Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • Iraq Election Update: Sunnis and Powell and Osama

    Oh my!

    First, the Sunnis:

    Iraq’s Top Sunni Party Withdraws from Jan. Election

    Iraq’s top Sunni Muslim party said Monday it was withdrawing from Jan. 30 elections because relentless bloodshed would keep people from voting in the long dominant Sunni north and west.

    “The Iraqi Islamic Party is withdrawing from the elections because we do not think the situation will improve in the next few weeks to give conditions for credible elections,” party Secretary-General Tareq al-Hashimi said.

    Persistent violence in Sunni Arab cities, most of which are under curfew, has raised fears that voters there will be too intimidated to cast their ballots, skewing the poll in favor of Iraq’s 60-percent Shi’ite Muslim majority.

    The Islamic Party’s list of 275 candidates would still appear on ballot papers which were already being printed, a spokesman for Iraq’s Electoral Commission told Reuters.

    Farid Ayar said the Commission had received no formal request for withdrawal, but if it does, any votes cast for the Iraqi Islamic Party would be considered “invalid.”

    The leading mainstream Sunni religious party, along with at least 16 other Sunni and secular parties, had threatened to boycott the poll unless it was postponed by up to six months to ensure that voters across the country could take part.

    But most, including the Islamic Party itself, later fielded lists of candidates for the poll to elect a 275-seat National Assembly that will draft a constitution and appoint a cabinet.

    Counter this with Secretary Powell:

    Powell Says Next Iraqi Government Should Assure Sunni Representation

    U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says the transitional Iraqi government to be set up after next month’s elections will have to “find a way” to assure that Sunni Muslims are fairly represented. U.S. officials are concerned that the insurgency and a poor turnout by Sunnis could largely exclude them from a new national assembly.

    Mr. Powell says there is no provision in Iraq’s Transitional Administrative Law for handing Sunnis seats in the new national assembly that they don’t win in the January 30 election.

    But he is making clear the Bush administration’s view that Sunnis should have an adequate role in the new government that will be chosen by the assembly.

    ….

    At a news conference here, Mr. Powell said the law provides only for the direct election of legislators, but that the government they choose should reflect the religious and ethnic makeup of the country:

    “I think that for the government to be representative, and for the government to be effective, the transitional national assembly would certainly have to take into account the ethnic mix of the country, and find a way to make sure that all segments of the country believe that they are playing a proper role in the government. That’s the way the Iraqi Interim Government was formed and the current ministries operate, and it would seem to me to be sensible for the transitional government to do the same thing,” Mr. Powell says.

    Iraq’s Shiites, who make up about 60 per cent of the population and were largely denied power under Saddam Hussein, are energetically campaigning in the elections.

    ….

    Mr. Powell said having the election as scheduled January 30, with maximum participation, is essential. He said the United States is encouraging Sunnis to join in the effort, and to, in his words, “say no to terrorism, no to murder, and yes to democracy.”

    He said as part of that effort, the United States is talking to other Arab governments, urging them to encourage Iraqi Sunni leaders to turn out the vote.

    And then there’s the sonofabitch bin Laden:

    Osama Bid to Hijack Vote

    Terror chief Osama Bin Laden has made a blatant bid to destroy Iraq’s elections.

    In a chilling audiotape broadcast yesterday, the al-Qaeda leader urged all Iraqi Muslims to boycott the poll on January 30.

    Bin Laden also said he was PLEASED with the “gallant work” of evil terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — the man responsible for beheading 62-year-old British hostage Ken Bigley.

    The tape was aired by Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera and the voice seemed to be Bin Laden’s.

    He tells Iraqis: “This constitution is infidel and therefore everyone who participates in this election will be considered infidels.

    “Beware of henchmen who speak in the name of Islamic parties and urge people to participate in the election.”

    Bin Laden goes on to describe al-Zarqawi as the “emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq” and urges Muslims there “to listen to him”.

    Jordanian al-Zarqawi and his henchmen are responsible for numerous car bombings and beheadings of foreign hostages.

    If Osama’s recent releases are anything to judge by, there are two things he is concerned for — his life and his movement. These concerns are driven by two fears, and those are President Bush and progress towards a return to civilization by the world of Islam. He tried but failed to sway the U.S. to reject Bush, and now he is working to persuade the Iraqi people to reject democracy. Osama knows all too well that a free and prosperous society, even in a Moslem nation, will not willingly turn back the clock the centuries his beliefs require. Instead, such a society could potentially shine like the Lighthouse of Alexandria to the surrounding peoples. This could be more of an end of Osama than his death ever could be.

  • Ukrainian Transport Minister Found Dead

    With opposition leader Victor Yushchenko’s victory apparently assured in the Ukrainian presidential do-over, there may be a break on the fraud allegations of the earlier balloting. Is this the smoking gun?

    Ukrainian Transport Minister Heorhiy Kirpa, a supporter of the trailing candidate in Sunday’s presidential election, was found dead in his house from a gunshot wound Monday, a spokesman for the nation’s railways said.

    Local media speculated that Kirpa’s death was a suicide but officials did not confirm that. The Unian news agency reported that a gun was found near his body.

    A duty officer in Kiev’s police headquarters told The Associated Press that Kirpa was found wounded. When asked whether Kirpa had committed suicide, the officer would not comment.

    Kirpa’s death came a day after a presidential election rerun in which opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko held an insurmountable lead over Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Opposition figures claimed that Kirpa allocated trains to ferry Yanukovych supporters to vote at multiple polling sites in Nov. 21 presidential balloting that eventually was annulled by the Ukraine Supreme Court.

    That overturning of the election led to Sunday’s rerun.

    Well, obviously it’s a smoking gun, but is it the smoking gun, one pointing to a man who tried to screw over the wishes of his own countrymen?

  • Kids Raise Money for Soldiers’ Phone Cards

    Sometimes, a great story just speaks for itself.

    For all the billions of dollars being spent on the war in Iraq, 14-year-old Brittany Bergquist is surprised that the U.S. military doesn’t do what she and her little brother are doing: helping soldiers phone home free.

    “I’m kind of happy that they didn’t supply them,” she said, “because we’ve always wanted to do something for the soldiers.”

    With $14 from their piggy banks, she and 12-year-old brother Robbie started Cell Phones for Soldiers. In less than nine months, the organization has provided $250,000 worth of prepaid calling cards to American soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.

    They raise money by collecting old cellular phones and selling them to companies that refurbish them for resale.

    It all started in April, when the family heard about a Massachusetts soldier who ran up $7,600 in cell phone charges calling home from Iraq. T-Mobile forgave much of the bill. But Brittany and Robbie figured there must be other soldiers — including a cousin of theirs — who are stationed in Iraq and want to call home more often but cannot afford it.

    The Bergquist kids pooled their money and got friends to kick in $7 more. They opened a bank account at South Shore Savings Bank, which was so impressed it contributed $500. Yard sales followed, along with newspaper articles and TV interviews. Hundreds of schools and organizations, from Hawaii to Georgia, have started local chapters and become drop-off centers for used cell phones.

    “It’s hard doing everything,” said Brittany, an eighth-grader from the Boston suburb of Norwell. “But it doesn’t matter to us. We think about how hard the soldiers work every day and they don’t have a choice to stop.”

    Last week, the IRS granted Cell Phones for Soldiers nonprofit status, meaning contributions to the cause are tax-deductible.

    The USO, the private organization that entertains U.S. troops overseas, runs a similar program, called Operation Phone Home. A $10 donation will buy a serviceman or servicewoman a 100-minute global calling card.

    Related sites:
    Cell Phones for Soldiers
    USO

  • Quote of the Week, 26 DEC 04

    Music played at weddings always reminds me of the music played for soldiers before they go into battle.

    —Heinrich Heine

  • Iraq May Set Aside Seats for Sunnis

    It is important that the January elections go forward, and every terroristic action stresses this importance. That said, ideally the results of the elections would represent the will of the Iraqi people. With the election scheduled for a little over a month away, possibilities are still being considered to counter those working for the Saddamist past or an Islamist alternative future, including this.

    Iraq’s electoral commission is considering setting aside seats in the country’s national assembly for Sunni Arab politicians and other groups if their supporters don’t vote in the country’s Jan. 30 elections for fear of attacks by insurgents, a U.S. official said Sunday.

    Authorities are looking to counter the effects of threats by insurgents, who have vowed to attack voters and polling stations, said Marine Maj. Jim West, intelligence operations officer for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Fallujah.

    The prospect of attacks and intimidation has led some Iraqis, especially in Sunni areas west of Baghdad, to say they’re too afraid to vote. Particularly at issue is the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, where the insurgents are strong.

    “They’re trying to find out several different courses of action to ensure that the Sunni population is not disenfranchised from the government,” West said. “That is to ensure that even if the insurgents are able to stop the election process in one area, that these people will still be represented.”

    The New York Times first reported the idea in its Sunday editions, citing an anonymous western diplomat who said the option had been presented to an aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, an influential Shiite cleric who has urged Shiites to take part in the vote.

    Shiites comprise about 60 percent of Iraq’s population, with Kurds and Sunni Arabs making up 20 percent each. Some American and Iraqi leaders fear the legitimacy of the election would be jeopardized if Sunnis don’t vote.

    West said the electoral commission was particularly worried about the Anbar province, which includes the restive cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. He stressed that it was up to Iraq’s electoral commission and government to decide how to handle the vote, and the idea was one of many the interim Iraqi government was considering.

    Fallujah was emptied before a U.S.-led invasion that began Nov. 8 to root out the insurgents who had overrun the city. The government allowed people to start returning to some neighborhoods in the devastated city days ago as part of their bid to get Fallujah resettled for the vote.

    West said Iraqi leaders were still working to ensure that all major population centers take part in the vote. He said American and Iraqi officials had talked about the 1st Marine Expeditionary force helping with security by giving local officials intelligence information, setting up cordons and “outer security,” and providing more training to make sure polling places are safe.

    The United States does not want to have a visible presence at polling stations for fear that people would see the vote as an American, not Iraqi, process.

    “It’s an Iraqi election and the Iraqis need to conduct this election and want to conduct this election on their own,” West said. “We’re willing to help however they would like our help but we are not trying to get more involved by any means more than what they feel like they need.”

    West also said people in Fallujah need not register beforehand. Many Iraqis are on population lists compiled for a rationing system worked out under the U.N. oil-for-food program, and he said people could become eligible to vote by showing up on polling day and validating their name on those lists.

    I have little, if any, initial objections to such a move. The vote has to go forward to get the government into Iraqi hands and I’m not afraid of little hurdles that allow this. I’ll mull it over a bit while the situation develops, but the Iraqi people need to get their hands on a say in their government and their country’s direction. That is the best hope for their future.

  • China Will ‘Crush’ Any Taiwan Independence Move

    I’ve previously blogged on the latest saber-rattling legislation being considered by communist China in regards towards Taiwan. Now, the ChiComs are vehemently shaking their weapons, trying to get all the rattle possible out of those sabers.

    Relations between China and Taiwan are grim and the mainland will crush any major moves toward independence by the island no matter what the cost, the government said in a policy paper on national defense on Monday.

    The comments came as China’s parliament discussed a draft anti-secession law that analysts say may contain clauses that would legally bind Beijing to take military action if the island Beijing claims as a renegade province ever declared independence.

    Taiwan split from the mainland at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, but Beijing still sees the self-governing island of 23 million as part of China and has pledged to bring it back to the fold, by force if necessary.

    “The situation in the relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits is grim,” the defense white paper said.

    “Should the Taiwan authorities go so far as to make a reckless attempt that constitutes a major incident of ‘Taiwan independence’, the Chinese people and armed forces will resolutely and thoroughly crush it at any cost,” it said.

    Separatist activities on Taiwan had become the “biggest immediate threat” to China’s sovereignty and to peace and stability in the region, the paper said.

    Pro-independence moves by Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian have made Beijing’s communist leaders increasingly nervous since he took office in 2000.

    However, Chen’s ambitions suffered a blow this month when his Democratic Progressive Party failed to gain a majority in the legislature, curtailing his power to introduce a new constitution that China says would be a step toward independence.

    The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but it is bound by law to help Taiwan defend itself. Washington is the island’s biggest arms supplier.

    The policy paper criticized the United States for continuing to increase, both qualitatively and quantitatively, its arms sales to Taiwan, saying this sent the wrong signal.

    “The U.S. action does not serve a stable situation across the Taiwan Straits,” it said.

    China has been unmoved by outside criticism that Beijing’s refusal to renounce the use of force against Taiwan has ratcheted up tension across the narrow straits.

    It was the “sacred responsibility” of China’s armed forces to prevent Taiwan independence forces from splitting the country, the policy paper said.

    On Sunday, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, or parliament, praised the draft anti-secession law and unanimously suggested that it be submitted for deliberation at a session of parliament early next year.

    Enacting the law was extremely necessary and very timely, Xinhua quoted the lawmakers as saying.

    Rattle. Rattle. Rattle.

    To instantly quote another particular blogger, “Heh.” I stand by my earlier assessment. The game is the same; the Chinese are merely pushing themselves into a corner where I fear they may have to act to save face.

  • Yushchenko Declares Victory in Ukraine Re-vote

    The people of the Ukraine have made their choice … again … maybe.

    Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared victory early Monday in Ukraine’s presidential election, telling supporters it is the dawn of a new political era in the former Soviet republic.

    Although final results will be released Monday morning, Yushchenko had a huge lead in early returns, and exit polls indicated he would defeat Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

    I hope Yushchenko is not relying only on exit polls.

    Yushchenko, who was poisoned with dioxin during the campaign, told tens of thousands of supporters who had massed in Independence Square, “After today, everything is going to change in the Ukraine.”

    “For 14 years, we were independent, but we were not free,” he said. “This is a unique, clear political victory, an elegant victory from the people who have proved their power.”

    The bitterly contested race was a repeat of a November 21 election whose results were thrown out because of widespread fraud. Yanukovych won the official count by 2.7 percentage points in that election.

    In response, Yushchenko supporters gathered daily in the square, calling for another election. Sunday night, they gathered in celebration.

    “Today, the Ukrainian nation and the Ukrainian people have won. The Ukrainian people have won,” Yushchenko said.

    Three exit polls released just after the voting ended showed him with a 12- to 20-point lead lead over Yanukovych, who was backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Damn, there’s those exit polls.

    Yanukovych told reporters that he still believed he could win — but that if he did not, he would fight as an opposition voice in parliament.

    With ballots from just over 60 percent of precincts counted, Yushchenko was leading 56 percent to 40 percent, The Associated Press reported, citing election officials.

    Okay, so it looks like much more than just exit polls. In addition, so far there have been no official allegations of fraud that haunted the previous balloting. The Yshchenko campaign was confident that the “election results could not be ‘stolen’ this time.”

    “I am very happy that our Ukrainian people rose up and fought for freedom and democracy, and I think that we will have our victory,” a Yushchenko supporter said.

    Whoever wins, and it certainly looks like Yushchenko right now, certainly has a tough row to hoe, as Ukraine has been torn in half by this election.

    The election will determine Ukraine’s relationship with Europe and Russia. Yushchenko has stronger ties to the West than does Yanukovych.

    The winner will face the challenge of uniting the country and building stability. Ukraine is divided geographically, with people in eastern and southern regions of the country largely supporting Yanukovych and those in other areas, including Kiev, mostly backing Yushchenko.

    ….

    If Yushchenko wins, he will also face the challenge of building a relationship with Russia.

    Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma has called on whoever loses to congratulate the winner the next day to help build stability. Asked whether he would call Yushchenko if the polls prove accurate, Yanukovych said he would do so, with regret.

    He has argued that the new election was unnecessary and unconstitutional. But international monitors condemned irregularities and fraud in last month’s vote, and Ukraine’s supreme court ultimately ruled the results invalid.

    To say the winner is inheriting a nightmare, both internationally and domestically, is certainly accurate.

  • With Apologies to Bing

    It was a White Christmas for much of the Lone Star State, including my dear ol’ hometown of Angleton. Since I first moved there in 1980, it has snowed only a three or four times that I can recall, and even then never more half an inch, as the town is south of Houston near the Gulf Coast.

    Well, Mr. Crosby’s dreaming certainly came through in 2004 (subscription required).

    Mother Nature’s gift to Brazoria County was up to 13 inches of snow — a record for the county — and a wish granted for all who dreamed for a white Christmas.

    The blink-and-you-miss-it snowflakes that first fell about 11:15 a.m. Christmas Eve were replaced by a steady sprinkling of snow that began to blanket Brazoria County by nightfall. It stopped some drivers in their tracks, and prompted others to step outside to witness the rarity.

    At one point, National Weather Service meteorologists believe the dark skies released between 2 and 3 inches of snow each hour late Friday. Forecasters predicted snow was a possibility for the area known for its sunny skies and beaches, but those surfboards could’ve been used on land instead of water Saturday.

    ….

    Six-year-old Alia Cerda and her sister, Alexandria, 8, each wore three pairs of socks, two pairs of pants and three shirts plus their hooded jackets with gloves. The two Michigan girls were in Angleton visiting. But they couldn’t escape the snow, which they didn’t seem to mind as they gathered handfuls for a snowman.

    “You folks actually had some thundersnow,” said Meteorologist Patrick Blood of the National Weather Service. That’s when there are thunderstorms with lightning and snow.

    The unusual weather occurrence was caused by cold air and moisture pumped by an upper level low, Blood said. Snowfall levels increased from east to west.

    Thirteen inches of snow fell in Brazoria, West Columbia had 8 inches, and the Angleton and Lake Jackson area had between 6 and 8 inches of snow. Between 3 and 4 inches fell in Alvin. Galveston had an inch.

    Meanwhile, I was with my girlfriend visiting her family in Amarillo for the holiday. I may have missed hometown history but nevertheless enjoyed a White Christmas. I think my dog Ilsa enjoyed the snow even more.

    I’m now back in DFW with more normal weather and gifts aplenty. It was a good time but the reality of the cubicle looms tomorrow. Okay, now let’s see if I can get my stride back on blogging.

  • Happy Holidays

    Normal posting will resume shortly, probably overnight or tomorrow from Amarillo. Just wanted to give y’all a look at Christmas, Gunner-style.

    First, the tree:

    Then, my dog Ilsa:

    Now to go open some presents before the trip. Later, y’all.

  • Next Harry Potter Book Release Date Announced

    The author of the entertaining and highly successful Harry Potter series has disclosed the release date of the next volume.

    Harry Potter author JK Rowling gave fans an early Christmas gift yesterday by revealing her new book will be published on July 16.

    JK, 39, was not expected to unveil the date for Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince until Christmas Day.

    But yesterday she said on her website, which is designed like a desk: “I was sure those of you who celebrate Christmas have better things to do on the day itself than fight your way into my study, whereas those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas would definitely prefer not to wait until the 25th.”

    Well, looks like July 15, 2005, will be another late night at Barnes & Noble with the girlfriend.