Target Centermass

Category: General

  • Gang Attacks Mother on French Train

    In a display of misplaced anti-semitism and cowardice, the AP tells the story of a young mother assaulted on a train, apparently because the attackers mistook her as a Jew.

    A gang of young men attacked a woman riding a suburban train with her infant, cutting her hair and drawing swastikas on her stomach. Other passengers watched but did nothing, police reported.

    French politicians issued denunciations Sunday as news of the Friday morning attack spread through the nation.

    Police said the gang of six set upon the 23-year-old woman on a suburban train north of Paris and grabbed her backpack where they found identity papers that showed an address in the capital’s well-to-do 16th district. “There are only Jews in the 16th,” one of the group of attackers said.

    The young woman, who was not identified, was not Jewish and no longer lived in the district, police said.

    Ah, France, the great bastion of freedom and justice. Of course, here is the part that does not surprise me:

    According to the police account, none of the passengers on the train came to the woman’s rescue.

    EDIT: It seems the whole story was fraudulent. This lady may be nuts, but she seems to have a good read on her fellow French, nevertheless.

    French President Jacques Chirac had called the alleged attack shameful. But during his annual Bastille Day television interview, following the woman’s retraction, he called the whole affair regrettable.

    But Mr. Chirac said he does not regret his earlier condemnation of the alleged incident. He said France is currently in a period of racist acts against Jews, Muslims, and others. He said the attacks are unacceptable and violate the country’s principles.

  • Terrorism Chatter and the Election

    Democratic National Convention, Republican National Convention, November election, polling places, shopping malls, blah, blah, blah.

    I hope nobody has forgotten the most obvious, visible and probably easiest target: the upcoming Olympic Games in Athens. Not that the others aren’t potential, though personally I would suspect the Dem brewfest will be safe in Boston.

  • Muslim Cleric’s Visit Ignites Complaints in Britain

    VOA is reporting that a visiting Islamic cleric is causing a stir across the pond for his previous defense of Palestinian suicide bombings.

    One prominent Jewish member of Parliament, Louise Ellman, said there is plenty of evidence against the cleric.

    “Dr. Qaradawi is on record supporting mass murder through suicide bombings,” she said. “That means killing young children at pizza parlors, it means folk singers on Tel Aviv beach being blown up, it means people at religious festivals being blown up. And he is inciting mass murder.”

    Mr. al-Qaradawi’s defenders in Britain say his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict represent mainstream opinion among most Muslims. They also point out that he condemned the terrorist attacks against the United States in 2001, as well as the bombings in Madrid last March.

    The Muslim Association of Britain, which is sponsoring his visit, said he was delivering a sermon Friday at London’s Central Mosque that emphasizes the responsibility of Muslims to be active and law-abiding participants in Britain’s democracy.

    I’m torn as to whether this guy should just be expelled or whether he should be grabbed, handed over to the Israelis and forced to spend the rest of his life in pizzarias and discos until he renounces terrorism.

    I find it interesting that he denounce the 9/11 and Madrid bombings. I do wonder, though, if these denunciations were voiced in Arabic to his fellow Egyptians.

  • U.S. Stands with Israel against U.N. Action on Barrier

    Per Reuters, the U.S. will oppose action by the U.N. based upon the World Court ruling denouncing the security barrier.

    Palestinians face a brick wall of U.S. opposition to possible United Nations (news – web sites) action against Israel after the World Court ruled the Jewish state’s West Bank barrier was illegal and should be dismantled.

    “We don’t think there’s a need for (U.N.) General Assembly action at this point,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said after the World Court, the U.N.’s top legal body, announced its non-binding ruling in The Hague (news – web sites) on Friday.

    The General Assembly can, and probably will, denounce Israel and demand a dismantling of the barrier. And? And nothing, any General Assembly resolution will be non-binding, and the U.S. will block any Security Council motion. Why? Because we see that the Israelis have a right to defend themselves against Palestinian terrorism. Who cares about the judgement of a “world court” led by a judge from the justice-and-freedom-loving nation of China.

    The Palestinians later intend to take their case to the 15-nation Security Council, where the United States — Israel’s main ally, vetoed a resolution last October that sought to bar the Jewish state from extending the West Bank barrier.

    In The Hague, Nasser al-Kidwa, the U.N. Palestinian observer, declined to say whether he would push for sanctions against Israel.

    “It remains the obligation of the international community to ensure that compliance takes place. We will take it step by step,” he said …. The court said the barrier, which is about a third built, “severely impeded” Palestinian rights to self-rule.

    I want to go on record as saying the major impediment to Palestinian self-rule is the terrorist Arafat. The Palestinians have had many opportunities to take the peace route; each time, they have found an excuse to venture down the road less traveled by the peaceable.

    Opinion polls show strong support in Israel for the project.

    “The choice was between the inconveniences which are caused to the Palestinians — and we recognize that there are inconveniences — but the fence doesn’t kill,” said Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert.

  • An Analysis of al-Sadr’s Uprising

    A tip of the CVC to USS Clueless for this look at al-Sadr’s uprising in Iraq and an interesting tie-in to Michael Moore.

    The military response to his uprising ultimately has to be considered a victory by the only standard that really counts: achievement of political goals. al-Sadr hoped to inspire a general uprising and to prevent us from transferring power to an Iraqi government. We hoped to avoid a general uprising, and to transfer power to said government on schedule, without the transfer being seen as us cutting and running.

    Whose hopes were fulfilled?

    You have to keep your eyes on the true goal, and you have to be willing to be patient. Sometimes slow-and-steady wins the race, even though it looks as if you are falling behind at the beginning.

  • World Court to Rule Against Israel’s Barrier

    Surprise, surprise. It seems the World Court is set to rule against Israel’s security fence and demand it be dismantled.

    The paper, quoting documents it had obtained, said the barrier infringed Palestinian rights.

    “The construction of such a wall accordingly constitutes breaches by Israel of its various obligations under the applicable international humanitarian law and human rights instruments,” Haaretz quoted the documents as saying.

    And even less surprising:

    Israel has said it will not accept what is expected to be among the most watched rulings in the 58 years of the World Court, based in The Hague.

    The Jewish state says the network of fences, ditches and walls has already improved security, but Palestinians call it a land grab.

    First, I’m confused as to what “rights” are being infringed upon here, just as I am confused by the constant comparisons of the security barrier to the Berlin Wall. The inability to comprehend to simple difference of the fundamental purposes of the security fence and the Berlin Wall (the former’s being protection of citizens and keeping terror at bay, the latter’s being the trapping and subjugation of the East German citizenry) astounds me.

  • AP: Iraq Insurgency Larger Than Thought

    U.S. military officials are saying the size of the insurgency in Iraq is possibly much larger than previously thought, reports the Associated Press.

    Although U.S. military analysts disagree over the exact size, dozens of regional cells, often led by tribal sheiks and inspired by Sunni Muslim imams, can call upon part-time fighters to boost forces to as high as 20,000 — an estimate reflected in the insurgency’s continued strength after U.S. forces killed as many as 4,000 in April alone.

    4K KIA (killed in April). I haven’t seen that figure anywhere else. Actually, I haven’t seen much at all on the numbers of bad guys whacked.

  • Ridge Warns of Election Terror Plot

    The AP is report that al Queda hopes to disrupt the Presidential election with terror.

    A steady stream of intelligence, including nuggets from militant-linked Web sites, indicates al-Qaida wants to attack the United States to disrupt the upcoming elections, federal officials said Thursday.

    I’d just like to insert a special, heart-felt thanks to the invertebrates of Spain who have encouraged this.

    Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the Bush administration based a decision to bolster security on credible reports about al-Qaida’s plans, coupled with the pre-election terror attack in Spain earlier this year and recent arrests in England, Jordan and Italy.

    “This is sobering information about those who wish to do us harm,” Ridge said. “But every day we strengthen the security of our nation.”

  • Mediators Tell Palestinians to Reform or Lose Aid

    Middle East mediators threaten funding and support of the Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority unless true reforms are implemented, according to Reuters.

    Sapped by years of corruption and disorder as well as Israeli raids, Arafat’s Palestinian Authority needs foreign help to fill a power vacuum when Israel quits the Gaza Strip next year or if it hopes to revive peace talks with the Jewish state.

    But envoys from the United States, United Nations and European Union and Russia told Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie that the world had run out of patience with Arafat’s “empty promises” of reform.

    “If security reforms are not done, there will be no (more) international support and no funding from the international community,” a senior diplomat close to the talks in the West Bank city of Ramallah told Reuters.

    Arafat’s removal from the Palestinian Authority would, ideally, be the best reform possible and the best step towards peace. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if these are just empty threats, as I see no reform of any consequence occurring under Arafat.

  • Marines Want Companion for Osprey

    The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the Marines are interested in an armed tilt-rotor escort for the V-22 Osprey.

    The Marine Corps’ top aviation officer has asked Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. to study arming its executive jet-sized BA609 tilt-rotor aircraft as an escort for the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor troop transport.

    The request by Lt. Gen. Michael Hough, deputy commandant for aviation, is a striking vote of confidence in the V-22 and in the future of tilt-rotor aircraft. The V-22 program was nearly canceled after two crashes in 2000 killed 23 Marines.

    “I would have done this earlier, but I didn’t even know if I had a V-22,” Gen. Hough said, referring to the Osprey’s near-cancellation.

    Per the report, this could potentially result in millions of dollars for Bell Helicopter. However, with the checkered story of the Osprey’s development, I predict this will be a rather interesting approval process.

    The V-22 and the BA609 both use wingtip rotors to take off and land like helicopters. But they tilt their rotors forward to fly like airplanes, giving them far greater speed and range than helicopters. Critics still regard the revolutionary method of flight as highly risky.

    Much work would have to be done, and many hurdles cleared, before Bell could produce an armed BA609 derivative.

    The gunship would have to be designed, approved by the Pentagon, funded by Congress, prototyped and tested.

    There is no guarantee any of that will happen.

    But Gen. Hough said the V-22 will need some type of armed escort to carry Marines into combat zones, and only a tilt-rotor will do. Helicopters are too slow for the job, and jets are too fast.