Thursday, April 06, 2006

Battle of the Baghdad newsstands

Iraq the Model has an interesting account of the battle of the Baghdad newsstands.

Some readers questioned the authenticity of our Tuesday report about a ban on newspapers imposed by the terrorists in Baghdad ... since no other news sources confirmed our story as of now. So, I took the time to make a few phone calls until I got a confirmation for the story from a senior Baghdad journalist who writes for one of Iraq's most read newspapers. He asked me not to reveal his name or the name of the paper he writes for. The journalist had this to tell me:

The story began a long time ago when certain papers were banned in Ramadi namely al-Sabah and Azzaman. Later-that's four or five days ago-the 'Khalid' bookshop in al-Rabee' Street in Hay al-Jami'a was attacked with an explosive charge. This bookshop is considered one of the distribution points for newspapers in the western half of Baghdad. In the eastern half of Baghdad the threats took two forms, the workers in distribution offices in Bab al-Mu'addam found death notes all over the street in the early morning while they were trying to open their offices and shops while in the Aadhamiya district, death notes and threats were delivered in a more personal manner to the bookshops owners.

 

Omar at Iraq the Model went on to link to another Iraqi blogger, the dramatically titled I was there. I was there confirmed Omar's account and added many more details:

A Baghdad newsstand pic from I was there!

Insurgents are always looking for new ways to fight the new government and the Americans in Iraq; the newest target is the bookshops that sell newspapers.

Khalid Bookshop was the first target for the new insurgents’ strategy; it is the oldest bookshop at Rabi Street, west of Baghdad, it was set on fire around 9 pm on Monday, no casualties but every thing in the book shop was burned. ...  One of the bookshop cutomers said, “It is all because of the newspapers, all the bookshops were threatened to stop selling newspapers because they are all ‘mouth peaces’ for the government”. ...

The fire ate all the books, many Korans (Muslims Holly Book) were on the floor either burned or half burned, some workers were cleaning the shop, which the fire turned all its walls and roof into black; Khalid was standing in the middle of the shop, sad and scared, “I can not say any thing, I afraid to say any thing that will make every thing worse, thanks God that we are all alive and no one was hurt”, Ani said.

The battle for the newsstands is apparently part of the complex and partially clandestine struggle within the capital. The Iraqi Government security forces are apparently aware of the situation, as will be seen from the further narrative below. But what the Iraqi government strategy consists of is anybody's guess.

I drove with my friend for about 2 Miles to the west of Rabi Street to the dangerous Amiriyah Neighborhood, most of the shops on the main street were closed at the middle of the day, people there said that most of the shops here stopped opening their shops a week ago because of the dangerous situation at this area; Iraqi and American military forces were patrolling the area all the time; I felt unsafe and I was turning my to all directions to be sure that no armed men in the streets or no suspicious cars that could be car bombes specially when we passed by military checkpoints. The Ministry of Interior Commandos set check points on the main street to Amiriyah to search the cars going to or from that area, “Hide your ID card, don’t you know where you are at”, one of the police commandoes at the check point told me when he was asking who were we and after we told him that we are a reporters....

I was there says the insurgents particularly wanted to keep the newspapers from printing Wanted Posters.

In a visit to a friend who works in an Iraqi newspaper he confirmed this news but he said that the main reason for these threatens was that few days ago all the newspapers had a contract to run a half page advertisement that had pictures for wanted insurgents with their full names including the tribal name. This Iraqi journalist who works for an Iraqi paper told me that, the wanted insurgents names in this advertisement were all for Iraqis; there was another advertisement that run before, but it was for a wanted Arab insurgents from outside Iraq; no one threaten the newspapers at that time, they did not care but when the newspapers started putting the wanted Iraqi insurgents pictures and names advertisement in their papers they were threatened, some papers were threatened by exploding their headquarters or killing their dealers at the Newspapers Exchange Stock or by bombing any bookshop that sells those newspapers with this advertisement.

The Iraqi blogger ended with a flourish that would do justice to Old Time Radio broadcasts.

“I do not think that the situation in Iraq will be better”, I told my friend in our way back, “I wish that it will stay like this and will not get worse”, my friend replay. I agreed with him because,

I was there..

Commentary

Meanwhile, Bill Roggio has a detailed account of how Coalition Forces are trying to roll up the Secret Islamic Army, "operating in the regions of Baghdad, Salman Pak, and Mahmudiyah. These are three of the most dangerous areas in Iraq, riddled with a deeply rooted Sunni-led insurgency." Roggio went on to say:

The Iraqi security forces arrested Muhammed Hila Hammad Ubaydi, aka Abu Ayman, the leader of the Secret Islamic Army, on March 7. His arrest was announced today. According to the Multinational Forces-Iraq press release, "Ayman's capture was the result of a determined manhunt conducted by Iraqi intelligence professionals and several intelligence agencies within the Coalition." Ayman is described as follows (note his ties to Saddam's regime and al-Qaeda in Iraq): "Abu Ayman, the former aide to the Chief of Staff of Intelligence during the Saddam Hussein regime, was the leader of the Secret Islamic Army in the Northern Babil Province. Abu Ayman has strong ties to terror leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, still considered the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Abu Ayman is the prime suspect in the kidnapping of Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena and for assassination attempts on Iraqi Government and Iraqi Security Forces officials. Abu Ayman is also the prime suspect in the kidnapping and killing of several hostages in Iraq and for committing some of the most lethal IED attacks on Coalition and Iraqi Forces and on Iraqi citizens since the fall of the regime."

Ubaydi may be one of the gents who objected to having his picture published in the newspapers. Accounts from the Iraqi bloggers together with reports from Multinational Forces-Iraq give us a glimpse into the relatively low-intensity fights that have -- for now -- succeeded the big battles like Fallujah, which featured fixed air, artillery, tanks and multi-battalion US forces. I wouldn't want to make too much of these newsstand incidents, but it strikes me as a defensive move by people who are fundamentally eager to avoid capture and who see imminent danger in the publication of their photos in the newspapers; that is to say not the hunter but the hare.

85 Comments:

Blogger sam said...

Iraq PM Says He Will Seek Second Term:

Iraq ‘s embattled prime minister vowed Thursday to pursue his bid for a second term despite pressure from home and abroad to step down, signaling no early end to the standoff blocking a crucial national unity government.

In a brutal reminder of the stakes if Iraqi leaders cannot reverse the slide toward chaos, a car bomb exploded Thursday in the country‘s most sacred Shiite city, Najaf, killing 10 people and wounding more than 30.

Iraq PM

4/06/2006 08:12:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

General Petreus has write a long journal article here in which he lists out the principle "lessons learned" in Iraq. Several of them are implicit criticisms of the planning and tempo of operations subsequent to the fall of Saddam, but most of them have recommend "losing control" to Iraqi partners, junior officers, etc. Success apparently, depends on a kind of calibrated delegation. So yes, the winning strategy in part means that other actors begin to play critical roles in the campaign.

4/06/2006 09:05:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

re: press intimidation.

Is there any sign that the local broadcast media is being censored? I remember some reporting on the best watched shows in Iraq being "confessionals" by arrested terrorist/criminals. Sounds like it's time for a "most wanted."

An aside, I thought it was an amazingly selfless act by Mr. Bush two weeks ago when he answered the question about timetables by saying "that will be decided by future Presidents and future Iraq governments." No sidestepping or easy equivocations in that answer (for short term poll & political gain). It also clearly makes the 2006 and 2008 elections all about the new National Security Strategy (NSS), Iraq and its part in the same. Voting for the 'pubs is a straight-up endorsement of the NSS, pure and simple. Voting for the dems means the NSS is a mistake.

I wager giving freedom a chance wins, and wins big. Else we're certain to have another horror (v. one just being likely) and after we sterilize (because we have no alternative, no transformed military, no allies with military ability either, etc.) those places that harbored or fostered the act we'll be another century forgiving ourselves (for not doing all we could do to avoid condemning all those people to death.)

4/06/2006 10:11:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

If we elect the current Democrats to run foreign policy--or domestic for that matter--then the long cultural slide we had thought of as a misdemeanor, will be revealed to have been a capital offense.

Hey, Trangbang, a pie for Katie Couric.

4/06/2006 10:38:00 PM  
Blogger Cybrludite said...

Habu_1,

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over.

(Seriously, dude, a little coherency will go a long way.)

4/06/2006 11:36:00 PM  
Blogger Jhn1 said...

Well, if the Iraqui people really want to obtain freedom from their own actions instead of just given to them, the Iraqui press is going to need to harp on the despicable scum who would wantonly destroy Korans. They won't. They ar ejust as bound by the need for a double standard as almost every other Muslim in the entire world. Without demonizing our enemy (which is not, at present, the "moderate Muslims) we are never going to separate the ones willing to live in a secular society from those striving for the subjugation of the entire world under sharia.

4/06/2006 11:40:00 PM  
Blogger Deuce ☂ said...

As a service to The Belmont Club, and not much else to do at 0300 , I created the exec summary of Lieutenant General David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army fourteen points referred to by Wretchard. This is for the exclusive use of those too busy, too tired or otherwise not interested.


1. Iraqis should go on patrol.
2. Get in and get out.
3. Spend beaucoup bucks.
4. Let Iraqis run the BX, base laundry and soft
drink concessions.
5. Try not and waste too many non-combatants.
6. Learn how to read a map.
7. After you blow up a school or something,
please fix it, police up the cigarette butts.
8. Re-read #3 and make payroll.
9. Don’t fondle woman, wearing veils.
10. Restate the obvious.
11. Promote Iraqis that show up for work.
12. Non-coms and first junior grades do the heavy
lifting.
13. Read #12 and write outstanding reviews for the
ones that don’t bitch too much.
14. Get with the program. Kiss up. Kick down.

4/07/2006 01:37:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

No. 4

Amazing webcast. Thank you for the link. I've managed to sit through 82 minutes listening to these people whine about "the difficulty" of getting the full story out of Iraq. Amazingly, not once is Iran mentioned in all them 82 minutes. Talk about burlesque theater.

4/07/2006 06:58:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

Brings a whole new meaning to "Newspaper Wars".

Mr Murdock never sank so low as to blow up the rival's delivery boy.

Again we are seeing a different aspect of the Information Wars, the War we are surely losing, re: Don Rumsfeld.

If the "wanted posters" are the cause of all this, then put those faces on billboards. On handbills. In ever more newspapers, pay for the placement and then have the ISF guard every distribution point.

More and more it is ever more obvious that this "War" in Iraq is now a Police Problem. There are no Enemy Formations for the US Military to attack.

Seems, today, there are no "unsecure" towns or villages, except Baghdad.

In Camp Fallujah 20,000 US troops will be playing basketball, again, today.
At Camp Anaconda 20,000 US troops will get the opportunity to buy a cup of joe, at the Green Bean. The 10,000 Civilian contractors at Camp Anaconda making sure our troops see as little KP as practicle.

Happily, the Iraqi Terrorist Convention in Beirut is over. While the terrorists were provided Sanctuary, there in Beirut by the US, now that they have returned to Iraq it'll be "Open Season", on them.
That is just how serious the US Government is about the Global WoT.

4/07/2006 07:19:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Chicago, 20s, Elliot Ness, come to mind somehow.

4/07/2006 07:50:00 AM  
Blogger Karridine said...

jhn1-11:40 says, "Without demonizing our enemy (which is not, at present, the "moderate Muslims)we are never going to separate the ones willing to live in a secular society from those striving for the subjugation of the entire world under sharia."

I suggest that this very separation is being done on a small scale right NOW, Sir, and will be catalyzed into TROOPS of new believers in the very near future... when more 'moderate Muslims' learn that Baha'u'llah has come!

Muslims have been trained, taught even MORE than Christians, about the coming of One Like Unto the Son of Man! Muslims were expecting Him in 1260 AH, but were told by THEIR clergy that He didn't come.

When the great middle mass of 1.2 billion Muslims start publicly debating/discussing His coming, it will be all over for the Muslim clerics, because the Lord of Hosts does NOT allow any clergy, any anointed high-level fellers to dictate to the people on behalf of God.

"The best-beloved of all things in My sight is Justice. Turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me. By its light thou shalt see with thine own eyes, and shalt know of thine own knowing and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor."

4/07/2006 08:13:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

Exactly my point, buddy.
Elliot Ness - Super Cop

not
" ... there were still over 10,000 angry, restless veterans in the streets. On July 28, 1932, two veterans were shot and killed by panicked policemen in a riot at the bottom of Capitol Hill.

Hoover told Ralph Furley, the Secretary of War, to tell General Douglas MacArthur, then the Army Chief of Staff, that he wished the Bonus Army Marchers evicted from Washington. Troops from nearby Forts Myer and Washington were ordered in to remove the Bonus Army Marchers from the streets by force.

One battalion from the 12th Infantry Regiment and two squadrons of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, under the command of Major George S. Patton, who had taken over as second in command of the Regiment less than three weeks earlier, concentrated at the Ellipse just west of the White House. At 4:00 p.m. the infantrymen donned gas masks and fixed bayonets, the cavalry drew sabers, and the whole force, followed by several light tanks, moved down Pennsylvania Avenue to clear it of people.

Against the advice of his assistant, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, MacArthur had taken personal command of the operation. President Hoover had ordered MacArthur to clear Pennsylvania Avenue only, but MacArthur immediately began to clear all of downtown Washington, herding the Marchers out and torching their huts and tents. Tear gas was used liberally and many bricks were thrown, but no shots were fired during the entire operation. By 8:00 p.m. the downtown area had been cleared and the bridge across the Anacostia River, leading to the Hooverville where most of the Marchers lived, was blocked by several tanks.

That evening Hoover sent duplicate orders via two officers to MacArthur forbidding him to cross the Anacostia to clear the Marchers' camp, but MacArthur flatly ignored the President's orders, saying that he was 'too busy' and could not be 'bothered by people coming down and pretending to bring orders'.

MacArthur crossed the Anacostia at 11:00 p.m., routed the marchers along with 600 of their wives and children out of the camp, and burned it to the ground. Then, incredibly, he called a press conference at midnight where he praised Hoover for taking the responsibility for giving the order to clear the camp.

He said,"Had the President not acted within 24 hours, he would have been faced with a very grave situation, which would have caused a real battle. Had he waited another week, I believe the institutions of our government would have been threatened."

Secretary of War Furley was present at this conference and praised MacArthur for his action in clearing the camp, even though he too was aware that Hoover had given directly contrary orders.

The last of the Bonus Army Marchers left Washington by the end of the following day. ... "
MacArthur, Patton, Eisenhower names to be reckoned with, then and later.

The Army is ill equipped to handle Police matters. History tells that tale, well.
Remember Kent State and the National Guard firing on unarmed students?

4/07/2006 08:14:00 AM  
Blogger Solomon2 said...

I wonder if Ubaydi is the "Chafee" reported by MJT as a terrorist commander in Kurdistan.

4/07/2006 08:52:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

MacArthur, what a story. Almost no figure in history inspires more love and hate--and both sides are certain in their beliefs. His imperial ways created the usual problem of the bold visionary--no matter how much success, a failure gets you the swift boot.

4/07/2006 09:10:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

If you checked the link, buddy, the writer blames Mr Hoover's electorial defeat on this DC incident. I really wouldn't know the truth of that.

The speach excerpt and story of

" ... Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, one of the most colorful officers in the Marine Corps' long history, was one of the two Marines who received two Medals of Honor for separate acts of outstanding heroism. ... "

is food for thought.
On Interventionism
Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.

Some truths are eternal, they say.

4/07/2006 09:25:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

2ndSolomon,

MJT:

“Did you ever meet Zarqawi?” I asked the man in civilian clothes.

“Few people saw him,” he said. “He covered his face with a cloth. He wasn’t the boss, though. Chafee was their commander. They had three commanders, actually. We are still afraid of them.”

Apparently the threat to this part of Iraqi Kurdistan isn’t quite over. Otherwise the minister of the interior would not have even thought to send Peshmerga guards with me. But the Islamists haven’t been back since the US and the Peshmerga drove them over the border into Iran. It was hard to imagine they would dare try to come back again without getting themselves killed the instant they arrived.

“When the US attacked,” he said, “they escaped to an Iranian village. Then Iran sent them to Kirkuk. One guy was arrested in Kirkuk and sent back to Iran. Then Iran sent him back to Kirkuk again.”
.
.

4/07/2006 09:45:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

I'll read it, with interest. O/T, for Mika--what is this?

4/07/2006 09:50:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

It's believed to have been written in the second century. How does that date compare with other documents that have been canonized?

4/07/2006 10:20:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Roughly contemporaneous. This is quick and not too turgid.

Just from my dumb lay perspective, there sure is a lot of 2000 yr old history getting 'current'.

4/07/2006 10:42:00 AM  
Blogger Mike H. said...

Habu on the rock (Futenma), ROTFLMAO, is this a micro shoe bomber that we're talking about? Honey I shrunk the warhead.

4/07/2006 10:43:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

yeh, wutz a 'moby'? Hope it ain't, 'if you don't know, you *are* one'.

4/07/2006 10:51:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,
What do you make of this:
The Gospel of Judas, the Twin of Jesus also known as the Gospel of St. Thomas

These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Judas "the Twin" [Thomas; Didymus] wrote down.
.
.
6) Jesus said, "I have cast a fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes!"
(7) Jesus continued, "Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world! They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war! There will be five in a house, three will be against two, and two against three; the father against the son, and the son against the father, and they will stand solitary."
.
.

4/07/2006 10:58:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

The Thomas Gospel is one of those "let's not look over there" things. I dunno. The purported quote,tho, sure does stand the truth test. How much history isn't about religious war? A whole lot less than we think. We still haven't settled the fallout from the Mesopotamians coming over to Sodom and kidnapping Abraham's nephew Lott.

4/07/2006 11:11:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I didn't know Jesus was a twin until today.

4/07/2006 11:19:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

It must a metaphorical deevice. There was but the one baby born in the stable that first Christmas. That's the Gospel Truth.

4/07/2006 11:23:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

A metaphor for what?

4/07/2006 11:26:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Abraham BTW was a soldier as well as prohet. The Mesopotamians had these bronze 'sickle swords' (some have been found) that were superior to Abraham's outnumbered rescue party's mere spears. So Abraham's party pulled a two-pronged night attack, panicked the Mesopotamians, and rescued Lott from slavery.

4/07/2006 11:29:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

A metaphor for the duality of human nature?

4/07/2006 11:30:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Habu, I don't find your posts to be a discredit in any way. If you're a moby, you're a double moby. Or would that be an anti-moby. Or counter-moby. Counter anti semi double moby.

4/07/2006 11:35:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

You have the opposite of the liberal position, "please kill us all".

4/07/2006 11:38:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

What does one say after a gut wrenching assessment of the American elite, finding there a desiccated ancien régime, a Byzantine snake-pit of bureaucratic gobbledygook, and, yes, symptoms of schizophrenia? Well, while I may not know exactly what to say, I do know where to say it.

The lede to this string of posts is newspaper publishing and distribution, when those are stymied at gunpoint. Certainly, this prevents the dissemination of useful information to the Iraqi public, if in fact the papers carry news. The assumption is that the powers-that-be in Iraq have something of substantial import to say – which brings me back to America’s elite in the form of the Bush administration.

During the past year, the demotion and firing of three general officers comes immediately to mind: Byrnes, Fiscus, and Hassan; all were removed for various acts of sexual misconduct. Hassan headed the Air Force office that essentially flagged senior military officers, senior NCOs, and senior civil servants for advancement. Fiscus was the Air Force’s top lawyer – think of him as attorney general. Brynes commanded of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command. These gentlemen, all, were responsible for implementing the administration’s philosophy, if you please; all willfully violated their oaths of office. Is there a trend here and, if so, might that trend be extrapolated, explaining in part the errors in Iraq’s administration, now readily confessed by the President and Dr. Rice.

A reasonable case can be made for maladministration, I believe, by adding one more voice to those of the gentlemen above – that of retired Major General Lambert, former commander of the Army Special Forces Command, 2001 – 2003. The General offered his views on OIF in an editorial carried by the Washington Post, Saturday, April 1, 2006; Page A17. It might be instructive to hear the General’s succinct take on the war – “The right's neocons orchestrated a war with Iraq that has destroyed national consensus…” Although the gentleman does not define for his reader “neocon”, the term has been commonly defined per Mr. Robert Novak and Mr. Patrick J. Buchanan et al. One must pause to wonder whether General Lambert’s personal views had any impact on his military views.

It would be news to me to find where we get these guys.

Missed by me was President Bush’s lachrymose last week. Speaking of the plight of the Palestinian people (those would be the people who support jihad at the 70%+ level and whose various governments have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Americans and thousands of innocent Israelis), the President said, "I weep about the suffering of the Palestinians." Indeed. See, Jewish World Review August 4, 2006.

Later in the week, addressing the “insurrection” of illegal aliens in the American Southwest, it is reported by Wesley Pruden, “George W. Bush may imagine the illegals as "living in the shadows," as he tearfully put it last week.” Mr. Pruden gives the distinct impression that the President needs to get out more; he’d surely see more Latinos. See, http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com.

At yesterday’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, the President is reported to have said, "I'm confident that we can change our immigration system in ways that secures our border, respects the rule of law, and, as importantly, upholds the decency of our country." Isn’t that precious? May I suggest that the most important job of government is national defense, and that secure borders might be a major responsibility to that end? I wholeheartedly agree with the President on rule of law; indeed, I think it the second most important function of government, followed by unimpeded commerce. But, respectfully, Mr. Bush, where was the rule of law during the massive insurrection, last week? Did I miss something? Oh, and exactly how will changing our unenforced immigration system with a brand-new, razzle-dazzle, whizz-bang, bloviated act of Congress make Americans a more decent people?

So, returning to news, it does appear that the Iraqis are not alone in their ignorance. I am reminded of something heard years ago, “for a journey without a destination, any direction will do.” Just say’n.

4/07/2006 12:32:00 PM  
Blogger Ash said...

habu_1,

hmmm, how's genocide fit in your wonderful world view? A perfectly reasonable tactic?

Liberals have no need for moby's with Conservatives like you.

4/07/2006 12:33:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Good for a country to have some habu-ammo handy for times of need.

4/07/2006 12:37:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Allen, at least he'll be losing fewer votes to the "hard-hearted republican" charge.

4/07/2006 12:46:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Ash,

Destroying Jihadi Temples is now considered genocide?

4/07/2006 12:47:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

buddy larsen,

Re: "hard-hearted republican"

Not a chance.

With habu_1 and 2164th having sliced, diced, and pureed General Petraeus, I ignored his milquetoast critique. No point in appearing unchivalrously gratuitous, hey?

4/07/2006 01:25:00 PM  
Blogger Ash said...

matseula,

I guess you as well as habu believe that any practising moslem (i.e. attend mosque) is the enemy. Seeing as how being Moslem transcends ethnicity then Genocide is relatively small in comparison to what you both preach. I presume you also subscribe to habu_1's lovely approach:

"Believe me, if I have discreited this site by my advocating using nuclear arms and killing the enemy in huge numbers, I don't apologize. We should be. As for collateral civilian casualties, humbug, civilians are killed in all wars in larger numbers than combatants."

Just nuke them is your proscription, hunh? Genocides small potatos in comparsion.

4/07/2006 01:27:00 PM  
Blogger Ash said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

4/07/2006 01:27:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Ash,

It's very simple. I believe Jihad is the enemy. Anyone and Everyone practicing and believing in that ideology is my enemy. Thanks for answering my question.

4/07/2006 01:35:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Ash, genocide would be killing without a war. Please reserve the word for the meaning.

4/07/2006 01:45:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

ash,

Do you seriously think that Mika and Habu (are anyone else here, for that matter) want the world to go nuclear?

Maybe they just want the war fought earnestly. They might even want to see a Grant or a Sherman in charge.

The best way for the GWOT to go ballistic is to continue the bitch-slapping of the present leadership.
"Give the bastards a taste of cold steel!"

To show how an effeminate foreign policy ups the ante, see,

allen said...

Turkey Vows to Fight Kurdish Radicals

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060406/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_kurds

"Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the problems in Turkey's overwhelmingly Kurdish southeast would be solved through democracy, but he has refused to meet with the leading pro-Kurdish party, the Democratic Society Party.

Kurdish politicians say that Erdogan's government met with leaders of Hamas, the Palestinian group that is on many countries' lists of terrorist organizations, and should be willing to meet with the pro-Kurdish party, which swept local elections in much of the southeast."

It would appear that democracy ala the HAMAS is just fine.

What does this development bode for Iraqi Kurds?

7:17 PM

4/07/2006 01:47:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

You're jumping others for rhetorical overkill, saying that it weakens their message, right?

4/07/2006 01:51:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

An official of the Turkish government, using an acronym for the various Turk Kurd factions during a speech today, was sharply rebuked by an unidentified Turk-Kurd in the rear of the audience. "I am not a Turd" he repeatedly shouted, becoming very flushed as he was removed from the area.

4/07/2006 01:56:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy, LOL.
Is that the Gospel Truth?

4/07/2006 02:00:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Speaking of which,..
This is intriguing:

Chapter 2
(1) The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and mother are standing outside." Jesus replied, "Those here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother. It is they who will enter the Kingdom of my Father."

Buddy, another case of bad translation?

4/07/2006 02:02:00 PM  
Blogger Ash said...

Mətušélaḥ said...

Ash,

It's very simple. I believe Jihad is the enemy. Anyone and Everyone practicing and believing in that ideology is my enemy. Thanks for answering my question.

1:35 PM
Mat, see your simplistic understanding of the term Jihad indicates that you really are in a war against all muslims. jihad is often used in a spirtual context, as in a spirtual or moral goal. Not every use of jihad means 'suicide bombers attack innocents'

and Buddy, ya genocide is a systematic or planned extermination of an entire group and advocating going nuclear over the problems we are experiencing with Islamic extremism does make genocide look like small potatos. You wrote:

"You're jumping others for rhetorical overkill, saying that it weakens their message, right?"

No, I am assuming they mean what they say especially when they repeat it more then once. Take out every mosque, go nuclear on them, what a load of BS but hey, they seem to believe it to be the best course of action, or so they say. Or, as I said earlier, with posters like these who needs a Moby?

4/07/2006 02:15:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Chapter 4
(1) Mary asked Jesus, "Whom are your disciples like?"

He replied, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field,' and the children will undress in the owners' presence in order to let them have their field back. Therefore I say, if the owner of a house knows that the thief is coming, he will begin his vigil before he comes and will not let him dig through into the house that is his domain and carry his goods away. My disciples must be, then, on guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great strength lest the robbers find a way to come to you, for the difficulties you expect will certainly come to pass. Let there be among you a man of understanding--when the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in his hand and reaped it. Fortunate is the man who knows where the brigands will enter so that he may get up, muster his domain, and arm himself before they invade. Whoever has ears, let him hear."

4/07/2006 02:16:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

I don't know what to think of the first--that actions are the highest meaning of a person;s life? The second is just good old rabbinical practicality (and a far cry from 'turn the other cheek').

Ash, you're missing their point--that you must be credibly willing to do it, in order to not in the end have to actually do it.

4/07/2006 02:36:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Pol Pot wasn't so bad. Small taters--why, many in the anti-war movement seem never to've even heard of him. After all, it was just Cambodians, and he only killed one out of every three or four. And not all of 'em were tortured to death--many just got a swift crack on the head with a shovel, and a roll into the drainage ditch.

4/07/2006 03:30:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Mika--9,000 yr old dentist shop unearthed.

4/07/2006 03:49:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

"The drilling could have been decorative or to release "evil spirits" more than fighting tooth decay, he said.."

He may be on to something. :)

4/07/2006 04:08:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

If only I could have a cavity whenever I needed some Hydrocodone!

4/07/2006 04:10:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

So, what do *you* derive from those Jesus quotes?

4/07/2006 04:13:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

The Judas story, it strikes me as mysterious why such an earthshaking item as the original scrolls would suddenly surface right as the battle lines are being drawn between JudaoChristianity and the other (which millions are suddenly learning may be antithetical) Monotheism.

It's very strange. I mean, if G_d is really taking a hand in our affairs, then, Christ Almighty, I've got some serious sinning to atone fer. I don't think I have time to get right. Damn me! ("No problem!" sez a voice in my head, "Done Deal!"

4/07/2006 04:23:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

.
.
When Catholics call Mary the "Blessed Virgin," they mean she remained a virgin throughout her life. When Protestants refer to Mary as "virgin," they mean she was a virgin only until Jesus’ birth. They believe that she and Joseph later had children whom Scripture refers to as "the brethren of the Lord." The disagreement arises over biblical verses that use the terms "brethren," "brother," and "sister."
.
.
Because neither Hebrew nor Aramaic (the language spoken by Christ and his disciples) had a special word meaning "cousin," speakers of those languages could use either the word for "brother" or a circumlocution, such as "the son of my uncle." But circumlocutions are clumsy, so the Jews often used "brother."
.
.
Brethren of the Lord


But word for Uncle in Hebrew is Dod. Cousin is Ben Dod, or Son of Uncle. And there are plenty of examples in the Hebrew Bible:

Leviticus Chapter 10
(4) And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.

Also,
Lev 25:49, 1 Sam 10:14, 1 Sam 10:15, 1 Sam 10:16, 1 Sam 14:50, 1 Chr 27:32, Est 2:15, Jer 32:7, Amos 6:10

:-/

4/07/2006 04:27:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

The Gospel of Judas. The transcription is dated to February 2006.

4/07/2006 04:37:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

What if Jesus was a twin? It could explain the Resurrection story, the inconsistencies towards the Romans, the 40 year time lag between the crucifixion and the first Gospel document..

4/07/2006 04:55:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

But--one of 'em actually had to be crucified. Would've made for a tense coin-flip, hey?

4/07/2006 05:05:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I don't think there was one.

4/07/2006 05:18:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

But, so much historical data. Something happened. I too have trouble with the physical Resurrection. It's much more powerful--to me--as metaphor, as a way of giving people 'far vision' so they don't eat the seed corn. Or each other. Not that it's a trick--more of a survival mechanism. Just from an Anthropology POV.

4/07/2006 05:45:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

I realize that I am a bona-fide tru-blu idiot, and haven't the foggiest notion of whatever the heck I'm talking about.

4/07/2006 06:10:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

I'm speculating..
I think one of the twins was in Kandahar. Of interest is the Aramaic and Greek script to be found in Afghanistan 3rd century BC, where the influence of Buddhism flourished. Until Islam arrived..

4/07/2006 07:04:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Was it dated, "Third Century BC" ?

4/07/2006 07:10:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Pretty much.

4/07/2006 07:13:00 PM  
Blogger Ash said...

Buddy wrote:

"Ash, you're missing their point--that you must be credibly willing to do it, in order to not in the end have to actually do it."

oh I see, it is all just a bluff and if you convince yourself that you really mean it then you won't ever have to do it...until they call your bluff.

gentleman, please go back to your wonderful discussion of the religious significance of all this. This religious babble seems partcularily appropriate given your recent comments. ;)

Gotta luv the righteous for they have no other support for the lunacy they spout. You two are reading like be the flip side of the religous fanatics of Islam whom you despise so. Strap on a tactical nuke and enjoy your union with the Virgin Mary! hmmm, they get 72 and you 1... yuk! yuk!

4/07/2006 08:10:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Har--pretty good, Ash--"they get 72 and you get 1". A flash of wit, you're coming along nicely.
\;-)

4/07/2006 08:35:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Ash,

I'm not yet hunting petticoats to pike with a spear. But that may change.

4/07/2006 09:02:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Yep--first the man of peace lets the thieves into the house. Later, no longer able to feel good, he takes the spear down from the wall. Or he just leaves the house.

4/07/2006 09:26:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

I'm liking the Twin Theory more and more:

Yehuda - Judas
Yeshua - Jesus

It is very common practice in Israel to name twins with similar names.


===

Btw, that Kandahar link I provided also tells the story of the Gypsies:

.
.
Since some of the Moslem conquerors took Indian plainsmen as slaves, a question comes : whatever happened to this slave population? The startling answer comes from New York Times (May-June 1993 issues). The Gypsies are wandering peoples in Europe. They have been persecuted in almost every country. Nazis killed 300,000 gypsies in the gas chambers. These Gypsies have been wandering around Central Asia and Europe since around the 12 th Century AD. Until now their country of origin could not be identified. Also their Language has had very little in common with the other European languages. Recent studies however show that their language is similar to Punjabi and to a lesser degree to Sanskrit. Thus the Gypsies most likely originated from the greater Punjab. The time frame of Gypsy wanderings also coincides early Islamic conquests hence most likely their ancestors were driven out of their homes in Punjab and taken as slaves over the Hindu Kush.

The theory of Gypsie origins in India was first proposed over two centuries ago. It is only recently theta linguistic and other proofs have been verified. Even the Gypsie leadership now accepts India as the country of their origin.

4/08/2006 04:55:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Larsen,

Esau was the twin brother of Jacob/Israel. Israel later became Judah. Interestingly, the Koran refers to Jesus as "Eesa". Eesa is the Arabic equivalent for Esau in Hebrew.

4/08/2006 06:42:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

I'm confused--Jacob/Esau is in the Torah, right? Genesis? Like, a thousand years before Jesus? Am I missing something?

4/08/2006 09:51:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Very interesting re Gypsy language stock. Their secondary name is Romans, so I'd always thought they were sort of Italian.

4/08/2006 09:56:00 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

This is going to be very clumsy,..


Esau married to Edom. Yeshu was married to Rome. The color Red being symbolic to both. Both married to bloody Empires antithetical to Israel. The color Red is important because it is at the root of understanding.

Red = Adom (A-D-M)

In Hebrew this is also where the word for soil or earth is derived -- Adama. Where the name of man is derived -- Adam. Adam being born of the earth's soil. And where the word blood is derived from -- Dam.

The birth account and birthright relate Esau to the color Red. Esau's red and hairy appearance provides the pun on the place Edom. Esau married Edomites, and like Ishmael is considered ancestor to the Arabs.

The birth narrative of Jacob and Esau continues the Abrahamic cycle. Rebekah barren, and like Sarah, only has children after YeHoVeH (will predict) intervenes.

The narrative of Mary, Jesus and his twin Judas, seems to me to continue this Abrahamic narrative or cycle of unexpected births, conflict between brothers, conflict between nation and empire.

4/08/2006 11:21:00 AM  
Blogger Charles said...

Mətušélaḥ said...

Buddy,

I'm liking the Twin Theory more and more:

Yehuda - Judas
Yeshua - Jesus
////////////
The twin angle is that embraced by the moslems. They believe that Jesus had a substitute go to the cross for him.

Jesus disciple Judas doesn't show up in historical documents outside of the gospels however, there is a well documented Judas of Galilee who is prominant during the Jewish insurrection against the Romans.
http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc06/htm/iii.lvii.cxliii.htm

4/08/2006 12:47:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Everlasting conflict.

Makes the notion of Peace seem more and more ephemeral, otherworldly. Almost satanic, in the weird way that too much love of it is suicidal.

We should've gotten our remedial learning done in the 20th century. Hope we don't need another lesson.

I love the midnight wrestling match with the never-identified Stranger, in the story of Jacob. To me, the warning is against trying for too much clarity, trying to "know" from an non-human, or inhuman, perspective. ever think about that word, BTW? "Inhuman"?

4/08/2006 02:07:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

It's a never ending game of musical chairs.

4/08/2006 03:40:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Charles,

If Jesus was Jesus, he'd be the one on the cross. As I told Buddy, there'd be no coin toss.

4/08/2006 03:42:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Another recent find, blast from the past, catch this one, from the arts&letters.com site. A tale of Europe, the barrier to Islamic expansion.

4/08/2006 03:59:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

What do you call eyes that are out of tears?

4/08/2006 04:12:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

I don't think there's a word for it.

4/08/2006 04:25:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Anyway, here's a laff, French Revolution, 2006:
"Let Us Eat Cake!"

4/08/2006 04:28:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

To me, that word is Clear.

4/08/2006 05:30:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Oh, I'd thought the q was rhetorical. "Clear" or "hard". "Never Again!", as it is vowed. Everything, really, flows from that. The "again" means, humans vs what is "in humans". If it weren't up to humans, a simple "Never!" would do, would have done.

4/08/2006 06:15:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Buddy,

They can have their cake in their gilded baroque halls and mirror-walled ballrooms. Let them have eachothers company, without me.

4/08/2006 07:00:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Not my style either, Mika. To hell with fools, there's no more margin of error for them to frolic in.

4/08/2006 07:37:00 PM  

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