Target Centermass

Day: February 15, 2006

  • Defunct French Warship Ordered Home after India Shunning

    Jacques Chirac has acquired another political black eye as France once again signals retreat.

    After a two-month voyage bound for India’s shipwrecking yards, France’s defunct aircraft carrier Clemenceau is returning home after experts concluded it carries far more asbestos than French authorities originally claimed. The saga of the Clemenceau was an embarrassment for the French government.

    Once the pride of France, the decommissioned warship is now the country’s shame. After weeks of uncertainty over the Clemenceau’s fate, French President Jacques Chirac ordered late Wednesday that the ship return home. Mr. Chirac’s decision comes on the eve of a visit to India, where opposition has been growing against the ships planned dismantlement in the Alang shipwrecking yards.

    Ever since the Clemenceau steamed out of the port of Toulon on December 31, it has been the object of a growing international dispute. Greenpeace and several environmental groups argue it carries far more asbestos on board than the 45 or so tons French officials first claimed. Egyptian authorities originally blocked the Clemenceau from entering the Suez Canal en route for India, for fears of its toxic cargo.

    When Egypt finally gave the green light, the Clemenceau received another setback: India’s supreme court barred the ship from entering Indian waters pending a determination whether the ship was too hazardous to be dismantled. That decision was expected Monday. But the court said it would tap a new committee of experts, and make a final ruling scheduled for Friday.

    Greenpeace hails Mr. Chirac’s announcement as a victory.

    Yannick Jadot, head of Greenpeace’s campaign in France, told French radio that he hoped Paris will assume a leadership role to ensure other toxic European ships are dismantled safely. He said safeguards were needed so poisonous materials could be removed from such vessels without harming the environment or workers’ health.

    As much as I relish an international embarrassment for Chirac, I am loathe to grant any encouragement to Greenpeace.

    The Clemenceau is now returning to France. For the time being, its unclear just where it will finally be dismantled.

    Likewise, I will not be celebrating such an ignominous demise for what was certainly once a proud vessel. Those who served upon her should step forth and demand an honorable resolution for the carrier.

  • Prosecutors to Introduce Alleged Terror Camp Photos

    Details of the prosecution case against a father-son pair of would-be domestic Islamist terrorists are surfacing, including satellite photos purported to show an al Queda training camp in Pakistan.

    The government has satellite images of a suspected al-Qaida training camp that federal prosecutors claim was attended by a man on trial for terrorism-related charges, according to a prosecution brief.

    Prosecutors had previously said they would seek to introduce images from Pakistan but had not publicly disclosed the nature of those photographs. The evidence is expected to be a key part of the government’s case against 23-year-old Hamid Hayat and his father, Umer Hayat, 48.

    On Wednesday, a jury of six men and six women was seated for the trial of Hamid Hayat, who is charged with supporting terrorists by attending the camp in 2003 and 2004 and then lying about it to the FBI. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Thursday.

    The government also claims the son planned to attack hospitals and supermarkets after he returned to the U.S.

    Umer Hayat is charged with lying to the FBI about his son’s attending the camp. His portion of the trial is to begin next week before a separate jury that was seated Tuesday.

    Both deny the son attended the camp. In their brief, prosecutors did not offer any direct evidence that he did, such as photographs or witness accounts that place him there. Rather, their case centers on statements the men made to a confidential government informant in the U.S., the men’s purported videotaped confessions and the photographs they say show the actual camp.

    The Pakistani government denied any of the camps exist. Prosecutors, however, said they have satellite images “of a location consistent in appearance with the militant training camp that Hamid Hayat ultimately confessed that he attended,” according to the 60-page trial brief filed Tuesday night.

    The document outlines the government’s case against the father and son from Lodi, an agricultural community about 35 miles south of Sacramento. Both have been in custody since their arrests last June and have pleaded not guilty.

    […]

    Umer Hayat is charged with two counts of making false statements to FBI agents and faces eight years in prison if convicted. His son is charged with three counts of making false statements to the FBI about attending the camp and with providing material support to terrorists. If convicted, he faces up to 31 years in prison.

    Meanwhile, the defense has concocted a stunning argument.

    Defense attorneys have not offered an alibi to show that Hamid Hayat was anywhere other than where prosecutors say he was. But they contend the informant asked leading questions and that the FBI pressured the father and son to confess without a lawyer or interpreter present.

    Damn those leading questions.

    Mark my words — Islamist terror will assuredly come to our shores again. Thankfully, I’m pretty sure these two bastards won’t be involved.

  • Brrreeeport on Love-child Rape Trial

    The Brrreeeport visits South Africa, where a strange courtroom tale is unfolding.

    An unexpected family link between South African ex-Deputy President Jacob Zuma and a judge has left questions over the future of his rape trial.

    South African media have revealed that Mr Zuma has a son whose uncle is a judge who was to have heard the case.

    The 29-year-old man’s mother is the sister of Judge Jeremiah Shongwe.

    Judge Shongwe was due to judge the case after Bernard Ngoepe stood down at the defence’s request, and Phineas Mojapelo stood down for “personal” reasons.

    Mr Zuma’s defence team would have raised the issue of the blood connection in court if Judge Shongwe had not stood down from the case, the Star newspaper reports.

    The recusal of the three most senior judges of the Transvaal region – Judge President Ngoepe and his two deputies, Judge Mojapelo and Judge Shongwe – has left uncertainty over who will preside over the Zuma trial when it resumes in the Johannesburg High Court on 6 March.

    The Brrreeeport suggestion? Let Judge Judy have it.

    Oh yeah, and just what is the Brrreeeport? Just a little blogosphere jacking with the search engines, courtesy of Scobleizer (hat tip to Llama Butcher Steve).

  • A Tale of Two Duh! Headlines

    Please be so kind as to file them both under the “well, I should freakin’ hope so” category.

    Poll: Americans fear Iran will develop, use nukes

    Americans are deeply worried about the possibility that Iran will develop nuclear weapons and use them against the USA, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds, but they also fear that the Bush administration will be “too quick” to order military action against Iran.

    […]

    There is little doubt among Americans about Iran’s intentions. Eight of 10 predict Iran would provide a nuclear weapon to terrorists who would use it against the USA or Israel, and almost as many say the Iranian government itself would use nuclear weapons against Israel. Six of 10 say the Iranian government would deploy nuclear weapons against the USA.

    I’ll admit, I’m editing quite selectively, but the story really did try to hide the meat of the poll behind the numbers based upon a so-far successful undermining of the Bush administration and piss-poor reporting of our successes in Iraq.

    US and Israel ‘trying to destabilise Hamas’

    Hamas has accused the US and Israel of refusing to accept the result of a democratic election, after a report that the two countries are discussing means to destabilise and bring down a Hamas-led Palestinian administration.

    The New York Times, citing diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, said Washington and Israel intend to block funding for the Palestinian Authority in an attempt to ensure that Hamas cabinet ministers fail and new elections are called.

    After Hamas’s election victory, the US and EU warned the Islamist group that unless it renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist they would cut funding for the Palestinian Authority.

    Let’s see … a terrorist organization is rightfully elected the run the Palestinian state-or-whatever. The two governments that have previously shouldered a lion’s share of the funding for the state-or-state-of-anarchy balk. Is this undermining or just a shade of common-sense diplomacy? I’m voting for the latter, and I would really like to see a little hardball played here — the Palestinians made a choice and Hamas must find a way to function as a true government or fail upon their promises. After all, they have a rather sizable role to play in the violent anarchy over which they now supposedly govern. That Hamas would decry a withholding of funding from those they’ve deemed enemies is a truly special brand of weak victimization for a state-or-state-of-bloodletting that has already banked for years upon its claims of victimhood.