Target Centermass

Day: August 4, 2004

  • Iraq Coalition Vows No More Kidnap Concessions

    In a late response to the Philippines’ move to join the Coalition of the Wilting, the U.S. is now saying that the nations remaining in the Iraqi theater of operations have sworn off further concessions to kidnappers.

    In an effort to present a united front against a wave of kidnappings, the United States issued a policy statement that it said was supported by the coalition hoping to send a message to hostage-takers they would not win their demands.

    “We understand that conceding to terrorists will only endanger all members of the multinational force, as well as other countries who are contributing to Iraqi reconstruction and humanitarian assistance,” the statement said.

    The United States has faced an erosion in its coalition this year and insurgents have tested the will of governments to keep troops in Iraq by targeting their citizens with kidnappings and beheadings.

    The article goes on to include the obligatory doubts about the actual strength of the message and to detail some of the terrorists’ criminal successes and current threats.

    I had to sign a waiver to play lacrosse. Maybe all foreign workers should have to sign off on a waiver acknowledging that their native country will not pull a Philippines or a Spain and fold up like an origami boulder.

  • Truckers Coordinate to Guard US Highways

    Okay, being stuck behind them on the highway can be suck, but I understand the importance of truck drivers to the economic vitality of our nation. Heck, my dad spent about two decades in a rig. However, I did not know the role truckers are filling in the homeland defense efforts.

    U.S. anti-terrorism officials recently alerted the public that al-Qaeda terrorists may be planning a truck bomb attack in the northeastern United States. The nation’s trucking industry has been on alert for some time, in large part, due to a federally-funded, $20 million program called Highway Watch.

    “We have a pledge. It’s a person pledge. It’s an industry pledge and that’s to do our level best to see that one of our trucks is never used as a weapon,” says Mike Russell, a spokesman for the American Trucking Association (ATA), the trade group that represents more than three million truck drivers nationwide.

    If anyone wants to see how dangerous a trucker’s life can be or how tough these people really are, I suggest this movie.