Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • Jihadis in Our Midst

    Two terror suspects arrested in California

    The FBI has arrested two California men after one of them admitted he attended an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, Justice Department officials said on Wednesday.

    Hamid Hayat, 23, and his father, Umer, of Lodi, California, east of San Francisco, were taken into custody over the weekend. Both men are being held on charges of lying to federal authorities.

    Two other men were arrested in Lodi for violating terms of their visas, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd.

    The men have been identified as Muhammad Adil Khan — an imam at Farooqia Islamic Center — and Shabbir Ahmed, who is also an imam in Lodi, an administration source said.

    According to an FBI affidavit, Hamid Hayat told agents he attended al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan in 2003 and 2004.

    “Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihad mission,” according to the affidavit. “Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores.”

    Hamid Hayat told agents the camp provided paramilitary training, including training in explosives and hand-to-hand combat, the affidavit said. During weapons training, photos of high-ranking U.S. political figures, including President Bush, were pasted onto targets, according to the affidavit.

    “Hamid further stated that he and others at the camp were being trained on how to kill Americans,” the affidavit said.

    Hamid, whose U.S.-bound flight from Korea was diverted on May 29 to Japan because his name appeared on a no-fly list, had originally denied any involvement in terrorism.

    After the plane was diverted, Hamid was interviewed by an FBI agent, the affidavit said. Hamid denied having any connection to terrorism or terrorist activities and was allowed to continue his travel to the United States, it said.

    Upon his arrival in California, Hamid again denied being involved in training camps.

    One day later, after taking a lie detector test, Hamid admitted that he had attended an al Qaeda training camp, the affidavit said.

    Hamid’s father, Umer, had originally denied that his son was involved in terrorist training camps and had said he knew of no such camps in Pakistan.

    After he was shown a videotape of his son admitting that he trained at the camp, Umer said he had visited the camps and had paid for Hamid’s flight to Pakistan to attend the training camp.

    Looks like a pretty open-and-shut case. I’d like to suggest we drain all the information from them that we can, provide them with due process, try ’em and fry ’em.

    Dr. Rusty Shackleford at the Jawa Report is all over the story with his own views, a variety of news sources and updates, and a round-up of postings from all around the blogosphere.

    Flag-rippers part of New York jihadist group

    The video that I posted below of American Muslims stomping on and then ripping up an American flag comes from a New York-based Muslim group called the Islamic Thinkers Society.

    I personally feel that desecration of our flag by my fellow Americans to be disgusting but certainly within their rights. The video is disturbing, not only in the treatment of the flag but also in the twisted, often non-sensical shoutings of the perpetrators. The group seems immature, begging not so much for support as for attention. It is such cult-like but childish behaviour that points to future dangers from others of like mind but stronger conviction.

    The Swanky Conservative also has the video, along with screen captures and commentary, on his cleverly-titled post “Don’t question their patriotism.”

    Islamists on the Left Coast. Islamists on the Right Coast. I say again that it is only a matter of time before the reality of this conflict hits the landscape of our nation again. The fight must be continued.

  • Bush Resists Carter Call to Shut Gitmo

    Former President Jimmy Carter has once again felt obligated to thrust himself onto the international stage by foolishly calling for the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo. He means well, I think. President Bush has been diplomatic in his response.

    US President George Bush left open yesterday the possibility of closing the Guantánamo Bay prison, a day after his White House predecessor Jimmy Carter called for it to be shut.

    “We’re exploring all alternatives as to how best to do the main objective, which is to protect America,” Mr Bush said when asked in an interview on Fox television if he would close the detention centre.

    He added, however, that comparisons between Guantánamo and the Soviet gulag were “just absurd”. Mr Carter had told a conference in Atlanta that the prison should be shut to demonstrate the US commitment to human rights.

    “Despite President George W Bush’s bold reminder that America is determined to promote freedom and democracy around the world, the US continues to suffer terrible embarrassment and a blow to our reputation as a champion of human rights because of reports concerning abuses of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo,” he said.

    In addition to closing Guantánamo Bay and two dozen other detention facilities, Mr Carter said, the US needed to make sure all detainees were told the charges against them.

    Short answer for the former president: No. Now go be quietly supportive, or at least just quiet, like a good ex-president.

    On a related note, I’ve heard this book is a good read. I’ll have to give it a gander.

  • Military Records to Show How Luminaries Served

    Want to know the service record of yesteryear’s people of note? Want to look up the military performance of an ancestor? Well, here’s your chance.

    Psychedelic-guitar man Jimi Hendrix, soul singer Marvin Gaye, Desi “Ricky Ricardo” Arnaz and actor Steve McQueen, newsman Edward R. Murrow, “Dragnet” detective Jack Webb — military veterans all.

    Who knew?

    The nation now will be afforded some unique insight into these former servicemen and 144 other “persons of exceptional prominence” who served in the military.

    For the first time, their official service records will be opened to the public, the National Archives & Records Administration announced yesterday. The records of 1.2 million enlisted men and women who served in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from 1885 to 1935 also will be made public.

    The roster includes Elvis Presley and folk singer Barry Sadler, actors Clark Gable and Vic Morrow, pilots Eddie Rickenbacker and Charles Lindbergh, boxers Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis, plus baseball heroes Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Hank Greenberg.

    “These records are full of history, but they’re also very personal. They contain biographies, performance reports, duty assignments, nominations for medals,” said Barry McGraw, director of archival programs at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).

    Thankfully, some precautions for privacy are being maintained.

    “Public figures must have been deceased at least 10 years before we can release their records,” Mr. McGraw [, said. “For the general public, they must have been released from the service for at least 62 years.”

    Records of celebrated military and sports heroes and famous political names are up for grabs.

    […]

    The center has a few sensitivity protocols in place.

    “Sometimes there are personnel actions, records of inappropriate behavior, medical files and so forth which could embarrass a family,” Mr. McGraw said.

    “For an individual who would be less than 100 years of age, we can screen out those items,” he said. “If that person would have been over 100 years, then it’s all open to the public.”

    This could prove to be quite a boon to biographers, historians and geneologists.

  • The Subtle Tricks of al Jazeera

    Want to be an effective propaganda machine? There’s always the Big Lie. Blasting the audience with a repetition of a falsehood while eliminating or drowning out the truth will work, as was ably shown by Nazi Germany. There are alternative, more subtle means, though.

    One possible way is to pass yourself off as a legitimate news agency and then tweak the stories. Ah, the devil is always in the details.

    For your examination, I present al-Jazeera.

    Now, I’m not normally an al-Jazeera reader. Mrs. Greyhawk led me down this path in her latest Dawn Patrol post. In the link, al-Jazeera trumpets that the American media is turning against American efforts in Iraq.

    American media no longer accept Bushs war lies [sic]

    In the story, al-Jazeera lists a collection of American newspaper stories published on or near Memorial Day that decried the current situation in Iraq. Mostly, the article is accurate in its painting of the stories. However, a couple of subtle touches jumped out at me.

    The piece pointed to a column from June 2 by Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune. The original text reads as follows:

    The dilemma the U.S. faces in fighting the insurgents is that military methods are not enough to solve the problem and may make it worse. If the movement is a reaction to the U.S. military presence, keeping American troops in Iraq amounts to fighting a fire with kerosene.

    The al-Jazeera plays with it slightly:

    “The dilemma the U.S. faces in fighting the (anti-occupation fighters) is that military methods are not enough to solve the problem and may make it worse. If the movement is a reaction to the U.S. military presence, keeping American troops in Iraq amounts to fighting a fire with kerosene. …

    The edit there is obvious in comparison — “anti-occupation fighters” has been substituted for “insurgents” by al-Jazeera. Is this a minor detail? No, when one considers how al-Jazeera defines anti-occupation fighters. As this al-Jazeera poll page shows, the terrorist group Hezbollah is also classified as an anti-occupation movement. Yes, the same Hezbollah that supports the occupation of Lebanon by Syria and bloodily opposes the occupation of Israel by, well, Israel.

    At least that change used a parenthetical notation to demonstrate an al-Jazeera edit. Now, for a more subtle tweak.

    We then turn to what al-Jazeera introduces as “the most powerful denunciation … from an unlikely source.” That is how a June 1 piece by the editorial board of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is, admittedly fairly accurately, framed. The original opens with the following:

    President Bush was among the 260,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery when he said it. But it was clear Monday that the president was referring to the more than 1,650 Americans killed to date in Iraq when he said, “We must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives; by defeating the terrorists.”

    Here is the supposed same piece from al-Jazeera:

    “President Bush was among the 260,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery when he said it. But it was clear Monday that the president was referring to the more than 1,650 Americans killed to date in Iraq when he said, ‘We must honour them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives; by defeating the “terrorists”.’

    Note the difference? Without any journalistic acknowledgment of the edit, al-Jazeera inserted quote marks around the word “terrorists.” The reader is left to believe one of two things — either the original piece included the doubting quote marks or President Bush held up his two hands and gave the internationally-annoying insert-quote-marks hand gesture while speaking. The latter being obviously unlikey, al-Jazeera has managed to add even greater spin to the original piece.

    I have utter faith in the ability of our mainstream media to grab hold of defeat from the jaws of victory and hold onto it tenaciously, given the opportunity. They’ve managed it before. If they are willing to let an opposing propaganda machine use them yet again, then that is one thing, disgusting though it may be. If they are willing to let the enemy play them in violation of the media’s own standards of journalism, well, then that is another. That is a media betraying its own country’s military efforts, their own progeny’s security and their very own professional integrity. What does that leave, people?

    Nothing but a mindset.

    My guess — the “American” mainstream media will continue to let such issues slide, and the al-Jazeera propaganda machine, which could be answered globally by an integrated effort, will continue to roll on and be painted as a “legitimate” alternative media source. Sometimes, really all too often, my life-long love of journalism is sickened by the modern state of the craft.

  • Hey, Senator Biden

    Shut up or start making sense. It’s your call.

    Two days ago, I pointed y’all to a blog post by Chad at In the Bullpen examining the call by Sen. Joe Biden (D-Some asylum) to shut down the Guantanamo detention center. Chad appropriately titled the piece “Biden is Off His Rocker.”

    Today, I’ve found more evidence that the man is losing his grip.

    Having recently returned from his fifth visit to Iraq, Sen. Biden spoke of the need to avoid a complete withdrawal from the country.

    “And if we leave now, I guarantee you there will be a civil war, which a lot of our folks are worrying about now anyway,” said Biden, D-Del., said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos. “We made a giant mistake in the beginning over the objection of a number from both parties.”

    U.S. forces decommissioned the entire army, the so-called de- Ba`athification and that left Iraq with no military, according to Biden.

    Biden said the training of Iraqi troops is on track, however, the United States waited a year and a half to start the process of training Iraqi troops.

    A year and a half? That would be a tragic mistake indeed. By Biden’s count, the training of Iraqi forces by Americans did not begin until at least October 2004. Well, he’s been there five times — he must know what he’s talking about, right?

    Wrong. In fact, not even close. In January 2004, the Department of Defense released the following:

    The first of nine brigades planned for the new Iraqi army nearly is complete, the officer responsible for helping to rebuild the country’s military reported in a Baghdad briefing today.

    Addressing progress in the rebuilding effort, Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, commander of the coalition’s military assistance and training team in Iraq, said three battalions of Iraqi soldiers have graduated from military training academies since October. The desired “end state” is to eventually have “Iraqi officers and soldiers take over the training of their own soldiers,” Eaton said.

    “I would like to emphasize that this will be an Iraqi Army, trained by Iraqis,” he said.

    And who were the Iraqis hoped to relieve from the duty of training their forces? You guessed it, the Coalition Provisional Authority, according to one of its own briefings from September 2003. Oh by the way, the coalition included Americans.

    Let me begin with a little bit on the new Iraqi army, as such. The new Iraqi army began training the first battalion around the first of August, and that first battalion will be commissioned and enter operational service on October 4th, the training being now about three-quarters completed.

    The training takes place at a place called Kirkush, which is an old Iraqi military base about 80 kilometers northeast of Baghdad and about 30 kilometers from the Iranian border, which we reconditioned and are using as the training facility. As battalions go through, we will expand the capacity of that facility and have something like four battalions ready and operational by early next year.

    The actual day-to-day training is being done by U.S. contract trainers with very close Coalition military oversight. The military oversight is done by an organization called the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, which is commanded by an American, Major-General Paul Eaton, who was, until he took up this assignment, the commander of infantry training for the United States Army. So we have sent our best expert on that issue.

    His deputy is British, and his staff includes officers from a variety of Coalition countries.

    NATO trainers began arriving in August 2004 to expand efforts, and a military academy for Iraqi officers was already in the works in October 2004, when Biden claims we became involved in training Iraqi forces.

    Well, the good senator was only off by well over a year.

    Then there’s another curious statement just today by the senator during the confirmation hearings on Zalmay Khalilzad, nominee for the position of U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

    Joseph Biden, the senior Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said on returning from his fifth visit to Baghdad that he and the American public were losing patience.

    “I’m not sure I could in good faith, a year from now, if things aren’t drastically different, continue to support American forces being in Iraq because we just seem not to get it yet,” he told Mr Khalilzad. The US “loss” of Iraq would be an “absolute disaster for the better part of a generation”, he said.

    Let me see if I can get a grip on this convoluted bilge spewing forth from Biden. Losing Iraq would be an absolute disaster but he cannot support the presence of our forces there another year without great improvement. Did I get that right? If things are not drastically improved, the senator would prefer to opt for what he himself sees as a tragedy.

    He calls for the shutting down Gitmo, either lies or is grossly mistaken about American training efforts in a country where he’s been on the ground enough times to know better, and shows a convoluted but resoundingly spineless support of our efforts while knowing the dreadful consequence of failure.

    Though I oppose the concept of term limits for members of the U.S. Congress, Biden does provide evidence to support at least consideration of the idea.

  • Looking Around at the News

    Feds: Science paper a terrorist’s road map

    The federal government has asked the National Academy of Sciences not to publish a research paper that feds describe as a “road map for terrorists” on how to contaminate the nation’s milk supply.

    The research paper on biological terrorism, by Stanford University professor Lawrence M. Wein and graduate student Yifan Liu, provides details on how terrorists might attack the milk supply and offers suggestions on how to safeguard it.

    The paper appeared briefly May 30 on a password-protected area of the National Academy of Science’s Web site.

    […]

    The paper “is a road map for terrorists and publication is not in the interests of the United States,” HHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Simonson wrote in a letter to the science academy chief Dr. Bruce Alberts.

    The paper gives “very detailed information on vulnerability nodes” in the milk supply chain and “includes … very precise information on the dosage of botulinum toxin needed to contaminate the milk supply to kill or injure large numbers of people,” Simonson wrote.

    Obviously, more thought is needed by a great many on how not be our own worst enemy. The Information Superhighway needs a few more common sense speedtraps.

    Grandmother of 80 accused of running call girls

    An 80-year-old woman who shuffles around her home with a zimmer frame and an oxygen tank has been charged with running a prostitution business.

    Vera Tursi ran an “escort” business from her two-bedroom flat in Lindenwold, New Jersey – taking telephone calls from clients and sending out girls to meet them.

    Police said they suspected Mrs Tursi’s age when they spoke to her on the phone during an undercover operation. She could be heard catching her breath and used old-fashioned language.

    In her defense, at least … well … I’ve got nothing. This is just creepy. Maybe it could be used as an argument for Social Security reform.

    Election 2004: Election is finally over

    Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire now has a full four-year term to finish serving as governor. For Republicans, the 2004 election is over.

    For Washington voters, yesterday’s court ruling means a chance to see whether Gregoire can sustain the remarkably strong leadership she displayed during the first legislative session. There’s no reason for overconfidence: Early in his governorship, Gary Locke looked like he might be on his way toward large accomplishments and even national office.

    Voters also have an opportunity to demand changes in slipshod election procedures brought to light by the examination of Gregoire’s narrow victory over Republican Dino Rossi. Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges said the “voters of this state are in a position to demand” improvements.

    Rossi could have pursued an appeal to the Washington Supreme Court. That was his right, and until now, we have fully supported his exercise of legal avenues to contest the election.

    After the clear ruling from a respected jurist, however, it finally came time for Rossi to order an end to the legal expense and arguments. His decision to walk away from a last-ditch fight was right. But he spoiled his moment of grace with a cheap shot, claiming the “political makeup of the Washington state Supreme Court” would not allow him to prevail on appeal.

    Old-time Chicago-style pizza — good. Old-time Chicago-style politics in the state of Washington — bad. The state’s election system needs desperate work.

    Man Arrested in Ariz. for Ricin Possession

    A man was being held Monday on a charge of possessing the deadly poison ricin, but authorities said they do not think he had any connection to terrorism.

    Casey Cutler, 25, told authorities he carried the poison in vials around his neck to use as a possible weapon, according to a criminal complaint. He said he had been attacked last year by three men while walking to his apartment, and that he intended to use the ricin in self-defense if attacked again, the complaint said.

    Cutler, of Mesa, faces a maximum of life in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on the single count of producing and possessing a deadly toxin for use as a weapon.

    Might I also suggest a psych eval?

    We do not need urgent reforms, says Syrian leader

    Ignoring international pressure and rising domestic frustration, Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian President, failed yesterday to announce broad and imminent reforms as he opened an eagerly awaited conference of the ruling Baath party.

    In an address lasting barely ten minutes, Mr Assad told the 1,250 delegates: “We are convinced the ideas and precepts of the Baath party are still of relevance and respond to the interests of the people and the nation in its desire for unity, freedom, justice and development.”

    For the six Syrian opposition activists — middle-aged businessmen, engineers and former army officers — who had gathered in a smoke-filled office to watch the speech on television, Mr Assad’s address was predictable and disappointing.

    “The President has no vision, no programme and said nothing about the suffering of the Syrian people,” one man, who, like his colleagues, declined to be identified, said. “That’s why I’m not optimistic that this congress will produce anything.”

    Sometimes one is to close too to the water, too tied to the moment or the past to notice a shift in tides. Events in the Middle East are threatening to flood a Syria hoping to return to its domination of Lebanon and bloodily hold back history in Iraq. A two-front war against the future may well be too much for Assad. At least the terrorists of Hezbollah still like him. Speaking of which …

    Hezbollah Ticket Sweeps Elections in Southern Lebanon

    In the second stage of Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, a pro-Syrian coalition, led by the militant group, Hezbollah, won all 23 seats at stake in the southern region where voting was held Sunday. The results in the south were in stark contrast to the result of the previous Sunday’s voting in Beirut, where a ticket headed by the anti-Syrian opposition parties swept all the seats at stake in and around the capital.

    Unsurprisingly, round two stood directly against the path of the Cedar Revolution.

  • Sixty-One Years Ago: D-Day

    The Atlantic Wall was pierced.

    I had hoped for a better post to honor the day, but work and personal matters delayed blogging. Instead, I’ll hand over the reins to one of my favorite MilBloggers, John of Argghhh!!!

    His post covers the day through history, but the obvious and deserved focus is on that dramatic day in 1944. Oh yeah, it has some great photos, both of the day and of the cost.

  • As a Further Farewell to Bunker

    Michael James Reed
    1953-2005

    As I blogged earlier, Mike Reed, known to the blogosphere as Bunker Mulligan, has breathed his last.

    For the most touching tributes, I leave it to his children. They look at him as he lived as a father and a husband. Go read — I can only hope my family remembers me with such love and respect.

    Bunker was a member of the Homespun Bloggers, and Major Dad eulogizes him there:

    Homespun Bloggers and the blogosphere lost a great blogger, a leader, and a friend on Friday. Bunker Mulligan passed away on Friday morning of a very sudden and unexpected heart attack.

    Mike Reed, will certainly be missed here…but I know that he’ll continue to do well where he is now. He’ll crank out posts several times a day, in between his time on the real “championship” golf courses “up there.”

    Hit them long and straight my friend! Save me a seat at the 19th hole! While I hope I can put off our first face to face meeting for another 50 years, since we didn’t get that done here on earth, I’ll be looking forward to seeing you then.

    Bunker was also the founder of Texas Bloggers. Fellow Texas blogger Eric Siegmund remembers Bunker in much the same spirit that I do:

    The blogging community and Texas bloggers in particular have lost a friend as we learned that Mike Reed died of an apparent heart attack last Friday.

    I didn’t know Mike except through his blogging, and that’s my loss. He seemed to be the “real deal,” unfailingly polite, kind, generous, wise and witty. His primary blog, Bunker Mulligan, was also his nom de blog, but he was also the founder of Texas Bloggers, a “community blog” for those of us residing in this great state.

    Finally, Bunker was a MilBlogger. The Mudville Gazette‘s Greyhawk, father of the MilBloggers, pays tribute:

    Bunker was a voice of reason in the all too often noisy blogosphere, and it’s obvious he touched quite a few lives – all over the world – via his blog and in person. I always appreciated his commentary, the thoughts he chose to share with us all were both kind and wise.

    I’d like to note that Bunker went down as a MilBlogger, as his last post recalled his proud service.

    As my last tribute to the man, I will add the fine charity Homes for Our Troops to my links section. I will also think of Bunker as I make a contribution, per his family’s wishes.

  • US Senator Urges Guantanamo Shutdown

    I wanted to blog about this piece but, bordering as it does on sheer politics, I’m surprised that Chad Evans at In the Bullpen nailed it already. Although he addressed it from another source, I’ll bow out to him that got there fastest with the mostest. And his post title tells all on the matter:

    Biden is Off His Rocker

  • Ship Finally Recognized for D-Day Role

    Hail at last the USS Achernar and those that sailed it on that fateful June 6, 1944.

    The crew of a World War II-era ship has finally set the record straight about the vessel’s name and its role in the D-Day invasion.

    A June 1944 issue of Life magazine included an account of the ship, Achernar, loaded with communications equipment to help choreograph the invasion. But the reporter gave the ship a false name — USS Acamar — to protect the secretive nature of the mission.

    A group of nine veterans gathered Saturday to receive citations commending the ship’s role as one of four command vessels for the mission — and recognizing it by its actual name.

    “I’ve been trying since the war was over to get the ship recognized properly,” said Phil Gentilcore, 82, who was a gunner’s mate.

    The Achernar’s existence is well-documented, but there’s been no reference to the fact that the Acamar and the Achernar were the same until now, said Gentilcore, of Hyattsville.

    U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen and other politicians drew up citations acknowledging the ship and its crew in time for the veterans’ annual reunion and the 61st anniversary of D-Day on Monday.

    The veterans said their adventures were numerous. Gentilcore remembers seeing the first medical tent go up on Omaha Beach, and feeling glad to know that the Allied forces were making progress and that the wounded could be treated.

    He also recalled how all the sailors on destroyers wanted to come aboard the Achernar because it was one of the few ships with an ice cream maker.

    The Achernar, which could carry about 400 people, received three battle stars for World War II service and three battle stars for Korean War service. The ship was scrapped in 1982.

    I find it absolutely amazing that it took just under 61 years to correct the history from Acamar to Achernar.