Target Centermass

Category: Europe

  • Ukraine: Viktor’s Victory Beginning to Vanish

    The controversy around the Ukrainian presidential election continues to swirl, as Ukraine’s parliament is now calling for a do-over.

    Ukraine’s Parliament passed a non-binding resolution Saturday to annul the results of this week’s presidential election, CNN reported.

    The lawmakers also voted to dissolve the nation’s Central Election Commission that declared the winner of the election, which has been widely condemned by international observers as being rigged.

    That commission ruled Viktor Yanukovych, the government’s hand-picked, pro-Moscow successor, had won the election.

    Parliament’s Saturday resolution said the results did not reflect the will of the Ukrainian voters and should be made invalid. It also said new elections are needed.

    It is not presently clear which governmental entity has the authority to void the election, the Parliament, President Leonid Kuchma, or the nation’s high court, which has stayed Yanukovych’s inauguration pending the outcome of an investigation.

    This is beginning to make the Bush-Gore 2000 results look as cut and dried as they really were.

  • Ukraine on the Brink

    Amid threats of strikes, promises of disruption, cries of fraud, and even a bizarre allegation of candidate poisoning (hattip OTB), Ukraine is pushing itself towards the brink of anarchy in reaction to the results of their presidential run-off election.

    Opposition leaders called Wednesday for a nationwide strike to shut down factories, schools and transportation after officials declared Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin prime minister the winner of a presidential runoff election that many countries denounced as rigged.

    The call by reformist candidate Viktor Yushchenko and his allies for an “all-Ukrainian political strike” risked provoking a crackdown by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma’s government, which has said the opposition’s actions in the aftermath of Sunday’s bitterly disputed runoff were, in effect, preparations for a coup d’etat.

    A strike could also further divide the country: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych drew his support from the pro-Russian, heavily industrialized eastern half of the country, while Yushchenko’s strength was in the west, a traditional center of Ukrainian nationalism.

    To prevent the crisis from widening, Yanukovych said negotiations with Yushchenko’s team would begin Thursday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing Ukrainian television. The opposition has said, however, that it would talk only about a handover of power to Yushchenko.

    The Central Election Commission’s decision to declare Yanukovych the winner “puts Ukraine on the verge of civil conflict,” Yushchenko told hundreds of thousands of his cheering supporters who massed for a fourth straight night in central Kiev’s Independence Square.

    After the speeches, many demonstrators headed to the presidential administration building, the site of a tense standoff with riot police Tuesday night. The police presence was heavy again, with about 40 buses disgorging well over 1,000 officers with helmets and shields who stood in phalanxes up to eight deep outside the building.

    The election was denounced as fraudulent by Western observers, who cited ballot stuffing, voter intimidation and other irregularities.

    ….

    The commission said Yanukovych got 49.46 percent of the vote and Yushchenko 46.61 percent.

    “With this decision, they want to put us on our knees,” the Western-leaning Yushchenko told the crowd, which responded with chants of “Shame! Shame!” and “We will not give up.”

    Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz said the opposition was “organizing citizens, stopping lessons at schools and universities, stopping work at enterprises, stopping transport … and, thus, we’ll force the authorities to think about what they are doing,”

    Yuliya Tymoshenko, Yushchenko’s key ally, said his followers would “surround all government buildings, block railways, airports and highways.”

    “We have a strict intention to seize power in our hands at these sites,” she said, vowing a “consistent struggle that will lead to the destruction of this regime.”

    She also said that the opposition would go to Ukraine’s Supreme Court on Thursday to protest the alleged election fraud, and urged supporters to remain on the square and not let down their guard.

    ….

    Kuchma, the outgoing president, said Yushchenko supporters were trying to carry out “a coup d’etat.” He called “on all political forces to negotiate immediately” and on the international community to “refrain from interference in Ukraine’s affairs.”

    Kuchma called the election “an examination of the maturity and democracy of all the Ukrainian people.”

    “We will pass this exam,” he said.

    The election commission announcement came after a flurry of statements on the possibility of negotiations to find a compromise, which Kuchma had proposed earlier.

    Mykola Tomenko, a lawmaker and Yushchenko ally, told Yushchenko supporters earlier Wednesday that the opposition would negotiate “only about the peaceful handing over of power to Yushchenko by Kuchma.”

    Yushchenko claimed victory Tuesday over Yanukovych in the presidential run-off and, in a sign he would not back off, took a symbolic oath of office.

    The election has led to an increasingly tense tug-of-war between the West and Moscow, which considers Ukraine part of its sphere of influence and a buffer between Russia and eastward-expanding NATO.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has already congratulated Yanukovych on his victory, and the Kremlin-controlled Russian parliament denounced the Ukrainian opposition for its “illegal actions.”

    ….

    Lech Walesa, the founder of Poland’s Solidarity movement, will travel to Ukraine to act as a mediator in the standoff over the disputed presidential elections there, his son told The Associated Press.

    In addition, the Netherlands planned to send a special envoy, Niek Biegman, to Ukraine as part of its role as current holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency.

    Opposition supporters have taken over blocks of Kiev’s main street, setting up a giant tent camp. Yanukovych supporters also became increasingly visible in Kiev, setting up hundreds of tents of their own on a nearby wooded slope. But many of their camps had been dismantled by Wednesday night.

    I’m not familiar enough with the situation to comment, other than I think many of us are going to become much more knowledgeable very soon. It should be noted that both the U.S. and Canada have rejected the results.

    Do go read the article on the alleged poisoning of Yushchenko. The before-and-after pictures are simply astounding.

  • UK: Got Lard?

    If not, Brits, you can apparently blame the E.U.

    Bakers of mince pies, Christmas puddings and other traditional British treats have been warned that they might be facing a lard-free Christmas this year.

    Supermarkets say stocks of the shortening, made from rendered pig fat, were running low due to surging demand from pork-loving new members of the European Union.

    Jamie Sitzia, spokeswoman for the Somerfield supermarket chain, said this week that the admission of 10 new EU countries in May had been followed by “unprecedented demand from Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary for the cheapest cuts of pork to meet their demand for sausages, salamis and pies.”

    The countries are buying EU-bred pork to avoid tariffs on imports from outside the union. The result, Sitzia said, was “a serious shortfall in lard production throughout the European Union.”

    A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s, another large supermarket chain, said the company had seen a reduced supply of lard in stores and was advising customers to switch to butter or margarine where possible.

    Despite Britain’s reputation for stodgy food, lard is increasingly shunned by health-conscious cooks. Consumption fell from 2 ounces per person per week in 1971 to 0.3 ounces per person per week in 1998, according to government statistics.

    But many still swear by it as the secret to light, flaky pie crust and delicious roast potatoes.

    Somerfield spokeswoman Sitzia advised lard lovers not to panic.

    “We are now getting more volume through from suppliers and if customers do not panic buy we should have enough for everyone,” she said.

    I’m dreaming of a rendered-pig-fat Christmas….

  • Chirac Says UK Won Nothing Supporting Iraq

    Submitted for your approval, a contrast of national leaders: George Bush, who was willing to stake his presidency on the course of action in Iraq he thought was right, and Jacques Chirac, who was drooling to oppose Bush, not for the cause of right but for the cause of political gain. Now, Chirac is condemning Britain’s Tony Blair for not following the same self-centered course.

    French President Jacques Chirac said in a newspaper interview on Tuesday that Britain has gained nothing from its support for the United States-led invasion of Iraq.

    Chirac said he had urged Britain before the invasion to press President Bush to revive the Middle East peace process in return for London’s support.

    “Well, Britain gave its support but I did not see much in return,” Chirac was quoted as saying in the Times. “I am not sure that it is in the nature of our American friends at the moment to return favors systematically.”

    Blair’s staunch support for Washington over Iraq led to bitter divisions within his ruling Labor Party and dragged down his public approval ratings.

    Chirac, who will hold talks with Blair when he makes a state visit to Britain on Thursday, recalled a Franco-British summit last year when he asked his British counterpart to try to influence U.S. policy on the Middle East.

    “I said then to Tony Blair: ‘We have different positions on Iraq. Your position should at least have some use’. That is to try to obtain in exchange a relaunch of the peace process in the Middle East.”

    Chirac questioned whether Britain could act as a bridge between the United States and Europe to help heal the rift that developed over the Iraq war. France and Germany were among the most vocal opponents of U.S. military action to oust former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

    “I am not sure with America as it is these days that it would be easy for someone, even the British, to be an honest broker,” Chirac was quoted as saying in the Times.

    Blair said on Monday that Europe and the United States should bury their differences over Iraq and focus on global challenges such as lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. “It is not a sensible or intelligent response for us in Europe to ridicule American arguments and parody their political leadership,” Blair said in his major foreign policy speech of the year.

    Do not make the mistake that Chirac is all about the Mideast peace process — no, for dear ol’ Jacques, it’s all about personal political gain and setting the E.U. (and consequently France) up as global rivals to the US. In this atmosphere, it is not surprising that an honest broker like the British would be ineffective in healing the rifts between the US and France. An honest broker cannot aid the relationship between a cowboy and a rattlesnake.

    At a time when the world needs more Winston, we’re cursed with too much Jacques.

  • Muslims Condemn Fallujah ‘Slaughter’

    As I predicted and exactly on cue, the Muslim world has already began screaming about the Fallujah massacre that isn’t.

    Muslim organizations in Britain condemned the US-led assault on the Iraqi rebel stronghold of Fallujah, describing the offensive as a “ghastly” counterproductive move to pro-democracy efforts.

    “It is highly improbable that the US army is going to help usher in an era of liberation and democracy in Iraq by terrorizing and killing its citizens in this ghastly manner,” Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the prominent Muslim Council of Britain, said.

    Hizb ut-Tahrir, an independent Islamic political party, denounced the effort to wrest control over the rebel-held Sunni Muslim city as the “brutal slaughter of civilians”.

    ….

    Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Imran Waheed said Muslims in Britain “must be the voice of the Muslims of Fallujah against this brutal genocide and the silence of the spineless rulers of the Muslim world.”

    Ghastly … terrorizing … killing … brutal … slaughter … genocide. Yup, following the Jenin script, as expected.

    Let’s take a look at some other reactions from the religion of peace.

    Commentary in Qatar’s al-Watan:

    Beside the human catastrophe in making Falluja a ghost city, one should wonder at this point whether there is any difference between what the US forces claim to stand for and what former President Saddam Hussein stood for.

    Editorial in Saudi Arabia’s al-Watan:

    The American forces are expected to increase their barbaric acts in the hope of finishing off once and for all the Iraqi resistance so that they can have peace and realize their aims, foremost of which is the rearrangement of the country in such a way that would enable their new allies to hide behind “a false legitimacy” which they will use to open a new phase in which the final word will be that of ruling gang in Tel Aviv.

    London-based Arabic newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi:

    There is no rationale whatsoever in the invasion of Falluja. The attack on Falluja is basically to expresses schadenfreude at the Iraqis and get even with them… However, since we are in the holy month of Ramadan, we would like to say here that such an aggression against the innocents will not be accepted by God, and that there is another superpower up there that is monitoring the developments.

    Personal note: as an atheist, I’m not too concerned about “another superpower up there.”

    Editorial in Jordan’s al-Dustur (expressing, at least to some degree, an understanding of Allawi’s difficult choice):

    The Iraqi government has finally taken the painful decision to wage a total war to recover the cities even when they are ghost cities already destroyed by missiles and air strikes. This is surely because it cannot afford to engage itself in a half-battle, nor compromise itself by starting negotiations during the attack. This means that the next few days will be catastrophic beyond our imagination.

    Commentary in Lebanon’s al-Safir (expressing utter realism):

    Perhaps there is no need to wonder what will be the outcome of the confrontation: Falluja fighters stand no chance in defeating the strongest army in history.

    And what of the terrorists, what is their reaction? Well, here it is.

    A posting on an Islamist Web site warned Iraqis to stay at home Wednesday in Baghdad and other cities or they would be “putting their lives in danger.”

    The statement, in the name of eight known militant groups, said the unified “Islamic resistance” would step up operations against the “American enemy” in retaliation for the U.S.-led attack on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

    The statement urged Iraqis to stay at home Wednesday “to avoid putting their lives in danger.”

    In Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown, insurgents distributed leaflets warning shopkeepers to close their stores indefinitely starting Wednesday to protest the attack on Fallujah.

    Some families said they would keep their children away from school Wednesday because of the insurgent threat.

    Translation: “We hate the coalition’s military might almost as much as we loath our own impotence against it. Watch out, we’ll find some softer targets elsewhere.”

    There is no hope of a popular Iraqi uprising to support the terrorists. In fact, the tidbit about keeping children away from school shows that the Iraqis understand the evil nature of the Islamist bastards. The terrorists cannot win favor with warnings now, not after Beslan.

  • UK Soldiers’ Killer May Be European

    There’s a lot of barely-supported speculation in this piece, along with one all-too-obvious observation.

    A suicide bomber who killed three Black Watch soldiers was white, suggesting British troops are being targeted by European terrorists.

    The bomber’s face was seen by surviving troops as he drove up to a road block seconds before the blast. His features have allowed Army commanders to rule him out as an Arab.

    A senior military source in Iraq said: “The bomber was Caucasian. That means he could be from anywhere between Bosnia to Birmingham. We don’t know any more because there wasn’t much left of him.

    “But it confirms our fears that the Black Watch are now up against foreign terrorists.”

    After-the-fact eye witness accounts can often be spotty, and distinguishing a Caucasian definitively from an Arab in a moving vehicle which subsequently explodes is highly suspect. That said, the argument that there is no reason to fully believe this story does not correspond to arguing there is no reason to disbelieve this story. It may be true, but the evidence in this article is scant at best.

    What is obvious, however, is that the Black Watch is facing foreign terrorists. All of Iraq is. Even if this story holds true, it only shows that another obvious fact so many refuse to face — this is a global war against Islamist terror, and Iraq is currently the predominant battlefield.

  • Ivory Coast mobs target French

    Well, looks like French and UN involvement may legitimize foreign intervention in some eyes, but they don’t guarantee things will go smoothly.

    Mobs loyal to the Ivory Coast government roamed the streets in two major cities of the West African country, searching for foreigners to attack.

    The search on Saturday came as nine French troops were killed and 23 other people were injured when Ivory Coast warplanes bombed a French position near Bouake, a rebel stronghold.

    An American citizen was also killed, but the State Department said details of the death were unclear.

    Ivory Coast has been split between the loyalist south and rebel-held north since an attempted coup in September 2002 triggered a civil war. The nation gained its independence from France in 1960.

    Although French forces have often kept rebels away from government positions, they are widely suspected in the nationalistic south of siding with the rebels, The Associated Press reports.

    About 4,000 French troops and 6,000 U.N. forces are in the country, according to the AP.

    The U.N. Security Council, meeting in an emergency session Saturday, condemned the initial attack on French forces as a violation of a May cease-fire agreement, and demanded the “immediate cessation” of military operations in accordance with that agreement.

    France and the U.N. forces were authorized to use “all necessary means” to carry out that directive, a U.N. statement read.

    ….

    Appearing on national television, presidential spokesman Desire Tagro called for calm said mobs should stop attacking civilians.

    The leaders of the Young Patriots group also appeared on television to accuse France of attacking Yamoussoukro, the country’s capital, and said the pro-government militia is now at war with France, CNN has learned.

    French troops retaliated to the attack by government warplanes, destroying an Ivorian military base in Yamoussoukro and a stash of weapons, CNN has learned.

    ….

    About 100 people were stranded to the south at Abidjan’s airport when the facility was closed, said Carrie Giardino, a reporter for Voice of America. Earlier, smoke billowed from the suburb of Cocody after an attack on a French school. Pro-government rebels were stationed at roadblocks in the city, attacking cars holding suspected foreigners.

    Explosions could also be heard in Abidjan, she said.

    The French deaths and injuries resulting from Saturday’s bombing were confirmed by John Victor Nkolo, spokesman for the U.N. operations in the Ivory Coast, and the French Defense Ministry.

    The African Union, meanwhile, accused the Ivory Coast government of breaking existing peace agreements, according to a statement issued after top-level crisis talks.

    AU chairman Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria, “expressed his deep concern at the renewed fighting, particularly at the bombardment by government forces on rebel locations in the northern part of Ivory Coast,” through a statement read to CNN by presidential spokeswoman Remi Oyo.

    ….

    Obasanjo called for a change of the U.N. mandate in Ivory Coast from one of peacekeeping to peace-enforcing.

    I love the smell of French military involvement in the morning. It smells like … quagmire.

  • World Leaders React to Four More Years

    Under the headline “Europe Allies Extend Olive Branch to Bush,” the AP has put forth a piece addressing the reactions of several international leaders. The responses seemed to range from “Crap! I guess we have to find a way to deal with you” to “We’re already dealing with you, but try to find a way to deal with the crap from these other countries.”

    French President Jacques Chirac:

    “We will be unable to find satisfying responses to the numerous challenges that confront us today without a close trans-Atlantic partnership,” wrote Chirac. He addressed the letter to “Dear George.”

    Shut up and get back to us when you show a greater willingness to address the radical Islamist movement outside your borders. And when you show a greater desire to have your decisions driven by anything other than setting France up as an alternative to U.S. leadership. Oh yeah, how about you try paying attention to which pieces of crap you deal your weaponry?

    German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder:

    “The world stands before great challenges at the beginning of your second term: international terrorism, the danger of weapons of mass destruction, regional crises — but also poverty, climate change and epidemics threaten our security and stability,” Schroeder wrote. “These challenges can only be mastered together.”

    Shut up and let us know when you remove your lips from Chirac’s ass. It’s unseemly. Just break up with him and conquer Paris already; this time we might just let you. Oh, and wave goodbye to our bases.

    Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero:

    [His] government wants “a relationship of efficient, constructive cooperation with the U.S. government and with President Bush, respecting the ideas of each side.”

    Zapatero, who angered Washington by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, stayed up most of the night to watch as Republican red crept across the U.S. electoral map.

    How about an “efficient, constructive” shut up, you yellow-bellied, short-sighted socialist piece of crap? Is that good for you?

    Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer:

    “We’ve had a very good relationship with them for the last four years and I’m sure we’ll be able to keep building on that over the next four.”

    Much love to the Aussies.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin:

    “I would feel happy that the American people have not allowed themselves to be scared and made the decision they considered reasonable,” Putin said at a Kremlin news conference

    We absolutely have to realize, as a nation and very damn soon, that the Russians are facing the same enemy of Islamist bastards that we face.

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair:

    “A world that is fractured, divided and uncertain must be brought together to fight this global terrorism in all its forms and to recognize that it will not be defeated by military might alone but also by demonstrating the strength of our common values, by bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq as we have done to Afghanistan, by pursuing with the same energy peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine,” Blair said.

    Much love to Blair and the courage and fidelity of the Brits. He has been a stalwart ally since 9/11, and his people should rank him, in time, with the likes of Winston Churchill.

    Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka:

    “It is not natural to have — maybe not a cold war — but, in any case, a chilling of relations along theses lines …. I hope that European leaders and President Bush will show initiative in this area.”

    Poland needs to be rewarded for their valor and friendship. We earned it with Ronald Reagan; we need to repay it under Dubya.

    Terrorist Yassir Arafat:

    An ailing Yasser Arafat congratulated Bush and expressed hope that a second term would help give a new spark to the Middle East peace process, an aide to the Palestinian leader said.

    Arafat’s death may well be the spark needed for peace in the Middle East. That, or it could be the fuse that sets off the powderkeg he played a huge role in concocting. Either way, Bush cannot trust a living Arafat in any peace process.

  • Hungary to Bail from Iraq

    Hungary announced plans to withdraw its troops from the Iraqi coalition, though its defense minister plans to ask for an extension on the current Hungarian commitment until after the planned Iraqi election.

    Hungary will withdraw its 300 troops from Iraq by the end of March, the country’s new prime minister said Wednesday.

    The announcement is a blow to President Bush’s efforts to hold the coalition together despite increasing violence in Iraq. Hungarian officials said they delayed the announcement until after the U.S. presidential elections.

    The Hungarian force, a transportation contingent, is based at Hillah, 65 miles south of Baghdad, and is under Polish command.

    The parliamentary mandate for Hungary’s mission in Iraq will expire Dec. 31. Peter Matyuc, a defense ministry spokesman, said the government would ask the parliament Monday to extend it until March 31.

    Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said it was the country’s duty to stay through Iraq’s January elections. “To stay there much longer is impossible,” he said.

    One Hungarian soldier has died in Iraq, killed when a roadside bomb exploded by the water-carrying convoy he was guarding.

    Hungary on Wednesday abandoned its military draft system after 136 years.

    Hungarian withdrawal is a shame, but understandable in light of the troop-level difficulty they could soon face without a draft. They should have our thanks for their brave involvement to date, as well as their wisdom in delaying their announcement so as to not have an impact on the U.S. presidential contest.

    The announcement will have no impact on Polish involvement.

    Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said Wednesday that Hungary’s decision to pull out of its troops from Iraq will not influence his country.

    He said Hungary has the right to make its own decisions. Poland also wishes to withdraw its troops and cut the number of soldiers there, but his country has to strictly abide by the withdrawal schedule and complete its mission to maintain stability in Iraq.

  • Anti-Semiticism on Rise in Europe … or Not

    From France:

    Vandals scrawled swastikas and “SS” initials on 88 Jewish tombs in eastern France, an anti-Semitic attack that President Jacques Chirac on Saturday called “intolerable.”

    The inscriptions were discovered Saturday in the Jewish cemetery in Brumath, 10 miles north of Strasbourg near the French-German border, authorities said.

    Chirac condemned “this intolerable act with the greatest firmness,” his office said in a statement.

    The French leader also asked that the government “take all the measures necessary without delay to find, arrest and bring to justice the authors of this odious act.”

    The government says the number of anti-Semitic acts appears to have rebounded this year, with 166 counted in the first nine months of 2004, compared with 127 for all of last year. In 2002, the Interior Ministry counted 195 such acts.

    Or not. From Germany:

    Several thousand demonstrators forced a group of 300 neo-Nazis to abandon the planned route of their march through the eastern city of Potsdam on Saturday, police said.

    Some of the about 4,000 demonstrators used burning trash cans as barricades or threw stones and other objects, forcing police to use water cannons to keep the two sides apart.

    Four officers were injured, according to police.

    The march in Potsdam was organized by Christian Worch, one of Germany’s most visible neo-Nazis.

    In Leinefelde, another eastern city, members of the German People’s Union and the National Democratic Party — parties both known for their nationalist and anti-immigrant stance who have agreed to join forces in upcoming national elections — were met by about 150 protesters who held placards reading “Nazis, get out.” There were no serious incidents, police said.

    My view: rising and having an increasing impact on relations with U.S. and Israel, votes in the piece-o-crap UN, and the war against the Islamist bastards.