Target Centermass

Day: April 2, 2005

  • Mideast News Link Dump

    Besides the passing of Pope John Paul II, there are several other stories I would like to blog. Unfortunately, I have a prior social engagement to head out to so this will be without any analysis. I reserve the right to look at any or all of these in greater depth later.

    At Least 20 U.S. Troops Wounded in Terrorist Abu Graib Attack

    Using suicide car bombs and an array of weapons, scores of insurgents made the biggest assault yet on the American-controlled Abu Ghraib prison on Saturday evening, American military officials said. At least 20 American soldiers and marines were wounded.

    […]

    The assault appeared to be an attempt to break prisoners out of a part of the center that is controlled by Iraqi security forces, said Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for the American detainee system in Iraq.

    The assault was so intense that the American troops at the prison called in three Apache attack helicopters and a Marine infantry company, the colonel said. The marines quickly secured the area around the prison. Of the 20 Americans hurt, 18 had only minor wounds, Colonel Rudisill said.

    Analysis: The Honeymoon is Truly Over for Abbas

    Both Abbas and the ousted security chief are aware that the use of drastic measures against the gunmen, most of whom are wanted by Israel, would play into the hands of their rivals, who would depict them as “collaborators.”

    Jaber was not prepared to be seen as doing Israel’s dirty work – a fact that led to his dismissal over the weekend.

    Neither does Abbas want to be in a similar position. That’s why, as of Saturday night, none of the Fatah gunmen who went on the rampage in the city last Wednesday had been arrested, although their identities and addresses were known to the PA security services.

    Related story here.

    Iraqi Sunni Clerics Deny Decree on Police

    Iraq’s Association of Muslim Scholars denied Saturday issuing a religious decree allowing Iraqis to join of the Iraqi police forces and army.

    The country’s only Sunni religious authority said in a statement that reports of 64 clerics issuing a fatwa, or edict, allowing or urging Iraqis to join national security and military forces to protect Iraqis and their property were not linked to the association.

    The statement did not specify the association’s position on the issue, insisting it will do so later.

    Related story here.

    Bombing Jitters Grip Lebanese Capital

    Even for the war-hardened Lebanese, four explosions in two weeks are too much to cope with. Once-vibrant cafes lie empty, shopping malls are virtually deserted and late-night dining has been put on hold. In a movie theater, a woman watching the Will Smith comedy “Hitch” gets a cell phone call about a blast and exclaims “Infijar?!” (“Explosion?!”), whereupon a dozen people quietly head for the door.

    Outside the United Nations offices, workers fill sandbags and erect barriers. At a Beirut mall, newly hired private security guards check vehicles’ trunks and engines and slide a mirror beneath the chassis looking for explosives. Restaurants put up roadblocks to keep cars from parking too close.

    Fear is gripping Lebanon following a recent spate of bombs placed under or near cars that have killed three people and injured 24. The sense of security built up over years of postwar calm has been shattered, with rumors of bombs and suspicion of unclaimed bags feeding the hysteria.

    See Robert Mayer’s examination of the Lebanese bombings at Publius Pundit.

    Now, besides all of the attacks being in Christian neighborhoods, there is one big similarity between all of these attacks, including the Hariri assassination. The economy.

    Now, I’m off to a evening probably filled with inane banter among people I barely know. I anticipate contributing with an occasional distracted sarcasm while sipping beer and watching some Final Four hoops. Should be fun.

  • Daylight Savings Tonight

    Don’t forget to set your clocks forward, at least that goes for most of you. Here’s an interesting look at the history of the clock-switching.

    But shifting 60 little minutes — forward or back — can have unexpected consequences in a world where trains, ball games and even terrorist attacks go by the clock.

    In September 1999, for instance, the Palestinian West Bank was still on daylight-saving time and Israel had just returned to standard time when terrorists smuggled two car bombs across the border, planning to detonate them alongside Israeli buses at precisely 6:30 p.m.

    The buses, however, were running on standard time. The timers were on daylight time. When the bombs went off, the buses were nowhere in sight and three terrorists died in their own cars.

    Ahhh, finally some sunshine when I leave the office.

    Still, I’ll probably manage to forget to change the clocks anyway.

  • FYI for Fellow Bloggers

    When you have nothing to say, this is a pretty damn good way to speak volumes while saying nothing.

  • Sunnis Urged by Clerics to Join Military

    The Sunnis, by their own admission, missed the boat when they refused to rock the vote. A sizable portion of their religious leaders have decided to trace the breadcrumbs back to the fork in the road and venture down the path leading to the future of Iraq, telling their followers to cooperate with Iraq’s new security forces and oppose the terrorists.

    Dozens of influential Sunni Muslim clerics broke with a long-standing boycott Friday and exhorted followers to join Iraq’s fledgling armed forces.

    The edict, signed by 64 Sunni clerics and scholars, declared that joining the security forces was necessary to prevent the country from falling into “the hands of those who have caused chaos, destruction and violated the sanctities.”

    It was announced by Ahmed Abdul Ghafour Samarrae, a Sunni preacher and member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, which has stridently opposed the U.S. military presence in Iraq and discouraged Sunnis from cooperating with foreign occupiers or Iraqi institutions allied with them.

    The spiritual leader of Iraq’s far more numerous and cohesive Shiites, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, also called Friday for cooperation with Iraq’s new security forces, calling it “a religious duty.”

    […]

    The Sunni clerics’ recruiting call — which had the authority of a religious edict, or fatwa — marked their most open cooperation with Iraq’s leaders and foreign patrons since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated government in April 2003. The Sunni clerical bloc had rejected the country’s post-Hussein leadership as irredeemably tainted by ties to the U.S. government and military.

    Many Iraqis welcomed the fatwa as a breakthrough that could accelerate efforts to build security forces capable of assuming responsibility for the country’s security. Sabah Kadim, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the new edict signals the Sunnis’ realization “that the security forces are acting on behalf of the people, and not the Americans.”

    Others, however, expressed concern that the Sunnis’ new stance toward the armed forces suggested the clerics sought less to ally themselves with rival Shiites and Kurds than to counter the dominance those groups have gained in Iraq’s new security forces.

    “This reflects . . . an attempt on their part to . . . have an influence in this growing military power, which in fact indicates a lack of faith in democracy,” said Wamidh Nadhmi, an outspoken Sunni who has been promoting a broad coalition government.

    He added, “This process should have proceeded by negotiations to enter the government, to have some sort of dialogue, which I don’t find at all.”

    Making the armed forces the principal means for overcoming divisions recalls the days of military rule and “the era of coup d’etats,” Nadhmi said.

    The fatwa authorized Iraqis to join the military and police as long as they are committed to serving the people and as long as they “should not be an eye to the occupier,” meaning U.S.-led forces, said Samarrae, the preacher who announced the edict at Friday prayers in Baghdad.

    Samarrae is a moderate in the Association of Muslim Scholars, but it was not clear if the edict had the endorsement of the group itself. The group’s deputy chief, Omar Ghalib, declined to comment, saying the association would make a statement Saturday.

    The clerics’ group was among several Sunni organizations that urged a boycott of Jan. 30 national elections. While enthusiastic Shiites and Kurds turned out by the millions to win control of the 270-seat parliament, Sunnis largely stayed away and won only 17 seats.

    No matter how one slices it, this is a clear sign of progress. Whatever their motivations, the clerics have realized that the strategy of non-participatory obstructionism is not working, only leaving the Sunni people as outsiders in a changing Iraq. Already regretting limiting their strength in the government from the elections, the Sunnis are now forced to realize that the terrorists do not have the support of the people and that opposing the bastards is the best step for the sect.

    At least until the next fork in the road.

  • North Korea Demands American Apology

    Apology denied.

    The chief U.S. delegate to multilateral talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons capability has sharply criticized Pyongyang’s demand for broader arms reduction talks. North Korea also wants a formal apology for what it considers an insult by the United States.

    U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill is flatly rejecting North Korea’s demand for a “more equitable footing” in six-party talks on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programs.

    In a lecture to South Korean students Friday, Ambassador Hill was stinging in his response.

    “It was not helpful. It was, frankly, not serious,” Mr. Hill says.

    Ambassador Hill is the top U.S. delegate to the talks, which also involve Japan, Russia, China, and South Korea.

    […]

    South Korean officials say they will respond to the statement after they have fully interpreted it. For now, they have been repeating Seoul’s position of zero tolerance for nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula.

    Ambassador Hill, however, made it clear he has little patience for North Korean pronouncements.

    “I think they ought to come to the table, and if they want to make sarcastic statements, they can make them to me. And stop with these silly press announcements,” Mr. Hill says.

    Just in case you ever wanted to know how “Blow it out your ass” translated into diplo-speak.