It’s a good thing I switched to Movable Type a long time ago. It’s been about a year I suppose. The strengths of decentralization on full display.
24
Oct 02
Building the Iraq sham
From NY Times: Pentagon Sets Up Intelligence Unit:
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and his senior advisers have assigned a small intelligence unit to search for information on Iraq’s hostile intentions or links to terrorists that the nation’s spy agencies may have overlooked, Pentagon officials said today.
Curious. So, Rumsfeld wants to set up a team who won’t fail to fabricate ‘evidence’ against Hussein.
Some officials say the creation of the team reflects frustration on the part of Mr. Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz and other senior officials that they are not receiving undiluted information on the capacities of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq and his suspected ties to terrorist organizations.
But officials who disagree say the top civilian policy makers are intent on politicizing intelligence to fit their hawkish views on Iraq.
In particular, many in the intelligence agencies disagree that Mr. Hussein can be directly linked to Osama bin Laden and his network, Al Qaeda, or that the two are likely to make common cause against the United States. In addition, the view among even some senior intelligence analysts at the Central Intelligence Agency is that Mr. Hussein is contained and is unlikely to unleash weapons of mass destruction unless he is attacked.
Some sort of turf war between the Defense Department and the CIA.
24
Oct 02
Interesting point
From Stratfor.com:
The fact that the event is taking place in Moscow underscores Russia’s vulnerability to militant attacks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin — who has earned a reputation for being tough on Islamists and militants and repeatedly has ruled out negotiations with Chechen separatists — well may issue orders for law enforcers to storm the Sharikopogshipnik theater. If so, high casualties are likely.
The case will have a direct impact on intensifying fighting in Chechnya. It also could lead to a cross-border raid into Georgia, which the Kremlin accuses of harboring Chechen militants and providing them a base from which to attack Russian targets. Georgia, however, listens to Washington, not Moscow — and it remains to be seen whether Washington allows Russia to retaliate.
Nevertheless, their shared exposure to militant attacks likely will foster even further cooperation between Russia and the United States on some issues.
Washington previously confirmed links between al Qaeda and the Chechen independence movement, and Stratfor sources within the Russian foreign ministry say the latest development already is shaping Moscow’s diplomatic strategy. They say Moscow will pressure Washington to refocus its efforts on al Qaeda and drop plans to attack Iraq. Few outside the Bush administration believe Iraq has substantial links to al Qaeda. Russia wants to emphasize that, in the aftermath of the Bali bombing and now the Moscow hostage situation, al Qaeda poses a clear and present danger to all countries.
24
Oct 02
The Dumbbell of Evil, Israel and the United States, reach out to Russia
The Bush regime would like to bring Russia back in line to support its Iraq resolution in the UN. Israel is, as Noam Chomsky puts it, “an offshore US military base”. I’d imagine the US would now not only be silent if Russia wanted to level Chechnya, but they’re probably now eager to lend a helping hand with the bloody business.
Israel’s outstretched hand: Israel: Chechen Terrorists Linked To Al Qaeda:
How convenient.
Chechen rebels holding hundreds of hostages in a Moscow theater, including Americans and other foreigners, may have links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, an Israeli expert said here on Thursday, as Israel offered its assistance to Russia. …
There is a feeling that the two countries are opposing the same kind of Islamic terrorism,” Hoffman said in a telephone interview. “This will strengthen those ties.”
WASHINGTON – President Bush , in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, offered U.S. assistance in the Moscow hostage crisis and said “this is a time of solidarity between the United States and Russia.”
I doubt Bush can even spell SOLIDARITY.
Bush placed the call “to express America’s support for Russia in this hostage takeover. He said the United States was prepared to help Russia with whatever Moscow needed, and this for the two nations to work closely together, the spokesman said.
Asked if the situation was terrorism-related, Fliescher replied, “It’s clearly terrorists.”
24
Oct 02
Maybe the War is not delayded after all
I’m guessing the US will attack Iraq at all costs. If the Bush regime loses momentum it’ll be even harder to justify an Iraq attack in the future. Bush says military preparing for Iraq attack
24
Oct 02
The Chechens
The Russians are having their ugly war brought home to them. It will be hard for the Russian people to pretend like nothing is going on as long as they are vulnerable. That is the threat of terrorism to large states and absolutist governments, and that is why our government in particular is trying to root out armed resistance by guerrilla and terrorist groups. How long could the US kill Colombians, Iraqis, Iranians, Afghans, Somalis if they had to worry about attacks on Americans? Americans must be kept shielded from the brutality waged by American foreign policy. The same goes for other large governments around the globe. The Chinese have their rebel Uighur. The Russians have their Chechens.
The Chechens have a violent history with Russia:
Conquered by czarist armies in 1859 after decades of war, but Chechens never accepted Russian rule. During World War II, dictator Josef Stalin ordered Chechens deported en masse to Kazakhstan. Many died; rest returned home in 1950s, after Stalin’s death.
Of course, it doesn’t help them that their ancestral homeland is rich with oil.
24
Oct 02
Early voting
Well, I don’t know if it matters much, but I went ahead and voted. They had early voting set up at the modern equivalent of the town-square, the local mall. I made sure to vote against anyone who voted to support Mini Me’s Iraq resolution.
24
Oct 02
NSA to spy domestically?
From Declan McCullagh’s Politechbot:
The head of the National Security Agency said last week that Congress might
want to aim the most powerful surveillance system in the world at American
citizens.
Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, in a rare public appearance before the Senate
Intelligence committee, said the ongoing terrorist threat means America
needs to debate where to draw the line between foreign and domestic
surveillance. Currently the NSA is prohibited from spying domestically.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Where do we draw the line between the government’s need for
(counter-terrorism) information about people in the United States and the
privacy interests of people located in the United States? This line-drawing
affects the focus of NSA’s activities, foreign versus domestic… the type
of data NSA is permitted to collect and how, and the rules under which NSA
retains and disseminates information about U.S. persons.”
Until the 1970s, when the Senate’s Church Committee revealed what had been
going on in secret, the CIA and the NSA conducted illegal surveillance on
American citizens. In response, Congress enacted a series of reforms,
notably the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
“These are serious issues that the country addressed, and resolved to
its satisfaction, once before in the mid-1970’s,” Hayden said. “In light of
the events of September 11th, it is appropriate that we, as a country,
readdress them. We need to get it right.”
Statement:
http://intelligence.senate.gov/0210hrg/021017/hayden.pdf
-Declan
24
Oct 02
The Shins
Karen has gotten me listening to The Shins. I like the fun quality to the music and the nice, weird sound. Karen said they remind her a little of the Beach Boys musically-speaking. She has a funny dance she does whenever she plays ‘Know Your Onion!’.