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ralphwiggum

War against terror

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Glad to see your still alive and well smile_o.gif

Sounds like quite a hell-hole out there sad_o.gif

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Balschoiw good to hear from you, stay safe out there smile_o.gif

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Quote[/b] ]U of M is where Juan Cole is Professor of Middle Eastern Studies.

I had to look that one up Avon and have to say I'm a bit confused about what you're implying? Do you mean Professor Cole is a wahabist?

Quote[/b] ]And the U of M's Center for Mideast and N. African Studies is a big hit with Gulf Arabs and Arabists.

Now that I cannot take seriously Avon! Take a look at the organisation you are refering to. From your strict interest from an israeli point of view I'm sure you'll embrace these guys. However, they have an outspoken political goal with their so called scientific foundation and "political watch" that I'm not surprised they have been called McCarthyists!

I just read the first words and started to laugh, how on earth do you think they'd fit into the free and academic life anywhere in the western hemisphere:

Quote[/b] ]

The Forum holds that the United States has vital interests in the region; in particular, it believes in strong ties with Israel, Turkey, and other democracies as they emerge; works for human rights throughout the region; seeks a stable supply and a low price of oil; and promotes the peaceful settlement of regional and international disputes.

MEF sees the region, with its profusion of dictatorships, radical ideologies, existential conflicts, border disagreements, political violence, and weapons of mass destruction as a major source of problems for the United States. Accordingly, we urge active measures to protect Americans and their foreign allies from these dangers.

Toward this end, the Forum seeks to help shape the intellectual climate in which U.S. foreign policy is made by addressing key issues in an accessible way for a sophisticated public.................

...............To sum up, by viewing the world from a mainstream American perspective, dealing with issues of current concern, and proffering policy recommendations, we seek to make the Middle East Quarterly a major source for information on current events and an important guide for policy.

In closing, we point with pride to the fact the Middle East Quarterly is a Philadelphia enterprise. The initial funding comes from our home city, both from individuals and institutions, and the editorial work takes place here. The symbolism of our Philadelphia base is particularly apt, for the home of American liberty and democracy has a message that we expect will eventually help liberate the Middle East from many of its travails. In its small way, we hope the Middle East Quarterly speeds that day.

------------

Quote[/b] ]In October of 2003 alone, for example, we did three investigative studies. At the University of Michigan, we found that the website of the Middle East Center endorsed Wahhabi websites.

That is redicolous - and especially coming from a person like Daniel Pipe who would possibly be too rabid even for a person like Paul Wolfowitz. Just read from the very same website:

Quote[/b] ] And, again, I commend David Horowitz for his focus on the universities, not just visiting them incessantly but taking them as an important aspect of his work in the various institutions he has. They are, I agree with Lanny [Griffith] that they're one of the worst institutions in the United States in terms of having been taken over by the Left. I just simply say there are four institutions that have been captured by leftists: the mainline churches, the media, the universities, and Hollywood.

and he goes on:

Quote[/b] ]I have a niche topic of the campus problem, which is Middle East and Islamic studies. It's not particularly worse than, say, anthropology or Latin American studies or English literature, but it is more prominent, and it plays a larger role in the formulation of policy. There are topics that we must deal with as a country where the specialists have a unique role. For example, what is jihad? This is something we cannot turn to the government for, Hollywood, the churches, the media. One really has to look to specialists on religion, history, and the like to get an understanding what jihad is. What has been declared against us? And it's interesting to see that the virtually unanimous response by the specialists on this topic is apologetic, obfuscatory.

Jihad means the extension of Muslim control of territory against non-Muslims. It is not about converting people. It is about extending power. But if you look at what the academics are saying, the people who should know, they deny that that is what it is. They'll sometimes acknowledge that it's a defensive war, which it's not, but most of the time they will say it is moral self-improvement. My favorite definitions are as follows: controlling one's anger, working on behalf of feminism, and combating apartheid. This is what these specialists are telling us. And this is important because jihad is a significant factor in our foreign policy now.

I say, you better watch out for people studying anthropology, Latin American studies and English Litterature!

Avon, that is redicolous!

.......working on behalf of feminism LOOOOOOL

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I´m extremely happy about the scoped weapons we have. They give us significant advantage. Combined with the 40mm launchers we can offer some impressive firepower. Hand made rocket launchers and mortars are no real risk for us as they are extremely unprecise and in one case wiped out 5 Mujahedin as they used them.

Up to now we did not call in for air support from US troops.

It´s just too risky for us. As most of the confrontations we experienced were rather medium or little range confrontations the risk of friendly fire is just too high.

Hehehe, stay sharp, one day you get complacent and you know what happens.

smile_o.gif

I was thinking about how you were just lately. Till next time.

Edit: The week you get back, I want to play some co-op with you, we'll see if your gameplay will be different right after a mission. tounge_o.giftounge_o.gif It will be a study! (this means you must get your ass back in one peace BTW)

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Good to hear that you're still in one piece Bals. Keep it that way smile_o.gif

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Quote[/b] ]Canadians depend on luck for national security, says Senate report

Wed Dec 8, 2:52 PM ET

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...._report

STEPHEN THORNE

OTTAWA (CP) - The fact that Canada hasn't suffered a terrorist attack after 9-11 is largely luck, not good planning and preparedness, says a Senate report.

"When it comes to national security and defence - issues that are not part of the everyday lives of most Canadians - the vast majority of citizens trust in luck," the national security and defence committee said Wednesday. "Unfortunately, luck is notoriously untrustworthy."

In its first "guide book" on military and security preparedness, the committee says Ottawa has made progress dealing with military and security shortcomings during the last year, but significant gaps remain.

It says the government's most significant reform since the attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001 is consolidation of much of the security file under Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan.

But while the Liberal government has released a national security policy, the 315-page report said it "has yet to demonstrate that it is prepared to match resources with its stated objectives."

Major issues that remain include:

- Inadequate defence budgets, lack of military personnel, lack of co-ordination within the federal government and the need for expanded co-operation with U.S. security institutions.

- Lack of airport screening of mail and cargo, inadequate background checks on airport personnel, lack of controls over access to restricted areas and not enough training for part-time customs staff.

- Vulnerable seaports, organized crime influence and inadequate container screening.

Great Lakes surveillance is "the soft underbelly of Canadian coastal defence."

- Lack of staff and scope at intelligence agencies to "thwart threats to the security of Canadians and Canada's allies."

- A "toothless Coast Guard" that is vastly underutilized.

In the Commons, Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said the government is studying the report, point-by-point.

"It's a very useful report," said Lapierre, adding that some measures it says are lacking are in development. "Various departments have been inspired by this report."

The committee chairman, Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, said the government has been frustratingly slow to make a definitive statement on foreign and defence policy, currently under review.

Kenny said the review will produce points for discussion rather than a clear statement of what the government will do.

"We'd like a definitive statement," he said at a news conference. "Logically, you would have a defence policy functioning hand-in-glove with a foreign policy and an aid policy.

"I've waited through four defence ministers for that to come."

The committee was particularly concerned with issues like passes for airport workers, which Kenny said are easily forged, and port security, where police in places like Montreal might attend a domestic dispute in the morning, a shoplifting incident at noon and port matters in the afternoon.

In Halifax, seven police officers are assigned to full-time port security, he said - not nearly enough.

"The problem at seaports is huge," said Kenny, adding that the situation at U.S. ports is no better. "We have no adequate policing at seaports."

Kenny cited efforts at the much larger seaport of Rotterdam in Holland, which has more than 280 police "working on the port and only on the port.

"The model of Rotterdam is the right one; the models we are using here in Canada are not."

At airports, charter operations and mail are virtually ignored, said the senators, while not enough attention is paid to those packing the holds of passenger aircraft.

"We've had two bombs in the holds of aircraft that Canadians were flying in and we've had people killed as a result of that," said Kenny. "We don't think that that gap in security has been closed yet and it's been a decade."

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Quote[/b] ]Canadians depend on luck for national security, says Senate report

Oopsee! wow_o.gif

Quote[/b] ]Canada airport uniforms missing

Monday December 6, 04:15 AM

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's transport minister has launched a probe into the disappearance of airport uniforms and badges and demanded a report into the security breach by Monday, Canadian media have reported.

CBC television reported that one thousand uniforms and security badges were missing from federal airport screeners in 89 airports across the country during the first nine months of 2004.

Federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre ordered a probe by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and will receive a report on Monday. Lapierre said Jacques Duchesneau, president of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, will make public the results of the investigation.

The minister alerted Canada's airport screeners to double-check airport employee identification in all 89 airports and said Canadians have nothing to worry about at this moment. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, Ottawa invested billions of dollars (billions of pounds) to improve airport security, although Americans often view Canada's airport security as lax.

"Transport Canada is issuing a notice to all concerned Canadian airport operators requesting they remind airport employees of the need to be vigilant both at airport entry points and on an ongoing basis in their workplace," the Minister said in a statement on Saturday.

Some of the lost items were discovered on eBay, an online auction site.

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Yeah, Bals, good to hear you're fine. Hals- & Beinbruch - and come back in one piece!

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Yeah, Bals, good to hear you're fine. Hals- & Beinbruch - and come back in one piece!

Not literally though of course!

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I was just thinkin' of Bals too. Good to hear you are safe and sound. Though why you are posting on this forum I don't know...you should be out gettin' busy with a beer wench!

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I was just thinkin' of Bals too. Good to hear you are safe and sound. Though why you are posting on this forum I don't know...you should be out gettin' busy with a beer wench!

In Kabul? Good luck finding beer, let alone wenches!

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I was just thinkin' of Bals too. Good to hear you are safe and sound. Though why you are posting on this forum I don't know...you should be out gettin' busy with a beer wench!

In Kabul? Good luck finding beer, let alone wenches!

Whoops. When he said "got back" assumed he meant Bavaria crazy_o.gif

My bad.

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UK anti-terror law ruled illegal [bBC]

Quote[/b] ]

Detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial breaks human rights laws, the UK's highest court has ruled.

In a blow to the government's anti-terror measures, the House of Lords ruled by an eight to one majority in favour of appeals by nine detainees.

The Law Lords said the measures were incompatible with European human rights laws, but Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the men would remain in prison.

He said the measures would "remain in force" until the law was reviewed. Most of the men are being held indefinitely in Belmarsh prison, south London.

The ruling creates a major problem for Mr Clarke on his first day as home secretary following David Blunkett's resignation. In a statement to MPs, Mr Clarke said: "I will be asking Parliament to renew this legislation in the New Year.

"In the meantime, we will be studying the judgment carefully to see whether it is possible to modify our legislation to address the concerns raised by the House of Lords."

Solicitor Gareth Peirce, who represents eight of the detainees, said: "The government has to take steps to withdraw the legislation and release the detainees."

If there was no swift government action, the detainees could ask the European Court of Human Rights to get involved, she added. The Liberal Democrats say Mr Clarke should use the fact he is new to the job to take issue with a law established by his predecessor, David Blunkett.

The detainees took their case to the House of Lords after the Court of Appeal backed the Home Office's powers to hold them without limit or charge. The government opted out of part of the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the right to a fair trial in order to bring in anti-terrorism legislation in response to the 11 September attacks in the US.

Any foreign national suspected of links with terrorism can be detained or can opt to be deported. But those detained cannot be deported if this would mean persecution in their homeland.

On Thursday, Lord Bingham - a senior law lord - said the rules were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights as they allowed detentions "in a way that discriminates on the ground of nationality or immigration status" by justifying detention without trial for foreign suspects, but not Britons. Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, in his ruling, said: "Indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial is anathema in any country which observes the rule of law.

"It deprives the detained person of the protection a criminal trial is intended to afford."

But Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, the one law lord to oppose the appeal, said the anti-terror laws contained important safeguards against oppression. In a statement, detainee 'A' in Woodhill Prison said: "I hope now that the government will act upon this decision, scrap this illegal 'law' and release me and the other internees to return to our families and loved ones."

The case was heard by a panel of nine law lords rather than the usual five because of the constitutional importance of the case.

Ms Peirce claimed the detention had driven four of the detainees to "madness", saying two were being held in Broadmoor hospital. When the men were first held, they took their cases to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

The commission ruled on 30 July, 2002 that the anti-terror act unjustifiably discriminated against foreign nationals as British people could not be held in the same way. But that ruling was later overturned by the Court of Appeal who said there was a state of emergency threatening the life of the nation.

All I can say: What took them so long?

It's utterly amazing that that law was passed in the first place. Shows the weakness of human nature - one bang on the other side of the ocean and directly people are willing to abandon their core principles.

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Was wondering whether to post this here or on the "Military Humor" (was "Military Stupidity") thread.
Quote[/b] ]French Police Misplace Explosives on Jet

Sat Dec 4,11:16 PM ET   Europe - AP

PARIS - Police at Paris' top airport lost track of a passenger's bag in which plastic explosives were placed to train bomb-sniffing dogs, police said Saturday. Warned that the bag may have gotten on any of nearly 90 flights from Charles de Gaulle, authorities searched planes upon arrival in Los Angeles and New York.

French police said the explosives were harmless and there was no chance of their going off, since no detonators were connected to them.

More than 300 passengers were evacuated and their luggage searched when their Air France flight from Charles de Gaulle arrived in Los Angeles late Friday the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said

Two Air France and one American Airlines flight to Paris were also searched in New York City, TSA spokesman Norm Brewer said. No explosives were found on any of the flights.

French police at Charles de Gaulle deliberately placed up to five ounces of plastic explosives into a passenger's luggage Friday evening, police spokesman Pierre Bouquin said.

But a "momentary lack of surveillance" led to the bag being lost on a conveyor belt carrying luggage from check-in to planes, he said.

Authorities immediately alerted the relevant airlines that one of between 80 and 90 planes that left the French capital from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday could be carrying the explosives, Bouquin said.

Four of the flights were en route to the United States, while others were headed to places like Japan and Brazil, Bouquin said. Some were domestic French flights. The flight searched in Los Angeles was delayed two to three hours before continuing on its next leg to Tahiti in the South Pacific.

"These dogs must be trained in the most realistic situation possible ... to be the most effective," Bouquin said.

"Indeed, it's possible that someone will have a surprise when he opens his bag."

HE LIVES!

http://erewhon.ticonuno.it/riv/speciali/errori/img/clouseau.gif

Of course only lousy people like French could do such idiotic thing, right? wink_o.gif

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/15/fake.bomb.lost.ap/index.html

Quote[/b] ]NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- Baggage screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport spotted -- and then lost -- a fake bomb planted in luggage by a supervisor during a training exercise.

Despite an hours-long search Tuesday night, the bag, containing a fake bomb complete with wires, a detonator and a clock, made it onto an Amsterdam-bound flight. It was recovered by airport security officials in Amsterdam when the flight landed several hours later.

"This really underscores the importance of the TSA's ongoing training exercises," said Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, the agency responsible for screening passengers and baggage for weapons and explosives. "At no time did the bag pose a threat and at no time was anyone in danger."

Earlier this month, French authorities lost a bag containing real explosives that were being used to train bomb-sniffing dogs. That led French authorities to prohibit using live explosives in future tests.

The incident at Newark Liberty International was only the latest embarrassment for screeners at one of the airports from which some of the September 11, 2001 hijackers took off.

In October, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that screeners missed one in four fake explosives and weapons in secret weekly tests conducted throughout the summer by TSA agents.

In Tuesday night's test, a TSA supervisor secretly placed the bomb, which was designed to resemble the plastic explosive Semtex, inside a bag that was put through screening machines, Davis said.

A baggage screening machine sounded an alarm, but workers somehow lost track of the bag, which was then loaded onto a Continental Airlines flight.

Despite the incident, no flights were delayed and the terminal remained open.

Davis said the TSA is still investigating how screeners lost track of the bag.

"It was an error that the bag was not intercepted before it was loaded," she said, adding it was too soon to say if anyone would be disciplined for the failure.

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Quote[/b] ]Of course only lousy people like French could do such idiotic thing, right? wink_o.gif

At least, it was a fake! unclesam.gifsad_o.gif

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Of course only lousy people like French could do such idiotic thing, right? wink_o.gif

No problemo! I'm ready to dump New Jerseyites and the French in the same barrel. tounge_o.giftounge_o.giftounge_o.gif

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Quote[/b] ]No problemo!

Hi gogeous smile_o.gif That's spanish to you madame (the last word pronounced in french of course........ ) tounge_o.gif

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Hi gogeous  smile_o.gif  That's spanish

Surely you meant "gorgeous". biggrin_o.gif

But, then, how would you know? rock.gif

smile_o.gif

Hehe! It's because I stopped smoking.....

I can't even spell correctly anymore.........

biggrin_o.gif

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Oct. 2003 Dutch TV documentary on US SpecOps in Afghanistan. Big download - around 4GB. Show is about 25 minutes long - no commercials. smile_o.gif

After a while, Dutch and Afghan sound the same to me.

No gore, so it's forum safe. biggrin_o.gif

Amazing footage. Not fun.

Poor balschoiw! sad_o.gif

With thanks to Rizla Ranger for the heads-up on this OFP NG thread. Maxres Riz! wink_o.gif

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