Sorry, folks, busy with other things tonight. I did want to leave you with some stories that caught my eye, though.
Second Saddam trial defence lawyer murdered
Gunmen killed a second defence lawyer in the trial of Saddam Hussein and his aides on Tuesday and the former Iraqi president’s own counsel demanded the court be moved abroad, out of reach of the U.S.-backed government.
The sectarian anger dividing Iraq pervades the proceedings but ministers refused to consider a move abroad after a lawyer for another of Saddam’s co-accused was killed three weeks ago and the government spokesman declined fresh comment.
The defence renewed a threat to boycott the court, which is next due to sit at the end of the month.
Another defence lawyer was slightly wounded in the attack on their car in Baghdad; three weeks ago a colleague was abducted and shot the day after the start of proceedings in the trial for crimes against humanity on October 19. Both dead men made vocal, televised contributions on what has so far been the only day of hearings.
In Tuesday’s attack, Adil al-Zubeidi was killed and his colleague Thamer Hamoud al-Khuzaie wounded when their car came under fire in the western Baghdad district of Hay al-Adil, police and defence team sources said. Both were working for Saddam’s brother and his former vice president[.]
Tell the defense team to shut up and button up, move ’em into the Green Zone and let the wheels of Iraqi justice proceed. Just my two bits.
UN Extends Mandate of U.S.-Led Forces in Iraq Through 2006
The United Nations Security Council voted 15 to 0 to authorize U.S.-led forces to remain in Iraq until Dec. 31, 2006, to give Iraqi troops time to prepare for assuming responsibility for the nation’s security.
The resolution, drafted by the U.S. and co-sponsored by Denmark, Japan, Romania and the U.K., asks the Security Council to review the mandate of the multinational force no later than June 15, 2006, or to terminate it at the request of Iraq’s government. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari requested the extension in an Oct. 27 letter to the UN.
The U.S. asked for an early extension of the mandate, which wasn’t due to expire until Dec. 31, to avoid making the authorization an issue in the election of an Iraqi government on Dec. 15, U.K. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said.
Smart move there, timing-wise.
17 arrests in Australia terror raid
Two Islamic terror cells were rushing to become the first to stage a major “jihad” terror bombing in Australia, a prosecutor said after armed police arrested 17 suspects in a string of co-ordinated pre-dawn raids in two cities.
“Thankfully, the police forces of this country might just have prevented a catastrophic act of terrorism … either in Melbourne or in Sydney,” said New South Wales state Police Minister Carl Scully.
[…]
About 500 armed police arrested nine men in the southern city of Melbourne and eight in Sydney, including one man critically injured in a gun fight with police.
Police said they expected more arrests in coming days and weeks. Federal police have raided another Sydney home, but there were no immediate reports of arrests.
As per the norm, there was the usual admonition that the Aussies’ participation in the Iraqi theater is the main driver behind the threats. I find that rather laughable, considering that a) the U.S. supposedly acted unilaterally in Iraq, and b) radical Islamic terror should rightly be considered a global threat — there are no safe havens, and flimsy excuses for expansionist Islamic militancy are merely pathetic aids to the danger our civilization must squarely face.
Restive France Declares State of Emergency
The French government declared a state of emergency Tuesday after nearly two weeks of rioting, and the prime minister said the nation faced a “moment of truth.”
The extraordinary security measures, to begin Wednesday and valid for 12 days, clear the way for curfews to try to halt the country’s worst civil unrest since the student uprisings of 1968.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, tacitly acknowledging that France has failed to live up to its egalitarian ideals, reached out to the heavily immigrant suburbs where the rioting began. He said France must make a priority of working against the discrimination that feeds the frustration of youths made to feel that they do not belong in France.
“The effectiveness of our integration model is in question,” the prime minister told parliament. He called the riots “a warning” and “an appeal.”
The riots are not a warning.
They are not an appeal.
They are an unchecked, at least as of yet, uprising against both French and Western society by an isolated and radical immigration block that has no reason to care for those same societies. Those involved are the violent children of an immigrant culture of bloody disdain for Western values, solidified and strengthened by a failed mindset of non-assimilation.
Iraqi insurgent toll rises as offensive continues
U.S. and Iraqi forces searched house-to-house for the third day of a major offensive near Iraq’s border with Syria on Monday, with at least 17 insurgents and one Marine killed, the military said.
Operation Steel Curtain continued its cautious progress through areas in and around Qusayba, a dusty, low-lying town in western Iraq, most of whose 30,000 residents appeared to have already fled.
U.S. Marines and Iraqi scouts, supported by tanks and air strikes, have met what they describe as sporadic resistance from Sunni Arab insurgents and foreign fighters armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and improvised bombs.
[…]
Several U.S. offensives this year in the Euphrates valley, a green belt running from the border toward the capital, have been aimed at stemming the flow of Islamist militants into Iraq.
My best wishes to the boots on the ground and their families. The spice must flow, but the Islamist militant flow must be halted.
I was asked today and have often wondered something about Veterans Day — who is it truly meant to honor? Memorial Day is easy — that is a day to remember and pay homage to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the uniform (though everyday we wake up free should be such a day). I knew the origins of today’s holiday, with Nov. 11 (the anniversary of the end of World War I in 1918) formerly being set aside as Armistice Day to honor those who served in that great conflict. In 1954, the name of the holiday was changed to include the veterans of WWII and Korea. Obviously, Veterans Day is a tribute to veterans, but my question was if it was truly meant for combat veterans or those like myself who only served in peacetime?