In fact, only 4 percent said we had a good motivation in the war on terrorism." more

Russia Tests Powerful 'Dad of All Bombs'

(CBS/AP) Back in 2003, the U.S. proudly trotted out the so-called "mother of all bombs," a device described as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in history.

Now, Russia claims it has built the "dad of all bombs," claiming that it is four times more powerful, has an epicenter temperature that is twice as high and covers double the area with its destructive force.

Russian state television says the military has successfully tested what it describes as the world's most powerful non-nuclear, air-delivered bomb.

Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the Russian armed forces staff told the Channel One television station that the bomb is comparable to a nuclear weapon in efficiency and capability, but unlike a nuclear weapon, it doesn't hurt the environment. He described the mechanism of the bomb's destructive capabilities, saying that it is based on the detonation of a fine spray of combustible substance resulting in a shockwave and a high temperature explosion. more

Japanese Schoolgirls Go for Over-Engineered Lashes

Standard schoolgirl uniform it's not. Hip teens are hitting the Tokyo Lash Bar in the city's Omotesando district for eye-poppingly over-engineered fake lashes. Using a unique applicator and a special latex adhesive, makeup pros install a set of these architectonic master pieces, like the high-end Velvet Feather for about $43 and Yellow Flash or Dazzling Diamante for less than $20. A bit steep, but the lashes can be reused as many as 10 times. Plus, the falsies often have unexpected features. Take Lucent Sky and Lucent Sun: When light hits these translucent lashes, they cast colored patterns on a gal's face. If only they made a pair that blinked when her keitai rang ... - WIRED

Tarred, feathered and tied to a lamppost: Justice for a drug dealer on the streets of Ulster | the Daily Mail

Tied to a lamppost, he stands with his head and upper body covered in tar and feathers. A makeshift placard hung around his neck with a piece of string announces the reason for his treatment.

It is a very public humiliation, and a medieval one. Almost ten years since Northern Ireland's Troubles officially ended, this remains the crude face of justice on the streets of south Belfast.

This man was subjected to the painful tarring and feathering on the Taughmonagh estate, a loyalist stronghold in the city.

Locals had accused the victim, who is in his thirties, of being a drug dealer. And when police allegedly did not act, they took the law into their own hands.

Two masked men tied up the accused victim, poured tar over his head and then covered him in white feathers, apparently from a pillow case.

A small crowd including women and children looked on as the men then adorned their victim with a placard reading: "I'm a drug dealing scumbag".

Pictures of the punishment were sent to a local newspaper more

TALES OF IRAQ WAR by LATUFF

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A Time for Grace - WSJ.com

By PEGGY NOONAN
What will be needed this autumn is a new bipartisan forbearance, a kind of patriotic grace. This is a great deal to hope for. The president should ask for it, and show it.

Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, will report to Congress on Sept. 11. From the latest metrics, it's clear the surge has gained some ground. It is generally supposed that Gen. Petraeus will paint a picture of recent decreases in violent incidents and increases in safety. In another world, that might be decisive: It's working, hang on.

At the same time, it's clear that what we call Iraq does not wholly share U.S. objectives. We speak of it as a unitary country, but the Kurds are understandably thinking about Kurdistan, the Sunnis see an Iraq they once controlled but that no longer exists, and the Shia -- who knows? An Iraq they theocratically and governmentally control, an Iraq given over to Iran? This division is reflected in what we call Iraq's government in Baghdad. Seen in this way, the non-latest-metrics way, the situation is bleak.more

The Power of WInd

British believe Bush is more dangerous than Kim Jong-il

America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country's reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.

Carried out as US voters prepare to go to the polls next week in an election dominated by the war, the research also shows that British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the US president as part of an "axis of evil", but it is Mr Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the US. MORE

IraqSlogger: When the Saudi FM Becomes "Unintelligible"

"'This is a relationship that allows us to discuss the most difficult and most sensitive issues in a way that is respectful and friendly,' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the media gathered at a joint press conference with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal on Tuesday.

But the Secretary must not have found some of the foreign minister's comments to the press very respectful or friendly, since they were labeled 'unintelligible' in a State Department transcript of the event.

According to the State Department, al-Faisal said in his opening statement:

The Kingdom is keen on achieving peace in Iraq and maintaining its unity and stability. However, the success of these efforts are tied to achieving social stability, equality, and representation for all of Iraq’s people and all of the ethnic and religious groups there. Iraq bears a responsibility to (unintelligible)." more":

PERRspectives Blog: Bush Admits Failure of "No Safe Havens" Policy

News of an aborted 2005 U.S. raid against Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan confirmed the failure of a key tenet of the Bush Doctrine, "no safe havens for terrorists." Now, it would appear, President Bush himself agrees with that assessment.

In his Saturday radio address, President Bush tried to spin the new National Intelligence Estimate and its warnings regarding a dangerously resurgent Al Qaeda in Pakistan. But buried among cherry-picked quotes about successes against Bin Laden's organization and his comical claim of willingness to work with Congress to "modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" was a startling admission. President Bush acknowledged that his post 9/11 mantra of "no safe havens for terrorists" was a dismal failure:

"One of the most troubling [points in the NIE] is its assessment that al Qaeda has managed to establish a safe haven in the tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Last September, President Musharraf of Pakistan reached an agreement that gave tribal leaders more responsibility for policing their own areas. Unfortunately, tribal leaders were unwilling and unable to go after al Qaeda or the Taliban." (more)

Al Jazeera - The Neo Taliban

Excerpt from a TV documentary on the "Neo-Talibans", which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on July 5, 2007:

Al-Jazeera TV reporter Ahmad Zeidan: Opium is known as "the petroleum of the Afghans." The abundance of water in this region has been invested in a remarkable way. When America built these conduits in the days of Afghan king Zahir Shah, it did no know they would be irrigating the poppy fields behind me. These fields, which account for half of Afghanistan's GNP, were destroyed by the Afghan Taliban movement, but they appeared again after its fall. Now, Taliban says it will not interfere in the daily affairs and livelihood of the Afghans. What was prohibited yesterday is permitted today. Watch the Al Jazeera Report

FOXNews.com - Pilotless Robot Bomber Squadron Heads for Afghanistan, Iraq - Technology News | News On Technology

"BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq — The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It's outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.

The Reaper is loaded, but there's no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.

The arrival of these outsized U.S. 'hunter-killer' drones, in aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill.

That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected 'soon,' says the regional U.S. air commander. How soon? 'We're still working that,' Lt. Gen. Gary North said in an interview.

The Reaper's first combat deployment is expected in Afghanistan, and senior Air Force officers estimate it will land in Iraq sometime between this fall and next spring. They look forward to it" (more)

Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army

Iranian Jews blast offer of cash for immigrating to Israel

Iranian Jews blast offer of cash for immigrating to Israel
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent

An Iranian Jewish organization announced over the weekend that it rejected an initiative to promote Iran's Jewish community to immigrate to Israel using cash incentives.
Iranian Jews in Tehran synagogue

"[The money is]inappropriate and politically immature," the group said in a statement that was carried by Western and Iranian news outlets. It added Iran's Jewish community has remained loyal to the Islamic Republic and that their "Jewish Iranian identity is not a commodity that passes from the hands of one merchant to another in return for money."

The statment addressed an offer by expatriate Iranian Jews offering a sum of $10,000 to each individual to immigrate to Israel.

The $10,000 offer doubled the existing $5,000 allocated each Jewish Iranian upon arrival to Israel by the Ministry of Absorption and the Jewish Agency.

Iran's Jewish community has decreased from 80,000 before the Islamic revolution, to about 20,000 today.

It is represented in parliament by a Jewish lawmaker and is the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel. (more)

Hamas Boycotts Meeting of Palestinian Legislature - New York Times

By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: July 11, 2007

JERUSALEM, July 11 — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, convened the Palestinian legislature today, but a boycott by the Hamas party meant there was no quorum, which was precisely what Mr. Abbas wanted. With parliament unable to transact business, he can extend the life of the emergency cabinet that he appointed after Hamas fighters took control of the Gaza Strip. Fatha politicians in PA parlaiment.

Fatah members of the Palestinian legislature convened in Ramallah, but Hamas boycotted the session.

Hamas legislators, who won a majority of seats in the most recent parliamentary election in January 2006, stayed away from today’s session and said it was illegal. Salah al-Bardawil, a Hamas legislator, said in Gaza that convening the legislature “without arrangements with the biggest bloc, and with the Israeli arrest of Hamas legislators, was an attack on Palestinian legitimacy.” (more)

Green Zone Is Hit By Barrage of Shells - washingtonpost.com

BAGHDAD, July 10 -- More than two dozen mortar shells pounded the Green Zone on Tuesday, killing three people, including a U.S. military member, and injuring 18, among them five Americans, U.S. officials said.

The dead also included an Iraqi and a person of unknown nationality. Two of the wounded Americans were service members and three were contract employees, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

The attack, around 4 p.m., was the latest in a series of mortar and rocket strikes in recent months against the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and other Western missions along with Iraqi government buildings. In April, a suicide bomber attacked inside Iraq's parliament building.

A U.S. official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that "around 30" mortar shells had hit the Green Zone. "They got hammered," the official said

(more)

Inside Israel's Secret Talks with Hamas - TIME

Having secured the release of kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston on July 4th, Hamas officials are now moving discreetly to negotiate freedom for another Gaza hostage — Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit, seized in June 2006 in a raid by Palestinian militants who had tunneled under the Israeli security wall around Gaza, is currently being held by kidnappers who include members of Hamas' own military wing, as well another radical group, the Popular Resistance Committees.

An investigation by TIME reveals a marked contrast in how the Israelis and Hamas view their complicated on-again, off-again negotiations over Shalit's release. The disconnect arises partially out of Israel's refusal to deal directly with Hamas, which they consider a terrorist organization. While some informed Israelis say they are 'optimistic' that Shalit will be free 'within weeks,' Hamas officials are far more cautious — one offered the glum assessment that bargaining could drag on for another year." (more)

'Hamas army' established in Gaza, intelligence source says - Israel News, Ynetnews

"Southern Command intelligence officer tells Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi that Hamas' military industry is being run in organized manner and developing in many areas. 'Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are controlled in Strip by Hamas army,' he says

Hamas' military industry is giving serial production numbers to the roadside charges and Qassam rockets it manufactures, a senior intelligence officer in the Southern Command told Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi during his visit to the rocket-battered town of Sderot on Monday.

According to the officer, intelligence sources believe that a real 'Hamas army' exists in the Gaza Strip and includes between 7,000 and 10,000 soldiers, who are being armed continuously with weapons smuggled through the Philadelphi route." (more)

Fragments from Floyd, Virginia: America's Roadside Bloomery

"America's Roadside Bloomery Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I had a thought after I posted this image of Black Eyed Susans (and other flowers) taken yesterday on a Floyd County roadside. Here it is:

It would be neat for contributors from all over the country to offer their images to an aggregate gallery called Unplanted Gardens: America's Roadside Bloomery.

All images would include in their composition a road of some kind, just to place it, and then the wildflowers that grow there unplanted. Hiway department wildflower beds don't count.

Each image should be 72 dpi, max size of 800 pixels on the largest side. Information should minimally include the location, if possible some ID on the flowers, and any other pertinent or interesting information." (more):

Private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Iraq - Los Angeles Times

The number of U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort and the government's capacity to carry out military and rebuilding campaigns.

More than 180,000 civilians — including Americans, foreigners and Iraqis — are working in Iraq under U.S. contracts, according to State and Defense department figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Including the recent troop buildup, 160,000 soldiers and a few thousand civilian government employees are stationed in Iraq.

The total number of private contractors, far higher than previously reported, shows how heavily the Bush administration has relied on corporations to carry out the occupation of Iraq — a mission criticized as being undermanned.

"These numbers are big," said Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution scholar who has written on military contracting. "They illustrate better than anything that we went in without enough troops. This is not the coalition of the willing. It's the coalition of the billing." (more)

Douglas Rushkoff on Judaism

IraqSlogger: Tribes Stockpile Weapons, Driving up Prices

Tribes in western Iraq, and in and around Anbar province specifically, have begun stockpiling different sorts of weapons, driving up the prices of weapons in the Iraqi market, al-Malaf Press reports in Arabic.

The agency writes that the alleged tribal buildup focuses on Kalashnikov rifles, in addition to other types of light and medium weapons such as mortar shells and launchers, PKCs and others.

Because the tribal arms buildup has reached unprecedented levels, the prices of arms have spiked to new highs in the area, al-Melaf Press reports.

One Kalashnikov in Anbar province goes for 750,000 Iraqi dinars (ID), while earlier an AK rifle could be had in Anbar province for less than 400,000 ID." (more)

More US Contractors Than US Troops In Iraq

The Big US Newspapers Finally Wake Up And Discover America's Private Army
By ROBERT Y. PELTON 07/04/2007 12:15 PM ET

Peruvian security contractors doze off beneath an American flag as they wait for helicopter transport in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, 19 February, 2006.


As predicted in Slogger, the print media pile-on on military contractors is in full swing. The latest big daily to weigh in is the Los Angeles Times with T. Christian Miller's revelation that there are now more contractors than soldiers in Iraq.

Miller had to use FOIA’s to pull some of the numbers but even then, some large companies are still off the radar and official sources differ drastically on the actual count. It’s an article designed to promote more questions than answers among readers as the public begins to ask, “Who are those guys?” (more)

Ayman Sez: 3rd Interview

"I give the good news to ... all the world’s oppressed... that a new dawn is about to rise... over a mankind liberated from the Caesars of the White House, Europe and the Zionists."

America threatened by violent lesbian gangs! - FoxNews

The Evening Bulletin - U.S. Supplies More Weapons To Abbas

The Evening Bulletin - U.S. Supplies More Weapons To Abbas

Olmert considering transfer of military equipment to Fatah - Israel News, Ynetnews

Olmert considering transfer of military equipment to Fatah - Israel News, Ynetnews

Hamas seizes US weapons - Israel News, Ynetnews

Hamas seizes US weapons - Israel News, Ynetnews

Abbas: "Raise Rifles Against the Israeli Occupation" - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Arutz Sheva

Abbas: "Raise Rifles Against the Israeli Occupation" - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Arutz Sheva

In Mauritania, Seeking to End an Overfed Ideal - New York Times

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — At the Olympic Sports Stadium here, a collection of dun-colored buildings rising mirage-like from the vast Sahara, about a dozen women clad in tennis shoes and sandals circled the grandstands one evening in late June, puffing with each step.

Between pants came brief explanations for their labors. “Because I am fat,” said one, a dark-eyed 34-year-old close to 200 pounds. Another, a 30-year-old in bright pink sneakers, said, “For myself, for my health and to be skinny.” It is a typically Western after-work scene. But this is the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the mirror opposite of the West on questions of women’s weight. To men here, fat is sexy. And in this patriarchal region, many Mauritanian women do everything possible — and have everything possible done to them — to put on pounds. (more)

For African-Americans, folly of this war hits home - The Boston Globe

By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist | May 9, 2007

MILITARY SOCIOLOGIST David R. Segal was asked Monday over the telephone what he hears in his surveys of soldiers. He quoted an African-American veteran of the Iraq invasion and occupation: "This is not a black people's war. This is not a poor people's war. This is an oilman's war."

Gregory Black, a retired Navy diver who last year started the website BlackMilitaryWorld.com, said that quote sums up what he too hears from African-American veterans of Iraq.

"African-Americans detest this war," Black said yesterday in a phone interview. "Everybody kind of knows the truth behind this war. It's a cash cow for the military defense industry, when you look at the money these contractors are making. African-Americans saw this at the beginning of the war and now the rest of the country has figured it out. It's not benefiting us in the least."(more)

ABC News: No Men Allowed: All-Female Beach Opens

On the Italian Adriatic coast, where romance reigns and beachcombers bask in the sun, the notorious Latin lover looks for his prey and he hunts his conquest with chat-up lines. The women are fed up.

"We run away from Italian men," said Tiziana Andreoletti. "They're such a drag."

And it happens all the time. Boy meets girl and boy annoys girl. So, the Italians have enacted an interesting solution to this problem. They have created a beach strictly for women. No men, children or loud disco music are allowed. (more)

Ayman Sez:

Gayest soccer ref

Everybody Loves Mahmoud

Isn't that Iraqi president Jilal Talibani palling around with Iranian president Ahmadinejad.

Chavez visits Iran again, hope is still alive.

In West Bank, Hamas Is Silent but Never Ignored - New York Times

In West Bank, Hamas Is Silent but Never Ignored

A crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank has led to concerns that all religious activities and institutions like this soup kitchen in Hebron will face higher scrutiny and more difficulties.

HAWARA, West Bank, June 26 — A new code was born here overnight. No one, it seems, belongs to Hamas in the West Bank anymore. Everyone now is an “Islamist,” a word that neatly, and maybe more safely, shears the religious from party affiliation amid the uncertainty of a Palestinian people newly divided.

“I don’t want to spend my life in jail!” a 35-year-old restaurant owner said, refusing to give his name after expressing pro-Hamas sentiments in an interview here.

Hamas, shrewd as it is deadly, has gone to ground in the West Bank, which is controlled now by its secular rival Fatah and supported by the United States, Europe and Israel as the territory with the only workable Palestinian government. more

Jennifer Loewenstein: The Triumph of US / Israeli Policy in Palestine

Jennifer Loewenstein: The Triumph of US / Israeli Policy in Palestine

IraqSlogger: Iraqi Insurgent Media: Strengths, Weaknesses

WASHINGTON (RFE/RL) -- The greatest strengths of the Iraqi Sunni-based insurgency's media strategy -- decentralization and flexibility -- are also its greatest weaknesses, according to a report released by RFE/RL.

The book-length report, "Iraqi Insurgent Media: The War Of Images And Ideas" by RFE/RL regional analysts Daniel Kimmage and Kathleen Ridolfo, provides an in-depth analysis of the media efforts of Sunni insurgents, who are responsible for the majority of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq.

Kimmage and Ridolfo argue that the loss of coordination and message control that results from decentralization have revealed fundamental disagreements about Iraq's present and future between nationalist and global jihadist groups in Iraq and that these disagreements are ripe for exploitation by those interested in a liberal and democratic Iraq. (more)

CBC News: On the Map with Avi Lewis - Gaza Underground Economy

CBC News: On the Map with Avi Lewis - Gaza Underground Economy

The Prison Poets Of Guantanamo

The Prison Poets Of Guantanamo Find a Publisher - WSJ.com

Hamas acted on a very real fear of a US-sponsored coup Guardian Unlimited

Hamas acted on a very real fear of a US-sponsored coup | Israel and the Middle East | Guardian Unlimited

Washington's fingerprints are all over the chaos that has hit Palestinians. The last thing they now need is an envoy called Blair

Jonathan Steele
Friday June 22, 2007
The Guardian

Did they jump or were they pushed? Was Hamas's seizure of Fatah security offices in Gaza unprovoked, or a pre-emptive strike to forestall a coup by Fatah? After last week's turmoil, it becomes increasingly important to uncover its origins. more...

What Hamas Wants - New York Times

What Hamas Wants - New York Times

Mike Gravel's Viral Video - Current TV

I do love uncle Mike, and I'm starting to really love CurrentTV.

Fidel's Last Victory - Current TV

This is a wonderful ten-minute doc that listens to apperantly common Cubans talking about how their country. The film maker does not seem to have any agenda and what the people say has, to my mind at least the ring of truth. Certainly worthwhile video.

Sharon Goes Native

Sharon shops for Islamic clothes in Ramallah, the capital of Palestine.

IraqSlogger: Photo of the Day: Little Sadrist Angel Boy

IraqSlogger: Photo of the Day: Little Sadrist Angel Boy

Danger Room - Wired Blogs

Wired Blogs

Robo-Snipers, "Auto Kill Zones" to Protect Israeli Borders
By Noah Shachtman EmailJune 04, 2007 | 12:04:55 PMCategories: Guns, Sabras

For years and years, the Israeli military has been trying to figure out a way to keep Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip from crossing over into Israel proper. The latest tactic: create a set of "automated kill zones" by networking together remote-controlled machine guns, ground sensors, and drones along the 60-kilometer border.

Samson_rcws

Defense News' Barbara Opall-Rome reports that "initial deployment plans for the See-Shoot system call for mounting a 0.5-caliber automated machine gun in each of several pillboxes interspersed along the Gaza border fence."

Connected via fiber optics to a remote operator station and a command-and-control center, each machine gun-mounted station serves as a type of robotic sniper, capable of enforcing a nearly 1,500-meter-deep no-go zone.

The IDF’s [Israeli Defense Forces] Southern Command is also considering adding Gill/Spike anti-tank missiles to extend the no-go zones to several kilometers, defense and industry sources here said.

The guns will be based on the Samson Remote Control Weapons Station. And the pillboxes are supposed to be positioned "at intervals of some hundreds of meters along the border, " Jane's Defence Weekly observes. They'll be "protected and secured (alarms, sensors and steel doors) and feature retractable armored covers that protect the weapon station when not in use." more

Multicultural Stand-up Duo Serves Optimistic Take On Cultural Clash - Campus

Multicultural Stand-up Duo Serves Optimistic Take On Cultural Clash - Campus

The Best Public Services in the World

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight Home | The Best Public Services in the World This is a wonderful and surprising series. For me the shocker is that BBC claims the best public transportation system is in Portland!

The Arabs will never forgive us - Haaretz - Israel News

This is maybe the best, most realistic, most hopeful commentary I've yet read about the Eiddle East and war. An absolute must read!

US Mission Alert: Food, Convoy Problems

They say writing is the art of the telling detail. This is a telling detail.

Thank G#d, it's the best day of my life!

Gmail - CHASSIDIC STORY: G-d's Nourishment

Objectophilia, Fetishism and Neo-Sexuality: Falling in Love with Things - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Objectophilia, Fetishism and Neo-Sexuality: Falling in Love with Things - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Rudy's Surprise

Rudy Giuliani says he's never heard the claim that the US was attacked on 9/11 because we'd attacked Iraq. Guess he didn't read Bin Laden's 1996 "Declaration of War" against the US. Back then old UBL said:

"The youths hold you responsible for all of the killings and evictions of the Muslims and the violation of the sanctities, carried out by your Zionist brothers in Lebanon; you openly supplied them with arms and finance. More than 600,000 Iraqi children have died due to lack of food and medicine and as a result of the unjustifiable aggression (sanction) imposed on Iraq and its nation. The children of Iraq are our children. You, the USA, together with the Saudi regime are responsible for the shedding of the blood of these innocent children.

If Muslims did to us what we did/do to them, it would spawn American Mujahideen, like in the Reagan-era flick, Red Dawn.

Mortars hit aircraft at U.S. base in Iraq, police say - International Herald Tribune

Mortars hit aircraft at U.S. base in Iraq, police say It ain't easy to hit a helo with a mortar. The resistance fighters apparently destroyed one and damaged 16. Them Iraqis is good.

Bush and the Bulls

Betcha George Bush is rooting for the Chicago Bulls.

The bulls lost the first three games of their seven-game playoff series to the Detroit Pistons. They astonished fans and critics alike with the clumsiness of their game plans and the ineptitude of their execution. Sort of like how no one can believe the US with the most technologically sophisticated military in history can be doing so badly against a bunch of jihadis who can' t spell Nintendo.

Like the US in Iraq, the Bulls chances seem bleak. No NBA team as ever come back from losing the first three games to win a seven game series. Cue Harry Reid's observation that 'the Iraq war is lost.'

But the Bulls won game four forcing last night's game six which they also won. That was as encouraging to Bulls fans as the news that some Iraqis now reject Al Qaeda was to Bush policy supporters. You can almost hear Bulls head coach Scott Skiles saying "We're making progress."

If the bulls do pull this series out I can hear the president's speech now. "America is the Chicago Bulls of warfare! They said we were down for the count, that no nation had ever or could ever come back from the hole we found ourselves in. But through skill, hard work and really good shooting, we got the job done. " Bush will host the team at the White House, our coach will give the president a game ball which Vice President Cheney will blast with his shotgun.

Of course even if the Bulls somehow come back and vanquish Detroit, they'll have to win two more series to be the NBA champs. So if the miracle comeback occurs don't expect to see our coach landing on any aircraft carriers.

2 Face Forced Labor Charges in N.Y. | Chicago Tribune

Without the memory of slavery, where would Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson be? But that doesn't stop human trafficing from thriving in the US, Israel and around the world. Most of the time we don't hear about it but every now and then we get a peek into the world of modern massuhs. The Tribune has one about a wealthy facing forced labor charges in N.Y.

World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD)

Get ready! One (hopefully) sunny Saturday in 2008 we'll all be able to participate in World Naked Gardening Day! (WNGD) Do you REALLY love the land?

IraqSlogger: Pentagon Bans YouTube, MySpace, Others

Our soldiers in Iraq are supposed to be fighting for, in addition to oil freedom but guess that doesn't count now that the pentagon Bans YouTube, MySpace, Others. Ah well, at lest the jihadis still have full web access.

IraqSlogger: Former Bush Admin Official Speaks Impeachment

First, the Bush insiders just got out. Then they tattled that the "intelligence" on Iraq was fake and now on IS a former Bush Admin Official Speaks Impeachment. ... and the noose tightens.

'Jewish women are seduced by Arab men.'

says one bearded malcontent as Rabbis protest joint Jewish-Arab event Ynetnews

Kosher workout in Jerusalem - Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews

In Israel "health club is sometimes a euphememism for brothel. But my guess is that this kosher health club even the viruses wear yarmulkes.

Cartoons from the ME

Girl in a bubble

Yahoo! News Photo

Mickey Mouse - Hamas

Anti-Bush filler on Hizbollah TV

Internet Video Powered by CastUP

Iranian anti-Jewish satire

Internet Video Powered by CastUP

Saudiwomen & webcams

Internet Video Powered by CastUP

The results of the international cartoon contest (pen) Syria cartoon website2007

The results of the international cartoon contest (pen) Syria cartoon website2007

Mohammed Aladwani

Mohammed Aladwani

Al-Qaida No. 2 mocks Iraq pullout bill - Yahoo! News

Al-Qaida No. 2 mocks Iraq pullout bill - Yahoo! News

Nasrallah: Israel needs Olmert to quit | Jerusalem Post

Nasrallah: Israel needs Olmert to quit | Jerusalem Post

TheStar.com - Sports - Religion first for Jewish forward

TheStar.com - Sports - Religion first for Jewish forward

Bill Moyers Journal . Buying the War . Additional Interviews | PBS

This is a major must see!

Bill Moyers Journal . Buying the War . Additional Interviews | PBS

Get out of there - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

Get out of there - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

A religious role model - Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews

A religious role model - Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews

Catholic Church buries limbo after centuries - Yahoo! News

Catholic Church buries limbo after centuries - Yahoo! News

Harvard Proposes Curriculum Overhaul, Sciences, Religion, World Cultures Would Be Emphasized Under New Recommendations - CBS News

Harvard Proposes Curriculum Overhaul, Sciences, Religion, World Cultures Would Be Emphasized Under New Recommendations - CBS News

Popular Dinner Guest, "Idol" Castoff Sanjaya Malakar Has Big Following At White House Correspondents' Dinner And Parties - The ShowBuzz

Popular Dinner Guest, "Idol" Castoff Sanjaya Malakar Has Big Following At White House Correspondents' Dinner And Parties - The ShowBuzz

Say a Prayer

Farmyard furore as Five lets Rebecca Loos on porker

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1320989,00.html

Zombie Pigs

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=427963&in_page_id=1770

Israelis believed Nasrallah over Peretz

Nasrallah is a pretty amazing speaker. It's not shockinig that Israeli's trust him.

Executing Bush

The world can dream can't we?

We need to be part of the EU and NATO

Yeah, because geography is an islamist plot. But it's an interesting, if goofy idea.

Leiberman is like a more sophisticated Ross Perot.

Voila! A Car Powered By Air

The New Middle East

A nice little bit of video propaganda from Iranian TV.

Nasrallah Hopes to reach best outcome for everyone

I just love this guy.

Adapt or Die

The other hero of the anti-apartheid movement was PW (no, it doesn't really stand for "Pertetually White") Botha. He declared to the Afrkaaners back in 1978, years before US sanctions that apartheid had failed and that the must "adapt or die."

Book Argues for Retaking the 'Conservative Soul'

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6253752

War Porn

Black Islamists

Somalia has been taken over by black Islamists. Which is sort of like the NBA being conquered by Croatians; it's not really shocking just not what I expected. Even before 9/11 I thought of Islamists as Arabs, though I did notice Usama Bin Laden looks a lot like former NBA star Scotty Pippin. Lately I've been aware of Persian Islamists like Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who's a dead ringer for late Gilligan's Island star Bob Denver. I know Islam is a multi-racial religion nonetheless it is surprising to see that the leader of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, could easily be mistaken for my cousin Willie Albert. And the young Islamic Court fighters walking around Mogadishu with their rifles remind me of the black panthers party members who patrolled my old Chicago neighborhood in the 1960's.

The big concern, of course, is that Somalia's Islamists might have "links to al Qaeda" which no one wants. Then again, that claim comes from the Bush administration. Truth be told, if the Bush guys say somebody is al Qaeda it makes me wonder if they are really Presbyterians.

From what I read the Islamic Courts Union enjoys a good amount of popular support and a reputation for honesty. I hope they are able to bring some security and order to Somalia and keep al Qaeda out. But, if he wants to visit, I hope Somalia will still welcome former NBA star, Scotty Pippin.

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