Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • Cedar Revolution Rolls to Lebanese Victory

    Anti-Syria alliance wins Lebanon poll

    Final results in Lebanon’s parliamentary election yesterday gave a clear victory to anti-Syrian candidates led by Saad Hariri, the 35-year-old son of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri who was assassinated in February.

    In the fourth and final phase of the month-long election, the opposition alliance won all the remaining 28 seats in northern Lebanon, bringing its total to 72 in the 128-member parliament.

    “The north has decided the character of the new parliament and given the absolute majority to the opposition,” Mr Hariri told a news conference.

    The result makes Mr Hariri, who entered politics as a result of his father’s death, an obvious candidate for prime minister, although he has so far refused to say whether he wants the job.

    Following the withdrawal of Syrian forces under international pressure in April, the elections were the first since the 1975-90 civil war to be free of extensive meddling from Damascus.

    Still, there were harsh lessons in democracy to be learned.

    Despite allegations of vote-buying and intimidation in some areas, an EU monitoring team said yesterday the elections “were well-managed and took place in a generally peaceful manner within the framework for elections”.

    Many voters were disappointed by the way rival factions struck pacts which guaranteed seats for themselves and made the results a foregone conclusion in large parts of the country.

    At least we’re not talking about a blatant screwing, such as that proven in the states of Wisconsin and Washington in a supposedly well-established election process.

    Sunday’s final stage was the more competitive, pitting the anti-Syrian list against an unlikely alliance of pro-Syrian candidates and supporters of the former general Michel Aoun, a Maronite who had previously been a vehement critic of Damascus.

    Mr Aoun, whose candidates won 21 seats a week ago in the Christian heartland of Mount Lebanon, accused Mr Hariri’s alliance of buying votes and playing on sectarian differences to secure victory and ruled out any possibility of teaming up with him in parliament.

    “We will be in the opposition. We can’t be with a majority that reached [parliament] through corruption,” Mr Aoun said.

    A further 54 seats in the new parliament are held by a pro-Syrian Shia alliance of Amal and Hizbullah.

    This leaves Mr Hariri’s alliance short of the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution and oust the Syrian-backed president, Emile Lahoud, who controls key parts of the security services.

    Last autumn, under Syrian pressure, the previous parliament gave Mr Lahoud an extra two years in office. There are also doubts about how long the alliances forged in the run-up to the election will last once parliament convenes.

    Obviously, there could be and quite probably will be tumultuous times ahead for Lebanon, perhaps even another civil war. Despite the amazing story of a free election, the chance of upheaval provides an ample doorway for the New York Times to waltz through with its negative spin.

    Anti-Syria Coalition’s Victory in Lebanon Raises New Tension

    Lebanon’s anti-Syrian movement swept the voting on Sunday in the country’s far north, official results released Monday night showed, giving it a firm parliamentary majority.

    But euphoric notions of a new era in national politics were mitigated by the fact that the election also revived religious hostilities that seemed buried when hundreds of thousands of Lebanese rallied last spring in revulsion over the assassination of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, and over Syria’s power.

    The Times seems to revel in the possibility of civil war, the chance of a failure of a democratic movement. I’ve acknowledged the possibility, but does it have to be trumpeted as the key aspect of today’s wondrous story? Would the Lebanese be better under the stability of Syrian occupation and repression? Would it be better that the former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact satellite nations be kept under the boot of Moscow-led communism in the name of stability, rather than struggling their own ways to their own future? Oh, wait, I forgot for a moment I was discussing the New York Times.

  • Judge to Pick Parent to Bury Marine

    Want to add courtroom drama to wartime family tragedy? Enter the perfect storm of a fallen soldier, cemetery delays and well-intentioned but divorced parents.

    The divorced parents of a Marine killed in the U.S. military’s deadliest air crash of the Iraq war are fighting in court over where to bury their son.

    The Detroit-area judge who will decide the case scheduled a July 15 hearing on Monday and said she does not want it to turn into a “three-ring circus.”

    The parents are arguing over the choice of cemeteries – a new national cemetery that has yet to open or a paternal family plot.

    Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, 34, died in January along with 29 other Marine infantrymen and a medic in a helicopter crash. His remains are being kept in a Roseville crypt.

    “We should be talking about the wonderful things he did for his country, his family and friends instead of … where we’re going to bury him,” Judge Diane Druzinski said.

    Klein’s mother, Rae Oldaugh, wants her son buried in the new Great Lakes National Cemetery. Groundbreaking was held in October, but the cemetery is not expected to be ready for burials until August at the earliest.

    Klein’s father, Manfred Klein, apparently also wanted his son buried there but became frustrated by delays. The Klein family now wants to bury Allan in a private cemetery where one of his paternal grandparents is interred.

    Manfred Klein said his son never specifically talked about what should happen if he died.

    This is truly a pathetic situation, and I don’t mean that derisively towards anyone involved. The soldier should’ve made his wishes clear before going into harm’s way, but one is very reticent to speak ill of the fallen. One parent wants all deserved honors; the other wanted the same but has seemingly found a need for closure. From the available details, neither can really be faulted.

    I do not envy the judge in this matter.

  • Police Kill Man With Grenade at Courthouse

    That’s not a very good headline — it should be made clear that the police did not use a grenade to kill a man. Well, on the bright side, there’s one less nutjob in the Seattle area.

    A man carrying a hand grenade and shouting threats was shot dead by police Monday in the lobby of the federal courthouse.

    The grenade was inactive, but police could not see that as the man held it in his hand, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said.

    Witnesses said the man, wearing a backpack that he later strapped to his chest, tried to get past security and began shouting threats. Kerlikowske said the backpack contained a cutting board.

    The man “often frequented the courthouse as well as the federal building,” U.S. Marshal Eric Robertson said, adding he had a “disdain” for the federal government.

    The medical examiner’s office said it would not identify the man until Tuesday.

    In the lobby, a guard saw the man take the grenade out of his backpack, then try to walk across a ledge next to a pool that blocks public access to a secured area, Robertson said.

    Judges, jurors, employees and prisoners in the 23-story federal building were evacuated. Meanwhile, security officers tried talking to the man, but he refused to put the grenade down. He also carried a sheaf of papers, including some court documents and what authorities described as a living will.

    After about 25 minutes of negotiations with police, “the man made a furtive movement,” Robertson said. “At that point the officers had no choice but to stop that threat.”

    An officer with a .223-caliber rifle and another with a shotgun each fired once at the man, who fell to the floor still holding the grenade.

    Bomb squad members determined the grenade had been drilled out and was inactive.

    Luckily for the unidentified corpse, this is not grounds for disenfranchisement in the state of Washington, at least not in a gubernatorial election.

  • Think You Know Terror?

    Want to strut your opinions? Chad at In the Bullpen is looking for guest bloggers (as well as offering reciprocal links). To help you understand the focus of his site, here’s a great terror round-up Chad put together today.

  • Two Interesting Links on Iraq

    Is it a unilateral action? Chrenkoff makes it obvious the, despite the scheduled and unscheduled departure of some members, the Coalition is still a great representation of the international community.

    Are we losing? Dean Esmay examines the trends of Coalition combat deaths.

  • Wood: Rescue Shows Policy Working

    Douglass Wood, the Aussie recently freed from captivity in Iraq, has returned home and has had some choice statements regarding his capture and rescue.

    The Australian hostage held captive for nearly seven weeks in Iraq before being freed last week has said his rescue by Iraqi troops is a sign that U.S. and Australian policies are working.

    “I actually believe that I am proof positive that the current policy of training the Iraqi army — of recruiting, training and buddying them worked — because it was the Iraqis that got me out,” Douglas Wood told reporters in Melbourne after returning to Australia Monday morning.

    The 64-year-old engineer also apologized to U.S. President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard for statements he made at gunpoint in a DVD his captors released to the news media.

    On the DVD, Wood pleaded for Australian, U.S. and British troops to withdraw from Iraq.

    […]

    Wood was kidnapped April 30 and released [sic, as I’m just sure CNN meant to type rescued] June 15, when Iraqi forces supported by coalition forces stumbled across him during an unrelated raid in the Al Adel neighborhood of Baghdad.

    “Perhaps I’m proof positive that the current policies of the American and Australian governments is the right one,” he said.

    Wood would not even rule out a return to Iraq, despite his ordeal.

    I blogged last week that Wood’s immediate requests after rescue were for beer and football updates. Now, Wood gives even more reason to admire him.

    Asked what he thinks of his captors, Wood needed little time to reflect.

    “Arseholes,” he shot back.

    Wood said he did not know who the men were who kidnapped him.

    “I didn’t know whether it was al Qaeda or who it was,” he said. “I didn’t know … obviously, my head is intact, so it wasn’t al Qaeda.”

    I’d really love to buy this bloke a brew.

  • South Korean Soldier Kills Eight

    A tragic story echoes from the Korean DMZ.

    A South Korean soldier in a front-line unit went on a rampage early Sunday, killing eight of his fellow soldiers and wounding two others.

    The 22-year-old private, identified by his surname “Kim,” threw a grenade into a barracks of sleeping soldiers in Yeoncheon county near the border with North Korea, then opened fire with a rifle.

    The Yonhap news agency says two wounded soldiers were airlifted to a hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening. Private Kim told authorities he was angry because a senior soldier had verbally abused him.

    This tale brings to mind the murderous traitor Hasan Akbar, all the way down to the grenade, shooting and sickening excuse of verbal abuse.

  • Texas Governor’s Race Takes Shape

    Rick Perry is in as the Republican incumbent. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has opted against a gubernatorial challenge, a move that may have averted a juggling of positions among Texas Republicans.

    The GOP holds every statewide elected office in Texas and party leaders had been gearing up for a grand game of political musical chairs in case U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison jumped into the 2006 governor’s race.

    Instead, Hutchison opted for another run at the Senate, leaving most GOP office holders sitting right where they are.

    “Everybody stays home,” said Republican political consultant Bill Miller.

    The lone exception: Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs, who has already declared her candidacy for comptroller. Sen. Todd Staples, a Republican from Palestine, is expected to run for agriculture commissioner.

    There had been wide speculation that if Hutchison challenged Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst would campaign for her Senate seat and Attorney General Greg Abbott would launch a bid for lieutenant governor. Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams was considered a potential candidate for Abbott’s seat.

    With Hutchison out, state comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has decided to throw her hat in the ring as a primary challenge to Perry, a challenge that may grow bitter.

    It promises to be an ugly battle between Republicans for the right to run for governor. Saturday, state comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn threw her name in the hat, and the political punches are already flying.

    Strayhorn made the announcement just blocks away from the State Capitol. The 65-year-old grandmother thrilled the crowd with her fiery rhetoric.

    “It is time for a change — it is time to send Governor Perry packin’,” she said.

    […]

    “Now it’s time to replace this do-nothin’ drugstore cowboy with one tough grandma,” said Strayhorn — one tough grandma who’s promising one tough primary fight.

    One thing is certain about the upcoming campaign, and that is that I will be absolutely sick of the phrase “one tough grandma” long before a single ballot is cast.

    So far, no Democrat has declared.

  • Quote of the Week, 19 JUN 05

    Join a Highland regiment, me boy. The kilt is an unrivaled garment for fornication and diarrhea.

    —Lieutenant Colonel John Masters

  • Israeli Security: One if by land

    … two if by sea.

    Israel is planning a barrier stretching almost a kilometre into the Mediterranean to prevent seaborne Palestinian militants infiltrating its coastline after it pulls out of Gaza.

    The barrier, which will be under water and above, and fitted with electronic sensors, will stretch out to sea in a line from Gaza’s northern border with Israel.

    The plan, which triggered immediate protests from Palestinian leaders, is ostensibly aimed at making up for the reduction is surveillance posts for the Israeli military after it dismantles its installations guarding the Strip’s 21 settlements.

    Military sources broadly confirmed a report in the Jerusalem Post which said that the barrier would stretch 950m into the sea. The newspaper said that the first 150m would consist of concrete pilings dug into the seabed, and the remaining 800m would be a submerged 1.8m (6ft) deep “floating fence”.

    Officials suggested that the barrier would use a combination of sensors and underwater radar to alert the military to possible infiltration as well as physically helping to prevent it. Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Gaza are already restricted by Israeli naval patrols on how far out to sea they can go.

    Although Israel has provoked the condemnation of the Palestinians and the International Court of Justice for the 600km land security barrier because it cuts deep into the West Bank, this is the first time it has constructed a sea barrier. It has laid a line of buoys more than four kilometres out to sea to mark the border between Israel and Lebanon, from where the militant group Hezbollah has launched attacks.

    As silly as the verbal attacks against the Israeli security fence have been, including rather poor comparisons to the Berlin Wall, I wonder what sort of complaints this will cause.