Target Centermass

Category: Middle East

  • France Orders TV Station Off Airwaves

    France, that high-and-mighty bastion of European enlightenment, may be beginning to grasp the danger of the propaganda being broadcast within its borders — the propaganda of the radical enemy we are currently struggling with throughout the globe and Israel has wrestled with for decades.

    France’s highest administrative body on Monday ordered the TV station of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group off French airwaves within 48 hours for broadcasting hateful content in some shows and posing risks to public order.

    The decision came after a Nov. 23 Al-Manar program quoted someone described as an expert on Zionist affairs warning of “Zionist attempts” to transmit dangerous diseases like AIDS to Arab countries. Another program the same day glorified attacks against Israel, the administrative body said.

    Well, obviously something needs to be done here. Some kind of strong message needs to be sent.

    The Council of State ordered Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat to stop broadcasting Al-Manar within two days or pay a fine of $6,600 a day.

    $6,600? Well, that ain’t much of a message.

    The station broadcast some programs that were “openly contrary” to a French law banning incitement to hate, a situation that poses “risks to maintaining public order,” the council said in its 11-page ruling.

    However, the council left open the possibility that Al-Manar could keep operating if the company that airs the station, the Lebanese Communication Group, shows itself ready to modify its programs to conform with French law.

    In Beirut, Al-Manar TV condemned the French ban as “a dangerous precedent” against the Arab media and blamed Israeli pressure for it.

    Ah yes, I thought we had gotten too far into the story without Israel being blamed. It is obviously the Jews that made the Arabs lie.

    The threat of $6,600 a day apparently is not enough to bring on any honest self-examination or even a moment of pretended contrition. Hey, France, just let it air and get back to me when you really understand the threat civilization is facing.

  • Captured: Saddam Hussein, One Year Later

    Anniversaries are meant to be cherished.

    One year ago today, the ace of spades in the infamous deck of 55 cards representing the most-wanted people in Iraq, was taken into custody. Saddam was found by American forces, hiding in a hole not far from where the former dictator was born.

    The world learned of the capture of the most wanted man in Iraq, when former American Administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer told a news conference in Baghdad, “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.”

    Arab and Iraqi reporters attending the news conference, stood and cheered for several minutes.

    Iraqis began celebrating in the streets of the capital.

    Baghdad University college student Alia Hadi, remembers.

    The second-year college student says she was very glad to see Saddam Hussein on the television, looking confused from hiding in a hole. She says this was the last right of all Iraqis, to see their God punish him like he punished the Iraqis. She says he should be prosecuted and put to death.

    At about 8:30 at night, the once defiant 66-year-old former dictator was found hiding in a small hole, near a farmhouse about 15 kilometers south of his hometown, Tikrit.

    His arrest occurred as the result of information provided by former bodyguards and relatives of people close to the former Iraqi president.

    In his possession was $750,000 in cash, two AK-47 machine guns and a pistol . But, he gave up without a fight. One of the American commanders involved in the capture says Saddam Hussein was “caught like a rat.”

    With long hair and a long graying beard, Saddam Hussein looked confused and very tired. Within hours of his capture, a videotape was released, showing a doctor examining the former dictator, including an examination of his teeth. It was not an image most Iraqis ever expected to see.

    The general manager of Radio Dijla, a station that broadcasts the views and opinions of Iraqis, is Karim Yousef.

    Mr. Yousef says many Iraqis were saddened to see Saddam Hussein captured in this way. He says Saddam held the power of Iraq for 35 years and many people considered him to be a brave and powerful man. He says it was sad to see Saddam looking so confused, with his long hair and beard.

    Such images of the former dictator angered some Iraqis, who saw the video as an attempt to embarrass Saddam Hussein. However, Baghdad University political-science professor Abdel Jabbar Abdullah, says he believes the images of Saddam were broadcast in an attempt to send a message.

    “They deliberately show us this picture in order to send some message, not to the Iraqi people, to all Arab homelands to tell them this is the future of your ruler, unless you cooperate with the American strategy in this region,” he says.

    Pentagon officials said it was necessary to show proof to the Iraqi people that Saddam Hussein had been taken into custody, because many Iraqis were afraid the former dictator would, one day, return to power.

    Today, the former Iraqi leader sits in a jail cell in the Baghdad area. He is expected to go before an Iraqi war crimes tribunal some time in the coming year.

    Iraqi officials who have seen the former leader have say he remains unapologetic to the Iraqi people.

    But, according to potential future candidate for prime minister of Iraq, Nadim al-Jabbri, whether Saddam Hussein ever apologizes makes very little difference.

    Mr. al-Jabbri says he knew that God would create this destiny for Saddam Hussein because he killed so many Iraqis. He says God has always intended to punish Saddam, just as Saddam punished his own people.

    What is the traditional gift for former dictators on their one-year anniversary of captivity? Paper? A death certificate would’ve been nice.

  • 5 Soldiers Killed in Israeli Base Bombing

    Ripping a page out of the union army playbook from the Battle of the Crater in 1864, the Palestinians dug a tunnel, packed it with explosives, lit them off and charged into the aftermath. The explosion was tremendous, the result was carnage, and the charge was suicidal.

    Palestinian militants blew up an Israeli army base at the Gaza-Egypt crossing Sunday by sneaking more than a ton of explosives through a tunnel, killing five Israeli soldiers and wounding five in the largest Palestinian attack in the month since Yasser Arafat (news – web sites)’s death.

    Hitting back, Israeli helicopters fired at least five missiles at targets in Gaza City early Monday, witnesses said. There were no reports of casualties. One missile started a fire at an abandoned metal workshop, while the other target was an empty house near the Islamic University, they said.

    ….

    In the violence along the Gaza-Egyptian border, the military said in a statement early Monday that five soldiers were killed and five were injured, including two seriously, in the explosion. The statement said two Palestinians charged the base and opened fire after the blast, and soldiers shot them dead.

    Palestinians said one attacker was killed and the other escaped. The blast collapsed several structures at the crossing and damaged others.

    ….

    Israeli army spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal said two explosions rocked the border terminal at Rafah.

    “This was a very large, well coordinated, planned attack against an international crossing, used by Palestinian civilians to cross into Egypt,” Dallal said, adding that the crossing would be closed until further notice.

    Israel TV defense analyst Yoav Limor called the blast the result of an “intelligence failure.”

    ….

    A Palestinian militant giving his name only as Abu Majad claimed responsibility in the name of the Fatah Hawks, an offshoot of the mainstream Fatah Party, and the violent Islamic Hamas.

    A Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 1.5 tons of explosives were set off in the blast, and a second, smaller explosive was detonated later. Masked Hamas militants said a gunman tried to kidnap a wounded soldier but killed him because the soldier resisted.

    Hamas’ representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, rejected calls for a halt to attacks on Israel and threatened new, unspecified types of retaliation against the Israeli occupation.

    “The talk about a truce or a cease-fire is pure speculation and illusion. The (Israeli) enemy is still occupying our land. … The next few days will witness new lessons against the Zionist occupation,” Hamdan told about 2,000 Hamas supporters in Lebanon’s Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon.

    And just what was the rationalization for this attack?

    Abu Majad said the explosives-filled tunnel was 800 yards long. He said the attack was retaliation for what he called “the assassination” of Arafat, who died in a French hospital. Some Palestinians claim he was poisoned by Israel.

    Lie, bomb and repeat. Lie, bomb and repeat.

    Come on, just fess up to the real reason — you saw a chance to kill some Israelis. Who cares if other Palestinians will suffer for it, right?

  • Marine ‘Hostage’ Faces Desertion Charges

    I refrained.

    And then I refrained again.

    Now this.

    A U.S. Marine who disappeared in Iraq and then showed up in a purported hostage video before later appearing as a free man in Lebanon, is being charged with desertion, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

    Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun will also be charged by the Marine Corps with larceny and wrongful disposition of military property in connection with his service-issued 9 mm handgun that disappeared with him and never turned up, officials said.

    ….

    If found guilty of desertion, he could receive a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay and allowances, and five years’ confinement for each specification.

    Maximum punishment for each specification of larceny and for the wrongful disposition charge is a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay and allowances and 10 years’ confinement.

    ….

    Military investigators re-opened the Hassoun case last month after several personal items — including his military ID and civilian passport — were found in Falluja, the city from which he disappeared in June.

    “The circumstances of his alleged capture and subsequent return to military control are still being investigated,” the Marines said in a statement.

    Hassoun reappeared July 7 in Lebanon, where he was born and has relatives.

    What happened to Hassoun is a mystery to military investigators.

    After the initial report that Hassoun was missing, military officials assumed he had walked away from camp. He was listed as a deserter.

    His status was changed to captured after the release of a videotape that showed him blindfolded with a sword suspended above his head. A few days later, a posting to three Islamist Web sites claimed Hassoun had been beheaded.

    Hassoun denied being a deserter and staging his own kidnapping.

    A Marine Corps official said representatives of the Naval Criminal Investigative Services did not interview Hassoun until after he completed his 30-day home leave, following his repatriation back to the United States. Its report was submitted to Hassoun’s command November 30.

    I will still refrain. Innocent until proven guilty, right? Let the processes of the UCMJ run their course, right?

    Yeah, I’ll refrain again. Just enough to say that, if this sonofabitch is found guilty, I want him punished to the abso-freaking-lute maximum.

  • ‘Twas the Night before Blogothon

    In our continuing attempts to raise fundage for the Spirit of America, the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom bring you this seasonal entertainment, courtesy of BloodSpite.

    If that doesn’t work, here’s more cowbell from Ben.

    The Fighting Fusileers for Freedom — working harder to entertain you for your charity dollar. Please click the image below to donate. Pretty please. With a freakin’ cherry on top already.

    Join the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom!

  • Brits Find Soft Touch Doesn’t Work under Fire

    As the storied Black Watch Regiment rolled north to take up position near Baghdad, I blogged about the British hope to replace the Americans’ heavy-handed approach towards the insurgents with a softer, gentler approach. Once they reached their destination, the soldiers of the Black Watch met a different kind of enemy than they had faced around Basra.

    The much-hyped conceit about Britain’s soft military touch in Iraq had a hard landing on a road south of Baghdad one November morning, when an Iraqi car accelerated toward a British checkpoint and a young gunner fired a blizzard of bullets through its windshield.

    The soldiers from Scotland’s Black Watch regiment didn’t stick around to determine whether the dead driver was an aspiring suicide bomber or just a man impatient to get through the backup of traffic. But the myth might have died along with him.

    The troops of the regiment also met cold, hard reality about American tactics.

    In postwar Iraq, contrasting images have percolated through media coverage of the alliance: the martial Americans on one hand, looking to crush the insurgency through force, the world-weary British on the other, choosing accommodation over provocation. The implication was that something in their tactics or temperament made British soldiers better suited than Americans to cope with the insurgency here.

    But the October deployment of the Black Watch to these badlands controlled by Sunni extremists provided the first chance to compare the two countries’ operating styles under the same level of danger.

    Until the Black Watch moved north, the British military had been operating exclusively in southern Iraq, where the violence, while simmering, has not matched the mayhem in the American sector around Baghdad, the capital. The relative calm allowed the British to adopt a less bristling posture on patrol, to wear their soft regimental berets instead of Kevlar helmets and to keep their weapons lowered rather than peering at Iraqis through gun sights.

    It also gave rise to a certain smugness among British officers and media, which cast the contrast as one between the “heavy-handed” Americans and the less hostile tactics of “the lads.” There were jokes over beers in Basra that, to an American, the concept of winning Iraqi hearts and minds meant one bullet to the heart, one to the head. And the British media even coined a phrase to describe the British style, dubbing the less robust approach “softly, softly.”

    The Black Watch tried to bring that culture north with them when they merged operations with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based south of Baghdad in a deployment that ended Saturday. The British began the assignment patrolling in their berets. They handed out leaflets in Arabic explaining they were a “Scottish” regiment in case Iraqis mistook them for Americans, and proclaimed they had come only to help build a safe and free Iraq.

    Insurgents responded with two suicide car bombings and a roadside bomb in the first week of operations, killing four British soldiers and gravely injuring two others.

    The shooting of the Iraqi driver at the checkpoint came just an hour after the second car bomb had blown the legs off two of the gunner’s colleagues.

    “The threat here is at the other end of the spectrum from what we faced in Basra,” said Black Watch Capt. Stuart MacAulay, sitting on the edge of a bunker at Camp Dogwood. “After the suicide bombings against us, I went to an American soldier I know here and put my hands up. I said, ‘I confess, I was one of those who sat around in Basra criticizing your approach.’ And I’m embarrassed that I criticized American tactics without ever being here and without having met them.”

    People lie all the time, especially in sentences that begin with the phrase “I hate to say I told you so, but ….” In this case, I cannot say I told you so. I doubted, but held out enough hope that I restrained.

    I should’ve known better. Our British allies certainly know better now. The Islamists and Saddamists know only one language. Luckily, it is one in which our weapons are already fluent.

  • Help the Fusileers Help Spirit of America

    Join the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom!

    As if such a wonderful cause as the Spirit of America wasn’t enough, the Fighting Fusileers want you to know that no kittens will be harmed by donations through us. This may not be true for other blogger groups.

    Join the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom!

  • Ten Candidates to Run in Palestinian Election

    And all the circus clowns pile out of the car.

    Ten candidates will run in the Palestinian Authority’s presidential election to replace Yasser Arafat, officials said on Thursday after finalizing the list of contenders for the Jan. 9 race.

    Heading the list was Mahmoud Abbas, Arafat’s successor as the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as Marwan Barghouthi, a leader of the Palestinian uprising, who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail.

    Abbas, a moderate who will be representing the mainstream Fatah faction, had been seen as the frontrunner in the election until Barghouthi’s candidacy was submitted shortly before a deadline on Wednesday night. Barghouthi, the most popular choice among Palestinians to succeed Arafat, told his wife during a prison visit that he wanted to run in the election as an independent candidate.

    His candidacy has upset Abbas’s chances and thrown the Palestinian political arena into turmoil. Palestinian officials have called on Barghouthi to withdraw his candidacy to maintain unity among Palestinian ranks. “Candidates have until midnight on Dec. 15 to withdraw their candidacy,” Rami Hamdullah, Secretary-General of the Central Elections Committee (CEC), told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

    ….

    The snap election was called to replace Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority after he died of an undisclosed illness at a French hospital.

    Hopefully I’m wrong in my characterization of these clowns. The AP gives a brief bio here of all ten. Please note the following phrases:

    • “his views on … peace deal with Israel are identical to … Arafat”
    • “serving five life terms in an Israeli jail”
    • “justifies attacks on Israeli settlers … as legitimate resistance”
    • “a hard-liner toward Israel”
    • “leader of … a small faction with communist roots”
    • “arrested several times by Israel”
    • “arrested by Israel in April 2002”
    • “identifies with Islamic causes” (rather bland, no chance)
    • “deported … because of links to Islamic Jihad”
    • “arrested twice by U.S. authorities”
    • “has criticized the Palestinian Authority for corruption” (again, no chance)

    Still leaning towards the clowns statement.

  • Joining the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom

    Join the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom!

    Target Centermass has taken up the challenge from Castle Argghhh! to join up with the Fighting Fusileers for Freedom for a very good cause. I can only encourage you to do the same.

    I have been remiss to date in adding a link to the Spirit of America. That will be corrected shortly.

    Thanks to Ben at Ben’s World for helping me pick a team. Just remember, Ben, never take a knife to a fusil fight.

  • Barghouti Seeking Palestinian Presidency

    In their attempt to become a civilized democracy, the Palestinians are holding an election to replace dead-but-not-soon-enough terrorist-in-chief Yasser Arafat. Unfortunately but expectedly, it’s on the verge of becoming a circus.

    Jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti declared his candidacy for president Wednesday, a stunning last-minute reversal that shook up Palestinian politics ahead of the Jan. 9 vote for Yasser Arafat’s replacement.

    Adding to the uncertainty, the militant group Hamas said it would boycott the election. It was the first sign of open divisions between the interim Palestinian leadership and the Islamic opposition group since Arafat’s death Nov. 11.

    The moves injected drama into what has been a smooth transition of power. Before Wednesday, interim leader Mahmoud Abbas managed to win pledges of unity — if not outright support — from the disparate Palestinian factions and seemed a shoo-in to win the presidency.

    The fiery, charismatic Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in an Israeli prison for his role in deadly attacks, is far more popular among young Palestinians than the staid Abbas.

    Last week, Barghouti sent a message from his prison cell saying that he would not pursue the presidency for the sake of unity in the ruling Fatah movement. But Wednesday, he abruptly changed his mind.

    Cheered by supporters who shouted “With our blood and souls, we will redeem you, Marwan,” Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, dropped off his registration documents at the Palestinian election headquarters ahead of a midnight deadline. “I officially registered Marwan,” she told reporters. Earlier, the campaign paid a $3,000 deposit, associates said.

    Abbas already has been nominated as Fatah’s presidential candidate, so Barghouti must run as an independent. But as a leading Fatah member, he would likely undermine Abbas’ prospects.

    Barghouti, 45, represents the younger generation of Fatah that grew up in the West Bank and Gaza, while Abbas, 69, comes from the “old guard” of leaders who returned from exile with Arafat a decade ago.

    Barghouti became a political activist in the 1970s, joining Arafat’s Fatah movement. He spent six years in Israeli jails — where he learned Hebrew — for his membership in Fatah, and was deported in 1987.

    He was one of the first exiles to return seven years later under interim peace deals with Israel. Barghouti supported those accords, advocated a Palestinian state alongside Israel and had close ties to Israeli peace activists.

    But when the Palestinian uprising broke out in September 2000, Barghouti used Arab satellite television to turn himself into the most prominent voice of the Palestinian resistance. Though he said he still supported a peaceful solution, Barghouti said force — including shooting attacks on Israelis — was justified to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

    Israeli arrested Barghouti in 2002, accusing him of funneling money to militants and being involved in attacks that killed 26 Israelis. He was convicted of attacks leading to five deaths.

    While Abbas and Barghouti both favor a negotiated settlement with Israel, an election victory for Barghouti would complicate matters. Israel has quietly embraced Abbas, whom it considers a pragmatist, and has ruled out freeing Barghouti.

    However, because of his popularity, it might be easier for Barghouti to make the concessions needed to reach a peace deal with Israel.

    That the Palestinian president could be a criminal would be nothing new. The potential for change would be that he would actually be behind bars for his crimes.

    And is Hamas, having claimed in the past that it was ready to step in and govern the Palestinian people, shooting itself in the foot with its boycott threats? Or is the gambit to de-legitimize any resulting president going to elevate Hamas as a viable alternative to the Palestinian Authority? Interesting days ahead, folks.