Target Centermass

Month: August 2004

  • US to Send Armed Troops to Olympics

    This tidbit is almost two week old, but I’m just now finding out about it. It seems that, contrary to their own laws, the Greeks have decided to allow armed American, British and Israeli soldiers to accompany their respective athletes and VIPs.

    Greece is reported to have agreed to permit 400 U.S. special forces troops to be present at next month’s Summer Olympic games in Athens.

    The New York Times cites Greek and U.S. officials as saying the American soldiers, along with Israeli and British security officers will be allowed to carry weapons. The agreement appears to run counter to a Greek law barring foreign personnel from carrying weapons.

    A NATO official is quoted as saying the Bush administration persuaded Greece to ask for NATO sponsorship for the U.S. contingent to avoid controversy.

    The Times says Greece also will permit 100 armed U.S. agents to serve as bodyguards for American athletes and dignitaries. The FBI reportedly plans to send armed hostage-rescue and evidence-gathering personnel.

    Is this not an outright admission that the Greeks themselves have doubts about the security at the Olympics? While viewing, I’ll be understanding of anyone I see who hits the deck when a starter’s pistol is fired.

  • Latest USS Texas Christened

    The fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to carry the name of the Lone Star state was christened this weekend by First Lady Laura Bush.

    The USS Texas (SSN 775) is the second member of the Virginia class of submarines and the fourth vessel in the Navy to carry the name of Texas. The most famous to date would be the battleship that saw duty in WWII, including action off North Africa and Iwo Jima. The ship can be visited at the San Jacinto Battleground near Houston.

  • How Not to Fight Terror

    Today’s lesson is in two parts, both involving the U.S.’s staunch allies, the Aussies.

    Part 1: Philippines object to criticism

    The Philippines are whining about being called out on weak anti-terror policy by Australia. The Aussies had rightly said that the Philippines’ policy of running away while emptying their pockets is reckless and could only send the wrong message.

    Meanwhile, Philippine weakness continues.

    Earlier, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (news – web sites) said she would not apologize for her decision to withdraw the troops and explained that her move was meant to protect the 1.5 million Filipino workers in the Middle East, including more than 4,000 in Iraq.

    “The Philippines has no policy that demands sacrifice of human lives,” Arroyo said in her state-of-the-nation address Monday.

    Part 2: Australia ID’s trained terrorists, does nothing

    Meanwhile, the Aussies have issues of their own after identifyinng ten indivuals in Sydney who attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan but cannot legally be touched.

    The Sunday Telegraph said Sunday it had learned Australia’s domestic intelligence agency ASIO had established the 10 trained with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan (news – web sites) and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan between 1999 and 2001.

    But authorities had been unable to prosecute them because they did their training before Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba were outlawed in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

    Australia’s counter-terrorism offensive was stepped up further in the aftermath of the Bali bombings which claimed 202 lives in October, 2002.

    Australia would also have been unable to prosecute two Australian terrorist suspects now held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. But David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib are being prosecuted under US laws.